Gaming News

The Amazing Upcoming Games That Make Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo's 2024 So Much More Interesting

There’s an uncomfortable sense among the gaming community, as industry layoff numbers stack up, project after project is cancelled, and as console life cycles slow, that we’re on the cusp of a bit of a video game dry spell. That feeling isn’t totally unfounded - there are very few AAA game release dates announced for the second half of this year, and the AA market isn’t exactly hopping either. All three console communities - Switch, Xbox, and Playstation - are feeling empty on the games front right now, and only the Switch has the excuse of a new box being imminent. And even that’s still technically just a rumor! But video games are not mysteriously vanishing off the face of the earth tomorrow. I recently attended the Game Developers...

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Fallout 4 Is Suddenly the Bestselling Game in Europe, and You Can Probably Guess Why

Fallout 4, the post-apocalyptic wasteland action RPG from 2015, is gaining popularity, with sales in Europe jumping by over 7,500% in the last week. Spotted by GamesIndustry.biz, the outlet reported a massive spike in Fallout 4 series on the heels of the Prime Video release. Incredibly, the nearly 10-year-old game has jumped all the way to the top of the GSD charts, which tracks digital games across all of Europe and physical sales in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. It now sits atop the weekly top ten, beating out Helldivers 2, EA Sports FC 24, and Grand Theft Auto 5. You can probably guess why Fallout 4's sales have spiked to the extent that they. First, it is seeing extremely deep discounts, with prices slashed by...

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Stardew Valley’s 1.6.4 Patch Has a Huge Number of Additions, But Fans Just Want to Know About the Inappropriate Names

Stardew Valley’s 1.6.4 update is now live on PC, bringing with it an impressively long list of bug fixes, quality of life improvements, and fresh content, along with the mysterious removal of two ‘inappropriate names’ from the game’s random name generator. Among the new 1.6.4 additions are over 20 never before seen ‘alternate’ mine layouts - which start to appear once players have reached the bottom of the mines for the first time - and a brand new cutscene that triggers upon helping to grow a neighbour’s family to its maximum size. Players were also thrilled with some of the adjustments made to existing items, including one newly implemented balance change that allows golden mystery boxes to yield an auto-petter, which, as the name...

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IGN UK Podcast 745: Our Favourite 5 Hours or Less Games

Cardy, Mat, and Emma are here to share their picks for some of the best games you can finish in 5 hours or less this week. A mix of well-known indies and hidden gems, maybe you'll find something new to play this weekend. Before that, though, there's time for some more thoughts about Alex Garland's Civil War and flower-puzzle game Botany Manor. Plus, a nail-biter of an Endless Search. What's the best thing to put gravy on? Get in touch at ign_ukfeedback@ign.com. IGN UK Podcast 745: Our Favourite 5 Hours or Less Games IGN UK Podcast 744: We Don't Want to Set the World on Fire IGN UK Podcast 743: Hellblade 2, Stellar Blade, and Salad Gravy IGN UK Podcast 742: Solid Snake Smoking Meats IGN UK Podcast 741: Dragon's Dogma 2 Has the Sauce...

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It Took Helldivers 2 Players Less Than 24 Hours to Kill 2 Billion Bugs — and Super Earth Sounds Surprised

Now that’s what I call a big hunt! It took Helldivers 2 players less than 24 hours to complete its latest Major Order: to kill two billion Terminids. On April 18, developer Arrowhead triggered the next step in Helldivers 2’s ongoing Galactic War after the PC and PlayStation 5 co-op shooter’s community successfully completed a Major Order to slow a significant Automaton invasion. Game Master Joel turned players’ attention to the Terminid front with the biggest kill order since the game’s explosive launch in February. Helldivers 2 players were given six days to kill two billion Terminids, which sounded like an insurmountable task, but players made it clear they’d hit the kill count sooner rather than later. So fast was progress that...

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Upcoming Dragon’s Dogma 2 Patch to Nerf Dragonsplague and Make Pawns Speak Less, but There’s No Mention of a Performance Mode

Capcom has detailed an upcoming patch for Dragon’s Dogmas 2 that makes a number of changes and fixes, but there’s no mention of the performance mode so many players are waiting for. Following the release of the sprawling action role–playing game in March, players experienced inconsistent framerate performance, particularly on PC. Whereas games like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth gives players a Performance or Graphics mode option — prioritizing either a consistent framerate or increased graphical output — Dragon's Dogma 2 only has one visual mode across all consoles. Check out IGN’s Dragon's Dogma 2 Performance Review - PS5 vs Xbox Series X/S vs PC, for more. Now, Capcom has announced an upcoming Dragon’s Dogma 2 patch, due out later in...

