Gaming News

Rally Driver and Racing Game Icon Ken Block Dies in Snowmobile Accident

Rally driver and racing game icon Ken Block has died in a snowmobile accident aged 55. As reported by ABC News, Block was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident in Utah on January 2 after his snowmobile upended on a steep slope. Alongside a successful professional racing career, Block also had a significant presence in racing video games, having appeared in several premier franchises including Need for Speed, Dirt, and Forza. "Ken was a visionary, a pioneer and an icon. And most importantly, a father and husband. He will be incredibly missed." "We are saddened to hear of the loss of Kenneth and our hearts are with his family and friends so deeply affected," said the Wasatch County Sheriff's Office. Block's auto media and...

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Aussie Deals: $40 Off Fancy Colour Controllers, Half Price Sonic, Horizon, GT7 and More!

Welcome to a fresh year of ludicrous bargains. Let's you and I pick through the bones of 2022, scoring all of the best it had to offer for way less than original pricing. Alternatively, it's also a really good day to get our peripheral game sorted—controllers and mice are going cheaper than the budgie. Table of Contents Nintendo Switch PC Xbox PlayStation Notable Sales for Nintendo Switch Back to top Purchase Cheaply for PC Back to top Exciting Offers for XO/XS Back to top Product Savings for PS4/PS5 Back to top Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He plays at ludicrous difficulties on YouTube. Continue reading...

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The Biggest Games Coming in 2023

Following two years of false starts, 2023 looks to be the proper beginning of the PS5-Xbox Series generation, as Unreal Engine 5 support builds and an increasing number of developers drop support for Sony and Microsoft’s last-gen consoles. Starfield, Spider-Man 2, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and Final Fantasy 16 are only a handful of games built exclusively for new hardware, though PS4, Xbox One, and especially Switch owners have plenty to look forward to as well. With dozens of games delayed to 2023, a greater emphasis on new-gen hardware, and at least one major exclusive from each platform holder, next year easily houses the most exciting games lineup since the changing of the console guard in 2020. As we enter the new year, we’ve...

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60 Movies We Can't Wait to See in 2023

Between theatrical releases and streaming exclusives, 2023 already has a massive movie catalogue. The long-delayed Aquaman sequel and The Flash movie finally land while the MCU kicks off the Multiverse Saga with Phase Five's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy, and The Marvels. On top of that, Harrison Ford returns one final time as Indiana Jones, Tom Cruise kicks off the endgame of the Mission: Impossible series, and Timothée Chalamet plays a young Willy Wonka (while also reprising his role as Paul Atreides in the Dune sequel). And speaking of comebacks, The Hunger Games franchise is cooking up a prequel, Tobin Bell will return as maniacal trap-man Jigsaw, and Keanu Reeves will Gun Fu his way back into our...

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Destiny 2: Where Is Xur Today? Location and Exotic Items for December 30-January 3

The bringer of new guns for the new year, Xûr, is now live in Destiny 2 for the weekend until next week's reset. If you're looking to get your 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 Today? Xûr's location...

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The Biggest News Stories in 2022: Musk's Twitter Takeover, Acquisition Mania, DC's New Leaders, and More

News cycles across most industries spun chaotically throughout 2022 — and games, entertainment, and tech were no exception. Headlines here were comparatively tame, though it was nonetheless an eventful year in our little corner of the internet: Elon Musk took over Twitter, Xbox made the industry’s biggest acquisition yet (deal pending), GTA 6 gameplay leaked, Will Smith earned a 10-year ban from the Oscars, and Winnie the Pooh broke into the public domain with bloodlust. As we look back on the year that was, we’ve compiled a list of the 20 biggest news stories published on IGN in 2022. This list covers games, movies, television, comics, and tech, and is based on a combination of website traffic and significance. 20. PS5 Has Seemingly...

