Gaming News

Everything Joining and Leaving Xbox Game Pass Mid August 2023

Microsoft has announced the lineup of games joining and leaving Xbox Game Pass in mid August 2023, with the addition of Everspace 2 and removal of Death Stranding headlining the changes. As detailed on Xbox Wire, five additional games were announced for the service this month. A short Hike will be available first on August 3 and Everspace 2 will be available August 15. Check out the full list of titles joining Xbox Game Pass and their respective platforms below: A Short Hike (cloud, console, and PC) — August 3 Broforce Forever (cloud, console, and PC) — August 8 Limbo (cloud, console, and PC) — August 9 Airborne Kingdom (cloud, console, and PC) — August 10 Everspace 2 (cloud, and Xbox Series X|S) — August 15 RockFish Games’...

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Baldur’s Gate 3’s 122GB Download Cannot Be Preloaded

Larian Studios has revealed Baldur’s Gate 3 has an install size of 122 GB and that players can't preload any of it before the game's August 3 launch. “Baldur’s Gate 3 will launch on August 3 at 5pm Ghent time, or your non-Belgian time zone equivalent as shown above," read a community update posted to the RPG's Steam page. "There will be no pre-loading of the game before then.” The post also noted that early access save files would not be compatible with the full version of the game at launch, while reasoning that "so much has changed that it’s really worth it to start afresh.” As reported by PC Gamer, Larian Studios’ Swen Vincke said in July it would not be advantageous to have the early access version of the game installed, as...

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Battle Shapers Preview: Chasing the Perfect Run

The first time I walked into Volt Colosus’s boss room, I knew, I knew, I was gonna wipe the floor with him. It was only my first run in Battle Shapers, but I’d been going through his robotic minions like I was the IRS and they owed me money. I’d found a good weapon, my health and shields were near maximum, and I felt like a had a pretty good feel for the core I was rolling with. Volt Colossus would be tougher, sure, but this fight was gonna be over fast. Well, I was right about one thing: the fight was over fast. About five seconds after the fight started, I was respawning in my hideout with no idea how to avoid the attacks that killed me, but like the character I was playing, I was raring to go again. The second run would be different...

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Remnant 2’s Wild Data Mining Puzzle Was Solved by Someone with No Coding Experience, a Fridge Full of Red Bull, and ChatGPT

The people at Gunfire Games, makers of the recent looter-shooter soulslike Remnant 2, will be the first to tell you they’ve got a love for secrets. Rich Vorodi, one of the team’s principal game designers who focuses on quests, levels, and puzzles, gushed to IGN about the team’s obsession with hiding things in all their games. “We just love to put secrets in everything,” he said. “It allows us to stir up conversations amongst people we’ve never even met and just provide a little awe and mystery.” In some of their past projects, like 2019’s Remnant: From The Ashes, data mining sucked some of the mystery out of their game a little earlier than they’d have liked. It’s certainly not a new problem, but while Gunfire Games processed their...

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Remnant 2 Sells 1 Million Copies in First Week

Gearbox Publishing has announced that Remnant 2 has sold more than one million units in its first week across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC. The three-person cooperative shooter launched on July 25 to high praise from players and critics, with the excitement around the long-awaited sequel clearly converting to sales too. "To everyone who helped us achieve this amazing milestone, thank you for your unwavering support," said Gunfire Games CEO David Adams. "This was a multi-year journey for us and we couldn’t be happier to see fans having such a great time with a game we put our heart and soul into." Gearbox Publishing San Francisco president Yoon Im added: "Remnant 2 exceeded our expectations. As a commercial and critical hit...

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Even Deeper Discounts on PS VR2, Spider-Man 2 DualSenses Return, and More!

Well, just when you thought that PlayStation VR2 bundle couldn't get any cheaper, Amazon goes harder. $190 off is so yesterday — saving $218 is what all the cool kids are doing now. Also, speaking of VR savings, I've spotted a nice little bargain on the Meta Quest 2 unit as well. In historical news, it's now been 29 years since the Atari Jaguar landed on our sunny shores. Being a fifth-gen console, it was largely up against Saturn and PlayStation but had to be euthanised a mere two years into its life. Why? Because it was rocking a calculator-esque controller, lacked a quality library (beyond the lure of its Alien vs Predator exclusive), and cost upwards of 600-700 dollarydoos. FYI: that's about $1,350 in 2023 adjusted dollarydoos...