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World of Warcraft: The War Within Dataminers Unearth What They Think May Be a New Playable Race

Dataminers are doing their thing with World of Warcraft expansion The War Within now that developer Blizzard has made an alpha build available for early testing, and already there are some interesting discoveries. Warning! Potential spoilers for World of Warcraft The War Within follow. As Wowhead reports, The War Within appears to contain a new playable race called the Harronir. The Harronir, so far unannounced, have so many customisation options that Wowhead speculates they will become playable at some point in the future, if not at the launch of The War Within, based on past experience with existing playable races the Nighborne and Vulpera. So, what are the Harronir, exactly? Without further information from Blizzard, we can...

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Valve Updates Team Fortress 2 to 64-Bit, Boosting Performance of the 17-Year-Old FPS

Valve has updated its near 17-year-old competitive first-person shooter Team Fortress 2 to finally add 64-bit support. The update, which some fans are calling the most significant from Valve itself in years, should result in a performance improvement for most users. Reports indicate Team Fortress 2’s frames-per-second count is increased by around 20%, resulting in a much smoother experience. While this Team Fortress 2 update is certainly welcome, it has done little to calm the constant stream of requests from the player base for Valve to tackle the game’s most troublesome issue: bots. Team Fortress 2 has had a bot problem for years, and despite a community-wide drive to raise awareness for the issue, there is little sign of...

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The Must Owns From a ≤75% Off Microsoft and Activision Sale, a Red Hot Red Dead Bundle, and More!

Thank your own personal deity—possibly the Mother Sphere—it's Friday! I'm not going to spend too much time waffling this morning, as the deals speak for themselves. Just get in and secure something awesome to play for the weekend. In case I don't see you, stay safe, save often, and catch you Monday! Lastly, in retro news, I'm celebrating the 42nd birthday of Dig Dug, an arcade classic. Reports on how it came to be are spotty at best. Wikipedia states it was planned and designed by Masahisa Ikegami, with help from Galaga creator Shigeru Yokoyama...however, I've also been told it was created by Larry, the Architect of the Matrix. Ergo, concordantly, vis-à-vis, Lar' also made Q-bert and came up with the name for Frogger. This Day in...

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Eiyuden Chronicle Sequel Moving Forward Despite Death of Its Creator

The team at Rabbit & Bear Studios is continuing with the development of a new Eiyuden Chronicle sequel following the death of series creator Yoshitaka Murayama. The studio opened up about its future and what’s next for the Eiyuden Chronicle series in a recent Reddit AMA conducted with Studio Head and Character Designer Junko Kawano, Director and System Designer Osamu Komuta, and Art Director and Producer Junichi Murakami. With the release of Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes only days away, fans were quick to ask about how the team might continue without Murayama at the helm. Rabbit & Bear acknowledges the unfortunate passing of their former studio head but hopes to carry his legacy into the future. "It is very sad that Murayama is...

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World of Warcraft Exec Says Microsoft Has 'Let Blizzard Be Blizzard' Since Acquisition

Gamers worldwide have long wondered whether Microsoft’s historic acquisition of Activision Blizzard would lead to structural and organizational changes for the World of Warcraft developer. Now, six months after the acquisition’s finalization, a higher-up at World of Warcraft has revealed that the Xbox maker has “let Blizzard be Blizzard.” Speaking with Video Games Chronicle, World of Warcraft executive producer and vice president Holly Longdale revealed that developers' day-to-day operations have remained largely unchanged. “There’s no one asking us to do anything,” Longdale told VGC. “World of Warcraft is doing very well and they’re very proud of what it’s been able to accomplish, so it’s almost like just let it be, and let it keep...

