Gaming · Monday, 26 October 2026

01 Briefing what happened

Epic's boss Tim Sweeney attacks Steam's rule that games must say if they use AI, calling it political and agreeing it is an opening for Epic's store

Tim Sweeney, who runs Epic Games, spent the weekend attacking the rule on Steam, the biggest PC game store, that makes developers say when a game uses AI. He called it political and agreed it was a chance for Epic. Elsewhere, 200,000 people asked EA to keep Mass Effect alive, an anime film about tiny animals took 45% of South Korea's cinema takings, and Vinland Saga's creator said no third season is being made.

30%

of most sales, kept by Steam as its fee

Sweeney says the AI label costs developers more than that fee. [1]

18,433 vs 1,100

games released in 2024 on Steam, against Epic's store

PC Gamer's figures; more games means more for a store to sort. [1]

$20m

given to OpenAI by Valve's co-founder Gabe Newell

It went to OpenAI while it was still a non-profit. [1]

The lead story — what happened

Tim Sweeney, who runs Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite and owner of the Epic Games Store, spent 24 and 25 October posting on X against a rule on Steam. [1]
Steam is the biggest store for PC games, run by the company Valve. Its rule makes developers tell buyers when a game was made with AI tools. [1]
Sweeney wrote that these AI statements are 'just as partisan as mandatory political essays'. [1]
He also wrote that Valve, 'besides taking 30%', takes an even larger share of developers' living by inviting 'AI hate campaigns'. [1] The 30% is the cut Steam keeps from most sales.
When another user called it a big opening for Epic, Sweeney replied 'Yep!'. [1]
Valve brought the rule in while the law on AI was unclear, and said it would revisit the decision when necessary. [1]
Steam released 18,433 games in 2024, against about 1,100 on Epic's store, so Valve has far more games to sort. [1]
PC Gamer points out that Valve is not against AI: its co-founder Gabe Newell gave $20 million to OpenAI when it was a non-profit. [1]
Siliconera, a games news site, writes that studies have found AI labels cut a game's sales. [2] It names no study, so that claim is unchecked.
Sweeney's own company moved its Disney shooter to 'AI first' work this month, then announced a game contest that required AI before dropping that requirement. [1]
Players asked Valve for a filter to hide AI-made games during its demo festival, Steam Next Fest, which opened on 19 October. [3]
Some small studios now hold back public demos because AI tools can copy a game fast, Ars Technica reports. [4]

Steam, 202418,433 games

Epic Games Store, 20241,100 games

Games released on each store in 2024. Steam had about 17 times as many to label and sort.

Who is involved

Tim Sweeney

founder and boss of Epic Games, which makes Fortnite and runs the Epic Games Store; he is attacking Steam's AI rule
Valve

the US company that runs Steam, the biggest PC game store; it requires the AI label
Developers who use AI

the people who must fill in the label; Sweeney says it costs them sales
Steam players

the buyers who read the label; some asked for a filter to hide AI games

How it unfolded

Earlier Valve adds the AI label while the law is unclear and says it will revisit it [1]
October Epic moves its Disney shooter to 'AI first' work [1]
19 Oct Steam Next Fest opens; players ask for a no-AI filter [3]
24 Oct Sweeney calls the labels political and agrees they open a door for Epic [1]
25 Oct Sweeney says Valve is 'burning down the businesses of good developers' [1]

Where this points

Valve has said it will revisit the rule when necessary, and PC Gamer's writer expects an update; the next test is whether Valve answers Sweeney or rewrites the label. [1]

Signals on this beat

The bar and the word are our reading of how hard each one is pushing, and the arrow is where it is heading.

