Gaming News

Last of Us Part 1 Remake Shows Off Incredible New Version of Tess

Naughty Dog has unveiled an incredible new model for The Last of Us Part 1's version of key character Tess. Shared in a tweet (below), the developer put the original, PlayStation 3 character (played by Annie Wersching) side-by-side with the upcoming PlayStation 5 remake's version, and the difference is pretty astounding. While the clip is only a few seconds long, several rewatches are probably required to take in every difference between the two versions, from the intense facial animations to the details on Tess's shirt and backpack – and even her height. Naughty Dog co-president and The Last of Us creative director Neil Druckmann added his own commentary to the clip. "Annie Wersching' destroyed us with her performance as Tess," he...

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Steelrising Is Looking Like a Surprisingly Good Bloodborne Tribute

Developer Spiders is best known as something of a BioWare tribute studio. Its most successful game, GreedFall, is the latest in a modest line of RPGs that draw heavily upon the likes of Mass Effect and Dragon Age. But Spiders’ next game, Steelrising, is nothing like a BioWare game at all. Instead, it’s an ode to FromSoftware. Specifically, it is Bloodborne set in the French Revolution, with Yarnham’s beasts swapped out for Parisian clockwork robots. As a pitch, it sounds a little derivative (at least mechanically). But despite seemingly minimal innovations, playing Steelrising reveals something that has genuine promise. At a recent hands-on event I was able to play around three hours of Steelrising, which covered the opening locations...

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Aussie Deals: Amazon Uses Cut on Pokémon Scarlet/Violet Dual Pack, Up to 70% Off Ubi Ultimate Editions!

What's better than one Pokémon game going for cheap? Two of 'em. It makes perfect sense to me to grab both titles, because that will let you A: race them or B: collect and swap every critter in the Gen 9 Pokédex. Other noteworthy bargains include a bunch of Ubisoft AAAs going for cheap and some oldies you should own. Case in point: Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. It features Mike Haggar, the pile-driving public servant who should be in every single game. Notable Sales for Nintendo Switch Purchase Cheaply for PC Exciting Offers for XO/XS Product Savings for PS4/PS5 Adam’s our Aussie deals wrangler. You can watch him game on YouTube. Continue reading...

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Where Will StudioMDHR Go After Cuphead? ‘The Sky’s the Limit’

StudioMDHR has been working on Cuphead in one way or other for over a decade now. With Delicious Last Course imminent, though, StudioMDHR has to look toward the future. Could there be more Cuphead after Cuphead? According to Maja Moldenhauer, StudioMDHR got to work on Delicious Last Course because it still had left plenty of Cuphead on the cutting room floor after the first time around. Elements such as a playable Miss Chalice, and many of Delicious Last Course’s new bosses, were ideas born during the original game’s development that needed the extra time of a DLC to see the light of day. But now, with Delicious Last Course wrapped, Moldenhauer says there’s nothing left sitting on a drawing board somewhere. “We got it all in.” So...

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Sega Explains What Sonic Frontiers’ 'Open Zone' Structure Actually Means

Sonic Frontiers will be the first new 3D Sonic title since 2017’s Sonic Forces. Unlike previous level-based endeavors, however, Sonic Frontiers will be the series’ first title to boast a vast and freely explorable world, which Sega refers to as 'Open Zone'. So why is it an Open Zone, as opposed to an open world? Director Morio Kishimoto told IGN all about it. Kishimoto refers to Open Zone as “Sonic Frontiers’ secret weapon”: “Level-based platformers often have a world map. Our Open Zone is a world map, only we’ve made it entirely playable,” Kishimoto stated. “A playable world map that includes stage-like elements is something that hasn’t really been done before, so we had to come up with a new name. What is often defined as a World...

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KOTOR 2 Is Adding Cut Content Later This Year (But You'll Need to Start a New Save)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords will have the original version's cut content added to the Nintendo Switch re-release in Q3 this year. The content was removed from the original version of KOTOR 2 and includes new missions, dialogue, and other content that's woven throughout the entire game. Given how intrinsic it is to the game, players will need to start a fresh save file in order to experience it. Eurogamer spotted a tweet from developer port developer Aspyr, which confirmed: "You will need to start a new game with the DLC content enabled to access the additional content, however after the DLC releases and you still wish to finish your non-DLC playthrough, you can access those base game save files by...

