Gaming News

Riot Insists This Stunning New League of Legends Cinematic Isn't Setting Up a Post-Arcane Noxus Show, but Fans Still Have Their Suspicions

Riot Games is ringing in the New Year with a fresh season of League of Legends — the first of three season launches that players will experience in 2025. In typical Riot fashion, there's a cinematic trailer to go along with it, but this year's video is a major step-up from its predecessors. For one thing, it's absolutely stunning — thanks, of course, to a lending hand from Fortiche, the animation studio that brought Arcane to life. But more importantly, the five-minute video is leaving fans of Netflix's Arcane hopeful that this Noxus-themed trailer doubles as an exciting prelude to another League of Legends show. There's a couple of apparent nods to Arcane that make their way into the end of the new cinematic. One of the biggest...

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Online Action Game Transformers: Reactivate Cancelled, Dev 'Potentially' Facing Layoffs

Transformers: Reactivate developer Splash Damage has cancelled the online action game two years after it was revealed at The Game Awards. The studio shared a message on X/Twitter announcing the "very difficult news" and that "a number of roles" are "potentially at risk of redundancy." Transformers: Reactivate was announced on December 8, 2022 with a beta expected in 2023, but this was perpetually delayed and obviously has now been fully cancelled. "This decision did not come lightly, and it is a difficult time for the studio and our people," Splash Damage said. "We want to take a moment to thank the team who worked on Transformers for their dedication and passion." While Splash Damage initially used the term "potentially" to...

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Monster Hunter Wilds Second Open Beta Announced — but Don’t Expect Improvements Set for Launch to Make It In

Capcom has announced a second open beta for Monster Hunter Wilds ahead of its release date. The beta includes the content from the first beta but adds returning monster Gypceros to hunt. You’ll get to use the character realtor, play the story trial, and complete the Slay Doshaguma Quest. Capcom said those who played the first beta can transfer their character to the second beta, and then onto the full game release. Game progress, however, does not carry forward, but those who take part in the test get special bonuses that can be redeemed in the full game, including a decorative charm for your weapon or Seikret, and an item pack. Capcom warned fans that improvements it has already announced are set for the full release will not make...

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SteamOS Will Soon Be Available on Non-Steam Deck Handhelds

Valve will begin allowing third-party handhelds to license SteamOS starting with Lenovo's new Legion Go S. At CES 2025, Lenovo announced that it will ship a version of its upcoming Legion Go S handheld called the "Powered by SteamOS" that will run, you guessed it, SteamOS. This is the same OS that powers Valve's Steam Deck, which is pretty good if you're primarily someone who owns all their PC games on Steam. As part of the launch, Valve published a blog that confirmed that alongside the Legion Go S, Valve is working on "a beta of SteamOS which should improve the epxerience on other handhelds and users can download and thest this themselves." Meaning that SteamOS should be available on non-Steam Deck handheld gaming PCs as well. The...

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AU Deals: $880 Off a Mega FPS Bundle, The Cheapest Copies of Sniper Elite Resistance, Kingdom Come II, and More!

Hopefully you're still holidaying and if you are, you'll need games. Cheap ones. Along with the headliner deals that describe themselves, I'd like to highlight a pretty great preorder price for FF7 Rebirth on PC. I for one can't wait to see how brilliant it can look (and run) on some beefy hardware. That being said, let's move along and save a bunch more Gil on today's bargains below! In retro news, I’m ensuring we all Don’t Starve by baking a 10th birthday cake for said indie great. When I was famished for things to play on my newly acquired launch PS4, I was surprised when this out-of-nowhere roguelike nourished me for dozens of hours. Being a masochist, there was so much to love about this—the complete lack of farming direction...

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The Last of Us, Assassin's Creed Animation Support Studio Allegedly Harbored Crunch, Physical and Verbal Abuse

Content Warning: The story contains details regarding physical and psychological abuse, as well as the death of a child. A new report from People Make Games has unearthed deeply disturbing allegations of workplace abuse at Brandoville Studios, an Indonesian animation support studio that has worked on games such as Assassin's Creed Shadows, Age of Empires 4, and The Last of Us: Part I Remake. Allegations of mistreatment at Brandoville Games were first reported by People Make Games back in 2021 as part of a broader story on how Western AAA studios effectively outsource crunch on major games to overseas developers, effectively sweeping it under the rug. However, People Make Games was urged to revisit its reporting on Brandoville more...

