Crimson Eye Event and Seasonal Event Toggle

The patch introduces the Crimson Eye event. According to Kinetic Games, various locations across Phasmophobia will be bathed in the red glow of the Blood Moon, offering rewards in return for completing investigations, optional objectives, and more. A new Seasonal Event toggle has been implemented for Crimson Eye and future seasonal events. Players can use this toggle to turn event maps on or off for their session.

Earlier, Kinetic Games announced that the Crimson Eye event runs from October 8, 2026 through November 1, 2026. Event locations include 6 Tanglewood Drive, 42 Edgefield Road, Grafton Farmhouse, 13 Willow Street, Bleasdale Farmhouse, Point Hope (Standard only), Camp Woodwind, and Nell’s Diner. Players hunt down Blood Moon totems and complete investigations and optional objectives to earn points while dealing with Blood Moon weather, which increases the challenge from ghosts. The event lands in a busy October for Halloween updates across games.

For this year’s event, rewards include a seasonal event tee, the Beholder ID Card & Badge set, and the Blood Moon charm, alongside an upgradeable trophy. During the first week of Crimson Eye, a Twitch Drop campaign offers the Crimson Eye tee after watching two hours of Phasmophobia streams. The campaign runs until 11:59 PM BST on October 15, 2026. Double XP and rewards run from October 15 to 22, doubling all rewards from completed investigations, continuing a run of Twitch Drops and Double XP Phasmophobia has hosted before. The final week, October 26 through November 1, features Ghost Hunts 4 Hearts with the American Heart Association. Last year the Phasmophobia community raised over $100,000 for the AHA.

Fixes and Known Issues

The October 7 patch also includes two specific fixes. One fixed an issue that caused the white light upon being revived to flash rather than slowly fade in and out. The other fixed an issue where an Easter Egg reward may not unlock, despite a 0x multiplier being active and the reward pop up being displayed.

Kinetic Games listed two known issues. The lampposts outside of 6 Tanglewood Drive may glow when viewed by the player. The Fusebox location will not be hidden on the Truck map when playing on a custom difficulty.

Inferno and Firefighter Supply

The Firefighter Supply type appears only during the Inferno Time of Day. Players can find valuable rewards such as the Flame Rifle, Scouting Map, or Tarot Cards. Crytek describes the Flame Rifle as a scarce weapon that releases pressurized liquid producing a steady burst of flames. It is guaranteed to be found at the Firefighter Supply.

All Hallows’ Cleave community event

The All Hallows’ Cleave community event consists of five stages. Players progress by earning Community Event Points by completing objectives in matches. Stage 1 introduces a new Tarot Card called The Atlas, which reveals all hidden locations on the map. Stage 3 introduces The Temperance, a Tarot Card that restores the last Trait lost by your hunter this mission. The Temperance also returns traits lost to Siphon, not just burn traits. Stage 5 introduces the new tool, the Long Derringer, a small single-shot pistol that fires Long Ammo. Crytek states it deals high damage with a reduced velocity and short drop range. It is more accurate from short to medium range.

Bileweavers and Bloodweavers

Bileweavers make their comeback in Chapter 2, infesting 20 new Compounds across all maps. Five of those Compounds will be selected for each match. Bloodweavers are their deadlier relatives, Bileweaver variations that cause Bleeding damage with their jump attack and egg-hatching. Players can identify them by their red-colored body. Bloodweavers are only present during the Blood Moon Time of Day. Crytek notes that the color of Bileweaver Eggs has changed to better reflect their poisonous nature, and Bloodweaver Eggs inherit the red color with spikes. Bileweavers, Bloodweavers, and the infected new Compounds will all arrive with All Hallows’ Cleave on Oct 13th.

Can you refund your Steam game?

Check the purchase date and recorded playtime before submitting. Valve’s Common Refund Questions counts online, offline and shared-library playtime toward the limit. Playing offline is not a way to preserve eligibility.

If several people use an eligible shared copy, keep the purchase question separate from how Steam Families shares games. Finding a game in your library does not tell you which transaction you need to select for a refund.

Use this sequence to avoid confusing three different problems:

Approval and money arriving are separate milestones. Keep the purchase receipt and support emails together so you can identify which milestone you have reached.

How do you request a Steam refund?

