Gaming News

Between the releases of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion, Forspoken, and Octopath Traveler II, it's been another busy year for Square Enix. Still, though, the company hopes to expand, and this might include forming or acquiring new studios.Today, Square Enix revealed that it is thinking about creating new studios and acquiring existing studios as part of its plan to grow its in-house development resources.According to slides from the company's full earnings report released today, Square Enix plans to "consider M&A, creating new studios, and taking minority stakes" to bring in more external development resources."In addition, it plans to hire more engineers and developers "to develop not only HD and smart device games but...

Google has released a new AI tool that allows users to control mouse input using only their face and head movements.Project Gameface is an open-source hands-free gaming mouse. The tool can mimic cursor movements by using a webcam and machine learning to move the cursor based on the user's facial and head movements.Google brought the tech to power the tool to life using MediaPipe to develop a tool that can detect 468 points on the user's face. And the tool's UI allows players to assign different actions and shortcuts for each facial expression.For example, you could assign the mouse to right-click when you open your mouth.The release of Project Gameface is a significant step forward toward accessibility in gaming. While...

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy has achieved good results on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but fans will have to wait a little longer to see if the Switch version can offer the same results.Originally set to release in July, Avalanche Software announced on Twitter today that Hogwarts Legacy is being delayed until November for further optimizmation."We know fans are looking forward to playing on Switch, therefore creating the best possible experience is our top priority. Thank you for your patience," the team wrote on Hogwarts Legacy's feed.Avalanche has a big job ahead of them. While Hogwarts Legacy has managed to achieve stability on older consoles, the Switch is less powerful than even the base PlayStation 4. Marvel's Midnight...

Space Davy Jones, Xûr, is now live in Destiny 2 for the weekend until next week's reset. If you're looking to get your some shiny new Exotic armor or weapons for your Guardian, look no further.Each week, Xûr has a random assortment of Exotic armor, one for each Guardian class, as well as a random Exotic Weapon and an Exotic Engram available for purchase. In addition to his Exotic wares, he's got a random collection of Legendary weapons and armor to deck out your Guardians.We've rounded up all the info on Xûr for the week including where to find Xûr, which Exotic weapons and armor are available, as well as which Legendary weapons you should pick up, either for PvE or PvP.Where Is Xûr Located Today?Xûr's location can be found at...

Frictional Games announced that it has delayed Amnesia: The Bunker to June 6. The decision to postpone the game was to fix issues regarding rare crashes that were difficult to identify and replicate.In a two-minute video from creative lead Fredrik Olsson, he explained that the game is currently undergoing a certification process and there needed to be more time to fix the crashes before releasing.“The alternative, of course, I guess would have been to ask the team to work weekends or nights but that’s simply not something we do here at Frictional,” Olsson said. He assured audiences that the game is coming along nicely in terms of the gameplay, art, animation, and atmosphere and that the development team is ready to ship the game...

CD Projekt Red's Witcher spin-off game Project Sirius now has a "new framework" after development was reset earlier this year.As reported by Eurogamer, CD Projekt Red revealed in an announcement to investors that the development of Sirius is seemingly back on track after the studio decided to restart its development.CD Projekt Red "hereby announces the conclusion of work on defining a new framework for Project Sirius," it said. Being developed by CD Projekt Red-owned studio The Molasses Flood, Sirius is promised to be a multiplayer Witcher game built to appeal to audiences outside of just RPG fans.Concerns were raised when CD Projekt Red filed an impairment charge in March, something filed by a company to write off assets that...

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is here, but Cardy, Matt, and Emma haven't had a chance to play it yet so you'll have to wait until next week to hear all about it. In the meantime, the opportunity is taken to design our own (weird) dream Zeldas made up of bits and bobs from other games. Before that, get on board for some quick Honkai: Star Rail thoughts.Has a game ever gotten better after you've finished its main story? Give us your co-op game suggestions and drop us an email: ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.IGN UK Podcast 696: Let's Make a Zelda GameIGN UK Podcast 695: Redfall From Grace IGN UK Podcast 694: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is Everything We Wanted Fallen Order to Be IGN UK Podcast 693: Ranking the Best Orlando Theme...

With the whole world dissolving into an apocalyptic, primordial abyss, your band of misfits sets out into a nightmarish land to save everything by destroying corrupted pieces of reality beneath an ancient mountain. They'll probably fail, taken down by ambush, infighting, bad luck – but maybe, just maybe, fortune favors them and they destroy some unspeakable horror… and then gear up for the next run. That's the routine in Darkest Dungeon 2, where I was never sure if I'd journey from desperate despair to delicious delight, or from frolicking fun to futile frustration, every time I booted it up. Enjoying it for the dozens of hours it demands to complete takes the spirit of a gambler, someone always willing to hold out hope that the dice...

