Hold on, Hollow Knight fans — we're almost there. Hollow Knight: Silksong is slated to release this coming Thursday, September 4 on PC, Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series for $19.99 / €19.99 / ¥2300.
The highly anticipated sequel to the award-winning metroidvania sees us play as Hornet as we journey to all-new lands, discover new powers, battle vast hordes of bugs and beasts, and uncover ancient secrets tied to your nature and your past.
Team Cherry finally revealed Hollow Knight: Silksong's September 4, 2025, release date at gamescom. We learned the news via a nearly two-minute trailer dropped by Team Cherry, which showed a ton of new footage from the game. We see Hornet exploring, loads of new insectoid NPCs, dreary graveyards, swamps, a bustling city, new enemies, new bosses, an Ori-style escape sequence, and more.
Here's when the game will unlock for you in your timezone, as confirmed by Team Cherry earlier this week. And no, there's no way to unlock early access, I'm afraid.
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.
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson says he was “pigeon-holed” as an actor who could only appear in blockbusters, which is one of the reasons he wanted to star as UFC fighter Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine.
The Smashing Machine sees Johnson portray the life and career of Mark Kerr, a former wrestler and UFC star who struggled with substance abuse. Emily Blunt plays Kerr’s then-wife, Dawn Staples. Uncut Gems co-director Benny Safdie is the writer and director of the A24 film, which hits theaters October 3, 2025.
Johnson is almost unrecognizable as Kerr. He does not have his tattoos, but he does have hair. You can see how Johnson compares to Kerr below.
While promoting the movie at the Venice Film Festival, the former wrestling star said he wants to "live my dreams now" after "living other people's dreams."
Dwayne Johnson kicked off his hugely successful acting career as The Scorpion King in 2001’s The Mummy Returns. His long list of blockbuster film roles include Lucas "Luke" Hobbs in the Fast & Furious franchise, Dr. Xander "Smolder" Bravestone in the Jumaniji reboot movies, and Black Adam in the now defunct DC Extended Universe. Johnson also famously voiced Maui in the Moana animated movies, and is set to play the character in Disney's upcoming live-action version.
The Smashing Machine, however, marks a significant change for Johnson, who some are saying could be in-line for his first Oscar nomination as a result. As reported by the BBC, the 53-year-old said: "I've been scared to go deep and intense and raw until now, until I had this opportunity to do this."
He continued: "I have wanted this for a long time. When you're in Hollywood, as we all know, it had become about box office and you chase the box office. And the box office in our business is very loud, it can be very [overwhelming].
"It can push you into a corner and category — 'This is your lane, this is what you do, and this is what people want you to be and this is what Hollywood wants you to be.’
"And I understood that, and I made those movies and I liked them and they were fun, and some were really good and did well, and some not so good!
"But I think what I did realise is I just had this burning desire and this voice that was just saying, 'What if there's more, what if I can?'
"Sometimes it's hard to know what you're capable of when you've been pigeon-holed into something. It's harder to know, 'Wait, can I do that? I feel like I can.’ And sometimes it takes people who you love and respect to say 'you can.’"
Johnson added: "I have been very fortunate to have the career I've had over the years and make the films that I've made. But there was this voice inside of me that said, 'What if I could do more?'
"The truth is, I looked around a few years ago and started to think, 'Am I living my dream or am I living other people's dreams?'
"And you come to that recognition and you can either fall in line, go, 'It's status quo, things are good,’ or you can go, 'No, I wanna live my dreams now and do what I want to do, and tap into the things I want to tap into and have a place to put all this stuff that I've experienced in the past that I've shied away from.’"
Photo by Max Cisotti/Dave Benett/WireImage.
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.
Ubisoft has released the PC demo for its new Anno game, Anno 117: Pax Romana. This demo will give you access to the early game portion, letting you experience the first two population tiers in both Latium and Albion in Sandbox Mode. Players will be able to settle a new island, do research, and build … Continue reading Anno 117: Pax Romana PC Demo is available for download→
Players jumping into Hollow Knight: Silksong on Nintendo Switch will be able to upgrade to the "enhanced" Switch 2 version for free.
