© Atlus
Elio has suffered the lowest opening ever for Pixar at the box office, with How to Train Your Dragon continuing to dominate at the box office.
The original animated feature opened to $35 million globally, with $21 million domestic and a worryingly low $14 million internationally. That’s the worst three-day opening in Pixar history, behind even Elemental’s $44.5 million opening weekend haul in back in 2023. To add context, Pixar’s Inside Out 2 launched to a whopping $295 million globally during its opening weekend last year.
But Pixar and parent company Disney will be hoping Elio follows in Elemental’s footsteps, given the latter ended up with just shy of $500 million globally during its theatrical run. In Elio’s favor is that it has yet to release in China, Japan, and Spain, and it will be in theaters as schools break for the summer holidays next month. It’s also well-received. IGN’s Elio review saw a 9/10. We said: “The latest animated feature from Pixar, Elio boasts dazzling animation — and even more striking emotional depth.”
Elio’s opening weekend struggles may have been fueled by the continued success of fellow family movie How to Train Your Dragon, which is up to $350 million worldwide on its second weekend and remains the number one movie in the U.S. A sequel is already in the works.
Elio also has Disney’s own Lilo & Stitch to contend with — the live-action remake is up to $910.3 million globally after just five weekends, and looks on course to become the first movie of 2025 to break the $1 billion barrier.
The other release of note was 28 Years Later, the horror zombie sequel from director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland. It got off to a strong start, with $60 million globally. The domestic haul of $30 million is the biggest for a Boyle-directed movie, and the $30 million international launch is higher than Sinners managed.
The question for Boyle will be whether 28 Years Later does well enough to get the green light for the planned third film in the new trilogy to move forward, with the second already filmed. IGN’s 28 Years Later review returned a 9/10. We said: “28 Years Later is as potent and timely an exploration of cultural strife as the original, and Danny Boyle and Alex Garland tug at the heartstrings with bloody, deadly skill.”
And for film fans keeping count, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is now on $540.9 million after five weekends, John Wick spinoff Ballerina is up to $104.5 million, Final Destination Bloodlines is on $280.1 million, and Sinners has an impressive $363.8 million worldwide.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
© FromSoftware, KRDCD
We've rounded up the best deals for Sunday, June 22, below, so don't miss out on these limited-time offers.
Monster Hunter Wilds released earlier this year and sold through 10 million copies in just a matter of weeks. Wilds brought many new features to the series for the first time, including dynamic weather, a connected hub, and more. A Capcom Spotlight livestream event is set for Thursday, June 26, so it's likely that we will receive new information on the next major update coming to the game.
This week's Donkey Kong Bananza Direct was absolutely bananas, and if you weren't interested in the game before, you probably are now. Bananza is set to be DK's biggest adventure yet, and this time, he's joined by a young Pauline. The two are tasked with heading to the very core of the planet, where wishes are supposedly granted. If you are looking for the next big game on Nintendo Switch 2, this right here is sure to be it. Donkey Kong Bananza is the best-selling game on Amazon at the moment, so be sure to lock in your copy to get it day one.
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is back at its all-time low price this weekend! SMT V: Vengeance is an enhanced version of the former Nintendo Switch exclusive SMT V, launched in 2019. The biggest feature available in this upgraded re-release is the all-new Canon of Vengeance route, which is essentially 40 hours of new story content.
Although it released in 2023, Street Fighter 6 is still one of the most fun fighting games available in the genre today. Year 2 DLC just wrapped up, bringing guest characters into Street Fighter for the first time in the form of Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui. For $20, you can jump into the game just ahead of Year 3 DLC, and there has really never been a better time to do so.
LEGO sets nowadays do not come cheap, especially for those with a larger number of pieces. A few years ago, Nintendo teamed up with LEGO for Super Mario, and that has grown to include both The Legend of Zelda and Animal Crossing. This weekend, you can save over $45 off the LEGO Animal Crossing K.K.'s Concert Set, which is perfect for fans of all ages.
With the recent reveal of Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games, it's no question that you are going to want to save anywhere you can. The Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Super Mario Party Jamboree is set to cost $79.99, but you can upgrade from a Nintendo Switch copy for $20. This weekend, save your cash and pick up a copy of Super Mario Party Jamboree from Woot for only $44.99.
After almost six years, the sequel to Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding is finally set to arrive this upcoming week. Following the events of the first game, Sam Porter Bridges is now tasked with venturing outside the United States, with both Mexico and Australia set as destinations. If you're like me and incredibly excited for this game, you can even purchase the deluxe edition to play two days early on Tuesday, June 24.
The Messenger released in 2018, and it's still a beloved indie game from Sea of Stars developer Sabotage Studio. Physical copies were out of print for quite some time, but a somewhat recent reprint has put them back in stock. This weekend, you can score a PS5 copy of The Messenger for just $19.99! In our 8/10 review, we wrote, "When you’re fully geared up and The Messenger is hitting you with brand new stages and challenges that you haven’t seen before, The Messenger is an amazing, must-play experience. Taken as a whole, it’s brought down only by fetch quests that make The Messenger last several hours longer than it feels like it should."
Most of us can always use a new SSD, and this deal from Crucial is quite good. Normally priced at $144, you can score this Crucial T500 1TB Gen4 NVMe SSD for $75.19 this weekend at Amazon. You can use this SSD in a laptop, desktop, or even a PlayStation 5 to expand your storage for games, media, and more.
The latest Like a Dragon game stars everyone's favorite ex-yakuza, Goro Majima, on an adventure to sail the seas as a pirate. When Majima wakes up unable to remember anything about himself, he embarks on a quest to regain his memories, and of course, in true Like a Dragon fashion, things get crazy. This is the lowest we've seen this game so far, so be sure to pick up a copy while you can.
Death Stranding 2: On The Beach is out this week, and a limited edition DualSense controller is set to launch alongside it. This controller features the Drawbridge logo, in addition to other logos and typography featured inside the game. If you're needing a new controller or just wanting to pick up this one, you can head over to PlayStation Direct while supplies last.
Noah Hunter is a freelance writer and reviewer with a passion for games and technology. He co-founded Final Weapon, an outlet focused on nonsense-free Japanese gaming (in 2019) and has contributed to various publishers writing about the medium.
© The Game Bakers
© The Game Kitchen
This week, 28 Years Later hits theaters, two real-world decades after Danny Boyle first rocked our world with his savage and sublime take on the zombie mythos. I remember sitting captivated in the theater as a young adult, spellbound by the revolutionary use of digital photography, the incredible articulation of an abandoned London, and the absolutely visceral storytelling. I’d seen good zombie movies before, but nothing like this, a film that took exported American zombie apocalyptic themes and retooled them through a British lens of geographic and personal isolation. The film trimmed all the fat away from the genre, but also refused to sand down any rough edges, resulting in a movie that was equal parts honest and terrifying.
