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index.feed.received.today — 13 mars 2025IGN

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 3 Announced, Development Officially Begins at Saber Interactive

13 mars 2025 à 17:53

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 3 is officially in development.

Publisher Focus Entertainment and developer Saber Interactive have joined forces once again following the huge success of last year's Space Marine 2, which has sold 5 million copies.

"We’re pleased to announce that the development for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 3 has officially begun at Focus Entertainment, Saber Interactive and Games Workshop," reads a statement. "We’ll share updates on this new title when the time is right. For now, our focus remains on delivering the best possible experience for Space Marine 2 players."

Focus said Space Marine 3 "promises an even more immersive experience, staying true to the Warhammer 40,000 universe, with intense, brutal, and spectacular gameplay."

"We have been honored by the incredible response from fans following the launch of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. We will continue to support the game with exciting content and regular updates in the coming years. Today, we are thrilled to announce that the adventure will continue with Space Marine 3. Players can look forward to an immersive campaign, a multiplayer mode, and innovations that will redefine the standards of third-person action games. Developed in close collaboration with Games Workshop, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 3 will take the genre to new heights by introducing large-scale battles that are even more spectacular," said John Bert, Deputy CEO of Focus Entertainment Publishing, a subsidiary of the PULLUP Entertainment Group.

"Space Marine 2 has proven to be a transformative game for Saber. ​ It is the culmination of everything we have learned about game development in our 25 years in the business. ​ We are now starting to develop Space Marine 3, a game that carries with it tremendous expectations from our rapidly expanding fanbase. ​While we will continue to support and grow the Space Marine 2 universe over the coming years, we will take all our learnings and apply them to an even bigger and more spectacular game for the third instalment. We view this as an opportunity to create a true love letter to the Warhammer 40.000 universe," added Matthew Karch, CEO of Saber Interactive.

Developing...

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.

Save 60% Off the Bose Smart Soundbar 550 with Dolby Atmos and Bose TrueSpace Technology

13 mars 2025 à 17:50

If you bought a brand new TV over the holidays and you're looking for a good audio solution at an excellent price, then one of the best Black Friday deals is back. Walmart is currently offering the Bose Smart Soundbar 550 for just $199 with free shipping after a massive $300 off instant discount. At this price, it's certainly one of the best soundbars you can get, especially if you're looking for an affordable soundbar that supports Dolby Atmos.

60% Off Bose Smart Soundbar 550

The Bose Smart Soundbar 550 measures a relatively compact 27" long and is a great complement to any TV sized 32" and higher. It houses a total of five speakers including two upward-firing speakers for Dolby Atmos compatiblity. If your content doesn't support Atmos, Bose uses its proprietary TrueSpace technology to simulate spatial audio. Another nifty feature is Bose's A.I. Dialogue Mode, which does a great job detecting dialogue in video content and amplifying the voices.

True to its namesake, the Smart Soundbar 550 is a smart-enabled speaker with both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. Pair with with the Bose app on your mobile device to sync and stream via Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, and more. You can also pair it with Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa for voice control.

This was one of the best and most popular soundbar deals on Black Friday, and it's good to see it return for 2025. If you're looking for more options, check out our best soundbar picks of 2025.

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

Jonah Hill's Superbad Character Was So 'Reprehensible' That Sony Insisted He Not Touch a PlayStation During Video Game Scene, Seth Rogan Reveals

13 mars 2025 à 17:34

No video games for you! Superbad co-writer Seth Rogen has revealed that Sony found Jonah Hill's character so "reprehensible" that reps insisted he stay away from a PlayStation during a video game scene in the now-beloved comedy.

“On Superbad, we were told that Jonah Hill’s character, Seth, was so reprehensible to the studio that they were like, there’s a scene where they’re playing video games and [Sony] was like, ‘Jonah can’t touch a PlayStation,’ ” Rogen told Rotten Tomatoes in a South By Southwest 2025 red carpet video.

“They were like, ‘We can’t have him interact with our products, because it’s too vile a character.’ And I was like, ‘It’s based on me, that’s very insulting.’ But we accommodated them, ultimately.”

@rottentomatoes "Jonah can't touch a Playstation. We can't have him interact with our products." #TheStudio's Seth Rogen shares his favorite note from working with Sony on #Superbad. #SXSW #sethrogen #playstation #comedy #movie #movietok #filmtok #redcarpet #interview ♬ original sound - Rotten Tomatoes

Sony Pictures co-financed the film, so they had a lot of leverage over a few top-notch comics trying to make a generational comedy. Ultimately, instead of Hill’s Seth keysmashing his controller and yelling at the TV screen when he died in-game, Michael Cera’s character Evan can be seen playing The Getaway: Black Monday on PS2 in that scene. But fun fact: there’s actually a bit of a gag with one of Cera’s lines here. He mentions using an M16 assault rifle in the game — but The Getaway: Black Monday, a British cop game, doesn’t even include them in the weapons arsenal. Go figure.

Rogen was at SXSW to promote his new Apple TV+ series The Studio, which had its world premiere at the festival just days ago.

Superbad also starred Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Emma Stone, alongside memorable cameos from Bill Hader and Rogen himself. Rogen co-wrote the script with Evan Goldberg and Greg Mottola directed.

Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images.

Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Gets a Barber Shop, Steam Workshop Mod Support, and More In Huge Patch 1.2

13 mars 2025 à 17:19

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is getting a big update today. Patch 1.2 is out now, and alongside fixes and improvements, there's both a barber shop and Steam Workshop modding support added to the massive RPG.

The barber shop is the first of "several" planned free DLCs, per a press release from Warhorse, and will let protagonist Henry visit the barber to change up his hairstyle. There's also an option for either a clean-shaven or rugged appearance, as well as facial hair ranging from stubble to beard. A new haircut will, just like in real life, give Henry a temporary boost to charisma.

Patch 1.2 (massive patch notes below!) addresses over 1,000 fixes and improvements, including equipment and NPC behavior, as well as gameplay balance. Specifically, developer Warhorse Studios tackled country-specific localization as well. The new patch for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 refines the Chinese translations, both Traditional and Simplified, improves the Korean font for clarity, and has a newly recorded French voiceover.

As for modding, dedicated Steam modding support has arrived alongside the barber DLC and Patch 1.2. The toolkit allows players to tinker with over 300 elements in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, ranging from user interface and combat mechanics to AI behavior. "Whether making subtle tweaks or complete overhauls, the possibilites for customization are vast," Warhorse said. The studio plans on discussing these updates further during a developer stream, set for March 20, 2025.

Additional content is expected to roll out for the historical RPG throughout the year, with its first paid content drop "Brushes with Death" set for this summer. The Legacy of the Forge expansion is expected in autumn, and then this winter, Warhorse aims to release Mysteria Ecclesia, which involves a covert mission in the Sedlec Monastery.

The latest from Warhorse Studios doesn't show any sign of slowing down in sales, either. The sequel sold 2 million copies in less than two weeks, and Embracer has hailed the game as a success. In our own review of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 at IGN, the RPG got high marks for its melee combat, story, and a "truly dynamic" open-world sandbox.

Getting started in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2? Check out our advice on Things to Do First and How to Make Money Fast Early to get you started, or head to our Walkthrough hub for a step-by-step guide to the main quest. We’ve also got guides for the myriad Activities and Tasks, Side Quests, and even Cheat Codes and Console Commands.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 update 1.2 patch notes:

New

Barber

- Introduced the barber feature. Check it out in Zhelejov and Kuttenberg!

Features

Achievements

- Adjusted the difficulty of certain skill checks so that the player can unlock the Close One achievement more reliably.

- Fixed the issue where the achievement The Lord Taketh Away would sometimes unlock without meeting its conditions.

Alchemy

- Improved lighting effects.

- Improved resolution of the fire texture.

- Fixed pouring animation causing a flash.

- Fixed an incorrectly localised label in the list of alchemy recipes.

Animals

- Improved dying animations and ragdoll for cows and bulls.

- Fixed some animal spawners not working correctly.

- Fixed reactions of hares to Mutt.

- Fixed random movement of animals and reduced the frequency of their turns.

Archery range

- Arrows are now re-equipped automatically after archery contest.

- Fixed the issue with the competitor NPCs sometimes ceasing to shoot.

Balancing

- Rebalanced how quickly food goes bad over time.

- Rebalanced armour durability values; the durability spread is now wider, so smaller distinctions between armours are now more readable.

- Rebalanced the formula for triggering a black-out from being drunk.

- Rebalanced stealth items.

- Rebalanced the price of meat and other items lootable from animals.

- Rebalanced the difficulty of pickpocketing NPCs.

- Rebalanced the amount of damage each armour layer receives.

- Rebalanced the influence of an item's quality on its price.

- Rebalanced the prices of horse equipment.

- Rebalanced the prices and stats of jewellery.

- Rebalanced item weights.

- Rebalanced comfort for studying books in inns.

- Changed ranged weapons distribution within shops and other places.

- Changed stats of the Gallant Huntsman's Kit.

- Slightly improved loot from chests in some bandit camps.

- Lowered skill-teacher prices.

- Lowered the overall value of caravan chest contents.

- Made polearms stronger.

- Made shields cheaper.

- Increased the price for which player can sell herbs.

- Recalculated items' conspicuousness based on their appearance.

- Fixed the incorrect display of item's maximum charisma when the item is dirty.

- Made several locks in the Trosky region easier to allow for a smoother levelling curve.

- Made locks on chests containing mostly food easier to lockpick.

- Adjusted lockpicking difficulty for some horse traders' chests.

- Fixed exploit with a restocking chest containing a Balanced Die.

- Fixed incorrect arrow damage values.

Blacksmithing

- Generally rebalanced the blacksmithing minigame.

- Improved visual indication of workpiece cooling.

- Added horseshoe recipes to various merchants and locations.

- Removed bezoar from alchemy and added it to blacksmithing.

- Fixed the alignment of semi-finished products at the forge and anvil.

- Fixed the Knight's sword recipe.

- Fixed issue with not being able to interact with blacksmiths who are idling while player is using their smithery for the minigame.

Carts

- Increased the distance at which the interactor for getting on carts is available.

- Fixed player sometimes spawning right inside a cart when interacting with events close to the Vidlak Pond.

- Fixed the issue with carts sometimes leaving behind their invisible collision even after despawning.

- Fixed cartwheels not aligning with ground properly.

- Fixed players sometimes randomly dying after dismounting a cart.

Combat

- Increased damage from hits from the multi-hit combos.

- Added proper facial animations for Henry during the mercy kill execution.

- Adjusted the animation of drawing a bow while moving.

- Being hit will no longer interrupt the player drawing a weapon.

- Adjusted the free attack animation used when holding a torch.

- Adjusted the animation of a dog attacking a target that is holding a ranged weapon.

- Improved animation for transitioning into aiming with the crossbow.

- Introduced a short delay between melee attacking an opponent while not locked on to reduce the effectiveness of attack spamming.

- Adjusted the animation of the player being pulled down from a horse in combat.

- Adjustments for few sound effects such as hits to the shield or firing of the crossbow.

- The player is no longer able to easily back away from attacking enemies, thanks to the slowdown effect during hit reaction.

- Improved the animation of NPCs shooting from a crossbow.

- Properly adjusted damage type for master strikes when deciding between usage of slash or stab damage value.

- Adjusted damage of the upper master strike with shortsword and shield.

- Adjusted limits of the freelook feature in combat.

- Fixed various freezes following from causing massive mayhem in Kuttenberg.

- Fixed the issue with missing audio responses for attacks and hits.

- Fixed issues with disarming NPCs or player when they were supposed to die from a clinch attack.

- Fixed an occasional infinite fader after being knocked to the ground with low health in a fist fight.

- Fixed an issue with player holding ranged weapon getting knocked back long distances by unarmed enemies.

- Fixed the NPC logic of when to use a torch in unarmed combat.

- Fixed animation alignment while player is backing up while blocking with shield.

- Fixed the issue with NPC's additive animation for torch while fighting with a dog or a wolf.

- Fixed sometimes missing the chat option to surrender.

- Fixed camera issues in unarmed fight with dogs/wolves.

- Fixed the issue with NPCs not dying properly when running away from player and getting hit by the tackling attack.

- Fixed the issue with player striking the air in a sequence of attacks during clinch if the enemy gets killed by the first strike.

- Fixed some battle cries not being played properly during battles.

- Fixed NPCs being indecisive about bandaging themselves, fighting, or running away in combat.

- Fixed dying enemies still looking at their opponent.

- Fixed the issue with NPCs unreasonably pulling out ranged weapons in melee combat.

- Fixed the player being able to interrupt weapon drawing animation of NPCs indefinitely through their attacks.

- Fixed audio for combat clinches.

- Fixed missing sound while parrying an attack from clinch.

- Fixed wolves and dogs not transitioning into ragdoll properly under certain circumstances.

- Fixed the issue with the player being able to turn the camera 360° vertically while using free look and holding block in combat.

Crime

- Made NPCs less precise in where they're going to look when investigating a sound heard from far away.

- Torch visibility buff now applies even if the torch is not visible while equipped.

- Improved reaction for guards when player steals a corpse that's currently being guarded.

- Items in player's stash now keep their stolen item marker.

- Improved the mechanism determining whether an NPC should interrupt player who is currently skipping time in trespass.

- Boosted hearing for NPCs reacting to a violent or criminal situation.

- Adjusted NPC behaviour when feeling threatened by the player.

- Revised reactions to sleeping in beds owned by NPCs.

- NPCs watching a violent situation will now flee if the source of the violence moves too close to them.

- Made enemy corpses now persist in the game longer before despawning.

- Improved an animation of a surrendering NPC.

- Improved reaction for when the player is seen lockpicking a door and opens lockpicked doors in front of the arresting guard.

- Added a tutorial for displaying the list of crimes when in the crime confrontation dialogue for the first time.

- Added more overlay tutorials for the rabbit icons.

- Adjusted cooldowns for various reactions of bandits.

- Changed how civilians react to the player's dog in stealth areas.

- Fixed a violent assault crime sometimes not being elevated to a murder after the NPC dies.

- Fixed the resisting-arrest crime sometimes incorrectly persisting through an NPC's unconsciousness.

- Fixed authorities sometimes confronting player in their underwear when raised from their bed at night.

- Fixed NPCs sometimes still looking for the player even though they are fighting right in front of them.

- Fixed NPCs sometimes seeing the player's actions through obstacles.

- Fixed NPCs sometimes being able to see behind themselves.

- Fixed and rebalanced calculating the angriness of a location triggered by player's thefts and violence.

- Fixed prolonged loading times caused by stuck NPCs.

- Fixed dialogues about resolving crimes not making sense in the context of Sigismund's camp.

- Fixed the crime icon stuttering while inside a bush.

- Fixed no fine being calculated for stealing certain horses.

- Fixed issues related to resolving crimes with victims who had been unstreamed in the meantime.

- Fixed NPCs sometimes confronting player about a drawn weapon or other minor issues after being released from the surrender dialog.

- Fixed the recognition rabbit icon sometimes getting stuck.

- Fixed NPCs incorrectly using combat barks meant for group skirmishes when in skirmish with only one person and an animal.

- Fixed player being able to walk through an NPC who is currently arresting them through triggering the ghosting mechanism.

- Fixed the arrest dialogue with guards being broken under rare conditions.

- Fixed being able to start a friendly chat with a NPC in a brief moment after pickpocketing them.

- Fixed the NPC reaction to shooting during a combat encounter.

- Fixed the NPC reaction to arrows/bolts flying by while reporting crime.

- Fixed the NPC reaction to the player lockpicking when the lockpicking should be legal.

- Fixed the NPC reaction to being attacked, but missed, while they're surrendering to the player.

- Fixed locks not getting locked after player is arrested for lockpicking.

- Fixed the issue where a civilian would not stop banishing the player's horse.

- Fixed animation issues with a poisoned NPC attempting to run.

- Fixed NPC pathfinding when looking for an active shooter.

Cutscenes

- Made equipped arrows and bolts show on player even within cutscenes.

- Fixed several reasons for video sometimes stuttering during cutscenes.

- Fixed issues with player's helmet visors in cutscenes.

- Fixed consistency issues across cutscenes.

- Fixed green frames sometimes briefly appearing at the beginning of cutscenes.

- Fixed general synchronization issues.

Daily life

- Generally improved NPC daily schedules across both maps.

- Improved the animation of NPCs sweeping.

- Revised the logic of locking shop doors.

- Improved animation transitions when leaving the leaning stance, now considering the movement direction.

- Improved female beggar pose and animations.

- Improved female sitting pose and idle animations.

- Adjusted trespass at the saddler's tent by the horse market in Kuttenberg.

- Food items on shelves at the bakery in Tarmark in Kuttenberg are no longer free.

- Adjusted trespass in some of the backrooms in the city bathhouse in Kuttenberg.

- Added an animal companion restriction for tents inside the Sigismund's camp.

- Adjusted the placement of smoke particles by multiple windows in Kuttenberg.

- Added water particles for NPCs when they wash themselves / drink from troughs.

- The baker in Tarmark now locks his door when he finishes his shift.

- Added a time period before the next bandit starts patrolling the route after the previous bandit was eliminated.

- Door to the player's room at the Devil's Den now remains open.

- Fixed day cycles of people at the northern gate of Kuttenberg.

- Fixed day cycles for villagers in Suchdol at night.

- Fixed some food items being free at the Kuttenberg vegetable market.

- Fixed the tailor's store being left unguarded and unlocked in the evening in Kuttenberg.

- Fixed innkeepers getting stuck by the barrel in the Hole in the Wall tavern.

- Fixed various house doors in Kuttenberg being left unlocked at night.

- Fixed the issue with Cuman soldiers not talking with each other in Sigismund's camp.

- Fixed constantly active trespass in the smithy in Hoprink in Kuttenberg.

- Fixed a trespass behind the counter of the baker in the Czech quarter in Kuttenberg.

- Fixed the possibility of Mutt easily falling into the mine shafts west of Kuttenberg.

- Fixed issues with some items not having a proper owner in Kuttenberg.

- Fixed NPCs in Miskowitz sometimes falling under terrain while feeding chickens.

- Fixed various places in Kuttenberg where player started reading a book on a bookstand through an NPC reading the same book.

- Fixed conflicts of NPCs wanting to use an item for their behaviour and having to hide it while using a ledge or a ladder.

- Fixed the issue with one of the Kuttenberg fortification towers having a blue trespass instead of the correct red one.

- Fixed the issue with one of the Kuttenberg fortification towers not being marked as trespass consistently across all of its area.

- Fixed the issue with some guards in Kuttenberg not preferring sleep to heal when they are hurt as they should.

- Fixed the baker in the Czech Quarter in Kuttenberg not selling anything.

- Fixed issues related to NPCs using torches wanting to climb a ladder or lie in bed.

- Food items are no longer free at the baker's stand in Jewish quarter.

- Fixed a certain part of the Kuttenberg underground allowing companions to appear.

- Fixed robbing dead smugglers in the Kuttenberg underground being considered stealing.

- Fixed an NPC stacking wood inside a wall in Kuttenberg.

- Fixed locking of doors leading to the Kuttenberg underground.

- Fixed an issue where NPC would pick up a filled bowl when picking up an empty one.

- Fixed Adder not having a daily routine active after spying in Maleshov.

Dice

- Added more money to some dice players.

- Fixed Agility XP gain when starting a dice game.

- Fixed dice sometimes clipping with the badge.

Environment

- Generally improved environment across both maps.

- Improved environment close to the level barrier so that it looks nicer even though it is not accessible.

- Improved the look of Trosky castle from far away.

- Adjusted interior visibility from afar in the Emperor Charles tavern.

- Reworked NPC navigation in Kuttenberg, allowing NPCs to take better advantage of wider streets.

- Removed out of place collisions on the river by Sedletz.

- Improved shadows on the St James Church model.

- Improved textures of certain houses in Suchdol.

- Placed better chairs in the Devil's Den.

- Improved lighting in Kuttenberg.

- Points-of-interests underground are now no longer discovered when walking over them on the surface.

- Improved textures on several houses in Kuttenberg.

- Removed a shadow artifact from the bathtub model.

- Improved normal maps of the shelf model.

- Fixed NPC navigation issues in several Kuttenberg houses.

- Fixed NPC navigation in several places around the Nebakov fortresss.

- Fixed multiple issues with inconsistent lights on Suchdol fortress.

- Fixed water being luminescent in the tunnels below Maleshov.

- Fixed reflections in the northern area of the Trosecko map.

- Fixed the lighting and smoke particles at cauldrons.

- Fixed Z-fighting of various rocks.

- Fixed Z-fighting in Kuttenberg battlements guard towers.

- Fixed Z-fighting on buildings in Kuttenberg.

- Fixed Z-fighting on Suchdol battlements.

- Improved several house visuals in Kuttenberg.

- Fixed stretched texture on a yellow house in Tarmark street.

- Fixed houses missing interior when viewed from a distance.

- Fixed a bad looking house corner in Kuttenberg.

- Fixed an issue where player could go underwater in certain parts of the river by Sedletz.

- Fixed the unclimbable stairs in the All Saints tavern.

- Fixed several issues in houses in the Suchdol village.

- Fixed the missing shrine outside of the village on the Maleshov map.

- Fixed many trees being placed slightly above the terrain.

- Fixed raining inside of a barn in Zhelejov.

- Fixed the player's head clipping through a wall in a Vrchlitz cellar.

- Fixed inaccessible tailor's shop in Kuttenberg.

- Fixed issues which could cause the player to get stuck in various places.

Fast/travel

- Added a fast-travel point to Bozhena's hut.

- Made dialogue prompts triggering fast-travel more consistent across different quests.

- Fixed missing dots during fast-travel.

Horse riding

- Improved the automatic follow feature while on a horse whose stamina is depleted.

- Improved road magnetism.

- Fixed conflict between road magnetism and the automatic follow feature.

- Fixed horse speed restriction in Miskowitz.

Horse trading

- Reworked the transaction in Semine resulting in getting Pebbles as a companion.

- Fixed automatic horse gear equipping after buying a new horse.

Characters

- Improved the visual asset for von tBergow's face.

- Reduced details of physical simulation of clothes on distant NPCs to improve performance.

- Turned on local lights influence on hair even with the low graphical preset.

- Improved Rosa's hair.

- Improved textures of women's bodies.

- Improved textures and overall quality of many character outfits.

- Improved the clothes of several unique characters with added details and polish.

- Fixed physical simulation of clothes not running in inventory.

- Fixed the model of the Crested cuman helmet

Maintenance

- Added the option to repair bows and crossbows to more NPCs, most notably huntsmen.

- Reworked how blood and dirt work on shields and how it is cleaned when the player washes themselves.

- Improved visual effects when damaged firearms explode.

- Fixed non-repairable items sometimes activating the damaged-armour debuff.

- Fixed wielder not getting damaged when a damaged firearm explodes in their hands.

- Fixed broken water trough in Bylany.

- Fixed Bascinets not getting cleaned when using washing spots near rivers.

- Fixed an issue where baths would temporarily disable by constantly entering and leaving dialogue with the bathhouse owner.

- Fixed broken haggle in bathhouses.

Music

- Added more music for villages in the Trosky region.

- Changed mood music for Opatowitz village.

- Added more music into the credits sequence.

Mutt

- Added a marker for Mutt on the map and compass when the player sends Mutt to Zhelejov/Devil's Den.

- Made it harder for the player to feed Mutt during combat. Work first, treats later!

- Mutt can no longer enter the fighting arena in the Jewish quarter.

- Fixed Mutt sometimes being unable to return to the mill during the night.

- Fixed an issue with Henry not saying anything when Mutt finds an interesting place or object while searching.

- Fixed some of Mutt's internal timers not resetting correctly through save/load.

Performance

- Generally improved performance and stability.

- Optimized Kuttenberg marketplaces for better performance.

- Improved frame rate stability in battle parts of quests.

- Optimized streaming of NPC visuals, especially in Kuttenberg.

- Improved level switch duration by over 15 seconds on average.

- Limited the number of torches drawn by NPCs in large skirmishes to improve performance.

- Fixed late game stutter in Kuttenberg due to various reputation problems.

Photo mode

- Changed controls for opening Photo Mode on controllers.

- Fixed controller vibrations persisting when opening Photo Mode while using the grindstone.

Platform-specific fixes

- PC/PS5 – Fixed adaptive triggers on the DualSense controller sometimes not working properly.

- PS5 – Fixed audio stuttering when playing with headphones connected to a controller.

- PS5: The Media button no longer pauses the game.

- PS5 – Fixed visual artifacts in the sky when objects were close to the camera.

- Steam Deck – Fixed incorrect button prompts.

- Windows – Added enabling/disabling Audio enhancements directly from main menu.

- Windows – Fixed the keyboard input sometimes getting stuck after system locale change.

- Xbox – Fixed controller sometimes disconnecting before initialization.

- Xbox – Fixed sometimes incorrectly unlocking preorder rewards or season-pass rewards.

- Xbox – Fixed inventory icons sometimes being blurry on Xbox Series S.

PROS

- Fixed placeholder text and icons for PROS appearing in the main menu.

- Fixed a rare case in which PROS would fail to connect.

Random events

- Fixed missing random events after starting a new playthrough.

- Added more goods for several event merchants.

- Removed the chance of a bandit camp spawning right by the Semine fort.

- Fixed logic within the random event with a villager celebrating his newborn.

- Fixed cooldowns of random event variants.

- Fixed carts rarely being moved outside of the playable area when loading a save.

- Fixed random events spawning so their state is consistent during save and load.

- Repositioned few of events so that they are not right next to fast-travel exit points.

- Fixed bandits sometimes never ceasing to loot victims' corpses.

- Fixed the issue of not being able to loot unconscious event NPCs after loading the game.

Reputation

- Fixed several logical issues within the world's reputation/faction tree.

- Fixed issues in Tachov and Nebakov location description.

Shop

- Removed asking the player if they want to haggle after already confirming selling their items for all of the NPC's current wealth.

- Improved the logic for rounding amounts in shop.

- Improved shop haggle logic.

- Shops no longer sell cobwebs.

- Fixed an issue where items would remain in the shop basket from a previous encounter if the user loaded a savegame during price negotiation.