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Manor Lords Developer Stresses That It's 'Not a Total War Competitor,' Nor an RPG

As Manor Lords prepares to finally make its way to the public, developer Slavic Magic has stepped in to make sure fans’ expectations are in check. The one-person studio has been painstakingly crafting the medieval city builder for the last few years, and the PC community has taken notice. The promise of city-building features, realistic gameplay mechanics, and more have continuously positioned Manor Lords at the top of Steam’s most Wishlisted titles. Now, with its Early Access release just more than a week away, Slavic Magic has published a post to clarify a few things. Most notably, they want soon-to-be leaders to remember that Manor Lords isn’t an RPG or a game that’s meant to go toe-to-toe with Sega’s Total War franchise. “Manor...

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Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Interview: New Setting Will Feature 'Wide Range of Ethnicities and Different Characters'

Earlier today, Warhorse Studios officially announced Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, the sequel to its popular RPG set in medieval Bohemia. In a private presentation to media, Warhorse Studios revealed it would be "twice as big" as the first game, among other details. It also confirmed that the sequel will continue the story of Henry, the protagonist of the first game. Speaking with IGN over email, Warhorse Studios spokesperson Tobias Stolz-Zwilling shed additional light on what to explore from Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, including some of the practical implications of what it means to be "twice as big" as the original game. Warhorse Studios also touched on how the sequel will approach historical accuracy, and what the introduction of...

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Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Announced, Will be 'Twice as Big' as the Original: ‘A Behemoth of a Game’

Warhorse Studios has officially announced Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, the sequel to its popular RPG set in medieval Bohemia. Warhorse Studios fully unveiled the sequel at a private event last week, confirming among other things that it will be twice as large as the original, touting it as a “behemoth” of a game. “What we are making now is what it was supposed to be in the beginning, but we weren’t able to do it because we didn’t have enough resources and experiences and all that stuff,” creative director Daniel Vavra said in a presentation. “We’ve proven the concept works, so now we can take it to another level, which is what we always wanted.” To that end, Kingdom Come will be “much bigger in scope,” with “five hours of cutscenes...

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Exclusive: Arena Breakout: Infinite First Details Revealed as Hit Tactical Shooter Heads to PC

Tencent Games subsidiary MoreFun Studios has revealed that its realistic shooter franchise, Arena Breakout, is coming to PC in the form of a new title called Arena Breakout: Infinite. The free-to-play foray into the PC realm is set to release for Steam later this year. MoreFun says players can expect “unparalleled firearm customization” and first-person shooter realism, calling Arena Breakout: Infinite “the most visually stunning and immersive FPS experience that isn’t in a perpetual alpha state.” The original Arena Breakout launched for iOS and Android devices last year and has been hailed as a mobile alternative to Battlestate Games’ Escape from Tarkov. MoreFun described its PC version of the tactical military experience in a...

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Crafting the Painterly Art Style in Eternal Strands - IGN First

Next up in our IGN First coverage of Eternal Strands, we're diving into the unique and colorful art in the land of the Enclave. We sat down with art director Sebastien Primeau and lead character artist Stephanie Chafe to ask them all about it. IGN: Let’s talk about Eternal Strands’ distinctive art style. What were some of the guiding principles behind the art direction? Primeau: I think what was guiding the art direction at the beginning of the project was to find the scale of the game, because we knew that we were having those gigantic 25-meter tall creatures and monsters. So we really wanted to have the architectural elements of the game – the vegetation, the trees – to reflect that kind of size. So one of my inspirations was...

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Cities Skylines 2 Dev Refunds DLC, Admits It Rushed It Out, and Apologizes to Disgruntled Players

The developer of PC city builder Cities Skylines 2 has offered refunds for the game’s latest DLC amid a backlash from players over the state of the game. Mariina Hallikainen, CEO of developer Colossal Order, and Mattias Lilja, deputy CEO of publisher Paradox, issued a joint statement that included a frank admission: that the heavily criticized Beach Properties DLC was rushed out in a bid to improve sentiment around the disastrous launch of Cities Skylines 2. Colossal Order’s troubled city-builder sequel launched in October 2023 on PC via Steam and immediately ran into a number of issues. Player sentiment turned a ‘mixed’ Steam user review rating into ‘mostly negative’ for recent reviews, with the first Cities Skylines game currently...

