The culprit behind the recent viral but very much fake Shenmue 4 trailer has apologized for creating false AI footage of the franchise's fictional fourth game. In a post on fan forum ShenmueDojo, the creator, under the alias "JustAFan1," issued an apology for misleading the internet — just days after Shenmue developer Ys Net released its own statement that slammed the video for raising fan hopes and revealed it was now exploring legal action. In their statement, JustAFan1 explained that they had made the video not "out of malice, but love for Shenmue." Indeed, their statement ends with the suggestion that "all the media attention this has received will do something to convince investors" that Shenmue 4 should be made. "I just wanted to set the record straight for all those who think it might still be half real," JustAFan1 wrote. "It's not. "I know many of you will want to hang me for dashing your hopes, but know this was not done out of malice, but love for Shenmue. I realize I went about it the wrong way, and I apologize for that. But I hope all the media attention this has received will do something to convince investors that Shenmue is very much alive and profitable if approached correctly." As proof that they were the creator of the video, JustAFan1 posted a link to a new version of the trailer with additional music and footage, along with a lengthier apology statement in both English and Japanese. "I want to be absolutely clear: I am merely a fan of the series and have absolutely no professional or personal affiliation with Ys Net, nor have I ever had any," this statement reads. "The creation and release of the trailer, which presented itself as an official piece of promotional material recorded behind the scenes, was a lapse in judgment. I take full responsibility for this action." JustAFan1's statement continues by confirming that the fake trailer's story elements were made using publicly available lore and common fan theories about where the Shenmue series might progress in future, with nothing that specifically reflected any real development that may or may not be underway within Ys Net. "While my intent was centered on a positive outcome, the method I chose to achieve it was misleading and unprofessional. I deeply regret creating and sharing information that was not factual, and I understand the negative impact this misinformation had. "The sole purpose behind creating the 'Shenmue 4' trailer was to demonstrate the sustained and substantial market demand and community enthusiasm for this beloved series," the video statement concludes. "I meant no harm to Ys Net, its brand, or its loyal fans. My motivation was to champion the series and help encourage its continuation, not to mislead or create distress." Reaction to the statement has been mostly supportive, with many agreeing that the trailer had created fresh buzz for the franchise amid hope for confirmation of a new game. "Nah, you're good," fan hyo_razuki replied. "I knew it was fake from the beginning but it was fun and you generated some enthusiasm for Shenmue, so no biggie, no need to apologize." As of now, it's unknown if a fourth major Shenmue game will ever get made, though the franchise's fans certainly hope it happens. Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki told IGN in 2023 that he wanted to create a fourth game at some point, though he is currently still working on an enhanced version of Shenmue 3. This, Suzuki hopes, will win the game a warmer reception across a wider set of platforms, after a middling response to Shenmue 3 at the game's initial launch. 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
Kim Kardashian is joining Fortnite, and you'll be able to play as the TV and fashion icon beginning this weekend. Two Kim Kardashian skins will become available in Fortnite this Saturday, December 13, cementing the star as one of the game's highest-profile public figures to date. Leaning into the Kardashian's fashionable status, Kim's skins have been designed to be highly customisable. The Iconic Kim Kardashian skin features her in skin-tight attire with alterable colors, necklines and hairstyles. The regular Kim Kardashian skin, meanwhile, comes with a jacket you can toggle on and off. Accompanying these are a pair of emotes, including one where Kim shakes up a bottle of Slurp juice and uncorks it over her head, catching it in a glass balanced on her... foot. (Fortnite might have nipples now, but squirting into a glass on your behind is apparently the limit.) Kardashian's appearance in Fortnite is tied extremely loosely into the game's recent Chapter 7 relaunch. Its main battle royale modes now feature a fresh Californian-inspired map with the game's own version of Hollywood to explore. The latest addition to Fortnite's Icon Series of real-life stars, Kardashian joins fellow luminaries such as Snoop Dogg, Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, Billy Eilish, Eminem, and England soccer player Harry Kane. Now that's a squad. 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
