With Disney and Lucas Arts giving the go-ahead for a range of developers to craft new stories in the Star Wars universe, there's never been a better time to be a fan of Star Wars video games. Whether it's Respawn's recent Star Wars Jedi: Survivor or Zynga's free-to-play arena shooter, Star Wars: Hunters, we're visiting a galaxy far, far away more frequently than ever before and getting some great games along the way.
Better yet, it seems this current pipeline of big new Star Wars releases won't be drying up anytime soon. Looking forward, there are still a bunch of canon Star Wars games on the way, ranging from remakes of iconic RPGs to sprawling, open-world adventures and interactive story experiences. To keep you clued in on all the...
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Alongside Elden Ring becoming the best-selling game of June 2024 thanks to its Shadow of Erdtree expansion, Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece's arrival on Steam launched it from #399 to #3 month over month.
As reported by Circana's Mat Piscatella, Elden Ring has returned to the top of a monthly best-selling list for the first time since May 2022, and, as we mentioned, that was due to the huge success of Shadow of the Erdtree. For some context, Shadow of the Erdtree sold a massive five million copies in just its first three days on the market.
As for Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece, its astonishing jump was because it was only available on Nintendo Switch via Cloud before it came to Steam in June. For those unfamiliar, this...
Cardy, Matt, and Dale have all been playing hilarious new "slapformer" Thank Goodness You're Here, and think it may just be the funniest game ever made. They discuss what makes it so good, as well as pick out some of their other favourite comedy games. After that, there's time to discuss new Matt Damon film The Instigators, as well as their picks for the best heist movies. Plus, a bit of time left to sneak in a few mentions for Jake Gyllenhaal's Apple TV series Presumed Innocent, and new indie games Nobody Wants to Die and Arranger.
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 760: Is Thank Goodness You're Here the Funniest Game Ever...
Thank your own personal deity—possibly Melinoë—it's Friday! Depending on where you are, there's a fair-to-certain chance that it's going to be a mighty chilly weekend, so you'd best get some indoor entertainment sorted. Personally, I'd go make a quick (and free and easily cancellable) 30 day Amazon Prime Gaming account to secure the many free games on offer. Otherwise, there's my usual list of Cheap Stuff Worth Getting laid out below.
Meanwhile, in retro news, I'm commemorating the 43rd birthday of a true arcade cab classic, Donkey Kong. This one, I cannot confess to playing at launch—I wasn't old enough to stand, or not poop myself, let alone grip a stick and go leaping/hammering barrels to save Pauline. To say gamers were taken by...
Bungie misrepresented its finances and had significantly overextended itself when Sony acquired the studio for $3.6 billion in 2022, former workers claimed in a new Game File report published in the wake of Wednesday's layoffs.
It was apparently bad enough that at least one source described as a "well-connected former worker" went so far as to claim that Bungie faced dire consequences if the acquisition hadn't happened, saying that the "alternate history is insolvency."
Their comments paint the picture of a studio that was struggling despite the success of Destiny and Destiny 2 due to supporting too many projects and other problems. Following the Sony acquisition, Game File's sources claim Bungie repeatedly missed its financial...
If you're an IGN Plus member, a new game is available to claim now with IGN Rewards. You can claim a free Mecha Break Steam key with your membership while supplies last. If you're a fan of Mecha anime or titles like Armored Core, Mecha BREAK is perfect for you. From developer Amazing Seasun Games, this multiplayer title looks to offer explosive action like never seen before.
Claim a Free Mecha BREAK Beta Steam Key!
This Mecha BREAK Steam key can be used to access the game's latest beta build, which is available during the Limited and Open Access phases, set to run from August 3 to August 13. Full access to the game will be available for IGN Plus users starting on August 2 at 7 PM, so you can play the game for the entirety of the beta...
When I booted up Spectre Divide for the first time, I fully expected to play yet another team-based competitive shooter that would probably be fine but likely wouldn’t elevate above that. After all, the teaser trailer provided no other information other than Spectre being a mash-up of Valorant and CS:GO. But I am so glad to be wrong and to be incredibly overwhelmed by the novelty Spectre Divide brings.
The first thing that stood out to me was the art style. Cel-shading in FPS games is definitely not something you see every day, and some may argue it could be distracting, but the shadowing and details you can see in the world are actually very clean and bright so you don’t get overwhelmed.
I will say that the only downside to the...
