I don’t wish any specific ill on Max Verstappen’s racing career. The man likes playing video games until ungodly hours in the morning, doing everything he can to avoid Tik Tok, and Daniel Ricciardo. I, too, like all of those things – and I really can’t hate on a bloke with that much in common. I am, however, loving the fact that he’s currently not leading the F1 World Championship – for the first time since 2022. F1 in 2025 is subsequently feeling… a little fresher at the moment.

Has this year’s video game version arrived with the same freshness? For the most part, yes. F1 25 has brought with it the largest shake-up of the core ‘My Team’ career mode since it was introduced in F1 2020, and it’s a deeper and more satisfying way to play as a result. On circuit, it’s developer Codemasters’ most fabulous-looking effort to date, with a step up in lighting that has a noticeable impact on the quality of highlights and shadows. The AI is also extra impressive this year; consistently professional, racier than ever, and very convincing. Combine all this with a returning story mode that’s as bored with Verstappen winning every year as I am, and F1 25 handily slingshots itself around the outside of last year’s slightly inessential F1 24.

The new set-up for My Team discards the idea of you establishing an 11th F1 team as an old school owner/driver, and instead positions you as a conventional team principal managing a pair of drivers. At each grand prix you’ll choose which of your drivers to race as and, for the remainder of the time, you’ll need to supervise the entire operation that puts each of them into a $16 million race car, 24 weekends a year. That means managing budgets, building and upgrading new facilities that earn you various buffs (from R&D discounts to contract negotiation advantages, and many more), and assigning perks to your team principal that unlock a similar range of bonuses.

Now, I’d be lying if I said I’d ever taken issue with having an owner/driver at the helm of an F1 team in the modern era, which is the premise this mode had previously relied on since F1 2020. Yes, it wasn’t entirely believable in contemporary F1 – which is a whole different beast compared to the days of F1’s last team owner/driver: Jack Brabham back in the 1960s. Yes, it was a slightly silly fantasy. But, no, I’m not going to pretend the very concept of it ever grated on me.

After five years of the same shtick, however, it was definitely stale – so F1 25’s My Team does arrive as a welcome (and arguably overdue) revamp. The facility backgrounds are fresh, and the menus are new. There are some overarching similarities to the previous My Team mode (because the sport itself hasn’t profoundly changed in the last 12 months), but even at a glance there’ll be no confusing F1 25’s My Team mode with previous years.

Pitt Stop

Pleasingly, the management aspect is considerably deeper, with more moving parts to researching and developing new upgrades. Coaxing more speed and durability out of your race cars isn’t simply a matter of pressing on an upgrade and waiting for it to unlock and find itself fitted and ready to hit the track; now research that results in successful upgrades is only the first step. You still need to fabricate the parts themselves. Deeper into my second season in My Team, parts began to display weeks or months worth of days to finish production, but they would still come up as completed in what felt like a typical amount of time (that is, a few days to a week). It was a little annoying not knowing exactly when stuff would actually be ready, but this feels like an easily repairable bug.

At any rate, with dual production lines comes a whole new minefield to navigate. Initially you’ll only be able to build one part at a time, so you’ll need to manually select which of your drivers receives them before the other. That’s an interesting layer of politics to juggle, although I haven’t had any instances of favouritism to a single driver come back to bite me at this point (but perhaps the occasional wait for a single upgrade isn’t enough to have your other driver feel jilted).

The ability to choose which of your two drivers to race as at each GP also creates some pretty interesting tactical scenarios. Do you just focus on one driver and do your best to secure the drivers’ championship with them, or do you share your time across both and let the chips fall where they may? Unfortunately the driver market is disappointingly sparse. Where are the contracted reserve drivers? The F1 Academy drivers? From the outside looking in, it’s honestly odd that these personalities aren’t part of what the game gleans from being officially aligned with F1. Odder still when drivers like Perez, Ricciardo, Bottas, and Zhou are actually in F1 25, but marooned exclusively in the first half of the story mode (which begins in 2024).

Still, this expansion of My Team is well-timed, with Frontier’s short-lived F1 Manager series already seemingly over. It isn’t a like-for-like replacement, though, as opting to simulate a race weekend is essentially still brushed over in a black loading screen calculation. You can’t sit and watch a race unfold as team principal, issuing orders to your drivers or anything like that. This is a bit of a shame, as that would’ve been quite novel.

But perhaps it’s novel enough that you can enter the new My Team mode as the upcoming F1 movie’s fantasy team featuring Damson Idris, Javier Bardem, and Brad Pitt; or, at least you can in F1 25’s fancy ‘Iconic Edition.’ I will say, playing through an earnest motorsports management simulation as 1995’s People Magazine Sexiest Man Alive was not on my 2025 bingo card, but I did it, and I have no regrets.

