Tiny Tina may be absent from Borderlands 4, according to her long-time voice actor Ashly Burch. Alternatively, though less likely, Gearbox may have recast the popular character for Borderlands 4. View the full article
The long-awaited release of Elden Ring: Nightreign has already been an instant success for acclaimed developer FromSoftware, selling more than two million units in its first day. The spin-off of the beloved open-world Soulslike game has been one of the most hotly-anticipated titles in gaming since the spin-off was first revealed in late 2024. Elden Ring: Nightreign features several departures from its predecessor, shifting to a co-op-focused approach and featuring similar gameplay to battle royale games. Now, Nightreign has reportedly already become a smash hit. View the full article
Elden Ring Nightreign players have shared interesting in-game footage showing the game being played in duos. FromSoftware’s latest installment offers a roguelike experience where players can team up and explore everything Elden Ring Nightreign has to offer. View the full article
Today, over 300 unionized quality assurance workers at ZeniMax Media, who work on everything from The Elder Scrolls to Doom, have announced they have reached a tentative deal with parent company Microsoft on their first contract since forming their union two years ago. ZeniMax Workers United, which is unionized under Communications Workers of America (CWA), said the agreement includes "substantial across-the-board wage increases," minimum salaries, protections against arbitrary dismissal, grievance procedures, protections around use of artificial intelligence that could impact workers, and a crediting policy to ensure QA workers are appropriately credited in games they work on. ZeniMax Media owns publisher Bethesda Softworks and development studios Bethesda Game Studios (The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Starfield), id Software (Doom, Quake, and Rage), Arkane (Dishonored, Prey, and Redfall), MachineGames (Wolfenstein, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle), and ZeniMax Online Studios (The Elder Scrolls Online). Microsoft acquired ZeniMax Media for $8.1 billion in March 2021 and operates it under the Microsoft Gaming division. “Video games have been the revenue titan of the entire entertainment industry for years, and the workers who develop these games are too often exploited for their passion and creativity," said Jessee Leese, a member of the bargaining committee. "Organizing unions, bargaining for a contract, and speaking with one collective voice has allowed workers to take back the autonomy we all deserve. Our first contract is an invitation for video game professionals everywhere to take action. We’re the ones who make these games, and we’ll be the ones to set new standards for fair treatment.” ZeniMax QA workers first unionized in January of 2023, following groups at Raven Software and Blizzard Albany, after Microsoft made a public commitment to labor neutrality. However, the road to a contract has been challenging. In November of last year, workers went on a one-day strike, citing a lack of progress at the bargaining table over remote work protections and allegations that Microsoft was outsourcing QA work without bargaining with the union. Then, in April, workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, again citing concerns over remote work and low compensation. The tentative contract is contingent on ratification by the union members in a vote which is expected to be concluded by June 20. Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected]. View the full article
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Roblox farming simulator Grow a Garden is attracting millions of players across PC, mobile, and console devices, eclipsing numbers achieved by some of the most popular games on any platform – so what exactly is it? If you load up Roblox at any time on any day in the next week, there’s a good chance around 2 million people will be playing Grow a Garden in some capacity. That’s according to the official user tracker found on all Roblox experiences, which plants the colorful free-to-play game firmly atop trending charts in a variety of categories. These are numbers that see the free-to-play game leaving other Roblox projects in its dust, with the second-most-popular “Playing Now” experience, Brookhaven RP, showing 590,000 players at the time of this piece’s publication. Pulling 1.5 million players is an impressive feat, and it’s also on the low end for Grow a Garden. Why is Grow a Garden so ####### popular? byu/BlueKingSheep inroblox .reddit-embed-wrapper iframe { margin-left: 0 !important; } The farming simulator peaked at more than 8.8 million active users last weekend, annihilating only competing experiences but multiple active user records, starting