Fortniteand the Epic Games Store are currently down for many players, causing widespread issues with logging in to play the game or using other Epic services. This follows previous outages and server issues within the past couple of months, but this time, the issue didn't arrive in conjunction with a major live event. View the full article
Ubisoft is still staffing its Beyond Good and Evil 2 team, having just launched a new hiring wave to fill a handful of related positions at its Montpellier studio. In addition to signaling that the game remains in development, one of the new listings suggests the long-delayed project is still on track to feature some form of multiplayer mode, which Ubisoft first hinted at over eight years ago. View the full article
Speculation surrounding the potential direction of a Hogwarts Legacy sequel continues to lead in new directions, with a recent string of job listings for Warner Bros. Games and Avalanche Software, the studios behind the hit Harry Potter game, revealing that a new "high-quality single-player Action-Adventure RPG" is in the works. Related job postings directly connected to the Harry Potter franchise and animation requirements focusing on "creature" design seem to indicate that hiring may be ramping up for a major new project that just might become a Hogwarts Legacy sequel. View the full article
"In Hytale, if you're a cozy player who enjoys farming, building a cute home, caring for animals, cooking, and simply wants to escape the real world, we've got you covered"View the full article
NetEase Games has given players their first look at the upcoming 18v18 Annihilation game mode in Marvel Rivals, which will feature a brand-new map called Grand Garden. With the launch of Season 5, Marvel Rivals added Gambit to the roster as a Strategist, which came as quite a surprise to many people who expected the character to be a Duelist. Gamers can also expect to see the popular X-Men character Rogue come to the title during December's major mid-season update. View the full article
CD Projekt Red has issued a new statement on Cyberpunk 2 (formerly known internally as "Project Orion") as part of its latest financial update, offering some more clarity on the sequel's development while simultaneously announcing Cyberpunk 2077's latest sales milestone. According to the update, as reported by IGN, Cyberpunk 2077 has surpassed 35 million copies sold, giving CD Projekt Red a strong foundation as it continues work on its next project. In addition to the latest sales numbers, the financial update included several notable details about how the development of Cyberpunk 2 is progressing behind the scenes. View the full article
Thousands of PC gamers are reporting major issues accessing the Epic Games Store on November 26. The Epic Games Store is Steam's chief competitor, with Epic Games going above and beyond to draw users to its platform. Not only has Epic Games secured a variety of EGS exclusives over the years, but it has also given away a ton of free games in the process. View the full article
World of Warcraft: Midnight finally has a release date, and it's coming sooner than you might think. The next expansion in WoW's lifeycle includes the typical expansion story and content we've come to expect, as well as the massive bombshell of player housing. View the full article
Solo Leveling Arise Overdrive puts a lot of focus on Sung Jinwoo as the series' main protagonist, and you can build him as per the meta to make it easier for you to clear all the content. There are four archetypes to pick from, and all of them can be effective if you use the correct build. However, this guide will discuss a specific build that I have been enjoying a lot, and explain how to set it up in Solo Leveling Arise Overdrive. Best Solo Leveling Arise Overdrive Jinwoo build Out of the game's four classes, Duelist feels like the strongest option. Its attacks, when used right, can shred single-target enemies. However, the Duelist class is tough to master since you'll have to be good with your evasions. I instead went with the Ruler class. The Ruler class is arguably the most entertaining choice, and you can clear all the content on your own. The Ruler class is also the only lore-correct option as you use magic to raise Shadows to do your bidding. Here's how I have been personally distributing my stats. CategoryPrioritySplitAttack PowerMid30%DefenseHigh40%Magic PowerHigh45%SpeedLow/Ignorable5% If you're going for the Ruler class, you can almost ignore Speed. You won't have to move much on the field, as you won't be fighting alone. Investing in Magic Power is extremely important. It's your primary damage stat since almost all the abilities will scale accordingly. Screenshot by Destructoid You can also go for equal weightage for Attack Power and Defense. The key aspect is not to overspend on either area since you'll want to have a good balance between the two. Moreover, your key attack stat for the Ruler class isn't Attack Power (it's Magic Power, where you'll be investing most of your points). Best skills Here's my list of the best skills to pick if you're going with the Ruler class. Sustain Efficiency is vital when starting, as it will automatically boost your attack as long as your HP is above 80%. Keep the distance to avoid taking excess damage, and the additional attack will help you to eliminate enemies quickly.Gravity Drain: A Ruler build relies heavily on the Power Gauge, and Gravity Drain enhances its recovery rate.Shadow Exchange: Since this build has low emphasis on mobility, having Shadow Exchange allows you to reposition quickly. Finally, use Blessing Stones that will improve your Magic Power and Defense. You can also go for options that reduce the cooldown time of your skills, as it's essential for casting the Shadows. The post Best Sung Jinwoo build in Solo Leveling Arise Overdrive appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