Skills & perks

- Rebalanced XP gain for Vitality, Agility, Thievery, Stealth, Marksmanship, Houndmaster, Horseriding, and melee weapon skills. Specifically training Marksmanship should be noticeably easier now and training melee weapon skills should be slightly slower.

- Prevented exploiting the Next to Godliness perk for indefinite healing.

- Reimplemented the Warmonger perk so that it increases player's chance to land a hit on enemy in addition to its previous benefits.

- The Against All Odds perk now has a visible buff icon next to the health bar while it's active.

- The Opening Strike perk now functions on every hit, even if the player does not damage the health of the target.

- Fixed the issue with the bonus from the Gladiator perk not showing up as a buff in the Swords skill.

- Fixed the issue with activating Surprise Attack / Ambusher perks' effects when shooting dead bodies.

- Fixed the issue with the Train Hard, Fight Easy! perk applying only to melee weapons.

- Fixed the missing color indication for buffed values in inventory screen while the River perk is active.

- Rebalanced values for the Tendon Slicer perk.

- Fixed the time period during which the Fundamentals of Theology perk is active.

- Fixed the Escape Artist II perk being available to pick even without its Escape Artist I prerequisite.

- Fixed the issue with the Dark Arts Apprentice perk giving an unlimited sprinting stamina between 0:00 and 4:30.

- Fixed stuttering caused by the Local Hero perk.

Stealth

- Created new clothing and equipment specifically supporting stealth gameplay and rebalanced stealth stats for all clothing.

- Fixed material transparency in Trosky castle which allowed NPCs to see through some obstacles.

- Fixed NPC reactions to pebbles being thrown from a different floor.

Takedowns

- Added screaming of NPCs when being stealth killed.

- Improved takedown and stealth kill animations for lying NPCs in complicated areas.

- Removed animation glitch at the end of the slaughter animation.

- Improved stealth kill animations.

- Polished animations of stealth killing female NPCs.

- Improved light of falling torch after stealth killing or knocking out an NPC.

- Stealth kills are now more likely to fail.

- Fixed positioning player's hands on takedown victim's face.

Tutorials

- Disabled tutorial about not having to hold W while riding a horse repeating.

- Added new tutorials providing hints about fighting multiple opponents.

- Fixed damaged hand cannon tutorial appearing inappropriately.

UI

- Main Menu: Fixed invalid result when pressing PROS and Credits at the same time.

- Made POI icons on the map smaller.

- Removed rain from the inventory UI.

- Adjusted the colour indication in the inventory when player is overloaded.

- Removed false notification about discovering Suchdol when game loaded into the Kuttenberg level after startup.

- Removed map marker for items in player's horse inventory.

- Added horse stat icons to the Horse/Sidekicks tab.

- Improved lighting and shadows in the inventory.

- Fixed incorrect UI message being displayed after loading a save that was created while getting out of a bed.

- Fixed consistency of skill teacher icons so they are not visible when the skill teacher is not active.

- Fixed inconsistencies between the combat rabbit indicator and the actual combat state.

- Fixed issue with clouds appearing incorrectly over the map after loading the game.

- Fixed controls getting stuck in dialogue when pressing Talk and opening Inventory at the same time.

- Fixed incorrect weapons shown in inventory preview when using drag & drop.

- Fixed notifications about losing quest items sometimes appearing even though player didn't lose them.

- Fixed the stolen in label and other elements sometimes overlapping with the item's properties.

- Fixed the values of horse armour not being reflected properly in the inventory UI in the companion section.

- Fixed the issue with a few microquests sometimes claiming a tracking slot even after being completed.

- Fixed the dirtiness of items sometimes displaying incorrectly within the washing UI.

- Improved accuracy of the load progress indicator.

- Added an icon for the blacksmith by the Horse market in Kuttenberg.

Visuals

- Added option to enable NVidia DLSS 4 Super Resolution.

- Improved SVOTI recalculation at camera dialogue switches.

- Removed lightning underground and indoors during a storm.

- Fixed glitches when player or NPC changes clothes.

- Fixed motion blur being disabled in dialogues.

- Fixed screen flicker during certain situations.

- Fixed various visual pop-in after game is restarted or loaded.

- Fixed issues related to rare shader combinations.

- Fixed objects sometimes not casting the correct shadow.

- Fixed flickering of objects when switching their LoD.

- Fixed character and vegetation detail sometimes being inconsistent when changing advanced graphical settings.

- Fixed the issue with the screen space reflection ceasing to update upon activation of Resolution scaling.

- Fixed flickering artifacts on distant objects showing against a sky.

- Fixed broken vegetation and rain animations for long playthroughs.

- Fixed flickering of horse and dog when player gets closer.

Miscellaneous

- Added numpad keybinds for control of QAM.

- Allowed sprinting while drunk.

- Player no longer gets a head injury caused by hangover.

- Skill teachers' icons now better represent the availability of their lessons through color.

- Corrected voiceover for innkeeper in Troskowitz.

- Polished physics for all the bridles and chanfrons.

- Improved lipsync across the game.

- Improved descriptions of various items.

- Improved physics of the parsnip.

- Improved physics simulation quality of scabbards.

- Prevented the player from being able to access their inventory while praying at a shrine.

- Changed link for the Plaion web page for help.

- Removed the point of interest tipster icon from some NPCs that had nothing left to tell the player about.

- Fixed controls getting locked after interacting with a kettle after loading the game saved while eating from the same kettle.

- Fixed calculating the Civilians killed statistic.

- Fixed animation of picking up items while holding a bow.

- Fixed guards losing their armour after they kicked player out of the Sigismund's camp.

- Fixed some facial animations not working in dialogues when the speaker is lying on the ground wounded.

- Fixed looped drinking sound after being killed when drinking.

- Fixed the lockpicking minigame not being cancelled if the cart with the chest moved away from the player.

- Fixed dead NPCs sometimes T-posing after loading.

- Fixed issues in the mash-eating NPC behavior related to save/load.

- Fixed the issue with some water troughs offering to clean the player even though they are clean already.

Quests

A Good Scrub

- Adjusted the slogan yelling, so that the town crier doesn't yell over Henry.

- Added an adequate hangover buff after the bathhouse party.

- Removed a T-posing NPC in the background of the cutscene.

- Adjusted trespass appearing after the quest in the private rooms of the Kingfisher bathhouse.

- Fixed an issue where the bathmaids started mounting the wagon together, clipping into each other.

- Fixed an issue where during the wagon ride, horses would start jumping halfway.

A Moment of Fame

- Fixed the issue with quest tipster marker staying active on the compass even if the player kills the questgiver.

- Fixed the quest fight arena to solve the problem of player getting stuck in the environment.

Ars Dimicatoria

- Adjusted how the quest reacts when starting the tourney while being wanted for crime in Kuttenberg.

- Adjusted who is the victim for crimes comitted in the fencing hall during certain quest fail scenarios.

- Talking to Menhart to enter the tourney won't force the player straight into the tourney, but gives the option to still back out of the dialogue.

- The fencing hall crier will now correctly announce which master is teaching in the hall, depending on the quest outcome.

- Improved gestures for the crier at the fencing hall.

- Improved NPC daycycles in the fencing hall.

- Fixed possible stuck fader when talking to Menhard to start the tourney.

- Fixed defeating Menhard sometimes being considered a crime.

- Fixed Menhard being illogically drunk in certain dialogues.

- Fixed Arne not having the same training sword as the player during their fight.

- Fixed an issue where NPCs would get stuck standing around when talking with Menhard in the inn.

- Fixed skill teaching not being activated on certain quest related skill teaching NPCs.

- Fixed the issue where a fight would start before NPCs entered the arena during the tourney.

- Fixed 'New quest' marker activating on dead Nicolas of Prague.

- Fixed the objective to get healed by the bathwench getting stuck if the player healed themselves instead.

- Fixed NPCs sometimes not acknowledging the crime of stealing the guild sword, even when catching the player in the act.

- Fixed the fencers sometimes not entering the tourney arena if being called upon when drinking from the barrel.

- Fixed the wenches not healing the player in the second half of the tourney.

- Fixed a broken animation for stealing the guild sword when started from a certain angle.

- Fixed the issue where Menhard and Arne won't accept a duel while wearing a coif, mistaking it for an armour piece.

- Fixed the issue where fencers could get stuck in a table at the tourney.

Attila

- Improved the environment in the spot where the bandit is buried.

Back in the Saddle

- Fixed the race failing automatically if too many races were started and completed in short succession.

Bad Blood

- Pavlena will now die at the proper spot if the player decides to leave the Trosky region and come back.

- Pavlena won't react to the player taking Otta's sword anymore.

- Prasta won't go straight to the inn after the player finds Roman anymore.

- Prevented Dusko from having a crime reaction to the player lockpicking Roman's door.

- Fixed broken dialogue with Jakesh in some rare combinations of previous quest decisions.

- Fixed certain music tracks failing to end properly during the quest.

- Fixed Pavlena not being dealt with by the law after certain quest outcomes.

- Fixed some dialogue options still being available with bailiff Thrush after the player already concluded the investigation.

- Fixed an issue with the contents of Pavlena's chest changing during the quest.

- Fixed the bed assignment for Bozhena and Pavlena.

Bellatores

- Fixed Posy and Tugbone sometimes going to sleep on a bed with dead Cumans after finishing the quest.

- Fixed the Cuman pillagers sometimes attacking Jan of Zimburg unexpectedly while he's talking to Henry.

- Fixed a debug string being present when talking to Jan of Zimburg.

Besieged

- Rebalanced the battle.

Brunswick

- Improved Henry's reactions to collecting the last items.

Civic Duty

- Objectives no longer randomly update when player has no news.

- Fixed the issue where player can infinitely interact with bailiff after killing Chenyek or Knuckles.

Civitas Pragensis

- Adjusted difficulty for the fight with Erik.

- Improved dialogue cameras when talking with Hans and Kubyenka.

- Improved consistency of NPCs clothes.

- Removed a redundant NPC in the camp.

Combat Training

- Added check for weapon and armour if starting it right after the first combat tutorial.

- Fixed the issue where the player could not continue Combat Training II because of a drunken blackout.

- Fixed the issue where the quest wouldn't continue after yielding.

- Fixed the issue where the player would get stuck in the arena if they challenged Tomcat to a duel after 19:20.

- Fixed broken start of the For Victory! quest if only a polearm was used since the second combat tutorial with Tomcat.

- Fixed attacking in Dry Devil's combat tutorial.

Damsel in Distress

- Improved timings for notifications of various skillcheck resolutions.

- Fixed trespasses being globally turned off when quest can be started.

Dancing with the Devil

- Improved NPCs shooting from the battlements.

- Improved particles at Maleshov.

- Improved transition of the player's allies' hiding animation.

- Improved enemies behavior.

- Improved loot.

- Fixed the issue of characters sometimes appearing later than they should in cutscenes.

- Fixed von Bergow being undressed when loading the game from saves from an older version of the game.

- Fixed the quest getting softlocked if the player stayed at edge of quest area when Hans was placing a ladder.

Demons of Trosky

- Fixed a blocked off room at Trosky if the quest is still active after starting For Victory.

- Fixed Osina's voicelines when player gives up during the fight.

Divine Messenger

- Prevented player from being able to leave the closed area in several places.

- Prevented Godwin from starting the blacksmithing minigame or the alchemy minigame.

- Removed butterflies from the meadow to improve its bleak atmosphere.

- Removed additional NPCs that would sometimes wander into the meadow.

- Improved atmosphere.

- Improved the tour to the fortress with Erik.

- Improved dialogues.

Dragon's Lair

- Increased the time Gerhart will wait for the player's response after offering them a deal.

- Added some tasty loot to the Alchemist's inventory.

- Fixed bodyguards' behaviour if player beat them using the Ringenmeister perk.

- Fixed Gerhart's behaviour at the inn.

- Fixed bodyguards reporting a crime after being knocked out with the Ringenmeister perk.

- Fixed the possibility of bodyguards' AI breaking at the bone site.

- Fixed dead soldiers appearing in a cutscene at the bonesite.

- Fixed disappearing dragon bones after loading a save where the player split with other parties and stole them back.

Easy Riders

- Player can no longer stealth knockout the bandits in the forest.

- Fixed a ledge that allowed player to return to the camp through a boundary.

- Adjusted an objective trigger in the rock maze.

- Increased vision and hearing of the bandits in the forest.

- Added an automatic trigger for a dialogue with Hans if they reach the maze at the same time.

- Improved how the girl reacts to the thrown pebble.

- Improved alignment of Henry and Hans at the log where Hans slides down.

- Adjusted the path of a bandit in the rock maze.

- Improved Hans' running up the hill in the forest.

- Fixed a repeating dialogue by one of the bandits in the forest.

- Fixed bandits in the forest sometimes getting stuck if distracted by a thrown pebble.

- Fixed Hans running through the bushes at the end of the maze.

- Fixed Hans occasionally stopping for a moment and running again in the forest.

- Fixed a line of Hans' dialogue in the massacre cutscene.

- Fixed riposte icon showing during the perfect block tutorial.

- Fixed some vegetation in the massacre cutscene.

- Fixed the ability to push an opponent out of a fighting pen using clinch.

Exodus

- Improved NPC movement in the underground.

- Adjusted the distance from which the burning synagogue switches to just being burned down.

- Removed a possible drunk effect for Samuel's mother.

- Fixed an issue where the player could get stuck if he and Lichtenstein opened the door to the inn at the same time.

- Fixed the player being able to kill certain horses at the end of the quest.

- Fixed an incorrect Game over in the underground section if the player stays near Lichtenstein.

- Fixed the player's unconscious effect in the backyard that should show the Game over screen.

- Fixed weird behaviour of Samuel in the backyard if the player fought unarmed.

- Fixed player barks if he goes the wrong way in the underground section.

- Fixed an issue where Samuel would skip part of his movement and dialogue on the way to his mother.

- Fixed Lichtenstein sometimes missing at the start of the quest.

For Victory!

- Replaced the potentially dead character with another one.

- Removed broken skill XP reward when winning at dice during the feast.

- Fixed sounds missing in cutscenes.

- Fixed broken text in the dialogue with Johanka of Zhernov.

- Fixed continuity regarding a dead NPC from previous quests appearing in a cutscene.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

- Added more groschen around Trosky so that the player can play dice with Nicodemus.

- Fanka won't be angry that there is no ginger in the chest when there is.

- Repositioned the guards at Trosky to make stealth easier.

- Fixed objective marker on Nicodemus.

- Fixed guards' reaction to pebbles thrown from a different floor.

Forbidden Fruit

- Fixed the issue where player couldn't get off the cart after killing the gravedigger.

- Fixed the sliding during the animation of the NPC boarding the cart.

Fortuna

- Prevented non-quest NPCs from walking inside the quest area.

- Prevented quest NPCs from calling guards on the player.

- Improved Bozhena's behaviour while the ambushers are present.

- Fixed the crime reactions of Bozhena, who will no longer run away from the player.

- Fixed an issue where players couldn't bandage themselves in Bozhena's hut after loading.

- Fixed fireplace extinguishing.

- Removed the possibility to leave the quest without a weapon.

- Improved chat with NPCs.

Hammer and Tongs

- Fixed forging the sword in the Trosky region not progressing the quest.

High Toll

- Fixed soldiers or the whole camp disappearing while the quest is active.

Hunger and Despair

- Fixed the tower archers shooting at the player after loading an autosave.

- Fixed the camera issue with Godwin in the polylogue.

- Fixed weather continuity.

- Fixed an issue with the combat lock getting stuck on fallen enemies when player tries to fight unarmed in big battles.

- Fixed the issue with Mutt being respawned if he was eaten.

- Fixed the clothing issues in the preaching cutscene.

- Fixed the issue with the Katherine romance continuing even though the player refused.

- Revised dialogue prompts triggering some of the romance options to make it clearer what their result will be.

- Closed a gap that allowed players to get out of Suchdol castle.

- The battle now ends only when there is no enemy on the walls anymore and ladders are down.

Ill Repute

- Improved snapping NPC movement in the duel area upon calming down from crime reactions.

- Fixed objectives reacting incorrectly if the player kills certain bathwenches.

- Fixed wrongly displayed area markers for certain sabotages.

- Fixed a possible stuck objective if player had the quest related perfume confiscated during certain playthroughs.

In Vino Veritas

- Added ownership of player's bed in the vineyard.

- Some journal entries rewritten.

- Improved dialogue conditions in cases when the player steals sulphur first.

- Rebalanced alcohol consumption values.

- Fixed dialogue conditions before the dialogue with Havel.

- Fixed NPC's immortality conditions.

- Fixed an active objective after completing the quest.

- Fixed a dialogue condition with Adleta.

- Fixed the trespass area on the vineyard.

- Fixed conditions for recruiter on vineyard.

- Fixed the locks on the doors between Havel's room and the player's rented room.

Into the Underworld

- Prevented the player from leaving the closed area.

- Fixed NPC quest behaviour.

- Fixed missing voiceovers in cutscenes.

- Fixed Chenyek sometimes being obviously seen teleporting.

- Fixed crime reactions after the fistfight in the Hole.

Invaders

- Added autosaves at the beginning and end of the quest.

- Improved time skips while drinking with the Cumans by replacing them with text-based cutscenes.

- Fixed start dialogue having two valid sequences.

- Fixed time sometimes stopping if the player had booze in their inventory and later had it confiscated.

- Fixed Jasak not walking normally after the player draws a weapon when going for more alcohol.

- Fixed Vuytek leaving after being knocked out right before the quest starts.

- Fixed the unconsciousness animation if the player hits a Cuman right before losing consciousness.

- Fixed the cutscene trigger area for Mutt being too close to the booze stash.

- Fixed the tip dialogue about the quest ending abruptly with Kreyzl.

- Fixed after the player gaining a drunkenness buff insteaf of a hangover buff after drinking with Cumans.

- Fixed the quest starting when Cumans are not present in the inn.

- Fixed Nomad missing from the dialogue after flirting with Jasak's love interest.

Johnny the Gob

- Fixed an issue with the quest sometimes completing prematurely.

Judgment Day

- Rebalanced quest rewards.

- Fixed horse behaviour after the battle.

Justice

- Fixed a situation where player could hand in the quest while being reported for murder at the same time.

Kuttenberg Tournament

- Improved the disqualification process during the tourney.

- Improved timeskipping at the tourney. Fixed tourney getting stuck during timeskips.

- Shortened the time between one discipline end and the start of another.

- Added proper gestures for Kumel while announcing.

- Correct journal entry will now appear if player doesn't collect their rewards at the tourney.

- Adjusted how long is player banned from further tournaments if he caused a crime during one.

- Kumel shouldn't arrive drunk to the repeated tourney activity.

- Trying to attack the opponent too early will trigger the fight early instead of a crime.

- Adjusted how the different fighters swap for different tournaments.

- Prevented the attending skill teachers from teaching during the tourney.

- Fans won't be teleported inside the arena if the player leaves and comes back.

- Fixed an issue where an opponent would surrender and run away from the area.

- Fixed the tourney getting stuck if player left the tourney and returned later.

- Fans standing by the arena won't stand inside each other anymore.

- Fixed the player sometimes getting stuck in the fighting arena if they got disqualified while inside it.

- Fixed the player committing a crime at the tourney for unsheathing their weapon.

- Fixed objective to 'Equip tournament gear' reactivating upon successfully returning the gear.

- Fixed several issues related to saving/loading in unexpected moments.

- Fixed an issue where fighters wouldn't change their gear for other disciplines.

Lackey

- Fixed Vostatek not talking about other quests after finishing this one.

- Fixed an issue where huntsman Vostatek might have managed to survive being eaten by wolves under certain conditions.

- Fixed terrain issue allowing the player to move into a position unreachable by NPCs.

Last Rites

- Fixed the game sometimes freezing after knocking down a ladder.

- Fixed disappearing edges around the wall hole from trebuchet on lower graphics settings.

- Fixed the Suchdol chimney appearing later than the fortress itself.

Last Will

- Fixed an issue where a player could receive a reward twice if they ordered Mutt to attack Gerda during the duel.

Like Old Times

- Adjusted the position of a chest in the soldiers' camp to fix a broken animation during lockpicking.

- Adjusted the body of the killed huntsman to not clip into the tree.

- Fixed the issue with dead soldiers' bodies staying in the camp upon travelling back to Devil's Den.

- Fixed a possible chat prompt without text during the horse ride with Capon.

Lost Honour

- Fixed incorrect heraldry on one of Garbow's pavises in his camp.

Master Schindel's Toys

- Player can no longer lose an important quest item.

- Fixed journal logs after failing the quest.

Materia Prima

- Fixed dialogue cameras.

Miri Fajta

- Improved animation of NPCs sitting on the ground.

- Polished the music during a dialogue.

- Improved deterred NPC's behavior.

- Removed items in Tibor's inventory when being held captive.

- Fixed skill reward in dialogue.

- Fixed the animation when picking up the dead body.

- Fixed woodcutters' reaction while player trespassing.

- Fixed trespass area in the barn.

Mutt

- Removed mentioning Vostatek if player already knows about him.

- Improved Mutt's animations in the first dialogue with him.

- Increased damage for parry attacks against wolves.

- Changed loot in Mutt's wolf den.

- Added note in the descriptions of the items indicating that they are sniffable by Mutt. 

- Fixed the behaviour of the first pack of wolves.

Necessary Evil

- Removed marker from von Bergow while he's sleeping after the raid on Semine.

- Added waiting behaviour for von Bergow after player reports the results of the torture.

- Added the cleaning activity for Capon after the return from Semine.

- Increased visibility of the gate from Semine fortress on low settings.

- Fixed horse alignment during the raid on Semine.

- Fixed dying animation if player kills the NPC during torture.

- Fixed teleportation of the player during final polylogue with von Bergow.

Opus Magnum

- Fixed the condition of the objective of bringing the book to the miller.

- Fixed the issue with a guard guarding the book owner indefinitely.

Oratores

- Improved the final horse race.

- Removed the prompt mistakenly offering to play dice with Samuel, Capon, or Brabant while in Ruthard Manor.

- Fixed reaction of vagabonds to a thrown pebble in Ruthard Manor.

- Forbid sending Mutt home from the closed Suchdol castle.

Popinjay Shoot

- Fixed player being unable to shoot after quick sword draw in the Popinjay Shoot quest.

Post Scriptum

- Improved miners' reaction to crime after the fight.

- Guards are now always present behind the entrance door, so they can let the player see Markolt.

- Fixed the letter staying in inventory after giving it to the bailiff.

Ransom

- Fixed Henry being sunken into the ground in the dialogue with Jan of Suchotlesky if the player woke him up from unconsciousness.

- Fixed a possibility of Jan going back to the ambush site while he's trying to investigate crime.

- Fixed the burnt down house breaking combat during the handover.

- Fixed objectives not disappearing after talking to the prisoner in Sigismund's camp.

- Fixed injured Jan standing up in dialogue during some facial animations.

- Fixed Kubyenka and Adder not being recruitable for reinforcements.

Reckoning

- Rebalanced stats of the Prague soldiers to make stealth slightly more challenging.

- Fixed sleeping soldiers not waking up when alarm is triggered.

- Fixed soldiers not reacting to their food being poisoned.

- Fixed some alignment with wine in a cutscene.

- Fixed animation of picking up a sword in the yard.

- Fixed some places where the player could get stuck.

So It Begins…

- Improved food confiscation during siege quests.

- Improved performance after the night attack.

Speak of the Devil

- Added collisions to carts to prevent climbing on top of them.

- Lowered the armour quality of the guards escorting the Dry Devil.

- Fixed Zizka's men accusing the player of murder when revisiting the ambush place.

- Fixed music getting stuck on the same track during the search for weapons.

- Fixed an issue where killing the sleeping guard would lead to a stuck objective during the quest So it Begins.

Spoils of War

- Fixed the villagers not always counting the valuables taken from their hidden stashes towards the stolen-value counter.

- Fixed missing text when handing in more valuables than required.

Striped Tonies

- Fixed journal not mentioning why the player failed the quest.

- Fixed the standard moving unnaturally when walking on the stairs.

- Fixed saves created within the Striped Tonies quest having incorrect names.

- Fixed the behaviour of Miner Anton Kaspar, so that he does not leave the spot at the Church of St. Jacob.

Taking French Leave

- Improved soldiers' animations.

- Improved environment.

- Improved Maleshov tower entrance.

- Improved horses' behaviour at Maleshov castle.

- Added weapons to Maleshov castle.

- Improved cutscene lighting.

- Improved the quest log.

- Fixed saving/loading issue if the text cutscene is played right after loading game.

- Fixed the alarm sounding during the cutscene in Maleshov.

- Fixed Capon waking up from unconsciousness after saving/loading.

- Fixed the Nighthawk potion blinding player after escaping from Maleshov.

- Fixed bark if Hashtal is dead.

- Fixed NPC falling from the stool after knockout.

Teeth in a Bag

- Fixed a rare issue with player is unable to repeat the fight with Zavish and Damian.

- Fixed the invalid dialogue prompt if player refuses to pay the bet in the double fight with Zavish and Damian.

The Best for Last

- Fixed the issue making dialogue with Barnaby inaccessible due to the world time.

- Fixed the issue where you couldn't start a fight with Herbalist Barnaby after refusing him once.

- Fixed issue caused by Ringenmeister perk while trying to end the fight with a choke.

The Blacksmith's Son

- Fixed improper objective when taking the materials from the chest.

The Devil's Pack

- Added the option to bury Ranyek.

- Added missing voiceover with the innkeeper when asking about Ranyek.

- Fixed the objective marker to carry Ranyek to not flash in the navigation panel.

- Fixed the objective to bury Ranyek not activating.

- Fixed the quest not being able to progress after a failed skill check with the dice players.

- Fixed the player losing more groschen than they haggled in the dialogue with the bailiff.

The Feast

- Fixed Godwin not being able to succeed in the skillcheck with Servant Dasha.

- Fixed NPCs jumping to position during treating wounded animation at the end of The Feast.

The Fifth Commandment

- Added a missing journal entry for when player kills someone in the house of Grolle.

- Removing the dialogue loop of giving thanks from Stanya.

- Removed frequent praying from Lipold's daycycle.

