Embark Studios has announced that it will be testing a PvE mode for Arc Raiders next month.

From October 13 to October 20, Arc Raiders will have a PvE toggle, allowing you to seamlessly switch between lobbies where you can fight other players and lobbies where players can't do damage to you. The aim is to give players more choice and test the ability to let players completely disengage from PvP gameplay. As a result, loot in PvE will be lower-valued because the mode has lower stakes. Additionally, ARCs will target downed players to create some form of tension, but if players stay still, they will be ignored by AI foes.

Embark will be monitoring the player economy and matchmaking times during this period. The team has noted that "it's possible that this will not work," meaning PvE may not actually make its way into the game permanently. This is a test to see how well they can make it'll operate, rather than some kind of stress test.

"It’s important to mention that this is not a risk-free test," said the studio. "The first, unlaunched iteration of ARC Raiders was conceived as a PvE game, and we have been hesitant to return to that concept. There is a risk that introducing a PvE matchmaking toggle could reduce some of the tension that the game was built around. At the same time, we have to respect that some players want to enjoy the game in their own way, and we can’t ignore what the data is telling us.

"As creators, we design a game with an intention for how we think it should be played; but after launch, it becomes the players’ game. This is one of the unique and wonderful things about making games; we build something with a specific vision, and then we get to see players finding their own ways to enjoy it."

The reason for the test is that Embark Studios' data demonstrated that a sizable amount of players ignored or tried to avoid combat against other players. They were more interested in a co-op, social experience rather than one where they had to fight real humans. You can view some of the data directly from Embark below.

• 37% Friendly co-op players (this player group has grown consistently since launch).
• 27% Mixed players.
• 34% Pure PvP players (this player group has remained stable since launch).
• Over 70% of Friendly players and even 40% of PvP players express a desire for fewer hostile encounters and 51% of the surveyed player base has expressed an interest in a dedicated PvE option.

It'll be interesting to see what comes of this test and it's refreshing to see a studio experimenting with something so publicly, even if it doesn't result in any permanent changes. Either way, the community will have to show whether it wants Arc Raiders to have PvE or not and provide actionable feedback to make it feasible.

Microsoft has stepped in to address a report that claimed GTA 6 preorders are “heavily skewed” toward PlayStation 5 over Xbox Series X and S.

In a report about this week’s layoffs and studios reorganization at Xbox, The Verge’s Tom Warren said the PS5’s dominance over GTA 6 preorders was “ringing yet more alarm bells" about Xbox as a platform.

However, Xbox CSO Matthew Ball insisted that Microsoft was “very happy” with GTA 6 preorders, and that its internal data showed preorders were matching “our share of the console market.”

Here’s Ball’s statement in full:

“Tom, we are very happy with GTA VI pre-orders. The title is breaking records for XBOX, we expect even more records will be broken throughout the fall, and our internal analysis shows our share of preorders to be matching our share of the console market.”

While Sony does announce PS5 sales, Microsoft hasn’t announced a number for Xbox Series X and S sales in years. As of June 30, PS5 had sold more than 95 million units. Analysts have suggested the combined Xbox Series range is being outsold by the PS5 by at least a factor of 2:1. If that ratio holds true, there are likely twice as many GTA 6 preorders for PS5 than for Xbox Series X and S.

Sony and Rockstar Games' partnership for GTA 6 wil be having a big impact on preorders, too. Sony has leaned heavily into GTA 6, which you can understand given we’re talking about a video game that is expected to break sales records and spark a surge in console sales. This has led to GTA 6 gameplay focusing on the PS5 version, the PS5 showing up in marketing materials for GTA 6, and even a custom GTA 6 UI for Sony’s console.

Sony has published blog posts talking about the features of the PS5 that GTA 6 will use, such as the speaker in the DualSense controller and the pad's haptic feedback. Other additions to GTA 6's PS5 marketing campaign include a version of the PlayStation app logo on smartphones that features GTA 6 colors and pale tree fronds. So, with PlayStation’s partnership in full swing, preorders being “heavily skewed” toward PS5 shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone.

The Verge’s report also suggested that the Xbox “reset,” led by new CEO Asha Sharma, might be about making Xbox easier to spin off or operate as a wholly owned subsidiary, as has been suggested by prior reports elsewhere.

GTA 6 launches on PS5 and Xbox Series X and S only on November 19.

Players who haven’t yet experienced Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown can play the entire game for free right now on Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch 2 until September 30.

Ubisoft Montpellier's 2D Metroidvania-style Prince of Persia game can be downloaded for free in its entirety as a playable demo starting at 10 AM PT today, September 24, through Wednesday, September 30 at 11:59 PM PT.

You’ll need to be a Nintendo Switch Online member to take advantage of this wild offer, though. There’s more to it than just the game, too, though that in itself is a massive deal; members can also earn 100 My Nintendo Platinum Points by completing a mission in the game during this trial period.

For more information on how to score these points, you can check out the Missions & Rewards section on the Nintendo Switch Online portal or from your Nintendo Switch’s home screen. And like many other modern game demos, you’ll be able to carry over your save data from this trial if you end up buying the full game.

If you haven’t played it yet, it’s definitely worth a try; we at IGN scored the game a glowing eight out of 10, praising the title for capturing “not only what made games such as The Sands of Time so good,” but also ironing out “the little issues that plagued the 3D games in this series by opting for a 2D perspective.”

It’s a refreshing take on the iconic series, and one that’s well worth a shot — but despite receiving critical acclaim, Ubisoft disbanded the team behind the game after it failed to meet sales expectations, and plans for a sequel were also reportedly scrapped in favor of putting its developers on other projects (like Beyond Good and Evil 2, which is still in development and recently added a writer from Assassin's Creed Shadows to its ranks).

Since then, the game has received a few new modes, updates, story DLC, and even a mobile port, though the possibility of a sequel remains grim. There’s hope that renewed interest in the title, thanks to free demos like this one and multiple big sales over the years, could sway Ubisoft’s opinion… but it’s not looking likely.

If you are planning on playing The Lost Crown, check out our Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown 100% Walkthrough and our handy interactive map and checklist tool. It's a really big little game and these tips and tricks are also a great place to start.

At least fans have The Rogue Prince of Persia, which received a fair few updates this year like new elements, tools, weapons affixes, and other quality-of-life improvements; though the highly-anticipated Sands of Time remake has unfortunately been canned.

