World of Warcraft: Forever's new take on classic Azeroth is opening the door to all kinds of new ideas in the old-school version of Blizzard's MMORPG, and new classes look to be one of them.

Blizzard, of course, has added a total of four new classes over the last two decades to the modern version of WoW: Death Knight, Monk, Demon Hunter, and Evoker. But an alleged leaked survey pushed to select WoW players via Blizzard's Battle.net launcher is now asking about potential new classes for WoW: Forever, the recently revealed third version of the MMO that will introduce new quests, zones, and content to the "vanilla" version of WoW. 

It's not the first time Blizzard has conducted a survey this way, and while Blizzard asks participants not to disclose the survey's details, their contents almost always find their way online. That's the case here, as players were quick to share information about 11 potential new classes listed in the survey, and content creators like Bellular have gone as far as to provide a full breakdown. Information contained about each of these potential classes includes basic lore, what types of weapons they would be able to use, the armor class they would wear, the resources they would use, what roles they would fill, and even signature abilities. The classes listed in the survery are:

• Bard
• Death Knight
• Demon Hunter
• Illusionist
• Monk
• Necromancer
• Metalborn/Runemaster/Runeknight
• San'layn
• Tinker
• Warden
• Witch

Three of the new classes would essentially be "new," old-school versions of existing WoW classes like Demon Hunter, Monk, and Death Knight. Considering how fast-paced classes like Monk and Demon Hunter are in the modern version of the game, their Forever counterparts would likely feel significantly different.

It's the eight "new" classes that are the most exciting, however. Some of these are ideas that have existed in WoW lore for ages or ones that Blizzard even originally toyed with during the game's early development. The Tinker, for example, is a class many expect to come to the modern version of WoW at some point but is listed in the survey. They would be the ultimate engineer, capable of using mech suits and gadgets to tank, deal damage, and support other players. 

Another potential class, the Necromancer, was an idea Blizzard originally had planned for vanilla WoW, only for it to eventually be scrapped. In Forever, Blizzard is proposing a version of the class that seems like it's taking some inspiration from Diablo 2's class of the same name, with abilities like Bone Spear and Corpse Explosion. The survey additionally lists the San'layn, a group of vampires who broke free of the Lich King's domination. This class seems like it would lean fully into the vampire fantasy, with a number of blood-based abilities that could make them similar to retail WoW's Blood Death Knight specialization.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zerqLHQPN9Y

Two other classes steeped in WoW lore proposed in the survey are the Warden and Runemaster. Wardens are the iconic Night Elf faction famous for hunting down and imprisoning Azeroth's greatest threats. How exactly that would work when it comes to Horde players is unclear, but the survey notes that the Wardens would open their ranks "out of necessity" in order to deal with greater threats.

Runemasters, on the other hand, are beings infused with power by the Titans who use a rune system that sounds similar to that of modern WoW's Death Knights to heal and fight. That rune system itself was originally for an early version of the Runemaster class that was later scrapped and its core mechanic repurposed. This class appears to have been listed by multiple different names in various versions of the survey, also appearing by the name Metalborn and Runeknight.

Other classes seem almost entirely new. The survey lists classes like Bard, Witch, and Illusionist among potential additions. The Bard sounds about like what you would expect, a healer and support class capable of buffing allies, while the Witch and Illusionists are two new flavors of spellcasters. Illusionists would summon and conjure creatures and objects to aid them in battle, while the Witch uses dark powers like blood rituals and even the power of the old gods to buff allies and destroy their foes. 

Whether or not any or all of these potential new classes will eventually make their way into Forever remains to be seen, but Blizzard does have, well, forever to make them a reality. In the meantime there's plenty new for WoW: Forever players to discover, including over 1,000 new quests, four new zones, an account-wide Legacy perk system, and more. WoW: Forever's beta is currently live until October 21, with Forever's full launch set for November 4.

GTA 6 will not include its own spoof on one of Florida's most iconic venues: Walt Disney World. I adore all things Disney, including the parks. But I also appreciate and enjoy Rockstar's penchant for sarcasm and making fun of things. And Disney World? There is a lot to poke fun at. So I am a bit bummed that Walt Disney World--or whatever Rockstar would name its simulacrum--won't appear in GTA 6. 

Game Informer asked Rockstar if Florida's central region, including Orlando and its tourist destinations like Walt Disney World and Universal Studios, would be represented in GTA 6 in some form, and Jack McPherson said they wouldn't. However, McPherson stressed that GTA 6 will offer the "full Florida experience" in numerous other ways. 

“We have to constantly evaluate the diversity of landscapes, towns, structures, landmarks, vistas, plant species, rock formations and everything else before we work with design and narrative to distill a list down that best works with and serves the game’s needs. So, while we may not have those exact locations, everything we have is geared to getting that full Florida experience!”

Lucia and Jason in GTA 6.

GTA 6 also won't feature SeaWorld or Florida's iconic "Space Coast," featuring Cape Canaveral's historic launch pad. 

I am not too surprised by any of this, though, considering GTA 6 takes place in Vice City, a stand-in for Miami, which is a four-hour, 230-mile drive from Orlando. I know GTA 6 is going to be a big game--featuring the biggest game map Rockstar ever made--but I never expected the map to run all the way up to Orlando. 

Jay Klaitz, who famously portrayed Lester in Grand Theft Auto 5, previously said in an interview that he wondered if Rockstar would create its own, legally distinct version of Disney World that could be called “Psycho Park.”

“That would be interesting too if they sort of delve into that environment,” he said.

