Gaming News

Xbox Game Pass Makes Bank – Unlocked 565

We finally get some real numbers from Xbox Game Pass, including how much revenue it generated last year and how much Xbox is paying for the Ark games on Game Pass. Plus: one of the developers of Scorn joins us to discuss the imminent new body-horror adventure game, and more! Subscribe on any of your favorite podcast feeds, to our YouTube channel, or grab an MP3 of this week's episode. For more awesome content, check out our recent interview with Todd Howard, who answered all of our Starfield questions after the big reveal at the Xbox Showcase: For more next-gen coverage, make sure to check out our Xbox Series X review, our Xbox Series S review, and our PS5 review. Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of...

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Tower of Fantasy Version 2.0: Vera Preview Announcement: How to Watch and What to Expect

Tower of Fantasy’s long-awaited Version 2.0: Vera update is nearly here, launching along side the Steam version for the first time. Level Infinite is gearing up to showcase all of the biggest additions to Tower of Fantasy in a preview stream on Thursday, October 13th that will also feature exclusive content, rewards for simply watching the stream, and more. We will be carrying the stream and, as usual, this watch guide will provide you with everything you need to know to watch the stream, including when it starts, a list of places you can watch it with us, and what surprises the show may have in store for fans. Tower of Fantasy Version 2.0: Vera Preview Announcement Stream Start Time The Tower of Fantasy Version 2.0: Vera Preview...

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CD Projekt Releases Guide for Transferring Cyberpunk 2077 Stadia Saves

With news that Google Stadia is shutting down early next year, developers with games on the cloud platform are looking for ways to help Stadia players keep their saves, including CD Projekt Red who released a guide to transfer Stadia saves for Cyberpunk 2077. CD Projekt released a step-by-step guide that will let players who started their Cyberpunk 2077 save on Google Stadia transfer it to a PC version of the game. According to CDPR, transferring saves from the Stadia cloud is possible using a service called Google Takeout. In the guide, CDPR says players can export their Stadia save files from the cloud by using Google Takeout. The saves can then be extracted and copied into a PC version of the game. If you’re playing on a...

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Xbox Calls PlayStation Too Big to Fail Following UK Agency's Criticism of Activision Blizzard Deal

Xbox has developed a novel tactic for defending its Activision Blizzard acquisition, which continues to wind its way through various regulatory bodies around the world: self-deprecation. In response to claims by concerns raised by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority [CMA], Microsoft released a lengthy statement to GamesIndustry.biz calling the criticism is “unsupported” and pointing to PlayStation’s leading place in the market as a reason why. "The suggestion that the incumbent market leader, with clear and enduring market power, could be foreclosed by the third largest provider as a result of losing access to one title is not credible,” Microsoft said in a statement. While Microsoft didn't share figures, the company says...

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Starfield Dialogue Trees Revealed in New Video

Dialogue choices are a huge part of any great Bethesda RPG, so fans have been wondering what kind of system the developer would implement in Starfield. Now, thanks to a new video from Bethesda, director Todd Howard has shared some details of what to expect in your conversations in Starfield's star systems. "We've gone back to kind of a classic Bethesda-style dialogue [system]", Howard said. "You're looking at the character and how they emote, you have a series of choices there." Howard also talked about the persuasion system, saying players will spend points to persuade characters to get what they want. The example shown had four different dialogue options on screen, with each one costing a different amount of points. The +1 option...

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CD Prokekt Red Expands Cyberpunk 2077 Further With Official Novel

A novel based on CD Projekt Red's world of Cyberpunk 2077 will be released next year. The official Cyberpunk Twitter account announced (below) that the novel, titled Cyberpunk 2077: No Coincidence, will be released in August 2023. It's being written by Polish science fiction author Rafał Kosik and will tell the story of a group of strangers who discover the dangers of Night City. Not much else was said about the novel, but CD Projekt Red did confirm that a Polish version would also be released. The book's front cover was also revealed, appearing to show two versions of the same character holding the throat of a cyborg-looking person. Cyberpunk 2077 has had a resurgence recently following its fairly disastrous launch, and CD Projekt...

