One of the more popular October Prime Day deals is still available. Amazon is offering a four-pack of Apple AirTags keyfinders for just $64.99 shipped. At just $12.99 per AirTag, this is the lowest price of the year. If you're willing to get your holiday shopping done in advance, the Apple Airtags would make a great gift idea for anyone who owns an iPhone and tends to lose small wearables like wallets, keys, or remotes.
4-Pack Apple AirTags for $65
The Apple Airtag is a small coin-shaped device that you can put in your wallet or attach to your phones, keys, remote, or anything small enough to be easily misplaced. It works as a little Wi-Fi keyfinder that helps locate your lost objects by pinging its general location to your iPhone using Bluetooth 5.0. However, if your iPhone model has a U1 chip with Ultra Wideband, then you can take advantage of the "Precision Finding" mode. This gives you numerical distance and direction guidance when your lost item is close by. It points you right to it.
The CR2032 coin battery is user-replaceable, so your AirTag won't end up in a landfill when the battery depletes, nor will you have to deal with battery degradation like you would with a non-replaceable lithium battery.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
The days of spending hundreds of dollars over MSRP for a new Nvidia Blackwell GPU are over. Amazon has currently dropped the price of the PNY Epic-X ARGB OC GeForce RTX 5080 16GB Graphics Card to $979.99 with free shipping. In comparison, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 Founder's Edition card normally retails for $999 (in reality it's actually much higher). The Epic-X ARGB OC is PNY's highest end RTX 5080 model, featuring a beefy triple fan cooler, a modest overclock out of the box, and flashy RGB illumination.
PNY Epic-X ARGB OC RTX 5080 Graphics Card for $979.99
The RTX 5080 is one of the fastest cards on the market, bested only by the $2,000 RTX 5090 and the discontinued $1,600 RTX 4090. This is a phenomenal card for playing the latest, most demanding games in 4K resolution at high settings and ray tracing enabled. The RTX 5080 supports DLSS 4 with multi-frame generation, which means you can push even more frames out of games that support the technology with minimal visual compromise. Recent games that support it include Doom: The Dark Ages, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Borderlands 4, and Battlefield 6.
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.
Battlefield 6’s multiplayer action is all about layers. You have an infantry layer, where teams exchange gunfire on foot; there’s the land vehicle layer, where tanks and armored cars reshape the front lines with powerful weapons capable of decimating infantry and bringing entire buildings to the ground; and then there’s sky layer, where a small number of flyers hold dominion over the air, with the potential to flatten ground forces outright. What’s impressive is not only that each layer is so different, but also so well constructed, and somehow they all fit together seamlessly. A few of the maps have a bad habit of becoming sniper-infested hellscapes, and it takes a little too long to unlock the better equipment that makes your loadouts really interesting, but those are minor gripes with what is otherwise one of the best multiplayer shooters of the year.
Most of the fighting happens between general infantry, and great moment-to-moment gunplay is the anchor of the whole experience. Weapons look and sound awesome, especially if you have headphones or a good sound system to pick up the deep booms and subtle details like bullet casings falling to the ground. Guns are accurate, but account for bullet travel and drop just enough to reward skillful shooting – though the modest recoil and bullet spread in most weapons also means you don’t need to be a hardcore shooter veteran to be able to land shots.
There are four classes to choose from that are well balanced overall despite having very distinct identities. Running and gunning as the Assault Class is a lot of fun, but switching gears and focusing on keeping your allies alive as a Medic is rewarding in its own right. Using your defibrillator to keep your team’s collective stock of lives from draining while simultaneously getting one of your fighters back in the action can help turn a match of attrition, even if you choose to be less involved in the actual combat. It's great for ensuring that anyone can contribute by playing a role well.
That said, I have some mixed feelings about how the Loadouts are assembled. Any class can equip any gun, and while I appreciate the freedom, it’s hard not to want to just put my favorite assault rifle on every class and call it a day. Sure, there’s a bonus effect for using the weapons traditionally associated with each class, like how the sniping-focused Recon class has a faster rate of fire and better accuracy while using snipers, but the effects are modest enough that I quickly found myself ignoring them. That’s not to say that classes don’t matter – you still need to be an Engineer in order to repair tanks, for example – but the lines are a little too blurry for my taste.
Being a good tank commander can make or break a match.
The other issue is with how long it takes to unlock things between matches. Most equipment and weapon options require you to reach certain levels or complete multi-tiered challenges to access them. That’s all well and good, and a standard set of daily and weekly challenges help keep the level ups from being a painful slog, but the level requirements are too high. You can’t even start working on the class specific challenges, which are necessary for earning alternate sub-class-like training paths, until you hit level 20, which could take dozens of hours. Given that really powerful equipment options like the Deploy Beacon, which acts as remote spawn point for your squad, are locked behind that, it holds back the early experience an unfortunate amount before eventually hitting its stride.
The next layer up is when vehicles get involved – while relegated to the larger maps, all hell starts to break loose in the best way with their arrival. A tank rolling down the street creates equal parts control and chaos. They are a focal point of every fight, able to send the enemy scattering as its machine guns and cannon erupt. As buildings explode and debris rains down, they also become the most important target to clear. Whether that means calling in a tank of your own, switching to the Engineer class after getting taken out so you can fire rockets, or something else entirely is up to you, but the way vehicles flip strategic calculus is extremely effective for keeping matches interesting. I also appreciate that, while not necessarily hard to use, tanks do have a higher skill requirement than fighting on foot. Knowing when to use defensive countermeasures or when to push forward to seize territory rather than retreat and let friendly Engineers repair you means a good tank commander stands out, and they can make or break a match if handled correctly.
As a bit of an aviation nerd, I’m a sucker for the final layer: the skies. I love getting in a jet, winning dogfights, then strafing the other team, with some bombing runs mixed in for good measure. Airplanes and helicopters make it fun to be in the skies, terrifying to be underneath, and so satisfying to shoot someone down with a well-placed rocket while on foot. They have the highest skill requirement, asking you to learn a complex set of controls and have a more nuanced understanding of how aircraft operate in order to best utilize them. I’m ok with that in principle, but the lack of a good method to train or practice those skills also means it’s extremely difficult for newcomers to learn to fly. There’s a great firing range for trying out guns, and the lack of a similar option to practice flying means fewer players will be able to enjoy success in the skies.
The classic smattering of Battlefield modes returns, and they are just as fun as ever. Team Deathmatch is a good warmup, but the 64-player battles of Breakthrough and Conquest remain the standouts due to their stunningly massive scope – the former asks one team with limited lives to capture points and advance the frontline against limitless waves of defenders, while the latter has both teams fight for control of shared territory. They are as good as ever at funneling the action towards specific areas, leaving room for big battles in the streets and skies while up-close and personal skirmishes happen on the objectives.
The maps are generally strong, though some have been taken over by snipers.
Beyond that you have options like Rush, a Counterstrike-like mode focused on smaller groups that became another one of my favorites due to it’s instant action and short duration, making it a good alternative for quicker sessions where I don’t have time for a prolonged tug-of-war. The brand new Escalation mode has also impressed, having you fight for a large number of control points that decreases over time, forcing more and more intense battles as you near the end. I like that quite a bit, as the changing shape of the battlefield necessitates a fun shift in tactics throughout.
There are nine maps at launch that are generally strong, ranging from the crowded streets of Saints Quarter, which is perfect for close quarters action, to the enormous, vehicle-filled Operation Firestorm. Empire State is one of my favorites, with a great mix of open areas full of roads, buildings to duck into, and rooftops to snipe from. It’s a tactical advantage to learn the maps, and knowing that seizing the rooftop of a building opposite an objective point so you can wipe out an enemy squad from on high emphasizes the thoughtful nature of Battlefield 6’s combat.
