Gaming News

Bethesda Clarifies Doom Developer Id Software’s Involvement With Starfield

Bethesda has clarified Doom developer Id Software’s involvement in Starfield’s development in the wake of a May rumor claiming the fellow Zenimax-owned studio had stepped in to overhaul Starfield’s combat. In an interview with IGN ahead of the Xbox Showcase and Starfield Direct, Bethesda boss Todd Howard confirmed Id Software had helped out with Starfield’s graphics, but "they did not help us with the combat.” “Well, first of all, I'd say being in the company, knowing the folks at Id Software for a long time, I'm a huge Doom fan,” Howard said. “They're the absolute best. Doom Eternal is one of my favorite games. “So with Fallout 4, they did give us a few tips on how to handle combat. And Starfield, we redid the combat ourselves and...

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Bethesda Preps Starfield Shattered Space Story Expansion for Post-Launch

Bethesda already has a Starfield post-launch story expansion pack in the works. It's called Shattered Space, and it's Starfield's first story expansion. It comes with the Digital Premium Edition and the Constellation Edition of Starfield, upon release. Development chief Todd Howard told IGN in an interview ahead of the Starfield Direct that Bethesda plans to release “a lot” of add-on content for the space exploration game. “We're going to be doing a lot of add-on content for Starfield,” Howard said. “We love doing it. Our fans love it. We're going to do a story expansion pack that's going to be coming. “Our plan is to do things of varying sizes, and we've done a lot of that in our previous games, so it's something that we really...

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Bethesda’s Todd Howard Confirms Starfield Performance and Frame-Rate on Xbox Series X and S

Starfield runs at 30 frames per second on both Xbox Series X and S, Bethesda’s Todd Howard has confirmed. Speaking to IGN in a new interview ahead of the Xbox and Starfield showcases, Howard said Starfield runs in 4K resolution on the Xbox Series X and 1440p on the Xbox Series S, but has locked Starfield at 30fps on console to ensure “consistency” of performance. “I think it'll come as no surprise, given our previous games, what we go for,” Howard said. “Always these huge, open worlds, fully dynamic, hyper detail where anything can happen. And we do want to do that. It's 4K in the X. It's 1440 on the S. We do lock it at 30, because we want that fidelity, we want all that stuff. We don't want to sacrifice any of it. “Fortunately in...

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Starfield Xbox Accessories Guide: Everything Available and Where to Buy

Starfield is officially getting its own limited edition Xbox accessories, and they're all available to order right now, shipping within a few days. There's a Starfield-themed Xbox controller, wireless headset, and external hard drive available right now. We're expecting these accessories to be incredibly popular and sell out fast, so we'll leave some handy links just below if you're looking to preorder ASAP. Preorders for the Constellation Edition ($299.99) are also live at GameStop for Pro Members, plus see everything else related to Starfield in our dedicated preorder guide. Plus, for more updates on preorders from other retailers like Amazon or Best Buy, stay tuned, or follow @IGNDeals on Twitter. Where to Preorder Starfield Xbox...

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Xbox Game Studios Head Says Xbox Has 'Turned the Corner' on First-Party Releases

Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty told an audience of media and content creators today that he believes Xbox has "turned the corner" on first-party releases, stating that the company is moving closer to a goal of four first-party releases per year. In an Xbox panel entitled "What's Next for Gaming?", Booty was questioned about the company's first-party slate, which has been under criticism throughout the last year due to a perceived dearth of major releases and weaker showings from major pillars such as Redfall. Booty replied by acknowledging that Xbox "had some gaps last year," but added, "I think we've turned the corner." He called out Hi-Fi Rush, Minecraft Legends, Age of Empires, and the coming releases of Forza Motorsport and...

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Starfield Direct: Everything Revealed, Including Space Travel, Character Creation, Companions, and More

The long-awaited Starfield Direct has arrived following the Xbox Games Showcase and it gave us an extensive look at the much-anticipated game from Bethesda Game Studios. The Starfield Direct lasted over 40 minutes and was packed with gameplay footage and developers discussing many of the game's features, including combat, exploration, space travel, character creation, companions, outpost building, and so much more. It was a lot to take in, and this guide will break it all down for you! Starfield Welcomes You to Visit Over 1,000 Planets and Fly Through the Stars on Your Own Ship Starfield is going to be huge, there is no doubt about that, especially considering Bethesda has re-confirmed there will be over 1,000 planets for players to...

