Today is April 20, a holiday that many celebrate the world over by sparking up and having a smoke-up. But for me, it's a bit more somber. It marks the 15th anniversary of one of the darkest days in PlayStation history. On this date in 2011, Sony was forced to take the PS3's PlayStation Network offline due to an "external intrusion" and data breach affecting over 77 million accounts. The infamous 2011 PSN hack. Image via WikimediaImages on Pixabay I remember where I was. It was my senior year in college, and I was working diligently on my thesis while still attending classes. My thesis was a Call of Duty feature where I interviewed people and wrote about the game's future, so gaming was actually pretty important when it came to my academic career at the time. But most importantly, April 20, 2011, was the day after Mortal Kombat 9 released, and I couldn't play the damn game online anymore. I was livid. My PS3 felt neutered. I was so excited to enjoy the new fighting game that brought the series back to its roots, and I couldn't bring my Raiden or Reptile into the online arena anymore. I couldn't even play ****** Ops 1, which was crucial to my writing work at the time. This feeling went on for weeks. WEEKS. 24 days, to be exact, is how long PSN was offline. That seems unimaginable now, and trust me, it was back then, too. The hack that forced Sony to bring everything down exposed information like usernames, physical addresses, email addresses, dates of birth, passwords, and financial details, so it was a big deal. It was made an even ******* deal by the fact that Sony did not announce right away that there was an external breach to warn users that their info may have been compromised. PSN went down on April 20 after the hack apparently took place from April 17 to 19, but the company didn't make mention of any breach until April 22. "There’s a difference in timing between when we identified there was an intrusion and when we learned of consumers’ data being compromised," Sony said on April 26. "We learned there was an intrusion April 19th and subsequently shut the services down. We then brought in outside experts to help us learn how the intrusion occurred and to conduct an investigation to determine the nature and scope of the incident. It was necessary to conduct several days of forensic analysis, and it took our experts until yesterday to understand the scope of the breach. We then shared that information with our consumers and announced it publicly this afternoon." Image via PlayStation For those of us old or aware enough to remember, this was a pretty wild time in the gaming community. Many were freaking out that their info had been stolen, while Xbox players were gloating about the fact that they could still play online during the once-rampant fanboy wars. Sony soon announced "compensation" for users who were affected, which included the choice of two PS3 games and two PSP games from a predetermined list, along with 30 days of free PS Plus. I chose Wipeout HD/Fury and LittleBigPlanet, because I owned the other options (InFamous, Dead Nation, and Super Stardust HD). Hey, a couple free games were quite alright by me. Later that year, Sony announced that there was "no confirmed evidence any credit card or personal information" was being "misused." So, when the dust cleared, the outage for me just meant a long time without online gaming, which gave me a good chance to finish Mortal Kombat's story mode and practice a lot against the CPU. Are you old enough to remember the great PSN hack of 2011, or do you live without back pain? The post 15 years ago today, the PlayStation Network went offline and didn’t come back for over 3 weeks appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
Capcom announced that worldwide sales of its Pragmata sci-fi action-adventure have surpassed a million copies in its first two days after release. The game debuted on April 17, not long after Pearl Abyss’ Crimson Desert debuted on March 19 and sold five million copies. .memberful-global-teaser-content p:last-child{ -webkit-mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent); mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent); } This article is free — just create an account Join GamesBeat to read this story and almost everything else on the site. No credit card, no catch.Start Reading FreeAlready a member? Sign in The post Capcom’s Pragmata sells a million copies in 2 days appeared first on GamesBeat. View the full article
Final Fantasy is getting new free downloads in April, as was announced by Square Enix, and you may not want to miss out on the limited opportunity to grab them. The classic RPG franchise is constantly evolving with the arrival of new core games, spin-offs, merch, and much more. FF16 was the latest main entry in the series, but there is still a lot arriving before the release of Final Fantasy 17; indeed, the game has not even been officially announced as of now. View the full article
Players like to vent their frustrations about games online, and that's their right when it's all impersonal. Write angry social media posts, be my guest, scribble a bad review on Steam. But when you're attacking a developer on their personal social media page, things have gone too far. Square Enix is cracking down on such harassment in the court of law, deanonymizing one player who was harassing its developers and forcing them to apologize. The Final Fantasy 14 developer promises to "take strict measures" against further instances. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Here's everything in FF14 7.5 shown during Live Letter 92, including the return of Final Fantasy's most sinister villain FF14 Fanfest will look more into the MMO's future than you might expect, director Naoki Yoshida teases The FF14 patch 7.5 special site promises more of its best new double act, and a returning ally View the full article