Use Valve’s official step-by-step route:

1. Sign in to Steam Support with the account associated with the purchase.
2. Select Purchases, then the transaction.
3. Choose the problem that matches your situation.
4. Select “I’d like to request a refund.”
5. Pick the offered refund destination, complete the form and submit it.
6. Look for the submission-confirmation email. A processing email follows separately.

If the transaction is absent, double-check the account and receipt before treating the missing entry as a technical fault. Do not choose another purchase just to reach a form.

Why is an approved Steam refund still pending?

Valve’s refund FAQ says approved refunds can take up to seven days to appear, with approved Wallet credit taking 24–48 hours. International payment methods may take longer. After seven days, contact the bank about a missing payment-method refund.

An early cancellation can look different: if approval happens within 24 hours of purchase, the original charge may be canceled. The bank can take up to 30 days to release that hold; you may see the charge disappear instead of receiving a separate credit.

Before contacting anyone, compare the destination selected in the request, the approval email and the current statement. A pending authorization is different from a completed payment awaiting a refund.

Does the refund return to your card or Steam Wallet?

The form offers Wallet or the original payment method where supported. Under Valve’s policy, money goes to Wallet if Steam cannot refund the original method. Do not assume Wallet credit will appear in a bank account.

Also check whether you spent a credited Wallet balance on another purchase. The support FAQ directs players to Account Details → View purchase history when reconciling a missing refund.

What changes for pre-orders, gifts and DLC?

Pre-orders have a release-based return window, redeemed gifts require the recipient’s participation, and DLC eligibility depends on its use. Check the product type before applying the ordinary-game rule.

Those distinctions come from Steam’s refund policy.

Valve’s preorder FAQ permits requests before release and explains the post-release window. Its policy separately warns that Early Access and Advance Access playtime counts toward the two-hour limit, except beta testing. Buying before release does not give you unlimited refundable playtime.

For an old preorder, the FAQ says a purchase over six months old may be refundable only to Wallet. Check that before planning around a card refund.

Can you refund a game that just went on sale?

Yes, if the purchase is eligible: Valve’s refund policy permits returning it and buying again at the lower price. Compare the offer’s deadline on GamerHeadlines’ verified discounts page, rather than assuming the refund will arrive before the sale ends.

If a request is refused and you believe the handling was wrong, the support FAQ allows another request with a detailed explanation. State the concrete discrepancy; repeated submissions do not change the underlying eligibility rules.

In the park, ol’ Baba is a familiar sight on her bench, sipping tea and talking to her birds, and the locals have always suspected that something more brews below the surface. Parkgoers know it is best to stay on Baba’s good side, especially at tea time.

Valve called the selection of its new hero a close contest, and Baba won it. Baba joins a run of recent Deadlock hero additions from Valve, which includes the Rat King hero. She arrives shortly after the City Never Sleeps update expanded the roster with six new heroes.

Baba’s Kit

Baba fights with yarn, tea, and pigeons. In the heat of battle, she throws out her Threadsap, which the studio describes as a chaotic spool of yarn that steals the very spirit of her enemies, granting her greater power. Per Valve, her legs might not be what they used to be, so her trusty bench comes to life with a creak of metal, allowing her to run, jump, and kick with impressive vigor. At tea time, opponents may be splashed with one of Baba’s Brews, and Valve notes that some of them are much sweeter than others. When tea time is over, The Birds come out to play.

Availability and the Next Hero

Baba and her pigeons are available now in the game. Valve’s announcement quotes Baba directly: “They think they know magic? Oh I’ll show ’em some magic.” The studio will return on Friday at 2pm PDT to introduce the next hero, who is not named in the post.

The Ranked Season Change

Deadlock’s first Ranked season is currently underway. Valve also pushed back the end date for the first Ranked season to Thursday November 5, 2026 at 2pm PDT, with the next season starting immediately after.

The release extends a broader year of in-game Dota 2 content from Valve. Earlier in the tournament season, the developer brought back Dota 2 Fantasy for players, and the Trove of Terror now lands in the post-tournament window, after The International 2026 concluded.

A Returning Drow Ranger Arcana

The first of the two Arcana returns Drow Ranger to the spotlight. Valve describes the Drow Ranger Arcana as long thought lost to the flow of time. It lets the hero keep the look players remember, or shift into a new grave-stalking form.

Tidehunter’s Maw of the Megalodon

The other Arcana is new. Named the Maw of the Megalodon, it belongs to the creature called Tidehunter and arrives with a new model, a host of custom animations, effects, taunts, and voice lines. The Arcana drags a familiar-looking corpse that is one part security blanket and one part snack, and players who master its secrets can unlock all three of its shark-toothed designs.

