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Alright, let's kick this week off with some banger deals. Gift-wise, handing somebody a thirty-five buck Pokémon Pearl beats the hell out of yet more chocolate. Same deal with a cut-price FIFA 23 on PC or an Elden Ring for $69. Break those Easter present stereotypes. Take on way less calories. Solid plan.This Day in Gaming- Pokémon Ruby / Sapphire (GBA) launch, 2003. Sequels- Metroid Prime (GC) launch, 2003. Remaster- AC: Altaïr's Chronicles (DS) launch, 2008.Table of ContentsNintendo Switch PC Xbox PlayStationNotable Sales for Nintendo SwitchBack to topPurchase Cheaply for PCBack to topExciting Offers for XO/XSBack to topProduct Savings for PS4/PS5Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He plays...

April Fools' Day has once again arrived and has brought with it some hilarious video game pranks. While most can be found to be fake for a laugh, there are a few clever ones that catch us by surprise and become actual new games or updates to existing titles that are just as wild as the day they are released.It can be hard to keep track of all the best video game pranks on April Fools' Day, so we are here to gather all the best ones in this roundup! Let us know which prank is your favorite below!We'll also be updating this article throughout the day, so be sure to check back for the latest additions!The Super Mario Bros. Movie Voices + Nintendo Switch Online AnnouncementTo kick off the April Fools' Day festivities, IGN presented...

Capcom has alerted Resident Evil 4 Remake players that a rare game-breaking bug has been found at the beginning of Chapter 12 that could stop your progress if you attack with your knife right after obtaining a key item.Capcom shared the news on Twitter, saying that this issue affects players on all platforms and that it "intends to fix this issue in a future update and apologize for any inconvenience." Luckily, the fix will allow players who were impacted by this bug to continue their current save.As for the bug itself, Capcom has detailed what it is and how to avoid it in a non-spoilery way;"A cutscene will play at the beginning of Chapter 12, after which the player will receive a key item," Capcom wrote. "Please refrain from...

Today, Studio WildCard announced that Ark 2, the sequel to 2017's Ark: Survival Evolved, is getting delayed a second time into 2024 - but in the meantime, a next-gen version of the original game is coming out in August to keep us busy.In a community blogpost offering a development roadmap, Studio WildCard explained that the reason for Ark 2's delay to next year was due to challenges working with Unreal Engine 5:"Our goal is to make ARK 2 the best game it can be and provide a truly exceptional and rewarding experience for players. Unreal Engine 5 is incredibly new technology to us (and all developers), and we aim to use this cutting-edge tech to its fullest potential while creating a game with never-before-achieved scope at Studio...

Sega loves to surprise Sonic fans, so they surprised everyone by releasing The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, a new murder mystery title featuring the Blue Blur and his friends, for free on Steam.Sonic's social media team announced the shocking new game today with the launch trailer, showing the game in visual novel form. The team wrote that the game "has been a labor of love from the Sonic Social team and a host of amazingly talented people who are just as passionate about Sonic as we are."In The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, Amy Rose is throwing a murder mystery-themed birthday party for all of her friends aboard the Mirage Express. When Sonic suddenly dies, you play as a new character who just so happens to be a new crew...

For far too long, The Last of Us has been something you could only play on PlayStation consoles. Now that the first installment in the series has arrived on PC, non-PlayStation gamers finally have a chance to play the critically acclaimed Naughty Dog title. With the first season of The Last of Us show concluding, this is a great opportunity to dive into the story once again with even more depth.Unlike watching a TV series, however, playing The Last of Us, which has some puzzling portions, can be confusing, and even challenging at times. Whether it's trying to find the right puzzle solution to progress or just surviving a Clicker stealth area, you may need some guides as you progress through the story. Take a look at some of the best...

Just under three years after its release, support for Marvel's Avengers is winding down. Today, Crystal Dynamics released Patch 2.8 for Marvel's Avengers, which adds some final features and bug fixes to the game before it gets delisted later this year.Crystal Dynamics revealed the patch via a blog post, which thanks players for their support. The patch focuses on introducing some final features to the game and includes a host of new bug fixes.Patch 2.8 makes many of the game's cosmetics more accessible, fully removing the Shipments and Hero Challenge Cards systems from the game and instead putting their rewards in the Marketplace. The update also automatically converts players' Credits balances into in-game resources and turns...

