Gaming News

The Directorate: Novitiate Announced for PC

The Directorate: Novitiate is a new narrative-driven, single-player, third-person action-RPG set in the underbelly of Los Angeles in a magic-infused world of 2006. You play as Kana Luna, aka Mercury, and you can expect to mix guns, magic, story, and player choices within the Dark Syndicate in what developer Nesting Games hopes will be one of 2025's most memorable games. Third-person gunplay mixes with magic spells as you set out to catch a supernatural serial killer. You'll upgrade your offensive and defensive skills along the way, granting you agency in gameplay. But you'll also have it in the narrative, as well, where Nesting says, "Even romance has risks. Every choice has consequences. Choose whether to stay loyal to the Edicts of...

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Dragon Age Developers Reveal They’ve Been Laid Off After BioWare Puts ‘Full Focus’ on Mass Effect

Key Dragon Age developers have announced they are leaving BioWare after the developer restructured to focus on the next Mass Effect. Yesterday, January 29, IGN reported that BioWare had moved a number of the studio’s developers onto other projects within EA as it focuses entirely on Mass Effect 5. General manager Gary McKay said the studio is "taking this opportunity between full development cycles to reimagine how we work." "Given this stage of development, we don’t require support from the full studio,” McKay continued. “We have incredible talent here at BioWare, and so we have worked diligently over the past few months to match many of our colleagues with other teams at EA that had open roles that were a strong fit." IGN...

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Spider-Man 2 Swings Onto Steam With Forgiving PC Specs

Sony’s Marvel Spider-Man 2 swings onto PC today, January 30, and while the intrepid webslinger’s port plans have been in the works for a while, we didn’t know exactly how well it might run on PCs until now. On the PlayStation Blog, developer Nixxes Software shared all the fancy PC features available in the port, which has been developed to “finetune performance and fidelity across a broad range of hardware configurations." Accompanying a new trailer, below, Spider-Man 2 on PC drops the hard PSN requirement for PC players and adds advanced raytracing features such as DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction. “In Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on PC with ray reconstruction enabled, we see more detailed ray-traced reflections and better-defined ray-traced...

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'I'm Really Sorry for How This Went Down' — Work on Path of Exile 1 3.26 on Hold Until Path of Exile 2 0.2.0 Has Shipped, Dev Says

The developer of the Path of Exile games has apologized to fans of the first game after putting a new update on hold until a crucial update for Path of Exile 2 is out the door. Grinding Gear Games had promised fans that it would continue to update action RPG Path of Exile 1, which has been running for over 10 years now, through the release of Path of Exile 2 in early access and beyond. However, Path of Exile 1’s 3.26 update, which was originally planned for release late October before the Path of Exile 2 launch, then planned for mid-February this year, is now delayed further, with all hands on deck sorting out Path of Exile 2’s problems. Path of Exile 1's last league release was Settlers of Kalguur in July 2024. In a video message...

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Assetto Corsa Evo Early Access Review

Assetto Corsa Evo is easily one of the most exciting racing games of 2025. The huge open-world map of German countryside surrounding the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife that developer Kunos Simulazioni is currently crafting for it should make it one of the biggest in the genre. Literally, that is. The map is going to be 1,600 square kilometres in size. That’s about 15 Forza Horizon 5s. However, we’ll need to be patient for that, as the first chunk of it isn’t set to arrive in Evo’s evolving early access version until mid-year, and then grow from there. For now, at least, we get five tracks and 20 cars to noodle around in. The good news is that the driving feel is unsurprisingly fabulous, right out of the gate. At this point, however...

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AU Deals: Capcom Lunar Discounts Lunacy, Skywalker Saga for 18 Credits, a Dying Light Freebie, and More!

While I don't celebrate it myself, I'm all about scoring some sky-high savings from an annual lunar celebration. EA and Capcom seem to be leading the charge here with some ≥80% discounts on PC titles. I'm also seeing some mighty fine JRPG savings in the Nintendo eShop, plus some always welcome storage savings for Xbox Series X. As always, take a browse below to find a bunch more gold! In retro news, I've baked a large America-shaped birthday cake for Cruis'n USA, an early N64 arcade racer that's turned 27. This was uncomplicated wannabe 3D Outrun stuff—select one of seven muscle cars and then race against time through the checkpoints of 14 different courses. Honestly, this was only really memorable for its rockin' soundtrack, some...