Fights over AI in games High↑

Epic's boss calls Steam's AI label political and bad for developers. [1] A free Knightmare game is promoted with the promise that everything in it was made by real people. [27] The first voice of Lara Croft says her agency writes AI out of her contracts. [12]

Fans organising for themselves Building↑

More than 200,000 people signed a petition asking EA to keep making Mass Effect games. [5] Umamusume fans held their own day out in California after the official concert was cancelled. [28] Tomb Raider fans met in Derby, England, for the game's 30th birthday. [10]

Old names brought back Building→

Tomb Raider's 1996 game is being remade for February 2027. [10] Bandai Namco gave a ten-year-old Dragon Ball game a free update that unlocks items in its sequel. [25] Riot brought back K/DA, its pop group of game characters, after six years. [29]

Japanese stories selling abroad High↑

Chiikawa, a Japanese anime film, took 44.7% of South Korea's cinema takings last weekend. [13] Akane-banashi, an anime about Japanese comic storytelling, streams free on YouTube in the Americas and on Netflix. [22] Resident Evil, a film of a Japanese game, led China's box office for a third weekend. [15]

Studios with no free team Building→

Vinland Saga's studio, MAPPA, is busy with at least five other shows, and no third season is being made. [17] Our Last Crusade's second season stopped after four episodes in 2024 and restarted the next April. [20]

The rest of the day

17 more stories on this beat.

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

02
200,000 sign to save Mass Effect

A petition asking EA to keep making Mass Effect games passed 200,000 signatures over the weekend. [5] It asks EA, which shut BioWare, the studio behind the series, last week, either to fund new games or to license the name to another studio. [6][7] Jennifer Hale, a voice of the hero Commander Shepard, imagined fans and investors funding a new team together. [5] Its technical director said the cancelled game would have let players join old saves into parallel worlds. [9] IGN's sources at Amazon say its Mass Effect TV series is still in development. [8]

Why it matters — EA owns the name, so no fan group or studio can make a game without EA's permission. [7] The show keeps Mass Effect on screen even with no game coming.
03
Tomb Raider turns 30 with a remake

Tomb Raider, the game that made Lara Croft famous, turned 30 this weekend. [10] Amazon Game Studios and the studios Crystal Dynamics and Flying Wild Hog showed new footage of a remake, Legacy of Atlantis, at fan events in Derby and London. [10] It comes out on 12 February 2027. [10] More than 100 million Tomb Raider games have been sold since 1996. [11] A small team in Derby made the first one. [11]

Why it matters — Two studios are building the remake while Crystal Dynamics also makes a new game, Tomb Raider: Catalyst, for 2027. [10] Prime Video, Amazon's streaming service, is also making a Tomb Raider series with Sophie Turner. [12]
04
Chiikawa takes 45% of Korea's cinemas

Chiikawa the Movie, a Japanese anime film about a small cartoon character and its friends, took 44.7% of South Korea's cinema takings over 23-25 October. [13] It was its fourth weekend at number one, with $2.5 million from 320,293 tickets. [13] It has now sold 2.25 million tickets and earned $17.5 million there since 30 September. [13] A week earlier its share was 42.7%. [14] Toho, a Japanese film company, distributes it, and it comes from a manga by an artist called Nagano. [13]

3rd weekend42.7%
4th weekend44.7%
Chiikawa's share of all cinema takings in South Korea, two weekends running.

Why it matters — Its share rose from 42.7% to 44.7% between its third and fourth weekends. [13][14] Variety puts that down to children and families who keep coming. [13]
05
Capcom's films abroad: one leads, one stalls

Resident Evil, a film of Capcom's horror games, led China's box office for a third weekend, with $5.6 million. [15] It has made $64.8 million in China since 5 October. [15] China's cinemas have earned 29.1% less this year than last. [15] Capcom's other film, Street Fighter, fell 72.1% in its second US weekend to $8.6 million, and has $79.6 million worldwide. [16] Its first US weekend took $30.8 million. [16] In Japan it opened in eighth place. [16]

1st US weekend30.8 m
2nd US weekend8.6 m
Street Fighter's takings in the US, in millions of dollars, in its first two weekends.

