Gaming News

Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six Now Operated by Vantage Studios, Ubisoft and Tencent's New Business Group With Full Autonomy on Creative Dir

Ubisoft's three biggest franchises — Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six — are now run by Vantage Studios, the newly-named separate business entity formed by Ubisoft with a 25% stake from Chinese giant Tencent. The Vantage Studios name was shared internally today, the first official day of the business' operation, after having been voted upon by the group's 2,300 employees, IGN understands. Dubbed as the first Ubisoft 'Creative House,' Vantage Studios will run its three franchises with what employees within the company's Montréal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Barcelona, and Sofia studios have been told is complete creative and business control. As previously announced, Vantage Studios will be led by co-CEOs Christophe...

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Former Capcom Designer Yoshiki Okamoto Sparks Backlash in Japan by Saying Palworld Has 'Crossed a Line That Should Not Be Crossed'

The Nintendo and The Pokémon Company’s ongoing patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair’s Palworld has stirred up much debate among game developers and players alike. However, former Capcom game developer Yoshiki Okamoto’s recent YouTube video, in which he made comments seemingly against Pocketpair and Palworld, has sparked a strong backlash from viewers. Current chairman of the Japan Game Culture Foundation, Yoshiki Okamoto has worked in the game industry for over 40 years, with a varied resume which includes Street Fighter 2, the first Resident Evil, and hit mobile game Monster Strike. He also created the original concept for what would become Rockstar’s Red Dead Revolver. In a YouTube video posted on his channel on September...

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The Witcher Creator Says It Was 'Completely Unnecessary' for 'Video Game People' to Expand the One Sentence About Witcher Schools He Wished He Never W

Andrezj Sapkowski, the creator of The Witcher, has said he regrets including a throwaway reference to "Witcher schools" in one of his books, which CD Projekt's The Witcher video games have since massively expanded on. Writing in a Q&A on reddit, Sapkowski said his single mention of a "School of the Wolf" in The Last Wish, a short story collection, had been an "unworthy" inclusion that he was now considering deleting from the book's future print runs. But for many fans of The Witcher, who know the franchise from its existing trilogy of video games, Witcher schools are now an important part of the franchise — and something that CD Projekt has developed into a key part of its lore. CD Projekt has established that there are at least...

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Prototype Remaster May Be on the Way After New Credits Were Quietly Added to the Steam Version

Fans think they've uncovered proof that 2009 action game Prototype could be getting a new lease of life. While the game has mostly remained dormant on Steam since its release 16 years ago, eagle-eyed fans spotted a flurry of updates behind the scenes via SteamDB, as well as a revealing datamine effort that has discovered a mysterious change to the game's credits that adds in remaster studio, Iron Galaxy, and a curious reference to Ubisoft Connect. That's not all, though. "So one of the OG modders for the game data mined the recent update and has found a lot of interesting things," StanleyMitchel explained on the game's subreddit. "For Prototype 1, they have added some test maps and quite a few new names in the credits. There might be...

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Warzone Will Get a 'Bold New Experience' Inspired by OG Call of Duty Battle Royale Mode, Blackout, in Spring 2026

Call of Duty: Warzone has promised a "bold new experience" will come to the battle royale next spring, inspired by Black Ops 4's original battle royale mode, Blackout. In a message posted to X/Twitter, the Call of Duty team appended an image of players dropping from the sky and the words: "Approaching the drop zone… Call of Duty: Warzone is bringing a bold new experience in Spring of 2026 inspired by the original Blackout, set on Avalon." The Blackout battle royale mode was released alongside Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. Call of Duty’s "responsive and forgiving gunplay, nimble movement, and creative but practical equipment fit beautifully into the trendy last man standing format," we said of Blackout in our 2018 review. Blackout was...

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Battlefield 6 Season 1 Roadmap Revealed — Here’s What to Expect

Battlefield Studios has outlined the roadmap for content coming to Battlefield 6 in Season 1. The first major free update, Season 1 will "deliver a game-changing amount of brand new content every month," kicking off on October 28 (Battlefield 6 itself comes out October 10). There will be three phases: Rogue Ops, which brings new map Blackwell Fields, new weapons, and a new 4v4 mode called Strikepoint; California Resistance, which introduces new SoCal map Eastwood and a 8v8 mode called Sabotage — that's coming on November 18; and the final phase of the first season, Winter Offensive, which rolls out on December 9. That includes "seasonal map" Empire State and an unannounced themed event. The development team said all seasonal content...

