Key Note Gaming

Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival has been a smash hit, says Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch in a post on LinkedIn, and it’s the first of a “series” of releases from the studio that will improve how it makes games in the future. Hellraiser: Revival has proven to be a smashing success, in spite of — or, perhaps because of — its super-spicy content. The game doesn’t skirt around the sex, blood, and gore that defined the source material, causing some content creators to get permanently banned despite taking pains to censor their playthroughs. In an October 19 LinkedIn post, Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch praised the Hellraiser development team, revealing the title has been performing “extremely well on PC and console” since its October 8 release. He also speculated that AAA titles with massive budgets and lengthy development timelines won’t be sustainable in the industry for much longer (if, indeed, they are right now), instead positing that AA games based on established IPs w...

If 2025's Game of the Year , Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, has been on your gaming wishlist, there's no need to wait for Black Friday sales to grab it at a discount. Amazon currently has its physical PlayStation 5 copy marked down to a new all-time low price of $34.65 - 31% off its list price - which you can get by ticking the coupon box on the store page ( see it here ). This is the only way you'll be able to see this deal price at checkout, so don't forget to check the box before adding it to your cart. The coupon is also only available for a few more days, until October 26, so the clock is ticking to pick it up at this record-low price . Additionally, it's only available for PS5 users. If you're hoping to grab it for Xbox, you'll unfortunately have to pay full price. If you are able to take advantage of it, though, this is quite an exciting deal to have pop up before Black Friday sales kick off. It beats where we saw it during Prime Day earlier this yea...

It appears that Rockstar may be preparing to sell beer brands from GTA 6 in real life. As spotted by iGrandTheftAuto , labels for three GTA-related beer brands have been approved by the US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. The labels include brands that have been featured in previous GTA titles, such as Patriot Beer and Pißwasser (commonly known as Pisswasser). There's also a new brand known as No Mames Vice City, which features a little dog wearing sunglasses and a Vice City chain on the label. These are being produced by a Florida brewery known as Tripping Animals Brewing. For alcohol afficianados, No Mames Vice City lager will have a 6% ABV, while the other two will be 4.2% ABV, which is identical to Bud Light's ABV. With all of that said, we have no idea exactly when or where these beverages will be sold. They may be exclusive to bars in and around Miami, as Rockstar Games has completely taken over the city with GTA 6 ads . Citizens have spotted various in-universe...

Two Umamusume concerts in Los Angeles have been canceled after workers could not get their visas approved in time for the event, leaving American fans distraught. On October 18, the official Umamusume: Pretty Derby Twitter/X account announced that staffers working the shows — scheduled for October 22 and 23 — were having difficulties securing their travel visas. At the time, it did not cancel the events, but warned concertgoers that this may impact the festivities. The possibility that these concerts would be canceled sparked concern among the game’s fanbase, with many joking (or perhaps being fully serious) that this event might politically “radicalize” them, given the extremely long wait times for visas in the United States right now. The next day, Cygames confirmed that the Los Angeles concerts had been officially canceled, offering refunds to fans who’d purchased both on-site viewing tickets and streaming tickets to watch the show remotely. Responses to fans who made travel plan...

Rockstar Games gave GTA 6 s' developers so much freedom to add cool details that not even the studio's top executives are aware of everything in the game. The latest behind-the-scenes information on GTA 6 comes from Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, who expanded upon his trip to the Rockstar North offices in Edinburgh, Scotland, after previously sharing other highlights last week . One of the more noteworthy bits shared in his 18-minute video's runtime is that the team who spent a decade or so making next month's Grand Theft Auto game had quite a bit of freedom to add details simply because they thought they might be cool. Schreier said he'd guess that "not even top developers" at Rockstar know every tiny detail added to Vice City and its wealth of NPCs. He noted that giving large teams the autonomy to flesh out every street corner isn't too uncommon for open-world games. In the case of GTA 6 and its huge budget and lengthy development time, that ...