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IGN UK Podcast #677: The Big 2023 Preview

Cardy and Matt are joined by fresh voice to the podcast, Jen Rothery, who is simply a delight. Together they tackle all of the biggest games, films, and TV shows coming in 2023 and pick out some of their most anticipated ones. With the likes of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Starfield, Final Fantasy 16, Dune: Part Two, Indiana Jones, and Succession to name just a few, we're set for a very fun year. Got a game for us to play or some feedback you'd like read out on the show? Why not email us: ign_ukfeedback@ign.com. IGN UK Podcast #677: The Big 2023 Preview IGN UK Podcast 676: Alternative Game Awards 2022 IGN UK Podcast 675: Alternative Movie & TV Awards 2022 IGN UK Podcast 674: Birdwatching with Blade IGN UK Podcast...

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Xbox Games With Gold for January 2023 Revealed

Microsoft has announced that the Xbox Games with Gold for January 2023 are Iris Fall and Autonauts. As detailed on Xbox Wire, all Xbox Live Gold members and those subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will get access to these two games when they arrive next month. Iris Fall will become available on January 1 and will stick around until January 31, and Autonauts will come a bit later on January 16 but will stay until February 15. Iris Fall was released in 2018 and features a "dreamlike, stunningly designed world of puzzles and adventure." In Iris Fall, you will step into the shoes of Iris as she follows a black cat into a "labyrinthian world of light and dark." Shortly after, she begins to discover that everything in this strange...

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Daily Deals: Buy One Board Game, Get One 50% Off at Amazon

Looking to stock up your board game cabinet? Now is a good time to do so, because Amazon is offering a Buy One, Get One 50% Off promotion on select board games. The quality of the deal varies; some board games are priced lower than on Black Friday after the discount, and others are markedly higher. Below, we've picked the best board games that we think are worth getting. Wingspan Wingspan from Stonemeier Games is an incredibly good board game. So good in fact that we deemed it the best board game of 2019. Wingspan looks like a deceptively simple game; the endgame goal is to attract as many birds as you can to your wildlife preserve and help them proliferate. There are only four actions you can perform: draw a bird card, play a bird...

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Will Vampire Survivors Ever Have an Actual Vampire? We Asked the Creator

The success of 2022 roguelike shoot-em-up Vampire Survivors took everyone by surprise, but no one so much as its creator, Luca ‘poncle’ Galante. Galante began development of Vampire Survivors while unemployed in 2020, deriving inspiration from mobile game Magic Survival and Galante’s past experience developing flashy graphics for slot machines. He never intended Vampire Survivors to make it big — he just wanted to make something fun and manage a little community around it. Vampire Survivors launched in early access in December of 2021. Now, almost exactly a year later, it’s seen a huge Steam concurrent player takeover, a full release, DLC, a mobile release that netted it over one million downloads in a week, critical praise, and a...

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Infinite Lagrange Comes to PC

Your new favorite sci-fi strategy game, Infinite Lagrange, is officially coming to PC Infinite Lagrange is a massive, online sci-fi space simulation game that has been one of the best-rated titles in the strategy category since it debuted. It’s been ranked at the top of the download & recommendation list in the Apple app store and currently sits at 4.7 out of 5 stars with several thousand reviews. Now, developer NetEase, one of China’s top game studios, is bringing their beautiful and ambitious sci-fi strategy game to PC this holiday season with various visual and technical upgrades. Specular reflection, collision monitoring, and frame rate increases are just a few of the enhancements in the PC update. Comparing before and after...

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PlayStation Plus Games for January 2023 Announced

The PlayStation Plus games for January 2023 have been officially confirmed to be Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Fallout 76, and Axiom Verge 2. As detailed by PlayStation.Blog, all three of these titles will be available on Tuesday, January 3, for all PlayStation Plus Essential, Extra, and Premium members. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for PS4 and PS5 is the first game featured for January 2023's PlayStation Plus games, and it comes at a perfect time to get fans ready for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's release date of March 17, 2023. Fans who have yet to play this Star Wars adventure will be able to learn the beginnings of Jedi Padawan Cal Kestis' story before the sequel picks up five years later. In our Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order...

