| GamersHeroes    Thursday, October 30, 2025 4:16 PM Players will be able to feel the rush in Respawn Entertainment and EA's Apex Legends' Amped, featuring a reworked Olympus, movement and Wildcard updates, and more starting November 4. The post Apex Legends: Amped Bringing Reworked Olympus, Wildcard Updates, and More appeared first on GamersHeroes. | 
| Kotaku    Thursday, October 30, 2025 5:07 PM 
 The Xbox subscription service has some good spooky picks The post 17 Excellent Horror Games You Can Play For Free With Game Pass This Halloween appeared first on Kotaku. | 
| Kotaku    Thursday, October 30, 2025 4:47 PM 
 Don't expect to be dressing up as cartoon characters or festive figures in the recently released extraction shooter The post <i>Arc Raiders</i> Joins <i>Battlefield 6</i> In The War Against Goofy Skins appeared first on Kotaku. | 
| Kotaku    Thursday, October 30, 2025 4:01 PM 
 While Legends: Z-A strays a little bit from this design philosophy, it also doubles down on it with the series' mascot The post So, Almost All Of Pokémon's Mega Evolutions Are X And Y-Shaped, Right? appeared first on Kotaku. | 
| Kotaku    Thursday, October 30, 2025 3:06 PM 
 A callback to the GameCube game gets an unfortunate paywall The post Retro Games Are Coming To <i>Animal Crossing: New Horizons</i> But You Have To Pay To Play Them appeared first on Kotaku. | 
| Kotaku    Thursday, October 30, 2025 2:03 PM 
 Perter Berg is teaming up with Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan to make Paramount's live-action adaption of the hit FPS series The post <i>Friday Night Lights</i> Creator Is Making The <i>Call Of Duty</i> Movie appeared first on Kotaku. | 
| Kotaku    Thursday, October 30, 2025 1:28 PM 
 Hyperkin's new wired Xbox controller looks and feels like a PS5 Dualsense The post This New Controller Is Really Good But Broke My Brain appeared first on Kotaku. | 
| Kotaku    Thursday, October 30, 2025 1:13 PM 
 EcoFlow's 1800W power station drops to gas generator pricing at $399. The post EcoFlow Drops Black Friday Deals, 1800W Delta 3 Now Cheaper Than Budget Gas Generators appeared first on Kotaku. | 
| Kotaku    Thursday, October 30, 2025 12:46 PM 
 Halloween candy hauls will shrink as prices soar The post Trump Take Candy appeared first on Kotaku. | 
| Kotaku    Thursday, October 30, 2025 12:22 PM 
 New World: Aeternum has received its final update after Amazon put the game on life support The post Amazon Is Abandoning One Of Its Biggest Games, But Not Before The Devs Got To Say Goodbye appeared first on Kotaku. | 
| Kotaku    Thursday, October 30, 2025 12:14 PM 
 The latest entry in the prehistoric park builder adds baby dinos, advanced customization, and more The post <i>Jurassic World Evolution 3</i> Is The Best <i>Jurassic Park</i> Game Ever Made appeared first on Kotaku. | 
| Kotaku    Thursday, October 30, 2025 10:59 AM 
 Also: bad news for Resident Evil fans on Switch 2 The post Did Amazon Just Kill Its <i>Lord Of The Rings</i> MMO? appeared first on Kotaku. | 
| Kotaku    Thursday, October 30, 2025 10:50 AM 
 The patents on which Nintendo is relying aren't looking too solid The post Nintendo Was Just Dealt A Big Blow In Its Battle Against <i>Palworld</i> appeared first on Kotaku. | 
| Kotaku    Thursday, October 30, 2025 10:47 AM 
 This iconic Creeper LEGO set drops to its lowest price ever. The post LEGO Offloads Minecraft Sets, the Creeper Is Selling for Pennies on the Dollar appeared first on Kotaku. | 
| Kotaku    Thursday, October 30, 2025 10:41 AM 
 The Switch 2 edition and 3.0 update have given Animal Crossing fans something to look forward to again The post The <em>Animal Crossing</em> Community Just Woke Up Like A Sleeper Agent appeared first on Kotaku. | 
| Kotaku    Thursday, October 30, 2025 10:23 AM 
 Say goodbye to boring white lights. This smart ceiling light instantly upgrades the vibe of any space. The post Govee Smart LED Ceiling Light Is Going for Peanuts, Already Selling Out Fast After the Price Drop appeared first on Kotaku. | 
| PCGamesN    Thursday, October 30, 2025 3:00 PM Clair Obscur Expedition 33 is expected to be one of 2025's main GOTY contenders, and Sandfall's RPG has hit its lowest price to celebrate. | 
| PCGamesN    Thursday, October 30, 2025 1:43 PM While free VPNs may be tempting, this new Android app is reportedly malware, with a focus on stealing crypto while pretending to protect you. | 
| PCGamesN    Thursday, October 30, 2025 12:42 PM Eager Frostpunk 2 players have "stunned" 11 bit studios with city sizes the team thought were "not achievable" in the apocalypse sim. | 
| PCGamesN    Thursday, October 30, 2025 12:39 PM Arc Raiders' design director tells us Embark wants to give players freedom to express themselves, but not at the cost of breaking immersion. | 
| PCGamesN    Thursday, October 30, 2025 12:33 PM Get the low-down on the two free Epic games this week, they're yours to download free of charge and keep forever as of October 30, 2025. | 
| PCGamesN    Thursday, October 30, 2025 12:32 PM A list of each of the flaws in The Outer Worlds 2, how the flaw system works, and how to equip flaws by unlocking additional perk points. | 
| PCGamesN    Thursday, October 30, 2025 12:51 PM Our top 30 Steam Deck games list is packed with indie adventures, AAA titles, and more, all compatible with Valve's handheld gaming PC. | 
| PCGamesN    Thursday, October 30, 2025 11:52 AM Dying Light The Beast update 1.3 introduces new enemy behavior for humans, including a chance to surrender and more execution animations. | 
| PCGamesN    Thursday, October 30, 2025 11:49 AM Discover what you need to do to access The Outer Worlds 2 console commands, and use our extensive list of commands and cheats to do anything you want. | 
| PCGamesN    Thursday, October 30, 2025 11:16 AM You've just six days left to enter this competition to win one of five special edition Monster Hunter Wilds editions of AMD's current flagship gaming GPU. | 
| PCGamesN    Thursday, October 30, 2025 11:19 AM There's no use in slaying the Rift if you don't looking good doing it, so here are the skins that are currently on sale in the League of Legends store. | 
| PCGamesN    Thursday, October 30, 2025 11:10 AM The rarest League of Legends skins are often only available in a specific place, so here's what's available in the LoL Mythic shop. | 
| PCGamesN    Thursday, October 30, 2025 10:57 AM A new update for Broken Arrow takes a huge stride towards solving its cheating problem, rebalances factions, and adds zombie hordes. | 
| PCGamesN    Thursday, October 30, 2025 10:52 AM The Logitech Astro A50 X is the ideal gaming headset for those living the multi-platform life, as it can connect to multiple consoles and a PC all at the same time. | 
| PCGamesN    Thursday, October 30, 2025 10:38 AM Built by a subset of Company of Heroes and Warhammer 40k Dawn of War developer Relic Entertainment, Earth vs Mars is out now on Steam. | 
| PCGamesN    Thursday, October 30, 2025 10:26 AM In a bizarre turn of events, Echoes of the End, Deep Silver's action-adventure game that released two months ago, has an enhanced edition. | 
| PCGamesN    Thursday, October 30, 2025 10:00 AM Respawn devs tell us that the CAR SMG will be the new care package weapon for Apex Legends Season 27, and it comes with a powerful twist. | 
| PCGamesN    Thursday, October 30, 2025 12:19 PM Here's everything we know about a possible Steam Deck 2, with all the rumors regarding a Steam Deck OLED follow-up from Valve. | 
| Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed    Thursday, October 30, 2025 12:55 PM   Onion Games have released the English language version of Stray Children, a "bittersweet, fairytale RPG" I hadn't heard of till Oisin wrote it up in June, and then became very excited about. Created by Onion Games, the developers of Moon: Remix RPG Adventure, Stray Children takes place in a world of kids besieged by monstrous adults. The kids live in a stronghold, while the adults, aka Olders, roam the landscapes beyond, each "carrying the heavy load of their own inadequacies, self-doubt, and all of the grievances that grown-ups gather". | 
| Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed    Thursday, October 30, 2025 11:06 AM   Apex Legends is rolling out its Season 27 update next Tuesday, November 4th, and RPS has been furnished with an overview of its meatiest rejigging work. I haven't playtested this megapatch so unlike with Season 25, I can't say from experience how any of these changes will get you killed. Still, since it tweaks my favourite map, my favourite playable Legend, and my favourite hovercar, I feel uniquely qualified to declare without evidence whether they're good or not. | 
| Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed    Thursday, October 30, 2025 11:00 AM   To the boats, sword stabby and arrow shooty folk! Well, to the boats as of November 26th, which is when Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord's War Sails expansion finally arrives. Until then, maybe practice climbing some rigging, hosting mainsails, or scrubbing a deck in preparation for the naval warfare the DLC's unleashing. Or just do whatever you've been doing for the few months which've passed since the expansion's original June release date passed by. Developers TaleWorlds clearly needed more time to shift some coastal villagers around like pebbles on a war-torn beach. | 
| Siliconera    Thursday, October 30, 2025 6:00 PM 
 
 Square Enix confirmed there is a day-one patch for Dragon Quest I and II HD-2D Remake, and people will need to get it if they want to hear additional English voice acting or get certain earrings accessories for the first game in the collection. It is immediately available on all platforms. You can tell if you're already set if your game is at version 1.0.1.0. 
 
