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Marvel Rivals still suffers from crashes and disconnects on PCs and consoles. By building the game on Unreal Engine 5, NetEase has made it more unstable without significantly improving the graphics. Mainly for PC owners, the burden of troubleshooting is left to the player base. These issues affect not only the person who crashed but everyone else who remains in the match. Teammates will be punished in several ways, and the winners are likely to have an inflated perception of their skills. View the full article

Ubisoft just delayed Assassin's Creed: Shadows by another month, amid a time of troubled financials, continued cost cuts, and ongoing rumors the company was preparing for a ***** to gaming giant Tencent. In an emergency conference call today, investors grilled CEO Yves Guillemot and CFO Frederick Duguet for answers on all of the above - but their responses didn't provide much reassurance. Ubisoft's call today came alongside not just the delay announcement, but a seeming confirmation of sorts that Ubisoft is preparing to sell, or at least strongly considering it. Per the press release, the company has "appointed leading advisors to review and pursue various transformational strategic and capitalistic options to extract the best value for stakeholders. This process will be overseen by the independent members of the Board of Directors. Ubisoft will inform the market in accordance with applicable regulations if and once a transaction materializes." Back in October, Bloomberg reported that Ubisoft's founding Guillemot family and shareholder Tencent were in discussions to take the company private following a number of high-profile flops, game cancellations, and the collapse of the company's share price. At the time, the talks were merely exploratory, and Ubisoft told IGN it would "inform the market if and when appropriate." Today's update seems to suggest that such talks, either with Tencent or in some other capacity, have moved forward in some way. But it's unclear exactly how, and Ubisoft's shareholders understandably wanted more details during the conference call today. But Guillemot and Duguet weren't biting. First, they were asked directly by a Morgan Stanley representative: "On the various transformation strategic and capitalistic options, it's a bit of a vague phrase if you don't mind me saying. Could you perhaps elaborate on the kind of things you're talking about? And perhaps particularly, there were press reports of detailed discussions with Tencent that were reported on in December. Should we read that there is now some sort of proposal which the independent board members are going to review against other options? Or is that not what you mean by that?" Duguet replied: The objective of this process is to unlock the best value potential of our assets to the benefit of our stakeholders, and to foster the best conditions to create great games in the fast-evolving market. That's the overall objective, so that's why we mentioned that we appointed leading advisors. So we are currently actively exploring different options. And we can't say more. Of course we won't comment on specific rumors we have seen in the market, but we are convinced there are several potential paths to generate value from Ubisoft assets and franchises. We will inform the market if and when a transaction materializes. That...doesn't really clarify anything! And the Morgan Stanley guy seemed to feel the same, because he followed up by acknowledging Ubisoft didn't want to say what the different options were, but asked if they could say "whether there are any concrete courses of action or scenarios that are being considered, or is this more of an exploratory kind of process?" elaborating that he wanted to know what was different about this announcement as opposed to past statements by Ubisoft about such exploration. Duguet's response was short. "We are limited with what we can say today, but we've started a process." Then, seemingly realizing this could be interpreted as a too-specific confirmation, added, "with advisors." The other shareholders didn't let Ubisoft off the hook here. A Barclays representative pointed out to Guillemot and Duguet that Tencent had recently been designated as a ******** military company by the U.S., and wanted to know if that would hinder it becoming the majority owner of Ubisoft. Guillemot declined to comment. A representative from HSBC asked "what stage" the advisors were at, and when Guillemot could expect to get some initial findings. Guillemot would only say they "have started working" and that they could expect "good progress" in the coming months. Admittedly, there's only so much Guillemot and Duguet can say about a potential acquisition without throwing it into legal and negotiational jeopardy, but that doesn't mean the skepticism around the board's alleged plans wasn't warranted. A number of other questions went unanswered during the call, such as a question about how many AAA games Ubisoft expected to release in the coming fiscal year ("you'll know more by May") and what specific sort of feedback Ubisoft got that sparked the month-long delay of Assassin's Creed: Shadows (Duguet and Guillemot tag-teamed an answer about positive community sentiment that did not address the investor's actual question at all). Overall, the tone of the discussion was one of significant concern for the health of Ubisoft and the shareholders' investments, and it's no surprise why. For several years now, Ubisoft has seemed to be in a strange, slow downward spiral, with a number of high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, game cancellations, and delay after delay after delay. Meanwhile, rumors continue to spin about what exact proposals the board is considering, with some media outlets floating the idea that Tencent is increasingly reluctant to embrace Ubisoft due to the Guillemot family's insistance on retaining a significant amount of control. Sans Tencent, there are few other companies big enough and rich enough to spend the cash needed to save the albatross Ubisoft has grown into. Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected]. View the full article

