Gaming News · Issue #25 · 1 September 2026

TL;DR

• Rainbow Six Operation Split Fire lands September 1 with new defender Noor, a shield-burning gadget, and a fresh Legend rank to climb.
• Switch 2 jumps to $499.99 in the US today, so grab an old-price unit while stock lasts.
• Battlefield 6's 1.4.2.5 patch fixes jet lasers, underwater helicopter kills, and the Portal lobby freeze.
• Nvidia's last Windows 10 Game Ready driver ships in October, then it is security fixes only.
• Free right now: Machinarium and Make Way on Epic, Civ 4 on Prime, Sniper Elite: Resistance on PS Plus.

🔫 FPS

Rainbow Six Siege Drops Operation Split Fire With Noor, a Shield-Burning Defender

Ubisoft launched Rainbow Six Siege's new season, Operation Split Fire (Year 11 Season 3), on September 1. It adds Noor, an Egyptian two-speed two-health Defender whose Horus Lance launcher fires a projectile that sticks to ballistic shields or walls and then burns, built to punish shield attackers. The season also opens a new Legend rank above the current competitive ladder, nerfs Kali and Dokkaebi, and runs a limited 3v3 arcade mode from September 8 to 21.

Player impact: Ranked players get a new top division to grind and a fresh counter to shield mains. Re-check your Kali and Dokkaebi loadouts before you queue this week.

Sources: Ubisoft News · Siege.gg

Battlefield 6's September 1 Patch Fixes Jet Lasers and Underwater Helicopter Kills

EA shipped Battlefield 6 update 1.4.2.5 on September 1 across the base game and its REDSEC battle royale mode. It is a small stability pass following update 1.4.2.0: laser designation now locks onto fighter jets in Carrier Strike, helicopter miniguns can again damage soldiers in the water, Support players can ping downed teammates, and Portal Custom Lobbies get reliability fixes so the Start tile stops freezing during the countdown.

Player impact: If you fly or run Support, several broken interactions work again. Custom Lobby hosts should retest their setups before match night, since the countdown freeze that killed lobbies is patched.

Sources: EA / Battlefield

🆓 Free to try

September's Free Haul: Machinarium on Epic, Civ 4 on Prime, Sniper Elite on PS Plus

Three free drops are live now. The Epic Games Store is giving Machinarium and Make Way free to keep through September 4. Amazon Prime Gaming's September batch runs about a dozen claims, headlined by Civilization IV. And PlayStation Plus Essential's September Monthly Games, free to claim from September 1, are Sniper Elite: Resistance, MLB The Show 26, Chained Echoes, and Wobbly Life.

Player impact: Epic and Prime claims are yours to keep forever, so grab them before the rotation flips (the Epic pair expires September 4). PS Plus Monthly Games only stay playable while you hold the subscription.

Sources: Neowin · Video Games Chronicle · GameSpot

🕹️ Console specifics

Nintendo Switch 2 Jumps to $499.99 in the US Starting September 1

Nintendo raised the US price of the Switch 2 to $499.99 on September 1, up from $449.99, with store demo kiosks advertising the hike in the days before it landed. It follows Microsoft pushing the Xbox Series X disc model to $799.99 and the digital edition to $749.99 in August. The console hardware is unchanged; only the sticker price moved.

Player impact: The cheapest official way into a Switch 2 just went up $50. Retail stock at the old price sells through fast, so hunt existing shelf units if you want the lower number.

Sources: Nintendo Life · Nintendo Life

🖥️ Hardware

Nvidia's Last Windows 10 Game Ready Driver Ships in October, Then Security-Only

Nvidia confirmed that its final GeForce Game Ready driver with Windows 10 support ships in October, flagged this week by TechPowerUp and HotHardware from Nvidia's own support documents. From November, new Game Ready and Studio driver packages will require Windows 11. GeForce cards keep working on that last compatible driver, but they stop getting new game-day optimizations and profiles. Nvidia will still push quarterly security fixes for Windows 10 through October 2029.

Player impact: If you game on Windows 10, your last driver with day-one game tuning arrives in October. Plan a Windows 11 move if you want DLSS updates and new-release optimizations, or accept frozen performance after that.

Sources: TechPowerUp · HotHardware

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