As the wait for The Elder Scrolls 6 goes on, some fans believe developer Bethesda teased its release year in a live-action Skyrim trailer. Earlier this week, Bethesda shadow-dropped Skyrim on Nintendo Switch 2, and in doing so released a live-action comedy trailer that saw a bad Santa enlist the help of two of his elves. The trailer, below, shows one of the elves raising their speech level to 27 after suggesting Skyrim launch on Switch 2, with their overall character level progress working towards 20. Why pick 20 and 27 specifically? Because The Elder Scrolls 6 is coming out in 2027, some fans are now saying. “This honestly might be the best piece of evidence we have for a release date,” one fan said. “Those are very specific numbers and I don’t think they would use those numbers by accident.” “My god we’ve gotten so desperate,” countered another. They are oddly specific numbers though, and you’d like to think Bethesda knew what it was doing by choosing them, rather than rolling the dice and coming up with random numbers. This is The Elder Scrolls 6 we’re talking about — it’s one of the most anticipated video games currently in development. Fans want — need! — to know when it’s coming out, and so anything like this was always going to set them off. But is 2027 a likely release year? Last month, Bethesda chief Todd Howard said The Elder Scrolls 6 wouldn’t be out for some time yet despite being announced over seven years ago. In an interview with GQ magazine to celebrate the release of Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition, Howard said The Elder Scrolls 6 is “still a long way off.” He added: “I’m preaching patience. I don’t want fans to feel anxious.” You can understand why patience might be difficult for some fans though. In January this year, The Elder Scrolls 6 announcement became as old as predecessor Skyrim was when The Elder Scrolls 6 was announced. Skyrim was released on November 11, 2011, and The Elder Scrolls 6 was revealed on June 10, 2018 — 2,403 days afterwards. It is now seven-and-a-half years since the announcement, and we’re no closer, it seems, to the release of the game. When the six-year anniversary of The Elder Scrolls 6 announcement arrived in June last year, even Todd Howard paused to say, "oh wow, that has been a while." The Elder Scrolls 6 is at least in production, with Bethesda confirming it had entered "early development" in August 2023 and "early builds" were available in March 2024. In the GQ article, Howard once again admitted that it has taken too long to get The Elder Scrolls 6 out the door, but did tease a The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered-style shadowdrop — without confirming anything. “I do like to have a break between them, where it isn’t like a ‘plus one’ sequel,” Howard said of making The Elder Scrolls games again. “I think it’s also good for an audience to have a break — The Elder Scrolls has been too long, let’s be clear. But we wanted to do something new with Starfield. We needed a creative reset.” Bethesda is currently playtesting The Elder Scrolls 6, Howard revealed. “I like to just announce stuff and release it,” Howard continued. “My perfect version — and I’m not saying this is going to happen — is that it's going to be a while and then, one day, the game will just appear.” The Oblivion Remastered shadowdrop was “a test run,” Howard teased. “It worked out well.” As for what Bethesda has going on right now, hundreds of people are working on Fallout, Howard said, across Fallout 76 “and some other things we're doing, but The Elder Scrolls 6 is the everyday thing.” Earlier this year it was confirmed that The Elder Scrolls 6 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. 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
Cinderella is settling in nicely in the village, but unfortunately, some pesky critters stole some of her most important tools in Disney Dreamlight Valley. She comes to you asking for help with her level four friendship quest, which is Critter Chaos. Dealing with troublesome animals is no easy task, and Cinderella is missing quite a few tools, so navigating through this one can be tough. If any part of it has you stumped and unable to progress, here’s a complete walkthrough for the Critter Chaos quest in Disney Dreamlight Valley Table of contentsHow to complete Critter Chaos in Disney Dreamlight ValleyAsk for Alice's helpTry to negotiate with Rude RaccoonGather the ingredients for a Whimsical PieCook a Whimsical PieGive the Whimsical Pie to the Rude RaccoonAsk Cheshire Cat for cluesFind Cinderella's Thread with an unusual turtle on Dazzle BeachFish Cinderella's Pencil out of the water in the Glade of TrustGive Cinderella back her toolsPlace the tea party set on Dazzle BeachPick up the White Buttons that just appeared on Dazzle BeachHow to complete Critter Chaos in Disney Dreamlight Valley Screenshot by Destructoid To complete the Critter Chaos quest, you need to team up with Cinderella, Alice, and the Cheshire Cat to get Cinderella's tools back from some pesky critters. It's not an easy process to navigate through, so here's a full step-by-step breakdown of how to get it done. Ask