Microtransactions are often argued to be one of the worst aspects of modern gaming. They are the primary drive behind "games as a service," and a way for publishers to rake in billions without actually adding to games. And it's fundamentally a good thing, or so Ubisoft would say. Assassin's Creed: Shadows has just received its first batch of Isu-related content in the form of a new quest, A Puzzlement, that ties into the game's main story. And, what's most important, the content is free, added to Shadows with no extra charge as an expansion to the overall narrative. This, apparently, would not have been possible without microtransactions, which Ubisoft argues help enable these content expansions. "Microtransactions, for all the flak it gets, it allows us to do the Isu stuff, the quest stuff, the parkour updates, all of it," said Simon Lemay-Comtois, AC: Shadows' associate game director (via IGN). Post-launch earnings, which are obtained via microtransactions (usually cosmetics that most Assassin's Creed games of the last 10 years have had), seem to be fundamental to the creation of these free updates and expansions, as well as keeping the games alive for longer than usual. AC: Shadows, much like other recent Ubisoft games, has skins and other microtransactions. Screenshot by Destructoid So it would seem microtransactions can be good after all, despite many players, myself included, holding a grudge against them in almost every way, shape, or form. I'd even argue microtransactions in the form of paid DLC or expansions, like Phantom Liberty in the case of Cyberpunk 2077, are a much better way of utilizing additional paid content and accumulating extra funds for expanding the game's content and size. Though, in that case, we would just call them transactions, since they are by no means micro. It's a divisive topic, and one that's been at the center of discussion regarding all of Ubisoft's outputs over the past however many years. Do cosmetics and skins have a place in single-player games, especially paid ones? Should someone who forked over $70 be asked to give more money lest they be barred from that cool-looking armor and weapons? Lots of questions, few answers, but it seems that, no matter what, they do play a significant role in ensuring these games get post-launch support. Alas, such are the ways of quarterly-oriented developers. The post Microtransactions are good, actually, Ubisoft claims appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
The Pre-****** Friday Challenge 1 SBC is now live in FC 26 Ultimate Team, and you can obtain free rewards by recycling lower-rated items. The latest challenge has only one task, and you can use fodder that you don't need. In return, you'll get a bonus pack to open during the ****** Friday celebrations. The requirements appear to be quite stiff, and this guide will help you complete the challenge pretty quickly. Table of contentsFC 26 Pre-****** Friday Challenge 1 SBC tasksFC 26 Pre-****** Friday Challenge 1 SBC solutionsFC 26 Pre-****** Friday Challenge 1 SBC tasks Here are the requirements of the solo task that's part of the SBC. Pre-****** Friday Challenge 1 Min. Nationalities in Squad: 3Max. 5 Players from the same LeagueMin. 4 Players from the same ClubPlayer quality: Min. GoldMin. Team Rating: 80Min. Squad Total Chemistry Points: 31 There are some stiff elements about this challenge. You'll need to get the squad rating to at least 80 while making sure that the chemistry requirements are at 31 or higher (out of 33). Meeting such a high chemistry requirement along with other restrictions won't be the easiest of tasks. FC 26 Pre-****** Friday Challenge 1 SBC solutions The primary objective is to use cards that are already available in your Ultimate Team inventory. This allows you to reduce the cost of completing the challenge and raise the overall valuation of the rewards. However, I have also added a solution template for you to try out if you get stuck. DeMelo CAM 80Scamacca ST 79Pasalic CAM 80Ana Tejada CM 77Baturina CM 78de Roon CM 81Laia Aleixandri CB 81Dahlkemper CB 80Hien CB 78Glas RB 78Campbell GK 81 Completing the challenge will fetch you an untradeable Prime Gold Players Pack. This pack includes 12 Gold player items, with at least one guaranteed to be rated 82 or higher. Any six of the 12 cards are guaranteed to be Rare, and there's a high chance for you to get a walkout/promo item during the ****** Friday celebrations. Make sure to complete the SBC within the next two evenings, as it will expire from Ultimate Team beyond that point. The post FC 26 Pre-****** Friday Challenge 1 SBC tasks and solutions appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
ARC Raiders is currently down, and it's unclear when the extraction shooter will be back online. Released at the end of October, ARC Raiders has been a massive hit out of the gate, quickly becoming one of the most successful new game releases of 2025. The game challenges players to raid the surface world for supplies, all while dealing with the threat of robotic enemies and human-controlled raiders. The brilliant blend of PvPvE has made ARC Raiders an overnight sensation, but the game is currently experiencing some problems. View the full article
