Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics have big plans for Conan the Barbarian this fall, and IGN has your first look at what's in store. Ahead of Comic-Con 2025, the company has revealed two major Conan projects launching in October, including a big milestone special and a remastered version of Classic Conan material.
Read on to see exclusive cover art and to find out what to expect from these new Conan comics.
Conan the Barbarian #25
Creative Team: Jim Zub & Alex Horley
Price: $5.99
Release Date: October 8, 2025
Milestone 25th issue featuring an epic stand alone story! Perfect jumping on point for new fans! Written by fan-favorite writer, Jim Zub!
THE NOMAD: Conan the King welcomes a strange visitor with an even stranger mission. Can the Ruler of Aquilonia prove his mettle or will the mysterious wanderer’s incredible power change the course of history?
This special issue #25 is a must-have for Conan fans!
The Savage Sword of Conan: Reforged #1
Creative Team: Robert E. Howard, Roy Thomas, Barry Windsor-Smith, John Buscema, Alfredo Alcala
Price: $9.99
Release Date: October 22, 2025
REFORGED revitalizes the legendary black-and-white magazine with vivid, all-new color restorations, bringing new depth and intensity to Conan’s celebrated adventures.
This new series kicks off with two of Conan’s most iconic stories: Tower of the Elephant featuring art from the legendary John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala, and The Frost-Giant’s Daughter from the incomparable Barry Windsor-Smith, now recolored to fully capture the brutal majesty of Robert E. Howard’s Hyborian Age.
The sword is drawn, the battles rage, and the legend is reforged.
Titan will be revealing more details about Conan the Barbarian #25 and The Savage Sword of Conan: Reforged #1 at San Diego Comic-Con next week.
Roblox has launched a new licensing platform to allow easier connections between Roblox creators and IP holders, including Netflix, Lionsgate, and Sega.
License Manager makes it easier for "eligible creators" to use approved assets based on iconic franchises like Squid Game, Stranger Things, Twilight, and Saw, and games like the Yakuza series, Like a Dragon.
"Traditionally, licensing IP for game development has been a complex, time-consuming process, limiting opportunities to larger studios," Roblox said.
"[Rights holders] can take a more tailored, selective approach with revenue sharing, an open source-style approach where fans can take the reins, or simply scan for IP usage across experiences. Licenses can be offered to existing experiences or by listing them in the new Licenses catalog, where creators can browse and apply."
As well as being able to directly liaise with creators, the IP holders can also "proactively scan experiences for IP usage," intimating there may eventually be a crackdown on unauthorized fan games.
The company says this is just the beginning, with more IP holders expected to join the program "throughout the year."
Earlier this month, Roblox brought in 1,000 developers to participate in The Hatch, an event the Lego-like game platform said would go down as its biggest Easter Egg hunt ever. While the official experience is propped up as an important moment, thousands of players voiced their support for a boycott by using the #BoycottTheHatch across social media as part of a campaign to make the platform safer for all ages.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
James Gunn’s rebooted DC Universe is off to a flyer with Superman, but whose story is the DCU really? In a new interview, Gunn of course wouldn't say, but did tease they’re a character no-one would expect.
In an interview with ScreenRant, Gunn jokingly acknowledged the DCU isn’t Krypto the Superdog’s story, despite his star turn in Superman. Then, he added: “I think... I do know whose story it is. And it probably isn't anyone anyone would ever expect.”
ScreenRant asked if this mystery character is someone we’ve seen already in the DCU, and Gunn confirmed it is.
As Gunn has indicated in prior interviews, he’s building towards a big event. But this, too, sounds like it will take fans by surprise.
“And it's not what anyone thinks,” he continued. “It's not what anyone would guess. But I think that if people watch the next season of Peacemaker, they'll see where a lot of these things are going, and have a little bit more of a sense of maybe what can happen.”
Peacemaker Season 2, which sees John Cena reprise the title role, launches on HBO Max in August. In May, Gunn teased what sounded like a significant cameo that appears near the end of the season — but stopped short of saying whether it’s a character we’ve seen in Superman or another character from the wider, rebooted DCU. Is this the character Gunn is now referring to?
Warning! Spoilers for Superman follow:
It’s also worth noting that Supergirl appears in cameo form at the end of Superman. Could Gunn be referring to Kara Zor-El, played by Milly Alcock? Is the DCU her story?
Given Gunn’s cryptic comments about the character in question being a total surprise, perhaps Supergirl is too obvious a pick. But we know it’s someone we’ve seen on-screen already. Hal Jordan? Mister Terrific? Lois Lane? Jimmy Olsen?!
Let us know who you think it is in the comments below.
In the U.S., Superman got the DCU off to a flyer with a global weekend take of $217 million at the box office. Its $122 million domestic haul was enough to make it the biggest North American launch ever for a solo Superman film, not adjusted for inflation.
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.