- Changed dialogue for Strnad if beating him until he is unconsious.

- Started to automatically pull the weapon out before the fight with Thaddeus.

- Rewritten journal entries.

- Changed the heads of William and Barton.

- Adjusted position of dead Mandelina during polylogue after trap.

- Changed the prompt for the focus camera for the crime scene.

- Added Marigold decoction to the option to cure Lipold's hangover.

- Removed trespass from Lipold's house during the quest.

- Added crime suppression during the trap.

- Edited stash of a chest in the morgue where lies dead Alenka.

- Fixed Lipold's behavior at the end of quest, so he will leave the room.

- Fixed the quest sometimes getting stuck after accusing Prokop of the murder.

- Fixed dialogue conditions with Prokop.

- Fixed issue in the Fifth Commandment where Strnad would not talk to plazer to finish the objective for thief Zdena.

- Fixed issue of locked doors during the trap in the Fifth Commandment quest.

- Fixed the journal entry for choosing William as a murderer.

The Finger of God

- Improved Bull's weapon preset before the battle.

- Improved Godwin's behavior by the graves.

- Improved crime interactions between the player and allies.

- Improved the interactions between the player and other defenders.

- Improved placement of targets for the gun tutorial.

- Fixed broken dialogue option after handing in a horseshoe.

- Fixed stats of weapons for repair.

- Fixed the NPC's clothing during the dialogue with Klara.

The Heirloom

- Improved reactions of Vendula and Svatava upon being hit.

- Prevented gossip dialogues during hostage situation.

- Fixed Mikush not becoming a skill teacher in some endings.

- Fixed Mikush not accepting his hat in some endings.

- Fixed the hostage situation getting broken by Mutt.

The Jaunt

- Ventza won't be in the camp when you're supposed to find him in the rocks

- The Jaunt can now be finished after failing the objective to follow lord Semin and Gnarly.

- Improved the tied-up animation for Gules and Ventza.

- Knocking Ventza out and bringing him to Lord Semine is now a valid option.

- Fixed the issue where Captain Gnarly and Lord Semine were not in Semine after the player completed the quest without them.

The King's Gambit

- Entering the assembly now properly keeps the player incognito.

- Player can no longer read a book while carrying a pitcher of wine.

- Rebalanced the duel with Christopher.

- Made Vavak easier to get a hold of.

- Added a wine serving tutorial overlay at the start of the assembly.

- Fixed a missing objective marker on Anna of Waldstein.

- Fixed Franta picking up the waiter's clothes at the tailor repeatedly.

- Fixed disappearing objects at the end of the toast with the king.

- Fixed mismatching character positions after the intro cutscene.

- Fixed Godwin's horse leaving during the intro polylogue.

- Fixed the Raborsch stablemaster bribery option not having an effect.

- Fixed the head butler asking about Franta multiple times.

The Lion's Den

- Revised music playing during the quest.

- Fixed the correct reaction when leaving Sedletz after Stephen Crow is dead.

- Fixed the correct reaction when committing a crime after a trial.

- Fixed the correct reaction when attacking Commander Katz.

- Fixed the player not being able to knock out the guard guarding Musa in the Lion's Den quest.

- Fixed redudant objective to talk to Ditrich Katz after the trial.

The Magic Arrow

- Pasha's crossbow is now more powerful.

- Removed inappropriate crime reactions at the end of the arrow ceremony.

- Improved a journal entry.

- Fixed gravedigger Lenek's surrender.

The Mouth of Hell

- Changed the position of a sword in the mine.

- Moved the dialogue camera during the initial scene of massacre in Old Kutna.

- Fixed the issue where the screen would go black after fast travelling through Old Kutna.

- Fixed issue of missing dead cows in Old Kutna.

- Fixed an issue where Marian and Vladimir might show up to confront Taras naked at night.

- Fixed collisions in the mine.

- Fixed the behavior of Taras so that he will not flee if escalating a fight after showing him the contract.

- Fixed behaviour of Taras if he falls down while chasing player.

The Peasant Revolt

- Prevented the shootable stashes from getting restocked.

- Fixed an issue where Vlasta was not willing to speak to the player after finishing the quest.

The Reliquary

- Removed camp trespass when returning the finished sword.

- Fixed duplication of quest reward if it's stolen before finishing the quest.

The Spark

- Eldris' chest is not impossible to lockpick now.

- Improved guards' routine after fight.

- Fixed Knuckles staying in front of the inn when he's supposed to be banished.

- Fixed the ropes of hanged The Guild members.

- Fixed Whisker's reaction to player lockpicking the chest in front of him.

- Fixed visual bug of the burnt dugout.

The Storm

- Revised the debuff received from the torturing.

- Removed Mika's openworld dialogue from the Storm quest.

- Added healing items to stashes at Trosky after the duel with Istvan.

- Improved dialogue lighting.

- Removed Zizka's mace during the torture scene.

The Sword and the Quill

- The active outfit is no longer partly unequipped upon being woken up by Zuzana.

- Disabled toggling on-road follow while following the wagon.

- Removed the option to ask Katherine about Nebakov when it's no longer relevant.

- Improved the cutscene.

- Improved Suchdol foot traffic slightly.

- Fixed player's horse periodically stopping while following the wagon.

- Fixed Suchdol light sources not emitting light.

- Fixed the trialogue with Katherine and captain Frenzl not triggering from a specific direction.

- Fixed a visual issue with Zizka's eating animation.

- Fixed player's horse's tack changing in the final cutscene.

The Voivode's Curse

- Rebalanced the blacksmithing recipe to require ingredients appropriate for the Trosky region.

- Prevented asking Aranka for more work if the quest is already started.

- Fixed quest log not reflecting some quest decisions properly.

The White Roebuck

- Fixed players being able to easily make money by killing poachers repeatedly.

- Fixed a certain animal not appearing after the game was saved and loaded after finding the hide.

Thou Art But Dust…

- Improved collision of the trapdoor.

- Fixed players not being able complete the pyramid of skulls and continue the quest.

Tragedy in Danemark

- Fixed the issue with the reaction of miller's family to the player's elimination of the bandits.

Troubadours

- Fixed Michael and George sometimes standing free after loading a save next to the pillory.

- Fixed daily schedule for Michael and George.

Via Argentum

- Improved trespass zones inside of the secret mint.

- Added alternative dialogue for speaking with Volkmar outside of his court

- Improved dialogue cameras for initial dialogue with Volkmar.

- Fixed the issue sometimes making Buresh immortal.

- Fixed the issue where Buresh could react to the player's strikes and potentially flee.

- Fixed the issue where Buresh could teleport out of the secret mint during the timeskip.

- Fixed issue where some characters could be stripped during the opening cutscene.

- Fixed the condition in the final dialogue with Christian of Pisek to match the events in the secret mint.

- Fixed the issue where Volkmar teleported a short distance away and did not react to the player if the player chose to kill him.

Victimised

- Improved timings for notifications of certain skillcheck resolutions.

- Adjusted the Wait for Margaret interactor to be easier to find.

- Fixed possible crime reactions later in the quest, if player knocked out Lacek in the inn.

Warding Off Evil

- Improved lighting in the inn basement.

- Improved the Parler chamber, specifically the window surroundings for a graceful knockout.

- Fixed an issue where the Protective Axe disappeared from the inventory after giving Johann another axe.

Wedding Crashers

- Improved dialogue cameras.

- Improved Hanush's position in the dialogue.

- Removed the option to attack NPCs at the wedding.

- Removed blood on NPCs before wedding ceremony.

- Improved movement of the cook while trying to lure her away from the kitchen.

- Rebalanced the training sword's damage.

- Michael and George can attend the wedding now.

- Fixed GPU performance issues during the wedding cutscene.

- Fixed some optional objectives and behavior.

- Fixed condition in dialogue between Svatya and Vuytek.

- Fixed optional dialogue condition with the guard by the cellar.

- Fixed optional dialogue conditions with Jurko.

- Fixed optional dialogue conditions with the Chamberlain.

- Fixed going unconscious again right after getting up during event brawl.

- Fixed an issue where Strong broth was not working as an anti-alcohol food.

- Fixed dialogue condition before going to the wedding.

Yackers'n'Fash

- Added Innkeeper Helga Schelm as a tipster for the Yackers 'N' Fash quest.

- Fixed the issue with foreman Vlach not telling player to meet later in the evening.

--

(Plus hundreds of other fixes and improvements not mentioned in detail)

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.

More of THPS 3 + 4 Remastered's Soundtrack Revealed - Song List So Far

13 mars 2025 à 17:00

One of the biggest reasons for why we remember the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games so fondly is because of the licensed soundtrack. From punk rock to hip-hop, and a new wave of hardcore with the remasters, the series forged our music tastes, and it will continue to do so with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 Remastered coming July 11 this year. In the lead up to its release, Activision is putting together the official THPS 3 + 4 playlist on Spotify and continually updating it as it reveals more and more of the song list.

The first wave of tracks have just been revealed, and here are the songs we currently know of for the THPS 3 + 4 Remastered soundtrack:

  • "Ace of Spades" by Motörhead
  • "Them Bones" by Alice in Chains
  • "Ultimate" by Denzel Curry
  • "Gang of Four" by Damaged Goods
  • "96 Quite Bitter Beings" by CKY
  • "Yankee and the Brave (Ep. 4)" by Run the Jewels
  • "King of the Beach" by Wavves
  • "Real Thing" by Turnstile
  • "Not the Same" by Bodyjar
  • "New Wage Salary" by End It
  • "Head" by Jeff Rosenstock
  • "Collard Greens" by Schoolboy Q and Kendrick Lamar
  • "Outta Here" by KRS-One
  • "Result" by TCMF
  • "Dog Years" by Urethane
  • "Charlotte" by Kittie
  • "Mass Appeal" by Gang Starr
  • "Faster than the World" by H20
  • "Roadkill" by Starcrawler
  • "Amoeba" by Adolescents

Additionally, those who get the deluxe edition of the game, or access it through Xbox Game Pass, will also get a full band version of the Doom E1M1 theme song as a playable track (along with the Doom Slayer and Revenant skater skins).

Personally, I'd love to hear Guttermouth's "I'm Destroying the World" and AFI's "The Boy Who Destroyed the World" from THPS 3 make comebacks, as well as Bad Religion's "Big Bang" and Flogging Molly's "Drunken Lullabies" from THPS 4. That's mostly because I'm a washed up old punk kid. However, it's an opportunity to discover new music and celebrate the scene as it is today, bridging the gap between the new and old as was the case with THPS 1 + 2 Remastered from 2021.

Those who preorder THPS 3 + 4 Remastered's deluxe or collector's edition can access the playable demo right now which includes two parks, two skaters, and a limited soundtrack. An exclusive physical Birdhouse skate deck also comes with the collector's edition. You'll also be able to access the full game early on July 8, three days ahead of its official release date.

White House Robot Romance Delivers an Improbable Story of Love Amid Wartime

13 mars 2025 à 17:00

If you've been wondering what Batman writer Chip Zdarsky is up to now that he's ended his run on that series, wonder no more. IGN can exclusively reveal White House Robot Romance, a kooky new series from DSTLRY that explores an imporbable romance set against the backdrop of a brewing war between the US and Canada. Well, at least the robot part is still science fiction...

Check out the slideshow gallery below for an exclusive look at cover art and interior pages from White House Robot Romance #1:

White House Robot Romance pairs Zdarsky with artist Rachael Stott (Star Trek, Doctor Who), with colors by Tamra Bonvillain and letters by Ariana Maher. The first issue also features covers by Jill Thompson, Elsa Charretier, and Bengal.

Here's DSTLRY's official summary of this politically timely new series:

When Chef-9 learns that Service-1 is scheduled for immediate decommissioning, he makes an unprecedented choice: abandon his station, break protocol, and flee with Service-1 into the streets of Washington, D.C. But what starts as a desperate act of defiance quickly spirals into an international crisis. Service-1’s memory banks hold highly classified state secrets—ones that could tilt the balance of power between America and Canada. As paranoia mounts and the military mobilizes, the runaway robots find themselves hunted by government agents and targeted by corporate spies.

“Yes, there’s science fiction and political intrigue here, but the heart is an old-fashioned romance,” said Zdarsky in a statement. “Getting to write the love story between Service-1 and Chef-9 and see their love come to life thanks to Rachael and Tamra has been an absolute delight. I hope everyone falls for these two the way I have!”

“Drawing White House Robot Romance has been an incredible challenge in the best way possible,” adds Rachael Stott, co-creator and artist. “I’m channeling my love of classic sci-fi, espionage thrillers, and of course, star-crossed romance. Bringing these characters to life and making them feel human has been an exciting experience.”

White House Robot Romance #1 will be released in Summer 2025.

For more exclusive comic book previews, check out a look at the final issue of TMNT: The Last Ronin II and The Dark Knight Returns-inspired Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell.

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

Official Disco Elysium Mobile Version Announced, ZA/UM Calls It a 'Fun, On-the-Go Alternative' Aimed at TikTok Users

13 mars 2025 à 16:45

Hot on the heels of its announcement of new game Project C4, ZA/UM has announced an official mobile version of Disco Elysium.

ZA/UM said its goal for the mobile version, exclusive to Android devices, is to bring Disco Elysium to new players “and hopefully serve existing Disco Elysium players with a fun, on-the-go alternative.” To this end, it will release the first two chapters of Disco Elysium for mobile free of charge. You can then pay once to unlock the full game, ad-free.

“We want players to make an informed decision about their potential purchase,” ZA/UM said. “Today’s ZA/UM studio is comprised of both creators and custodians of the Disco Elysium IP. We take both of those roles very seriously and we believe that is evident in the Disco Elysium mobile experience we are creating.”

Studio head Denis Havel went one step further and said Disco Elysium on mobile is about attracting the TikTok audience.

“We intend to captivate the TikTok user with quick hits of compelling story, art, and audio, ultimately creating an all new, deeply engaging form of entertainment,” Havel said.

ZA/UM’s announcement came alongside a debut trailer for Disco Elysium on mobile, as well as screenshots. The game has new, 360-degree scenes built “exclusively to place the mobile user right in the middle of Revachol.” There’s brand new audio featuring full voiceover that “serves to deliver a more immersive, even more character-rich experience.”

Here’s the official blurb:

This is a total re-imagination of the award-winning, gripping psychological RPG Disco Elysium and designed to completely cater to the habits of today’s mobile users. This story-rich adventure has been optimized for short play sessions, allowing players to dive in anytime, anyplace on their mobile devices.

Narrative Lead Chris Priestman said Disco Elysium’s mobile version is “what audiobooks wish they were,” and is designed to be played in short bursts.

Disco Elysium released on mobile via Google Android summer 2025.

It is of course worth noting that while the studio name is the same, many of the key people who worked on Disco Elysium are not at ZA/UM. Numerous former ZA/UM members have left the studio since Disco Elysium's release, and some of those are working on spiritual successors.

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.

Cancelled Series Star Wars: Underworld Was So Expensive, It Would've 'Blown Up' the Star Wars Universe

13 mars 2025 à 16:41

I’m not gonna lie: this one stings. Star Wars prequels producer Rick McCallum recently revealed that the legendary cancelled series Star Wars: Underworld would’ve cost a whopping $40 million per episode to make — effectively dooming it to be axed for budget reasons.

“The problem was that each episode was bigger than the films,” McCallum explained in an interview on the Young Indy Chronicles podcast. “So the lowest I could get it down to with the tech that existed then was $40 million an episode.” McCallum added that the inability to successfully realize the project over the years continues to be “one of the great disappointments of our lives.”

With 60 “third draft” scripts written that showcased the Star Wars universe in “sexy, violent, dark, challenging, complicated, and wonderful” ways from “the most wonderful writers in the world,” it seems as though the budget was the true killer in the crib for this project. 60 scripts times $40 million an episode is already well into the $1 billion mark — and it seems as though even George Lucas himself couldn’t scrounge up that kind of cash back in the early 2000s.

“[It] would’ve blown up the whole Star Wars universe and Disney would’ve definitely never offered George to buy the franchise,” McCallum added. The series was truly axed once Disney took control of Lucasfilm and Lucas stepped aside.

Though McCallum did not confirm any plot details during this interview, fans have long believed that the series would cover the events between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. The producer previously revealed that the series would feature a whole new cast of characters, would’ve greatly expanded the Star Wars universe, and was targeting an adult — rather than teen and child — audience.

Star Wars: Underworld was first revealed at Star Wars Celebration back in 2005 and test footage from the series was leaked in 2020, but since then, that’s all she wrote. Sadly, it looks as though it may just stay that way.

Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.

Monster Hunter Wilds Player Shows How Connected Its World Is With 9-Minute Seikret Trip

13 mars 2025 à 16:00

The world of Monster Hunter Wilds is big, and also pretty connected. One player set out to show just that, with a long journey from a starting zone to the peaks of its later areas.

Over on the Monster Hunter subreddit, user -BrotherPig- posted a video, below, chronicling their journey across the zones of Monster Hunter Wilds. They start out in the Windward Plains, running across the sand and dunes, all the way to the later game zones and, eventually, some of the last game areas and locales. Spoilers await, if you haven't rolled credits on the campaign just yet.

It's an impressively long trip, and emphasizes just how linked all the zones are. There's only one loading screen that happens, around halfway into the trip, as the traveler heads from the Oilwell Basin into the Iceshard Cliffs. Otherwise, it's one big run for this presumably exhausted Seikret.

Monster Hunter Wilds isn't entirely without loading screens, of course. Aside from the one we see in the trip above, there's also the loading screen to enter the training grounds, and those you would get from fast traveling or departing for a friend's quest. But the connectivity is certainly fascinating to see in action, and gave me a new appreciation for all the little corridors and passages that connect the Forbidden Lands.

The secret sauce for Monster Hunter Wilds though, according to a series producer, is apparently in its story, immersion, and cross-play. I've personally just enjoyed seeing all the discoveries players are making with how Wilds handles the series' systems in the open world. No matter why you're playing, it seems like there's still stuff to keep players occupied between now and the first Title Update in April.

To help get your Monster Hunter Wilds adventure started, take a look at what Monster Hunter Wilds doesn’t tell you, and a guide to all 14 weapon types in the game. We’ve also got a detailed Monster Hunter Wilds walkthrough in progress, a Monster Hunter Wilds multiplayer guide to explain how to play with friends, and if you’ve played one of the open betas, here’s how to transfer your Monster Hunter Wilds Beta character over.

IGN’s Monster Hunter Wilds review returned an 8/10. We said: “Monster Hunter Wilds continues to smooth off the rougher corners of the series in smart ways, making for some extremely fun fights but also lacking any real challenge.”

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.

Adolescence Review

13 mars 2025 à 16:00

The Netflix miniseries Adolescence is probably best classified as a drama, with some of the mystery and suspense elements of a police procedural. No one would file it under “horror.” Except that… maybe they should?

If nothing else, it begins with a moment straight out of a nightmare. A half-dozen armed, armored British police officers barge into a nice suburban home and start barking orders. They drag a 13-year-old named Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) out of his bed, leaving the parents, Eddie (Stephen Graham) and Mandy (Christine Tremarco), confused and panicked. It seems that Jamie, a sweet-looking youngster, has been accused of murdering a classmate named Katie. Later, at the police station, Eddie – named as his son’s legally appointed “appropriate adult” – watches as the mortified teen gets strip-searched and then interrogated. Thanks to the novel presentation devised by co-writers Graham and Jack Thorne and director Philip Barantini, we watch it all play out in real time, in one continuous shot that steeps us in the dread and confusion of the Millers’ harrowing new reality.

Because by the end of the first episode, a new nightmare swamps the old one. What if Jamie is guilty? What if Eddie raised a child capable of stabbing a teenage girl seven times? Adolescence is less concerned with who killed Katie than it is with examining – with more sorrow than scorn – the sick souls of today’s youth. Each of its four episodes is incredibly intense, pushing us to question any assumptions we have about the crime and who’s responsible. Graham and Thorne sketch out a vision of a world where adults barely register in the lives of young people, who instead scrutinize and bully each other incessantly, online and in person. This miniseries is, quite frequently, terrifying.

It also has one heck of a gimmick. Each episode covers roughly one hour in the lives of the people involved with the case. Episode one deals with the arrest and the initial interrogation. Episode two takes place two days later, as two detectives, Luke Bascombe (Ashley Walters) and Misha Frank (Faye Marsay) question Jamie’s classmates. In the third episode, set seven months later, Jamie is at a juvenile detention center, having a tense conversation with a social worker, Briony Ariston (Erin Doherty), about how his attitudes toward women have been shaped by misogynistic online influencers. And in the fourth and final episode, set on Eddie’s 50th birthday, the parents try to have a nice, normal morning, but keep getting gutting reminders of what their child is capable of.

Though neither the material nor the technique are new ground for Adolescence’s creative team – Graham has spent most of his formidable career playing tightly wound, angry men, in projects like the Thorne-written youth-culture chronicle This Is England and Barantini’s previous real-time/one-shot experiment, Boiling Point – there are downsides to telling a story this way. Because each of these four episodes only documents a sliver of the characters’ lives, a good chunk of the dialogue is spent on info-dumping, making sure we know who everybody is and are up to speed on everything that happened off-screen. There’s a bluntness to the way people talk in Adolescence. Graham and Thorne have some big themes they want to explore, about how navigating childhood today is both trickier and more dangerous than it was 30 or 40 years before the internet age. And given how tightly constructed each episode is, the characters often just say outright what’s on their mind, so they can get the point across before the credits roll.

The upside to staging everything in one continuous shot? Each episode is absolutely riveting, and is graced with performances that have time to develop and shift right in front of our eyes – like a piece of live theater. Cooper in particular is a real casting coup. As Jamie, he holds his own in scenes with powerhouse actors like Graham and Doherty, shifting unnervingly easily between looking like a scared little boy and swaggering like a fledgling “manosphere”-pilled bro.

Adolescence is graced with performances that have time to develop and shift right in front of our eyes.

More than anything though, what makes the “you are there” approach work so well in Adolescence is that it gets us to experience a shocking tragedy through the eyes of each of the main characters, often as they themselves are processing it. We’re with Jamie as he navigates the grim realities of the police station. We’re with the detectives Bascombe and Frank as they become depressed and discouraged by the gray lifelessness of Jamie and Katie’s school. We’re with Briony as she tries to coax Jamie into describing what a 13-year-old understands about sexuality and gender roles. And we’re with Eddie, as he wrestles with whether or not he’s been a good father.

Graham, Thorne and Barantini play a lot with subjectivity throughout this series, by muting the dialogue at times – to reflect how the characters have become too overwhelmed by what’s happening to process it – or by having people describe in precise terms what they’re sensing and feeling. (DS Frank sums up the institutional hell of Jamie’s school by telling DI Bascombe it smells like “vomit, cabbage, and masturbation.”) Primarily, what they’re doing is taking a huge social crisis and breaking it down to small, comprehensible moments, lived through by sympathetic individuals. They’re doing what Eddie’s therapist encourages him to do whenever the pain of Jamie’s alleged crime cuts him too deep: He’s supposed to “solve the problem of today,” not to obsess over yesterday or worry about tomorrow. And yet the reality of what happened keeps creeping in, like a shadow. Like Adolescence itself, the darkness is chilling.

Microsoft Will Soon Integrate its Copilot AI Into the Xbox App — and Eventually Into Your Xbox Games

13 mars 2025 à 16:00

As a part of Microsoft's ongoing efforts to implement artificial intelligence into basically everything, the company is preparing to introduce its AI Copilot into your Xbox experience to give you gaming advice, help you remember where you left off last time you played, and perform other tasks.

Announced today, Copilot for gaming will be rolled out for Xbox Insiders through the Xbox mobile app sometime soon for testing. If you're not already aware, Copilot is Microsoft's existing AI chatbot (that replaced Cortana in 2023) that's already integrated into Windows. The gaming version will have a handful of features at launch. You can ask it to install games on your Xbox for you (a process you can already do now just by pushing a single button on the app), and you can also ask it about your play history (in case you forgot what you were doing last time you played), achievements, library, or for a recommendation of what to play next. You'll also be able to speak to Copilot for Gaming directly on the Xbox app while you're playing, and it will serve you answers in the same way Copilot currently does when asked questions via Windows.

Probably the biggest use-cases touted by Microsoft available at launch is Copilot as a gaming assistant. You can already ask Copilot questions about games any time on PC, such as how to beat a boss or solve a puzzle, and it will source answers via Bing from various online guides, websites, wikis, and forums. Soon, you'll also be able to ask it those same questions on the Xbox app.

"Our goal is to have Copilot for Gaming source the most accurate game knowledge — so we are working with game studios to make sure the information Copilot surfaces reflects their vision, and Copilot will refer players back to the original source of the information."

Unshockingly, Microsoft does not intend to limit itself to just these Copilot functions. In a press briefing, Microsoft spokespeople discussed other future possibilities for Copilot in video games, including as a walkthrough assistant to explain basic game functions, remember where items where left in a game, or tell you where to find new ones, or as a helper in competitive games that could offer strategy suggestions and tips in real-time to counter opponents' moves, or explain how and why an engagement unfolded the way it did. Though it was emphasized that these were both just ideas they were toying with, the presentation made clear that Microsoft is insistant on finding ways to integrate Copilot closely with regular Xbox gameplay. And Microsoft confirmed to me that it will eventually work with not just first-party studios, but third-party studios for integration into their games as well.

With that in mind, I asked Microsoft if Copilot gaming would be opt in or opt out of use, or if users could opt out of having their data used to train it. The answer is that yes, Xbox Insiders can opt out during the preview, but the door was left open for Copilot to be mandatory in the future. Here's what a spokesperson said:

"During this preview on mobile, players will be able to decide how and when they want to interact with Copilot for Gaming, whether it has access to their conversation history, and what it does on their behalf.

"As we preview and test Copilot for Gaming with players early, we will continue to be transparent about what data we collect, how we use it, and the choices players have around sharing their personal data."

IGN understands that Copilot is not being limited to just player-focused usage, and that Microsoft will be providing an overview on plans for developer use in a session at the Game Developers Conference on Monday next week.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

PowerWash Simulator 2 Out Late 2025, First Trailer and Screenshots Released

13 mars 2025 à 16:00

FuturLab has announced PowerWash Simulator 2, the sequel to the hugely popular cleaning game.