Looking back from the end of Resident Evil 4 there's one big tip that becomes apprent for players: Do not sell your gemstones! Resident Evil 4 Remake has a bit of a complex economy, with The Merchant as the central banker. The Merchant will give you seemingly high prices for the treasures and gemstones you come across, but when you combine these items, you can gain vastly increased pesetas in exchange. The key point here is that it's worth saving your gemstones until you have a treasure in which you can inlay them, and even then you should wait until you have the optimal gem color combinations.How to Get the Most Valuable Gem/Treasure CombosHere's how gemstone color combinations and gemstone inlaying in treasure works:Find a...

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has concluded its investigation of a case the Communication Workers of America filed against Activision Blizzard, opting to file a complaint with charges alleging the company illegally surveilled employees and violated labor laws by threatening to shut down company communication channels. However, the NLRB also dismissed a charge that the company violated Section 7 laws by shutting down a chat channel during an all-hands meeting last summer.The three chargesThe charge of surveillance goes back to July 21, 2022 when employees staged a walkout in protest of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, demanding protections from a growing strain of anti-abortion laws in the US, as well as labor-neutrality...

Final Fantasy 14 Online is nearly 10 years old, but it doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon. During today's Live Letter 76 broadcast, director Yoshi-P and the team behind FFXIV revealed details about the massive Patch 6.4, which is called The Dark Throne and will be released at some point in late May.Patch 6.4 will continue the game's Main Scenario Quest, adding onto the story of the player's journey throughout Eorzea. It will also add the new Pandæmonium: Anabaseios raid, an icy dungeon called The Aetherfont, and the "challenging" Voidcast Dais trial.Other modes of the game will also change significantly — PvP Series 4 and Crystalline Conflict season 7 will kick off with the launch of this patch.Yoshi-P also teased...

The thickest of loot boys, 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...

After getting a hands-off look at some early gameplay from upcoming Hyper Light Drifter sequel, Hyper Light Breaker, it’s clear that the follow-up is both thematically very Hyper Light while also functionally a significant departure from the first game. While Hyper Light Drifter was a single-player (at launch), top-down action-adventure, Hyper Light Breaker is a multiplayer-focused, 3D, roguelike action game.Why change genre so dramatically for a follow-up when fans were, presumably, expecting more of the same? Creator Alx Preston doesn’t have that deep a reason: Hyper Light Breaker is simply the game the team wanted to make, and that he specifically wanted to make “for quite a long time” after Drifter’s release. So he’s not too...

Watching developer Alx Preston walk me through some early Hyper Light Breaker gameplay at this year’s Game Developers Conference makes the already inscrutable world of Hyper Light feel even more esoteric. Hyper Light Breaker was already a game told in strong imagery rather than language, with a story to be slowly puzzled out over time and significant effort. But Breaker is a total gameplay departure from Drifter, so experiencing it through cryptic hints from Preston about what’s going on as he pummels his way through piles of enemies in rainbow-tinted biomes gives it even more of an aura of mystery.As with Drifter, Hyper Light Breaker’s world is awash in brilliant colors, littered with strange runes and ruins, and is completely...

Poncle has announced a second expansion for Vampire Survivors called Tides of the Foscari, which will arrive on April 13.As revealed on Xbox Wire, the expansion takes players to western Europe in the Great Forest with the developers were influenced by local fairy tales and folklore. At the center lies the Foscari Academy, a school that trains the next generation of warriors, scholars, and leaders.It’s divided into three houses: the Azure Tower trains magical sorcerers and warlocks; the Crimson Anvil focuses on strength, engineering, and blacksmithing; and the Amber Sickle consists of professions such as accounting, agriculture, and archery.As for the new content, there are eight new characters, 13 new weapons, one new stage...

Join Emma, Mat, and Matt as they discuss the new Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves movie, followed by a special interview segment with directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein. The ‘Matt’ Trio also talk about this week’s TV highlights as both Succession and Yellowjackets are back on our screens, then move onto Counter-Strike 2 thoughts, and some doughnut-fueled feedback.Got a game for us to play, or just want to tell us the weirdest thing you've eaten for breakfast? Drop us an email: ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.IGN UK Podcast 690: Dunjackets & DadragonsIGN UK Podcast 689: The Big Resident Evil 4 Chat IGN UK Podcast 688: What is the Best Shape of Doughnut? IGN UK Podcast 687: The Build-a-Horror Movie-Workshop IGN UK...

