Gaming News

Ubisoft Hasn't Forgotten the Driver Series But It Has Cancelled the TV Adaptation

Ubisoft has cancelled the Driver TV adaptation but insisted it's still working on projects related to the beloved racing series. Speaking to Game File, Ubisoft confirmed it had cancelled the show, which was announced in 2021 as a collaboration with streaming service Binge and not heard from since, after dissolving film related subsidiary (named after Driver protagonist) Hotrod Tanner LLC. "We are no longer moving forward with our partnership with Binge for a Driver series," a Ubisoft spokesperson said. "We are actively working on other exciting projects related to the franchise and can’t wait to share more information in the future." We are actively working on other exciting projects related to the franchise. Ubisoft hasn't been...

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Once Human Dev Struggles to Cope With Huge Number of Players as Steam Hit Exceeds Expectations

After a weekend of server problems, Once Human developer Starry Studio has revealed how it struggled to cope with the unexpected number of players who have descended upon the game. Once Human is a free-to-play multiplayer open world survival game from Starry Studio, a developer owned by Chinese games company NetEase. It launched on PC on July 9 and quickly found an audience, with a huge peak concurrent player count of 231,668 on Steam. It’s a big success for NetEase, but some players have faced frustration simply playing the game. Specifically, players found they were unable to play with friends because they were already playing on a server that was full due to newly imposed player limits, or had lengthy queue times. Now, in a post...

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Sony Extends Concord Beta by a Day

Sony has extended the Concord early access beta by a day. The early access beta, which Sony had opened up to all PlayStation Plus subscribers, was meant to end on July 14. It now runs to Monday, July 15, at 12pm PDT, 9pm CEST, 4am JST. The open beta is still set to run from July 18 to July 21, unless Sony decides to extend that too. Players have got stuck in to the Concord early access beta over the weekend, and it seems to have gone down well with PlayStation 5 players. The early access beta is also available on PC via Steam only to those who have pre-ordered. There, the beta saw a peak concurrent player count of 1,124, set three days ago. At the time of this article’s publication, 150 were playing the Concord beta on Steam. It’s...

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A Ton of RPGs Go 60% Off, 65 Buck Elden Ring, Prime PC Peripherals Deals, Half Price PS4s, and More!

Welcome to the calm before the storm, fellow bargain hunters. Amazon's Prime Day initiative kicks off at midnight, but, as per always, a whole bunch of mad deals have slipped out early. I've also locked onto a 60% off RPGs initiative for Switch owners, plus a big smattering of stock clearance deals on oldies-but-goodies worth owning. Catch you tomorrow for the big event! In retro news, I'm celebrating the 26th birthday of Point Blank, a PS One lightgun classic that's tied to one of my fondest gaming memories. For those of you unfamiliar with it, Point Blank is basically a collection of carnival target mini-games that's best played competitively with two players. Arguably the trickiest task is a sniper challenge with one bullet and a...

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Daily Deals: Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, Final Fantasy XVI, HyperX CloudX, and More

Ahead of Prime Day on Tuesday, now is the time to cash in on some sweet discounts. In particular, some of the biggest games of 2024 are now available at a discount, which makes today a perfect time to pick up a new title you've been holding out on. The best deals for Sunday, July 14, include SMT V: Vengeance, Final Fantasy XVI, Tekken 8, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and more. Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance for $39.99 Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is now on sale for the first time since launch! SMT V: Vengeance is an enhanced version of the former Nintendo Switch exclusive SMT V, launched in 2019. The biggest feature available in this upgraded re-release is the all new Canon of Vengeance route, which is essentially 40 hours of new...

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Death Must Die: One Of The Best Vampire Survivors-likes Out There

We don’t think we are providing blistering insight when we state that the sheer number of Bullet Hell and Vampire Survivors-like games available on Steam nowadays is overwhelming. Honestly, it’s hard to get through a single page of games on Steam without it feeling a bit like an assault course – dodge 20 similar titles […] Continue reading...

