This review contains full spoilers for Doctor Who season 2, episode 4, "Lucky Day."
"Lucky Day" marks a notable shift in Season 2: It’sthe first episode without Russell T Davies credited as a writer. While his guiding hand is often a hallmark of this era, Peter Hoar’s script brings a refreshing change in tone. There’s a distinct, almost nostalgic charm to “Lucky Day,” one that subtly evokes the scrappy energy of the early revival years. Grounded in a recognisably mundane modern-day setting – a welcome sidestep from mystical contrivances – we’re instead thrown back in with season 1 companion Ruby Sunday, navigating life back on Earth.
The focus on Ruby marks “Lucky Day” as this year's Doctor-lite episode, but with some bookending appearances that lend the story a stronger sense of his presence than last season’s “73 Yards”. Millie Gibson gives another strong lead performance, leaning on familiar themes that highlight a companion's struggle to find their place in the world without the Doctor. While the episode flirts with the idea of being a story about life beyond the TARDIS, that’s not really where “Lucky Day” finds its footing.
What ultimately elevates the episode out of its Doctor-lite obscurity is its choice of villain: Ruby’s seemingly harmless boyfriend, Conrad. It’s smartly revealed halfway through the episode that he’s the ringleader behind the online anti-alien conspiracy group Think Tank. It’s an effective and darkly comic twist, emphasizing the all-too-common way online hate groups can spread, fester, and mobilize. It also provides all the more context to Conrad’s behaviour throughout the episode. His awkward attempts to impress Ruby, calling on the Doctor’s name, initially come off as a fairly generic way to provide some character motivation, but retroactively make a lot more sense. His naive vulnerability is exposed as manipulation, and Ruby’s fury at how he’s put others in harm's way feels both earned and real. Plus, in a universe crowded with cosmic gods and ancient evils, it’s rare and wonderfully intriguing to see humanity cast as the real threat, especially as neither the Doctor nor UNIT has a satisfying answer to it.
But, where “Lucky Day” stumbles is in how generic it can feel from moment to moment. There’s a case to be made that this ordinariness is intentional – a reflection of Ruby’s post-TARDIS disorientation and the numbing quiet of everyday life after cosmic adventure. But the episode doesn’t foreground that idea strongly enough for it to resonate. A few scattered lines gesture at Ruby’s struggle, and her emotional arc lands in theory, but it feels too loosely stitched together to give the episode real emotional weight. The result is an instalment that occasionally feels more like a spin-off – tangential, structurally sound, but spiritually removed, lacking a little bit of the soul that makes Doctor Who stories truly sing.
Despite this, it does seem like “Lucky Day” knows the tone and story it wants to hit, and often does so with style. But it also struggles to consistently align its characters with that tone and story, wavering as it tries to mush all its themes together. The Doctor’s climactic monologue about online radicalisation, for instance, is earnest and conceptually rich, but dramatically flat and plays more like a PSA that lacks the alien detachment or emotional texture that usually gives his speeches such meaning. Meanwhile, Kate Stewart’s morally murky decision to weaponise the captured Sheek alien against Conrad (who, comically, continues to insist it isn’t real) is a rare moment of genuine moral complexity, and a compelling step forward for UNIT’s evolving role in the new era. But in the same episode, that very organisation – one that has survived Zygons, Cybermen, and the rest – is nearly undone by a staff doxxing. It’s not about nitpicking plot logic, but the scales do feel off, and that dissonance dulls the episode’s sharper ideas. Ultimately, these contradictions don’t undo its successes, but they do hold it back from greatness, even as it proves there’s still space in Doctor Who for more politically charged, satirical stories rooted in our own messy reality.
IGN's Blue Prince map is here! Our interactive map tracks essential locations across Mount Holly, including Clues and Puzzles, so you always know where to go next.
Other miscellaneous map markers, including Upgrade Disks and Allowance Tokens.
Blue Prince Guides
There are many puzzles in Blue Prince, and it's more than likely you'll find yourself getting stuck more than once. IGN's Blue Prince Game Help is here to assist, with guides for complicated puzzles, how to find certain items, and more.
Meg Koepp is a Guides Editor on the IGN Guides team, with a focus on trends. When she's not working, you can find her playing an RPG or spending time with her corgi.
Warning: This article contains full spoilers for Thunderbolts!
All throughout the MCU’s Multiverse Saga, fans have been asking one question: who are the Avengers now? Only now, with the release of Thunderbolts* at the end of Phase 5, do we finally get an answer to that question. It turns out that the Thunderbolts themselves are now the Avengers. Or the New Avengers, to be precise. At least that pesky asterisk is finally making sense.
What does this mean for the MCU leading into The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Avengers: Doomsday? What does it mean to be a New Avenger, exactly, and how does this twist draw upon Marvel’s various New Avengers comics? Here’s what you need to know.
The MCU’s New Avengers Revealed
The Thunderbolts movie ends on a somewhat unexpected note. No sooner do Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova and her team regroup from their confrontation with Lewis Pullman’s Sentry and prepare to confront Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra De Fontaine than they realize they’ve walked right into a PR trap. Valentina stages a press conference where she introduces the befuddled Thunderbolts to the public as “The New Avengers.”
For those keeping score at home, the full New Avengers roster includes:
Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh)
Red Guardian (David Harbour)
Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan)
The Sentry (Lewis Pullman)
Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen)
U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell)
Basically, everyone who was a Thunderbolt (minus Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster, who is killed off early into the film) has now graduated to become a New Avenger. It’s not necessarily the Avengers lineup we would have predicted earlier in the Multiverse Saga, but given how they managed to beat overwhelming odds and save New York City, maybe they’re the team the MCU needs right now.
Of course, it’s already becoming clear that the New Avengers aren’t the only Avengers team on the block. Captain America: Brave New World ends with Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson deciding he’s finally ready to step up and spearhead his own team of Avengers. Whether Cap has actually gotten around to forming that team is unclear. But we do know from the post-credits scene in Thunderbolts that he’s none too thrilled at the prospect of another group co-opting the Avengers name.
That scene shows us that the New Avengers have now been active in the MCU for 14 months. They’re currently embroiled in a legal battle with Sam, who apparently owns the actual Avengers trademark. That seems to foreshadow major friction between the New Avengers and Sam’s Avengers in Avengers: Doomsday. But we’ll get to that in a bit. For now, what exactly is a New Avenger, anyway?
What Are the New Avengers?
The concept of the New Avengers was first introduced in Marvel’s 2004 New Avengers comic. That series debuted in the aftermath of a major tragedy in Marvel’s Avengers: Disassembled comic, where a mentally ill Scarlet Witch loses control of her powers and kills several members of her team. The Avengers disband, until one fateful day where they’re called back into action.
The reason Marvel branded this team “New Avengers” is that the roster was quite a bit different from any that had come before. While Captain America, Spider-Woman, and Iron Man represented the old guard, the bulk of the team was made up of characters who would normally never be associated with the Avengers franchise - Spider-Man, Wolverine, Luke Cage, Sentry, and the mysterious Ronin. Not unlike the MCU’s Thunderbolts, these heroes never expected to become Avengers, but they quickly rise to the challenge anyway.
At first, the “New Avengers” term was completely literal. Over time, however, it came to represent a more underground, unsanctioned alternative to the traditional Avengers. Following the events of 2006’s Civil War crossover, the Marvel Universe suddenly has two Avengers teams. Iron Man leads the Mighty Avengers, a S.H.I.E.L.D.-sanctioned team that operates in full support of the Superhuman Registration Act. Meanwhile, the heroes who refuse to support the SHRA, like Spidey, Wolverine, Luke Cage, and Bucky, form another incarnation of the New Avengers. Needless to say, the two teams don’t really get along.
That split only intensifies during Marvel’s 2009 Dark Reign storyline, as Norman Osborn usurps Tony Stark’s position and spearheads his own team of Dark Avengers. The Dark Avengers are notable for featuring many major villains masquerading as heroes. For example, Bullseye becomes Hawkeye, Venom becomes Spider-Man, Daken becomes Wolverine, and so on. The Sentry also sticks around, as he proves sadly all too susceptible to Osborn’s psychological manipulation.
In many ways, the MCU’s New Avengers seem as inspired by the Dark Avengers as they are the New Avengers of the comics. Like the Dark Avengers, Valentina’s New Avengers consists of several characters who are essentially borrowing the costumed identities of past Avengers. Yelena is Black Widow. John Walker is a failed Captain America. Even Red Guardian is essentially a Russian Captain America. Also like the Dark Avengers, Sentry is both a team member and a ticking time bomb looming over their heads. Valentina herself is basically the Norman Osborn figure, right down to the way she manipulates Bob.
Even as the Dark Avengers are introduced as the government-approved incarnation of the team, the New Avengers continue to work from the shadows in defiance of the law. They are still operating even when Osborn’s crimes are eventually exposed and their names are cleared. At this point, it’s become tradition for Marvel to feature one core team of Avengers and another team of New Avengers. They aren’t always as bitterly divided as they were in the post-Civil War era, but the Marvel Universe is a big enough place for two teams. Most of the time.
The New Avengers in Avengers: Doomsday
Now that we’ve established that the MCU’s New Avengers draw inspiration from both the New Avengers and Dark Avengers comics, what can we predict about their future? Why is it significant that the New Avengers are being introduced in the lead-up to 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday?
It seems safe to assume that there will be conflict between Valentina’s New Avengers team and Sam’s own Avengers squad. Again, the post-credits scene sets up that rivalry pretty clearly. One Avengers team is backed by the US government, while the other is spearheaded by probably the most high-profile superhero in the MCU. Which team is more legitimate? Which one will the public accept?
In some ways, this seems to be a case of Marvel recreating the status quo of Avengers: Infinity War. At that point, the MCU also had two Avengers teams, one led by Iron Man and the other by the fugitive Captain America. The tragedy of Infinity War is that the Avengers were too divided to put up a united front in defense of their homeworld. Had they been one cohesive, fully functional unit, they might have stopped Thanos from succeeding in his goal of eliminating half of all life. Only when the Avengers truly came together again in Endgame did they set things right.
The scenario isn’t so different now. We’ve got the former Thunderbolts-turned-New Avengers and Sam’s Avengers team, and they clearly aren’t seeing eye-to-eye. Now the Fantastic Four are arriving in the MCU, heralding the great disaster that forced them from their home universe. The MCU faces another existential threat in (we’re willing to bet) the form of the collapsing multiverse. It sure would be nice if the two Avengers teams could put aside their differences long enough to fight Robert Downey, Jr.’s Doctor Doom and save the multiverse.
If anything, we can envision a scenario where one Avengers team throws its lot in with Doom and seeks to save the MCU by any means necessary, where the other team pursues a more noble solution to the Incursion problem.
But that probably won’t happen. If anything, we can envision a scenario where one Avengers team throws its lot in with Doom and seeks to save the MCU by any means necessary, where the other team pursues a more noble solution to the Incursion problem. And that’s not even getting into the question of where Fox’s X-Men characters fit into this equation.
In short, there seems to be a clear intent in introducing the New Avengers at this stage in the larger MCU roadmap. However good their intentions, this team promises to create friction and tension in a time when the world needs its heroes to be united. Only time will tell if the MCU’s New Avengers can truly live up to the example of the original team.
To say Star Wars and action figures go hand-in-hand is an understatement. Ever since the original Kenner toyline jump-started the merchandising arm of the film industry in the late 1970s, toy collecting has been a huge, integral part of Star Wars fandom. These days, we get a fairly steady stream of new Star Wars media and merchandise, but nothing quite like the deluge of collectibles that coincided with the theatrical releases of the first six films.
Still, Star Wars action figures aren’t hard to find. Whether you’re after some cheap and durable toys for a younger fan to bash together, or a screen-accurate articulated replica of your favorite character, or some cool collectibles that are the best of both worlds, we’ve got you covered.
Toy Line: The Black Series
The best all-around Star Wars toy line on the market right now is probably The Black Series. Introduced in 2013, Hasbro’s line of 6-inch action figures has covered all manner of characters, from household-named heroes and villains to deep cut background characters, even bringing back some “legends” no longer considered part of the official canon. They’ve even given some iconic troopers, aliens and creatures holiday special repaints. If you’ve ever wanted a trick-or-treating Were-Wookiee or a festive two-pack of Jawa Claus and Salacious Grinch, you’re in luck.
Regular figures in The Black Series will retail for around $25. Resellers will regularly charge double or triple that for older or hard-to-find figures, but it’s not uncommon to find them on deep discount. Would you pay $9 for an action figure of Werner Herzog holding a 1970s ice cream maker? Because I did.
(See? I wasn’t kidding)
The quality of paint deco and accessories for The Black Series can be hit or miss, but they consistently feature a ton of articulation and are generally quite sturdy. So, while discerning adult collectors are welcome to keep them in the box, they’re also really fun to pose, and can probably stand up to a fair amount of posing, not to mention *gasp* actually being played with.
Until The Black Series came along, Star Wars figures were primarily in 3’¾” scale, and nearly every conceivable character from the first six films has been immortalized in that form. Aunt Beru. The alien fishmonger from whom Jar-Jar shoplifts. A member of the Corscant volunteer fire department. The original concept art for Han Solo that looks suspiciously like George Lucas. George Lucas himself.
The 4-inch figures owe a lot of their success to their small scale. They were (initially) cheaper to produce, and they don’t take up a ton of space. Plus, the small scale allowed for plenty of vehicles, playsets and creatures. Sadly, the same can’t be said for The Black Series. Multiple characters in X-Wing pilot gear have been made, but no X-Wing. A TIE Fighter was released alongside The Force Awakens, but it was the size of an end table and cost about as much.
Though they’re not quite as prevalent as they were in decades prior, Hasbro is still putting out a steady stream of smaller Star Wars figures, though they’ve been fragmented into three different product lines, clearly aimed at very different types of buyers.
Toy Line: The Vintage Collection
The Vintage Collection is effectively the smaller-scale equivalent of The Black Series. Collector-grade packaging, sculpts, paint and articulation, but roughly 2/3 the size and price. For anyone who’s got an existing collection of 4-inch figures from the ‘90s-’00s, these ones will display nicely alongside them.
A fun-size action figure for $17 bucks a pop might seem a bit steep, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to a $400-500 playset of Jabba’s Sailbarge, the Mos Eisley Cantina, or The Ghost in the same scale, all of which have been produced through Hasbro’s Haslab crowdfunding program; proving there’s still plenty of collector demand for stuff in this scale.
Vehicles and playsets are still available at non-idiotic prices, too. Hasbro also recently revealed a Bantha with real hair, (to help you complete that Jundland Wastes diorama and also practice your French braiding), but it has sold out already!
Toy Line: Epic World of Action
Thankfully, they do still make Star Wars action figures that are just for kids, not just maladjusted adults obsessed with weird puppets and background characters from movies they watched growing up. Hasbro quietly launched the Epic World of Action line, a series of reasonably-priced 4-inch figures in colorful packaging with the odd spring-loaded project. The lower price point means limited articulation and minimal paint ops, but if anything, that just makes them better suited to get bashed around in the backyard.
The line also includes the sort of vehicles you might expect, as well as some you might not, like Darth Vader’s giant mech suit that’s just shaped like a larger version of him. I’m behind on the comics, but I’m guessing that’s not canon.
Toy Line: The Retro Collection
In recent years, there’s been a rise in popularity of non-Star Wars figures made in the same style as Kenner’s original toy line, namely Super7’s ReAction figures. Appropriately, Hasbro followed suit with The Retro Collection, which reprinted those classic Kenner molds, and has since moved on to producing new toys of more recent Star Wars characters in that goofy but charming late-70s style.
Toy Line: Gentle Giant Jumbo Figures
In the early 2000s, Gentle Giant pioneered the “Real Scan” technology that allowed actors’ faces to be digitized and then faithfully reproduced in miniature. Hasbro used it for the first figures based on Attack of the Clones, and Gentle Giant cornered the market on high-end mini-busts.
Then, presumably, someone had the bright idea that if this technology could be used to scan real people’s likenesses and shrink them down as toys, it could also be used to scan toys, and blow them up to… much bigger toys. And that’s exactly what Gentle Giant’s Jumbo Figures are; Kenner’s classic Star Wars figures, recreated 400% larger, packaging and all.
As gorgeous as the packaging is, it’s comically cumbersome. I’ve bought a couple of these figures at conventions and opted to just open them up rather than try to stuff a boogie board-sized clamshell into my carry-on. But I’m glad I did because they’re really nice toys on their own. Unlike the solid plastic of the toys they’re based on, the Jumbo Figures are hollow vinyl, which means they won’t explode or give anyone a head injury if they fall off a shelf, but their scale makes them a delight to play with and hold.
They’re all really limited edition, and most of the classic stuff has come and gone, so you’re either stuck with deep cut Return of the Jedi characters or original faux-retro sculpts, which may not be a bad thing, depending on what you’re into.
Toy Line: Movie Masterpiece Series
Hot Toys are expensive, but it’s immediately apparent why. Absurdly realistic and immaculately detailed, these are, without question, the highest quality Star Wars figures ever made (as well as Marvel, DC, Aliens, Predator, and a pile of other licenses). The large scale means they’ll quickly fill up a shelf, but if you can afford Hot Toys in the first place, you can probably also afford another shelf, glass case, and maybe even a whole room to display them in.
As blasphemous as it might seem to take a $300 action figure out of the box, these are absolutely meant to be posed and displayed (and it’s easy enough to put them back in the box for storage). They’re not designed for any kind of rough play, and have a lot of delicate parts, but they’re excellent candidates for toy photography.
Before Hot Toys came along, Sideshow was the company making high-end 1/6th scale Star Wars figures, albeit for around half the price. These days, Sideshow distributes Hot Toys stateside, but they still make the occasional Star Wars figure of their own, which are also gorgeous, and you can generally buy them everywhere Hot Toys are sold.
Toy Line: S.H. Figuarts
My personal favorite toy line for quite some time, Bandai’s S.H. Figuarts series features an impressive amount of articulation, plus a ton of alternate faces and hands, giving them a ton of versatility for realistic poses. In my experience, the joints stay fairly tight after years of posing, which isn’t always the case.
Nobody’s going to mistake them for the real thing with all the visible joints, but the sculpts and paint ops are all very clean, and despite some fiddly, delicate little parts, they’re pretty sturdy. (Not sturdy enough that I’d let my 4-year-old play with mine, but not the sort of thing you’re afraid of breaking.)
Toy Line: MAFEX
Basically everything I said about S.H. Figuarts also applies to MAFEX. It’s the same type of action figure in the same scale at roughly the same price point, but from a different company. Generally, MAFEX figures are usually a little more expensive, but also frequently more detailed. However, in my experience, they feel a bit more delicate compared to Figuarts.
Toy Line: Meisho Movie Realization
Star Wars was heavily influenced by the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa, so what if they made a bunch of samurai armor inspired by Star Wars? Well, they did. Or at least they made action figures of people wearing it. The Meisho Movie Realization series is dedicated to feudal Japanese remixes of iconic Star Wars characters. The line mostly features masked, armored or otherwise hard-surfaced characters, which makes sense given the subject matter, but there’s an Obi-Wan and a Darth Maul, plus a couple of aliens in the works.
These are definitely display figures first and foremost. They feature plenty of articulation, but that’s almost mitigated by the amount of armor plating that gets in the way. They’re considerably bigger and heavier than S.H. Figuarts or MAFEX, so getting them to stay put on a shelf is, well, a bit of a balancing act. That said, if you didn’t think The Mandalorian paid enough of an homage to Lone Wolf and Cub, problem solved.
This is by no means a comprehensive list of all the Star Wars figures out there, but if you’re looking for one of those, JediTempleArchives, Banthaskull and RebelScum are all great resources.
If you’re interested in building your own Star Wars action figures, that’s also an option. Check out the model kit buyer’s guide I put together, which features some Star Wars kits as well as a bunch of other alternatives.
Max Scoville is a senior writer, host and producer for IGN covering video games, movies, toys and collectibles. He has 15 years of experience in pop-culture media, previously writing for and/or appearing on Current TV, Destructoid, Revision3 and StarWars.com. He has been involved with several podcasts, including The Comedy Button, Weird Heat, Podtoid and you can currently find him hosting IGN’s weekly PlayStation show, Beyond.
Whether you own a Nintendo Switch, a Switch Lite, or a Switch OLED, you know how versatile and fun this console can be. To make the most of your gaming experience, investing in a few accessories – some of which are Switch 2 compatible, including the Pro Controller as we've learned from the April Nintendo Direct – can take things to the next level.
From Switch controllers allowing better control (and less cramping) during intense gameplay, to screen protectors keeping your Switch safe from any scratches, the right accessories enhance performance and protection. We've logged countless hours on the Nintendo Switch using a variety of different accessories to help direct you to the most essential add-ons.
TL;DR – These Are the Best Nintendo Switch Accessories:
Although the standared Switch console comes with Joy-Con controllers and a charging dock, we still think there are a few extras worth adding to your purchase. Below we've gathered all of the Switch accessories we've tested and deemed worthy of any Switch user in 2025 and beyond.
1. Nintendo Switch Pro Controller
Best Switch Controller That Isn't Joy-Con
The small thumbsticks and triggers available on Nintendo Switch's Joy-Con controllers can be a pain, so unless you're gaming exclusively on the go, you owe it to yourself to play with something bigger and better. We found in our review of the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller that it is a welcome solution to this issue. This gamepad offers all the controls you need for a Nintendo Switch with a familiar and far more ergonomic design. All-in-all, the Switch Pro Controller is better than Joy-Con for most things.
The Nintendo Switch Pro Controller works wireless and charges using a USB-C cable. Boasting a 40-hour battery life, you’re all set for an all-day gaming marathon. The larger, easier-to-use controls and real D-pad provide undeniable improvement to your gameplay, while HD Rumble should immerse you further into the action. It even supports Amiibo with its NFC chip. Best of all, this controller should last the duration of your Switch's life cycle, making it a very sound investment.
If you spend far too much time in a state of panic when you accidentally drop your Nintendo Switch, maybe it's time to make a tiny investment in a screen protector. The amFilm Tempered Glass Screen Protector goes right over your Nintendo Switch's display, keeping it safe and giving you a little peace of mind when the device starts to slip from your grasp.
The screen protector is built to take the brunt of an impact, so you don't have to live with your Switch permanently in docked mode. At under 10 bucks for a two-pack and an installation kit, it’s hard to come up with an excuse not to buy this. A cracked display on a Nintendo Switch will set you back a lot more than this economical solution, and the device's touchscreen capabilities and screen clarity remain the same.
We've done quite a bit of testing with screen protectors across various devices and have confirmed that tembpered glass is the way to go. This is especially true if you have the Switch OLED and want to avoid losing any of the upgraded screen's clarity.
3. RDS Carry Case
Best Nintendo Switch Case
When taking your Switch on the go, you want a hardy case to protect it from the elements, possible scratches, and the inevitable drop. The RDS Carry Case does just that, thanks to its hard-shelled exterior and fitted linen interior with a padded screen protector. There’s even a handy rubber handle to make toting it around easy.
Beyond that, inside the case is a pair of hard clamshell cases for games that slot into a recessed panel, while a small attached zipper pocket provides a place to store cables or even more games. There's a built-in adjustable stand, too, which makes for easy playing or viewing on the go. If you’ve got the Switch Lite or OLED, those devices can also fit comfortably in this case.
Unless you're comfortable carrying around a bunch of game cartridges, you’ll want your favorite games installed directly on your Nintendo Switch. However, there's a little hitch in that plan, given how little storage the Switch actually has for games. So, it's worth it to pony up for a Switch microSD card, especially if you're going to shop several game deals. It can dramatically increase the storage capacity for your Nintendo Switch and do it for an affordable price.
The SanDisk 128GB Ultra drive hits a sweet spot. You can pick it up for under $20, which means it's cheaper than even a so-so controller but provides serious utility. That 128GB offers plenty of room for games, and you can always grab another later if you end up needing more room for your game library. With 120MB/s read speeds, the card ensures you don't run into painfully slow loading times for games stored on it. SanDisk also backs it up with a 10-year warranty. Importantly, standard microSD cards are not compatible with the Switch 2, which require a microSD Express Card to expand storage.
5. CRKD Nitro Deck
Best Switch Deck
Don’t love the Switch’s traditional Joy-Con? Well, our hands-on review of the CRKD Nitro Deck offers upgrades to the controllers and offers a slew of other features to make your gaming experience on the device even better. Rather than attaching Joy-Con to either side of the Switch, the Nitro Deck lets you slide the screen into it, connecting via USB-C, providing a sturdy, secure, and more comfortable-to-hold option. It is noticeably heftier than Joy-Con, but the weight is distributed evenly.
However, the quality controls will be the main reason you grab the Nitro Deck. There are Hall effect thumbsticks, so you can say goodbye to that pesky drift that plagues the Joy-Con. All the rest of Switch's traditional controls are accounted for with clicky buttons and a good amount of tension in the D-pad, while the four shoulder buttons are longer with more travel. You also get four programmable back buttons, which, beyond shooters, we found handy in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
6. Razer Barracuda X Wireless Headset
Best Nintendo Switch Headset
Although our Razer Barracuda X review won't blow you away in terms of overall sound quality, what you get for the price is quite good.. For under $100, you get excellent audio quality and a lag-free wireless connection through the low-latency 2.4GHz USB dongle. This headset also offers seamless Bluetooth connectivity for your Nintendo Switch as well any of your other Bluetooth devices.
In our testing of the Barracuda X, we were most impressed by how truly comfortable it is for the price,, Thick headband padding, and lightweight plastic body make for a portable and comfortable option for most gamers. Weighing just 250g, it is ideal for extended hours of gameplay without feeling really heavy on your head. What makes the Barracuda X even better for long gaming sessions is its 60-hour battery life, and even when it runs out of juice, you can always use the included 3.5mm cable to keep playing via a wired connection.
The Nintendo Switch's almost entirely flat form-factor can be a pain to hold, literally, and the small size of the Joy-Con also isn't fun for users with large hands. In our own hands-on testing of the Satisfye ZenGrip Pro, we found that it is able to prevent your hands from cramping up and provides a more ergonomic hold on the console, making you a lot more comfortable during your gaming marathons.
The Satisfye ZenGrip Pro is all about giving your hands a pair of simple, grips to hold onto. With them, your fingers and thumb can properly wrap around rather than dig in at the bottom of the Joy-Con. The handles are diagonally arranged, so your wrists sit at a more natural angle, while the plastic frame can also act as a stand. It even features silicone tabs to prevent the Switch from getting scratched. The only real fault with this grip is it makes your device a bit less portable when attached. Though, if you're looking to add a little extra comfort to your Switch gameplay, the Satisfye ZenGrip Pro is a good place to start.
8. Hori Split Pad Pro
Better Joy-Con
The Joy-con your Switch comes with are great, but sometimes you want a better grip and larger controls. With the Hori Split Pad Pro, you get just that, plus some convenient extras. Everything on this controller is scaled up. You get a bigger, textured grip to help distribute weight better, and in turn, makes your Switch more comfortable to hold even during your longest gaming sessions. You’ll find the larger analog sticks, triggers, and D-pad provides more accuracy in your games and decreases cramping when pulling off combos. Unfortunately, there is no motion control, rumble, or NFC reader on this joy-con alternative.
On top of experiencing a full-size controller in handheld mode on the Hori Split Pad Pro, you also get the option to use the Joy-con as a separate wired controller. With this Split Pad Pro Attachment Set, you dock each one in and get a quality standard controller. You even get a mic input for gaming audio and voice chat. Two additional rear paddles are also included, which can be remapped, but only the right-side buttons can be mapped to the right rear paddle, and vice versa.
9. GENKI Covert Dock Mini
Best Nintendo Switch Portable Dock
Given the Nintendo Switch is ultra-portable, one would’ve thought its dock would be too, but that’s not the case. It’s clunky and prone to damage, so you’ll want to find something else to take on the go. Luckily, the GENKI Covert Dock Mini measures just 1.35 x 1.66 x 1.3 inches and has foldable prongs, making for a super compact, pocketable device that has the ability to increase your screen size.
This mini dock isn’t equipped with a bunch of extras or the fastest charging speeds. However, it has exactly what you need; a USB-C port and an HDMI output. The USB-C offers 20W charging speeds to keep your Switch topped up as you play; a USB-C cable is even included with the dock. After the Switch is plugged into the USB-C, an HDMI port transfers video signals at up to 4K/30Hz, exceeding the Switch’s 1080p max output. You aren’t limited to only using the Switch with the GENKI Covert Dock Mini either, it works seamlessly with the best laptops, iPads, and the Steam Deck.
10. Nintendo Joy-Con Wheel
Best Nintendo Switch Steering Wheel
The Nintendo Joy-Con Wheel is a simple yet effective Switch accessory that brings a more hands-on feel to your racing games, particularly when playing titles like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. While it’s not as advanced as a fully-fledged racing wheel, it’s a great option for casual gamers and younger players who want to get more involved in the action.
With its easy setup (just insert a Joy-Con into the wheel) you’ll feel like you’re right behind the wheel, making it a fun and engaging way to race. The Joy-Con Wheel is especially useful for kids, offering them better control and an intuitive way to steer through races. Plus, the package comes with two wheels, making it great for multiplayer sessions.
Though basic in design, it’s excellent value for money, providing a simple way to enhance your gaming experience without breaking the bank. It’s a practical and enjoyable accessory that turns every race into a more interactive and enjoyable experience!
11. 8BitDo Arcade Stick
Best Nintendo Switch Fight Stick
Want more precise control for fighting games? Using a fight stick helps you dominate your competition. The 8BitDo Arcade Stick we reviewed has you covered when it comes to the Switch, featuring the typical joystick and eight buttons found on most fight sticks and two additional macro buttons. A simple switch lets you change the function of the joystick to serve as the left thumbstick, right thumbstick, or D-Pad. And, if you want to mod it, it's compatible with other arcade parts, including Sanwa's. Pulling off combos and different attacks will be a breeze with this controller.
The 8BitDo Arcade Stick connects to your Switch over Bluetooth, USB-C, or a 2.5GHz wireless receiver. As a bonus, it connects to a PC, too. The fight stick’s look and feel should take you back in time to a less complicated life but with all the modern features you need.
The way Nintendo designed the Joy-Con to charge when connected to the Switch was ingenious. But, if you're hosting a big Mario Party or Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament, this becomes a huge headache. These are the exact scenarios that call for a dedicated Joy-Con charger, like the HyperX ChargePlay Quad 2. Rather than just being able to juice up only two Joy-Con with your Nintendo Switch, you can charge up to four simultaneously.
HyperX ChargePlay Quad allows each Joy-Con to slide easily into the sturdy base, and indicator lights let you know when they're all charged up. The long USB-C cord for power means you can keep the charging station close. It also makes it easy to hot-swap controllers, so you barely miss a moment of a game’s action. The Pokeball look also adds to the charger's aesthetic.
13. Marseille mClassic
Best Nintendo Switch Upscaler
Nintendo isn’t known for chasing the most stunning graphics despite how beautiful its games end up being. Sharp-eyed gamers are likely to spot some jagged edges here and there, and the Switch could benefit from some extra anti-aliasing. Its resolution limit can also result in a blurrier experience when you pair it with a higher-res display. Enter the mClassic adapter. This unit sits between your Nintendo Switch and display, connecting via HDMI, and adds a bit of post-processing magic to your video feed.
The mClassic upscales gameplay to a higher resolution, applies extra anti-aliasing to smooth out pixelation and jaggies, and can add depth of field effects and image sharpening. It performs this processing with negligible lag, too, so you can continue to tackle even the hardest games. The mClassic is particularly handy for retro games on consoles like Nintendo 64, where you want to see smoother visuals, but you can apply it to anything coming out of the Switch. There’s even a special 4K upscaler mode to enhance 1080p video content.
14. Emperor of Gadgets Portable Power Bank
Best Nintendo Switch Power Bank
Grabbing one of the top portable chargers is the most simple and effective way to extend the battery life of your Switch. Its stock battery will only last about nine hours, and you’ll be lucky to get that much playtime. So during long travel days or time away from an outlet, a portable charger, like our favorite, Emperor of Gadgets Portable Power Bank, can be a lifesaver. Unlike your typical power bank, this one straps onto the console, adding a little extra bulk to the device but still providing an enjoyable playing experience.
With the Emperor of Gadgets Portable Power Bank comes 10,000mAh of extra juice, which should effectively double the battery life of your Switch. A 15-watt power delivery ensures a quick fill-up, while a built-in USB-C cable means you don’t need to worry about bringing your own along. You aren’t limited to just charging your Switch either, as it comes with an additional USB-A and USB-C port ready to charge up your gaming phone, wireless earbuds, and more.
We've found quite a few other great Nintendo Switch chargers like this one if you need more ways to charge your console on the go or at home.
Where to Get the Best Nintendo Switch Accessories in the UK
How to Choose Switch Accessories
As accessories are add-ons for your Switch, you probably don't want to spend too much money on them. Luckily, the basics we'd recommend are normally under $50 for all three products: a case, a screen protector, and an SD card. These items immediately ensure protection and allow you to store more games, making it a great place to start.
From there, you’ll want to focus on quality-of-life products based on your lifestyle and needs:
For comfort: If the Joy-Con are uncomfortable for you, we'd recommend investing in another controller for a more ergonomic hold. Tip: Take it to the next level with a mount for your Switch OLED and a Pro controller so you can game on the go when you're not connected to your TV. The Fixture S2 monitor and Pro controller mount is a must-have for playing in handheld mode.
For on-the-go charging: Get a power bank to extend playtime in general or while on the go.
For moreimmersivegaming: Consider getting one of the best Nintendo Switch headsets we've researched and/or tested. When it comes to performance with the Switch, nothing beats the Razer Barracuda X right now.
As for other accessories like upscalers, docks, or printers, you can grab these down the road depending on your needs. No matter which accessories you decide to purchase, do the research to ensure the accessory is compatible for your Switch model.
Nintendo Switch Accessories FAQ
Will Nintendo Switch accessories be compatible with the Switch 2?
Now that we have more details about the Switch 2, we have better clarity over which current Switch accessories will play nice with the Switch, and it's a mixed bag. Because of the Switch 2's magnetic Joy-Con and bigger screen size, things like screen protectors, cases and other form-fitting attachments will not be compatible. Though the Switch's Joy-Con won't be able to snap into the Switch 2, they are compatible via Bluetooth; the Switch Pro Controller will also be compatible (but the Switch 2 Pro Controller is not compatible with the Switch). Your microSD card will also be incompatible; the Switch 2 will only work with a microSD Express card. However, hold onto any power banks and other accessories that use USB-C: The addition of an extra USB-C port on the Switch 2 means that you'll be able to use more accessories at once.
Which Nintendo Switch accessories should you buy first?
There are several Switch accessories you can buy, but if you've just purchased the console, there are a few things you should get first. The most essential accessories are a carrying case, a microSD card, and a screen protector. These items will allow you to protect your Switch and also download more games to the console. You may also want to look into getting a more comfortable Pro controller or a nicer set of Joy-Con since the base set is not ergonomic for long-term gameplay.
What accessories normally come with a Nintendo Switch?
The original 6.2-inch LCD touchscreen console comes with an AC adapter, a Nintendo Switch dock, and HDMI cable. Beyond that, there are left and right Joy-Con, along with straps for individual Joy-Con use and a Joy-Con grip for turning the two controllers into one for gaming on a TV.
With the 7-inch OLED model, you get all the same accessories as the original, but the Switch dock has a LAN port for a wired internet connection.
As forthe Switch Lite, it’s also light on accessories. There’s no dock or HDMI, as you can’t connect it to your TV. The Joy-Con are also not detachable, so you’ll only find the console and USB-C charger in the box.
When do Nintendo Switch accessories go on sale?
Although the Switch itself doesn't go on sale very often, Nintendo Switch accessories will often see discounts throughout the year. The general rule of thumb is that the best times to buy a Nintendo Switch are also the best times to buy Switch accessories. Some of the more popular events where you're guaranteed to find discounts on gaming accessories are Amazon Prime Day in July and Black Friday in November.
Danielle Abraham is a tech freelance writer and unpaid music historian.
Georgie Peru is a freelance writer and also contributed to this article.
If you're a Nintendo Switch owner, you've probably noticed something pretty quickly – the internal storage fills up fast! The standard Switch only gives you 32GB, and even the upgraded Switch OLED bumps that up to just 64GB. Sounds decent until you realize that most of the best Switch games require at least 10GB of storage on average, if not more. Before you know it, you're out of space, especially if you're into downloading games from the eShop. That’s why having a Switch microSDXC card like the SanDisk 512GB Extreme is pretty much essential.
By popping an SD card into your Switch, you can load up on all the games you want without worrying about deleting old ones to make space. Depending on how much you want to store, there are SD cards that offer up to 1TB of storage. Just keep in mind that all your game save data will still live in the console's system memory by default. If you're moving onto the Switch 2, know that your old SD cards won't fly there; you'll need to move on to a MicroSD Express card to upgrade the Switch 2's storage.
TL;DR - These Are the Best SD Cards for Switch:
SD cards come in a bunch of different sizes, speeds, and prices. But if you're looking for the best experience, grab one with UHS-I compatibility and higher transfer speeds – that’ll help with smoother gameplay and faster loading times.
If you’re wondering which SD card is best for Nintendo Switch, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve handpicked some great SD cards that work seamlessly with your Switch, whether you want to install tons of games, save gameplay video clips, or need something to hand when you’re transferring data to other devices.
1. SanDisk 512GB Extreme microSDXC Card
Best SD Card for Nintendo Switch
SanDisk is a familiar brand name, so you can expect reliability and durability when you purchase the SanDisk 512GB Extreme microSDXC Card. With a range of storage options to choose from, you can max out your Nintendo Switch’s storage, allowing you to install plenty of games, save files, and screenshots without needing to delete other games to free up some room. We think the 512GB option is incredible value for money, but if you want to splash out, go for the 1TB card.
If you upgrade to a different SD card in the future, this SD card comes with an adapter, meaning you can use it across other devices so it doesn’t go to waste. In the meantime, the SanDisk 512GB Extreme microSDXC Card boasts generous data transfer speeds of up to 190MB/s – just download the games you want and put them straight onto your SD card in a cinch.
This SD card’s durable design is shockproof, temperature-proof, waterproof, and X-ray-proof (who knew that was a thing?). So if you’re going on vacation and taking your Nintendo Switch with you, you’ll have the extra reassurance that your game files are somewhat safe even through a TSA scanner.
2. Samsung EVO Select A2 512GB microSDXC Card
Best Budget SD Card for Nintendo Switch
Have a tight budget but still want a capable microSD card? The Samsung EVO Select A2 SD card is a perfect choice. Coming in at around $40, this card meets the minimum requirements of the Switch with its UHS-I interface and A2 rating for faster optimization. Sure, transfer speeds lag behind other cards. But given that Nintendo seems to cap speeds around 95MB/s anyway, there won’t be a discernable difference in game load times compared to those faster, pricier cards. It’s only when using the microSD card with other devices that those quicker speeds come in handy.
Even if Samsung EVO Select A2 is on the cheaper side, it still offers a healthy dose of storage space at 512 GB. That’s plenty of room to store a sizable gaming library, gameplay clips, and more. If you want to use this card with other devices, it’s possible to double the storage to 1TB. And for those that stick to playing only a couple of games, 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB options exist to suit just about any need.
What’s even better is this card is built to last, ensuring precious game data remains safe. It's waterproofed in case of accidental splashes or dips in liquids, while resistance to extreme temperatures, X-rays, and magnets means the Samsung EVO Select A2 is ready to go just about anywhere. It can even withstand drops over 16ft. Clearly, this SD card can handle far more wear and tear than the Switch itself.
3. SanDisk 1TB Ultra A1 microSDXC Card
Best High Capacity SD Card for Nintendo Switch
With 1TB of storage, the SanDisk Ultra A1 SD card is an excellent choice for the Nintendo Switch. The SanDisk Ultra A1 has transfer speeds of up to 150MB/s, which is well above the range needed for fast downloads on the console. It's likely that you won't even come close to running out of storage, with room for well over 75 games to be installed at once.
Most games on Nintendo Switch are well below 15GB, so this SD card should more than suit your needs. The biggest games range from anywhere between 30GB and 60GB, but there are less than ten that fall under that umbrella. Any extra space on this SD card is perfect for taking as many screenshots and video captures as you'd like.
4. SanDisk 256GB Extreme PRO microSDXC Card
Best High Speed SD Card for Nintendo Switch
If you're looking for the best high speed SD card for your Switch, look no further than this SanDisk Extreme Pro SD card. This card uses SanDisk QuickFlow Technology to quickly optimize files and give you the best performance possible. When it comes to launching or downloading games, this feature can come in extremely handy for load times.
With 256GB, you shouldn't run into any issues installing a healthy library of games to your system. Although the Switch does not have 4K support of any kind, this SD card is made for quick transfer of 4K content. So, your 1080p screenshots and videos will quickly transfer over to a laptop or PC with the blink of an eye.
5. SanDisk 1TB microSDXC Card - The Legend of Zelda
Best SD Card Design for Nintendo Switch
This Zelda SD card has arguably best design you can find for a compatible Switch SD card. At 1TB of storage, you should have no issues with running out of space for new games. Although the speeds are a bit lower than other options on this list, this is the only SD card officially licensed by Nintendo we feature here.
This card is made with the Nintendo Switch in mind, so you can expect a quality product overall. The design featured is the iconic Triforce from The Legend of Zelda series, which is a perfect way to showcase your love of the Nintendo franchise (even if you can't actually see it when you're using it). Overall, there are better options, but this is a good choice if you prefer to snag a unique design.
How to Choose an SD Card for Nintendo Switch
Investing in an SD card for your Nintendo Switch is a game-changer. But knowing what to look for is important too. You could just buy a cheap SD card that’s got a decent amount of storage space, but there are other factors to consider.
Storage capacity: This should be your first consideration. Depending on the types of games you play, a 128GB SD card might suffice. But games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom that takes up 16GB might need a larger SD card. Not to mention your save files and any screenshots you take will add to the overall file size.
Compatibility: If you’re looking for an SD card for Nintendo Switch, you’ll obviously need to make sure you find one that’s compatible with the console. The Switch supports microSD cards – this includes microSD, microSDHC, and microSDXC. Be careful not to buy an SD or miniSD card as these will not work!
Transfer speed: The higher the transfer speed, the better your gameplay experience will be. Speed classes are graded in 2, 4, 6, or 10, denoting the card’s minimum baseline speed. So a grade 2 equates to 2MB/s, 4 is 4MB/s, and so on. If you find a microSD card with a UHS (Ultra High Speed) class like UHS-1, you’re good to go.
Nintendo Switch SD Card FAQs
Do you need an SD card for the Switch?
For the Nintendo Switch, a microSD card is an essential Switch accessory. Without it, you'll only have enough space to install a few games on the system. An SD card will allow you to install dozens of titles on Switch without any worry of deleting games to free up storage.
Generally, Nintendo tends to keep its games on the smaller side, but there is a sizeable amount of third party titles available that are well over 32GB. This is the onboard storage for standard Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite models, so you won't even be able to install that game without an SD card.
How much storage do you actually need?
Most likely any SD card with 256GB of storage or higher will be more than enough for your Nintendo Switch. Some of the largest Nintendo titles, like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Xenoblade Chronicles 3, only weigh in at 16GB and 14GB, respectively. If you plan to primarily play Nintendo-developed titles, you should be more than fine with a 256GB SD card.
However, if you would like to play big third party releases on the platform, like Mortal Kombat 1, you should aim for an SD Card with over 512GB of storage. The latest NBA 2K game takes up over 60GB on Switch, which adds up quickly if you don't have a substantial SD card. Overall, the size of SD card best for you depends on the games you play, but it is essential for any Nintendo Switch owner to have one slotted into their system.
Will Switch SD cards be compatible with the Nintendo Switch 2?
No. Though more details on the Switch 2 confirm that most games will be backward compatible, SD cards for the standard Switch models will not work with the new Switch 2. You're going to need a MicroSD Express card if you want to expand the storage on the Switch 2. These cards are currently compatible with the standard Switch, but have generally been less accessible (and are more expensive) than standard SD cards.
Noah Hunter is a freelance writer for IGN, covering deals, shopping guides and more.
IGN's tech freelancer Danielle Abraham contributed to this buying guide.
Star Wars Day is May the fourth, which sounds enough like “May the Force be with you” that the internet turned it into a thing, and Disney was happy to play along. So each year, in the lead-up to May 4, all sorts of Star Wars gifts like games, movies, LEGO sets, accessories, and apparel go on sale. Below, we’ve gathered all the best deals on all things Star Wars into one place for your perusing convenience. So grab your lightsaber and let’s take a look at what’s on sale this year.
Star Wars Day is big enough that a number of major retailers are running sales on all sorts of Star Wars-related items. We’re talking action figures, board games, LEGO sets, costumes, apparel, movies, video games, and more. If you have a preferred retailer, click the above links to see all its Star Wars Day deals.
Most of the major digital game storefronts are running sales on all manner of Star Wars video games from a galaxy far, far away. These range from classic PC games from the '90s all the way up to PS5 and Xbox Series X games like Star Wars Jedi Survivor and the PSVR 2 game Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge. That's decades' worth of deals. There are even some older Star Wars games on the Switch on sale if you don't have a more powerful gaming rig.
New Star Wars LEGO Sets
LEGO already has a whole lot of Star Wars sets, but the brick-building company went all out this year by introducing no fewer than 10 new Star Wars LEGO sets. You can see them all here at the LEGO Store, but many are also available on Amazon if that’s your preferred retailer. They’re all very cool, especially the new Jango Fett starship, which is the latest in the 18+ line of Ultimate Collector Series sets.