 The two types of accessories added to Dragon Quest I and II HD-2D Remake are the returning Anti-freeze Earrings and Asbestos Earrings. Both of appeared in other entries, such as Dragon Quest III HD-2D. Each one isn't limited by a character's vocation and is designed to offer protection against an element. Traditionally, the Anti-freeze ones offer about 25% protection against ice, while the Asbestos offer 25% protection against fire. 
 
 More English voice acting is the other major addition here. Both games feature some during some story segments. Once the patch is applied, this will cover even more of the game. Square Enix didn't note how many more additional voice overs will appear, 
 
 Here are the full day-one patch notes for Dragon Quest I and II HD-2D Remake rom Square Enix support: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake and its day-one patch are available for Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC via Steam. 
 The post Dragon Quest I and II HD-2D Remake Patch Adds Earrings appeared first on Siliconera. | 
| Siliconera    Thursday, October 30, 2025 5:00 PM 
 
 Square Enix confirmed that we'll see a Final Fantasy XIV collaboration event back again next month, as the FFXIV x Fall Guys event quest, rewards, and Blunderville show will appear between November 6-27, 2025. This is a returning series of activities and rewards, so you can pick up where you left off and won't see any new items this time around. 
 
 The Fall Guys event first debuted in FFXIV on October 31, 2023. Since then, we've seen it show up again around that time each year. As usual, you need to have reached level 15 and completed the Gridanian, Lominsan, or Ul'dahn envoy quests to first take the "It Could Happen to You" quest in Ul'Dah - Steps of Nald (X:9.6, Y:9.0). After that, you can head to the Gold Saucer at X:4.8, Y:6.1 to take "Just Clowning Around" and gain access to Blunderville. You can then go through Fall Guys style stages to earn Manderville Gold Saucer Fame (MGF) points for themed rewards at Blunderville Square at X3.8, Y:3.1. 
 
 All the rewards are the same. This means the most expensive ones are the Gentlebean avatar cosmetics that are 410 MGF for each part, the Rhiyes mount for 410 MGF, and the Victory Reveal emote for 410 MGF. You can also get a Pink Bean Minion and Pegwin Minion for 350 MGF each. 
 
 Here's the promotional trailer for the event again, as a reminder of what to expect: 
 
 
 
 Final Fantasy XIV is available for the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, Fall Guys is on the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC, and mobile devices, and the event will run in FFXIV between November 6-27, 2025. 
 The post FFXIV x Fall Guys Returns in November 2025 appeared first on Siliconera. | 
| Siliconera    Thursday, October 30, 2025 4:00 PM 
 
 Warner Bros and Sanrio finally issued another update on its promised Hello Kitty movie after quite a few years. It is in development and now has a release date. It will show up on July 21, 2028. 
 
 This came up in a movie teaser that featured someone in the Hello Kitty mascot costume on the Warner Bros lot. It showed the company's iconic water tower with the character's bow on the upper right side of the logo. You can watch that clip below: 
 
 
 
 We've known a film was in the works since 2019, but updates appeared infrequently. First, we learned Warner Bros was working on one. Then in 2021, Deadline reported it would be both a live-action and animated film. The last one in 2024, which came up at Fortune, only mentioned it was still in development. We don't know if Jennifer Coyle and Leo Matsuda are still in place as its directors. 
 
 While this Sanrio movie won't be around for a while, there are some recent shows that are immediately available to view. Netflix is the home of both Gudetama: An Eggcellent Adventureand My Melody & Kuromi. 
 
 Warner Bros will release the Hello Kitty movie in theaters on July 21, 2028. 
 The post Warner Bros' Hello Kitty Movie Won't Debut Until 2028 appeared first on Siliconera. | 
| Siliconera    Thursday, October 30, 2025 3:00 PM 
 
 Pop Mart announced its new collection of anime figures will be a Super Mini Figure set based on the Rebuild of Evangelion movies. Blind boxes for them will show up online starting at 7pm PT/10pm ET on October 30, 2025. The site didn't note when they'll begin appearing in retail stores. 
 
 Each of the figures is only about an inch and a half tall (4 cm). They all feature a chibi design that shows characters in sitting positions. 18 designs are available, with two being the "rares." Of those, 10 characters from Evangelion are represented. We don't know the odds of getting the two rarest figures, but do know the Secret Edition is a Q version of Asuka and Super Secret Edition is a long hair version of Rei. 
 
 Here's the full list of all Rebuild of Evangelion characters that will appear in this Super Mini Figures line at Pop Mart. Note that there are some spoilers for the movies below: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 And here are the sample photos Pop Mart shared that show how all of them will look: 
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
 
 The new Evangelion Super Mini Figures will show up at Pop Mart on October 30, 2025. The anime is on Netflix and the Rebuild of Evangelion movies are on Amazon. An XR game based on the series will show up in 2026. 
 The post Pop Mart Will Sell Evangelion Super Mini Figures appeared first on Siliconera. | 
| Siliconera    Thursday, October 30, 2025 2:00 PM 
 
 Dragami Games promised it would find a new home for the PC version of LoveR Kiss Endless Memories, the dating sim that also includes photography elements, and it announced it will be available via both DLsite and GOG. While the former doesn't have a product page live for it yet, GOG already does so someone can set up notifications or wishlist it. 
 
 We first learned LoveR Kiss Endless Memories, an updated version of a dating sim with all old content and improved graphics, would appear worldwide on the Switch and PC and in English for the first time in July 2025. At the time Dragami noted Steam would be the official storefront for the PC release. Then at the end of October 2025, it brought up that circumstances changed for that version. As a result, it wouldn't show up on Valve's storefront. 
 
 With the GOG page live for LoveR Kiss Endless Memories, we have a few ideas of what to expect. This version will be DRM-free. It will also include the English and Traditional Chinese translations in addition to the original Japanese. People will have 30 days to get a refund if it isn't what they expect, as is typical for titles sold on that storefront. 
 
 LoveR Kiss Endless Memories will appear on the Nintendo Switch and PC via DLsite and GOG on November 27, 2025. 
 The post LoveR Kiss Endless Memories PC Dating Sim Heads to GOG and DLsite appeared first on Siliconera. | 
| Siliconera    Thursday, October 30, 2025 1:00 PM 
 
 HoYoVerse and Good Smile Company revealed the Kafka Honkai: Star Rail Nendoroid will appear next year, with the figure coming to Japan in May 2026 ahead of a worldwide debut in Q4 2026. She'll cost ¥7,500/$51.99. People who buy her directly through Good Smile Company's storefronts also get a bonus acrylic stand of her. 
 
 Kafka will come with a number of bonuses which seem to reference her Caressing Moonlight Skill and Twilight Trill Ultimate. She has her standard smiling face, one in which she's winking, and a third in which she seems to be going "Boom!" like she does for her Ultimate. She also comes with both of her guns, so she can wield one in each hand. You can display her with her coat on her shoulders or off. 
 
 Here's how this Kafka Honkai: Star Rail figure will look: 
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
 
 Here's the photo of the acrylic stand that is a Good Smile Company store bonus: 
 
   
 
 
 Kafka is the second Honkai: Star Rail Nendoroid of a Stellaron Hunter to appear. Blade was the first. 
 
 This comes just after a confirmation that we'll the Stellaron Hunters again in-game. Ahead of the 3.7 update, a trailer appeared showing what Kafka, Elio, Silver Wolf, Blade, and Firefly were up to during the Amphoreus saga. That also hinted they may be showing up again for the 4.0 storyline. 
 
 The Honkai: Star Rail Kafka Nendoroid will come to Japan in May 2026, with the figure following worldwide in Q4 2026. Pre-orders are open until December 10, 2025. The game is available on the PS5, PC, and mobile devices. 
 The post Honkai: Star Rail Kafka Nendoroid Releases in 2026 appeared first on Siliconera. | 
| Siliconera    Thursday, October 30, 2025 12:00 PM 
 
 Nintendo and Game Freak announced a major Pokemon Legends: Z-A bug that keeps us from catching Pokemon will be fixed and the Ranked Battle Mega Stone rewards will be adjusted. The former only happened under certain circumstances and could keep you from getting new characters. The latter will make it easier to avoid missing getting Mega Stones only available via hitting certain Ranked Battle tiers in the game. 
 
 The new Pokemon Legends: Z-A patch will address the bug that stops people from catching any Pokemon or being able to attack certain opponents. These both only happened under set circumstances. Nintendo noted the former happened if your Pokemon Boxes filled up before the first Rogue Mega-Evolved battle in the story, that it would be impossible to catch any after that. The other bug only kicked in if you were in a battle when the game transitioned between night and day or vice versa. No attacks would land. 
 
 In the case of the Pokemon Legends: Z-A Ranked Battle Mega Stones, we'll no longer need to hit Rank K to get them. For season 1, which is happening now, we needed to get to that point by November 5, 2025 to get Greninjite for Mega Greninja. Starting with Season 2 on November 6, 2025, these will be relaxed. People will get a second chance to get Greninjite by hitting Rank Y in the next season. The Mega Delphox Mega Stone Delphoxite will be earned by getting to Rank S. 
 
 Pokemon Legends: Z-A is available for the Switch and Switch 2, and the new patch and update are on the way. 
 The post Pokemon Legends: Z-A Bug That Keeps Us From Catching Pokemon Will Be Fixed appeared first on Siliconera. | 
| Siliconera    Thursday, October 30, 2025 11:00 AM 
 
 Good Smile Company has revealed the global release timings for its upcoming crossover figure featuring Snow Miku and Kuromi, after it previously unveiled the figure in June 2025. People residing in North America can immediately pre-order the figure from Good Smile Company U.S. for $165.99. Those residing elsewhere worldwide can instead head to the Japanese international website, where the same figure is available at ¥26,500. 
 