While GTA 6 might not feature its own take on Disney World, it's possible the park could be referenced in GTA 6's radio chatter, and some spoofs could come there. The well runs deep for things Rockstar can make fun of Disney World for, including its ever-increasing ticket prices, the price to buy literally anything in the parks, and the so-called Disney Adult phenomenon, just to name a few options. I love Disney, but even the most diehard fans have their issues.

As it happens, the last game in the series, GTA 5, was set where Disneyland--the OG Disney park--is located in the Los Angeles area, and that game also did not feature its own theme park spoof that players could visit. However, GTA 5 featured a film production company known as Fred's Pictures, which was an obvious reference to Disney.

GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. 

Activision has confirmed that one of the Call of Duty franchise's most notorious maps, Shipment, is coming back for this year's Modern Warfare 4.

After fans spotted it in the newly released trailer for MW4's PC version, the Call of Duty account directly confirmed its return with a dedicated post.

Shipment, which debuted in 2007's Modern Warfare 4, is a tiny map filled with shipping containers that players can dash through. Due to its small size, players can get wiped out in their spawns easily, and the action generally is extremely chaotic. Some people love the map. Others hate it.

https://twitter.com/CallofDuty/status/2104969093409648927

Shipment's return in 2026's MW4 is no big surprise, as it's been featured in numerous Modern Warfare games over the years. It also showed up in Call of Duty: Vanguard and Call of Duty: Mobile.

While Activision has confirmed that Shipment will return in MW4, the company did not say if it will be among the 12 6v6 maps available at launch, or if it will be released sometime later.

For those who enjoy Shipment, its inclusion in MW4 is just the latest piece of good news. Before this, Activision confirmed that MW4 will finally fix how double XP tokens work and the dreaded "update requires restart" notice is going away. Additionally, MW4 will usher in a feature in Warzone that lets you avoid seeing all those wacky skins. The game also has a brand-new, Counter-Strike style mode.

Modern Warfare 4 launches on October 23 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, and PC. The game marks the first Call of Duty release on a Nintendo platform since 2013’s Call of Duty: Ghosts. It’s also the first game since Ghosts to skip PS4 and Xbox One.

World of Warcraft: Forever is opening up old wounds when it comes to Blizzard's actions (or in many players' views, inaction) against bots and real-money gold buying, with a recent incident involving a popular streamer becoming a flashpoint for the MMORPG.

WoW Classic streamer Ziqo was recently seen on stream accepting large sums of gold from strangers in the lead up to a $100,000 WoW: Forever beta dueling tournament on October 17. In a clip in which he was traded 380 gold from a level one character (a huge amount in WoW Classic/Forever, particularly in a beta that's only been out for two weeks), Ziqo can be heard saying there's no way that amount of gold is "natty" but accepts the trade anyways. In another clip, he accepts 175 gold from a different level one character named El Delivery. 

The community immediately saw huge cause for concern. Not only did gold buying already appear to be alive and well in the Forever beta after Blizzard previously said it would be more aggressive in taking action against gold buyers, but the streamer looked to be effectively buying his way to victory in the upcoming tournament. With that amount of gold, Ziqo would be able to essentially buy anything he needed in the lead up to the tournament, giving him an advantage. The WoW Classic subreddit became aflame with calls for Blizzard to take action.

https://www.reddit.com/r/wowforever/comments/1wsf0km/ziqo_accepting_rmt_gold/

Without mentioning Ziqo by name, WoW community manager Kaivax shared Blizzard's stance on real-money transactions (RMT) in WoW: Forever via a forum post on September 28. While Blizzard has always looked to take action and punish gold sellers, Kaivax said, it will increasingly take action against those buying or accepting RMT gold as well.

"It's important to know that while we have always actioned RMT seller's accounts as quickly as possible, we will increasingly take action against buyers' accounts," Kaivax said. "That means that we will remove the illicit gold from the recipient and/or take further actions, which can include closing accounts.

"We're once again asking all players to be very cautious when it comes to accepting gifts from strangers or other one-sided transactions. If it becomes apparent that a recipient knew or should have known that gold wasn't from a legitimate source, they may be subject to account actions as well." 

According to Ziqo, Blizzard has since removed the ill-gained gold he received (as well as some additional gold he hardened the old-fashioned-way) but as of writing has not punished him further. 

Many on the WoW Classic subreddit are calling for Blizzard to stay true to its words from Kaivax's forum post and take further actions against Ziqo's account, as it's obvious he knew the gold could not have been legitimate. 

"We can all agree it's not good for the integrity of the game when streamers get showered with free gold on stream," Reddit user Nino171 writes in a post calling for streamers like Ziqo to be banned just like any regular player would. "Treat everyone equally. Streamers should have to watch what they accept for free, just like any other player." 

https://www.reddit.com/r/classicwow/comments/1wt4w39/blizzard_is_in_zugzwang/

Even if Ziqo isn't banned from the game, some are calling for him to at the very least be banned from the upcoming tournament by its organizers. Others on the game's forums are calling for Blizzard to ban accounts permanently that are caught engaging in RMT trading, with a call to "make an example of these streamers."

For now, it's unclear if Blizzard will punish Ziqo further with an account ban, but it's definitely caused many in the Forever community to lose faith that Blizzard is willing to put its money where its mouth is in regards to cracking down on those both selling and buying in-game gold. 

WoW: Forever's beta, which costs $60 to gain access to, is currently live until October 21. The new version of WoW Classic with over 1,000 new quests, as well as new dungeons, raids, and zones, is proving to be popular, with Blizzard recently stating it had to once again increase the beta's population cap. WoW: Forever will launch in full November 4.

Mythic Achievements for Xbox Insiders will officially roll out starting today, and Microsoft has provided more detail on how its new milestone system works. Designed to celebrate the biggest Xbox achievements that a user has unlocked throughout their PC and console history--and similar to PlayStation Platinum Trophies--Mythic Achievements are earned whenever all original achievements for a game have been earned.

