Gaming News

Gothic, Risen, and Elex Dev Piranha Bytes Reportedly the Latest Embracer Studio to Shut Down

The closure of Embracer-owned studios continues — this time it’s developer Piranha Bytes that’s reportedly shut down. German studio Piranha Bytes was founded in 1997 and changed hands a number of times before it found its way to Embracer via publisher THQ Nordic in 2019. Piranha Bytes is perhaps best-known for developing fantasy role-playing series Gothic and Risen, but in recent years it released science fiction role-playing games Elex and Elex 2. Earlier this year, Piranha Bytes acknowledged it was in a “difficult situation” amid devastating cuts and layoffs at embattled parent company Embracer. At the time, Piranha Bytes said it was trying to find a partner for its next project, apparently not with Embracer. According to German...

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The Strangest Lightsabers in the Star Wars Universe: From Dark Rey to Vernestra Rwoh

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Acolyte Episode 5! The lightsaber is undoubtedly one of the coolest (albeit sadly nonexistent) weapons in all of pop culture. What's not to love about a laser sword that can cut through anything yet easily stow away in your pocket when not in use? Though as we've seen many times in the Star Wars universe, some Jedi and Sith aren't content to stick to the traditional lightsaber design. The Acolyte is just the latest Star Wars project to continue that proud tradition. From double-bladed lightsabers to lightsaber pikes to a lightsaber rifle (?), here are the strangest and most noteworthy lightsaber designs in the Star Wars franchise, including a few from the classic Legends...

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Witcher 3 Mod Lets You Play as Fully Customizable Witcher or Sorceress with New Magic Combat System

A mod for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has added not just a fully customizable main character but also the option to play as a sorceress, which comes with its own quest line, combat system, and more. NexusMods user nikich340 created the Custom Player Characters mod, which lets players step away from role-playing Geralt of Rivia and instead create their own unique protagonist. Every character model in the game can be pulled from, with players able to mix and match body parts to create their ideal monster slayer. The most impressive part of the mod comes in the sorceress additions, however. Not only can players, again, pull from every model in the game to create a custom character, but the mod adds its own combat system separate to how the...

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Okami's Creators Explain How It Could Have Been Even Better, How It Could Have Saved Clover Studio, and More

Capcom and Tango Gameworks veteran Ikumi Nakamura hasn't been shy about her love and nostalgia for the project that initiated her into AAA development: Ōkami. And now in a new video conversation with Hideki Kamiya, the pair have opened up about Ōkami's development, including Kamiya's belief that its development team as a whole...could have been better. This comes from a new entry in a video series presented by Nakamura's new studio, Unseen, called Ask Ikumi. In it, she's been sharing all sorts of behind the scenes game development insights both on Unseen's project, Kemuri, and her own development experience. In this latest video, she sits down to chat with longtime colleague Hideki Kamiya, with whom she worked on Ōkami, Bayonetta, and...

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Preorder PlayStation's New Horizon Forbidden West Aloy Collectible Figure

PlayStation has revealed its own set of action figures produced in collaboration with toy company Spin Master, and there are some very cool ones coming soon. Known as "The Shapes Collection," it's a new line of collectibles based on PlayStation's biggest first-party titles. As revealed on the PlayStation Blog, it "includes iconic characters from God of War Ragnarök, Horizon Forbidden West, and Ghost of Tsushima." The first figure to roll out from the collection is Aloy from Horizon Forbidden West, which you can put your preorder in for right now. It'll set you back $49.99 and will officially release on August 1. Standing 6-inches tall, Aloy's figure also comes with 42 points of articulation, 6 face plates, 6 hand sets, a bow, spear...

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Cyberpunk 2077 Multiplayer Mod Gains Traction Following Successful Playtest

Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer mod CyberMP has gained traction following a successful playtest in which 20 players ran around in the same Night City. The one-person developer behind CyberpMP recently invited YouTuber JuiceHead and others to test its multiplayer version of Cyberpunk 2077, and it actually worked. Though lacking proper animations, never mind quests, the mod lets players roam the open world together, engage in firefights, and race across Night City. This bare bones version of a full Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer mode is therefore a far cry from official contemporaries like Grand Theft Auto Online but may lay the groundwork for one. JuiceHead noted "no issues with lag or players teleporting around", and, even in a 15-player...

