Ubisoft reportedly has two more unannounced Assassin's Creed games in development, and one of them takes the series back to Ancient Rome. French content creator j0nathan, who has a track record with Ubisoft leaks, said in a November 6 video that the Rome project is codenamed "Mars," and that two sources with access to Ubisoft's backend systems backed up the information. The second game is apparently a mobile title codenamed "Pocket," set in Jerusalem. Insider Gaming says it has also heard both codenames, but it couldn't verify the claims to its own standards, partly because the franchise has been going through a rough patch since longtime boss Marc-Alexis Côté left Ubisoft in October 2025.

The setting is interesting, since Netflix's live-action Assassin's Creed series is also set in Rome, in 64 AD. The leaker thinks Mars will likely tie into the show in some capacity, and his video also floats the idea that it could be a follow-up to Assassin's Creed Origins. None of this is confirmed, of course. However, Ubisoft did say in its Fall 2026 franchise update that its teams are working on unannounced projects with new settings and stories, while confirming no other remakes are in the works. Codename Hexe is next in line, and an earlier rumor said it won't launch before the second half of 2027. Insider Gaming has since heard that Hexe was internally delayed by another year, likely into 2028. It's possible we don't get anything concrete on the Rome game until 2029 or 2030, assuming it moves further into production.

Welcome to November and we kick off this month with a somewhat slow start, as even this week's major release is technically a re-release of a game that's over 20 years old. The rest of this week's new releases includes a lot of early access games and kicks off with a pack of hounds in space, followed by a family friendly, multiplayer life/farming sim and an open world MMORPG. This is followed by an extended medieval city builder and we end the week with a haystack and you get to guess what you have to find in it. Don't forget to check out this week's other releases as well.

World of Warcraft: Forever / This week's major release / Wednesday 4 November
WoW: Forever is an invitation to take your first steps in a legendary world of untamed frontiers, warring factions, untold perils, and unseen mysteries. Experience an Azeroth that grows from the roots of WoW's first age, continually evolving through regular content patches and updates that promise never-ending adventure.

Bend Studio, the game studio behind 2019's Days Gone action-adventure game, is apparently already knee-deep in the production of its next game, and it has been unofficially confirmed that Bend's next project will not be Days Gone 2, according to a report by MP1st, who cites anonymous insiders familiar with Bend Studio's inner workings.

The insider explains that the project is a third-person co-op game, and that it is slated to be revealed sometime in 2027, with a late 2027 launch, to boot. At the time of the leak, it was confirmed that the game will not be a live-service game, despite Sony's renewed push for live-service games. While this has the implication that the game might appeal to more of Sony's core audience, it also means that it will likely be a PS5-exclusive, given Sony's unrelenting desire to lock players into its console platform.

FromSoftware has officially pushed The Duskbloods, its multiplayer action game made exclusively for the Nintendo Switch 2, out of 2026. In a post on the game's official X account, the studio said development is at the "final adjustment stage" and that the launch window now moves to 2027. There's no date or even a quarter attached to the new window, so it could land anywhere next year. FromSoftware also apologized to players who have been waiting for the game.

In a follow-up post, the studio said the August network test showed strong interest in the game's combat and strategic depth, and that the extra time will go toward final tweaks to game rules and balancing. That closed test ran from August 21 to 23 and got off to a rough start, as server issues forced FromSoftware to end the first session early. Interestingly, more players applied for it than for the Elden Ring Nightreign test, despite the game being tied to a single platform.

Intel Corporation today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Classiq, a leading provider of quantum computing software. The combination of Classiq's synthesis platform with Intel's spin-qubit manufacturing and existing software would create a user-friendly full-stack quantum computing platform, enabling the promising technology to mature into a mainstream computing business.

More than forty years ago, the invention of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) and Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software transformed silicon chip design and classical computing by providing a common software platform that could abstract the ability to design chips from the complexity of the underlying hardware. Classiq plays a similar role in quantum computing, providing a unifying software platform that is agnostic to the underlying qubit modality and hardware. Providing this high-level abstraction enables quantum computing to scale beyond custom hand-crafted circuits and applications to become a mainstream computing platform.

After plenty of rumors, Epic Games has finally made it official: One Piece is coming to Fortnite. The official Fortnite account on X posted three straw hat emojis on October 24, along with a short teaser showing the Going Merry, the Straw Hat Pirates' first ship, sailing out of the fog before a joint Fortnite and One Piece logo appears. The collaboration is tied to Treasure Hunters, a pirate-themed mini-season that kicks off on November 1 and closes out Chapter 7 before Chapter 8 arrives. The same account also posted "The greatest adventure of all! 11.1" that day to tease the start date.

