Gaming News

Gears of War: Reloaded Skips PS5 Release in Japan Due to 'Platform Policies'

Microsoft has announced via Xbox Live Japan that the remaster of the first Gears of War game, Gears of War: Reloaded, will not get a Japanese PS5 release. However, the title will still come to Xbox Series X and S, Xbox PC, Game Pass, and PC via Steam in Japan this August. According to Microsoft, Gears of War: Reloaded, due out August 26, 2025, will not be sold for PS5 in the country due to “regional rating restrictions” and “platform policies.” The “regional rating restrictions” explanation refers to the classification standards laid out by CERO, Japan’s game rating board. Although it has not been officially announced exactly what aspect of Gears of War: Reloaded failed to pass the board, it is highly likely that violence and gore was...

View full article »

Hitman Series Is 'Definitely Not Done,' Insists IO Interactive CEO

007: First Light. Project Fantasy. MindsEye. IO Interactive has a lot going on in the coming days, months, and years. But one key franchise of theirs has been conspicuously quiet: Hitman. It's not that IOI is doing nothing with Hitman — it did just announce that a co-op mode is in the works for the games and Mads Mikkelsen will reprise his iconic Casino Royale role as an Elusive Target. But as for new Hitman games, the franchise has officially been on hiatus since 2023. Updates aside, it seems like IOI might be getting a touch too busy to give Agent 47 more major work. So I asked Hakan Abrak, CEO of IO Interactive, if that was the case when we sat down for an interview this past weekend following the reveal of 007: First Light. And he...

View full article »

GOG Announces New One-Click Mod System, Skyblivion Mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Coming This Year

GOG has just unveiled its latest project: one-click mods. The PC platform said that as installing mods can be a bit of a time sink, the One-Click Mods project lets players browser, install, and play mods "faster and easier than ever." That's why it has collected a "curated" selection of premium mods and directly packed them with the corresponding game for "the smoothest installation." Furthermore, GOG said "mods are [also] an essential part of video games preservation," letting community-made mods fix bugs and restore cutscenes, quests, and characters to games, as well as "freshly-made new content" by fans. So far the depository includes mods for Heroes of Might and Magic 3: Complete, Doom 3, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines...

View full article »

P-Studio Director 'Confident' Persona 4 Revival Will Be 'Fresh and Surprising'

Atlus finally revealed at yesterday's Xbox Game Showcase that yes, a remake of Persona 4 is really happening: Persona 4 Revival. But not everyone liked what they saw in the 40-second trailer. Some players took issue with the quality of the graphics, coloring, animations, and lighting, while others were frustrated that there were no further details like a release date or a confirmed Nintendo Switch 2 version. "Man, the graphics looks like stock Unreal lol," said one player. "Honestly, almost looks fanmade (don't hit me)," to which another replied: "Highly underwhelming trailer, lol." As this remake was one of the worst-kept secrets in gaming, some fans speculated that the teaser was put together simply to acknowledge that yes, it was...

View full article »

Activision Says It's Doing Almost No Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Pre-Promotion: 'We're Setting This Up More Like a Beyonce Album Dropping'

Microsoft announced Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 at its Xbox Games Showcase June 2025, a reveal that came later in the year than is usual for the series. And the debut trailer, below, gave fans little to go on beyond a story tease and confirmation of the year in which the game is set (2035) and its protagonist: David Mason. It turns out, this is all part of Activision’s marketing strategy for Black Ops 7, which is all about not revealing much at all before the game comes out later in 2025. To what end? Activision wants Black Ops 7’s launch to feel like a surprise Beyonce album drop. Speaking to Variety, Activision marketing chief Tyler Bahl explained what the company is trying to achieve with Black Ops 7: “Usually at this point in...

View full article »

Former The Witcher 3 Director Shows Off New Footage of Dark Fantasy Adventure The Blood of Dawnwalker

Rebel Wolves — the studio led by former The Witcher 3 game director and co-director for Cyberpunk 2077, Konrad Tomaszkiewicz — has confirmed its upcoming dark fantasy action-RPG, The Blood of Dawnwalker, will release in 2026. At yesterday's Xbox Games Showcase, Rebel Wolves showed off some pre-beta gameplay footage, following Coen, "a young man turned into a Dawnwalker, human by day and vampire by night," as he comes to grips with his newly acquired abilities. That's not all, though. On June 21, we'll find out even more as Rebel Wolves invites us to join it on the longest day of the year, "where the veil between day and night blurs, bringing unexpected outcomes." The 45-minute-long event will reveal around 15 minutes of new gameplay...