The Butler Did It

On top of the reworked My Team mode, F1 25 also arrives with the series’ next shot at a singleplayer story mode, which turns the Braking Point saga into a trilogy. Picking up where the story left off in F1 23, Braking Point 3 continues the chronicles of the fictional F1 team Konnersport.

If you’ve played Braking Point in F1 23 and F1 2021, it probably won’t hold many surprises in terms of how the on-track action plays out. As before, you’ll be airdropped into race situations with specific goals to achieve – like holding up traffic for your teammate, or recovering positions after a puncture. Even without the story stitching them together, they’re a fun series of scenarios to tackle – though some of them have aged like milk over the course of F1 25’s two-year development cycle. Yeah, it was probably a little optimistic to have Liam Lawson absolutely dominating the field in a Red Bull Racing 1-2 in Vegas this season, but who knew? Well, other than Gasly. And Albon. And Perez.

It’s harmless, although it did temporarily distract me from how much better Vegas looks in F1 25. There are a lot of subtle details that elevate trackside authenticity this year, from real casinos replacing the generic signage the Vegas circuit track previously debuted with, to the more accurate blossom trees at Suzuka. It’s just a massive shame we don’t have any non-2025 championship tracks to substitute in and out as seasons progress, and I don’t know if the juice was worth the squeeze the reverse layouts of Silverstone, Zandvoort, and Red Bull Ring. There’s more to them than just having the cars all do a U-turn and race backwards – everything from the grid boxes to the marshalls have been modified to make it appear each of these circuits are legitimately being run in reverse – but they left me largely indifferent.

At any rate, it’s a serviceable story – and it’s one that’s honestly improved since its shift to focus on the flawed and fractured Butler family over initial lead character Aiden Jackson (who’s never really been fleshed out). To its credit, it’s also a mode you could argue was slightly ahead of the curve. That is, Braking Point itself may have followed in the wake of other sports game story modes like The Journey from FIFA 17 to 19, or Fight Night Champion’s titular Champion Mode, but it did handily beat this month’s F1 movie to the punch. Funnily enough, there’s also a scenario mode in F1 25 for the movie, with clips from the film. There’s only one mission so far but it’s a neat bonus.

Driver career mode is also back but, aside from a fresh injection of real driver radio recordings, it hasn’t changed. The entire intro to the mode being totally recycled from F1 24, dialogue and all, certainly doesn’t leave a great first impression. It’s just hard to get particularly motivated for what’s essentially a replay of F1 24 after playing the new My Team mode. Equally unmotivating is the returning service game component F1 World but, again, that’s on me. To be fair, the fact that it’s still a meaty single-player game for those who don’t value cosmetic trinkets or competing against strangers remains a core strength of F1 25. I feel like I’m just too old for Battle Passes and virtual clothing baloney.

On the subject of feel, handling feels broadly on par with F1 24, although the looser feel of old tyres is more pronounced – as is understeer when you’re dealing with the dirty air of cars ahead. It’s also a little harder to find the same amount of traction out of wet or slow speed corners that the AI can. I just found myself lighting up the rears a little more on F1 25, especially on controller, where the margin to find the perfect level of squeeze is so tiny on the travel distance of a trigger. The AI just seems to accelerate a lot more optimally in these situations. That’s probably my only major quibble with the AI, though, who make great moves to defend, leave appropriate room, and battle you (and each other) with tenacity without sacrificing self-preservation. Almost every tangle I’ve had with the F1 25’s AI over the past week has been my fault and, for a staunchly singleplayer slowcoach like me, that’s a huge plus.

Solo developer Joure Nisser, creator of last year's Don't Scream, has announced Deadcam, a new "analog survival horror" game that uses a '90's found-footage VHS camcorder aesthetic to scare you through a series of files (i.e. encounters).

Built in Unreal Engine 5, Deadcam features three weapons in the first file: a katana, a shotgun, and a pistol. Each file is built to be completed in about one hour. There is replayability baked in, though, as there are three different endings available, but, Nisser notes, "only one unlocks the full 100% playback percentage — the 'good' ending."

Nisser offers this gameplay description: "Deadcam's found footage recordings see players through different stories; each file features its own setting, narrative, and gameplay mechanics tailored to the tone of the story. Across each file, retro UI elements monitor haunted activity in the area, including the size and speed of nearby enemy mobs."

Deadcam launches into Steam Early Access on June 23 with its first file, a J-horror inspired story set in an abandoned school, and four more files will be added over the course of the Early Access period. Wishlist it 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.

Another day, another Hollow Knight: Silksong SteamDB update that's whipped information-starved Hollow Knight fans into a frenzy. Could this one finally be the one?

Overnight, Hollow Knight: Silksong was quietly updated on Steam, with SteamDB noting that one package received its first update in over a year (thanks, Eurogamer). It immediately sent the rumor mill into overdrive, with players speculating that something's afoot. Will we finally see more at Summer Game Fest? Could it be part of the Xbox Showcase? Or could we even get a Nintendo Switch 2 shadow drop…?!

