Everything

Have you ever moved to a new town and, what do you know, there’s an abandoned farm ready for you to claim and revitalize all on your own? With adorable creatures to collect and eccentric townsfolk to befriend, Ooblets doesn’t follow a completely unfamiliar formula. But while the unique twists it adds to that structure aren’t very deep, they did keep me smiling for the roughly 30 hours it took to finish the main story. You arrive as the newest citizen of Badgetown, a down-on-its-luck community you immediately start working to improve that lives in harmony with charming creatures called Ooblets. Though they’re all little and very cute, their designs vary pretty widely. You have Ooblets like Dumbirb, an actual small birb… bird friend; Clomper, a round, fluffy puppy-looking chum with stick horns; and Firmo, one of a few robots on the roster. Rather than being caught, you grow your own Ooblets right out of the ground, who will then act as your cutie-patootie farm assistants. Of course...

The first hour of I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is dictionary definition coziness, by and large. There are vague hints of outside or future threats to the space colony on the planet Vertumna, but within the walls of the colony my 10-year-old protagonist is safe in a world of cotton candy trees, gentle guidance from adults, simple school lessons, and low-stakes interactions with peers. I chose to fill my days with sports, digging in the fields to help the colony, and occasionally studying engineering. And then, one of my friends died – suddenly, seemingly unpreventably. I was crushed. They had been a favorite character of mine so short a time in. And from there, the pastel loveliness of the colony dimmed a bit, and the world of Vertumna became a bit more grounded, a bit more human. I Was a Teenage Exocolonist deftly balances the dichotomy of its soft aesthetics and loveliest moments with stories of grief, conflict, confusion. It is, after all, a tale of growing up. The protagonist is ...

From Spider-Man swinging across the map to players using Dragon Ball Z's famous Kamehameha attack , Fortnite's collaborations have only gotten more elaborate over the years. Witness Fortnite's recent collaboration with Destiny, which includes a full-blow recreation of the famous Javelin-4 map from the game's Crucible mode. In a brand-new interview that you can see above, IGN was given a tour of Fortnite's version of the Javelin-4 map, which was meticulously recreated within the Unreal Engine. According to Bungie lead concept artist Dima Goryainov, the map was built entirely with existing assets from Destiny. "The creation of Javelin-4 was a collaborative process between Bungie and Team PWR. Bungie provided visual guidance, while Team PWR reconstructed the entire map using Fortnite’s Creative Toolset. They did an amazing job in finding creative ways to use existing assets in order to closely recreate this iconic map," Goryainov explains. "Since no...

When it comes to controllers, Nintendo is top dog, cream of the crop, king of the hill. But, there are corners of the game controller market that even Nintendo doesn’t dominate in. That’s where we come in, having collectively tested each of the below Nintendo Switch controllers we recommend for some specific use cases. (However, we still mostly recommend Nintendo-made stuff — it’s just that well designed.) Whether you’re a big fighting game nut, you need some ergonomic assistance, or even just use the Switch as a Smash Bros. box, we’ve got you covered with these well-tested recommendations. TL;DR – These are the Best Nintendo Switch Controllers: Nintendo Switch Pro Controller Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons Hori Split Pad Pro PowerA Fusion Pro 8BitDo Arcade Stick Nintendo GameCube Controller 8BitDo Pro 2 1. Nintendo Switch Pro Controller Best Switch Controller See it on Best Buy See it on Walmart For just about any Nintendo Switch game that you’re looking to play serio...

Developer 1047 Games announced that it will be ending development on future features for Spligate and will be creating a new game in the Splitegate universe using Unreal Engine 5. “After careful consideration and much deliberation the 1047 Games team has determined that in order to build the game fans deserve - and to build it in a way that isn’t trying to retrofit and live operate an existing product - we are ending feature development on Splitegate,” the studio said in a statement. The team emphasizes that the next game will be a shooter and it will still have many portals, as well as be free-to-play. Important announcement from 1047 Games about the future of Splitgate: pic.twitter.com/5E0YG1DWQm — Splitgate (@Splitgate) September 2, 2022 1047 Games continues, “We want to be clear that Splitegate will remain online as will your items and progression. In fact, we will roll out a new Battle Pass on September 15 - and it will be free to everyone as a thank you for playing Splig...

