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The lead designer of Skyrim is "eternally shocked" at not just the RPG's success, but its enduring appeal, suggesting it's the game's open world and "quirkiness" that keeps players coming back 14 years after its debut. Skyrim released way back in 2011. An open-world RPG, it puts players on the precipice of determining the future of Skyrim as the Empire waits for the prophesied Dragonborn to come, a hero born with the power of The Voice, and the only one who can stand among the dragons. IGN's Skyrim review returned a 9.5/10. We called it "a rare kind of intensely personal, deeply rewarding experience, and one of the best role-playing games yet produced." Now, speaking on the FRVR Podcast, lead designer Bruce Nesmith offered his thoughts on why so many people continue to play and enjoy Skyrim so many years later. "I think Skyrim did the open world in a way that nobody had ever done before and very few people have really tried to do since," he said, adding: "By all rights, a year later, some other game should have eclipsed it. And then two years later, three years later, five, 10. It’s like ‘what the hell is going on here?’ "Todd [Howard, Bethesda boss] would even go to these meetings and show us information, which I can’t give you the details of, about how many people are playing it. It’s like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me?’ Seriously, still, 10 years later." Exploring the game's legacy and lasting community, he added: "I think Skyrim did the open world in a way that nobody had ever done before and very few people have really tried to do since. And one of those things that we accepted, which a lot of developers struggle to accept, is that this means you’re going to have quirkiness. You’re going to have weird stuff happen. And if you say that’s okay, you can get this diamond." Perhaps unsurprisingly then, Nesmith believes that if a developer tries to "smooth everything out" to prevent that aforementioned "weird stuff," "you’re going to lose some of that magic" that makes some games so special. "And we didn’t make that as a conscious decision," he added. "It just sort of happened. You know, we kind of prioritize functionally and 'well, okay, that bug’s acceptable. This behaviour is less than ideal, but we can live with it because look what we’re getting over here.' “We didn’t put anything off limits. We didn’t try to manage the experience. We let it be your experience, it was a player-driven experience. And very, very few games have mastered that because open world is now almost a cliché statement... ‘Oh yeah, we have open world.’" Bethesda is of course working on its hotly anticipated Skyrim follow-up, The Elder Scrolls 6. Bethesda has said next to nothing about it, but we do know it will include a character designed in memory of a much-missed fan, after a remarkable charity campaign that raised more than $85,000 for Make-A-Wish. Meanwhile, one of Skyrim's best-known players, Shirley Curry — known to fans as Skyrim Grandma — recently announced her retirement from uploading The Elder Scrolls videos ahead of her 90th birthday. Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky. View the full article

Battlefield boss Vince Zampella has said that Activision's best-selling Call of Duty franchise only exists "because EA were dicks." It's an eye-opening but typically frank statement from Zampella, who is of course now an EA employee himself once again. Over his career, Zampella has ping-ponged between rival publishers EA and Activision, working first on EA's Medal of Honor series, then founding Infinity Ward and helping create Call of Duty — specifically so it could be Activision's Medal of Honor "killer" — before returning back to EA after helping create Titanfall and Apex Legends at Respawn. "The only reason that Call of Duty exists is because EA were dicks," Zampella told GQ, reflecting on his career. Zampella initially worked on EA's Medal of Honor franchise from 1999 to 2002, and served as lead designer on the celebrated Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. After this, Zampella co-founded his own studio, Infinity Ward, with initial plans to continue working on Medal of Honor left up in the air when EA decided to take development of its franchise in-house. "For legal reasons I will say things didn't go as planned with it," former Infinity Ward artist Justin Thomas previously revealed of the situation in an MCV interview, back in 2013. "We were left in a situation of unpaid milestones that were delivered and no finances to operate on." It was at this point that Activision answered a last-ditch call by Infinity Ward, intrigued by the potential of working with the team behind Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, and driven by the idea of creating a new franchise that could topple EA's own. The rest, as they say, is history. Call of Duty became a behemoth, though Activision and Zampella parted ways following the launch of 2009's Modern Warfare 2, prompting a bitter legal feud over unpaid bonuses and royalties that dragged on for years (until Zampella ultimately earned a sizable payout). That situation then led to Zampella co-founding Titanfall and Apex Legends developer Respawn, which EA partnered with then ultimately acquired. Zampella was then repeatedly promoted to look after more of EA's gaming portfolio, ultimately becoming boss of the embattled Battlefield franchise, turning its fortunes around to deliver this month's successful release of Battlefield 6. GQ's interview also includes a snippet on the now-distant plans for Alien director Ridley Scott to direct a Call of Duty movie, something which ultimately never came to pass. "Ridley Scott came in one time – who's a hero of mine – but he's not connected to games, so he'd ask these questions like, ‘How do you script what happens?’" Zampella recalled. "There was a bit of a talk around him doing a Call of Duty film, but we never really took it seriously. Video game movies at that point were never really that good." Battlefield 6 launched last week and earned EA its best-ever game launch on Steam, beating that of Apex Legends. For more, check out IGN's Battlefield 6 multiplayer review in progress, our Battlefield 6 campaign review, and what to expect from Battlefield Season 1. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for EA Entertainment. Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social View the full article