for Alice's help This mission isn't one you can tackle on your own, so start by tracking down Alice around the valley. Chat with her about the situation once you find her to learn that the thief in question is actually a Raccoon, then meet up with Cinderella to share what you learned. This Raccoon actually returned to her home, so head into Cinderella's castle to meet and talk to the thief. Try to negotiate with Rude Raccoon Once you're inside Cinderella's house, walk over to the Rude Raccoon and chat with them to see if you can negotiate. Unfortunately, this pesky critter isn't very cooperative, so nothing you say makes any difference. Follow Cinderella and Alice over to a different part of the castle and chat with Alice about what to do next. Screenshot by Destructoid Gather the ingredients for a Whimsical Pie The group decides that the Rude Raccoon might be a bit more receptive to a deliciously cooked dish, so your next task is to gather the ingredients to make a Whimsical Pie. Before you can cook this dessert, you need to obtain: Sugarcane – Can be grown from Sugarcane Seeds. You can buy these seeds from Goofy's Stall in the Dazzle Beach biome for five Star Coins. Wheat – Can be grown from Wheat Seeds, which can be bought from Goofy's Stall in the Peaceful Meadow biome for one Star Coin. Whimsical Berries – Given to you by Alice in the previous step of this quest, so they should already be in your inventory. Cook a Whimsical Pie With all of the required ingredients gathered, you can now head to a cooking station to make the Whimsical Pie. Toss in one of each of the three required ingredients to make it, then return to Cinderella's house with this item. Screenshot by Destructoid Give the Whimsical Pie to the Rude Raccoon Walk over to the Rude Raccoon near the back of Cinderella's house, close to the bedroom, and interact with them to transfer over the freshly cooked Whimsical Pie. This critter will finally give back Cinderella's first missing tool, so walk over to her to give her this item and discuss the remaining missing tools. Ask Cheshire Cat for clues There's no other critter more mischievous than the Cheshire Cat, so meet up with him to see if he has any insight into where Cinderella's other tools might be. Of course, nothing's ever straightforward with this guy, so he gives you some cryptic clues to solve. Find Cinderella's Thread with an unusual turtle on Dazzle Beach Screenshot by Destructoid The first item you need to find is Cinderella's Thread, which is hidden with an unusual Sea Turtle found in the Dazzle Beach biome. This critter can be found swimming swiftly through the water close to Skull Rock island, just off the coast of the region. You can distinguish this critter from regular Sea Turtles by the pink spool of thread attached to its shell. This turtle is also a lot faster than all the others in this area. Chase after the critter and interact with it to grab Cinderella's Thread. Fish Cinderella's Pencil out of the water in the Glade of Trust Head over to the Glade of Trust biome and search all bodies of water in this area until you find a gold ripple spot with golden sparkles on it. The bubble spot you need to fish out of here looks a bit different from the rest, making it easy to spot once you know what to look for. Equip your Royal Fishing rod, throw the line into the bubble spot, and catch Cinderella's Pencil. Screenshot by Destructoid Give Cinderella back her tools Meet up with Cinderella once you have both items to give her back the tools. Listen as she and Alice chat about the situation and decide the three of you should enjoy some tea together to celebrate your success. Place the tea party set on Dazzle Beach Cinderella and Alice give you a tea party set to place down in the valley. Open your inventory, select the Furniture tab, click on the Cinderella quest icon, select the tea party set, and place it anywhere you like around the Dazzle Beach biome. You can always move it around after the quest is complete, so don't worry too much about where you place it. Pick up the White Buttons that just appeared on Dazzle Beach Once the tea party is over, some mysterious White Buttons will appear nearby. Pick them up and chat with Cinderella to see what she thinks. As soon as you do, the Critter Chaos quest will officially be complete. The post Critter Chaos quest walkthrough in Disney Dreamlight Valley appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead is working on a roguelite mode, the studio’s boss has revealed, although there's no guarantee it will actually come out. Arrowhead CCO and Helldivers 2 creative director, Johan Pilestedt, responded to a fan on social media to say “we have a prototype of a roguelite mode — it changes the game fundamentally!” That casual reveal has already set fans of the explosive co-op action shooter into overdrive imagining how a roguelite mode would work in the game, which revolves around open and shut missions restricted by time limits. “Going to be us defending the Evac from endless patrols but the bird never shows up,” suggested one fan. “Wave complete. Choose a booster