For nearly three decades, the Silent Hill series has evolved through new protagonists, settings, and approaches to psychological horror. Silent Hill: Townfall continues that tradition by introducing the franchise's first full-length first-person experience, a new setting outside the typical Silent Hill town, and a cast featuring acclaimed actors from film, television, and games.

While previous entries have largely centered on the town of Silent Hill itself, Townfall takes you to St. Amelia, a remote Scottish island that’s been abandoned by its residents. Although the setting differs, the game continues to explore themes that have long defined the franchise.

You play as Simon, a man with a connection to the island who begins the game armed with nothing more than a handheld CRTV, which serves as an evolution of concepts familiar to longtime fans. Similar to how earlier games used radio signals and environmental cues to build tension, Townfall's handheld device becomes a central tool for uncovering story details and navigating threats.

These story details are tied to narrative-driven puzzles that will reveal past events or allow you to see how people lived in St. Amelia before it fell into its current state. They go a long way toward filling out the world and adding important details between major plot moments.

When you use the CRTV to detect enemies, you’ll then have to choose how to deal with them. If you’re the type who likes to rush in and destroy as many enemies as you can, there are options for that. You’ll pick up melee weapons that you can use to block or swing in face-to-face combat, or you can use firearms for longer range damage while managing your limited ammo.

For the more cautious among us, stealth is also a viable (and often preferable) option. The first-person perspective limits visibility and heightens the sense of danger, but that’s where the CRTV can help. It allows you to track movement even from behind cover, so you’re not forced to potentially reveal yourself just to figure out where enemies are. You can also use things in the environment to distract enemies and lure them away long enough for you to sneak past.

The sense of tension is heightened by the sound design and music, with all the creaks, cries, and creepy noises you’d expect from the series. Townfall uses a dynamic soundtrack created by Canadian musician Pilotpriest that reacts to actions you and enemies make and shifts with the ebb and flow of combat and stealth.

The voice cast is also a standout, including Emmy Award nominee Jovan Adepo, Emmy winner Terry O’Quinn, and Kezia Burrows from Observation, one of developer Screen Burn’s previous titles. Adepo plays Simon, while O’Quinn plays Richard, a voice beckoning Simon back to the island. Burrows plays Zoe, a former resident of St. Amelia whose voice reaches out to Simon through his CRTV.

The cast brings to life a story that’s haunting for more reasons than just the creepy monsters plaguing the island. It deals with introspection, loss, and the consequences of past decisions, with the island and its current nature shaped by that past.

Silent Hill: Townfall brings several notable firsts for the franchise, but it still focuses on the psychological horror that has defined Silent Hill for nearly 30 years. That combination of new and familiar makes it approachable for series newcomers as well as veterans. It’s out now on PlayStation 5 and PC.

It's no secret that Marathon has had a rough time since launching in March 2026, but Bungie is hard at work on new game modes that it's hoping will breathe new life into the game.

Prevously, Bungie teased that new game modes were coming to Marathon, and even released an 'experimental' mode with Vault Breaker. Today, the company posted on Twitter detailing the new ways people can play game. The Extraction modes that it was launched with aren't going anywhere, but Bungie will be adding a team deathmatch mode, along with new PvE modes that should be reminiscent of Destiny. Bungie will also be expanding Perimeter, essentially its tutorial level, to be closer in scope to other full zones.

Bungie's goal seems to be limiting the friction that new players feel and letting them filter themselves into more familiar gameplay types. That should, in theory, let people ease themselves into the traditional extraction mode that's proven so divisive.

https://t.co/SKfaCog1Aw

— Marathon (@MarathonTheGame) September 24, 2026

All of this new content and game modes aren't going to come at the same time, though. In its post, Bungie laid out a road map, with a Nightfall refresh coming first in October. Then, in December, there will be the Symbiosis update, which will bring Marathon's first permanent PvE mode, along with Team Deathmatch. Bungie doesn't go into a lot of detail on what this new PvE mode will look like, but says it will give more details closer to launch.

In March, which will mark Marathon's one-year anniversary, Bungie is planning a much larger update that will apparently link all of these gameplay modes together. There will also be a new onboarding experience, which the company previewed a little bit in a behind-the-scenes documentary that dropped earlier today. There will even be a giant Tick Queen.

All of these updates seem like a promising way to bring players back to Marathon, but only time will tell if it's enough. Either way, Bungie will be returning to Destiny, starting with returning vaulted content back to Destiny 2. Beyond that, it seems like fans have convinced Bungie to return to Destiny long-term, with developer Poria Torkan saying, "Bungie wouldn't be what it is today without it. It's the foundation upon which everything else rests, and we are absolutely not done with Destiny."

GTA 6 fans aren't thrilled about a $400 collector's set that doesn't include the game, and they're even comparing it to previous Rockstar collector's editions.

Rockstar Games just announced a $400 collector's set for GTA 6, which includes a bunch of premium merch, but excludes an actual copy of the game. Naturally, this has caused a bit of a ruckus online, with fans believing it lacks enough value to justify the cost. It has also drawn comparisons to other Rockstar collector's editions, including the one for GTA 5 and a similar collector's set for Red Dead Redemption 2.

The GTA 6 set includes a variety of big-ticket items that likely drove up the overall price, including a pair of Oakley sunglasses. Oakley's sunglasses often cost anywhere between $150–$200, so a custom pair likely resulted in a higher price tag for this collection. With that said, it is by far the most expensive Rockstar collector's edition to exist, and even diehard fans aren't willing to open their wallets.

"I hate to say it, but I think I’m gonna pass on the collector’s edition," said one fan. "$400 is just insane and it doesn’t even come with a steelbook copy of the game. I’d rather save my money and buy some individual merch items that look cool rather than some overpriced sunglasses."

Another fan noted that, a decade ago, GTA 6 would've had a much cheaper, yet still premium special edition that included the game as well as some of these items: "If this was 2016, they’d have an Ultimate Edition for $129.99 that includes the game, the coke mirror, the snuff spoon, the razor keychain and a map, but we live in 2026 SuperHell."

Red Dead Redemption 2 had a similar collector's box without the game that cost $100, which included various trinkets and replicas of in-game items, such as a physical version of the store catalog. Some believe that Rockstar did a far better job with that set, given it had a ton of interesting merchandise without making players break the bank.

"I would’ve actually preferred a GTA 6 Collector’s Box similar to the one for Red Dead Redemption 2," said a fan. "It felt more connected to the game and the price point of around 100 bucks was also WAY MORE reasonable."