Star Wars: Andor Season 1 on Sale
My personal favorite Star Wars show is Andor, hands down. The second season is currently airing on Disney+, but you can pick up the first seeason on Blu-ray for 50% off right now. Now that's a deal.
Funko Pops are great because they’re small and inexpensive – and they have figures for just about every piece of pop culture under the sun. There’s a whole world of Star Wars Funko Pops out there, and many of them are available in Funko’s Buy 2 Star Wars Items, Get 1 Free sale.
The gaming chair maker Secret Lab is running a big Star Wars sale of its own this weekend. In it, you can pick up a new gaming chair that's decked out in Star Wars imagery, or you can get skins, chair sleeves, and more.
Crunchyroll’s Anime Awards are a chance to celebrate your favorite shows, characters, and performances from the previous year. While a panel of judges may decide on the nominees themselves, the winners of each category are ultimately decided by fans. The anime streaming service officially announced the nominees for the 9th Anime Awards last month, and while the voting period is over, you still have time to catch up before the big event on May 25.
At the 2024 Anime Awards, the grand prize (and 10 other awards) went to Jujutsu Kaisen. In 2025, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End leads the charge with 25 nominations, though Dan Da Dan isn't far behind at 22. Here's how to watch this year's nominees for Anime of the Year.
Nominees for Anime of the Year
For this year's Anime Awards, Crunchyroll announced expanded eligibility requirements. Any series that aired between October 31, 2023 and December 31, 2024, which includes five anime 'seasons,' is eligible. With that in mind, here are the nominees for Anime of the Year:
Dan Da Dan
Dan Da Dan, produced by Science Saru, follows a pair of eccentric teenagers who discover that both aliens and demons are real. Season 2 of Dan Da Dan begins airing this summer, and one can hope they use an opening as catchy as the first season's.
The only Netflix exclusive anime to make this list, the first season of Delicious in Dungeon ran for 24 episodes. Adapted from the manga by Ryoko Kui, the seinen anime follows a group of adventurers forced to find meal options in the depths of, well, a dungeon.
The Elven mage Frieren once travelled in a party that defeated the Demon King, but her long lifespan means she's outlived all of her friends. As she decides to take a young human mage under her wing, she considers how to find meaning in fleeting lifetimes. Frieren is, in my opinion, the nominee most likely to make you cry or have an existential crisis.
Kaiju No. 8 (occasionally referred to as Monster No. 8 in English) is a play on the "Man Becomes a Monster to Hunt Monsters" trope that's always been popular in anime. Kafka Hibino originally joins a task force to take revenge on the Kaiju who destroyed his town, but a parasite flying into his mouth makes his plan a little more complicated.
While every other anime on this list started off as a serialized manga in Japan, Solo Leveling instead started as a Korean web comic on WebToon. A-1 Pictures produces the anime adaptation, which recently surpassed One Piece to become the most reviewed anime of all time on Crunchyroll.
The Apothecary Diaries has been adapted into plenty of mediums over the years, including a manga licensed by Square Enix, but the seinen story reached new levels of popularity with its anime adaptation. Set in an alternate version of the Tang Dynasty, The Apothecary Diaries has aired for two seasons so far.
Anime of the Year may be the biggest award, but categories include every genre of anime (this year added “Best Isekai Anime” to the list), as well as awards for characters, dubbed voice performances, and even opening songs. You can check out the full list of categories and nominees here.
When Are the Anime Awards?
The 2025 Anime Awards will take place in Tokyo on May 25. The event will be livestreamed on Crunchyroll, with more details to come. In the meantime, Crunchyroll is also celebrating "Ani-May," making a selection of their library free to stream and partnering with stores across the globe for merch deals and in-person events.
Blythe (she/her) is an SEO Coordinator at IGN who spends way too much time in character customization screens and tracking down collectibles.
The Nintendo Switch 2 is right around the corner, and if you’re planning on grabbing it, keep in mind that it only has 256GB of storage built-in. If you want to load up on games without having to deal with uninstalling and reinstalling over and over, you’re going to want to expand that storage. However, unlike the original Nintendo Switch, the new console now requires a MicroSD Express card – which are faster, but more expensive than other UHS-based SD cards.
MicroSD Express cards have theoretically been around for a while, but there are only a few of them on the market right now, as creative professionals haven’t really found much of a use for them. However, with the Switch 2 launching in the next month, there will likely be a deluge of Express cards to fill that gap.
Just remember that because the system isn’t out yet, I haven’t tested any of these Nintendo Switch 2 SD cards yet. However, most of them come from reputable manufacturers that have a track record of making excellent storage expansion cards.
Why MicroSD Express?
Unlike many devices, the Nintendo Switch 2 is mandating a MicroSD Express card for storage expansion. Nintendo hasn’t really explained its reasoning behind the decision, but it’s not hard to see why it might want to require faster storage.
For one, the flash storage built into the system is the same kind of UFS flash that powers most smartphones. This storage is much faster than the eMMC drive in the original Switch, and it’s likely Nintendo wanted its developers to be able to count on that kind of storage speed, no matter if the game is being stored internally or on an expansion card.
The only thing you can use a regular old MicroSD card for is loading screenshots and videos you took on your first-gen Switch. That means unlike something like the PS5, which allows you to store last-generation games on slower external drives, Nintendo isn’t allowing for any wiggle room here. If you want to expand the Nintendo Switch 2 storage, you’re going to need a MicroSD Express card.
1. Lexar Play Pro
The Best MicroSD Express Card
Out of the two MicroSD Express cards that are theoretically "out," the Lexar Play Pro is faster and more capacious. Supporting read times up to 900MB/s and storage space up to 1TB, this is the best MicroSD Express card out there right now. Unfortunately, with the increased demand that the Switch 2 has brought, I can’t seem to find it in stock anywhere.
This will likely change in the future, as stock normalizes and people slow down on excitedly buying any accessory related to the Nintendo Switch 2. If you do want the best SD card for your Switch though, it’s worth keeping your eye on the Lexar Play Pro, especially the 1TB version, and scooping it up if it comes in stock somewhere. As for right now, your best bet is to order it through Adorama, which has it on backorder until July.
2. SanDisk MicroSD Express
The MicroSD Express Card You Can Actually Buy Right Now
I have so many SanDisk SD cards lying around, and that shouldn’t be super surprising. Over the years, SanDisk has become one of the most prolific SD card manufacturers, and now it has a MicroSD Express card. Unlike the Lexar version, SanDisk doesn’t have a fancy name for its card, and it also only goes up to 256GB, which would simply mirror the internal storage of the Nintendo Switch 2.
Still, doubling your storage isn’t a bad deal, especially if you can find this MicroSD card at a lower price. It’s also not quite as fast as the Lexar Play Pro, coming in with a read speed of up to 880MB/s. That’s a minor enough disparity that you’re not going to notice any difference when you’re loading up Mario Kart World, but 20MB/s is still 20MB/s.
The SanDisk MicroSD Express card is also much more readily available at the time of writing, so if you just want to grab it and forget it, this might be the card to go for. However, if you’re willing to wait until you have the console in-hand, there will be plenty more options for you.
3. Samsung MicroSD Express for Switch 2
The Official Option We Know Very Little About
Samsung’s MicroSD Express card isn’t out yet, but this is the expansion card that’s being sold directly by Nintendo, which definitely gives it some weight. The problem, though, is that I have no idea what its storage speeds are going to be, or whether or not the 256GB model being sold directly by the likes of Nintendo and Gamestop will be the only version you can buy.
Still, it’ll probably provide some comfort to get an SD card that has Nintendo’s seal of approval, no matter what the actual specs of the card end up being. I have reached out to Samsung to learn more about this SD card, and I’ll update this article as soon as I learn anything.
MicroSD Express FAQ
How fast is MicroSD Express?
SD Express is theoretically much faster than older SD cards, and that largely comes down to how it interfaces with the device. Rather than connecting to a bespoke SD card interface, SD Express uses PCI Express 3.1, which is what SSDs use on PC.
Don’t go expecting a MicroSD Express card to be as fast as the NVMe SSDs in handheld gaming PCs, though. While the full-sized SD Express cards can come close, with read speeds up to 3,940MB/s, the MicroSD Express cards can only hit a maximum of 985MB/s. Still, that’s much faster than the older MicroSD cards used by the original Nintendo Switch.
How long will a MicroSD Express card last?
Just like any SD card, MicroSD Express cards aren’t meant to be used for long-term data storage, and so they have a shelf life. How long they’ll last depends largely on the environment it's being used in, and whether or not you’re dropping it. I wouldn’t expect a MicroSD Express card to last more than 5-10 years before it needs to be replaced, so be sure to keep anything important backed up.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
LEGO has revealed eight new Harry Potter sets. Some of them are now up for preorder on Amazon, but all of them are set to arrive on June 1, 2025. We've gathered all of the preorder listings below so you can see them at a glance.
These new sets are just the latest in a long line of Harry Potter LEGO collaborations throughout the years. The most recent new set that we saw for the franchise was the Knight Bus Adventure back in March, so the sudden jump to eight new sets in June seems like a significant increase.
New LEGO Harry Potter Sets for June 2025
The prices on the new sets range from $23 to a whopping $260 and there's a little bit of something for every type of Harry Potter fan here. The most expensive new set is the main tower component of the Hogwarts Castle, which is actually just one part of a much larger Hogwarts Castle set that is still getting new releases. On the other end of the spectrum is the adorable little Fawkes set that comes with a sorting hat and the Sword of Gryffindor for just $23.
For those looking for cool sets in the middle price range, there's the Chomping Book of Monsters set you may recognize from The Prisoner of Azkaban. It actually has a built-in chomping feature that looks like it brings the whole thing to life. There's also the Thestrail Family set, which includes two poseable creatures you can only actually see once you've witnessed death (in the books and movies, that is).
Out of all of the new LEGO sets that were revealed, my overall favorite is the Book Nook: Hogwarts Express option. It is a beautiful depiction of the iconic train stationed at platform 9 and 3/4 and it also just so happens to be a pair of book ends. It's an awesome Harry Potter gift for any fan who wants a bonus display for their shelf.
Should you preorder at Amazon or LEGO direct?
Currently, the only Harry Potter sets that are available to preorder are through Amazon, but all of these options will eventually become available at LEGO direct as well. Both websites are good places to buy LEGO for different reasons, and this is especially true for preorders. Amazon offers a preorder price guarantee that ensures you get the absolute best price for that set if a discount arrives before the release date. Alternatively, the LEGO store will offer you a free gift with your purchase and LEGO points for Insiders.
New LEGO Sets Available Now
If you're looking for all of the LEGO sets releasing this month rather than in June, we've got you covered. The most prominent new additions to this month are all of the new Star Wars LEGO sets, but you can also check out the full list of new options to see everything.
Anime just keeps getting bigger. It was reported to be a $19+ billion industry in 2023, so we can only imagine where it's at now. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to watch anime without paying a dime. While you might have to skip out on the occasional Netflix original, there's something for everyone in the hundreds of anime series and movies out there for free.
If you watch anime, you probably know that there are plenty of what we'll call "risky" anime sites, most of which ride a legal gray line or head straight into piracy territory. This list is limited to free anime sites we know for sure legally acquired their streaming licenses.
Whether you want to see what the hype's about with Solo Leveling, are planning a Naruto marathon, or want to dive into classics like Sailor Moon, here are the best sites to watch anime for free.
Crunchyroll
As the ultimate anime streaming service, Crunchyroll offers free ad-supported streaming of a selection of its library. What's available with Crunchyroll's free tier changes with seasonal releases, but it's consistently one of the best ways to check out the latest and greatest anime for free. Right now, you can watch the first season of massive hits like Solo Leveling, Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, and Apothecary Diaries for free. The free streaming tier doesn't always limit you to a first season, either. For "Ani-May," Crunchyroll has made entire series free to stream. For example, you won't get cut off from watching every season of My Hero Academia, Spy X Family, or Demon Slayer.
Tubi is one of the best free streaming sites, period, and licensing deals with the likes of Crunchyroll, Konami, GKIDS, and Viz Media mean the free platform is stocked with a solid amount of anime. You’ll find plenty of the classics, like Naruto, Pokémon, and Sailor Moon, shoujo favorites like Toradora and Maid-Sama, and comedies like Daily Lives of High School Boys. Tubi also has a surprisingly great selection of anime movies, including films directed by Satoshi Kon and Naoko Yamada.
Free Anime on Tubi:
Sling TV Freestream
Sling TV’s new Freestream platform combines a bunch of existing free streaming "channels" into a single platform. One of those streaming libraries is RetroCrush, which itself is a great free anime site focused on old-school classics like Ghost Stories and City Hunter. Freestream also includes “sneak peaks” at programming from Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, including the new Uzumaki anime and, interestingly enough, the final season of Attack on Titan.
Free Anime on Sling TV Freestream:
Viz Media
Viz Media is a major distributor of anime and manga in North America. While the Viz website does offer free manga chapters (as well as physical volumes), you'll only find physical releases for anime. However, you can find a pretty decent selection of free anime on the Viz Media YouTube channel, including a full spread of InuYasha, Naruto, and Sailor Moon movies.
Free Anime From Viz Media:
Free Anime Sites FAQ
Are there any free anime sites without ads?
Unfortunately, by virtue of licensing agreements, ads are par for the course for free streaming sites. If you find a streaming site without ads, it's more than likely on the "riskier" side of the internet. No judgment, of course.
Is there free anime on YouTube?
Beyond Viz Media's official channel, there’s a treasure trove of free anime on YouTube. I won’t necessarily point you (or the copyright police) in any specific direction, but I will say it’s worth checking if something you’re interested in is on there.
Blythe (she/her) is an SEO Coordinator at IGN who spends way too much time in character customization screens and tracking down collectibles.
Crunchyroll has always offered a free subscription tier with a decent library of anime. Still, some of the most popular and simulcast series get locked behind the service’s Premium membership. If you’ve encountered the Premium paywall for a particular series, I have some good news: Crunchyroll has made 20 of its most popular anime free to watch as part of the streaming site's "Ani-May" celebrations.
Whether you’ve been wanting to see what the hype’s about with Solo Leveling, need to catch up on My Hero Academia before the final season, or want to check out a classic like Cowboy Bebop, there’s almost certainly something in the mix for you to enjoy this month. Check out the full list of what’s streaming for free below.
20 Anime You Can Watch for Free on Crunchyroll Right Now
Let’s cut to the chase. Here’s the full list of what’s streaming on Crunchyroll for free in May:
Black Clover (Seasons 1-4)
Chainsaw Man
Cowboy Bebop
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (The Complete Series)
Solo Leveling has most recently taken the anime world by storm. IGN’s review of the first season says it “brings gaming mechanics to animation, with a thrilling power fantasy that understands the tediousness of experience farming, the fun of gaining a new level and skill points, and the thrills of facing down a boss."
The list is notably lighter on the shoujo side, but Fruits Basket might be all you need. One show I highly recommend checking out is The Apothecary Diaries, a historical drama with threads of romance. And I fully agree with IGN’s Apothecary Diaries review that “the titular apothecary, Maomao, is a delightful protagonist who embodies this balance between matter-of-fact and goofy.”
Otherwise, the Junji Ito Collection is an interesting addition to the mix, though I’d always recommend just checking out the original manga.
As far as we know, these series will be free to stream until the end of May, though some may stick around in the free tier for even longer. Still, any excuse to binge some anime is worthwhile.
What Is “Ani-May”?
Ani-May is a Crunchyroll thing. Aside from making some of their Premium catalog free-to-stream, Crunchyroll is releasing new merchandise while partnering with stores across the globe for in-person events. The site will also be hosting the Anime Awards on May 15. Here’s the message Crunchyroll’s Head of Global Products had to share about the event:
Collector’s Sale on the Crunchyroll Store
Aside from the streaming celebrations, the Crunchyroll Store is unleashing a full month of new releases and discounts. You can see some of what’s available below or check out the entire collection.
Blythe (she/her) is an SEO Coordinator at IGN who spends way too much time in character customization screens and tracking down collectibles.
Apple’s MacBooks have a track record for being the best laptops out there. With their consistently reliable performance, sleek designs, and top-notch software, you know you’re getting a quality product that’ll last for years. And if you’re already deeply entrenched in Apple’s ecosystem with your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, grabbing a MacBook over a MacBook alternative just makes the most sense. But figuring out exactly what you need from your device has its challenges, so we're here to help.
TL;DR – The Best MacBooks to Buy Right Now:
All of Apple’s latest MacBooks run on the tech giant’s own powerful processors. However, most won’t need the monstrous capabilities of the M4 Max chip unless you’re doing 3D rendering or advanced workflows. Luckily, you can go with something better suited to everyday usage, like the M4 chip on the lightweight MacBook Air. Want to get a bit more creative? The MacBook Pro with the M4 Pro processor may be right up your alley.
No matter what MacBook you go with, you can take full advantage of macOS, which remains competitive with Windows 11 and Linux. Plus, all these MacBooks support the lastest macOS 15 Sequoia – a big software update with AI at the forefront.
The MacBook Air has been probably the most popular laptop for years, and that's not going to change any time soon. The 2025 model updates the laptop with Apple's new M4 chip, which is not only faster than the M3 that preceded it, but allows the Cupertino company to work its 'Apple Intelligence' into the system. Now, this is no MacBook Pro, so don't be surprised if it doesn't handle games super well, but it should be more than capable of powering you through most of your daily tasks.
When I reviewed the new MacBook Air, not only did I find that it had phenomenal battery life – with up to 19 hours of video playback – but it also had a display that outperformed pretty much any other laptop in its price range. Plus, the speakers, in a configuration that bounces the sound off of the display, help make for a compelling multimedia device.
The MacBook Air also has an extremely comfortable keyboard, and after working with it for a couple of weeks, it became on of my favorite laptops for getting work done on, especially if I was commuting. Really, the only thing that holds the MacBook Air back from utter perfection is the lack of ports. For some reason, Apple is still only packing this thing with two USB ports and a headphone jack, which means you're going to have to carry dongles around with you if you want to connect legacy peripherals. And what do you know – Apple sells plenty of dongles.
2. Apple MacBook Air (2024)
Best Budget MacBook
If you’re looking for an affordable MacBook for casual everyday use, then the Apple MacBook Air (2024) is one of the best laptops from Apple for web browsing, watching YouTube and Netflix, office productivity, and more. This is all thanks to its fast processor, sleek and lightweight design at 2.7lbs, vivid 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display, and long battery life of up to 18 hours per charge. It also comes with two USB-C ports (Thunderbolt 3), a dedicated MagSafe 3 charging port, a headphone jack, and a 1080p HD webcam for pristine video calls.
The laptop starts at $1,099 – which is a bit hefty compared to previous models of the MacBook Air – but it's worth it. This model comes with the Apple M3 chip, and starts off with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, which should be enough for most people. Though, of course if you want a little more juice, you can get it configured with up to 24GB RAM and a giant 2TB SSD.
Just like the 2022 model, Apple also launched a 15-inch MacBook Air, which is basically the same exact laptop, only with a larger screen and more luxe high-end configuration.
3. Apple MacBook Pro 14 M4 (2024)
Best MacBook for Multitasking
If you do a lot of multitasking and swapping between apps, you want a MacBook that can keep up, and the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 is ready. With it, you get the latest M4 processor that features Dynamic Caching, which uses only the exact amount of memory needed for a task to help increase performance in demanding programs. That’s just the start, as you’ll enjoy a stunning 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display for a crystal clear view of all your workflows while a long-lasting battery – we’re talking up to 18 hours – ensures you can work from anywhere.
You will be adding to the price and weight when going with this Pro model over an Air, but it’s hard not to appreciate the extra power it brings. This option also comes in two colors: Space Black and Silver.
4. Apple MacBook Pro 14 M4 Pro (2024)
Best MacBook for Creative Pros
Starting at $1,999 but often on sale for $1,699 or less, the Apple MacBook Pro M4 Pro is ideal for multitasking and heavy workloads. It features a brilliant 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display, the latest M3 Pro processor for fast-switching between loads of different apps, and various ports, including three USB-C (Thunderbolt 4) ports, one HDMI port, one SDXC card reader, one MagSafe port for charging, and a headphone jack. That means you can use it with all sorts of peripherals like external hard drives and 4K monitors, which is especially handy for creatives.
From editing photos and transcoding videos, this MacBook Pro – which comes in Silver and Space Black – is a workhorse and fantastic for creative professionals. It just quickly gets the job done again and again with virtually no hiccups.
5. Apple MacBook Pro 16 M4 Max (2024)
Best Powerhouse MacBook
Want the ultimate MacBook? The Apple MacBook Pro M4 Max – with its massive 16.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display, insanely powerful M4 Max processor with hardware accelerated ray tracing, and minimum 36GB of memory and 1TB of SSD storage – can handle just about anything you can throw at it. In fact, it’s so powerful that it can support multiple external displays and is ready to take on 3D rendering and other advanced workflows.
However, this beast of a laptop doesn’t come cheap. It starts at $3,499, but for Apple’s most high-octane and fastest MacBook, it could be something to consider for just the sheer power of it.
What to Look for in an Apple MacBook
Although it’s a bit overwhelming to pick the best Apple MacBook, using one is pretty much the same across models. One of the best things about the laptop is that they all run the most current version of macOS. This means each model will run as smoothly and elegantly as possible with the latest security updates. However, there are certain key differences that make selecting the best MacBook for you a little tough to figure out. Here’s what to look for in a MacBook in 2025.
First and foremost, you should really think about what you’re going to use the MacBook for. If you want a MacBook for video editing or photo editing, then go with the MacBook Pro for its power and larger display. If you’re a writer, then go with the MacBook Air (2025) for its speed and portability. If you’re on a budget, then go with the MacBook Air (2024) for its lower price.
Processing Power
You really get into the weeds when it comes to processing power. Apple offers multiple chipsets in their MacBooks: M1, M2, M2 Pro, M2 Max, M3, M3 Pro, M3 Max, M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max. Released in 2020, the M1 chip is the tech company’s first chipset that’s designed in-house. It’s speedy and efficient, but it’s still a few years old. The next generation chip is the M2, which is faster and zippier, and the M3 and M4 only adds perfromance from there. If you want a step up in power, the tech company also has the M4 Pro and M4 Max chipsets, which are reserved for the 2024 MacBook Pro models. These chips are insanely powerful.
Size
Additionally, size matters when it comes to the MacBook. Apple offers two sizes for the MacBook Air – a 13.3-inch display for the older MacBook Air and a slightly larger 13.6-inch “notch-style” display (which is similar to the Apple iPhone 14) for the newer Air model. As for the MacBook Pros, there are three options: 13.3-inch, 14.2-inch, and 16.2-inch displays – the latter two are also “notch-style.”
Price
In terms of pricing, MacBooks start at $999 (sometimes as low as $799, if it’s on sale) with the M2 MacBook Air (2022) and can go all the way up to a whopping $6,499 with the M3 Max MacBook Pro (2023) for a model with a 16.2-inch display, 96GB of memory, and 8TB of SSD storage.
The most important thing to look out for when picking a MacBook is how you’re going to use it. For most people, the MacBook Air (2024) is the best choice because it features a modern and lightweight design, an M3 processor, a webcam with sharp and crisp picture quality, and a long battery life. If you want more power, then step up to the MacBook Pro (2023). But whichever MacBook you pick up, you’ll have a great user experience thanks to the latest macOS Sonoma software.
After grabbing a MacBook, you may want to consider some peripherals, and AirPods should be near the top of that list. One of our experts did hands-on testing of the Apple AirPods 4 with ANC, giving them high marks. The reviewer even stated the earbuds “go head-to-head in several categories with the AirPods Pro 2.” So, getting these lower-cost AirPods is a great idea.
MacBook FAQ
Are MacBooks good for gaming?
The main draw of a MacBook is that they are excellent laptops for work and productivity. So while you can play some games on a Mac, that doesn't mean that they were built for gaming. Despite the raw power many of these laptops possess, they are not yet the best options for gaming. Check out our guide to the best gaming laptop for better options.
Valve may have revolutionized mobile PC gaming with the Steam Deck, but more and more handheld gaming PCs are coming to market, giving it some stiff competition. The Asus ROG Ally X knocked Steam’s offering from our top spot thanks to its impressive performance, fast memory, and long-lasting battery. With the Acer Nitro Blaze 11 announced at CES 2025, you'll have plenty of options for gaming on the go. Whether you’re after the Steam Deck itself or one of the best Steam Deck alternatives, we’ve selected excellent handheld gaming PCs ready to chew through the top PC games.
TL;DR – These Are the Best Handheld Gaming PCs:
Rather than dealing with the bulk of one the best gaming laptops, handheld gaming PCs keep far more compact dimensions, making it easier to play from just about anywhere. Even though these devices are significantly smaller than the best gaming PCs, it doesn’t mean they’re underpowered, as many handheld gaming PCs are packing the performance prowess to cruise through AAA games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Ghost of Tsushima. And if you get sick of playing on a smaller screen, the best Steam Deck docks work seamlessly with most handheld gaming PCs so you can hook up to your gaming TV.
While we’re on the cusp of a handheld gaming PC revolution, we've gotten our hands on a good chunk of these highly-capable devices. Below are the seven we deem worthy of consideration. From the high-performing Lenovo Legion Go to a slightly less powerful option for indie games like the Asus ROG Ally Z1, something is bound to suit your needs.
The Asus ROG Ally X we reviewed last year might use the same AMD Z1 Extreme processor as the original ROG Ally, but Asus has made enough little changes to the handheld that catapult it into its place as the best gaming handheld on the market right now. The Z1 Extreme is accompanied by 24GB of LPDDR5 memory, clocked at 7,400MHz, a massive increase over the 16GB of RAM on the original model. And because the RAM is faster this time around, too, it results in a surprising performance lift that averaged around 12-15% in my testing.
Asus also made the chassis a little thicker and heavier. It's not enough to notice most of the time, but there's a reason behind the madness. The Asus ROG Ally X has an improved cooler and a battery that's twice as large as the original model. This means you can play games for multiple hours before you have to start running for the charger. The improved cooler also helps long gaming sessions by wicking hot air away from the touch display, avoiding the hot touch screen issue that plagued the original model.
The Asus Mobile XG port on the original model has been removed, and has been replaced by a second USB-C port, which is compatible with Thunderbolt 4. Asus has also replaced the controversial MicroSD card slot with one that will hopefully be a little more resistant to damage. (After all, Asus got into some hot water with the original ROG Ally thanks to some lackluster customer support that was documented by YouTuber Gamers Nexus.)
Despite that, the Asus ROG Ally X, by itself, is the best handheld gaming PC experience you can get right now.
There are ways to get Windows running on the 7-inch display portable by booting directly from the USB-C port. Beyond that is one of the best input controls available for any portable gaming handheld. See our full comparison between the Steam Deck and ROG Ally here.
There’s also the OLED version of the Steam Deck to consider for users who prefer a larger, brighter, and more vibrant screen. While still displaying at 1200x800, the Steam Deck OLED offers a noticeable difference, providing more clarity for a better visual experience. You'll also get improved battery life, a higher refresh rate, and more storage than the 256GB offered in the tradtional LCD model.
3. Lenovo Legion Go
The Best High Performance Handheld Gaming PC
When you're setting out to buy any kind of gaming PC, there's a balance you need to look for: You want something with incredible performance, but still looks like the premium product that you paid for. Handheld gaming PCs are no different, and that's why the Lenovo Legion Go is such a catch. The Legion Go measures in at a massive 11.76 inches long and 5.16 inches tall with the controllers attached, and that's primarily because of the large display.
Unlike other handheld gaming PCs like the Steam Deck or the Asus ROG Ally Z1 that take a lot of inspiration from the Nintendo Switch, the Legion Go sports an 8.8-inch 1600p display, almost making it a Windows 11 tablet with a controller stapled onto it. Luckily, Lenovo was able to keep the weight down a little bit, just 1.41lbs. Even if it's lighter than it looks, it's probably going to be hard for folks with smaller hands to use it.
The 1600p display causes a bit of a hassle, too. Because this is using the same AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chipset as the ROG Ally, some games can have a bit of trouble running at the native resolution. This is easily solved by tinkering with your in-game settings to lower the resolution. If you're not comfortable doing the hands-on troubleshooting, this might not be the product for you. But if you're a long-time PC gamer like I am, you'll love just how flexible – and beautiful – the Lenovo Legion Go is. This is the handheld gaming PC for the hardcore PC gaming crowd.
If the complicated nature of the Lenovo Legion Go is a bit of a turnoff, the Lenovo Legion Go S did just come out. However, in my review, I found it to be slower than the original Legion Go and at a higher price point. There will be a version launching later this year with a slightly lower-end configuration and running SteamOS, and that's going to be the lite-version of the Legion Go to keep an eye open for.
4. Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme
The Best Windows Handheld Gaming PC
If you’re after a Windows-based handheld that puts the Steam Deck’s Linux-based SteamOS to shame, look no further than theAsus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme we reviewed back in 2023. It runs on Windows 11, so just about any PC game and storefront are easy to use and bounce between with this device, including Xbox Game Pass and Epic. There are no significant caveats, like when attempting to play non-Steam games on the Steam Deck. However, during our review, we found the Armoury Crate software a bit clunky.
Equipped with a speedy Z1 Extreme mobile processor offering an 8-core Zen 4 CPU and RDNA 3-powered graphics, the ROG Ally has one of the most powerful chips available – if you’re looking for something cheaper with a little less oomph, check out the ROG Ally Z1. During testing, the Z1 Extreme could play many games at high or even ultra settings while hitting commendable framerates with just a bit of tinkering, something that can’t be said for the Steam Deck. But pushing those higher settings comes at a significant cost to battery life, making a power bank a sound investment.
The ROG Ally is sleek and lightweight, featuring a vibrant 7-inch touchscreen with an adjustable resolution from 1080p to 720p and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. The controllers flanking the screen’s sides have responsive ABXY face buttons and a slightly cheap feeling D-pad. We wish a touchpad were available for mouse-based games, but luckily the joysticks are reliable. A wireless mouse can always be connected if need be. Still, with everything on offer, the ROG Ally is essentially a mini Windows PC masquerading as a gaming handheld.
5. GPD Win 4
The Best Handheld Gaming PC with a Keyboard
More like a mini laptop than gaming handheld, the GPD Win 4 we reviewed looks almost like Sony’s PSVita until you look beneath the surface. The portable has a AMD Ryzen 7 CPU and AMD Radeon 780m GPU. All of that is hiding behind a 6-inch 1080p screen. One of the highlight features of the GPD Win 4 is a sliding Windows keyboard, which makes using the desktop operating system on the go a breeze.
There are three versions available, including a base configuration with 16GB RAM and 1TB of SSD storage, going up as high as $1,599 for 32GB and 2TB of SSD storage.
6. Ayaneo Air
The Most Portable Handheld Gaming PC
One of the smallest handheld gaming PCs available, the Ayaneo Air has a 5.5-inch OLED FHD screen. Performance-wise, you should be able to get quite a bit of horsepower of the 6-core AMD Ryzen 5 CPU and AMD Radeon GPU. A little under 2 inches thin, the Ayaneo Air also weighs 2.6lbs. With 512GB SSD storage, there’s also room to expand via Micro SD slot. Though it may lack the sheer power of many portable Windows handhelds on the list, the size alone makes it a worthy buy.
7. Asus ROG Ally Z1
The Best Handheld Gaming PC for Indie Games
If you like the looks of the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme but want something nearly as powerful for less money, grab the Asus ROG Ally Z1. Running the show is Windows 11 and a 30W AMD APU featuring a Zen 4 processor paired with a GPU with four RDNA 3 CUs. Admittedly, those graphics will struggle to keep up with AAA games at their highest settings on this 120Hz FHD handheld with a 7-inch display. Turning down the settings does help make games more playable, but the device truly shines in indie games.
Upcoming Handheld Gaming PCs
Now that the Lenovo Legion Go S is here, we have a first glimpse of the next generation of handheld gaming PCs. It's a rough note to start on, but keep in mind that the AMD Z2 Go is the weakest of the new generation of handheld chips. There will be handheld gaming PCs coming out over the rest of the year that are powered by the more powerful versions, like the Z2 Extreme. Just keep an eye out for the Lenovo Legion Go 2 and the Asus ROG Ally 2 – or whatever it will be called. Another handheld announcement from CES 2025, the Acer Nitro Blaze 11, comes with a massive 11-inch screen, the biggest we've seen on a handheld from a major company.
Finally, there's the upcoming Switch 2 handheld that we will hear more about during the Nintendo Direct in April. While it isn't a PC gaming machine exactly, it does appear to include mouse-like Joy-Con controllers that could make it feel similar.
Handheld Gaming PC FAQ
Should I buy a handheld gaming PC or a gaming laptop?
Depending on how you want to game and what games you want to play will determine whether you should grab a gaming laptop or handheld PC. Handhelds score higher points in longevity, battery life, optimization, portability, and thermals. But handhelds are only designed to play games up to a certain specification. Gaming laptops cram in the latest GPU, CPU, and RAM, likely sacrificing battery life, thermals, and price. However, some are absolute beasts ready to take on even the most graphically intensive games. Laptops offer more functionality when it comes to editing and other work.
The Asus ROG Ally X is our top pick and also one of the best Steam Deck alternatives. This gaming handheld offers an easy-to-use interface, speedy performance, and stunning design. Most importantly, the Windows 11 gaming handheld lets you access your entire PC gaming library.
How does the Switch 2 compare to the Steam Deck?
It's too early to say for sure, but given that the Switch 2 is using newer hardware, it will probably be a little bit more powerful – though by how much we won't know until it's out on June 5. Check out our in-depth comparison to find out more.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
Solving puzzles may happen in your daily life from various word puzzle games like Wordle, or through strategy-based games and puzzle books, but piecing together a physical puzzle is a great way to focus your brain, relax and unwind. As a hobby for all ages, there are hundreds of jigsaw puzzles to choose from these days. However, as avid puzzlers ourselves, we put together a list focuses on what we've found as the most challenging yet rewarding puzzles with adults in mind, and even included some 3D gems in the mix. Many of our picks below would make for great Mother's day gifts, but you can buy them for yourself too.
TLDR: These are the Best Puzzles for Adults
What’s even better is they come in a variety of different styles and designs once put together. Whether you want the finished product to reflect your favorite franchise, game, artwork, or a piece of beautiful scenery, there are puzzles for everyone to enjoy. The below list includes a nice range of sizes as well, from 1,000 pieces to a whopping 3,000 pieces, so you’ll still have quite the challenge when putting them together.
The Legend of Zelda Hyrule Map Jigsaw Puzzle
If The Legend of Zelda games are right up your alley, this is an excellent jigsaw puzzle to have in your collection. Coming in at 1,000 pieces, you can piece together a full map of Hyrule to have in your home. It has a fantastic antique style that’ll be great for showing off once it’s all put together. Frame it and keep it, or pass it on to the next puzzler in your life to do next.
If you do purchase this puzzle with the goal of framing it and displaying it on your wall, we recommend purchasing some puzzle glue to help you preserve the finished product. We recommend RoseArt Jigsaw Puzzle Glue, which works great and dries quickly.
The Mystic Maze Jigsaw Puzzle
Puzzles from the Magic Puzzle Company truly are magical, and one of the best puzzle brands. Not only does this puzzle, called The Mystic Maze, feature over 50 easter eggs for you to find, but it even has a surprise ending for after you’ve finished putting it together. It’s an exciting twist on the usual puzzle, and well worth picking up for your puzzle and games collection.
The main reason this theory11 puzzle is featured here is because it just flat out looks awesome, but the second obvious reason is that it's a Lord of the Rings jigsaw puzzle. The design of this 1,000-piece puzzle has a similar look and feel to some of the original illustrations from J.R.R Tolkien himself. The green and gold colors also go really well together with the illustrated style.
If you like the look and feel of illustrated Lord of the Rings books, you'll like how this puzzle comes together. It's a great option if you are looking for something to frame and display once it's completed. We've even included it on our guide to the best LotR gifts for fans of the franchise.
'80s Game Room Pop Culture Jigsaw Puzzle
Feeling nostalgic? This puzzle is ready to transport you back to the '80s and '90s, thanks to its retro style and assortment of pop culture references that you’ll be just as busy pointing out even after you’ve pieced it all together. It also comes with 1,000 pieces, so you'll be able to spend plenty of time immersed in it.
Harry Potter Marauder's Map Puzzle
There are quite a few really cool Harry Potter jigsaw puzzles out there and all of them make for great gifts for Potter fans. Our overall top pick within this franchise is The Marauder's Map puzzle. From Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, this puzzle looks like the full map from the movies once it's been assembled. The puzzle itself is from The Noble Collection, which is known for making some of the highest quality officially licensed wand and Harry Potter prop replicas.
Marvel Mjolnir 3D Puzzle
If you’re looking for another unique puzzle, this 3D puzzle of Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, is a great twist on a usual puzzle. This model kit comes with 8 sheets of 87 pieces for you to use in order to put this iconic hammer together. It even comes with a stand so you can set it up and show it off once it’s all done, making it a great addition to any superhero collection.
Marvel Infinity Gauntlet 3D Puzzle
This is another 3D puzzle from the same company listed above and features another memorable Marvel item: The Infinity Gauntlet. This puzzle comes with a few more pieces than Mjolnir - 14 sheets with 142 pieces - but comes with a stand as well so you can set it up for display afterward. If you’re a Marvel fan, this is a great investment to have, especially if you enjoy collectibles. Interested in other models? Check out our roundup of the 10 best LEGO alternatives or see more model kits for adults.
Star Wars: Galactic Child Jigsaw Puzzle
This Star Wars jigsaw puzzle is absolutely worth picking up if you’re a fan of the franchise. Coming in at 1,000 pieces, it features Grogu front and center in his little pod with a gorgeous cosmic background behind him. It also comes with a full-color bonus poster to help you with piecing together this Grogu puzzle perfectly. Other Star Wars fans in your life will want to borrow this puzzle when you're done; unless of course, you want to keep it and frame it!
Marvel Spider-Verse Jigsaw Puzzle
Venture into the Spider-Verse with this excellent jigsaw puzzle from Buffalo Games. This 1,000 piece puzzle is a sight to behold, featuring Peter Parker, Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Ham, and many more Spideys. It even features some of his greatest enemies lurking around if you take a closer look. This Silver Select puzzle also comes in a giftable box with silver foil accents.
Phoenix Wooden Jigsaw Puzzle
Not only does this wooden puzzle look great once it's all put together, but the pieces themselves also have unique shapes. You'll find shapes of animals and nature items which are fun to spot as you admire the final pieced-together product. Our pick for this Phoenix jigsaw puzzle above comes with 200 pieces, but you can also grab a large version (290 pieces) or x-large version (680 pieces).
Stained Glass Flower Puzzle
This is another puzzle that’s well worth displaying after you’ve put it together. With 1,000 pieces in the box, this puzzle features a vibrant stained glass design with flowers blooming at the center. It’s a great one to work at slowly and appreciate the beautiful result once you’re all finished.
How to Choose a Jigsaw Puzzle
As an adult, choosing the right puzzle for you requires a bit more thought than it did as a kid. There's more to it than just finding a picture you like and making a purchase. If you're new to the puzzle game, here are some key things to consider before you buy:
How Many Pieces?
The difficulty of a puzzle can almost always be directly attributed to how many pieces there are. For most adults a 100-piece puzzle will likely be too easy, but a 1000-piece puzzle might cause you to get frustrated and lose interest. Because of this, you need to consider how much time you're willing to dedicate before you choose a piece count. If you want something you can finish in a single afternoon, a 500-piece puzzle is likely enough of a challenge.
How Big Is It?
Another thing to consider when purchasing a jigsaw puzzle is how big it is once its completed. If you purchase a massive puzzle that won't fit on your table, you may have trouble ever finishing it. Make sure you have enough room available that you'll be able to slowly piece your puzzle together over multiple days. You can also buy yourself a good puzzle table or board if you need extra space.
Do You Plan on Displaying It?
Perhaps the most important factor in your puzzle purchase is what you plan on doing with your puzzle once you're done. If you are looking for something that's just fun to put together, you will want to focus more on the number of pieces and how the colors fit together in the image. However, if you're looking for something to display when you're done, you'll want something that looks more like a work of art. You'll also likely need to purchase puzzle glue and a frame, depending on what type of puzzle it is.
For Disneyland's 70th anniversary, Disney is bringing Walt back to life as an Audio-Animatronic for a new show that will take guests through his life and give them a chance to hear from him as if they just dropped in for a visit to his office. Ahead of its debut on July 17, 2025, Disney invited us to Walt Disney Imagineering to learn more, and here are the newest things you need to know.
Walt Disney - A Magical Life will take place at the Main Street Opera House at Disneyland and will run for approximately 17 minutes. The first 15 minutes will feature a new take on the "One Man's Dream" short film that goes through Walt's life and is currently playing at Hollywood Studios, and the final two minutes will feature the first-ever Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic.
The screen will rise and guests will see him standing in his office, which is a combination of his actual one from Burbank and the set developed for his many TV appearances. He will then tell "heartfelt stories, anecdotes, and words of wisdom" using his own voice. Yes, they aren't using AI or a new voice to put words in his mouth as they want to make this very authentically Walt Disney.
You can read all about how Disney is bringing Walt back to life as an Audio-Animatronic right here, but the attention to detail here looks to be the key to this show and figure being a success. Everything from his suit to his shoes to his Smoke Tree Ranch tie has been painstakingly recreated from the actual clothing and accessories he wore.
While we didn't get to see the Audio-Animatronic itself, Disney did show us the very impressive life-size model of Walt they built to reference when making the figure that will be in the show, and it was shocking how real it looked. His skin had blemishes, his nails were manicured but not perfectly, every piece of hair was punched into his head and they used the same type of hair product to give it the same sheen, his eyes were a bit weary, he had wrinkles, and he even had nose hairs and little hairs on his hand to heighten the believability.
He also had this "glimmer" in his eye that was created because the Imagineers told us many people would say Walt had this shimmer in his eyes when you talked to him, and they wanted to preserve that as well.
This version of Walt was inspired by the one that appeared in his well-known Fletcher Markle Canadian Broadcasting interview from 1963, meaning it was an older Walt who "was at his pinnacle."
“He's got the New York World's Fair shows in development, he's got Mary Poppins, he's got the Secret Florida project, and Disneyland's doing great," Tom Fitzgerald, senior creative executive of Walt Disney Imagineering, said. "He's got all these motion pictures and things, and he just has so much going on, he's so alive, and he’s so excited to share all of this with us.”
Also, for those worried about Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, which is currently playing at the Opera House and was one of Walt's big projects during his life, can rest easy knowing it will return after the initial run of this new show. The stage is actually a rotating one and it will eventually switch between the two shows, showcasing the early stages of Audio-Animatronic tech that Walt helped pioneer and the latest with the new show.
Evolution of a Dream and a Celebration of Disney Cast Members
There will be so much more to look forward to at the Main Street Opera House alongside Walt Disney - A Magical Life, including an all-new gallery experience called 'Evolution of a Dream' that will feature returning and never-before-seen images, artifacts, and art of Disneyland during and after Walt's life, and even a small recreation of his apartment.
Some of the most exciting pieces will be pencil drawings and other concept work of the first and secondary preliminary plans for Disneyland that haven't ever been seen in the public like this before. Additionally, some of the earliest memorabilia and merch from the early days of Disneyland will be on display to show what guests of the 1950s and beyond went home with after visiting the park.
The Walt Disney Family Museum was instrumental in helping put this exhibit together, as they donated more than 30 artifacts to be displayed, including original items from Walt's private apartment and some of his most cherished awards.
There will also be a section all about the history of Audio-Animatronics that will tell the story of how Walt helped bring it to life and how it evolved towards Walt Disney - A Magical Life. To help tell the story, there will be original and replica figures from Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, it's a small world, Pirates of the Caribbean, and more.
That's not all, as guests will be greeted to another exhibit as they leave Walt Disney - A Magical Life that will be a celebration and history lesson all about Disney Cast Members a.k.a. Disney employees. Guests will get to see first hand the impact these cast members have had on Disney Parks and beyond, and mural on display there will pay tribute to Disneyland history plus "what's to come."
Walt Disney - A Magical Life and the rest of these exhibits are only one way Disneyland is celebrating its 70th Anniversary, which actually begins on May 16, 2025, despite this new show and the actual anniversary happening on July 17.
Following Microsoft's out-of-the-blue announcement that it is raising Xbox console prices, people online started to worry about a similar possible price hike for the PS5. It's already happened in other countries, after all. For anyone looking to pick up a PS5 console sooner rather than later, we've gathered up all the major retailers that currently have PS5 consoles in stock at MSRP.
At the moment, PS5 Disc, PS5 Digital, and PS5 Pro consoles are still widely available at a variety of different retailers, which we've broken down in a bit more detail below.
The standard PS5 Slim console with a disc drive is available for $499 at a variety of different retailers. It also comes with a DualSense Wireless Controller, 1TB SSD, and Astro's Playroom pre-installed for you to jump into right off the bat.
If you'd prefer the all-digital version of the console, the PS5 Slim Digital Edition is available from select retailers for $449. This comes with the same items and features listed above with the standard PS5, but without the disc drive.
This is the ultimate version of the PlayStation 5. While it doesn't have a disc drive, the digital PS5 Pro provides a performance and graphics boost to the console. That kind of power comes with a hefty price tag, though. At $699, this PS5 is a costly one, but if you've had your eye on the upgrade and don't mind dropping that kind of cash, you can still find it at several different retailers.
If you're still hoping to pick up an Xbox console at its old price, there are a few still available at a couple of retailers, but they won't stay at these prices much longer. You'll want to act fast to pick up the ones still left.