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City Skylines 2 on Console Delayed Indefinitely as Developer Struggles to Hit Stability and Performance Targets

It’s more bad news for Cities Skylines 2, which has now seen its console version delayed indefinitely. In a note to console players, publisher Paradox said the console version was still not up to scratch and will now miss its planned October 2024 release window, itself a delayed target from earlier this year. “Unfortunately, we have not yet met the stability and performance targets we set for the console release,” Paradox said. “Without a Release Candidate (RC), we are now unable to meet an October release window. “While we are making slow but steady progress, there are still unresolved issues impacting the game in ways that harm the player experience we want to deliver. We expect to receive a new RC, which will undergo a thorough...

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Manor Lords Publisher Hits Back at Claims It Should Have 'Better Prepared' to Provide More Post-Launch Content

The publisher of Steam hit medieval city builder Manor Lords has hit back at claims it has become the latest Early Access game to fail to provide players with enough content to keep them interested and therefore has suffered a significant drop-off. In a post on Linkedin, publisher Hooded Horse boss Tim Bender took issue with another Linkedin post from a video game developer that called Manor Lords “a pretty interesting case-study in the pitfalls of Early Access development when a game with a small team (and heavily marketed as such) hits the reality of a hungry audience.” “As a result of the lack of updates, the concurrent users have plummeted since launch (which isn't that unusual — it's the current trend for a lot of Early Access...

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Fallout London Release Appears Soon as Dev Declares 'the End Is in Sight'

Expansion-sized Fallout 4 mod Fallout London appears to be nearing release after developer Team FOLON declared "the end is in sight" as it awaits final quality assurance tests. In a post on X/Twitter, Team FOLON sought to clear up speculation by confirming it had sent "several builds" to CD Projekt Red-owned Steam competitor GOG and is awaiting the "final green light." "Once they've completed the process of double checking that Fallout: London and its installer work on all supported machines, we should be good to go," Team FOLON said. "Yes, we have our own installer, and downgrader too. "It is in all of our interests that this final QA process is carried out in full, and we are very thankful that GOG is assisting. While it may seem...

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Bleach Rebirth of Souls, New 3D Fighting Game Following Original Story, Announced Alongside First Trailer

Dragon Ball isn't the only anime series getting a fighting game. During its panel at Anime Expo 2024, Bandai Namco announced Bleach Rebirth of Souls, a brand new 3D fighting game that will follow the original story. The two-minute trailer shown during Bandai Namco's panel contains glimpses of the core cast, including Ichigo, Rukia, Orihime, Ishida and Chad, with Soul Society stalwarts Byakuya and Renji also making an appearance. While the trailer is brief, it does contain a small amount of gameplay showcasing the combat, Byakuya's Bankai, and Ichigo with his Hollow mask. The official description from the press release provides a few additional details. Bandai Namco confirmed that Bleach Rebirth of Souls will be coming to PS4, PS5...

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Rogue Company Dev Pulls All Dr Disrespect Content, Offers Rogue Buck Refunds Rather Than Real Money

Hi-Rez Studios has pulled all Dr Disrespect content from Rogue Company after the streamer was alleged to have sent sexually explicit messages to a minor. Guy Beahm, better known as Dr Disrespect, was banned from Twitch in 2020 without explanation. Last month, following a number of reports, Beahm admitted he exchanged messages in 2017 with a minor via Twitch's now-defunct Whispers feature that "sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate." Subsequent reports alleged the minor had informed Beahm they were underage, and Beahm continued to send "sexually graphic" messages to them regardless. Twitch and Beahm have not responded to IGN's request for comment. Partners and sponsors like Turtle Beach, 2K, and the San...

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Two GOTY Historic Lows, $120 Off the Delisting Ultimate Edition of a 9.6/10, and More!

Welcome to another full week of wall-to-wall savings. As per always, I've scoured every store worth trusting to find nothing but the games worth playing at the prices they probably should have been to begin with. I've also taken the time to relist that Forza Horizon 4 delist deal. Given the weird way Microsoft is sunsetting things, it seems the Ultimate Edition really is the way to go. In retro news, I'm celebrating the 29th birthday of the Sega Saturn, a commercial failure that still holds a special place in the sub-cockles of my heart. What did it in? Complex hardware design that hindered the harnessing of its 3D capabilities, limited third-party support, and the suits severely underestimated the upstart Sony PlayStation. Be that as...