A Cyberpunk 2077 stream next week will spell out what’s coming up for the sci-fi RPG. The next edition of Night City Wire will give us a glimpse of what’s on the horizon for Cyberpunk 2077 as well as discuss the upcoming anime, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners . It looks as though the upcoming show might be getting a little in-game love, too. The upcoming stream is going online on September 6 at 8am Pacific / 11am Eastern / 4pm UK, but with the announcement came a brief teaser… and it might just have tipped its hand a little bit. “Choooom! There's something new on the horizon – a special episode of Night City Wire,” CD Projekt Red revealed via Twitter . “We will talk about our upcoming anime Cyberpunk: #Edgerunners and what's next for #Cyberpunk2077.” Choooom! There's something new on the horizon – a special episode of Night City Wire! We will talk about our upcoming anime Cyberpunk: #Edgerunners and what's next for #Cyberpunk2077 . 🔥 See you on Tuesday, September ...

For the first time since early 2020, the IGN UK Podcast comes to you from the comfort of the IGN UK studio. That means professional-grade audio recording technology is perfectly blended with unmissable chat about video games. Cardy, Joe, and Matt discuss upcoming Batman game Gotham Knights, plus the final highlights of Gamescom: the soulslike/God of War mashup Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, miniatures game Moonbreaker, and the Lovecraftian horror lurking in the waters of Dredge. Plus, there's first thoughts on Immortality, the new FMV game from Her Story and Telling Lies creator Sam Barlow. All that, PLUS a session of The Endless Search and your feedback. Got a game for us to play or some feedback you'd like read out on the show? Why not email us: ign_ukfeedback@ign.com . IGN UK Podcast #660: Bat Family Ties IGN UK Podcast #659: Live from a Cologne Roof at Midnight IGN UK Podcast #658: Better Call She-Hulk IGN UK Podcast #657: Enter Sandman (and The Predator) IGN UK P...

I approach the picture frame within the clean, white, minimal gallery space. I pause in front of it, taking in what can only be described as the crude scrawls of a child. A manchild, more likely. “They call this art?” I think to myself, as there’s no doubt about what the squiggles in front of me are depicting - meat and two veg , if you catch my not-so-subtle drift. Thankfully, a sign beneath the frame exhorts me to “please fix this!” and so I do. Well, I try to at least. I’m no artist, so turning an eyesore into eye candy isn’t very likely, but at least it won’t be a plonker portrait anymore. Different Strokes ’ setting is an art gallery in which the visitors create the art. More than that, however, each piece is a collaboration between two people. Fresh frames dot the gallery space, and it’s simplicity itself to interact with one, which then brings up a basic set of tools - brushes of different sizes, a paint bucket, a few basic colours to choose from. You can draw whatever you li...

A very neat and cool thing about being a millennial is watching an endless parade of news headlines revealing that the dystopian novels I read in high school are effectively a day-to-day reality now. It’s understandable, then, that in answer to that our own generation’s artists have turned around and upped the ante on dystopian fiction by satirizing these horrors that now exist to new levels, whether in an effort to spread awareness or simply out of reasonable fury. Which is, I suppose, how I ended up both playing and loving The Last Worker – a narrative game that takes capitalism to its worst, most fearsome extremes while laughing sardonically at the result. I played two segments wearing the cap of protagonist Kurt, the titular “Last Worker” at Amazon-parody company Jüngle. Jüngle is the most profitable company in the world, and largely runs on automation. But Kurt, for whatever reason, has managed to hold down his job delivering packages from one side of the factory to the other ...

DC FanDome has been one of the biggest entertainment events of the past two years, but it looks like Warner Bros. Discovery is retiring its streaming event focused on DC movies, games, and television, at least for this year. DC confirmed that DC FanDome would be taking a break in a statement to Popverse : "With the return of in-person events, Warner Bros. Discovery is excited to be able to engage with our fans live at numerous comic-cons around the world and will not be scheduling DC FanDome for 2022." That means Warner Bros. won't be on hand to promote its upcoming array of DC projects, which include Gotham Knights, Black Adam, and Shazam! Fury of the Gods. But with several DC projects being delayed or canceled outright , it's not surprising that WB Discovery is taking a break. DC FanDome first appeared in 2020, where it found great success showing the "Snyder Cut" of 2017's Justice League, The Suicide Squad, and Wonder Woman 1984 . DC FanDome 20...