If you want to track down even more PlayStation items, it's worth having a look at our breakdown of the best PS5 deals to see the latest discounts available. With prices on a variety of gaming items increasing, there's no better time than now to take advantage of the offers available. We also have roundups for the best Nintendo Switch deals and the best Xbox deals so you can see what else is available for each console.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.
Disney invited us and a few others into the secret halls of Walt Disney Imagineering to see how they are bringing their founder back to life through the magic of Audio-Animatronics for Walt Disney - A Magical Life for Disneyland’s 70th anniversary, and it is shaping up to be a project filled with respect, authenticity, incredible little details, and a ton of Disney magic.
Walt Disney - A Magical Life will debut at Disneyland's Main Street Opera house on July 17, 2025, which will be exactly 70 years after Disneyland itself opened, and the show will invite guests from all across the world into Walt’s office to learn more about his story and how he changed the world of entertainment forever.
While we didn’t get to see the actual Audio-Animatronic of Walt Disney, what we did see and hear about has given me the confidence and excitement that Disney may just pull off this ambitious and meaningful project in spectacular fashion.
One Man’s Dream
When we were welcomed into a room at Walt Disney Imagineering for this presentation, we were told what guests can expect from Walt Disney - A Magical Life and why this was the right time to have Walt return to the only Disney Park he ever walked in.
“It's a huge responsibility, as I'm sure you could imagine, bringing Walt Disney to life in Audio-Animatronics,” Tom Fitzgerald, senior creative executive of Walt Disney Imagineering, said. “And I think we are giving the same care and attention that Walt and his team did with Lincoln many decades ago. We worked very closely with The Walt Disney Family Museum and our archives department, we looked at hours and hours and hours of footage and interviews to pull together what we think is the most authentic presentation possible, and we believe Walt's story is as valid and relevant today as it ever was. The idea of following your dream. The fact that you will have setbacks, but you can turn those setbacks into success. No matter what, follow that dream.”
Most importantly, the team assured us they are taking every precaution to bring Walt back the right way and not rush things. This project has been in development for more than seven years, and the idea of a Walt figure has even been an idea at the company for decades. However, it just didn't feel right until now.
I can’t truly describe the feeling of seeing this, but it felt as though Walt Disney was in the room with us.
“We have worked very diligently, for many years, with the Walt Disney Family Museum and with members of the Disney and Miller family and the board,” Jeff Shaver-Moskowitz, executive producer at Walt Disney Imagineering, said. “And so we've taken care to make sure that the family is along the journey with us and that we feel that we presented a faithful and theatrical presentation that keeps Walt alive in the medium that he pioneered and in the way that we present stories in our parks.
“To that effect, we’re authentically recreating the way Walt used his hands to accentuate points, his very expressive eyebrows, and even that glint in his eye that so many people who worked with him and knew him said he had. Also, the words spoken by Walt are spoken by Walt. They are taken from interviews over the years and pieced together so that everything Walt is saying is actually his own original words.”
While we didn’t get to see the actual Audio-Animatronic of Walt Disney yet, what they did share was a moment I’ll never forget. There was a storyboard in the room we were in that showed a glimpse of the tale guests will see in Walt Disney - A Magical Life, and when they pulled that aside, a life-size model of Walt Disney that they built for reference when making that Audio-Animatronic was right there. I can’t truly describe the feeling of seeing this, but it felt as though Walt Disney was in the room with us.
He was leaning against a desk, as he was known to do when talking and how he will appear in Walt Disney - A Magical Life, and every detail was accounted for. His hands were recreated from a bronze casting of his actual hands that was created by Adrian E. Flatt back in the 60s, he was wearing a suit made out of the actual material of suits he used to wear, each strand of hair was perfectly punched into his head and styled with the same grooming products he used to give it the same sheen it would have had, he wore his Smoke Tree Ranch tie he loved, and so much more.
Even beyond that, there were blemishes on his skin, small hairs on his hands and coming out of his nose, a weariness in his eyes alongside wrinkles, and even his nails were manicured in a way that wasn’t perfect but felt appropriate for a man who went about his day after an appointment. And that glimmer in his eye. I know it sounds cliche, but it worked. When you are looking at him, there is this undeniable light in his eye that makes this model even more believable thanks a bit of Imagineering magic.
We’ll see how the actual Audio-Animatronic turns out, but I truly felt as though Walt was there and that I was looking at a true piece of art crafted by a talented team of artists at the top of their game. It honestly left us speechless.
“Today, with all of our phones, every guest can zoom in and do an extreme close-up of our figures,” Fitzgerald said. “So, we had to sort of reinvent how we portray them. They have to look good from a distance, but they also have to look just as believable in an extreme close-up. That's new for us, particularly with human-based figures. We did a lot of innovation in coming up with a look that would be as realistic and authentic as possible to bring Walt Disney to life in the way that he brought Abraham Lincoln to life, but for a new era.”
This also links to another question we all had - Why was now the right time to bring Walt back? The answer is a complicated one, but it’s a mix of Disneyland’s 70th anniversary coming up, the technology reaching a point where they can do it the right way, and having the right people in the right places to honor his legacy.
A Legacy Well Preserved
Walt Disney’s daughter, Diane Marie Disney-Miller, passed away in 2013, and one of her biggest accomplishments was co-founding the aforementioned Walt Disney Family Museum with her family. This museum opened its doors in 2009 in San Francisco and holds over 30,000 items related to Disney.
The Walt Disney Family Museum was heavily involved in this project, and I had the chance to speak to its director, Kirsten Komoroske, about Walt Disney - A Magical Life, what they donated for the show and exhibit, and also how Walt’s living family feel about the project.
“Disney told us quite a while ago about Walt Disney - A Magical Life because they wanted to make sure that the family, including Walt's grandchildren, were involved and felt comfortable,” Komoroske said. “And I think that the primary feeling the grandchildren had was that, Walt was so fascinated by the technology and the Imagineers felt like their tech had advanced to a point where they could do this right and do it in a way that really did capture the man as he was in his professional life. There was just a lot of thought given to doing this thoughtfully and respectfully.”
The museum donated over 30 items for this exhibit, including artifacts and furniture used in Walt’s private apartment above the Fire Station on Main Street. Some of these items include a green velvet upholstered rocking chair, glass lamps, and a floral embroidered tilt-top table that have never been publicly displayed at Disneyland before.
There will also be many of his awards and humanitarian accolades for guests to see. A few that caught my eye were his Emmy Award from 1955 for ‘Walt Disney’s Disneyland’ TV show, his Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Johnson in 1964, and even his plaque from the Racing Pigeon Association that honored him for “The Greatest Contribution Ever Made to the Sport of Racing Pigeons” thanks to the 1958 film ‘The Pigeon that Worked a Miracle.’
These items and more will all be part of the exhibit, Evolution of a Dream" that will open alongside Walt Disney - A Magical Life, offering even more a look into the life and work of Walt.
Most importantly, Komoroske shared with me that she believes this exhibit is continuing the legacy of Walt and Diane's mission of preserving his memory.
“Diane really wanted to tell the whole story of her father, who started from very humble beginnings and had some very significant failures, including losing Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and entering into some distribution deals that he ended up on the wrong side of,” Komoroske said. “But she really wanted to show that, despite these failures, he kept going and kept trying new things. He could have hung up his cleats after Mickey Mouse because he was such a success. But no, he wanted to do animated feature films, then he wanted to get into live action, and then he wanted to start a theme park. So she wanted people to be inspired by, it doesn't matter where you start from, it matters how you journey through life. And so to have that message at Disneyland more substantially is something the family is very, very grateful for.”
“This is when Walt was really at his pinnacle,” Fitzgerald said. “He's got the New York World's Fair shows in development, he's got Mary Poppins, he's got the Secret Florida project, and Disneyland's doing great. He's got all these motion pictures and things, and he just has so much going on, he's so alive, and he’s so excited to share all of this with us.”
As previously mentioned, he’ll be standing in his office and welcoming everyone to learn about his story. This office will be a mix of the actual one he had in Burbank and the office set that was developed for his many TV appearances. Easter Egg hunters will be delighted to know it will be filled with things to look for, including a photo of Abraham Lincoln, plans for Disneyland, and so much more. It’s all meant to feel like you’ve “dropped in and you get to have some great moments with him.”
As for exactly what he’ll be talking about in that office, we’ll have to wait a bit longer to find out. However, the messaging is clear.
"While Walt will begin by talking about his legacy, he’ll end by leaving you with a kind of profound thought," Shaver-Moskowitz said. "He may have had all these amazing achievements over his lifetime in storytelling and animation, but one of his greatest gifts was to understand the simple virtues of life and to connect with people on those. He was a very humble man despite being this titan of the industry, and that's the humanitarian piece of Walt that we're excited to bring forward as well.”
Throughout this entire presentation, there was so much reverence and respect given to Walt’s legacy and doing this the right way. To get a bit more perspective on the project and that side of things, I was also able to speak to Disney historian Jeff Kurtti, who has written over 40 volumes over the past 25 years about Disney and also worked at the company in the past. He is currently Chapman University’s Presidential Fellow, Walt Disney Studies, and he echoed these feelings as well.
“In the intervening decades since Walt's death, there have been no means to consistently present his reality, his persona, and his philosophy to new generations, where he once was an ongoing presence through the weekly television series, interviews, advertising, and so on.” Kurtti said. “This attraction and presentation offer a means for new generations to see and understand Walt Disney as a real person, and not a brand name, and to understand the work and philosophies that still inform the Disney Company today and resonate in world culture.
“Walt Disney as a real person is as absent from the culture of current audiences as Abraham Lincoln is, and as unfamiliar to modern audiences as Honest Abe is. This is an excellent chance to bring Walt into currency and conversation.”
"There's no sense of driving attendance or profit with this. There's a sincerity in investing the time, abundant talent, and funding in celebrating the identity and ideals of the founder of the company."
Finally, he said something that really struck a chord with me. What impressed him the most about Walt Disney - A Magical Life is that this was a project The Walt Disney Company “did not have to do.”
“There's no sense of driving attendance or profit with this,” Kurtti said. “There's a sincerity in investing the time, abundant talent, and funding in celebrating the identity and ideals of the founder of the company, for those who remember him fondly and for new generations.”
This is what gives me the hope that Walt Disney - A Magical Life will reach the heights it is aiming for. Disney is taking all the right steps to preserve Walt’s legacy and present it in a very meaningful way for guests of all ages and for those who aren’t even born yet.
We still have a bit to wait until Walt Disney - A Magical Life debuts at Disneyland to see if it all comes together, but there's a beauty in this part of the process and the show itself that echoes one of Walt's most famous quotes.
"Disneyland will never be completed," Walt said. "It will continue to grow as long as their imagination left in the world."
Walt Disney - A Magical Life will be a complete show, but it won't tell the whole story of Walt or of each individual who walks through those doors. What it will hopefully do, however, is inspire millions to follow their own dreams and show that they can come true. Walt did it, and so can you.
I check Pokémon TCG prices daily, and I spend way too much of my paycheck on singles—some for the kids, most for me. I even risked my marriage for an LED-lit Pokémon card wall. Worth it.
So, I figured it's time to put that obsession to good use. Every week, I'll break down the biggest risers and fallers in the Pokémon card market—what's crashing, what's climbing, and what’s actually worth your money right now.
As of May 2, prices on cards like Magikarp 203/193 and Pikachu ex 238/191 have nosedived by over 30%, while Rayquaza VMAX and Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat are making moves in the opposite direction. Whether you're hunting bargains or watching the next big spike, here's what to buy and what to keep an eye on this week.
Pokémon Card Crashes
Magikarp 203/193 blew the lid off valuable cards from the Scarlet and Violet era, specifically Paldea Evolved, heading just over $200 back in March. The good news is that this giddy kipper has dropped to $159.99, which is a solid time to bite for me.
Pikachu ex 238/191 kicked off a massive boom in the Pokémon TCG community, with prices going North of $450 in March (are you seeing a trend here, yet?) As more sealed stock rolls in and investor bros not getting the same inflated returns from their scalps, it's deflating the market. This card has dropped 37% to $289.76 as of right now.
I love stamped cards, they remind me of my Fossil pre-release stamped 1st edition Aerodactyl back when I was a kid. So when I realised N's Reshiram was getting a stamped box topper release for Journey Together booster boxes, I was all in on the hype. Now I didn't pay the $69 going rate on release, not even half of that, but $10.94 at a devistating 84% crash is my kind of deal. Snap one up.
Charmander 044 Promo from the Obsidian Flames ETB is the best in-box promo in the Scarlet and Violet era, even more so if you can grab a Pokémon Center stamped one. I'm all about affordability, so we'll stick to the standard promo, which has dropped by 18% in the past couple of weeks from $21.54 to $17.65. In Japanese sets, this card released alongside the Stellar Crown Bulbasaur and Squirtle, so grab the whole set.
If I said the words "Prismatic Evolution bargain" at any other time, i'd probably loose my job. But the Eevee 173 promo from the ETB has crashed by 51% over the past few days, and a bigger 69% from mid-March. Trainers can pick one up right now for $6, and it's beautiful so buy one.
Pokémon Card Climbers
I thought I'd focus on some chase cards here that are below the $500 mark and try to avoid some obvious cards because everyone's watching them who cares anyway.
Umbreon GX has always been a lovely card, featuring the best shiny Eeveelution form (fight me), and it's slowly creeping up in 2025. An 11% rise from $196.49 in January to $221.96 doesn't sound like a lot, but that's an extra $25 and change in value in five months.
Lugia V 186/195 is the best Lugia card in the TCG for me, the detail and atmosphere in this card is stunning. It's holding it's value at $225, a 5% steady climb since Feburary and one to watch for people who have one and plan on having this in their collection until grey hair fully takes hold.
Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat promo is responsible for absolute carnage at the Van Gogh exhibit a while back, which is why TPC distributed more as freebies on Pokémon Center owners. No one saw the price jump on this card comming, which is awesome because I have one. An insane 52% climb has pushed this bad boy to $325 today and it's steady. This same card was going for $155.80 back in Feburary, and that was a jump from around $70-80 last year.
I can't wait for Trainer Gallery cards to come back (I hope they do anyway), they're stunning. Rayquaza VMAX TG20/TG30 is one of my favorite cards in my family collection. I can't help but imagine what it would be like looking up at Rayquazza like this, such an awesome card. It's gone up by 14% since mid-Feburary from $55/77 to $65, And I have a good feeling this will go into the $100 range over the next year as the last bits of Silver Tempest sealed stock dries up. Grab one and thank me later.
Mew ex 053 Promo is one of the best Mew cards around. It's been hovering around the $30 since the start of this year, but what get's me is the cards climb in value from November 2024 at $11.26. It's going to be a slow burner, and sales data shows peaks and troughs in 2025, but I have a feeling we'll be seeing this card shoot up in value next year as content from the 151 Ultra Premium Collection become rarer.
Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of "Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior". Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.
Gaming chairs are one of the best investments a gamer can make. After all, during those long gaming sessions, where are you going to sit? While gaming keyboards and gaming monitors can really lift your gaming experience to the next level, none of it really matters if you don't have a comfortable chair to sit in. Our top entry, the Secretlab Titan Evo Nanogen, is a perfect example: It's a chair big enough for pretty much any body, and it's comfortable and sturdy enough to sit for hours.
TL;DR – These Are the Best Gaming Chairs:
I've been reviewing gaming chairs for years, and the overall best ones you can buy provide a place to sink into for hours of gaming without fatigue or pain. Including features like customizable lumbar support, adjustable armrests, and a movable headrest to beef up the ergnomics only adds to a more comfortable, distraction-free space to focus on your favorite PC games.
However, there are an excess of options to choose from. To help you out, I've cut this list down to six tested and researched chairs offering solid frames, high-quality material, and all the creature comforts you could want.
1. Secretlab Titan Evo Nanogen
Best Gaming Chair
The original Secretlab Titan Evo I reviewed reigned supreme as my top pick since its release in 2022. With the release of the Secretlab Titan Evo Nanogen edition, that has officially changed as the new model officially slides into the top spot, and by quite a bit too. Though it might look similar from afar, all it takes is a touch to realize how much better its new leatherette and seat cushion actually are.
In the two years since the release of the original Evo, Secretlab has been hard at work developing its brand new Nanogen Hybrid Leatherette. This new material is much softer and instantly makes the chair more comfortable just by virtue of how nice it is to sit on. In my review, I noted that the only similar material I've felt is Brisa, an "ultrafabric" that's typically found on luxury products. The only gaming chair I've encountered with such a fabric, or that even comes close to the Titan Evo Nanogen and its sweet, sweet suppleness, is the LF Gaming Stealth, a luxury bucket seat that starts at $1,700.
Secretlab also took gamers' feedback to heart about the firmness of its signature cold cure foam. This new model now features a Nanofoam Composite cushion on the seat, providing a layer of softness right out of the box while still providing adequate support for long gaming sessions.
The armrests also see a major upgrade. While they still feature hot-swappable top cushions thanks to their magnetic attachment system, the Nanogen comes with velour-wrapped PlushCell foam arm toppers by default. If you've ever experienced sore elbows from leaning on the arms of your gaming chair, you'll know how important this softness is. Paired with its PlushCell magnetic neck pillow, it's easily one of the most cozy gaming chairs out there. With the optional Ergonomic Recliner add-on, it's the only gaming chair I've ever taken a nap in.
This new model does come at a premium over the original, but it's worth every penny. It's class-leading in every way.
2. Corsair TC100 Relaxed Gaming Chair
Best Budget Gaming Chair
Corsair isn’t new to the chair game and the company's expertise certainly extends to its wallet-friendly option, the TC100 Relaxed. This racing-style throne offers a robust steel frame and wide seat packed with plush padding. The entire seat is then wrapped in a durable leatherette or soft fabric material with perforated sections for extra breathability to stay cool during intense play sessions.
Setting you back $250, this affordable gaming chair is my recommendation for anyone on a budget. Though it isn’t as feature-rich as more expensive chairs, it has all the basics you need, and 2D armrests and a gas lift with a wide range of height adjustments make for an ergonomic alignment with your desk. There is no built-in lumbar support, but it does come with back and neck pillows, and a deep recline lets you kick back between matches.
Most imporantly, it's comfortable without sacrificing support. While you'll lack more advanced armests, it's a fair trade-off for a chair that gets the basics – and the price – so right.
3. Haworth Fern
Best Ergonomic Gaming Chair
The Haworth Fern might just be my favorite chair of the year. It combines style with support in a way that few others do, even in the upper echelons of the office chair world. While it doesn't come cheap, it comes with a 12-year warranty, making the Fern an investment in your health and comfort with the level of reassurance only other industry leaders can match.
What makes the Fern special, apart from its uniquely modern sense of style, is its multi-part back support. An intricate grid allows the back to flex and offer support wherever you need it, no matter how you might move, where a second piece shaped like a fern (hence the chair's name) reinforces this support. If you opt for the optional adjustable lumbar, which I recommend that you do, that exists in the center and allows you to fine-tune the experience even more.
Reviewing chairs for a living, you come to expect a lot of customization options, but even I was surprised when I visited Haworth's configurator. You can choose from four different materials for the chair: mesh; digital knit, which has a unique chevron pattern; gradient knit, which, as the name implies, has a color gradient from top to bottom; and leather. There are multiple colors for each of these, and you can customize exactly how your chair looks. Elsewhere on the site, you can tailor the headrest, lumbar, arm type, and even tilt type of the chair, as well as choose between an aluminum base or a plastic base to save a little money.
To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect ahead of my review of the Hawthorn Fern. Lots of chairs look good, but aesthetics definitely don't guarantee comfort or support. The Fern delivers all three in spades. Apart from its appearance, you can customize all the usual ergonomic features, including its 4D armrests, seat depth, recline amount, and tilt tension, as well as the backstop if you'd prefer to lock yourself to a particular sitting angle.
If you are an Xbox gamer, the company even offers a few different options designed around Microsoft, the Xbox, and the Halo franchise. This is a high-end option but absolutely delivers and looks good doing it.
4. Hinomi H1 Pro
Best Mesh Gaming Chair
The Hinomi H1 Pro is the quintessential example of adjustability and customization, offering more adjustments than even some of the most expensive and luxurious office chairs. Its adjustability is its defining feature. While most chairs are designed around ergonomics, the designers have also put an emphasis on versatility and even easy storage. Nearly every aspect of the chair is adjustable in some way. And when you're not using it, you can even fold it up and slide it under your desk to reclaim some of the space in your room.
Hinomi may not be a brand you've heard of before, but don't let that frighten you. It's earned quite a few accolades in its limited time on the market and achieved a high degree of success with its ergonomic chairs, largely based on just how adjustable they are. The H1 Pro is its current flagship model and is designed to support even the longest sitting sessions, whether you are burning the midnight oil at work or playing a marathon session of your favorite esport.
Let's break down its customizations. Starting with the backrest, it's split into two parts to adjust your lower and upper spine. The headrest is adjustable at four different points to ensure it perfectly matches the height and depth of your neck. The chair is able to tilt up to 136 degrees with adjustable tension to achieve the much sought-after floating on air effect. The lower backrest itself is also tension adjustable to make sure it provides just the right amount of support no matter how you may be sitting. The seat can slide in and out, so your back meets the rest at just the right angle and there's enough space between its waterfall edge and the back of your knee. Hidden beneath is a footrest so when you want to kick back with a controller, you don't need to prop your feet up on the printer hiding beneath your desk.
Two of its neatest tricks involve folding, which isn't something I've been able to say about very many chairs, even over years of testing. Often, high-end mesh chairs force you to choose whether you want armrests or not, with little in between. Here, you get 5-dimensional armrests, which offer the typical height, depth, angle, and width adjustments, but when they're not needed, they can completely fold out of the way. As a guitar player, this feature alone makes the chair appealing. But if you're also gaming in a space-constrained environment, you'll appreciate that the entire backrest can fold forward to tuck the chair under the desk when it's not in use.
The chair uses a high-quality mesh material that's breathable and supportive, but some people have reported that they actually find its support too prominent. As always, I suggest trying any expensive chair before committing to a purchase or buying from an online retailer like Amazon, which has a generous return policy. Just be sure to save that packaging. With how adjustable it is, however, you probably aren't going to need it because the Hinomi H1 Pro is designed to meet your body exactly where it's at.
5. Razer Enki
Best Fabric Gaming Chair
The Razer Enki cheats a little bit in this category. It’s part fabric, part EPU leather, but the portion that actually touches your body is a soft, breathable suede, so I think it counts. The mix of materials lends this gaming seat a unique look that’s equal parts premium and eminently cool.
More importantly, in my review of the Razer Enki, I found it to be one of the most comfortable gaming chairs you can buy for entire workdays and beyond, which isn’t something gaming chairs are typically known for. The mix of its integrated lumbar arch and precise shoulder arch gently guides you to the center, keeping your body in alignment for superior comfort throughout the day. The cushion is soft enough to be comfortable straight out of the box, and a magnetic neck pillow (trimmed in a soft velour) makes adjustments easy. I admit, it seems like marketing-speak at first, but it really works, and it’s really comfortable.
The chair features the usual suite of gaming features, including a deep 152 degree, adjustable tilt and height, as well as 4D armrests. Unlike most gaming chairs, these armrests are soft enough to be comfortable and offer an extended height range to keep your arms in line with your desk. At around $450, it’s not the cheapest chair, but Razer also offers a more affordable Razer Enki X version that lacks a magnetic pillow and features 2D armrests.
6. Secretlab Titan Evo Nanogen XL
Best Big and Tall Gaming Chair
The Secretlab Titan Evo Nanogen XL is a clear winner for the best big and tall gaming chair. I've been recommending the Titan Evo since its original launch several years ago, but with the Nanogen Edition, the company has taken comfort to the next level (which is also why it's my No. 1 pick for overall gaming chair). The XL version just upsizes that to deliver its comfort to a wider audience.
This version takes everything from the normal-sized version and carries it through. That means you'll get the exceptionally soft, Brisa-like fabric and extra seat cushion, as well as those gloriously plush yet still somehow supportive armrests. If you're a larger person, then you know how important proper back support is, and this delivers that too with its adjustable lumbar support.
It also features full compatibility with the company's different magnetic accessories for the standard Titan Evo XL. There are magnetic pillows and different armrest covers and, though not magnetic, you can also attach the company's new recliner accessory to put your feet up and kick back with the controller.
This chair doesn't come cheap, but believe me when I say that it's worth every penny when stacked up against other gaming chairs attempting similar levels of support and comfort. Secretlab has been an industry leader for a reason, and the Nanogen line is easily the best it has ever produced.
How I Chose the Best Gaming Chairs
In deciding which gaming chairs to include on this list, my first consideration is always which chairs I've personally tested and know are worth including from firsthand experience. We – myself and other reviewers at IGN – test a lot of gaming chairs and will be updating this list with others we test over time. Where that's not possible, we use our extensive knowledge to assess each chair's ergonomics, features, and materials. We also consult expert resources from our colleagues in the field and real user reviews. Finally, we take into account real-world feedback on each company, how well they stand behind their products, and how they support customers in need.
How to Choose the Best Gaming Chair for You
Price: This will probably be the biggest determining factor. Going out with a set budget is helpful, as you’ll find chairs ranging from under $50 to more than $1,000. Cheaper gaming chairs, like the Corsair TC100 Relaxed, still deliver the comfort of more expensive ones. You just need to be prepared to sacrifice features, like 4D armrests or adjustable lumbar support. I’d stay away from anything under $100, especially if the chair makes promises that appear too good to be true.
Design: Comfort is king; nobody wants to spend hours in a seat that causes back or neck pain. Finding a chair that’s the right size for you is essential for preventing discomfort. Luckily, most chairs list their dimensions. You’ll want a wide, well-cushioned seat, a long backrest, and a good range of height adjustability. All that should sit on a sturdy metal frame capable of holding your full body weight. If you’re looking into a racing-style chair with bucket seats, like the AndaSeat Kaiser 3, pay special mind to the bolsters, as they can dig into your thighs.
Materials: For the most part, gaming chairs offer PU leather, fabric, or mesh. PU leather is easy to clean but may not always be super durable, and it gets hot when wearing shorts. Fabric, which is used on the E-Win Champion, won’t be as easy to clean, though it’s less of a heat magnet. Mesh is the most breathable option. However, you’ll lose the cushioned seat and backrest in favor of a suspension system, which can be a hit or miss. The Razer Fujin Pro is one chair that gets mesh right.
Ergonomics: After locking those in, a movable headrest, adjustable armrests, and customizable lumbar support can enhance the chair’s ergonomic, but these features often make the chair more expensive. Other quality-of-life additions, like a tilting or rocking mechanism, also help with relaxation between heated gaming sessions.
Because gaming chairs are glorified office chairs, their main selling points are, frankly, aesthetic. Gaming chairs are often a bit more expensive than comparable office chairs and don't have the same comfort features as seats designed for working in all day. Still, if you love the way that gaming chairs look and you're going for a certain vibe in your gaming den, the best gaming chairs do truly shine. You just might want to look at the best ergonomic chairs if you want something that's truly going to take care of your aching back.
How much should you spend on a a gaming chair?
While you can buy a gaming chair for $80 or less, doing so is just asking for eventual pain. Something inexpensive is usually nothing more than a cheap plastic frame (versus steel) with some thin fabric or pleather upholstery on top.
You can get a quality chair for as little as $200, and that’s the absolute bottom floor of affordability we’d go for. Spending $300 or more will get you access to better options. If your budget allows you to soar a bit higher, more expensive gaming chairs start to come with built-in lumbar support, cooling gel layers, and even more adjustable ergonomics, not to mention RGB LED Kits and more. It all depends on what matters most to you in the long term.
While there are benefits to both, this is a subjective question and boils down to what you're looking for. If you're after looks and the ability to deeply recline, a gaming chair is a safe bet. If you're looking for a chair that places ergonomics first and has lots of adjustments, you'll have more luck with an office chair. It's important to note, however, that there's plenty of crossover between the two. The Steelcase Gesture, for example, would look fantastic on any stream but it's an office chair, through and through. The Mavix M9, on the other hand, is clearly a gaming chair but has the features and adjustments of premium office chairs. Consider what you value most, how long you'll be sitting in the chair, and what adjustments you would prefer. From there, you can find chairs in either category to meet your needs.
What’s the best brand of gaming chair?
Your classic gaming brands like Razer and Corsair have been known to make mean chairs. Otherwise, brands like Secretlab, Razer, and Corsair consistently deliver comfortable, well-built seats that blend comfort and durability across price points. More classic ergo brands like Herman-Miller, Steelcase, and Haworth have begun releasing chairs for gamers too. Though expensive, those chairs are made with the best materials and are full of ergonomic features allowing them to offer superior support and comfort. Be wary of some brands available only on Amazon: The most inexpensive options will most likely be a little janky. It's probably worth it to save up and spend extra on a more notable brand.
Christopher Coke has been a regular contributor to IGN since 2019 and has been covering games and technology since 2013. He is the current subject matter expert for gaming monitors, laptops, and gaming chairs. Since 2013, he has covered tech ranging from gaming controllers to graphics cards, gaming chairs to gaming monitors, headphones, IEMs, and more for sites such as MMORPG.com, Tom’s Hardware, Popular Science, USA Today’s Reviewed, and Popular Mechanics. Find Chris on Twitter @gamebynight.
Mother's Day is fast approaching - May 11, if you need to mark your calendar - and if you're on the lookout for a nice gift idea, we're here to help. Whether you want something that's a bit more budget-friendly or you don't mind splashing out on a fancier gift, we've included a wide selection of options here that any mom is sure to enjoy. Some of them are even on sale as well right now, so you can save a little extra cash while shopping around.
Make Mother's Day special this year by treating them to something nice. Here are our recommendations of the best Mother's Day gifts to buy in 2025.
The Best Mother’s Day Gifts To Buy in 2025
Gifts Under $100
For those who don't mind spending a bit extra, we've gathered up quite a few items under $100 that are worth giving as a Mother's Day gift this year. From earbuds to listen to their favorite music, audiobooks, or podcasts to some nice running shoes and even a beautiful bouquet of flowers, there are plenty of options to check out.
You can never go wrong with a bouquet of flowers, and 1-800 Flowers has a wide variety to buy this Mother's Day. This large Garden Hydrangea bouquet is a lovely pick as a Mother's Day gift, and even comes with a candle! It's currently enjoying a 25% discount as well, so you can pick it up for $52.49 rather than $69.99.
The Apple AirPods 4 are currently marked down to $99, which makes them a worthy gifting option that falls just below $100. Even though these earbuds from Apple don't have noise-canceling features, they still boast excellent sound quality that'll make listening to music an even more enjoyable experience.
Coffee is always a good idea, and a coffee maker is a great Mother's Day gift for those with a busy schedule. This Keurig K-Express Single Serve Coffee Maker is sure to make each morning just a little bit easier. The mint color of the coffee maker is a fun touch as well.
Mom's with an athletic side deserve good footwear to keep them going. These Under Armour Women's Charged Assert 10 shoes are an excellent gift idea for those who love to workout. They're currently on sale as well, which is a very nice bonus.
A bouquet of flowers is nice, but a bouquet of fruits and chocolates? Now we're talkin'. This large bouquet of fruits and chocolate dipped strawberries is sure to bring a smile to your mom's face this year. This bouquet also comes with an additional tray of a dozen dipped berries, so they can be stocked up on tasty treats.
If the AirPods 4 are a bit too much to pick up right now, the Beats Solo Buds are another solid earbud choice to give as a gift this year. They're also on sale at the moment. Boasting up to 18 hours of battery life, these little earbuds will be great for using on the go or even just hanging out at home.
LEGO sets are always a fun gift idea, especially the flower sets from the Botanicals Collection. In particular, the Pretty Pink Flower Bouquet is worth picking up as a Mother's Day gift. Coming in at 749 pieces, not only will it look nice once it's all set up, but it's a fun project that you can work on together.
Gifts Under $50
If you're looking for some gift ideas that aren't as pricy as the ones listed above, this selection features a collection of items that fall below the $50 price point. We've gathered up a wide range of options to look through as well, from a gardening tools set to a board game to a streaming device, so you can find the perfect pick for Mother's Day this year.
For the mom who loves to binge-watch a new series or catch up on the latest movies dropping on streaming services, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max is worth picking up. This streaming stick supports 4K Ultra HD resolution, so they can enjoy all of their favorite shows and films with a vibrant, clear picture. What's even better is it's currently on sale right now at Amazon, so you can pick it up for 33% off at $39.99.
Woot, an Amazon-owned online retailer, is offering some very nice deals on fragrances for Mother's Day, including this great discount on a Coach New York Eau De Parfum Spray. At the moment the 1 oz size is listed for $31.99, 56% off its list price of $72. That's a very nice deal to take advantage of, and a lovely gift to surprise a mom with.
If you're shopping for a mom with a green thumb, this gardening tools set is worth a look as a gift idea. It's a nine-piece tool set that comes with a cute, floral-patterned storage bag that can hold everything. It's a great pick-up that'll set them up with the necessary tools to spend time gardening away outdoors.
If you're searching for more of a playable gift idea, board games are always a nice option. Azul is one we consider to be among the best beginner board games, so even if the mom you're shopping for is new to the world of games, it's a great starting point. It's currently on sale as well, so you can save a little cash by picking it up right now, too.
This is another LEGO Botanicals set that's worth picking up as a Mother's Day gift, but falls more on the budget-friendly side if you don't want to shell out a ton of cash. This lovely little Mini Orchid set is smaller than the Pretty Pink Flower Bouquet, coming in at just 274 pieces, but will look just as nice once it's put up on display.
If you're shopping for a mom who loves to craft, a crochet kit is a very fun gift idea to pick up. This crochet kit from Hearth & Harbor is made for those who are just starting out with the hobby and comes with a wide variety of items to kickstart their crochet journey.
This is another beautiful flower bouquet from 1-800 Flowers that's worth a look as a Mother's Day gift. Featuring a variety of colorful tulips, this selection of flowers also comes with a purple metal planter to hold them all, making them a nice gift to give that's ready to display right away.
Hydration is important, and for a mom that's always on the move, a 30 oz Stanley Tumbler will set them up for success for the day. This huge water bottle is a nice gift idea for those who need to remember to drink their water while they're out on the go.
Gifts Under $25
If you're looking for gift ideas that won't make a massive dent in your wallet, we've gathered up plenty of different options to look through. A few of our favorites include some sweet candles, cozy slippers, jewelry, and a bag of delicious chocolates to enjoy.
If you haven't heard of Homesick candles before, they're one of the best brands out there due to their gorgeous packaging, personalization options, and high-quality candles. With moms in mind, there is a special collection to shop just for Mother's Day, including the Mom's Day Off and Thank You, Mom candles, which are each 27% off right now. Homesick is also offering 25% off sitewide if these mom-specific ones aren't your vibe!
If you've had earbuds on your radar as a Mother's Day gift this year but you don't want to spend a ton of cash on a pair, these Soundcore by Anker A20i earbuds are worth a look. They're even discounted right now, so you can pick them up for under $20 for a limited time, which is a nice bonus.
If you want to pick up a Mother's Day gift that your mom can relax with, nothing beats a good pair of cozy slippers. These options from EverFoams look incredibly comfy, and they come in a wide variety of colors so you can pick out the option that'll best suit your mom's personal taste.
Chocolates are always a great gift idea. If you're looking to bring your mom a tasty treat as a gift this year, this big bag of Dove chocolates is worth a look.
This is another cozy item alongside the slippers that's worth picking up as a Mother's Day gift. This throw blanket looks very soft and comfortable. It also comes in a wide variety of colors, so you'll have plenty of options to choose from. Pair it with the slippers above and you've got one killer combination of coziness going. Even better, why not throw in the chocolates, too?
Buying a bouquet of flowers doesn't have to break the bank. If you want a nice little bouquet to give as a Mother's Day gift this year without spending too much, Walmart is actually a great place to look. They offer a variety of different flowers to choose from, but these lovely lilies caught our eye, in particular.
This is a wonderful gift idea from Shutterfly, allowing you to personalize a mug with three photos of your choosing. With this you can surprise your mom with a gift that features some cherished memories all around it. It's even discounted right now, so you can save a little extra.
If you're shopping for a mom with a love of jewelry, these Flower Studs from the Kate Spade Outlet are definitely worth a look. Normally these cost $49, but they're currently on sale for just $25, allowing you to save 49%. That's an amazing deal to jump on while it's still live, and these earrings are sure to make their day when you gift them.
A mom who loves yoga needs a good yoga mat. This option from Fitvids is worth keeping in mind as a gift idea, not just for its affordable price tag but also the many color options there are to choose from. It even comes with a strap for free to make carrying it around nice and easy.
For the mother out there that loves playing Stardew Valley and cooking, the Official Stardew Valley Cookbook is an excellent option for under $20. It features recipes from the game as well as illustrations and dialogue written by the creator himself. Outside of the this particular option, there are actually quite a few other video game cookbooks to choose from.
These Mother's Day gift ideas just scratch the surface of what's out there, though. If you want some more options to look through, it's worth checking out Amazon's 3 for $33 sale, which is a good idea if your mom is a big movie fan. This features a wide selection of 4Ks that are worth adding to a physical media collection. More great places to look for gift ideas are our roundups of the best board games and the best LEGO sets for adults, which feature a variety of fun options that could make for nice Mother's Day gifts.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.
Imperial is easily one of Marvel’s biggest and most ambitious new comic book projects in 2025. This series is the latest major project from Jonathan Hickman, the architect behind game-changing Marvel storylines like House of X and the new Ultimate Universe. And just as those projects revamped their respective franchises, Imperial is shaping up to create a whole new status quo for Marvel’s cosmic heroes like Nova and the Guardians of the Galaxy.
To get a better idea of how Imperial will upend the cosmic playing board, IGN chatted with Hickman via email. Check out an exclusive preview in the slideshow gallery below, and then read on to learn more.
To start, we wanted to know about the origins of Imperial. Was this a story Hickman was itching to tell, or did Marvel specifically approach him with an eye toward replicating the past success of Krakoa and Ultimate Invasion? As Hickman explains, 2025 was the right time to look at Marvel’s cosmic lineup with a fresh eye.
“I think it was simply time to revisit this corner of the Marvel Universe,” Hickman tells IGN. “That I was available and interested, and that it’s been of ongoing interest to the company, and that the model of launching something like this had just been done with the Ultimate line, all added up to it feeling like this was an opportunity to do Imperial. It’s come together well and I think people are going to enjoy it. It’s a fun book.”
The new Ultimate line has been a big success for Marvel over the past two years, and there are some obvious comparisons to be made in terms of how Imperial is being used as the foundation for a new line of cosmic books. We were curious how similar Hickman sees this initiative? Are there any lessons from launching the Ultimate Universe that he’s taking into Imperial?
“You can, in my opinion, draw a direct line between the two in terms of what we think can succeed with in the current market,” Hickman says. “A small, tight line of books that readers can invest in and not feel overwhelmed, and where creators can execute their vision for the individual titles without drowning in external continuity seems to be a pretty solid model of how to launch something like this.”
Hickman continues, “The big difference, obviously, is that this isn’t set in an alternative Marvel Universe, so we won’t be doing the ‘real time’ aspect of the Ultimate line. Which has its pluses and minuses, but I think most people will be pleased about.”
Imperial also brings to mind 2006’s Annihilation crossover, another major storyline that ended with a huge status quo shift for Marvel’s cosmic heroes and an overall shift in the balance of power. In fact, Annihilation paved the way for the modern Guardians of the Galaxy as we know them. Does Hickman see any similarities between Annihilation and Imperial?
“No. Simply because that’s an invasion story and this isn’t anything like that,” Hickman says. “The ‘what-you-get’ end results might be similar in that all of a sudden there are a bunch of Marvel cosmic books you care about. But plot/story-wise? No.”
Elements of Imperial are clearly building on Hickman’s previous Marvel work. For example, the recent “Hunt for Xavier” crossover in the X-Men line tackled a loose end from the Krakoan era. It set the stage for Imperial by resurrecting the former Shi’ar Empress Lilandra and reuniting her with the fugitive Charles Xavier, as the two embark to rescue their daughter Xandra. Imperial also features the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda, an element first teased in 2015’s Secret Wars before going on to play a role in Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Black Panther series.
Despite these callbacks to his previous work, Hickman reveals that Imperial isn’t necessarily as connected to those books as it might seem.
“Well, I’m kind of notorious for mining my own continuity inside of the greater Marvel one, but I’d say well over half of this is more like me picking up pieces from a bunch of extended stories that have been done over the years by other creators than me just picking up plot threads from my previous books,” Hickman says. “Sure, there’s some of that in there, but not as much as some people might expect.”
Imperial is also notable for pushing the Hulk family in a more cosmic-oriented direction again. The preview art makes it clear that Hulk and She-Hulk are returning to the wartorn world of Sakaar, hearkening back to 2006’s seminal Planet Hulk storyline. Hickman makes it clear that this is no coincidence, and that there’s a good reason to return to Sakaar in 2025.
Hickman teases, “All I’ll say there is we’re coming up on the twentieth anniversary of Planet Hulk and Marvel doesn’t usually let those opportunities pass by.”
Finally, we asked Hickman about the decision to divide the series between artists Federico Vicentini and Iban Coello. How is the creative team you trying to take advantage of having two artists bringing this conflict to life?
“Both of those guys are crushing it,” Hickman says. “I’ve been very pleased and surprised at how they’ve tackled some of the story beats, character designs, and wild locations this thing has. And with the book having a compressed publishing schedule (we actually moved it forward at the beginning of the year), the only way it could be done was for them to tag team it. The trick there is they have to complement each other and that’s clearly the case here.”
If you've been hoping to start up an account to dig into that library, we're here to help. We're keeping track of the best price right now for Max subscriptions, along with any deals as they appear. This includes bundle deals like the Max, Hulu, and Disney+ bundle, which is one you absolutely don't want to miss out on. This mega bundle starts at just $16.99/month, which is an astonishing price to have three very popular streaming services right in the palm of your hand. You can learn more about that bundle deal and Max's subscription plans below.
Subscribe to Max - Save Up to 20% With Annual Plans
If you're just looking to sign up for a Max subscription, there are a few different options to choose from. At the moment, Max also has a limited time offer going on with its yearly plans that'll set you up at a discounted price for your first year. You can see those deals and the monthly plans below.
The Standard tier allows users to download shows and movies to watch on the go. Both of the tiers allow up to two concurrent streams and offer Full HD resolution.
Max also has an additional Premium tier, which offers 4K UHD resolution and Dolby Atmos sound alongside four concurrent streams. The details are as follows:
$20.99/month, ad-free with four concurrent streams
$169.99/year- (usually $209.99/year), ad-free with four concurrent streams
There is currently no Max free trial available as of May 2025.
How to Get the Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max Streaming Bundle
The Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max streaming bundle can be purchased on any of the three streaming services and starts at $16.99/month for the ad-supported tier or $29.99/month for ad-free access across all three platforms. If you're looking to cut down on streaming costs and currently own all three of these, this is an excellent bundle to invest in. It'll save you quite a bit compared to what you'd pay for the three of them separately per month – 43% on the ad-supported plan and 42% on the ad-free plan.
If you're a student, you can score the Max Basic With Ads plan for just $4.99/month. That's 50% off the usual price, which is a very nice deal to take advantage of. In order to get the discount, you'll need to verify your student status with UNiDAYS, then you'll get a unique code that you can use to redeem the discounted plan.
Max: Bundle to Best
Alongside the big Max/Hulu/Disney+ bundle deal, Hulu also offers its own bundle deal with Max if you just want to have those two services. Simply pick out your Hulu base plan, which starts at $9.99/month, and then add Max to your account for an additional $9.99/month with the ad-supported plan or $16.99/month for the ad-free plan. If you'd like to learn more about Hulu's bundles, visit our page on Hulu's best bundles and deals right now.
What Is Streaming on Max?
Max brings together content from the old HBO Max service and Discovery+ under one roof. From Discovery, this includes programming from brands like HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Magnolia Network, and more. Some of the shows include Property Brothers, House Hunters, Fixer Upper, among others.
The service also maintains much of the content from HBO Max, including its slate of HBO Originals like The Last of Us (now airing Season 2), Euphoria, Succession, Barry, Curb Your Enthusiasm, White Lotus, House of the Dragon, and more. It also includes DC's slate of movies like Black Adam and The Batman, as well as other popular films like Dune: Part Two and Barbie. Plus, Max continues to house popular streaming series like Friends, Full House, and the Harry Potter movie collection.
In our updated review of Max, we gave it an 8/10, stating that, "For all its problems and an app that still runs a little too heavy, the extensive selection of well-curated choices make Max a worthwhile investment for cinema and TV lovers."
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.
Are you going to invite them in… again? That’s right, Black Panther director Ryan Coogler’s new film Sinners has taken the box office by storm — so naturally, it already has plans to return to IMAX screens following the Thunderbolts* run.
The movie is set to do an extra week theatrical run at eight 70mm IMAX screens nationwide: Los Angeles, Irvine, New York, San Francisco, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Ft. Lauderdale, Dallas, as well as Toronto as the ninth screen in North America as a whole. Tickets went on sale May 1 for a weeklong run from May 15-21 — and unsurprisingly, the re-release run is already selling fast.
“Audiences have spoken and we listened. If ever a film needed to be experienced in this incredible larger-than-life format, it’s Sinners,” Jeff Goldstein, President of Global Distribution for Warner Bros. Pictures said in a statement.
“Ryan has delivered a film that has been embraced by fans who appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into creating a film for this screen-filling format and we wanted to give everyone the opportunity to see it — or see it again — in 70mm IMAX.”
