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Assassin’s Creed: Shadows will be releasing in Japan with censored graphics in order to appease the country’s CERO ratings board. To their credit, the company announced the changes in order to inform players ahead of the game’s release. The announcement was made on Ubisoft’s official Japanese X account. 『アサシン クリード シャドウズ』海外版（北米・欧州）と日本版 表現差異について#AssassinsCreedShadows pic.twitter.com/v3XrcppwMf — Ubisoft […] Source View the full article

Today I learned about balut, a street food of the Philippines. It's a fertilized duck egg, boiled or steamed, in which you can still see the duck embryo as you munch. I'm too old to discover this acquired taste on a gap year, but I'm not too old to waltz down the horror aisle in Itch.io, throwing retro jumpscarers into my basket. Which is where first-person ********* suspense game Hapunan can be found. You play a young street food vendor hawking the eggs on a quiet corner late at night. Naturally, something alarming is afoot. There is talk on the radio of dangerous folk out at night... Read more View the full article

It’s been almost two months since the release of Marvel Rivals, and the game has not shown many signs of slowing down. The free-to-play hero shooter by NetEase Games has had the gaming industry in a chokehold, both for gamers and streamers, and its player count has held steady. With seasonal releases including new heroes, limited time events, skins, and maps to come, the game’s future is looking bright. And it seems the esports community has also taken note. Former Counter-Strike pro and top streamer Shroud is at the forefront of Marvel Rivals, as he has been enjoying the game immensely and streaming it a lot over the past month or so. And according to him, he may also be at the forefront of the game’s foray into the competitive scene. View the full article

Warner Bros. will introduce official modding support for Hogwarts Legacy with the game’s next free update. The feature will be available for PC players beginning on January 30, when the Hogwarts Legacy Creator Kit and in-game Mod Manager will be released. Avalanche Software community manager Chandler Wood revealed the plans in a video published on Monday, which is viewable above. Read More... View the full article

Ubisoft is shuttering one of its ***-based studios and laying off 185 members of staff, many of whom worked on recent titles like Star Wars Outlaws and Skull and Bones. The Leamington Spa studio, with around 50 employees, is being closed permanently, while “targeted restructurings” in Dusseldorf, Stockholm, and Ubisoft Reflections in Newcastle will see another 135 staff lose their roles. As reported by Eurogamer, Ubisoft stated the decision was part of “ongoing efforts to prioritize projects and reduce costs that ensure long-term stability at Ubisoft,” which is just the latest in a long-line of layoffs from the company. View the full article

It's been a veritable Koei Tecmo offensive on PC recently - the kind one could only reasonably attribute to a flurry of panic over stock prices (boring, bad) or else a sheer compulsion to drown us in lots of very agile men with very sharp swords (fun and good). First, there was Dynasty Warriors: Origins, which I enjoyed quite a bit. Then Ninja Gaiden 2 ****** got a surprise release. Now, we're getting Team Ninja's Rise Of The Ronin this coming March - the 11th to be precise. I'd do a bit about stealth drops but I'm at the point where using game-thematic verbs makes me want to collapse on a bed of caltrops, throat first. Here's a trailer: Read more View the full article

There’s still something there. Read more View the full article

Over the weekend, an incredibly egregious adult knockoff of Helldivers 2 launched on Steam. It's your usual ***** game, even included in the "Hot Load Bundle", but this time styled on Arrowhead's hugely successful live-service shooter. Blatantly so. View the full article