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Once Human Review in Progress

Once Human is surprising. It’s a free-to-play open-world survival crafting game, a word salad of flavor-of-the-month genres if ever there was one, and it takes those well-worn ideas and simplifies them into relatively basic forms. And yet, here we are a few days after launch and I find that I can’t put it down. It’s still early, but so far it’s so fun, and so weird. There’s no shortage of post-apocalyptic survival games out there, whether you’re talking about Fallout 76, Rust, 7 Days to Die, or the many, many other options. But Once Human makes its take on that setup feel unique and interesting by wrapping the end of the world around an alien infestation rather than your classic zombies or nuclear war scenarios. It’s a fun approach...

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Call of Duty Gets WWE Crossover With Season 5

WWE is coming to Call of Duty for a heavy-hitting crossover in Season 5, which now has a release date of July 24. In a brief teaser today, the official Call of Duty account revealed both the crossover and the release date for Season 5, but stopped short of showing exactly what the crossover entails. At the very end of the teaser, we see silouettes of what appear to be multiple wrestlers, though it's unclear exactly who. But a lack of details hasn't stopped fans from speculating. The community is throwing out their guesses: could we be getting skins for wrestlers like Roman Reigns? Cody Rhodes? Seth Rollins? Rhea Ripley? John Cena? There are tons of exciting possibilities here. And it's not clear just yet if the wrestling ring in the...

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Inaugural Olympic Esports Games 2025 Will be Held in Saudi Arabia

Earlier today, the International Olympic Committee announced that the first-ever Olympic Esports Games will take place in Saudi Arabia in 2025. In its announcement, the IOC revealed that the Olympic Esports Games is part of the organization’s 12-year partnership with the National Olympic Committee of Saudi Arabia. However, the particular details for the Olympic Esports Games, such as its city, date, qualifications for prospective players, and game titles, have yet to be hashed out. “As a ‘first’ ever Esports Olympic Games, obviously there is still much to consider and plan with the IOC, but we are committed to hosting a special event that respects and celebrates the Olympic values while boldly seizing the momentum to drive esports...

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Elden Ring Mod Basically Turns It Into Bloodborne

An Elden Ring modder is basically turning the entire game into Bloodborne through the implementation of trick weapons, parrying firearms, quick steps, a permanent night, and more spookiness. As reported by GamesRadar, Nexus Mods user Noctis created the Graceborne: Bloodborne Inspired Overhaul, its name obviously blending Bloodborne with Elden Ring's "grace." The mod is "still in its infancy" but aims to "turn Elden Ring's base game into a more grim and sinister experience." Noctis recently shared a video on YouTube asking modders to help them create the mod, as "undertaking Graceborne's full scope alone would simply be impossible." Despite this, Graceborne already has 22 armor sets, 35 weapons, 17 trick weapons, and five firearms...

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Introducing the Syndicates of Star Wars Outlaws - IGN First

Star Wars Outlaws takes scoundrel Kay Vess on a planet-hopping adventure as she goes in search of one big heist that will get her out of the trouble she finds herself in. Set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, the Imperial forces are at the peak of their powers and naturally will serve as an enemy faction. But more integral to the Outlaws experience are the crime syndicates that Kay will encounter and the scum and villainy that comes with them. Dotted throughout the galaxy, each has its own stories to tell and – more importantly – can be used to Kay’s benefit when you see fit thanks to Outlaw’s reputation system. “Across all of [the syndicates], there are fierce rivalries that Kay is going to have to navigate,”...

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Fallout 2's Latest Mod Let's You Play the Original Isometric Fallout 3

Fallout fans yearning for the days when the series was an isometric RPG can once again revisit that gameplay style thanks to this new fan-made project that revives the original vision for Fallout 3 by Black Isle. Spotted by GamesRadar, Fallout Yesterday is a Fallout 2 mod that allows players to play the Fallout 3 that might have been. If you are unfamiliar with Van Buren, it was the codename for the third mainline installment in the Fallout series. Set in the year 2253 in the American Southwest, Van Buren would have players controlling a prison while trying to evade robotic prison guards. Fallout Yesterday's Nexus Mods page notes that the mod includes a slew of new content to flesh out what Van Buren might have been. Some changes...

