UFC 315 is set to be one of the most exciting events of the year as two championship belts are on the line tonight. The current welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad will be defending his title for the very first time against Jack Della Maddalena. Alongside that in the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko will have to defend her women's flyweight title agains Manon Fiorot. There's a lot at stake for these two champions and it will all be going down live from Bell Centre in Montréal, Québec, Canada tonight.

If you're wondering when and where you can watch tonight's main PPV event, we've gathered all of the details below. There's also the prelim rounds starting earlier in the day that you can watch without purchasing the PPV package.

Where to Stream UFC 315 Live Online

Finding a live TV streaming service that meets all your needs can be a challenge, as each one offers something a little different to stand out from the competition. Whether you're into live sports, keeping up with your favorite weekly TV shows, or a mix of everything, there's almost certainly a streaming service out there that fits your viewing habits. But with so many options, it can be tough to know which one is right for you. Thankfully, we’ve rounded up the best live TV streaming services that offer free trials in 2025, so you can test them out before committing to a subscription.

Hulu + Live TV (3-Day Free Trial)

Mafia: The Old Country was in 'managing expectations mode' this week, announcing a cheaper than expected $49.99 price point, and confirming that it is absolutely not an open-world game, rather a linear, narrative-driven game.

The Hangar 13-developed gangster shooter showed off new gameplay in the trailer, below, and it is impressive indeed. But this is no GTA 6. Indeed, it is no Mafia III. Tellingly, 2K President David Ismailer said of Mafia: The Old Country: "We think there’s a large audience for compelling stories that don’t require massive time commitments.” It felt like a PSA more than a promo.

Based on these comments, Mafia: The Old Country will be a relatively short affair. There is no multiplayer mode, so the story is the entire package. How long will it be? Some are speculating anything from five to 15 hours.

Yes, there are some complaints in the reaction across the internet, mostly from those who were hoping for a Mafia game more along the lines of a GTA than a, say, shorter Uncharted-style game. But The Old Country was never going to be that sort of game.

In December, I interviewed Hangar 13 President Nick Baynes and game director Alex Cox about all things Mafia: The Old Country, and the prospect of running up against GTA 6, which was still due out fall 2025 at the time.

In the interview, the pair dismissed comparisons to GTA 6, insisting Mafia: The Old Country shouldn’t be considered an open-world game at all.

Rather, the pair explained, Mafia: The Old Country is more like Mafia 1 and 2 than it is the open-world Mafia 3. It is a “linear, narrative-driven” game, a “focused package” that offers a “cinematic experience.” You might find yourself driving around an authentic representation of 1900s Sicily in Mafia: The Old Country, or even riding around on horseback a bit like that other Rockstar game, Red Dead Redemption 2, but the similarities to Rockstar games stop there.

So, while there are the perhaps inevitable complaints about the scope of The Old Country, I’ve seen positivity about the experience on offer. Many are saying they’re more interested in a high quality, cheaper, shorter story-driven Mafia game than a bloated open-world game filled with repetitive mechanics.

Indeed, there seems to be a growing call for more of these cheaper, manageable games, with Sandfall’s well-received Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which has sold an impressive 2 million copies despite being available day-one on Game Pass, held up as a potential trend-setter.

This comes as game prices are becoming more expensive, with both Nintendo and Microsoft hitting $80. In a market when Mario Kart World costs $80, a $50 Mafia: The Old Country looks like a bargain.

“I think setting the price at $50 is the move,” said IGN reader BabyGroot1 in response to the Mafia news. “Look at Clair Obscur sales.”

“Yea, I think there could be a lot of fence-sitters that see $70-80 and wait for a game to be on sale around $30,” added Automating_The_Game. “But at $50 they're like f*** it, getting it now.”

It’s a similar sentiment across social media and reddit. "I hate putting things on a number scale, but if this is one of those games that are like a good 10-12 hour, 8/10 experience I feel like we have to support it as best as possible,” said 99DGE of Mafia. “$50 when publishers are pushing for $80 is so fascinating that we need to reward and vote with our wallets if it’s worth it (that is of course, we can afford it given the economic climate).”

“I was probably going to pass on this as I just don't have it in me for most open world games anymore, but hearing that it's linear, story focused, and priced at $50? I'm on board day one now,” said ElJacko170.

“I'd rather have a short Mafia game for $50 than one with a needlessly empty open world with almost nothing to do in them like all the previous Mafia games,” said everythingsc0mputer.

“If they're not gonna add side quests or side activities for you to do like the previous Mafia games, then might as well keep it short and linear.”

For all this positivity online, for publisher 2K and developer Hangar 13 it will be sales of Mafia: The Old Country that determine its and the franchise’s future. The game will have a sales target it needs to hit in order for the project to be declared successful, and social media and forum posts do not generate revenue. Hard sales do.

All eyes will be on Mafia: The Old Country to see if the success of Clair Obscur really is the start of something sustainable for the video game industry.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Warning: Gross imagery and descriptions follow. Obviously!

The human body is a mystery. A mass of tissue, muscles, vascular systems, and 70% water? Are we just walking flesh balloons filled with liquid? None of it makes sense, yet I'm here typing these words. There will forever be a fascination with our earthly vessels, and that curiosity extends to horror cinema. Filmmakers who embrace "body horror" analyze our insides by inventing horrible ways to push bones to their breaking point, or rearranging our figure to nearly unidentifiable levels.

As we'll explore in the list below, the body horror subgenre is both existential and graphic in equal handfuls. Special effects designers have come up with the most horrible tortures and traumas our bodies can endure, leaving audiences cringing in their seats. From 1950s titles like Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Fly to 2024's The Substance, body horror is always en vogue and will continue to push the limitations of physical forms. With that in mind, let's take a look at the best body horror movies ever made.

25. Dumplings

Fruit Chan’s savory Hong Kong midnighter Dumplings dishes body horror of a different flavor. An aging former actress chases eternal attractiveness by eating Aunt Mei’s fetus-stuffed dumplings. As Aunt Mei’s customer demands stronger remedies, abortions and “fresher” fetuses become the next move. Chan doesn’t save viewers from bloody realism as Aunt Mei performs backroom operations, shows ingredients being prepped, and doesn’t shy away from the grotesqueries of the chef’s recipes. I think chopped-up fetuses stuffed into doughy pockets counts as some twisted as [bleep] body horror?

24. Taxidermia

I don’t have nearly enough time to unpack the generational Hungarian trauma that flows through György Pálfi’s Taxidermia. The film, following the lineage of three men, spotlights a horny WWII soldier, a Cold War-era speed-eater with big dreams, and a modern-day taxidermist who’s dangerously dedicated to his craft. Through each chapter (structured like an anthology), Pálfi uses bodily horrors to convey gluttonous themes that leave us retching. From a sex scene atop butcher’s scraps to competitive eaters emptying their stomachs, Taxidermia might not be obscenely gory, but that doesn't mean it saves its audiences from feeling queasy or overwhelmed by Pálfi’s sometimes cartoonish, other times morbid treatment of his characters’ meatsuits.

23. The Ugly Stepsister

I won’t lie. I tentatively had The Substance in this spot, but ultimately decided that while Monstro Elisasue is a gnarly monster, and the handoff between character versions in that film is creepy, The Ugly Stepsister is the closest I’ve ever been to vomiting in a movie theater.

