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FX's Alien: Earth Renewed for Season 2

FX announced today that the FX, Hulu and Disney+ series Alien: Earth has been renewed for a second season as part of an overall new deal that FX and Disney Entertainment Television have sealed with showrunner Noah Hawley.

Alien: Earth, Season 2 begins filming in London in 2026.

“It has been our great privilege to work with Noah for more than a decade on some of FX’s best and biggest shows, and we are thrilled to extend our partnership well into the future,” said FX Chairman John Landgraf in a statement.

“Noah never stops surprising us with truly original stories— and his unique ability to bring them to vibrant life as a director and producer as well as writer makes him extraordinary. We can’t wait to get to work on the next season of Alien: Earth, as well as some equally exciting future projects in advanced development."

“I’m thrilled that this expanded deal opens the door to new opportunities across all of Disney Entertainment Television,” said Hawley. “FX has always supported bold, character-driven storytelling. From the very beginning with Fargo, they’ve encouraged me to take creative risks and follow the story wherever it leads. I’m grateful to continue exploring the world of Alien: Earth alongside our partners, cast, and crew as we begin the next chapter.”

Back in September, Hawley said, “Obviously, none of us — Disney or myself — want a single day longer than necessary to get a second season on the air, in success. Everyone wants to get this decision right. But we also want to be ready to go. I certainly know where I’m going. The moment they fire the starting gun, I’m out of the block."

IGN’s Clint Gage was a big fan of Alien: Earth, Season 1; be sure to read all of his Alien: Earth reviews here.

For more coverage of Alien: Earth Season 1, find out what actress Sydney Chandler had to say about creating the Xenomorph language and be sure to check out Alien: Earth Season 1 Ending Explained – How It Can All Fit Into the Bigger Alien Movie Universe feature.

FX’s Alien: Earth is created for television and executive produced by Noah Hawley. Ridley Scott, David W. Zucker, Clayton Krueger, Emilia Serrano, Bob DeLaurentis, Peter Calloway, Monica Macer, John Campisi and Simon Emanuel also serve as executive producers. Alien: Earth is produced by FX Productions.

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The Decked Out Asus ROG Strix G16 RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Laptop Drops to $1,850 for Black Friday

Ahead of Black Friday, Walmart just dropped on a powerful current generation gaming laptop. The Asus ROG Strix G16 RTX 5070 Ti gaming laptop has dropped to $1,849.99 with free shipping after a $500 off instant discount. This is the lowest price I've seen for this exact config by $150. In addition to the excellent graphics card, this laptop features the AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX processor, which is one of the most powerful AMD mobile CPU available right now.

Asus ROG Strix G16 RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Laptop for $1,849.99

The Asus ROG Strix G16 gaming laptop features a 16" 2.5K 240Hz IPS display, AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX processor, GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB NVMe SSD. It measures 0.9" thin and weighs about 5.5 pounds. It's not the lightest laptop on the block, but that's because the Strix models put more emphasis on maximum performance and cooling. This is a pretty high-end model from Asus, sitting just under the Scar lineup and side by side with the Zephyrus lineup. The top lid boasts solid aluminum construction, but the base is made of plastic to keep the weight down and reduce heat transfer to the keyboard and palm area so that your hands don't get toasty while gaming.

The Strix G16 is equipped with a current generation AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX processor, which has a max turbo frequency of 5.4GHz with 16 cores, 32 threads, and 64MB total L3 cache. According to Passmark, this is the third most powerful AMD mobile CPU available right now and beats out Intel's Core Ultra 295HX. In fact, the only AMD processors that have a higher rating are the new X3D models which are very difficult to find in all but the highest end laptops.

The GeForce RTX 5070 Ti mobile GPU is better than the RTX 4080 mobile

The Asus ROG Strix G16 laptop offers a more substantial cooling design than thinner models like Asus' own ROG Zephyrus and is able to accomodate more powerful GPUs like the RTX 5070 Ti without any power throttling. That's important if you want to be able to play games comfortably on the display's enhanced 2560x1600 resolution. The RTX 5070 Ti mobile GPU is a substantial upgrade over the 4070 Ti. In fact, it offers gaming performance on par with the RTX 4080 and takes the lead in any games that support DLSS 4 with multi-frame generation. It's considerably more powerful than the RTX 5070 and the GPU I would recommend at the minimum for gaming at 2.5K resolution.

Looking for more suggestions? Check out the best gaming laptops so far in 2025.

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

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Dogma Finally Has a 4K Blu-ray Release Date After 17 Years of Being in Limbo

Dogma first came out back in 1999, but if you've ever tried to find it on streaming platforms, you've likely uncovered a rather complicated history. The Kevin Smith film was purchased by Harvey and Bob Weinstein a year after its initial release, and until recently, the movie has not been allowed to come to streaming or VOD. In fact, there hasn't been any sort of release for the films since the first Blu-ray came out all the way back in 2008.

Thankfully all of that changed when Iconic Events purchased the theatrical rights for the film back in 2024 and Kevin Smith licensed the home video rights to Lionsgate. Since then Dogma has been having itself a "Resurrection" tour with theater re-releases, and most recently, a 4K Blu-ray home release.

