Gaming News · Issue #46 · 22 September 2026

TL;DR

• Bungie is rebuilding Marathon as a deeper survival extraction shooter and finally unvaulting Destiny 2's Red War campaign six years later.
• Helldivers 2's Ironclad Democracy Warbond drops today with homing anti-tank grenades and knockback-resist armor.
• Payday 3 makes every paid heist free and rebuilds its campaign for its third birthday.

🎯 Extraction shooters

Bungie Pivots Marathon to a Deeper Survival Shooter After a Player Collapse

Bungie posted a September 21 studio update laying out a new direction for Marathon, its PvPvE extraction shooter (players raid a map, grab loot, and try to extract alive). Studio head Poria Torkan and Marathon boss Josh Deane admitted the game missed financial targets and apologized for poor communication. They committed to rebuild it as a deeper survival experience with reworked core mechanics and balance across PvE, PvP, and PvPvE, on top of the earlier call to scrap fixed seasons and push the big Symbiosis update to December 8.

Player impact: If you bounced off Marathon at launch, Bungie is signaling a slow survival rebuild, not a quick patch, so there is little reason to reinstall before December. Lapsed raiders get a reason to keep watching.

Sources: TheSixthAxis · Game Informer

🔫 FPS

Destiny 2 Is Bringing Back the Red War and Forsaken Six Years After Vaulting Them

In the same September 21 update, Bungie confirmed it will restore Destiny 2 content it deleted years ago, starting with the original Red War campaign, Curse of Osiris, Warmind, and Forsaken, plus their destinations and raids. The unvaulting rolls out in phases and appears to be free for all players. Bungie said the work is slow because Destiny's systems changed after the 2020 Beyond Light expansion, but called the franchise foundational and said it is not done with Destiny.

Player impact: New and returning Guardians will finally play Destiny 2's original story instead of starting mid-plot. Restored raids like Forsaken's Last Wish come back into the loot pool, which matters for anyone chasing god rolls.

Sources: Kotaku · Game Informer

Helldivers 2's Ironclad Democracy Warbond Drops Today With Homing Anti-Tank Gear

Arrowhead launched the Ironclad Democracy Warbond in Helldivers 2 on September 22 (a Warbond is the game's battle-pass-style content pack). For 1,000 Super Credits it adds the AR-11 Arbitrator rifle with an underslung shotgun, the GL-15 Evictor pump grenade launcher, the P-34 Breacher sidearm, and the G-60 Anti-Tank Seeker homing grenade. Two armor sets, the light BFM-16 Tanker and heavy BFM-220 Ironclad, share a new passive that cuts knockdown and impact damage by 30 percent.

Player impact: Squads drowning in heavy Automaton and Terminid armor get new anti-tank options without burning a Stratagem slot, and 30 percent knockback resist changes how you push objectives. Super Credit hoarders can unlock it instantly.

Sources: PlayStation Blog · Power Up Gaming

Payday 3 Makes Every Paid Heist Free and Rebuilds Its Campaign on Its Third Birthday

Starbreeze rolled out a Payday 3 third-anniversary update on September 22 that folds every previously paid heist into the base game for free, and promises all future heists will be free too. Players who already bought the DLC get special rewards. The update also rebuilds the story into one connected campaign so new crews understand characters like Shade, and reworks enemy behavior, weapons, and audio.

Player impact: The paywall that split the Payday 3 player base is gone, so squads can finally run every heist together without anyone buying in. If a rough launch scared you off, this is the cleanest moment to come back.

Sources: GameLuster

Rainbow Six Siege Adds Free Drone Racing With Wasteland Circuit This Week

Ubisoft's Operation Split Fire, the current Year 11 Season 3 of Rainbow Six Siege, adds a limited-time drone racing event called Wasteland Circuit, live September 23 to October 13. Players race the game's recon drones across three obstacle tracks, grabbing item balloons to sabotage rivals and boost balloons to speed up, scoring by finish position. It is a full break from the usual 5v5 tactical shooting.

Player impact: A low-stakes party mode gives burned-out ranked players a reason to log in this week, and events like this usually hand out free cosmetics just for playing. Good for a stream segment that is not another Villa defense.

Sources: Siege.gg · Ubisoft News

🔜 Coming soon

Silent Hill: Townfall Reviews Land Around 82 Ahead of Its September 24 Launch

Konami's Silent Hill: Townfall, a first-person psychological horror game set in Scotland from developer Screen Burn, arrives September 24 on PS5, Steam, and Epic, with no Xbox version announced. Early reviews are solid: an 82 on OpenCritic with 92 percent of critics recommending it, and an 81 Metascore. Reviewers praise the atmosphere, setting, and puzzles built around the in-game CRTV device, while flagging weak stealth and combat. Deluxe Edition buyers get 48-hour early access starting September 22.

Player impact: Horror fans choosing between fall releases get a clear read: strong mood and puzzles, weaker action. Deluxe buyers can start today, everyone else waits until Wednesday.

Sources: Insider Gaming · Konami

🆓 Free to try

Co-op Looter Shooter Mycopunk Joins PS Plus Extra on October 20

Sony confirmed the first-person co-op looter shooter Mycopunk will hit the PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium catalog on October 20, per a September 21 report following its State of Play reveal. In Mycopunk, a squad of robot misfits fights a spreading fungal disaster across a planet, collecting mods and using a grid-based upgrade system to customize weapons in increasingly silly ways. It holds a 91 percent positive Steam rating and supports solo or four-player co-op.

Player impact: PS Plus Extra subscribers get a well-reviewed co-op shooter at no extra cost next month, so squads have a new game night option without buying in. Add it to your October catalog watchlist.

Sources: Game Rant · Push Square

📦 Other

Tokyo Game Show 2026 Cancels Its Final Day as Typhoon Dujuan Hits Japan

Organizers canceled the fifth and final day of Tokyo Game Show 2026, Monday September 21, as Typhoon Dujuan approached Japan. The show, held at Makuhari Messe, had expanded to a record five days for its 30th anniversary before the weather cut it short. Days one through four still ran, with reveals including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's October 23 date and hands-on Nintendo Switch 2 demos.

Player impact: Fans who planned around the final public day lost their slot, and some late-slot reveals and stage shows were scrapped or pushed online. Expect a wave of delayed announcements to trickle out this week instead.

Sources: GameDaily · Tokyo Game Show

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