Emilie Blichfeldt’s twisted take on Cinderella is more like Cinder-Hell-a for its main character, Lea Myren’s Elvira. She’s trying to beautify herself for “Prince Charming,” but given the period setting, surgeries and remedies are archaic. Nose jobs are a chisel and hammer, while weight loss comes from tapeworms. Elvira’s body is maimed, augmented, and tortured all in the name of beauty pageant standards, which can be both hilarious and unforgiving. Blichfeldt sustains a darkly comedic tone, but then we get to the film’s finale and, well, let’s just say the tapeworms have to come out eventually. It’s a nauseating display of bodily horrors mixed with excellent sound design of squelches and gurgles in the worst way (compliment), and that’s why The Ugly Stepsister overtook The Substance.

22. Xtro

What the actual hell is this movie? Xtro feels like a grab bag as toy soldiers and clown playthings come to life, or a panther appears to maul someone, yadda yadda. So why’s it here? Because there’s some fantastic body horror by way of alien pregnancies and gestation periods, watched at rapid speed in full, and other aliens-turned-to-humans effects that embrace the reconfiguration of our skeletal insides. Xtro narrowly escaped becoming only the second British-made video nasty, thanks to the especially “offensive” birthing sequence. It’s a wild ride that doesn’t make much sense at times, but as for its body horror pedigree? You bet Xtro has enough surprises in store.

21. Exte: Hair Extensions

Are you afraid of the tiny bobbleheaded hair man? Well, you might be after watching Exte: Hair Extensions! This absurd Japanese take on body horror is about (in the simplest sense) possessed hair extensions that kill the new wearers. Visuals play off popular J-Horror scenes where neverending strands of black hair are pulled from gagging throats, except here hair spills out of mouths, eye sockets, ears, any opening. As the film gets crazier, you’ll encounter what’s basically “The Hair Man,” a final boss battle I’d rather save for your discovery. Exte: Hair Extensions is batshit crazy even by J-Horror standards, which is the reason why it makes the cut.

20. Tusk

Kevin Smith’s Tusk is certifiably grade-A body horror. Justin Long’s arrogant podcaster is turned into a walrus through painful body modifications, as Michael Parks’ retired seaman brings his best friend, “Mr. Tusk,” back to life. Long’s final form, this chunker of a walrus stitched together with human skin, is a Frankensteinian abomination of nature with tusks fashioned from the podcaster’s bones. It’s a goofy film at times, on par with Smith’s sense of humor, but the quilt-like design of Long’s animal costume is nightmare fuel. It’s strange, sickening, and unique, all in equal measures.

19. Cabin Fever

Eli Roth’s feature debut is known as a sickness-based horror movie, but that doesn’t mean it’s not body horror. Cabin Fever is about college students celebrating October break in a remote cabin who contract a deadly flesh-eating virus, and holy heck, does Roth make our skin crawl. Maybe it’s Marcy shaving scabs in the bathtub, or any other representation of disintegrating flesh. The pulpy, reddish mess that’s left behind as the virus eats through victims is vile with emphasis, from floater corpses to chewed-apart doggie leftovers. Yeah, this is definitely made by the guy behind Hostel.

18. Slither

How can we not include this 2000s horror-comedy about bloated bodies and slithery aliens? James Gunn’s Slither is a modern update on the classic science fiction blueprint of meteorites bringing danger to Earth, filled with Gunn’s B-movie sensibilities. Michael Rooker transforms into a lumpy tentacled version of himself as a taste of Gunn’s body horrors, or there’s the poor woman who balloons to an exaggerated size, filled with baby slitherers. The adolescent wrigglers choose victims by sliding into their mouths, which alone is enough to make us uneasy. Gunn’s fun-loving nature skyrockets Slither’s entertainment value, but the filmmaker’s early days working for Troma are evident through gratuitous and slobbery effects that have us cackling with glee.

17. Videodrome

Do I really have to explain why Videodrome is on this list? Or any David Cronenberg title?

The “King of Venereal Horror” hails the new flesh in his satirical, sadomasochistic ode to perversities broadcast to the masses. The flesh gun is just an amuse-bouche compared to the other body horrors that await. The way James Woods digs into his stomach slit, or accepts a Betamax tape like he’s a tape-player, stand out. Then, of course, there’s the finale where a man bursts from the inside-out as tumors emerge. Cronenberg, you spoil us.

16. Brain Damage

As a nearly decade-long New Yorker, I’ve gotta give Frank Henenlotter a little love. I’m choosing Brain Damage because, well, it does horrible things to bodies. Henenlotter’s self-proclaimed ode to Faust is about one man’s free ride on a parasitic organism’s trippy hallucinatory fluid. Between the colorful auras and surreal unrealities our protagonist sees, there’s heaps of gore thanks to lil’ old Aylmer, the phallic parasite with a Jeffrey Combs-like voice (John Zacherle). It’s a soothing, calming tone, but don’t expect body horror visuals to soothe or calm.

Look no further than when Aylmer’s victim Brian tries to go cold turkey in a repulsive bathroom. Brian’s losing it, and starts poking inside his ear. After yanking out a blood-drippy length of tissue, his ear pops off. Bloody goop starts waterfalling out of the wound as he howls in agony with a Bruce Campbell quality to his comedic delivery. ‘Tis but a taste of the sludgy, mucky imagery of Brain Damage.

15. Body Melt

Remember 1000 Ways to Die on SpikeTV? Well, Body Melt is like 1000 Body Horror Ways to Die.

Philip Brophy’s Australian horror commentary about healthy living goes horrendously goopy when the residents of suburban complex Pebbles Court become unknowing test subjects for supplement pills with abhorrent results. Tongues engorge like tentacles, ribs slip out of torsos, and a whole slew of other outstandingly graphic side effects occur. Director Brophy and co-writer Rod Bishop come from an experimental art and music background, once part of the Melbourne collective → ↑ →, and that experimentation makes Body Melt so exquisitely unpredictable. If it can happen to a body, it’ll happen here.

14. The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence)

While I like The Human Centipede (First Sequence) more than Tom Six’s depraved and disgusting sequel, I cannot deny this continuation’s bodily horrors. Enter Laurence R. Harvey as the … er… complicated Martin Lomax, a superfan of the first movie who wants his own 12-person centipede. The tollbooth attendant’s methods are much cruder—he’s no surgeon. Martin severs knee ligaments and knocks teeth out with a hammer, then opts for staples and duct tape to assemble his ass-to-mouth monstrosity. The disturbed loner is much more forceful, cramming funnels down throats to force-feed cream of mushroom soup, or injecting laxatives to cause a chain of violent defecations that will make you question every life choice that led you to watch The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence).

But it’s more than the centipede. It’s Martin masturbating with sandpaper. It’s the newborn baby crushed under a vehicle’s acceleration pedal. It’s the tongue removal, or the anal mutilation. There’s surgical precision to Six’s first film, where this sequel is the equivalent of using the services of a butcher with a 1-star Yelp rating. Intentionally, of course.

13. From Beyond

Humans are such easy prey, in that Stuart Gordon knows how to sell body horror to the masses.

From Beyond is a different beast than Gordon’s Re-Animator, pitting Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton against science fiction unknowns. There’s a Lovecraftian feel as scientists dare peek beyond reality, but are mutated into unsightly shapes of muscle and tissue with engorged pineal glands. Hazy pink filters wash over mucusy, inhuman creatures with elongated necks and slimy appendages, vibing on fluorescent hues. Everything gets bizarro when bodies intertwine and start fighting each other from the inside—heads separating into twos that gnash at one another. It’s Gordon doing what Gordon does best, and earns our respect on this list.

12. Re-Animator

Back so soon, Mr. Gordon? Re-Animator is a masterful horror comedy that might be what you describe as a gassed-up morgue party. You have to compliment Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, and David Gale for how their performances bring Gordon’s kooky back-from-the-dead flick to life. There’s a slapstick charm to a headless Dr. Hill fighting back, or later scenes when reanimated corpses are blundering around, knocking medical equipment over. Gordon delights in playing with dead bodies in different stages of autopsies, as well as Herbert West’s experimentations. It’s all very ’80s and wacky, but that doesn’t negate the fact that Gordon’s a power player in the body horror arena.

