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Any time you look at or talk about Exodus, the upcoming space opera RPG from Archetype Entertainment, the Mass Effect comparisons start flying at light speed. I mean, Exodus narrative director Drew Karpyshyn played a major role as a writer and lead at BioWare to shape the stories of its biggest hits. In our conversation following my hands-on preview of Exodus, he told me that Mass Effect is a perfectly fine way for people to wrap their head around what this new game is. The parallels don't end with the Paladin/Immortal morality system or the romance and relationship dynamics that are going to drive the story, either. He hinted at how the decisions you make can impact Exodus' ending. Of course, that's not exclusive to BioWare games by any stretch, but when the Mass Effect 2's suicide mission is regarded as a series pinnacle, no one would blame to draw a quick comparison. When I asked about the relationship systems in Exodus, Karpyshyn emphasized wanting to make them feel real and said it's about, "[M]aking their relationship with you grow, allowing it to evolve from the choices you've made, and realizing that the choices you make are going to bring some companions closer to you, but maybe push some companions farther away." He took it one step further, and told me, "Without spoiling too much, we definitely want to have it impact how their storylines go." Then he took it another step further and concluded, "Depending on choices you make, by the end of the game, you might not have every companion with you that you started with. That's about all I can say!" Those are aspects of an RPG in this style that I would've bet on being included, but it's nice to get confirmation that Exodus is following suit. However, from our conversation it may not seem like it's entirely due to characters facing life-or-death situations. He talked at length about companions butting heads with you and being conflicted about what you say and the actions you take in key moments. He expanded on how other in-game events can factor into how the story unfolds, saying, "Even within that optional content, there are choices that will lock or unlock certain things, change the way things play out, change relationships, change characters, change… future… missions…" Hmm, smells like loyalty missions to me! Perhaps companions can reach a breaking point and leave the party entirely. And maybe their affinity toward you or the situations they face throughout the story will impact their survival in the end. We'll know for sure when Exodus launches on April 7, 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. For more on the upcoming sci-fi RPG, be sure to check out my hands-on preview for Exodus and read my full interview with Drew Karpyshyn. Michael Higham is an editor at IGN who regularly contributes with reviews, previews, features, and news in written and video form. He's usually entrusted with covering long RPGs and tech products, but he's got range when it comes to games. You'll also catch him at events and hosting video content, including IGN's weekly podcast Unlocked. View the full article

With a six-year gap between the original Death Stranding and its 2025 sequel, it's not often the fans of the Kojima Productions franchise have something new to look forward to. That's about to change, after a brand-new Death Strandingrelease was confirmed for 2027. View the full article

We have just shipped an updated Steam Client to the Preview/Beta channel. General Fixed a case where the steamwebhelper process could experience high CPU usage when certain events were shown in the library tab. View the full article