Using a broom to fly around in Hogwarts Legacy is both an excellent means of travel and a great way to really take in the stunning scenery. It’s also incredibly fun, so you certainly don’t want to miss out on mastering broom control. Knowing how to use a broom is essential for traveling around the vast explorable world, but it’s a decently tricky process to master. If you’re struggling to master flight, here’s everything you need to know about using a broom in Hogwarts Legacy. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

The Rangers in the South is a roguelike ARPG in which multiple generations of adventurers try to defeat a ****** lord causing chaos in the world. The game features permadeath, meaning that once you die everything on your character is lost, but their stashed items and world progress are transferred to the next generation of […] Source View the full article

Amid cheater complaints and a long wait until season two, a new ****** Ops 6 update is now live with fixes to a couple of other ongoing issues. In an update last week, Treyarch added a timer that basically screwed up Zombies spawns in Directed Mode, where many players were playing to grind camos. The spawn delay and extended time were crucial to the fun of this mode. View the full article

Destiny 2 chugs on as a live-service title in 2025, and one of the most exciting yearly traditions continues as well. Each year, Bungie hosts a vote for players to decide which armor ornament sets will be available during its Halloween-themed Festival of the Lost Event every fall. Last year it was Good Wizards vs. Evil Wizards, while previous years had Spider vs. Beetle, and so on. But 2025 might be the coolest theme yet. View the full article

Ambessa Medarda was the first Arcane character to join League of Legends alongside the release of the show’s second season. A new year is upon us, and Riot Games is now introducing Ambessa’s daughter, Mel, to the game. We have all of her abilities listed below. Prior to Mel’s official announcement, players who watched Arcane expected her to be added to the League eventually. Most have predicted her to be a support champion, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. With her powerful, damaging abilities, Mel could be one of the most dangerous mages in the game, bound to dominate the mid lane. View the full article

Radiant Greninja fans, beware. The most turbulent—and exciting—time of the year is just around the corner for Pokémon Trading Card Game players, promising to turn most competitively viable decks on their head and shake up the scene. Play! Pokémon announced the next Standard Rotation for the Pokémon TCG on Jan. 9 in an article, highlighting which cards would be dropped from the roster and when fans can expect to see changes in the competitive scene for this format. Rotation will be taking place on April 11, meaning cards with the F Regulation Mark will no longer be eligible for tournament play. From that point, only cards with G and H will be allowed in official competitive settings when the Standard format is in play. View the full article

Image: Naughty Dog The Last of Us Part 2 remaster is joining the PlayStation Network club. That means you’ll need to link a PSN account if you want to play the game after buying it on Steam, Epic Games, and other PC platforms when it launches in April, as spotted earlier by Video Games Chronicle. The requirement has proven very unpopular with other Sony titles released on PC, including Ghost of Tsushima, God of War Ragnarök, and the Horizon Zero Dawn remaster. Last year, Helldiver players review-bombed the game after it suddenly introduced PSN account linking, leading Sony to walk back on the requirement completely. Screenshot: Steam It’s still not clear why Sony requires a PSN account to play The Last of Us Part 2, as it doesn’t have any multiplayer features, and the requirement may also prevent people across dozens of countries where PSN isn’t supported from playing the game. The Last of Us Part 2 remaster launches on PC on April 3rd for $49.99. View the full article

Yakuza franchise developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has confirmed that New Game Plus in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii will be added for free at a later date. Set in and around Hawaii, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii will chronicle franchise icon Goro Majima's zany pirate adventure after the events of 2024's Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. View the full article

Team Rocket is returning to Pokémon Go during the Dual Destiny season for Fashion Week 2025. You can expect to see additional Team Rocket Grunts, leaders, Giovanni, and new Shadow Pokémon appearing halfway through this event. The Taken Over portion of the event does not start at the same time as Fashion Week 2025. It’ll be a few days after that, giving you plenty of time to prepare to face off against Team Rocket grunts and tracking down various leaders. The grunts, leaders, and Giovanni will have several new Shadow Pokémon captured, with Giovanni having the biggest one of all: Palkia. This means you need a Super Rocket Radar to track him down. Here’s what you need to know about when the Fashion Week 2025 Taken Over event begins in Pokémon Go. View the full article