Five years later, 28 Weeks Later director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo carried Boyle’s vision into the franchise wars with a remarkably different movie, a seemingly-post-apocalyptic family drama that surprised us all with its complex characters, superb performances, family themes, and perhaps most of all by being a sort of backdoor pilot to the true end of the world, a reality that unfolds mostly offscreen or in the final few shots.
28 Days Later exploded in 2002, 28 Weeks Later landed in 2007, and here we are 18 years later looking at another high-budget sequel, this one by the original director. Each installment of the story takes us further and further from the first day of apocalypse, carrying us into a stranger world of bizarre imagery yet startlingly familiar themes of betrayal, hopelessness, and the seeming inevitability of decay. And we are happily buying it.
I think the success of these movies bears asking the question: How do these films, and similar tales, keep happening? Why are they still made, why are they still good, and why do we keep flooding into theaters to see them? The answer perhaps lies in a more fundamental question: Why are we so obsessed with the end of the world?
It is not a new phenomenon, to be sure. So let’s lay out the thesis, gentle reader; my imperfect but entertaining theory is as follows. The intersection of the inevitability of death and the unpredictable nature of existence is inherently terrifying. I think that’s true for most people, and especially true for Americans and folks largely raised on America’s entertainment influences.
Every zombie story is about death: The stars of the show are the shambling deceased, generally working hard to swell their ranks through bites and brain-eating. Death is inevitable, and zombie movies punch us in the mouth with that fact. But that’s only half of it. While we know death is certainly coming, we do not know when or how. We can predict that it must take place, but we typically have so little info on or control over how it will happen.
Every hospital you’ve ever seen is built to facilitate a delaying action against death, every ambulance ride is, at best, a brief reprieve before annihilation. You may pray at your church and believe you are heard and that you will live on past death, but you do not, you cannot, know. This is the maddening puzzle the zombie film unveils: that we all face obliteration and rot, but lack the power to face that event with surety of time, place, or purpose.
The end of the world carries with it the inherent heft of existential gravity. The final breaths of humankind means the end of anthropological history, art, and science, all that we have collectively built since we stopped being monkeys. It’s as consequential as anything our mind can wrap around: a cosmos that goes on without us, proving by going on that it doesn’t really need us at all. A terrifying indictment of our inconsequentiality before nature.
Let’s look at two traditions of prior art.
The first has its roots in the middle ages. The Danse Macabre was a widespread artistic movement that set images of jubilant skeletons against the trappings of everyday life. These grinning, dancing manifestations of mortality were created to remind us of the ubiquity of death in the experience of human life, both as a constant companion near us all our days and as an inevitable ending to our existence. Zombie movies are kind of a modern take on this same illumination.
The tradition, which extended through the late medieval period, forced the beholder to graphically confront the same two fears as zombie fiction: the inevitability of destruction and the relative human powerlessness in affecting, or even understanding, that outcome. Kings, paupers, knights, clergy, none are spared from the Danse Macabre.
The symbolism at work in this art was the product of what was, in comparison to our world, a pre-entertainment culture. While there were certainly diversions in medieval Europe like gambling, alcohol, and music, the idea of commoditized entertainment like what we enjoy today was still quite primitive. Danse Macabre was, like a great deal of visual art from the era, a moral teaching tool combined with a bit of wonder, drawing on symbolism to inform and persuade. It parallels some ideas from the oft-misunderstood biblical book of Revelation: not so much intended to be read as any specific oracle of when and how the world will end, but rather, a symbolic telling of how apocalyptic events previous, contemporary, and future tend to play out. Revelation is less a prophecy than an observation: a coded message to the reader that these are the types of signs and events that accompany a great and destructive moment in history. Indeed, the word Revelation itself translates to ancient Greek as “apocalypse.”
The second, more contemporary manifestation actually bridges directly into the earliest popular zombie storytelling: the awesome horror of the nuclear age, and the art it spawned prior to the zombie storytelling revolution.
Night of the Living Dead co-creator and director George Romero alludes to strange space radiation as the cause of the dead’s rise in his film, overtly connecting the nuclear paranoia of ’50s and ’60s cinema to the coming trend of zombie apocalypses. Before Night of the Living Dead, the same purpose of apocalyptic entertainment was fulfilled by the threat of nuclear war, the split atom, and the fear of Sputnik and death from on high. The invention of nuclear weapons presented humanity with an ethical and practical dilemma unprecedented in history. For the first time, humankind had the means to destroy itself in a matter of hours. A strange dichotomy took hold in life: the relative postwar prosperity (and subsequent rise in entertainment culture) juxtaposed against the constant threat of annihilation. The end of the world seemed assured. We just didn’t know when. Once again, those two complementary fears.
From that tension, a new and deeply flawed ethos was born: the illusion of utter powerlessness in the face of discovery. Rod Serling put it best in his masterpiece Seven Days in May: “The enemy's an age - a nuclear age. It happens to have killed man's faith in his ability to influence what happens to him. And out of this comes a sickness, and out of sickness a frustration, a feeling of impotence, helplessness, weakness. And from this, this desperation, we look for a champion in red, white, and blue. Every now and then a man on a white horse rides by, and we appoint him to be our personal god for the duration.”
Thus was born the great atomic menace of American popular art, the paranoia that fueled a thousand 1950s double-features. The Day the Earth Stood Still. Them! Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The Incredible Shrinking Man. The Japanese cinematic masterpiece Godzilla. The accouterments are different from zombie films, but the themes are fears are the same: Death is coming, but we don’t know exactly when.
One thing that these atomic pics (and the novels born alongside them like Alas, Babylon) are careful to note is that, whether the immediate foe seems to be radiation or not, it’s usually instead human nature. Most of these films hinge on the treachery of a second-act betrayal by some ordinary survivor that gets everyone else killed or in deep trouble. Zombie film watchers will instantly recognize that trope: It’s there from Night of the Living Dead onward.
Over the 57 years since Night of the Living Dead created the formula, popular culture has been selling a vision of our inevitable collapse at the hands of shambling, undead hordes. We’ve watched zombies, walkers, ghouls, biters, and the living dead devour the flesh and brains of countless thousands, shambling through malls and military bases and the seats of power. We’ve watched again and again until the genre has expertly parodied itself in Shaun of the Dead, badly parodied itself in Zombie Strippers, and spread from Magic the Gathering to board games to Zombie Dice. Hell, Michael Jackson danced as a zombie in the second-best music video ever (“Weapon of Choice” is still #1). And we still aren’t tired of it. We've coined “zombie fatigue” to describe the over-saturation of the market, but The Last of Us TV series? Fungus zombies. Fallout’s breakout character? Badass cowboy gunslinger zombie. We are still buying the end of the world, I suspect because we feel it getting closer.
