Gaming News

Deathloop Gets Nvidia Reflex to Improve Latency

Nvidia has officially confirmed that the PC version of Deathloop has support for its Reflex software tech. Nvidia notes that Reflex will benefit Deathloop's single-player experience as the software tech will reduce system latency by up to 40%. The tech does this by reducing the time it takes for your computer to process your input. Nvidia Reflex is a toolkit that measures and reduces system latency. Unlike other Nvidia tech such as DLSS, Reflex does not require an RTX graphics card and supports older Nvidia cards, starting with the GTX 900 series or newer. Nvidia Reflex was released last year, and more than 20 games currently support the software tech, including Fortnite, Destiny 2, Splitgate, and the soon-to-be-released Battlefield...

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Kena: Bridge of Spirits Photo Mode Announced

Ahead of its September 21 launch, Kena: Bridge of Spirits developer Ember Labs has announced that the game will feature a photo mode. Revealed in an article on the PlayStation Blog, Kena: Bridge of Spirits' photo mode will include one or two functions not typical of the more 'standard' versions of the feature seen in many games. Instead of simply stopping time to allow players to take a quick freeze-frame of the action, Bridge of Spirits grants players the option to bring its characters to life as they look to set up the perfect snap. While moving the camera in photo mode, Kena and the game's other characters will keep their attention on you; readjusting their positions to cater for more personality-fueled intimate shots. In...

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Heavy Rain Developer Quantic Dream Rumoured to Be Making a Star Wars Game

Quantic Dream, the developer behind Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human, is rumoured to be making a Star Wars game. The rumour has surfaced courtesy French YouTuber Gautoz, who reports that the studio has signed on with Disney. This follows the company's shift to multiplatform after a long history of working exclusively with Sony. As ever, all rumours should not be taken at face value, but Dualshockers reports that it has its own sources that confirm that Quantic Dream is working on a Star Wars game. The site reports that its source "provided overwhelming evidence" of having connections within Quantic Dream, and that the Star Wars game has been the studio's project for around 18 months. The report notes that is is unclear what...

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Phasmophobia Anniversary Update Adds Singleplayer Mode

With ghost hunting horror co-op game Phasmophobia having just had its first anniversary, developer Kinetic Games has celebrated the milestone achievement with the launch of a brand new update that adds a single-player mode to the game. The update, which was revealed in a post on Phasmophobia's Steam update page, makes a number of changes to the game, ranging from small bug fixes to the more noteworthy addition of a solo mode. For those of you brave enough to tackle the game's many haunted locales without backup, the game's new single-player experience allows players to play Phasmophobia without connecting to its servers. A number of other revisions were also made as part of the anniversary update. The journal has been overhauled and...

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Madden 22's Much-Requested Scouting Update Has Been Delayed

The much-requested update to Madden 22's take on scouting has been delayed to mid-October, after it was initially slated to release during September. EA shared details about the upcoming scouting update as part of a deep dive on the Madden website, stating that it needed more time to ensure that the feature was fully ready for fans to experience. "It is important to our team that we deliver what you request at quality," says EA. "We are taking the time to ensure scouting is polished with some additional testing and scouting will be available to all players as part of a Title Update coming in mid-October." This may come as a blow to fans who have been waiting for the feature since the game's launch back in August. Unlike many...

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Aussie Deals: Kick off the School Holidays by Saving Tons!

School holidays are here! Whether that's a good thing or not depends greatly upon your point of view. Obviously it's a golden time to unwind for students. It's also a waking nightmare for caregivers and parents who now have no way to keep the youngins amused. Enter: the wide selection of gaming bargains I've found for you today. Save your sanity and grab some super-cheap escapism! Notable Sales for Nintendo Switch Purchase Cheaply for PC Exciting Offers for XO/XS Product Savings for PS4/PS5 Sign up to get the best Aussie gaming deals sent straight to your inbox! Adam's an Aussie deals wrangler who spends too much of his income on the bargains he finds. You can occasionally find him @Grizwords. Continue reading...