Rockstar's western sequel also had two smaller-scale special editions, priced at $79.99 and $99.99, respectively. The former included a special physical map and digital content for the story mode, while the latter included everything in the previous edition as well as a steelbook and special online content. Although GTA 6's $100 Ultimate Edition boasts a ton of extra digital content, it won't entitle you to any kind of steelbook, a disc, or other physical goodies.

One other point of contention with fans is that the $400 collector's set for GTA 6 boasts a special physical version of Leonida's map. Historically, Rockstar has bundled a poster/map with previous GTA and Red Dead games. It's currently unclear if the standard boxed copy of GTA 6 will include a map, but IGN has reached out to Rockstar for clarification. Still, the lack of clarity at the moment hasn't stopped fans from fearing the worst.

"I remember this used to come with the normal physical copy of the game," expressed one concerned fan.

GTA 5 also had a lucrative set of special editions, with a $79.99 version that boasted a steelbook, blueprint map of San Andreas, digital content, and yes, a physical copy of the game. There was also a much larger $150 version which featured all of the content in the previous version, as well as a New Era 9FIFTY snapback hat, a secruity deposit bag with a GTA 5-themed key, and a hefty, premium box to store everything in.

Although GTA 6 won't release on a disc, it will get a physical edition that includes a code in the box. Physical copies will release on November 12, a week before launch, to allow players to pre-load the game. Rockstar is also selling a physical CD and vinyl of GTA 6's album and limited edition DualSense controllers for superfans.

Former Dragon Age exec Mark Darrah has revealed what he'd change about BioWare's beloved fantasy series, after spending more than 20 years at the studio.

Darrah was a director or executive producer on all of the Dragon Age series, though departed the company back in 2021, years before the final version of Dragon Age: The Veilguard launched. He returned as a consultant on the game in 2023, in time for its final stretch of development.

Now, looking back on the franchise's four main games via a Q&A posted on TikTok, Darrah has reflected on what he would recommend ditching or adding to each title in an ideal world, if he were making the games all over again.

"I would be tempted to cut or dramatically reduce the dream sequence content in the Mage Tower," Darrah began, discussing Dragon Age: Origins' rather lengthy sojourn into the Fade that he admitted felt like "filler." Continuing, he added: "It's not great content, and it was definitely done pretty fast in the end."

Conversely, Darrah said he'd like to add in some extra character options, with another human origin, and potentially the Avvar.

For Dragon Age 2, Darrah said he'd address the game's ending, where players are forced to pick a side between the templars and the mages. Whichever you pick, however, things do not go well for the mage's Orsino, while the templar's leader Meredith is proven correct — and the whole thing feels less like a proper choice at all.

"[I'd change it so] if you side with the mages that you don't fight Orsino," Darrah decided. "Because essentially it makes Meredith right. My feeling is Dragon Age 2 ends with, no what you choose, Meredith is right because the mages lose control."

Moving onto Dragon Age: Inquisition, and there's no surprises here that Darrah would change the game's "crit path" — its route through the core, critical story missions — to flow faster, with less time spent in the dreaded Hinterlands. Darrah also said he'd likely excise one of the game's zones entirely, as Inquisition was unnecessarily lengthy.

"I'd probably cut Hissing Wastes maybe, or one of the big levels," Darrah mused. "It's too big. And the other thing I would change is to dramatically reduce the amount of power you need to go on crit path missions. That's there for not super great reasons, and I think you could cut it by 40-60% and the game would just be paced better.

"Also, to make sure you ship with the thing we added later which tells you to leave the first level and actually go into the game." Here, most players would likely agree.

Finally, Darrah addressed Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and had a succinct answer for what else he would include. "I would add the Keep," he said, referring to BioWare's previous cloud-based repository for players' choices throughout the franchise so far. "I told them to. It wouldn't take... that much. I mean, it would," he admitted. As for what he'd remove from Veilguard, Darrah said he did not have an answer.

What's next for Dragon Age? Very little, it seems. BioWare is now a single-project studio and entirely focused on building the next Mass Effect game, which is still years away.

Call of Duty: Warzone is getting a new Operator Skin toggle, which means you can finally turn off all those goofy skins.

Activision said that from Season 1 of the upcoming Modern Warfare 4, this new Operator Skin toggle will be available to let players see only Modern Warfare 4 Operators in the game.

When the toggle is on, you see a Modern Warfare 4 Operator in place of any Operator or Operator Skin from another Call of Duty game that's been equipped by another player. This applies to enemies, party members, and squadmates, both in the lobby and during a match, Activision said in a blog post.

Your own equipped Operator won’t change, so you’ll continue to see the Operator you selected, even if it’s from another game. The toggle only impacts your game, not the experience of others, and will be OFF by default.

Operators and Weapons from Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops 6, and Black Ops 7 will remain available in Warzone starting with Season 1, including the Skins, Blueprints, and Camos you’ve earned and bought for them. “The collection you’ve built remains yours to use, and existing plans for Carry Forward for previous titles are not affected with this update,” Activision said.

“Over the last few years, Call of Duty: Warzone has brought together Operators, weapons, and experiences from across recent Call of Duty titles in one shared experience,” Activision continued. “We know some players enjoy that variety, while others would prefer Call of Duty: Warzone feel more aligned with the world of the latest release, including the upcoming Modern Warfare 4.

This is big news for Call of Duty fans, many of whom had complained about goofy skins particularly in Black Ops 6. With the likes of Beavis and Butt-Head and American Dad hitting Black Ops 6 shortly after weed-obsessed bundles starring Seth Rogen, some fans said they’d had enough of what they called the 'Fortnite-ification' of their beloved Call of Duty, and pleaded with publisher Activision to return to its mil-sim roots. Those complaints sparked a U-turn at Activision for last year's Black Ops 7, amid pressure from rival shooter Battlefield 6 and its commitment to “gritty realism.”

In May, Infinity Ward told fans to "keep the receipts" after promising to remain grounded regarding cosmetics in Modern Warfare 4.

But why not add this toggle in Black Ops 6? In a social media post, Activision insisted the toggle "required new tech that will only be available starting with Season 01."

Back with Warzone, Activision said all weapons from Modern Warfare 2 through Black Ops 7 will continue to be accessible through the Legacy tab in the Loadout menu of Call of Duty: Warzone. While these Weapons remain available to use, Gunsmith functionality and prior Custom Loadouts will not be supported for legacy Weapons or legacy Blueprints. However, these won’t be left as base Weapons without Attachments; instead a five-attachment version of each legacy base Weapon will be available, as well as any Blueprint for a legacy Weapon with their existing Attachment setups.