View full article »

Hollow Knight: Silksong Developer Responds to Release Date Confusion, Promises Launch 'Before Holiday,' Not Tied to Xbox Handheld Arrival

The developer of Hollow Knight: Silksong has addressed the game's brief appearance yesterday at Microsoft's Xbox Games Showcase 2025, when it popped up alongside the new ROG Ally X handheld. During the show, Xbox president Sarah Bond stated that Silksong would be "available at launch and in Game Pass when Ally releases later this year" — leading many fans to believe the game was being lined up to arrive specifically as a launch title for the new hardware, which has a Holiday 2025 launch window. But this isn't the case, Silksong developer Team Cherry has now said. Writing on the game's official Discord, in messages seen by IGN, Team Cherry marketing manager Matthew 'Leth' Griffin stated that Silksong was not sat waiting for the ROG...

View full article »

Invincible VS Creators on Killer Instinct Influences, Authenticity, Why Its a 3v3 Tag Fighter, and More - IGN Live 2025

One of the big reveals from the Xbox Showcase was that Invincible VS is on its way, and we were able to chat with members of Skybounds's Quarter Up at IGN Live to learn why this 3v3 fighting game is giving Robert Kirkman's superhero epic the tag fighter it deserves, complete with Killer Instinct influences. Invincible VS features fan-favorite characters from the comics and animated series, including Mark Grayson (Invincible), Omni-Man, Thula, AtomEve, and Bulletproof, but one of the main reasons the title is a 3v3 fighter is because of the series' many teams. For art director Dan Eder and combat designer Reepal Parbhoo, this made the choice for what type of game this would be an easy one. "In general, when you're watching the...

View full article »

After Starfield's Xbox No-Show, Even Its Most Loyal Fans Are Starting to Worry: 'Bethesda Makes It So Hard to Defend This Game'

There were a number of high-profile no-shows from the Xbox Games Showcase. State of Decay 3, for example, failed to turn up. The Perfect Dark reboot was conspicuous by its absence. But perhaps Starfield’s ongoing M.I.A. status hurts the most — at least for long-suffering fans of the game. The Starfield community had hoped Bethesda would announce something to do with the game at its Xbox Games Showcase, but while The Elder Scrolls Online and Fallout 76 both getting their moment in the spotlight, Starfield skipped proceedings entirely. No DLC, no expansion, no PlayStation 5 release… nothing. It’s fair to say the Starfield community is starting to lose hope and a good deal of faith in Bethesda, whose silence around the game has been...

View full article »

McFarlane Toys on Their Lilith and Doom Slayer Figures, Mortal Kombat and More | IGN Live 2025

During a special IGN Live edition of Up at Noon today, McFarlane Toys’ Brian Walters (Director, Brand Creative) stopped by to chat with Max Scoville and Brian Altano about what the company has in the pipeline, including their new Elite Edition series that’s kicking off with Doom Slayer from Doom: The Dark Ages, followed by Lilith from Diablo IV. Walters said the idea behind the Elite Edition was “to create highly decorated, super detailed, iconic version of characters from games.” One way these figures stand out is by their inclusion of soft goods, such as the fur cloak on Doom Slayer, and Walters noted they were “Introducing new materials we haven’t used.” Walters pointed out the many accessories Doom Slayer came with, including the...

View full article »

Magic: The Gathering - Final Fantasy Creators on Choosing the Right Characters for the Cards | IGN Live 2025

Having already out pre-orders of many packs and bundles already, the Magic: The Gathering - Final Fantasy cards officially will be released June 13 and Principal Designer Gavin Verhey and Executive Producer Zakeel Gordon were on hand at IGN Live today to discuss the much-anticipated collaboration. Verhey and Gordon said that there have been other IP crossovers with Magic before, Final Fantasy was particularly exciting because, as Verhey put it, “It’s Final Fantasy! That really helps! We’ve been working on this set for about five years.” The duo noted everyone at Wizards of the Coast were big fans of Final Fantasy, noting most had been playing the games longer than they’d played Magic and means so much to them. Verhery said their...

View full article »

The Outer Worlds 2 Direct: Everything Announced

Obsidian Entertainment debuted its special The Outer Worlds 2 Direct today, revealing a planet-sized presentation full of gameplay with new details about its 2025 sequel. The 30-minute showcase gave players a tongue-in-cheek look at how Obsidian is building on the foundation laid by its original 2019 space adventure RPG with tweaks to existing mechanics as well as completely new gameplay features. It was also all hosted by comedian and Sonic the Hedgehog movie voice actor Ben Schwartz, who helped keep The Outer Worlds 2 Direct going with plenty of skits in between the nitty-gritty details. From wacky new Flaws and planets to a fresh perspective on player choice, we’ve collected all of the highlights from today’s The Outer Worlds 2...