Hollow Knight: Silksong received updates to its packages tonight on SteamDB (one apparently receiving an update for the first time in 15 months) https://t.co/DJz9ebnffghttps://t.co/THPp2luYgp pic.twitter.com/9RvHY290ez

— Wario64 (@Wario64) June 3, 2025

Of course, fans immediately began scouring the updates for clues. And while some have been hurt before by a flurry of nothingburger, this update is particularly exciting because several fans believe we have proof Hollow Knight: Silksong — or at least some version of it — has "been uploaded to the Steam servers."

"[Is this R]eal?" asked one fan hopefully. "Real," the OP replied.

Team Cherry has always done things on its own timescales, and is notoriously tight-lipped, leaving us speculating over the tiniest, and sometimes silliest, details. Now, however, it really feels like there's something coming… here's hoping we find out what it is sooner rather than later.

Team Cherry’s sequel is one of the most anticipated games in the world right now, topping the Steam wishlist charts for years. Silksong made a brief appearance at Nintendo’s Switch 2 Direct in April, and soon after Team Cherry nailed down the 2025 release window, much to the relief of its very patient fans. And now, given we know it will be playable for those who can be at Australia’s national museum of screen culture, ACMI, from September 18, some are speculating that we could be looking at a launch before then… although nothing's confirmed as yet, of course.

IGN recently exclusively shared a Silksong sprite sheet and… well, the internet internet-ed.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Game of Thrones writer George R. R. Martin has shared his thoughts on the newly-announced Elden Ring movie — and it sounds like he's pretty positive about the upcoming adaptation.

Martin, who worked on the backstory for FromSoftware's beloved game, shared his excitement that Elden Ring's film version will be helmed by Alex Garland, director of Ex Machina, Civil War, and Annihilation.

Writing on his blog, Martin described Garland as a "first rate director" and production company A24 as "kickass." Overall, Martin said his current mood upon hearing the project announced was "hopeful," as he shared a YouTube video titled "Why the Elden Ring Movie WON'T SUCK."

While Martin is clearly excited by the project, there has been no suggestion so far that he is actually involved. Indeed, the writer is already juggling a swathe of projects, including an upcoming animated Hercules movie announced only last month.

Word of Martin's involvement in A Dozen Tough Jobs, which will update the legendary Greek tale with an early 20th century setting, sparked another wave of criticism from Game of Thrones fans still waiting for Winds of Winter.

Last week, Martin reacted to the criticism by acknowledging "some of you will just be pissed off by this" and saying fans had "given up" on him ever finishing the next book — let alone the series' final novel, due after.

"I wish you all could share my excitement at the prospect of this movie," Martin said of the Hercules film.

Nick Frost has offered his first thoughts on playing Hagrid in HBO's upcoming Harry Potter TV series, and said he felt a need to not just copy what had come before.

The Hot Fuzz and live-action How to Train Your Dragon star said he had already begun pre-production duties for his turn as Hagrid, and decided how he wanted his version of the lovable Hogwarts groundskeeper to stand out, while still offering something fans will find familiar.

"While I'm really aware of what went before me in terms of Robbie [Coltrane]'s amazing performance, I'm never going to try and be Robbie," Frost told Collider.

"I'm going to try and do something, not 'different,'" he contiuned, "I think you have to be respectful to the subject matter, but within that, there's scope for minutia."

The late Robbie Coltrane portrayed Hagrid in all eight Harry Potter movies, and was reportedly an inspiration for the original character in the books.

Frost has now signed on to portray Hagrid over the next decade, as the Harry Potter TV series adapts each novel over the course of an individual TV season.

"I've had the opportunity to go and see some sets, and they're growing a Hagrid beard," Frost separately told ScreenRant. It's unclear whether this refers to an in-progress prosthetic beard being made for him to wear, or someone actually growing a beard that will be shorn off and stuck on Frost while filming.

Stellar Blade director and producer Kim Hyung Tae reportedly "fully supports" mods and is looking forward to trying them out.

According to several sources, Kim was reportedly asked about his stance on modding at a recent press conference in Yeouido, South Korea. “First of all, I fully support the phenomenon of players using mods. In fact, I myself also want to try out some of the more exciting mods," he replied.

"I look forward to seeing many players create their own mods and engaging in healthy competition with them to see whose mods are more attractive. I also hope that more players can get involved in mod creation."

Which is just as well, really, as the game isn't even out on PC yet, and already there are dozens of mods listed on Nexus for the PC demo, covering everything from new skins to reshaders and VR to nail polish. There are also several more hidden carefully from public display and categorized as "adult." Let's leave it at that, shall we?

IGN's Stellar Blade review returned a 7/10. We said: "Stellar Blade is great in all of the most important ways for an action game, but dull characters, a lackluster story, and several frustrating elements of its RPG mechanics prevent it from soaring along with the best of the genre."