“Our goal for this chapter of Call of Duty: Warzone is for the weapon meta to feel distinctly rooted in Modern Warfare 4, while preserving access to nostalgic choices that players know and love,” Activision said. “Raven Software will continue to deliver on its commitment to balancing weapons on a biweekly basis, keeping the MW4 weapon lineup fluid and interesting throughout each season.”

Marvel's Wolverine is officially out in the wild for PlayStation fans, and if you've been digging the original soundtrack of Insomniac's latest, we have some good news. Particularly for vinyl collectors.

On December 11, a bright translucent yellow vinyl of the game's soundtrack is set to be released, but there's no need to wait until then to buy it. Preorders are already live for this Amazon exclusive, which is priced at $29.99, so you can secure it ahead of time for your collection to have the day it drops (see it here at Amazon).

Preorder Marvel’s Wolverine Vinyl

• See at Amazon - $29.99

In keeping with all of the striking yellow coloring around the game, this is quite a vibrant package. The vinyl itself is translucent yellow, with claw marks swiped across the center, while the cover matches what the physical game has with Wolverine front and center. You can get a closer look at it in the image below.

As for the soundtrack, it features nine original score cues that are composed by David Fleming. Below, you can check out the track list as well across both sides of the record.

Marvel’s Wolverine Vinyl Tracklist

Side 1:

1. Logan

2. A Dream of the Future

3. Red

Side 2:

1. Adamantium

2. Trask and the Machines

3. Twin Flames

4. His Creed Is Mayhem

5. The Cruelest Cut

6. Rebirth

There's every chance this could sell out before its December launch day, too. So, if you're really hoping to have it, don't delay preordering it. An early order is better than missing out on it entirely.

And if you're still in the shopping mood for more video game vinyls, you're in luck, there's plenty to check out right now. Arguably the biggest vinyl preorder available right now, though, is Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album, which is out on November 20 and well worth looking into. There appears to be several different color schemes of it to choose from as well, which is a real treat for fans.

For even more vinyl preorders, and ones that you can shop right now, it's also worth having a look at the IGN Store's Vinyl Collection to see what's available.

Bethesda is still hard at work on new DLC for Starfield, but you probably shouldn't expect a sequel anytime soon.

Former Bethesda Lead Systems Designer Kurt Kuhlmann spoke to FRVR, and when he was asked about a potential Starfield sequel, he told the outlet: "I don’t think Starfield was anywhere near successful enough to do a Starfield 2."

That's not too surprising, as the game has been massively divisive since it came out, despite getting a mostly-positive review from us here at IGN. Our reviewer Dan Stapleton said: "Starfield has a lot of forces working against it, but eventually the allure of its expansive roleplaying quests and respectable combat make its gravitational pull difficult to resist."

Kuhlmann then goes on to reminisce on the ambition of Starfield, and how a sequel could have done something great, saying "It’s, in a way, too bad, because I think with the lessons learned on Starfield, a Starfield 2 could have been much closer to the game that Todd [Howard] had [in mind]." Starfield has improved a lot since it first came out, and it's still has improvements down the pipeline, but it's pretty clear that it fell short of Todd Howard's ambitions ahead of its release.

Still, Howard reiterated Starfield's support back in July, when he put out a statement saying: "As we enter Year 3, we'll continue expanding the Settled Systems with new stories, targeted gameplay improvements, and additional updates, while preparing for the launch of new Starborn content next year." It's possible that despite Kuhlmann's predictions, these updates will be able to turn Starfield around, but it's unlikely.

Instead, it seems like Bethesda is entirely focused on getting The Elder Scrolls VI out the door (even if it's still likely a couple years away), and Obsidian has been tapped to develop a new Fallout game. Even if a new Starfield game was somehow in the works, it'd be years before we ever heard about it. It's probably safe to assume that it's not going to happen any time in the near future.

Big news for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 fans today: publisher Focus Entertainment has revealed the game’s Year 3 roadmap and confirmed the new class set to hit early 2027.

Let’s get straight to the headline here: the new class is — as so many had suspected — the Apothecary. In May I predicted the addition of the Apothecary as a heavy duty support class with a powerful healing ability, perhaps even with unique gameplay around harvesting Gene-seed.

“We’ve been following all your speculations ever since we teased the arrival of a new class, and you certainly had plenty of theories… and the majority of you were right!” Focus said. “Today, we’re finally revealing the truth: the Apothecary is joining the ranks with Patch 17 in the first quarter of 2027! We’ll disclose more info later, so stay tuned!

“Additionally, as we said in the previous Community Update, the Apothecary will receive a Champion skin in the same way the Techmarine did: in the update after its release.”

That’s all we have on the Apothecary, unfortunately, but we have plenty more on Year 3. Patch 15 hits October 1, with Patch 16 out before the end of this year. The long-awaited Chaos Siege mode, which lets you to play Heretic Astartes previously exclusive to PvP, arrives with Patch 15, as does the One-Handed Thunder Hammer. Patch 16 adds a brand-new PvP mode featuring Weekly Stratagems, just like in PvE.

2027 will being the Apothecary, as mentioned, new Operations and weapons, and “reworks to several gameplay features, with improvements coming to some of the game’s core systems,” Focus said.

“Additionally, there are a couple of other cool features that are planned, but not listed in the roadmap,” the publisher teased.

Focus also teased new customization features by saying it’s “something that will expand customization options by 33%,” and “something that will put our streaming tech to a test.”

Meanwhile, Year 3 DLC includes five new Cosmetic and Champion Packs, with the final one remaining redacted for now.

Developer Saber Interactive is of course working on Space Marine 3, which Tim Willits recently teased in an interview with IGN from gamescom. There’s no release window yet, but there’s a great deal of anticipation for it following the breakout success of Space Marine 2, which has seen over 12 million players since its 2024 launch.

This is an IGN opinion piece from Matt Purslow, who was brought up on the golden era of Halo and Half-Life. He loves story-driven FPS campaigns and wishes there was more of them (but perhaps not quite as many as there were in the 2000s - that was pretty excessive.)

Halo should be Xbox’s Call of Duty.

Of course, thanks to a $69 billion acquisition, Call of Duty is now Xbox’s Call of Duty. But I think you get the idea: Halo should be massive. It should be the premier first-person shooter on Xbox. It should be delivering stellar campaigns and phenomenal multiplayer on a regular basis. It should be among Team Green’s most-played games on any given day.

