Gaming News

CD Projekt Spent Roughly $125 Million Turning Cyberpunk 2077 Around Post-Launch

CD Projekt spent $125 million on Cyberpunk 2077 post-launch, repairing the game's reputation with the Edgerunners and Update 2.0 patches alongside the well-received Phantom Liberty expansion. CD Projekt announced on October 5 that the expansion starring Idris Elba cost a hefty 275 million Polish Zloty (around $62.7 million) to develop and approximately 95 million Polish Zloty (around $21.6 million) to market. Chief financial officer Piotr Nielubowicz also said during the CD Projekt Investor Day presentation that bringing Cyberpunk up to next-gen console standards, presumably including the game-changing Update 2.0, cost 178 million Polish Zloty (around $40.9 million). The three figures together, combining the cost of Phantom Liberty...

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Stardew Valley Developer Concerned Ape Reveals Four New Haunted Chocolatier Screenshots

Stardew Valley developer Eric 'Concerned Ape' Barone has celebrated reaching one million followers on social media website X by releasing four new screens for his upcoming game the Haunted Chocolatier. The new stills show off Barone’s distinctive pixel art style while highlighting a series of in-game environments, including a wooded area in which a familiar red-coated character can be seen firing an arrow at a monster, and a quirky saloon/homely interior. We also got a look at a library hosting a spooky skeleton and four books that positively reek of mystery, as well as a closer view of the town square glimpsed in the October 2021 reveal trailer, which features an ornate mermaid fountain. “Loving the style,” wrote Redditer darkest4...

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Tim Sweeney Admits Epic Games Had 'Financial Problem' 10 Weeks Prior to Studio Layoffs

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has admitted the company was grappling with a "financial problem" 10 weeks before announcing sweeping layoffs, in an unexpected admission during Unreal Fest earlier this week. In a post on the social media platform X (spotted by Polygon), user @ImmatureGamerX uploaded a video recorded during one of the sessions available on the first day of the annual conference focused on Unreal Engine. However, this session is not included in the live streams available to the public. Sweeney elaborated more on Epic's financial woes that led to the company laying off 830 employees late last month. Sweeney explained that management became aware of how dire their financial difficulties were just 10 weeks before the...

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Baldur’s Gate 3 Hotfix 9 Out Now — Here’s What it Does

The Baldur’s Gate 3 hotfixes are coming thick and fast. After Hotfix 8, which shaved His Majesty after a cat backlash from fans, came out earlier this week, Larian has now released Hotfix 9, which brings the sprawling Dungeons & Dragons-themed role-playing game up to version number 4.1.1.3767641. Hotfix 9 squishes multiple bugs, issues and crashes, Larian said, as well as lets players change the appearance of their hirelings via the Magic Mirror. “The same restrictions apply as when you edit your Tav, but we hope this enables you to create the party of your dreams,” Larian explained in a post on the Baldur’s Gate 3 Steam page. “Or, someone else’s nightmares. We can’t wait to see it.” Hirelings are characters you can hire to join...

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Stardew Valley Creator Reveals 'Hats on Cats (and Dogs)' Feature Seemingly Coming in 1.6 Update

Stardew Valley creator Eric ‘Concerned Ape’ Barone has teased an adorable new feature that may be coming to the farming RPG as part of the highly anticipated 1.6 update, which will seemingly allow players to put hats on their beloved in-game pets. “Hats on cats (and dogs)”, read the post on X from Barone, who shared four images of pixel pets wearing headware ranging from bows to forager hats, and the iconic fashion hat. The idea that Stardew Valley’s pets will soon be given the behatted dignity they deserve without having to resort to mods left many in the community overjoyed, while others took the opportunity to pine for other features to be added to the game. Some fans were curious as to whether the new feature is to be...

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This May Be the Last PlayStation-Exclusive Content Call of Duty Ever Gets

Activision has unveiled PlayStation-exclusive content coming to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 — potentially the last PlayStation-exclusive content Call of Duty will ever get. Modern Warfare 3 is set for an exclusive operator called Lockpick, who comes with a variety of related items. PlayStation owners who pre-order Modern Warfare 3 get the bundle, which includes a unique knife and SMG, at launch in November. Promotional material confirms this content is exclusive to PlayStation platforms for a year, until November 9, 2024. Microsoft’s long-running pursuit of Activision Blizzard reportedly ends next week with the imminent completion of its $69 billion buyout of the company behind Call of Duty. While Microsoft has secured an...

