A freaky new trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’s Zombies gave us our first look at the upcoming game, and it’s as eerie and tense as you would expect from the now legendary first-person shooter mode—except now it has some new (yet familiar) faces in the undead mix. That’s because this version of Zombies marks the first time the mode comes to a Modern Warfare game.

Read More: Modern Warfare III Comes Out In November, Brings Back Slide Canceling
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The trailer begins with a team of four seemingly unknown operatives donning night vision goggles to break into a corpse-littered facility. They come upon four corpses sat around a table, the center of which sits a device that opens to reveal glowing vials of an unknown substance. “They’re actually real, they’re actually here,” an operator says, removing his gas mask to reveal that he’s Viktor Zakhaev, iconic Call of Duty antagonist who will be the chief baddie in the main Modern Warfare III campaign. Once his team swipes the vials, they, head out of the building and run directly into a police force—this nods to the brand-new feature in this upcoming Zombies mode: You’ll duke it out against human and nonhuman enemies.

Call of Duty zombie players will recognize the serum asAetherium, an element in the Call of Duty franchise used for techno-biological warfare. The trailer ends with John “Soap” MacTavish , a member of the multinational special operations unit Task Force 141, and fellow familiar face Kate Laswell preparing for the incursion against Zakhaev.

This sets up the open-world experience that Modern Warfare III’s zombie mode will offer, and its player-versus-environment that takes place across different regions that scale in difficulty and density. The official blog post accompanying the trailer promises “a greater quantity of undead than ever before,” that combines “the very best of Modern Warfare map features and systems with the tried-and-true core features of Treyarch Zombies.”

Read More: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Will Bring Back Every OG MWII Multiplayer Map
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The new take on the classic Zombies mode will be available when Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III launches on November 10 for PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. In typical Call of Duty fashion, if you preorder Modern Warfare III, you’ll get access to the beta whenever that starts.

Over 25 million people have played Sea of Thieves. The pirate ship fantasy sim has some of the most beautiful water you’ve ever seen in a video game. And now Rare’s live-service multiplayer game is finally getting a way for people to play solo. A new mode called Safer Seas will let players explore in private sessions without the threat of PvP starting in December.

“Safer Seas is intended to offer a gentler introduction to Sea of Thieves for new players, as well as providing a quieter map for existing players looking to pursue their own solo adventures,” Mike Chapman, creative director, wrote in an Xbox Wire blog post yesterday. If you’re hoping to get some peaceful fishing done, or complete a few Tall Tales without interference, Safer Seas is the perfect choice.”

Originally set to arrive earlier this year before being delayed by three months, Rare is calling season 10 update its “Super Season.” Going live on October 18, here are three big new features coming to Sea of Thieves in separate installments throughout the end of the year:

• Guilds: A captain pledges a ship, letting up to 24 players join together and borrow one another’s vessels and cosmetics even when they’re not online, sharing milestone progress along the way.

• Competitive Questing: Players compete to collect Skull of Siren Song artifact components, with the objects cursing the ships they’re onboard and broadcasting those players’ locations across the seas.
• Safer Seas: Play Sea of Thieves alone or with friends in a session devoid of competing players, with a max rank of 40 and reduced rewards due to the lessened danger.

The Safer Seas mode in particular could be a huge boon for the game. Despite its massive player-base, Sea of Thieves still has a steep learning curve and requires an intimidating amount of coordination, compounded by the ever-present threat of PvP. Safe Seas doesn’t just remove that danger, it also lets solo-minded players explore its vast and beautiful world without the social anxiety or awkwardness of running into other people. I wish more live-service games offered a similar escape.

After months of silence, vampire shooter Redfall is receiving its biggest update yet following a disastrous launch back in May. The second big patch will add the Game Pass multiplayer game’s long-awaited 60 frames-per-second mode on Xbox Series X/S, as well as a host of gameplay improvements and bug fixes.

“Today’s update brings Performance Mode to Xbox Series X/S, stealth takedowns, a bevy of new controller settings, and a lot more changes to Redfall,” the development team wrote on Bethesda’s website. While the 60fps mode is the biggest addition, a raft of accessibility features and improvements to stealth gameplay and aiming sensitivity are also welcome changes. Whether it’s enough to begin addressing some of the deeper disappointment around Redfall’s lackluster enemy encounters and unfulfilling progression system remains to be seen.

Redfall was panned by many critics and players when it launched earlier this year. Expected to be the first-party blockbuster that would end Microsoft’s drought of console exclusives, it instead failed to live up to the months of marketing hype that preceded it. In addition to bugs, performance issues, and complaints about the core gameplay loop, it also launched on the “next-gen” Xbox Series X/S with a “next-gen” price tag of $70 but without the 60fps performance option that players on PC would have access to.

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer apologized for the situation at the time, but a report by Bloomberg later revealed other issues underlying the game’s rough development. Made by Arkane, best known for immersive sims like Prey and Dishonored, Redfall was instead an online multiplayer game that at one point was planned to include microtransactions as part of a push by parent company ZeniMax into live-service monetization. While those features were stripped out, a lack of development resources and constant turnover reportedly made it hard for the studio to deliver on Redfall’s confusing blend of genres and gameplay mechanics.

Recently, Bethesda marketing head Pete Hines said in an interview that despite the harsh reception, Redfall wouldn’t be abandoned. Instead, he expected new players joining Game Pass a decade from now to give the game a shot and enjoy it thanks to ongoing post-launch support. With Cyberpunk 2077‘s recent 2.0 victory lap after a botched release, many are wondering if Redfall can pull of something similar, or if Microsoft will pour the money into it required to make that happen.

