We knew it was on the way at some point, but now it's confirmed — a video game set on the Dungeons & Dragons show Critical Role's Exandria is in the works.

In partnership with L.A. developer AdHoc Studio, the group — which comprises Liam O'Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey, Matthew Mercer, Travis Willingham, and Taliesin Jaffe — will work with AdHoc on a number of projects, including the first ever game based on the D&D group.

While we're still some ways out of getting to play it ourselves — “We’re tossing around ideas, what are we thinking about in terms of scope and budget, and some of the things we must have,” Willingham said — Critical Role is also working with AdHoc on a narrative adventure called Dispatch, and that's out later this year.

As reported by Variety, Dispatch will include "future brand development inclusive of an animated series, merchandise, and tabletop gaming." It was after auditioning for Dispatch and being impressed by the game that Critical Role CEO and cast member, Willingham, decided to team up with the studio for an original game set in Exandria.

Dispatch — described as a "superhero workplace comedy" — is due for release later this year and also stars fellow Critical Role members Laura Bailey and Matthew Mercer, along with Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul and The Last of Us' Jeffrey Wright. JacksepticEye and MoistCr1TiKaL also lend their voices to the project. In it, you manage “a dysfunctional team of misfit heroes and strategize who to send to emergencies around the city, all while balancing office politics, personal relationships, and your own quest to become a hero.”

“I absolutely flipped out. The animation was so amazing. So much so it looked like an animated show," Willingham told Variety.

The group spoke about its big plans for the future earlier this year. There was no word on what the video game will be called or how exactly it will tie into the Critical Role universe quite yet, but Willingham said at the time that the team behind it remains “hard at work.”

Last month, as they celebrated their 10th anniversary, much of the group who make up Critical Role gathered together for a celebratory panel at IGN Live moderated by Amelia Emberwing, looking back at the path so far and teasing what the future will hold.

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

The familiar Baxter Building featured in The Fantastic Four: First Steps will be seen again in Avengers: Doomsday, Marvel boss Kevin Feige has said, sparking speculation over what this means for the fate of the Fantastic Four's version of Earth.

Discussing the ongoing filming for Avengers: Doomsday, Feige told Comic Book that the production was curently shooting on sets "built for Fantastic Four", including the team's living quarters seen in previous trailers.

But how will this version of Earth appear? And what brings the action back there, after the Fantastic Four leave their universe to cross over to the main MCU reality, as seen in the post-credits scene for Thunderbolts*/The New Avengers? Let's take a look at eactly what Feige has said.

"Only speaking to the one we're working on now, shooting now, for people who know the comics and know the word incursions, those are universes coming together," Feige began. Here, the Marvel boss is making clear that he's discussing Avengers: Doomsday, rather than the subsequent Avengers: Secret Wars, and referencing 'incursions' — the destructive smashing together of multiverse realities seen at the end of Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness.

"We will see this world that we've introduced (in First Steps)," Feige continued. "We're shooting on all the same sets that we built for Fantastic Four, and it is very fun. I would say the now-iconic Baxter Building living room and kitchen where we saw the Four get to know each other in this movie, let's say there are a lot more people in that kitchen in Avengers, and it's fun to literally see people coming into each other's homes, which is pretty awesome."

It certainly sounds like Feige is suggesting we'll see Avengers characters travelling over to the Fantastic Four universe — which perhaps because of an incursion is linked to the main MCU reality. Perhaps the Fantastic Four's multiversal journey to the main MCU is what causes this incursion? Or maybe the Four are aware it's coming, and are rushing over to get ahead of it?

Regardless, fans are taking Feige's comments as confirmation the Fantastic Four reality is very much still standing at the end of First Steps — which would be something of a spoiler. Threatened by the planet-chomping Galactus, the Four's retro-futuristic version of Earth was looking decidedly ropey in a recent trailer — but seemingly it survives, or at least the Baxter Building does, if the kitchen is still ready for a hangout sesh.

"He basically confirmed the Fantastic Four universe won't be destroyed," wrote redditor Significant_Silver99. But not everyone is so sure.

"Unless, the theory that the Baxter Building is the second ship as seen in Thunderbolts," replied theknyte. "The rocket next to the building has 3 pylons, but the one in Thunderbolts has 4, and some think the Baxter Building may be a 2nd rocket they use to escape Galactus."

Maybe the Fantastic Four reality is gone — but then why would Feige mention incursions? And surely at the end of the MCU's Multiverse Saga, and with the need to set up the events of Secret Wars, having a handy alternate universe to explain the concepts of different realities and incursions would be useful.

Earlier this week, Feige revealed that Secret Wars would act as a "reset" for the MCU, after which the X-Men would be recast. It's interesting to consider this in light of the fact that Doomsday also features numerous members of the original Fox universe X-Men cast. Surely with the Fantastic Four, and at least one incarnation of the X-Men not from our universe in play, Doomsday will feature some of these realities colliding.

Perhaps suggesting as much, Feige has now concluded with the following tease that points to the state of the MCU beyond Secret Wars — when those new X-Men will feature.

"Unlike Endgame, which really wasn't ended, and then we go, where do we go from here? What do we do with this level of success and this level of finality? And we used it to experiment and we used it to evolve and we used it to expand, too much," Feige noted. "Secret Wars, as in the comics, is as much about bringing certain storylines to a close as it is launching a new one. And that's what's very exciting, is already being well into development of the next saga."

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

Have you seen the new Predator: Badlands trailer? If you have — and you’re a fan of the Alien franchise — you might have noticed more than a few nods to the famous sci-fi horror franchise. But fans are now speculating that the trailer may suggest Predator: Badlands is more than a Predator movie with Alien references, and may actually be an AVP movie in disguise.

The trailer, below, shows Elle Fanning’s Thia strike up an alliance with Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi’s young Predator outcast, Dek. Thia, as previous trailers had already revealed, is a Weyland-Yutani synth from the nefarious company’s bio-weapons division. Weyland-Yutani is of course the famous mega corp from the Alien universe, and it seems it has some design — or at least presence — on this alien death world.

Here’s the interesting bit: in the trailer, Thia tells Dek that he’s the prey here, and warns him that he’s seeking out "a creature that can’t be killed" and "the definitive apex predator." The way the trailer is cut suggests this is a reference to an enormous monster who looks like nothing we’ve seen in either the Predator or the Alien movies so far. But is this the monster Thia is actually talking about?

Some fans believe “the definitive apex Predator” in question is not the giant monster the trailer shows us, but in fact a Xenomorph, potentially even a Queen. “That has to be why Weyland is involved in a Predator movie at all,” redditor MakaylaAzula said. “The posters and trailers are showing this giant monster to fool us into thinking that’s the big bad.”

With this in mind, the final shot of the trailer, which shows a mech that may well be a Weyland-Yutani Power Loader make a dramatic entrance to fight the giant monster, could be something of a bait and switch. Thia teases this mech's introduction by saying: "We might not be alone in this hunt." Who is she talking about? Is it a Xenomorph? Who is piloting the mech?

Some fans now believe that a Xenomorph will turn up right at the end of Predator: Badlands for a final fight involving the Predator (and possible other Predators who fly in to help out), Thia, and that mech, thus setting up a future AVP movie that will join the two franchises at the hip once again.

There’s also the upcoming FX TV show Alien: Earth to think about here. Some fans think the iconic Predator clicking noise can be heard in one of the Alien: Earth trailers. Could a Predator turn up at the end of the series to save the day?

Let’s end on comments from Alien: Romulus director Fede Alvarez, who revealed to Collider in February how he’d introduce an AVP movie to audiences if he were given the chance.

“The way I would do it, most likely, if it could be done this way… It’s harder to keep secrets online… The best AVP will be the one that you don’t know is AVP until the other guy shows up,” he said.

“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. ‘F*** yeah!’ You’d go crazy.

“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 f***ing Predator?’ And then turns out it is. That would be the way to do it, don’t you think? Once you put it in the title, it’s like, ‘Spoiler alert.’”

Interesting…

Predator: Badlands hits theaters in November.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Sitting is the great leveller. From the mightiest speedrunning streamer to the quick sesh casual, who doesn't enjoy a good sit? More to the point, who doesn't prefer parking their rear on a purpose-built Gaming Chair? Most desktop gamers obsess over frames per second and RGB glow, but in my decades of experience, the real game-changer has been my comfort levels during a marathon playthrough.

A cosy, well-built chair makes all the difference when the hours stack up like a bad game of Tetris. That’s where my top pick, the Secretlab Titan Evo, shines. It is but one option, however, and I’m confident that I’ve found top options to suit any discerning derrière...

