Gaming News Daily

🎮 Call of Duty Lifetime Revenue Tops $40 Billion Microsoft has confirmed that the Call of Duty franchise has surpassed $40 billion in lifetime revenue. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced the milestone following the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on October 23, writing: "Congrats to the team. And to the players, thank you for being with us." Sharma did not clarify whether MW4's launch pushed the franchise over the threshold, or break down what the figure includes. The series launched in 2003 and has released new entries annually, expanding into mobile and the battle royale genre with Warzone. Source

🎮 Xbox Game Pass Lands in T-Mobile Phone Plans Microsoft and T-Mobile have partnered to offer Xbox Game Pass as part of T-Mobile's new "T-Mix" plan, launching in November — the first time Game Pass has been available through a US wireless carrier. T-Mix starts at $55/month for one line and lets subscribers pick one bundled service, which can include Game Pass Ultimate or Game Pass Premium. T-Mix More ($75/month) includes two picks; T-Mix Loaded ($95/month) includes three. Other options include Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV, YouTube Premium, and ESPN Unlimited. Picks can be swapped every three months. The announcement comes as Game Pass faces potential changes. Reports indicate Xbox is planning a "major overhaul" to introduce à la carte feature selection — consistent with earlier April reporting about a "pick-your-own" version. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has said Game Pass "did not pay off" as expected, and has already made changes including removing new Call of Duty titles from the service and cutting prices. Microsoft is also set to begin charging for additional cloud-gaming time. Source

🏢 Microsoft Offers Voluntary Buyouts to 60,000 Staff Microsoft has launched a Voluntary Exit Offer for approximately 60,000 employees — around 25% of its total workforce — across the US, UK, Canada, and India. Chief People Officer Amy Coleman announced the program on October 26, describing it as giving eligible staff "the opportunity to leave Microsoft with financial support and career planning resources." Eligible employees at internal level 70 and below in participating teams, including Xbox, AI Experiences, Copilot, Windows + Devices, Finance, and HR, will receive offer details via email. Sales organizations and some engineering and corporate functions are excluded. Terms mirror Microsoft's standard severance: a minimum of 60 days base pay, up to 39 weeks depending on seniority and tenure. Employees have until early December to decide, with exits taking effect at year-end. Microsoft says there are no plans for another buyout after this round. The move follows an earlier Voluntary Retirement Program offered to around 9,000 employees, roughly one-third of whom accepted. Microsoft cited AI investment and workforce restructuring as the drivers behind the latest offer. Source

🛠 Baldur's Gate 3 Gets 16 Free Content Pieces on Console Larian has released 16 new pieces of free content for Baldur's Gate 3 console players. Source

🏢 Xbox COO Helen Chiang Fired for Policy Violations Helen Chiang, who served as both Xbox COO and head of Minecraft, was reportedly fired for policy violations, according to new reporting on her departure from Microsoft. The nature of the violations has not been specified. Chiang had led Minecraft since 2017 and was later elevated to Xbox COO before her exit. Source

🛠 Civ 7's Single-Civ Mode Wasn't in the Original Vision Civilization 7's creative director Ed Beach has described the game's major update — which introduced the ability to play as a single civilization throughout an entire run — as "personally challenging," saying it "wasn't part of the original vision" for the title. Beach acknowledged that players "had not been given full service by the game as the way it first shipped," signaling that the studio recognized the original design fell short of player expectations. Source

🛠 Steam's Personal Calendar Exits Beta, Now a Full Feature Valve has officially launched the Personal Calendar out of Steam Labs, confirming it is now a full component of the Steam Store. The feature tracks upcoming and recent releases tailored to a user's interests. Source

🛠 Star Wars Galaxies Restoration Gets Major Visual and Planet Overhaul The fan-run Star Wars Galaxies Restoration project has received a significant new update, featuring a major visual upgrade and a comprehensive rework of Kashyyyk, the Wookiees' home planet. The team's approach was straightforward: developers were asked to focus on content they personally loved about the original game and build from there. Source