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Bomb Rush Cyberfunk Is Coming to Xbox and PlayStation in September

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, Team Reptile's upcoming action-adventure game heavily inspired by Jet Set Radio, is coming to Xbox and PlayStation on September 1 – two weeks after the game releases on PC and Nintendo Switch. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk was announced back in 2020 by Team Reptile with confirmation that the game would release on Steam and the Nintendo Switch. The game will have players traverse around the in-game world, spraying graffiti and using boostpacks to reach new heights. More interestingly, when the game was first revealed over three years ago, the developer also confirmed that Hideki Naganuma, the composer for Jet Set Radio and Jet Set Radio Future, would compose the music for the game. The game was originally supposed to...

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Final Fantasy 14 Director Wants to Get the Pixel Remasters Running Inside the MMO

The recent releases of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters have at last given a new audience the opportunity to play the original six Final Fantasy games on modern consoles. But while the games are currently available on PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, Square Enix would really love to get them working on a third platform, and no, I'm not talking about the Xbox. I'm talking about Final Fantasy 14. Speaking at a press conference at Final Fantasy Fan Fest 2023, director and producer Naoki Yoshida (known as Yoshi-P) said that he's been interested for some time in the idea of FF14 players being able to play the Pixel Remasters either through the Gold Saucer amusement park in game, or through player housing. However, the feature has proven...

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Bandai Namco Warns Tekken 8 Fans Against Playing Cracked Closed Beta Build

Bandai Namco has issued a stark warning to Tekken 8 players, insisting they do not continue to play the recently-released closed network test. The latest Tekken 8 closed network test ran on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC over the weekend, and let players get hands-on with the upcoming fighting game ahead of launch. Predictably, this closed network test was cracked, and it didn’t take long for users to continue to play the build beyond the closed network test period. In a tweet, Bandai Namco said doing so breaches its terms of service, as well as the Tekken World Tour code of conduct. The unauthorized download or distribution of the game is “illegal”, Bandai Namco insisted, before threatening to ban anyone caught playing...

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Face-Off: Which '90s Video Game Is the Best?

It’s ‘90s week here at IGN and we are celebrating all the wonderful things that made this special decade one to remember. Movies and TV obviously had their standouts, but the ‘90s also saw the release of some of the most important video games and consoles of all time. With key moments, like the epic battle between Nintendo and Sega to the arrival of 3D games like Super Mario 64 and Final Fantasy VII that changed how we played forever, it’s hard to overstate the importance of those 10 years. However, which game was the best of the best? We can’t possibly hope to answer this question alone without your help. Do you think Super Mario World deserves the top spot? How about The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time or Metal Gear Solid? We’ve...

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Twitch Streamer Completes No-Hit Elden Ring Run Using an Electric Saxophone

Like other FromSoftware action RPGs, Elden Ring is notorious for its brutal difficulty, with a no-damage run that is not impossible but a challenging feat to accomplish. But one Twitch streamer managed to conquer this challenge with an unconventional controller: an electric saxophone. Streamer DrDeComposing broadcasted himself taking less than 2.5 hours to beat Elden Ring without taking any damage. DrDeComposing touts himself as the first to complete a no-hit run of Elden Ring using a nontraditional controller, noting his previous personal best using the electric saxophone to play Elden Ring was no deaths and only one hit. What's even more interesting is this is not DrDeComposing's first attempt at using an electric saxophone as a...

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Welcome to 90s Week @ IGN

While the 1970s were important for the invention of video games and important modern blockbusters like Star Wars, and the 1980s were significant for establishing gaming as a worldwide phenomenon thanks to Nintendo, the 1990s were when things got really interesting across pop culture. Throughout the decade we saw the foundations laid for many of the conventions we take for granted today, and the building blocks of modern 3D gaming, blockbuster movies, and binge-worthy television were established and refined. Over the next week, we’ll have stories and videos every day that explore all of this. Not only did we get the PlayStation, SNES, Super Mario 64, Resident Evil, Half-Life, Quake, and Pokémon in the 90s, but we also got The X-Files...