Microsoft added that achievements added later through DLC or updates aren't required, and once you've earned Mythic status, it's yours to keep forever. This will be applied retroactively, so if you maxed achievements in any Xbox games over the years, expect to see a 15-second notification telling you what a good job you've done. Once the full Mythic Achievement system rolls out to the entire Xbox community, player profiles will be updated with a new Gaming tab where they can view their achievements, track their next Gamerscore milestone badge, and revisit games.

A preview of what a Mythic Achievement will look like.

This will make it easier to track progress toward earning a Mythic Achievement, as a new progress bar at the top of each game's achievement list will show exactly how close you are to gaining Mythic status. There'll also be an option to focus on the original achievements you still need, and achievements added later will receive an "add-on" tag to make the chase clearer to follow. There's no date yet for when Mythic Achievements will roll out of the Xbox Insiders program to the rest of the Xbox userbase.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma had teased back in August that Mythic Achievements were on the way, but they're arriving during another round of mass layoffs at Microsoft's gaming division. Hundreds more people have been laid off across various Xbox departments, various developers have been consolidated under Activision and Bethesda, and the Xbox Game Studios portfolio has also shrunk with the exit of several teams. Ninja Theory's future looks uncertain, while Undead Labs has started downsizing as part of its move to a new, undisclosed owner.

Gears of War: E-Day is launching into Xbox Game Pass, and because of that, the majority of the game's moneymaking potential will be cannibalized by its inclusion on the service. That's according to Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics, who released a report today that covers this, the game's initial sales on Steam, and the possibility of a PlayStation 5 port sometime down the road.

According to Elliott, E-Day has surpassed 120,000 copies sold on Steam at this point, generating more than $7 million in revenue. The game arrives on October 6, but people who pay more can jump in starting October 1. For more, check out the official global launch times for E-Day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRFE0gCsgLg

Elliott's data showed that E-Day has already sold more than 2X what Halo: Campaign Evolved did over a similar period of time. With 120,000 sales on Steam already, E-Day is unlikely to hit 1 million copies on the platform ever, Elliott said.

Additionally, he said "most" of the revenue from the Xbox version will be "eaten up by Game Pass. The game's inclusion on Game Pass might also encourage some people to sign up, so sales alone do not tell the whole story.

In any event, Microsoft has already decided to pull some key titles out of Game Pass, presumably due to lost revenue. Microsoft's Activision division no longer puts new Call of Duty games into Game Pass at launch, for example, with this October's Modern Warfare 4 not coming to Game Pass until Fall 2027. Going forward, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has said the company might opt to "window" other titles, presumably to help Microsoft make more money from direct game sales.

In 2023, Microsoft admitted that putting games into Game Pass cannibalizes full-game sales. At the same time, a game coming to Game Pass can actually help improve sales in some scenarios.

Microsoft made a big bet on Xbox Game Pass, spending billions of dollars to buy up studios with the aim of funneling content to the service to encourage people to sign up. New Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has said Microsoft's bet on Game Pass did not work out. "Our core business weakened, and we added more teams, more investment, and more time, hoping for a better outcome," she said.

Elliott previously said Gears of War: E-Day (along with Clockwork Revolution) are being sent out to die due to their exclusivity to Xbox. They are also coming to PC, but not PS5.

Elliott told GameSpot that Microsoft will never succeed in the console space and promising fans exclusive games to help drive console sales is not going to make a difference.

“Console as we know it is over for Xbox–and has been for a while. There’s no turning that ship. But they still need to pretend to care until they’ve transitioned to pastures where they can return to growth (if they succeed),” he said.

“A Gears console exclusive does not shift meaningful numbers of Series X units. Exclusivity as a hardware-driver is over for them, because the install base it would drive simply isn’t responsive enough to justify the cost of building hardware at a 5x component premium. And those games are on Steam anyway,” he added.

Elliott went on to say that Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution are “sacrificial lambs for hearts-and-minds, not economics.”

Also in the report, Elliott addressed the rumor that Microsoft canceled a PS5 port of E-Day. He said Microsoft should not have done this, as bringing the game to PS5 would have "added some much-needed extra revenue."

While E-Day might not be coming to PS5 at launch, Elliott said he foresees a port coming to market "at some point."

There was obvious evidence of a PS5 edition of E-Day. However, Microsoft denied that it canceled a PS5 version at the last minute, but did not deny its existence.

Another strange wrinkle to the story is that Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg has said E-Day is not a timed-exclusive for Xbox. However, Greenberg said in 2021 that Starfield was not a timed-exclusive on Xbox, but then it did come to PS5, so it's hard to believe some of the things that Microsoft says about its release plans.

Halloween season is almost upon us, and if you're looking to dress up as the Resident Evil movie's in-over-his-head courier, Bryan (played by Austin Abrams), then here's a checklist of everything you need to pull off the Raccoon City look. Fortunately, Bryan's look is surprisingly easy to pull off, as director Zach Cregger and costume designer Caroline Fahrer settled on an outfit that's grounded in the real world, will keep you warm on a chilly night, and can probably handle a few bites from any citizens who have come down with a bad case of the T-Virus.

As detailed by Resident Evil News, dressing up as Bryan requires sourcing a few brand-name items and scuffing them up. The actor's main clothing consists of RVCA fatigue pants, a deep yellow plaid shirt and grey hoodie from New Yorker, and Nike Jordan Spizke low sneakers that'll need some customization. For the medical bag, if your local hospital doesn't want to sell you one, the official popcorn bag should do the trick.

https://twitter.com/RENews_X/status/2104728868162826249

The devil is in the details, so to really sell the idea that you've been through hell and back, you'll need to do some distressing on the outfit. For example, the thumbs on the gloves were cut off and replaced with stitches, and to scuff up the pants, you can use sandpaper to wear them down.

