BitLife's Bad Santa challenge is making a return for the first time in five years. While some challenges are full of happiness and excitement, this event has your character experiencing all sides of the holiday season, including stress, sadness, and mischief. The Bad Santa challenge has six objectives to complete: Table of contentsBitLife Bad Santa challenge guideBe a maleBecome SantaBe depressedBurgle 10 homesShoplift 10 itemsTell a child that Santa isn't realBitLife Bad Santa challenge guide BitLife's Bad Santa challenge doesn't require any paid expansion packs or Bitizenship to complete. If you didn't finish its 2020 version, you now have another chance to tackle its objectives for free without having to make any job pack or premium pass purchases. Be a male The BitLife Bad Santa challenge's first task requires you to have a male character. It doesn't matter where he's born, as long as his starting gender is set to Male. It's up to you whether you continue from a pre-existing save or start fresh. Screenshot by Destructoid While you're not required to have any job packs for this challenge, having the ****** pack's Criminal special talent will help you later on. Aside from this, you'll mostly be relying on your own efforts and some luck later on. Become Santa Your next job is to become Santa himself. To do this, age up your character until you unlock part-time jobs before heading into the Occupation menu. Search the part-time job menu until you find a Mall Santa position open. Screenshot by Destructoid If your character is young, there's a chance he won't get the job right away. In this case, keep aging up and applying for the job until you succeed in knocking out this objective. Be depressed Throughout your character's life, you'll need to do everything in your power to make them depressed. Here are some ideas for doing this: Try to spend time with someone you have low relationship stats withHave one of your character's friends, pets, or family members pass away.Lose a jobGet caught committing a crimeFail to cure a diseaseLose money gambling at a casino Once your character reaches zero percent happiness, they'll become depressed, letting you complete this next task. Burgle 10 homes The next part of BitLife's Bad Santa challenge requires you to burgle ten houses. To do this, head into Activities, Crime, and choose Burgle. Here, you'll find a maze minigame that'll net you rewards depending on your performance. Screenshot by Destructoid During this minigame, you'll navigate hallways from a top-down point of view. Your goal is to avoid whoever is in the house, collect items, and escape without having the cops appear and thwart your plans. Completing this minigame ten times will finish this task, leading into the second half of our character's criminal arc. Shoplift 10 items Our character's crime spree isn't over yet. Our next goal is to shoplift, which you can do by heading back into the Crime menu and picking Shoplift. The easiest way to complete this is to pick low-value items so that, even if your character is caught, the consequences won't be too severe. Tell a child that Santa isn't real The final task of BitLife's Bad Santa challenge is to tell a child that Santa isn't real. During your character's life, there's a chance you'll find a random event that'll enable you to do this. If you don't encounter this event, you can create a new character and try again, use the Time Machine to go back in time, or refresh your save by closing and reopening the BitLife app. Completing all six tasks will wrap up the Bad Santa challenge, rewarding you with a cosmetic prize. If you're looking to finish a past challenge, be sure to check out how to complete the BitLife Baby challenge, or click the tags below to explore more BitLife guides. The post How to complete the Bad Santa challenge in BitLife appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
ARK Survival Ascended's Lost Colony DLC has added a few unique creatures and items, and nothing tops the elusive Vulpite Crystals. This is arguably one of the most essential items to find if you're looking to evolve your Veilwyn. Unlike other creatures, the Veilwyn has different evolutions. The Pristine Vulpite is required if you want to evolve your Veilwyn to a Solwyn. Incidentally, you also get the Vulpite from a Solwyn. If all of this sounds confusing, this guide will clear all your doubts. How to get Pristine Vulpite in ARK Survival Ascended To get a Pristine Vulpite crystal, you'll need your own Veilwyn. The Veilwyn also has to be marked as your companion. The next step is to find a wild Solwyn (with the Veilwyn as your companion). When you approach the Solwyn, you'll see an emote icon on top of it (right below the curiosity level). You'll need to perform the same emote from the emote wheel. Once you do that, you'll notice that the curiosity will increase. Image via Studio Wildcard You aim to take the curiosity of the wild Solwyn to 100%. This will take some time, and you'll want to avoid selecting the wrong emoticons. Doing so will put