This Week in Business is our weekly recap column, a collection of stats and quotes from recent stories presented with a dash of opinion (sometimes more than a dash) and intended to shed light on various trends. Check every Friday for a new entry.

This industry is terrified of transparency.

From the secrecy around development to the unnecessary NDAs on everything from ex-employees to underwhelming embargoed news, the games industry likes nothing so much as playing its cards close to the chest.

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NIS America provided Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless players with an update on the Disgaea 7 Season Pass DLC. This update covers what content will be available in reach region. Specifically, it also mentioned the times for the Season Pass' items release.

In the Americas and Europe, "Bonus Story: The Overlord, Demon Lord, and Sheltered Girl" and "Bonus Story: The Hothead, Princess, and Dreamer" are now available to play.  

In all regions at 12am local time on October 9, 2023, "Bonus Story: The Honor Student, Final Boss, and Ex-President", "Bonus Story: The Instructor, Steward, and Fallen Angel of Love", "Bonus Story: The Kind Demon, Singing Princess, and Thief Angel", "Bonus Story: The Zombie Sibs and Angel Little Sister", "Bonus Story: The Delinquent, Curry Lover, and Lady Overlord", and the Pleinair Completion Bonus will be available.

NIS America provided a disclaimer for the DLC. It stated that if the listed DLC are not immediately available at 12am local time, they will be available by the end of the day on October 9, 2023.

The company also noted that the Pleinair Completion Bonus comes with all Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless Complete Editions, the Season Pass, or if all Bonus Stories are purchases separately.

For players in Australia and New Zealand, Disgaea 7 will launch on October 13, 2023 alongside all of the Bonus Stories.

The Call of Duty team has lifted the lid on its upcoming Warzone map, Urzikstan.

This map, which is described as an "urban battleground" was unveiled as part of Call of Duty: Next. It will arrive with the first season of Modern Warfare 3 sometime in December.

Urzikstan is in Western Asia and borders the Republic of Adal. Call of Duty regulars will know this area as the location of Warzone's Al Mazrah map.

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We finally have a release date for American Arcadia: 15th November on PC (via Steam). So, if you are anything like me and rather looking forward to this release, thankfully there is not too much longer to wait.

If you are unsure of what American Arcadia is all about, I will give you a little overview. It is by Out of the Blue, the same studio that gave us 2020's rather special Call of the Sea, and set in the "retro-futuristic '70 metropolis" Arcadia.

On the outside, Arcadia seems to promise its residents a life of cushy luxury, but all is not what it seems. In fact, the Arcadia residents are all part of a TV show, and they have no idea they are being recorded for the entertainment of the wider public (think The Truman Show). But, it is not all as innocent as that (not that that is especially innocent, really). You see, if the viewers don't like someone, well, it could end in their death. And this is something that our poor everyday man Trevor Hills is trying to avoid.

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Teyon and Nacon's forthcoming 80s sci-fi FPS Robocop: Rogue City has a demo, allowing those who wouldn't even buy it for a dollar to spend an hour or two in the game's crime-ridden Old Detroit, fighting crime.

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Why I Love is a series of guest editorials on GamesIndustry.biz intended to showcase the ways in which game developers appreciate each other's work. This entry was contributed by Joel Roset, Game Director at developer Noname Studios, whose genre-bending 2D adventure platformer, Worldless published by Thunderful and Coatsink is coming to Xbox, PC, Nintendo Switch and PC on November 21.

When people think of the Final Fantasy series they generally don't think about Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.

The original Final Fantasy XIII was often considered an overly linear disappointment that lacked the exploration and towns that made previous entries in the series such beloved epics. So the idea of two additional sequels – Final Fantasy XIII-2 was the first follow-up – wasn't on many's wish list. Yet this oft overlooked third entry, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, really stuck with me for one important reason: its combat system.

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There’s a new Theresa Apocalypse Honkai Impact 3rd Lunar Vow: Crimson Love battlesuit about to debut in-game. HoYoVerse confirmed it will be part of the 7.0 update. This will be an S-rank battlesuit. This will also be the second of her vampire persona battlesuits, as the Luna Kindred already appeared. 

This new video begins with a closer examination of Luna, showing some attacks and a closer look at her dress. From there, members of the team talked about her. They noted she’s waiting to reunite with the Captain, and the concept is showing her dressing up in her gothic dress for that opportunity to reunite. She looks more mature than before, with the team saying she could “break free from cursed chains” while waiting for the Captain to come back. 

