Australian YouTube content creator Karl Jobst is suing Donkey Kong record holder Billy Mitchell for defamation following the conclusion of a previous dispute between the two last year.

Filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (via Dexerto), the lawsuit alleges Mitchell engaged in the “unauthorized appropriation of name or likeness and intentional infliction of emotional distress.” Jobst’s complaint notes his status as a creator with more than 1 million subscribers on YouTube, suggesting that damage to his “reputation for credibility and trustworthiness” has negatively affected his earnings.

The filing follows a previous defamation suit Mitchell filed against Jobst related to comments made in a video titled “The Biggest Conmen in Video Game History Strike Again!” which he posted in 2021. Following a years-long battle, the court sided with Mitchell in April 2025, ordering the content creator pay the arcade gamer a total of around $240,000 (AU$340,000).

Now, Jobst alleged public comments made by Mitchell related to the former’s bankruptcy process and crowdfunding campaigns are false, clarifying that he made these statements “with knowledge of their falsity or with reckless disregard for the truth.” Jobst claimed these statements caused him to suffer presumed damages and actual injury related to insult, pain, embarrassment, emotional suffering, harm to his relationship with his audience, lost future earnings, and more.

One example included in the filing shows an X/Twitter post from Mitchell that claimed Jobst “engaged in serious illegal activity before and during” the bankruptcy process. Another involved claims Jobst created a GoFundMe “with the knowledge and intent to fund the existing lawsuit on false premises.” The filing also points to a separate statement from Mitchell shared during an August 2025 livestream that claimed Jobst “scammed his viewers out of 200,000,” adding, “He actually scammed his viewers out of more than $500,000.” Jobst denied these allegations.

Mitchell has published an X post since the complaint was filed April 8. Replies to the post mostly revolve around Jobst and Mitchell’s previous, infamous dispute. “I look forward to winning Best Supporting Actor again,” Mitchell said.

Photo by David Greedy/Getty Images.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

Konami UK has officially revealed a brand new Steelbook for the upcoming Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2. There is no word on whether it will be available in other regions at this time.

Preorders are set to go live for the new Steelbook case on April 10, although no retailers currently have it listed in the UK. It is also currently unclear whether this is a separate release or part of a Steelbook Edition that will also include the base game.

IGN has reached out to Konami for clarity and comment on the above.

Announcing the exclusive METAL GEAR SOLID: MASTER COLLECTION Vol.2 Steelbook Case, featuring timeless artwork of Old Snake and Big Boss.

Now available to pre-order for Xbox, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 with select retailers!#MGSVol2 #MetalGearSolid pic.twitter.com/hPsfpipckl

— KONAMI UK (@KONAMIUK) April 10, 2026

For now, what we do know is that the new Steelbook case, featuring "timeless artwork of Old Snake and Big Boss", will at least launch alongside Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 on August 27, 2026, for Switch, Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

The re-release will include Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, and was inititially announced during a Sony State of Play livestream in February this year.

As described in a PlayStation.Blog post, Konami has also said the new version of MGS4, that's finally breaking free of its PS3 shackles, features improved internal resolution, a maximum framerate increase, and customizable controls.

It’s unclear if Peace Walker will also benefit from visual adjustments, but it will at least come with custom controls.

For more, you can read about what Konami is doing to make sure it doesn’t suffer the same launch problems as Vol. 1.

You can also see how the publisher revamped the multiplayer experience for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater with its Fox Hunt mode last year.

Check back in for the latest updates on the MGS: Master Collection Vol. 2 Steelbook preorders, or follow @IGNUKDeals on Twitter/X for more news.

Robert Anderson is IGN's Senior Commerce Editor and resident deals expert on games, collectibles, trading card games, and more. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Bluesky.

It's getting harder every year to fully crack Denuvo, but it's still not impossible, and now Resident Evil Requiem has been cracked by voices38 (via TheGamer).

Resident Evil Requiem has been around for about six weeks, and while pirates were technically able to get around the Denuvo DRM by running a virtual machine, or hypervisor, it was risky and complicated, requiring you to completely disable Windows security and Secure Boot. With voices38's crack, though, you just have to modify the game's .exe file, making it much safer to actually run.

In the past, Denuvo cracks came a lot faster, but the DRM has been getting harder to patch out of a game's files. These traditional cracks are still coming, but they're much slower, with last year's Doom: The Dark Ages only getting its crack about a month ago, according to TheGamer.

While Resident Evil Requiem's crack came a lot closer to its launch than Doom: The Dark Ages, future games might take a longer time. There is a constant battle between pirates and Denuvo, and it's very likely that future implementations of the DRM will patch out the vulnerabilities that allowed for Requiem to be cracked.

On the other hand, the hypervisor 'cracks' will continue to be the quickest workaround for DRM-loaded games, but they carry a ton of risks. After all, with all of the safeguards you have to disable, it'll make your system very vulnerable to hackers and rootkits, even if the VM you're running isn't itself infected with malware.

The safest and fastest way that you can play new games is still just buying the game and running it normally, even if Denuvo impacts game performance. If anything, maybe the DRM being cracked so quickly this time will persuade some developers to opt for less invasive and heavy copy protection methods. That's probably just wishful thinking, though.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra

We’re still talking about Skyrim in 2026. While Bethesda continues (or maybe even starts) to chug along on Elder Scrolls 6, I am one of many who find themselves going back to the 2011 classic. Or, at the very least, still watching video essays about it.

Bethesda quickly caught on to the power of its own lore, releasing a series of hardcover ‘Skyrim Library’ books between 2015 and 2017. The full set of all three volumes normally costs $110, but a new Amazon deal has dropped that price by 45%, down to just $68.

Skyrim Library Drops to Lowest Price This Year

After a long period of being out of stock online, the Resident Evil Generation Pack on Nintendo Switch 2 is available once again at Amazon (see it here).

If you’ve had your eyes on this stacked horror collection for Nintendo’s latest handheld, which was released in celebration of Resident Evil’s 30th Anniversary, it’s now available to buy at Amazon for $89.99. You’ll want to act fast to grab it, though, as who knows how much longer it will be available at the retailer.

Alongside the recently released Resident Evil Requiem - a game we said, “successfully splices two separate strains of survival horror together into the one highly infectious new mutation” in our review - this pack also comes with Resident Evil 7 biohazard Gold Edition and Resident Evil Village Gold Edition.

For Resident Evil 7’s Gold Edition, you’ll get the base game alongside the “Not a Hero” chapter and all other DLC. It’s a similar case for Resident Evil Village Gold Edition, which also comes with the Winters’ Expansion and the Trauma Pack to have along with the base game, so there’s plenty to keep you busy.

It’s worth mentioning that all of these games are ones we think very highly of, too. Resident Evil Requiem landed with a 9/10 score in its review this year, while Village earned an 8/10 and Resident Evil 7 biohazard earned a 7.7/10 in their respective reviews.

We called Village "a genuinely engrossing and increasingly combat-heavy continuation of the Ethan Winters story", while Biohazard is one we said is "a fresh take on the Resident Evil series that fondly recalls the classics even as it takes a bold new direction" when it released back in 2017.

Personally, I’m a very big fan of all three of these Resident Evil games, and being able to take this terrifying trio with you on-the-go to play on Switch 2 is a fun way to experience them. Again, this collection may not be in stock for long at Amazon, so it’s worth it to pick it up now in case it sells out again.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed star Sam Witwer says he would be “very happy” to shave his head if Lucasfilm were to ever ask him to return as Starkiller.

The actor, who is also known for portraying many versions of Darth Maul in the galaxy far, far away, touched on his interest in returning as the powerful Force user during an interview with Polygon. Not only does he say he’d love to spend more time wielding his lightsaber, but he’d be up for the hairstyle change that would come with it, too.

“I would shave my head in an instant. Very happy to do so,” Witwer said. “I love that character, and he's really the reason I'm here.”

