Gaming News

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Will Have a Character Voiced by Text-to-Speech at Launch

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown launches next week. While we really dug the game (you can check out our review for more on that), there's one odd detail that stuck out we can't help but give its own article: one of the game's minor NPCs will be voiced by a text-to-speech program at launch, seemingly because someone — seemingly Ubisoft — forgot to record and add a human being's voice for the role. While in discussions with fellow early reviewers during the review period for The Lost Crown, it was pointed out to us that the voice of a tree spirit character, Kalux, sounded remarkably like either an AI or text-to-speech (TTS) program. Specifically, a TTS program that's available online for free for use by streamers. You can compare some...

View full article »

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Review

I fell in love with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time way back in 2003, when it helped redefine 3D action-adventure games with its clever rewind ability enhancing its environmental puzzles and fast, acrobatic combat. But while the aughts saw a bunch of sequels with similar elements, none ever quite hit the same heights as The Sands of Time – and the 2010s were a parched desert for the series. But like an oasis, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown finally nails what I loved about those classic Prince of Persia games, and it does so by placing the series' best ideas within a 2D Metroidvania framework that calls back to the roots of the 1989 original. The Lost Crown excels in both the elements that make for a great Prince of Persia...

View full article »

Granblue Fantasy: Relink Demo Announced for PS4 and PS5

A demo for upcoming role-playing game Granblue Fantasy: Relink launches on PlayStation 4 and 5 at midnight tonight, January 11, publisher Cygames has announced. Three modes will be available in the demo — Tutorial, Story, and Quest — with players able to earn rewards for the full version of Granblue Fantasy: Relink in each one. Story mode won't be a prequel or separate part of the game but instead just offer "a small slice" of Granblue Fantasy: Relink's main story. Quest mode gives players an additional three quests to work through, playable either solo or with up to three others via online co-op. 11 characters are available in this mode: Gran, Katalina, Rackam, Io, Charlotta, Ghandagoza, Narmaya, Lancelot, Siegfried, Yodarha, and...

View full article »

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Patch 8 Makes Accessibility Focused Improvements

Star Wars Jedi Survivor has a new update that makes accessibility focused improvements. Patch 8, out today, January 11 across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, introduces two new features and several improvements to slow motion in order to make the game more accessible, developer Respawn said. The patch adds a new high-contrast mode that lets players desaturate the environment and use colors specifically for narrative and gameplay elements, making them stand out more. Elsewhere, a new audio ping functionality lets players both passively and actively ping the environment, giving the ability to echolocate objects and interactable elements nearby. As for slow motion, the update adds more presets that let players toggle...

View full article »

The Finals Patch 1.4.1 Takes Aim at Aim Assist

The Finals developer Embark Studios has released the popular shooter’s first update of 2024, and it makes significant changes to the way aim assist works. Aim assist is one of the hottest topics within the game’s burgeoning community, which Embark Studios said it had paid close attention to as it worked to tone down the mechanic. “Today we have a small patch that addresses community feedback on aim assist, fair play, and bug fixes,” the developer explained. “These changes are the result of an in-depth review of how aim assist works — something we’ve only been able to validate with a player base as large as ours (thanks so much for playing our game, yolks!).” Here are the The Finals update 1.4.1 patch notes in full: Aim Assistance...

View full article »

The 400 Mini Is a Scaled-Down Recreation of the Atari 400

Retro video game fans have another mini console to content with, this time a recreation of the Atari 400. Plaion and Retro Games LTD have announced the $119.99 400 Mini, a scaled-down recreation of the 8-bit Atari 400, which first launched in 1979. The 400 Mini, due out March 28, 2024, includes 25 Atari games pre-installed, each selected from a carousel that includes the likes of Berzerk, Lee, Millipede, Miner 2049er, M.U.L.E., and Star Raiders II. You can save and resume your game at any time, and rewind by up to 30 seconds. The 400 Mini comes with an updated CX40 joystick dubbed the CXSTICK, which features an additional seven function buttons and USB, making it compatible with a wide range of consoles. Here are the key...