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Monster Hunter Wilds: Exclusive Oilwell Basin Ajarakan and Rompopolo Gameplay - IGN First

This year’s first IGN First “cover story” belongs to Monster Hunter Wilds, and we’re kicking off our exclusive coverage with two brand new videos featuring gameplay of Ajarakan and Rompopolo on the Oilwell Basin map. We visited Capcom’s offices in Japan, where we played the first five hours or so of Monster Hunter Wilds, and exclusively faced a few Oilwell Basin local monsters. Look out for more gameplay throughout January, along with in-depth interviews, fun details, and a final preview for Monster Hunter Wilds. Check out the videos featuring the fierce Fanged Wyvern, Ajarakan, the abhorrent Brute Wyvern, Rompopolo, and a variety of weapons in the Rompopolo video at the top of this page and in the Ajarakan video below. This is also...

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Private Division Games including Tales of the Shire and Kerbal Space Program to Be Distributed by New Label From Annapurna Interactive's Former Staff

In a rather unusual merging of two completely separate reported stories from last year, the former staff of Annapurna Interactive are seemingly preparing to take over the portfolio of shuttered indie label Private Division. At least some of the remaining Private Division employees are expected to be laid off in the process. This is according to a report from Bloomberg, which states that a currently unnamed company staffed by former Annapurna Interactive employees has reached a deal with private equity firm Haveli to take over the distribution of Private Division titles. Bloomberg reports and IGN can independently confirm that Haveli is the company that purchased Private Division from Take-Two Interactive last year for an undisclosed...

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Metaphor: ReFantazio Official Strategy Guide Is Now Up for Preorder, Out February 28

The folks at Future Press have crafted another (presumably gorgeous) strategy guide for gamers, this time for IGN's Game of the Year 2024, Metaphor: ReFantazio. The hardcover Metaphor: ReFantazio Official Strategy Guide (see here at Amazon) is set to release on February 28 this year with a price tag of $49.49 at Amazon, a nice little 10% discount from its $54.99 list price. Preorders are officially live, so give it a look at the link below. Preorder Metaphor: ReFantazio Official Strategy Guide Featuring 592 pages, the Metaphor: ReFantazio strategy guide comes complete with a walkthrough and full breakdowns of enemies, items, skills, and conversations so you can master the entire game. It even comes with a bonus poster that's a full...

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Xbox Game Pass January 2025 Wave 1 Lineup Announced

Microsoft has announced wave one of its January 2025 Xbox Game Pass lineup. First up, today, January 7, Road 96 (Cloud, Console, and PC) returns to Game Pass via Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard. “Road 96 is a crazy, beautiful road-trip,” reads the official blurb. “On this risky road trip to the border, you’ll meet incredible characters and discover their intertwined stories and secrets in an ever-evolving adventure. But every mile opens a choice to make. Your decisions will change your adventure, change the people you meet, and maybe even change the world.” Tomorrow, January 8, Lightyear Frontier (Game Preview) (Xbox Series X|S) launches into Game Pass Standard. “Start your interstellar homestead in this peaceful...

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PUBG and inZoi Are Getting AI Companions Called Co-Playable Characters (CPCs) You Can Talk to In-Game

PUBG and inZoi are getting AI companions described as Co-Playable Characters (CPCs). Krafton, the South Korean company behind both games, announced it was working with Nvidia to bring these AI teammates into each title. A CPC is an AI companion that can interact with gamers, enabled by an on-device SLM (Small Language Model) built with Nvidia’s Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE) technology, Krafton said. “Unlike traditional NPCs (non-player characters), CPCs are equipped with the ability to interact and cooperate with users, as they understand and respond to game situations in a human-like manner,” the company continued. Krafton said they can be instructed to coordinate and cooperate with players by using the language model built with ACE...

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The Elder Scrolls 6 Announcement Is Now as Old as Skyrim Was When The Elder Scrolls 6 Was Announced

The Elder Scrolls 6 announcement is now as old as predecessor Skyrim was when The Elder Scrolls 6 was announced, and developer Bethesda hasn't shared another snippet since. Dedicated Reddit user RoboPup spotted that 2,403 days — or six years, seven months, and three days — have passed since The Elder Scrolls 6 was announced. Skyrim was famously released on November 11, 2011, so The Elder Scrolls 6 reveal on June 10, 2018 came 2,403 days after that. A brief teaser trailer arrived at (the now defunct) E3 2018 and The Elder Scrolls fans rejoiced as familiar drums began playing before the trailer opened on a fantasy landscape and the title The Elder Scrolls 6 appeared. Expecting this to be an initial taste of many subsequent trailers...

