Gaming News

Disney Speedstorm players have grown upset at developer Gameloft after it announced the premium track of its battle pass can only be purchased with real money going forward.Players could previously spend tokens earned through gameplay on the battle pass, called the Golden Pass in the Mario Kart-esque racer, but as Gameloft announced in a community update, this would no longer be the case as of Season 7, which is expected to begin sometime in April 2024.Disney Speedstorm is a free-to-play game, but players looking to earn the premium battle pass rewards must now spend $9.99 of real money to do so. Akin to most battle passes available today, a free track which requires no additional spending is also available.Much frustration comes...

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has stealth dropped new ship upgrades alongside the new Premium Warbond, Democratic Detonation.Six new ship upgrades are now in the Playstation 5 and PC third-person shooter, one for each section of the ship module.Helldivers 2 new ship modules:Superior Packing Methodology: Resupply boxes refill support weapons with the maximum number of carriable magazines. Atmospheric Monitoring: Orbital HE barrage spread reduced by 15%. XXL Weapons Bay: Eagle stratagems that drop multiple bombs will drop one additional bomb(s). Enhanced Combustion: Fire damage from stratagems increased by 25%. Circuit Expansion: Lightning arcs, fired from weapons and turrets, jump to one additional enemy. Blast Absorption...

Helldivers 2 has its next premium warbond, called Democratic Detonation, and there’s an explosive theme with this one.Democratic Detonation adds new weapons, including an Exploding Crossbow and Grenade Pistol that are sure to cause as much damage to teammates as they are the automatons and terminids. However, there is new armor that helps with the inevitable increase in explosive damage across the battlefield.As with previous Premium Warbonds, Democratic Detonation costs 1,000 Super Credits. While you can earn Super Credits from gameplay and Warbonds, you can also buy them for real-world money. Via the in-game shop, 1,000 Super Credits costs $9.99. Premium Warbonds do not expire, so you can work your way through them at your own...

As you've no doubt seen today—and as I've been subtly trying to tell you over the past few weeks—the Fallout TV series is in fact awesome. 9/10, among the best gaming adaptations in ages, awesome. I binge-watched all 8 eps in almost one sitting, and then promptly felt a burning desire to replay the game series (for like, the tenth time). Collected below are the current best ways for you to do similar, should you feel the same urge.In retro news, I'm celebrating the 27th birthday of Suikoden, an all-timer in the process of being remastered. I rate the sequel higher, as many folks do, but there's still no denying that the OG Suikoden blew Western gamer minds with its memorable narrative, cool headquarters/recruiting layer, and a cast...

During today's Triple-i Initiative showcase, Gearbox Publishing unveiled a brand new game it's supporting from indie studio Wabisabi. The game is called RKGK, and it's a color-soaked love letter to 90s anime, 3D platforming, and Mexican graffiti culture.RKGK is a single-player 3D action platformer, taking place in the futuristic dystopia of Cap City where the evil CEO of B Corp is trying to drain the metropolis of color and life. The main character, Valah, is on a mission to stop them by fighting B Corp minions, and coating the city in graffiti using a slick-looking parkour system.Valah leaps, hovers, dashes, and glides around the city, spraying paint as she goes both as an offensive tactic, an anti-establishment statement, and at...

This might sound familiar: a devastating tragedy has ushered in the apocalypse, and in its wake people have been forced to adapt to a harsh, lawless climate. Australian studio Drop Bear Bytes has designed a classic turn-based RPG set in (you guessed it) a post-apocalyptic Australia, reducing it to an unforgiving desert full of man-eating spiders, raiders, and even bloodthirsty kangaroos. While that setup is a little too familiar, what's supposed to set Broken Roads apart is an intricate morality system alongside its more traditional RPG character sheet. That seems incredibly promising at first, making me look forward to tackling some difficult moral questions – but after 30 hours of play, it’s clear Broken Roads falls distinctly short...

World of Warcraft's grand nostalgia tour of old content is going strong, with Blizzard announcing that in addition to World of Warcraft: Classic adding the Cataclysm expansion, it's running a new event that will send players back to 2012's Mists of Pandaria expansion.The event is called World of Warcraft Remix: Mists of Pandaria, and it will be available to all WoW subscribers as a separate playable game regardless of whether they play retail, classic, or both. Players will create new characters and level at super speed from 10 to 70 through the Mists of Pandaria expansion, playing through quests, dungeons, raids and other events as they were back in the day, but with a twist. Powerful items will be more readily available than before...

