Here's what Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, said in their first quarter earnings call today:
"Last week’s launch of Black Ops 6 was the biggest Call of Duty release ever, setting a record for day one players, as well as Game Pass subscriber adds on launch day. Unit sales on PlayStation and Steam were also up over 60 percent year-over-year."

Matt Cox, SVP, GM of Call of Duty had this to say about the launch:
“Thank you to our players around the world for making Black Ops 6 the biggest Call of Duty launch ever. Our goal from the start has been to bring this great game to as many players as possible wherever they are, however they play. Black Ops 6 is an amazing game, and the response from the Call of Duty community has been incredible. This is only the beginning. Nuketown is only days away and Season 1 is right around the corner. We’re just getting started.”

Happy Anniversary, Ghostrunners! It’s been four adrenaline-pumping years since the Ghostrunner franchise first unleashed its fast-paced, brutal combat and iconic cyberpunk visuals. Over the years, Ghostrunner has grown into a world of high-stakes action and razor-sharp gameplay, and now, with Ghostrunner 2, we’re celebrating all that you, our incredible community, have made possible.

To mark this milestone, we’re thrilled to unveil the Ghostrunner 2 Anniversary Pack, packed with exclusive skins to celebrate the spirit of speed, skill, and survival that defines the franchise. Watch the new trailer below to see the content in action!

Going forward, when you submit a new game to Steam, if your game installs a client side, kernel mode anti-cheat, you will need to fill out this new field. We will be going through old games and contacting partners with games that fall into this category.

If your game contains a client or server based anti-cheat that is not kernel based, submitting the field is optional but we generally think that any game that makes use of anti-cheat technology would benefit from letting players know.

Vampire Hunters is a unique FPS that combines the adrenaline-pumping action of classic shooters with the innovative mechanics of the beloved Survivors-likes.

Unleash your firepower as you stack up to 14 different weapons and craft absurd, impossibly awesome builds to mow down legions of vampires, demons, and other supernatural foes.

Control unique hunters — each with different abilities - and choose insane-yet-useful upgrades as you survive through the onslaught in this retro-inspired Bullet Heaven FPS.

DEATH NOTE Killer Within is an online social deduction game with cross-play support, where up to 10 players face a choice between life and death. Players join one of two teams and must uncover each other’s identities to eliminate the world-renowned detective L or seize the Death Note from Kira, the student who discovered it. Kira and L are equally matched, each hiding their true identity while battling for control over the game. Engage in a game of wits, joining either Kira or L’s team to find the hidden Death Note, and leading to a thrilling showdown of truth and deception until one team prevails.

Step into the shoes of a martial arts master in a thrilling survivor-like roguelite inspired by action movies of the ‘80s. Use the environment and improvised weapons, master new techniques, and create devastating combos to fight off relentless goons and bandits! Karate Survivor delivers intense, fast-paced combat where improvisation and creativity are key to surviving the streets.

• Valis: The Fantasm Soldier Collection Launcher on Steam (Windows). "The legendary action game Valis: The Fantasm Soldier appears on Steam! Please note: This is only the game launcher and does not include the games themselves."

• Ubisoft's recovery from weak half-year to involve 'addressing polarized comments' about company - Game Developer.
• Ubisoft confident of avoiding further Assassin’s Creed Shadows delay - VGC.

• Save 70% on Transport Fever 2 on Steam.
• Save 40% on Brotato on Steam.
• Save 75% on Gord on Steam.
• Save 25% on ServiceIT- You can do IT on Steam.
• Dark Pictures and Little Nightmares- A Halloween Horror Collection (pay what you want and help charity) - Humble.*
• Microids Mystery Menagerie (pay what you want and help charity) - Humble.*

*Blue's News may receive a commission on sales of this item.

