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You sometimes forget just how many great games have been released during the last 12 months. Helldivers 2 has become one of the best multiplayer experiences in recent years, Baldur's Gate 3 will go down in history as the RPG that transformed the genre, and Balatro, the indie and roguelike game from LocalThunk, is the surprise megahit that just keeps giving. Alan Wake 2, Dave the Diver, ***** Island 2 - all of these and more will be honored at the upcoming Develop:Star Awards, as part of Develop:Brighton, in July. You can find the full nominees list right here. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Baldur's Gate 3 composer "inspired and happy" about Larian's new game The 23 best Baldur's Gate 3 mods Best RPG games on PC 2024 View the full article

Back 4 Blood has always been a strange curiosity. Created by Turtle Rock, the same studio that made the epochal zombie shooter Left 4 *****, it's never managed to attract the same acclaim and attention as the Valve-published FPS. Nevertheless, to this day, three years since it launched on Steam, it retains a committed playerbase, and now, out of nowhere, it's been updated, and no longer uses the oft-debated Denuvo Anti-Tamper. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Back 4 Blood suddenly has thousands more players and good reviews One of the best zombie games is 90% off in the Steam ***** Get up to 90% off Mortal Kombat, Batman, and more in big WB Steam ***** View the full article

With Monster Hunter Wilds set to launch in 2025, it's likely you've got eyes on the series. If you're already a fan, you don't need me to tell you what makes Capcom's world-beating RPGs so beloved; but if you've never jumped on the train before then now is a fantastic time to do so, especially if you've enjoyed the likes of Elden Ring, Dark Souls, and Dragons Dogma. A huge discount allows you the chance to grab the two most recent and best games in the series for cheap on Steam right now, along with their vast expansions. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Metroidvania bundle nets you seven games at just $2 each Delve into seven dungeon crawlers and save over $100 with this bundle Get $200 of games, including one of the best shooters ever, for $15 View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

With the success of the Fallout TV series, more people are revisiting Fallout 76. Though initially panned by many when it was released, Bethesda has put a lot of work into the multiplayer title, and a small but dedicated niche community has formed around it. Seasonal events like Invaders From Beyond, regular updates, and patches are now being presented to a whole new audience of players, and one of the most recent seasonal events also happens to have ties to real-life events. View the full article

Making a fighting game is hard - making any video game is hard! If it was easy, everyone would do it. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try of course. If you've got a ******* idea in your head or a love letter to games of the past at your fingertips, you should absolutely give it a ******. **** by the Blade feels like one such game, calling back to living room epics like Bushido Blade or the Deadliest Warrior games. Sadly, it doesn't quite hit the heights of such titles. That's not for lack of trying! **** by the Blade has a nifty blend between a classic samurai aesthetic and a futuristic cyberpunk look and it works well as the foundation to the game's vibe. This is best protrayed by its stages - many of which I love! I dig the ultra-clean offices and dojo arenas, but do have a soft spot for dingy streets and dilapidated shrines you can ****** to the ****** in. Read more View the full article