Fake blood will seal the deal, and you can easily make a bucket of the stuff with corn syrup and food coloring to nail the viscosity--a word of caution: it can be very sticky once applied. Dribble the concoction on your costume, get some friends to chuck massive water balloons at you as you sprint down a deserted street, and you'll be ready to win a few Halloween contests.

After two weeks at the box office, Resident Evil has scared up some impressive numbers. The film kicked off its run by breaking the record for the biggest opening weekend in the franchise, and so far, it has made more than  $100 million at the North American box office, beating the record that had previously been set by 2010's Resident Evil: Afterlife ($60 million). Currently, it's the fourth highest-grossing live-action Resident Evil movie so far, and it's getting closer to usurping 2016’s Resident Evil: The Final Chapter ($312 million) as the highest-grossing film in the series.

Strangely, the movie has only had a "moderate" effect on Resident Evil game sales, as the movie reenergized the existing fanbase and pumped up engagement for the franchise in September.

The creator of a mod project that sought to bring Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 5 to Switch is closing up shop, apparently at the request of rights owner Take-Two. This action comes in the same month that Rockstar published a new "Mod Guidelines" notice informing people they need to "respect our games" and are not allowed to modify its games to operate on consoles or devices that are not officially supported by Rockstar. GTA 5 was never released on Switch.

Paralympics Productions announced (via GamesRadar) that it will shut down on October 3. The developer thanked people for their support and apologized for not being able to deliver GTA 5 for Switch.

He also said he's "thankful for Take-Two's mercy," which makes it sound like this situation could have been worse for the modder.

"This is the definitive end," the developer wrote. "Peace out, girl scouts."

https://twitter.com/M0jso/status/2104610351358820703?

The developer went on to say that they had received a cease-and-desist notice. He said he plans to comply with this because "I'm not an idiot." No legal action has taken place as of yet, he added.

In other replies, the developer responded to people asking him to release his code so others could pick it up and take things from there. He said he won't do this because it would escalate the cease-and-desist into a formal lawsuit.

He could, in theory, fight Take-Two in court, but the developer said he would most likely lose. "They have solid grounds and with me being cocky, it shows real intent for 'mayhem," he said. "So I can't even appeal to a jury or something like I didn't know what I was getting into."

The GTA 5 port for Switch from Paralympics Productions was due to be released "in the coming days," the developer added. "I'm not releasing anything new and I'm not coming back. It's truly over. And no, no one will take over the project."

GTA 5 never came to Switch, and GTA 6 is not expected to be released on Switch 2. However, it was previously reported that Rockstar was exploring the possibility of bringing GTA 6 to Switch 2.

The demand for PlayStation 5 Pro consoles is currently outpacing supply in Japan, due to ongoing memory shortages that have yet to be resolved. Now, Sony is offering Japanese players a unique way to earn their way into a PS5 Pro lottery system, but only if they can demonstrate that they've already been gaming at a certain level.

Sony's Japanese PlayStation blog notes that players who want to enter the PS5 Pro lottery must have 60 hours of gameplay time on their PlayStation accounts between September 2024 and September 2026. That time can be split between PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5 consoles.

Some hardcore gamers can get in 60 hours of playtime in a week or even more. So, the threshold isn't too extreme. But it's likely in place to prevent scalpers from getting their hands on PS5 Pros and flipping them on the secondary market at greatly inflated prices.

If Japanese players meet the criteria laid out by Sony, they will be entered in the lottery system and subsequently notified that they have a chance to purchase a PS5 Pro directly from the gaming publisher. However, if any buyers fail to act on their opportunity, their systems will be offered to other players in a future lottery.

Sony's decision to stop supporting physical PS5 discs starting in 2028 has drawn pushback from some players, but the company appears dead set on following through with that edict. Earlier this month, Sony settled a lawsuit alleging that its PlayStation Store violated state and federal laws governing digital game prices. Sony admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement, which is valued at nearly $8 million.

Looking ahead to next year, Sony has revealed that it will be skipping the 2027 CES, which will mark the end of an association with the event that dates back decades.

Marvel's Wolverine might not be a critical hit, but it's doing surprisingly well commercially. The new superhero adventure from Insomniac Games faced stiff opposition from new releases and established live-service titles at launch, but according to the analytics firm Circana and its engagement tracker, Marvel's Wolverine broke a live-service stranglehold on the PlayStation charts.

For the week ending September 19, Marvel's Wolverine ranked seventh on Circana's Top 10 Titles by weekly active users in the US chart. Sandwiched between Marvel Rivals (sixth place) and Minecraft (eighth place), that's a good start for the game, which is the only single-player title in the top 10--although Minecraft players might disagree. "The average US Marvel's Wolverine player engaged with the title for 14.2 hours during the week, according to Circana's Player Engagement Tracker," Circana's Mat Piscatella wrote. "This ranked in the top 20 across all titles on PlayStation for the week."

https://bsky.app/profile/matpiscatella.bsky.social/post/3mwliydz3wc24

While NBA 2K27, Fortnite, and Roblox remained on top, seventh place is still a relatively impressive feat for a game like Marvel's Wolverine, which is mostly a one-and-done experience. Unlike Marvel's Spider-Man and its bustling open-world slice of Manhattan, there's little reason to return to it beyond a New Game Plus mode that unlocks new skills, and this Wolverine game can easily be completed within a week.

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

It has also been the subject of criticism, leading to hotfixes in which Insomniac toned down the infamous scent trails to guide players toward collectibles. Sony hasn't commented on the game's overall sales performance yet, but it's estimated that Marvel's Wolverine has sold through 1.9 million units as of September 18.