Two weeks ago, a Tekken player created a mod that allowed users to play the game online with rollback netcode, sparking a community-wide debate between Western players and competitors based in Japan and Korea. The mod, made by a community member named Ekspym, became an instant hit among Tekken players, reaching more than 10,000 players as of October 17 and a recorded 4,547 downloads as of October 15. According to the mod’s readme, “the package contains neither the PS3 firmware nor the game,” though it acts essentially like an emulator. It sparked a viral conversation regarding the current state of Tekken 8 (with many players seeming to prefer Tekken 6 out of the two games), but perhaps more surprisingly, received massive pushback from players in Japan and Korea. One of the loudest voices speaking out against this mod was celebrated fighting game pro Dogura. “The pirated version of Tekken 6? That thing crosses the line way too much, and I'm horrified that no one overseas is rais...

Last December, co-creator of Call of Duty and co-founder of Respawn Entertainment, Vince Zampella, passed away in a car accident . He left behind an enduring legacy as one of the people who shaped first-person shooters and changed video games forever. This week saw the release of Modern Warfare 4, the latest entry in a series that Zampella led the inception of almost 20 years ago in 2007. His contribution is honoured by his former studio, Infinity Ward, in the credits for its campaign. Upon completion of the game’s final mission, which takes place midway through the credits, his name and the others belonging to those who have sadly passed away during its production are the first to appear on screen. These include Rainer Yang, Matt Canale, and Preetam Raj Bordoloi, who also helped craft Call of Duty over the years. Zampella was instrumental in turning COD into the megafranchise it is today, initially leaving EA after leading design on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault to create the series,...

One Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 campaign player has already finished YOLO mode, an ultra hard setting with realistic damage, where you go right back to the start when you die. Unlocked once you’ve completed the campaign on any difficulty, YOLO mode is the real test of your COD skills. Warning! Spoilers for the Modern Warfare 4 campaign follow: The player, Lost-Equivalent2352 on Reddit , said they managed to beat YOLO mode by taking advantage of their AI allies. “My technique was staying behind a wall for several minutes so that my dumb allies shoot at the enemies,” they said. They would also use flashbangs and grenades to mop up the stragglers, limiting the chance the enemies could one-shot them. It took them around 20 hours to finish the successful run. According to Lost-Equivalent2352, one of the toughest elements of the run was the mission “Retreat.” The nighttime mission charts the fall of Hajin, covering the tactical withdrawal of South Korean troops. Because it takes place d...

Silent Hill developer Bloober Team wants to make physical versions of its games "for as long as possible." Studio CEO Piotr Babieno opened up about the company's appreciation for physical media and collectibles during an interview with GamesRadar . He started his thoughts by touching on how the gaming landscape and player desires have changed as technology has advanced over the years, explaining that "we have reached a moment where you can't really do much more" in terms of visual and auditory fidelity. "Like, OK, the game can have a slightly higher resolution and maybe better lighting and whatever, but will it make it a more engaging game? I don't think so," Babieno said. The CEO for the studio behind the Silent Hill 2 remake and its in-development original Silent Hill remake also talked about how stats show "the majority of players are playing on hardware which is five, seven years old, if not older." He continued, saying, "B...

A new weekend has arrived, and today, you can save big on Pikmin 4, The Adventures of Elliot, Doom: The Dark Ages, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Star Wars Zero Company, and more. Check out our top picks for Sunday, October 18, below. The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales On Sale for the First Time The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales was released this June, and for the first time, you can pick up a copy of the game on sale! Amazon has copies for all platforms discounted to $44.99 today, which is a great price for this action-based HD-2D game. In our 8/10 review , we wrote, "The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales isn’t without blemishes, but it’s still a great action-adventure game that continues to prove why the HD-2D art style is among the best around." Pikmin 4 for $39.88 Walmart has digital copies of Pikmin 4 for Nintendo Switch on sale for $39.88 today. This is just in time before next month's release of Pikmin 4 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + ...

The developer behind Russian roulette anime game Drunken Goddess Reflux has canceled its plans for a public Steam demo, citing concerns over potential AI copycats. Alliance Arts and Who You's path to launch has seemingly been mostly bump-free since it was announced back in April. Featuring ghostly pinks and purples and a gameplay premise described as "shot glass Russian roulette with a demon who loves you enough to kill you," the recent reveal that it would launch this December only made its future feel clearer. Part of that release date announcement included the promise that a demo would launch October 19, but as explained in an update post on Steam , those plans have changed. What was originally intended to be a public release for the Drunken Goddess Reflux demo has now been canceled in favor of a "closed play session for a limited number of participants." It's a last-minute move Alliance Arts apologized for, but its concerns related to rapidly advancing ...