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Destiny 2's New Trials of Osiris Matchmaking System Is Stirring Controversy

Bungie has added matchmaking assistance to Destiny 2's Trials of Osiris mode to make it more welcoming for a wider range of players, but it hasn't launched without its own fair share of controversy. For those unaware, Trials of Osiris is a high-risk, high-reward competitive 3v3 PvP mode in Destiny 2 that has players attempting to go Flawless by winning seven matches in a row. By doing so, players gain access to exclusive rewards in the Lighthouse. As reported by Kotaku, the details of this matchmaking change to Trials of Osiris were shared in the latest This Week At Bungie, and are part of Trials of Osiris' revamp following the mode being offline for a bit. The first of these changes is the addition of a "flawless pool" that will...

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Toby Fox Will Release Deltarune Chapter 3, 4, and 5 at the Same Time

Despite Deltarune: Chapter 2 being released by itself, series creator Toby Fox has said that his goal is to have Chapters 3, 4, and 5 arrive at the same time. Toby Fox shared the news on Deltarune.com following the release of Deltarune: Chapter 2 and said that, while he had originally planned on releasing new chapters only when all of them were finished, he realized that "it's hard both for creators and fans to go a long time without a release." However, he is now focused on completing Chapters 3, 4, and 5 and will launch the complete game (Chapters 1-5) at a currently unknown price that will be more than Undertale, which currently costs $14.99. Fox released both Deltarune Chapter 1 and 2 for free and has asked that players (who...

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Skatebird's Cute Skateboarding Birds Are, Like All of Us, Just Trying Their Best

Some games are inspired by the developer's deep, personal experiences. Others are sparked by real-world events, or love of other media. For Skatebird developer Megan Fox, it all began with a gif of a bird on a skateboard. Fox is a seasoned developer, having worked in AAA on LEGO Universe before going indie and releasing games like Jones on Fire, Hot Tin Roof, and Spartan Fist. She started working on Skatebird in 2018 after, she says, Spartan Fist "bombed" and she had to let her entire development team go. Whatever she made next, Fox at the time was certain she would need to do it mostly alone. But that certainty didn't last long. First, a fellow game developer who goes by KevKev offered up a physics-based, skateboarding prototype...

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Eastward Review

A man and his adopted daughter find their way through a whimsical, post-apocalyptic landscape. Frying pan and psychic powers at the ready, they might stumble into saving the world as they explore it. With all the stylings of a retro JRPG, you might expect Eastward to play like one, but this chill action-adventure is more Zelda than Dragon Quest. John and Sam's triumphs and mistakes take place in a charming pixel-art landscape that's rich with lovely characters and intimately designed places. Even where the story dragged for a time, or the simplicity of the challenges felt patronizing, the parts of Eastward that spoke to me more than made up for them. Our headliners are John – a silent protagonist wreathed in messy hair and a bushy...

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Fortnite: How to Find Carnage and Venom Symbiotes

Fortnite Chapter 2, Season 8 brings with it another alien menace in the form of Marvel’s Carnage and Venom. These two symbiotes have recently crashed landed on the island and are ripe for the pickings. What Are Symbiotes? The Symbiotes (called Klyntar on their home planet) are extraterrestrial lifeforms that are able to bond to individuals, regardless of species, in order to form a new shared entity. They are parasitic in nature, though they don’t always harm their hosts; they often improve upon a host’s natural attributes while also granting powers like superhuman strength, healing, and the ability to form tendrils or tentacles out of their arms. For more about these parasitic creatures, check out how we ranked Marvel's most powerful...

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Call of Duty: Warzone Hardware Bans Are Seemingly Being Carried Over to Vanguard

Activision Blizzard is currently facing serious ongoing allegations of harassment and mistreatment of marginalized workers. To learn more, please visit our timeline as well as our in-depth report on the subject. If you have ever cheated in Call of Duty: Warzone and were subsequently banned as a result, it looks like you won't be able to play the next Call of Duty game, Vanguard. Spotted first by Eurogamer, several images have appeared online, including cheating Discord servers and forums, showing players who received either an account or hardware ban in Call of Duty: Warzone also being barred from playing the upcoming open beta for Vanguard. Call of Duty website, CharlieIntel confirmed those with an account or hardware ban in Warzone...

