Subnautica 2 developer Unknown Worlds has revealed new content coming to the underwater survival game in the weeks and months ahead, teasing a new vehicle and new region centred around the Collector Leviathan as part of update 1.1.

Smaller upcoming updates will improve the currently limited Biomods system, adding more passive slots and new options for “deepening early-game survival strategies.” To improve the multiplayer experience, proximity voice chat, emotes, and expanded character customisation are all in the works. Unknown Worlds has indicated the popularity of multiplayer in Subnautica 2 took the team by surprise, so it’s playing a little bit of catch-up here.

But the most exciting additions are set for a larger content update (early access 1.1), which will add a new vehicle and a new region to explore centred around the Collector Leviathan. In a developer update, design lead Anthony Gallegos discussed the new region, which will contain new creatures, new resources, and will be progression and story driven. It will also add a new chassis, which “brings back one of the most requested player experiences,” Gallegos teased. “So, get ready to get stompy.”

That suggests a Subnautica 2 version of the Prawn suit, a bipedal mechanical walker from the previous game, which is sure to go down well with players. “Our goal is to let you jump in without having to start a new save,” Gallegos continued. “Rather, pick up right where you left off. I really think it's going to be the scariest the game has been yet, and I can't wait for you to try it.”

The announcement comes following the release of a hotfix that modifies the behavior of creatures in response to complaints about not being able to kill predators. Not being able to directly kill fish in Subnautica 2 is the game’s hottest topic, and while Unknown Worlds has promised to add “mitigation” to the game so you can better deal with predators, it will never allow you to kill them.

Earlier this week, we reported on fresh comments from Gallegos, who countered the narrative that Unknown Worlds set out to create a “pacifism game.” That, Gallegos told MinnMax in a fascinating new interview about the design of Subnautica 2, just isn’t true.

While the killing fish debate rages on, Subnautica 2 is a clear success. It has sold a huge 4 million copies since its early access launch on May 14, achieving more than 467,000 peak concurrent players on Steam — success Gallegos said took the team by surprise. Subnautica 2 has sold so well that publisher Krafton has reportedly agreed to pay a $250 million earnout to the developers — a bonus that was at the heart of its high-profile legal dispute with the fired Unknown Worlds leadership.

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.

If you found yourself lurking around Kickstarter a few months back, or really the internet in general, you probably heard something about The Official Cyberpunk Trading Card Game.

Pulling in more than $28 million dollars and taking the top spot as the most-funded game on the crowdfunding platform, the TCG based on CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 RPG continues to evolve and change post-campaign.

Recently, the folks at WeirdCo have released big updates coming to the game that not only tweak terminology but also add in some massive game-design-shifting changes. Here is the full blog post, but here are the changes that are coming to the Cyberpunk TCG:

• The starting phase has gotten a name change, and its structure has been tweaked
• The “Play” and “Attack” phases have been combined into a single “Main” phase
• Opponents can react to a declared attack
• A new “Quick” keyword on cards has been created that can be played in response to an attack
• The cost to flip one of your legends has been reduced to 1 Eddie instead of 2
• You need 7 gig dice now to win instead of 6

So let’s break things down a bit. The changes that Weird Co. has shared range from minor adjustments for the sake of clarity to large new mechanics that, debatably, are some extensive game design adjustments. On the lighter end, the name change for the first phase of a turn and the creation of the “Main” phase, and the more malleable and flexible early turn structure are welcome and act more as just solidifying and adapting to how folks have naturally played the game. As someone who has played Magic: The Gathering for over 20 years, changes like these feel natural. Untap, draw, play. Familiar.

The new Main phase is also a pleasant change that focuses on giving players more flexibility in how they take their turns. The big update here is that you can take the available actions of selling a card for a resource, calling (flipping) one of your Legend cards, playing cards, activating effects on your cards, or making an attack in any order. Previously, the order was rigid, where you had to play your cards before making the attack, and once doing so, your turn was over. Now, being able to attack and play cards as you wish and giving you control over when you pass will go a long way in improving the general feel and flow, which I am 100% here for.

The two changes I would classify as mid-tier changes, ones that will impact the game but not in a drastic way. Previously, the game would end if you started your turn with six “gig” dice in front of you. Considering each player has six dice they will assign, this meant that the first player could simply turtle up and play completely defensively and win due to meeting that criteria first. This has been increased now to needing seven dice to win, requiring you to have stolen at least one die from your opponent. It makes sense, will help the game go on a bit longer, and force some interaction beyond simply hiding behind a wall of blockers.