Preorder Dogma in 4K - Out December 9

The standard 4K preorder of Dogma is now available on Amazon. Separately, Lionsgate is releasing a 4K steelbook of the film directly from its website. This is the first time the film has ever been released in 4K, and the 25th anniversary edition features a fresh new cover. The previous Blu-ray release is actually still available on Amazon if you're willing to pay a whopping $93. It's been 17 years since that Blu-ray was released and went out of print a long time ago.

Special features and extras

The standard 4K preorder comes with a 4K Ultra HD disc, a Blu-ray disc, and digital copy of the film. It comes with the following special features:

  • Physical Media Introduction with Kevin Smith
  • Revelations: Making Dogma
  • Establishing Shot with Rober Yeoman
  • Dogma Q&A
  • More Sermons from the Mount
  • Original Theatrical Trailer
  • 25th-Anniversary Teaser & Theatrical Trailer
  • Audio Commentary
  • Technical Commentary
  • Outtakes
  • Jay and Silent Bob Secret Stash Commercial
  • Judge Not: In Defense of Dogma (2001 Documentary)
  • Storyboards
  • Original PSP Introduction with Kevin Smith
  • ShoWest Convention Sizzle
  • Easter Eggs: How Jay Thinks Kevin Directs & How Kevin Directs
  • My Opinion by Mrs. Harriet Wise
  • UK Teaser Trailer
  • TV Spots (US/UK)

When Will Dogma Be Available to Stream?

There isn't a streaming release date for Dogma at this point in time. As far as I know the film has never been available on any sort of streaming service or VOD platform before. With that being said, the fact that we have a release date for the 4K physical edition means that it will likely come to streaming eventually. Lionsgate doesn't have its own streaming service, but it does have a deal with both STARZ and Amazon Prime.

Kevin Smith has also stated that he's already working on Dogma 2, and we'd expect the film to come to a streaming service sometime before that happens at the very least. With a 4K release date of December 2025, you can likely expect Dogma to come to VOD platforms sometime shortly after.

Jacob Kienlen is a Senior SEO Strategist and Writer for IGN. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he has considered the Northwest his home for his entire life. With a bachelor's degree in communication and over 7 years of professional writing experience, his expertise is spread across a variety of different topics -- from TV series to indie games and popular book series.

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ARC Raiders Review

The mark of a truly stellar multiplayer game is when you and your friends are having as much fun in your 50th hour as you were in your first, and that’s a test ARC Raiders passes with flying colors. This is without question the most hooked I’ve found myself on an extraction shooter (and I’ve played a lot of them), with clean and tense gunplay, an incredibly satisfying progression system, and a loot game that has me sweating over what to put in my backpack and what to leave behind. Even with a few bugs to gunk up the gears, just about every journey topside to scavenge from the wastes and battle devious robotic overlords has been a complete blast, especially when accompanied by friends. After years of promising but uneven attempts, ARC Raiders feels like the first to fully realize this genre’s potential, and has set a new standard for it in the process.

ARC Raiders follows the usual extraction shooter formula of dropping you into a hostile zone to take down NPC enemies and scramble for loot, all while looking over your shoulder for rival crews who would love nothing more than to crack you open like a meat pinata and take everything you’ve collected, and then getting back out before they can. It doesn’t do much to iterate or expand on those fundamentals, but it does absolutely nail them, and that’s harder to do than it might sound – for example, big budget attempts like Battlefield 2042’s Hazard Zone mostly fell flat and the alpha for Bungie’s Marathon landed with such a thud it was delayed indefinitely. Even some of my favorites, like Hunt: Showdown and Escape From Tarkov, have always felt like rough drafts of what these daring high-risk, high-reward multiplayer games could be, so it’s long overdue for us to get a highly competent and very polished version like ARC Raiders.

One of the main ways it succeeds is in its stressful gunplay, where weapons only have a few rounds in each magazine, take a good deal of time to reload, and the robot NPCs you’ll face are either much faster than you or can rain down missiles to take you out in a single blast. This means I’m usually feeling like a rodent sneaking around to scavenge food and supplies from the world before slinking back to base – but when a fight does break out, it’s charged with delightful anxiety thanks to the knowledge that you’re about to either lose everything you’ve fought for or grab some awesome gear off the corpses of those you’ve bested. That’s true against both AI-controlled opponents and human players, though it’s smartest to avoid all of them unless you know you’ve brought the gear and skills required to throw down. That’s because firing a shot has a good chance of drawing all robot enemies and loot-hungry raiders to your position, taking advantage of your vulnerability to do as much damage as possible.

That said, I’ve been genuinely shocked by how nice much of the community has been, as I’ve often run into helpful strangers who are more interested in working together than fighting me. Especially when playing solo, where other solo players are prioritized in your matches, I’ve found it downright commonplace to encounter friendly folks who don’t just shoot me on sight like they do in every other extraction shooter out there, which has been a really nice change of pace from the normally sweaty matches. Granted, I’ve also run into plenty of people who say they’re friendly, only to shoot me in the back of the head as soon as I turn around (and then top it off with a racial slur), but hey, it’s still better than that being the norm. It remains to be seen how long the positive tilt of this community will last, as I’ve watched too many other games get overrun by cheaters and toxicity in short order, but at least in these past two weeks it’s been kinda inspiring to see the better angels of the ARC Raiders community win the day.

I’m genuinely shocked by how nice much of the community has been.