The Battlefield 6 team has responded after players took aim at a few controversial cosmetics added in Season 5. Battlefield Studios took to its official Discord server to offer background information on two skins that caused a stir with the launch of Battlefield 6 Season 5 this past week (via MP1st ). The full text confirmed at least one of the issues has a fix in the works, while the other will seemingly remain the same. The cosmetics – one with what appeared to be a typo in the word "security" and another featuring infantry sporting a whopping five pistol holsters – were officially added October 13 and almost immediately drew ire from fans . It's that pesky misspelling, which took the shape of the non-existent word "security" on the armband of a McNeil skin, that the developers say will be fixed when Battlefield 6 Season 5 launches in November. Secuty 😭 It's AI #Battlefield6 https://t.co/8DVphghCSU — Battlefield Intel (@BattlefieldInte) October 13, 202...

Professional Super Smash Bros. player Jason ‘Mew2King’ Zimmerman has been banned from a competitive tournament after posting photos of his concerning skin condition and complaining of a bug infestation in his home. On the morning of October 16, 2026, Zimmerman found himself going viral due to a thread of posts he’d published on Twitter/X the day before. In the posts, he complained of suffering from swelling hands, which he attributed to either playing too much without rest or being bitten by bugs in his home. “My hands are slightly swollen (could be from all the SSBM Fox or from the bugs in the house that bite me each day), like pink/red and puffy/fatter than usual, is there a way to fix this ASAP? I'm boarding my flight to Texas now,” he wrote. He went on to share a photo of his hand and one of his right leg, which was covered in red, painful-looking bumps that appeared to be bug bites. Zimmerman claimed that these bites happen to him “every week,” and are a driving factor in his...

The developers behind Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse are enthusiastic about all the “horny” fanart they’ve seen of the game’s characters, saying they specifically made them "hot" to appeal to fans. Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse released on October 15, and you’ve no doubt already seen the wealth of wild reactions to the title from players online — particularly in regards to its character designs. Yes, it’s true; players are thirsty for Trevor Belmont and the various monsters they must fight as they navigate the chaotic streets of Paris, but they shouldn’t feel embarrassed about it. In fact, the devs were counting on this to happen. Speaking with Fall Damage , marketing director and lead designer Bérenger Dupré and Sandro Bordier revealed that they are absolutely loving the thirsty reactions to the game’s characters — and that includes the “horny” fanart that they’ve seen on social media. “Oh, it has started already. Like, man, have we seen some things,” Bordier joked. “Trevor, ...

Ghost of Yōtei sales appear to be trailing behind Ghost of Tsushima , but that doesn't mean it's not still pulling big numbers on PlayStation 5. That's according to Alinea Analytics head of marketing analysis Rhys Elliott, who shared data related to Sucker Punch Productions' 2025 sequel on X/Twitter . Although this is sales information that has yet to be confirmed by Sony, it may still give us a peek behind the curtain at how Ghost of Yōtei has fared on PS5. The result: Sucker Punch's action follow-up has done well in its first year, even if it hasn't quite managed to pass up its predecessor. Alinea's analysis puts Ghost of Yōtei sales at about 5.4 million units, generating $407 million in revenue so far. Highlights from that update put the physical slice at a notable 36.8%, while PlayStation Store discounts remain largely few and far between. Around 500,000 copies were sold in Q3 2026 alone. Alinea also reported that 50,000 players have picked up the digit...

A pro Dota 2 player is claiming that he had to play a full Dota match in front of police officers to prove his identity. According to Nuengnara "23savage" Teeramahanon, who currently plays hard carry for Xipto eSports, the team’s boot camp in Kuala Lumpur was raided by police earlier this week. In a post to Facebook on Tuesday, 23savage describes the police placing the team in handcuffs and confiscating their belongings. The officers proceeded to interrogate the players about why they were in the city and whether they were really pro players. According to 23savage, one of the officers was familiar with Dota, and was willing to scroll the player’s Instagram for proof of his pro career. ​23savage’s bootcamp got raided by Malaysia police by u/Phenylalanin3 in DotA2 A photo 23savage had recently posted of himself and popular Malaysian influencer Ms. Puiyi was, according to the post, somewhat acceptable evidence. Enough evidence, in fact, for the police officers to remove his...

