Everything

While many gaming companies largely got the hint last year that gamers aren't keen on blockchain, NFTs, and all that web3 entails, Square Enix doesn't seem to have absorbed the message yet. And it's demonstrating this today via a partnership with web3 gaming platform Elixir, with the intent of "generating visibility and adoption of web3 games among traditional gamers." The official announcement is light on details as to what, exactly, these two companies will be doing together, calling this a "strategic partnership" intended to "drive mass adoption [of web3 gaming] during 2023." Elixir itself is a PC games distribution platform that puts web3 games and regular games side-by-side, with little to distinguish between them. Notably, Elixir partnered earlier this year with Epic Games to allow users to play any game in their Epic library " next to your fav web3 games ". Basically, the idea seems to be that if it stuffs enough non-web3 g...

Update, April 19, 2023: Argos currently has a new allocation of The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom collector's edition preorders available . These are listed at £109.99 (as opposed to when they were previously listed for £139.99). Preorders are still available at the time of writing, and you can secure one through our handy link here , or by clicking through the shopping info left below as well. Keep an eye out for updates by following @IGNUKDeals on Twitter. There are plenty of other hot items available to preorder if you're looking forward to Tears of the Kingdom, including the unique and limited edition Switch OLED model , OLED Carry Case, and even the Pro Controller and Link Amiibo. For links on preorders to all of these, check out the full article just below. Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Collector's Edition Preorders Are Back In Stock for £109.99 When is Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Available in the UK? Preorders for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the King...

Xbox has officially confirmed its second wave of new Xbox Game Pass games for April 2023, and there's plenty more to jump into this month, and early May as well. Bethesda and Arkane Studios' Redfall is a clear standout from the latest blog post, although don't get too excited as it's still hitting Game Pass in May. But, it's still not far too off the April release window for Game Pass users, releasing on May 2 for PC, Xbox Series X|S and Cloud. Other games announced for late April include The Last Case of Benedict Fox on April 27, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle also on April 27, Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly on April 20, Homestead Arcana on April 21, Medieval Dynasty on April 20, and Cassette Beasts on April 26 for PC, Games that have already hit Game Pass this month include Ghostwire Tokyo, which made its debut on Xbox Series X|S on April 12th. There were also the likes of Loop Hero on April 4, NHL 23 on April 13 and Minecraft Legends on April 18...

Pokémon archivists are sharing newly-uncovered scans that show how Kanto and Johto's original Pokémon were always meant to look. As broken down by YouTuber and Pokémon archivist Lewtwo on Twitter , they were sent, "accurate scans of the original 251 Ken Sugimori Pokemon artwork to archive in high quality." Ken Sugimori is the primary creature designer for the Pokémon series, and he designed the original Pokémon rosters for the franchise's early Game Boy entries. The 251 recently-discovered scans cover Pokémon's first two generations: Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow and Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal. For the very first time, we've been sent accurate scans of the original 251 Ken Sugimori Pokemon artwork to archive in high quality. the difference is insane. pic.twitter.com/KmNUIJQ2yv — Lewtwo (@Lewchube) April 17, 2023 As Lewtwo described, it doesn't take long to notice that "the difference is insane" when looking at the new scans and the old. Som...

Ubisoft may extend XDefiant’s closed beta if the game’s servers stabilize, according to Ubisoft San Francisco’s executive producer. XDefiant’s closed beta started on April 13, but it has been plagued with issues for several days such as progression not saving and players being shot around corners . Additionally, the PlayStation and Xbox versions had some delayed patches. Fortunately, the executive producer Mark Rubin said on Twitter, “Oh, and if all goes well and the servers finally gain some stability then I think we should look at extending the Beta but I have to see what that would mean for team.” Oh, and if all goes well and the servers finally gain some stability then I think we should look at extending the Beta but I have to see what that would mean for team. — Mark Rubin (@PixelsofMark) April 15, 2023 The closed beta is scheduled to continue until April 23, but it seems possible that it will be extended due to the servers being down and the issues popping up. However, ...

Alien has a long history with shooters, but not so much with RPGs. Obsidian tried to change that in the 2000s with Aliens: Crucible, an early Onyx engine game published by Sega described as "Mass Effect but more terrifying." It was ultimately shelved with little explanation and subsequently forgotten until this past weekend, when Pentiment director Josh Sawyer talked about some of what he described as the "dysfunction" around the project. "I got to work on an Aliens RPG for SEGA from 2006-2009. Obsidian didn't have directors at that time, just leads who were all considered peers. It resulted in a lot of dysfunction when the leads didn't agree on how to do something," he explained. There were a lot of cool ideas in the works, but you don't ship ideas! The biggest lesson I learned from the experience is that if you don't have playable levels, you don't have much of a game (there are some exceptions, of course). — Josh Sawyer (@jesa...

Frank O'Connor is the latest longtime Halo developer to depart the series, with Xbox confirming to Axios in a statement that the longtime franchise director has departed after two decades with the series. "We thank Frank for his numerous contributions to the Halo franchise and wish him well going forward," Microsoft said in a statement. Rumors of O'Connor's departure began when fans noted a Linkedin update showing that he was no longer with the company. He began as a content manager for Bungie in late 2003, where he wrote the Bungie Weekly Update. He joined Microsoft Studios in 2008, which allowed him to stay with the franchise even after Bungie split. Microsoft confirms the departure of longtime Halo franchise director Frank O'Connor, who worked on Master Chief's games for two decades: "We thank Frank for his numerous contributions to the Halo franchise and wish him well going forward." — Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) April 17, 2023 H...