Gaming News

Elden Ring has seen a significant rise in players after developer FromSoftware released a trailer for its Shadow of the Erdtree expansion.Data from player-tracking website SteamDB shows Elden Ring has seen 112,406 players in the last 24 hours on Valve's platform, a spike which began in the days following the debut Shadow of the Erdtree trailer on February 21.Elden Ring had 45,866 players the day before, but hit 108,636 the weekend after the announcement and has continued to rise as interest in the beloved role-playing game returns ahead of the expansion's June 21 release date.The popularity surge appears to be across the board too, as Elden Ring is now in 21st place on Xbox's most-played games list, compared to its rank of 36th...

Former Bungie composer Marty O'Donnell has announced his intention to run as the Republican Party candidate in Nevada’s third congressional district in the 2024 House of Representatives elections.O'Donnell tweeted his announcement, saying: “I never wanted to be a politician and I still don’t. I’ve had two successful careers and have started a few small businesses. I’ve also worked for some big corporations. I was ready to retire and spend more time with my family — which I’ve done for the past three years. I think they’re ready for me to find something else to do.”68-year-old Trump supporter O'Donnell semi-retired to a Las Vegas suburb after his legal tussles with former employers Bungie and Microsoft settled, and after founding...

Welcome to another week of not paying retail for the games that matter. As per always, I've scoured the storefronts for nothing but the best in budget-minded gaming, plus the perfect preorder entry points. Wish I had time to say more, but Super Earth isn't going to super save itself. See you planetside in Helldivers 2, where I may or may not accidentally (but also democratically) delete you with an Orbital Airburst Strike.In retro news, I'm lighting a big 9 on a cake for the original Helldivers. Rather different from its current day darling of a sequel, this top-down twin-stick shooter was still white-knuckle enough to explain the early onset arthritis some of you now have. Core memory for me: hearing some NPC Helldivers on my bridge...

The weekend is coming to a close, so it's time to round up the best deals available this weekend across games, technology, and more! New titles are seeing discounts, and plenty of hardware is on sale, too. The best deals for Sunday, March 3, include the Samsung 55" S90C 4K OLED TV, New Pokémon Snap, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD, and more.Bomb Rush Cyberfunk Up To 34% OffAmazon has both the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 copies of Bomb Rush Cyberfunk on sale right now. This spiritual successor to Jet Set Radio offers a ton of fun, with all kinds of activities to complete. You play as Red and join the Bomb Rush Crew, where you set off around the city to discover graffiti spots and get REP. All the flashy tricks you know...

Star Wars Outlaws is billed as the franchise’s first-ever open-world game. From the makers of The Division and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Outlaws tells a scoundrel story that explores the depths of Star Wars’ underworld between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.In anticipation of Ubisoft’s big Star Wars game, we’ve put together this breakdown of everything you need to know about Star Wars Outlaws.Jump to:Release Window Story Details Gameplay DevelopmentStar Wars Outlaws TrailerUbisoft has released two official trailers for Star Wars Outlaws. The most substantial of which is a 10-minute gameplay trailer revealed last June. Check it out below:Star Wars Outlaws Release WindowStar Wars Outlaws has an official...

When it comes to licensed movie franchises entering the world of video games, very few have as storied a history as Star Wars. From hopping into an X-Wing cockpit in Rogue Squadron to making decisions that affect the fate of the galaxy in Knights of the Old Republic, George Lucas’ expansive sci-fi universe has become a creative playground for a range of talented developers over the years, and with it paved the way for some truly iconic Star Wars games.For those looking to dive into some of these games on their Nintendo Switch, we’ve got you covered. Below, we’ve compiled every single Star Wars game available on Nintendo’s flagship console, ranging from immersive RPGs to classic first-person shooters.How Many Star Wars Games are on...

Somber Echoes is a sci-fi Metroidvania that developer Rock Pocket Games, Lav Games, and publisher Bonus Stage call a "love letter" to the genre. It's set 3000 years in the future aboard the Greco-Roman spaceship called Atromitos, where "infested horrors from another dimension" now run rampant. It features seven visually distinct districts and is powered by Unreal Engine 5. It's due out on PC this Fall.The 2.5D graphics set it a bit apart from the usual retro looks many Metroidvanias rock, and the developers hope the Greek-tragedy inspriation will further help it stand out from the crowd. Rock Pocket Games told IGN, "A cataclysmic event turned the once beautiful and proud Greco-Roman space vessel Atromitos into breeding grounds for...

