Gaming News Roundup: GTA 6's Possible Stutter Fix, Samson Studio Goes Bankrupt, Funcom Cuts & More (Oct 17, 2026)
Grand Theft Auto VI (image via GamesRadar+ / Rockstar Games)
GTA 6 might finally be fixing a problem Rockstar games have had since GTA 4. Digital Foundry spotted that the subtle animation stutter seen in every earlier GTA 6 trailer is missing from the new launch trailer. That's our lead, along with Sony's "Plays Best on PS5" marketing already swaying at least one very big streamer. Also on Saturday: a bank thinks the next Red Dead could come surprisingly soon, Samson studio Liquid Swords has gone bankrupt, Funcom is laying people off and changing CEOs, and Wardogs is moving Season 3 up after a rough Season 2. Plus: Marvel Rivals gets tougher on toxic chat, Mew2King is barred from a Smash tournament, the Nvidia App switched on AI agent control by default, a viral Steam game already has a copycat, Steam has passed last year's total number of releases, a BioWare veteran worries about CD Projekt's costs, the Ocarina of Time remake adds some new side content, Modern Warfare 4 gives Switch 2 players two upscaling options, and there's a batch of Switch 2 news, including a Switch delay for The Wolf Among Us Remastered. Here's the Lanbrew gaming roundup for October 17, 2026.
Grand Theft Auto VI "Plays Best on PS5" (image via Push Square / Rockstar Games / Sony)
GTA 6's launch trailer may have fixed Rockstar's 18-year animation stutter, and Sony's PS5 push is already working
Most Rockstar games since GTA 4, including GTA 5 and both Red Dead Redemption games, have a small but persistent quirk: character animations and camera movement are sometimes unevenly paced. It can look a bit like stop motion, or like the game is dropping frames when it isn't. It seems to come from the RAGE engine. Digital Foundry says the stutter showed up in every GTA 6 trailer so far, including August's 27-minute extended look. The October 15 launch trailer, though, shows no sign of it, even with lots of slow panning shots where the stutter is usually easiest to spot.
GamesRadar+ points out that Rockstar might just have picked clean shots, but it never tried to hide the issue in earlier footage, and the team has said it's still making changes right up to launch. We'll find out for sure on November 19.
Meanwhile, Sony's big marketing deal is already paying off. The launch trailer carries a "Plays Best on PS5" tag, and in a reaction video IShowSpeed asked his chat whether to play on PS5 or Xbox, until a friend pointed at the slogan. "I'm most definitely playing on a PS5," he said. "If GTA 6 is literally saying 'Plays Best on PS5,' why would you play on Xbox, huh?" Push Square notes the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions will probably look and run about the same. PS5 players do get DualSense haptics and adaptive triggers, and the PS5 Pro has extra power.
Read on GamesRadar+ → · Read on Push Square →
Red Dead Redemption 2 (image via GameSpot / Rockstar Games)
Citi thinks the next Red Dead could arrive in 2027 or 2028. GameSpot isn't so sure
In a note about GTA 6 and Rockstar, investment bank Citi said that if Rockstar is right that GTA 6 didn't cost $1.5 billion to make, a new Red Dead game in 2027 or 2028 "may not be unreasonable," according to Yahoo Finance. That would be a very short gap for Rockstar. Red Dead Redemption came out in 2010, GTA 5 in 2013, Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2018, and GTA 6 arrives in 2026. Rockstar's studios now work together on one big game at a time, and GTA 6 will need years of online support.
Take-Two isn't ruling out speedier development, though. CEO Strauss Zelnick has said new technology may help "compress some development timelines without compromising quality," and Rockstar's Phil Hooker says the studio's hiring and tech upgrades should help it make games faster. With Red Dead Redemption 2 at 87 million copies sold, a new Red Dead is a safe bet eventually. Just maybe not next year.
Samson (image via Insider Gaming / Liquid Swords)
Samson developer Liquid Swords has gone bankrupt
Liquid Swords, the Swedish studio founded by Avalanche Studios co-founder and Just Cause creative lead Christofer Sundberg, is bankrupt after several months of unpaid salaries, according to Breakit. Nearly 30 employees will get state support, and the bankruptcy trustee hopes to find a buyer.
