Gaming News

Baldur’s Gate 3 Is Proof That We’re In a Golden Age for RPGs

Back in 2014, I interviewed Obsidian Entertainment director Josh Sawyer about Pillars of Eternity – a then-upcoming revival of the isometric RPG sub-genre that had been greenlit as part of the first wave of Kickstarter projects. Sawyer recalled the chilly reception afforded PC RPGs in the mid-to-late 2000s. “[Isometric RPGs] just died for a very long time,” he said at the time. The consensus in that period among western publishers was that old-school RPGs were too dense and esoteric for the average gamer. Mainstream developers like BioWare stripped out RPG elements from Mass Effect 3 while older developers faded away. Some developers claimed that RPG elements as we know them today were relics of a bygone era and that games were...

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Assassin's Creed Mirage Launching a Week Early

Assassin's Creed Mirage is now launching a week earlier than planned on October 5, Ubisoft has announced. Revealing the new release date on Twitter, the shift appears to be as a result of the game already going gold, meaning the launch version is finished. "Assassin's Creed Mirage has gone gold and is coming out a week early," the tweet said. "On behalf of the entire team, we can't wait for you to explore 9th Century Baghdad with Basim. Your journey now starts on October 5. Save the new date." Mirage was announced at Ubisoft Forward 2022 and sees the series return to Assassin's Creed's roots in terms of gameplay and length. Unlike Assassin's Creed Valhalla, for example, where players could dual wield axes while leading a raid on...

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Xbox 360 Call of Duty Resurgence Continues as Classic Titles Top UK Charts

The Xbox 360 Call of Duty resurgence has continued as both Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops 2 have shot to the top of UK charts. As reported by GI.biz, 2009's Modern Warfare 2 placed fourth in the list of July's best-selling games while 2012's Black Ops 2 placed fifth. Only FIFA 23, Grand Theft Auto 5, and Red Dead Redemption 2 (which placed first, second, and third respectively) overcame these two decade-old games in the UK. Though likely helped by an Xbox sale, the wave of renewed interest for these classic titles came as a result of an alleged server update that improved matchmaking. The two titles, alongside Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops, Black Ops 3, and World at War all shot up Xbox's top paid games list too, outselling the likes...

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How Final Fantasy 14 Fans Are Looking Forward to the Next 10 Years, Starting With Dawntrail

On July 28, Square Enix’s Creative Business Unit III unveiled the newest expansion for Final Fantasy 14, Dawntrail, at the 2023 FF14 Fan Festival. The energy on the show floor was electric, especially since it had been several years since a physical Fan Festival took place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the events of Endwalker — the previous expansion which concluded the decade-long Hydaelyn and Zodiark arc — the development team had suggested that the next adventure would be a return to form for the game. Rather than an Etheirys-defining story, the beginning of the next narrative arc for the MMORPG would focus on recapturing the sense of adventure of earlier expansions. To learn more about the community’s reaction to the...

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Diablo 3 Gets Wonderful Send-Off With Mode Players Have Requested for Years

Blizzard has revealed what’s coming to Diablo 3 with Season 29, the last season to add new content to the 11 year-old action role-playing game. The headline is the addition of a Solo Self Found mode, which fans had called on Blizzard to add to the game for years. In this mode, players play truly solo in a single-player experience. That means no trading with others, no experience bonuses from being in a party, and no friends to back you up. Even better, this officially supported single-player mode comes with its own dedicated leaderboard. A Hardcore version is also available. “We decided to bring Solo Self Found to Diablo 3 after years of players requesting an officially supported single player mode,” the Diablo 3 development team...

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Genshin Impact Devs Were Left Crying Over Zelda: Breath of the Wild Clone Accusations

Staff at Genshin Impact developer miHoYo were left in tears by the negative response to the game's reveal, when many accused it of being a The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild clone. As reported by CBR, miHoYo president Lie Wei said at the Genshin Impact FES event that the team was deeply affected by the criticism and copycat accusations received early on. Breath of the Wild fans even took to a Genshin Impact showcase to protest the PlayStation RPG, with one attendee smashing his PS4 in front of the booth. Wei didn't mention Breath of the Wild specifically, though did laugh as he brought up the "unprecedented crisis". His speech was shared on Twitter by @tokinohikaru_00 (below). "When I put out the [closed beta] I was pretty...