That’s why we’ll go watch 28 Years Later this week: because the problems we’ve built have fooled us into feeling they are too big to fix, and it’s easier to buy popcorn and a Coke and watch the end play out than to confront our own sense of powerlessness. And that, friends, is the scariest thing I can think of.
Jared Petty is a video game writer who also happens to hold undergraduate and graduate degrees in religious studies. He also once saw a duck fired out of a cannon. True story. You can find him at Bluesky as pettycommajared and at Threads as https://www.threads.com/@pettycommajared.
© Ice-Pick Lodge
© Paradox Interactive
© Frost Giant Studios
© Devolver
© 2K
© Future
© No More Robots
© Paradox Interactive
I've said it a ton over the last few weeks, but interest in Magic: The Gathering is at what feels like an all-time high. With the recently released Final Fantasy Universes Beyond crossover set, new players that may have never picked up a card are now inching ever so slowly towards one of the most addicting and time-consuming hobbies around. If you're one of these people, or someone looking to dip your toes into the wonderful world of hundred-dollar cardboard, IGN has you covered with our Magic: The Gathering beginner's guide.
For newcomers, the best place to start playing in person is with what we call "kitchen table" Magic. No formats, no banlist, no meta, just good old fashioned vibes. Find a starter kit you like, grab a friend, sleeve them up, and jump in. These starter decks are great ways to learn the rules. I'd also highly recommend picking up MTG Foundations, as this set is specifically designed with brand new players in mind.
Now that you've learned the rules, found the colors you like, and learned a strategy that suits you, you probably want to move up to playing at a local game store (LGS) in your area. Your mileage will vary, as some stores' player bases favor certain formats over others. But for the most part, many LGSs will run the Standard format as their primary Friday Night Magic (FNM) event. To find an LGS near you, use the Wizards Event Locator to enter your address and distance you want to check.
Every store is different, and not everybody enjoys playing the same formats all the time. Here's a quick breakdown of some of the most popular formats:
All Constructed formats have a list of banned cards to help balance out the meta and remove insane combos from their respective formats.
For the best place to pick up singles to round out your decks or find sealed product, I recommend Card Kingdom and TCGPlayer. These are the two biggest and most-trusted TCG vendors in the world.
Magic: The Gathering Online has been around for years, and is a pretty good translation of in-person play to this online client. You can play every format available in paper, buy, sell, and trade cards with other players, and it's the best way to grind out games to practice or learn different strategies.
MTG: Arena is the most recent online Magic client, launching in 2019. Taking visual cues from games like Hearthstone, Arena is my preferred way to play the Standard and Pioneer formats - Modern, Legacy, and other older non-rotating formats aren't present on Arena. You can still do booster draft and sealed, however. Arena also has a handful of its own bespoke, digital-only formats. Aside from Standard, Pioneer, and Limited, here's what's exclusive to Arena:
There you have it! Everything you need to know to start playing Magic: The Gathering both in-person and online. Whether you're the next best Pro Tour grinder or run the Commander tables at your LGS, there are countless ways to play and enjoy the most popular trading card game in the world. There are countless sealed products to buy and build your collection, and new sets are released every few months. For hardcore collectors, we've even helped track some of the most valuable cards to chase in the Final Fantasy Through the Ages collection. And if you're looking for great gifts for that special Planeswalker in your life or interested in some of the best MTG accessories and supplies, check we've got a guide breaking down dozens of my personal recommendations.
Myles Obenza is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Bluesky @mylesobenza.bsky.social.
© NetEase
© Gearbox
We've rounded up the best deals for Saturday, June 21, below, so don't miss out on these limited-time offers.
This week's Donkey Kong Bananza Direct was absolutely bananas, and if you weren't interested in the game before, you probably are now. Bananza is set to be DK's biggest adventure yet, and this time, he's joined by a young Pauline. The two are tasked with heading to the very core of the planet, where wishes are supposedly granted. If you are looking for the next big game on Nintendo Switch 2, this right here is sure to be it. Donkey Kong Bananza is the best-selling game on Amazon at the moment, so be sure to lock in your copy to get it day one.
Chess is more popular than ever, especially with the rise of digital games. However, nothing beats a quality physical chess set that you can play at home. This Zelda-themed chess set features pieces sculpted after Link, Zelda, Ganon, and more, with a total of 32 different characters and enemies. If you're a fan of The Legend of Zelda, this is an excellent way to add some functional decor to your home.
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is back at its all-time low price this weekend! SMT V: Vengeance is an enhanced version of the former Nintendo Switch exclusive SMT V, launched in 2019. The biggest feature available in this upgraded re-release is the all-new Canon of Vengeance route, which is essentially 40 hours of new story content.
LEGO sets nowadays do not come cheap, especially for those with a larger number of pieces. A few years ago, Nintendo teamed up with LEGO for Super Mario, and that has grown to include both The Legend of Zelda and Animal Crossing. This weekend, you can save over $45 off the LEGO Animal Crossing K.K.'s Concert Set, which is perfect for fans of all ages.
With the recent reveal of Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games, it's no question that you are going to want to save anywhere you can. The Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Super Mario Party Jamboree is set to cost $79.99, but you can upgrade from a Nintendo Switch copy for $20. This weekend, save your cash and pick up a copy of Super Mario Party Jamboree from Woot for only $44.99.
After almost six years, the sequel to Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding is finally set to arrive this upcoming week. Following the events of the first game, Sam Porter Bridges is now tasked with venturing outside the United States, with both Mexico and Australia set as destinations. If you're like me and incredibly excited for this game, you can even purchase the deluxe edition to play two days early on Tuesday, June 24.
Most of us can always use a new SSD, and this deal from Crucial is quite good. Normally priced at $144, you can score this Crucial T500 1TB Gen4 NVMe SSD for $75.19 this weekend at Amazon. You can use this SSD in a laptop, desktop, or even a PlayStation 5 to expand your storage for games, media, and more.
The latest Like a Dragon game stars everyone's favorite ex-yakuza, Goro Majima, on an adventure to sail the seas as a pirate. When Majima wakes up unable to remember anything about himself, he embarks on a quest to regain his memories, and of course, in true Like a Dragon fashion, things get crazy. This is the lowest we've seen this game so far, so be sure to pick up a copy while you can.
Noah Hunter is a freelance writer and reviewer with a passion for games and technology. He co-founded Final Weapon, an outlet focused on nonsense-free Japanese gaming (in 2019) and has contributed to various publishers writing about the medium.