Pokémon Company is moving to sue the developers of Pocket Monster Reissue, a mobile game available in China that the Pokémon Company is accusing of plagiarism and copyright infringement. According to a report by the South China Morning Post , the Pokémon Company is seeking $72.5 million in damages from six companies involved in the development of Pocket Monster Reissue through the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court. The company is also demanding that the companies stop developing and distributing the games, and asking the companies to issue apologies across Chinese social media platforms. The app has been in operation without permission from the Pokémon Company since 2015. One of its developers, Zhongnan Heavy Industries, reported a 24.5% revenue increase in 2021, and one year after its release, Pocket Monster Reissue had already earned its developers $43 million. As pointed out by Polygon , the app uses seemingly unchanged assets and characters like Pikachu and Ash Ketchum f...

An image from the long-rumoured new Assassin's Creed game, supposedly titled Assassin's Creed Mirage, appears to have leaked online. As reported by Eurogamer , a now-deleted tweet from Assassin's Creed fan website The Codex Network shared artwork of the new assassin that allegedly leaked from Ubisoft's own store. The image shows an assassin in the series' iconic white robes facing off against something wielding a sword, though only a shadow of the enemy is shown. One version of the art teases 'The Forty Thieves Quest', which would seem to point to this image being a part of a pre-order bonus or similar. mirage pic.twitter.com/5BZKNNeARC — Script (@ScriptLeaksR6) September 1, 2022 The assassin appears to be Basim - a character from Assassin's Creed Valhalla - helped by the blue and red sleeves and also the sword, which appears to be an exact match. This matches previous rumours that Basim would be the protagonist of an expansion turned standal...

Against some very big games, Vampire Survivors was the most-played game on Steam Deck in August. Among a list of the top games played by Steam Deck owners, Valve highlighted excellent bullet hell-roguelike-RPG-thing Vampire Survivors as the top game last month, in terms of hours played. It's quite an achievement for an indie game that’s still in Early Access after an early release in December last year. And just like that, August is over! Taking a quick look back, here are the top games on Steam Deck for the past month, sorted by total hours played. pic.twitter.com/FuDRLh2XaO — Steam Deck (@OnDeck) August 31, 2022 The game entered early access late last year, with player numbers dwindling in the months since according to Steam Charts , but that doesn’t seem to have stopped it from surging in popularity last month on the Steam Deck. An update earlier this month added a handful of new achievements as well as the new playable character, Queen Sigma. The game’s addition to...

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has confirmed that Call of Duty - along with the likes of Diablo and Overwatch - is eventually coming to Game Pass but it'll still be released on PlayStation on the same day. Announced in a Microsoft blog post , Spencer confirmed that Activision Blizzard's library of games is coming to Xbox Game Pass once the acquisition deal goes through, which includes Call of Duty and other blockbuster titles like Diablo and Overwatch. Spencer said that Xbox's goal was to bring games to as many people as possible, and therefore reaffirmed alongside the Game Pass news that Call of Duty would arrive on PlayStation the same day as it launches elsewhere. "We intend to make Activision Blizzard’s much-loved library of games – including Overwatch, Diablo and Call of Duty – available in Game Pass and to grow those gaming communities," Spencer said in the blog post. "By delivering even more value to players, we hope to continue growing Game Pass, extend...

There’s a majesty in Elden Ring that few other games can contend with. Its world is densely packed with a thousand waiting discoveries, its combat systems are richly layered, and its lore begs to be chronicled by a dozen YouTube scholars. But every now and again I can’t help but wonder what Elden Ring would be if it were not so beholden to FromSoftware’s own rules. What if it had the sense of cinematic spectacle that fuels Sony’s blockbusters? A story-rich narrative with the flashy, ability-augmented combat of God of War? The answer, it seems, may well be held in Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn. At Gamescom 2022 I sat down with a couple of developers from A44, the New Zealand-based developer behind Ashen, to watch them play around 30 minutes of Flintlock. They explained that their new Soulslike RPG, set in a fantasy world of ancient magic and blackpowder guns, is designed to sit somewhere between Elden Ring and God of War, taking the challenge and discovery of the former and combining ...

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has recommended an "in-depth investigation" into Xbox's intended acquisition of Activsion-Blizzard. Xbox has responded, saying it will work to address the watchdog's concerns. After announcing a Phase 1 investigation in July, the CMA has released its initial results, citing several concerns about the effects of the deal. The CMA says, "it could harm rivals, including recent and future entrants into gaming, by refusing them access to Activision Blizzard games or providing access on much worse terms." It added that "Microsoft could leverage Activision Blizzard’s games together with Microsoft’s strength across console, cloud, and PC operating systems to damage competition in the nascent market for cloud gaming services." It has now recommended a Phase 2 investigation, which would see an independent panel of experts providing a more intensive probe into those concerns. Microsoft and Activision-...