to add: Reinforcement budget, flexible budget, discount budget (reinforcing multiple teammates takes up only one call in),” suggested another. And here’s another take: “I think it would be cool to add that… a mission that has no helldiver limit, or no time limit with a limited amount of reinforcements… and just defend a fort from wave after wave of enemies, and we get rewarded based off of how many waves of enemies we can eliminate before time runs out, or the amount of reinforcements runs out…” It’s worth pointing out that Pilestedt has only so far confirmed that a prototype for this mode has been built, so it may never come to fruition. But given Pilestedt mentioned it in a post on social media — already viewed over 120,000 times — you’d like to think the developers are confident it will eventually see the light of day. Clearly, Arrowhead will continue to update the game for some time to come. Helldivers 2 is just coming off its big 5.0.0 patch as well as its jungle-themed Python Commandos Warbond, which adds a number of fan-requested weapons including a minigun. In September, the studio’s CEO confirmed Helldivers 3 is not in any plan developer Arrowhead has right now, saying that instead it wants Helldivers 2 to keep going for years and years, like veteran MMO RuneScape. And then there’s the Helldivers 2 movie, which is picking up steam. In a subsequent tweet, Pilestedt posted a picture of a meeting with the Helldivers 2 directors to discuss the game's next four arcs, which one fan joked would take a few years to work through. Of course there will be plenty more coming to the game in between. 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
Monster Hunter Wilds Title Update 4, which addresses a number of stability and performance issues, arrives on December 16, Capcom has announced. As part of this, Capcom has "committed" to improving stability and performance, detailing what changes are coming and when, including CPU/GPU improvements, load reduction, and the optimization of "PC-specific processes and addition of options and presets to reduce processing load." The commitment comes as Monster Hunter Wilds' impressive sales, especially on PC, were offset by its 'Mixed' Steam reviews at launch. Despite director Yuya Tokuda's commitment to stability and improvements, dissatisfaction persists, and even with new content and seasons, fans remain unhappy with the state of the game, to the point where some are taking things too far and harassing individual Capcom team members. Now, Capcom says the free Title Update 4 will introduce "an array of performance improvements across all platforms," focusing on CPU and GPU optimization and reducing processing load "with more than 100 under-the-hood improvements, among others." "We'll follow this up in January with a PC-specific update with even more improvements, and are looking into further optimization for implementation in the February content update," the team explained. "We're committed to making Monster Hunter Wilds a great experience for all players. Thank you for your patience and continued support." Here's the full list of changes, with more to come on December 12: Monster Hunter Wilds Commitment to Improving Stability and Performance:December: Title Update 4 CPU/GPU optimization (All Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series, Steam) Processing Improvements: Processing time will be improved by distributing the process across frames for elements that demand the heaviest load, which includes players, monsters, and graphical user interfaces.Load Reduction: Processing load is reduced by comprehensively reviewing and streamlining various processes, such as reducing the number of simultaneous effects and improving collision detection for Palico and Seikret.Various other improvements, including optimization and reduction of memory usage, will be implemented.January 2026: Steam Version Exclusive Patch Optimization of PC-specific processes and addition of options and presets to reduce processing load (Steam) Adding new graphics and CPU settings as well as new presets, providing additional options to reduce processing loadImproving shader compilation process (reduced stuttering)VRAM usage improvementsHigh-resolution texture pack improvements (improving texture streaming speeds)February 2026: Ver. 1.041 — Additional OptimizationAdding level-of-details (LOD) quality levels to the polygon mesh for 3D models (reducing GPU processing load)We are also re-examining memory-related processes to identify further potential improvements. Last week, at the PlayStation Partner Awards 2025 Japan Asia held in Tokyo, Monster Hunter Wilds won the Grand Award and the User's Choice Award. In an interview held before the award ceremony, Ryozo Tsujimoto, the producer of this work, and Yuya Tokuda, the director, answered questions from local media, and acknowledged the criticisms raised by players. "Immediately after the release, we apologized for the inconvenience caused by the volume of content and the difficulty level," Tokuda said. "Despite this, we were delighted to receive various awards, including Users' Choice awards. We would like to thank all the players who have given their opinions and spoken warm words even in this situation. The development team was able to turn everyone's feedback into an asset and work on the update with all our strength, and I think the result was also the reason why players voted for us." 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