The Marvel Rivals community was sent into a frenzy last week after the rumor spread that developer NetEase Games may be planting misleading information in the game’s code to catch leakers — even if there’s little evidence to suggest such a thing is actually happening. Video games sometimes leave behind traces of in-development content as developers work tirelessly to publish updates for the public. Sleuths known as dataminers spend their time sifting through code to uncover these traces and often report them back to excited fans, with one Marvel Rivals example including references to the Fantastic Four being discovered before their official confirmation earlier this month. It started with inclusions like Blade and Ultron and quickly ballooned to the point that there are now around 20 names rumored to join the hero shooter’s roster of playable characters. As the list has grown, players have let the excitement carry them from patch to patch while they wait to see what NetEase has up its sleeve. That anticipation turned into confusion and suspicion last week. So a bunch of the Rivals leaks are fake lol [Hidden Content] — Worm (@Saulman11835779) January 23, 2025 Alarm bells rang when Marvel Rivals Leaks Discord user and content creator KeoneSpirit shared a post suggesting that NetEase is using a few elaborate tricks to throw dataminers for a loop. In their now-viral post, they accuse the developer of setting up “fake characters to catch leakers” both in the code and “potentially” with other sources, too. With so many Marvel heroes rumored to be included post-launch, fans have now found themselves questioning if any of the leaks they’ve seen are real or "plants" part of a larger scheme. Keone attempted to clarify by sharing a lineup of characters they had “been told” were “very likely fake.” The list includes: QuicksilverProfessor XCyclopsColossusPaste Pot PeteJia JingGambitRogueNightcrawlerJubileeBeastLocusCrystal If accurate, it would mean many hopeful X-Men inclusions and comic book deep cuts were simply rumors or maybe even planted in the code to mislead would-be leakers. Keone’s post could result in months of speculation coming to an end as thousands of excited fans regroup — or it could mean nothing at all. While Keone’s comments spread like wildfire, a few dataminers from the self-taught group at X0XLeak say they aren’t so sure NetEase is intentionally working to throw fans off its scent. They believe there’s enough evidence to suggest that the aforementioned list of heroes isn’t off the table. The way I see it, they could have made it way easier if their goal was it to troll us. “Could they be intended troll by NetEase? I guess,” X0X member and dataminer VISCERAL told IGN. “Would it make sense, in my opinion? No. The way I see it, they could have made it way easier if their goal was to troll us.” In light of the news surrounding potential hero plants, VISCERAL published a lengthy X/Twitter thread to provide evidence that some rumored characters can be found in Marvel Rivals’ code. It’s a series of examples lined with proof that many of the characters mentioned in Keone’s Discord post are included with more than just their names but ability tables, too, and as you might have guessed, finding this information wasn't simple. X0X’s matfacio told IGN that, if NetEase had truly tucked away bait to trick leakers in this way, it would need to know exactly how dataminers are rummaging through the Marvel Rivals backend, explaining: “I think it would require reverse engineering a reverse engineer.” The existence of new, hidden hero names in Marvel Rivals doesn’t totally poor cold water on the idea that the developers are attempting to mislead, but some believe the studio would have to go through a lot of trouble — likely more trouble than it’s worth — just to keep the more dedicated fans on their toes. This is not a 100% confirmations that they are all coming or when they will come. This is just to show off that these actually exist. All Hero tags can be found in: Marvel/Content/Marvel/Data/DataTable/MarvelHeroTable Ability Tables are to long to fit the screenshot, will… [Hidden Content] [Hidden Content] — VISCERAL (@zvis_ceral) January 23, 2025 While rumors of NetEase’s tampering haven’t been squashed among fans, X0X has several other theories that might hold more weight. There is always the chance, for example, that NetEase didn’t actually intend to ship an update with mentions of an army of unannounced playable heroes, and that they may still be added to the game eventually. VISCERAL and matfacio also aren’t ruling out that a few heroes may have been left on the cutting room floor after a major, pre-launch development shift, such as NetEase’s rumored switch from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5. “I have a new theory that every hero discovered was most likely in a ready to go state when the game was reportedly still on UE4,” matfacio adds, “then they switched to UE5 and took their time to fix several performance issues between presumably porting over characters they already made.” X0X isn’t convinced that NetEase is toying with Marvel Rivals fans, but if the developers aren’t leading everyone on, then how did this start? Although the trail leads back to Keone’s post, fears of tampering also stem from Marvel Rivals Leaks Discord admin and popular Marvel Rivals X user @Rivals_Leaks. When new leaks were discovered suspiciously grouped together in the code earlier this month, one of their sources claimed they had no knowledge of the characters in question being included. With a reliable source’s information not matching up with dataminers’ findings, a theory was born: what if NetEase is planting fake heroes? “I had gained info from a reliable inside source that they had once again not heard of any of these characters before they were leaked, leading to the possible theory that they were all plants along with some possible evidence,” Rivals_Leaks explained, “so I had decided to warn the Discord server about the possibility of plants and I had Keone make an announcement, which was a bit poorly worded and several people around the internet took it the wrong way.” The post shown in that screenshot has been taken down. There is a very low chance that most of the characters are bait just for the amount of work that would have to go into faking them. For some characters there are voice line events between characters and gameplay tags related… — Marvel Rivals - Leaks & Information (@RivalsInfo) January 23, 2025 Keone said their post spread before edits could be made, creating a snowball effect that saw many members of the Marvel Rivals community latching onto a message that was founded on a “misinterpretation.” While Keone and Rivals_Leaks had their suspicions regarding NetEase’s potential involvement in recent leaks, neither of them intended to start the chain reaction that resulted in large portions of the community accepting their theory as fact. This latest Marvel Rivals drama sent so many leak-obsessed players back to square one, but its origin boils down to one thing: a miscommunication. “The primary assumption from the main leakers (separate from me, the ones who have most info) now is that the ‘plants’ are in fact still real. And the developers did not intend for us to find them,” Keone says. “That's why I edited the original post and since deleted it, and have worked to help clear up confusion surrounding it.” If you’re reading this piece to find out if Colossus or Professor X are going to be added to Marvel Rivals, I’m sorry to say there’s still no answer for that, and there probably won’t be one for a while. So far, NetEase has only confirmed The Thing and Human Torch as the next new heroes to join the fight. When they release in the coming weeks, they’ll team up with the already-released Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman, who launched as part of Season 1 earlier this month. Season 2, which is (still) rumored to include Blade, is expected to launch sometime this April, with more updates and skins set to drop in the meantime. NetEase has set high expectations by promising to release at least one new playable superhero every half-season, but with or without leaks, we won’t really know who’s coming until NetEase is ready to talk. At the very least, the Marvel universe is packed with memorable superpowered characters, so as long as Marvel Rivals continues to find success, there's a good chance you'll see your favorite face show up at some point down the line. Even if every rumored and datamined character really is in development at NetEase, the team could scrap any of the aforementioned names for any reason at any time. Regardless of how certain you might be about the validity of a leak for any game, it might be a good idea to take some of what you hear online with a grain of salt. Keone, at least, wishes they had been a bit more cautious before sharing their findings and theories. “A server that started small to spread information has now become a cornerstone of information across the entire community, and sometimes we can misinterpret things or make mistakes,” Keone added. “We're a group of people working hard to find and share information, and there's never malice behind what we post. We'll work hard to make sure things don't spread like wildfire again unless it's been verified first, and are grateful for everything we've been able to share thus far.” IGN has asked NetEase for comment. 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). View the full article

