ENDED This live page has ended. It covered the biggest gaming news on October 21, 2026. Follow today’s updates on our latest live page.
Table of Contents
Key stories so far
- PS Plus Deluxe members in Korea move to Premium for free as cloud streaming launches October 28
- ZZZ Phoenix Build Guide: 3.3 Banners, Kit and What's New
- K/DA and True Damage will both play the LoL Worlds 2026 final opening ceremony
- Nintendo adds a 40th anniversary wallpaper for early digital Ocarina of Time buyers
- Pokémon GO's November Community Day stars Pawniard on November 21
- Final Fantasy XIV adds a keyboard-only typing brawler to the Gold Saucer on October 28
Live updates
PS Plus Deluxe members in Korea move to Premium for free as cloud streaming launches October 28
Sony's Korean PlayStation Blog says PS5 cloud streaming launches in South Korea on October 28 (KST), on PS5 consoles and PlayStation Portal. Existing PS Plus Deluxe members were moved to PS Plus Premium automatically at no extra cost on October 21, keeping their Deluxe benefits. Korean streaming covers digital PS5 games only, with no PS4 or PS3 titles, and Sony lists more than 300 PS Plus catalog games among those supported.
Source: PlayStation Blog Korea
ZZZ Phoenix Build Guide: 3.3 Banners, Kit and What's New
Phoenix and Velina banners run until Nov 11 in ZZZ 3.3. Phoenix's kit, a starting build, official teams, every 3.3 event date and 600 free Polychrome.
K/DA and True Damage will both play the LoL Worlds 2026 final opening ceremony
Riot has confirmed that its virtual bands K/DA and True Damage will both perform at the opening ceremony of the League of Legends World Championship final on Saturday, November 14, at Barclays Center in New York. Insider Gaming reports the show starts at 11 AM PT (2 PM ET). True Damage recorded this year's Worlds anthem, Know My Name, and K/DA recently released a new four-song EP, Firestarter.
Source: Insider Gaming
Nintendo adds a 40th anniversary wallpaper for early digital Ocarina of Time buyers
Nintendo's US store now lists an early purchase bonus for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on Switch 2: a Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary digital wallpaper in phone and desktop formats. It goes to anyone who buys the digital version before November 23, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. PT, with a claim link sent by email after the promotion ends. The game launches November 5.
Source: Nintendo
Pokémon GO's November Community Day stars Pawniard on November 21
Pawniard is the featured Pokémon for Pokémon GO's November Community Day on Saturday, November 21, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. local time, Niantic announced. Evolve Bisharp into Kingambit during the event or up to four hours after to get the Charged Attack Kowtow Cleave, and until 9 p.m. Bisharp only needs one Dark- or Steel-type raid win to evolve. Bonuses include 2x Candy, 1/4 Egg hatch distance, 3-hour Incense and a US$1.99 Special Research ticket.
Source: Pokémon GO
Final Fantasy XIV adds a keyboard-only typing brawler to the Gold Saucer on October 28
Square Enix says Keybound Brawler, a four-player typing minigame at the Manderville Gold Saucer, arrives in Final Fantasy XIV on October 28 at 8:00 GMT and stays until Patch 8.0, after which it returns as an irregular special event. It needs a physical keyboard (gamepads and on-screen keyboards won't work) and a level 15 character who has finished the quest "It Could Happen to You". This first run is a Final Fantasy VII Remake collaboration, with event-only MGC rewards such as an Avalanche Brawler's Top. Kotaku reports some players are already unhappy about the keyboard requirement.
Source: Final Fantasy XIV Lodestone
The Elder Scrolls Online's Skyrim season is live, and Greymoor is now free in the base game
ZeniMax Online's Season Two: Echoes of Skyrim started in The Elder Scrolls Online on October 21 and runs until January 27, according to the official season page. The Greymoor content now comes with the base game, alongside redesigned solo versions of the Moon Hunter Keep and March of Sacrifices dungeons and a new Tamriel Tome with free and premium reward tracks; Markarth joins the base game on November 9. The season page lists no new zone, so this update brings classic Skyrim content to everyone rather than a new region.
