Seeking chart-topping performance from a prebuilt desktop? The Alienware Area-51 with RTX 5090 GPU should definitely be on your radar. Currently, you can pick up an Alienware Area-51 RTX 5090 gaming PC starting at $5,049.99 after a $600 discount. Starting today, Dell is also throwing in a free AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D CPU upgrade. This new CPU was released on January 29 and is a 400MHz increase in boost clock over the 9800X3D.

$600 Off Alienware Area-51 9850X3D RTX 5090 Gaming PC

The Alienware Area-51 is Dell's flagship gaming PC. Unveiled during last year's CES, the Area-51 is a super-sized upgrade to the mainstream Aurora R16 system. The significantly larger chassis features more premium build quality and a redesigned cooling system with greater net airflow. In fact, this is the only model that Dell feels comfortable enough to equip with the hot and power hungry GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card. The first wave of Area-51 systems featured Intel CPUs exclusively, with AMD X3D options only available since late November.

This particular configuration is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D CPU, GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card, 32GB or DDR5-6400MHz RAM, and a 1TB SSD. Additional system details include a 360mm all-in-one liquid cooling system for the CPU and a massive 1,500W 80Plus Platinum power supply that allows plenty of headroom for future upgrades.

AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is the best gaming CPU for most people

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is considered to be one of the best gaming processors currently on the market and outperforms any Intel or AMD non-X3D chip in games thanks to AMD's 3D-V-Cache technology. The 9850X3D replaces the 9800X3D as the best value for most gamers. Both chips are mostly identical but the 9850X3D has a 400Mhz faster boost clock (up to 5.6GHz), making it about 1%-5% faster in games. Dell is throwing this in for free, so why not?

Although the 9850X3D is an absolute speed demon for gaming, it only has eight cores. If you regularly use your PC for non-gaming applications that benefit from as many cores as possible, then you can upgrade to an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D 16-core processor, which doubles the core count while offering similar gaming performance, for an additional $200.

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 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.

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.

OLED TVs are considered the best TVs for gaming. They're usually quite expensive, but B&H Photo is hosting a limited time deal that bucks the trend. For today only, you can get a 55" Sansui S55VOUG 4K OLED Smart TV for just $499.99 with free delivery. I don't think I've seen a less expensive OLED TV, ever. Sansui may not be the biggest name in the industry, but this TV does use an LG OLED panel, so you know it's going to be pretty good.

55" Sansui S55VOUG 4K Smart TV for $499.99

January 29 only

It's no secret that AliExpress consistently has the lowest prices on popular and well-reviewed 3D printers. Some of the most popular 3D printer brands, including Creality, Anycubic, and Flashforge, have official storefronts on AliExpress, and the prices there are usually much lower than on Amazon. Because they're sold by the manufacturers themselves, you get a genuine product with the full warranty, as well as AliExpress' own protections including a 90 day free! return policy.

The AliExpress marketplace itself has recently evolved as well. Most of these brands now stock their printers in warehouses based in the United States. That means they ship locally, with most printers being delivered within a week. They aren't affected by tariffs, import fees, or egregiously long shipping times.

3D Printer Deals at AliExpress

Flashforge Adventurer 5M CoreXY 3D Printer

LEGO first released its line of book nook sets back in June of 2025 and they've been very well received. There are currently only three book nook builds available (from Lord of the Rings, Sherlock Holmes, and Harry Potter) and there have been little to no discounts on them until recently. The Lord of the Rings book nook was the first to drop in price earlier this month and now the Harry Potter edition has followed suit.

While the price cut isn't particularly steep, it's still the best price we've ever seen on this set. The Hogwarts Express book nook was already the most affordable of the three builds. If you're looking for a good Valentine's Day gift for the Potter fan in your life, it's definitely worth considering at this price.

The Hogwarts Express Book Nook Drops in Price on Amazon

In an age where digital platforms can pull culturally beloved content from their sites and kick films and TV series between each other seemingly at random, there’s never been a better time to commit to physical media. Not only does owning your content ensure you’ll have access no matter what the business papers say that day, but it also means you can tune out and enjoy a viewing without worrying about buffering, system outages, or connectivity issues. So, with a Blu-ray comeback on the menu, and every online retailer vying for your previous dollars, we’ve rounded up a list of the best places to buy Blu-rays online.

The Criterion Collection

Extend the battery life on your Nintendo Switch 2, Steam Deck, or Apple iPhone 17 for a rock bottom price. Amazon is currently offering the Joyroom 10,000mAh 22.5W Power Bank for just $10.49 after you apply coupon code "ZWCBR9JW". This is the great price for a 10,000mAh power bank, especially since it's equipped with some quality of life features like a big digital display and retractable cable. This particular item doesn't have very many user reviews, but Joyroom the brand is quite popular, even amongst the IGN audience.

Joyroom 10,000mAh 22.5W Power Bank for $10.49

Casting for the live-action God of War show is in full swing, as just moments after announcing the actor for Thor, Amazon and Sony have confirmed that Mandy Patinkin will play his father, Odin.

It’s another major addition to the cast of the next Prime Video video game adaptation, confirming that many of the series’ biggest roles have now been filled. Patinkin joins Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor, as well as Ryan Hurst as Kratos.

Video game adaptation company Story Kitchen is cooking up a movie based on the popular Roblox experience, Steal a Brainrot.

As reported by Deadline, the movie studio has announced that it is officially in early development on a feature-length film based on the meme-collecting experience that launched just last May. It’s not exactly Sonic the Hedgehog, Tomb Raider, or any of the other games the studio is known for getting involved in, but it’s still something it’s (mostly) serious about.

“We’re thrilled to bring STEAL A BRAINROT to the big screen,” Story Kitchen co-founders Dmitri M. Johnson and Michael Lawrence Goldberg said in a statement. “Noobini Pizzanini 6-7.”

Deadline says the Steal a Brainrot movie will blend all of the “chaos, comedy, and competitive mischief” that has attracted the 56.6 billion visits the Roblox experience has achieved. Fans have turned up every day since May to buy "Brainrots," which are essentially meme versions of collectible monsters not unlike Pokémon. Some Brainrots are rarer than others, with players able to generate money, sell Brainrots, and, of course, steal them from other players.

Around 400,000 users are active in Steal a Brainrot as of this piece’s publication, with the all-time peak it reached in October being a whopping 25.8 million concurrent players. Even if you’ve never played Roblox, there’s a decent chance you’ve heard about this particular experience, as multi-instrumentalist and Uptown Funk mastermind Bruno Mars helped put together an exclusive concert for Steal a Brainrot earlier this month.

Story Kitchen is bringing Steal a Brainrot to moviegoers at an unspecified point in the future. The project is in development alongside Do Big Studios and Spyder Games, and it’s led by Johnson, Goldberg, Timothy I. Stevenson, and Elena Sandoval. Think Influence, which represents the creators of the experience, is also involved in the production.

The company has shown interest in the Roblox community before, announcing in November 2025 that it had started putting the pieces together for a movie based on Grow a Garden. Other projects in the works at Story Kitchen include the live-action Tomb Raider show, a Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 movie, a Life is Strange show, an It Takes Two movie, and more.

While we wait for updates on how Steal a Brainrot will bring memes to the movies, you can read about why experiences like Grow a Garden are bringing in millions of players. You can also see where Roblox ranked on the list of the most-played console games of 2025 (and 2024).

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).

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is 22 years old, which as you can imagine means that people have cracked that game wide open with weird glitches, skips, and tricks. Over the years, speedrunners have found ways to break San Andreas that got an any% speedrun of it down to a little under three hours, but recently an absolutely buckwild bug was found that cut that time down even further, to under an hour. Buckle up, folks, because this is one heck of a wacky speedrun.

