Game of Thrones: Kingsroad is set to leave early access and launch on May 21, Netmarble and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment have announced.

The action-adventure role-playing game based on George R. R. Martin’s much-loved fantasy universe is set for release on all mobile platforms as well as on PC via Steam, the Epic Games Store, and Windows.

Game of Thrones: Kingsroad launched in early access form in March, and has a ‘mixed’ user review rating on Steam. Most of the negative reviews revolve around its monetization, which some have called “greedy.” “It’s like a mobile game on steroids and kinda not in a good way,” reads the current ‘most helpful’ review on Valve’s platform.

In a release date FAQ posted to Steam, Netmarble addressed the expected gap between the progression of early access and new players. It said that Game of Thrones: Kingsroad is “fundamentally designed with a focus on single-player gameplay,” and that it had worked to “minimize any feelings of imbalance or unfairness that might arise from differences in progression.”

Testing was conducted to improve the game, the development team continued, "to improve the game and make it more enjoyable and accessible for everyone."

“We encourage all players to focus on the inherent fun of progressing through the later stages and reaching the endgame content, rather than comparing progress with other characters,” Netmarble suggested.

Netmarble went on to apologize for its prior communication and patches, which it admitted were “somewhat lacking.”

“Moving forward, we are committed to more frequent and transparent communication through regular AMA sessions and Developer Notes,” it added. “We kindly ask for your continued anticipation and support as we approach the official launch.”

As you’d expect from a game like this, there’s a premium Founder’s Pack that offers Early Access and other exclusive in-game content. Mobile players can pre-register through the App Store and Google Play store on iOS and Android devices ahead of the grand launch.

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.

When it comes to the Great American Novel, you'll be hard-pressed to find a more quintessential pick than Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage. The book's unflinching depiction of a soldier's life during the Civil War made it unique in the literary world upon release, and it also makes it a natural fit to be adapted into a graphic novel. Abrams ComicArts has done just that.

Ahead of its May release, IGN can exclusively debut a new preview of The Red Badge of Courage. Get a closer look in the slideshow gallery below:

The Red Badge of Courage is adapted from Crane's original prose by writer/artist Steve Cuzor. Here's Abrams' official description of the graphic novel:

Written by Stephen Crane when he was just 24, The Red Badge of Courage is a Civil War story that captured the imaginations of readers worldwide and made its author an overnight literary icon. Now artist Steve Cuzor and Abrams ComicArts are publishing a powerful graphic novel adaptation of the classic and genre-defining war novel. Cuzor’s stark yet detailed artwork in The Red Badge of Courage perfectly captures the realistic prose of the original novel, presenting a lushly illustrated, unflinching depiction of war through the eyes of a young, inexperienced soldier.

A groundbreaking and realistic examination of the psychological effects of war, The Red Badge of Courage draws from firsthand accounts and research and has been continuously in print since its publication in 1894. Crane’s depiction of his main character, Henry Fleming, and his internal monologue, ring so true that many readers mistook Crane for a veteran himself. The realistic prose and visceral descriptions of battle that Crane used marked the first shift away from uncritical patriotism in war literature. It would take until at least the 1920s and the wake of the horror of the First World War for the rest of the genre to catch up. In the years following its publication, The Red Badge of Courage was hailed by Crane scholar Henry Wertheim as “unquestionably the most realistic novel about the American Civil War,” while Ernest Hemingway called the novel an “American classic.”

“By illustrating Crane’s classic story, Cuzor pulls readers into the midst of the action, making Henry Fleming’s experience feel all the more visceral,” said Abrams ComicArts' Publisher Joseph Montagne in a statement. “Literary aficionados and students alike will find another layer of this classic story to appreciate in this new adaptation of Crane’s magnum opus.”

The Red Badge of Courage will be released in bookstores on Tuesday, May 13 and in comic shops on Wednesday, May 14. You can preorder a copy on Amazon.

In other comic book news, iconic TMNT villain Shredder is getting his own solo series, and we've got an exclusive look inside the new Heavy Metal series.

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

The buzz around preordering a Nintendo Switch 2 has also come with its reputation for more expensive new games, but getting to grab the physical version of Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition for £60 on the upcoming system is a nice surprise.

Available at Monster Shop's eBay store, the outlet has introduced a "LOOPY20" discount code that, when applied at checkout, will take the titular 20% right off the game's price tag to £59.99.

With The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered out and millions of players enjoying Bethesda's much-loved open-world role-playing game, its army of fans are coming together to issue advice to those who might have missed out on the fun 20 years ago.

Oblivion remastered is a remaster, not a remake, Bethesda has stressed, and so many of the quirks of its ageing design remain. One of those quirks — or frustrations it might be better called — is Oblivion’s level scaling system.

Oblivion’s original designer recently called the game's level scaling a “mistake,” but it made it into Oblivion Remastered anyway. It means loot acquired is tied to the level of your character at the point you acquire it. Similarly, enemies will still spawn according to your level.

It’s this latter point that has sparked a fresh round of advice from Oblivion veterans to newcomers, and it all revolves around Castle Kvatch.

Warning! Spoilers for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered follow.

Breaking the Siege of Kvatch is the fourth main quest, and tasks you with defending the city of Kvatch against the Daedric hordes. It involves going through an Oblivion gate where you’ll face off against multiple high level enemies. Once you've done that and closed the Oblivion gate, you have to clear out the Daedric invasion in the main plaza of Kvatch itself.

If you waited too long and leveled up a lot, you'll find that all of your helping friends are quickly killed because the enemies you're facing are extremely difficult. Due to Oblivion’s level scaling system, the higher level you are, the tougher those enemies will be. At higher levels, Kvatch will throw every variety of Daedra at you, rather than easy-to-kill Scamps. You might encounter a room full of Daedroth (strong crocodile-headed bipedal Daedra), Daedric Princes, or other monstrosities.

Breaking the Siege of Kvatch leads into The Battle for Castle Kvatch, should you take it on. Here you battle to retake the town's castle, defeating the Daedra along the way. Like Breaking the Siege of Kvatch, level scaling can be a real problem here.

Enter helpful Oblivion veterans who are recommending players take on Kvatch before they hit level 10.

“I'm like panicking now…” said redditor IsThatHearsay. “First time playing Oblivion, didn't even know you had to sleep to lvl up until just before I got to this mission.

“Closed the Kvatch Oblivion gate right before this mission still as lvl 1, then read online to sleep and I jumped from lvl 1 to 9 immediately with hour sleep increments. Met Martin there and decided to escort him to the Cloud place to take a break from fighting, followed by deciding to cheese some skills like Conjuration, Acrobatics, Sneak, and whatnot quickly and climbed to lvl 15.

“Now have to go back to do Kvatch at lvl 15+, when I'm hearing I probably should've just done it while still lvl 1…”

“I just tried it at level 20 and let me tell you, that shit is fucking rough,” said frontadmiral.

“Completed at lvl 21 on a mage, god it was tough,” said Ranaki_1967. “Had to in the field recharge my staff, drink potions escape down the ladder, have maximum shield armour, a Dremora champion.

“The framerate was bad.”

“Bro im doing it at 27 rn and im NOT having a good time, Xivali are EVERYWHERE,” Mother_Bid_4294 said.

Even Oblivion experts have been caught by taking on Kvatch at too high a level. “I've oblivioned extensively in the original but I still made the same mistake, went back to Kvatch level 13, just about manageable,” Various-Jellyfish132.

“Make use of sneak for bonus damage and retreat through loading doors to recover if needed, if you have a bit of space, their attacks are easily dodged. The daedroths don't seem to follow you through the doors so you can pick them off one at a time.”

“Oblivion scaling is just wild though because you will level up once and suddenly Scamps transform into Daedroths and Clannfear Runts turn into Daedric Princes,” Groosin1 said.

“Because the scaling cap is only 17-18. And the way leveling works, at 17-20 you could be anywhere from a guy with middling combat skills for what you're using and getting obliterated, to being God.”

Part of the issue here is that players are leveling up faster in Oblivion Remastered than they did in the original Oblivion. That’s because the developers changed the leveling system to modernize it, but kept the level scaling the same.

This has had the knock-on effect of causing some players to be a higher level than they would have been in the original when taking on tough quests such as Kvatch.

For the first time ever I decided to do Kvatch before level 10. It was cool to see it actually functioning as an even battle instead of a horde of overleveled demons one-shotting all the guards. Really makes you wonder if they ever tested it at higher levels. pic.twitter.com/VeQH3xst0b

— Entropy Phi (@entropy_phi) April 27, 2025

As you’d expect, modders have once again come to the rescue. Fresh from tackling PC performance issues in Oblivion Remastered, modders have also released balanced NPC level cap mods and balanced unleveled rewards mods, so if you’re on PC, you can change the way Oblivion Remastered works significantly. If you’re on console, however, you’re stuck with level scaling.

We’ve got plenty more on Oblivion Remastered, including a report on a player who managed to escape the confines of Cyrodiil to explore Valenwood, Skyrim, and even Hammerfell, the rumored setting of The Elder Scrolls VI.

We've also got a comprehensive guide to everything you'll find in Oblivion Remastered, including an expansive Interactive Map, complete Walkthroughs for the Main Questline and every Guild Quest, How to Build the Perfect Character, Things to Do First, every PC Cheat Code, and much more.

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.

We're just over a month away from the much-hyped arrival of Nintendo Switch 2, which means Nintendo has been busy behind the scenes, updating its OG Switch firmware and getting the digital eShop ready for June 5. Part of those changes, however, has evoked a surprisingly strong reaction in fans — the eShop has switched from orange to red.

Not only has the orange background — which has been the shop's primary color since the Nintendo 3DS days of June 2011 – been refreshed to a bright red, but the shop icon on the Home screen's taskbar has also been given a coat of paint. Previously, the red background color had primarily only been used to mark key Nintendo anniversaries.

RIP orange eShop. Lasted from 2011 to 2025 across 3DS, Wii U and Switch 🫡 pic.twitter.com/Gv9bBUKJ2H

— It's-A-Mii, BoTalksGames! (@BoTalksGames) April 30, 2025

That's not all, either. Nintendo has also straightened the 'e' on eShop and removed the little "eyelashes" from it, too, and changed the font, as demonstrated by the 't' in Nintendo.

"Going to be sick…" cried one alarmed Twitter respondent, while others descended into a "It's bread" frenzy, riffing on the viral Silent Hill 3 meme.

"Yeah I miss the orange already, lol," said another commenter on Reddit, to which another joked: "NOW it’s next gen."

THEY KILLED HIM

HES ALL RED NOW pic.twitter.com/4v2QiXboZv

— Nathan (@NSuperGamerGuy) April 30, 2025

Interestingly, though, this is actually not the first time the eShop has been red, as some players have also been reminiscing about. It also aligns the console store with the color palette you see when visiting the Nintendo eShop via your browser.

On the plus side, players are reporting the updated eShop seems to be responding faster since the most recent firmware update.

As IGN reported earlier today, Nintendo Switch Firmware Update Version 20.0.0 makes a number of key changes to the eight-year-old console in preparation of the launch of its successor, the Switch 2, in June, according to the patch notes released on Nintendo's official website. It includes the addition of a system transfer to Nintendo Switch 2, which you’ll now find in System Settings, so you'll be able to transfer from your Switch to Switch 2 using local communication.

This is all leading towards the hotly anticipated release of the Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5. Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders went live on April 24, with the price still fixed at $449.99 — and they went about as well as you'd expect. Meanwhile, Nintendo has issued a warning to U.S. customers who applied for a Switch 2 pre-order from the My Nintendo Store, saying release date delivery is not guaranteed due to very high demand.

Check out IGN's Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order guide for more.

Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Lost Soul Aside is delayed three months, from May 30 to August 29, 2025, its developer has announced.

After roughly a decade in development, the PC and PlayStation 5 single-player action game was finally scheduled for llaunch next month, but a statement from developer Ultizero Games revealed the delay to late September to add polish.

"We are truly grateful for the positive response we've received from players all over the world since we announced Lost Soul Aside," Ultizero Games said.

"We remain committed to delivering a high-quality game experience. To match the standards Ultizero Games have set for ourselves, we are going to take some additional time to polish the game. Lost Soul Aside will now release on August 29, 2025. We want to express our heartfelt thanks to our fans waiting for the launch."

Originally the passion project of solo developer Yang Bing, Lost Soul Aside has grown to become a major Sony-published title under the company's China Hero Project, with Bing now the founder and CEO of Shanghai-based studio Ultizero Games.

IGN recently had the opportunity to sit down with Yang Bing to discuss the long road to launch. So many years of development went into Lost Soul Aside, escalating from a solo creator's vision to a trailer reveal at Sony's State of Play broadcast. Through it all the hype has built up, with some calling Lost Soul Aside an exciting mix of Final Fantasy characters and Devil May Cry combat — even from the moment Yang Bing's initial reveal video went viral in 2016.