Source: The Elder Scrolls Online
World of Warcraft: Forever opens a free stress test today, no subscription needed
Blizzard is opening World of Warcraft: Forever to anyone with a WoW account for a few hours on October 21, no active subscription required, starting at 19:00 CEST (17:00 UTC) in Europe and 2:00 p.m. PDT (21:00 UTC) in the Americas and Oceania, with Taiwan and Korea following on the morning of October 22 local time. Blizzard says the test runs on the hardware Forever will use at launch and asks players to quest, trade, chat and group up to find problems before launch day. Every character and name made during the test will be deleted afterwards, and the beta then reopens.
Source: Blizzard forums
EA's layoffs also hit Skate studio Full Circle
The cuts that closed BioWare also reached Full Circle, the studio behind Skate. In its memo to staff, EA said it is moving Skate to 'a more focused, smaller team' with a clear roadmap, and several developers, including seasonal creative director John Epler, said on the record that their roles had been eliminated. Neither EA nor the studio has said how many people were let go.
Source: VGC
Genshin Impact's Version 7.2 livestream airs October 23
HoYoverse will premiere the Genshin Impact Version 7.2 special program on its official Twitch and YouTube channels on October 23, 2026 at 8:00am ET (12:00 UTC). The company says the stream will cover new content in Version 7.2 and drop redemption codes. HoYoverse hasn't announced the 7.2 release date yet.
Source: Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)
PlayStation Pulse headset launches November 19 for $99.99, preorders open October 29
Sony has dated its revamped PlayStation Pulse wireless headset: it arrives in select regions on November 19, 2026 at $99.99 / £89.99 / €99.99 / ¥15,980, in White and Midnight Black. Preorders open on October 29 at 10:00am local time direct from PlayStation (7:00am PT on direct.playstation.com in the US). Sony says the pricier Pulse Edge is still due next year, with more details to come.
Source: PlayStation Blog
Disney Dreamlight Valley's The Keepsake Sea expansion sets sail on November 18
Gameloft confirmed in its October 21 showcase that The Keepsake Sea arrives November 18, 2026, adding a mermaid form, a pirate ship, three new islands and villagers including Captain Jack Sparrow, Megara, Milo Thatch, Captain Hook and Wendy, plus Dory as an Adventure Companion. Base game owners can buy it as an add-on that comes with 5,000 Moonstones, Arcade Edition owners get it at no extra cost, and a Deluxe Edition adds Flounder and Sebastian; Gameloft's recap lists no cash price. Playing between November 18 and December 2 earns an exclusive mermaid fin.
Source: Disney Dreamlight Valley
Xbox CTO pushes back on report of team clashes, says Helix OS is 'being built on Windows'
Xbox CTO Scott Van Vliet posted on X on October 21 that the Project Helix operating system is being built on Windows and that the Xbox and Windows teams are working closely on next-generation devices. He said a recent account, following a Fortune report on internal clashes between the two teams, misrepresents both the technical work and their relationship. Current Xbox Series X|S consoles already run a modified Windows-based OS, so the statement does not by itself mean a PC-style interface is coming.
Xbox lets Insiders buy cloud gaming time without Game Pass, starting at $3.99 for 10 hours
Xbox Insiders without a Game Pass plan can now buy Cloud Playtime packs, priced at $3.99 for 10 hours, $7.99 for 25 hours and $11.99 for 50 hours at introductory launch pricing, according to Xbox Wire. The paid packs are ad-free with shorter waits, and the hours stay available until used, but you still need to own a cloud-playable game (or play select free-to-play titles) on a supported device. Microsoft says availability varies by market and preview ring, with a wider rollout planned for November.
Source: Xbox Wire
Pokopia Halloween Event Guide: Pumpkin Candy and Habitats
Pumpkaboo's Sweet Surprises runs to Nov 1, 4:59 a.m. local. How to start it on Ver. 2.0.1, farm Pumpkin Candy, all 9 item prices and both habitat recipes.