The PC version of Stellar Blade launches via Steam on June 11 along with a raft of PC-specific features, including AI upscaling via Nvidia DLSS 4 and AMD FSR 3, an unlocked framerate, Japanese and Chinese voiceover, ultrawide display support, higher resolution environment textures, and DualSense support for haptic feedback and trigger effects. It was originally region locked in 100+ countries, but is now available to pre-order on PC in "over 250 regions." And no, there is no Stellar Blade multiplayer mod… but there are signs of multiplayer in the game files.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Nintendo has reportedly begun shipping Switch 2 branded 'Out of Stock' signs to retailers, before the console has even gone on sale.

Switch 2 is set to arrive in just two days — on Thursday, June 5 — and Nintendo is planning for demand to outstrip console availability.

As posted on reddit (thanks, VGC), official Switch 2 'Out of Stock' signs are now turning up at stores in the U.S., alongside the usual advertising for the console and launch game Mario Kart World. "Got these signs in from Nintendo," wrote a reddit user who works at a store with plans to host a midnight launch for the console. "They got jokes."

Nintendo has already issued warnings over Switch 2 availability, with stock particularly limited in Japan versus overwhelming customer demand. In the U.S., meanwhile, Nintendo has attempted to navigate ongoing uncertainty over tariffs on goods based in China by prioritising Switch 2 consoles instead made in Vietnam.

That said, nearly all successful consoles suffer stock issues upon launch, and Switch 2 customers have already had to scramble in order to lock down their pre-orders. In other words, Switch 2 selling out seems something of an inevitability.

Nintendo's 'Out of Stock' signs are of practical use, then, for store staff likely set to be fielding endless queries about whether they have any Switch 2 consoles still available.

"Every retail worker knows they'll have 10 people a week, maybe more, stand in front of that sign and yell at them about going to get the extra consoles from 'the back' like the stock room is Narnia for electronics," one user replied.

At the same time, telling customers that something is out of stock is a common tactic for conveying the fact that it is popular, and in demand. In other words, it's good advertising.

"This is type of advertising so consumers will want to get it," another fan wrote. "It shows there is high demand and psychologically you feel you need to get it."

Ahead of Switch 2's launch, Nintendo has updated the original Switch and the beloved Animal Crossing: New Horizons in preparation for its new hardware. Last night, we also got our first look at the souped-up Pokémon Scarlet and Violet running on Switch 2 as well.

If you are lucky enough to get a Switch 2 this week, Nintendo recently revealed some important information on not removing the console's plastic film covering its screen.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Private servers are coming to Dune: Awakening, albeit with "concessions" to ensure players retain the large-scale aspects of multiplayer worlds.

Developer Funcom confirmed the news in an update posted to the Steam store page, revealing "rentable private servers" will be available from the moment the game goes live for "head start" (read: early access) players on Thursday, June 5.

"We’ve previously communicated that private servers are for post-launch, but we’re happy to share that progress has been faster than expected," the team said. "We do, however, want to manage expectations about how private servers work in Dune: Awakening. As you know, this is not your typical survival game."

Each server will belong to a World consisting of "several other servers," all of which will share the same social hubs and Deep Desert. Funcom said that by doing this, it'll help retain a "neighbourhood-like feel."

"We decided early on that we did not want to remove the large-scale multiplayer aspects of the game as that is such a crucial part of the Dune: Awakening experience, and the game’s content and mechanics are deeply rooted in this setup," the update explained.

"That meant we had to make some concessions in terms of how much control players have over their private servers. The result is a model where you have fewer settings available than you would in some other survival games such as Conan Exiles."

So if you decide to rent a private server, you'll have one Hagga Basin, just like the official server, and belong to a World of other private servers (and you'll be able to pick which one when signing up). You will not be able to rent or control social hubs or the Deep Desert, but you can still "take full advantage of Dune: Awakening’s large-scale multiplayer content and mechanics."

Enough of what you don't get — what about what you do get if you rent a private server? Funcom said you'll be able to disable security zones entirely, "making all parts of Hagga Basin PvP enabled," or you can have pockets of PvP, much like the official servers. You can also disable taxation and sandstorms, as well as name your server and set a password for it. Private server owners can also visit other World servers if they know the password and even claim land (something you can't even do on the official servers).

"Enabling private servers for Dune: Awakening has not been trivial considering our unique large-scale multiplayer setup, and it was important to us to retain the fundamental MMO-like gameplay that makes Dune: Awakening so unique," the team concluded. "That means it does come with some restrictions on how you can configure them compared to some other survival games such as Conan Exiles.

"But we hope that this service will still be meaningful to those of you who prefer to play on servers you do not have to share with others, and we hope that the shared World structure will add an extra dimension without taking away from the unique content and mechanics that makes Dune: Awakening what it is."