11. Teeth

If Teeth were shown in sex-ed classes, the world would be a different place.

Jess Weixler stars as Dawn O'Keefe, a teenage abstinence spokesperson turned manhunter thanks to her vagina dentata. Men don’t need to be afraid—Dawn only bites their dongs off if she’s not feeling relaxed or consenting. But Teeth is a horror movie, and it’s loaded with dismembered members. Dawn handles the abusive men of her hometown one by one, doling out her unique brand of sexual punishment. It’s a fantastic film driven by womanly rage that bites back at patriarchal evils and brings the body horror, mixing in vigilante justice as a treat.

10. Hellraiser

Clive Barker’s body horror sights are stupendous in the original Hellraiser adaptation. The Cenobites are these sadomasochistic explorers—demons to some, angels to others—with body modifications like pins in heads or exposed gums. Then there are the “pleasures” shown to those who complete the iconic puzzle box, leading to psychosexual tortures that treat punishment as euphoria. Hedonist Frank Cotton feels cold chains tear his flesh apart, like drying pieces of leather stretched to their limits. With all the flayed corpses, chunks of tissue, and the Cenobite’s handiwork strewn about Hellraiser, its repulsive reputation is handily earned.

9. Meatball Machine (2005)

After Tetsuo: The Iron Man but before Tokyo Gore Police, there was Yūdai Yamaguchi and Jun'ichi Yamamoto’s Meatball Machine. The “tokusatsu” horror film—a live-action film that heavily uses practical special effects—stylizes robotic, almost mech-like body horror visuals to tell a tale of aliens overtaking human bodies. If you get “infected,” a metallic box spawns a baseball-sized creature that taps into your nervous system and uses you as a fighting machine. You lose identity, becoming a repulsive mess of rubbery tubing, newfound weaponry, and disfigured flesh that’s now silver and greasy.

Its homage to Tetsuo is obvious, and you can see where Tokyo Gore Police is an easy comparison. There are so many gross juices as a lonely factory worker watches the love of his life becoming one of these extraterrestrial battle bots. Then you’ve got the squishy insides of the alien’s cockpit, brutal death scenes as fighters lose, and the hallucinogenic scenes where hands come out of raw wounds like someone’s hiding behind guts. It’s a blast from start to finish, and a worthy addition to any body horror list.

8. Altered States

Did you expect to find William Hurt’s feature debut on this list? That should make more sense when you find out it’s a Ken Russell movie (adapted from Paddy Chayefsky’s science fiction novel of the same name).

Altered States is a psychotropic dive into planes of consciousness. Hurt plays a psychopathologist and tenured Harvard professor dabbling with shared hallucinatory experiences who ingests a ceremonial concoction of mushrooms and shrubs that sends him on more than a vision quest. As Hurt’s intellectual uses deprivation tanks to unlock his body’s deepest primordial connections, so does his body start to devolve, with x-rays reading gorilla traits. Russell subjects Hurt to pulsating effects as his skin puffs and retracts, forming new shapes and testing the limits of existence. It’s all very unsettling and unnatural, until a finale that re-atomizes him beyond our world.

7. Tokyo Gore Police

Japanese horror doesn’t get more buck-wild and bizarre than Tokyo Gore Police. Yoshihiro Nishimura’s tokusatsu masterpiece tells of a dystopia where a virus turns people into Engineers fitted with biomechanical weapons that emerge from sustained injuries. Lose an arm? It grows back as this raw tissue claw you can use to snap Engineer Hunters in half. Lose the top half of your head? Your eyes grow back as cannons, and your brain stays exposed. It’s a magnificent display of battlefield repugnance hinged on sadism and fetish modifications, like a person stretched into the shape of a chair that [checks notes] pisses on bystanders.

Tokyo Gore Police keeps the graphic body horrors coming, whether characters are drawn and quartered, stream rain showers of blood, or women who turn their bottom half into a creature’s mouth. Just when you think you know what to expect, Nishimura lands another knockout visual. If you like your body horror with the insanity of a Japanese midnighter, look no further.

6. The Blob (1988)

Ah, yes, the first of three 1980s horror movies I hold as the decade’s “Holy Trinity” in terms of outstanding practical special effects.

Chuck Russell’s The Blob remake marked the breakout for special effects guru Tony Gardner. As the pinkish blob would attack unlucky Californians, the digestion process showed in grueling detail. Look no further than poor Paul, whose body is decomposed under an acidic filminess that’s transparent enough to watch his flesh sizzle off and bones deteriorate until he resembles Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” painting—except way grosser. Gardner has too much fun not only mobilizing the film’s blob, but also ensuring each bodily breakdown leaves you wincing just as hard as the last.

5. Street Trash (1987)

You can’t talk about body horror without J. Michael Muro’s syrupy ode to Brooklyn, Street Trash. The concept is simple: If you drink toxic Tenafly Viper liquor, you melt into a colorful slop.

You’ve probably seen the iconic clip of a hobo turning into sludge while on a toilet. As he screams in pain, his body disintegrates as brittle bones snap, flesh flops into a goopy mound, and vibrant blues, greens, and purples swirl into a gunky discolored viscera. Then you’ve got the detached penis keepaway, explosive reactions to Tenafly Viper, and countless more instances of rainbow-bright oozes as bodies liquify. Street Trash has its fun with body horror, but don’t presume it plays safe.

4. The Thing (1982)

John Carpenter’s The Thing is a highlight reel of bodily horrors thanks to an assimilating extraterrestrial organism. Rob Bottin's creature effects are on full display whenever another victim is outed. Is it even possible to pick a favorite? Norris’ body becomes a massive gobbler that chomps off arms, or Palmer’s head becomes a bubbly, puss-filled mess before splitting open into a reptilian-like mouth. All the human-Thing hybrids are creatively unforgettable as they rupture, burst, and evolve into hellish new forms, cementing The Thing as part of the golden standard that would define practical-forward ’80s horror films.

3. The Fly (1986)

Another Cronenberg pick? Stop playing around, there’s no such thing as a best-of body horror list without 1986’s The Fly remake. Special effects artist Chris Walas and make-up artist Stephan Dupuis won an Academy Award for their “Brundlefly” creation, hiding Jeff Goldblum under pustules and insectoid deformities. Visual gags involving spit-up and sticky excretions give the bodily mutations an over-the-top ickiness, while Goldblum eccentrically owns his character’s transformation. It’s one of the best examples of practical effects in the ’80s, and still stands as a benchmark in the effects community—Cronenberg at his buzziest, y’all.

2. Tetsuo: The Iron Man

Tetsuo: The Iron Man is unlike … well, nearly everything. Shinya Tsukamoto's experimental Japanese fever-dream is like a steelworker’s fetish video as an unnamed protagonist turns into a metallic monster. We watch as the man’s scabs start shimmering, his penis turns into a whirring drillbit, and more modifications remove any semblance of his human form. The film is largely non-conversational and relies on imagery, but golly, does that not matter. Few horror films do exactly what it says on the tin with Tsukamoto’s emphasis and commitment; an avant-garde ironworks freakshow that’s greasy, gonzo, and kinda romantic in the end… somehow?