Star Wars Outlaws creative director Julian Gerighty isn't interested in entertaining "bad faith" conversations about the upcoming Ubisoft game's protagonist, Kay Vess.
As previews for the upcoming open-world title rolled out this week, Gerighty, in an interview with The Washington Post, touched on the discourse that some are pushing on social media that Kay isn't "attractive enough." His response? Don't give that conversation attention.
"Kay is meant to be approachable, a petty thief who ends up barreling through this story, making bad decisions and centered with a lot of humor, humility, and toughness," Gerighty said. "That's what's important to me. And she's beautiful, come on."
"It makes no sense to me and it's not worth...
Borderlands is a series known for its flair for the unhinged. But in reflecting on the looter-shooter’s long, gorey, and downright wrong history, there are several moments that stand out even within a series where derangement is the status quo. Twelve of them, in fact. Here’s Borderlands’ most outrageous moments, in order of ascending wildness.
12. Attending Claptrap’s Birthday Party (Borderlands 2)
Claptrap is a pretty divisive character in the Borderlands community. Some find him hilarious, while others just think he’s annoying (they’re both right). But regardless of where you stand on his comedy chops, it’s pretty undeniable that he’s one of the most depressing characters to spend time with. The wheeled trashcan often goes out of...
About 50 minutes into my “please play as long as you want” hands-on demo with 2XKO at EVO 2024, I realized I was going to miss the first match of my Tekken 8 pool. About 30 seconds later, I also realized I didn’t care; I was having too much fun. Getting DQ’ed from my Tekken bracket would suck, sure, but if I was lucky, I could probably play my loser’s game. And besides, I was getting to play with Vineeth "ApologyMan" Meka, a noted fighting game pro who was working on 2XKO, and showing my group what the game might look like at a high level. When was I going to get a chance to do that again, or see the game played like that, live, in front of me, pre-release? Compared to that, starting out my Tekken run in the loser’s bracket wouldn’t be...
It’s kind of an odd shift for a sequel to go from an outer space setting to a nautical one, but SteamWorld games have never shied away from being kind of odd. In fact, it’s their whole thing. There are direct connections between the silly swashbuckling story of SteamWorld Heist 2 and the original from 2015, but those take a while to show up – instead, much of Heist 2 feels completely separate as it gives you control of a submarine and a crew full of goofy robots in a colorfully cartoony ocean. This adventure takes place on a surprisingly large overworld map that’s packed with so many tough and tactically deep turn-based missions and lighter side activities that burning through them all took me around 40 hours.
The plot that ensues is...
Calling all Minecraft fans. The World of Minecraft book is officially up for preorder. Chronicling the history of the game with exclusive interviews from the developers, concept art, and more, The World of Minecraft is a big hardcover collector's book that's gearing up for release on October 15 this year. It even has a nice discount at the moment on Amazon, from its MSRP of $40 to $28, so it's an excellent time to preorder.
The World of Minecraft Book is Available to Preorder
There's also a special numbered edition of The World of Minecraft, which is set to release a little later on October 29. This version has a hefty price tag of $225.42 (marked down 10% from its MSRP of $250) at Amazon, but it's well worth it if you're a massive...
Amazon has announced the August 2024 Prime Gaming lineup (Prime Gaming is a benefit of Amazon Prime membership).
Highlights include SteamWorld Heist, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Loop Hero, and various Tomb Raider games. 22 games are set to hit Prime Gaming in August, with new games added each Thursday throughout the month.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is the well-received 2016 action role-playing game from Eidos-Montréal and sequel to Deus Ex: Human Revolution. IGN's Deus Ex: Mankind Divided review returned a 9.2. We said: "Layered, intelligent, and impeccably designed, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided's gameplay rewards curiosity and creativity."
Unfortunately the Deus Ex series is on ice after franchise owner Embracer reportedly canceled a new...
August looks set to be one of the strongest months for top-tier indie games not only this year but possibly in the last few years. Regardless of what genre you are a fan of, you are going to have something incredible to look forward to this month. There were some many options for the month […]
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Microsoft has fully revealed its plans for gamescom 2024, and they include three days of live broadcasts.
In a post on Xbox Wire, Microsoft said it will host a series of daily streams from its Xbox booth at the show, running from Wednesday August 21 to Friday August 23. These will offer a deeper dive into various games Xbox is set to release over the coming months, with first-look gameplay, developer chats, and new trailers. Microsoft-owned Bethesda will also host daily content streams from the booth.