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How Dreamcast Killed Sega's Hardware Reign

It was September 10, 1999 – the day after the Sega Dreamcast’s US launch. West Coast rapper Del the Funky Homosapien had just finished a gaming-tinged set at a San Francisco club ("Marvel Vs Capcom, beyond fathom // Tell the truth, Playstation ain't ready to have ‘em") and now Peter Moore, Sega of America’s senior vice president of marketing, stood on stage, ready to reveal the console’s day-one sales figures to the world. He lifted paper flaps covering each digit, one by one. The crowd got louder as the millions stacked up. It roared as he flicked the last flap aside to show a total of nearly $98 million in sales. He declared it the “biggest launch in entertainment history” – and, crucially, bigger than the US launches of the...

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Hitman: World of Assassination to Get First New Elusive Target in Two Years

IO Interactive has announced a brand new Elusive Target for Hitman: World of Assassination, due out later in 2023. The Drop, Hitman: World of Assassination’s first new Elusive Target mission for two years, features the likeness and voiceover of real-life DJ and actor Dimitri Vegas, and launches free on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Vegas plays the titular The Drop, “a DJ-turned-drug impresario bent on controlling the scene one way or another”. IO didn’t say where the mission is set, but a Berlin nightclub sounds plausible. In Hitman: World of Assassination, Elusive Targets are unique, high-stakes contracts only available for a limited time. These missions are free for all...

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Diablo 4 Horses to Get Crucial Improvements

Blizzard has revealed a number of improvements coming to Diablo 4’s heavily-criticised horses. The action role-playing game’s mounts have come under fire for being too slow, getting caught on bits of the environment, and having too long a cooldown on their activation. During a recent livestream, Blizzard said it was working on improving the collision in Diablo 4, which should in turn help prevent your horse from getting caught on an object that forces them to stop in their tracks. Following the livestream, Diablo game director Joe Shely tweeted to confirm an additional improvement to let the mount charge break through barricades. This change should make mounts less frustrating to use, as you’ll be able to burst through barriers that...

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Mortal Kombat 1 Reveals Geras, Awesome New Liu Kang Fatality, and Teases a Character Nobody Recognises

Mortal Kombat 1’s latest playable character reveal sees the time-controlling sand master Geras return after making his debut in Mortal Kombat 11. In the trailer, below, we see Geras, Guardian of the Hourglass, chatting with Thunder Fire God, Liu Kang. There’s certainly some needle between the two old friends, with Geras questioning Liu Kang’s attitude after the Thunder Fire God restarted history. “Your vision of peace may already be compromised,” Geras tells Liu Kang. The inclusion of Gears in Mortal Kombat 1, as well as his comments in the trailer, reinforce the idea of this game being a sequel to Mortal Kombat 11 as well as a soft reboot. Clearly, there is a continuity established here, with the events of Mortal Kombat 11...

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Assassin’s Creed Mirage Takes on Average 20-23 Hours to Complete

Assassin’s Creed Mirage takes on average 20-23 hours to complete, Ubisoft has said. In an interview with French YouTuber Julien Chièze , translated by PCGamesN, Ubisoft lead producer Fabian Salomon said the Mirage completion time rises to 25-30 hours for those who want to see everything the game has to offer, and lowers to around 20 hours for those who rush through. “Given that we do a lot of playtesting internally at Ubisoft, it’s part of our process, we really want to get as close as possible to the players, so we’ll say that the latest playtimes we’ve received average at around 20-23 hours,” Salomon said. “That can go up to 25-30 hours for the completionists, and we’ll say that those who will be rushing the game will be around 20...

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190 Bucks Off a PS VR2 Bundle, Seriously Reduced AAAs, and More!