The main character Kesar wields a shape-shifting weapon you can swap between, which changes your playstyle, and you have a dragon-like companion named Arena who can summon abilities to support Kesar.

Like its inspirations, Lost Soul Aside emphasizes aerial dodging, precision timing, combos, and countering along with large-scale boss fights. The game blends its sci-fi premise with a variety of contemporary aesthetics that fit into a campaign that takes you across multiple dimensions. Although it's tough to glean where the story is going based on its trailers, Bing describes Kesar's journey as one of "redemption and discovery."

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.

Regardless of age, every gamer remembers when they suffered their first save game data loss, be it a corrupted console/PC harddrive, or a PS1 memory card suddenly showing blue blocks of damaged data. Japanese gamers were reminded of these painful feelings on April 30, when actor Shinya Okada’s dramatic reaction to losing all his original Pokemon Red save data from 1996 was captured in a YouTube video. The actor’s stunned facial expressions and fans’ outpourings of sympathy even led the incident to be featured on Japanese entertainment news outlets.

A familiar face in Japanese TV dramas, 77-year-old actor Shinya Owada is also a huge Pokemon fan, regularly playing through various games from the series on his YouTube Channel “Shinya Owada’s Hideout.” Often accompanied by his trusty Squirtle plushie (that he recently took on an adorable trip to the aquarium), Owada’s warm-hearted enthusiasm for the games, plus his dramatic narration of the dialogue has earned the veteran gamer over 56.4K subscribers.

Pokémon TCG fans are getting a strong lineup today, with multiple Elite Trainer Boxes on sale. That includes an early discount on the Journey Together set, which is rare this soon after release.

Regardless of being in it for the promos or looking to crack packs, this is a great time to grab sealed product, not ot mention singles dropping in value across the board.

There's also a deal on Iono’s Bellibolt Premium Collection, and the Iron Leaves ETB from the Temporal Forces expansion is holding steady at a fair price.

TL;DR: Deals For Today

Outside the world of cards, AirPods Pro 2 are available for $169, a significant drop from their usual $249 price tag.

If you just picked up a Switch 2, there’s also a quick-install screen protector available for under $10.

Humble has a 17-title XCOM bundle starting at just $10, and the IGN Store is offering a limited Oblivion collectible ingot for pre-order, perfect for Elder Scrolls fans and collectors.

Journey Together Elite Trainer Box

Journey Together Rare Cards

Iono’s Bellibolt ex Premium Collection

Journey Together IRs

Oblivion Gates

Temporal Forces: Elite Trainer Box

Temporal Forces Chase Cards

XCOM Complete Bundle

Screen Protector for Nintendo Switch 2

Apple AirPods Pro 2

id & Friends Humble Game Bundle

Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet - Surging Sparks Booster Bundle

Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—Twilight Masquerade Elite Trainer Box

Twilight Masquerade Single Cards

Surging Sparks Single Cards

Pokémon TCG: Shining Fates Collection Pikachu V Box

Shining Fates Single Cards

The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion Remastered Dark Brotherhood Medallion

Pokémon TCG Paldean Fates Booster Bundle

Paldean Fates Single Cards

Pokemon TCG: Azure Legends Tin - 5 Packs

Surging Sparks Single Cards

Lexar Sale

Pokémon Game Sale

MSI Desktops & Components Sale

Samsung Pro Plus 512GB MicroSDXC + Reader

8BitDo Retro 87 Mechanical Keyboard (Xbox Edition)

8BitDo Retro R8 Mouse (Xbox Edition)

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been out little over a week, but you can already grab Sandfall Interactive's critically acclaimed RPG, and potentially an early GOTY shout, up to £10 off on console at Amazon and £8 off on PC.

With these discounts, you can now grab it for just £40.99 on PS5 and £39.99 on Xbox physically, while a digital Steam copy for PC is currently priced at £33.59 during Fanatical's Level Up Sale.

Titanfall fans are reeling from the news EA has canceled another incubation project at Respawn Entertainment, and simultaneously laid off a number of individuals across its incubation, Apex Legends, Star Wars: Jedi, and EA Experience teams.

Bloomberg reported the canceled game, codenamed R7, was an extraction shooter set in the Titanfall universe. And while that is not the Titanfall 3 sequel fans have been clamoring for, some are devastated that the fan-favorite Titanfall 2 is still without a sequel almost a decade later.

"I just fell to my knees at Walmart," said one player, while another simply wrote: "I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE."

"How many more times will this happen before they finally give it up and leave us to our sorrow?" lamented another.

Not all fans are taking it as bad news, however, as some think an extraction shooter based in the Titanfall universe could have failed, killing the franchise for good.

"Best thing that could've happened as far as the continued existence of this franchise is concerned," posited this redditor. "A Titanfall extraction shooter would probably flop and the c-suite executives would say 'see, the people just don't like Titanfall anymore,' instead of the obvious reason being nobody asked for a Titanfall XTS."

"I’m fine with this one being canceled," responded someone else, followed by: "Extraction shooter lmao. Good riddance."

"So sick and tired of 'extraction shooters'. They're so formulaic and boring. I don't want to loot bunch of useless shit and camp in an attic or sit in a bush for 20 minutes or risk getting shot moving thru big open fields. Give me quick matches, wallrunning and titans blastin'," suggested this fan.

"Got sad. Read extraction shooter. Was literally okay," summarized someone else.

The roughly 100 jobs impacted at Respawn included individuals in development, publishing, and QA workers on Apex Legends, as well as smaller groups of individuals working on the Jedi team and two canceled incubation projects, one of which we reported on back in March, and the other thought to have been the aforementioned extraction shooter set in the Titanfall universe.

These cuts follow a number of other layoffs over the last few years at EA. Earlier this year, it restructured BioWare, moving developers to other projects and laying off others. It also eliminated 50 jobs at BioWare in 2023 and an unknown number more at Codemasters, and in 2024 a larger restructuring that resulted in 670 workers laid off company-wide, including around two dozen workers at Respawn.

In 2023, it emerged that Respawn Entertainment worked on Titanfall 3 "in earnest" for 10 months before ditching it for Apex Legends.

Mohammad Alavi, who became narrative lead designer on Titanfall 3 before it was cut, told The Burnettwork that much work on the sequel had been done.

“Titanfall 2 came out, did what it did, and we were like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna make Titanfall 3,’ and we worked on Titanfall 3 for about 10 months, right? In earnest, right?

"We had new tech for it, we had multiple missions going, we had a first playable, which was on par to be just as good if not better than whatever we had before, right? But I’ll make this clear: incrementally better, it wasn’t revolutionary. And that’s the key thing, right?

“And we were feeling pretty decent about it, but not the same feeling as Titanfall 2 where we were making something revolutionary, y’know what I mean?”

So, what happened? According to Alavi, it was a combination of the multiplayer team having issues making an experience that didn’t burn players out quickly, and the explosion of the Battle Royale genre with the release of PUBG in 2017.

“The multiplayer team was having a hell of a time trying to fix the multiplayer, because a lot of people love the multiplayer. People love Titanfall 2 multiplayer,” Alavi said.

“But the people who love Titanfall 2 multiplayer is a very small number of people. And most people play Titanfall 2 multiplayer and think it’s really good, but it’s just too much. It’s cranked up to 11, and they burn out a bit fast. And they’re like, ‘That was a great multiplayer, that’s not something I continually play a year, two years,’ right?

“So we were trying to fix that. We were trying to fix that from Titanfall 1 to 2, trying to fix it from Titanfall 2 to 3, the multiplayer team was just dying.

“And then PUBG came out.”

Respawn developers were seemingly more interested in playing a Battle Royale map with Titanfall 3 classes the team had put together, than any of the standard Titanfall multiplayer modes they were working on. This prompted a realisation: ditch Titanfall 3, which may or may not have ended up a better game than its predecessor, to create a Battle Royale that was wonderful.

“And at the time, I had just literally become [the] narrative lead designer on Titanfall 3. I had just pitched the story, the whole game, that me and Manny [Hagopian] had come up with. We made this big presentation and then we went off at break, and came back from break, and we talked about it and we were like, ‘Yeah, we need to pivot. And we need to go make this game.’

“We literally canceled Titanfall 3 ourselves ’cause we were like, ‘We can make this game, and it’s going to be Titanfall 2 plus a little bit better, or we can make this thing, which is clearly amazing.’

“And don’t get me wrong, I will always miss having another Titanfall. I love that game. Titanfall 2 is my most crowning achievement, but it was the right call. That is a crazy cut. Such a crazy cut that EA didn’t even know about it for another six months until we had a prototype up and running that we could show them!”

Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Gearbox development chief Randy Pitchford has insisted the decision to release Borderlands 4 earlier than planned had nothing to do with any other game’s release date, amid speculation the shooter might have moved due to games such as Marathon or Grand Theft Auto 6.

Co-op focused FPS Borderlands 4 was due out September 23, but will now release on September 12 across PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

This 11-day shift sparked speculation that GTA 6’s release date had come into focus and that parent company Take-Two, which also owns GTA developer Rockstar, had shuffled its pack in a bid to give Borderlands 4 more breathing room. GTA 6 is currently still down to launch in the fall of 2025.

There was also talk that Borderlands 4 might have moved due to a clash with Bungie’s Marathon, a co-op focused extraction shooter. Marathon is a crucial game for Bungie, which is owned by Sony, and was set to go up against Borderlands 4 by releasing on the same day, September 23, 2025. Borderlands 4 is getting its own PlayStation State of Play broadcast today, April 30, at 2pm PT / 5pm ET / 11pm CEST.

But in a tweet, Pitchford denied any game’s release date influenced the decision to bring Borderlands 4 forward, insisting it had to do with “confidence” and “development trajectory.”

“Borderlands 4 shipping early is 100% the result of confidence in the game and development trajectory backed by actual tasks and bug find/fix rates,” Pitchford said. “Our decision is literally 0% about any other product’s actual or theoretical launch date.”

While many games have brought their release dates forward, it remains an unusual occurence (delays are more likely). Chris Dring, Editor-In-Chief and Co-Founder of The Game Business, said that if other games' release dates really did have nothing to do with bringing Borderlands 4 forward, then the decision is "a bit odd."

"They’ve gone out with a date," Dring tweeted. "It’s on calendars, market materials, social assets... Put ‘Borderlands 4 release date’ into Google and it still says Sep 23. There’s surely got to be a good commercial reason to shift a date."

In a video message apparently published early yesterday, Pitchford revealed the surprise Borderlands 4 release date news. “Everything is going great, actually,” he said. “In fact, everything is going kind of the best-case scenario. The game is awesome, the team is cooking, and so the launch date for Borderlands 4 is changing. We’re moving it forward. The launch date is now September 12.”

“What?! This never happens you guys! This never happens! We’re moving the launch date forward! You’re gonna get Borderlands 4 earlier!”

It’s worth noting that Borderlands 4 is published by 2K Games, which is owned by Take-Two. Gearbox itself and the Borderlands IP are also owned by Take-Two. Meanwhile, Take-Two is the parent company of GTA developer Rockstar. At a high enough level, right up to CEO Strauss Zelnick, there will be a knowledge of all the company’s games, where they’re at in development, and a desire to give them all the best chance of success.

In an interview with IGN in February, Zelnick said Take-Two is planning its releases to avoid a risk of cannibalization, insisting launch timing is driven by a desire to “respect the consumer's need to spend a lot of time playing these hit games before they go on to the next.”

“No, I think we will plan the releases so as not to have that be a problem,” Zelnick said. “And what we found is when you're giving consumers hits, they tend to be interested in pursuing other hits. In other words, I've said this many times, even when the hits aren't ours, they're a good thing for the industry. In this case, we hope that the hits will largely be ours. So we feel really good about it and I think that we will time our releases so as to respect the consumer's need to spend a lot of time playing these hit games before they go on to the next.”

Amid all this speculation is of course the prospect that GTA 6 will be delayed either into early winter, or at some point in the first quarter of 2026.

"Look, there's always a risk of slippage and I think as soon as you say words like absolutely, you jinx things," Zelnick responded when IGN asked how confident he was that Rockstar would hit fall 2025 for GTA 6. "So we feel really good about it."

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.

Nintendo has released a new firmware update for the Switch ahead of the release of the Switch 2.

Nintendo Switch Firmware Update Version 20.0.0 makes a number of key changes to the eight-year-old console in preparation of the launch of its successor, the Switch 2, in June, according to the patch notes released on Nintendo's official website.

Chief among them is the addition of a system transfer to Nintendo Switch 2, which you’ll now find in System Settings. This lets you perform a system transfer from your Switch to Switch 2 using local communication.

If you lose access to your Switch before getting your Switch 2, there is an option to upload system transfer data to a dedicated server which can then be retrieved on your Switch 2.

It’s worth noting that once you’ve done this, the Switch will be initialized to factory settings. Nintendo warned you should only do the transfer if you’ll be able to complete the transfer on Switch 2. Otherwise, just do the system transfer using local communication after you have your Switch 2.