The second of these tweaks is that flipping one of your Legend cards, calling them to action, now only costs a single Eddie resource instead of two. Honestly, the fact that you don’t know which Legend is which (unless you use another card to peek), I’m still not entirely sold on the mechanic in general, but this cost reduction does help things. With games playing out fast, spending two of your rather limited resources on your turn to flip one of your Legends rarely felt like a better proposition than playing a cheap unit to serve as a blocker or another attack to steal more dice.

A prospect that appears to be shared by many, as in the update announcement, the team specifically mentions “During Alpha testing, we discovered that it was possible to win games consistently without flipping multiple Legends. While we don’t necessarily want players to have to flip all three of their Legends every game, we do want flipping Legends to be an exciting and impactful highlight in the vast majority of Cyberpunk TCG games,” so fingers crossed.

By far the biggest change, well, more like an addition, is that the person being attacked can actually do something more than just blocking (if they have a Blocker that is)! Hallelujah! Now, when you are attacked, you can react by assigning a blocker as you could before, but now you can also flip one of your Legends (for the updated cost) or utilize cards with the new “Quick” keyword. This new mechanic, which allows cards either from your hand or that are already on the field, will allow players to pull off battlefield tricks and make attacking a bit more exciting, since you will never know what your opponent may have in their hands.

I love this, as tricks like counters and trap cards are some of the most exciting parts in card games, and their absence during the Alpha rules and cards was an uncomfortable void in the game. To be clear, this is a great addition, and what has me the most excited from the announcement, but it also is a pretty big change, and I find myself wondering - how many of the cards will have to be redesigned now around this new mechanic?

I am someone who is no stranger to backing games in crowdfunding and am well aware that “all rules are subject to change” is a pretty standard note on the campaign pages. Balancing and adjustments are common with games evolving all the time, but to me, this is a massive game design change. A far rarer occurrence, and one that I can’t recall seeing in other TCG crowdfunding scenarios. It makes me start to wonder if the Cyberpunk TCG may have come to Kickstarter a bit underdone, or had its focus devoted elsewhere. A concern that I have mentioned previously is that backers are a bit like ‘guinea pigs’ right now, with the folks at WeirdCo laying down the tracks while the train is going full steam ahead. A feeling only made a bit stronger that they are looking to fill a Senior Game Designer role currently.

It will be interesting if Cyberpunk 2077 TCG gets any more big changes leading up to launch. I am firmly in the camp that all of these updates are great for the game in the end. I am eager to see what sort of nifty effects are planned to use the Quick keyword and if the Legend cost reduction will actually change my mind on their value. Players still have a bit of a wait until they will be stealing gigs in their local game store, but with the success that the Kickstarter had, the team at WeirdCo has the funds to really massage the systems to knock the gameplay out of the park. Now, we just have to wait and see what the final product will look like.

Scott White is a freelance contributor to IGN, assisting with tabletop games and guide coverage. Follow him on X/Twitter or Bluesky.

Crimson Desert continues to evolve at a rapid pace. This week’s update adds a number of quality-of-life changes, makes the Wyvern a mount, and adds a pinball minigame, because why not?

Pearl Abyss has released major updates for the single-player open world action adventure game pretty much every week since launch. It has changed significantly, with everything from combat to endgame reworked. And every now and then, Pearl Abyss will just throw a curve ball in a patch, seemingly just for fun, to keep players on their toes. This week, it's a pinball machine. Random, but brilliant!

The Pinball minigame is located to the inn near the Delesyian Institute. The patch adds the Marni Token Exchange where tokens obtained from the Pinball machine can be exchanged for various items, including the Material Box of Fortune, Abyss Artifact, two types of Artifact Chests, a Helm, 13 types of furniture, and three types of gear crafting recipes.

Pinball isn’t the only minigame added with today's patch. Crimson Desert also now has the Orb Roll minigame at the Great Gate of Urdavah.

Meanwhile, the Re-Blockade feature is improved with the addition of the Battle and Reconstruct stages. For major strongholds, players can request Protection through the contribution assessor (formerly known as the manager of the contribution shop) in each region to suppress Re-Blockades. Liberating strongholds rewards contribution, provisions, trade goods, and other items.