Starkiller, whose real name is Galen Marek, first appeared in The Force Unleashed for the Wii, DS, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in 2008 and is known as the secret apprentice of Darth Vader. Originally born under the wing of the Jedi order, he’s eventually taken by the infamous Sith Lord and trained to be a powerful tool for the Empire.

Following the first release and its 2010 sequel, Starkiller falls into the “Legends” category of Star Wars. It means that, although the character, as well as other The Force Unleashed characters like Juno Eclipse and Proxy, isn’t currently considered canon, a reintroduction isn’t exactly off the table.

Witwer is a well-known Star Wars fan who has also gone on to voice Emperor Palpatine and other minor characters across the series’ wide universe. Aside from Starkiller, most fans will probably recognize him as the voice of Darth Maul in a variety of spinoffs, including Solo: A Star Wars Story and the recently released Maul – Shadow Lord. However, it’s his role in The Force Unleashed that kicked off his Star Wars journey, and it’s the part he may be most interested in returning to.

In the past, Witwer has teased that his beloved secret apprentice nearly appeared in the animated Rebels spinoff show, though plans for his surprise return ultimately never materialized. For now, Disney has shown no sign of official plans to bring Starkiller back in a video game or even a live-action project. While we wait to see if the star may reprise his role as the character that started his Star Wars journey, you can read our original 7.3/10 The Force Unleashed review.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

Hollywood actors keep bringing up a potential Red Dead Redemption movie and saying they would love to be in it. After Jack Black revealed he’d love to star in a Red Dead Redemption movie, despite the fact he doesn’t think Rockstar would ever greenlight it, Karl Urban has thrown his hat into the ring.

Urban, star of The Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, The Boys, Dredd and so much more, even suggested the character he’d love to play: John Marston.

In an interview with Square Mile, Urban was asked if there were any other video game adaptations he’d love to star in, having played Johnny Cage in the upcoming Mortal Kombat 2.

“Red Dead Redemption is one of my favourites,” he replied. “Red Dead is a fantastic game. It’s interesting because I didn’t really have too much of an opportunity to get that heavily invested in the gaming culture. Although I absolutely enjoy the opportunity to indulge in that kind of escapism, when gaming consoles came out in 1994, I was an unemployed actor living in Sydney. I couldn’t afford those consoles.

“By the time I could, I was so busy working on various projects around the world that I was never able to get into it. From time to time, when I did get the rare opportunity, Red Dead was certainly one of the games that spoke to me.”

Then, Urban delivered the kicker: “I mean, come on, John Marston! I’d love to play that character.”

John Marston, for the uninitiated, is the protagonist of 2010’s Red Dead Redemption, and a secondary protagonist of its sequel, 2018’s Red Dead Redemption 2. He’s a former outlaw trying to escape his violent past and protect his family while being forced by federal agents to hunt down his former Van der Linde gang members.

While Urban does seem perfect for the role, it seems unlikely he’ll ever get the chance to realize this particular dream. Rockstar and parent company Take-Two have shown no indication of allowing Hollywood anywhere near their prized properties, and that includes Grand Theft Auto. In 2024, Rockstar Games co-founder and former head writer Dan Houser said a Grand Theft Auto movie "never made sense,” insisting it would have been a "huge risk" considering the reputation of the GTA brand.

"Why would we do this?," Houser and the other Rockstar leads asked the film executives. "What you've described is you making a movie and us having no control and taking a huge risk, that we’re going to end up paying for with something that belongs to us."

"They thought we’d be blinded by the lights and that just wasn't the case. We had what we considered to be multi billion dollar IP, and the economics never made sense. The risk never made sense. In those days, the perception was that games made poor-quality movies."

Photo by Elisabetta A. Villa/Getty Images.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Professor Layton and the New World of Steam is coming to PC via Steam and PlayStation 5 as well as Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, developer Level 5 has confirmed.

In a new video, the Japanese company committed to a simultaneous multiplatform release worldwide in 2026. An Xbox Series X and S version was not mentioned.

Announced in early 2023, Professor Layton and the New World of Steam has been a long time coming, and has missed various announced release windows. It seems that now, finally, the game has a firm launch window, as well as a multiplatform launch.

Professor Layton and the New World of Steam brings the beloved puzzle solving franchise forward by incorporating 3D gameplay for the first time, allowing for exploration in the U.S. town of Steam Bison. Previous games in the franchise almost worked as a visual novel, with players’ movement being limited to choosing an arrow button and being shifted to a new 2D image. And while Level 5 hasn’t moved away from this mechanic completely, players will instead navigate a fully built 3D world in The New World of Steam. Players will similarly be presented with a scene and arrows to move around but now have this full 3D world to explore from a first-person perspective. Unlike previous games, players can, for example, see a shifty character well in the background and make a point to head straight there, instead of not knowing what’s around the corner at all.

According to this latest trailer, new features include full 3D cutscenes, and mouse support across all platforms except Nintendo Switch. We’re promised the most puzzles in series history, and a memo for puzzle solving.

Level 5 also announced a number of new characters set to appear in the game in addition to Professor Layton and Luke:

Professor Layton and the New World of Steam new characters:

Hershel Layton:

• Professor of Archaeology at Gressenheller University
• A leading authority on puzzles, he's widely known across London for solving countless mysteries.
• Until a year ago, he was rarely seen without his assistant, Luke.

Luke Triton

• A boy who has stood by Professor Layton's side through countless mysteries
• He currently lives in America due to family circumstances. His love of puzzles remains as strong as ever, and his knack for solving everyday mysteries around town has earned him the nickname ‘Great Detective Luke.’

Elinora Allinston

• The younger twin sister from the wealthy Allinston family
• Though gentle and refined, she has a deep passion for invention and is a skilled mechanic in her own right, capable of repairing all manners of machinery.

Elida Allinston

• The elder twin sisters from the wealthy Allinston family
• Wise and dependable, she carries herself with greater maturity than Elinora.
• She is studying to become a stage actress, and her talent is already well regarded throughout the town.

Eggmuffin Sonder

• He is the town's leading inventor and has been instrumental to Steam Bison's rapid growth.
• Fully devoted to his craft, he spends his days tinkering away on useful inventions that have earned him the town's trust.

Bolt Allinston

• The wealthiest man in Steam Bison and an ambitious figure driving its rapid development.
• A major landowner and effectively the town's mayor, he also serves as chairman of its governing body — the Gilded Council.

Sheriff Bobsley

• He is the town's justice-driven sheriff, fully devoted to keeping it safe.
• Quick to act and slow to think, he often charges headfirst into trouble. Sheriff Bobsley rides a steam bike around town and likes to play up a slightly rough-around-the-edges persona.

Falcon

• He is an eagle named Falcon who takes offense at being mistaken for a vulture.
• He spends his days soaring over Steam Bison, gathering treasures.

Mystella

• A cheerful, fashion-forward girl who runs the town's fortune-telling house.
• She keeps track of the puzzles that Layton and his companions have yet to solve.
• Never seen without her crystal ball, the true extent of her fortune-telling abilities remains a mystery.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

It's 2026, and Jeff Kaplan, the former boss of Blizzard hero shooter Overwatch, is still being asked about a supposed "nerf" to Tracer's butt.

Cast your minds back to the simpler times of 2016, when the world was quieter and greener, and Overwatch was still in beta. Amid a frenzy of excitement for Blizzard's next big franchise, one big controversy stood out that soured some fans on the game's promise: Blizzard's decision to alter a pose focused on lead character Tracer's bottom.

Blizzard made the call back in March 2016 to adjust the Tracer's "Over the Shoulder" victory pose, after the character's somewhat suggestive positioning drew fire from players. Their critique — one that Kaplan ultimately said he agreed with — was that it reduced Tracer "to another bland female sex symbol."

After some debate, Kaplan confirmed the pose would be changed — and within a week it was done, replacing its initial look with a replacement "Over the Shoulder" pose that gave fans more of a side-on view.