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Xbox Game Pass Records Growth After Indiana Jones, Call of Duty, but Hardware Sales Drop

During today's Q2 investors call, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella revealed that Indiana Jones and The Great Circle has reached 4 million players. In an otherwise ho-hum earnings report for its gaming division, a bright spot appears to be MachineGames' newest release which has garnered critical acclaim, multiple awards, and now millions of players. While sales numbers are hard to pin down given its availability on Xbox Game Pass, 4 million is still an impressive number of players considering not many people knew exactly what to expect in a modern, AAA Indiana Jones game. We loved it ourselves, calling it an "irrestistable and immersive global treasure hunt," along with nominations for Game of the Year and Best Xbox game. You can read our...

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In Monster Hunter Wilds, Every Weapon Has Its Own Unique Design - IGN First

It’s well known that fans weren’t particularly enthused about the weapon designs in Monster Hunter: World, leading them to wonder if Monster Hunter Wilds will follow suit or not. Though we’ve seen a handful of weapons from Wilds, we haven’t seen quite enough to make a determinative verdict on our own about their general design philosophy–but now, Monster Hunter Wilds Director Yuya Tokuda has cleared up this question. When speaking about the Hope series armor and weapons, Tokuda told us: “Incidentally, weapon designs in Monster Hunter: World generally retained a certain form, but they featured a customized appearance based on which monster materials were used. However, in Wilds, each weapon has its own unique design.” The direct...

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Behind Monster Hunter Wilds' New Approach to Starting Weapons and Hope Series Gear – IGN First

If you ask players what gets them excited about the Monster Hunter series, some will surely bring up making new equipment utilizing materials gathered on their hunts. Just about every hunter has felt the joy of completing a head-to-toe armor set with a matching weapon after hunting the same monster again and again. Equipment in the Monster Hunter series has followed a certain concept ever since its earliest games: Beat the monsters and take on their power through equipment crafted from their remains. Players rely on their own strength to slay powerful monsters, then make those monsters' abilities their own to grow even stronger. In an interview with IGN, Monster Hunter Wilds Executive Director and Art Director Kaname Fujioka explains...

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Ninja Gaiden 2 Black Review

There is a moment near the end of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black where you retrace the original Ninja Gaiden’s opening level in reverse. I know that level like the back of my hand, having played it over and over and over again two decades ago on a demo disk until I could beat Murai, the first boss, without getting hit. And though you aren’t forced to go all the way to the beginning of that first stage here, this area isn't what it used to be. It’s dilapidated, rotting, falling apart; you can see the damage caused by time and the events of the first game clearly. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black never directly comments on this; Ryu doesn’t mention it, and the camera never pulls any tricks to call attention to it. It’s a moment of subtlety that's very un-Ninja...

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Beyond: Two Souls TV Series on the Way from Star Elliot Page

PlayStation and Quantic Dream’s story-driven adventure game Beyond: Two Souls is getting a TV series reimagining from original star Elliot Page. Deadline reports that Page’s Pageboy Productions has acquired the rights from Quantic Dream in the hopes of adapting it into a television show. The project is said to be in early development and is expected to keep the video game experience’s non-linear narrative in mind as work progresses. Additional details, including casting information and release plans, have yet to be revealed. Page told Deadline that filming Beyond: Two Souls was “one of the most challenging and fulfilling acting experiences” of his career. He continued: “The story’s rich narrative and emotional depth offer us a...

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WWE 2K25: Here’s What Comes in Each Edition

WWE 2K25 is set to release for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on March 7 if you buy one of the more expensive editions or March 14 for the standard edition. The cover athlete for the standard edition this year is Roman Reigns. All editions are available to preorder now (see it at Amazon), so read on to see what’s new this year, plus what comes in each edition. WWE 2K25 Standard Edition PS5 Get it at Amazon - $69.99 Get it at Best Buy - $69.99 Get it at GameStop - $69.99 Get it at Target - $69.99 Get it at PS Store (digital) - $69.99 PS4 Get it at Amazon - $69.99 Get it at Best Buy - $69.99 Get it at GameStop - $69.99 Get it at Target - $69.99 Get it at PS Store (digital) - $69.99 Xbox Series X|S Get it at Amazon - $69.99 Get...

