Gaming News

Exoborne Is an Extraction Shooter With a Twist(er)

Get in, get the loot, and get out. Those are the fundamentals of any extraction shooter, and the upcoming Exoborne is no different. But Exoborne takes this proven formula and cranks up the action even further thanks to super powered Exo-Rigs that enhance both your strength and mobility, wild weather effects, and everyone’s favorite video game gadget: grappling hooks. I got to play about 4-5 hours of it at a recent preview event, and while I didn’t exactly walk away hungry for “one more drop,” I do think Exoborne has the potential to make a big splash in the extraction shooter scene. Let’s start off by talking about the Exo-Rigs themselves, because they are a large part of what gives Exoborne its distinct identity. There are currently...

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Iconic Bethesda Voice Actor of Skyrim, Fallout 3, and More Found 'Barely Alive' as Family Seek Support

Update: Bethesda voice actor Wes Johnson is now awake and talking but "a little out of it" after being found "barely alive" in his hotel room last week. Johnson's wife Kim informed charity initiative FalloutForHope on X/Twitter of the improvement. "He is awake and talking, but just a little out of it," she said. "He's still in [the intensive care unit] but far more stable." She added that "specialists have a theory on what the health issue is and they're running tests to zero in on the cause," and that Johnson's family will "keep everyone updated." Original Story: Iconic Bethesda voice actor Wes Johnson, who's appeared in The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, Fallout 3, Starfield, and many more, was found "barely alive" in his hotel room...

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Sniper at Work Announced for PC

Sniper at Work, a new tactical strategy game, has been announced for PC by Polish developer Cherrypick Games. You'll plan your sniper-for-hire missions, then execute them (pun intended), utilizing creative freedom and improvisation if and when your plan goes sideways. Cherrypick says you'll "scout your targets, choose your vantage points, and devise clever strategies using traps, distractions, and an arsenal of tools at your disposal." Meanwhile, when actual sniping starts, Sniper at Work promises "realistic ballistics, wind physics, and breathing control." Check out the announcement trailer above and the first screenshots in the gallery below. You'll be able to unlock, customize, and upgrade your weapons and tools with the usual...

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Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 8 Stress Test Live Now — Officially This Time

Baldur’s Gate 3’s hotly anticipated Patch 8 stress test is live now officially after it was accidentally rolled out early to PS5 users earlier this week. Developer Larian said those who put their name down for the Patch 8 stress test on PC or PS5 should be on the look out for an email invite. If you registered through the Xbox Insider Programme, the Baldur’s Gate 3 Stress Test application is now live in the Xbox Insider Hub for you to download. If you were one of the PS5 players who downloaded Patch 8 early, Larian said you can roll back to Patch 7 by deleting and reinstalling the game. “Think of it as a time-travel mechanic,” the developer said in an update on Steam. During the Patch 8 stress test, Xbox, PlayStation, and PC players...

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2 Patch Notes Go Live Ahead of 1.068 Update

The Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2 update is available to download ahead of today’s launch, with patch notes live now. The 1.068.000 update, which weighs in at 19.907 GB on PlayStation 5, can be downloaded now ahead of the launch of Season 2 later today, January 28. Season 2 brings weapon tuning, spawn logic improvements, a bullet penetration update, much-needed challenge tracker details, improvements to camo challenges, equipment, perk, field upgrade, and wildcard updates, new ranked cross-play options on consoles, ranked play SR gain/loss adjustments, HUD preset updates, and Zombies bug fixes and improvements. There’s also the promise of improved anti-cheat amid growing frustration and cheating across Black Ops 6 and Warzone...

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The Stone of Madness Review

The stony halls and ancient walls of an old monastery are fertile ground for all kinds of horror and intrigue. The Stone of Madness is certainly filled with both, painting an eye-catching portrait of secrets and skullduggery as you sneak around, searching for an escape. As the days and nights drag on, though, the cracks in its facade show, and the initially intriguing tactical stealth falls prey to too many technical issues. The Stone of Madness comes from developers Teku Studios and The Game Kitchen, the latter of which is best known for Blasphemous, a series of action games similarly laden with religious imagery. There are still overt religious themes and visuals here, but instead of striking down giant bosses, The Stone of Madness...