Final Sentence proved I'm not quite as good at my job as I hopedView the full article

Battlefield 6 actively encourages players to uninstall the game's single-player campaign upon completion to save storage space on a user's PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, or PC. Compared to titles like God of War Ragnarok or ARK: Survival Ascended, Battlefield 6occupies very little space on players' hard drives. However, that doesn't appear to have stopped developers DICE from actively telling fans to uninstall the campaign as a way to free up some extra space. View the full article

Battlefield 6 cheaters are seeing consequencesView the full article

Hey trainers! I want to preface this article by stating that we won't be linking to any of the information we discuss. Primarily, it appears that the information is coming from stolen data. Mostly, we wanted to make this article serve as a PSA warning for any readers who were curious about what was going on, so if you came here looking for juicy details, we'd advise you to look elsewhere. However, if you thought ZA would be the only Pokémon game leaking this week, I don't think anyone could have been prepared for a second teraleak, which has apparently revealed three new games under development by The Pokémon Company out of nowhere. And while we can't factually say this information is real, the evidence is pretty damning, trainers. Now, I'm sure you are asking why we're not revealing what is being discussed in more detail and instead giving you a PSA warning? Well, it is pretty obvious. Most of this information is coming from theft, and while other sites might be jumping on this now-public information, we at Destructoid want to take a step back to issue a warning for trainers who want to avoid it, rather than writing out everything that is being showcased. After all, if you want to see it, it won't be hard to find it. Of course, there is also the chance that the stuff being revealed no longer exists and is previous plans that Game Freak has scrapped. However, to give an idea of what is being shown, in addition to new game announcements, several beta assets for previous games, canceled or unused Pokémon, and forms are also being released right now, among other details. We apologize if you came here expecting us to delve into all the available information. We won't be doing that. However, if, like us, you'd prefer to hold back and wait for official announcements, consider staying off social media for a while. The post There are lots of new Pokémon games leaking right now, but we are steering clear appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

