BioWare closure 🎮, Battlefront 3 🎬, Unity CLI 🛠️
Games and Industry 🎮
BioWare to close as next Mass Effect game is cancelled
BioWare, the developer of Mass Effect and Dragon Age, says it is closing after more than 30 years and ending early development on the next Mass Effect game. Bloomberg reports that EA plans to cut about 400 jobs, roughly 3% of its staff, including around 50 at BioWare. A staff letter seen by Bloomberg also says EA is cancelling a planned Sims game, code-named Project Lotus, and downsizing the skate development team.
Respawn and DICE Reportedly Collaborating on Star Wars: Battlefront 3
EA executives have said Respawn and DICE will collaborate on a project, which Variety sources identify as Star Wars: Battlefront 3. EA has not publicly confirmed the project’s identity, and the report does not provide details on its development or release. The studios are not the Free Radical Design team behind a previously canceled Battlefront 3.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 draws favourable early reviews
Early reviews of Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 are generally favourable, with a Metacritic score of 84. Critics praise its campaign, gunplay and multiplayer variety while noting uneven storytelling, frustrating stealth and melee, and repetitive large-scale battles. The Switch 2 version includes crossplay and cross-progression, with a 30fps campaign and multiplayer targeting 60fps. Reviewers also praise the DMZ extraction mode, which is in early access, although The Guardian cautions that its success depends on attracting and retaining players.
Dispatch to launch on iOS and Android on December 9, 2026
AdHoc Studio’s narrative superhero game Dispatch will launch on iOS and Android on December 9, 2026, with touch controls and support for vertical play. The first four of its eight episodes will be free, with the full mobile game available for $19.99. Google Play pre-registration and App Store pre-orders are due to open. The studio says Dispatch has attracted more than five million players since its original launch.
Development and Studio Craft 🛠️
Unity demonstrates beta CLI for editor and runtime automation
Unity demonstrated its beta CLI for automating editor and runtime workflows with scripts or external AI agents. It supports macOS and Windows, requires Unity 6.0 or later and connects to the editor through the Pipeline package. Examples included voice-controlled automotive visualization, a puzzle-game level editor and regression testing. Its MCP mode replaces the older editor MCP server. Unity said a full release is planned for November. The game prototype combined agent-assisted development with handcrafted levels and manual testing.
Jeff Gabor demonstrates Zebra character animation in Unreal Engine 5.8
Epic principal animator Jeff Gabor builds a chest-up reaction shot in Unreal Engine 5.8 using the released Zebra sample and filmed acting reference. The Inside Unreal demonstration covers the simplified timeline, spline blocking, space switching with keyframe compensation, tween sliders, and facial squash and stretch, alongside workflow settings for animators moving from Maya. The team also shows utility rigs and layered physics for secondary motion. Gabor’s control picker is an internal Epic tool; built-in selection sets provide an alternative.
Setting and reviewing quarterly goals at indie game studios
Quarterly “rocks” translate an indie studio’s annual aims into specific 90-day goals, according to business coach Martijn van Zwieten. He recommends agreeing on five to seven priorities as a team, defining clear completion criteria and using those priorities to evaluate incoming work. Teams then review results and obstacles each quarter without assigning blame, using what they learn about capacity to make future goals more realistic.
Gaming Trends 📊
October 2026 Steam Next Fest analysis tracks participation growth and AI disclosures
How to Market a Game’s preliminary analysis counted 7,240 games in October 2026’s Steam Next Fest, up 65.2% from June. AI use was disclosed by 34.6% of participants but only two of the top 25 demos ranked by peak concurrent players. Art and visuals were the most commonly disclosed uses. Larger follower totals and absolute follower gains before the festival correlated with higher demo player peaks. The findings rely on early player data and developers’ disclosures, which may omit AI use.