View full article »

The Outer Worlds 2 Looks to Expand the Gunplay and Combat While Sticking to Its RPG Roots | IGN Live 2025

Marcus Morgan, Obsidian's VP of Operations, came by IGN Live to discuss The Outer Worlds 2 in the lead up to its much-anticipated October 29 release date, including its Flaws system, a new ice planet that has become one of his favorites, a goo pistol, and more. Morgan began by sharing that the sequel is digging deeper into the RPG aspects, remarking, “Obsidian is rooted in RPGs. We wanted to evolve with Outer Worlds.” He's not even comfortable calling The Outer Worlds 2 part RPG, part FPS. Instead, he stressed he would "only ever call it an RPG." However, the team heard a lot of feedback that fans wanted gunplay and combat to evolve, so there will be plenty of new weapons to look forward to, including some that are science-based...

View full article »

Anno 117: Pax Romana Release Date Revealed

Anno 117: Pax Romana will officially be released on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on November 13, 2025. This latest entry in the beloved Anno series is finally taking players to Rome and allowing them to become a governor in charge of, among other things, encouraging economic growth, expanding their empire through war, leading a rebellion, uniting the different people in the region under one banner, and much more. We were able to get our hands on Anno 117: Pax Romana in May and said, "I can already see myself losing dozens of hours to Anno 117: Pax Romana. Much of what made Anno 1800 such a great time has been deftly carried over here, while the building-specific bonuses and dedicated research tree are each smart innovations that...

View full article »

007: First Light Isn’t Part of the James Bond Film Canon

We’ve finally gotten our first look at IO Interactive’s new James Bond game: 007: First Light. It’s an origin story of the infamous spy, showing how he “earned the number” of 007. So far, everything we’ve seen has been cinematic and story-focused, so there are still plenty of questions lingering about how First Light will play, and who exactly this new Bond will be. Fortunately, I was able to sit down with IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak at an IO Interactive event this weekend and grill him on everything Bond. While he wouldn’t tell me who they had cast as the new Bond (the internet thinks it’s Patrick Gibson, but Abrak says they’re “waiting a bit” to reveal the cast), he did confirm that 007: First Light isn’t part of the film canon...

View full article »

The Outer Worlds 2 Is Microsoft's First Confirmed $80 Game

Microsoft has confirmed The Outer Worlds 2 costs $79.99 in the U.S. — it's the first Xbox Game Studios game to make the jump. The Steam page for Obsidian’s role-playing sequel revealed the $80 figure for the standard edition. Microsoft had confirmed it would follow Nintendo’s lead and make the jump with its games in time for the holiday season. It seems The Outer Worlds 2 will kick off this new Xbox video game pricing structure when it comes out on October 29, 2025, but it's worth noting that as an Xbox Game Studios title, it will of course launch straight into the Game Pass subscription service on day one. Explaining the price-hike decision in May, Microsoft told IGN: “We understand that these changes are challenging, and they were...

View full article »

The Outer Worlds 2 Gets Incredible Moon Man Statue and Artbook From Dark Horse | IGN Live 2025

Dark Horse is releasing a new line of collectibles based on Obsidian Entertainment's The Outer Worlds 2. As revealed during the Xbox Games Showcase 2025 stream, the first entries in that lineup include an artbook called The Art of The Outer Worlds 2 and a really cool statue of the iconic mascot Moon Man. IGN can exclusively debut the first images of The Outer Worlds 2: Moon Man Statue, which is being released through Dark Horse Direct. Check them out in the slideshow gallery below: The Outer Worlds 2: Moon Man Statue depicts the Spacer's Choice mascot riding atop a rocketship. The statue features a light-up LED exhaust and oversized, glowing head. The statue measures 10” tall, 5” wide, and 3.75” deep. The statue is priced at $159.99...

View full article »

Microsoft Didn't Show Gears of War: E-Day at Xbox Games Showcase 2025, But Promises It's Out Next Year

If you were tuning into Xbox Games Showcase 2025 hoping to see Gears of War: E-Day, you may have been left disappointed. Today's show was light on Microsoft's biggest franchises — with nothing from Forza, Halo or the upcoming Fable reboot. Instead, Xbox boss Phil Spencer promised that 2026 would be the year Gears of War: E-Day arrives, alongside the next Forza game, as the Xbox brand celebrates its 25th anniversary. The next chapter in Xbox's veteran Gears of War series was formally announced a year ago, at the Xbox Games Showcase 2024. E-Day will be a prequel set 14 years before the original Gears of War game, and an origin story for classic heroes Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago, voiced once again by John DiMiaggio and Carlos...

