Quick Hits

• Arc Raiders' 2.0 update "Frozen Trail" is live, and per IGN its "Spider-Man" grappling hook, new map, and free weekend have driven Steam concurrents to a seven-month high. Yes — you can finally turn off your backpack light (thanks, PC Gamer).
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's DMZ is launching before the game itself in a surprise early release — but Eurogamer reports Infinity Ward has firmly shot down PvE hopes for the extraction mode.
• Nintendo says it has "no plans to ditch physical" media, with Nintendo Latin America VP Bill van Zyll telling fans, "We know how much the fans like it."
• Steam just broke its all-time concurrent record for the second time this year, hitting 43,505,724 simultaneous users on Sunday (via SteamDB, per Eurogamer).

Pokémon & Nintendo

Physical media collectors can breathe easy: Nintendo has no plans to abandon cartridges, according to Bill van Zyll, vice president and general manager of Nintendo Latin America. In other Switch 2 news, Capcom's three modern Resident Evil remakes launch October 16 with surprisingly tiny file sizes — Nintendo Life notes you can comfortably download all three. Also on the review desk, Nintendo Life calls the Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition on Switch 2 a winner, saying the Nemesis System remains one of gaming's most impactful single mechanics. On the Pokémon side, IGN digs into how paying "market price" above MSRP for rare Pokémon TCG sets quietly became the new normal, while Nintendo Life reports the Pokémon Red & Blue Game Boy Jukebox — part of Pokémon's 30th anniversary celebrations — is back in stock. The Pokémon subreddit is on an art tear this weekend: highlights include a Mega Delphox doing the Akira slide, a handmade Cubone skull display, and a Champions-inspired Mega Audino animation the creator says came to them "like a prayer to an angry god." For something sillier, Nintendo Life's "Sheikdown" feature debates how to pronounce Ocarina of Time's trickiest words ahead of the return to 64-bit Hyrule.

Call of Duty

The biggest shakeup is Eurogamer's report that Modern Warfare 4's extraction mode DMZ will release ahead of the game's official launch — though Infinity Ward has confirmed it won't be the PvE experience some fans wanted. Need a refresher before launch? IGN has a full Modern Warfare story recap across the reboot trilogy's three games. Elsewhere, IGN covers NetEase's new FPS ECC: Redline, which has sparked "rip-off" claims from Warzone players — though some Call of Duty fans are happy to have an alternative. And in an industry-wide story, Kotaku reports Italian regulators are leading EU action against Activision, Riot, and Ubisoft over what it calls gaming's oldest monetization scheme: misaligned in-game currencies.

Arc Raiders

What an update. Arc Raiders 2.0 — dubbed "Frozen Trail" — is here, and PC Gamer confirms the long-requested backpack light toggle has finally arrived (they've even got a how-to). IGN reports the update's grappling hook, new map, and free weekend pushed Steam player counts to a seven-month high. For endgame grinders, Destructoid has guides to all Outpost upgrade materials and the new Weapon Amplification system, which the outlet calls an unofficial fifth upgrade tier.

Indie Games

PC Gamer's roguelike pick of the weekend is Escape from EloHello, which recreates your worst online PvP nightmares in run-based form. Meanwhile, GameSpot's writer abandoned a The Witcher 3 playthrough for Dressmaker and insists their life is better for it — a glowing endorsement from someone who otherwise spends their time in Call of Duty and Cyberpunk.

Steam & PC

Beyond that record-shattering 43.5 million concurrent user milestone, Squadron 42 — the single-player Star Citizen spin-off — has opened Steam wishlisting ahead of a planned Q2 2027 release, per Eurogamer. Valve also dropped the full CAD files for the Steam Frame for free, and PC Gamer says the weird and wonderful mods are already rolling in. FromSoftware loyalists take note: GameSpot reports Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has finally received a discount. And in this week's curiosity department, PC Gamer's Steam Week in Review examines the "dubious" PC debut of Wonder Boy in Monster Land.

Gaming Roundup

IGN's feature on GTA 5 crossing 230 million copies sold — "I'm shocked that people are still playing" — is worth your coffee break. Zach Cregger's Resident Evil is now the highest-grossing film in the franchise after three weeks, topping 2016's Final Chapter (Destructoid). The Coalition confirmed Gears of War: E-Day suffered a DDoS attack over the weekend, causing disconnects for players. Doom composer Mick Gordon told IGN he'd return to the series "in a heartbeat." Bandai Namco revealed Tekken 8's Season 3 DLC fighter Yujiro Hanma, and the Baki rep's render is as uncanny as fans feared. Card game fans should check IGN's Riftbound: Radiance hands-on — the League of Legends TCG's fifth set embraces complexity. Finally, IGN's weekend deals include Doom: The Dark Ages, Star Wars Zero Company, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, Shuten Order, and LEGO KPop: Demon Hunters.