View full article »

Elden Ring Receives Slim PC Update For Version 1.10.1

Elden Ring has received a slim update on PC, bringing the game up to version 1.10.1, but neither publisher Bandai Namco nor developer FromSoftware mentioned the highly anticipated Shadow of the Erdtree expansion in the notes. Released on Bandai Namco's website, the update specifically addresses the Steam version of Elden Ring, specifically updating its anti-cheating measures in accordance with a Steam operating system update. This obviously won't change much for most players, but will be a relief for those still invading in Elden Ring, or engaging in its dedicated player versus player Colosseum areas. This update was added more than a year ago now in December 2022, letting players face off in new competitive modes in the grand arenas...

View full article »

Dark Souls Trilogy 25th Anniversary Compendium Is Up For Preorder

Future Press will be releasing a '25th Anniversary Edition' of the Dark Souls Trilogy Compendium, featuring the complete breakdown of every single minute detail from the legendary FromSoftware games. It will cost $59.99, with preorders now available via Amazon (see here). For clarity, this is the 25th Anniversary of the first game guide published by Future Press, not the 25th Anniversary of Dark Souls (which was released on September 22, 2011). The original Compendium book is considered rare online and can be difficult to find or buy at a reasonable rate, which makes news of this reprint very welcome indeed. Future Press describes the Limited Edition reprint as featuring, "The enemies, items, equipment, areas and NPC dialogue of...

View full article »

Viral Parody of Fake Mobile Game Ads Hits PlayStation

D3 Publisher Inc. has announced the arrival of 'Those Games' on PlayStation 4 and 5 priced $9.99 / £7.99. It launched on Nintendo Switch and Steam last year. Those Games, developed by Monkeycraft Co. and published by D3 Publisher, is short for YEAH! YOU WANT ‘THOSE GAMES' RIGHT? SO HERE YOU GO! NOW, LET'S SEE YOU CLEAR THEM!, a minigame collection filled with challenges based on the inscrutable mobile game ads no-one can escape from. Those Games briefly became a viral sensation in 2023, and speaking to IGN, producer Maya Ito said: “I see these mini-games on a daily basis and thought to myself, I want to play them; thoroughly and to my heart’s content!” Mini games include the Pin Pull, Number Tower, Parking Lot, Cash Run, and Colour...

View full article »

Fans Think They've Discovered the Full Name of MachineGames' Indiana Jones Game

It's an exciting start to the year for Indiana Jones fans, as according to Xbox itself, we're finally getting an actual look at MachineGames' upcoming Indiana Jones game next week at the Xbox Developer Direct. But a week in advance, one clever fan might have already sleuthed out the game's title before Xbox was ready to reveal it. It might just be called Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Twitter/X user @Kurakasis shared their findings on social media today, pointing out that Lucasfilm appears to have been registering a number of domain names that are variations on that title since yesterday. These include https://indianajonesandthegreatcirclegame.com, https://indianajonesandthegreatcircle.com, and a number of others. These...

View full article »

Ayaneo Next Lite Is the First Steam Deck Competitor With SteamOS - CES 2024

Ayaneo, the company known for making a slew of handheld gaming PCs, has announced its latest product: the Next Lite, another portable gaming PC that is the first non-Steam Deck handheld to run Valve's Linux-based operating system SteamOS. Announced in a press release, Ayaneo revealed the Next Lite, revealing that the device will be a "value-for-money option" for someone who wants a handheld gaming PC running SteamOS but may not want to buy a Steam Deck for whatever reason. It is an odd pitch from Ayaneo, considering the company did not disclose how much the Next Lite will retail for. However, the company said it is opening "subscriptions" for the Next Lite on Thursday, January 11th, at 4:30 pm PT/7:30 pm ET. Ayaneo notes that the...

View full article »

Spider-Man 2 Leads DICE Awards With Nine Nominations

After being shut out at The Game Awards, Spider-Man 2 will hope to have better luck at the upcoming DICE Awards, which it leads with nine nominations. The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) announced the awards nominations on January 10, with Spider-Man 2 leading and Alan Wake 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 close behind with eight nominations and seven nominations respectively. COCOON was another standout, joining the aforementioned games and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in the Game of the Year category. The full list of nominees follows below. Outstanding Achievement in Animation Final Fantasy XVI Hi-Fi RUSH Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Mortal Kombat 1 Super Mario Bros. Wonder Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction...