Puzzles are always a fun gift idea, no matter if you're new to the hobby or a passionate puzzler yourself. If you're shopping around for a puzzle gift to give to someone this year, it can feel a bit overwhelming looking through all of the options available, given how many shapes and sizes there are to choose from. But we're here to help. We've gathered up a variety of great puzzle gift ideas in 2025 to help you find the perfect one.
There's more than just the puzzles themselves to look through, too. We've included a few more gift ideas that any puzzler is sure to appreciate, including puzzle tables and boards, storage options, and frames to show them off in once they're finished. No matter what you decide to pick up, there's a little something for a puzzler of any skill level to enjoy. Have a look through our selection of the best gifts for puzzlers below and stock up on the items you think they'll enjoy the most.
There's an incredible amount of puzzle options to choose from nowadays. Above, we've highlighted just a few of our favorites that can be found in our roundup of the best puzzle brands. We believe that the puzzles from these companies are well worth your time and money, and they each offer a fun variety, too. These range from large 2,000-piece puzzles to ones with a fun spin that feature a surprise ending after piecing them together (Magic Puzzle Company puzzles), so you can find a fun pick to gift this year.
It's important to have enough space to build a puzzle on, which is why a puzzle table is a great investment. There are numerous different design options to choose from, whether you want something larger to have set up in your home or would prefer to have a more portable option. Some even feature drawers to hold pieces if you're working on a larger puzzle, which is very helpful to keep everything organized.
Speaking of organization, some puzzles are simply too big to finish in one go, so a good storage option can be helpful to have around. With solid puzzle storage, you can keep track of where you last left off with a puzzle without any fear of losing pieces if you move it around. We've included quite a few different options so you can keep your latest venture neatly put together, no matter which size of puzzle you're choosing to tackle.
A puzzle frame is an excellent idea for the puzzler who wants to keep their latest creation. Why take it apart if you've fallen in love with the final product? There are plenty of different puzzle frames to choose from, each catering to various sizes of puzzle, so you can find an option that will look the best hung up proudly on your wall.
To make sure your puzzle stays together properly before fitting it into a frame, you're going to want a reliable puzzle glue to help you out as well. This RoseArt Jigsaw Puzzle Glue is a great option to go for, coming in at just $5.
For the puzzler who loves a challenge, you can't go wrong with a 3D puzzle. There are so many different options to choose from that each create an exciting build. Here we've included just a few of our favorites, from a miniature pinball machine to a huge puzzle of Winterfell castle and a fantastic Millennium Falcon build. These 3D puzzles are exciting options to piece together, and the final result is sure to look impressive once it's put on display. If you're looking for an affordable alternative to LEGO, all of these options are great place to start.
If you're curious to see more puzzle options that we recommend, it's worth having a look through our best puzzle brands roundup alongside our pieces on the best puzzles for adults and the best Magic Puzzle Company puzzles. If you're shopping for a movie fan, we also have breakdowns of the best Star Wars puzzles, the best Lord of the Rings puzzles, and the best Harry Potter puzzles that could help you find the perfect pick to buy.
With Amazon Prime Day on the horizon as well, now is a great time to shop around with various discounts popping up. The official sale event kicks off this year on July 8 and runs through July 11, so you'll have a full four days to track down some nice puzzle deals from the sale event.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.
© NetEase ThunderFire, 24 Entertainment
Bleach may not get quite as much franchising attention as its "Big Three" counterparts Naruto and One Piece, but Ichigo Kurosaki's journey to help lost souls reach the afterlife certainly struck a chord back in the day. In the U.S., the focus on Japanese culture and mythology gave Bleach a unique look, with the Shinigami making for memorable creatures. Even after 20 years, the combination of supernatural action, comedy, and a little bit of edginess still holds up.
Bleach has stood the test of time and also made it beyond just a TV show, with several movies and even a continuation two decades after its initial release. If you’re jumping into the series in 2025 or want to fill the gaps of what you watched back in the day, I’ve put together this chronological guide on how to watch all of Bleach in order.
Adapting Tite Kubo’s manga of the same name, Bleach has been airing since 2004, amassing 366 episodes across 16 seasons. The show originally ended back in 2012, right as the manga was entering its final arc. The anime had caught up to its source material, so rather than do a long filler arc, the show simply ended.
Thankfully, in 2020, during the 20th anniversary of the manga, it was announced that Bleach would return to adapt the last arc. This more recent anime adaptation is known as the Thousand-Year Blood War.
In addition to the anime, there are four films in the Bleach franchise. Like most with most shonen series, these movies don't directly adapt the manga and are technically not canon, as they feature entirely original plots and even original characters (though, in the case of Bleach, they are designed by the original manga creator Tite Kubo). Still, the films can be great fun, and often tease upcoming surprises in the anime.
This OVA (original video animation) was shown at the Jump Festa convention in Japan in 2004. It serves as a pilot episode for Bleach, so it technically goes first in the order. Sadly, the OVA is not available to watch legally, but an alternate retelling of the events of Memories in the Rain were remade in episodes 8 and 9 of the first season.
Taking place after the end of the Soul Society arc, this OVA was shown at Bleach Jump Festa 2005. It follows a Shinigami who was sealed by the Soul Society being set free and wreaking havoc until Ichigo and the society try to stop him. The OVA helps expand the history of the Soul Society, highlighting their past feats as well as their mistakes.
Season 4 is a filler arc, with an original, self-contained storyline focusing on a race of humans who consume souls to extend their lives.
When the town of Karakura is invaded by unknown spirits, Ichigo and Rukia meet a mysterious Shinigami. This is a unique Bleach movie in that it doesn't really contradict the continuity, and actually fits really well with the story of the anime. The movie also has a good combination of lightheartedness and action.
The second Bleach movie is essentially a big love letter to fan-favorite Hitsugaya, so if you don't like the character, prepare for an entire film about why he's cool. The DiamondDust Rebellion continues to expand on the corruption of the Soul Society and shows the complexities of the organization in a way that even the anime doesn't always get to do.
An original, self-contained filler season focusing on a new Soul Reaper captain. It can be skipped for the sake of pacing, but it does offer some good moments and character development.
This is the Bleach movie with the best character drama, with a strong focus on Rukia, who is kidnapped by two spirits from her past, and Ichigo's attempts to rescue her.
Another filler season, but not just any filler season. This time, the Soul Reaper's swords, Zanpakuto, take human forms and declare war on their wielders. This is considered by far the best filler in all of Bleach, serving as a break from the Arrancar story arc while also offering solid worldbuilding and fun plot twists.
We're going to hell! Despite Bleach being all about spirits, the concept of hell isn't really that much of a part of the show, which makes this movie a refreshing addition to the lore. There are big Dante's Inferno vibes as well as some stunning backgrounds and creature designs.