Finally, the PS VR2 + Horizon: Call of the Mountain bundle has been substantially discounted. I know a bunch of you have been waiting for this to transpire. I also know, from a great deal of heads-on experience, that the PS VR2 is a phenomenal bit of kit worth owning. Grab this bundle for less than the price of the headset on its own. Maybe use the money saved to buy GT7 as well? This Day in Gaming Aussie birthdays for notable games and hardware - Kirby's Dream Land 2 (GB) 1995. - SoulCalibur IV (PS3,X360) 2008. - Tales of Monkey Island (PC,Wii) 2009. Table of Contents Nintendo Switch PC Xbox PlayStation Nice Savings for Nintendo Switch Expiring Deals From Yesterday Hardware Watch How much to make the switch to Switch...

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The 12 Best Sonic Characters in the Series, Ranked

The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has a wide array of Sonic games, TV shows, merchandise, and even movies (OVA included). It also contains a wide cast of characters, each with their own unique abilities and personalities that fans have come to love for generations. Well, three generations, to be precise: the Classic era, the Adventure era, and the Modern era. In honor of Sonic Superstars coming out in the near future, we’ll be ranking the top 12 characters in the franchise below. Let us know your own opinion in the comment below! 12. Big the Cat Big is a gentle giant who prefers to spend his days fishing in peace with his amphibian friend Froggy by his side. He only steps out of his comfort zone and jumps into action when his friends...

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Destiny 2: Where Is Xur Today? Location and Exotic Items for July 28-August 1

The cloaked comrade, 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...

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Path of Exile 2 Devs 'Feel Sorry' for Blizzard Amid Diablo 4 Season 1 Struggles

Path of Exile has long run in parallel to Diablo. When the original launched back in 2013, it was pitched as a fresh alternative to the then-troubled Diablo III. Now, with Path of Exile 2 in development and Diablo IV struggling, their identity once again seem inextricably linked. Reacting to Diablo IV's struggles since the launch of Season 1, director Jonathan Rogers told IGN, "I mean ultimately the learning process for running a live game with Seasons like this is a hard one. We've learned our lessons about how to do this stuff. Honestly, when I look at that, all I can think is, 'Man, it's tough. It's a real tough situation to be in.'" Path of Exile has been running its version of Seasons, known as Leagues, for many years now. With...

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Laika: Aged Through Blood is a Metroidvania on a Dirtbike – and it TOTALLY Works

At first glance, you might expect Laika: Aged Through Blood to maybe have a bit more chill than it does. That is, until just minutes into it, when you find out its beautifully apocalyptic environments, somber soundtrack, and adorably anthropomorphic cast are actually just a backdrop for an adventure that’s filled with shockingly gratuitous violence, strong language, and a harrowing story of loss and grief. It’s kinda like that one episode of South Park where you find out that all the innocent looking Christmas critters worship Satan – and I mean that in the best possible way. It’s difficult to explain how the woodland cast blends so seamlessly with absolutely horrifying brutality, but at least in the opening chunk of content available...

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Path of Exile 2 Now a Full Standalone Sequel, Closed Beta Details Revealed

Path of Exile 2 has graduated into a full standalone sequel to the original Path of Exile, fully shaking off its origins as an expansion pack. "When we announced Path of Exile 2 at ExileCon 2019, we told you guys that we were releasing Path of Exile 2 as an expansion to Path of Exile 1 and that both campaigns would be playable in the same game client with a shared endgame," director Jonathan Rogers explained. "But Path of Exile 2's scope has continued to grow and grow. It's far more than just an expansion with a new campaign, it's entirely new monsters, skills, mechanics, classes, everything you would expect from the next generation of action RPGs. Not to even mention revamps of most of the Path of Exile 1 league content. This thing...

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Square Enix Promises to Bring Games to Xbox 'Whenever Possible' Following Final Fantasy 14 Announcement

Today, Square Enix announced that its successful MMORPG, Final Fantasy XIV, is on its way to Xbox consoles after years of being a PlayStation console exclusive. And to hear the CEO of Square Enix tell it, it sounds like Xbox has successfully ensured that even more Square Enix games will end up on its consoles in the coming years. During the Final Fantasy Fan Fest 2023, Final Fantasy XIV game director Naoki Yoshida (Yoshi-P) welcomed Xbox head Phil Spencer onto the stage alongside Square Enix CEO Takashi Kiryu to celebrate the Xbox release announcement. While onstage, Kiryu made the following statement: "And one more thing: as CEO of Square Enix, we want to continue to deliver fabulous games to fans across the world. And of course, we...

