Gaming News

The Yakuza series is known for its confusing naming conventions but it seems even the developer gets mixed up, as Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name features a tutorial screen from the Judgement games.Spotted by Reddit user InfernusXS and verified by IGN, a tutorial card telling players how Like a Dragon Gaiden's alcohol system works is seemingly the one from Lost Judgement. Both series are made by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, take place in the same universe, and even feature the same locations and mechanics, but this Judgement reference in Like a Dragon Gaiden definitely appears to be a mistake and not just a reference.This is evident by the tutorial mentioning a map that doesn't actually feature in Like a Dragon Gaiden...

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has arrived and Cardy, Matt, and Jesse are here to discuss what may well make it the worst-ever COD campaign. On the brighter side, Thirsty Suitors is a fun Persona/Tony Hawk mashup wrapped in a Scott Pilgrim story that you may want to check out. There's also time for some quick reactions and wild speculation about what we might see from GTA 6 and the newly announced Legend of Zelda live-action movie.Have any thoughts about The Endless Search theme? Got any good demo disc stories? Get in touch at ign_ukfeedback@ign.comIGN UK Podcast 722: Modern Warfare 3's Cam-PainfulIGN UK Podcast 721: Sourdough and Soup Season IGN UK Podcast 720: Don't Sleep on Alan Wake 2 IGN UK Podcast 719: That's So Kraven IGN...

Warner Bros. Games and Avalanche Software have finally shared a first official look at Hogwarts Legacy running on Nintendo Switch just a few days ahead of launch.The Magic Awaits trailer, which you can watch below, shows just over two minutes of the hit Harry Potter game running on Switch ahead of its November 14 launch. Somewhat bizarrely, neither the publisher nor developer had shared a single glimpse of gameplay until this trailer, even with it already being available on other platforms.A handful of cutscenes show the player character beginning their journey as a witch or wizard, by getting a wand at Ollivanders, taking part in their first magic lessons, and so on. The trailer also features some of Hogwarts Legacy's baddies and...

Warner Bros. is giving Mortal Kombat 1 players who bought the controversial $10 Halloween Fatality two “free” Fatalities amid a vociferous backlash over the fighting game’s aggressive monetisation.Mortal Kombat 1 publisher Warner Bros. Games and developer NetherRealm were heavily criticised in October 2023 for selling a Halloween Fatality for 1,200 Dragon Krystals (1,250 of which can be bought in a bundle for $10).Check out how it looks in the video below:Now, as Mortal Kombat 1’s first DLC character, Omni-Man, goes live, we have word that a Seasonal Fatalities bundle will be sold from next week. This includes the aforementioned Halloween Fatality, as well as a Thanksgiving Fatality and an upcoming Winter Fatality. Warner Bros...

Yakuza fans are once again debating the performance of longtime protagonist Kiryu Kazuma's new voice actor Yong Yea after Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth clips were shared online.While Yong Yea himself posted a clip of his English voice acting performance alongside the original Japanese version, it was a karaoke clip that really blew up in the Yakuza community. Many fans have shared their less than enthusiastic response to the performance while others have rushed to defend Yong Yea, and some have even called out developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio for not bringing in professional singers.The song on blast is one of the most popular Yakuza karaoke tunes, Judgement. The voice actor and YouTuber is replacing Darryl Kurylo in Infinite Wealth...

In Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, developer Massive Entertainment will transport us to the incredible world of James Cameron’s sci-fi blockbusters. But, unlike the studio’s previous Division games, Frontiers of Pandora is played in first-person. This is something that… well, a lot of you have issues with.With such striking protagonists as the blue, cat-like Na’vi it’s understandable why many people would like to play in third-person. So why is Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora in first-person?“Because we want you to feel immersed, we want you to feel immersed and feel like you're really on Pandora,” says Ditte Deenfeldt, game director on Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. “So it was never really a big discussion for us.”“This was something...

Modern Warfare 3 is out today, November 10, and already Activision has had to pull various multiplayer maps out of the game because of spawn points that were causing absolute carnage.One map in particular, Quarry, when played on the Hardpoint game mode was found to spawn players in the same spot over and over again, letting the opposing team gun them down for fun.But Activision hasn’t just pulled Quarry from Hardpoint playlists for “unfavourable spawns”. It’s also pulled Rundown and Scrapyard for the same reason. Then, Activision removed Karachi from the Cutthroat playlist “while we work to resolve an issue causing a player to spawn alongside enemies”.It’s not a great start for Modern Warfare 3’s multiplayer, which had a...