Not every map is a winner right out of the gate, however. Liberation Peak has already become a well deserved meme in the community because of how one hill is always filled with snipers, which really takes away from the class balance that Battlefield thrives on. Mirak Valley is pretty similar, particularly in games of Breakthrough, where the attackers have too little cover in their push against a team of sharpshooters. And while I really like New Sobek City overall, with varied terrain and joyfully destructible structures that help it stand out, it can also become littered with anti-vehicle mines to the point of rendering tanks useless. That might be more of an issue with how the mines themselves are balanced, as they have a tendency to become far too numerous very quickly, but it takes away from what is otherwise a top tier place to fight.
It certainly helps that the maps all look great, especially once you factor in their excellent destructibility. Chunks of cement rain down as bullets collide with buildings. Cars and buses explode, and cover can be erased in an instant with a well placed shot from a grenade launcher. Bring a tank to bear and you can crumble entire buildings (which is terrifying to be on the wrong side of), changing the terrain in ways that are meaningful, and never quite the same from match to match.
But the most impressive part is how all of it – the combat, the levels, the destruction – comes together. There was one moment where I was in a pitched battle for control of a zone in the construction sites of New Sobek City. The enemy was entrenched until I rode my tank in, smashing through a wall and a few support columns in the process. Dust and debris covered everything, but I ignored it as I sprayed gunfire from my machine gun, and my teammates mopped up the rest. It was gorgeous, and something you simply won’t find at this scale in any other game.
If you're shopping for the absolute most powerful prebuilt PCs available right now, then you're undoubtedly looking for one equipped with the GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card. Prices have dropped precipitously in the past few months and currently you can even get one for under $4,000. Walmart has the Cooler Master TD5 Pro RTX 5090 gaming PC for $3,699.99 with free shipping. The next best price that I can find anywhere for an RTX 5090 equipped system is $4,100. Newegg is the marketplace reseller but, curiously, this same config sells for over $5,000 direct from its site.
Cooler Master TD5 Pro RTX 5090 Gaming PC for $3,699.99
TL;DR:
Intel Core Ultra 9 285K CPU (Up to 5.7GHz, 24 cores)
360mm liquid-cooled CPU
32GB of DDR5 memory
2TB M.2 SSD storage
1 year warranty
The GeForce RTX 5090 Is the Most Powerful Graphics Card Ever
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 has emerged as the most powerful consumer GPU on the market. Although with this generation Nvidia has prioritized software updates, AI features, and DLSS 4 technology to improve gameplay performance, the 5090 still boasts an impressive 25%-30% uplift over the RTX 4090 in hardware-based raster performance. If you want the absolute best performance for your gaming PC, there is literally no other option from any other brand. You can read our Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 FE review by Jacqueline Thomas for our hands-on impression and benchmarks.
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.
USB Type-C has become the standard for charging and data cables alike, so it's good to have extra on hand. Here's a great back to school deal where you can get some quality cables at a throwaway price. Amazon is offering a four-pack of Lisen 6.6ft 240W USB Type-C cables for just $11.89 after you apply coupon code "3FDEL3W7". That averages out to $2.97 per cable. USB Type-C cables typically go for about $10 per cable or more at your local big box store. These can charge nearly any device with a USB-C port, including your Nintendo Switch 2, iPhone 16, or even the new M4 MacBook.
4-Pack of Lisen 6.6ft 240W USB Type-C Cables for $11.89
Keep your cable collection simple. These cables measure 6.6 feet in length, which is a great general purpose length: long enough to still be able to use your device while the cable is plugged in, but not so long as to be an unnecessary nuisance. These cables are also rated for up to 240W of power delivery, which means they can be used to charge even high powered electronics like your laptop. They're encased in a braided nylon sheath for extra durability and aeshetics. Lisen claims that they've been lab tested for up to 40,000+ bends and 175lb tensile pulls, "equivalent to a decade of daily extreme use". These cables have over 4,500 reviews on Amazon with an average 4.6 star rating.
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.
For a 40-year-old franchise, there’s a lot going on around Back to the Future these days. The movies have just gotten a new batch of limited-edition 4K steelbook releases (out today). And now LEGO has announced a new minifigure-scale set of the Time Machine from Back to the Future. It costs a reasonable $27.99, with a release date of January 1, 2026. Preorders are live now at Amazon and the LEGO Store.
LEGO Speed Champions Time Machine from Back to The Future
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a LEGO set based on the DeLorean car that Doc modified to travel through time. LEGO released one a few years ago (and Walmart has it on sale for $170). But it’s a much bigger, more elaborate set, with nearly 2,000 pieces; check out our We Build article on it. If you’re not willing to drop nearly $200 on ’80s nostalgia, this upcoming one hits the sweet spot at only $27.99.
It has a number of cool features, straight out of the Back to the Future movie trilogy. You can build it in a standard car form, with a lightning rod and the memorable "OUTATIME" California license plate from the first movie. Then you can re-build it in its flying form from the second movie, with the Mr. Fusion power source, an orange license plate, and sideways wheels. Both modes feature the flux capacitor and time calculator.
And LEGO could hardly release a Back to the Future set without including minifigures of the two main characters. You get an adorable little version of Marty McFly, complete with his red vest, and Doc Brown, with all his weird little gadgets adorning his white lab coat.
It’s a great looking set overall, and I'm surprised by how affordable it is. I actually like this simplified version of the Time Machine better than the previous release, which costs nearly eight times more. The smaller form factor also fits the minifigures, so you can place both of them in the cockpit, get the speed up to 88 mph, and send them… well, you know.
If you're a Windows user that's looking for an affordable PC that's as small as the Apple Mac Mini, then one of the most popular mini PCs has dropped in price on Amazon. Amazon Prime members can pick up the AceMagic Vista Mini V1 Intel N150 Mini PC for just $131.34 shipped after you apply coupon code "DEALSLICKV1". This is an excellent price for a complete PC that comes ready to go out of the box with a CPU, RAM, storage, and Windows 11 Pro OS.
AceMagic Vista Mini V1 Intel N150 Mini PC for $131
The AceMagic Vista is small, really small, measuring 4" x 4" x 1.3". Obviously this limits the gaming capabilities, but the components are certainly good enough to run all of your every day tasks. The mini PC is equipped with an Intel N150 CPU with a max turbo frequency of 3.6GHz with four cores and four threads. It's a very low voltage chip, only using 6W at base power. You'll commonly find it in entry level Chromebooks and home NAS servers. It's paired with 16GB of DDR4 RAM and a 512GB M.2 SSD. Windows 11 Pro is pre-installed, however a common suggestion with pre-built mini PCs is that a fresh OS install is recommended to get rid of any potential bloatware. You can get the drivers here.
There are plenty of connectivity options here. Running down the list, the ports include two USB 3.2 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, one HDMI 2.0 port, one DisplayPort 1.4 port, one 3.5mm audio jack, and one gigabit ethernet jack. It's also equipped with Bluetooth and WiFi 5 (802.11ac) wireless networking.
Here's another similarly priced, similarly spec'd option
The Kamrui Intel N150 Mini PC is also on sale right now for Amazon Prime members for just $136.63 after you apply coupon code "UCD9QXYU". The specs on this mini PC are nearly identical to the AceMagic Vista M1, with the only difference being the case design (even the type of ports and the layout are identical). Kamrui is, in fact, owned by the same parent company as AceMagic.
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.
Legendary movie poster artist Drew Struzan died October 13, 2025 at the age of 78. He had been battling Alzheimer’s for several years.
Struzan’s death was made on his Instagram: “It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that Drew Struzan has moved on from this world as of yesterday, October 13th. I feel it is important that you all know how many times he expressed to me the joy he felt knowing how much you appreciated his art.”
Struzan is responsible for some of the most iconic movie posters of all time, but his legacy may arguably be his posters for the Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, and Back to the Future franchises, artwork that captured the magic of those movies for generations of fans.
“I had to almost live up to the art that we later were going to ask Drew to create for the poster,” Steven Spielberg once said.
Born in 1947 in Oregon, Struzan initially attracted notice for his album covers for musical artists like the Bee Gees, Alice Cooper, and Black Sabbath before Hollywood called on his services and incredible skills as a fine artist.