Some Switch owners who intend to sell or trade in their OG console against a Switch 2 are already saying they’ll make use of this system transfer system as they don’t need to hold onto their old consoles to do the transfer. Others are questioning the need for the transfer to trigger a factory reset, and have expressed concern about potentially losing their Switch data on Nintendo’s dedicated server.

Meanwhile, the update changes the appearance of some user icons, which the community has already revealed. Of note here is Donkey Kong’s new icon is the new design from upcoming Switch 2 exclusives Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World.

There's also new icons on the Home menu for Virtual Game Cards and GameShare, both also in anticipation of the launch of Switch 2.

Nintendo Switch Firmware Update Version 20.0.0 patch notes

Ver. 20.0.0 (Released April 29, 2025)

• The following icons for new features have been added to the HOME Menu:
  • Virtual Game Card
    • Purchased Nintendo Switch digital software, DLC, and some free software, are now virtual game cards and displayed in a list in this menu.
    • You can virtually load and eject virtual game cards between up to two Nintendo Switch systems.
    • Virtual game cards can be lent to others in the same Nintendo Account family group. For more information, see Virtual Game Card Guide.
  • GameShare
    • Compatible software can be shared from a Nintendo Switch 2 system to other nearby system(s) to play together.
      • You can only play together via local wireless, and the Nintendo Switch 2 system must initiate GameShare.
      • This feature cannot be used between two Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch – OLED Model and/or Nintendo Switch Lite systems.
• User-Verification Settings has been added under User > User Settings.
  • You can restrict access to the Virtual Game Card menu by requiring entry of a PIN or signing in to your Nintendo Account.
• Online License Settings has been added.
  • When turned on, you can play downloaded software or DLC you've purchased while the system is connected to the internet, even if you don't have the virtual game card loaded.
  • For more information, please refer to the details about the option on the System Settings screen.
• The Nintendo eShop and Nintendo Switch News icon colors on the HOME Menu have been changed.
• Multiple save data can be selected and transferred at once in “Transfer Your Save Data” menu.
• System Transfer to Nintendo Switch 2 has been added under System Settings > System.
  • You can perform a system transfer from your Nintendo Switch to Nintendo Switch 2 using local communication.
    • For users that will lose access to their Nintendo Switch before receiving their Nintendo Switch 2, there is an option to upload system transfer data to a dedicated server which can then be retrieved on their Nintendo Switch 2. After you upload your system transfer data to the dedicated server, the Nintendo Switch system will be initialized to factory settings, so only perform this transfer if you’ll be able to complete the transfer on Nintendo Switch 2.
    • If you want to continue using your Nintendo Switch until you have a Nintendo Switch 2, we recommend completing the system transfer using local communication after you have acquired a Nintendo Switch 2 system.
  • An internet connection and Nintendo Account is required to complete both local and the server-based system transfer service.
  • For more information, see System Transfer from Nintendo Switch to Nintendo Switch 2.
• The appearance of some user icons have been updated.

For detailed information on Nintendo Switch 2, see the Nintendo website.

Note that the use of “Primary Console” has been deprecated with the transition to virtual game cards, and “Pass-enabled console” will be used instead. On a console set as the “Pass-enabled console” for a user, all users on the console can access certain subscriptions or passes for some software. For more information, see How to Set or Change the Pass-Enabled Console for a Nintendo Account.

This is all leading towards the hotly anticipated release of the Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5. Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders went live on April 24, with the price still fixed at $449.99 — and they went about as well as you'd expect. Meanwhile, Nintendo has issued a warning to U.S. customers who applied for a Switch 2 pre-order from the My Nintendo Store, saying release date delivery is not guaranteed due to very high demand.

Check out IGN's Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order guide for more.

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.

Diablo 4 has launched Season 8 and with it kicked off a series of free updates that will, eventually, lead into the action role-playing game’s second expansion, due out at some point in 2026.

But not all is well within Diablo 4’s ravenous core community. It is a player base hungry for significant new features, reworks, and fresh ways to play the near two-year-old game, and it’s not shy about letting Blizzard know how it feels. Yes, Diablo 4 is more than its core community, with a significant number of casual players who just like to blast monsters without too much thought on how they’re doing it. But the foundation of Diablo 4’s community is made up of veteran fans who play week in, week out, fuss over meta builds, and want Blizzard to give them much more to think about.

Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that Diablo 4’s recently released 2025 roadmap — the first Blizzard has released for the game — suffered a backlash. In the wake of the roadmap’s release, Diablo 4’s community expressed concern about what's coming up in 2025, including Season 8, and questioned whether there’s enough new content to keep them coming back.

TV these days offers you a choice of freaky apocalypses. Want to see human society collapse due to deadly mushrooms? Watch The Last of Us. Want to see the world end in a blanket of deadly snow? Watch The Eternaut, Netflix’s gritty and moody adaptation of an influential, nearly 70-year-old Argentine comic book. A thoughtful and twisty take on the post-apocalyptic survival genre, this series makes terrific use of its South American locations to tell a story about people too stubborn to die.

The Eternaut’s doomsday begins when a mysterious snow-like substance that kills anyone who touches it starts falling from the sky in Buenos Aires, a place not exactly known for frosty winters. In less than a day, the city’s population is decimated. One of the few survivors is lumpy, gray-haired, middle-aged Juan Salvo (Ricardo Darin) who puts on a gas mask and a heavy coat and ventures out into the fallen capital, searching for people to save.

The basic concept and approach of The Eternaut should be familiar to fans of The Walking Dead and similar shows. The series’s writer-director-producer Bruno Stagnaro begins the story on day one, documenting a society that rapidly collapses and then just as quickly tries to regroup. This season’s pacing can feel slow, as Stagnaro tells a story that, at times, feels like a minute-by-minute recounting of Juan’s adventures. In the first three episodes especially, there are a lot of scenes of people in darkened rooms, talking about their fears and worrying about their futures. These characters are good enough company, but you’ll need to exercise a little patience early on, as the plot gradually develops.

The Eternaut really comes to life whenever the action moves outside. The images of a broken Buenos Aires – filled with crashed cars and corpses, all covered in snow – are visually striking. The tension heightens dramatically too whenever Juan is out in the streets, encountering other explorers with masks and guns, having to figure out which of them he can trust. In one of the most memorable early scenes, he comes across a group of people huddling in one corner of a crashed commuter train, and he is torn between his instinctive feelings of compassion and the realization that there is no way to save all of them from the snow. These are the kinds of moments that you look for in tales of armageddon: the ones where the heroes wrestle with tough choices, and we wrestle along with them.

By the fourth episode, the true nature of this particular apocalypse becomes clearer, and (no spoilers here) The Eternaut becomes more obviously a science-fiction story. There are more sequences involving special effects – all very polished and impressive – as Juan and his band of survivors find themselves racing through the city, scrambling into makeshift shelters and fighting for their lives.

Where The Eternaut takes place matters, for a couple of reasons. This show is about people who, even before their world turned upside-down, sometimes felt isolated and forgotten, in a country with a rickety infrastructure and a complicated political history. The Argentine setting gives a tried-and-true plot a fresh look and feel. But it also provides a reason why some neighbors might look at each other warily (perhaps due to past unrest), and why there is enough analog technology around to mitigate against power outages. The setting also matters because of the source material, which could be considered one of the first serious graphic novels. Its complex and sophisticated story in comic book form influenced artists worldwide, and it especially inspired Argentinians, who had never seen their own country depicted in a science-fiction epic. It remains an astonishing backdrop in this new, televised form.

You don’t have to be Argentine, though, to be awed by The Eternaut’s depiction of an ordinary city, ravaged by disaster. Juan is an everyman for everybody. What gives this show its juice are all the scenes of him venturing into the unknown, step by wary step, trying to stay alive long enough to make a difference.

The following is a non-spoiler review for six (out of eight) episodes of the second season of The Walking Dead: Dead City, which premieres Sunday, May 4.

Dead City is the most conceptually interesting of The Walking Dead's many offshoots: Uneasy allies Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) take Manhattan, getting tangled up in the fallen metropolis' warring factions and post-apocalyptic conflicts along the way. But the first six episodes of its second season prove why this is also the franchise's most forced and clumsy spinoff. After several key players got off the island in season 1, everyone needs to get shuffled back into Dead City now. And it's not just Maggie, mind you, but people who have no business returning – if you can even make the argument that Maggie herself should be returning.

In case you need a reminder, since it's been nearly two years since the first-season finale: Maggie sold out Negan, leaving him a captive figurehead for The Dama (Lisa Emery) and The Croat's (Željko Ivanek) Big Apple machinations, and returned her son Hershel (Logan Kim) to The Bricks community. With all that in mind, I could certainly feel Dead City strains to reunite the gang in the same zip code. There's nothing smooth or natural about it. This is a show that favors plot over character, so it's threats and blackmail, rather than more internal forms of motivation, that get the chess pieces where they need to be.

There are some wise moves that help treat Season 1's bumps and bruises, while also exploring a great new angle on Hershel. But it ultimately fizzles out under action scenes too dark to comprehend or appreciate, characters' kids constantly getting used as leverage or collateral, and an overall fatigue when it comes to Maggie and Negan's complicated relationship. The original Walking Dead series basically said most everything that needed to be said about the duo's uneasy reconciliation, and one of Season 1's big flaws was that it seemed to ignore the emotional work that brought them to that conclusion.

Dead City is still buckling under this particular trauma bond, but it also does a few things to alleviate the heaviness. Maggie and Negan are no longer on an adventure together – they're separated for most parts of the season, dealing with their own turmoil involving mini-tyrants making rash choices. For Maggie, it's the soldiers of New Babylon, which we discover is a rather fiendish outfit. For Negan, it's the eloquent sadism of Ivanek and Emery's methane-powered Midtown monarchs. The charming psy-ops Negan works on his opressors are more fun to watch than Maggie's constant anger and befuddlement at her New Babylon bullies, so putting distance between our two headliners works way better for the story.

Hershel Rhee, meanwhile, remains an angsty apocalypse teen (the worst sub-category of TV teen) who constantly whines and operates on self-serving levels despite larger, urgent things happening around him. And so we get, for the most part, the worst Hershel in season 2: The one who can never live up to his beloved namesake and has been made a worse character by the burden. But there's a hitch, because he isn't all bad. I mean, there are definitely some terrible teen traits, but with Hershel this season, we get a fascinating mix of Stockholm syndrome and the younger TWD generation's disregard for the pre-zombocalypse world.

Everything adults do on these shows is an effort to reclaim past safety, knowledge, and comfort. But what does that mean to the characters too young to ever know "how things were"? Hershel's story this season allows that question to echo through the concrete canyons of a Manhattan that's been returned to nature (give or take a few dozens walkers). Are the things the grownups are doing for their kids really just for them? Hershell will forever be a polarizing character, but there are a few moments in season 2 where he makes a good point.

Ginny (Mahina Napoleon) on the other hand? No such luck. Her journey here, barring whatever happens in the last two episodes (which weren't made available for this review), is just as flat and ill-fitting as it was in season 1. A couple more episodes could save things, but for six episodes all she gets to be is a sullen side teen who's somehow, still, supposed to morph into Negan's surrogate daughter – even though he has a wife and kid elsewhere who love him. (There's an unintentionally hilarious scene in season 2 regarding Negan's family that feels born out of laziness, relying on TV characters' exceedingly poor communication skills. I think I uttered the words "you gotta be f***ing kidding me.")

New faces this year include Orange is the New Black's Dascha Polanco as hardline New Babylon enforcer Narvaez and Sons of Anarchy's Kim Coates as seedy Manhattan merchant Bruegel. The latter grows tiresome quickly; the former slowly becomes more fun and interesting. New Babylon wants The Croat's methane factory, The Croat and the Dama want to protect what's theirs by convincing the New York gangs to form a united front, and most everyone else plots and schemes for their own individual ends. It's all fine, and we get to explore the dangers and secrets of Central Park this year, but humming in the background is Hershel just sort of loving Manhattan the way it is – all ruined and reclaimed by nature. His story's job – which unfortunately sacrifices our enjoyment of him as a character – is to poke at everyone else's motivations and, maybe even, the viewers' need to see this hellscape become colonized. In the tradition of many, many young people who've come before him (in real life and on TV), Hershel looks forward not back.

With sales this good, your pile of shame's about to become a colossal pillar of discounts. This last-gasp-of-April haul packs a punch across all platforms, whether you’re craving tactical drama, nostalgic chaos, or sprawling open worlds. Let’s cut straight to the gems lighting up the digital shelves this week. It's the usual case of grab 'em before they're goneski.

