Gaming News

How a Guild of ‘Old Timers’ Is Embracing Online Gaming All the Way to Retirement

In 1997, when Ultima Online first released, Tess (known online as “TessPhyreForge”) didn’t own a computer. She didn’t know anything about computers. But she was dating a guy at the time who was really, really into Ultima Online. “He made me a character and sat me down and said, ‘This is what you do.’ Then after two hours I was hooked, and I've been playing ever since.” After her then-boyfriend got her hooked on Ultima Online, Tess eventually purchased her own computer. And then another computer so her son could play with her. “When he turned 14, the area we lived at, we had a couple pool halls and stuff like that where the kids would go hang out,” Tess says. “But it was so bad an atmosphere for teenagers and drugs and stuff that I...

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Trek to Yomi and More Leaving Xbox Game Pass in October 2023

Microsoft has revealed six additional games leaving Xbox and PC Game Pass in October 2023 including fan favourite Trek to Yomi. Revealed on the Xbox Store, Trek to Yomi's removal will be joined by The Legend of Tianding, Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion, and Eville on Xbox Game Pass, in addition to Shenzhen I/O and Overwhelm on PC Game Pass. Microsoft didn't share an exact date for the games' removal but did say it would be "in the next two weeks", with Game Pass departures usually taking place mid-month. It's worth noting that, for those looking to play these games after their removal, they'll be available to purchase outright for 20% off while still available as part of Game Pass. Trek to Yomi is reminiscent of classic samurai...

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High On Life: High on Knife DLC Review

After nine months filled with dark and serious stories in games ranging from Diablo IV to Lies of P, I was more than a little eager to dive back into the stark contrast of stupidity and smut that is High on Life with the release of its first DLC: High on Knife. But while it certainly delivers the usual silly gags, amusingly gross and annoying characters, and some good laughs, that ride comes to an abrupt stop after only two hours, ending before I’d even fully settled back into a goofy world I’d desperately like to spend some more time in. Beyond that, the focus on Knifey, one of the more one-dimensional friends in your arsenal, doesn’t make for a particularly good story (even if he’s usually a reliable source of chuckles), and a lack of...

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Ubisoft Asks Fans Not to Spoil Assassin's Creed Mirage as Release Date Approaches

Assassin's Creed Mirage is just a few days away from launch on October 5 so developer Ubisoft has asked fans to please not spoil it for others. In a post on Twitter (below), Ubisoft made clear it still wanted people talking about the game, of course, but said players shouldn't share spoiler-filled comments or posts online without marking them as such first. "No spoilers," Ubisoft said in the post. "With the launch of Assassin's Creed Mirage upon us, we would kindly ask you to consider your fellow Assassins and refrain from posting or sharing unmarked spoilers that would impact their experience. Thank you. The wait it almost over." Unwanted spoilers are practically commonplace in the video game industry, with leaks of trailers...

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Final Fantasy 7's Sephiroth Just Got New Backstory in Mobile Game Ever Crisis

Final Fantasy 7's big bad Sephiroth just got a big chunk of new backstory thanks to mobile game spin-off Ever Crisis. As reported by Eurogamer, the story of young Sephiroth is at the centre of Ever Crisis's latest update and players are now wondering if or how this lore dump will connect to the highly anticipated Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, the sequel to 2020's Remake. The crux of the story, which is as dramatic and bizarre and tragic as much of Final Fantasy, revolves around Sephiroth's heritage. The villain's parents are Shinra scientists (part of the evil mega-corporation ruling Final Fantasy 7's world of Gaia) called Hojo and Lucrecia. Fans of the game will also be familiar with Jenova, a big evil alien whose cells were injected...

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Final Fantasy 14 Player Becomes First to Earn All 2,000+ Achievements

A Final Fantasy 14 player has become the first to unlock all 2,751 Achievements, more than a decade after the game launched. As reported by Games Radar, a Reddit post from PrismaticParrot revealed a Japanese user in the Garuda server is now the one and only Final Fantasy 14 player to have every single Achievement unlocked. The post showed data obtained through Achievement tracking website Lalachievements, which confirmed the feat. The massively multiplayer online role-playing game has a notorious Achievement list, and not just because it's over a decade old with humungous expansions released regularly, but because some individual Achievements require hundreds of hours of gameplay. To unlock them all requires players not just...