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How EA’s Positive Play Initiative Wants to Move From Banning Toxic Players to Creating Positive Experiences

We’ve known for years that online gaming can be a minefield of toxicity and bullying especially for women. And while moderation tools generally have been a thing for almost as long, it hasn’t been until recent years that we’ve started to see major gaming companies really acknowledge their responsibility and power not just to stop this behavior, but to proactively create positive spaces. Just last month, we saw Riot Games and Ubisoft partner on such a project, and Xbox has recently begun offering data on moderation topics as well. But one company that’s been publicly promoting this strategy for a few years now is EA, via its Positive Play program. The Positive Play program is spearheaded by Chris Bruzzo, EA’s chief experience officer...

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Inside Roblox’s Criminal Underworld, Where Kids Are Scamming Kids

In the depths of the Roblox criminal Discord network, a scammer from across the void shows me his best score. A screenshot materializes in the chat — it contains the uncensored username, password, and IP address of a Roblox account that was allegedly captured in his snare. There were 467,985 Robux in the target's wallet at the time of the hack, equivalent to about $5,850. "I scripted something called a pin cracker. I run it, crack their pin, and it auto-unverifies their email," says the scammer, when I ask how they prevent their victims from reclaiming their Roblox identity. "They get logged off, and I change everything." Could it really be that simple? I didn't know what to believe. The panels of these Discord servers bloom with...

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Tunic May Still Contain More Secrets, Depending on How You Define ‘Secret’, Says Creator

It’s been nine months since the release of Tunic, the Zelda-like action-adventure game about a fox hero in a strange world; nine months for its community to dig out secrets upon secrets, decipher its multiple hidden languages, and puzzle over the curious ARG at its heart. This jubilant community treasure hunting delights both Tunic creator Andrew Shouldice and PowerUp Audio co-founder Kevin Regamey, the latter of whom was instrumental in creating Tunic’s secondary hidden “audio” language. Tunic already has an initially incomprehensible written language dotted about the game’s signs, in-game manual, and other locations that the community has deciphered into a legible alphabet. But its audio language, discovered a bit later, is a very...

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What to Expect From Star Wars in 2023

We’ve got a bad – actually no, we have a pretty good feeling about this! Star Wars has the engine thrust capacity at maximum heading into the new year – lots of new live-action, animation and a major video game. From the debut of live-action Thrawn to the return of The Mandalorian and Grogu, there’s lots to keep track of, so strap in and… punch it! Star Wars in 2023 The Bad Batch: Season 2 Kick off the new year with the artists formerly known as Experimental Clone Force 99! Huntah, Ricka, Icko, Tick, and Omeega are all free-agent mercenaries for hire now, making their way in the Empire’s early days and finding out that this new world isn’t so kind to the Clones or the Kaminoans who created them in the first place. The Bad Batch...

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After Blizzard: The Big New AAA-to-Indie Exodus Is in Full Swing

At this year’s Summer Game Fest a new indie developer called Frost Giant Studios revealed its debut game, Stormgate, to the world. If you saw the cinematic trailer and thought, ‘Hey, that looks a bit like StarCraft’, then it will come as no surprise that Frost Giant is a studio largely made up of ex-Blizzard developers; a collection of people who stepped away from one of the most prolific studios in history to forge their own path. On its own, that story of AAA-to-indie is somewhat commonplace in the games industry today. But Frost Giant is just one part of a bigger, separate picture. Over the past few years, dozens of people have departed Blizzard in pursuit of new dreams. Hearthstone director Ben Brode set up Second Dinner, and has...

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Destiny 2: Where Is Xur Today? Location and Exotic Items for December 23-December 27

He who is more rat than man and more jackal than rat, Xûr, is now live in Destiny 2 for the weekend until next week's reset. If you're looking to get your 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 This...

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How Ubisoft’s Editorial Teams Are Quietly Shifting Games Like Assassin’s Creed, Roller Champions

You’ve probably familiar with video game development jobs like programmer, artist, or designer. But one of the most influential roles at Ubisoft is one that doesn’t always immediately parse for most people: the role of its editorial team. This advisory group’s job is, on a large scale, to determine the creative direction for Ubisoft and its games, and it’s been in a state of upheaval lately. The editorial team had previously gotten an overhaul in early 2020, only to need another later that year after a wave of abuse allegations levied at multiple senior Ubisoft employees, including editorial leads. In the pre-2020 structure, reports suggested that many of Ubisoft’s games ended up very same-y due to just one or two people dictating...