Elsewhere, Kuku Bird Chicks and Baby Wyverns can grow after being fed. After reaching a certain level of growth, they can be registered as special mounts. And here’s a really helpful user interface change: the category tabs in the Mission Dispatch menu are now mission-based, not region-based. The patch notes, courtesy of Steam, are below.

The release of update 1.10 comes hot on the heels of Pearl Abyss’ announcement of a summer roadmap of content, as well as confirmation that DLC is in development. Outlining content updates planned for June to September, Pearl Abyss confirmed story refinements, new combat challenges, cross-save support, and quality-of-life improvements set for the single-player open world action adventure game. Pearl Abyss only teased the DLC, confirming its existence and that it was being worked on. But it did describe it as a “meaningful addition to the player’s journey.”

Crimson Desert update 1.10.00 patch notes:

New Additions

• Improved Re-Blockade.
  • Improved the flow before and after blockades by adding the stages "Battle" and "Reconstruct".
  • For major strongholds, players can request "Protection" through the contribution assessor (formerly known as the manager of the contribution shop) in each region to suppress Re-Blockades.
  • Liberating strongholds rewards contribution, provisions, trade goods, and other items.
• Added the "Pinball" minigame to the inn near the Delesyian Institute.
  • Added the "Marni Token Exchange" where tokens obtained from the Pinball machine can be exchanged for various items.
  • Obtainable items: Material Box of Fortune, Abyss Artifact, 2 types of Artifact Chests, a Helm, 13 types of furniture, and 3 types of gear crafting recipes
• Added the "Orb Roll" minigame at the Great Gate of Urdavah.
  • Obtainable items: Material Box of Fortune, Abyss Artifact, 2 types of Artifact Chests, golden apple, 3 types of carpets, 3 types of lights
• Added a new mount: "Wyvern".
• Added a new pet: "Kuku Bird Chick".
  • Kuku Bird Chicks and Baby Wyverns can grow after being fed. After reaching a certain level of growth, they can be registered as special mounts.
• Added new mount equipment, the "Wyvern Saddle".
• Added new pet equipment, the "Small Kuku Bird Eggshell" and the "Small Wyvern Aviator Hat".

New Additions

Content

• Improved locked items so that Abyss gear can be removed from them.
• Improved the Large Farming Scythe so that it can used to obtain gatherable items.
• Added a "Carpet" category to the house decoration category.
• Added carpets to the items sold at some dyehouses.
• Added a cat tower to Furlington Farm in the Azerian Estate.
• Improved the animation of feeding certain wild animals while holding them.
• Changed the item description for "Sigil of Valor".
  • Can be equipped on: Dogs, Baby Wyverns
  • After the next patch, the Iron Eagle and Phoenix will also be able to equip the Sigil of Valor.
• Added a map to the constellation research journal and improved it so that the location of constallations can be found through it.
• Changed the carry postures for certain pets.

Controls

• [Controller] Changed the basic interaction (Y/△) to not operate as a long press when using the "Default" customization preset.
• [Controller] Changed Axiom Force so that its buttons can be customized.
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Fixed an issue where, when customizing secondary keys, the customization setting would not save properly.

Combat / Action

• Added a ground attack skill to Blackstar.
• Improved it so that, if you change your element slot or arrow/bullet/small cannonball slot during a boss battle, the changes are kept even after dying and retrying.
• [Damiane] Adjusted the damage of unarmed skills.
• Improved arrows so that normal arrows are used first when Replenishing Arrows run out.

UI Fixes & Improvements

• Changed the category tabs in the Mission Dispatch menu from region-based to mission-based.
• Added knowledge on "Dye Colors" and "Small Tools" in the Journal > Knowledge > Gatherables menu.
• Fixed an issue where some key guide information displayed at the bottom-right would not appear in certain situations.
• Added a level of growth UI to the inventory, allowing you to check the growth levels of pets and horses.
• Improved the Photo Mode UI.

Localization

• Fixed various localization errors and improved localization quality across all languages.

