Lobby Chatter

Lobby Chatter: Phantom Blade Zero's 723K Launch, Probably Stolen's Shop Heist and a Halloween Patch Pile-Up
Friday, October 30, 2026

Summary
Phantom Blade Zero hit 723,876 players at once on Steam, and debut pixel-art pawnshop sim Probably Stolen kept climbing. Then funny Steam reviews, a roundup of R.E.P.O., Aniimo, Limbus Company, Halloween: The Game, Dead by Daylight and Crimson Desert, the week's news and releases, Lobby Mail and weekend picks.

Links and sources
Cold open, The Big One and Probably Stolen
- Phantom Blade Zero record: GameWatcher, https://www.gamewatcher.com/phantom-blade-zero-reaches-over-723-800-concurrent-steam-players-as-early-reactions-emerge
- PBZ review: TechRadar, https://www.techradar.com/gaming/phantom-blade-zero-review
- PBZ critic roundup: Output Lag, https://outputlag.com/news/phantom-blade-zero-review-roundup/
- Probably Stolen launch: Nerdly, https://www.nerdly.co.uk/2026/10/30/probably-stolen-cyberpunk-shopkeeper-sim-peaks-at-112145-steam-players-in-launch-week/
- Probably Stolen dev updates: SteamPeaks, https://steampeaks.com/app/4348910/probably-stolen/news

Funny Steam reviews
- PBZ shader compile: Steam, https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198445200693/recommended/4115450/
- PBZ no battle pass: Steam, https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198999742248/recommended/4115450/
- PBZ trailer was real: Steam, https://steamcommunity.com/id/gabbbu/recommended/4115450/
- Playable Archive: Steam, https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561199829850653/recommended/5356470/
- The Long Dark: Steam, https://steamcommunity.com/id/javandreas/recommended/305620/

Lobby Roundup
- R.E.P.O. Sunstone Update: PatchBeat, https://patchbeat.net/patch-notes/repo-v0-5-0-sunstone-update-patch-notes/
- Aniimo Season 1 Part 2: FunPlus, https://funplus.com/aniimo-surpasses-15-million-players-season-1-part-2/
- Limbus Company update: LDPlayer, https://www.ldplayer.net/weblog/limbus-company-october-update-2026.html
- Halloween: The Game 1.2.0: Official site, https://halloweengame.com/news/patch-notes-1-2-0/
- Haunted by Daylight: GamesRadar, https://www.gamesradar.com/games/horror/when-is-the-dbd-haunted-by-daylight-event/
- Crimson Desert DLC: GamingBolt, https://gamingbolt.com/crimson-desert-charting-the-unknown-debuts-to-mostly-positive-steam-reviews

News and releases
- Dark Souls 2/3 servers: TheGamer, https://www.thegamer.com/dark-souls-2-and-3-have-just-been-taken-offline/
- PBZ driver rollback: Steam, https://steamcommunity.com/app/4115450/discussions/0/572679173079948309/
- Crimson Desert hotfix: Pearl Abyss, https://crimsondesert.pearlabyss.com/en-us/News/Notice/Detail?_boardNo=145
- Halloween: The Game 1.2.2: Official site, https://halloweengame.com/news/patch-notes-1-2-2/
- Valhalla New Game+: GamingRoute, https://gamingroute.com/assassins-creed-fall-2026-update/
- Steam delistings: Delisted Games, https://delistedgames.com/four-titles-from-art-games-studio-leaving-steam-on-october-30th-switch-delistings-unconfirmed/
- Quick updates: Games for Humans, https://gamesforhumans.net/digest/2026-10-30
- This week: Pogwire, https://pogwire.com/releases/new-games-this-week
- November: Polygon, https://www.polygon.com/november-2026-game-releases/

Lobby Mail, gripes and weekend picks
- Probably Stolen players: Steam, https://steamcommunity.com/app/4348910/reviews/?browsefilter=mostrecent&filterLanguage=english
- PBZ players: Steam, https://steamcommunity.com/app/4115450/reviews/?browsefilter=mostrecent&filterLanguage=english
- Aniimo players: Steam, https://steamcommunity.com/app/4126040/reviews/?browsefilter=mostrecent&filterLanguage=english
- Dead by Daylight players: Steam, https://steamcommunity.com/app/381210/reviews/?browsefilter=mostrecent&filterLanguage=english
- Halloween: The Game gripe: Steam, https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198100814170/recommended/3219630/

Lobby Chatter: Microsoft's 60,000 exits, a free horror game saved from cancellation, and Deadlock's hero records

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

Summary

Microsoft offers voluntary exits to about 60,000 people as earnings land, Call of Duty passes $40 billion, Black Flag Resynced gets its last big update, and a free horror game rises from a canceled Paranormal Activity project. Then funny Steam reviews from Payday 3, Playable Archive and Don't Starve Together. We close with the Steam charts: Deadlock's hero-vote records, Don't Starve Together's Halloween jump, The Long Dark: Iron Road, and this week's releases.