Activision has issued a fresh warning to Warzone cheaters: it may cut their parachutes so they “splat” on the ground.In a blog post responding to concern about cheating in Call of Duty amid the launch of Modern Warfare 3, Activision explained this new trick it has in store for cheaters in the free-to-download battle royale.“With Splat, if a cheater is discovered, we may randomly, and for fun, disable their parachute sending them careening into the ground after they deploy,” Activision said.“But what if we catch them after they’ve deployed? Well, Splat can also adjust player velocity, which transforms a bunny hop into a 10,000-foot drop taking them out instantly. This is one of many new tricks we’ve developed – and we’ll talk...

The mid-gen refresh PS5 -- unofficially dubbed the 'slim' model -- is now available to purchase in select markets. It costs $499.99, and as previously anticipated, this new PS5 slim bundle will feature Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 or Spider-Man 2 at no additional charge; offering potential buyers savings of $70 compared to purchasing the items separately. For those interested, you can see the new Call of Duty bundle listed at Best Buy, GameStop, or Target.Or, for those of you who would prefer to play as Spidey instead, Amazon also currently has the new slim PS5 Spider-Man 2 bundle for only $499.99. You can also consider the 2020 model PS5 bundle instead if that's your preference. Heads up, as well, the slim model's new optional...

Thank your own personal deity—possibly The Outsider—it's Friday! I recommend you stock up for the weekend by using Fanatical's continuing flash sales and some console AAA price drops on Amazon. Personally, I'll be looking into a purchase of that reduced third-party PS5 charger stand. Those things are always handy when USB ports are at a premium.In milestone news, it's now the third birthday of the Xbox Series S/X consoles. Speaking as a proud owner of both, they've been damn fine additions to the gaming landscape, especially when you're rocking a $1 GamePass trial for a metric crap ton of games.This Day in GamingAussie birthdays for notable games and hardware- Rise of the Tomb Raider (XO,X360) 2015. Get- Xbox Series X/S...

Sledgehammer Games reportedly pitched Call of Duty Advanced Warfare 2, its follow-up to 2014's Advanced Warfare, only for it to be shelved in order to create Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. This reportedly led to heavy development crunch within the studio.According to Bloomberg, Sledgehammer Games had to make Modern Warfare 3 in a year-and-a-half rather than the typical three-year development cycle. The development of Modern Warfare 3 was reportedly rushed because of another Call of Duty that was delayed out of the 2023 release window.Previous reports revealed that Modern Warfare 3 was originally conceived as an expansion to Modern Warfare 2, but that Activision decided to make it into a full sequel. It initially was supposed to...

I wish I lived in Sandrock. It's a place where a cat can be a celebrated member of the town guard and every street gets fully decked out for the holidays. It's where newcomers are enthusiastically welcomed, contrary to other Western stories where folks "not from around these parts" are met with suspicion. It's got plenty of Western staples though; a ranch managed by a salt-of-the-earth family (even if the husband is a little unhinged), a cute main street with a saloon and general store, plenty of lovely Western accents, and of course, a touch of danger. My Time at Sandrock is an excellent entry in an ever-growing list of cozy games, consistently fun while managing to stand apart from the crowd thanks to its theme of optimism grown out...

Things can never go perfectly in a fairytale fantasy world - only in the past, or after the ending, do things get normal and good. So, naturally, in For the King 2 the brave queen Rosomon of the first game has fallen to the evils of chaos, and over a series of five adventures your team of erstwhile heroes strike out to explore their hexagonal world, get stronger, and for a resistance to the queen by scouring little linear dungeons or defeating notable foes. The sometimes-whimsical, often challenging quests take you across a variety of terrain and turn-based combat scenarios, smoothly aided by very functional, simple game mechanics, but the whole thing is hindered by a user interface that fails to communicate even very simple information...

With Steam Deck OLED now in the spotlight, Valve reassures gamers that dual-boot support and SteamOS improvements are still "very high on the list," and the development team will make some significant changes to the operating system in the next year.Steam Deck designer Lawrence Yang told IGN in an email that the development team has not forgotten dual-boot support, but work on it was delayed since all the SteamOS developers have been working on getting Steam Deck OLED out.“Dual-boot support (and SteamOS general install) is very high on the list for folks working on SteamOS.” Yang wrote. “It also happens that all of those OS folks have been working on getting Steam Deck OLED out the door. That said, we’re planning to make meaningful...

With Steam Deck OLED a reality, thoughts inevitably turn to the possibility of Steam Deck 2. So what does Valve have to say about a fully-fledged follow-up to its portable console?IGN spoke with Steam Deck designer Jay Shaw to find out, asking how far off a potential Steam Deck 2 would be. Here’s Shaw’s response:“I don't know. It'll be a while. I think it'll be quite a while. We don't have any kind of set date. I think we're going to wait for the technology to present itself in a way that we find interesting and for the team to really want to make that leap. We're very, very, very proud of this version of Steam Deck and this is it. This is the one that we're the most happy with and we think customers will be too.“So we're...