• UBISOFT REPORTS FIRST-HALF 2024-25 EARNINGS FIGURES.
• Ubisoft 24-25 half-year results plummet as Star Wars Outlaws "underperforms" - GamesIndustry.biz.
• Microsoft (MSFT) Q1 earnings report 2025.
• Nightingale dev Inflexion Games lays off staff as UK office shuts down - Game Developer.

• How the World Is Showing Up for The Club Through the First 25 Days of Worldwide Launch for EA SPORTS FC 25 - Business Wire.

• Lionsgate and Red Barrels are bringing 'the Outlast Universe' to the big screen - PC Gamer.

• Shop Titans - The Veteran Update.

↑ Official patches. ↓ Unofficial games, patches, and mods.

• First Red Dead Redemption Mod completely unlocks the framerate - DSOGaming.

• PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for November- Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 – Turbocharged, Ghostwire- Tokyo, Death Note Killer Within - PlayStation Blog.
• Microsoft forecasts slower cloud business growth in second quarter - Reuters.

• Little Nightmares III – 'You're Being Watched' Trailer.
• PAYDAY 3: Year 1 Edition - Launch Trailer.
• Tales of Graces f Remastered – Gameplay Trailer.

• How the Crew Keeps Growing - Ubisoft.

• Nintendo Music, a New Smart-Device App for Nintendo Soundtracks, Is Available Today! - Business Wire.

• Facebook Is Auto-Generating Militia Group Pages as Extremists Continue to Organize in Plain Sight - WIRED (may require registration or subscription).
• ‘We Were Wrong’- An Oral History of WIRED’s Original Website - WIRED (may require registration or subscription).

• AMD's Dr. Lisa Su predicts AI GPU market will grow to $500 billion by 2028 or 'roughly equivalent to annual sales for the entire semiconductor industry in 2023' - PC Gamer.
• Intel hasn't sold a single Arrow Lake CPU at Germany's largest retailer — Core Ultra 200S sales stagnate after just one week - Tom's Hardware.

• Meta is working with US government to use Llama AI - The Verge.
• Google CEO says over 25% of new Google code is generated by AI - Ars Technica.
• Elon Musk’s Criticism of ‘Woke AI’ Suggests ChatGPT Could Be a Trump Administration Target - WIRED (may require registration or subscription).

• Ex-Disney techie arrested for potentially deadly menu hacks • The Register. Thanks Max.
• Android Trojan that intercepts voice calls to banks just got more stealthy - Ars Technica.
• Windows Themes 0-day opens door to NTLM credential theft • The Register.

Exoforge is a cooperative Sci-fi action game where players band together to explore unique worlds, and mine vital resources while engaging in thrilling third-person combat against diverse enemies. Use what you gather to craft tools, items, gear, upgrades, and power-ups. Need a ride? Get behind the wheel with your squad in customizable vehicles to traverse rough terrains and take the fight to the enemy or resources back to base! Not the driver? Then ride along as a passenger with mounted guns to protect your cargo.

With seamless drop-in/drop-out multiplayer, Exoforge is the co-op experience you have been waiting for!

Play god in this survival city-builder with roguelike deckbuilding mechanics. Harvest cards to raise land from the sea, build settlements for your followers and rain fire upon waves of invaders. Choose from 4 gods with unique cards, playstyles and abilities to lead their civilisations to victory in strategic run-based gameplay! We plan to add more gods, cards and enemies to the game throughout early access, as well as continuing to iterate on the game based on community feedback.

What’s in the alpha:

• Immersive first-person player controller
• Skiing mechanics (still a work in progress)
• Survival mechanics (cold weather, clothing, hunger and thirst, day/night cycle, and weather changes)
• Portable radio mechanic
• 4 onboarding quests to get you started
• A 2 square kilometer Arctic island as the starting area for the game’s story
• Melee and ranged weapons
• Enemies to challenge you
• Crafting and fishing systems

What’s NOT in the alpha:

Scramble: Battle of Britain is a tactical dogfighting game that thrusts players into the High-Octane chaos of the 1940 summer skies. Set in a dynamic 3D airspace, this simultaneous-turn-based game embraces the intricate details of aerodynamics and physics-based simulation unique to the piloting experience while minimizing time and reflex demands. Players lead their squadrons through intense aerial battles as Luftwaffe and RAF fighters clash over the English Channel. Through each gameplay phase—Planning, Simulation, and Review—players strategize and command aerial maneuvers, witness simulation outcomes in real-time, and rewind the action to analyze battle damage using detailed camera tools.