Act fast if you want to save big with this Corsair K70 RGB Pro gaming keyboard deal. As Corsair's top-tier full-size gaming keyboard, it packs in masses of features making for an ultra-fast and responsive typing tool that's currently 40% cheaper than usual. While it's the TKL version of Corsair's K70 that sits on our best gaming keyboard list, the full-size version is just as desirable, and ideal for anyone who needs a versatile typing/data-entry tool as well as a gaming interface. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: This Corsair wireless gaming headset is now under $50, if you're quick Corsair's new gaming SSD is yours if you have a spare $640 DDR4 vs DDR5 - which RAM to buy for gaming View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Shadow of the Erdtree, Elden Ring's 'first and last' DLC expansion, is a little over a month away. Whether you're jumping back into the base game before release or starting from scratch altogether, the hype is slowly building. Shadow of the Erdtree will release on June 21 and is set to cost $39.99 -- but if you're on PC, there's already a tantalizing saving on offer to you. Fanatical, a trusted PC and Steam code seller, currently has the Elden Ring: Shadow of The Erdtree expansion listed for $35.19 / £30.79 in the ***, alongside the 'Premium Bundle' for $43.99 (down from $49.99). That's at least $4.81 savings and 12% off one of the most anticipated DLCs ever. This feels like a no-brainer. If playing Shadow of the Erdtree already seems like a done deal for you, this offer is like finding almost $5 in change stuffed into the back pocket of the jeans you wore last week. While this isn't a ***** Giant-sized discount, it's one of the best PC video game deals running. Codes at this price aren't unlimited either, so it could be worth securing ASAP to ensure you're paying the best price possible. In case you missed some other finer details, this is a Steam code purchase and only for those on PC. For those on console, you can see our complete preorder guide for Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Edition right here on IGN as well. While this may be the only expansion Elden Ring is getting, it may not be fans' final taste of The Lands Between. FromSoftware boss Hidetaka Miyazaki hasn't shut down the possibility of a full sequel, and when asked about the future of the franchise, he commented that FromSoftware deliberately leaves the end of its games open to potential sequels, and it seems Elden Ring will be no exception. Miyazaki suggested in March 2024 that FromSoftware hadn't made a decision on a sequel yet, but similarly spoke to the ******* to keep its options open. "We don't want to say this is the end of the Elden Ring saga for now," he told IGN. As part of the reveal of the hotly anticipated Shadow of the Erdtree this year, Bandai Namco also issued a sales update for the base game, which has now sold over 20 million copies after launch. If you're excited for the upcoming expansion, it's worth checking out 15 hidden details that we found in the Shadow of the Erdtree trailer as well. The base version of Elden Ring returned a 10/10 in IGN's review. "Elden Ring is a massive iteration on what FromSoftware began with the Souls series, bringing its relentlessly challenging combat to an incredible open world that gives us the freedom to choose our own path," we said. If you're keen on saving a few extra dollars elsewhere, we also have a slew of other gaming deals roundups worth checking out, including the best Xbox deals, the best PlayStation deals, and the best Nintendo Switch deals. In each of those, you can find a wide variety of great discounts on games, hardware, accessories, and more. Another great spot to look for the latest sales is in our Daily Deals roundup, where we highlight all the best deals on stuff you actually want to buy. Currently, we have some great video game deals listed alongside Nintendo Switch OLED and CRKD Nitro Deck discounts. When is Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdree Available? Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree will release June 21 on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, and PC. The release date was announced earlier this year, alongside the release of a brand-new trailer, which includes glimpses of a host of new bosses, powers, and more. What Level Should You Be for Shadow of the Erdtree? We already have a handy guide on how you should prepare for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, but here's a quick rundown. We recommend that characters should likely be at least Level 100 to Level 150 to properly prepare for the challenges of the DLC. Most players who have reached the final boss of Elden Ring usually find themselves around Level 100 or higher depending on the challenges you face, so it's likely that having that many points allocated in various stats will give you a good fighting chance. But, it's also worth noting that the DLC will introduce a new power scaling mechanic. Players will be able increase their power by seeking out minor bosses and defeating them, so this will be an additional factor to consider besides your level when entering the Land of Shadow. Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