Hey there, Destructoid, and welcome to another week of chatting about what we've been watching lately. This time around, we're diving into season two of a recent television show and discussing two live-action adaptations of some beloved characters. Peacemaker season two just finished this past week, so there's plenty to talk about, including that absolutely brutal cliffhanger. I've also recently rewatched the 2002 film Scooby-Doo and its 2004 sequel Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, so we'll get into those to help kick off the spooky season, too. Image via HBO Max First up, let's dive into talking about Peacemaker season two and how it's certainly secured its place among the best superhero shows to date. At its core, this show is very character-driven and carried by a key cast of endlessly lovable characters, with a strong roster that was already perfect after season one but gained some incredible new members throughout the second season. Tim Meadows as Langston Fleury is probably my favorite addition this season. He's relentlessly funny in every project he joins, but his character is especially hilarious in this show. His running "bird blindness" bit has become a recurring joke among my family, and one that will likely stick with us forever. The mystery of the other world plot that ran throughout the full season was quite compelling, and even though I picked up on what was going on early on, the big twist that the seemingly perfect world was actually terrible still had a profound impact. It was thoroughly enjoyable to see alternate versions of the main characters, too, especially when the Vigilantes met up and caused mayhem together. Image via HBO Max I also really loved all of the Superman cameos this season. Lex Luthor was, unsurprisingly, the biggest and coolest one, but it was also awesome to see others like Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, and some of Luthor's crew. The DCU's future is looking so bright, and I can't wait to see where we go next. The ending, though, was absolutely brutal, and I'm scared to see what comes next with Peacemaker trapped in another dimension, especially since there are no plans for a third season as of now. I'm hoping this means we get a new show instead, perhaps called Checkmate, to focus on the group's new organization and share the spotlight more between the characters going forward. Funnily enough, I recently learned that James Gunn, the mastermind behind Peacemaker, was a key player behind both of the live-action Scooby-Doo films, which is part of what prompted my rewatch of them. It's probably been around five years or so since I last watched them, and they're perfect for spooky season, so I also wanted to see whether they held up to what I remembered. Image via Warner Bros. Pictures These films are so campy, over the top, and absolutely ridiculous at times, but that's exactly what makes them work so well for me. Leaning into the absurd nature of the premise really helps them nail the landing, and they're still two of my favorite Scooby-Doo projects to date. They're so flawed and messy, but they're also pure fun and hilarious from start to finish. Admittedly, these movies are very nostalgic for me, as I watched them plenty growing up. Still, my love for them has only increased over time, especially as we've gotten more Scooby-Doo projects and none of them have been good. I do think these characters work best in animation, but not always, as is evidenced by the horrendous 2020 adaptation Scoob!. I'll really take any excuse to see more of Mystery Inc., though, so revisiting these films was a fun trip down memory lane and a reminder that we could do with some new Scooby-Doo content in our lives. So, Destructoid, what about you? What have you been enjoying watching lately? Have you had a chance to check out the latest season of Peacemaker yet, or do you plan to? And what do you think about the live-action Scooby-Doo movies? Have any other movies or shows been occupying your time? Let us know down in the comments so we can discuss. Like our content? Set Destructoid as a Preferred Source on Google in just one step to ensure you see us more frequently in your Google searches! The post Weekly Watchlist Vol. 14 – Ghost-hunting goofs and gut-wrenching cliffhangers (Oct. 14-21) appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

Updated: October 18, 2025 Added a new code! Unleash the animal inside you and train hard to become as fast as the expiration date of the latest Roblox trend. There's a variety of creatures in Animal Training, and you'll surely want to unlock them all. Hit that treadmill and then dominate the race track. Naturally, it takes a while to gain all the speed and wins you require to unlock the best animals, pets, and items in the game, so you should use the latest Animal Training codes and grab a bunch of free potions for instant boosts. For another Roblox experience all about our animal friends, visit our article on Build a Zoo codes and claim all the freebies while they're still available! All Animal Training codes listActive Animal Training codesAnimal Training Codes↔Upgrade Copy 1 Double Win Potion (New)Item Copy 1 Rainbow Potion (New)Hare Copy 1 Double Power PotionDinosaur Copy 1 Golden PotionUndersea Copy 1 Double Power PotionOffline Copy 1 Double Win PotionPanda Copy 1 Double Win PotionNEW Copy 1 Double Win PotionRELEASE Copy 1 Golden PotionExpired Animal Training codesThere are no expired Animal Training codes right now. Related: Raise Animals codes How to redeem Animal Training codes Follow our guide below to successfully redeem all your Animal Training codes: Image by Destructoid Launch Animal Training in Roblox.Press the cogwheel button in the top-right part of the screen.Input a code into the Enter Code field.Press Claim to grab all your free goodies.How to get more Animal Training codes For more Animal Training codes, you can join the Animal Training Discord server and the Animal Run Club Roblox group. If you'd rather skip the tedious process of digging for codes, bookmark our article and rely on our easy-to-use code list, which we update regularly. Why are my Animal Training codes not working? It's easy to make a typing mistake when entering Animal Training codes manually, so we suggest using our copy feature to always get everything correct. Still, sometimes you'll encounter codes that the developer has decided to remove from the game. Let us know about those so that we can move them to the Expired section of our list. What is Animal Training? Animal Training is your typical Roblox train-to-race experience. Use treadmills to gain speed, so that you can race and collect wins. With enough wins, you'll be able to hatch pets, purchase trails, and acquire items that provide all sorts of boosts. You'll also be able to feed your animal so that it grows, and, of course, unlock new, faster animals to play as. Don't stop until you're a T. rex with a top hat. If there are any other Roblox titles that come to mind where you could really use a helping hand, head straight to our Roblox Codes section and discover all the handy free goodies that you can claim right now! The post Animal Training codes (October 2025) appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