View full article »

Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Teases Return of Halo in 2026 — and It’s Reportedly a Halo: Combat Evolved Remaster

Microsoft is reportedly set to release a Halo: Combat Evolved remaster in 2026. During the Xbox Games Showcase 2025, Microsoft gaming boss Phil Spencer teased a number of new games coming out next year, including the new Fable, the next Forza, Gears of War: E-Day, and "the return of a classic that’s been with us since the beginning." While that’s an obvious tease for Halo, The Verge reporter Mark Warren has said it specifically relates to a Halo: Combat Evolved remaster. Warren had reported on the existence of this game before, which is apparently under consideration for release on rival platforms including PlayStation 5. Of course, Microsoft remastered Halo CE with 2011’s Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, which was made a part of...

View full article »

Xbox Gets Final Fantasy 16 Today, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade This Winter

Xbox fans finally get a chance to catch up with recent some recent Final Fantasy games — including a shadow drop of Final Fantasy 16 today. Later this year, sometime this winter, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade will also follow. After a two-year wait, the sixteenth main Final Fantasy finally drops on Xbox Series X/S right now, having first launched for PlayStation 5 in June 2023, and on PC in September 2024. Final Fantasy 7 first launched in 2020 for PlayStation 4, before its Intergrade upgrade arrived a year later on PC and PS5. All of which is to say that Xbox fans have been waiting a long time for these games, but their arrival this year suggests Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will follow in the somewhat not-too-distant future. "Its...

View full article »

Double Fine's Next Game, Keeper, Has You Controlling a Walking Lighthouse Driven by a Goofy Bird

Following Psychonauts 2, Double Fine has been hard at work on a new game that was just revealed at today's Xbox Games Showcase. It's called Keeper, and it puts you in the wobbly legs of a walking sapient lighthouse driven by a silly-looking bird. The footage shows a goofy bird landing atop a lighthouse, which then sprouts spindly legs and begins trotting off across the continent with the bird seemingly helping or helming the operation. It's not clear just yet what the lighthouse is after, why or how it can walk, or what it's relationship with the bird is, but the world it's wandering is clearly a fantastical one in the dreamy vein of other Double Fine games. Strange as it seems, we've got high hopes for Keeper after Double Fine's...

View full article »

P4R: Persona 4 Revival Finally, Officially Confirmed at Xbox Games Showcase

After months of poorly-kept secrets, Atlus has officially revealed that a remake of Persona 4 is really happening. In a brief trailer, we got our first look at P4R: Persona 4 Revival for Xbox, PS5, and PC, and will be available day one on Game Pass. We didn't get to see much of the game, but the environments we got a brief look at appeared to be significantly visually improved from the original. Following the announcement, developer P-Studio director Kazuhisa Wada shared the following messages: Fans have been gossiping about a proper Persona 4 remake for a while now, fueled by recent registered domain names, industry insiders, and more recently, multiple of the original voice actors saying they would not be returning for the...

View full article »

Honey, I Can't Believe Grounded 2 is Real and Launches in Xbox Game Preview Next Month

Microsoft has just announced a sequel to Grounded during its Xbox Games Showcase 2025 — and you'll be able to play it as soon as next month. Grounded 2 is an all-new entry in Obsidian's pint-size garden survival game, which is basically Honey I Shrunk the Kids. Just as with the original Grounded, this follow-up will launch via Xbox Game Preview, giving you early access to the title as it's developed. You can try it out from July 29, 2025 on PC and Xbox Series X/S. Today's reveal trailer, above, shows gameplay outside the original Grounded's back garden location. Now down the road in a park, you'll once again need to craft your means of survival and take on menacing critters, now including caterpillars. But not all wildlife will be...

View full article »

Beast of Reincarnation Is a Game Freak Action Game Due Out 2026

Game Freak, best known for the Pokémon series of video games, has revealed Beast of Reincarnation. Announced during Xbox Games Showcase 2025, Beast of Reincarnation marks a departure from what we’re used to seeing from Game Freak, with action RPG gameplay reminiscent of the likes of Black Myth: Wukong. It’s due out 2026 across Xbox Series X and Xbox PC, Xbox Cloud, PC via Steam, and PlayStation 5. It's also a day-one Game Pass title. Directed by Kota Furushima, Beast of Reincarnation allows players to step into the role of Emma the Sealer as they journey through post-apocalyptic Japan to save humanity from extinction. For more, check out everything announced at Xbox Games Showcase June 2025. Developing... Wesley is Director...