a cooldown, and you'll need to begin from the start. Hence, selecting the correct emojis is necessary. Thankfully, there are just three emojis to pick from. Hence, there's not much chance of you picking the wrong option. Once the curiosity level reaches 100%, you'll get a Vulpite Crystal. You can repeat this process to gain more Pristine Vulpite Crystals if you want. The crystal will be directly available in your inventory. You can then use it to evolve your own Veilwyn into a Solwyn directly. If you find the instructions and requirements too hard, you can always use console commands if they're allowed on your servers. The post How to get Vulpite Crystals in ARK Survival Ascended Lost Colony DLC appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
Just days before Christmas, Valve announced it had discontinued the production of the Steam Deck LCD model, which was the cheapest version of the popular gaming handheld. Valve's Steam Deck announcement resulted in its handheld becoming indirectly more expensive, as the pricier OLED models are the only ones now available for users to buy. View the full article
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has officially been disqualified from the Indie Game Awards 2025 after developer Sandfall Interactive confirmed the game's use of generative AI in its development. Six One Indie, the creators of the Indie Game Awards, announced that this use of generative AI has disqualified Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from receiving the two awards it won during the show on December 18, which will now go to the runners-up. View the full article
Continuing down its AI-focused path, Nvidia is now introducing a new, open-source AI solution trained to play games on its own. Trained on thousands of hours of gaming content, this new AI initially came to be as a robotics implementation, but is now being branched out. The AI is called NitroGen, and was first shown off by Nvidia's Director of Robotics, Jim Fan. He showed the solution in action: the “autonomous agent” as this “player” is called played The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Cuphead, Rocket League, and Blasphemous, among other titles, doing so quite capably, even if it's in a primitive state of development. The agent was trained on countless hours of gameplay, specifically videos where players put up their gamepads or control schemes that showed, in real time, what keys they were pressing, allowing the machine to learn motor controls and other aspects of real-time gameplay. This makes sense given that the agent was initially meant for robotics, i.e., to enable AI-controlled robots to perform motor functions and other “human” actions, but it's now branched out into purely software applications. The fact that this is an open-source solution and generally available to anyone (including for the sake of creating forks and unique takes) makes me dread the future of online gaming. [Hidden Content] Let's take a second to consider what the widespread use of a capable autonomous AI would do: make bots appear in just about every single game, ruin your matches far more than bots already do, make it nearly impossible to discern low- and mid-level players from robots, and generally make online competitive gaming a hellscape. And not only that. With the introduction of autonomous gameplay agents, we can almost say farewell to original gaming content on YouTube and other platforms. You'll have ChatGPT or a related LLM generating a video script, an AI voice reading it out, and an AI playing the game in the background. The same goes for streaming and any other form of video content, which is already saturated by AI to an incredible degree. We are ushering in our own demise, especially in these two areas. Bots pose a major problem in video games already, with organizations using them to farm cases in CS2, flooding the game with millions of fake players and decimating the game's casual side. With these new capabilities, we can expect the bots to flow into competitive and other modes, being used to boost accounts, level them, or even derank them with utmost efficiency. I genuinely cannot think of a single good use for this new AI, save for maybe applying it in a Soulslike game to make the enemies more capable and challenging, though I don't know how that'd work any better than the systems FromSoftware had already invented for its games. You cannot tell me bosses can get much better than Bayle, Sister Friede, Lady Maria, and so many others, which were made without any use of AI, and definitely without Nvidia's NitroGen. The post Nvidia’s new open-source AI is made to play games on its own—and I just know it’ll butcher online gaming appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