Slash Film put this career transition for Struzan best, writing: “For an artist who vibed on the macabre and cosmic fantasies of 1970s music acts, Struzan was a natural fit for a Hollywood that was on the cusp of a massive paradigm shift toward gee-whiz epic sci-fi and cliffhanger-driven mega-adventures.”
Struzan soon graduated from creating posters for ‘70s B-movies like Food of the Gods and Empire of the Ants to taking his first step into a larger world by illustrating the human figures in this poster for the 1978 re-release of Star Wars.
Struzan went on to create iconic posters for a slew of movies from the 1980s and ‘90s, including: E.T. the Extraterrestrial, Blade Runner, The Thing, Shawshank Redemption, Big Trouble in Little China, The Goonies, Adventures in Babysitting, Batteries Not Included, An American Tail, Cannonball Run, Coming to America, Dreamscape, First Blood, The Muppet Movie, Muppet Treasure Island, The Great Muppet Caper, Harry and the Hendersons, Hook, Hocus Pocus, Johnny Dangerously, Masters of the Universe, Name of the Rose, Return to Oz, Rocky IV, Angels in the Outfield and, believe it or not, the Police Academy movies.
He later created the posters for Guillermo del Toro’s first two Hellboy movies and Pan’s Labyrinth.
“If you want a story, go see the movie,” Struzan told Los Angeles Magazine in 2014 when asked about his approach to illustrating movie posters. “It’s pure feeling instead of all the other stuff behind it.”
What are your favorite Drew Struzan movie posters? Let us know in the comments.
Logitech has teamed up with beloved racing and luxury car brand McLaren to create a papaya orange version of its popular Astro A50 X gaming headset, and it's available to purchase right now — if you're willing to pay a premium for it. The latest version of this gaming headset will set you back $429.99.
Functionally, the Astro A50 X McLaren Edition is the same top-tier set of cans that has secured itself as one of the best gaming headsets for racing sims on the market, but this unique crossover version sports McLaren's iconic papaya orange alongside multiple instances of the brand's logo and font. Even its dock is decked out, ensuring that McLaren fans are getting the full papaya-drenched experience.
Anyway, whether you're a McLaren diehard excited to rep the brand, or you're just smitten with the quirky orange (papaya) colorway, you'll need to be prepared to drop a pretty penny on this new version of the Astro A50 X. At $429.99, it's $30 more than the black or white versions of the headset, pushing it even further into the premium space. That being said, if you're already comfortable with spending big on a high-end headset, that slight upcharge is likely to hurt less.
If you're interested in picking up an Astro A50 X McLaren Edition, you can do so at the official Logitech website or at Best Buy. Logitech is offering a free snapback hat and a sleek carrying case with any purchase of the headset, while Best Buy has slightly faster shipping times but only offers a month of Discord Nitro when buying from its website. However, if you're not interested in the hat or carrying case, Best Buy also has no interest financing if paid within 12 months when using a My Best Buy credit card.
Regardless of where you buy the new Astro A50 X McLaren Edition, though, you'll be able to rest assured you're investing in a rock-solid headset with high-quality audio and the ability to switch between platforms at any time with a simple button press.
Logitech has also announced a variety of other McLaren-branded products, including a full racing sim setup for those seeking an authentic experience when playing racing titles. And yes, they all rock that same papaya orange.
If you're looking for more options, check out IGN's top-reviewed gaming headsets for 2025. We've included a nice mix of high-end and budget options for you to consider.
There have been a lot of LEGO Harry Potter sets over the years. It's one of the most popular LEGO themes for both kids and adults and there seems to be an endless stream of new sets every year. So it's certainly not surprising to see discounts on LEGO Harry Potter sets ahead of Black Friday. It is surprising to see a discount on one of the newer sets though. The Chomping Monster Book of Monsters was only just released back in June and Amazon is already dropping 20% off the price.
Normally it would cost you $60, but this discount has dropped that price down to $47.99. This is the best price we've ever seen on this set, and I didn't expect to see such a discount before next year.
LEGO Chomping Monster Book of Monsters Sale at Amazon
I actually had the chance to build this LEGO Harry Potter set myself and really enjoyed it. Despite only being 518 pieces, there are a ton of great little details that fans of the franchise will love. I was able to put the whole thing together in one evening and start playing with it the next day. I thought it was the perfect combination of cool set fans can display on a shelf and fun toy kids can actually play with. That's because it's more than just a book, it's also got wheels. You can pull the set back and when you release it will move forward with an actual chomping action. For all of the details of my build, you can check out the slideshow below.
For those who don't recognize this book at first glance, you'll likely want to go back and rewatch The Prisoner of Azkaban. This book was introduced in the third film when Hagrid took over teaching the Care of Magical Creatures class at Hogwarts. Audiences get their first look at this chompy little guy when Harry receives it as a gift from Hagrid and learns first hand that some textbooks are a bit more alive than others. The LEGO version of this book was designed based on how it was portrayed in the film and I can honestly say it looks really awesome. The teeth and eyes were really well done and make the whole set feel alive.
More New LEGO Harry Potter Sets
Like I mentioned above, the Chomping Book of Monsters set was first released back in June alongside a bunch of other Harry Potter offerings. Among these new sets was one of the first LEGO Book Nooks that featured Hogwarts Express, which has quickly become one of the most popular Harry Potter gift ideas for 2025 so far. LEGO also released The Main Tower part of the the massive Hogwarts Castle build that is still ongoing.
Possibly for the first time ever, Dell Outlet is now offering an assortment of Clearance, Like New (Refurbished) and Scratch & Dent Alienware Area-51 gaming PCs equipped with both GeForce RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 graphics cards. You'd be saving up to $1,000 less compared to buying an identical system brand new and includes the same warranty. Dell's certified refurbished systems are submitted to a rigorous refurbishing process. These previously owned products could have observable minor blemishes that do not affect performance, or could look as good as new.
Alienware Area-51 RTX 5090 Gaming PC Deals
New for 2025: The Alienware Area-51 Is Dell's Flagship Gaming PC
Dell unveiled the new Alienware Area-51 gaming PC at CES 2025. The chassis is a super-sized upgrade to the 2024 R16 system with aesthetic and cooling redesigns and updated components. The I/O panel is positioned at the top of the case instead of the front, and the tempered glass window now spans the entire side panel instead of just a smaller cutout. As a result, the side panel vents are gone, and instead air intakes are located at the bottom as well as the front of the case. Alienware is now pushing a positive airflow design (more intake than exhaust airflow), which means a less dusty interior. The internal components have been refreshed with a new motherboard, faster RAM, and bigger power supply to accommodate the new generation of CPUs and GPUs.
The RTX 5090 is the most powerful graphics card ever
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 has emerged as the most powerful consumer GPU on the market. Although Nvidia has prioritized software updates, AI features, and DLSS 4 technology to improve gameplay performance, the 5090 still boasts an impressive 25%-30% uplift over the RTX 4090 in terms of pure hardware-based raster performance. The 5090 also has a whopping 32GB of VRAM (33% more than the 4090), making it the ideal candidate for a hybrid rig looking to do both gaming and AI work on the same machine. Check out our Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 FE review.
The RTX 5080 GPU will run any game in 4K
Performance-wise, the RTX 5080 is no slouch. It's one of the fastest cards on the market, bested only by the $2,000 RTX 5090 and the discontinued $1,600 RTX 4090. This is a phenomenal card for playing the latest, most demanding games in 4K resolution at high settings and ray tracing enabled. Check out our Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 FE review.
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.
If there’s one show in the modern era that has endured, it’s The Walking Dead. The series has had many seasons and multiple spinoffs over the years — and it appears writer and executive producer Scott Gimple feels there’s a lot more life left in the greater Walking Dead Universe.
“It’s quite possible we could see this group up here 15 years from now,” he said of the foundation of the Daryl Dixon spinoff series, which follows Norman Reedus’ iconic character to France, during a recent anniversary panel at Mipcom in Cannes reported on by Variety.
