Gaming News

Pay Forty Percent Less Gil for a Modern Final Fantasy, A Cheap Hori Arcade Stick, and More!

Welcome to the IGN AU Daily Deals article, also unofficially known as the "How Low Can That Starfield Constellation Edition Go" limbo check. Full truth: I'm eyeing a purchase of it myself, and my absolute must-buy mark is going to be that magical $200. Shall we reach that numerical event horizon where nothing—not my money, or even light itself—can possibly escape? I dunno. But it was $256.14 yesterday... In retro news, I'm celebrating the 26th birthday of StarCraft, the venerable RTS GOAT. It needs little introduction, so I'll not zerg rush you with the fondest memories of the hundreds of hours I spent on it. Instead, let's use this space to reminisce on how nuts 1998 was for Oz game launches. Half-Life, Ocarina of Time, Resident Evil...

View full article »

New Starfield 'DLC-Sized' Mod Lets You Create Entire Colonies, Build Mechs, and More

If you're looking for ways to expand Starfield's replayability, a new "DLC-sized" mod is now available, allowing players to build their own colony, create mechs, and more. Over on Nexus Mods yesterday, modder TankGirl444 uploaded their latest project, TGs Galactic Colonies Expanse. The creator describes it as a "new DLC-sized mod" for Bethesda's 2023 space action RPG. The description touts that those who download it will be able to "land on any world and build [their] own empire!" TankGirl444 explains that the mod took them a month to craft and that it expands on their previous mods that were aimed at improving and expanding player home and building in Starfield. More importantly, it greatly expands the Outpost mechanic, allowing...

View full article »

Last Epoch Is The Best Spreadsheet I’ve Ever Played

Last Epoch might have the coolest skill system of any game I’ve ever played but before then, let’s touch upon what the game is. Last Epoch is an action RPG in the same vein as Diablo or Path of Exile, whereby you choose your character class and then use a mixture of loot, skills, and […] Continue reading...

View full article »

Friday the 13th: Resurrected Canceled Following Copyright Infringement Claim

Friday the 13th: The Game continues to be a legal nightmare for anyone involved. The team behind the Resurrected mod announced that the project's future is up in the air after receiving a copyright infringement claim. Announced on the official Friday the 13th: Resurrected Discord and X/Twitter, the team behind the project announced it received a cease and desist letter from an attorney representing Horror, Inc., which owns the rights to the Friday the 13th film franchise. The cease and desist letter, which is attached to the post below, mentions that the fan mod is an "unauthorized use" of the IP, describing it as an "unlicensed, knockoff Friday the 13th video game." In the post, the team behind Friday the 13th: Resurrected states...

View full article »

Helldivers 2 Players Have Succeeded in Wiping Automatons From the Galactic Map, but What Comes Next?

Helldivers 2 players have completed their mission to completely eradicate the Automaton threat from the galaxy map, leaving many to wonder what new threat might arise to imperil Super Earth and stem the spread of managed democracy. “You did it, Helldivers,” read a post from the game's official X/Twitter account on Sunday. “Operation Swift Disassembly was a success! With the bots eradicated and bugs contained, the galaxy is free once more.” Operation Swift Disassembly was the name given to the latest Major Order in the galactic-level war playing out in Helldivers 2, which sought to wrestle the last remaining hostile planets from Automaton control. Following the success of the operation, players have once again returned to the Eastern...

View full article »

Saber Interactive CEO Pulls Back the Curtain on Joining, and Leaving Embracer

In the aftermath of Saber’s separation due to Embracer’s recent struggles, it might be easy to expect someone like Saber Interactive CEO (and owner, via holding company Beacon Interactive) Matthew Karch to be a bit gleeful, or even spiteful. But he’s not. Speaking to IGN earlier this week, Karch comes off more content than anything. He says the departure was bittersweet, so while he’s satisfied with his decision, he’s also equally happy with the winding pathway he and Embracer took to get there. Karch tells me he has no regrets about being acquired by Embracer to begin with. “For the most part it turned out as I had imagined, at least for the first couple of years.” We wind back the clock a little. In February of 2020, when Embracer...