Delta Force is kicking off its year-end festivities with a major splash. With the 2025 Delta Force Invitational: Warfare (DFIW) on the horizon and a jam-packed month of limited-time holiday content, players can dive into a slew of events. From pro-level missions to prediction brackets, exclusive cosmetic items, and chaotic game modes, there is a whole lot to explore this holiday season. 2025 Delta Force Invitational: Warfare Event Roadmap To coincide with the DFIW, which will see the world’s first 20 vs 20 Warfare World Championship, Delta Force is rolling out a roadmap of four interconnected events. Fans can tune into the 2025 DFIW starting December 11th at 05:00 UTC across X, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok. 1. Pick’em: Predict the Winners, Claim Exclusive Gear (December 9th – 17th) The Pick’em event lets players place their predictions on tournament matchups, offering escalating rewards based on accuracy. Pick’em is a single submission only. Once the deadline hits, brackets are locked for good. Rewards: ASV - Night Veil Skin: Earned just by submitting a bracketIFV - Zebra: Awarded for correctly predicting at least 2 of the top 4 teamsRecon Helicopter - Action Time: Given to anyone who predicts the exact Finals matchup 2. Battlefield Challenge: “Play Like a Pro” Mission Track (December 5th – 18th) This challenge series teaches players the same competitive strategies used by championship teams. Rather than a simple grind, each mission highlights a key tactic from the current esports meta. Two-Phase Structure: Phase 1 (Dec 5): Infantry combat, recon scoring, squad support.Phase 2 (Dec 12): Tank gameplay, engineer roles, armour-focused strategies. Rewards: Wheeled Tank Destroyer – Gear Shift2,400 Glacial Tokens 3. Glacial Fortune Shop (December 5th – 18th) Running alongside the Battlefield Challenge, the Glacial Fortune Shop allows players to redeem their earned tokens for limited Appearances at 600 tokens each. Total completion allows you to buy the full collection. Available Skins (Glacial Strike Set): MK47 Assault RifleSR-3MMini-14Bizon 4. DFIW 2025 Login Event (December 14th – December 27th) Once the DFIW concludes, the game maintains momentum with a high-value daily login track. Key Rewards: Day 5: “Veterans Never Die Never Die” SprayDay 7: AUG - Emergency Alert (Epic Skin) Holiday Festivites: New Arcade Modes Bring Seasonal Chaos (December 19th – January 15th) After the 2025 DFIW dust settles, the winter festivities begin. Delta Force is launching a trio of limited-time arcade game modes, each remixing Operators, weapons, and match flow for a fresh holiday playground. Dragon Storm: A lightning-fast Team Deathmatch starring Vyron with dramatically reduced Dynamic Propulsion cooldowns. Combat is pistol-only, using the Desert Eagle and G18, turning every firefight into a high-speed duel.Strength to Spare: A brutal, close-range skirmish mode featuring Vyron, D-Wolf, and Sineva. Expect mayhem with melee weapons, explosives, and ATVs. Arrow Clash: A tense “Cold Weapons” TDM mode where Luna and Hackclaw fight using only the Compound Bow. It’s a precision-focused experience that rewards patience and accuracy. Players can also complete a series of in-game challenges to redeem exclusive loot, including festive Holiday-themed Firearm and Vehicle Appearances, a Legendary Firearm Appearance and more. View the full article
A Polish leaker has doubled down on claims that developer CD Projekt Red is working on DLC for The Witcher 3, a decade after the game's release. Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine are two highlights of the original game, and some of the best pieces of DLC I've ever played-right up there with Phantom Liberty. Borys Nieśpielak first circulated these rumors in the summer, suggesting that DLC for the game would arrive in 2026, but in a recent appearance on the Rock i Borys Podcast with Remigiusz Maciaszek, he has suggested that we might find out more about the new addition at The Game Awards. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: The Witcher 4 might be miles away, but Geralt and Ciri are honing their blades for some turn-based tactics this month This gorgeous Witcher 3 gaming gear is the perfect way to celebrate its 10th anniversary Best Witcher 3 mods 2025 View the full article