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FIFA 23 Breaks Franchise Record With 10 Million Players at Launch

FIFA 23 has proved incredibly successful for publisher EA so far as a record 10.3 million players logged in during its first week on the market. EA revealed the news today, October 12, saying that the massive number of players signalled the biggest launch period in FIFA's franchise history. "The response from our fans has been nothing short of incredible, and we’re thrilled that our community is playing with their favourite players and teams across FIFA 23 in record numbers," said SVP GM of EA Sports FC Nick Wlodyka. "With both the Men’s and Women’s World Cups, and exciting updates to our women’s club football content in game still yet to come, we’re just getting started on providing players with the most authentic and immersive...

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Witchfire Is Now Open World, Delayed to 2023 as a Result

Witchfire, the long-awaited spooky shooter from The Vanishing of Ethan Carter developer The Astronauts, has been delayed to early 2023 to facilitate a shift to open world gameplay. Announced in a blog post on The Astronauts' website, the development team blatantly said that Witchfire is now better thanks to the open world change, but such a drastic shift has required extra time. Players will now be able to tackle the game in almost any order they want, presumably indicating a change from Doom-style arena-based combat to the more open style of something like Fallout 4. "The feature is now 95% implemented. It makes the game better. It is kind of hard for me to imagine the player did not have that freedom before," said creative...

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Moonbreaker Early Access Review

With the popularity of tabletop miniatures booming right now, it’s somewhat surprising that digital recreations of games such as Warhammer, Infinity, and Malifaux have not appeared. That’s what makes Moonbreaker, the new Early Access project from Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds, so appealing. It’s a video game version of the full collect, paint, and play hobby, complete with fun tactical battles and admirably detailed painting tools. Its 1v1 skirmishes are packed with personality as you combine the powers of vibrant sci-fi heroes to reduce your enemy’s own to crumbling plastic fragments. But as I spend more time with Moonbreaker, I’ve begun to question its strategy potential, how it will develop over time, and its deeply concerning...

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New Dungeons And Dragons AAA Game in Development at Dark Alliance Studio

The developer behind Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance is working on a new, AAA D&D game and has rebranded from Tuque Games to Invoke Studios. As reported by Polygon, D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast announced the new game is being developed in Unreal Engine 5 and will be "a AAA game derived from the Dungeons and Dragons universe". No release date or further details about what the game will be were announced, but Wizards of the Coast did reveal that Invoke is planning to up its development team from its current 80 members to more than 200 by 2025, though it's unclear if this full, 200+ team will be necessary to complete development on the new game. Dominic Guay is leading the studio after leaving Ubisoft in 2021, where he...

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Diablo: Immortal Adds a Way to Earn Its End-Game Content Instead of Just Buying It

Diablo: Immortal players are now able to earn the game's premium, end-game content without having to pay real money for it. A blog post on Blizzard's website announced its plans to introduce a new currency called Telluric Pearls which can be used to craft five star Legendary Gems, items that were previously locked behind what are essentially loot box dungeons. It's not totally clear how easy to get Telluric Pearls will be, but Blizzard did announce two ways to get them not linked to paying money. Players can trade Hilts with Lieutenant Fizriah, the Hilt Vendor in Westmarch, or earn them as rewards in Diablo: Immortal's limited-time events. They'll also be available through in-game shop bundles such as Seekers Supplies and...

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LEGO Bricktales Review

There are few better ways to spend a day than building LEGO. Feeling the pieces click together as a pile of plastic bricks becomes an epic creation is incredibly satisfying in a way that digital representations haven't always been able to recreate. So while most recent LEGO games have instead found success as silly action-platformers with licensed tie-ins, LEGO Bricktales goes in a completely different direction. It ditches the pop culture characters and co-op combat in favor of an original story with building-based puzzles. It’s not quite the same as building LEGOs in real life, but it comes pretty close — even when you’re fighting with the camera or obscure mission objectives. In LEGO Bricktales, you’re a brick person tasked with...