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge Review

Growing up as a child of the 90s, whenever I stepped into an arcade, I’d always do a walk around to see what they had before putting my quarters into any machines. This usually didn’t last very long because as soon as I saw a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cabinet, I’d shout to my friends “They got Turtles!” and we’d rush on over. It’s abundantly clear that the developers at Tribute Games share a similar love for the 90s TMNT beat-em-ups. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is nothing but unwaveringly reverent to the classic 1989 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade game, and more prominently, 1991’s Turtles in Time. Best of all, it transforms the arcadey quarter-munching design of combat into something much more skill...

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Redfall's Open World Was Almost 'Too Open' At First

Arkane Austin has a lot of experience open-ended gameplay design, but when it came to designing Redfall's open world, the famed studio behind Prey had a unique problem ⁠— Redfall's open world was actually a bit too open. In a new interview with IGN, Redfall designer Harvey Smith talked about designing the Massachusetts town in which Arkane's new supernatural shooter is set, describing it as "very open." Redfall is an on-foot game he says, and the team has worked to make sure that the setting's design fits within that dynamic. But at first, Redfall was "too open," Smith says. "It was like there was not enough blocking you or channeling you, but it's very, very open rooftops and alleys and streets of this small town, Redfall...

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Sonic Probably Won't Be Smooching Any More Humans, Sega Says

Sonic the Hedgehog won't be kissing any more humans if Sega veteran Takashi Iizuka has his way. Iizuka has worked on the franchise since 1994's Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and told Axios what the two critical rules for a project featuring the Blue Blur are – alongside an additional, unofficial one regarding the infamous smooching scene from 2006's Sonic the Hedgehog. In the game, the very human Princess Elise the Third used the Chaos Emeralds to save Sonic's life and kissed the anthropomorphic hedgehog as she did. Though he didn't work on that particular entry, Iizuka said "I don't think we'll be doing that again". The other rules are more on brand, with the first simply being "speed". Iizuka said the games need to be built around Sonic...

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Aussie Deals: 10 Buck PS Hits, Cheapest Preorder for The Last of Us Part 1 and a $59 LEGO Star War!

Like many of you, I've got a special spot in my heart for The Last of Us. So much so, I bought it once on PS3 and again on PS4. While I'll probably shell out for the PS5 version, I can also understand if $125 is a bit rich for a third go round for some—which is why I tracked down today's discount. It exists alongside some great prices for Mario Strikers, Uncharted Legacy of Thieves and a bunch of PlayStation Hits that you really, really ought to own already. Notable Sales for Nintendo Switch Purchase Cheaply for PC Exciting Offers for XO/XS Product Savings for PS4/PS5 Adam’s our Aussie deals wrangler. You can watch him game on YouTube. Continue reading...

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Obsidian, and Why Xbox’s Acquisition Strategy is Staying Out of the Way

When Feargus Urquhart walked into a 2018 pitch meeting with then-Xbox senior director of business development Noah Musler, he thought he was pitching Avowed. But what he was really pitching was the entirety of Obsidian Entertainment. They were having breakfast at that year’s E3, just after Xbox announced it was acquiring Undead Labs, Playground Games, Ninja Theory, and Compulsion Games, as well as establishing The Initiative. At the time, Urquhart wasn’t even aware of the industry-shaking news. He was, as he tells me, “plugged into his own stuff,” focused on making Avowed look as appealing as possible to people like Musler who could potentially help Obsidian get it out the door in a few years. He made the pitch for Avowed. Musler...

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For the First Time Since 2017, Skyrim Is Back in the US Top 20 Games

May was a slow, slow, slow month for video games. So slow, Skyrim was one of the top 20 games in the US by dollar sales. According to The NPD Group's monthly report, game sales were at their lowest for a single month since February 2020, down 19% year-over-year to $3.7 billion. It's a significant milestone after the surge of spending gaming saw during pandemic-related lockdowns. Why is it happening now? One major reason: no massive new games. Elden Ring was the best-selling game of May, after taking the No.2 spot in April to LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, and it remains the best-selling game this year. LEGO Star Wars dropped to No.2 this month, followed by Nintendo Switch Sports - though it's always possible Nintendo...