View full article »

Team Fortress: Source 2 and Portal 64 Fan Projects Shut Down by Valve Takedowns

Team Fortress: Source 2, a fan project seeking to port Valve's classic shooter to the Source 2 engine, is officially dead. The news was announced following a DMCA takedown demand from Valve that blocked the group's GitHub repositories. It joins Portal 64, which was also canceled less than a week after the release of its "First Slice." The takedown was the "nail in the coffin" for the project, the announcement read, which had already have been on shaky ground before Valve stepped in. "While we were discussing the project's future internally recently, we already came to the conclusion to stop the development of the project due to the current state of the code being unusable anymore with s&box's recent major engine changes, and that we...

View full article »

Blizzard Reveals Diablo 4 Season 3's Release Date

Diablo IV's next season is starting on January 23 according to an update on the game's login screen. Even though it doesn't have a title, Blizzard has seemingly confirmed that Diablo IV Season 3 will be launching later this month. Many players have noticed that a banner on the game's login screen, which used to read, "Season of Blood Ends January 23, 2024," now reads, "Next Season Begins January 23, 2024," indicating that not only will the seasons apparently change over immediately, but that Season 3's right around the corner. With less than two weeks (and fewer business days than normal) until the apparent launch date, this will be a significantly quicker turnaround than the transition from Season 1 to Season 2 late last year. For...

View full article »

Someone Actually Found David Lynch's Half-Finished Dune 2 Script

Max Evry, the author of "A Masterpiece in Disarray: David Lynch’s Dune. An Oral History," has found a half-written script for the sequel, he revealed in WIRED on Wednesday. Despite minor cult status, it's no secret that many felt Lynch's 1984 adaptation of Dune missed the mark. But before its release and subsequent critical panning and flop at the box office, there was a plan to turn Lynch's take on Frank Herbert's space opera into a major movie franchise. Evidence for this mysterious half-script has been floating around since 1984, when Frank Herbert revealed that he was working with and advising the writer-director on a script for the sequel in an interview with Prevue Magazine. Since then, little bits of information have come out...

View full article »

Vampire Survivors Developer Teases Big Plans for 2024, Addresses Online Co-Op and Cross-Save

Poncle, the studio behind the award-winning horde-defense game Vampire Survivors, has shared some of its future goals for the surprise hit in a new Steam post. The UK-based indie studio has big plans for 2024 and beyond. Although most of what's included in this preview of what's to come addresses stuff we already knew about (like online co-op, cross-platform saves, the upcoming animated TV series), Poncle's post also teases loose plans to work on other games. After thanking players for sticking with and supporting Vampire Survivors and recapping everything Poncle accomplished in 2023, studio head Luca Galante dove into specifics about what's down the pipeline. Details like a firm roadmap or release dates for any of these updates are...

View full article »

CoD: Warzone Introducing New Covert Exfil Feature That Some Feel Makes It Even Less of a Battle Royale

Call of Duty: Warzone is introducing a feature, one that has the community feeling a bit perplexed about the overall direction of Activision's flagship battle royale amid questions about whether or not it will actually be a win condition. Called "Covert Exfil," the new ability will allow players to escape the map early and will include its own leaderboard. Here's the description on the official Call of Duty blog. It's a significant addition, and it has some fans saying that it makes Call of Duty: Warzone even less of a battle royale. Many are comparing it to the extraction shooter genre, which has recently grown in popularity thanks to the success of Escape from Tarkhov and other games like it. "Doesn’t that completely destroy the...

View full article »

Game of Thrones Show Creators on Lucasfilm Scrapping Their Star Wars Film: 'We Weren't the Droids They Were Looking For'

David Benioff and Dan Weiss, creators of the Game of Thrones HBO show, have explained more about their scrapped Star Wars film, saying "we weren't the droids [Lucasfilm] were looking for". Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the pair also confirmed reports from 2019 that their film would essentially be "The First Jedi", telling the story of how the Jedi Order, first lightsabers, and so on came to be. Lucasfilm hired Benioff and Weiss to direct a series of films in 2018, with the first premiering in 2022, though this was scrapped in 2019 due to scheduling conflicts, the pair said at the time. The split appeared amicable, as Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy also said she hopes Benioff and Weiss would return to Star Wars one day...