This Day in Gaming 🎂

In retro news, today's a day of sombre remembrance for two consoles. 28 years ago, we witnessed the discontinuance of Sega's Game Gear, a battery-guzzling beast that sold 10.62M units and I fondly remember for its Sonic games and extravagant TV Tuner attachment. It's also been 23 years since we bade farewell to the Nintendo 64, which delivered phenomenal four-player action, groundbreaking 3D AAAs, and a highscore of 32.93M units sold. I am not shedding a sentimental tear over it. That's just...Control Stick dust in my eye.

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Andor season 2’s second batch of episodes picks up another year later, swapping out action for some proper tragedy as the rebellion gets too big for either side to control. But as we get closer to reconnecting with the larger Star Wars universe as a whole, Andor keeps proving itself to be a truly unique addition to the galaxy far, far away.

You know, it occurred to me that in the two reviews I've done for Andor so far, I haven’t yet mentioned one of my favorite characters: ISB’s spymaster, Major Partagaz. Partially, it’s because his first name is Lio and I’ve got a thing for regular ass sounding names in sci fi and fantasy (see also: the main character of Dune named Paul), but mostly old Lio is such a calm and incredibly smart presence at the center of the Empire’s counterintelligence operation. He’s also responsible for one of my favorite lines – one of the most representative bits of dialogue in this second chapter.

The line comes in episode 6, when Partagaz assigns the task of keeping watch over the expanding interrogation program, the torturous tactic used on Bix in season 1. When his subordinate says it’s an honor, Partagaz is almost disgusted and reminds the guy to “calibrate his enthusiasm.”

It’s another one of this season's sneakily funny moments, but it’s also important for me in understanding what this second chapter is about. In this scene, it’s ISB Supervisor Hiet treating an assignment with an overabundance of importance. This rebellion is getting too big to track. There are so many threads being pulled together the signal-to-noise ratio is unbearable. But, my guy Lio is smart enough to see it, and happily dresses down an underling whose excitement needs some adjustment.

This second chapter is dedicated to the idea of losing control. There’s a leveling of the playing field that happens here in what amounts to the dog days of this rebellion. Everybody is getting worn down by the scope of the fight as it’s starting to transition into something bigger. The ISB is complaining about arresting so many people they can’t properly ingest all the intel they’re gathering. Meanwhile, Luthen can’t keep track of how many bugs he and Kleya have planted around Coruscant and it’s starting to freak him out. The climactic moments of these three episodes are built around them retrieving a listening device from Sculden’s art collection in full view of several Imperial officers – including the father of the Death Star, Orson Krennic.

That’s also why a story about spycraft and espionage is the perfect vehicle for what Tony Gilroy and company are trying to do with this show. This season is inherently a little less mysterious than the first, simply because we know all these people a little better. The question is shifting from “What are they planning?” to “How are they getting away with it?” and the complications that arise are all to do with not being fully in control.

This does a couple things: Number 1 is that this idea trickles down to every character and every storyline which, like in the first batch of episodes, really pulls together otherwise disparate storylines. We get to watch unconnected groups deal with very similar things. Number 2 is that it slows the proceedings down a little bit, which has a good and a bad side.

First, the good: I think Bix has a wonderfully tough arc in these episodes. Her version of losing control is managing the drug use she turns to in order to get through her nightmares of Dr. Gorst and that awful sonic torture. She’s also getting left behind while Cassian is out on assignments, which is obviously difficult but also a far cry from the place we first met her in season 1. She’s paid a steep price for this rebellion after having been swept up into it in ways that I’m sure she wasn’t planning on a few years ago.

But the real highlight of this batch of episodes I think is getting to meet Ghorman, the planet that’s home to all those spiders and all those sweet underground Death Star minerals. It’s no small thing that its inhabitants speak their own language and are subtitled, either. I love the decision to do that. Their culture is portrayed so thoroughly that it makes what the Empire is doing to them about more than just a show of fascism or the brutal lengths they’re willing to go to. It’s about the tragedy of a rich and distinct society being fed to the machine of the Empire. They’ve even got their own middle finger-style gesture that apparently is beyond the pale for town hall meetings. It’s a great detail on par with good set design or the right costume. It fleshes out this world we’ve never seen before and immediately communicates that these are a people worth acknowledging.

And of course the key to the Ghor’s story in these 3 episodes is that they are not in control of their own destiny. Ghorman is just another battlefield the Rebellion and the Empire are fighting over. That’s what’s so brilliant about how the planet is used as a story point. We now have an emotional tie to this place that’s a symbol for what this whole arc is about: trying to get a handle on this conflict.

It’s a lens through which we see Cassian realize the would-be rebels there aren’t ready – but what can he do about it? We get to see Luthen say he’s willing to sacrifice them if it makes the Empire look bad and inspires rebels elsewhere in the galaxy. We get to see Vel and Cinta trying to manage their own destinies, though ultimately they can’t because of the role the rebellion asks them to take in situations like Ghorman. We get to see the Empire with a plan to just nudge the planet into chaos, which is actually a back-up plan for them in case they can’t find an alternative to the mineral.

Ghorman is stuck in the middle, with little to no agency in how things are playing out, but its people want to try. It’s a perfect story to illustrate the push and pull of the rebellion while also getting us emotionally invested in their survival. And ultimately that’s what Star Wars has always been. Rooting for the rebellion used to be painted with a much broader brush, but it’s never quite been so nuanced and intriguing as what the team behind Andor is doing here.

Syril and Dedra’s relationship also continues to be maybe the most fascinating thing to watch in season 2. Particularly with how clever the writers are about lining Syril up right next to Ghorman. There’s a great scene between Syril, Dedra, and Major Lio where you can see him being set up in exactly the same way Ghorman is. It’s such an insidious thing, taking advantage of Syril’s ambitions. He’s being manipulated by Dedra and the ISB in a way that starts to make me feel properly bad for the guy. And I don’t think Dedra feels great about what she’s having to do either. Regardless, the situation is out of their hands.

Meanwhile in the senate, Mon is losing control as well. There’s a great montage of her failing at the politics of it all while her fellow senators won’t budge because they’re afraid of an Imperial reaction. Mon’s effectiveness is waning even in how she presents as a troublesome but ultimately harmless senator. Her line about “are we finding criminals or making them?” is very good. It’s her trying to more directly and openly stand up to the Empire and it’s proving to work less than the more casual obstructionist thing that she had been doing.

The only guy in this arc who’s really not stressing about being in control is Saw Guerra. Where the dramatic irony of his character is concerned – the fact that we see him get blown up along with the rest of Jedha in Rogue One – he’s a guy that’s absolutely thriving in this environment. It’s a great touch to have one character be very aware and very okay with the fact that this will not end well for him. You need that contrast in telling this story. The point of Andor is to largely avoid being as cut-and-dried, good-versus-evil as the original Star Wars, to dig into the gray areas and the infighting that emerge when organizing a revolution.

Having said that, you also need the contrast of this storyline. Saw’s part in this batch of episodes is the one that feels most like a bit of business leading into Rogue One. We don’t learn anything new about Saw, and the way he radicalizes Wilmon doesn’t push the character too much farther from where he already was. Seeing them at D’Qar, a location we know from The Force Awakens, was an Easter egg that threw me a little. I feel like Andor is so devoid of that sort of thing that those grass covered hangers pulled me out of the episode. I mean, it’s not like Yoda showed up out of nowhere, thank the maker, so they’re keeping those larger franchise connections to a minimum.

So as I mentioned up front, there’s some positive to pumping the breaks a little with these three episodes, but there is also something I think I might be missing: Some good old-fashioned Star Wars action sequences. We got a little bit in chapter 1, with Cassian stealing the TIE Fighter and the fleeing the farming planet. But six episodes in and we don’t have anything quite as thrilling as Luthen evading the Empire like he did in the first season, or the heist and escape through the Eye of Aldhani.

But regular thrills and chills are not what Andor is about, very much by design. This is the forgotten side of the rebellion. The side that won’t get a medal on stage in front of the whole squad and that we as an audience aren’t as familiar with. So in that respect it shouldn’t look like the Star Wars that we’ve known since the ’70s. This is a show about smaller wins that have bigger implications.

Yet there’s a side of me that needed a little more action out of these episodes. Admittedly, I could very well be wrong, but it feels a little strange to end the week with Kleya struggling to remove a microphone from an ancient stone book. As tragic as Cinta’s death was, the very deserved thrashing that Vel gives to the Ghorman rebel who killed her is undercut a bit by Luthen and Kleya laughing on their way out of the party. And I was very excited for Bix to get her revenge on Dr. Gorst, because I’m both invested in her as a character and it’s a wonderful little bookend to the idea of taking a certain amount of control back at the end of this arc. Still, episode 6 wraps up in a fairly uneven way.

Cassian and Bix get to walk away from an explosion, which is nearly always cool, though, so that’s at least something. But if I need more action out of this series in particular, it’s probably time to calibrate my enthusiasm.

With May the Fourth fast approaching, otherwise known as Star Wars Day, there's no better time than now to pick up some new goodies to transport you to a galaxy far, far away. If you're a fan of puzzles there are plenty of different Star Wars-themed options to choose from, whether you're an experienced puzzler or looking for a smaller, simpler option to complete with the whole family.

In this list we've gathered up just a few of our favorite Star Wars puzzles that are worth dropping some money on in 2025. These include a couple of exciting 3D builds for those who love a challenge as well as more standard jigsaw puzzles that create a lovely final image that's worth putting up on a wall. Some of these puzzles are even on sale right now, so there's no better time to add them to your shopping cart. Many of them even come from some of our favorite puzzle brands, so you know they're worth the investment.

The Best Star Wars Puzzles to Buy in 2025

Buffalo Games Star Wars 'You Were The Chosen One' Jigsaw Puzzle (2000 Pieces)

Best Puzzle for Adults

For a limited time, Amazon is offering the 7th generation Apple iPad Air M3 tablets at the lowest prices I've seen so far. The 11" model is down to $499 and the 13" model is down to $699, both after a $100 off instant discount. That's the best price we've seen for this 2025 model with the M3 chip and a wonderful gift idea for Mother's Day, which lands on May 11.

New 2025 Apple iPad Air M3 Tablet From $499

Fans hoping to catch the first few episodes of Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld will have to drop into Fortnite if they want to watch the series before it comes to Disney+.

Epic Games unveiled how it will expand upon its existing Star Wars offerings today, revealing that the upcoming animated spinoff’s first two episodes will premiere exclusively through Fortnite. It’s part of the studio’s efforts to double down on Star Wars content for its upcoming Galactic Battle season, which focuses on delivering Star Wars-themed goodies.

You’ll be able to see Tales of the Underworld kick off with two episodes starring Asajj Ventress via the Star Wars Watch Party island starting at 10 a.m. ET on May 2 – two days before the show comes to Disney+ subscribers. Epic encourages fans to link their Epic Games and MyDisney accounts, too, with eligible players being gifted a First Order Stormtrooper outfit in return. It’s unclear how else connecting the accounts will benefit those who participate, though Epic teases that there are “more benefits to come.”

“Disney and Epic are pioneering the future of social entertainment together, and this expansive Star Wars collaboration offers a glimpse into the type of interactive experiences we envision,” Epic Games President Adam Sussman said in a statement. “We are reimagining what’s possible with immersive storytelling in Fortnite with one of the world’s most beloved franchises - stay tuned for a lot more to come.”

You’ll have until May 11 to watch both Tales of the Underworld episodes, at which point Star Wars Watch Party island will no longer be live. It will also feature a Battle Arena for players to duke it out as they use lightsabers to cut down waves of enemies. Those who watch both episodes will earn an Asajj Ventress loading screen.

Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld is a six-episode series animated in the style of The Clone Wars that follows Asajj Ventress and Cad Bane. An official description for the show teases that the former will find herself face to face with a new chance at life and a new ally, while the latter is forced to confront his past.

Disney’s ties with Fortnite extend far past its upcoming Galactic Battle season. The House of Mouse acquired a $1.5 billion stake in Epic in March 2024, positioning itself to collaborate with the game developer for many years to come. It was a move that will see the two powerhouses working together in more ways than one while also resulting in the addition of more Star Wars, Marvel, and Pixar outfits in the hit battle royale video game. Some highlights from its next season including Darth Jar Jar and Emperor Palpatine.

Fortnite has continued to dominate the space since its launch in 2017. Other recent collaborations have helped it maintain its status, including a Sabrina Carpenter crossover that had players putting down the pickaxes and putting on their dancing shoes.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

Fans of the Alien and Predator franchises have a lot to look forward to in 2025. Not only are we getting two new Predator films from Prey director Dan Trachtenberg with the live-action Predator: Badlands and the animated Hulu offering Predator: Killer of Killers, but we’re also set to receive another major entry in the Alien universe from Fargo and Legion showrunner Noah Hawley with the FX show Alien: Earth. Although these projects are not officially connected yet, fans know that Alien and Predator have a long history as part of a shared universe, with the two iconic monsters crossing paths in numerous films, comic books, and video games.