 This crossover figure will have Snow Miku hold the Sanrio mascot on her right hand. Miku's twintails will also feature translucent parts with pearlescent paints. The whole figure will have an approximate total height of 22.3 cm / 7.78 inches. 
 
 Here are some of the sample images for the new figure: 
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
 
 Good Smile Company is not the only one to produce a crossover figure between Snow Miku and Kuromi. FuRyu is also making its own version of the crossover with a gothic lolita twist. The latter is slated to appear as crane game prizes in Japanese arcade centers in February 2026. 
 
 The pre-order window for Good Smile Company's 1/7 scale Snow Miku and Kuromi figure set will close in Japan on December 10, 2025, and in North America on December 24, 2025. The company will start shipping the figures worldwide from Japan in November 2026. The same figure is expected to arrive in North America between March 31 and June 30, 2027. 
 The post Good Smile Opens Snow Miku Kuromi Figure Pre-Orders appeared first on Siliconera. | 
| Destructoid    Thursday, October 30, 2025 4:40 PM 
 
 ARC Raiders is filled to the brim with various items, tools, and weapons that you can find in its post-apocalyptic world. 
 
 But some are just cryptic and have no clear purpose, or can be highly challenging to obtain, which is how we could describe Fireball Burners. These mysterious pieces of equipment can only be found among a particular enemy, itself quite elusive. 
 
 So, here is how you can find Fireballs and Fireball Burners in ARC Raiders, and how to use them. 
 
 How to find Fireballs and Fireball Burners
 
   
 
 Before you can use them, Fireball Burners must first be acquired, which is a lot easier said than done. This item only drops from Fireballs, a special type of ARC that spawns across the game's many maps and is a real nuisance to deal with. 
 
 In the Dam Battlegrounds, Fireballs tend to spawn in interiors of large compounds, such as the Testing Annex in the far east side of the map. They can appear just about anywhere and will immediately attack you on sight, either rushing you and exploding in your face or burning you to a crisp. 
 
 Killing a Fireball nets you a Fireball Burner, a unique item tied only to this enemy. Fireball Burners are not a guaranteed drop, so you're going to rely on RNG to obtain this rare item from an enemy rarer still. 
 
 On Buried City, I've spotted Fireballs at a much higher frequency, noticing them in multiple locations on the map. They appear to be a more common spawn on that map than Dam Battlegrounds, so if you're on the hunt for Fireball Burners, then that's the level you should be queueing up for. 
 
 How to use Fireball Burners
 
   
 
 Fireball Burners have several highly specific purposes, most of which aren't directly tied to gameplay. They are necessary for several quests in the game, which require you to get them and kill ARCs or Fireballs using them. In this sense, they can be used in the same way as any other throwable in the game, creating fire when used. 
 
 On the other hand, Fireball Burners can be recycled into ARC Alloy, a vitally important component for much of the game's crafting. If you don't have any quests tied to the Fireballs, then I suggest you simply melt it down for parts, as you'll find much more use in ARC Alloys than Fireball Burners. 
 
 Fireballs themselves are also quest-specific, with some Feats requiring you to do damage to them by any means, awarding Cred currency for completion. I'd also keep a stock of Fireball Burners on the side should the need arise for them down the line, but most you can just turn into good ol' alloys. 
 The post How to use Fireball Burners in ARC Raiders appeared first on Destructoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Destructoid    Thursday, October 30, 2025 4:30 PM 
 
 Lemons and apricots are among the most important early game resources to find in ARC Raiders, and they have multiple uses. 
 
 These two resources are not only required as crafting items, but you'll also need them for upgrades. It won't take you long to find them, but knowing where they spawn is going to make your life easier. 
 
 Table of contents
 
 Lemons and apricots location in ARC Raiders
 
 Incidentally, both lemons and apricots are located at the same location, and you can find them in Dam Battlegrounds. To be more precise, you'll have to get close to the Water Treatment Control. You'll notice a patch of forest area to the left of the Water Treatment Control building (to its west). 
 
 To the west of Water Treatment Control is the South Swamp Outpost. This is by far the best place to look if you're looking for Lemons and Apricots. You can find both in small bushes at the location, and they're not too hard to find at all. Just pick and collect as many as you can, because they will be extremely useful. 
 
 This location also has Field Depots and Field Crates if you're looking to find them. You'll need to find them to complete various quests in ARC Raiders. 
 
   
 
 How to use lemons and apricots in ARC Raiders
 
 You can use lemons and apricots to craft items with their applicable recipe, or to upgrade Scrappy. 
 
 Crafting 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Upgrades 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 It's up to you how you want to use them. Your first choice should be to upgrade Scrappy, and then use the items for crafting purposes. 
 The post How to find and use lemons and apricots in ARC Raiders appeared first on Destructoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Destructoid    Thursday, October 30, 2025 4:29 PM 
 
 When you first play R.E.P.O., your main goal is to collect items without getting killed by monsters. As you advance through each level, you'll discover weapons and strategies that let you defeat these enemies, making your money-making life much easier. 
 
 The catch? Some monsters are easier to kill than others. While some aren't particularly threatening, others can wipe your team before you can even blink, completely changing your approach. Here's a complete breakdown of how to beat every monster in R.E.P.O. 
 
 Table of contents
 
 Best ways to beat every monster in R.E.P.O.
 
 Every monster in R.E.P.O. has its own health point values, strength requirements, and attacks that influence how you defeat them. The Overcharge feature will make you second guess your strength build from now on. Thankfully, firearms are more reliable than they've ever been. 
 
 While smaller enemies like gnomes are easily broken by grabbing and throwing them to the ground, others, like the Robe or Trudge, are much harder to tackle. In this case, your best bet is using the Shotgun or Tranq Gun to stun and kill most larger monsters. 
 
 That said, some strategies work better than others for certain monsters, especially ones with mechanics unique to them. Let's dive deeper into specific strategies for defeating all of R.E.P.O.'s monsters. 
 
 Apex Predator
 
   
 
 The Apex Predator is an adorable duck you'll randomly encounter early in your R.E.P.O. runs. Unlike other enemies, grabbing the duck turns it into a chomping machine that'll rapidly bite your character, inflicting 10 hit points per bite. Generally speaking, if you don't touch it, you won't have to worry much about it. But the Apex Predator wants you to grab it and will stop at nothing to force your hand. 
 
 If you want to kill the Apex Predator because it is damaging your items or being a nuisance, you can shoot it with a Shotgun to instantly kill it or lure it into pits, cauldrons, or inside the Extraction Point to stun and kill it. It'll follow your cursor so use that to your advantage. 
 
 Animal
 
   
 
 Next on the list is Animal, a terrifying yet surprisingly weak entity mainly here to scare you. It has around the same health as the Apex Predator, making it an easy target for the Handgun or Baseball Bat. 
 
 If you upgrade your strength or work with teammates, you can pick up the Animal and drop it into a nearby pit before the Overcharge blasts you. Animal isn't much of a threat if you're standing on an elevated surface but it will wreak havoc on your valuables so keep the C.A.R.T. away from its erratic pathing. 
 
 Banger
 
   
 
 Another small enemy you can encounter in R.E.P.O. is Banger, a small skull creature that runs up to you and explodes shortly after. These explosions pack a bunch, so try to run away if you can. 
 
 While they are deadly in these cases, they also have lower health than most enemies, making them easy to pick up and slam into the ground. Our recommended approach is to keep them at bay by picking them up and using the scroll wheel to send them away from you as you move to another room. You can also purposely ignite their fuse by getting their attention and drawing them to another monster with a higher health pool like the Robe, Clown, or Trudge. 
 
 Bella
 
   
 
 Bella is a poltergeist riding a red bicycle. You cannot see her until she attacks you. Do not pick up the bicycle, stand in its way, or try to ride it. Doing any of these will cause Bella to attack, throwing you around a room as she drives over you like a child having a temper tantrum. She's surprisingly difficult to deal with as she's invisible atop the bicycle unless she's being aggressive. So the best way to deal with her is to leave her alone. Let her go wherever she pleases and if you hear her bell ring, look around as you're probably blocking her path. 
 
 Birthday Boy
 
   
 
 The Birthday Boy is always celebrating his special day, inflating balloons around the map like he's cosplaying as Pennywise. He will even use a balloon to float back to the surface if he falls off the map. The Birthday Boy doesn't attack you unless you pop one of his balloons. There's some bias here as he doesn't get angry if a monster bursts them. He will however, go into a close-range frenzy if you pop one, behaving like the offspring of the Apex Predator and Gnome. 
 
 You can ruin his time with a firearm, stunning and shooting again before he gets back up, bringing his special day to an end. But there's no reason to, so just avoid the red balloons and you'll be safe. Good luck getting your C.A.R.T. past them on McJannek Station. 
 
 Bowtie
 
   
 
 Bowtie is another enemy that can either be more of a distraction than anything or deadly if you're unprepared for its attacks. It'll shoot wind at you, pushing you back and dealing five damage per hit. It'll also run away shortly after, making it difficult to chase after it. The problem with the Bowtie is that it can knock you into death pits, but it is capable of blowing over the largest of monsters too. 
 
 The Bowtie is surprisingly one of the weakest monsters in R.E.P.O. and can be easily killed with a Frying Pan or Baseball Bat. There's no reason to waste precious ammunition of one of these guys. 
 
 Chef
 
   
 
 The Chef often spawns in groups of two or more. It'll briefly charge up its attack before launching at you, swinging knives around and inflicting 10 damage per hit. You can easily run away from this attack and use furniture to avoid becoming a part of its menu. 
 
 A great way to deal with the Chef is to lure it towards lava pools or death pits as the Chef cannot really control where it ends up after its attack. Falling into a pit kills it on impact. 
 
 Cleanup Crew
 
   
 
 The Cleanup Crew is an amalgamation of heads. The one atop his shoulders will pop off, blasting towards you, bouncing around until eventually imploding. Its effects are much like the Bangers. This head can continuously regenerate, having three short phases before it fires your way again. The Cleanup Crew also has a close-range attack where its stomach heads blast outwards like spikes, hurting like the Clown's kick. 
 