Setting a record for the longest gap between entries over the years, the wait for Resident Evil Requiem hasn't exactly been the easiest for fans of the legendary survival horror series. While the wait for Requiem will hopefully be worth it based on Capcom's recent history of fantastic original projects and creative remakes, it's far from the only horror game to look forward to over the next few months. View the full article
As Destiny 2 gets closer to its tenth anniversary, the shared world action-RPG is currently at something of a crossroads. Following the end of The Final Shape, many players struggled to keep up with the steep power grind and evolving saga set up by The Edge of Fate. It's hard to deny those clear stumbles with Destiny 2 in 2025, but there's still so much potential for strong storytelling and slick action within the growing universe of Bungie's satisfying online RPG. And that's what makes the upcoming Renegades expansion an interesting next step for Destiny 2. It not only seeks to realign the ascent to greater power for players but also expands the universe with a pulpy, sci-fi storyline that leans right into the influence of Star Wars. After getting an early hands-on experience with Destiny 2: Renegades, I got to appreciate the way that developer Bungie is rethinking Destiny 2's power grind, and how they're getting players to embrace the scoundrel's life as they navigate the shifting battle zones of the new Lawless Frontier. Renegades picks up after the events of The Edge of Fate, with The Drifter warning the Guardians of a threat led by a new Cabal faction known as the Barrant Imperium and a mysterious fallen guardian named Bael. Embarking on a new mission without support from the Vanguard, The Drifter and other returning allies will form alliances with the growing network of syndicates within the new Lawless Frontier – all to take on the Barrant Imperium, fight back against the fallen guardian, and uncover the larger conspiracy that The Nine are working towards. It's not so much the Star Wars universe invading Destiny 2, a la Fortnite, but rather Destiny 2 leveraging its own lore for its take on a Star Wars story. What's interesting about the story with Renegades is that it's simultaneously the next phase of Destiny 2's ongoing Fate saga – setting up changes to the galaxy's power dynamics – yet it's also an expansion that pays deep homage to the Star Wars series. It's not so much the Star Wars universe invading Destiny 2, a la Fortnite, but rather Destiny 2 leveraging its own lore for its take on a Star Wars story. According to game director Tyson Green, Destiny 2: Renegades taps into a similar conceit to the Forsaken expansion and its space western revenge plot. But the opportunity to collaborate with Lucasfilm on a Star Wars crossover allowed them to take it further with a compelling crossover for the Renegades expansion. "One of the advantages that the new release model gave us, which is two expansions a year, means you can experiment more within those individual expansions – you can try different things," Green said. "So we saw what we wanted to do with a 'space western' revenge story, and we figured, let's do it in that one, let's aim for this. So we took the idea of Star Wars as total inspiration and built a Destiny expansion around it; that's kind of how we always do it. In this case, I think it comes through much more richly, because it's being more deliberate with its influences and style, but it's still fundamentally a Destiny expansion." On the surface, it can come off as an extended series of cheeky references, and it initially took me some time to get used to the visual homages to Star Wars iconography – such as a near one-to-one recreation of the opening of A New Hope, complete with movie-accurate sound effects. But I got more into it as it went on, and I appreciated the attempt at trying to make a front-facing mash-up of sorts. I especially had a blast hopping into a giant walker to mow down foes. So far, it feels like a good fit, and honestly, much of the Star Wars aspect fits, given that Destiny and most modern sci-fi and fantasy media already have Star Wars DNA baked in. In keeping with the Star Wars connection, Renegades also introduces the Blaster weapon variant, and just like Han Solo's and Chewbacca's guns from the movies, the Blasters hit hard and can fire quickly. They're essentially laser weapons that require venting to avoid overheating, which is a fair tradeoff considering how useful they can be in a fight. To be clear, these aren't totally new weapon archetypes, but rather new guns with a twist, some of which are variants of older guns like the Sweet Business exotic. But the added wrinkle of venting guns in between downtime does change up firefights a bit, and it can be super satisfying to tear into enemies with a Gatling Blaster rifle that feels right out of The Clone Wars. By far the most unique weapon to acquire is the exotic Praxic Blade, Destiny 2's take on the lightsaber. Though similar to Destiny 2's existing power swords, the Praxic Blade is an exotic special weapon that deals heavy damage and grants guardians the ability to deflect incoming enemy fire, and can even be thrown like a boomerang to deal ranged damage. It's a very satisfying weapon to use, and the exotic quest to acquire it was a strong mission that made me feel like I was taking on a trippy Jedi challenge. I don't