"As a longtime fan of Dune, it also just feels so good to explore and learn more about a world that I’m quite fond of, and Funcom has clearly put a ton of effort into worldbuilding and lore, even despite taking quite a bit of creative liberty by placing Awakening within a parallel reality and canon than the books/movies," we wrote in IGN's Dune: Awakening closed beta impressions preview.

"There are little details that have a massive impact on gameplay. I won’t go into spoilers, but this kind of attention to detail touches just about every aspect of the world, including the factions and characters you meet along the way, which should be a treat for any fan of the setting."

Dune: Awakening is set to release on June 10, 2025, on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S after a three-week delay to fix issues identified during its beta testing. Players with a "head start," however, get to play five days early, from June 5. For more, check out details on the MMO's business model and post-launch plans. We've also got the global release time schedule for Dune: Awakening right here for you, too.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Tony Gilroy, creator of critically-acclaimed Star Wars series Andor, has said he had to fight "hard" for the show's second season budget after being told by Disney that "streaming is dead".

Speaking at the ATX Television Festival (thanks IndieWire), Gilroy confirmed Andor cost an eye-watering $650m — that's more than any of the recent Star Wars sequel trilogy movies, and almost double the budget of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Still, Gilroy said Disney had ultimately paid — and agreed to fund Andor's equally-expensive second season — despite the show's lower viewership than Disney+ hit The Mandalorian, and wider concerns about the ongoing profitability of high-cost projects designed for Disney+, after a spate of costly but disappointing Marvel series.

"I mean, [for] Disney this is $650 million," Gilroy said, going on to emphasise the fact that Disney had been hands-off when it came to Andor's content. Indeed, the show includes the kinds of things you don't normally see or hear in a Star Wars project — such as discussion of rape and genocide, and scenes set in a brothel.

"For 24 episodes, I never took a note," Gilroy continued, though noting the one time Andor did make a change. "We said 'F*** the Empire' in the first season, and they said, 'Can you please not do that?'" (This refers to the line of dialogue spoken by Maarva in Andor's first season finale, which ultimately was changed to "Fight the Empire.")

"In Season 2, [Disney] said 'Streaming is dead, we don't have the money we had before,' so we fought hard about money, but they never cleaned anything up. That [freedom] comes with responsibilities."

These responsibilities essentially meant turning in a show of the quality that befitted Andor's sky-high budget — something most critics now agree Gilroy succeeded in.

"Season 2 of Andor builds on nearly everything that worked so well about season 1, and continues fleshing out the prequel era of Star Wars," IGN wrote in our Andor season 2 spoiler-free review. "Gilroy and company manage to weave the dramatic irony inherent in a prequel series into the storytelling itself, making Andor season 2 the most engaging the Star Wars franchise has been in a long time."

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Kojima Productions recently announced that VTuber Usada Pekora will be making a guest appearance in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. However, this surprise cameo seems to have ruffled the feathers of some rather vocal Japanese Death Stranding fans on social media, some of whom are now proclaiming that they won’t buy the game anymore.

Usada Pekora is a Hololive VTuber whose carrot-loving avatar is an anime girl with rabbit ears. As well as singing, she often streams games and has recently been playing Elden Ring: Nightreign. Fitting with her hungry, mischievous rabbit girl avatar, she is known for frequently adding the made-up word “peko” into her sentences (which probably comes from the casual Japanese expression “pekopeko,” which means “very hungry”).

As seen in Kojima Productions’ video below, Pekora will appear as a hologram in Death Stranding 2, calling out greetings to Sam and thanking him for his hard work (she says “otsupeko deshita” instead of the actual Japanese phrase “otsukaresama deshita”).

新たな繋がりを確認🐰#DeathStranding2 #デススト2 pic.twitter.com/Xy5lsFS2FK

— KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS (@KojiPro2015) May 29, 2025

Some Japanese fans reacted strongly to the announcement of Usada Pekora’s cameo, with some commenters on X saying “I won’t buy Death Stranding 2 now.” Others elaborated on their reasons. “Death Stranding 2 is done for. When a game I planned to buy gets treated like this, I definitely won’t buy it,” said one user. “Stop pandering to VTubers. I won’t buy it now,” added another. It could be that these users find the VTuber and her affected speech annoying, or feel that Pekora doesn’t match Death Stranding’s more serious tone. In response, defenders have been giving equally terse replies such as, “Then don’t buy it then!” and, “If you are not going to buy DS2 just because Pekora is in it, then don’t!”

This is not the first time that Usada Pekora and Hideo Kojima have crossed paths. As reported by Denfaminicogamer, Pekora visited Kojima Productions back in August last year, posing with Kojima for the obligatory snap in front of Ludens.