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Another Live Service Bites the Dust as Tencent Shuts Down F2P Flop Synced a Year After Launch

Chinese megacorp has announced plans to shut down Synced just a year after launch, signaling the end of another live service game in this increasingly competitive genre. Synced is a free-to-play co-op shooter developed by NExT Studios and published by Level Infinite, Tencent’s global games brand. It launched on PC via Steam in September 2023, but after seeing a peak concurrent player count of 10,272 on Valve’s platform, the player count plummeted. Just a month after launch it struggled for 1,000 concurrent players on Steam. At the time of this article’s publication, the 24-hour peak was just 23. Overall Steam user reviews were ‘mixed’, but that has fallen dramatically to ‘mostly negative’ for recent reviews. In a note to the players...

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The Karate Kid: Street Rumble, a Pixel-Art Beat-'Em-Up, Announced for PC and Consoles

GameMill Entertainment has announced The Karate Kid: Street Rumble, a 16-bit-styled multiplayer side-scrolling beat-'em-up. It's in development for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, and it's due to be released on September 20. As you can see in the announcement trailer above and in the first screenshots in the gallery below, Street Rumble is very much a "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge"-ified take on a Karate Kid game, and if Street Rumble turns out just as good as Shredder's Revenge, I doubt any of us would mind. You can play as Daniel Russo, Mr. Miyagi, Kumiko, or Ali Mills, and you'll face off against classic foes like Johnny Lawrence, John Kreese, Terry Silver, and others across 12 stages. And yes...

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Persona 4 Golden PC Mod Restores Original PS2 Version's Look

Persona 4 Golden PC players who don't want to enjoy the remake's upgraded graphics can now turn back the clock with a mod which makes it look like the original PlayStation 2 game. As reported by GameSpot, the P4 Fog Restoration mod on GameBanana looks to recapture the "visual identity" of the original Persona 4 before it was remade for PlayStation Vita and subsequently ported to other consoles and PC. "Persona 4 Golden's release came with significant changes to the game's visual identity," the mod description reads. "While there are several potential reasons for this from tone changes to hardware features/limitations, it is clear that Persona 4 Golden looks very different. "This mod is a visual overhaul mod for Persona 4 Golden...

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IGN UK Podcast 757: Star Wars Outlaws, Trying and... It's Coming Home?

Join Dale, Emma, and Jesse for some galactic Star Wars Outlaws chat about the upcoming open-world Star Wars game coming this August. The trio also talk about heartwarming Apple TV show, Trying, which just released its fourth season, as well as the brand new Gladiator 2 trailer. 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 757: Star Wars Outlaws, Trying and... It's Coming Home? IGN UK Podcast 756: The 2024 Halfway Point Check-In IGN UK Podcast 755: Miyazaki's Michelin Star IGN UK Podcast 754: The Boys, Some Dragons and an Acolyte IGN UK Podcast 753: The Best Games From Not-E3 IGN UK Podcast 752: Our Summer Showcase Predictions...

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The First Descendant Is a Massive Hit Despite Its Various Controversies

The First Descendant has seen 10 million players in its first week of availability. Nexon’s free-to-play looter shooter launched at the end of June and saw immediate popularity, with an impressive 264,860 peak concurrent players on Steam alone. (Microsoft and Sony do not make player numbers publicly available.) Nexon has now confirmed the impressive total player count of 10 million in seven days. It said “we’ve reached” 10 million players, which suggests this figure relates to player accounts, rather than dormant downloads. “Thank you all for your tremendous support and love,” Nexon continued. “It means everything to us. We will do our best to bring you great experiences. Can't wait to continue this journey together!” The First...

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Steam Hit Once Human to Make All Purchased Cosmetics Accessible Across Multiple Characters Following Backlash

The developer of Steam hit Once Human has responded to a backlash about how cosmetics work and promised changes to the game. Once Human is a free-to-play multiplayer open world survival game from Starry Studio, a developer owned by Chinese games company NetEase. It launched on PC on July 9 and quickly found an audience, with an impressive peak concurrent player count of 148,968 on Steam. But Once Human also has a ‘mixed’ user review rating on Steam, with some players expressing concern about everything from the game’s privacy policy to the use of the NetEase Launcher. In gameplay terms, players have hit out at mandatory seasonal resets and how they can affect your sense of progression and attachment to your character, as well as...