 It's not particularly fast so you can stay away from it with ease and its head is easy to avoid so long as you're not trapped in a room with the Cleanup Crew. You can use environmental hazards to hurt the Cleanup Crew's head but this is separate to its body. A firearm can kill the Cleanup Crew fast if you want it out of your lobby. 
 
 Clown
 
   
 
 The Clown is our first difficult monster in this list when it comes to health, damage output, and strength requirements. If you're far away from it, it'll shoot a laser beam at you, dealing 100 damage on impact. This is an instant KO in the early game, even if you're at full health. Otherwise, it'll kick you if you're in melee range, dealing around 60 damage. You can avoid both attacks by crouching and jumping, utilizing the Tumble Launch and cover to avoid its blast. 
 
 Despite having relatively high health and two deadly attacks, it can be stunned with the Tranq Gun, granting you time to leave. The Clown is particularly slow and doesn't have the best eyesight, so use cover to get around it, or take it on at point blank range with the Shotgun, retaliating after it misses you with the laser. 
 
 Elsa
 
   
 
 Similar to the Apex Predator, Elsa just wants a bit of affection. It's legit this time though. No tricks. What appears as a cute dog on the surface and a loyal companion to your mission quickly turns into a horrifying meme. If neglected, Elsa's eyes turn red and transform into a muscular bipedal canine powerhouse. Elsa will then charge at you, just like the Apex Predator. 
 
 It's simple: Pet the dog. But if you cannot, you best take Elsa out before she reaches her final form. Stun or shoot her, but be sure she doesn't get back up as her health pool increases tremendously once the creatine hits. 
 
 Gambit
 
 The Gambit is an odd one. It looks like a large hand gone wrong. They often spawn in pairs and will run at you if you come into close contact or touch it. The Gambit plays a game, forcing you to spin its wheel while it has you in its grasp. Depending on what you land on determines what's done to you and how much damage you're dealt. 
 
 They're a difficult monster to get around so shoot on sight if its wheel is exposed, or use cover to avoid being grabbed. Running around aimlessly or fleeing from a monster will likely result in the Gambit game. You can equip and attack a Gambit during its game. 
 
 Gnome
 
   
 
 Gnomes are one of the easiest monsters to deal with as they have a fragile health pool. Gnomes attack your valuables and C.A.R.T., but they will pickaxe your ankles if there's nothing lying around. Don't waste anything on them. Instead, use your grab to pick one up at a time, dropping them from a height or slamming them into one another, breaking them on impact. 
 
 Headgrab
 
   
 
 The Headgrab is a goblin with excellent martial art skills. He takes a while to notice you, but he's just as hard to spot in return. Headgrab takes a moment before he strikes, but once he does, he's hard to evade. He'll run away after his combo, moving like a dung beetle searching for his next score. Headgrab isn't around much and doesn't attack often, but he can be a nuisance if he spots you before you spot him. 
 
 He likes to wear any killed semibot's head which you can remove to stun the Headgrab. You can defeat Headgrab with firearms or melee weapons before he attacks, where there's no reason to stun him unless he's already seen you. Attack him when he's resting or right before his combo activates. 
 
 Headman
 
   
 
 Jumping to one of R.E.P.O.'s most challenging enemies is the Headman, a very quick and lethal monster that rapidly chases you on sight. It'll chomp at you if you're within its range, dealing 50 damage with each hit. 
 
 The Headman can be evaded by sprinting around corners, hiding from its line of sight behind doors, under cover, or in alcoves. It is a persistent threat if it has you in its gaze at all times. We highly recommend using either the Shotgun or Handgun to deal with the Headman. Hit it with a Tranq Gun dart first if you want to save bullets. Don't use Mines or Grenades on if for this floating beast will float past them. 
 
 Heart Hugger
 
   
 
 This is the weirdest R.E.P.O. monster. Appearing as a root from the ground, the Heart Hugger jumps around the map like the Peeper or Oogly. This monster sprouts and changes into a pink heart, fluttering away as it sends out a particle beam. If you're caught in this beam, you're drawn directly to the Heart Hugger, stuck in Tumble animation. This monster then transforms into a Venus flytrap when you get close, chopping down on you repeatedly until vanishing back into the ground. 
 
 You can easily avoid this monster by using cover when its beam searches for you. The Heart Hugger cannot do anything if you're outside its radius. You should only attack it in the window before it transforms into the pink heart. This is when it's growing. It's difficult to spot and attack as the window's quite small. But teammates can save you from the Heart Hugger or attack it when you're being pulled inwards. 
 
 Hidden
 
   
 
 As the name suggests, Hidden is an invisible enemy that thrives on hiding around the map and kidnapping you, bringing you to far reaches of your current map. He doesn't damage you in any way, but he can bring you into the radius of other monsters or somewhere you've yet to discover, putting you in frustrating or vulnerable positions. 
 
 The Hidden is identifiable by his visible exhale and footprints. Don't stick around for too long or he'll grab you. You can stun him and use a melee weapon to defeat him, but you have to act quick. 
 
 Huntsman
 
   
 
 The Huntsman has several strategies and tips for handling him, as he relies entirely on sound detection and has several moments of weakness. If you make any sound, whether through speaking, using text chat, or handling items, he'll shoot toward the sound's direction, inflicting around 100 damage. 
 
 You can easily stun the Huntsman by using the environment, Tranq Gun, or Stun Grenade. Be careful picking him up while stunned as the window is incredibly short. Instead, use Mines as his pathing is predictable and a firearm to take him down quickly. You can also make the Huntsman inflict damage on other monsters by dropping valuables or using the Tumble Launch. 
 
 Loom
 
   
 
 Without a doubt, the scariest monster in R.E.P.O. is the Loom. A towering grotesque lady in black that seems to know where you are at all times. Cowering in fear doesn't do much here. There's a visual warning that the Loom is after you when two hands appear closing in on your screen (like dying to the Tarot Cards in Phasmophobia). The Loom's sheer height, uncanny smile, and eyes fixed on you makes her utterly terrifying and it's hard to know what to do against her. 
 
 Avoiding the Loom is incredibly hard and she remembers your last hiding spot and checks the area when you're trying to leave. She can only target one player at a time. You can dodge her lethal move by sprinting past her but it's risky. Arm yourself for the only way to deal with this horrible creature is to shoot at her with the Handgun from afar for its grasp will kill you extremely fast. The Loom is Robe on steroids. 
 
 Mentalist
 
   
 
 The Mentalist has as much health as the Apex Predator, a high damage output, and an appearance that puts Signs to shame. If you end up in the Mentalist's attack radius, it'll levitate you before slamming you into the floor, dealing 50 damage and making it difficult to fight against. 
 
 Use the Tranq Gun to stun the Mentalist or place Mines in its vicinity and lure it into attacking, escaping its two to three meter radius so you don't take any damage. This'll let you hurt him without using ammunition or a melee weapon. You cannot get close to the Mentalist without risking your life, but a friend can grab you in Tumble animation if you get caught. 
 
 Oogly
 
   
 
 Oogly is a flying praying mantis-like creature that acts as the security system for levels. A rarer monster than others, Oogly is the more aggressive Peeper. This monster circles the ceiling of a room, using its green spotlight to find semibots. You're lifted into the air and thrown around the room if you walk into the light. It's as if you're caught in a hurricane of lightning. You're then dropped from a tremendous height, dealing the final blow that could easily throw you off the map in double-digit levels. 
 
 Unlike the Peeper, Oogly is likely killable but we haven't had the chance to try that yet. For now, avoid the green light when you see it as Oogly cannot grab you outside of it. As it has a very obvious visual cue to when it's around, treat this monster like the Peeper, and avoid at all costs. 
 
 Peeper
 
   
 
 The Peeper is the only enemy that you can't kill. It appears as a massive eyeball that forces you to look at it, locking eye contact and inflicting two damage per second. Rather than attacking it, your goal is to break eye contact by hiding behind an object, leaving the room, or holding an item in front of it. 
 
 Look out for its closed eyelids when you enter a room and plot your route around it, having cover nearby so you can quickly block its deadly gaze. Breaking eye contact will "defeat" the Peeper, causing it to disappear, but it will reappear in another room so be aware of that. 
 
 Reaper
 
   
 
 Another tricky monster is the Reaper, a scarecrow that will speedily walk after you while swinging deadly blades. Although each blade hit does fairly low damage, it can easily stun-lock you in place, making it virtually impossible to escape from once caught. 
 
 Like other entities in R.E.P.O., you can attack the Reaper using melee weapons after stunning it, or choosing a firearm to take it out at a distance. However, the Reaper is slightly easier to avoid compared to other enemies, making it very easy to run away, crouch, and hide until it forgets about you and moves on. 
 
 Robe
 
   
 
 Robe is one of the most challenging monsters to face in R.E.P.O. Like the Headman, it has high health, damage output, and strength requirements for lifting it, making it difficult to handle unless you have a Tranq Gun, shotgun, or melee weapons on hand. Even then, looking at it causes it to move toward you quickly, giving you a small window of opportunity to kill it. 
 
 So long as you're aware of where the Robe is at all times, you can keep this monster around simply by ignoring it. Be sure to keep a distance as bumping into it will get you killed, but otherwise act like it isn't there. You can keep its lower half in your vision, but looking at its face is what makes the Robe attack. As it can deal 100 damage per swipe, it's best to hide under cover and wait for the Robe to pass. Otherwise, use the Tranq Gun or Stun Grenade to bring it to the ground and use a Shotgun to finish the job. 
 