However, they note that while she looks cute, she’s still a berserker vampire. They noted her new moveset shows that she’s in control of it. However, she also wields a chainsaw to show her ferocity

Here’s a closer look at the Honkai Impact 3rd Lunar Vow: Crimson Love battlesuit:

Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days sale is proving a decent source of Steam Deck accessory deals. Last week’s early offers shaved cash off some of my personal favourite cases, docks, and microSD cards, and now that the main event is underway, there’s a fresh supply of affordable add-ons for the Valve handheld. Here, we shall catalogue the best.

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Premium Bandai will produce and sell a unique light lamp modeled after a 16-bit Kirby sprite from the SNES entry Kirby Super Star. In its Japanese press release, the company revealed that the sprite light will support multiple brightness levels. The user will be able to set the light to be either bright enough to help read books and play games, or dim enough for sleep time. [Thanks, 4Gamer!]

The lamp will be 20cm (7.87in) wide and 19m (7.48in) tall. It will also have a thickness of 5 centimeters or almost 2 inches.

CD Projekt Red spent over $60 million on the development of Phantom Liberty, the recently released expansion for Cyberpunk 2077.

The figure emerged from the developer's Investor Day on October 5, where the Polish studio also revealed there is a remaining 178 million PLN ($40 million) of unamortised expenditures on Cyberpunk 2077's base game, incurred prior to its launch.

Development of the base game cost $130 million.

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Happy October. We’re in spooky month territory at long last, even if it has felt a little warm for Fall. Many of us are also looking forward to a three-day weekend here in the States, so that means a nice long chunk of time to get some gaming in—and you can pair it with a pumpkin spice latte!

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The Pirate genre has been a beloved theme for a long time; many daydream about captaining their ship on the high seas, answering to no one, and grasping the definition of freedom. The golden age of piracy is long since dead in the real world, but video games are not bound by this rule. With so much potential for narratives and experiences to be forged, is there any wonder why it is so popular? So here we have compiled the top 10 best pirate games.

Takara Tomy confirmed that it will release a special Zoids model kit of the Gatling Fox designed after the Hololive VTuber Shirakami Fubuki. Pre-orders for the kit will be first held physically at the 40th Anniversary Great Zoids Exhibition 2023.

The exhibition will take place at Gallery AaMo in Tokyo Dome City on October 7-22, 2023. One person can order up to three kits — each priced at ¥6,050 (~$40.60) — with an additional shipping cost of ¥1,200. Takara Tomy warns that if the stocks are sold out at the event, there will be no future resales for this kit.

Shirakami Fubuki has been known to have Zoids as one of her favorite franchises. In 2020, the VTuber made a tweet mentioning the Gatling Fox that appeared in Zoids: Wild ZERO. Three years later, her dream collaboration has become a reality.

I Expect You To Die 3: Cog In the Machine is notable if only for being the third entry in a series on VR games. Most VR titles can consider themselves lucky if they get a sequel, let alone attain the hallowed status of "trilogy". Then again, few VR games have found a formula that is as dependable and repeatable as Schell Games' collection of spy capers. Much in the same way that the James Bond series has a set structure and tropes, only I Expect You To Die's blueprint involves pastiche and puzzles rather than cars, gadgets, and variously objectified women.

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As you may recall, earlier this year Blizzard confirmed that Diablo 4 requires players to create new characters each season. And, with season two just around the corner, we thought it would be a good idea to let you know how to ensure you don't lose your stash as well as your character.

When Diablo 4's current season - Season of the Malignant - comes to an end, players will see their seasonal characters moved over to the Eternal Realm with all their items - but there's a time limit to recover them.

Items will be found in your stash in a new "Withdraw Only Stash tab". But don't get complacent, as they won't stay here forever. If you want to withdraw any of your items from this chest, you will need to make sure you do so before Diablo 4's second season comes to a close. Otherwise, they will become "unrecoverable".

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Microsoft plans to finally buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7bn next Friday, 13th October, according to a fresh report from The Verge.

That date is still contingent on the UK's Competition and Markets Authority giving the deal an official green light - though the regulator has already signalled it is likely to do so.

The CMA has until 18th October to weigh in with its final decision, following a deadline today for feedback on the deal's revised form - now Microsoft has agreed to sell off streaming rights for Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft.