If it does, it will still have a big uphill battle to fight. The game only has a few dozen players on Steam at any given moment. Still, Redfall’s second update is a start.

The Switch version of Mortal Kombat 1 released in an absolute state. It’s one of the widest gaps in quality we’ve seen between Nintendo’s device and its console contemporaries. But for better or worse, NetherRealm Studios and the port teams at Shiver Entertainment and Saber Interactive are still supporting it, and making efforts to edge it nearer to justifying its $70 price tag.

The Switch version’s latest patch went live on October 11, and promises some general “visual improvements” to the notably fugly port. But on top of general polish, the patch also brings Invasions, a feature previously missing on Switch, that has been live in Mortal Kombat 1’s other versions since launch on September 19. Invasions’ seasonal events marry the game’s fighting mechanics with a board game mode and RPG mechanics. Each season lasts about six weeks, meaning while the other platforms’ versions of Mortal Kombat 1 are reaching the end of the first season on October 30, the Switch port is getting a late start.

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Missing an entire mode wasn’t great, but the Switch port’s biggest issues were technical,both in its graphics and performance. YouTubers, like Madlittlepixel, have taken the updated Switch version for a test ride, and while it’s still a poorer experience on the handheld, there’s less chugging, smoother fights, shorter load times, and fewer crashes.

The full list of updates reads as follows:

• Season 1 of Invasions
• Gameplay balance changes
• Leaderboards fixes
• Visual improvements and general bug fixes
• Performance improvements
• Stability fixes
• Localization fixes

Ultimately, a Switch version is never going to reach the heights of the PC, PlayStation 5, or Xbox Series X/S, because this is vastly older and lower-spec tech, but at least there are some notable improvements here. It still feels egregious to charge the same amount of money for a demonstrably worse version of the same game, however. For more on Mortal Kombat 1’s better versions, check out Kotaku’s review.

During today’s Xbox Partner Preview, a showcase for Microsoft’s upcoming third-party games, we got a new look at Sega’s next Yakuza adventure. No, not Gaiden, the other one: Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Instead of showing off dual protagonists Ichiban Kasuga and Kiryu Kazuma kicking all kinds of street punk ass across Hawaii, today’s trailer pumped the brakes and gave us a peek at its madcap new Animal Crossing-inspired game mode.

Infinite Wealth’s new Happy Resort Dondoko Island mode will have you managing your own island resort. Like Nintendo’s cozy 2020 life simulator Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you can go fishing on the beach, customize the island’s buildings and furniture, and have Ichiban craft special DIY projects. The similarities between Dondoko Island and AC:NH don’t end there. DonDonki Island will also let you forge friendships with the island getaway’s many outlandishly dressed tourists while you manage the island’s influx of funds and infrastructure just like Animal Crossing’s Tom Nook.

Here’s the trailer:

Dondoko Island may provide Ichiban and company some much-needed reprieve from the melodrama of his crime-riddled life, but that doesn’t mean you won’t have to sock a couple of uninvited guests along the way—this is a Yakuza game after all. Along with making sure everyone is having a good time on the island, you’ll also have to defend it from intruders.

This isn’t the first time the Yakuza series has turned a Nintendo game like AC:NH into its own game mode. In fact, Yakuza: Like a Dragon had Mario Kart-esque and Pokémon-inspired stints in the form of Dragon Kart Racing and Sujimon, respectively. Aside from providing players with a fun alternative to punching fools, these minigames were also a great way to earn a bunch of cash to purchase health items and upgrades for the main campaign’s challenging boss fights.

But not everything is about the money. Sometimes you just need to sit back, grab a guitar, and sing karaoke in front of a roaring bonfire. Catch a vibe, if you will. I can already see myself ignoring Infinite Wealth’s main quest to sink countless hours into perfecting my island fortress. Speaking as a longtime Yakuza enjoyer, January can’t come soon enough.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth launches on January 26 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Windows.

Blizzard announced three new Overwatch 2 heroes at Blizzcon 2023’s opening ceremony, and while Mauga, the next tank hero, is playable in the game this weekend as part of a test period to everyone, the company also showed off two other heroes planned to launch in 2024.

Director Aaron Keller showed concept art of the two new characters on the event’s stage, and while we don’t know much about them yet, we do know their classes There’s a damage hero named Venture, who wields a drill-like weapon and what looks like a climbing axe on their belt, and a support here codenamed Space Ranger. It’s hard to gauge how they’ll fight based on the singular piece of concept art Blizzard shared, but they have a much more futuristic, sci-fi look than Venture. For now, we can only speculate what their abilities will be, but at least we know each class will be getting a new hero.

Alongside Venture and Space Ranger, Blizzard also announced a few other features coming to Overwatch 2 in 2024. Clash is a new PvP game mode that includes five objectives and players moving back and forth between them until one team captures all five. The mode will also take place on a new map based on Hanamura, a classic map cycled out of Overwatch 2 when two-point capture modes were cut from Quickplay and Competitive.

Speaking of Competitive, Blizzard also said it would be reworking rewards in the ranked mode, but didn’t divulge details. Notably, there was nothing said about story missions, so it’s unclear if or when we’ll see the next set of narrative missions added to Overwatch 2. I certainly hope it’s somewhere in that 2024 plan, because if we have to wait two years between story missions when PvE was the biggest selling point of the sequel, that’s a real sad turn of events.