 Rugrat
 
   
 
 The Rugrat is here to be irritating, and it sure does accomplish that. Rather than constantly hurting you, it'll grab your valuables and throw them at you, dealing damage and destroying the item. If you want to watch thousands of in-game money disappear quickly, the Rugrat will do it for you. 
 
 Fortunately, it's also easy to handle, with a few strength upgrades being enough to lift and damage it. You can easily kill it with a melee weapon or Handgun. 
 
 Shadow Child
 
   
 
 R.E.P.O.'s Shadow Child entity isn't much of a challenge when you know not to look at it. Listen out for its child-like chuckle and avoid its gaze. Treat it like a Minecraft Enderman. You don't have to defeat it, but if you don't want to risk looking away from it then you can Tumble Launch back into it to make it disappear or throw a Stun Grenade, swapping to a firearm to kill it quick. 
 
 Spewer
 
   
 
 You need precision to take down a Spewer with a melee weapon but it is possible. The Spewer is helpful in dealing damage to monsters with low-to-medium health pools, but it can and will hurt teammates if caught in its acid bath. Only use a melee weapon against the Spewer for anything else is a waste. 
 
 Tick
 
   
 
 The Tick is the most harmless monster in R.E.P.O. You'd expect this thing to latch onto anyone who accidentally walks in front or on top of it, but no. The Tick only drains your health if you pick it up. Its creepy human-like face gives it an edge of curiosity where you just want to pick it up, but don't waste your precious health bar. While the Tick fills up on your blood, running off with its full belly, it has a very surprisingly tiny health pool. You can easily kill it with one hit from a heavy valuable or melee weapon. Like the Gnome, the Tick doesn't drop an orb so maybe just leave this guy wandering around. 
 
 Trudge
 
   
 
 It's time for R.E.P.O.'s tankiest and hardest-hitting enemy, the Trudge. It has around to triple the health points of most enemies and deals anywhere between 100 to 200 damage with every hit. It can launch an area-of-effect attack by smashing its mace into the floor, so watch out if you're sticking in a group with other players. 
 
 While the Trudge's attacks are deadly, they're also very slow. It can be defeated but it takes an awfully long time and a lot of firepower. Due to its slowness and how you can hide from its two eyes (one on its head, the other on its stomach), it's best to just avoid going into the same room as the Trudge. If you want a fight, stun it with a Tranq Gun and use everything you have: Shotgun and Mines to defeat R.E.P.O.'s tank. 
 
 Upscream
 
   
 
 Last but not least is Upscream, a surprisingly dangerous enemy on maps with a lot of holes, pits, or inescapable areas. If you come into contact with it, it'll scream in your face, launching you upward, dealing 10 damage, and briefly stunning you. It'll repeat this as long as you're in range, leading to some unfortunate stunlocking if you're unable to escape. 
 
 Outside of this, you can treat it much like a Banger, Spewer, or Gnome with its low health, damage output, and strength requirement. Use the environment like the Upscream does, throwing it off the map after stunning it. The Upscream moves quick so it's best to stun and then punish with a melee weapon. Standing on top of furniture doesn't help much as the Upscream has god-like skills where it can grab you even from afar. 
 The post How to beat every monster in R.E.P.O. appeared first on Destructoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Destructoid    Thursday, October 30, 2025 4:11 PM 
 
 Like other extraction shooters before it, ARC Raiders is full of fetch quests and tasks from vendors who give you rewards. 
 
 One of the earlier quests in the game called A Bad Feeling is tied to the story and given by Celeste, who trades you gear for seeds she can use to plant crops. As part of this quest, it's time to seek out specific ARC and loot them to keep the story going. 
 
 Here's how to find and search any ARC Probe or ARC Courier in ARC Raiders. 
 
 ARC Raiders - A Bad Feeling quest guide
 
   
 
 The quest "A Bad Feeling" is given by Celeste in the early hours of ARC Raiders, and it tasks you with finding and searching any ARC Probe or ARC Courier. These can be found in various areas around the map, including on Dam Battlegrounds, the first locale in the game. 
 
 Both Probes and Couriers appear to spawn in various areas, but I've had the most luck in the South Swamp Outpost area on Dam Battlegrounds. And to follow the advice directly from Celeste herself: 
 
 "ARC Probes emit signals that you can hear from afar, and if you see a smoke plume in the distance, chances are you can trace it back to a crashed Courier." 
 
 Probes are missile-shaped drones that have landed and you can crack them open to loot what's inside. Like Celeste said, they make a beeping sound that you can hear from a distance. Couriers often crash to the ground and leave behind a smoke trail that you can see from a distance to get up close and loot them, too. 
 
 Couriers are often found on the southern region of the map, between Testing Annex and Water Treatment Control, and they may have set spawns. But if someone else loots them before you, you're out of luck and will need to find another or come back some other time. 
 
   
 
 Here's what you get when you properly find and search a Probe or Courier: 
 
 
 
 
 The post How to find and search an ARC Probe or ARC Courier in ARC Raiders appeared first on Destructoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Destructoid    Thursday, October 30, 2025 4:03 PM 
 
 ARC Raiders season is finally upon us, with hundreds of thousands of players flocking to Speranza to try their luck topside. 
 
 But raiding is no easy feat, and you'll need to be well-equipped for each and every journey you make through the tubes, which is where the game's branching skill tree comes into play. With three distinct paths that you can take, you could be easily confused and not know where to spend hard-earned XP. 
 
 So, we've compiled this list of the best skills from each tree to make your life a lot easier. 
 
 ARC Raiders skills, ranked
 
 Best Conditioning skills
 
   
 
 Conditioning focuses on improving your stamina and health regeneration, as well as providing you with extra utility for your melee, whether that be breaching or combat. However, some of the skills in this tree are outright not worth your points, so here are precisely which ones you should focus on: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 You may need to put a level into some other skills in this tree to unlock all of the above. You don't have to buff each and every one of these skills to max, either, and I would recommend you give it your all to get A Little Extra ASAP, as breached loot is already pretty stacked and only gets better with this passive buff. 
 
 Best Mobility skills
 
   
 
 As the name implies, the Mobility tree is all about movement, and some of its buffs are outright mandatory for any build out there. So, to maximize your traversal, here are the skills you should prioritize: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Like with the other tree, some skills will be mandatory, so put a point into them and try to forget about it. With the skills above, your speed is going to be unmatched, whereas your stamina will be large enough to handle your nimbleness. ARC Raiders puts a strong emphasis on movement, so carrying these buffs is going to ensure you survive more often than not, especially if being chased by an ARC. 
 
 Best Survival skills
 
   
 
 The Survival tree sort of acts like a combination of the previous two, enhancing all aspects of your character to ensure they can survive the harsh realities of a post-apocalyptic world. It'll also give you a lot of good tools to work with in a PVP environment, such as double-sized and quicker looting, which'll give you an edge over everyone with time. 
 
 Here is what I recommend: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Yeah, just about every part of this skill tree is useful to some degree. The Field Crafting is especially helpful when you run out of crucial items, which you can create on the go and boost your odds of surviving until the elevator comes. Naturally, more loot and quicker looting provide you with extra resources and help you spend less time in any given location, which, combined with the other skill trees, will see you on the move constantly, always ahead of the enemy. 
 The post Best Skills in ARC Raiders appeared first on Destructoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Destructoid    Thursday, October 30, 2025 4:02 PM 
 
 10 new monsters, fitting for R.E.P.O.'s Monster Update this October 2025. Sure, the new enemies are the headliners, but with new content in the form of larger maps, mechanics, and obstacles to get around, R.E.P.O. just got incredibly exciting again. So, are you ready for the next challenge? 
 
 Moon levels are in full force, changing the way the game works every five levels. With it comes the rigorous training to adapt to the newest threats the Taxman has thrown at you. The fun stops at Reaper's pumpkin head, for the Monster Update introduces the scariest enemy to date and it's one that'll surely send chills up your spine. Here is everything you need to know about semiwork's big R.E.P.O. update for Halloween 2025. Spoiler: It's a goodun! 
 
 Table of contents
 
 All new R.E.P.O. monsters in v0.3.0
 
   
 
 This is probably why you're here, so we were sure to immediately jump into the game the second v0.3.0 dropped. We searched high and low for the 10 new R.E.P.O. monsters and found them all. Here's a teaser of what you can expect: 
 
 
 
 
 Monster Update new content
 
   
 
 The Monster Update has added new mechanics, upgrades, and expanded each map with new rooms. 
 
 The Death Head Possession allows you to control your semibot's head, helping your teammates find it or to warn them of what killed you. This has a battery charge, meaning you can't use it indefinitely. 
 
 A new Tumble Grab lets you grab objects, items, and weapons, making you more of a threat while evading monsters or hiding under cover. 
 
 Upgrades include the Death Head Battery, increasing how long you can possess your semibot head after death. Then the Tumble Climb! which helps you execute tight platforming. 
 
   
 
 The Swift Broom Academy has 24 new valuables and a new room. Headman Manor adds eight new valuables and two new rooms. McJannek Station sees 22 new valuables, but no new rooms. Finally, the Museum of Human Art has 20 new rooms, making this gallery look more like a refugee camp for semibots that's since been invaded by monsters. 
 
 Outside of this, Steam shows the current level of a player and friends in a lobby appear as a group. You can now join a friend's game via Discord. Any corrupted save files (which you can now name) are now saved and you can get them back via the Restore from Backup button. Lastly, you can now toggle on or off auto-grab with Item Unequip Auto Hold. 
 
 R.E.P.O. v0.3.0: All changes, listed
 
   
 
 There's a handful of changes across the board, from the game design to specific maps. Here's what's changed: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 And finally, here are the v0.3.0 fixes: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The post R.E.P.O. v0.3.0 Monster Update — Full patch notes, listed appeared first on Destructoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Destructoid    Thursday, October 30, 2025 3:38 PM 
 
 The long overdue Call of Duty movie now has a creative team behind it, and it contains some big names that have a long track record of success in both TV and movies. 
 