use swords too often in Destiny 2, but I ended up using the Praxic Blade a lot more than I thought I would, given how useful it was against crowds. Also, playing as my Warlock really allowed me to live out that Jedi fantasy within Destiny. Unlike The Final Shape and The Edge of Fate, the primary campaign of Renegades takes a less guided approach and doesn't steer you into the core missions to make progress. Outside of the key story missions that will take you to bespoke locales, the majority of the action in Renegades focuses on building up your reputation within the Lawless Frontier, where you'll take on various missions ranging from smuggling, sabotage, and bounty hunts of key targets. Your new home base is the Tharsis Cantina on Mars. In this social space, you and other guardians will build up your reputation with the different syndicates vying for power within the Lawless Frontier. The majority of the action in Renegades focuses on building up your reputation within the Lawless Frontier. Unfortunately, the expansion doesn't introduce a new destination to explore. It instead focuses on building up the Cantina social space and the excursions into the new battle zones across Mars, Europa, and a remixed Venus in the Lawless Frontier activities. This does make for a smaller scope, but I felt more engaged with how I could take my time before jumping into new activities, which focus on solo or fireteam missions fighting rival syndicates. One of the new systems in the Cantina is the Syndicates, three factions vying for control of territory across the Lawless Frontier. In keeping with the scoundrel fantasy, you'll have to decide which of them you'll work with to build up a reputation and unlock rewards. My favorite faction was the Tharsis Reformation, a Vex sect that broke away from the machine hivemind and gained its own sentience – and it also wears its own jackets to showcase its individuality. The syndicates are an interesting addition, and it really helped to showcase the Cantina as a fully realized den of ***** and villainy – and you can even bribe characters within the social space to get tips on secrets within the Lawless Frontier. But what I really liked about the Syndicates in particular is that they felt like a more developed version of the Faction system from Destiny 1. In Renegades, you're actually helping these syndicates amass power within the Lawless Frontier, which will unlock bonus Renegade abilities to use in the field and more specialized gear. This especially comes into play with some missions that focus on contested territories, which require you to take on priority contracts to help your chosen syndicate secure them. Speaking with core creative director Ben Womack, he stated that a valuable lesson learned was that it's necessary to think beyond boundaries and try to expand upon the usual structure and tone when necessary. The opportunity to make a Star Wars-themed Destiny 2 expansion helped the team rethink elements of the game's signature style and structure. "I think my big lesson that I learned is that when you're making something new, you often have a bunch of conventions and boundaries that you have to consider, especially for games that have been around for a long time like Destiny," Womack said. "It's tempting to stick to those conventions as being the boundaries of the rules, but the truth is that you need to re-examine all of them every single time when trying to really create something special and make a splash. This is especially true when having a partnership with Lucasfilm. We looked at how we made the sandbox stuff we've done, we now have blaster weapons that will stay with us going forward, seeing how the Praxic Blade turned out, and we have the various new syndicates that turned out well. There are things that we definitely wouldn't have done, but we had to accept and push past those usual boundaries to do these things, and as long as it's still fun and people are responding to it, and the feel is there, then it's the right decision." I was really impressed with how chaotic and exciting the Lawless Frontier jobs were. These PvE-focused missions feel like stepping behind enemy lines, where you have to complete dynamic objectives. It really kept my team constantly on the move, and once the job was complete, we had to make one last sprint to the exfil to complete the mission, or else suffer the consequences. One of the big twists with these missions is that you can activate new Renegade abilities to call in support drops. I was able to summon a vex shield for protection, call in an aerial bombardment, or even activate battle armor to dish out to help even the odds. I was really impressed with how chaotic and exciting the Lawless Frontier jobs were. Depending on what difficulty you're playing on, the challenge can really ramp up quickly, especially when playing on a mission that allows for enemy player invasions. Much like the Gambit mode, a lone rival player can step into your squad's game and take you out to earn rewards for their syndicate. You can opt out of missions with invasions. Still, it does present a fascinating and unnerving twist to the missions, and you're not totally punished for getting wiped out by a particularly devious player who can get the jump on you. Of course, gaining power and earning the new gear to develop your guardians is the big drive for playing Destiny 2. Unfortunately, players struggled to keep up with The Edge of Fate's shifting power levels and steep grind, leading many longtime