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AU Deals: You Can Score Amazon Prime's Best Early Big Deal Days Gaming Discounts Now

The Amazon discounts waiting on them thar shelves are many, and the price cuts are too juicy to ignore already. I’ve clocked most of what I recommend firsthand (preorders excluded) and can tell you which ones will reward your wallet and your playtime. From Nintendo classics to anime epics and even a few gothic horrors, this week’s haul is more eclectic than my Steam library backlog. Contents Retro Nintendo Xbox PlayStation PC PC Gear LEGO This Day in Gaming 🎂 In retro news, I'm celebrating the 38th birthday of the mighty Sega Master System. I somehow pleaded my way into one of these when this oversized oblong started to be bundled with two controllers, a light phaser, and two games (Hang On and Safari Hunt). Boasting newer...

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Sins of a Solar Empire 2 Review (2025)

As a life-long lover of sci-fi battle scenes, it is always a joy to order a fleet of dozens of starships of all shapes and sizes to hyper-jump to a neighboring planet, then zoom in and watch as they burst into existence on the other side, bearing down on the entrenched enemy as they scramble fighters and bring their guns to bear. It’s something we’ve seen play out many times in Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, and more, though few games let you control warfare between interstellar powers on the scale of Sins of a Solar Empire 2. It often takes hours of slow and steady management across layers of intimidatingly complex grand strategy systems to build up to those major confrontations, but the payoff is spectacular. The...

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My Hero Academia: All’s Justice Wants You to Be a Hero, Not Just a Fighter

One of the lost arts in the fighting game genre is a good, meaty single-player mode that’s there in addition to your standard arcade runthrough or story mode. And no, Street Fighter 6’s “We have Yakuza at home” World Tour doesn’t count. Think Soul Calibur’s excellent Weapon Master or Guilty Gear’s absolutely bonkers M.O.M. The art isn’t gone – Tekken 8’s awesome Arcade Quest is right there – but it’s on life support. I got the chance to sit down with My Hero Academia: All’s Justice at Tokyo Game Show, and what I played of its Team-Up Missions just might be the shot in the arm fighting games need – at least when it comes to single-player modes. VR but Not VR What makes All Justice’s spin on this unique is that the whole thing is an...

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Razer's Gengar Version of the Kraken Kitty V2 Is Still Sold Out Everywhere Except eBay

The Razer Kraken Kitty V2 Gengar Edition gaming headset remains sold out everywhere except eBay, meaning you'll currently need to pay a premium to get your hands on this popular collaboration. Razer's Kraken Kitty family has been one of the most popular gaming headset lineups in recent years due to its unique cat ear aesthetic. And of course, the only way you can make something so cute even more appealing is to brand it with an equally beloved property like Pokémon. So, it makes sense that Pokéfans would be after the Gengar Edition, which decks out the Kraken Kitty V2 in the ghost-type Pokémon's iconic purple style. But high demand left the headset out of stock on Razer's website almost immediately after the product listing went live...

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Exclusive Look at Mortal Kombat Flawless Victory: A Visual History of the Iconic Series

The Mortal Kombat series has been kicking around (and pulling out gory human insides) for several decades now. It spans over two dozen entries and numerous gaming platforms. It’s a cultural behemoth. To celebrate the history of this over-the-top violent fighting game franchise, Insight Editions is set to release a new book on October 21. It’s called Mortal Kombat: Flawless Victory - A Visual History of the Iconic Series, by Ian Flynn, and it’s available to preorder now (see it at Amazon). Get it at Amazon - $50 Get it at Target - $50 Get it at B&N - $60 The book is packed with behind-the-scenes artwork ranging from the concept stages to the final products. You get close looks at beloved characters like Scorpion, Liu Kang, Sonya...

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Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties Bring Much-Needed Combat and Visual Upgrades

As a Yakuza fan, I’ve recommended the series from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, otherwise known as RGG, to plenty of people, but it has long come with one big caveat: Yakuza 3. It’s not that there is anything necessarily wrong with it, but with high-quality remakes of the first games in the series, and the more modern and refined graphics and gameplay of the newer entries, it has stood out a bit as a bit of an odd duck, looking and playing worse than the games before and after. However, with the just-announced Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties, a twin pack combining a remade Yakuza 3 alongside a brand-new companion game, that might all be about to change. I had a chance to play both at Tokyo Game Show 2025, and I came away impressed by how much RGG...

