Money Monday Oct. 5th

Money Monday – October 5, 2026

First Monday of October. Gears of War: E-Day drops tomorrow. Star Wars: Galactic Racer came out of nowhere as a legit contender. Kingdom Hearts Collection and Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen land later this week. Hellraiser: Revival wants your Halloween money. And Microsoft is gutting its studios while shipping one of the best Gears games in years. October came out swinging. Let's get into it.

💥 Fail of the Week: Microsoft's Studio Massacre

Microsoft can't stop cutting. While Gears of War: E-Day is about to launch to strong praise, the people who made it are terrified they're next on the chopping block. And they're not alone.

Ninja Theory — Layoffs Started Today

Ninja Theory, the Hellblade studio, started laying off staff today. Developers, programmers, sound designers, technical artists, and more have been posting on LinkedIn confirming they've been let go or told their jobs are at risk. This comes after Xbox Chief Content Officer Matt Booty told staff back in September that two separate deals to sell the studio fell through, pushing Microsoft toward a full closure. They revealed Senua, the third Hellblade game, at the Xbox Games Showcase in June with a 2027 release window. Now the studio that's supposed to make it is being dismantled.

Supermassive Games — 70+ Gone

Supermassive Games, the studio behind Until Dawn and The Dark Pictures Anthology, laid off over 70 people this week. Developers, artists, producers, QA, operations, and senior leadership. Their IT and Infrastructure Director, Frank Tindle, was let go after 16 years at the studio. They warned about this back in August, calling it "a necessary step to ensure the sustainability of the company." Before this round, they cut roughly 90 people in 2024 and another 36 in 2025. They released Directive 8020 earlier this year to mixed reception, and now Until Dawn's sequel has been handed off to Firesprite.

The Coalition — Waiting for the Axe

The Coalition's developers are reportedly terrified they're about to lose their jobs. After months of crunch to get E-Day out the door, staff are bracing for post-launch layoffs. Microsoft has been swinging the axe across Xbox studios all year, and The Coalition had mostly been spared because they were shipping a major release. That protection expires tomorrow.

Story director Juan Vaca was already let go two weeks ago, along with a small handful of others, and that shook the rest of the team. One source described the mood: "Let's not celebrate the game until we're three months post launch, just in case." Another compared it to planning a family dinner for a year and getting locked out of the building on the day of.

The Coalition's launch bonus is expected to pay out near the end of October. You have to be a full-time employee to qualify. So these devs are staring down a month of wondering if they'll get cut before the check clears.

The Bigger Picture

Since Asha Sharma took over as Xbox CEO after Phil Spencer retired in February, the restructuring hasn't stopped. 3,200 jobs cut across FY 2027, with 1,600 eliminated the day the email went out in July. Playground Games and Turn 10 merged into one studio. World's Edge lost roughly half its staff. The Halo franchise got transferred to Activision. Undead Labs split from Xbox entirely. And Sharma's response to all of it? "Xbox is not for sale." Cool. Tell that to the hundreds of people cleaning out their desks.

Ship a great game, crunch for months, and your reward is anxiety about whether you'll still have a job in three weeks. That's Microsoft in 2026. Fail of the week and it ain't close.

🔥 Gears of War: E-Day — Tomorrow, Game Pass Day One

Gears of War: E-Day launches tomorrow, October 6, on Xbox Series X|S and PC. Game Pass day one. Premium pre-order early access started October 1.

The first mainline Gears release in seven years. This is a prequel set on Emergence Day, following Marcus and Dom before the original trilogy. Critics who got early access are praising the campaign hard. The adaptive cover system is getting called the best the series has ever had, the city of Kalona is a standout setting, and the emotional weight behind Marcus and Dom's backstory landed with most people who played it. Some are calling it the best cover shooter since the Xbox 360 days. Combat feels like it got a real overhaul.

Not everyone's sold. A few reviewers think it plays it too safe and leans too hard on nostalgia instead of pushing the franchise forward. Fair criticism for a prequel, but the majority opinion is positive.

Here's the catch: ranked multiplayer doesn't go live until October 13, a full week after launch. The Coalition confirmed the delay themselves. That means the competitive crowd, the people who kept Gears alive for years, has to sit on their hands for a week. Campaign is there day one, but if you're buying this for ranked, you're waiting.

🏎️ Star Wars: Galactic Racer — Tomorrow

Star Wars: Galactic Racer launches tomorrow on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. $59.99. Developed by Fuse Games, published by Secret Mode.