TL;DR – Here Are the Best Gaming Chairs:

Across various sites and magazine pages, I've been testing gaming chairs for ages now. I think the best of the bunch should all do one thing brilliantly: let you settle in for hours without your spine cracking the sads or your tailbone telling you to get out more. I can take the rare cue from my learned IGN pals across the Pacific, but I'm also an autonomous connoisseur who looks out for his own can. Also, I come from a proud nation where our flag has a giant backside and a boot on it. If that’s not a nod to national priorities like putting behinds ahead of everything else, I don’t know what is.

What you want in a top-tier chair is customisable lumbar support, height and tilt tweaks, comfy armrests, and a headrest that actually supports your melon. The ergonomics need to work so your focus stays in-game, not on your aching bits. But with the market being chockers full of overpriced or overdesigned options, I’ve narrowed it down to an elite few I’ve actually perched upon and would happily park myself in again. Sturdy frames, good upholstery, and all the creature comforts are a given.

1. Secretlab Titan Evo XL

Best Gaming Chair

2. Razer Iskur V2 X

Best Budget Gaming Chair

3. Haworth Fern

Best Ergonomic Gaming Chair

4. Razer Enki

Best Fabric Gaming Chair

5. Respawn 900 Gaming Recliner

Best Gaming Chair with a Footrest

How to Choose the Best Gaming Chair for You

• Price This’ll be the main deal-breaker for most folks. Heading in with a clear budget helps, since chairs can go from under fifty bucks to well over a grand. Cheaper units like the Corsair TC100 Relaxed still bring solid comfort, but you’ll have to go without fancier bits like 4D armrests or adjustable lumbar support. I’d give anything under a hundred a wide berth, especially if it’s making wild promises.
• Design Comfort’s king. Nobody wants to end up with a crook back or a neck full of regrets. Find something that suits your size and shape properly. Most chairs list their dimensions, so aim for a broad, padded seat, a tall backrest, and a decent range of height tweaks. All of that should be sitting on a tough metal frame that won’t buckle under you. If you’re looking at racing-style seats like the AndaSeat Kaiser 3, watch out for the side bolsters – they can dig into your legs if you don’t fit the mould.
• Materials Most chairs come in PU leather, fabric, or mesh. PU leather’s easy to wipe down but can crack over time and gets sticky on hot days. Fabric, like what you’ll find on the E-Win Champion, is cooler to sit on but a bit trickier to clean. Mesh breathes the best, but you’ll lose that plush seat feel in favour of a springy setup. The Razer Fujin Pro gets mesh right, but not every brand pulls it off.
• Ergonomics Once the basics are sorted, extra features can sweeten the deal. Adjustable armrests, a movable headrest, and proper lumbar support go a long way to keeping your body happy. Chairs with tilt and rocking options also help you relax between sessions, or when you’re just watching a cutscene or two.

Gaming Chair FAQ

So, what even is the point of a gaming chair?

Because gaming chairs are really just jazzed-up office chairs, their biggest selling point tends to be how they look. They often cost more than a decent office chair and usually miss out on some of the all-day comfort features you’d want for long work stints.

That said, if you're chasing a certain aesthetic for your setup, the best gaming chairs can absolutely bring the wow factor. Just don’t expect miracles for your spine. If back support is your top priority, it’s worth checking out proper ergonomic office chairs instead.

How much should anybody spend on a a gaming chair?

You can grab a gaming chair for around A$120 or less, but that’s pretty much a shortcut to back pain. At that price point, you’re usually getting a flimsy plastic frame with a thin layer of fabric or fake leather slapped on top.

A good chair starts at around A$300, and that’s about as low as we’d comfortably go. Bumping your budget up to around A$450 opens the door to better materials, more reliable builds, and features worth having. Push higher and you’ll start seeing extras like built-in lumbar support, cooling gel layers, fancier ergonomic tweaks, and even RGB lighting kits if you’re chasing that full spaceship look.

In the end, it all comes down to what you value most; comfort, flashiness, or a solid mix of both.

Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third movie in James Cameron’s blockbuster franchise, is picking up the pace ahead of its December release with the reveal of its antagonist and confirmation that its debut trailer will be shown with The Fantastic Four: First Steps in theaters this weekend.

The image, below, shows Varang, leader of the Na’vi Mangkwan Clan, aka the Ash People. Played by Oona Chaplin (Talisa Maegyr in Game of Thrones), Varang and her clan have forsaken the Na'vi deity Eywa after a volcano left their homeland a desolate wreck covered in ash.

James Gunn has a clear message for anyone hoping he will retcon the big Superman origin story twist, or maybe even reveal it as a fake-out, declaring: "they're s**t out of luck!"

Warning! Spoilers for Superman follow:

DC Universe kickstarter Superman switches up the established Superman origin story to present his parents, Jor-El and Lara, as villains of a sort. As Superman learns over the course of the events of the movie, his parents sent him to earth not to protect humanity, but to rule over it — a revelation that sends Kal-El spiralling for a time.

Some Superman fans were so shocked by this twist on the characters' motivations that they have speculated that Gunn plans to either retcon this plot point, or eventually show the message upon which it is based to be fake or misleading.

However, in a new interview with Rolling Stone, Gunn insisted there is no confusion here: Superman’s parent’s devastating message is real, understood, and there’s no going back. “They’re shit out of luck!” he said in response to the suggestion some fans are hoping for a U-turn.

Gunn then agreed with the idea that going back on Superman’s parent's message would undo the entire emotional arc of the movie.

“That’s the whole point of the movie, that Superman thinks he is doing something because it is his destiny and his Kryptonian parents have set him out to do this thing, and along the way he discovers through the love of the people who are actually his parents that he’s doing these things not because of someone else, but because of himself,” he said.

“It’s like taking accountability in the deepest way possible that his morality is not based on some figure outside of himself, but on his own choices. I think it’s really beautiful in that way, and I’m not gonna change that.”

Gunn went on to say that he doesn’t think of Jor-El and Lara as being “totally evil,” despite their nefarious intentions. “They just have this mindset that humans are less than what they are,” he continued. “We’re sea turtles to them. They’re just trying to keep the Kryptonian genes alive.”

In the same interview, Gunn responded to what some had called a plot hole in Superman that revolves around his parent’s message: why didn’t Supergirl tell Superman about his parent’s wishes?

“You’re assuming that everybody on Krypton is the same!” Gunn countered. “And how would she know? She’s younger than him, so she wouldn’t know. She wouldn’t know anything about his parents.”

Perhaps we’ll see this explored further in Supergirl, which is set for release June 26, 2026. Check out IGN’s Superman review to find out what we think, and then head over to our Superman Ending and Post-Credits Explained to find out what it all means.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Johnny Depp is returning to the limelight to create a Mr. Hyde graphic novel with famed director Ridley Scott.

Depp and Scott, director of Alien, Blade Runner, and Gladiator, are working with production company Mechanical Cake to build a new, original entertainment property called Hyde, with all three having co-ownership. It all starts with a graphic novel, with main character Hyde created by Depp himself.

Hyde picks up Mr. Hyde’s story, from the Robert Louis Stevenson novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and “imagines a world where Mr. Hyde has defeated Jekyll.”

“Now unencumbered by interruptions from his alter ego, Hyde can finally freely explore his dark tendencies with uninhibited abandon," Mechanical Cake said.

I’ve been trawling the digital shelves again, and this week’s loot is proper tempting. Whether you're craving deep-cut indies, triple-A chaos, or a splash of nostalgia, there’s a little something for everybody. My entire professional and personal life has been video games, so you’re not just getting a list; you’re getting personal picks with "been-there, clocked-that" clout behind them.

This Day in Gaming 🎂

In retro news, I’m lobbing an incendiary artillery shell across hexagonal terrain to light an 18-candle cake for Field Commander, Sony’s turn-based tactics attempt on PSP. This was a rare indulgence for 2006 me, a handheld strategy title that didn't just copy Advance Wars but tried to outflank it with a more serious military tone, fog of war mechanics, and a beefy suite of online modes that actually worked.

I remember being floored by how well it handled for a portable, with chunky unit designs, environmental destructibility, and a gritty war room vibe that made my Game Boy Advance feel like a toy in comparison. It never lit the world on fire, but for a brief moment Field Commander made Sony look like it could be a serious handheld tactics contender. Sadly, that beachhead was all but squandered.

The Edge of Fate is a title that’s perhaps a bit too on the nose for a game balanced on a blade honed by years of iteration but also worn dull by time. In the storied and rich tradition of Destiny 2, this latest expansion once again takes a few major steps back after finally feeling like maybe it’d found its footing. The 14-mission campaign is monotonous and padded to the gills with busywork (despite having a sometimes-compelling story), the RPG and buildcrafting rework is locked behind one of the worst grinds Destiny has ever seen, and the new planetoid of Kepler isn’t up to Bungie’s usual standards. But even as it stumbles in its attempt to redefine itself after the excellent ending to its original story in The Final Shape last year, I do admire the risks The Edge of Fate takes, both in the bold new direction of its story and the unexpected mechanics it tries throughout its experimental campaign – though it doesn’t exactly nail either one. I still need to play through the raid before my final review, but the 20 hours I’ve spent with it so far feel like that messy spot the MCU was in after Endgame, fumbling for what comes next following a conclusion that felt pretty, well… conclusive.