The Brighton, UK-based studio said it’s self-publishing PowerWash Simulator 2 after Final Fantasy maker Square Enix published the smash hit first game since 2022. It’s due out late 2025 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC.

PowerWash Simulator does exactly what it says on the tin: players clean grubby environments with a powerwash. It’s a smash hit, with over 17 million players enjoying the satisfying ping whenever a dirty section of the environment is cleared of dirt. PowerWash Simulator did so well that it ended up attracting big-time licensed DLC, including Warhammer 40,000, Shrek, and SpongeBob SquarePants.

It’s the commercial success of PowerWash Simulator that put FuturLab in a position to self-publish the sequel.

“PowerWash Simulator 2 feels like a natural evolution from its predecessor,” said Dan Chequer, Design Director at FuturLab.

“The original game’s design was all about eliminating anything that detracted from the pure satisfaction of taking something dirty and making it clean. PowerWash Simulator 2 is all about adding in even more avenues for players to achieve that same sense of satisfaction, with new tools, features and quality of life improvements.

“We're really excited to see players dust off their power washers and get stuck into this brand-new campaign, that brings you even more to clean, and even more ways to release the pressure.”

PowerWash Simulator 2 includes a new campaign uncovering more of Muckingham’s mysteries and brand-new grime-coated locations like Sponge Valley, Power Falls, and Lubri City. You even have a home base this time around, where you can “put down your roots and make the place yours by collecting furniture and trinkets to spruce it up along the way, then invite your power wash pals over to check out your pad.”

Also new is split-screen and the ability to share campaign progression online together for the first time.

Now here’s something interesting: FuturLab said it’s “excited” to share more information in April. Now, what’s happening in April? Only Nintendo’s Switch 2 Direct

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.

Void Martyrs Announced for PC

13 mars 2025 à 15:56

Mac N Cheese, a studio composed of (among other folks) former art leads from Cyberpunk 2077, has announced Void Martyrs, a grimdark, top-down action game in which you are sent on a crusade to recover treasured relics at the edge of a blackhole, only to face off against those affected by a biomechanical plague. You play as a nun. Is that a video game first?

The developers describe Void Martyrs's gameplay loop as having "a unique Stigmata/Faith system where the divine choices you make impact your access to certain items and affect gameplay, especially how you survive against the invading evil. Players can take the easier route of slaughtering their way through the dark, but will face a tougher time escaping the unrelenting plague. Will you march blindly to your death, or defy the institution that cast you into the abyss?"

Survival and crafting mechanics come into play as you explore quarantined ships and space cathedrals. And as for how death is handled in Void Martyrs? "If you die," Mac N Cheese says, "Never fear, the Universal Church has thousands of novices and will simply send another to recover your holy remains and take up the cause."

Void Martyrs is in development for PC. 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.

The Last of Us Season 2 Trailer Breaks HBO Records Nearly a Month Before It Begins

13 mars 2025 à 15:36

The second season of The Last of Us hasn’t even arrived yet, but its looming presence is already making a splash.

The show’s most recent trailer for Season 2, which was released during a SXSW panel, has garnered over 158 million views across platforms in just three days, according to numbers provided by Warner Brothers Discovery. The streamer claimed this is a record for HBO and Max original programming, and that this trailer has outperformed previous promos for the show by “at least 160%”

You can’t stop this.#TheLastOfUs returns April 13 on Max. pic.twitter.com/DH8UzAugIV

— Max (@StreamOnMax) March 8, 2025

The show seems to only be growing in popularity as fans new and old alike wait patiently for Season 2’s arrival. The Season 1 episodes are averaging “around 32 million cross-platform viewers” domestically, which is a huge jump from the numbers of, say, Season 1’s finale. It racked up an impressive 8.2 million same-day viewers across platforms when it aired in March 2023, according to Deadline. Clearly, folks are excitedly getting ready for the next leg of the story with a little rewatch, but this huge jump in numbers says a lot about just how big this series actually is. It’s definitely one of the most successful for HBO in recent years, but the anticipation and love toward the show is undeniable with numbers like these.

The Last of Us will make a five-year time jump for Season 2, and follow Joel and Ellie as they are “drawn into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.” Stars Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, and Rutina Wesley are set to return, with heavy hitters like Kaitlyn Dever, Isabella Merced, Catherine O’Hara, and Jeffrey Wright joining the cast alongside them this season.

At the SXSW panel, showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin confirmed “spores are back” following their omission from Season 1. The trailer teased the introduction of spores after they were left out of Season 1; we see Ellie, played by Bella Ramsey, view an infected whose breath releases the spores.

Druckmann said there is "an escalation of numbers and types of infected, but also, as you see in the trailer, an escalation of the vector of how this thing spreads" in The Last of Us Season 2, adding: "Season 1, we had this new thing that wasn’t in the game of these tendrils that spread, and that was one form. And then one shot you see in this trailer, there are things in the air."

Mazin later confirmed "spores are back," before Druckmann added: "The reason [we’re doing it now], I mean, we really wanted to figure it out, and again, everything has to be drama. There had to be a dramatic reason of introducing it now. And there is."

Season 2 of The Last of Us premieres April 13, 2025 on HBO and HBO Max.

Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.

Nintendo Announces San Francisco Official Store Grand Opening Date, Details How to Attend

13 mars 2025 à 15:26

Nintendo will open its San Francisco store on May 15, it has announced.

Nintendo San Francisco is the second official Nintendo store in the United States, and follows the hugely popular New York location, which was formerly known as the Nintendo World Store, but closed down for renovations and rebranding as Nintendo NY before reopening in 2016.

The San Francisco store is located in Union Square at 331 Powell Street. Here’s what Nintendo had to say:

In addition to game systems and games, Nintendo San Francisco will offer a unique shopping experience filled with Nintendo’s characters, worlds and exclusive products including accessories, apparel, home goods and souvenirs available only at this location.

Reservations will be required to attend the grand opening (Nintendo said more details are coming soon), but it also announced the My Nintendo x Nintendo San Francisco Sweepstakes, which gives those who enter a chance to win a trip to the grand opening.

You and up to two guests can experience the city during a three-night, four-day trip and receive a tour of the new store during the Nintendo San Francisco launch event, Nintendo said.

The grand opening in May follows Nintendo’s Switch 2 Direct in April, and will surely be packed with Switch 2-related products eventually.

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.

Why One Photo on LinkedIn Has Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War Fans Excited

13 mars 2025 à 14:05

Warhammer 40,000 real-time strategy series Dawn of War has been dormant ever since Relic Entertainment ended support for its failed 2017 effort, Dawn of War 3. Still, the first two games remain much-loved by fans, who have wondered ever since whether a Dawn of War 4 or maybe even remakes of either Dawn of War 1 or 2 might be in the works.

Now, after a single photo was published to LinkedIn, Dawn of War fans have hope that something new in the series is finally on the way.

Let’s start with Relic Entertainment itself, which recently gained independence from prior owner Sega via investment from Emona Capital. Emona managing partner Dominik Dolenec published a selfie to LinkedIn showing him standing outside Games Workshop’s Nottingham headquarters and the mecca that is Warhammer World. Yes, that’s a statue of a Space Marine in the background. It’s awesome.

The foreground is more interesting, however. Dolenec is wearing a Relic Entertainment T-shirt for his trip to Games Workshop, and so it can be reasonably assumed that he’s in town representing the developer.

“Great visit to Games Workshop PLC in Nottingham,” Dolenec said. “Many thanks to Owen Rees for sharing the Warhammer magic with us! Looking forward to deepening our partnership in years to come. 💪🎮”

Owen Rees is Group Head of Licensing at Games Workshop. He’s worked on a number of Warhammer video games, and leads the licensing of video games and consumer products for all Warhammer products. It’s also worth noting those emojis at the end of Dolenec’s comment. This very much reads like a video game business meeting.

You can imagine the speculation. Dawn of War 4 is top of the wishlist, it seems, but perhaps remakes of Dawn of War 1 and / or 2 are on the cards instead. Let’s be optimistic and suggest a brand new game and remakes are all in the works. Why not?

Here’s what we know: Games Workshop is on the hunt for the next big Warhammer video game hit after the hugely successful, 5 million-selling Space Marine 2 changed everything for developer Saber Interactive.

In January, reporting results for the first half of its financial year ending December 1, 2024, Games Workshop CEO Kevin Rountree hailed the success of Space Marine 2, which contributed significant royalty revenue to the business.

In fact, licensing revenue from royalty income increased in the period by a whopping £18 million (approx. $21.9 million) to £30.1 million (approx. $36.7 million). Earned income, which is the key figure here, was £26.1 million (approx. $31.8 million), up from £5.9 million (approx. $7.2 million), an increase Games Workshop said was mainly from Space Marine 2. 98% of Games Workshop’s total licensing revenue came from PC and console games (Space Marine 2 launched on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S).

A win all round, then, but Rountree also expressed a degree of caution on potential future video game success, admitting hits like Space Marine 2 are few and far between.

Here’s the statement:

During the period, our licensing partners launched two new video games; Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, a third person shooter for PC and console and Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks, a combat racing game. Established games continue to contribute, alongside royalty income earned following the success of Space Marine 2. We recognise that successes like these for Warhammer are not a given in the world of video games. Clearly we are looking for the next one. We remain cautious when forecasting royalty income.

So, where could this big Warhammer video game hit come from? It seems inevitable that Saber Interactive will get the chance to continue the Space Marine story with Space Marine 3, and indeed has said it has ideas for a third game.

Warhammer 40,000 has never been bigger. Amazon’s Space Marine 2 animation, released as part of the Secret Level anthology series, went down well with fans. And there’s huge excitement about the Henry Cavill-fronted Warhammer 40,000 projects in the works for Amazon, although they're years away. Creative Assembly is reportedly working on a Warhammer 40,000 Total War game (finally!), although it is apparently years away. Could a revival of Dawn of War scratch that strategy itch in the meantime?

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.

The Wheel of Time Season 3 Premiere Review

13 mars 2025 à 14:00

This review contains full spoilers for The Wheel of Time episodes 1-3.

The Wheel of Time turns, and a new season begins explosively with two excellent episodes showing what the series does best: creative magical battles, messy personal drama, and grappling with the world-shaking repercussions of the clashing agendas of powerful people. The episode that follows, however, is a bit of a let down by comparison, offering some good intrigue and emotional scenes but lacking focus because it has to weave together too many plots to set up what’s next.

Aes Sedai in the show wear the colors of their factions far more prominently than in the books, to make it easier for the audience to keep track of who’s who and on what their general deal is – and it’s hilarious that now that Liandrin (Kate Fleetwood) has been revealed to be secretly Black Ajah, she’s conveniently also splashing in some black along with her red apparel. Tensions are high in the White Tower: No one’s sure just how deep the contamination goes. Their concern is both warranted and misdirected, focused on the rest of the Red Ajah only to learn that the highest ranks of all of the groups have members who have devoted themselves to the Dark One. The contempt the Reds show for the Warders guarding the door when they try to join the fray is particularly funny because they’re actually in the right. It’s the Yellow and Green Ajah coming up behind them that are the real threat.

Aes Sedai dialogue is very cleverly written so that they twist words while always telling the truth. The Amyrlin Seat Siuan Sanche (Sophie Okonedo) acknowledges just how much trouble she’d be in if Liandrin’s allegations about her letting a male channeler go are true – which of course they are – before launching into her counteroffensive with Nynaeve al’Meara (Zoë Robins) as her key witness. Discovering Nynaeve has escaped the Seanchan to tell of her betrayal, Liandrin stops politicking and starts attacking.

All hell breaks loose in the White Tower, with the magical carnage quickly spilling out into the streets of Tar Valon. Lots of nameless Aes Sedai die in creative ways including balls of fire, magical evisceration, and being crushed by the ornate pillars of the White Tower itself. The use of shielding and healing makes for a particularly dynamic fight where combatants don’t necessarily stay down but death is still a real possibility.

That’s particularly true for a Warder, whose job is to protect their Aes Sedai at all costs. It’s beautiful that Maksim (Taylor Napier) and Ihvon (Anthony Kaye, replacing Emmanuel Imani) both dive to shield Alanna Mosvani (Priyanka Bose) from Liandin’s blade – it just happens to be Ihvon who takes the fatal blow. It’s a loss heavily foreshadowed by the throuple’s failed attempt to help the warder Stepin (Peter Franzén) deal with the death of his Aes Sedai in season 1.

The other strong emotional note of the fight is Moiraine Damodred (Rosamund Pike) saving Siuan despite being exiled by her former lover last season. The longing look the Amerlyn gives Moiraine before she disappears back in the city says so much about how even though their obligations may have drawn them apart, they would still do anything to help each other.

After the initial fireworks subside, The Wheel of Time provides something that’s been all too rare since the first episodes of the series: Moiraine and the five people she rescued from Emond’s Field all together, grappling with the weight of their destiny and the deep connections that bind them. The damage of Barney Harris’ departure in season 1 has now been largely undone and Dónal Finn has settled into the role of Mat Cauthon nicely, playing up his mischievous side while he pointedly ignores Moraine’s advice to lay low. He also shows deep vulnerability by turning to his former village wisdom Nynaeve for help dealing with the memories that have been tormenting him since he blew the Horn of Valere.

Season 1 and 2 largely corresponded to Robert Jordan’s first two Wheel of Time novels, and season 3 opens with a lot of talk about how Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski) should embrace his destiny as the Dragon Reborn and claim the sword Callandor in Tear – the plot of the series third book, The Dragon Reborn. But instead, the show skips that quest and moves to book 4, The Shadow Rising, by having Rand let his new Aiel bodyguards take him to the Aiel Waste to see if he is actually their prophesied leader.

Season 3 provides something that’s been all too rare since the first episodes of The Wheel of Time.

After Rand used magic to tear apart a Seanchan who challenged him to a duel last season, I was worried that he’d entirely abandon the swordsmanship that’s so important to his character in the books. Luckily that’s not the case and Rand and Moiraine’s warder al'Lan Mandragoran (Daniel Henney) use physical training as an opportunity for some guy talk, giving Rand a break from the burdens of his immense magical power. The trust the men build provides a sharp contrast to Rand’s hostile relationship with Moiraine, who is so desperate to control him that she’ll cut deals with the phenomenally untrustworthy Forsaken Lanfear (Natasha O'Keeffe).

The Aiel warrior Aviendha (Ayoola Smart) gets the most new layers thanks to her sweet relationship with the princess and Aes Sedai in training Elayne Trakand (Ceara Coveney) and her general contempt for to idea of a “wetlander” being her people’s chosen one. (It’s an arc that’s very similar to Chani’s in Frank Herbert’s Dune, which Jordan said he was a fan of.) Aviendha’s fellow Maiden of the Spear Bain (Ragga Ragnars) and Chiad (Maja Simonsen) have strong moments of charm themselves in the form of the dangerous game of Maiden’s Kiss they play with Mat; hilariously, they also want to play it with the scholarly Ogier Loial (Hammed Animashaun). The numerous spear scratches on Mat’s neck provide a very funny testament to his courage and mediocre smooching skills.

Egwene al’Vere (Madeleine Madden) is having a tough time, haunted by nightmares of her torture by the Seanchan caused by Lanfear, who’s jealous of Rand’s childhood sweetheart. Madden beautifully conveys the character’s fierceness as she works to reclaim her own power by advancing rank in the Aes Sedai, even if it means confronting her fears that Rand will go mad with power. That scene’s impact is a bit diminished by how bad Stradowski looks in a wig that’s meant to give him the same wild look as the False Dragon Logain (Álvaro Morte). The Aes Sedai trials are such a good opportunity for character development that it’s a real shame Elayne’s isn’t shown, especially considering that she has a lot to fear based on the ruthlessness of her mother, Queen Morgase (Olivia Williams).

The show continues to be much bloodier and hornier than Jordan’s books. Elayne’s brothers attracting the attention of all the novices while sparring at the White Tower is straight out of The Great Hunt, but the loud sex they have after isn’t. Same for the extremely Game of Thrones-like palace scene where Morgasse ascends the throne with the help of her Aes Sedai advisor Elaida a'Roihan (Shohreh Aghdashloo) by having all her competitors murdered. It’s a bit over the top, but helps establish both Morgasse and Elaida as real threats to the Amryln’s authority, which is already fragile after the carnage Liandrin caused. Aghdashloo brings the same contemptuous dignity she demonstrated on The Expanse to her new role as she seeks to use the mistrust of the Red Ajah to her advantage.

The Wheel of Time continues to be much bloodier and hornier than Robert Jordan’s books.

Episode three is the weakest in this three-part premiere, pulled in too many directions as it sets up plots that will pay off in later episodes. Beyond Elaida’s machinations, the other strong arc is the emotional fallout over Ihvon’s loss, which provides some touching material on the complexity of shared grief. But everything else feels scattered. Mat shows off his new combat skills, Nynaeve and Elayne interrogate the Black Ajah to learn where Liandrin’s headed, Lan gets bugged about pursuing his own destiny, and Perrin Aybara (Marcus Rutherford) is denied a happy homecoming because the world’s falling apart and he killed a Whitecloak captain last season.

One of the episode’s biggest problems is how much time The Wheel of Time is devoting to its villains. It feels like the attempts to make Liandrin a sympathetic enemy have run their course. She might win a fight for the sisterhood by interrupting a child marriage, but she’s also killed many women or condemned them to fates worse than death. Lanfear is far more compelling in the conflicted nemesis role, but her fellow Forsaken assembling at the beginning of episode 3 don’t offer much menace themselves yet. The creepy Moghedien (Laia Costa) is clearly meant to be one of the season’s biggest enemies, but the fact that her assassins keep getting taken out relatively easily makes her an underwhelming threat.

How to Watch Invincible Season 3: Where to Stream and Episode Release Schedule

13 mars 2025 à 13:52

What if superheroes weren’t always… good? This seemed to be the primary question coming out of the 2010s era of MCU superhero movies. While a show like The Boys took to hyper-realistic live-action gore, Prime Video's Invincible depicts the "moral complications" of superheroes while keeping the animation's art style true to its comic book roots. The result is an equally gruesome depiction of superhero life featuring bold characters, complicated powers, and some of the best writing in adult animation.

After a smaller-than-usual break between seasons, Season 3 of Invincible is hitting streaming just a year after the release of Season 2. If you're wondering where to stream Season 3 of Invincible or want to start the show for the first time, check out the details below. If you're not afraid of spoilers, you can also head over to IGN's review of Invincible's Season 3 premiere.

Where to Stream Invincible Season 3

Invincible Season 3 is streaming exclusively on Prime Video. Standalone Prime Video subscriptions start at $8.99/month, but are also included in Amazon Prime memberships, which start at $14.99/month and include the usual Amazon perks (cough free shipping cough). Amazon Prime also offers a 30-day free trial.

Invincible Season 3 Episode Release Schedule

Invincible Season 3 premiered with three episodes on February 6. From there, single episodes were released weekly on Thursdays with no midseason break (Prime Video got the hint about that after the reaction to the midseason break in Season 2) for a total of eight episodes.

Here’s the full episode release schedule for Invincible Season 3:

What Is Invincible About?

Season 3 of Invincible picks up where Season 2 left off, with Mark Grayson growing into his superhero identity while navigating his social life and the existing hierarchy of heroes, villains, and people who could arguably be both. For anyone new to Invincible who isn’t quite ready for spoilers, here’s the official synopsis for the show, based on the comics by Robert Kirkman:

When Is Invincible Season 4?

Invincible has already been greenlit for a fourth season. The renewal came pretty soon after the Season 2 finale, back at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con. While Season 2 and 3 have aired relatively close to one another, there’s no word on when to expect a fourth season. With recent feedback on breaks between seasons, one can hope Invincible Season 4 arrives at some point in 2026.

Invincible Season 3 Voice Cast

Invincible was created by Robert Kirkman based on his own comics, which were created alongside Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley. Simon Racioppa serves as the showrunner. With a little bit of care taken to prevent spoilers, here’s some of the voice cast that stars in Invincible:

  • Steven Yeun as Mark Grayson/Invincible
  • J.K. Simmons as Nolan Grayson/Omni-Man
  • Sandra Oh as Debra Grayson
  • Gillian Jacobs as Samantha Eve Wilkins/Atom Eve
  • Ross Marquand and Zachary Quinto as Rudy/Robot
  • Jason Mantzoukas as Rex-Splode
  • Malese Jow as Dupli-Kate
  • Grey Griffin as Shrinking Rae
  • Grey Griffin and Kevin Michael Richardson as Monster Girl
  • Khary Payton as Black Samson
  • Jay Pharoah as Bulletproof
  • Ben Schwartz as The Shapesmith
  • Mark Hamill as Art
  • Seth Rogen as Allen the Alien

Additionally, per Deadline, Prime Video has announced that Aaron Paul, Simu Liu, Jonathan Banks, Kate Mara, Xolo Maridueña, John DiMaggio, Tzi Ma, Doug Bradley, and Christian Convery will be joining the cast of Invincible Season 3.

If you love this series, you may also want to check out the Invincible board game we reviewed just last year. It's a Hero-Building game that brings the characters from the series to the tabletop.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2’s First Public Test Server Goes Live, Update 7.0 Patch Notes Reveal Huge Changes

13 mars 2025 à 13:09

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2’s first public test server is now live, and with it comes an early look at the long-awaited Update 7.0 and its associated patch notes.

In a community post, publisher Focus Entertainment and developer Saber Interactive said these preliminary patch notes for the PTS version include “most” of the 7.0 update features. But the final 7.0 patch notes will “probably differ” as the development team is still working on bug fixes.

Still, there is a huge amount to dig into for PC players of Space Marine 2 who are in the PTS (it’s not available on console). For a start, Update 7.0 adds a new PvE mission, called Exfiltration, a new secondary weapon (Inferno Pistol for the Vanguard, Sniper, and Heavy classes), the endgame-focused prestige ranks in PvE, and private PvP lobbies.

There are exciting customization additions for Warhammer 40,000 fans, too, including new colors (Volupus Pink and Thousand Sons Blue), Bulwark cloth recoloring, hands recoloring, and customization rewards increased by 50% in PvP. The PTS adds an Imperial Fists Champion skin for the Tactical class, and a Space Wolves Champion for the Vanguard class.

There are some significant balance changes, too, headlined by an extended weapon arsenal in PvE which means all classes now have a larger weapon choice. Yes, that means the Assault class can finally use the Power Sword without mods. It’s worth checking the patch notes below to see all the tweaks to Space Marine 2’s many weapons.

Here’s a welcome change: on the Inferno Operation, if a player reaches the assembly area in the final stage of the level, the other players will be forcefully teleported there after some time (they will receive a notification about the teleportation after 1:30 and will be teleported 15 seconds later). Since launch, Space Marine 2 has had a griefing problem where players can remain outside the assembly area indefinitely, blocking progress for others.

Last month, the Space Marine 2 developers teased the upcoming Horde mode, and stamped out live service game talk amid a backlash to 'FOMO' Community Events. Earlier this year, Saber addressed growing frustration over a lack of content and outlined what players can expect from Space Marine 2 in the coming months.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Update 7.0 PTS Patch Notes:

New Features

  • New PvE mission: Exfiltration
  • New Secondary Weapon (PvP & PvE): Inferno Pistol for the Vanguard, Sniper and Heavy classes.
  • Prestige ranks in PvE.
  • PvP Private lobbies.
  • Customization:
    • New Colours (Volupus Pink and Thousand Sons Blue)
    • Bulwark Cloth Recoloring
    • Hands Recoloring
  • Rewards increased by 50% in PvP.

Balancing

  • Extended Weapon arsenal in PvE:

All the classes now have a larger weapon choice:

Heavy: Heavy Bolt Rifle | Heavy Bolt Pistol

Tactical: Combat Knife | Plasma Pistol | Heavy Bolt Pistol

Assault: Power Sword | Plasma Pistol

Bulwark: Heavy Bolt Pistol

Sniper: Heavy Bolt Pistol | Instigator Bolt Carbine

Vanguard: Heavy Bolt Pistol | Bolt Carbine

  • Heavy Bolt Rifle: reworked the 2 Artificer & 2 Relic versions:

Artificer / Salvation of Bakka - Alpha:

  • Magazine Capacity: Increased from 45 to 50
  • Ammo Reserve: Increased from 180 to 200

Artificer / Drogos Reclamation - Beta:

  • Accuracy: Lowered from 4.5 to 4
  • Range: Increased from 6 to 8
  • Magazine Capacity: Decreased from 50 to 45
  • Ammo Reserve: Lowered from 200 to 180
  • Added a scope

Relic / Gathalamor Crusade - Alpha:

  • Magazine Capacity: Increased from 45 to 55
  • Ammo reserve: Increased from 180 to 220

Relic / Ophelian Liberation - Beta:

  • Accuracy: Lowered from 5.5 to 4
  • Range: Increased from 6 to 8
  • Magazine Capacity: Decreased from 50 to 45
  • Ammo Reserve: Lowered from 200 to 180
  • Added a scope

  • Added a maximum cap to restore fade HP per action; and a max target to restore health per action to the following weapons:
    • Heavy Melta Gun
    • Melta Gun
    • Heavy Plasma

Weapon Perks Update

Heavy Bolt Rifle

"Able Precision" (Artificer tier): duration effect increased from 5 to 10 seconds.

"Fast Regeneration 1" (Artificer tier): Replaced with "Head Hunter" (Headshots deal 10% more Damage)

"Fast Regeneration 2" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Recoupment”: Killing a Majoris-level or higher enemy with a headshot with this weapon restores 1 Armour Segment. Cooldown is 15 seconds.

"Head Hunter 2” (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Tactical Precision”: "Headshots deal 20% more Damage. Non-Headshot Damage decreases by 10%."

"Rapid Health" (Relic tier): Health restoration increased from 5% to 10%. No longer has a cooldown.

"Rampage" (Relic tier): duration effect increased from 5 to 10 seconds. Cooldown decreased from 30 to 15 seconds.

"Honed Precision" (Relic tier): Maximum Spread decreased by 25% to 50%.

"Chaos Eliminator" (Relic tier): Replaced with “Divine Might” (Damage increases by 10%).