Links and sources

Part 1: News

- Microsoft voluntary exits, Call of Duty $40B, Game Pass on T-Mobile: Warp Pipes news digest, Oct 27, https://warppipes.com/en/articles/video-game-news-digest-2026-10-27

- Helen Chiang leaves Xbox, Cyanide, Worlds quarterfinals, WoW Forever: FTMQ Gaming, The day in 60 seconds, https://gaming.ftmq.com/story/the-day-in-60-seconds-tuesday-27-october-59297a

- Black Flag Resynced final update: VGC, https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/assassins-creed-black-flag-resynced-gets-its-last-major-update-adding-new-game-and-other-new-features/

- Black Flag Resynced New Game Plus details: Polygon, https://www.polygon.com/assassins-creed-black-flag-resynced-huge-update-new-game-plus-nightmare-mode/

- Black Flag Resynced player reactions: NeoGAF, https://www.neogaf.com/threads/new-game-coming-to-black-flag-resynced-next-week.1702728/

- Playable Archive backstory: Polygon interview, https://www.polygon.com/paranormal-activity-canceled-playable-archive-interview/

- Playable Archive (free): Steam, https://store.steampowered.com/app/5356470/Playable_Archive/

- Tim Sweeney vs Steam AI disclosure: Kotaku, https://kotaku.com/epic-steam-valve-tim-sweeney-gen-ai-declaration-political-abhorrent-2000749706

- Emberville delay, Funcom Aloft and Conan Exiles Enhanced, Switch Online adds: Recap.games, https://recap.games/blog/gaming-news-october-26-27-2026

Part 2: Funny Steam reviews

- Payday 3, "Bo isn't the bank manager…": Steam review, https://steamcommunity.com/id/kurimsonu/recommended/1272080/

- Payday 3, "i paid $39.99 for the main menu": Steam review, https://steamcommunity.com/id/DUDerinoo/recommended/1272080/

- Playable Archive, "A nice, short, and sweet game…": Steam review, https://steamcommunity.com/id/axelscythe_/recommended/5356470/

- Don't Starve Together, "makes a tree farm…": Steam review, https://steamcommunity.com/id/sourbit/recommended/322330/

Part 3: Steam charts, momentum, and releases

- Deadlock player records: SteamDB, https://steamdb.info/app/1422450/charts/

- Deadlock passes TF2's peak, Solomon: PC Gamer, https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/deadlock-surpasses-team-fortress-2s-all-time-concurrent-player-count-peak-as-it-adds-a-chess-wizard/

- Deadlock Nurse Harrow: GosuGamers, https://www.gosugamers.net/entertainment/news/79382-nurse-harrow-arrives-in-deadlock-ending-the-city-never-sleeps-hero-releases

- Don't Starve Together Hallowed Nights: Klei forums, https://kleiforums.com/game-updates/dst/760049-r2823/

- The Long Dark: Iron Road launch: Hinterland, https://www.thelongdark.com/news/the-long-dark-iron-road-launch-details-for-tuesday-october-27th/

- The Long Dark player reviews: Steam reviews, https://steamcommunity.com/app/305620/reviews/?browsefilter=mostrecent

- This week's releases: GameCalendar, https://gamecalendar.pro/news/new-games-this-week-october-26-november-1-2026

- PS5 releases this week: Push Square, https://www.pushsquare.com/guides/these-46plus-ps5-and-ps-plus-games-are-coming-out-this-week-26th-1st-november

- Terrible Lizards: PlayStation Blog, https://blog.playstation.com/2026/10/27/

- Phantom Blade Zero: Steam, https://store.steampowered.com/app/4115450/

Lobby Chatter, Monday October 26, 2026: the weekend's games. Enshrouded's 1.0 launch held above 116,000 Steam players for a second straight weekend, Castlevania: Belmont's Curse fought back from a rough PC launch, and Planet Zoo 2's animals ran into a wall of bugs. Plus two small co-op games that just left Early Access, Mycopunk and GONE Fishing, a scoreboard on Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy Resonance and Modern Warfare 4, Battlefield 6 pulling its Mass Effect gear, and this week's releases, including Phantom Blade Zero. In the middle, a break for the funniest Steam reviews, and the question of the day: which Early Access graduate would you tell a friend to buy?

Lobby Chatter, Friday October 23, 2026: what everyone played this week. Cyberpunk 2077 storms back past 100,000 Steam players with the free Edgerunners 2 update and its new dual-wielding pistols, while Final Fantasy Resonance brings back classic turn-based Final Fantasy in HD-2D. In the Lobby Roundup: PEAK climbs onto consoles, Moon Sweepers hands 16 players a toothbrush and the whole Moon, and Warrior Cats: Clans of the Forest launches. Plus Modern Warfare 4's launch and the DMZ fights over the Possum trait, EA closing BioWare, next week's releases, and your Lobby mail. In the middle, a break for the funniest Steam reviews, and the question of the day: which game pulled you back in this week?

Lobby Chatter, Wednesday October 21, 2026: Helldivers 2 players revolt over a new anti-cheat that breaks their mods, Arc Raiders wraps its polarizing PvE test, Modern Warfare 4's early-access campaign wins over players, Ace Combat 8 gets a big fix patch, and Cyberpunk 2077 gears up for update 2.5. Then what people are actually playing: WARDOGS Season 2, AION 2, Valheim, Slay the Spire 2 and We Were Here Tomorrow, plus Final Fantasy Resonance and the GTA 6 countdown. In the middle, a break for the funniest Steam reviews, and the question of the day: which fan mod would you make official?