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Frostpunk 2 Preview: Less Frost and More Punks in This Daunting Society Simulator Sequel

If you’re a history and government nerd like me, you’d probably be hard pressed to find a franchise that better appeals to your love of society building and tough moral quandaries than Frostpunk. Thankfully, developer 11 Bit Studios is cooking up another depressing city management simulator with Frostpunk 2, and from the 30-minute demo I saw, they appear to be doubling down on gut-wrenching decisions and brutal difficulty, and it’s got me positively giddy to get my hands on it. The demo I saw was focused solely on the freeplay mode called “Utopia Builder,” so any details of the dedicated story mode remain a mystery, but after seeing the fascinating new direction they’re taking that focuses on politics, faction management, and greatly...

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Boss of Worms Company Team17 Axed Amid Sweeping Layoffs

Worms maker Team17 is set for significant layoffs as well as the exit of its CEO. Eurogamer reported Team17’s quality assurance (QA) department will bear the brunt of the layoffs, with around 50 roles at risk. A consultation process is set to end in November. Meanwhile, CEO Michael Pattison is expected to leave. Team17 confirmed the layoffs in a statement to IGN, although it insisted its Astragon and Storytoys businesses are unaffected. “In response to the reports concerning the departure of Michael Pattison from Team17, we can confirm we have amicably parted ways with Michael. We can also confirm that we have sadly entered into a period of consultation today within Team17 Digital, with Astragon and Storytoys remaining unaffected by...

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Payday 3 Dev Declares Matchmaking Issues Over, 3.1 Million Players Since Launch

After a disastrous launch that saw Payday 3 unplayable for many, developer Starbreeze has declared the matchmaking issues over, opening the door to a big update for October. Starbreeze said the scheduled maintenance carried out last week fixed the matchmaking issues that occurred during Payday 3’s first week after launch. Matchmaking is now stable, Starbreeze said, and has had “good performance”. The developer bigged up the popularity of Payday 3 since it came out, saying over the past five days it had a peak concurrent players (CCU) of 124,254, and during September saw 3,167,938 unique players (MAU). Starbreeze said it will now “intensify” commercial activities around Payday 3 after an initial pause. This starts early October with...

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EA Sports FC 24 Players Say $30 Launch Week Loot Box Highlights Everything Wrong With Ultimate Team

Ultimate Team is EA’s controversial cash cow that brings in hundreds of millions of dollars to the publisher’s coffers every year. While FIFA players are well used to EA Sports adding expensive and powerful card packs later in the year-long life of the annualised football game, with the launch of FC 24, the community has reacted in shock to a $30 pack available to buy before the game even properly launched. The Elite Season Opener Pack, currently available in the store, cost 285,000 Ultimate Team coins (the in-game currency), or 3,000 FC Points (the premium currency). 3,000 FC Points costs around $30. In true video game monetisation fashion, FC 24 does not let you buy 3,000 FC Points exactly in one bundle. This Elite Season Opener...

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Alan Wake 2: Release Date, Gameplay Updates, Story Details, and Latest News

13 (real-world and in-game) years have passed since we left Alan Wake in the Dark Place. The 2010 action game/psychological thriller gained a cult following thanks to a compelling narrative that blends Stephen King-esque psychological mystery with the quirky charm and evocative surrealism of Twin Peaks. In the decade-plus since, Remedy has grown to become one of the industry’s premier development studios, and now it’s writing an all-new chapter with its first survival-horror game, Alan Wake 2. Ahead of the sequel’s upcoming release, we’ve compiled this comprehensive overview of everything we know about Alan Wake 2, including a release date, platforms, price, gameplay updates, story details, and more. Jump to: Release Date Storyline...

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El Paso, Elsewhere Wears Its Bloodstained Heartbreak on Its Sleeve

There’s a moment at the very beginning of El Paso, Elsewhere, where the protagonist James Savage leans over the hood of a car pulled over in the middle of nowhere and makes a plea directly to the player. “I need you to believe…that I’m going to get back into this car, on the count of three, and stop my ex before she destroys us all. I need to know that you believe, so I can too.” He slowly counts to three, and in a blink, he’s in the El Paso hotel where she lies in wait. “Well,” he says, as if pleasantly surprised. “Here’s to believing.” The parallels between this specific moment of James’ opening monologue and the story told to me by Strange Scaffold studio head Xalavier Nelson Jr. of the game’s development aren’t lost on me. He’s...

