In an unfortunate bit of news, Gamasutra has learned that Boston-based developer Harmonix Music Systems has laid off 14 employees from multiple departments today. 

The news comes just under a month after the company released its music mixing game DropMix. In a statement to Gamasutra, a Harmonix representative says that the layoffs were made “to reduce our overhead and align our business with our current development slate.”

“This was a difficult decision and we’re grateful to our friends and former colleagues for their many contributions,” the statement continues. “We’re working to ensure that they’re taken care of as we make this change.”

Harmonix did confirm that Rock Band and DropMix remain “in full development” and that the company intends to  reveal more information about its unannounced projects in the coming months. 

If you or someone you know has been affected by these layoffs, you can email Gamasutra to share your story confidentially. 

The Jackbox Party Pack 4 is Now Available on Steam!

The fourth pack in this storied party game franchise features Fibbage 3 and its new game mode, Fibbage: Enough About You; the twisted web game Survive the Internet; the dating contest Monster Seeking Monster; the deranged debate match Bracketeering; and the one-up art game Civic Doodle.

Ready for a fright this spooky night? Good, because you’re in for a real treat! Bloxtober, Roblox’s thrilling month-long Halloween celebration, is already in full swing and we’ve got even more fang-tastic surprises to share with the entire Xbox community! From now until October 31, you and your friends can play three ghoulishly delightful Roblox games, including the all-new Hallow’s Eve: A Tale of Lost Souls, for a chance to win exclusive accessories for your avatar. Feast your eyes on this year’s heart-pounding, bone-chilling, hair-raising Hallow’s Eve event!

Hallow’s Eve: A Tale of Lost Souls is not a game for the faint of heart. After hearing rumors about a haunted orphanage in the town of Halloween Village, your curiosity naturally leads you inside its dreamlike labyrinth of horror and mystery. Luckily, you’re not alone. Dr. Stein, a peculiar mad scientist, asks you to help him free the lost souls he’s accidentally trapped inside this world. Team up and explore strange and otherworldly environments, encounter ghosts, witches, and more, then stop an evil plot from coming to fruition in this exclusive Hallow’s Eve Roblox game, now on Xbox One!

Bloxtober is one of our favorite times of the year at Roblox. Not only is it fun to see so many gamers get into the Halloween spirit, but it’s also a unique opportunity for a lucky group of creators from around the world bring the creative vision and spookiest ideas to life. Each year, we select a team of young and talented developers from the community to build a brand-new game just for this special holiday. Together, they designed an imaginative adventure filled with chills, thrills, and—you guessed it—tricks and treats galore. We can’t wait for everyone to experience and share their favorite moments from Hallow’s Eve: A Tale of Lost Souls!

But that’s not all—there’s even more fun games (and prizes!) to get your scare on during the Hallow’s Eve event. Roblox developers Berezaa and Aqualotl have transformed their games, Azure Mines and Blox Hunt respectively, into a Halloween playground featuring all-new missions. Complete them, and you’ll earn some awesome virtual prizes to dress up your avatar just in time for Halloween!

Want to know the best part? All these games are totally free and they’re a blast to enjoy with kids of all ages! Roblox’s Hallow’s Eve event is now available on Xbox One, so scare up some fun with your friends today! Have a happy Halloween, Robloxians!

We’re really looking forward to playing Kitfox Games’ Moon Hunters, which was announced for the Switch eShop last month. It’s now been given a release date for next week on 26th October, priced at £9.99 in the UK. We expect the North American release to be on the same day also.

In the game you create your own legend in a 1-to-4 player co-operative personality test, and explore a mystical Mesopotamian-inspired world that’s different every time you play.

The game launched on Steam last year, however the Switch version will include the Eternal Echoes DLC (featuring the Snowdancer player character, the One Voice village, snow biome, new enemies, and over a dozen new random encounters) as well as three exclusive new companions to find in the world: Bau, the familiar dog; Lingzhi, the familiar shroom; and Domovoi, the familiar snow monkey.

Single player or local multiplayer (up to four players) is supported, so it could fit the system well. Let us know if you plan to pick this up.

Fire Emblem Warriors is out today on Switch and New 3DS, and we think it’s pretty good; for those wondering, we also have a New 3DS version review in the works to go live very soon. There’s plenty for players to do in the game, such as the main campaign and ‘History’ battles, but just like with Hyrule Warriors there’s a Season Pass to try and tempt you into spending a little more.

Some more details were revealed recently, but now eagle-eyed players have spotted further specifics around the packs, confirming which characters will be playable; details are below (hat tip to Perfectly Nintendo).