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Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow Translates the Soul of Thief to VR

I was very pleasantly surprised when a new Thief game was announced at Sony's June 2025 State of Play. It's one of my favorite franchises -- I am still of the opinion that Thief II: The Metal Age is the best stealth game ever made – and it's been dormant since 2014's fairly forgettable Thief. That entry in the series was probably most notable not for what it included but what it didn't: namely, voice actor Stephen Russell, who's provided the titular thief's voice and wry attitude since the original back in 1998. And so Thief VR already starts off on the right foot by including Russell as Garrett – even if you don't play as him. Rather, you play another prowler named Magpie in events set between Thief: Deadly Shadows and Thief (2014). I...

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EXCLUSIVE: Fortnite Reveals KPop Demon Hunters Rumi Outfit

IGN can exclusively reveal the Fortnite outfit for KPop Demon Hunters character Rumi. Rumi, Mira and Zoey — the KPop Demon Hunters trio better known as HUNTR/X — will all land in Fortnite this week on October 2, and star in Demon Rush, a special version of the game's fan-favorite Horde Rush mode. In Demon Rush, you'll work together with your party and the HUNTR/X trio to survive against waves of demons — a change from previous incarnations of Horde Rush. You'll also, of course, be able to pick up Rumi (and Mira and Zoey!) in the Fortnite Shop. While Horde Rush typically goes live during Fortnitemares, the game's annual Halloween celebration, Fortnite's big new KPop Demon Hunters collaboration will arrive as a separate offering, in...

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Resident Evil Requiem Director Says Western Fans More Likely to Play in First-Person After Growing Up With FPS Games Like Doom

The director of Resident Evil Requiem has said Western players are more likely to choose the game's first-person option, after growing up on a diet of PC first-person shooters such as Doom. Meanwhile, Japanese fans more accustomed to third-person console RPGs like Dragon Quest have tended to play Requiem's demo in third-person, director Akifumi Nakanishi told Denfaminicogamer, in an interview translated by Automaton. While Requiem doesn't launch until next year, a demo version has been publicly available at both Gamescom in Germany and Tokyo Game Show over the past couple of months. After attending both shows and watching fans try the game for themselves, Nakanishi said he had spotted the difference in how most opted to play in each...

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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Physical Deluxe Edition Is Up for Preorder

After a very successful digital launch earlier this year, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is now getting a physical deluxe edition. If you can't wait to get your hands on it, the good news is it's now available to preorder for both PS5 and Xbox Series X, and what's even better is it releases very soon, on October 13. At the moment you can preorder it for $39.99 from a variety of storefronts including Amazon, GameStop, and Target. That's weirdly $20 cheaper than the digital deluxe edition that's been available since the game first launched, but hey, we'll take that win. Get your preorders in at the link below and learn everything that comes with this physical deluxe edition further down. Preorder Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion...

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Halo Studios Teases 'Deep Dive' on What It's Been Working on at an October Panel 'You Won't Want to Miss'

Halo Studios looks set to unveil more of what it’s been working on in October. In a post on Halo Waypoint, the Microsoft-owned developer said it has a panel planned for Friday, October 24, at the Halo World Championship 2025, its big esports event. “Back in June we let the community know that we’d be continuing the conversation from last year’s HaloWC and the A New Dawn video and sharing more about what we’ve been working on,” Halo Studios said. “Like last year we’ll be on the Main Stage to talk about it but this year we’ve also got a ‘deep dive’ panel planned for the Community Stage that you won’t want to miss.” During the same event last October, Halo developer 343 Industries announced it had changed its name to Halo Studios and...

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Jurassic World Evolution 3: The Final Preview

While I've spent dozens of hours building my perfect dino park in Jurassic World Evolution 2, Frontier's prehistoric series always felt like it was sort of a younger sibling to their other park-builders, Planet Zoo and Planet Coaster. There are a lot of features in those two games that didn't make it into the first two Evolution entries. So when I got to play Jurassic World Evolution 3, I was most excited to see that it finally seems like a fully-fledged member of the Frontier flock, with the extremely deep customization and personalization features I've come to expect from the studio. Oh yeah, and the baby dinosaurs are pretty dang cute, too. Spared No Expense Evolution 3's story takes place some time after Jurassic World: Dominion...