But it isn’t. And perhaps the reason why is nothing more than the passage of time and the shifting of trends. Can any game sit on the popularity throne forever? The simple truth may be that Master Chief is an artefact of the original Xbox and 360 days, and that 2010’s incredible Halo: Reach was a natural end point that should have been respected.

But while that may indeed be the case, that story doesn’t reflect Microsoft’s uneven handling of the series. Bungie delivered lightning in a bottle five times in a row over the course of a decade. Its successor, the purpose-built 343 Industries (now Halo Studios), found it all but impossible to replicate those achievements. Across 15 years, it struggled to hit a regular cadence; the development pipelines of yesteryear allowed Bungie to deliver a new game every couple of years or so, but there was a six-year gap between Halo 5 and Infinite, and very soon another six years will have passed without a mainline entry. Halo simply isn’t in the public eye in the way it was during the 360 era, nor the way Call of Duty is today.

With this in mind, it’s entirely unsurprising to see that Xbox’s CEO, Asha Sharma, has assigned Activision the task of developing the next Halo. If nothing else, Activision is an unrelenting video game factory; a colossal machine of rotating studios that assembles high-budget shooters year in, year out. If Sharma wants to ship Halo games – lots of Halo games – there’s no better Microsoft division to rectify that issue.

But cadence hasn’t been the only problem that Halo has had to contend with over the past two console generations. Simply put, there hasn’t been a must-play Halo since Bungie called it quits. The days of 90+ on Metacritic are a distant memory. That’s not to say Halo Studios’ games have been anything close to a disaster, but every one of its projects suggests a studio struggling to stay true to a formula it didn’t invent. It’s an odd situation, because (at least in theory) it followed the Bungie playbook to the letter; each of its games honors the past, maintaining traditions established way back in 2001, while also attempting to push the series into the future with brand new ideas and reworked mechanics. The Bungie era never stood still, each new game building atop its predecessor with new playable characters, new enemies, new abilities, new multiplayer modes, and even entirely new approaches to campaign design. All of this can be said of Halo Studios’ games, yet none of them ever successfully captured the magic.

Perhaps that was the biggest problem – should it have even tried to? Halo Studios was given the arguably impossible task of maintaining and continuing the legacy of one of the most important series in FPS history. Of course it tried to make games that felt like Bungie projects. But in doing so, it never successfully established a coherent new identity for the series’ next era. Halo 4 felt like a true continuation of Bungie’s work, a natural successor to the triumphs of Reach, and while I think it’s by far the best game the studio made, there’s no denying that it’s confined by pre-existing parameters and fan expectation. Halo 5 attempted to escape those rules, but its miserable campaign is the absolute worst version of something that could still be considered Halo. 2021’s Infinite was positioned as the course corrector, but turned out to be a collection of modern trends – an open world campaign, battle-pass and daily-quest-fueled multiplayer – embedded in all the iconography of a “return to roots”; the verdant green fields, blue-lit tunnels, and tight PvP arenas of Combat Evolved.

Together, the studios’ attempts make for a fractured trilogy; united by their attempts to continue the past, divided by a lack of shared direction. These troubles are only emphasised when contrasted against its Xbox stablemate, Gears of War – The Coalition’s continuation of Epic’s macho shooter similarly hasn’t lived up to the high bar of the original trilogy, but the duology of Gears 4 and 5 undeniably has its own coherent identity (which, yes, as far as the campaign goes is a bit Gears-imitating-PlayStation’s-single-player-schtick, but it’s an identity nonetheless) and that approach appears set to continue in the upcoming E-Day. Halo’s 15-year quest to stay true to Bungie has been its albatross – a lack of a truly fresh perspective dulls its edge in the modern era, while its struggle to balance the old with the new frustrates long-time Halo fans who simply want to play more Halo. It’s hard to think of another studio for which “doomed if you do, doomed if you don’t” is more applicable.

But that quest is now over. Halo Studios has been gutted, its sole reason for being handed over to the masters of Call of Duty. But while an entirely different division of Xbox may now be in charge, it faces exactly the same challenge: what is post-Bungie Halo? That question still needs an answer.

A vague, totally unsubstantiated rumour has suggested that Activision plans to totally reboot Halo. Fans are, predictably, divided by the notion. Personally, I don’t feel strongly either way, although I do think it’s time Master Chief was laid to rest. Whether the next story takes place in existing canon or not doesn’t hugely matter to me if we’re seeing the world through fresh eyes. Akin to ODST’s special forces or Reach’s team of Spartans, there’d be little need to untangle the narrative threads of John 117’s career, and the universe’s least desirable elements are easily ignored by shifting to a different theatre of war.

For me, the more important aspect is preserving the fundamental gameplay blueprint – the slower pace, the small-but-specialised arsenal, the arena approach to multiplayer, the “wide linear” campaign design, the exceptional enemy AI that makes each and every engagement unpredictable. It’s this approach that id Software took when it created its new vision of Doom – the phenomenal 2016 shooter indisputably followed the core recipe of the 1996 original, but you could never accuse it of being beholden to tradition. Every single component felt cutting-edge. It was somehow a classic, old-school shooter while simultaneously being one of the decade’s most forward-thinking games. As my colleague Ryan McCaffrey has already pointed out, it’s hard to imagine a studio better suited to handling Halo – it’s Xbox-owned, after all.

But the task has been given to Activision, and whether or not it can (or even wants to) replicate id’s success with Doom remains to be seen. But, considering the company’s history, it’s understandable if fans already have a negative outlook. Activision could well turn Halo into Xbox’s Call of Duty… by making it Call of Duty. Overstuffed menus and a relentless army of pop-ups asking you to buy the battle pass, invest in this skin, and play this limited-time mode. Halo Infinite was already showing signs of heading in that direction, so could this new era take the plunge completely and shower us with colour-tiered weapons with 16 mod slots? A battle royale map later repurposed for an extraction shooter? I wouldn’t blame anyone who’s grown tired of Call of Duty’s aggressive approach to be wary of what’s to come.

During its golden era, Bungie ensured Halo was distinct. For all its faults and failures, Halo Studios understood that – it just never managed to coalesce a coherent, compelling version of that for the series’ next generation. And so we can only hope that Activision will recognise it, too, but find more success in bringing Halo’s distinguishing qualities to a modern player base. I believe the way to do that is not to replicate the Halo of the past, but to recreate the conditions of its creation – to allow the team of designers, artists, and engineers given stewardship of the series the time and freedom to establish something as special as Combat Evolved was 25 years ago.