1. Society

This list is a smorgasbord of body horror delights, but has anything topped Society’s “shunting?” Brian Yuzna turns conjoined commentaries about elitism into a writhing mass of high-society sleazebags absorbing into one another. Hands reach out of now rubbery mouths, stretched-out lips suction onto another’s torso, and the term “butthead” takes on new meaning. I mean, a character saves himself by pulling a “shunter” inside out—and that’s hardly the most offensive imagery Society serves its audience. Yuzna goes crazy with bodily juices, cartoonishly elasticsed human figures, and the film’s orgy of body-melding pleasures. It might be a generic body horror favorite, and that’s for a reason.

What are you favorite body horror movies? Is that an oxymoron? Let's discuss in the comments!

“The Story & The Engine” cleverly frames itself within the very act of storytelling, in a way that feels more akin to the show's resourceful past than a massive Disney production (and that's a compliment). While Doctor Who has clearly moved past the days of wobbly sets and rubber costumes, it's still at its best when it channels the spirit of inventiveness that powered so many past episodes, making the most of a constraint rather than trying to outspend it.

That resourcefulness finds a fitting match in the setting: a barbershop in Lagos, Nigeria, seemingly suspended outside time and reason. It's within this intimate space that the Doctor and Belinda find themselves ensnared in an episode that feels less concerned with coherence than with capturing the thrill of telling a story as a live, unpredictable act. Scenes veer between tones and ideas with a kind of deliberate looseness – strange, playful, occasionally nonsensical, but always with the intention to entertain.

Inua Ellams’ delightful script leans heavily into the idea that stories have a magical and innate weight and power. The Story Engine of the title is less machine than metaphor, a hazy but potent idea about language as a force that can bend reality. Say the right thing, in the right way, at the right time, and the world shifts. It’s a wonderfully poetic premise, and the notion of the Doctor as the mythic subject of an oral history passed down through generations within the barbershop is a smart hook that even plays on Doctor Who's own legacy.

But, to its detriment, “The Story & the Engine” can’t resist the Disney era’s recurring obsession with gods and demigods. makes a more convincing go of it than most, but the magical deity angle is starting to feel like the default rather than a deliberate choice. The latest iteration of this trend, The Barber, is suitably eerie, and the ideas behind it are grand, but the divine connection plays like another overreach in Doctor Who’s ongoing bid for cosmic scale. Each new god dulls the impact, and while there’s ambition in casting the Doctor as a myth caught in celestial games, it edges the show away from what makes it distinct. A brilliant concept and execution helped “Lux” sidestep a similar issue, but the same can’t be said for “The Story & the Engine.” If the writers could just take a step back from the cosmic shenanigans for a second, they might notice their show is at its best when it keeps things a little more human. I’m not saying ditch the weirdness entirely, but when the big sci-fi stuff is rooted in smaller, more personal truths, it hits harder. You can feel that in “The Story & the Enging” as well, even if it keeps trying to outpace itself.

That’s what makes Belinda Chandra such a valuable part of the current era: She keeps the show tethered to something real. There’s a quiet intent in how she’s written, always circling themes of care and healing rooted in her background as a nurse. Her compassion mirrors the Doctor’s own “be kind” ethos, and together they create a steady emotional thread through the wilder ideas in “The Story & the Engine.” It’s not subtle, but it’s great nonetheless. Their quieter scenes are some of the strongest here, not because they outshine the spectacle, but because they remind you what it’s all meant to be for. I’ve said it every week this season, but Belinda’s fast becoming the heart of this run, and it’s paying off in ways both big and small.

That emotional groundwork is also what keeps the closing moments from tipping into self-inflicted parody. Yes, it’s another montage of past Doctors projected on a screen, the same trick “Rogue” pulled less than a year ago, and one that Who leans on a little too often. It’s easy shorthand for legacy, a self-mythologising flourish that should, by now, feel tired. But in an episode already driven more by mood than structure, it works precisely because it leans into that vibe, letting the Doctor’s story swell beyond logic and land somewhere emotionally in the middle instead. We’ve seen this before, and we’ll probably see it again, but it plays out with honesty here – the goosebumps it gave me do not lie.

For this weekend only, Amazon is offering a great deal on this Lenovo Legion 5i 16" RTX 4070 Gaming Laptop. It's normally listed at $1,499.99, but a 20% instant discount drops it to $1,201.12 with free shipping. Lenovo Legion laptops are highly rated for their build quality, powerful unthrottled components, and solid warranty. This laptop is sold and shipped by Amazon directly, not a marketplace vendor.

Lenovo Legion 16" RTX 4070 Laptop for $1202.69

It feels like just yesterday that Xbox Game Pass launched and everyone thought it was too good to be true. An all-you-can-eat buffet of games, right at your fingertips? Impossible. Now, just a few years later, it seems like every company is jumping on the game subscription bandwagon. New services are popping up left and right, each boasting massive libraries with hundreds of games to sink your teeth into.

But with so many games to play already, which one is actually worth your time and money? We’ve rounded up the most popular video game subscription services and narrowed them down to six of the best options.

1. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate

Best Overall

The official Legend of Zelda playing cards from Nintendo are currently on sale for just $9.99 (20% off). Keep in mind, they are a Japan-only imported product, so buying through Amazon typically means you're purchasing from a reseller. This could mean you may have to wait a bit longer than usual for them to arrive due to the potential of limited stock.

In any case, these make for a great gift or addition to your collection, like the awesome Legend of Zelda manga or encyclopedias like the Hyrule Historia.

Official Legend of Zelda Playing Cards Are on Sale

The Nintendo Switch is going out in a blaze of glory, with some exciting games launching to make way for the console's successor: the now officially announced Switch 2. Whether they’re exclusively developed for the Switch or ported over from other platforms, these upcoming Switch games will wrap up the Switch's final year while also being compatible with the Switch 2 upon release.

In 2025, we'll hopefully be getting our hands on well-known in-development titles as well as a host of new games announced at the March Nintendo Direct. Here are all of the new Switch games we can look forward to this year.

All Upcoming Switch Games With Release Dates

Capcom Fighting Collection 2 (May 16, 2025)

That's right, it's another fighting game collection. This time, Capcom is compiling games released between 1998 and 2004, which is what some would call a peak era for arcade fighting. This second fighting collection includes both the English and Japanese versions of six games total, including Capcom vs. SnK and the Power Stone beat-em-up series.

I get excited every time a new graphics card launches, and even more so when Nvidia revealed the RTX 5080 and its latest DLSS 4 technology, which uses AI to amplify visuals and frame rates beyond what was previously possible. But I took one look at my grandpa-build of a gaming PC and hesitated for a moment

My RTX 3080 served me well throughout the years, getting a steady 60 fps at 4K, max settings in my favorite games, but that honeymoon era didn’t last very long. It began a steady decline down to 30 fps until I had to eventually turn down settings. I hated that – I live to experience the full breadth of art in video games. Those beautiful artists put so much into their work, and I just wanted to see it. But could my PC even handle it?

Well, as it turned out, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 does work with my aging build. I even have a 1000-watt PSU to accommodate the power shift from my RTX 3080.

However, I ran into some snags. My overall setup was less than optimal and the raw performance especially seemed… lackluster. Yet, despite that and my criticisms of DLSS 4, its multi frame generation technology left one heck of an impression. One that may have finally sold me on the tech.

Installing the RTX 5080 – 4 Hours Later

I say grandpa-build, but it’s not actually that old. My PC has an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X processor and 32GB of RAM, both of which are slotted into a Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master motherboard (trust me, that’s important). I’d argue that the graphics card may be one of the easier parts to swap out of a custom PC build, but the gods smote me for my hubris.

I falsely assumed that the same power cables that powered my RTX 3080 would work on the RTX 5080, so I plugged the two PCIe 8-pin cables into the RTX 5080’s two out of three adapters. I assumed this was not going to work, but I didn’t want to do more work than this. When I turned my PC on, the RTX 5080’s LEDs did not show signs of life. Ugh.