Another filler arc, Gotei 13 Invading Army is about a big conspiracy in the Soul Society wherein every soul reaper is being replaced with a copy. Though not entirely canon, this season has some stunning action animation, and some great fight matchups that weaponize fan service to deliver thrilling moments.
The fourth and final part of Thousand Year Blood War, titled The Calamity, was announced as soon as Part 3 finished airing in December 2024. This next arc will finally bring the iconic story to a close by adapting the end of the manga, over 20 years after the anime first started airing. Expect epic fights, tragic moments, and some big revelations.
Rafael Motamayor is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything anime and animation.
Splitgate 2 developer 1047 Games has confirmed an undisclosed number of layoffs, with the co-founders of the studio opting not to take salaries as they bid to turn things around.
The free-to-play ‘Halo with portals’ shooter launched under a cloud after co-founder and director Ian Proulx took to the Summer Game Fest stage wearing a hat that read ‘Make FPS Great Again.’ During his speech, Proulx called out Call of Duty in what was considered a marketing gaffe.
When Splitgate 2 launched, it did so with a battle royale mode and a heavily criticized $145 microtransaction bundle. Splitgate 2 saw a peak concurrent player count of 25,785 on Steam, well below Splitgate’s 67,724 peak concurrent player count. Steam user reviews remain on ‘mixed.’
Steam stats do not paint the whole picture, of course, given Splitgate 2 launched across consoles as well as PC. Indeed, 1047 Games has said Splitgate 2 has had over 2.5 million players. But clearly, things have not gone as well as the studio had hoped. In an interview with IGN shortly after launch, Proulx said he was “surprised” by the reaction, admitting “we didn't expect this to be nearly as controversial as it was and we didn't intend for it to be.”
Now, 1047 Games has suffered a round of layoffs, which it characterized as “a small group” of staff in a post on LinkedIn. Also in the post came confirmation that co-founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian have opted not to take salaries, as the studio aims to improve the game.
Here’s the statement in full:
Today we parted ways with a small group of valued 1047 Games team members. We’re still perfecting the Splitgate 2 gameplay experience in response to community feedback, and we are redirecting resources to build the best game for our players. We are sad to see our teammates go, and we are actively working to help them secure new opportunities. Further, our co-founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian have opted not to take salaries as we lock in to deliver the next phase of the project. Thank you to those who’ve built alongside us — we are sad to say goodbye and would not be here without you.
To everyone who’s playing Splitgate 2, we’re continuing to work hard to deliver more things we know you’ll love. We are committed to building this game for the long haul.
While 1047 did not specify how many were let go, or who exactly, a number of key staff have announced their departures across social media platforms. Meanwhile, Splitgate 2 had a 24-hour peak concurrent player count of 10,059 on Steam, with 4,437 players on Valve’s platform at the time of this article’s publication.
Splitgate 2 secured a 7/10 in IGN’s review. We said: “Splitgate 2 is a decent successor to the original that expands on it, but never really surpasses it.”
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
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Grow a Garden has released its Summer update 1.11.0, propelling the Roblox game to comfortably the highest recorded concurrent player count in video game history. The patch notes are below.
The microtransaction-fueled free-to-play farming simulator had already shot past Fortnite’s concurrent peak of 15.3 million players, achieved during the Marvel-themed season finally back during Covid-era 2020, with an incredible 16.4 million concurrent players. At the time of this article’s publication, with players logging in for the Summer update, Grow a Garden was at an astonishing 21.3 million concurrents.
Summer's here! Introducing our biggest update so far with all new seeds, pets, gear and the limited time Summer Harvest event to celebrate the coming of summer.
Explore the all new Summer Season and join forces with other gardeners to participate in the Summer Harvest event. This update brings brand new seeds, pets, craftable items, all new weather, features, and so much more in this Grow A Garden update! 😎🌴🌞
In Grow a Garden you do exactly that: grow a garden. Each new player starts off with a plot of land and 20 Sheckles, the in-game currency, to buy simple seeds for vegetables like carrots. Your garden even continues to grow while you're offline.
The 16-year-old who created Grow a Garden in just a few days remains creatively involved in what it’s become but is no longer the only name attached. Roblox experience management company DoBig Studios and popular developer Janzen Madsen (a.k.a. Jandel) and his network of creators at Splitting Point are now also involved.
What is Grow a Garden in Roblox and why is it the most popular game in the world right now? #IGNSummerOfGaming pic.twitter.com/pOOwB7yIuQ
— IGN (@IGN) June 21, 2025
Grow a Garden’s success is down to tight update strategies and events as reliable draws for Roblox players, and this Summer update is a perfect example. Other recent examples include bringing in a DJ for entertainment and organizing a mass dance party.
Check out IGN's feature, Roblox's Grow a Garden Towers Above Even the Biggest Steam Games — but You Probably Have No Idea What It Is, to find out more.
Cosmetics:
We've been covering Grow a Garden and creating guides to explain features such as how gear works, a weather and mutation guide, and the different seeds that are available to purchase. You'll also find information on updates such as the Lunar Glow Event and recent Pet Egg update that took place last month, and more over in our Grow a Garden guide.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Minor spoilers follow for the opening scene of 28 Years Later.
At the turn of the millennium, a low-budget British production suddenly became an international hit. Its small gang of characters making their way in an eerily empty world resonated with millions, propelling their story into the zeitgeist, where it remains decades later.
That story is not 28 Weeks Later, although the lo-fi zombie thriller, which returns to the forefront of popular culture this weekend with the release of a long-awaited sequel, certainly fits the bill. But in this case, the British export we’re talking about is none other than Teletubbies, the delightfully weird kids’ show that makes a surprising cameo in 28 Years Later.
In the process, director Danny Boyle’s new horror movie may have inadvertently confirmed something that some Teletubbies fans have known all along: This children’s program about four humanoid creatures with TV screens where their stomachs should be is downright terrifying.
Teletubbies only makes a brief appearance in 28 Years Later, but it’s a memorable one. In the movie’s opening scene, which takes place during the early days of the zombie-like Rage Virus outbreak that kicks off the entire franchise, we see a group of children huddled together in one room. They’re watching Teletubbies, but they don’t seem pleased about it — not necessarily because they dislike the show, but because a bunch of infected are about to burst into the house and murder everyone inside.
Moments later, that’s exactly what happens, as a gaggle of infected breaks down the door and overwhelms the children. Boyle thankfully spares us from watching it happen, but the blood splattered across the TV as the Teletubbies continue their adventures is all the confirmation we need. The movie mostly moves on from Teletubbies after that, as it jumps forward 28 years to tell its post-apocalyptic story, but the kids’ show does get one more nod in the final scene of 28 Years Later, which we won’t spoil here for anyone who’s still waiting to see the film for themselves.