New Tormentor and Roshan Appearances

The Trove of Terror also adds new appearances for Tormentor and Roshan, and the same horror flavor runs through those looks. Players who open enough treasures are guaranteed to attract the gaze of an all-seeing new Tormentor, and opening more summons an incomprehensible new design for Roshan, the face of eldritch terror itself. To get started, players launch Dota 2.

Livestream Schedule and Keynote

The livestream begins at 12PM on November 6 and 7 PST on twitch.tv/pathofexile. The keynote begins at 1PM PST. The stream includes the keynote with big announcements, live podcasts featuring Path of Exile content creators, and developer panels. Co-streaming of the event is welcome.

The keynote will bring unannounced updates from Path of Exile game directors Jonathan Rogers and Mark Roberts. It will also include deep dives into specific game mechanics. New Twitch Drops will be available during the event, and Grinding Gear Games will announce those drops in the coming weeks. More Path of Exile 2 news is expected after the game’s full release registration opened in September.

Tickets, Teasers, and Event Details

A very limited batch of ExileCon 2026 tickets is now available for sale on the official ExileCon 2026 page at pathofexile2.com/exilecon. Teasers for the event are coming soon. The full event schedule and attendee information, including the cosplay policy and the code of conduct for streamers participating in the event, will be posted in a couple of weeks.

Exclusive Demos, Panels, and Race Finals

Talks from many Grinding Gear Games developers run across the weekend, covering topics from game design to engine development. Attendees can play exclusive demos of unreleased content on demo machines and give feedback directly to the developers. The event includes an exclusive ExileCon card game available only at the event.

Path of Exile streamers will hold meet and greet sessions, with a streamer stage for reactions to the announcements and hands-on time with the demos. Race finals for both Path of Exile and Path of Exile 2 are played on both days of ExileCon.

The Galactic League is an unsanctioned racing circuit born in the lawless Outer Rim, where syndicates sponsor pilots. Players race as Shade, a lone racer chasing revenge and glory. The title was first announced for Xbox earlier, and it appeared in the Next Week on Xbox roundup of new releases for October 5 to 9.

Runs, builds, and the wreck out system

Each run begins with a vehicle choice, then a Racer Style that sets a baseline direction, such as an afterburner build or a cooled build. After each race, players add abilities, parts, and upgrades. Financial rewards from races are spent at a shop between planets.

The wreck out system limits the number of crashes allowed in a race. Using them all wrecks the vehicle out, forfeits a League Token, and sends the player back to the start of the tour. The crash system is procedural and cinematic, with crash sequences capped at eight seconds.

Vehicle types, progression, and multiplayer

Players race four vehicle types, including skim speeders, speeder bikes, landspeeders, and podracers. Progression includes stat build-up in cornering, resilience, ramjet, and afterburner, plus up to five parts of varying rarity. Some parts develop faults. Permanent progression outside tours and favors that modify the rules for the next run also appear.

Multiplayer uses a shorter session time with the same Racer Style and build system, ending in a final knockout event. Winning grants XP to unlock new characters and customization. Voting on the player you think will win also earns XP.

The Deluxe Edition includes three exclusive Kor Sarun vehicles, the Ciza T speeder bike, the Darc X landspeeder, and the Rak S skim speeder. It also contains a Livery inspired by the Naboo N-1 starfighter, three Arcade Events, a deluxe Player Banner, and a Digital Art Book. Creative Director Kieran Crimmins and Co-founder and Head of Content Steve Uphill lead development at Fuse Games.

The change is part of a matchmaking test rather than a permanent switch. Beginning at approximately 10am PT, cross-play becomes the default setting for all players across every console on the US-West server cluster. The test is limited to the US-West region, so players elsewhere keep their current matchmaking settings for now. Respawn says the test is meant to shorten queue times and tighten matchmaking skill bands, so lobbies fill faster and players meet opponents closer to their own ability level.

How the cross-play test works

Cross-play lets players on different platforms share the same matchmaking pool, and Apex Legends already supports the feature across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. Skill bands are the matchmaking rating brackets used to group players of similar ability, so tightening them should produce closer, more even matches. During the test, console players in the US-West region are placed into cross-platform lobbies by default, but they can opt out at any time by turning off cross-play in the settings menu.