"Tyranid Eliminator" (Relic tier): Replaced with “Cleaving Fire” (Shots will penetrate Block Stances, dealing 25% of the usual Damage).

Bolt Rifle

"Able Precision" (Artificer tier): duration effect increased from 5 to 10 seconds.

"Fast Regeneration 1" (Artificer tier): Replaced with "Adamantine Grip" (Recoil is reduced by 25%).

"Fast Regeneration 2" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Recoupment”: Killing a Majoris-level or higher enemy with a headshot with this weapon restores 1 Armour Segment. Cooldown is 15 seconds.

"Head Hunter 2” (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Tactical Precision”: "Headshots deal 20% more Damage. Non-Headshot Damage decreases by 10%."

"Rapid Health" (Relic tier): Health restoration increased from 5% to 10%. No longer has a cooldown.

"Honed Precision" (Relic tier): Maximum Spread decreased by 25% to 50%.

"Chaos Eliminator" (Relic tier): Replaced with "Perpetual Penetration" (Each shot penetrates 1 additional target).

"Tyranid Eliminator" (Relic tier): Replaced with “Divine Might” (Damage increases by 10%).

Auto Bolt Rifle

"Honed Precision" (Standard tier): Maximum Spread decreased by 25% to 50%.

"Fast Reload" (Artificer tier): Replaced with "Head Hunter" (Headshots deal 10% more Damage)

"Fast Regeneration 1" (Artificer tier): Replaced with “Elite Hunter” (After killing a Majoris-level or higher enemy with a Melee Weapon, Headshots deal 25% more Damage for 10 seconds).

"Rapid Health" (Relic tier): Health restoration increased from 5% to 10%. No longer has a cooldown.

"Perpetual Precision" (Relic tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Recoupment”: Killing a Majoris-level or higher enemy with a headshot with this weapon restores 1 Armour Segment. Cooldown is 15 seconds.

Plasma Incinerator

"Rapid Cooling" (Master-Crafted tier): Duration effect increased from 5 to 10 seconds. Cooldown decreased from 30 to 15 seconds.

"Rampage" (Master-Crafted tier) : Duration effect increased from 5 to 10 seconds. Cooldown decreased from 30 to 15 seconds.

"Common Cooling" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Common Efficiency”: Common Shots generate 20% less Heat. Shots charge 20% slower.

"Blast Radius 1” (Artificer tier): Damage radius increased from 5% to 10%

"Blast Radius 2” (Artificer tier): Damage radius increased from 5% to 10%

"Fast Venting" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Balanced Cooling”:

Weapon cools 20% faster. Charged Shots generate 10% more Heat.

"Retaliation" (Relic tier): Duration effect increased from 5 to 10 seconds.

"Perfect Radius" (Relic tier): Duration effect increased from 5 to 10 seconds.

Stalker Bolt Rifle

"Fast Reload" (Standard tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Unwavering Resolve”: After reloading while having Low Ammo, damage increases by 25% for 5 seconds.

"Long Shot" (Standard tier): Replaced with "Divine Might" (Damage increases by 10%).

"Adamant Reload" (Master-Crafted tier): Replaced with "Adamant Hunter" (When your Health is below 30%. Headshots deal 25% more Damage).

"Fast Regeneration 1" (Master-Crafted tier): Replaced with "Head Hunter" (Headshots deal 10% more Damage)

"Head Hunter 1" (Artificer tier): Replaced with "Cleaving Fire" (Shots will penetrate enemy Block Stances dealing 25% of the usual Damage).

"Agile Hunter" (Relic tier): Duration effect increased from 5 to 10 seconds.

"Tyranid Eliminator" (Relic Tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Recoupment”: Killing a Majoris-level or higher enemy with a headshot with this weapon restores 1 Armour Segment. Cooldown is 15 seconds.

"Chaos Eliminator" (Relic Tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Remote Threat”: Enemies at a distance of more than 25 metres take 20% more Damage.

Bolt Carbine

"Perpetual Precision" (Standard tier): Replaced with "Head Hunter" (Headshots deal 10% more Damage)

"Elusive Precision" (Master-Crafter tier): Replaced with "Rapid Health" (When your Health is below 30%, killing 10 enemies in rapid succession restores Health by 10%).

"Retaliation" (Master-Crafted tier): Duration effect increased from 5 to 10 seconds.

"Fast Regeneration 1" (Master-Crafter tier): Replaced with "Honed Precision" (Equipped Weapon's Maximum Spread decreases by 50% when firing without aiming)

"Steel Grip" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Unwavering Resolve”: After reloading while having Low Ammo, damage increases by 25% for 5 seconds.

"Rapid Health" (Artificer tier): Replaced with "Divine Might" (Damage increases by 10%).

"Head Hunter" (Artificer tier): Replaced with "Cleaving Fire" (Shots will penetrate enemy Block Stances dealing 25% of the usual Damage).

"Honed Precision" (Artificer tier): Replaced with "Head Hunter" (Headshots deal 10% more Damage)

"Fast Regeneration 2" (Relic tier): Replaced with "Perpetual Precision" (Maximum spread decreases by 10%).

"Perpetual Precision" (Relic tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Recoupment”: Killing a Majoris-level or higher enemy with a headshot with this weapon restores 1 Armour Segment. Cooldown is 15 seconds.

Occulus Bolt Carbine

"Perpetual Precision" (Standard tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Remote Threat”: Enemies at a distance of more than 25 metres take 20% more Damage.

"Elusive Precision" (Master-Crafted tier): duration effect increased from 5 to 10 seconds.

"Retaliation" (Master-Crafted tier): Duration effect increased from 5 to 10 seconds.

"Fast Regeneration 1" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Recoupment”: Killing a Majoris-level or higher enemy with a headshot with this weapon restores 1 Armour Segment. Cooldown is 15 seconds.

"Honed Precision" (Artificer tier): Maximum Spread decreased by 25% to 50%.

"Fast Regeneration 2" (Artificer tier): Replaced with "Divine Might" (Damage increases by 10%).

"Rapid Health" (Relic tier): Health restoration increased from 5% to 10%. No longer has a cooldown.

"Chaos Eliminator" (Relic tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Able Headshot”: After using a Class Ability, headshot Damage increases by 20% for 10 seconds.

"Perpetual Precision" (Relic tier): Replaced with "Head Hunter" (Headshots deal 10% more Damage)

"Tyranid Eliminator" (Relic tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Able Damage”: After using a Class Ability, Damage increases by 20% for 10 seconds

Melta Rifle

"Fast Reload" (Standard tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Decisive Reload”: Finisher Majoris-level or higher enemy Melta restores Ammo by 1.

"Adamant Reload" (Master-Crafted tier): Replaced with "Rapid Health" (When your Health is below 30%, killing 10 enemies in rapid succession restores Health by 10%).

"Fast Regeneration 1" (Master-Crafted tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Trick Shot”: Killing 5 enemies with one shot restores 1 Armour Segment. Cooldown is 30 seconds.

"Fast Regeneration 2" (Artificer tier): Replaced with "Fast Reload" (The weapon reloads 10% faster).

"Elusive Range" (Relic tier): Replaced with “Retaliation” (After a perfectly timed Dodge, you deal 25% more Damage for 10 seconds).

"Elusive Fire" (Relic tier): duration effect increased from 5 to 10 seconds.

Instigator Bolt Carbine

"Adamantine Grip" (Master-Crafted tier): The perk has been replaced with "Divine Might" (Damage increases by 10%).

"Honed Precision" (Artificer tier): Switched position in the tree with “Increased Capacity”.

"Increased Capacity" (Artificer tier): Switched position in the tree with “Honed Precision”.

"Fast Regeneration 1" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Recoupment”: Killing a Majoris-level or higher enemy with a headshot with this weapon restores 1 Armour Segment. Cooldown is 15 seconds.

"Fast Regeneration 2" (Artificer tier): Replaced with "Head Hunter" (Headshots deal 10% more Damage).

"Head Hunter 2" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Tactical Precision”: "Headshots deal 20% more Damage. Non-Headshot Damage decreases by 10%."

"Rapid Health" (Relic tier): Health restoration increased from 5% to 10%. No longer has a cooldown.

"Fast Reload" (Relic tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Inspired Aim”: After killing a Majoris-level or higher enemy with a Melee Weapon, headshots deal 20% more damage for 10 seconds

"Rampage" (Relic tier): Duration effect increased from 5 to 10 seconds. Cooldown decreased from 30 to 15 seconds.

"Adamantine Grip" (Relic tier): Replaced with “Death Strike” (After killing a Majoris-level or higher enemy with a Melee Weapon, you deal 25% more Damage for 10 seconds)

Bolt Sniper Rifle

"Long Shot" (Standard tier): Renamed into “Remote Threat”. Enemies at a distance of more than 25 metres take 20% more damage.

"Fast Reload" (Standard tier): Replaced with "Extended Magazine" (Magazine Size increases by 15% of the maximum).

"Finisher Reload" (Master-Crafted tier): Replaced with "Divine Might" (Damage increases by 10%).

"Fast Regeneration 1" (Master-Crafted tier): Replaced with "Finisher Reload" (After a Finisher, the equipped Weapon instantly reloads).

"Head Hunter 1" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Unwavering Resolve”: After reloading while having Low Ammo, damage increases by 25% for 5 seconds.

"Honed Precision 1" (Artificer tier): Maximum Spread decreased by 25% to 50%.

"Agile Hunter" (Relic tier): Replaced with “Cleaving Fire” (Shots will penetrate Block Stances, dealing 25% of the usual Damage).

"Honed Precision 2" (Relic tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Strong Finish”: Last round in a magazine deals 25% more damage.

"Great Might" (Relic tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Strong Start”: First round in a magazine deals 50% more damage.

"Tyranid Eliminator" (Relic tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Recoupment”: Killing a Majoris-level or higher enemy with a headshot with this weapon restores 1 Armour Segment. Cooldown is 15 seconds.

"Chaos Eliminator" (Relic tier): Replaced with "Great Might" (Damage increases by 10% against Terminus-level enemies)

Las Fusil

"Head Hunter" (Standard tier): Replaced with "Perpetual Velocity" (Shots charge 15% faster)

"Amplification 1" (Master-Crafted tier): Radius of Beam Weapons increased from 10% to 15%.

"Amplification 2" (Artificer tier): Radius of Beam Weapons increased from 10% to 15%.

"Amplification 3" (Artificer tier): Replaced with "Divine Might" (Damage increases by 10%).

"Fast Regeneration 1” (Artificer tier): Replaced with "Charging Immunity" (While Charging a shot, you do not lose control from Heavy Hits).

"Perpetual Velocity" (Relic tier): Replaced with "Head Hunter" (Headshots deal 10% more Damage).

"Charging Immunity" (Relic tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Recoupment”: Killing a Majoris-level or higher enemy with a headshot with this weapon restores 1 Armour Segment. Cooldown is 15 seconds.

"Honed Precision" (Relic tier): Replaced with "Increased Capacity" (The maximum Ammo Reserve of this Weapon increases by 20%).

Heavy Bolter

"Heavy Precision" (Artificer tier): Replaced with "Honed Precision" (Equipped Weapon's Maximum Spread decreases by 50% when firing without aiming).

"Honed Precision" (Relic tier): Replaced with "Divine Might" (Damage increases by 10%).

"Weapon Strike" (Relic tier): Melee Damage increased from 15% to 50%.

Heavy Plasma Incinerator

"Rapid Cooling" (Master-Crafted tier): effect increased from 5 to 10 seconds. Cooldown decreased from 30 to 15.

"Heavy Velocity 1" (Master-Crafted tier): Shots Charge rate increased from 10% to 15%.

"Heavy Velocity 2" (Master-Crafted tier): Replaced with “Supercharged Shot” (Damage from a Charged Shot increases bt 10%)

"Supercharged Shot 2" (Artificer tier): Switched position in the tree with "Heavy Immunity" (Relic).

"Retaliation" (Relic tier): Duration effect increased from 5 to 10 seconds.

"Elusive Fire" (Relic tier): Duration effect increased from 5 to 10 seconds.

“Plasma Speed” (Relic tier): Replaced with “Plasma Collection” (Energy reserve of Plasma Weapons increases by 20%).

"Heavy Immunity" (Relic tier): Switched position in the tree with “Supercharged Shot 2” (Artificer).

Multi-Melta

"Weapon Strike" (Standard tier) effect increased from 15% to 50%.

"Contingency Plan" (Master-Crafted tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Decisive Reload”: Performing a Finisher on a Majoris-level or higher enemy with this weapon restores Ammo by 1.

"Fast Regeneration 1" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Trick Shot”: Killing 5 enemies with one shot restores 1 Armour Segment. Cooldown is 30 seconds.

"Fast Regeneration 2" (Artificer tier): Replaced with "Divine Might" (Damage increases by 10%).

"Elite Health" (Relic tier): Effect increased from 5% to 10%.

"Weapon Strike" (Relic tier): Replaced with "Discipline" (When you have Low Ammo, you deal 25% more Damage)

"Tyranid Eliminator” (Relic tier): Replaced with "Divine Might" (Damage increases by 10%).

"Chaos Eliminator" (Relic tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Expedient Barrage”: Fire rate increases by 33% when firing without aiming.

Bolt Pistol

"Elusive Precision" (Master-Crafted tier): Replaced with "Head Hunter" (Headshots deal 10% more damage).

"Retaliation" (Master-Crafted tier): Effect duration increased from 5 to 10 seconds.

"Iron Grip” (Master-Crafted tier): Effect duration increased from 5 to 10 seconds.

"Perpetual Precision 2" (Artificer tier): Replaced with "Increased Capacity" (The maximum Ammo Reserve of this Weapon increases by 20%)

"Elite Hunter" (Relic tier): Effect duration increased from 5 to 10 seconds.

"Rapid Health" (Relic tier): Health restoration increased from 5% to 10%. No longer has a cooldown.

"Honed Precision 1" (Relic tier): Maximum Spread decreased by 25% to 50%.

Plasma Pistol

"Common Cooling" (Standard tier): Replaced with “Plasma Collection” (Energy reserve of Plasma Weapons increases by 20%)

"Rapid Cooling" (Master-Crafted tier): Effect duration increased 5 to 10 seconds. Cooldown decreased from 30 to 15.

"Rampage" (Master-Crafted tier): Effect duration increased from 5 to 10 seconds. Cooldown decreased from 30 to 15 seconds.

"Blast Radius 1" (Master-Crafted tier): Replaced with “Plasma Collection” (Energy reserve of Plasma Weapons increases by 20%)

"Supercharged Shot" (Master-Crafted tier): Replaced with "Divine Might" (Damage increases by 10%).

"Blast Radius 2" (Artificer tier): Damage radius increase changed from 5% to 10%.

"Perpetual Velocity 2" (Artificer tier) : Replaced with "Blast Radius".

"Perfect Radius" (Relic tier): Replaced with “Perfect Cooling” (After a perfectly timed Dodge, the equipped Weapon is completely cooled)

"Retaliation" (Relic tier): Effect duration increased from 5 to 10 seconds.

"Fast Venting" (Relic tier): Replaced with "Divine Might" (Damage increases by 10%).

Heavy Bolt Pistol

"Perpetual Precision" (Standard tier): Replaced with "Head Hunter".

"Elite Precision" (Master-Crafted tier): Replaced with "Adamantine Grip".

"Perpetual Precision" (Master-Crafted tier): Replaced with "Rapid Health".

"Perpetual Penetration" (Master-Crafted tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Remote Threat”: Enemies at a distance of more than 25 metres take 20% more Damage.

"Gun Strike Reload" (Artificer tier): Replaced with "Elite Precision".

"Head Hunter 1" (Artificer tier): Replaced with "Adamant Hunter".

"Head Hunter 2" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Strong Finish”: Last round in a magazine deals 25% more damage.

"Adamant Hunter" (Relic tier): Replaced with "Head Hunter".

"Honed Precision" (Relic tier): Replaced with "Gun Strike Reload".

"Tyranid Eliminator" (Relic tier): Replaced with: "Head Hunter".

"Great Might" (Standard tier): Replaced with "Divine Might".

"Death Strike" (Master-Crafted tier): Replaced with “Perpetual Penetration”.

"Close Combat" (Master-Crafted tier): Replaced with "Increased Capacity".

"Adamantine Grip" (Master-Crafted tier): Replaced with "Extended Magazine".

"Iron Grip" (Artificer tier): Replaced with "Death Strike".

"Extended Magazine 1" (Artificer tier): Replaced with "Great Might".

"Extended Magazine 2" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Strong Start”: First round in a magazine deals 50% more damage.

"Rapid Health" (Relic tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Able Damage”: After using a Class Ability, Damage increases by 20% for 10 seconds.

"Divine Might" (Relic tier): Replaced with "Honed Precision".

"Chaos Eliminator" (Relic tier): Replaced with: "Divine Might".

Chainsword

"Armoured Strength" (Standard tier): Reworked, the new version is: “If you have Armour remaining, Melee Damage increases by 10%”.

"Chaos Slayer" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Combined Onslaught”: Light Combo Attacks with this Weapon deal 10% more Melee Damage.

"Tyranid Slayer" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Heavy Onslaught”: Heavy Attacks with this Weapon deal 15% more Melee Damage.

"Full Throttle" (Relic tier): Moved to Artificer tier.

“Trampling Stride” (Relic tier): Moved to Artificer tier.

Thunder Hammer

"Armoured Strength 1" (Standard tier): Reworked, the new version is: “If you have Armour remaining, Melee Damage increases by 10%”.

"Chaos Slayer" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Braced Preparation”: While preparing Aftershock, you do not lose control upon taking Heavy Hits and you cannot be knocked back.

"Tyranid Slayer" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “After Aftershock”: "After hitting an enemy with Aftershock, you deal 10% more Melee Damage for 10 seconds.

"Armoured Strength 2" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Offense initiated”: If your Armour is fully depleted, this Weapon deals 10% more Melee Damage.

Power Fist

"Armoured Strength 1" (Standard tier): Reworked, the new version is: “If you have Armour remaining, Melee Damage increases by 10%”.

"Chaos Slayer" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Following Blow”: "Backfist and Backfist 2 can be performed instantly after a charged Thrust Jab or Hammer Hook.

"Tyranid Slayer" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Strength of Will”: While performing a Heavy Attack, you take 20% less Ranged Damage.

"Tide of Battle" (Relic tier): Moved to Artificer tier.

“Ground Shake” (Relic tier): Moved to Artificer tier.

Combat Knife

"Armoured Strength" (Standard tier): Reworked, the new version is: “If you have Armour remaining, Melee Damage increases by 10%”.

"Chaos Slayer" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Combined Onslaught”: Light Combo Attacks with this Weapon deal 10% more Melee Damage.

"Tyranid Slayer" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Heavy Onslaught”: Heavy Attacks with this Weapon deal 15% more Melee Damage.

"Tide of Battle" (Relic tier): Moved to Artificer tier.

“Reeling Blow” (Relic tier): Moved to Artificer tier.

Power Sword

"Armoured Strength" (Standard tier): Reworked, the new version is: “If you have Armour remaining, Melee Damage increases by 10%”.

"Chaos Slayer" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Skilled Restoration”: when your Health is below 30%, a Power Whirl hit restores 1 Armour Segment. Cooldown is 10 seconds.

"Tyranid Slayer" (Artificer tier): Completely reworked, the new perk is “Melee Onslaught”: This Weapon deals 10% more Melee Damage.

Bolt Weapons buffs

  • Bolt Rifle (all versions): Base damage is increased by 5%
  • Auto Bolt Rifle: Base damage is increased by 5%
  • Instigator Bolt Carbine: Base damage is increased by 5%
  • Bolt Carbine (ONLY Marksman Bolt Carbine versions): Ammo Reserve is increased by one magazine size (+20)

Operations

Obelisk:

  • Added a few new voiceovers to make the objectives in the final gameplay sequence clearer for players.

Inferno:

  • Now, if a player reaches the assembly area in the final stage of the level, the other players will be forcefully teleported there after some time (they will receive a notification about the teleportation after 1:30 and will be teleported 15 seconds later)

Bug Fixes

Occulus Bolt Carbine:

  • Fixed a bug where the Master-Crafted - Alpha version of the Occulus Bolt Carbine had -15% spread instead of the +15% spread.

Multi-Melta:

  • Fixed a bug where the Rate-of-fire versions of the Multi-Melta did not have an increased rate of fire. Now, the mastercrafted version has a 15% increase in RoF, the artificer version has a 25% increase, and the relic version has a 35% increase.

Sniper Class:

Fixed an incorrect stacking of Sniper’s “Renewal” perk and Sniper’s “Squad Renewal” perk. This resulted in following changes:

  • Sniper Squad Renewal Perk
    • Fixed incorrect ability charge restoring (15% instead of planned 10%).
  • Sniper Renewal Perk
    • Fixed typo in description (5% ability charge restored instead of actual 15%).

Tactical Class:

  • Radiating Impact Perk
    • Fixed incorrect bonus stack with Auspex Scan.

Heavy Class:

  • Enhanced Force Perk
    • Fixed bonus to melee Charged attacks that was mistakenly working in addition to bonus to all melee attacks.

Trials:

  • Fixed a bug that caused occasional unintentional player's health regeneration in trials

Other:

  • Fixed the notification sound when more than one special enemy spawns.

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.

PS5 Astro Bot Bundle Is Now Available, and Includes 2024 GOTY Winner for Free

13 mars 2025 à 12:48

If you're in the market for a PS5 in 2025, the PlayStation 5 Slim Astro Bot bundle is one of the best deals available. Right now, the Disc model is $449.99 at Amazon while the Digital model is $399.99 at Amazon. Both models are also available at other retailers (see below).

What makes this bundle stand out is that Astro Bot is included at no extra cost—effectively a free $70 game packed in with your console. If you needed an extra incentive to grab a PS5, this is it. Astro Bot isn’t just a throw-in; it was one of the best games of 2024, taking home Best Game at The Game Awards and cementing itself as a must-play for platforming fans.

PS5 Slim Disc Edition + Astro Bot Bundle

If you want to be able to play games on disc, this is the one to get.

PS5 Slim Digital Edition - Astro Bot Bundle

If you're cool with embracing the all-digital future, get this one. (You can buy a disc drive later if you change your mind).

Reviewing for IGN, Simon Cardy gave Astro Bot a 9, praising it as one of the most joyful experiences in gaming: "Astro Bot made me smile from beginning to end. A collection of endlessly inventive levels and fantastically fun abilities, it delivers joy in spades, never once becoming even remotely dull or repetitive. And while you don’t need a long history with Sony systems to enjoy it, it is especially a delight for those with a piece of PlayStation in their heart as a treasure trove full of playable nostalgia awaits."

"Taking the PS5 marketing mantra that 'play has no limits' more seriously than you’d expect, Team Asobi has crafted a mascot platformer that goes near enough toe-to-toe with Nintendo's best efforts, and that's about as high a compliment as I can give it."

For those still on the fence about buying a PS5, this bundle makes for a compelling argument, and it's certainly one of the best PS5 deals going right now. Astro Bot isn’t just a great game—it’s a celebration of everything PlayStation does best, making it an ideal showcase for Sony’s current gen hardware.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

Devil May Cry Anime Producer Confirms Kevin Conroy Was Recorded Before He Passed Away: ‘No AI Used’

13 mars 2025 à 12:35

This week, a new trailer for Netflix’s Devil May Cry anime revealed the legendary late voice actor Kevin Conroy will posthumously star in the video game adaptation. This led some to wonder whether AI had been used to recreate Conroy’s iconic voice. Not so, the anime’s producer has confirmed.

In a tweet, producer Adi Shankar said Conroy was recorded before he passed away in November 2022, and confirmed “no AI used.”

“Mr. Conroy gave it [sic] amazingly nuanced performance,” Shankar continued. “It was both a pleasure and an honor to work with him.”

Conroy, who is best known and celebrated as the longtime voice of Bruce Wayne and Batman in the many animated films and TV shows that have focused on the character over the years, stars in the Devil May Cry anime as VP Baines, a new character that can be heard in voiceover at the beginning of the trailer, below.

Dante voice actor Johnny Yong Bosch, who played Nero in the video games, added: "It was an honor to work alongside Kevin Conroy for the upcoming DMC series. A true legend. Batman: The Animated Series redefined cartoons for me. For those wondering, our recording sessions took place a few years ago — animation takes quite some time to complete."

Back in July 2024, Conroy was praised for his posthumous voice performance in Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part 3. Now, fans have another chance to experience his work after his untimely passing two-and-a-half years ago at the age of 66.

According to the official synopsis provided by Netflix, “Sinister forces are at play to open the portal between the human and demon realms. In the middle of it all is Dante, an orphaned demon-hunter-for-hire, unaware that the fate of both worlds hangs around his neck.”

Shankar also serves as showrunner for the series. He is known for his work as executive producer on the 2012 Judge Dredd reboot film Dredd, developing the much-loved Castlevania anime, and creating Netflix series such as The Guardians of Justice and Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon. He is also slated to executive produce an adaptation of Assassin’s Creed.

Studio Mir, a well-established South Korean studio known for their work on popular projects like The Legend of Korra and X-Men ‘97, will serve as the chief production studio on this new series. Devil May Cry will be released on Netflix on April 3, 2025.

Generative AI is one of the hottest topics within the video game and entertainment industries, which have both suffered massive layoffs in recent years. Generative AI thus far has drawn criticism from fans and creators due to a mix of ethical issues, rights issues, and AI’s struggles to produce content audiences actually enjoy.

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.

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remake Will Reportedly Be Revealed Soon, and Released Not Long After That

13 mars 2025 à 11:47

Bethesda is reportedly set to announce its The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion remake in the coming weeks and release it soon after.

NatetheHate, who accurately revealed the announcement date of the Nintendo Switch 2, tweeted to say the Oblivion remake will be revealed either this month or next month, which VGC corroborated.

The release window is slightly fuzzier. NatetheHate said likely before June, but VGC said it could come out as soon as April.

In January, Mp1st reported on apparently accidentally released Oblivion remake details by a former employee at video game support studio Virtuos. Microsoft declined to comment when contacted by IGN.