Even after an hour spent exploring its bustling streets, I'm still not sure what Ananta is. Billed as an "open-world RPG", that descriptor does little to explain the vast hodge-podge of ideas and systems that have been crammed into this game, which in turn do little to explain how it can possibly be free-to-play given its bizarrely massive scope. A combination of anime excess and mechanics borrowed from games far more innovative than itself, Ananta stepped triumphantly out of Gamescom as the third most-wishlisted game of the show behind Warlock and The Witcher 3. But that still doesn't help explain just how many ideas it stapled together in barely 60 minutes of playtime. My demo begins with a fight between my impossibly-handsome anime protagonist, who's concealing what looks suspiciously like the Venom symbiote from Marvel's Spider-Man 2 beneath his sharp suit. A fight with a collection of goons lets me fling manhole covers at advancing enemies, stepping up to beat them silly before flipping over them with a well-timed finishing move. I'd never played Ananta before last week, but I had no problems with the controls, because they feel very similar to those from a game I first played in the last few years. Of course, Insomniac isn't the only studio with the rights to make their combat feel that way. But later I'm given the opportunity to explore the city… by swinging through it by shooting out my arms to slingshot off buildings. Once again, it's pretty easy to get to grips with. Ananta's web connects us all (Image credit: NetEase Games) Key info Developer: Naked Rain Publisher: NetEase Games Platform(s): PC, PS5, Mobile Release date: January 15, 2027 The good news is that this isn't a reskin of a Peter Parker adventure. That's because between the fight and the exploration, I get into a massive car chase. For some of that time, I'm leaning out of a window, pumping lead into the windows and tires of an unending stream of bad-guy jeeps until each one in turn careens off the motorway or into traffic. For the rest of it, I'm behind the wheel, following an increasingly small and an increasingly unlikely route of side alleys and construction sites. Both the driving and the gunplay are solid, which is a pleasant surprise given how often something has to slip in 'jack-of-all-trades' games like this. The car chase is only possible with the arrival of a second playable character, who pulls off a devilish maneuver to save my original hero that's only hindered by its even-more devilish use of jiggle physics as she wrestles with the gear stick. Once the chase is over, I'm able to swap to this second character at any point while I explore the city, zooming out before zeroing in on their location in a manner this time lifted from both Spider-Man and GTA 5. My new character is a cop, and while my first can swing through the city using the tentacles extending from his arms, my second has her own power: the ability to question and detain random passers-by. The unfortunate salaryman I stumble across flees in fear when I try to arrest him after his breathalyzer test comes back clean, and the dev watching my play-session isn't much less alarmed. (Image credit: NetEase Games) The city I'm exploring in this section of Ananta is inspired by China's massive conurbations, and it gives me a sense of what the feeling of exploring the full game might be. As well as more random goon encounters, there are gyms, cinemas, and shops to explore, hinting at a vastly immersive version of just this one map. It's the most intriguing aspect of Ananta, but I get no time to explore it in detail, because the demo then sweeps me onto an entirely different part of the game. This new section introduces new characters in a new map, with an entirely new gameplay approach. Instead of battles or exploration, it's a stealth section focused on two young sisters, and instead of taking place in a major city, I'm sneaking out of a rural temple. Not even the goons are the same – in the city I was fighting off rust-punk bad guys in leathers and Mad Max-style vehicles. Here, I'm trying to evade organized kidnappers in sharp suits and animal masks. And once I'm free, I'm dropped into an entirely new part of Ananta's open-world, this one inspired by a quiet town in the Japanese countryside, where the gyms and cinemas are replaced by fairground games and market stalls. It's very pretty, but a complete non-sequitur to the rest of the game, with no connective tissue between the two halves of the demo. (Image credit: NetEase Games) But, I feel like that's indicative of what Ananta is. An 'everything game', where so many different ideas are thrown together so quickly and eclectically that the average player simply doesn't have time to get bored of one before they move onto another. So what if the exploration and traversal systems are lifted wholesale from games you've already seen? So what if the only thing disguising that is anime art that does nothing to reinvent those systems, and simply obscures their origins instead? There's so much going on, so much of it taken all-but wholesale from other places, that Ananta barely holds together anything resembling its own identity. It's a series of ideas delivered better elsewhere, just good enough that it doesn't fall apart at the seams, but not good enough that those seams are holding together anything of any real worth. As a free-to-play spin on a world that speaks to some of the ideas contained within GTA 6, I'm sure Ananta will do very well, and its anime stylings will do enough to attract and distract an impressive audience. But, after an initial bust of interest, I'm not sure that audience will find all that much to keep them around. An-after more like this? Our games like GTA recommendations might help, and our best open world games ranking offers more huge adventures! [/url]View the full article