兎田ぺこらさんと🐇 pic.twitter.com/S0JuGcBqVe

— 小島秀夫 (@Kojima_Hideo) August 30, 2024

Players familiar with Kojima’s work will know that his past games feature many unexpected crossovers, Easter eggs and bizarre elements. These include fourth wall-breaking mentions of other games, as well as the inclusion of real-life products and people (creepy developer “ghosts” in MGS2, anyone?). Metal Gear Solid 3 introduced the Kerotan frog character and featured the real-life Japanese snack Calorie Mate, both things that technically don’t match its 60s jungle setting — not to mention the Ape Escape monkeys that pop up in Snake Vs. Monkey.

Even the first Death Stranding got Horizon: Zero Dawn-themed holograms, with the PC version getting even more crossover references to other games (Half Life, Portal, and Cyberpunk 2077) in the form of items. With Kojima’s penchant for putting all kinds of references and crossovers into his games, it seems likely that Usada Pekora will be one of many that players can discover in Death Stranding 2 when it releases on June 26.

Earlier this week, we reported on Death Stranding 2: On the Beach's ESRB rating, which suggests players will be able to use an unconventional melee weapon. Hideo Kojima is also working on a live-action Death Stranding film with A24, and we recently learned that a Death Stranding anime is also in the works. He's also working on a PlayStation exclusive action espionage project called Physint, and called the upcoming Xbox-published OD "a game I have always wanted to make."

Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.

Funcom has confirmed the global release times for Dune: Awakening.

Inspired by Denis Villeneuve and Legendary Entertainment’s blockbuster films, Dune: Awakening is a survival MMO set on the most dangerous planet in the universe, where players can explore Arrakis in an open-world game for the first time ever.

You survive by learning the ways of the Fremen, and expand your potential through combat, the spice, building, and trading. It's set to release on June 10, 2025, on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S after a three-week delay to fix issues identified during its beta testing. Players with a "head start," however, get to play five days early from June 5.

We had a great time with it, writing in IGN's Dune: Awakening beta preview: "As a longtime fan of Dune, it also just feels so good to explore and learn more about a world that I’m quite fond of, and Funcom has clearly put a ton of effort into worldbuilding and lore, even despite taking quite a bit of creative liberty by placing Awakening within a parallel reality and canon than the books/movies."

Last week, Funcom put on a livestream showing off Dune: Awakening's mid-to-endgame, and a wide tour of the Hagga Basin "to emphasize the size and variety players can expect," including the "lush O’odham, the forbidding Hagga Rift, the tall spires and imposing rock formations of Jabal Eifrit, to name just a few." Up until now, even beta players have only seen around 25% of Hagga Basin, so the stream showcased "these huge and diverse landscapes" in all their glory.

"Before even considering the vast dunes and dangers of the Deep Desert, players will experience a full-scale survival game," Funcom teased.

"They will rise through the ranks of the Atreides or Harkonnen; build powerful strongholds; brave Imperial Testing Stations; craft advanced schematics; explore and harvest in a variety of vehicles, and much, much more." Furthermore, the "Landsraad feature allows anyone to contribute in the effort to impact their entire faction, whether they prefer PvE or PvP."

For more, check out details on the MMO's business model and post-launch plans.

Activision has pulled controversial Call of Duty adverts placed inside Black Ops 6 and Warzone loadouts, insisting they were a “feature test” published “in error.”

Following last week’s launch of Season 4, adverts for weapon bundles could be seen in the build and weapon menus of Black Ops 6 and Warzone. These were unavoidable for players as they tinkered with their loadouts.

Players absolutely hated them, with some going as far as to say they were the last straw. “I wouldn't even be mad if this was just in Warzone, a free game, but putting it in a pay-to-play premium title, with how expensive they're getting? F**k off,” read one angry comment. “This game is still 80€ I get that they make most of their money from the store, but I feel like the bare minimum for a premium product would be to not have ads clogging the menus right?” read another. “At this point it really feels like opening up a mobile game with how much more you see an option to buy anything in this game,” said another player.

Now, Activision has tweeted to say the adverts had been removed, and offered an explanation: “A UI feature test that surfaced select store content in the Loadout menus was published in the Season 04 update in error,” the company tweeted. “This feature has now been removed from the live game.”

It’s fair to say there’s a healthy dose of scepticism from the Call of Duty on Activision’s statement here, with some outright refusing to believe the ads were pushed live by mistake.

“They do this crap every cycle around this time... introduce something awful and see if people are mad or not,” said one fan. “If the outrage is enough they pretend like it was an accident and remove it.” “AKA: we saw how much everyone hated and ridiculed our shameless attempt to include unavoidable ads so we removed it,” said another.

Call of Duty has had its monetization crises in the past, of course. And players are used to battle passes, premium battle passes, and even more expensive versions of premium battle passes on top of the $70 (soon to be $80) cost of entry. But there is a growing feeling that the franchise’s microtransaction strategy has become even more aggressive following Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

All eyes are on the next Call of Duty, reportedly a Black Ops 2 sequel, to see if Activision tries adverts in loadouts for real this time.

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.

Elden Ring Nightreign is now up to 3.5 million copies sold after five days on sale, with its Steam user review rating improving from 'mixed' to 'mostly positive.'