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Starfield: Everything New We Learned in IGN's Todd Howard Interview

IGN was lucky enough to speak to Bethesda Game Studios' Todd Howard today and, in the process learned a lot more about Starfield – not to mention heard a mention of Fallout's future. In conversation with Ryan McCaffrey, Howard followed up on a number of elements we learned about for first time during Starfield's gameplay reveal at the Xbox-Bethesda showcase last weekend. We have full news stories and quotes for every topic mentioned, linked below, but here's a quick rundown of everything new we learned. Todd Howard Confirms Fallout 5 Is Coming After Elder Scrolls 6 Todd Howard has confirmed to IGN that Fallout 5 will be Bethesda Game Studios' next game after The Elder Scrolls 6, which itself will follow on from 2023's Starfield...

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Microsoft Agrees to Take 'Neutral Approach' Toward Future Activision Blizzard Unions

At a time when many major tech companies are actively trying to stamp out unionization movements, Microsoft has just taken a proactive step toward recognizing unions that don't even exist yet, via a partnership with the Communication Workers of America (CWA). The two groups announced that they have entered into a labor neutrality agreement, which will take effect 60 days after Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard officially closes, which is planned prior to June 30, 2023. The agreement states that Microsoft will take a "neutral approach" when employees express interest in unionizing, and will permit them to communicate with their colleagues and union representatives about unionization "in a way that encourages information...

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Todd Howard Confirms Fallout 5 Is Coming After Elder Scrolls 6

Todd Howard has confirmed to IGN that Fallout 5 will be Bethesda Game Studios' next game after The Elder Scrolls 6, which itself will follow on from 2023's Starfield. Speaking to IGN about last weekend's Starfield gameplay reveal at the Xbox-Bethesda showcase, Howard briefly delved into what's next for his studio once the new IP is out of the door: "Yes, Elder Scrolls 6 is in pre-production and, you know, we’re going to be doing Fallout 5 after that, so our slate’s pretty full going forward for a while. We have some other projects that we look at from time to time as well." Howard has told IGN previously that the studio has an idea for Fallout 5 in place, saying, "Fallout's really part of our DNA here. We've worked with other...

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Starfield’s Main Quest Is About 20% Bigger than Previous Bethesda Games, Around 30-40 Hours Long

Starfield's main quest is about 20% bigger than previous Bethesda games such as Skyrim and Fallout 4, with Todd Howard saying that means it should take around 30 to 40 hours to complete – without stepping away to do side content. Speaking to IGN after the gameplay reveal at the Xbox-Bethesda showcase, Bethesda veteran and Starfield director Todd Howard said the game's main story is longer than normal due to the sheer number of quests. "This one’s ending up a little bit longer [than our previous games] and we may tune that some still," he said. "It’s more quests, so it might be 20% more than our previous ones." While players mileage may vary, he added, with some taking longer than others to complete it, if the main quest of a...

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Starfield Doesn’t Let You Fly Seamlessly from Space to Planet: ‘That’s Really Just Not that Important’

Todd Howard has said that Starfield won't allow you to fly seamlessly from space to its 1,000 explorable planets, saying the feature is "really just not that important to the player" to justify the engineering work involved. Speaking to IGN after the gameplay reveal at the Xbox-Bethesda showcase, we asked Howard about his philosophy of 'saying yes to the player', and whether that meant the team had tried to implement every single idea it had for the game. Howard explained that, while the philosophy was key to things like procedurally generating 100 solar systems (allowing players to explore more freely than in previous Bethesda games), the team did say no to ideas that weren't deemed as crucial to the experience. He gave a key...

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Starfield Has 4 Main Cities, and New Atlantis Is the Biggest City Bethesda’s Ever Made

Starfield will have four major cities for players to explore, including New Atlantis, which is the biggest that developer Bethesda has ever made. Speaking to IGN, Bethesda veteran and Starfield director Todd Howard said that New Atlantis, capital city of the United Colonies, is not just the biggest in this game but bigger than anything in Skyrim, Fallout 4, or any of the developer's previous games. Fans had a brief preview of New Atlantis during Starfield's gameplay reveal (at around six minutes in) at the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase. "It has all the services you would expect, and you can work on your ship there, the factions touch that," Howard said. "But that’s also the headquarters for Constellation, which is the faction that you...