The Passing Perfectionist Evolution is now live in FC 26, and you can improve a card of your choice in Ultimate Team. The latest evolution is available for 35,000 coins and includes some fantastic upgrades. This guide will help you figure out the best candidates for the evolution based on the requirements and offered upgrades. Table of contentsFC 26 Passing Perfectionist Evolution requirementsFC 26 Passing Perfectionist Evolution upgradesBest players for Passing Perfectionist Evolution in FC 26FC 26 Passing Perfectionist Evolution requirements Here are the requirements for Passing Perfectionist Evolution in FC 26. Overall: Max 86PlayStyle: Max 10PlayStyle+: Max 1FC 26 Passing Perfectionist Evolution upgrades The Passing Perfectionist Evolution has three levels of upgrades. To obtain the boosts, you’ll need to complete specific tasks. Level 1 upgrades PlayStyles: Incisive Pass|7 Level 2 upgrades PlayStyles+: Incisive Pass|1PlayStyles: Tiki Taka, Pinged Pass Level 3 upgrades PlayStyle: Long Ball Pass, Inventive, Whipped Pass|7 Level 1 upgrade requirements Play 1 match in Squad Battles on min. Semi-Pro difficulty (or Rush/Rivals/Champions/Live Events) using your active EVO Player. Level 2 upgrade requirements Play 1 match in Squad Battles on min. Semi-Pro difficulty (or Rush/Rivals/Champions/Live Events) using your active EVO Player in game. Level 3 upgrade requirements Play 1 match in Squad Battles on min Semi-Pro difficulty (or Rush/Rivals/Champions/Live Events) using your active EVO player in game.Best players for Passing Perfectionist Evolution in FC 26 You can include a wide variety of items in this evolution. Cards have been included based on the upgrades on offer. Eric Dier Winter WildcardsJulian Ryerson Winter WildcardsAlexsandro Joga BonitoTino Livaramento Winter WildcardsPaul Pogba Ultimate ScreamGiovani Di Lorenzo CaptainsRafa Leao Ultimate ScreamJeremy Doku Joga BonitoJoao Felix Ultimate Scream These are arguably some of the best options you can include in this evolution. This evolution is geared towards adding new playstyles, without raising the overall rating. This leaves plenty of room for you to include the upgraded cards in more evolutions. The post Best players for FC 26 Passing Perfectionist Evolution appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
The Stay Frosty Evolution is now live in FC 26, allowing you to create amazing chains in Ultimate Team. While the evolution doesn't offer any overall rating upgrades, it includes stat boosts, playstyles, and more. Let's look at the best options for this free evolution, based on the requirements and offered upgrades. Table of contentsFC 26 Stay Frosty requirementsFC 26 Stay Frosty Evolution upgradesBest players for Stay Frosty Evolution in FC 26FC 26 Stay Frosty requirements Here are the requirements for Stay Frosty Evolution in FC 26. Overall: Max 85PlayStyle: Max 10PlayStyle+: Max 1Not Positio: GKFC 26 Stay Frosty Evolution upgrades The Stay Frosty Evolution has two levels of upgrades. To obtain the boosts, you’ll need to complete specific tasks. Level 1 upgrades Agility: +12|90Balance: +12|90PlayStyles: Rapid|7 Level 2 upgrades Dribbling: +10|88Reactions: +12|88PlayStyles+: Rapid|1 Level 1 upgrade requirements Play 2 matches in Squad Battles on min. Semi-Pro difficulty (or Rush/Rivals/Champions/Live Events) using your active EVO Player in game. Level 2 upgrade requirements Play 2 matches in Squad Battles on min. Semi-Pro difficulty (or Rush/Rivals/Champions/Live Events) using your active EVO Player in game.Best players for Stay Frosty Evolution in FC 26 You can include a wide variety of items in this evolution. Julian Ryerson Winter WildcardsTino Livaramento Winter WildcardsJohnston Winter WildcardsYan Couto Winter WildcardsQuenda Joga BonitoVagnoman ThunderstruckBuchanan Thunderstruck These are arguably some of the best options you can include in this evolution. Since the cards won’t go above the overall rating of 85, you can add the upgraded versions to more evolutions. That will further improve the stats of the cards and allow you to use them in competitive matches for a longer *******. The post Best players for FC 26 Stay Frosty Evolution appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
Recently, we've been getting reports that Riot Games is working on a new version of League of Legends, supposedly called League Next, i.e., League of Legends 2. It's a massive overhaul of the game, but now that others have done it (and poorly), is that really the best path to take? League of Legends has been around since 2009. By all accounts, it's an old game, despite Riot's best efforts to maintain it and bring it up to snuff with current technology. However, they've generally made it worse. I've played League since 2012 and dropped it in early 2024 for good. I was there to see all the “advancements” and upgrades to the game, the good and the bad, and witnessed, in real time, how the game regressed technologically, primarily due to its archaic and unsustainable engine. I also remember the first graphical upgrade (and apparently the last) Riot Gave to League of Legends back in 2014, which everyone welcomed with open arms. So much has changed in the game, including the map, mechanics, champions, art style, and just about everything else, but it never rejected its own name, League of Legends. League