"Wolverine has sold well, but its commercial long tail is limited by its mixed media and streamer reception," Alinea Analytics' Rhys Elliott wrote recently. Unlike Spider-Man, which reviewed insanely well and has stayed evergreen for years, this one's tail will be shorter and lumpier, but still there. Wolverine will have secondary volume bumps driven by MCU X-Men marketing beats, holiday gifting, and new PS5 owners looking for high-budget graphics showcases. The backlash was fast and hard, but that discourse will sail clean over the heads of the millions of more passive, mainstream players who make up the bulk of this audience. Those folks will buy Wolverine for the brand, get it for Christmas, and never once open Reddit to find out they were supposed to be angry."

Marvel’s Wolverine was released on September 15, and sales were seemingly strong right out of the gate, with the game reportedly exceeding the lifetime sales of Death Stranding 2 on PS5 in just a few days. 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.

Naughty Dog studio head Neil Druckmann has dropped some tantalizing news for fans of The Last of Us, confirming the studio is currently working on not one, but two new The Last of Us projects. Druckmann also gave an update on Intergalactic, saying Naughty Dog will fully reveal the sci-fi game in 2027.

The Last of Us Day is marked on September 26, the day that was the start of the zombie apocalypse in the game's lore, and Naughty Dog celebrated the 2026 event with a charity livestream, fan giveaways, and new collaborations. The studio also launched new official The Last of Us social media accounts, hinting that our time with the franchise is far from over.

https://twitter.com/thelastofus/status/2104720569661063523?s=20

In a brief post reflecting on the day, studio head Neil Druckmann dropped a few major announcements for Naughty Dog's future, chief among them that there are two new The Last of Us projects currently in the early stages of development. "Both projects will expand the canon of The Last of Us beyond Part 1 and Part 2, Druckmann said. "The world of The Last of Us means a great deal to us, and we wouldn’t return to it unless we had something meaningful to say. We believe these stories are worth telling."

It's not clear whether either of the games will be The Last of Us Part 3, and we're unlikely to find out for some time--Druckman added that both projects are in very early stages, so details are locked down tight.

Druckmann also shared a brief update on Naughty Dog's current main project, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. The studio has been relatively quiet since the game was first announced in 2024--and that silence will continue for the rest of this year. Druckmann said he project needs a little more time to cook before it's ready to be fully revealed in 2027. "We know it's been a long time since we've had much to share with you," he acknowledged. "We're working incredibly hard to make something worthy of your patience."

In other The Last of Us news, work on season 3 of HBO's television adaptation continues, with more of the game's voice actors recently joining the TV cast. Season 3 might be the end of the acclaimed TV series, with showrunner Craig Mazin considering condensing his original four-season plan down to three.

Activision has made a key announcement about how Double XP tokens work in the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, and it sounds like good news.

Beginning with MW4, 2XP tokens will only count down when you're actually in a match. Previously, the timer would tick down when you were in a game's menus or searching for a match. That's not ideal for a lot of reasons, obviously.

https://twitter.com/CallofDuty/status/2104619925881168010

If you're anything like me, sometimes you have to get up to let your dog out. Or you want to get up to grab some food or a drink. Or, you might sit in the game's menus when nature calls. Now, you can do those things and still get the full amount of 2XP without your bonus going to waste.

Beyond this, several key developers at Infinity Ward discussed a range of hot topics about MW4 in a newly published "The Road to Launch" video. Check it out below to hear what the team had to say about time-to-kill values, spawning algorithms, and UI issues following the game's multiple rounds of beta testing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG68xO8uuq4

This is just the latest positive-sounding update for MW4, following the previous confirmation that players will be able to toggle off skins they don't want to see in Warzone--though the toggle is not supported for MW4 itself yet.

Modern Warfare 4 launches on October 23 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, and PC. The game marks the first Call of Duty release on a Nintendo platform since 2013's Call of Duty: Ghosts. It's also the first game since Ghosts to skip PS4 and Xbox One.

World of Warcraft: Forever's beta is in full swing, and if its popularity is any indication of how the full launch might go, it's going to be big, as Blizzard has had to increase the beta's population cap multiple times.

Forever was Blizzard's big finale during its BlizzCon 2026 opening ceremony, a modified version of WoW Classic that keeps the old-school MMORPG's gameplay and world but brings plenty of new changes and content as well. It's something WoW Classic players have asked for years, and Blizzard is now finally ready to deliver.

The beta kicked off September 17 with an initial level cap of 20 and will run through October 21, with Forever's full launch slated for November 4. It's important to note that it's not an open beta that anyone can join. Players need to purchase the $60 Skyborne Epic Pack (which unlocks the new playable Skyborne race in Forever) to gain access.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buBZRiQXl8U&t=1s

Despite a $60 barrier to entry, everything points towards the beta being huge. From the get go, the beta ran into problems due to sheer popularity, with WoW: Forever senior game producer Tom Ellis (who has since deleted their X account) posting a technical breakdown that boiled many of the beta's initial issues down to the game's beta environment simply not being accustomed to such high demand.

It wasn't long before other developers at Blizzard began to chime in on how unprecedented the Forever's beta seemed to be. WoW executive producer Holly Longdale posted that Forever's beta was "setting records." Two days later on September 19, she said "launch will be wild…and we are here for it, come what may."

Most recently, Longdale chimed in about the beta's success once more. On September 27, she wrote Blizzard had to increase the beta's population cap once again. "The wild ride continues," she said.

https://twitter.com/TheWindstalker/status/2104270224568541611?s=20

Longdale hasn't been the only one commenting on how big the beta seems to be. Senior game designer Josh Greenfield, who frequently answers from the game's community on X, said the beta "has been crazy."