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Mortal Kombat 1 Brings Back Sektor’s Fan-Favourite Fatality With Predictably Gory Results

NetherRealm recently showed off new gameplay for upcoming fighting game Mortal Kombat 1, and in it revealed the return of a fan-favourite Fatality. Fans of the long-running series may be familiar with Sektor’s Fatality from 1995’s Mortal Kombat 3. In it, the red cyber ninja opens up his chest to reveal a Compactor that crushes his opponent in a shower of bones and blood. Nearly 30 years later, Sektor’s Compactor Fatality returns in Mortal Kombat 1. In the video below, in which NetherRealm show high-level play between Smoke and new character Li Mei, we see a fresh take on Sektor’s Compactor Fatality, albeit with familiar results. Even though Sektor is limited to Kameo character status in Mortal Kombat 1, which means the red cyborg...

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The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Game Review

Perhaps as an ode to the horror movie genre itself, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre starts out with all the same joy and promise of a group of friends preparing for a weekend at a cabin in the woods before things quickly take a turn for the worse. While I definitely enjoyed plenty of my 20 hours with this novel take on the asymmetrical multiplayer blueprint, where three powerful murderers hunt down a team of four elusive teens, getting started wasn’t as smooth as it is in similar games and there’s less to do than expected once you’re up and running. Between that and some seriously frustrating technical issues, there was definitely a chloroform-doused wet blanket over the whole thing. If you’ve played any asymmetrical horror game, be...

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Windows 11's Latest Update Removes Cortana App

Cortana, Microsoft's virtual assistant, has been removed from Windows 11. In a new update for Windows 11, Microsoft has removed the dedicated Cortana app from its operating system. Microsoft confirmed the sunset of the Cortana app for Windows 11 on a support page and noted that Cortana for Teams mobile Teams display and Teams Rooms will be removed sometime this fall. However, Cortana in Outlook mobile will remain available. Initially released in 2014 for the Windows Phone to rival Apple's iPhone and virtual assistant Siri, Cortana is a virtual assistant named after the fictional character Cortana from the Halo series. Roughly a year later, Microsoft would gradually roll out the virtual assistant to Windows 10, mobile devices, and...

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Baldur’s Gate 3 ‘Owlbear From the Top Rope’ Deals Enough Damage to Take Down Pretty Much Anything

With Baldur’s Gate 3’s second weekend under its belt players are coming up with even more outside-the-box strategies for doing huge damage in combat. This latest effort, dubbed “Owlbear from the top rope”, causes the most damage we’ve seen in the game so far. Perhaps more damage than even developer Larian intended. Twitch Streamer Ellohime indulged in a spot of crate-stacking (as Matt Mercer did recently to viral effect when getting to the top of a Baldur’s Gate 3 castle) to get high above his unsuspecting enemies below. From there, Ellohime’s druid shapeshifts into an Owlbear (a druid wildshape form you unlock at level six), already one of the biggest playable bodies in the game, and casts Enlarge to make the Owlbear even bigger...

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Best Warzone VPN: How to Avoid SBMM in Call of Duty (Skill Based Matchmaking)

Ah, Warzone. It's all fun and games until you're absolutely tanking and there's nothing you can do about it. Have you ever felt like you were being put up against players way better than you? Have you ever had that niggling doubt that the skill-based matchmaking system was out to get you? That might be one of those gaming conspiracies, but why not try and find out the truth? SBMM is notoriously hard to get around, but we've found a very easy way for you to potentially skirt this aspect of online gaming for good. No Smurf accounts, no intentionally throwing off your K/D, just a few simple steps and then away you go. What is Skill-Based Matchmaking? If you're new to online gaming, you might be a touch confused about what the hell SBMM...

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Overwatch 2 Becomes Worst User-Reviewed Game on Steam Ever Even as Tens of Thousands Turn Up to Play

Overwatch 2 has the ignominious honour of becoming the worst user-reviewed game on Steam ever, although its recent launch on the platform has seen tens of thousands of players. According to Steam250, which tracks the 100 worst Steam games of all-time according to user reviews, Overwatch 2 has a score of just 0.96 based on an approval rating (percentage of positive Steam user review votes) of 10% from 92,028 votes. That’s enough for Overwatch 2 to top Steam250’s list, beating the previous number one, card battle game War of the Three Kingdoms from Chinese developer Youka. So, why is Overwatch 2, a game that launched first on PC and console late 2022, suffering so badly in terms of user reviews on Steam just days after it launched on...