Mobile Suit Gundam: GQuuuuuuX is finally here for North American audiences. The new Gundam series features a new "alternate history" storyline, a name that’s harder than ever to pronounce (allegedly “G-Queue-x”), and, of course, a new line of model kits. In IGN's review of the GQuuuuuuX theatrical release, critic Juan Barquin calls the new series “exactly the kind of inventive reimagining of Gundam we deserve.”
There’s the notable influence of another massive sci-fi series in the credits of the new Gundam anime. GQuuuuuuX is directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki (co-director of End of Evangelion), and written by Yoji Enokido – who also wrote stone-cold anime classics like FLCL, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Ouran High School Host Club, and Bungo Stray Dogs, as well as scripts for several episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion – and the Evangelion creator himself, Hideaki Anno. One can only imagine where this series will go with these minds behind it.
If you’re wondering where to watch new episodes of Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX or catch up on the original Gundam series beforehand, I’ve listed everything you need to know below.
How to Watch Mobile Suit Gundam: GQuuuuuuX
The new Gundam show is streaming on Prime Video instead of Netflix or Crunchyroll. Standalone Prime Video subscriptions start at $8.99/month, but are included in general Amazon Prime memberships, which cost $14.99/month and include Prime shipping benefits. Amazon Prime also offers a 30-day free trial for new subscribers.
Episode Release Dates
Mobile Suit Gundam: GQuuuuuuX initially premiered in Japan as a feature film containing four individual episodes. Starting April 8, individual episodes will become available to North American viewers on Prime Video every Tuesday. The first season of GQuuuuuuX will most likely follow the same trend as the most recent Gundam anime, The Witch from Mercury, running for one cour, around three months, for 12 episodes total. I’ll be sure to update this article with any new developments.
Episode 1: "The Red Gundam" - April 8 (now streaming)
Episode 2: "The White Gundam" - April 15 (now streaming)
Episode 3: "Machu in Clan Battle" - April 22 (now streaming)
Episode 4: "The Witch's War" - April 29 (now streaming)
Episode 5 - TBA
Episode 6 - TBA
Episode 7 - TBA
Episode 8 - TBA
Episode 9 - TBA
Episode 10 - TBA
Episode 11 - TBA
Episode 12 - TBA
What Is GQuuuuuuX About?
Alternative histories aren’t new concepts for the Gundam universe, but GQuuuuuuX introduces a particularly massive twist where the Principle of Zeon gets its hands on the prototype Gundam instead of Amuro and the Earth Federation. Here’s the new show's official synopsis:
New GQuuuuuuX Model Kits and Figures
A world where Zeon secures the ultimate advantage in the One Year War leads to some distinct Gundam designs. Tons of model kits and figures inspired by the new series are already up for preorder. You can check out the full collection here.
Where to Watch the Original Mobile Suit Gundam Anime
While you can probably enjoy GQuuuuuuX regardless of your Gundam experience, the “alternative” history is likely best enjoyed with knowledge of, well, the original history. You can watch the original Gundam anime as well as most Gundam series on everyone’s favorite anime streaming service Crunchyroll.
Gundam GQuuuuuuX Characters and Voice Cast
Amate Yuzuriha (Machu) voiced by Tomoyo Kurosawa
Nyaan voiced by Yui Ishikawa
Shuji Itō voiced by Simba Tsuchiya
Challia Bull voiced by Shinji Kawada
Char Aznable voiced by Shin Yuuki
Xavier Olivette voiced by Seiichiro Yamashita
Comoli Harcourt voiced by Akane Fujita
Annqi voiced by Mariya Ise
Jezzi voiced by Yukitoshi Tokumoto
Nabu voiced by Shoya Chiba
Kaine voiced by Yuusuke Nagano
HARO voiced by Rie Kugimiya
Pomeranian voiced by Kosuke Echigoya
Denim voiced by Goto Kousuke
Dren voiced by Takeda Taichi
Blythe (she/her) is an SEO Coordinator at IGN who spends way too much time in character customization screens and tracking down collectibles.
The thing we all knew was going to happen has finally happened: GTA 6 has been delayed. Originally scheduled for release during 2025, what is almost certainly the most anticipated game of all time is now due to arrive on May 26, 2026.
But that doesn’t mean that 2025 is going to go down in history as a disappointing year for games. Far from it! Already this year we’ve had some phenomenal releases in the form of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Blue Prince, and Split Fiction, and there are plenty more in the pipeline. Dozens of them, in fact. There’s Ghost of Yotei if you need a second samurai fix this year, Borderlands 4 for your co-op chaos needs, and even a brand new console and accompanying games from a little company called Nintendo.
Here’s everything you have to look forward to in the rest of 2025 that doesn’t have the words “Grand Theft Auto 6” in the title.
What’s next?
With GTA 6 originally scheduled for later in the year, you almost certainly hadn’t made any space in your gaming calendar over the next couple of months. But just in case you did, there are some massive drops imminent. Doom: The Dark Ages arrives on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC on May 15, and looks to be an incredible goth reimagining of the shooter we know and love. Following not long after is something for all the Souls fans, as Elden Ring Nightreign drops on May 30 for Xbox, PlayStation, and PC. This one’s a co-op roguelike, so brand new territory for FromSoft, but if you’ve been looking for a faster take on the studio’s core formula, then it could be the mainstay of your multiplayer nights for the foreseeable future.
Skip forward a month into June and you can strap in for Hideo Kojima’s next wild adventure inDeath Stranding 2: On the Beach. Arriving on June 26 exclusively for PS5, its trailers are already packed to the brim with wild and weird ideas, so we’re expecting this one to push the envelope much further than its FedEx simulator predecessor. Talking of games where its difficult to walk over large surfaces without things going horribly wrong, Dune: Awakening lands on PC on June 10. Watch out for the sandworms and drink plenty of water, please.
June is just the start, though, as just a few weeks later Donkey Kong Bananza will arrive on July 17 to ensure the Switch 2 isn’t without its mandatory 3D platformer. And from what we've seen so far, it looks worth going bananas for. Later in the year, you can also look forward to Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Pokemon Legends: Z-A and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. Oh, and a little game called Hollow Knight: Silksong, which apparently really will arrive on Switch 2 and everything else this year.
Big Hitters
It wouldn’t be the end of the year without a three or four months of big hitters leading into the Christmas holiday. While not formally announced yet, we’re sure to get a new Call of Duty as well as EA Sports FC 26 around that time.
September will see the launch of two massive shooters: Borderlands 4 on the 12th, and Marathon on the 23rd. You know what kooky violent fun to expect from Borderlands, but this time the gun drops are promised to be even better. Marathon is more of an unknown, but an extraction shooter from the minds behind Destiny is surely something to keep an eye on.
PlayStation’s long-awaited Tsushima follow-up, Ghost of Yotei, will arrive on October 2, and bring with it a tale of vengeance against a group of shadowy masked samurai – hopefully this year’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows only left you wanting even more of that plotline.
There will likely be a few others to get excited about, too. While we have no confirmed dates, we’d expect highly anticipated games scheduled for 2025, like The Outer Worlds 2 and Crimson Desert, to also arrive in the last section of the year.
2025 Release Timeline
That’s far from everything on the horizon. For a larger list of things coming this year, take a look at our timeline of the biggest games confirmed to be coming in the year’s remaining months.
Doom the Dark Ages - May 15
Blades of Fire - May 22
Elden Ring Nightreign - May 30
F1 25 - May 30
Mario Kart World - June 5
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition - June 5
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition - June 5
Deltarune: Chapter 3 + 4 - June 5
Dune Awakening - June 10
FBC: Firebreak - June 17
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach - June 26
Tamagotchi Plaza - June 27
EA Sports College Football 26 - July 10
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 - July 11
Donkey Kong Bananza - July 17
Shadow Labyrinth - July 18
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers - July 24
Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game - July 29
Mafia: The Old Country - August 8
Madden NFL 26 - August 14
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater - August 28
Lost Soul Aside - August 29
Hell Is Us - September 4
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion - September 5
Terminator 2D: No Fate - September 5
Borderlands 4 - September 12
Marathon - September 23
Ghost of Yotei - October 2
Directive 8020 - October 2
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 - October 2025
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment - Winter 2025
Crimson Desert - Q4 2025
Pokémon Legends: Z-A - Late 2025
Little Nightmares 3 - 2025
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - 2025
Kirby Air Ride - 2025
Dying Light: The Beast - 2025
Hollow Knight Silksong - 2025
Ninja Gaiden 4 - 2025
The Outer Worlds 2 - 2025
Cronos: The New Dawn - 2025
Professor Layton and the New World of Steam - 2025
Valve's MOBA hero shooter Deadlock is still in an invite-only testing phase, as the company continues to develop and iterate. But a recent livestream mix-up looks like it revealed the existence of a second, even more exclusive playtest with some unseen characters and redesigns.
Leaks have swirled from a livestream hosted by a top Deadlock player, who reportedly appeared to open the wrong Deadlock build on stream. (Thanks, Eurogamer.)
The roster, as shown on-stream and captured by viewers, shows several new faces like the old-school Doorman, bespectacled Bookworm, and gothic Vampirebat, as well as visual alterations for characters like Ivy. Though the streamer quickly closed out after realizing their error, you can't really un-spill the beans at this point.
No other info has circulated as of yet, though this leak is still fairly fresh. Deadlock is no stranger to leaks, as its own existence and content was the subject of numerous leaks. And while the existence of a test build for larger numbers of players to tinker with upcoming updates is not new either, it's a bit strange for Deadlock, which is still in an invite-only early state.
Reactions seem mixed, as some on the r/DeadlockTheGame subreddit have expressed frustration with feeling like they were already in on a playtest. Even in its more-public build, Deadlock has seen changes big and small, and even cut a full lane from the game. Valve has used the Hero Labs mode in the past to let players further test new heroes, but it seems like this is an additional method to further test with a select crowd.
Despite being invite-only, Deadlock has garnered a surprising number of players and picked up some notice from fans of both shooter games and MOBAs. A new game from Valve is already noteworthy, but its strange rollout and continued status as an invite-only game has only added to its mystique. Now, it looks like there's another, even more exclusive build for players to speculate over.
It's important to keep the real news in perspective though, as one Reddit user points out: "Oh great as if one Lash wasn't bad enough, now there are two of him!"
The first three episodes of Poker Face premiere on Peacock on Thursday, May 8. New episodes stream weekly through July 10.
American television is in the middle of a boom of throwback dramas about competent professionals solving new problems every episode. But before The Pitt saw its first patient or Elsbeth resumed legal proceedings in the world of The Good Wife, there was Poker Face, whose second season continues to prove how well a revival of the Columbo-style mystery known as the howcatchem works in this new TV era. At a time when trust in institutions is at an all time low, Rian Johnson’s series offers an unlikely hero who’s perpetually on the fringes of society, fighting for victims who would otherwise never see justice.
These strong fundamentals were all established in season 1, where human lie detector Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) went on the run from the mob and found herself wandering from town to town solving quirky murders. Season 2 quickly puts aside that larger threat and lets Charlie just drift on her own, picking up odd jobs that connect her to both the killers she foils and their victims.
In Poker Face’s cleverest innovation on the Columbo formula – which broke from whodunit convention by showing its culprits in the act and hinging the drama on how they’d be caught (hence “howcatchem”) – each episode opens on the killer’s perspective before flashing back to reveal how Charlie’s been lurking over their shoulder the entire time. The switch allows the writers to quickly build up their villains and then demonstrate the tragedy of their crimes, whose fallout often has wide-reaching implications beyond their victims’ lives. Take season 2’s most skillful use of this tendency: In “Hometown Hero,” Simon Rex earns our sympathy as Rocket, a minor league baseball pitcher recognizing he’ll never live up to his full potential. The episode’s murder victim even sort of has it coming, but the greater crime – putting his team itself at risk – is committed against Rocket’s fans.
He’s one of the many Poker Face killers with an outsized sense of entitlement; other examples this season include a daughter who cares for her abusive mother in hopes of inheriting her fortune and a child who can’t stand any threats to her collection of gold stars. Johnson has focused on class warfare in his Knives Out films, but there’s more breadth to the themes on Poker Face – though its killers are just as odious.
But the greatest strength of the show is Lyonne. She brings so much energy and charm to every scene as Charlie tries to befriend almost everyone she meets. There’s plenty of humor in her perpetual wonder at how she gets dragged into so much drama – this in spite of her repeated badgering of people who don’t really want to talk to her. But her warmth is often rewarded in unexpected ways: When she encourages a firefighter’s aspirations to be a tap-dancer, it leads to a favor that allows Charlie to catch a killer red handed.
Such zany scenarios are par for the course: Season 2 doubles down on the silliness of its predecessor, sometimes to the point of surreality, like the episode where Kumail Nanjiani plays a cop version of real-life “Tiger King” Joe Exotic. It often gets meta, too, which works in a loving tribute to Heat but feels overdone in the Johnson-directed, Knives Out-mirroring premiere. Because Poker Face leans so hard into its absurdity, it’s a better showcase for guest stars with deep comedic backgrounds: Richard Kind, David Alan Grier, and John Mulaney all put in memorable appearances this season. Onscreen villain extraordinaire Giancarlo Espositio, by contrast, is sadly underwhelming in his episode. He just doesn’t get enough time to make his killer live up to the standards of cold menace set by Gus Fring or Moff Gideon.
There’s consistency and appeal to Poker Face’s case-of-the-week format.
Still, there’s consistency and appeal to Poker Face’s case-of-the-week format – though season 2 gives Lyonne more recurring co-stars to pal around with. Good Buddy (Steve Buscemi), a wise voice who gives Charlie advice and occasional help via CB radio, is a welcome addition to the formula. (He’s also a fitting audience for her musings about life on the road.) I’m much more dubious about the late-season addition of Alex (Patti Harrison), a lonely failed entrepreneur who never lies and becomes a sort of sidekick to our streetwise protagonist/polygraph. It’s a decent idea to have backup, given how dangerous it is to be perpetually confronting murderers without a gun or badge. But in the first Alex-centric episode, the comes at expense of the fresh relationships Charlie forms within each episode.
Stellaris and Crusader Kings 3 developer Paradox Interactive has something "ambitious" to show us next week.
While the team stopped short of showing any concrete details at all, it did remind us that Paradox has been developing and publishing strategy games over the last 25 years "that have taken you from the Roman Empire to the stars," and teased it was now "preparing to announce the next major title in the genre."
The mysterious new game — known only by its codename, Caesar — has been openly discussed on the studio's forum in a number of "Tinto Talks" developer diaries. Over this time, it has been welcoming community feedback on its feature ideas, key game systems, and historical research, but "now the time has come to reveal Ceasar to the world."
The latest Tinto Talks — named after the studio that's developing it, Barcelona-based Studio Tinto — talked about the mechanics of Protestant religions and the "final situation involving all Western Christian confessions, the War of Religions," coming to its "entirely super-top-secret game with the codename Project Caesar."
That, plus the clue that the announcement video will premier on the official Europa Universalis YouTube channel, suggests the mysterious project may be a new addition to that series… but nothing's certain right now.
That hasn't stopped fans speculating, though, with many coming to the same conclusion that it's probably connected to Europa Universalis, too.
"Dev Diaries haven't called it EU5 but everything we have been teased thus far heavily implies it," reminded one player on Reddit. Another, replying to someone else pointing out that the video will debut on the Europa Universalis channel, teased: "There might've been clues along the way huh."
"I mean, it was an open secret for over a year thanks to the Tinto Talks Threads on Paradox forums," explained someone else.
To find out more, and discover if the rumors are right, tune in to Paradox's video at 9am PDT (12pm EDT, 5pm UK time) on May 8, 2025, and discover "a new era for grand strategy."
We had a great time with the last Europa Universalis game, awarding it 8.9/10 in IGN's Europa Universalis 4 review, saying: "Europa Universalis IV brings accessibility and flexibility to the strategy series without compromising its complexity."
Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
This isn’t just the MCU’s fault, but Marvel and other modern comic book franchises have turned us into Easter egg hunters, the equivalent of the Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme in real life. You see that nametag identifying Commander Dunphy (William Mark McCullough) in Captain America: Brave New World? Get ready for an explanation of D-Man, the homeless superhero dressed as Wolverine and Daredevil. A license plate that says “63A5M-3” in Spider-Man: No Way Home? You bet that’s a reference to 1963’s Amazing Spider-Man #3, the first appearance of Doctor Octopus. But the most recent Marvel movie, Thunderbolts, takes a very different route with its “Easter eggs,” as they don’t fit the modern definition of Easter eggs at all… They’re more actual references that enrich the texture and viewing of the film in the context of the greater MCU, rather than being needle-scratches, bringing the action to a halt.
The point being that over the past quarter century, Easter eggs on film, and in Marvel movies in particular, have shifted from being a literal bug to being a feature. Maybe the feature. They are analyzed on YouTube videos, broken down in breathless articles, and shockingly often the main point of discussion of a movie the weekend it opens is the Easter eggs… Not the actual content of the movie itself.
So it feels like a revelation to watch the most recent MCU film and see moments that are clear nods to previous MCU movies, do not bring the movie to a grinding halt, and instead are utilized by director Jake Schreier and screenwriters Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo to emphasize and contrast the team in the film against other, previous teams and individuals in the universe.
Unlike the Avengers, who stood on the elevated road over Grand Central in a heroic spinning shot and fought back an alien army, the Thunderbolts are under the bridge… They’re down, not up.
The most obvious of these is setting most of the third act of the movie in and around Avengers Tower, now named The Watchtower under its new owner, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). To be clear, Avengers Tower is not an Easter egg; it is a location in the film. However, compared to the Avengers, who briefly called the building their home base, the Thunderbolts are mostly out of place there. The building is half-finished, with only what might be Tony Stark’s bar mostly intact (but maybe in the wrong spot? Or was it the bar where Nat and Bruce flirted in Age of Ultron?). It is, in and of itself, used as a way of delineating the Thunderbolts as a team that has to take the elevator, not fly out in a Quinjet. They, themselves, aren’t finished yet; they have a lot of work to do individually and as a group.
And that expands outwards to their final fight, which takes place in Midtown, around Grand Central Station. Unlike the team in The Avengers, who stood on the elevated road over Grand Central, got a heroic spinning shot, and fought back an alien army, the Thunderbolts are under the bridge… They’re down, not up. And their heroic moment isn’t about facing down the Chitauri; it’s flipping over a piece of concrete.
There are moments throughout this “fight” scene that call to mind the end of Avengers, as well. Yelena (Florence Pugh) is tossed in the air, a la her sister Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) in Avengers. A little girl who is saved is framed almost exactly the same way Beth the waitress (Ashley Johnson) was after she was saved in the 2012 film. Heck, once the team is named the New Avengers, the score plays a version of the Avengers theme music, but with several notes inverted. It’s all a little off. It’s not quite right. And purposefully so, because this is a team, as we’re immediately shown in the end credits, that is not comfortable with being Avengers, and neither is the world. The end credits parade of dubious headlines from news outlets is another reference, this time to the breathless, positive headlines about Iron Man over the opening of Iron Man 2. The world saw his coming out as the dawn of a new age of heroes. For the Thunderbolts, now Avengers, this might be the end.
All of these immediately call to mind previous movies, just like an Easter egg would, and contrast with what we’re seeing on screen. But they’re not distracting; they’re enlightening in terms of what the filmmakers intended, if you pick up on them. And isn’t that the way things are supposed to be? Rather than the Easter Egg Industrial Complex (EEIC) that exists today, where the mere mention of things in a trailer or movie are deemed Easter eggs – “Did you notice Yelena Belova from Black Widow is in Thunderbolts” for example, is not an Easter egg; it’s a character that appears in the movie – layering in textures in your film makes for a better, richer repeat experience than simply returning to read a list of names on a computer, a la X2.
Is it hyperbole to say this is the path forward for the MCU? Maybe. But for a movie otherwise devoid of Easter eggs, the references are more thrilling and interesting than any comic book namedrop. Unless there was one, and we missed it. In that case, we’ll have to head back to the theater and check.
The same held true at the dawn of home media, expanding on Easter eggs’ employment in video games to include extra bits on DVDs, like secret scenes or simple, fun messages. And plenty of shows and movies have followed suit, from phone numbers that work in real life to QR codes that open up links to websites when you point your phone at the screen (at home, not in the theater, please).
But the way we talk about Easter eggs online has changed immensely, and a lot of that has to do with Marvel movies. In fact, while there are other examples, one of the major Easter egg innovators in the modern realm is the X-Men series. The first movie’s DVD featured a secret “scene” featuring a stuntman dressed as Spider-Man, surprising the X-Men cast on set. But X2: X-Men United really set geek hearts aflame with the inclusion of a list of mutants in Stryker’s (Brian Cox) files that referenced characters ranging from Gambit to New Mutants team members to the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Were there plans for any of these characters at the time? It didn’t matter, because mostly it was about rewarding repeated viewings of the movie in the theaters to try to catch them all… And sparked the idea that the X-Men universe was much, much bigger than we were seeing on screen.
Likely thanks at least in part to the popularity and buzz about this list in X2, other movies started to follow suit. And by the time the MCU kicked off in 2008, a whole industry had built up around breaking down and analyzing movies, particularly in the geek/comic book sphere. You might, as a reader of the website IGN.com, be familiar with this particular part of internet history.
Concurrent with all this was living Easter egg Stan Lee, credited with the creation of most of the Marvel Universe (though your actual historical take on that may vary). He appeared as a hot dog vendor in the first X-Men movie, and spun that out – no pun intended – into a cameo in Spider-Man the next year, followed by his regular appearance in nearly every Marvel movie up until his death, and some even beyond. It’s arguably with Lee’s cameos that we can nail down the modern view of Easter eggs, even more than that mostly unreadable list in X2: They are winks to the fans, either large or small, that make us feel smart because we noticed them. In some cases, they are literally Stan Lee or another cameo (see: Bruce Campbell) winking at the audience. In the worst cases, they pause for applause from the audience that sometimes never comes. At their best, they are bits that are part of the scene, noticeable or not.
Last Epoch sports a whopping 15 Mastery classes. Masteries are essentially a subclass that allows you to lean in on one aspect of your build. They range from traditional roles like Sorcerer to more out-there options like Falconer (which sees you flying around the map using your bird friend for damage). It can be difficult to choose which ones to focus on with so many options, but this Last Epoch Mastery tier list will help.
How We Ranked the Best and Worst Masteries in Last Epoch
What makes a Mastery strong, weak, or somewhere in between depends on how many key checkboxes it ticks for potential builds. Every build has a long list of things it can use to make its clear (i.e. mapping) and bossing (i.e. single target), and defense as strong as it can be, but some are stronger than others, or have stronger synergies than others.
For example, ‘more’ damage multipliers are stronger than increased damage multipliers, so if a Mastery offers more of the former, it’s more likely to be higher up on this list. Be sure to read passives closely to determine how they scale damage — they will tell you! There are also stats like critical hit chance, critical hit multiplier, flat damage, armour shred chance, armour shred effect, and plenty more that pull a lot of weight.
Defensively, critical hit damage reduction or critical damage avoidance are, well, critical for most builds, as random damage spikes are a great way to die, and these let you avoid them entirely. Resists are also important — while you can always get them on gear and idols, having the option to get them on the Mastery passive tree gives you flexibility. Meanwhile, damage reduction is arguably the best way to survive in the game, so of course it’s a fairly rare stat to find. You also have recovery (leech, health regeneration, health/ward on hit, etc.) and eHP (Ward and/or Health) to worry about, and a ton of other things. All that is to say, any Mastery that offers these in a manner that’s point efficient is more likely to be toward the top of this list.
As for Mastery skills, these are evaluated largely based on their numbers and damage potential for both bossing and clearing, with a little consideration given to how they feel to play. A skill may be S-Tier but if it feels clunky to play, that may contribute to a Mastery ranking a bit lower than it could. Of course, if you’re not the type to mind mechanics like snapshotting, you’re welcome to rank a given Mastery higher.
Last Epoch Season 2 Masteries Tier List
S-Tier: Paladin, Void Knight
Best overall clear, bossing, and defense, with no significant weaknesses
A-Tier: Falconer, Bladedancer, Shaman, Druid
Strong clear, bossing, and/or defense. Lacking significantly in one area
B-Tier: Marksman, Lich, Beastmaster
Good clear, bossing, and/or defense. Lacking significantly in one or more areas
C-Tier: Necromancer, Forge Guard, Runemaster
Decent to good clear, bossing, and/or defense. Lacking significantly in one or more areas
D-Tier: Spellblade, Warlock, Sorcerer
Poor to good clear, bossing, and/or defense. Lacking significantly in multiple areas
S-Tier Last Epoch Masteries
S-Tier: Void Knight
If you want to delete screens with a giant purple sword and never die, Void Knight (and Erasing Strike) is for you. It scales well too when it transitions into the World Splitter version. A Warpath version is also just as viable, and happens to be both top tier and new player/casual friendly.
Void Knight has more mobility and effective HP (eHP) than it used to, and sports the same huge clear and very respectable bossing damage. It also has the distinct benefit of being able to move and do damage simultaneously, which is always a huge boon for damage per second (DPS), while feeling very smooth to play.
In terms of numbers, it sports 200% added damage effectiveness on all skills (and 600 on Erasing Strike), which is very much where you want to be.
The passive tree offers resistance to and penetration for Physical and Void damage, leech and leech rate, damage reduction, increased health, slow and chill resist, mana solutions, attack speed, and plenty more. Standout nodes include Sorrow & Steel (damage, armor, and area of effect in one tidy package), Void Corruption (a huge amount of critical hit chance and multiplier), and Mortal Cleave (culling, damage, and critical hit chance all in one). There’s even more to mention, but you get the idea: Void Knight has it all.
S-Tier: Paladin
Developer Eleventh Hour Games (EHG) admitted it overdid it with the Sentinel rework, which is why Judgement Paladin took four of the top 5 spots in the Terminate Uber Abberoth race. So, there should be no doubt whatsoever this Mastery deserves S-Tier.
As with Void Knight, Paladin has extremely potent skills, doesn’t die, and does massive damage. Judgement alone is obscene, offering 350% damage effectiveness and 200% critical multiplier against 15 mana cost and 4s cooldown, paired together in one-two healing and damage punch. The thing is, every single one of its other skills are about as potent, which can’t be said for any other Mastery. Symbols of Hope and Holy Aura both follow the damage and defense in one theme, while Healing Hands just offers a metric ton of healing (primarily for those extra tough bosses).
The passive tree offers the most resistances in the game, plus plenty of recovery and damage reduction, mana, attack and cast speed, block, armor, penetration, and more. Standout nodes include Covenant of Light (which buffs Healing Hands and Holy Aura simultaneously), Covenant of Protection, and Reverence of Duality and Convenant of Dominion, which collectively offer ridiculous amounts of damage, sustain, damage over time mitigation, and defense (sometimes all at once).
Though Judgement steals the show, Bleed Hammerdin and Smite are strong build options as well if you want to go a little off-meta.
A-Tier Last Epoch Masteries
A-Tier: Falconer
EHG has stated its goal when nerfing overpowered (OP) builds is to make them “just under OP”, and that’s exactly what happened with the Falconer Mastery and its popular builds. Outrageously powerful when it launched, it’s now simply silly good (the horror!).
Movement speed on this one is unrivaled, and damage is top tier, thanks in part to easy access to critical hit multipliers and Dexterity scaling options. Even better, it has the option to employ both simultaneously thanks to Aerial Assault: just grab your bird and it’s bombs away.
Its only real weakness is defense. You'll need to use Dodge alongside Silver/Dusk Shrouds and/or Glancing Blows to avoid damage, keeping you on your toes. An almost complete lack of resistance options on the tree is a factor as well, as this puts a lot of pressure to get resistance on your Blessings, idols, and gear when you might prefer other options.
You can lean into the Falconer's lack of defense with a Zero HP Ballista Falconer build that hits incredibly hard, but requires you to cheese incoming damage using Silver Shrouds and Dodge. Safe to say we won't be using this in hardcore.
Apart from Ballista, Umbral Blades is one of the top Falconer builds, which can be built using Shadow Daggers before you swap over to a Dexterity stacking version with Talons of Valor bow and Razorfall boots. If you like the idea of slicing enemies up and dashing all over the place while flying around on your feathered friend, you’ll find it a joy to play. It is button intensive, however, especially if you insist on maximizing DPS.
A-Tier: Bladedancer
While Falconer is more popular, Bladedancer is about as strong and well-rounded. Clear, single target, and defense are all where you’d want them to be, thanks to the suite of high-DPS skills, powerful passive support, and useful iframes from Lethal Mirage. If you want a strong but fast melee class, this is the one.
Standout nodes on the passive tree include Pursuit (efficient damage and movement speed), Argent Veil (makes dodge a lot more reliable), and Death’s Door (damage reduction for low life builds). More broadly, Glancing Blows, Dusk Shrouds, and Dodge form a powerful defensive layer, and Dexterity stacking, crit, leech, Frailty, armour shred and armour shred effect are all on offer. In short, you have everything you need to succeed. The only thing really holding Bladedancer back is that it’s not quite as over the top numerically as things like Judgment Paladin.
In terms of builds, you can go with Shadow Daggers, Shadow Cascade, Chakrams (take the Chakram node on the Shurikens tree), or Lethal Mirage using Black Blade of Chaos (requires a 2H sword of the same name). The Chakram version at least should be Uber Abberoth viable.
A-Tier: Beastmaster
The summoner Mastery. It’s not as tanky as Void Knight or Paladin, but Beastmaster still took 2nd place in the Uber Abberoth race. Granted it’s partly due to Storm Crows, which has top tier DPS due to snapshotting which isn’t Beastmaster exclusive, though the Summon Wolf companion buffs surely helped. In any case, Beastmaster Summons is a proven archetype, though they take some time to get going.
You can go heavier on the Beastmaster skills by building around Poison Nova Scorpion (check out CookBook’s version). It’s well-rounded in terms of damage and clear but usually suffers from low movement speed, so if you’re coming from something like Rogue, it’ll be a shock. There are options to alleviate it—Haste via The Scavenger belt and increased Haste effect on idols, for example—but it will never be a fast build.
The passive tree offers ever-important damage reduction, health, healing, health regeneration, endurance for companions, crit support, and stun. There is a lack of damage, but you can grab this elsewhere.
A-Tier: Shaman
A melee and/or elemental Mastery, Shaman is one of the highest Arena pushing builds: it can reach Wave 500-700+. The clear is quite fast, albeit not top tier, with a similar story on defense.
Tornado is a lot more damage than it seems, and the vacuum effect is great, making it the star of the show. Earthquake and Avalanche see little play due to high mana costs and/or requiring Spriggan Form which is clunky. However, using Aftershock idols can be welcome for some extra damage (so you’re essentially using Earthquake without suffering the problems of Earthquake). Summon Storm Totem is fairly popular, as well. If nothing else, it’s a nice decoy with decent damage.
As for the passive tree, you get a lot of Penetration (though you have to go through the defensively weak Attunement to get much of it), cooldown reduction, mana, auto trigger skills, attack and cast speed, elemental damage packaged with resists, Haste, and a lot more. The highlight skills include Fist of Stone (stun, Endurance, and health regen all in one), Lagon’s Answer and Conflux (auto and double cast Storm Bolt alongside area of effect (AoE) and damage reduction is efficient, to say the least), and Swirling Maelstrom (more auto casting fun, with health, mana, and Endurance Threshold on top). There’s even more to rave about, but you get the jist.
A-Tier: Druid
The shapeshifting Mastery, Storm Werebear is top of the pile here. Boasting great DPS, it can kill Abberoth (possibly even the Uber version), do 1000 corruption (the most you ever want to push due to severely diminishing returns), and around 300 Wave Arena (and as much as ~700). The eHP is very nice, to boot. If you like a combo playstyle and the idea of mauling enemies to death while filling the screen with tornadoes, this is a well-rounded, engaging Mastery to go for. Its primary weakness is that it’s not very fast at farming, though, so if you want to progress fast, Druid may not be the right fit.
Taking Werebear replaces four of your skills with new ones more fitting for a bear. Rampage and Maul sport the always appreciated package of movement and competitive damage, while adding in Knockback for good measure. Roar meanwhile offers Knockback and Stun, and can be configured to sustain Rage (basically bear mana). Its skill tree sports a no cooldown version of Rampage (yes please), can make Rampage trigger Storm Bolt, and supports Stun, Rage and Health on hit (via Invigoration), and reduces the cooldown of Maul, among other standouts.
Spriggan Form is very strong as well, bringing a ton of defense to the table, but is better supported by Druid/Beastmaster, and so won’t be discussed further here. Swarmblade is no slouch either (just not with Locusts), while Entangling Roots falls by the wayside. It’s not a terrible skill, but it’s mostly a buff skill for totems, which proves clunky as you can’t use it reasonably from Spriggan Form.
As with everything in the top tiers, the passive tree here offers more strong nodes than we have room to go into. There’s Spirit Warden for health, mana, and sustain, Focused Wrath for damage coupled with Rage decay rate buffs, Bush Stalker (crit and leech on crit), Fetid Resilience (multiplicative damage over time), Primal Shifter/Tiger Spirit (armour, damage, crit chance, and crit multiplier, all of which can be made to apply to minions as well), and Impervious (which grants damage reduction for doing melee damage). There’s plenty more, but the point stands: Shaman is clearly here to play.
B-Tier Last Epoch Masteries
B-Tier: Lich
The classic ‘sacrifice your life for bonuses’ archetype, Lich can hang with the better Masteries thanks to potent skills like Reaper Form and a meaty passive tree.
Drain Life has underwhelming stats, but can be useful with the Hecatomb node to convert your minions into mana. Aura of Decay is an appealing skill for the poison archetype (which gets a lot of support on the passive trees), but unfortunately is very weak in practice, because scaling applies to damage received and there are no great ways to mitigate it or turn it into an upside. Death Seal on the other hand is excellent, providing a huge 300% damage effectiveness boost and reducing damage taken to half. As with most things Lich, it’s slightly risky but well worth it.
As for Reaper Form, it’s only 100% damage effectiveness but this increases a lot via the passive tree. Additionally, it’s a movement skill, and it’s AoE damage that gains you health, making for a strong all-rounder. Again, it drains you, but you can overcome this with recovery options.
The passive tree provides options for Intelligence stacking, mana, health, ward, recovery, and more. The standouts here include Dance With Death, Hollow Lich, Unclosing Wounds, and Ageless Plagues, all of which offer terribly efficient damage buffs. There’s also automatic minion generation (Harvested Legions), critical strike chance and attack/cast speed buffs (Clairvoyant Insight), and Ageless Ascetic for buffs to movement, attack, and cast speed as well as leech. Not the best, but also not bad at all.
B-Tier: Marksman
Your classic Archer subclass. Hail of Arrows and Heartseeker are the popular builds. While not required, the former really wants the Sanguine Hoard unique quiver, but it shouldn’t be hard to pick up. If you like the idea of setting up a big bleed combo, it’s worth playing. Meanwhile, Heartseeker is pretty great if you like the idea of auto targeting projectiles. Just be sure to go with Bleed or Poison very early, before transitioning into the Icicle version once your gear is ready.
One of the strengths of Marksman is it offers tons of HP on hit, and because you tend to be shooting out a ton of projectiles, it can hit a lot. Multishot is a bit weak on base with 120% damage effectiveness and base 6 phys, though this improves greatly with all the multiplicative damage nodes on the passive tree, as well as some flat damage. Plus, it has a low mana cost. Meanwhile, Hail is nice because it doesn’t care about crit and sports 325% damage effectiveness by default. Detonating Arrow is simply underwhelming numerically, so it’s no surprise it’s not played.
On the passive tree you’ll find support for dodge, crit, movement speed, additional arrows, damage, recovery, and heaps more. Some of the best nodes among them include Heightened Senses (crit avoidance and crit multiplier), Thief’s Quiver (health and leech), and Death From Afar (stun and armour shred). As is typical for Rogue Masteries, it’s not going to win awards for defense, but you’ll never have to worry about damage or clear if you play your cards right.
C-Tier Last Epoch Masteries
C-Tier: Necromancer
Another summoner Mastery, this time with undead flavour. With a reasonably strong suite of skills and a passive tree that covers a lot of bases, it’s fitting that Necromancer can often hit 200-400 Waves in Arena.
Summon Skeletal Mage is a nifty skill in that it reduces enemy health regeneration by 20% (most useful against bosses) and can be converted to a Traversal skill; you'll be focusing on a single powerful minion rather than an undead army, however. On the tree, you’ll find lots of support for Poison, Necrotic, Cold, and Fire, so there’s something for almost everyone.
Sacrifice sees little to no play because the Mastery has terrible personal damage support — it’s playable, but minions do the same thing for you but better.
Dread Shade offers a huge flat and increased percentage damage boost temporarily (at the cost of health), and can be made to explode your minions for big Necrotic damage (Doom Brand) or enhance Infernal Shade. There’s also the option to convert all Necrotic investment into Poison if that’s your jam. And then there’s the Beyond Death node which turns minions into exploding Zombies, Duskheart which converts Shade into a damage over time skill, and Symbiotic Apparition which grants you Shade’s buffs.
Assemble Abomination, meanwhile, summons a powerful tanky minion. To make the most of it you’ll need to employ snapshotting (basically gear and skill swapping, which many players despise), but it’s still reasonable without.
Finally, Summon Wraith has respectable damage thanks to Dread Shade and Wraith’s many critical strike passives. As usual, there’s lots of support here on the tree for Fire, Necrotic, or Poison variations, but also a Bleed one. And like Shade, it can convert into a damage over time skill (Spectre of Death).
Notable notables on the Necromancer tree include Elixir of Hunger for health, increased percentage health, health on hit, and attack/cast speed, and Rite of Undeath for 120 total resistances on top of a nice damage boost. More broadly, you won’t find yourself short on recovery damage, minion support, armour and resistance shred, ward or ward retention, or crit in both its forms. There’s not much in the way of defense here outside of recovery and minion tanking, which holds it back some.
C-Tier: Runemaster
Runemaster is a rarely-seen-in-RPGs caster archetype that lets you combine spells together to make unique spells (any Gauntlet fans in the house?). While you don’t have to play it this way, Rune of Invocation — the skill that enables this — is the reason to play Runemaster, offering extreme versatility via invocations, many with very impressive damage numbers.
Hydrahedron is one of the highlights — casting this spell via Rune of Invocation is part of what makes the Mastery and build 1000 corruption viable. Defense is still a serious concern, but if you keep on the move, you should stay alive. For those with a bigger budget, there’s Focus Autobomber, which uses the Brand of Deception and Runic Fortress passives to strong effect. The DPS isn’t anything special, but it’s very tanky. The idea here is to stack Strength, Intelligence, and Ward for armor and shock. As a bonus, it’s easy to play.
Flame Rush is a movement skill with legitimate damage numbers paired with damage reduction, and can serve as a respectable damage skill when desired. Frost Wall, meanwhile, can brag about a very high 400% damage effectiveness, 100% chance to chill, and Freeze chance. Plus, it’s a damage over time skill, so it has less gearing requirements, and it’s a strong bosser thanks to Decree of the Burning Wind (on the Runemaster passive tree).
Runebolt is no slouch either, offering a 200% crit multiplier and mana regeneration while getting around resistances with Decree of the Bountiful Ocean. Lastly, Glyph of Dominion measures up well numerically, while providing guaranteed slow. There’s also an interesting interaction there with Decree of Eternal Tundra for lots of ward per second.
As for the passive tree, there’s all kinds of support for Ward, mana, elemental debuffs, cast and movement speed, reduced critical strike damage, cooldown recovery, and armour and damage for Fire builds and Freeze multiplier and damage for Lightning builds, among other things. It’s not outrageous like you see with the higher tier Masteries, but it’s still competitive.
C-Tier: Forge Guard
Forge Guard can hold its own as a Mastery, just not as well as the big boys. To put it another way, they do much of what it does but better. Still, there are some unique build options here that are great if you’re looking for something different.
Skill-wise, Manifest Armor is nice as a decoy and rewards STR/armor stacking (the primary unique build option). Shield Throw offers high added damage effectiveness, while Ring of Shields brings great defense to the table (especially with the Shield Crafter passive). Still, comparing it to Symbols of Hope, it comes up short, as it’s situational and purely defensive.
Smelter’s Wrath has a lot of potential as it scales offense and defense and boasts 600% damage effectiveness. Unfortunately, it’s a channeling skill with no option to change that, so it’ll slow you down and leave you a bit vulnerable. Next, you have Forge Weapon with a beefy 600% damage effectiveness, alongside summons for defense which scale off your weapon. Not bad at all.
In terms of passives, the only really standout one is Guardian for a lovely combination of health, stun chance, and regen. Steel Aegis, Iron Attunement, Walls of Solarum, and Osprixbane are certainly no slouches, but when evaluating the best nodes in other Masteries, Forge Guard leaves something to be desired. Apart from that, you can find efficient damage scaling throughout the tree.
D-Tier Last Epoch Masteries
D-Tier: Spellblade
It may be D-Tier, but even D-Tier still means viable. Spellblade is not lacking in DPS at all and is pretty speedy, but can struggle a great deal with defenses. The better your positioning, the less you’ll get one-tapped, but it’s still going to happen occasionally. If you don’t mind that and like the idea of combining magic with melee, it’s worth a go.
Flame Reave is playable but underwhelming. The base stats are strong enough, but damage cuts in half at a distance, AoE is limited, and the mana cost is fairly high. Worse, it only hits once per cast, which is a big no-no when compared to skills like Frost Claw that hit 20 times per cast (and for a lot more total damage), or Judgment on Sentinel—mind you, just about everything comes up short there!
On top of that, it lacks unique buffs and debuffs, and its crowd control node proves ineffective in practice. Too many of the nodes require downsides that aren’t worth it, as well. It can still get you to the mid-game or so (around 500 Corruption), but not nearly as efficiently as other skills, and unlike those, it will hit a wall.
Enchant Weapon is a potent DPS boost (65% situationally and 15% permanently), and if going the Ignite route, allows you to trigger Ignites instantly; always a powerful method of damage delivery. There’s also some ever-potent Leech for Lightning or Fire variations, and Chill for Cold. Surprisingly, there is no Freeze support.
Firebrand is similar to Reave in that it can hit 300 Corruption but not do much beyond that. It doesn’t have all the drawbacks of Reave and is quite enjoyable to play—imagine rapidly shooting fire beams at enemies up to mid-range—but unfortunately the damage isn’t quite there compared to top skills, so you’ll have a harder time than you need to when progressing, and will eventually fall on hard times. Still, if you’re looking for something off-meta and don’t need the best of the best, this is a good skill to go for.
Surge offers mobility, damage, tons of crit, and debuffs (including Stun), as well all all kinds of elemental and Ward support. Meanwhile, Shatter Strike loves crit while also providing some defense and offense in the form of cold debuffs, culling, Knockback, armor, Ward, and more. All in all, you absolutely will not have issues scaling damage, and it won’t even require much gearing, though obviously, better gear will take it even farther.
As for the passive tree, it provides ward support in every form, and intriguing nodes like Flame Walker for some mobile fire damage and fire resistance shred, and Arcane Shielding and Shattered Aegis for damage reduction and armour (worth the 10 points). Apart from those, you’ll find resistances, damage, health, and mana available. Unluckily, there’s little support for Parry. It’s a decent tree for sure, but there’s nothing outrageous to help it keep up with the top tiers.
D-Tier: Warlock
Warlock builds are focused on damage over time, which makes them easy to gear and in that sense, very new player and casual friendly. Curses are also a major element, amplifying damage by debuffing enemies. While builds like Witchfire are viable, they don’t do much better than other Masteries, and so rarely push far on the ladder.
Cthonic Fissure, Profane Veil, and Chaos Bolts are your star skills, all slotting into both the popular Bleed and Witchfire (Fire/Necrotic damage) variations. The damage they bring is what keeps Warlock at all competitive; Profane Veil even offers some defensive utility by making you invincible to everything but damage over time temporarily while granting damage over time itself.
Defense is where it all kind of falls apart. While you have access to high eHP and recovery (and Profane Veil) thanks to nodes like Spiteful Decay and Spirit Leech, that’s about it, which is a far cry from the better Masteries.
Fire/Necrotic focus builds will find The Ashen One passive is a must-grab for Witchfire, while Crimson Favours and Cauldron of Blood serves Bleed builds well.
D-Tier: Sorcerer
The classic caster class, Sorcerer is very much viable, but unfortunately doesn’t do a lot to stand out. Frostbite Frostclaw is one of the better builds available, proving itself as an all-rounder, but suffering from mana issues and lacking speed.
Skill-wise, you have some strong stats on Static Orb, and as always vacuum skills like this (and Black Hole) hold their own. It gets more interesting with skill nodes like Static Armor that grant a situational 25% less damage taken, and Overwhelming Barrage which dramatically increases stun chance. There are also options to convert it into a cold and Freeze skill for yet another defensive layer.
Ice Barrage sports some respectable numbers as well, and its 40 Freeze rate is competitive with Frost Claw — even better, it auto targets enemies, and has the option to creating a Chill effect AoE or a shield that blocks projectiles.
Arcane Ascendance is powerful but prohibitive, due to its high mana cost (somewhat offset on the tree), lack of crit, and lacking secondary damage. Still, its tree makes it quite versatile, providing access to Knockback, Slow, Haste, auto casting, and more.
As for Black Hole, this is a potent single skill with 600% damage effectiveness and some vacuum utility. It’s arguably best used as single target, but can be customized for clear. On the tree you’ll find even more utility in Knockback and Blind, and options to convert into Fire or Cold for builds focused on those elements.
Lastly, Meteor has huge base stats (190 fire + 950% damage effectiveness), but at a high mana cost, demanding you build around it with mana stacking and Archmage, whjch aren’t in a great spot.