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Helldivers 2’s Latest Major Order Is to Kill 2 Billion Terminids — and the Community Is Already Well on Its Way

The next step in Helldivers 2’s ongoing Galactic War is here, and it’s just about the most straightforward yet: kill bugs. Lots of bugs. Two billion to be exact. After the PC and PlayStation 5 co-op shooter’s community successfully completed a Major Order to slow a significant Automaton invasion, Game Master Joel has turned players’ attention to the Terminid front with the biggest kill order since the game’s explosive launch in February. Helldivers 2 players now have just under six days to kill two billion Terminids. That sounds like a lot, but at the time of this article’s publication, with five days and 20 hours left to complete the major order, players had already hit 19.6% completion. That is, over 391 million bugs had already...

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Millions of Borderlands 3 Players Are Now Collectively Listed as Contributors to a Peer Reviewed Scientific Paper

In April 2020, Borderlands 3 developer Gearbox Software teamed up with a group of biomedical researchers - and Big Bang Theory actress/scientist Mayim Bialik - to create a novel minigame for the popular looter shooter with a unique scientific twist. The goal of the Borderlands Science project was to harness the entertainment value of video games to convert player enthusiasm into valuable real-world scientific data, which could be used by biologists to shed light on the complex microbial ecosystem within the human body. Each and every one of us plays host to tens of trillions of microbes, which have a profound impact on our overall health and which may even influence the onset of a range of serious medical conditions and diseases...

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14 Things We'd Love To See in Fallout Season 2

The Fallout TV show is stim-packed full of easter eggs and treats for fans of the games. From obvious crowd-pleasers like the Brotherhood of Steel’s T60 armour and the New Vegas skyline to smaller blink-and-you-’ll-miss-it glimpses of Radaway and Fancy Lads Snack Cakes, there was plenty plucked from the long-running RPG series to get excited about. Bethesda has crafted such dense and plentiful worlds, though, that there's still a plethora of characters, creatures, quests, and locations left to be brought to life in the Prime Video series. So here are 14 things we’d love to see from the games in Fallout season 2. Deathclaws Let’s kick off with one of the last images of season one – a lonesome Deathclaw skull. This tease was sure to...

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Baldur’s Gate 3 Dev Larian Details Patch 7, Offers Sneak Peak at Improved Evil Endings

Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian has detailed Patch 7, the next big update coming to the sprawling Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. In a post on the Baldur’s Gate 3 Steam page, Larian offered a sneak peak at the improved evil endings coming to the game with Patch 7. These will offer “even darker conclusions to your most sinister playthroughs, and yes, that includes you non-Durge players,” Larian said. Warning: Baldur’s Gate 3 spoilers ahead! There are two teasers for these new cinematic cutscenes, which have also been given the musical treatment by Larian’s BAFTA award-winning composer, Borislav Slavov. Elsewhere, Patch 7 aims to fix several bugs, including Jaheira’s “unwillingness to follow the group and jump into combat...

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Helldivers 2 CEO Says Arrowhead Must Fix the Game and Add to It at the Same Time ‘To Stay Relevant’

The boss of Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has addressed player concern about bugs (not those bugs) as the studio continues to release new content and new premium warbonds. Since Helldivers 2’s explosive release on PlayStation 5 and PC in February, Arrowhead has maintained a monthly release schedule for new premium warbonds. They're essentially new battle passes that players work through to unlock new content, such as new weapons, new armor, and new cosmetics. Premium warbonds are unlocked via an in-game currency that can be obtained through gameplay, but can also be bought with real-world money. Meanwhile, Arrowhead maintains the Galactic War, Helldivers 2’s meta narrative that has captivated the community since launch. Game...

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Sea of Thieves Sails Past 40 Million Players Ahead of PS5 Launch

As Sea of Thieves prepares to set sail for PlayStation 5, developer Rare has announced it has seen 40 million players since launching in 2018. In a blog post, executive producer Joe Neate said Sea of Thieves’ 40 million player milestone comes from users across Xbox, Windows 10, and Steam. Since launching on Xbox One and PC six years ago, Rare has released over 100 free updates. Season 12 launches soon, and with it brings new additions like throwing knives and the Bone Caller. Sea of Thieves launches on PS5 on April 30, with the premium edition offering five days of early access from April 25. Progress and items transfer from the Xbox version to the PS5 version, and there are PlayStation-only servers with the ability to disable...