It looks like that's about all Epic has shared so far. There's no word on which characters will show up as skins, what's coming to the Item Shop, or whether the content goes live on day one or later in the season. People were quick to point out that the ship in the teaser looks like the anime version, not the one from Netflix's live-action series, so the collab will probably lean on the anime, though Epic hasn't said so. Treasure Hunters also looks set to bring Pirate Miku and Kasane Teto, based on teasers from their official accounts. Of course, this isn't the first time the Straw Hats have touched Fortnite. Netflix and Enthusiast Gaming put out a One Piece Creative map back in 2023 to promote the live-action show, though it had no skins. Players can expect more details as November 1 gets closer.

Welcome to the last week of October and we end this month with what looks to be a big release for those that are into martial arts action RPGs. This week's regular releases are a bit of a mix, starting off with a co-op cooking game, followed by a pixel graphics action RPG and some potentially stolen property. We round off the week with an open world Sci-Fi survival game and a first person dungeon crawler action RPG. Don't forget to check out this week's other release as well.

Phantom Blade Zero / This week's major release / Thursday 29 October
Framed for murdering his master, Soul suffers a devastating wound to the heart, leaving him just sixty-six days to live. Alone and hunted, he roams the Wulin, determined to unravel a conspiracy that has ensnared the martial world. Through rain and blood, kindness and vengeance, he embarks on a journey where love and hatred intertwine in search of a heart. Steam link

A day after the trailer for BioWare's canceled Mass Effect game leaked, Australian YouTuber Dantics has shared what he claims are details about the project, which he calls Mass Effect Universe. Dantics says he was part of a private "Mass Effect Council" of content creators who saw the game and gave feedback during development, and that BioWare closing its doors means he can finally talk about it. According to his post on X, the game was set more than 600 years after the Reaper War, with players taking on the role of a customizable N7 agent, which he likens to a cross between John Wick and James Bond. Apparently, the galaxy was split into three factions (humanity, the Krogan and Batarians in one bloc, the Council races in another, and the Geth as a third superpower), locked in a galactic Cold War instead of another Reaper-style invasion.

Dantics also lists experimental implants that let players see through walls and remotely trigger hazards, handcrafted missions with Hitman-style freedom, brutal close-range executions, squadmates who clash, and Liara returning as a powerful Asari Matriarch. In a separate video, he says the game was being built to accommodate all three Mass Effect 3 endings. His council role hasn't been independently confirmed, though BioWare has credited community councils in past games, and project lead Michael Gamble follows him on X. EA hasn't commented on any of it, and since the game was still in early development when EA cut around 400 jobs, roughly 50 of them at BioWare, it's hard to say how much of this would have made it to launch.

Microsoft's redesigned File Explorer context menu is now rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Beta channel with build 26220.9757. The new menu first showed up in the Experimental channel back in August, when the File Explorer team admitted that the Windows 11 right-click menu had grown cluttered and sluggish over time, partly because every app that adds its own entries makes the menu do extra work each time it opens. The redesign trims the top level down to commonly used actions and adds a new Settings page, reachable through a "Customize menu" link at the bottom of the menu, where users can pick what shows up.

Going by Microsoft's August post, the customization goes fairly deep. Built-in commands such as Send to and Create shortcut can be toggled on or off, Print can be added, and app extensions can sit in the main menu or a submenu, or be hidden entirely. Cut, Copy, Paste, Rename, Delete, and Share can also be shown as text instead of a row of icons, and Properties can be moved to the bottom. A first-time teaching tip may also pop up to point people toward those options. Microsoft says it will keep refining the design based on Insider feedback, so some of this could still change.

Deep Silver and KING Art Games today deployed the Game Overview trailer for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV, a colossal, nine-minute deep-dive into the biggest title in series history. Four playable factions, more than 70 missions, 30 multiplayer maps, The Last Stand and the deepest army customization in series history.

Fight through four complete campaigns, totaling more than 70 missions with branching choices and co-operative play. Command the Space Marines, Orks, Necrons and Adeptus Mechanicus - four distinct factions, each with their own units, mechanics and approach to warfare. Master their strengths as you expand your forces and dominate the battlefield.