"The craziest numbers I've seen in 17 years working at Blizzard and almost 8 years on Classic," Greenfield said. "We've got something really special here." 

https://twitter.com/AggrendWoW/status/2101015233506750526?s=20

When asked how Blizzard was preparing to handle potential login queues at launch, Greenfield said the beta itself was the answer, as the team had found and fixed more problems on beta launch day than it would have in six months of internal testing. 

Still, given how some previous WoW launches have gone, it certainly wouldn't be surprising if Forever were to run into technical issues at launch, despite the game essentially doing away with traditional servers. Blizzard hasn't yet released exact beta numbers, but off of everything we've seen so far, Forever's launch is shaping up to be a doozy.

For more on WoW: Forever, be sure check out how Blizzard approached designing over 1,000 new quests, why it won't include Season of Discovery's biggest changes, and how big a deal it is that it's launching with full controller support.

Sony has attended every edition of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) since it debuted in 1967, but that's ending for the upcoming show in January 2027. This means there won't be any PlayStation news, at least not directly from Sony.

The company confirmed to Bloomberg that it's pulling out of the show this year following a strategic evaluation of its approach to "events and communications based on the needs and priorities of our diverse business."

The company went on to say that today it's putting more focus on "entertainment," including games, anime, films, and music. CES, on the other hand, is primarily a technology show.

What PlayStation announcements have there been at CES before?

Sony's showing at CES historically includes a keynote address, featuring executives and creative leaders from the company discussing upcoming technologies and products. Sony never made the most momentous PlayStation announcements at its CES events over the years, but it was an event that fans could expect some news, at least.

For example, in 2020, then-PlayStation boss Jim Ryan revealed the PS5 logo at CES. At the time, people were clamoring for any morsel of news about the console, and fans roasted Sony for revealing only the logo. You can re-live the moment where everyone learned that the logo would be the most predictable logo ever in the video below. The juicier details like the release date, price, and technical specifics were saved for later events dedicated to the system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E429XW4isFs

At CES 2022, Sony unveiled PlayStation VR2 and a new game for it, Horizon: Call of the Mountain. In more recent years, Sony's PlayStation-related announcements at CES pertained to the company's transmedia adaptations, including the announcement of Horizon and Helldivers movies.

Microsoft, for its part, revealed the original Xbox with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson at CES 2001, but the company didn't carry the tradition forward with similarly big Xbox announcements at CES over the years. Nintendo, meanwhile, famously revealed the first version of the NES at CES in 1984--it was unveiled as a prototype known as the Advanced Video System.

CES 2027 takes place January 6-9 in Las Vegas.

Diablo 4 Season 15 is stuffed full of secrets years in the making, and despite the season having launched two weeks ago, players keep discovering new ones. 

Season 15, Hell's Legacy, is a major nostalgia trip for Diablo fans. It adds new dungeons, boss fights, and items from previous Diablo games to Diablo 4, as players team up with Deckard Cain to defeat echoes of the Prime Evils and harness some of their iconic powers.

But those references to previous games go far beyond a handful of dungeons and bosses. It also added a full Horadric Cube's worth of secrets. Some stem from older games in the franchise, while others are a continuation of ones added in Diablo 4 that players have worked towards uncovering for years. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MabZDgAHLA

After years of searching, Blizzard finally gave players the culmination of its secret cow-level hunt, as players who have gone through the laborious task of reaching the cow level and battling the cow king can now go even one step further to take on Moophisto, the Divine Bovine. In that same vein, players can also finally catch Mefishto, a secret fishing boss Blizzard went as far as to tease with a bizarre infomercial back when the game's Lord of Hatred expansion launched. Players were also quick to discover all kinds of new runewords and items from previous Diablo games, like the highly coveted Enigma that converts each class' evade into a teleport.

But those are just some of the secrets. Players can also visit Old Tristram (complete with Diablo 1 NPCs like Griswold, Wirt and Adria) by finding all of Deckard Cain's journals, and even take on an Uber Prime Evil boss encounter there like in Diablo 2. For those who like their secrets silly, Diablo 3's Whimsyshire is now in the game after being teased as part of the cow-level quest, complete with hundreds of colorful killer teddy bears and unicorns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1QzrbZHR3g

One of the coolest secrets in the seasons is the next phase of the Lucky Coin questline that players have been scratching their heads about since Diablo 4's launch. In Season 15, the last of these lucky coins can now be found. By converting each coin into a special jewelry item, equipping them, and going to Lorath's old house, a portal opens to an all-new Echo of the Horadrim boss fight, where players take on the tormented souls of Lorath, Neyrelle, and Donan.

That might seem like a fitting end to the season's secrets, but nearly all of these secrets lead to even more puzzles for the community to solve. There still seem to be some secrets involving the cow level, as one piece of the cow-themed Bovine armor set is still missing. Players have fished up a teddy bear head that appears to be a reference to a quest from Diablo's Hellfire expansion and may be linked to Whimsyshire.

The Horadrim boss encounter rewards players with a Horadric Coin, the purpose of which is still a mystery. Players have discovered a secret sheep level as part of the cow level, one that rewards an item called Map of the Stars that looks to be a reference to a deleted quest in Diablo 1. The quest item's description even states, "Oh for hell's sake, what now!?," seeming to imply there's still plenty more mysteries to keep Diablo 4 secret hunters busy.

Diablo lore expert Loatheburger has a great breakdown of the season's remaining secrets, including one that may involve salvaging a certain number of Stone of Jordan rings in order to summon a special Diablo boss fight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y4gj1KkjBQ

After a disappointing Season 14, Hell's Legacy looks to have put Blizzard's ARPG back on the right footing with its crowd-pleasing theme and a giant heaping of content ripped from older Diablo games, even as players are becoming stronger than ever with a Mythic Unique trick that might not be intentional.