needs tweaks, but should not be robbed of its identity. Image via Riot Games It was never once called League of Legends 2 or League Next or anything in-between, clutching to its established, recognizable identity while at the same time refining and changing what it entailed. Now, we're getting reports (thanks Bloomberg) of a massive overhaul to League that'll change its name and, undoubtedly, its identity, because it's almost certain an engine change is going to be part of this update. But the precedent for that is less than great. Overwatch 2 basically re-released the first game, cut out some of its coolest features, underdelivered on all the promises that justified the existence of Overwatch 2, and ended up being just a worse, free-to-play Overwatch 1. Counter-Strike 2 did the same. Valve wanted to bring CS:GO to the Source 2 engine, promised all these cool network features that'd solve the tickrate problem once and for all, and led us to expect great things. However, what we got was the same game with worse networking and the outright deletion of many great CS:GO features, including 128 tick servers, loads of casual game modes, map-based factions, and so on and so forth. Each time a game, especially a live-service game, pursued this radical overhaul and change and rejected its core identity in the process, something was lost. And I thus expect this League Next thing to end up a disaster, so long as it is pursued in the same manner as these examples above. CS2 is by no means different enough from CS:GO to be called a sequel or separate. Screenshot by Destructoid I'm not the only one to think like this. Overwatch 2 and esports reporter Rod Breslau said no live-service games should be changing their names and identities whenever a substantial update happens. “It's my belief all forever online games should remain named only the title franchise through all new releases, updates, and iterations,” if for no reason than for the sake of “aesthetics.” These games are by no means “2.” Overwatch 2 is Overwatch 1; Counter-Strike 2 is CS:GO. Nothing in these games stands out that much to be called a different title altogether, as the name would imply, which is, to some extent, misleading. League of Legends should remain as it is and not give up what makes it recognizable and unique. Sure, it's rough around the edges and deserving of some technical changes (even radical ones), but that does not mean Riot is making a whole new game that needs a new name, new identity, a new style. We'll see what this could mean, as the overhaul is reportedly set to release sometime in 2027. I just hope it turns out well, unlike other examples. The post After disastrous ‘Overwatch 2’ and ‘Counter-Strike 2’ releases, do we really want a ‘League of Legends 2?’ appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
The ARK Survival Ascended Lost Colony DLC has its own share of creatures and items to find in the new region, and you can ease the process with the help of console commands. To use the console commands, you'll have to ensure that your server allows them in the first place. You'll also need to own the DLC as the commands won't have any effects otherwise. While the guide is a work-in-progress, I have listed down every console command verified to be working as part of the DLC. Table of contentsComplete list of Lost Colony DLC console commands for ARK Survival AscendedTrait codesAll Lost Colony DLC Saddle Codes in ARK Survival AscendedAll Lost Colony DLC Creature Summon Codes in ARK Survival AscendedComplete list of Lost Colony DLC console commands for ARK Survival Ascended The console commands related to the Lost Colony DLC work in the same fashion as they do for the base game. The only difference is that you need to own the Lost Colony DLC to be able to use the commands as intended. Trait codes For traits, you have to add _L (for Lesser) and _M (for Moderate) to the code that works for the Greater variant. TraitCodeAmbushersadmincheat gfi tDamage 1 0 0Antigravadmincheat gfi igrav 1 0 0Assassinsadmincheat gfi rable 1 0 0Berserkersadmincheat gfi eTaken 1 0 0Big Game Huntersadmincheat gfi oAlpha 1 0 0Cannibalizingadmincheat gfi zing 1 0 0Catchingadmincheat gfi nHit 1 0 0Cleansingadmincheat gfi ration 1 0 0Echoingadmincheat gfi dProjectile 1 0 0Focusingadmincheat gfi sing 1 0 0Healingadmincheat gfi Healing 1 0 0Lifedrinkingadmincheat gfi nDamage 1 0 0Marathonadmincheat gfi thon 1 0 0Mobileadmincheat gfi obile 1 0 0Protectingadmincheat gfi eOnHit 1 0 0Ricochetingadmincheat gfi ochet 1 0 0Roguesadmincheat gfi ehind 1 0 0Shieldingadmincheat gfi dOnHit 1 0 0Trackersadmincheat gfi cker 1 0 0Workersadmincheat gfi Living 1 0 0All Lost Colony DLC Saddle Codes in ARK Survival Ascended Here are the full GFI codes for the new saddles that can be used to get new mounts. Saddle nameGFI codeMegaraptor Saddleadmincheat gfi MegaraptorSaddle 1 0 0Ossidon Saddleadmincheat gfi SnowMonsterSaddle 1 0 0Solwyn Saddleadmincheat gfi AngelFoxSaddle 1 0 0Malwyn Saddleadmincheat gfi DevilFoxSaddle 1 0 0Aureliax Saddleadmincheat