 Paramount Pictures announced today that the CoD live-action film will be directed by Peter Berg, who will also serve as co-writer and producer alongside Taylor Sheridan. Berg is an industry veteran who's worked on all sorts of projects over the years, but Sheridan is the name that has given me hope. 
 
   
 
 Sheridan is the writer and creator of successful TV shows like Yellowstone, Mayor of Kingstown, Tulsa King, and 1923, so he has found a way to keep busy, especially over the past few years. These shows have all reviewed decently well, and with Berg helping to write the movie, there's reason to believe they could cook up something fun. 
 
 Berg has been around for decades, most notably directing the original Friday Night Lights movie, Will Smith superhero movie Hancock, Patriots Day, and Deepwater Horizon, alongside many TV episodes in shows like The Leftovers, so he's got plenty of experience with a budget. 
 
 CoD has a ton of source material to pull from, so I will be curious to see if the movie takes on the Modern Warfare or Black Ops era. There are also a lot of iconic characters that could come into the fold, including Captain Price, Soap, Frank Woods, and other globetrotting soldiers to pick from, and the potential for sequels is pretty limitless. The hope is that this writing team will handle the storyline with care while also bringing the bombastic action the franchise is known for to the big screen. 
 
 A CoD film doesn't have to have an award-winning script or Academy Award-level acting, but I don't think anyone would be opposed to either scenario. As long as it's fun and maintains the action setpieces the franchise's gameplay is known for, we could be in for a good time. 
 
 
 
 The CoD movie was officially announced at the beginning of September, and it does not currently have an estimated release window. 
 The post The Call of Duty movie officially has a writing team and director, and I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about it now appeared first on Destructoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Destructoid    Thursday, October 30, 2025 3:18 PM 
 
 The recent Amazon layoffs heavily affected its gaming division, and now a former developer's LinkedIn post implies that the Lord of the Rings MMO in development has no one working on it and is likely cancelled. 
 
 The wording on the now-unavailable post by a former senior gameplay engineer doesn't explicitly confirm cancellation, and Amazon hasn't formally announced it—unlike how they announced New World will no longer receive updates. However, it's understood that everyone, or at least most people working on the LOTR game, is no longer at Amazon due to being included in the 14,000 cuts announced last Tuesday. 
 
 
 
 This is the second time Amazon has failed to release this Lord of the Rings MMO. Back in 2021, after two years of development, the company announced the first cancellation shortly after Tencent acquired one of their partner developers in China, Leyou Technologies. Following this acquisition, Amazon claimed it couldn't reach new terms with Tencent, and development had to be halted. 
 
 Two years later, in 2023, Amazon partnered with Embracer Group and Middle-earth Enterprises to recreate the Lord of the Rings game, now without Tencent's influence. They were expecting an open-world MMO adventure to finally release without external interference. But Amazon couldn't survive its own challenges. This week, after another two-year cycle, the future of Lord of the Rings looks bleak. 
 
 It's interesting how every major news about this game follows a two-year cycle: first announcement in 2019, cancellation in 2021, new development in 2023, and a potential second cancellation in 2025. It's unclear if this reflects some bi-annual cycle within Amazon, but it hints that if the company ever wants to reuse Lord of the Rings assets, we'll probably only hear about it two years from now. 
 
 We're still waiting for Amazon to officially confirm or deny this cancellation. But it looks grim for what could have been an MMO based on a massively successful franchise that might have elevated Amazon Games to a big developer status. 
 The post Amazon's Lord of the Rings MMO is reportedly canceled again, and they have no one else to blame this time appeared first on Destructoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Destructoid    Thursday, October 30, 2025 2:28 PM 
 
 The Phantom Dash Evolution presents a unique opportunity to evolve one of your goalies in FC 26, and there are plenty of great options. 
 
 Your chosen item will receive stat upgrades, new roles, and playstyles. While the evolution is available for free, you can use it only once. Let's look at the best options based on the requirements and offered upgrades. 
 
 Table of contents
 
 FC 26 Phantom Dash Evolution requirements
 
 Here are the requirements of Phantom Dash Evolution in FC 26. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 FC 26 Phantom Dash Evolution upgrades
 
 The evolution has two levels of upgrades, and there are certain conditions to fulfil. Both tasks are fairly straightforward and should be completed relatively quickly. 
 
 Level 1 upgrades 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Level 2 upgrades 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Level 1 upgrade requirements 
 
 
 
 
 
 Level 2 upgrade requirements 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Best players to use in Phantom Dash Evolution
 
 Here are some of my best recommendations for inclusion in the evolution. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 While the upgrades are minor, you will be able to include these cards in future evolutions to create a chain and upgrade their stats further. 
 The post Best players for FC 26 Phantom Dash Evolution appeared first on Destructoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Destructoid    Thursday, October 30, 2025 2:16 PM 
 
 ARC Raiders presents the player with numerous quests and assignments to make each venture topside much more meaningful. They're also a great way to earn extra rewards on top of all the loot, giving everyone a better sense of accomplishment. 
 
 But not all quests are quite clear nor are all the items out in the wild clearly explained, and Field Crates in particular seem to be messing with player's minds. They're tied to a quest, a feat that awards extra Cred, and can lead to additional loot and rewards on their own. 
 
 So, here's where you can discover Field Crates and how you can put them to good use. 
 
 Where to find Field Crates and what you should do with them in ARC Raiders
 
   
 
 Field Crates can be found across numerous locations in the Dam Battlegrounds, the first map of the game. They're located in proximity to Field Depots, which are also spread out across this map. They are a big silver box that you have to manually pick up and carry to these depots, and you're unable to shoot or do most actions while doing so. 
 
 We've compiled a full list of all Field Depot locations, which you can refer to and get a greater sense of where Field Crates might be located. 
 
 The best place to look for them, and the easiest by far, is the Water Towers, located near the south edge of the map, beneath the Electrical Substation. A Field Depot lies exactly in between the Electrical Substation and the Water Towers, with Field Crates spawning in the former's northernmost building. Field Crates can spawn in several locations in the Substation, so explore the location if you don't find it in the building in question. 
 
 The images below show the exact location of both the Field Depot and where I usually discovered the Field Crate. 
 
   
 
   
 
 
 Once you've deposited the Field Crate into a depot and collected the reward, both the Feat and the Down to Earth quest should be completed. Collecting this extra loot is a great idea for beginners as Field Depots tend to be close to elevators and can award items of higher rarity and value. 
 The post How to use Field Crates and where to locate them in ARC Raiders appeared first on Destructoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Destructoid    Thursday, October 30, 2025 1:31 PM 
 
 Microsoft doesn't seem worried about the recent backlash to the Game Pass price hike. In fact, they're expecting subscriptions to increase and cut losses in Xbox's services division next quarter. 
 
 In their latest earnings call for Q1 fiscal year 2026 (July to September), Microsoft executives revealed that Xbox's content and services revenue, which includes Game Pass, is stable and even seeing growth. This period doesn't include revenue from the Game Pass price hike, which took effect in most countries in October and will roll out everywhere else in November. We'll only see its effects on the next earnings call in late January 2026. 
 
   
 
 Interestingly, one executive said that despite expecting losses in services and subscriptions, they're anticipating an increase in Game Pass subscriptions. 
 
 "And in Xbox content and services, we expect revenue to decline in the low to mid-single digits against a prior year comparable that benefited from strong first-party performance, partially offset by growth in subscriptions." 
 
 This language is curious. Are they expecting subscriber numbers to rise, or just revenue? If subscription numbers decrease less than revenue increases from the price hike, it could still be viewed positively. But it does sound like Xbox is betting more people will subscribe to Game Pass. 
 
 They're likely confident because of the sheer volume of day-one releases on Game Pass, like Outer Worlds 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. Xbox has invested heavily in fresh game availability, and Microsoft believes this library will keep people subscribed or attract new subscribers. 
 
 However, this doesn't reflect the sentiment when Microsoft announced the price hikes. Many players, including ourselves, became skeptical about Game Pass's future, believing it would make gaming less accessible. A $30 price tag for the full library doesn't feel worth it anymore, considering Game Pass's main appeal was paying less than an indie game's price to access not only indies but also expensive titles. At $30, it might make more sense to save that money and buy games for $60 or $70 and actually own them instead of subscribing. 
 
 Microsoft's strategy suggests either they genuinely believe their products will be compelling enough to justify the higher price, or they're trying to reassure investors amid community backlash. 
 The post Microsoft bets on Game Pass growth despite upcoming price hike and subscriber backlash appeared first on Destructoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Destructoid    Thursday, October 30, 2025 1:31 PM 
 
 Another week has rolled around, and Dispatch has received two extra episodes, marking the mid-point of the game's episodic release structure. 
 
 And boy was it worth the wait. Building on the initial introductions made by the first two episodes, this new batch expands on almost every character in the game, with interpersonal relationships between the cast coming to the forefront. 
 
 Split-second decision-making is taken up a notch, and while there are no quicktime events in this part, there is no shortage of gameplay, nor is the player ever left out of moral dilemmas faced by the protagonist. 
 
 Here is our review in progress for this pair of episodes. 
 
   
 
 Dispatch Episodes 3 and 4 pick off right where they left off, following again Robert Robertson as he settles into his new position as a dispatcher for villains-turned-heroes, all of whom are on the edge of crashing out almost constantly (the last episode cutting off just as one said crash out happened). 
 
 This time around we know all the faces, so introductions are less than necessary. The game understands that, and instead chooses to show us how these characters relate to each other. The writing is incredible, to say the least, and Dispatch takes a step towards a very mature approach to superhero storytelling. 
 
 It ditches every trope and stereotype that'd be expected of such a genre and setting, and brings everything down to the ground floor. These people are flawed, conflicted, layered, and oftentimes misunderstood, cast into villainy (or heroism) by their upbringing or circumstances. 
 