Games set to appear during these streams include Stalker 2, Atomfall, Age of Mythology, Star Wars Outlaws, World of Warcraft expansion The War Within, Towerborne, Avowed, and Ara: History Untold.
The Xbox gamescom 2024 live broadcast...
Lazlow Jones, the host of the Chatterbox FM radio station in 2001’s seminal Grand Theft Auto 3, has many stories to tell about his 19-year stretch at Rockstar. But this one is right up there with the very best.
Speaking to IGN as part of an interview discussing new development studio Absurd Ventures, which he co-founded with fellow Rockstar legend Dan Houser in 2020, Jones recalled the "weird moment" when one GTA fan took the blockbuster video game a little too seriously.
GTA fans will know the Epsilon Program well. It’s a religious cult whose followers are known as Epsilonists. In trademark Rockstar fashion, Houser and Jones designed the Epsilon Program to satirize the likes of Scientology, complete with a modern day messiah...
This year marks the sixth anniversary of The Elder Scrolls 6’s teaser trailer. And with Skyrim turning 13 years old this November, it’s safe to say that Elder Scrolls fans have endured – and will continue to endure – a long wait for Bethesda’s next fantasy RPG. But while the famed single-player studio has been focusing its efforts on nuclear wastelands and outer space, the beloved world of Tamriel hasn’t been neglected. The Elder Scrolls Online, once much-maligned and suffering sinking player counts, is now celebrating its tenth anniversary and the launch of its eighth major expansion. And while it may be an MMO by genre, by design it’s much closer to the classic Elder Scrolls RPG format than you might expect. If you’ve spent a decade...
“I can't avoid the internet of things now while we're doing this interview,” Lazlow Jones tells me, picking up his phone. He’s sitting in his home office in California speaking to a reporter half the world away on the south coast of England, explaining what his new venture — his Absurd Ventures — is all about. And it’s all about the internet of things. Of course, I learn this in an interview that wouldn’t be possible without the internet of things.
“My cat took a shit, and I know that because I have a litter robot that sends me a text message whenever he goes to the bathroom,” Lazlow continues, putting the world to rights from the bottom half of my laptop screen.
One of the characters in audio science fiction series A Better...
Dragon Age: The Veilguard developer BioWare has confirmed plans to announce the game’s release date, unveil a new roadmap, as well as offer further looks at the single-player RPG this month (August).
In a blog post, the developer teased its plans as publisher EA narrowed Dragon Age: The Veilguard release window down to the third quarter of its 2025 financial year. That runs from October 1 to December 2024. BioWare had announced a fall 2024 release window for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Now we know that the game will not be released in September.
Last month, BioWare said Dragon Age: The Veilguard is “Steam native,” which means the EA App is not required to play the game on Valve’s platform. Most EA-published video games do require the...
Today, Destiny developer Bungie announced another massive round of layoffs following several months of internal turmoil and the launch of Destiny 2: The Final Shape. In a post on Bungie's blog, CEO Pete Parsons announced that 220 roles, or 17% of Bungie's workforce, were eliminated due to "financial challenges."
Now, in the wake of these layoffs, quite a few employees who were laid off (along with other members of the games industry) have taken to social media to share their concerns and criticisms about Bungie's management, with many even demanding that Parsons step down.
While fears of layoffs were reportedly prevalent within the studio, many employees expressed that their own layoffs were unexpected due to recent actions taken by...
Sony has announced the PlayStation Plus games for August 2024: LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (PS4 and PS5); Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach (PS4 and PS5); and Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights (PS4).
In a new PlayStation Blog post, Sony Interactive Entertainment's Director of Content Acquisition & Operations Adam Michel revealed that all three games will be available to active PlayStation Plus subscribers starting Tuesday, August 6, and have until Monday, September 2, to redeem these digital copies. PS Plus subscribers who have yet to claim the free games for July 2024 (Borderlands 3, NHL 24, and Among Us) have until August 6 to redeem those games as part of their PS Plus subscription.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker...
No More Heroes developer Soichi Suda a.k.a. Suda51 and Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami are interested in returning to the Killer7 series.
The two renowned game makers discussed their potential futures during an installment in one of Grasshopper Manufacture’s Grasshopper Direct presentations. Toward the end of the 40-minute video, which primarily offers a behind-the-scenes look at Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered, Mikami and Suda were asked to comment on what they’re working on next. It was the Resident Evil veteran who brought up his desire to see more from Killer7.
