Compiled on October 24, 2026 from the sources listed at the end. Items marked “reported” or “rumored” come from a single outlet or are unconfirmed. Details may change.

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The week in one paragraph

EA’s decision to close BioWare and cancel the next Mass Effect was the industry shock of the week. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launched to strong early reviews, including a full version on Nintendo Switch 2. The global PHP security scare briefly touched gaming too, with Final Fantasy XIV locking out new logins for about a day and the Steam store going down for a short time. GTA 6 is now four weeks from launch.

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1. EA shuts down BioWare

What happened. On October 21, Electronic Arts announced it is closing BioWare, the studio behind Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Baldur’s Gate, and closing its Edmonton workspace. The next Mass Effect game, which was in early development, is cancelled. EA is laying off about 400 people, roughly 3% of its workforce, with about 50 of those at BioWare, according to Bloomberg’s reporting as relayed by several outlets.

Other details. A planned Sims game codenamed Project Lotus was also cancelled. EA’s staff letter says it will concentrate investment on sports titles, Apex Legends, Battlefield, and new Star Wars and Iron Man games, and Variety reports that Respawn and DICE will team up on Star Wars: Battlefront 3. EA went private in August, and this is its first major restructuring since then.

Why it matters. BioWare is a Canadian studio with a 30-year history, and the closure is a significant loss for Alberta’s games sector and for fans of story-driven RPGs.

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2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches

– Launch: October 23 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2, the franchise’s first return to Nintendo hardware in over a decade. It skips PS4 and Xbox One.

– Game Pass: It is not on Xbox Game Pass at launch, so players must buy it. Reports say Game Pass availability is planned for the 2027 holiday period.

– Price: The Switch 2 version is listed at US$69.99.

– Modes: A single-player campaign, 6v6 multiplayer with 12 launch maps, and the DMZ extraction mode.

– Reception: Early critic scores were strongly positive, with Metacritic showing a “generally favorable” score around the mid-80s at last check. Reviewers called the campaign among the franchise’s best in years, and Nintendo Life’s Switch 2 review praised the port. The online multiplayer will face its real test now that the game is live.

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3. The PHP scare reaches gaming

– Final Fantasy XIV: Square Enix suspended new logins on all worlds starting October 21 after taking patch servers offline to respond to the critical PHP vulnerabilities. Logins returned October 22, after roughly 21 hours. Square Enix will give eligible subscribers one free day of game time starting October 28, and the housing demolition timer resumes October 26. Square Enix has not said its systems were compromised, and the lockout looks like a precaution.

– Steam: The Steam store briefly went down on October 21, in the middle of Steam Next Fest. Downloads, library access, and gameplay stayed up for most users. Valve gave no reason, but the timing matched the wave of PHP-related emergency responses.

– Takeaway: If you run a game server, launcher, forum, or web store on PHP, patch to the fixed versions and watch for a third PHP flaw confirmed on October 23.

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4. GTA 6 is four weeks out

– Date: November 19, 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. No PC date has been announced. Pre-loading is reported to start November 12.

– Price (reported): US$79.99 standard and US$99.99 Ultimate edition, according to a tracker citing Take-Two’s announcement. Treat prices as reported until you check an official store.

– Status: Rockstar’s boss told an interviewer this month that the game is still being changed ahead of launch, saying it is never completely settled, per GamesRadar.

– Business angle: Take-Two has reaffirmed the date repeatedly, and the launch is expected to drive the company’s best fiscal year.

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5. Sony’s disc decision still stirs debate

Sony announced on July 1 that it will stop manufacturing new game discs for PlayStation from January 2028. This week, an Alinea Analytics note argued the backlash comes from a vocal minority of a revenue minority, estimating that physical copies were under 20% of new-game premium revenue in 2026, though some single-player games sell more than 30% on disc. A fan petition against the move has passed 335,000 signatures, according to one report, and Sony has said it is moving ahead.

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6. Also this week

– Steam Next Fest (October edition): the cyberpunk shopkeeping sim Probably Stolen led the most-played demos, with about 31,600 concurrent players on day six, according to Output Lag’s tracking. The event runs through October 26.

– Nintendo: three more Game Boy games (Mole Mania, Avenging Spirit, and Revenge of the ‘Gator) arrive on Nintendo Switch Online next week, and the ARMS soundtrack was added to Nintendo Music on October 24.

– Xbox: the October ID@Xbox showcase took place.

– Valve (rumor): a Valve developer mentioned a project called “HLX” at a conference, which fans suspect is a new Half-Life game. Valve has not confirmed anything.

– Reviews: The Blood of Dawnwalker was reviewed on October 22, and VGC’s review was positive.

– Marvel Rivals: the 50-player Thanos PvE mode reopens October 24.

– Fallout Day (October 23): Bethesda announced Fallout 76 world pets for this winter.