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Redfall 60fps Patch Still MIA Amid Dwindling Player Count

With a dwindling player count, a promised 60fps patch still not out, and months of silence from its developer, Redfall may be on its last legs. Arkane’s Redfall suffered a disastrous release in May, one that went so badly Xbox boss Phil Spencer personally apologised for it. IGN’s review returned a 4/10. “Redfall is a bafflingly bad time across the board,” we said. “Plagued with bland missions, boneheaded enemies, and repeated technical problems, Redfall simply wasn’t ready for daylight in this state.” Microsoft was also heavily criticised for showing its PC and Xbox exclusive running at 60fps ahead of launch and, less than a month before the game came out, announcing the co-op vampire shooter would arrive locked at 30fps on Xbox...

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Assassin's Creed Mirage Players Frustrated With Chromatic Aberration That Can't Be Turned Off

Some Assassin's Creed Mirage players are frustrated with a graphical effect called chromatic aberration that can't be turned off. Chromatic aberration is a graphical effect implemented to simulate lens distortion to make gameplay appear as if filmed with a real camera and therefore more cinematic. In actual gameplay, it makes the outlines of objects blurred or sometimes shine with bright colours. While this is an effect implemented across many games, some Assassin's Creed Mirage players are calling its use here the worst they've ever seen, with others claiming it's making them unwell and stopping play altogether. Ubisoft failed to include an option to turn chromatic aberration off within Assassin's Creed Mirage. "It's pretty much...

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IGN UK Podcast 717: Spice Up Your Life

Cardy, Matt, and Dale are ready to step back in time with Assassin's Creed Mirage. After discussing Ubisoft's latest stealth action-adventure their attention then turns to Gen V – The Boys spin-off TV show which is a bloody good time. Want something a bit more cerebral? Maybe we could interest you in Cocoon, a new Game Pass puzzler. There's also time left for a quick chat about a couple of films – horror/home invasion No One Will Save You and Wes Anderson's The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. Have any thoughts about The Endless Search theme? Got any good demo disc stories? Get in touch at ign_ukfeedback@ign.com IGN UK Podcast 717: Spice Up Your Life IGN UK Podcast 716: Hate the Endless Search Theme? Let's Go Our Separate Ways IGN...

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Grab Ghostwire Tokyo for Free, Cheapest AC Mirage and FC24 Copies, plus More!

Thank your own personal deity—possibly the Kuchisake—it's Friday! Today, we're going to round out the school holidays with some pretty sweet opportunities. The big one is the chance to add Ghostwire: Tokyo to your pile of shame for nothing (free sign up required). I've also scoured the online stores for the best prices on the hottest Q4 prospects, not to mention some old gold that's going for dirt cheap! This Day in Gaming Aussie birthdays for notable games and hardware - International Superstar Soccer 2000 (N64) 2000. - Space Channel 5 (DC) 2000. - Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS) 2005. - Kirby: Canvas Curse (DS) 2005. - Dark Souls (PS4,X360 2011. Table of Contents Nintendo Switch PC Xbox PlayStation Nice Savings for...

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Telltale Games Has Allegedly Laid Off 'Most of' Its Workers

Narrative adventure developer Telltale Games, the studio currently working on The Wolf Among Us 2 and which just released The Expanse: A Telltale Series, has undergone layoffs which one former employee says impacted "most of" the studio. The news first circulated via a post on X (formerly Twitter) by former Telltale cinematic artist Jonah Huang, who said that these layoffs took place in early September: Telltale has confirmed that it has undergone layoffs in a statement sent to IGN, but did not confirm the number or extent. Its statement is as follows: Notably, Huang was part of the first iteration of Telltale Games as well, which similarly underwent significant layoffs before closing entirely in 2019. The shutdown was attributed...

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Officially Reveals New Map and Tons of More Info

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was fully revealed today, and it's set to debut a new city-themed Warzone 2 map with drivable trains, zip lines, and quite a few points of interest. During today's COD Next showcase, Activision revealed Urzikstan, an "urban battleground" map coming to Battle Royale and Plunder at launch. As GamesRadar pointed out, Urzikstan was first featured as a country (and a key part of the campaign) in the 2019 game Modern Warfare, and now it's finally getting its own map. Filled with apartments and industrial areas, Urzikstan seems fairly dense in comparison to other Warzone maps. Still, it features quite a few new ways to get across the map, including the franchise's first train with player-controllable direction...

