Quick Hits

• Kotick is back. Former Activision boss Bobby Kotick has taken a board seat at Skydance, the new entertainment juggernaut formed by merging Warner Bros. into Paramount — a striking return to high influence for one of gaming's most controversial executives (Eurogamer).
• Pay-to-win alarms in Modern Warfare 4. The latest in a week of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 DMZ reveals: paid spawn options that, per Eurogamer, offer wealthy players an "enormous advantage" over anyone spawning on foot.
• Game-Key Cards are booming. Circana's Mat Piscatella reports US spending on Switch 2 Game-Key Cards is up a wild 631%, with overall physical media spending up 5%.
• Wuhu Island is calling. Nintendo dropped a seven-minute overview trailer for Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, and it looks like the game night delight of the season.
• Xbox opens a licensing arm mid-layoffs. Rock Paper Shotgun reports the layoffs target a final total of 3,200 people, while Minecraft is handed to an ex-Meta monetisation lead.

Pokémon & Nintendo

The 30th anniversary machine keeps rolling. Santa Cruz's Pokémon 'Blind Bag' skateboard decks return this month with three Chase Decks to hunt (Nintendo Life), while reliable LEGO leaker 'got.cooped' claims the new Smart Brick-supporting Pokémon LEGO line is getting mystery bags — "good luck catching 'em all," indeed (Nintendo Life). TCG collectors, take note: the Delta Reign expansion is finally up for preorder at Amazon and Target, riding the buzz from the 30th Celebration expansion (IGN).

On the Switch side, that Nintendo Switch Sports Resort overview trailer showcases everything waiting on Wuhu Island ahead of launch (Nintendo Life). In Japan's Famitsu charts, Ace Combat 8 takes the crown while Xenoblade Chronicles 2 scrapes into the top 10 with 5,000+ sales (Nintendo Life). Dotemu and Tribute Games detailed their Doctor Doom-focused Marvel Cosmic Invasion DLC at New York Comic Con — new characters, new modes, and hype-building for 'Doomsday' next month (Nintendo Life). And Two Point Museum's free "Little Kitty, Big Museum" collaboration is available now — because every game is better with a cute cat (Nintendo Life).

Fortnite

Fortnitemares has officially taken over the island, and Destructoid has you covered on the seasonal quests — including how to carve pumpkins at Nightmare Neighborhood or Wonkeeland (Destructoid). Meanwhile, Ben Affleck has "some strong opinions about Fortnite skins" and how hard the game is for him (GameSpot) — timely, since his thriller Animals lands on Netflix today, and IGN's review calls it an entertaining twist on the kidnap formula.

Call of Duty

The week of Modern Warfare 4 DMZ reveals keeps delivering eyebrow-raisers: Eurogamer flags the new paid spawn options as a "questionable addition" that gives rich players an enormous edge over those infiltrating on foot in an extraction shooter (Eurogamer). In boardroom news, Kotick's Skydance appointment is worth watching for anyone who followed the Activision era — he's now inside the merged Paramount/Warner Bros. company. And Paramount, the studio behind the upcoming Call of Duty movie, is also making a Cyberpunk 2077 film with a Transformers producer attached (GameSpot).

Arc Raiders

Raiders still grinding the new Pendola Pass map have fresh homework: GameSpot's Tracks of the Beast quest guide walks you back into the snow (GameSpot), while PC Gamer has a full stack of tips — where to find the Ruined Homestead, how to complete Clean Hands and Sizing Things Up, and everything Nomadic Crafting lets you make (PC Gamer).

Steam & PC

Pimax apparently said "I'll have what Valve's having," announcing a wireless VR headset with foveated streaming, updated controllers, and a SteamOS-ready mini PC that PC Gamer has blessed as the "long Steam Machine" (PC Gamer). In release-date shuffle news, GameSpot reports Forza Horizon 6's PS5 port has been delayed to 2027 — just a month after Microsoft said it was on track for 2026 — with the first paid expansion launching alongside it on all platforms (GameSpot). For adventure fans, PC Gamer has a lovely piece on a great indie studio making a sequel to a beloved adventure 17 years later, with the wonderfully candid reasoning: "We're not getting any younger, and the world seems to be ending" (PC Gamer). And for the data nerds: one PC Gamer writer argues vampire games on Steam are a recession indicator — charts included (PC Gamer).

Gaming Roundup

Crunchyroll revealed new cast and crew details for the Ghost of Tsushima anime, tapping Star Wars: Visions talent for a 2028 release (GameSpot). Phasmophobia's annual Halloween event is back — Destructoid has a full walkthrough of the Crimson Eye event's challenges and rewards (Destructoid). Destructoid also notes the original Halo is having a renaissance, playable at its best in-browser — pointedly "no thanks to Microsoft," which laid off most of the Halo team to make the series more like Call of Duty (Destructoid). Finally, from NYCC: Nitrate Games revealed the first footage of Jay and Silent Bob's Joint Venture, a weed farming sim starring Kevin Smith's most iconic duo (IGN). Snoogans.