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Having hollowed out the Asteroid of Co-Op (Resource) Extraction FPS, Ghost Ship are sinking their drills into the Planet of Roguelite. The just-announced Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core is a crafty feat of genre-splicing in which one to four dwarven miners investigate an alien world whose "core has gone rogue". As in the original Deep Rock Galactic, which we loved, you'll be tunnelling down and fighting critters (exact species TBA) while harvesting precious ores. But this time, there's no returning to the ship once you've loaded up enough. The only way out is down.

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It's not that there's anything actually wrong with Payday 3. The levels are well-designed, encouraging the kind of outside-the-box thinking that rewards both the bold and the curious. The effervescent glee you feel each time you saunter past a security camera with a sports bag stuffed full of money on your back is unrivalled, and for those opting for a less stealthy approach, the gunplay – if requiring a little acclimation at first – is punchy and impactful.

The trouble with Payday 3, though, is that whilst in isolation, it's a perfectly perfunctory shooter that'll happily keep you sated for a few weekends, when compared to its own predecessor, the new game repeatedly comes up short. Yes, we have some new gadgets to try, and yes, there are new ways to manage the civvies caught up in your criminal shenanigans, but ultimately it's a faded facsimile of what's come before it - and that's without taking into account a release so bungled, the game was essentially unplayable for the first five days of its launch week.

For those unfamiliar with the formula, Payday 3 sees you and a gaggle of pals pull off increasingly outrageous heists, using your brain, brawn – and often both – to get the better of the security systems that separate you from your prize. The missions we have – there are just eight right now, which feels like a meagre offering – take you right across New York City as OG Payday stalwarts Dallas, Chains, Hoxon, and Wolf return with some other familiar faces to pull off daring robberies, from the obligatory bank burglary to elaborate art heists.

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Microsoft is confident it can complete its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard this time next week.

That's according to sources speaking to The Verge, who say that the Xbox firm plans to close the deal on Friday, October 13.

Completion is still dependent on the merger being approved by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority, but the body provisionally approved the deal last month and is expected to announce its final decision later today.

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Final Fantasy 14 players have been analysing a pair of legs in a bid to work out the next playable race to be added to the game.

Earlier this week, the game's latest patch (6.5) was released and in its ending cutscene there's a pair of legs that appear to be from a potential new playable race.

Reddit user Drbiohazmat has datamined the legs to find out some more detail: the legs have hair all over, a unique running and jumping animation, and a hole where a tail should be.

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Epic Games is raising the price of its Unreal Engine for developers outside the gaming industry.

Speaking during a presentation at Unreal Fest 2023, as captured by Fortnite Creative developer ImmatureGamerX on social media and spotted by Game World Observer, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney revealed that from next year, industries outside game development will only be able to access Unreal Engine via a seat-based enterprise software licensing model.

He clarified that the licensing model would not be "unusually expensive or inexpensive" and would work similarly to Maya and Photoshop.

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PlayStation has launched the Sony Pictures Core app on PS4 and PS5, which allows users to buy and rent Sony films from their consoles.

The app is the successor to Bravia Core, which is currently available on Sony's Bravia TVs and Xperia devices.

Up to 2000 films will be available through Sony Pictures Core. Users of the app will also be able to buy select Sony Pictures films during an exclusive, earlier period. In select regions including the UK, France, Germany, and Japan, the first film which will be available to buy earlier will be the Gran Turismo movie.

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Payday 3 has had a rather rocky start, with server issues plaguing its launch leaving many unable to play the always-online heist shooter. Now, another rock has made its way onto that already bumpy road, with developer Starbreeze announcing it has chosen to delay its upcoming patch.

This patch was initially meant to be released yesterday, 5th October, and address "200+ QoL-improvements for all platforms". However, the developer has pushed it back until an unspecified time in mid-October. This, the Payday 3 team has said, is to "ensure its stability".

"The patch needs some changes that would require us to go through console certification again," Starbreeze explained. In a follow up post, the team confirmed that this will mean the game's "PS5 bonus content will remain unredeemable until this patch is ready".

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A new update for Armored Core 6 has been released, making a huge number of balance changes.

The game was patched a couple of weeks back but, as anticipated, this new patch is aimed at PvP and makes changes to the majority of weapons - including the game's best.

Yes, I'm talking about the Songbirds and Zimmerman.

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This week on the Eurogamer Newscast, we discuss the topic of video game industry layoffs, something that seems to be rarely out of the headlines over the past few weeks and months.

Layoffs are nothing new, of course, but this year in particular feels like a particularly tough time, at companies big and small. From tech giants such as Microsoft and Epic Games down to development studios such as Telltale Games, the bad news just keeps on coming.