The studio's only game was Samson, a gritty open-world action game inspired by Max Payne and GTA that launched in April. It got mixed reviews, including a 51 Metascore, and Steam players complained about bugs and sluggish controls.
Dune: Awakening (image via PC Gamer / Funcom)
Funcom is cutting jobs again, and its CEO is stepping down
The Dune: Awakening and Conan Exiles studio has started a restructuring that includes layoffs. Funcom will now focus fully on supporting those two survival games. CEO Rui Casais will leave once the process is done, and Scott Junior, Funcom's chief product officer and an executive producer on Dune: Awakening, will take over. "While we would have wanted everyone who helped build Dune: Awakening to continue with us, we cannot sustain the size and structure required during peak development as we move into this next phase," Casais said. Funcom hasn't said how many people are affected.
Dune: Awakening sold a million copies in two weeks when it launched in June 2025, but player numbers dropped a lot afterward. Funcom also had layoffs last October, and last month it added solo and PvE-only modes to the game. Its creative chief recently said the studio is "not ready to start a new game."
WARDOGS (image via Insider Gaming / BULKHEAD)
Update: Wardogs is moving Season 3 up after calling Season 2's progression changes "the wrong call"
What's new: a day after dropping Season 2's team "bribery" bonus, BULKHEAD now says the season's faster progression was "the wrong call." Some players reached end-game gear like Tier 4 armor and main battle tanks within days, so the wipe "never really landed."
The studio won't do a snap reset this weekend, since that "would be unfair on everyone already enjoying the climb." Instead, it plans to bring Season 3 and some of its content forward "significantly," with details in a dev vlog next week. "This is what Early Access is for," BULKHEAD said. Wardogs is still doing well, with around 209,000 players on Steam and a spot among the platform's five most-played games.
Marvel Rivals (image via GamesRadar+ / NetEase)
Marvel Rivals is getting tougher on toxic chat
NetEase says it has "further escalated our penalties for speech violations" in Marvel Rivals, with sanctions based on how serious the offense is and the player's history, and "significantly harsher penalties" for severe or repeat offenders. That covers insults, harassment, discrimination, and hate speech in both text and voice chat.
"We will absolutely not treat these behaviors as acceptable simply because they are unfortunately common in competitive gaming," the studio said, calling moderation an "ongoing, long-term commitment." Plenty of players on the game's subreddit agree it was overdue. Some say they stopped playing because of the chat.
Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman (image via IGN)
Mew2King is barred from a Smash tournament after posting photos of bug bites
Veteran Super Smash Bros. pro Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman went viral after posting photos of swollen hands and a leg covered in red bumps on his way to a tournament in Texas. He said bugs in his house bite him "every week." Fans worried it could be bed bugs and urged him not to fly or stay in a hotel.
Xtreme Fighters Showdown then told him not to come. "For the safety of our event, XFS 2026, we have politely informed Mew2King he will not be able to participate or attend our event this weekend due to a self-reported health concern," the tournament's CEO wrote.
Nvidia (image via IGN)
The latest Nvidia App update lets AI agents control it, and it's on by default
Nvidia App version 11.0.9.565, released October 13, includes a local MCP server so "a compatible AI agent" can control the app with plain-language requests: see your installed games, apply settings, or turn on ShadowPlay recording. It isn't limited to the new RTX Spark laptops, and the setting is switched on by default for everyone who updates. That has a lot of PC players unhappy, and some security-minded users are telling people to turn it off. There are no reported exploits so far.
If you'd rather not have it, open the Nvidia App, go to Settings, scroll to "AI Agents and App Connections," and turn off "Allow Agents to control Nvidia App."
Family Time (image via GamesRadar+ / sgthale)
Viral wolf-family sim Family Time already has a same-name copycat on Steam
Family Time, sgthale's casual colony sim about raising thousands of wolf kids with your wolf partner, has climbed from 66th to 46th on Steam's most-wishlisted chart since October 6, thanks to a viral itch.io demo. Now there's another Family Time on Steam from Hilly Games, with a fox mama instead, 1–4 player co-op, and a store page laid out almost exactly like the original.
sgthale says a DMCA notice has already been filed. "It is an infringement of expression since they copied banner, description, layout," the developer told GamesRadar+, adding that other people are still free to make games in the same genre.