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Minecraft Adding Spears for Players, But Also for Mounted Zombies

Minecraft has announced a major new game update, Mounts of Mayhem, that will be spearheaded by the addition of... the spear! The sharp-tipped stick is the first new weapon added to Minecraft in some time, and the first new tiered item — one that is available in progressively more durable variants — added since the hoe, back in 2010. After so long jabbing at skeletons with a sword, you might wonder why the spear is being added now. Well, thankfully it sounds like there will be some interesting new gameplay possibilities as a result of the spear's addition, and in particular: jousting. As in real life, you'll be able to wield your nearest spear on foot, or on your nearest horse, which is where part of that Mounts of Mayhem title...

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Early Access Beta and Open Beta Global Release Times Confirmed

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 officially releases on November 14, 2025, for PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One. However, those hoping to try before they buy can test Treyarch's updated formula October 5-8 via an open beta. Players willing to pre-order can get in on the action even earlier via an early access beta running October 2–5. Don't forget, Activision recently warned PC gamers that they will not be able to play during the beta and at launch if they do not enable TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot. Like rival shooter Battlefield 6, TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot are required for Black Ops 7 to run on PC as part of strict anti-cheat measures to block modified hardware and unauthorized software. Check out all the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7...

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Activision Knows Call of Duty Cheaters 'Will Try to Test the Limits' During the Black Ops 7 Beta, Says 'That's Exactly What We Want'

Activision has warned PC gamers that they will not be able to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 during the beta and at launch if they do not enable TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot. Like rival shooter Battlefield 6, TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot are required for Black Ops 7 to run on PC as part of strict anti-cheat measures. These features block modified hardware and unauthorized software, with the goal of creating a fair, secure environment for all players even as cheaters ramp up their efforts. Indeed, Activision has said it’s well aware Call of Duty cheaters will hammer on the Black Ops 7 beta, insisting: “that’s exactly what we want.” In a new blog post, Activision suggested PC gamers enable both TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot now to be ready on day...

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LEGO Party Review

Given that the LEGO brand has been slapped onto almost every kind of family-friendly multiplayer game you can think of at this point, from kart racers to Super Smash Bros clones and even a Rock Band spin-off, it’s surprising that it’s taken this long for the world’s biggest brick maker to construct its own monument to Mario Party. LEGO Party is something more than a b-based knockoff of Nintendo’s long-running virtual boardgame series, though. Sure, it might use Mario Party’s fundamentals as a baseplate to build upon, with a host of wacky minifigs in place of the Mushroom Kingdom’s finest, but every last piece here is absolutely pulsating with personality and there isn’t a single stud-based dud in the 60 minigames on offer. If lots...

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AU Deals: Today's Bargain Buffet Serving JRPGs, Open Worlds, Hot Preorder Prices, and More!

I’ve been stalking sales events long enough to know when the stars align, and today's haul is shaping up special. There’s a mix of Nintendo magic, Xbox oddities, PlayStation gems, and PC heavy hitters worth highlighting. If you’ve got any spare change rattling around, these picks are the sort that make you glad you waited for the right discount, O' Patient One. Contents Retro Nintendo Xbox PlayStation PC PC Gear LEGO This Day in Gaming 🎂 In retro news, I'm celebrating the 24th birthday of Pokémon Crystal, an 'upper' version of Pokémon Gold and Silver that got slapped into the coolest sparkly-see-through cartridge Game Boy Color ever got. I played the connector pins off of this at launch and appreciated a bunch of new features, like...

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Resident Evil: Requiem Devs Say They Can't Tell if the Game's Actually Scary Anymore

Resident Evil has been one of the video game industry's quintessential, flagship horror games for years now, delivering everything over the years from unsettling, atmospheric haunting to outright jumpscares. But as its development team continues to search for new ways to freak people out, a few of its leaders are admitting that they're not always 100% certain what elements of Resident Evil are actually scary anymore. This comes from our interview with director Koshi Nakanishi and producer Masato Kumazama at Tokyo Game Show 2025. We started by talking about Resident Evil: Requiem's new protagonist, Grace, and her differences from the more action-oriented Leon S. Kennedy. That led to a discussion of why the series was pulling back on the...

