Gaming news: Saturday 17 October

●thrax
📅October 17, 2026 at 12:23 PM
⏰about 10 hours ago
Gaming news: Saturday 17 October
#consoles#gaming#list#nintendo

Four free games to grab this week, a remaster so rough Sega's pulling it, four headlines out of Xbox, PlayStation and GOG, and a huge run of twenty-one trailers topped by the GTA VI launch trailer.

Free games

Bad Cheese is free on the Epic Games Store

Bad Cheese
Image: Epic Games Store.

Bad Cheese is a psychological horror game styled after 1920s animation. You're a mouse spending the weekend home alone with a "dysfunctional Dad" while Mum's away, and the game's own tagline is simple: behave, and keep Daddy happy. It's free to keep on the Epic Games Store now until Friday 23 October.

Source: Epic Games Store

Free Play Days brings six games to Xbox this weekend

Free Play Days
Image: Xbox Wire.

Crusader Kings III, Bus Simulator 21 Next Stop, Soccer Story and Ravenswatch are all free to play for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Premium and Essential members from Thursday 15 October to Sunday 18 October. NBA 2K27 joins the line-up for Game Pass members from Friday 16 October. The Alters is open to everyone, subscription or not, for a free three-hour trial.

Source: Xbox Wire

Sker Ritual is free on the Epic Games Store

Sker Ritual
Image: Epic Games Store.

Sker Ritual is the round-based co-op survival spin-off to Maid of Sker, putting one to four players up against the Quiet Ones. It'll be free to keep on the Epic Games Store from Friday 23 October until Friday 30 October.

Source: Epic Games Store

Home - A Unique Horror Adventure is free on the Epic Games Store

Home - A Unique Horror Adventure
Image: Epic Games Store.

Home is a pixel-art horror murder mystery, with the twist being that you decide how it ends. It'll be free to keep on the Epic Games Store from Friday 23 October until Friday 30 October.

Source: Epic Games Store

Deals and sales

The Shogun 2 remaster is so bad, Sega's pulling it from sale

Shogun 2
Image: PC Gamer.

Sega's Total War: Shogun 2 remaster, Complete Edition, is coming off sale. Sega's own admission was blunt: it "has fallen short of both your expectations and our own standards," so it's back to the drawing board. The original Shogun 2 is returning to sale in its place.

Source: PC Gamer

News

Modern Warfare 4 launches October 23 as a standalone release

Modern Warfare 4
Image: Xbox Wire.

Modern Warfare 4 is launching October 23 as a standalone title rather than a Call of Duty expansion. Campaign early access is already live, and DMZ early access opens October 20.

Source: Xbox Wire

Peak climbs its way onto PS5 October 22

Peak
Image: PlayStation Blog.

Peak, the co-op climbing game from Aggro Crab and Landfall working together as Team Peak, is heading to PS5 on October 22. It'll have crossplay, so you can climb with up to three mates no matter what they're on. The PS5 version brings everything added to the game since its original launch on other platforms.

Source: PlayStation Blog

Oblivion and Ghostwire: Tokyo join the GOG Preservation Program

Oblivion and Ghostwire Tokyo
Image: GOG.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – Game of the Year Edition Deluxe has joined GOG's Preservation Program, picking up all five localisations and support for modern controllers. Ghostwire: Tokyo lands on GOG for the first time as part of the same program.

Source: GOG

War Footing releases on GOG

War Footing
Image: GOG.

War Footing is a tactical turn-based strategy game, now out on GOG. It puts you in charge of mobilising a nation for defence rather than commanding troops directly, across eight scenarios with their own starting conditions and resource constraints.

Source: GOG

Trailers

Afterzero: The Last Drive gets an announce trailer

Video: PlayStation on YouTube.

Afterzero: The Last Drive has you driving and surviving a frozen, post-industrial wasteland. You gear up your vehicle to fend off hostile threats while scavenging for resources and leading a small survivor camp.

Source: PlayStation (YouTube), also reported by Xbox (YouTube)

Chained Beasts launches with a new trailer

Video: PlayStation on YouTube.

Chained Beasts is a one-to-four player co-op gladiator roguelike, out now on PS5. You're chained to your friends through chaotic arena battles, using the chains and the arena itself to beat down foes and win over the crowd.

Source: PlayStation (YouTube), also reported by Xbox (YouTube)

Grand Theft Auto VI gets its launch trailer

Video: PlayStation on YouTube.

Grand Theft Auto VI now has a launch trailer out, ahead of its November 19 release.

Source: PlayStation (YouTube)

It Takes Two arrives on Nintendo Switch 2

Video: Nintendo on YouTube.

It Takes Two is out now on Nintendo Switch 2. Its Friend's Pass lets you invite someone else into the game free of charge, even if they don't own a copy themselves.

Source: Nintendo (YouTube)

Squad gets an announcement trailer for PS5

Video: PlayStation on YouTube.

Squad is heading to PS5, with a free Alpha Preview running October 16 to 25 ahead of full console launch in 2027. It's large-scale combined-arms combat, dropping 100 players onto real-world terrain for 50v50 battles, with infantry, armour and helicopters all in play.