Perhaps predictably, Blizzard's decision to make the change also drew fire — this time from players who said the company had caved to "SJW" complaints. (Remember that acronym?) And now, 10 years on, with Kaplan long gone from Blizzard and busy promoting his next game, it seems this decision is still a bugbear for some.

"'Why did you guys nerf Tracer's butt?'" Kaplan says, reading out a viewer question while playing his in-development cowboy survival shooter The Legend of California. "Uh, we actually didn't nerf Tracer's butt. It stayed exactly the same.

"That was a good riposte I just had," he then added.

As Kaplan seeks to generate interest in his new game, the former Blizzard icon has been making headlines, firstly with a tell-all interview in which he discussed why he left Blizzard after nearly 20 years — a decision he blamed on extreme financial pressures to deliver for Activision Blizzard, or be held personally responsible for 1,000 people losing their jobs.

Next, Kaplan issued some choice words of advice to video game fans who like to criticize titles they're never going to play themselves. "If a game comes out, and you don't want to play it, and you've never played it? Shut the f*** up. No one cares," he stated, again while streaming The Legend of California.

As for Overwatch, the game continues to respond to fan feedback over the design and presentation of its characters. Just this week, Blizzard revealed the new look for its hero Anran, which it said "moved away from that baby face" design that players — and the character's voice actress — had previously critiqued.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Ever since I watched it on opening night back in 2011, I’ve always wanted to play a video game that captured the essence of Nicolas Winding Refn’s masterpiece, Drive. The absolute effortless cool of Ryan Gosling’s unnamed getaway driver has yet to be replicated in any game I’ve played. Well, until now, that is, thanks to a… hoodie-wearing, down-on-his-luck, dad-looking dude in his mid-40s named “Samson McCray”.

Yeah, this is going to take some explaining.

Drive’s prologue is not a classic high-intensity getaway sequence. Instead, Gosling’s calm demeanour sees him drive two masked criminals through the streets of LA in such a casual manner that it pretty much distresses his on-edge passengers. Where most Hollywood drivers would be pedal-to-the-metal in an attempt to flee the scene, Gosling goes smooth to blend in with the traffic. By far his coolest move is to park up, cut the lights, and let the searching LAPD mistake his Chevrolet Impala for average Joe’s sedan. In this high-stakes escape situation, the most thrilling moment is when it comes to a complete standstill. And that’s exactly how I evaded the law during my first major escape in Samson, the GTA-ish debut from new developer Liquid Swords.

With a tap of the right bumper button you can cut your engine, hushing its cylinders and extinguishing the lights. When I first noticed this unusual addition to Samson’s otherwise traditional driving control scheme, my mind immediately replayed that moment from Drive. And so, when the blue and red lights lit up the streets of Tyndalston, a fictional New York analogue trapped in the grimy 1990s, I tried to escape Gosling-style. And it worked. I pulled into a side street, applied the brakes, cut the engine, and watched as the cops drove on by, ignoring my parked car in their search for something with squealing tyres. It was absolute magic. And I’ve never been able to properly replicate it since.

You see, Samson is a deeply flawed game – not so much rough around the edges, but rather rocky to its core. It is glitchy and repetitive and janky… so much so that I don’t know if the engine turn-off trick is a genuine feature that’s a little bit broken or simply a bug in the police’s AI routines. Liquid Swords’ founder and creative director, Christofer Sundberg, has admitted that Samson was released in a “flawed” state, and that the most game-breaking problems are “unacceptable”. And while I’m not here to champion games being released to the paying public in a broken state, I can’t deny that in this specific circumstance, a bug – if indeed it is a bug – created a remarkable moment that made me pleased this awkward urban open world made it to the finish line (which it very nearly didn’t).

Not everything that’s interesting about Samson is rooted in what may or may not be technical difficulties, though. After ditching his Impala in a parking garage, Drive’s protagonist gets back behind the wheel of his own car for the rest of the film: a 1973 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu so gorgeous that Gosling now keeps it as part of his own personal collection. Its sleek lines and primer grey bodywork are as much a part of Gosling’s character as his scorpion jacket. Liquid Swords has taken a similar approach with Samson, who drives a stocky, roaring ‘70s muscle car that conveys McCray’s blunt criminal persona. Its heavy body, aftermarket roll cage, and nitrous oxide system make it the very best choice for chases, escapes, and high-speed takedowns – crime movie staples that form the vast majority of the work that Samson finds himself caught up in. If you need further convincing of its getaway credentials, the control scheme features a dedicated downshift button, immediately dropping the car into a lower gear to redline the revs and gain that sudden boost of torque that’s mandatory in any cinematic chase sequence.

While Samson is undeniably influenced by GTA and other old-school urban crime hits like Driver, it plays very differently. As my colleague Jim Trinca has already pointed out, Samson uses a modified roguelite approach – each day you’re allocated six action points to spend on unlocking various jobs, and when you’ve spent all six, you head back to bed and wake up to a brand new day and a new batch of action points. Every time you exit your apartment to take on the new day, your car is waiting for you. Such a set-up means you’re naturally driving Samson’s personal vehicle by default. It makes it your car. Just like Gosling had his Chevy in Drive. Like Steve McQueen had his Mustang in Bullitt. Like Mel Gibson had his Falcon GT Coupe in Mad Max.

That last one’s perhaps more important to Samson than you may initially realise. Among Liquid Swords’ team members are several staff who worked on Avalanche’s Mad Max game, including the aforementioned Sundberg, plus designer Alex Williams and programmer Josef Sundberg. In terms of games that truly forge a bond between you and your car, few are better than Mad Max, and so it’s perhaps only natural that Samson is able to give you a genuine sense of ownership over your trusty getaway machine.

But car ownership is about more than just pride. It’s also about responsibility and financial risk. And that’s surprisingly central to your day-to-day existence in the city of Tyndalston. Damaging your car runs up eye-watering repair bills – it’s just over a grand for a complete fix, which is quite the squeeze when you’re being rinsed $3,000 every single day by rival criminals who have taken your sister hostage, and jobs often only net you just enough to cover those daily repayments. Failing a mission can wipe out any profit you were set to earn, and landing in the hospital cleans out your entire wallet. Visiting the garage for repairs, then, is not just a steep investment, but a risky one – is the mechanic’s fee better put towards clearing your debt? It's a question you’ll find yourself asking over and over, considering your line of work involves almost constant reckless driving and purposely ramming into other cars. There’s always a busted axle or cracked manifold to patch up. And if it’s not that, it’s refilling tyres or refuelling the boost-enabling nitrous oxide. Crime ain’t cheap.

It’s here where any regular GTA clone would say: Why bother? What’s the point in maintaining a personal vehicle when you can just pull any random driver out of their car and steal their wheels? But Samson’s no regular GTA clone. For starters, you can’t hijack moving traffic, only cars that have been parked and are unoccupied – almost certainly an unfortunate outcome of the game’s troubled development. That means having to sprint around the block in search of stationary vehicles, which does put a minor dent in the game’s pacing. And when you do find something to steal, the vehicle variety is miniscule and, quite frankly, boring – an endless fleet of budget sedans occasionally punctuated by the odd minivan and knock-off BMW. Samson’s own ride is the only car in the entire game that has any personality. Furthermore, it’s the only thing that’s truly suited to the job; the majority of the city’s motors are sluggish tin foil boxes that just can’t do crime as well as your tank-like piece of ‘70s metal muscle. And so you simply have to find a way to foot the bill.

This weird approach to open world traffic manufactures an unusual bond between you and the car. After a few in-game days, I began to take corners more carefully. I was more cautious on the accelerator. I judged my ramming attacks with more precision, always aiming for the wheels to maximise my impact and minimise damage taken. I took care of the car, and in exchange, the car took care of me. Its NOS canisters, upgraded thanks to smashing up hundreds of local voting advertisements (yeah, this is definitely a PS3/360-era style video game), would propel me to victory in any chase. Its rollcage would brush off the worst dents. Its colossal, wide front end would shunt rival drivers into oncoming traffic. There was really no other option. This was my 1973 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu. And while it really had no chance of making me feel as cool as Ryan Gosling in Drive, for a few hours, I got a fraction closer.