Why it matters — Capcom, the Japanese company behind both games, did not make either film: Resident Evil is a Constantin Film and Sony film, and Legendary bought the Street Fighter film rights in 2023. [15][16] After ten days, Street Fighter's US total was 25% behind Mortal Kombat 2's. [16]
06
No third Vinland Saga season in the works

Makoto Yukimura, who wrote the Vinland Saga manga, told a fan on X that a third anime season 'is not currently in progress'. [17] The manga ended in 2025 after 20 years. [17] The first season was made by Wit Studio in 2019 and the second by MAPPA in 2023. [18] MAPPA is now making Chainsaw Man, Jujutsu Kaisen's fourth season and three new shows for 2027. [17] Neither MAPPA nor Kodansha, the manga's publisher, has commented. [18]

Why it matters — The second season was the third most watched anime on Netflix in the first half of 2023, Kotaku notes. [17] A hit can still wait years when the studio's teams are booked.
07
Date A Live ends as a film; Our Last Crusade returns

At an online event on Sunday run by Fantasia Bunko, Kadokawa's light-novel imprint, Date A Live's final story was set as a film for 26 March 2027. [19] Light novels are short illustrated books, and these anime come from them. [19] The same event said a third season of Our Last Crusade is being made. [20] Its second season was due in 2023, came in July 2024, stopped after four episodes and restarted in April 2025. [20]

Why it matters — Both shows stream outside Japan on Crunchyroll, so the news reaches viewers well beyond Japan. [19][20] The writer and character designer of the last two Date A Live seasons return for the film. [19]
08
King's Proposal anime set for 2027

Aniplex, Sony's Japanese anime company, said on Sunday that King's Proposal will become an anime in 2027. [21] Rie Takahashi will voice the lead, Saika Kuozaki, the most powerful mage in the world. [21] The light novels are by the same writer and illustrator as Date A Live. [21] Kadokawa ships the ninth novel in Japan on 18 December, and Yen Press sells them in English. [21]

Why it matters — The ninth book arrives two months after the anime news. [21] Fans of Date A Live now have a new series from the same pair.
09
Akane-banashi's second season in January

TV Asahi, a Japanese broadcaster, said the second season of Akane-banashi starts in January 2027. [22] The anime follows a girl learning rakugo, a Japanese form of comic storytelling. [22] The first season ran from April to June 2026. [22] Its full episodes stream free on YouTube in North and Latin America, with an English dub on Netflix. [22] Shueisha published the manga's 24th book on 2 October. [22]

Why it matters — The second season starts about seven months after the first ended. [22] Free episodes on YouTube carry the show to viewers in the Americas who have no Japanese TV. [22]
10
BanG Dream's Ave Mujica returns on 8 January

A sequel anime to BanG Dream! It's MyGo!!!!! and Ave Mujica will start on Japan's NTV on 8 January 2027. [23] The first Ave Mujica series aired in January 2025 and streams on Crunchyroll. [23] BanG Dream is a mix of music, anime and films that Bushiroad, a Japanese company, started in 2015. [23] A film from the project opened on 16 October. [23]

Why it matters — BanG Dream was built from the start to run across bands, anime and films, so a new season feeds the rest of the project. [23]
11
Pokemon holds its first big concert

Pokemon marked its 30th birthday with a dance-music concert at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on Saturday. [24] The DJs Marshmello and Alison Wonderland played in front of giant moving pictures of Pokemon. [24] A Pokemon Company manager said it had never done anything like it before. [24] The show was streamed online, and a second one is at London's O2 Arena on 10 November. [24]

Why it matters — The Pokemon Company said it wanted to bring dance-music fans and Pokemon fans together. [24] Pokemon's business spans games, shows and merchandise, and the concert reached people who came for the DJs. [24]
12
A ten-year-old Dragon Ball game gets a free update

Bandai Namco is giving Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 a free tenth-birthday update on 27 October, with an event called the Final Festival from 30 October. [25][26] The game came out on 25 October 2016. [25] Items earned in the festival unlock rewards in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3, due in 2027, when players link a Bandai Namco account. [26] Players also earn 25 times the usual in-game coins. [26]

Why it matters — The update rewards players of the old game for moving to the new one. [26] IGN reads the festival as the old game's send-off. [25]
13
Knightmare becomes a free game

Knightmare, a British children's TV show from 1987 to 1994, is becoming a free point-and-click game on PC next year. [27] It marks the show's 40th birthday, and its creator Tim Child has given his blessing. [27] Most of the original cast is back, including Hugo Myatt as the dungeon master Treguard. [27] Its lead, Ewen Watson, says everything in it is made by real people, not AI. [27]