DIY repair enthusiasts and gamers alike have reason to celebrate as Valve touts the just-announced Steam Deck OLED, which is much more repair-friendly than the original model.As part of the product reveal, Valve makes note of the Steam Deck OLED's repairability. Promising those who buy the model will have fewer steps to follow if they need to make a common repair on the device. While Valve did not go into the specifics on what constitutes a common repair to them, a few likely examples include issues with the action button or replacing the thumbsticks.According to Valve, bumper buttons are now located on the joystick board, making it easier to repair than before and improving bumper shock reliability. Changes to the screws have...

A lot has changed in the nearly two years since the Steam Deck launched. Literally hundreds of software updates, an ever-expanding catalog of Deck-verified games, and a bevy of useful accessories have helped Valve’s handheld, Linux-powered PC solidify itself as more than just a flash in the pan. Now we can add hardware revisions to that list, too – and in the 2023 OLED version, which replaces the LCD original without increasing the price, Valve has addressed virtually every criticism leveled in our 2022 review with surgical precision.The new Steam Deck OLED is an upgrade across the board, but let’s make one thing clear right off the bat: This is not “Steam Deck 2.” Valve has been very clear that, while it does plan to make a...

Over a year after making portable gaming PCs a mainstream gadget, Valve has announced the next iteration of the Steam Deck.With a release date set for November 16, the Steam Deck OLED will feature an enhanced OLED display, better audio, and a handful of quality-of-life improvements. It will also feature what looks to be a big boost in battery life, with Valve claiming an estimated 30 percent to 50 percent improvement over the launch version.Steam Deck OLED model will be available in two storage configurations: 512GB and 1TB, which will cost $549 and $649, respectively. And just like its predecessor, Steam Deck OLED includes a microSD card slot. Pre-orders open next week.Those who choose to upgrade will find a unit that ditches...

Over a year after first announcing its first handheld gaming PC, Valve has revealed the Steam Deck OLED – a new iteration with an improved display, better audio, and greater battery life, to name a few of the big changes.While it is not the Steam Deck 2 everyone has been hoping for, plenty of significant changes warrant this upgrade one year into the handheld’s lifespan. To see how the Steam Deck OLED stacks up with the competition, we are going to take a look at the specs and features and go over some standout differences between the Steam Deck OLED, the launch model, and the Nintendo Switch OLED:Display and ResolutionLet’s get the big one out of the way: Steam Deck OLED ditches the LCD on the original model in favor of an OLED...

Valve has officially announced the Steam Deck OLED, a new iteration of the popular handheld device featuring an OLED screen, improved battery life, and more.Ahead of the announcement, IGN sat down with Jeremy Selan and Jay Shaw, two designers who worked on the newly announced OLED model. We asked both designers about making the Steam Deck OLED, including the decision to keep the performance the same as the launch model, and why Valve decided to make an OLED model instead of a true successor to the Steam Deck.Read on for our full Steam Deck OLED interview with Valve below. If you want to learn more about the Steam Deck OLED, check out our Steam Deck OLED review, as our article on how the Steam Deck OLED stacks up against the Steam...

The Baldur’s Gate 3 updates are coming in thick and fast. Now, developer Larian has released the game's tenth hotfix, which addresses a number of issues.Hotfix #10, now live on all platforms except Mac, addresses visual issues and bugs, Larian said in a post on Steam. Chief among them is a fix for an issue where Astarion’s voice wasn’t quite following what he was supposed to say during dialogues.Elsewhere, there’s a fix for Shadowheart not following the party, or as Larian put it: “We've asked Shadowheart to stop getting distracted by the wonderful vistas of the Sword Coast and she should now follow with the rest of the team.” That pesky Shadowheart!Larian continues to have fun with Baldur’s Gate 3’s patch notes. I enjoyed this...

The developer of a promising cRPG dubbed Australia's answer to old-school Fallout has delayed the game just days before it was due out.Australian indie studio Drop Bear Bytes had set Broken Roads’ release date for November 13 but announced a delay to early 2024 “to allow for additional polish time”. The delay was so last-minute that at the time of publication, Broken Roads’ Steam page still carried the original release date.Broken Roads is a traditional isometric RPG in which players make their way across a desolate future Australia. It’s due out for PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox.Drop Bear Bytes said the game is “content complete”, but it is now “coming in longer than we originally anticipated at around 30 hours of...