First, some context. San Andreas has been broken and rebroken many times over the years across its multiple versions, and there's one specific "trick" that's upended the speedrunning landscape multiple times. It actually originated in GTA: Vice City, where a trick known as Script Stack Underflow (SSU) was found that chopped an any% run down to around eight minutes. Way back in 2019, San Andreas runners found something similar that they called "Arbitrary Jump in Script", or AJS, specifically in the Window Store remaster of the game. This overly-complex trick essentially let speedrunners jump straight to the end of the game by doing a long series of very specific things such as killing a drug dealer, parking a bike in a very specific place, answering the phone at very specific times, and diligently avoiding vending machines at all costs.

While involved, it demonstrably worked, with the end result being the game executing a "JUMP" command to the start of End of the Line Part 3, the final mission. Ever since then the speedrunning community has had to split the category into any% and any% no AJS, because watching a run with AJS is fun exactly once and then you really just want to watch a proper, action-packed, multi-hour San Andreas speedrun. For a long time, this skip was limited to the Windows Store version of the game, though it was later found in the Definitive Edition remaster with some significant setup differences.

Well now, speedrunners have figured out how to do AJS in the original PC version of San Andreas. It is also completely different in how it's set up, and is somehow even wackier than any of the versions that have come before. u/Vitosi4ek on Reddit has a really nice breakdown of all the steps involved (though some runners have already found ways to smooth out certain bits of it). These include: winning $10,000 on horse betting, making a clone of yourself, doing stunt jumps on a superbike, betting in the casino with negative money, changing your clothes, doing a dance minigame, running two Mission at the exact same time, and a lot more. All of this will hopefully, if the game doesn't crash, send you to the start of End of the Line Part 3, and let you finish the game right there.

This glitch was literally just discovered, and in that time the world record run for an any% of GTA: San Andreas has dropped down to 53 minutes and 46 seconds by creezyful. It's very likely that this time will get even more shaved off in the coming days and weeks as speedrunners continue to optimize. This has also resulted in the community splitting any% off from any% no AJS, so audiences can still enjoy a roughly three-hour run of San Andreas and all the hyjinks involved in that.

It's wildly impressive to me that people are still managing to crack games this old open even more than they've already been, and make their guts do ridiculous things. Just this past AGDQ, I watched someone run arbitrary code execution in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, something I'm pretty sure they didn't know how to do the last time the game was at the show. Video games, man!

Unfortunately, that does mean it'll probably be a long time before we get a run of GTA 6 that goes that fast. And that's if we can even make it to launch day this November.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

There are plenty of excellent deals you’ll want to grab today. If you need an idea for Valentine’s Day, grab this bundle of LEGO flower bouquets that’s hard not to love. Anyone with a Switch or Switch 2 will want to hop on these game savings, as we're all well aware that it's rare to get such deep discounts on Nintendo’s offerings. MTG also has tons of deals and preorders worth checking out, from TMNT and Avatar to Marvel Super Heroes. Speaking of Marvel, the DC Vs. Marvel Omnibus collection of comics is down to a new low on Amazon. Check out all the awesome deals I’ve found for today below:

DC Vs. Marvel Omnibus Comic Collection Hardcover Hits New Low Price

Save Big on Bundle of LEGO Botanicals Flower Bouquet + Bouquet of Roses Building Sets

Pokémon Legends: Z-A for Switch 2 is $14 Off at Best Buy

Big Savings On A Bunch of Other Switch and Switch 2 Games

You can also grab a nice discount on the Switch version of Pokémon Legends: Z-A from Woot if you don’t care about the performance boost. In fact, Woot has tons of solid deals on both Switch and Switch 2 games that are worth checking out. You can even get the Switch version of Super Mario Bros. Wonder on sale if you don’t feel like waiting for the Switch 2 update of Super Mario Bros. Wonder. And Best Buy also dropped the cost of the Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 by $14.

MTG x Avatar: The Last Airbender Beginner Box Hits New Low Price

MTG x TMNT Preorder Deals

If you’ve been waiting for the prices to drop on the MTG x TMNT preorder, now is the time to jump. The Booster Box is down to $124.99 on Amazon. In the box are 30 packs, which means each one comes out to about $4.17, which is a great deal. There’s a Bundle Box that includes 9 Play Boosters, 30 Lands, a foil alt-art promo Card, and exclusive accessories that’s on sale for just $60. Or, grab the Turtle Power! Commander Deck and Turtle Team Up Box, as they both have received solid discounts.

While these might be the lowest prices we see for the MTG x TMNT preorder, Amazon even has a nice preorder price guarantee. Whether the price goes up or down, you’re paying the lowest amount. This is the first “Universe Beyond” release of the year, and it’s set to drop on March 6th.

MTG x Marvel Super Heroes Preorder Just Dropped

Jumping further into the future, Amazon just dropped the preorder for the MTG x Marvel Super Heroes set that’s coming out on June 26th. Some things have already sold out, but you can still grab the 30-pack Booster Box for $209.70, the Commander Deck Bundle for $299.96, and more. Be sure to secure your preorder now, as this is already proving to be a popular “Universe Beyond” collab.

After you’ve secured the MTG X Marvel Super Heroes preorder, be sure to check out the MTG: Secrets of Strixhaven preorder, which also just became available on Amazon. It’s set to come out on April 24 and is selling fast.

Grab This Tiny Portable Power Bank for Cheap

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Enjoy Nearly Half Off The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings Illustrated by Alan Lee Box Set

Borderlands 4 is getting a major update today, including, among other things, the addition of the long-awaited Photo Mode that was announced prior to the game's launch, but was allegedly held due to the need to prioritize polishing other elements.

The update was announced via the official Borderlands 4 website, and it isn't just a Photo Mode being added. Harlowe's Zero-Point Action skill is getting a rework, and Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode levels will now increase dedicated loot drop levels.

But Photo Mode is the crown jewel here, and it's available now by restarting your game and downloading the update. Once the update is installed, you can find Photo Mode in the Pause menu while you're playing. It'll let you adjust the camera and apply a variety of visual effects including Field of View and Depth of Field adjustments, filters, changing the time of day, and even toggling visibility of elements such as characters or even damage numbers. Entering Photo Mode will also pause the game entirely in single-player mode (sorry multiplayer folks, just doesn't work that way). There's a full guide to how to use the Photo Mode and all its settings right here.

Photo Mode was promised for Borderlands 4 way back in June of 2025, with creative director Graeme Timmins saying on social media that while it was planned, the team was prioritizing polishing other core elements, and Photo Mode thus wouldn't be around at launch.

I had us prioritize polishing some other elements, more core to the moment-to-moment experience. We've always planned for it, and had it tasked up, we just needed to spend a bit more time on things that would directly impact QoL of playing the game.