EA Is Closing BioWare and Cancelling the Next Mass Effect
EA is shutting BioWare and its Edmonton office and ending early work on the next Mass Effect, with Bloomberg reporting about 400 job cuts across EA.
Once Human's free Isles of Abyss expansion sets sail on PS5 on October 22
Isles of Abyss, which the team calls Once Human's largest free expansion so far, arrives on PS5 on October 22, according to lead game designer Vincent Tao on the PlayStation Blog. It adds five ocean regions explored by sea, customizable mobile ships called Sea Fortresses that friends can group into fleets, and underwater ruins and deep-sea hunting, with land and sea progression feeding into each other. Once Human is free to play and downloads from the PlayStation Store.
Source: PlayStation Blog
Fish It Halloween Update: Battle Pass, Forgotten and End Time
Fish It's Hallows Eve update adds Halloween Island, a new Forgotten and a limited Battle Pass. The listing ends Oct 22, 01:00 UTC; here's what to do first.
Croteam and Devolver announce Serious Sam: The Third Encounter for PC
Serious Sam: The Third Encounter is a new mainline shooter from Croteam, published by Devolver Digital, and it picks up directly after The Second Encounter. Its Steam page lists solo play, online co-op and split-screen, says the game is in early development, and gives no release date or price yet. A teaser trailer went out with the announcement on October 21.
Source: Steam
GOG and GOG Galaxy go offline for maintenance as PHP flaws hit web services
GOG took its store and the GOG Galaxy launcher offline at 8 am Pacific (15:00 UTC) on October 21, saying the maintenance would last "a couple of hours"; as of 16:43 UTC its site still showed a maintenance page. GOG has not given a reason, but PC Gamer links the downtime to the newly disclosed critical PHP vulnerabilities that have pushed several other services offline today. GOG says updates will come through its X account.
Source: PC Gamer
Gossip Harbor Energy Guide: Refill Timer, Free Energy and Tips
Gossip Harbor energy refills 1 point every 2 minutes up to 100 (3h20m from empty). Every free source, gem refill costs and tips to stop wasting the timer.
Cygames takes Umamusume, Granblue Fantasy and Shadowverse offline to patch critical PHP flaws
Cygames put Umamusume: Pretty Derby, Granblue Fantasy and Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond into emergency maintenance from around 23:00 JST (14:00 UTC) on October 21, citing serious vulnerabilities in PHP, the language its servers use; Granblue is scheduled back at 07:00 JST on October 22, while the other two have no end time yet, Famitsu reports. The trigger is php.net's October 21 security release (PHP 8.5.12, 8.4.27, 8.3.36 and 8.2.35), which fixes CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619, two critical bugs that can allow unauthenticated remote code execution. Dexerto, citing Serebii, reports that Pokémon Sleep is also in emergency maintenance with no end time given.
Source: Famitsu
Co-op road trip game RV There Yet? reaches PS5 on October 29
Nuggets Entertainment's co-op adventure RV There Yet? comes to PS5 on October 29, Gematsu reports. Players drive an RV across back-country routes, using a physics-based winch, managing supplies and repairing the vehicle with items they find. The game launched on Steam on October 21, 2025 and reached Xbox Series X|S and the Microsoft Store on June 30, 2026.
Source: Gematsu
LET IT DIE: INFERNO now has a demo on PS5 and Steam
GungHo Online Entertainment and Supertrick Games have released a demo for LET IT DIE: INFERNO on PS5 and PC via Steam. Gematsu reports that the demo lets players take on Hell Gate, a chasm that reshapes itself every time you enter, and that some features may differ from the full game. Demo progress does not carry over to the full version, which launched December 3, 2025.
