Gaming News · Issue #44 · 20 September 2026
TL;DR
ARC Raiders Frozen Trail teases the biggest update yet during Tokyo Game Show week, and expeditions are paused until 2027.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 sets an October 23 launch and shows its Korean Peninsula campaign.
Hideo Kojima casts Bill Skarsgard as the lead of his Xbox spy game Physint.
🎯 Extraction shooters
ARC Raiders Teases Frozen Trail, Its Biggest Update Yet, and Freezes Expeditions Until 2027
Embark Studios teased Frozen Trail on September 18, the next big update for its extraction shooter ARC Raiders, where squads loot a hostile map and race to extract while fighting players and AI machines. A full first-look streams September 23, and the update lands October 8. Embark calls it the biggest yet: a new largest-ever map with more verticality, a massive new ARC enemy, a redesigned Raiders Den outpost, and a full skill tree overhaul. Expeditions, its limited-time event runs, are on hold until at least early 2027.
Player impact: If you play ARC Raiders, hold your resource stockpile: a skill tree overhaul can reset builds, and a bigger map changes extraction routes. If you quit, October 8 is the relaunch to watch.
Sources: Games.gg · ARC Raiders official news
🔜 Coming soon
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Locks October 23 and Drops a Korean Peninsula Campaign Trailer
Activision released a new Modern Warfare 4 campaign trailer during Xbox’s Tokyo Game Show broadcast on September 17 and confirmed an October 23 launch. The campaign follows a North Korean invasion of the Korean Peninsula, with a young South Korean soldier named Park alongside returning series lead Captain Price. Campaign early access opens October 16 for Standard and Vault edition preorders. It ships on PS5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC through Steam, Battle.net, and the Xbox app.
Player impact: Mark October 16 if you preorder for the campaign head start, and October 23 for multiplayer. Switch 2 owners finally get a mainline Call of Duty on day one.
Sources: Call of Duty Blog · Xbox Wire
Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance Brings Back Teostra and Adds Master Rank
Capcom showed a fresh look at Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, the first paid expansion for its 2025 hunting game, during Tokyo Game Show on September 17. The elder dragon Teostra returns with a reworked Supernova attack, and Ascendance adds Master Rank, the series’ harder late-game difficulty tier. A new Boost Bracer builds a gauge for weapon-specific power moves, and quality-of-life fixes let you swap weapons without your Seikret mount. It launches in 2027, and the base game arrives on Switch 2 on December 4.
Player impact: Lapsed hunters get a reason to return in 2027, and the weapon-swap fix answers a long-running complaint. Switch 2 players can jump into the base game on December 4.
Sources: Gematsu · Fextralife
Hideo Kojima Casts Bill Skarsgard as the Lead of His Xbox Spy Game Physint
Hideo Kojima revealed at Xbox’s Tokyo Game Show broadcast on September 17 that actor Bill Skarsgard will play the lead in Physint, his next game, a stealth-action espionage title that Xbox is publishing. Skarsgard, known as Pennywise in the It films, joins a cast that already includes Charlee Fraser, Don Lee, and Minami Hamabe. Kojima shared a poster he photographed himself and said the project is making steady progress. Physint still has no release date.
Player impact: Physint is years out, so this is casting news, not a launch. It signals Kojima’s Hollywood-heavy, cinematic approach is still the plan for his post-Death Stranding spy game.
Sources: Xbox Wire · Kojima Productions
🆓 Free to try
Shape of Dreams Shadow-Drops Onto Xbox Game Pass With a New Update
Neowiz shadow-dropped Shape of Dreams straight onto Xbox Game Pass on September 17 during Xbox’s Tokyo Game Show broadcast, alongside a trailer for a new update called The Starless Path. Shape of Dreams is a co-op roguelite, a run-based action game where you restart with new upgrades after each attempt, playable solo or with friends. It is on Game Pass now, so subscribers can try it without a separate purchase. No leave date has been announced.
Player impact: If you have Game Pass, this is a no-cost co-op night: install it and rope in a squad. The Starless Path update means fresh content to dig into on day one.
Sources: Pure Xbox · Xbox Wire
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5 stories in this issue. Same digest goes out in the Warhogy Discord — reply to this email if there is a story I missed.