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Helldivers 2 Creative Director Goes on Sabbatical After 11 Years 'Working Around the Clock' on the Same IP, Will Return to Work on Arrowhead’s Next Ga

Helldivers 2 creative director Johan Pilestedt has announced he has gone on sabbatical leave and, when he returns, will start work on developer Arrowhead’s next game. In a tweet, Pilestedt said he’s spent 11 years working “around the clock” on the Helldivers intellectual property, starting with the first Helldivers game in 2013 and Helldivers 2 since early 2016. “Eleven years of working around the clock on the same IP has made me set aside family, friends, and my lovely wife... and myself,” Pilestedt said. “I am going to take some time now to redeem what was lost from all of those that supported me for over a decade. “I am sure my friends at Arrowhead will do their utmost in the meantime to deliver amazing stuff to Helldivers 2. When...

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Xbox Games Series Tier List

After a strong Xbox Developer Direct to kick 2025 off, things are looking good for Microsoft and its strong stable of first-party studios. But, which Xbox game series get you most excited? Which gave you more enjoyment than any other in the glory days of the 360? Or if you’ve never owned an Xbox console, which are you most looking forward to coming to other platforms like PlayStation, as Microsoft seemingly continues its plans to share its library with the world. There are many legendary game series to choose from (especially since Microsoft’s acquisitions of both Bethesda and Activision Blizzard. That means this tier list can include any series associated with Xbox, Bethesda, and Activision Blizzard, as long as there has been more...

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Gears of War: E-Day: People Can Fly Announced as Co-Developers

Poland-based game studio People Can Fly has been announced as the co-developer of the upcoming Gears of War: E-Day alongside The Coalition. In a press release People Can Fly says it is "honored to return to the world of Gears of War[.]" The studio previously served as the lead developer of Gears of War: Judgment after co-developing Gears of War 1-3. "Returning to collaborate on the next chapter of this ligendary saga is both a privilege and an exciting opportunity to build upon the intense, visceral action and rich storytelling that fans have come to love." Gears of War: E-Day was announced at last year's Xbox Showcase and is set to be a prequel to the original trilogy starring younger versions of characters like Marcus Fenix and Dom...

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AU Deals: Switch OLED Bundle Bargains, Killer Price Cuts on Assassin's Creeds, Reduced RoboCop, and More!

Sadly, it's time to stow away our public holiday / long weekend cheer. To make the (blessedly shorter) week that remains more tolerable, you'd best score some great bargains on escapism. Personally, I'd grab RoboCop: Rogue City for nearly half off, and FromSoftware's underbought Armoured Core VI for 40 clams is worth an impulse, too. In retro news, I'm celebrating a quarter of a century of Gran Turismo 2, two PS One discs that I played the absolute scratch 'n' sniff off of. (For real—rubbing the label of my launch edition CD-ROMs would cause an "authentic pit stop smell" of petrol and oil.) Aromarrific gimmicks aside, GT2 was brilliant for more practical reasons, like more cars (650) and more tracks (27 plus rallying). Also, due to...

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Hogwarts Legacy PC Mod Support Launches Later This Week With Free Update

Warner Bros. Games and Avalanche Software have confirmed plans to launch Hogwarts Legacy mod support for PC, opening the floodgates for players to add whatever their hearts desire to the Harry Potter video game. The team announced the addition with a special video presentation, below, revealing a release date of January 30, 2025 for a free update that includes the highly requested feature. It’ll only be for PC for now, with the team sharing no news about when or if players can expect to see modding come to consoles. “We’ve made it easy for everyone. It’s all simplified with official tools provided by us,” Avalanche community manager Chandler Wood said. “For mod creators, you’ll be able to get the official Hogwarts Legacy creator kit...

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Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 8 Accidentally Released Early to PS5 Players

Baldur's Gate 3's long-awaited Patch 8 is currently available to players on PS5...but it's not supposed to be. In a social media post today, the official Larian Studios account revealed that PS5 players do indeed have access to Patch 8 through what seems to be an accident somewhere, as the patch itself isn't ready for prime time. "No, the Patch 8 stress test hasn’t yet begun," the post reads. "Yes, PS5 players do currently have access to Patch 8. While we work with our partners to understand what’s going on, please note that any new saves made while on Patch 8 will not be compatible with Patch 7. "How’s your Monday going?" Patch 8 was first announced back in December and is the final major update expected for Baldur's Gate 3. It's...