That comes from Team Cherry itself, which explained in an update on Kickstarter that while OG Nintendo Switch keys will be delivered directly to backers via email, Switch 2 players will need to download the Silksong Upgrade Pack from the eShop to unlock "enhanced features" (thanks, Eurogamer).
"For Nintendo Switch 2 players, after redeeming your Nintendo Switch key and downloading the game, you will additionally need to download the (free) Hollow Knight: Silksong Upgrade Pack from the eShop to unlock the platform's enhanced features," Team Cherry advised.
Though not explicitly confirmed, this suggests the upgrade pack will be available to all Silksong fans playing on Switch 2, regardless of backer status.
Backer surveys close later today, so if you backed the team on Kickstarter, you have just hours to get your survey completed to get your game key, so don't hang around!
"I didn't receive a survey, but I would honestly prefer to buy the game to support you guys anyway," commented one happy player. "It has been so long that I actually forgot I was a backer of the original! Congrats on finally getting here Team Cherry!"
Hollow Knight: Silksong will retail for just $19.99. Yes, really. While there were a lot of rumors over the last few days — including a $20 price on Gamestop (since removed) that was later corroborated by noted leaker Billbil-kun — developer Team Cherry has now confirmed it, revealing the game will retail for $19.99 in the U.S., €19.99 in Europe, and ¥2300 in Japan.
Team Cherry finally revealed a release date for the long-awaited Hollow Knight: Silksong at gamescom: September 4, 2025. Expect loads of new insectoid NPCs, dreary graveyards, swamps, a bustling city, new enemies, new bosses, an Ori-style escape sequence, and more. It'll be available on PC, Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and S. Check out the Hollow Knight: Silksong global release times to find out when the game will be available in your timezone.
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.
NBA 2K26 is almost here. Bragging rights are on the line in MyCAREER, MyTEAM, MyNBA, The W, and Play Now as you showcase your moves with "hyper realism," challenging your friends, or rivals in NBA 2K26’s competitive modes.
While most people will be able to play from this coming Friday, September 5, those who bought the Superstar or Leave No Doubt editions secured early access that let them hit the court a week early from August 29.
We think NBA 2K26 is shaping up well, writing in IGN's NBA 2K26 review-in-progress: "Despite my problems with its offline-only modes, the fundamental gameplay tweaks show plenty of promise in what I’ve played on my first day with it. I’m especially excited to see how it looks in MyCareer with its new-and-improved storyline, as well as in the potentially wonky online gameplay of MyTeam."
NBA 2K26 global release times — early access:
Friday, August 29, 2025
PDT (Los Angeles):
9am
EDT (New York):
12pm
BST (London):
5pm
CEST (Paris, Rome, Berlin):
6pm
Saturday, August 30, 2025
HKT (Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei):
12am midnight
JST (Tokyo):
1am
AEST (Sydney):
2am
NBA 2K26 global release times — standard access:
Friday, September 5, 2025
PDT (Los Angeles):
9pm
Saturday, September 6, 2025:
EDT (New York):
12am midnight
BST (London):
12am midnight (5am on Steam)
HKT (Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei):
12am midnight
CEST (Paris, Rome, Berlin):
12am midnight
JST (Tokyo):
12am midnight (1am on Steam)
AEST (Sydney):
12am midnight (2am on Steam)
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.
Modders ‘Drengin’, ‘ManuOstar44’, and Varangian94 have shared a new mod that aims to overhaul the capital city of Skyrim, Solitude. This is a cool mod that a lot of Skyrim fans will appreciate. So, let’s take a closer look at it. The mod adds over 50 new characters with their own daily routines, activities, and … Continue reading New Skyrim Mod Completely Revamps Solitude, the Capital City→
Modder ‘cradilyex’ has shared a simple but cool new mod for Cyberpunk 2077. This mod adds cinematic vehicle explosion smoke effects to the game. As such, it can make the whole experience feel a bit more cinematic. Going into more details, this mod greatly overhauls the smoke effects from exploded vehicles. The smoke now feels … Continue reading Cyberpunk 2077 Gets Cinematic Vehicle Explosion Smoke Effects→
However, for the quarter ending June 30, Monster Hunter Wilds sold 477,000 copies, only just above the 389,000 copies sold of four-year-old game Monster Hunter Rise. Wilds was the 9th best-selling game of the quarter for Capcom, while Rise was the 10th.