Balatro publisher Playstack Games has taken to social media to defend its poker roguelike after fans noticed it had been removed from certain stores.Players started to point out Balatro’s disappearance over the last few days, with some taking to social media to express their concerns. Reddit user JustASmith27, for example, was unable to find the Nintendo Switch eShop store page in the U.K. Players from other countries, such as Australia, have reported that they are running into the same roadblock as well.Mainly, the problem seems isolated to Nintendo Switch stores outside of the U.S. Playstack shared an explanation behind Balatro’s disappearance on X/Twitter, saying that the team is working “as hard as we can to get the game back...

Essentially kicking off the whole third-person survival horror genre a good four years before Capcom stepped up to the plate with its now legendary Resident Evil franchise, Alone in the Dark did the whole shtick first back in 1992. Though you can certainly make the case that the series has been on something of an […]Continue reading...

The best games like Dragon’s Dogma 2 will have you clambering and climbing, fighting and flexing, and both magicking and mighting. Essentially, you can expect big games with beautiful worlds to explore, plenty of big enemies to fight, and an engrossing story. Ideally, they’ll also have some RPG systems to play with as well. Whilst […]Continue reading...

Well, hello there. Do you like twin-stick shooters that give you that intense arcade feel and the deep satisfaction that comes from destroying wave after wave of enemies? Do you also like pinball and the satisfying cling-clang of rolling into things? Well, good news, because Go Mecha Ball is here, and it’s here for you […]Continue reading...

You can tell we are in the busy release season, as there are an almost uncountable number of games heading our way nearly every week at the moment. You’ve got big games like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Dragon’s Dogma 2, and Persona 3 Reload, but that’s not all. Alongside these heavy hitters, you’ve also got […]Continue reading...

Bethesda Game Studios has teased what players can expect in Starfield's next update, with the upcoming patch emphasizing quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes.In a thread on X/Twitter, Bethesda Game Studios made a thread highlighting some of the changes coming to Starfield. The update will be available on March 6 via the Steam Beta before a full release at a later date.The most notable fix will address a bug in the "Sabotage" quest for the Ryujin Industries. The bug in question caused an NPC required to complete the quest to not spawn in the location. Bethesda previously tried to address this bug in update 1.8.86, released last November, but some quickly pointed out that the NPC failed to spawn after installing the patch...

Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar Games is releasing a GTA Online story expansion called The Cluckin' Bell Farm Raid on March 7.Revealed with a trailer, below, the expansion lets players carry out an elaborate scheme to expose a ring of unprecedented corruption in the Los Santos Police Department."You’ve already received a call from former Diamond Casino head of security turned LSPD officer Vincent Effenburger," the synopsis reads. "Now you’ll have the opportunity to work together in an unorthodox, but profitable, collaboration to take down a new cartel running a large-scale operation out of the Cluckin' Bell factory in Paleto Bay."Help Vincent bust the case wide open in this action-packed new story update as you take on...

I’ve played both Ori games. I survived the Water Tower in Blind Forest. So I knew that, even though developer Moon Studios was changing genres for its next game, No Rest for the Wicked, I shouldn’t expect to breeze through it. And sure enough, after playing the first 90 minutes of an early build, culminating in a punishing boss fight, I had to earn every new piece of gear, every bit of loot, and every inch of progress. No Rest for the Wicked is beautiful, it is challenging, and it is rewarding. You are not a walking death machine here, like in Diablo. Instead, your enemies are the walking death machines, and you’ll need to learn how to survive them. It’s more like Dark Souls in an isometric-view action-RPG form.As we’d already been...

Earlier this week, 900 individuals were laid off from Sony PlayStation. The affected studios included well-known developers Insomniac Games, Naughty Dog, and Guerrilla Games, with PlayStation London shutting down entirely.These layoffs come just weeks after the DICE Awards, which saw Insomniac and Guerrilla both win prestigious awards for their work on Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Horizon: Call of the Mountain. And they come just days after a gathering at PlayStation London that served as a farewell for outgoing PlayStation head Jim Ryan. As news of the layoffs hit, a photo circulated on social media showing a group of smiling employees clustered around Ryan:This week the layoffs were at Sony (and Die Gute Fabrik, and Supermassive...