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CD Projekt Doesn't Regret Making Cyberpunk 2077 First-Person, but Has Yet to Decide on Cyberpunk 2

CD Projekt Red doesn't regret making Cyberpunk 2077 a first-person only game, compared to the third-person Witcher franchise, but the developer is yet to make up its mind around Cyberpunk 2, codenamed Orion. Speaking during the CD Projekt Red Investor Day presentation, Cyberpunk 2077 quest director Paweł Sasko, who will be working on Orion, was asked if CD Projekt Red would consider adding a third-person to first-person toggle in the new game, and if the developer regrets not including one in the current Cyberpunk. "There are no regrets on our part," he said. "What we wanted was for Cyberpunk to have its own identity and to be noticeable as this different thing. These days it's YouTube, Twitch, and screenshots that sell games, and...

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CD Projekt Red CEO Adam Kiciński Entering Supervisory Position in 2025

CD Projekt Red CEO Adam Kiciński has announced he will be moving to a supervisory role at the company in 2025 and will therefore be stepping down as CEO as part of a larger management shake-up. Kiciński, who will have been at CD Projekt Red for 30 years as of 2024, will resign as a member of the management board at the end of that year. Before he does so, he will transition from his current role as CEO to the role of chief strategy officer as of January 1, 2024. Current chief creative officer Adam Badowski and current chief commercial officer Michał Nowakowski will take over as joint-CEOs of CD Projekt Red also as of January 1, 2024. The supervisory board Kiciński is joining oversees the activities of CD Projekt Red and performs...

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Former Bungie HR Manager Is Suing for Wrongful Termination After She Reported Potential Racial Bias

Destiny 2 and Marathon developer Bungie is currently being sued for retaliation and wrongful termination by a former HR manager, who alleges she was let go when she raised a potential case of racial discrimination to her supervisors. In a complaint filed earlier this year in the state of Washington, plaintiff Ingrid Alm recounts that she was hired by Bungie in May of 2022 as an HR manager, coming into the job with over a decade of experience. Just a few months into her employment, she says she was instructed to investigate the performance of a particular employee, referred to as “James Smith.” But when she sat down to speak with Smith, he allegedly pointed out that he was the only Black employee on a team of 50 individuals, and...

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CD Projekt Announces Live-Action Cyberpunk 2077 Project

CD Projekt aims to expand its Cyberpunk 2077 universe further with a live-action project. Announced today, the unnamed project is a collaboration between CD Projekt and Anonymous Content, the production company behind True Detective and Mr. Robot, as well as Academy Award-winning films including The Revenant and Spotlight. CD Projekt is working with Anonymous Content Studios’ Head of Television Garret Kemble, Director of Development Ryan Schwartz, and Chief Creative Officer David Levine, the latter of whom was previously HBO’s EVP and Co-Head of Drama for over 10 years, where he oversaw production of series such as True Detective, Westworld, and True Blood. He was also involved in the production of the early seasons of the Game of...

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Finally, Diablo 4 Players Will Actually Have a Realistic Chance of Getting an Uber Unique

Ever since Diablo 4’s June launch, one of the most vociferous criticisms has revolved around the near zero chance players have of obtaining one of the handful of coveted Uber Unique items. The drop rate for Uber Uniques is so miniscule that players have said the chances of seeing one are lower than winning the lottery or getting struck by lightning. In an interview with IGN in July, associate game director Joseph Piepiora defended the drop rate for Diablo 4’s Uber Uniques. “We want players, the moment that these things actually drop, we want that to be a fall out of your chair moment,” Piepiora said at the time. “We want that to be a really critically important thing.” Piepiora explained that Blizzard wanted to maintain the extreme...

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Cyberpunk 2077 Surpasses 25 Million Units Sold, Outpacing The Witcher 3

Cyberpunk 2077 has surpassed 25 million units sold, outpacing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, CD Projekt Red has announced. Speaking during the CD Projekt Red Investor Day presentation, president and CEO Adam Kiciński announced the new figure, which is up five million from September 2022. The Phantom Liberty expansion has also sold three million units within its first week. Kiciński said this means Cyberpunk 2077, which struggled through a brutal launch that saw it delisted from the PlayStation Store, is outpacing The Witcher 3's performance. Cyberpunk 2077 has reached the 25 million mark within around two years and 10 months, while The Witcher 3 didn't reach 25 million until around the four-and-a-half year mark, Kiciński said. The...