I wish I could say The Edge of Fate picks up where The Final Shape left off, or that it can easily be enjoyed on its own, but both of those are extremely not true. If you haven’t been playing every little scrap of seasonal content in the past year, you’ll certainly be off to a rocky start – there’s a new antagonist wearing the face and voice of an old character, godlike beings formerly relegated to vendors and goofy gameshow hosts who have been repositioned as omniscient puppetmasters who we’re now supposed to take seriously, and about 30 minutes of nearly nonstop info dumping, which feels like something out of a pulp sci-fi novel as voices explain how “dark matter” is totally different from “the darkness” and other such gobbledygook. It’s such a terrible opening, I feared the worst for a series that’s missed the storytelling mark more often than it’s hit by a pretty wide margin. But a weak first couple of hours makes way for a tale that was actually much better than I was expecting thanks to a very strong new supporting character in Lodi, who is shrouded in a mystery involving time travel, and a completely unexpected backstory finally given to one of Destiny’s longstanding cast members that really blew me away.

There’s still plenty of wonky dialogue, less interesting characters like Orin who mostly just fill space, and an overreliance on established lore across over a decade of content that can leave even longtime fans scratching their heads – plus, in an effort to make the new baddie intimidating, they do one of my biggest story pet peeves and retcon it so that actually all of the stuff that’s ever happened was all part of their master plan (insert massive eyeroll here). But on the whole, this is one of the better stories Destiny has pulled off, and I’m especially impressed by how many massive swings are taken to make me care about the next saga in this weird universe. This is perhaps best showcased by Lodi, who manages to effortlessly feel like an invaluable part of the cast despite literally showing up out of nowhere.

The actual campaign, and especially the planet it takes place on, fare less well though. Kepler is Destiny’s first foray beyond the celestial bodies in our immediate solar system, so one might hope to marvel at places that feel new and alien, but instead we get an overly familiar setting that reuses assets we’ve seen a hundred times and slaps them onto loads of rocky cliffs and caves filled with big yellow warts. For an excursion that’s supposed to be a bold frontier that represents the future for the shooter, this is definitely one of the most lackluster settings they’ve added – to the point where I sometimes forgot The Edge of Fate was supposed to take place on a new planetoid. Seemingly in an effort to disguise how small the new area is, you aren’t allowed to summon your sparrow, which is instead replaced with a host of gimmicky abilities you have to use to access certain parts of the map, like one where you turn yourself into a tiny ball and squeeze through narrow passageways, Samus-style. This structure has the vaguest possible resemblance to a metroidvania, but usually only succeeds in making the trek back and forth to complete humdrum quests more irritating.

Although these new abilities are generally irksome when they’re required to get around, they’re much more welcome in the context of solving puzzles during story missions. One such ability has you picking up a portal gun that lets you teleport to otherwise inaccessible areas, while another lets you shift the positioning of objects in the environment to create platforms or clear obstructions. So there are times where you find some loot just out of reach and have to use a combination of the Samus-ball and the other two to clear the way, which can be pretty neat. Unfortunately, these puzzles are so incredibly easy to solve they often feel more like busywork to artificially stretch out the adventure’s 8-hour runtime than anything of note, and since you can only use these abilities by finding specific nodes that grant you their power for a short time, I spent about 95% of my time running around searching for the tools needed to complete puzzles, and only the other 5% actually solving them.

And even though I admire that Bungie has tried to incorporate these same tools into combat, they usually only serve to interrupt the flow in an odd way. For example, it’s really weird that in order to kill certain enemies or progress a boss to its next DPS phase, you’ve gotta turn yourself into a little ball of light and roll around collecting items while enemies absolutely lather you in gunfire you’ve little hope of dodging. This awkwardness is magnified by the fact that they reuse these three tricks nonstop throughout the journey on Kepler, and it starts to feel needlessly repetitive in pretty short order. Still, I’ve been saying for some time now that Destiny’s been resting on the laurels of its awesome gunplay for far too long and needs a shot in the arm to keep my interest, and these puzzle-forward abilities are at the very least an interesting attempt at doing just that, even if the execution is not always successful. Here’s hoping this is the prototype for something more engaging and fleshed out in future expansions.

The wonky abilities and forgettable location aren’t the only reasons the 14 main missions in The Edge of Fate’s story are quite underwhelming though, as characters fill empty space with exposition as you fight bosses that are carbon copies of bad guys we’ve slain repeatedly throughout the years. To its credit, there are a few new enemies here and there, like flying aliens called corsairs and little robot bees that swarm you, but their impact on moment-to-moment gameplay is pretty minor when you spend 90% of the time shooting the exact same Fallen and Vex we’ve been murdering for over a decade. Even worse than the main missions though are the handful of side quests that have you literally retreading the same places you visited in story missions to scan objects and hear some more characters chatting over comms before learning you’ve completed the quest unceremoniously. Even for a game that has struggled to make interesting supplemental content, these are some of the most boring we’ve been subjected to, offering almost no benefit for completing them to boot.

The biggest changes to Destiny 2 since The Final Shape are the reworks to guns and armor, which have been overhauled yet again. I’m not one of those players who frets when updates and power creep invalidate my hard-earned loadout, so I don’t actually mind most of the changes here. A new tier system provides extremely clear labels to just how good your loot is, so you can spend less time sweating over stuff you just dismantle, and adding set bonuses to armor is a feature I’ve craved in Destiny for many years that finally gives me a real reason to hunt for different armor sets instead of finding one good set and never taking it off. The problem is that, at least right now, there isn’t enough loot to chase, with just a handful of armor sets and a little over 30 weapons added to the pool at this point, so I didn’t feel much of an incentive to rip and replace my current loadout just yet.

The real issue is that even if I did feel compelled to hunt down the new gear available, the insane, painful grind to do so is in no way worth the effort required. Once you’ve completed The Edge of Fate’s campaign, you’re directed towards various playlists containing old content that you’re asked to replay over and over again, slowly upping your power level until you can complete activities that grant higher tier loot. What’s more, even these high level activities are just pulling from the exact same legacy content that has already been one of the main ways you’re expected to engage with Destiny 2 for years now. I was truly shocked to find that after I’d rolled credits on the new story, I was almost immediately loaded into a story mission from 2021. The new loot system has basically turned the endgame of Destiny 2 into an almost endless hamster wheel where you’re force fed the old content made arbitrarily more difficult based on the world tier and modifiers in play, all so you can get slightly better versions of existing weapons that have little use beyond (you guessed it) grinding more difficult versions of those same activities. Destiny has suffered through some pretty egregious grinds over the years, but this might just be the most brutal and ill-conceived one yet, and it almost immediately made me accept the fact that I’ll likely never have any high tier items until they decide to respect my time.

The final activity on my checklist before slapping a final score on this review is to play the new raid, The Desert Perpetual, which at the time of this writing was only very recently beaten by the Destiny community’s brave day-one raiders. I’ll be hopping in shortly to see what pleasant surprises, if any, are to be found. For now, The Edge of Fate strikes me as incredibly just okay, with some new experiments that don’t always work, a neat story attached to a weak campaign, and some cool tweaks to the loot game that are hidden behind the most monstrous and boring grind Destiny has ever had.

For this week only, Best Buy is taking $150 off the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme handheld gaming PC, dropping the price to $499.99 (originally $650). As a bonus, you also get a one month free trial to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. The ROG Ally is still one of the best Windows-based gaming handhelds currently available, perhaps only surpassed by other recently released models that will run you at least $300 more.

Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme Gaming Handheld for $499.99

Buydig is currently offering an excellent deal on a premium 55" TV and soundbar bundle. Right now you can pick up a 55" Panasonic W95 4K Mini-LED Amazon Fire TV and a bonus Panasonic HTB200 Soundbar Speaker for just $397.99 after you apply a $100 off coupon code "HEAT" during checkout. Free delivery is included. Panasonic is a well-known brand with a solid TV history. Although they had been out of the game for a while, they've recently returned, targeting the higher-end market with Mini-LED and OLED offerings. Buydig likewise is a reputable, established online retailer; I've personally placed several high-dollar orders from this vendor without any problems.

55" Panasonic W95 4K Mini-LED Fire TV with Soundbar for $398

Use code "HEAT" (price reflected at final step of checkout)

While your average wireless router is fine for scrolling the web and streaming shows or movies, they're potentially death traps for online gaming. Enduring slow speeds and additional lag of a less-than-capable router when gaming can be unbearably frustrating. Those issues might be linked to your ISP, but oftentimes, the culprit is the router. If you’re serious about gaming, a great router is an absolute necessity.