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Counter-Strike 2 Players Express Disappointment as Many of CS:GO's Key Features Disappear

After a surprise announcement earlier this year, Valve surprised players once again by suddenly releasing Counter-Strike 2 as an update to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on Wednesday after a long beta period. Along with several new gameplay aspects, Counter-Strike 2 brings a few major changes, like weapon refunds and overhauled graphics, to the model that helped its predecessor become one of the most-played Steam games of all time. Unfortunately for quite a few players, though, the original Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was completely replaced by Counter-Strike 2 (aside from being playable as an offline "demo"), which seems to be missing quite a few beloved features from the original game. Now, players caught off guard are taking...

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Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Includes a Hard-to-Find Witcher Reference

Spoiler Warning: The following article features minor spoilers for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty's fourth main mission: Lucretia My Reflection. Cyberpunk 2077 players have found a super sneaky reference to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt hidden by CD Projekt inside the Phantom Liberty expansion. As recorded in IGN's Cyberpunk 2077 Easter Eggs and References Guide, players will encounter a wall-mounted phone in Phantom Liberty's Lucretia My Reflection mission. While this is a one-off encounter where players contact Idris Elba's Solomon Reed for the first time, going back to it and dialling a bunch of different phone numbers will net some interesting results. Thanks to Cyberpunk 2077 being open-world, players can simply head back to the...

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Destiny 2: Where Is Xur Today? Location and Exotic Items for September 29-October 2

The talking stack of pancakes, Xur, is now live in Destiny 2 for the weekend until next week's reset. If you're looking to get you some shiny new Exotic armor or weapons for your Guardian, look no further. Each week, Xûr has a random assortment of Exotic armor, one for each Guardian class, as well as a random Exotic Weapon and an Exotic Engram available for purchase. In addition to his Exotic wares, he's got a random collection of Legendary weapons and armor to deck out your Guardians. We've rounded up all the info on Xûr for the week including where to find Xûr, which Exotic weapons and armor are available, as well as which Legendary weapons you should pick up, either for PvE or PvP. Where Is Xûr Located Today? Xûr's location can...

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Sam Lake Explains The Alan Wake Story So Far - IGN First

It has been 13 years since the original Alan Wake was released as an Xbox 360 exclusive. That's a long time, and if you've not played since then (or even played Alan Wake at all!) then you may want a recap of the story to help prepare you for Alan Wake 2. You could read a plot synopsis, or you could join us for the finale of this month's IGN First, in which the game's writer himself - Sam Lake - tells us the entire Alan Wake story so far. In today's video, Sam will cover the events of Alan Wake and its two DLC episodes; the standalone expansion Alan Wake's American Nightmare; and AWE, the Alan Wake crossover expansion for Control. With these games covered, you'll be more than caught up on the events of Bright Falls and the Cauldron...

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All Baldur's Gate 3's Uncensored Romance Scenes Have Been Captured and They Add Up to Two Full Hours

After playing more than a hundred hours of Larian Studio's Baldur's Gate 3, we finally captured what we believe to be every major romance scene with every origin character and beyond. All BG3 NSFW Romance Scenes All BG3 Safe-for-Work Romance Scenes Compilations of both the spicy NSFW versions and the (mildly) safe-for-work versions are just above, but you can always find all of the scenes for a specific origin character in our Baldur's Gate 3 romance guides: Shadowheart Romance Guide Karlach Romance Guide Halsin Romance Guide Wyll Romance Guide Lae'zel Romance Guide Gale Romance Guide Astarion Romance Guide Though there are many attractive and deep elements that make Baldur's Gate 3 a complex RPG, the multiple romance options...

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The Thaumaturge Preview: A Witty and Weird Historical RPG About Facing Your Demons

Developer Fool's Theory is cooking up a very different role-playing game with The Thaumaturge. It blends a dark fantasy storyline about fighting hooligans and actual demons in early 20th-century Poland with a detective-style plot of uncovering people's dark secrets to free them from their curses. It presents a morally ambiguous and surprisingly humorous journey to undertake, and it has all the makings for one of the strangest, yet most intriguing takes on a Western role-playing game I've seen in some time. I got extended hands-on time with an extensive questline from the early hours of The Thaumaturge, showcasing its absurdist take on a historical-inspired RPG where you quite literally have to face your demons. Set in 1905 Poland...