“There are many more continents to visit. It’s about how [the characters] evolve over time. It’s really exciting to see how far we can take this,” he explained, noting that changing up the locale opens up a treasure trove of possibilities for the writers to explore. “In a lot of ways, [the locations] give the story to us.”
Gimple even went as far as to compare the vast storytelling prospects the setting offers to the series to the lore and worldbuilding necessary for comic book adaptations like our favorite Marvel and DC films. “It was all one story. It went in all sorts of different directions,” he explained during the panel. “Even with characters who have done so many things, we can put them in different worlds where they have different challenges and evolve them through these challenges.”
Needless to say, it would be cool to see the story expand to more countries and cultures. Interestingly enough, because containment is such a prevalent theme in zombie media, most stories end up practicing it within their narrative in this way without even realizing it. In fact, that’s one of the most interesting elements of 2002’s zombie classic 28 Days Later: the idea that the entire United Kingdom is cut off from the greater world because of the outbreak. So this notion turns that classic framework on its ear, and it would be fun to see the team behind The Walking Dead make good on the concept.
The Walking Dead premiered in 2010 and ran for 11 seasons before concluding its run in 2022 after 177 episodes. It spawned six spinoff series, including The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, which kicked off in 2023 and was renewed for a fourth and final season to premiere sometime next year.
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
Ever wondered what happened to Jar Jar following the Star Wars prequel movies? Well, a new canon comic is set to reveal the much-maligned character's fate, with a "pivotal role" in the forming of the Rebel Alliance teased.
The upcoming Star Wars: Jar Jar Binks will be a one-shot comic co-written by the character's actor Ahmed Best, alongside graphic novel veteran Marc Guggenheim. Intriguingly, one variant of its cover reveals Jar Jar will team up with Kelleran Beq, the cool Jedi that Best portrayed in an episode of The Mandalorian.
"Jar Jar faces the consequences of giving emergency powers to Chancellor Palpatine," the comic's synopsis reads. "What pivotal role does Jar Jar play in the formation of the Rebel Alliance? Guest starring fan favorite Jedi Knight Kelleran Beq!"
While Jar Jar may not be many Star Wars fans' favorite character, the chatty Gungan has had something of a rehabilitation in recent years. Young fans who grew up with the Prequel movies have matured, Darth Jar Jar has become a popular meme (and is also now in Fortnite), and there's a general understanding of how rough a time Best endured at the height of the franchise's Prequel hate.
After his prominent role in The Phantom Menace, Jar Jar's screentime was drastically cut back in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, where the character is briefly shown unwittingly supporting Palpatine's rise to rule.
Disney's Star Wars sequel trilogy did not feature the character, though canon spin-off novel Aftermath: Empire's End, which is set between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, reveals Jar Jar now exists as a sad street performer, disliked by adults but still enjoyed by children — an in-universe nod to the character's prequel-era reception.
Best's return to the Star Wars universe as Kelleran Beq — and in particular, his heroic rescue of Grogu during Order 66, as seen in a memorable flashback within The Mandalorian — has further nurtured the warmth now felt by fans towards the actor. But can this same warmth extend to Jar Jar as well?
Star Wars: Jar Jar Binks launches in February 2026.
Image credit: Disney/Marvel.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
It's time for my weekly Pokémon TCG sealed product price watch. Suprise suprise, the secondary market in TCGPlayer is giving big box retailers like Amazon a run for their money. Let's just keep in mind that TCGPlayer is a marketplace, so this is small to medium sellers undercutting billion and trillion dollar companies here.
TL;DR: Deals for Today
I'll give it to Amazon, some in-demand products are cheaper on there today too, we're talking Mega Evolution sealed product, Black Bolt and even a premium collection ex box. Don't forget that Pokémon Legends: Z-A drops on Thursday too, and I've got all the preorder links you'll need above and below. There's a song in that somewhere? Let's get into it:
TCGPlayer is really showing up big box retailers. The secondary market is saving trainers a fortune right now, and will continue doing so until the Pokémon Company floods the marketplace with sealed product, which will happen eventually. A good example here is the Surging Sparks ETB, which is currently $92.94 on Amazon. If you check over on TCGPlayer right now, you'll pay $74.95. That's nearly $20 over market value, and there's plenty more where that came from in the carosel above.
MTG: TMNT Preorders are Live
New game mode aside, MTGs latest Universes Beyond addition is another huge IP with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Play Boosters are available, so getting a box is a great idea before preorders sell out and it becomes harder to build a deck. The Commander Deck is ideal if you want a solid foundation for a game of Commander but want to modify it with single cards down the line. Of course, the TMNT bundle comes with a few goodies including 9 play boosters, foil alt art promo card, 30 land cards and some tidy accessories.
Pokémon Legends: L-A Preorders
It's nearly time trainers! Thursday see's the release of the most radiacally different mainline Pokémon game, Legends: Z-A. Set as a continuation of Pokémon X and Y and continuing the game mechanic changes seen in Legends: Arceus, Legends: Z-A is going full real-time combat over it's tried and tested turn-based battle style. It's going to be a landmark moment for the worlds most popular entertainment franchise, so make sure you have your preorder in.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (3 Months)
Well, Xbox isn't in the good books of gamers worldwide right now, but you can dodge the Game Pass (eventual) price hike with 3 months of Ultimate for $59.99, which is $30 cheaper than the dramatic price hikes. If you're on Xbox, this is a good time to stack up on Game Pass.
Final Fantasy IX (Nintendo Switch)
We gave Final Fantasy IX a 9.2 back in 2000, so $40 for a JRPG classic isn't much to ask, right? Well if the re-release hasn't sold you on it's own, this version comes with high resolution cut scenes, and game modifiers including high speed and no encounter modes topped off with an Auto Save function. Also, character models are high resolution now too, so this physical edition of FFIX should wet you nostalgia appetite.
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.
What next for Sucker Punch now Ghost of Yotei is out the door? The Sony-owned studio has yet to say, but based on comments from the boss of the company, it will remain a single-project studio.
In an interview with VGC, Sucker Punch co-founder and studio head, Brian Fleming, said the studio will decide its next project once the multiplayer add-on Ghost of Yotei: Legends comes out in 2026. But, he suggested, don’t expect a flurry of games from the relatively lean developer — it’s one project at a time.
“The truth is that whatever we do next, whether it’s continuing Ghost or going back to Sly, the decision is really more limited by, again, our cherishing of focus and time to iterate, which means that we really can only do one thing at a time,” he said.
“If we were good at juggling four projects, yeah, we’d have a remaster, and let’s go do one of those, and one of those, and do some fan request, that would be really popular… But we only get to do one thing.
“So it kind of has to be your best idea, right? And that’s really clarifying. It’s not like there aren’t 15 good ideas. But you only get to do one. And by the way, you only get to do one about every five years. So that choice is really important. I mean, that is choosing your college and your major every five years.”
Sucker Punch has plenty to draw from in its back catalog. As Fleming mentioned, one of its classic franchises is Sly Cooper, which fans have called to return in some form. And what about the inFamous series? Would a remaster then a sequel prove successful? And then there’s the prospect of another Ghost game, following Tsushima and Yotei. Everyone loves a trilogy, after all.
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.
Remember those rumors about the Stranger Things Season 5 episode runtimes? Of course you do, they’ve been all over the internet for months — but now, co-creator Ross Duffer is setting the record straight on exactly how long each of the episodes of the final season will run.
Duffer took to Instagram on Monday, October 13 to share a video that seemingly showed the episodes on a version of the Netflix streaming platform that labeled them works-in-progress, clearly so they are not made public yet in the post-production stage. The screen showed the runtimes for each episode: the premiere episode, “The Crawl,” will run one hour and eight minutes. Episode 2, whose title has yet to be announced, will run 54 minutes. The third episode, titled “The Turnbow Trap,” will run one hour and six minutes, while episode four, “Sorcerer,” comes in at one hour and 23 minutes.