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Historical Lows on Starfield, EA Sports FC 24, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and More!

Welcome to another wonderful week of saving tons on games. If you've got football fever, I've got the lowest preorder on EA Sports FC 24 available. Similarly, if you want to break the surly bonds of gravity, and punch the face of God, I have the lowest preorder on Starfield, too. Lastly, I must throw a spotlight on the recent free update (and subsequent discounting of) Broforce. It's basically McBain the four-player, 2D platformer. So, yeah — up and at them. This Day in Gaming Aussie birthdays for notable games and hardware - Papo & Yo (PC,PS3,X360) - DuckTales: Remastered (PSN) 2013. Get Table of Contents Nintendo Switch PC Xbox PlayStation Nice Savings for Nintendo Switch Expiring Deals From Yesterday Hardware Watch How...

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Forza Motorsport Won't Have Split-Screen and Two Other Features at Launch

Turn 10 has confirmed that the upcoming Forza Motorsport won’t have certain features at launch, including split-screen functionality. In the most recent Forza Monthly broadcast, creative director Chris Esaki explained that the game won’t support split-screen, spectator mode, or being able to race against AI in certain multiplayer modes. “Having players come into a featured multiplayer event and taking player slots, and then spectating? It's not really the racing we had intended,” Esaki explained. “Similarly, racing with AI in featured multiplayer with all its potential impacts on your safety rating also didn't make a whole lot of sense to have and is not going to be available for us at launch.” Esaki touched upon the reasoning for...

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WrestleQuest Was Delayed at the Last Minute by Two Weeks Due to a Save Game Bug

Mega Cat Studios and Skybound Games announced just before WrestleQuest's planned August 8 release date that WrestleQuest has been delayed by two weeks to August 22, 2023. “When performing final checks on one of our launch platforms, we discovered it was possible for players to lose their save game progress when playing WrestleQuest on multiple different devices," Mega Cat Studios said in a statement. “Because this is a game filled with hours of content and layer progress is so important, we could never bodyslam our fans like that.” When WrestleQuest arrives it will be available on PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. The game was first revealed in March 2022 and is a pro wrestling and RPG...

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How to Play the Kingdom Hearts Games in Order

Square Enix and Disney announced Kingdom Hearts 4 at the Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary event last year, giving us a fresh new look at Sora and what he’s been up to after he left his friends for a solo adventure at the end of Kingdom Hearts 3. To no one’s surprise, there haven’t been any updates for the new sequel ever since it was announced to be in development. They also announced the mobile game Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link, but there haven’t been any updates for that one either. While we wait for more updates and a potential release date for Kingdom Hearts 4, we’re giving you a list of Kingdom Hearts games to play in chronological order. As convoluted as the series’ plot may be to a lot of people, it should give you a clear...

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STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl May Have Just Been Given a December 2023 Release Date

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl may have been given a December 1, 2023, according to distributor Plaion’s website. First spotted by Wccftech, the official German Plaion store is the one that has a listing for STALKER 2: Chornobyl on PC with a December 1 release date, and it describes the game as a unique mix of first-person shooter, horror, and immersive sim. It also mentions it has survival mechanics for hunger, sleep, and bleeding, as well as a dynamic day and night cycle with realistic weather effects. While this date could obviously be a placeholder, December 1 does land on a Friday (when a lot of games are released!) and other games on the store without firm dates are given a December 31 date. This particular store also has a...

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Starfield: Release Date, Gameplay, Story, and Latest News

Starfield is the first new IP from renowned developer Bethesda Game Studios since The Elder Scrolls debuted in 1994. That alone comes with lofty expectations, not to mention that the space-set RPG has become a critical release for Xbox following the disappointment of Redfall and the sparse first-party Xbox Series X|S lineup before it. From its all-new setting to its familiar Bethesda RPG mechanics, there’s a lot to unpack within Starfield as we approach its September 6 release. So we’ve put together this comprehensive overview of everything we know about Starfield, including the latest information on platforms, price, gameplay, story, map size, game length, DLC, and more. Jump to: Release Date and Platforms Gameplay Details Map...