But while there is plenty to say about how Teletubbies may explain where 28 Years Later is headed next in a planned trilogy of new movies, there’s even more to say about the Teletubbies themselves, and the nefarious truth behind their cold, empty eyes.
A quick rifling through the internet reveals endless theories about what Teletubbies is really about. The Teletubbies are all atoning for their sins in Purgatory, or perhaps they’re biogenetically engineered slaves, or human prisoners using a shared delusion to survive their incarceration. As for the Baby Sun that opens and closes each episode, it’s actually god — or maybe a demon. (These are all actual fan theories that people have posited about Teletubbies, most of which were rounded up by the good people at TV Tropes.)
In 2023, one disturbing theory, which claims the Teletubbies were inspired by a Bulgarian children’s mental facility where four patients died, went viral on TikTok. That theory has since been debunked, and, as far as we can tell, the facility in question never even existed. Still, the fact that Teletubbies inspires unsettling ideas like that clearly says something about the show itself.
The most common Teletubbies fan theory centers on the idea that the show takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting, and the evidence is pretty compelling.
For one thing, there’s the bunker the Teletubbies call home. The structure, which also resembles the Hobbit houses in The Lord of the Rings, is built into the landscape. But unlike those Hobbits, the Teletubbies’ home appears to go much deeper underground. It’s also technologically advanced, with various panels, buttons, and levers lining the interior walls. It looks like the kind of thing one might build if they needed to be able to survive underground for long periods of time.
Then there are the Voice Trumpets, essentially megaphones that emerge from the ground like periscopes. The Voice Trumpets give the Teletubbies their orders (and sometimes narrate the events of the show), but who controls them? Could it be surviving humans hiding even deeper below the surface of the Earth?
As for the Teletubbies themselves (Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa, and Po), they’re clearly not human. So what are they? The television sets in their stomachs suggest some sort of robotic design, while their human-looking faces could be the result of mutation — possibly caused by whatever destroyed their world in the first place.
But whether the Teletubbies are robots, mutants, or something else entirely, their purpose is likely the same. As the theory goes, these creatures have been sent up to the surface of their post-apocalyptic world to repair it for the humans surviving deep underground. Based on the state of things in Teletubbies, it seems like their mission is already well underway. But the distinct lack of life (aside from some plants and the occasional rabbit) suggests there’s still plenty of work to be done.
So what does all of this have to do with 28 Years Later? On the surface, not much, but the deeper you go into Teletubbies fan theories, the clearer it becomes that something evil is lurking beneath. Whether Danny Boyle meant to or not, his new movie gives a boost to those theories by using one post-apocalyptic story to reinforce the existence of another.
What are your thoughts on the 28 Years Later/Teletubbies connection? Let's discuss in the comments...
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Earlier today, we shared that the NES emulator, 3dSen, has been fully released. And now, there’s even more good news for our Nintendo fans. A fan-made PC version of the classic Mario Kart 64 has just come out, and you can download it right now. Titled SpaghettiKart, this PC port is the result of reverse … Continue reading An unofficial PC port of Mario Kart 64 is now available for download →
The post An unofficial PC port of Mario Kart 64 is now available for download appeared first on DSOGaming.
3dSen, the amazing emulator that lets you play all the NES games in full 3D, has left Early Access and has been fully released. Created by a single dev over 10 years, this is a must for all NES fans. This will let you re-experience your favourite NES games in a new way. So, don’t … Continue reading After 10 years of development, the emulator that lets you play NES games in full 3D has been fully released →
The post After 10 years of development, the emulator that lets you play NES games in full 3D has been fully released appeared first on DSOGaming.
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With both director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland returning the the infected fold, continuing the 28 Days Later franchise they started over 20 years ago with 28 Years Later, we're diving into the best apocalypse movies of all time.
Or post-apocalypse movies. Or, you know, just movies where civilization is either on the verge of collapsing, actually collapsing, or has already collapsed. Whatever stage of apocalypse you're after, we've got you covered.
The only true rule here is that the world has to actually end in some meaningful, impactful way. None of that "the Empire State Building got blown up!" or "an asteroid fragment just took out France!" mass destruction. We're talking nature batting last. Humanity is, for all intents and purposes, wiped out. No close calls here. So sorry to ID4, Armageddon, and others of that disaster movie ilk. Be better. And by that we mean be more cataclysmic.
You'll find almost every flavor of world-ending peril here: from zombies to plagues to Lovecraftian demons to the tried-and-true nuclear wipe-out. Let directors like John Carpenter, Stanley Kubrick, George Miller, Alfonso Cuarón, and more take you through our worst nightmares. You know, for fun!
Part of auteur Lars von Trier's (apropos) Depression Trilogy, Melancholia is insightful, existential, and emotionally raw. Sure, it involves Earth's impending impact with a rogue planet, but instead of being a giant action spectacle, it's a beautiful, honest, difficult-to-watch story about two sisters -- played by Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg -- who are affected dramatically differently by the world's oncoming end. It's a devastating movie that also vibrates with sensitivity and tranquility.
Part of what horror master John Carpenter refers to as his Apocalypse Trilogy (preceded by The Thing and Prince of Darkness), In the Mouth of Madness stars Sam Neill as an insurance fraud investigator who's sent to find a missing best-selling horror author (think this world's Stephen King). What he unravels instead is a Lovecraftian New England town where a true madman has ushered in the End of Days thanks to his pact with the Old Gods. It's a meta exploration of the effects of horror on readers and consumers (that old pop culture-causes-violence chestnut) with a mix of paranoia, insanity, and a stubborn skeptic getting his unholy comeuppance.
Imagine you get a heads-up about nuclear armageddon. A 70-minute head start to get the eff out of dodge. The lucky stars align and someone in the group you're with has a clear, easy exit plan. The only hitch? You just found the love of your life and can't leave them behind.
That's the premise of the underrated white-knuckle '80's gem Miracle Mile, in which Anthony Edwards' character has to take, what he hopes is, a slight detour to rescue his new gal, played by Mare Winningham. Will he make it to her in time? And, if so, will the two of them make it out of LA without being disintegrated? You think Los Angeles traffic is bad now? Yeeesh.
Is Bruce Willis a frazzled convict who time-travels back from a grim post-apocalyptic future to stop the mysterious Army of the Twelve Monkeys from unleashing a killer man-made virus that wipes out most of the world?
Or is he just insane?
Remaking French short "La Jetee," director Terry Gilliam coaxes a heartbreaking performance out of Willis -- one of the finest of his career -- as he stumbles between institutionalized anarchist Brad Pitt and sympathetic doctor Madeleine Stowe. Complex, emotional and rewarding, this dystopian mystery demands to be watched on repeat.