Duffer made sure to throw a little healthy sass in the caption of his video as well. “ACTUAL runtimes,” he wrote on his post, adding a peace sign emoji for emphasis.
Clearly, this dispels all the rumors about runtimes thus far, particularly the whisper that each episode would be over 90 minutes long. That said, we only have the runtimes for the first section of Season 5 at this point, so anything could happen in the latter two parts as far as length.
Netflix has decided to break up Stranger Things’ fifth season into three parts. The first set of episodes will air over the Thanksgiving holiday beginning on November 26 — with the next three episodes premiering on Christmas, and then a fourth and final episode premiering on New Year’s Eve. So far, we don’t have any info on the Christmas and New Year’s batch of episodes, but it seems as though we might find out more in the next month or so.
Interestingly enough, the show kept its episodes at or under an hour for much of its run — until Season 4. Last season, several episodes ended up clocking in at 70 minutes, and the last four had feature-length runtimes. The Season 4 finale specifically ran a whopping two hours and 22 minutes.
Stranger Things Season 5 will premiere on November 26, with the first four episodes of the season available at the time of release.
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
Halloween is coming up fast, and if you still need to pick up candy to hand out to trick-or-treaters on the night, Amazon's got a nice little treat to help shoppers. For a limited time, a selection of Halloween candy bags are discounted up to 20% off right now at the retailer. There's a wide range of sizes available to choose from as well, whether you're looking for a 40 count bag or a massive 160 count bag that sets you up for success when the doorbell rings. Check out just a few of our favorite candy bags that are currently on sale below.
Halloween Candy on Sale at Amazon
Each of these has a fun variety of sweets as well, whether you're looking to have a bowl of just chocolates to hand out or if you want some other candies, like Nerds or SweetTarts, thrown in. Amazon also has notices just above the 'Add to Cart' button that states when these candy bags will arrive, so you can make sure you have them before Halloween night. As for the bags above, they all seem to arrive before Halloween, which is great news.
With candy checked off the Halloween to-do list, if you're looking for activities to keep you busy on the night this year, why not check out our roundup of upcoming 4Ks and Blu-rays to see what's released this month? There's already quite a few horror offerings to choose from this month - including the new I Know What You Did Last Summer and Weapons - so you can settle in for a spooky movie night. Or, there's even some new LEGO Wednesday sets that dropped this month if you'd like a project to work on during Halloween night.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.
Ubisoft staff were informed of the news this afternoon via an internal email which discussed the need for Vantage Studios' leadership team to be "aligned" with its core goals. IGN understands that Côté was offered a role as part of Vantage Studios' leadership, but declined.
In an internal note to Ubisoft staff obtained by IGN, Vantage Studios co-CEO Christophe Derennes said he was "disappointed" by Côté's decision, and that the former leader "had his own expectations and priorities related to Vantage Studios’ creation and future."
"Following the organizational restructuring announced in March 2025, Marc-Alexis Côté has chosen to pursue a new path elsewhere outside of Ubisoft," a Ubisoft spokesperson told IGN today. "While we are saddened to see him go, we’re confident that our talented teams will carry forward the strong foundation he helped build.
"We are deeply grateful for the impact Marc-Alexis has had over the years, particularly in shaping the Assassin’s Creed brand into what it is today. His leadership, creativity, and dedication have left a lasting mark on our teams and our players. We thank him sincerely for his many contributions and wish him continued success in all his future endeavors."
Côté, known to colleagues by his initials as "Mac", joined Ubisoft in 2005 as a software engineer, before working as a lead engine programmer on Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. From there, he joined the Assassin's Creed series in time for Brotherhood, working as a lead level designer, before serving as a game director on Assassin's Creed 3.
As creative director, Côté led development on a string of projects built at Ubisoft Quebec, the talented team which made Assassin's Creed: Black Flag DLC Freedom Cry, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, and then Assassin's Creed Odyssey, for which he served as senior producer.
In March 2022, as Quebec worked on Assassin's Creed Shadows and Ubisoft sought to relaunch the series with a more consistent story focus via the Animus Hub (a project then envisioned under the title of Assassin's Creed Infinity), it was Côté that took the reigns on the entire franchise, laying out a Marvel-style slate of upcoming projects that included the forthcoming Assassin's Creed Hexe, which still lacks a release date.
And then last December, amid a firestorm of discourse surrounding Assassin's Creed Shadows' Black samurai protagonist Yasuke, it was Côté who defended the role of the series' storytelling during an impassioned BAFTA speech. Côté said the online backlash to the game had been "devastating" to his colleagues, and defended the game's high-profile delay as necessary to deliver on the high quality that fans' expected.
"Assassin's Creed has always been about exploring the full spectrum of human history, and by its very nature, that history is diverse. Staying true to history means embracing the richness of human perspectives - without compromise," Côté said last year.
Today's news comes just days after a report revealed that Ubisoft canceled an Assassin's Creed game set in the post-Civil War period that featured a former Black slave as its protagonist, who would have been shown fighting the Ku Klux Klan. The project had been in its initial stages when it was ditched in the summer of 2024 due to concerns surrounding the US political climate, though some early work had been undertaken at Ubisoft Quebec.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
It took less than one week for Battlefield 6 players to start making Portal lobbies for XP farming – and some believe EA has already caught on.
Fans were quick to call out the progression system in last week’s new FPS entry as a bit of a slog. Although most are walking away from each multiplayer match happy with the package Battlefield Studios has crafted, even some of the most enthusiastic fans believe leveling up takes too long, with an unrewarding weapon unlock system and arduous challenges dampening the experience even further.
The general unlock process in Battlefield 6 is too slow.
I understand wanting to make it challenging for players to get the best stuff, but I'm dreading how long it's going to take to bring just a few guns up to a decent level for attachments etc, and I'm an engaged player.…
“Do they really think players have that much time and energy to grind endlessly just to get the rewards we’re supposed to earn naturally?” one player asked in a Reddit post. “It’s exhausting.”
Just days removed from launch, plenty of players already feel the grind is too much to put up with – especially for casual fans – but that’s where Portal comes in. The do-it-yourself mode, which was first introduced in 2021’s Battlefield 2042, allows players to create nearly any match or mode they can dream of. The right build can even allow Portal users to earn experience as if they are playing a standard multiplayer match, so, naturally, it took just days for XP farm servers to crop up.
Content creators like Arekkz Gaming, TheCadWoman, and WhosImmortal, who are just a few of the many spreading the word, recommend specific Portal lobbies to level up fast. Most relevant lobbies are populated with bots but stick close enough to standard Battlefield 6 modes so as not to alter the rate of gained XP. Players are often then instructed to use double XP tokens (if they have any) and kill AI/bot enemies near objectives to efficiently farm XP.
A desire to boost through demanding progression systems has existed long before Battlefield 6, so XP farm servers in Portal were quickly populated full of impatient fans. Some suspect that EA, though, is just as quick.
As more XP farm lobbies fill the Portal community browser, players are finding themselves met with a “Global Game Quota Exceeded” message with little explanation. It’s led fans to believe EA and BF Studios have begun cracking down on suspicious lobbies in order to keep boosters from exploiting Battlefield 6 and its Portal toolkit.
The error is certainly keeping some XP farmers from continuing to reap the rewards they desire, but it’s unclear if these messages are the result of direct action to pour cold water on farming. Portal players have reported receiving the message regardless of their lobby hosting intentions. Some haven’t even been able to start hosting servers at all, suggesting Battlefield 6 Portal servers may simply be struggling in the wake of massive player numbers from last week’s launch. There’s also been no word from EA or BF Studios regarding any moves to stamp out XP farming.
It’s unclear why exactly the Global Game Quote Exceeded message is popping up around the user-generated community tab, but that doesn’t mean the popularity of XP farming isn’t playing a role. The widespread criticism of Battlefield 6’s progression system has led to an overflow of servers for players looking to unlock content as quickly as possible. Some dedicated Portal creators suspect this large number of individual lobbies isn’t exactly helping unclog the Battlefield 6 online experience.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer 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).