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THQ Nordic 10th Anniversary: Every New Game Announced

THQ Nordic celebrated its 10th anniversary today with a livestream event with tons of new game announcements. THQ Nordic revealed eight new games currently in development at its many, many game development studios. During the 30-minute show, THQ Nordic revealed multiple games ranging from remasters to surprise sequels. Some games, like Destroy All Humans! 2 Reprobed were leaked ahead of schedule, but there were still plenty of surprises left. Check out all the games THQ Nordic announced below. Destroy All Humans 2! Reprobed A remake of the original Destroy All Humans 2 was leaked a bit early by accident, but THQ Nordic had a full reveal planned for its 10th anniversary. The developers are calling Destroy All Humans 2 Reprobed a...

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Play Age of Empires 4 Early in a Technical Stress Test Today

Age of Empires 4 is holding a Technical Stress Test starting today, and it will be open to everyone through Steam and the Xbox Insider Hub in Microsoft Store. The test will go from Friday, September 17 at 10 a.m. PT through Monday, September 20 at 10 a.m. PT, according to a news post on the Age of Empires website. The four civilizations available in the beta are the English, the Chinese, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Abbasid Dynasty. Five different maps will be available with the developers stressing this test is "focused on the multiplayer experience." Single-player options available in the test include playing against AI in the Multiplayer Custom Lobby and playing the game's tutorial, Mission Zero. A closed beta was held for Age...

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Titanfall 2 Was Abandoned By EA, And Then Things Got Weird

The 32nd page of an exhaustive PDF document called "Operation Red Tape'' is christened with the headline, "Discussing throwing 'leads' about Jeanue to an IGN journalist." It was uploaded by the team behind the website SaveTitanfall.com on August 6 as the definitive conclusion on one of the strangest stories in video games. Who was killing Titanfall? Who is Jeanue? Why hasn't Respawn done anything to stop it? I had been trying to answer those questions for months. Now, it appeared that all of my work had been capsized. "Should throw him the original leads about jean," read the screenshot of a Discord transcript, just below that brutal headline. I felt a twinge in the bottom of my stomach. The "him" here apparently referred to me. Had...

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Sonic Co-Creator Has Gone Indie After Balan Wonderworld

Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka has taken a move towards the realm of indie games following this year's disappointing release of Balan Wonderworld. As translated by VGC, Naka, who turns 56 today (September 17), tweeted thanking fans for their birthday wishes before going on to announce that he's working on a small indie mobile game developed using Unity. “I’ve recently started learning how to program again, and I’m working on a simple game for smartphones with Unity," said Naka. "I’m making it by myself, so it’s not much, but I’m enjoying programming it. I hope you’ll be able to play with the app when it’s available.” In April this year, Naka left his position at Square Enix shortly after the studio's dissatisfying release...

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IGN UK Podcast #610: Deathloops and Toffee Hoops

Cardy, Matt and Emma are here to talk about the delight that is Deathloop. We also have impressions of the Call of Duty Vanguard beta which Emma has been playing, a lovely photo puzzle game called TOEM which Cardy enjoyed, and Matt's journey through the psychedelic rock coming of age tale, The Artful Escape. Want to submit your own Endless Search, food opinion, or a bit of other nonsense? Feel free to get in touch with the podcast at: ign_ukfeedback@ign.com. IGN UK Podcast #610: Deathloops and Toffee Hoops IGN UK Podcast #609: Too Much Happened This Week IGN UK Podcast #608: A Far Cry from The Forgotten City IGN UK Podcast #607: DokeV's Llama Would Batter a Xenomorph IGN UK Podcast #606: Lucy's Unfortunate Train Ride and Other...

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Splitgate Devs Say Their Game Will Have Forge Mode Before Halo Infinite

1047 Games says that its popular first-person portal-based shooter Splitgate will incorporate a take on Forge mode before Halo Infinite. In response to a tweet from @KFCGaming asking its community to "trigger an entire gaming fanbase with one sentence," the official Splitgate account responded by announcing, "Splitgate will have a forge mode before Halo Infinite." Originally released in Halo 3, Forge is a mode designed by Bungie that allows players to edit, customize and share maps within the Halo community. Due to its popularity, Forge has become a regular addition to Halo games with the mode being added to subsequent releases within the franchise in Halo Reach, Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians, and 343 Industries' upcoming installment...

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Aussie Deals: Stock Up for Saturday With a THQ Sale, Reduced Consoles, and More!