This one came out of nowhere. A runs-based racing game set in the Outer Rim after the Empire fell. Syndicates bankroll chaos, you race through it. Think Burnout-style destruction fused with podracing and a roguelike campaign structure. The racing itself is getting universal praise from everyone who's played it early. Fast, violent, and surprisingly deep.

The roguelike campaign structure is the one thing dividing people. Some love it, some say it takes getting used to. But the core racing is locked in, and nobody had this on their radar as a serious contender this fall. It's the best-received Star Wars game in a long time.

This one's on my radar. Podracing meets Burnout with a Star Wars skin is exactly the kind of thing I want to get my hands on. If enough of y'all are interested, I'll grab it and put a review together. Drop a comment and let me know if you want to see that.

👑 Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III] — October 8

Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III] launches October 8 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2. $75.

This is the full package. Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and Kingdom Hearts III with the Re Mind DLC. Every mainline entry, the side games, the cinematic movies for 358/2 Days and Re:coded. 150-200 hours if you stick to story. 400+ if you're chasing every trophy.

The PS5 version has all content on disc. The Switch 2 version uses a Game-Key Card, so physical collectors take note. Early impressions on Switch 2 are positive. Improved resolution and frame rates across the board.

This is Square Enix setting the table for Kingdom Hearts 4 in 2027. They also dropped a 25th anniversary video this week. If you've never touched Kingdom Hearts, this is the entry point. If you have, it's the best way to replay it before KH4.

🐉 Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen — October 9, $49.99

Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen drops October 9 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Switch 2. $49.99 standalone, or bundled with the base game for newcomers.

Capcom announced this at TGS last month. New frozen region called Norgan, 12 new dungeons, a new companion named Eir, new weapons, new skills, and a storyline centered on an undying Fallen Dragon. This is the meaty expansion Dragon's Dogma 2 needed. The base game had the foundation but felt thin on endgame content. Dark Arisen is Capcom's answer to that, and the name is a callback to the original Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen expansion that turned that game around too.

⛓️ Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival — October 8

Hellraiser: Revival launches October 8 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch 2. Developed by Saber Interactive.

First-person action horror survival. You play as Aidan, wielding the Genesis Configuration puzzle box to survive a bargain with Pinhead and fight through the Labyrinth. Right on time for Halloween season. No word yet on how it plays, but the horror crowd has been eyeing this one since its announcement. Wait to hear more before pulling the trigger.

🎮 Game Pass — October Update

This week:

• Gears of War: E-Day — Oct 6. Day one.

• Forever Ago — Oct 6. Day one.

• Echo Weaver — Oct 8. Day one. Knowledge-based Metroidvania with a time loop.

• Neon Abyss 2 — Oct 8. Day one. Up to 4-player online co-op roguelike.

• Valiant Hearts: Coming Home — Game Pass.

Leaving soon: A Plague Tale: Requiem, The Casting of Frank Stone, Evil West, and six others. If you've been meaning to play any of those, this is your last call.

🎮 PlayStation Plus — October Games

Sony revealed the PS Plus Essential lineup for October:

• F1 25

• Hunt: Showdown 1896

• Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2

Available until November 2. Hunt: Showdown 1896 is the standout. If you haven't tried it, it's a tense extraction shooter that deserves more attention than it gets. F1 25 got a paid 2026 season expansion in June. EDF is chaotic co-op fun.

📰 Quick Hits

• Crimson Desert: Charting the Unknown delayed two weeks. Pearl Abyss pushed the first expansion from October 15 to October 29. $24.99. Adds sea exploration, ships, sunken treasures, and deep-sea enemies.

• Windows 11 26H2 is crashing games. Microsoft confirmed that the September KB5124010 update is causing games and apps that use Dolby Digital audio decoding to crash. No fix yet. If your games are randomly closing, that's probably why. It's an optional update, so if you haven't installed it, don't.

📅 What's Next

• Gears of War: E-Day — Oct 6. Game Pass day one.

• Star Wars: Galactic Racer — Oct 6. $59.99.

• Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III] — Oct 8. $75.

• Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival — Oct 8.

• Echo Weaver / Neon Abyss 2 — Oct 8. Game Pass day one.

• Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen — Oct 9. $49.99.

• Gears of War: E-Day Ranked Multiplayer — Oct 13.

• Crimson Desert: Charting the Unknown — Oct 29. $24.99.

That's your Monday. Microsoft is shipping one of the best Gears games in years while gutting the studios that make their games. Ninja Theory is being dismantled. Supermassive lost 70+ people. The Coalition is waiting for the axe. Star Wars: Galactic Racer is the surprise of the fall. Kingdom Hearts and Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen round out the week. Game Pass is stacked. Hellraiser wants your Halloween. See you next Monday.