Gaming News · Issue #72 · 18 October 2026

TL;DR

• Dark and Darker's hotfix lets you hide in barrels and caps the Goblin's gold pouch at 200, so extraction stealth just changed.
• WARDOGS admits Season 2's fast grind was the wrong call and may pull Season 3 forward.
• Modern Warfare 4's campaign early access is sitting near 90% positive on Steam.
• A CS2 pro got a lifetime ban after posting cash stacks while suspended for match-fixing.
• Epic's next freebie is Sker Ritual, a co-op survival FPS, from October 22.

🎯 Extraction shooters

Dark and Darker Lets You Hide in Barrels and Cuts the Goblin's Gold Pouch to 200

Ironmace's Early Access Hotfix #128-1 (October 16) lets players climb into wooden barrels in dungeons. Hidden players can't move, attack, or use items, but monsters won't detect them, and they break out to leave. Rogue Hide no longer breaks in light and shows a silhouette instead. The Goblin Smuggler's Gold Coin Pouch drops from 500 to 200, crates and barrels hold fewer items, and monsters and bosses drop more gold.

Player impact: Every barrel near an extraction portal is now a possible ambush, so swing first and loot second. Gold farming shifts from crates and the Goblin toward killing monsters, which favours squads that can actually fight.

Sources: Dark and Darker on Steam (Ironmace)

STALZONE Tests Separate Raids for Solos, Duos, and Full Squads

EXBO opened an invite-only Open Test Server for STALZONE, its Russian-developed extraction shooter, on October 16, running until October 18 at 20:59 UTC on EU and RU servers. The test splits location instances by group size: solo players, duos, and squads of three or more each get their own. It also trials reworked wide range detectors (the artifact-finding gadget), inventory item locking, and doubled signal spawns on five maps. Progress on the test server does not carry over.

Player impact: If this ships, solo players stop getting farmed by four-stacks, which is the biggest complaint in the genre. Watch whether queue times survive the split before calling it a win.

Sources: STALZONE on Steam (EXBO): Test Server launch · STALZONE on Steam (EXBO): OTS Launch

Road to Vostok Builds Out Its Airfield as Mistfall Hunter Stops Chip Damage Breaking Heals

Road to Vostok patch 0.2.2.0 (October 16 AEST) adds an Airfield Office and Garage, a new Oscilloscope item, lower AI visibility at night, and fixed Airfield AI pathing. The solo developer held back planned Nomad features while he rethinks them. Mistfall Hunter's October 15 update stops low-impact chip hits (uncharged arrows, basic spells) from interrupting Healing Elixirs, makes your first five daily drinks free of materials until Season 1 ends, and fixes an Auction House bug that deleted gems.

Player impact: Vostok players get a reason to run the Airfield again, and night raids just got sneakier. Mistfall melee players can finally drink mid-fight without a ranged player tickling the heal away.

Sources: Road to Vostok on Steam: Patch 0.2.2.0 · Mistfall Hunter on Steam: October 15 Live Update

🔫 FPS

WARDOGS Says Season 2's Fast Grind Was 'the Wrong Call' and Eyes an Early Season 3

BULKHEAD pulled WARDOGS' Blue Team bonus (+5% cash, +2.5% XP) a day into Season 2 after grinders stacked one side, and patched a Driver-track exploit that unlocked tanks almost instantly, with 24-hour bans for fewer than a thousand abusers. On October 17 the studio said speeding up progression was "the wrong call" because players hit top gear within days and the wipe never landed. There is no reset this weekend, but BULKHEAD is looking at bringing Season 3 forward significantly.

Player impact: If you skipped Season 2 because everyone was already in tanks, wait: an earlier Season 3 means another fresh wipe soon. Grinders should not count on keeping their lead for long.

Sources: PCGamesN · Insider Gaming

Modern Warfare 4's Campaign Early Access Sits at About 90% Positive on Steam

Modern Warfare 4's campaign early access opened October 16 for digital pre-orders, with 16 missions ahead of the October 23 launch. Steam shows it at Very Positive, roughly 1,691 of 1,874 reviews, which Insider Gaming calls Call of Duty's best Steam rating in about a decade. IGN gave it 8/10 and GameSpot 7/10, with critics knocking rigid mission design. Finishing it unlocks 8 operators and Double XP tokens that carry into multiplayer and DMZ.