Pack #1 – Fire Emblem Fates – December

• New characters: Azura, Niles, Oboro
• New History Mode scenarios: 3
• New costumes: 5

Pack #2 – Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon – February 2018

• Release date: February 2018

• New characters: Navarre, Minerva, Linde
• New History Mode scenarios: 3
• New costumes: 4
• New weapons: 6

Pack #3 – Fire Emblem Awakening – March 2018

• New characters: Owain, Tharja, Olivia
• New History Mode scenarios: 3
• New costumes: 3
• New weapons: 7

Each pack will cost $8.99USD / €8.99 / £8.09 individually, or you can save a little and get all three for $19.99USD / £17.99 / €19.99 through the season pass; if you buy it now you can also get a Lucina Bridal Costume.

Also, don’t forget that you can download a Japanese voice track add-on for free, if that’s your jam.

Do you think you’ll pick up the Season Pass, or does it fail to win you over? Let us know in the comments.

Play Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide for FREE starting now through Thursday October 26th at 10AM Pacific Time. You can also pickup Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide at 75% off the regular price!*

If you already have Steam installed, click here to install or play Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide. If you don’t have Steam, you can download it here.

*Offer ends Thursday October 26th at 10AM Pacific Time

The time to reclaim your home is almost here, Guardians—the PC launch of Destiny 2 is near! Destiny 2 goes live on PC globally starting October 24, and you can play exclusively through Blizzard Battle.net®. If you haven’t already, you can pre-purchase Destiny 2 right now through the Blizzard Shop. Check out this article to watch the PC launch trailer and find out what time the game goes live in your region.

This week at Bungie, we’re getting ready for PC. 

Destiny 2 is arriving at a new frontier in FIVE days. We’ve been hard at work preparing for PC players to arrive at the party. That is not all we have been up to. Yesterday, the long-awaited Prestige raid was released and the bravest among you formed up to see who could be the World First to complete it.

Once we had the chance to review the results, three clans were identified as the first to cross the finish line:

Clan Redeem

Clans Hand of Faith/PRORAIDER/Add Control/ZFORCE NATION

Clan ihavealife

You have yet to master every aspect of the Leviathan. Starting on October 31, we will be adding an optional challenge to a different raid encounter each week to spice things up. We won’t be giving you any hints on how to complete these challenges, but we will let you know when you fail with an in-game message. Your Director will tell you what is at stake each week.

You are probably asking, “What do we get for completing it?”

Glad you asked. You will receive a new emblem for each Raid Challenge you complete. You are also guaranteed a raid drop for that encounter. You have some time to start thinking about what extra challenges lie ahead. Let the speculating begin!

Graphic Content

On Monday, that official launch trailer delivered another peek at the PC version for Destiny 2.

[embedded content]

For all of you PC enthusiasts who love to tinker with your hardware, we have included a deep cache of information on graphics settings you can use to optimize your configurations. Nvidia has created a nice guide to give you a preview of how different settings will affect the game and get you started setting it up to meet your needs. 

D2 Graphics Guide: In this guide you can examine the impact of each of these graphics settings through screenshots and interactive comparisons, learn how they affect performance, see recommendations for performance-improving tweaks, and get recommendations for GPUs capable of producing the highest-quality experiences in Destiny 2 on the PC.

No matter where you are, you can start playing Destiny 2 on your PC at 10 AM Pacific on October 24 digitally via Blizzard Battle.net. This is an important moment for our community. If you’re joining us for the first time, we’re thrilled that you’ll be taking a step into our world.

Seasons of Change

DeeJ and I are heading to beautiful Long Beach, California, for TwitchCon. Tomorrow, we’re putting on a panel to share some info about what Seasons are in Destiny 2. DeeJ will be joined by Live Game Director Ryan Paradis, and Senior Designer Steve Dolan. Here is a little of what you can expect. 

Friday, October 20, 4:30PM Pacific

What do Seasons mean in Destiny 2?

What will change from season to season?

How will this evolve the Destiny player experience?

It is Known

Our Player Support Team has been prepping for PC and has a list of info that you will want to see if you plan on partaking.

This is their report. 

Destiny 2 – Hotfix 1.0.5

Following today’s maintenance, we deployed Destiny 2 Hotfix 1.0.5. This hotfix addressed several issues, including an issue which resulted in the erroneous removal of Raid Keys from players’ inventories.

Trials of the Nine

As a follow-up to reported incidents of emote glitching in the Crucible, we are investigating a fix that we plan to deploy during the first week of November. In the meantime, the next two instances of Trials of the Nine will be postponed. Please stay tuned for updates. We will provide more information as it becomes available. At this time the next instance of Trials of the Nine is forecasted to resume on November 3, 2017.

Day 1 PC Known Issues List

Listed below are issues that Bungie is aware of that exist in Destiny 2 on PC.