TL;DR – These Are the Best Routers for Gaming:

In addition to offering the latest Wi-Fi standards like Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E, or even Wi-Fi 7 for faster speeds, reduced latency, and more stable connections, the best gaming routers can prioritize gaming traffic. That means you get the lion’s share of bandwidth for smoother action with less rage-inducing lag. Some higher-end models are even packed with advanced features like multi-gig LAN ports that deliver lightning-fast wired connections and mesh network support for better coverage, helping eliminate dead zones or weak signal areas.

If you’re ready to ditch your old router and its slow speeds, congestion, and signal dropouts, our experts have carefully selected five of the best gaming routers to keep your games and streams running smoothly. Whether you’re after a budget option that still gets the job done or something feature-rich and fast, one of our picks should work perfectly with your gaming setup.

1. Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro

The Best Overall Gaming Router

2. Asus RT-AX82U

Best Budget Gaming Router

3. Netgear Nighthawk RAXE300

Best Tri-Band Gaming Router

4. Netgear Orbi 860 Series

Best Wi-Fi Mesh System for Gaming

5. Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE16000

Best Wi-Fi 6E Gaming Router

How to Get the Most Out of Your Gaming Router

Be aware, just having a gaming router doesn't mean you're going to automatically get the best home network instantly. You still should follow a number of best practices for optimizing your home network. Don't try tucking your router out of the way in a closet at the bottom of a shelf, as that's the quickest way to ensure you won't get the full performance out of it.

Your router should be placed in a central location in your living space, ideally high up, and without many obstacles in the way (i.e., don't put it behind your TV). Everything in the path from your router to your connected devices will impact the signal and thus the quality of your connection.

You can also help out your wireless devices by using a wired ethernet connection wherever possible. (If you need one, consider our best pick: DbillionDa Cat8 Ethernet Cable). Limiting the number of devices connected to your Wi-Fi at a time can help ensure each device gets better performance.

Securing your wireless router is also important not just for security but also for your performance. Sure, you don't want potentially malicious users accessing your home network, but you also don't want your neighbors piggybacking onto your network, as they'll eat into your bandwidth and potentially drag down your network performance. Use a strong password and consider disabling any guest networks. You might even consider not broadcasting your network ID, which makes it far less likely someone will access your network with the tradeoff that setting up new devices can be a little more time-consuming.

What to Look for in a Gaming Router

While you're shopping for a gaming router, you should be on the lookout for which version of Wi-Fi it supports. The main options you'll want to look out for are Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) – with Wi-Fi 6E expanding Wi-Fi 6 to include a 6GHz band, as they deliver the fast wireless speeds. Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) is here too, with newer devices beginning to offer support. Luckily, the newer routers are backward compatible for older devices. During your search for a gaming router, you'll undoubtedly come across units designed for Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) that look very attractive thanks to their low prices, but you should avoid this siren's call. Wi-Fi 4 is an outdated standard that provides fairly slow speeds compared to more modern renditions. Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) is also on the outs, so we'd stay away from those routers, too.

You'll also want to find a gaming router that is at least dual-band. Single-band routers only support the 2.4GHz band, which is fine enough for web browsing and downloading most files, but dual-band routers add a second 5GHz channel that provides much faster wireless speeds. You'll also find tri- or quad-band routers – and we've featured them as well – that offer an additional 5GHz or 6GHz band you can completely dedicate to gaming.

Gaming Router FAQ

What’s the difference between a normal router and a gaming router?

Routers are the standard gateways that allow providers to set up internet access in your home. Gaming routers come with enhanced features for, you guessed it, gaming. They enable users to customize how bandwidth is prioritized across devices on a network and can determine which is the best server for a given application. Many gaming routers also come with additional ports.

As mentioned above, upgrading your router doesn’t suddenly mean your ping will drop to 0. Bandwidth is ultimately determined by your internet provider, and if coverage is bad in certain areas of your house, a gaming router won’t prevent you from encountering lag. To avoid bottlenecks, make sure any router you get is well-suited to your specific internet plan.

Do you need a gaming router?

Gaming routers are specialized and more expensive than their “normal” counterparts, so it’s worth asking whether the additional cost is worth it for the average gamer.

In general, wired connections are always best for gaming. Gaming routers can be useful for dorms or other locations where you otherwise may not be able to set up a secure ethernet cable.

Gamers who mostly enjoy offline RPGs or cozy simulation games are unlikely to see any benefit from a gaming router. However, with customized QoS, serious online MOBA and FPS players may be able to get the latency edge they need to set off an ability or secure a winning headshot before their opponent.

How to extend your WiFi range for gaming

The further you get away from your router, the weaker the signal is going to get. If your gaming setup isn't close enough to your router, consider picking up a Wi-Fi range extender to get a bit more reach.

For more WiFi help, see the best USB WiFi adapters. If security matters most to you, also see our list for the best gaming VPNs for 2025.

Danielle is a Tech freelance writer based in Los Angeles who spends her free time creating videos and geeking out over music history.

Anker quietly released a new 25,000mAh power bank earlier this year that sits alongside their Anker 737 and Prime series of power banks. This particular model boasts a massive 25,000mAh battery capacity, 165W of total charging output, and two built-in USB Type-C cables in case you forget to bring your own. It normally retails for $110, but there's a deal today that drops the price to $94.49. This is a great complement to your power-hungry gaming handheld PC like the Steam Deck, Asus Rog Ally, or Lenovo Legion Go.

New Release: Anker 25,000mAh 165W Power Bank

When you’ve been covering tech for as long as I have, especially in this era of annual iterative updates, it gets increasingly hard to be impressed by anything. But the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is the first phone in years that I can’t seem to put down.

We’re even at a point where foldables have become kind of blasè – every Android manufacturer seems to be making one, and there’s a perennial rumor that Apple’s first folding phone is right around the corner. But the Fold 7 is the first time I’ve used a foldable that I really want to keep using beyond the first week of reviewing it. Its secret? It just kind of feels like using any other phone.

Samsung has slimmed the Fold 7 down to the point where it’s no thicker than a regular ‘slate’ phone when it's folded up, which is incredible in its own right. What’s more, though, the company has finally fixed the aspect ratio, so I can finally use all my apps and play all my mobile games without feeling like the content is getting squeezed into this skinny tube. And that makes the larger unfolded display feel better, too.

We’re now seven years into foldables being a thing – after the Royole Flexpai launched all the way back in 2018 – and it really feels like the Galaxy Z Fold 7 has perfected the formula.

Design and Features

The original Galaxy Fold was the first foldable I ever held, at some preview event many years ago. It was thick, and the inner display felt like it would break if I ever took it to the beach. The display had these weird little gaps where sand could get in, and it even made this uncomfortable creaking noise when you opened and closed it. It almost feels like a completely different company made the Fold 7.

When I pulled the Fold 7 out of its box, I was immediately struck by how thin it was: At 8.9mm folded, it’s 26% thinner than the Fold 6 I reviewed last year. And when you unfold it, it’s just 4.2mm thin. That’s thinner than the recently released S25 Edge, and thin enough that I was worried that it would be easy to bend out of shape – luckily that hasn’t been the case, not yet at least.

It also looks much nicer than other foldables out there, like the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which still has this bulky rounded look to it. Instead, the Fold 7 has a nice square design that makes it fit right in with the S25 Ultra, even if it is a smidge thicker. The ‘Blue Shadow’ colorway of the model Samsung sent us for review also looks incredible, and is much more vivid than the last few models.

With how thin this phone is, though, comes a pretty noticeable camera bump. Some kind of camera bump was going to be inevitable with a 200MP rear shooter, but it nearly doubles the thickness in one corner of the device. That means when it’s sitting on a table without a case – and you should have this phone in a case – it’s incredibly wobbly. It’s to the point where when I have the Fold 7 on a table, I keep it display-down, to keep it from moving around too much.

On the side of the phone, you have your standard volume rocker and a combination lock button and fingerprint sensor. The fingerprint sensor is tiny, though, so I was shocked at how accurate it seems to be. Beyond accidentally missing it when I was first setting up the biometrics, I’ve never had to re-scan my fingerprint a second time to unlock the device. What’s more surprising, given the phone’s dimensions, is that on the top of the phone there’s still a physical SIM slot. That’s good if your carrier doesn’t support eSIM for some reason, but that’s becoming rare these days.

Down on the bottom you have a USB-C port for charging and data transfer, but because each side of the phone is just over 4mm thick, the edges of the port are almost flush with the device. I haven’t had any problems with it, but it’s not impossible to imagine dropping the phone while it's charging and having something catastrophic happen. Just, like, be careful with it, ok?

Display

While a thin phone is cool and all, perhaps the biggest improvement is with the display, and in particular the outer display. My biggest complaint with the Fold 6 – and the Fold 5 – was the extremely narrow aspect ratio on the outer screen. That 22:9 aspect ratio made games like Hearthstone and Marvel Snap borderline unplayable, but this year’s model updates the screen to a much more standard 21:9 ratio. That sounds like a minor update, but it’s really night and day, and puts it more in line with competitors like the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and the One Plus Open.