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Call of Duty’s Astronomical Development Budgets Revealed — Activision Pumped $700 Million Into Black Ops Cold War Alone

The astronomical development budgets of the Call of Duty games were revealed for the first time after a court document confirmed Activision pumped $700 million into Black Ops Cold War alone. First reported by Game File, a court filing submitted by publisher Activision as part of a lawsuit regarding the 2022 school shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, included official word on the development budgets of 2015’s Black Ops 3, 2019’s Modern Warfare, and 2020’s Black Ops Cold War. The court filing also includes updated sales figures for each game, showing the huge revenue Call of Duty brings in through sales alone and before its post-launch monetization. First, some caveats. The figures detailed below include pre and post-launch...

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Horizon Zero Dawn Film Confirmed

Sony has announced a movie adaptation of Horizon Zero Dawn. The collaboration between PlayStation Studios and Columbia Pictures was announced during Sony's CES 2025 press conference. Columbia Pictures produced the successful 2022 Uncharted movie starring Tom Holland as Nathan Drake and Mark Wahlberg as Victor Sullivan. Horizon Zero Dawn is Guerrilla Games' hugely popular post-apocalyptic adventure starring machine hunter Aloy. No timeframe for the film's release was announced. During the same press conference, Sony announced a film adaptation of Helldivers 2 and an anime series adaptation of Ghost of Tsushima. Developing... Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at...

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Sony Announces Helldivers 2 Film in Production

Sony smash hit PlayStation Studios video game Helldivers 2 is being adapted into a film. Announced during Sony's CES 2025 press conference, the Helldivers 2 movie is a collaboration between Sony Productions and Sony Pictures. No other details were offered. Helldivers 2, from developer Arrowhead, is of course heavily inspired by cult classic sci-fi movie Starship Troopers. It sees soldiers of the future struggle to defend a fascist Super Earth regime against alien robots called Automatons and bugs called Terminids all the while preaching "Managed Democracy." Helldivers 2 is the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game of all time with an incredible 12 million copies sold in just 12 weeks. It's currently enjoying a resurgence after...

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Marvel Rivals Details the Fantastic Four, New Maps, and Mode Coming in Season 1

The first season for Marvel Rivals is about to drop, and it's going to bring the Fantastic Four along for the ride. On January 10, Marvel Rivals' first season titled 'Eternal Night Falls' will begin with new playable heroes, the Fantastic Four. The season will be divided into two halves, with Invisible Woman and Mister Fantastic coming in the first half, and Human Torch and The Thing arriving in the second half. There will also be three new maps, special events, and a new Doom Match game mode. There will also be a new Battle Pass for players that includes "over double the content" of the Season 0 pass, with the Luxury Pass featuring 10 new costumes for the heroes. The three maps that will be added to Marvel Rivals include Sanctum...

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AU Deals: FC 25 Booted Down Under Forty, Price Sliced Assassin's Creed Shadows, and More!

Today is all about me shedding light on discounted Shadows (Assassin's Creed, that is). I'm also spotting a number of The Last of Us, Tekken 8, and a buncha good Batman games bargains. Don't take my word for it, though. Get scrolling to get saving and thank me later or not at all. Meanwhile, in retro news, I'm celebrating the 15th bday of Darksiders, progenitor of a series that really should've continued today instead of only being remastered and spun-off. My memories of reviewing it before launch were that of pleasant surprise. This was basically an edgier, post armageddon Ocarina of Time where you hewed through hellspawn and angels alike as the impossibly cool and brooding War, a horseman tricked into starting judgment day too...

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Tencent Designated as a Chinese Military Company by US

The US Department of Defense has classified Tencent, a major investor in several big video game companies, as a Chinese military company. The report from Bloomberg states that Tencent alongside battery maker CATL have been added to a list that classifies them as Chinese military companies. The designation itself does not carry any legal consequences such as sanctions, but inclusion on the list is not ideal for companies looking to conduct business in the United States. As a result, while there is no immediate impact to what this designation means for Tencent, this is still a company that owns Riot Games, and has heavy investments in a variety of other game companies including Epic Games, Larian Studios, and FromSoftware. There are...