And if I do find myself interested in some good ol’ PvP, the non-solo queues tend to be a lot more aggressive, which gives a chance for these high stakes bouts to shine. Dodge-rolling to avoid incoming gunfire and ducking behind cover to heal up before returning fire on an enemy squad is some of the most fun I’ve had in an extraction shooter, especially when you’ve got an arsenal of interesting gadgets, grenades, and leveled up guns you’ve bled for over the course of numerous matches. For example, I did a number on my opponents with my Torrente light machine gun before losing it tragically after falling off a ladder (courtesy of a weird bug), and coming locked and loaded with a handful of Wolfpack grenades that send homing missiles everywhere to take down drones before they can become a threat made me feel like an unstoppable god on the battlefield. It might not have the mechanical crispness of something like Remnant 2 or Gears of War, but it’s leagues above what we’ve seen in a live-service extraction game, and scratches the same kind of itch but in a multiplayer game type where that’s extremely hard to pull off.

Of course, if you’re battling online foes, there are moments where you’ll come up short and lose it all to a rival player. That stings, but at least also allows your beloved weapon to live on in the hands of a worthy successor – plus it just wouldn’t be as fun without that level of risk. The beauty of ARC Raiders, and what makes it far more approachable than most other extraction shooters, is how effortless its easy-come, easy-go loot feels. One way it accomplishes this is by providing pretty substantial free loadouts to use when you’re down on your luck, which are just powerful enough to get you back on your feet after a successful run or two. Plus, it gives you lots of ways to regain better equipment, like crafting and upgrading your own using spare parts you’ve collected, or by just buying some hardware from a vendor using cold hard cash. Even when you’re getting shipped home to your base in pieces, it’s hard to feel like you’ve been set back for very long, since a single good run can reverse your fortunes, and that’s definitely worth the occasional gut punch when you get taken for all you’re worth by some basement-dwelling troll who screeches into their mic after getting the jump on you.

There are still some instances where losing your hard-fought loot just sucks, though, like how you’ll occasionally get matched against an organized crew of three while playing solo. There were also times where I fell victim to unfortunate bugs that resulted in me losing some of my most cherished items. Once my character became stuck in the environment until enemies picked me off, and even after being revived by teammates I was unable to dislodge myself. That time where I fell off a ladder was because I phased through the environment while climbing it, falling to my death and causing me to lose my most prized possession up to that point. These occurrences were extremely rare, and I can count on one hand the amount of times I found myself pissed off at the injustice of it all across the 50 hours I’ve played – but when the stakes are as high as they are, even a tiny amount of this kind of stuff can be downright infuriating. Thankfully, specific bugs aside, one really impressive part of ARC Raiders is just how well it runs overall. In addition to being the prettiest extraction shooter to-date, it also maintained a rock-solid 60 FPS when I played on Xbox Series X, and pushed well beyond that on my high-end PC.

The main reason its hyper-competitive dynamic manages to never sting for long is its incredibly well-designed progression system, which brilliantly makes every match an opportunity for forward momentum, even when you’ve just lost all your best loot. ARC Raiders accomplishes this by giving you a whole bunch of treadmills to run on at the same time, whether it’s the quest system that unlocks bits of story and introduces you to various mechanics by giving you a checklist of stunts to pull off, character XP you gain just by playing matches that grants skill points to dump into skill trees, crafting stations that can be upgraded with the right materials brought back from expeditions, weekly trials that grant all sorts of powerful rewards upon completion, and the Expedition Project that lets you prestige and reset your character in exchange for vanity rewards. There’s so many different ways to make satisfying progress that even being robbed of my favorite weapon wasn’t the end of the world, which goes a long way toward making ARC Raiders more approachable than its peers, in which the rich tend to get richer and the poor almost always get poorer.

Its incredibly well-designed progression makes every match an opportunity for forward momentum.

That said, not all the pieces of the progression puzzle are created equal. While completing quests and taking part in weekly trials does an awesome job of giving you specific tasks during matches with worthy rewards to match, the skill tree is less exciting, as it's weirdly littered with a bunch of filler perks that do little to power you up. Many of them offer unexciting bonuses like making your stamina return slightly faster while crouching – a node I fully leveled up and could still barely tell the difference it made. Meanwhile, others are pretty significant game changers, like one perk that let me craft consumable items while out in the field. The pacing between these two tiers of skills isn’t very well tuned unfortunately, and it felt like I was waiting to buy an ability I was actually excited about every 10 levels or so, which takes quite a bit of grinding to get through.

The story told through those quests doesn’t impress either, not that it’s really what you are here for in the first place. The worldbuilding actually has a lot of promise, as I’m still genuinely curious about the post-apocalyptic surface world that’s been ravaged by environmental disasters and the mysterious origin and motives of the robots that now control it. But there’s almost nothing to flesh it out beyond a few dialogue snippets while chatting with vendors and some small drips of lore about the mechanical minions you’re fighting. I hope they'll dig into that stuff more in the future, because it’s a neat foundation in theory, but it's pretty clear developer Embark Studios didn't care much about the story at all – that’s perhaps best exemplified by the fact that many of the voices are done by AI, which is extremely apparent in their flat and unremarkable deliveries and makes listening to vendors talk about whatever mission they're sending you on basically a waste of time.