The next mainline Call of Duty game looks set to be called Call of Duty ****** Ops 6, not ****** Ops 5 as previously thought, after developer Treyarch acknowledged the recent discovery of the Sally pistols in Warzone. The Sally is a variant of the Akimbo version of the 9mm Daemon *******, and rekindles memories of 2010 ****** Ops’ iconic cover art. To unlock the **** in-game you must first find the Sally as ground loot in battle royale Warzone and get just one ***** with it. This unlocks the Sally for use in Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone. Treyarch responded to the discovery of the Sally pistols, which feature six scratched tally marks, in a series of tweets. — Treyarch Studios (@Treyarch) May 15, 2024 — Treyarch Studios (@Treyarch) May 15, 2024 Fans have speculated about the name of the next Call of Duty for years now, with everything from ****** Ops Gulf War to ****** Ops 5 mooted. But it now seems clear Activison has decided on ****** Ops 6, which makes sense given Call of Duty 2024 is the sixth main ****** Ops game, but that does also mean we’re skipping ****** Ops 5 (2020's ****** Ops Cold War looks set to be considered ****** Ops 5 in the run). Reports from last year indicated ****** Ops 6 will take place during the Gulf War, additionally touching on the global political fallout after the Cold War. Additionally, the reports suggest the new game will lean back into more traditional military combat tech and ****** Ops gadgets, rather than focusing on the futuristic tech some of the more recent Call of Duty games have embraced. Currently, ****** Ops 6 is planned for a launch in 2024 around roughly the usual time in late fall/early winter. Activision owner Microsoft has announced an Xbox showcase for June, with a Call of Duty Direct to follow afterwards. Fans are expected to get a first look at the game then. We’re going to be talking about games of course Tune in to the Xbox Games Showcase followed by [REDACTED] Direct on Sunday, June 9 @ 10am PT: [Hidden Content] | #XboxShowcase [Hidden Content] — Xbox (@Xbox) April 30, 2024 Microsoft is in the process of laying off 1,900 staff across its gaming business, including people at Activision Blizzard and Bethesda owner ZeniMax. This month, Microsoft shocked the gaming world by closing down Hi-Fi Rush maker Tango Gameworks and Redfall developer Arkane Austin, with fears more cuts are to come. 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

When they’re not banding together to take on Sony or attempting to reinstate fired community managers, it turns out that Helldivers 2 players just want to make sure everyone feels included. Included in the co-op game’s endless war of attrition to protect Super Earth from bugs, robots, and basic awareness of military ***********, and included in just having mates. Enter player ‘dremskiy’, whose tragic booting from a private game in which they just wanted to make friends has resulted in so many friend requests that their Steam account won’t accept any more. Read more View the full article

Fallout games took three of the top 10 places on the ********* sales chart last month. That’s according to GSD data published by [Hidden Content], which covers physical game sales from major markets and digital sales from most leading publishers, excluding Nintendo and 505 Games. Bethesda’s game took the No.1 spot on the back of some heavy discounts coinciding with the release of Amazon’s popular Fallout TV show. Read More... View the full article

I'm apparently a total and complete ******* for anything that allows for short rounds of gameplay, that mixes in elements of Brotato and Vampire Survivors to let me customize my run and Towerful Defense: Prologue has plenty of that. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Over time, combat in World of Warcraft has become more dynamic, exciting, and demanding, especially compared to Classic. Precisely because of this, you can get addons like WeakAuras, DeadlyBoss Mods, and Big Wigs that give you cues to help you deal with mechanics. But that’s all changing in The War Within. According to Wowhead’s report from May 15, The War Within will feature Private Auras in both raids and Mythic+ dungeons, making the already-demanding content an even ******* challenge. Private auras make PvE ******* because you can’t rely on addons to do the heavy lifting for you. In Dragonflight, Private Auras were limited to raids only, but in the next expansion, they’ll apply to Mythic+ dungeons too. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Ultimate Chicken Horse is easily one of the funniest and stupidest party-platformers I've ever played, and it just had a free content update with a big discount. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Absurd Ventures, the company started by Rockstar Games co-founder and head writer Dan Houser after he left said juggernaut, are working on a new "open world action-adventure" game. That's according to recent job listings on Absurd's website (cheers Gamesradar for the spot), which mention such a thing. And to be honest, are any of us surprised? Not really. Will the finished product resemble GTA to some degree? I imagine yes. Am I happy about this? Yeah, go on then. Read more View the full article