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Cyberpunk 2077 Mod Adds Edgerunners' Risk of Turning Cyberpsycho

Cyberpunk 2077 players can now succumb to cyberpsychosis thanks to a PC mod that adds Cyberpunk Edgerunners' risk-reward system into the game. As reported by Games Radar, Nexus Mods user DJ_Kovrik uploaded a Wannabe Edgerunner mod that adds a humanity stat into Cyberpunk 2077. The mechanic hails from the Cyberpunk tabletop RPG, but has recently been a big topic of discussion between fans thanks to the new Edgerunners anime. The mod has your humanity stat lower as you install more cyberware, kill more people, and use Berserk mode or the Sandevistan operating system from Edgerunners. Letting the humanity stat drop to zero will cause you to turn cyberpsycho. While middling humanity only causes a few visual glitches and other minor...

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Overwatch 2 Offering Double XP and Free Skin as Apology For Rough Launch

Blizzard has offered players double XP, a weapon charm, and a free skin to make up for Overwatch 2's rough launch. The developer apologised to its fans for the initial issues in a blog post, and also announced that it would run several double XP weekends for players to catch up after the game was often unplayable during its first week. For a number of days Overwatch 2 was plagued with long queue times, controversial policies, and the removal of certain heroes. Anyone who logs in between October 25 and December 6 will also be given a new legendary skin for Reaper, the Cursed Captain, alongside a Health Pack weapon charm. "Since the launch of Overwatch 2, we’ve been blown away by your excitement, and incredibly moved by the sheer...

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – Release Date, Campaign, Multiplayer, Spec Ops, Warzone 2.0

Following the underwhelming performance of Call of Duty Vanguard last year, Activision is hoping to reinvigorate the CoD fanbase with Modern Warfare 2, a return to Infinity Ward’s fan-favorite subseries. Activision has reason to be hopeful following the recent beta, as it was the biggest in franchise history, both in terms of player count and hours played. The highly anticipated shooter is nearly here, so we’ve created this broad overview of everything you need to know about Modern Warfare 2, including details on its release, campaign, multiplayer, Spec Ops, Warzone 2.0, gameplay trailers and much more. Jump to: MW2 Release Date and Price MW2 Gameplay and Campaigns Warzone 2.0 Release Date MW2 Release Date, Platforms, and Price...

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Aussie Deals: Zelda and Metroid Drop to $44 Each, Plus Other Amazing Big Smile Sale Savings!

Amazon's Big Smile Sale has delivered a bunch of bargains that'll have you ear-to-ear beaming. Most notably, I'm tracking a handful of AAA Switch titles that have dropped down in the 40s or below. I've also (finally) discovered a worthy discount on NBA 2K23 for PC players. Last but not least, PS5 console stock continues to hold. This makes it a bad day to be a scalper, but also a satisfying one if you're into schadenfreude. Quick note: Some of the below "Big Smile" centric deals may require an Amazon Prime account. Score a free 30 day trial here. Table of Contents Nintendo Switch PC Xbox PlayStation LEGO Random Big Smile Savings Notable Sales for Nintendo Switch Back to top Purchase Cheaply for PC Back to top Exciting...

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Among Us VR Gets November Release Date

Among Us VR, the virtual reality port of the 2018 online social game, arrives on November 10 and will cost $9.99. Initially announced at the 2021 Game Awards, Among Us VR allows you to play with up to ten players. You assume the role of either a crewmate or an imposter, with the former looking to complete all the tasks around the map while the player(s) posing as Imposter(s) try to kill all the crewmates without being detected. Among Us is already a fun game, but the VR port adds a new level of suspense and chaos that will provide a fresh perspective for longtime players. In the gameplay trailer released back in April, you can see that the game shifts to a first-person perspective. Adding to the level of chaos is the inclusion of...

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Meta Connect 2022: Everything Announced

Today's Meta Connect 2022 event gave Quest 2 owners plenty to look forward to, as Facebook detailed a number of upcoming titles for its VR platform. IGN has you covered with every announcement from the show, including Marvel's Iron Man VR, Among Us VR, and the all-new Meta Quest Pro headset. Meta Quest Pro Coming October 25, Costs $1499.99 Meta unveiled its next VR headset, the Meta Quest Pro. The new device is coming on October 25 for $1499.99, which includes the headset itself, the Meta Quest Touch Pro controllers, stylus tips, partial light blockers, and a charging dock. The machine comes with 2GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and 10 high res sensors. The Quest Pro has 37% more pixels per inch than Meta Quest 2, along with improved...

