Was Netflix’s The Witcher trying to give Cavill the boot as early as season 2? Did Borderlands 4 cut one of the previous game’s most unpopular characters during development? And why is Atari making it harder to play an all-time classic on PC? It’s another edition of Morning Checkpoint, Kotaku‘s daily roundup of gaming news and culture. Craft breweries are apparently on the decline, the surest sign yet that the millennial zeitgeist is dying. This is not a good thing. I am also part of the problem, having traded my beloved Hazy IPAs at the local bar for cheap pounders from the grocery store.
The original System Shock 2 is disappearing from stores thanks to the remaster
As spotted by Rock, Paper, Shotgun, the 1999 sci-fi immersive sim classic will be delisted from PC storefronts on October 10. From that point forward, the only way to access it will be as part of the 25th anniversary remaster. The original game was just $10 to buy individually, but will cost $30 to access as part of the remaster. “Existing owners of System Shock 2 (1999) will still be able to re-download and play it from their library, but new users will no longer be able to purchase System Shock 2 (1999) as a standalone product,” reads a notice from publisher Atari.
Netflix deletes an important date in its report about Liam Hemsworth taking over for Henry Cavill in The Witcher
Either that’s typo or that Henry Cavill shit was even messier than we think, because season 2 premiered in 2021 and Cavill didn’t even announce he was leaving until the end of 2022 https://t.co/v2pHao4f5k
— Paul Tassi (@PaulTassi) October 7, 2025
The streaming company published its own profile of Hemsworth alongside a Witcher season 4 trailer, but it included a very curious detail. According to the original version of the article, Hemsworth was first contacted about taking over the role back in 2020. That was between when season 1 and 2 aired, and two years before Cavill was officially replaced. This data point might add more fuel to the intrigue surrounding his messy departure, but Netflix has now gone back and deleted the date from the profile altogether without any explanation. So now it’s definitely fueling more intrigue.
A controversial Borderlands 3 character was seemingly cut from the sequel
Alright I guess we’re gonna talk about it:
AVA WAS CUT FROM BORDERLANDS 4
There are numerous files related to her in the game, more specifically outlining that she was completely replaced by Amara late in development. This means yes, she was originally going to team up with… https://t.co/QF8ESnQp0p pic.twitter.com/tBoVNJ8hpq
— EpicNNG (@EpicNNG) October 6, 2025
Ava debuted in Borderlands 3 as Vault Hunter Maya’s apprentice. Many players did not like her and were relieved she did not return in Borderlands 4. But new datamining of the files suggests that might have not always been the plan. File names suggest her role may have been replaced by the new Vault Hunter Amara, indicating Gearbox was paying very close attention to feedback from the last game when trying to nail the new one’s story, which it mostly does.
Sony is siding with Battlefield 6 now that Microsoft owns Call of Duty
Battlefield 6 Marketing With PlayStation Kicks Off:#Battlefield6
Hollywood, US: pic.twitter.com/lssW3IpMp5
— @Zuby_Tech (@Zuby_Tech) October 7, 2025
Battlefield 6 ads are out in full force this week and people have spotted many of them with promotions for PlayStation 5, Push Square reports. The irony is that Sony spent much of the PS4 console generation and this one paying Activision extra to promote its platform as the best place to play Call of Duty, complete with exclusive early access and other perks. Microsoft has promised versions of new entries in the series would have platform parity and Sony, understandably, now has little interest in helping to promote its rival’s biggest blockbuster.
Battlefield 6 appears to be always-online
That’s according to Does It Play, which reports that the game needs an internet connection to work, even for the main campaign, even though the data appears to technically come the PS5 disc. Bummer!
The Outer Worlds 2‘s opening area can keep you busy for over 12 hours
Game Informer has a new deep dive on the upcoming RPG shooter alongside 19 minutes of new gameplay. Design director Matt Singh said players can mainline the sequel’s main story “fairly quickly” but that each biome will have plenty of side-content to offer fans who are interested in taking their time. The first, Paradise Island, will take over 12 hours to exhaust, with other biomes being “not much smaller.”