Player impact: Pre-order players who rush the campaign start launch week with Double XP tokens and extra operators. The sample is small and pre-order only, so wait for multiplayer before trusting that score.

Sources: Insider Gaming · Pure Xbox

A CS2 Pro Posted Cash Stacks While Banned for Match-Fixing, and ESIC Made It Lifetime

The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) sanctioned five NOMERCY Counter-Strike 2 players on October 15 over four lopsided March losses tied to a roughly $57,000 bet that would have paid over $4.5 million before the bookmaker voided it. kzy got a lifetime ban, with others getting three or five years. On October 16, 2xplayN's three-year ban became lifetime after he posted cash stacks captioned "2029 we back." ESIC says it will refer the case to Valve and law enforcement.

Player impact: Tier-two CS2 betting markets are under a microscope now, so expect tighter integrity checks on smaller events. It is also a reminder that bragging online is the fastest way to turn a suspension into a career end.

Sources: Dexerto · Dexerto

Siege's Mid-Season Patch Lets Noor's Lance Fully Break Ballistic Shields

Rainbow Six Siege patch Y11S3.2 (October 15) gives Noor's Horus Lance a major buff: impact damage up from 50 to 80, drilling time from 2 to 1.5 seconds, equip time from 0.9 to 0.4 seconds, and guard break against Ballistic Shields from 30% to 100%. Tachanka's Shumikha gets an impact-detonating incendiary mode, Solid Snake's Soliton Radar loses a charge, Valkyrie gets the Glaive-12, fire damage rises to 14, and barbed wire now destroys BU-GI drones.

Player impact: Shield attackers just got a hard counter, so expect Noor picks to spike in ranked. Fire is stronger across the board, which makes Tachanka a real anchor again.

Sources: Rainbow Six Siege on Steam (Ubisoft) · MP1st

Deadlock Hits a Record 303,347 Players After Violet Arrives, and Nurse Harrow Lands October 20

Valve's invite-only hero shooter Deadlock added Violet on October 16 in its City Never Sleeps update, and SteamDB then logged a record 303,347 concurrent players. Violet uses ink-empowered bullets and a movement state called Flow State. Valve says Nurse Harrow, the update's last hero, arrives Tuesday, October 20 at 2pm PDT. An October 15 patch also nerfed Baba's barrier and buffed Deadman Danny's health from 680 to 730.

Player impact: Deadlock is still invite-only and keeps setting records, so if a friend has invites, now is when lobbies are fullest. Expect Violet in every match this weekend, then a second meta shake on Tuesday.

Sources: Destructoid · Deadlock on Steam (Valve)

🆕 Just released

Order of the Sinking Star Sold 45% More on Steam in Week One Than The Witness

Thekla and Arc Games say Jonathan Blow's puzzle game Order of the Sinking Star, out October 8 on PC, PS5, and Switch 2, sold 45% more Steam units in its first week than The Witness, with a 33% higher player peak. No totals were shared. Blow said on October 15 it looks "at least as financially successful" despite costing $29.99 instead of $39.99. An October 17 patch fixes a character-swap bug, but level resets can still fail.

Player impact: If you bought it, undo back to the start when a level reset fails until the next patch. Puzzle fans now have a hit that is cheaper than The Witness was.

Sources: Gaming Route · Steam news

Hellraiser: Revival's Update 1.1 Fixes Floor Falls and Stuck Boss Fights on PC

Saber's Hellraiser: Revival, which launched last week to reviews ranging from 9 to 4.5, got Update 1.1 on PC on October 15. It fixes players falling through the floor after the sewers and through the world after a Labyrinth teleport, Charlotte getting stuck on a ledge mid-boss fight, and a missing Flooded Room lever after reloading. It also cuts geometry and lighting pop-in and adds a startup warning when your GPU driver is out of date.

Player impact: If a progression bug stalled your run, update and try again. Anyone waiting on reviews to settle now has a cleaner build to judge.