"We're focusing way more on addressing these issues to make sure this sort of things doesn't happen again"View the full article

MicroProse and Terrible Toybox have revealed an October 28th release date for Death by Scrolling which is all about fighting, dying and trying again. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

LMDE 7 (Linux Mint Debian Edition) is out now as the latest from the Mint team based directly on Debian instead of Ubuntu. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Cairn is tearing up the survival game chartsView the full article

When 2016's Battlefield 1 brought the series to its earliest chronological setting ever, World War 1, it also introduced what would eventually become a marquee game mode in Breakthrough. In many ways a successor to Rush, Breakthrough matches were originally played consecutively in BF1's larger Operations mode, which spanned two or three maps adapting historical conflicts and moving fronts. Breakthrough is now one of Battlefield's big three game modes, and Battlefield 6 may have just introduced the fourth: Escalation. View the full article

Battlefield 6 has enjoyed a strong weekend which has seen it hit EA’s highest ever concurrent player count on Steam. Since its release on Friday, the latest entry in the first-person shooter series has managed to hit a peak concurrent count of 747,440 players. This means on its first weekend, the game has already overtaken EA’s previous concurrent player record, which was achieved by Apex Legends when it hit a peak of 624,473 back in February 2023. Read More... View the full article

The October 13th Steam Beta comes with a number of bug fixes for annoying issues, along with a couple of feature tweaks for all platforms. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

All three versions of Borderlands 4 are temporarily marked downView the full article

Quite a surprise to see, Ubisoft have revived Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow with a Steam release now available. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Zampella worked on Medal of Honor before founding Infinity WardView the full article

Pokémon Legends ZA is mere days away, and we finally have some news on when Mega Greninja will appear, with The Pokémon Company confirming that it'll be available day one as part of the first season of ranked. For those who don't know, Mega Greninja, Chestnaught, and Delphox are all tied to the different ranked seasons players can take part in in-game. Mega Greninja will be a part of season one as a ranked reward, while Delphox and Chestnaught will come in later seasons at an unspecified time. We didn't know precisely when the first-ranked season would be active, though. Still, now we know that it'll be available at launch, meaning players could, in theory, do some ranked to unlock it and have Mega Greninja in their main team for the main story, which is sure to delight a lot of trainers across the world. [Hidden Content] Some information is still unclear, though, such as when trainers can unlock it, how far they need to level up in ranked to get it, and other stuff. However, it's still cool to see a confirmed release date for Day One for those who want to put in the grind to try and get it, along with the various other ranked rewards on offer. We also don't know the details on how long the first season of Ranked will be available, and if Mega Greninja will become available in the future for those who weren't able to get the game at launch or missed the chance to unlock it. So don't delay if you love Mega Greninja, as this might be your only chance to unlock the Pokémon and play with it in ZA for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, it's not a case of this becoming locked behind a single season and never seen again, but don't take those chances. The post Rejoice! Mega Greninja will be available day one in Legends ZA appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

The most popular Steam Deck game over the last month continues to improve, with the third major patch now available for Hollow Knight: Silksong. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Thread Storm, my belovedView the full article

Half Sword is a massive early breakoutView the full article

Capcom says it’s “reviewing pricing” after fans complained about its decision to charge fans up to $40 to watch online streams of upcoming tournament finals. It was announced during last month’s Tokyo Game Show that the finals of Capcom Cup 12 and the SFL World Championship would be streaming live via pay-per-view. The announcement stated that fans who want to watch the tournament finals online will have to pay ¥4,000 ($27) to watch the Capcom Cup 12 Finals on March 14, 2026 and another ¥4,000 ($27) to watch the SFL World Championship on March 15, 2026. Alternatively, a bundle is available for ¥6,000 ($40) that allows them to watch both finals. Read More... View the full article