On the passive tree you get lots of ward support in all its forms, substantial damage buffs, and cast speed, elemental debuffs, leech, and penetration. It’s certainly not the whole package, but it’s not nothing, either. The Mana Bulwark node — which deals damage to mana before health — is tempting, but unfortunately this is an ineffective mechanic in practice.
Sean Ridgeley is a freelance contributor for IGN and lives for all things RPG, FPS, horror, and fighting. When he’s not grinding Last Epoch, Path of Exile, or Overwatch, he can be found headbanging in moshpits.
The release date for Elden Ring Nightreign is closing in fast. Ahead of launch day, FromSoftware and Bandai Namco have released an overview trailer, detailing just what's in store for the co-op survival action game.
Today's overview trailer went over what's in store, highlighting the basic set-up and what players will be doing, run after run, in Elden Ring Nightreign. Players drop into a shifting version of Limveld that changes with each attempt, working with players to take down enemies, acquire items, and gain power to help them take down one the Nightlords as a ring of fire encroaches on them.
Working together is a crucial part of Elden Ring Nightreign. The trailer showed how players can pick each other back up after falling, and collaborate to take down larger foes. It also showed the roster of Nightfarers, the unique characters you'll choose from when you leap into the world of Limveld.
Elden Ring Nightreign: Confirmed Roster
There will be eight Nightfarers assembled to defeat the Nightlord in Nightreign. These are your different classes you'll take into battle in Limveld, changing up how you approach the run. Today's trailer specifically named and highlighted six warriors:
Wylder
Guardian
Ironeye
Duchess
Raider
Recluse
There were two additional characters that seemed to be teased. One was a sword-wielding character with a parry, that appeared on a character selection screen and in some gameplay. The other looks to be a doll-like character with a white dress and harp.
Each Nightfarer can wield different weapons, while also bringing their own playstyle, skills, and Ultimate Arts to the match. More are expected to arrive in the future, but this looks to be the launch roster for now.
Relics and Memories
Relics can be won from different runs, and can alter your character in interesting ways. Some might bump up your stats, while others might add new aspects to your skills. There are also cosmetic costumes to be won, including some inspired by past FromSoft games like a Solaire outfit.
Memories can be activated to shed more light on the Nightfarer's past and purpose. The overview trailer showed both conversations with people in the Roundtable Hold, and objectives the player can chase after during runs, leading to both special encounters and more story details about your chosen Nightfarer.
Lords of the Night
The Nightlords are your ultimate goal, and on your way to it, there are bosses to take down too. The trailer shows a few familiar faces for Elden Ring players, including one similar to Astel, Naturalborn of the Void and what looked like Godfrey. Bosses cap off each day, with a powerful Nightlord waiting at the end of the third day.
To beat them, you'll need to both gain more actual experience and acquire items to enhance your power throughout the day, so you're ready for the fight when the boss arrives. This "loop" of scavenging during the day, then fighting the boss at night is crucial to making it through a run and stopping the fall of night.
Elden Ring Nightreign is set to arrive on May 30, 2025 for PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
It's never too late to become a Star Wars fan. If you're just getting started with the franchise and are trying to catch up with everything canon in Star Wars, we've got you covered with a full chronological guide to the entire Star Wars timeline.
While three new live-action Star Wars movies are in development, the next new addition to the Disney-owned franchise is the TV series Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld, arriving on Star Wars Day. See our list of all the upcoming Star Wars TV shows and movies for more info.
But what about all of the Star Wars content that you can binge right now, and how do you watch it in the order it was meant to be seen? Well, fear not! We have a list of all the current Star Wars movies and shows you can watch right now in chronological order and by release date. And it's never been easier, now that all of these titles are available to stream with a Disney+ subscription.
We will continue to update the list as more movies and shows are released.
Chronologically, The Acolyte is the earliest part of the Star Wars timeline that you can watch. Set at the end of the High Republic era, long before the Skywalker Saga kicks off, this Disney+ series follows a young former Jedi named Osha (played by Amandla Stenberg) who works with her old Master, Sol (played by Lee Jung-jae) to investigate the murder of another Jedi. The series received generally mixed reviews, earning a 6/10 in our The Acolyte season 1 review.
Released in 1999 and starring Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, and Natalie Portman, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace explored what happened long before the original trilogy, making it the starting point for a chronological watch. It introduced us to a young Anakin Skywalker (played by Jake Lloyd) who would hopefully be the one to bring balance to the force. Though not an overall critical hit at the time (as it sits at 51% on Rotten Tomatoes), it’s since garnered a much more positive reception, as even Ewan McGregor noted during interviews for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.
The second installment of the prequel trilogy, which came out only a few years after its predecessor in 2002, is the next stop in a chronological watch. Taking place ten years after Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, it centers on an older Anakin (played now by Hayden Christensen) and Obi-Wan (played once again by Ewan McGregor) as they discover new and terrifying threats in the galaxy, which in turn leads up to the Clone Wars.
Clone Wars is a 2D animated series that ran on Cartoon Network from 2003-2005 and explored what happened during the titular wars, making it the perfect story to slot in between Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Anakin and Obi-Wan returned as characters as well, but were voiced by different people (Mat Lucas and James Arnold Taylor, respectively). Even though this series came to an end in 2005, the Clone Wars stories continued with a movie and new series in 2008.
Before the rise of the new Clone Wars series, there was a computer-animated film of the same name that released two months before the series did to kick it all off. It serves as a pilot episode to the show, taking place shortly after Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. It also saw James Arnold Taylor returning as the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi, but had Matt Lanter replacing Mat Lucas as Anakin and featured Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano, who would all carry on into the new series, too.
Two months later, Star Wars: The Clone Wars followed the 2008 computer-animated film and ran on Cartoon Network. It takes place in the three years between Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, serving as a continuation of the aforementioned Clone Wars series from 2003, and featured several familiar faces and returning voice cast members (such as those listed in the film above). All of the events within the series eventually led to the prequel trilogy’s grand finale: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
The third and final installment in the prequel trilogy was Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, which released in 2005. Following all of the thrills from The Clone Wars, this film takes place three years after Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and sees a major shift in Anakin, eventually bringing the prequel trilogy of the Skywalker Saga to a close. And while Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope starts up a new chapter of that Saga, there are plenty of stories still to explore in the time between in this galaxy far, far away.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch serves as a sequel to The Clone Wars series and takes place in the aftermath of said wars. It follows a group of elite clone troopers, known as Clone Force 99, and the mercenary missions they take on post-Clone Wars. Its second season is currently running until March 29th, so it’s the perfect time to start catching up in your chronological watch.
In the time before the original trilogy of the Skywalker Saga, there’s a film that details the origin of one of its most important characters: Han Solo. Solo: A Star Wars Story is set 10 years before the events of Stars Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and starred Alden Ehrenreich as the titular smuggler, following him and Chewbacca on an adventurous heist. He’s not the only character we get a bit of backstory on before the original trilogy, though.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is a mini series that was released in 2022 and follows the titular Jedi 10 years after the events of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, with Ewan McGregor returning to the role. Though originally planned as a limited series, the door is always open for another season if fans want, according to Lucasfilm. And, if you want a quick way to take in all six episodes of the series without any pacing issues, it's even been recut by a fan into a full-length movie!
Also taking place a little over 10 years after Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, and five years before Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Rebels is an animated series that follows the Rebellion’s small beginnings in a galaxy far, far away. It ran for four seasons with 75 total episodes, so you’ll have plenty to keep you occupied as you follow the stories about the rise of the Rebellion.
Similar to Star Wars Rebels and also taking place five years before Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars: Andor follows the formation of the Rebel Alliance, with Cassian Andor (played by Diego Luna) leading the series. The first season features 12 exhilirating episodes and season two is currently airing on Disney+. The building of this Rebellion eventually leads to…
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is set just before the events of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and follows a group of Rebels, Cassian included, as they plot to steal the plans for the Death Star. This film was the first of the standalone Star Wars spin-offs and featured a stellar cast alongside Luna, including Felicity Jones, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, and many more.
And all of these events finally lead us into the trilogy that started it all, and the next chronological chapter of the Skywalker Saga. Released in 1977, Stars Wars Episode IV: A New Hope centered on Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) as he begins Jedi training under Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) and sets out on a journey to rescue Rebel Alliance leader Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) with the help of smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew). It’s an incredible classic that started this whole journey in the first place, and chronologically will set you up right in the middle of your Star Wars journey.
Star Wars came back bigger and better with Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Set three years after its predecessor, this film follows our favorite Rebels as they continue to fight back against Imperial forces, and as Luke begins training with Yoda. It also sees Darth Vader reaching out to Luke in an attempt to lure him to the Dark Side. It’s dramatic, action-packed, and sure to keep you invested as you jump into the final film of the original trilogy.
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi brings the original trilogy’s Skywalker Saga to a close. Set one year after the events of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, this story revolves around the Rebel fleet as they aim to take down the newly-rebuilt Death Star. It’s a climactic finale that also sees Luke confronting Darth Vader once more, tieing up remaining strings as the Rebels make their final assault. It’s a film that leaves the fate of the galaxy in new hands, and open for new stories.
In the time between the fall of the Empire and the rise of the First Order, there are several stories to appear - and one of the most exciting comes from Star Wars: The Mandalorian. This space western is a series running on Disney+ that instantly won over fans with its exciting story of a bounty hunter named Din Djarin (played by Pedro Pascal) and his adventures with little Grogu.
Season 3 is set after the events in The Book of Boba Fett listed below - and the series shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Mando isn’t the only story of a bounty hunter that needs covering in a chronological watch of Star Wars, though.
A familiar name to many Star Wars fans, Boba Fett (played by Temuera Morrison, who also appeared in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones as Jango Fett and re-recorded lines for Boba in the DVD re-release of the original trilogy) is another bounty hunter who roams the galaxy. Serving as a spin-off of Star Wars: The Mandalorian, and set around the same period of time, The Book of Boba Fett follows the titular character as he leaves the life of a bounty hunter behind to take over the territory formerly run by Jabba the Hut. It currently only has one season out with seven episodes that run almost an hour each.
Ahsoka centers on the titular former Jedi Knight as she investigates an emerging threat to the galaxy. And for those who have been wondering where the show fits on the timeline, we have some potential answers. In an interview with SFX magazine (via GamesRadar) Sabine Wren's actress Natasha Liu Bordizzo stated that, "Ahsoka runs along the same timeline as The Mandalorian season 3, and the shows are all connected. There's just so many parallels." In our 7/10 review of the first two episodes, IGN said: "Dave Filoni’s new Disney+ series Ahsoka has plenty of action but still gets off to a slow start by getting viewers up to speed with the events of Star Wars Rebels."
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew "is set concurrently with The Mandalorian and Ahsoka," according to Empire Magazine (via Screen Rant). The Goonies-inspird series follows a group of ordinary suburban kids from the planet At Attin who find themselves mixed up in a space-pirate adventure. Jude Law stars as Jod Na Nawood.
Arisen from the ashes of the Empire comes a new threat to the galaxy: The First Order. This rise is first explored in Star Wars: Resistance, an animated series that premiered on Disney Channel and Disney XD. It follows a young pilot named Kazuda (or Kaz) Xiono who’s recruited by the Resistance (namely Poe Dameron - played by Oscar Isaac) to spy on the First Order. It takes place just before the events of the sequel trilogy, laying the groundwork for what’s to come in the next chapter of the Skywalker Saga.
The sequel trilogy kicked off with Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, which introduced us to a brand new band of Rebels. At the center of these films was Rey (played by Daisy Ridley), who joins up with ex-Stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega), Resistance pilot Poe (played by Oscar Isaac), and our beloved smuggler Han Solo (played once again by Harrison Ford) as they work with the Resistance (led by Carrie Fisher’s General Leia Organa) to track down Luke Skywalker (once again played by Mark Hamill) and take down the First Order, with Kylo Ren (played by Adam Driver) as the film’s main antagonist. It’s a reunion of old and new that started the sequel trilogy off with a bang.
The search for Luke Skywalker leads straight into Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. Kicking off immediately after the end of The Force Awakens, this story follows Rey as she seeks to recruit Luke’s help. Given the First Order’s relentless pursuits, The Resistance could use it, but she’s not the only one out looking for ways to gain the upper hand. Finn gets help from a mechanic named Rose Tico (played by Kelly Marie Tran) and the two work together to help Resistance members escape the First Order. This film also serves as the farewell to Carrie Fisher, and was lovingly dedicated to her at the end.
The final installment of the sequel trilogy, and grand finale of the Skywalker Saga in general, sees our crew of Resistance fighters take their final stand against Kylo Ren and the First Order. However, the First Order isn’t working alone, as Emperor Palpatine makes his return to aid them. Unfortunately, this film wasn’t a massive success amongst critics. Our own reviewer called it “a film engineered to hit the viewer on multiple levels while struggling to settle 42 years’ worth of story elements,” but noted that it’s “if nothing else, a tribute to [the Skywalker Saga’s] legacy.”
With the Skywalker Saga over and done with, it’s time to explore new stories in this galaxy far, far away, and that’s exactly what Star Wars: Visions does. This series is actually a collection of animated short films done by some of the best Japanese anime studios out there. For each episode, the creators were given complete freedom to tell a story of their choosing outside of the usual canon and with their own visual style. It currently has two volumes available to stream on Disney+ with Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 added this year.
There's a lot for Star Wars fans to look forward to in the years ahead. We're approaching Star Wars Day 2025, which will see the release of Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld on Disney+. The six-episode anthology series follows two bounty hunters: Asajj Ventress and Cad Bane.
Otherwise, Andor: Season 2 is currently ongoing, with the final three episodes dropping later this month. The only other projects with a release date or window is Jon Favreau's The Mandalorian & Grogu (May 22, 2026) and Season 3 of the short-film anthology Star Wars: Visions.
Head to the slideshow gallery below for a look at cover art and interior art from the first issue of VR Troopers:
VR Troopers is helmed by two Mighty Morphin Power Rangers veterans, writer Mairghread Scott and artist Sebastián Piriz. The first issue features a main cover by Taurin Clarke (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) and variant covers by James Stokoe (Godzilla), Christian Ward (Invisible Kingdom), Dan Panosian (The Last Boy), Goñi Montes (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers), Jorge Corona (Transformers), and Piriz.
VR Troopers isn't a continuation of the original 1994 TV series, but rather a reimagining of the characters based on their role in Power Rangers Prime (which itself is a reboot of the Power Rangers franchise akin to Marvel's Ultimate Universe or DC's Absolute Universe). Here's Boom's official synopsis of the new series:
The VR Troopers are the most elite of the Eltarian Empire’s human heroes on Earth, but what secrets are the Eltarians keeping? When VR Ryan tracks down a rogue Skug, he’ll come face-to-face with a foe who will change his understanding of VR—and himself—forever!
VR Troopers is a six-issue series, with the first issue releasing on June 25, 2025.
If you want another early taste of what's to come with VR Troopers, BOOM! is releasing a teaser special as part of this year's Free Comic Book Day lineup.
It was, perhaps, inevitable: Rockstar has delayed GTA 6 to May 2026. Confirmation comes from an unceremonious statement that was devoid of launch platforms or any new trailer. Not even a new screenshot accompanied the news.
Fans of Rockstar games have been here before, of course. The legendary developer has form when it comes to delaying its games, so this delay to GTA 6 perhaps comes as little surprise. Still, those fans have reacted with a mix of disappointment, relief, and a realization that the internet is now set for another 12 months of rampant, often nonsensical speculation about all things GTA 6.
The GTA 6 subreddit, which has been the source of so many of the wild conspiracy theories surrounding the game, its trailers, and when it might come out, has exploded following the news.
“Ffs, Fuck Rockstar, at least give us screenshots,” MyNameIsToFuOG said, reflecting a general disappointment that Rockstar failed to soften the blow of GTA 6’s delay without any fresh look at the game.
“At least give us a screenshot, this is ridiculous even for R*,” added Abvk0. “1.5 years of silence just to drop a delay news without even showing us bread crumbs of the game?”
“At least we have a date now, I don't mind a delay if it means the game is gonna be good,” said the more philosophical bl00nded.
“It’s Rockstar bro. What did you expect? Also, I really doubt it will release on May 26, they will delay it more,” said a somewhat concerned Puzzleheaded-Hunt731.
There is also speculation Rockstar may release GTA 6 on PC at the same time as on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, now the game has been delayed to 2026. “I hope that means that a PC version is also coming in 2026 and not 2027,” said Kiwibom.
“2026 console release, late 2027 PC release, 2028 new-gen console release,” predicted Velkoadmiral.
IGN’s own commenters had plenty to say about the GTA 6 delay, too, with user BSideleau slamming the console generation thus far in a scathing post:
“Surprising no one. It will be a final game of this tepid generation. What a let down. I have never felt more grifted than by Microsoft and Sony this generation. Both consoles are more 0.5 updates from the previous generation than true next gen consoles, yet they expected us to pay MORE for them. Quit letting them get away with it. Demand better.”
There's also plenty of talk about how much GTA 6 will cost. With both Nintendo and Microsoft going to $80 for some of their games, fans are bracing themselves for an $80 GTA 6. Some believe it could cost even more, going up to $100 perhaps, if the new GTA Online is included.
In its statement, Rockstar said “we look forward to sharing more information with you soon.” Could this mean Trailer 2 isn’t far off? Fans certainly hope so.
GTA 6 isn’t just expected to be the biggest entertainment launch of all time, fans expect it to be one of the greatest games ever made. Under that enormous pressure, the developers at Rockstar and parent company Take-Two will be desperate to ensure the game launches at the highest possible quality level. With that in mind, this delay feels like it was always going to happen.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
PlayStation is seemingly pulling its one-time poster child, Sackboy, from its marketing materials.
As noted by Realradec, Sackboy was notably absent from the PlayStation Productions banner at the start of the Until Dawn movie, although most of his peers, like Astro Bot, Uncharted's Nathan Drake, and Horizon Zero Dawn's Aloy, still have a place.
"Can confirm after seeing Until Dawn that Sackboy is not in the PlayStation Productions intro anymore (picture below is the 2023 version from Gran Turismo)," wrote Realradec. "I don’t like this era of Sackboy erasure," (thanks, PlayStationLifestyle).
Oh yeah I forgot to mention, I can confirm after seeing Until Dawn that Sackboy is not in the PlayStation Productions intro anymore (picture below is the 2023 version from Gran Turismo)
Once upon a time, Sackboy was the golden child of PlayStation, becoming a mascot for the PlayStation brand in much the same way Sonic is associated with Sega, and Mario represents all things Nintendo. Now, however, as Sackboy hasn't starred in a PlayStation game since 2020's delightful Sackboy: A Big Adventure, it seems he's being sidelined to make room for more contemporary faces.
"They are removing the Sack, they can't just put him out on the street like that," commented one unhappy Twitter user, while another asked: "They took out my boy? But he was just in that Secret Level episode!"
"He is not Sackboy anymore… he is Sadboy now," teased another.
While others lamented, "why can't Astro Bot and Sackboy coexist?", others had a more measured reaction.
"Sackboy being erased from the PS Productions logo does not mean anything, DreamWorks also swaps out characters in their logo montage sometimes," said another.
Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
The Pokémon Trading Card Game shows no signs of slowing down in 2025. Whether you're a competitive player, a casual collector, or someone who's just dropped way too much money on framed booster art, this year's TCG lineup is going all in—new mechanics, nostalgic reprints, and plenty of chances to chase that cardboard high.
It’s already shaping up to be a huge year, so here’s everything we know about the upcoming Pokémon TCG releases in 2025. And yes, IGN will be tracking all the best deals and preorder links, both here and on socials at @IGNDeals.
Upcoming Pokémon TCG Sets In 2025
Things really kick off on May 30with Destined Rivals. This set brings back Trainer’s Pokémon, reintroduces Team Rocket for another round of villainous fun, and includes some of the best card art we’ve seen in ages. If you're into flashy collectibles or just enjoy the feeling of cardboard power coursing through your veins, this one's for you.
Later in the year, Pokémon is tying its TCG releases into the upcoming Legends: Z-A game with a set focused on Mega Evolution Pokémon ex. Exact release dates are still under wraps, but it’s already building serious buzz—and will almost certainly follow the same high-demand, low-availability pattern. Read on to find out more on both, and check out the latest TCG stock updates just below as well.
While some of the new listings are over-priced, Surging Sparks card prices have plummeted last month for the most part, with the Pikachu ex SIR dropping from a lofty $400+ price point to under $300.
Destined Rivals - Releases May. 30, 2025
Pokémon TCG’s next big release, Destined Rivals, is almost here, and I’m already prepping my shelf space and emotionally budgeting like I won’t blow it all on an Elite Trainer Box I absolutely do not need.
The full release is scheduled for May 30, 2025. That’s when all the sealed products will ship and hit shelves, assuming there’s any left, though The Pokemon Company has been seemingly tackling ongoing stock shortages. Between May 17 and 25, select stores will host pre-release events featuring Build & Battle boxes and early access tournaments. You should check with your local league store now if you want in. And by “check,” I mean probably bribe them with snacks.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A: Mega Evolution Pokémon ex - TBC
"We’re looking forward to a ‘Mega’ year as we prepare for the launch of the Pokémon Legends: Z-A video game featuring the mechanic, as well as the introduction of Mega Evolution Pokémon ex to the best-selling Pokémon TCG."
Pokémon Legends: Z-A arrives in late 2025, with no confirmed release date, but we're expecting the new cards, expansions, or sets to release at a similar time. Albeit scoring some of these at release will probably be as easy as picking as picking up a Switch 2 preorder.
Journey Together - Released Mar. 28 2025
It’s about time we got a set like this. Bringing back nostalgic Trainer’s Pokémon cards from the Gym Heroes era. N’s Zoroark ex and Lillie’s Clefairy ex end the chaos of endless secret arts for a more curated, collectible experience.
With just 16 Pokémon ex, 11 illustration rares, and three hyper rare gold cards, it’s easier to track what’s worth pulling without feeling like you need a PhD in pack odds.
Fancy snagging the Enhanced Booster Display Box with its bonus N’s Reshiram illustration rare or pull Iono’s Bellibolt ex? This set screams nostalgia with a new coat of paint.
What Makes Scarlet & Violet—Journey Together Special?
The Scarlet & Violet—Journey Together expansion is a nod to fans who've been in it for a long time. Remember Gym Heroes?
This set revives the much-loved Trainer's Pokémon cards, spotlighting the bond between iconic Trainers and their Pokémon.
Cards like N's Zoroark ex, Hop's Zacian ex, and Iono's Bellibolt ex aren't just cool to look at; they call back to the late '90s and early '00s Pokémania. We're all for that here.
What's even better? This expansion ditches the overload of secret rares that made recent sets feel overwhelming.
Instead, Journey Together keeps things tight, making tracking what you want to pull easier. Whether it's an illustration rare, a special art card, or one of those hyper-rare gold beauties, you can finally open packs without feeling like you need a flowchart to figure out what's in the set.
Why Scarlet & Violet—Journey Together Is a Must-Have
This set gets it. It brings back the Trainer-Pokémon connection we loved in Gym Heroes, keeps the card pool manageable, and nails the art on every level. There is no fluff or filler, just a solid mix of fun cards to collect and play with.
Whether you're in it for the pulls, the gameplay, or the nostalgia, Journey Together is worth your time (and cash). Mark your calendar for March 28, and start clearing some binder space now; you'll need it.
Rare Cards and Collector’s Highlights
If you’re into collecting, this set hits the sweet spot. It’s got 16 Pokémon ex, six unique illustrations rares, and just three hyper rare gold cards, which means you won’t have to mortgage your house chasing every rarity. And the artwork? Illustrating rares like N’s Zoroark ex will look incredible in your binder.
Pokémon Center’s Enhanced Booster Display Box is the one to grab for preorder exclusives. It comes with a bonus N’s Reshiram illustration rare card—a little extra flex for your collection.
Prismatic Evolutions - Released Jan. 17 2025
Prismatic Evolutions, kicked off 2025, and it’s all about Eevee and its many evolutions. This set is doing things differently, which is probably why stock sells out as soon as it comes in.
This is another 151 situation, but there's plenty of stock refeshes coming throughout 2025. You won’t find these cards in the usual booster packs.
Instead, they’ll be released in boxed sets throughout the year, each packed full of exclusive cards celebrating Eevee and friends. With over 175 cards, including unique designs and new game mechanics, Prismatic Evolutions is shaping to be a hit with collectors and competitive players alike.
What Makes Prismatic Evolutions Special?
This set brings some new gameplay tricks and visually striking designs. The big attraction is the debut of Stellar Tera Pokémon ex cards, which showcase Eevee and each of its evolutions with Terastal-inspired art.
These aren’t just nice to look at—they come with moves that need multiple energy types to activate, encouraging players to build balanced, flexible decks. And for the first time, Eevee’s ex card can evolve into other ex forms, giving trainers even more options to play with.
Collectors will appreciate some cool new reverse holo designs featuring Poké Ball and Master Ball patterns that pop on any card. And if you’re into rare cards, six ACE SPEC Trainer cards are in the set, limited to one per deck.
Each one packs a serious punch in gameplay—like the MAX Rod ACE SPEC card, which lets players retrieve up to five Pokémon or Energy cards from their discard pile. On top of that, Prismatic Evolutions features a mix of ultra-rare illustration cards, gold-edged rares, and special art that takes these cards to another level.
Why Prismatic Evolutions Is a Must-Have
Between the fresh artwork, inventive mechanics, and the undeniable charm of Eevee and friends, Prismatic Evolutions is set to be one of the year’s standout sets. Collectors and players alike will find something to love here, from stunning illustration rares to powerful new game cards that can make a real difference in play.
Rare Cards and Collector’s Highlights
For collectors, Prismatic Evolutions isn’t short on treasures. Each Eevee evolution has its special illustration and hyper-rare gold Pokémon ex card, making them must-haves for anyone building a showcase-worthy collection.
The set includes 32 illustration rares featuring detailed artwork for Pokémon ex and Supporter cards, so plenty of eye candy is here. With so many unique finishes and designs, it’s bound to make a few waves among fans.
Adapted from the Japanese sets Supercharged Breaker and Paradise Dragona, this expansion combines the raw power of electric Pokémon with the majestic strength of Dragon-types like Alolan Exeggutor ex and Latias ex.
With over 250 cards, including new ACE SPEC cards and Stellar Tera ex Pokémon, Surging Sparks has exciting new additions that will shake up the competitive scene and include some epic chase cards for collectors.
Beyond the headlining Pikachu ex, Surging Sparks offers a diverse range of powerful cards, including nine regular ex Tera Pokémon, 23 illustration rares, and six golden secret rares, making it a must-have for any serious Pokémon TCG fan.
The BOOster bundle makes for a fun alternative to candy to give out on Halloween night. And if you were to hold onto a pack or two (or 10) for yourself, who's to know or care? Check it out at various retailers at the links below.
Stellar Crown is set to launch on September 13, 2024, as the seventh main expansion in the Scarlet & Violet series. This highly anticipated set introduces the Legendary Pokémon Terapagos and a new wave of Stellar-type Tera Pokémon. With over 170 cards, including over a dozen new Pokémon ex and a variety of Trainer and ACE SPEC cards, Stellar Crown is packed with powerful new mechanics and stunning artwork.
Fans can look forward to the first English appearances of Illustration Rare cards for classics like Squirtle and Bulbasaur, alongside chase cards like Special Illustration Rare versions of Hydrapple ex, Galvantual ex, and Terapagos ex. This set also introduces innovative strategies with cards like Briar, Sparkling Crystal, and the ACE SPEC Stadium card Great Tree, which could revolutionize Tera-focused decks.
Shrouded Fable August 2, 2024
Shrouded Fable brings Pokémon from the Mochi Mayhem mission to the TCG. This set features woodcut-style illustration rares and introduces new ex-cards for Pecharunt and The Loyal Three. With unique cards and showcase collections, Shrouded Fable promises to be a visually stunning and strategically rich set.
Stay tuned for more exciting Pokémon TCG releases throughout 2024. With each set bringing unique themes and mechanics, there's something for every fan to enjoy. While waiting, why not check out today's best Pokémon TCG deals? That's right, we're that awesome!
Paldean Fates Set (January 26th – February 23rd)
Paldean Fates released in three waves, offering a unique approach with no individual booster packs. Instead, products like the Elite Trainer Box and Premium Collections provided a variety of boosters and exclusive cards. The set's focus on Shiny and Baby, Shiny Pokémon with vibrant foil treatments, made it a hit among collectors and players alike.
Combined Powers Premium Collection (Late February 2024)
This collection brought back exclusive cards from the 2023 Pokémon TCG Classic set, offering a more affordable way to acquire these Legendary Pokémon. With foil variants and multiple booster packs, it was a must-have for collectors and competitive players.
Mabosstiff ex Box (Late February 2024)
This box features the Dark-type Pokémon Mabosstiff ex and its Basic form, Maschiff. It provides powerful cards with efficient energy costs. Including four booster packs, it's a practical addition for players looking to strengthen their Dark decks.
Houndoom and Melmetal ex-Battle Decks (February 23)
These ex-Battle Decks were perfect for intermediate players. They offered ready-to-play decks focused on specific Pokémon types. The balanced design and included accessories made them great for refining strategies and exploring new deck combinations.
Paldea Adventure Chest (March 1st, 2024)
Though aimed at younger fans, the Paldea Adventure Chest included valuable promo cards and fun accessories. The high price might be a barrier for some, but the unique contents and attractive packaging made it a delightful addition to any collection.
2023 World Championship Decks (March 1)
These decks offered a glimpse into the strategies of world champions, providing excellent value with powerful cards and themed accessories. While not tournament-legal, they were ideal for casual play and honing advanced tactics.
Ninetales and Zapdos Deluxe ex Battle Decks (March 22)
Arriving on March 22nd, the Deluxe ex Battle Decks feature Ninetales ex and Zapdos ex. These decks are designed for experienced players and include a Pokémon coin, themed playmat, damage counters, condition markers, a strategy sheet, and a Pokémon TCG Live code card.
Temporal Forces (March 22)
Temporal Forces, releasing on March 22nd, is the next main set following Paradox Rift. It includes booster packs, boxes, and two Elite Trainer Boxes, each with its exclusive foil promo card and themed accessories. This set continues exploring time-based mechanics, offering exciting new cards and gameplay possibilities.
The Iono Premium Tournament Collection, launching on April 5th, celebrates the popular Supporter Iono with themed accessories, booster packs, and four Iono cards, including a full art variant. This collection is ideal for fans looking to enhance their decks with powerful support cards and stylish accessories.
Grafaiai ex Box (April 5)
Releasing alongside the Iono Premium Tournament Collection, the Grafaiai ex Box includes:
Rockstar has delayed Grand Theft Auto 6 to May 26, 2026. It was due out fall 2025.
In a statement, Rockstar apologized for the significant delay to the game, expected to be the biggest entertainment launch of all time.
"We are very sorry that this is later than you expected," Rockstar said. "The interest and excitement surrounding a new Grand Theft Auto has been truly humbling for our entire team. We want to thank you for your support and your patience as we work to finish the game.
"With every game we have released, the goal has always been to try and exceed your expectations, and Grand Theft Auto VI is no exception. We hope you understand that we need this extra time to deliver at the level of quality you expect and deserve.
"We look forward to sharing more information with you soon."
Rockstar's statement at least confirms the GTA 6 release date, but there were no new assets released, which means the wait for Trailer 2 continues. There's also no mention of launch platforms, which some are already speculating leaves the door open to GTA 6 releasing on PC as well as PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S in May 2026.
"Look, there's always a risk of slippage and I think as soon as you say words like absolutely, you jinx things," Strauss Zelnick, the boss of Rockstar parent company Take-Two responded when IGN asked how confident he was that Rockstar would hit fall 2025 for GTA 6. "So we feel really good about it." That was back in February.
Commenting in a new note to the investment community issued today, May 2, Zelnick said he supported the decision to delay GTA 6 into Take-Two's 2027 financial year.
"We support fully Rockstar Games taking additional time to realize their creative vision for Grand Theft Auto VI, which promises to be a groundbreaking, blockbuster entertainment experience that exceeds audience expectations.
“While we take the movement of our titles seriously and appreciate the vast and deep global anticipation for Grand Theft Auto VI, we remain steadfast in our commitment to excellence. As we continue to release our phenomenal pipeline, we expect to deliver a multi-year period of growth in our business and enhanced value for our shareholders.”
The delay to GTA 6 opens up the second half of 2025 to a number of other games, perhaps now with more breathing room to succeed. The likes of Gearbox's Borderlands 4, EA's Battlefield, Bungie's Marathon, and Sony's Ghost of Yotei will no-doubt breath a sign of relief. Nintendo, which is preparing to release the Switch 2, will surely benefit from GTA 6's delay, too.
Other developers and publishers who perhaps rushed their games to launch ahead of GTA 6's expected fall 2025 release window won't be so happy, of course. And if you had a game planned for launch in or around May next year, you'll probably have to rethink your release strategy.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
If you’ve played The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion or its recently released Oblivion Remastered, you’ll know the opening tutorial section and its iconic 'leaving the Imperial sewers' moment well. You’ll also know all about that shocking death that arrives just before you make your final escape and, blinking, emerge into the beautiful open world of Cyrodiil.
Warning! Spoilers for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered follow.
The shocking death I’m talking about here is of course the assassination of Emperor Uriel Septim, an assassination he knows is coming and has come to terms with. Veteran fans have replayed Oblivion enough at this point to know it’s coming, too. But back in 2006 when Oblivion first came out, it became a rite of passage to try to save him from the inevitable Mythic Dawn backstab that kicks off the story.
Hundreds of arrow shots later and players soon discovered that there was nothing that could be done to save poor old Septim, not without tinkering with the game with mods or console commands. Oblivion only really makes sense if the Emperor dies at the beginning, so it stands to reason that the developers at Bethesda forced it to happen no matter what the player did to try to stop it.
And now, 20 years later, a new generation of Oblivion fans is trying to save the Emperor, and by that I mean trying and failing in much the same way. Players are waiting, bow and arrow primed, for the assassin to emerge from the shadows in a bid to kill him before he stabs the Emperor, but alas, it is no good.
Some newcomers to the game didn’t even know they were supposed to talk to the Emperor in the first place, and so ended up with a room full of dead assassins as the endless stream of Mythic Dawn goons emerged to battle the group.
Others are seeking out their revenge on the Mythic Dawn, piling those corpses high.
Newcomers are also discovering that the assassins will just keep on coming if you don't talk to the Emperor. They won't stop. They can't stop. They are infinite.
I found out you can ignore the Emporer and have the cultists spawn pretty much infinity during the hold out section
The old combat and look of the game really was preventing me from enjoying the original. I'm very happy the remastered it pic.twitter.com/s30YFoSEhl
— Eclipse (Miniatures Arc) (@3clipserenders) April 27, 2025
Other players are taking to console commands to see what happens, and, yes, it breaks the cutscene that’s supposed to play out after the Emperor is killed.
If you’re anything like me, when you first played Oblivion you reloaded your save to try to save the Emperor and, after multiple failed attempts, gave up. I confess I also tried in Oblivion Remastered, just in case the developers added some new outcome to the game, but alas, the Emperor must die now, in 2025, just as he had to all those years ago.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Amazon has dropped prices across a range of streaming, gaming, and collector-focused products. The Fire TV Stick lineup is seeing deep discounts, with models available for HD and 4K setups starting at just $19.99.
A tempered glass screen protector for the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 is also down to $5.00 with discount code O298Q8X3. For book collectors, the deluxe edition of The Lord of the Rings is over half off, making it a standout pickup for anyone looking to lock in value on premium items.
Amazon’s Fire TV Stick lineup includes three models currently on sale. The Fire TV Stick HD is now $19.99 and supports Full HD streaming, Alexa voice commands, and access to live and ad-supported content.
The Fire TV Stick 4K is $29.99 and adds support for Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and Dolby Atmos, plus AI-powered voice search and Xbox cloud gaming support. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max, now $39.99, upgrades to Wi-Fi 6E, doubles the internal storage, and includes Fire TV’s Ambient Experience for turning idle screens into digital art.
amFilm Tempered Glass Screen Protector Compatible with Nintendo Switch 2 7.9" 2025 (3-Pack
The amFilm Tempered Glass Screen Protector for Nintendo Switch 2 3-pack is down to $5.00 when you apply code "O298Q8X3" at checkout.
This 3-pack includes 0.3mm ultra-clear glass, a fingerprint-resistant coating, and a full install kit. It’s custom-sized for the new 7.9-inch screen and provides solid protection at a low price. The 2-pack is currently $9.99, so this is a great deal.
Oblivion Remastered Imperial City Art Print
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion art print from the IGN Store features the Imperial City and White-Gold Tower. It's printed on high-quality A3 stock and individually numbered as one of 995 units. This is a limited pre-order item priced at $26.99 and offers collector appeal for Elder Scrolls fans.
Written by TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman and the original Last Ronin team, the story follows Casey Marie and a new generation of heroes rising from the sewers to bring peace to a fractured New York City. The oversized hardcover is set to release on July 8, 2025, making this a great time to lock in early savings.
Prismatic Evolutions Booster Bundle is listed at S79.95, nearly double the standard MSRP for a six-pack set. Despite the collector appeal, this pricing is significantly inflated.
With single cards from the expansion dropping in value quickly, this bundle doesn't represent a strong deal for casual buyers or competitive players looking for specific pulls.
Complete 2D Game Assets Bundle
Humble Bundle’s current pixel art and dev asset bundle includes 90 items for $20. The pack features tile sets, RPG music, sprites, and more for use in Unity, Unreal, and other engines. All proceeds support the Prevent Cancer Foundation.
Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet - Surging Sparks Booster Bundle
Surging Sparks Booster Bundle is currently priced at $49.99, slightly above its typical MSRP. It includes six booster packs from the latest expansion, offering a straightforward way to build out your collection.
While the bundle is convenient for collectors who want sealed product from a new set, market trends show that individual card values are declining, which may limit its overall value.
It features seasonal cooking, original illustrations, and recipes from characters like Gus and the Queen of Sauce. A good fit for fans of the game who enjoy casual cooking with a thematic twist, or those looking for a great Mother's Day gift.
The Lord of the Rings Deluxe Illustrated by the Author: Special Edition
The Lord of the Rings Deluxe Illustrated Edition is currently listed at $103.18, down from $250. This edition includes over 30 illustrations by J.R.R. Tolkien, two fold-out maps, and red-and-black printed text. Bound in a slipcase with gold edging and foil stamping, it’s a premium reissue for long-time fans and collectors.
Temporal Forces Elite Trainer Box
Temporal Forces Elite Trainer Box featuring Iron Leaves is holding at $55.42. It includes booster packs, Energy cards, themed sleeves, and tools for competitive play.
This expansion brings back ACE SPEC cards and features both Ancient and Future Pokémon ex, including Walking Wake ex and Raging Bolt ex. With singles from this set also seeing price drops, sealed boxes may offer better pull value for players chasing newer cards
Apple AirPods Pro 2
Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 with the updated USB-C case are available for $169, which is $80 off the standard price of $249. That’s one of the lowest prices we’ve seen this month.
These wireless earbuds offer active noise cancellation, adaptive audio modes, personalized spatial audio, and a secure fit with multiple tip sizes. They’re also IP54-rated for water and dust resistance, making them a reliable option for both everyday listening and workouts.
Oblivion Remastered Akatosh
The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion Akatosh Ingot is up for pre-order at the IGN Store for $34.99. This officially licensed collectible is finished in black nickel with colored printed details, sized at 100 by 56.8 millimeters, and includes a display stand.
Limited to 5,000 pieces and individually numbered, it's a standout item for Elder Scrolls fans looking to commemorate one of the series' most iconic deities.
Poké Ball Tin Bundle 2024
Pokémon TCG Poké Ball Tin 3-Pack Bundle is available at Amazon for $49.90, down from $59.99. This exclusive bundle includes three collectible tins styled as a Poké Ball, Great Ball, and Ultra Ball, each containing three Scarlet and Violet booster packs and a sticker sheet.
That adds up to nine booster packs for under 50 dollars. It's a solid value for anyone looking to score new cards and adds a bit of fun for collectors thanks to the unique tin designs.
Corsair Vengeance i7500 Gaming PC
Corsair’s Vengeance i7500 Gaming PC is on sale at Amazon for 2,599.99, marked down from 2,899.99. It’s powered by a liquid-cooled Intel Core i7-14700KF CPU and NVIDIA’s RTX 5070 graphics card, paired with 32 gigabytes of DDR5 RGB RAM and a 1TB NVMe SSD.
The system is housed in a tempered glass 3500X ARGB case with robust airflow. Whether you're gaming, streaming, or working with creative apps, this build is designed to deliver high-end performance out of the box.
Tycoon Titans Bundle
Tycoon Titans Bundle at Humble is packed with management sims for anyone who enjoys building, optimizing, or running virtual businesses. Pay 13 dollars or more to unlock 10 Steam titles including RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, Frostpunk, Mad Games Tycoon 2, and PlateUp.
The bundle also includes coupons for 35 percent off Frostpunk 2 and 10 percent off Farm Manager World. A portion of every purchase goes to No Kid Hungry, so it's a great way to expand your library while supporting a good cause.
2024 Trick or Trade BOOster Bundle
Pokémon TCG Trick or Trade BOOster Bundle is down to just 15.93 at Walmart, marked down from 39.99. This seasonal bundle includes 35 mini booster packs, each with three cards, all featuring Halloween-themed art and spooky packaging.
It’s a fun and affordable option for parents, party hosts, or collectors looking to stock up ahead of October. With over 24 dollars in savings, this is one of the best prices you’ll find for bulk Pokémon packs.
Pokemon TCG Classic Box
Pokémon TCG Classic Box is now just $194.76 at Sam’s Club, a major drop from its original 400 dollar price. This deluxe set includes three 60-card decks based on the original partner Pokémon, six new cards, and foil reprints of some of the game’s most iconic cards.
It also comes with high-end accessories including a foldable game board, magnetic damage counters, and a durable case. Designed for collectors and competitive players, it’s one of the most complete and well-crafted sets the Pokémon Company has released. Sam's Club memberships have been discounted recently, so this could be great shout if you're looking for rare and discounted Pokemon card sets.
Iono’s Bellibolt ex Premium Collection
This Premium Collection features Iono’s Bellibolt ex as a full-art foil promo, plus a foil Iono’s Tadbulb card and six booster packs. At $53.23, it’s a modest discount off the typical $55.88 price (for Amazon).
You’ll also get standees, a photo sticker, and a backdrop display themed around Iono and Bellibolt. With several playable cards in this set seeing markdowns on the singles market, this box is a good option for collectors or those hoping to pull value.
The detailed design captures the fiery gates seen in-game and measures 110 x 76mm. Scheduled to ship in October 2025, this is a good pick for fans of the series looking to add a unique item to their collection.
XCOM Bundle
Humble is offering a full XCOM franchise bundle starting at just $10. That unlocks 17 titles, including XCOM 2, Enemy Unknown, Chimera Squad, and multiple DLCs with a combined value of $269.
This is a rare chance to pick up nearly the entire series in one package, and part of your purchase supports the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. Whether you're new to the franchise or filling gaps in your library, it's worth a look.
id & Friends Humble Game Bundle
I think calling this a bundle is almost underselling it. You are getting DOOM, Wolfenstein, DOOM Eternal, and a coupon toward DOOM: The Dark Ages, just to name a few. It is a lot of chaos and a lot of catharsis for not a lot of money. Steam ratings are strong across the board if you care about that kind of thing, but honestly, DOOM 1993 still sells itself
Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—Twilight Masquerade Elite Trainer Box
Greninja ex SIR, that is all. In all seriousness, this is a brilliant set that's often overlooked. Whilst the price is a little over MSRP, it's worth getting just for the booster packs included.
Plus the promo, sleeves and dice look great in this particular ETB. Following the trend, Twilight Masquerade single cards are also crashing in price, so make sure to check if you can just buy the cards you're after for less.
Pokémon TCG: Shining Fates Collection Pikachu V Box
kachu gets a lot of oversized cardboard love in this box with a promo card, a giant version, and four Shining Fates booster packs.
It is a decent pickup if you like opening packs, but single card prices are slipping hard right now. I think it makes more sense to hunt down the exact cards you want unless you are feeling reckless.
The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion Remastered Dark Brotherhood Medallion
In my opinion, this is one of those collectibles that you either want immediately or not at all. It is an officially licensed Dark Brotherhood medallion, limited to 5000 pieces, finished in black and gold, and somehow still cheaper than most novelty keychains. Ships later this year, assuming you survive the wait
Pokémon TCG Paldean Fates Booster Bundle
Paldean Fates brings back shiny Pokémon in a big way, and this bundle gives you six booster packs to chase them. I want to be excited about it, but again, single card prices for Paldean Fates are not holding up well. If you just want a shiny Charizard ex SIR without the suspense, the singles market is sitting there quietly judging your pack opening addiction.
Pokemon TCG: Azure Legends Tin - 5 Packs
I like a good tin, especially one with five booster packs packed inside, but getting a random Kyogre, Xerneas, or Dialga promo card feels a little like gambling with slightly better odds. It is a solid pickup for the price if you do not mind leaving your promo fate to the RNG gods. If you are only after one specific chase card though outside of the included two Surging Sparks boosters, it might save your blood pressure to just buy it separately.
Lexar Sale
Lexar is finally giving some breathing room on pricing with this Amazon sale, and the Armor 700 is a standout. You are getting 4TB of rugged storage with serious transfer speeds for about 100 dollars off the typical price. It is water resistant, dust resistant, and a lot more durable than whatever junk is sitting at the bottom of your backpack right now.