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Eternal Strands Review

Few games have managed to capture the same sense of scale and spectacle as Shadow of the Colossus’s gargantuan boss fights, and none with the same kind of focus on improvisational combat as Eternal Strands. In its best moments, it feels pretty dang special – like when you’re holding onto a towering titan for dear life, freezing its hand to its own body to avoid getting grabbed and thrown off, buying yourself some time to get a few more hits in before having to dramatically leap away. Unfortunately, that delicious center is sandwiched between frequently janky physics that often lead to confounding and punishing deaths, a bizarre weather system, and repetitive combat against smaller enemies that doesn’t evolve in a substantial enough way...

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Defiant Modders Release 'GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition' Despite Take-Two Takedown

A Russian modding group has released its ‘GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition’ in the face of YouTube takedowns from Rockstar parent company Take-Two. The eye-catching mod, from a group calling itself Revolution Team, ports the world, cutscenes, and missions from 2002’s Vice City into 2008’s GTA 4. In a video description, the modders said Take-Two had “deleted” its YouTube channel “without any warning or attempt to contact us.” “A huge amount of effort and time was invested into the channel, including hundreds of hours of streams dedicated to the mod's development,” the statement continued. “Additionally, we lost connection with our international audience, which was a significant part of our community. The teaser trailer for GTA Vice City...

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Marvel Rivals Fans Fear NetEase Is Planting Fake Hero Leaks to Throw Off Dataminers — but What's Really Going On?

The Marvel Rivals community was sent into a frenzy last week after the rumor spread that developer NetEase Games may be planting misleading information in the game’s code to catch leakers — even if there’s little evidence to suggest such a thing is actually happening. Video games sometimes leave behind traces of in-development content as developers work tirelessly to publish updates for the public. Sleuths known as dataminers spend their time sifting through code to uncover these traces and often report them back to excited fans, with one Marvel Rivals example including references to the Fantastic Four being discovered before their official confirmation earlier this month. It started with inclusions like Blade and Ultron and quickly...

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Assassin’s Creed Shadows Is Not the Ninja Splinter Cell Game I Hoped For

When I visited Ubisoft Quebec last year to see Assassin’s Creed Shadows for the first time, I was encouraged by the development team’s enthusiasm for stealth. While I’ve enjoyed Assassin’s Creed’s foray into RPG territory, after hundreds of action-heavy hours I think it’s about time the series rediscovered its sneakier genes. Not by way of Mirage’s “back to basics” approach, but by reaching forward to provide some much-needed evolution in the series’ stealth design. Shadows’ promise of a Splinter Cell-style lighting system had me excited, but after playing a three-hour demo build, I’m not quite convinced that it’s delivering a meaningful change for Assassin’s Creed. The demo’s quest chain, set in Harima Province, had me infiltrating a...

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Sniper Elite: Resistance Review

You’d think that blasting bullets into a Nazi’s nutsack would be a thrill that never gets old, but somehow Sniper Elite: Resistance has made shooting SS scumbags squarely in their Swasticles start to seem a little stale. This side story spin-off introduces a new trigger-pulling protagonist and seven sizeable sandboxes to sneak through, all wrapped up in a 10-hour long quest to seek and destroy yet another top secret Nazi superweapon. However, the actual process of infiltrating Axis bases and eradicating the fascist foes within them doesn’t feel all that different to how it did in 2022’s Sniper Elite 5. With no noticeable gameplay improvements, new enemy types, or gamechanging weapon upgrades to speak of, Sniper Elite: Resistance is an...

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Haikyuu Legends Codes (January 2025)

Last updated on January 27, 2025: Added new Haikyuu Legends codes! If you're searching for Haikyuu Legends codes, IGN has you covered! In this article, you'll find the latest active and working Haikyuu Legends codes in January 2025 that can be redeemed for free rewards in Roblox, including Spins and Yen. All of the Haikyuu Legends codes below have been tested as working at the time of submission. However, codes with unknown expiry dates may stop working at any time. Spotted a new code or one has expired? Let us know in the comments below! Active Haikyuu Legends Codes (January 2025) Below, you'll find all of the currently active and working Haikyuu Legends codes in January 2025: 100K_MEMBERS - 500x Yen (NEW!) 15M_PLAYS - 1x...