gfi SnowDragonSaddle 1 0 0Cryolophosaurus Saddleadmincheat gfi CryoSaddle 1 0 0Gigadesmodus Saddleadmincheat gfi BossBatSaddle 1 0 0Gigadesmosdus Platform Saddleadmincheat gfi BossBatSaddle_Platform 1 0 0All Lost Colony DLC Creature Summon Codes in ARK Survival Ascended The following codes will help you spawn the wild versions of creatures added by the Lost Colony DLC. CreatureGFI CodeOssidonadmincheat Summon SnowMonster_Character_BP_CGigadesmodusadmincheat Summon BossBat_Character_BP_CAureliaxadmincheat Summon SnowDragon_Character_BP_CGloonadmincheat Summon LostCharge_LanternPet_Char_BP_CCryolophosaurusadmincheat Summon Cryolophosaurus_Character_BP_CSolwynadmincheat Summon AngelFox_Character_BP_CMalwynadmincheat Summon DevilFox_Character_BP_C The post All ARK Survival Ascended Lost Colony DLC console commands appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
Although Christmas is right around the corner, shoppers looking to buy a gift for someone can skip gift cards and pick up some affordable presents for PC and console gamers alike. From bargains on console accessories to stocking stuffers fit for a PC gamer, there are some options that could make for a more thoughtful present without breaking the bank. View the full article
Terminator 2D: No Fate adapts Judgment Day into a 2D action game built around pixel-art visuals, side-scrolling combat, and a notably high difficulty. Reviewers are praising its controls and commitment to arcade-era design. Read Entire Article View the full article
YouTuber AnyAustin's playful, yet exacting style of videogame investigation has really taken off in the past year, garnering well over a million views per video. Whether he's investigating the hydrology of The Elder Scrolls or taking Grand Theft Auto to task for its lax standards of airport realism, you're in for a good time, and I've found the videos an inspiration to slow down and smell the roses more when I game... Read more.View the full article
Gamefam is one of the middlemen of the Roblox gaming ecosystem. It finds fast-growing games and gets behind them, and then matches brands up with those fast-growing opportunities. It also makes its own titles and As an example, on Friday, it announced that it teamed up with FIFA and Roblox and rebranded Gamefam’s own Super League Soccer game as FIFA Soccer Cup. .memberful-global-teaser-content p:last-child{ -webkit-mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent); mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent); } This story is for GB MAX paid membership plans. Unlock premium insights, exclusive events, and VIP community perks.Upgrade Membership The post Why taking home 30% of revenues on Roblox could pay off for game devs | Gamefam exclusive interview appeared first on GamesBeat. View the full article
Sorry to Gandalf, Harry Potter, and the Baba Yaga, but when I think of wizards, there's only one name that comes to mind. King Arthur's magical companion Merlin is coming to my favorite co-op roguelike of the moment, courtesy of a new Ravenswatch DLC. He'll be joining the dark fairytale realm as its first paid character, but will be accompanied by a free update that's rather fittingly tackling the balance of the game's magical objects, alongside a handful of newcomers. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Fairytale roguelike ARPG Ravenswatch gets huge free update and a ******* discount Major new Ravenswatch update adds risk and reward to its most divisive mechanic Dark fantasy co-op game Ravenswatch adds two more characters for free View the full article
It’s been a tough few years for voice actors. While it’s perhaps never been more obvious how much value they provide to a game’s characters and story – the huge success of Baldur’s Gate 3 and its beloved cast put the profession in perhaps the brightest spotlight it’s ever had – voice actors and motion capture performers face a daunting threat in artificial intelligence. That’s just one of the reasons why we wanted to honor the art of performance in this year’s IGN Awards. Actors bring our games to life, and our digital worlds would be poorer without them. As with our other awards, we asked the IGN team to nominate their favourite performances from across the past 12 months, and then we all voted for which one we felt was the very best example. These are our picks for the best individual performances in video games this year: Runner-Up – Erika Ishii (Atsu, Ghost of Yotei) The role of a revenge-seeking samurai is well-trodden ground, but Erika Ishii breathed refreshing new life into Atsu, the protagonist of Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Yotei. Lending the character a believable “rough around the edges” feel, Ishii ensures that Atsu’s bloodlust has depth. Runner-Up – Aaron Paul (Robert Robertson, Dispatch) Unlike Hollywood, which has long cast animated movies using celebrity movie stars, video games have predominantly held onto the idea that voice acting and performance capture is a distinct skill, and that hiring people who specialize