So, I hear you want a new 3D Mario. If that means you’re looking for a console-defining platformer with satisfying, expressive movement, innovative mechanics that constantly grow and evolve, and expertly crafted challenges that unleash the interactive potential between said movement and mechanics, then I’m beyond thrilled to share that Donkey Kong Bananza is all of that and so much more. Bananza is no mere “side project” from the team behind Super Mario Odyssey – it’s a brilliant successor to that masterpiece, a tremendous reinvention for one of Nintendo’s original mascots, and a groundbreaking adventure in every sense of the word.
Every breakable corner of DK’s world (which is most of them) is bursting with timeless Nintendo magic and equally fresh ambition. Bananza wonderfully balances honoring its star’s various incarnations over the decades – with lovely nods to both Shigeru Miyamoto’s seminal arcade original and Rare’s classic Donkey Kong Country trilogy – while also fearlessly punching through a mountain to forge its own path. It also tells a light, sweet story about DK and his spirited sidekick Pauline pursuing an underground legend that will allegedly grant them one wish (Pauline hopes to return home, and DK just wants more bananas, of course), and the deeper the pair dives toward the Planet Core, the deeper the gameplay becomes. Bananza is a constant crescendo across its 20-hour campaign that hits its pinnacle with an unforgettable finale that cements this as one of the best 3D platformers I’ve ever played.
Nintendo builds each new 3D Mario around one big idea: Sunshine’s water pack, Odyssey’s body-snatching hat, and so on. Mario is nowhere to be seen here but, in that same tradition, Bananza’s fully destructible environments suit a hulking, rampaging gorilla far better than the Mushroom Kingdom’s usual leading man, and this exciting concept is truly fit for a Kong. Practically everything in this world is designed for Donkey Kong to punch and break, and the extent to which Bananza commits to letting you tear through its environment is both technically impressive and a ton of fun. It’s refreshing to experience a Nintendo 3D platformer with an almost completely new toolkit, and DK’s set of abilities is endlessly enjoyable and fulfilling to pull off. Donkey Kong is powerful, and that’s regularly reflected across his moves.
The simple action of tearing a chunk from the ground – which you can do almost anywhere – leads to so many dynamic possibilities: DK can hurl it at airborne enemies, swing it to break through walls, bounce off it to double jump, or surf on it to get around faster and safely cross dangerous terrain. When he’s empty-handed he can punch in any direction, slap the ground to instantly gather loose gold and reveal nearby collectibles, and perform a satisfying roll-jump-roll combo cut from the same cloth as Mario throwing Cappy and bouncing off him for distance. Plus, he takes a page out of Link’s book and can climb basically any non-slippery surface, granting an extra sense of freedom to the entire journey.
Crunchy sound effects that change depending on the material DK’s interacting with make it even more entertaining to wreck stuff – like the loud crumble of breaking down a sturdy wall of stone, or the juicy splash of tearing into a watermelon. The controls for doing all of this are so polished, and when you chain together a combo (like tearing a chunk out of the ground, smacking it into an enemy to weaken them, and slamming into it with a roll to finish the job) everything sings together in perfect harmony.
Bananza is one of the best 3D platformers I’ve ever played.
To slightly misquote Shrek, Bananza is like an onion – its levels are called layers, and each one is a sprawling playground constructed to maximize the potential of DK’s destructive abilities. There’s so much to find both on their surfaces and tucked away in hidden caves and tunnels you find by bashing your way through the environment. But Bananza rarely relies on mindless destruction for the sake of it, so you almost never have to stumble onto random discoveries just by beating the snot out of everything. Instead, it excels at rewarding discoveries by way of smart destruction, and it’s remarkable how intentional and well-designed its dense, vertical layers are. Visual cues masterfully draw your eye to areas worth exploring, similar to how veteran Zelda players know to place a bomb in front of any suspicious crack. See a tantalizing gold piece or fossil embedded in the wall? Chuck an explosive Boom Rock at it and there’s a good chance you’ll reveal a new path to explore.
Sure, the open-world nature of these maps means you can occasionally happen upon a collectible by skipping the intended puzzle entirely and just carving a tunnel straight to it. In my experience as I played naturally, though, it didn’t happen that often, and it fits in with modern Nintendo trends seen in games like Tears of the Kingdom where the designers don’t care how you get from point A to point B as long as you have fun doing it. On the other hand, there are limits to that freedom: Bananza smartly walls off most of its main objectives behind terrain the nefarious Void Kong has turned indestructible in order to force you to go through the proper steps of the story, so it’s not like DK can just punch his way straight down to the end credits. That said, I can’t wait to see how speedrunners will find ways to optimize their routes through different levels – I’m sure there are some crazy demolition techniques and shortcuts waiting to be found.
