Gaming News

Best PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium Games

In June Sony rolled out a revamped, tiered version of its long-running PlayStation Plus subscription, combining the benefits of the existing service — free monthly games, cloud saves, online multiplayer access — with an expanded version of its PlayStation Now game library. That library, an ever-growing catalog of nearly 400 PS4 and PS5 games, is available to subscribers of PS Plus’s top two tiers: Extra ($15 USD/month) and Premium ($18), the latter of which also included a Classics library from earlier consoles. We know it can be hard — stressful even — to sort through that many games and determine which may be worth your time. And so we’ve curated this list of what we consider some of the 33 best PlayStation Plus games available to...

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Elden Ring Had One of the Biggest Game Launches on YouTube, Ever

In its first 60 days of release, Elden Ring became one of YouTube's biggest ever gaming launches, seeing well over 3 billion combined video views. In stats shared exclusively with IGN, Elden Ring saw 3.4 billion views in the two months after launch, dwarfing the next name on the list, GTA 5 on 1.9 billion. Of course, YouTube has grown since GTA's launch in 2013, making that something of an unfair comparison – but the far more recent Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) saw 1.4 billion, so it's clear quite how successful Elden Ring has been. YouTube Gaming stops short of calling it the biggest gaming launch ever, but it's clear that FromSoftware's open world masterpiece has set an incredibly high bar for games on YouTube in the future. In...

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How Bear and Breakfast Opened for Business Despite Multiple Challenges

The many independent developers I’ve spoken to over the years have described a wide array of diverse and unusual paths that brought them into game development in the first place. But Bear and Breakfast creator Rareș Cinteză is the first developer I’ve spoken to who not only didn’t imagine he’d ever be a game developer, but actively didn’t think he could be for the longest time. “It felt like one of those ‘that’s for other people’ kind of things,” he tells me shortly ahead of Bear and Breakfast’s recent PC launch. While Cinteză didn’t think he was cut out for the job, he still loved the idea of making games. So he started volunteering at conferences like GDC, doing graphic design for things like posters, and talking to developers...

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Activision Blizzard Loses Millions of Players, But Adds 25% More Developers Year-on-Year

Call of Duty and Overwatch publisher Activision Blizzard has lost millions of players compared to this time last year but, despite that decrease, has grown its pool of developers by 25%. During its latest earnings results, Activision Blizzard revealed that its monthly active users - categorised as anyone who accesses one of its games in that timeframe - fell from 372 million at the end of March 2022 to 361 million at the end of June. This drop continues the publisher's downward trend as the number of monthly active users on June 30 last year was 408 million, and it has fallen relatively steadily ever since. There are some extenuating circumstances at work – Activision Blizzard has had a notably quiet release schedule recently, party...

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Battlefield 2042 Update Finally Begins to Address 'Walking Sim' Map Complaints

EA's DICE has finally addressed criticisms of one of Battlefield 2042's maps, which was dubbed a "walking simulator" by fans. The new update 1.2 reworks Kaleidoscope to include an "improved gameplay flow". The developer released patch notes for the update which arrives today, August 2, detailing its midseason update – which also includes a handful of other changes. The Kaleidoscope rework headlines these improvements, however, marking the first map update since DICE said it understands why fans "use terms such as 'walking simulator' to describe" Battlefield 2042 back in March. "We identified several focus areas for our launch maps where our quality standards could be improved through cover, intensity, line of sight, pathing and...

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Aussie Deals: LEGO Skywalker and Tsushima Director's go 42% off, Capcom AAA Clearance and More!

If you're keen on some cheap Streeties, Resi or Devil May Cry, today's your day. Like a famished zombie, Capcom has bitten large chunks off the RRPs of its best franchises. I'm also tracking the cheapest price for the forthcoming Spider-Man Remastered for PC and the incredibly well-built LEGO Skywalker Saga. Last but not least, there's a bunch of 360-era gems going for way less on the MS Store. Do not let the age of Dead Space 2 cause you to underestimate its horror potency. It's all-time. Pants will be peed. Notable Sales for Nintendo Switch Purchase Cheaply for PC Exciting Offers for XO/XS Product Savings for PS4/PS5 Legit Discounts for LEGO Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He's @grizwords and games on...