Examining the latest promotional materials for Predator: Badlands and Alien: Earth may provide clues that Disney is laying the groundwork for a new crossover between Alien and Predator. Let’s take a closer look at the developments in these franchises and why we might see AVP return to the big screen sooner rather than later.

Evil Easter Eggs

The first teaser trailer for Predator: Badlands already made some fans wonder if a new Alien vs. Predator was on its way. The trailer revealed that Elle Fanning will be playing a Weyland-Yutani synthetic who has a connection to a new Predator named Dek, who Trachtenberg confirmed will be the film’s protagonist. Although a Weyland-Yutani android being an important figure in a Predator film doesn’t necessarily mean the film is setting up a major Alien crossover–the two franchises have long since cross-pollinated enough where this reveal isn’t a huge shift in the status quo–it does take on greater significance now that we’ve received new promotional videos for Alien: Earth.

In the Gestation Complete teaser, there are multiple Easter eggs relating to Alien lore. We see the black liquid mutagen from the opening of Prometheus that is used to seed life on Earth by the Engineers. This eventually leads to an egg sac that looks remarkably similar to one attached to a wall in Alien: Romulus. Although the creature that spills out of it resembles a facehugger in shape, it appears to be mutated in new ways. This specimen is revealed to be contained on a ship resembling the Nostromo from the original film, although this vessel is called the Maginot. The creature is designated “Species 37” (a Mass Effect reference?!) and marked as having unknown DNA by the ship’s computer, MU-TH-UR. Since we know the show takes place two years prior to Alien in the series’ timeline, this indicates that Species 37 was what clued Weyland-Yutani into the Xenomorphs in the first place, since the Nostromo’s MU-TH-UR and Ash knew what it was before they landed on LV-426.

A related teaser called Crate features specimen containers, with a narrator stating that the ship “collected five different life forms from the darkest corners of the universe,” and that each one is a unique species. Although a classic Xenomorph crawls over the central crate, the fact that we’re getting five different species means the show appears to be expanding the roster of alien creatures in this universe by a wide margin. Could one of them be related to the Predators? That would certainly track with Badlands being set on an alien world where the lead Predator Dek seems to be hunting extraterrestrial monstrosities. Perhaps Elle Fanning’s android was searching for some of the specimens featured in the show? Or maybe one of these monsters will mutate into something we’ll see in Badlands or Killer of Killers. We won’t know for sure until it premieres, but we wouldn’t be surprised if there’s Predator DNA somewhere in Alien: Earth.

Alien and Predator’s Long, Intertwined History

Alien and Predator have been part of the same world for longer than you might remember. Although the first AVP film was released in 2004, the two space monsters first clashed in a 1989 Dark Horse comic series called Aliens vs. Predator. Predator 2, released the next year in 1990, famously featured an Easter egg referencing Alien by including a Xenomorph skull on the trophy wall of the Predator’s ship. Many other AVP comics and video games were released throughout the ‘90s, cementing the idea of these two creatures having a shared universe long before that idea was popularized in the mainstream by the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

However, they may have gotten to the trend too early. Although there were two AVP films released in the 2000s, Paul W. S. Anderson’s Alien vs. Predator in 2004 and The Brothers Strause’s Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem in 2007, the series failed to catch on because of poor critical and audience reception (even though they made money at the box office). Although serialized superhero and science-fiction blockbusters were starting to take over the world at the time in large part because of a series of trends set in place by the Star Wars prequel trilogy, not every franchise in the genre space was given the love and care it needed to last long term. AVP was treated as a B-tier property by 20th Century Fox even though both Alien and Predator had excellent films to their names in the past.

Ridley Scott’s original Alien is one of the greatest horror films ever made, James Cameron’s Aliens is among the most iconic movie sequels, and John McTiernan’s original Predator is one of the best action films of the 1980s. Now, we’re not saying AVP needed to aim for an Oscar (or are we?), but few would argue that the two films we received stood up with the best the individual franchises had to offer. The 2010s only made the situation worse with Ridley Scott’s Prometheus series never getting a third entry after the commercial disappointment of Alien: Covenant, and Shane Black’s attempt to rejuvenate the Predator franchise with The Predator falling flat on its face. But after the success of Prey in 2022 and Alien: Romulus in 2024, Alien and Predator have seen their fortunes turn around.

And now that we’ve seen teases of their upcoming projects, the idea of a new AVP seems closer than ever.

Converging for Carnage

We also have to keep in mind that a sequel to Alien: Romulus is currently in development, and that director Fede Álvarez is not just attached to return for that film, but has also outright stated he would be interested in directing an Alien vs. Predator film. Romulus was a big critical and commercial success for Disney, relaunching the franchise after the Prometheus series fell apart while still keeping that part of the brand alive with the Engineer-alike monster in the third act. Cailee Spaeny’s Rain Carradine and David Jonsson’s Andy are currently in stasis heading to Yvaga III, with a direct sequel presumably picking up with those two and their continued voyage in the dark reaches of space. But with Badlands also set in the stars, could we see some cameos or Easter eggs in that film hinting at a Romulus connection?

In fact, Álvarez recently said that the best way to do an Alien vs. Predator movie would be to have it be a surprise to audiences:

“The best AVP will be the one that you don’t know is AVP until the other guy shows up,” the filmmaker recently told Collider. “You think you’re watching a Predator movie, and then they land in some place and there are creatures, and fucking hell, it’s a Xenomorph. That would get me. … Or vice versa, you’re in an Alien movie, and then suddenly a mysterious creature is there, and you can hear that sound, and you see the cloak, and you go, ‘Is that a fucking Predator?’”

Álvarez coming across excited by the idea of AVP gives us hope that a new take on the mash-up will succeed where the previous ones fell short. Setting both of those films on a contemporary Earth limited their scope considerably, and they struggled to get the audience invested in any of their two-dimensional characters. The films were so rejected by the fanbase that an AVP relaunch could throw those movies out of continuity without any hassles and start over with a clean slate. With Badlands switching up the Predator formula by casting a Predator as the lead character, perhaps Dek (provided he survives Badlands) could be the main hero of a new AVP. As well, another entry in the crossover series could finally expand on the Predalien concept introduced in those films. Maybe some Engineer mutagen could create a being that’s part Alien, part Predator, and part Engineer? Now that would be terrifying.

Whatever happens with all of these upcoming projects, both Alien and Predator are in a much healthier state now than they have been in years. Yet that also means that the idea of making a proper crossover film between the two almost certainly has to be on Disney’s radar, especially since an Alien vs. Predator match-up is just about the biggest “event” you can get within this franchise. With cinematic universes and cross-medium integration more popular than ever, a new AVP feels more like a question of when instead of if. Especially with talented filmmakers like Álvarez and Trachtenberg now associated with the property, perhaps these two iconic monsters will finally get the big screen battle they so rightly deserve.

Carlos Morales writes novels, articles and Mass Effect essays. You can follow his fixations on Twitter.

Note: This review specifically covers the multiplayer mode of Tempest Rising. For thoughts on the story mode, check out the Tempest Rising single-player campaign review.

The problem with Tempest Rising's multiplayer is that while it's perfectly competent at recreating a slice of the old Command & Conquer multiplayer with a pair of new and interesting factions, it's just that: a slice, rather than the whole pie. With only two factions, nine maps, and the most basic of options for customizing its two or four-player matches, just about everything here screams "minimum viable product." Combine that with the fact that Tempest Rising doesn’t aspire to be anything more than a revival of C&C’s gameplay, and there's not a tremendous amount to get excited about. It may well expand over time – such as whenever the Veti faction arrives – but like a vehicle factory that's only half built, it won't be super useful until you're certain you'll have enough harvested Tempest in the bank to complete it.

I could try to comment on unit balance, but like with any fresh-out-of-the-gate multiplayer game, anything I say will almost certainly soon be obsolete. My anecdotal experiences with the community's apparent preference for GDF over Dynasty, probably thanks to their self-replenishing drone swarms, is likely to either be nerfed in a patch within a week or proven completely wrong. Soon, I'm sure someone way smarter than I am will figure out a devastating counter that reduces the seemingly unbeatable (and admittedly pretty cool) strategy of loading Skycrane transport helios with drone operating infantry to automatically barrage anything in range to a garbage-tier strategy for fools.

So I'll leave that to the folks who are busily hashing out the best build orders and counter strategies for the unique characteristics of each faction, which are mostly remixes of C&C ideas with a few twists to get a hang of. I’m a big fan of the Dynasty’s Scrap Trucks, which let you quickly unfold a vehicle-repairing turret anywhere on the map and start plopping down structures that you can pre-construct at your con yard. Naturally, there's no end to the opportunities for showing off your micromanagement skills by deftly controlling the transforming Trebuchet tanks, picking targets for your long-range artillery and airborne units to clear the way for flamethrowers and armor, activating special abilities to disable groups of enemies and leaving them vulnerable, laying mines, scouting, calling in support abilities, etc. – all while building and protecting your own resource economy and climbing the tech tree.

Because of Tempest Rising's retro style and adherence to time-tested tech trees I've found it instantly familiar and easy to slip back into old habits; I've been enjoying going back to the classic engineer-rush where I steal the enemy's construction yard out from under their noses while a handful of infantry distracts them from the opposite flank. (That'll only work for a short while after launch, so I'm getting that trollish thrill while I can.) If it worked in C&C, it'll probably work here.

There are a few features that feel like they're built almost exclusively for the hyper-competitive set, such as the Doctrine tech tree that invites you to dump thousands of precious Tempest credits into upgrades that, for the most part, don't get all that good until you're several tiers deep. Boosting my infantry health by 15%, for instance, doesn't seem all that worth it until I have a lot of infantry in play (as opposed to building more infantry). At my skill level – and probably that of most people who aren't hardcore players – the vast majority of my games thus far haven't lasted long enough to build up the kind of excess cash I'd need to invest in that sort of thing, with most of them wrapping up before the 15-minute mark. But I'm sure that plenty of people will find uses for these to get the upper hand with specific builds, so it's good to know there's more depth to be mined if you put in the time to train up.

However, if you are a competitive player looking for your next RTS fix, know that Tempest Rising doesn't have a ton for you to play with at the moment. For one thing, if you play ranked, there are only 1v1 matches available. Even if there were 2v2 ranked matches (it's actively being worked on, the developers promise), there would only be three maps available that support four players in teams or free-for-all. 1v1 isn't much better in that regard, with just six options. Combine that with there only being two factions until whenever the Veti expansion comes along – which could be a while given the lack of a published timeline – and it feels pretty slim compared to a lot of the games that inspired it.

There's nothing wrong with the maps that are here – each is a symmetrical layout with areas of high and low elevation, plenty of bottlenecks and alternate routes, all dotted with capturable neutral structures that can give you a "free" (for the cost of an engineer) foothold to build defenses and forward production off of, as well as a few that generate resources. It's simply that there's nothing unexpected – good or bad – at all, and that gives it a very bog-standard feeling. It’s hard to make the argument that Tempest Rising has gone for quality over quantity when there are no big standouts.

Infinity Nikki and its multiplayer-focused 1.5 update are out on Steam and a parade of drama is walking hand in hand with them.

Infold Games’ stylish dress-up adventure made its way to Valve’s digital storefront yesterday following months of Epic Game Store exclusivity. What could have been a moment for fans to celebrate has instead been marred by a wardrobe of technical issues, perplexing design changes, and demanding outfit requirements. The developers have since apologized while promising compensation for those who feel wronged – but the battle for Infinity Nikki is far from over.

Infinity Nikki PC players were excited to hop into its Steam release yesterday but were met with technical issues that range from an inability to launch the game due to crashes and general instability. Infold’s darling dress-up game is far from the first project to suffer from technical issues at launch, but as players began to flood in, they took issue with more than its performance.

Two new five-star Infinity Nikki outfits, Snowbound Ballad and Undying Ember, contain 11 pieces, meaning you’ll be spending quite a bit of time (up to 220 pulls) – and money – to collect full sets. It’s more than the usual size players are used to, and it arrived without warning. The fear is that these outfit piece requirements will only increase past the already big ask associated with collecting 11 pieces.

Meanwhile, Infold moved to swiftly extend its Crown of Miraland: Peak Arena event to last three weeks instead of two, a shakeup that sent a wave of confusion through the community. With technical issues abound and Infold slowly implementing monetization practices that demand more from its fans, members of the Infinity Nikki Chinese player base took to social media platform RedNote to speak up as the issue quickly ballooned into a full-on movement. Now, large portions of its community across the globe are calling on others to not only boycott Infinity Nikki on Steam but also leave negative reviews and uninstall it on all available platforms.

“What I am reminding people of is a decent amount of Chinese IN stylists pledging to not spend/pull on the banners to send a message to the digital income trackers for the game,” Reddit user kiaxxl said in a call-to-action post they published earlier today. “For gacha games, tracking how successful a new batch of content is usually measured on the first few days. Holding back your pulls for a couple of days can help show we want IN to remain fun and fair for all players.”