A Russian modding group has released its ‘GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition’ in the face of YouTube takedowns from Rockstar parent company Take-Two. The eye-catching mod, from a group calling itself Revolution Team, ports the world, cutscenes, and missions from 2002’s Vice City into 2008’s GTA 4. In a video description, the modders said Take-Two had “deleted” its YouTube channel “without any warning or attempt to contact us.” “A huge amount of effort and time was invested into the channel, including hundreds of hours of streams dedicated to the mod's development,” the statement continued. “Additionally, we lost connection with our international audience, which was a significant part of our community. The teaser trailer for GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition gained over 100,000 views and 1,500 comments in less than a day. Unfortunately, the channel was removed without any possibility of recovery. “This was a cruel move from them, but we have already accepted the situation, since we cannot influence it. We refrained from commenting, as we weren’t sure what further actions could follow. So, we decided not to take any risks which could disrupt the release. “These past two days have been emotionally tough for our team since we envisioned the release very differently — with a cozy stream dedicated to the long-awaited launch of the mod. But none of that matters anymore. “The most important thing now is that we released the project on the promised date. It’s unclear how long it will remain publicly available or whether there will be demands to take it down. We are not opposed to reuploads, but we cannot openly encourage you to do so. Do as you see fit.” The modders said that originally it planned for GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition to require a legitimate copy of GTA 4 to play “to show respect to the publisher,” but it has now released it as a standalone, installation-ready package. “In light of the current uncertainties, we had to make this change to ensure the mod's stable performance for the widest possible audience,” they said. Obviously, Take-Two will take a dim view of the modders’ actions here, given it’s already worked to have videos of the mod removed. But the group remains defiant, saying: “This modification is absolutely free without any commercial benefit. The project was created by fans for fans. The Revolution Team expresses gratitude to the developers (not the publisher) of the original game. “It's a great pity that Take-Two Interactive blocks modding initiatives that aim to maintain interest in their iconic games. Perhaps our project will serve as a precedent for the entire modding community.” Take-Two has a reputation for Rockstar-related takedowns and has a strained relationship with the modding community as a result. The company is well-known for asking modders to take down various mods like this AI-powered GTA 5 story mode mod and this VR mod for Red Dead Redemption 2. The recent Liberty City Preservation Project takedown was also not without direct precedent, as Rockstar issued a takedown for a mod that tried to recreate Grand Theft Auto Vice City within GTA 5. One interesting development is that while Take-Two is judicious when it comes to taking down mods, it also sometimes hires those very modders to work at Rockstar Games. And some mods, like the Vice City mod, were taken down only for Rockstar itself to announce remasters of those very games. But one former Rockstar developer has defended the company’s actions here, saying both Take-Two and Rockstar are protecting their business interests. “Take2/R* are a commercial company,” former Rockstar Games technical director Obbe Vermeij tweeted. “They will take down mods that interfere with their business interests. “The VC NextGen Edition mod for GTA4 directly competes with the Definitive Edition. The Liberty City preservation project (GTA4 in GTA5 engine) would interfere with a possible GTA4 remaster. (No idea whether they’re working on that. I think they should.) “There’s no point getting angry about it. This is what companies are supposed to do. The best we can hope for is that they allow mods that don’t interfere with their business. Such as DCA3 (GTA3 for Dreamcast). Afaik they have recently been decent about letting these projects continue.” The question now is, will Take-Two work to take down the mod itself? Wesley is the *** News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article