Nomad Games and Balor Games are thrilled to reveal HeroQuest: Digital Edition, an officially licensed adaptation of HeroQuest, the iconic tabletop classic that helped define the dungeon-crawling adventure genre. Unveiled during The MIX Fall Showcase, HeroQuest: Digital Edition brings the action to PC via Steam in 2027, with a Closed Beta playtest coming soon.

An enduring tabletop legacy is reborn as an immersive digital adventure with HeroQuest: Digital Edition. The sinister Dread sorcerer Zargon seeks to conquer the Realm, and only four brave heroes stand in his way. Players will lead the Barbarian, Dwarf, Elf and Wizard on a perilous quest into the dungeon to destroy the forces of Dread and protect the Realm. Players can also take on the role of Zargon, plotting and scheming behind the scenes to strike down the opposing fellowship.

Welcome to a new week of games and this week's AAA release comes with a fishy smell, which kind of goes with its Friday release, but it looks like fans of the franchise will be having a good time based on advanced access feedback. As for this week's regular releases, we kick off with a couple of very different Sci-Fi games, the first is a co-op puzzle, whereas the other one is set in a much more familiar universe, but is set on a planet rather than a star ship. This is followed by a zombie action RPG where you're the zombie, a pixel-art version of a famous JRPG and finally we end the week with cats, but not the kind that is napping on your lap. Don't forget to check out this week's other releases as well.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 / This week's AAA release / Friday 23 October
A young squad of South Korean soldiers fight to survive on the collapsing front lines, while half a world away a vengeful Captain Price wages a personal war from the shadows as he stays one step ahead of those hunting him. As Price's off-book mission collides with the forces behind the invasion, the war spreads beyond anyone's control. Steam link

One of the myriad projects Ubisoft scrapped in its recent restructuring, which has resulted in hundreds of layoffs and a reduction in scope of other games, was apparently an Assassin's Creed project called Assassin's Creed Destiny, which would have seen the franchise visit China in 205 BCE, around the time of the collapse of the Qin Dynasty, the shortest-lived dynasty in China's long history. According to a recent report by MP1st, the game was in development in collaboration with TiMi, a Tencent-owned game studio, but the studio announced a restructuring shortly after the 2025 prototype that recently surfaced, and the game was scrapped not long after that.

In the leaked screenshots, which are sourced from the portfolios of artists associated with Assassin's Creed Destiny, there are intricate weapon designs, while an included video shows a female assassin hunting down a mysterious artifact housed in a besieged palace. As with other Assassin's Creed games, it was to feature historical figures, and one mentioned in the leaked game media is Xiang Yu, an ancient Chinese warlord that was besieging the palace and featured briefly in an early boss fight.

After a few busy weeks of new game releases, this week is a bit slower, but it doesn't mean that there aren't a lot of new releases, just nothing that really stands out. This week's major release takes us off-roading in a very colourful game. We kick off the week with some RTS planning in a WW2 setting, which is followed by a first person RPG set in the Napoleonic era, followed by another first person game, but this time with trolls in the Finnish forests and we're not talking about the Moomin kind. We end the week with a 2D platformer set in a familiar universe and finally we have a very different city builder which brings Discworld vibes. Don't forget to check out this week's other releases as well.

Over the hill / This week's major release / Wednesday 14 October
Explore the world in the golden age of offroading. Drive iconic 4x4 vehicles from the 60s to 80s by yourself or with friends through challenging trails and beautiful scenery. Take to the trails solo or with up to three friends. Cruise through scenic landscapes, tackle challenging off-road routes, and work together to overcome the obstacles standing between you and your destination. Steam link

Sony Interactive Entertainment has a new patent application out that describes using machine learning to change how NPCs and bosses behave, based on how the person holding the controller plays. Titled "AI-adapted non-player character for video game system" (US 2026/0295429 A1), it was filed on March 31, 2025, published by the USPTO on October 1, and spotted by Patentlyze. The system collects player data and game data from an encounter with an NPC, feeds both into a machine learning model, and uses whatever the model returns to modify that character.

The data Sony lists is quite granular. On the player's side, it covers reaction time to boss attacks, the success rate of dodges, blocks, and parries, the weapons and consumables used, and even the number of retries. On the boss's side, it tracks attack patterns and how often the player avoided or countered them. Combat is only part of it, since the filing also mentions dialogue, appearance, and NPC voices that shift in pitch and volume. Sony says this content could be generated before a game runs, in real time during play, or afterward, so a boss that adapts mid-fight is one of several scenarios covered.