In Capcom's consolidated financial results, the company said: "Regarding catalog titles, although sales were soft for Monster Hunter Wilds, the latest title in the series released in February this year, Monster Hunter Rise, a previous title in the same series, continued to see sales growth."
As reported by Automaton, Capcom president Haruhiro Tsujimoto told Nikkei Gaming that the cost of entry to play Monster Hunter Wilds on a PS5 is “rather steep.” Indeed, Capcom thought the PS5 was going to be the primary sales platform for Monster Hunter Wilds at launch.
Here’s Automaton:
In an interview with Nikkei Gaming, Tsujimoto revealed that Capcom considered the PlayStation 5 as Monster Hunter Wilds’ main platform when estimating the game’s initial sales figures. But accounting for the console, accessories, and monthly subscriptions like PlayStation Plus, the total cost for a PS5 amounts to about 100,000 JPY (roughly $677 USD). Add in Monster Hunter Wilds’ $70 USD price tag, and some people would rather pay for older, more complete entries, such as Monster Hunter World (which sells for as low as $9.89 USD) and Monster Hunter Rise ($9.99 USD), than buy a new console for a game with, currently, less content. Considering many gamers are young and don’t have a source of income, Tsujimoto admits the cost of entry to play Monster Hunter Wilds on a PS5 is rather steep.
"Similar to many global businesses, we continue to navigate a challenging economic environment," Isabelle Tomatis, Sony Interactive Entertainment's Vice President, Global Marketing said in a statement. "As a result, we’ve made the difficult decision to increase the recommended retail price for PlayStation 5 consoles in the U.S. starting on August 21."
There was no mention of Xbox console pricing in Tsujimoto’s comment.
So what’s the answer? Discounts, it seems, as well as more content via patches. Perhaps a launch on the record-breaking Nintendo Switch 2 will help, too.
Of course, actual players of Monster Hunter Wilds might have their own theories as to why the game hasn’t shown the same level of sales consistency as prior Monster Hunter games. After reviewing well initially, Wilds’ endgame content was considered sorely lacking compared to past games. It's also suffering from severe performance issues on PC specifically that have yet to be fully resolved. Despite new content and seasons, fans remain unsatisfied with the state of the game, to the point where some players are taking things too far and apparently harassing and threatening individual Capcom team members over it.
On Steam, Monster Hunter Wilds has a ‘mixed’ user review rating for all reviews, but a ‘mostly negative’ user review rating for recent reviews.
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.
Arrowhead has released patch 01.004.000 for Helldivers 2, making the Into the Unjust update live and adding a number of new Terminids to fight in-game.
Here’s the official blurb:
For too long, we’ve waited and watched as The Gloom expands to swallow more innocent star systems. For too long, we’ve let the Terminids wreak havoc on our colonies, our cities, our homes. The Terminids have pushed into our territory for long enough.
Now, with new recruits trained and ready, it’s time to push into unknown territory. Into the Unjust.
The headline addition here is Hive Worlds, which are randomly-generated giant cave systems packed with horrible Terminids. These Hive Worlds offer a new tactical challenge, Arrowhead said, complete with “disgusting” flora and fauna and “advanced” Terminid life.
Holes in the cave roof will allow stratagems to be called down, and destructible walls within the caves let players navigate. “Bring a flashlight!” Arrowhead recommended. New enemies include the wonderfully named Rupture Spewer, the Rupture Warrior, the Rupture Charger, and the Dragonroach.
Discover disgusting flora and fauna and advanced Terminid life
Hive World surface - acid lakes and advanced bug spires
Holes in the cave roof will allow stratagems to be called down
Destructible walls within the caves to navigate
Bring a flashlight!
Missions
Delve deep into the caves to destroy the Spore Lung and stop its infectious Gloom spread
Take control of the GATER mobile oil rig and siphon the mysterious oily substance from the surface of Hive Worlds
Undertake more missions to extract resources and destroy the enemy threat on Hive Worlds
Have Super Earth approved levels of fun!