Infinity Nikki users across social media have taken note of Infold’s strategic changes, and there have been results. It currently sits with a “Mixed” rating on Steam as players leave negative reviews warning newcomers to stay away until demands are met and grievances are addressed.

The Infinity Nikki boycott snowballed to the point that Infold eventually moved to issue an apology letter across its official channels. It comes with the reassurance that many of the more prominent technical hiccups have already been addressed as the company promises to improve communication about adjustments in the future.

“Thank you again for your support,” Infold’s message says. “We know we still have shortcomings, but it’s because of your companionship that Nikki can keep pushing the boundaries of imagination. Please give us another chance to let Nikki’s starlight continue shining for all of us, ensuring our sincerity never fades.”

Apology Letter Regarding Version 1.5 Gaming Experience

Dear Stylists,
Hope this message finds you well.
First and foremost, we would like to extend our sincerest apologies. We are truly sorry that we were unable to provide you with a stable experience upon the release of the new… pic.twitter.com/YEjpGQpKho

— Infinity Nikki (@InfinityNikkiEN) April 29, 2025

Included in the message were promises to revert Mira Crown to end May 16 and kick off the next season the same day, while also ensuring players will receive compensation in the form of 10 Revelation Crystals, 10 Resonance Crystals, and 1200 Diamonds. It’s all an important step in the right direction but far from the complete overhaul many were hoping to see.

While some took Infold’s concession as an undisputed victory, others remain concerned about the team’s decision to keep its new outfits at 11 pieces. What’s more, while the studio has promised to maintain communication in the future, it appears as though some five-star outfits will still reach that dreaded 11-part requirement.

I wish you would finally chance the drop rate.. it cant be that i need 200 pulls to get a 5star and then you drop like 5 banners within weeks?! Make the rate lower or give us more diamonds to be able to get crystals.. this is not fun!

— Denise92 (@nikkie92denise) April 29, 2025

Infinity Nikki stylists have already started celebrating the quick turnaround they undeniably had a hand in bringing to life, even if it isn’t exactly the win they were hoping for. Boycotters want one thing from the rest of the community now that some changes are being made: keep up the pressure.

“Think about it: CN players are pointing out that if we accept the 11-piece outfits and pity as it is, most new 5 stars will be 11 pieces,” Reddit user EdensAsmr said. “Imagine if every new major update has two 11-piece 5-star banners? That means you have to save even more to be able to handle it, and 70-80 pulls per patch will not cut it.”

Infinity Nikki Update 1.5 is live now, and we’ve got all the details you need to know in our Infinity Nikki 1.5 Bubble Season hub. Players can get 100 pulls for free, and there are also new codes that can be redeemed for rewards, including Resonance Crystals and Diamonds. If you’re exploring the new Sea of Stars area, head to our Infinity Nikki interactive map, where you can track your exact progress with checklists.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 3 is continuing its line of weed-themed additions with a full-on Seth Rogen Operator.

Activision unveiled how the marijuana enthusiast and Hollywood star will join the iconic FPS’s string of cameo characters in a blog post on its website today. He’ll bring his memorable laughs and colorful attire to Call of Duty players as part of the High Art event pass, which is set to roll into Black Ops 6 Season 3 Reloaded come May 1.

High Art is available from May 1 – 15 and has two tiers: one free and one premium. You’ll miss out on the Rogen Operator if you stick with the free pass, which comes with seven goodies that pay homage to pot in different ways, including a Casual Ops Operator skin. The premium pass, meanwhile, is packed with references to The Studio and Superbad star, with both the Fired Up and Host Rogen Operator skins being its biggest highlights. There’s also the “Ha!” emote, which suggests players will be able to bring the moviemaker’s iconic giggle to both Multiplayer and Warzone.

Walmart is currently offering the lowest price I've seen this year for a 75" Samsung 4K smart TV. Right now you can pick up a 75" Samsung DU7200B Crystal 4K smart TV for only $399 shipped (you'll see the price when you add the TV to your cart). It's sold and shipped by Walmart direct, not a marketplace vendor, so it comes with a 1-year Samsung warranty.

75" Samsung DU7200B Crystal 4K Smart TV for $399

In addition to the roughly 100 job cuts IGN reported earlier today at Respawn Entertainment, EA has made wider cuts across its organization today, impacting around 300 individuals total including those already reported at Respawn.

IGN understands that these wider cuts largely impacted EA's Experiences team, which includes groups such as EA's Fan Care team and various others working on customer support and marketing, though other EA departments saw reductions as well. As with other cuts at EA, those impacted will be given the opportunity to apply for other roles internally prior to being let go.

"As part of our continued focus on our long-term strategic priorities, we’ve made select changes within our organization that more effectively aligns teams and allocates resources in service of driving future growth," an EA spokesperson said in an official statement.

"We are treating our people with care and respect throughout this process, working to minimize impacts by helping affected employees explore new opportunities within the company when possible and providing support during the transition."

The roughly 100 jobs impacted at Respawn included individuals in development, publishing, and QA workers on Apex Legends, as well as smaller groups of individuals working on the Jedi team and two canceled incubation projects, one of which we reported on back in March, and the other of which was, per Bloomberg's reporting, a new Titanfall game.

These cuts follow a number of other layoffs over the last few years at EA, including the elimination of 50 jobs at BioWare in 2023 and an unknown number more at Codemasters, and in 2024 a larger restructuring that resulted in 670 workers laid off company-wide, including around two dozen workers at Respawn.. And earlier this year, EA restructured BioWare, moving developers to other projects and laying off others.

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.

Here's your best opportunity to sign up for an Audible membership at a stellar price. Starting now and running through April 30, you can sign up for three months of Audible Premium Plus for just $0.99 per month. Premium Plus is Audible's highest tier plan and normally costs $14.95/mo. As a additional subscription perk, you get a free audiobook of your choice for each of those three months and you get to keep them indefinitely.

Both new and currently expired Audible customers are eligible

Anyone who doesn't currently have an active Audible membership should be eligible. That includes new subscribers as well as existing members whose subscriptions have since expired. There's always a small your-mileage-may-vary disclaimer with these types of promotions, but fortunately it's easy to check if you qualify: log into your account, and if you see the $0.99/mo banner right on Amazon's Audible page then you're eligible for this promotion.

3 Months of Audible Premium Plus for $0.99 per Month

Diablo 4 Season 8 gives us our first true look at one of the franchise’s Great Evils, as Belial, Lord of Lies, descends on Sanctuary and takes his place at the top rung of the revamped Boss Ladder. Lay claim to his and other seasonal Boss Powers by traversing the world and defeating Hell’s greatest threats. Blizzard has thrown down the gauntlet with this new season, increasing difficulty across the board while tamping down top-end outliers. To combat this, IGN and Maxroll have teamed up to bring you a fresh set of guides to help you claim the immeasurable power of Diablo IV’s toughest enemies and fight back against the demonic hordes.

Diablo 4 Seasonal Theme: Boss Powers

Season 8 allows you to harness the powers of Diablo IV’s toughest foes. There are 24 Boss Powers available, and the first time you defeat each of these Bosses, you claim their power for yourself.

Boss Powers each have a Main and Modifier effect to boost your build. You can equip 1 Main Power and 3 Modifiers, and all powers can be upgraded to increase the potency of both effects. Use ‍Spectral Ash to upgrade them, dropped from Apparition Incursions and by defeating any Boss.

Apparition Incursions

The new seasonal mechanic, Apparition Incursions, is available at any difficulty level, and gives you the opportunity to unlock a subset of the available Boss Powers very early on. Various Apparition Monsters appear in these timed boss rush events throughout Sanctuary. Defeating these monsters spawns 1 of 10 possible Apparition Bosses and defeating them grants you their Boss Power.

After defeating the first Boss, continue the event for a chance to fight a second Apparition Boss, after which Belial himself joins the fray.

Reworked Diablo 4 Boss Ladder

Beginning in Torment difficulty, you can now challenge Diablo IV’s Boss Ladder without collecting any prerequisite materials. This means you can claim the remaining Boss Powers as soon as you’re strong enough. The items previously used as summoning materials have been rebranded as Lair Boss Keys, and instead unlock a chest after defeating each boss to grant the associated Uniques and Mythic Uniques. Stygian Stones make their return in Season 8 with a new functionality. Namely, they can be converted into Lair Boss Keys for Greater Lair Boss (Duriel, Andariel, and Harbinger of Hatred).

When any Initiate or Greater Boss Hoard is unlocked, there is a chance for an apparition of Belial to ambush the player. Defeating this “mini-Belial” rewards the player with a second instance of that Lair Boss’s loot, as well as Betrayer’s Husks, the Lair Boss Key for Belial. Belial’s Loot table is special in its own right: though you won’t be afforded a chance to double it, you can select rewards from any other Lair Boss’s Hoard upon his defeat.

New Diablo 4 Lair Bosses

You may have noticed some new but familiar faces in the infographic above. While Belial sits atop the Boss ladder as the sole Exalted Lair Boss, two more Bosses from Diablo IV’s Vessel of Hatred expansion slot as a new Initiate and Greater Lair Boss.

Urivar

Urivar can be found in the Fields of Judgement in Nahantu. Wielding ethereal swords and calling on his formidable Knights Penitent, this formidable commander is not to be trifled with! For more info on Urivar’s location, loot table, and abilities, check out Maxroll’s Urivar Boss Guide.

Harbinger of Hatred

This demonic doggo makes his den in the Lingering Hatred region of Nahantu, and channels Mephisto’s dark energy to lunge, bite, and spew fire in an attempt to thwart any would-be adversary. Be wary of his many ground effects and next of kin. For tips to overcome the ladder’s newest Greater Boss, see Maxroll’s Harbinger of Hatred Boss Guide.

The Best Diablo 4 Season 8 Leveling Builds

Barbarian - Upheaval

The newest skill added to the Barbarian’s arsenal, Upheaval provides screen-clearing AoE on a short delay, as do its Cooldown-based counterparts in Ground Stomp and Mighty Throw. As early game Fury generation is the Upheaval Barbarian’s nemesis, it employs Leap and Aspect of the Relentless Master along with the Walking Arsenal Key Passive to stay in the fight.

Druid - Lightning Storm

The Lightning Storm Druid is by far the easiest Druid build to get off the ground. With relatively low Spirit costs and no real dependency on Codex aspects, its screen-wide AoE is excellent at most farming activities. It employs the full suite of Companions for their strong early game damage and to leverage the Clarity passive. Given time to set up, this passive allows the build to channel at near-max Critical Strike Chance from a very low level.

Necromancer - Minion

Minion Necromancer is one of the most simple and efficient leveling builds to gear and play. With your Minions carrying the majority of the weight, you can comfortably level up with ease. During the early levels you use Sever to aid your undead forces, but later you lead an army of Skeletal Warrior Reapers and Cold Skeletal Mages to victory across Sanctuary.

Rogue - Dance of Knives

Do you want to easily Spin2Win to Torment 1 and beyond? Then this is the build for you. This ‍Dance of Knives build does not need to manage Energy, nor does it rely on any aspects. You utilize the power of snapshotting ‍Concealment and ‍Shadow Imbuement to scale your ‍Dance of Knives. Dark Shroud handles your defenses while leveling, and provides a nice Movement Speed bonus.

Sorcerer - Firewall

Lure enemies into your Firewalls to burn them to death. Combine this with powerful Conjuration skills like Familiar and Hydra for supporting fire, and Spark to restore mana and you have a well-rounded offensive package. Defensively, you use Ice Armor while Teleporting across the battlefield to avoid damage. Keep moving and watch enemies burn to death in your wake.

Spiritborn - Quill Volley

Quill Volley Spiritborn is a ranged powerhouse. You fire several feathers that fan out while being able to shotgun enemies at close range, creating a superb mix of AoE and single target damage. Add in the Rebounding Aspect to hit enemies up to 16 times in a single attack! Between Soar, Rushing Claw and the Seeker this build has mobility for days, ensuring you’ll be in endgame in no time.

The Best Diablo 4 Season 8 Endgame Builds

Barbarian - Earthquake

Play HotA Quake with Mantle of the Mountain’s Fury to smash your enemies so hard the world itself shatters around you! Leap onto foes, unleash devastating ground stomps and even use Call of the Ancients to summon your ancestors to aid you in battle. If you are looking for a build that prefers to be in a target-rich environment, then Earthquake Barbarian is the build for you in Season 8.

Druid - Cataclysm

Even after a myriad of nerfs, the Cataclysm Druid returns as the top option for Druids in Season 8. As it can no longer maintain snapshotted buffs through successive casts, the build instead relies on the Provocation passive to guarantee overpowers on a per-cast basis. It recovers the Critical Strike Chance lost from the Xan rune through gear tempers, runes, and Boss Powers. Despite the setbacks, it’s still capable of clearing most endgame content before you even notice the mobs are there.