The test is scheduled to run until the current season ends on November 3. The focus on queue times and skill matching continues work the studio has done in recent weeks. In late September, Respawn flagged matchmaking issues alongside the rollout of EA Javelin anticheat, and this US-West test is the next step in that effort.

Two bug fixes in the same update

The October 6 update also ships two fixes. The first addresses missing floor geometry in the Terraformer area of Broken Moon, a map location where players were able to clip into the ground. The second stops Gibraltar’s skydive emote audio from continuing to play after the Legend lands.

The cross-play test follows the October 2 hotfix that resolved a Steam settings reset bug and tuned the Fast Draw Wild Card perk. Respawn announced the matchmaking test one day before it begins, with the details appearing in the studio’s October 6 patch notes on Steam.

Morvenn Vahl, Supreme Commander of the Adepta Sororitas

Morvenn Vahl is from the Warhammer 40,000 universe. She was formerly a young Celestian Superior and was chosen to become High Abbess Sanctorum, supreme commander of the Adepta Sororitas. She is described as an iron-willed warrior who spearheads many crusades personally, leading from the front. She is one of the larger characters in the game and strides across the battlefield in a Paragon Warsuit.

The Paragon Warsuit is armed with the Heavy Bolter Fidelis, which sprays an arc of projectiles. The Heavy Bolter Fidelis has a chance to trigger a miracle that increases its rate of fire. Fidelis can be evolved into the Purgator Mirabilis, which unlocks the warsuit’s Paragon Missile Launcher. The Paragon Missile Launcher unleashes a sporadic salvo of explosions.

Lyssa Revenya and Her Rope and Grapnel

Lyssa Revenya is from the Warhammer Age of Sigmar universe and hails from Lethis. She is a skilled thief and tomb-robber. She is an integral member of the Saviours of Cinderfall, a band of heroes who scoured the streets of Hammerhal and put an end to those plotting the city’s demise. She turns her tools for breaking and entering into weapons.

Her Rope and Grapnel shoots hooks in from random edges of the screen, damaging enemies and dragging away any who survive. When the Rope and Grapnel evolves, Lyssa communes with the spirit of Rhea, a former ally and mentor. Rhea is a screaming banshee that soars across the battlefield and explodes into a vengeful cloud of ghostly fog.

Pre-Orders and Wider Warhammer 40,000 Games

Warhammer Survivors can be wishlisted and pre-ordered on PlayStation 5 starting October 6, 2026. PlayStation Plus members receive a 10 percent discount when pre-ordering. Warhammer 40,000 content also appears in Helldivers 2’s Warhammer 40,000 Legendary Warbond. Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate Deathwatch is a Warhammer 40,000 strategy game announced for Xbox.

What changed between early access and the full launch?

The worldwide release followed a five-day early-access period. The Coalition’s October 1 announcement gives the two start times:

That timing is historical now. The upgrade’s early-start benefit cannot give you those five days back. GH’s early-access coverage documents the previous window; judge an upgrade today by its remaining contents.

Which Game Pass or purchase route do you need?

The US Xbox product listing identifies the available Game Pass, store-ownership and cloud-play options.

An account sign-in, a subscription and a purchased copy are different things. Before paying, match your intended device to the entitlement offered in your store or library.

Does Xbox Play Anywhere include a Steam copy?

No Steam license is promised by Xbox Play Anywhere. It applies to participating digital games bought through the Xbox or Windows Store, or qualifying digital codes. Its official FAQ describes console, Windows PC and supported handheld access, with shared progress, add-ons and achievements within that system.

Steam is not one of those purchase routes. If you plan to alternate between an Xbox console and the Xbox PC app, check a Play Anywhere purchase before paying twice. If you prefer Steam, choose it knowingly; do not infer a free console license or Steam-to-console save transfer from the Play Anywhere badge.

Can you play split-screen or online co-op?

The Xbox listing specifies two-player split-screen on console and online co-op for up to four players. It requires Essential, Premium or Ultimate for console online multiplayer; local split-screen is console-only. Check the product’s multiplayer terms before arranging a session.

For a couch session, settle the console and local-player setup first. For a remote session, each player should check their own access and online requirements before the group chooses its mode.

What should you do once you get in?

Xbox’s launch guidance identifies optional side missions that can award weapon mods and an audio chime that signals nearby collectibles.

GH’s pre-install report covers the earlier download preparation. If you cannot connect now, use the official Gears service-status page and support resources to investigate. Availability in a store does not prove that every online service is currently working.