Steam (image via Kotaku)
Steam has already had more releases in 2026 than in all of 2025
SteamDB counted 21,248 new games on Steam in 2025, nearly 3,000 more than 2024. As of October 16, 2026 had already passed that with 21,388, and the usually busy last two and a half months are still to come. That's about 66 new games a day, up from 55 last year, and SteamPageAnalyzer expects the year to finish above 24,000.
Kotaku worries it'll get worse, since AI coding tools make quick knockoffs easier than ever and Steam's $100 listing fee isn't much of a barrier. It guesses 2027 could top 30,000 releases. Valve's newer discovery features, like the personalized calendar on the front page, are helping some developers get noticed.
The Witcher 4 (image via Rock Paper Shotgun / CD Projekt Red)
Ex-BioWare producer Mark Darrah says CD Projekt is in "a really dangerous place"
In an interview printed in the Summer Eternal Anthology, a 500-page book from the ex-Disco Elysium team making Red Rooster, the former Anthem and Dragon Age executive producer says triple-A development has become "over-specialised, specialised to the point of hyper-fragility." Bigger teams also make delays far more expensive: "If you have a 500-person team and you go one month late, that's probably adding five, ten million to your budget right there."
He thinks CD Projekt has joined the mega-game club, where "their games now need to sell 15, 20 million units to make money," and he calls that "a really dangerous place to be." He didn't make any predictions about The Witcher 4 or Cyberpunk 2.
Read on Rock Paper Shotgun → · Read on GamesRadar+ →
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (image via GamesRadar+ / Nintendo)
Update: The Ocarina of Time remake has new side quests and a tougher minigame
What's new: hands-on footage from Zelda YouTuber Zeltik shows the Switch 2 remake isn't just new graphics. The potion shop owner in Hyrule Castle Town now panics about a bug and gives you an empty bottle to catch it. Do it and he lets you keep the bottle and fills it with a red potion. There's also a harder version of the target-shooting game with much less time, plus small layout changes in the Forest Temple.
None of it is a huge overhaul, but there are some surprises here even for people who've played the original many times. The remake launches November 5.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on Switch 2 (image via Nintendo Life / Activision)
Modern Warfare 4 on Switch 2 lets you pick between DLSS and SMAA
The Switch 2 version's graphics menu has two upscaling options: Nvidia's DLSS and Infinity Ward's own "Filmic SMAA T2X." Digital Foundry's Tom Morgan told Nintendo Life the two seem to start from the same resolution, but DLSS gives cleaner edges and sharper textures, which you can see on door decals and foliage. He says the final build still needs testing in motion to see whether DLSS costs any performance or adds artifacts.
There's also an AMD FidelityFX CAS sharpening option. The Switch 2 port is by Digital Legends. Campaign early access is live now for digital pre-orders, and the full game launches October 23.
Cult of the Lamb (image via Nintendo Life / Massive Monster)
Switch 2 news: Cult of the Lamb gets a free upgrade, plus Zero Parades and Coral Island dates
Cult of the Lamb comes to Switch 2 on October 22. If you own the Switch 1 version, the upgrade is free, and new buyers pay the same price as the original Switch version.
ZA/UM's Zero Parades: Director's Cut, the Disco Elysium follow-up sitting at 83 on Metacritic, hits Switch 2 on November 3 with mouse controls, touchscreen support, and HD rumble. The cozy farming sim Coral Island is also coming to Switch 2 this winter, alongside its 1.4 "Kids Grow Up" update, which lets your in-game children grow up and pick up hobbies.
Read on Nintendo Life → · Read on Nintendo Life → · Read on Gematsu →
The Wolf Among Us Remastered (image via Nintendo Life / Telltale Games)
The Wolf Among Us Remastered is delayed on Switch
Telltale says the Switch version of The Wolf Among Us Remastered "needs a little bit more time" so it can be the experience "Nintendo players deserve." It doesn't have a new date yet. The PlayStation, Xbox, and PC versions still launch October 29.
Telltale's statement didn't mention Switch 2 at all, so it's not clear yet whether there will be a native Switch 2 version.
Read on Nintendo Life → · Read on Gematsu →
Roundup compiled Oct 17, 2026 (America/Chicago). Reporting credit to the linked sources; images via the linked outlets and publishers.
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