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Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap Review

It occurs to me that the Orcs Must Die! series – and the tower-defense genre as a whole – are something like a cousin to factory games like Satisfactory and Factorio. Those games focus on feeding raw resources like iron and coal into complex machines to efficiently produce spaceship parts, while Orcs Must Die! is about feeding hordes of cartoon monsters into machines that produce… mulched cartoon monsters. Maybe one day we'll learn to build spaceships out of that goop, but for now just creating it is plenty of fun on its own. Deathtrap, the fifth OMD game (if you count the now-defunct Unchained), shifts its reliable action-tower defense gameplay into a new structure: rather than a linear series of levels to figure out one at a time...

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Is Starfield Coming Out on PS5? Phil Spencer Won’t Rule It Out

Amid Microsoft’s multiplatform video game push, all sorts of Xbox games are rumored to be set for the PlayStation 5 and the recently announced Nintendo Switch 2. But could Bethesda’s Starfield be among them? In an interview with IGN’s former Director of Video Content Strategy, Destin Legarie, for his new Patreon-funded show Save State Plus, Microsoft’s gaming boss Phil Spencer was asked directly whether he could confirm that Starfield was staying Xbox exclusive for the time being. "No,” was Spencer’s response. “There’s no specific game… this kind of goes back to my red line answer. There’s no reason for me to put a ring fence around any game and say this game will not go to a place where it would find players, where it would have...

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Indie Game Round-Up – February 2025

February may be the shortest month, but it’s packed with potential when it comes to fresh, creative, and unforgettable indie experiences. Whether you’re looking to cosy up with a narrative-driven gem or challenge yourself with something bold and experimental, February 2025 has plenty to offer. As always, we’ve sifted through the vibrant world of indie […] Continue reading...

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Ninja Gaiden 2 Black Gets a Physical Release on PS5 Only

The recently released Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is set for a physical release on PlayStation 5 only. Playasia said it has partnered with publisher Koei Tecmo to exclusively release a PS5 physical version of the remaster on March 27. There is no mention of a physical Xbox version, which is perhaps unsurprising given Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is available now on Game Pass, Microsoft's subscription service. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black was announced during Xbox Developer Direct 2025 and shadow-dropped digitally across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S. It was a surprise reveal that came alongside confirmation that Microsoft is set to publish Ninja Gaiden 4 across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S (including Game Pass day one) later in 2025. For more...

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Dragon Age: The Veilguard Patch Notes Sure Make It Sound Like BioWare’s Basically Done With the Game Now

Dragon Age: The Veilguard developer BioWare has released a new patch for the game and in the same breath suggested it’s basically done with it less than three months after launch. As spotted by Eurogamer, Patch 5 includes just one quality-of-life improvement and a number of bug fixes, but it’s the wording from BioWare that suggests this is the final major patch Dragon Age: The Veilguard will get. “Thank you all for playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard; we were so happy with the game’s stability at launch and hope you have enjoyed our Quality of Life patches since then,” BioWare said. “With the game being in a stable place, we are moving to monitor for any game-breaking bugs should those occur. Dareth shiral!” Moving to monitor...

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Dishonored 2 Saved Arkane Despite Costing More to Make Than Skyrim and Struggling for Sales, Former Dev Says

Dishonored 2 cost more to make than legendary role-playing game and fellow Bethesda title The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim and struggled for sales, but it still saved developer Arkane according to a former employee. Julien Eveillé, who worked in quality assurance on Dishonored 2 and as a designer on sequel Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, told PC Gamer that the game underperformed financially but saved Arkane by providing a "seal of quality" that "would maybe be considered the most refined games of the whole Bethesda catalogue." Bethesda questioned the series' viability in the wake of disappointing sales of Dishonored 2 and Death of the Outsider, Eveillé said. "It was a bit strange and weird. I think when Bethesda was looking at the...