Pokémon Game Sale
Woot is offering a solid spread of Pokémon games today, and I want at least three of them. Brilliant Diamond, Legends: Arceus, Let’s Go, Eevee!, and a few others are sitting between $39.99 and $44.99, which feels right for anyone catching up before Switch 2 changes the landscape again. In my opinion, it is a smart time to grab them while prices are behaving themselves. Everything here is fully playable now and will likely get performance bumps once Nintendo's next system arrives.
MSI Desktops & Components Sale
MSI’s factory-reconditioned gaming desktops are quietly one of the best parts of today's sale. Machines like the AEGIS R 13NUE-448US are going for $1,129.99, and RTX 4060 GPUs are under $300. I want to be responsible, but this pricing makes it harder than it should be. If you have been thinking about rebuilding your setup, this is exactly the kind of deal you hope not to miss.
The 8BitDo Retro 87 Mechanical Keyboard is down to $99.99 at Amazon. I think it is one of the best-looking keyboards out right now if you want something that works and does not scream “boring office equipment.”
It has Kailh Jellyfish X switches, a top-mount design, fast response, and Xbox-inspired styling that actually looks good on a gaming desk. I probably do not need another keyboard. I am thinking about it anyway.
Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of "Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior". Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.
If you're looking for Anime Mania Codes now that the game has had a re-release, you're in the right place. We've checked high and low to bring you all the new codes for the Roblox experience, which will help you get closer to creating your dream team with your favorite anime characters.
Working Anime Mania Codes (May 2025)
The current and active Anime Mania Codes for this month are:
Anime Mania has a straightforward process when it comes to redeeming codes. You just need to follow these steps:
Open the Anime Mania Roblox experience
Look on the bottom left of the screen to find blue buttons
To the right of roll, and in the middle you'll find Codes
Press Codes and copy the codes from this article in there
Hit submit and enjoy your bonuses!
Why Isn't My Anime Mania Code Working?
If your Anime Mania code isn't working, it's usually because of two reasons. We test all codes before we upload them, so if you find one on here that doesn't appear to be a valid code, you may have typed it in incorrectly or accidentally included an additional space. Check for any extra spaces first, and be sure to copy the code directly from this article. Roblox codes are often case-sensitive, so the code will appear here exactly how it should be used. Alternatively, the code may have been expired. Typically, a Roblox experience will say "code expired" when this is the case.
How to Get More Anime Mania Codes
We check for new Roblox codes every day, so if you want to stay up to date with Anime Mania and code drops, your best bet is to check back here. If you want to hunt for them yourself, you can always visit the Anime Mania Discord server, or check out Yakrus on X.
What is Anime Mania in Roblox?
Anime Mania is a fighting game, where you'll curate a team made up of popular anime characters. Once you've selected your team, you'll choose your character and take on waves of enemy in an arena. You can freely move around and make use of special attack moves to keep enemies at bay.
Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.
"In what situation [is] making a sprite of naked Hornet necessary?" asked one commenter on a Reddit thread dissecting the exclusive sheet.
Within the dozens of images of Silksong star Hornet, most of which show her in a range of battle-ready and relaxed poses, there is one that shows Hornet casually carrying her cloak under one arm. (We've included a close-up below, but you can also see it on the original sheet on the right-hand side of the image, immediately under the uppermost ring):
"What kind of situation in-game calls for her to remove her cloak and hold it like she's an exhausted dad returning from work? This is cursed," opined one redditor.
"Is this real???? There’s no way this is a sprite that is going to be in Silksong. Is that just what she looks like????" posited another, while another shouted: "IN WHAT KIND OF SITUATION WOULD THEY EVEN NEED THIS SPRITE?"
And then… well then it all gets a little thirsty.
"So, we don't have to bother making a mod," asserted one respondent, while another said: "We're going straight to ESRB 18+ for this one."
"HORNET PUT YOUR CLOAK BACK ON THAT'S SO INDECENT WHAT THE HELL," chastized another thread OP, to which someone replied: "This looks so wrong," and "this is completely unnecessary."
For what it's worth, the most plausible explanation could be that we'll be able to upgrade or change Hornet's cloak… but for now, let your imaginations run riot, Hornet fans.
Team Cherry’s sequel is one of the most anticipated games in the world right now, topping the Steam wishlist charts for years. Silksong made a brief appearance at Nintendo’s Switch 2 Direct last month, and soon after Team Cherry nailed down the 2025 release window, much to the relief of its very patient fans. And now, given we know it will be playable for those who can be at Australia’s national museum of screen culture, ACMI, from September 18, some are speculating that we could be looking at a launch around August… although nothing's confirmed as yet, of course.
Silksong will be playable at the Melbourne museum as part of a video game exhibition called Game Worlds, which will also include displays that delve into the game’s design and artistic direction.
Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
When Bethesda shadow-dropped The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered amid the launch of fellow role-playing game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, most thought there could be only one winner. But, according to the publisher of Clair Obscur, not only did Oblivion not harm Clair Obscur, Clair Obscur actually benefitted from Oblivion’s release because it boosted excitement for the RPG genre.
So says Kepler Interactive’s senior portfolio manager Matt Handrahan, who told The Game Business all about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s launch success against the odds.
First, some background. RPG fans were faced with the difficult choice between spending hundreds of hours in Oblivion’s Cyrodiil, or embarking on an expedition to take down the Paintress in Clair Obscur. The launch of the two games in the same week provoked both joyful and frustrated reactions from RPG fans, as well as a cheeky comment from Kepler Interactive itself.
Microsoft, which owns Oblivion developer Bethesda and which had heavily backed Clair Obscur since its reveal at an Xbox Showcase last year, also came under fire for shadow-dropping Oblivion on top of Clair Obscur, with both games being Game Pass day-one titles.
But, according to Handrahan, there was nothing to worry about. “We always knew that Expedition 33 had a very specific identity,” Handrahan said. “When I was in the press, I saw the Western-style RPG and the Japanese-style RPG as having quite different appeals and audiences. I knew plenty of people that would play an Elder Scrolls game that wouldn't necessarily play Final Fantasy and vice versa.
“Also, by the time that we rolled around, we had momentum of our own and we felt pretty confident that we could stand beside it. I think there were other aspects, like the price point we were at and the inclusion in Game Pass… so we knew we would have a lot of interest around the game. We were confident in that. And it went as well as it possibly could have done in our eyes. And, actually, proximity to Oblivion didn't seem to harm us at all. In many ways, I think it just drew attention to quality RPGs that week and everybody was thinking and talking about the genre.”
Clair Obscur has become a big hit for Keplar and its French developer, Sandfall Interactive, selling over 1 million copies in just three days and posting impressive concurrent player numbers on Steam. It’s done so well that French President Macron has praised the development team.
Bethesda has announced Oblivion Remastered has seen over 4 million players since launch, but hasn’t announced a sales figure. It too has seen big Steam concurrent player numbers.
The Game Business quoted data from Ampere that shows 35% of Clair Obscur players also played Oblivion remastered, which means there was significant overlap. A lot of that has to do with both games launching in Game Pass, with the overlap percentage dropping for Steam and PlayStation 5 players.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Looking for Hunters codes to gain crystals? IGN has you covered. We've searched around to find all the active and working codes that are free to use, so you can boost your crystal stash.
Working Hunters Codes (May 2025)
There are currently no active Hunters codes. As soon as there are, we'll add them to this list!
Expired Hunters Codes (May 2025)
HUNTERSREDEMPTION
papamikami
HuntersWeekend
SORRY4BUGS
SORRY
SORRY4DELAY
500Crystals
10M
THANKYOU
RELEASE
How to Redeem Hunters Codes
To use the codes, you need to join the MS: Hunters group first. Do this before launching the game to make sure the codes are redeemable. Then follow these steps:
Launch the Hunters Roblox experience
In the top right corner of the screen, find the </codes> menu
Click on it and paste the codes from this article
Hit Redeem and enjoy your rewards
Why Isn't My Hunters Code Working?
There are two main reasons why your code might not work when you submit it. Some codes are for Roblox are case-sensitive, so just copy it directly from this article and paste it in. We test each and every one of the codes before adding them here to make sure they're working. Just be sure when you are copying them from here that you don't include any extra spaces. If one has snuck in there, just remove them and try the code again.
If you're taking them directly from the article, and they're still not working, the other possibility is that they're expired. When a code has expired, it will say this as soon as you enter it.
Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 developer Sandfall Interactive must be used to compliments by now — its RPG released a little over a week ago and is already universally acclaimed by players and critics alike — but I don't think anyone had "a hat tip from French President Emmanuel Macron" on their bingo card this week.
That's exactly what happened, though. Taking to Instagram, Macron congratulated the team on its success, writing: "A million copies and to date, one of the best-rated games in history: and yes, it's French!"
"Congratulations to Sandfall Interactive and all the creators of Expedition 33. You are a shining example of French audacity and creativity," Macron added, as translated by Google and spotted by PC Gamer.
Developed by the newly formed studio Sandfall Interactive, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG that takes heavy inspiration from the genre classics, and follows a crew of Expeditioners in a post-apocalyptic world where each year, a giant being called The Paintress etches a new number and erases anyone older than it. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 sees you join the crew that travels to the ends of the continent to destroy the Paintress.
In IGN's 9/10 review of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, we described it as a "modern RPG classic," adding: "In so many ways, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 reminded me of numerous classic and contemporary RPGs I love, but developer Sandfall truly understood why those games are special and made the pieces it borrowed its own."
Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
While we wait for Destined Rivals to land in the US on May 30, collectors are already snapping up singles from the Japanese Glory of Team Rocket sets, and now’s the perfect time to join them. The initial hype has peaked, and bloated prices are falling fast.
This isn’t just the usual post-release cooldown, it's a mix of wider stock availability and Pokébro investors moving on, making it far more affordable to pick up cards individually rather than gambling on overpriced sealed boxes (no matter how appealing that is!). Here's why buying singles could be the smart move for collectors in the US right now.
TL;DR: Single Card Prices Are Crashing
Just look at the current value of Japanese booster boxes for The Glory of Team Rocket set, more than double the shelf price right now. We haven't seen overpricing like this since 151, but I think we're looking at the light at the end of the tunnel for stock shortages of Pokémon TCG worldwide.
Take Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex SIR for example; sold listing were at the $500 mark starting 20th April, which has nose dived down to around $370.77 over the past couple of days. A strong start when it comes to market correction.
It's not all about the ridiculously expensive chase cards however, with Glory of Team Rocket's Super Rare ex and Hyper Rare ex variants looking stunning. These cards are usually over looked in each set, which is great for trainers like me and you.
However, we can see that it's not just us thinking this with certain cards like Team Rocket's Mewtwo Super Rare ex, which has climbed in value by $6 and change since release to $38.75. Following Journey Together's artstyle of the full color Pokémon with an outline of their trainer in the background, these cards are worth snapping up.
Maybe it's just a Mewtwo thing? Team Rocket's Nidoking Super Rare ex is performing as expected, dropping from $26 with some stability at $12.94. it's an iconic card for generation one fans and watchers of the first season of the Pokémon anime, not to mention it looks more menacing than Brock with a frying pan. This is one of those cards to buy now and watch it climb down the road, the same goes for Moltres and Crowbat.
Best Team Rocket Trainer Cards
There's some peak nostalgia here from generation one and two here, specifically Giovanni and Ariana. The former being the don of Team Rocket who players take down in Kanto, and Ariana serving as the second interim boss of Team Rocket in Johto.
There's not much data on Giovanni 129/098 right now, but it features Team Rocket's leadership alongside the boss himself. It's likely to hold it's value at around the $17 mark, so if it comes up cheaper, grab it. A rule of thumb with this set; if it's Giovanni or Mewtwo, expect to pay out of your nose for it.
Team Rocket's Ariana 128/098 is a stunning artwork variant of the standard trainer art, sporting prices between $17 and $18 and rightly so. Again, the set hasn't been out long enough to judge the value of this card properly, but any listing for under $18 is a good deal right now.
Best Team Rocket Art Rares
Some of the best artwork in the Scarlet and Violet era belongs to illustration rares and art rares. They're cheap and look amazing, easily some of the most slept on cards in the TCG. If you're looking for your collection to span binders, grow in value and look good whilst doing it? This is the way forward for you.
Coming in higher than most right now is Team Rocket's Meowth 109/098, sitting at around $19.25 at the time of writing. That's a fall of nearly $20 from the launch of The Glory of Team Rocket, which is to be expected so close to launch. But the link to this Pokémon and Team Rocket is iconic to say the least (Where the hell is Jesse and James in this set?). It looks like this card is still crashing, so anything below the $20 mark is an awesome deal.
For some reason, Blaziken 101/098 is crashing card right now. This artwork is incredible, showing off exactly why this generation three starter Pokémon is a fan favorite. These are usually all traits that go into a Pokémon card having a nice climb, which tells me this is a card to snap up rigt now. It's even playable thanks to it's Infernal Legs attacks, dealing 120 damage to your opponents active Pokémon and another 120 damage to a benched Pokémon. This card could literally snag a trainer two prize cards in one move, which is another reason why it should be worth more.
If you really want to open boosters of The Glory of Team Rocket despite the price tags and five card count of Japanese packs, go for it. But there's some serious bargains to be had on single cards. Just to note, pricing mentioned in this article are correct at the time of writing. Also, stock may go in and out due to TCG Player being a live secondary marketplace. But that's what makes it fun, right? If you missed the Charizard Sam's club deal, this it might be worth checking back in to see if it's still available.
More Pokémon TCG Deals
Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of "Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior". Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.
It’s fair to say the recent announcement of a The Wheel of Time video game being in the works caught fans by surprise — and sparked a healthy dose of skepticism online.
The announcement, reported first by Hollywood trade publication Variety, described an upcoming “AAA open-world role-playing game” for PC and consoles based on Robert Jordan’s much-loved 14-book series The Wheel of Time. A three-year development period was also mentioned.
It’s in development at iwot Studios’ new Montreal-based game developer, which is led by former Warner Bros. Games executive Craig Alexander. Alexander oversaw development for all Turbine (now WB Games Boston) franchises, including The Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons & Dragons Online, and Asheron's Call. This, on the face of it, would normally spark significant excitement from fans. But it’s the name iwot Studios, which acquired the rights to The Wheel of Time (as Red Eagle Entertainment) in 2004, and this talk of an unlikely three-year development process that has raised more than a few eyebrows.
A cursory online search of iwot Studios reveals the company has a fractured relationship with the hardcore The Wheel of Time fanbase. I found multiple posts from skeptical fans about the business, with some accusing iwot of being an "IP camper." Others believe iwot has "squandered" The Wheel of Time IP over the years, with multiple projects that failed to go anywhere. Fans often point to a 10-year-old reddit post that goes even further with the complaints.
This, coupled with a collective scoffing at the idea that a brand new video game development studio can essentially come from nowhere and turn around a triple-A RPG that matches The Wheel of Time fans’ expectations, has led to a "we'll believe it when we see it" attitude online.
However, The Wheel of Time has found significant recent success with its Amazon Prime Video TV series, which just wrapped up Season 3 (Season 4 is yet to be announced). The show has exposed The Wheel of Time to a new army of fans, and, after upsetting the core fanbase with significant story changes in Seasons 1 and 2 compared to the books, did well to turn the narrative around with a much-improved Season 3.
It’s with all this in mind that I set out to learn more from iwot Studios itself. Over a video call, I spoke with Rick Selvage, boss of iwot Studios, and Craig Alexander, studio head for the company’s video game efforts, to get a better understanding of where the project is at, its scope, what fans can expect, and to put all that online criticism to them for a response.
IGN: How did the video game project come to be?
Rick Selvage: We have a very big, deep story to tell, and we also happen to control the rights through to The Wheel of Time, including all interactive rights. And video games are a major platform, fan platform, for any IP like The Wheel of Time. So of course we were going to do video games. The question is when and what type and how we're going to enter the marketplace? So we felt the time is right to now do that.
IGN: Can you give me some detail on the setup you have to realize that vision? You’re talking about doing a triple-A open-world role-playing game here. A lot is required to make something like that happen to a certain quality level. Exactly what sort of scope do you have for this? What setup do you have now? Where do you hope to get to in the future?
Craig Alexander: First step is team formation to get started. The plan is to work with the franchise for many years and develop a series of games, sequels, expansion packs, DLC, et cetera, and build out as much of the world we can. And given that we have an expansive set of rights with one of the greatest fantasy IPs in the world, it's a labor of love and we're looking forward to getting started.
But how we're going to break that up over time is something that needs to be sorted out in pre-production. But we're confident that given the richness of the material, we're going to be able to build out much of the world. And you had mentioned complexity. We fully realize these are big games to build. This is a big IP. I've had experience doing quite a bit of fantasy games, building MMOs, which are the biggest and hardest games to do of all. I helped pioneer the genre, and believe this is the right time for a great Wheel of Time immersive experience, and the fans have been asking for it for many, many years.
IGN: It sounds to me like you are just getting started on this really, that it’s not like you've got hundreds of developers working away on the game at the moment. Is it the case that you need to start hiring aggressively to get this going?
Craig Alexander: Yes. We're actively recruiting a leadership team now. We're going to be having some announcements shortly as we fill out the leadership team. Then we're going to build a prototype team that's going to be fairly small, less than 20 to 30 people over time, build out our prototype, build up the vertical slice, and then eventually go into production where we're going to have upwards of 200-300 staff.
Those numbers are fairly typical for building this scope of a world. As you had mentioned, these are large games, but then as I had mentioned before, because we plan on having a sequel strategy from the outset, building out the entire experience is something that we're going to need to plan for, because I am certain that the fans will want more and we'd like to tell the whole story. And this is true of other big fantasy and science fiction IPs where there's a lot of content to work with.
IGN: Is it the case that you plan to self-fund and self-publish the project? Or will you take that vertical slice to market and try and get a publisher on board?
Rick Selvage: No. First of all, it won't be self-funded. We will have substantial funding to build out the company, so that's not an issue. And in regards to publishing, I think it's way too early to commit to publishing either ourselves or another publisher. As you know, over the next years technology and business models will change dramatically, and we're in a position that we don't have to make those commitments now. We just have to focus on making and developing the best game.
Craig Alexander: I would add the focus that I had mentioned on hiring is for a development studio. The publishing functions, as Rick said, come much later.
IGN: I'm asking this because you've probably seen all the questions under the sun on the internet as a result of the announcement, and one of them is around the backing that you might have to realize this vision. When you go out and say a triple-A open-world role-playing game, that creates a level of expectation among fans because they know what a triple-A open-world role-playing game looks like these days, and that's not cheap. We've seen modern triple-A game budgets balloon in recent years to hundreds of millions of dollars. So I think there are questions around how you can realize that without having huge investment to make it happen.
Rick Selvage: We understand the financial requirements to build a game like this. Craig has been around that business and certainly ran all development for the Lord of the Rings Online MMO, with a few hundred developers. And we understand the costs, we understand the challenges, and that's why we're putting the leadership team now that are capable of doing that. And the funding aspect of it is that we have no concerns about having the investment in order to reach the goals that we're establishing today with our Montreal studio.
IGN: The announcement mentioned a three-year development process for the game.
Rick Selvage: Yeah, well the three years, I don't know where that came from.
IGN: I was going to say, that sounds very ambitious.
Rick Selvage: The issue we've always had with the Wheel of Time is that there's excited fans out there, which is great, and there's a lot of misinformation that is started that is nowhere near accurate. We've just decided we're going to do our thing and make television and games and movies, and rather than attempt to put out any information that pops up… but at this point is that three years is… dunno where that came from. We know it's going to take multiple years to do this.
Craig Alexander: It's going to take time. The first game will be the most difficult and we need to scope it properly and frame it, but we want to have a compelling, high-quality release in a reasonable amount of time, but then set up for a success in the future so that we have the workflow tools, processes, et cetera, so that we can build out follow-up releases like I had mentioned, sequels and expansions and the like over time, and run this in many respects as a live service and continue to support the franchise for the long term, because we have a big story to tell. I don't underestimate the amount of work to build out the whole world, but our intent is to do that.
But to debate, ‘When is release number one going to come out?’ And, ‘What books and what regions of the world is it going to cover?’ Those details are still being sorted out. We're in pre-production
Rick Selvage: That's an impossible thing to state. It would be inappropriate to try to state it as well, as much as the fans would like a specific answer to it. There's a lot of work to do.
IGN: The announcement also mentioned you expect to launch on PC and consoles. Is that accurate?
Craig Alexander: Yes, the intent is to be multi-platform. I can't speak to exactly which consoles because there will likely be a console transition coming up. For example, the Switch 2 unclear, but Xbox and PlayStation most likely, and then obviously the PC and maybe even the Macintosh as well, as is typical of most open-world RPGs.
IGN: Based on what you're saying, this is probably a PS6 game and whatever the next Xbox is. PC is PC of course, but this doesn't sound like something that's going to be out by the end of this console generation.
Craig Alexander: Yeah. Now it's possible we may want to support the previous generation as well, and support the Series X, support the PS5 just like you're saying. But obviously if we can launch a title that coincides with the launch of the new platforms, that would be great. But none of us have those details yet on exactly when that's going to occur. But the good news is we're going to develop the technology so that it's scalable, that it can support multiple platforms and execute on a triple-A plan that's been done before. Yes, this is difficult, but we know how to do it.
We don't want the experience too small and release too quick and potentially have quality compromises. On the other hand, we're not going to be developing this game over 10 years for the first release. That's not going to happen.
So yes, the first one's the most difficult, but we will balance all those things and we'll get that Goldilocks right in the middle, not too long, not too short. But it's important we do the first one right, because that's going to set expectations. And there's lots of great material, even the order in which you tell the material. As you know as a Wheel of Time fan, the whole experience has a nonlinear nature to it. That's the core of the IP, so we're going to lean into that heavily.
IGN: It makes sense for me to follow the story of the books and the story that the TV show has followed, at least from the outset because that's what's front and center in most people's minds. People who haven't read the books but have watched the show will recognize it in that case, right?
Rick Selvage: We really have two things. One is, certainly a vast amount of people worldwide have read the books, and certainly the show has been distributed over 200 countries. So they're familiar with that and certainly we will follow that story.
The other piece I want to add though is that we are doing the origin movie, The Age of Legends now, and we're about ready to cast on that. The good news is that I believe the Age of Legends is one that fans and even non-fans can understand very easily. You start to understand the origins of The Forsaken and the trollocs and how the world broke, and that story really hasn't been told. And we're going to have an opportunity to do that in an epic feature film. And of course we would be crazy in development that we don't use assets from that in the game as well. That’s probably a logical path, is the Age of Legends as well as following the books. But where do we start is, we'll figure that out.
IGN: Craig, your background is in MMOs, right? So is that what the plan is here? You mentioned live service earlier, which suggests it's not necessarily a traditional single-player open-world game like a Bethesda game or a Baldur’s Gate 3 type game, I suppose.
Rick Selvage: Or Assassins Creed or Avowed?
IGN: Yeah.
Craig Alexander: The short answer is I've done all kinds of games. Yeah, we did bring up the MMO experience primarily because you were asking about scope and size. We specifically did not put MMO in the announcement because I think that is a level of undertaking that… I'm not sure it's right for the IP, in part because the Wheel of Time is so character centric. I mean there's almost 3,000 characters in the world. I want to be able to give the player the opportunity to play those folks. And typically in an MMO environment, you have to play an unknown character. You might be able to interact with these iconic characters from the fantasy or sci-fi franchises, but you don't get to actively play them. Which is why treating it more like a single-player experience with multiplayer elements is a much better way to go. But even the games that you had mentioned like Balders Gate 3 and the like, there are opportunities to do online integrations.
As far as the live service, I was just trying to point out that releases are going to occur over time. There's going to be lots of them. And I know there's this attention on, when's the very first discreet release for the first and most difficult title? That's just one of many decisions on how you're going to deploy this content out over the decades.
There's so much material we could spend our careers working on this. But the beauty is that there's enough content to draw upon. And this was true for me, for Lord of the Rings, where the game's still going. It's been live for 18 years now, and they're building out all of Middle-earth. And likewise, we can do the same here.
Take your big Assassin’s Creed releases, oftentimes there's around 300 hours of content in each release. Could you imagine the thousands of hours we're going to be able to put in, if we were able to build out a number of sequels to the experience and cover all the books and the prequels and all the things that Rick talked about. We have the luxury of doing all of this because the medium supports it and the players want it. As opposed to, when you're trying to support other mediums, you have to be much more narrow in your focus. And that's something we don't have to do when you're building these big open-world experiences.
IGN: One of the things I wanted to talk to you about is the reception from the community online to the announcement. I think it's fair to say there probably was a degree of skepticism about the announcement and the project and indeed the studio company that you have. Doing my research online, people are pointing to previous things that have happened, previous announcements, Reddit posts from 10 years ago are coming up. Why should fans be confident that this game or this series of games as you're talking about, is going to meet their expectations?
Rick Selvage: As you know, it's a big world with a lot of people and there's a lot of fans. We're not concerned about those that have been uninformed in the past and made comments. I think I mentioned to you earlier in the interview, we just can't address every single piece of misinformation.
There's been comments about Hollywood, comments about games. People said that when we did the deal with Sony and Amazon and we brought in the showrunner, ‘We'll see if it happens.’ Well, that's an example of things that fans or that minority in the marketplace have mentioned that has come to life in a very significant way. And we're having a lot of success on Season 3. In regards to the new feature film with Kari Skogland, who is an A-list director, we'll start seeing major cast members. All these things will come to fruition when the timing is right and when they're done and they're done in a correct way.
We've had opportunities for a very long time to put the Wheel of Time on television. We had an opportunity - I'll bring it up now - we did an announcement 20 years ago with Obsidian. That was the time when there were movie based games. Craig knows this from The Lord of the Rings. And we had a big publishing deal with EA. We had a development deal with Obsidian. The problem is, we set the project up at Universal Pictures to do a movie and it was all based on green-lighting the movie. Well, the movie never happened out of Universal, therefore there was no game development. And that was our first and only effort directly in the game business. We've had a lot of opportunities since then to enter the market in a significant way and decided it wasn't right for the market. It wasn't the right game.
We wanted to see the television series come out and have some success before we made a decision. We could have put the Wheel of Time on the Sci-Fi channel at a $2 million episode budget way before that. And we didn't announce that, but we were very careful as custodians of the brand to make sure that we do the right thing at the right time and we have success doing it. And so a lot of these things like the first game effort certainly wasn't attributed to us, were the ones that we did the deal and lined up all the partners to do that. It just didn't deliver a movie.
Now the good news out of that is great for the fans because I don't think that you could really set up a world in a two-hour movie back in those days. And we had the opportunity to see Game of Thrones come out and do well, and that demonstrated that fantasy with big budgets can be done on cable. And as you know, the Wheel of Time is so big with a breadth and depth that television is the best way to tell that story and the best way to launch it.
So there's a lot of reasons why there's information out there. The only thing we can do is just deliver good quality fan experiences, which we've done with the Sony Amazon relationship, which my partner and I, Larry Mondragon, our executive producers there, we're going to do the same thing on the video game side. We're going to do the same thing with the Age of Legends. And the only thing we can do is deliver on our commitments on those projects in a way that the fans are thrilled about.
And we're finally glad that fans came around on the Wheel of Time television series. As you well know, there were a lot of people saying the same things about the television series until Season 3 came out, and then it was a different story.
I assume all of this comes from good intent, concern, excitement, interest. Nobody wants to be disappointed. We don't want to be disappointed as well. And we're committed to deliver the best fan experiences on different platforms as we possibly can. So that's where we are. We're keeping our heads down. We're doing what we're saying we're going to do. There have been a couple missteps. One was - I wouldn't call it a misstep - but the whole console game that we were going to do with Obsidian as an example.
IGN: I imagine I’m typical in that I came around with Season 3. Is that typical feedback from the community?
Rick Selvage: It is. And Game of Thrones took three seasons, too, to come around, and ours is a much more difficult adaptation because it's a much deeper story and complicated. And the fact we got it right on Season 3 is great.
I mean, you had fans throwing rocks at Rafe [Judkins], the showrunner. I think all the actors and Rafe and his team did a fantastic job and stuck to it, just like we'll continue to do and we'll win over the fans at the end of the day. But these things take time. They're not easy. There's a lot of challenges in the market from time to time depending on the industry. But we're custodians of the brand and it's to our benefit that we deliver to the fans premium experiences and done right.
Craig Alexander: Team formation is going extremely well right now and we're getting very high quality talent. I know we were talking a bit about the narrative and the writing side. We have some of the best game writers in the industry that are approaching us that want to do this. In many cases they'll tell us, ‘Wheel of Time is why I got into the industry.’ This is big stuff. And they want to do this as a showcase project for them.
Rick Selvage: And you'll see that starting as early as next week and going on for the next month, there'll be a lot of announcements around the leadership team that we're bringing aboard. And I think that demonstrates commitment. People with the experience like Craig have in their area of expertise, some of them Craig has worked with before on teams, are all going to come together.
We are going to make a deliberate effort to start communicating to the fans in a much more direct way in the future rather than letting our work speak for us. We're going to communicate in the community in a way of being proactive. And at one point in time we'll have our day and we'll be able to fix all the misinformation that's been spread over the last 10 or 20 years by the few people, but we're not concerned about it now. The effort and our dedication and our commitment is in our work. We think the TV show is one of those examples, and you'll see other ones as we move forward, both in a 3D animated feature and live action feature and the video games we’re doing.
IGN: I can't let you go without asking you if Season 4 is happening. What's the deal?
Rick Selvage: That's a question for Sony and Amazon. I’ll just leave you with that.
IGN: Well, are you happy with how Season 3 has turned out? Not just from a critical reception and fan reception point of view, but commercially are you happy with it?
Rick Selvage: Yeah, we're thrilled. I'll use the word that’s not typically used in the business, but the price performance ratio, meaning the cost of production versus the value that's created both commercially and from a fan perspective, I think comparable to other fantasy sci-fi shows. I think we're doing remarkably well. I'll leave it at that.
We're very happy with the performance of the TV show and the team and Rafe and the entire cast. And of course we're going to weigh in with the fans and we believe that the show deserves more seasons.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 modders have been doing fantastic work with the game ever since its record-breaking release last year. But their latest breakthrough is perhaps the greatest yet.
Tom, aka Warhammer Workshop, the modder behind Space Marine 2’s excellent Astartes Overhaul, signaled the release of 12-player co-op this week and it looks fantastic. Gameplay footage shows multiple players taking on a Tyranid Trygon Prime in a battle reminiscent of an MMO boss fight.
This is not something players thought possible, given vanilla Space Marine 2 supports up to three-player co-op only. But the modding team has not only broken through that barrier to hit 12-player co-op — with the support of developer Saber Interactive itself — but has a grand ambition to turn Space Marine 2 into something even better.
“Honestly, I’m just kind of in awe of Saber’s support for the modding community,” Tom told IGN. “None of us expected 12-player PvE sessions to be possible this soon — but somehow, here we are. Thanks to their generosity and trust, this huge leap forward is finally here, and it completely changes what we can do.”
It's worth pointing out that the mod available right now is just a test — a test that works well, but a test nonetheless. 12-player co-op makes a mockery of Space Marine 2's PvE balance, which you'd expect given there are nine more players taking on the Tyranids and the Thousand Sons than Saber designed the encounters for.
But with 12-player now unlocked, modders are building add-ons to make the most of it. Tom told IGN the team is working on modes such as prop hunt, PvP inside operations, “massive” horde mode updates for when the official horde mode finally launches, and, perhaps most exciting of all, raid-style missions “with bosses that hit like trucks, take proper teamwork to bring down, as well as some other completely new mechanics.”
Space Marine 2 modding has grown into a significant community, with some 20,000 tinkerers in the main Discord server.
“As both a modder and a player, it’s hard not to be excited,” Tom continued. “Huge credit as always to the Saber team for not just making all this possible, but continuing to drop amazing content of their own too, without any of the usual predatory battle-pass nonsense we take for granted in modern titles.”
It’s an exciting time for Space Marine 2 generally, with the aforementioned horde mode coming soon, a new class in the works, and of course more Operations maps and weapons. Saber recently detailed Patch 8, confirmed some horde mode mechanics, and revealed the map it’s set on.
Space Marine 3 is officially in development, too, which is no surprise given just how well Space Marine 2 has done. And I'm left wondering whether this 12-player co-op mod might give us an indication of what to expect from the sequel. When Space Marine 3 was announced, we were told to expect "large-scale battles that are even more spectacular." That sounds a lot like upping the co-op player count limit to me.
Until we find out, modders will be around to keep things fresh and interesting, and this latest effort is a perfect example of just that.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Want some codes for extra cash to spend on animations, styles, emotes, and more in Azure Latch? Or should that be Delay Latch? Anyway, we've got you covered. In this article, you'll find all the currently working codes for the game, so be quick to redeem them and bag that cash.
Working Azure Latch Codes (May 2025)
THXFORFOLLOWERS - 5,000 Cash (NEW)
ACEEATER - 15,000 Cash (NEW)
THXFOR2M - 15,000 Cash (NEW)
AMMISTHEOWNERNOTLEFTRIGHTTH - 10,000 Cash
All Expired Azure Latch Codes
These codes are now expired:
RINRELEASE
sorryfordelay
RINSOONTRUSTME
sorryforlatency
SAEREWORK3TIME
SorryForRollback
How to Redeem Azure Latch Codes
Before you can use Azure Latch codes, you'll need to be a part of the community, so load up Roblox and join the twi game group
Then jump into Azure Latch and find the Menu button at the bottom of the screen
In the Menu options, go to the far right tab to find Rewards
Enter the code and press Redeem to get that cash!
Why Isn't My Azure Latch Code Working?
Codes are often case-sensitive, so to avoid any errors, we'd recommend copying the codes directly from this article into the redemption bar in Azure Latch. We test them all before we upload them here to make sure they're valid for you.
If you have copied them from here, and they're still not working, it could be one of two things. You may have accidentally copied over an extra space, so be sure to check for that first. The other option is the code may have just expired.
How to Get More Azure Latch Codes
We check for codes daily, so you can visit this article to see when new Azure Latch codes are released. There's also a dedicated Discord Server, that you can visit to look for code announcements yourself.
What is Azure Latch in Roblox?
Whether you're a fan of anime or sports games, Azure Latch is likely to be a game you'll want to check out. The 5v5 football game is another Roblox experience that takes inspiration from the popular manga and anime series Blue Lock. For this one, however, you'll get super abilities that you can use to make those tackles, passes, and goal attempts a bit more exciting.
Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.
Thank your own personal deity--possibly Bhunivelze--it's Friday! Whether you’re trying to stash cash ahead of tax time or just looking for an excuse to finally dive into that game your mates won’t shut up about, a ton of today’s gaming deals are worth making room for. Stop reading and get scrolling to save a bundle.
This Day in Gaming 🎂
In retro news, I've cracked some kwama eggs to bake a 23-shaped cake for The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. My core launch memory of this seminal RPG was one of awe and s'wit questions. Like, by the Nine, does this horizon stretch out forever beyond the starter port of Seyda Neen?! And what madness is this level of freedom where I can grind into being a magic-bow-packing, flying wizard demigod? Oh, how I miss quest pathfinding done purely via directions gleaned from conversations (zero quest/compass markers). They don't make 'em like this anymore, muthsera.
Nintendo Switch players can snag Sonic X Shadow Generations for A$49. It's one of the rare Sonic titles to directly explore the dynamic between the Blue Blur and his edgy rival. Also going cheap is the Switch Lite Console Blue for A$298. While the Lite lacks docked mode, it does pack a true D-pad, something Nintendo fans had been begging to get back for years.
On Xbox Series X, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Deluxe is down to A$44. Interestingly, it's the game where Respawn brought in actual Jedi cosplayers for early mocap tests. And No More Heroes 3 (A$44) continues Suda51’s wild streak of absurdist punk satire with a boss fight where you literally mow a lawn.
PS5 users should check out Disco Elysium: Final Cut (A$17), which features over a million words of dialogue and a protagonist with a skill called “Drama” that lies to you. Also deeply discounted is Control: Ultimate Edition (A$10), where Remedy tucked in secret Alan Wake references hinting at their shared universe.
On PC, Gris (A$4) is not only a steal but a visual masterpiece thanks to art director, Conrad Roset, a celebrated painter. And Need for Speed Unbound: Ultimate Edition (A$25) mixes high-speed chases with cel-shaded flair, a leftfield style choice that actually grew on me over time.
Looking to dominate the court with Basketball: Zero codes? Well, you're in luck! We've searched for all active working codes for the Roblox experience, so you don't have to. Redeem these for a range of bonuses that include Lucky Spins and cash, helping you swish your way to victory.
Working Basketball: Zero Codes (May 2025)
Below, you'll find a list of all the currently active Basketball: Zero codes we've found as of this month:
Time's up on these codes, unfortunately. As of this month, the following codes no longer work:
300KINTERESTED
CHROLLOGIFT
200KLOCK
1.5MLIKES
NEWCODESRRY
SUNDAYPATCH
100KINTERESTED
SRRYFORCRASH
JACKPOT
10KLIKES
JACKPOTTOMORROW
CHROLLOFORGOT
CHROLLOMVP
TATLISCODE
150kevent
WOW100K
1MLIKES
400KWOW
100KW
WCHROLLO
How to Redeem Basketball: Zero Codes
First, you'll need to like and join the Basketball: Zero group on Roblox to be able to use codes
Then, load up the Basketball: Zero Roblox experience
In the bottom right corner of the screen, you'll find the codes button. It's purple with a gift box icon.
Copy your code and paste it into the box
Press redeem and claim your bonuses!
Why Isn't My Basketball: Zero Code Working?
Typically, when a code stops working, it's just because it's expired. However, plenty of codes for Roblox experiences are also case-sensitive. So, it might be that you've typed it incorrectly. Whether a code has been entered incorrectly in Basketball: Zero, or it's expired, you'll see a pop-up saying "code doesn't exist."
To avoid using an incorrect code, we'd recommend copying them directly from this article and pasting them into the code box. We test them all before we add them to the article, so you can be certain that if it's on here, it's a valid code. Just be sure to check you haven't added a sneaky extra space in there when copying it over.
How to Get More Basketball: Zero Codes
We check for codes on a daily basis, so if there's a new code, you'll be able to find it in this article. If you want to search for them yourself, however, you can head over to the Basketball: Zero Discord server.
What is Basketball: Zero in Roblox?
It's no surprise that in Basketball Zero, you'll be playing... basketball. The fast-paced 5v5 game will see you dribbling the ball across the court to face opponents and try to score as many points as possible. By unlocking new styles and zones, you'll earn a range of atheles and bonuses that will give you special advantages. The Flash, for example, has excellent speed and agility, while the Star athelete can leap like no other. Redeeming the codes above will give you chances at Lucky Spins, which unlock the Styles and Zones, while the cash will enable you to unlock emotes and goal effects, to really celebrate the wins.
Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.
Looking for a big boost of Ichor to bolster your squad of Toons in Dandy’s World? We’ve got some redeemable codes that will load your wallet up with a ton of free cash. Below, you’ll find a list of all the currently active Dancy's World codes so you can get your hands on more Ichor and start buying some brand-new toons.
Working Dandy's World Codes (May 2025)
Below, you'll find a list of the active and working Dandy's World codes for May 2025:
EASTER2025 - 100 free Baskets (NEW)
ICHOR
Expired Dandy's World Codes
The following Dandy's World codes are expired and no longer work as of May 2025:
APRIL1
FESTIVEGIFT
300K
1BILLION
SKINTICKET
2HUNDREDMILLION
How to Redeem Dandy's World Codes
To redeem Dandy's World codes, boot up the game and, once you’re in, follow the steps below:
Look at the tabs on the left-hand side of the screen. You’ll see icons for five tabs.
Click on the tab that reads "Use Code" to access the codes bar.
Input your code in this bar, being careful to make sure it’s in the right case and spelt correctly.
Click the use buttonand you should see the resources you unlock appear at the bottom of the screen.
Why Isn’t My Dandy's World Code Working?
If your Dandy's World code isn’t working, it’s likely due to one of two scenarios. The first is that the code was inputted incorrectly. Make sure you have the code inputted exactly as it is in the Active Codes section above. You can even copy and paste codes directly from this article over to Roblox if you want to make sure you’re inputting them correctly.
The other possibility is the code has expired or you’ve already used it. If you’ve used it, you’ll get a message below the bar reminding you the inputted code has already been redeemed. If you’ve inputted it and it doesn’t recognise the code at all, it likely means it's no longer available to use and is expired.
How to Get More Dandy's World Codes
If you’re looking to scout out some Dandy's World codes yourself, the easiest way is through the game’s official Discord. After joining, you’ll be able to hop into the Announcements channel to find all the latest codes as they drop.
What is Dandy's World in Roblox?
Dandy's World is a mascot horror survival game in the same vein of spooky hits like Five Nights at Freddy's or Poppy Playtime. The major difference is Dandy's World is multiplayer, meaning you and up to seven other friends can jump in, pick a toon with unique abilities and perks to play as, and attempt to survive as long as possible while evading the game's endless supply of terrifying monsters. The longer you survive, the more Ichor you gather, allowing you to buy new toons to help you push further into the nightmare and get the drop on your foes.
Callum Williams is an IGN freelancer covering features and guides. When he's away from his desk, you can usually find him obsessing over the lore of the latest obscure indie horror game or bashing his head against a boss in the newest soulslike. You can catch him over on Twitter at @CaIIumWilliams.
Actor Jeremy Renner revealed that he turned down a second season of Marvel’s Hawkeye after receiving “an insult offer” from Disney’s “penny pinchers.”
“They asked me to do Season 2, and they offered me half the money. I’m like, ‘Well, it’s going to take me twice the amount of work for half the amount of money, and eight months of my time, essentially, to do it for half the amount,” Renner disclosed during an appearance on High Performance to promote his new book, My Next Breath: A Memoir.
"Did you think I’m only half the Jeremy because I got ran over?
“I’m like, ‘I’m sorry? Why? Did you think I’m only half the Jeremy because I got ran over? Maybe that’s why you want to pay me half of what I made on the first season.'”
Renner made it clear, however, that the object of his ire is not Marvel Studios or even parent company Disney per se and that he would still like to reprise his role as the bow-slinging Avenger one day.
“This is not Marvel, mind you. This is like, just Disney, not even really Disney. It’s just the penny pinchers, the accountants. I told them to go fly a kite. I mean, just at the insult offer. So we didn’t see eye to eye on it.”
“I still love the character. I’d still love to do it, but I had to defend myself,” Renner continued. “I didn’t ask for any more money, mind you. Just pay me what I made the first season. So it’s all disheartening that that didn’t happen, but that’s fine. I’m happy to let that go, because my body’s probably thanking me, time and time again, that I’m not doing it right now. But we’ll see.”
Renner’s Hawkeye co-star Florence Pugh reprises her role as Yelena Belova in this weekend’s Thunderbolts.
Looking for Anime Card Clash codes so you can build your deck and battle bosses effortlessly? You're in the right place. We've searched high and low to find all the new and active codes for Anime Card Clash in May 2025, so you won't miss out on everything from Large Luck Potions to Boss Potions and Instant Rolls.
Working Codes for Anime Card Clash (May 2025)
Here are the newest codes we've found for Anime Card Clash this month, as well as information on the rewards you'll get for redeeming them:
HOTFIX10 - 5x Large Luck Potion, 5x Large Cooldown Reduction Potion, 2x Boss Chance Potion, 3x Moon Cycle Reroll Potion, 2x Border Chance Potion, 2x Trait Reroll, 1x 5,000 Instant Roll (NEW)
BUGFIXNOTUPDATE - 5x Large Luck Potion, 5x Large Cooldown Reduction Potion, 2x Boss Chance Potion, 3x Moon Cycle Reroll Potion, 2x Border Chance Potion, 2x Trait Reroll, 3x 1,000 Instant Roll
HOTFIX9 - 5x Large Luck Potion, 5x Large Cooldown Reduction Potion, 2x Boss Chance Potion, 3x Moon Cycle Reroll Potion, 2x Border Chance Potion, 2x Trait Reroll, 3x 1,000 Instant Roll
HOTFIX8 - 5x Large Luck Potion, 5x Large Cooldown Reduction Potion, 2x Boss Chance Potion, 3x Moon Cycle Reroll Potion, 2x Border Chance Potion, 2x Trait Reroll, 3x 1,000 Instant Roll
HOTFIX7 - 5x Large Luck Potion, 5x Large Cooldown Reduction Potion, 2x Boss Chance Potion, 3x Moon Cycle Reroll Potion, 2x Border Chance Potion, 2x Trait Reroll, 3x 1,000 Instant Roll
THEUPDATE - 5x Large Luck Potion, 5x Large Cooldown Reduction Potion, 2x Boss Chance Potion, 3x Moon Cycle Reroll Potion, 2x Border Chance Potion, 2x Trait Reroll, 3x 1,000 Instant Roll
Log in to the Anime Card Clash experience on Roblox
Look for the colored squares on the left side of the screen
On the bottom right, you'll find the codes box with a document icon
Click on Codes and paste one of the above codes in
Hit Redeem and reap your rewards!
Why Isn't My Anime Card Clash Code Working?
We usually find that when codes aren't working, it's for one of two reasons. Most Roblox experiences have codes that are case-sensitive, so if you're not putting the code in exactly as it's written, you'll find it won't work. To make it easier for you to avoid this issue, we'd recommend copying the code directly from this article. We test each and every one before we add them, so just be sure you don't copy an extra space before or after the code accidentally!
If your code still isn't working, it might be that it's expired. For reference, in Anime Card Clash, whenever you put in a code incorrectly, it says "Code not found!".
How to Get More Anime Card Clash Codes
We check for Roblox codes daily, so when a new Anime Card Clash code drops, you can be sure you'll find it here! If you want to track down codes yourself, the Anime Card Clash Discord server is the place to hunt for them.