The United States' Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) has released its verdict on Dragon's Dogma 2, detailing its sexual content among other things.As reported by Push Square, the Dragon's Dogma 2 listing details a handful of different instances of sexual content in the game but makes clear it doesn't get particularly explicit. Unlike 2012's Dragon's Dogma, however, the sequel has received the Sexual Themes tag, likely because players are able to interact with sex workers."Players' character can interact with sex workers, exchanging currency for services," the explanation for the Mature rating reads. "A brief sequence depicts the player sitting on a bed with a prostitute (both wearing underwear) before the camera fades to...

Dale, Mat J and Emma discuss Shogun, the hot new TV show that everyone needs to see. Mat has also been playing the Unicorn Overlord demo and has some thoughts. The gang then discuss video game trailers that change the game based on the incredible trailer for Kingmakers, as well as having fun playing a Final Fantasy-themed Endless Search (yes, it still exists).What's a trailer you thought changed the game? Get in touch at ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.IGN UK Podcast 738: Shoguns, Unicorn Overlords and KingmakersIGN UK Podcast 737: Buster Swordin' Makes Me Feel Good IGN UK Podcast 736: Who Remembers the 1990s? IGN UK Podcast 735: Helldiving into Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth IGN UK Podcast 734: Suicide Squad and Dale's Big Plane Story IGN...

Finn Wolfhard is often thought of as a good pick to play Link in the upcoming live-action The Legend of Zelda movie, but the Stranger Things star has another idea for a video game movie that probably wouldn’t have occurred to the majority of fans.Speaking in-between rounds of increasingly spicy wings during the latest episode of Hot Ones on the First We Feast YouTube channel, Wolfhard revealed his big idea is to make a Crazy Taxi movie.Crazy Taxi is an arcade racing game series from Sega that blew up in the late ‘90s and enjoyed continued success on the Dreamcast and other consoles. It’s an over-the-top, time-based race to drive passengers to their destinations as quickly and stylishly as possible.Crazy Taxi, then, is perhaps an...

Rocksteady won’t release a patch for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League next week in order to focus on getting the game ready for the launch of Season 1 later in March.In a post on the Suicide Squad website, Rocksteady acknowleged player demand for the game’s next patch, which is set to fix myriad bugs and make key gameplay improvements, including Mutator changes. But, the developer said, it is now focusing on “getting the whole game ready to receive our free Season 1 update this month”. Season 1 is set to add Joker as a new playable character, as well as new gear and environments as Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s live service continues.Last week, Rocksteady parent company Warner Bros. Discovery said Suicide Squad...

Robot Vietnam has fallen. Helldivers have failed their Major Order to defend against the Automatons, and now the Termanids are one step closer to humanity’s homeworld.This collection of defeats amounts to a sad moment for Helldivers 2 fans. But it's an event that will only embolden it. It’s difficult to think of any game in recent memory that has united a player base quite like Helldivers 2 has. The fight to push back alien frontlines has captured people’s imagination in such a way that it’s generated memes, camaraderie, and – most importantly – loyalty. A loyalty that has spread, bringing in new troops for the war effort day after day. But what’s the secret behind this cultural phenomenon? Well, aside from just being a bloody good...

This week, Helldivers 2 has seen a glut of gameplay leaks showing off officially unavailable stratagems, including of the upcoming mechs and, more recently, of a vehicle reminiscent of Halo’s famous Warthog. But what’s going on here? The community has a number of explanations.Amid claims developer Arrowhead is randomly letting select players call in these unannounced stratagems, or jumping into the live game itself to test these new features, a perhaps more likely explanation has emerged: it’s the work of cheaters.Five days ago, redditor stodal posted a list of game file names they uncovered while digging through the game’s innards. It included reference to a potential third alien faction dubbed the Illuminate, mechs, the ability...

Valve has pulled a handful of fake Steam listings for Helldivers 2 that were different games, potentially even cracked games, disguised as the hugely popular co-op shooter to fool people into spending money.Helldivers 2 community manager Twinbeard posted a warning on the game’s Discord that shone a light on the scam.“There are unfortunately two (three now?!) fake games being marketed as Helldivers 2 on Steam at the moment,” Twinbeard said. “THESE ARE FAKE. They are not made by Arrowhead but they claim to be. We do not know what they contain, but they are not affiliated with us in any way.“Our legal department is on it and we hope Valve will remove the products as soon as possible.“The only two genuine copies are Helldivers 2...