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Yes, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Is Coming to Xbox One and PS4

Earlier today, there was a flurry of confusion about the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and whether or not it will release on PS4 and Xbox One as well as current-gen platforms. Well, CoD fans who don't have a PS5 or Xbox Series console yet can calm down, because yes, it's coming to the previous gen too. The confusion arose because of a Twitter user and content creator TheGamingRevolution noting that on the official Xbox page for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, only Xbox Series X and S were listed - no Xbox One. The user went on to point out a YouTube video from PlayStation's official account seemingly confirming both PS5 and PS4 releases, leaving it unclear exactly what was going on. Was one of the two platform holders...

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Borderlands 4 Actually Wasn't Confirmed by Voice Actress' Resume, Despite Rumors

Earlier today, reports started to emerge that the existence of Borderlands 4 had been leaked by an actress adding the game to her resume, but Genvid Entertainment has since clarified the situation. Fans noticed that the online resume for actress Angie Jho Lee had a listing for “Borderlands 4” under her “voice over” section, along with the role of "Aiyumi." However, in a statement, Genvid clarified that Jho Lee is actually appearing in Borderlands EchoVision Live, a recently announced interactive streaming series. “Actor Angie Jho Lee is a voice actor on Genvid Entertainment’s upcoming interactive streaming series, Borderlands EchoVision Live, which was announced at San Diego Comic-Con last month,” reads the statement. “While the...

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South Park: Snow Day is a 3D Co-Op Multiplayer Game Coming Next Year

After an initial tease at its showcase last year, publisher THQ Nordic has revealed South Park: Snow Day, a new 3D co-op multiplayer game coming to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S next year. South Park: Snow Day focuses on Cartman and the crew as they celebrate not having school for the day, thanks to inclement weather. While not much is known about the game, it appears to be fantasy-inspired as Cartman is shown wearing his Grand Wizard King costume while other children in the trailer are shown wearing fantasy-inspired outfits. South Park: Snow Day is developed by Question Games, a studio whose previous projects include 2015's The Magic Circle, a fantasy puzzle game, and The Blackout Club, a first-person co-op horror game...

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Everything Announced at the August 2023 THQ Nordic Digital Showcase

THQ Nordic has presented a new digital showcase today, with a slew of new trailers and surprise reveals. From a new Alone in the Dark trailer to the reveal of the new South Park game, and a game adaptation of a popular TMNT comic, there are plenty of titles coming from THQ Nordic to be excited for. If you missed the showcase, don't worry, IGN has a complete roundup highlighting all the announcements that came out of the event, which you can check out below. TMNT: The Last Ronin Video Game Announced Teenage Mutant: Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin, the popular 2020 comic book mini-series, is getting a video game adaptation. While no release date was revealed, we did learn that the studio handling development is Black Forest Games, which...

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Baldur's Gate 3 Studio Reveals Most Popular Player Character Classes and Races

Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian Studios has revealed a number of statistics from the game's launch weekend, including the most popular player character class and race choices. In a post on Steam, Larian showed off graphs for both, revealing that the most popular player character class so far is Paladin with over 200,000 players, followed by Sorcerer, Warlock, Rogue, and Bard in that order. Cleric was the least popular, as the only class with fewer than 100,000 people choosing it. In a similar breakdown of character race choices, Halfelf was revealed as the most popular, but was only a slim margin ahead of Humans and Elves. The least popular races were Halflings and, at the very bottom, Githyanki. So if you're playing a Githyanki...

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Wipeout Fan Ports Classic Game to PC, Tells PlayStation to Shut It Down and Make a Real Remaster

A Wipeout fan tired of waiting for Sony to remaster the classic PlayStation game has taken it upon themselves to port the game to PC, daring the publisher to take it down and make its own remaster in the process. As reported by VGC, programmer Dominic Szablewski wrote a lengthy blog post outlining their approach to turning the original game's leaked source code into a working browser version. Szablewski also doesn't seem to mind if Sony shuts the project down, noting that "re-distributing the leaked source is questionable at best", but insisted the publisher make its own remaster if it does. "If anyone at Sony is reading this, please consider that you have (in my opinion) two equally good options: either let it be, or shut this...

