Gaming News Roundup: GTA 6’s Romance “Cheating” Debate, Saros’ Free Zenith Update, Kojima Returns to Night City & More (Oct 19, 2026)
Grand Theft Auto VI (image via TheGamer / Rockstar Games)
GTA 6 is one month away, and today's lead is a debate nobody at Rockstar probably saw coming: the BBC asked whether romancing Jason or Lucia could count as cheating on a real partner, and fans had plenty to say. Also on Monday: Saros gets a free Zenith update with a boss rush and New Game+, Hideo Kojima returns as his Cyberpunk character in Edgerunners 2 as the first reviews arrive, Modern Warfare 4 honors Vince Zampella, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lets you choose Hard Mode from the start, and Nintendo admits it underestimated demand for the Zelda Switch 2. Plus: a Microsoft manager's AI comments, Digital Foundry on the Metaphor: ReFantazio Switch 2 demo, The Witcher 3's Switch 2 patch, Faraway's release date after 16 years, a Nemesis-style Red Dead 2 mod, Xbox's missing security seals, The Finals' name-dropping announcers, Resident Evil 7's messy development, and Super Mario 64's plaque, decoded. Here's the Lanbrew gaming roundup for October 19, 2026.
Jason and Lucia, Grand Theft Auto VI (image via BBC News / Rockstar Games)
GTA 6 fans push back after the BBC asks whether romancing Lucia (or Jason) counts as cheating
With GTA 6 now exactly one month out, the BBC ran a piece asking a question that's been bouncing around social media: can you cheat on a real partner with a video game character? Rockstar has said Jason and Lucia's romance is optional. Their relationship grows when you spend time together outside the main story, through shopping, bars, restaurants, workouts, holding hands and answering each other's texts quickly. That's what got some people asking whether choosing to make them a couple says something about you.
Most people don't think it does. The BBC points to a September YouGov poll of more than 4,000 British adults in which about 6% said it would count as cheating and another 19% said they wouldn't be okay with it. Women were more likely than men to object. TheGamer reports the article drew close to 300 comments in under 12 hours, most of them making fun of the idea, and the reaction on social media was similar. GTA 6 launches November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Saros (image via Push Square / Housemarque)
Saros' free Zenith update adds a boss rush, New Game+ and a pile of accessibility options
Housemarque's Zenith update is out now for Saros on PS5 and free for everyone. The 3.5GB patch takes the game to version 2.0. Overlord Rush is the new boss rush mode, with sets of up to three bosses and a final "Totality" set that throws every Overlord at you in a row, plus online leaderboards. Eclipse Layers is the game's take on New Game+: new nodes in the armor matrix unlock harder layers, each with extra rules, and you need Carcosan Modifiers to enter them. There are 20 new modifiers (10 protections, 10 trials), and Arjun wears a crown that grows as you stack trials. The crown also helps you find a new set of lore collectibles.
On the accessibility side there's an option to slow the game down, high-contrast visuals, auto-aim, gyro aiming and an auto-fire toggle that shoots whenever you're aimed at an enemy. Design lead Abebe Tinari says the team wanted more replayability for players who have finished Carcosa and an easier way in for everyone else. New trophies are included too.
Source: Push Square; VGC
Hideo Kojima as Hideyoshi Oshima (image via VGC / CD Projekt Red)
Hideo Kojima returns to Night City in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2, and the first reviews are in
Hideo Kojima is back in Night City. He had a cameo in Cyberpunk 2077 as Hideyoshi Oshima, a braindance producer you can find at Konpeki Plaza during The Heist, and CD Projekt Red has confirmed he plays the same character again in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2, voiced by Kojima himself. It's a fitting nod: before Metal Gear made him famous, Kojima made the cyberpunk adventure Snatcher.
The new season from Studio Trigger and CD Projekt Red hits Netflix on Tuesday, October 20, and reviews went up this morning. It's an ensemble story this time instead of following one main character. IGN says it "delivers the gory, action-packed goods," GamesRadar+ calls it a worthy follow-up with some big implications for the Cyberpunk world, and Polygon goes further, calling it a true masterpiece. Kotaku is the outlier: it misses the tight focus of the first season and says the new one never hits the same emotional highs.
Source: VGC; Kotaku; reviews: IGN, GamesRadar+, Polygon, Kotaku
Modern Warfare 4's tribute to Vince Zampella (image via IGN / Activision)
Modern Warfare 4's campaign credits honor Call of Duty co-creator Vince Zampella
Vince Zampella, who co-founded Infinity Ward and later Respawn, died in a car accident last December. Infinity Ward honors him in Modern Warfare 4: after the final mission, which plays partway through the credits, his name is the first shown in a tribute to people who died during the game's production. Rainer Yang, Matt Canale and Preetam Raj Bordoloi, who also worked on Call of Duty over the years, are honored too.