According to Mp1st, Virtuos has remade Bethesda’s much-loved open world role-playing game using Unreal Engine 5, which suggests a significant rework rather than a more straightforward remaster. Gameplay changes were also allegedly detailed, including tweaks to Stamina, Sneak, Blocking, Archery, Hit Reaction, and the heads-up display (HUD).

As reported by Mp1st, Blocking was changed with action games and Soulslikes in mind because the original system was too “boring” and “frustrating.” Sneak icons are now allegedly highlighted, with damage calculation revamped. The knockdown that comes from Stamina being depleted is reportedly harder to trigger. And the HUD was redesigned to make it easier to understand. Elsewhere, hit reactions were added to make response clearer, and Archery was reportedly modernized in both first and third-person perspectives.

Word of an Oblivion remaster emerged in 2023 when documents published as part of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) versus Microsoft trial over the buyout of Activision Blizzard revealed a number of unannounced Bethesda games set for release in the years ahead. The list, put together in July 2020 ahead of Microsoft’s March 2021 purchase of Bethesda parent company ZeniMax Media, included the following:

Financial year 2022:

  • Oblivion Remaster
  • Indiana Jones game

Financial year 2023

  • Doom Year Zero and DLC
  • Project Kestrel
  • Project Platinum

Financial year 2024

  • The Elder Scrolls 6
  • Project Kestrel: Expansion
  • Licensed IP Game
  • Fallout 3 Remaster
  • Ghostwire: Tokyo Sequel
  • Dishonored 3
  • DOOM Year Zero DLC

Obviously a number of these games were either delayed or outright canceled. Doom Year Zero is now Doom: The Dark Ages and set for launch in May. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle didn’t launch until December 2024. And The Elder Scrolls 6 got nowhere near financial year 2024.

That Oblivion remaster is what we’re concerned about now, though. And it’s worth noting it was called a remaster in the Microsoft document. Perhaps the scope of the project changed and Bethesda went big on a remake. We'll find out when the company finally unveils what has become one of the worst-kept secrets in all video games.

Meanwhile, which platforms will the Oblivion remake launch on? Microsoft is all-in on multiplatform releases now, and with the Nintendo Switch 2 waiting in the wings, Oblivion may open its gates to more than just PC, Xbox, and PlayStation players. If the Switch 2 comes out around June, perhaps Oblivion will make the console's launch window.

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.

I've Found Where To Buy Pokémon TCG Prismatic Evolutions Super-Premium Collection

13 mars 2025 à 10:58

Pokémon TCG: Prismatic Evolutions Super-Premium Collection preorders go live this week at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. Walmart currently lists it for $59.95, down from its $89.99 MSRP. The set officially releases on May 16, 2025.

Pokémon - Trading Card Game: Scarlet & Violet Prismatic Evolutions Super-Premium Collection

Preorders for the Pokémon TCG: Prismatic Evolutions Super-Premium Collection are expected to go live this week ahead of the set’s official May 16, 2025 release date. Given the massive hype around Prismatic Evolutions, securing a preorder is probably your best bet at getting this box without paying inflated resale prices.

The good news? Walmart currently lists it for $59.95, a $30 discount off the $89.99 MSRP. It’s unclear if this price will stick when preorders officially open, so if you’re thinking about adding this to your collection, keep an eye on the retailers below:

What’s inside Prismatic Evolutions Super-Premium Collection?

The Pokémon TCG: Prismatic Evolutions Super-Premium Collection is stacked with Eevee-themed goodies:

  • 1 full-art foil promo card featuring Eevee ex
  • A fuzzy Eevee deck box (yes, it’s actually fuzzy)
  • A playmat featuring Eevee and its Evolutions
  • 65 card sleeves featuring Eevee and its Evolutions
  • 15 Pokémon TCG: Prismatic Evolutions booster packs

If you’re an Eevee fan, this box is an epic collection. especially with exclusive accessories that won’t be available anywhere else. even if you're not bothered about them, it's a good shot at getting a few booster packs to open for retail pricing.

Most-Wanted Cards from Prismatic Evolutions

With prices for Prismatic Evolutions products already skyrocketing, some of the set’s biggest cards are likely to become instant collectibles. Here’s a look at some of the most-wanted cards and their rough market values at the time of writing:

CategoryCard NameMarket Value
Eevee and Eeveelutions (Master Ball Foil)Eevee (Master Ball Pattern)$36.72
Vaporeon (Master Ball Pattern)$63.18
Jolteon (Master Ball Pattern)$53.00
Flareon (Master Ball Pattern)$52.21
Espeon (Master Ball Pattern)$61.06
Umbreon (Master Ball Pattern)$245.15
Leafeon (Master Ball Pattern)$59.83
Glaceon (Master Ball Pattern)$47.55
Sylveon (Master Ball Pattern)$66.73
Special Illustration Rare EeveelutionsEevee ex - 167/131$231.01
Flareon ex - 146/131$404.82
Vaporeon ex - 149/131$308.62
Jolteon ex - 153/131$289.39
Espeon ex - 155/131$430.33
Umbreon ex - 161/131$1,570.59
Leafeon ex - 144/131$394.06
Glaceon ex - 150/131$321.61
Sylveon ex - 156/131$454.54
Other Big Chase CardsDragapult ex (Special Illustration Rare)$180.49
Roaring Moon ex (Special Illustration Rare)$252.05
Pikachu ex (Hyper Rare)$91.66

Due to tough pull rates and stock instantly selling out for Prismatic Evolutions right now, individual card prices have gone through the roof. The Pokémon Company has already made a statement about more re-prints coming throughout 2025, so it looks like these values will start to drop as more stock floods the market. We're keeping track of where to buy Prismatic Evolutions too, so make sure to check up daily on what we've come up with.

Pokémon Cards are only worth what someone is willing to pay for them, so don't support scalpers and inflated secondary market pricing. Pokémania 2025 is in full swing, and we all need to remember that FOMO doesn't last.

Free-to-Play Shooter Spectre Divide Shutting Down Weeks After Console Launch

13 mars 2025 à 06:41

Free-to-play 3v3 shooter Spectre Divide is being shut down six months after its initial launch in September 2024, and just weeks after its arrival on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Its developer Mountaintop Studios is also closing.

Moutaintop CEO Nate Mitchell confirmed the news in a statement published on social media today.

“Unfortunately, the Season 1 launch hasn’t achieved the level of success we needed to sustain the game and keep Mountaintop afloat,” explains the post.

The team was optimistic following the first week, reporting the game attracted around 400,000 players – with a peak concurrent count of approximately 10,000 across all platforms.

“But as time has gone on, we haven’t seen enough active players and incoming revenue to cover the day-to-day costs of Spectre and the studio,” the post continued. “Since the PC launch, we stretched our remaining capital as far as we could, but at this point, we’re out of funding to support the game.”

“We pursued every avenue to keep going, including finding a publisher, additional investment, and/or an acquisition. In the end, we weren’t able to make it work. The industry is in a tough spot right now.”

Spectre Divide will be taken offline within the next 30 days, and any money spent by players since the Season 1 launch will be refunded.

The news comes contrary to reports in October 2024 that Spectre Divide “isn’t going anywhere.”

“The servers aren’t shutting down, and the updates aren’t going to stop,” said Mitchell at the time, maintaining Mountaintop had “the funds to support Spectre for a long time.”

IGN’s positive preview of Spectre Divide in August 2024 heaped praise on the tactical 3v3 shooter for coming to the table with its intriguing Duality system, which saw players controlling two characters during matches. However, the news of its rapid shutdown comes on the heels of a number of other live-service fizzers, including the failure of Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Sony’s Concord.

Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team. You can track him down on Bluesky @mrlukereilly to ask him things about stuff.

AU Deals: Slam Dunk Deals on NBA and WWE 2K25, Half Off GOAT RPGs, Reduced Platformers, and More!

13 mars 2025 à 01:33

Today’s bargain roundup is filled with blockbuster hits, cult classics, and a few surprises that you didn’t even know you needed. My picks of the litter include an over half off Sonic Superstars and The Last of Us Part I. I’m also always about a heavily reduced Witcher 3 Complete Edition and Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate. Just a ludicrous amount of RPGing hours for way less of your monies.

This Day in Gaming 🎂

In retro news, I'm celebrating the 16th birthday of Army of Two. It's a now extinct co-op shooter that made scary face masks + warfighters cool before Modern Warfare 2's 'Ghost' was even a twinkle in Infinity Ward's eye. AoT managed to belt out a three game run and almost a Michael Mann written and directed movie, then it all went FUBAR. Would play a remaster of these, EA.

Aussie bdays for notable games

- Secret of Evermore (SNES) 1996. eBay

- Dead or Alive 4 (X360) 2006. Get

- Odin Sphere (PS2) 2008. Get

- Army of Two (PS3,X360) 2008. Get

- Patapon 2 (PSP) 2009. Get

- Titanfall (PC,XO) 2014. eBay

- Nioh 2 (PS4) 2020. Get

Contents

Nice Savings for Nintendo Switch

Expiring Recent Deals

Or gift a Nintendo eShop Card.

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Purchase Cheap for PC

Expiring Recent Deals

Or just get a Steam Wallet Card

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Exciting Bargains for Xbox

Xbox One

Expiring Recent Deals

Or just invest in an Xbox Card.

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Pure Scores for PlayStation

PS4

Expiring Recent Deals

PS+ Monthly Freebies
Yours to keep from Mar 4 with this subscription

  • Dragon Age: Veilguard (PS5)
  • Sonic Colours: Ultimate (PS4)
  • TMNT: Cowabunga Col. (PS5/PS4)

Or purchase a PS Store Card.

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Legit LEGO Deals

Expiring Recent Deals

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Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He plays practically everything, often on YouTube.

Pick Up a 5-Pack of Handy USB Type-C Cables for $8

13 mars 2025 à 00:45

USB Type-C has become the standard for charging and data cables alike, so it's good to have extra on hand. Here's a deal where you can get a bunch of cables for pennies on the dollar. Amazon is offering a five-pack of Lisen USB Type-C cables in varying sizes for only $7.96 after a 50% off promo code "UNWEXMFD" is applied during checkout. That averages out to about $1.59 per cable. USB Type-C cables typically go for about $5-$10 per cable at your local big box store.

5-Pack of USB Type-C Cables for $7.96

This bundle contains cables of varying sizes. They include two 3.3-feet cables, two 6.6-feet cables, and an extra long 10 foot cable. They're all rated for up to 60W of USB Power Delivery and are encased in a braided nylon sheath for extra durability and aeshetics. These cables have over 5,500 ratings on Amazon with an average 4.6-star review. Fakespot, a site that determines how many of the reviews are fake, gives this product a solid "A" rating, which is rather uncommon.

6ft USB Type-A to USB Type-C Cable for $2.99

Amazon is offering a 6-foot INIU USB Type-A to USB Type-C cable for only $2.99 when you apply promo code "C2ALZ6LN" during checkout. You can add as many cables as you like and the discount should be applied to each and every cable. These cables are sheathed in nylon braiding for durability and can be used for both data sync and charging (Quick Charge 3.1A compatible). This is a great opportunity to stock up.

Need a power bank? Here's a good one for $9

For a limited time, Amazon is offering the popular INIU 10,000mAh USB power bank for just $8.99 after you clip the 10% off and 40% off clippable coupons on the product page. We very rarely see 10,000mAh power banks listed for under $10 so grab this one while you can. INIU power banks have solid reviews and are less expensive than equivalent Anker models.

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

The Low-Profile Chilkey ND75 LP is a Top-Tier Gaming Keyboard for Less

12 mars 2025 à 23:26

Usually the words affordable and enthusiast don't go together, but that's exactly the case with the Chilkey ND75 LP (low-profile) gaming keyboard. It brings all of the features from the boutique custom keyboard scene together for a reasonable $99 price point – a full aluminum case that’s designed to be opened and modded, luxuriously smooth and surprisingly deep hot-swappable mechanical switches, layers of sound dampening foam, tri-mode wireless, and a compact layout that’s just right for gaming. Not only is the compact gaming keyboard to beat, but it's one of the best keyboards you can get for the money.

Chilkey ND75 LP – Design and Features

Chilkey may not be a brand you've heard of before, but it's been around for a little while and already begun to make a name for itself. The company is a spin-off from the custom mechanical keyboard scene and brings some of the unique features from that space to its catalog at more affordable price points. There have been a number of companies trying to do the same, but thus far, I have been very impressed with what Chilkey has delivered, and that's definitely the case with the ND75 LP.

As the name implies, the ND75 LP is a low-profile mechanical keyboard. It doesn't have quite the same slim footprint as something like the Nuphy Air 60HE, and it doesn't use magnetic switches. However, compared to a full-height keyboard, like the original ND75, it's much slimmer. It also uses low-profile switches and keycaps, lending it a 9.5mm (0.37”) front height and a 26.6mm (1.05”) back height for a comfortable 6.5-degree typing angle.

Low-profile gaming keyboards aren't exactly common, though there are some heavy hitters out there, like the Logitech G915 Lightspeed and Corsair K70 Air Wireless. Having used both of those keyboards extensively, I can say with confidence that the ND75 LP is in a class of its own. It is essentially a custom keyboard with all the qualities you’d expect but in a low-profile form factor, which is something even more rare than low-profile gaming keyboards.

The keyboard uses a customized version of the 75% layout, sometimes known as a compact TKL. This means that it has arrow keys and a function row, but that it also has a selection of navigation and editing keys. Typically, these would be in a single column on the right. However, here, Chilkey has added an LCD screen for easy onboard configuration. So you have two keys in a column above it and two more in a row along the top just to the right of the function row. It's a very functional layout that balances compactness for gaming with functionality for work and use as a normal daily driver.

The first thing you are likely to notice is its aluminum case. Steel and aluminum top plates are nothing special in the world of gaming keyboards; however, the entire case of the ND75 LP is made of solid aluminum. Additionally, there’s a heavy weight set into the back that gives it an impressive heft. It's engraved with a cool brushed spiral pattern that catches light and adds a textured look. Given all of that, it weighs in at just shy of four pounds.

This kind of design is core to what Chilkey seems to be after. It has released two other keyboards at this point, including the original ND75 as well as the ND TKL. I've tested both of these, and the ND TKL, in particular, is frankly excellent and costs just about the same as the ND75 LP. Like it’s counterparts the ND75 LP has multiple color options with unique accents (I have the “Silver” color scheme here) and as you'll read about soon, an internal design that is fitted to an enthusiast's standard for sound, feel, and performance.

It brings all of the features from the boutique custom keyboard scene together for a reasonable $99 price point.

If you're not already in the world of custom mechanical keyboards, then the idea of fancy rear weights probably doesn't make much sense. After all, you'll barely ever see it, so why would anyone pay extra for it? It’s a fair point, but it’s also one of the touches that the enthusiast community has made a staple for many years. That extra weight also serves a practical purpose. Not only does the weight keep the keyboard stable on your desk, but it also impacts the sound signature and removes some of the hollowness and reverberation that might otherwise occur. And make no mistake, sound and feel are just as important to this keyboard as its responsiveness in gaming.

To that end, Chilkey has given a lot of consideration to the construction of this keyboard. The keycaps, for example, are made of double-shot PBT plastic. This is a denser plastic than ABS, which is typically used for gaming keycaps, and is more resistant to shining over time. I have personally used several PBT keycap sets over the course of years and they still look just as good as the day I installed them. Since it uses a separate piece of plastic for the legend, you'll also never have to worry about those chipping or fading over time. They enhance sound too, as the denser plastic creates a deep sound signature when typing quickly.

Beneath those keycaps, you'll find some of the best linear switches I've tested so far on a low-profile keyboard. Chilkey calls these Aster switches. They're made of POM plastic, which is soft and has a low friction coefficient for smooth travel, but they’re also pre-lubricated to enhance that even further. The travel distance is especially deep, coming in at 3mm. Compared to a full-height keyboard switch, which is typically 3.5 to 4mm, the typing experience is much more familiar and easier to adapt to if you're coming from a full-size keyboard compared to chiclet keys, scissor switches, or even Cherry’s new ultra-low profile mechanical switches. Full POM switches also have a unique sound that is perceptibly smoother than normal Cherry MX switches.

The keyboard supports hot-swapping these switches too, so if you have another that you're a fan of or want to change things up over time, or should you ever need to repair a switch due to an inopportune spill, you can do that much more easily than a keyboard with soldered switches.There's customizable per-key RGB backlighting behind each switch, too, which can be configured on the keyboard itself if you want to cycle through its animations and adjust brightness or set up through Chilkey's online configuration tool. It’s not very bright, though, and the keys aren’t backlit to help with typing in the dark.

Internally, you can see its custom keyboard inspirations worn on its sleeve. It uses a flexible FR4 plate, the same material that circuit boards are made out of, to mount the switches. The stabilizers come pre-lubed so the larger keys don't rattle out of the box. There are also multiple layers of sound dampening and sound enhancing foam.

Each layer of foam accomplishes a different job and is applied to deliver the final sound and feel you'll experience with the keyboard. It breaks down as follows:

  • PORON Plate Foam: This layer of foam exists below the plate and surrounds the switches. Its job is to isolate the sound of the switches and stop sound waves from traveling through the hollow spaces below the plate and into the case. It “cleans” the sound.
  • PORON Switch Foam/PET Acoustic Pad: These two layers work in tandem and are placed on top of the circuit board below the switches. They act as an acoustic filter to make the switches sound more crisp and allows them to offer a more defined pop when typing.
  • PORON Case Foam: PORON case foam is used to remove hollowness from the case. It also acts as a filter for any sound that makes its way through the PCB and cuts out more high frequencies.
  • PET Case Pad: Finally, this plastic sheet exists on the very bottom of the case. I’m not entirely sure how effective it is at impacting the sound, but ultimately, its most important purpose is to serve as ESD protection should you remove the case foam.

All of this is attached to the case using a unique form of gasket mounting that uses small silica gel tabs that slot into the sides of the plate. Rather than have the assembly screw into the top or bottom of the case like most keyboards, this mounting system squeezes these gel tabs between both halves of the case, acting as a final layer of sound isolation. With these, very few vibrations will make their way into the aluminum material of the case and also allows the typing experience to feel softer under the fingers.

Designed by enthusiasts, Chilkey expects that you'll open this keyboard and try it in different configurations. To that end, it uses an entirely tool-less assembly. The top case is held to the bottom case by strong magnets and can simply be pulled off. However, you don't need to worry about the top case popping off by accident. It's very strong, and you can hold the entire keyboard just by the top case in confidence. Just beware when you do open it, however, as the screen is attached with a ribbon cable and can get disconnected if pulled too roughly.

Screens on keyboards have been a bit of a fad for the last year or so. It serves a purpose, however. By default, it shows the date, time, and the current battery level of the keyboard, as well as its different indicators for caps lock, number lock, OS mode, and connectivity mode.You can also use it to access the menu and change the keyboard's lighting or, with the browser-based software, upload your own customized GIFs.

The online configurator, available here, also allows you to remap keys, record and assign macros, and adjust the keyboard's backlighting. It works, but it pales in comparison to the likes of Razer Synapse and Corsair iCUE, so, you should lower your expectations for polish. Remapping the keyboard's lighting in particular is especially limited. I have to applaud the fact that you don't have to download anything to use it, however. So many smaller brands force you to download tools that often need to connect to the internet, whereas this one dials right into the keyboard and your changes are saved immediately.

If it wasn't already apparent, customization is core to the experience, making this keyboard uniquely your own.. To that end, the company is offering six different colors, each with unique keycap sets. Currently, it can be ordered in a creamy milk tea color, silver, pure white, jet black, baby blue, and lavender. Milk Tea, Pure White, and Baby Blue are each coated using a durable painting process and come at a slightly higher cost.

On its website, Chilkey offers these for $105, while the other colors, using anodized metal, are only $99. Interestingly, purchasing any of these on Amazon is more expensive and they all cost the same at $139.99. Typically, this difference would be accounted for with shipping costs. However, here, even if you order it from Chilkey's website, you can still receive it within three to five business days via Amazon Standard shipping or slightly faster with Amazon Expedited at $15 and $18 respectively. Knowing that the company is based outside of the United States, I had expected this to be significantly longer. As long as you don't mind giving up two-day Prime shipping, ordering directly from the website is an easy way to save $20 to $30.

No matter which you choose, you'll be able to enjoy tri-mode wireless connectivity. It's able to connect to up to three different devices over Bluetooth 5.3 or one device using its 2.4GHz dongle. It's also able to connect using a standard USB cable. Over USB and 2.4GHz, the keyboard will connect with a 1000Hz polling rate for 1ms of input latency. Over Bluetooth, that's significantly less as the protocol limits polling to 125Hz or 8ms. It’s perfectly fine for productivity, but I would definitely use the dongle for anything more than casual gaming.

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It comes with two 1,800mAh batteries and battery life will depend on your connection method and how bright you keep its RGB backlighting. Over Bluetooth with RGB turned off, the keyboard should last around a month with regular use. With RGB on full brightness and connected over 2.4GHz, I found that it lasted around ten hours before needing to be plugged in. I took to plugging it in overnight, just to be safe.

Overall, it's quite an impressive package. I'll talk more about the typing and gaming experiences in the next section, but the build quality really is exceptional, even when compared against flagship keyboards from much bigger brands like Corsair and Razer. There are trade-offs, such as with the software, but for around $100, it's a pretty killer value if you like low-profile keys.

Chilkey ND75 LP – Performance

Low-profile keyboards have a tendency to blend together, which makes the few that don’t really stand out. The Nuphy Air60 HE was one such keyboard and the Chilkey ND75 Low Profile is another (IQUNIX and Lofree also have some great options). Each of these keyboards serves a different niche, however, and if you’re looking for the closest experience you can get to a custom keyboard experience in a low profile form factor, the ND75 LP is the best pick right now.

It surprised me out of the gate. Its case makes an immediate impression with its metal case. I was sent the silver version and the anodization was perfect. Flipping it over, I let out an audible “wow” when I saw its rear weight. The engraving really is striking and elevates the keyboard above its price point for fit and finish. The connection that Chilkey is making to the custom mechanical keyboard market is overt. The fact that you can simply pop off the top case to modify the internals is another major point that you just don't see in many other places outside of that community.

If you don't want to do any of that, you're in luck because you really don't need to. In fact, the parts that are easiest to remove, the foams below the circuit board, really don't seem to make a very big difference to the sound, though it does result in a slightly softer typing feel. I’ve never been on to fatigue easily when typing, but generally, softer keystrokes means longer typing sessions if you do.

The Chilkey ND75 LP is the compact keyboard to choose if you like low-profile keys but crave enthusiast features.

With that said, one of the most interesting qualities right out of the box with this keyboard is that it does feel softer than virtually any other low-profile keyboard I've tested. The silica gel gasket mounting structure and softer materials internally make each keystroke feel slightly cushioned in a way that traditional gaming keyboards do not. This is noteworthy because typically keyboards of this type are very firm simply due to the lack of space in the case. The integration here is very well done and again draws the ND75 LP closer to its full-size custom counterparts.

For gaming, it's excellent. The low profile switches have naturally shorter key travel and a higher actuation point to match. They're exceptionally smooth and very responsive.Using the 2.4GHz dongle, I wasn't able to perceive any more latency than when it was plugged in with the USB-C cable. For that matter, it doesn't feel particularly slower than any of the 4,000Hz or 8,000Hz gaming keyboards I've tested either, but that's a topic for another day.

I've long believed that a great gaming keyboard is about more than just responsiveness, however. It’s about making you want to go back for one more round, getting out of the way to let you focus on the game, and making your PC gaming experience as satisfying as possible. The ND75 LP accomplishes all of these. Between its thick yet slightly textured PBT keycaps, great switches, and pleasing sound and feel, it offers a typing experience that stands apart from the vast majority of others that share its form factor.

The biggest drawback is that it's not very portable. Typically, when you see a low-profile keyboard, the idea is that you can slip it into a bag and take it with you on the go. That is not the case here, as it easily weighs as much as a small gaming laptop all on its own. That might be a deal-breaker for some, but if you're a fan of low-profile keys, it's an excellent middle ground between the world of boutique custom keyboards, gaming performance, and affordability. You might have to use it at home, but it's still a very compelling option at a tempting price point.

The Crunchyroll Store Is Having a Massive Sale on Manga, Blu-Rays, and Cool Anime Merch

12 mars 2025 à 22:58

Crunchyroll is the overall best anime streaming service out there, but the Crunchyroll Store is the place to go for cool anime merch and manga. That's especially true right now thanks to a massive sale going on at the Crunchyroll Store. With up to 30% off manga, anime Blu-rays, desk clocks, and even plushies, the Manga Madness promotion features a lot of really cool buys.

You can check out the full sale for yourself, which features nine full pages of discounts. Alternatively, we've picked out some of the best deals we've found within that. Here are our top picks from the Crunchyroll Store sale today:

The Best Crunchyroll Store Deals Today

Although manga discounts make up the majority of this sale, the deals we liked the most were on movies and merch. First off, there's the Akira 25th edition Blu-ray in there and discounts on popular Studio Ghibli movies. There's also a ton of great Studio Ghibli merch for fans of the Miyazaki films to enjoy, including desk clocks and plushies. We also found a pretty awesome discount on the Macross Plus movie ultimate edition, which is actually a Crunchyroll exclusive.

The sale isn't exclusive to Crunchyroll Premium subscribers, but without a subscription there is a delivery fee you'll need to watch out for. Non-subscribers will only get access to free shipping on orders of $75 or more on orders within the U.S. To get free shipping on all orders, you'll need to be subscribed to the Ultimate Fan tier, which is $15.99 per month.

Get a 7-Day Free Trial of Crunchyroll Ultimate Fan for Free Shipping

If you see something you like at the Crunchyroll Store that is priced under $75, there is one potential way around the shipping fees. New subscribers to the service can get access to a 7-day free trial of Crunchyroll Premium. There are three different tiers of the service, but only the Ultimate Fan tier offers free shipping on all U.S. orders. In addition to the free shipping, you'll also get an additional 15% discount on select Crunchyroll Store, access to ad-free anime streaming, and access to the Crunchyroll Game Vault.

The less expensive Mega Fan tier will also get you a 10% discount on Crunchyroll store items, but you'll only get free shipping on purchases over $50.