View full article »

Dragon's Dogma 2 Mod Lets Players Silence Incessant Pawn Chatter

Dragons Dogma 2 players rejoice, for a new PC mod has arisen that will allow you to temper the incessant chattering of your pawn companions and prevent them from constantly pointing out the presence of treasure chests, ladders, and so on. The world of Dragons Dogma 2 is inhabited by a race of endlessly useful non player characters known as pawns, who live to serve and protect the player character. Along the way they’ll fight, find items, provide guidance with ques, and, generally, talk a lot. While this is welcome at first, some Arisen have been left irritated by the relentless bombardment of dialogue unleashed by pawns even dozens of hours into the game. To solve this, PC players can now install a mod which allows pawns'...

View full article »

Botany Manor Review

I get an itch to put on my gardening gloves and get planting when spring comes around. While practicing patience for the right weather, I’ll read up on books and try to learn new techniques – but this year, Botany Manor has helped satiate my excitement. It’s a cozy, first-person puzzle game that puts a blank herbarium book in your hand and asks you to grow different plants until the pages are full. Botany Manor is a short and sweet story that safely sits surface-level, but its witty mysteries engaging enough to keep me happily digging for more. Botany Manor puts you in the boots of retired botanist Arabella Greene as she returns to her grand, and adorably stylized, English manor in 1890 Somerset. Each “puzzle” is actually a fictional...

View full article »

These Fallout Games Are Currently Free to Download

The Fallout TV series will be arriving on Amazon Prime Video on April 11, and that means there's never been a better time in recent memory to jump back onto the Fallout hype train in full force (When is Fallout 5, Bethesda?) For now, we'll have to satiate our appetites with a new TV series and a hat full of excellent other games to play. Check out all the best Fallout deals we've found just below, and make sure you've got that Amazon Prime membership ready and waiting (otherwise there's a free 30-day trial here as well). Free Fallout Games for Amazon Prime Members PSA: Fallout 76 is FREE to Download for Prime Members from April 11 (Not Live Yet) For starters, we've found both Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel for...

View full article »

Ring of Honor Wrestler Athena Sets Arena on Fire With Baldur's Gate 3 Karlach Cosplay

Ring of Honor wrestler Athena debuted some striking new ring gear inspired by Karlach from Baldur's Gate 3 during the most recent Supercard of Honor event. Fans of Baldur's Gate 3, Larian Studios' latest video game based on the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role playing game, went wild for Athena's epic entrance, with those in the crowd and watching at home commending her Karlach-inspired outfit, which came complete with the iconic character's twisty horns and signature axe. Even Samantha Béart, who provided the voice and motion capture for the game's beloved barbarian, reposted a video of Athena's arrival and gave her a shoutout. "Oh wow," Béart wrote on X/Twitter alongside some heart emojis and a gif of the fan-favorite character...

View full article »

157 Bottle Caps off a Megaton of Fallouts, Save $240 on Starfield Constellation, Stellar Blade Cuts, and More!

Let's cut past the intro and into the prices. Today, I'm all about a sub-five-follar Broforce, and that stupidly reduced Starfield Constellation Edition. Last but not least, with that Fallout TV series being days away, I can see more than a few of you wanting to replay some / all of the series (because that's the urge I got after watching some of Netfilx's The Witcher show). Should that occur, the savings in the below bundle ought to set your world on fire. In retro news, I'm celebrating S.W.A.T. 4's 19th birthday. My lasting memories of this Irrational Games shooter are of no checkpoints, having to abide by strict "baddies have to draw first" rules, and the randomisation of hostages and enemies (skill, numbers, arsenal, and morale)...

View full article »

Daily Deals: Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Xbox Wireless Controller, Persona 3 Reload

Saturday and the weekend have officially arrived, which means it is time to round up the best deals you can find this weekend! We've searched all over the internet to compile the deals you do not want to miss, which include video games, technology, earbuds, and more. The best deals for Sunday, April 7, include Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Persona 3 Reload, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, the Razer BlackShark V2 Headset, Granblue Fantasy: Relink, Nintendo Switch Lite, Beats Powerbeats Pro, and more. Save 40% Off Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a release that went under many people's radars earlier this year. At $29.99, this 2D platformer is absolutely worth your time and money. We gave the game...