View full article »

Indiana Jones and The Great Circle DLC The Order of the Giants Finally Has a Release Date

Indiana Jones and The Great Circle's first expansion, The Order of the Giants, now has a release date — and it's only a few months' away. The Order of the Giants will arrive on September 4, 2025, a brief teaser shown during today's Xbox Games Showcase 2025 revealed. That's for all platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S, and yes, the newer PlayStation 5 version of the game too. Indiana Jones and The Great Circle was one of the best games of 2024, and more of it is a very good thing. It looks like we'll be seeing more of the game's mysterious race of forerunner Nephilim Order giants in this expansion — though whether that also means more of the late Tony Todd's character of Locus remains to be seen. Intriguingly, The Order of Giants sounds...

View full article »

Xbox Ally X vs. Steam Deck

Microsoft has finally announced the Xbox Ally X, after months of speculation that it was working on some kind of handheld gaming PC. What makes this handheld especially interesting is that Microsoft is tuning up its software to make Windows more usable with a controller, even having the OS launch straight into a refined Xbox App. If that sounds familiar, it's because the Steam Deck works in a very similar way. Valve tuned its handheld to run on a specialized version of Linux, and the device boots straight into what's essentially a handheld version of Steam Big Picture mode. If Microsoft is able to pull it off, this could be the moment Windows handhelds have been waiting for. We'll have to wait a bit longer to see just how well the...

View full article »

Super Meat Boy 3D Announced for an Early 2026 Release

Super Meat Boy returned in all his gory glory at today's Xbox Games Showcase, in the unveiling of Super Meat Boy 3D. It's exactly what it sounds like: a 3D Super Meat Boy game, and it's coming to Xbox, PlayStation, and PC in early 2026. Today's trailer sure does look like exactly what is says on the tin: it's fast, gory gameplay through short, sharp obstacle courses full of machines that can tear a little meat guy apart. Meat Boy bounces his way through them, leaving a trailer of, uh, meat juice, wherever he lands, with slidey physics down walls and tight jumping windows. But of course, it's all in a 3D world instead of a 2D space, which will likely dramatically change how the platforming works, where you can go, and the sorts of...

View full article »

High on Life 2 Announced, Coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, Including Game Pass

High on Life 2 has just been announced at the Xbox Games Showcase 2025, and it's set to arrive this winter for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, including via Game Pass. This sequel to Squanch Games' foul-mouthed gun game sees the developer returning to its cartoony first-person shooting gameplay. The original High on Life launched in 2022 to mixed reviews, and controversy around the involvement of Justin Roiland. Still, it did the numbers on Xbox Game Pass and, last year, a High on Life animated series was suggested as being in the works. High on Life 2 picks up the original game's story after your successful takedown of its naughty space cartel. But there's no rest for you — no. "When a mysterious figure from your past...

View full article »

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy Revealed for 2026 Release at Xbox Games Showcase 2025

There's a new Plague Tale on the way! Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy just got revealed at today's Xbox Games Showcase for a 2026 release. Resonance is a prequel to A Plague Tale, set 15 years before the events of the original game. It follows the journey of Sophia as a young plunderer on the run, who ends up on Minotaur's Island and tries to unravel the myth of the island, learn more about herself, and escape those pursuing her. The game's setting shifts back and forth between the Middle Ages and ancient Minoa, and Sophia must navigate a deadly maze full of traps and puzzles to survive. Resonance is being developed as part of an ongoing partnership between Focus Entertainment Publishing and developer Asobo Studio. The game is set...

View full article »

The Outer Worlds 2 Release Date Revealed at Xbox Games Showcase

At today's Xbox Games Showcase, we saw a new trailer for The Outer Worlds 2 showing the power of space capitalism run amok, which came with a release date of October 29, 2025. We've already seen quite a bit of The Outer Worlds 2, and we've got a lot more to come. We got a lot of snippets of combat in all sorts of environments against all different kinds of enemies, human and otherwise. The Outer Worlds 2 was first announced at E3 2021, and we've since seen quite a bit about how it aims to be a bigger, better exploration of the vision of the first The Outer Worlds, including through our own IGN First. There's a The Outer Worlds 2-focused direct coming after today's Xbox Showcase that will give us an even deeper look at the game ahead...

View full article »