One place that worldbuilding does get to shine through a little bit is across the four maps that are currently available, all of which are very cool and have distinct vibes to them – from the ruined husk of a waterlogged dam to a city buried in red sand. It’s a good thing that they’re so great to look at, too, because you’ll spend a whole lot of time trekking back and forth through them in search of loot. With only a handful of areas to explore, it wasn’t terribly long before I felt like I’d seen the vast majority of the zones, but there’s also tons of hidden nooks and crannies and secret areas that can only be accessed with the proper know-how or a rare keycard drop, which did a great job at keeping me interested in retracing my steps through each area.

Another thing that makes exploring each zone really rewarding is learning how to best the various NPC opponents you find along the way. What start out as tiny drones that can be fairly easily brought down quickly turn into swarms of dangerous hovering robots and their more intimidating siblings that can only be destroyed with the aid of some serious firepower. Some of the interactions between these robotic foes are pretty impressive, like how hovering little surveillance cameras called Snitches will mark you for execution for all their friends, who then fly in to attack you or, worse yet, rain in ballistic missiles from a distance that turn the area around you into a blast zone. The way the enemy is able to work together to overwhelm you with superior numbers and instantaneous coordination makes getting caught out in the open an incredibly scary situation that I lost many a loot haul to. There’s also a nice mix of your basic roly poly enemies that shoot fire or explode (but die when they’re so much as sneezed at) and massive, scary robots like the marauding Queen enemy that can only be dealt with by a fully-loaded group of raiders.

That said, these automatons aren’t the most critical of thinkers and often lose track of you the second you duck behind a tree or turn a corner. They also seem to have trouble navigating some of the environments, and you can sometimes see them look like they’re confused, wandering off or getting stuck on the corner of a building before giving up the chase. Another nitpick I have with fighting the NPC enemies is just how long it takes before you stand a chance against any of them aside from the weakest drones. I probably played for over 20 hours before I felt properly geared to take down one of the spiderlike Leapers or deadly Rocketeers, instead spending much of that time hiding like a rat in the shadows and largely avoiding drawing any attention. I would have liked for a faster climb towards being able to confront some of these baddies, because for a stretch there it felt like I’d never be able to, and tip-toeing around for tens of hours can get old after a while.

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Sony Announces Cheaper Japanese-Language Only PS5 Just for Japan

Sony has announced a Japanese-language only PlayStation 5 Digital Edition just for Japan.

Revealed during its State of Play Japan broadcast, the cheaper 825GB PS5 Digital Edition costs 55,000 yen (approx. $350) and comes out on November 21, 2025.

It's a similar proposition to the Japanese language-only Switch 2 model Nintendo released at a discounted price in Japan earleir this year.

For comparison's sake, the base PS5 with a disc drive currently costs $549.99 in the U.S., while the PS5 Digital Edition costs $499.99. The PS5 Pro, meanwhile, costs $749.99. All three went up in price in the U.S. back in August.

Releasing a cheaper PS5 model in Japan will be a key part of Sony's strategy to expand sales of the console and grow PlayStation's userbase. Earlier today, Sony announced the PS5 had sold 84.2 million copies at the five year mark, having shifting an additional 3.9 million units during the three-month period ending September 30. That means the PS5 is slightly behind the PS4, which had sold-in to retailers more than 86.1 million units after five years on sale.

The cheaper Japan-only PS5 wasn't the only new hardware Sony announced at State of Play Japan. It also confirmed a 27-inch PlayStation Monitor, with VRR support and DualSense charging hook. Other notable announcements include the first DLC for FromSoftware's Elden Ring Nightreign. Here's everything announced at State of Play Japan.

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.

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Elden Ring: Nightreign Gets Its First DLC Next Month

Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting its first meaty, proper, named DLC next month, including new bosses, new shifting earth, and new playable Nightfarers. The DLC is called The Forsaken Hollows, and it's out on December 4, 2025.

This comes from a trailer shown during today's State of Play, which showed off a lot of clips from what's to come, albeit without a lot of context. There's a clip showing what seems to be a new Shifting Earth known as The Great Hollow, which opens up a huge hole in the middle of Limveld with temples, towers, and crystals sticking out. We see two new Nightfarers: the first is the Undertaker, which uses strength and faith as her primary stats, and the Scholar, which seems to be an arcane-focused magic-user.

There are also two new bosses that should be familiar to FromSoft veterans. Most notable is a glimpse of Artorias, subject of the original Dark Souls DLC Artorias of the Abyss.

A voiceover that sounds a lot like Duchess also refers to "the aftermath of the Long Night," perhaps implying that this DLC takes place after the "end" of Nightreign when the Nightfarers have defeated all the Nightlords. There's also something at the beginning about the "Dreglord". As usual, Souls fans will probably have to wait for the post-release lore videos to make sense of this one. It's unclear how much story content this is really going to add, or if it's just the bosses, the characters, and the shifting earth.

Elden Ring: Nightreign is Bandai Namco's multiplayer riff on Elden Ring, where 1-3 players can fight their way through three nights of exploration, loot hunting, and bosses as they try to take down powerful Night Lords. The game launched back in May, and we gave it a 7/10, saying "When Elden Ring Nightreign is played exactly as it was designed to be played, it’s one of the finest examples of a three-player co-op game around – but that's harder to do than it should be, and playing solo is poorly balanced."