• SLI, HDR, and VSYNC: Players may experience some rare issues when enabling SLI, HDR, or disabling VSYNC in some non-native resolutions. For the best experience, players are encouraged to use these features while running at their display’s maximum available resolution.
• Saxophone Errors when Launching: Players may erroneously encounter Saxophone errors when launching the Destiny 2 application directly from the .exe file. Players who encounter this issue must close the application and relaunch through Blizzard’s Battle.net app.
• Idling to Title Screen: In some activities, players who are returned to the title screen due to idling may be unable to log back in. Players who encounter this issue must close and relaunch the Destiny 2 application.
• Login after Disconnects: A generic error code may appear to players who lose internet connection, which may block an affected player from logging back in even after reconnecting. Players who believe they are encountering this issue should close the Destiny 2 application and relaunch.
• Buffalo Errors on multiple PCs: Players may encounter Buffalo errors when logging in to Destiny 2 on multiple PCs at the same time. To prevent this issue, players must ensure that they are logged out of Destiny 2 on any PC that they do not currently intend to play on.
• Cursor in Tri-Monitor Configurations: Changing resolution between 5760×1080, 4080×768, and 3072×768 may trap the mouse cursor in the right-most monitor. Players who encounter this issue should ALT+TAB out of the Destiny 2 application, then back. Players may also toggle Windowed Mode by pressing ALT+ENTER.
• Tri-Monitor Depth of Field: DOF effects may be overly aggressive on some tri-monitor configurations. Players who encounter issues with DOF can disable this feature in the Graphics Settings.
• Windows 10 Game Bar: The Windows 10 game bar may not work in Fullscreen Mode. Affected players who wish to use this feature should use Windowed or Windowed Fullscreen Mode.
• NumPad Binding: Players are not able to bind controls to most NumPad keys.
• Screen Bounds on AZERTY Keyboards: Players may receive an incorrect key prompt when adjusting screen bounds on an AZERTY keyboard.
• IME in Fullscreen: Players who are running Input Method Editors may encounter a black screen or delay when inputting characters in Fullscreen Mode. For the best experience, these players are encouraged to play in Windowed or Windowed Fullscreen Modes.
• Closing Application: When closing Destiny 2 on PC, players must close the application via mouse input. Controllers cannot select the in-game button to close the Destiny 2 application.
• Corporate and University Networks: Some players may be unable to play Destiny 2 on corporate or university networks. Players who encounter this issue must contact their IT department, to meet the connectivity standards outlined in our Network Troubleshooting Guide.

For the best experience, it is recommended that players update their drivers to their most recent versions, and accept any Windows updates that have yet to be applied before accessing the Destiny 2 on PC.

Additionally, as an initial troubleshooting step when encountering an issue, players should close and relaunch the Destiny 2 client and Blizzard application. For players who continue to encounter issues, it is recommended that players delete their existing CVARS.xml file. 

This file can be found in:

\Users\USER_NAME\Appdata\Roaming\Bungie\DestinyPC\prefs\

Note that when relaunched, the Destiny 2 application will generate a fresh CVARS.xml file.

Players who encounter issues other than what is listed below should report them to the PC Support forum.

PC System Requirements and Launch

Last week, we announced the final System Requirements for Destiny 2 on PC. Moving forward, these requirements will be listed in this Help Article, for players’ reference.

Regarding PC launch, players should refer to the following graphic for when Destiny 2 will be available in their area. Players whose regions are not listed below should click here for their local time.

Screen Time

Movie of the Week: Explore

[embedded content]

Honorable Mention: Headlights

[embedded content]

Honorable Mention: Just Breathe

[embedded content]

This article was light on words, but heavy on context. We’ll be sharing more details at the Con this weekend, so the news week is not over. We will be live on Twitch tomorrow to tell you more about seasons. If you are coming out to TwitchCon, find us and say “Hi!”

Until next time. 

<3 Cozmo

Overgrowth is Now Available on Steam and is 30% off!*

Feel like the star of a martial arts film in Overgrowth, as you jump, kick, throw, and slash your way to victory. Free the rabbits from their evil overlords in the main story, then play through the prequel story, and finally, try out nine years of mods developed by the community, or create your own!

*Offer ends October 23 at 10AM Pacific Time

Chinese firm Leyou Technologies has acquired a 20 percent stake in Austin-based developer Certain Affinity for $10 million. 

Established by a group of former Bungie employees back in 2006, Certain Affinity has co-developed a number of popular titles including Halo 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and Doom. 

Leyou was at one time best known as a poultry supplier, but recently made inroads into the games industry after acquiring Dirty Bomb creator Splash Damage and Warframe developer Digital Extremes. 

The chicken peddler turned games mogul now hopes to work with Certain Affinity to create an “ambitious and exciting” new title. 

As part of the agreement, Leyou also has the option to snap up Certain Affinity’s remaining shares in 2021 for a valuation based on an agreed formula. If that deal goes ahead, it could cost Leyou up to $150 million. 

“With its proven track record producing high-quality video games, Certain Affinity possesses the technical capability and talent to create highly successful titles, which in turn will assist Leyou in further diversifying its video game portfolio and enhancing its revenue streams,” said Leyou CEO, Alex Xu.

“This strategic investment into Certain Affinity is consistent with the growth strategy of our company as we continue to look for opportunities to invest and increase our market share in the video gaming industry.”