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Starfield’s More Expensive Editions Grant Five Days Early Access

Starfield’s more expensive editions grant five days early access, Bethesda has confirmed. The Digital Premium, Premium Edition Upgrade, and the $299.99 Constellation Edition (the one that comes with the in-game watch in real life) all include “up to five days early access”. Starfield’s street date is September 6, but with this early access period its effective release date is September 1. Here’s the small print, from Bethesda: “Actual play time depends on purchase date and is subject to possible outages and applicable time zone differences.” Given Starfield is a single-play story-driven game, it’s hard to see outages preventing any of the five day early access period from being available. Bethesda showed a huge chunk of...

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Starfield: Here’s What Comes in Each Edition

Starfield is coming to Xbox Series X|S and PC on September 6, 2023. It’s a massive new game from the development team behind the mainline Elder Scrolls and Fallout games. Instead of an open world, you get to explore an open universe, taking on missions, traveling to over a thousand planets, speccing out your spaceship, engaging in space dogfights, and a whole lot more. Starfield is up for preorder now in a handful of editions, including a collector's editions that comes with an awesome watch. Below, we have all the details you need to pick the edition you want. Let’s dive in. Starfield: Constellation Edition Xbox Get it at Best Buy - $299.99 Get it at GameStop (Pro members only) - $299.99 Get it at Bethesda Gear Store - $299.98 PC...

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Starfield Xbox Controller Is Available Right Now

The Starfield Xbox Controller is now available from the Microsoft Store for $79.99 / £69.99. We repeat, this is not a preorder, this is available to order and ship right now. The Starfield Xbox Wireless Headset is also now available from the Microsoft Store for $124.99 / £114.99. Finally, preorders for the Constellation Edition ($299.99) are also live at Best Buy, plus see everything else related to Starfield in our dedicated preorder guide. Plus, for more updates on preorders from other retailers like Amazon or Best Buy, stay tuned, or follow @IGNDeals on Twitter. Where to Preorder Starfield Xbox Controller The Starfield controller unfortunately leaked before the Xbox Games Showcase, but now it has been officially announced and...

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Bethesda Made the Watch From Starfield in Real Life

Announced today during Xbox's Starfield Direct, the Constellation Edition of Starfield comes with an actual, functional watch modeled after the same one you get in-game. During the presentation, Bethesda said it wanted to make the watch feel as believable as possible, matching the item that acts as part of your HUD and letting this real one connect with your phone. The watch also comes in a special case Bethesda said was modeled after cases from the Apollo era that were used to bring back lunar samples. It has a special latch, a patch, a watch band, and the watch itself. According to the Gamestop store page, the Constellation Edition costs a cool $299.99 USD (also up at Best Buy). It comes with five days of "early access" to...

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Ubisoft Forward 2023: How to Watch and What to Expect

IGN's Summer of Gaming continues with another major showcase. Ubisoft Forward 2023 is arriving on June 12 and bringing with it updates on Assassin's Creed, the new Avatar game, and more. This stream comes hot off the heels of the Xbox Games Showcase. If you're wondering when and where you can watch the Ubisoft Forward livestream yourself, we've got you covered with all of the details below as well as what Ubisoft games to expect from the show in 2023. Ubisoft Forward 2023 Start Time Ubisoft Forward is set to kick off on Monday, June 12 at 10 a.m. / 1 p.m. ET. That translates to 6 p.m. BST if you're watching from the UK. Although Ubisoft has not yet announced an official runtime for the stream, it will likely be somewhere around...

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Jusant Revealed, a Climbing Game from Life is Strange Developer Don't Nod

Jusant was revealed during today's Xbox Games Showcase, an action-puzzle climbing game from Life is Strange and Vampyr developer Don't Nod coming to Xbox Series X|S and GamePass this Fall. Its reveal trailer showed off a a lone climber in a vibrant world, scaling all sorts of terrain with a strange blue creature in a pack on their back - a companion an Xbox Wire blogpost calls the Ballast, apparently made entirely of water. This narrative-driven game has no spoken dialogue, and the trailer showed the pair exploring massive ruins, climbing old structures and rock paths alike, and seemingly using special powers to grow plants to help them to new areas. You can take a look at everything revealed in the Xbox Showcase, as well as the...