Thank your own personal deity—possibly the God-Emperor—it's Friday! I'm going to round out the week with a crapload of triple and double packs on Xbox. I'm also seeing an unusually cheap Switch Pro Controller, and the first double-digit discount yet spotted for Shadow of the Erd Tree. If I don't see you defending Super Earth in Helldivers 2, stay safe, save often, and catch you Monday!In retro news, I'm celebrating the 27th birthday of the Nintendo 64, a pioneer of controller vibrations, a revolutionizer of 3D platforming, and an absolute powerhouse of four-person multiplayer. I cannot even calculate how many hours my mates and I invested into GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark, Mario Kart 64, and the WCW vs. NWO games. Add in landmark...

Nacon and its Milan studio have revealed their open-world survival game, Terminator: Survivors, along with a Steam Early Access release date of October 24, 2024.The project’s full debut arrived as part of the February 2024 Nacon Connect presentation. Although no gameplay was shown, creative director Marco Ponte gave fans a few details about what to expect from this new perspective in the Terminator universe.Terminator: Survivors is a single-player and co-op survival game where you and up to three friends fight against both man and machine while collecting resources. The goodies you collect throughout the open world will keep you alive, but they can also be used to improve your home base. Its story takes place in 2009 and is based...

Amid mass layoffs, studio closures, and general industry uncertainty, today began with a handful of studios and companies reclaiming control of their own destinies. We learned this morning that Saber Interactive and Gearbox are reportedly breaking free of Embracer Group. And now, it looks like Crash Bandicoot developer Toys for Bob has sprung free of Activision and Microsoft.The studio announced this news via a blog post today, stating that Toys for Bob would be spinning off into indie development in an effort to return to its roots.While going independent would notable deprive Toys for Bob of its access to the IPs its become known for - Crash Bandicoot and Spyro especially - it sounds like there might be hope for those series...

EA has joined Square Enix in failing to see the leap year coming, as just like Theatrhythm Final Fantasy on Nintendo Switch, EA Sports WRC isn't working because it's February 29.Fans of the rally racer took to social media to complain about the game crashing upon launch today, and EA soon published a statement explaining it was looking into it. "We are aware of an issue on console in which the game may crash on startup," it said on X/Twitter. "This is currently being investigated and will be fixed as soon as possible."The fix isn't complicated despite involving a little bit of time travel, as EA returned soon after telling players to change their hardware to March 1. This isn't just an in-game solution, however, as players have to...

When No Rest for the Wicked was first revealed at The Game Awards last year, its painterly art style was unsurprisingly a big topic of discussion. Simply put, it was the most striking trailer of the show. While it looked akin to Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook artwork in motion, the gorgeous art also made it somewhat obvious as to who was behind the images.“This is almost like our DNA,” says Gennadiy Korol, co-founder of Moon Studios and its director of technology. “That's the trademark of Moon, we want our games to look timeless. We want them to look like a painting that is animated.”That much was obvious to anyone who played Moon’s Ori games, but No Rest for the Wicked seems to take that idea and push it into the next dimension. By...

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake developer Saber Interactive has reportedly left embattled parent company Embracer in a $500 million deal to become a privately owned company.Bloomberg reports the troubled Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake is still in the works, although question marks remain over whether it will ever actually come out, and if it does, what sort of game it will be. In November, Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors refused to answer a question about the KOTOR remake during a financial presentation, saying: “I notice that anything I say to this becomes a headline, so that is my only comment." Saber Interactive is also developing Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, due out in September.Borderlands...

The two million-selling Tekken 8 has opened its premium in-game shop, sparking a vociferous debate within the fighting game’s community.The Tekken Shop, which launches with Uniqlo-branded items, lets you buy customisations such as legacy character costumes and avatar skins of specific characters. Publisher Bandai Namco has said new content will be added to the shop monthly.The Tekken Shop includes both free and paid items, and it’s the paid items that are ruffling feathers. Paid items are bought with Tekken Coins, a virtual currency paid for with real-world money spent in each platforms’ store.The problem with Tekken 8’s shop is that it sells the virtual currency in denominations that invariably leave players with some left...