Gaming News

Prince of Persia and Dead Island 2 Drop to $49, A Free Fallout, and the Best Deals on Dragon's Dogma 2!

Thank your own personal deity—possibly the titular Dragon's Dogma 2 dragon—it's Friday! This morning, I should like to turn your attention to a sale of some old EA-owned gold that's made its way to Steam for the first time. Chief among them for me is The Saboteur, basically a WWII GTA set in Paris. I'm also all about the dirt cheap tsunami of Command & Conquer games, too. In retro news, I'm celebrating the 22nd birthday of one of the greats, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. I have vivid memories of replaying the Tanker demo disc that came affixed to the Official PlayStation Magazine about...oh, forty times. The full game continued to delight with memorable bosses, level detail we'd simply not seen up until that point, plus a...

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Dragon's Dogma 2 Character Creator and Storage Will Be Available Today

Dragon's Dogma fans have been anxiously awaiting a demo for the sequel, and while today's Capcom Highlights stream didn't announced a full-blown demo, it did reveal that the character creator and storage will be available today. If you take advantage of the pre-release character creator, you'll be able to transfer your character to the full game when it releases on March 22. Dragon's Dogma II features a pretty in-depth character creator (which we broke down as part of our IGN First coverage right here), so it's a good opportunity to get a heads-start on your own Arisen ahead of the official release. Developing... Continue reading...

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Starfield's Beta Update 1.10.30 Finally Improves Your Character and Companions' Modeling Abilities

Yesterday, Bethesda released the latest beta update for the Steam version of Starfield. Update 1.10.30 lets players test a list of changes before they're publicly released on all platforms, including new facial expressions and postures in photo mode. As it teased last week, Bethesda is emphasizing quality-of-life improvements. The beta update includes hundreds of changes, from bug fixes to graphical errors. The biggest change, though, may be the addition of new poses and facial expressions for you and your companions, providing players with more creative freedom in photo mode. Some other highlights include removing the penalty of losing a Digipick when you press the "undo" command during the Security mini-game. Several players in...

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Overwatch 2 Is Getting a Cowboy Bebop Collaboration Next Week

Today, Blizzard revealed a stylish trailer for Overwatch 2's next big crossover collaboration event with none other than the fan-favorite 90's anime series, Cowboy Bebop. The special collaboration will launch as a part of Overwatch 2 Season 9 on March 12. In typical Overwatch fashion, the Cowboy Bebop collaboration trailer spoofs animation studio Sunrise anime's iconic opening animated sequence and opening theme song "Tank" by Yoko Kanno. In it, we see Cassidy as the bebop's laissez-faire bounty hunter, Spike Spiegel; Ashe as its femme fatale, Faye Valentine; Mauga as the gruff ex-cop, Jet Black; Wrecking Ball as the super-smart hound, Ein; and Sombra as the crew's rambunctious hacker, Ed. Blizzard first revealed a Cowboy Bebop...

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South Park: Snow Day! Preview: Comedy Co-Op With a Side of Bullshit and Farts

The three most important things to know about South Park: Snow Day are 1) that it's a roguelike-inspired battle game rather than an RPG, 2) it's 3D rather than 2D, and 3) the South Park TV show supplied over 50 different fart sound effects for use in the game. We went hands-on with the multiplayer spin-off ahead of its March 26 release and, full disclosure, got our asses handed to us by Stan and his elves. Head into the snowy landscapes of the South Park streets and the reason for the 3D upgrade is obvious, allowing for the type of chaotic action that the previous South Park games could only dream of. Playing as New Kid, you can team up with three friends, or bots if you have social anxiety, to do Hades-like runs through different...

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Kingmakers Combines Back to the Future With Army of Darkness and It’s Blowing Up Right Now – IGN Next

Kingmakers was announced just a little over two weeks ago, but all of IGN’s audience metric data suggests that it might soon follow Palworld and Helldivers 2 as a huge breakout sensation. So why do we think it's about to blow up? With nearly 11M views across IGN's social media channels, Kingmakers is the most-watched video game trailer on IGN social so far this year. Kingmakers is also one of the most viewed new games in 2024 so far across IGN's YouTube channels, racking up over 1.1 million views with just two trailers. It’s the 55th most wishlisted game on Steam as of this writing – and it’s climbing. If you’re not yet familiar with this rising star on the gaming scene, here’s what you need to know: The time-traveling...

