Gaming News

Save Bucks on Hogwarts Deluxe, Flash Sales on Certified Bangers, and Bullet Heavenly Discounts!

The biggest deals continue to be PC-based today, thanks to a bunch of Fanatical flash sales. That said, some old gold AAA console stuff is inching down, too. Take aim at a must-own and buy in low—that's my motto. Otherwise, November 7th is quite an auspicious day in historical terms. The birthday list includes the inaugural King of Iron Fist Tournament, a brilliant GameCube Star War, and a timeless party king with plastic instruments. Also, one of the top three ever Call of Duty games deserves pointed props. How far we've fallen from it in 16 years... This Day in Gaming Aussie birthdays for notable games and hardware - Tekken (PS) 1994. Sequel - Top Spin (XB) 2003. - Call of Duty (PC) 2003. - Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike...

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Baldur's Gate 3's Japan Release to Censor Nudity, Some Torture

The Japanese version of Baldur’s Gate 3 will have less steamy content than its overseas counterpart when it releases there on Dec. 21. Spike Chunsoft, which is publishing the Japanese version, announced they're cutting explicit sexual content from the Japanese version of Baldur’s Gate 3 so that it is in compliance with CERO’s Code of Ethics standards regarding “banned expressions.” This means that Japanese players won’t be able to enable explicit content in the options menu, including “display of genitals,” “display of nudity in cutscenes,” and “view sex scenes.” To be clear, nudity can currently be toggled off in other versions of the game - the Japanese release will just be fixed in the "off" position. Spike Chunsoft's announcement...

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Baldur's Gate 3 Achievement Hints at New Difficulty Mode That Could Be Absolutely Horrifying

Baldur's Gate 3 players who are looking for a more punishing difficulty level might be in for a treat, as a new unobtainable achievement hints at something even harder than Tactician. As spotted by Redditor Scornz on the Baldur's Gate 3 subreddit, some fans noticed a currently unobtainable achievement on the GOG PC storefront. The achievement, titled "Foehammer," requires a Baldur's Gate 3 player to complete the game in Honour Mode. Baldur's Gate 3 has three difficulty levels: Explorer, Balance, and Tactician, with Tactician as its hardest mode. While Larian has yet to announce a new difficulty mode (IGN has reached out for comment), it should be noted that it previously included an Honour Mode into Divinity: Original Sin 2. If...

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At BlizzCon 2023, the Developers Lay Out Their Own Marvel Cinematic Universe

Sitting in the press room, watching the BlizzCon 2023 opening ceremony this year as returning Warcraft Executive Creative Director Chris Metzen take the stage to reveal the next three World of Warcraft expansions, I was reminded of Marvel’s Kevin Feige announcing entire new slates of movies coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe at Comic-Con. This level of transparency is rare in the video game world, and it wasn’t just Metzen’s Warcraft team embracing it, either. For Overwatch 2, director Aaron Keller announced not only one new hero, Magua, but also the next hero, Venture, and even the concept for the hero after that, codenamed “Space Ranger.” During the Diablo 4 segment the team teased the first expansion, Vessel of Hatred, just...

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Fortnite OG Was Weirdly Predicted by Avengers: Endgame in 2019

Fortnite returning to its classic map in the OG Update was weirdly predicted by Marvel in 2019's Avengers: Endgame. A scene showing Kronan warrior (rock man) Korg playing Fortnite on a PlayStation 4 was long considered a slight mistake but has now, somehow, fixed itself. While Avengers: Endgame was released in 2019 (and therefore filmed even earlier), the movie was set in our current year of 2023. Thanks to Fortnite being an evolving game, however, its map and overall look has changed drastically in the four years since it featured in Avengers. The more, dare we say, pedantic fans therefore picked up that the classic Fortnite being played by Korg would no longer be available in 2023, creating a slight innacuracy in the Marvel...

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Cities: Skylines 2 Boss ‘Surprised’ by Tone of Debate After Patching Out ‘Offensive’ Radio Advert

Last week, Cities: Skylines 2 developer Colossal Order patched out an in-game radio advert it had deemed offensive. Now, the boss of the developer has called into question some of the reaction from the community. Colossal Order used a hotfix to remove the ‘Spasm Electronics’ advertisement from the in-game radio stations after members of the community took issue with its sound effects, which they argued were similar to the sound a person makes when experiencing a seizure. It’s fair to say that fans of the recently released city-builder had opinions about the decision, but for CEO of Colossal Order Mariina Hallikainen some of the reaction went a bit too far. In a post on Steam, Hallikainen called on players to stop attacking other...