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High on Life: Meet the Talking Guns – IGN First

A lot of the comedy in High on Life, the upcoming first-person shooter from Justin Roiland and his Squanch Games development studio, comes through the game's talking guns. You play a mute protagonist, so all of the conversations in this world happen between the goofy aliens you encounter, and the talking guns in your hands. Roiland plays your first talking gun, the pistol-like Kenny (who sounds quite a bit like Rick's high-pitched teenage partner-in-space-adventures in Rick & Morty). Curb Your Enthusiasm's JB Smoove voices the shotgun-esque talking gun Gus. Comedian Betsy Sodaro plays Sweezy, the Halo-Needler-like gun you can see in our exclusive 12-minute gameplay video from earlier this week. Tim Robinson, from Netflix's I Think You...

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Valve Job Listing Suggests a New VR Headset Is in Development

Valve appears to be working on a new version of its Valve Index virtual reality headset with camera passthrough and advanced tracking. As reported by Upload, a job listing on Valve's website revealed its search for software engineers to assist it in "pushing the boundaries of VR experiences". It continued: "The main scope of this position is to prototype, ship, and support consumer gaming products leveraging visual-inertial tracking (HMD and controllers), camera passthrough, environment understanding, eye tracking, and hand tracking." While its remained quiet on the VR front since the Index was released in 2019, Valve has since seen success with another hardware pursuit in the Steam Deck. Now that its production issues have...

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Amazon October Prime Day Deal: Samsung Odyssey G9, G7, and G5 Gaming Monitors

During the Amazon Prime Early Access Sale, save big with deals on several models of the Samsung Odyssey G-series gaming monitors. There are several options available, from the massive 49" Odyssey G9 to the more affordable 27" Samsung G5 and G3. A few of these monitors were on sale during Amazon Prime Day back in July, but the prices this time around are even lower. Some of these monitors weren't discounted at all. Note that this deal requires an Amazon Prime membership. Make sure you're logged into your Amazon Prime account. If you do not have Prime and you don't want to pay for an annual fee, then just pay for the 1-month membership for $14.99. Amazon Prime Early Access Deal: Save up to $500 Off Samsung Odyssey Gaming Monitors The...

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How PlayStation Studios Malaysia is Playing a Growing Role in Sony's Most Important Franchises

Founded in 2020, PlayStation Studios Malaysia is the newest first-party PlayStation studio to be created from the ground up by Sony. Until recently, very little has been known about the projects this studio is working on – but now we know the answer. They’re working on everything. Speaking during a panel at Level Up KL in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, PlayStation Studios Malaysia head Hasnul Hadi Samsudin and Neil Ingram from PlayStation’s San Diego-based Visual Arts team explained how Sony’s newest internal startup studio has been involved in working on first-party games like The Last of Us Part I and MLB The Show 2022, as well as playing a role in many other first-party titles. The new Malaysia studio was founded in Kuala Lumpur as a...

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Sony Paid $3.5 Million to Put Ark: Survival Evolved on PlayStation Plus

Sony paid $3.5 million to put Ark: Survival Evolved on PlayStation Plus for one month, while Microsoft paid $2.5 million to put it on Xbox Game Pass for six months. As spotted by Kotaku reporter Ethan Gach on Twitter (below), a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by Snail Games USA (the parent company of Ark developer Studio Wildcard) revealed the values paid by each company to feature the game in their "free games" line-up. Ark appeared on PlayStation Plus in March 2022 and was therefore free for subscribers in the five week period ranging from March 1 to April 4, a deal that Sony paid $3.5 million for. Neither Sony or the developers involved have previously revealed how much these deals go through for, and...

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12 Dream Video Game Movies and TV Shows

It’s well documented that the history of the video game movie adaptation has been a mixed one, to say the least. But, with recent hits such as Netflix’s Arcane and Castlevania series, as well as a promising(?) looking Super Mario movie on the horizon, we may have finally turned a corner. With a brighter future ahead of us, I’ve decided to attach directors to 12 dream video game movies and TV shows, that I think Hollywood would be frankly foolish to pass on. Sure, most of these games would probably benefit from being left exactly as that, but let’s have a bit of fun, shall we? James Cameron’s Titanfall 2 Let’s start big. And blockbusters don’t get much bigger than when Terminator, Aliens, and Titanic director James Cameron is at the...