Others

• Fixed an issue where, after winning a Rematch, progress would not be maintained properly and revert to a previous state.
• Fixed an issue where some bosses would damage themselves while attacking.
• Fixed an issue where attack animations would cancel when using Axiom Force or Force Palm while on a mount.
• Fixed an issue where a double jump would sometimes activate even when the controls for Vault were inputted only once.
• Fixed an issue where Vault could not be used as a Counter.
• Fixed an issue where the character's attack power was not properly reflected when using Kliff's Nature's Echo and Damiane's Reckoning.
• Fixed an issue where Force Current could not be used properly during the "Repair the second pensive statue" mission of the "Jijeong Temple in Chaos" quest.
• Improved homing skills and items so that they no longer target unintended objects.
• Fixed an issue where, if a pet picked up certain items while the inventory was full, the items would disappear without being obtained.
• Fixed an issue where, after placing a Legendary Fish in the pond and loading, additional Legendary Fish appeared in the pond.
• Changed Legendary Fish so that they cannot be used from quick slots.
• Fixed an issue where some knowledge could not be obtained in certain situations.
• Fixed an issue where the map could not be closed in certain situations.
• Fixed an issue where crashes would occur on the dye menu in certain situations.
• Improved terrain and object placement in passage areas so that wagons can travel more smoothly in some regions.
• Fixed an issue where characters mounted on a mount could not be controlled in certain situations.
• Fixed an issue where horses could not be changed at the stable in some save files.
• Fixed an issue where the Contribution UI would sometimes appear upon re-entering the game.
• Fixed an issue where the effect of Focused Force Palm would continuously remain in certain situations.
• Fixed an issue where disbanding comrades while mounted on a horse would dismiss the horse as well.
• Fixed an issue where bounty quests would not progress properly in certain situations.
• Fixed an issue where dialogue would overlap during combat with Sir Catfish.
• Added animations for placing live fish into and taking them out of the inventory.
• Changed the release function so that summoned pets can also be released.
• Fixed an issue where bird pets would sometimes lift gimmick elements.
• Improved the appearance of some outfits and characters to look more natural.
• Changed the circus sign lights so that they shine even from a distance.
• Fixed an issue where evade could not be performed while using Examine during the faction quest "Bandits Riding Wolves".
• Fixed an issue where NPCs related to the quest "Swift Delivery, Safe Borders" would not appear.
• Fixed an issue in the quest "Harvest of Greed" where the wagon disappears upon retrying the quest after the culprit dies.
• Fixed an issue where certain objects would sink abnormally into the terrain.
• Fixed an issue where, if Kliff died while accompanying the player, he could not be summoned again even after sufficient time had passed after being disbanded.
• Fixed an issue where the camera would not follow the locked-on target while in Focus mode.
• Fixed an issue where unnatural effects would appear when the character collided with certain furniture.
• Fixed an issue where the patterns of certain tattoos would not display properly.
• Fixed an issue where notifications for knowledge entries that did not exist in the Knowledge menu would display abnormally.
• Fixed an issue where rain would appear indoors.
• Fixed an issue where rendering was unstable in certain areas when the terrain was wet from rain.
• Improved the visual effect of rain to show the rain making the ground wet appear more clearly.
• Mitigated an issue where the appearance of the previous equipment would briefly appear when changing equipment in shops.
• Fixed an issue where the power core would intermittently fail to operate after moving to the Fleet of Archives Abyss.
• Fixed an issue where the barrier in the 'Fleet of Archives' Abyss would become disabled when approached.
• Fixed an issue where some text UI overlapped when buying the Writ of Absolution on a 5K monitor.
• Fixed an issue where two alchemy materials were consumed at a time when using alchemy materials on Hard difficulty.
• Changed the contribution shop and manager of the contribution shop's name to contribution office and contribution assessor.
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Improved archery/shooting contests so that the character immediately enters aiming mode when the contest begins.
• [Damiane] Added a turn and a roll animation while equipped with a musket.
• [Damiane] Fixed an issue where the greatsword's appearance would appear abnormal after giving up during a Rematch.
• [Damiane] Fixed an issue where the shield's appearance would remain abnormally after using the Shield Toss ability.
• [Oongka] Improved the effect of the Devastation ability.

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.

LEGO reseller Bricks & Minifigs is attempting to resolve a controversial situation following allegations of a "stolen" LEGO Star Wars collection. Company CEO Ammon McNeff has confirmed that the company is ready to sit down with Bryan Mansell and his father, who have accused Bricks & Minifigs of essentially stealing a LEGO collection they valued at $200,000 through a failed consignment deal.