Jack Black has created yet another catchy song - and this time, it's a love letter to video games.Following up on his song "Peaches" for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, his band Tenacious D released "Video Games" with an accompanying music video that sports more game references than you can count on two hands. You can watch the full video here.It opens up with an animated version of Jack Black singing about how he doesn't play video games (we all know that's not true) with bandmate Kyle Gass playing guitar. As the video goes on, Black begins to name a bunch of video games he's played... while Gass gets killed by various video game creatures and characters.Throughout the song, he references God of War, Fallout 4, Sonic the Hedgehog...

If you ever wanted to go fast like Sonic - but in Crocs - now is your chance. SEGA has teamed up with Crocs to release a new line of Sonic-themed Clogs and Jibbitz charms.The upcoming collaboration takes notes from the world of Sonic, which includes Gold Rings that you can collect throughout the game, Chaos Emeralds, chili dogs, and of course, Sonic's red shoes. The Jibbitz charms will include fan-favorite characters such as Tails, Amy Rose, Knuckles, and Shadow.You can pick yourself a pair on May 23 if you're in the U.S. and May 24 for everyone else. If you want to purchase the Classic Sonic the Hedgehog Clog, they'll cost $59.99; the Kids' Classic Sonic the Hedgehog Clog will cost $49.99; and the Toddlers' Classic the Hedgehog...

IGN can reveal that Riot Games global president A. Dylan Jadeja will succeed Nicolo Laurent as the company's CEO later this year.Jadeja joined Riot in 2011 as Chief Financial Officer and became Chief Operating Officer in 2014 before being named president in 2017. He is credited as being an advocate of several Riot initiatives include the expansion of its global publishing footprint, eSport investment, the creation of Valorant, and the launch of Arcane."What drew me to Riot all those years ago was the authenticity of our mission, the enthusiasm of the global player community, and the passion in every corner of the company," said Jadeja."This is still true today. The creative heart at Riot is so inspiring — there’s real joy in what...

Tim Cain, one of the original creators of the Fallout series, has revealed on his YouTube channel (watch the full video here) that the vaults initially had a much grander purpose.They were initially meant to send people to space, he said, hoping they would find a new planet to live on. This, of course, harkens the upcoming Starfield's plot to mind, where humans have already begun space exploration and colonizing planets.In the Fallout series, the entire world has been affected by nuclear missiles, leaving some people and creatures to mutate while those lucky enough not to be affected by the radiation fend for themselves.The nuclear war was something that the Enclave (Fallout faction) and the U.S. government saw coming, so to...

Bandai Namco announced that One Piece: Odyssey’s Reunion of Memories DLC will release on May 25. In this upcoming expansion, the Straw Hats are approached by a girl resembling Lim and they are sent into another world.Over on the PlayStation Blog, Bandai Namco explained how the Reunion of Memories has a new battle system called Limited Order Battles that emphasizes a more strategic way of fighting. In a battle with Rear Admiral Barricade, the Straw Hats must defeat him while avoiding knocking out his sailor allies. Defeating the sailors isn’t necessary to win the battle, and each sailor knocked out only makes Rear Admiral Barricade stronger.While the Straw Hats can stun and confuse the sailors, the DLC adds an NPC ally that will try...

It’s starting to look like the Asus ROG Ally and Valve’s Steam Deck will be battling it out in the handheld PC gaming space for the foreseeable future. The comparisons were inevitable and seemingly not surprising since most new gaming handhelds were either the “Switch-killer” or are now inevitably looking to dethrone King Steam Deck. This begs the question, will the Steam Deck be in any trouble? It’s hard to say for now, but it’s still worth taking the time to compare these impressive devices nevertheless.Generally, as a handheld device, the ROG Ally is not as initially intuitive as the likes of the Steam Deck. There’s still plenty to love, and the Ally has a clear ambition to be a jack-of-all-trades handheld device, while in...

Finally! It's almost Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom game time. Have you got your sick day excuse ready for tomorrow? Personally, I'm going with lime disease. Haven't even Googled what that is (or how it's spelled) yet. Plan is to just tell my boss I've contracted it from drinking an inordinate amount of mojitos at work. Swish!Also, here's my Mother's Day Gift Guide.This Day in Gaming- Me & My Katamari (PSP) launch, 2006. Alt- Starhawk (PS3) launch, 2012.- Ninja Gaiden 3 (WiiU) launch, 2013. RemasterTable of ContentsNintendo Switch PC Xbox PlayStationNotable Sales for Nintendo SwitchExpiring recent dealsBack to topPurchase Cheaply for PCExpiring recent dealsBack to topExciting Offers for XO/XSExpiring...