While on previous Forza Horizon games the wild, toy-themed expansions have come after a more grounded one, for Forza Horizon 5 developer Playground Games led with its terrific Hot Wheels add-on last year. However, after seven months of pounding the orange plastic high above the clouds, the team has taken us right back down to the desert and dust for some new rally-themed racing across a fresh slab of Mexican countryside. It admittedly isn’t quite as eye-catching – and it’s regressed from some key tweaks to the progression system introduced in Hot Wheels – but competing against the clock with a co-driver is a great new way to race in Horizon, and the excellent map is packed with far more technical routes than found in the main game...

Thank the gaming Gods, it's Friday! I have a ton of new deals for you, in addition to the downshifting Amazon Big Smile Sale. I should also like to point out that it's the Aussie birthday of the Nintendo 3DS. This celebration is muted, however, by the fact that its online store was shuttered two days ago. 12 years on, and my launchy hasn't skipped a beat. Top innings. Off to gaming Valhalla with you, sweet prince.This Day in Gaming- Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3) launch, 2007.- Nintendo 3DS launch, 2011.- Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars (3DS) launch, 2011.- Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (3DS) launch, 2011.- Shift 2: Unleashed (PC, PS2, X360) launch, 2011.- Persona 5 Royal (Multi) launch, 2020. GetTable of ContentsNintendo...

MultiVersus is closing its doors – well, early access doors – on June 25, and there’s been a lot of discourse about this move by Warner Bros. Games and Player First Games. I think the general consensus is that everyone sort of forgot MultiVersus was an Early Access game as it’s had not one but two seasons since it launched.A lot of games recently have been coming out as Open Beta, Beta, or Early Access, and they just kind of stay that way. DayZ is the biggest example I can think of; the game had been in alpha for five years but just came out as a beta in 2018. Now, this isn’t a great example since you can’t buy a battlepass or cosmetics for DayZ, and MultiVersus has a battlepass and cosmetics system in place, but you can still...

When Nintendo retired the 3DS shortly after the release of the Nintendo Switch, one of the first questions fans asked was whether this meant the end for Etrian Odyssey. A popular dungeon crawling series that originally made its debut on the Nintendo DS, Etrian Odyssey was built around the dual touchscreen design that defined that platform. Technically, it could be replicated on the Switch, but it was apt to be far more unwieldy.In February, Atlus put some of those fears to rest with the Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection, a remastered collection that will bring the first three games to PC and Switch. In an exclusive new interview with IGN, Etrian Odyssey HD’s devs – who preferred to be identified as a team rather than individually –...

After over 2 years on the market, the Meta (Oculus) Quest 2 VR headset is still far and away the best value when it comes to VR gaming. For a price that beats every other comparable VR headset out there, it offers a completely tether-free experience, phenomenal inside-out tracking, and a huge library of games. Also, starting August of 2022, you do not need a Facebook account to login to your Quest 2. That was justifiably a sore point for many people and Meta eventually realized that.The Quest 2 originally started out at $299.99 at launch, but those days are long gone. Last year Meta raised it to $399.99, a rather significant price hike. Fortunately today, there's a $50 price drop that brings it down to $349.99. The current gen Quest...

Blizzard has revealed the Diablo IV beta that took place over the last two weekends was the largest in the franchise's history. Thanks to the official Diablo Twitter account, we now have information on how many times players died, which classes were the most played, and more.The popular classes throughout both betas were the Sorcerer and Necromancer. The Sorcerer was available during the Early and Open Beta, while the Necromancer was only playable during the Open Beta.In our review-in-progress of the Diablo 4 beta we wrote that all three of the initially available character classes in the beta were "pretty great," saying of the Sorcerer, "The Sorcerer has a similar set of mostly long-range skills based on fire, electric, and ice...

CD Projekt Red has officially confirmed that The Molasses Flood's upcoming Witcher game, codenamed Sirius, is not canceled, but it has restarted development on the upcoming multiplayer game.During a recent financial earnings call, The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077 developer confirmed that it decided to reevaluate the project but that it would not scrap the entire concept altogether. Noting that the company was looking at ways to extend the popular fantasy IP."So this is a project which is, I would say, insourced. It's also new to us in terms of design and format. For those reasons, it's very different from the big productions we are known for. To stay competitive, we have to keep looking for new ways to extend our franchises," said...

With the rocky launch of Cyberpunk 2077 firmly in the rearview, CD Projekt seems to have fully bounced back from where it was at the end of 2020 both in good will and in financials, celebrating its second-best earnings year in 2022 despite no new major releases.Per CD Projekt's earnings report, Cyberpunk 2077 revenues were up 18% year-over-year in 2022, with 94% of the units sold being digital. That's a pretty unusual figure in video games, which typically release to enormous unit sales and then see a steady but consistent drop over time. CD Projekt attributes the sales to their long-term work on improving issues with Cyberpunk 2077, as well as the success of the companion Netflix series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. And having The Witcher...