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Always in Mind Announced

Startup developer Inevitable Studios has announced Always in Mind, which the development team describes as a "narrative-based action platformer in which players must escape their own mind using extraordinary powers gained from living out family stories from the past." It's in the works for PC, and a Kickstarter will be launching soon. In Always in Mind, you play as Teddy, a 12-year-old boy who suffers an accident that leaves him in a coma. His only way out is "Proxy," a long-dormant AI implant that will help him explore his own mind, discover advice and stories from his mother that he never knew, and implement her lessons through the interactive simulations constructed by Proxy in Teddy's mind. Check out the first trailer above and...

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Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Review

Packed with enough gadgets to cover a belt for Batman’s trousers, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name returns to the classic, combo-based street fighting that featured in earlier Yakuza games but enhances it with a fresh technological twist. This time the sharp side of the katana blades aren’t the only things that are on the cutting edge, as returning hero Kazuma Kiryu can employ a suite of state-of-the-art tools for taking out his tormentors as though he’s bypassed the weapons locker in favour of a trip to the Apple store. However, outside of the revitalised combat, almost everything in Gaiden’s toybox feels like a hand-me-down from an older sibling in the series, meaning once the fighting stops it quickly starts to feel...

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The Finals Open Beta Comes to an End After 7.5 Million Players

The Finals open beta was a huge hit, with an impressive 7.5 million people playing. In a tweet, The Finals developer Embark Studios called the open beta “an unforgettable week for us”, and said now was the time to “hunker down” and work on fixes and improvements. No release window was offered. Created by ex-DICE developers who worked on the Battlefield series, the free-to-download, destruction-based competitive first-person shooter was so popular it even hit its player capacity within a few days. The open beta was massive on Steam in particular, with a peak concurrent players figure of 267,874. That was enough to put The Finals in the top five most-played games on Steam. In our preview of the game, IGN said: "The Finals is a...

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Adele Makes Rust Halloween Costume For Her Son

Iconic British singer Adele made a homemade Rust costume for her son for Halloween. Appearing on stage during her Las Vegas residency, Adele opened up about her attempt to make a Rust costume for her son — but it wasn’t exactly easy. “He wanted to go as a Rust character trick-or-treating,” she said as reported by VGC. “Now, that game hasn’t been franchised, you can’t even buy party decorations from Rust so I had to make a f**king outfit from scratch.” Facepunch Studios' survival game Rust is a monster Steam hit, but hasn’t seen any tie-in merchandising other than a collaboration with gaming chair company Secret Labs and some YouTooz action figures. Put simply – you can’t just get a Rust costume off the shelf. “Luckily I’m a wizard...

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Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Devs Say Miles Morales Is the 'Main' Spider-Man From Now On

The developers of hit PlayStation 5 exclusive Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 have said Miles Morales is the "main" Spider-Man from now on, which has caused some fans to speculate about what Insomniac may do with the inevitable Spider-Man 3. Spider-Man 2 spoilers follow. Gizmodo asked Insomniac narrative director Ben Arfmann and advanced writer Brittney Morris about the ending of Spider-Man 2, which is a clear passing of the torch from Peter Parker to Miles. Here’s how the conversation goes in-game: In the interview, Gizmodo asks Arfmann and Morris: “You said earlier you basically knew right away that you wanted playable Venom. Does that also apply to ending this game with Miles as the ‘main’ Spider-Man from now on?” Morris replies: “It...

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Elden Ring Modder Puts Malenia Inside FromSoftware's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

An Elden Ring modder has taken the game's hardest boss, Malenia, Blade of Miquella, and put her inside fellow FromSoftware title Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. As reported by PC Gamer, Gūyǐng Zhòng's Land of Reeds: Emptiness mod on NexusMods adds the infamous Elden Ring boss to Sekiro alongside Dark Souls' Artorias the Abysswalker and Dark Souls 3's Slave Knight Gael. YouTube user Ongbal showcases the mod in action, and while it's seemingly a little tricky to get running properly and still has some issues in-game, it does have Malenia working for the most part in Sekiro's unique combat style. This means the boss battle features a posture bar alongside her standard health bar, which can be built up by deflecting Malenia's various...