Welcome to the first full week of October and boy do we have a packed week full of new releases and we have two major releases this week, with one being a prequel in a popular Xbox franchise and one being a sequel MMORPG. As for this week's other releases, we start the week with some racing in the Star Wars universe, followed by a game based on a famous horror movie. Continuing on the horror theme we got a 2.5D survival horror metroidvania and we end the week with a seemingly peaceful drive in the countryside valleys. Don't forget to check out this week's other releases as well.

Gears of War: E-Day / This week's first major release / Tuesday 6 October
Experience the horror and brutality of Emergence Day. Fourteen years before the original Gears of War, join Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago in a gripping origin-story campaign as the Locust Horde first erupt from below, igniting a desperate fight for survival. Rally your squad and fight on in multiplayer with a reimagination of Gears' iconic PvE mode, Horde Siege, or go head-to-head with a refined Versus PvP. Steam link

Marvel's Wolverine is now touching 20 FPS on the KytyPS5 emulator, only days after it first booted to its main menu at around 2 FPS. X user @MizoChris shared a 10-second clip of Logan clawing around at roughly that frame rate, and the numbers match a longer test by YouTuber Unreal Gaming PC on a Ryzen 7 9800X3D and RTX 4080. That run apparently used Senaxx's September 30 build of the emulator, and it ate up nearly all of the card's 16 GB of VRAM. The 20 FPS figure, however, is a peak. Most gameplay reportedly sits closer to 6 to 9 FPS, but occasionally spikes to 15-20 FPS, especially during scenes with less action. The important bit here is the speed at which the game is progressing toward playability. Apparently, the game was peaking at 3 to 7 FPS just a day earlier, though the earlier tests ran on different PCs, so I wouldn't compare them directly.

KytyPS5 has done this before. Last month, it took Demon's Souls Remake from 1 to 2 FPS to 30 FPS in a matter of days, and it also got the PS5 version of GTA 5 running at up to 60 FPS. Wolverine only launched on September 15, which makes its progress even more surprising. The game being a Sony PlayStation exclusive also matters, since Sony has stepped away from PC ports for the foreseeable future. Of course, this doesn't mean GTA 6 will be coming to PC through emulation any time soon. Wolverine is still far from playable, and other KytyPS5 games still deal with crashes and performance issues. It's an impressive technical feat regardless, and PS5 emulation seems to be moving much faster than most people, maybe even Sony, expected.

It seems as though the future of Resident Evil remakes is in flux, with it initially being reported that Resident Evil 5 and 6 would not be getting remakes following the expected Code Veronica and Resident Evil 1 remakes. However, comments by Jun Takeuchi, a franchise veteran who has served as executive director, producer, or artist on several Resident Evil games, alluded to Resident Evil remakes that stretch all the way until the modern numbered games.

The comments, out of the recently launched Biohazard 30th Special Mook (via RENews on X), say that Capcom has been developing Resident Evil in two tracks: the numbered titles allow players to experience the ongoing story of the series, while the remake series allows them to experience the past. Someday, the remake series will catch up with the era of the numbered titles, and we are already thinking about what we will do when that happens. It may be the case that there were previously no plans for those remakes but that recent successes with older franchises and remakes have led Capcom to change its mind and commit to more Resident Evil remakes, as was alluded to in a recent press release.

There's been a lot of chatter recently about Hideo Kojima's PHYSINT and the financial figures tied to its deal with Xbox. Chris Dring of The Game Business said on his podcast that Xbox's budget for Hideo Kojima's PHYSINT sits around $400 million. That number now appears to be disputed. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier says someone at Xbox with firsthand knowledge of the deal told him it was signed for "significantly less." Windows Central's Jez Corden says sources with direct knowledge of the contracts told him Xbox and Kojima Productions are working with a "fraction" of that figure. Dring has since said he has also been told Xbox is paying quite a bit less. Corden adds that $400 million is potentially what Sony and PlayStation were on the hook for before they canceled the deal.

Kojima said Sony dropped PHYSINT during a Zoom call and gave no reason, and Xbox then announced on September 9 that it would publish the game. Bloomberg's earlier report, citing PlayStation insiders, said the game was behind schedule and heading over budget, which Kojima Productions has since denied. Corden also says the Xbox deal includes movie and TV licenses for PHYSINT, plus enhanced terms for OD. There is no official figure from either company, and the game has no release date yet, although Xbox and Kojima Productions did reveal its cast and first poster at Tokyo Game Show. For now, readers should treat the $400 million figure as unlikely, and it may well belong to the earlier Sony deal.

