Marathon Nightfall Refresh | Gaming News #60
Marathon's Nightfall Refresh wipes every player's progression and economy today, a full extraction shooter reset with a free Rewards Pass that never expires.
Gaming News · Issue #60 · 6 October 2026
TL;DR
- Marathon's Nightfall Refresh wipes every player's progression and economy today, a full extraction shooter reset with a free Rewards Pass that never expires.
- HUNGER shelves its straight-to-open-beta plan and runs a bigger closed beta from October 19 to 26.
- Sombra is a support hero now, and Overwatch Season 5 drops her into the healer queue today.
- ARC Raiders and The Finals are heading to film and TV with the producer behind The Backrooms.
- Squad 44 goes free on Steam from October 8, and it costs $3.99 until then.
🎯 Extraction shooters
Marathon Wipes Everyone Back to Zero Today, and Ranked Stays Switched Off
Bungie's Nightfall Refresh goes live in Marathon on October 6, resetting progression and the in-game economy for every player. Bungie says Season 2 pushed some players into the endgame early and left everyone else behind. The update adds the free NuCaloric Reward Pass, which never expires, weekend Sponsored Queues rotating Perimeter, Marsh, and Night Marsh, and a limited Vault Breaker PvE return. Ranked stays offline until Bungie reworks it, and the bigger Symbiosis update follows on December 8.
Player impact: Everyone starts from the same gear floor today, so lapsed squads get their cleanest re-entry point since launch. Sweats lose their stash lead, and anyone who only played for ranked has nothing to grind for yet.
HUNGER Delays Its Open Beta and Runs a Bigger Closed Beta From October 19 to 26
Good Fun Corporation, the Hell Let Loose team behind Napoleonic PvPvE extraction game HUNGER, announced its first Closed Beta on October 5. It runs from October 19 at 10am BST to October 26 at 9am GMT, with the end date still to be confirmed. The studio had planned to go straight to an Open Beta, but says access requests far outran expectations, so this test works as a larger Tech Test 4 to stress servers across regions. Open Beta dates come after it ends.
Player impact: Request access on HUNGER's Steam page now. Earlier Tech Test players already keep access through both betas, and everyone else waits longer for an open door.
Sources: HUNGER on Steam (Good Fun Corporation)
ARC Raiders and The Finals Are Getting Film and TV Adaptations From The Backrooms Producer
Nexon announced on October 5 that Chernin Entertainment, producer of The Backrooms film and the Planet of the Apes reboots, will develop film and TV projects based on Embark Studios' ARC Raiders and The Finals. Nexon says ARC Raiders has sold more than 16.3 million copies since its October 2025 launch. No format split, cast, platform, or release window was announced, so which game becomes a film and which a series is still unclear.
Player impact: Nothing changes in your raids, but Nexon now treats ARC Raiders as a franchise to feed, which raises the odds of long-term support and more crossover cosmetics.
Sources: Inven Global · Variety
Active Matter Makes Molotovs Ignite Instantly and Puts Cover Around Three Exfils
Active Matter, the PvPvE extraction shooter that launched September 15, shipped update 0.4.0.173 on October 5. Molotovs and incendiary grenades now set targets alight on contact, where they previously needed 1 to 2 seconds in the flames. Fixed extraction points on Headquarters, Airport, and Downtown moved closer to buildings with added cover. Switching on a flashlight or laser sight now ends your spawn invisibility, and drones and binoculars no longer work from vehicles.
Player impact: Fire is now a real area-denial tool, so expect more burning doorways and exfil fights. Exfil campers lose some open sightlines, and spawn-flashlight habits will get you spotted.
Sources: Active Matter on Steam
🔫 FPS
Sombra Is a Support Hero Now as Overwatch Season 5 Adds Vampire Healer Doctrine
Overwatch Season 5: A Grim Doctrine launches October 6. Sombra moves from Damage to Support, Roadhog gets a reworked Scrap Gun and a new Trash Compactor ability, and new Support hero Doctrine heals allies and damages enemies at range with his Eternal Scepter. Blizzard also adds Grimsvotn, an Escort map inside a volcanic prison, a Solo Leveling skin collab from October 6 to 26, and unvaulted battle passes from Seasons 1 to 15.
Player impact: Support queue gets two new picks at once, so expect chaotic hacks-and-heals comps in ranked this week. Roadhog mains need to relearn the hero before climbing.
Sources: Bleeding Cool
🆕 Just released
Gears of War: E-Day Opens to Everyone Today, and Series S Uses Its SSD as Extra RAM
Gears of War: E-Day launches for everyone on October 6 at 3pm UTC on Xbox Series X|S and PC, and lands day one on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass after five days of paid early access. Technical director Kate Rayner told Digital Foundry that The Coalition streams around 2GB of non-urgent data through the Series S SSD to free roughly 1GB of system memory. Series S holds 60fps with only Lumen reflections turned off. The install is about 120GB.