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Ubisoft Apology for Using Historical Re-Enactment Group Flag in Assassin's Creed Shadows Not Enough, Group Says

Ubisoft's apology for using a flag from a Japanese historical re-enactment group in artwork for Assassin's Creed Shadows without permission isn't good enough, the group has said. As reported by Automaton, Sekigahara Teppo-tai, a historical re-enactment group made up of volunteers who perform to the public at festivals and other events, published a statement on X/Twitter saying it would also like its image, essentially copied one for one, removed from the printed physical art book featured in the Collector's Edition of Assassin's Creed Shadows. Ubisoft is selling this edition for $279.99. Eagle-eyed fans initially noticed the identical recreation of the flag, which can be seen below, in a piece of concept art for the Japan-set...

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Mortal Kombat 1’s Ed Boon Confirms Big Balance Changes Are Coming Alongside DLC Character Takeda

Ed Boon, chief developer of NetherRealm Studios, has revealed Mortal Kombat 1 is set for some big balance changes and revealed a new look at upcoming DLC character Takeda. In a tweet, below, Boon said Takeda will be playable at the upcoming Evo fighting game tournament during the weekend of July 19, and published a video showing the character’s pre-fight interaction with Smoke. We see Takeda, one of the so-called Kombat Kids alongside Cassie Cage, Kung Jin, and Jacqui Briggs, with his trademark bladed whips. Takeda is the last of the Kombat Pack 1 DLC characters, and is due out later this month alongside final Kameo character Ferra. Dataminers have already unearthed evidence to suggest the next six DLC characters coming to the gory...

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The First Descendant Dev Nexon Promises to Change Controversial Icons After Destiny Plagiarism Accusations

The developer of looter shooter The First Descendant has said it will change the icons in the game after it was accused of copying Bungie’s Destiny 2. The First Descendant, a free-to-play shooter from Korean games company Nexon currently blowing up on Steam, was accused of using “barely-changed” Destiny 2 icons soon after release. Forbes pointed to the remarkable similarities between icons used by developer Bungie for its veteran looter shooter and those used by Nexon for its new looter shooter challenger. Amid the accusations, one Bungie icon artist tweeted to say it “feels like a great day to mention that Bungie icon artists are a super-crew of talented folks with original ideas and sharp instincts.” Fans subsequently unearthed...

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Wild Pre-Prime Day Bargains Have Appeared, Free Shredder's Revenge, Alex Kidd, KOTOR, and More!

Thank your own personal deity—possibly Radahn—it's Friday! If you somehow didn't know, Amazon Prime Day is kicking off early next week, but the deals are leaking out early (as they almost always do). I'm also seeing Ubisoft kick off a Summer Sale that has a few 90% off bargains, too. Until the next week of great savings, do stay safe, save often, and see you then. In retro news, I'm celebrating the 11th birthday of Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, a 3DS purchase I'm glad I didn't sleep on. Released in The Year of Luigi (a 30th anniversary celebration), this sequel to 2009's Bowser's Inside Story had a higher focus on the lanky L capped one. Beyond the always addictive level and gear grinding, I remember digging Luiginary Attacks...

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Planet Coaster 2 Announced: New Trailer Reveals Water Park Attractions and Fall 2024 Launch Window

Frontier Developments has announced Planet Coaster 2, a sequel to its 2016 theme park-building simulator, with a release window of autumn 2024 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S. Frontier announced the news with a reveal trailer highlighting pre-alpha engine footage of some of the new water park attractions. The video shows off a pool area for attendees to float around in as well as a steep, stomach-churning waterslide, but the team also promises other features, including lazy rivers, wave pools, water coasters, changing rooms, sunbeds, lifeguards, and more. “Building upon its highly successful predecessor, Planet Coaster 2 gives players the ability to push the boundaries of creativity like never before,” Frontier...

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The First Descendant Patch 1.0.2 Makes Some Big Changes — Here’s What It Does

The First Descendant developer Nexon has issued a significant update for its popular looter shooter and explained some of its thinking behind the game. Patch 1.0.2, out now across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, adds the promised matchmaking for hard mode Infiltration Operations, renames monster patterns, eases the punishing grind ever so slightly, and makes a raft of bug fixes. Other highlights include slowing down the speed at which the Instructor robot talks (which was too fast to keep up with, really). As part of the patch notes, Nexon insisted it has no plans to nerf meta builds players are currently using to destroy bosses, called Colossi in-game, in just a handful of seconds. These sorts of builds, which revolve around character...