The weekly challenge Frostbitten in Phasmophobia is all about embracing the cold, and it’s quite a tricky trial to complete because of this. If you can finish this challenge, though, you get some pretty decent rewards. The Frostbitten challenge isn’t one of the absolute toughest weekly rials you can face, but it’s also not one of the easiest. It falls somewhere in the middle which makes it a great quest to tackle, so here’s how to complete the Frostbitten challenge in Phasmophobia. View the full article

Red Dead Redemption 2 has reached a new all-time peak player count on Steam, with over 86,000 users recorded to be playing at the same time, thanks to an ongoing promotion on the store. This new high for Red Dead Redemption 2 comes almost six years after its PC launch in 2019, which took place a year after it landed on consoles. View the full article

Ubisoft has confirmed plans to lay off 185 employees in Europe as a result of wider restructuring efforts. The move will see the company close Ubisoft Leamington, which is based in Leamington Spa, England, and make cuts at Ubisoft Düsseldorf, Ubisoft Stockholm and Ubisoft Reflections. Ubisoft Leamington was previously known as FreeStyleGames – the studio behind the DJ Hero series – before it was acquired by Ubisoft from Activision in 2017. It has since worked mainly as a support studio on games such as Far Cry 5, Avatar, and Star Wars Outlaws. Read More... View the full article