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Silent Hill 2 Remake Includes Pyramid Head Origin Story According to Best Buy Listing

Silent Hill 2 Remake includes a playable origin story for the series' most famous baddie Pyramid Head according to a Best Buy listing. Spotted by @bobvids on X/Twitter, the preorder listing for Silent Hill 2 Remake on Best Buy Canada promises the return of Pyramid Head "along with a special origin story for fans to play through". Konami hasn't confirmed this previously but the information presented by Best Buy will likely come from official sources, though IGN has asked the publisher for comment. Developer Bloober Team, who are remaking the beloved horror game for Konami, has previously said it will "faithfully" stick to the original game's story, leading to some confusion over what this origin story could be. Discussing the Best...

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Ark: Survival Ascended Has an Xbox Series X/S Release Date, Delayed on PS5

Ark: Survival Ascended developer Studio Wildcard has offered firmer detail on the console version launch, confirming an Xbox Series X and S release date but another delay for the PlayStation 5 version. Ark: Survival Ascended is Studio Wildcard’s Unreal Engine 5 remake of the original dinosaur-filled survival game Ark: Survival Evolved. It’s out now on Steam (if you're playing, check out IGN's comprehensive Ark: Survival Ascended guide) alongside the original game, but has yet to hit Windows PC or console. In a blog post, Studio Wildcard said Ark: Survival Ascended is "on track" to launch on Xbox Series X and S and Windows PC on November 14. The Xbox version will be up-to-spec with the latest PC functionality as of November 14, the...

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Score a PS5 and Modern Warfare 3 for Just £390 with This Amazing Early Black Friday Deal

This early Black Friday deal in the UK is already a cut above the rest, and could well be the best discount we see over the holiday shopping season. With the PS5 Slim launching soon globally, we're already starting to see huge discounts on the previous standard PS5 Disc model and its relevant bundles. At select UK retailers, you can currently find the PS5 and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (2023) bundle for just £399.95, which is already a tremendous discount from the RRP of £539.99, but at the EE Store, you can currently get the bundle for £389.49 with code 5GAMEDAYEE. This will be one of the best Black Friday deals this year, but it's definitely an early deal as it will expire on November 7 -- so act fast to secure your order and...

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Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Will Be ‘Riddled’ With Cheaters, but Why Are They So Hard to Stop?

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 launches this week and as players fight to save the world from Vladimir Makarov’s machinations in the single-player campaign, they’re bracing themselves for the next battle in the seemingly endless war with video game cheaters. Modern Warfare 3’s beta tests were home to cheaters who used aimbots and wallhacks to defeat legit players in multiplayer matches. While the PC platform forms the bulk of the cheating that goes on in video games, consoles are susceptible to cheats, too. In fact, one clip went viral on social media for showing cheating in the then PlayStation 5-exclusive Modern Warfare 3 beta. Remarkably, cheat makers were spotted handing out free cheats for the Modern Warfare 3 beta to promote...

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A 10/10 PC Freebie, ≤97% Off B'day Sale, Stocking Filler Scores, and More!

Welcome back to the grind, fellow bargain-hunting game connoisseurs. I've found us a bunch of AAA Switch titles that have limboed down to the uncommon $59 mark (along with, er, Limbo itself, which is like 90% off). But the biggest news today has got to be the continuing 9 And Above Humble Bundle from last week, plus the genuinely great Fanatical Birthday Sale. Lots of stuff to see. Don't waste time reading this intro. Sally forth and save, friend. This Day in Gaming Aussie birthdays for notable games and hardware - Ratchet & Clank (PS2) 2002. Sequel - The Simpsons Game (PS3,X360,Wii) 2007. - Ghostbusters (PC,Wii,X360) 2009. Remaster - Ratchet & Clank: Nexus (PS3) 2013. Table of Contents Nintendo Switch PC Xbox PlayStation...

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Fortnite Just Had Its 'Biggest Day' Ever Thanks to Fortnite OG With Over 44.7 Million Players

Fortnite just had its "biggest day" ever thanks to Fortnite OG, with over 44.7 million players jumping into the game and playing for a combined total of over 102 million hours. Fortnite announced the news on X/Twitter, saying, "Way to start things off with a big bang." "We're blown away by the response to #FortniteOG," Fortnite's X account continued. "Yesterday was the biggest day in Fortnite's history with over 44.7 MILLION players jumping in and 102 MILLION hours of play." According to the unofficial but reliable stat website Fortnite.GG, Fortnite also had its highest concurrent player count ever yesterday, November 4, with 6,172,463 players battle royaling at once. For those unfamiliar, Fortnite Chapter 4 Season OG sends...