Every time an Old School RuneScape story crops up, there's a ******* of acclimatisation where I struggle to work out exactly what the players are doing and why. I'm not unfamiliar with the game, having played it way back in the day, but RuneScape at the extremes can be a pretty wild place, a world where players suddenly break the dam on a 16 year-old minigame by overwhelming guards en masse, or some thrillseeker risks a 370-hour no-hit account to get a fancy cape (to be fair, it does have flames)... Read more.View the full article

Jinx's Super Mega Death Rocket is hurtling towards Piltover's Council Chambers, shattering a rare moment of peace. As its leering smile draws ever-closer, Mel Medarda's back shimmers with gold, alerting her to the fact that something is coming, and it's not good. From that moment on, I knew that we'd see her join the Rift's ever-growing roster at some point, and now is the perfect time. Yes, that's right, Arcane's Mel Medarda is the new League of Legends champion, and she joins the fray just in time for LoL's Noxian-themed first season. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Riot confirms League of Legends LeBlanc visual update, despite divisive response "Horrible" new League of Legends patch is made for Arcane viewers, Caedrel says Which League of Legends skins are currently on *****? View the full article

It may have taken several years, but AMD has finally joined Nvidia in the AI resolution upscaling club with FSR 4, and I had a chance to play with the new tech on a new AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics card at CES. The company had two machines set up for a side-by-side comparison, one with FSR 3 and one with AMD FSR 4, and the difference is instantly noticeable. Of course, the bar was already low here. AMD might be able to say its FSR tech works on any GPU, but Nvidia DLSS has always had the upper hand when it comes to image quality. Now, however, it looks as though AMD has finally nailed the formula with FSR 4, at least from our time with it at CES. There are some caveats, though, one of which is that the tech currently only works on the company's new GPUs, such as the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT release date, price, and specs AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT benchmark leaks show it beating the Nvidia RTX 4080 Super AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT pre-orders could start this month, suggests one retailer View the full article

