Sunday, October 18
Konami Backs Human Developers as Layoffs and Strong Shooters Collide
“A Gresham’s Law: the fakes would undermine the value of the real.” — Philip K. Dick, in The Man in the High Castle
Gaming Editorial
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Continuing · Generative AI in games and modding
Rock Paper Shotgun (Oisin Kuhnke) · Oct 17
The new element is a statement from Konami Digital Entertainment president Hideki Hayakawa in the company's latest integrated report, spotted by Dengeki Online and translated by Automaton. Hayakawa rejects the widespread belief that generative AI will make game development much easier, noting that entry barriers have already fallen thanks to general-purpose game engines and user-generated content. He allows that AI may improve production efficiency, but says people and creators remain the most important factors in making entertaining, innovative games.
Rock Paper Shotgun's Oisin Kuhnke, who has been dismayed by AI adoption across the industry, welcomes this as a rare bit of common sense from an executive. Kuhnke notes that Hayakawa describes the "chemical reaction" among developers from different backgrounds as not easily replaced, and that Konami says it will support creators in assessing the risks of new technology. Kuhnke treats the stance as a priority for real people rather than a promise, acknowledging the company's tune could change.
Counterpoint: Advocates of generative AI tooling would argue that efficiency gains matter most to studios under cost pressure, and that an investor-facing report that stops short of ruling AI out says little about what Konami will actually do.
Previously: A developer cancelled a demo over AI-clone fears, and Faliszek mocked Epic's vibe-coded launcher. — Saturday October 17 edition.
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Polygon (Giovanni Colantonio) · Oct 17
Polygon's Giovanni Colantonio says the year began badly for the genre, with Highguard's launch and near-immediate delaunch and heavy scrutiny of Marathon raising doubts about live-service shooters. He argues those fears proved overblown. In his account, Gears of War: E-Day, Housemarque's Saros, Splatoon Raiders and Capcom's Pragmata were hits with critics or players, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is positioned as another strong release for Xbox.
Indies and live-service veterans feature too. Wardogs is a Steam hit despite mixed reviews, Overwatch and Arc Raiders have found momentum through updates, and Colantonio cites Mouse: P.I. for Hire, Sprawl Zero, Don't Stop, Girlypop! and Boltgun 2 among others. He balances this against the human cost: layoffs at the teams behind Halo: Campaign Evolved and Doom: The Dark Ages' Revelations DLC, and Kwalee dismissing the whole Luna Abyss team weeks after launch. He concludes that the industry should do everything it can to keep the talent behind these games.
Counterpoint: Business-minded analysts would say critical praise and a long list of games are not proof of health, pointing to erratic sales, Marathon's struggle to build a player base, and the very layoffs Colantonio lists.
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Polygon (Oli Welsh) · Oct 17
Polygon's Oli Welsh uses the first hands-on previews of next month's Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake to argue that Nintendo's spending shows its priorities. He starts with comments from Nintendo Latin America's Bill van Zyll on physical media, which gained attention because Sony will end production of physical PlayStation games from 2028. Welsh notes that Nintendo still puts full first-party games on cartridges despite memory chip costs, while third parties lean on key cards.
He applies the same reading to the remake. Polygon's Michael McWhertor found it "snappy, streamlined, and polished," and Welsh says previewers noted how responsive it is, a correction to the original's 20 frames per second. Unlike the Grezzo-built Ocarina of Time 3D and the 2019 Link's Awakening remake, he says this one appears to come from an internal Nintendo team. Welsh concedes publishers use remakes to pad schedules for cynical reasons, but concludes Nintendo is protecting its legacy and brand reputation.
Counterpoint: Critics of the remake trend would say it still comes at the expense of new ideas, and that these are previews rather than final reviews, so claims of a meaningfully better game remain unproven.
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Polygon (Rebecca Corgan) · Oct 17
Polygon's Rebecca Corgan revisits the 2021 deckbuilding horror game from Daniel Mullins Games, published by Devolver Digital, and its blood-sacrifice system. Players begin by sacrificing a free supply of squirrels, then are pushed toward costlier trades, such as pulling out a tooth with pliers, as the scale tips against them. Corgan describes hesitating for about three seconds before the first sacrifice, and she says the game shows how little convincing it takes to make someone complicit in horror.
She notes that Polygon named it the best game of 2021 and that it won the BAFTA for Game Design, but argues the awards are not its real legacy. She also points to later acts that change the game's form, including a pixel-art adventure and a factory with floppy-disk cards, and to its pull toward real websites and GPS coordinates. Her conclusion is that she would gladly sit back down at the Act 1 table, which she finds the most unsettling thing about it.
Counterpoint: A player who values Inscryption chiefly as a deckbuilder and puzzle game might say that reading it as a study in complicity overstates a trade that is, mechanically, only cards.
AI & Industry
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PC Gamer (Rick Lane) · Oct 17
PC Gamer reports Funcom is laying off more developers as it pivots to supporting Dune: Awakening and Conan Exiles. CEO Rui Casais will depart at the end of the year.