The reality, of course, is that Xbox cannot afford to do that. It needs a new Halo yesterday. But it also needs a damn good reason for you to buy its next-generation console. Somewhere in that pressure cooker of a situation, I hope the game that Halo’s legacy deserves can grow.

GTA 6 is getting a $400 collector's set filled with Vice City-themed goodies, but it won't include a copy of the game.

Rockstar Games has announced a collector's set for GTA 6 known as GTA 6: The Goodtime State – Vice City Collection. The $400 box will not include a copy of the game, but will include a bunch of premium merchandise, including a pair of Oakley sunglasses, a figure of a cartoon aligator, a hat, pins, stickers, and a variety of other items themed after the game's crime-ridden paradise. The set is available to preorder now through Rockstar's website and will release on November 19.

You can view the full list of items below with images.

Everything Included in the GTA 6: The Goodtime State – Vice City Collection

• 6” figure of Macca the Gator with stash compartment
• Matte black GTAVI Oakley® Frogskins™ sunglasses with Prizm Sapphire lenses
• New Era® 9FORTY A-Frame snapback hat with Vice City Leonida embellishments
• Macca the Gator magnetic mirror
• Vice City swizzle spoon
• Vice City razor blade keychain
• Leonida Keys crossbody bag
• Chunkee the Manatee shot glass
• Leonida Keys enamel pin set in a custom metal tin
• Premium stickers in a stash bag
• Double-sided souvenir poster showcasing the full Leonida landscape

One interesting thing to note here is that previous GTA and Red Dead games have historically always included a physical map in the standard edition of the game. We've reached out to Rockstar to see if the map is included in the boxed copies of GTA 6 or if players will have to shell out a few hundred bucks to get one.

With that said, this is a pretty pricey box set, but at least the items are of high quality. By partnering with brands like Oakley for these items, it does ensure that these aren't cheap gas station quality sunglasses that will fall apart on you in a few months. You can also likely expect that these will sell out rather quickly and be resold on eBay for absurd prices. GTA 6-themed shirts were given away at Tokyo Game Show earlier this month and have been popping up online for hundreds of dollars.

Rockstar's foot appears to be on the gas now as launch is just under two months away. After years of prolonged silence, GTA 6 has had nonstop news since June when preorders opened for the game. There has also been a new marketing beat every week since the gameplay reveal at the end of August, with the reveal of limited edition DualSense controllers and an album comprised of original music from major artists. Rockstar also recently installed a massive "Welcome to Vice City" sign in on the Miami Heat's arena in Florida, which reportedly cost the company nearly $1 million.

It's currently unclear if or when there will be another look at the game, but one last big trailer before launch doesn't seem out of the question. Some have speculated one will arrive in mid-October, possibly timed to the start of the NBA regular season. We'll have to wait and see what happens, but it seems clear that the marketing machine is only just getting started.

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader’s story comes to an end with the game's final DLC this December, developer Owlcat has announced.

The cRPG launched in December 2023 and is widely considered one of the best Warhammer 40,000 video games ever made. The quality of its writing, characters, and narrative helped Owlcat level up its profile, and its commercial success led to another Warhammer 40,000 cRPG from the studio, the hotly anticipated Dark Heresy.

But before Dark Heresy comes out, Owlcat will close the curtain on Rogue Trader three years after launch with the Processional of the Damned DLC. It adds a new storyline, companion, playable archetype, new enemies, gameplay features, gear and more.

Like the previous three DLCs, Processional of the Damned will be completely integrated in the main game, adding new quests throughout the main story. Here’s the official blurb from Owlcat:

The miraculist Stella, a frail-looking young woman raised by the Ecclesiarchy, with powerful psychic abilities, can be recruited as a companion. Although she is an unsanctioned psyker, her order treats her like a miracle created by the God Emperor Himself. As the conduit of His will, she manifests her unstable powers shedding tears of blood and showing cracks in her porcelain skin. In battle she emanates a devastating wave of psychic flares, dealing area of effect damage to those surrounding her. Although she can learn to control her powers to some degree, veil degradation and the power of the warp mean that she will never truly be free from peril and madness. Whether players forge Stella into a living weapon, make her their friend and ally or decide to dive into the madness with her is up to them.

The DLC will include a new Archetype, the melee-focused Zealot, who specializes in bludgeoning enemies to death. There will also be a new feature called Madness affecting all companions, and new enemies from the ranks of the Arch Enemy and the Aeladari.

With Owlcat hard at work on Dark Heresy and The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, the latter of which is something of a departure from the studio, some have called for it to be handed the tricky job of making Baldur’s Gate 4. In a recent interview, I put that suggestion to co-founder and creative director Alexander Mishulin, and he had a fun answer for fans.

We knew this fall had no shortage of exciting new games coming out. And then CD Projekt Red went and announced The Witcher 3 Remastered, a souped-up version of the 2015 masterpiece that’s coming September 29 (that’s next week). Better yet, it’s a free upgrade for anyone who owns the original game. If you don’t already own the original game? You can buy it now for 50% off on PS5, Xbox, and PC.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition Is 50% Off

Video game pirates appear to be making a rare effort to pay for Control Resonant, in order to support its developer Remedy.

Control Resonant launched today for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S and, somewhat inevitably, cracked copies of the game are already circulating online. But among the threads pointing people to illegal copies, there appears to be a concerted effort among some video game fans to support Control Resonant's development team.

Remedy is well known as the maker of Max Payne, Alan Wake, Control, and Quantum Break, but its games often find relatively niche audiences. Fans of the studio love Remedy's offbeat stories and often dark humor, as well as its typically high quality bar. But its past few launches have struggled to sell, with Alan Wake 2 taking over a year to turn a profit, and new content for multiplayer experiment FBC: Firebreak ended in less than a year.

In response to fan uncertainty over Remedy's future, and a growing sense that the studio really needs Control Resonant to be a success, there are now numerous messages on game piracy forums and reddit from pirates suggesting they will make an exception for this game, and actually open up their wallet.

"One of the very few games I'm going to be buying, Remedy are on the brink of bankruptcy, this is their make or break title, I love their games and gotta do what I can to keep them afloat," wrote one fan.

"I wasn't planning to buy it but now I feel like I should," reads one reply. "I like Remedy. They do good games."

