Video game news digest: Tuesday, October 27, 2026

Microsoft offers voluntary buyouts to around 60,000 employees, Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced gets its final major update and Emberville slips to 2027 the day before launch. On the release front, Minecraft lands on Switch 2 today.

Microsoft offers voluntary exits to 60,000 employees

Microsoft is offering about 60,000 employees, just over a quarter of its workforce, the chance to leave with a severance package, according to an internal memo from chief people officer Amy Coleman reported by IGN and PC Gamer. The offer covers staff in the US, Canada, the UK and India, and each organization decides whether to take part. It is not yet known whether Xbox is one of them. Those who accept will leave the company on December 31, according to CNBC and CNN. The plan comes three months after 4,800 jobs were cut in July, some of them at Xbox.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced adds New Game+ and Nightmare Mode today

The final major content update for Ubisoft's remake goes live today, Tuesday, October 27, at 14:00 UTC on all platforms. New Game+ lets you start over with your tools, weapons, Jackdaw upgrades, money and fleet, up to five times, with tougher seas on every run. Nightmare Mode is unforgiving: enemies deal 1.8x damage, the parry window shrinks and a single bullet or explosion can kill Edward outright, even at full health. Takedown animations from the 2013 original also return. After this, Ubisoft only plans quality-of-life fixes.

Emberville delayed to January 7, 2027

Cygnus Cross's action RPG, where you rebuild a town between fights, was due to enter Early Access on Steam today; it will now arrive on Thursday, January 7, 2027. The team wants to fold in changes requested after its Steam Next Fest demo, such as reworked bow combat, which could not be finished in time. Those improvements will be in the build from day one of Early Access.

Call of Duty passes $40 billion in revenue

Activision's series has crossed $40 billion in lifetime revenue, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced on X following last Friday's launch of Modern Warfare 4 (IGN). No sales figures have been shared for the new entry, though Activision used to trumpet its launch records, Kotaku points out. Microsoft reports its quarterly earnings on Wednesday, October 28.

The Mortuary Assistant creator's canceled horror game is out for free

Brian Clarke (DarkStone Digital) has shadow-dropped Playable Archive, a short, free horror game for PC on Steam. It is the project he had spent several years on before it was canceled this year, reworked with publisher DreadXP so it would not gather dust. According to Polygon and IGN, it is Paranormal Activity: Threshold, dropped by Paramount, with every reference to the films removed.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion turns Castle Doom into a run-based mode

The Siege of Castle Doom DLC, due Tuesday, November 10, adds Invisible Woman and Doctor Doom as playable heroes, plus a new mode where every run plays out differently. Inside the castle, you pick your route door by door (gear, healing, arenas with altered rules) while a Siege Gauge fills with every hit you take and makes enemies faster. Batteries dropped by enemies unlock offense, defense or tactical perks. Even a failed run feeds energy into Reed Richards' Lab, where you unlock new equipment and modifiers.

Out today

Minecraft launches today on Switch 2 as an enhanced version that supports the Vibrant Visuals graphics mode (Nintendo's announcement).