Matt Purslow is IGN's Executive Editor of Features.

Sonic’s official 35th anniversary doesn’t land until June, but Sega is already treating 2026 like one long victory lap for the blue blur - dubbed as "Forever Fast" celebrations.

That means early deals, and plenty of them. Amazon has kicked things off with a genuinely massive sale across Sonic the Hedgehog games, 4K Blu-rays, and comics.

There’s a lot here, maybe too much, and not all of it is worth your time. So instead of throwing everything at you, here’s a quick run-through of the deals that actually matter, plus the ones I’d personally spend money on.

Listen, I’m not pretending to be objective here. I love Sonic. Played everything, stuck with it through the rough years, and still show up every time. It’s one of those series that’s just been a constant for me.

I am absolutely giving you my personal recommendations, with expert opinion on prices, but also, this is purely a sale for the Sonic fans like myself.

For starters, I wanted to highlight a couple of standout deals over on Woot. It’s basically Amazon’s scrappier sibling: same account, same Prime perks, but consistently better when it comes to properly steep discounts. If there’s a weirdly good deal floating around, there’s a decent chance it’s hiding there.

The standout is on Sonic X Shadow Generations for just $12.99 on PS5, Switch, and Xbox - undeniably a massive bargain. I love this game so much, and the Shadow portion is some of the best "Sonic" gameplay I've ever had the joy to experience. Play it!

The other highlight at Woot is the latest, and critically acclaimed, game - Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. It's just $29.99 for Nintendo Switch, and you can upgrade that to the Switch 2 version for just $10 as well!

But let's take a look at what else is up for grabs as well. This time, directly from Amazon, you can save big on all three of the live-action Sonic films, with my favorite deal being on the Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Steelbook 4K Blu-ray, which is now just $17.14 (down from $25.99).

There's also Sonic 3 for $19.99, alongside the OG film for $12.59 on 4K, or the Limited Collector's Edition on Blu-ray for $9.09. That also includes the exclusive mini posters for the film, alongside physical copies on Blu-ray and DVD, and a code to download the film digitally.

To finish up my highlights, I wanted to call out the discounts on the Sonic the Hedgehog (2018-) IDW collection of comics, with volume 1-3 collection currently down to just $26.92.

The hardcover collections are a little pricier, but also experiencing hefty discounts right now as well. It's worth noting that these hardcover options are titled as "Volumes" but they shouldn't be confused with the "Volumes" that they are also encompassing.

For example Vol. 1 of the IDW Collection collects the first 12 issues from volumes 1-3 (Fallout, The Fate of Dr. Eggman, and Battle For Angel Island), while Vol. 2 of the collects issues #13–20 from volumes 4 and 5 (Infection and Crisis City), and so on.

Sonic the Hedgehog, Vol. 21: Reprise is also up for preorder with a small discount, currently available for $15.83 and releasing later this month on April 21 as one of the biggest comics of the year so far. Vol. 20 released in December last year, and is also discounted at Amazon right now, down to $13.93.

Robert Anderson is IGN's Senior Commerce Editor and resident deals expert on games, collectibles, trading card games, and more. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Bluesky.

Pragmata is shaping up to be one of the biggest releases of this month, and even this year, but you can already score a bargain on preorders, which have dropped to just £41.99 in the UK.

Pragmata lands on PS5, Switch 2, Xbox, and PC on April 17, landing not long after the success of Resident Evil Requiem. It's already looking like it could be another banger for Capcom.

If you're interested in picking the game up for launch day, then you'll be pleased to know that there's already a slew of outstanding preorder deals that you can take advantage of. Let's take a look at what's up for grabs.

• See on PS5 - £41.99
• See on Xbox - £41.99
• See on Switch 2 - £41.99

One of the standout deals right now is at Amazon UK, where you can lock in a preorder for £41.99 on Switch 2, PS5, and Xbox. That’s £8 off the list price, and genuinely good value at a time when most new releases are creeping up towards £70 or even £80.

Currys is also offering a discount, knocking 10% off its £45.99 price if you preorder before April 17. Meanwhile, Argos is matching Amazon’s £41.99, so there’s no shortage of options if you’re shopping around.

It's also worth noting that if you're preordering Pragmata, you will also score the following in-game outfits as additional freebies (I'll drop a picture of them just below as well):

• Hugh Outfit - Neo Bushido
• Diana Outfit - Neo Kunoichi

"One of the Biggest Releases of the Year" - Is It Worth the Hype?

So what is Pragmata? I've been wondering that myself for quite sometime, that is until I checked out the brilliant demo on my Switch 2.

Pragmata itself is a brand-new sci-fi IP, completely separate from any of Capcom’s existing series.

You step into the heavy boots of Hugh Williams, joined by a mysterious android girl, as you explore a lunar research station, solve environmental puzzles, and take on hostile threats.

What stands out straight away is how Pragmata blends puzzle-solving with combat rather than treating them as separate systems. Diana can hack into the armour of security bots, exposing weak points and opening them up strategically.

Hugh, on the other hand, handles the firepower. He’s a trained shooter, and it’s his job to capitalise on those openings. The result is a back-and-forth rhythm where you’re constantly switching focus between the two, using both skillsets in tandem to bring enemies down.

Beyond that, there’s a bigger mystery driving things forward. As you explore the lunar research station, you’ll piece together what went wrong, all while trying to find a way back to Earth.

The demo is worth jumping into as soon as possible. It’s the easiest way to figure out whether this is a day-one buy or something to revisit once the price dips. More games should be doing this, frankly, it cuts through the guesswork.

Check out our Pragmata hands-on preview for more information. IGN's Michael Higham got to check the exciting new IP out last year, and was remarkably impressed with what was shown off.

"[Capcom's] latest experiment is in Pragmata, a sci-fi third-person shooter that stole the show for me... It is an example of how a single idea can go a long way in distinguishing a game from the rest of the pack."

"I’m not expecting it to be the next greatest game or become a pillar of Capcom’s catalog, necessarily, but I’m all for new and well-executed ideas – especially at a time when AAA releases sometimes blend with each other."

Robert Anderson is IGN's Senior Commerce Editor and resident deals expert on games, collectibles, trading card games, and more. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Bluesky.

Facepunch founder Garry Newman has denied the existence of a secret Rust sequel, after a Steam listing for the game popped up online.

Suspicions of some kind of viral Rust 2 announcement were piqued last night when a reddit thread appeared highlighting a — real — Steam page for "Rust 2." Within minutes, the thread elicited a swift, potentially teasing response from a Facepunch developer, stating: "You saw nothing."

But as players debated whether this new game might be a full sequel or the long-awaited port of Rust on a new engine (the current version was built using Unity), Newman ultimately stepped in to set the record straight.

"Nope. We're not making Rust 2," Newman said in a short statement passed to PC Gamer, claiming that he had "no idea at all" what the Rust 2 Steam page was all about. At the time of writing, the page remains online.

Newman has mentioned the possibility of a Rust 2 before, such as when he spoke out against Unity's infamous plan to introduce costly Runtime Fees for the use of games built on its engine. "Let's not make the same mistake again, Rust 2 definitely won't be a Unity game," Newman said back in 2023.

Originally launched for PC and Mac in early access back in 2013, the popular survival game was later ported to consoles in 2021, at a time that the game was receiving a lockdown-era resurgence in popularity. In the years since, the game has remained a Steam favorite, and more modern versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S arrived in 2025.

Fans have long wondered if and when a sequel might arrive, especially as Facepunch has spent years building its own new engine, s&box (pronounced Sandbox), that's finally set for launch later this month. With that timeline in mind, was the Steam page just a hoax — or is Newman being coy about future plans?

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Crimson Desert developer Pearl Abyss has outlined a number of significant changes coming to the game in the coming months, each addressing various community complaints that were highlighted recently.