It was hard to grab just one zombie flick for the list, and while 2004's Dawn of the Dead remake is a vicious, terrifying journey, we're heading back to the '70s for George Romero's original.
What Romero began in 1968's Night of the Living Dead expanded into horrific proportions with Dawn of the Dead, as the zombie outbreak that seemed to last only one night in the original now transformed into an unending zompocalypse with no reprieve in sight. During the hellacious hysteria of death and carnage, survivors barricade themselves inside a mall, hoping for the calamity to blow over. With landmark makeup effects, social commentary about materialistic modern society, and an unrelenting brutality, Dawn of the Dead is where it's at.
In the early to mid '80s there were a handful of movies that dealt with the horrors of nuclear war and radiation fallout in ways that shocked the world -- like Special Bulletin, Testament, One Night Stand, When the Wind Blows, and more.
More effective, simply because of how many people TV was able to reach back then, were two TV movies. America had The Day After, which was bone-chilling, while England (and Australia) had Threads. Threads is a scary, rattling reminder of how easy it would be for a few people to wipe out everything we know and love. It's a visceral cautionary tale of what it might be like if the bombs fall, ushering in misery and death to all. Quite literally Hell on Earth. This is not for the faint of heart.
Exploring a different avenue than most apocalyptic dystopias is Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men, where world-wide infertility has basically doomed the human race to die out within the next 60 to 70 years. Because society must now slowly watch its numbers dwindle, as everyone spirals toward inevitable extinction, civilization is in chaos and the world's become a morose, fading empire.
Children of Men is a pivotal drama, a technical marvel, a violent thriller, and a sophisticated look at a world ending in a whimper. Clive Owen plays a former activist tasked with transporting a very special package (the first pregnant woman in 18 years), leading to a possible glimmer of hope for humanity. But is this one miracle enough to hold back the tide of doom?
Stanley Kubrick's Cold War slapstick masterwork, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is also one of the most original, daring and best apocalypse movies ever made.
Paranoid loony General Jack D. Ripper initiates a plan to nuke the Soviet Union. General Buck Turgidson, US President Merkin Muffley, and Soviet ambassador Alexei de Sadeski bicker in the War Room. The drunken Russian president threatens to unleash a Doomsday Machine device that will automatically destroy life on Earth. The film is funny ("Gentleman! You can't fight in the War Room!"), absurd (Slim Pickens rodeo-riding his way to mass destruction) and chilling (Vera Lynn's end-credit song over the mushroom clouds). Sometimes laughing through the End Times (This Is the End, Shaun of the Dead, etc.) is the only way to go.
We'll meet again, my friend.
Though there have been some jokes over the years about whether or not the economic and environmental house of cards collapse that creates the Mad Max Wasteland may only actually be in Australia, no other movies have influenced, and changed the course of, post-apocalyptic movies like the Max movies.
What began as a demolition derby Ozploitation sensation with George Miller's Mad Max evolved into a whacked-out, carnage-filled every-man-for-himself death ride in the sequel, The Road Warrior.
Decades later, after the original Mad Max Trilogy, George Miller even returned to the Wasteland, going bigger, bolder, and bronzer with Mad Max: Fury Road and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. It was between Fury Road and Road Warrior for this spot on the list and while Fury Road is a modern action masterpiece that builds out the world of Max like never before, we're gonna sit pretty here with Road Warrior given how much it changed the entire '80s movie landscape.
Based on the acclaimed Cormac McCarthy novel, The Road is an unyielding, haunting look at the remnants of humanity carrying on... just to keep carrying on. It's never explained how the world ends, though it's clear some environmental cataclysm has occurred (one that's observable in a flashback from a window) that's coated the globe in death. Everything is either dead or dying off, people have turned to murder and/or cannibalism, and it will only be a generation or two before humans gasp their final breath.
A father and son, played by Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee, travel down the Eastern coast, hoping to find better, warmer living in Florida. The Road is as apocalyptic as you can get. Just a dire, bleak trek through exponential decay, where one clings to hope just for the sake of sanity.
Well, that was grim! How are y'all feeling? What's your personal favorite apocalypse movie? Vote above and let us know below...
Jane Austen's work has been widely celebrated for its social commentary, wit, and overall exploration of a very specific era. Her most famous book, Pride and Prejudice, has been adapted into various films and tv shows as well as repurposed for modern audiences. As the book that inspired the hit Netflix series, Bridgerton, it isn't hard to see just how far the work of Jane Austen has spread into our culture.
Now LEGO is taking it one step further by creating the first ever Jane Austen set. The tribute is the current gift with purchase you can get directly from the LEGO website, and it will only be available until June 27 or while supplies last.
The LEGO Tribute to Jane Austen's Books, set #40766, is only 361 pieces in total. With so few pieces, however, it still manages to pack a lot into one little scene. The set itself is essentially an open book that features a depiction of Jane Austen's home. The scene contains a small writing table with a quill, a piano with sheet music, a bookshelf, a fireplace, and multiple paintings on the wall showcasing scenes from the various film adaptations of her work. It also comes with a little Jane Austen minifigure that you can choose to place inside or outside her home.
As LEGO's most recent gift with purchase, you cannot buy this set separately. You'll need to spend at least $150 if you want to get it. This book-themed set is seemingly continuing LEGO's venture into literature as it has followed the release of three new book nook sets earlier this month.
LEGO always has a gift with purchase promotion going on and the conditions you'll need to meet to get it tend to vary. These extra sets are only available through the LEGO store and are generally one of the main reasons to buy through LEGO instead of third parties like Amazon. In the case of this Jane Austen set, you'll need to spend at least $150 in qualifying purchases to get the free set. This excludes things like preorders or previous purchases you've already made. This promotion will only be available from now until June 27, but sometimes these will sell out before the expiration date. Once the set is gone, its usually gone for good.
$150 may seem like a lot to spend on LEGO, but it's pretty easy to do with just a few purchases. If you're looking to buy just one thing to get the Jane Austen set, though, here are a few options over that $150 mark worth considering. LEGO is also currently running its double points sale for Insiders right now, so it's worth considering signing up for that if you plan on making a bigger purchase.
Jon Bernthal will reprise his role as Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bernthal has been cast in the Destin Daniel Cretton-directed Sony/Marvel film. Shooting begins in England this summer.
It remains to be seen how Bernthal’s ultra-violent vigilante Punisher will quite fit into the MCU’s PG-13 Spidey franchise.
While other actors have played Punisher in feature films before, this is the first time Bernthal’s incarnation will be on the big screen after appearing in both the Netflix and Disney+ Daredevil series as well as his own solo streaming series.