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Yoshida Shuts Down Final Fantasy 14 Fans Begging for Blitzball in New Dawntrail Expansion

With the announcement of a brand new Final Fantasy 14 expansion that's giving everyone massive Final Fantasy X vibes, fans are clamoring for the addition of Final Fantasy's favorite sport: Blitzball. Unfortunately, game director Naoki Yoshida (Yoshi-P) has a message to everyone begging for the weird, underwater soccer game: "No Blitzball!" That's what Yoshi-P told fans during today's Final Fantasy Fan Fest 2023, when while discussing updates to the Golden Saucer in upcoming patches, fans began to eagerly shout "Blitzball" from the audience. Nope, sorry! No Blitzball! The audience in Las Vegas wasn't alone in wanting Blitzball, either. Online, the Final Fantasy 14 community has reacted dramatically to Yoshi-P's dismissal of their...

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IGN Rewards: Enter the Giveaway for Syberia - The World Before: Collector's Edition

If you love point-and-click adventure games, you've probably heard of Syberia (if you haven't, where have you been?). If you haven't jumped in yet, you are in luck! As part of IGN Rewards, we are giving away 10 console Collector's Edition bundles for Syberia: The World Before, the latest entry in the series. Haven't thrown your name in the hat yet? Enter the giveaway on the IGN Rewards page. What is Syberia: The World Before? Syberia (from Microids) is a four-game series of point-and-click adventure games focusing on the travels of Kate Walker, an attorney who is caught up in a journey when she tries to handle the sale of an automaton factory. Now, in Syberia: The World Before, while Kate is imprisoned and forced to work in the...

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Diablo 4 Campfire Chat Opens With Grim Devs, Long List of Promised Fixes

In the latest Campfire Chat for Diablo 4, Blizzard announced a host of upcoming balance changes in a livestream that opened with a somber tone. In a lengthy stream in which developers discussed upcoming changes to their hit ARPG, the mood seemed quite grim initially, as the usually smiling panel were seen with more serious expressions after a tough week of critical feedback from the Diablo IV community. In the past, many of the familiar faces could be seen smiling and making jokes, especially in the opening moments of their Campfire Chats, but today's presentation had a noticably different mood. It's also worth noting that Campfire Chats have been described by Blizzard as casual discussions where patch notes aren't discussed, but...

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Final Fantasy 14 Getting a Major Graphics Update with New Requirements for Dawntrail Expansion

Final Fantasy XIV is receiving a major graphics makeover in an update for the upcoming Dawntrail expansion. At Final Fantasy Fest 2023, producer Naoki Yoshida said in the Final Fantasy XIV keynote that the graphics update will improve the screen-wide aesthetic appeal and higher-resolution textures and shadows. The quality of the improved material in the game preserves the overall look you know and love, specifically the look and feel of existing characters. "We're really taking care that you'll look at your updated character and won't say, 'Oh that's really not what I expected at all,'" Yoshida said, pointing out that all the characters, including NPCs, will have improved hair texture, improved eyes, and beautiful skin. We're really...

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Final Fantasy 14 Is Coming to Xbox at Last

Final Fantasy 14 is at last coming to Xbox consoles, after years of fan requests. Today during Final Fantasy Fan Fest 2023, Phil Spencer made a surprise appearance at the end of the keynote to announce the news. Developing... Continue reading...

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Dawntrail Officially Announced as Final Fantasy 14's Fifth Major Expansion

Dawntrail will be Final Fantasy XIV's fifth major expansion, Square Enix announced today. The new expansion was unveiled during the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Fest keynote with a trailer featuring a summer vacation theme and multiple new jobs, all coming summer of 2024. At Final Fantasy Fan Fest 2023, FF14 director Naoki Yoshida (affectionately known as Yoshi-P) took the stage to unveil the new expansion, joyfully declaring he wanted to continue to work on the game "until I die or even afterward." Dawntrail's story is intended to be "the very best summer vacation a hero could possibly have," in "a sudden change from the ending of Endwalker" and marks the first step into a "new story" for the game. It takes place in the "New World," known...

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