View full article »

Daily Deals: Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Razer BlackShark V2, Granblue Fantasy: Relink

Saturday and the weekend have officially arrived, which means it is time to round up the best deals you can find this weekend! We've searched all over the internet to compile the deals you do not want to miss, which include video games, technology, earbuds, and more. The best deals for Saturday, April 6, include Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, the Razer BlackShark V2 Headset, Granblue Fantasy: Relink, Beats Powerbeats Pro, and more. Save 40% Off Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a release that went under many people's radars earlier this year. At $29.99, this 2D platformer is absolutely worth your time and money. We gave the game an 8/10 in our review, stating, "Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown...

View full article »

 

The Top 10 WWE Games of All Time

For the average wrestling fan, turning to WWE’s games is a safer way to live out your sports entertainment fantasies than, say, jumping off the roof of your garage through a flaming table. Since the late 80s there’ve been well over 50 such games that have averted countless such ill-advised* attempts to be a pro wrestler at home, all wearing the WWF/E banner. And while it’s as difficult to parse out the incremental improvements from one year to the next as it is to kick out of a Tombstone, here’s an attempt at narrowing down the 10 best WWE games of all time.** To start with, we didn’t book this list all by ourselves without consulting our roster. The IGN audience participated in a Face-off, giving us a capacity crowd's worth of data...

View full article »

Palia Dev Lays Off 35 Percent of Workers Only a Few Months After Beta Release

Singularity 6 is the latest studio to be hit by layoffs, with the Palia developer confirming in a statement sent to IGN that it has laid off around 35 percent of its workers. Reports of Singularity 6's layoffs emerged Thursday when workers began posting the new on X/Twitter and other social media platforms. They included at least one environmental artist, an engineer, and other developers woking on Palia. In its statement, Singularity 6 described it as a decision intended to "deliver the highest-quality gameplay service for long-term stability." A free-to-play "massively multiplayer community sim," Palia released to early access in October and Nintendo Switch in December. We called it a premise with "enormous potential," but it...

View full article »

Baldur's Gate 3 Dev Larian's Publishing Director Calls Games Industry an 'Avoidable F*ck Up'

Over the past few months, Baldur's Gate 3's developers have used its platform during awards season speeches to advocate for a healthier game industry. This tradition now extends to its publishing director, who, in a recent interview with Game File, shared his thoughts on industry-wide layoffs plaguing developers over the past two years as an "avoidable fuck up." Chief among 2024's massive layoffs include Nintendo announcing its restructuring in March which has the potential to affect over 100 contract workers; Sony laying off roughly 900 employees in February — including developers across studios like Insomniac, Naughty Dog, and Guerrilla, and Microsoft laying off 1,900 staff from its workforce in January following its $69 billion...

View full article »

Everything You Need To Know About SAND LAND

SAND LAND is coming up, and if you’re a fan of anime games, then 1) it’s probably already on your radar and 2) you’ll likely want to know as much as you can. That’s especially true given the recently released anime series, and it comes from the late great Akira Toriyama, the father of Dragon […] Continue reading...

View full article »

Star Wars Outlaws Is Unveiling a New Story Trailer Next Week

Ubisoft will unveil a story trailer for Star Wars Outlaws this Tuesday, April 9, at 9 a.m. PST / 12 p.m. EST, the company announced. Details on what portion of the narrative the video will focus on remain a mystery, but the world-premiere footage should give us a much clearer look at the project’s starring scoundrels, Kay Vess and Nix. It’s also important to remember that this open-world spinoff takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, so the story trailer may also offer Easter Eggs for eagle-eyed viewers. If we’re lucky, we may finally get a release date, too. We learned more about Star Wars Outlaws when speaking with narrative director Navid Khavari, creative director Julian Gerighty, and Lucasfilm...

View full article »

Cyberpunk 2077 Still Has Easter Eggs Players Haven't Found

Cyberpunk 2077 still has Easter eggs players haven't discovered, developer CD Projekt Red has revealed. Speaking to IGN at GDC 2024, associate game director Paweł Sasko confirmed that, despite players exploring every inch of Cyberpunk 2077 in the three years since it was released, there are still some fun secrets hidden within. Cyberpunk 2077 has been updated on myriad occasions, of course, including with its story expansion Phantom Liberty, but Sasko suggested there are still Easter eggs in the base game and not just in the extra content. "I've seen one of the last articles [with all the Easter eggs] and it had a long list, but it didn't have everything," Sasko said, though added that doesn't mean no one has found them, just that...

