Game File: News Round-up

Stephen Totilo's September 17, 2026 Game File round-up opens with Blizzard's unusually early announcements at Blizzcon: Diablo V for 2029 and an open-world first-person shooter called StarCraft for 2030. Blizzard president Johanna Faries said the move was meant to convey confidence in the company's biggest bets. Totilo checked Wikipedia's release lists to test whether this was unprecedented. The 2027 list has roughly 270 titles, 2028 has eighteen (including The Witcher IV and Tomb Raider Catalyst), and 2029 and 2030 list only Diablo V and StarCraft. Steam's listings for those years are mostly obscure indies, and the one familiar name, Campo Santo's In the Valley of Gods, has been dormant since 2019. Likely sequels such as NBA 2K30 and Madden NFL 31 are expected, and LucasFilm's Fate of the Old Republic is promised before 2030.

The brief items cover labor, layoffs and AI. Workers at Microsoft-owned King plan a Swedish strike on September 25 after more than a year of failed collective bargaining talks, and management says it has chosen not to sign a CBA. Heart Machine is laying off nearly everyone after its publisher pulled funding, and Polyarc is closing after twelve years. Level 5 founder Akihiro Hino issued two statements after backlash over apparently AI-generated imagery in a September 9 showcase. He said some visuals were human errors or intentional omissions, and that Level 5 would keep using AI for efficiency but not in forthcoming videos. A CESA survey found nearly 86% of Japanese developers use generative AI, up from 51% a year earlier.

Platform and media news fills out the issue. Roblox's "Play Roblox Everywhere" initiative would let games ship as standalone apps, with offline modes and browser support, in service of its goal of capturing 10% of the global games market. Netflix is expanding game adaptations with Sega (Crazy Taxi, Sonic, Stranger than Heaven) and with Ubisoft and Microsoft properties. The New York Times promoted Jonathan Knight to Chief Games Officer. Zach Cregger's Resident Evil film, which adapts none of the games, is earning strong early reviews.