players to move on. During our hands-on, the developers were candid about how they handled that approach in the previous expansion, and one of the larger updates coming with Renegades is realigning the game's power approach so it won't require as many hurdles to overcome. Along with a refocused loot pool that will be a bit more generous and balanced with getting players powered, there are also new and refreshed activities and pinnacle ops for players to take on, which include more difficulty tuning options for players who want to maximize their chances for gaining solid loot. Along with 300 new storage slots in the vault, the portal menu and its variety of noteworthy missions to tackle will also see a refreshed version of the Seasonal Hub, which offers additional rewards for players to acquire by completing daily and weekly challenges that will give more incentive to dive into the activities of the hubs. This system was introduced in The Edge of Fate, but Renegade's updated version is easier and more inviting to engage with. According to the game director, they took the criticism to heart following the release of The Edge of Fate and have been steadily releasing updates to make the next expansion one that keeps players engaged and not frustrated by the grind. "We looked at the problem that we had and we said, 'We think there's a route here,' which is leaning into more systems of pursuit, getting new tiers of gear, armor sets, and power progression, and things like challenge customization," Green said. "These things that can allow a core audience of players to really say, like, I'm really gonna take this game and put it through its paces, and get good rewards for it. It sounds great on paper, but it didn't work. I think we've been taught a bunch of hard lessons about what our players want, and there are really two kinds of live games: there are live games that listen to the players and respond to them, and then there are dead ones. And we don't want to be a dead live game, we want to keep building Destiny. So we're listening to our players, and what our players are telling us is that they don't want to chase a simple number that goes up, they want real rewards." Though I wasn't able to get a sense of the larger pursuit of power with my limited hands-on time, I did appreciate that Destiny 2: Renegades feels a bit more generous with its loot quality and ways to move up. Those pain points in Edge of Fate made the progression a slog, but with Renegades, I found myself getting a lot more into the flow – plus I really liked that it allowed me to get the Praxic Blade fairly early on. However, I do worry that D2's new direction with the Portal hub continues its menu-heavy focus. It's convenient, for sure, but it's also a bit of a headache to navigate, and it lessens the motivation to visit the various social spaces and destinations. So far, Destiny 2: Renegades feels like a proper step forward for the live-service pioneer's next chapter, making for a more player-conscious experience. It's certainly not looking to reinvent Destiny 2 with a new sprawling campaign, but rather, realign its approach to getting players back into the right flow that doesn't feel like a drag. Along with the new Star Wars-inspired campaign that taps into it, it could end up being the right kind of course correction that Destiny needs – plus it's fun to see a Star Wars story play out in the Bungie’s universe. View the full article
It may be one of the most influential and widely played online games, but Destiny 2 has been experiencing a rough patch as of late. And developer Bungie knows it. "For years now, Destiny has been on this steady hardening of the core [audience],” explains game director Tyson Green. “More and more core players are staying and playing the game, but relatively few [new] people come into the game. There's a tightening and contraction, and this presents problems for a game that you're trying to maintain as a live service, especially when you want to keep serving those core players with great, compelling expansions." Following the launch of The Edge of Fate expansion in July, Destiny 2 saw a slump in player activity. Not necessary due to the vision of its new storyline, but rather in how it redesigned the flow of power progression to see the campaign through. Since then, Bungie has been steadily working to make changes to build up its audience again, and the upcoming expansion, the Star Wars-themed Renegades, will mark the developer’s next effort to lay a better path forward for its evolving universe. For many developers working on online games with live-service elements, calcifying player numbers has been a recurring obstacle. Often this can be simply a matter of time – Destiny 2 has been running for nearly 10 years now, and it’s inevitable that only the most dedicated will stay for the entire ride. But one of Destiny’s most recent hurdles is one of its own making: Bungie wrote an end to the story. Since the first Destiny arrived in 2014, each new expansion and update has formed chapters of the Light and Darkness saga, a decade-spanning, lore-dense story. But with the 2024 expansion, The Final Shape, Bungie brought that saga to a finish. It did, of course, set the stage for what's next – another multi-year storyline with a brand new focus. However, much like the current state of the post-Endgame Marvel Cinematic Universe, this presented an issue for Destiny 2, where many long-time and casual players saw it as a natural end-point to their journey. As you