James Gunn has acknowledged criticism of the Peacemaker Season 2 finale, and addressed one point in particular that has left some fans disappointed.
Warning! Spoilers for Peacemaker Season 2 finale follow:
Peacemaker Season 2 just ended its eight-episode run on HBO Max with a major turning point in the life of John Cena’s aspiring do-gooder Christopher Smith. DC Studios co-CEO Gunn had teased that the finale would lay the groundwork for his Superman follow-up, 2027’s Man of Tomorrow. The result was an episode that strongly hinted at which character will serve as the common enemy uniting Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor and David Corenswet’s Superman.
The episode also contained the debut of Checkmate and the planet Salvation (more on both in our Peacemaker Season 2 ending explained). But that didn’t stop some from saying the finale was a letdown, or an unsatisfying conclusion to the events the series had set up so well. It leaves Peacemaker himself dangling with a cliffhanger, and given Gunn has ruled out a Season 3 — at least for now — some are worried we won’t get a proper payoff.
Gunn spent the start of this week in a typically chatty mood on Threads, answering fan questions about Peacemaker and the wider DCU. Among the questions, one person asked him if he’d seen the criticism of the show and its final episode.
“Definitely!” Gunn replied. “Not everyone can love everything. I love the episode but I understand not everyone does which is completely fair.”
That was a perhaps vague response, but Gunn got more specific when he responded to another fan who said they were hoping for a big reveal in the finale, and asked whether Langston Fleury, the former A.R.G.U.S. agent who eventually joins the Checkmate agency with the 11th Street Kids, is the DCU’s Martian Manhunter.
“He's not but I don’t get that people don't think there aren't big reveals here, including Checkmate and Salvation,” Gunn responded.
In this response he’s using the Checkmate and Salvation reveals to defend the season finale from the specific complaint about its lack of big surprises. The episode shows Chris and co form their own peacekeeping agency called Checkmate, which marks the organization’s debut in the DCU.
Salvation, meanwhile, is perhaps the more significant reveal. The distant planet was introduced in 2007’s Salvation Run, which is based on a story pitch from none other than Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin. In the comics, Salvation is at the heart of a plan to rid Earth of metahumans, and it looks like Peacemaker is setting Salvation up for a similar role in the DCU.
The response to Gunn's comments is mixed. "I think the problem is that only Gunn knows where this is going," said redditor Eugene_Dav. "It's probably something cool, but right now it's just like, 'Oh, sure, a government prison' and 'Okay, the 11th Street Kids get another show.' Even for comic book fans who know about these premises, it's completely unclear what this means for the DCU. Because we don't have enough information, and Checkmate could be a meaningless sitcom or an important force influencing the plot. Although I like Gunn's idea of a clash between the government, corporations, and metahumans. However, there doesn't seem to be a grand story yet. We need to wait."
There are some fans, however, who believe Salvation should be considered a big reveal, and that the prison planet's appearance in the show hints at the direction of the overarching DCU.
"I think it's basically telling us what comic run the whole phase is based on, and in turn we finally have an idea of what this first phase of the DCU as a whole is really going," TrueBlue2088 said. "I think its big stuff..."
It was an interesting assertion from Gunn, with 2026 set to see Supergirl, Lanterns, and Clayface all come out as part of the continuing DCU, well before Man of Tomorrow a year later. But this wasn’t the first time Gunn had stressed Peacemaker Season 2’s key role in the overarching story, with appearances from Justice Gang members who starred in July’s DCU kickstarter Superman already in place and a big cameo later in the season.
Some have said Checkmate and Salvation are too obscure to count as big reveals, and will have left casual DC fans more confused than excited. "Checkmate is just not a very famous or popular property in the DC comics," said poison-harley. "If it was leading to something that is popular with an actual fanbase, then you’d have people excited."
"It's a cool nod and all... But unless you are a massive comic book fan you have no idea what this means," suggested isIwhoKilledTrevor.
There are now questions over Peacemaker’s fate, given there’s no Peacemaker Season 3. Gunn has said the conclusion of Season 2 sets up Peacemaker to take on a broader role in the DCU moving forward.
“He's really important to me,” Gunn said of the character. “Peacemaker is an important character. And I said from the beginning when we took on this job, it's about really propping up and maintaining and repositioning the big diamond properties that DC has, the Batmans and Wonder Womans and Supermans, and then creating diamond properties out of the smaller characters like Peacemaker.”
The next obvious question, then, is whether Peacemaker himself will appear in 2026 DCU film Supergirl or 2027’s Man of Tomorrow.
“Well we’ll have to see,” Gunn teased. “That's a secret!”
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.
When Pokémon Legends: Z-A was first revealed, we all immediately got to work speculating on when it would take place in the Pokémon timeline. Not where, we knew that: it takes place entirely in Lumiose City from Pokémon X and Y's Kalos region. But given that Legends: Arceus was a time-traveling narrative going back hundreds of years into Sinnoh's past, we had every expectation based on trailers that Z-A would be many, many years in Lumiose City's future.
We were incorrect! We now know exactly when it takes place, and it's not nearly as big a leap as you'd think.
We've been playing Pokémon Legends: Z-A for review and the embargo has now lifted. So we can confirm, from first-hand experience talking to multiple characters (most of which we unfortunately can't directly cite or show due to the ongoing embargo restrictions), that Z-A takes place just five years after the events of X and Y. It's not a time traveling narrative, it's a direct sequel that offers a follow-up to many of the characters and situations introduced in X and Y.
For instance, we already know that you get to hang out with AZ, a 3,000-year-old man who plays a pivotal role in X and Y. We also know that Mable, a former member of Team Flare, takes on the role of Pokémon professor in this game and sends you out to catch Pokémon with various challenges. Other characters you'll remember from X and Y show up as well, some of them dramatically changed, but we can't and won't spoil them just yet.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A being a direct sequel is actually a pretty big deal. The Pokémon universe has been real hand-wavey with how the different games and regions relate to one another over the years. While there have been some direct sequels before (Gold and Silver after Red and Blue, Black and White 2 after Black and White, etc), later games have introduced time travel (Legends: Arceus), alternative universes (Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire), and basically every game has implied that all the other games' locations and monsters exist in the same world, but events taking place in those games may or may not be canon depending on which one you're playing. The Pokémon timeline, if drawn out, probably looks far more ridiculous than the Zelda one at this point.
But if you were wondering what happened to most of the main cast of X and Y five years after the events of the game, here you go: this is just a straightforward sequel! In hindsight, we should have seen this coming when they named it "Z-A" after X and Y.
My review-in-progress of Pokémon Legends: Z-A is now live, if you want to check out my impressions of the first 24 hours, with a full review coming next week. I've also been writing about how the Nurse Joy job is now open to people who don't look exactly identical to the original Nurse Joy after 27 years in Z-A.
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.
Review codes for Pokémon Legends: Z-A were only sent out less than a week ago, but I’ve already put in around 24 hours or so in the last five days. Across that time I’ve been catching every new species of Pokémon I find, doing every side quest that pops up, and stopping every so often to completely change my outfit. I’ve currently got a full team all in the level 50s, and I can’t wait to stop writing this review-in-progress to go play more. It’s real good so far!
There are a few reasons why I don’t feel comfortable scoring Z-A right now. Apart from simply not having beaten it yet, the embargo we’re publishing this under is pretty strict about what we can and can’t say or show. We always try to avoid spoilers (and recent leaks mean plenty are already in the wild), but here we can’t even talk about basic plot details that happen literally in the first 10 minutes. We can’t mention loads of the specific Pokémon in Z-A, despite the fact that any number of them might casually roam across our footage at any time. We can’t even show you the map of Lumiose City, where everything in Z-A takes place. It’s difficult to say exactly how close to the credits 24 hours puts me, but I’ll likely be back with my final, scored review shortly after launch.