 Robert, the main guy, is a hero-in-name-only, born with no actual powers of his own and merely using a powerful suit, but even so, he manages to relate to our troubled bunch whose abilities seem to them more a burden than a boon. 
 
 Depending on how you play the game, things will happen drastically differently, and we finally get to see the first hints of actual romances that the player can engage in. Will you discipline the cast, relate to them, or will you be a cold know-it-all who sees them as nothing but an unruly mob? It's all up to you, and, as I've said, no quicktime events are necessary to see that play out. 
 
 Choice-and-consequence is an AdHoc trademark, and Dispatch takes the concept more than seriously, making these four episodes, and especially the second batch, an unprecedented level of replayability and variation that'll ensure every player has a markedly different experience. 
 
   
 
 Another huge character, in a literal sense, finally takes up a spot in the story in these two episodes. He is AdHoc's version of the "evil superman" or rather, the "not-human-but-very-human superman that might turn out evil at some point." That was a mouthful, but it's the best description I have of the guy. 
 
 He is sort of a combination of Omni-Man and Superman, and I cannot wait to see how his character is developed in subsequent episodes. I believe he's quite a unique take on an overdone trope, but I sense there's a lot more to him than meets the eye. 
 
 Of course, the episode features a bunch of actual dispatch gameplay where you manage the heroes and send them out on missions, which is probably the most fun part about the game. It's actually so addicting that I wouldn't be opposed to AdHoc releasing a standalone experience that's just that. 
 
 Overall, these two episodes take the foundations laid by the previous two and do nothing but build, improve, and develop on them, offering a deep and insightful and very mature (and I mean 18+) take on superheroes and, more importantly, the people behind the masks. 
 
 I love everyone in the cast, even the bat dude voiced by Charlie White of Hunger Games fame, and I am ecstatic to see what next week has in store for us. 
 The post Dispatch Episodes 3 and 4 Review-in-Progress – Daring, mature, deeper than the ocean appeared first on Destructoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Destructoid    Thursday, October 30, 2025 1:25 PM 
 
 ARC Raiders is a hoarder's worst nightmare—or is it the ultimate fantasy? 
 
 Venturing out into the topside world and leaving the safe haven of Speranza is as daunting as it is exciting. There's a lot of danger out there, but there's also a lot of loot, and you can pick up and take home just about anything you can find out there. 
 
 But as many players are finding out, inventory space is limited for players to stash their items like weapons, ammo, and crafting materials. Upgrading the amount of items you can hold in your base is a crucial part of the ARC Raiders experience, and it's not readily apparent how this is done. 
 
 Here's how to increase your inventory slots in ARC Raiders. 
 
 
 
 How to upgrade your Inventory in ARC Raiders
 
   
 
 In ARC Raiders, you have your personal backpack inventory when you go topside on missions, and you have your stash Inventory where you can store all of your items. Both of these can be expanded to hold more items, but in very different ways. 
 
 To be able to hold more items while playing the game and have more slots to pick up more loot, you need to equip an Augment. Augments offer different inventory buff,s including the number of slots for each kind of item, what kind of shields you can carry, and more. 
 
 For example, the Looting Mk.1 Augment offers 18 backpack slots, while the Combat Mk.1 Augment offers 16, and Tactical Mk.1 Augment offers 15. If you're looking to carry more gear, use a Looting Augment. These Augments can be found in the world or crafted within Speranza. 
 
 How to Expand Stash in ARC Raiders
 
   
 
 You will quickly run out of Inventory space for your stash, so you need to use the Expand Stash button from the Inventory screen to buy more slots. The Expand Stash button can be found on the top left of the screen (pictured below), and you can purchase additional slots using Coins. 
 
   
 
 The first upgrade is for 5,000 Coins and expands your stash slots by 24. The next upgrade is 10,000 Coins and expands it even further so that you can hoard more items that you don't take with you on missions since you're afraid of losing them. I may be projecting. 
 
 This is a good investment in the early game of ARC Raiders, because using the Free Loadout Augment and successfully extracting will quickly load up your stash with items, and you will run out soon. As you play and gain more Coins, you can continue to upgrade 
 The post How to increase your inventory size in ARC Raiders appeared first on Destructoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Destructoid    Thursday, October 30, 2025 12:58 PM 
 
 The Off the Radar quest in ARC Raiders requires you to find the Field Depots on the map, and this can be a tricky one to solve. 
 
 Once you receive the quest from Shani, you'll have to head to the Dam Battlegrounds on the map. The location has six Field Depots you can find to complete the Off the Radar quest. 
 
 Table of contents
 
 All Field Depot Locations in ARC Raiders
 
 While Dam Battlegrounds is the easiest location to find the Field Depots, they can be found elsewhere. As I mentioned earlier, there are six Field Depots in this region. Field Depots are metallic buildings with a radar on top of the roof. To complete the Off the Radar quest, you need to spot just one in ARC Raiders. 
 
   
 
 While I have marked the locations of all six on the map, here's a brief rundown of their location. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 How to complete Off the Radar quest in ARC Raiders
 
 To complete the Off the Radar quest, you'll have to head to a Field Depot location and repair the antenna on top of it. You'll find the radar dish on the roof: interact and you'll get the prompt to repair it. Wait for a few seconds for the task to complete, and you'll finish the Off the Radar quest. A successful extraction is not necessary as long as you have repaired the radar. 
 The post All Field Depot locations in ARC Raiders – Off the Radar quest walkthrough appeared first on Destructoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Destructoid    Thursday, October 30, 2025 12:29 PM 
 
 Anbernic, which makes handheld consoles for emulating several classic systems, recently threw all the hype the company built with the retro gaming community in the trash. 
 
 The company already has a dedicated user base because of how its emulation devices look like actual handheld consoles like Game Boy, GBA, and GBA SP. Now, it has announced a new console that looks exactly like the Nintendo DS and would be able to emulate DS and 3DS games with a touchscreen. 
 
 
 
 The Oct. 14 was enough to hype the retro community. That's because emulating the two Nintendo DS screens while keeping the touchscreen functionality and all physical buttons is really difficult. So, Anbernic's take on the DS looked like the perfect solution, and players were hyped to see how well it would work. 
 
 That is, until the specs leaked on AliExpress on Oct. 29. 
 
 The processor is a Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A55, which is the bare minimum to run several Nintendo DS emulators and not enough for the recommended specs. That means the RG DS might not support more demanding games or extra visual features that make the emulation look closer to the real DS and 3DS experience. 
 
 The system will also run Android 14, which is considered too heavy for that processor. Because of that, players are worried about how the device will perform and what features it will actually be able to use. 
 
 Another problem is the battery. It's supposed to last about six hours, but it takes a whopping three and a half hours to fully charge, which feels too much when compared to the lower charging times of more robust handhelds like the Steam Deck and the Nintendo Switch 2. 
 
 
 
 "We quickly went from 'they cooking' to 'this is so cooked'," a fan wrote on Reddit. "Way to kill any hype I had for this, congrats Anbernic," a second one added. "Should be called RG DB (deal breaker)," a third one joked. 
 
 These main pain points of weak specs and slow charging have made the retro gaming community go from extremely hyped about the RG DS to extremely disappointed. Anbernic hasn't commented yet, and the official reveal with confirmed specs and pricing should be coming soon. But if the leaks are true, it seems Anbernic might have fumbled one of its best chances to deliver the perfect handheld for DS emulation. 
 The post 'This is so cooked': This retro console lost all hype overnight after leaks killed expectations appeared first on Destructoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Destructoid    Thursday, October 30, 2025 12:19 PM 
 
 The latest and greatest shooter game has arrived, and Raiders everywhere are heading topside for loot while dealing with massive robotic threats and other humans. 
 
 Welcome to ARC Raiders, where your experience is only as good as the loot you find, the teammates you befriend, or the enemies you make in a post-apocalyptic world taken over by terrifying robotic enemies called ARC. 
 
 The new game from Embark Studios (makers of The Finals) is off to a big start despite releasing around several other big-name shooter games. But just how many players are logging on for expeditions to find loot and fight bots? 
 
 Here's everything we know so far about how many players are playing ARC Raiders. 
 
 ARC Raiders player count
 
   
 
 In the hours following ARC Raiders' launch on Oct. 30, 2025, over 200,000 players are online on Steam. This does not include players on PS5 or Xbox, so the overall number is likely way larger and will only climb throughout its opening weekend. 
 
 You can see the active player count on any Steam game by checking out the game's Community Hub page. A website known as SteamDB also tracks concurrent players and shows a history of it, so you can stay in tuned with how many players are online at any given time on Steam. But as far as other platforms go, that information is not readily available. 
 
 For official full player count numbers, Embark Studios will likely have to reveal or make an announcement since concurrent players are not public knowledge. But the game's success on day one bodes well for more players to join in over the coming weeks and months as the game expands with new content and story beats. 
 
 Congrats to Embark on a successful launch, and be prepared to see that number climb steadily very soon. 
 
 
 This article will be updated with more up-to-date information when it becomes available. 
 The post How many players are playing ARC Raiders? appeared first on Destructoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Destructoid    Thursday, October 30, 2025 12:00 PM 
 
 ARC Raiders might be ideally built to play with your buddy, but you can thrive and survive on your own with the correct build. 
 
 The emphasis changes significantly when you're not playing with a partner. The world of ARC Raiders has plenty of dangers in the form of other players and the bots, so you'll always have to be on your toes. When playing alone, my utmost focus is to go on a build that well-utilizes all three trees, with the highest emphasis on survival. 
 
 Table of contents
 
 Best ARC Raiders solo build
 
 The build I have gone for is basically a jack of all trades (and master of some). It has a good distribution of points in the Mobility and Survival trees, as both are vital to outlast enemies in the wild. However, I haven't forgotten about Conditioning, given the role those skills play, especially when you're on your own. 
 