The new resolution when closed is 2,520 x 1,080, which unfolds to a 2,184 x 1,968 screen when it's in tablet mode. These are both gorgeous AMOLED panels, with bright colors and deep blacks, which is perfect for watching videos or playing games. Because of the way most mobile games are made, I still find that the outer display is better for playing, as the full display will introduce thick black bars if the game isn’t made to take advantage of the more square aspect ratio.

There are exceptions, though. During Galaxy Unpacked, Samsung showed off Honkai Star Rail running on the larger display. Now, I quit playing that time sink about a year ago, but I redownloaded it to see if it holds up, and wow. While the game doesn’t take up the entire display, it still gets large enough to look way better, though still with some small black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.

Just like with the last few Folds, the Fold 7 will let you go into the settings and change the fullscreen behavior of each app. But because both of the displays are more, well, normal, I didn’t really feel the need to actually do that. I’ve let apps just use their default settings, and it’s been fine. This makes the Fold 7 a much better gaming phone, which combined with its thinner design makes it much more appealing as a daily driver.

Performance

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite, the fastest mobile chip on the market right now, and the same SoC that powers the Galaxy S25 lineup – including the Edge. And while I did notice the same throttling performance we saw in the S25 Edge, the peak performance of this chip puts the Galaxy Z Flip 6 to shame.

In Geekbench, which purely tests CPU performance, the Z Flip 7 put up a multicore score of 8,041 points, compared with the Flip 6’s 6,598. That’s a 22% lead, but it comes at the cost of single-core performance. The new phone only gets 1,756 points in the single core test, which is significantly slower than the Flip 6’s 2,112 points in that test. But given that this phone is basically purpose-built for multitasking, it’s hard to get mad at that.

This is especially true when you look at gaming performance, where the Galaxy Z Fold 7 doubles the performance of the Z Flip 6 in the GFXBench Aztec Ruins test with 100 fps to 49 fps. The GPU inside the Snapdragon 8 Elite is incredibly powerful, which is awesome for playing demanding games like Honkai Star Rail, but it does come at the cost of thermal performance.

Nearly every phone we’ve tested with the Snapdragon 8 Elite this year has had a problem with throttling, and the Z Fold 7 is no different. Running the 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite stress test sees performance drop by nearly 60% by the end of the run. Just like a lot of mobile processors, the performance algorithm seems to favor high burst performance, then letting the chip throttle itself over time. This is normal behavior, but it is exacerbated by the thin chassis. If you want better sustained performance, something like the Asus ROG Phone 9 is much better equipped to handle the thermal load – but then you lose the nifty folding design.

Instead, this bursty performance profile is much better attuned to productivity work, which is what Samsung seems to be aiming for. After all, Samsung’s Roh Tae-moon told the Korea Herald that Samsung is willing to absorb some of the costs to “democratize AI experiences” – something the Fold 7 is really trying to do.

And to be fair, the Fold 7’s bursty performance profile does seem to benefit AI workloads a lot. I haven’t really found an actual use for AI in my life, but playing around with the nifty ‘Circle to search’ feature is quick and snappy, and even works in games now. I just don’t know how useful that feature actually is, however cool it is to play with once or twice.

Camera

While the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 has probably the most pronounced camera bump I’ve ever seen in my life, it does seem to pay off. Samsung has included a similar 200MP main camera to the one found in the Galaxy S25 Ultra, though with only three sensors. This is a huge improvement over the 50MP shooter in last year’s foldable, and is capable of much sharper shots.

It’s not going to break me away from my DSLR any time soon, but the photos I shot walking around my neighborhood are rich and vibrant. The camera also supports a 30x digital zoom, which works much better than I thought it would.

The front facing camera is also improved, but Samsung replaced the somewhat hidden design found in the Fold 6 with a more apparent cutout. This will be a bit more distracting when you’re using the phone, but it does allow for a much sharper 10MP selfie cam, rather than the 4MP disaster in last year’s model.

Battery

For a phone with multiple displays and the most powerful mobile chip on the planet, it might be surprising that Samsung stuck with the same 4,400mAh battery that powers the S25 Ultra. That’s not ideal, especially if you plan on doing a lot of heavy work on it, but I actually found that it usually lasts all day.

I kept an eye on the battery page in the settings just to get an idea of what battery drain looks like, and I found that the phone typically lasts around 22 hours – and that’s with approximately four hours of gaming. It’s still not a phone that’ll last for multiple days between charges, but it should last all day, and some of the way into the next morning if you forget to toss it on the charger overnight.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra

Have you wanted to pick up a Secretlab gaming chair but was kept at bay by the exorbitant price tag? Then you don't want to miss this outstanding deal from Secretlab's own shop. For a limited time, Secretlab is taking $300 off the Titan (2020) Team Liquid Edition Gaming Chair, bringing the price down to just $274 (originally $574) when you apply coupon code: "SLEV-TLMINP1". Shipping is $9. All chairs ship from the United States, arrive within 1-3 working days, and include a 3 year warranty (extendable to 5 years if you post a photo of your chair in situ on social media).

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The Alienware AW2725DF 27" Gaming Monitor boasts one of the fastest refresh rates of any OLED monitor, and it's heavily discounted today. Right now you can get it on Amazon for just $588.86 with free shipping, which is 35% off its $900 retail price. The AW2725DF is a true OLED monitor with a 2560x1440 resolution and a blazing fast 360Hz refresh rate. It's one of the best 27" QHD gaming monitors as long as you can benefit from the high refresh rate, like in FPS games.

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Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who is best known for playing Theodore ‘Theo’ Huxtable on The Cosby Show, has died at 54.

Costa Rican National Police confirmed the news with ABC, saying the ‘90s star accidentally drowned off the coast of Playa Cocles beach in Limon, Costa Rica, Sunday. His official cause of death is listed as asphyxia, which he suffered after being caught by high-current waters. Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department tells AP that “he was rescued by people on the beach,” but Red Cross first responders found him without vital signs. He was then taken to the morgue.

Imagine it: It’s 1978 and kids and comic book fans of all ages are excited to get a new animated series about Marvel’s First Family, the Fantastic Four. The opening credits set the stage, as narration informs us of the FF’s origin:

“It was the world's strangest accident. While testing a new rocket ship, our heroes were bombarded by mysterious cosmic rays from outer space. Though they crash-landed safely, the strange and powerful rays had changed each one of them. Transforming their leader, Reed Richards, into the plastic-skinned Mr. Fantastic; Sue Richards into the ‘now you see her, now you don't’ Invisible Girl; and Ben Grimm into a mighty-muscled powerhouse called the Thing. Now together with H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot, the newest member of the group, they have become the greatest team of superheroes the world has ever known. The New Fantastic Four!”

But just wait one second… who the hell is H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot, the so-called “newest member of the group” - and where the hell is Johnny Storm, the Human Torch!?

It was an understandable question given the Fantastic Four boasts one of the most solid team lineups in comics history. Oh, sure, members might take breaks for a while (or be dead for a bit, because, you know… comics) with someone else subbing in. But inevitably, Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben are restored as the title characters.

H.E.R.B.I.E.'s presence in the 1978 Saturday morning cartoon, The New Fantastic Four, would lead to years of incorrect information about why he was there in the first place and a reputation that often made him something of a joke. But with the character about to make his proper movie debut in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, let’s look back at the journey of H.E.R.B.I.E., from a mostly dismissed character to getting his spotlight in the MCU - and how he would still have a special place in comic book history regardless, thanks to the two legends who created him blending their talents together one final time.

Actually, Johnny Was (Potentially) Busy

The core question of why H.E.R.B.I.E. was even created in the first place for The New Fantastic Four and used instead of the Human Torch was, for many years, given a widely repeated answer that was also totally incorrect. Who knows how it first began, but the widespread belief – one I recall hearing myself as a kid in the ’80s who would occasionally see repeats of The New Fantastic Four – was that there were fears that children might set themselves on fire in an attempt to emulate the Human Torch. This was curious, given the Torch not only had been in comic books readily available to kids since 1961, but had also been a part of the first Fantastic Four cartoon in 1967 (and all subsequent FF series and films) without this concern ever hindering his use. So why would this be the case just in 1978?

Longtime comic book and animated series writer Mark Evanier finally laid this persistent rumor to rest 20 years ago, explaining the Human Torch wasn’t on the 1978 series for a reason comic book fans are very familiar with as far as creating complications for adaptations - screen rights being licensed separately. You see, in the late 1970s, Universal was going big attempting to bring Marvel Comics characters to television in live-action, resulting in poorly received Doctor Strange and Captain America TV movies (well, two TV movies in Cap’s case), and one genuine success - the five-season Incredible Hulk series starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno.