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Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Revealed, Coming 2024

A trailer shown during today's Xbox Games Showcase gave us our first (quite revealing) look at Like a Dragon: Inifinite Wealth, the next game in the mainline Like a Dragon/Yakuze series, with a release window on Xbox and PC set for early 2024. The trailer shows Yakuza: Like a Dragon's main character Ichiban Kasuga waking up naked on the beach (seemingly in Hawaii) without much idea of how he got there. A blog post on Xbox Wire said Infinite Wealth "highlights an unexpected chain of events that sets two legendary yakuza, Kasuga Ichiban and Kazuma Kiryu, on a larger-than-life RPG adventure." Beyond some great visual gags hiding his, um... delicates, the trailer was otherwise light on any specific detail about the game, so we'll have to...

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Spiritfarer Developer Reveals 33 Immortals, a 33-Player Co-Op Action Game

Revealed today at the Xbox Games Showcase, Spiritfarer developer Thunder Lotus Games showed off its next project, 33 Immortals, coming to Xbox and PC sometime in 2024. This raid-focused co-op roguelike allows 33 players to band together in top-down action, with a blog post describing it as a "pick-up and raid" experience with matchmaking that's easy to jump into. The debut trailer showed that huge team facing off against massive waves of enemies and giant bosses alike. While it is a rogulike, the post also says that you will be able to "expand your arsenal and equip powerful new relics to permanently upgrade your soul," so it sounds like there is some roguelite progression mixed in there as well. 33 Immoritals is a very different...

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South of Midnight, New Game From We Happy Few Developer, Unveiled at Xbox Showcase

South of Midnight, a brand-new IP from We Happy Few and Contrast developer Compulsion Games, was announced at today's Xbox Showcase. The cinematic trailer was pretty mysterious, just showing off some gorgeous American South vibes with a touch of magical realism. Xbox revealed more in an interview posted on its blog today, saying it's a third-person action-adventure that will follow Hazel, who was introduced in the trailer, as she tracks down supernatural creatures that have spilled into the world. It'll take place in a fictionalized swathe of the U.S. inspired by “the more interesting geological, topographical, cultural, societal, historical areas of the South," creative director David Sears said in the Xbox blog post. Hazel, who...

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Xbox Games Showcase 2023: Everything Announced

Xbox brought a ton of games to the Xbox Games Showcase 2023, giving us a good idea for what to expect on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass, and PC for the rest of the year and beyond. From our first proper look at Playground Games' Fable, to a release date for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, to surprise reveals like inXile's Clockwork, there's a lot to look forward to. Read on to learn everything announced at today's Xbox showcase. Playground Games' Fable Revealed Xbox kicked off the show with our first proper look at Playground Games' upcoming Fable reboot. The IT Crowd's Richard Ayoade played a starring role in the trailer as narrator, maintaining the cheeky humor the series is known for. We don't know when the game is coming out...

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Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty Expansion Gets New Trailer, Release Date

CD Projekt Red has shared the first major look at Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, the DLC expansion that's now slated to release on September 26. Revealed at Xbox Games Showcase with an announcement by Keanu Reeves, who will reprise his role as Johnny Silverhand in the expansion, the trailer shows off more action-packed missions throughout an entirely new area of the game's futuristic Night City. Phantom Liberty marks the debut of Idris Elba's Cyberpunk character, which was revealed last December. Elba's Solomon Reed will help players "fulfill an impossible mission of espionage and survival". CD Projekt Red announced Phantom Liberty last September, along with the reveal that the DLC was only coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series...

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Starfield Gets New Gameplay Trailer at Xbox Games Showcase

Right before the Starfield Direct, Bethesda Game Studios provided a new trailer of Starfield, showing us a better look at the game as well as some gameplay. Outside of another extended look at Starfield, Bethesda Game Studios promised that the upcoming open-world sci-fi RPG will still arrive on September 6, 2023. Starfield was originally set to launch on November 11, 2022, but Bethesda announced in May 2022 that it was delaying it into the first half of 2023. And then, in March this year, we got a second delay. While we are getting more Starfield news today, ahead of the Starfield Direct, Microsoft announced a new Starfield-themed Xbox external hard drive, now available for preorder. But days before today's event, images began to...