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5 Standout Racing Games That Let You Get Behind the Wheel of a Toyota

IGN recently held a fan-voted tournament to determine the greatest racing game of all time. There were a total of 32 entries split across four categories: Arcade Racing, Simulation, Street Racing, and Wild Card. While Mario Kart 8 Deluxe ultimately won the fan vote and was crowned champion, it isn’t exactly known for its realism. Several other entries in the tournament give you the chance to drive cars based on real-life counterparts, including a wide variety of different Toyota models. The Toyota brand has been around for almost 90 years and competes in several different racing series, meaning there are lots of different models that can be included in racing games. And some games make very good use of that. Here are five standout...

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Hell Clock Update 1.1 Detailed

Brazilian indie studio Rogue Snail has shared the details for today's 1.1 release of its roguelike ARPG Hell Clock. Titled "Clockmaker's Tools", the update introduces crafting mechanics, rebalances damage scaling and defense, and adds a number of quality of life improvements. Rogue Snail provided the following update notes: Introducing Crafting - Tools now drop from enemies during runs, and these crafting materials can be used in the Reliquary to change the effects of Relics, Imbue them with new powers, or risk Corrupting them for even greater rewards. More details here. Major Rebalance - Changes to Defense and Damage scaling for both players and monsters, Conviction and Evasion reworks, and many more tweaks to make the game more...

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89-Year-Old Skyrim Grandma Shirley Curry Announces The Elder Scrolls Video Retirement

Shirley Curry, known to fans as Skyrim Grandma, has announced her retirement from uploading The Elder Scrolls videos ahead of her upcoming 90th birthday. In a YouTube video published today entitled "My Goodbye to Skyrim," Curry said that her time trying to find more The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim content for her followers was finally over, after a decade of uploads. "This has come to this because I'll soon be 90 years old," Curry explained. "Every time I come up with a new idea for how to play a story in Skyrim... I may make one or two or three with a new character and then I'm bored again. So that's why I'm going to stop uploading anything to do with Skyrim. "I'm tired, I'm not having any fun with it anymore, probably because of all...

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Best Deals in the UK Today: Score EA Sports FC 26 for Just £52 With This Easy Trick

There are loads of great deals to check out in the UK today. Our headline is on brand new EA Sports FC 26 for just £51.99, £18 off the RRP of £69.99, at Argos. It's listed for just £56.99 right now, which is still a good deal, but if you sign up for Argos' newsletter, you'll score an instant £5 voucher to use on any order over £40. Other top discounts today include the new Witcher book, Crossroads of Ravens, for £19.99 (£5 off and out Sept. 30), alongside the perfect Steam Deck and Switch 2 power bank for £30.08, and a 12 pack of Lipton Ice Tea Lemon for just £6 (that's just 50p per 500ml bottle!), if you can handle the wait. TL;DR - Best UK Deals Today For the savvy shoppers, it's also worth mentioning the 30th Anniversary DualSense...

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EA Goes Private in $55 Billion Deal With PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners, Andrew Wilson to Remain as CEO

EA has confirmed it has agreed to be acquired by an investor group composed of PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners in a transaction valued at approximately $55 billion. It's the largest all-cash sponsor take-private investment in history. Under the terms of the agreement, the group will acquire 100% of EA, with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) rolling over its existing 9.9% stake in the company. EA stockholders will receive $210 per share in cash. The per share purchase price represents a 25% premium to EA’s unaffected share price of $168.32 at market close on September 25, 2025, and a premium to EA’s unaffected all-time high of $179.01 at market close on August 14, 2025. Following the close of the transaction, EA’s...

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Silent Hill f Sold 1 Million Copies in a Day, Konami Says Achievement 'Reinforces the Series' Status as an Iconic Horror Franchise'

Silent Hill f — the latest mainline, if standalone, addition to Konami's decades-old horror series — has sold over 1 million copies across physical and digital sales in just a single day. Publisher Konami confirmed the news via a press statement and on the Japanese-language Silent Hill X / Twitter page, thanking "everyone who played" for exceeding 1 million shipped copies just a day after its September 25 debut. "This achievement reinforces the series’ status as an iconic horror franchise that continues to resonate with fans yearning for an unsettling psychological horror experience," Konami said. "Through the lens of Silent Hill f, players dive into a haunting narrative by Ryukishi07 based on a 'beautiful yet horrifying' artistic...

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