— Graeme Timmins (@ProdigyXL) June 24, 2025

Below we've pasted the full patch notes, including all the other updates to Harlowe and Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode:

Progression and Rewards

Contract Missions:

• Patrol: Order troops: Now progresses when killing enemies
• Trace: Scrap Core: The scrap core object is able to be interacted with consistently and the contract from Dominion can now be completed
• Convinced the Intrusive Thoughts Vile Ripper, Deep State Phalanx, and Breaux Chambeaux Phalanx bounties to show up when a player has taken their contracts

Vault Card Challenges:

• “Loot or Purchase 10/15 legendaries” Vault Card weekly challenge will no longer reset with a save/load
• “Loot or Purchase Ordnance” will now increase when conditions are met
• “Kill enemies with Torgue guns and gear” will now progress when using Torgue legendary grenade Firepot
• “Kill X enemies with Maliwan guns and gears” and the Maliwan Challenge “Last Wan Standing” will now progress as intended

Challenges:

• Legendary Forsaken Chaos and Legendary Midnight Defiance have been removed from the Collect All Phosphene Challenge
• Updated Maliwan status effects to better identify what triggered the status effects, leading to better tracking on challenges

Progression and rewards

• Addressed a reported issue that was causing travel to Dominion to be locked by a player leaving a transition area in multiplayer
• “Potty Mouth” Mission: Objectives are no longer blocked when exiting to the main menu
• Addressed an issue causing unlocked DLC content to be unavailable while offline
• True Mode is now able to be consistently enabled for newly created level 30 UVHM characters
• Added a tutorial for True Mode when the campaign is completed
• Players creating a new character in multiplayer will now receive all intended rewards
• Addressed a reported issue causing all equipment to be lost when quitting to the main menu during a countdown in multiplayer when switching to solo play
• Addressed issues with the “Gourd Your Loins” cosmetic reward not being awarded with SHiFT code
  • If you were impacted by this issue the first time around, or you missed these gourd-geous heads during the Horrors of Kairos event, this SHiFT code will redeem your missing cosmetic! This code will not reward anything to those that successfully received their cosmetic rewards the first time.
  • Redeem the SHiFT code below (check out our SHiFT User Guide if you don't already know how) to get the "Gourd Your Loins" Vault Hunter Head and the "Hex Appeal" Weapon Skin!*
  • THFB3-R9XKK-CFBJW-T33BB-9R3CC
  • *Requires a copy of Borderlands 4, SHiFT Account, and Internet connection. Must redeem by December 31, 2030. One redemption per SHiFT Account. Terms apply.

Vault Hunters

• Addressed reported issues where critical hit damage sometimes wasn't being applied to critical hits

Specializations

• Daredevil: Action Skill Cooldown rate has been adjusted to .5% and a multiplicative Action Skill Damage bonus has been added
• Runner: Melee Damage bonus is now a multiplicative instead of additive

Harlowe the Gravitar Skill Rework

Dev Note: We’re making several changes to Zero-Point as another step towards making this skill tree feel more satisfying and better balanced relative to Harlowe’s other trees. Because we're changing the fundamental behavior of Zero-Point to include the old Inertia Augment behavior in the base skill, we want to see how these changes balance out before doing more work in the rest of the tree.

We have our eye on a few other passives that may be candidates for some buffs, but between the recent passive buffs that were implemented several weeks ago, combined with today’s changes, we’ll revisit those in the future once we’ve gathered adequate feedback on the current changes.

Long term, we want to ensure that each Vault Hunter has plenty of build diversity, with each Action Skill having its own pros and cons. If and when we see one falling behind, we’ll continue to explore changes like today’s.

• Zero-Point (Base Skill): Now includes the benefits of the previous "Inertia" Augment. Killing an enemy in Stasis now resets the duration, searches for a new target, and makes the duration decrease faster
• Inertia Augment (Changed): Updated to increase Harlowe’s Slam Damage. Whenever she slams an enemy, create Mini Unstable Energy Pocket projectiles that randomly deal Cryo or Radiation damage. Additionally, she also gains increased Status Effect Damage and Status Effect Chance. This effect stacks.

Amon the Forgeknight

• Amon now consistently deals bonus Cryo Damage when equipping Cryonic Thrum Augment in multiplayer
• Prevented unintended increases in the number of segments in the Vault Hunter bar when Amon activates his Action Skill
• Dragon’s Breath now applies properly to Ripper Heavy Weapons with beams
• Firewall Forgeskill will now block Moon-Maddened Callis projectile attacks

Vex the Siren

• Addressed the cooldown for Prismatic Ichors sometimes resetting when applying a status effect
• Phase Pocket Passive no longer resets the Taser underbarrel magazine when using a Vladof Enhancement
• Healing numbers now present correctly when Specters are using Ripper Legendary Sniper Rifle Tankbuster
• Addressed Incarnate Action Skill behavior so that it continues to work while using the Vibe Check Capstone with the Legendary Class Mod Technomancer

General Gameplay:

Bloomreaper Boss Fight:

• Falling into the fog will now consistently kill players instead of having them fall out of the map
• The purple rift will now only appear after the boss is defeated
• Addressed an instance of Bloomreaper keeping the Invincible health bar in the second phase
• Addressed an exploit that would allow UVHM time trial rewards to be obtained while not in UVHM
• Addressed an issue that would cause the chest for Platinum rewards to be empty after fulfilling the requirements
• Disc-shooting heavy weapons will now damage Bloomreaper’s crystals
• Vile Creeps should no longer get stuck in the air

World Events and Bosses:

• Increased the spawn rate of world bosses in the Punitive Manufactorium area
• Rewards will now reliably spawn when completing the Airship or The Goredello world events
• Minister Screw is no longer able to be frozen
• Toy Pinheads are now affected by singularity grenades
• Idolator Sol now takes damage from Elemental Hazards created by skills while Bio Armor is broken
• Vile Lictor’s limbs will now continue to respawn after freezing them
• Gennifer will now remain inside the refugee even if the player is dying near the area
• Lowered the amount of Badass enemies spawning in one spot by Electi Safe Collectable
• Ensured that boss fights consistently reset when all players have died
• Restored the ability to interact with Fortresses if travel was canceled by leaving a transition area in multiplayer

Loot and Stations:

• UVH levels now increase dedicated loot drop levels. The higher the level, the higher the chance of dedicated loot dropping!
• Changed the Respawn Station outside of Umbral Foundry to a Fast Travel station to allow for easier travel to the entrance
• Prevented loot items from dropping into unintended areas after defeating The Oppressor or killing all enemies in Ripper Drill Site Saw’s Clench
• Red Chest in Coastal Bonescape will only unlock when all enemies are killed

Mission, Enemy and ECHO Location Updates:

• Guns Blazing: Arjay will now consistently engage in combat against enemies
• The Power Ballad of Rodd Vomit: Addressed enemy pathing to reach the player
• Missions will no longer progress unexpectedly in multiplayer when switching from splitscreen to solo play
• Radioactive Rail Liner will now attack if players are close to it
• ECHO Location guidance improvements
• Rift Champion icon removed from the Compass, with cleaned-up functionality for those icons in the Map

Guns & Gear

Enhancement:

• Adjusted the Underdog enhancement to only apply to Vladof underbarrel weapons as intended. This will remove an unintended damage bonus that was happening when some guns switched their ammo or element types. We also updated Wombo Combo rockets so they now correctly count as underbarrel damage and receive this boost

Tediore:

• Tediore Legendary Assault Rifle Chuck now throws properly when the player has over 120% gun reload speed
• Addressed a behavior that prevented homing on the third gun spawned by Tediore reloads when specific conditions were met
• Removed extra gun from Tediore shotguns with Ripper magazines

Maliwan:

• Maliwan Legendary SMG Ohm I Got will no longer consume Energy Shield when Overshield is active
• Only active element Status Effects will spread when killing an enemy with a Maliwan-licensed part with Maliwan Enhancement and Transfuser Core
• Singularities now spawn correctly on Maliwan Sniper Rifles with Singularity Grenade Launcher underbarrels

Jakobs:

• Addressed Jakobs ricochet damage to apply the intended amount of damage on Jakobs weapons

Torgue:

• Torgue Legendary Pistol Hardpoint will fire as intended with Tediore licensed-part “Shooting”
• Torgue Legendary Shield Compleation now properly triggers Segment Break armor shield augments

Order:

• Order Legendary Sniper Rifle Rooker needle projectiles will consistently home in on enemies at a distance with the Callous augment. It will also no longer spawn unintended underbarrel projectiles with Jakobs licensed parts and a Jakob enhancement with Leaper and Bounce Pass

Ripper:

• Ripper Legendary Shield Watts 4 Dinner will now consistently give the overshield in multiplayer from Overshield drops

CoV:

• Weapons with CoV magazines now continue to fire when using Bullets to Spare firmware level 3 with the Ventilator enhancement

Daedalus:

• Daedalus SMGs with the Overcharge attachment and a Ripper Magazine will now inherit the Ripper magazine charge-up time

Atlas:

• Atlas Sure Shot perk is no longer triggered by Rafa Peacebreaker Cannons Action Skill while equipping a weapon with Atlas licensed parts and the Sure Shot enhancement
• Updated Tracker Antenna and Trauma Bond to no longer incorrectly apply to gear without Atlas-licensed parts

Ordnance

• Heavy Weapons now cause damage to BoomBoom Drones during the Callis boss fight

Firmware:

• Skillcraft will now receive the proper amount of stacks when dealing skill damage to enemies
• Deadeye 2-piece now functions as intended with intended projectiles
• High Caliber 3-piece now functions as intended with Atlas Tracker Grenade
• Get Throwin’ now properly increases Heavy Weapon Ordnance damage

Visual, Audio, and Animation updates to Guns and Gear:

• Restored prefixes to Tediore Legendary Grenade UAV
• Order Legendary Pistol Bully with Hyperion Shield enhancement now display with all parts on the item card
• Repkit will no longer disappear when trying to heal after climbing
• Corrected animations for Daedalus SMGs with Atlas Underbarrel attachments when switching
• Corrected audio on the Daedalus Legendary Shotgun Missilaser
• Maliwan Legendary Shotgun Mantra now shows the Amara Phase Fist when fired
• Adjusted effects on Maliwan Legendary SMG Ohm I Got and Daedalus Legendary Shotgun Missilaser to be consistent throughout gameplay
• Adjusted animation on Tediore Shotguns to prevent shell cases from appearing when using secondary fire
• Tediore weapons no longer explode when thrown if they overlap with water
• Tediore Assault Rifles and Pistols have consistent laser sights on gear
• Effects for Vladof Legendary Assault Rifle Whiskey Foxtrot will now expire as intended
• Adjusted reload animation for Ripper Shotguns with CoV magazines
• Adjusted Ripper effects when shooting Ripper guns with Maliwan-licensed underbarrel parts
• Ripper Grenade Transmitter effects have been restored when they are despawning
• Adjusted missing effects of needles when using the Order Legendary Sniper Rifle Rooker

Audio & Visuals

• Vault Hunter voices now return to normal after unequipping the Kittycopter head customization
• Marcus now talks at the proper time
• The second round of the Goredello will now announce the enemy type
• Updated various sound effects to play while fighting Bloomreaper
• Updates to various incorrect or missing VO lines
• Damage numbers have been removed when continuing to shoot Arjay when the fight has ended
• Corrected ECHO-4 appearance when using the ECHO-IVIV frame and Nurple paintjob customization
• Ensured Vex the Siren's tattoos glow as intended with all skins
• Melee animations for Rafa the Exo-Soldier will now play correctly in multiplayer
• Characters can now climb after double jumping at the Abandoned Post Safehouse in the Coastal Bonescape
• Resolved climbing animations not syncing in multiplayer
• Using the grapple point by the propaganda speaker in The Howl will now take the player to the roof of the house
• Adjusted Idolator Sol animations when buying Boss replay in multiplayer
• Reduced the brightness of Seeker Witness’ laser effects
• Ripsaw’s rotating blade effect will now disappear after death
• Minister Screw's triangle effects now disappear after death
• Ensured Bruce’s head consistently disappeared in multiplayer during Angry Mob mission
• Addressed reported instances of NPCs performing their animations early or in the wrong locations
• Adjusted effects on power cores during the “Powerdrop” Mission
• Carried items will no longer become attached to a weapon after firing and reloading quickly
• Adjusted fading distance in the intro
• Addressed hitching with Vault Hunter saves in the main menu
• Reduced the number of unused materials throughout the game
• Prevented Shield Boosters from blocking the screen
• Trees inside buildings no longer blow in the wind
• Missing animations when destroying the grate near the Vault Fragment in Tonnage Peel have been restored
• Unintended transition effects will no longer appear on players outside of Vile Lictor boss arena
• Fire no longer starts popping when getting closer to Dominion
• Prevented flickering after opening an Electi Safe
• Haybales in The Howl no longer show glass VFX when hit
• House now displays properly during Breeding Daisies
• The lights on the Candlelight Catastrophe skin now flash consistently
• Ensured the launch pad in Cuspid Climb is consistent with other launch pad areas
• The Black Market Vending Machine will no longer have an obstructed view if spawned in Tonnage Peel
• Lowered several floating items
• Addressed multiple cases of lootables not being able to be opened
• Updated various cinematics for consistency
• Addressed clipping, missing collision, out-of-bounds access, stuck spots, and visual errors in various areas of the game

UI, Text, Localization

• Sorting in the Customization Menu now defaults to show Unlocked Customizations first
• Corrected an issue causing the Backpack to appear empty after filtering
• Repkits now appear as intended in Inventory
• Addressed a reported issue causing Vault Cards to not update or progress in multiplayer
• Addressed a reported issue causing Vault Card progress to reset or disappear after a disconnect
• Vault Cards will no longer carry over progress if the same challenge reappears after the daily reset
• Updates to Vault Card UI
• Various optimization updates to UI
• Addressed various reported issues with scroll bar, sorting, and menu UI
• Updated localization, various text descriptions, subtitle timings, icon visibility, and alignment across the game
• Material thumbnails in the Customization menu now appear correctly
• Updated Credits

Splitscreen

• “Flip Card” functionality has been restored after level transitions
• Corrected various scrolling issues in the Vault Cards Menu during splitscreen
• Corrected a case of a persistent “Logging in” message when a secondary player joins splitscreen
• The Golden Chest will no longer get stuck with the “Transaction in Progress” message when the secondary player leaves after opening
• Both splitscreen players will now see all mission items during “Breeding Daisies” mission
• Resolved an issue with Recent Friends not functioning as intended when a player is added to splitscreen during gameplay
• Adjusted Vault Card UI to prevent overlapping or not displaying the entire Item Card
• Vehicle FOV will now change for both players
• Adjusted nameplate text sizes to scale correctly in splitscreen
• Updated various UI elements for correct placement and to prevent overlapping

Player Experience

• [Console Only] Several instances of incorrect gear meshes have been corrected on consoles
• [PC Only] Adjusted default mouse sensitivity and added a setting option to disable mouse smoothing
• Blended facial animations for better optimization
• Visual optimizations for Jakobs Legendary Shotgun Rainbow Vomit
• Optimizations to Mission Menu
• Various improvements to stability and optimization

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Severance star Ólafur Darri Ólafsson will play Thor in the live-action God of War show for Prime Video.

Amazon and Sony announced the cast update today, revealing who will play the Norse God of Thunder in its upcoming series adaptation of the beloved PlayStation franchise. It’s one of the biggest updates to the show yet, with Ólafsson now set to wield Mjolnir against Ryan Hurst and his portrayal of Kratos.