Who are the Civilization 7 leaders? From Augustus Caesar to Xerxes I, Catherine the Great to Trung Trac, Firaxis is treating us to an all-star lineup of historical figureheads in its latest Civ installment. Many of the Civilization 7 leaders you'll encounter in this iteration of the iconic 4X game series will be familiar if you've spent any time with its predecessors. However, there are some fresh faces you'll need to acquaint yourself with in the lead-up to the Civilization 7 release date - that's where we come in. Below you'll find everything you need to know about the Civ 7 leaders revealed so far, including what they excel at. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: After playing Civilization 7, it's clear Firaxis still rules the 4X game world Civilization 7's huge new diplomacy system is way, way better than in Civ 6 Civilization 7 release date, trailers, gameplay, and latest news View the full article

Love your building and management sims? Iron Roads puts a rather cute looking style on it and it's now available with Linux support in Early Access. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Marvel Rivals has been an astounding success since it's launch back in December, introducing a humungeous wave of players to well known and niche heroes alike. However, despite what you might believe, it doesn't look as though the game's success has led to an increase of interest in the comic books its characters come from. At least, not in the ***. Read more View the full article

Assassin's Creed Shadows is finally bringing the series to Japan, but the Japanese release of the game won't be the same one the rest of us are getting. Read more View the full article

WWE 2K25 has officially revealed its first cover star, and it's none other than the legendary Undertaker. The newest installment in the WWE 2K franchise has slowly been revealing gameplay features and character models to hype up fans before its release. View the full article

The bipartisan bill, signed into law last week by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, aims to increase technological literacy across the state. It mandates that every Michigan high school must provide an in-person computer science class meeting standards set by the state board of education. Virtual options are allowed if in-person is... Read Entire Article View the full article

The new data comes from market research giant Circana and was posted on X by Mat Piscatella. The graph shows US consumer spending on physical video games hit a high point back in 2008 when it reached just under $12 billion. There has been a constant trend downwards since then,... Read Entire Article View the full article

How do you complete the The Tomb main quest in ****** Ops 6 Zombies? As we know already, each new Treyarch Zombies map comes with a huge main questline, that you can either play through on your own accord, or wait until Directed Mode is added to guide you through. The Tomb is no different. With the arrival of BO6 Season 2 comes the fourth Zombies map, The Tomb, and a new mammoth questline continuing Maya and the gang's story. Exclusive rewards are available for completing the main quest before Directed Mode is added, so if you want to be among the first to complete the ****** Ops 6 The Tomb main quest in the zombie game, here's what we know so far. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Current ****** Ops 6 events and rewards The best new PC games 2025 ****** Ops 6 Season 2 release date, anti-cheat update, and more View the full article

Riot Games introduced a new format to the Americas in League of Legends this year by combining the continent’s major competitions under one banner: LTA. Here’s how it works, along with the current standings and results in the first Split. As expected, the introduction of LTA meant some substantial overhauls to the league’s format and structure. Instead of being divided into a few smaller competitions, North and South American teams now compete domestically before an international League clash. This will determine LTA’s representatives in the main tournaments like the Mid-Season Invitational and Worlds. View the full article

Phil Spencer has confirmed that there's no Xbox game that he'd ever say will always be exclusive, including the still quite recently released Starfield. Since its launch in 2023, the game has been met with a mixed reception from fans, particularly due to it not quite living up to the expectations it set. Even with the later release of the Shattered Space DLC, the game hasn't completely lived up to the success it could've been. View the full article

Somewhere between Ghost of Tsushima, Assassin's Creed Shadows, and Elden Ring, you will find the hidden RPG jewel that is Rise of the Ronin. Created by Team Ninja, the developer behind Wo Long Fallen Dynasty, the eponymous Ninja Gaiden, and super-tough soulslike Nioh, until now, Rise of the Ronin has been totally unavailable on PC. But that's about to change. The open world is pretty. The combat is demanding, and inspired by the best of FromSoftware. The story has some fantastic twists and turns. And now the Rise of the Ronin PC launch date has been confirmed. Read the rest of the story... View the full article

Rise of the Ronin from Team NINJA and KOEI TECMO has now been confirmed to be launching on Steam and it's coming soon too. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article