Phil Spencer's recent comments about Xbox's third-place standing in the video game marketplace have created quite a stir in the Xbox community. We play Phil's quote and then spend a LOT of time reacting to and discussing it. Plus: it's the First Annual Xbox Games Showcase Draft! We compile a list of the games we think are most likely to make an appearance at next month's Showcase. Some of our choices might surprise you!Subscribe on any of your favorite podcast feeds, to our YouTube channel, or grab an MP3 of this week's episode. For more awesome content, check out our interview with Todd Howard, who answered all of our Starfield questions after the big reveal at the Xbox Showcase:For more next-gen coverage, make sure to check out...

As Diablo IV inches closer to its June launch date, Blizzard has revealed battle pass pricing and how the RPG will handle its seasonal content.As detailed in its latest livestream developer blog, Blizzard outlined the Diablo IV season basics with a breakdown on rewards and progression. The first season begins in mid to late July, with four seasons planned per year–one per quarter, each set to last for three months.Seasons aren't meant to expand upon Diablo IV's main narrative; that's being left to its expansions. Instead, it'll focus on separate, themed content iterating on the base game and introducing "fresh concepts and ideas into the world of Sanctuary." Those concepts include new gameplay mechanics, characters, questlines...

Ubisoft has laid off 60 people from its North Carolina and Newcastle, UK offices. The cuts seemed to have impacted Ubisoft’s customer service department the most."Ubisoft’s Customer Relation Center team is evolving its organization to focus on where we can have a significant impact while remaining steadfast in our commitment to consistently support our players anywhere in the world." the company said in a statement.Ubisoft continued: “We estimate that, due to organizational changes, 60 team members from our offices in Cary, North Carolina in the US and Newcastle in the UK could be impacted.”Several now former employees have already taken to Twitter to confirm that they’ve been laid off by the company. According to these...

In recent months, Netherrealm Studios has been slowly teasing another installment in the Mortal Kombat series. But now, we've gotten a more firm confirmation that the next game is on the horizon.On social media, the official Mortal Kombat Twitter account and MK co-creator Ed Boon shared a video of a ticking clock counting up to the number 12, only for it to pause and then skip over it and back to the number 1.This tease aligns it with a previous video focusing on a 30th-anniversary tribute to the series. At the end of that video, we saw a short animation of an hourglass, with the sand inside freezing. No doubt, this is a reference to Mortal Kombat 11's time-traveling antagonist Kronika, who manipulated the sands of time to disrupt...

Sony has revealed that the PlayStation Plus Games Catalog line-up for May 2023 includes Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Watch Dogs Legion, Humanity, and more.Revealed on the PlayStation Blog, a total of 23 games will join the service on May 16, meaning they're available at no extra charge to PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium members.PlayStation 5 exclusive Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart headlines May's offering, bringing the interdimensional adventure to even more players. What we called "a fantastic showpiece for the PS5's power" in our 9/10 review is classic gaming fun full of wild and wonderful characters, levels, and weapons.Watch Dogs Legion is another new game but quite different in tone to Ratchet and Clank, taking players...

After Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope and Marvel’s Midnight Suns last year, I’m champing at the bit for more of the fantastic and challenging turn-based tactics that not enough games offer. So when I recently went hands-on with Shadowrun developer Hairbrained Schemes’ The Lamplighters League, it was like stepping into a warm bath. The alternate-history 1930’s setting evokes an Indiana Jones-like adventurer’s charm filled with fedoras and tommy guns, and that felt like the perfect backdrop for the mix of diabolical stealth and strategic combat I overwhelmingly enjoyed in this admittedly small taste.The Lamplighters League’s killer feature is how it blends realtime stealth hijinks with turn-based combat in the same vein as XCOM. Before...

If you've come away from Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 and you're looking for even more time with the beloved heroes, then look no further than the 2021 game. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (2021) is a certified underrated gem, and well worth your time and money. It's not connected to the MCU, but it's still got some of the best video game writing and voice work of the current (and even the last) generation.GotG is the perfect companion piece to the new movie if you're looking for even more action, laughs, and emotional vulnerability from your favorite space-based heroes. Not only that, but that game is now 100% Verified on Steam Deck, so you can rest assured it'll run perfectly on the magnificent PC gaming handheld.To top it...