Zampella left EA after leading design on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, helped create Call of Duty, and went on to make Titanfall and the Star Wars Jedi games at Respawn. Modern Warfare 4's campaign is out now in early access, and the full game, with multiplayer and DMZ, launches October 23.
Final Fantasy VII Revelation (image via GamesRadar+ / Square Enix)
Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lets you pick Hard Mode from the very start
In Remake and Rebirth, you had to finish the game before you could play on Hard. Revelation drops that requirement. Director Naoki Hamaguchi told Hardcore Gamer that "Hard Mode is selectable from the very start of this game," partly because Revelation has a lot more post-game content and the team didn't want players stuck choosing between a harder replay and the endgame.
Hard Mode is also being reworked. Players have so many more options in Revelation that simply banning items, as earlier games did, wasn't enough, so the team took a different approach to the challenge. A new "Enemy Strength" setting lets you choose between the returning Dynamic mode, which scales enemies to your level, and fixed enemy levels. Final Fantasy 7 Revelation launches April 8, 2027.
Source: GamesRadar+; Polygon
Zelda 40th Anniversary Edition Switch 2 (image via Nintendo Life / Nintendo)
Nintendo says it "underestimated" demand for the Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2, and restocks are coming
The Zelda-themed Switch 2 sold out as soon as preorders opened, and Nintendo admits it didn't see that coming. "We underestimated how well it would be received," Nintendo Latin America VP and general manager Bill van Zyll told the YouTube channel Coelho no Japão. He called the shortage "a global phenomenon," said the US "did extremely well," and apologized: "That certainly is not the intent."
Nintendo is working on more of both the special hardware and the software, but van Zyll says it will "take a little bit of time" and asks fans to "please be patient." The console launches October 29, ahead of the Ocarina of Time remake on November 5.
Source: Nintendo Life; GamesRadar+
Image via Pure Xbox
A Microsoft strategy manager says game developers who reject AI "should not be in the business of being a business"
Brandon Stirrup, a senior business strategy manager at Microsoft, set off a debate over the weekend with a string of posts on X. He says he "vibe coded a bad but improvable game in two days" with about three hours of hands-on work, despite never having made a game before. His conclusion: "anyone can build a game," and long-term plans that leave out AI are "planning for a fake future."
"If you're a game developer refusing to believe that AI has a place in your future, you should not be in the business of being a business," he wrote. He also said "hundreds" of Xbox employees use AI and that gaming is "the only industry pretending to not use AI," and added that if he gets fired, it'll be for saying so. GamesRadar+ notes it can't verify how widely AI is used at Xbox, and that the demo he shared is a very basic soccer game. The posts come days after Xbox chief Asha Sharma announced Xbox Labs.
Source: GamesRadar+; Pure Xbox
Metaphor: ReFantazio (image via Nintendo Life / Atlus)
Digital Foundry finds the Metaphor: ReFantazio Switch 2 demo looks great in motion and odd standing still
Metaphor: ReFantazio's Switch 2 demo is out now ahead of the November 12 launch, and Digital Foundry calls it "a very weird experience." In motion, the game looks clean and stable, arguably smoother than on PS5, where a lack of anti-aliasing causes shimmering. When you stop moving, though, the image stays sharp horizontally but shows a stepped, jagged pattern vertically.
DF thinks DLSS is being used but isn't upscaling the vertical axis properly, and that it's a genuine mistake on Atlus' part rather than a choice, so it may be fixed. Even so, DF says the Switch 2 version looks clearly better than PS4, with PS5 only just ahead.
Source: Nintendo Life (via Digital Foundry)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered (image via Eurogamer / CD Projekt Red)
Update: The Witcher 3 Remastered's promised Switch 2 patch is rolling out
What's new: on October 8 we covered patch 5.01 for PC, PS5 and Xbox, when CD Projekt Red said a separate Switch 2 patch to sharpen the image was on the way. That Switch 2 patch is now rolling out. The main change adjusts image sharpening and resolution to "improve visual clarity and fidelity" after players said the game looked blurry, especially in handheld mode.
It also brings the lighting changes other consoles already got, toning down the overly bright look that has been one of the remaster's biggest complaints since it launched in late September. The free Remastered update also sets up the Songs of the Past expansion, due next year.