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Elden Ring Official Strategy Guide Vol. 3 Revealed, Preorders Now Available

Future Press has revealed a new volume in its Elden Ring Official Strategy Guide series. The Books of Knowledge collection has featured key info, guidance, and lore on The Lands Between in Vol. 1, and Shards of the Shattering in Vol. 3. Now, in Vol. 3 Future Press turns its attention to Elden Ring's only expansion, the critically acclaimed Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. It will be released on September 30 in the US, and September 20 in the UK, costing $44.99 or £34.99 depending on your region. Preorders will be available via Amazon and Future Press. See Here for UK - Future Press This new tome will serve as a complete catalog of the Shadow Realm and its inhabitants, merging map-based world and dungeon guides with the detailed...

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Daily Deals: Tekken 8, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Pikmin 4, and More

The weekend is here, and new deals have arrived alongside it! This weekend, you can find discounts on new games, accessories, hardware, and more. The best deals for Sunday, July 7, include Tekken 8, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Dragon's Dogma 2, iPad Air, Persona 3 Reload, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Logitech G PRO Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, and more. Tekken 8 for $34.99 We've got a new all-time low for Tekken 8, with 50% off right now at Amazon. Tekken 8 is the latest major fighting game to be released for the current generation of consoles. Over 32 characters are already playable, far surpassing titles like Street Fighter 6 or Mortal Kombat 1. The online modes far surpass their predecessors, with good netcode and many different...

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Daily Deals: Dragon's Dogma 2, iPad Air, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy, and More

The weekend is here, and new deals have arrived alongside it! This weekend, you can find discounts on new games, accessories, hardware, and more. The best deals for Saturday, July 6, include Dragon's Dogma 2, iPad Air, Logitech G PRO Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy, and more. Dragon's Dogma 2 for $55.99 For the first time since release, Dragon's Dogma 2 is available on sale. You can save $14 off Capcom's latest RPG for a limited time at Amazon. We gave the game an 8/10 in our review, stating, "It is a retelling and reimplementation of all of those wonderful ideas from the 2012 cult-classic, including an awesome dynamic world and some of the best combat in the genre that integrates a subtle but...

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Should Cody Rhodes Lose the Undisputed WWE Championship Before He Faces The Rock? | Wrestling Wrap Up

It’s exhausting out here and, yes, it is definitely the time to be aware, determined, and vigilant about our crumbling world, but jeeezzus freakin’ cracker do I need some bread and circus. And there’s nothing more carbs and carnival these days than wrestling, so let’s dive into it. I raised this question last week but I wanted to get a lay of the IGN reader landscape right now. We’ve got Cody Rhodes vs. The Rock on the horizon. The best bet is WrestleMania 41 (the actual 40th Anniversary of ‘Mania). So does Cody hold the WWE Undisputed Championship until then? Like, is that a given? After years of Roman Reigns being guaranteed a safe title ride between ‘Manias, are we back at it again? That’s not to say Cody couldn’t lose the belt...

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EA Sports FC 25 Will Reportedly Release This September, According to Leak

EA is looking to usher in a new era of soccer gaming with an EA Sports FC 25 release date of September 27, 2024, according to a recent leak. Information on the FC 25 launch plans comes from Dealabs and reliable leaker Billbil-kun. A report from the site reveals the apparent release date alongside a handful of other details about its price and purchase options. Sports gaming fans are said to have two purchase options: Standard and Ultimate. It appears the former comes with the base experience for $69.99, while the latter offers seven days of early access starting on September 20 for $99.99. EA Play subscribers can also take advantage of early access thanks to a 10-hour trial. FC 25 hasn’t been officially revealed yet, but Dealabs...

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Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail Is Like Playing a Great One Piece Game

Over ten years and four expansions Square Enix explored the story of two warring gods, Hydaelyn and Zodiark, and the fractured worlds created through that, coming to a climactic finish in Endwalker. How do you follow up a decade of storytelling that’s garnered tens of millions of fans in the process? Final Fantasy 14’s answer is to do something drastically different with its newest expansion, Dawntrail, adopting a much lighter, more adventurous tone, tremendous visual changes, and introduces a new cast of characters. It’s still a Final Fantasy game through and through, but fascinatingly it feels like Dawntrail has drawn inspiration from another seminal, perpetually never-ending series: One Piece. When Dawntrail was first announced...