EA has denied reports that a Dead Space 2 remake was in development before being canceled, with a spokesperson telling IGN, "We don't normally comment on rumors but there is no validity to this story."EA's comments follow reports from Jeff Grubb, who claimed that EA Motive was working on concepts for Dead Space 2, but that it was ultimately shelved due to lackluster sales of the previous release. However, IGN understands that EA Motive never considered a Dead Space 2 remake.EA hasn't reported the Dead Space remake's official sales, but it was the best-selling new game in the U.S. in January 2023. A source tells IGN that the Dead Space remake was ultimately considered to have done well.Yesterday, EA announced that Motive is...

Sony has revealed the full line-up of PlayStation Plus Games Catalog additions for April 2024, which includes Dave the Diver, Animal Wall, Tales of Kenzera: Zau, and more.Announced on the PlayStation Blog, a total of 16 games are joining the library: 13 in the Games Catalog available to Extra and Premium members and three in the Classic Games Catalog only available to Premium members.April is perhaps headlined by Dave the Diver, the pixel art aquatic adventure role playing game which became a hit upon its launch in 2022. All games hit the service on April 16, with the exception of Tales of Kenzera: Zau and Animal Well which launch straight onto the PlayStation Plus Games Catalog on April 23 and May 9 respectively.PlayStation Plus...

The Prince of Persia has gone rogue! No, I don’t mean that he’s married a Hollywood actress, moved to California, and spilled the royal tea in a tell-all interview with Oprah. I mean he’s starring in his first 2D roguelite. Hot off the heels of the series’ excellent return to form in January’s The Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, his sword-swinging highness is stepping away from the Metroidvania structure and into the procedurally generated, live, die, repeat mold of Dead Cells, in The Rogue Prince of Persia. While I’ve only had a very short amount of hands-on time with the upcoming adventure, the early signs suggest that this could well be the second dazzling jewel added to the Prince’s crown in less than the space of a year.The...

Publisher PlaySide and developer Fumi Games have unveiled a Spike-D gameplay trailer for their Steamboat Willie-like first-person shooter, Mouse, revealing some of the mechanics players can use to give their enemies the old one-two.The footage, published as part of the Triple-i Initiative Showcase, goes over three of the tools players can use to get around: the Grappling Hook, Helicopter, and the PowerUp Spinach. The Grappling Hook and Helicopter both utilize rodent abilities to gain the high ground and float to the floor with ease. They offer interesting traversal options we haven’t seen from Mouse yet, while the spinach channels Popeye to give players the strength to execute some deadly melee combos.It's a video that shows off...

In case you hadn’t noticed, there are a lot of good first-person sword-fighting games in VR. The medium just fits swordplay really well, because never have swords felt cooler than when you’re the person swinging them. If you don’t believe us, go ahead and try out fencing, then come back and tell us you didn’t […]Continue reading...

Palworld developer Pocketpair has shown off the upcoming PvP mode for Pals set to hit the game at some point in 2024.Announced during the Triple-i Initiative, Pal Arena lets players battle against other players by pitting both themselves and their Pals against them. The idea is you train the strongest pals and defeat all your rivals.Pocketpair released a teaser trailer, below, showing off Pal Arena. It is likely to draw even more comparisons between Palworld and Pokémon, given the similarities to the latter’s famous arena-based gym battles.Palworld launched in January and overnight became one of the biggest games in the world, setting records not only on Steam but on Xbox Game Pass, where it is the biggest third-party game...

Blobfish has announced that its top-down spud shooter, Brotato, is getting DLC in the form of the Abyssal Terrors expansion, and local co-op is on the way, too.The developer behind the hectic monster-dodger revealed the new deep-sea-themed content as part of the Triple-i Showcase today, giving viewers a peek at what’s in store with a first-look trailer, below. Brotato: Abyssal Terrors promises a bundle of goodies for those who purchase it, including more than 10 unique potato characters, more than 10 new weapons, and more than 30 game-changing items. It, along with what Blobfish describes as a “significant” update, will arrive together sometime this summer.“Brotato: Abyssal Terrors beckons players to set sail on a treacherous...

Vampire Survivors is officially come to PlayStation platforms. Announced during today's Triple-I Initiative showcase, Vampire Survivors' devs confirmed that the wildly popular roguelite will be releasing this summer. It was previously released on PC, Switch, mobile, and Xbox.Additionally, new Vampire Survivors DLC was revealed, this time featuring characters from Contra. They include Brad Fang from Contra: Hard Corps, better-known as the wolf with the gun grafted to his arm. The new DLC will be out May 9.Originally released in 2022, Vampire Survivors was first released on Mac and Windows, with the latter becoming the most-played Steam Deck game in August and September 2022. Eventually, Vampire Survivors developer and publisher Luca...