Braid, considered by many to be one of the greatest indie games of all time, is set for an Anniversary Edition on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, PC, and Netflix on April 30, 2024. A Mac and Linux release is due out later.Braid is a puzzle-platform game originally released in August 2008 by designer Jonathan Blow at the height of the Xbox 360’s Xbox Live Arcade service. Gameplay revolves around an eye-catching time-manipulation mechanic players use to progress.The Anniversary Edition includes improved sound and new mixes and variants of the soundtrack by Martin Stig Andersen (Control, Inside) and Hans Christian Kock. Crucially, there are ‘hand-repainted’ graphics by original artist David Hellman, and...

Activision has moved to justify its new Call of Duty launcher ahead of the release of Modern Warfare 3, touting easier file management and seamless title switching.Call of Duty HQ is the new platform from which Call of Duty games such as the imminent Modern Warfare 3 are launched, and replaces the Modern Warfare 2 app. It is not possible to jump straight into Modern Warfare 3, Modern Warfare 2, or battle royale Warzone via their own dedicated apps. Rather, players must log into Call of Duty HQ, find their game of choice via a Netflix-style launcher, then load the app. Call of Duty HQ is required to play either Modern Warfare 3, 2, or Warzone, and unlike parts of those games, Call of Duty HQ cannot be deleted if you want to play...

An apparent mistake saw the PC version of Persona 5 Tactica made briefly playable on Steam yesterday, a week prior to its planned November 17 launch.Around 10am EST yesterday a handful of eagle-eyed Steam users took to social media to report that Persona 5 Tactica had seemingly become available to install, with users later claiming they were able to play the opening section of the game. Others who had wishlisted the game on Steam reported receiving emails notifying them that the title had been released.According to the third-party metrics tracker SteamDB, a meagre three players were able to download the title and get it playing in the roughly 20-minute window before developer Atlus and publisher Sega took action to correct the...

Gameplay footage of Hogwarts Legacy on Nintendo Switch is finally in the wild as a result of one fan getting the game early.Hogwarts Legacy hits Switch in just a few days on November 14 but publisher Warner Bros. Games and developer Avalanche Software, somewhat bizarrely, haven't shared a single glimpse of gameplay, even with it already being available on other platforms.Reddit user Talhelfg revealed on November 7 they received a boxed copy of the game early, however, and posted a 38-second gameplay video to X/Twitter before swiftly taking both posts down. The internet being what it is means the video had already spread though, and X/Twitter user Jose Morales Ros reposted the leaked gameplay themselves, which can be seen below...

Sony president Hiroki Totoki has said the company is reviewing PlayStation's live service game push amid development trouble that has already seen Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us multiplayer game hit with setbacks.Totoki said in a financial call Sony is reviewing the 12 live service PlayStation games it has in the works, and committed to launching only six of them by the end of financial year 2025, meaning by the end of March 2026. Totoki said Sony is still working on when the other six live service games will come out, adding: "It's not that we stick to certain titles, but for the gamers quality should be the most important.”Sony announced plans in February 2022 to launch more than 10 live service games by March 2026, later saying...

Six years after its glitzy launch, Blizzard's grand experiment appears to be over. Blizzard confirmed in a statement to IGN that it is "transitioning from the Overwatch League," seemingly spelling the end for the competition once billed as the future of esports."We are transitioning from the Overwatch League and evolving competitive Overwatch in a new direction," an Activision Blizzard spokesperson told IGN. "We are grateful to everyone who made OWL possible and remain focused on building our vision of a revitalized esports program. We are excited to share details with you all in the near future."Developing...Blogroll photo credit: Hunter Martin/Getty ImagesKat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo...

If you took the bold plunge on an import Steam Deck like yours truly, today's your day. Humble Bundle has collated some impressive discounts on handheld PC games. Be sure to get in and pay less on commute-slaying experiences. Ubisoft (among others) also seem to be quite determined to shift a bunch of Ultimate Editions out the door as well. Grab you the "bestest versions" while the going's good.In wayback news, please light a big 18-shaped candle for Resi 4 on PS2. Truly, it was one of the crown jewels of that system (much as it was for GameCube). I'm delighted to be able to recommend you a modern reincarnation called Resident Evil 4 Remake. 10/10, masterpiece.This Day in GamingAussie birthdays for notable games and hardware-...

With SAG-AFTRA video game actors and major video game companies still negotiating over a new union contract amid a year packed with major labor actions, the possibility of a video game actor strike continues to loom. But one major gaming executive isn't worried about the possibility: the CEO of GTA 6 publisher Take-Two Interactive.Answering an investor question on today's Take-Two earnings call about whether or not GTA 6 could see a delay if a strike happened, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick seemed to think it was unlikely that SAG-AFTRA's video game actors would go on strike like their TV and film brethren. Rather, he said he thought negotiations would turn out "just fine."As he put it, "Negotiations are expected to resume next week...