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Epic Games Calls Out Apple Over 'Roadblocks' in Launching Game Store in Europe

Fortnite developer Epic Games has referred Apple to the European Commission over its rejection in bringing its game store to the EU, Epic said in a statement on X/Twitter on Friday. In the X/Twitter thread, which you can read below, Epic says Apple has rejected the notarization submission of its game store twice. The reason given by Apple, Epic says, is similarities between the Epic Game Store's "Install" and "In-app purchases" buttons and Apple's "Get" and "In-App Purchases" labels. Epic, however, argues that Apple's "rejection is arbitrary, obstructive, and in violation of the DMA (Digital Markets Act)," and that it is following standard conventions in order to make the Epic Game Store easy for users to understand. "Barring...

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The First Descendant Hotfix 1.0.1 Improves PS5 Performance, Makes Gameplay Tweaks, and More

Developer Nexon has released the first post-launch update for The First Descendant, which brings some much-needed improvements to the game after its rough launch. Hotfix 1.0.1, out now across PC, PlayStation and Xbox, improves performance on PlayStation 5 specifically (the PS5 version has significant frame-rate issues), makes gameplay tweaks and various bug fixes, and fixes the logo sound volume on game launch. On gameplay, knockback and knockdown recovery times have been sped up by 1.5 times, and the maximum usage of the Eterllick shield skill per phase has been reduced from two times to one time. There are no changes to The First Descendant's heavily criticized monetization, however, which some have called "microtransaction hell."...

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Elden Ring Player Discovers Cut Dialogue From Shadow of the Erdtree's Final Boss

Spoiler Warning: This article contains spoilers for the final boss of Elden Ring expansion Shadow of the Erdtree. Proceed with caution! Elden Ring expansion Shadow of the Erdtree comes with plenty of additional lore that ties up some of the base game's loose ends and threads many more, but its final boss didn't have a word of dialogue itself. That seemingly wasn't the original plan, however, as one player went digging into the files of Shadow of the Erdtree and found some cut dialogue that didn't make it into the final version. As reported by The Gamer, Reddit user LaMi_1 shared the brief snippets online, and though they don't give much away, the dialogue would ironically silence some of the complaints voiced by players upon...

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Much-Loved Factory Building Game Satisfactory Finally Gets Version 1.0 Release Date

Coffee Stain Studios’ much-loved factory building game Satisfactory has a version 1.0 release date: September 10, 2024. Satisfactory leaves early access after five years of development and an impressive 5.5 million copies sold, Coffee Stain Studios, which also developed Goat Simulator, said. Satisfactory is an open-world factory building game with a dash of exploration and combat for up to four players. The game upgraded to Unreal Engine 5 this year. Here’s the official blurb: 1.0 brings with it “premium plumbing”, which means the HUB’s “once trivial toilet has been updated with an advanced flushing mechanism, providing an extra luxurious worker experience for fans.” Check that out in the trailer below. Satisfactory entered...

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The First Descendant Dev Launches Investigation Into ‘Abusive Users’ as Chat Slammed for Being a 'Cesspool'

The First Descendant is only a week old but it’s already suffering from a player toxicity problem the developer has said it will investigate. Nexon’s free-to-play co-op focused looter shooter, a sort of fusion of the likes of Warframe and Destiny, launched on June 30 and players have already found toxicity in the chat, such as inappropriate comments as well as hack adverts designed to encourage players to pay to cheat. Some The First Descendant players have called the chat a “cesspool”, making it hard to find others to group up with in-game. Nexon issued an update to say it has now launched an investigation but stopped short of confirming a plan of action. “We're inspecting abusive gaming behavior to ensure that all Descendants...

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Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail Draws Most Players in Over a Decade Despite Launch Issues

Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail launched on July 2, 2024 with some technical issues but that didn't stop it from drawing the most players to the massively multiplayer online game in over a decade. In a blog post, Final Fantasy 14 director Naoki Yoshida thanked players for their support of Dawntrail and said the MMO had enjoyed its highest numbers since the game-changing A Realm Reborn update was released in 2013. "I would like to thank you all for your patience and cooperation in dealing with server congestion during the early access for Dawntrail," Yoshida said. "With your support, we were able to reach a record number of concurrent users we’ve not seen since the release of A Realm Reborn in 2013." A Realm Reborn is the revamp that...