The Punisher's ally Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, previously made the leap to the big screen in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Bernthal and Spider-Man star Tom Holland previously acted together in the 2017 movie Pilgrimage. Bernthal recently explained the advice he gave Holland at that time as they were both auditioning for their respective Marvel roles while making Pilgrimage.
Before they reunite for the MCU's fourth Spidey film, Tom Holland and Jon Bernthal will next be seen together in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day will also bring back Zendaya’s MJ and Jacob Batalon’s Ned, while also introducing Sadie Sink to the franchise in an unknown role (although rumor has it she’s playing the X-Men’s Jean Grey).
The Bear’s Liza Colón-Zayas has also been cast, which has fans speculating that she might be playing Miles Morales’ mom, Rio.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day opens in theaters on July 31, 2026, which means it’s now opening before the recently delayed Avengers: Doomsday.
In the future, the human race has been divided into 14 different color castes that determine every individual's role and placement in the hierarchical structure of society. This underlying idea is at the core of Pierce Brown’s epic science fiction series, Red Rising, and tells the story of one man, Darrow of Lykos, and his mission to tear it all down.
First released in 2014, the first title, Red Rising, introduces us to the series' protagonist, Darrow, a Red Helldiver of Mars and the lowest of the citizens. Events out of Darrow’s control put him on a path that will see him go from the bottom of society to the top, becoming a symbol and legend that strikes fear into his enemies and inspires hope in his allies. Unlike many other science fiction series, Red Rising isn’t a tale of a utopian society that has spread out amongst the stars. Instead, it is a world of war, betrayal, and uneasy alliances, where some of the worst societal practices have flourished and evolved. Yet it is still a universe where hope still finds a way to survive, and joy and love can still be found, even in the darkest and most profound places.
Compared to other series, like Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere or George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, reading through the Red Rising series is a straightforward affair. The series is divided into two arcs, with the first three novels - Red Rising, Golden Son, and Morning Star- being referred to as the “Red Rising Trilogy”. The second half, which takes place 10 years later, being the “Iron Gold Quadrilogy” and consisting of the remaining novels. Despite being a science fiction series, this series deals with mature themes and graphic violence, and isn’t advised for younger readers.
Pierce Brown’s Red Rising series will comprise seven books in total, but currently, all but the final book have been released. The first three titles, composing the Red Rising Trilogy, are told strictly through the viewpoint of the character, Darrow. In contrast, the rest of the books, the Iron Gold Quadrilogy, are told through multiple characters' viewpoints.
Red Rising
The first book in the Red Rising Saga, titled “Red Rising”, tells the story of Darrow of Lykos - a Red Helldiver, born in the mines of Mars whose only prospects are to live out his days in the mines, with the belief that he is helping to bring about the terraforming of the planet. A tragic event sets Darrow’s life on an entirely new trajectory, where he now fights as a member of the rebel group Sons of Ares in a bid to overthrow the society that has oppressed him his entire life and bring about equality for mankind. But, to do so, he will have to become what he hates the most.
Golden Son
Picking up two years after the conclusion of Red Rising, Golden Son follows Darrow’s continued exploits as he carefully navigates the Gold society. As his reputation continues to grow, he has to be more careful and not risk being exposed as a Red. Golden Son ratchets up the stakes for Darrow, with some fantastic twists and tense white-knuckle moments that will leave readers biting at the bit to dive right into the third book after finishing this one. Where Brown’s first novel felt like a mix of Hunger Games and Ender’s Game, Golden Sun starts to define what the series will be moving forward, and how it sets itself apart from other science fiction series.
Morning Star
Taking place one year after Golden Son, Morning Star sees the Reaper at his lowest yet as he deals with the effects of being betrayed, and his year-long isolation. His work isn’t done yet, however, and his mission must go on, but at what cost? This third book brings the conclusion of the original trilogy of the Red Rising Saga, setting Darrow and his friends on a path they could never have imagined, one that will require relying on old enemies to make it through alive.
Iron Gold
Picking up 10 years after Morning Star, the Reaper’s legend continues to grow and has even outgrown the man, as mankind is struggling to adapt to the events of the previous book. Iron Gold marks a departure from the previous books, and a shift for the series, as no longer do they follow strictly Darrow’s perspective and instead show events from the four different views, including Darrow and two brand-new characters, Ephraim ti Horn and Lyria of Lagalos.
The points of view that this follows include Darrow, Lysander, and two new characters, a Red named Lyria and a Gray named Ephraim.
Dark Age
War has come to Mercury. Picking up directly after the events of Iron Gold, Dark Age lives up to its name, being the darkest in tone and subject matter of the series. It’s a book that's overall pretty gruesome and may be difficult for some readers to get through. The repercussions of many of the Reaper’s past decisions and debts have come to be paid. As author Pierce Brown puts it - “The Solar System is at War. No one is safe”.
The points of view in this fifth entry of the Red Rising series include Darrow, Ephraim, Virginia, Lyria, and Lysander.
Light Bringer
It has been eight months since the events of Dark Age, and the surviving members of the Republic struggle and prepare for the war that is just over the horizon. After the events of Mercury, the struggle between the Republic and Society has shifted to Mars and beyond, as both sides struggle to secure the needed allies and resources to grasp victory once and for all. Enemies will become unwilling allies, allies who will betray one another, and new threats will arise from the shadows that could throw everything into chaos, but hope can always be found, even in the darkest of nights.
Lightbringer is told through the points of view of four characters (omitting who to avoid potential spoilers)
Red God (forthcoming)
Red God is currently planned to be the final novel in the Red Rising series, and also the longest. In a brief interview, Brown teased that he hopes that this final book will be released late next year, but only if he is happy with it.
Red Rising: The Sons of Ares
Taking place before the events of the first book, the Sons of Ares comic series offers a deeper look into the rebel faction and its various actors, who play such an important role in the first few books of the Saga. These comics do contain some massive spoilers for events that are revealed throughout the first three books, and it’s advised that you only read them after completing the third book, Morning Star.
Red Rising: The Board Game
Red Rising: The Board Game, published by the talented team over at Stonemeier Games (the developers of games including Wingspan and Scythe), is a competitive hand management game where players will be playing out cards representing characters from the various books and colors of the Society. This game is not only a good time for fans of the books, but also features some wonderful art that helps give readers a better mental image of this world and its characters, such as Eo, Victra, Sevro, and of course, Darrow.
To avoid spoilers, it’s best to try out this game after you’ve gotten through at least the Iron Age.
In the world of Red Rising, humanity is divided into distinct castes, each associated with a specific color, with individuals born with both a sigil and eye color that correspond to their class. Ruled over by golds, this “Society” has been in charge for over 700 years by the start of the first book. Here is a breakdown of all 14 colors and their respective roles within the Society.
The High Colors
The Mid Colors
Low Colors
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