when it crossed the 5 million active users mark earlier this month. The 16-year-old behind Grow a Garden released it March 25, 2025. It has since been visited 3.4 billion times. For comparison, Counter-Strike 2, currently the most popular Steam game, reached its all-time peak just last month at just under 1.86 million players (via SteamDB). PUBG: Battlegrounds holds the trophy for the highest-ever active player count on Valve’s PC storefront, and even its peak topped out at 3.25 million players in 2018. Grow a Garden is still trailing behind the free-to-play battle royale megaton that is Fortnite, which boasts a peak active player count of 15.3 million from an event held in 2020. Grow a Garden isn’t quite at the top of the mountain, but it is climbing – and fast. It’s at least another significant piece of evidence that the Roblox platform is one to be taken seriously, as millions continue to flock to the dense forest of content it offers. What Do You Do in Grow a Garden? In Grow a Garden, you – if you can believe it – grow a garden. There’s little complexity to the gameplay formula currently setting Roblox ablaze. It’s not yet another anime tie-in or tower-defense experience but instead a straightforward farming game with a tutorial that lays out everything you need to know in just a few seconds. Each player is plopped into a server with a handful of other Roblox users, with everyone granted their own plot of land to begin their garden on. While new players are gifted 20 Sheckles, Grow a Garden’s in-game currency, to purchase simple seeds for vegetables like carrots, it’s also almost immediately clear how far you can take the premise, as other players’ fenced-in areas will often be brimming with towering trees, bamboo, lively fruits, and more. Growth takes time, but gardens will continuously flourish, even when a player is offline, until picked. Grow a carrot and sell it, and you’ll profit a few Sheckles. Rinse, repeat, and earn enough for blueberries, then mangos, then orange tulips, then grapes, then peppers, and so on. The satisfaction comes from the tangible growth you can see in your garden – and money – in real time. It’s a far-from-unique cycle distilled into its purest form, though there is more to do for those looking to dig for it. Customizing a garden can be as simple as organizing your yard by color, height, or type, or flavor can be added with optional cosmetic items, tools, and pets. Updates and events keep players coming back for more, as do weather modifiers that can potentially increase the value of your crops. Every gameplay wrinkle is part of the formula that has seen Grow a Garden’s player base balloon to levels unheard of in Roblox’s blocky world. Not everyone understands it, but the success is undeniable. Who Made Grow a Garden? The 16-year-old who first broke ground with Grow a Garden remains creatively involved in what it’s become but is no longer the only name attached. Sharing responsibilities are Roblox experience management company DoBig Studios and popular developer Janzen Madsen (a.k.a. Jandel) and his network of creators at Splitting Point. These are major players in the space, but Grow a Garden stuck out to Madsen before it exploded. “The game was developed by a 16-year-old in a few days, and we saw the game when it was on about 1,000, 2,000 CCUs,” Madsen tells us, describing Grow a Garden’s active players, “and we just partnered with that developer, built in a live-ops plan, did some general updates to the game, and, pretty much, the rest is history.” It was here the now-gargantuan farming experience began to plant its roots, as the 20-person team at Splitting Point began to help create a foundation for growth. That’s not to say the original, anonymous developer stopped being involved. I actually think they’re, creatively, pretty incredible. “I actually think they’re, creatively, pretty incredible,” Madsen said when describing how development responsibilities are shared. “I think they bring a pretty unique perspective to the game, and I think there’s maybe a generational gap between me and them. Everyone has… I would say it’s almost equal, honestly, in terms of, we get on a call, we plan an update – it’s probably not what you’d expect. Sometimes we’re planning the update week to week, you know?” Madsen can’t nail down what triggered Grow a Garden’s meteoric rise, mostly because “it happened so quickly,” but points to tight update strategies and events as reliable draws for Roblox players. Recent examples include bringing in a DJ for entertainment and organizing a mass dance party in hopes of breaking a world record. Every update presents an opportunity to create a moment that sucks players in while making them feel involved in the journey. This goes out to all the haters at GDC from 2022-2024 if you aren't taking Roblox seriously then you are getting