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Sony Opens Up the Concord Early Access Beta to All PS Plus Members

Sony has opened up the Concord early access beta to all PlayStation Plus members. In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Alice Labrecque, communications manager at developer Firewalk, revealed details on the pre-download, when the servers go live, as well as PC system requirements for the team-based multiplayer shooter. The Concord early access beta runs from tomorrow, July 12 to July 14, with the open beta running from July 18 to July 21. PlayStation Plus members need only look for the option to download and play the early access beta when they boot up their PS5. Here are the global release times for Concord’s early access beta across PlayStation 5 and PC: July 12 10am PDT 1pm EDT 2pm BRT 6pm BST 7pm CEST July 13 2am JST 2am...

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Dragon Ball FighterZ Dev Announces Double Dragon Revive With Teaser Trailer

Double Dragon Revive is a new 3D game in the veteran beat ‘em up series published by Dragon Ball FighterZ and Guilty Gear Strive developer Arc System Works and developed by AEW Fight Forever maker Yuke's. The Japanese developer announced Double Dragon Revive with the release of a teaser trailer, below, that shows off the new 3D visuals. Double Dragon Revive features returning characters and familiar gameplay in which you pick up weapons scattered throughout the stages and use area gimmicks to defeat enemies. Here’s the official blurb: Double Dragon Revive is set for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Steam in 2025. A physical edition is set for PS4 and PS5, with digital on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and...

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BioWare Wants Dragon Age: The Veilguard Players to Find Out for Themselves Whether It Has Full Nudity

BioWare games feature implied nudity and sex scenes, as fans of the likes of Mass Effect and Dragon Age know well, but it sounds like upcoming action role-playing game Dragon Age: The Veilguard will take BioWare romance to a whole new level. Game Informer confirmed topless nudity in the Dragon Age: The Veilguard character creator, which lets players customize their version of protagonist Rook. Veilguard game director Corrine Busche wouldn’t go as far as to confirm that this also means topless nudity features elsewhere in the game, but it very much sounds like that’s what players can expect. "This is a mature RPG," Busche teased. BioWare remained tight-lipped when asked if Dragon Age: The Veilguard also features “bottom nudity”...

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Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake Details Revealed: New Story Elements, Graphics Modes, and More

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake features new story elements, Performance and Graphics modes on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, and more. Speaking to Famitsu and translated by @Genki_JPN on X/Twitter, Square Enix said the classic role-playing game's remake features several improvements for modern players while staying true to the original. Perhaps most notably, Square Enix is adding new story elements to Dragon Quest 3, and while it's unclear how significant these will be, everything was supervised by series creator Yuji Horii. On the technical side of things, the RPG will support 4K resolution on PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC, though console players must choose between it and a 60 frames per second Performance Mode. Players...

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Double Dragon Is Getting a 3D Beat 'Em Up From Arc System Works

Arc System Works, the developers behind Dragon Ball FighterZ and Guilty Gear Strive, is working on a 3D revival of the classic 2D beat ‘em up game Double Dragon. According to Famitsu (translated by Video Games Chronicle), the new Double Dragon game will see Arc System Works reimagine the 1980s Nintendo Entertainment System-era game with 3D-modeled characters. Double Dragon was a mainstay on arcades and consoles through the late '80s and and early 90s, appearing on a multitude of platforms and at one point teaming up with the Battletoads (it's true). It's revered as one of the most influential beat 'em ups of all time, with classics like Final Fight and Streets of Rage following in its footsteps. Arc System Works acquired the rights...

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George R.R. Martin Reveals New Covers for A Game of Thrones and Whole Song of Ice and Fire Series

George R.R. Martin has revealed a set of new covers for A Game of Thrones and the entire A Song of Ice and Fire book series. Revealed on his blog, the stunning new covers "capture the vastness of Westeros and the dangerous journey readers will encounter." The five books are available in a boxed set and will be available online and in stores in October 2024, though no price was revealed. "There is a raw and gritty quality to linocut and woodcut art," the post continued. "A certain starkness that seemed to fit the stories, and a long history to the art form that felt right for this world. "This cover design process paired linocut artist Mark Seekins and designer Tim Green, with art direction from David G. Stevenson. They worked...

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