Since its release, FromSoftware has made a number of balance tweaks, added a duos mode, and updated with an ultra-hard difficulty mode called Deep of Night for those who for some reason didn't think the game was hard enough as-is. However, the last few months have been quiet, and fans have grown agitated at the lack of news or updates, with FromSoftware leaving them to just fight the same bosses over and over. FromSoftware moved to reassure everyone just yesterday in a financial report, and today's DLC announcement should help matters as well. It looks like the DLC will cost $15.00 if you don't already own either the Collectors or Deluxe edition of the game.

You can catch up on everything announced at today's State of Play right here.

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.

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Sony Announces 27-inch PlayStation Monitor, With VRR Support And DualSense Charging Hook

Sony has announced a 27-inch PlayStation-branded gaming monitor for launch in the U.S. and Japan.

Revealed during tonight's State of Play Japan broadcast, footage of the screen in action boasted that it would offer "vivid visuals at QHD with high refresh rates and VRR support." Pricing is yet to be confirmed.

"Today, we're also announcing a gaming monitor which will launch in Japan and the US," Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Hideaki Nishino said, "featuring vivid visuals and a built-in charging hook for your DualSense wireless controller."

While the screen itself supports 240 Hz and can also be hooked up to a PC, accompanying text confirmed it "supports a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz when conntected to a PS5 console," though caveated that "design and specifications are subject to change."

In a post on PlayStation Blog, Shuzo Kikuchi, VP of Product Management at Sony Interactive Entertainment, said the new PlayStation monitor was "built for desktop gaming with a PS5." Kikuchi also outlined the features of the monitor.

PlayStation 27” Gaming Monitor features:

  • A Quad High Definition (QHD) IPS display up to 2560 x 1440 resolution, so players can game at a comfortable viewing distance from their desk.
  • High Dynamic Range support with Auto HDR Tone Mapping that automatically adjusts HDR settings during setup on PS5 and PS5 Pro consoles, ensuring rich and vivid picture quality.
  • VRR support and refresh rates of up to 120 Hz for smooth and seamless gameplay on PS5 and PS5 Pro consoles, and 240 Hz on compatible PC and Mac devices.
  • A built-in Charging Hook for a DualSense or DualSense Edge wireless controller (sold separately) that makes it easy for players to get right into gaming.

Kikuchi said the new PlayStation gaming monitor supports VESA mounting and also has a full suite of audio and connectivity options, including USB ports for your PlayStation Link adapter:

  • Two HDMI IN port (ver 2.1) and one DisplayPort IN port (ver 1.4) for compatibility with PS5, PC, Mac, or other devices
    • HDMI IN port (ver 2.1) supports up to 2560×1440, 240Hz, FRL, VRR; DisplayPort IN port (ver 1.4) supports up to 2560×1440, 240Hz, DSC
  • Two USB Type-A and one USB Type-C port that can be used with PlayStation Link Adapters or other devices
  • Built-in stereo speaker and 3.5mm audio output
  • Compatibility with select VESA mounting systems for a more flexible display setup

PlayStation’s 27” Gaming Monitor with DualSense Charging Hook will launch in 2026 in the U.S. and in Japan, Sony said, with more information on a release date coming soon. There's no word yet on price.

As part of the same broadcast, Sony also confirmed it would launch a Japan-only version of the PS5 Digital Edition with a more competitive price point. The move follows Nintendo's launch of a Japan-only region-locked Switch 2 model, also at a cheaper price.

Of course, this new monitor is only the latest in a long line of PlayStation-branded hardware accessories that Sony has launched over the years. Indeed, the company announced a set of wireless gaming speakers for your PS5 and PC back in September, that can also connect to a PlayStation Portal or your smartphone.

For the rest of the news announced during tonight's livestream, head over to our recap of everything announced during Sony's State of Play Japan November 2025.

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

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The Carpenter's Son Review

The Carpenter’s Son will be released in theaters on November 14.

The Carpenter’s Son is a religious drama knocking on the door of effective psychological horror. Written and directed by Lotfy Nathan, the period piece is loosely based on the non-canonical Infancy Gospel of Thomas (written, as the opening crawl denotes, to retroactively fill in the gaps of Jesus’s life years after his death) and seeks to re-center the oft-ignored Joseph (the legal father of Jesus Christ) in religious myth. The result is a fascinating film of committed performances and violent imagery that hits in occasionally challenging ways, if you can ignore its conservative ideas surrounding modern gender norms.

The characters remain unnamed for the most part. Nicolas Cage plays the eponymous Carpenter, a man plagued by religious visions that take the form of harsh spotlights streaming into darkened spaces, while trip-hop artist FKA Twigs plays his emotionally distant wife, the burdened Mother, and Noah Jupe plays the Boy, a fifteen-year-old whose true nature and significance have been thus far hidden from him. These are, even to the most untrained eye, obvious stand-ins for Joseph, Mary, and a teenage Christ. However, the film doesn’t avoid naming them just to play coy; rather, it understands the power of names and monikers, and reserves these explicit mentions until specific moments of dramatic significance.

In the meantime, the Carpenter takes his family between small villages in the sprawling Roman Empire, ensuring that the Boy remains hidden while the Carpenter and the Mother can successfully teach him the ways of the Torah (courtesy of local Rabbis who take the teenager under their wings). Beyond that, the Carpenter’s plan remains a mystery even to himself, but he prays desperately and passionately, his hands outstretched and fingers crinkled, as though he were trying to pull divine answers from the ether. Cage delivers a deeply heartfelt performance, as a father completely lost when it comes to raising his son, modulating his signature outbursts for a story of tremendous significance. Both he and the Boy are plagued with visions of the future, and the emotional effect this has on them is one of the movie’s central elements amidst its soundscape of harsh whispers and the frequent serpent imagery that injects eeriness into every other scene.