🛠 Factorio Patch 2.1 Arrives After 14 Years of Development Factorio has received patch 2.1, described by the developers as "a big collection" of small but significant changes, marking the game's final major update after 14 years of development. Source

🎮 MW4 Launch-Day DLC Honours Medal of Honor Recipient Kyle Carpenter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launched October 23, and its first DLC — the $20 CODE Valor Pack — is available now, with all proceeds going to the Call of Duty Endowment (CODE), Activision's charity helping military veterans find civilian employment. The pack adds real-life Medal of Honor recipient Kyle Carpenter as a playable operator. On November 21, 2010, in Marjah, Afghanistan, Carpenter threw himself over a grenade to shield fellow Marine Nick Eufrazio. He sustained catastrophic injuries: loss of an eye, broken jaw, a collapsed lung, one arm fractured in more than 30 places, and over 40 surgeries in total. President Obama awarded him the Medal of Honor in 2014. The Valor Pack includes two operator skins, three weapon blueprints, a combat knife, charm, sticker, calling card, emblem, loading screen, and double XP tokens. Source

🎮 GTA 6 TV Spots Feature Extended Scenes, Drop Xbox Logo Rockstar's GTA 6 TV commercials contain subtle differences from the original launch trailer. A 30-second spot removes the shower scenes featuring Jason and Lucia, adds slightly longer takes of an airplane sequence and a car scene — including a moment where Jason nudges Lucia and she nearly falls. The Xbox logo is also absent, reportedly tied to Rockstar's promotional deal with Sony. A 90-second version restores the shower scenes while keeping the extended cuts. GTA 6 launches November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, though the TV ads don't mention Xbox. Rockstar's broader marketing push includes real-life Burger Shot and Cluckin' Bell pop-ups selling GTA-branded food. Source

🎮 Exodus Reveals Reworked Male Protagonist After Player Feedback Archetype Entertainment has unveiled a redesigned male character model for its upcoming sci-fi RPG Exodus, following player feedback on the original design shown during a GameSpot preview in late August. The studio's general manager Chad Robertson confirmed the change in a new video, stating the team had been "listening" to community conversations about protagonist Jun Aslan's appearance. The female version of Jun has not yet been shown, though Archetype says her reveal is coming "soon." Archetype was co-founded by former BioWare veterans Chad Robertson, James Ohlen, and Drew Karpyshyn. The reveal comes shortly after EA confirmed the closure of BioWare and the cancellation of Mass Effect 5. Exodus launches April 7, 2027 on PS5, Xbox, Steam, and the Epic Games Store. Source

🏢 EA Shuts Down BioWare, Cancels Mass Effect, Cuts 400 Jobs Electronic Arts is closing BioWare — the studio behind Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic — and cancelling the next Mass Effect game, which was in early development. Around 400 employees are affected, representing roughly 3% of EA's total workforce, with approximately 50 cuts at BioWare itself and 350 elsewhere across the company. EA COO David Tinson and chief studios officer Cam Weber told staff the company took a "hard look" at its business, resulting in several project cancellations. A Sims title codenamed Project Lotus has also been paused, with resources redirected to a project codenamed Project Evergreen. Full Circle's Skate will continue with a reduced team. Apex Legends, Battlefield, the next Star Wars Jedi game, Iron Man, and EA Sports titles remain in active development. The closures come months after EA was taken private in a $55 billion deal that closed in August. Source

🎮 Football Manager 27 Launches With Free Five-Day Trial Sports Interactive is offering Football Manager 27 free to play for five days at launch on PC and Mac — described as an "industry first" for the series. The full game releases later this month, with the free window running until November 3. Source