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What to Expect from Xbox in 2023

Microsoft’s fourth-generation Xbox consoles, the Xbox Series X and Series S, are now entering Year 3. And though Year 1 started with a soft launch in the exclusive games department, the second half of this generation’s first year delivered the flood that parched Xbox fans have waited years for. From Forza Horizon 5 to Halo Infinite to Psychonauts 2 to Microsoft Flight Simulator, it sure seemed like the Xbox’s exclusive games drought was finally over [Editor’s note: Whoops!]. Of course, by now you know the story because you lived through it. The whole of 2022 was like a mirage in the desert: you thought you could see water up ahead, but was it really there? As such, 2023 simply must deliver for Xbox gamers who’ve invested so much in the...

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IGN UK Podcast #676: Alternative Game Awards 2022

Dale, Alex and Emma are here with the only game awards that matter. The alternative list of stuff they've made up as an excuse to talk about what they've enjoyed playing in 2022, and other things that have driven them crazy. Got a game for us to play or some feedback you'd like read out on the show? Why not email us: ign_ukfeedback@ign.com. IGN UK Podcast 676: Alternative Game Awards 2022 IGN UK Podcast 675: Alternative Movie & TV Awards 2022 IGN UK Podcast 674: Birdwatching with Blade IGN UK Podcast 673: The Live Episode 673 Spectacular IGN UK Podcast: God of War Ragnarok Special IGN UK Podcast 672: Atomic Heart is a Real Game Continue reading...

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Melatonin Is the Pastel Rhythm Heaven-like I’ve Been Dreaming Of

When I say Rhythm Heaven, which minigame pops into your head instantly? Is it the karate guy punching plant pots? The choir kid trio singing? Plucking hairs off of vegetables? For me, it’s the wrestler interview in Ringside. Whichever one it is, there’s no denying there’s something deeply memorable and satisfying about those rhythmic minigames, which is why I was instantly drawn into Melatonin. It’s a new indie release from developer Half Asleep that successfully (if ironically, given the sleepy theme) replicates those serotonin hits from landing perfects in a Rhythm Heaven minigame. Set within the mind of a very sleepy person, Melatonin’s rhythm games are all loosely themed around their fantastic dreams of mundane activities: food...

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TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection Receives Major New Update

Konami has released the first major update for TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection that brings several improvements and fixes to the bundle of 13 games. Increased online functionality is the headlining feature of the update, with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time for Super Nintendo getting full multiplayer. Konami also announced that TMNT 3: The Manhattan Project will be getting an online mode in a future update. This update otherwise includes customisable lobby sizes for the two arcade games and an automatic frame delay option to adjust input lag depending on the number of players. Arcade stick support on both PlayStation and Xbox has also been added. See the full patch notes below: Home Menu icon changed to the box...

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Aussie Deals: Early Boxing Day Price Wars Make Games, Consoles and Controllers Go Mad Cheap!

Much like Cyber Monday and Black Friday happened before, online retailers seem totally fine with not waiting until the actual day to dispense their deals. Even if one is an absolute stickler for their holiday dates, it's pretty tough to be annoyed when the bargains are this good. Choose to die on the "it's not even bloody close to boxing day" hill and you're going to miss out. Just get amongst the savings now. Table of Contents Nintendo Switch PC Xbox PlayStation Notable Sales for Nintendo Switch Expiring Deals From Yesterday Back to top Purchase Cheaply for PC Expiring Deals From Yesterday Back to top Exciting Offers for XO/XS Expiring Deals From Yesterday Back to top Product Savings for PS4/PS5 Expiring Deals...