There are some real crowd-pleasers in Pearl Abyss’ blog post, including boss rematches, enemy territory recapture, and difficulty settings. But beyond that, Pearl Abyss also confirmed upgrades to the two secondary characters, Damiane and Oongka, to bring them more in line with main playable character Kliff, new pets and mounts, new outfits, and significant changes to storage.

Meanwhile, user interface and control improvements are on the way, as well as improvements to distant scenery quality. Perhaps the most important change is you’ll be able to hide items on Kliff’s back (finally!).

There’s a lot to unpack here (all the details are below), but let’s start with ‘re-blockading:’

“Peace is fleeting, and darkness does not retreat so easily. Enemy remnants are waiting for their chance to reclaim liberated locations. Drive out the forces that have seized these locations once more and continue proving the strength of the Greymanes.”

That’s a timeline upcoming change, given we reported just this week that some players with hundreds of hours under their belt had started to complain that the world had become too peaceful because they’d basically killed all the enemies.

The changes to difficulty settings are welcome, too. Here’s the note:

"A difficulty settings feature will be added so that everyone — from new Greymanes to the more advanced — can enjoy the adventure at the level that suits them best. You’ll be able to choose from easy, normal, and hard difficulty."

As IGN had reported, some players had called for a hard mode because they felt updates had made the game too easy. But now we know we’re also getting an easy mode, which should be good news for those who prefer a more easy-going experience (Crimson Desert can be brutal in places, particularly with some of the bosses). It will be interesting to see how the game changes with each setting.

And this is a really important one: new skills for Damiane and Oongka:

"We fully understand your feedback about the need for Damiane and Oongka to have skills comparable to 'Force Palm' and 'Axiom Force.' To address this, both characters will receive new abilities equivalent to those skills."

This is key, because players have found that Damiane and Oongka are limited in scope compared to Kliff, and indeed much of the game simply can’t be completed while using either of the characters because they don’t have the same abilities to, for example, solve puzzles. Hopefully with this change, Damiane and Oongka will become genuine alternative choices.

Other quality of life improvements are also welcome. Crafting from camp storage is a big deal for a game that currently forces you to take resources out of your storage box and pop them into your inventory every time you want to use them. And more summonable mounts and new pets will be added.

Overall, all this is good news for Crimson Desert. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a developer make such sweeping improvements to a big, AAA single-player open world video game this quickly before, and Pearl Abyss is rightly being praised for it. The pace of change with this game really is remarkable, and you wonder each week what’s coming next. Pearl Abyss said the changes, below, will be rolled out from April to June.

Changes coming to Crimson Desert April-June 2026:

◆ New Content and Features

We’re preparing new challenges so you can continue testing yourself throughout your journey across Pywel.

■ Boss Rematches
The powerful bosses you encountered across Crimson Desert are waiting to challenge you once again. With boss rematches, you’ll have the opportunity to face off against any boss again, test how much you’ve grown, and further refine your own combat style through different strategies and approaches.

■ Re-blockading
Peace is fleeting, and darkness does not retreat so easily. Enemy remnants are waiting for their chance to reclaim liberated locations. Drive out the forces that have seized these locations once more and continue proving the strength of the Greymanes.

■ Difficulty Settings
A difficulty settings feature will be added so that everyone—from new Greymanes to the more advanced—can enjoy the adventure at the level that suits them best. You’ll be able to choose from easy, normal, and hard difficulty.

We’re also working on new combat-focused content, so stay tuned.

◆ Improvements to Character Play

■ New Skills for Damiane and Oongka
We fully understand your feedback about the need for Damiane and Oongka to have skills comparable to “Force Palm” and “Axiom Force.” To address this, both characters will receive new abilities equivalent to those skills.

■ Hide Back Weapons
A new option to hide the weapons on your character’s back will be added, so certain equipment worn on your back won’t break immersion during combat.

■ Addition of New Outfits:

New outfits for characters will be added.
Additionally, certain outfits that can only be sold or donated will be updated so that they can also be worn.

◆ QoL Improvements and Life Features

■ New Specialized Storage
- Food storage: We plan to add a new food storage, from which you can directly take out ingredients for use in cooking. When preparing meals, you’ll be able to use ingredients from both your food storage and your inventory.

- Wardrobe: A new wardrobe storage will be added so that you can store your headgear, armor, gloves, footwear, and cloaks.

- Gatherables Storage: A new gatherables storage will be added, from which you can directly take out items for use in tempering and crafting. This storage will be able to hold a variety of crafting materials, including insects, stones, ores, and more.

- Collections Storage: A new Collection Storage will be added, giving you a place to keep quest items tied to your adventures, along with recipes and other items you've collected on your journey.

■ Pets & Mounts
More summonable mounts and new pets will be added. Also, in addition to existing horse tack sets, dedicated armor for other mounts is also being planned.

◆ System and Graphics Improvements

■ UI Improvements
To improve legibility, we’ll be adding a minimum font size adjustment option. Since Crimson Desert supports 14 UI languages, fully optimizing this feature across all of them will take some time, but we plan to introduce it first to help make the game more comfortable to play. We also plan to continue improving various UI elements and QoL features, including improvements to the map, inventory, and housing.

■ Improvements to Controls
We are carefully reviewing your feedback about controls. To provide a better gameplay experience, we plan to add customization options for certain controller inputs. We will also expand the range of configurable keys for keyboard and mouse to improve usability.

■ Improvements to Distant Scenery Quality
We are working on enhancing the realism of distant backgrounds so you can enjoy Pywel’s landscapes in greater depth. Please note that the patch size may be somewhat larger due to improvements to how distant scenery changes and the quality of rendering under different conditions. Take a look at the image below for a preview of how Pywel will look after the update.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

A new report has claimed Marathon’s budget is over $200 million, and while player numbers have fallen significantly since launch, Bungie’s extraction shooter is allegedly not facing an imminent shutdown.

Forbes reported that the Marathon budget is likely more than $250 million. It’s worth noting that this spend allegedly does not include ongoing costs for the live service game, nor the development of post-launch content.

Last month, one analyst said “Marathon hasn't exactly made the splash Sony and Bungie wanted,” estimating sales at around 1.2 million copies. That, Alinea Analytics said, amounted to gross revenues of around $55 million across PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S.

On Steam, Marathon hit a peak concurrent player count of 88,337 at launch. But that number has fallen steadily over the past month, with the latest 24-hour peak hitting 25,392 players. Of course, Marathon is also out on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, but neither Sony nor Microsoft make player numbers public. Still, PC is clearly the dominant platform for Marathon with an estimated 70% of the sales, so those Steam concurrents give us a decent idea of how it's tracking.

Bungie is under pressure to deliver for Sony after recent and very public financial failings. In November, Sony said Bungie had failed to meet its sales and user engagement expectations, recording a 31.5 billion yen (approx. $204.2 million) impairment charge as a result of Destiny 2’s underperformance. That was significant enough to drag down profits at Sony’s Game & Network Services Segment, which includes Sony Interactive Entertainment.

According to Forbes, Bungie developers are working hard on new content, and there is no danger of an imminent shutdown. But after what happened to Sony’s own Concord and, more recently, Highguard, everything surrounding Marathon feels a little on edge.

We’ll probably have to wait for Sony’s next set of financial results to find out if it’s happy with Marathon's commercial performance. As for Bungie itself, it may have made a game so hardcore that it is impossible for it to hit the kind of mainstream sales fellow extraction shooter Arc Raiders enjoyed last year — at least without significant changes or additions. Marathon is a difficult game; if you die, you lose all your gear. And not just what you looted while out on the battlefield, but what you brought in. And given how easy it is to die in Marathon, it can feel like a brutally punishing video game. Are people bouncing off Marathon because of this? Were some put off by its steep learning curve?

Bungie has repeatedly said that while Marathon has a steep learning curve, over time, recovering from a bad loss gets easier. But then Marathon’s recently launched raid-like experience, Cryo Archive, doubled down on the ultra hardcore experience, with several requirements you need to meet in order to access it.