We also haven’t had the chance to test it on Nintendo Switch 1 ahead of time, although I am at least so happy to report that Pokémon Legends: Z-A runs great on Nintendo Switch 2. It glides along at a smooth framerate with very, very few hitches or hiccups. There is occasionally still some sudden pop-in of NPCs, including ones positioned very close to the player, and here and there I’ve seen a character do that creepy thing where their head and neck suddenly snap into place as I get closer. But critically, unlike Scarlet and Violet, none of this is horribly distracting, nor does it really detract from the overall experience. Because of Scarlet and Violet, I spent the first 20 minutes or so paying close attention to whether or not Z-A ran well. But then, after that, I barely thought about it again, a state of mind which I consider ideal. Here’s hoping that’s still the case with the Switch 1 version, which I will take into consideration as part of my final review either way.
Running well doesn’t equate to a game being pretty, of course, and Z-A isn’t going to win any beauty contests. Lumiose City looks fine. Its buildings are covered with mostly flat images of the same couple of window and terrace patterns over and over again. Up close, the effect is pretty weird – like someone painted a Looney Tunes door on a wall so Roadrunner would crash into it. The samey buildings are broken up with occasional trees, battle courts, parks, and the same bench copy-pasted about 100 times. There’s a greyish sewer system with greyish water running through it, and rooftops occasionally interrupted by same-looking cafe set-ups.
The reduced scale of this world has worked in Game Freak’s favor.
That said, I do think that the reduced scale of the world has worked in Game Freak’s favor with Z-A when compared to, say, Arceus or Scarlet and Violet. The city is smaller, so it’s more densely packed with trainers, Pokémon, items, shops, and other actually interesting things to see and do. I’m not running for minutes on end through massive fields of flat, GameCube-style textures, with nary a point of interest in sight. As a result, similar to Z-A’s performance, it was easy to stop thinking about the low-quality building design fairly early on.
That’s also helped by the fact that building interiors and the character and Pokémon models themselves look pretty good, and the human characters in particular are more varied than ever before. While almost every NPC you meet in the city is categorized by trainer type and given an appearance to match, Game Freak is now experimenting not just with diverse facial features and skin tones, but also clothing items. We saw some of this in Scarlet and Violet, but almost everyone was wearing school uniforms, so it wasn’t nearly as noticeable. Now, you might see two athletic trainers wearing differently colored versions of the same athletic gear, or two artists with different colored aprons.
Small a touch as this sounds, combining that with facial differences does a lot to make Lumiose City feel inhabited by many different, diverse people instead of the same 10 trainer types repeated ad nauseum. That customizability extends to the protagonist, too. There are tons of hair, facial, and fashion choices to choose from, including new options to mix and match certain types of outfits (different undershirts with different jackets, for instance). It’s a massively refreshing improvement after spending most of Pokémon Violet expressing myself via the same four ugly purple uniforms and a variety of mismatched hats.
Another element that I think elevates Lumiose City far above the much larger overworld of Scarlet and Violet is that it’s dense with interesting landmarks, items, obstacle courses, stores, Wild Zones, shops, and people. Lumiose is round, with different streets running out from the center like wheel spokes, and the entirety of it is open to you within just a few hours of starting your journey. You can, if you want, scour the whole map very early on, though it won’t be especially interesting at first blush. But over time, you’ll gradually unlock new ways to get around and new things to see when you get there: a new travel method that lets you scale scaffolding to collect rare items at the top, new ways to get onto buildings and Assassin’s Creed your way to little nooks of the city you couldn’t quite reach before, and new Wild Areas teeming with new Pokémon to catch. That steady unlocking of a city you always had free reign of adds to the feeling of getting to know a new place you’ve just moved to.
Every Pokémon location in Lumiose City feels deliberate and well-considered.
Exploration is often rewarded, too. While I criticized Scarlet and Violet for just sort of slapping large quantities of Pokémon haphazardly over a big map, especially in later areas, every single spawn location in Lumiose City feels deliberate and well-considered. A line of trash bins might not have anything interesting to see when you pass by on one visit, but there could be a Trubbish on top the next. Flocks of Pidgey and Fletchling scatter as you dash into a courtyard. Spinarak regard you calmly while hanging from tree branches. If you really explore, you might encounter a rare dragon-type on a rooftop (the embargo forbids me from saying which one despite the fact that its evolutions have been confirmed for the game already); a Spritzee floating idly in a hidden cafe; once, I turned just in time to see an Eevee sprint past me into an alleyway, and I barely threw a PokeBall quickly enough to catch it.
I won’t (and can’t) spoil too much of the story, but what I can talk about is the interesting rhythm it establishes that feels, in practice, quite different from any other Pokémon game so far. Like Arceus, Z-A foregoes the traditional “gather eight badges” structure, though here you’ll divide their time between day and night – during the day, you’ll be catching Pokémon in Wild Zones, battling rogue Mega Evolved Pokémon, performing goofy side quest errands for individuals around the city, shopping, and exploring. At night, you have the option to visit Battle Zones where you take on trainers and complete challenges to raise your score and eventually collect a Challenger’s Ticket, which unlocks your promotion match for the next level of the “Z-A Royale.” There are 26 ranks total, one for each letter of the alphabet. I am currently at rank D, though I wish this was slightly more fleshed out as a proper competitive mode rather than just a story vehicle – for instance, you don’t exactly spend a meaningful amount of time at every single one of the 26 letter ranks.
I’ll have more to say on this in the final review, free from my embargo shackles, but I am really enjoying the story so far. Ditching the eight badge trainer journey like Arceus before it allows Game Freak to flesh out a deeper, more interesting cast of characters, both the heroes and the villains. There’s simply more reason for them to be where you are, doing things alongside you and participating in the world-changing events you’re experiencing. I’m also fascinated by how much Z-A appears to be inspired by the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series. The enclosed city setting, the absurd and silly tone of the side quests, the story’s concerns with community and civic issues, and the protagonist bopping around a metro area solving problems by being absurdly stronger than everyone else all lend Lumiose City big Kamurocho energy.
Which leads me to the meat and potatoes of any Pokémon game: the battling. With Z-A, Pokémon has gone full action game. Not a turn-based battle in sight. While I don’t think I want Pokémon to fully depart from doing turn-based combat forever, this works pretty well as a detour. Game Freak did an admirable job translating its traditional battle system into one that works in an active-time environment, especially with moves seemingly so specific to the turn-based format. Protect and Detect now stop damage for a set period of time instead of one “turn.” Spikes dumps, well, spikes all over the floor in an area, forcing you to steer your Pokémon out of it. Long-range moves keep Pokémon out of harm’s way, but take longer to execute and recharge than more risky, short-range ones.
There are a lot of new tactics and strategies to mess around with.
There are a lot of new tactics and strategies to mess around with, such as how movement and dodging works. You control your trainer directly, and can either hold ZL to open the move select menu to send your active Pokémon into the fray, or release it to have them follow you around, allowing you to guide them while dodging. This makes for an interesting combat flow as I strategize around calling my Pokémon back to me to dodge an attack, then positioning them ideally to set up their next move before the opponent can swing again. The system is a bit awkward at times, especially in enclosed areas, but I’m interested to see what a competitive meta looks like with this format.
These tactics grow even more critical and chaotic in boss battles with Rogue Mega Evolved Pokémon, of which Z-A has many. These battles all take place in uniform, wide, circular arenas, but the Pokémon themselves are far from ordinary. Rogue Mega Evolved Pokémon are essentially Z-A’s answer to Arceus’ Frenzied Noble Pokémon. In addition to their regular movesets, they each have additional unique abilities you’ll have to avoid, such as turning the arena into a bullet hell you have to dodge around, or suddenly appearing right in front of you for an attack. Like in Arceus, your trainer can get hit and even die (sorry, I mean “black out”) if they’re attacked too many times by an enemy Pokémon, and that becomes a legit concern as Rogue Megas will enrage partway through and try to attack you directly.