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Destiny 2: Where Is Xur Today? Location and Exotic Items for August 11-15

The blanket lad, Xûr, is now live in Destiny 2 for the weekend until next week's reset. If you're looking to get you some shiny new Exotic armor or weapons for your Guardian, look no further. Each week, Xûr has a random assortment of Exotic armor, one for each Guardian class, as well as a random Exotic Weapon and an Exotic Engram available for purchase. In addition to his Exotic wares, he's got a random collection of Legendary weapons and armor to deck out your Guardians. We've rounded up all the info on Xûr for the week including where to find Xûr, which Exotic weapons and armor are available, as well as which Legendary weapons you should pick up, either for PvE or PvP. Where Is Xûr Located Today? Xûr's location can be found at...

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Starfield Is the Biggest Game for Xbox Since Halo 5

We are now less than one month away from the launch of Starfield, the new space-exploration RPG from Bethesda Game Studios – makers of The Elder Scrolls series as well as Fallout 3 and 4. And after an excellent and very well-received 45-minute Starfield Direct presentation in June, hype is running high. This is the first game from this team, led by decorated game director Todd Howard, in eight years (Fallout 4). It’s topped the Steam wishlist charts for the past two months. It is, by the developer’s own account, the biggest game it’s ever made (and for what it’s worth, from the hour I got to play it with Howard – first from the beginning and then quickly jumping between a couple of other save files – I saw nothing to doubt the team’s...

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IGN UK Podcast 709: More Baldur's Gate 3 Because Why Not

All we've been doing is playing Baldur's Gate 3, so Cardy, Matt, and Mat, are here to give an update on their adventures so far and why they continue to be impressed by Larian's latest. Somehow, Cardy has managed to find a few hours to check out the new season of Overwatch 2 and its long-awaited story missions. Has it been worth the wait? Listen to find out. What do you think of Baldur's Gate 3? Had any good snacks recently? Drop us an email: ign_ukfeedback@ign.com. IGN UK Podcast 709: More Baldur's Gate 3 Because Why Not IGN UK Podcast 708: Baldur's Great IGN UK Podcast 707: Barbie is Sublime IGN UK Podcast 706: Oppenheimer and Every Christopher Nolan Movie Ranked IGN UK Podcast 705: Blockbuster Season IGN UK Podcast 704: Wolf...

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Tekken 8 Chief Harada Hits Out at 'Silly' Threats of Violence Over Eddy Gordo

Tekken 8 development chief Katsuhiro Harada has hit out at a threat of violence over whether or not a character will be in the game. Harada tweeted a response to the threat from a Twitter user demanding Tekken character Eddy Gordo is playable in the upcoming Tekken 8. “When people make these silly threats, I and everyone at FGC [fighting game community] suffer the following losses,” Harada began before making three key points (below). One, event operators overreact and increase security, which increases costs and the burden on players. Harada said in some cases his attendance at events may end up being cancelled. Two, company bosses respond to these sorts of threats by asking Harada to cancel “inclusion in the game”, which relates...

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Rockstar Officially Working With GTA Roleplay Server Team, Sparking Fresh Excitement About GTA 6

Rockstar has made the surprise announcement that it’s now officially working with the modding team behind the wildly popular Grand Theft Auto 5 roleplay servers FiveM and RedM. Cfx.re, the team behind the biggest Rockstar roleplay and creator communities FiveM and RedM, are now officially part of Rockstar Games. FiveM is the main host for some of the biggest GTA RP servers, and enjoys thousands of players even eight years after GTA5 came out on PC. “Over the past few years, we've watched with excitement as Rockstar’s creative community have found new ways to expand the possibilities of Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2, particularly through the creation of dedicated roleplay servers,” Rockstar said in a statement. “As a...

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Moving Out 2 Review

Just as likely to break windows and knock down doors as it was to temporarily fracture friendships, 2020’s Moving Out was a raucously entertaining co-op game that took the typically tiresome task of shifting furniture and turned it into a giddy form of slapstick. The hilariously chaotic couch-carrying fundamentals of the original remain relatively unchanged in Moving Out 2, but the formula has been refreshed to a substantial degree via a more outlandish approach to level design and added environmental interactivity that brings a bit more depth to the furniture-flinging strategy. It’s a shame that little has been done to make it more compelling for solo players, so just like the chore it’s based on you’ll have to wrangle at least one...

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