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First Look at Call of Duty’s Doom Shotgun and Chainsaw, Diablo’s Lilith and Inarius, and More

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone are getting a raft of licensed bundles over the course of Season 6, and now the update is out in the wild, players have dug up gameplay clips showing off how they look. Courtesy of Twitter user @BoomstickButch, we have an early look at gameplay showing off various operators and weapons. The highlight here has to be the Doom Tracer Pack, due October 9. This adds the Super Shotgun from id Software’s famous series to Call of Duty as well as its chainsaw. Both weapons are reminiscent of classic pixel Doom graphics and get bloodier as you get more eliminations. Here’s how they look: Elsewhere, we have a first look at the Lilith and Inarius operators, parachuted into Call of Duty from Blizzard’s...

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Cyberpunk 2077 Patch 2.01 'Coming Soon' With Dogtown Performance Buffs and PS5 Corrupt Save Data Fix

Cyberpunk 2077 may have just received Update 2.0 and its Phantom Liberty expansion but developer CD Projekt has promised Patch 2.01 is "coming soon" with performance improvements in Dogtown and a fix for corrupted save data on PlayStation 5. Announced on Cyberpunk 2077's support website, Patch 2.01 doesn't include a ton of additions to the game-changing 2.0 update but does look to address its two biggest issues: slowdown in Phantom Liberty's new area and some PS5 users finding their previous game saves busted. The full patch notes can be viewed below, but CD Projekt said "these are just the highlights", implying other bugs will be addressed in the update too. "[We] addressed the issue of corrupted saves on PlayStation by increasing...

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IGN UK Podcast 716: Hate the Endless Search Theme? Let's Go Our Separate Ways

Dale and Jesse are here, so you know what means; more Resident Evil chat! The boys and Matt P have played the Ada Wong DLC, Separate Ways for Resident Evil 4 and have tons of thoughts. We also chat about Mortal Kombat 1's story mode, Netflix's latest Korean game show, The Devil's Plan and we dive into all your feedback about the theme for The Endless Search in what we've dubbed THE GREAT DEBATE. Have any thoughts about The Endless Search theme dude, got any good demo disc stories? Get in touch at ign_ukfeedback@ign.com IGN UK Podcast 716: Hate the Endless Search Theme? Let's Go Our Separate Ways IGN UK Podcast 715: Idris Elba's Sausage Sandwich IGN UK Podcast 714: Daddy's Back IGN UK Podcast 713: Starfield - Bethesda Strikes...

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Mortal Kombat 1 Developer Ed Boon Teases Fans With Ghostface and Jigsaw Image

Mortal Kombat 1 development chief Ed Boon is up to his old tricks again, teasing fans about potential upcoming DLC characters. Boon tweeted an image showing a number of famous horror villains, including Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and Leatherface, all of whom have green ticks because they have appeared as a guest character in Mortal Kombat in the past. It’s the villains who have a green question mark plonked on top who we’re most interested in, however. Michael Myers, Pinhead, Chucky, Jigsaw, and Ghostface are all teased here by Boon, and the Mortal Kombat community is responding as you’d expect. Earlier this month, dataminers dug into Mortal Kombat 1 and found evidence pointing to potential unannounced DLC characters. While...

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Cyberpunk 2077 Lead Reveals How to Become a 'Warlock Netrunner' in Phantom Liberty

Cyberpunk 2077 director Gabe Amatangelo has revealed how to become what he believes is one of the most fun archetypes in Phantom Liberty: "a warlock netrunner." Speaking to PC Gamer, Amatangelo said the combination of the monowire cyberware and quickhacking multiple enemies can essentially inflict a never-ending cycle of chaos if done well enough. "There [are so many fun builds], but I'd say the netrunner, spreading hacks with the monowire from the Relic Tree," Amatangelo said when asked which build he recommended players try. "That one's so much fun, especially if you are able to work in the combos and the rhythm for refunding your memory and your cooldowns. When you do it in concert with the monowire, you get the bonuses from the...

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Mojang Brings Minecraft Dungeons Development to an End After Hitting 25 Million Players

Mojang has ended development on Minecraft Dungeons three years after launch and after hitting an impressive 25 million players. Minecraft Dungeons is a dungeon crawler spin-off that launched for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One in May 2020, and for Xbox Series X and S in February 2021. IGN’s Minecraft Dungeons review returned a 7/10. “Simple and fun to play, Minecraft Dungeons is a good entry-level dungeon crawler, but it doesn't dig too deep,” we said. In a note to players, Mojang said Minecraft Dungeons “exceeded our wildest dreams”, but “every journey has an end”. Update 1.17, released November 2022, goes down as Minecraft Dungeons’ last, and now Mojang has moved on to new projects “that continue to explore...