What is Anime Card Clash in Roblox?
In Anime Card Clash the goal is to build the best deck to battle against bosses and other players. You'll start by rolling for cards to craft a unique deck, and we'd recommend taking some time to roll as many times as possible and creating your perfect pack before you jump over to story mode. When you're ready to tackle story mode, you'll engage in turn-based combat against a series of tough bosses. With each defeat, you'll unlock new worlds, so you can put your deck to the ultimate test.
Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.
Whether you're looking for extra Spins, potions, or Crates, these Attack on Titan Revolution codes will have you covered. Here you can find a list of all the currently active and working AoT Revolution codes in Roblox to give you a little helping hand on tackling those Titans.
Working Attack on Titan Revolution Codes (May 2025)
As of December 2024, it was announced that newly released AoT Revolution codes are only active for one week, so check back regularly to avoid missing out. Here are all the currently active Attack on Titan Revolution codes in May 2025, and the rewards you'll get for redeeming them:
The following codes can no longer be redeemed as of May 2025:
LIKES550K
LIKES525K
MEMBERS600K
LIKES500K
LIKES475K
UPDATE3SOON
LIKES450K
FREESPINS2
SUB2EK
BIGPATCH
LIKES425K
UPDATE2POINT5
NEWYEARS2024
HOLIDAYS2024
VISITS200M
LIKES400K
ENDOFHALLOWEENEVENT
500kCommunityMembers
Thanksgiving
ENDERSPINS
COLESPINS
UPDATE2HALLOWEEN
UPDATE2FATE
UPDATE2DEMON
UPDATE2SPINS
CODESEXPIREAFTER1WEEK
UPDATE2PATCH
LIKES350K
ARMOREDTITANSOON
SOSORRY4DELAY
WELOVEBRASIL
ROBLOXFIX
LIKES325K
DEVCODE3
MYBAD
UPDATESOON2
SORRY4DELAY3
LIKES300K
RANDOMCODE1
RANDOMCODE2
How to Redeem Attack on Titan Revolution Codes
Reach Level 15 in Attack on Titan Revolution
Launch AoT Revolution
Find Codes on the Main Menu as you load up the experience
Click on Codes and the box will appear on the bottom right corner
Paste in your code and press enter to get your goods
Why Isn't My Attack on Titan Revolution Code Working?
If you find your AoT Revolution code isn't working, it could be for a few reasons. Firstly, you'll need to be Level 15+ before codes will work, so spend some time leveling up before attempting to use them.
If you're Level 15+ and your code isn't working, it's either because there's a typo in the code or it's expired. If a code has run out, it will say "Expired" when you press enter. If there's a typo, or the code is very old, it will say "Invalid." If you don't meet the level requirement to use the code, it will say "Error."
To avoid typos, we'd recommend copying the code directly from this article. Then, paste it into the Codes bar on the Main Menu of the AoT Revolution screen. Just be sure to check that there's no extra space at the beginning or the end of the code.
How to Get More Attack on Titan Revolution Codes
We update this article daily with any new Attack on Titan Revolution codes. But if you want to get AOTR codes the moment they drop, it's best to follow the AoT Revolution Discord. Codes are posted in the #Announcements channel.
What is Attack on Titan Revolution in Roblox?
Attack on Titan Revolution is a Roblox experience inspired by the AoT Japanese manga. In an attempt to save humanity and lead the revolution against giant creatures, you'll be tasked with slaying the Titans and reclaiming freedom. Customize your fighting style with Gear, Upgrades, Perks, and more, to take on tougher challenges as you level up.
Lauren Harper is a freelance writer and editor who has covered news, reviews, and features for over a decade in various industries. She has contributed to guides at IGN for games including Elden Ring, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Starfield, Pikmin 4, and more. With an MA in Victorian Gothic History and Culture, she loves anything that falls under that category. She's also a huge fan of point-and-click adventures, horror games and films. You can talk to her about your favourites over at @prettyheartache.bsky.social.
If you haven’t watched the film just yet and are just here to find out if Thunderbolts has a post-credits scene, it does! Two, in fact. The first is mid-credits and the second is an honest-to-goodness post-credits scene.
Thunderbolts is finally here, and it turns out that it’s so much more than the Suicide Squad clone that we had all once thought it to be. Don’t get me wrong. There are certainly tinges of the found family banter you’d expect from such a film, but the latest entry in the MCU does a little sometime more with its story by giving us a deeper look at depression than we’ve ever seen from the franchise. Shifting away from the concept of PTSD, which had previously been their most nuanced look at the impact of being a hero by way of Tony Stark, Thunderbolts hones in on finding your purpose, going on when you feel like the deep, dark void of depression will swallow you up and, yeah, it’s also pretty silly.
By and large, the movie juggles its themes admirably. It does stumble a bit at the end, though. Let’s take a look.
Thunderbolts Ending Explained
If you are here, it’s pretty likely that you’ve already met Bob (Lewis Pullman). The thing about Bob is that he’s got depression. Just like the thing about John Walker (Wyatt Russell) is that he’s got anger issues. When you give anyone any kind of super-soldier serum or do evil corporate-funded super amplification experiments on them, the worst or otherwise most difficult parts of the subjects are often multiplied by significant measure (see Steve Rogers and Red Skull). This means that the experiments done on Bob in order to turn him into Sentry have some, uh, adverse side effects, and the whole plot of Thunderbolts is that those side effects become everyone’s problem.
After Mel (Geraldine Viswanathan), assistant to Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, uses the kill switch on Bob when he tries to kill Valentina for girl-bossing too close to the sun, Bob crumples to the floor, tacky Sentry costume and all, and is presumed dead. It’s not long before they realize that their hastily re-manufactured kill switch doesn’t work as they intended and that all they managed to do is shove good-Bob deep, deep down in a trap of his own psyche and allowed evil-Bob — dubbed as The Void after a glib comment from Florence Pugh’s Yelena earlier in the film — to take the reins. Thing is, this side of Bob still wants to help people. He just thinks that the way that he helps them is by blinking (not blipping, that’s different!) them out of existence to live in their own little mind traps too.
Because Yelena and Bob share a connection early on in the film, Yelena willingly walks into The Void’s path, sacrificing herself despite the lack of guarantee that she’ll come back from being an inky shadow on the sidewalk. The rest of the Thunderbolts eventually follow, everyone fights together to get out of their mind-prison, and they have a showdown with The Void that only ends by way of a group hug. It’s more touching than that, of course, but the play-by-play isn’t important. What is important is that it’s right around this point where Thunderbolts shifts from poignant, funny and fun into “wait, what?” territory.
After they’re all freed from The Void, the Thunderbolts march towards Valentina with the intent to arrest her for her myriad of crimes. She stumbles back, feigning fear, as they all, without realizing it at first, waltz right into a press conference where she dubs the team the New Avengers. The crowd cheers, the team stands stunned, and Valentina beams, certain she’s just gotten away with murder.
And Valentina’s right. She did get away with murder. The final moment of the film is Yelena leaning into Valentina’s ear and whispering “we own you now,” as if that’s meant to mean anything to a woman whose entire game is doing illegal shit and getting off scot-free. It’s a profoundly unsatisfying ending to a film that, up until this point, had managed to do alright with its complicated themes of depression, self love, and personal growth.
The final moments of Thunderbolts undercut the rest of the film for all of its heroes, but specifically Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes who literally has a scene early on where he mentions that he “didn’t have a choice who he worked for” back when he was Winter Soldier but Mel, Valentina’s misguided assistant, does. The whole team going along with Valentina’s ruse creates a huge gap between the film’s messaging vs. its execution, and its post-credits scenes only make it worse.
Thunderbolts Post-Credits Scenes Explained
Thunderbolts has two post-credits scenes, with one being silly nonsense and the other meant to be a more meaty “look what we’re about to do” like the MCU post-credits scenes of yore.
The first features David Harbour’s Red Guardian, now groomed and seemingly much happier, standing in a grocery store while gently harassing a passerby to buy a box of Wheaties – which has the Thunderbolts/New Avengers photo on it – in hopes that they will realize who he is. It is inconsequential but fun and befitting of the character who dreamed of spectacle and accolades.
The second post-credits scene is where the important stuff lives but, in tandem with its ending, is chock-full of peculiar choices that seem to undercut the MCU’s and the individual characters’ intentions.
We start off with the Thunderbolts bickering about their new name and the revelation that Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie, though unseen) is pissed that they’re trying to take the Avengers moniker (he’s suing!). Red Guardian proposes his own solution by way of switching the Avengers’ “S” with a “Z” as he marches into the room decked out in an outfit more akin to that of a NASCAR driver and covered with sponsors, but they are interrupted by an interdimensional spaceship donning the Fantastic Four’s logo.
So Does Thunderbolts Set Up Fantastic Four: First Steps?
It does but, from what we can tell in the immediate, Thunderbolts seems to set up the Fantastic Four movie in a way that leaves a lot to be desired.
While we always knew that the Fantastic Four were going to need to end up in our timeline and on our Earth, and there was the assumption that the upcoming film about Marvel’s First Family was going to end in devastation, the Thunderbolts post-credits scene basically confirms that the Fantastic Four movie will end with the destruction of the Richards family’s planet. It’s an odd thing to confirm months ahead of your film’s release, especially given that these post-credits scenes are, when at their best, used to tease something new and exciting rather than a film that’s been confirmed for years at this point.
What Does the Asterisk in the Thunderbolts Title Mean?
It means the title was always a lie, that’s what. The change from their goofy team name to an even goofier Avengers ripoff is one of the several ways the film’s ending feels at odds with its otherwise relatively fun and impactful story but, yes, the asterisk was to indicate that they’d have a new name by the end of the story.
Who Are the Avengers After Thunderbolts?
The Avengers are whoever the hell Sam Wilson decides are in the Avengers. The Boys-ification (corporate-owned in bad suits) of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes is a gimmick that is unlikely to extend for much longer than what we’ve already seen because a) it’s very obviously a bit, and b) it undermines Sam’s position as Captain America and de facto leader of the team. Given that they’ve already sidelined the character to a degree in his own movie by making it a Red Hulk movie instead of a Cap movie, I have to believe that eventually Marvel will pay Sam Wilson the respect he deserves. Thunderbolts, at the very least, makes it clear that Sam is aware of what’s going on with Valentina and that he ain’t happy about it.
However, at this exact (and stupid) moment in time, the Avengerz are Winter Solider, Yelena Not-Yet-Calling-Herself-Black-Widow Belova, Red Guardian, Ghost, and U.S. Agent. Bob is also there, but he’s drinking milkshakes in the former Avengers tower keeping the Void deep inside where it can’t hurt him or anyone else.
What’s Going on With the MCU Timeline?
“It’s all connected” being a lie during the ABC/Netflix era of Marvel shows was understandable. While they were technically happening in the same universe at the time, it’s difficult to coordinate across studios run by different people, even if they’re all owned by the same company! But now that the MCU is all one big happy family, it makes way less sense that nearly the entirety of Thunderbolts occurs in New York and not a single soul said a word about their authoritarian Mayor who just blacked out the whole city. Yes, I’m talking about the events of Daredevil: Born Again. Now, that does bring up the question of where in the timeline each of the stories fall, but all currently available information indicates that they happen sometime in 2026/2027.
There’s a lot going on in Thunderbolts. Dedicating a meaningful amount of time to a Daredevil side-quest would have been an absurd decision, but that level of crossover isn’t required here. What is required is at least an acknowledgement of the happenings in New York City, particularly when your storyline features a politician. (Bucky being a bad politician notwithstanding.) The general public might not be aware that Fisk is behind the shenanigans occurring in the city, but I refuse to believe for a second that the very people seeking to take down Valentina don’t have “babysit Kingpin” on their to-do list.
It’s either time to make “it’s all connected” mean something again or create an alternate reality for your television shows.
Meanwhile, thousands (maybe millions, we don’t actually know how far The Void’s shadow stretched) of New Yorkers got sent to the shadow realm. If we don’t see any kind of meaningful acknowledgement of that in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, what exactly are we doing with our own timeline? Like, the chances of characters like Matt Murdock, Karen Paige, Frank Castle or even Sam Wilson getting dusted by The Void are not zero.
I’m never one to get too fussy about these kinds of continuity issues, or to get too wrapped up in the “where is this off-screen superhero while a disaster is unfolding” line of questioning, but Thunderbolts and Daredevil: Born Again landing basically on top of each other while both being relatively ground-level fare that happens in the same city has pulled that suspension of disbelief a little too far. It’s either time to make “it’s all connected” mean something again or create an alternate reality for your television shows.
But what did you think of Thunderbolts? Vote in our poll and let’s talk in the comments!
Among the biggest franchises in gaming, Minecraft surprisingly goes hand in hand with Nerf blasters. With Hasbro adapting Mojang Studios’ most iconic weapons and creatures, these are some of the wildest guns you can take into a Nerf battle.
Now that the Minecraft movie is becoming bigger than ever — with screenings of a Block Party Edition announced following the film hitting $700 million at the box office — there’s never been a better time to show your appreciation for the legendary 3D world with a good blaster. We've gathered all of the Nerf Minecraft collaborations you can buy right now below to help get you started.
Minecraft Bow
Inspired by the bow used in Minecraft, this Bow Dart Blaster comes with authentic string-priming action. Made for accuracy, speed, and firing at a distance, your Nerf-wielding opponents will be wary once you start firing its compatible high-performance N1 darts.
The Bow blaster is also available at Amazon UK for £14.99.
Cave Spider
The Cave Spider Blaster stands out among the Minecraft Nerf range with its compact size, cool titular design, and quick-fire action. Perfect for fast-paced fun, it’s easy to load, prime, and shoot. Great for on-the-go battles outside or indoors, it’s a must-have collectable for Minecraft fans who want firepower in a mini package.
Although MicroShots blasters can only fire one dart at a time, this chicken-based weapon is easy to use and excellent for quick-draw Nerf battles.
The Chicken blaster is also available at Amazon UK for £19.99.
Elder Guardian & Ender Dragon Set
This Nerf MicroShots double-pack brings both Minecraft’s Ender Dragon and Elder Guardian in the same box to deliver you double the blaster firepower. Both compact and with an aesthetic as fearsome as the mob they’re designed after, these bring Minecraft’s fiercest bosses to life.
If you’ve got more than one Nerf warrior in your household, this $18.99 pack will give you two blasters at the best value.
The Ender Dragon & Elder Guardian blaster set is also available at Amazon UK for £37.19.
Ender Dragon
If it’s a full-sized Ender Dragon blaster you’re after, you can buy just that for just over $36 at Amazon. The most unique among the whole collection, Nerf took the meaning of a dragon literally — incorporating the mob’s wings, neck, and blaster barrel mouth to simulate firebreathing when launching a dart from its four-dart internal clip.
The wings aren’t just for show either. You can store an additional eight darts across both of the dragon’s wings, so you can take all 12 darts into the fight with you at once.
The Ender Dragon is also available at Amazon UK from £37.18.
Firebrand
The Firebrand axe, one of the most iconic weapons of Minecraft Dungeons, is in Nerf blaster form too; as you face opponents who think you’re wielding a mere melee weapon, you can take advantage using its hidden firepower. Not only does Firebrand with a three-dart capacity, but storage for an extra two as well.
That means when enemies think you’re out of ammo, you can reload for added relentless attacks.
The Firebrand blaster is also available at Amazon UK for £19.66.
Ghast
The Nerf version of Ghast brings Minecraft’s iconic ghast mob to life in a fun-sized, dart-firing blaster. Another MicroShots gun with single-shot action, this also comes modelled after the look of the ghast mob — making it perfect for display by collectors as well.
With 2 Nerf Elite darts included, you’ll be able to fire one shot and then quickly reload to hit your target in quick succession.
The Ghast blaster is also available at Amazon UK for £11.95.
Guardian
Fashioned after the pufferfish-esque mobs, the Guardian Minecraft Blaster is another signature weapon from Nerf’s MicroShots range. With a signature teal green body, it’s like your taking a Guardian right into the fray with you.
It may not be able to fire any laser beams like its namesake, but you’ll still get two mini-sized Nerf darts included in the pack.
The Guardian blaster is also available at Amazon UK for £12.99.
Heartstealer
Like Firebrand, this version of Minecraft’s Heartstealer Sword combines the look of its melee weapon inspiration with the power of a Nerf blaster. When you don’t feel like swinging this epic foam-blade around, you can easily use the pull-down priming handle to load the included Nerf Elite Darts and turn events into a long-range brawl.
The Heartstealer blaster is also available at Amazon UK for £19.79.
Pillager's Crossbow
A stunning Nerf recreation of the Pillager’s Crossbow, this Nerf blaster demonstrates what it feels like to use a crossbow with its pullback priming lever — with amazing distance and accuracy to boot.
Able to fire six darts in a row, this is one of the largest capacities for a manual Minecraft Nerf blaster we’ve seen.
The Pillager's Crossbow blaster is also available at Amazon UK for £29.94.
Sabrewing Motorized Bow
The Nerf Minecraft Sabrewing Bow takes Nerf weaponry to the next level up your arsenal with motorised blasting and real bow action. Inspired by the iconic in-game weapon, it fires 8 darts in a row using an 8-dart clip. With a slick design and hybrid feel, it’s perfect for fast-paced Minecraft-style battles inside the house or out.
The Sabrewing Motorized Bow blaster is also available at Amazon UK for £44.99.
Snow Golem
The Nerf MicroShots Minecraft Snow Golem Blaster brings frosty fun to your loadout with its cool Minecraft design and compact size. Inspired by the iconic snow golem mob, it’s easy to load and fire, making it a great pick for quick battles, display shelves, or any fan’s growing collection.
Created in the image of one of Minecraft’s most adorably terrifying passive mobs, the Snow Golem blaster is another affordable contender among the MicroShots collection.
Stormlander
The last of the signature blasters inspired by Minecraft Dungeons, getting Stormlander means you can also add a hammer to your arsenal of Nerf weaponry. As its name implies, you can storm into the action with this well-crafted recreation, pull back the priming handle, and press the firing button to launch your three Nerf Elite darts at your unsuspecting mark.
The Stormlander blaster is also available at Amazon UK for £25.19.
Blizzard Entertainment has unveiled its Overwatch 2 Stadium roadmap for 2025, teasing some of the heroes and features it plans to add in Season 17, Season 18, Season 19, and beyond.
The team behind the pioneering hero shooter dived into the details of its new mode’s past, present, and future with a Director’s Take blog post from game director Aaron Keller. It comes with a surprise summer roadmap now that the mode has been available for a little longer than a week, while also clarifying how the mode got its start and how it’s performed so far.
Stadium Gets 7 New Heroes This Summer
The Stadium rollout will press forward when new Damage hero Freja joins its limited roster with a mid-season patch for Season 16, but it’s Season 17 in June that will really kick things up a notch. Junkrat, Sigma, and Zenyatta will be added to the strategic multiplayer mode’s list of playable heroes at this time, bringing along the Esperança Push map and Samoa Control map with them.
Blizzard will also use this time to further flesh out how Stadium works by adding in things like Unranked Crossplay, new all-star rewards, custom games, additional example builds, and an option to save and share builds. It’s unclear if all heroes and features will arrive at the start of Season 17 or if they will be released throughout the season.
Season 18 sends in Overwatch’s gorilla icon, Winston, as a playable character, with Sojourn and Brigitte set to join, too. Route 66 and London maps will also join the pool at this time, as will a Payload Race game mode, which comes with two new maps, a Stadium trials feature, and, finally, the freedom to Endorse your teammates.
Blizzard’s transparency regarding Stadium’s development comes with the assurance that “multiple new heroes,” both from Overwatch 2’s existing roster and characters that have yet to be revealed, will be added to the mode every season. For Season 19 and beyond, a new China map is on the way, with a Draft Mode feature, consumables, item system tweaks, and more also in the works.
How has Stadium Performed so Far?
The Overwatch 2 team also shared Stadium stats that reveal how players have decided to spend their time with Blizzard’s new mode. It’s currently “eclipsing” Quick Play and Competitive, making it Overwatch 2’s most played mode with 2.3 million matches played across 7.8 million hours during launch week alone.
It secures the lengthy game mode’s stats at more than double what was seen with Overwatch Classic’s launch week. Other interesting stats crown Lucio as both the hero with the highest win rate and the lowest pick rate, while players have managed to spend 900 billion Stadium Cash when choosing 206 million items for their builds.
Keller’s Director’s Take touches on a few important details related to the development of Stadium, too. One important note saw the game director confirming the mode has been in development before Overwatch 2 launched. Though the team has touched on this timeline in the past, his comment should help squash prevailing fan theories that Stadium was born out of Blizzard’s desire to compete with Marvel Rivals, which launched December 2024.
Keller says Blizzard will keep up the communication going forward, promising to release more insight into Stadium next week with an additional Director’s take. Meanwhile, he also confirms that, while Stadium has entered the discussion as a massively popular addition to Overwatch 2, Blizzard remains committed to maintaining other core experiences such as standard Quick Play and Competitive options.
“Before signing off, I'd like to reiterate the team’s commitment to the Core modes of Overwatch," Keller clarified. "We’re still pouring as much time, energy and passion into these as we always have. Stadium isn't competing for those resources: it’s giving us more opportunities to deliver Overwatch in a new, exciting way.
"We can't wait for you to see what's coming there, especially Season 18. It's going to be a banger! Have fun with Stadium and, as always, let’s make a great game.”
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor 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).
The official LEGO Batman Forever Batmobile set is up for preorder directly through LEGO's website. This 909 piece set costs $99.99 and release August 1st, 2025. This set is an intricate recreation of the Batmobile from the 1995 film Batman Forever, starring Val Kilmer as Batman/ Bruce Wayne, Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face, and Jim Carrey famously (infamously?) as the Riddler.
Preorder the LEGO Batman Forever Batmobile
The set itself is a faithful to-scale model of the on-screen Batmobile, complete with the blue neon lights and rims and other features. The sleek shape and design is very reminscent of the time, making this the perfect shelf filler for fans of the Schumacher/ Burton-era Batman films. It also includes a Batman Forever display stand for the new Batsuit mini-figure. Interestingly, there isn't a a new Riddler or Two-Face mini-figure to go along with it.
This Batman LEGO set is only the latest Batmobile to join the lineup. The previous version of the iconic car that LEGO released was based on the classic 1966 TV series and came out back in October 2024. That particular Batmobile set cost $149 and has yet to go down in price, so $100 for the latest set seems like a pretty good price comparatively.
Amazon is currently offering a great deal on a mini screwdriver kit that's perfect for handling the dizzying array of bit sizes and types when dealing with fine electronics work. Right now you can pick up this Hoto 24-in-1 Precision Mini Screwdriver Kit for only $10.99 after you apply a hefty $9 off coupon code: "45MR4RPF". Besides the bargain-level price point, the best feature about this kit is that all of the bits stow away neatly inside the screwdriver itself.
Hoto 24-in-1 Compact Screwdriver Kit for $11
This Hoto screwdriver is a handy tool for taking care of those fine screws you might find on your gaming console or gaming handheld, controller, keyboard, eyeglasses, kids' toys. This kit consists of a total of twelve double-ended magnetic bits that include universal tips like phillips, flat, hex, and torx and specialized tips like U-shaped, Y-shaped, W-shaped, tri-wing, triangular, and pentagon. The bits stow away easily inside the screwdriver's aluminum body. The total package measures less than 5 inches long and weighs about 2 ounces, making it an unobtrusive addition to your electronics toolkit.
Upgrade to an electric model for $29.99
If you're done with manual screwdriving, this Hoto 25-Piece Precision Electric Screwdrive Set is down to only $29.99 after you clip the 40% off coupon on the product page. The screwdriver itself is very compact, measuring just 7" long and weighing in at 2 ounces. It is powered by a 350mAh lithium battery that can last up to 2 hours on a single charge and conveniently recharges over USB Type-C.
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.
I travel across the country all the time, and I'm usually carrying a bag that's full to the brim with technology. The problem is, sometimes things will start to run out of juice when I'm nowhere near an outlet. Luckily, power banks have become so good and so portable that it's essentially become a non-issue for me. I just need to make sure I charge it up before I leave home and more often than not I can avoid being stranded somewhere with a dead phone.
TL;DR – These Are the Best Power Banks:
However, you can do a casual search on Amazon and you'll find there are hundreds of power banks out there from brands you've probably never heard of. While these devices are essentially giant batteries and aren't that complicated, serious problems can occur if you get one that isn't up to snuff. You don't want a battery that inflates and heats up for no reason, after all.
A few brands are known to have reputable power banks these days. Anker, Belkin and Mophie have all emerged as some of the most reliable power bank manufacturers, and now we're even starting to see Energizer enter the arena. What's awesome is that because there are so many power banks out there, they've really been keeping up with how we're charging our phones with more and more batteries supporting Qi wireless charging on the go. Definitely not necessary, but it is an awesome feature to have, especially if you forgot to pack a USB-C cable in your bag for the day.
More than anything, you're going to want to make sure you get a power bank that has enough juice to keep your devices running. Generally a 20,000mAH battery pack will get you through about two full battery cycles on an iPhone, and can usually charge up a tablet once before needing to recharge. There are battery banks out there that are good enough to charge your laptop, too. Though, because of how much power laptops consume, you're going to want to make sure you get a power bank with at least 45W of output, with gaming laptops requiring even more.
While I haven't used every power bank on this list, I've gone through so many power banks I can't even keep track of them. I know exactly what to look for, and I'm just here to help you find the perfect portable charger for your next excursion.
Skip the hassle of remembering to pack cables and opt for a power bank with them built-in. Five-inch integrated Lightning and USB-C cables are included with the Belkin Boost Charge Plus 10K to make life easier. Concerned about those wires becoming a tangled disaster? Belkin has the solution, as each cable tucks out of the way into a handy slot on either side of the portable charger for safe, organized storage when not in use. Even with the cables, the power bank still manages compact dimensions, about the size of a smartphone and weighs just half a pound.
Belkin’s power bank is limited to only those two cables when charging, so those more exotic devices may need an adapter. Still, most electronics, including the latest iPhones, support USB-C charging, making it a non-issue for the majority of users.
The 10,000mAh capacity of this power pack is plenty of juice to top up smartphones and even some tablets. However, with a maximum output of 18W when charging one device on either the Lightning or USB-C cable, it’s not a great option for laptops or other power-hungry devices. Still, iPhones should be back to 50% in under 30 minutes. Two devices can even be charged simultaneously, but that drops the total output to 23W. Pass-through charging is also supported, allowing you to recharge the battery bank using the USB-C port and a device via the USB-C or Lightning cable.
2. Anker 737 Laptop Charger
Best Power Bank for Charging Laptops
Laptops are, by their very nature, much more powerful than any phone or tablet on the market, no matter what flashy advertising might tell you. But with all that power comes the need for much more robust charging solutions, like the Anker 737. This chunky power bank has a total output of 140W, which is more than enough for most laptops, and can even charge some lower-end gaming laptops. That output is paired with 24,000mAh of power, which should charge most laptops up to full once or twice.
The only real downside is the size of this thing. Standing up, the Anker 737 is 6.13 inches tall and 1.95 inches thick, which is thicker than most of the laptops you'll be charging with it. It also weighs 1.39lbs, which doesn't sound like a lot, but it can definitely add up when you're putting it in a bag that's already carrying a laptop and who knows what else.
Regardless of how bulky it is, it's nice to have when you're working on the go, and you really don't want to run out of battery in the middle of a project. I know that I need it when I'm working an event like CES, where I'm writing constantly but am usually in a cab or on the show floor, far away from even the mention of a power outlet.
3. Charmast Portable Charger
Best Budget Power Bank
The problem with a lot of power banks these days – at least the reliable ones – is that they're expensive. You're usually paying somewhere in the neighborhood of $80 for a decent power bank, but you can get an equivalent for half the price if you give up on some of the nicer features. This power bank from Charmast is an excellent example. It has 20,000mAH of capacity, so it can charge your phone several times before running out of juice, but it's limited to 20W of output. That's still enough for fast charging but is decidedly less output than most premium chargers these days.
You can take one look at the design of this thing and notice that it looks a lot like my No. 1 pick, the Belkin Boost Charge Plus 10K. However, it is a bit thicker, coming in at about 1-inch thick and it weighs more, coming in at 0.8lbs. So you're getting more power for less, but it charges slower and is a bit more bulky in your bag. But, hey, at half the price, that's not a bad deal, even if it means your phone charges in an hour and a half instead of one hour flat.
4. Anker MagGo Power Bank
Best Power Bank with Wireless Charging
While there are hundreds of power banks out there that let you plug in a device to charge, there are way fewer that let you take advantage of wireless charging, and even fewer that are any good at it. Most of the power banks out there that can do wireless charging use the first generation of Qi, which is limited to 7.5W of output, which will charge your devices at a snail's pace. The MagGo from Anker, though, supports Qi2, which ups that output to 15W, getting extremely close to fast charging that's typically about 20W.
The MagGo is also extremely portable, weighing in at just 0.44lbs and measuring just 0.58 inches thick, making it easy to pack in any bag. There's always a catch, though, and the Anker MagGo only has 10,000mAh of capacity, which means you're only going to get one or two full charges of an iPhone out of it at best. Still, at least it charges relatively quickly, no matter if you're charging wirelessly or via the USB-C port, which is twice as fast.
5. Veektomx Mini Power Bank
Best Compact Power Bank
Most power banks are already ultra-portable and compact, but some just do it better than others. The Veektomx Mini Power Bank is one of the smallest and mightiest options out there. It’s perfectly pocketable, measuring about the size of a deck of cards but thinner and weighing only 5.8oz. What makes this portable charger even better is that even though it’s tiny, it still packs in a 10,000mAh battery to deliver a full charge and then some to the majority of smartphones.
Even with its smaller size, the Veektomx Mini Power Bank offers three different charging ports for versatility: a USB-A, USB-C, and microUSB. Each of those ports supports fast charging with at least an 18W to 22.5W output when charging a single device, and comes with pass-through charging when topping up the power pack.
Not only is the Veektomx Mini Power Bank uniquely compact for portability, but it’s built tough with a solid plastic body and slight ribbing for an easier grip to prevent drops. Things are taken even further with a convenient LED battery level indicator, letting you know how much juice is left in the portable charger and the charging status. Perhaps best of all, all of this is available for right around $25, making it a real steal.
6. Jsaux Power Bank 20,000mAh 65W
Best Power Bank for Steam Deck
The original Steam Deck has a notoriously terrible battery life, and even with the Steam Deck OLED putting up some real improvements, games like Baldur's Gate 3 will drain that battery quickly. The Jsaux Power Bank 20,000mAh 65W is a great Steam Deck accessory that ensures you never lose power during an integral moment in a game, offering a 20,000mAh capacity that can deliver at least one charge or more to the gaming handheld.
With a max charging wattage of 45W on the Steam Deck, this power bank can hit those same speeds for a quick top-up. The handheld should get from 0% to 100% in about three hours. To make life easier, a short USB-C cable is built in, so you can forget about carting around a cable when taking your Steam Deck on the go. Beyond a USB-C cable, a single USB-C port and two USB-A ports are available for additional devices. There’s support for multi-device charging, but simultaneously charging devices will drop speeds slightly.
Given the powerful punch this power bank is packing, it is a little bulky, weighing right around 1lb and measuring an inch thick. Still, this brick is easy to handle and small enough to slide into a bag. Jsaux adds a little something extra to the mix, too, as it offers a ModCase for the Steam Deck with a strap to perfectly slot the battery pack onto the gaming handheld. When attached to the case, the integrated USB-C cable is just the right size to reach the Steam Deck’s port.
With a max of about nine hours of juice available on the Switch, and the battery depleting even quicker depending on the games you’re playing, a portable charger is the best Switch accessory to always stay in the action. Emperor of Gadgets has a power bank designed specifically for the handheld, strapping right onto it while adding minimal bulk. Even as the portable charger keeps things compact for an enjoyable playing experience, it will double your playing time on the Switch with its 10,000mAh capacity.
The Switch can only hit charging speeds of 18W, so something like the Jsaux power bank above is overkill. This Emperor of Gadgets portable charger is capable of about 15W, which should still see the Switch topped up relatively quickly. An integrated USB-C cable is conveniently included and is the perfect size to reach with the handheld’s USB-C port when the battery is mounted, so you won’t need to worry about bringing your own along.
This power bank isn’t exclusively for the Switch, so it’ll work with a range of devices, including the Nintendo Switch 2 that’s dropping in June. Additional USB-C and USB-A ports are also available. But if you’re looking for something a little different for the Switch, check these great Switch battery cases.
What to Look for in a Power Bank
Capacity
This is the most important spec you should look out for in a portable charger. This figure is always followed closely by a mAh unit, which stands for milliamp-hour. Given that most ultra-thin flagship phones have a 3,000mAh battery inside of them already, you're going to want to find a portable charger with at least that much capacity, so you can double the battery life of your handset – unless of course, you're looking for an extremely portable battery.
Most portable chargers these days come in a 10,000mAh capacity or higher, and this is pretty much the standard. Portable batteries of this size should give you three times or more charge while you're on the go. You should also keep in mind that there will always be some power that's lost when transferring between the power bank and your device, so you're probably not going to get the full 10,000mAh.
Ports and charging speeds
Not all chargers are created equal, with some offering much higher charging capabilities with increased voltages and amperages. Some chargers may use standards like Power Delivery (PD) to connect with your device and send the maximum energy possible. You'll want to compare what output capabilities the charger has with the charging speeds your phone or other electronics supports. Also, check which ports offer those speeds, as you may find some offer much higher charging than others.
For quick charging on a phone, you're going to want at least 20W of output, but with how big phone batteries are getting, I'd lean more towards 30W of output to charge devices quickly. The wattage requirement goes up significantly with more powerful devices, though. I'd recommend 30W as a minimum for an iPad, and if you're going to be using it to charge your laptop, 45W or even 60W is necessary to outpace the computer's power consumption.
Doing this, you can find chargers that support the quick charging of your phone or even find chargers that will be capable of delivering enough power to keep even your laptop running for some extra time. You'll also want to consider this same aspect but for the charger itself. After all, it has a battery that needs recharging, too. If you have a 20,000mAh battery, but it only supports 5W input, it's going to take a long time to fill it back up.
Power Bank FAQ
Should you drain your power bank before charging it again?
No, it isn’t necessary to drain lithium-based batteries, which are what you’ll find in almost every power bank. In fact, if you let your battery fully drain, it could potentially damage it, reducing its capacity. You should try to charge your power bank before it’s completely depleted or every few months when it’s not in use.
Can you bring portable power banks on a plane?
The short answer is yes, you are allowed to bring your power bank on the plane as long as they use litium ion or lithium metal batteries. According to the TSA, you are only allowed to bring them in your carry-on luggage or as a personal item. You cannot pack portable power banks into checked bags as they have higher risk of catching fire. There are also certain size limits for what you can bring – Anker clocks the limits at 100Wh or around 27,000mAh – so you should be fine with a standard 10,000mAh portable charger.
How long do power banks last?
The longevity of a power bank depends on usage, build quality, and capacity. Typically, chargers from notable brands like Anker and Belkin last 2 to 4 years. Cheaper models and lesser-known brands can last just as long, but it’s more of a hit or miss. Batteries with a higher capacity also tend to outperform options with lower mAh. To increase the lifespan of the portable charger, avoid overcharging, keep it stored in a cool, dry place, and charge it fully every three months.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
Based on the already-popular game series, the Pokémon anime became a cultural phenomenon almost immediately after it was first released in the '90s. A quarter-century later, the franchise is about as long as legendary anime like One Piece.
Unlike something like One Piece or Dragon Ball, which have a continuous, serialized story, Pokémon is more of an episodic narrative with mostly standalone episodes. Even though there is a progression from series to series, you could theoretically skip around and watch the ones that interest you the most without being completely lost.
Still, the era of streaming splitting everything up between multiple platforms makes finding (let alone watching) the entirety of Pokémon a mighty task. That's why we're here: to round up where you can watch every Pokémon season and movie online.
How Long Is the Pokémon Series?
The Pokémon series so far includes over 1300 episodes across 27 seasons. There are also 23 animated Pokémon movies and the live-action Detective Pikachu film. In addition to the streaming links listed below, most of the Pokémon series is available on DVD.
How to Watch Pokémon Online (in Order)
For American audiences, the Pokémon series is split across quite a few streaming services. The original series as well as the most recent seasons can be found on U.S. Netflix, while some seasons can be found on free streaming sites like Tubi. Hoopla, which requires a library card but is otherwise free, has a "Pokémon Bingepass" that includes Seasons 6-13 of the anime series and is the only way to stream seasons 6-10 online.
Otherwise, Prime Video has a Pokémon channel add-on for $2.99/month that lets you stream a decent chunk of the series that isn't available elsewhere. Prime Video subscriptions, including the Pokémon channel, offer a seven-day free trial for those trying to watch a specific movie or series for free. Just remember to cancel your subscription before it auto-renews.
1. Pokémon Indigo League (1997)
Pokémon the Series: Season 1
The season that started it all! This one is full of exciting moments, but also rather emotional ones — including a final heartbreak that sets the stage for Pokémon's approach to winning and losing.
One of the best Pokémon movies, this is as big a '90s time capsule as they come, with a bangin' soundtrack and some big tear-jerking sequences ("Brother My Brother" never fails to hit hard).
Where to Stream: You have to rent or purchase this one digitally (see at Prime Video)
3. Pokémon Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution (2019)
A CGI remake of the first movie, it notoriously removes what made the original so endearing, namely, the soundtrack. But it does have more Mewtwo than the U.S. version of the original.
A downgrade from the first season, but nevertheless an exciting Pokémon adventure. Here we meet a new companion in Tracy, and the Orange League tournament is one of the show's best.
5. Pokémon The Movie 2000 — The Power of One (1999)
A fascinating villain, world-ending stakes, and some cool visuals make this one of the best Pokémon movies. Plus, it gives Team Rocket arguably their best arc in the whole franchise.
The start of the Gold and Silver series, this one has a very underrated opening song, and a whole new set of Pokémon! It can't be understated how cool it was to see this in 1999, before it became an obvious and expected tradition.
7. Pokémon 3: The Movie - Spell of the Unown (2000)
Aside from some very dated CGI, this film has an interesting WandaVision-esque cosmic story that's more introspective than the previous two. The relationship between Entei and Molly makes the movie work.
9. Pokémon 4Ever: Celebi- Voice of the Forest (2001)
Time-travel shenanigans in Pokémon! The movies were already weird before, but this one turns it up to 11 and paves the way for the extremely weird stories to come.
Where to Stream: You have to rent or purchase this one digitally (see at Prime Video)
10. Pokémon Master Quest (2001)
Pokémon the Series: Season 5
The end of the original Pokémon franchise, and the first one to be animated digitally, the season features a thrilling fight with Gary.
This is where Pokémon start getting terrifying when you stop to think about them. An ancient Pokémon awakens and a kaiju Pokémon is resurrected to cause devastation.
Where to Stream: You have to rent or purchase this one digitally (see at Prime Video)
14. Pokémon Advanced Challenge (2003)
Pokémon the Series: Season 7
May's quest to become a Pokémon Coordinator makes for an interesting parallel to Ash's story, putting 10-year-old Ash in a sort of mentor role. At the same time, the Team Magma and Team Aqua subplots are quite entertaining.
The one where they go to a city based on Vancouver, this movie features an alien Pokémon coming from space to conquer the Earth. This is the kaiju era of the franchise, and it rules.
Where to Stream: You have to rent or purchase this one digitally (see at Prime Video)
16. Pokémon Advanced Battle (2004)
Pokémon the Series: Season 8
The adventure continues with Ash trying to gather enough medals to enter the Battle Frontier tournament.
19. Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea (2006)
What if Pokémon did Atlantis: The Lost Empire? Or, more accurately, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water? The result is a movie full of pirates, environmental themes, and water-themed fun.
Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)
20. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (2006)
Pokémon the Series: Season 10
A vast improvement over the previous season, this time Ash's new Pokémon Coordinator companion, Dawn, is much more developed than May, and we get a fascinating new rival trainer in Paul.
The first part of a fantastic trilogy, this movie is close to being a full-on cosmic horror film. The titular Darkrai is quite Lovecraftian in nature, making for a darker, more sinister movie.
22. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl: Battle Dimension (2007)
Pokémon the Series: Season 11
This is where the dynamic between Ash and Dawn pays off as we see them being challenged in unique ways. Plus, the emergence of Team Galactic raises the stakes and stands apart from previous evil teams.
The second chapter in the trilogy ups the trippy ante, trapping Ash and his friends in a bizarre mirror dimension. Giratina is a terrifying creature, a kaiju-like god of chaos whose ability to manipulate reality elevates it above other Pokémon villains.
24. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl: Galactic Battles (2008)
Pokémon the Series: Season 12
Team Galactic is on the offensive and they threaten to wreak havoc on the Pokémon world. Meanwhile, Ash fights Paul in a thrilling duel that's not just about their skills, but their opposing philosophies about Pokémon.
The end of the movie trilogy goes takes the franchise to a theological place, with Arceus presenting itself as an actual PokéGod. This is a very wild movie, essentially a biblical epic, but with Pokémon, plus there is a lot of time-travel.
26. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl: Sinnoh League Victors (2010)
Pokémon the Series: Season 13
Team Rocket is back! And they are up to no good. Meanwhile, Ash tries to qualify for the Sinnoh League while Dawn trains to compete in the Grand Festival.
Another movie about trying to control a powerful Pokémon and upsetting the balance of nature, leading to widespread destruction. It's not the most original of the movies.
We have a new land, new Pokémon, and two new companions! Iris and Cilan join Ash on their new adventure as he also encounters Team Plasma — who actually oppose Team Rocket and want to free Pokémon!
29. Pokémon the Movie: Black – Victini and Reshiram (2011)
Now, this is an interesting experiment. Two parts of the same story, the "Reshiram/Zekrom" movies, much like the game, feature virtually the same story only swapping out the central Pokémon.
Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)
30. Pokémon the Movie: White – Victini and Zekrom (2011)
Virtually the same movie, but rather than Ash encountering Reshiram, he sees the legendary Pokémon Zekrom. There's an island on the verge of destruction, an angry Pokémon, and a world to save.
Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)
31. Pokémon Black and White: Rival Destinies (2011)
Pokémon the Series: Season 15
Much like the Black and White games served as a soft reboot of the game series, so is this season also a reboot of sorts. Sadly, this means Ash is no longer a veteran with a bad track record, but a rookie once again.
32. Pokémon the Movie: Kyurem vs the Sword of Justice (2012)
A rare Pokémon movie that focuses not on the humans, but a critter named Keldeo who wishes to join a Pokémon supersquad. It's a heartfelt story about Pokémon and their goals and dreams.
Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)
33. Pokémon Black and White: Adventures in Unova and Beyond (2012)
Pokémon the Series: Season 16
Though they have foiled Team Rocket, there is new danger lurking in the shadows. Meanwhile, Ash is ready to face the Unova League while Iris heads to a Village of Dragons to help inspire her Dragonite.
34. Pokémon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened (2013)
The one where Pokémon becomes Jurassic Park. An ancient Pokémon species is resurrected and they immediately start wreaking havoc — until a familiar face arrives to save the day.
Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)
35. Pokémon XY (2013)
Pokémon the Series: Season 17
Ash once again trades his companions, this time being joined by the inventor Clemond, his little sister Bonnie, and the Pokémon performer Serena. Together they venture through the Kalos region and encounter numerous new Pokémon.
Where to Stream: You have to rent or purchase this one digitally (see at Prime Video)
36. Pokémon the Movie: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction (2014)
Greedy collectors try to capture a gem-based Pokémon princess, and only Ash can stop them. It's another movie with a rather basic plot that's been repeated better elsewhere on this list.
Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)
37. Pokémon XY: Kalos Quest (2013)
Pokémon the Series: Season 18
There is a reason this series is considered peak Pokémon. It has a rather heroic portrayal of Ash, some of the best battles in the entire anime, and quite a lot of excitement when it comes to the new Mega Evolutions.
Where to Stream: You have to rent or purchase this one digitally (see at Prime Video)
38. Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages (2015)
An imp-like Pokémon imprisoned in a bottle is released and starts playing pranks, but his shadow starts growing into a giant evil version of itself. This is one of the most fun Pokémon deities, and reason enough to watch this movie.
Team Flare makes its move against the legendary Zygarde which is prophesied to destroy all of Kalos. Meanwhile Ash finally competes in the Kalos League Conference.
Where to Stream: You have to rent or purchase this one digitally (see at Prime Video)
40. Pokémon the Movie: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel (2016)
A steampunk location gives this movie a unique look that matches the more mechanical Pokémon that are the stars of the show. It also features a villain on a flying fortress war machine, making one cool fantasy movie.
Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)
41. Pokémon Sun and Moon (2016)
Pokémon the Series: Season 20
A big departure from the seasons that preceded it, this season boasts a unique art style and a more emotional journey for Ash than we've seen before. This is considered either the pinnacle of the series or a huge letdown, depending on who you ask.
After 20 years, Pokémon remembers Ash is still a 10-year-old, so he finally goes to school rather than live in the wilderness. Meanwhile, an organization all about Pokémon conservation turns out to be quite shady, and Ash also has visions of legendary Pokémon.
A loose reboot of the anime's pilot episode, this movie is good for those who want to relive the most iconic moments from the show's early days and those who want to enter the franchise. Also, this is the movie where Pikachu talks, and it is absolutely terrifying.
Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)
44. Pokémon Sun and Moon: Ultra Legends (2018)
Pokémon the Series: Season 22
It's tournament time! But that's not Ash has on his mind, because the Alola region is in danger and it is up to Ash and his friends to save it from destruction.