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Assassin's Creed Mirage Ending Explained

Warning: this article contains full spoilers for the ending of Assassin's Creed Mirage. Assassin’s Creed Mirage takes us all the way back to 9th century Baghdad to live the origin story of Basim. We first met Basim in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and Mirage connects back to that game in a couple of important ways. To explore how those connections are forged, as well as answer any lingering questions, we’re going to fully break down the ending of Assassin’s Creed Mirage. Full spoilers are ahead, so leap away now if you haven’t finished the game or don’t want to know. The Head of the Snake Basim’s quest to cut off the head of the snake brings him to the Palace of the Green Dome. Here he comes face to face with Al-Bahamut, the leader...

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Forza Motorsport Gameplay Looking Washed Out? Here's How to Fix It

Forza Motorsport is now available to those who bought the Premium Edition, and some players are noticing a display bug that makes gameplay look washed out on Xbox. Thankfully, developer Turn 10 Studios has shared how to fix it. Players experiencing the issue should first set the video option they prefer, then quit Forza Motorsport completely from the Xbox dashboard. Players can then restart the game and, as long as they don't go into the display settings again, the washed out gameplay should be fixed. When tested by IGN, some issues remained even when completing these steps. But restarting the Xbox console altogether solved the remaining graphical bugs. Having provided the solution, Turn 10 made clear it is aware of the problem but...

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Blizzard Apologises as Battle.net Goes Down, Making Diablo 4 and More Unplayable

Blizzard has apologised to its players after Battle.net suffered login issues. An issue affecting the company’s authentication services caused slow or failed login attempts. At the time of this article’s publication, Battle.net was down. Blizzard said it was investigating the cause. “We apologise once again for the inconvenience caused by today's outages, we're working to resolve this ASAP,” reads the latest tweet from Blizzard’s customer service page. Battle.net’s outage renders many of Blizzard’s game unplayable. The always-online Diablo 4, for example, is currently unplayable on PC. Blizzard announced Diablo 4 will join Overwatch 2 on rival platform Steam later in October. The outage comes the morning after Blizzard unveiled...

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Cyberpunk 2077's First Post-Phantom Liberty Update, Patch 2.01, Available Today

Cyberpunk 2077's first post-Update 2.0 and Phantom Liberty update, Patch 2.01, will be available today, October 5, and CD Projekt Red has shared the full notes. Confirmed in a tweet from global community director Marcin Momot (below), patch 2.01 is "currently being rolled out on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S". Momot thanked users for reporting the various issues addressed in the patch, which is set to tackle the biggest problems with Phantom Liberty including corrupted save data on PS5 and performance issues in the expansion's Dogtown area. The full patch notes, available below, were shared on CD Projekt Red's website, which outlines more changes than the developer had previously disclosed. Several Phantom Liberty...

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PS5 Consoles Get a Huge Discount Before Prime Day 2 in the UK

There might be a PS5 Slim on the way according to recent leaks and rumours, but for now, we're still seeing some exemplary deals on the highly sought-after console. The latest discount comes in the form of a bundle with EA Sports FC 24, dropping to just £409.99 at select retailers. This isn't as good as the £400 offer we saw a couple of months back, but considering it includes a brand new game and is well below the asking price of £540, you're still bagging an incredible discount this time around. For clarity, PS5 consoles RRP is £479.99, while EA Sports FC 24 retails for £69.99, so if you're still lacking a PS5 and want to play the next in line to the 'FIFA' series (remember it's changed name now), then you're in luck with this deal...

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Activision Trying to Nuke Leaked Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Gameplay From the Internet

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 gameplay has hit the internet just days before the beta is set for launch. Activision is currently working to pull the leaked footage from the internet, but it faces an uphill battle as fans share clips across social media and forums. A Twitter account called @uwuleaker99 popped up overnight and published gameplay footage that Activision pulled soon after. “This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner,” reads a message currently displayed on the tweet, which has at the time of publication one million views. Gameplay is currently still up on YouTube, where a channel called oG JIMMY has posted a handful of videos showing leaked footage of action on multiplayer maps set to...