PlayStation Plus Game Catalog for March 2025 Confirmed

12 mars 2025 à 22:55

Sony has announced the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog for March 2025, confirming the lineup of PS5, PS4, and Classic games set to be made available to download by subscribers.

As outlined on the PlayStation Blog, PlayStation Plus Extra subscribers get eight games this month, including UFC 5, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, and Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions.

Meanwhile, PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers get four games in March: PSVR2’s Arcade Paradise VR and the original PlayStation’s FromSoftware trilogy: Armored Core, Armored Core: Project Phantasma, and Armored Core: Master of Arena.

PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium games lineup — March 2025

PlayStation Plus Premium games lineup — March 2025

All games are available to play from March 18.

It's worth noting that Sony will cut PS4 games from its PlayStation Plus Essentials monthly games and the Game Catalog from January 2026 to focus solely on PS5.

"As we shift to PS5, PS4 games will no longer be a key benefit and will only be occasionally offered for PlayStation Plus Monthly Games and Game Catalog," Sony said. This won't affect the monthly titles players have already obtained, though Game Catalog titles "will still be available to play until [they] leave the catalog" as part of the monthly refresh.

"We’ll continue to evolve the experience of PlayStation Plus and optimize the benefits you receive, including exclusive discounts, online multiplayer access, online game save storage, and more," Sony added. "As we shift our focus to PS5, we look forward to adding new PS5 titles monthly for you to enjoy."

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.

Don't Worry, A Minecraft Movie Is Getting Its Own Popcorn Bucket Too

12 mars 2025 à 22:20

Remember themed popcorn buckets? Of course you do. Well, there’s more where those came from. The upcoming Minecraft movie is joining the consumer trend with concessions novelties of its own that will be available during the theatrical run.

According to images posted by DiscussingFilm on X / Twitter, below, the Minecraft movie will have a TNT box as its popcorn bucket, paired with a chicken jockey drink container (if you know, you know). It seems as though these items are exclusive to the Cinemark chain of theaters in the United States, but as for what other theaters are planning to debut for Minecraft fans, we’ll have to wait and see.

TNT and Chicken Jockey popcorn buckets for the live-action ‘MINECRAFT’ movie have been revealed. pic.twitter.com/ATk85n2Guf

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) March 12, 2025

These Minecraft-centric novelties are just the latest in an ongoing trend that has been a national mainstay since 2019’s Rise of Skywalker R2-D2 popcorn bucket. The sheer virality of that snack receptacle six-plus years ago set the theater executives aflutter with potential, and a fun — albeit kind of done to death at this point, and quite expensive to boot — modern theatrical tradition was born. Hey, if it keeps folks coming out for the theatrical experience, I’m all for it.

A Minecraft Movie is directed by Jared Hess and written by Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James, and Chris Galletta from a story by Bowman, Palmer, and Allison Schroeder. It follows a group of random folks who get sucked into the cubic world of Minecraft, where they must put their trust in a local guy named Steve (Jack Black) to help them master the world around them. Jason Momoa, Danielle Brooks, Emma Myers, Jennifer Coolidge, and Sebastian Hansen star alongside Black. The movie arrives in theaters April 4, 2025.

Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.

Stephen King's Cujo Will Be Reimagined In New Netflix Adaptation

12 mars 2025 à 22:12

In the latest “here comes a new remake” news — or, if you’re a bit more optimistic, “here comes another Stephen King movie” news — a brand new adaptation of Cujo is about to bare its teeth.

Netflix is set to produce a new film version of King's story, according to Deadline, and has attached Vertigo Entertainment founder and producer Roy Lee to produce. That said, things are truly in their puppy days with this project, as no writers or directors are attached to the film yet, let alone any whispers of a cast.

King’s novel was originally published in 1981 and was quickly adapted for the screen by Don Carlos Dunaway and Barbara Turner for a 1983 cult classic horror movie directed by Lewis Teague. The story follows a dedicated mother (played by Dee Wallace) who will stop at nothing to keep a rabid dog from harming her young son. The pair end up stuck in a car with a dead engine and are forced to fight for survival as Cujo, who was bitten by a rabid bat and went from sweet to relentlessly deadly, stalks them from outside the vehicle and heatstroke threatens to set in.

Cujo is just one of the many beloved King stories that went on to be a hit as a film over the years, and there has been a resurgence of sorts recently. Oz Perkins’ version of King’s short The Monkey was just released in February, and we still have the Glen Powell-fronted version of The Running Man and Strange Darling director JT Mollner’s spin on The Long Walk (also produced by Lee and Vertigo) to look forward to this year, as well as the IT prequel series Welcome to Derry at HBO. Carrie, the Stephen King classic that became a horror movie icon, is set to become an eight episode Prime Video series from horror visionary Mike Flanagan.

King fans have been eating good lately, and now, there’s even more gourmet on its way.

Photo by Warner Brothers/Getty Images.

Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.

index.feed.received.yesterday — 12 mars 2025IGN

The Best Deals Today: PS Portal, PS5 DualSense Controllers, New AMD Ryzen X3D CPUs, New iPad Air

12 mars 2025 à 21:40

Here are the best deals for Wednesday, March 12. Highlights include a rare discount on a (used) PlayStation Portal accessory, Lenovo-exclusive price drops on PS5 DualSense metallic controllers, the first discount we've seen on the iPad Air with M3 chip, USB Type-C cables for only $2.99 apiece, Destiny-themed SteelSeries gaming headsets, and more.

PlayStation Portal (Used: Like New) for Under $160

The PlayStation Portal has never been discounted, but at least you can save on a used one. Amazon Resale (a rebranded Amazon Warehouse) currently has Used: Like New condition PS Portals in stock for only $158.70 shipped. It retails for $199 new, so that's a substantial 20% in savings. A Sony warranty may or may not be included, but Amazon Resale items benefit from the same 30-day return policy you get for buying a new item. We expect this item to sell out pretty quickly.

Sony PS5 DualSense Controller for $54

Lenovo has just dropped the price of the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller to slightly lower than what we saw on Black Friday. Right now you can choose Sterling Silver, Volcanic Red, or Cobalt Blue for only $54 plus free shipping after you apply coupon code "PLAY5" in cart. This is probably going to be your last chance to get a DualSense controller at this price for quite a while, especially one that's decked out in a eye-catching metallic colorway.

INIU 6ft USB Type-A to USB Type-C Cable for $2.99

Amazon is offering a 6-foot INIU USB Type-A to USB Type-C cable for only $2.99 when you apply promo code "C2ALZ6LN" during checkout. You can add as many cables as you like and the discount should be applied to each and every cable. These cables are sheathed in nylon braiding for durability and can be used for both data sync and charging (Quick Charge 3.1A compatible). This is a great opportunity to stock up.

New AMD Zen 5 X3D Gaming Processors Are Out Today

If you're thinking of jumping on the AMD bandwagon for your next upgrade, now is certainly the right time to do so. Alongside the Ryzen 7 9800X3D which debuted earlier this year, AMD has just released its two higher-end Ryzen 9 siblings in the Zen 5 "X3D" stack: the 9950X3D is available for $699 and the 9900X3D is available for $599. Collectively, these processors represent the best gaming chips across both Intel and AMD. Pure gamers should go with the 9800X3D and allocate their funds elsewhere; creators with deeper pockets and a penchant for gaming will benefit from the immense performance uplift on the new Ryzen 9 processors thanks to their increased core count and cache.

The New iPad Air 11" Is Out Today and Already on Sale

The new iPad Air sits in the middle of Apple’s tablet lineup, with better specs than the baseline iPad, but it’s not as powerful as the iPad Pro. That said, if you need more computing power in a tablet than what the baseline device above offers, the new iPad Air with M3 chip will likely suit you just fine.

As you can tell by the name, it has Apple’s powerful M3 chip, and it supports Apple Intelligence, unlike the baseline model. It’s also compatible with a new Magic Keyboard (see it at Apple) that has a row of function keys and a trackpad.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7P Gaming Headset Destiny Edition

As part of its Spring Sale, SteelSeries is taking 40% off both PS5 and Xbox editions of its SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Destiny 2: The Final Shape Edition wireless gaming headsets. The Destiny Edition comes with a Booster Pack that includes Destiny themed speaker plates and headband, as well as exclusive Desinty 2 in-game items.

HP Omen 25L RTX 4070 Ti Super Gaming PC for $1399.99

As part of a general HP Days Sale Event, you can score an excellent deal on a 4K-capable gaming PC. Right now, the HP Omen 25L GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super Gaming PC has dropped to $1,399.99 shipped after you apply $50 off coupon code "HPDAYSPC50". This is quite easily the lowest price we've seen for a prebuilt RTX 4070 Ti Super gaming desktop.

4-Pack Apple AirTags for $64.49

Amazon is offering a four-pack of Apple AirTags keyfinders for only $64.49. That's over $35 off the retail price and only $16.10 for each AirTag. This is a very practical accessory for anyone who owns an iPhone and tends to lose small wearables like wallets, keys, or remotes.

Samsung 990 Evo Plus 2TB PS5 SSD for $129.99

4TB for $259.99

Samsung's newest SSD - the Samsung 990 Evo Plus PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe solid state drive - is on sale today. Pick up the 2TB model for $129.99 or, if you can swing it, the 4TB model is an even better deal at $249.99. It's currently $40-$70 cheaper than the Samsung 990 Pro and most (if not all) gamers won't notice the difference in performance.

Apple AirPods Pro for $169.99

Apple's best earbuds are on sale today. Amazon is offering the second generation Apple AirPods Pro wireless noise-canceling earbuds for only $169.99 shipped, a savings of 32% and the best AirPods deal so far this year. That's about $20 more than the Apple AirPods 4 with ANC, down from its usual $70 price premium. Between the two, the AirPods Pro is still the superior earbuds because it offers better sound quality and noise cancelation.

INIU 10,000mAh Power Bank for $9

You can grab this 10,000mAh power bank for only $8.99 after you clip the 10% off and 40% off clippable coupons on the product page. We very rarely see 10,000mAh power banks listed for under $10 so grab this one while you can. This will charge a Nintendo Switch from 0% to 100% about 1.9 times.

4 Months of Hulu and Disney+ for $2.99/mo

For a limited time, Hulu is offering four months of Disney+ and Hulu Basic (Ad-Supported) Bundle for just $2.99 per month. The normal cost of this subscription is $10.99 per month. This deal only comes around a handful of times per year and worth it for just the Disney+ subscription alone.

5-Pack of Lisen USB Type-C Cables for $8

Pick up a five pack of USB Type-C cables for a grand total of just $7.96 after you apply promo code "UNWEXMFD". That averages out to about $1.59 per cable. Lengths include two 3.3ft, two 6.6ft, and an extra long 10ft cable. They're all rated for up to 60W of USB Power Delivery and are encased in a durable braided nylon sheath.

New March Humble Choice Bundle Starts Now

If you're searching for your next new game to play, Humble Choice March is now live, and this is the perfect bundle to discover something new! This month, Homeworld 3 headlines the bundle, with other PC games like Wild Hearts, Pacific Drive, Zau, and Gravity Circuit also included. Instead of paying hundreds of dollars to grab these games individually, you can get all eight games for just $11.99 at Humble Bundle for this month only.

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

This Cool 1,000-Piece LEGO Jigsaw Puzzle Is Super Cheap on Amazon Today

12 mars 2025 à 20:59

I've recently gotten back into building LEGO sets and putting together adult jigsaw puzzles, so imagine my surprise and delight when I found out there was a crossover between the two. There are actually quite a few LEGO puzzles you can buy, most of which are 1,000 pieces. The price of each of these ranges between $17.95 and $22.99 when you purchase them directly from the LEGO store, but this Amazon exclusive Tiny Garden puzzle is currently only $7 after a massive discount.

Since the LEGO Tiny Garden jigsaw puzzle is an Amazon exclusive, you can't currently find it anywhere else. Amazon also has a few other LEGO puzzles that are priced lower than the LEGO store as well.

The Best LEGO Puzzle Deal at Amazon Today

The LEGO Tiny Garden puzzle is inspired by the LEGO Botanical sets that have become increasingly popular in recent years. Specifically, these are the nine plants that make up the Succulent set, if you'd rather just build that instead. The image depicts a bunch of adorable little succulents that are floating over a serene sky blue background. When it's fully put together, the puzzle is 25x20 inches, and a full-color printout of the image is included within the packaging to help you piece it together.

There are a lot of trusted puzzle brands out there, and though LEGO isn't exactly known for its puzzles, the LEGO brand is known for producing high-quality products. The LEGO Tiny Garden jigsaw puzzle is one of the best-selling items on Amazon's toys and games list for 2025 so far and at this price it's an absolute steal. Check out these other LEGO puzzles that are also available:

See more LEGO jigsaw puzzles

Tips for Buying 1,000-Piece Puzzles

A 1,000-piece puzzle is a commitment. Unless you are a world champion puzzler, it's going to take you more than one day to put one together. If you're new to puzzling or are just looking for a few tips for buying a puzzle with 1,000 pieces or more, we've got you covered.

Make sure you have enough space

The first thing you should consider before buying a puzzle is whether or not you have a place to put it together. Given the amount of pieces, it can be hard to keep track of all of them at any given time. You'll need ample space to both sort through and organize pieces and be able to leave or store it and come back to it later. If you don't already have a table that is ideal for puzzling, there are quite a few puzzle boards and tables you can buy to remedy that. There are also jigsaw puzzle mats to roll up your puzzle and put it away without undoing all of your progress.

Make sure you actually like the image

Perhaps the more obvious tip for buying a large puzzle is to make sure you actually like the image you're putting together. A lot of puzzles feature a ton of tiny intricate details to keep you interested as you put it together, but some feature large swaths of single colors that could get tedious to put together. If you're already investing a bunch of your time into finishing a 1,000-piece puzzle, pick something that you'll be happy to see finished.

Invest in some puzzle glue

While most people put together puzzles just for the enjoyment of it all, it can also be fun to display the finished product once you're done. It is, after all, a cardboard poster that you've put together yourself. If you plan on displaying your puzzle after you finish, you'll want to get yourself some puzzle glue to ensure the finished product actually stays together when you frame it.

Looking for something different than what the LEGO brand has to offer? Check out our guide to the best LEGO alternatives for more like this.

Marvel's Newest Thunderbolts Team Includes Wolverine, Hulk, and Carnage

12 mars 2025 à 20:46

With the Thunderbolts making their live-action debut soon, Marvel Comics has big plans for the team on the printed page. Not only is the current incarnation of the team playing a major role in the One World Under Doom crossover event, an entirely new Thunderbolts team will arrive shortly after the movie hits theaters.

Marvel just revealed New Thunderbolts*, a series written by Sam Humphries (Uncanny X-Force) and drawn by Ton Lima (West Coast Avengers), with cover art by Stephen Segovia. Check out the cover to issue #1 below:

While the new series is clearly intended to capitalize on the movie in some ways, including featuring Bucky Barnes as team leader and adding the mysterious asterisk to the title, the general team lineup is far different. This new roster includes Thunderbolts newcomers Clea, Wolverine (Laura Kinney), Namor, Hulk, and Carnage (with ex-Venom Eddie Brock currently holding that mantle).

The new series opens with Bucky and Black Widow responding to the existential threat that arises when doppelgangers of the Illuminati begin threatening the Marvel Universe. They'll assemble a new team of heavy-hitters to deal with the crisis, but leading such an eclectic band of monsters and killers is going to be far easier said than done.

"I love every iteration of Thunderbolts,” Humphries said in Marvel's press release. “I'm thrilled to continue the franchise's proud tradition of hard hitting action, powder keg personalities, and explosive surprises into a new era. This is a gang of seven of the biggest badasses and loose cannons from different corners of the Marvel Universe. Assembling a super team is like inviting the right combination of guests to a dinner party. So I imagined a dangerous, disastrous, unhinged Marvel dinner party, and went with that."

"I'm having a blast working on this book with Mr. Humphries and the team,” Lima added. "Look at this lineup... it's crazy. They're not here to talk; they jump straight to the action! And that's the most fun part to draw. None of them are known for taking it easy on the job, so I can't either."

New Thunderbolts* #1 will be released on June 11, 2025.

For more on the Thunderbolts* movie, learn more about Lewis Pullman's character The Sentry and find out what the asterisk in the title may mean.

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

Wanderstop Review

12 mars 2025 à 20:42

When I saw that the minds behind The Stanley Parable and The Beginner’s Guide were also the ones making Wanderstop, I knew what to expect… or, at least, I thought I did. I anticipated its immensely emotional story, wry sense of humor, and at least one strange twist – but while I got all of those things and more, what I didn’t see coming was that a game about making tea and avoiding burn out would force me to grapple with my own hold-ups around productivity in such an intimate way. For as sweet and wholesome as it may seem on the surface, this is a piping hot cup of tea that left a lasting mark when spilled.

Before we go any further, let me warn you: The less you know about Wanderstop’s story at the start, the better. I’m going to avoid any major spoilers, particularly since its compelling central twist arrives very early on, but a big part of the enjoyment here is following both the emotional journey of the main character, Alta, as well as the mystery surrounding the woods she finds herself in. If you already think you might enjoy a game like this without more convincing, just go play it knowing that I give Wanderstop an enthusiastic recommendation. Then you can come back here later to say, “Wow, thank you so much Ms. IGN reviewer, this game has left me feeling strangely hallowed out and yet so full at the same time.”

You see, this isn’t just a story about burn out (though playing it while actively experiencing burn out myself added a whole other level to that aspect of it). Alta is a previously undefeated arena fighter who has hit a terrible losing streak. Convinced something must be wrong with her, she heads to a mysterious forest in search of a legendary fighter to help “fix” her, but passes out from exhaustion on the way. Instead, she finds Boro, the kind and charming owner of a tea shop called Wanderstop, who presents her with a deceptively simple choice: rest and make some tea for a bit, or push herself to press on at any cost.

As I said, this is not a story about burn out alone, but an insightful exploration of why we often burn ourselves out over and over again. Maybe you’re familiar with the feeling: You push yourself day after day not just to meet deadlines or complete projects, but to maintain that control you need over your life to stay on the right course. To keep things moving perfectly. Inevitably, you exhaust yourself until your body forces you to take a break. You rest for a bit and tell yourself it is good for you, but you’ll be right back here in no time, just as exhausted as before. The setting here may be fantastical, but this is a situation that feels firmly rooted in reality.

An insightful exploration of why we often burn out over and over again.

Wanderstop is smart in how it directly calls out this toxic loop of relentless productivity. You can’t just stumble into a magical tea shop, help some other people solve their own problems, and then be “fixed” yourself. At one point, Alta says, “even relaxing feels like a job.” She’s not wrong. We’ve turned relaxing into a chore, something that must be filled with tasks: satisfying and productive. (I’m looking at you, “cozy gamers.”) I felt incredibly called out by this, personally, and it helped me realize this cycle is just not sustainable. By the end of Alta’s journey, I felt like I not only understood her a little better, but understood a part of myself I hadn’t listened to in a long time. I might even owe developer Ivy Road a therapist’s fee.

In some ways, Wanderstop reminds me of the tear-jerking Spiritfarer, as it’s very much a story-first game. When new visitors wander into the tea shop’s forest clearing, you first need to get to know them before they’ll give you a tea request, and then you must use the information you’ve gathered to brew the correct cup for them. To do that, you’ll have to grow your own ingredients in a small garden plot outside the tea shop (though you can technically plant anywhere). You’re given a field book, a limited amount of seeds, and some gentle parenting from Boro, but the rest is yours to figure out.

The field book outlines the patterns you need to sow your seeds so that “plant eggs” will form, with different combinations of seed colors (blue, pink, green, and yellow) causing different plants to emerge. Once you’ve discovered a new type of plant by growing it, you can use your field guide to read up on the unique tastes and even strange effects each fruit has when brewed in tea. It’s all fairly straightforward, but gardening is still a fun little challenge as you puzzle out which color combinations are required for each plant variety.

Operating the tea machine itself is rather uncomplicated for such a complicated looking contraption. A tall ladder rotates around the giant glass pots in the center of the tea shop – you climb to the very top and pull a rope to fill the first pot with water, then climb down to smack the bellows, keeping the thermometer bar balanced to get the water to a perfect boil. Next, you climb back up, kick a lever, and the water drains into the next pot. Swing that ladder around, and it’s time to throw your tea and other ingredients in. Then all that’s left is to kick the lever to release it and pour it into a mug. The movement is so fun that you start to feel like a pro by the end, even though the tea making itself is otherwise quite simple.

Every sip brings you closer to understanding Alta.

As long as you figure out what tea you actually need to make, of course. I really loved the little conversation-based riddles the customers give you. Sometimes figuring out the right tea ingredients was easy. They want a mint-flavored tea? Throw in a chip-chip plant, which describes its flavor as mint ice cream. But what do you do when someone asks for a tea that tastes like fruity cereal and dirt? Well, it’s a good thing there’s a delightfully whimsical fruit you can grow that tastes like whatever the drinker had the most for breakfast growing up.

I loved the characters in this game in ways I didn’t anticipate, from the adorkable pretend-knight Gerald and his overbearing love for his son, to the boisterous Nana, whose fiercely competitive nature lands her shop on Wanderstop’s doorstep to try and “run you out of business.” I even liked Alta, and let’s be very clear: Alta is not a likable character. She is thick-headed, abrasive, and sometimes outright mean. But we don’t always completely love ourselves or the way we act towards others either, do we?

What’s great about Alta as a main character is that you get plenty of opportunities to choose interesting paths of dialogue throughout your time at Wanderstop. At first, your options might be limited to either a mean answer or a snarky answer, but as time goes on, you’ll get to choose between options that reveal a streak of humor under all of Alta’s steely resolve. With each new cup of tea she drinks, you’ll also learn about her past and how she reacts to strange new sensations, with every sip bringing you closer to understanding why Alta is the way she is.

The customers who visit Wanderstop are impressively diverse, and I’m not just talking about ethnicity or gender. Each visitor has their own unique design, drinking animation, and personality, all of which shine. Even the customers who are initially just as abrasive as Alta eventually stand out as quirky, complex people with their own deep and emotional reasons for having stumbled into Wanderstop. These characters are colorful, but it’s important that they aren't just quirky for quirky’s sake, either. Each one reflects a little bit of Alta back at her, helping to advance her own emotional journey forward, and saying goodbye as they inevitably moved on was always difficult.

Also, there are Pluffins, which are adorable little penguin guys with giant eyebrows who live in a coop on the Wanderstop grounds. The joy I found in stumbling across these little kleptomaniacs, picking them up and shaking them around to drop whatever package or seed they’d stolen, was immense. And yes, you can pet the Pluffins.

I knew I was in for a musical treat as well when I learned C418, one of the Minecraft composers, was behind the soundtrack for Wanderstop. The music itself doesn’t just fill the empty spaces, it tells its own stories. Each customer has their own musical theme, so even though their conversations didn’t have any voice acting, they all felt deeply engrossing. On top of this, the music of the clearing will subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) change over time and with major story moments. Themes that once felt comforting and idyllic can abruptly become unnerving with impressive precision.

The lovable characters aren't just quirky for quirky’s sake.

Besides growing your own strange fruits and collecting tea leaves to brew new drinks, your stay at Wanderstop also equips you with a trusty broom and garden shears. You can use these to tidy up the clearing of little piles of leaves or gnarly, spiky weeds. But the refreshingly strange thing is that there is no tangible incentive to do so. The weeds pose no real danger to your garden, and while walking through them can slow you down, they don’t need to be sheared in order to pass.

As you tidy the leaves and weeds, you do have a small chance of finding something hidden underneath the clutter. Dozens of little trinkets can be uncovered while you clean, including colorful new tea mugs, teddy bears, and even lost packages. The catch, however, is that you can’t keep these trinkets as the roughly 15-hour campaign progresses, and the story directly addresses why in a clever way. As Boro reminds Alta at one point, just because you can’t take the decorations you love with you, is that any reason not to make your surroundings more beautiful while you’re here? Isn’t decorating for the sake of enjoying your own personal space enough on its own?

The lost packages, on the other hand, are mysterious parcels that somehow wound up in the clearing, and they can be sent back out into the world via the strange mailbox outside Wanderstop’s doors. There’s no “reward” for doing so like you might expect in other games, but you will receive a letter in response that is usually worth the effort. These letters string together to form funny little gags made up of stories occurring outside the clearing, adding a lovely little dose of humor to your cleaning.

Wanderstop might technically be a “cozy” game in this way, but it is not a comfortable one. Sure, making tea and cleaning up the tea shop is fun and relaxing, and solving each customer’s tea order is just challenging enough. But I cried during my first playthrough. A lot. There were times when I felt like I was grieving – not just over a sad moment or for the loss of a character, but also a loss of self. Wanderstop constantly put me up against situations that were not just uncomfortable, but that intentionally went against the grain of what you normally expect from these types of games in order to make its point.

That’s not a bad thing, though, as pushing you out of your comfort zone is very much the idea. By the end of my playthrough, I didn’t want to leave. I knew I’d done everything I could – I’d talked to all the customers, I’d grown every single type of plant, and I’d tasted almost every type of tea. Alta was at the end of her journey, and so was I. But I still didn’t want to go.

The warmth that emanates from Wanderstop isn’t that of a warm hug. It’s the warmth that spreads through your fingers from a hot cup of tea, made by someone you love, while you sit in their kitchen with tears welling up in the back of your throat. It’s a painful journey through a safe and inviting space that asks you not just to rest, but to really do the work of unpacking what brought you to rock bottom in the first place.

Best Nintendo Switch Games in 2025

12 mars 2025 à 20:00

As the Nintendo Switch generation winds down and we await the arrival of Nintendo Switch 2 later this year, it's time to look back at the last eight years and celebrate what has become one of the greatest game libraries in Nintendo history. The hybrid portable console has surpassed the PlayStation 4 and Game Boy to become the third best-selling console of all time with over 150 million units sold, Nintendo Switch Online has added Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games, and Nintendo struck a 10-year deal with Microsoft to port Call of Duty to future Nintendo consoles. While we wait for Mario Kart 9 and everything else Nintendo Switch 2 is sure to deliver, here are the 25 best Switch games you can play to hold you over.