Welcome to week 40 where we move from September to October and this week's major release is a life sim set in a cyberpunk city. All the other bigger releases this week are kind of clumped together, with the week kicking off with transporting goods, followed by a blocky spin-off sequel. Next up we have another life sim, but this time set in a cozy fantasy world. We end the week with some action, first up we have a disco-punk, space horror action game, followed by the 8th installment in a well known air combat franchise. We also have a couple of remasters this week, so make sure you check out those as well.

Nivalis Nights / This week's major release / Tuesday 29 September
Grow your business, manage restaurants and nightclubs, make friends and enemies, buy and decorate apartments, go fishing and maybe even find love in a cyberpunk city that stretches from the ocean to the clouds. Steam link

It was announced in July that Xbox would be laying off swathes of its staff at studios like id Software, notably leaving id Software's VFX team with "one single artist with no lead or producer," and it now seems as though the fallout for Microsoft's mass layoffs have continued. As detailed in a Steam update, id Software has confirmed that Quake Champions Point Release 1.31 will be its last planned content update, and the game will officially be transitioning to a paid game, instead of the free-to-play model it was previously sold under.
The changes are summarized as follows:

Quake Champions has moved to a paid ownership model available on Steam. Now, anyone who has Quake Champions in their Steam library can select any of the Champions, weapon skins, and cosmetic options without additional in-game purchases. As part of this update, the Microsoft Store version has been retired, and the game is now available only through Steam. Player skill stats will continue to reflect gameplay progress, so you can keep focusing on your Champion progression and enjoying the cosmetic features included with the game.

Blaze Entertainment has today announced two new Evercade cartridge collections in partnership with British games publisher System 3, bringing together some of the company's most celebrated franchises in physical form for Evercade.

The first collection brings together two icons of the home computer era, International Karate and The Last Ninja, combining martial arts action with one of the most distinctive action-adventure series of the 1980s and '90s. The second celebrates the much-loved James Pond series, bringing the aquatic secret agent's unique blend of platforming, humour and unmistakably British character to Evercade.

Throughout Sonic's 35-year history, the game franchise has had its ups and downs, and according to series's creative officer, Takashi Iizuka, in a recent interview with One More Game, the executives at Sega had been urging him to cancel the franchise entirely, before the launch of the 2020 Sonic live-action movie.

There had been good times, and there had been bad times… during the worst times, I was told by the higher-ups that we should cancel the entire franchise. I had to fight within the organization to keep the franchise as long as possible... The biggest milestone for me was the first movie…that had been a great hit and definitely changed the course of this franchise."

The Blood of Dawnwalker launched at the start of September with a strong start, selling over a million copies within the first week of launch. Following that success, it was confirmed that a sequel was already in the works, however, apparently one sticking point for many players was that the game didn't launch with enough difficulty options—especially not ones that make the gameplay more approachable. According to Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, game director for The Blood of Dawnwalker, in a recent interview with Eurogamer, an October update is en route to add a new difficulty mode.

[Editor's note: Our in-depth handheld performance review of The Blood of Dawnwalker is now live]

We will introduce an additional difficulty level, but an easier one, because many people are asking for a more easy difficulty. The Story mode which we have right now will be a different difficulty—we will call it Demanding or something like this—and we will add a new Story mode which will be even easier for people who don't want to experience the combat, they just want to learn the story and go through the game without this gameplay challenge.

Ahead of the official launch of GTA VI, Rockstar has put out a new set of mod guidelines for the upcoming action game, revealing strict rules surrounding the community's contributions to Leonida and the world of GTA as a whole. The modding guide, as spotted by users on the ResetEra forums, was silently launched on September 10, and it dictates what gamers and modders can and can't do with GTA games, imposing rather strict limitations in some places.

The limitations that stand out the most are the rules that disallow expanding or modifying "official storylines, plots, missions, characters, or other elements" of Rockstar's continuity. The studio also forbids mods that "combine maps, locations, characters, storylines, in-game assets, or other IP" between different Rockstar games. This comes after an early 2025 incident in which Liberty City Preservation Project, a mod that recreated GTA IV's map in GTA V, was taken down by Rockstar Games.