Check out this big price drop on a lightweight gaming mouse with no lack of flair. Starting today, Amazon has dropped the price of the SteelSeries Counter-Strike 2 Dragon Lore Limited Edition wireless gaming mouse to just $56.76 after a massive 62% off discount. Historically speaking, the price of this mouse was fixed at $150 since it first released last July... until today. The Dragon Lore Edition gets points for its gorgeous design, but it also happens to be an excellent performer for any gamer looking for a lightweight mouse with top-of-the-line accuracy and precision.

SteelSeries CS2 Dragon Lore Edition Mouse for $56.76

Magic: The Gathering has a frankly ridiculous schedule for 2026, but while the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Hobbit, Marvel heroes, and Star Trek are on their way, we’re starting the year with Lorwyn Eclipsed.

An in-universe set that’s seeing positive buzz already, thanks to being a return to a fan-favorite plane and the fact that there’s no City Pigeon or Hot Dog Cart in sight, it launched on January 23 but is getting a discount already.

Amazon is offering a Play Booster Box of 30 packs for $129.98, a 21% drop from the list price of $164.70.

Update: These systems are now sold out.

Dell Outlet just restocked its inventory of refurbished Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5070 Ti gaming PCs. Currently you can get one for just $1,650 with free delivery. Dell Outlet systems have the same 1 year warranty as buying brand new. They're often only available in very small quantities, so it won't be surprising if this configuration sells out quickly. With the recent RTX 5070 Ti shortage scare, prices on both GPUs and prebuilt gaming PCs have skyrocketed. This is a rare opportunity to get a complete system with warranty at a very reasonable price.

Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5070 Ti Gaming PC for $1,650

Like New: Refurbished model with 1 year Dell warranty

Rainbow Six Siege is getting a Metal Gear Solid crossover, as Ubisoft is teasing that Solid Snake will appear as a new Operator in Year 11.

A 15-second clip for the tactical action game’s next roadmap lays it on thick, showing not just a faceless body wearing a familiar sneaking suit but a Metal Gear Solid 1-style Codec Call from none other than Splinter Cell star Sam Fisher. It’s the kind of crossover fans have dreamed about for decades, brought to life as Ubisoft teases a full reveal for the Year 11 roadmap that’s scheduled to take place next month, February 15, at 8 a.m. PT / 11 a.m. ET on the Rainbow Six Siege Twitch page.

It’s unclear if today’s tease is just for the Solid Snake Operator or if fans should instead expect a selection of skins from Konami as well, but judging by the fanfare surrounding the reveal, it looks like Ubisoft went all out for this latest collaboration. Either way, the Solid Snake teaser marks what is likely the most exciting Operator in the last 10 years.

There were some early signs that Rainbow Six Siege could soon meet the world of Metal Gear Solid. Reputable dataminer @Shiiny77 suggested a collaboration was in the cards for Year 11 Season 1 just last week, teasing that “it is not just a skin collaboration” like fans have seen in the past. Insider Gaming later said it was able to independently verify the leak as well.

“There is so much out of this collab and the season itself, its so packed,” @Shiiny77 added at the time.

Metal Gear Solid may be one of the wildest crossovers for Rainbow Six Siege so far, but it’s far from the first. Other recent collaborations have brought the Attack on Titan and The Boys universes into the fold with various cosmetics for existing Operators. Splinter Cell didn’t launch with the game when it first launched back in 2015, but Sam Fisher did go on to get his own Operator in the form of Specialist Zero in 2020.

We’ll learn more about what this official meeting between Solid Snake has in store February 15. In the meantime, Rainbow Six Siege recently received a massive 10-year update to become Rainbow Six Siege X. You can check out why we think it’s now an 8/10 in our review.

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).

Yeah, you heard me. World of Warcraft is finally getting a Prop Hunt mode, or something like it, sometime later this year.

This is according to today's World of Warcraft: State of Azeroth presentation, which included a breakdown of what we can expect across both World of Warcraft: Midnight and Classic in the next several months. While the presentation contained a lot of exciting details, one thing that really stuck out was a brief moment during the post-Midnight content update roadmap section, where WoW lead Ion Hazzikostas described the new "Decor Duel" mode coming in patch 12.05, which he openly said was basically just Prop Hunt.

In Decor Duel, teams of five compete against one another in locations such as the faction Neighborhoods, or Silvermoon City. One team disguises itself as props, aka random objects, while the other team tries to track them down within a time limit. It's classic Prop Hunt.

For those who are unfamiliar, prop hunt began as a popular game mode in Garry's Mod that worked basically like WoW's version. Prop hunt has since made its way into a number of other popular games such as Call of Duty, Fornite, and Genshin Impact. It feels like an obvious pull for World of Warcraft, especially given the new freedom players have been given in Midnight to acquire and mess around with all sorts of object assets from throughout World of Warcraft via the Housing feature. It's even called "Decor" Duel, seemingly referencing that it's using Housing Decor!

Unfortunately, it does sound like this mode may end up being a temporary event similar to Plunderstorm rather than a permanent addition to the game.

Prop Hunt is far from the only thing announced today. Blizzard unveiled its World of Warcraft roadmap for the coming months, including Midnight pre-launch events, plans for housing updates including pet and mount integration, improved advanced tools, import/export builds, and more. And there was a patch roadmap too, with a standalone single-boss raid coming in 12.07, a new zone, new raid, and friends system overhaul in 12.1, and a new feature called Labyrinths alongside a new experimental event in 12.1.5.

Previously, we've spoken with Hazzikostas about the games changes to mods, or add-ons. We've also played around with the new Housing feature, and even previewed the new expansion. World of Warcraft: Midnight launches on March 2.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Nintendo fans have criticized the company's decision to heavily restrict image-sharing from within Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream.

Following the conclusion of today's Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream Nintendo Direct, the company posted an unusual statement to its support website announcing that "limits" would be placed on the ability to share screenshots from the upcoming social sim to ensure "the worlds players create... remain fun and safe, and that the game can be enjoyed comfortably by all players."

While Nintendo's English-language statement does not go into further detail, the company's Japanese support site has stated that this entails a block on the ability to directly share screenshots to social media or to a smartphone, though sharing gameplay via Game Chat will be allowed.

The immediate response to this decision from Nintendo fans has been negative, with many contrasting the game's ability to create quirky, unexpected and potentially very sharable social gameplay situations with Nintendo's refusal to let players actually share said gameplay socially.

"Wow they killed the game," Nintendo fan Raccoon wrote on video game forum ResetEra. "Social media was going to shoot this into the stratosphere, instead they killed it. Very disappointing." Added PlanetSmasher: "Wasn't this, like, the reason people were into Tomodachi Life last time? Like being able to share goofy images with friends? That was what made the game go viral in the first place."

Some fans have gone further, saying that were disappointed to see these restrictions applied to a game that finally allows players to customize their characters with a more diverse range of genders, voice options and dating preferences. "Sure, you can be gay and non-binary! BUT YOU BETTER NOT SHOW ANYONE!!" wrote another fan, doops.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream allows you to play as a Mii version of anyone, alongside Mii versions of anyone else — potentially people you know in real-life, celebrities, or long-dead dictators. The potential for players (and the game's systems) to create bizarre and unexpected scenarios here is huge, and it's perhaps not surprising to see Nintendo acting cautiously.

"I get why they don't want you having, like, Hitler Mii and Trump Mii hooking up and then posting that all over the internet and people getting mad at Nintendo for it because that's exactly the type of thing Nintendo hates," wrote jph139. "But that's also 99% of the appeal so not sure what they were expecting?"