View full article »

Minecraft Legends Development Ends Less Than a Year After Launch

Mojang has announced the end of development on Minecraft Legends less than a year after the game came out. Minecraft Legends is an “action strategy” spin-off that launched in April 2023 courtesy of Mojang owner Microsoft. It fuses real-time strategy gameplay with traditional Minecraft action and adventure. IGN’s Minecraft Legends review returned a 7/10. “Minecraft Legends is an engaging strategy game that capably combines the established Minecraft world with a streamlined RTS structure,” we said. In a blog post, Cristina Anderca, Senior Creative Writer at Mojang Studios, said the developer is “now going to take a step back from development.” The announcement comes just nine months after Minecraft Legends’ release date. This means...

View full article »

Last Chance to Get Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 at a Massive Discount, Currently Down to Just £43

We love an eBay promo code deal here at IGN. It can be so easy to get bogged down in the ocean of online retailers to spare a moment's thought for the OG. Well, you should pay them special attention at the moment, because it's the last day (January 10) that you can use their JANJOY15 code to get 15% off from select trusted sellers. One of the better January sales events this year, the JANJOY15 gives you up to £75 discount if you spend £15 or more with selected sellers. All you've gotta do is enter the code at checkout to get the discount. There are some cracking deals that you can get with this code, one of the best being the fact that you can get Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 for just £42.46. Grab it through the verified seller The...

View full article »

Forza Motorsport Players Frustrated With Lacklustre Developer Statement Addressing the Game's Issues

Xbox racing fans were left questioning myriad elements of Forza Motorsport upon its launch in 2023 and, following a blog post from developer Turn 10 Studios designed to address these complaints, have only grown more frustrated. A "message to the Motorsport community" was posted on Forza's website by game director Andy Beaudoin, creative director Chris Esaki, and executive producer Trevor Laupmanis to "thank you for your support and feedback since launch, reflect on some of the things we have learned, and share what you can expect from us in the coming months." In what it said would be the first of quarterly updates on hot topics within the community (to go alongside various other forms of communication), the Forza team addressed the...

View full article »

Starfield Premium Edition Upgrade Gets a Massive Price Drop in the UK

No matter your opinion on Bethesda's latest game Starfield, which has turned out to be quite the controversial RPG, the game has still had over 12 million players and should be considered at least a moderate success for Xbox for the time being. Especially since more regular updates are coming starting in February this year, alongside the first expansion pack, and the highly anticipated launch of the Creation Kit and mod support for PC and consoles. We can rattle on all day about the reception of Starfield, but here's the crux of this latest offer available. Starfield's Premium Edition Upgrade was notable for its 'up to' 5 days early access. While this early access period has since expired, there are still a few other goodies up for...

View full article »

Marvel Snap Appears Safe After Dev Secures $100 Million Funding

It looks like Marvel Snap is secure after its developer, Second Dinner, secured a $100 million investment. In November, Second Dinner was forced to reassure concerned players of the well-received online card game after its publisher ran into trouble. Reports indicated TikTok maker ByteDance planned to wind down its Nuverse gaming brand and retreat from mainstream video games, and was looking for ways to sell off launched titles. That included Marvel Snap, Second Dinner’s Marvel-themed Hearthstone-a-like that launched in 2022. Nuverse published Marvel Snap across mobile and PC. But now, Second Dinner has secured $100 million in a Series B funding round led by Griffin Gaming Partners, which means the developer will continue to...

View full article »

Microsoft Issuing Xbox Firmware Update to Fix Baldur’s Gate 3 Save Bug, Dev Says

Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios has said Microsoft plans to release a firmware update to fix the pesky save bug that has plagued the game’s release on Xbox. In a tweet, Larian said Microsoft had identified the cause of the save bug on Xbox and will issue a firmware update to fix it. Users can update their console manually on January 16 or wait a week longer for the update to roll out globally, Larian added. “Although we haven’t been able to independently verify this fix, we’re optimistic that Microsoft have gotten to the bottom of it,” the developer said. Larian boss Swen Vincke had tweeted to say Microsoft had “found the firmware issue that cause save games to go missing” and that a fix was coming out. “In the end, all...