McNeff notes it is willing to not only give back his collection, but also any LEGO Star Wars set in the store regardless of if it belongs to him or not. Additionally, the company will also drop the lawsuit against him, where he is named as a co-defendant in a defamation and harassment lawsuit against YouTuber Reckless Ben (we'll get back to this).

"[...] Bryan, we continue our offer to sit down with you and are prepared to discuss dropping the lawsuit against you," said McNeff. "Let's go through the spreadsheets and POS data together and ensure you are made whole monetarily and ensure that whatever Star Wars LEGO was or remains in the Salem store, whether you identify as yours or not, you can have it. We will ensure you are compensated for anything unaccounted for, including what Ms. Law/Gorman failed to compensate you for without your knowledge. We’re ready when you are.”

The company will also permanently shut down its Salem, Oregon store where the drama took place and will mutually part ways with franchise owners Brandon Best and Joshua Johnson "due to a devastating social media campaign." The two were prominently featured in a series of YouTube videos from creator Reckless Ben.

The company also claimed that the previous store owner, Chrystal Gorman, conducted an unauthorized consignment (something that Gorman has contested by showing consignments were allowed in her franchisee contract). Bricks & Minifigs also accused Gorman of "gross negligence" and stated that the way she managed the store is what created the conflict.

“Due to our commitment to a heightened level of due diligence in our investigation, and lack of formal documentation produced by Mr. Mansell and the former franchisee, Ms. Law/Gorman, we have found critical data including three separate Star Wars Lot spreadsheets," said Matt McNeff, COO, Bricks & Minifigs. "These included an unknown, but accessible email account maintained by Ms. Law/Gorman. This evidence confirmed the new incoming franchisees who took over the location were not aware of, nor prepared for the responsibilities of taking over a store from a forensic accounting review standpoint.

"This led to due diligence issues in coming to resolution with Mr. Mansell. First, an ex-franchisee still had connections to, and in one instance, ownership of company-marked data through a personal email account. When a collector came in, identified himself, and what he believed to be a ‘formal’ albeit undisclosed relationship with a former franchisee, it is unfortunate that Ms. Law Gorman was not upfront about it. We are disappointed this situation was not made explicitly clear, that should have happened much sooner than today. That’s not acceptable, and we’re not going to pretend otherwise.”

If you've missed out on this saga, last month, a YouTuber named Reckless Ben posted a video documenting a rather absurd situation revolving around popular LEGO reseller, Bricks & Minifigs. A man named Bryan Mansell tried to sell his elderly father's expansive LEGO Star Wars collection. Mansell claimed that the collection was valued at around $200,000 and entered into a consignment deal with a Bricks & Minifigs franchise in Oregon, allowing the store to sell the sets on his behalf for a cut of the revenue.

Well, at some point in this transaction, things went very south. Then-owner Chrystal Gorman alleged that she was pushed out of her role as owner of the franchise to make way for new owners, who refused to honor the consignment agreement, but kept the LEGO. The new owners, Brandon Best and Joshua Johnson, allegedly refused to work with Mansell on returning his LEGO or compensate him, prompting him to contact Ben for help.

The situation unraveled in dramatic fashion, with local police allegedly failing to assist Ben or Mansell, even when it came to serving legal papers to Best and Johnson. Ben also alleged that Best and Johnson weaponized the police against him after they pulled him over, claiming they received a call that Ben possessed heroin. After searching him, however, no drugs were found.

Ben was later arrested for stalking charges, but let out on bail by a judge. However, shortly thereafter, a warrant was issued for Ben's arrest again prompting him to allegedly flee to Mexico where he has since been living off of money from his Patreon. Bricks & Minifigs then issued a legal notice to Patreon, requesting Ben's account be shut down. Patreon CEO Jack Conte released a video denying the request before telling the LEGO reseller to "stuff it," and invited them to sue Patreon if it feels inclined.

Needless to say, it's a pretty absurd situation. Of course, it remains to be seen if Mansell accepts Bricks & Minifigs offer to resolve the situation or if any other drama will unfold.

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN's news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has publicly addressed the on-going decision-making process regarding exclusives. Speaking with Bloomberg, Sharma stated that Xbox is trying to balance being a successful video game publisher while also building its own platform, two business models that could be at odds with each other.