View full article »

 

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Hackers Are Playing With Unreleased Characters and Skins

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is currently embroiled in a hacker problem that has resulted in unreleased skins, seasons, and even playable characters leaking online. Warning: this article contains spoilers for upcoming Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League content! Publisher Warner Bros. is working to remove images showing hackers using unreleased character Deathstroke, unreleased skins, and even details on gear set to be added to the game in Season 2. This is an obvious concern for Warner Bros. and developer Rocksteady, given hackers are freely accessing content it plans to sell to players in the future. According to online reports, one hacker in particular appears to have accessed Deathstroke and all associated gear...

View full article »

 

How Hidden Nazi Symbols Were the Tip of a Toxic Iceberg at Life Is Strange Developer Deck Nine

Early last year, while working on the next entry in the Life Is Strange franchise, a few developers at Deck Nine stumbled upon something that didn’t belong in their game: Nazi symbols. Initially, developers noticed a reference to the number 88, and flagged the issue to their bosses assuming it was an innocent mistake. But in the ensuing weeks, others found more problematic signs and in-universe labels, such as references to a racist meme, the number 18, and the Hagal rune. As the number of possible hate symbols mounted, staff grew increasingly concerned that someone was putting these items in their game deliberately as a dog whistle to white supremacists. Nazi imagery would be inappropriate in most games, but in a Life Is Strange...

View full article »

Lord of the Rings Influenced a Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Quest

Spoiler Warning: This article features minor spoilers of an enemy which appears in a late game mission of Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion. Beloved fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings may not be an obvious inspiration for dystopian role-playing game Cyberpunk 2077, but it influenced developer CD Projekt Red regardless. Speaking to IGN at GDC 2024, associate game director Paweł Sasko further explained CD Projekt Red's philosophy of designing specific quests with certain genres or themes in mind. It has used this concept on a grander scale previously, like imagining The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt as a horror game to create the Hearts of Stone expansion, or seeing Cyberpunk 2077 in the espionage genre to create the Phantom Liberty...

View full article »

Someone Already Modded Invincible Series 2 Finale Cameo Into Marvel’s Spider-Man

That was fast! The Invincible Season 2 finale aired just this week, and already a modder has put its standout cameo character into a video game. Warning: this article contains full spoilers for Invincible: Season 2, Episode 8! Season 2, Episode 8 toys with the idea of the multiverse, with Mark hurtling through other dimensions and encountering heroes on alternate Earths. In one scene, Mark meets a very Spider-Man-esque character named Agent Spider, voiced by The Spectacular Spider-Man’s Josh Keaton. This scene is a tribute to the comic book team-up between Spider-Man and Invincible from 2005’s Marvel Team-Up #14. Hot on the heels of the episode’s release on Prime Video, Spider-Man PC modder Rezauddin Nur recreated Agent Spider...

View full article »

Dawn of War and Company of Heroes Dev Relic Entertainment Confirms Yet Another Round of Layoffs After Split From Sega

Relic Entertainment has announced sweeping cuts it said were made to give the studio “the best possible chance to survive.” Last month, Relic, the developer of real-time strategy games Dawn of War and Company of Heroes, bought itself out from previous owner Sega with the help of an external developer. Hot on the heels of that announcement comes confirmation of yet another wave of layoffs less than a year after 121 were let go from the studio. “Following last week’s announcement of Relic becoming an independent studio, today we have some difficult news,” Relic said in a statement published on LinkedIn. “Earlier today we shared details with Relicans about a layoff. Letting people go was not an easy decision, and was made solely with...

View full article »

A Free Outer Worlds, Thief, Chivalry 2 and Black Desert, Discount PS5 Slims, and More!