Former professional Counter-Strike player, Shroud, has said that while Cryo Archive offers an incredible experience, it's too difficult for casual players. Speaking in a recent stream, the influential gamer said: "Cryo Archive is insane. It's the most elaborate extraction shooter map I've ever seen in a game ever. The loop that they made is truly something special. The problem is, is it too elaborate? Is it too complex? Is it too much of a grind? Is your 9-5 grandma and grandpa going to be able to do it? I don't know."

Where does Bungie go from here? Marathon is far from a Concord-style live service disaster, but it’s clear Bungie needs to do something to increase sales. Simply making Marathon easier may not be enough to do the trick, and would run the risk of alienating those who currently love it the way it is. Making it free-to-play this soon after launch would just anger those who paid full price. Could a single-player or PvE campaign spark renewed interest? Could a traditional PvP mode help?

And should we be surprised by word of Marathon costing north of $250 million to produce? Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier recently talked about AAA games developed in the U.S. and Canada, where developer salaries are typically higher than in other parts of the world, costing $300 million or more to produce.

Indeed, Concord's initial development deal was around $200 million, according to a report by Kotaku. In 2023, new documents submitted as part of the Xbox Federal Trade Commission case accidentally revealed The Last of Us: Part II and Horizon Forbidden West each cost more than $200 million to develop.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

World of Warcraft: Midnight is a very purple expansion, thanks to its primary antagonist being the Void. There's a big purple beam shooting from the sky in the distance all the time. Most of the enemies are purple. Two out of three of the major raids and several dungeons and delves are purple. And the main villain, Xal'atath, is very purple.

Given all the purple going around, it's not too much of a shock that Blizzard finally brought back one of its simultaneously best-loved and most-hated purple characters for a plot twist at the end of the most recent raid. What is shocking, though, is the news that character delivered: a hint that we might be careening toward a revisit to one of World of Warcraft's most maligned (and only occasionally purple) expansions: Shadowlands.

Warning: Spoilers follow for World of Warcraft: Midnight's story so far, up to and including the cinematic that plays after The March on Quel'Danas. Read on at your own risk.

WoW: Midnight opens with Void harbinger and baddie-of-the-decade Xal'atath unleashing the Voidstorm above the Isle of Quel'Danas in an effort to corrupt the Sunwell and turn it into a void-powered Darkwell. For the majority of the expansion's questing, dungeons, and raids, we the adventurers are trying to find a way to stop her from succeeding, while the Army of the Light holds off the void's influence as long as they can manage to protect the Sunwell.

However, at the end of The Voidspire raid, Xal'atath manages to release the dark Naaru L'ura from her prison inside Alleria Windrunner, and uses L'ura to finish the corruption of the Sunwell, creating the Darkwell. In response, the various armies hanging out around Silvermoon City unite to try and retake the Darkwell from Xal'atath, with the effort taking place in the most recently-released raid, the March on Quel'Danas. The second and final boss is none other than the dark Naaru herself, L'ura, and we manage to defeat her before she can fully make use of the Darkwell's power to ruin everyone's day.

But that still leaves Xal'atath hovering around and making quips and threatening to destroy everyone. Yet another confrontation with her plays out in which she has the upper hand (this happens a lot), but she's interrupted by none other than Sylvanas Windrunner, former Horde Warchief, former Ranger General, and night elf genocider extraordinaire. Sylvanas manages to blast off one of Xal'atath's funky void shoulder decorations with an arrow, only for Xal'atath to repair it easily and disappear. Sylvanas cryptically announces to her sister Vereesa and nephew Arathor: "The Shadowlands are not at all what they seem. I cannot rest until I uncover the truth. Still, I hope to see you both again, before the end begins."

Okay?!?!?!?!?

Sylvanas, Revisited

If this isn't having the impact on you that it is on me, let me recap a bit of what's been going on with Sylvanas lately. Sylvanas has a long, long history in the Warcraft universe that would take a whole Wiki article to cover, but sufficient for this is to know that she was a beloved "antihero" character to the fanbase for many years. She's tortured and tragic, but also powerful, noble, ruthless, and dedicated to her people, the Forsaken. Through a series of complex events, she became Warchief of the Horde during a time of tense, tentative peace between her faction and the Alliance. Sylvanas, however, was convinced that peace could never last, and that the Alliance would inevitably come back and try to destroy the Horde. So in response to events that hadn't even happened, Sylvanas made the absolutely unbelievable decision to commit genocide on the Night Elves by burning down the world tree, Teldrassil.

This, understandably, pissed off a lot of Sylvanas fans (and haters!). Sylvanas had always been ruthless, calculating, and cynical. But outright, remorseless genocide was never something they had considered to be within her character description. In the ensuing chapters of the story, both Alliance and pissed off Horde members chase her around for awhile, at one point laying siege to the Forsaken capital Lordaeron, where Sylvanas makes another unhinged decision to drown the place in Blight rather than allow it to be taken. All the while, Sylvanas keeps making cryptic comments about Death and her "master" and how one day everyone will understand why she's doing what she's doing, etc.

After she demolishes two beloved capital cities, it is eventually revealed that Sylvanas has been working for some evil being called the Jailer who rules the Shadowlands, the realm of death and the titular setting of the Shadowlands expansion. Her goal, which she also thinks is the Jailer's, is to subvert death and restore true free will to everyone in the world. Surprise surprise, the Jailer is evil and actually just wants to subjugate everyone, an obvious fact that Sylvanas doesn't figure out until she's already done tons of war crimes. She eventually agrees to help the heroes defeat the Jailer and stands trial for her crimes, ultimately being sentenced to free the souls in the Shadowlands that she had condemned by her actions until every last one was at peace - a task that could easily take literally forever. She's been down there ever since.

Back into Shadow

Sylvanas' cryptic comments before heading back into the Shadowlands leave us with more questions than answers.

I don't think anyone was surprised to see Sylvanas herself again - she's one of WoW's most recognizable and beloved (at least at one time) characters. But her insinuation that there might be unresolved plot in the Shadowlands is genuinely a surprise, and one that's being met with mixed reactions.

Shadowlands was...not a popular expansion. A lot of that genuinely had to do with the aforementioned Sylvanas story, and the ways in which a number of other previously-beloved characters acted in ways that did not make sense with past lore. The reveal of what happens after "death" in Azeroth ended up weird, confusing, and inconsistent plot-wise with a lot of other established facts about the world, while simultaneously trivializing death in the universe entirely. There was also a lot of "all will make sense when the true plan is fully revealed" going around during that time without a satisfying payoff. Many players were also annoyed that an expansion-long trip to the literal realm of death didn't offer more opportunities to meet more beloved deceased characters and see how they were doing in the afterlife. Yes, we did certainly meet some, but a lot of others were conspicuously missing.

On top of that, Shadowlands had long stretches of time between patches where there just wasn't much to do, and when activities were introduced to keep people busy, they were pretty grindy, boring, and slow, so a lot of people fell off. There was also the Covenant system, which many felt forced them to choose between committing to a story and aesthetic they enjoyed for a lot of the endgame content, or playing something less fun, but more optimal for raids.

Some folks have come around on Shadowlands a bit in the years since, as WoW does tend to have cycles of players disliking an expansion when it's current, then praising it years down the line (see: Mists of Pandaria, Warlords of Draenor). But Shadowlands is still broadly spoken of with a sour taste in the mouth. Many players have been happy enough to simply move onto different storylines unconnected from the Jailer or whatever's going on in the land of the dead. It's done, it wasn't great, why bother thinking about it anymore? But with Sylvanas coming back and suggesting something else is wrong down there, players are now speculating that Blizzard is preparing to embark on a journey to salvage those plot threads via a retcon, or at least a recontextualization.

It's unclear what form this could take. On one hand, it could be as simple as doing a Shadowlands Remix in between the next two expansions, ala Mists of Pandaria or Legion Remix. On the extreme end, we could very well end up back in the Shadowlands for an entire expansion or at least a major patch, either in a familiar zone or an unfamiliar one, picking apart what exactly the "truth" is of the Shadowlands that Sylvanas is talking about.

