Modern Warfare 4's Campaign Is Winning Over Steam — and the Next Call of Duty Is Starting Something Entirely New

October 20, 2026 · 48 sources

Quick Hits

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's campaign is a surprise critical hit on Steam, with Eurogamer calling it one of the most well-received Call of Dutys in recent history — a stunning turnaround after pre-launch community drama and a lower-than-expected PC beta. Meanwhile, Activision confirmed to The Game Business that next year's Call of Duty will launch a brand-new sub-series.
ARC Raiders just hit a six-month player peak thanks to Embark Studios' Frozen Trails update, nearly a year after the extraction shooter went viral.
Indies are fighting back against AI cloning: Moonlighter developer Digital Sun delayed the Steam playtest for its "Tower Defensevania" ReVamp over fears of generative-AI copycats, just as Steam Next Fest 2026 opened with more than double last year's demos — and loud complaints about "AI slop."
Nintendo "underestimated" demand for the Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2 console and says restocks are on the way — "please be patient."
Golden Joystick voting is open for the 44th annual awards, and both Pokémon Pokopia and Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave made the Console Game of the Year shortlist.

The Golden Joystick Awards have opened console GOTY voting on a 10-game shortlist that includes Pokémon Pokopia and Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave alongside heavy-hitters like Resident Evil: Requiem and SAROS — though Destructoid argues the list has "already snubbed" some of 2026's best titles.
Minior is making its Pokémon Go debut beginning October 19, and GameSpot notes you won't find the meteorite Pokémon through typical encounter methods — worth reading up before you hunt.
Kotaku reports that Pokémon's blind-bag Santa Cruz skateboards sold out immediately, with designs like the Moonbreon and Charizard boards already going for at least double retail on eBay.
On the hardware front, Nintendo says Zelda Switch 2 restocks are coming after underestimating demand for the special edition console.
Digital Foundry calls the new Metaphor: ReFantazio demo on Switch 2 "a very weird experience" — a technical must-read before the full game launches on 12th November 2026.
In the UK charts, Castlevania: Belmont's Curse whipped up a bronze-chart debut but couldn't dethrone EA Sports FC 27, per Nintendo Life.
Reviews are glowing for Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, which Nintendo Life calls "another triumphant RPG experience" from the remake saga.
And The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered's latest update is now live, packing console-specific improvements for Switch 2.

Eurogamer reports Steam players are "delighted" with Modern Warfare 4's campaign so far, making it one of the best-received entries in recent history — a genuine surprise given the pre-launch turbulence.
The bigger long-term news: Activision told The Game Business that next year's Call of Duty will break from existing sub-series and introduce an entirely new one.
IGN checked out a Modern Warfare 4 Pop-Up Experience fresh off a review trip to Infinity Ward and came away impressed by how authentic — and fun — it was.
For the grinders: Destructoid has your complete weapon camos guide, plus a dogtags collectibles walkthrough for the Warfare 4 campaign.

Frozen Trails is paying off big. Eurogamer reports ARC Raiders' player numbers hit a six-month high off the back of the huge update, nearly a year after the game's viral breakout.
Community highlight of the day: Destructoid's confession that their biggest ARC Raiders nemesis isn't a Rocketeer — it's a goddamn cat bed. If you know, you know.

Digital Sun (Moonlighter, Cataclismo) delayed ReVamp's Steam playtest, calling genAI cloning "too big a risk" and urging platforms to "keep strengthening protections for original work," per Eurogamer and Rock Paper ShotguN.
Steam Next Fest 2026 is live with more than double last year's demo count — but Eurogamer and IGN both note the surge of generative "AI slop," with Steam fans begging Valve for a no-AI filter.
Abiotic Factor's second year of updates is confirmed through 2027, including official mod support and a DLC that takes the sci-fi survival to the tropics.
And a fan-made, PS1-style adaptation of Zach Cregger's Resident Evil movie — complete with fixed camera angles and playable Austin Abrams — is going viral, per IGN.

Helldivers 2 is switching from GameGuard to Easy Anti-Cheat as Arrowhead cracks down on cheat mods, admitting GameGuard "wasn't as effective as it could have been" — and Rock Paper Shotgun notes the game still appears to be missing from Steam in the UK.
Intel is bringing XMX-accelerated XeSS to Valve's Proton, which could boost future Intel-powered SteamOS handhelds, per PC Gamer.
GameSpot flags The Mafia Trilogy at its lowest-ever price — "you'd be a fool to refuse."
A great publishing horror story from PC Gamer: no publisher wanted Outlast because they'd "rather invest $50,000 in 10 mobile games," so Red Barrels leaned on public investment programs and their own savings.

Star Wars Battlefront 3 rumors are ramping up, with IGN reporting multiple studios are reportedly in the running after Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb kicked off the chatter.
An Xbox "Business Strategist" claimed the games industry is "pretending to not use AI," then deleted their Twitter account after a deluge of replies, per IGN.
Destructoid's Silent Hill: Townfall deep-dive asks whether the game puts you in the shoes of a workplace shooter — and argues that's its scariest moment.