What’s interesting about how the world and objectives are designed is that Bananza isn’t really about destroying everything. Instead, it’s about exploring, platforming, fighting, and collecting in a vast world where you can destroy everything, which is an important distinction. It never feels like a gimmick or the only tool you have to solve every problem, but rather one integral part of Bananza’s larger game design philosophy. I was rarely asked to create random tunnels underground with no guidance like you might in Minecraft, and DK’s upgradeable sonar ability helped me find buried collectibles hidden to the naked eye. And, Pauline helps out with the search, too, as using her singing ability reveals waypoints to collectibles marked on your map, making it easy to pick your next destination. That keeps the hunt for completion focused and fun, even if the camera occasionally struggles with the weird angles you force it into when digging yourself a nice hole. Of course, if you want to rip an entire level down to the studs for the fun of it, you can do that, too.
Romping around the sublevels hunting for treasure is a blast, and the fact that I still felt totally in control of the action even with so much fast-paced chaos unfolding on screen at any given time is an impressive feat. I love how the world crumbles around DK when I’m on a rampage: it makes everything feel more alive and really sells the weight and heft of this character, like the way he leaves a crater when crash landing after a high jump off a cliff (there’s no fall damage, naturally). To some extent, it’s made returning to past Mario games feel less dynamic in comparison – what do you mean Mario’s ground-pound doesn’t shatter the terrain around him?
There was some pre-launch concern that the world’s malleable nature might leave each layer feeling like a palette swap of one big underground region, but fortunately, that’s not the case. Every world has something unique to offer both visually and mechanically, from the Freezer Layer’s icicles you have to knock down to create platforms, to the Resort Layer’s tropical vibes and Liftoff Ore that sends DK soaring into the sky when you grab a chunk of it.
Bananza never stops pulling fresh ideas right off the vine.
And Bananza never stops pulling fresh ideas right off the vine over its 20+ hours. Without spoiling anything, I was stunned at the ingenuity on display as I dove to some of its deeper, late-game layers. There are tons of different material types that make up the world, and there are set rules to how they all interact with each other. A simple example is how throwing ice onto lava creates a hardened rock platform, but the chemistry and interplay between different elements gets more complex as you progress, and learning these relationships and using your knowledge of them to solve increasingly smart puzzles is supremely gratifying.
Those puzzles are often found in standalone challenge rooms, the entrances to which are scattered across each layer. There’s a nicely curated mix of fights, logic puzzles, and platforming sequences that offer a welcome change of pace from the open-ended, explorable layers themselves, and I was consistently impressed with how the challenges take full advantage of the systems Nintendo built for Bananza. After more than 50 hours, I’m still finding new challenge rooms that mix and match enemies, materials, and abilities in brand-new ways. Some of the best examples are sections of blue and pink slime that are inverses of each other: If the blue slime section is completely full, its pink counterpart is totally empty; destroying part of the blue slime fills in the matching part of the pink slime area. Bananza builds several brilliant puzzles off this one idea, and gets similar mileage out of every toy in its toybox. It’s astonishing how frequently I discovered clever challenges that forced me to think about something I’d already seen before in a new way.
On its own, exploration is gratifying, but it helps that there are great rewards for finding Bananza’s heaps of collectibles as well. Fossils are used to buy region-specific outfits that add different perks to DK and Pauline – like increasing your chances of finding a treasure chest – and it’s also just fun to give them both a fresh look. You’ll also collect mountains of gold, and while I was swimming in cash for the first several hours, I eventually had to pay for some optional content that ran my wallet dry. Trust me when I say collecting as much gold as you can will be worth it in the end.
Of course, the main collectible in Bananza is its Banandium Gems, which are comparable to Odyssey’s Power Moons in that they’re plentifully stashed around the levels in places that are often challenging to reach. Unlike Odyssey, though, Bananza doesn’t require you to gather a certain number of Gems before moving onto the next area. Instead, the main story relies on its own linear set of objectives (which often reward you with Gems anyways), while collecting five earns DK a skill point which can be used to upgrade his health, moves, and Bananza transformations. The skill tree doesn’t have a ton of surprises that’ll radically change your playstyle, but it’s nice knowing that grabbing a Gem is always working toward a specific short-term goal, whereas Odyssey’s Moons didn’t really serve a purpose after the credits rolled other than unlocking the far-off final challenge or for the simple sake of being a completionist.
There are tons of Gems to find. I had found literally hundreds by the time I cleared the main story after 20 hours, I’ve spent 30 additional hours collecting hundreds more, and likely have double-digit hours left to reach 100% completion. Going for 100% is a massive undertaking, but with how enjoyable Bananza is to play, I’m not slowing down until I’ve collected every last one. And, unlike Mario Kart World’s lackluster Free Roam map, it’s easy to track your progress this time with a helpful list of your Gems in each layer and a really cool 3D map that accurately reflects the current state of the terrain you’ve destroyed.
Bananza looks great, with expressive animations and colorful environments.