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Persona 5 Tactica Officially Announced at Xbox Showcase

Persona 5 Tactica, a spin-off title that looks to be a grid-based tactical game similar to Fire Emblem or XCOM, has been announced with a gameplay trailer. It'll be available on Xbox consoles, PC, and Game Pass on Nov. 17, 2023. It was announced shortly after Persona 3 Reload, the much-anticipated remake of Persona 3. Unfortunately, both games leaked before the Xbox Games Showcase. This new spin-off features many of our favorite Persona 5 characters, but they appear in a more chibi art style. They also seem very confused and think they are in a palace of some sort. They don't have much time to think, however, as they are quickly attacked. Unlike Persona 5's turn-based combat, Persona 5 Tactica's battles look to be much more...

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Forza Motorsport Finally Gets an Official Release Date

After first being announced in 2020, Forza Motorsport finally has an official release date of October 10, 2023. Forza Motorsport is the follow-up to 2017's Forza Motorsport 7 and the release date announcement arrived alongside a new gameplay trailer that showed off more of the game's detailed cars, adding in the Cadillac V-Series.R and the Corvette E-Ray for the first time. This new entry from Turn 10 Studios is said to feature a "generational leap in immersion" that will be achieved by realtime ray tracing, improved physics and vehicle destruction, and a full day-night cycle and weather system. We got our first look at true gameplay from Forza Motorsport in 2022, and in early 2023 we learned the game will have over 500 cars to...

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Fallout 76 Is Headed to New Jersey In Xbox Games Showcase Reveal

Alongside announcing that Fallout 76 has seen 15 million players enter its wasteland, Bethesda has revealed the game's next Expedition will take players to casino-filled streets of Atlantic City. Bethesda shared these updates during the Xbox Games Showcase with a Road to Atlantic City trailer that also recapped a bit about what Fallout 76 offers to fans in terms of customization, enemies, weapons, housing, and more. We didn't learn too much about what exactly the Atlantic City Expedition contains, but the trailer gives a brief glimpse of a casino, a bar/restaurant called Quentino's, a shot of the boardwalk and Aquarium of the Atlantic, and a spooky alleyway with a monster. The trailer also confirmed the Atlantic City Expedition will...

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Payday 3 Gets Release Date, is Headed to Game Pass

Payday 3 officially has a release date, and it's headed to Game Pass on September 21. During today's Xbox Games Showcase, Starbreeze Studios showed off another look at the action-packed Payday 3 and announced its day one release on Game Pass. The trailer shows off more of the series' classic action-packed co-op FPS gameplay, with the original Payday crew (and their masks) returning once more to the franchise. Revealed at the end of 2022, Payday 3 is set in a "living, enormous" New York City. Compared to Payday 2, released 10 years ago, Payday 3 also features quite a few new topics, with cryptocurrency, mass surveillance, and even the dark web all playing a role. At the end of 2022, the CEO of Starbreeze said the game was "coming...

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Sea of Thieves Announces Monkey Island Crossover at Xbox Showcase

Sea of Thieves is finally meeting up with another big pirate game, Monkey Island, in a new expansion announced at today's Xbox Showcase. Xbox revealed more details about the collaboration with Lucasfilm Games in a blog post after the announcement, which billed it as a three-part Tall Tale expansion that will start rolling out on July 20. It'll be released in monthly installments, all of which will be free. Officially titled The Legend of Monkey Island, the expansion will feature characters - including Guybrush Threepwood, Elaine, LeChuck, Murray the Demonic Talking Skull - and voice actors from the classic adventure series. It's only the latest major pirate crossover to come to Sea of Thieves after its Pirates of the Caribbean...

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Avowed Gets New Trailer, Release Window for Next Year

Xbox finally shared a new look at Avowed, giving us a proper look at the upcoming RPG from Obsidian and a release window of 2024. Revealed as part of today's Xbox and Bethesda Showcase, the new look showed the game's world of Eora, some gameplay, fantastical monsters, and lots and lots of magical combat. It's a style that will be very familiar to fans of Obsidian's DNA games, with first-person melee and magic battles and, of course, dual wielding. But it's all cast in the brightly colored and vibrant environments in a section of Eora called "The Living Lands". In an Xbox Wire post, we learned more about what we just saw. The Living Lands has a variety of ecosystems, fantasy creatures, weird plants, and more. The trailer was narrated...