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Xbox App Headed to LG Smart TVs This Year

Xbox is ringing in the new year by taking yet another step toward its promise of making everything an Xbox: by announcing it will add the Xbox app to LG TVs later this year. In an Xbox Wire post today, Xbox announced it's partnering with LG Electronics to bring the Xbox app to LG smart TVs in 2025. What this means is that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will be able to play games on supported LG TVs without needing a console, using cloud gaming tech. And yes, that includes Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Xbox already implemented this feature on Samsung Smart TVs back in 2022, and added Amazon Fire TV devices to the mix last year. With the expansion to LG TVs, Xbox expands its TV presence even further amid an ongoing ad campaign...

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Marvel Rivals Reveals Season 1: Eternal Night Falls and the Arrival of the Fantastic Four

Marvel Rivals developer NetEase has unveiled Season 1: Eternal Night Falls, which adds The Fantastic Four to the game. In the video, below, we get the narrative setup of Season 1, which sees Dracula and Doctor Doom engulf New York in darkness. Thankfully, the Fantastic Four are on-hand to help out. Here’s the official blurb: Marvel Rivals Season 1: Eternal Night Falls begins on Jan 10, 2025, at 1am PST. Marvel Rivals is a smash hit for NetEase, securing 10 million players in just three days and 20 million in two weeks. The free-to-play superhero team-based PvP shooter launched on December 6 across PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, and while Sony and Microsoft do not make player...

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Black Ops 6’s Squid Game Season 2 Crossover and Call of Duty’s Controversial Relationship With Microtransactions

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s Squid Game crossover is in its second week and dredging up familiar, thorny questions around the series’ microtransactions. As players run around the virtual battlefield of Black Ops 6 and Warzone dressed as not only Squid Game contestants but the masked-up soldiers who keep them in line, the Call of Duty community is questioning Activision’s aggressive monetization of its hugely popular money-spinner. Fans had already hit out at the Squid Game event pass, which includes a paid premium track. Call of Duty has never locked event rewards behind a paywall before, and this 1,100 CP ($9.99) battle pass within a battle pass has certainly proven controversial. Now, the first Squid Game premium bundle is on...

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WWE 2K23 Servers Discontinued Less Than 2 Years After Launch, WWE 2K24 Last Game in the Series Standing

WWE 2K23 servers close today less than two years after the game came out. The official WWE tie-in wrestling title launched on March 14, 2023. As noted by Eurogamer, WWE 2K23 goes dark today, January 6, 2025, when the servers are discontinued. This includes all online functions, such as online matches and Community Creations. Players will no longer be able to access any online game mode after this point. However if you already own the game you will be able to continue to play offline modes. The game itself and all VC (Virtual Currency), as well as DLC/Add-Ons, were pulled from sale in November. This also means WWE 2K23's PS5 and PS4 Platinum Trophy is unobtainable, the latest to fizzle out of existence with a server shutdown. Gamers...

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Stellar Blade Dev Is Doing So Well It’s Given All 311 Staff a PS5 Pro and $3,400 Bonus

Shift Up, the South Korean company behind PlayStation 5 exclusive action game Stellar Blade, has gifted all its staff a PlayStation 5 Pro as well as a cash bonus of 5 million won (around. $3,400). As spotted by VGC, South Korean publication Naver reported that the eye-catching bonuses were designed to encourage the company’s staff. As of the third quarter of last year, 311 people were working at Shift Up. Shift Up had an impressive 2024. The Sony Interactive Entertainment-published Stellar Blade launched exclusively on PS5 in April and sold more than one million copies in two months. IGN’s Stellar Blade review returned a 7/10. We said: “Stellar Blade is great in all of the most important ways for an action game, but dull characters...

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Notch Says He ‘Basically Announced Minecraft 2’

Minecraft creator Markus Persson has said he “basically announced Minecraft 2” after polling his social media followers on what game they’d like him to make next. Two options were listed in the poll: a roguelike mixed with a tile-based first-person dungeon crawler, and a a spiritual successor to Minecraft, which in the poll was called “Minecraft 2.” At the time of this article’s publication, 81% had picked Minecraft 2 after 282,968 votes. In a subsequent tweet, Notch admitted he “basically announced Minecraft 2,” and insisted he was “100% serious” about the poll. “I thought that maybe people ACTUALLY do want me to make another game that's super similar to the first one, and I'm loving working on games again,” he continued. “I...