Why it matters — Because it is free, there are no plans for consoles. [27] Its makers chose to promise no AI in the same week Epic's boss attacked Steam's AI labels. [27][1]
14
Umamusume pays fans' travel after a cancelled show

Cygames, the Japanese maker of the horse-racing game Umamusume: Pretty Derby, cancelled its first US concert, due this weekend, less than a week before it. [28] It said recent US visa changes stopped its musicians and voice actors from coming. [28] It refunded tickets and also paid back fans' booked flights and hotels. [28] Fans who came anyway met at Knott's Berry Farm, a California theme park. [28]

Why it matters — The cost of the US visa change landed on a Japanese company and on the fans who had already booked travel. [28]
15
Riot brings back K/DA before Worlds

Riot Games has brought back K/DA, its pop group made of League of Legends characters, with a four-song EP. [29] The group had been quiet for six years. [29] K/DA was the first K-pop girl group to be certified platinum, for its song Pop/Stars. [29] Riot also revived two other character bands, and K/DA and True Damage will play the League of Legends world finals in New York next month. [29]

Why it matters — PC Gamer's writer barely plays League but has owned a K/DA chair for five years, which shows how far the songs reach beyond players. [29] Fortiche, the studio behind the Arcane series, made the new video. [29]
16
Nikke game gets a new manga

Goddess of Victory: Nikke, a phone and PC game by the Korean studio Shift Up, will get a new manga this winter. [30] Kadokawa's Dengeki Maoh magazine announced it for the game's fourth birthday. [30] The game mixes shooting with gacha, where players pay for random draws of characters. [30] It launched worldwide on 4 November 2022. [30]

Why it matters — It follows an earlier slice-of-life Nikke manga. [30] A-1 Pictures, an anime studio, also made a short video for the game in 2024. [30]
17
Japan honours anime director Rintaro

Japan named Rintaro, an 85-year-old anime director, a Person of Cultural Merit, a national honour. [31] He directed the 1979 Galaxy Express 999 film and Metropolis, and worked with Osamu Tezuka on Astro Boy. [31] He is writing the story draft for Toei Animation's new Galaxy Express 999 film. [31] His life-story manga won the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. [31]

Why it matters — Last year the same honour went to Masako Nozawa, the voice of Dragon Ball's Goku, the first voice actor to get it. [31]
18
HBO orders more It: Welcome to Derry

HBO has renewed It: Welcome to Derry, a Stephen King horror series, for a second season. [32] Polygon reports it is one of HBO Max's four biggest series debuts worldwide. [32] The new season moves back to 1935 and the Great Depression. [32] HBO has not given a date or a cast. [32]

Why it matters — HBO renewed it after it became one of the service's biggest debuts. [32] Its makers, Andy and Barbara Muschietti, had already said they wanted more seasons. [32]

02 Lesson why it matters

Why a hit anime waits years for a studio team to come free

An animation studio has only a few teams, each booked years ahead, so a popular show's next season waits until one of them is free.

The twist

Being popular does not get a show a team. Vinland Saga's second season was one of Netflix's most watched anime in early 2023, and three years later its studio is busy with five other shows.

The picture

5 of 5

Shows MAPPA is making before any Vinland Saga season 3

Kotaku counts Chainsaw Man, Jujutsu Kaisen's fourth season and three new 2027 shows. Each takes a team that Vinland Saga cannot have.

How it works

An anime is made by a team of animators at a studio
A studio has only a few teams, and each spends a year or more on one show
Studios book their teams years ahead, for shows whose money is already agreed
A hit that wants another season joins the back of that queue
So it waits, moves to another studio, or stops

The same force, elsewhere today

Where this chain is also running, in today's other stories.

No third Vinland Saga season

MAPPA's teams are booked on Chainsaw Man, Jujutsu Kaisen and three new shows, so a hit with a finished story waits.
Our Last Crusade returns

Its second season came a year late and paused after four episodes to protect its quality, so viewers waited on the team, not on the story.
Tomb Raider turns 30

Crystal Dynamics shares the remake with a second studio, Flying Wild Hog, while it also makes Catalyst for the same year.
200,000 sign to save Mass Effect

The world still exists, but the team that made it is gone, so fans ask EA to hand it to a studio with people free.