New Enemies
Rupture Spewer; The foul Rupture Spewer bursts from the ground only to spew its undemocratic pestilence on the innocent. Upon returning to its dark warrens, it is believed to consume its own dead in order to generate more of its corrosive acid.
Rupture Warrior; A product of Gloom-induced mutation, the Rupture Warrior has lost the UV-insulating chitin layer that would protect its internal organs from solar radiation damage. Captured specimens prefer burrowing to open-air movement, a pattern indicative of subconscious shame at their own undemocratic ways.
Rupture Charger; When this armored beast senses the presence of Liberty, it buries itself underground to escape its light. Its Charger instincts compel it to tunnel through the ground at high speeds, emerging only to attack those who represent the Liberty that blinds it so.
Dragonroach; This oversized affront to Free skies everywhere circles its would-be prey, swooping down intermittently to bespew them with air-combustible acid. A spineless tactic befitting an exoskeletal monstrosity.
Balancing
Unified “none explosive Orbitals” so they have the same projectile damage and destruction values as the Orbital gas. This effects:
Orbital smoke
Increased Projectile Damage 0 → 300
Increased Projectile AP 0 → 7
Increased Projectile Demolition strength 30 → 50
Orbital E.M.S
Increased Projectile Damage 250 → 300
Increased Projectile AP 3 → 7
Increased Projectile Demolition strength 30 → 50
Unified Stun explosions work. They all apply the stun effect on the explosion and not only on the status effect volume. This effects:
Orbital E.M.S
Mortar E.M.S
Changed how all stun explosions work in that they now initially stagger the enemy they stun but also without ragdolling the player if hit by such an explosion
Throwables
Stun grenade
Increased stagger strength 0 -> 50
Urchin
Decreased stagger impulse 15 -> 0
Stratagems
Orbital E.M.S
Increased stagger strength 10 -> 50
Decreased stagger impulse 40 → 0
Mortar E.M.S
Increased stagger strength 10 -> 50
Decreased stagger impulse 40 → 0
Booster
Stun Hellpod
Increased stagger strength 10 -> 50
Decreased stagger impulse 20 → 0
Fixes
Crash Fixes & Softlocks
Fixed a rare crash caused by multiple players having the MA5C AR equipped on the super destroyer
Fixed crash that could occur during hot-joining
Fixed a rare crash that could occur when dropping backpacks
Weapons & Stratagem Fixes
Fixes for mute AX/LAS-5 'GUARD DOG' ROVER audio
Audio fixes for multiple weapons not having reverb applied to them
Fixed Hellpod payloads being targetable by guidance system
GL-52 De-Escalator stratagem input code now begins with a down arrow, inline with other support weapon stratagems
Motivational Shocks Booster no longer applies to enemies
Fixed the StA X3 WASP Launcher firemode - it will no longer fire in Semi-Auto mode after switching from Artillery firing mode
Fixed guidance system targeting Tanks incorrectly
Enemies
Installed additional hydraulic leg supports on dropship Automaton units (they will no longer take damage when dropped from the dropships).
Updated automaton city outpost to prevent broken pathing on the bridge
Illuminate enemies are now less likely to warp on top of destroyed outpost ship rubble
Missions
Updated the design of city evacuation objectives that will allow brave citizens to evacuate correctly
Fixed a missions issue that caused ghost objectives to appear during the mission complete screen
Fixed issue where the landed Automaton dropships in the Sabotage Airbase objective could be destroyed with LIFT-182 Warp Pack
Fixed occasional Charger pathing issues around certain bug rocks
Miscellaneous Fixes
Fix flickering VFX shadows in some areas.
Fixed strange movement after falling while marching
Fixed chat typing animations - Helldivers no longer suffer from fat fingers and will use their writing pads when typing chat messages.
Fixed the Adreno-Defibrillator status effect not affecting Helldivers inside combat walkers
Fixed an issue where the planetary hazard damaged Hellbombs will visually appear to explode twice when shot by GL-21 Grenade Launcher, from the shooter's POV
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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