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My Experience with The PC Gaming Section at GameStop: Rukari Austin

The PC Gaming section at GameStop is a new initiative that aims to give gamers a chance to come in-store or online to build the PC of their dreams. Not only does the PC Gaming section at GameStop carry all the top brands in the computing world, including Razer, ASUS, Samsung, iBuyPower, Logitech, and more, but they also have pre-built machines and streaming setups that customers can try before they buy. From the knowledgeable staff to a wide range of options at different price ranges to accessories that can take your streaming and/or gaming to the next level, the PC Gaming section by GameStop is meant to be a one-stop-shop for everything in the world of computers. To help further share the benefits of this new addition to GameStop...

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Riot's League of Legends Fighting Game Will Be Free-to-Play

Riot Games has confirmed today that its upcoming 2D fighting game, currently codenamed Project L, will be free to play. This announcement was made in a video from executive producer Tom Cannon in a video posted to Twitter, where he also promised that whatever monetization the team ultimately implemented would be "respectful of both your time and your wallet." In the same video, Cannon confirmed that the team is currently finishing work on the game's core mechanics, and much of the team has already moved onto features like competitive play and social systems, or designing champions. One such champion was shown off briefly during the video, as well as in more detail in a subsequent blog post from associate game director Shaun Rivera...

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Overwatch 2 Survey Asking About $45 Skins 'Not Indicative Of Final Pricing'

A survey causing waves within the Overwatch 2 community is "not indicative of final pricing," a spokesperson tells IGN, as Blizzard seeks to introduce a version of the popular shooter without loot boxes. Blizzard's statement follows reports of a survey, first noted on Twitter by @Portergauge, that asks players whether they would be willing to pay $45 for the new highest rarity of Overwatch skins in the upcoming sequel. The idea didn't go down well. “Oof, friend of mine got an Overwatch survey for his account, some of these prices they're gauging for OW2 are really expensive,” said Portergauge. “I hope this is just him getting one of the higher price surveys and not an indication that they're leaning towards this much monetization.”...

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Evo 2022: Sony Announces New Live Show With Announcements from Capcom, Warner Bros., and More

Sony has announced PlayStation Tournaments: Evo Lounge, an all-new live show that will feature "exciting content and reveals" from top fighting game developers and publishers. Capcom (Street Fighter), Warner Bros., (MultiVersus, Mortal Kombat, Injustice), Bandai Namco (Tekken, Dragon Ball FighterZ), Arc System Works (Guilty Gear), and SNK (King of Fighters) will all participate in the live show, which airs live from Evo 2022 on August 5 and 6, according to PlayStation Blog. Sony hasn't hinted at the type of announcements we can expect, but considering the breadth of acclaimed series between the participating companies, fighting game fans will likely want to tune into the show — or stay tuned to IGN for any big announcements. Evo...

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Gotham Knights Isn't an RPG Where You Start as a Weakling

Gotham Knights might be an action-RPG, but it won’t follow the genre convention of having your characters start as weaklings. Instead, Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, and Red Hood will all be the powerful Batman acolytes you’d expect at the start of the game – and find their own unique ways to become stronger over the course of the game. All four characters begin more or less fully adept at what the development team informally calls ‘Batman stuff’, with unique skill trees allowing them to blossom into different kinds of vigilantes as you progress. Speaking to us as part of our month of IGN First coverage on Gotham Knights, creative director Patrick Redding explained the thought process: “It was very important for us that these heroes, our...

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Gotham Knights: The First 16 Minutes of Gameplay – IGN First

Our IGN First for August is WB Montreal’s long-awaited Gotham Knights – the open world action-RPG set in a brand new Batman video game universe… in which Batman has died. To kick off a month of new footage, interviews, and news, we’re beginning, appropriately, with the first 16 minutes of gameplay. The footage (above) shows off the first time you’ll take control of one of the Knights, running you through the basic controls and abilities for both combat and traversal. The opening of the game is set amid the rarefied environs of Gotham University, with the Knights following Batman’s last lead, and on the hunt to find Dr. Kirk Langstrom (known to comic book fans as Man-Bat). After finding that he’s seemingly been murdered before you...