For the second month in a row, Square Enix says it has shut down a content creator it accused of “harassing” Final Fantasy 14 development staff. Last month the company announced that it had taken action against the admin of Japanese news blog Netoge Sokuho for publishing articles that it says were damaging to the reputations of staff and executives. After getting the site’s provider to disclose the identity of the anonymous admin, Square Enix reached a settlement in which the admin agreed to pay an undisclosed fee, publish an apology then shut down the site. Read More... View the full article
Pragmata has already sold over one million copies, just days after the game's release. There is still a lot of 2026 left to go, but it's already proven to be a big year for gaming, with titles like Resident Evil Requiem, Pokemon Pokopia, and Crimson Desert all becoming smash hits in minimal time. Now, Pragmata has joined the party, and it hasn't even been out for a full week. View the full article
Xbox has officially announced its limited edition Forza Horizon 6 controller and headset, after they were leaked earlier this month. Both peripherals will be released on May 19, the same day the game is released on Xbox Series X/S and PC. Described as “one of the most vibrant controllers Xbox has ever released”, the Xbox Wireless Controller: Forza Horizon 6 Limited Edition has a transparent cyan blue case with a metallic gradient. Read More... View the full article
EA boss Laura Miele, Naughty Dog co-founder Jason Rubin, and popular industry analyst Matthew Ball will headline The Game Business Live in June. The event is part of Summer Game Fest and is hosted by Geoff Keighley and journalist Christopher Dring. It takes place on Monday, June 8, at The Grammy Museum in Downtown Los Angeles, and tickets are on ***** now. The event is a series of on-stage interviews with video game leaders. Miele is the president of EA Entertainment and oversees franchises such as Apex Legends, Battlefield, The Sims, and Skate. Read More... View the full article
IGN is proud to partner once again with ID@Xbox for another exciting showcase on April 23, 2026, that will feature tons of indie games headed to Xbox and PC including: Mistfall HunterThere Are No Ghosts at the GrandAphelion Solo Leveling Arise OverdriveAnd more! These are only a few of the games that will appear in this showcase that will be filled to the brim with exclusive trailers, new looks, and gameplay from titles headed our way in the future. To ensure you don't miss a thing, this guide will let you know when the show starts and how you can watch it with us! How to Watch the ID@Xbox April 2026 Showcase The next ID@Xbox will kick off on Thursday, April 23 at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 5pm GMT, and you can watch it with us on the following platforms; [Hidden Content] YouTubeFacebookTwitter / XTwitchIGN mobile appsEurogamerVG247https://www.gamesindustry.biz/Rock Paper ShotgunWhat to Expect from the ID@Xbox Showcase As we previously mentioned, we can confirm that Mistfall Hunter, There Are No Ghosts at the Grand, Aphelion, and Solo Leveling Arise Overdrive will all appear at this ID@Xbox Showcase. Beyond that, well... that will be a surprise! What we can say is there will plenty of amazing-looking indie games featured that you can add to your wishlist or maybe play that day. To get an idea of what to expect, check out all the big games that were part of October 2025's ID@Xbox Showcase, including MOUSE: P.I. For Hire, Invincible VS, Vampire Survivors, and much mroe. View the full article
Microsoft has announced the games coming to Xbox Game Pass during the rest of April 2026, and the early part of May. As confirmed in a post on Xbox Wire, there are a number of day-one releases coming, including Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard, Kiln, Aphelion, Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era, and Sledding Game. Final Fantasy V rounds out the lineup, arriving on May 5. Cozy, machine building RPG Little Rocket Lab (Cloud, Console, and PC) and emotional narrative adventure game Stolen Potato (Cloud, Console, Handheld, and PC) both join Game Pass Premium on April 21, having already been on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Also on April 21, Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) hits Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass as a day one launch. On April 23. Double Fine's Kiln (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) hits Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass as a day one release, which is expected for a Microsoft game. This latest game from the team behind Psychonauts is described as a "pottery power‑fantasy celebrating both creativity and destruction." Moving on to April 28 and we've got Aphelion (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) as another day one launch across Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. This is a third-person sci-fi adventure developed by Don’t Nod, the studio behind Jusant and Lost Records: Bloom & Rage). The story is rooted in real-world science, created in partnership with the European Space Agency. A day later, on April 29, gory FPS Trepang2 (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) hits Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, and PC Game Pass. Then, on April 30, three games hit Game Pass: Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era (Game Preview) (PC) as a day one launch on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, Sledding Game (Game Preview) (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC), also a day one launch on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, and TerraTech Legion (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. And finally for April 2026 Wave 2, Final Fantasy V (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) joins Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, and PC Game Pass on May 5. Xbox Game Pass April 2026 