Jonathan Blow has just "announced an announcement," teasing he just may be getting on a plane today to join a "gaming industry event coming up." Blow — perhaps best known for 2008's Braid and 2016's The Witness — popped up on his YouTube channel with a brief video, revealing that a project that has likely taken "nine or 10 years to make" is "finally get[ting] out to people." And while it's probably not "a trailer for like an RPG where you fight monsters from hell" — "nothing wrong with that," he hastily added — whatever it is seems likely to be showing up at 2025's The Game Awards. "We've been working hard on projects for a very long time. We have a wide variety of things that we've been developing. They're very complicated. Sometimes they take a while to come to fruition. Do we give up? No, we do not. We keep going, and we get them done because ultimately, even if something took nine years or 10 years to make, if you work hard for a long time, you can produce something that is tremendously good, much better than you ever expected in the beginning, and then you can finally get it out to people. "I'm speaking in generalities right now," Blow teased. "I cannot actually say anything specific because this is not the announcement, okay? This is the announcement of the announcement, and therefore, I cannot relay any actual facts that are being reserved for the actual announcement. But I am announcing that this announcement will occur sometime soon. Maybe very soon. Maybe, you know, I don't know if there's any gaming industry events coming up this week where stuff about upcoming projects might get shown. I don't know, if there's something like that, you might keep an eye out, right? You might just want to look, and you might see, you know, a trailer for like an RPG where you fight monsters from hell." "That's probably not what we're announcing," he hastily added. "Nothing wrong with that, but that's not what we're announcing. You might see some other things. So, that is the announcement of the announcement. If there's any game industry events, such as something happening in Los Angeles — which I wouldn't even know about because I have to get on a plane tomorrow morning to go to some show — if there's something like that, some Game Awards. I don't think we're getting an award tomorrow, but if there's something like that that also has information in it besides like awards, then just keep your eyes peeled…" "Yeah. Just keep an eye out, because at such a place — if I were to make an actual announcement that conveyed the actual facts that I wanted to provide that people often ask about — that would be a good place to do it, to have the actual announcement that we are announcing today. All right. Thank you." Wondering what the new game could be? Well, according to one commenter, the game is expected to be called Order of the Sinking Star. "The game has been called that for over a year, and there's even a subreddit for it," they pointed out. Blow's most recent game, The Witness, secured an impressive 10/10 from us. In IGN's The Witness review, we called it "a beautiful, powerful, and cleverly designed puzzle game with a wealth of mysteries to unravel." We've been keeping tabs on what's been confirmed to make an appearance so far, what's been teased, and some of the pie-in-the-sky dream games we know deep down in our brains won’t be there, but our heart tells us there might just be a chance. Don’t worry, we’re not going to be quite as far-fetched as to say GTA 6 will be at The Game Awards, nor The Witcher 4, which CD Projekt Red has already confirmed won’t be. But that’s enough of that. For more, check out our round-up of what you can expect from The Game Awards 2025. Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images. 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
Creative Assembly has confirmed it has a new Total War video game set to be announced at The Game Awards, but what is it? Warhammer 40,000 fans think they know — and one eagle-eyed viewer even spotted what looks like concrete evidence. The *****-owned strategy specialist behind Total War: Warhammer (the fantasy version of Games Workshop's much-loved tabletop setting) is rumored to be working on a Warhammer 40,000 and a Star Wars take on its long-running Total War series, and it looks like the Warhammer 40,000 game will finally get announced at The Game Awards tonight. Redditor Knavbot took to the Total War subreddit to point to a blink-and-you’ll miss it reference to 40K in Creative Assembly’s recent showcase livestream (the one where the developer announced Total War: Medieval 3). I really do mean blink-and-you'll miss it because the files labeled 40k are incredibly hard to spot. I had to slow the video right down at the 32:42 mark and freeze-frame to see them, but yes, they are there: Here are the relevant file names in the video: 40k_outfield_sheet_01_base_colour40k_outfield_sheet_01_material_map40k_outfield_sheet_01_normal This apparent 40k leak appeared during the part of the showcase where Creative Assembly talked about its new game engine, which will help bring its games to consoles for the first time. Assuming this is all leading to a Total War: Warhammer 40,000 announcement, we can assume the game will release for PC as well as PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. In truth, the announcement won’t come as much of a surprise for many Warhammer 40,000 fans given the sheer volume of rumors floating around Creative Assembly and the Games Workshop community in recent months. But until the game is announced, we should point out that the Total War reveal at The Game Awards could be something else entirely. Warhammer 40,000 video game leaks have a history of coming from file names shown in videos. The appearance of Dark Angels Primarch Lion El'Jonson in upcoming RTS Dawn of War 4 was leaked via file names in a video. Developer King Art Games recently admitted to IGN in an interview that this was an accident. Perhaps Creative Assembly knew what it was doing here! Perhaps not. Check out all our The Game Awards predictions and roundup of leaks right here. 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