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Final Fantasy 14 Director Yoshi-P Threatens Legal Action Against 'Stalking' Mod

In early 2025, a Final Fantasy 14 mod sparked "stalking" fears amid reports it was able to scrape hidden player data, including details like character information, retainer information, any alternate characters linked to a Square Enix account, and much more. The mod, named “Playerscope,” allows users to track specific player data of anyone in the vicinity of the person using it. This information is then sent to a centralized database managed by the mod author (no matter if you are looking at a specific player, or just happen to be around other players), and tracks information that players would usually not be permitted to see via in-game tools. Specifically, the mod offers information on “Content ID” and “Account ID,” which can be...

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The Mortal Kombat 1 Community Is Working Together to Try to Figure Out How to Fight Floyd — but the Exact Process Remains a Mystery for Now

Mortal Kombat 1’s big Conan the Barbarian update launched this week and with it came the arrival of a secret fight with Floyd, the pink ninja developer Ed Boon had been teasing for years. Not only that, but if you defeat Floyd you unlock cool exclusive rewards, including a coveted new stage. But how exactly do you trigger the secret Floyd fight? Players are working together to try to crowdsource the answer. This community effort, led by Mortal Kombat modder and dataminer thethiny, has done much to unravel the mystery, but the exact process remains unknown. Here’s what fans have worked out: a number of Floyd challenges must be completed before the fight with Floyd triggers. How many, no-one knows. Which challenges must be completed...

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IGN UK Podcast 784: Doom, Doom, Doom, Doom, I Want You in My Room

Cardy, Matt, and Wes are here to talk through January 2025's Xbox Developer Direct and the impressive quartet of games featured; Doom: The Dark Ages, South of Midnight, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and Ninja Gaiden 4. Plus, there's also some time for some hands-on impressions of Assassin's Creed: Shadows thanks to Matt's sneaking and slashing around rural Japan. Remember to send us your thoughts about all the new games, TV shows, and films you're enjoying or looking forward to: ign_ukfeedback@ign.com. IGN UK Podcast 784: Doom, Doom, Doom, Doom, I Want You in My Room IGN UK Podcast 783: The Switch 2 is Finally a Real Thing IGN UK Podcast 782: Squid Game and Jesse's Shocking KCD2 Playstyle IGN UK Podcast 781: The Big 2025 Movies and...

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Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Director Says Cloud and Aerith Relationship Comments Were Misinterpreted

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi has said his previous comments on the nature of Cloud and Aerith's relationship were misinterpreted and that no member of Square Enix will comment officially on the character's relationship. A December interview with Inverse quoted Hamaguchi as saying "Aerith has always been this sort of sisterly character pulling Cloud along and encouraging him," leading many fans to complain or question the director about the true nature of their relationship. Final Fantasy 7, both the original and the first two games in its Remake Trilogy, has always portrayed Cloud's relationship with Aerith and Tifa rather vaguely. Player choice can influence their interactions, prompting things like a date with...

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How Doom’s Combat Evolves Alongside Modern Metal Music

Doom has always had a close relationship with metal music. Hearing one quick burst of any Doom soundtrack, or even just catching a quick glance at the series’ persistent demonic imagery, will tell you this. Its customary pile-up of flames, skulls, and devilish creatures is not far from what you’d see adorning any Iron Maiden stage, past or present. This relationship with the heavier side of music has progressed in step with the series’ gameplay, with both elements having reinvented themselves several times over the 30-plus-year journey of Doom. From its thrash beginnings, Doom has explored multiple metal sub-genres across the decades, progressing all the way to the present day with Doom: The Dark Ages and its crunching metalcore hammer...

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Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2 Devs Won’t Say Whether They’ll Ban Elon Musk for Account Boosting

Both Blizzard Entertainment and Grinding Gear Games have declined to say whether they plan to ban accounts belonging to Elon Musk after the X/Twitter owner reportedly admitted to cheating, leading some fans to accuse the developers of undermining the integrity of their games. Screenshots of a private conversation between Musk, the world’s richest man, and a YouTuber showed Musk’s admission of paying for account boosting in action RPGs Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2. Account boosting is a form of cheating where a player logs into another player's account to raise (or boost) their rank to a higher tier and violates pretty much every live service video game’s terms of service. Blizzard’s end user licence agreement specifically warns...

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