Though not at all part of the official Pokémon order, this is the single best movie in the franchise. The first live-action/animation hybrid, the movie is a hugely entertaining adventure filled with Easter Eggs, and a clear love letter to the franchise.
Where to Stream: You have to rent or purchase this one digitally (see at Prime Video)
48. Pokémon Master Journeys (2020)
Pokémon the Series: Season 24
This is where things get very interesting. While Ash is climbing the rankings of the World Coronation Series, he and his friends discover strange occurrences happening in the Galar region, including clones and Pokémon devolving. Stakes don't get higher than literal gods intervening.
This is it. The moment of truth. At this point, there's no hiding it, if you aren't aware that Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town becomes the Pokémon World Champion, you've been living under a rock. This is the culmination of nearly a quarter-century's worth of Pokémon, a highly emotional season that reintroduces old friends like Misty and Brock, has some spectacular action animation, the return of a fan-favorite song, and a perfect end to the story of Ash and Pikachu.
After saying goodbye to Ash and Pikachu, we meet two new protagonists — Liko and Roy, who are joined by Frede and his companion Captain Pikachu. It's a brand new Pokémon adventure!
One of the best Pokémon series ever isn't even part of the main story, or even in traditional animation. Instead, this stop-motion show follows Haru as she arrives to work at a Pokémon resort and encounters all kinds of Pokéguests and Pokéemployees.
53. Pokémon Horizons – The Search for Laqua (2024)
Pokémon the Series: Season 27
Part of the appeal of Horizons is that it's a more traditional anime, with an arc-based structure and a bigger focus on adventure. There are mysteries to solve, new challenges, battles, and enemies.
The second season of Pokémon Horizons, The Search for Laqua, arrived on Netflix this past February. It continues the more recent trend of Pokémon seasons being distinct from the ongoing game generations. We'll likely see a third Horizons season (or even a new series) at some point in 2026.
More Pokémon Updates
A lot’s been happening in the world of Pokémon. The next mainline game, Pokémon Legends Z-A, is arriving later this year for Switch and Switch 2. The Pokémon trading card game is bigger than ever, for better or worse. The next TCG expansion, Destined Rivals, releases in just a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, the digital version of the trading card game, Pokémon TCG Pocket, continues to release frequent updates, most recently the Celestial Guardians expansion based on the Sun and Moon generation.
Rafael Motamayor is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything anime and animation.
Thunderbolts* has the longest post-credits scene of any film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
While we won’t be divulging the contents of that scene here – looking for our Thunderbolts Ending Explained once the film opens – we can confirm that the post-credits scene runs 2 minutes and 54 seconds.
This is only counting the MCU films, mind you, not the Disney+ series. Hawkeye’s finale had a mid-credits scene that showed a full performance of “Save the City” from the in-world Broadway show Rogers: The Musical, which ran over four minutes long.
Not among the film’s haters was IGN’s Clint Gage, who awarded Thunderbolts* a 7 out of 10.
In his Thunderbolts* review, Gage called the film “the most solid the sacred timeline has felt in a little while, providing an adventure befitting its overlooked title characters.”
Marvel’s Thunderbolts* opens in theaters this weekend.
It may seem like everything is getting more expensive right now, but for Tolkien fans, prices seem to be in a sweet spot. The massive Lord of the Rings Deluxe Illustrated Edition has just dropped in price once more on Amazon to a new low. We covered the last sale back in March when this huge tome got a discount, but this time around, the deal is even better.
This special edition of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books has dropped to $103, which is a significant 59% off the usual price. Still, $250 may be a bit too steep for a cool Lord of the Rings gift, but when you cut that price in half, it starts to seem a little more reasonable.
The Lord of the Rings Illustrated Edition Has Its Best Deal at Amazon
Not only is this the lowest price we've seen in 2025 on this LotR edition, it's also the lowest-ever price we've seen. Amazon is currently the only retailer with this discount, with stores like Barnes & Noble still selling the book for full price. Amazon has consistently been one of the best places to buy books in 2025, and that has been especially true for collector's editions like this one.
It is worth noting that while this edition includes all of the books from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it doesn't include all of Tolkien's works. There are also deluxe illustrated editions of The Hobbit and Similarillion available, and a more affordable set of illustrated books that feature different designs and details. We've gathered all of those options for you below which also make great gifts for LotR fans:
What Comes With the Deluxe Special Edition?
The special deluxe version of The Lord of the Rings: Illustrated Edition is a single-volume hardbound book that comes in an eye-catching, intricately etched slipcase. It features a striking red-and-black design that’s meant to evoke the novel's first edition. The book itself is 1,248 pages, and includes the entire fantasy epic and appendices. The text is “corrected and reset,” and printed in red and black ink. Interspersed throughout this massive tome are 30 illustrations hand-drawn by Tolkien himself. These include maps, color illustrations, and sketches. Also included in the package are two fold-out maps of Middle-earth drawn by Christopher Tolkien.
Don’t Worry Darling star Florence Pugh didn’t want the darlings in her life to worry about her jumping off the second tallest building in the world while shooting Marvel’s Thunderbolts*.
Pugh chatted with IGN’s Jeffrey Vega about performing the spectacular stunt, which has been highlighted in the MCU film’s trailers and marketing promos. The sequence, which opens the film, sees Pugh’s Yelena Belova BASE jump off the Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“I didn’t tell people the day that it was happening. I didn't want people to be worrying because obviously, you know, I knew that we were going to be doing it as safe as possible,” Pugh said.
Florence Pugh didn't tell people when she was going to jump off the 2nd tallest building in the world for Thunderbolts* : pic.twitter.com/lIFq4B9l1i
“It’s just not helpful for people to be like well I’m not getting a message from her. Does that mean this? And I just thought that it was best for maybe people to not know the exact day that it was happening, which I’m glad about.”
Only two of Pugh’s loved ones knew the exact day she was going to jump off the Merdeka – because they were there to see it for themselves.
“I had my sister and my best friend out there with me and they were on the top of the building and they got to witness the whole thing,” Pugh recalled.
“And they were just like, ‘Yeah, I wasn’t nervous because you weren’t really nervous. Every now and then I would just catch you in the car looking at it, transfixed by it. And those were the only moments where I knew that where I obviously knew you were thinking about it.’”
Marvel’s Thunderbolts* opens in theaters May 2nd. In his Thunderbolts review, IGN’s Clint Gage called the film “the most solid the sacred timeline has felt in a little while, providing an adventure befitting its overlooked title characters.”
The newest Apple Watch has dropped down to the lowest price we've seen. Well ahead of Mother's Day, which lands on May 11 this year, you can pick up a 42mm Apple Watch Series 10 for only $299 - 25% off its $399 list price - or the bigger 46mm model for $329 - 23% off its $429 list price. If you own an iPhone, the Apple Watch is indisputably the best smartwatch for you. It's stylish, boasts excellent build quality, excels as both a fitness tracker and smartwatch, and seamlessly integrates with your iPhone.
Apple Watch Series 10 From $299
The Apple Watch Series 10 is the newest generation mainstream model (the Watch Series 11 isn't expected until September of this year). Improvements over the Apple Watch Series 9 include a bigger OLED Retina display, a new S10 processor (that isn't faster but it's thinner, which allows the watch itself to have a slimmer profile), a slightly larger base model size (42mm vs. 41mm), and some admittedly trivial features like a water depth gauge. If you do already own an Apple Watch Series 9, there's probably not enough reason here to upgrade. But if this is your first time purchasing an Apple Watch, the Series 10 is definitely the best Apple Watch for most people.
Compared to the Apple Watch SE, the Apple Watch Series 10 boasts a larger size (42mm vs. 40mm), a bigger display with Always-On functionality, a 30% more powerful processor, double the storage, more advanced fitness tracking and body monitoring sensors, double-tap gesture support, and faster charging. The Apple Watch SE is substantially more affordable at $199 currently on Amazon, but I think the upgrades are more than worth it for most people.
Can You Use an Apple Watch with Android Phones?
Although it's technically possible to use an Apple Watch with an Android phone, we wouldn't recommend it. Apple made it so that a lot of the functionality of the Apple Watch requires a smartphone with an iOS operating system. There are some workarounds to implement some of the features, but for the average person, the hassle isn't worth it. If you're absolutely intent on getting an Apple Watch, then getting an iPhone first would be the best option. For those of you quite happy with your Android smartphone, there are plenty of Android smartwatches that would be a better fit than the Apple Watch.
Other Apple products on sale
There are plenty of Apple deals going on right now. If an Apple Watch might be a bit too technical for you mom, then perhaps a pair of AirPods or an Apple iPad tablet is a better fit for her.
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.
Looking for codes for the newly released Project Egoist? You've come to the right place. By using the codes we've found, you can boost your cash and spend it on Gacha for Emotes, MVP Animations, Goal Effects, and more.
Working Project Egoist Codes (May 2025)
1MVISITS - 10,000 Cash
10kActive - 20,000 Cash
20kLikes - 10,000 Cash
10kLikes - 10,000 Cash
ProjectEgoistRelease - 3,000 Cash
ThanksFor5kFollowEvent - 2,500 Cash
ThanksFor10kFollowEvent - 2,500 Cash
ProjectEgoist - 1,000 Cash
All Expired Project Egoist Codes
For now, there are no expired Project Egoist codes so make the most of the ones above before they're gone for good!
How to Redeem Project Egoist Codes
Before you can use codes in Project Egoist, you'l need to join the community. You can do this by clicking on the name cool group for big cool people, who are the developers of the game in Roblox. Once you've done this, follow the steps below:
Load up the Project Egoist Roblox experience
Find the Codes button on the left side of the screen with a ticket icon
Enter the code in the Redeem Here box
Press Redeem and enjoy
Why Isn't My Project Egoist Code Working?
Typically, when a code stops working, it's just because it's expired. However, plenty of codes for Roblox experiences are also case-sensitive so, it might be that you've typed it incorrectly. Whether a code has been entered incorrectly in Project Egoist, it'll say "code invalid."
To avoid using an incorrect code, we'd recommend copying them directly from this article and pasting them into the code box. We test them all before we add them to the article, so you can be certain that if it's on here, it's a valid code. Just be sure to check you haven't added a sneaky extra space in there when copying it over.
How to Get More Project Egoist Codes
We are always on the lookout for more codes and keep our pages updated, so if you want to stay up to date with the latest Project Egoist codes, save this page! If you're interested in hunting them down yourself, you can always pop over to the Project Egoist Discord Server.
Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.
May has arrived, and that means it's time for another Free Comic Book Day. Every year, comic shops across the world take part in the event by giving away free books on the first Saturday of May. Many of these books serve as primers for major upcoming storylines or best-selling series, meaning it's usually worth heading out and braving the crowds to try and snag the most important comics.
2025 is no exception. From DC's DC All in 2025 Special Edition to Marvel's Fantastic Four/X-Men and The Amazing Spider-Man/Ultimate Universe books to the latest Energon Universe special, these are the books you should keep an eye out for during this year's event.
The Amazing Spider-Man/Ultimate Universe #1
Publisher: Marvel
The first of several specials from Marvel, this issue offers two original stories in one. The first from writer Joe Kelly and artist John Romita, Jr. serves as a primer of sorts to the recently relaunched Amazing Spider-Man series. The second story from writers Deniz Camp and Cody Ziglar and artist Jonas Scharf is a prologue to the upcoming Ultimate Universe crossover event, which sees Miles Morales drawn into the new Ultimate U.
Blood Type #0
Publisher: Oni Press
Oni Press is expanding its EC Comics imprint this summer with several new series, including Corinna Bechko and Andrea Sorrentino's vampire title Blood Type. If you want an early glimpse of that new series, Blood Type #0 is just the book for you. This issue reprints the short story from the anthology series Epitaphs From the Abyss that kicked off the Blood Type saga.
Conan: Scourge of the Serpent #1
Publisher: Titan
Titan Comics is developing a habit of using FCBD to debut its annual Conan crossover events. That trend holds true with Conan: Scourge of the Serpent. This issue incldues three interconnected tales that set the stage for a grand conflict between Conan and the serpent god Set.
Critical Role: The Mighty Nein Origins/Black Hammer #1
Publisher: Dark Horse
Dark Horse's FCBD special spotlights two of the publisher's biggest franchises. This issue includes one tale set in the Critical Role universe, as Beau and Caleb get a little too caught up in an evening of dinner theater fun. There's also a Black Hammer story focused on Colonel Weird, one that highlights both the past and future of the Back Hammer universe.
DC All In: 2025 Special Edition #1
Publisher: DC
Similar to last year's DC All In Special, DC is releasing a flipbook that reveals the future of both the core DC Universe and the new Absolute Universe. On one hand, this issue serves as an introduction to the upcoming Superman Unlimited series from Dan Slott and Rafael Albuquerque. On the other, it features a new Absolute Universe story from Jeff Lemire and Giuseppe Camuncoli.
Energon Universe 2025 Special #1
Publisher: Skybound
Skybound really made some waves with the surprise reveal thaat Void Rivals was actually the launching point for a new shared universe involving Transformers and G.I. Joe. All three pillars of the Energon universe are featured in this issue, which features three new short stories and a twist so big they had to censor the cover.
Fantastic Four/X-Men #1
Publisher: Marvel
Marvel is pairing the X-Men and Fantastic Four for their second big FCBD release. This issue should be on everyone's radar, if for no other reason than it features a new FF tale from Ryan North and Humberto Ramos. On the X-Men side, Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing are revisiting the fateful day Charles Xavier first assembled the All-New, All-Different X-Men and revealing the one mutant who turned him down.
Gargoyles: Demona #1
Publisher: Dynamite
Disney may not be giving Gargoyles fans the animated revival they've all been craving, but Dymanite is certainly making up for that on the comic book side. The Gargoyles line expands with this new special that sets up the Gargoyles: Demona series. Best of all, it's even written by creator Greg Weisman.
Godzilla: The New Heroes #1
Publisher: IDW
In case you missed the news, IDW is launching an entire new shared universe of Godilla comics this summer. This issue serves as a primer for that universe, with a ten-page prelude story accompanied by previews of the forthcoming ongoing Godilla books.
Power Rangers/VR Troopers #1
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
IGN recently broke the news that BOOM! Studios is debuting a VR Troopers series spinning out of the pages of the Power Rangers Prime reboot. This issue gives fans a sneak preview of the new series along with a look back at some of the VR Troopers comics of yesteryear.
This might just be the pick of the FCBD 2025 crop, purely for how weird and intriguing the premise is. Dynamite is highlighting its Thundercats and Powerpuff Girls comics, not by releasing an issue with one story geared toward each, but by combining the two into one wacky crossover. What happens when Blossom, Buttercup, and Bubbles travel to Third Earth? We're about to find out.
Let us know in the comments below what books you're excited to pick up on Free Comic Book Day 2025.
The Nintendo Switch 2 Direct finally revealed exactly what the Nintendo Switch 2 can do and what it costs. But alongside the hype came the burden of realization: Consoles are getting expensive.
Nintendo Switch 2’s price has breached into the realm of what I’d expect from handheld gaming PCs, which cost anywhere from $400 to $900. But it’s not just the hardware that’s more expensive – the games are getting more expensive too, making the affordability of the original Switch a distant dream.
Compared to the Steam Deck, which was once far more expensive than the Switch, Valve’s handheld gaming PC and the Nintendo Switch 2 are in a similar lane. So if you’re looking to get into the handheld gaming scene, which is better? Nintendo Switch 2 or Steam Deck?
Nintendo Switch 2 vs. Steam Deck: Price
Price has been a hot topic for the Nintendo Switch 2. The company plans to launch the console at $449.99, which is 50% more expensive than the original $299.99 Switch. That in and of itself is a drastic price leap, but there’s the added possibility of it getting even higher with the threat of tariffs on the horizon.
Pre-orders for Switch 2 were delayed from their original April 9 date in the U.S., with Nintendo telling us that it was in order to “assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions.” The 90-day tariff pause put a temporary stop to that, with pre-orders going live on April 24, but there’s no saying what happens when tariffs return in July. It’s hard to make definitive statements on value as a result, but let’s move forward with the prices we know.
The Steam Deck starts at $399.99 for its 256GB LCD model, barely undercutting the Switch 2. The 512GB and 1TB OLED models are $549.99 and $649.99 respectively, so it quickly gets more expensive. The price of hardware isn’t all you should consider, though. Software costs ramp up quickly, and Nintendo has taken a leap with Switch 2 by raising the ceiling in AAA game pricing. Mario Kart World at $79.99 is the prime example, setting a new precedent for the future.
There’s no telling what Steam game prices will look like in the coming years, but as it stands now, the Deck pulls ahead of the Switch 2 with a lower starting cost and more affordable games library.
Winner: Steam Deck
Nintendo Switch 2 vs. Steam Deck: Specs and Performance
According to a Nvidia blog post, Switch 2 features “10x the graphics” of its predecessor, with ray tracing compatibility, variable refresh rate via Nvidia G-Sync, and “AI-driven enhancements.”
Neither Nintendo or Nvidia have revealed the specs of the GPU, but it’s incredibly likely that it’s based on the Nvidia Tegra T39 SoC (system on a chip). This GPU is supposedly built on Ampere, the same graphics architecture behind the RTX 3080. Though, with 1,536 CUDA cores, it’s nowhere near as powerful as other Nvidia GPUs in its series. Even the RTX 3050 Mobile, which is the weakest in its line, has 2,048 CUDA cores and likely runs with a much higher power budget.
The Nvidia GPU is powering a 7.9-inch 1920x1080, 120Hz LCD touchscreen with VRR (Variable Refresh Rate). While the panel is a massive upgrade in size and resolution, it would’ve been nice if OLED came sooner than later. It has 256GB of UFS (Universal Flash Storage), with a microSD Express slot for up to an additional 2TB.
The Steam Deck is built on much older tech, though. It features an AMD Radeon APU with 8 RDNA 2 CUs, and a Zen 2 CPU with 4 cores and 8 threads. Because these two GPUs are built on different architectures by different companies, it’s incredibly hard to draw comparisons between the two. But because the Nintendo Switch 2 features hardware that the Steam Deck simply doesn’t – namely Tensor Cores to power DLSS – the Switch 2 is theoretically more powerful.
“Theoretical” is the key word here. These are different machines in operating system, power output, and display resolution. And with some form of DLSS coming to the Switch 2, I won’t know how it truly performs until it’s in my hands. For now though, Switch 2 seems likely to pull ahead.
Winner: Nintendo Switch 2
Nintendo Switch 2 vs. Steam Deck: Software and Features
Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch 2 are intended for different audiences, so directly comparing features can be confusing. If you’re primarily a PC gamer with a large Steam library, or have a penchant for emulation, the Steam Deck is a fantastic option. Switch 2 is best for fans of Nintendo exclusives or those willing to leap into a new console ecosystem. Thankfully, if you did own the original Switch, your game library is backward compatible, both digitally and physically.
Nintendo Switch 2’s most exciting new feature is that its Joy-Con function as mice. As seen in Drag x Drive, players glide the bottom of their Joy-Con controllers against a surface – even hands – to move forward, backward, and even turn. Mouse functionality extends beyond just games that require it, with Metroid Prime 4: Beyond featuring mouse functionality while aiming, as if playing on PC.
Steam Deck does something similar with its two trackpads, but they don’t emulate the mouse experience quite as well – if you know anything about first-person shooters, trying to play them on a trackpad is a nightmare.
While not new to the Switch 2, its detachable Joy-Con, docking station, and backstand offers handheld, tabletop, and docked modes. It’s easy to take that versatility for granted, but the Steam Deck isn’t capable of this. An official Steam Deck Docking Station does exist, but it’s sold separately, and the console does not have a backstand or detachable controllers. It’s primarily a handheld device.
I can’t talk about Switch 2’s features without bringing up GameChat, Nintendo’s solution to online communication with its own dedicated “C” button. Not only can you video chat with friends while playing games, but the console has a built-in microphone. Players can even stream their gameplay to one another. Certain games have built-in functionality for a Nintendo Switch 2 Camera peripheral, where games like Super Mario Party Jamboree can place an image of your face next to your character. However, a Nintendo Switch Online membership will be required to use GameChat after March 31, 2026.
Comparatively, Steam Deck is feature-lite. It’s a dedicated handheld machine primarily focused on playing games available on Steam. However, it gains the additional benefit of an enormous software library. Whereas Switch 2 titles will need direct ports, Steam Deck owners will have access to a wider range of games.
Switch is the champion of form-factor versatility, and the new features coming to the Switch 2 solidify that. Steam Deck pulls ahead with software diversity, but the inventiveness of the Switch 2 is impressive.
Winner: Nintendo Switch 2
The Winner Is… the Nintendo Switch 2
Is it premature to award the crown to a console that isn’t out yet? Maybe, but the Switch 2 is shaping up to be a phenomenal machine surpassing the Steam Deck in versatility of features and graphics performance. In Steam Deck’s defense, there’s no telling what a successor could be capable of, especially with the AMD Z2 Extreme APU yearning desperately for implementation.
There is one element that the current Steam Deck is ahead in: value. Switch 2 is expensive, and its software, even moreso. If you’re concerned about game prices in the future, Steam Deck is likely your best bet.
Otherwise, Switch 2 has awesome new features like Joy-Con that can act as mice and a powerful Nvidia SoC with DLSS support. On top of everything that already made Switch fantastic, it’s shaping up to be the stronger choice.
It’s a new month (May, for those without a calendar nearby), so of course you can find a new batch of LEGO sets waiting to be exchanged for your hard-earned cash. The majority of this month’s new releases fall in the LEGO Star Wars category, in celebration of May the Fourth. But a handful of other notable sets are also coming out this month, plus a number of new preorders have gone live for sets releasing later this year. Let’s take a look.
LEGO Mario Kart Releases May 15
Most LEGO Mario sets are in the toy-like series aimed at little kids. But my very favorite are the bigger sets aimed at adults that have you build iconic imagery from the series, like the Mario & Yoshi LEGO set or LEGO Piranha Plant. This new one, featuring Mario riding a kart, is out just ahead of the Nintendo Switch 2, which is launching alongside Mario Kart World on June 5.
New LEGO Star Wars Sets Are Out
A new batch of LEGO Star Wars sets is now available in celebration of Star Wars Day, which as always, lands on May the Fourth. The headliner here is Jango Fett’s starship, but the rest of the sets are equally cool.
LEGO Avengers: Endgame Final Battle Is Now Available
The final battle of Avengers: Endgame is one of the most iconic scenes in recent cinema history. You can now re-create it with this set that’s filled with super hero minifigures ranging from Iron Man and Doctor Strange to The Scarlet Witch and Black Panther. You also get a large Thanos LEGO figure and a giant Ant-Man mech.
LEGO Botanicals: Petite Sunny Bouquet Is Now Available
LEGO flower sets have become incredibly popular in recent years. And with Mother’s Day landing on May 11, now is a great time to pick up the latest release in the LEGO Botanicals series. It’s the Petite Sunny Bouquet, and it looks like a perfect addition what with Spring settling in nicely across the northern hemisphere.
LEGO Art: Keith Haring – Dancing Figures Is Out May 15
Another entry in the LEGO sets for adults category is this one from the LEGO Art line. It’s a buildable re-creation of pop artist Keith Haring’s iconic dancing figures. This set comes with five instruction booklets (one for each figure), so you can build them with friends or family members if you want. Once complete, the figures can be displayed by hanging them on your wall, or you can use the included stands to set them on a shelf or desk.
LEGO Formula 1 Race Cars Are Now Available
Also out this month is a fun new addition to LEGO car sets. But these aren't your standard car sets. These are tiny F1 collectible race cars. There are 12 cars to collect, but they come in mystery boxes, so you won’t know which one you got until you open it. There’s also a display podium if you manage to collect them all.
New LEGO Sets Up for Preorder
In addition to this month’s new releases, a handful of upcoming LEGO sets have gone up for preorder lately as well. It’s unclear why the good people at LEGO didn’t release the Andor K-2SO Security Droid set this month, seeing it’s May the Fourth and Andor is in the process of airing on Disney+, but you’ll have to wait until August to piece that one together. The Sherlock Holmes Book Nooks is absolutely delightful, as it's a detailed take on Baker Street, but you can also fold it up and put between books on your bookshelf.
The Iron Spider-Man bust and Fortnite Mecha Team Leader are cool too, as are the two new LEGO Technic car sets. And for anyone looking to add some class to their abode or workplace, the new LEGO Bontanicals bonsai tree set is great as well. There's also a new Batmobile set based on Batman Forever, which is set to release on August 1.
Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN's board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Bluesky.
LEGO enthusiasts, here's a massive Star Wars set to add your collection at its lowest price ever. Starting now and running through "May the 4th" or Star Wars Day, the Lego Shop is offering the massive LEGO Star Wars The Razor Crest 75331 Ultimate Collector Series Set for just $479.99 with free shipping after a 20% off instant discount (it's normally $600). You'll need to sign up for a (free) LEGO Insiders membership to get this discount.
20% Off LEGO Star Wars The Razor Crest (Ulimate Collector Series)
The Razor Crest 75331 consists of 6,187 pieces, which makes it the third largest Star Wars set in brick count. The resulting build is impressively large at 20" long, 29" wide, and 10" high. This is an offical Ultimate Collector Series - or UCS - set. The UCS models are the largest and most detailed Star Wars sets that LEGO produces and an obvious pick for collectors. They are also technically challenging build that are aimed at adult (18+) builders and the instruction manuals are often hundreds of pages long; the Razor Crest is no exception with about 250 pages.
This is a faithful recreation of the iconic ship from The Mandalorian TV series. The detailed interior is easily accessible and features two removable engines and cockpit, two side hatches, a cargo compartment with space for the included Blurrg minifigure, a weapons cabinet, a LEGO minifigure sized carbon-freezing chamber, and detachable escape pod with space for another minifig. Five minifigs are included: the Mandalorian (set exclusive), Mythrol, Kuiil, Grogu in a pram, and a Blurrg.
Although this is a complex build, the interior is made of different color-coded interior components and different steps are individually packaged in bags to make the process more user friendly. Although the Razor Crest is fully intended to be more of a display piece, it's more interactive than most other UCS sets with a lot of internal elements that you can explore even after the build is completed. If you're a LEGO Star Wars collector, this is a must-buy.
Star Wars Day lands on Sunday, May 4
May the 4th promises many more Star Wars related deals, and several online stores have already announced that some of their Star Wars paraphernalia will be on discount on that day. These retailers include Amazon, Target, Walmart, Sideshow, Dark Horse, and many more.
Retired LEGO sets that are still available at Amazon
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.
Scopely has partnered with Disney for a Star Wars collaboration that brings characters and locations from across The Skywalker Saga and The Mandalorian to Monopoly Go!.
The two media giants detailed their crossover event further with a trailer this morning, explaining that Monopoly Go! players can unlock and enjoy Star Wars content for the next two months starting today. Scopely says the event is “rooted in a deep and compelling narrative” that follows local robot Peg-E after she visits Mr. Monopoly’s movie theater.
“Captivated by the cinematic magic of Star Wars, her daydreams take flight, reimagining the MONOPOLY GO! universe within the Star Wars galaxy,” an official description says. “In the ensuing adventure, players will be transported into timeless tales of good and evil, Jedi and Sith, and the light and dark side — kickstarting a series of action-packed in-game events, collectibles and surprises.”
With the Monopoly Go! Star Wars crossover comes a limited-time 22-sticker album that ties to the Star Wars universe. May the 4th, specifically, will see players gifted an exclusive token, with a variety of other themed additions available to nab throughout the duration of the collaboration. You can see a list of highlights included, as outlined by Scopely, below.
Monopoly Go! x Star Wars Crossover Event
‘Pod’ and ‘Rebel’ Racers: Race iconic Star Wars vehicles through the Mos Espa Grand Arena and the frozen wasteland of Hoth in a twist on MONOPOLY GO!’s high-stakes multiplayer event, Tycoon Racers.
‘Star Wars’, ‘Jedi’ and ‘Hyperspace’ Partners Events: Team up with friends to construct larger-than-life Star Wars-themed statues of iconic characters and starships from the Star Wars galaxy, and reap fantastic rewards together.
‘Tatooine’, ‘Jawa’ and ‘Tusken’ Treasures: Journey to the Outer Rim planet Tatooine in three special dig-themed events, uncovering relics and treasures inspired by the Star Wars canon.
Exclusive Collectibles: Collect themed tokens, emojis, signature dice, and shields by completing sticker albums and event challenges, bringing galactic flair to the MONOPOLY GO! experience.
The launch of the Monopoly Go! and Star Wars crossover follows its official reveal as the latest Scopely collaboration last month. Its full debut today gives players until July 2 to enjoy what it has to offer. For more, you can read up on how Scopely made headlines in March when it confirmed it would purchase Pokémon Go-maker Niantic Inc. for $3.5 billion.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor 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).
The Nintendo Switch 2 is approaching, and for at least some of its launch catalog, companies are opting for Game-Key Cards rather than fully on-cart physical games. This has understandably not been thrilling for people trying to collect physical game collections, and that includes those trying to preserve games in the long-term.
Switch 2 Game-Key Cards are physical cards that only contain a key to download your chosen game. That means there’s no actual game data on the card you insert into your Switch 2, so you’ll need to download it once the card is inserted. Every Game-Key Card case is appropriately labeled on the lower portion of the front of the box, so if you’re concerned about what exactly you’re purchasing, you should have a heads-up right away.
In a feature over on GamesIndustry.biz, the outlet spoke with several games preservationists about Nintendo's Game-Key Cards, and what a digital, download-focused approach does for their work. Nightdive Studios CEO Stephen Kick addressed the issue fairly head-on.
"Seeing Nintendo do this is a little disheartening," said Kick. "You would hope that a company that big, that has such a storied history, would take preservation a little more seriously."
As pointed out later in the piece by John-Paul Dyson, director of the International Center for the History of Electronic Games at The Strong Museum, some games are difficult to document due to the volatility of online distribution. He highlighted mobile games as one particular challenge, as their versions change with time. The Strong Museum's solution, it sounds like, is to preserve several versions of a game throughout its lifetime.
Storing and accessing games also becomes an issue, as does any DRM checks on the software. Moving everything onto digital downloads could have an impact on archiving, regardless of whether physical or digital is more popular for sales.
On the upside, as was pointed out by GI.biz's piece, companies like Square Enix, Capcom, Sega, and Taito have committed to archiving past development materials. Even the scope of what should be saved is unclear though. Should it just be the game, or should there be presentations, notes, and everything else involved, to preserve as much history as possible?
Game-Key Cards have already drawn some controversy over the continued move towards digital versus physical collections. It's interesting to hear how these affect not just our buying options now, though, but the people trying to ensure we keep our current era preserved for future generations.
I've put way too many hours into Stardew Valley building my own cozy little farm. And although taking care of a farm is its own full-time job, I always try to find time to make every character's favorite foods. The recipes in Stardew Valley can be pretty simple but the final pixelated result always looks appetizing to me. I've definitely imagined what each dish tastes like as I whip it up in the game, but I never really thought about making the recipes in real life until I came across the Stardew Valley cookbook.
The official cookbook for the game was written in collaboration with the game's creator ConcernedApe (Eric Barone). As someone who loves Stardew Valley and cooking, I've put this video game cookbook at the top of my gift wishlist for 2025.
The Official Stardew Valley Cookbook - On Sale Now
The Official Stardew Valley Cookbook came out back in May 2024, so it's been almost an entire year of me not knowing it existed. Thanks to all of that time, however, it is currently down to its lowest price ever on Amazon. At just under $20, it's one of the cheapest gifts you could get for Stardew fan (other than the actual game).
The cookbook itself contains 50 recipes that are based on the actual in-game meals. Similar to the game, it's ordered by season so you can follow along and make each recipe when the ingredients are most likely to be at their freshest. Included are a ton of original illustrations as well as recipes written in the voice of various characters from the game. You can check out a quick preview of what to expect in the slideshow below.
See more video game cookbooks
Altough the Stardew Valley cookbook is my favorite one of these, there are actually quite a few other video game cookbooks you can buy right now. There are options from Elder Scrolls, The Witcher, Fallout, and even Minecraft. You can preorder cookbooks made for Pac-Man (sure, why not) and Borderlands, both of which are coming out in 2025. This is a whole genre that is absolutely thriving.
Despite several ongoing Spider-Man movie franchises, the Spider-Verse movies still managed to take the world by storm. They're perhaps best known for the animation itself, which features a mix of art styles and hand-crafted visual textures. The Spider-Verse movies also feature solid writing, particularly surrounding Miles and his family, as well as great soundtracks. Across the Spider-Verse in particular is a movie I can pretty much watch on a loop without getting bored.
The only bad thing I have to say about these movies? They’ve been a pain in the butt to find on streaming. As someone who canceled my Netflix subscription for the new Disney+ and Hulu bundle, I ended up getting both of these movies on Blu-ray. Well, turns out I could have just waited a little longer.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse left Netflix on April 26, and starting today, May 1, it has a new streaming home on Disney+.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Now Streaming on Disney+
The Spider-Man movie's transition to the Disney-owned streaming service doesn't come as a surprise. Sony movies make their way to Netflix for 18 months after their initial run in theaters, known as a Pay-1 window, before moving to Disney+ for the Pay-2 window. As reported by Variety, the deal covers theatrical releases from 2022-2026. As far as we know, Across the Spider-Verse should be sticking around on Disney+ for the foreseeable future.
The first Spider-Verse movie released before Sony’s deal with Netflix and Disney, so Into the Spider-Verse is still tied to a cable licensing agreement. You can find the movie on live TV subscriptions like Hulu + Live TV, or otherwise through digital marketplaces like Prime Video. There’s also the physical release, seen below.
What Else Is Coming to Disney+ in May?
Star Wars Day is around the corner, and the home of all things Star Wars is naturally part of the celebrations. Andor will be wrapping up Season 2 this month, while all six episodes of Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld Season 1 drop on May 4. Disney+ will also get “walkthroughs” of the Galaxy’s Edge and Rise of the Resistance attractions from the Disneyland Resorts, continuing to consolidate the Disney brand.
Update 3:20pm ET: These consoles at yesterday's prices are selling out. The standard Xbox Series X is currently not available from any major retailer for yesterday's price. If you want any of the Xboxes that haven't had their price hikes yet, I'd click that buy button sooner than later.
Microsoft has announced a price hike for Xbox consoles, controllers, and eventually games. The recommended retail price on hardware goes into effect immediately, while the $79.99 price on new first-party games is set to hit this holiday season. That means if you’ve been thinking of picking up a new Xbox Series X|S or controller, you’ll want to do it sooner than later. The new, higher prices are already live from Xbox’s official store. However, you can still get the old prices at some retailers – at least for now.
Xbox Series X
Xbox Series X 1TB Digital Edition - $449 (Going Up to $549 Soon)
Note: the Xbox Series X is currently out of stock everywhere it had been available for $499 earlier. You can buy one for the new MSRP of $599 at Microsoft and Walmart (albeit from a third-party seller in Walmart's case).
The Xbox Series X is the flagship Xbox, with enough power to run games at 4K resolution. It’s a beast, and I love mine even more than my PS5. I also like being able to buy and play physical games, so I have the standard model listed up top above. But if you can live with going all-digital in terms of games, you can grab the digital edition instead and save $50.
Xbox Series S
Xbox Series S 512GB - $299 (Going Up to $379 Soon)
For those who don’t mind embracing an all-digital gaming future, the Series S may be the one to get. However, it does have a big drawback in terms of raw power. The Series S is designed to run games at 1440p resolution instead of 4K. If that works for you, this is a terrific console to get. It comes in 512GB or 1TB models. Personally, I’d get the 1TB model, because games take up a ton of space these days, and Xbox storage is expensive.
Xbox Wireless Controllers
Some Xbox controllers are also getting a bump in price. There are a lot of different kinds of Xbox controllers, and they’re not all getting the same price hike. In fact, some aren’t getting a price hike at all. And pricing on these has been more fluid than Xbox consoles, so the price hike probably won’t be as visible here than it is on the consoles above. That said, here are the price changes on Xbox controllers going forward:
Xbox Wireless Controller (Core) - $64.99
Xbox Wireless Controller (Color) - $69.99
Xbox Wireless Controller - Special Edition - $79.99
Xbox Wireless Controller - Limited Edition - $89.99 (up from $79.99)
Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 (Core) - $149.99 (up from $139.99)
Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 (Full) - $199.99 (up from $179.99)
Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN's board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Bluesky.
In celebration of its 50th anniversary this year, Steven Spielberg's Jaws is getting a fancy 4K steelbook that's full of exciting bonus features for fans to dig into. The steelbook is currently available to preorder at Amazon and Walmart with a release date of June 17. The former currently has it listed at $34.99 while the latter is down to $29.96, but these prices could shift as we get closer to the release date. If you're not interested in the steelbook, there's also a standard 4K 50th Anniversary Edition (see here at Amazon for $29.98) releasing on the same day.
Below we've broken down where you can purchase each version of the Jaws 50th Anniversary Edition release, alongside what bonus features come packaged inside.
The Jaws 50th Anniversary 4K steelbook features excellent artwork that highlights the film's characters, some iconic Amity Island landmarks, The Orca boat, and of course, the shark at the center. This edition comes with a 4K, Blu-ray, and digital copy of the film alongside a sweet selection of bonus features which we've detailed further down.
The main difference between this steelbook edition and the standard edition is, of course the steelbook, which folds out and has some cool art that's pulled right from the movie itself. The slipcase art is a little more dynamic than the standard one as well (though the standard edition art is awesome in a classic way in its own right).
Preorder Jaws 50th Anniversary Edition 4K
If you'd prefer the non-steelbook Jaws 50th Anniversary Edition 4K, this features the classic cover design and all of the same bonus features that come with the steelbook.
Jaws 50th Anniversary Edition Bonus Features
There's a treasure trove of bonus features available with the Jaws 50th Anniversary 4K release, including an all-new documentary called Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story. Here's everything you'll get to sink your teeth into, per the press release:
Deleted Scenes and Outtakes – Over 13 minutes of content
The Making of JAWS- An insider look into the making of this classic film, this original full-length documentary is filled with exhaustive cast and crew interviews, archival footage, outtakes, and much more!
JAWS: The Restoration - An in-depth look at the intricate process of restoring the movie.
The Shark is Still Working: The Impact and Legacy of JAWS- A fan-made documentary that focuses on the many ways JAWS has helped shape elements of pop culture and influence a generation of filmmakers.
JAWS Archives
Storyboards
Production Photos
Marketing JAWS
JAWS Phenomenon
From the Set – Available on Disc only
Theatrical Trailer
JAWS @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story - Steven Spielberg shares an authorized look inside the story of JAWS in this documentary. From Peter Benchley’s epic novel to Spielberg’s film, JAWS continues to influence pop culture, cinema and shark conservation. With interviews from Hollywood’s most influential directors and shark scientists, the legend of JAWS is endless.
IGN can exclusively reveal that Revival, a TV series adaptation of the Image Comics title of the same name, will premiere Thursday, June 12 at 10 p.m. on SYFY. Episodes will then be available on Peacock one week after they air.
You can watch the brand new trailer for Revival via the player above or the embed below. We also have the new poster for the show below.
Based on the bestselling Image Comics series from Tim Seeley and Mike Norton, Revival stars Melanie Scrofano, Romy Weltman, David James Elliott, and Andy McQueen.
The series’ recurring guest stars include Steven Ogg, CM Punk, Gia Sandhu, Katherine King So, Maia Jae Bastidas, Nathan Dales, Mark Little, Glen Gould, Lara Jean Chorostecki, and Conrad Coates.
“On one miraculous day in rural Wisconsin, the recently deceased suddenly rise from their graves. But this is no zombie story as the ‘revived’ appear and act just like they once were,” according to the official plot synopsis.
“When local Officer and single mother Dana Cypress is unexpectedly thrown into the center of a brutal murder mystery of her own, she’s left to make sense of the chaos amidst a town gripped by fear and confusion where everyone, alive or undead, is a suspect.”
Series creators Aaron B. Koontz and Luke Boyce serve as showrunners and executive producers. Lance Samuels, Daniel Iron, Samantha Levine, Neil Tabatznik, Daniel March, Melanie Scrofano, Greg Hemmings, Stephen Foster & Amanda Row also serve as executive producers.
Revival is produced by Blue Ice Pictures and Hemmings Films.
Helldivers 2 is gearing up for some news, and developer Arrowhead Game Studios seems confident it will impress. Or, as Arrowhead's CEO is framing it, you might want to prepare yourself.
As spotted by VideoGamer, Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani was discussing Helldivers 2 in the game's Discord when a user asked him if he could "offer up anything, however small, of what's coming down the pipe." His response?
"You'll shit your pants."
While not specific about what's in store, it does at least give us an idea of the impact of what's in store. And the possible consequences to our britches, too.
Jorjani took a few other questions, with some notable mentions of wanting to add more bladed weapons and some thoughtful responses to worries about content droughts. There's some open transparency about the technical debt of something like Helldivers 2, and how the team handles it over time, that's really cool to see alongside funny quotes about distressing your jeans.
There's already been some tease about what's to come, involving a flag with both a pointy end and a grippy section. Currently, Arrowhead said it is aiming for May 8 to announce its next Warbond, and there will be "more exciting news to come not long after."
In a recent interview with IGN, Arrowhead's production director Alex Bolle said the studio wants to be around for "years and years and years to come," and that it's continuing to work on developing Helldivers 2 while staying true to what the team wants to do.
"The more we figure out how to thrive in a live environment, and we still have a way to go to figure out a lot of things around that, the more we can let creativity loose on new systems that we would've never thought about a year ago when we released," Bolle told IGN. "I've worked on live games before and it's where you feel like you have something you can figure out: what if I would do this cool thing I've seen in other games and adapt it to our sauce, that still makes it true to ourselves? I'm looking forward to this moment."
We'll start to find out what cool things Arrowhead has in store for Helldivers 2 next week. You might want to bring some extra pants.
If you're looking for Infinity Nikki codes, IGN has you covered! In this article, you'll find a list of active and working Infinity Nikki codes that you can redeem for free rewards and bonuses in May 2025, including Diamonds and Energy Crystals.
Active Infinity Nikki Codes (May 2025)
Below, you'll find all the active and working Infinity Nikki codes in May 2025, the free rewards you get for redeeming them, and their expiry date (if known):
The Infinity Nikki codes listed below have expired and are no longer working as of May 2025:
NOSTRANGELINKS
WARMSPRINGBONUS
RevelrySeasonDC
GIRLPOWER25
100THDAYCELEBRATION
MAYEVERYGIRLHAPPINESS
Newstoryawaits
Newyearbliss
NIKKIFIREWORKS
NIKKIEXCURSIONTIME
NIKKINEWBLOOM2025
HEARTFELTGIFTS
NIKKIBEWITHYOU
NIKKIRELEASE
dreamweavernikki
NIKKI20241022
infinitynikki1205
BDAYSURPRISE
GIFTFROMMOMO
GIFTTONIKKI
nikkihappybirthday2024
NIKKITHEBEST
QUACKQUACK
AAbNxRNMmSm
AAbQjjYKwbH
AAb7xf6hWuS
AAbtWkna3V7
AAbaEyDU4EX
AAbMNJX8hxF
AAb5S3RSK8M
AAbUfWnYUtd
AAbUa8e2U3a
AAbtk9jmpnV
How to Redeem Infinity Nikki Codes
To redeem Infinity Nikki codes, follow the steps below:
Unlock your Pear-Pal during the Chapter 1: Wishes Without Wings - Land of Wishes main quest. It's about 20 minutes into your Infinity Nikki adventure.
Open the Pear-Pal menu by pressing ESC on PC (or the Menu button when using an Xbox controller on PC), the Menu button on PlayStation, or by tapping the Pear-Pal icon in the top-left corner on mobile.
Click on the gear icon to open the Settings menu.
Scroll over to the Other tab.
You’ll see a “Redeem Code” option here. Click on “Apply” and a Redeem Rewards pop-up menu will appear.
Input your code into the “Enter the redeem code” field and tap “Apply.”
If successful, a pop-up will appear showing your free rewards.
Why Isn't My Infinity Nikki Code Working?
If the Infinity Nikki code that you're trying to redeem isn't working, it's likely due to one of the following reasons:
There's a typo in the code.
The Infinity Nikki code is expired.
When inputting a code into Infinity Nikki, make sure there are no typos (Os instead of zeroes, capital Is instead of lowercase Ls, etc.) and that there are no accidental spaces before or after the code. If your Infinity Nikki code still doesn't work, it's probably expired and can no longer be redeemed. You'll get a message informing you that the code is wrong if it's expired.
How to Get More Infinity Nikki Codes
The best way to get more Infinity Nikki codes is to join the official Infinity Nikki Discord server. Once you're in, head to the #self-assign-roles channel and opt-in for the Redeem Code role. You'll receive a notification when a new code is released so you can receive your free rewards ASAP!
Alternatively, bookmark this Infinity Nikki Codes article, as we update it each time a new code comes out. The Discord server has missed a couple of codes posted to other channels, so we'd recommend checking our article every so often.
What is Infinity Nikki?
Developed by Infold Games, Infinity Nikki is a cozy, open-world RPG. You play as Nikki, as she's whisked away to the world of Miraland, a place where people make Wishes with the help of Stylists. You'll find and create a plethora of outfits and accessories, take on quests, and gather many types of collectibles with the help of Momo, Nikki's adorable feline companion. As you play, you earn Diamonds, which can be spent on Revelation and Resonite Crystals, which are used to pull on the limited time and permanent outfit banners for 5-star and 4-star clothing.
Meg Koepp is a Guides Editor on the IGN Guides team, with a focus on trends. When she's not working, you can find her playing an RPG or spending time with her corgi.
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