We discussed the job losses at Creative Assembly last week following the cancellation of Hyenas. Since then, we've heard of deep cuts at Team17, and more job losses on Dragon Age. We consider these examples and more, and consider whether each is part of a wider pattern, or a more individual example. Joining me this week are Eurogamer's Victoria Kennedy and Liv Ngan.

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Climbing is one of the great joys of video games. It's one of the things I am always looking out for.

It felt like it was a rarity in games until something like Crackdown came along. I was a long way through Crackdown before I realised that it wasn't really about shooting people or driving cars - its purest pleasures involved navigating the game's complex interlocking 3D world. For years I described it as a platform game, until I had a chat with John from Digital Foundry, who argued that if it was a platforming game, it wasn't a brilliant one. He was right, of course. Crackdown's not a platforming game so much as a climbing game.

Now climbing games are much more common. Grow Home was a great climbing game. This year I've played demos for Jusant and Surmount, both of which handle climbing in their own ways. And this week I played Assassin's Creed Mirage, which is an Assassin's game, an open-worlder, a historical game - its Baghdad is a wonder - and also a great example of how weird triple-A games often are these days. But also, what I'm left with more than anything else, is the realisation that it's a climbing game. All Assassin's games are.

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I'll level with you: for a good long while I absolutely despised The Lamplighters League; approximately one half of it is clumsy, clunky, often deeply annoying, and dubiously conceived. For all that, though, I've become oddly quite fond of its weird mishmash of real-time stealth and heavily XCOM-inspired turn-based action, even if I'm not exactly sure it ever entirely rises above its litany of flaws.

But first, welcome to an alternate-history 1930s, where the suits are sharp, the dames are tough, and an occult-obsessed cabal is gathering an army to bring about the end of the world. It's a set-up that's pure 1930s pulp, The Lamplighters League's gorgeously evocative art style and sultry, swinging soundtrack perfectly capturing the globetrotting, rip-roaring spirit of the classic adventure genre in its heyday. There's a little bit of everything here – Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. Rider Haggard, Raymond Chandler, a big old chunk of H. P. Lovecraft, a wink to Indiana Jones – and The Lamplighters League doesn't miss a beat as its loveable cast of wisecracking rogues gleefully leaps between moonlit cobbled streets, vine-strangled temples, dank swamps, arid deserts, snowy highlands, and tropical island hideouts as it works to halt the apocalyptic designs of the Banished Court.

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We don't generally think of mobile games as being graphical powerhouses, but over the years there have been quite a few games which managed high-end visuals on mobile hardware – from early showcases like Infinity Blade through to the enormous open world of Genshin Impact, there have always been games that pushed the envelope of what mobile hardware could do.

Even so, it's hard not to feel both surprised and impressed by what Capcom's developers have accomplished with Resident Evil Village on iOS. First shown off on stage at Apple's September launch event for the iPhone 15, the game offers graphical fidelity that's pretty much indistinguishable, at least to the layman's eye, from the experience of playing on a PlayStation 5. This is not, as far as we know, a game that was designed with mobile in mind, as opposed to the aforementioned Genshin Impact – it's a full-bore AAA console title, running with no noticeable compromises on a smartphone. Hook it up to a controller, and it's very easy to forget that you're not playing this on dedicated gaming hardware.

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Telltale Games has laid off an unknown number of its team members due to "current market conditions," the California-based studio has confirmed.

Former employee and cinematic artist Jonah Huang claimed on social media that the developer "laid most of us off in early September."

A spokesperson told GamesIndustry.biz: "We did not take this action lightly, and our commitment to storytelling and finding new ways to do so remains the same. We are grateful to everyone for their dedication along this journey, and we are working to support everyone impacted."

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Following boldly in the wake of The Thing, The Terror and, errrr, the experimental artist Ellie Ga, who spent months drawing and sketching aboard a drifting icelocked research vessel, Black Salt and Team 17's Lovecraftian fishing sim Dredge is heading to the Arctic in its first DLC pack, The Pale Reach. Batten down the hatches and check out the trailer.

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Hello! Welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've found ourselves playing over the last few days. This time: pizzas, songs, and witches.

If you fancy catching up on some of the older editions of What We've Been Playing, here's our archive.

I love this whole cosy game movement - games that aren't too taxing but sound nice and feel nice. They're the game equivalent of lo-fi beats to chill to, if that means anything to you, and I am all for them.

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