"I can understand why they're being cautious," agreed PucePikmin. "The idea of making Miis of your friends and celebrities and having them do wacky things is fun, and the way it's executed in these games is innocent, but the concept of 'make avatars of other people and make them do things' is a more fraught idea in 2026 for any number of reasons."

For those intent on sharing clips of gameplay, this likely does not remove all avenues of doing so. There's no suggestion here that Nintendo has removed the ability to share screenshots saved to an SD card via PC, or the ability to use capture equipment to record gameplay. And, of course, you can just film your screen with your smartphone. Instead, Nintendo's statement suggests it is intending more to place a hurdle in place, curbing what it seems to believe is the potential for problems to occur.

"Nintendo aims to create experiences where players have the freedom to enjoy their Mii characters in their own way," the company stated today. "In Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, this freedom can sometimes lead to humorous, surprising, or unpredictable moments during gameplay. While these moments are often fun for players, we recognize that out-of-context scenes may be misunderstood or may not reflect the spirit in which the game is intended to be enjoyed.

"Nintendo is committed to creating experiences that are welcoming and enjoyable for everyone. To support this commitment, and in consideration of the unique gameplay in Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, we have decided to place restrictions on certain image sharing features. These limits help to make the worlds players create in Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream remain fun and safe, and that the game can be enjoyed comfortably by all players.

"We understand that some players may find these restrictions limiting. However, they reflect Nintendo’s ongoing philosophy of creating experiences that bring smiles to everyone who plays."

Earlier this week, it was confirmed that hit superhero workplace comedy Dispatch would be censored upon release for Nintendo Switch platforms, with the game's nudity covered up by large black boxes.

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

If you consider yourself a fan of high fantasy, I would be willing to bet that there is a good chance you have at least heard the name "Brandon Sanderson" even if you have never read one of his books. Widely considered one of the most prolific fantasy authors of the modern age, Sanderson is a titan of the industry, having redefined publishing for authors, fought for better contracts for author e-book sales, brought about the conclusion of the legendary Wheel of Time series after the passing of its original author, Robert Jordan, and has basically created his own media empire with Dragonsteel (complete with his own convention). To say that he is a big deal would be underselling it a bit.

All that aside, perhaps what Brandon is best known for is the Cosmere—his universe-spanning interconnected monolith that a majority of his various books and series take place somewhere in. Picture the Marvel Cinematic Universe but as books, and all by the same writer. When a new Cosmere book is released, it's a big deal. This list will give you a basic idea of the (current) chronological order of the books in the scheme of the Cosmere itself, omitting books that we know are coming (Dragonsteel, the future Elantris Books, Mistborn eras 3 and 4, etc) but have not yet been released. With the latest news of Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere universe getting picked up by Apple TV, there's never been a better time to dive into the series.

If you look at the long list of titles that currently take place in the Cosmere, it can feel like a Herculean task to get through some of the books on their own, so consider this more as a resource to help you navigate it a bit, and make connections along the way as you read through the various series. However, just be aware that these can also be enjoyed on their own as smaller self-contained series, without needing to read them in chronological order. Special thank you to the CopperMind (a Cosmere resource kept up to date by the most diehard of fans) for helping me put this list together. Just be careful when you go on there as it is really easy to accidentally spoil things for yourself (speaking from experience, even though they try to mark everything).

It should be noted that as of this writing, there is no official timeline, with Brandon having previously stated that he hopes to have one released before the second Arc of Stormlight Archive releases—tentatively planned for 2031 (no, I'm not joking). The current list was put together thanks to research and input from the Coppermind wiki, Reddit, and YouTube videos

How Many Books Exist in the Cosmere Timeline?

As it stands right now, if you want to read everything the Cosmere has to offer, you will have to work your way through a pile of graphic novels, short stories, novelas, and your standard novels. All told, you are looking at about 24 books to buy (the number gets a little wonky depending on how you count the books that count the collections of stories and such), but here is a list of all the Cosmere titles you will need to read:

• Elantris
• Mistborn Era 1
  • Mistborn: The Final Empire
  • The Well of Ascension
  • The Hero of Ages
• Mistborn Era 2:
  • The Alloy of Law
  • Shadows of Self
  • The Bands of Mourning
  • The Lost Metal
• Warbreaker
• Stormlight Archive 1st Arc
  • The Way of Kings
  • Words of Radiance
  • Oathbringer
  • Rhythm of War
  • Wind and Truth
• Dawnshard (Novella)
• White Sand (Graphic Novels)
  • White Sand Vol. 1
  • White Sand Vol. 2
  • White Sand Vol. 3
• Tress of the Emerald Sea
• Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
• The Sunlit Man
• Arcanum Unbounded (Collection of Short Stories and Novellas)
  • The Emperor’s Soul
  • The Hope of Elantris (free on Brandon Sanderson’s website)
  • The Eleventh Metal
  • Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania
  • Mistborn: Secret History
  • White Sand
  • Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell
  • Sixth of the Dusk
  • Edgedancer

The “Chronological” Cosmere Reading Order

While the following breakdown will take you through the Cosmere as we believe it to exist right now, it isn’t necessarily the “best” way to tackle these books. There are a number of options that people recommend, reading in Publication Order is a common one, knowing how imposing this all is, Brandon released his own “Where do I start?” list that you can check out too. I started with Mistborn Era 1 (Mistborn: The Final Empire) and then into Stormlight Archive Book 1, and had a good time.

White Sand - World: Taldain

Mistborn Era 1 (Vin and Kelsier) - World: Scadrial

The Stormlight Archive Arc 1 - World: Roshar

Misborn Era 2 (Wax and Wayne) - World: Scardrial

What We know Is Coming in 2026 and Beyond

Much like our own universe, the Cosmere continues to expand. Back in December of 2024, Brandon gave his updated PLANNED release schedule up through 2031, and is as follows:

• 2026: Cosmere TTRPG - Mistborn Campaign Setting
• December 2026: Dark One or Isaac’s Cosmere Novel
• February 2026: Isles of the Emberdark (Pre-order)
  • This incorporates and expands on Sixth of the Dusk
• 2027: Dark One or Isaac’s Cosmere Novel
• December 2028: Mistborn Era 3 - Book 1
• Summer 2029: Elantris 2
• December 2029: Mistborn Era 3 - Book 2
• Summer 2030: Elantris 3
• December 2030: Mistborn Era 3 - Book 3
• December 2031: Stormlight Archive Book 6 (begins 2nd Arc)

The Cosmere Movie and TV Adaptations

Brandon Sanderson and Apple TV have officially solidified a deal to bring The Cosmere to the screen. There are no official release dates just yet, but reports have confirmed that Mistborn is being eyed for feature films and The Stormlight Archive is likely to become a TV series. Sanderson took to the Comsere Reddit after the announcements to tell the fans more about the deal, saying he chose Apple TV due to "the level of approvals and control" as well as their track record for high quality content.

Scott White is a freelance contributor to IGN, assisting with book and tabletop game coverage. Follow him on X/Twitter or Bluesky.

The complete series of Cobra Kai is making the jump to physical Blu-ray this year with a massive new box set. Featuring all six seasons of the show - a grand total of 65 episodes - it's now available to preorder for $119.99 (see it here at Amazon). Eager fans don't have to wait too long for it, either, as it has a release date of March 3 this year. Head to the link below to secure it for your library.

Preorder Cobra Kai: The Complete Series on Blu-Ray

[Editor's Note: Watch the video version of this preview below, if you're interested.]