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Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Publisher Addresses Community Complaints About a Lack of Content, Reveals What’s Coming Down the Line

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 publisher Focus Entertainment has addressed growing frustration over a lack of content and outlined what players can expect in the coming months. Space Marine 2 enjoyed a record-breaking launch late last year, eventually shifting 5 million copies while becoming the fastest-selling Warhammer video game of all time. In recent weeks, however, some within the game’s community have complained that developer Saber Interactive hasn’t provided enough new reasons to keep playing. In a new blog post, Focus Entertainment reiterated its commitment to supporting Space Marine 2 throughout 2025 and beyond, promising new skins, new PvP and PvE maps, custom lobbies for PvP, the long-awaited Horde mode, PvE prestige...

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Mass Effect 5: BioWare Doesn't 'Require Support From the Full Studio', EA Moves Some Staff to Other Teams

EA has announced it is restructuring Dragon Age and Mass Effect studio BioWare, moving a number of developers onto other projects within EA and focusing entirely on its upcoming Mass Effect game going forward. In a blog post from general manager Gary McKay, he wrote that the studio is "taking this opportunity between full development cycles to reimagine how we work at BioWare." "Given this stage of development, we don’t require support from the full studio," he continues. "We have incredible talent here at BioWare, and so we have worked diligently over the past few months to match many of our colleagues with other teams at EA that had open roles that were a strong fit." IGN understands that EA has already placed an unknown number of...

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Sony Says You Won't Have to Link a PSN Account to Play Some of Its PC Games Anymore

Sony will no longer require players to link a PlayStation Network account to enjoy some of its PC games – but there are a few new bonuses in store for those who do. The company detailed its shift in strategy in a recent PlayStation.Blog post, explaining that it will drop its PSN account connection requirement starting with the release of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on PC tomorrow. It means Sony has been listening to those who have expressed distaste for the demand, as some previously released PC ports will no longer need a PSN account to play. The full list of affected titles includes Marvel's Spider-Man 2, The Last of Us Part II Remastered, God of War Ragnarök, and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. It's unclear how the change will impact other...

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PlayStation Plus Games for February 2025 Announced

Sony has announced the PlayStation Plus Essential Tier games for February 2025 are Payday 3 (PS5), High on Life (PS4 and PS5), and Pac-Man World Re-Pac (PS4 and PS5). Revealed on the PlayStation Blog, all three games will be made available at no extra cost to PlayStation Plus subscribers on February 4. Payday 3 is the struggling cooperative heist shooter from Starbreeze Entertainment that had such a disastrous launch that, at least on PC where data is available, more players are online playing its predecessor. A highlight of the launch and follow up attempts to revive the game included Starbreeze releasing what it called the highly anticipated "offline mode" which required an online connection to access and made the game run worse...

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Rift of the NecroDancer Review

Departing from developer Brace Yourself Games’ usual dungeon crawling discotheques, Rift of the NecroDancer is a more traditional rhythm game that innovates on some of the genre’s best ideas. With a foot-tappingly entrancing soundtrack from a team of talented composers and musicians, its creative riffs on stalwart rhythm game modes from classics like Guitar Hero and Rhythm Heaven — as well as loads of cool extras — make it a sort of “Greatest Hits” box set for rhythm games as a whole. Even when it occasionally goes off-tempo, I regularly had a hard time putting Rift of the NecroDancer down as I squashed slimes and skeletons while bobbing my head along to its pulsing beats, always striving towards a better score. Before you can even...

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Score Select Games on Sale for Just $25 at GameStop: Super Mario RPG, Dragon Age, and More

2025 has already kicked off with a few different video game sales at various retailers, and as we make our way into February, the discounts just keep dropping. GameStop currently has a selection of games on sale for Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch that are down to just $24.99, including Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Super Mario RPG, Starfield, and more. Below you can see some of our favorite picks from this sale, but to see the full list of available discounted options head to GameStop's sale page here. Select Games on Sale for $25 at GameStop If you want to check out even more game deals but have a preferred platform you play on, it's worth having a look through our individual roundups of the best PlayStation deals, the...