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Call of Duty Warzone: Plagiarism Accusations Surface Around New Dog Operator Design

A popular new furry Operator in Call of Duty Warzone has become the subject of plagiarism claims. The new playable character, due to launch alongside the upcoming Terminator bundle, allows you to buy and play as a “Loyal Samoyed” – a soldier with the head of a very, very good boy. You can see the design below in a promotional image from developer Raven Software. However, concept artist Sail Lin claims that the design has been plagiarised from a piece they created over two years ago: “I am the original artist that the upcoming CoD Vanguard Samoyed skin was plagiarized from,” they said on Twitter (below). “Even though I am also a CoD player, I am very disappointed to see my work plagiarized by a big company like Activision in this...

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Tony Hawk Sang With a Tony Hawk Cover Band and Gave a Crowd in the UK a Night to Remember

Tony Hawk has once again proved why he is just a wonderful human being as he recently jumped on stage with a Tony Hawk cover band called The 900 in the UK to sing a couple of songs for a very surprised crowd. Hawk took to Twitter to share a video of him and The 900 singing Agent Orange's Bloodstains, which appeared in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, at Signature Brew Haggerston. Hawk also said that Bloodstains was a huge inspiration for him in helping shape the soundtracks for his games. "My / our rendition of Agent Orange's Bloodstains from last night's show at @SignatureBrewE8," Hawk wrote. "This was one of the first punk songs I heard as a kid and it was a catalyst for shaping the soundtracks to THPS games. Thanks to @The900Banduk for...

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Someone Already Built P.T. in Halo Infinite's Forge... Before the Mode Is Even Out

Halo Infinite's much-anticipated Forge Mode has yet to be released, but that hasn't stopped @DeathTempler from recreating P.T.'s terrifying hallway in an early version of it. As reported by PC Gamer, certain players like Death Templer have found a way to access an unfinished version of Halo Infinite's Forge Mode in the latest co-op campaign test flight and it has given these creators some powerful tools to create some impressive pieces of work. You can watch a walkthrough of P.T.'s hallway in Halo Infinite's Forge Mode by clicking here, and you can see that the newest iteration of Forge allows for much more customization, better lighting options, more varied sound effects, and more. This is only the beginning for Death Templer's...

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How to Watch The Lord of the Rings in Chronological Order

From its epic scale and unmatched sense of adventure to its beloved characters and the unforgettable relationships between them, Lord of the Rings remains the all-time best series of fantasy films. Now, 21 years after The Fellowship of the Ring, LotR is back in the zeitgeist thanks to Amazon’s upcoming Middle-earth TV series, The Rings of Power. Watching the Lord of the Rings movies in order is a fairly straightforward endeavor, though ahead of the TV series' September 2 debut, we’ve put together this article to make sure newcomers can properly navigate both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. With series newcomers in mind, the brief plot synopsises below will be spoiler-free beyond broad plot points and character...

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How Final Fantasy XIV Fans Found In-Game Popularity as a Band

The Songbirds take their stage, as they always do, on the white cobblestones of Limsa Lominsa. It's dusk in Final Fantasy XIV. Foot traffic around the city swells after the sun goes down, when students race home from school and grown-ups clock out from their day jobs. A faint, familiar MIDI melody leaves the band's violins and keyboards, and after a few bars I'm able to place it: "Kiss From A Rose," by Seal. A row of identically dressed bards — like a '60s Phil Specter girl group — weave together a miraculous harmony despite bandwidth and latency. Fans toss glow sticks in the air, warriors and mages lock into their dance animations on the periphery, it's Coachella with Chocobos. The Songbirds are the most famous band in MMO history, and...