Creative director Mod Ryan announced that RuneScape Reignited, a new game mode designed for both old and seasoned players to start fresh, has been canceled less than two weeks after it was first announced. The news was published on October 15 in the form of an official YouTube video and blog post, where Mod Ryan revealed that Jagex’s choice to cancel Reignited was in direct response to player feedback. “We received a ton of different perspectives from all of you, and we truly appreciate everyone sharing their views. It is super important to us because the last time we didn't listen to player feedback, combat changed forever. And it has taken us over a decade to recover from that. Now I said on stage that we would not repeat the same mistakes of the past, and I truly stand by that. Considering this, we have made the decision to cancel Reignited,” the post reads. “It is clear that we missed the mark on this, and so we are not moving forward with it. Our goal is to see RuneScape grow...

The acclaimed PC shooter, Squad , is coming to consoles — and PS5 players will be able to experience it very soon. Developer Offworld Industries has announced that Squad will be making its way to Xbox Series X|S and PS5. PlayStation players will be able to give it a whirl later this month with a playable alpha, which will take place from October 16 - 25. Xbox players will have to wait for the full release, unless Offworld provides another opportunity to test the console version out ahead of launch. The developer has promised an optimised experience for console with handpicked maps, a "bespoke polish for flawless performance," optional crossplay with other consoles, and new communication methods via a radial wheel that allows you to issue commands and pings. The game is expected to bring its 50v50 matches to the consoles, as well. If you're interested in checking out the alpha on PS5, you can click here to sign up . As of right now, there's no release date for Squad...

Wardogs is a free-for-all sandbox military game where three separate teams battle for control over an ever-changing zone in the middle of a massive map, as tanks fire shells, artillery and mortars pepper the landscape, helicopters blast the drums of war (Eiffel 65's hit song Blue (Da Ba Dee)) through proximity chat, and dozens of try-hards run and gun. There’s Valkyra, Red Team; Manticore, Green Team; and Lonestar, Blue Team. They look different on the field, with Red rocking a soviet style, Green wearing Persian gear, and Blue looking like a Western paramilitary, but they all have access to the same equipment and have equal chance to win. So, why the hell does the Blue Team always lose? Lonestar has become a meme in the Wardogs community. There are dozens and dozens of montages, showing them bumble and fail, missing all their shots except the ones aimed at their teammates. It’s like a David Attenborough documentary or something, watching them gear up in their spawn area as their ...

Big Walk developer House House has explained why it’s boycotting Xbox and thus why the game isn’t available on Microsoft's console. House House, the Australian studio behind Untitled Goose Game, released clever co-op puzzle adventure Big Walk earlier this year on PC, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2, leaving Xbox Series X and S out in the cold. Big Walk was critically acclaimed upon release, earning a 91 rating on Metacritic and multiple appearances on Game of the Year contender lists. IGN’s Big Walk review returned a 9/10. We said: “Big Walk is a rewarding co-op adventure full of beautiful emergent moments as you find solutions to cleverly built puzzles and explore its vast open world with your friends.” Since then, fans had wondered why the game failed to come out Xbox. In a statement published to its website , House House said it made the decision as part of its support for campaign group Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS), which describes itself as a “Palestinian-led m...

If you were making a sequel to Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun and wanted to inject a bit of extra boom into the boomer shooter, then you probably wouldn’t look any further than Mick Gordon. The legendary Aussie composer has been soundtracking videogames for about two decades, but it was his face-melting work on 2016’s Doom and 2020’s Doom Eternal that really established his monster guitar riffs as the perfect way to fire up fans of first-person shooters. It seemed a no-brainer, then, that developer Auroch Digital would enlist Gordon to add his signature heavy touch to the climactic boss fight at the end of Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2. Ahead of the game’s release this week, IGN caught up with Gordon to get an insight into how his curtain-dropping contribution to the shooter sequel’s soundtrack came about. IGN: How did you come to be involved with Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2? Were you familiar with the first game? Mick Gordon: Yeah, definitely. So, I sent the team an email after the first Bol...