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World of Warcraft Devs on Why The Worldsoul Saga Is Three Expansions and Kind of Like the MCU

Blizzard announced at BlizzCon 2023 that World of Warcraft's next three expansions will be part of a larger narrative called The Worldsoul Saga. To learn more, IGN had the chance to speak to WoW vice president Holly Longdale and Warcraft SVP & general manager John Hight about why the team chose to make this saga three expansions and why it's going to be a bit like the MCU. We began by discussing the decision to develop and announce not one, not two, but three expansions for World of Warcraft. As it turns out, it was a combination of the game's upcoming 20th anniversary and a big idea from Warcraft executive creative director Chris Metzen, who just recently rejoined the company. "Honestly, when Chris Metzen returned to us is when we...

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Vampire Survivors to Get Self-Contained Miniature Story Mode Adventures

Vampire Survivors' v.1.8.0 free update is coming soon and will bring with it a new gameplay experience called Adventures, which are "self-contained miniature story modes that reset and remix the game's content." As revealed in a FAQ, Adventures will let you play as the Vampire Survivors' cast and go on a bunch of "wacky sidequests" to learn more about the lore of the game. Each Adventure will have its own progression path, meaning these new gameplay sessions will not impact your main progression or make you lose unlocks you already have. You will start from scratch in Adventures and face custom challenges with a pre-determined arsenal. There will also be various objectives in each chapter of an Adventure, including surviving a...

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Diablo 4 Devs Drop a Big Hint About the Highly Sought-After Cow Level

IGN had the chance to speak to Diablo 4 production director Tiffany Wat and associate game director Joe Piepiora at BlizzCon 2023, and they dropped a pretty big hint about the highly sought-after but yet-to-be-confirmed Cow Level. Since the beginning of Season 2 of Diablo 4, players have taken a major step toward solving the Cow Level mystery that has caused players to search endlessly for the urban legend-turned-meme-turned-Diablo level in this latest game. As it turns out, players can earn three "Items of Great Significance," one at a time, if they kill 666 cows. Players can only earn one of these relics per week, but it appears all three can be used to craft a key to access the Forlorn Hovel, which is a location that many believe...

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World of Warcraft: Classic May Be Teasing a Revamp of the Game's Creepiest Cut Content

If you've been playing World of Warcraft for long enough, you've probably heard stories about datamined and cut content over the years - much of which has been repurposed eventually. Take the Dragon Isles, for instance, which were a zone originally cut from the game way back in the original game's alpha, but which are now the elaborate setting for the most recent Dragonflight expansion. And now, Blizzard may have just teased the canonization of one of its most notorious, creepy pieces of cut content: the Karazhan Crypts. The Karazhan Crypts were a badly-kept secret from way back in original WoW. It was a massive, hidden area behind the Karazhan tower that, while gated off, could be easily accessed by players back in the day who were...

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World of Warcraft Community Can't Get Over Anduin's Glow Up

There's a lot to unpack from the deluge of new World of Warcraft content we were treated to today during BlizzCon 2023. The Worldsoul Saga, three teased expansions, Classic getting the Cataclysm expansion, and so much more. But excited as everyone is for all this, some people are arguably even more excited about, uh, a very, very specific kind of content update to a very, very specific character. I'm talking about Anduin Wrynn's glow-up. He's hot now. And the WoW community is thrilled. First, some context. Anduin Wrynn has been a staple character in World of Warcraft for a long time now. He's the son of the former king of Stormwind and High King of the Alliance Varian Wrynn, and in the earlier days of WoW was seen as a child and...

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World of Warcraft: Classic Is Adding the Cataclysm Expansion

With World of Warcraft: Classic beginning to wind down its Wrath of the Lich King expansion, many players have been wondering where the game would go from here. The answer is...not going to shock anyone, as Classic will be adding the next expansion in line, Cataclysm. Cataclysm was...a rather controversial expansion in its time. It consisted of a massive revamp to the world of Azeroth, transforming entire existing regions and making old questlines and stories unplayable while adding brand new ones. The giant dragon Deathwing soared across the map, spewing fire on regions and frying players where they stood. Worgen and goblins were added as playable races, Archaelology was added as a profession (and eventually discontinued). While...