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Starfield’s Space Combat Is ‘Unique’, and Inspired By FTL and MechWarrior

Bethesda's Todd Howard said Starfield features a unique take on space combat, and that was partly inspired by FTL and MechWarrior. And yes, you can steal ships that you board. Speaking to IGN following the Xbox and Bethesda Game Showcase, Starfield director Howard said "there's been a lot space sims that we're fans of, and space shooters from the '90s," but the team wanted Starfield "to feel [like] something unique". Deploying different amounts of power to different ship subsystems, for example, was influenced by 2012's spaceship simulation game FTL. In it, players would regularly have to make critical decisions such as choosing between powering their engines to try and escape a fight or their weapons to try and win it. "Your ship...

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TMNT: Shredder's Revenge Won't Have DLC

TMNT: Shredder's Revenge launches this Thursday, June 16, giving players an opportunity to revisit the style and gameplay of the Turtles' old-school outings. However, what you get at launch is very likely to be the full package, as developer Tribute Games have no plans to create any DLC for the game. During this week's episode of Xbox Expansion Pass, narrative designer Yannick Belzil made it clear that Tribute Games won't be creating any additional costumes for the Turtles for the upcoming beat 'em up revival. He indicated that the team's perfectionism puts them at odds with their limited resources. "For alternate costumes, it really was not thought of during production because we're very proud of our animations, and the animations...

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Yes, Starfield Will Begin With a Classic Bethesda 'Step-Out Moment'

Bethesda's open world RPGs may vary wildly in setting and tone, but they very often share one thing – what Bethesda calls the 'step-out moment', the scene in which your character steps into the world properly, and sees its sheer scale. Starfield won't be bucking that trend. Speaking to IGN after the gameplay reveal at the Xbox-Bethesda showcase, Howard was asked if Starfield had a step-out moment, and how it would create a grand reveal of its world considering it includes 1,000 different planets. "There is. Look, the way the game starts is pretty set for everybody, so we definitely have what we call the 'step-out moment'. And we probably have a few of them given the scale of the game." Howard didn't explain how that opening would...

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Starfield Includes More Handcrafted Content Than Any Bethesda Game, Alongside Its Procedural Galaxy

Amid a huge amount of new information on Starfield from the Xbox-Bethesda showcase, likely the most-discussed detail was Todd Howard's announcement that the upcoming sci-fi RPG will include 1,000 fully explorable planets. Howard has now told IGN more about the game's approach to procedural generation, what it offers, and assured us that players can ignore them in favour of a huge amount of fully handcrafted content, if they want to. Speaking to IGN, Howard addressed the huge reaction to the news of Starfield's massively explorable space: "We’re pretty aware you throw that out near the end, people will go ‘What did you just say?’, and then they’ll have a lot of questions [about] how that works." While Howard says that the team will...

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STALKER 2 Studio Shares a Moving Look at Life and Work in Ukraine Right Now

Gaming showcases don't usually end this way – nor should they have to, in normal circumstances – but it felt like a true tribute to the bravery of STALKER 2 developer GSC Game World that today's Xbox Games Showcase Extended ended not just with an unexpected announcement, but a snapshot of what it means to work in Ukraine right now. The showcase truly ended with a look at the game's introduction, but you can watch that elsewhere. What mattered here was the look at GSC Game World's Kiev office and workers before and after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Members of the company have been documenting their working and personal lives amid tragedy and fear, and the resulting developer diary makes for both a devastating and stirring portrait...

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Diablo 4 Devs Explain Why the Necromancer Class Is Appearing Sooner Than Anyone Expected

Many Diablo fans wanted to see the Necromancer added to the latest entry in the series, but few expected the powerful sorcerer to make the initial cut. Nevertheless, the Necromancer will be part of the anticipated sequel's initial class lineup, joining the Barbarian, Sorceress, Rogue, and Druid. Speaking with IGN in a new interview for Summer of Gaming 2022, Diablo 4 developers Joe Shely and Rod Fergusson discussed the decision to add the Necromancer — a class that topped fan polls but seemed unlikely to be added given that two caster classes had already been revealed. In explaining the choice, Shely says the Necromancer "works so well in the Diablo gameplay," and that the Necromancer fits well with the theme of "returning to the...