Mega Crit has announced Slay the Spire 2, the sequel to the wildly popular indie that helped inspired an entire generation of digital deckbuilders.Revealed during the Triple-I Showcase on Wednesday, Slay the Spire 2 was shown in a short trailer that seemed to confirm the return of the Ironclad and Silent classes while introducing a brand-new character — The Necrobinder. The official description for the new character reads, "A wandering lich who seeks to bind the forgotten corpse. Calls up on her trusty left hand, Osty in combat."In addition to the trailer, Mega Crit included several gameplay screens, which are stylistically quite similar to the previous game. Check them out below.First released in 2019, Slay the Spire earned...

Diablo 4 launched summer 2023 across PC and console, including the last generation of PlayStation and Xbox consoles. That means it was built to run well on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, hardware now over a decade old.Although Blizzard has yet to release new features for Diablo 4 that leave the last generation of consoles, and indeed the current minimum specifications on PC, behind, Diablo boss Rod Fergusson told IGN in a recent interview that the time may well come for such a tough decision to be made. Right now, though, with the upcoming launch of Season 4 and, later this year, the game’s first expansion, Vessel of Hatred, Blizzard is maintaining parity.“There’s always a time and a place for when maybe it’s time to no longer support...

When Diablo 3 got its pre-Reaper of Souls expansion patch dubbed 'loot 2.0' in 2014, it was credited with turning Blizzard’s action role-playing game around. Critics and players called loot 2.0 a big improvement on Diablo 3, with changes that sparked renewed interest from a community that had dropped off following the base game’s 2012 release. Now, 10 years later, Blizzard is aiming to repeat the trick with Diablo 4 Season 4.For the first time, Blizzard launched a Public Test Realm (PTR) that let players get stuck into the sweeping changes to itemisation Season 4 will bring when it launches on May 14. Hardcore Diablo 4 fans who have stuck with the game despite its many ups and downs since last summer have positive things to say about...

A dedicated Far Cry 5 player is using the game's map editor to recreate the iconic Whiterun from The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim.YouTuber Mojo Swoptops shared a short video of their work so far, where they walk through the main street of their Whiterun recreation. Starting at the entrance to the city, they walk past The Drunken Huntsman, Warmaiden's, and Breezehome before arriving in the marketplace, where The Bannered Mare, Belethor's General Goods, and Severio Pelagia's house are all on show."I decided not to replicate it 1:1 and instead have some fun using some of the other interesting assets I have at my disposal," Mojo Swoptops said in the description. "So far I am happy with the progress, but nothing can match the quality and art...

The Witcher has moved far beyond its core collection of books and games, with a Netflix show, official manga, tabletop game, and even a cookbook all on offer, but now it's even showing up in language learning app Duolingo.Spotted by Reddit user GeraltAndYennefer, one of the questions in Duolingo's Finnish course asks for a translation of the phrase: The bride is a woman and the groom is a hedgehog. "Is this a Witcher reference?", the Reddit user asked.IGN has confirmed with Duolingo that this is indeed a deep cut nod to the beloved fantasy series, specifically to the short story A Question of Price, which was adapted for TV in Season 1 Episode 4 of the Netflix series.The Witcher protagonist Geralt of Rivia attends a banquet...

Helldivers 2 is an absolute gaming giant right now, with consistent updates for the live-service shooter, and plenty to be excited about for the future, there's never been a better time to pick up the game and join the fight to spread managed democracy! If you're looking for the best deal on the game for PS5 in the UK, we've saved you some time and found it for you.If you want to pick up the Helldivers 2 Super Citizen Edition for £49.99, beforehand buy the £50 PS Gift Card and use code PLAY15 at Currys, knocking an additional 15% off the overall cost, and now costing £42.50 instead. For Helldivers 2 standard edition on PS5, for £35, there's even a £35 Gift Card which can be bought for £29.75 using the PLAY15 promo code as well. Apply...

Blizzard has announced that its games are coming back to mainland China in summer 2024 after almost a year and a half off the market. Additionally, Microsoft (which now owns Blizzard) and NetEase have entered another separate agreement to bring NetEase games to Xbox and other platforms.Blizzard’s games were taken offline in China in January 2023 after NetEase and Blizzard were unable to reach a new publishing deal. However, both companies have now reached one. The deal will include all of the games that Chinese players had access to from the previous agreement, including ones like Overwatch, Diablo, and World of Warcraft.While both parties are working to relaunch the games, more details will be revealed later. Phil Spencer chimed...

2023 is a tough act to follow. IGN awarded 83 games a review score of 8 or higher last year, including five 10s — among which were two generational greats in Baldur’s Gate 3 and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. A year later, the release calendar looks comparatively light, with Switch all but certainly in its final year as Nintendo’s primary console and Sony not releasing "any new major existing franchise titles" until 2025.Despite the relative sparsity, 2024 is not without its big hitters: Several Q1 games — Helldivers 2, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and Dragon’s Dogma 2, to name a few — have been released to critical acclaim and commercial success, with dozens of high-potential games still to come, including Star Wars Outlaws...