The 1997 cult classic movie Starship Troopers by director Paul Verhoeven is a relentless war film that leans heavily into the spectacle and over-the-top nature of intergalactic warfare. With the upcoming Starship Troopers: Extermination from Beyond the Wire developer Offworld Industries, the video game adaptation seeks to expand upon the film's chaotic and gory combat sequences for its focus on co-op squad-based action.I got an early look at Extermination ahead of its early access release on May 17th and saw its unique blend of large-scale combat and tower defense-style gameplay firsthand. And so far, it has the makings for a compelling twist on the original film's concept of soldiers out of their depth being thrust head-first into a...

Honkai: Star Rail starts with a bang, serenading you with a symphony and blowing up a space station. You quickly ground yourself in a world with code-locked chrome doors, mech-like invaders with bladed arms, and rooms with monitors spread across the walls. Its hook of a prologue gives just enough that you can see why the story and gameplay are worth sticking around for without grinding. Charming characters, engaging combat, and carefully crafted worlds blend together into a game with enough content to keep you entertained for well over 50 hours, using polished versions of the progression systems from Honkai Impact 3rd and Genshin Impact to create HoYoverse’s best RPG yet.HoYo has a reputation for crafting gacha games with a strong...

Epic Games has announced a creative mode for Fall Guys that lets players build and create their own competitive stages.Available today, May 10, the mode promises to bring "a comprehensive and full-featured level editor" that puts the developers' tools into the hands of the players. Fans can sample other players' creations in a dedicated mode but the most-loved levels will often be included in the main Fall Guys show selector too.Other changes are coming to the game in the Creative Construction update too, including the Season Pass changing to the Fame Pass. Epic Games this change will bring "more regular and better value content drops" thanks to the new system, as each season now contains multiple consecutive Fame Passes lasting...

Team Cherry has announced that Hollow Knight: Silksong has been delayed past the first half of 2023 and that more details will come as the game nears its release date.Over on Twitter, Team Cherry’s marketing and publishing lead Matthew Griffin said: “We had planned to release in the 1st half of 2023, but development is still continuing. We're excited by how the game is shaping up, and it's gotten quite big, so we want to take the time to make the game as good as we can.”He continued: “Expect more details from us once we get closer to release.”Hollow Knight: Silksong was first revealed back in February 2019 and was later confirmed to release sometime in the first half of 2023. However, it looks like that won't be the case...

Amidst a recent new wave of interest in AI technology, a number of gaming companies have lately been addressing what this means for them and their businesses. Count EA among them now, as CEO Andrew Wilson and COO Laura Miele addressed the future of games, AI, and EA on the company's Q4 earnings call.Addressing a question about AI, Wilson began by saying that the games industry would probably be "one of the greatest beneficiaries of AI." He described AI as an "augment" to EA's teams, as well as a way to allow players to create content within EA's worlds.However, he also addressed some fears about AI in...not the most reassuring way."The fear of displacement of the workforce is something we read a lot about and we talk a lot...

No, you’re not seeing things – Apex Legends could eventually include Overwatch-style crossovers, bringing pop-culture content to Kings Canyon.“I don’t think anything is off the table,” said EA CEO Andrew Wilson during an investor call today. “I think that as we think about game IP today, it's kind of like comic book IP of 20 or 30 years ago. This is the IP that Gen Z and Jen Alpha perhaps identify mostly with.”“I think the opportunity for us to continue to grow and expand and stretch the nature of the experiences that we're able to offer to our global player base over the next decade and beyond is unfettered,” he added.Overwatch 2 recently made headlines when it featured its first-ever major brand crossover, adding One-Punch...

Xbox's nascent Activision Blizzard acquisition remains a hot topic following the decision by the UK Competition and Markets Authority [CMA] to block the deal, but Electronic Arts CEO Andrew doesn't seem too worried one way or another whether it goes through.Speaking on a call following EA's most recent round of earnings, Wilson said EA is "Microsoft's biggest partner" while claiming that it is "the number one publisher on their platform.""So whether that deal goes through or not is not really material to us, broadly," Wilson finished. "We think we have the scale, again back to our network, our IP and our talent, to continue to navigate the future and lead the future of entertainment and compete in a marketplace regardless of...

While blockbuster single-player titles like Dead Space make the news headlines, massive live service games continue to sustain industry giants like EA for another year running. The publisher just reported a record Q4, nearing $2 billion in net bookings, with FIFA 23 taking the crown as the most successful in the series to date as its handoff to EA Sports FC looms.In a press release, EA reported record net bookings of $1.95 billion for the quarter ending March 31, 2023, up 11% year-over-year. This was largely thanks to record live service game performance, especially from the FIFA franchise. In particular, EA reports that FIFA 23 is now the most successful game in franchise history, surpassing the sales of FIFA 22, and the FIFA...