Skull and Bones Season 2 is on the way after what Ubisoft called a “tremendous response” from the game’s community. Skull and Bones launched in February on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, anbd PC (but not on Steam) after years of delays and was thought to have suffered from low player numbers. IGN’s Skull and Bones review returned a 7/10. We said: “Skull and Bones is a maritime RPG with a strong foundation, even if it feels like a live-service first draft.” Season 1 soon followed, and now Ubisoft has confirmed what to expect from Season 2. “Let us begin by saying how amazing it has been for all of us working on Skull and Bones to witness the tremendous response from our entire community since the launch of our game,” Ubisoft said in a blog post.. "From the ways our players engage with our game and content, to the ton of screenshots, videos and livestreams shared across social media, Discord and Reddit." “It is thanks to your incredible engagement, that we were able, throughout Season 1, to observe, listen, understand, and more importantly react to your feedback on a weekly basis," Ubisoft continued. "Our commitment continues to remain the same - to create and update our game together, with our community. This wouldn't have been possible without the passion and dedication you've shown to Skull and Bones.” During its most recent financial report, Ubisoft ******* to say how many copies Skull and Bones sold since going on ***** at full price on February 16. But it did say the game saw “strong engagement”, with the second-best daily playtime for a Ubisoft game. That included an average of four hours in the first weeks following launch. Ubisoft put this down to end-game content that launched with Season 1. “We target to further improve this retention and enlarge the player base with the upcoming launch of Season 2, Chorus of Havoc, that will continue to enrich the end-game with the addition of new bosses, world events and ship upgrades,” Ubisoft added. “Season 2 will also bring new PvE & Solo game modes.” Ubisoft has committed to at least one full year of content for Skull and Bones, divided up into four seasons. It will be interesting to see if the game gets a second year of support. Ubisoft further detailed Season 2 in the blog post. Here are the notes: Skull and Bones Season 2 key features and improvements preview With Season 2, we're bringing many improvements to our end game loop, adjustments to our seasonal formula and a ton of new content which we believe will address some key concerns from the community. Ship Upgrades, which will allow you to upgrade your ships to improve ship stats and gain new perks.Fleet Management, which will allow you to assign ships to manufactories to automatically collect pieces of eight.Helm Leases, which will allow you to acquire a manufactory of your choice.New PvE & Solo Game ModesBalancing the costs of our Manufactories These changes come in addition to the new content (new boss ******, new sea monster, new ship, weapons, armors and furniture) that will be introduced and communicated to you through additional dev updates and devblogs, in the upcoming days/weeks on Discord, Reddit, Social Media and our website. Seasonal reset With Season 2 right around the corner, many of you have been eager to find out what exactly is going to change when Season 1 ends. Rewarding your achievements and preparing for season 2 Our seasonal model on Skull and Bones is designed around the idea that players ****** against seasonal antagonists, Sea Monsters and other Ghost Ships to protect The Helm's smuggling activities and grow both their profit and influence in the Indian Ocean. Each new season in Skull and Bones sees the arrival of a new threat, coming to disrupt and force the Helm and its associates to adapt the way they operate and manage their trading network. With Season 1, we deliberately took the time we needed to carefully monitor and understand your feedback and the way you engage with our game content. The learnings we gathered throughout the season helped us make the necessary adjustments and balancing to our end game economy, features, and systems. Now that Season 2 is coming, we can share more details on the full list of rewards that will be handed out to the most successful Kingpins from Season 1. The first thing we announced during a previous livestream of The Deck was that everyone who reached the Diamond Rank on the leaderboards by the end of Season 1, would receive the cosmetic set at the beginning of Season 2. In addition, we will also be rewarding those of you who successfully and significantly grew their empire, with some of the new items coming with our Season 2 update: World Helm Leases and Ship Upgrade Parts. These two items will become key in growing your fleet of ships, acquiring the manufactories of your choice, and get a head start in shaping your empire to your strategy. As stated above, with the end of each season, and the arrival of a new antagonist, comes significant disruption to The Helm and their smuggling operations. As a result, all players will see their ranks on the leaderboards, their manufactories, and upgrades be reset. Not all is lost however, as your efforts have been recognised by The Helm's representative, who will trust you with new tools to re-build your empire and prove your worth as a Pirate Kingpin once again. Last but not least, we will not be fully resetting the number of Pieces of Eight collected throughout Season 1 but applying a soft reset instead to all players who accumulated more than 300,000 Pieces of Eight. Effectively, most of you will get to keep all your Pieces of Eight in your wallet, while a few will see their balance reduced to that number. 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