Unfortunately, that map does occasionally suffer from minor framerate drops, as does the rest of Bananza. The action generally stays at a solid 60 fps both while docked on the TV and when playing handheld, but it can briefly dip below that when you’re going crazy with the destruction or when you first drop into a brand new level. It’s not great that we’re already talking about performance issues on Nintendo’s brand new console, but it’s never too noticeable or distracting, either. It’s easier to forgive the occasional dropped frame when it’s because so much beautiful chaos is happening at once, and the ambition of this fully interactable, destructible world is definitely worth that tradeoff.
Bananza really does look great, with amazing, expressive animations for DK himself and colorfully detailed environments, NPCs, and enemies. It also constantly pulls inspiration from DK history, such as the opening level being littered with fallen girders from the original Donkey Kong arcade game and sidescrolling segments that reference classic Donkey Kong Country levels, including a lovely new arrangement of Stickerbush Symphony that’s just one tune in Bananza’s awesome soundtrack. This may be from the 3D Mario team, but Bananza regularly pays respects to all of DK history and, at times, feels like a modern follow-up to Rare’s golden era from the SNES and N64. Even the friendly rocks with googly eyes look as if they were plucked right from Banjo-Kazooie.
Some of the flashiest moments happen during DK’s Bananza transformations: a variety of powered-up, time-limited states that are unlocked as you progress deeper into the planet. Kong Bananza is essentially a souped-up version of DK himself who can disintegrate the harder materials you’d usually need a Boom Rock to break through. Zebra Bananza is all about speed, where you can run over terrain that would crumble underneath DK’s ordinary giant feet, while Ostrich Bananza lets you glide through the air. The character design is hilarious, and each Bananza is accompanied by a catchy tune performed by Pauline, so it’s always fun to mutate into one of these fierce forms. They all feel fleshed out and great to control, and even better, you can instantly swap between the Bananza transformations when you’re in the powered-up state, giving you even more flexibility in how you want to tackle challenges.
If I had to say something critical about the Bananza powers, it’s that sometimes they’re too powerful. You can only enter a Bananza if you have enough Bananergy, which is a meter filled by collecting gold, so in theory, the Bananzas should be somewhat limited. However, gold is so plentiful that you’ll pretty much always earn enough Bananergy to transform almost immediately after spending it. This can sometimes trivialize otherwise interesting puzzles in the overworld – for example, if there’s a Gem surrounded by poison water and the “intended” route involves creating your own path to it using vines, you can instead just skip the whole challenge by gliding to it as Ostrich Bananza. That’s admittedly still a real solution that fits in with Nintendo’s recent love of designing puzzles where any answer that works is a correct one, but having that power so readily available can feel cheap compared to the fun actually figuring an obstacle out. I was usually able to restrain myself from using the most streamlined options Bananzas sometimes provided, but if you’re someone who was unable to resist relying on Tears of the Kingdom’s convenient-but-boring hoverbike, I could see them being a dangerous temptation.
The gloves truly come off during the post-game content.
The sheer power of Bananzas also come into play during the boss battles, which are cool but pretty easy for the most part. The decision to give the big bads a traditional health bar instead of using the “expose the weak spot, hit it, and repeat three times” Mario template fits DK’s brawler-focused style perfectly. Still, thanks to the Bananza powers, that meant I defeated some of newcomer Grumpy Kong’s earlier creations in less than 30 seconds. The bosses all have exciting designs and are very fun to look at, like a giant stone squid made up of dozens of smaller squids that feels clearly inspired by Splatoon, so I would have liked if they had been able to take a few more punches before being ground into the dirt. That said, it does eventually right the ship: some of the late-game bosses put up much more of a fight, so I had few complaints on that front by the end.
Even so, it’s fairly simple to reach the end credits of Bananza if that’s all you’re looking to do. As with most Nintendo games, much of the enjoyment comes from surprise, delight, and poking around for secrets rather than white-knuckle difficulty. That’s not a complaint, given how fantastic the mechanics are and how many optional challenges Bananza presents off the beaten path for veteran players. For example, the platform challenge rooms each hold three Gems within. One is usually not that tough to reach, but the other two are often hidden in shrewd places you’ll have to keep your eyes peeled to spot. It strikes a great balance where most people should be able to get to the end of the story (especially since there’s an optional Assist Mode that increases DK’s health if needed, and a two-player mode great for letting younger players help out by firing Pauline’s vocal projectiles using the Switch 2 Joy-Con’s mouse controls) while still offering plenty to keep hardcore fans entertained. And the gloves truly come off during the post-game content, which continues to push the mechanics in more extreme, exciting ways.
Colin Farrell has insisted Penguin Season 2 is not currently in the works, but he has pointed to Matt Reeves’ The Batman 2 and even namechecked the so-far unannounced Batman 3.
There’s a lot to untangle here, so let’s start at the beginning. Matt Reeves’ self-contained DC universe is called the ‘Batman Epic Crime Saga.’ This so far includes 2022’s The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader, and HBO Max series The Penguin, which sees Colin Farrell reprise his role as Oz Cobb.