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Suicide Squad's Deluxe Edition Is Currently Cheaper Than Its Standard $70 Version on PS5

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League's Deluxe Edition, which includes the upcoming Battle Pass alongside the base game, is currently down to $59.99 for PlayStation 5 users. That's a $40 drop in price compared to its $99.99 MSRP, and $10 cheaper than its standard edition which is still $69.99 on the PlayStation Store (this is also available at the same prices in the UK). That's good news for anyone looking to pick up the game before the Season One and Joker content drop on March 28, especially as you can get the Justice League Outfits, Black Mask Notorious Weapons, Squad Golds Weapon Dolls, a Battle Pass Token, No Shade Color Swatches at what is an effectively significantly reduced price. If you're going to buy the game, it's a...

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Helldivers 2 Players Descend Upon Planet Tien Kwan in Bid to Unlock Mechs

The Helldivers 2 galactic war has taken another turn, as it always promised to, this time seemingly locking the release of mechs behind the liberation of a planet. A tweet from developer Arrowhead was all it took for hundreds of thousands of players to descend upon planet Tien Kwan in the hope that its liberation would unlock the hotly anticipated exo suits. “THIS IS NOT A DRILL!” the tweet reads. “Our factories are under attack, halting all output. Helldivers have been deployed to liberate Tien Kwan!” A fresh in-game message signaling a new Major Order fleshes out this call to arms. It seems the Automatons have captured the planet solely responsible for the manufacture of the mechs (that was your first mistake, Super Earth), so...

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Unknown 9: Awakening Aims to Fuse Body-Snatching Gameplay With a Strong Narrative

New IP fans, rejoice! Unknown 9: Awakening, the debut project from developer Reflector, is coming this year. You might remember the teaser trailer from Gamescom a few years ago that turned some heads, and after taking a first look at an hour of gameplay, I left eager to get some hands-on time with it and dive deeper. Any day we get to take a break from playing sequels and explore uncharted territory is a good day, and with some serious thought put into an all-new universe and a psychically souped-up protagonist with some interesting combat abilities, this third-person action-adventure definitely has potential. With a plethora of fantastic action-adventure games likely already in your games library, Unknown 9 hopes to set itself apart...

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BAFTA Games Awards 2024 Nominations Announced

BAFTA has announced the nominations for the 2024 BAFTA Games Awards — and Baldur’s Gate 3 leads the pack. Larian’s sprawling Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game is up for 10 BAFTA Games Awards, including Best Game. Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has a strong showing with nine nominations, Remedy’s Alan Wake 2 has eight, and Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor have six each. Outside the triple-A space, MintRocket's marine adventure Dave The Diver and Tango Gameworks' rhythm action game Hi-Fi Rush have five nominations each, with Cocoon, Dredge, and Viewfinder four apiece. 11 out of the 12 nominees in the performance categories receive their first BAFTA nomination, including...

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Helldivers 2 Dev Reveals New Premium Warbond Release Date, First Look at New Weapons, Armor Sets, and More

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has revealed what’s coming soon to its smash hit co-op shooter, and announced a release date for its next Warbond. The new Warbond, dubbed Cutting Edge, launches March 14. It includes new armor sets, new guns, new capes, and new emotes, all with high-voltage vibes. Here’s a list of everything coming with Helldivers 2's new Cutting Edge Warbond, per Arrowhead: The EX Series Prototypes EX-03 Prototype 3 - Includes a rubber underlayer for insulation. Handy, really, as this prototype’s wires operate at a shocking 400,000 volts. EX-16 Prototype 16 - Warning: Electric arc generates a strong magnetic field. Avoid use while near stapled paperwork. EX-00 Prototype X - The end result of several billion Super...

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As Helldivers 2 Players Digest Dramatic Nerfs, Dev Says ‘Rely on Your Stratagems’ to Deal With Tough Enemies

It’s been a dramatic 24 hours for Helldivers 2 players after the game’s first balance patch set the cat among the pigeons with its nerf to the best loadout. Patch 01.000.100 nerfs the Breaker, Railgun, and Shield Generator Backpack, three items considered essential to higher difficulty play and Helldivers 2’s best loadouts. But it also buffs weaker weapons and stratagems, including the Flamethrower (more on that later), Laser Cannon, Punisher, and the 380mm and 120mm Orbital Barrages. It’s the nerfs to the Breaker, Railgun, and Shield Generator Backpack that have sparked the most vociferous discussion within the Helldivers 2 community, given their popularity. On higher difficulties, Helldivers 2 throws an often overwhelming number of...