in that is the way to go. But while Dispatch features industry titans like Laura Bailey and Matthew Mercer, it’s screen actor Aaron Paul who’s the standout; our review explains that he's able to deliver "a nuanced performance as a man struggling to hold onto his optimism while reconciling with who he is outside of his giant mech suit." Runner–Up – Konatsu Kato (Hinako Shimizu, Silent Hill f) Lending both her voice and likeness to Silent Hill f’s protagonist Hinako Shimizu, Konatsu Kato brought to life one of the series’ most tortured heroes. While many of us will have relied on subtitles to understand her Japanese-language lines, her delivery helped instill every scene with the heavy, complex emotions intended by the script’s nuanced tale. Runner-Up – Ben Starr (Verso, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33) In Verso, Ben Starr was able to take the gruff, dark hero voice he adopted for Clive in Final Fantasy 16 and perfect it. The maturity of Expedition 33’s themes, particularly in its final act, allow for Starr to explore a character who must revel in tragedy, but who carries enough optimism and conviction to never allow the dark to obscure the light. Winner – Jennifer English (Maelle, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33) Maelle is the heart of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and a major reason her journey rings so true is Jennifer English’s performance. Grief is a difficult emotion to wrestle with, especially when it’s part of a story that happily leans into the melodramatic, but English keeps Maelle eternally grounded and completely believable. Expedition 33 may be a game with flashy combat, monstrous deities, and an army of goofy paintbrush people, but what it’s really about is the human condition and, more specifically, how we deal with loss. As Maelle, Jennifer English ensures that Clair Obscur’s loftier, more literary themes and ambitions are never lost among the more video game-y, JRPG-inspired tropes. While individual performances are important, a strong ensemble cast can help bring a level of consistent immersion to a fictional world. When everyone in an ensemble gives their A-game, there’s no fracture in your belief that these video game characters are genuine people. Our picks for the best video game ensemble cast are: Runner-Up – Ghost of YoteiRunner-Up – Hades 2Runner-Up – DispatchRunner-Up – Death Stranding 2: On the BeachWinner – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Congratulations to Jennifer English, the entire cast of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and the team at Sandfall Interactive, as well as the casts and development teams of all the games we nominated. For more from the IGN Awards 2025, be sure to check out our complete list of winners. IGN Awards 2025: The Winners Want to know more about each award? Our dedicated awards pages are a deeper dive into each category, revealing the criteria for each award and our thoughts on the big winners (and many of the runner-ups, too!) The Best Xbox Game of 2025The Best Action Game of 2025The Best Superhero Movie of 2025The Best Nintendo Game of 2025The Best RPG of 2025The Best Horror Movie of 2025The Best PlayStation Game of 2025The Best Action-Adventure Game of 2025The Best Sci-Fi or Fantasy Movie of 2025The Best PC Game of 2025The Best TV Show of 2025The Best Anime Series of 2025The Best Game of 2025The Best Movie of 2025The Best Comic Book or Graphic Novel of 2025The Best Video Game Performances of 2025The Best Accessible Games of 2025[/url] Matt Purslow is IGN's Executive Editor of Features. View the full article
It’s December, meaning it’s the most wonderful time of the year. Yes, I’m cliché and enjoy the holidays for the warmth and celebrations they bring, but today I’m more interested in reflecting on the evolution of accessibility throughout 2025. And thankfully, this year brought improvements to long-standing franchises, as well as surprise additions to the triple-A and indie scenes. From my perspective, there were no accessibility moments that revolutionized the industry in 2025. Instead, the year demonstrated a continuous evolution of what disabled players have rightfully come to expect when purchasing a new release. In my opinion, no one game has been better than another, especially in terms of innovation, but that’s not to say this year didn’t surprise me in unexpected ways. So, for this Access Designed, let’s explore some of my favorite examples of accessibility during 2025. Runner-Up: and Roger This section contains mild spoilers for and Roger. The inclusion of TearyHand Studio’s and Roger on my list may surprise some. This roughly hour-long visual novel features numerous quick-time events that guide you through the loving memories of Sofia and her husband, Roger, as Sofia succumbs to dementia. Each minigame puts you directly in control of Sofia as she completes everyday tasks like brushing her teeth, making soup, or looking through old photographs. While these may seem mundane activities, Sofia’s dementia makes