The Human Torch was licensed by Universal for the same purpose, locking up his TV rights entirely at the time, animation included, and making the character unavailable for The New Fantastic Four, which had no Universal connection (The New FF aired on NBC, but this was long before NBC and Universal merged). Of course, as often can be the case, the Human Torch deal never actually resulted in anything being produced with the character by Universal, though a script was written.

Regarding The New Fantastic Four, Evanier acknowledges that there were times where even some people involved with other Marvel cartoons had perpetuated the false “they were worried kids would set themselves on fire” explanation. As Evanier put it, the rumor “was abetted by a few statements from folks who worked on Marvel animated projects, saying that the Torch was omitted for the cited reason. Either they had short memories or figured there was some P.R. benefit to claiming that. And, of course, it's theoretically possible that had they not had to make the switch, there would have been some objection to the Torch. But it never came to that.”

The Final Co-Creation of Stan and Jack

So with the Human Torch off the table, how did H.E.R.B.I.E. come to be? By making use of the very same two comic book industry icons who had created the Fantastic Four in the first place, before going on to co-create a slew of the most pivotal comic characters and concepts in history including the X-Men, Hulk, Iron Man, Black Panther, the Avengers and much more – Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

By the late ’70s, Lee was much more involved in Marvel’s Hollywood aspirations than the company’s comic book output, and created and personally wrote many episodes of The New Fantastic Four. Kirby in the meantime had returned to Marvel after a notable rift with both the company at large and Lee in particular, after tensions had built up throughout his tenure there during the 1960s. Unfortunately though, it was, by all accounts, not a very happy or well-received return for a man whose legendary impact on comics went back to co-creating Captain America in 1940. But near the end of what would ultimately be his final stint ever with Marvel, Kirby did some work as a storyboard and concept artist for The New Fantastic Four, as recounted in Sean Howe’s Marvel Comics: The Untold Story.

Stonemaier Games has an all-star lineup, including titles such as Wingspan, Scythe, and Viticulture. Vantage is the publisher’s latest hotly anticipated release, and it’s the culmination of eight years of work from studio head Jamey Stegmaier. It’s a game full of secrets and exploration, capturing some of the same vibes as mystery box series like Lost and Scavenger’s Reign. It also just may be Stonemaier’s most revelatory game yet.

Vantage begins with a simple premise. Players take on the role of crew members of an intergalactic spaceship en route to an uncharted planet. Before landing on the destination, something goes wrong, and everyone bails in isolated escapade pods. You are now hurtling towards this heretofore unexplored world with zero understanding of what you will find.

That’s the setup. While each player receives an individual named character with a specialty, there's no lengthy backstory. You don’t even know what organization, government, or coalition you work for. Beyond a relatively light ruleset, you know nothing.

This is the mystique of Vantage. It’s an open-world exploration board game built atop the bones of video games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Subnautica. This style of board game isn’t novel. There have been some popular entries in recent years, including the fantastic Sleeping Gods and 7th Continent. But those other tabletop games are based on a foundation of historical reality with a fictional layer on top. Vantage turns this idea on its head, providing no footing for understanding or tradition. Everything is weird and unusual, sometimes bearing a resemblance to what we know, but even then, this is often used as a device to subvert expectations.

Each player arrives on the planet at a randomized location. You are lost, like detritus heaved into the wind and violently scattered across a foreign body. Your position, and the conduit for the bulk of interaction, is the location card. This large rectangular card depicts your current perspective in the first person. This is your vantage.

Each card lists a half-dozen actions, each mapped to a separate skill. These categories are broad in application, with titles such as “take”, “look”, and “help”. They are denoted by colors, with the specific use of each category given a name corresponding to the circumstances you’re currently in.

This means the location card will often list a separate colored action for each of the six categories. For example, the overpower action may be displayed as a red “steal” on the card, while the blue move could be listed as “chase”. This is where the game is murky, requiring players to lean on intuition by studying the card’s artwork and trying to infer a sense of context.

After selecting the action you want to perform, another player picks up the narrative booklet of the same color and flips to the entry with the same number as your location card. Each action type has its own bespoke book of story entries, making for a massive amount of content on the whole.

Each action type has its own bespoke book of story entries, making for a massive amount of content on the whole.

The story entries list a difficulty and a brief description of what you are trying to do. So the steal example above could be: 4 – steal the satchel laying next to the sleeping sentient. Tests in this game are straightforward. You roll a handful of dice equal to the difficulty of the action, and then either lose health, stamina, or morale based on the roll. Some dice results avoid losing any vital signs, and are typically the best possible outcome.

Cleverly, your character – as well as other cards you may have attained on your journey, such as items or other followers – may store rolled dice so you don’t have to suffer the consequence. Other players may even absorb some of these dice depending on their abilities, effectively representing support or encouragement. This is the main throughline of the system, performing actions and then eating the results while hopefully maintaining enough mental and physical integrity to keep the adventure going. The more tools and followers you can amass during the journey, the more complex your system of mitigation becomes allowing for more interesting abilities and effects.

Crucially, you never fail an action in Vantage. Every test automatically succeeds, with the tension residing completely around the cost. If any of your three core stats is lowered to zero, whether as the result of a roll or triggered effect, the mission immediately ends. The action system is also where the core frustrations may arise. The fuzzy context regarding descriptors, such as what “steal” actually means, and not knowing how many dice will be rolled prior to the selection, can feel too unpredictable. This approach folds into the central philosophy of discovery quite neatly, but it’s not a particularly strategic system and can sometimes take you by surprise. This can lead to abrupt endings that are unsatisfying.

One of Vantage’s most compelling details is the mission. You are assigned a random goal at the outset of play that the whole group must work towards. This could be something like “attain two artifacts” or “build a home”. These are invented to avoid spoiling content, but the actual missions parallel this methodology. In pursuing your goal, you may also come across a destiny. Destinies are organically discovered objectives which can be pursued in tandem with your mission. They’re more impactful emotionally, as they arise naturally through play and often flow from actions. As a device to spur creative dynamic interest, they’re superb.

While I don't view the murkiness of Vantage’s action system as a substantial flaw, I do have a more critical view of the destiny and mission structure. Mostly, this system is problematic in conjunction with the unique format of multiplayer play. Since each player is scattered in an unknown land, sessions can often feel as though several characters are playing their own separate games. This leads to slow progress, uneven investment, and a finish that can be unsatisfying. In one session, a player was pursuing a series of odd developments and weird discoveries. They were learning a mysterious craft and building a life for themselves on the planet. Meanwhile, another player on a completely separate side of the world accomplished our goal and triggered the end game. The first player was never able to pursue their own interests and felt as though they were not linked to the greater story at all.

Vantage tries to correct for this. It allows you to keep playing if you’d like, but this rarely feels satisfying. Should we all have sat by, spending another hour or so wandering around while we waited for the other player to reach the conclusion of their own goals? It’s not a great position to be in.

The isolated positioning of players works much better when pursuing a destiny or mission that can be accomplished in pieces. Occasionally, narrative will align perfectly with players calling out landmarks they're near and trying to orient themselves. Sometimes you have to work together across massive distances. When this occurs it’s magical. Everything feels right and Vantage is hitting its peak. These moments, however, emerge unpredictably. This is why the game works much more reliably with lower player counts, or even as a solo board game. With no downtime, the tempo just hums along and the exploration is wholly immersive.

Beyond the unique approach of scattered perspectives and its quirky take on mission objectives, Vantage’s real innovation is in how it approaches discovery. Most games of this ilk are campaign board games that ask you to commit to a scenario and play it over a handful of sessions. Vantage shoves its gameplay into a single two- or three-hour engagement. Although, that’s not the whole story.

While a game begins and wraps in a single session, the true experience of Vantage is one of extended play. The knowledge you gain is the primary achievement and what you take with you. In future sessions you'll learn more about the world, various key locations, and the mysterious nature of “the traveler” who continually reaches out to you. It’s a single-session game on the surface, with a campaign format smuggled in. This is frankly brilliant. Much of this rides on the sheer amount of content offered and the compelling nature of discovering it. The things you will find are wild and powerful, often impressing beyond expectation.

It’s a single-session game on the surface, with a campaign format smuggled in. This is frankly brilliant.

This box will stand up to dozens and dozens of hours of play. There are hundreds of locations and hundreds of items and characters and creatures to discover. Every time you arrive at a location you can only trigger a single action. You cannot engage in a second action on that card in the same session. This is artificial, but it highlights how every single set-piece has multiple things to discover. Returning to previously seen spots yields new revelations.

This is subtle, but perhaps the design’s strongest mechanical trick. One of the weaknesses of games like 7th Continent is that you must retread previously broken ground. Many locations in that game lose their wonder and spontaneity upon repeated play. Vantage overcomes that problem by presenting richer locations, as well as mission objectives that can be accomplished in many different ways. It’s structurally very different to locate two artifacts on a planet that holds dozens, than it is to locate a temple at a specific location.