Back in 2006, Rare found itself at a crossroads. The developer had spent the 1990s working with Nintendo, creating some of the SNES, Game Boy, and N64's most beloved titles. In 2002, though, it was acquired by Microsoft, becoming a first-party developer for its new game console. In the transition, some of Rare's magic seemed to have been lost. None of the four games it developed in the intervening years were hits, critically or commercially, on anything like the scale of its Nintendo golden years. As such, 2006's Viva Piñata was positioned as a comeback for the studio. The game was aimed at a younger audience and was intended to be the beginning of a fully fledged franchise, complete with its own animated TV show. On these terms, the game was not the success it deserved to be – but it proved that the embers of that old Rare magic still burned bright. (Image credit: Rare) In Viva Piñata, the player is handed the deeds to a rough patch of land and tasked with turning it into a bustling garden by filling it with plants, decorations, and – the game's undisputed stars – animals. Piñatas, to be precise, of which there are 60 varieties, from Arocknid to Zumbug, to attract into your garden with the hope that they'll make it their home. This is achieved by meeting a tick list of needs for each species: the right kind of tree for them to nest in, enough water for aquatic creatures to splash around in, and the component parts of their diet. It's a gentle start to the game, but the process of winning over a piñata is truly satisfying. Spotting a new species for the first time is a treat. All 60 are charmingly designed, with names that pun on a type of sweet, like Profitamole or Buzzlegum. Visiting piñatas start out monochrome, but convince them to become residents and they'll bloom into full colour, revealing their vibrant blues, yellows and purples – the perfect visual reward for your efforts. It's not hard to see why Microsoft saw the opportunity for a kid's TV series in Viva Piñata. Cuteness can be an easy thing to dismiss, but Rare pulls it off here with the kind of deft hand usually reserved for Disney cartoons and litters of puppies. Every bit of incidental animation is charming, bringing the piñatas and their world to adorable life. Don't you dare smash one (Image credit: Rare) Back in the Nintendo days, Rare had created Banjo-Kazooie, a series of kid-friendly games which were among the biggest sellers on the N64. In the Donkey Kong Country games, it filled out DK's supporting cast with the likes of Diddy and Cranky Kong. After the failure of Kameo: Elements of Power, an Xbox 360 launch title with a similar Saturday-morning cartoon aesthetic and a Pokémon-like cast of creatures, Viva Piñata provided much-needed proof that the design talent behind those older games was still alive and well. Viva Piñata is more than just a pretty face, though. As the game progresses, it drip-feeds the player a steady stream of new challenges. First, the introduction of ‘piñatavores', which won't settle in your garden until they've eaten one of its existing residents. There's a certain old-lady-who-swallowed-a-fly logic to attracting some piñatas at the top of the food chain: you lure in a Mousemallow to feed to a Syrupent, then feed the Syrupent to a Macaracoon and so on. This is further complicated by the ability to breed animals, which involves checking off another set of requirements to help get them in the mood. Smaller piñatas, it seems, serve as the perfect aphrodisiac. This can test your loyalties – say you want to breed the foxy Pretztails, but have grown attached to the two Bunnycombs who have settled in the garden. Naturally you get the latter to do what rabbits do best, and make another Bunnycomb – so you can feed that cute little baby straight to a Pretztail. (Image credit: Rare) As you nudge forward through the game, waiting for the right animal to wander into your garden, tending to plants, and building homes for your favourites, the initially gentle pace begins to snowball. Viva Piñata introduces ‘sour' piñatas, who drop sweets that can poison a resident; weeds that can spring up and choke your existing plants; masked Ruffians who vandalise and start fights. It's around this point that you begin to glimpse the game's hidden dark side. Rotten candy (Image credit: Rare) Family-friendly games weren't the only thing Rare was known for. Titles such as Killer Instinct, GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark brought a vital edge to Nintendo's catalogue. Conker, one of the cutesy animal characters created for Diddy Kong Racing, was revamped into a sweary, hard-drinking squirrel armed with Uzis and a chainsaw. By 2006, though, games had to work considerably harder to shock. Six months after the launch of Conker's Bad Fur Day, Rockstar changed the gaming landscape with the release of Grand Theft Auto III. Xbox consoles had made their name with the likes of Halo, Splinter Cell and – launched just days before Viva Piñata – Gears of War. An attempt to return to Rare's more bloody roots with Perfect Dark Zero proved disappointing. While it may not have been obvious on the surface, though, some of this spirit lived on in Viva Piñata. The violence is kept strictly PG – when a piñata is killed, they pop open and spill their sweets on the ground, accompanied by the sound of children cheering – but it's effective because the game has encouraged you to invest in these creatures. The early game incentivises naming your piñatas with mechanical reward, sneakily building attachment. After all, which are you going to care more about, ‘Horstachio 1' or the one named after your childhood ****? As anyone who's watched Bambi or The Lion King will tell you, the death of loved animals isn't exactly out of the realms of *********** entertainment, but Rare finds new opportunities to twist the knife. Those spilt sweets will get eaten by passing piñatas, meaning it's not unusual to catch a treasured Fudgehog snaffling up the innards of its former lover. The circle of life, lovingly rendered in all its gory glory. (Image credit: Rare) And then Dastardos floats into your garden. The game's equivalent of the Grim Reaper, Dastardos is genuinely sinister. He glides just off the ground, a rigid expression on his Picasso mask, towards any piñatas who have fallen sick. "Dastardos has invented a cheerful song to help him through the day and make piñatas calm while he ‘fixes' them," reads the in-game description. By fixing, of course, it means bashing them open with a big stick. Suffice to say, Dastardos is not a welcome presence in your garden. But as the pace picks up, he's an increasingly common sight. Viva Piñata increases the tension through something that's either a trick smartly borrowed from survival-horror games or a brilliant accident: the tools it gives you are just a little imprecise. The game plays out in real time, and its controls often make it feel like you're trying to complete a very delicate task with a very long pole. (Image credit: Rare) This is an offshoot of the god-game genre, but one which casts you as a hapless god. Your shovel can be brought down like a lightning bolt from Zeus, but you lack that all-important omniscience – meaning you can only react to things once they've already started happening. Turn your back for one second too long, and a wild piñata can sneak into your garden on the hunt. The game pings you with a notification when this happens, but if you don't act quickly, it'll all be over before you can intervene. When things start to go wrong, you can suddenly find yourself drowning in notifications, trying to pick through all the ones about plants drying out to get to the real trouble. Two of your favourite piñatas are fighting, so you reach for the shovel and… Too late. One of them falls to the ground, sickly green. You notice a gate open in the pen separating predators from prey… Too late. A Cocoadile is gulping down your beloved Donald, the Quackberry you spent time and money dressing up. You spot a sour piñata, and look for the seeds it inevitably left behind… Too late. Red, ugly plants climb up, spitting fire and poisonous gas, choking and trapping whole piñata populations, meaning you miss the poisoned candies the sour also dropped on the other side of the garden. Self-flagulation (Image credit: Rare) When these disasters start to happen, you notice the game doesn't offer any quick save or load options. It's not exactly Ironman mode, but Viva Piñata is pushing you to stick with the consequences. The only way to sidestep the game's permanence is by shutting it down mid-session, praying for a convenient autosave. That this option is so tempting is testament to Viva Piñata's success, building just slowly enough that you get invested in this cutesy world, before baring its teeth. The game works because it blends the brightness of Banjo-Kazooie with the harder edge Rare that showed in early games such as Killer Instinct and Battletoads. Unfortunately, when it came to finding an audience, this meant that Viva Piñata fell between two stools. The game did well enough to launch a handful of sequels and spin-off games, but sold a small fraction of what Rare's biggest hits had managed. After a couple more games, the studio was folded more closely into Microsoft, working on avatars for Xbox Live and a string of Kinect games. It's only now, with Sea of Thieves, that Rare is stepping back into the spotlight – and so in 2018, the developer once again finds itself at a crossroads, with a bold new game positioned as its big comeback. Until we ever get a new Viva Pinata, why not try these games like Palworld? [/url]View the full article