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Development Team on Blizzard's Untitled Survival Game Has Doubled in 2022

Blizzard's untitled survival game is still chugging along through development behind the scenes, and apparently the team working on it has doubled over the last year. In a blog post looking back at the last year, Blizzard head Mike Ybarra noted that "The team has doubled in size this year and we’re looking to grow it even more in the new year!" He also reiterated that it is in fact a new IP (the company's first since Overwatch in 2016). And he noted that its dev team was being headed up by former Far Cry director Dan Hay, who left Ubisoft in late 2021 after over ten years with the company. We first learned about Blizzard's untitled survival game earlier this year via an official blog post announcing job openings. From that post, we...

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GTA 6 Leaked Footage Used in Goat Simulator 3 Ad, Promptly Gets Taken Down

A new trailer for Goat Simulator 3 has seemingly been hit with take-down notices by Take-Two after it incorporated leaked Grand Theft Auto 6 footage. As reported by Eurogamer, Coffe Stain North released a new trailer for Goat Simulator 3, though you’ll have a hard time finding it now after it was hit with DMCA takedowns. The reason? The trailer used leaked footage from GTA 6 as part of the video. In Eurogamer’s report, the trailer begins with an NPC named Shaun who was being fake interviewed for his role as a ragdoll NPC in Goat Simulator 3. According to Shaun, he attended the “most prestigious rag-dolling school in the world.” However, when asked about his other work, Shaun says that he has “other stuff in the pipeline, other, big...

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75% of UK Public Comments Support Microsoft Acquisition of Activision

As the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) continues to assess Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, public sentiment appears to be on Microsoft’s side with around 75% of public comments pro-merger. The CMA invited the public to share their thoughts on the Microsoft Activision Blizzard merger as part of its inquiry into the pending acquisition. The CMA revealed that it received over 2,100 emails during this phase and that “around three quarters were broadly in favor of the Merger and around a quarter were broadly against the Merger.” Among the responses the CMA received and shared as part of its briefing included views such as “Sony and Nintendo are stronger than Microsoft in console gaming, and the Merger will...

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Every IGN 10 of 2022

2022 has given us plenty of phenomenal games, movies, TV, and tech to enjoy. So many, in fact, that IGN gave out a whopping 15 10-out-of-10 review scores. Here’s everything we deemed worthy of being called a masterpiece this year. Elden Ring FromSoftware has a long list of beloved action RPGs under its belt but Elden Ring is the first IGN has given a 10. It’s a challenging open world full of horrors and delight and an evolution of what made the likes of Dark Souls and Bloodborne so well-loved on a grand scale rarely seen before in a game. It begs to be endlessly explored as you hunt for its many secrets and the next expertly designed boss. Our review said it “can easily be held amongst the best open-world games we’ve ever played. Like...

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Dead Space: Creating (and Recreating) Isaac's Suit - IGN First

In a line-up of survival horror characters, Isaac Clarke stands out. Rather than a regular Joe attempting to outrun zombies, Dead Space’s protagonist is a space engineer ready to weather the harshest conditions. That’s clear to see in his now-iconic space suit, which has received a grimy upgrade for the upcoming Dead Space remake. The original suit was designed by Chi-Wai Lao, a concept artist who worked at EA alongside Dead Space creator Glen Schofield back in the early 2000s. “[To begin with] my suit designs were all over the place,” says Lao, “ranging from very slim-fitted to very bulky, some very robotic looking, a couple even [carried] a giant sword. They were drastically different from the Dead Space suits we recognize today.”...

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The 10 Best Call of Duty Campaigns

Since its debut in 2003, Call of Duty has become the best-selling first-person shooter series ever. Not a bad effort for a WWII FPS that first emerged as Activision’s ambitious answer to Medal of Honor, a franchise which has since faded from relevance but was a genre juggernaut for EA at that time. Of course, there are two pillars of Call of Duty: there’s the multiplayer, and there are the single-player campaigns. And, hey, for those of us a little unwilling to huck ourselves into the online hellhole and compete in the Call of Duty combat cauldron, the quality of those campaigns is very important! So which Call of Duty games have the greatest campaigns? IGN’s keenest and crustiest Call of Duty fans combined to carve out a list of our...

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