• “I think this industry is finished”- not quite Disco Elysium spin-off studio Summer Eternal on the chances of things getting better for game devs - VG247.
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard Has Breakout Potential, Says EA CEO - Wccftech.

• Ex-King CTO and Havok Co-Founder Steve Collins Will Join Unity As New Chief Technology Officer - Business Wire.

• In an attempt to win back players, WB Games has added $30 skins to MultiVersus that are gone forever once its Halloween event ends - Reddit.

• What Is Prime Video's 'Secret Level'- Here's Which Video Games Will Feature in Each Episode? - Collider.
• 'Tomb Raider'- Sophie Turner & Lucy Boynton Testing For Lara Croft - Deadline.

• Dying Light 2 Stay Human- Reloaded Edition - Patch 19 and a New Episode of Dying 2 Know More.
• The Political Machine 2024 - Pre-Election Update Released.
• World of Warcraft — Hotfixes- October 29, 2024.

• PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS Weekly Bans Notice (10/21~10.27).

• November’s PlayStation Plus Essential games have been announced - VGC.

• Ubisoft's got yet another NFT project, and man do I feel bad for the artists whose great work is being wasted on this garbage - PC Gamer.
• Xsolla to Launch Xsolla ZK, Advancing Web3 Adoption for Video Games - Business Wire.

• Nexus Mods updates its stance on paid mods for the first time since Bethesda's latest attempt at them, says it believes "modding should be a pursuit of passion first and foremost" - VG247.

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - The Replacer "Complex."
• The Division 2: Year 6 Season 2 - Shades of Red Official Launch Trailer.
• Palworld - Halloween Skins Trailer - Pocketpair.
• Sea of Legends Official Trailer.

• Derek Yu's vision for a human-driven games industry in the story of UFO 50's development - GamesIndustry.biz.

• The PC Gaming Show- Most Wanted returns to reveal the 25 most-anticipated PC games this December - PC Gamer. Can't wait to find out what we can't wait for.

• Titan Quest II - Combining two masteries to form a class.
• Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered launches tomorrow- Nixxes details the collaboration that upgraded Aloy’s first adventure – PlayStation Blog.

• Concord's Initial Development Deal Was $200 Million, But It Wound Up Costing Sony Much More - Report - IGN.

• Nintendo Switch Update Fixes Nasty Sleep Mode Bug - Kotaku.
• Stardew Valley Dev Finally Finishes Playing The Game, Says 1.6 Update Is Coming To Console Next Week - GameSpot.
• SlavicPunk- Oldtimer - Xbox & PS5 Combat Teaser #2 - Coming on Nov 06, 2024 - Trailer.
• Bottle- Pilgrim Redux - Launch trailer - PlayStation & Xbox.

• M2 and M3 MacBook Air models get bumped to 16GB of RAM for no extra money - Ars Technica.
• Premium Samsung phones in the future may ditch the 'Galaxy' branding - Neowin.
• Waymo wants to use Google’s Gemini to train its robotaxis - The Verge.
• Tesla Using 'Full Self-Driving' Hits Deer Without Slowing, Doesn't Stop - Jalopnik. Thanks RedEye9.

• 'We were just trying to get it to work'- The failure that started the internet - BBC.
• Election Fraud Conspiracy Theories Are Already Thriving Online - WIRED (may require registration or subscription).
• How X users earn thousands from US election misinformation and AI images - BBC.
• Reddit is profitable for the first time ever, with nearly 100 million daily users - The Verge.
• Internet Archive back in action - Boing Boing.
• The Amazon Echo graveyard - The Verge.