I think this tease is it, but I can’t quite tell. | Image: Asus On June 2nd, Asus will formally announce the ROG Ally X, a semi-sequel to its handheld gaming PC with a way ******* battery. We exclusively revealed the broad strokes last Thursday, but I’ve now touched an early engineering sample, too — and I’m pleased to say it’s far more comfortable to hold. [/url] Asus has made a whole bunch of ergonomic changes that make it practically melt into my hands, in the exact way the original did not. While I still prefer the Steam Deck’s beefier grips and symmetrical thumbsticks, the Ally X could easily be my runner-up. First, a disclaimer: this is not what I’d consider a proper hands-on. Asus wouldn’t let me power it on, play any games, or show you any photos. I couldn’t bring the old ROG Ally into the room or... Continue reading… View the full article

OK, so for the past few years, the Los Angeles Chargers - one of LA's NFL teams - have announced the schedule for the upcoming season in pretty entertaining fashion. This year, The Sims 2 has been chosen to host this reveal of who Justin Herbert and co will be playing against and when - creating something that both Sims fans and those of us who like ********* football can enjoy together. As a recap of sorts, the schedule release videos we got from the Chargers in 2022 and 2023 were both anime-themed, taking on the guises of intros resembling those of shows at least one person you know is probably really into. It's a nice way to spice up something mundane, and this year's might be the team's best one yet. There are far too many very funny gags in the video - which you can watch below - for me to point them all out, but here are some of my favorites, starting off with a few that folks who are just here for the classic Sims nostalgia will enjoy. Read more View the full article

The sequel to 2064: Read Only Memories has finally arrived with Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER now available with Linux support. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Netflix has been reminding everyone that Squid Game season 2 is still coming along after a lengthier than expected wait. In February, we also received one of the shortest teasers in recent memory, and with 2024 nearing the halfway point now, many are wondering when the marketing campaign is actually starting. Main star Lee Jung-jae, who's now promoting the Star Wars: The Acolyte series, has thankfully shed some light on the matter, but ******** tight-lipped about the whole thing. While talking to Business Insider, he revealed that, as far as he knows, the second season of the South Korean drama is dropping in December. This might not be the news that diehard Squid Game fans - children who shouldn't be watching the show included - were hoping for, but it's a logical choice if true. For the past few years, Netflix's big Christmas releases, like Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and Rebel Moon: Part 1, were huge. If Squid Game's second season couldn't be finished in time for the summer *******, it only makes sense to save it for December and finish 2024 with a bang. Read more View the full article

On May 15, developer Airship Syndicate announced that Wayfinder is turning into an offline single-player game with optional co-op. Immediately, the game’s Steam page was bombed with almost 100 negative reviews. After two seasons as an MMO-lite, Wayfinder lost most of its players, was abandoned by its publisher, Digital Extremes, and was removed the Steam and PlayStation stores. Now that Airship Syndicate is also in charge of publishing, it announced it will be rebranding the game as a single-player experience—and Steam users didn’t take the news well. View the full article

Microsoft is reportedly considering a "no red line" approach to porting games to PlayStation consoles, in a new strategy to increase margins for its released video games. According to a report by Windows Central, this would include even the company's most excusive and beloved IPs. The minds behind this move belong to CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood, notably folks not inherently tied to the gaming department of the company. While the pair believe this is the right move going forward, apparently many working inside the company are uneasy with this decision and its consequences. This appears to be somewhat of a follow-up of a previous decision made by Microsoft, in which it ported four games including Hi-Fi Rush created by the wonderful and now-***** Tango Gameworks and Sea of Thieves. When these games did land on other consoles including the PlayStation, they proved quite popular, so there is proof this sort of thing does boost sales. Read more View the full article