The Penguin is set one week after The Batman and leads into the events of the upcoming The Batman 2, whose script everyone and their dog (DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn included!) has been waiting on with a great deal of anticipation. That script is finally complete, with The Batman 2 itself due out Oct 1, 2027.
But given the success of The Penguin, the expectation is it will get a second season. At least, that’s what everyone keeps asking Colin Farrell about. In a new interview with Variety, Farrell was asked about rumors there could be a second season. Here’s his response:
“There’s literally not. If there was, and I was told to lie to you, I’d probably have to lie to you. But genuinely, no. Because the show went well, of course, there’s been rumblings about, ‘Would we do a second season? What would that look like?’ There is absolutely nothing in process. There’s Batman 2, which I haven’t read the script for yet. And then there’s Batman 3. I don’t know if I’m in them or what’s happening, but I’ll hopefully read Batman 2 soon.”
Wait, Batman 3? Yes, Reeves has said he set out to make a trilogy of Batman films, and as of last year that plan was still on, but given how long it’s taken to get The Batman 2 going (if it does come out in October 2027, it’ll arrive five-and-a-half years after The Batman), the idea of The Batman 3 following in a timely fashion feels tricky.
So what does the prospect of The Batman 2 in 2027 and The Batman 3 coming out after mean for the timing of The Brave and the Bold? Gunn faces the potentially confusing situation of having two actors playing Batman in movies across two different DC universes.
As of February, The Brave and the Bold was said to be in “very active development,” and the story was “coming together very nicely.” But is The Flash director Andy Muschietti still directing? Gunn and Safran are developing the script, and will show it to Muschietti "when we have it in a place where we think it's ready to go... and see if it's a fit for him," Safran said earlier this year. "I'm very, very actively involved in that script," Gunn said, also earlier this year.
Speaking more recently on Batman, Gunn said he’s not actually writing The Brave and the Bold, but is working with an unnamed writer to “get it right.”
“Batman’s my biggest issue in all of DC right now, personally,” he said. “And it’s not — I’m not writing Batman, but I am working with the writer of Batman and trying to get it right, because he’s incredibly important to DC, as is Wonder Woman.
“So outside of the stuff that I’m doing in the projects that are actively going, our two priorities are finishing our Wonder Woman and our Batman scripts.”
Gunn then discussed in vague terms the kind of Batman he’s going for — or, perhaps it would be better to say the kind of Batman he's trying to avoid.
“Batman has to have a reason for existing, right? So Batman can’t just be, ‘Oh, we’re making a Batman movie because Batman’s the biggest character in all of Warner Bros.,’ which he is. But because there’s a need for him in the DCU and a need that he’s not exactly the same as Matt’s Batman.
“But yet he’s not a campy Batman. I’m not interested in that. I’m not interested in a funny, campy Batman, really. So we’re dealing with that. I think I have a way in, by the way. I think I really know what it’s — I just am dealing with the writer to make sure that we can make it a reality.”
And while Farrell himself cast doubt on The Penguin Season 2, HBO Max boss Casey Bloys sounded more positive, also in an interview with Variety. Without providing a release window, Bloys said:
“The number one thing right now that Matt [Reeves] is dealing with is getting the movie going. I believe they’re making progress there. I know that he and [showrunner] Lauren [LeFranc] have talked about various ideas. So, could another chapter be in the future? Definitely possible. Right now, I think the priority for Matt is the movie. But I know that Lauren is thinking of various ideas that might work alongside the movie. I think it’s possible. I just don’t know at this point.”
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.
The Last of Us Season 3 is "definitely planned" to arrive in 2027, HBO boss Casey Bloys has confirmed, pinning down a launch window for the series' next — and potentially last — run of episodes.
Amid a mixed response to The Last of Us' recent second season and the subsequent departure of franchise creator Neil Druckmann, Bloys said he was confident in showrunner Craig Mazin's ability to continue on — and to do so successfully despite the series' lead actors changing.
Exactly how long the series will continue remains uncertain, Bloys continued, saying there was a possibility The Last of Us would wrap up in 2027 as well.
"The series is definitely planned for 2027," Bloys told Variety, dodging the specific question of whether the show would return for the 2026-2027 TV season, or later.
"Craig [Mazin] is still working it out whether it will be two more seasons or one more long season," he continued. "It hasn't been decided yet, and I'm following Craig's lead on that."
HBO previously confirmed that The Last of Us Season 3 will now feature Kaitlyn Dever as its main star, following the departure of Pedro Pascal's Joel and a waning focus on Bella Ramsey's Ellie. Would the change of lead actors — particularly from the series' hit first season — present something of a challenge?
"Not from a marketing perspective," Bloys responded, "because I think the title is obviously helped by the video game, and now the first two seasons is pretty well established. I kind of appreciate shows that take things and do a show from a different point of view."