💻 AMD FSR 4.1 Upscaling Is Coming to Xbox Series X|S Microsoft and AMD have announced that FSR 4.1 — a machine-learning-based temporal upscaling technology — is coming to Xbox Series X|S consoles, with Xbox CTO Scott Van Vliet confirming the news and saying it will arrive "soon." The tech is also planned for Microsoft's next-gen console, Project Helix. FSR 4.1 renders games at a lower resolution then upscales the output, potentially improving visual quality and performance. However, it requires manual integration by developers — it won't automatically upgrade existing games. AMD's FSR 1 and FSR 2 are already in use across titles like Capcom's Pragmata, and adoption of the new version will depend on studios choosing to patch their games. Beyond Xbox hardware, FSR 4.1 support is also coming to Radeon RX 6000-series GPUs, Gorgon Halo and Strix Halo Ryzen 9 laptops, and handheld devices including the Asus ROG Xbox Ally with Z2 Extreme and Z2A chipsets. Support for RX 9000-series cards launched in March. Source

🛠 Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade Heads to Game Pass Oct. 29 Xbox Game Pass's second October wave is headlined by Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, arriving October 29 across Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The Intergrade edition includes the base game and the Yuffie-centric expansion chapter. The rest of the wave: Sandustry (PC Game Preview, Oct. 21), Dodo Duckie (Oct. 22), Scramble Knights Online day-one (Oct. 26), supernatural mystery The Séance of Blake Manor (Oct. 27), Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted, and horror-parkour title Terrible Lizards (both Oct. 29). November kicks off with online co-op horror game Pit of Goblin on November 3. Several titles are also leaving the service this month, including two Double Fine games and a Lego Star Wars title. Source

🎮 GTA 6 Preorders Pace 148% Ahead of Modern Warfare 2 According to Sensor Tower data reported by GI.biz, GTA 6 digital preorders in the US are outpacing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022) by 148% over a comparable pre-launch window — the largest margin among all major AAA titles tracked, including Diablo 4, Hogwarts Legacy, and Marvel's Spider-Man 2. Sensor Tower estimates the game has already sold 6.45 million copies, generating over $630 million. The firm projects total prepurchases could reach 25 million units — translating to more than $2 billion in revenue before launch. PS5 accounts for 74% of preorders vs. 26% on Xbox Series X|S. Xbox says it is "very happy" with its numbers. GTA 6 launches November 19, 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. A PC version is potentially expected in early 2027, though Rockstar has not confirmed it. Source

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🛠 WoW: Midnight's Patch 12.1.5 Launches Rough World of Warcraft: Midnight's latest update, patch 12.1.5, went live October 13, adding a single-boss raid and a new solo-focused labyrinth feature — but a wave of bugs and design issues have made for a troubled debut. The Kindo'jan labyrinth launched with players falling through the floor of the final boss arena, missing kill credits, and unable to collect rewards. A hotfix on October 16 addressed the most critical bugs, but a core issue remains: labyrinths have no checkpoints and must be completed in a single session. Blizzard had previously stated players could "tackle them piece by piece over time," making the current implementation a clear mismatch with player expectations. The patch is also drawing criticism for its story, which kills off blood elf paladin Liadrin — a central Midnight character — in what many players describe as an anticlimactic death scene following the Kithix raid encounter. By contrast, WoW: Forever's beta is reportedly breaking records, with Blizzard running weekly podcasts and frequent updates around that project. Source

🏢 Lucasfilm Games Opens Star Wars Pitches Beyond AAA Studios Lucasfilm Games VP Douglas Reilly says the company is now more flexible about which studios it partners with for Star Wars titles, following the strong reception of two 2025 releases from independent developers — Bit Reactor's turn-based tactics game Zero Company and Fuse Games' roguelite racer Galactic Racer. "It doesn't have to always be AAA; sometimes it can be AA, and it's really about the experience we're delivering and the fantasy we're fulfilling," Reilly told The Game Business Show. He added that some future partner studios will "surprise" people, and that Lucasfilm isn't seeking a "top five publisher" — just teams capable of delivering a high-quality title. One major project already in development under this approach is Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, an RPG from new studio Arcanaut, led by KOTOR and Mass Effect veteran Casey Hudson. Source