The best way to counter this is to Mega Evolve your own Pokémon or use “Plus” moves, which are superpowered versions of regular moves that also consume the energy you need to Mega Evolve. Unlike in Pokémon X and Y, where you could get away with fighting Mega Evolved Pokémon with regular monsters, you really do need to engage with the Mega mechanics in Z-A. Though it starts off pretty tame, Z-A quickly ramps up the difficulty – even doing every side quest, I’m still finding its boss battles will make me sweat a little.
Man, I was going to try and hold back a bit on this review-in-progress since I still have plenty to see before my final review, but I’m just so genuinely excited about what Game Freak has done here. I liked Arceus a fair amount and thought it showed promise, but have been broadly disappointed with the slow backslide I saw from the studio in its move to console game development, and worried the quality dip was a new trend for 3D Pokémon games that we’d never escape. Pokémon Legends: Z-A, at least across the first two-dozen hours, is putting a lot of my fears to rest. It’s not revolutionary by any stretch, but it’s really good! I’m having fun, I’m excited to keep playing, I feel rewarded for exploring every corner, the story’s got my attention, and I’m not distracted by my Pokémon falling through the floor while they battle or everything crashing when I try to climb a ladder. If the rest of my adventure holds up (and the Switch 1 performance isn’t a disaster), we could finally have a 3D game worthy of the Pokémon franchise on our hands. It’d be about dang time.
Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has revealed it's putting a temporary pause on content updates while it works on improving performance.
In an interview on the official Helldivers YouTube channel, director Mikael Eriksson admitted the game's most recent big update, Into the Unjust, had "more issues than [the team] were comfortable with," which is why the studio has now decided "to push some of our content and feature updates a little bit into the future."
Recent reviews for Helldivers 2 on Steam are 'mixed,' with most of the complaints revolving around performance trouble. The 'most helpful review' penned over the last 30 days is a negative one from a player with over 500 hours in-game. They called Helldivers 2's performance "inexcusable," pointing to stuttering and freezing during gameplay and crashes.
"Arrowhead, Sony, PLEASE put less focus on new content and live service updates," they pleased. "PLEASE stop nerfing loadouts that are already underpowered or underused with the guise of 'realism' or 'balance.' It's a PvE game; no one cares if people are cheesing hulks with a flag. The game needs to be fun and PLAYABLE before you can rake in the cash with a new warbond.
"FIX THE GAME <3"
Now, Arrowhead has addressed those complaints. "After the last big update, Into the Unjust, we experienced more issues than what we were comfortable with," Eriksson said, as spotted by Eurogamer. "Players felt it, we felt it, and I would say the feedback that we've got has been very justified.
"We're taking this very seriously and we are focusing way more now on addressing these issues to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again," he added. "We have made the decision to push some of our content and feature updates a little bit into the future while we're addressing these things to make sure that we can get to a much more stable state that we can believe in.
"We are already making really big improvements and I'm confident that we will get there and we will be able to talk in more detail about this hopefully quite soon."
Last week, developer Arrowhead Studios said it still didn't have a solution for the shooter's groaning installation size on PC, but did confirm it was working on it. In an update posted to Steam, Arrowhead's deputy technical director, Brendan Armstrong, penned the first in a series of posts in which the engineering team talks about the "technical health" of the game, as well as the "technical challenges we're working through." Admitting that the installation size "seems to be a hot topic right now" — at 150GB, Helldivers 2 takes up three times the space on PC than it does on console — the developer revealed that one of the reasons the PC size is so much bigger is because of data duplication and mechanical hard drives.
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 Japanese government has made a formal request asking OpenAI to refrain from copyright infringement (as reported by ITMedia). This comes as a response to Sora 2’s ability to generate videos featuring the likenesses of copyrighted characters from anime and video games.
Sora 2, which OpenAI launched on October 1, is capable of generating 20-second long videos at 1080p resolution, complete with sound. Soon after its release, social media was flooded with videos generated by the app, many of which contained depictions of copyrighted characters including those from popular anime and game franchises such as One Piece, Demon Slayer, Pokémon, and Mario.
Speaking at the Japanese government’s Cabinet Office press conference on Friday, Minoru Kiuchi (the minister of state for IP and AI strategy) informed attendees about the government’s request, which called on the American organization to refrain from infringing on Japanese IPs. The request was reportedly made online by the Cabinet Office’s Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters. Kiuchi went on to describe manga and anime as “irreplaceable treasures” that Japan boasts to the world.
Other Japanese politicians like Digital Minister Masaaki Taira have expressed hopes that OpenAI will take voluntary action to comply with this request, indicating that measures under Japan's AI Promotion Act may be invoked if the issue remains unresolved.
Fully enforced from September 1st 2025, Japan’s AI Promotion Act aims to make Japan the most “AI friendly country” by driving policies that promote development and utilization of AI for socio-economic growth. However, it also lays down some principles for dealing with problematic AI use, including copyright infringement. Article 16 of the AI Promotion act covers research and investigation and says that the government may “analyze cases in which citizens’ rights or interests have been infringed upon through research, development, or utilization of AI-related technology conducted for improper purposes or by inappropriate methods, and consider countermeasures based on those analyses.” However, as noted by the Future of Privacy Forum, the act does not specify any clear penalties for misuse of AI, but instead calls on business operators to cooperate with the measures.
A member of Japan’s ruling LDP party with a seat in the country’s parliament (the Diet), politician Akihisa Shiozaki has written extensively about Sora 2 and its legal implications on his official X account, and noted: “the release of Sora 2 has once again highlighted the issue of AI and copyright."
However, he also insisted this challenge is an opportunity: “Japan bears a responsibility to take the lead on making rules (related to AI and copyright infringement), precisely because we are a country that has captivated the world with the creative power of anime, games, and music.”
Reuters reported on September 29 that OpenAI had contacted studios and talent agencies a week before Sora 2’s launch, giving them the option to opt out. However, it was not specified which studios were contacted. Whether major Japanese creative companies and studios were contacted or not is unclear, but the fact that Sora 2 can generate videos containing the likenesses of Japanese characters has triggered a lot of backlash on Japanese-speaking social media. Criticism has been leveled, not only at OpenAI, but also at the Japanese government and Japanese IP holders for their perceived failure to respond swiftly enough to the infringement dangers posed by AI.
In his October 4 blog post on Sora 2 (previously reported on by IGN), OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that changes would be made to the fledgling video generation app in the near future. “First, we will give rightsholders more granular control over generation of characters, similar to the opt-in model for likeness but with additional controls," Altman confirmed, adding OpenAI will give rightsholders “the ability to specify how their characters can be used (including not at all).”
He acknowledged there might be “some edge cases” of character depiction slipping through the cracks but that this would be ironed out in time. Altman also made a specific refefence to Japan, saying: “in particular, we'd like to acknowledge the remarkable creative output of Japan — we are struck by how deep the connection between users and Japanese content is!”
However, at the time of writing, there has been no formal response from OpenAI regarding the Japanese government’s latest request.
Earlier this month, Nintendo took the unusual step of issuing an official statement seemingly in response to comments from Satoshi Asano, a member of Japan’s House of Representatives. In a deleted social media post he subsequently apologized for, Asano accused Nintendo of “avoiding using generative AI to protect its IP” and "engaging in lobbying activities with the government" over the increased use of generative AI in the gaming industry.
Nintendo denied this, but did warn it would take “necessary actions against infringement of our intellectual property rights.”
“Contrary to recent discussions on the internet, Nintendo has not had any contact with the Japanese government about generative AI,” Nintendo said. “Whether generative AI is involved or not, we will continue to take necessary actions against infringement of our intellectual property rights.”
Disney and Universal have sued the AI image creator Midjourney, alleging that the company improperly used and distributed AI-generated characters from their movies. Disney also sent a cease and desist letter to Character.AI, warning the startup to stop using its copyrighted characters without authorization.
“A lot of the videos that people are going to generate of these cartoon characters are going to infringe copyright,” Mark Lemley, a professor at Stanford Law School, told CNBC. “OpenAI is opening itself up to quite a lot of copyright lawsuits by doing this.”
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.
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