"Obviously it was great to have Neil involved in the beginning," Bloys said of Druckmann's involvement. "The whole reason that I wanted to do Last of Us is after Chernobyl, I said to Craig, ‘What do you want to do next?’ And Last of Us was what he wanted to do. That’s what was most important to me, Craig’s creative excitement about the show. It was fantastic to have Neil involved."
In a statement posted to social media, Druckmann said he would now return his focus full-time to Naughty Dog's next project, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.
"A lot of people don’t realize that Neil has a full time job creating video games and running Naughty Dog," Bloys concluded. "It’s a really big job that he’s got. So I understand why he needs to focus on that. But I believe he’s given us a good blueprint with the show. And obviously Craig is a pro, so I think we’ll be in excellent shape. I’m not worried at all."
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
After weeks of radio silence, Amazon has finally flipped the switch... kind of. Listings for the Nintendo Switch 2 and the Switch 2 + Mario Kart World bundle now include a "Request Invite" button, signaling a soft rollout for direct purchases. And according to IGN's own data, Amazon has already begun sending out invites to buy.
That means the system is live, stock is moving, and your shot at securing the new console could be just a few clicks away. If you want to avoid eBay scalpers or third-party markups, now’s the time to visit the listings and request an invite.
Nintendo Switch 2: Where to Find In Stock
There’s no clear timeline on when your invite will arrive, or how many consoles Amazon actually has to distribute, but we know they’re going out, and that’s a big shift from earlier this month when the listings didn’t even exist.
It was only a few weeks ago (after the Switch 2 was already out) when first-party Nintendo Switch 2 games began appearing on Amazon again.
And while some reports suggested the missing Nintendo listings were due to a spat over third-party sales, Nintendo denied this report.
In any case, lots of online shoppers seem to prefer to make their purchases at Amazon.
And if this new "Request invite" button on the Switch 2 + Mario Kart World bundle listing is an indication that the tensions are lowering, that's good news for consumers.
We add that caveat, because Walmart does have an onn microSDXC Express Card which is slightly cheaper. It’s been out of stock for some time, too, making this SanDisk offering your best bet.
It also features the same 512GB SanDisk card, but is listed for $120 instead of $78 and has delayed delivery through to August or September. So that's a huge $42 off when buying via Walmart, and faster shipping to-boot.
Top priority? A Pro Controller. If you don’t already own one, grab it now. It’s a must-have for playing docked on a TV or monitor, offering a far better experience than the standard Joy-Cons.
If you’re already feeling the strain on your wallet, third-party accessories are a smart way to save—especially on carry cases or screen protectors.
We’ve also got a new batch of Nintendo Amiibo ready for Switch 2. Fans of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Street Fighter 6 can buy a handful of brand new Amiibo from those games.
The side-scrolling carousel above has all the new Amiibo in it, but if any of them are sold out when you click to buy or you want more details, check out our full guide on everything available.
Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Senior Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter/X or Bluesky.
This article includes contributions by Chris Reed.
Bungie has confirmed it is "actively re-recording" some of the dialogue in Destiny 2 to restore the voices of characters like Vanguard Ikora Rey.
With the launch of The Edge of Fate, the first expansion in the Year of Prophecy content lineup, fans noticed Ikora Rey, originally voiced by Gina Torres, sounded a lot like Savathun from The Witch Queen. That's because Ikora Rey's most recent voice actor was replaced by Debra Wilson, who plays Savathun.
In its defense, Bungie did notify players that changes would be coming for the English casting of Orin, Chioma, and Ikora back in May, but yesterday (July 15) confirmed that while the voice cast had initially been "unavailable to record lines for The Edge of Fate," it was now "actively re-recording lines for affected characters." There's no firm date for when this will happen, but Bungie said it was "aiming for a future update."
Until then, players will continue to bump into unfamiliar "temporary" voices, or even encounter silent characters. In those instances, much like Destiny 2: Heresy, subtitles for story content will be enabled.
Though Bungie didn't explicitly reference the SAG-AFTRA game performers' strike, it did acknowledge there had been "conflicts" and these had now "been resolved," which just-so-happens to coincide with SAG-AFTRA suspending its strike over AI protections. The SAG-AFTRA strike was instigated back in July 2024 after the union and the major game companies — Activision, Blindlight, Disney Character Voices, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Take 2 Productions, and WB Games — that sit on the board failed to agree on AI provisions. Over 98% of members subsequently voted to strike.
Bungie recently unveiled what's coming up in Destiny 2, including two new expansions and major seasonal and core game updates coming for both paying and free players, all badged under the "Year of Prophecy." Year of Prophecy is the first year to boast four "major content beats," with two paid expansions and two major updates. The former is paid content while the latter will be available to all players.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Although the Prime Day deals are gone, one of the best hidden tech deals for Nintendo Switch 2 owners to stick around has come from INIU. The 45W INIU 20000mAh Power Bank, typically $39.99, but you can use the code Y7R7A2A7 at checkout, and have the price drop to a mere $20.34.