each simple event feel like a monumental task. And for disabled players, the intensity of the QTEs is exacerbated by the game’s notable lack of accessibility features. And Roger features no accessibility tools to help you complete the game. There are no alternatives to finishing QTEs, options to skip them, or settings that have the game natively complete them for you like in this year's Assassin’s Creed Shadows. You are forced to continuously mash or perfectly drag a white button for every single QTE, something that was immensely exhausting with my physical disabilities. Yet, after completing an event within the first chapter that had Sofia push Roger’s hand away by rapidly mashing a button on the screen, I realized its inaccessibility made the experience much more powerful. And Roger, through its lack of accessibility, made me reevaluate how I critique games, something I’ve been professionally doing for six years. Sofia’s struggles with dementia were far more pronounced when I was struggling with her. And in an industry where proper disability representation is still relatively lacking, and Roger masterfully captures the truest expression of disability. There are moments of love, grief, pain, joy, and suffering – all emotions I’ve personally felt or witnessed disabled friends and family experience. I have never played a game so dedicated to having, and occasionally forcing, the disabled experience on the players, thus making and Roger one of my favorite games of not only 2025, but of all time. Runner-Up: EA Sports FC 26 I will be the first to admit I don’t like sports games. The genre just doesn’t appeal to me, which is admittedly ironic considering I live in a very sports-centric city. Yet, EA Sports FC 26 made me appreciate soccer games (football for non-Americans) because of its incredible attention to accessibility detail. FC 26, like most games with accessibility offerings, provides customizable controls, subtitles, and colorblindness settings. However, I appreciated the features for varying gameplay assists. Shooting, passing, defending, switching, and dribbling all have their own settings to provide relief during extended play sessions. When I was too fatigued to properly shoot, I would activate Auto Shots, which would trigger as I came close to the goal. If passing becomes too much, I can simply increase the sensitivity, making the game natively pass the ball without the need for immense precision. Even as the goalkeeper, I can use assists to help with saves. And for longer sessions, I can activate one or two button control schemes, significantly reducing the number of inputs needed to play (unfortunately, one and two button use cannot be used in competitive play). Yet, FC 26’s greatest accessibility achievement doesn’t impact my disability. For the first time in the series, as well as in a competitive multiplayer setting, players can activate High Contrast Mode. Everything from the home team, away team, referees, to even ball color can be customized to increase their contrast. This provides blind players with crucial visual information when playing frantic matches. It’s easy to lose control of player and ball position when matches become intense, especially with online PvP, but FC 26 redefines what accessibility can be in the competitive scene. The potential to challenge industry perspectives for competitive games is why FC 26 deserves a spot among the most accessible games of 2025. Winner: Doom: The Dark Ages Doom: The Dark Ages, id Software’s latest in the iconic FPS series, is by far my favorite entry, as well as its most accessible. While the newest game includes relatively common accessibility options like customizable controls, adjustable subtitles, and varying difficulty modes, The Dark Ages adds new tools that redefine accessibility in this fast-paced game. Shooters like Doom rely on immense speed and precision to slaughter enemies and complete levels. You are constantly dodging enemy fire, sprinting through levels, jumping over obstacles, and switching weapons within your extensive arsenal to play the game. And if you don’t have the strength or stamina to perform any of the above, the gameplay formula becomes abysmally inaccessible, even with lowered difficulty settings. But The Dark Ages has a solution: it introduces modifiers that adjust game speed, enemy projectile speed, enemy aggression, player damage, and even enemy damage. Further, The Dark Ages includes options to change the parry windows for melee encounters. Every piece of the combat system is customizable. With accessibility, there’s often this incorrect notion within Internet spaces that options and inclusive designs ruin the intended gaming experience. The Dark Ages completely nullifies this argument with its customizable settings, which indicate that the "artistic intent" is the experience that you as a player want to have. There's no punishment for modifying the experience. Whether you have a disability or not, you control how you play. Are you a masochist that enjoys frantically throwing yourself