The campaign has always been my favorite part of Dawn of War, putting its RTS action in context of the wild, over-the-top, operatic drama of the far future. But when I got to go hands-on with the first bit of Dawn of War 4's grim story, it was a bit less opera and a bit more party rock, with the Ork faction leading the way. And as straightforwardly brutal as they are, there's an interesting twist this time with a bit of intra-faction rivalry between the biggest boyz.

BOSS MODE

There is a brief, two-mission tutorial when you first load up Dawn of War 4 featuring the Space Marines and the Imperial Guard. But in terms of the main meat of the campaign, each of the four factions has their own story with a specific spot in the larger, unfolding narrative. And the Orks come chronologically first, with their campaign setting the stage for everything that comes after it. And that just kind of works, really. If you want to kick things off with a bang and make a lot of messes others are going to have to clean up later, I can think of no one better to serve as the opening act.

As you may know if you've seen the CGI trailer, the inciting action of the entire game is a Blood Ravens battle barge getting invaded by orks under recurring Dawn of War big baddie, Gorgutz. This guy is hundreds of years old at this point and has been leading his boyz across the stars in conflict after conflict. So when he decides to crash his rok down on Kronus to pursue the Astartes, he has every expectation of being in charge.

That's not exactly how it plays out, though. In the first mission, called Da Beastboss, we're introduced to a younger and scrappier leader, Guzcutta. He's native to the planet Kronus, at least in as far as the Orks can be native to anywhere considering they're technically an invasive species of fungus… look, it's a long story, okay? We could be here talking about 40K deep lore for hours. But the point is, he's only ever known Kronus as home and the band of Orks living here already view him as their leader.

If Gorgutz is the surprisingly clever old war dog, Guzcutta is kind of a rebellious teen coming into his own. Gorgutz favors huge war machines and ridiculous firepower to get the job done, while Guzcutta relies on the beasts his boyz can tame and ride into battle for a little bit more of a low-tech approach. Both warbosses will eventually get access to all the same units, of course. And this initial bit is really just an introduction to Guzcutta and the Orks' main faction mechanics.

MAKE IT ORKY

Since the tutorial focused on how to move units, attack, use abilities, and things like that, Ork mission one can focus on what makes the Orks unique, like their Waaagh! mechanic, which you can learn more about in our faction deep dive. Your enemies for the early campaign are mainly the machine men of the Adeptus Mechanicus, occasionally supported by other Imperial auxiliaries, which forced me to focus quite a bit on mobility and flanking.

See, these spindly Skitarii can't stand up to a proper Ork in melee combat, but if they have the benefit of cover, their deadly ranged attacks can hold off a frontal assault for quite a while. Luckily, speedy Squighog Riders can simply run right around their emplacements and hit them from behind. And if that isn't working out, Stormboyz with their definitely not OSHA-approved jetpacks can leap right over them.

This is also where the Beast Snagga Boyz came in handy, because they're a little bit tougher than your standard Ork infantry, so they can draw fire for a decently long time without getting completely disintegrated. I wouldn't say it takes a mastermind to play this faction, as it shouldn't, but there is quite a bit to chew on tactically if you want to get the most out of them. Relentless aggression is rewarded in multiple ways, including growing the size of your squads with experience to become a proper horde. But combine that with a little cleverness, and now you're really dangerous.

CRASHDOWN

But if mission one was all about letting you get to know Guzcutta and his little neighborhood, mission two, Da Biggest Boss, is about how his life got flipped turned upside down. Remember Gorgutz demanding they "crash faster" in the trailer? Well, his ominous pile of scrap has finally touched down in a huge explosion and Guzcutta's boyz are eager to find out what happened. This is another fairly low-key intro mission with the goal of making it to various piles of wreckage left by the rok's impact and finding clues. But the AdMech are also interested in it, and I had to fight my way through them to get answers.

The mission culminates in the first meeting between the two bosses, when you come across Gorgutz' landing party – or at least, the ones who survived the crash – under attack by the AdMech. If you hear Gorgutz' version, of course he would have been fine. But from Guzcutta's perspective, he totally saved the day. Regardless, the main tension of the campaign has now been established, as both big Orks believe they should be the boss on Kronus. And neither of them are about to back down.

You will get to pick between them eventually, which is where the whole campaign branches. But for now, we spend a little more time with Guzcutta. He's the one I ended up picking anyway. I just like his style. And the next mission, Da Race, is a thematically appropriate contest to see who the better boss is by who can destroy the AdMech base fastest.

This is one of my favorite missions in Dawn of War 4 so far and one that really doesn't let you rest on the natural strengths of the Orks alone. While you're making your way up the left side of the map, Gorgutz is clawing up the right. And that means it's not enough to simply overwhelm the humies eventually, which has been easy enough to do up until now. You have to be efficient with your units alongside being relentless and get to the end before your rival does. This kind of scenario design is what I think separates a good RTS mission from a just-okay one.

There's even a bit of a strategic choice built in here, since you can send forces over to engage Gorgutz and slow him down. Ultimately, I found that this delayed me making progress on my side too much and it was better to just let him get bogged down with the AdMech. But it's certainly another way to do the mission if you need to buy yourself some extra time. Flanking him while he's already engaged is especially effective.

A TALE OF TWO BOSSES

Proving yourself here isn't enough, though. Once the Ork campaign branches off, you'll get multiple choices of which mission to take on next, with each one tipping the balance of power toward Gorgutz or Guzcutta. On one mission, you might be collecting scrap to assemble deadly Deff Dreads. I particularly liked one involving the taming of a savage Squigasaur, which becomes Guzcutta's mount and changes his playstyle for the rest of the campaign.

I didn't get to see how this boss brawl ends, or how its outcome might shape the campaigns that come after it. But simply having multiple possible endings for the first of four campaigns is exciting. Especially because I've never liked Gorgutz. It's about time he got knocked down a peg, you know? And Guzcutta's not exactly a knight in shining armor, but I can respect his disdain for authority and yee-haw philosophy on life and war. An Ork after my own heart, if there ever was one.

IGN is celebrating its 30th Anniversary on September 29, 2026. Before it was later rebranded IGN64, our first site, N64.com launched the same day the Nintendo 64 came out in the US back in 1996.

While we didn’t found the company, IGN Entertainment, until February 1999, IGN’s first article – a news story about Howard Lincoln commenting on the decision to drop the N64’s launch price from $249 to $199 – is dated September 23, 1996 and published a few days before IGN’s first site launch: N64.com.

A Celebration of 3D Gaming

IGN's story began with the advent of 3D console gaming and the desire to go beyond the monthly magazines with long lead times and share daily content about N64, PlayStation, and Saturn for our favorite pasttime. Content preservation wasn’t a big thing in the ‘90s, but many of the original articles are still online, along with prelaunch damage control like “Why is the site so slow?”, early examples of story formats that now dominate the internet (like text-and-image-only unboxings), and previews of games that would never see the light of day. Other content is lost to the ages, victims of media server migrations gone wrong, or someone not confirming with the content team that yes, we would like to keep the articles written on Saturnworld.com after merging them all into the new site, IGN.com, in 1999.

IGN is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and I couldn’t be more excited to give you all a sneak peek at the year-long festivities we have in store. From deep dive retrospective interviews with the biggest names in entertainment, to an in-person celebration in downtown Los Angeles, we’re inviting you to celebrate 30 years of pop culture with us.