Necromancer - Blood Wave / Bone Spear

With two of the top builds across all classes, Necromancer is an incredibly strong choice for Season 8. Blood Wave or “Shadow Surfer” fills the screen with Blood and Darkness using AoE moves that cover the entire screen in devastation. Alternatively, as a Bone Spear Necromancer you impale your foes with massive spears of blood thanks to Indra’s Memory. Place your enemies in a Bone Prison to guarantee an Overpower from the Bone Duster’s Aspect for even more damage. So, whether you prefer Shadow Surfer or Bone Spear, you can’t go wrong with Necromancer in the Season of Belial’s Return!

Rogue - Death Trap

Stack Cooldown Reduction to spam the Rogue’s powerful Death Trap Ultimate Skill and deal huge damage to anything caught in the blast. Then watch as your Death Trap re-arms itself to fire again thanks to the Eyes in the Dark Unique Pants. This build has been a rogue staple since the release of Diablo 4 and it’s still going strong.

Sorcerer - Lightning Spear

Summon Spears of living Lightning, use the Aspect of Splintering energy to ride the lightning and deal massive damage. Then activate Unstable Currents to spawn even more Lightning Spears. This build scales well into the late game, benefiting from Mythic Uniques like Heir of Perdition and Ring of Starless Skies.

Spiritborn - Quill Volley

The endgame Quill Volley Spiritborn build rapidly fires shotgunning feathers to deal with both groups of foes and dangerous bosses. Harmony of Ebewaka enables a massive damage bonus by combining the Gorilla and Jaguar Spirit Halls. With Rod of Kepeleke and Ring of the Midnight Sun you create an infinite resource loop, immediately spending and restoring all of your Vigor with each attack.

Season 8 Tier Lists

Bossing

As the theme of Season 8 centers around Bossing, we’ll bet you’re wondering about which archetypes are the best to take down these worthy adversaries and claim their Powers. Well, the folks at Maxroll have highlighted the most effective Bossers in their Bossing Builds Tier List.

Leveling

Perhaps you have a particular class fantasy in mind but don’t love the top picks for leveling above. No worries, for a complete list of all of Maxroll’s leveling builds and how they’re ranked, see their Leveling Builds Tier List here.

Endgame

By endgame, most issues a build will typically run into can be solved by advanced gear, runes, and paragon. This opens up a wide array of build possibilities across all classes, but their ability to push Diablo IV’s endgame system, the Pit, to its limit varies. To see how the builds stack up, check out Maxroll’s Endgame Builds Tier List.

Speedfarming

Any ARPG enthusiast knows that speed is the great differentiator in terms of character progression and gearing. When you’re not pushing your build to its limits in the Pit, activities such as Nightmare Dungeons, Helltides, and Tree of Whispers bounties play a key role in boosting your character. To see which builds tackle this task the best, click on Maxroll’s Speedfarming Builds Tier List.

Written By IGN Staff, with help from the Maxroll Diablo 4 Team.

The Champions League continues to heat up as the semi-finals get underway from Tuesday, the 29th of April, starting with Arsenal vs Paris Saint-Germain to kick off the first leg.

The Arsenal vs PSG Champions League semi-final will start at 8:00pm BST / 3:00pm ET. Depending on where you planning on watching from across the world, though, exactly where you need to go to watch the match will differ. In the UK, the match will be ready to stream on Amazon Prime — which has a 30-day trial available for new subscribers.

While Arsenal has once again laid out the various viewing options available in each country, the best among the handful of choices in the United States is watching it on Paramount+ US, which still has a seven-day trial available.

How to Watch the Champions League Semi-Final Online

How to Watch for Free

However, if you've already used the free trial for each streaming service in your country, respectively, you can use a VPN so you can get around the geo-blockers and make use of the other country's service where the match will also be available.

For example, sporting events like Champions League Matches aren't available on the US' version of Amazon Prime. However, if you use a VPN to change your location to London—like SurfShark, which is running an 87% off sale until the end of the month—you can sign up for a 30-day Amazon Prime trial, watch the match, cancel your membership, and enjoy the rest of the semi-final matches still due for the Champions League.

Just the day after Arsenal vs Paris, Barcelona will be facing Inter Milan on Wednesday, the 30th of April—with the second leg match taking place on Tuesday, the 6th of May. Then, to finish the second leg, Paris will be facing Arsenal once again.

In-between games, you can make the use of either your UK Amazon Prime or US Paramount+ subscriptions for expert pre- and post-match coverage. You can even check out replays of past games you missed, giving you one of the best-value deals you can get out of a free trial and modestly priced VPN subscription.

How to Watch Arsenal vs. PSG in the UK

There’s a good argument to be made for Doom’s inclusion among the most influential game franchises of all time. It’s widely considered the progenitor of the first-person shooter genre that’s dominated the market for decades, paving the way for franchises like Call of Duty and Halo while retaining its relevance with excellent modern shooters.

As we near the release of the series’ next chapter, we’ve compiled a chronological list of every Doom game in order.

How Many Doom Games Are There?

There are six Doom games, excluding add-ons and enhanced versions of previously released games, though those are noted within each blurb where applicable. Doom: The Dark Ages will be the seventh mainline Doom game. This list excludes mobile games like Doom RPG, Doom Resurrection, and Mighty Doom.

Which Doom Game Should You Play First?

There are two logical starting points for new players: Doom (1993) or Doom (2016). Most players are better off starting with the 2016 version given its modern design. However, if you’re hellbent on experiencing the full story, your starting point has to be the 1993 original.

Every Doom Game in Chronological Order

The blurbs below contain broad spoilers for the plot of each game.

1. Doom (1993)

Following the release of id Software’s first two games — Commander Keen and Wolfenstein — the developer introduced Doom to the world in late 1993. The shooter was released with three episodes: Knee-Deep in the Dead, The Shores of Hell, and Inferno; the fourth episode, Thy Flesh Consumed, was released in 1995 as part of The Ultimate Doom.

Doom begins the saga by introducing the series’ original protagonist, an unnamed marine known as Doomguy, and sending him on a demon-slaying mission up to Mars before descending to hell. It ends with Doomguy’s discovery of a demon invasion on Earth, setting up the following year’s sequel.

2. Doom II: Hell on Earth (1994)

A year later, id Software released Doom II: Hell on Earth, picking up with the demon invasion of Earth seen at the end of Doom. Doomguy helps the survivors escape into space, leaving him as the last man on Earth, before descending back into hell to close the portal between the two realms.

Two add-on episodes were later released for Doom II: No Rest for the Living in 2010 and Legacy of Rust in 2024. Final Doom was a separate, two-episode game created by a community of mappers in 1996, though its content has since been consolidated into modern versions of Doom II.

All of the post-launch episodes mentioned above are set between the events of Doom II and Doom 64.

3. Doom 64 (1997)

Doom 64, id Software’s third entry in the franchise (and the third chronologically), sends Doomguy back into space to deal with an escaped demon and its reincarnated army. To defeat the threat, our hero eventually returns to hell, where he chooses to live out his years protecting humanity from the potential of future invasions.

The 2020 remaster of Doom 64 added The Lost Levels, which is set after Doom 64 and serves as a bridge between the original games and the rebooted series that began in 2016.

4. Doom 3 (2004)

There’s no definitive answer as to where Doom 3 exists on this timeline. Arguments have been made that it takes place before Doom (1993), after Doom 64, or in an alternate timeline altogether. We’re placing it after 64 given its later release date and our best understanding of the timeline, though its placement is ultimately inessential to understanding the ongoing narrative.

In Doom 3, players step into the boots of Doom Marine, an unnamed soldier who is not Doomguy from the previous games. The marine is tasked with investigating strange incidents at a remote laboratory on Mars. What follows is a demonic invasion of the Red Planet and the uncovering of a conspiracy to destroy humanity.

An add-on/sequel called Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil was released the following year. It’s set two years after the events of Doom 3 and follows a different unnamed marine’s attempt to return an artifact to hell.

A remastered version called Doom 3: BFG Edition was released in 2012 and included a new expansion called The Lost Mission, which takes place within the events of Doom 3. This version is also playable in virtual reality as Doom 3: VR Edition.

5. Doom (2016)

The 2016 reboot of Doom introduced Doom Slayer and began a new set of stories within id Software’s Doom universe. The story begins with Doom Slayer being awakened from a sarcophagus to deal with a new demonic threat on a Martian research facility. Doom Slayer, traveling back and forth between hell and Mars, again thwarts the demons' attacks, before being betrayed and teleported to an unknown location.

A VR spinoff called Doom VFR was released in 2017. It’s set after the events of Doom and follows a Union Aerospace Corporation employee named Dr. Peters.

6. Doom Eternal (2020)

The latest game in the chronology is Doom Eternal. Set after the events of Doom (2016), Eternal sees Doom Slayer return to end another demonic invasion of Earth by killing the three Hell Priests. The story includes a key piece of series lore, revealing the connection between the original Doomguy and Doom Slayer.

Doom Eternal extended the timeline with two expansions: The Ancient Gods Part 1 and The Ancient Gods Part 2. The two-part story picks up after the events of Eternal, with the demons gathering strength in other dimensions and Doom Slayer enacting a new plan to destroy them. Part 1 culminates in the summoning of the Dark Lord; Part 2 is Doom Slayer’s pursuit and confrontation of the Dark Lord, revealing further details about the hero’s past.

Every Doom Game By Release Date

• Doom (1993)
• Doom II: Hell on Earth (1994)
• Doom 64 (1997)
• Doom 3 (2004)
• Doom (2016)
• Doom Eternal (2020)
• Doom: The Dark Ages (2025)

Upcoming Doom Games

The next game will be Doom: The Dark Ages, due out May 15. Doom: The Dark Ages stars Doom Slayer, a new and more powerful iteration of Doomguy that debuted in Doom (2016). The Dark Ages is a prequel to Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal, according to Bethesda, in which players “step into the blood-stained boots of the Doom Slayer, in [a] never-before-seen dark and sinister medieval war against Hell.” You can check out more of IGN's coverage ahead of the game's release:

• Doom Is Having Its Halo Moment With The Dark Ages
• How Doom's Combat Evolves Alongside Modern Metal Music
• Doom: The Dark Ages Developers Discuss the Future of Doom

Jordan covers games, shows, and movies as a freelance writer for IGN.

EA has canceled another incubation project at Respawn Entertainment today, and simultaneously laid off a number of individuals across its incubation, Apex Legends, and Star Wars: Jedi teams, IGN has learned.

In a post today from the studio, Respawn announced it has "made the decision to step away from two early-stage incubation projects and make some targeted team adjustments across Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi." One of these canceled incubation projects is the same one already reported on back in March. The other, Bloomberg reports, was an extraction shooter set in the Titanfall universe, code-named R7.

"These decisions aren’t easy, and we are deeply grateful to every teammate affected — their creativity and contributions have helped build Respawn into what it is today," the post continued. "We’re offering meaningful support to those impacted, including exploring new opportunities within EA."

IGN understands that roughly 100 individuals are affected by the changes, including a mix of developers, publishing, and QA workers on Apex Legends, as well as smaller groups of individuals on the Jedi team and on the incubation projects. IGN also understands that at least some, though not all, of the developers from the incubation project reported on in March have already been moved to work on Iron Man at EA Motive, Battlefield, and other projects. When asked, EA declined to comment on the exact number of individuals impacted, saying it is offering impacted individuals 30 days to find a new opportunity inside the organization and is endeavoring to find roles for as many individuals as it can internally.

Internally at Respawn, work will continue on Apex Legends as well as the game's next iteration, the next entry in the Star Wars: Jedi franchise, and support on the upcoming Bit Reactor Star Wars game, Star Wars: Zero Company. EA declined to say whether or not any other incubation projects are currently in the works.

In addition to these changes, Respawn SVP of operations Daniel Suarez is being elevated to general manager of Respawn, and will report directly to Vince Zampella. Previously, Zampella served as GM of Respawn, the studio he founded, in addition to his role as head of the Battlefield franchise. Zampella will continue as group GM and EVP overseeing both Battlefield and Respawn.

Notably, just last February, EA told investors that Apex Legends was "not headed in the direction that we have wanted" and hadn't been for some time. CEO Andrew Wilson said that Respawn is currently working on a major update, dubbed "Apex 2.0".

“Our expectation is that Apex will also be one of those franchises and that sometime on a longer-term time horizon, there will be an even bigger, more meaningful update to that broader game experience, an Apex 2.0, if you will. This will not be the final incarnation of Apex," Wilson said.

These changes continue a trend at EA of canceled projects, layoffs, and restructuring that's been going on for several years now. It began in 2023 with the elimination of 50 jobs at BioWare and an unknown number more at Codemasters, and continued when EA laid off 670 workers company-wide, including around two dozen workers at Respawn, and canceled several projects. More recently, EA restructured BioWare, moving developers to other projects and laying off others.

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.

