SURVIVAL
Once Human Great Ones: Five Monolith Boss Counters
Every Great One has an immune-until-you-do-X mechanic — the weak points, phase order, and loadout math that turn each Monolith fight into farm content.
Starry Studio Impact: 6/10
INTEL ARCHIVE // PAGE 11 OF 23
All Intel — page 11
SURVIVAL
Rust Dev Branch: Ranching, Hair, Power Grid Rooms
Rust's livestock dev branch adds Ranch-bought baby animals with trust and genetics, hair and skin customization, and new Power Grid loot rooms.
Facepunch Studios Impact: 8/10
RTS
StarCraft II Patch 5.0.17: The 8-Worker Start Reverted
StarCraft II patch 5.0.17 rolled the 8-worker experiment back to a 12-worker start, so build orders written before June 2026 work again.
Blizzard Entertainment Impact: 7/10
RTS
StarCraft Ghost: From 2002 Reveal to the 2026 ARG
Why StarCraft: Ghost was postponed, never cancelled, in 2006, and how Nova and Ghost-era lore keep resurfacing in the 2026 ARG.
Blizzard Entertainment Impact: 7/10
SURVIVAL
Survival-Craft: The Five Axes That Split the Genre
Gather, build, survive, repeat — why the survival-craft loop swallowed gaming, how 2026's wave differs from the Rust era, and which game fits which player.
Various (Iron Gate, Starry Studio, Funcom, Facepunch) Impact: 6/10
SURVIVAL
Valheim 1.0: Deep North, 40+ Weapons, September 2026
Valheim 1.0's Deep North brings 40+ weapons, 10+ creatures, and 80+ build pieces — and what the engine upgrade means for existing worlds and mods.
Iron Gate AB Impact: 8/10
SURVIVAL
ARC Raiders 1.45.0: Expedition 5 and Cred Retirement
Live Update 1.45.0 adds Raider Project 'Ascending the Mountain', Expedition 5, and the Hornet Hunter Set
Embark Impact: 8/10
RPG
Elden Ring 1.25 Patch Closes DLC Trading Exploit
Elden Ring update 1.25 fixes a multiplayer issue where DLC-specific items could be obtained when not normally eligible
FromSoftware Impact: 8/10
SURVIVAL
Escape from Tarkov 1.1.5.0 Reworks Lighthouse, Rogues
Patch 1.1.5.0 reworks the Lighthouse map, moving Rogues to mountain chalets and removing all landmines from the water treatment plant
Battlestate Games Impact: 8/10
MMO
FFXIV Patch 7.56: Beastmaster and the Evercold Road
Patch 7.56 adds four main story quests that set the stage for the Evercold expansion arriving in January 2027
Square Enix Impact: 8/10
SURVIVAL
Palworld: Beyond Dimensions Missions and Build Refunds
Latest update adds new missions 'Beyond Dimensions' and 'Far Side of the Moon' tied to the World Tree storyline
Pocketpair Impact: 8/10
RPG
Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake on Switch 2, Nov. 5
Ocarina of Time on Switch 2 rebuilds the 1998 game with voiced cutscenes, reworked movement and camera, and a Threads of Time progress tracker.
Nintendo Impact: 8/10
HARDWARE
Switch 2 Online Bans: Reports Point to a Server Fault
Nintendo Switch 2 owners were temporarily banned from online services due to an internal server problem
Nintendo Impact: 8/10
HARDWARE
NVIDIA RTX Spark: October 2026 Ship Date and PAIR
NVIDIA's PAIR router spreads agent work across home PCs — 18 minutes drops to 8 minutes and 48 seconds — and RTX Spark ships in October 2026 from OEMs.
NVIDIA Impact: 8/10
SURVIVAL
Once Human on Xbox: 4K Mode and Game Pass Perks
Once Human is now officially available on Xbox Series X|S with Xbox Play Anywhere and Day One Game Pass benefits
NETEASE INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT PTE.LTD Impact: 8/10
RPG
Wartales Update 7: The Lair and Prisoner Rework
What Wartales Community Update 7 adds free on PC: Crime and Chaos options, The Lair hub, and an overhauled prisoner system with dedicated skill trees.
Shiro Games Impact: 8/10
RTS
Civilization VII Arc of Tomorrow: 1950 to 2050 Timeline
Civ 7's free Arc of Tomorrow update adds a fourth Act that pushes the timeline from 1950 to 2050, with expanded nuclear gameplay and proxy wars.
Firaxis Impact: 8/10
HARDWARE
DLSS 5 Mod on Radeon RX 9070 XT: 33 FPS at 1080p
A GitHub mod called DLSS-NR-on-AMD by Daniel Blanco loads NVIDIA's DLSS 5 neural renderer onto AMD RDNA 4 and RDNA 3 GPUs in DirectX 12 games that expose FSR
Impact: 8/10
HARDWARE
Threadripper Halo Station: 96 Cores and 576 GB
AMD's Halo Station pairs a 96-core Threadripper PRO 9995WX with up to four Instinct MI350P cards and 576 GB of HBM3E for trillion-parameter models.
AMD Impact: 8/10
RTS
Age of Empires II Viking Sagas: Varangians and the Jarl
The Varangians civilization focuses on cavalry and navy, with bonuses generating gold from shepherding, fishing, and hunting.
Age DE Team Impact: 8/10
RPG
Onimusha: Way of the Sword Launches September 4, 2026
First mainline Onimusha installment since Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams (2006), developed on Capcom's RE Engine
Capcom Impact: 8/10
RTS
StarCraft ARG: 2575 Transmissions Before BlizzCon 2026
Blizzard's StarCraft site hid an ARG ahead of BlizzCon 2026: transmissions dated 2575 from a compromised facility and 14 motion signatures.
Blizzard Impact: 8/10
RPG
Final Fantasy VII Revelation: April 8, 2027 Launch
FINAL FANTASY VII REVELATION launches April 8, 2027, on PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and Xbox on PC.
SQUARE ENIX Impact: 8/10
MMO
LOTRO Update 49.5: The Abyss of Mordath and September Cap
Update 49.5 introduces a new season of rewards and paves the way for upcoming raid content and max level improvements.
Impact: 8/10
RPG
Rev. NOiR: The Lightfall Threat and Konami's 2027 RPG
Rev. NOiR is an all-new RPG from KONAMI launching in 2027 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam.
KONAMI Impact: 8/10
SURVIVAL
Dune: Awakening $9.99 Filmic Archive DLC and 73 Pieces
Filmic Archive DLC launches September 22 for $9.99 on PC, Xbox, and PS5, featuring movie-inspired armor sets and 73 Sardaukar building pieces
Funcom Impact: 8/10
MMO
Neverwinter Monoliths of Madness: Strike and Guard Slots
Monoliths of Madness expansion is now live on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, bringing chaotic magic and new dangers across Faerûn
Arc Games and Cryptic Studios Impact: 8/10
RTS
Manor Lords Update 8: Cows, Cider and Hungry Animals
Major Update #8 adds cows, calves, oats, cider, mead, cheese production, and a new Wide Valley map
Slavic Magic Impact: 8/10
RPG
Squadron 42 Slips to Q2 2027 to Dodge GTA 6
Squadron 42 delayed from Q4 2026 to Q2 2027 to avoid clashing with GTA 6's launch buzz
Cloud Imperium Games Impact: 8/10
SURVIVAL
ARC Raiders October Update: Photo Mode, Frozen Map
Arc Raiders' October update adds a photo mode, a frozen map with new arcs, and a new high-level challenge
Embark Studios Impact: 8/10