All of this ties in with the core motif of creativity. The rulebook explicitly suggests you may bring your own personal goals into a session and even forego the assigned mission. The nature of play reinforces this as well, as the outcome of any particular objective is a sparse section of text lacking fanfare. Vantage is about the journey and your agency in shaping it. This cuts right to the spirit of the design, highlighting that the central experience is yours, and yours alone. Make of Vantage what you will. What I make of Vantage is that it’s one of the best games of 2025.

Where to Buy

• Get it at Stonemaier Games
• Get it at Miniature Market
• Get it at GameNerdz

Swedish hardware manufacturer Fractal Design is best known for its elegant computer cases, so I was fascinated to find that its debut headset – the Fractal Scape – maintains the company's refined design language. Understated and eye-catching in equal measure, the Fractal Scape may be the most visually appealing gaming headset I've ever seen thus far. And more importantly, it's super comfortable, sounds great, and sports plenty of features that make it well worth adding to your gaming setup.

Fractal Scape – Design and Comfort

From a design perspective, the Fractal Scape is a stunner. Without the detachable boom mic attached to the headset, this bad boy could pass as a luxury set of cans akin to Apple's AirPods Max or Bose's QuietComfort Ultra. This is particularly true of the Light variation, which is striking with its gentle matte gray finish, clean metal alloy accents, and earpad and headband fabric in a delightful silver-ish tone. Meanwhile, the Dark option trades those swanky vibes for something more traditionally sleek with its all-black aesthetic. Both are gorgeous in their own right, so it's a matter of taste as to which suits your setup better.

Tucked away between the earcups and earpads, the Fractal Scape's optional RGB accents are purposefully subtle. They feel just exposed enough to let you dial in a slight "gamer" ambience without the excessive flashiness of headsets that often feel designed to prove you're Gaming with a capital G. These lights can be extensively customized using the Adjust Pro software (more on that later), or you can just opt to turn them off entirely at any time with the simple touch of a button.

Luckily, all of these good looks don't come at the expense of wearability. Though I initially worried the fairly snug fit might lead to issues during prolonged use, I've found the soft memory foam padding on the earcups and headband has kept me from experiencing any fatigue or discomfort over long sessions. And the Fractal Scape's cozy woven fabric has been breathable enough that my ears never get hot, either.

One of the coolest features of the Fractal Scape is its wireless charging dock, which holds the headset in a standing position via a magnetic connection. While you can still charge the headset separately with a USB-C cable, the dock makes it easy to display it like a piece of decor on an entertainment center or table. The headset can also automatically power on and off when taking it from or placing it onto the charging dock, respectively. It may not sound like a big deal, but this kind of convenience goes a long way.

Additionally, you can plug the dongle into the dock, then run a wire from the dock to the USB port on your PC or console. By doing this, you can put some distance between the dongle and other nearby devices that may cause interference. And I'd recommend doing so, as my headset would sometimes randomly lose connection to the dongle while plugged into a USB-A port on my consoles. Updating the firmware reduced the frequency of disconnects, but only inserting the dongle into the charging dock and placing it away from my other devices and in a clear path to the headset eliminated the issue entirely.

You can swap from the 2.4GHz wireless mode to Bluetooth 5.3 using a toggle on the left earcup, letting you bounce between multiple devices with ease – though it's worth noting that the headset doesn't support the two simultaneously, so you won't be able to answer a phone call while still hearing your game. Meanwhile, the omission of a 3.5mm jack means you're limited to using a USB-C cable for a wired connection on the Fractal Scape. This doesn't phase me as someone all-in on the wireless world, but more options are never a bad thing, so I hope Fractal reconsiders adding a jack on any future iterations of the headset.

Fractal Scape – Software and Battery Life

Adjust Pro, Fractal's web-only software, lets you customize and save up to three EQ presets, which you can then cycle through using the EQ button on the headset. It also gives you an impressive amount of customization over the RGB lighting with a combination of colors, effects, speeds, and more. It's nice that these changes are flashed to the headset immediately so that you can start using your settings with no extra hassle.

The Fractal Scape promises a reasonable battery life of 40 hours, but I'm happy to report I've been getting closer to 50 hours out of it from a full charge. Opting to use the RGB features can cut that down to just a little over 20 hours, however, which is a substantial reduction for a payoff that you can't even see while using the headset anyway. I'd recommend ditching the flashy stuff and keeping things basic for the extra runtime – and to be fair, I'm not really an RGB kind of guy to begin with. Do what makes you happy, but know there’s a trade-off.

Fractal Scape – Sound Quality and Microphone

I wouldn’t consider myself an audio snob, but it's impossible not to tell the difference between the bass-heavy sound profile of many gaming headsets and the wide, clear audio output of the Fractal Scape. It makes sense that its contemporaries chase those lower frequencies for immersion in a medium often filled with loud explosions and deep, rumbling scores, but sacrificing mids and highs can leave their soundstages a bit muddy at times. With its 40mm audio drivers, the Fractal Scape focuses on providing fine-tuned balance and clarity across all frequencies, and I love it for that.

Make no mistake, the Fractal Shape still serves up plenty of bass, ensuring that combat in a game like Doom: The Dark Ages feels rightly impactful. But giving mids and highs some room to breathe allows you to hear dialogue and important audio cues much more clearly. Most notably, when combined with the headset's top-notch spatial audio, I found pinpointing enemy footsteps and gunshots in competitive games significantly easier than with most headsets in my arsenal.

The Fractal Shape's super wideband boom mic covers frequencies between 50Hz and 16kHz, with the latter reaching the upper limits of human hearing. This means that, unlike average headset mics that compress your voice output and make you sound a bit muffled, the Fractal Shape's mic highlights the dynamics of your voice far better. As such, you come through nice and bright to whoever is listening on the other end.

I'm a big baby who finds boom mics inherently irritating, though, so I love that the Fractal Scape also has a built-in omnidirectional mic. There's a moderate drop in overall quality when comparing it directly with the boom mic's unidirectional design, which helps reduce background noise, but none of my friends minded when I swapped between the two during our gaming sessions. That being said, my home tends to stay very quiet, so your pals may appreciate you using the boom mic if you're gaming in a noisier environment.

Billy Givens is a freelancer at IGN with over a decade of experience writing gaming, film, and tech content. You'll find him blabbering on about video games and more on Twitter at @mektige.

I am a long-time fan of Capcom’s Street Fighter series, having hurled my first Hadouken all the way back on the Super Nintendo with Street Fighter 2 Turbo, and have loved the fighters ever since. These days, folks are mostly playing Street Fighter 6, but I've been dabbling back with its predecessor. Instead of pressing buttons and inputting directions on my controller’s D-pad, I've been playing cards and rolling dice with Kess Entertainment’s Street Fighter V: Champion Edition - Legends board game. While I may have had a fine enough time with it, it always felt more in line with another of Capcom’s series than it did with the one-on-one brawler that is Street Fighter.

Street Fighter V Legends is a cooperative board game in which one to four players work together to take down one of the heads of the evil Shadaloo organization, led by the evil M. Bison. Among them are Bison himself, Balrog, Vega, and Sagat. Each player selects a character to play as from the roster of the original eight world warriors: Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Guile, Dhalsim, Blanka, E. Honda, or Zangief, with each character bringing their unique attacks that fans of the video games will instantly recognize.

With your character selected, you then get to choose a deck of cards that represents your fighting style – one of my favorite aspects of the game. In Street Fighter, the actions you can take on your turn are based on cards that you draw and play from these respective decks of cards, with each deck tailored to different strategies and named after common terms in the fighting game communities that have built up around the video games.

Take, for instance, the “Shoto” deck, which has more projectile cards, as though you are spamming Ryu or Ken’s Hadoukens. Or there's the Rushdown deck, which is more about maneuvering around opponents and hitting them hard with attacks like the Cross Up.

With your character selected, you then choose a deck of cards that represents your fighting style – one of my favorite aspects of the game.

On each turn, players place down and activate two of these cards from their hands, rolling dice to dish out damage, and with each card adding various resources to their available pool, which can then be spent to use their character’s special abilities. These resources include punches, kicks, and my personal favorite, joysticks. The six included decks offer some sense of asymmetry to how a character can play. I wish this was pushed a little farther to highlight further the different playstyles used in competitions, but their inclusion is still a neat easter egg that I appreciate.

Games of Street Fighter V take place in one of four possible stages that you build from poster-board tiles that come with the game. Each stage has some unique rules that go with it, as well. It would be too easy if the big bad were out from the get-go for you and your friends to take out. Instead, you need to prove yourself first and get strong by taking out various minions that spawn on the board, or fighting your rival (an AI-controlled Street Fighter character assigned to each player at the start of the game). Taking out these enemies earns you EX bars that can be used to upgrade your character's abilities, putting you in a better spot for when the Nemesis boss character appears.