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Starfield Premium Upgrade Has Dropped to Just $18 at Amazon, Almost 50% Off the MSRP

Starfield's Premium Upgrade was originally notable for the five days of early access it granted during its release window, and while this early access period has since expired, there are still a few other goodies up for grabs in a brand-new offer. It's currently down to just $17.99 at Amazon (or £19.95 in the UK) a considerable drop from the MSRP of $34.99, and almost 50% off. What's included? I hear you ask. This is the physical edition of the Premium Upgrade, so you're getting the following: Starfield Steelbook, Starfield Patch, Shattered Space Expansion, Digital Skin Pack, Digital Soundtrack, and Digital Artbook. That seems like quite the steal at $18, especially if you're looking forward to trying out Shattered Space and what...

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Indie Dev Says Warner Bros. Is Removing His Game From Sale, So He's Made It Free

An indie developer has said Warner Bros. Discovery is removing his game from sale, so he made it free to play. As reported by VGC, the creator of Small Radios Big Televisions, Owen Deery, tweeted that Warner Bros. Discovery had informed him that his game would be retired in the coming weeks. Small Radios Big Televisions is published by Warner Bros. Discovery subsiadary Adult Swim Games. Small Radios Big Televisions was released on November 8, 2016 and lets players "explore the inner workings of deserted factories in search of data cassettes that contain boundless virtual worlds". In lieu of being told it would be removed from sale on both Steam and PlayStation, Deery has made the PC version available to download for free from the...

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Baldur’s Gate 3 Hotfix 21 Out Now on PC, Mac, and PS5, but Xbox Players Have to Wait While Larian Fixes a Crash Bug

The updates for Baldur’s Gate 3 are coming thick and fast. The latest, Hotfix 21, is live now across PC, Mac, and PlayStation, but Xbox players must wait. Hotfix 21 takes aim at bugs, crashes, and blockers, and restores the ability to send items to specific camp companions while outside of camp. “Feel free to send all your heavy items to Karlach for easy access,” developer Larian said in typically fun patch notes. “She can handle the strain, don’t worry.” What isn’t fun, however, is what’s happening with the Xbox version of the sprawling Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Xbox players are still waiting on Hotfix 20 and are now waiting on Hotfix 21 also, with both updates still undergoing testing for Microsoft’s console. Larian...

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WWE 2K24 Blurs Out Some Vince McMahon Footage, but Not All of It

WWE 2K24 blurred out former WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon's face from some archived footage in its Showcase of Immortals game mode, although there's another instance where he appears fully uncensored, IGN has verified. There's been much speculation over how 2K would handle McMahon in the latest game after a former WWE employee filed a lawsuit against him, accusing him of sexual assault and sex trafficking. In Showcase of Immortals, players can relive 21 of WWE's most iconic Wrestlemania matches. These matches span from Ricky Steamboat vs. Macho Man Randy Savage's Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania 3 in 1987 to Cody Rhodes and Roman Reign's Undisputed WWE Universal Championship bout at WrestleMania 39. Each...

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16 Bucks for a $370 Humble Bundle, Plus the Hottest Prices on Rise of the Ronin, FFVII Rebirth, and More!

Today, it's time to pay not that much to score quite a heck of a lot, thanks to Humble Bundle. The tastiest component in said package has got to be Nioh 2, top action-RPG and spiritual predecessor of the imminently forthcoming Rise of the Ronin. The latter keeps all the samurai action, strips out the supernatural enemies (plus giant enemy crabs), and adds in a backpack glider not unlike the Bat-tastic one from the Arkham series. Pretty good formula so far, no? In retro news, I'm celebrating the 15th birthday of H.A.W.X., a Clancy-verse Top Gun that sounded like the noise made when too much flem builds up in one's throat. My overriding memories of it include a third-person lock-on cam, and a fly-through-these-boxes mini-game that would...

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Minecraft Update Adds Long-Requested Wolf Variants After Over 10 Years of Waiting

Since Mojang added wolves to Minecraft's Java Edition beta in 2011, they've remained pretty much the same, with only one variant (in comparison to the game's 11 different cats and an impressive 2,700 different tropical fish). Quite a few players have begged Mojang to add more wolves — and now, after 13 years, it seems their work has finally paid off. In a blog post today, Mojang revealed that it's testing out eight new wolf variations for the game's next update. According to the blog post, each new wolf variant lives in its own biome and has its own rarity. (The game's original wolf is also sticking around in the taiga biome, but it's now called the Pale Wolf.) While Minecraft's revamped wolves aren't in an official release of the...