That’s a great discount of over 55% off for a charger that offers top speeds with 45W PD 3.1 charging, triple-device support, and a smart LED display which tells you exactly how much juice is left and how long you’ll wait to recharge.
This compact model includes a built-in USB-C cable, triple charging, and can charge an iPhone 16 to 70% in just 25 minutes.
With a weight of 13.1 ounces, it's a good amount lighter than INIU's 27,000mAh power bank (weighing 22 ounces), so we'd recommend this one if you're travel bag space is a bit more limited, you want to travel more minimally, or you just want to save as much money as possible.
With the Switch 2's internal battery being around the same at 5220mAh, you'll be able to quickly resume Mario Kart World sessions or dive back into Donkey Kong Bananza as it launches this week.
This Iniu power bank holds a 10,000mAh, or 37Whr battery capacity. If you factor in 80% power efficiency, here are the approximate number of times you can fully recharge each gaming handheld:
Nintendo Switch (16Whr) about 1.9 times
Steam Deck (40Whr) about 0.74 times
Apple iPhone 16 (14Whr) about 2.1 times
Apple iPhone 16 Plus (18Whr) about 1.6 times
Nintendo Switch 2 (20Whr) about 1.5 times
Ben Williams – IGN freelance contributor with over 10 years of experience covering gaming, tech, film, TV, and anime. Follow him on Twitter/X @BenLevelTen.
Which Arnold Schwarzenegger movie do you wish had a sequel? 1985 cult classic action kill ‘em up Commando, perhaps? Buddy comedy Twins? Or maybe you’ve always wondered what Last Action Hero 2 might look like?
For the 77-year-old Schwarzenegger, there’s one movie in particular he made that he’d love to get the sequel treatment: Conan.
For the uninitiated, Arnie exploded onto the scene with 1982’s Conan the Barbarian, in which he played the title role. The fantasy action movie adaptation of Robert E. Howard's Conan pulled no punches, and with James Earl Jones in imperious form as the snakey villain, remains a fan favorite even now, nearly 45 years later.
Conan the Barbarian did in fact get a sequel, 1984’s sillier Conan the Destroyer. This time, Arnie was joined by singer Grace Jones as Zula and basketball player Wilt Chamberlain as Bombaata. He never picked up Conan’s famous broadsword again.
Fast forward to a recent interview with Collider to promote his action comedy series Fubar, and Schwarzenegger namechacked Conan as the movie he wishes he could make sequels for.
“Sometimes I wish that we could do more Conan sequels, because I think that if you have the right director and the right writing, there could be a really, really good franchise to continue King Conan and stuff like that,” he said.
Conan fans have long wondered if they’d ever get a King Conan movie. At the end of Conan the Barbarian, we’re treated to an image of an older Arnie as King Conan, sat on Thulsa Doom’s throne and ruling over the land, with the promise of more stories to be told. But we never got to see Arnie as King Conan.
Clearly, Arnie wanted King Conan to happen. So what went wrong? A 2023 article by the Daily Telegraph revealed at least two King Conan scripts were at various points in circulation. One was by Conan director John Milius, who apparently claimed he was blocked by The Matrix’s Wachowskis, who “had vague plans to put their personal spin on Howard.” Those plans never went anywhere.
The other script was by Fast and the Furious writer Chris Morgan, but it was canceled in 2017 due to cold feet amongst executives. “Our take was Conan, 30 years later, a story like the Clint Eastwood Unforgiven,” Morgan revealed. “It was so awesome. Ultimately, the budget was big; the studio was not really sure of the title, and the relevance in the marketplace. They ended up letting it go.”
But there were more recent talks, too. Two years ago, Schwarzenegger told The Hollywood Reporter that a Conan sequel had been "pending" for a decade, expressing frustration at current rights holder Fredrik Malmberg.
"It’s been pending for the last 10 years," he said. "[Fredrik] Malmberg owns the rights. He comes to me and says, 'Oh, I have a deal with Netflix,' and when we ask Netflix, they don’t know anything about it. It’s one of those crazy things. I hope he figures it out. I think you do it like Unforgiven, where you play the age. There’s a great script out there that John Milius wrote, and others have written one. The story is there. There are directors who want to do it. But he has the rights, and until he sells the rights for one or two movies, or for the franchise, there’s nothing you can do about it."
Malmberg took to social media to respond to Arnie's Netflix claims, saying: “We spent three years with Netflix and talked to them about Arnold several times. We are now working with a major filmmaker who is great and a true Conan fan. Will share more when I can by Crom!”
Since then, nothing. Is Arnie, who is just a few years away from his 80th birthday, now too old now to play King Conan? Whatever happens, he can look back on Conan with pride. After Conan the Barbarian exploded, Arnie went on to star in James Cameron’s Terminator, his global fame secured.