Sources: Netto's Game Room · Saber Interactive patch notes

🆓 Free to try

Sker Ritual Goes Free to Keep on Epic October 22, and Battlefield 6's Steam Trial Runs to October 20

Epic Games Store's next free-to-keep pair, from October 22 at 15:00 UTC to October 29, is Sker Ritual ($24.99), a round-based co-op survival FPS for up to four players, and Home ($4.99), a pixel-art horror mystery. EA extended Battlefield 6's free Steam trial and 2x XP weekend to Tuesday, October 20 at 17:00 UTC after a broken launch day. On Steam, Squad's Recon Team weapon skin pack ($11.99) is free to keep until October 25.

Player impact: Claim Sker Ritual and Home on Epic between October 22 and 29 and keep them forever. Battlefield 6 trial players got two extra days, and Squad players should grab the free skins before October 25.

Sources: Epic Games Store: Sker Ritual · Battlefield 6 on Steam (EA)

Monster Hunter Wilds Gets a Free Switch 2 Prologue Demo on October 19, and Your Save Carries Over

Capcom's Monster Hunter Wilds gets a free Prologue Demo on Switch 2 on October 19, ahead of the full game on December 4 at $39.99 in the US, Nintendo Life reported on October 15. The demo supports local play with other Switch 2 owners, but online multiplayer is not available. Save data carries over to the full game, and no end date for the demo has been announced.

Player impact: Switch 2 owners can test how Wilds runs on the handheld before paying, which matters for a game that struggled on PC. Your progress transfers, so there is no reason to skip it.

Sources: Nintendo Life

🕹️ Console specifics

Modern Warfare 4 on Switch 2 Lets You Pick Between DLSS and Infinity Ward's Own Upscaler

Modern Warfare 4's Switch 2 version lets players choose Nvidia's DLSS upscaling or Infinity Ward's Filmic SMAA T2X in the graphics menu, with FidelityFX CAS sharpening as an extra option, Nintendo Life reported on October 17. Digital Foundry's Tom Morgan says DLSS looks sharper but may cost some frame rate, which has not been tested yet. Both options appear to use the same base resolution. The Switch 2 version launches October 23 at $69.99.

Player impact: Switch 2 players get to choose sharpness or smoothness themselves, which matters in a shooter. Test both in multiplayer before ranked, because a few lost frames can cost gunfights.

Sources: Nintendo Life

🖥️ Hardware

Nvidia Says the RTX 5090 Isn't Discontinued, but Stores Are Pulling It and Prices Top $5,000

Nvidia SVP Jeff Fisher told Taiwanese media in Taipei on October 16 that the RTX 5090 "has not been discontinued" and will keep shipping, while admitting supply remains constrained. That answers reports from earlier this month that Nvidia had stopped making the card. The signals still point the other way: Micro Center lists several 5090 models as not carried, Nvidia removed it from its own marketplace, and Notebookcheck says prices sit well above $5,000.

Player impact: Officially alive does not mean buyable. If you want top-end performance this year, the 5080 is the realistic ceiling, and paying $5,000 for a 5090 is a scalper tax.

Sources: Notebookcheck · TweakTown

📦 Other

Samson Studio Liquid Swords Goes Bankrupt Weeks After Its Console Launch

Liquid Swords, the Stockholm studio founded in 2020 by Just Cause creator Christofer Sundberg, has gone bankrupt, Swedish outlet Breakit reported on October 15. Nearly 30 staff will be paid through Sweden's state wage guarantee after two months of unpaid wages, and the trustee is looking for a buyer. Samson launched on PC in April at $24.99 and on PS5 and Xbox on September 21, with a Metacritic score of 51 and Mixed Steam reviews.

Player impact: Samson owners should not expect more patches unless a buyer appears. It is another studio gone after one mid-reviewed launch, so be careful buying into games that need long-term fixes.

Sources: Breakit · Gaming Route

Jagex Scraps RuneScape Reignited Less Than Two Weeks After Announcing It

Jagex has cancelled RuneScape Reignited, the fresh-start servers announced at RuneFest for December 2, about two weeks after revealing them. "We missed the mark," said Mod Ryan, adding that the studio is not moving forward with it. December 2 still brings the Adventure Guide and the first part of the Remastered Journey, plus a free members trial from December 2 to 12 for new and returning characters. Plugins launch October 19.

Player impact: Veterans who were dreading a restart keep their accounts as they are. Lapsed players get a free members trial in December, which is the cheapest way to check whether the remaster changes are worth returning for.

Sources: PC Gamer · Out of Games

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