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Personal Details Were Obtained In 2K Hack Last Month, 'No Indication' of Financial Data

Publisher 2K has confirmed that players' personal information was obtained in the hack that affected its support section last month, though there is "no indication" that financial data was taken. An update on 2K's support website revealed that details including users' email addresses, gamertags, and console details were stolen and put up for sale. "There is no indication that any of your financial information or password(s) held on our system were compromised," it added. 2K has been emailing users affected by the hack, which itself saw emails sent from its official support section that contained malicious links asking for personal information. The publisher immediately shut down its support website and asked users not to open these...

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Prime Early Access Sale: Best Deals on SD Cards for Steam Deck and Switch

Amazon Prime Early Access is finally here, and there are some absolutely incredible deals to check out at the moment, especially if you're a gamer. If you're struggling for storage space on your handheld consoles, then we've got you covered. We're taking a look here at some of the very best SD cards that are compatible with your Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck. Our top pick is the SanDisk Ultra 1TB microSDXC, you can save yourself well over £100 on this card. We've also got a little reminder for you that the Steam Deck can be purchased without a reservation now. And, we've spoiled you with a little bonus deal. Aren't you lucky? Best Steam Deck and Switch SD Card Deals We've got a whole heap of great Early Access deals to sort all...

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Battlefield 2042's Limited-Time Event Turned Off After 30 Minutes Due to Bugs

DICE was forced to turn off Battlefield 2042's The Liquidators limited-time event less than one hour after it went live due to serious bugs. The event went live on time at 9am UK time but, as of 9:32am, had been taken offline after DICE discovered that its progression system wasn't working. "We are temporarily disabling The Liquidators mid-season event", the official Battlefield Direct Communication account said on Twitter (below). "We're seeing that the unlock rewards and progress for the event are not tracking correctly, and cannot be equipped when showing as unlocked." Those looking to play the event, which adds the Tactical Conquest mode alongside new missions and rewards, seemingly won't have too long to wait, however, as DICE...

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Bastion and Torbjörn Temporarily Cut From Overwatch 2 Due to Bugs

Blizzard has been forced to temporarily remove Bastion and Torbjörn from Overwatch 2 due to both characters causing serious bugs. Bastion has been removed from the game entirely due to its ultimate being completely broken. A glitch allows the robot's Ultimate, which usually lets players fire a powerful blast up to three times within seconds, to be shot as many times as players can within that time. Torbjörn is still available in Quick Play but has been removed from every other mode, with a tweet from Overwatch's official account (below) saying that both heroes have been removed "while we iron out a few bugs in their ability kits". It's unclear how long the characters will be absent from the game, but Blizzard followed up on its...

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Modern Warfare 2 Will Include Overwatch 2's Controversial Feature

The controversial Overwatch 2 feature that required players to connect a phone number to their account before playing is also coming to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. As reported by PC Gamer, the requirement will seemingly be applicable to all Modern Warfare 2 players instead of just the minority of those playing Overwatch. "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, newly created Overwatch 2 accounts, and newly created Call of Duty: Modern Warfare accounts require a phone number," a Blizzard support page reads. It's unclear if Activision will backtrack the phone number requirement just as Blizzard did for Overwatch 2, reducing it so that only new players had to add a number, but the Modern Warfare 2 phrasing wasn't changed alongside...

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Aussie Deals: PS5 Consoles Somehow Still in Stock and the Hottest Picks of an Amazon Big Smile Sale!

It's Big Smile Sale time at Amazon AU and we've got the most grinworthy deals identified. I'm also tracking a bunch of decent LEGO bargains on the most game-centric sets. They're sure to really tie your game cave together. Lastly, I'm thoroughly amazed that Amazon still has stock of the PlayStation 5 + Horizon Forbidden West console bundle from yesterday. Could we finally be free of the stock drought that has plagued this gen's most coveted devices? Not bloody likely. Get in quick. Table of Contents Nintendo Switch PC Xbox PlayStation LEGO Random Big Smile Savings 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...

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