What Conan fans are getting is a new Red Sonja movie, whose debut trailer came out last week. As for King Conan starring Arnie, perhaps this one will go down as the one that got away.
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.
Zelda will be played by Bo Bragason, and Link by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth.
The casting was confirmed on social media today in a statement from Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto, who said he was "very much looking forward" to seeing the pair in the series' iconic lead roles.
"This is Miyamoto," wrote Miyamoto. "I am pleased to announce that for the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda, Zelda will be played by Bo Bragason-san, and Link by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth-san. I am very much looking forward to seeing both of them on the big screen.
"The film is scheduled to be released in theaters on May 7, 2027. Thank you for your patience."
Bragason, 21, previously appeared in Netflix fantasy adventure series Renegade Nell, as well as BBC crime drama adaptation The Jetty.
Ainsworth, aged just 16, has only a handful of roles to his name, though notably appeared in Netflix horror series The Haunting of Bly Manor.
Today's image of the pair looks to feature the actors in some sort of costume for their roles, with Bragason's blue dress reminiscent of the color she wears in Breath of the Wild. Ainsworth, meanwhile, wears what appears to be a dark green tunic.
Officially announced in November 2023, Nintendo's live-action The Legend of Zelda project is being produced by Miyamoto alongside Avi Arad, former CEO of Marvel Studios. Sony Pictures Entertainment will handle distribution in addition to co-financing the movie with Nintendo. Jurassic World’s Derek Connolly is writing the screenplay, while Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' Wes Ball will direct.
"For production reasons, we are changing the release date of the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda to May 7, 2027," Miyamoto said at the time. "It will be some weeks later than the release timing we originally announced, and we will take the extra time to make the film as good as it can be. Thank you for your patience."
Nintendo did not elaborate further, though industry onlookers noted that the film's new slot gave it more breathing room from several other spring 2027 blockbusters, such as Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, and Nintendo's old rival himself: Sonic The Hedgehog.
With less than two years to go until The Legend of Zelda opens in theaters, Nintendo is yet to say anything of the film's story or setting. Today's casting news is the biggest piece of information about the project to materialise since its initial announcement.
Discussing the film in May 2024, director Wes Ball said the prospect of making an all mo-cap Zelda movie “probably isn't his choice” after completing work on the CG-heavy KIngdom of the Planet of the Apes. Instead, Ball said, The Legend of Zelda should feel "grounded" and "real."
"I want to fulfill people's greatest desires," Ball said in another interview about the project. "I know it's important, this franchise, to people, and I want it to be a serious movie. A real movie that can give people an escape… [It has] to feel like something real. Something serious and cool but fun and whimsical."
Switch 2 owners will be able to take upcoming Nintendo exclusive Drag x Drive for a test run next month — but only with an active Switch Online subscription.
This morning, Nintendo confirmed a two-day Drag x Drive "Global Jam" event on August 9 and 10, the weekend before the game's August 14 arrival.
To date, Nintendo has said surprisingly little about Drag x Drive, which is set to follow Donkey Kong Bananza as the company's next Switch 2 exclusive. A multiplayer sports game with mouse controls, the game has only been briefly glimpsed so far — despite it launching in less than a month.
"Eager to hit the court in Drag x Drive? Get a sneak peek with the Drag x Drive: Global Jam demo event!" Nintendo wrote today, announcing the game's upcoming public trial. "This event takes place on August 9 and 10, exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 for Nintendo Switch Online members."
If you're interested, you'll be able to download and try the game's Global Jam demo between 3am and 7am Pacific, then 5pm and 9pm Pacific on August 9, plus 9am and 1pm Pacific on August 10.
While Drag x Drive is a multiplayer-focused experience, some fans have said it is surprising to see the game's demo limited to those with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. There is no local multiplayer option within the game, Nintendo has previously noted, but surely the company would want this demo to be available to as large a Switch 2 audience as possible?
Eager to hit the court in Drag x Drive? Get a sneak peek with the Drag x Drive: Global Jam demo event!
This event takes place on Aug 9 and 10, exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 for Nintendo Switch Online members. pic.twitter.com/1OVNAHdC3u
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) July 16, 2025
A previous demo for the game, available to play as part of the Switch 2's in-person pre-release events, revealed Drag x Drive to be a three-versus-three sports title with gameplay similar to wheelchair basketball. Players must propel themselves across the game's neon courts and perform a throwing action in order to pass the ball, or shoot it at a basketball hoop.
Exactly which modes will be available in the full game, or indeed this Global Jam offering, remain to be seen. Nintendo has however said that Drag x Drive will be a budget price release, costing $19.99 / £16.99, and an eShop-only digital title.
RStudio has just released a new update for its graphics mod for the original Crysis game, Crysis Enhanced. This mod is a must for those who are still playing the original version, and not the remaster. So, let’s see what it brings to the table. The 2025 Update for Crysis Enhanced makes the game look … Continue reading The original Crysis just got a new 2025 graphics mod→
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