Where you've seen this

Builders

a good builder is booked for a year, so even a rich client waits

Hospitals

a surgeon's list fills months ahead, however urgent the next case feels

Film effects studios

a few firms do most big films, so release dates move to fit their teams

The catch

Teams are not always the reason. Kotaku also guesses that Vinland Saga's discs sold poorly, and nobody involved has said which it is.

And the whole of it

The viewer waiting for a season, the animator booked for three years and the company choosing which show gets a team are all in one queue. Each of them sees only their own place in it.

03 Truth what's really going on

What is really going on

Tim Sweeney runs the Epic Games Store, which released about 1,100 games in 2024 against Steam's 18,433, and he is attacking Steam's AI label in the same month Epic moved its own Disney shooter to AI-first work. If the label cuts sales of AI-made games, developers who use AI lose sales on Steam, and Sweeney has agreed that is an opening for Epic. [1]

Why it works on us — Calling a shop's product label a 'political statement' turns a question about what buyers want to know into a question about which side you are on.

Who gains

Epic Games and its store — If developers who use AI sell less on Steam because of the label, Epic can offer them a store without it, which Sweeney agreed is 'a big opening'. [1]
Makers who sell their games as made by people — The Knightmare team promises no AI in its free game, a promise that stands out while stores make other games declare their AI. [27][1]
Toho, the Japanese company distributing Chiikawa — Its film took 44.7% of South Korea's cinema takings in a fourth weekend, with $17.5 million so far. [13]
Amazon — It keeps its Mass Effect show in development after BioWare closed, and publishes the Tomb Raider remake due in February 2027. [8][10]
Bandai Namco — Players of a ten-year-old game must link an account to carry rewards into Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3, due in 2027. [26]

Who pays

Developers on Steam who use AI tools — They must say so on the store page, and Sweeney and Siliconera both say the label cuts their sales. [1][2]
Mass Effect players — The next game is cancelled and the studio closed, and their petition to EA has had no reported reply. [5][7]
Cygames — It paid back tickets, flights and hotels after US visa changes stopped its musicians and voice actors from coming. [28]
Vinland Saga viewers — The manga ended in 2025, but the anime has no third season in progress while its studio is booked. [17]

What nobody knows yet

Open questions from across today’s stories — ours included.

01

How much an AI label really cuts a game's sales.

Siliconera says studies show the labels reduce sales, but names none, and neither Valve nor Epic has published a figure. [2][1]
02

Whether Valve will change or defend its AI rule.

Valve said when it brought the rule in that it would revisit it, and PC Gamer's writer expects an update. No answer from Valve to Sweeney is in the reporting. [1]
03

Whether EA will license Mass Effect to another studio.

The petition asks for it and passed 200,000 signatures, but no reply from EA has been reported. [5][7]
04

When the Mass Effect TV series will film.

Amazon once aimed to start filming late in 2026, but the show still has no date. [8]
05

Why no third Vinland Saga season is being made.

Kotaku points to MAPPA's full schedule and also guesses at weak disc sales; MAPPA and Kodansha have said nothing. [17][18]
06

Whether Cygames will bring the Umamusume concert to the US later.

It cancelled over US visas and refunded fans, and the report gives no new date. [28]
07

When It: Welcome to Derry's second season will air.

HBO has given no date and no cast. [32]
08

How many people pre-ordered or will buy the Tomb Raider remake.

Amazon has given no figure; the only number is 100 million for the series since 1996. [10][11]

04 Hope carry this

Knightmare, a British children's TV show from 1987, is coming back as a free PC game next year for its 40th birthday. Most of the original cast have returned to voice it, and its makers say every picture and sound in it was made by people.

Also true today

When Cygames had to cancel its first US Umamusume concert, it paid back fans' booked flights and hotels as well as their tickets. Fans who travelled anyway spent the weekend together at Knott's Berry Farm in California.
Japan named Rintaro, an 85-year-old anime director who worked with Osamu Tezuka on Astro Boy, a Person of Cultural Merit. He is now writing the story draft for a new Galaxy Express 999 film.
Bandai Namco is giving everyone who owns Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, a game from 2016, a free update for its tenth birthday this week.