The week is sorted! In fact, I'd go so far as to say it's done like a Deathloop soloist who's ignored the tooltip warning about player invasions. Bargains for said title are included today, incidentally, along with some price drops on Nintendo Switch Lites and the Xbox Series S. All those deals and more are lurking below. Notable Sales for Nintendo Switch Purchase Cheaply for PC Exciting Offers for XO/XS Product Savings for PS4/PS5 Sign up to get the best Aussie gaming deals sent straight to your inbox! Adam's an Aussie deals wrangler who has his eye on Hot Wheels next. You can occasionally find him @Grizwords. Continue reading...

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The Last Campfire, From the Creators of No Man's Sky, Has a Steam Release Date

Hello Games, the creators of No Man's Sky, has revealed that The Last Campfire is coming to Steam next month. More specifically, the cozy puzzle game will hit Steam on October 7. If you're unsure if The Last Campfire is for you, Hello Games is releasing a playable demo for the game on October 1 as part of the Steam Next Fest. "The Last Campfire was a labour of love for a small team at the studio," a press release about the announcement reads. "We've been lucky to have really lovely reviews across the board, and a bunch of awards and nominations. It seems to have struck an emotional chord with people as well. Now, we're finally bringing it to Steam." The Last Campfire is already available on Switch, Apple Arcade, PlayStation 4, Xbox...

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Tales of Arise Has Already Hit An Impressive Sales Milestone

Tales of Arise has already hit an impressive sales milestone less than a week after release. Bandai Namco announced today that in just "a few days after release," the latest release in the long-running Tales series, Tales of Arise, surpassed 1 million units sold worldwide. This makes it the fastest-selling title in the franchise. Tales of Arise's 1 million units sold brings the total series' units sold up to a very respectable 25 million. "We are very proud and humbled to see fans and newcomers reception playing Tales of Arise," producer Yusuke Tomizawa said. "Our goal with this title was to open the franchise to as many players as possible while maintaining the Tales of DNA and uniqueness that has allowed the franchise to stay...

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BitCraft, a 'New Kind of MMORPG', Announced

Startup developer Clockwork Labs has announced BitCraft, a "new kind of MMORPG" that emphasizes player cooperation and allows players to have a large amount of agency over the game world. The PC MMO, which you can sign up to play the pre-alpha build at on the official BitCraft website, features a mix of crafting, building, hunting, farming, trading, and exploration. It's also got a unique art style, which you can see for yourself in the trailer above and the screenshot gallery below. “BitCraft is an MMO community sandbox game which takes place in an enormous, fully editable, procedurally generated landscape all hosted in a single unsharded world, providing players with an unparalleled level of creativity and depth,” said Clockwork...

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Former Bungie Composer Charged With Contempt of Court Over Use of Destiny Music

Former Bungie composer Marty O'Donnell, known for his work on the Halo series and Destiny, has been found in contempt of court over his use of Destiny music assets that broke the terms of a 2015 lawsuit between him and Bungie. O'Donnell now faces tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees. As revealed by Eurogamer, Bungie served the Halo-famed composer with contempt of court papers back in April after it surfaced that Destiny videos breaking the terms of a previous 2015 lawsuit between the pair had been published to O'Donnell's YouTube channel and other platforms. On July 12 this year, after reviewing the evidence presented, Judge Regina Cahan of the Superior Court of Washington King County ruled in the studio's favour. As part of...

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Steam's Latest Surprise Hit is a Sim Where You Run a Gas Station

Aside from showcasing the latest triple-A heavyweights to grace the world of video games, the Steam store is also no stranger to the occasional out-of-the-blue indie success story. The store's latest surprise hit comes in the form of Gas Station Simulator, a game that does exactly what the title suggests: run a gas station. Currently ranked third on Steam's Top Sellers list, DRAGO Entertainment's Gas Station Simulator is topped only by new releases Deathloop and Timberborn. In Gas Station Simulator, players find themselves at the forefront of a brand new business opportunity. After purchasing their very own abandoned gas station - The Dust Bowl - budding entrepreneurs are then tasked with restoring it to its former glory. Throughout...

