Liquid Swords, the Swedish studio behind Samson, is declared bankrupt after its staff went two months unpaid

The rest of the day

10 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

1. 02

   Modern Warfare 4's story wins early praise

   Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, this year's game in the war series, opened its story mode on 16 October to people who ordered it digitally. [7] Early reviews from IGN, GameSpot and PC Gamer mostly praise it. [4][3][5] IGN calls it the best Modern Warfare story since the series restarted in 2019. [4] Nobody has given a score yet, because reviewers want more time with the online modes first. [6] The full game goes on sale on 23 October. [6]

   Why it matters — Reviewers set it against Modern Warfare 3 from 2023 and last year's Black Ops 7, whose stories were poorly received. [4][6] Players who pre-ordered digitally also get the online mode DMZ on 20 October. [7]

2. 03

   Wizards of the Coast refuses to recognise union

   Wizards of the Coast, the company behind Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, told its staff union it will not recognise it without a vote, the union says. [9] The refusal covers the D&D team and Studio X, the creative staff behind Magic. [9] It is the second time this year: staff on Magic's online game formed a union in June, and the company did not recognise that one either. [9] Wizards says it is "not neutral" on unions but will respect the vote. [9]

   $568m profitWizards and digital games

   vsvs

   $62m lossConsumer products

   Why it matters — The union wants fair pay, job security, lighter workloads and protection from AI. [9] PC Gamer says it bargains from strength: Wizards and its digital games made $568 million in operating profit, the profit from running the business, in six months. [9]

3. 04

   Ghostwire: Tokyo is kept for the long run

   GOG, a PC game store, has added Ghostwire: Tokyo to its Preservation Program. [15] GOG promises to fix any problems that come up as Windows and other systems change over the coming decades. [15] Its version also drops the login to Bethesda.net, the publisher's own service. [15] Ghostwire is a 2022 action game from the studio Tango Gameworks, and more than 6 million people have played it. [15]

   Why it matters — Tango would be closed now if Krafton, the company that owns PUBG, had not bought it after Xbox shut it. [15] GOG's promise means the game should keep working whatever happens to the studio that made it. [15]

4. 05

   China's game makers aim at the world

   Hoothanes Technology, a studio in Hangzhou, China, is making The Defiant, a war game about Chinese forces fighting Japan's army in the 1930s and 1940s, DW reports. [16] More than 700 million people in China play games regularly, according to the research firm Newzoo. [16] Every game sold there needs a government licence after several layers of approval, says George Osborn, a journalist who advises governments on games. [16] Children may play online for at most three hours a week. [16]

   Children in China3 hours a week

   vsvs

   Adults in Chinano time limit

   Why it matters — Foreign studios must pass the same rules to sell in China, and Osborn fears they will cut things before being asked, such as queer characters. [16] Black Myth: Wukong showed in 2024 that a Chinese game can sell around the world. [16]

5. 06

   Dawnwalker's big update comes next week

   Rebel Wolves, a studio started by former Witcher developers, will release update 1.1 for its vampire game The Blood of Dawnwalker next week. [11][10] It adds an even easier Story mode, while the old one is renamed Forgiving, and a potion that resets a player's skills. [10][12][14] The update brings more than 1,000 fixes, and the Japanese version on Steam gets its blood and gore back. [10][12] Players will also be able to pet dogs and cats. [13]

   Why it matters — The game sold 1 million copies in its first two days, so the fixes reach a large group who already own it. [11] It still lacks New Game Plus, a way to replay with skills kept, which fans have asked for since launch. [10]

6. 07

   Other games step around GTA 6

   Grand Theft Auto 6 comes out in November, and Polygon says many developers moved their games out of that month so they would not be lost next to it. [17] Some still launch: Blizzard's World of Warcraft: Forever on 4 November and Nintendo's remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on 5 November. [17] Polygon calls several of them counter-programming, games aimed at people who will not play GTA 6. [17]

   Why it matters — Barbie Rewind, a set of old Barbie games out on 12 November, and Milki Delivery, a calm game about delivering milk, are aimed at players GTA 6 does not reach. [17] GTA 6 is not coming to the Switch 2, and Polygon says Nintendo is answering it with the Ocarina remake on that machine. [17]

7. 08

   Battlefield 6 promises to fix a misspelling

   Battlefield Studios, which makes EA's shooter Battlefield 6, answered players angry about two new outfits added on 13 October. [18] One armband reads "Secuty" instead of "Security", and the studio says it will be fixed in November. [18] A second outfit with five pistol holsters is on purpose, a joke about action films, it says. [18] Some fans blamed AI tools, and the studio did not say how the mistake happened. [18]

   Why it matters — The studio says it is checking how the outfits got past its quality checks. [18] The rest of the season follows on dates it has set: a new map on 10 November and map updates on 8 December. [18]

8. 09

   An old BioWare game still has its own worlds

   Neverwinter Nights, a role-playing game by BioWare more than 20 years old, still runs on servers that players host, Ars Technica reports. [22] A few hundred people were playing across about two dozen servers when the writer checked. [22] Arelith, one of the biggest servers, had its most players about two years ago, says Daniel Morris, who runs it. [22] Its online chat group has 5,000 members. [22]

   Why it matters — The game came with tools to build worlds and a mode where one player runs the story, like the host of a tabletop game. [22] Ars says most buyers played it alone and few used the building tools, so it is remembered less than BioWare's other games, while those few kept it alive. [22]

9. 10

   The Mortuary Assistant's director dies

   Jeremiah Kipp, the director of The Mortuary Assistant film, has died, his partner Lindsay Katt said. [19] The film came out this year and is based on a 2022 indie horror game; it follows a woman working shifts in a morgue. [19] It was the biggest film of his career. [19] Dread, the company that put out the film, sent its condolences to his family. [19]

   Why it matters — Kipp had just finished filming Faceless, a horror film based on Cambodian folklore, Deadline reported. [19] DreadXP, which published the game, is making more films from games, including a deal with the film studio Blumhouse to adapt Amanda the Adventurer. [19]

10. 11

    A Bloodlines remaster is rumoured, not announced

    A Reddit user who says they have leaked games before claims a remaster of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines is in the works. [20] Bloodlines is a cult role-playing game from 2004. [20] Separately, a fan said the metal band Genitorturers told a Brooklyn crowd on 15 October that a remake is coming. [21] No remaster has been announced, and PC Gamer found no one to back up the concert story. [20][21]

    Why it matters — PC Gamer says the rights to Bloodlines are split, with Activision one of several holders, and it has asked Activision to comment. [21] The leaker also claims many games being made now will never come out. [20]