"Yeah same here," reads another response. "Remedy makes amazing games, that's a studio that deserve my money, and I hope they continue to make more games."

"I feel like this is one of the games which you shouldn't pirate if you can," reads a similar comment on a separate discussion thread. "Remedy makes unique, innovative games, they need this funding."

However, not everyone agreed. "That's great idea, but this is a piracy reddit," reads one response. "Agreed, I gotta eat so this is being pirated but they do deserve success," reads another.

Still, there's a presiding sense that of all the games to avoid pirating, Control Resonant stands out. "I mean if you're going to compensate the team outside of Steam for playing their game that's one thing, but pretending that because you need to eat gives you the right to steal a video game is ridiculous."

And, if you are in any doubt over whether the game is your cup of tea, IGN's Control Resonant review is here to answer that question for you. "Even when combat's sharp edge eventually dulls, Control Resonant is a great addition to the Remedyverse," we wrote, awarding the game an 8/10. "While its story follows a more standard framework, its gravitational pull is in the inventive world built around it and the humanization that grounds the paranatural intrigue."

In August, Jean-Charles Gaudechon, installed as CEO of Remedy in March, said Control Resonant had 1.5 million wishlists across PC and consoles, and was among the top three pre-ordered PlayStation games in the U.S., Germany, and Brazil.

"We position Control Resonant as a must-have day-one purchase while also building Control into a lasting franchise," Gaudechon said at the time. "In a competitive autumn window, we believe the distinctiveness and quality of the game will make it stand out. Control Resonant will be available across all major platforms from day one and is priced attractively for an AAA title. Combined with the release window becoming slightly less crowded since our original reveal, we remain confident in our positioning."

Other than Control Resonant, Remedy continues its lengthy development work on the Max Payne 1 & 2 remakes, which are still listed as in production. The company also has an unannounced "new project" which it said had reached "production readiness," without providing further detail. Is this early work on an Alan Wake 3, another Control game, or something brand new? We'll have to wait and see, though Remedy certainly doesn't sound like it's giving up on Alan just yet.

"We have two established own franchises, Control and Alan Wake, which are linked through the Remedy Connected Universe," Gaudechon concluded, looking to the future. "Remedy will self-publish upcoming games, in which Remedy owns the IP. Growing and expanding the two franchises will be a key part of our future. In addition, we work with a partner franchise Max Payne, originally created by Remedy."

CD Projekt has confirmed the global release times for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered.

As detailed in a social media post, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered comes out on September 29 at 12pm in Poland, where CD Projekt is based. All other release times across the globe are tied to this CET release. So, if you’re wondering if it’s worth keeping the day free (book off from work, perhaps?), the farther west you are, the earlier the game goes live.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered launches across PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch 2, but it’s also a free upgrade for those who own the base game. The remaster will also be sold on PC via Battle.net for the first time. There's pre-purchase for Switch 2 and Battle.net (those are the only new versions of the game, as The Witcher 3 didn't exist before on those two platforms). GOG, Steam, Epic, Xbox and PlayStation are getting the remaster as an update, so there's no preload on those platforms.

Expect a slew of upgrades and enhancements to visuals, performance, gameplay, and more. There’s enhanced combat, improved traversal and movement, new witcher signs effects, revamped mount handling, enhanced monster behaviors, a skill tree revamp, transmogrification, expanded photo mode, and new finishers. The launch precedes the arrival of Songs of the Past, The Witcher 3's third expansion, due in 2027.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered global release times:

• Los Angeles: 3am PDT
• Mexico City: 4am CST
• Bogota: 5am COT
• New York: 6am EDT
• Brasilia: 7am BRT
• Accra: 10am GMT
• London: 11am BST
• Warsaw: 12pm CEST
• Cape Town: 12pm SAST
• Kyiv: 1pm EEST
• Beijing: 6pm CST
• Seoul: 7pm KST
• Tokyo: 7pm JST
• Melbourne: 8pm AEST
• Auckland: 11pm NZDT

This week, The Witcher 3 fans reacted to an official comparison clip featuring a snippet of side-by-side gameplay from the original game and the remaster, with some saying the new version actually looks worse. In the clip, you can see Geralt casting Igni on a group of drowners in the swamp. While the new version of the game has much greater detail on Geralt's armor, along with much more defined water, the reflections seem to be divisive.

Age of Empires studio World's Edge lost almost half of all employees this week, as part of Microsoft's latest round of job losses.

The cuts form part of the 268 staff let go across the wider Xbox business, as part of a projected target of 3,200 job losses forecast over the course of this current financial year.

It was announced on Monday that World's Edge would now be part of Activision, though details on how the studio's employees had been impacted remained unclear. In the days since, however, staff have now reported via social media that nearly 50% of the company was now out of work, while its next project had been cancelled.

"I am of course disappointed that this is the way the time with World's Edge and Age ends for myself and many of my talented teammates that were also impacted — we had some great plans for what's next," wrote Adam Isgreen, formerly the company's studio creative director, who had served at World's Edge for 16 years. "I hope the team that remains can rise to the occasion down the line."

"Our studio was reorganized to be under the Activision umbrella," added Andrew Martz, formerly a senior software engineer at the studio. "As part of that reorg, our next project was cancelled and a large chunk of our studio was laid off. I was part of that layoff."

"'It was nice working with you' was not a message I expected to get while on vacation," wrote another laid-off staff member, former lead principal software engineer Greg Snook. "Like many others, I was cut loose from Microsoft today. Turns out my last day with building access is also my exact 25-year hire anniversary."

It's unclear what's next for World's Edge under Activision, as well as the Age of Empires brand as a whole. While the studio oversaw development of the real-time strategy franchise, it relied on partnerships with external developers such as Relic Entertainment, which was the primary developer for Age of Empires IV. Launched in 2021 for PC, it has since now been ported to Xbox and PlayStation consoles.

Will Age of Empires 5 follow? It seems inevitable, though Activision's ownership may see the studio's remaining staff put to work elsewhere. A Halo strategy title, perhaps, now Activision is also overseeing Xbox's main shooter brand? Time will tell.

Meanwhile, the Viking Sagas DLC for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition launched on Tuesday. It adds three brand new civilizations, 15 new single-player campaign scenarios, and more.

Bungie will freely return vaulted content it previously stripped from Destiny 2, but is unlikely to include everything fans were once able to play.

That's according to a Forbes report that details exactly what players should (and shouldn't) expect to be returned to Destiny 2 over the coming months, following Bungie's surprise announcement that it will dust off Destiny 2 content it controversially removed.