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IGN UK Podcast 756: The 2024 Halfway Point Check-In

Cardy, Matt, and Jesse are taking advantage of it being exactly the halfway point of the year to talk about some of their highlights of 2024 so far, as well as the games and movies they're most looking forward to in the remaining six months. Before that, though, they each have a new thing to bring the table in the form of Zenless Zone Zero, Kinds of Kindness, and Longlegs respectively. Do they like them? You'll just have to listen to find out. Be sure to send us your thoughts about all the new games, films, and TV shows to ign_ukfeedback@ign.com. 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...

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GTA 5’s ‘Kick Ass’ Story DLC Scrapped Because GTA Online ‘Was So Much of a Cash Cow’, Ex-Rockstar Dev Claims

A former Rockstar developer has said the company canceled a standalone Grand Theft Auto 5 story DLC because GTA Online emerged as a “cash cow" soon after launch. Joe Robino, who was a senior camera artist and virtual cinematographer working at Rockstar’s New York office from 2010 to 2016, spoke to the SanInPlay YouTube channel about why this much-rumored GTA 5 story DLC fell by the wayside after GTA 5 came out in September 2013. “A lot of the team went to do Red Dead Redemption 2 right away and I took on this other project that was a standalone DLC for GTA that never came out and it was kick ass,” Robino revealed. “That was my thing. I was one of the main editors, camera artists, and on-stage stuff. We split our teams into two. I...

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It's a Dino Crisis for Capcom as It Abandons New Exoprimal Content Just a Year After Launch

Capcom’s co-op dinosaur mech game Exoprimal will not receive any new content, the company has announced just a year after the game came out. The shooter launched in July 2023 as a brand new intellectual property from Capcom and an attempt to create a successful live service. Despite various updates and crossovers with other Capcom franchises, such as Street Fighter, that attempt has not been as successful as hoped. According to SteamDB, Exoprimal had a 24-hour peak concurrent player count of just 66 on Valve's platform, with only 41 concurrent players at the time of this article's publication. Capcom said that with the release of Title Update 4, all planned Exoprimal seasonal content has been finished. After Season 4, which concludes...

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The First Descendant’s Huge Launch Continues, as Do the Problems

The First Descendant has enjoyed a big launch, but it’s also been marred by a number of issues that developer Nexon has continued to apologize and offer compensation for. Since the free-to-play co-op focused looter shooter launched a long list of issues has emerged, including frame-rate problems, the failure to deliver on promised items such as Twitch drops, and for some players, the failure to deliver items they’ve paid real-world money for. The latter issue revolves around a problem where customers have yet to receive items when they’ve bought the same item multiple times through the basket on Steam or the PlayStation or Xbox platform stores. Developer Nexon issued an update on this “mass Caliber purchase error,” promising a fix...

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Three Freebie Games, Insane Value Valve Bundles, A Sniper Sale Not to be Missed, and More!

Thank your own personal deity—possibly the Elden Beast—it's Friday! Even better, it's the start of a school holiday period, which means you're going to want a ton of cheap games to either keep yourself (or your kids) occupied for hours. My continuing Steam Summer Sale picks ought to handle that function pretty well, plus I'm always on the hunt for discount Amazon / digital store wares worth scooping. So stay tuned, stay safe, save often, and see you Monday! In retro news, I'm celebrating the 17th birthday of Resident Evil 4 on Wii, one of the most surprising ports I've ever played. While there were a ton of first-party Wii games at the time worth adoring, third-party publishers seemed to have trouble (or not much interest in)...

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Assassin's Creed Shadows – Everything We Know About Ubisoft's Open-World Japan

Ubisoft is finally taking Assassin’s Creed to Japan with Assassin’s Creed Shadows. The highly requested setting for Ubisoft’s biggest franchise will be explored through two protagonists: the fictional shinobi assassin Naoe and the real-life Black samurai Yasuke. In anticipation of Ubisoft’s highly anticipated journey into feudal Japan, we’ve put together this breakdown of everything you need to know about Assassin’s Creed Shadows, from its price and release date to its gameplay and story. Jump to: Release Date Story and Setting Gameplay Details Latest Assassin’s Creed Shadows Trailers Ubisoft has released several trailers for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the most informative of which — the reveal trailer and the most recent gameplay...

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