Wave 2 lineup:Little Rocket Lab (Cloud, Console, and PC) – April 21, Now with Game Pass Premium; joining Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game PassSopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato (Cloud, Console, Handheld, and PC) – April 21, Now with Game Pass Premium; joining Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game PassVampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – April 21, Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game PassKiln (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – April 23, Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game PassAphelion (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – April 28, Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game PassTrepang2 (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) – April 29, Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, and PC Game PassHeroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era (Game Preview) (PC) – April 30, Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game PassSledding Game (Game Preview) (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) – April 30, Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game PassTerraTech Legion (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) – April 30, Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game PassFinal Fantasy V (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) – May 5, Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass As always, a number of games are set to leave Game Pass this month. You can save up to 20% off your purchase if you buy them. Leaving Xbox Game Pass on April 30:Citizen Sleeper (Cloud, Console, and PC)Creatures of Ava (Cloud, Console, and PC)Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 (Cloud, Console, and PC)Endless Legend 2 (PC)Goat Simulator (Cloud and Console)Goat Simulator Remastered (Cloud, Console, and PC)Hunt Showdown 1896 (Cloud, Console, and PC)NHL 24 (EA Play) (Cloud and Console)Revenge of the Savage Planet (Cloud, Console, and PC) Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article
A24 and Bandai Namco have revealed the full cast for Alex Garland’s Elden Ring movie and confirmed a March 3, 2028, IMAX theatrical release. Notably, the Elden Ring movie will star Cailee Spaeny, who recently appeared in Alien: Romulus and Wake Up Dead Man. Spaeny is joined by Ben Whishaw, voice of Paddington and Q from recent 007 movies, and Nick Offerman, who recently played Bill in The Last of Us series. The rest of the cast includes Kit Connor (Warfare, Heartstopper), Tom Burke (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, ****** Bag), Havana Rose Liu (Bottoms), Sonoya Mizuno (Ex Machina), Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes), Ruby Cruz (Willow, Bottoms), John Hodgkinson, Jefferson Hall, Emma Laird, and Peter Serafinowicz. Read More... View the full article
Crusader Kings III just got a major update released, along with a new expansion pass to bring extra content to the popular Paradox strategy game. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article
The Elements of Nature Star Path event that arrived with Pocahontas introduced a new system to Disney Dreamlight Valley. This feature is the Star Path Vault, an additional page that's tied to the larger seasonal event. Since it wasn't always around, there's a decent chance you aren't sure how this addition works and what you need to do to obtain these prizes. Here's how to get Star Path Vault rewards in Disney Dreamlight Valley. Table of contentsWhat are Star Path Vault rewards in Disney Dreamlight Valley?How to unlock Star Path Vault rewards in Disney Dreamlight ValleyWhat are premium and free Star Path Vault rewards in Disney Dreamlight Valley?What happens if you already own Star Path Vault rewards in Disney Dreamlight Valley?What are Star Path Vault rewards in Disney Dreamlight Valley? Screenshot by Destructoid Star Path Vault rewards are additional prizes that can be unlocked as the seasonal event progresses in DDV. This feature was mainly added to grant players a chance to grab old Star Path items they may have missed out on. Overall, though, there are two types of rewards you can get from this feature: Returning rewards from previous Star Path events, exactly as they were when previously released.Newly recolored, refreshed, or otherwise slightly redesigned versions of old Star Path items. How to unlock Star Path Vault rewards in Disney Dreamlight Valley You can unlock Star Path Vault rewards by completing routine duties in the active event. For the Elements of Nature Star Path, there are seven Vault prizes to claim, and seven weeks of routine duties to check off with them. For every three routine duties you finish, one prize from the Vault may be claimed. You have to collect them in order, though, so it's not up to you which ones you get first. As long as you fully complete all weekly duties before the event ends, you'll get to collect them all, though. Routine duties also grant you Tokens to spend in the event, so they're by far the most essential quests to get done while the Star Path is live. What are premium and free Star Path Vault rewards in Disney Dreamlight Valley? Each Vault collection has a mix of premium and free items up for grabs. The free items can be earned by all players, while the premium ones require you to upgrade to the premium version of the Star Path event. If you don't have premium, you can still progress past these prizes to grab the free items locked after them. What happens if you already own Star Path Vault rewards in Disney Dreamlight Valley? Screenshot by Destructoid The Star Path Vault system is designed with players who missed out on past events in mind. But the devs also wanted to ensure longtime players get something special from it, too, so if a prize you already own is featured, you'll instead receive a red chest that has a new item you don't already own inside. This makes the Star Path Vault system highly valuable for all players, even if you have the main items featured in it. In the blog breaking down the Star Path Vault system, the devs mention that it may evolve and change in future updates based on player feedback. As any changes occur, we'll add all key information here. For now, though, you'll want to get to work tackling those tricky routine duties to get your hands on the Vault prizes. Some good ones to start with are planting 20 enriching orange squash, crafting one potion to boost your garden, and planting 20 corny golden crops. The post How to get Star Path Vault rewards in Disney Dreamlight Valley appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