"Look, we’re the number two publisher in the world and in order to be a great publisher, you must have your games reach large audiences to play," said Sharma. "At the same time, we’re increasingly becoming a platform, and in order to become a platform, you must have exclusive content and services. And so we’re looking at that very closely. I think that we have to be very thoughtful about each title, on how we want to think about it, and learn from some similar cases in the industry, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Ultimately, it sounds like, although decisions are still being made with how Xbox approaches exclusivity, it may continue to evaluate games on a case by case basis. For years, it seemed clear that, while something like Call of Duty will exist on all platforms, something like Halo would remain exclusive to Xbox. That is, until Xbox announced it was bringing Halo: Campaign Evolved to PS5

This has created a lot of confusion over where Xbox stands with exclusives. To many, Halo coming to other platforms felt like the end of exclusivity, as it was Xbox's most defining franchise. Xbox also confirmed Fable would be coming to PS5 at launch, signaling a major strategy change. It has also been speculated that Gears of War: E-Day will come to PS5, but nothing has been confirmed.

However, all of this was before Asha Sharma took over as head of Xbox. Since then, she has indicated that Xbox will be making big changes to try and get the company back on track. Although many of the things being shown at Xbox's upcoming showcase have probably been in the works long before Sharma was even in consideration for the job, it will be her first moment to properly outline her vision for the company's future, and that likely includes defining some exclusive titles.

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN's news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 players are having a blast with the games new mode, Black Ops Classic. The new mode was released today as part of the game's Season 4 update and brings some radical changes to the gameplay of Black Ops 7. The new limited-time mode strips out omnimovement, sliding, and simplifies the overall gameplay experience to be more akin to classic Black Ops games like Black Ops 1 and 2. Players also can't use things like stims, an equippable that lets you immediately heal mid-battle.

"We wanted to get as close to a classic movement set (Black Ops 2 as a target) as we could, so Omnimovement, Wall Jump, and Slide are restricted in Black Ops Classic along with some additional feature restrictions," said Black Ops 7 design director Matt Scronce on X.

The mode also limits players to maps from classic Black Ops titles, including Firing Range, Summit, Raid, Nuketown, and more. It's by all intents and purposes Black Ops as you remember it, save for some changes to the visuals and different weapons.

So far, players seem to be really enjoying the old-school throwback.

"Black Ops Classic is exactly what Black Ops 7 should have been," said one player, and they're not alone.

Another player concurred, stating that the mode should remain in Black Ops 7: "Played one match of Black Ops Classic and yeah I’m gonna need this to be a permanent mode."

"Very fun and fixes a ton of issues I have with BO7. Almost got a nuke," said another fan.

Some are noting that the changes are so radical they're having a hard time adjusting to them, because they're so used to the controls of modern Call of Duty. As of right now, it remains to be seen whether or not this will actually drive players to the game. The mode comes eight months after Black Ops 7's initial launch, and four months before the release of Modern Warfare 4 – which may mean it's too little, too late for some players who bounced off the game in its earliest days.

The movement of Black Ops 7 has been a hot topic since its arrival, with some feeling like omnimovement and wall jumping overcomplicates the gameplay. More traditional movement, however, focuses on a player's gun skills rather than their ability to dodge bullets by moving around like a lunatic.

Even if this mode doesn't change the tides for Black Ops 7, the future is looking bright. We recently went hands-on with Modern Warfare 4's multiplayer ahead of the game's official reveal and had plenty of glowing things to say about it. Modern Warfare 4 won't feature omnimovement, and will instead focus on fluid but more grounded movement.

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN's news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.

The Xbox Series S is taking some heat once again following comments made by the founder of Moon Studio, the team behind action RPG No Rest for the Wicked, which has been available on Steam Early Access since 2024.

During the PlayStation State of Play, it was confirmed the game was coming to PS5 this October in celebration of its 1.0 release, but Xbox users will have to wait. This isn't due to any kind of marketing deal with PlayStation. Rather, it has to do with limitations with the Xbox Series S. In response to a fan inquring about the lack of an Xbox release date, studio founder and game director Thomas Mahler pointed to the Series S.

"Series S is making that rough," said Mahler in a comment on Discord. "We'll ship it after in a good way once it's optimized like crazy for Switch 2 and Xbox."