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation might be wrapping up a trilogy of remakes next year, but publisher Square Enix doesn't seem to be done with Cloud and his ragtag group of eco-warriors just yet. In a PAX West panel called 'From Reunion to Resolve,' the trilogy's game director Naoki Hamaguchi spoke about his goals for the project and beyond. The Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy wasn't simply an opportunity to remake an all-time classic game - despite its name - but "an effort to pass Final Fantasy 7 onto the next generation," Hamaguchi says via a translator. [Hidden Content] "We want to make this a work that creates new fans 20 or even 30 years from now," he adds. That's more or less the same impact 1997's OG game had three decades ago, though we'll need to wait a really, really long time to see if the FF7 Remake project ages as gracefully. Whether or not the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy holds up in 2050, Square Enix seems to have more plans for its universe. The original game was followed up (and was arguably milked) with some great spin-off games, some horrid ones, some that have been totally forgotten, and even a lush animated sequel movie. In what sounds like a similar approach, an on-screen slide says one of the Remake trilogy's goals is to "expand FF7's future" and "move beyond being a classic of the past and shape it into an IP with an ever-evolving future." That certainly implies more projects - games or otherwise - set in Final Fantasy 7's world. Nothing has been announced past Final Fantasy 7 Revelation and its two DLC packs, however. [/url]View the full article