Source: Gematsu
Stranger Than Heaven previews are live, with a look at its split-body combat and stage shows
RGG Studio's Stranger Than Heaven preview embargo has lifted, and PlayStation Blog's hands-on covers four chapters: the Prologue, Kokura, Kure and Minami. According to the report, combat assigns the shoulder buttons and triggers to each side of Makoto Daito's body, and the show business side has players compose songs from collected Inspiration and stage live shows that have revenue targets. The game launches January 15, 2027 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, and it's on Game Pass from day one.
Source: PlayStation Blog
Dress To Impress Halloween 2026: Dark King Quest Date and Codes
DTI Halloween runs to Nov 7 and Tales of the Dark King opens Oct 24 at 15:00 UTC. How to farm Candy Corn, the new minigames, and which codes work (Oct 21).
Pokémon Store Coming to London by 2029, First Outside Asia
The Pokémon Company International will open a permanent Pokémon store in London by 2029, its first outside Asia. The exact site has not been announced.
New Cozy Games in November 2026: 13 Release Dates and Picks
Faraway and Escape Academy 2 land Nov 5, Moomin Nov 12 and Cat Cafe Manager 2 Nov 25: store-checked dates, prices and platforms for 13 November games.
Nvidia's new 621.01 driver skips shader compiling in MW4 and Gears of War: E-Day
Nvidia's GeForce Game Ready 621.01 WHQL driver adds support for Microsoft's Advanced Shader Delivery, which downloads shaders precompiled in the cloud for your GPU and driver so you skip the compile screen and mid-game stutter. Nvidia says it works in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 and Gears of War: E-Day for GeForce RTX owners on Windows 11 with the Xbox PC app installed, including Steam copies. The driver also prepares for MW4's October 23 launch and Phantom Blade Zero's October 28 release.
Source: Nvidia
The Apothecary Diaries game gets a March 18, 2027 date in Japan
Koei Tecmo's mystery adventure The Apothecary Diaries: The False Imperial Brother launches on PS5 in Japan on March 18, 2027, according to the Japanese PlayStation Blog. Physical preorders opened today and digital preorders open October 22, with the standard edition at 8,580 yen and two premium boxes at 15,510 and 25,960 yen. The game is also announced for Switch 2, Switch and PC (Steam), and an English release date has not been announced yet.
Source: PlayStation Blog (Japan)
MapleStory Classic World Launch Time, Classes and What's Missing
MapleStory Classic World servers open around 18:00 UTC (2 PM ET, 11 AM PT) on Oct 21. It's free, with four classes, and no Orbis, El Nath or 3rd job yet.
PS Store Planet of the Deals Sale: End Date and Best US Deals
Sony's Planet of the Deals sale runs to Nov 4, 11:59 PM PT. US prices include FF7 Rebirth at $14.99 and RE Requiem at $48.99, plus PS Plus member extras.
Valor Mortis has already broken even, its developer says
One More Level says its first-person soulslike Valor Mortis reached its break-even point within seven days of its October 13 launch, according to a post on the studio's X account. The game is out on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC; the studio has not shared sales figures.
Dawn of War 4 previews are live ahead of its December 3 PC launch
The preview embargo on hands-on previews of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV lifted today, with IGN, PC Gamer, Polygon, Eurogamer and Rock Paper Shotgun publishing impressions; IGN's covers the Necron and Adeptus Mechanicus factions and PC Gamer played two of the campaigns. KING Art's RTS, published by Deep Silver, launches on PC via Steam on December 3, 2026, where it lists at $59.99 (currently $53.99 on pre-order).
Source: Steam / IGN
Football Manager 27 Is Free to Play for 5 Days Before Launch
Football Manager 27 is free on PC and Mac from 6pm GMT Oct 29 to Nov 3 on Steam, Epic, Microsoft Store and Game Pass. Pre-purchase is 10% off; saves carry over.
Games Leaving PS Plus in November 2026: GTA 5, RDR2 and More
GTA 5, Red Dead Redemption 2, FM26 and The Talos Principle 2 head the PS Plus Extra and Premium games reported to leave on Nov 17, plus deals to buy them.