Player impact: Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass players can download it now; Essential tier does not get it. Series S owners get a real 60fps version, so clear 120GB before you start.
CD Projekt Lists Five Witcher 3 Remastered Fixes, Starting With PS5 Performance
CD Projekt Red said on October 5 that its next Witcher 3 Remastered update targets five problems: further performance gains, especially on PS5, more visual adjustments, My Rewards and Twitch Drops fixes, Ukrainian localization in more regions on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, and console voiceover audio bugs. Social media director Marcin Momot said more fixes are in progress. No date was given, and the PC hotfix 5.00c already landed on October 1.
Player impact: PS5 players fighting frame drops should hold off on a long playthrough until the patch lands. Twitch Drops hunters should check their rewards after it arrives.
Sources: Pure Xbox
🆓 Free to try
Squad 44 Is Free on Steam From October 8 to 12, and $3.99 Until Then
Offworld's World War II tactical shooter Squad 44 runs a Steam free weekend from October 8 at 10am PT to October 12 at 10am PT, announced by the studio on October 3. It is a limited play window. Before it starts, the store page lists the game at 80 percent off, $3.99 instead of $19.99, until October 8. Squad 44 features around 150 weapons, 120 vehicles, crewed tanks, and voice-chat squads on 20 maps.
Player impact: Try it free over the weekend before paying, or grab it at $3.99 before October 8 if you already know you want it. Bring a microphone, since squads run on voice.
Sources: Squad 44 on Steam · Steam store
🖥️ Hardware
32GB of RAM Overtakes 16GB on Steam Even as DDR5 Prices Soar
Valve's September 2026 Steam Hardware Survey shows 32GB systems at 42.22 percent of users, up 4.77 points in a month, overtaking 16GB at 37.82 percent, PC Guide reported on October 5. The jump lands while memory costs are at record highs, with PC Guide putting an average 32GB DDR5 kit around $617. Steam does not split DDR4 from DDR5, so how many of those systems run newer memory is unknown.
Player impact: Developers target what most players own, so 16GB rigs will start feeling tight in new releases. If you need RAM, current prices make waiting painful too.
Sources: PC Guide
Valve Now Shows Developers Real Steam Deck Framerate Spreads From Players
Valve has added a framerate distribution chart to its developer dashboard for Steam Deck Verified games, built from players who opted in to sharing performance data, GamingOnLinux reported on October 5. Developers previously saw an average framerate plus user feedback. Valve says players' own FPS caps can drag the numbers down, and the goal is spotting games that often drop below targets like 30fps. For now the data covers Verified games only.
Player impact: Verified badges could get more honest, and patches for Deck stutter may land faster. Opting in to framerate sharing on your Deck now feeds real data to developers.
Sources: GamingOnLinux
📦 Other
Ninja Theory Starts Letting Staff Go While Supermassive Cuts More Than 70
Hellblade studio Ninja Theory has started UK redundancy consultations after Xbox said two deals to buy or save it fell through, VGC and Kotaku reported on October 5. Staff posted exits on LinkedIn, and a gameplay programmer said the team will not get to finish its work, putting Senua, announced at June's Xbox Showcase for 2027, in doubt. The same day, Until Dawn studio Supermassive confirmed more than 70 departures, under six months after Directive 8020 launched.
Player impact: Senua is now at real risk of cancellation, and Directive 8020's promised October multiplayer update comes from a much smaller team. Watch both before spending money on either.
NBA 2K25 Gets Delisted October 30, and Its Single-Player MyCareer Dies With the Servers
2K confirmed NBA 2K25 leaves digital stores on October 30, with online servers shutting down on December 31, VGC reported on October 5. Because MyCareer progression runs on VC (Virtual Currency), the single-player story mode stops working along with MyTeam and every online mode. After January 1, 2027, only offline Play Now, MyNBA, and The W remain playable, and VC can no longer be earned or bought.
Player impact: Do not buy VC for 2K25 now; it becomes worthless in under three months. It is also a clean example of why always-online single-player modes are a risk.
Sources: VGC
Jagex Pulls a RuneFest Trailer After Players Spot Six-Fingered AI Knights
Jagex withdrew its Dragon Slayer II questline trailer shown at RuneFest after players spotted generative AI artifacts, including a six-fingered knight and stray Nike branding, Kotaku reported on October 5. Jagex says it does not use generative AI for games or art and that an external partner made the video after promising not to use AI tools. It is the studio's second AI incident in days, after an Old School RuneScape and 100 Thieves shirt design.
Player impact: Players are now the AI detectors, and studios are getting caught through outsourced marketing. Expect more trailers pulled when fans freeze-frame them.
Sources: Kotaku
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