Revisiting Shadowlands, in whatever capacity, would also give Blizzard the opportunity to revisit Sylvanas. She's been out of the picture for several expansions, with Blizzard rightly recognizing the character needed a lore break. But bringing her back in any context, even after a hiatus, is full of challenges. Her personality, motivations, desires, and fears aren't really clear anymore after the plot pulled her in so many different directions for multiple expansions, and bringing her back would require settling on some sort of firm outline of who Sylvanas is, now, after everything. It would also require basically every character excusing the Night Elf genocide enough to allow her to be around in a more permanent way, and an awful lot of players would likely feel a bit uncomfortable with that scenario. Probably the Night Elves, first of all.

Also, not for nothing, but Sylvanas supposedly was being guarded by a big owl. How is she even leaving the Shadowlands without getting into owl trouble? Why did she show up, shoot off one of Xal'atath's decorations, and then disappear? Heck, why did Xal'atath leave when Sylvanas appeared, apart for the fact that she emerges victorious and then vanishes mysteriously at the end of every big encounter we have with her?

In the end, we don't know what Blizzard is planning. Maybe this was all just an excuse to tie Sylvanas back into the Windrunner-heavy plot and offer some path to reconciliation with her nephew Arator (who seems stoked to see her), and sisters Vereesa (who gives her a big hug in the cinematic) and Alleria (who fell into a big void fountain at the end of Voidspire and whose current status is unknown). For all we know, we never see Sylvanas again! Or, as others are speculating, it's all connected, Pepe Silvia-style, and Blizzard is concocting some ridiculous plan that will make all the Shadowlands issues make sense, tie in the current plot stuff with Xal'atath and the World Soul and the Titans and all, and redeem Sylvanas somehow all in one fell swoop. That seems like a tall order to me, but what do I know? I can barely keep all the Dragon Aspects straight.

We're just going to have to sit tight. March on Quel'Danas literally just came out, and upcoming patch 12.0.5's most exciting introduction is a prop hunt mode (though that is admittedly pretty exciting). We've got months of raiding ahead of us before anything Sylvanas- or Shadowlands-related could even begin to manifest itself. We're also, dare I say it, in the middle of a pretty fun expansion generally as far as questing, raids, dungeons, delves, and world activities go. I'm personally fine with letting Blizzard cook on this one... even if I did roll my eyes into the next county when I saw two of Blizzard's numerous tragically conflicted purple women have a brief, inconsequential staredown.

We'll get Xal'atath next time, I hope.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

I first meet Fiona when she’s taking a depression bath. She’s thinking about floating away to a remote island she’s seen in an ad when her doorbell rings. It’s the instant noodles I ordered (Neverway asked me to pick a food), and when you’re ordering instant noodles, you know you’re down horrendous. A quick check of her computer tells the story: my girl has stopped coming to work, and she’s been fired. She has five days to pick up her things from the office before they’re recycled. Fiona hasn’t replied. Another email is from foxyrogue1 letting Fiona know that foxyrogue1 has her hoodie. When she doesn’t reply, foxyrogue reaches out to see if Fiona’s okay. She doesn’t reply to that one either.

But her email reveals other secrets, too. One from Insurance Heaven tells me a Misplace can happen to me, and tells me not to look at it. Ominous. But I have instant noodles to eat. Afterwards, I traipse around Fiona’s apartment, taking in how stunning all of it is. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that Neverway is one of the most visually striking video games I’ve ever seen. It reminds me of something you might find on the Game Boy Color, only far more beautiful, and the muted, grey color palette of Fiona’s department makes it easy for me to identify with her state of mind. I stand on her balcony, flush her toilet, turn on the TV, and learn that, according to the Misplace Patrol Authority, that there hasn’t been a Misplace in six months. That definitely sounds legit. With nothing else to do and nowhere to go, it’s time for a depression nap.

The following day, Fiona realizes she has to go get her things from the office. That means going outside. I get her dressed, and off we go. One of the things that really impressed me about my time with Neverway was how it guided me to where I need to be without overtly saying “go here.” I didn’t know where Fiona’s office is, but I figure it out pretty quickly because of how good Neverway is at showing without telling. Inside the train station, I find another ad for Montgomery Island, which seems to be targeted directly at Fiona’s depression, and a couple people in biohazard suits inspect a cordoned-off bench, half of which is just… missing. That’s weird, but it’s not my problem. Onto the train I go.

Another short walk takes me to the office, where I choose to have Fiona tell the truth about where she’s been. After grabbing her things, I buy corn on the cob (and snag a cup of coffee for the travel mug I’ve recovered from the office), and talk to another woman who told me that she wanted to be left alone. I decided to give her the corn I’d bought, which cheered her (and probably Fiona) up, too. Good deed for the day done, I decide it’s time to head home.

Back on the train, things start getting weird. There’s only one other person in the car, and she tells me she’s found heaven. All we have to do is wait. As the train moves, and light filters through the windows, static appears on my screen, and some… thing sits next to me. When the light fades, it fades. The woman heads to the next car, and I follow. What happens next is confusing. I pick up a pipe and bash through a barrier blocking my way forward, then crawl through a large tunnel. In the final car, several massive, spindly legs ride up from an abyss. An enormous eye stares at me from the blackness. Then I’m attacked by strange, black, gelantinous… people? I’m not quite sure. They cling to me, and I fight them off, my pipe crashing against their bodies. Images follow. Fiona in a forest of shattered trees, bones scattered all around, skeletons pinned to the shattered trunks. A massive machine that opens towards me. She collapses. And the train arrives.

When she gets home, foxyrogue1 is there to return her hoodie just before telling Fiona that they don’t think this is working. Fiona retreats back into her apartment, and like many a depressed person, dissociates for a while. In her foyer. In her bathroom. At her bed. Finally, she just decides to get away. And there again, is the ad for Montgomery Island. Fiona decides to take a chance.

After helping her move into her new house – and meeting the officer who controls entry to the island, who does not seem to like Fiona very much and ominously warns her to head home immediately as it’s late – I’m taken to the second part of Neverway’s demo. This time, I’m inside a computer simulation based on Fiona’s mind. If the opening sequence was about mood and tone, this is very much about What It Feels Like to Play The Video Game™. After fighting off some enemies, I acquire a hookshot I can use to yank them towards me or zip across the gaps that segment this fragmented, blue-tinged cyberspace. My goal that my companion/handler/instructor Fang tells me is to rebuild a bridge, which means getting my hands on some wood, which in turn means getting my hands on an axe to chop down some virtual trees. Sure, why not? After all, this is all based on what’s going on in Fiona’s head.

Once again, there’s nothing telling me where to go or what to do. I have to figure it out for myself, and I love that. I traverse the paths available to me, fight off enemies, drop from higher ledges, hookshot across gaps. When I’m tired (both energy and health are a resource), I can relax in the hot springs or sleep in my virtual bed. I learn where I can’t go and where I can, following the square patterns between solid ground that inform me I can walk to new areas. I help a woman named Monica save a wilting flower by finding the materials to craft a watering can at a workbench, and am rewarded with a dash that moves through enemies and leaves behind a shadow. After a fantastic joke about what Fiona fears most, I face off against a boss that tests my ability to use the skill I just acquired. I have to use the dash to get around his shield. Once he’s down, I finally get my axe, and I can finally repair the bridge.

And then things start getting weird again. Creeping shadows infiltrate the simulation and pursue me wherever I go. I traverse through smaller and smaller versions of Fiona’s apartment, then across a black void where scenes I don’t understand play out before me. One shows me two children with numbers for names playing in a laboratory talking about becoming strong, and a third who tells them that they do not want weapons. Another shows weapons being transplanted into a child. Maybe one of the ones I saw earlier, only older? I do not know.