Everything Everywhere All At Once

It’s fitting we’re celebrating this milestone now, at such an incredible time for games, movies, and streaming. Super Mario is now a huge movie franchise. The Last of Us and Fallout are smash-hit shows. Netflix now hosts an ever-growing collection of video games. And in turn some games, like Dispatch, look and behave a lot like Netflix shows. Thanks to the rise of collab culture in general, fans of everything from Stranger Things to Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn can show off their fandom in Fortnite. You can get Dwight Schrute as a Magic: the Gathering card.

Crucially, it isn’t just the megabrands that have benefitted. At this same time, the expansion of digital distribution platforms like Steam and streaming have empowered formerly niche communities to reach new heights as well. If you like chill, cozy games, they’ve never been bigger. Or if you’re like me and want to optimize conveyor belts and production chains, automation games are also having a moment. On the streaming side, we all have a friend that has found some amazing new subtitled show no one is watching but them, but might blow up into the next big thing (looking at you, Peer). Nowhere is this feeling more prevalent than the incredible growth of anime and manga over the last three decades.

In other words, whatever you’re into, pop culture has evolved to allow you to go deeper into your passions, or discover something amazing and new you didn’t even know you were interested in.

In short, it’s an exciting time to be a fan of…. just about anything.

At IGN, we’re privileged to have been right in the middle of this all for 30 years. IGN Entertainment company co-founder Peer Schneider has published an image gallery from the very earliest days of IGN you have to see.

"I am what I choose to become"

In some ways the entertainment landscape has been completely transformed from what it was in our earliest days. One somewhat startling fact is that IGN has been around longer than YouTube, Netflix, and Xbox, just to name a few. But in other ways, everything old becomes new again. In 1996 we were dreaming about what Zelda would look like on the Nintendo 64. In 2026, we’re dreaming about what Zelda will look like in theaters. Tomb Raider made its debut in 1996, and now in 2026 we’re excited to be covering both the new show and the duo of upcoming games. It’s like poetry… they rhyme.

But it’s these rare periods of more rapid transformation - like the one we’re in right now - that have always fascinated me most. I joined IGN in 2011 as Mobile Games Editor, reviewing games like Angry Birds Star Wars and Infinity Blade (bring it back you cowards!). I spent another couple years running features, and had a lot of fun (and headaches) shepherding insane projects like the Top 125 Nintendo Games. I recently moved into a role overseeing IGN’s absolutely amazing editorial team.

After more than 15 years, the thing that excites me most about working here is still the same: it’s the moment when someone says “...what if we tried this?” when thinking about how to solve a tricky problem.

Around 20 years ago, a little website called YouTube was just taking off. More video game fans were interested in watching videos about their favorite games and movies, and not just reading about them. IGN adapted quickly, and we now have 35 million subscribers watching more than 2 billion videos every year.

Around 10 years ago, Snapchat was the biggest thing on the planet, with TikTok and Instagram reels hot on its heels. IGN got on board, and now has more than 60 million social followers watching more than 5 billion vertical videos annually.

A decade later, we’re now in the midst of another transformative moment. In an online landscape increasingly dominated by text, videos, and entire people that were created at the click of a button, authenticity, transparency, and helpfulness are more important than ever.

You’ve seen a little bit of this from us already, and we’re excited to double down across the rest of 2026 and beyond. As one small step, we’re now including an extended discussion with our critics at the end of most reviews, to learn more about the reviewer’s specific tastes, history with the genre or franchise, and more.

Every single piece of IGN content is created by a human. We will give you more opportunities to get to know individual creators’ quirks and tastes in ways beyond just our stable of podcasts, including more letters from the editor like this one. (Seriously - hit me up if you’re playing any new factory automation games).

We’re also doubling down on making ourselves as helpful to all of you as possible, in big ways and small. HowLongToBeat does exactly what's in the name: work with the community to log data on exactly how many hours it takes to clear any video game. Tools like Maxroll and Mapgenie have also joined the IGN family in recent years, serving as complement to our human-powered cultural commentary, helping you get the most out of your games.

Finally, just as we want to find more opportunities for you to get to know us, we’re also excited to connect with and open a closer conversation with all of you more directly, as well. Again, this isn’t something brand new. Among other things, our annual Reddit AMA gives us a chance to chat with you all directly and hopefully demystify how IGN works a bit. The AMA has been one opportunity for us to remind everyone that IGN reviews have never and will never be paid for - every once in a while it’s important to restate the obvious.

But for me personally, IGN Live is the most exciting way we show up for our audience, and it’s been amazing to see so many of you show up for us, too. The (for now) once-a-year event kicked off in 2024, with attendees getting to play dozens of unreleased games, and to see live on-stage interviews with head of Xbox Phil Spencer, the cast of Critical Role, film director Eli Roth, and plenty more. We grew to a second floor in 2025. And in 2026 we’re excited to share more soon about what we have in store. But it may not surprise you to hear it's not just going to be a look ahead at this year’s biggest games, shows, and movies, but will double as a massive celebration 30 years in the making.

I’d love to see you there this June.

A Year-Long Celebration

In addition to IGN Live, you’re going to see special 30th anniversary-themed content on IGN all year long.

In IGN30: Icons, we’re conducting deep dive, longform interviews with industry luminaries from across gaming and entertainment to learn more about what they were doing in 1996, get their take on the last 30 years of groundbreaking changes, as well as their look ahead at the next 30 years.

1996 was an incredible year for games, featuring the debut of Super Mario 64, Crash Bandicoot, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, and Pokemon Red & Blue, just to name a few. And although we didn’t want too much of our IGN30 celebration to just be pure nostalgia, we couldn’t pass up this opportunity to revisit those all-time greats. So this year we’ll be producing special IGN30 editions of Art of the Level, Is It Still Fun Today?, and more. IGN Cinefix is also joining in on the fun, with Art of the Scene: IGN30 Edition.

This year we’re getting you involved in the celebrations too, via interactive face-offs, polls, and brackets to help settle some of the greatest and most storied characters, games, and consoles from the past three decades.

Finally, IGN Store and Humble Bundle will be getting in on the IGN30 celebrations, with throwback merchandise and a best-of-the-best game bundle.

I want to close with a genuine thank you, whether you’re here with us every day, or if this is your first time back in a while. I grew up poring over issues of EGM, and then just a few short years later obsessively checking websites like CheatCC, AICN, The GIA and yes, ign64.com (among so many others). So to have the opportunity to talk about the games, movies, and shows I love for a living is truly a dream come true.

It’s an honor and a privilege to have you here with us at all, and on behalf of everyone at IGN, I’m so excited to celebrate with you this year.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is getting the first of a number of planned voice packs at the end of February, each sold for $4.99.

The first voice pack, which is not included in the Season Pass and thus has upset some players who believe it should be part of the premium DLC package, drops alongside Patch 12 (the one that adds the long-awaited Techmarine class), and includes over 450 voice lines per Chapter, dubbed in the seven audio languages Saber Interactive’s explosive third-persion action game already supports.

This means you get unique lines based on the Chapter, and your Space Marine will shout these new lines. New lines are also in the Social Wheel emote. In a community update, publisher Focus Entertainment used the example of a Space Wolf (the Space Wolves are among the most popular chapters in all 40k), who will shout “For the Allfather” instead of the usual “For the Emperor."

Focus made a point of confirming that none of this voice work is the result of generative AI. “And for those who may be wondering: we’re happy to confirm that each and every one of this Voice Pack’s 1,300+ total voice lines were performed by a real voice actor, as our commitment to quality remains absolute,” Focus said.

The voice actors in English are:

• Thomas Mitchells (Blood Angels)
• Andrew James Spooner (Space Wolves)
• Kris W. Laudrum (Black Templars)