Though Diablo 4 won't receive new expansions as the focus shifts to the development of Diablo 5, due to release in 2029, it will continue to receive new seasons long into the future, Blizzard has said. The Amazon will be added as a standalone class DLC in the first half of next year.

The main voice actor cast for upcoming soulslike Valor Mortis has been revealed, and its star-studded lineup features the surprising addition of a name better known for fronting a black metal band.

Adam "Nergal" Darski will play the role of Captain Raphael. If his impressive growls and screams in Behemoth are anything to go by, players can expect a pretty dramatic rendition of the character.

It's not his first rodeo, surprisingly. He also voiced The Black Cat in 2022's Blacktail and was the narrator for Apocalipsis: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in 2018.

https://youtu.be/JWD4BN8KUZ8

He's joining an impressive roster of voice actors, including Baldur's Gate 3 and Expedition 33's Jennifer English as The Shrike and Onimusha: Way of the Sword and Crimson Desert's James Alexander as William Dowsett. Napoleon Bonaparte will be played by Vincent Cassel, who has starred in the Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen films as François Toulour.

Mars Lipowski, who is best known for portraying Sobieslaw "Gromsko" Kosciuszko in the Call of Duty franchise, will take on the role of Lucjan Skawinski. Will De Renzy-Martin, who played Coen in The Blood of Dawnwalker, will portray James Stewart. Finally, Yvan Chamouiseau will step into the shoes of Louis Moreau.

Valor Mortis is a first-person action soulslike from the developer of Ghostrunner. Set in an alternate 19th century Eastern Europe, Napoleon's endless war has led to a supernatural plague. You'll follow William, played by Alexander, as he fights to survive against his former comrades who are now undead monsters.

Valor Mortis is set for release on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC on October 13, and will be priced at $40 because this fall has a jam-packed release schedule, the developer admitted recently. It was originally scheduled for launch on September 24, but due to how busy September was, it was delayed by a few weeks.

If you're a fan of The Witcher franchise, you're getting a lot of new stuff over the next few years, starting this week with the launch of The Witcher 3 Remastered.

Here's what's on tap for The Witcher over the next few years:

2026

The Witcher 3 Remastered, which includes a bevy of technical and graphical updates and improvements, releases on September 29. The long-awaited remaster, which is free for people who already own the game, includes a reimagined skill system, an expanded photo mode, improved combat, and a new transmog feature. Check out GameSpot's in-depth breakdown of what's new in the remaster to find out more. Just be aware, the graphical overhaul isn't necessarily an entirely positive one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oEdB5S2d3U 2027

After that will come a new expansion for The Witcher 3, Songs of the Past, in 2027. The expansion was originally targeting a 2026 release, but it was pushed to 2027 to make it as good and polished as possible.

Songs of the Past takes Geralt on one last ride “before passing the torch.” Players will venture to the location of Letten, home of Geralt's friendly bard companion, Dandelion. There is a new main quest called "A Bed of Thorns" where Geralt will meet up with Lilla, who appears to be a potential love interest for Geralt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwVa3RPBtvo

Also in 2027? That's when The Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski said he plans to finish the next entry in the novel series, telling the next Geralt of Rivia story.

At the Copernicon event in Torun, Poland recently, Wiedzminlandia reported (via Redanian Intelligence) that Sapkowski said he plans to finish the book by the end of 2027, but it's unclear how soon after that it may actually release. Sapkowski's plans could change, but in any event, a new book is coming, and fans of The Witcher may be excited about that.

2028

Then in 2028, CD Projekt Red plans to release The Witcher 4. The game doesn't star Geralt, but instead focuses on Ciri and makes her the playable character. Geralt is set to appear in the game, however.

Given The Witcher 4 is coming out in 2028, it likely won't be a on a disc for console due to Sony's decision to end support for physical media. There will be some kind of physical version of the game, however.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c1rokekgnY 2029 and beyond

CD Projekt Red previously outlined an ambitious plan to release a new trilogy of The Witcher games within a six-year window that begins with The Witcher 4's launch in 2028. If that schedule holds, fans can expect The Witcher 5 and The Witcher 6 to launch by the end of 2034. That's a lot of Witcher games in a relatively short amount of time. CD Projekt Red is known to delay most of its big games, so there is definitely no guarantee that the plan will hold.

Other Witcher projects

Beyond all of these projects from The Witcher franchise, CD Projekt Red is believed to be working on a multiplayer Witcher game. The game has undergone numerous changes over the years, and the developer has never shown it off.

Additionally, CD Projekt is working with Scopely on a new mobile game based on one of its franchises. It's not confirmed that it's The Witcher, however; another candidate could be Cyberpunk.

Xbox has announced its next collaboration, and it's a partnership with Prince St. Pizza for a specially branded Gears of War pizza and a $60 pizza-cutter.

Microsoft and Prince St. Pizza teamed up to make a Prototype Lancer pizza-cutter to promote this October's Gears of War: E-Day, and it's available for $60. To justify the steep price tag, Prince St. Pizza says it's a hefty metal cutter featuring a stainless steel blade and a handle that's meant to make you feel like you're wielding the iconic gun. The pizza-cutter also comes with the in-game pizza emblem. It does look pretty great, but it also looks like a real pain the butt to clean if you're a messy person like me.

If anyone is wondering why it's called the Prototype Lancer and not just the Lancer, that's the special solution the developers came up with to explain why the heck a Lancer would even be in a prequel like E-Day. In the Gears of War lore, the weapon was created a year after the events of Emergence Day. However, you can't have a Gears game without the Lancer, so the developers called it a Prototype Lancer.