The Steam Client Beta has been updated with the following changes: General Fixed a case where the steamwebhelper process could experience high CPU usage when certain events were shown in the library tab. View the full article

One would have likely assumed a few years ago that the marrying of Stardew Valley's farming sim gameplay and Resident Evil's tense horror would be far from a match made in heaven. Indeed, the two seem to be diametrically opposed, owing, in large part, to the unpleasant palpitations one gets inching around a corner in a Resident Evil game, canceling out the warm, fuzzy feeling one derives from immersing oneself in Stardew Valley's cozy and vibrant world. View the full article

The MTG Zeta Secret Lair dropped earlier this week. The release definitely did not go smoothly, with even Wizards of the Coast describing it as a "disaster". Yet, despite the fact that many players won't be able to get their hands on Zeta cards, the Secret Lair is still going to be incredibly impactful. Many Zeta cards were downshifted to the common rarity, meaning that MTG's Pauper format (where only common cards are legal) has just received a massive influx of new tools to experiment with. Read the full story on Wargamer: The Pauper format is set to get a Zeta makeover View the full article

Dungeons and Dragons is a titan of the tabletop scene, and is practically synonymous with the genre for casuals. When you say TTRPG, most people will likely stray towards Netflix's Stranger Things as a point of reference. So it's only fitting that Netflix would eventually foray into the oft-forgotten realm (I'm not apologizing for that pun) of DnD adaptations. Read the full story on Wargamer: Can Netflix break the DnD adaptation curse with the Ravenloft series? View the full article

Mega Attack Rares have been part of the Pokémon TCG for just over a year now. This, somewhat divisive, art treatment is exclusive to mega evolved Pokémon. A Mega Hyper Rare card has the name of its most powerful attack written out in bold font in the background of its art. English Mega Hyper Rares feature Japanese text, while Japanese Mega Hyper Rares have English text scrawled behind them. We've not recieved any new Mega Hyper Rare cards since they debuted in Ascended Heroes earlier this year. Despite this, the Pokémon Company have recently revealed that more are coming. Read the full story on Wargamer: The Pokémon TCG is receiving a new slew of Mega Attack Rares View the full article

For a match type that features in a lot of online shooters, a fairly large part of Capture the Flag is about avoiding conflict. Sure, it takes courage to infiltrate your opponent’s area and steal their flag, but after that it becomes a matter of – to put it bluntly – running away as fast as possible. It’s this part of the game that South Korean developer Nirvanana hopes to tackle with Project ZETA, its ‘multi-team tactical arena’ game which has been running a community beta this weekend. Read More... View the full article

The upcoming Civilization 7 patch 1.5.0 will be followed by free update Arc of Tomorrow in 2027, and a paid space DLC called Earthrise. Read the full story on PCGamesN: Civilization 7 will finally enter the Atomic Age with a free update, followed by a space race DLC View the full article