Post-launch support for Hollow Knight: Silksong continues, this time with patch version 1.0.28891 out now. The update makes a number of improvements and fixes, and some light balance changes. The game now pauses when the controller disconnects, which is an important safety net for such an intense game. Indeed, there are controller support improvements across the board. On the balance side of things, there’s a slight increase to Sharp Dart and Cross Stitch damage, updated damage scaling on Rune Rage to match other Silk Skills, and a slight decrease to Thread Storm damage at higher needle levels. It’s also worth noting that the patch changes Fine Pins wish drops from 50% chance to 100%, but raises the required quantity. Developer Team Cherry had signalled its first priority remains to improve Silksong’s Simplified ******** translation. This was in response to high-profile criticism of the translation, which had led to ******** players leaving negative Steam reviews. These improvements are expected in the coming weeks. Silksong remains one of the most-played games on Steam following its huge September 4 release. Here are some essential guides for your journey upwards: the Silksong Interactive Map, how to grind for Rosary Beads, our ever-expanding Walkthrough with boss videos and guides, how to get your first life bar upgrade (first four mask shards), and a great guide to the Simple Keys and the doors they open. The patch notes, courtesy of Steam, are below. Hollow Knight: Silksong update 1.0.28891 patch notes:Added support for Dualsense Edge controllers.Improved support for various controllers on Mac.Game now pauses when the controller disconnects.Fixed various smaller controller issues (more fixes to come in future).Fixed remaining instance of certain players getting stuck cursed while in the late game.Fixed Curveclaw not reacting to Hunter down-stab.Fixed rare instances of being able to air dash and double jump when not intended.Fixed several out of bounds situations.Fixed Pharlid Divers sometimes sliding on roofs after ambushing in certain scenes.Fixed Eva Hunter Crest upgrades unintentionally clearing tool equips.Fixed rare instances of Harpoon sometimes granting 2 Silk instead of 1.Fixed Cogflies sometimes appearing from odd locations after scene transition and, in rare cases, having their active quantity reduced by 1.Fixed Crafting Kits not increasing the damage of offensive blue tools (eg Sawtooth Circlet).Slight increase to Sharp Dart and Cross Stitch damage.Updated damage scaling on Rune Rage to match other Silk Skills.Slight decrease to Thread Storm damage at higher needle levels.Fixed Surgeon enemies sometimes pulling the hero out of bounds.Fixed instances of some Spool Fragments being permanently missable if a player immediately quit after collecting the item.Fixed Crust King Khann sometimes falling out of bounds during entry, when fought on low-end systems.Fixed rare instance of Second Sentinel becoming rotated when defeated.Fixed additional case of Seth sometimes getting out of bounds and not returning.Fixed Seth sometimes remaining invincible for a moment at the start of a refight.Fixed Vaults slide blocks incorrectly responding to damage sources other than the needle.Changed Fine Pins wish drops from 50% chance to 100%, but raised required quantity.Fixed issues when consuming a Silkeater while in water.Fixed Scuttlebrace sometimes allowing a wall jump when not intended.Fixed a soft-lock during the Grand Gate opening sequence, if the Citadel had been visited and some bellshrines remained inactive.Various smaller fixes and tweaks. Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article

For years, HP has been a leading name in gaming PCs and hardware, and now they’re teaming up with one of the biggest games in the industry for a new line of OMEN products. Announced today during the 2025 League of Legends World Championship, HP Inc. introduced two new products developed with Riot Games—the OMEN 16 League of Legends Limited Edition Laptop and the OMEN 25 Gaming Monitor. This laptop brings a new layer of personalization to competitive gear, while the monitor is built to meet the standards of professional competition. The OMEN 16 League of Legends Limited Edition Laptop is backed by an Intel Core i7-14650HX (up to 5.2 GHz speed with Intel Turbo Boost Technology, 30 MB L3 cache, 16 cores, 24 threads), an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Laptop GPU, and 32 GB DDR5-5600 RAM—at the highest specs—to ensure smooth gaming. A wider fan gap, added heat pipe, and quieter acoustics keep the system cool and distraction-free in long sessions, and a 240 Hz1 QHD3 16:10 display... Read more View the full article