Another user joked that a mobile version would follow the Xbox and Switch 2 versions, to which Mahler responded: "Series S and mobile specs aren't too far apart at this point."

This is hardly the first time something like this has happened. The Xbox version of Black Myth: Wukong was delayed by a year and it was heavily rumored that it may be due to difficulties developing for the consoles. Microsoft responded to these rumors noting that it had not been informed of such troubles, but developer Game Science later suggested those rumors may have had some truth to them. Game Science CEO Yongar Feng-Ji noted in January 2025 that the Xbox Series S' 10 GBs of shared memory was creating issues with optimization. When the game was eventually released on Xbox, the studio confirmed that the delay was a result of spending extra time trying to optimize the game specificially for Xbox.

Baldur's Gate 3 also suffered issues when it came to developing for the Xbox Series S. The game had a staggered release across platforms, arriving in August 2023 for PC, September for PS5, and December for Xbox. That wasn't by choice, necessarily. Larian had troubles getting split-screen co-op to work smoothly on Xbox Series S. The studio even enlisted the help of Microsoft's own engineers to help get it all functioning.

With all of this said, there has been a lot of discussion throughout the current console generation over whether or not the Xbox Series S is worth the hassles. Microsoft mandates that all Xbox Series X titles must also work on Series S with full feature parity, but it has led to some games being released later on the platform. It begs the question whether Project Helix, the next Xbox console, will have a cheaper and weaker variant – or if Microsoft will go all-in on one SKU. Given how aggressive Xbox's new CEO Asha Sharma has been, it's hard to imagine the company doing two consoles again, but we'll just have to wait and see.

For now, No Rest for the Wicked will release on PS5 on an unspecified date in October. The Xbox release date is currently to be confirmed.

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN's news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.

Netflix's Devil May Cry series has been renewed for a third season, which will also be the final season. Series showrunnder Adi Shankar confirmed in a new statement that this was always the plan and, in fact, he envisioned it as a movie trilogy "disguised as a television series."

"For those of you who have been paying attention to the episode names, I have been showing you the structure the entire time. This was always Dante’s Divine Comedy with guns and a red coat. Season 1 was Inferno. Season 2 was Purgatorio. Season 3 will be Paradiso. These three seasons make up 'The Force Edge Saga.' Since inception, 'The Force Edge Saga' was designed as a movie trilogy disguised as a television series.”

Devil May Cry Season 2 was released last month and has been incredibly well-received. We gave the new season an 8/10, noting that it "goes bigger than its predecessor in every way." Shankar had previously told IGN that he viewed the leap between seasons similar to the jump between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

“Season 2 is just way, way, way bigger in terms of scope and scale,” Shankar told IGN. “So it's the difference between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. That's the comp. Or Halo 1 and Halo 2, where in terms of just scale and scope – orders of magnitude bigger and larger. And the tone is just completely different on top of that. The tone is very, very different, so it cuts deeper.”

It remains to be seen if Season 3 will be the show's Dark Knight Rises, a movie that upped the stakes on a cataclysmic scale after Bane conquered Gotham City and threatened to destroy it with a nuclear bomb. While I can't imagine there being a nuke in Devil May Cry Season 3, perhaps there will be some kind of apocalyptic threat that pushes our beloved heroes to the brink.

There are currently no details about Devil May Cry Season 3's plot or release date. However, Season 1 was released in April 2025, so there may be a chance Season 3 debuts next spring as well. Either way, it's interesting to see that the show won't be overstaying its welcome and may, in fact, leave us wanting more.

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN's news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.

Ever since the Steam Machine was first announced back in November 2025, it seems like its been facing an endless deluge of delays, thanks to the awful hardware market. However, in a blog post, Valve reaffirmed that the Steam Machine and Steam Frame will be coming sometime this summer.

Valve's blog post is primarily focused on detailing the Steam Machine and Steam Frame verified programs that the company revealed back at GDC 2026. Just like with the Steam Deck's verified program, these are mostly concerned with usability on each platform, making sure that UI elements are legible and that it'll work with Steam Input.

Valve's blog post then goes on to talk about updates to its Partner Dashboard, so that devs can more easily make sure their games have a smooth path to verified status on Valve's myriad hardware platforms.

Most importantly, right at the start and again at the very bottom, Valve reaffirmed that the Steam Machine and Steam Frame are indeed coming sometime this summer. The company doesn't narrow that window beyond that, but hopefully that means more like June or July, not the end of August.