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AU Deals: 86% Bitten Off Monster Hunting Bundles, Deep Cuts on Metaphor, Space Marine 2, and More!

Welcome back to another week of paying very little for a whole lot of escapism. Today is very much all about scoring some of the best games 2024 had to offer for 2022 prices. I've also sifted through vast lakes of discounts in order to dredge out the hidden golden oldies submerged within. Let's hook you up with those right now! Meanwhile, in retro news, we're trying to celebrate the 17th birthday of Magnetica on DS, a critically well-received puzzler. As per my policy of complete, 100% honesty, I have to admit to you that I never bought this back in the day, nor did I play it in later years. Magnetica looks...uh, okay, and is clearly somewhat inspired by Bust-a-Move (a game series I have indeed sacrificed months of my life to and...

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Daily Deals: Space Marine 2, M2 MacBook Air, Apple Watch Series 10, and More

The first weekend of 2025 is here, which makes today a great time to check out the latest deals! Here are the best deals for Sunday, January 5. Save on Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is on sale for $49.99 at Amazon. In our 8/10 review, we stated, "Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a terrific third-person shooter with a compelling story, loads of weapons that are a blast to use, and a healthy variety of enemies to use them on." M2 MacBook Air for $799 Amazon has this 2022 Apple MacBook Air on sale for $799 this weekend. This model includes the M2 chip, which supports Apple Intelligence, as well as 16GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD storage, and a 13.6-inch display. If you've been holding out on upgrading...

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Daily Deals: The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak, EPOMAKER Shadow-X Keyboard, Samsung 98" TV, and More

The first weekend of 20245 is here, which makes today a great time to check out the latest deals! Here are the best deals for Saturday, January 4. The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak for $41.99 The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak is on sale this weekend at Amazon for $41.99. This entry in the long-running Trails series is a solid place to start, especially with Daybreak II due out next month. If you're searching for your next RPG, this is a great option! Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics for $34 You can score Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics for only $34 today at Amazon. This collection packs in seven different titles, including the beloved Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age...

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What to Expect From Star Wars in 2025

With 2025 looming, Star Wars fans have a whole new year’s worth of content to look forward to. Unfortunately, 2025 isn’t shaping up to be the franchise’s biggest year. With no new movies on the docket and only one live-action series confirmed for release, the pickings are looking a little slim. But that’s not to say there’s nothing exciting on the horizon. The release of Andor Season 2 alone is reason for Star Wars fans to celebrate like the Rebels dancing on Endor. Let’s take a closer look at what is coming in 2025, and the many Star Wars projects we hope to learn more about in the next 12 months. Andor Returns for Season 2 This is the big one. The Star Wars slate may be a little sparse in 2025, but it’s hard to complain too much...

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AGDQ 2025 Starts This Weekend, Featuring Crazy Taxi With a Live Band, Elden Ring on a Saxophone, and Much More

At last, it's time for the most exciting live competitive event of the year. No, I don't mean the Super Bowl - it's time for Awesome Games Done Quick, the annual charity speedrunning marathon that features a week of talented gamers showing off the wildest things they can do with video games. Games Done Quick (GDQ) has been running for 15 years now, since 2010. The event is a live broadcast speedrunning marathon, during which speedrunners take turns showing off beating video games as fast as possible, and often in wacky and especially impressive ways. In recent years, the events have shown off increasingly ambitious performances, including blindfolded or one-handed runs, two players using a single controller, showcases of tricky arcade...

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Valve's Dead TCG Artifact Suddenly Had 12,000 Players on New Year's Day, and the Community Is Baffled

As we rang in the new year earlier this week, thousands of people seemed to be celebrating in an admittedly unusual way: by playing Valve's 2018 TCG Artifact. Then, as quickly as they started, the 12,000-ish individuals all stopped playing at once on January 3, leaving the game as empty as it had been at the end of 2024. Who were these people? No one seems to know. The Artifact community isn't reporting any sudden spikes in interest, and no one's really talking about the game on social media apart from marveling at the sudden jump in player numbers. So why, then, is SteamDB suggesting that a free-to-play card game that is, by all accounts, close to dead, seeing wild spikes in users over very specific two-day periods? As spotted by...

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