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Renewed Concern for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake as Trailers and Tweets Are Culled

There is renewed concern for the status of the troubled Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake after fans spotted trailers and other promotional material was pulled from the internet. X user @Crusader3456 flagged that the 2021 Playstation Showcase trailer for the KOTOR remake was set to private, and posts published by Sony on official social media channels were pulled. Last year, development on the KOTOR remake was reportedly paused indefinitely after disappointment over progress made with the hotly anticipated RPG. A demo built by Texas-based studio Aspyr apparently failed to impress when shown to Lucasfilm and Sony, which led to development being put on hold. The remake’s art director Brad Prince and design director Jason...

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Xbox Is Having its Best Stretch of Game Releases Since Fall 2007

Just because I know that headline will have some of you primed to start typing in the Comments section, know that this column isn’t about Xbox exclusives. Those, as we all know by now, are still dripping out of the Xbox Game Studios spigot rather than flowing. But the back-pressure is rising, and I’m sure I’ll write more about what’s next in a future column. For today, I want to focus simply on games being released for the Xbox Series X and S right now, this Fall, whether they’re exclusive or not. Most of them aren’t, certainly, but it doesn’t make the following statement any less true: we are in the single biggest 90-day stretch of game releases since Xbox 360’s historic Fall 2007. That legendary run, culminating in the second...

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A Free FC24 Throw In, Insane LEGO Game Discounts, a GOG 15th Anniversary Sale, and More!

You're going to need a new game, or possibly several. Why? Because the glorious Labour Day long weekend is almost upon us. Things I'd recommend right off the bat include the GOG 15th Anniversary Sale, a brick stack of LEGO bargains on Switch, and Amazon is still slinging cheap PS5 AAAs. Well, I'm off to play more Assassin's Creed Mirage (19% off here). See you all on Tuesday! This Day in Gaming Aussie birthdays for notable games and hardware - Battle Arena Toshinden (PS) 1995. - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (PS) 2000. - Company of Heroes (PC) 2006. - Aliens Infestation (DS) 2011. - Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Col. (PS3) 2011. - :Lego Dimensions (PS3/4,XBO/360, WiiU) 2015. Table of Contents Nintendo Switch PC Xbox PlayStation...

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The Best VPN Services for 2023

Staying safe in today's digital world can feel like a huge task. It feels like your data is never safe and malicious actors are trying to pry into your online activities at every turn. While it can often feel like there's no way to alleviate that, there are some tools you can use. If you've been on the internet and not under a rock for the last 5 or so years, then you've probably heard the term "VPN" thrown around here and there, but have you ever wondered what they actually are? VPN stands for "virtual private network". We go into detail at the bottom of this article, but put simply it's a tool that allows you an increased blanket of security for your online activities. With so many VPN providers out there, it can be really...

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Sony Reveals 6 New Games Coming to PS VR2

Earlier today, Sony announced a handful of games on the way to the PlayStation VR2. Posting these announcements on both the PlayStation Blog and the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Sony shared new details on six games that will be playable on its headset. With release dates varying from next month to next year, here's a roundup of the six VR games Sony highlighted that are coming to PS VR2 soon. Among Us PlayStation's first announcement was that Among US VR will arrive on PS VR2. Though no release date was announced, the news is great for PS VR2 fans, as it was released on Meta Quest and Steam VR headsets nearly a year ago; it seemed only a matter of time before Schell Games released a PS VR port. Journey to Foundation...

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Avatar: The Last Airbender - Quest for Balance Review

If you, like me, are a fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the promise of playing through its fantastic story yourself is an enticing concept that, shockingly, has yet to be truly delivered on in the 18 years since the animated show premiered on Nickelodeon. Avatar: The Last Airbender - Quest for Balance set out to change that: finally you and a co-op partner will be able to relive iconic Avatar moments, like that time Aang had to save a village from an angry monster by solving a sliding block puzzle, or that other time he had to enter the Spirit World to… solve a sliding block puzzle. Quest for Balance is easily the worst adaptation of the series since M. Night Shyamalan’s abysmal live-action movie. It picks baffling moments from the...

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