As the family, believing themselves to be persecuted, stops by their umpteenth village, the Carpenter takes a job sculpting pagan temple idols. Before long, a mysterious, androgynous child dubbed “the Stranger” (Isla Johnston) begins tempting the Boy in unusual ways. That this character appears shortly after the Carpenter teaches him about Satan is a crystal-clear tell, but the Stranger exhibits more shades of gray than one might expect. In fact, although she starts out impish, she eventually urges the Boy to use his abilities to heal people, exposing himself to the world in the process.

The drama therein allows Jupe to play a fascinating version of the young Christ: He’s angsty and sharp-tongued, albeit slightly less so than in the actual Infancy Gospel. When challenged to introspect about his true nature, the character begins to slowly unravel the more he understands his purpose – a doctrine he learns not through divine intervention, but by observing suffering up close. The Carpenter’s Son is filled with images of sickness and state torture, ideas that would eventually become key to biblical stories, but presented here at their most disturbing. If Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ was about feeling Jesus’ physical suffering, then The Carpenter’s Son is geared more towards understanding the tremendous emotional burden placed upon him.

Cage delivers a deeply heartfelt performance, modulating his signature outbursts for a story of tremendous significance.

If the film has a major weak point, it’s Twigs’ glassy-eyed Mother, who can’t help but feel like a distracting fixture of the backdrop. Although the actress bursts to life when her character is finally granted an impassioned monologue or two, she tends to sap the energy out of a scene. Thankfully, she isn’t nearly as major a part of the story as Joseph, the Boy, or even the Stranger, the latter of whom becomes a surprising emotional centerpiece thanks to Johnston’s troubled performance as a character not only labelled “evil,” but one who questions the very religious binaries that would lead to her being canonized in this way.

Unfortunately, the various forms the Stranger takes – her two human avatars in particular – seem ill-thought out at best, given how they both center on the character’s androgyny. Intentionally or otherwise, ambiguous clothing and hair, and even breast-binding, become symbols of horror and evil, speaking to the conservative trans panic that has taken hold among American evangelicalism this past decade. In a film about subverting religious norms to come to a greater understanding of scripture and allegory, this distinctly backward framing is hard to ignore.

That said, The Carpenter’s Son remains an effective piece of genre cinema, one whose primary aesthetic is less a midnight movie and more a straightforward historical drama despite its ethereal happenings. Any time that Jupe becomes the frame’s focus, cinematographer Simon Beaufils’ camera takes on an intimate, almost introspective quality buoyed by a naturalistic palette and soft focus. However, there are plenty of jolting delights to be found in the film’s occasional body horror, Cage’s emotional shimmies toward unhinged furor, and even some expressionistic flourishes that turn the environment blood-red and oppressive when the story nears its climax. It may not be likely to change one’s entire outlook on faith, but when it comes to introducing tactile new dimensions that might lead to a closer analysis of the stories one holds dear, it’s a damn fine bit of filmmaking.

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The Outer Worlds 2 Update 1.0.5.0 Released, Featuring Over 360 Fixes & Tweaks – Full Patch Notes

Obsidian Entertainment has released Title Update 1.0.5.0 for The Outer Worlds 2 and shared its full patch notes. So, let’s see what this new update brings to the table. Patch 1.0.5.0 packs over 360 fixes, tweaks, and changes. It also features around 70 fixes for issues that were reported by the game’s fans. Going into … Continue reading The Outer Worlds 2 Update 1.0.5.0 Released, Featuring Over 360 Fixes & Tweaks – Full Patch Notes

The post The Outer Worlds 2 Update 1.0.5.0 Released, Featuring Over 360 Fixes & Tweaks – Full Patch Notes appeared first on DSOGaming.

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OCTOPATH TRAVELER 0 Gets Official Story Trailer

Square Enix has released the official story trailer for OCTOPATH TRAVELER 0. The publisher has also announced that a demo is available on PS5 and PS4. At the time of writing, the demo is not available on PC. So, I don’t know if it is exclusive to Sony’s consoles. OCTOPATH TRAVELER 0 will be a … Continue reading OCTOPATH TRAVELER 0 Gets Official Story Trailer

The post OCTOPATH TRAVELER 0 Gets Official Story Trailer appeared first on DSOGaming.

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Dragon Quest VII Reimagined Gets New Trailer

Square Enix has released a new trailer for Dragon Quest VII Reimagined. This new in-engine trailer showcases some of the game’s environments and characters. It will also give you a glimpse at the new chapter in which you’ll have an adult Kiefer. In Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, the characters designed by famous manga artist Akira … Continue reading Dragon Quest VII Reimagined Gets New Trailer

The post Dragon Quest VII Reimagined Gets New Trailer appeared first on DSOGaming.

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FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly Remake Releases On March 12th

KOEI Tecmo announced that FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly Remake will be released on March 12th, 2026. To celebrate this announcement, the team shared a new trailer that you can find below. This new in-engine trailer shows off some of the game’s locations and characters. FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly REMAKE is a full remake … Continue reading FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly Remake Releases On March 12th

The post FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly Remake Releases On March 12th appeared first on DSOGaming.