Source: PlayStation (YouTube)

Spine: This is Gun Fu shows off its customisation options

Video: PlayStation on YouTube.

A new trailer for Spine: This is Gun Fu shows off four new costumes for lead character Redline, including a standout Parrot costume, adding more ways to look good while fighting through the game's cinematic gun-fu action.

Source: PlayStation (YouTube)

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey gets an official trailer

Video: PlayStation on YouTube.

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, the third-person open-world survival game set at the dawn of humanity, is now on PlayStation 5. The new version adds documentary-style narration and a photo mode, and existing PS4 owners get the upgrade free.

Source: PlayStation (YouTube), also reported by Xbox (YouTube)

Gravity Circuit 2 gets a release window trailer

Video: PlayStation on YouTube.

Gravity Circuit 2, the sequel to the console-classic-inspired 2D platformer, is heading to PS5 in Spring 2027. You'll play as one of two fighters, Gravity or Power Circuit, taking on the Comet Circuit and his Hunter Army.

Source: PlayStation (YouTube)

Bluey's Happy Snaps lands on Nintendo Switch 2

Video: Nintendo on YouTube.

Bluey's Happy Snaps is out now on Nintendo Switch 2. You explore familiar locations from the show with Bluey and Bingo, building your own scrapbook along the way.

Source: Nintendo (YouTube)

When Sirens Fall Silent gets an announcement trailer

Video: Xbox on YouTube.

When Sirens Fall Silent is a dark psychological thriller set in 1990s Italy, coming to Xbox Series X|S. You play Mila, a troubled policewoman drawn into a case of kidnappings and murders that threatens to swallow her along with it.

Source: Xbox (YouTube)

Altered Alma gets a reveal trailer

Video: PlayStation on YouTube.

Altered Alma is a metroidvania launching soon on PS4 and PS5. You play Jack, a former enforcer on the run, with your choices shaping both the gameplay and his relationships.

Source: PlayStation (YouTube)

Stuntman: Hollywood crosses over with Knight Rider

Video: PlayStation on YouTube.

Stuntman: Hollywood has a new gameplay trailer built around a Knight Rider crossover, putting you behind the wheel of K.I.T.T. for stunts inspired by NBCUniversal's show.

Source: PlayStation (YouTube)

Zero Parades: Director's Cut shows off its new features

Video: PlayStation on YouTube.

Zero Parades: Director's Cut, ZA/UM's narrative espionage RPG, launches on PS5 on 3 November with native 4K, 3D audio and DualSense support. This definitive edition adds around 40,000 words of new story.

Source: PlayStation (YouTube)

Arizona Sunshine gets a release date trailer

Video: PlayStation on YouTube.

A new Arizona Sunshine trailer centres on Sunny and his dog Buddy, fighting side by side through a zombie-infested Arizona, playable solo or with friends.

Source: PlayStation (YouTube)

Jiaohun gets a cinematic trailer

Video: PlayStation on YouTube.

Jiaohun is a first-person psychological horror game set in a small Chinese town in the 1990s, coming to PS5. The new trailer leans into the game's cinematic, folklore-steeped horror.

Source: PlayStation (YouTube)

Sker: The Bleeding Veil gets a reveal trailer

Video: PlayStation on YouTube.

Sker: The Bleeding Veil is a new first-person stealth survival horror game from the developers behind Maid of Sker, Sker Ritual and the Remothered trilogy. It returns to Sker Island, rooted in Welsh folklore, where sound itself becomes a weapon.

Source: PlayStation (YouTube)

Quarantine Zone: Miami gets a Zero Update launch trailer

Video: Xbox on YouTube.

Quarantine Zone: Miami has a free Zero Update out now, taking the zombie checkpoint game back to the chaotic early days of the outbreak in Miami.

Source: Xbox (YouTube), also reported by Xbox Wire

Desolus launches with a new trailer

Video: PlayStation on YouTube.

Desolus is out now on PS5, a first-person puzzle game set in a Gothic city caught between past and future. You solve Escher-like puzzles using black holes, travelling through time to rebuild the city.

Source: PlayStation (YouTube)

Acts of Blood gets an announce trailer

Video: Xbox on YouTube.

Acts of Blood is a hand-to-hand battler coming to Xbox Series X|S, set in the Indonesian underground as lead character Hendra goes looking for revenge through brutal combos against unforgiving enemies.

Source: Xbox (YouTube), also reported by PlayStation (YouTube)

El Paso, Elsewhere 2 gets a new trailer and a playable demo

El Paso, Elsewhere 2
Image: Game Informer.

El Paso, Elsewhere 2, Strange Scaffold's follow-up to its breakout third-person vampire shooter, has a new trailer out showing off more of its action. A demo is also playable now on Steam.

Source: Game Informer

What GameSpot noticed in the GTA 6 launch trailer

GTA 6 launch trailer
Image: GameSpot.

GameSpot ran through the GTA 6 launch trailer, Rockstar's fourth official look at the game and the first since August's Extended Look premiered on Netflix.

Source: GameSpot

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Written bythrax•Published about 10 hours ago