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Diablo 4 Has Dropped to Just $20 at Walmart

Diablo 4 is now available on Xbox Game Pass, but there's some good news for those who have yet to play the game but want to own a physical copy. Diablo 4 is down to just $20 at Walmart right now (see here), which is a huge saving for a critically acclaimed game that only came out last year and a discount we're unlikely to see again for a while. Also, it's worth noting that this price could be based on your location, so fair warning as YMMV! Diablo 4 launched with a $69.99 MSRP, so a $50 reduction is pretty substantial, and well worth considering if you want to own the game to play whenever you want. Even when the Prime Day sales eventually roll back around this summer, we'd be increasingly surprised if the deal comes anywhere close...

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Stellar Blade Cut in Price, A Whole Lotta Hogwarts Savings, Monster Hunter Rise Lowered, and More!

If you're after a nice price slice on Stellar Blade, today's the day to unsheathe your wallet. Why put the preorder down? For starters, it's cheaper than RRP. For finishers, famed game director Yoko Taro heaped quite a bit of praise on it, saying: "Stellar Blade is a really amazing game. I'd say that it's much better than NieR: Automata." 'Nuff said, really. In retro news, I'm celebrating the 13th birthday of Portal 2, one of the funniest video games ever made. I still have vivid memories of being guided by the artificial unintelligence of Wheatley (Stephen Merchant) while hungering for any new audio log from eccentric turbo-narcissist Cave Johnson (J. K. Simmons). The icing on the cake (that is a lie)—a rock solid 2P split-screen...

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Bethesda Quietly Removes Denuvo DRM from Ghostwire: Tokyo

Bethesda and Tango Gameworks have quietly removed Denuvo DRM technology from Ghostwire: Tokyo on PC as part of a recent update. The controversial anti-piracy measure was removed (via SteamDB) as part of an unscheduled update that arrived earlier today. This comes more than two years after Ghostwire: Tokyo originally launched, and with no comment or patch notes from the developers, it’s unclear why the move was made. Although Bethesda hasn’t officially commented on Denuvo’s removal, there are many who will no doubt be pleased to hear it’s gone. The software’s primary use allows it to keep associated games from being tampered with, with plenty of developers using it as a roadblock against those looking to pirate their games. Many...

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A Golden Axe Animated Series Is Being Made by the Creator of Star Trek: Lower Decks

An animated Golden Axe series is in the works at Comedy Central, based on the popular Sega video game series of the same name. Per a Comedy Central press release, Star Trek: Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan has teamed with American Dad producer Joe Chandler to create a 10-episode Golden Axe series that will take fans of the side-scrolling beat 'em-up arcade games on an all-new adventure with some of the franchise's beloved characters. Chandler will serve as showrunner and co-write the first episode with McMahan, which, according to the logline, will tell the story of "veteran warriors Ax Battler, Tyris Flare, and Gilius Thunderhead as they once again battle to save Yuria from the evil giant Death Adder, who just won't seem to stay...

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The Best Games Like Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes

The best games like Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes will let you enjoy the wonders of anime-haired protagonists, teenage angst, an abundance of characters, even more abilities, and possibly a god battle or two. There are just an uncountable number of games out there nowadays, but thankfully one of the things that Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes […] Continue reading...

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World of Warcraft: The War Within Game Director Answers All Our Burning Questions

Blizzard has just given the wider public its first proper look at The War Within, the next expansion to World of Warcraft coming later this year and the start of its three-part, MCU-like Worldsoul Saga. Over the last few days, I've been playing an alpha build of the game featuring its first zone and some early questlines, and I got the chance to sit down with game director Ion Hazzikostas to talk about what I experienced. We started off our conversation by talking about the expansion's VERY spoilery, very dramatic opening, so if you don't mind spoilers and want to hear more, check out my separate piece on that subject. For the rest of the interview, which is free of story spoilers, here's a transcript of my conversation with...

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World of Warcraft's Next Expansion Will Kick Off by Wrecking Yet Another Beloved In-Game Location

Correctly, Blizzard loves to start new World of Warcraft expansions with a Big Explosion of some sort. In Legion, Khadgar teleports an entire city to float above an island chain. In Battle for Azeroth, there's a tense ship battle influenced by a demigod. In Shadowlands, basically everyone dies. Seriously. Now, with The War Within on the horizon, Blizzard has conceived of another way to kick off an expansion with some proper fireworks, by completely demolishing a beloved in-game location. Warning: Major spoilers for the inciting incident of The War Within lie ahead. If you don't want to know anything about the story of the expansion going in, don't read onward! Stay away! So, I didn't actually get to play through the opening scenario...

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