Tim Sweeney isn't a fan of what blockchain has done to game development. Epic's CEO bemoans "a whole generation" of computer scientists focusing on technlogy such as cryptocurrency, which he believes is impacting the core technology needed to make truly revolutionary game experiences"There's been a lot of neglect, as everybody's going off...we're missing a generation of computer scientists who would traditionally be pushing forward that set," Sweeney says. "So, we're trying to fill in the gaps in building the research team we have here. I think there are new genres of games that will emerge from the technologies that are just in the pipeline being built right now."Saxs Persson, Epic's executive in charge of Fortnite's ecosystem...

Crusader Kings 3's critically acclaimed Royal Court DLC is coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S on May 17.Royal Court is a major expansion to Crusader Kings 3, adding several elements including the Throne Room, Grandeur, an Inventory System, and more.The Throne Room is available to king and emperor characters as a visual representation of the player's royal court that reflects their success. The royal court can also be improved with the Grandeur feature that lets players bling up their residence to attract better guests and impress rivals.Similarly, Inspired People such as talented artists, craftspeople, and thinkers can work on new projects, adding further treasures and artifacts.The Royal Court update also adds...

Microsoft has announced that the Xbox Games with Gold line-up for April 2023 includes Out of Space: Couch Edition and Peaky Blinders: Mastermind.As detailed on Xbox Wire, the two Games with Gold offerings will be available to anyone with Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, with Out of Space: Couch Edition available first from April 1 to 30, and Peaky Blinders: Mastermind available later from April 16 to May 15.If the title wasn't obvious, Out of Space: Couch Edition is set in outer space. The aim of the game is to create resources and work out housekeeping systems to build a sustainable environment, all while dealing with a deadly alien infestation that has also settled in.After exploring the vast cosmic arena, you might...

Naughty Dog has released its first patch for the troubled PC port of The Last of Us Part 1. The hotfix addresses "several performance and hitch-related issues," according to the developer.In addition to remedying some of its performance woes, The Last of Us Part 1 v1.0.1.5 adds "extra crash diagnostic information to assist in investigating shader building related crashes and other common reported stability issues", according to Naughty Dog.The studio notes it is "closely watching player reports and actively working on a patch with more bugfixes, to be released soon."The patch comes just two days after The Last of Us Part 1 was released on PC. Users have reported issues with excessive crashing and performance, specifically...

The Amnesia series from developer Frictional Games sits comfortably among the scariest horror games ever. Each entry tells a personal story about survival against supernatural forces, injecting a palpable sense of dread as you carefully move in near-darkness, constantly staying one step ahead of nightmarish monsters nipping at your heels or the growing anxiety that slowly chips away at the sanity of the protagonist.But the upcoming sequel, Amnesia: The Bunker, takes a unique approach to story-driven survival horror, focusing more on the moment-to-moment actions and choices you make taking that daring plunge into the unknown. After my hands-on time with it, I felt more unnerved and impressed with what tricks this series has yet to...

There are a lot of reasons to love Resident Evil 4, but something that jumped out at me while playing through the remake is how it feels like a medley of homages to some of the greatest horror movie monsters and antagonists of all time. There’s no way of telling how many of these actually are deliberate nods to other fiction, and how much it’s my own brain jumping to conclusions, but it’s still fun to dissect the many weird parts that make up this masterpiece of a game.It’s pretty safe to say The chainsaw-wielding burlap sack-wearing Dr. Salvador takes some inspiration from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Leatherface, and quite possibly Jason Voorhees’ baggier, less athletic look from Friday The 13th Part 2. Del Lago might be more...

Hogwarts Legacy soared high on the charts as the best-selling game of February 2023, while The Last Of Us sales rose with it.The sales numbers were shared by Mat Piscatella, executive director and games industry analyst at Circana (formerly known as NPD), showing Hogwarts Legacy ranked first in February sales for PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam. Not only is the game last month's best-seller, but it is also the best-selling game of 2023 year-to-date, surpassing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the Dead Space remake, Madden NFL 23, and FIFA 23.The sales of The Last Of Us games climbed up the charts last month as well, but still trailed behind the Wizarding World title. The Last Of Us: Part 1 ranked 6th on the sales chart (up from 11th in...