Gaming news: launches, patches, release dates, shutdowns and studio moves, with a focus on mobile, gacha and live-service games.
NewsHoYoverse says characters in Nodusfall, its dark-fantasy co-op action RPG revealed at Gamescom, 'are not obtained through random draws.' The game is free-to-play, and cosmetics are the monetization route under consideration.
NewsVersion 4.6, 'Dance With the Beast Before Moonrise,' launched September 28 with Pearl, a new 5-star Ice character on the Path of Elation. HoYoverse also confirmed that Ellen and Astra Yao from Zenless Zone Zero join Star Rail in Version 4.8.
NewsNintendo ended Mario Kart Tour's service on September 29, 2026, at 11 p.m. PT, after seven years on iOS and Android. There's no offline version, so the game and all progress are gone.
NewsMicrosoft eliminated 268 more Xbox roles on September 22, and the next Halo game is moving to a new team at Activision. Playground and Turn 10 are merging, and Ninja Theory faces a proposed closure.
NewsVersion 7.1, 'A Rekviem for the Underworld,' launched September 23 with two new 5-stars, Ronova as a weekly boss, the return of the Moonchase Festival, and a 6th-anniversary package with a free limited 5-star selector.
NewsSanrio Games' first smartphone title, a free-to-play rhythm game with gacha tickets, launches worldwide in January 2027. Pre-registration opened September 21, with rewards up to a guaranteed 3-star ticket.
NewsFuncom's open-world Dune survival game launched on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on September 22, fifteen months after its PC debut, with a full single-player mode, optional PvP, a rebuilt endgame and day-one Game Pass.
NewsSquare Enix's first HD-2D Final Fantasy launches October 22 on five platforms at $49.99. It rebuilds the first story arc of mobile gacha Final Fantasy Brave Exvius as a console RPG without gacha. A free demo is out.
NewsNetmarble showed Solo Leveling: KARMA at Tokyo Game Show 2026: a mobile roguelite action RPG set during the 27-year Monarch War, with a playable Shadow Army. Pre-registration is open in Korea and Japan.
NewsAtlus's remake of Persona 4 Golden launches February 18, 2027 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, day one on Game Pass. Editions and prices, the pre-order bonus, and the new combat features.
NewsA Shanghai court ordered an unnamed AI company to pay miHoYo 750,000 yuan after it cloned the voices of 63 Genshin Impact characters and sold them as voice packs, treating the case as unfair competition.
NewsBilibili Games' BanG Dream! rhythm game launched on iOS and Android on September 24 with five bands, 25 characters, real-time multiplayer battles and launch rewards unlocked by more than 2 million pre-registrations.