At this point, I had already popped open my PC and its guts were laid strewn about. So naturally, I looked up where to get PCIe 12-pin cables, and to my genuine surprise, I saw DoorDash. Yep, I DoorDashed a set of Corsair PCIe Gen 5 Type 4 600-watt power cables from a Best Buy in a different state for a total of $44. Man gets hungry for power, what can I say?

It took about an hour to arrive, and then I raced upstairs to plug everything in and voilà! The GPU sprang to life… kind of. It flickered hesitantly and, of course, my PC didn’t activate the monitors. Instead, there was a lovely red light on my motherboard where the VGA symbol is. It took me another hour before I figured out what was wrong. You see, the X570 Aorus Master’s chipset fan is a chunky monkey, and the RTX 5080 also happens to be quite chunky itself. The card wasn’t fully plugged into the PCIe x16 slot because the X570’s dump truck of a fan was in the way. And no matter how hard I tried to shove it in, it would not budge. Sigh.

And so, after all of this, I was forced to plug the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080, one of the best Nvidia GPUs currently available, into a measly PCIe x8 slot. Okay, so between the old CPU and the downgraded PCIe x8 slot, what did that do to performance?

RTX 5080 Running on My Grandpa-Build

After running a total of 30 benchmarks through five different games, the RTX 5080 managed overall middling raw performance on my PC. However, with DLSS 4 enabled, I saw those ridiculous numbers that Nvidia wanted me to see. As I’ve said, I want to experience the vision that artists set to create in their games, but DLSS 4 complicates that. It is unfortunately the only path forward for PCs like mine.

For those that are unaware, DLSS 4 is a super sampling technology that can increase performance and sharpen image quality. What’s unique to the RTX 50-series cards, however, is Multi Frame Generation, which uses AI to generate up to three frames per true frame. It works only in supported games, however. And some games that support frame generation might not support Multi Frame Generation, though you can override that in the Nvidia app.

With the RTX 5080 as my sword, I chose Monster Hunter Wilds as my first boss. This poorly optimized nightmare made me realize my RTX 3080 wasn’t quite up to snuff anymore. And so vengeance was nigh. However, at 4K, with the Ultra preset and RT High settings, my PC could not break 60 fps. Instead it stopped at 51 fps… with DLSS disabled. When I flipped the switch to DLAA (native resolution) and enabled regular frame generation (2x), it jumped to 74 fps. Getting max settings at above 60 fps is all I wanted with Monster Hunter Wilds, so I’d call this a boss slain. But if you wanted more, flipping to Ultra Performance netted me 124 fps. (At the time of writing, Multi-frame Generation (4x) doesn’t work natively in the Nvidia app, although there is a workaround people have found.)

When I previously traversed the Living Lands in Avowed, I could not get close to 60 fps without turning down half the settings. But now… well, it still hurts. At Ultra, 4K, RT on with DLSS disabled, my PC sputtered out a measly 35 fps. The gods of Eora laughed at me and my $1K+ GPU. Then I revved up my anime sword (enabled DLAA and MFG) and cut down a camp of Xaurips at 113 fps. That is a 223% increase in frame rate. My jaw dropped when I saw that number. And the DLSS Ultra Performance number is literally double those frames.

If you thought Avowed was chunky, guess again. I have never struggled more with performance than in Oblivion: Remastered. Yes, the remaster of the near twenty-year old game gave even my RTX 5080 a stomach ache. At Ultra, 4K, RT Ultra with DLSS disabled, I couldn’t climb down the mountains near Bryma without first climbing down to 20 fps. It occasionally flickered up to 40 fps and averaged about 30 fps total. It ran like how it did when Oblivion originally launched. But following the pattern of jumping to DLAA with MFG, my PC achieved 95 fps. And with Ultra Performance, I got 172 fps. Those Daedra are so toast.

One game I never had trouble with was Marvel Rivals (thanks, NetEase). However, in a competitive title like this, a single frame can throw you off your game, and as a Magik main, I am hyper-focused on hitting my dash right on time. I measured both fps and latency (in milliseconds), and at Ultra, 4K with DLSS disabled, the RTX 5080 performed that Umbral Incursion at 65 fps with a 45ms latency. I set DLSS to Native with MFG and got 182 fps and 50ms. Those are my ideal visuals, but the latency was actually the worst among the seven tests. The lowest latency was on Performance with standard frame generation (2x), netting me 189 fps with a 28ms latency, which matched the latency performance without frame generation. I can’t say that DLSS 4 put my Eldritch Armor Magik up on that MVP slot, but I’m not not saying it.

I saved Black Myth Wukong for last because I ran only the benchmark tool, which limited me to standard frame generation, but the numbers were still solid. At Cinematic, 4K, DLSS 40% with RT Very High, the RTX 5080 scraped by with 42 fps. However, flipping on frame generation scored me 69 fps. That’s a nice effort, and more than enough frames to enjoy the game (which I will play eventually, as a lover of simulated suffering). Multi-frame Generation would roughly double the added frames. So on my hardware, if I gained 27 fps on a x2 jump, then x4 could theoretically give me a total of 123 fps.

Needless to say, I was quite distraught when I tried to run my favorite games on raw GPU performance alone. The result is a mixture of my old PC components and the fact that the RTX 50-series didn’t see a huge leap in raw performance this generation. Despite that, DLSS 4 quite literally changed the game for me.

You Don’t Need a New PC for a New GPU

Again, there are some caveats with relying on DLSS 4 and Multi-Frame Generation. The software is literally creating art that never existed before, and the technology definitely isn’t perfect. Whether I was running around Cyrodiil or the Living Lands, I noticed some fuzziness in environmental textures and even some artifacts while scrolling through inventory screens. That’s because DLSS 4 isn’t magic. You’re sacrificing raw fidelity for increased frame rates and an optimized visual experience that can enhance or imitate the real thing. It’s great for the occasionally poor quality port, but I continue to hope that developers don’t rely on this kind of technology to optimize games.

However, if you take anything away from my journey, it should be that new GPUs can get a heck of a lot of work done even in an inefficient situation. I’ll admit, I was tempted to rip off my motherboard fan just so I could get the RTX 5080 into the PCIe x16 slot, but it seemed unnecessary after discovering what DLSS 4 could do in these conditions.

So no, you don’t need to upgrade everything to take advantage of a new graphics card. You might need a new power supply (RTX 5080 requires 850W) and power cables (like I did), but that’s it. GPUs are expensive enough, let alone hard to find, so don’t go spamming PC parts in your Newegg cart. You’re probably fine.

Now, I’m not sure how long my setup will last before I need to fully upgrade my gaming PC, but I think DLSS 4 and Multi-Frame Generation bought me at least seven minutes to say hello to Wesker.

Rami Tabari is a contributing writer at IGN with over 9 years of experience in the tech and gaming industry. You can find his bylines at Laptop Mag and Tom's Guide (and on a random Predator review at Space.com). When Rami isn't wading through a sea of the latest gaming tech, he's agonizing over the worldbuilding in his upcoming novella.

Summer 2025 is shaping up to be a very exciting time for DC fans. Mere weeks after Superman lands in theaters and heralds the live-action debut of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU, we’re getting another season of Peacemaker. John Cena is back in action as the gun-toting, peace-loving Christopher Smith, and he’s bringing much of the Season 1 cast along for the ride.

The first Peacemaker Season 2 trailer gives us a better idea of the plot this time around, as well as how exactly Season 2 connects back to the first season and Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. From the new reveals regarding the DCU timeline and Rick Flagg's role as “villain” to a frustrating lack of Vigilante, let’s break down the key takeaways from the Peacemaker trailer.