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The Sony PlayStation 5 DualSense Edge Controller Drops to $175 Ahead of Black Friday

Sony's official professional grade PlayStation DualSense Edge wireless controller is on sale ahead of Black Friday. You can get the Midnight Black color from Amazon for just $174.99 with free delivery after a $25 off instant discount. The last time I saw a new (not refurb) DualSense Edge marked down was during Sony's Days of Play sale back in June.

PS5 DualSense Edge Controller for $175

The DualSense Edge is Sony's high-end controller for the PS5 console. This is a significant upgrade from the standard DualSense controller, with pro-level features like grips, adjustable analog sticks, mappable rear buttons, profiles, and more. If your analog sticks crap out, you can buy replacements for $19.99. The triggers have received special treatment as well. Next to each trigger is a stop slider that lets you adjust how far you have to press the trigger down to make it register. You can choose standard, medium, or short travel distances. Accessories include a hard shell case and USB-C cable.

If you like the standard DualSense's ergonomics but are looking for more customization needed for Twitch-sensitive genres like fighting games and shooters, then the DualSense Edge is calling out your name.

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.

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Apple Announces iPhone Pocket: A Phone Cocoon You Can Dangle From Your Shoulder

Apple's really leaning into its assertion that there are normal people who want to wear their phone on their body as a fashion accessory all by itself. First, with attachment points for crossbody straps on its first-party iPhone 17 cases, and now with the iPhone Pocket, a stretchy, knitted phone sack which Apple is calling "a beautiful way to wear and carry iPhone."

The new strap is designed by Miyake Design Studio, a studio started by Japanese designer Issey Miyake, who, as MacStories' John Voorhees notes, is credited with designing the black turtleneck sweater Steve Jobs so famously wore. And as he and others have pointed out, it's also pretty reminiscent of the $29 iPod Sock, which was a fun, silly product that Jobs smirkingly introduced back in 2004. (It also reminds me of those colorful cases for the iPhone 5c, which I genuinely liked.)

Apple's announcement is so much more serious than Jobs was then; according to it, the iPhone Pocket was inspired by "a piece of cloth," or the "concept" of one, anyway. The company labors to point out that this "understated design fully encloses iPhone," and that, when stretched, it "subtly reveals its contents and allows users to peek at their iPhone display." You know, like some sort of precious bauble you've been charged with keeping secret and keeping safe, but that you can't help but sneak peeks at, compelled by a growing obsession.

Apple quotes Miyake Design Studio director Yoshiyuki Miyamae as saying the iPhone Pocket is meant to be "universal in aesthetic and versatile in use," so I guess it'll fit everything from the smaller iPhone 17 and 17 Pro to the wider, taller iPhone Air to the gargantuan iPhone 17 Pro Max. I'm sure you could slip anything from a Pixel 10 to a Galaxy Z Fold 7 into the iPhone Pocket. A New Nintendo 3DS XL, too, I bet.

Look, I've heard the arguments for wearing your smartphone. That it keeps you from dropping the phone, or that it makes it easier to get to when you need it. It's not for me, but hey, whatever works for you. I'm not sure the iPhone Pocket does either of those things, but I'm very clearly not the target demographic for this product. I can't wait to see one in real life.

The iPhone Pocket comes as either a short strap version in eight colors, or as a long-strap version in three colors. Oh, and it costs $150 or $230, depending on strap length.

Wes is a freelance writer (Freelance Wes, they call him) who has covered technology, gaming, and entertainment steadily since 2020 at Gizmodo, Tom's Hardware, Hardcore Gamer, and most recently, The Verge. Inside of him there are two wolves: one that thinks it wouldn't be so bad to start collecting game consoles again, and the other who also thinks this, but more strongly.

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State of Play Japan: Everything Announced

The inaugural State of Play Japan presentation came to a close after bringing new announcements for Elden Ring Nightreign, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, Gran Turismo 7, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, and more.

The 40-minute broadcast came packed with information about upcoming games created in Japan and Asia. There were almost too many games to count, with highlights including appearances from Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined, Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly, and Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls. Even FromSoftware showed up to announce the first Elden Ring Nightreign DLC, The Forsaken Hollows.

As host and Attack on Titan voice actor Yuki Kaji brought everything the presentation had to show, we were here to gather up all of the biggest announcements, as well as a first look at a new PS5-themed gaming monitor. You can see everything announced at the State of Play Japan below.

Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined Reemerges With New Gameplay Trailer

The State of Play Japan kicked off with a fresh look at Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined. It comes with another new look at its diorama visuals as it heads toward its February 5, 2026, release date.

Cozy Games Take State of Play

Inkobini: One Store. Many Stories and Coffee Talk Tokyo are two cozy games coming to PlayStation in the near future. Both showed up to give players a sneak peek at heart-warming gameplay as they immerse themselves in two visually distinct worlds.

BrokenLore: Unfollow and Ascend Scare Up New Gameplay at State of Play

Serafini Productions made an appearance at the State of Play Japan to show off BrokenLore: Unfollow and reveal the series’ newest entry: BrokenLore: Ascend. Gameplay for both titles highlights psychological horror elements to look forward to when Unfollow launches January 16, 2026 and when Ascend launches summer 2026.

Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly Remake Gets 2026 Release Date

Koei Tecmo's portion of the State of Play saw the studio reveal a new trailer for Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly. It’s more than just a tease of what’s to come, though, as the footage promised a March 12, 2026, release date.