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The Best Steam Deck Alternatives

Since the release of the Nintendo Switch back in 2017, the race to become the best handheld gaming device has quickly heated up. While it looked like the Steam Deck was set to become the king of handheld gaming PCs, it was quickly met with fierce competition from some of the best Steam Deck alternatives out there. TL;DR - These are the best Steam Deck Alternatives ASUS ROG Ally Nintendo Switch OLED PlayStation Portal Lenovo Legion Go GPD Win 4 Logitech G Cloud Although the Steam Deck might be one of the most popular handheld gaming devices out today, it’s not without flaws. And thanks to its Linux-based operating system, some users might find it a little too complicated, which is where a Steam Deck alternative comes in handy...

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Creatures of Ava Is a Much Cozier Looking Palworld - Xbox Partner Preview 2024

In the wake of Palworld going viral thanks to its "Pokémon with guns" pitch, 11 bit studios is trying something slightly cozier. Announced during the Xbox Partner Preview 2024, Creatures of Ava is billed as a colorful, cozy non-violent action-adventure game with writing from Rhianna Pratchett (Tomb Raider, Mirror's Edge). The trailer, which you can watch above, showcases a bright and cheerful world filled with a host of monsters. It's a "creature saver" game in which the hero, Vic, uses a flute to tame wild creatures suffering from an infection that causes them to become aggressive. It emphasizes "healing rather than defeating" monsters as Vic explores its various environments. Creatures of Ava faces a tall order in matching the...

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Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess Is Secretly a Real-Time Strategy Game - Xbox Partner Preview 2024

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess was given a fresh look at the Xbox Partner Preview through a brand-new gameplay trailer. Interestingly, it seems to secretly be a real-time strategy game as much as an action game like Devil May Cry. The new trailer shows the hero as they traverse the world and battle various spirits. It also showcases the the game's day/night cycle and how it incorporates the strategic positioning of villagers, who will fight by your side, along with a building element that sees you explore villages and repair contraptions that can be used to your advantage when the monsters come at night. An Xbox Wire post further fleshes out the details on Kunitsu-Gami, revealing that the story revolves around a hero named Soh who...

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The First Berserker: Khazan Reveals New Gameplay Trailer - Xbox Partner Preview 2024

The First Berserker: Khazan revealed a new gameplay trailer during today's Xbox Partner Preview, featuring a fresh look at combat. The trailer highlights The First Berserker: Khazan's mix of anime-inspired visuals and fast-paced combat. The game is based on the Dungeon & Fighter franchise and follows Khazan, "the Great General of the Pell Los Empire, who overcame death, and sets out to reveal the incidents that led to his downfall and seek vengeance on his enemies," per Xbox. It's set in the Arad continent hundreds of years before the story of the original franchise picks up. You can watch the trailer below. We don't yet have a release date, but it'll be available on PC (via Steam), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. We first...

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Frostpunk 2 Release Date Set for July Along With Closed Beta Info and More - Xbox Partner Preview 2024

The long-awaited sequel to Frostpunk, the popular strategy game that combines elements of survival, city-building, and the 4X genre, is almost here. Today's Xbox Partner Preview event revealed that Frostpunk 2's release date is set for July 25, 2024. and that it will also be available on day one on PC Games Pass In addition to the release date, the brief Frostpunk trailer also contained pre-order info for the Deluxe Edition, which will offer access to a closed beta set to take place in April. The beta will feature part of the final release's sandbox mode, which will offer players more flexibility in choosing their starting communities and factions. The Digital Deluxe edition will include three paid post-release DLCs, access to the...

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Persona 3 Reload: Episode Aigis DLC Is the FES DLC Fans Have Been Waiting For - Xbox Partner Preview

Persona 3 Reload: Episode Aigis was announced during today's Xbox Partner Preview, featuring everyone's favorite android in a new piece of DLC for the popular remake. The previously-datamined content is based on content from Persona 3 FES, specifically The Answer. It draws its name from the original Japanes release, which was titled Episode Aegis, and will release in September. Episode Aigis serves as an epilogue for Persona 3, meaning you'll definitely want to wrap up the main story before getting into The Answer. The 30-hour-long DLC is mainly focused on combat and includes no new social links. It also has a reputation for being somewhat challenging, so buckle up. Persona 3 Reload expansion pass details revealed In addition to...