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Ranking Our Top 5 Xbox First-Party Developers – Unlocked 615

First we give our initial impressions of Forza Motorsport and Assassin's Creed Mirage now that the review embargoes on them have lifted, and then we spend the bulk of the episode giving our top-5 rankings of Xbox's internal game studios (including Bethesda/Zenimax) while also contemplating Phil Spencer's Xbox legacy to date as PlayStation boss Jim Ryan finalizes his ahead of his retirement. Subscribe on any of your favorite podcast feeds, to our YouTube channel, or grab an MP3 of this week's episode. For more awesome content, check out my recent Alan Wake 2 preview! For more next-gen coverage, make sure to check out our Xbox Series X review, our Xbox Series S review, and our PS5 review. Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of...

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Lies of P: The Secret Weapon You Only Get By Lying

While Lies of P might be a far cry from the wholesome tale of the puppet Pinocchio that you know, this grimdark soulslike has more than a few sly references to the classic fairytale up its sleeves. Some easter eggs are more obvious — the cricket-like Gemini or azure-haired Sophia, for example — but what do you really think of when you think of Pinocchio? That's right, Pinocchio's telltale nose - which in the original story would grow more every time he lied - can be found in Lies of P. In fact, Pinocchio's "nose" is a powerful weapon called the Golden Lie. How can you get your hands on this secret weapon? By lying, of course. Here's how you can unlock the Golden Lie weapon for yourself. Warning: Some Lies of P Spoilers below...

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Blizzard Unveils Diablo 4 Season of Blood, Discusses Massive Changes to Make Endgame 'More Fun'

In an extended livestream today, Blizzard revealed a whole lot more details for Season 2 of Diablo 4, called Season of the Blood, and major reworks to progression and the endgame player experience. Season of the Blood will focus on vampires, who become the latest major scourge of Sanctuary in the wake of Lilith's actions in the vanilla Diable 4 campaign. The player is infected with vampirism and gains evil powers to weild against this classic foe, giving plenty of excuses for new, deadly powers for players to add to their seasonal ARPG arsenal. Blizzard will also introduce a new NPC, Erys, a crossbow-weilding vampire hunter who will become the player's bestie for the next few months. But beyond the details about the upcoming season...

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All the Changes Coming to Diablo 4 With Patch 1.2.0 and Season 2

Blizzard has unveiled all the much-needed changes coming to Diablo 4 on October 17 with the release of Season 2, dubbed Season of Blood, and patch 1.2.0 in a developer update livestream. The patch makes a long list of crucial quality-of-life updates, adds more endgame activities, and significantly increases experience gains to make the grind to level 100 much quicker. Elsewhere, patch 1.2.0 lets players specifically target uniques and the incredibly rare uber unique items, which have been a hot topic among players since Diablo 4 came out in June. Check out the list below to find out all the changes coming to Diablo 4 with Patch 1.2.0 and Season 2. Five new endgame bosses Five endgame bosses have been added across Sanctuary to...

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Diablo 4 Is Coming to Steam

Diablo 4 is set to launch on Steam four months after the PC version released exclusively on Blizzard’s Battle.net. The action role-playing game launches on Steam October 17. Those who play Diablo 4 for the first time via Steam need to first buy the game on Valve’s platform, then connect it to a Battle.net account. This is required of all Blizzard games to enable cross-platform play, the company said. Steam players do get access to Steam achievements, their Steam friends list, and the option to invite those friends to play in-game. Diablo 4 is the second Blizzard game to hit Steam after hero shooter Overwatch 2 launched on the platform in August. Blizzard will be hoping for a better reception from fans this time around. Overwatch 2’s...

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Indie Horror Game Stray Souls Gets Oct. 25 Release Date

October, the spookiest month of the year, is officially upon us, if you're looking for a new horror game to celebrate the occasion, the indie horror title Stray Souls is launching later this month. In a new post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), indie developer Jukai Studio announced its debut project will be released on Oct. 25, 2023 — five days before Halloween, as the studio previously said it was coming out around the holiday. The game will be available on PC, in addition to PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. Powered by Unreal Engine 5, Stray Souls has players controlling Daniel, a teenage boy who recently inherited his grandma's home completely debt-free. Despite the lack of a mortgage, Daniel's new abode becomes a...

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