At the time, Bungie argued that Destiny 2 was becoming too big and too unwieldy, and argued that the game's original campaign and even its popular Forspoken expansion were acting as a barrier or confusing relic for newer players it was trying to tempt in with fresh additions.

But day-one players revolted over the move to cull existing content — such as story levels, multiplayer strike missions and raids — that they had paid for. Others simply bemoaned the fact that this content had been deleted rather than somehow preserved, and made unreachable for those who simply wanted to revisit it out of nostalgia.

Of course, all of that has now changed, as Bungie attempts to stabilize itself following devastating job losses and the decision to end Destiny 2's live-service updates. These have prompted loud and ongoing calls for PlayStation to greenlight Destiny 3, as player apathy to Marathon continues.

As you might expect, Bungie reportedly has no plans to charge for access to content it returns to Destiny 2. This makes sense as many players have already paid for access to this content (via the base game, or Forspoken), while those who joined Destiny 2 in its free-to-play era got to play most of it for free already. In other words, simply adding stuff back is the more straightforward solution for all involved here, rather than attempting to put up fresh paywalls for various bits for various people.

However, while campaign content and connected activities is planned to be added, Forbes reports that Destiny 2's 25+ seasons of additional content will not be. On the one hand, this makes sense — just like any live-service game, seasonal content was always planned to be temporary, and it was not "vaulted" in the traditional sense. On the other hand, though, seasonal content was used to deliver important story beats and features its own fun activities that seemingly won't return.

I'd have loved to see Bungie run through Destiny 2's seasons again, so players can revisit the story and see it unfold again as it did back in the day. (Fortnite offers such an experience via its Fortnite OG mode, which has rerun the game's first 10 seasons over the past couple of years.) But a key consideration here has to be made for Bungie's own bandwidth. It remains only slightly more than half the studio it was in terms of headcount, and there has been no suggestion that Destiny 2 will return to being a live-service game again (even featuring past content). This also rules out holiday events such as the annual Halloween extravaganza Festival of the Lost, or Christmas-like The Dawning.

If it needs stating, this also means regular patches are also unlikely to return, beyond fixes for major "gamebreaking" bugs. There's also no indication that all-new content, including the unfinished Shattered Cycle expansion, is being worked on.

"I wish we could just flip a freaking switch," Bungie head of product Josh Deane said in a video released this week, "but we're going to commit to unvaulting the Destiny 2 campaigns, the destinations, the raids that never should have been ripped away to begin with. They were an essential part of our journey together and definitely a place where we built memories with y'all."

Still, any sign of life for the Destiny franchise is good news — and hopefully a spark that can be fanned into future games. While nothing is yet confirmed, Bungie previously teased it still wanted to develop new Destiny projects, with this unvaulting a small but meaningful first step.

"When we look to the future of Destiny all up this restoration is the first step to lay the foundation for how we reforge into new stories and games that you all deserve," Bungie stated. "We’ll have more details on our unvaulting efforts in the coming months, and we're very excited to share more about our vision to celebrate Destiny’s legacy and build its future with you all as soon as we can."

Halo fans are divided on whether or not Activision should completely reboot the franchise or keep Master Chief's story going.

A rumor floating around the internet from a user named TechnicalHalo suggests that Activision will totally reboot the series, throwing all of the lore out the window in favor of a fresh start. We advise you take this with a grain of salt, as we have no idea what Activision's plans are for Halo, but it has started an interesting conversation among fans. Should Activision use its first Halo game to create a clean slate for the beloved sci-fi franchise?

A segment of fans are under the impression that, although Halo has gone off the rails in the last decade, there are still some elements from the newer games that are worth keeping. Bungie's contributions to the franchise (Halo: Campaign Evolved through Halo: Reach) are valued by fans, so some believe that if there's a way to retcon Halo 4 and onwards, that would be a valid option, as well. This ensures that the most beloved Chief stories remain canon, while also giving Activision an option to tell a whole new era of stories in the Halo universe.

"I’m against a full reboot," said one fan on Reddit. "But if they said the Bungie era is canon and everything else going forward is being rebooted, I wouldn’t be very upset. Halo 4 has grown on me over the yearsm but 5 and Infinite’s story led nowhere."

"My only other idea for getting back to a good status quo, short of scorching everything, would be to just do what Terminator does all the time and just start from Halo 3 again. But it would basically nullify any investment people had in the last decade+, even if it wasn't much, and still give the impression there's no direction if you cop out on a true follow-up," said another.

That same fan suggested the idea of a full blown reboot might be born out of necessity, given Master Chief actor Steve Downes is getting older and will inevitably need to be recast if they want to tell new stories with the character.

"Steve Downes I just don't think is a long-term option for Chief anymore at his age and a recast is inevitable. You can keep Taylor as Cortana and the Campaign Evolved recasts but a reboot would immediately clear the deck for new versions of the characters and new actors. I'm actually more interested in a full reboot at this point than even a loose Infinite sequel. A full reboot actually sounds like more of a plan," they added.

Another fan echoed these sentiments of recasting Chief: "Honestly might be a good call, even if a lot of Halo fans hate the idea," said another fan. "If they’re wanting to grow the franchise again and get new eyes why saddle this fresh beginning with over 20 years of games, comics, and books. Plus, Steve Downes ain’t getting any younger and will probably be 80 by the time this game releases. Might be time to consider a new voice actor, and trying to recast Chief in a sequel feels like sacrilege."

Some think it's time to leave Chief behind altogether, regardless of how Activision handles the timeline, and embrace other stories in the Halo universe, similar to Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach.

"Reboot? Okay thats fine," one fan said. "Just make it a Halo reboot and not Master Chief reboot. Give me Halo games with new characters akin to Reach or ODST."

"I think it would be a shame to completely overwrite everything after Halo 3 since there is some good stuff there in the storylines told outside of the games," said another fan. "I think the best bet would be to just leave the current storyline as is and go either forward or backwards in the timeline and tell new stories with new characters that are mostly disconnected from what came before."

It was confirmed yesterday that Activision would be building a new team to make the next Halo game, while Halo Studios was gutted by layoffs. It's unclear if any of the Call of Duty studios will be assisting on the project, as Sledgehammer Games has long been rumored to be eyeing the Halo franchise. It will likely be a while before the next Halo materializes, especially if Activision is throwing everything out and starting from scratch. Only time will tell what happens, but it'll be interesting to see what direction they take it in regardles.