View full article »

 

New Apex Legends and Final Fantasy Crossover Event Stuns Fans With $290 Microtransactions

A new Apex Legends and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth crossover event launched January 9th — a first for EA's free-to-download battle royale — and it’s been a big source of criticism from players due to the high price of its microtransactions. Respawn recently launch a new collaboration with Square Enix as part of the run-up to the release of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. The event brings with it a new category of cosmetics, and it has the potential to cost players hundreds of dollars. Previously, each Event Pack cost 700 Apex Coins, or around seven dollars. In this event, the price for one event pack is 1,000 Apex Coins, or about $10. With that change alone, this is the most expensive event to date for Apex Legends, with Milestone Rewards...

View full article »

Save Big on Game Bundles and Definitive, Platinum, Deluxe or Complete Edition Best Versions!

Today's the day to swoop down on the "bestest" version of a game you've been discount-stalking from afar. Premium editions, bundles, definitives, whole shebang collections—not many of them have been spared the bargain man's axe. So do get in quick. In retro news, the system-selling Rogue Squadron turns 25 today! Being one of the first titles to utilise the Expansion Pak, which added a whopping 4MB of extra RAM (!!!), it delivered a star war way better than the previous N64 title holder, Shadows of the Empire. It's also been 27 years since Square released Tobal No. 1, a cult-hit 3D fighter featuring a robot who could commit suicide by turning himself off. I still couldn't tell you why. This Day in Gaming Aussie birthdays for notable...

View full article »

 

How to Use VALORANT's New Gun: The Outlaw

VALORANT Episode 8 Act 1 is dropping January 10th and brings, for the first time since launch, a new gun. The Outlaw is the new weapon in the latest season that brings a new sniper rifle into play. Here’s everything you need to know about the Outlaw and the newest season of VALORANT. OUTLAW The Outlaw is a brand new double-barreled sniper rifle made to fit somewhere between the Marshal and Operator sniper rifles in the roster. The Outlaw can fire two shots in succession very quickly without zooming out. Depending on how many shots you’ve fired, one shot or two, the reload times will vary and are overall a bit longer than the other sniper rifles to compensate for the fire rate. Nick Smith, Game Designer II and Sal Garozzo, Game...

View full article »

Portal: Revolution Is Basically a Full-Sized Fan-Made Prequel Releasing Very Soon

Nearly 13 years after the debut of Portal 2, fans of the beloved first-person puzzle game were supposed to be rewarded with the Jan. 5 release of a prequel campaign from Second Face Software. The fan-made mod, dubbed Portal: Revolution, will add over eight hours of gameplay and 40 new test chambers to the sequel game. Instead, those who opened Steam today were met with a disappointing announcement from the game's devs in lieu of new Portal content. "Right off the bat, I want to say that the game is done," the message reads. "We could ship at any moment, but Valve has yet to review and accept the game for release." The note continues on to explain how all games on Steam are beholden to a review process by Valve before developers can...

View full article »

Remedy's Sam Lake Shares Max Payne Cast Photo That's a Warm but Wistful Reunion After 22 Years

Some 22 years after it first released, the cast of Max Payne recently reunited for a strange but brilliant Alan Wake 2 moment, absent one key member. Remedy co-founder Sam Lake captured the moment in a photo posted to X/Twitter, referring to the cast as "family and friends." The group included Jani Niipola (Alex Balder), Carol Kiriakos (Mona Sax), Lake's mother and father (Nicole Horne and Alfred Woden respectively), Aki Järvilehto (BB), and of course Lake himself, who was the original face of Max Payne. Absent from the gathering was James McCaffrey, the voice of Max Payne, who died in December. His final role was Alan Wake 2, where he played Alex Casey. Lake paid tribute to McCaffrey at the time, calling him a "lovely man and a...

View full article »

Celebrating Halo 2’s Online Greatness Ahead of its 20th Anniversary

As I settled back into the day-to-day work routine at IGN to start 2024, it randomly occurred to me that Halo 2 will turn 20 years old later this year – specifically, on November 9. That got me reminiscing about one of my favorite games ever – and probably my single favorite multiplayer game ever – a little bit early, so I thought I’d put those thoughts to virtual paper and share them with you because, quite frankly, there’s never a bad time to talk about the glory days of Halo 2 multiplayer. I'm so grateful I got to be in the right time and place in my life, professionally and personally, to have soaked up that experience to the absolute fullest. I was 24 with no spouse, kid, or dog, thus allowing me to spend most of my free time...

View full article »