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It's that time of year again folks. We've got a Nintendo Direct on the way, taking place tomorrow, February 8. Confirmed in a tweet from Nintendo of America (below), the Direct will take place at 2pm Pacific / 5pm Eastern / 10pm UK (so 8am on February 9 AEST) and can be viewed on Nintendo's website and its YouTube channels. The Direct will be around 40 minutes long, focusing on games launching in the first half of 2023. Though no specific games were confirmed by Nintendo in the tweet, this could include The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which has a May release date. Tune in at 2 p.m. PST tomorrow, Feb. 8, for a #NintendoDirect livestream featuring roughly 40 minutes of information mostly focused on #NintendoSwitch games launching in the first half of 2023. Watch it live here: https://t.co/8ce3reaEig pic.twitter.com/Pmf41dQWIw — Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 7, 2023 We've also yet to see anything about Pikmin 4, which is also su...

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick is known for being very upfront with media and investors about where he thinks technology, especially around games, is heading. And during today's earnings call, Zelnick made his thoughts clear on a subject that's recently been popular in tech circles: artificial intelligence, and whether or not it will transform game development. Zelnick offered a lengthy response to a question about AI technology like ChatGPT, opening by noting his own historic skepticism around overwrough technology hype and saying that while AI stands for artificial intelligence, "there is no such thing as artificial intelligence." That said, he's "really excited" about the current leaps being made by AI and machine learning, and believes that tools are actively being created that will eventually reduce development costs in gaming. However, he doesn't think it's going to impact overall cost structure - because if development becomes easier, h...

For the first time since 2012, the new World of Warcraft expansion has not performed as well commercially as its predecessor. In Activision Blizzard's Q4 2022 financial results , the company said "early Dragonflight sales have not reached the level of the prior expansion". The new World of Warcraft expansion failing to meet or exceed sales of the previous expansion is a rarity for the franchise. 2020's Shadowlands sold over 3.7 million copies on its launch day, which outpaced 2018's Battle for Azeroth. That expansion sold over 3.4 million copies on launch day, which was a record for the franchise at the time. 2016's Legion sold 3.3 million on day one, matching the previous record. You have to go all the way back to 2012's Mists of Pandaria to find the last expansion that didn't match or outsell what came before. Activision Blizzard didn't provide a number of Dragonflight copies sold, but we know it's fewer than Shadowlands' 3.7 mi...

Warning: The below contains some vague details about an early Hogwarts Legacy mission, but no major spoilers. Adding a new wrinkle to the ongoing debate over the upcoming Hogwarts Legacy, IGN has learned that a transgender woman features prominently in an early mission. The character, Sirona Ryan, runs the Three Broomsticks tavern and is first encountered in the second main story quest. Sirona's inclusion in Hogwarts Legacy is particularly notable given the controversy surrounding the game, which has ignited debate because of Harry Potter author and primary rights holder J.K. Rowling's consistent anti-transgender rhetoric for the past few years. Many Harry Potter fans have vowed not to buy Hogwarts Legacy as not to benefit Rowling and her anti-trans views. Curiously, Sirona was not included in any pre-release marketing for Hogwarts Legacy, and the development team at Portkey Games has largely remained mum on Rowling and the controversy at large. IGN asked Portkey to com...

The soulslike genre has exploded over the last decade or so with all sorts of different takes on the genre. We’ve seen 2D soulslikes, anime soulslikes, sci-fi soulslikes, ninja soulslikes, third person shooter soulslikes, Star Wars soulslikes… the list goes on and on. But I think it’s hard not to argue that the king of the genre is still the originator of it: FromSoftware. Now, if you were to ask 10 different people why that is, you’d probably get 10 different answers, because the Souls games mean different things to different people. For some, they’re all about the PvP invasions and the unique brand of online play that only FromSoft’s games provide. For others, they love the deep lore that FromSoft buries deep in its environments, world design, and yes, even item descriptions. Others still just broadly like the unique challenge these games provide. But for me, if I had to boil down the key reason why the FromSoftware soulslikes are so special in a genre so full of other games tryi...

The big question Harry Potter fans are probably asking themselves this week is whether or not to pick up Hogwarts Legacy. So, should you? Signs are pointing to yes, absolutely . Based on our Hogwarts Legacy review , this is the the game many Harry Potter fans have been waiting their entire lives to play. It’s an open-world game set at the storied school of Witchcraft and Wizardry that gives you a lot of freedom to roam the grounds, engage in spell combat, and much more. The standard edition of the game is out February 10, while the deluxe edition, which costs $10 more, is out February 7. If you preorder Hogwarts Legacy today for PS5, Xbox Series X, or PC, you can get some extras. Let’s take a look. Preorder Bonuses for Hogwarts Legacy Or save 15% off Hogwarts Legacy (Steam code) on GMG Console owners can get a preorder bonus for placing an order prior to launch. If you preorder at Best Buy , you’ll receive a free digital $10 Best Buy gift card when the game ships. It works on...

After two years of early access, Rockfish Games is finally ready to bring Everspace 2 into full release, and it's got a date and everything: April 6. However, that's PC only, as Xbox Series X and S and PS5 will see an Everspace 2 release later this summer. Currently, Everspace 2 is available in early access on PC only. That will remain true up to launch, but if you are interested in buying it, you may want to bite sooner rather than later. At the moment, Everspace 2 is $39.99 on Steam, the Microsoft Store, and GOG, but it's getting a price increase to $49.99 beginning February 20 to reflect its full release. Notably, the upcoming full releases don't include Xbox One or PS4, and Rockfish has said it's ditching the previous-generation platform releases. “Our vision for Everspace 2 has taken us beyond the limitations of previous generation consoles," said Rockfish CEO Michael Schade. "Our team has spent a significant amount of time trying to create an e...