against an onslaught of demons? Simply adjust every setting listed above to maximize their values. In my case, I would customize parry windows and game speed if I was particularly tired, but would find myself increasing enemy aggression for more of a challenge. I’ve never played a game that allows me to fine-tune every aspect of combat, and that is why Doom: The Dark Ages is my game of the year for 2025. These three games represent only a fraction of the excellent accessible titles throughout 2025. Assassin’s Creed Shadows, South of Midnight, Split Fiction, and even Kirby Air Riders all deserve credit for their accessible tools and designs. And while the three games listed above are my personal favorite, 2025 has arguably been my favorite year as a critic, not for the innovations, but for the continued dedication to disabled players. Grant Stoner is a disabled journalist covering accessibility and the disabled perspective in video games. When not writing, he is usually screaming about Pokémon or his cat, Goomba on Twitter. View the full article
***** is kicking off the countdown to the half-anniversary of the free-to-play game Persona5: The Phantom X. Starting December 25, players will have access to update 2.7, which adds Justine and Caroline from the console game Persona 5 to the roster of available characters. View the full article
The Bobcat is easily one of the best blueprints to find in ARC Raiders, and the exact process of obtaining it has changed since the Cold Snap update has been out. The SMG has an excellent fire rate, recoil control, and damage per second. However, finding the blueprint itself is a challenge, and especially now, as you'll have to complete the Blue Gate Locked Gate event. How to find the Bobcat blueprint in ARC Raiders To find the Bobcat blueprint, you'll first need to unlock the Blue Gate map if you're an absolute beginner. Then, you'll have to wait for the Locked Gate event. This is a special map modifier that's only available during certain periods of the day. The Locked Gate event requires you to find four Security Code keys spread across the Blue Gate. If you're confused about their locations, this guide will help you out. You can find the code keys across multiple raids, but make sure to return safely with them. Once you have all four code keys, you can then unlock the actual locked gate when the event is live. Once the gate is open, you'll want to find every container and locker possible. While the Bobcat appears to be a guaranteed drop from the event (or rather, has a very high drop rate), it doesn't have a fixed location inside the locked room. Hence, your task is to look into every nook and corner. Screenshot and remix by Destructoid When you're unlocking the room, it's better to do so in a squad. There is are high chances that other raiders could try to ambush you after using the code keys. Having a squad around will help you to protect yourself. Image via Embark Additionally, the Bobcat blueprint can also spawn in the wild on the Blue Gate map. It's an extremely rare spawn, so your best shot is to complete the Locked Gate event instead. Finding the Security Code keys and then opening the gate can sound like a difficult task, but you can get it done with the help of a squad. The post How to get the Bobcat in ARC Raiders appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
Zenless Zone Zero 2.5 was already on my radar, but it's looking like the best time to come back to Hoyoverse's stylish hack-and-slash gacha game if you've fallen off the train. Hoyoverse is clearly pulling out the stops in an attempt to get ZZZ the level of attention that its older siblings Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail have. There's a free S-rank agent, a sweep of character buffs for some favorites that have dropped off, and even a way to circumnavigate the biggest single frustration with banner pulls. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: ZZZ codes December 2025 and how to redeem ZZZ 2.5 release date, banners, characters, events, and story Zenless Zone Zero banners - next, current, and 2.5 banners View the full article
The humble tabletop RPG has cultivated countless stories that just ooze creativity. For all the focus that traditional fantasy settings such as the Forgotten Realms get, the TTRPG space is home to more than ghouls and goblins. From the gothic World of Darkness to the psychedelic Everyone is John, interactive roleplay offers so much to the world of storytelling. And very few TTRPGs tackle the medium like DIE RPG. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Blood on the Clocktower's new Loric make my favorite board game even more entertaining Dire Wolf, the best digital board games publisher around, acquires a rival to Tabletop Simulator This cozy bardcore board game somehow makes siege warfare adorable View the full article
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Great moments in PC gaming are bite-sized celebrations of some of our favorite gaming memories... Read more.View the full article