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Fable Officially Revealed at Xbox Showcase

Fable fans have been waiting ever so impatiently for any news on the next-gen reboot of the beloved fantasy RPG franchise, and 2023's Xbox Games Showcase has finally delivered, with a reveal courtesy of The IT Crowd's Richard Ayoade. Xbox began teasing Fable's appearance at its showcase at the end of May, and we finally got to see gameplay, combat, and the classic Fable humor, as well as teases of plot including giants, vegetables, and...sandwiches? Yes, Ayoade seems to be in Fable in the role of "Dave," a vegetable enthusiast...a giant one, that the player climbs a beanstalk to confront. We'll have to wait for more details on that one. Unfortunately, we didn't get a release date for Fable today, but like Xbox's other first-party...

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7 New Details From the Mortal Kombat 1 Gameplay Trailer

NetherRealm Studios shared the first gameplay trailer for Mortal Kombat 1, a new game in the famed fighting game series that will reset the timeline (again). While all your favorite characters like Scorpion and Sub-Zero are set to return, the new timeline means there’s a lot we still don’t know about these familiar faces. On the gameplay front, Mortal Kombat 1 is shaking things up with its biggest new mechanic yet: Kameos, which introduces a tag system to Mortal Kombat for the first time ever. With that in mind, we poured over the new trailer to see what new secrets we could glean from the gameplay trailer. Tag You’re It The big new gameplay reveal in the new trailer was Kameo, a new system where players pick a second character to...

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STALKER 2 Will Not Be at the Xbox Showcase, Developer Confirms

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl will skip the Xbox Showcase, its developer has confirmed. A post from a GSC Gameworld representative in the STALKER 2 Steam forum revealed the hotly-anticipated shooter sequel will miss June announcement events altogether, with information due in the upcoming months. “We usually do not announce or deny our participation in shows, but this one time we'll make an exception,” the post read. “STALKER 2 will miss the June online conferences preferring to make important announcements in the upcoming months. “Our plan is to give progressive updates on what we’re planning.” The news (or lack of it) comes three years after GSC Game World re-revealed the long-awaited STALKER 2 in 2020. STALKER 2 has seen a...

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Starfield-Themed Xbox External Hard Drive Preorders Now Live

The first Starfield-themed Xbox accessory is now available at Best Buy, and it's the Starfield Special Edition Seagate Game Drives, with 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB hard drives all now listed on the US retailer. Starting at $109.99, there isn't a confirmed release date for the drives, but preorders are still live for those interested. The portable hard drives are externally based, featuring USB A and USB C ports, and are compatible with Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S. Each HDD also features Starfield's signature logo and crisp white design. Buyer's Guide: Where to Preorder Starfield Seagate Game Drives In other Xbox storage news, new third-party SSD expansion cards will be available soon from Western Digital. The 500GB card costs $79.99, while...

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Xbox Games Showcase and Starfield Direct 2023: How to Watch Live and What to Expect

IGN's Summer of Gaming continues and The Xbox Games Showcase is nearly upon us. Fans are hoping to see some positive updates on upcoming console exclusives, and the showcase will be immediately followed by a Starfield Direct where we expect to see more details about one of the most anticipated games of the year. If you're wondering when and where you can watch the Xbox Games Showcase livestream and Starfield Direct, we've got you covered with all of the details below. You can also scroll down to see our predictions for what Xbox Series X games to expect from the showcase in 2023. Xbox Games Showcase 2023 Start Time The 2023 Xbox Games Showcase kicks off on Sunday, June 11 at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET. That translates to 6 p.m. BST if...

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7 Games Like Sonic The Hedgehog Worth Playing

Sonic the Hedgehog has garnered plenty of success in over 30 years of his career: five animated series, two movies (with a third one on the way), a comic book series by two publishers, and a long-running video game series beloved by gamers of all ages — all culminating into a single mega multimedia franchise. Sonic has had some ups and downs, including the infamous 2006 game that was supposed to reboot the franchise, but now he’s back on the right track following the release of the open-world venture Sonic Frontiers, as well as the release of The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, the visual novel by Sonic Team’s beloved and comical social media department. With Sonic Origins Plus coming down the wire, adding more to the original...

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