NetEase Games has posted Marvel Rivals Season 1 patch notes, revealing every change coming to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S players when update version 20250110 drops later tonight. Included in the full rundown are mentions of more substantial additions we’ve known about, such as new heroes Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, as well as smaller changes, like a streaming mode feature and more fleshed-out graphics and settings options on PC. We also now have a first look at fixes for some of the glitches and bugs that players have dealt with, including a new “get unstuck” feature that can be used when your character finds themselves unintentionally attached to the terrain. Also set to arrive in the upcoming Marvel Rivals update are a variety of tweaks to many of the roster’s heroes. Doctor Strange and Magik, for example, have had a few “minor movement ability discrepancies” fixed, while Winter Soldier’s ultimate ability will now respond more consistently. It’s a list of mostly small adjustments for players on all platforms that should ensure everyone enjoys a smoother experience across the board. There have also been a number of changes to tournaments, such as an automatic follow function, a faction reporting function, and a spectating channel. “We will continue to vigilantly monitor game bug issues and fix them as fast as we can,” NetEase adds. “We also have another patch with new content in the works!” The team detailed hero balance adjustments elsewhere, providing an inventory of every buff and nerf set to shake up the Marvel Rivals meta in Season 1. Highlights include hits to characters like Hela and Hawkeye, while heroes like Moon Knight and Storm are going into the new season with some improvements to their damage output. With these changes comes what NetEase is calling its Hero Hot List, which includes pick and win rate stats for every one of its playable characters. Marvel Rivals Season 1 officially kicks off tomorrow, and you can click here to see its global release times. With its introduction of the Fantastic Four comes a story that pits Earth’s mightiest heroes against Dracula and his legion of the undead. The first half of the season gives players access to Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, with the second half set to bring The Thing and the Human Torch. Meanwhile, as if the emergence of Dracula wasn’t enough of a clue, a recent leak has suggested that the vampire-hunting Daywalker Blade may make an appearance as a playable character in Season 2. While we wait for more information on the future of NetEase’s popular hero shooter, you can read the full list of patch notes below. Marvel Rivals Season 1 Version 20250110 Patch Notes Rivals, Assemble! As the light fades and the eternal night falls, Dracula and his undead legion have seized control of New York City. Before we embark on the epic battle to banish the darkness and restore the light, dive into the thrilling details of this update! 1. New Content1.1 All Platforms Heroes and Costumes - Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman join Marvel Rivals! - New Costumes: Mister Fantastic - The Maker; Invisible Woman - Malice! Maps and Modes - Explore the new Convoy map - Empire of Eternal Night: Midtown. - Prepare for the thrilling arcade mode (Doom Match) and its map (Sanctum Sanctorum): 8-12 players will engage in battle, with the top 50% emerging victorious. - New feature: In Convoy and Convergence, both sides can transition to the next spawn room sometime after the attacking side completes the current target. - Enhanced feature: During the loading phase of a Quick Match, you can now view the Nameplates of both sides. Season & Store - Unlock a dazzling shiny new Battle Pass featuring 10 brand new sets of heroic costumes! - Embark on the first thrilling half of the Midnight Features Season Event! - Dive into the latest Twitch Drops event, featuring rewards such as the Hela - Will of Galacta costume. (Stay tuned for official announcements for specific times) - We have revised the refresh times for various in-game content. Beginning with Season 1, the unlock time for daily missions, the availability of new items in the store, and the start time for most events have been adjusted from 7:00 (UTC+0) to 9:00 (UTC+0). - Additionally, we have optimized the mission types and removed some of the more challenging ones. Ranked - Introducing the Celestial Rank, a tier above Grandmaster and below Eternity, consisting of 3 divisions. - Rank Reset: based on your final Season 0 rank, ranks will be demoted by 7 divisions. For example, if you ended Season 0 at Platinum I, your Season 1 journey begins at Silver II. Tournaments - Newly added automatic follow function for tournament sign-ups: Faction members can opt to follow the captain on the sign-up page. When the captain/coach initiates or cancels the sign-up process, following members will automatically confirm. Please note, this feature, once activated, is effective for the current season only. - New faction reporting function: Report factions for perceived misconduct in the same tournament within the past 90 days. - New spectating channel: Chat in real-time with fellow rivals while spectating the same match. - When spectating, the target player's hotkeys and crosshair settings will be prominently displayed. - New setting option: Block all active invitations and faction join requests. General - Streaming Mode: In Settings - Social, new settings have been added under the social setting allowing streamers to conceal their name as needed (only effective locally; other players in the same match can still see it). 1.2 PC Graphics and Settings - Enhanced and optimized graphics settings for improved performance: · New: Added a new "Off" option under "Anti-Aliasing". · New: Included a "Performance" option for "Model Detail". · New: Integrated a new "Off" option under "Global Illumination". · New: Added a new "Off" option for "Reflection Quality". · Optimization: Adjusted and optimized various parameters within the graphics settings. - Mouse Settings: Under Settings, the Keyboard - Combat category now includes new settings for mouse smoothing and mouse acceleration, enabling customization as required. - Support Intel® XeSS 2: With Intel® Xe Super Sampling 2 (XeSS 2), experience faster, smoother gameplay with higher image quality and a more connected playing experience with Intel® Xe Frame Generation (XeFG), Intel® Xe Low Latency (XeLL). 2. Fixes and Optimizations2.1 All Platforms General - Resolved numerous issues related to notifications. - Rectified various text errors. Maps and Modes - Solved several terrain issues causing characters to become stuck or move to unusual locations. Such issues will continue to be monitored and addressed. We have also added a "get unstuck" feature: if a character is stuck in terrain for a specific duration, you can now control it to return to the spawn room. - Fixed various issues including floating broken objects, collision errors, etc. - Fixed various map sound problems. - Resolved an extremely rare issue where overtime couldn't be triggered or wouldn't end. - Also resolved an exceptionally rare abnormal draw occurrence issue. Heroes - Corrected minor movement ability discrepancies for certain heroes (like Doctor Strange and Magik) at both low and high frame rates. - Addressed occasional malfunctions with, or inability to use Wolverine's team-up ability. - Fixed occasional incorrect resets of Winter Soldier's ultimate ability. - Fixed an issue where the Winter Soldier's ultimate ability would sometimes fail to hit targets within its range. - Corrected instances where Iron Man's ultimate ability would sometimes pass through Hela during her ultimate ability. - Resolved occasional synchronization issues for Venom and Spider-Man after swinging and wall-crawling. - Rectified a situation where Rocket Raccoon, while on Groot's shoulders, could irregularly place Battle Rebirth Beacons (B.R.B.) in abnormal map locations, trapping teammates after revival. - Fixed occasional camera irregularities after Loki transformed into certain characters during his ultimate ability. - Fixed a visibility issue that could sometimes occur when Adam Warlock/Mantis/Star-Lord were in soul form within the mist on Wakanda maps where they couldn't see or be seen by others. - Rectified instances where Squirrel Girl's ultimate ability could get stuck on specific terrain. - Fixed occasional damage loss in Rocket Raccoon's primary attack. - Addressed irregularities and occasional failure to end Wolverine's Feral Leap, along with occasional abnormal behavior. - Resolved instances where Luna Snow's ultimate ability occasionally failed to heal teammates. - Fixed occasional sound irregularities that could occur after being consumed by the Jeff the Land Shark's ultimate ability. - Addressed various ability sound and voice errors for several heroes. - Optimized the playback rules for hero ability voices during combat to reduce auditory confusion. 2.2 Console - Resolved an issue where after console matchmaking, teammates on Xbox were incorrectly shown as muted on other platforms, necessitating manual unmuting to remove the status display. - Rectified instances where for some heroes, when the Field of View changed, the auxiliary sight intensity and crosshair sensitivity did not adjust accordingly. - Resolved an issue where certain button settings were not taking effect as intended. - The global focus switching algorithm has been optimized for smoother overall operation. We will continue to vigilantly monitor game bug issues and fix them as fast as we can. We also have another patch with new content in the works! Be sure to follow our socials for all the latest news! Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx. Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