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Rock Paper Shotgun (Oisin Kuhnke) · Oct 17
Rock Paper Shotgun reports the Swedish studio behind the open-world beat 'em up Samson has gone bankrupt about six months after launch. The game was poorly received, partly for being broken, and later patches did not appear to be enough.
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Continuing · Disney's bid for Character.ai assets
WDW News Today (Austin Haughton) · Oct 17
WDW News Today reports Disney plans to pay $60 million annually to 66 employees recruited from Character.AI, weeks after cutting hundreds of positions, including technology jobs. The hiring comes as Disney reassesses staffing and its use of technology.
Previously: Disney bid $20 million for Character.ai assets after earlier threatening the company over conversations with children. — Wednesday October 14 edition.
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AI Weekly · Oct 17
AI Weekly's issue #539 cites the New York Times in reporting that campaigns and PACs have spent more than $137 million on AI-generated or AI-enhanced midterm ads, about 70% with no AI label. It also notes a report finding 81 of 134 AI models failed a test built from terrorist-style questions, and that a video game reverse engineering site is closing because AI made the work too easy.
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Continuing · Generative AI in games and modding
PC Gamer (Tyler Wilde) · Oct 17
A tech founder's free web game about shooting 'zombies' in San Francisco's poorest neighborhood was taken down after city residents and leaders denounced it, PC Gamer reports. The game was built by vibe coding.
Previously: A developer cancelled a demo over AI-clone fears, and Faliszek mocked Epic's vibe-coded launcher. — Saturday October 17 edition.
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Continuing · Union drives at game studios
PC Gamer (Harvey Randall) · Oct 17
PC Gamer reports Wizards of the Coast does not intend to voluntarily recognize union efforts at the company, for the second time this year.
Previously: Activision's QA union voted to authorize a strike over remote work, pay and AI protections, with talks set for October 21-22. — Friday October 16 edition.
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Continuing · Grand Theft Auto 6 approaches release
Polygon (Michael McWhertor) · Oct 17
Rockstar has officially said GTA 6's real-world references will not include direct acknowledgement of Donald Trump or the 2020 pandemic, per Polygon.
Previously: Aftermath said GTA VI's Game Awards eligibility follows normal practice, with a code deadline of 30 October. — Saturday October 17 edition.
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WDW News Today (Lauren Stracner) · Oct 17
WDW News Today's Friday recap covers the 2027 Banana Ball tour schedule, which includes a tournament at Walt Disney World, and a reopening date for Disneyland's Indiana Jones Adventure. Imagineering also filed a permit for Harryhausen's restaurant in Monstropolis at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
Science & Archaeology
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ScienceDaily · Oct 17
Engineers moved a mirror by one-sixteenth the width of a human hair to bring NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's instruments into near-perfect alignment. Its Wide Field Instrument now produces image quality nearly 30% better than predicted, ScienceDaily reports.
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ScienceDaily · Oct 17
The James Webb Space Telescope found that a turbulent world 20 light-years away has a surprisingly orderly weather system, with three recurring atmospheric states driven by temperature changes and shifting clouds. Scientists say the result offers a new tool for studying weather on distant worlds.
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Live Science (Joshua Rapp Learn) · Oct 17
Live Science's Joshua Rapp Learn asks whether Earth has ever thrust up a mountain larger than Everest.
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ScienceDaily · Oct 17
A 1960 mathematical forecast predicted that runaway population growth would bring humanity to the brink of destruction on November 13, 2026, and it tracked reality for decades. ScienceDaily says it unravelled as birth rates fell and population growth slowed, showing how models can fail when human behavior changes.
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Live Science (Sarah Wild) · Oct 17
Live Science reports that California redwoods reduce their rate of photosynthesis when temperatures rise, which could matter for the species' long-term survival. It remains unclear how much damage the heat is doing.
Sound & Music Tech
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Continuing · Synth firmware hacking and open-source firmware
Synth Anatomy (Synth Anatomy) · Oct 17
Synth Anatomy reports M-VAVE's FM-1 Open welcomes developers building alternative firmware and gives them a dedicated space to share their work. The little FM-1 synthesizer has been popular since summer.
Previously: The Obervave firmware brought Oberheim-style polysynth voices to the M-VAVE FM-1 and SMK-37. — Friday October 16 edition.
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Sonic State · Oct 17
At Brooklyn EXPO 2026, Sonic State spoke with Boss about the EX-4, a new effects expander in the company's 200-series chassis.
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Sonic State · Oct 18
Sonic State met the SynthAccess team from NYU Tandon School of Engineering at Brooklyn EXPO 2026. The project is a set of accessibility tools for synths, including tactile and talking interfaces.
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Sonic State · Oct 18
Sonic State's Brooklyn EXPO coverage includes Daydreamer's Synth 1, an open-source, homemade synth built as a wooden kit.