Quick Hits

• Xbox's restructuring shakes the industry: Eurogamer reports Age of Empires studio World's Edge lost "nearly half" its staff in yesterday's cuts and move under Activision, while Obsidian shifts under Bethesda's umbrella (its new Fallout game is still coming). Meanwhile, Activision is now making the next Halo — and fans are nervous.
• Arc Raiders' Frozen Trail update lands October 8, and it's huge: a new Pendola Pass map, three new enemy types, gun upgrades, decorative personal outposts, and a reworked skill tree. The battle pass won't be totally free anymore, but GameSpot says it'll pay for itself.
• Metroid Ravenous is already moving markets: Nintendo Life reports sealed copies of Metroid Dread are selling "well above" $100 after the 2027 Switch 2 exclusive was announced.
• Control Resonant launches today (September 24) after leaking a day early, and Quake Champions just dropped free-to-play to become a £9 premium Steam game following id layoffs.
• Pokémon TCG 30th Anniversary heartbreak and restocks: the artist behind the Jirachi SIR card gave a tearful response to late influencer Avery the Poké Kid's final pack opening, and Amazon restocked Celebration Booster Bundles at $45.

Pokémon & Nintendo

• The Metroid Ravenous announcement (a 2027 Switch 2 exclusive) has collectors scrambling — Nintendo Life says sealed Metroid Dread physical copies are now fetching "well above" the $100 mark. If you've got a sealed copy in a drawer, today's your day.
• Stellar Blade's Switch 2 release will include a frame generation toggle, with Shift Up responding to feedback on the push toward 60fps — an experiment Nintendo Life notes is also coming to Dragon's Dogma 2. A separate Nintendo Life opinion piece admits the hype isn't landing for everyone, referencing fan frustration with the sequel's "awful AI music video."
• In Pokémon TCG news, IGN reports the artist behind the Pokémon 30th Anniversary Jirachi SIR card responded tearfully after beloved influencer Avery the Poké Kid pulled the card in his final pack opening before his death from pancreatic cancer — a genuinely emotional moment for the community. On the practical side, Amazon has restocked 30th Celebration Booster Bundles for $45, well under current market rates, and GameSpot has a nostalgic read on how collecting Pokémon cards "hits a little different" 30 years on.
• The Nintendo Switch 2 has dropped to a record-low £355 in the UK at Smyths and Argos (per IGN) — notable since it comes despite a price rise at the start of September.
• Reviews and polls: Nintendo Life calls EA Sports FC 27 on Switch 2 "still the best football option, even with caveats," and is running a poll on favorite Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave characters among the four main heroes. Community highlights include a Jellicent drawing based on its terrifying dex entry and some stellar Gloria & Mizuki toy photography.

Call of Duty

No Warzone patch notes today — but the Activision side of the equation is dominating headlines. Eurogamer reports World's Edge, the studio behind Age of Empires, lost "nearly half" its staff during yesterday's Xbox cuts as it was moved under Activision's control. The bigger bombshell: Activision is now developing the next Halo, and Eurogamer says fans are worried about this year's Halo Fest and a potential lore reboot from the Call of Duty publisher. PC Gamer's take is that Halo needed to change but Activision faces a huge challenge fixing it, while GameSpot's opinion piece argues Halo "stopped being relevant a long time ago." Elsewhere in the reset, GameSpot confirms Obsidian's new Fallout game is still coming as the studio moves under Bethesda, amid nearly 300 Xbox layoffs.

Arc Raiders

Mark your calendars for October 8: the Frozen Trail update is free and, per PC Gamer, bigger than anyone expected — a new ARC, gun upgrades, a new map, and personal outposts you can decorate. Destructoid highlights Pendola Pass as the headline addition, joined by three new enemy types Embark hopes will bring players back. Two big system changes to digest: GameSpot reports the battle pass will no longer be totally free (though it'll pay for itself), and PC Gamer digs into the reworked skill tree, where the devs say you can't have everything because "that creates more interesting choices and supports more playstyles."

Steam & PC

• Sandbox game People Playground has disabled its Steam Workshop after suffering its second mod-based malware outbreak this year — Rock Paper Shotgun calls this one "especially bad," and PC Gamer has parallel coverage. If you mod, double-check your sources.
• After nearly a decade as a free-to-play game, Quake Champions is becoming a simple £9 premium release on Steam — no more battle passes — a change Rock Paper Shotgun notes follows the recent id layoffs.
• It's launch day for Control Resonant (September 24), which Destructoid notes leaked a day early alongside "literally dozens" of other releases. Rock Paper Shotgun's hands-on says the Steam Machine handles it capably, but the promised Steam Deck support is "a letdown."
• PC Gamer argues Microsoft's approach to age verification in Australia is further proof that Valve is "taking the everloving piss" on the same issue — a spicy read for PC gamers Down Under.

Gaming Roundup

• Valve is offering CS2 players eggs — hatchable, collectible chicken pets that Destructoid says means Counter-Strike 2 is "taking after Pokémon." The mystery of those chickens in Source 2's code, solved.
• NetherRealm's Ed Boon has responded to swirling Injustice 3 rumors, per IGN.
• In film-adjacent news: Resident Evil reboot director Zach Cregger picked Leon Kennedy as his bodyguard ("I would just bear hug myself around him"), the producer behind his RE film is working on an unnamed Silent Hill project, and Meta showed off new VR glasses with 3D and full-frame IMAX at TIFF.