In the end, I find a man named Lancelot sitting atop a throne. He calls me Fang, and asks me what I am when my purpose is gone, then transforms into a monstrous, black blob with a doll’s face and snakelike hair. After a quick battle against the shadows, Fang rushes in to save me. I fight past the storm pushing me back. I embrace Fang, and the demo ends.

I came away from my time with Neverway stunned by its beauty, turning over what I’d seen in my head, and wondering what would happen next. I didn’t get to see much of its life sim elements – I didn’t farm or fish during my demo – but I was compelled by its strangeness and its willingness to turn me loose and let me figure things out for myself. I don’t know if I’m sure of how Neverway will look when developer Coldblood Inc. finally puts the whole game in our hands, but I was so interested in what I saw during its demo that I’m also not sure I care. I want to spend more time in this world: I want to plumb its depths, learn its secrets, and unravel its puzzles. From playing this demo, I think I understand Fiona. And I want to see where her story goes, no matter how dark or strange the road she travels becomes.

Will Borger is an IGN freelancer. You can find him on Bluesky @edgarallanbro.

When I hear "like Twin Peaks" anytime someone refers to their game, I sit down with certain expectations. For all its darkness, Twin Peaks is whimsical, even in its horror. Crop, the debut game coming from Carbonara Games in collaboration with 11Bit Studios, was said to have "Twin Peaks-style horror" by the pair from 11Bit presenting the game to me, yet Crop seemingly lacks any goofiness or some sort of grounded relief I'd expect in a Twin Peaks-inspired piece of media — and it may be better for it. In my hands-off demo, I saw how Crop clearly defines itself from its many idyllic farming sim counterparts by putting the hard, tedious work of farming front and center with a moody palette to match. And maybe some blood sacrifices too? Count me in.

What stuck out most to me is that Crop is a narrative-driven farming sim, meaning once you finish its story, you're done. From my brief showing it's hard to say whether or not that story is engaging as a psychological horror, but it does have a curious start. The unnamed player character climbs out of the trunk of a crashed car in the woods, finding themselves at an abandoned homestead.

For reasons unknown, they're stuck burying the former farm owner's corpse while a crop quota from the starving local village hangs over them, forcing them to take up farming and investigate their terrifying circumstances. I didn't get a sense of the protagonist's demeanor during my 30-minute session, nor why they're able to work with a cop at some point yet can't escape whatever brought them to the countryside. Still, I appreciate the protagonist's design. Dead eyes, pallid, and disheveled — an interesting reflection of their new home.

The farmhouse itself is surprisingly charming, but the land around it is an overgrown dumping ground. This is where the core of the gameplay comes in. Each day, you have a limited amount of stamina to clear junk from the farmland, use a scythe to cut overgrown grass, use a rake to push and pull the grass together, carry said grass to a compost pile (or wherever else you want it) with a pitchfork, till the ground, sow the seeds, add fertilizer if you have it, and finally, water the seeds. Then, when they're ready, attempt to harvest the potatoes, celeriac, or whatever you managed to successfully grow. In the demo, each action took substantial time and energy, meaning strategy for each day is important if you want to get ahead of the quota. This will not be a relaxing or cozy time, unless you find comfort in tension. That being said, it does seem the developers left some tools for recovering from mistakes. I was shown that foraging for things in the nearby forest, like mushrooms, can help if something goes wrong.

And a lot can go wrong. At least, more than has already. Like digging up a skull that triggers a jumpscare (I'm told there aren't many of these at all, as Crop's horror comes more from the general sense of dread), or if pests get into the fledgling plant. If you fail to properly care for the crops, they drop in quality and thus sell for a fraction of healthy ones. Plants can also die if their problems are ignored. If you happen to be out in the cold rain (weather is randomized), you might get sick and get a debuff, making it so that every action costs more stamina until you get medicine and rest. I'm curious to see how the horrors of the farm impact the lead in other ways and what happens if you fail to make the crop quota.

Then, in line with other farming sims, you can unlock other areas by building a bridge across a stream, or gathering the right items or knowledge to unlock ominous barn doors. I was told there is more to do on the farm other than tend to the crops, though those tasks weren't shared in my demo. I did see that progression eventually leads to putting together an irrigation system to make managing the farm more efficient, but even the machine responsible for it needs to be watched for issues, like dirt clogging the pump.

In addition to all that, there's the village side of the story. That part wasn't shown much, but I did see that you'll convene with villagers at their places of work — and in secret at night — to hear gossip and get other intel about what is going on in the strange place. Doing so contributes to a neat web of information called the Mind Root, the spot where you'll see all the pieces of the story logged. This web-like mind palace of nodes has information shared from villagers and tracks time-sensitive information that needs to be acted on quickly. Important items are logged here too. The one I saw was a worn bible found on the farm with an ominous note scribbled inside: "Blood enriches the earth. I will finally achieve abundance!" Is there something of the occult afoot here?

I did have to ask, as this is a farming sim: Is there romance in Crop? The folks from 11Bit kindly reminded me that Crop is a very different kind of farming game, and while I acknowledge that, the journalism in my marrow compelled me to check. While romance bursts from the ground like weeds every which way in Twin Peaks, it seems like the protagonist of Crop won't have a love life in their circumstance. The two showing me Crop also said they can't confirm whether or not Crop will have multiple endings or if there are distinct seasons, but as mentioned, the weather is randomized between overcast and rain, at the very least.

As a fan of psychological horror and a fan of farming sims, I adore the idea of using farming mechanics to reach an end goal, rather than offering up another endless cycle. Crop's prospective 15 hour-time-to-beat makes it even more compelling to try, especially with its intriguing opening. Whether or not its seemingly slow farming gameplay loop works remains to be seen, but at the very least, I know it's something I want to dig into whenever it's out.

Miranda Sanchez is the executive editor of guides at IGN and a member of Unlocked. She's a big fan of stationery reading, and bouncing between forever games. You can sometimes find her on Bluesky.

A brand new free-to-play Borderlands game has suddenly launched today on iPhone, and you'd be forgiven for not knowing it was due for release.

The game was quietly published today by mobile giant Zynga, though is developed by British studio NaturalMotion, which previously worked on Star Wars: Hunters.

Right now, Borderlands Mobile currently exists on the App Store as part of a "limited-time test", according to a statement about the game — something that also reveals Borderlands creator Gearbox was involved simply in an advisory role.

"We are always exploring ways to introduce Borderlands to new audiences," a spokesperson for Zynga said in a statement passed to IGN. "Zynga’s NaturalMotion studio is currently conducting a limited-time test for an untitled Borderlands mobile project, with Gearbox providing creative guidance on the franchise's design, history, and lore. We hope that players enjoy this new Borderlands experience and look forward to their feedback."

Described as a free-to-play "epic looter shooter", Borderlands Mobile is currently only available on iPhone (there's no Android version, yet) and only in the US. We've tried accessing the game from elsewhere, but simply get an error message stating that it's unavailable in the region.

"Create Mayhem YOUR way!" reads an official blurb. "Loot wild weapons and blast enemies in this mobile Borderlands experience. Join other Vault Hunters in an ever-evolving universe to fight greedy corporations and open legendary Vaults. This action-packed looter shooter brings the signature chaos, art style, and gun-slinging adventure to mobile for the first time!

"Hunt down legendary loot drops and power up your abilities to customize the way you play," the blurb continues. "Use everything from pistols to rocket launchers to make your enemies wish they never crossed your path! Master devastating action gameplay that's been fully optimized for mobile. Fight skags, bandits, and bosses as you battle through a variety of exciting mission types, including Campaign Missions, Tower of Terror, and Circle of Slaughter."

Right now, there's little else announced about the game. There's no trailer, and curiously no mention of its existence at all from any of Borderlands' official social media accounts, which seem busy posting about Borderlands 4 updates instead. After a turbulent first six months, it just got its first big DLC, and Gearbox has high hopes it'll be enough to draw back fans.

In the meantime, if you give Borderlands Mobile a go, let us know what you think.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social