Yet another leak ahead of tonight's The Game Awards 2025 has revealed a legendary music star as a new James Bond villain in 007 First Light. In a now-deleted social post from the official 007 social media account, Fly Away singer Lenny Kravitz was unmasked as playing a First Light character named Bawma, who shares Kravitz's likeness. And while the post may have been swiftly removed, the internet still took notice — seemingly letting a further secret out ahead of tonight's big gaming awards and announcement event. "He rose from nothing, broke free, and built his own Kindom of Aleph," the now-deleted post read. "Introducing Bawma, the largest ******-market dealer in the Western Hemisphere who's as charismatic as he is unpredictable." The accompanying video, now also deleted, shows clearly that Bawma is a villain, as he has strung up Bond and threatens to drop him into a pit packed with crocodiles. Kravitz is most famous for his lengthy Grammy Award-winning musical career, but the star also holds a handful of acting credits, most notably for his work in The Hunger Games and its sequel Catching Fire, as hero Katniss Everdeen's fashionable aide Cinna. Of course, Kravitz is not the first big name set to appear in 007: First Light, the upcoming James Bond blockbuster in development at Hitman developer IO Interactive. The game will also feature Eternals star Gemma Chan and The Walking Dead actor Lennie James, while Dexter: Original Sin's Patrick Gibson is the new Bond himself. Kravitz will also be far from the first musician to appear in a James Bond property. "Continuing the trope of musical performers randomly appearing in Bond media, I see," Bond fan Jordan Gill noted on social media. "Jimmy Dean, Grace Jones, Wayne Newton, Madonna... now Lenny Kravitz." "Lenny Kravitz bringing Bawma to life is wild enough — but now I'm wondering... could he also be the one singing the title song in the end?" added another fan, ExpectingMrBond. "Maybe not Lana after all?" Video Games singer Lana Del Rey was recently spotted having recorded a fresh song titled "First Light", which would be a neat fit for the franchise and IO Interactive's game after her earlier track "24" was famously snubbed as the theme for Daniel Craig outing Spectre, the 24th Bond movie. Tune in to The Game Awards 2025 to get a proper look at Kravitz in the role, as IGN reports on the event live. 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
Jim Ward, the voice of Ratchet & Clank's Captain Qwark, has died aged 66. The news was revealed by his former co-host at The Stephanie Miller Show, who wrote on X/Twitter: "One of the saddest messages I have ever received from the amazing Mrs Jim Ward: Our wonderful 'voice deity' as Steph anointed Jim Ward, passed away today at 10:45am." Ward co-hosted the show with Miller for 13 years until his departure in 2017. In 2021, it was revealed he had contracted a "severe case" of COVID-19 after being hospitalized for a mild cognitive memory issue, which "completely paralyzed" him for four months. He later developed Alzheimer's disease. It's for this reason that Ward did not feature in Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. Ward was better known to gamers for lending his voice to a plethora of games from his debut in 1993's Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin. He not only starred in the Ratchet & Clank series, but also gave his voice to Krauser in the original Resident Evil 4 and Doktor in Metal Gear Rising Revengeance. Other video game credits include roles in Guild Wars 2, Diablo 3, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, EverQuest 2, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Call of Duty, and Dragon Age. His final game credit is 2022's Quake Champions. However, he also starred in numerous shows, including The Fairly OddParents and Ben 10, and has won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program. "I'm so sorry for your loss... Mr. Ward was an important part of my childhood as the voice of Captain Qwark. I wish the family the very best," commented one fan. Another simply wrote, "The world has lost a great talent and a wonderful human being!" Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic. 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
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The new trailer is a music video introducing Cadence featuring Heather Gonzalez alongside the pop-star vocals of LEXXE. View the full article