2024 was a pretty amazing year for new survival games. While Ark 2 unfortunately went AWOL, we still had Palworld, Once Human, and more arrive. For me, though, the most intriguing has been V Rising, which emerged out of early access and enraptured survival fans with its haunting open-world, clever crafting, and castle construction. Developer Stunlock Studios has just revealed that V Rising has now surpassed five million copies sold and says that its slate of updates throughout 2025 will "redefine" the game. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: The best vampire games to play in 2025 Vampire survival game V Rising unveils plans for a mega 1.1 update Castlevania expands V Rising with free updates to its vampire filled DLC pack View the full article

The upcoming DnD Monster Manual aims to inject new life into encounters with the game's titular monster, adding a ton of variety and loads of new abilities to ensure high level dragons are "really bringing the hurt". Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: DnD sizes explained All DnD classes explained This unofficial DnD monster is pure, concentrated 'nope' View the full article

Stardew Valley is a game full of whimsy and weirdness. With fantasy elements that range from adorable forest spirits helping rejuvenate an economically depressed town to a little mouse that sells hats for no other reason than liking hats, the farming simulator is chock-full of interesting and weird secrets. No hidden secret leads to as strange a prize as the final Lost Book quest, which allows players to collect the three weirdest pieces of furniture in the entirety of Stardew Valley. View the full article

When The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered comes to PC later this year, it'll still require a PlayStation Network account. Sony's run into a bit of controversy with its PC ports of once-exclusive titles over the past few years. While the company is making fan-favorite titles like The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered available to Steam users, it continues to force players to make or connect a PSN account to enjoy them, which not everyone is happy about. View the full article

Minecraft has a wide array of unique blocks that have special functions you might not know about. Lodestone is an incredibly useful block that you may mistake as a simple decoration if you don’t know how to find and use it. Acquiring lodestone can be rather tricky depending on how lucky you are. And even after you do manage to get it, you still have to put in a bit of extra work to get it functioning properly. It’s a powerful tool to have at your disposal, though, so here’s how to get and use lodestone in Minecraft. View the full article

Five days ahead of Hyper Light Breaker's January 14 launch, developer Heart Machine has revealed the price of the co-op action roguelike, as well as a nice launch deal to sweeten the pot: Hyper Light Breaker will cost $30, and from launch until January 28, will come with a free copy of 2016's Hyper Light Drifter... Read more.View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Assassin's Creed Shadows has been delayed until March 20, 2025, as publisher Ubisoft tries to incorporate feedback from fans into the game. The game was originally slated for release in November before being pushed back three months, and fans can now expect to get their hands on Assassin's Creed Shadows five weeks after its previously announced release date of February 14. View the full article

To start 2025 off right, Final Fantasy 14 launched a Free Login Campaign that allowed players who have inactive accounts to return to the game for four days at no added cost. The new Free Login Campaign for Final Fantasy 14 runs until February 6, and is available on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles. View the full article

Quite a nice surprise! Sid Meier's Civilization VII from Firaxis Games / 2K has been given the green tick of approval from Valve, as it's now Steam Deck Verified ahead of release. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Being compared to the infamous Evolving Skies—lovingly nicknamed Evolving Cries by some collectors—thanks to its Eeveelution cards and striking Umbreon ex artwork, PTCG Prismatic Evolutions has been anxiously awaited ever since its announcement. Despite being scheduled to come out officially on Jan. 17, booster packs for the special expansion set have already started popping up in the online Pokémon Trading Card Game community, taking the already immense level of fan excitement about the crystalline card list to a fever pitch. And while early pack opening claims should be taken with a bucket of salt, the findings from one Whatnot streamer’s mega-pack opening stream have got the community intrigued, leading many to wonder whether the upcoming expansion set could feature the highly-coveted demi god pack. View the full article