Hot Wheels Infinite Rush is the latest Hot Wheels video game venture, giving players of all ages a robust sandbox to get lost in, bringing the joy of collecting little toy cars to a game console near you. Outside of a distinct memory of playing with a single metallic Hot Wheels car during an extended stay in the hospital after surgery in my youth, my relationship with Mattel’s popular toy line ends there. That said, however, I still found myself thoroughly enjoying my time with Hot Wheels Infinite Rush on the PlayStation 5. Powered by Unreal Engine 5, Hot Wheels Infinite Rush is a gorgeous-looking arcade racer, bringing a lovingly crafted metal-and-plastic world that exudes charm. From the hollow yet satisfyingly plastic feel of the trees and shrubbery, the world of Hot Wheels Infinite Rush brings new meaning to playing with your toys. “… Hot Wheels Infinite Rush brings new meaning to playing with your toys.” The cars also adhere to the game’s strict toyetic feel, ... Read moreView the full article

Riot Games has provided an exciting new update on the long-awaited League of Legends MMO, which has been in development for many years now. There is still very little actually known about the new League of Legendsgame, leaving fans clamoring for any news they can get. View the full article

A brand-new game releasing in Winter 2026 appears to be heavily inspired by Animal Crossing, with Petit Planet set to officially debut after several beta tests. The launch of Petit Planet is the newest game from mega-popular Genshin Impact developer HoYoverse. View the full article

Xbox Game Pass is going to take a massive hit on September 15, in what may already be the most devastating day for the subscription service this month. A few changes to Microsoft’s gaming service were announced earlier this week. The company shared the Wave 1 additions to the catalog in September 2026, which include an anticipated day-one release on Xbox Game Pass, Speedrunners 2: King of Speed. The highly addictive TCG Card Shop Simulator is also getting its Version 1.0 release via the service this month, and there are many other exciting additions. View the full article

Despite more than a year of updates and at least one massive overhaul, Civilization 7 remains as stubbornly divisive as ever. May's enormous Test of Time update brought significant mechanical reworks and a fresh influx of players to Firaxis' latest entry in the 4X series. But with Steam reviews still sitting at 'Mixed', with 51% positive, it ultimately did little to shift player opinion... Read more.View the full article

During our Gamescom preview, I asked if Valheim 1.0 means we'll see a sequel further down the line, and if not, what the future holds. Read the full story on PCGamesN: There won't be a Valheim 2, but there will be more Valheim, Iron Gate says View the full article

The Riot MMO is a risk, studio Co-founder Marc Merrill acknowledges at PAX West, but the push to meet expectations is "a worthy quest." Read the full story on PCGamesN: Riot Games knows its MMO is a big risk. "But f*** it, it's The Grail, so let's go." View the full article

WWE 2K26 has officially revealed a wealth of content coming to the game on September 9, including new wrestlers, personas, and much more. The update will mark the beginning of the newest season of WWE 2K26's Ringside Pass. View the full article

The Steam Client Beta has been updated with the following changes: General Fixed a case where the steamwebhelper process could experience high CPU usage when certain events were shown in the library tab. View the full article

We have just shipped an updated Steam Client to the Preview/Beta channel. General Fixed a case where the steamwebhelper process could experience high CPU usage when certain events were shown in the library tab. View the full article

While many Game of Thrones actors from the HBO series became inseparable from their character roles in the show, Pedro Pascal has long since outgrown his unforgettable run as Oberyn Martell. Introduced during season 4, the charismatic Prince of Dorne immediately became a fan-favorite thanks to his swagger, sharp wit, fearlessness, and the deeply personal vendetta he had against those pesky Lannisters. View the full article

Star Trekis having a busy year in celebration of its 60th anniversary, but one of the most exciting projects isn't landing in time for the actual anniversary date. While there will still be plenty to do on September 8th, ranging from virtual anniversary celebrations to theatrical screenings, the fun isn't just for this month. View the full article