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High on Life: Squanch Games Explains More About the Bonkers FPS - 'Blade Runner Meets the Muppets'

We've just learned more about Rick & Morty co-creator Justin Roiland's new game, High on Life, from the Xbox and bethesda Extended Showcase, including a bizarre tidbit about its art direction. During the stream, design director Erich Meyr design director said the team had spent a lot of time creating its alien worlds, and described the style of High on Life as "Bladerunner meets The Muppets." He added that this style was the goal for all the game's characters, but especially its aliens. And there are a lot of aliens. In High on Life, earth is invaded by aliens who kidnap humans and sell them on the black market like drugs. Aside from fighting off the aliens, you play as a human who teams up with another group of aliens to stop them...

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Overwatch 2 Beta Gets Release Date, Sign-Ups Open June 16

The next Overwatch 2 beta officially has a date. Blizzard announced in a tweet that the playtest will kick off June 28, meaning that fans will be able to get their hands on the sequel in less than two weeks. Blizzard's tweet reveals that the the beta will include access to the Junker Queen, the new character revealed during Sunday's Xbox + Bethesda Showcase, as well as a new map. Additional details will be released on June 16 along with sign-ups. The new Overwatch 2 beta follows the closed alpha test held back in late April, which saw the series hit peak Twitch viewership. Since then, Blizzard has announced that the PvP portion of Overwatch 2 will release into early access on October 4 and that it will be free-to-play. In...

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Xbox Games Showcase Extended 2022: Everything Announced and Shown

The Xbox Games Showcase Extended is currently underway with further looks and deep dives into games revealed at the main Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase. The event is running for 90 minutes from 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK and, as always, IGN will keep you up to date with every piece of information revealed. Keep checking back here for live updates on everything shown. Valheim is Coming to Xbox The show opened with an announcement trailer for Valheim on Xbox, the game's first platform outside of PC. Valheim was confirmed to be coming to PC Game Pass yesterday but following handful of gameplay clips Microsoft also confirmed that it was coming to console. The game will be released this fall for PC Game Pass and will later make...

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Gigantic Survival Game Valheim Is Coming to Xbox

Valheim, the enormous survival game from Iron Gate, is coming to Xbox next year. Announced during Xbox Showcase Extended, Valheim will arrive on PC Game Pass this Fall, and will finally head to consoles via Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in Spring 2023. The Steam, Microsoft Store and Xbox versions of Valheim will all come with full crossplay. Valheim launched into Early Access last year, and immediately became a huge surprise hit. The unyielding survival game, set in a fantasy Viking world, recently passed 10 million sales. We awarded the Early Access version a 9/10 review, saying it is "already a paragon of the survival crafting genre, with excellent art and music highlighting a world that generates endless exciting stories from...

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The Quarry Devs Reveal Its Horror Influences, Including Scooby Doo

Just taking one look at Supermassive Games' The Quarry reveals a number of obvious horror influences: the summer camp setting of Sleepaway Camp, the gruesome deaths of Final Destination, and the self-referential nature of Scream. But the surprising inspiration in this spiritual successor to Until Dawn comes from a show that operates with a more family-friendly level of horror. "Weirdly, when I very first wrote it, the characters in my head were kind of out of Scooby Doo," Will Byles, creative director of The Quarry, told IGN. That doesn't mean you can expect giant sandwiches, cheesy unmaskings, and a flower-laden van in The Quarry. Rather, Byles took inspiration from the personalities of Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scoob and...

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Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Is Soulslike Set in Feudal China – An Exclusive Interview with Team NINJA

Imagine a game by Team NINJA (famous for stellar action games like Nioh and NINJA GAIDEN) set in a dark fantasy version of China’s Three Kingdoms period. When Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty was announced at the Xbox & Bethesda Showcase 2022, the idea of slashing warlords and demons alike with a new combat system based on Chinese martial arts made us pretty excited. But the teaser trailer left us wondering how it will actually play. Luckily, IGN was able to sit down with Team NINJA’s key members to find out more. “As a studio, we’ve always been known for games that challenge the player, but that can’t be done without responsive controls and high playability. In that regard, Wo Long is no different from our previous titles, but this time we’ve...

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