Mouthwashing is now listed on the Switch eShop for $12.99
Critical Reflex's acclaimed indie horror game Mouthwashing is listed on Nintendo's US store for Nintendo Switch at $12.99, with pre-orders open in North America. Nintendo Life reports an October 29 release, the same day it arrives on Xbox and Game Pass, but the US listing currently shows a different date, so treat October 29 as unconfirmed until the publisher or Nintendo confirms it.
Source: Nintendo (US eShop listing)
Study: shooters and sports games are most likely to lose players when GTA 6 launches
Gaming consultancy Open World forecasts that Call of Duty, Battlefield, Apex Legends, Fortnite, EA Sports FC and NBA 2K are the games most likely to lose players during GTA 6's launch window, GamesIndustry.biz reports. The estimate combines how many of each game's players have played a GTA title with how many say they plan to play GTA 6 at launch; Counter-Strike 2 is an outlier, with high GTA overlap but lower launch intent. Open World advises studios to hold back major updates and paid marketing during the launch window and save their biggest re-engagement push for later.
Football Manager 27 will be free to play on PC and Mac for five days before launch
Sports Interactive says FM27 will be free on PC and Mac from 6pm GMT on October 29 until November 3, with all game modes and no sign-up, through Steam, Epic, the Microsoft Store, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Pre-purchases open at the same time with 10% off and keep Launch Preview access from November 3 until the full release on November 10. Saves from the free period carry over to the paid preview and the full game.
Critical Role will run a Rings of Power tabletop one-shot at TwitchCon San Diego
Critical Role and the cast of Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will play a live tabletop adventure, The Rings of Power: A Middle-Earth One-Shot, at TwitchCon San Diego, Polygon reports. Liam O'Brien leads the session on November 15 at 11 AM in the Glitch Theater, and TwitchCon says more details are coming. This is a tabletop actual-play show, not a video game.
Source: Polygon
Shrek 2 Remastered asks for an RTX 3060 Ti and 16 GB of RAM on PC
Aspyr's Steam page for DreamWorks Shrek 2 Remastered lists a minimum spec of a Ryzen 5 5600 or Core i5-12400F, 16 GB of RAM and a GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 4060 or Radeon RX 7600, on 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 with 12 GB of storage. The recommended spec climbs to an RTX 4070 or RTX 5070, or a Radeon RX 7800 XT or RX 9070, with a Ryzen 7 7700X or Core i7-13700K class CPU, which fans have called steep for a remaster of a 2004 game. It launches November 10 at $29.99, with a pre-purchase price of $26.99 on Steam.
Source: Steam
Xbox tests a web version of the Xbox 360 Blades dashboard in Xbox Labs
Xbox CTO Scott Van Vliet posted a video on X on October 20 showing retro Xbox 360-era dashboard designs he has been 'cooking up' in Xbox Labs, the team that prototypes new ideas. Xbox chief Asha Sharma followed with a clip of the Blades look running in a browser, calling it 'Blades on web' and asking fans whether they like 'this experiment'. It is an experiment, not a shipping feature: neither exec announced a console update, release plan or date.
Source: Asha Sharma on X
Kojima uses the 'walking simulator' label to warn about social media echo chambers
Hideo Kojima said Death Stranding is often called "just a walking simulator" by people who have not played it, in a conversation with director Alejandro González Iñárritu for Gizmodo Japan, reported by VGC. Kojima argued that algorithm-driven feeds mostly show people opinions they already agree with, which helps secondhand narratives spread, and called that the scariest part because "you'll never end up meeting anyone by chance." The quotes come from a machine translation of the Japanese interview.
Source: VGC
Control Resonant's director says its Alan Wake clip plants a seed, not a reveal
Control Resonant creative director Mikael Kasurinen told VGC that the hidden live-action clip featuring Sam Lake and both Alan Wake actors, Ilkka Villi and Matthew Porretta, is meant to "plant a seed for something new". He said the game does not show off Remedy's next project and that he wanted it to "stand on its own two feet". Kasurinen did not name Alan Wake 3, so any link to a sequel is still fan speculation.