Elden Ring was a massive hit, selling 30 million since going on sale in 2022, and it seems unlikely that Nightreign will come close to matching that success. For better context, the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion sold 5 million copies within three days of its release in 2024.

FromSoftware’s multiplayer spin-off had launched to 2 million sales in just a day, but with a 'mixed' rating on Valve's platform.

Much of the initial negative sentiment revolved around Nightreign’s brutal solo experience, its lack of duos co-op, lack of voice chat, and other archaic mechanics. That age-old multiplayer struggle to find enough friends to make up a coordinated three-player group is very much a part of the Elden Ring Nightreign experience, too.

As explained in IGN's Elden Ring Nightreign review: "Let’s get the most important caveat out of the way first: if you are hoping to tackle Nightreign entirely solo, and are anything less than a hardcore Elden Ring player that actively seeks out ways to make that already difficult game even more challenging, Nightreign isn’t for you. Yes, there is technically a single-player option, but it is so poorly balanced that I would be shocked if it isn’t patched and adjusted within the first month of release. And this is coming from someone who lives and breathes these types of games."

But on Monday, FromSoftware released a patch to make solo play much easier, and despite matchmaking problems over the weekend, sentiment has improved.

Last week, producer Yasuhiro Kitao took to social media to comment on Elden Ring Nightreign’s early sales success and to thank players for giving the game a go despite its quirks.

“Nightreign has some peculiar aspects to its game design and is different from our recent titles in various ways,” Kitao said. “Nonetheless, many of you have bravely jumped into this world, and for that we're immensely grateful.

“As with Demon's Souls or Sekiro, it may be confounding at first, but just like those games, Nightreign offers its own challenges and experiences. Once you overcome the initial hurdle, it'll surely provide a sense of accomplishment that's also its very own.

“We hope you enjoy it.”

So, what happens next? FromSoftware said that in addition to the DLC releasing later this year, new additions will be “gradually implemented,” including enhanced fights against existing Nightlords starting this month (June), as well as Duo Expeditions at a later date.”

The addition of duos will come as some relief to players who have questioned its omission from launch. Elden Ring Nightreign drops players into the shifting lands of Limveld, exploring and fighting for survival either solo or in groups of three. There is no way to play two-player co-op.

In IGN's interview with Elden Ring Nightreign director Junya Ishizaki, the Nightreign lead developer discussed the choice to lean on solos and trios as the core experience options. When asked why there's no option for a pair of players to drop in together without a matchmade third player, Ishizaki said it was overlooked.

"The simple answer is that this is simply something that was overlooked during development as just a two-player option, so we're very sorry about that," said Ishizaki. "As we said before, we set out to make this a multiplayer co-op game for three players, balanced for three players, so that was the main focus and it's at the core of Nightreign.

"Of course, I myself as a player understand that and often want times where I'm just playing myself, so this is something that we considered from the start," Ishizaki continued.

"And so we did put a lot of effort into creating this experience that was playable for solo players in as much as the rules and new systems allowed. So in putting all our efforts into that aspect, we kind of overlooked and neglected the duos aspect, but this is something that we are looking at and considering for post-launch support as well."

This means that if you're playing with just your favorite duos partner, you have to accept a random third into your game. Playing trios is very much what Elden Ring Nightreign is built around.

We’ve got plenty of Nightreign tips and tricks to help you take down all the eight Nightlord Bosses, and if you’re wondering how to unlock the two locked Nightfarer Classes, check out How to Unlock the Revenant and How to Unlock the Duchess, plus How to Change Characters.

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.

Standing out in a sea of high-quality gaming chairs at nearly every price point can be a difficult proposition. So, what does the DXRacer Martian gaming chair do that others don’t? Despite offering an electric adjustable backrest and smart airbag lumbar support, it mostly eschews any gimmicks to try distinguishing itself in the premium space. Instead, the no-nonsense Martian primarily focuses on having an exceptional solid build for a gaming or office chair, but despite its thoughtfully designed and well-implemented ergonomics, it may not have the versatility to accommodate everyone’s needs.

DXRacer Martian – Options and Assembly

The DXRacer Martian comes in two sizes, Regular (Large) for those under 5'11" and 275 lbs, and Plus (XL) for those over. There are four different colorways, including black, black with gray accents, red and black, and yellow-black if you choose the EPU leatherette upholstery (and only all-black if you choose woven fabric). The other option is upgrading the default chair wheels to rollerblade casters for an additional $39.00, instead of the traditional double-wheel design.

DXRacer also offers a slightly higher-end version of this chair in the Martian Pro, which is $200 more, and adds seat ventilation and back massage, albeit only in an EPU leatherette red-triangle colorway. Here, I’m reviewing the non-Pro Martian in regular black, EPU leatherette and standard wheels. (In a first for a chair delivery for me, the box actually arrived in good shape from shipping.)