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The Callisto Protocol Dev Explains the Tech Behind the Game's Gory Details

When it comes to making a new game, a significant development choice is deciding between using an in-house proprietary engine or one of the established and well-supported game development platforms. In the case of Striking Distance Studios and its upcoming game The Callisto Protocol, the team chose the latter – specifically Unreal Engine version 4.27. I had a chance to speak with Mark James, the Chief Technical Officer of Striking Distance Studios to discuss the business and development side of making a new game, why and how Unreal helped, and some of the bespoke improvements the team made to the engine. IGN: With the immense challenge of setting up a new studio and team, how has the use of Unreal Engine been an enabler in your...

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Game Scoop! 684: The KOTOR Remake Is Frozen in Carbonite

Welcome back to IGN Game Scoop!, the ONLY video game podcast! This week your Omega Cops -- Daemon Hatfield, Justin Davis, Mark Medina, and Colin Stevens -- are discussing GTA 6, the KOTOR remake, Meta Quest 2, Stray, Live a Live, and more. And, of course, they play Video Game 20 Questions. Watch the video above or hit the link below to your favorite podcast service. Listen on: Apple Podcasts YouTube Spotify Stitcher Find previous episodes here! Continue reading...

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Valve Has 'Good News' On Steam Deck Availability

Ever since Steam Deck was announced last summer, Valve's handheld has been defined by long queues and limited supply. That may soon be changing, though, as Valve announced today that it has some "good news" for prospective Steam Deck customers. In a news post that went up this morning, Valve announced that it would be able to fulfill demand sooner than expected. "Many of the supply chain shortfalls that affect Steam Deck are gradually clearing up, and we're continuing to ramp production, so we're able to produce more Decks faster than ever before," Valve said. As a result, Valve is promising that everyone currently in the reservation queue will get their Steam Deck email "this year," with "many customers" who were in the Q4 or...

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Destiny 2: Where Is Xur Today? Location and Exotic Items for July 29-August 2

The eldritch horror, Xur, 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 can be found at The...

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The Sento Showdown: How a Mortal Kombat Tournament Seeks to Raise Accessibility Awareness

Fighting games are communal by nature, and the broader Fighting Game Community (FGC) and the many pockets of it that pop up around different games regularly create and participate in events based on their favorite games. From Super Smash Bros. to Mortal Kombat to Street Fighter, players of varying skill levels gather to compete, occasionally teach, and celebrate their favorite fighting games. The FGC fosters growth and support to both professional and casual members of all walks of life, so it’s only natural that events catering toward disabled players would form, too. Fighting game popularity amongst disabled players has evolved with the broader accessibility movement. Control remapping, difficulty settings, and even the upcoming...

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Marvel Studios Face-Off: Which MCU Movie or TV Show Are You Most Excited For?

San Diego Comic-Con 2022 was a big show for Marvel Studios and fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At Marvel’s Hall H panel, we were given a roadmap through 2025 that reveals many of the movies and TV shows that will make up Phases 4, 5, and 6 of the MCU. In celebration of this bright future called The Multiverse Saga we thought it would be the perfect time to ask you which project you are most excited for. Is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania the title that has you most excited? Or maybe you're more of an X-Men '97, Captain America: New World Order or Fantastic Four type? We’ve included 30 MCU films and TV shows that have either been officially announced or heavily reported on to “Face-Off” against each other two at a time. Will...

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Long-Delayed Minecraft amiibo Will Arrive in September

Nearly two years after Minecraft's Steve joined the DLC roster of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, his (and his female counterpart Alex's) amiibo will finally reach store shelves on September 9. Nintendo announced the release date for Minecraft's amiibo via Twitter. Alongside the post, fans also got a short video with a first look at the final designs for the Steve and Alex amiibo, which are truly faithful to the characters' original blocky designs. While initially announced for a spring 2022 release, the Steve and Alex amiibo were delayed until later in 2022 "due to a logistics and production delay." Now that Minecraft's amiibo collection finally has a release date, Nintendo is also nearing the end of its Super Smash Bros. Ultimate...

