Samson's Studio Goes Bankrupt, Call of Duty Testers Vote to Strike, and LOUD Take a Second World Title
A fast scan of October 12–19: a Swedish studio's bankruptcy, an Activision QA strike vote, a US bill on game ownership, the week's releases, and world titles for LOUD and FURIA.
This issue covers October 12 – October 19, 2026.
Industry
- Liquid Swords, the Stockholm studio behind the GTA-like Samson, was declared bankrupt on October 12. Roughly 30 developers have gone unpaid since August, and the administrator is now selling the studio and the game, with bids closing October 21. Read more →
- Activision's quality assurance union voted to authorise a strike with its first contract still unsigned after two years. The CWA unit — nearly 600 testers when it formed in March 2024, just over 400 today — says bargaining has stalled on pay, AI guardrails and contractor use, while Activision says it has offered to meet again on October 21 and 22. Read more →
- Rep. Ritchie Torres plans to introduce the Power to the Players Act, which would direct the Federal Trade Commission to write rules on game ownership. The bill would require more than a licence that can expire and offline modes that keep working after servers shut, as 2K prepares to delist NBA 2K25 on October 30. Read more →
- The PlayStation 6's RAM and flash storage alone are claimed to cost Sony over $680 per console, enough to push the price past $1,000. The figure comes from AMD leaker KeplerL2 by way of Video Games Chronicle, and it lands as the AI build-out keeps bidding up memory prices. Read more →
- Xbox set up Xbox Labs, a small group of game makers, engineers and scientists whose job is to turn emerging ideas into things players can try. CEO Asha Sharma announced the group on October 13 in a post about games decompiled and ported to hardware they were never built for, without once using the words artificial intelligence. Read more →
Releases and updates
- Jagex cancelled RuneScape Reignited two weeks after announcing it at Runefest 2026. The project would have reset the 25-year-old MMO's economy and world-first achievements on dedicated worlds, and veterans argued it would divert attention from existing problems instead of bringing players back. Read more →
- Pokémon TCG Pocket is stretching new set releases from about four weeks to roughly six. The C series also adds Community Decks, unlimited rental decks, mission-based Immersive Cards, and a trade screen that finally shows what a friend is missing. Read more →
- Nintendo released a $35 expansion pass for Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave without advance notice. Wave 1 is out now with four Three Houses relics, Wave 2 puts the game's gods in your party in holiday 2026, and Wave 3 adds story routes for the other four protagonists in 2027. Read more →
- Riot revealed Hush, a Duelist from Guangdong who joins VALORANT on October 27. The reveal ran before the Champions grand final, with her abilities still unpublished. Read more →
- Final Fantasy Resonance, the first Final Fantasy made in Square Enix's HD-2D style, arrives October 22 at $49.99. It leads a week that also brings hockey RPG Shoresy: Legends of the North on October 19 and the two-candle puzzler Candlemates on October 20. Read more →
Esports
- LOUD beat Team Vitality 3–1 in Shanghai to become the first organisation to win VALORANT Champions twice. The Brazilian side fielded the youngest roster ever to reach a Champions final, averaging just over 20, and 18-year-old Chilean in-game leader erde took tournament MVP. Read more →
- FURIA beat BETBOOM 3–2 in Malta to take the Thunderpick World Championship for a second straight year. FURIA trailed 2–1 before winning Mirage 13–11 and Cache 13–6, with FalleN's two-versus-four retake deciding Mirage; the title is their first CS2 trophy of 2026 and the $500,000 is split between players and organisation. Read more →
- Karmine Corp swept MVK Esports 3–0 to claim the last place in the Worlds 2026 Swiss Stage. The LEC third seed went unbeaten across three Play-In series, 9–2 on games, while MVK's two wins over FURIA ended Brazil's run in the Play-In. Read more →
- The Worlds 2026 Swiss Stage draw set LOS against T1 and Gen.G against Invictus Gaming in the opening round. The 16 teams start best-of-one matches on October 23 in Allen, Texas, with three wins reaching the Knockout Stage and three losses ending the tournament. Read more →
- Global Esports, the VCT Pacific 2026 Stage 2 champion, is leaving esports to rebrand as GE Studios, an AI-focused studio. Founder Rushindra Sinha said 2026 was more than likely the organisation's last year, and with Pacific limited to eight partner teams, India loses its only partnered representative on the circuit. Read more →
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