Gaming News · Issue #18 · 25 August 2026
TL;DR
The Witcher 4 finally has a release window, 2028, and CD Projekt Red is skipping Gamescom to spotlight a Witcher 3 expansion instead.
Active Matter keeps its multiverse extraction raids fed with a new weapon wave and fresh in-game rewards.
Modern Warfare 4’s second beta patch adds the Lotus map and slows time-to-kill across several guns.
Arena Breakout: Infinite opens a confidential Season 7 test, and signups close August 26.
Mortal Shell II lands near 84 on Metacritic and ships a day-one patch that reworks its Shells.
🎯 Extraction shooters
Active Matter Preps a New Weapon Wave and Fresh Rewards as Its Multiverse Raids Roll On
Active Matter, an extraction shooter where squads raid fractured timelines for loot and try to escape with it, is running a steady drip of updates ahead of a wider Steam and console release. On August 24 the developers confirmed a fresh batch of in-game rewards is inbound, days after teasing the first wave of an expanded weapon arsenal on August 20. Neither drop is huge on its own, but together they keep the raid loop fed while the game builds toward launch.
Player impact: If you have been curious about a smaller extraction shooter, this run of updates is the sign it is still worth your raid time. Watch whether the new guns actually shift how fights play out or just fill the store.
Sources: Active Matter official news
Arena Breakout: Infinite Opens a Confidential Season 7 Test With Signups Closing August 26
Arena Breakout: Infinite, the free-to-play PC extraction shooter from developer Morefun, is recruiting for a confidential Season 7 closed beta test. Signups run through August 26, with test servers opening August 27 at 09:00 UTC under a strict no-streaming, no-screenshots rule. The team is teasing a shadows theme that points to low-visibility gameplay and map tweaks. It follows Season 6 White Nights, which the studio pitched as the start of a rebuild it calls ABI 2.0.
Player impact: If you want an early look at where this Tarkov-style shooter is heading, register before August 26 closes the window. Just know the non-disclosure agreement means you cannot clip or stream anything you find.
Sources: MMOExp · MMOExp signup guide
🔫 FPS
Modern Warfare 4’s Beta Adds the Lotus Map and Slows Time-to-Kill in Its Second Patch
Infinity Ward pushed a second Modern Warfare 4 beta patch on August 23, adding the 6v6 map Lotus, a 3v3 Gunfight playlist on Kill Block, and a Transit 213 24/7 rotation. The bigger change is combat pacing: several guns had their time-to-kill raised, the number of hits it takes to down an enemy, with the FiNN LMG’s max damage cut from 39 to 33 and the Type 73 dropped from 31 to 30. The studio also admitted spawns still need work.
Player impact: Longer time-to-kill rewards aim and positioning over first-shot spam, so grinders should relearn their ranges before Weekend 2 opens the level cap to 30 and adds Ground War and Warzone Resurgence on August 28.
Sources: PCGamesN · MW4.GG patch notes
🔜 Coming soon
CD Projekt Red Pins The Witcher 4 to 2028 and Keeps It Out of Gamescom
CD Projekt Red joint-CEO Michal Nowakowski confirmed on August 24 that The Witcher 4 is targeting a 2028 release, the first time the studio has named a window since the game’s 2024 reveal. He also said it will not appear or be playable at Gamescom 2026. Instead, the studio’s showcase this week centers on The Witcher 3 expansion Songs of the Past, which is due in 2027.
Player impact: A 2028 target means the next mainline Witcher is still years out, so temper any Gamescom hype now. The nearer bet for Witcher fans is the 2027 return to Geralt in the Songs of the Past expansion.
Sources: Game Informer · PC Gamer
Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 2 Frees MGS4 From the PS3 on August 27
Konami’s Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 2 arrives August 27 on PS5, PC, Xbox Series, Switch, and Switch 2, and early reviews are strong. The headline is Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, playable off PlayStation 3 hardware for the first time since 2008. The set also bundles Peace Walker and the bonus title Metal Gear Ghost Babel. Reviewers call it the best way to play two stealth classics.
Player impact: Stealth fans who never owned a PlayStation 3 finally get MGS4 without hunting down old hardware. If you are on Switch 2 or PC, this is the version to buy in on.
Sources: TechRadar review · Pure Xbox
🆕 Just released
Mortal Shell II Lands Near 84 on Metacritic and Reworks Its Shells in a Day-One Patch
Mortal Shell II, the 49.99 US dollar soulslike sequel from indie studio Cold Symmetry, launched August 20 and its reviews have settled around 84 on Metacritic and 85 on OpenCritic. Critics credit faster combat, a bigger open world, and a deeper Shell system, the game’s swappable warrior bodies, for the jump over the 2020 original. A day-one patch went past bug fixes, rebalancing the Shell and Tarstone upgrade systems and making several encounters deadlier.
Player impact: If the first game’s stiff combat bounced you, the sequel’s faster pace and stronger reviews make it the soulslike worth trying this week. Just expect that day-one patch to have sharpened the tougher fights.
Sources: Metacritic · G2A News
🆓 Free to try
Free to Grab This Week: Epic’s Cardpocalypse Before August 27 Plus New Prime Gaming Claims
A few free-to-keep offers are worth acting on before they rotate. The Epic Games Store’s free game Cardpocalypse, a single-player deck-builder, is claimable to keep until August 27 at 11am ET, then it swaps for a new weekly title. Amazon’s Prime Gaming has also refreshed its August claims, adding titles like Spray Paint Simulator that stay in your library while your Prime membership is active.
Player impact: Claiming a free-to-keep game takes seconds and the title is yours for good, so grab Cardpocalypse on Epic before the August 27 swap and clear the new Prime Gaming claims while they are live.
Sources: gg.deals Prime Gaming · Epic Cardpocalypse
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7 stories in this issue. Same digest goes out in the Warhogy Discord — reply to this email if there is a story I missed.