You only have to take one look at PC Gamer's Disco Elysium review to realize just what a special PC gaming experience it is. Rated 92%, this detective RPG simply blew our reviewer Andy Kelly away, leaving him to "say with certainty that it's one of the finest RPGs on PC if you value depth, freedom, customization, and storytelling.".. Read more.View the full article

Helldivers 2’s ongoing meta-narrative took another twist this week after players ******* the last Major Order and thus ******* to unlock a promised new Stratagem. The explosive PC and PlayStation 5 co-op shooter had set the community a stiff challenge: ***** 2 billion Automatons in five days and the Anti-Tank Mines Stratagem would unlock. But despite players’ best efforts, Helldivers came 78% towards the stated goal, and in an in-universe Galactic War update from Super Earth High Command posted to the Helldivers Discord, Arrowhead signaled it would hold the the Anti-Tank Mines Stratagem back — for now. “After five days of intense decommissioning of Automatons into scrap metal for use in advanced anti-tank mines, the Helldivers came 78% towards the stated goal of 2 billion ***** bots,” the message reads. “This means that the new stratagem will continue to elude the Helldiver arsenal for now…” It’s perhaps no surprise to see this Major Order *******, given Arrowhead had warned it had fixed a bug that caused a previous Major Order to ***** 2 billion bugs to be completed too quickly. The Anti-Tank Mines Stratagem will obviously be released in time, but what’s interesting is what comes next in the Galactic War. Dungeon Master Joel, who pulls the meta-narrative strings from within the bowels of Arrowhead headquarters, appears to have a surprise up his sleeve. The rest of Super Earth’s statement says the war has now escalated into what’s called The Second Galactic War, and that all conflict leading up to this point “was merely an elaborate special operation.” And here’s a very interesting line, already being picked apart by the Helldivers community: “New recruits are being trained to bolster the ranks of SEAF, and the Helldivers are tasked with guarding these training facilities so that each recruit can be given their rigorous 72 hour basic training.” "All conflict leading up to this was merely an elaborate special operation. It could be nothing, but some players are speculating that this is a tease for the arrival of NPC squads. Perhaps an upcoming Stratagem will call in a four-person team who drop down onto the battlefield to help out until they, inevitably, ***** the dust. Here’s the rest of the statement in full: “The war now escalates into what is officially called ‘The Second Galactic War.’ All conflict leading up to this was merely an elaborate special operation. New recruits are being trained to bolster the ranks of SEAF, and the Helldivers are tasked with guarding these training facilities so that each recruit can be given their rigorous 72 hour basic training.” Helldivers 2 is the fastest-selling PlayStation game of all time, selling an astonishing 12 million copies in just 12 weeks. But it’s had a bumpy ride since coming out earlier this year, with Arrowhead butting heads with Sony over PSN account linking. This week, Arrowhead said it plans to roll back changes to patrols and spawn rates, admitting the PSN controversy had diverted its attention away from gameplay tweaks. 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 latest weapons balancing blog post from Bungie revealed substantial PvE damage buffs across the Destiny 2 sandbox coming in The Final Shape. However, despite buffs, players believe one ******* category is still lagging. The majority of the buffs listed in the Destiny 2 blog post on May 15 increase the weapons’ damage against PvE combatants in light of Spec mod removal. Damage is good, but players agree swords, in particular, need something more than damage—survivability. In a Reddit thread, Destiny 2 fans pointed out that in the endgame content swords are only viable for Titans who use the Stronghold Exotic armor. View the full article

An update many have been waiting for, Caves of Qud, one of the best roguelikes ever has a Beta available that includes a huge overhaul to the UI. Much better for gamepad and Steam Deck players. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article