A previous version of this article erroneously stated that around 100 people are employed at Respawn. This has been amended above and in the headline. The piece has also been updated to add more detail about ongoing projects at Respawn and developer re-allocation.

Something is on the way for the intrepid Helldivers of Helldivers 2. Arrowhead Game Studios is announcing the new Warbond next week, and there will be some exciting news soon after.

In an update posted to the r/Helldivers2 subreddit, Arrowhead Game Studios relayed a short message:

Greetings, Helldivers!

A quick update from us.

We know it’s been a while since our last update, fear not — we are cooking!

You may have noticed that the gap between our major updates and Warbond releases is a little longer this time. But we’re happy to say we’ll be announcing our next Warbond on May 8, and there will be more exciting news to come not long after.

We won’t stand on ceremony too much in revealing what that Warbond might be, but you’ll hear more from us soon. Until then: stand up straight, polish those boots and keep that uniform in tip-top condition, Helldivers.

You’ll be needing them for the fight to come.

Arrowhead

While players were expecting an update today, it seems like all news is pushed out to next week and after. That said, the one teaser image has given players a little bit to go on.

As one poster noted, the Super Earth flag looks a little "pointy" and also a little "grabby," indicating the spike at the top and the grip on the pole. Could this be a weaponized Super Earth flag, ready to spread democracy with its pointy end through the galaxy?

The easy speculation is that this is a new Stratagem of some kind, possibly a support item meant to bolster Helldiver efforts. "AOE buff flag? Yes please!" one user said. "What? No, we would be happy with a normal run-of-the-mill flag," another responded. Good to know the Helldivers haven't lost their sense of humor after holding out against the hordes of machines, bugs, and aliens.

This has coincided with an interesting outcome in the latest Major Order. Despite efforts from the Helldivers failing, the gravity field was activated in its "mostly-completed state" and slowed the Meridian Wormhole — a long-standing, ever-present threat — to a halt. With it, the Illuminate have reportedly "disappeared," which is not at all worrisome.

Given Arrowhead's tease about "needing" our equipment for the fight to come, it seems like the Helldivers 2 studio is cooking up something dramatic for the next update and beyond. We'll learn what's in store on May 8, when the next Warbond is revealed.

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.

The popular Legend of Zelda Legendary Edition Box Set manga by Akira Himekawa is 42% off at Amazon right now. This is a great deal for anyone wanting to take a deep dive into the Legend of Zelda lore, try their hand at reading manga, or buy the perfect gift for that special Zelda fan in your life.

If you're interested in learning more about this set before you buy, make sure to check out our guide to all of the official Legend of Zelda books and manga.

The Legend of Zelda - Legendary Edition Box Set on Sale

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is set for Patch 8 and with it the hotly anticipated Horde Mode, which fans hope will breathe new life into the third-person action game.

In a post on publisher Focus Entertainment’s website, developer Saber Interactive revealed how the Horde mode will work. It’s for up to three players (you can play solo with two bots, like in the PvE Operations mode), and, as you’d expect, you fight increasingly difficult waves of Tyranids and Chaos. Your class and weapon levels are based on your PvE levels.

“Difficulty will increase for each wave defeated, so you’ll have to prepare yourself accordingly to vaporize as many waves as you can,” Focus and Saber said.

The companies also offered a first look, below, at the Horde mode map, which takes place in Kadaku. Kadaku is the Imperial Jungle World Space Marine 2 players will already be familiar with. The Horde Mode release date is yet to be announced, but it sounds like it’s not too far off.

Hulu has been around for a while and, for our money, it's one of the absolute best streaming services available. From great movies like Anatomy of a Fall and Prey to excellent television series like the Golden Globe-winning Shogun, Abbott Elementary, and The Handmaid's Tale there is always something awesome to watch. We've also got the highly-anticipated Alien: Earth series on our radar this year, even though a release date is still to be announced.

Below, we've detailed all of the best Hulu deals and bundles so you can get started on your streaming adventures with its library right away. This includes the Hulu, Disney+, and Max streaming bundle, which starts at just $16.99/month and is currently the best value available for the streaming services following the Disney Plus and Hulu price hikes. To see even more streaming deals, make sure to check out our roundups of the best Disney Plus deals and the best Max deals.

How to Get The Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max Streaming Bundle

The Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max streaming bundle can be purchased on any of the three streaming services and starts at $16.99/month for the ad-supported tier or $29.99/month for ad-free access across all three platforms. If you're looking to cut down on streaming costs and currently own all three of these, this is an excellent bundle to invest in. It'll save you quite a bit compared to what you'd pay for the three of them separately per month - 43% on the ad-supported plan and 42% on the ad-free plan.

Hulu deal for students — Get Hulu (With Ads) for just $1.99/month

If you're a student enrolled in a university (a US Title IV accredited college or university, per Hulu's website), you can sign up for Hulu (With Ads) for $1.99 a month. That's an excellent deal if you're a student, saving you $8 on the usual monthly price.

Hulu subscription tiers

Hulu: Bundle to Best

If you want a more affordable option when it comes to a Hulu subscription, you can't go wrong with a bundle, and Hulu has several to choose from:

• Hulu + Live TV (With Ads) — Hulu + Live TV (With Ads) is $82.99/month and includes Disney+ and ESPN+. It also gives you access to more than 75 channels with live TV and unlimited DVR functionality. The Hulu + Live TV plan also has a three-day free trial to test out the service.
• Hulu + Live TV (Ad-Free) — The ad-free version of Hulu+Live TV is $95.99/month and comes with ad-free versions of Hulu and Disney Plus, although ESPN still shows ads.
• Disney+, Hulu Bundle Basic — This is the most economic bundle. It will set you back $10.99/month and comes with subscriptions to Disney+ and Hulu. It lets you stream on multiple devices at once and comes with ad-supported versions of both Disney+ and Hulu.
• Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ Bundle Basic — This bundle adds ESPN+ into the mix alongside Disney+ and Hulu, bumping up the price to $16.99/month. You can also download and watch select content on ESPN+ at this level.
• Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ Bundle Premium — This bundle is $26.99/month and comes with ESPN+ (with ads) and ad-free versions of Disney+ and Hulu. You can also download select content across all three streaming services.

What can you watch on Hulu?

There is a bonkers amount of shows and movies you can watch on Hulu. Let's start at the top and simply talk about the verticals on offer with the base subscription, because if we also talk about what is available via Disney+, ESPN+, or live TV, we'll be here forever. (You can also sync up Hulu with Max to gain access to things like Succession and House of the Dragon.)

Here's what you get:

• Network and Hulu Original television shows (AMC, Adult Swim, ABC, A&E, FX, etc.)
• Movies (HBO, Hulu Originals, anime films, etc.)
• Sports (NHL, Soccer, MLB, Auto Racing, NFL, College Football, PGA, Tennis, etc.)
• News (ABC News Live, Good Morning America, World News Tonight, 20/20, The View, etc.)

Hulu television

Hulu has some amazing shows, both those that are finished and many which are ongoing. For comedy, there are plenty of options to choose from, including New Girl, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, What We Do In The Shadows, Modern Family, Cougar Town, Broad City, Abbott Elementary, and so much more.

There are also some big Hulu originals to watch, including The Bear, The Old Man, The Handmaid's Tale, and Only Murders In The Building.

As far as animated fare, there are modern adult classics like Rick and Morty and Bob's Burgers, as well as Futurama, Family Guy, and King of the Hill. Anime staples like Cowboy Bebop are also available. And if you want to bring more youth-friendly fun, Gravity Falls, Steven Universe, Adventure Time, and Curious George are just a small sample of what Hulu has available.

The future of Hulu

Hulu isn't going anywhere. As a matter of fact, beyond it being awarded the best streaming service by us and receiving a 9/10 in our updated Hulu review, it was bought in full by Disney in November 2023 and the House of Mouse has created a one-app experience for those bundling Hulu and Disney+. With an FX partnership, Hulu is also home to those shows, including the latest drama miniseries, Shogun.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.

Original story from Brian Barnett.

In terms of upcoming sales events, the only thing bigger than Prime Day is Black Friday. So if you plan on making any major purchases this year, your best bet is to wait for the Amazon-led shopping event in July or hold out for Black Friday sales in November. Now that Amazon has officially confirmed that Prime Day will be taking place in July again this year, shoppers can look forward to another summer sales extravaganza.

While Amazon did confirm the month and which countries the event will take place in, the retailer still hasn't announced a specific date. That being said, we can make some guesses as to when the Amazon shopping holiday will begin in 2025.

When Is Amazon Prime Day 2025?

Amazon has officially stated that Prime Day will be taking place again in July 2025. This follows the same pattern as previous years, so we can take a stab at when the actual dates of the sale will be. Last year, Amazon Prime Day ran for two days on Tuesday, July 16 through Wednesday, July 17. These dates landed on the third week of the month, so if we apply the same timing to this year, that puts the Amazon Prime Day 2025 dates at July 15-16. We likely won't get an official announcement from Amazon about the start date of the sale until June, but the dates have been fairly consistent in years past.

Which Countries Will Host a Prime Day Sale?

According to the official Amazon press release, Prime Day will return to these countries in 2025: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the U.S., and the UK.

Prime members will also be able to shop the sale in Ireland for the first time this year.

Will Other Retailers Have Prime Day Sales?

While Amazon is the only one to have officially confirmed a big sale for July, other major retailers have consistently participated with their own sales during Prime Day over the past few years. The exact dates may vary, but you can expect shopping events to pop up for the following retailers in July:

• Walmart
• Target
• Best Buy
• Dell
• Kohl's
• Home Depot

Fans are ready to meet the new Fantastic Four — and that includes the new take on Silver Surfer, played by Julia Garner. The actress, who will be playing the Shalla-Bal version of the character in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, recently opened up about the Surfer’s backstory, as well as reaching different audiences through the MCU and the potential for a Silver Surfer spin-off movie.

“It's going to be really interesting,” she told Entertainment Weekly recently in her first interview since the trailer reveal when asked to describe how director Matt Shakman described the character to her initially and how it was written in the script.

“I have to be so cryptic about everything, otherwise I'm going to have Marvel come after me. But it was described as there's this mystery about her, and there's this sense of this ambiguous energy going on of whether she's good or not. She is the herald of Galactus, so she works for Galactus, but you're not sure where she stands. Does she stand with her boss, or is she just doing what she's told? She has this mysterious energy about her, and slowly that mystery will get solved with the audience throughout watching it.”

The actress was also drawn to the audience she could cultivate through the MCU, not just the strength of the character. "She's so different than anyone I've ever played, and that was also another reason why I wanted to do it," Garner explained.

"I don't expect everybody to watch Ozark or [Inventing] Anna or The Assistant. Some people are only going to watch certain things, so that's why I want to branch out to every genre, and that's one of the reasons why I wanted to do Marvel — it's reaching a different kind of audience."

Garner seems to be all in on the MCU, so much so that she would be willing to return for a Silver Surfer spin-off movie, if that ever became a reality.

“A hundred percent, I would love to do that,” she told the outlet. “The Silver Surfer is such a cool character, and I feel like it's so rare to be presented with any sort of mystery in this day and age. So any kind of energy like that on screen, I know I want to see that, so that would be awesome if that happened.”

That said, in true Marvel superhero fashion, she was tight-lipped about whether or not there were concrete plans for her to return to the MCU for another film.

“Oh my God, I wish I could answer that question, but I don't have an answer, honestly,” she teased to Entertainment Weekly. “I was just happy to be a part of this movie. But we'll see.”

Garner stars in The Fantastic Four: First Steps alongside Vanessa Kirby, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, and Ralph Ineson. The film will arrive in theaters on July 25, 2025.

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

I want to call this a good day for anyone who likes saving money without working too hard. Sam's Club memberships are 60% off today through Groupon, which is about the easiest win you are going to find if you like cheap bulk snacks, discounted tech, and occasional panic buys of kayaks you will never use.

Even better, a membership right now gets you access to Pokémon TCG deals that have been selling out fast, including the Charizard ex Super-Premium Collection at a price you can explain to your wallet.

Sam's Club Membership (1 Year)

Pokémon TCG Charizard Ex Super-Premium Collection

Single Pokémon Cards Are Crashing

In my opinion, this is a strong two-for-one situation. You save on the membership, you get early access to deals that are usually wiped out by the time they hit the regular shelves, and if you have been thinking about jumping back into Pokémon TCG without paying eBay prices, this is probably one of the better windows you will see.

Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of "Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior". Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.

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 1TB size for just $69.99, the 2TB size for $139.99 or, if you can swing it, the 4TB size for $249.99. It's currently $30-$60 cheaper than the Samsung 990 Pro and most (if not all) gamers won't notice the difference in performance.

Samsung 990 Evo Plus SSDs on Sale

IGN's Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 map is here! Our interactive map tracks essential locations across The Continent, including collectibles, Bosses, and Pictos, so you always know where to go for your next objective.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Interactive Map