October 17 tech news roundup: Grand Theft Auto VI launch trailer released, WhatsApp debuts guest caller feature, Google to highlight links prominently in AI overviews

Rockstar releases Grand Theft Auto VI launch trailer

Though the launch of Grand Theft Auto VI is still a month away, that hasn’t stopped Rockstar Games from releasing the GTA VI launch trailer. The 90 second trailer, which is available on YouTube, gives us a glimpse of the game’s setting and characters. Players will take on the roles of Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, on what promises to be a thrilling ride set in the fictional city of Leonida (Florida). The launch trailer features a song called “Flower in a Hurricane” from Justice eat. Tame Impala, SZA, and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. This track is also included in the GTA 6 Soundtrack.

Grand Theft Auto VI launches on November 19th, 2026, on Xbox and PlayStation 5. On a side note, Rockstar has revealed that fans will not need to wait for several years for the next GTA installment. GTA V was launched 13 years ago, which is a massive gap between releases. According to Phil Hooker, the Technical Lead at Rockstar, the new engine, tools and the team that worked on GTA VI, will allow them to work faster than before. Rumors also suggest that the PC version of GTA 6 will be released in 2027, as opposed to the delay in the release of prior versions.

WhatsApp’s guest caller feature allows users without an account to join calls

Meta has introduced a new feature in WhatsApp Messenger, which allows anyone with an invite to join in on a call. This is not merely an option to add a user to an ongoing call. This guest caller feature allows people who don’t have a WhatsApp account to participate in a voice call or video call. with other users. Calls that include a guest user will remain end-to-end encrypted, and won’t have any time limits.

To invite a non-WhatsApp user to a group call, the host will need to navigate to the Calls tab in WhatsApp, and tap on the plus symbol. Select the option to Create a call link, and you will be able to share it with any one. Guests will enter a waiting room, until they are approved by the host. According to the announcement, guest participants cannot see the phone numbers of others in the call, send messages to them, or add anyone to the call.

But, guests will be able to use in-call features such as screen sharing, reacting with emojis, or by raising their hand. Meta says it plans to roll out a new plugin for calendar integrations that will allow users to initiate a WhatsApp call directly from Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar.

Google Search now displays source links higher in AI Overviews and AI Mode

Publishers have been unhappy with AI search, as users tend to skip visiting the source websites when they find the information they sought in the AI’s summary. Google says it is addressing these concerns by displaying links more prominently in AI Overviews and AI Mode. Prior to this, source links were displayed further down the results, which made them difficult to notice. Now, Google says inline links will be displayed higher up in the responses generated by the AI.

In addition to this, Gemini will also display a more clickable Dive Deeper section that contains prominent links to articles related to the topic, along with thumbnails.

Google says it is also rolling out prominent carousels for timely articles in AI Search for more languages. The carousels will highlight a user’s preferred sources for websites.

Sega delists Total War: Shogun 2 Complete Edition due to backlash

Sega released Total War: Shogun 2 Complete Edition on October 13th. The remaster was launched as an optional paid upgrade for owners of the original game, and as a standalone purchase for those who didn’t own the old version. It promised a grand experience with updated graphics, all DLCs, support for 4K, ultrawide screens, modern controls, 64-bit support, new playable minor factions and more.

Just two days after the game was launched, Creative Assembly and Sega announced that Total War: Shogun 2 Complete Edition has been delisted from Steam. What went wrong? Apparently, everything.

Total War: Shogun 2 had around 18% of positive reviews, with an overwhelmingly negative rating, and and buyers on Steam left scathing reviews. Several fans raised their voice against the game, stating that the remastered version not only had bugs from the old version that weren’t fixed, but also shipped with several new bugs that broke the game or made it unplayable. Streamers with early access to the game were criticial of the quality of the game.

Veteran players were frustrated with the experience, with some pointing out that mods had fixed many of the previously unpatched issues in the older game, and questioned why CA had not even put in the effort to fix decade-old bugs in the newer version.

In its announcement, Creative Assembly acknowledged the issues, and said it was temporarily delisting the game from stores, while it patches the bugs in it. It has also restored the original title, Total War: Shogun 2 on Steam. The original game had been delisted after the remaster was released, but after that turned out to be a disaster, CA and Sega have made a complete U-turn.

Microsoft patches over 1400 security flaws in October Windows Update

Microsoft broke the record for the number of issues that were fixed in a single Windows Update again. The October 2026 Patch Tuesday release shipped with 1,411 fixes. That number includes 85 vulnerabilities that were critical. Cisco Talos Intelligence reports that 67 of these critical flaws were related to remote code execution. One security vulnerability has been exploited in the wild, it is tracked as CVE-2026-96951. The issue is related to a Windows Shell bypass that was caused by Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command.

Microsoft also patched another zero-day threat in the October Windows Update. A Microsoft .net Framework issue, designated as CVE-2026-108398, was disclosed by a researcher before the issue was patched. The security fixes are available as part of the KB5127648 update for Windows 11 24H2, 25H2, 26H1 and 26H2.

It is also worth noting that Windows 11 version 24H2 have reached end of life, and this month’s security updates are the last for both Home and Pro editions of 24H2. Users will need up update to a more recent build of Windows 11 to continue receiveing security updates.