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Blizzard Announces Next Three Expansions in World of Warcraft: The Worldsoul Saga - BlizzCon 2023

Today at BlizzCon, Blizzard announced that the upcoming tenth, eleventh, and twelfth expansions to its ongoing popular MMORPG World of Warcraft, all three of which will be contained in a larger narrative called World of Warcraft: The Worldsoul Saga. The first of these will be entitled World of Warcraft: The War Within, and it's coming next year. During the keynote, Blizzard brought out WoW legend Chris Metzen, who recently returned as executive creative director of the Warcraft franchise, to announce the update. He called the expansion "the culmination of the first 20 years of our storytelling" that will "vector us into the next 20 years of adventure." And boy, did what he announce sound massive, with Metzen unveiling an almost...

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Hearthstone's Next Major Expansion Is Showdown in the Badlands - BlizzCon 2023

Hearthstone took the stage at BlizzCon 2023 today with a major announcement: Hearthstone: Showdown in the Badlands is the game's next big expansion, and it takes place in Azeroth's wild west. Blizzard shared the expansion's reveal trailer, detailing Hearthstone's classic card battling gameplay with a western spin. Showdown in the Badlands will serve as an origin story for Hearthstone's Reno Jackson and Elise Starseeker, where they'll work together to save the Badlands from a nefarious mining operation. The expansion will feature Hearthstone's first-ever neutral hero card. The expansion is coming on November 14, 2023. We also learned about Catch-Up Packs, a new type of pack where players can get up to 50 cards from a single pack to...

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Diablo 4's First Expansion Will Be Called Vessel of Hatred - BlizzCon 2023

Today at Blizzcon, Blizzard teased an upcoming expansion to Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred, which will include a brand new, never-seen-before in Diablo class. It's coming in late 2024. We didn't get too many details about Vessel of Hatred beyond that, though we did learn it will take place in a region called Nahantu, and will concern the fate of Mephisto and his plans for Sanctuary. We might be able to glean just a little more from some recent datamines, which suggested an expansion called "Lord of Hatred" rather than Vessel of Hatred, but did center Mephisto. The datamine suggests new questlines, new gear, and new endgame activities, as well as a new class called "Spiritborn" and a mercenary system for NPC companions to fight alongside...

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BlizzCon 2023: Everything Announced and Revealed

BlizzCon 2023 has officially kicked off and its opening ceremony was filled with big announcements, including Diablo 4's first expansion called Vessel of Hatred, three new expansions for World of Warcraft in The Worldsoul Saga, a new Overwatch 2 hero named Mauga, and much more. To ensure you don't miss any of the big news from BlizzCon, this article will gather all the biggest announcements, reveals, and trailers from throughout the weekend, and we will continue to update it throughout the show! Diablo 4's First Expansion Will Be Called Vessel of Hatred Diablo 4's first expansion will be called Vessel of Hatred, and it will include a brand-new, never-before-seen class. We didn't learn too much, but it was confirmed it will take...

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Welcome to Tarisland: Mystery of the Hollows, a Game Bringing Balance to the World of MMORPGs

Whether it’s games, movies, music, or even food, the best art is usually the result of someone transitioning from loving fan to passionate creator. This couldn’t be truer about the game developer known as Locojoy. Their project with Level Infinite is proof of that fact. In 2023, they set out to create a fair (read: free from pay-to-win), raid-focused MMORPG with gamers like themselves in mind. The team’s influences over the years include classic MMOs like Ever Quest and Ultima Online, so it’s no wonder that an immersive experience, social enjoyment, and challenging events that require team strategy are crucial elements they would focus on for their project: Tarisland: Mystery of the Hollows. As they transition from players to game...

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Single-Player Campaign Review

Note: This review exclusively covers the single-player mode of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. For our reviewer's thoughts on multiplayer, check out her impressions of the beta and stand by for the full review after launch, along with a full Zombies review. Modern Warfare 3 has perhaps the worst Call of Duty single-player campaign I’ve played. It’s shallow, dull, and plays less like the greatest hits and more like underbaked cover versions of missions past. It’s too busy looking back at former glories rather than focusing on making any new moments worth remembering, wrapped up in a borderline incoherent story with nothing to say. The only part we haven’t seen in a campaign before falls flat, bizarrely cobbling together pieces of the...

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