The box itself weighs just over 78 pounds and the contents just under 70 pounds, with a good portion of that weight due to its sturdy steel frame. There's not a lot of excess or bulk with either the packaging or the chair itself, and while solo assembly is possible, it always helps with handling and assembly to have a helper like I did.

As expected, you’ll find the poster with the instructions detailing the five main assembly steps. There's also an assembly video online if you prefer, which is even easier to follow. In a nice touch, all screws and bolts are pre-attached to the chair's associated parts, only requiring the packaged combination Allen Key and Phillips screwdriver tool to secure everything.

The electric lumbar support system is built into the backrest, but the magnetic headrest is a separate pillow. The pillow had one of those infamous law tags securely attached, which I was able to rip off, but then needed tweezers to pull out the strings that were left behind. The bottom rear of the chair has a charging port for the included AC adapter, or you can remove the battery altogether and charge it separately – you'll need around 3.5 hours to fully charge a depleted battery.

The AC adapter has a barrel connector, which is fine, but I would have much preferred a USB-C port for greater versatility with charging options. DXRacer says you should get about two weeks of battery life between charges, and that's if you even bother with regularly adjusting the chair, which I rarely did once I figured out the ergonomic setup that worked for me.

For whatever reason, most of these chair companies never include an onboard storage area for accessories like the AC adapter, and DXRacer is no different. As such, you'll want to take care to remember where you're storing it, lest you drain the battery and can’t charge it. In a nice touch, DXRacer includes a comprehensive user guide, which is something you don't often get with even the priciest of chairs, and this guide tells you exactly how to adjust all facets of the chair and has care instructions for both the EPU leatherette and woven fabric materials.

DXRacer Martian – Performance and Comfort

After assembly, I was struck by how solid the overall build quality is as this is one of the most sturdy chairs I've come across, even compared to brands typically praised for their build quality like Secretlab – there's nary a squeak or wobble to be found.

In terms of the armrests, sound the trumpets, because these actually lock into place. I've expressed my frustration many times before about chairs with armrests that are way too loose when it comes to adjustment to the point that if you shift in the chair, the armrests slide into a different position. Such is not the case on the Martian. If you want to move the armrests into a different position, you have to actually press a release, make the adjustment, then lock it solidly back into place – imagine that.

These armrests are also a bit simpler in design than other chairs I've covered. For example, instead of something like full 6D movement, we're looking at what DXRacer calls 4D armrests. This means you can move each arm up or down, forward and backward, slide it left or right, or rotate it inward and outward up to 50-degree angles. Since this chair lacks a footrest option, those positions should be plenty for most users, but it still would have been nice to be able to angle the rests up to better support your arms when reading or handheld gaming.

Looking to upgrade your deskspace, too?

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What further reinforces the Martian's solid build is the fact that both the lumbar and seat back adjustments are powered, allowing for finer adjustments that fully lock into place once you stop pressing the electronic directional pad or tilting the lever. The depth of the internal upper and lower lumbar support can be adjusted as a unit or individually, and these adjustments are also done through a simple four-button directional pad on the right side of the chair.

With the lever on the left side of the chair, you can tilt the backrest from 90 to 135 degrees, and when using this powered lever, the DXRacer logo above it lights up. Both seat height and the rocking function adjustments are manual, with the former is done pneumatically with a lever and the latter through a dial on the underside of the seat, all of which works sensibly.

Build quality is an important aspect, but comfort is still king and in that regard, I'm of two minds with the Martian. The extra-firm cushioning feels like it cradles and supports my body properly and it really is an ergonomic marvel. However, since it forces me into more of a "proper" upright position, even when I slightly recline the back, I'm not quite as comfortable in a relaxed sense. As such, my recommendation with this chair is to consider how you normally like to sit, whether or not this is what you wanted from your seating experience, and if this type of design is suited for your body type. It's an undeniably fantastic chair with sound engineering, but one that I'm not sure is as well-suited to my physiology as others I've used.

I find myself sitting in this chair with a different posture than others. Even with the internal lumbar support set to near its maximum, I'm still able to sit all of the way back in the chair with a fully upright posture. My posture is so upright that I'm able to actually have the magnetic neck pillow in the nape of my neck when I'm sitting and working. To put it another way, from my backside to the bottom of my head are all in contact with the rear of the chair at all times as I work or play. To contrast this with other gaming and office chairs, I typically only make contact with the neck pillow (or support) if I consciously lean back, which makes me not want to bother with them.

That's not to say this is the most comfortable chair I've sat in, however. While the firm seat does a great job of providing support and remaining comfortable for my bottom even after hours of sitting – which is always a huge plus – my lower back does exhibit some fatigue with such a constant upright posture. With that said, it's arguable whether this is the result of me being used to sitting a different way in other chairs and the physiological quirks of my own body versus what is probably a more ergonomic configuration with the Martian. I’m inclined to lean towards the latter.