   
 
 The image above has my build at level 50, which will take a fair amount of time for players to reach. The maximum level cap at launch is 75, so you can continue with this build as you level up. Let me share my idea on the build and how it works. 
 
 Skills
 
 Here's how I have distributed the skills (up to level 50). 
 
 Conditioning 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mobility 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Survival 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nodes
 
 We begin the build from the three basic nodes that should be your first unlocks. The skills allow you to move quickly while crawling, and having a shield has a lesser negative penalty on movement. The priority should be to unlock Proficient Pryer, as it allows you to scavenge quicker and better. 
 
 Here are some of the key nodes you should activate as early as possible: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 So which two end nodes should you target with this build? I will list down two good options. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 If you go for Back on your Feet, this build will suddenly become skewed towards Conditioning (which is absolutely fine). 
 
 As for the order of investing the points, it's better to go with your judgment. Every person plays differently, and it's better to focus on the area that might be one of your weaknesses. 
 
 
 
 
 The post Best ARC Raiders build for solo play appeared first on Destructoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Destructoid    Thursday, October 30, 2025 11:56 AM 
 
 The best Legendary items in Pixel Quest depend on both your build and whether you're going for a boss raid or farming mobs. Below I'll be rating all weapons, abilities, armor and equipment including the current highest tier. Here's my complete Pixel Quest tier list for everything in the game so that you can make the best build. 
 
 Table of contents
 
 Pixel Quest Weapon Tier List
 
   
 
 In general, the best weapons in Pixel Quest are Staves and Bows for clearing bosses/elites due to their range and Swords for crowd clearing due to their AOE. Axes and Daggers tend to be somewhere in the middle and quite flexible though they lack Staff/Bow range so you really have to learn patterns well. Also, special abilities and stat bonuses from Legendary items come into play here so let's dive into the ranking reasons below. 
 
 
 
 
 Pixel Quest Abilities Tier List
 
   
 
 The best Abilities in Pixel Quest are all about whether you're going in a team raid or solo and if you're fighting bosses or farming mobs. I chose to rank Legendaries and T4 but if you don't have as much mana you can think of the T4 rankings as T3 or T2 which spend less mana. Check out the rankings reasons below. 
 
 
 
 
 Pixel Quest Armor Tier List
 
   
 
 More details and item stats coming soon for the best armor in Pixel Quest. For now note that my ranking criteria was usually geared toward DPS rather than survivability. Once you learn boss patterns you won't be getting hit anyway and you have Totems or Soothing Pendant to fix any mistakes with healing. That's why armor pieces that boost Attack, Dexterity, Wisdom and Mana are higher. Shoutout to Ahi's Hide that boosts Speed so that you can dodge boss patterns better. Also the Worm's Robe for +50 Mana +10 Wisdom +23 Attack and immunity to sickness. 
 
 Pixel Quest Equipment Tier List
 
   
 
 More details and item stats coming soon for the best equipment in Pixel Quest. I ranked all Legendary and T4 Belts, Boots, Bracelet, Crowns, Hats, Helmets, Pendants and Rings. For now note that my ranking criteria was usually geared toward DPS rather than survivability. Once you learn boss patterns you won't be getting hit anyway and you have Totems to fix any mistakes with their healing. That's why equipment pieces that boost Attack, Dexterity, Wisdom and Mana are higher. Shoutout to the Soothing Pendant that you can spam equip and unequip to heal. 
 
 That's it for my Pixel Quest tier list for all weapons, armor, abilities and equipment. Check out my list of all Legendary item drop locations (I'll update it tomorrow with the latest ones from this tier list). 
 The post Complete Pixel Quest Tier List [Weapon/Ability/Armor/Equipment] appeared first on Destructoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Destructoid    Thursday, October 30, 2025 11:56 AM 
 
 The latest hot shooter game ARC Raiders is off to a solid start on Steam on its launch day with a Very Positive rating and almost 200,000 concurrent players in its first few hours, marking another hit 2025 title. 
 
 ARC Raiders is indeed a great game, and that's saying a lot coming from me when I don't really enjoy the extraction shooter genre all that much. It's well-polished, strikes a good balance between PvP and PvE, and feels really fun to play, regardless of how perpetually bad it feels to lose all of your loot on a doomed run. 
 
   
 
 One thing that players are already speaking out about is the lack of a purely PvE mode, which is a trend as far as conversations go in this genre. This stems from the fact that a lot of gamers do not enjoy PvP experiences, but still want to play the latest shooter game with friends. Are extraction shooters inherently PvPvE? Yes, but do they have to always be? I think that there's a missing niche out there for an extraction shooter that's purely PvE, and I know I'm not alone in this sentiment. 
 
 "Good game, but I still hope one day someone will make a good extraction shooter that lets you just do the PvE," one positive Steam review said. 
 
 After my first excursion in ARC Raiders this morning, I agree more than ever. I was attempting to return safely with some loot when I came behind another player. Using VOIP, I told them I was friendly and that we should team up to take down the ARC that was blocking our exit. They turned around and shot me. So I ran, we both got downed by the ARC, and I got the last laugh by extracting safely before they could crawl to the elevator. It was hilarious, but I would have liked to see how the encounter would've went as purely co-op. Not having that option at all feels like a missed opportunity. 
 
 I think nothing proves the desire for a purely PvE extraction game more than the explosive popularity of recent release Escape From Duckov. The silly top-down duck game inspired by Escape From Tarkov is PvE only, and it's currently got more concurrent players on Steam than ARC Raiders on its launch day. I know it's not a direct comparison to a game like ARC Raiders or Tarkov, but it does make me think. 
 
 Imagine ARC Raiders (or a game like it) finding a way to nail the thrill of the extraction genre without the need to run into other players who can ruin the experience. Extraction shooter purists will likely hate this idea, and I think that offering multiple modes on top of the base game may segment the playerbase, but it's something that should be considered. 
 
   
 
 Another upcoming extraction shooter, Marathon, features similarly fun PvE combat that is interrupted by PvP experiences. Fans of that game who've played in previous playtests have also asked for a PvE only mode, but I doubt it will happen right away. But hey, maybe that could be Marathon's niche in the market. 
 
 I'm sure there are various reasons why games in the genre don't go purely PvE, but I think the first game to truly tackle and master it may find success like Duckov. 
 
 
 Like our content? Set Destructoid as a Preferred Source on Google in just one step to ensure you see us more frequently in your Google searches! 
 The post ARC Raiders finds success in early hours of launch—but there's still one change players want from the extraction genre as a whole appeared first on Destructoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Destructoid    Thursday, October 30, 2025 11:49 AM 
 
 Who's up raiding their ARC? Not you if you keep getting error codes. 
 
 ARC Raiders error ARMR0002 is a pain in the backside, regardless of whether you're the type of player to work in co-op or hunt down everyone you see when you go above ground. Life is sometimes unfair that way. 
 
 Here's what we know about the ARMR0002 error in ARC Raiders and how to potentially fix it. 
 
 ARC Raiders ARMR0002 error
 
   
 
 The "ARMR0002 error" in ARC Raiders is an unfortunately-named error code with a bunch of letters and numbers that basically means the game is having internet connection-based problems. In most cases, this is because there are server issues. 
 
 This error code has been popping up since the game's early playtests, and while there likely isn't a go-to fix to get it to stop happening, there are a few things you can try to do since the error appears to do with your connection to the game. The error also happens and prevents players from joining up with their friends. 
 
 First, try re-launching the game to see if the issue subsides. If not, there may be a problem with your own internet connection, so reset your modem to try and iron out any possible issues on your end. If the problem persists, it's likely a bigger underlying issue with the ARC Raiders servers and Embark Studios will need to deploy a fix, or the dilemma may eventually subside on its own. 
 
 If you're looking for a more focused area of help, try joining the official ARC Raiders Discord server and letting the team know that you're having problems. You may also find other players experiencing the same issue, which would indicate a widespread server outage that is out of your hands entirely. 
 
 On launch day, Embark indicated that there were issues with Xbox players specifically having problems connecting and getting the error. The Discord server is where this info was communicated. 
 
 You may need to step away from the game to touch grass before you can eventually touch grass in-game outside of Speranza while ARCs and Raiders hunt you down. Just sit tight and keep troubleshooting your own game and connection if you are impatient. 
 
 
 Like our content? Set Destructoid as a Preferred Source on Google in just one step to ensure you see us more frequently in your Google searches! 
 The post How to fix error ARMR0002 in ARC Raiders appeared first on Destructoid. | 
| Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism    Thursday, October 30, 2025 5:53 PM A new trailer was also released. The post Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update 3.0 And Switch 2 Edition Announced appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. | 
| Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism    Thursday, October 30, 2025 5:30 PM A new video was also released. The post Resident Evil Requiem Pre-Orders Now Available, Fortnite Collab Announced appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. | 
| Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism    Thursday, October 30, 2025 4:56 PM According to a since-deleted post. The post The Lord of the Rings MMORPG Has Seemingly Been Cancelled appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. | 
| Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism    Thursday, October 30, 2025 4:12 PM According to a recent report. The post Nintendo's Infamous Patent Application Has Been Rejected appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. | 
| MonsterVine    Thursday, October 30, 2025 11:01 AM               Robot Monkey Brain's upcoming strategy RPG Bounce Castle is celebrating spooky season with its first-ever Steam playtest. Running from October 29 through November 20, the limited-time "Graveyard Playtest" invites players to sling, bounce, and battle their way through haunted arenas filled with ghosts, skeletons, and necromancers — all wrapped in the game's quirky, physics-driven combat. […]      | 
| Level Up    Thursday, October 30, 2025 10:48 AM | 
| Level Up    Thursday, October 30, 2025 10:36 AM | 


































