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Long-Awaited Warhammer 40,000 Animation Astartes 2 Is Back From the Dead With Incredible Teaser Trailer — but There’s a Catch

Games Workshop has brought missing-in-action Warhammer 40,000 animation Astartes 2 back from the dead with an incredible teaser trailer that has wowed fans of the hobby. However, there’s a catch: nothing in the teaser will be in the new animation. Astartes 2 is Games Workshop’s follow-up to the fan-made original Astartes animation, created by Syama Pedersen. It is widely accepted as the greatest Warhammer 40,000 animation ever made, official or unofficial, only perhaps bettered by Amazon’s recently released and excellent Space Marine 2 animation for the Secret Level anthology series. Indeed, Astartes was so good that it inspired Saber Interactive’s hugely successful Space Marine 2, and Games Workshop eventually brought Syama in-house...

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Ninja Gaiden’s Revival is the Perfect Antidote to the Soulslike Phenomenon

Of all the reveals at the 2025 Xbox Developer Direct, the revival of Ninja Gaiden has to be one of the biggest. The classic action franchise is receiving multiple new games, including Ninja Gaiden 4 and Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, the latter of which shadow dropped right after the event. Such a 180 degree turn for the series was certainly a surprise, since outside of the Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection compilation, the last time we received a proper entry in this franchise was Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge all the way back in 2012. But it also heralds what could be a pivotal turning point for games as a medium: the return of old school 3D action games after years of the genre being dominated by Soulslike games. Where once games like Ninja...

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Town to City, a Voxel-Powered City-Building Sim, Announced for PC

UK game publisher Kwalee has announced Town to City, a beautiful new voxel-powered city-building sim for PC from developer Galaxy Grove, the makers of the beautiful cozy train planner Station to Station. Due out this year, Town to City is a cozy city-builder that includes research trees, town and city management, grid-less city-building tools, a full campaign as well as a sandbox mode, a photo mode, and a relaxing soundtrack. You'll "set up lighting, plant flowers and wooded parks, and decorate houses and buildings to complement or contrast," Kwalee says. Check out the announcement trailer above and the first screenshots in the gallery below. Kwalee adds, "As your town flourishes, you’ll need to meet the needs of your growing...

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No Man’s Sky's Massive 'Worlds Part 2' Update Adds Billions of New Solar Systems and Trillions of New Planets

No Man’s Sky developer Hello Games has unveiled the Worlds Part 2 update, which it says “allows us to push the boundaries of our engine with new technology.” Chief developer Sean Murray said the update adds billions of new solar systems and trillions of new planets to the procedurally generated space game, as well as new biomes and terrains. “I’ve been working on a new terrain system for a little while now,” Murray said. “Terrain is more detailed and far more varied with huge mountains and these massive features. I’m genuinely at my happiest working on this stuff.” The update also brings with it gas giants, which are 10 times bigger than No Man’s Sky’s existing biggest planet. “It’s truly end-game stuff to explore them with huge...

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Konami Hails Silent Hill 2 Remake After Hitting 2 Million Sales Milestone

Konami has hailed the success of the Silent Hill 2 remake after it shot through the 2 million sales mark. Silent Hill 2 remake, developed by Bloober Team, went on sale on PlayStation 5 and PC via Steam on October 8, 2024 (there’s no word on an Xbox Series X and S version yet), and just a few days later had sold one million copies. This was thought to have made Silent Hill 2 remake the fastest-selling Silent Hill game ever, but Konami has yet to rubber stamp that potential record. “Since its release, Silent Hill 2 has received a multitude of accolades including several ‘perfect’ review scores, multiple award wins and nominations cementing itself as a timeless entry in the horror video game genre,” Konami said. IGN’s Silent Hill 2...

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GOG Resurrects Dino Crisis and Dino Crisis 2 on PC

Dino Crisis and Dino Crisis 2 are back from the dead with re-releases on PC via GOG. Both cult classic PlayStation survival horror games are available on the CD Projekt-owned platform DRM-free, with their original content fully intact as part of GOG’s Preservation Program. Capcom released Dino Crisis on the original PlayStation in 1999 and then Dino Crisis 2 just a year later. Dino Crisis 3 launched as an original Xbox exclusive in 2003 and fans have yet to see a new game since. Despite the occasional groundswell of opinion that Dino Crisis should return with a brand new entry in the series or a HD remake, Capcom seems uninterested. Indeed Capcom's 2022 announcement of Exoprimal, a multiplayer-focused action game featuring dinosaurs...