“I’ve realized that I want to stay as hands-on as possible when it comes to game creation, and I’d love to see Suda make a sequel to Killer7,” Mikami said...
Level Zero: Extraction is a heart-pounding, cooperative survival horror game that plunges players into a terrifying subterranean world overrun by monstrous creatures. Combining elements of stealth, action, and resource management, this intense experience is poised to redefine the extraction shooter genre, offering a thrilling new challenge for players. Be sure to keep this guide in […]
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Destiny developer Bungie has today announced significant cuts at the studio that have seen 220 people, or 17% of the studio’s workforce, let go.
The cuts affect every level of the company, including most of the Sony-owned studio’s executive and senior leader roles, Bungie boss Pete Parsons said in a post on Bungie.net. "Today is a difficult and painful day," Parsons added.
Departing staff will be offered "a generous exit package" that includes severance, bonus, and health coverage, Bungie promised.
Parsons blamed the cuts on the rising costs of development, "industry shifts," and "enduring economic conditions." Because of this, Parsons insistsed, Bungie has had to make "substantial changes" to its cost structure and focus...
Braid developer Jonathan Blow has said the recently released anniversary edition of the indie puzzle platformer has sold “horribly,” and indicated he is now struggling to employ staff full-time.
Blow, who also created The Witness, catapulted into the upper echelons of indie video game development after Braid enjoyed enormous success on Xbox Live Arcade in 2008. It’s since become known as one of the greatest indie games of all time, with a number of perfect review scores under its belt.
16 years later, in May 2024, Blow released a remaster with fully repainted artwork, new puzzles, and in-depth commentary, across PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, Android, and iOS, with the mobile version...
Our obsession with the concept of the “dead game” and player counts is unhealthy for the video game industry and gamers, one of the developers behind Palworld has said.
Palworld, dubbed “Pokémon with guns,” launched in early access form to record-breaking success. It is the second most-played game ever on Steam, with an incredible concurrent player count of 2,101,867 on Valve’s platform. Only battle royale PUBG is ahead of Palworld in Steam’s all-time peak concurrents chart.
Palworld’s Steam concurrents have fallen since that explosive launch earlier this year, and now usually hit a peak in the tens of thousands rather than millions. The decline has caused some to call Palworld a “dead game,” but it is far from the only game to be...
Steam hit Once Human is set to go offline today, July 31, in order to release a significant update that makes a number of key 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 a huge peak concurrent player count of 231,668 on Steam, where it remains one of the most-played games.
IGN’s Once Human review returned an 8/10. We said: “Once Human combines simple but solid building and upgrading with some of the best, and weirdest, creature designs of the year to create a very enjoyable survival-crafting experience.”
While you're out collecting rare Deviations or...
Star Wars Outlaws has an Explorer Mode that lets players turn off all "guiding color on core navigational elements" in the world.
PC Gamer reports that Explorer Mode strips Ubisoft’s open-world Star Wars game of the “yellow paint” that has become a hot topic once again in recent months.
While the rights and wrongs of colored guides that point players in the right direction have been debated for years, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth reignited the debate earlier this year with its color-coded paint that signals the parts of the environment that can be used for platforming. That followed a similar debate sparked by the Resident Evil 4 remake in 2023.
The debate in summary: some people don’t like how in-your-face this...
Nexon has released the 1.0.5 update for looter shooter The First Descendant alongside the extensive patch notes.
The 1.0.5 update, out now across PC via Steam, Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5, makes a long list of changes to the game.
The highlights include the addition of two new playable characters (Luna and Ultimate Valby), a new hard Void Intercept battle (Gluttony), a new Ultimate weapon (Peace Maker), and a new module (Arche Concretion).
There are various changes to the way the game works, too. For example, Nexon has blocked equipping and removing modules, changing presets, and changing loadouts to prevent module swapping from becoming a strategy in Intercept Battles and Infiltration...
Video game actors are currently on strike, in hopes that withholding their work from video game companies will push those companies to agree to better actor protections around the use of AI. However, at least one video game CEO — Andrew Wilson of Electronic Arts — doesn't think the strike is going to impact his company, at least in the short-term.
In today's EA earnings call, Wilson answered a question from an investor about the impact of the strike on the business. Put simply, he's not worried for now. Here's the full quote:
Wilson's confidence likely comes from the fact that EA's portfolio is almost entirely live service games right now, and games whose development began prior to September 2023 (so, basically every live service...