Incredible.

As for the pizza itself, it's called the Emergence Pie, and it's themed around this October's Gears of War: E-Day, which is a prequel that tells the story of Emergence Day. The pizza includes spicy vodka red sauce and mozzarella cheese, along with proteins in the form of pepperoni and sausage. The pizza is also doused with spicy Italian chili crisp.

"Rugged, relentless, and built to hit hard, it’s the kind of pie that doesn’t go quietly," reads a line from Microsoft's blog post. It's also a pizza that doesn't go quietly for your wallet, as it costs a mighty $46 before taxes or delivery fees if you're getting it sent to your home.

The Gears of War pizza costs $46.

The Emergence Pie is available now through November 1 at Prince St. Pizza locations in the US and Canada. Prince St. Pizza is not exactly a household name, and there are only about 20 locations in the world in places like Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, and New York City. The single location in Canada can be found in Toronto.

Anyone who buys the Emergence Pie also gets a code to unlock a pizza emblem in E-Day.

Gears of War: E-Day releases on October 6 for PC and Xbox Series X|S, and it's available at launch via Xbox Game Pass. People can buy the $100 premium edition to play five days early.

Despite obvious evidence that Microsoft was planning to release E-Day on PS5, the company denied that it made a last-minute decision to cancel a PS5 version. The company did not deny the existence of a PS5 version, however. E-Day is not a timed-exclusive for Xbox, Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg has said, leading some to believe it will never come to PS5. However, Greenberg said in 2021 that Starfield was not a timed exclusive on Xbox … and then it came to PS5.

Zach Cregger's highly acclaimed Resident Evil movie had another strong showing at the box office for its second weekend, propelling the film to break another franchise record. It already broke the record for biggest opening weekend for the franchise, and now the movie has made more than $100 million domestically.

That's a new record for the franchise--before this, the biggest success domestically for the franchise was 2010's Resident Evil: Afterlife ($60 million). Globally, Resident Evil has now made $196.5 million against a reported $75 million production budget (not counting marketing costs).

The highest-grossing Resident Evil movie globally is Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, which made $312 million worldwide. Time will tell if 2026's Resident Evil will catch up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNd1gb19A-c

Check out the list below to see how the other mainstream theatrical Resident Evil movies did at the domestic box office.

Director Paul W.S. Anderson made six Resident Evil movies that starred his wife, Milla Jovovich, and while none of them individually did very well commercially or critically, they combined to earn over $1 billion worldwide.

The worst-performing theatrical Resident Evil movie was 2021's Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, which made just $17 million domestically. It was directed by Johannes Roberts and starred Kaya Scodelario as Claire Redfield and Avan Jogia as Leon S. Kennedy.

After that film disappointed, rights-owner Constantin put the franchise on hiatus and planned to keep it on ice until Cregger came to the company with a pitch for Resident Evil.

His movie is doing great, so people are wondering if there will be a sequel. That remains to be seen, and while Cregger has said he has ideas for where they story could go next, he's also said he is finished with franchise movies.

The Resident Evil movie is a huge success, but the recent lift in sales of games in the series is not completely attributable to that, according to a research firm.

Resident Evil domestic box office results

1. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021) - $17,000,612
2. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016) - $26,830,068
3. Resident Evil (2002) - $40,119,709
4. Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) - $42,345,531
5. Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) - $50,648,679
6. Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) - $51,201,453
7. Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) - $60,128,566
8. Resident Evil 2026 (so far) - $103,476,247

HBO has announced further casting details for the upcoming third and possibly final season of The Last of Us.

Two actors from the games are set to appear in Season 3--Laura Bailey and Ian Alexander--along with prolific veteran actor John Goodman, as relayed by Deadline.

Bailey played Abby in Naughty Dog's The Last of Us: Part II, with Alexander portraying Lev. For the TV show, however, Kyriana Kratter is set to play Lev, while Kaitlyn Dever plays Abby.

Bailey will play Elizabeth, one of the Seraphite leaders, while Alexander will portray Paco, alongside Goodman as Joey. Joey and Paco are described as "Heroes of the Highway," but that's all we know. Goodman has worked with HBO before, starring on the comedy series The Righteous Gemstones.

Bailey's performance as Abby was memorable, and controversial. She received a lot of online hate, and people even sent death threats to her newborn baby.

John Goodman previously appeared on another HBO show, The Righteous Gemstones. Many actors from the games have been on the show

Bailey and Alexander are just the latest actors from the games to appear on the HBO show, following Merle Dandridge and Jeffrey Wright reprising their characters Marlene and Isaac, respectively.

Ashley Johnson, who played Ellie in the games, played Ellie's mom in Season 1. Troy Baker, who played Joel in the games, played James on the show. Jeffrey Pierce, who played Tommy in The Last of Us, appeared on the show as a new character, Perry.

Season 3 could be its last

HBO programming boss Casey Bloys has said on multiple occasions that he believes Season 3 could be the last one for The Last of Us. However, he's also acknowledged that the question might be better answered by showrunner Craig Mazin, who is plotting out the series and previously said he needed four seasons to wrap things up. Alternatively, Mazin is reportedly considering making Season 3 one long season as opposed to wrapping things up with Season 4.

A big creative shift

In a big shift for the series, franchise creator Naughty Dog is not involved creatively in Season 3, and Neil Druckmann dropped out as a writer/director. People have speculated about what this could mean, but Druckmann, for his part, said he left the show to focus on his work on Naughty Dog’s games.

He is currently directing Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, and if it’s true that Naughty Dog is also making The Last of Us 3, he’s probably involved in that, too.