Bungie Marathon Donation Row | Gaming News #85
Bungie Marathon donation row: its head of product says don't buy the extraction shooter just to keep Destiny alive.
Gaming News · Issue #85 · 31 October 2026
TL;DR
- Bungie Marathon donation row: its head of product says don't buy the extraction shooter just to keep Destiny alive.
- Delta Force reworks Brakkesh for Operations on November 10, and HUNGER confirms an open beta before early access.
- EA reportedly killed BioWare to fund Star Wars Battlefront 3, and Gears of War: E-Day's $500 million budget looks brutal.
- Dark Souls 2 and 3 are offline on every platform with no return date, so invasions are done for now.
- RTX 5080s just vanished from Nvidia's store with prices near $2,000.
🎯 Extraction shooters
Bungie Tells Destiny Fans Not to Buy Marathon as a Donation
Bungie head of product Josh Deane said on October 30 that Destiny players should not "buy Marathon as a donation" to keep the studio going. He was walking back a line in Bungie's October 29 community Q&A saying nothing could bridge its future more than Marathon becoming sustainable, which fans read as Destiny's revival hinging on Marathon sales. Deane says the Destiny plan does not depend on Marathon, and calls the December and March Marathon updates a formative period for the studio.
Player impact: Marathon now has to win squads on its own extraction loop, with no guilt purchases propping it up. The December update is where Bungie has to prove the game can hold a lobby.
Sources: IGN · GamesRadar+
Delta Force's Season Aurora Reworks Brakkesh for Operations on November 10, Plus a Shrinking Radiation Zone Mode
Level Infinite and TiMi announced on October 30 that Delta Force's Season Aurora starts November 10 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series. Operations, the game's PvPvE extraction mode, gets Brakkesh 2.0 with revised routes, more cover and faction-based tasks, plus a limited-time AZ3 Challenge where a radiation zone compresses the map and extraction points reveal mid-match. The season also adds assault operator Martelo, the AN94 rifle and a Phantom Blade Zero crossover with the game's first two-handed melee weapon.
Player impact: Brakkesh route knowledge resets on November 10, so squads that farmed the old loot paths start from zero. AZ3 bolts a battle royale circle onto extraction, which will split the Operations crowd.
Sources: Worthplaying
HUNGER Confirms an Open Beta Before Early Access, and the Vepr and Spear Lunge Are on the Nerf List
Good Fun Corporation's October 28 closed beta wrap-up confirms an open beta ahead of the Steam Early Access launch of HUNGER, its Napoleonic PvPvE extraction RPG, with dates for both coming soon. The studio says the test needed one client hotfix and saw no widespread stash or progression wipes. Its fix list: the Vepr is over-performing, spear lunge is too strong, base movement feels sluggish, the low-to-high level power gap is too wide, and a reconnect feature is on the way.
Player impact: Players who missed the closed beta get a free look before Early Access asks for money. Enjoy the Vepr and spear lunge while they last, and the reconnect feature should stop a disconnect from costing your whole kit.
Sources: HUNGER on Steam (Missive XVII)
The Forever Winter's Enemies Now Run Out of Ammo and Throw Grenades, and the 62fps Cap Is Gone
Fun Dog Studios' October 2026 update for The Forever Winter, its PvE extraction shooter, went live on October 30. Enemy soldiers now track ammo, reload, throw grenades to flush players out of cover and dodge incoming explosives. Players get smoke grenades, though enemies keep firing at your last known position. The patch removes the 62fps cap, optimizes raid maps, adds parts for the 36M, Kriss Vector 45, USP and SVD, and hands every player a free Maskochist skin.
Player impact: Enemy reloads are now a real window to push or slip past, and smoke finally gives you a way out of a bad fight. High-refresh PC players get frames above 62 for the first time.
Sources: The Forever Winter on Steam
Active Matter Parks Drivable BTR-80A Armored Carriers in Raids, if You Can Find Fuel and Ammo
Gaijin's October 30 post says abandoned BTR-80A personnel carriers now sit on Dalniy Island and in Anguka Anga raids. Each eight-wheeler carries a 30mm autocannon and bullet-proof armor, but it needs a scavenged fuel canister and ammunition before it moves, and whoever gets it running first takes the wheel. The studio points to the RPG-7 as the counter. The Thin Boundary Halloween investigation also runs until November 2 at 09:00 UTC.
Player impact: Raids on those two maps now have a moving armored threat, so pack an RPG-7 or route away from engine noise. Squads that rush fuel and ammo first can bully the whole lobby.
Sources: Active Matter on Steam
🔫 FPS
Australia Just Rated Modern Warfare 2 (2009), and a Port Looks Next
Australia's Classification Board has rated "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)" R18+, with a classification date of October 1, as spotted by Insider Gaming and reported on October 30. The rating notes in-game purchases and online interactivity. Activision ran the same play in June, when Black Ops 1 and 2 ports leaked, were announced and launched within about a month. No platforms or reveal date are confirmed, so the port is likely but unannounced.
Player impact: If the Black Ops ports are the template, Terminal and Rust could be back in rotation within weeks. Those ports drew low-effort complaints and exploiter-filled lobbies, so wait for patch notes before paying.
Sources: IGN
🔜 Coming soon
John Romero's Shooter Is Back With a New Publisher, Rebuilt for a 16-Person Team
Doom co-creator John Romero told VGC at Gamescom Asia on October 30 that his unannounced shooter, dropped by Microsoft earlier this year, has a new publisher. Romero Games shrank from 110 staff to five and has rehired back to about 15 or 16. The original 110-person game will not be finished; the new one is a redesign that reuses its art, code, characters and weapons. The publisher and release date are still unannounced.