can imagine, this has made further adventures a bit of a challenge to present as must-see experiences. "The Final Shape brought things to a crescendo, where it's like a fantastic ending that tied off a lot of the threads,” says Green. “People were pleased and satisfied with what they played, and then the big [downwards] spike in population [came after]. That happened because we ended the saga. So you get what you pay for, right?" “That wasn't the plan from the business perspective,” Green continues. “We still want to keep making Destiny; we still have many stories to tell in this universe. There are still lots of things to do, and we have to keep building the game. Unfortunately, it was not gracefully managed, but we had to try something." There are two kinds of live games: those that listen to the players and respond, and those that don't. And we don't want to be a dead live game. The first steps toward providing a compelling reason to return to Destiny following the end of the Light and Darkness saga arrived in July’s The Edge of Fate expansion, in which Bungie laid the groundwork for its next major storyline, titled the “Fate saga”. It transported players to a new region of space, where they came into conflict with the enigmatic Nine faction. This new campaign introduced new story threads and twists that shook up the lore of the series, and was an intriguing setup for the next phase of Destiny 2. However, the expansion received mixed responses from dedicated players – and struggled to bring in new ones. The most controversial change was the refreshed power levels and a steeper grind that made progression more daunting than intended, creating hurdles for reaching higher-end activities. Green is frank in his assessment of The Edge of Fate. He recognises that the expansion didn't deliver a more satisfying way for players to advance their characters – a hard, but necessary lesson for the development team to take in. "We looked at the problem that we had [after The Final Shape], and we said, 'We think there's a route here,' which is leaning into more systems of pursuit, getting new tiers of gear, armor sets, and power progression, and things like challenge customization," Green said. "These things that can allow a core audience of players to really say, like, 'I'm really gonna take this game and put it through its paces, and get good rewards for it.' “It sounds great on paper, but it didn't work,” he admits. “I think we've been taught a bunch of hard lessons about what our players want, and there are really two kinds of live games: those that listen to the players and respond, and those that don't. And we don't want to be a dead live game, we want to keep building Destiny. So we're listening to our players, and what our players are telling us is that they don't want to chase a simple number that goes up, they want real rewards." Following The Final Shape's release, Bungie announced a change to its release plans for major expansions. Instead of a single annual release, the developer would deliver two mid-sized expansions per year, each with seasonal events. With the upcoming Renegades expansion, Bungie has an opportunity to showcase its realigned power progression, which has been steadily built over recent updates, while also delivering a new campaign that celebrates Star Wars and the Destiny universe. According to Green, the new release model has allowed the team to be more flexible with adapting to feedback, which has aided the development of Renegades. This new expansion not only re-evaluates the current game flow and the controversial system changes made earlier in 2025, but also presents a new campaign that hits at the same tone of the 2018 expansion, Forsaken, and a darker-edged Star Wars story that's filled with blaster weapons and lightsabers to acquire. "One of the advantages that the new release model gave us, which is two expansions a year, means you can experiment more within those individual expansions – you can try different things," Green said. "So we saw what we wanted to do with a 'space western' revenge story, and we figured, let's do it in that one, let's aim for this. So we took the idea of Star Wars as total inspiration and built a Destiny expansion around it; that's kind of how we always do it. In this case, I think it comes through much more richly, because it's being more deliberate with its influences and style, but it's still fundamentally a Destiny expansion." From my hands-on time with Renegades, it’s clear that Bungie took away valuable lessons from The Edge of Fate's release and post-launch content. I found the new campaign to be more direct in its objectives and offered a fairly generous power grind that focused more on engaging with new activities than on grinding for rare gear to move power levels up by a tick. It also touches upon classic Destiny by reintroducing a more developed version of the faction system. Many thoughtful changes really invigorate the Destiny 2 experience, but the question remains whether this will bring back players in droves. It's a type of challenge that has become very common for live-service games in 2025. And while the Destiny series has been influential on other games, it's now in a similar position to many of its imitators. Still, Bungie sees this as an opportunity to reassess what Destiny 2 can be. When reflecting on Destiny 2's current state, core creative director Ben Womack is confident in the current roadmap, and believes that, by re-thinking the rules, it will build a new future