Source: VGC
Resident Evil Requiem's PlayStation discs reportedly outearned the whole Xbox version
Physical PlayStation copies of Resident Evil Requiem brought in about 1.8 times more revenue than every copy sold on Xbox, digital and physical combined, according to estimates from Alinea Analytics analyst Rhys Elliot reported by Eurogamer. Elliot estimates the game sold 1.3 million physical copies, about 15% of its total revenue and 30.2% of its PlayStation revenue. These are analyst estimates, not Capcom or Sony figures, and they land as Sony keeps pushing toward a discless future.
Survey: 97% of game studio leaders say they already use AI somewhere in development
Consultancy Vivrato interviewed 101 studio leaders in Europe and North America between April and September 2026, and 97% said they use AI in some form, according to its new report covered by GamesIndustry.biz. Code and engineering (86%), everyday productivity work (83%) and concept/pre-production (79%) lead adoption, while over half of leaders rate AI's integration across their full pipeline at 3 out of 10 or lower. Vivrato CEO Adam Boyes said the question is no longer which studios use AI but where it actually helps.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz
MW4 DMZ Beginner Guide: Hajin Map, Exfil and What You Keep
New to DMZ? How Hajin's threat levels work, where beginners should drop, how exfil works, and what you keep or lose when your Operator dies.
Deadlock Nurse Harrow Guide: Abilities, Upgrades and Build
Every Nurse Harrow ability with base numbers and T1-T3 upgrades from the game data, the most common skill order, and a starting item build for Deadlock.
Denshattack! is getting physical editions on Switch 2 and PS5 through Fangamer
Fangamer says standard and deluxe physical editions of Undercoders' train-trick racer Denshattack! are coming to Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5, with the full game on the disc or game card. There is no price or preorder date yet, only a sign-up page for notifications, and Fangamer notes the mockups still need licensor approval; Nintendo Life reports the release is planned for 2027.
Source: Fangamer
Pokémon GO Max Battle Day: Uxie, Mesprit, Azelf Counters
Uxie, Mesprit or Azelf by region on Oct 24, 2-5 p.m. local: the best Ghost and Dark Max attackers, safe tanks per boss, all bonuses, and the $4.99 ticket maths.
Ys VIII Switch 2 Out Feb 25, 2027: 120 FPS and GameShare Co-Op
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA hits Switch 2 on Feb 25, 2027 with up to 120 FPS and GameShare co-op. The $49.99 Special Edition is a game-key card.
12 Best Color Sort Games on iPhone and Android, Led by Magic Sort
Magic Sort, Block Out, Hexa Sort, Nut Sort and 8 more sort puzzles with store ratings, offline tags and the price of removing ads, checked Oct 21.
Minecraft Dungeons 2 Best Builds: 5 Loadouts and Top Weapons
Pride of the Plains crit melee, Greatbow ranged, companion, Humbler tank and soul caster builds for Minecraft Dungeons II, with DPS for every weapon class.
THE FINALS PRIME TIME Guide: Infiltrator, Solo Showdown, Maps
How True Sight, the Mimic Device and the Translocator work, Solo Showdown's 8 mini-modes, the remastered maps and Light's new 175 HP in Season 12.
AMD FSR 4.1 Is Coming to Xbox Series X|S and ROG Xbox Ally
AMD's ML upscaler FSR 4.1 reaches ROG Xbox Ally handhelds first, then Xbox Series X|S 'soon'. No console date yet; Project Helix gets FSR Diamond.
Xbox Game Pass October 2026 Wave 2: FF7 Remake and Mouthwashing
Nine games join Game Pass from Oct 21 to Nov 3, led by FF7 Remake Intergrade and day-one Mouthwashing on Oct 29. Tiers, times and what leaves Oct 31.
Next-Gen Xbox Could Cost $1,200-$1,800, Fortune Reports
Fortune says Microsoft projects the Helix console at $1,200 to $1,800 unless subsidized, with a handheld by holiday 2027 and the console in 2028. Unconfirmed.