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Nier: Automata's Huge Internet Mystery Was a Beautiful, Impressive Hoax

After days of intrigue, it's finally been revealed that the mysterious videos of hitherto unknown areas in Nier: Automata were the work of extremely talented modders. The 'church saga' began when a Reddit user called sadfutago posted a video of a door that no Nier player had ever seen before, and followed it up with clips that showed bizarre content that included references to other games. It has hooked the Nier community (and many, many others), who couldn't work out if this was an ARG for a new game, or the work of modders - although the latter had been deemed impossible by many. As it turns out, it wasn't as impossible to mod Nier: Automata as we thought, with a Twitch stream revealing that the entire saga was indeed the work of...

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Aussie Deals: Nothing But the Nicest Prices for FIFA 23, Forspoken, Bayonetta 3 and Saints Row!

Thank your own personal deity—possibly Angrboda—it's Friday! We're stuck in the dead period of the year, so today is all about staking your claim on future goodies. Get your Amazon preorder on for Bayonetta 3, FIFA 23 or Forspoken. Then, feel safe in the fact that you'll automatically get the best pricepoint should they drop even lower between now and launch. It's almost too easy. Notable Sales for Nintendo Switch Purchase Cheaply for PC Exciting Offers for XO/XS Product Savings for PS4/PS5 Legit Discounts for LEGO Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He's @grizwords and games on YouTube. Continue reading...

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Everything Announced at the Annapurna Interactive Showcase 2022

The second annual Annapurna Interactive Showcase has just wrapped up, during which we got a look at a ton of new projects in development, updates, and a handful of upcoming releases from the publisher of Stray, Neon White, Sayonara Wild Hearts, and tons more. In case you missed the show or want to remind yourself of that cool game you didn’t catch the name of, here’s everything we just saw at the showcase: Thirsty Suitors From Outerloop Games (Falcon Age), we got a new, deeper look at Thirsty Suitors, an upcoming RPG that mixes elements of dating sims, turn-based battles, and skateboarding mechanics. Play as Jala, a young woman who returns home for her sister’s wedding and is forced to confront and reconcile with her multiple exes...

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Outer Wilds and What Remains of Edith Finch Get Next-Gen Upgrades

During today's Annapurna Interactive showcase, we got two surprising upgrade announcements to two beloved games: Outer Wilds and What Remains of Edith Finch. First up, Outer Wilds is getting a 60fps upgrade on Xbox Series X, S, and PS5 that's coming September 15, and the upgrade is free if you own the game already. Developer Mobius Digital also confirmed that the game is still planned for Switch at some point in the future, but haven't given a date for that just yet. Meanwhile, What Remains of Edith Finch is getting a 60fps upgrade and 4k on Xbox Series X and PS5, and that update is not only free, it's also available today. Both of these are pleasant surprise upgrades for two widely acclaimed games. We called Edith Finch "one of...

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Keita Takahashi's Next Game Is About...a Uvula?

After Katamari Damacy and Wattam, Keita Takahashi is hard at work on his next game: it's called Uvula. It is, most likely, about uvulas. During today's Annapurna Interactive Showcase we got a brief teaser for Takahashi's next game. It showed a boy in Takahashi's signature art style gently snoring away, with the camera zoomed in close on his uvula - you know, the little hangy down thing in the back of the throat. It slowly zoomed out to his face, and a dog licks the boy's cheek. That's all! It's anyone's guess how this is going to make a game, but if anyone can do it, it's probably Takahashi. All of his past games have been extremely quirky and original, from Katamari (a game about rolling every object on earth into a giant katamari...

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Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Has Been Delayed

The highly anticipated co-op shooter Warhammer 40,000: Darktide has been delayed. The upcoming Left 4 Dead-style co-op game, set in the Warhammer 40k universe, was due to be released on September 13. But the PC version has now been pushed back until November 30, 2022, with the console edition launching on Xbox Series X|S shortly after. “Delaying a game is perhaps one of the most difficult decisions a developer faces and one we are not excited about making,” said Fatshark CEO Martin Wahlund via Twitter. “Still, we hope this speaks to our commitment to taking the time necessary and doing whatever it takes to get you the best possible game.” Specifically, it looks as though the Fatshark team needs more time to improve the game before...

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