for the game going forward. "When you're making something new, you often have a bunch of conventions and boundaries that you have to consider, especially for games that have been around for a long time like Destiny," he said. "It's tempting to stick to those conventions as being the boundaries of the rules, but the truth is that you need to re-examine all of them every single time when trying to really create something special and make a splash. This is especially true when working with Lucasfilm. “We looked at how we made the sandbox stuff we've done, we now have blaster weapons that will stay with us going forward, seeing how the [lightsaber-like] Praxic Blade turned out, and we have the various new syndicates that turned out well. There are things that we definitely wouldn't have done, but we had to accept and push past those usual boundaries to do these things, and as long as it's still fun and people are responding to it, and the feel is there, then it's the right decision." View the full article
***** is pointing to consumer expectations for “definitive editions” as one potential cause behind lower-than-expected sales for some of its recent games. As spotted by GameBiz, the Sonic the Hedgehog and Persona company opened up about its performance throughout the last few months during a Q2 financial briefing Q&A session with shareholders yesterday. The conversation (via Automaton) saw ***** address the thought process behind why sales for its new premium and free-to-play games failed to meet expectations despite generally positive reviews from critics and fans. ***** says a number of elements could be contributing to disappointing returns, including competition from other releases within the same genre, as well as launch prices. The gaming publisher also suggested gamers could be passing on purchasing games at launch due to an expectation they will eventually be able to purchase “definitive editions” of those same titles further down the line. Definitive editions, which typically encompass video game re-releases with relatively minor visual upgrades and additional content, have become a popular tactic for publishers to utilize throughout the last decade. ***** is no stranger to the idea either, especially when it comes to Persona and Shin Megami Tensei developer Atlus. The studio has a history of pushing re-releases for games like Persona 4 and 5, which received Golden and Royal versions a few years after their initial launches. There’s also Shin Megami Tensei V, which originally released in 2021 and went on to come to more platforms with its Vengeance counterpart in 2024. Atlus’ latest, Metaphor: ReFantazio, released for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S late last year. ***** didn’t specifically call out any game or franchise when pointing to its definitive edition theory. The company also generally seems hesitant to directly place the blame on any one factor for now. “While we haven’t been able to pinpoint a precise cause of [the lower-than-expected sales performance], we believe the problem also lies in our marketing, which wasn’t able to sufficiently convey the appeal of our games to users,” a ***** spokesperson told investors. It’s unclear if Metaphor: ReFantazio or any other ***** series will receive a definitive edition or equivalent re-release in the future. For now, fans are eagerly awaiting any news Atlus may have to share about Persona 6. A Persona 3 remake, subtitled Reload, launched early last year, with Persona 4 Revival set to give its sequel the same treatment sometime in the near future. ***** is also continuing to roll out new content for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, which launched in September. If you're hunting for the best offers this week, we're actively rounding up the strongest ****** Friday deals on video games, tech, and more. You can find all our top picks and price drops in our full ****** Friday hub, or check out our relevant pages for PlayStation, Nintendo, and Xbox deals. Michael Cripe is a freelance writer 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
I'm a big fan of Budew in the Pokémon TCG. It's great that such an unassuming, forgettable Pokémon - one that until recently hadn't appeared on a card since 2008 - is now known far and wide as a menace, and one of the best Pokémon cards of recent years. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Here's where to pre-order Ascended Heroes Pokémon cards, now the official store's sold out Phantasmal Flames Pokémon card prices are crashing way faster than normal Why the hell doesn't Pokemon TCG's Mega Evolution series have a Blastoise yet? View the full article
Remember when Cyberpunk 2077 launched in late 2020, and it was basically the worst videogame ever? That's obviously a gross overstatement made for comedic effect, but it was really bad—which is why the subsequent turnaround on it is so damn remarkable. We've said at least a couple times in the past that Cyberpunk's redemption arc is complete, but here I am to say it again, because yet another big milestone is now in the rear-view... Read more.View the full article
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Fortniteand the Epic Games Store are currently down for many players, causing widespread issues with logging in to play the game or using other Epic services. This follows previous outages and server issues within the past couple of months, but this time, the issue didn't arrive in conjunction with a major live event. View the full article