Player impact: A Romero shooter is alive again, but it is a smaller and different game from the one Xbox dropped. Keep expectations modest until there is footage.
Sources: VGC · GamesRadar+
Soulframe Drops Its Invite Gate on November 6 as Open Preludes Begins
Digital Extremes, the Warframe studio, announced on October 30 that Soulframe Open Preludes starts November 6, ending the invite-only alpha for its fantasy action game. Anyone can sign up on the Soulframe site and download the launcher, and all 16 existing Preludes chapters open to newcomers. Preludes 17, called Verse of the Veilands, follows later in November with mounts and an environmental world progression system.
Player impact: Warframe players curious about the studio's next game can jump in on November 6 without hunting for an invite. It is still an alpha, so expect rough edges and unfinished systems.
🆓 Free to try
Crimson Desert Gets a 5-Hour Free Xbox Trial, and GOG Gives Away A New Beginning
Pearl Abyss added a five-hour free trial of Crimson Desert Enhanced to the Xbox Store for every Xbox Series X|S owner, downloadable until January 7, with PlayStation Plus Premium and Deluxe members also covered and progress carrying into the full game. On PC, GOG is giving away Daedalic's adventure A New Beginning: Final Cut, DRM-free and free to keep, for three days from October 30, so claim it by about November 2.
Player impact: Five hours is enough to judge Crimson Desert's combat before paying for the new Charting the Unknown expansion. Claim the GOG game this weekend before the window shuts.
Sources: Pure Xbox · Blue's News
🕹️ Console specifics
Modern Warfare 4 on Switch 2 Runs Multiplayer at 60fps, but DMZ Needs a 120Hz Screen for 40fps
Digital Foundry's October 30 analysis of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on Switch 2, the series' first Nintendo release since the Wii U, found the campaign runs at 30fps and competitive multiplayer at 60fps. The DMZ extraction mode targets 40fps when the console is connected to a 120Hz display. All three targets sit below the PS5, Xbox Series and PC versions.
Player impact: Switch 2 players get full 60fps multiplayer, which is the mode that matters most. DMZ players on an older TV without 120Hz should check footage before buying.
Sources: Nintendo Life
A Sony Job Listing for 'Intelligent Pricing' Has PS5 Players Worried About Targeted Discounts Again
A PlayStation listing for a Senior Director of Digital Games Monetisation, spotted by The Game Post and reported on October 31, asks the hire to drive "intelligent pricing" and expand "the targeted offers program" on the PS Store. Earlier this year Sony was caught giving some users deeper discounts than others without explaining who qualified. No price increases were found then, and Sony has not announced any new pricing system.
Player impact: Two players can already see different sale prices for the same game. Compare deals with a friend before buying, and watch whether targeted offers become the PS Store default.
Sources: Push Square
🖥️ Hardware
The RTX 5080 Vanishes From Nvidia's Store as Card Prices Hit $2,000
The RTX 5080 has disappeared from Nvidia's GeForce Marketplace, following the RTX 5090, as memory shortages push retail prices toward $2,000. Nvidia told IGN on October 30 the card "is still available but may be out of stock in some regions" because of supply constraints. A ChannelGate supply-chain post claims a 24GB RTX 5080 could replace the 16GB model as early as December, which is unconfirmed.
Player impact: Paying $2,000 for a 16GB card that might get a 24GB refresh within weeks is a bad bet. Hold off unless your current GPU is dead.
Sources: IGN
📦 Other
EA Reportedly Closed BioWare Because It Picked Star Wars Battlefront 3 Over Mass Effect
Bloomberg's Jason Schreier reported on October 30 that EA weighed two sci-fi projects each projected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars: the next Mass Effect, already in development, and Star Wars Battlefront 3, which had not started. EA backed Battlefront 3 as the safer bet and shut BioWare. The shooter is reportedly a joint project between DICE and Respawn, the studios behind Battlefront 1 and 2 and Apex Legends. EA has not confirmed the reasoning.
Player impact: Battlefront 3 is the shooter fans have asked for since 2017, and it now carries the weight of a dead studio. Expect every reveal to be judged against the Mass Effect game that died for it.
Dark Souls 2 and 3 Lose Online Play on Every Platform, With No Return Date
FromSoftware took the Dark Souls 2 and Dark Souls 3 servers offline on October 30 across all platforms after finding an issue, with no return date and a promised follow-up once recovery is scheduled. Invasions, summon signs and messages are gone, while single-player still works. Some reports link the outage to recent PHP security flaws, which FromSoftware has not confirmed. In 2022, a security hole kept these servers down for months.
Player impact: PvP invaders and co-op helpers are locked out, so it is solo runs only for now. The 2022 outage ran past 200 days, so do not plan a co-op night around a quick fix.
Sources: GamesRadar+ · OpenCritic
Gears of War: E-Day Reportedly Cost $500 Million and Has Sold About 400,000 Copies
The Verge reported this week that The Coalition's Gears of War: E-Day has sold just over 400,000 copies on Xbox Series and PC. On October 30, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier said the game's $500 million budget "is a real number" while discussing BioWare's closure. E-Day also launched day one on Game Pass, so subscription players do not show up in that sales count.
Player impact: Game Pass hides how many people actually played, but 400,000 sales against $500 million is the math Xbox executives read. It shapes whether the next big Xbox shooter gets funded or cut.
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