Bison, Balrog, Sagat, and Vega – the Nemesis characters – each have their own set of abilities that are triggered depending on what is pulled from the Nemesis deck, which also determines where new minions spawn. Once you and your team manage to deal enough damage to knock out the nemesis, you win – but if even one of your team is taken out, then it’s game over. The general flow of the game is pretty simple, and by the second or third turn through, everyone I played with had a good grasp on how the game worked, and things went pretty quickly.

Moving my character around, hurling fireballs, and beating up minions was fun, which caused my friends and me to, on more than one occasion, yell out the signature moves as we performed them. The lack of enemy variety is a bit of a bummer, with only three minion factions to pick from, each with only two options. That means you will quickly run out of new enemies to fight against, made worse by the fact that each game only has you go up against one of the three factions.

Maps aren’t overly large, which is nice. It's never a hassle to get to the various objectives or wherever you want to go, and the additional few “Hard” Nemesis cards you can mix into the deck do increase the challenge, but I wouldn’t turn down more offerings or tweaks to increase the difficulty or complexity of the game. If you are just looking for a game to beat up thugs with your friends, Street Fighter is fine enough now and then.

I have played a good number of board game adaptations of popular video games, from Resident Evil to Slay the Spire, and even ones like Guilty Gear Strive that are also based on a fighting game. But Street Fighter V: Champion Edition - Legends feels the most disjointed and confused as to what it wants to be. Looking at just the gameplay, the concept of running around with your friends, taking out small minions before tackling the stage’s boss is far more in line with, say, Capcom’s Final Fight series of beat-’em-ups. A series, mind you, whose characters have made the jump into Street Fighter previously, such as the ninja Guy. But Street Fighter has always been about duking it out with your friend in a 1v1 fight, and by making this a strictly cooperative game, both of those core components of the game are missing.

This disparity includes even those little easter eggs that I mentioned, like the various fight style decks and joystick resource on the cards. These little nods will be appreciated most by members of the fighting game community and glossed over by others who would appreciate this game more for what it is, rather than the package we got that honestly feels like it simply got the Street Fighter V property slapped on top of a different game and called it a day.

Where to Buy

• Get it at Amazon
• Get it at Walmart

Hulu is shaking up its schedule for Futurama Season 13 when it premieres September 15, 2025.

As reported by Variety, the switch-up will see the classic sci-fi comedy show change its release plan from weekly episode drops to an all-in-one launch, allowing viewers to binge the entire season in one day if they choose. That means all of Season 13’s 10 episodes will be available to watch at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET when that September release date arrives for Hulu subscribers.

That release date is still a few months away, but if you just can't wait to see more, you can check out a few first-look images shared by Variety below.

Hulu released a description for Futurama Season 13: “Bender is rampaging out of control! A volcano is about to explode! Fry confronts a rival for Leela’s love! And Dr. Zoidberg is rising up to heaven?! The excitement might be too much! You’ve been warned… it’s an all new season of Futurama!”

Futurama’s history on TV has been a bit complicated. It first aired on Fox in the late ‘90s before bouncing over to Comedy Central in 2010. Fans continued to tune in to see characters like Fry, Bender, Leele, and more before it was finally canceled there in 2013. David X. Cohen and Matt Groening’s popular animated show remained in cryosleep for nearly 10 years before Hulu finally cracked open its plans for Futurama Season 11 in 2022.

It's a revival strategy that’s panned out, with Hulu reporting via Nielsen that Futurama landed among the top 10 streaming originals in 2024. The release schedule shake up will mark yet another change for the long-running series when all episodes arrive on one day, though it is worth noting that FXX is still set to slowly roll out Season 13 with two episodes a week starting September 15.

Futurama Season 13 will continue Hulu’s revival efforts, with Season 14 set to push Fry and company even further in 2026. For more, you can read our 6/10 Futurama Season 11/revival review and our 5/10 Season 12 review.

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).

The Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman has discussed his surprising comment that suggested lead actor Pedro Pascal had been cast as Reed Richards in order to portray someone who ends up "leading the Avengers".

Shakman's description raised eyebrows last week, not least because it appeared to highlight the importance of Pascal's character in Avengers: Doomsday, a movie cloaked in secrecy that's still 18 months away, while Pascal's version of Richards is yet to make his debut.

Now, speaking with IGN, Shakman has sought to clarify his comments — which he insisted "the internet has run with" and "misinterpreted". Instead, the future of Reed Richards in the MCU is something for the Russo brothers, the directing duo behind Avengers: Doomsday, to reveal.

For context, here's what Shakman said of casting Reed Richards previously, in conversation with Variety.

"He goes from being the nerdy scientist who's locked away in the lab, to the husband and the father who'd do anything to protect his family, to the guy who's leading the Avengers. I realized that the version we were building had to have all of those elements."

Asked for more detail on how Reed Richards would undergo that transformation from scientist to multiverse defender, here's what Shakman said, reproduced in full:

"Well, I can't speak too much about Doomsday," he began. "And the idea of him as the leader of the Avengers in Doomsday was something that the internet has run with and is actually they misinterpreted something I said. I was actually talking about Reed Richards in the comics and how different he can be from issue to issue and from run to run, and that sometimes he is that cerebral scientist locked away in the lab trying to solve everything. Sometimes he's leading the Avengers and running off and trying to save the day. Sometimes there's an emphasis on him as a family man.

"So I needed him to encompass all of those things," he continued, "a leader who's willing to jump into the fray, a person who's in the lab trying to solve everything, and a devoted husband and father and best friend and family member, right? And so for me, it was talking about how I went about finding the best actor for that part and finding Pedro Pascal to play someone... An actor who could do all of those things really. So where Reed Richards goes in the Avengers: Doomsday is for the Russo brothers to tell you."

It's an intriguing response from Shakman, and one that certainly seems to walk back the idea of Reed Richards already being set to be crowned leader of the Avengers within the MCU.

That said, while the character certainly has been a part of the Avengers in the comics, he's not a character well-known for leading the whole team. And in both quotes from Shakman, originally and now, there's the confirmation that Pascal was cast as someone who could indeed step up as Avengers lead, should the need arrive.

And then there's the confirmation that, for anything Avengers: Doomsday related, Shakman defers to the directors of that film. Of course the Russo brothers will be the ones to discuss the characters in their film, just as Shakman is here. But perhaps Shakman has already said too much?

The Fantastic Four: First Steps opens in theaters this Friday, July 25, 2025. Avengers: Doomsday then picks up the team's story as they join the fight against Doctor Doom, from December 18, 2026.

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

Not everyone is the DIY type. If you're in the market for a prebuilt gaming PC, Dell is one of the best brands we'd recommend. Alienware desktops and laptops feature solid build quality, top-of-the-line gaming performance, excellent cooling (further improved on the newer models), aggressive styling, and pricing that is very competitive with other pre-built options. Best of all, there are plenty of sales that happen throughout the year, so it's not difficult to grab one of these computers at considerably less than their retail price. This page includes all of the best deals that are currently available.

Dell and Alienware Coupons

Alienware Gaming PC Deals

Alienware Gaming Laptop Deals

You can quickly browse through all of the listed products on sale above. See below for our favorite picks.

Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5080 Gaming PC

Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5070 Ti Gaming PC

Alienware Area-51 RTX 5090 Gaming PC

New Alienware Aurora 16 Laptop

New Alienware Aurora 16X Laptop

Area-51 Gaming Laptops: New Style, More Power, Better Cooling

New for 2025, the Alienware Area-51 gaming laptop features a magnesium alloy chassis with upgraded cooling to tackle the latest and greatest heat generating components. This includes more fans and bigger cutouts enabling greater airflow, more generous use of copper, and a new thermal interface material to better transfer heat away from the core components. Dell claims that the laptop can handle a higher power ceiling of up to 240W TDP without raising acoustics.

Design-wise, the Area 51 accentuates its smooth contours, with rounded edges and soft corners replacing the squared off design you'd see in most other laptops. The hinges are also mostly internally positioned so that they're near invisible. As befits an Alienware laptop, there are ample customization options for RGB LED lighting.

Why pick a Dell or Alienware gaming PC?

If you're in the market for a prebuilt gaming PC, Dell is one of best gaming brands we'd recommend. The Alienware gaming desktops offer a staggering array of options, all built into a custom chassis that's both easy on the eyes and easy on the wallet. Alienware gaming laptops in recent years have been redesigned to be thinner and lighter while still offering the same immense power under the hood. Consistent build quality, available inventory, frequent sales, and solid customer service are the main reasons why Dell is at the top of our buying list for gaming laptops and PCs.

Some other resources you might be interested in:

• Best gaming laptop deals of 2024
• Best gaming PC deals of 2024

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