Source: Eurogamer
Faraway (image via GameSpot / Annapurna Interactive)
Faraway, first announced in 2010, finally launches November 5
Steph Thirion's one-button space game Faraway finally has a release date after 16 years. GameSpot revealed that it launches November 5 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch, published by Annapurna Interactive. You guide a shooting star across the cosmos, drawing constellations and using their gravity to slingshot to new places while keeping your traveler fueled.
Each run starts from zero, and the procedurally generated universe adapts to how well you're playing, getting faster and harder as you improve. There are also 16 handcrafted puzzle stages for when you want a break from the endless mode.
Source: GameSpot
Red Dead Redemption 2 enRage mod (image via IGN / nicklovin99)
A new Red Dead Redemption 2 mod adds a Nemesis-style system where gangs remember you
Modder nicklovin99's enRage mod, now in early access on Nexus Mods, gives Red Dead Redemption 2 something like Shadow of War's Nemesis System. Every NPC gets a name, personality traits, a job and a faith, and keeps track of how they feel about Arthur. Rivalries form as you play. Wound a gang member and hold them at gunpoint, and you can make them give up information on someone else in their crew.
An X-ray page shows NPC injuries such as limps and paralysis, and a World page tracks what NPCs do with each other: adopting stray dogs, getting sober, starting feuds. Gangs fight each other whether you get involved or not, and if you anger one enough, it sends hunting parties after you. The mod page notes that "Claude Code assisted in the creation of scripts and systems."
Xbox physical games (image via Pure Xbox)
Xbox games are shipping without security seals, and a new job listing hints physical games are sticking around
If your latest Xbox game arrived without the sticky security seal on top, it's not a mistake. North American distributor VGP says it's a new packaging initiative. Buyers have spotted missing seals on Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival, Planet Zoo 2, Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, Valor Mortis, Onimusha: Way of the Sword and Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, though at least one recent Konami release still had one.
Separately, Microsoft posted a listing on October 14 for an "Xbox Games Supply Strategist" to coordinate the launch of physical Xbox games across all platforms and manage their supply. With Sony moving away from discs, the listing suggests Xbox isn't dropping physical games just yet. Some Reddit users point out it may simply be an existing role being refilled.
Source: Pure Xbox; Insider Gaming
The Finals (image via Insider Gaming / Embark Studios)
The Finals' announcers can now say your actual player name
Embark has added Dynamic Commentary to The Finals in Season 12, in beta for now. When you do something big in a match, the announcers can call you out by your player name. "Scotty can now say YOUR name live!" as Embark puts it. If you'd rather stay unnamed, an Anonymous mode keeps the commentary general.
The Finals took criticism early on for using AI text-to-speech for its announcers, and Insider Gaming argues this is one of the better uses of that tech. The shooter still pulls around 20,000 daily peak players on Steam.
Source: Insider Gaming
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (image via Nintendo Life / Capcom)
Leon, Jill or even Hunk: an ex-Capcom manager on Resident Evil 7's messy development
Former Capcom manager Miguel E. Corti shared a long Bluesky thread about how Resident Evil 7 came together. Work started while Resident Evil 6 had pleased neither horror nor action fans, and The Last of Us was a big influence. Early versions pulled in more series lore, with Leon, Jill, Rebecca and even Hunk all considered as the lead. "It was so all over the place, I lost track of the versions," Corti wrote. After a reorganization, the project restarted, and that's when it switched to first person.
Other details: Ethan was originally meant to be a silent protagonist, Evil Dead (2013) was a major influence (Mia shares the movie heroine's name), and the Mia-or-Zoe choice was added late. Corti says the Japanese developers all picked Mia and the non-Japanese developers picked Zoe. Chris Redfield's cameo was added to bring in more "classic" elements. RE7 sold 3 million copies in its first year and kept selling long after.
Source: Nintendo Life
Super Mario 64's courtyard plaque (image via VGC / Nintendo)
A fan used millions of comparisons to decode Super Mario 64's plaque, and it's not "L is Real 2401"
For about 30 years, players have argued over the blurry plaque on the fountain in Peach's Castle, which became the famous "L is Real 2401" Luigi rumor. The text sits on a tiny 32×32 tile with letters only 3 to 5 pixels tall, so upscaling it is just guessing. Programmer Mochi64 tried a different approach: testing combinations of words, fonts and mid-'90s resizing methods to find which one produces pixels closest to the real texture.
After testing more than 1.2 million words, the best match reads "Eternal Star" on the top line and "We Hope So" underneath, with a mismatch score of 1,129. "L is Real 2401" scored 2,031 on the first line alone. The tool is open source, and Mochi64 has issued a "plaque challenge" for anyone who thinks they can find a better match. Don't expect Nintendo to confirm either way.
Source: VGC
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