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Monster Hunter Wilds Interview: Meet Nu Udra, Apex of the Oilwell Basin – IGN First

From dry deserts, bustling forests, blazing volcanos to even frozen tundra, a variety of environments appear throughout the Monster Hunter series, each with its own unique ecosystem created by a diverse cast of monsters. The experience of adventuring through an unknown world, walking across its lands as you hunt, is one of the great joys when playing Monster Hunter. This holds true for Monster Hunter Wilds, the newest game in the franchise. After the Windward Plains and Scarlet Forest, hunters will take their next step into the harsh lands of the Oilwell Basin, a place covered in flames and oilsilt. Once there, they'll find their path blocked by dripping, viscous oil and all-blazing magma. While it may seem to be a sterile, lifeless...

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Marvel Rivals Character Tier List: Season 1

Marvel Rivals Season 1 introduced Invisible Woman and Mister Fantastic to the rapidly growing Hero roster, debuted two new Maps alongside a new game mode, and promised to shake up the meta with a massive slate of Hero Balance Adjustments. Now that the dust has settled a little on the new season, the meta is finally beginning to solidify as players adapt to the changes and continue to learn how to min-max their favorite Marvel Heroes. While some S-Tier Season 0 standouts like Doctor Strange, Hela, and Luna Snow have refused to give up ground to their counterparts despite receiving nerfs, other Heroes like Storm, Moon Knight, and Wolverine have seen a noticeable upgrade to their competitive viability. Before getting to our Season 1...

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Grand Theft Auto 5's Steven Ogg Wants Trevor to Be Killed Off in the GTA 6 Opening

Grand Theft Auto 5 actor Steven Ogg wants co-protagonist Trevor to be killed off in the opening of GTA 6 in a full circle moment for the character. Ogg told ScreenRant he wanted a moment similar to Trevor's own murdering of GTA 4: The Lost and the Damned protagonist Johnny Klebitz, who appeared not long after Trevor's own introduction in GTA 5 only to be killed off by him. "It would be fun if Trevor appeared in it just to be killed at the beginning," Ogg said. "I think that would be cool, because it also acknowledges the fans of like, 'Hey, thank you.' Pass the torch, stomp Trevor's head in, and sort of put an end to that and allow a new generation to take over." This act would have to be carried out by one of GTA 6's dual...

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Preorder Split Fiction and Get a Free Keychain (Plus a Friend Plays Free)

Split Fiction is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on March 6. A co-op sci-fi game from Hazelight Studios, the makers of It Takes Two, Split Fiction is available to preorder now (see it at Amazon) for $39.99. And just like Hazelight’s previous games, anyone who buys it gets a free Friend’s Pass that lets a friend play the whole game with you in co-op for free. Split Fiction - Where to Buy It PS5 Get it at Amazon - $49.99 Get it at Best Buy - $49.99 (includes free keychain) Get it at GameStop - $49.99 Get it at Walmart - $49.99 Get it at PS Store (digital) - $49.99 Xbox Series X|S Get it at Amazon - $49.99 Get it at Best Buy - $49.99 (includes free keychain) Get it at GameStop - $49.99 Get it at Walmart - $49.99 Get it at...

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Everything You Need To Know About Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

Deserving of the Game of the Year award haul that was scooped up back in 2018, Kingdom Come: Deliverance was the sort of open-world, no-fantasy, historical fiction RPG that folks had long yearned for. With Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 now upon us nearly six and a half years later and already looking like a superlative […] Continue reading...

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A Grand Theft Auto Superfan Is Recreating the GTA 6 Map in GTA 5 — and Yes, They’re 'Always Worried' About a Take-Two Takedown

A Grand Theft Auto superfan is recreating the GTA 6 map in GTA 5 based on the snippets of information released by Rockstar so far. YouTuber Dark Space is chronicling the work on their channel and on X/Twitter, showing how Vice Beach and the Venetian Islands are inside GTA 5 as fully detailed maps. Despite the fact Rockstar has so far only released one trailer for GTA 6, fans have mapped out the playable area they expect to see in the game, which is due out fall 2025 on PS5 and Xbox Series X and S. Speaking to IGN, Dark Space expects to release the GTA 5 modification in the next two weeks. Rockstar owner Take-Two has a history of taking down fan projects, most recently the YouTube channel belonging to the makers of the ‘GTA Vice...

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