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Skatebird Review

One-part tiny Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and one-part Micro Machines, Skatebird is a little bit like a Photoshop Friday pun parody brought to life; it’s extremely small birds riding Tech Decks on small-scale stunt ramps scattered around a messy bedroom, plus various locations around an office. Beneath the joke is an ambitious attempt at a 3D arcade skateboarding game, and it’s heavily inspired by the early Neversoft Tony Hawk games. The result is cute, earnest, and undeniably eye-catching, but it’s also pretty unrefined, light on content, and regularly irritating to play. The general vibe is as though someone brought up the legendary aforementioned Birdman and someone else sprang up from their empty pint glass and exclaimed, “Birds, man!”...

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Deltarune: Chapter 2 Arriving on PC and Mac This Week

Deltarune: Chapter 2, which is the second entry in the follow-up to Undertale, will be released on both PC and Mac on September 17, 2021, at 5pm PT/8pm ET/1am BST (9/18). A short video of Deltarune: Chapter 2 was released on Twitter alongside the announcement from Undertale's 6th-anniversary celebration event, and Deltarune.com has been updated with a few more details regarding save transfers and more. To ensure your Deltarune: Chapter 1 save file is transferred to Deltarune: Chapter 2, players will need to see the credits of the first game. Chapter 1's "completion data" will be created when you "go to sleep in your bed at the end of the game." If you happen to be on a different computer than the one you played Deltarune: Chapter...

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Aussie Deals: Your Final Hours to Score a Delisting Forza 7 at 75% Off, and More!

Sadly, not all AAA games and their servers can stay golden. The sun is about to set on Forza Motorsport 7, a racing king that shall no longer be available to buy through the Microsoft Store. Don't let it (and a whole bunch of other deals I've found today) drive away from you, forever. Notable Sales for Nintendo Switch Purchase Cheaply for PC Exciting Offers for XO/XS Product Savings for PS4/PS5 Sign up to get the best Aussie gaming deals sent straight to your inbox! Adam's an Aussie deals guy who has maxed out his invasion rank in Deathloop. He's pure evil. He tweets @Grizwords. Continue reading...

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Deathloop Is a Masterpiece, and PS5 Gets a Major Update - Podcast Beyond Episode 717

On this week's episode of IGN's PlayStation podcast, Podcast Beyond!, host Jonathon Dornbush is joined by Brian Altano, Lucy O'Brien, and Matt Purslow to discuss all the latest PS5 updates, PS5 games, and more. First, we discuss the release of the newest PS5 console exclusive, Deathloop, as we jump into Matt's Deathloop review and his overall thoughts about Deathloop's gameplay, world, and unique multiplayer. Jonathon, Lucy, and Brian also offer their Deathloop impressions, taking a look at what we've enjoyed about our early hours of the gameplay so far, and how it sits alongside other Arkane games. Plus, we jump into the news around the new PS5 update, and what this PlayStation 5 firmware means for both the UI and PS5 SSD expansion...

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Battlefield 2042 Delayed Until November

EA has announced that Battlefield 2042 will be delayed until November 19, 2021, pushing the release date by almost a month after its original October 22 release date. In a press release, DICE GM Oskar Gabrielson cites ongoing complications with the COVID-19 pandemic. “Given the scale and scope of the game, we had hoped our teams would be back in our studios together as we move towards launch. With the ongoing conditions not allowing that to happen safely, and with all the hard work the teams are doing from home, we feel it is important to take the extra time to deliver on the vision of Battlefield 2042 for our players.” Battlefield 2042 is EA and DICE’s first Battlefield game since 2018’s Battlefield 5, and it is the latest game to...

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In DokeV, the Dokebi Monsters Are for Far More Than Just Battling

DokeV dazzled at the most recent PlayStation Showcase, where for four colorful minutes it demonstrated a large open world full of goofy monsters, like a bear with boxing gloves and rideable alpacas. But while it seems these monsters are in some fashion capturable and able to stand by the player's side in battle, that's not the sole focus on DokeV. According to lead producer Sangyoung Kim, DokeV's monsters, called Dokebi, which are "spirit-like beings" in Korean folklore. Kim told us that actual Dokebi myths are at the heart of many monster designs we've already seen. "We thought of a lot of different ideas with the Dokebi folklore at the center," he said. "You may have seen the Anteater-like Dokebi in the video, but it’s not actually...

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