Ubisoft’s Star Wars Outlaws is connected to the greater Star Wars universe in some interesting ways, and one of those ways will see the return of Lady Qi’ra.Information on the character’s return comes from Game Informer, which spoke with developer Massive Entertainment about its open-world sci-fi spinoff. The adventure sees the main character Kay Vess coming face-to-face with various criminal bosses. According to Game Informer's cover story, Lady Qi’ra will be among the bunch and represents Crimson Dawn.Warning: Some plot details and one spoiler for Solo: A Star Wars Story below.For those who don’t remember the formidable crime lord’s name, she appeared in 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story. Played by Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke...

Blizzard has announced that a coming update to World of Warcraft: Classic re-introducing the fiery Cataclysm expansion will land on May 20.Officially, Classic will heat up a little before that on April 30 with the pre-patch event. Cataclysm's pre-patch back in the day was one doozy of a change, too. It introduced playable Worgen and Goblins, set the dragon Deathwing loose on Azeroth, and because of Deathwing's escapades, transformed the entire landscape of Azeroth's main continents.The full expansion on May 20 will include seven new (to Classic) zones, nine new dungeons, three new raid dungeons, the Archeologu profession. Flying will be introduced to Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms. Additionally, with the transformation of the main...

In a developer livestream showcasing their upcoming expansion, Bungie made a bevy of announcements for what awaits players in Destiny 2: The Final Shape.The livestream opened by announcing a new subclass called Prismatic, which fuses Light and Darkness powers to let players mix and match Destiny's long roster of abilities to create their own Guardian cocktails.As art director Dave Samuel explained, "One of the concept artists early on created this very evocative image of a Guardian with Light armor and Dark armor.""We're like, 'we really need this in The Final Shape. This is the ultimate form of being a Guardian to wield Light and Darkness at the same time,' " added Catarina Macedo, The Final Shape's project lead. "We built...

Star Wars Outlaws might be one of Ubisoft's most highly anticipated single-player games in a while, but you’ll still need an internet connection to install it.Information on the next big Star Wars game spinoff comes from its box art and pre-order information, which became available on retailer websites (like Best Buy) across the internet today. Those who have already gone on to pre-purchase their copy ahead of its August launch might have glossed over the physical game case’s cover, which says “internet required to install the game” next to the ESRB rating.It means that, even if you own a physical copy, you’ll need to be connected online when booting up Star Wars Outlaws for the first time. It’s currently unclear how large the...

Star Wars Outlaws is set to release August 30 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. This open-world adventure from Ubisoft puts you in the shoes of Kay Vess, an outlaw who, along with her companion Nix, runs jobs for (and sometimes against) the galaxy’s biggest crime organizations. The game is now available for preorder in three editions. Below, we run down what you get in each one, along with pricing and availability. Let’s get to it.Preorder Star Wars Outlaws (Standard Edition)PS5Get it at Best Buy - $69.99 Get it at GameStop - $69.99 Get it at Target - $69.99 Get it at PS Store (digital) - $69.99Xbox Series X|SGet it at Best Buy - $69.99 Get it at GameStop - $69.99 Get it at Target - $69.99 Get it at Xbox Store (digital) -...

Star Wars fans have a brand new AAA game to look forward to this year. Star Wars Outlaws is coming on August 30, and it promises to put players in the shoes of smuggler, criminal and all-around scoundrel Kay Vess. Kay must navigate the criminal underworld in a desperate bid to pull off an impossible heist and buy her freedom.With Ubisoft releasing a new trailer for Star Wars Outlaws, we have a better idea of what Kay’s mission involves and the many criminals and villains she’ll encounter along the way. Let’s break down everything we learned from this new footage, from the new and returning criminal syndicates to that unexpected Han Solo cameo.Star Wars’ Criminal UnderworldThe Star Wars movies may be all about the conflict between...

Alongside an action-packed and story-filled trailer, Ubisoft has revealed that Star Wars Outlaws will officially be released on August 30, 2024.Star Wars Outlaws, which is set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, puts players in the shoes of a scoundrel named Kay Vess during a "golden age for the Underworld."In the trailer, this golden age was proclaimed by the crime lord Sliro of the Zerek Besh syndicate to the other groups like the Pykes, Crimson Dawn, and Hutts. He continues by saying, "The Empire controls every corner of the galaxy, but they're distracted by a Rebellion that won't quit. It's an opportunity to make millions."Kay Vess finds herself in the middle of all of this when she crosses...