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You Can Wreak Havoc as Chucky in New Roblox Horror Game - Xbox Partner Preview

Chucky and Roblox is not a combination that I would necessarily come up with, but it's real, and it launches today. During today's Xbox Partner Preview, Griefville: Survive the Nightmare! was unveiled, "a chilling interactive experience inspired by the beloved horror classic films of the '80s and '90s," per the press release from developer RocketRide Games. The focus in the trailer, though, is Chucky, showing him wreaking all kinds of havoc. Chucky will only be available for a limited time, however, as a "nightmare experience." You'll be able to either play as the iconic killer doll, hunting victims yourself, or run from him as one of those victims. Other horror films will be brought in on a "rotating basis," RocketRide says. “The...

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Microsoft Picks Up Survival Game The Alters for Xbox Game Pass - Xbox Partner Preview 2024

Microsoft has announced The Alters is coming to Xbox Game Pass, as well as shown off gameplay in a new trailer. The Alters is an upcoming survival video game developed and published by 11 Bit Studios, the maker of This War of Mine and Frostpunk. It's set for Microsoft’s PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass for console. You play Jan, a space miner who must create alternate versions of himself in order to survive on an inhospitable planet. The Alters’ gameplay trailer shows the first look at Jan's quest to escape a perilous planet while searching for the answer to the most oft-asked question in human history: what if? Here's the official blurb: The Alters is due out on PlayStation 5, PC (Steam, GOG, Epic), and Xbox Series X and S at...

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The Sinking City 2 Revealed After Messy Legal Battle Finally Comes to an End - Xbox Partner Preview 2024

During today's Xbox Partner Preview event, Frogwares unveiled The Sinking City 2 following a lengthy legal battle over publishing rights for the first game. The Sinking City 2 is a survival horror game set in the 1920s in the United States, and made in Unreal Engine 5. Players will explore a semi-open world and fight off Eldritch monsters while a rising tide changes the landscape of the city of Arkham. In a press release, Frogwares stated it intends to pivot its studio to a "horror-first" focus with The Sinking City 2, after years of being focused on detective games, such as its Sherlock Holmes series. “The original Sinking City is still one of our most successful titles, most likely because of stronger horror genre leanings and...

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Framed Developer Unveils Occult Noir Stealth Game Sleight of Hand - Xbox Partner Preview

Joshua Boggs, developer of mobile noir puzzle game Framed, has unveiled his latest project at the Xbox Partner Preview event today: an occult, noir, stealth game entitled Sleight of Hand. Sleight of Hand follows a former private detective known as Lady Luck as she works to take down her former coven using dark magic. It takes place in Steeple City, where Lady Luck will use a customizable deck of cursed cards to cast spells, evade capture by her enemies, and perform stealth kills. While Boggs made Framed with Loveshack Entertainment, Sleight of Hand is the project of his new studio, RiffRaff Games. Based in Wellington, New Zealand, Sleight of Hand has been previously teased under the codename "Smoke," but with few other details...

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Xbox Partner Preview March 2024: Everything Announced

Microsoft held its second Xbox Partner Preview event, where the company spent roughly 30 minutes highlighting third-party games coming to Xbox consoles and Windows PCs down the road. If you missed the event, we're breaking down and rounding up all the biggest reveals, announcements, and trailers, which you can check out below. Unknown 9: Awakening Gets New Gameplay Trailer, Out this Summer Starting the show, Reflector Entertainment shared a new gameplay trailer for Unknown 9: Awakening, which is out this summer. This is the latest look at Unknown 9: Awakening since the game was revealed almost four years ago during Gamescom Opening Night Live. Sleight of Hand Is the Next Game from Framed Creator Joshua Boggs Joshua Boggs, the...

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Remedy Lowers Minimum System Requirements for Alan Wake 2 on PC

Alan Wake 2's hefty system requirements shocked many PC gamers when they were announced last year. The requirements noted that you needed at least an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 or an AMD Radeon RX 6600 GPU to run the game at 1080p / 30 frames per second (FPS), with no support for older GPUs such as Nvidia's GTX 10-series. Roughly four months after its release, Remedy has released a new patch that lowers the minimum PC system requirements and allows older PC gaming rigs to run the game. Remedy posted the new system requirements, which you can check out below, to X/Twitter alongside the release of update 1.0.16.1. The minimum requirements now call for at least a GTX 1070 or an RX 5600 XT graphics card. As previously noted by Remedy, if...

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