Freddie Stroma’s Vigilante in Peacemaker Season 2

It would do a disservice to Cena’s Christopher Smith to call him the least interesting character in Peacemaker. He’s definitely a compelling figure in his own right. He’s a walking contradiction who preaches peace yet wages a bloody war. He’s also a classic Gunn-style goofball with a deeply buried heart of gold.

But as much as Peacemaker is ostensibly focused on its title character, this series truly is an ensemble project. The supporting cast is critical to the success of this formula, every bit as much as The CW’s The Flash series lived and died on the strength of its Team Flash dynamic. And out of every supporting character in this series, none stands out and steals the show quite as reliably as Freddie Stroma’s Vigilante.

Vigilante was the breakout character of Season 1. He was a hilarious foil to Cena’s Peacemaker - a clingy BFF who might make a great superhero if he weren’t also such a sad sack of a human being. The series doesn’t necessarily offer a very faithful adaptation of the character from the comics, but when he’s this entertaining, who cares?

That’s why it’s a bit disappointing not to see more of Stroma’s character in the trailer. Obviously, Cena was always going to hog the spotlight. We also get a lot of focus on Jennifer Holland’s Emilia Harcourt, who’s clearly dealing with some major rage issues. But Stroma’s Adrian Chase is relegated more to the background. We learn that he’s working at a fast food restaurant and struggling with the realization that saving the world doesn’t guarantee fame and public adoration. But we would have loved to see more of the character, and hopefully the trailer isn’t reflective of his role in the season as a whole.

Meeting the DCU Justice League

The trailer opens on a surprising note, as we see Peacemaker show up to an open interview with the Justice League. Sean Gunn’s Maxwell Lord, Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner, and Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl are all present, and it’s clear they’ve written Peacemaker off before he even has a chance to plead his case.

In the process, we get a much better look at the Justice League group dynamic than the Superman trailer provides. This is clearly a very different Justice League from the one that briefly appeared in Season 1 (and we’ll get to the continuity shenanigans afoot a bit later). They’re a much more sardonic and irreverent bunch, which suits the Peacemaker setting a lot better than the stuffy DCEU Justice League ever could.

More than ever, it’s clear that Gunn is drawing heavily from DC’s beloved Justice League International comics for his version of the team. As in JLI, Lord is the team’s leader and financier. Also like those comics, the emphasis isn’t on bringing DC’s biggest and brightest heroes together in one room, but rather focusing on a more eclectic bunch of oddballs and misfits. These are heroes who actually need the legitimacy that serving in the Justice League provides.

Most likely, James Gunn filmed this scene while shooting Superman, making it easier to wrangle Sean Gunn, Fillion, and Merced together. We wouldn’t expect the team to play a major, recurring role in Peacemaker Season 2 beyond Chris’ failed tryout. But it is nice to get a closer look at the team and a sense of their dynamic.

Above all, it’s great to see how much humor and personality Merced is bringing to the Hawkgirl role. After suffering through the Arrowverse’s misguided take on the character (“I’m just a barista!!!”), it’s clear the DCU is going to deliver a far more enjoyable version of Hawkgirl. The new Justice League is shaping up nicely.

The Return of Frank Grillo’s Rick Flagg, Sr.

As of right now, Frank Grillo really is the glue holding the DCU together. His Rick Flagg, Sr. was a major player in the Creature Commandos animated series. We know that Grillo is making his live-action debut in the role in Superman. And now Flagg is being set up to play a major role in Peacemaker Season 2.

Flagg seems to be positioned as the main villain of Season 2, though maybe “villain” is a bit harsh, considering the character’s motivations. He’s a father mourning the murder of his son. He’s also now the duly appointed head of ARGUS, meaning he has both the legal jurisdiction and the moral high ground in his feud with Peacemaker.

This all sets the stage for what should be a fascinating dynamic in Season 2. As much as Chris wants to believe he’s a changed man and a legitimate hero, there’s no getting around what he did in 2021’s The Suicide Squad. He’s a man with some serious blood on his hands. Saving the world doesn’t absolve him of those sins. How much will viewers wind up rooting for Flagg to earn his revenge and take down Team Peacemaker? This should be a fun ride.

Making Sense of the DCU Timeline

On the Flagg front, isn’t it interesting how directly this season builds on The Suicide Squad? As much as the DCU is about wiping the slate clean and starting over with a fresh continuity, some elements of the previous DCEU remain in place. At this point, it seems like The Suicide Squad now stands as the unofficial first DCU movie. Too much of that film is being referenced in the DCU to simply write it off as a relic of a dead cinematic universe.

There’s a clear timeline for the DCU beginning to form now. The Suicide Squad kicked things off in 2021, followed by Peacemaker Season 1 in 2022. Then came Creature Commandos in 2024, the first official DCU project. Next up is Superman in July 2025, followed by Peacemaker Season 2 in August 2025. Then the DCU really starts to explode in all directions, with the arrival of shows like Lanterns and movies like Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.

Gunn obviously doesn’t want to throw out any of the hard work he put into The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker Season 1, just because Warner Bros. is now drawing a hard line between what came before and what lies ahead. Who can blame him? And as Gunn told IGN in a recent interview, canon only matters so much. In the end, as much as these characters and stories matter, none of this is real.

“Hopefully there's authenticity and truth to those stories because we care about those stories, the characters, the actors, the performers, the animators,” said Gunn. “They all care about these stories, but it's not real.”

That being said, Gunn is well aware that he wrote himself into a corner by having the DCEU Justice League show up in Peacemaker Season 1. Somehow, Season 2 is going to deal with that loose thread.

“The truth is almost all of Peacemaker is canon with the exception of Justice League … which we will kind of deal with in the next season of Peacemaker,” he teased.

It’ll be interesting to see exactly how Season 2 works to resolve the Justice League of it all. It may have something to do with the scene late in the trailer where we see Chris venture into his father’s dimension and encounter another version of himself. The multiverse is now in play, so anything is possible, and everything can be explained away.

In any case, apart from that Justice League cameo, there’s very little preventing Gunn from simply breaking The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker Season 1 off of the old DCEU and officially making them part of the DCU. The Suicide Squad is already such a standalone project, with only a few characters/actors tying it back to the larger DCEU. And that allows Gunn the opportunity to keep Margot Robbie in the Harley Quinn role, just as we’ve seen Cena’s Peacemaker and Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller carry over into the new canon. There’s no sense in throwing the baby out with the bathwater by recasting Harley when Robbie’s version has been pretty widely embraced. Joker, though? He’s a different story.

Ultimately, we suspect the question of exactly what’s canon and what isn’t in the DCU will be a lot clearer by the time Peacemaker Season 2 wraps up. We’re looking forward to the series making its long-awaited return. Just don’t skimp on Vigilante, please.

For more on the future of the DCU, see what to expect from DC in 2025 and brush up on every DC movie and series in development.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.

XCOM is one of the most beloved strategy game series of all time, with many entries since the first game's release in 1994. Right now, you can take home every single mainline XCOM game on Steam for just $10. This includes the mainline games from the 1990s and the rebooted series from 2012 onwards. With over 15,000 bundles already sold, don't miss your chance to secure to entire XCOM collection for only $10 (if purchased separately at MSRP, the total would be $269).

XCOM Complete Bundle for May 2025

IGN's in-person fan event that showcases the biggest names in games and entertainment, IGN Live, is returning to Los Angeles this June! The all ages event will take place June 7th and 8th at MAGIC BOX @ THE REEF and tickets are available here.

