Housemarque released Zenith, a big free update for its PS5 shooter Saros, on October 19, 2026. It adds a New Game+ mode, a boss rush with online leaderboards, and new options that make the game easier or harder. Also in this roundup: Square Enix warns players about break-ins on reused passwords, Final Fantasy VII Revelation lets you pick Hard Mode from the start, Directive 8020 adds online co-op, and Crusader Kings III dates its next expansion.
Saros gets Zenith, a free update with New Game+ and a boss rush
Housemarque detailed the update in an October 19 PlayStation Blog post, and it is available to every Saros owner at no extra charge. Saros is a PS5 game, according to its PlayStation page.
What it means for you:
- Easier options: a Slow Game Speed setting gives you more time to react without removing any enemy attacks, and Auto-fire shoots when you aim at an enemy (reloading is still manual).
- Modifiers: 10 new Protection Modifiers make runs more forgiving, and 10 new Trial Modifiers make them harder.
- New Game+: after you finish the game, Eclipse Layers send you back through a harder version. You must pick enough Trial Modifiers before you start, from 25 in total, and Arjun wears a crown that grows the more Trials you take on. Eclipse Layers also hide 12 new collectibles called Visions.
- Overlord Rush: a boss rush against the game's Overlords, with leaderboards you can filter by weapon. The Incursion and Ascension sets have three bosses each and take about 10 minutes, and Totality runs all eight in a row. Leaderboards need an internet connection and a PlayStation account.
Our take: For a free update to a single-player game, this is generous. If Saros felt too punishing, the slow-speed setting is worth a second look, and if you already beat it, Eclipse Layers give you a reason to go back.
Square Enix warns of account break-ins using reused passwords
Square Enix posted a security notice on the Final Fantasy XIV Lodestone at 8:40 p.m. PT / 11:40 p.m. ET on October 18. It says third parties have been logging in to Square Enix accounts with email addresses, account IDs and passwords that appear to come from other companies' online services. Square Enix doesn't say its own systems were breached.
What it means for you:
- Change your password if you use the same login details for your Square Enix account and any other service, or if your password is easy to guess, such as one based on your date of birth.
- Locked out? Square Enix is restricting accounts it believes may be compromised and emails their owners instructions for resetting the password.
- Turn on One-Time Passwords: the company strongly recommends them as an extra login step.
- Possible reset for everyone: if break-in attempts keep rising, Square Enix may reset every account's password.
Our take: A shared password is the weak point here, not Square Enix's servers, so a unique password plus one-time codes protects you. Doing it now beats being locked out of your character on raid night.
Final Fantasy VII Revelation lets you play on Hard Mode from the start
Director Naoki Hamaguchi told Hardcore Gamer in an interview published October 18 that in Revelation, the final part of the Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy, "Hard Mode is selectable from the very start of this game." In Remake and Rebirth you had to finish the story first. He says the change is possible because Revelation has much more to do after the credits, and that Hard Mode has been reworked to fit the new game. Hamaguchi confirmed on X on October 18 that Dynamic Mode from Rebirth also returns, keeping battles challenging throughout the game.
What it means for you:
- No item ban: Hamaguchi told Hardcore Gamer that the old high-difficulty rule against using items isn't coming back, because players now have so many other options that a ban alone wouldn't make fights hard enough.
- Release: April 8, 2027, on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC (Steam and Epic Games Store), according to Square Enix's buy page and the Steam listing.
- Price: the Steam listing shows $69.99 for the standard game.
Our take: Locking the toughest difficulty behind a finished playthrough always asked a lot of players who wanted a challenge from the first hour. Opening it from the start serves them without forcing it on anyone else.
Directive 8020 adds online co-op for up to five players
Supermassive Games said in a Steam announcement on October 19 that online multiplayer for Directive 8020, its sci-fi horror game in The Dark Pictures series, arrives that day in an update. Until now, playing together meant sharing one couch in the offline co-op mode. Directive 8020 launched on May 12, 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
What it means for you:
- Two ways to play: in Custom Mode you each pick a character and take control when yours is on screen. In Round Robin, control passes to the next player after a set time.
- Choice Voting: everyone votes on big decisions and sees how the others voted, but the player in control can still go their own way.
- Mix and match: up to five players in any combination of places, from five separate homes to two people in one room and three in another.
- Requirements: every player needs their own copy of the game, and there is no cross-play between platforms.
- Also new: retro silver space suits for the crew, and 13 Premonitions, the Dark Pictures collectibles that hint at possible futures.
Our take: Online play is what these group horror stories always needed, since getting five friends onto one sofa is the hard part. The lack of cross-play will still split some friend groups.
Crusader Kings III's Silk & Silver expansion arrives November 17
Paradox Interactive announced on October 19 that Silk & Silver, the next major expansion for Crusader Kings III, releases on November 17. It adds two new ways to rule: as a landless merchant family running a trading company, or as a patrician family competing to control a Republic.
What it means for you:
- Merchants: trade more than 40 goods along trade routes, pick one of three specializations (Caravaneer, Creditor or Artisan), win patrons among nobles and royalty, and push for monopolies in markets.
- Republics: pass laws through an Assembly, fight rival families for the role of doge, set up trade posts abroad and join other Republics in Trade Leagues.
- New start dates: 1066 (Channels of Commerce) and 1178 (Guelphs & Ghibellines), the second centered on the conflict in Northern Italy.
- Price and platforms: the Steam page lists it for Windows, Mac and Linux, but shows no price yet.
Our take: Two new government types add a genuinely different way to play, not just new events for the same nobles. Wait for the price and the first reviews before you pre-order.