Dynasty Warriors: Origins Gets Visions of Four Heroes DLC This January

Just after providing a schedule update for Fatal Frame fans, Koei Tecmo revealed the Visions of Four Heroes Dynasty Warriors: Origins DLC will arrive January 22, 2026. Arriving alongside the release date is a first look at footage for the upcoming, action-packed add-on content.

Gran Turismo 7 Players Get Spec 3 and Power Pack Trailer Ahead of 2025 Launch

Series producer Kazunori Yamauchi took the stage for today’s presentation to talk more about Gran Turismo 7 the upcoming, celebratory Spec 3 update, and reveal the Gran Turismo 7 Power Pack. He says the Power Pack brings “real racing” to the series, including races such as a 24-hour race.

“We wanted to bring this realistic and hardcore racing to Gran Turismo at least once,” Yamauchi said. “So, we created this Power Pack, which will be released for sale along with Spec 3 at the end of the year.”

Bandai Namco Unleashes Gameplay DLC Footage for Four Games

Once Upon a Katamari, Pac-Man World 2: Re-Pac, Digimon Story: Time Stranger, and Super Robot Wars Y all have DLC packs on the way. While Katamari players can look forward to a treasure trove of new cosmetics and sounds, Pac-Man fans are getting a full-on Sonic the Hedgehog crossover. Digimon, meanwhile, gets new monsters with Episode Pack 1: Alternate Dimension, and Super Robot Wars Y gets collaboration DLC featuring three titles: Galactic Whirlwind Bryger, The Big O, and Futo PI: Portrait of Kamen Rider Skull.

Monster Hunter Wilds Sets Free Title Update 4 Release Date

Capcom didn’t have much to share during today’s State of Play, but it did turn up to announce that Monster Hunter Wilds Title Update 4 has a release date of December 16, 2025. Little footage of the next major content drop was revealed, with Kaji reminding fans to look forward to new endgame additions and seasonal events.

NiGHTS, Super Monkey Ball, and SpongeBob Characters join Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds

Sega’s crossover racing game, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, is bringing even more familiar faces into the fray, with the SpongeBob pack now set to arrive November 20, 2025. NiGHTS, Super Monkey Ball’s AiAi, and Tangle & Whisper are also set to join as free characters in December, January, and February, respectively.

Never Grave: The Witch and the Curse Gameplay Trailer Sets 2026 Release Date

Pocketpair Publishing and developer Frontside 180's Never Grave: The Witch and the Curse made an appearance at the State of Play Japan to unveil their Metroidvania roguelike has a release date of March 5, 2026. Gameplay revealed alongside the announcements highlights the animated action game's many bosses, enviornments, and abilities.

Fate Trigger Blends Animated Visuals With Tactical Hero Shooter Gameplay

Fate Trigger is a new tactical hero shooter built in Unreal Engine 5 that is coming to players in 2026. Like so many of the other hero shooters it takes after, this fast-paced, third-person action game lets players control a number of unique characters, each with different abilities. Additionally, Kaji confirmed he is involved with Fate Trigger as the voice actor for Ryoin.

Octopath Traveler 0 Demo Out Today Ahead of December Release Date

As Square Enix moves closer to its December 4, 2025, release date for Octopath Traveler 0, it has decided to entice players with a new demo. A trailer for the announcement highlighted more of the story from the publisher’s latest HD-2D adventure, while promising that the demo allows players to try out the first three hours of the game, with progress carrying over to the full release.

Arc System Works Talks Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls Beta Plans

Arc System Works’ Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls might be one of the most-anticipated fighting games in years, and come December 5 - 7, players will get to go hands-on as part of another closed beta test. Characters highlighted during the no-breaks beta gameplay reveal trailer include Spider-Man and Ghost Rider, promising three days for players to play to their heart’s content.

Elden Ring Nightreign: The Forsaken Hollows DLC Revealed

FromSoftware and its multiplayer spinoff, Elden Ring Nightreign, are back with new DLC called The Forsaken Hollows. The first trailer for the new content premiered as part of the State of Play Japan, revealing elements both familiar and new for fans of everything from Elden Ring to Dark Souls. It’s undeniably FromSoftware, and with a release date of December 4, 2025, it’s only a few weeks away, too.

Japanese Language Digital Edition PS5 Coming to Japan

【State of Play 日本】
「PlayStation®5 デジタル・エディション 日本語専用」11月21日(金)発売!

・希望小売価格55,000円(税込)
・本体言語は日本語のみ
・日本のPS Storeのみ利用可能

詳しくはこちら⇒ https://t.co/z2VHEekqDh
#StateofPlay pic.twitter.com/C7M59Goh2b

— プレイステーション公式 (@PlayStation_jp) November 11, 2025

PlayStation fans in Japan will soon have be able to purchase an all-digital Japanese language PS5. Available November 21, 2025, the slightly discounted device costs 55,000 yen (or about $350) and features 825GB of storage.

Sony Unveils PlayStation 5 Monitor for the U.S. and Japan

Sony is keeping up its run of PS5 hardware accessories with the announcement of a sleek new PlayStation-branded monitor. The 27-inch device is said to feature “vivid visuals,” VRR support, and even has a built-in charging dock for the DualSense controller. Pricing details and a release schedule have not been announced.

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).

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