IGN Live will celebrate everything fans love in games, movies, TV, comics, collectibles, and so much more. Along with live celebrity interviews, playable gaming PC's, consoles, and handhelds, there will be tons of giveaways and merch! For those who cannot attend, IGN will be livestreaming our daily live stage shows on June 7th and 8th, across all of our platforms.

Latest IGN Live Reveals

See below for updates on who you can expect to see at IGN Live 2025!

Xbox Returns to IGN Live

Xbox will return to IGN Live this year and attendees can screen the Xbox Showcase and the Outerworlds 2 Direct at the official watch party at the event!

Rick and Morty Will Be At IGN Live

Adult Swim's Rick and Morty is coming to IGN Live! Voice actors Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden will be on-hand for an exclusive interview about Season 8.

Alien: Rogue Incursion Developers Coming to IGN Live

Alien: Rogue Incursion is coming to IGN Live this year! The developers will be on hand with a new look at the "Evolved Edition of the Game."

A Screening of The Old Guard Will Be At IGN Live

Come hang out with us at IGN Live for a screening of Netflix's The Old Guard, along with a special message from Charlize Theron!

Check Out IDW at IGN Live

IDW will be at IGN Live with an in-depth conversation with creators of some of the year's biggest comics and graphic novels including multiple Star Trek franchises, and the smash-hit Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees.

Check back often for updates!

There’s a lot of noise in the daily deals world, but today’s list is actually useful. It's not trying to wow anyone with overhyped discounts or mystery coupons. These are just practical price drops on solid gear, books, and collectibles that people are already buying. If you’ve been holding off on grabbing a Switch 2 case or a LEGO set for your desk, now might be the time to stop putting it off.

TL;DR: Deals For Today

I think the most compelling item here is the illustrated edition of The Hobbit, which adds a layer of detail you don’t usually get in reprints. But there's plenty here to make your tech cleaner, your game safer, or your bookshelf a little more impressive. Here's what's worth looking at today.

Pokémon TCG: Prismatic Evolutions Surprise Box

Travel Carrying Case for Nintendo Switch 2

Cleaner Kit for AirPods and IPhones

The Essential Star Wars Insider Collection

LEGO Ideas Disney Pixar Luxo Jr. Preorder

Fallout Lucys Vault 33 Backpack

The Hobbit Illustrated by the Author: Illustrated by J.R.R. Tolkien

Pokémon Funko Pop Holiday Calendar

J400 Jump Starter with ConnectMax Tech

Elebase USB to USB C Adapter 4 Pack

9 Circles of Bullet Hell Bundle

20W INIU Portable Charger

Fallout Pip-Boy Die-Cast Replica

Buy 2, save 50% on 1 Book Sale

LotR Illustrated (Tolkien Illustrated)

ASUS TUF Gaming 27” 4K HDR Monitor

SAMSUNG 32" Odyssey QHD G65B Curved Gaming Monitor

Lexar 4TB Play M.2 with Heatsink

Samsung 9100 Pro 2TB M.2

Vibe Coding Super Bundle

Dreamegg Portable White Noise Machine

Skyrim Vinyl Box Set

Suri Electric Toothbrush

Stanley Quencher H2.0 Tumbler

COSLUS Water Dental Flosser

Acefast AceFit Air Open Ear Headphones

GameSir Super Nova Gaming Controller

Nerf Pro Gelfire Versus Pack

Unlock Pro 3D Modeling Skills With Blender

Samsung PRO Plus + Reader microSDXC 512GB

Fallout Nuka Cola Quantum by Jones Soda

LISEN USB C to USB C Cable 240W

Pokémon Flareon Sleeping Plush

Ghost of Yotei Collector’s Edition PS5

Clair Obsur: Expedition 33 Merch

Doom & Wolfenstein Mayhem Game Bundle

IGN Plus members can score a free Steam key for the Dune: Awakening Beta this weekend! If you've enjoyed both of Denis Villeneuve's Dune films, you'll love this massive open-world take on Arrakis. The MMO is set to launch next month, but you can try out a huge portion of the game this weekend for free. Keys for this reward are limited, so don't wait to claim yours!

Claim a Free Dune: Awakening Beta Key!

CayPlay Studios, a developer cofounded by YouTuber Caylus, has announced its first project: Waterpark Simulator, a first-person game where you build and run your own waterpark. You'll design the slides, manage your employees, and ultimately customize and grow your park. Check out the announcement trailer above and the first screenshots in the gallery below.

CayPlay describes Waterpark Simulator like this: "Guests can slip, fall, rage, laugh, or go flying off one of your poorly designed slides. You can spray them with oversized water guns, pelt them with water balloons, or launch them through the air. Your park rating rises (or falls) based on how well you serve your guests, how clean and fun the park feels, and how satisfied people are with their experience. Earn money, expand your space, and unlock upgrades through a full skill tree system that lets you shape your management style."

A playable demo will be released on Steam on June 6. Wishlist Waterpark Simulator on Steam if you're interested.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

You'd think it would be enough for filmmaker James Wan to have two hugely successful horror franchises under his belt with Saw and Insidious (both co-created with writing partner Leigh Whannell). But then he also went and created The Conjuring, which, since its debut in 2013, has produced nine films in total, grossing over $2 billion at the box office.

Starting as a 1970s ghost series, based on the real life investigations of married paranormal snoops Lorraine and Ed Warren, The Conjuring Universe has sprawled into a franchise that not only keeps track of the Warrens' demon-busting adventures, but also delves further into the haunted backstories of these cases with prequel installments set decades before the Warrens show up. As we gear up for the fourth and final Conjuring movie, you might want to revisit the full timeline of The Conjuring-verse.

So are you looking to watch these Conjuring films as they were released - or do you want to absorb all the spookiness via chronological binge, kicking things off in 1950s Romania with The Nun? Whatever the case, you'll find both lists below.

Jump to:

• How to watch in chronological order
• How to watch by release order

How Many The Conjuring Movies Are There?

There are 9 total movies set within The Conjuring universe — three Conjuring movies, three Annabelle movies, The Nun and The Nun 2, and The Curse of La Llorona. A fourth Conjuring movie has been confirmed, while a TV series is in development for Max.

The Conjuring Movies in Chronological Order

1. The Nun (2018)

Prequel frightfest The Nun takes place in 1952 Romania, and stars Demián Bichir and Taissa Farmiga (sister of franchise star Vera Farmiga) as a Roman Catholic priest and a nun uncovering an unholy secret involving Bonnie Aaron's evil Nun from The Conjuring 2.

Read our review of The Nun.

2. Annabelle: Creation (2017)

Taking place after The Nun, in 1955 California, Annabelle Creation was the fourth installment in the Conjuring Universe, but the second chronologically, depicting the origin of franchise breakout star -- Annabelle, the creep haunted dolll. It's the story of a story of a doll-maker who opens his home to six orphans and a nun, only to have an ancient evil released in his own house.

Read our review of Annabelle: Creation.

3. The Nun 2 (2023)

Although The Nun 2 takes place after the events of The Nun, it's actually the third movie in the timeline. The events of The Nun 2 take place in 1956, taking place four years after Sister Irene's first encounter with Valak and one year after the events of Annabelle: Creation.

Read our review of The Nun 2.

4. Annabelle (2014)

The second film made in the Conjuring Universe, even before The Conjuring 2, was prequel Annabelle, taking place in 1967 in Southern California, 12 years after the official origin of the doll. Annabelle tells the story of a young doctor and his wife who bring the doll into their home (to reside amongst other scary-looking dolls) only to have it make their life a living hell.

Read our review of Annabelle.