First we survive, then we crawl. The latest and greatest game from poncle, developer of the genre-defining Vampire Survivors, is spin-off entry in an entirely different genre that scratches the same itches in new, fun ways. Vampire Crawlers is a first-person dungeon crawler that's also a roguelike cardbattler, so it's got a lot going on at the surface, and there's a fair amount of potential complexity under the hood too. It's highly enjoyable and satisfyingly simple, even for those who may have never touched a game remotely like it before. Get ready to sink some hours into the grind of gold, XP, and a whole bunch of sprites popping all over your screen. Dopamine simulator Image via poncle Big numbers, ******* hands, and even ******* decks. Vampire Crawlers is all about filling the screen with all sorts of nonsense in the same exact way that Vampire Survivors is, but with a different perspective and battle system that's unique and exciting in its own way. The core loop of Vampire Crawlers is going out into the world map, exploring dungeons, opening chests, defeating enemies and leveling up with blue gems, and clearing out a boss battle at the end of each level. The battles are turn-based and card-based, meaning each ability, power-up, and attack you use requires Mana The same characters, weapons, and abilities you know and love from Vampire Survivors are here in Crawlers, now in card form. Runetracer, Cherry Bomb, Lightning Ring, Eight the Sparrow and Phiera Der Tuphello, Santa Water. They're all here, and they go as wild as ever with a Duplicator, so long as you have the Mana to play all the cards you want. Most battles end up revolving around playing the right cards in the right order in your turn, defeating each encounter as enemies press the advantage and close in on you. This can make individual encounters mundane at times, but the satisfaction is found with progression and customization of your cards and each individual deck build. It is very fun using specific cards found with each level up to increase your hand size, lower the Mana cost of certain cards, allow them to be copied or replayed, and more. But if you're looking to mindlessly speed through a dungeon to grind currency or something, then you can also use the Play All button to move through your turn like Survivors' auto-attacks. Attack cards can be buffed with different mods, but the key in encounters is using ability cards to buff things like the number of projectiles, the duration of the attack, and their strength levels. These buzzwords should all be familiar if you played Vampire Survivors, and they function in the same way here. Screenshot by Destructoid Finishing a dungeon means returning to your home base, where you can increase base stats, unlock new characters (Pasqualina, Mortaccio, Antonio, and the rest of the Survivors gang are all here with their own Crawler cards to play), and more before heading back out on another dungeon crawl. You can upgrade each individual attack card to allow for more mods, too, so there's a fair amount of stuff to grind for and further customization at the end of the journey. I can easily see myself dedicating dozens of hours to this game. I've only been playing for about a week, and there's still quite a bit to unlock and find within. Just about every upgrade and unlock in the home village requires gold, which can be found in each level as you progress. The better you do, the more enemies you kill, and the further you progress gets more gold, but the early-going of the game feels a bit slow since it's all tied to the one currency. It requires a good amount of time investment to get the best of everything so you can survive later levels and harder encounters. If you gain joy from unlocking things, hearing dozens of achievement notifications pop up, and watching your screen light up with damage indicators and fun animations, then this is the game for you. And just like Survivors, Crawlers is astonishingly cheap for the amount of hours you can get out of it ($10). Knowledge of Vampire Survivors is slightly advantageous but not a requirement. I do think Crawlers is more enjoyable if you've put in countless hours to the original game, like I have, because it has the same aesthetic and art style that evokes the 16-bit era of gaming, and the characters and abilities will almost feel nostalgic at this point. Screenshot by Destructoid And if Crawlers ends up like Survivors, it'd be fair to expect some very cool, very cheap DLC add-ons throughout its life cycle to further expand the journey. But even for now, on day one, it's 100 percent worth every cent...especially if you put a bunch of time into the demo like I did, since the game carries over all of that progress. Seriously. I launched Vampire Crawlers and had 46 Steam achievements at the ready. The post Vampire Crawlers review – New perspective, same utterly addicting loop appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
Privacy Notice: We utilize cookies to optimize your browsing experience and analyze website traffic. By consenting, you acknowledge and agree to our Cookie Policy, ensuring your privacy preferences are respected.
Mega Crit might look into it at some stage, thoughView the full article