• Inside Intel, CEO Pat Gelsinger fumbled the revival of an American icon - Reuters. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• AMD confirms its next-gen RDNA 4 GPUs will launch in early 2025 - The Verge.
• AMD rakes in cash with best quarterly revenue ever amid datacenter business rise, but gaming business craters - Tom's Hardware.
• Boston Dynamics’ new video shows that its humanoid robot doesn’t need a human - The Verge. Wonder who this is for?
• Intel rolls out microcode fix for crashing 13th-14th Generation processors through the Linux Kernel - Tom's Hardware.
• Visual Studio Code version 1.95.0.
• Evernote version 10.113.5.
• DVDFab version 13.0.29.
• 5 Interesting Things You Can Use Your Old Desktop PC For - How-To Geek.

• OpenAI reportedly builds custom AI chips as it embraces AMD — company also abandons plans to build its own fabs - Tom's Hardware.
• Elon Musk is doubling the world's largest AI GPU cluster — expanding Colossus GPU cluster to 200,000 'soon,' has floated 300,000 in the past - Tom's Hardware.
• OpenAI’s Transcription Tool Hallucinates. Hospitals Are Using It Anyway - WIRED (may require registration or subscription).
• Robert Downey Jr. Says He'd Sue If Marvel Copied Him With AI - Kotaku.
• AI push makes Python the most popular language on GitHub - TechRadar.

• Here’s the paper no one read before declaring the demise of modern cryptography - Ars Technica.
• FBI suspects China-linked hackers accessed officials’ call logs and SMS messages, report says - Engadget.
• Change Healthcare Breach Hits 100M Americans – Krebs on Security.
• QNAP patches worrying NAS security flaw, so update now - TechRadar.

• The US government has new laws on sharing data across departments - TechRadar.
• Russia has fined Google $2,500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, or more money than actually exists on Earth, all because it's upset about some YouTube channels - PC Gamer.

• Call of Duty- Black Ops 6 PC Benchmarks & Performance Analysis - DSOGaming.
• ‘Dragon Age- The Veilguard’ review- excellent combat, inconsistent story - NPR.
• EA's BioWare Needs a Hit With New Dragon Age Video Game - Bloomberg (may require registration or subscription).
• Life Is Strange- Double Exposure Review- A Worthwhile Sequel - Kotaku.

• Case Fan: TRYX ROTA Pro 120 mm Fan Review - TechPowerUp.
• Keyboard: Keychron Q5 HE review - PC Gamer.
• Laptop: Ninkear A16 Pro laptop review- Affordable, powerful and quiet during use - NotebookCheck.net Reviews.
• PSU: be quiet! Pure Power 12 850W ATX 3.1 Power Supply Unit - Nikk Tech.

Sweet Round-up
Thanks Ant, Neutronbeam, and Max.

Breakfast Links

• We Ranked the 25 Jump Scares That Still Make Us Jump - The New York Times.
• A candy engineer explains the science behind the Snickers bar - Ars Technica.

Story

• Japanese Americans play historic baseball games at prison camp to recall a pastime — and a lifeline - NBC News.

Science

• Thin skin significantly blunts injury from puncture, study finds - Phys.org.
• We Finally Know Why Ancient Roman Concrete Was Able to Last Thousands of Years - ScienceAlert. Concrete answers.
• Some Geologists Argue Earth Has Less Than Seven Continents - The New York Times. Not to correct the old gray lady, but it's "fewer than seven."

Media

• A perfect day of work at OSHA - FanARose.
• Man in China uses fireworks to fight off bulldozer sent to demolish his building - Reddit. Pew pew! Thanks The Flying Penguin.

Follow-up

• Throw Out Your Black Plastic Spatula - The Atlantic (may require registration or subscription). Seeing the way they melt should be enough to convince anyone.