Thank your own personal deity—possibly Kratos—it's Friday! All things considered, though, we could just as well have called it Freeday. Across the Epic Store and the Prime Gaming rewards page are scattered four games worth paying for (and therefore also very much worth making a free account to score, too). Check the PC section below to get started! In retro news, I'm celebrating the 22nd birthday of Knockout Kings 2002, the penultimate entry in a series that would morph into the Fight Night franchise. Featuring Ali, Frazier, Duran, Leonard, De La Hoya, Vargas, Lewis, and Hopkins, this was the first entry to include a stick-based evasion system and the use of said real boxers in the career mode. Man, I miss purebred boxing games. Bring...

View full article »

Stellar Blade Director Says No Microtransactions Outside of Potential Crossover Collaborations

In a recent interview with Ruliweb translated by Genji and confirmed by IGN, director Kim Hyeong-tae talked about what players can expect on launch day. One feature Stellar Blade fans shouldn't expect is microtransactions... at least not initially. "We want to make it clear at this point that Stellar Blade will not require any additional expenses that gamers are not aware of beyond what they paid for the package," Kim told Ruliweb. Although Kim assured fans that Stellar Blade won't have any microtransactions, Shift Up hasn't entirely ruled out selling them in the future. "The only exception is if we create collaboration costumes with another company's IP, those may be sold for a fee," Kim said. "Also, there is no New Game+ in the...

View full article »

Roblox CEO: Pay-to-Earn Isn't Child Labor, It's a Gift

Roblox boss Stefano Corazza has opened up about accusations of young developer exploitation on its platform, saying that the opportunity Roblox gives its teenage creators is “a gift." Roblox has had in-game development tools via its Studio feature for a while, offering users the chance to create entire games that can then be published for other players and monetized. It all takes place within Roblox itself, streamlining the experience for creators and giving Roblox a cut of the profits. The Roblox creator website encourages users to “make anything you can imagine,” enticing would-be developers with the promise that experiences can be published instantly to more than 66.1 million other users across the globe. It adds that there are...

View full article »

Dragon's Dogma 2 Mod Makes Pesky Dragonsplague Obvious By Slapping Warning on Pawn Foreheads

Dragon's Dogma 2's pesky Dragonsplague illness turns pawns murderous but only exhibits a few subtle symptoms up to that point, so one modder has made things really obvious for PC players by sticking a big number on the follower's forehead. As reported by VG247, NexusMods user rthomasv3 uploaded the "Dragonsplague Counter", which doesn't change non-infected pawns but brands those who are with a red number ranging from one to 10. This tracks the severity of the infection in a more stark way than its normal symptoms, which include slight changes in behaviour like acting independently of the player and not obeying direct orders (you can find these explained further in IGN's Dragon's Dogma 2 guide). If the disease gets out of hand, a...

View full article »

Helldivers 2’s Next Premium Warbond Is Democratic Detonation, Adds New Weapons, Capes, and More

Helldivers 2’s next Premium Warbond launches April 11, Sony has announced. Democratic Detonation, as detailed on the PlayStation Blog, includes a number of new weapons, boosters, and armor pieces, as well as new cosmetics. Highlights include an Exploding Crossbow, a Grenade Pistol, and the Expert Extraction Pilot Booster, which lowers the time it takes for the extraction shuttle to reach the extraction beacon. As with previous Premium Warbonds, expect Democratic Detonation to cost 1,000 Super Credits. While you can earn Super Credits from gameplay and the Warbond itself, you can also buy them for real-world money. Via the in-game shop, 1,000 Super Credits costs $9.99. Premium Warbonds do not expire, so you can work your way through...

View full article »

Eternal Strands: An Exclusive First Look at an Shadow of the Colossus-Like Epic Boss Battle - IGN First

In Eternal Strands, a major part of your adventure will be doing battle with the nine massive bosses that wander freely throughout parts of the world. In my time exploring the magical land of The Enclave, I encountered a handful of these formidable monstrosities, which ranged from a robotic bipedal summoner who used his magical staff to cover the world in fire to a flying dragon who persistently hunted me from the skies above. Continuing our month-long coverage of Eternal Strands as part of IGN First, today we’ll be taking a look at one such oversized baddie: The Ark of the Forge, a hammer-wielding automaton with deep love of smelting puny Weavers into piles of ash. The Ark of the Forge is one of the bosses you’ll encounter in the...

View full article »