5. The Conjuring (2013)

The movie that started it all, The Conjuring, starred Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as real-life paranormal investigators/ghost hunters Lorraine and Ed Warren (whose exploits reportedly inspired The Amityville Horror), as they aid the besieged Perron family in 1971, on Rhode Island. Series creator James Wan directed this first outing, marking the third official blockbuster horror franchise he'd created.

Read our review of The Conjuring.

6. Annabelle Comes Home (2019)

Next up is Annabelle Comes Home. Taking place only one year later in the story, in 1972, the Warrens' young daughter, Judy (McKenna Grace), must contend with Annabelle and other demons who escape the Warrens’ artifact room while the couple is away. Conjuring Universe (and It: Chapter One and Two) writer Gary Dauberman makes his directorial debut here.

Read our review of Annabelle Comes Home.

7. The Curse of La Llorona (2019)

Based on the Latin American folklore of La Llorona, this Conjuring Universe spinoff follows a mother in 1973 Los Angeles who must save her children from a malevolent spirit trying to steal them. Starring Linda Cardellini and Raymond Cruz, The Curse of La Llorona is the most detached and removed tale from the franchise's ongoing story, only featuring Tony Amendola's Father Perez from Annabelle as a connecting character.

Read our review of The Curse of La Llorona.

8. The Conjuring 2 (2016)

Based on the events of the Enfield Poltergeist in England, The Conjuring 2 brings back Lorraine and Ed Warren, now notrious from the Amityville case, as they help a family being haunted by a malevolent spirit in 1977. Whereas the first Conjuring movie brought about the Annabelle films, this one originally introduced The Nun, who would go on to receive her own prequel. James Wan also returned to direct.

Read our review of The Conjuring 2.

9. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)

The actual eighth film made in the franchise is also the eighth film you should watch if you're doing a chronological binge. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It brings us into the '80s with a ghoulish tale based on the real life trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, who claimed "demonic possession" after murdering his landlord. Lorraine and Ed Warren are drawn into the case after they'd apparently exorcised a demon out of a young boy's body... accidentally causing it to flee into Arne.

Read our review of The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.

How to Watch The Conjuring Movies by Release Date

If you're looking to watch all the movies in theatrical release order, the correct list is below:

• The Conjuring (2013)
• Annabelle (2014)
• The Conjuring 2 (2016)
• Annabelle: Creation (2017)
• The Nun (2018)
• The Curse of La Llorona (2019)
• Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
• The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
• The Nun 2 (2023)

How to Watch The Annabelle Movies in Order

Within The Conjuring Universe exists two separate film trilogies: The Conjuring and Annabelle. The narrative chronology of the Annabelle movies differs from their theatrical release order, so we've created this quick viewing guide to help you out.

Chronologically

• Annabelle: Creation (1955)
• Annabelle (1967)
• Annabelle: Comes Home (1972)

By Release Date

• Annabelle (2014)
• Annabelle: Creation (2017)
• Annabelle: Comes Home (2019)

Future of The Conjuring Movies

For those wondering what's next for The Conjuring films, have no fear, The Conjuring: Last Rites officially has a release date: September 5, 2025. This announcement also seems to confirm previous reports that The Conjuring 4 will be the last mainline Conjuring movie. Franchise veteran Michael Chaves returns as director for the finale.

In 2023, a TV series set in The Conjuring universe was also greenlit for the streaming service Max, though little has been revealed about who will be involved or how the series will fit into the franchise's timeline.

Matt Fowler is a freelance entertainment writer/critic, covering TV news, reviews, interviews and features on IGN for 13+ years.

If you didn't know, the first appearance of our beloved Caped Crusader was in Detective Comics #27, originally published in May of 1939. Since then, Batman has become one of the most iconic and recognizable superheroes in history, spawning countless movies, TV shows, video games, LEGO Sets, and pretty much everything else. You'd be hard-pressed to go out and find someone who isn't at least a little familiar with Batman.

If you have a device that can access Kindle books, you can grab Detective Comics #27 for free via Amazon. This is the perfect way to dive into Batman's history and see how he's changed (or stayed the same) over the years. We highly recommend this route, since physical graded copies even in bad condition can go for over $1.5 million.

Detective Comics #27 is Free on Kindle and ComiXology

Another week, another hectic shift in the Pokémon single card market whilst trainers are waiting for Destined Rivals to drop. At least the Black Bolt and White Flare Pokémon Center preorders avoided a hostile bot takeover this time around.

The most dramatic crash this week is Greninja ex 214/167, crashing by nearly half when compared the the start of this year. We're also seeing some nice price drops across Obsidian Flames and the elusive 151 expansions. Meanwhile, Dragonite V from Evolving Skies is doing the opposite, nearly doubling in value compared to the start of this year, and the artwork alone always made this card undervalued.

Charizard V Alt Art is also a banger, depicting a Pokémon battle against Venusaur whilst slowly climbing up in value. But Rayquazza VMAX Alt Art is quite literally soaring high, scoring an extra $100 in value since the start of this year. Let's dig into all the rest of the biggest Pokémon TCG climbers and crashers of the week.

Pokémon Card Crashes

Mafia: The Old Country is set to release for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on August 8. Unlike Mafia III, this isn’t a open-world game. Set in Sicily in the early 20th century, Mafia: The Old Country is a third-person stealth shooter that tells a linear story. You play as Enzo Favara, a young man looking to work his way up through the ranks of Don Torrisi’s criminal empire. The game is available for preorder now in a couple of editions (see it at Amazon). Read on to see what comes in each one, how much it costs, and more.

Mafia: The Old Country - Standard Edition

Mafia: The Old Country - Deluxe Edition

Console

• Get it for PS5 - $59.99
• Get it for Xbox - $59.99

PC

• Get it at GMG (Steam) - $50.99 with code MAY15
• Get it at Steam - $59.99

The digital-only deluxe edition comes with the game itself, plus the following digital extras:

• Soldato Pack - “Distinctive cosmetics and a helpful Charm”
• Padrino Pack - "Lupara Speciale" Shotgun, "Vendetti Speciale" Pistol, "Immortale" Charm, "Padrino" Outfit, "Stiletto Speciale" Knife, "Eckhart Speciale" Limousine, "Cosimo" Horse and Accessories
• Gatto Nero Pack - "Bodeo Nero" Pistol, "Velocità" Charm, "Gatto Nero" Outfit, "Carozella Nero" Race Car
• Soundtrack and Digital Artbook

Mafia: The Old Country Preorder Bonus

Anyone who preorders Mafia: The Old Country gets the following digital extras for no additional cost:

• Soldato Pack - “Distinctive cosmetics and a helpful Charm”

What is Mafia: The Old Country?

Mafia: The Old Country takes place in 1900s Sicily, when organized crime was just a burgeoning enterprise. You play as Enzo Favara, fresh out of a childhood filled with forced labor, as he works his way up the criminal underworld. You hitch your future to the Torrisi crime family, who you’ll help defend their territory against rival mafiosos looking to expand their turf.

Unlike Mafia III, which was an open-world game, this new entry is a straightforward action-adventure game. Judging by the trailer, it has a strong stealth component, along with plenty of period-appropriate guns and other weaponry.

Other Preorder Guides

Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN's board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Bluesky.

For all you space fans out there, or fans of space-themed LEGOs, here's an excellent set worthy of your collection. Amazon is offering the LEGO Technic Planet Earth and Moon in Orbit 42179 for only $59.95, a savings of 20%. With this deal, you're paying about 11 cents per brick. This is the lowest price we've seen for this set and matches the best deal during Black Friday. Its interactive design makes it a wonderful kit for both adults and kids.

LEGO Technic Planet Earth and Moon in Oribt 42179