But what do we mean by “best?” To be very clear, this is not an attempt at an “objective” ranking that will indisputably line up with the tastes of gamers of all types. That, sadly, can never exist. Instead, this is a list of games that IGN’s crew of Switch gamers recommend as a group, ranked using our Face-Off tool so that everybody – including our NVC Podcast hosts – got to weigh in equally. It’s presented in the spirit of recognizing games we love, and encouraging others to try them if you haven’t. With only 25 slots to fill, there are tons of amazing recent games that didn’t float to the top – but that doesn’t mean we don’t think they’re awesome, too!

This is not an attempt at an “objective” ranking.

Most importantly, remember that this list is just our group’s picks and is no more “right” or “wrong” than a list that you create yourself. Speaking of which: if you have your own ranking you’d like to put out into the world, we’d like to invite you to make your own top 25 (or top 100!) list of Switch games using our Playlist tool and share it in the comments.

So without further ado, these are our picks for the 25 best Nintendo Switch games. You can also check out our list of the top free Switch games for additional picks.

25. Slay the Spire

There’s something about Slay the Spire’s balance of strategy and randomness that makes it an endlessly replayable puzzle. Assembling that perfect combo of synergistic cards can feel incredible, but there’s also a joy in scraping your way to victory despite the odds never quite falling in your favor. With that potent package on the Switch’s mobile platform — with some fairly decent touch control options, we might add — it’s a miracle we’ve ever stopped playing it.

Slay the Spire made our updated list of the 10 best roguelikes.

24. Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley is a wonderfully open-ended farming sim. You’ll forge your own country path with fishing, fighting, farming, and falling in love. Additionally, being able to take advantage of the Switch’s sleep mode helps take some of the pressure off of not being able to save in the middle of a day, even if a few other bugs in the port are still waiting to be squashed here.

Stardew Valley is now available on Apple Arcade as Stardew Valley+, and is one of the best iPhone games around.

23. Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is one of the biggest and best JRPGs available on Switch. Its fantastical world, endearing characters, and ultimately satisfying story make this 150-hour epic a journey well worth taking. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 also features the series’ best side quests and most varied combat to date, thanks to its new class-swapping mechanic.

22. Celeste

Celeste is a surprise masterpiece. Its 2D platforming is some of the best and toughest since Super Meat Boy, with levels that are as challenging to figure out as they are satisfying to complete. But the greatest triumph of Celeste is that its best-in-class jumping and dashing is blended beautifully with an important and sincere story and an incredible soundtrack that make it a genuinely emotional game, even when your feet are planted firmly on the ground.

The developer's next game is called Earthblade, a "2D explor-action game in a seamless pixel art world." It was originally scheduled to come out in 2024, but developer Maddy Thorson said in a recent blog post that the game won't be making its 2024 release date, although development is progressing.

21. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

With its charming, toyetic visual style and bizarrely dark undertones, the vast island of Koholint in The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening has never looked better than it does on Nintendo Switch. Link’s shipwrecked adventure on a mysterious island rife with eccentric characters and sprawling dungeons has always been one of the stranger Zelda stories, and this remake allows new audiences and aging fans alike to appreciate it on a modern system. It modernizes the classic beloved Zelda game with a shiny new coat of paint, some excellent quality of life improvements, and loads more hidden collectibles but, ultimately, its greatest accomplishment is retaining the weird, haunting, beautiful feeling of the original Game Boy game.

See our guide to the Legend of Zelda timeline to see how it fits into the series.

20. Astral Chain

Platinum Games makes some of the best action games around – that much is all but indisputable. It's approach is unique, and as a result the Switch-exclusive Astral Chain is truly one of a kind in that you're simultaneously controlling not just your character, but also a living weapon tethered to them known as a Legion. This creates a thrilling style of combat that looks spectacular and feels incredible to play around with. Astral Chain is challenging, rewarding, is absolutely jam packed with depth in its combat systems, and has an engaging story as well, with clear inspiration from anime classics such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ghost in the Shell, and Appleseed, among others.

19. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a top-shelf modern metroidvania, as this unexpected series revival from Ubisoft belongs right alongside hits like Hollow Knight and Metroid Dread. Its incredibly creative set of time powers – like Sargon’s ability to leave a ghost version of himself behind and snap back to it at the press of a button – prove essential in The Lost Crown’s tense combat, challenging platforming, and perplexing puzzle-solving, and the “a-ha!” moments we experienced after unlocking a new tool rival some of the genre’s all-time greats. But The Lost Crown will perhaps be best remembered for its innovative Memory Shards, where you can snap in-game screenshots that serve as reminders of areas or unlockables you can’t access yet so you can remember to head back once you earn that next crucial upgrade. This is a feature every metroidvania should have moving forward, and Prince of Persia nailed it on the first attempt.

18. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury offers two fantastic Mario experiences that compliment each other brilliantly. 3D World landed on the Wii U and gave fans a unique blend of 2D and 3D platforming, all of which could (optionally) be played with up to four players in a setup that worked better than the New Super Mario series accomplished. Inventive and just plain fun, it was too good of a game to keep stranded on the Wii U forever, and its port to Switch came with bonus online co-op capabilities, a photo mode feature, and more.

But the biggest draw for fans who had already played 3D World was Bowser’s Fury, a brand-new, open-world experience that lasts roughly 3 to 6 hours. Though only a small taste by series standards, this free-form experiment stands as a proof of concept that an open-world Mario game can be just as creative, exhilarating, and enjoyable as what we’ve seen in the franchise thus far. If this is the direction the next mainline Mario goes, it’s an exciting future indeed.

17. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

For years, the concept of a Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remake felt as mythical and unattainable as opening the titular door itself, but Nintendo finally listened to this RPG’s extremely vocal fanbase and delivered a near perfect retelling of Mario’s iconic GameCube quest. It’s remarkable how well The Thousand-Year Door holds up 20 years later, with its hilarious script, satisfying combat, lovable party members, and memorable locations. Mario literally climbs the ranks of a pro wrestling league set on a floating island in the sky, and that’s just the setting for one chapter of this epic adventure. And, following the last few Paper Mario entries that traded in unique, original characters in favor of hordes upon hordes of samey Toads, it’s a complete delight to see the slimy city of Rogueport and its surrounding areas peppered with fresh personalities. Simply giving The Thousand-Year Door a gorgeous new coat of paint and sprinkling in a few quality-of-life improvements has earned it a spot on our list of the best games on Switch.

16. Splatoon 3

The fine-tuning of Splatoon 3’s team-based multiplayer makes for the series’ best online modes to date, while the introduction of a more fleshed-out single-player campaign elevates it to one of the best overall games available on Switch. The multiplayer is an improvement on Splatoon’s established formula thanks to new weapons, enemies, customization options, and an improved lobby system. The Return of the Mammalians campaign, meanwhile, presents 70 cleverly designed missions, five memorable boss fights, and a soundtrack oozing with style.

15. Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition

Other games on this list represent huge innovations and genre shakeups, but Dragon Quest XI S earns its spot because of how classic it feels. This RPG plays like an ode to the 1990s era, and it does an astonishingly good job at taking the classic turn-based format and freshening it up for a modern audience. All the elements you’d expect from a tribute like this are here: Exciting and balanced combat, a nostalgic tale of good against evil, a lovable band of heroes, and a vibrant world to explore.

Every component of Dragon Quest XI S feels meticulously designed and polished, and it's obvious that so much love and care went into crafting this adventure for Dragon Quest’s 30th anniversary. Plus, the Switch version is truly definitive, with additional story content, fully orchestrated music, and the option to swap back and forth between modern 3D graphics and SNES-inspired, top-down pixel art.

14. Luigi's Mansion 3

Luigi's Mansion 3 is essentially a FrankenLuigistein’s monster of the first two games, a mashup of both that creates the perfect Luigi's Mansion experience. Charming, clever, and absolutely gorgeous to look at, Luigi's Mansion is 17 levels of pure ghost-hunting joy. Working your way through each of the haunted hotels may never extremely challenging, but the creative boss fights and deviously hidden collectibles will keep you busy for a dozen hours or more. The excitement of getting to a new level just to see its theme (TV Studio! Sewer Maze! Egypt!) is well worth the price of admission, plus the game opens with Toad driving a bus. Priceless.

Luigi's Mansion 2 HD is available now.

13. Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Fire Emblem: Three Houses takes the series to new heights, deftly blending grueling battles with an expansive social hub that allows for near limitless customization as you recruit, train, and bond with the memorable characters on your team. Its unique take on a three-pronged story ensures that no matter which house you choose, the engrossing plot that unfolds always leaves enough mystery to make multiple playthroughs incredibly hard to resist.

The series' next mainline game, Fire Emblem Engage, is now available on Switch. IGN awarded it a review score of 9 and said Engage "proves itself worthy enough to be counted alongside the legacy it honors so well."

12. Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Released on the doorstep of a global pandemic, Animal Crossing: New Horizons provided a much need escape to many, selling nearly 34 million copies to date. Routine and discovery play equally important roles as you plan the perfect layout for your island, make friends (or enemies) with all your villagers, and invite your friends to your own little utopia to trade items and swap secrets.

It’s brilliant in its simplicity and masterful in the way it encourages players to keep up with chores, redecorate and/or reshape entire plots of land, or burn dozens of hours trying to catch rare fish or find every last seasonal item. It certainly helps that all the writing is supremely funny and that, hundreds of hours in, you’re still able to chuckle at a random comment or find genuine inspiration in the places you’d least expect.

Taking a cue from many of Nintendo’s Switch editions of their long-running franchises, Animal Crossing New Horizons does little to completely reinvent the franchise, but it makes a great series even more accessible, more exciting, and more wonderful than it has ever been.

New Horizons is officially Japan's best-selling game of all time. Animal Crossing players can get even more out of it with the Happy Home Paradise DLC. Our reviewer Taylor Lyles called the expansion "a must-have for base game owners."

11. Metroid Prime Remastered

A masterclass in game design, Metroid Prime is now playable on Switch with a fresh coat of paint and much-needed improvements to its 20-year-old control scheme. As Samus Aran, players follow a distress signal to a Space Pirate frigate where Nintendo’s iconic bounty hunter sets off on a solitary adventure equipped with a growing arsenal of combat and platforming abilities. Metroid Prime Remastered is moody, surprising, inventive, and as IGN’s reviewer Sam Claiborn wrote, “one of the best first-person shooters ever made, full stop.”

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will release in 2025.

10. Pikmin 4

Pikmin 4 and its charming creatures – including the new adorable new pup, Oatchi – stick the landing in the strategy-puzzle series' Switch debut. It comes with plenty of new features and upgrades that improve the tried-and-true formula of the first three games, including the largest number of enemies to battle, treasures to collect, and awesome post-game content. It does all of this without its adorable gameplay becoming overcomplicated, making it an ideal starting point to jump in if you've never played before (nothing against the Switch ports of Pikmin 1 and 2 or Pikmin 3 Deluxe), but it's also filled with callbacks to the earlier games for longtime fans.

9. Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Super Mario Bros. Wonder proves Nintendo can still hang with the best of them in the 2D platformer category. After nearly two decades of (relatively) bland New Super Mario Bros. games, Nintendo confidently returned to Mario’s roots in Wonder, which lives up to its subtitle thanks to its gorgeously fresh art style, huge amount of clever new enemy types, and inventive Wonder Flower mechanics that constantly surprise and delight by completely turning everything on its head in the middle of a level.

Whether Mario’s marching alongside an army of singing Piranha Plants or desperately trying to survive as a lowly Goomba, Wonder’s creativity and imagination is on full blast from start to finish, resulting in a modern 2D classic that feels like the first worthy heir to Nintendo’s legendary Mario 3 and Mario World. Oh, and Elephant Mario is a pure work of art, too.

8. Hades

Roguelikes don’t always appeal to everyone, but Hades has somehow found a way to win over even those with a distaste for them. Fighting your way out of the Greek underworld is a ruthless and challenging affair, but every failure is rewarded in a way that somehow makes them exciting in their own right.

Instead of just notching up each loss and moving onto the next, the moments between each run push Hades’ excellent storytelling to the forefront, giving you opportunities to learn more about its charming characters and grow close to them – as well as improve the prince of the underworld’s abilities and weapons. It’s that meaningful mix of progression and infinitely repeatable escape attempts (coupled with genuinely fantastic writing, art, and action) that make Hades as delectable as Ambrosia itself.

Hades 2 Early Access is now available on Steam.

7. Hollow Knight

Hollow Knight is one of the best modern MetroidVania’s available, using all the pieces that make the genre so great in the first place without feeling derivative of anything that came before it.

The expertly crafted map that is the kingdom of Hallownest has an absurd amount of paths to explore, bosses to fight, and secrets to uncover. That's all drawn in a somber but expressive art style that gives the adorable bug people who live their lives, and stories, of their own. It can undoubtedly be a challenging and demanding game, but what you get out of will be a reward worth far more than you put in.

The sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, was supposed to be released in the first half of 2023, but Team Cherry delayed it further due to ongoing development.

6. Metroid Dread

Metroid Dread had become a near-mythic game, a fabled DS entry that never saw the light of day by the time it was announced at E3 2021 as a Switch game. With nearly 20 years having passed since the last new 2D Metroid, expectations were sky high. Fortunately for fans, Dread met (and in many cases surpassed) expectations for what a modern 2D Metroid game could accomplish.

It’s easily the smoothest game in the series, running at a silky 60fps, and incorporates several new weapons and abilities the series now can’t live without -- the Flash Shift alone makes Dread feel entirely fresh. With high-production values, incredible game design that gently guides the player through ZDR’s labyrinthine corridors, and the most unflinching version of Samus we’ve seen yet, Mercury Steam hit Metroid Dread out of the stratosphere and brought the franchise back into Nintendo’s orbit.

5. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Mario Kart 8’s encore on Nintendo Switch didn’t just keep the online community alive and added returning favorites like Balloon Battle and Bob-omb Blast, we also got a brand-new “cops and robbers” team mode with Renegade Roundup, all of the great DLC stages, and even some guests from the Splatoon universe. It’s not a new game, but one so good, it deserved to reach a bigger audience on Switch right away.

4. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is exactly what its name implies: it’s the ultimate incarnation of Nintendo’s now 20-year-old brawler series. It’s a celebration of Smash Bros. as a whole, filled with more fighters and levels than ever before, and packed to the gills with over 1000 more characters from all across gaming. “Everyone is here!” may have started out as just another tagline, but it’s one that Nintendo has impressively backed up, and it’s made Ultimate the definitive Smash Bros. game for a long time to come. Add a 20+ hour single-player mode with full-on boss fights and huge world maps and it’s easy to get lost in Ultimate. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate had a lot to live up to with that name, but it has undoubtedly done just that.

3. Super Mario Odyssey

A masterclass in 3D platforming, Super Mario Odyssey seamlessly blends the best elements from nearly every Mario game with an entire portfolio of new gameplay mechanics to create something both nostalgic and courageous. New players will adore stomping through the vivid and vast new worlds, while seasoned veterans will stick around after the credits to unlock the hundreds of challenges that await their skill and dexterity. To put it succinctly, Super Mario Odyssey is pure, sublime joy and one of the best Super Mario games ever made.

You can check out our list of every Mario game on the Switch for more like this.

2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Formerly the number one Switch game on the list for years, and for good reason, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been de-throned by Tears of the Kingdom. When Nintendo released Breath of the Wild in 2017, it revolutionized not just Zelda games, but open-world action games at large. The number of Breath of the Wild imitators from all kinds of different developers post-2017 were numerous. While Breath of the Wild is still an essential Switch game, and important to play to fully appreciate Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo’s sequel improves on almost every aspect of Breath of the Wild that it does make going back to the predecessor difficult.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is, hands down, the best game available on Nintendo Switch. Tears of the Kingdom is so good that it arguably made our previous number-one Switch game, Breath of the Wild, obsolete: As IGN’s reviewer Tom Marks wrote, “Breath of the Wild felt far from unfinished but, inconceivably, Tears of the Kingdom has somehow made it feel like a first draft.”

Tears of the Kingdom expands Breath of the Wild’s Hyrule with a larger scale, greater depth, and a more captivating story. It builds on Breath of the Wild’s gameplay with better dungeons, more creative weapon crafting, and unfathomably robust building mechanics. It’s somehow a major improvement on what came before — and what came before was IGN’s pick for the best game of all time.

You can see our list of every Legend of Zelda game on the Switch for more like this.

Upcoming Switch Games

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition launches on March 20.

More on the Best of Nintendo:

Also see: The Best Switch Deals

March 12, 2025 updates:

Added: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.

Did we miss anything? Is your favorite game too low? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to check back when we reconfigure this list again!

The IGN Store Merch Madness Sale Is Now Live: Save on T-Shirts, Collectibles, Vinyl, and More

12 mars 2025 à 20:00

Merch Madness is officially live at the IGN Store! This massive sale discounts some of the hottest items available at the store, including apparel, accessories, collectibles, and so much more. Merch Madness runs from today, March 12, all the way through Monday, March 17. You don't want to miss these deals, so be sure to check out the store this week.

Below, we've compiled some of the most popular deals available for Merch Madness. Products from popular series like Fallout, Star Wars, and Zelda are on sale, and some of our third-party offerings are also available at a discount.

30% Off All Tee Shirts

This year's Merch Madness sale includes 30% off all t-shirts in the IGN Store. All of your favorite series are included in this sale, so get that T-shirt you've been holding out on while it's 30% off!

10% Off All In-Stock Vinyl

Next, you can save 10% off all in-stock vinyl at IGN Store. Whether you're a fan of Dark Souls, Resident Evil, or even Persona, many amazing selections are now on sale at IGN Store, so grab yours before they're gone!

In Stock Collectibles Up to 50% Off

In addition to saving on apparel, you can also save up to 50% off hundreds of collectibles at the IGN Store. The Collectibles category includes statues, figures, replicas, coins, books, model kits, plushes, and more. This deal does not include any new collectibles that were released in the last 60 days, in addition to any pre-order items available at the IGN Store.

Fallout Merch

Next up, Merch Madness has huge savings for Fallout fans! You can save 20% off select Fallout Pins, Tins, and in-stock Dark Horse collectibles, in addition to 25% off Fallout Cut & Sew Hoodies. Popular items like Lucy's Bag are on sale for a limited time, so don't miss your chance to save!

Deals from Awesome Manufacturers

Merch Madness also has plenty of incredible deals on products from our partners. This includes Pure Arts, Dark Horse, Iron Studios, and More. Check out some of the hottest items from this sale below!

Pure Arts

Dark Horse and First 4 Figures

Iron Studios

About IGN Store

IGN Store sells high-quality merch, collectibles, and shirts for everything you're into. It's a shop built with fans in mind: for all the geek culture and fandom you love most. Whether you're into comics, movies, anime, games, retro gaming or just want some cute plushies (who doesn't?), this store is for you!

Palworld Gets Crossplay Late March as Part of Big Update

12 mars 2025 à 19:06

Palworld developer Pocketpair is narrowing in on its big crossplay update, which is due out late March 2025.

In a post on X/Twitter, Pocketpair confirmed this update will include multiplayer across all platforms as well as add world transfer for Pals. No further details were offered, outside a promotional image showing a bunch of Palworld characters fighting a rather large Pal.

Pocketpair Communications Director and Publishing Manager John 'Bucky' Buckley teased "a few little surprises too" with the March update.

That's good news for the 32 million players that have picked up Palworld since its early access launch in January 2024. The studio has laid out a content roadmap for Palworld's 2025 that looks fairly lengthy; alongside crossplay, there is an "ending scenario" and more new content on the way for the hugely popular creature-catching survival game.

Palworld launched on Steam priced $30 and straight into Game Pass on Xbox and PC a year ago, breaking sales and concurrent player number records in the process. Pocketpair boss Takuro Mizobe has said Palworld's launch was so big that the developer couldn’t handle the massive profits the game generated. Still, Pocketpair acted swiftly to capitalize on Palworld’s breakout success, signing a deal with Sony to form a new business called Palworld Entertainment that’s tasked with expanding the IP, and launching the game on PS5.

Looming over all this is a lawsuit from Nintendo and The Pokémon Company, who seek "an injunction against infringement and compensation for damages" on the grounds that Palworld has infringed on "multiple" patent rights. Pocketpair has provided an update, identifying the patents the studio is allegedly infringing, and it has since tweaked how players summon Pals in Palworld, apparently in response. Pocketpair has vowed to take on Nintendo and The Pokémon Company in court, saying: “We will continue to assert our position in this case through future legal proceedings.”

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.

Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 4 Got a Release Date 16 Years Ago... and Never Happened. Here's What the Villain Would've Looked Like in the Never-Made Film

12 mars 2025 à 19:01

Sixteen years ago today, on March 12, 2009, Sony and Marvel announced that Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 4 would be released on May 6, 2011. The film, of course, would never be made, with Sony instead rebooting Spider-Man with Andrew Garfield... and then with Tom Holland. But we thought it would be fun to revisit this look at the film's villain that almost was!

Spider-Man 4 sadly never happened… but after all these years, we’ve got a glimpse of the film’s villain – Vulture.

Comic book writer Ken Penders has unveiled the villain’s mechanical wings on Twitter – a practical prop that would have appeared in the long-defunct Spider-Man 4.

“Before Tobey & Sam were bid adieu by Sony, work actually had begun on SPIDER-MAN 4,” he revealed. “I visited friends who were working on the Vulture's costume intended for actor John Malkovich. Once production shut down, all materials were turned in. I've sat on this for almost 15 years.”

Before Tobey & Sam were bid adieu by Sony, work actually had begun on SPIDER-MAN 4, and I visited friends who were working on the Vulture's costume intended for actor John Malkovich. Once production shut down, all materials were turned in. I've sat on this for almost 15 years. pic.twitter.com/iY3VmzUrHI

— Ken Penders (@KenPenders) November 28, 2022

Vulture made his MCU debut played by Michael Keaton in Spider-Man: Homecoming. However, this iteration of the classic MCU villain featured largely CGI wings.

Spider-Man 4 was a different story – requiring Malkovich to don this beautiful mechanical rig.

Unfortunately, it never happened. The film was ultimately canceled by Sony, eventually leading to a reboot starring Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man.

What happened to the wings? Well, remarkably, they were sold online and ended up on display at Edmonton's Prop Museum in 2019.

Awesome! I'm guessing your friend was part of the Frontline Design team. I know those wings were sold online and were displayed at Edmonton's Prop Museum in 2019 before closing down. pic.twitter.com/ID053oybIE

— Fillmoreantidote (@DolosGallo) November 28, 2022

As for the designer who worked in them, he was also responsible for Maguire’s Spider-Man 3 suits.

“He was also responsible for fabricating Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man costumes in SPIDER-MAN 3,” added Penders. “He said the web pattern on the costume was the hardest thing about making the costume.”

According to concept artist Jeffrey Henderson, Spider-Man 4 would have featured a handful of classic Spider-Man villains, including “a montage of C and D- list villains that we knew would never be used as main antagonists: Mysterio, the Shocker, the Prowler, the old school-onesie-wearing version of the Rhino, maybe even the Stilt Man, etc.”

Want to read more about Spider-Man? Check out every Spider-Man spin-off currently in development as well as how to watch the Spider-Man movies in chronological order.

Note: This story originally ran on Nov. 28, 2022.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Spider-Man 4 Casts Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink to Star Alongside Tom Holland, Reportedly as Either X-Men Favorite Jean Grey or Mary Jane Watson

12 mars 2025 à 18:55

Sadie Sink, who plays Max Mayfield in Stranger Things, is reportedly set to star alongside Tom Holland in Spider-Man 4.

Deadline reports that Sink, who made her film debut in the 2016 biographical sports drama Chuck, will appear in the upcoming MCU movie, which begins filming later this year and has a release date of July 31, 2026.

Marvel and Sony had no comment when contacted by Deadline.

Deadline speculates that Sink will play either X-Men character Jean Grey or “another beloved redheaded Spider-Man character.” That suggests Mary Jane Watson, but quite how her introduction would fit into Peter Parker’s ongoing relationship with Michelle "MJ" Jones-Watson, played by Zendaya in the previous Spider-Man films, remains to be seen. Deadline sounds confident Sink has a “significant” role in Spider-Man 4, which could be something of a reset given the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. In that film, Peter reintroduces himself to MJ after Doctor Strange erases his identity from everyone’s memory.

Holland is currently filming Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and the plan is for him to start shooting Spider-Man once he has finished production, Deadline reported.

Late last year, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige teased the introduction of X-Men characters in the "next few" MCU movies.

Feige told an audience at the Disney APAC Content Showcase in Singapore that fans would see “some X-Men players that you might recognize” in the next few MCU movies, but he stopped short of saying which characters or what movies.

On bringing the X-Men into the MCU, Feige added: “I think you will see that continues in our next few movies with some X-Men players that you might recognize.

“Right after that, the whole story of Secret Wars really leads us into a new age of mutants and of the X-Men. Again, [it’s] one of those dreams come true. We finally have the X-Men back.”

At the time, Marvel’s next few movies, if we assume few to mean three, were Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and then Phase Six kickstarter The Fantastic Four: First Steps in July 2025.

Perhaps more likely are more mutant appearances throughout Phase 6 movies, which include 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man 4, and 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars. One of the key questions here will be whether Deadpool and Wolverine return to the MCU having seen such huge success with their own movie this summer. Could Channing Tatum also reprise his role as Gambit?

Feige has also said the X-Men will be an important part of the MCU’s future following Secret Wars. "When we were preparing for Avengers: Endgame years ago, it was a question of getting to the grand finale of our narrative, and then we had to start all over again after that,” Feige said. “This time, on the road to Secret Wars, we already know very well what the story is going to be until then and afterwards. The X-Men are an important part of that future.”

It sounds like Phase 7 of the MCU will be dominated by the X-Men, then, but in the short term, Storm appeared in What If...? Season 3, marking the character’s first appearance in the wider MCU.

In October, Marvel Studios added three untitled movie projects to its 2028 release schedule: February 18, 2028; May 5, 2028; and November 10, 2028. It seems increasingly likely one of these movies is X-Men.

Photo by Arturo Holmes/WireImage.

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.

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