left behind! [Hidden Content] — Jandel - Roblox (@jandelRblx) May 17, 2025 The small free-to-play project with humble beginnings eventually exploded into the biggest game in Roblox history. There’s a full-on operation maintaining its success to ensure its millions of fans continue showing up, and the developers aren’t tending to it for free. Although Madsen declined to share the details regarding Grow a Garden’s earnings past an acknowledgement of Roblox’s previously established cut of in-game spending, the experience offers more than a few clear ways for players to spend real-world cash. Nearly every item of interest can be purchased with the Roblox premium currency known as Robux, Grow a Garden’s primary source of income. On PC, $5 translates to 500 Robux, with seed prices ranging from seven to 715 Robux and decorations like crates and campfires asking for 119 and 149 Robux. There are also seed packs and eggs that can be purchased one at a time or in packs, essentially serving as loot boxes containing special crops and pets, respectively. Most these items can still be purchased with in-game Sheckles, even if the price tag can sometimes reach numbers higher than Grow a Garden’s player average player count. It’s unclear how much players are spending to kit out their farms, but with at least 1.5 million users playing at any moment, we can guess it’s probably a lot. Climbing the Beanstalk Grow a Garden is pulling attention the likes of which Roblox has never seen, but success is far from a foreign concept on this platform. New experiences flood in every day, and while many of them never reach the top of trending charts, plenty of others, such as Blue Lock: Rivals and Dress to Impress, still boast hundreds of thousands of engaged players months after release. Roblox isn’t a gaming fresh phenomenon – it’s been here for years, and it’s only attracting more attention. Still, reaching around nearly 9 million active users is so unbelievable that many have questioned the legitimacy of Grow a Garden's success. Some have suggested bots have played a role in inflated numbers and fabricated popularity, but Roblox says this isn’t the case. “Grow a Garden's global success is fueled by exceptional user retention, vibrant social interactions — with friends driving play — and strong Robux engagement,” a Roblox spokesperson told Game File. “Our preliminary analysis confirms genuine popularity, not artificial inflation, validating the game's authentic community-driven growth.” Look at AAA. No one takes big risks, you know? Every day on Roblox, there’s a new concept or a new game out – I think it’s kind of cool. While those on the outside raise eyebrows at Roblox's attraction to gamers, Madsen says he has worked to legitimize the platform he calls home for the majority of the time he’s been in this space. He sees Roblox as both a slice of gaming that’s gone ignored and a hub for creativity. “Most people’s first impression of Roblox is, ‘This is a silly platform for kids, and there’s no depth to the gameplay or games,’ and I think legitimately some of the best game designers in the world are on Roblox making games,” Madsen explained. “It’s like, ‘Yeah, they look simple, but they’re actually like… they’re solving hard problems there in the platform. They’re pushing the boundaries.’ "Look at AAA. No one takes big risks, you know? Every day on Roblox, there’s a new concept or a new game out – I think it’s kind of cool. I think it’s easy to judge from the outside without really taking a few weeks to look at it.” Even if Grow a Garden has already bloomed to its fullest extent, it’s no doubt planted the seeds for other Roblox experiences to reach or even exceed its high bar. While we wait for it to grow, you can read up on all active Grow a Garden codes here. Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe). View the full article
One of the key ways players uncover the main story of Elden Ring Nightreign is by discovering more about each of the eight playable Nightfarers. The Nightfarers have gathered at the Roundtable Hold to oppose the forces of the Nightlord and repel the Night's Tide, but they've lost their memory of exactly what brought them there. As you progress through the game, you'll start to learn more about these characters, their motivations, and the larger story of Nightreign. View the full article
Having earned a warm welcome back from fans on Steam and mobile, Backyard Baseball '97 could be on its way to PlayStation 5, with an early trophy list indicating the potential leap to console. There has not yet been any official announcement from rights-holder Playground Productions on Backyard Baseball '97 coming to PS5, but audiences have begun celebrating the PSN trophy list and are excitedly awaiting full confirmation of the port. View the full article