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Dates to watch

– October 26: Steam Next Fest ends, and FFXIV’s housing demolition timer resumes

– October 28: FFXIV compensation begins rolling out

– November 12: GTA 6 digital pre-load (reported)

– November 19: GTA 6 launch

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Sources

– Deadline, EA cuts 400 jobs and shuts down BioWare: https://deadline.com/2026/10/ea-cuts-400-jobs-shuts-down-bioware-1237170402/

– Variety, EA layoffs and Star Wars: Battlefront 3: https://variety.com/2026/digital/news/ea-layoffs-bioware-shutting-down-respawn-dice-star-wars-battlefront-3-1236918715/

– PC Gamer, BioWare shut down: https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/rip-bioware-ea-has-shut-down-the-legendary-rpg-developer/

– GameSpot, EA shuts down BioWare: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ea-shuts-down-dragon-age-mass-effect-studio-bioware/

– Gematsu, EA to lay off 400 and shut down BioWare: https://www.gematsu.com/2026/10/electronic-arts-to-lay-off-400-staff-shut-down-bioware

– Massively Overpowered, EA shuts down BioWare: https://massivelyop.com/2026/10/21/electronic-arts-officially-shuts-down-bioware-and-lays-of-400-workers-in-the-process/

– Metacritic, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4: https://www.metacritic.com/game/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-4/

– Nintendo Life, Modern Warfare 4 Switch 2 review: https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/nintendo-switch-2/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-4

– Nintendo Life, campaign review round-up: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2026/10/round-up-the-reviews-for-call-of-duty-modern-warfare-4s-campaign-are-in

– Notebookcheck, Modern Warfare 4 launches without Game Pass: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Call-of-Duty-Modern-Warfare-4-returns-to-premium-roots.1421857.0.html

– GameWatcher, Modern Warfare 4 release times: https://www.gamewatcher.com/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-4-release-times-and-editions

– GamesRadar, Final Fantasy 14 free day of game time: https://www.gamesradar.com/games/final-fantasy/final-fantasy-14-players-get-1-free-day-of-game-time-after-square-enix-lifts-the-mmos-php-lockdown/

– Notebookcheck, FFXIV compensation: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Final-Fantasy-XIV-offers-free-subscription-time-after-critical-PHP-vulnerability-prompts-worldwide-login-suspension.1432485.0.html

– MMOs.com, FFXIV logins restored: https://mmos.com/news/mmorpg-news/ff14-logins-restored-php-lockdown

– MMO Huts, FFXIV logins back: https://mmohuts.com/news/final-fantasy-xiv-logins-are-back-after-emergency-patch-server-maintenance

– GamesRadar, Steam store outage: https://www.gamesradar.com/games/the-steam-store-goes-down-as-valve-seemingly-joins-the-whole-internet-struggling-amid-php-vulnerabilities/

– Yahoo Tech, Steam store outage: https://tech.yahoo.com/gaming/articles/steam-store-goes-down-valve-143638276.html

– Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, AL26-026: https://www.cyber.gc.ca/en/alerts-advisories/al26-026-critical-vulnerabilities-impacting-php-cve-2026-109618-cve-2026-109619

– Tech Insider, GTA 6 price and date: https://tech-insider.org/gta-6-price-leak-relief-79-99-standard-edition-2026

– Take-Two earnings release (SEC filing): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000946581/000162828026054580/ttwo1q27earningsrelease.htm

– GamesRadar news archive, October 2026 (GTA 6 comments): https://www.gamesradar.com/news/archive/2026/10/

– GamesRadar, Sony disc backlash analyst: https://www.gamesradar.com/games/backlash-to-sony-ending-ps5-discs-comes-from-a-vocal-minority-of-a-revenue-minority-analyst-says-but-thats-still-a-community-that-spends-a-lot-of-money/

– TweakTown, Alinea Analytics on disc backlash: https://www.tweaktown.com/news/114229/everyone-that-is-upset-about-sony-killing-physical-playstation-disks-is-a-vocal-minority/index.html

– Consequence, Sony and the 2028 disc plan: https://consequence.net/2026/07/sony-ending-playstation-discs-2028-community-backlash/

– EGW News, Sony and UHD Blu-ray: https://egw.news/gaming/news/37977/sony-kills-its-last-4k-uhd-blu-ray-player-and-leav-n0VQRuFBx

– Gaming Route, live news (Next Fest, Marvel Rivals, Nintendo Music, Fallout Day): https://gamingroute.com/gaming-news-today/

– VGC news (Game Boy games on Switch Online, Blood of Dawnwalker review): https://www.videogameschronicle.com/category/news/

– This Week in Videogames (Valve “HLX” mention): https://thisweekinvideogames.com/

– Game Informer (ID@Xbox showcase recap): https://gameinformer.com/