Ubisoft's heading into the weekend dropping a big tease about Splinter Cell. As for what it's teasing, who knows? The Splinter Cell series has been sadly dormant for years now, the last game being 2013's Splinter Cell: Blacklist. Since then, we've heard very little until Ubisoft remembered Splinter Cell existed by adding Steam achievements to a 12-year-old game just a couple of weeks ago. If we're honest, today's tease doesn't provide much more information — we've got a close-up of Sam Fisher's face and a hashtag, Splinter Cell — but interestingly, the alt description is a little more revealing. "Close-up of Sam Fisher from Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, showing a stern expression with focused eyes, short dark hair, and a rugged beard, set against a blurred high-tech background," the description explains. "He's locked in." #SplinterCell [Hidden Content] — Ubisoft (@Ubisoft) May 30, 2025 It's also interesting that Ubisoft specifies this screenshot is from Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, and not from the upcoming Splinter Cell Remake, so make of that what you will. The Splinter Cell series is set to sneak back into action with a remake of the classic first game in the franchise, Splinter Cell Remake. We still don't know very much about it other than the new version will be built from the ground up using the advanced Snowdrop engine. Our last meaningful update came in 2022 when IGN met with Ubisoft Toronto developers to discuss their design philosophy behind the game. “20 years later, we can look back at the plot, the characters, the overall story of the game [and] make some improvements — things that might not have aged particularly well,” said creative director Chris Auty at the time. “But the core of the story, the core of the experience will remain as it was in the original game.” Perhaps Ubisoft is priming fans for a Summer Game Fest announcement, but without confirmation, it's hard to know for sure. On the plus side, we don't have too long to wait — Summer Game Fest and IGN Live are right around the corner. The Last of US Season 2 will be at IGN Live, as well as Sonic Team, ****** Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2, Norse: Oath of Blood, and more. 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
There have been countless rumors about Resident Evil 9 since the release of Village back in 2021. Allegedly, the project might have had one of the longest development cycles of any RE game.RE9 has been confirmed to be directed by RE7 directorKoshi Nakanishi, but since the game's confirmation (which was hardly a surprise given how popular the franchise is), information about the title has been virtually non-existent. However, that doesn't stop the rumor mill from churning. View the full article
The next Elden Ring Nightreign patch will help struggling solo players survive the trials of Limveld. Like its predecessor before it, Nightreign is a punishing RPG that will put your skills to the test, no matter which build you use, but it's been built with three-player co-op in mind, and that often leaves lone wanderers coughing in the dust. To help rectify this issue, developer Fromsoftware confirms that Elden Ring Nightreign patch 1.02 will buff solo play. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: How to change Elden Ring Nightreign skins All Elden Ring Nightreign bosses and how to beat them Best Elden Ring Nightreign Duchess build and how to unlock View the full article
If you've tried to get into Escape From Tarkov and struggled with its steep difficulty curve, you're not alone. Battlestate's shooter has a lot to offer, but part of what makes it work is the fact that it's not welcoming. Counter-Strike 2 is a similarly tough prospect, but for different reasons. Rather than arduous realism, it's so fast and optimized even the most casual game can leave you with no kills and a heap of deaths. Exfil wants to find the middle ground. Swimming in the same post-Flashpoint and Ghost Recon waters as a lot of milsims, it perhaps comes closest to finding the balance between challenging and accessible, and now you can try it for free. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: This under the radar Tarkov rival is free to play if you're fast Realistic FPS and Tarkov rival Exfil celebrates new update with brief free trial Grab a free Steam key for Exfil, an ultra realistic new tactical FPS View the full article
I can happily admit that sometimes, I'm really good at Valorant, and other times, I am absolute **********. I've gotten aces on pistol round and used Neon's lighting to decimate enemy teams, before happily wandering into an obvious ambush or panicking so much that I spray the wall with bullets instead of my enemies. There was a *******, however, when I really wanted to get better at Valorant, but in order to watch my matches back I'd need to use OBS because it doesn't offer any way to review previous games. Well, after five years of waiting, we can finally kick OBS to the kerb: Riot has revealed when the Valorant replay system is going to drop. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Valorant tier list - the best agents for Season 2025 Act 3 All Valorant skins, bundles, tiers, and prices Next Valorant Night Market 2025 dates View the full article
Role-playing game Limbus Company is currently surging in popularity on Steam, with a concurrent player count more than triple its April 2025 figures. Its recent momentum elevated it to entirely new heights more than two years following its original Steam release. View the full article
Still not jumped on the Steam Deck hype train? Well, Nvidia is giving you the chance to win one of two Steam Deck OLED handhelds, complete with a dock, and all you have to do is follow three simple steps. We recently tested the GeForce Now app on Steam Deck and found that it completely changes how triple-A games work on the aging Steam Deck hardware. With the ability to run the latest games at high settings breathing new life into the best handheld, thanks to streaming, here's a great opportunity to possibly bag one for free. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Nvidia just released the GeForce Now Steam Deck app, and it's a game changer Acer just accidentally shared some Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050 gaming GPU specs The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 price just nosedived, if you live in the right place View the full article
I love metropolitan city builders, but once I'm done turning fertile riverside plains into a mess of eight-lane highways and coal plants, I can't help but wonder if I've maybe been a net negative for the world around me. When I saw Life Below on Steam—a city builder all about constructing reefs that opens its Steam description with "the ocean is dying"—I was flooded with the exact blend of guilt and intrigue I look for in my entertainment... Read more.View the full article
CD Projekt isn't quite finished with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt just yet. The studio announced today that it's got "one more patch" in the works for Geralt's big adventure that will add cross-platform mod support across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S through mod.io... Read more.View the full article
What are the Kingmakers system requirements? As far as viral indie games go, Kingmakers is up there with the elite after its remarkable debut trailer had the internet talking for weeks. Now, we know what your gaming PC will need to run it, but some details are far too basic. While the final requirements are subject to change, it looks as though you won't need one of the best graphics cards to get the best out of Kingmakers, but when it comes to your CPU, only a rough generation is listed rather than any specifics surrounding models or even cores. In fact, AMD doesn't feature anywhere across any component, which is very strange. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Kingmakers release date, early access launch, and trailers Kingmakers is Steam's most-wanted strategy game, and it now has a launch date Chivalry meets GTA 5 in wild new Steam sandbox game View the full article
There's something tremendously relaxing about putting together the perfect rail network. Games like Cities Skylines are great for it, but sometimes the overarching management elements can be overwhelming. Transport Fever 3 is on the way, but what about something simpler, prettier, and cozier, and that you can play right now? Islands and Trains delivers exactly what it promises, and once you've seen it in action you'll immediately understand why it caught my eye. Out now on Steam, this is pure delight at a budget price. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: The Terraria 1.4.5 update introduces new weapons from its most iconic foe Spiritual Minecraft successor Reforj transforms building tools in first update After being remade into an almost completely new game, Section 13 is out now View the full article
Yooka-Laylee developers Playtonic are laying off staff across their operations, as they wrestle with what they call “a ******* of profound change in how games are created and financed”. It’s not clear what these "profound changes" are, exactly – soaring budgets? Evergreen service games drinking up all the oxygen? Falling interest in the genre of mascot platformer Playtonic are best known for? Either way, the outcome is that a bunch of artists, game designers, narrative designers, producers and UI or UX people are now looking for work. Read more View the full article
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The battle-focused RPG is expected to stay in Early Access for around 6-12 months. View the full article