Whenever Valve's hardware comes out, though, it's likely that it's going to have a higher price than we initially thought it would. After all, just a couple weeks ago the Steam Deck had a steep price increase of its own, and that handheld is significantly weaker than Valve's promised mini gaming PC. Here's to hoping Valve is able to keep the price at somewhat of a reasonable level.

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

Director Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has been rated “R” by the Motion Picture Association, which means filmgoers under the age of 17 will be required to have a parent or guardian accompany them when screening the film.

As Variety points out, most of Nolan’s other summer movies, such as his Dark Knight trilogy, earned PG-13 ratings, although an R rating didn’t prevent Oppenheimer from earning over $330 million at the domestic box office.

The trade also reports that audience demand for premium format tickets such as IMAX 70mm “appears to be so high that AMC‘s ticketing app paused briefly. Sales have resumed, but wait times are up to an hour. … Fandango’s website also appeared to be dragging with users experiencing long wait times.”

The Odyssey is the first film in history – and one of Nolan’s longest movies – to be shot entirely in IMAX, a milestone commemorated by the movie’s official popcorn bucket, which is in the shape of an IMAX camera.

The Odyssey stars Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, and Jon Bernthal.

For more on Nolan’s Homeric epic, find out how The Odyssey “almost saved” Spider-Man: Brand New Day, read Lupita Nyong’o’s response to the criticism of her casting as Helen of Troy, and Nolan’s defense of his film’s historical accuracy following online complaints.

The Odyssey opens in theaters on July 17th.

Marjane Satrapi, the cartoonist responsible for the acclaimed Persepolis graphic novels, has died at age 56.

A statement "from close friends and family" was provided to France's AFP newswire, which notes, “Marjane Satrapi died of sadness a little over a year after the death of Mattias Ripa, her husband and the love of her life.”

Satrapi was a French-Iranian cartoonist and filmmaker who catapulted to international stardom with the release of the Persepolis graphic novels in the early '00s. Persepolis is based on Satrapi's troubled youth and early adulthood during and after the Iranian Revolution. Alongside Art Spiegelman's Maus, Persepolis is widely regarded as one of the finest biographical comics ever published.

Persepolis was originally published in France in four volumes between 2000 and 2003, and was later translated into English (with the help of Ripa) and released in two volumes in the US.

Satrapi and her work rose to further prominence in 2007 with the release of the animated feature film adaptation. Satrapi co-wrote and co-directed the Perspolis film, which went on to be nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 80th Academy Awards. Satrapi was the first woman to be nominated for that award.

Satrapi's comics career also included 2004's Chicken With Plums, based on the waning days of one of Satrapi's relatives. That book also inspired a live-action film adaptation, with Satrapi reuniting with Persepolis co-writer and co-director Vincent Paronnaud.

Satrapi remained active as a filmmaker in the years that followed. Her filmography included 2012's Gang of the Jotas, 2014's The Voices, and 2019's Marie Curie biopic Radioactive.

Satrapi was also an outspoken feminist and political activist throughout her career. In 2025, she refused the Légion d'honneur award from the French government, criticizing France's hypocritical stance toward Iran and the lack of support provided to Iranian refugees.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.

God of War developer Santa Monica Studio has discussed Kratos' future as the figurehead of its flagship franchise, following the reveal of its Faye-starring next chapter, God of War Laufey.

Speaking in an interview uploaded to PlayStation's YouTube channel, Santa Monica Studio head of creative Cory Barlog said that "there's always going to be Kratos games" — a position backed up by a later post from the company's official social media account, which stated that the studio had "many more stories to tell with him."

Early reaction to God of War Laufey has been mixed, with some fans praising the game's combat and visuals, while others have been criticizing the simplistic gameplay seen in Laufey's opening section — and, predictably, the fact that fan-favorite Kratos wasn't center stage. (For a full catch-up, we’ve got an explainer on Faye herself for more on her story.)

"Faye is, while it's a different thing, it's still part of the larger tapestry of what we truly really want to explore, all of these different characters in there," Barlog said of the new game. "But there's always going to be Kratos games, like, throughout the whole history. We're super excited about that."

"Oh for sure," added God of War Laufey director Ariel Lawrence. "We can't not tell stories about the big guy."

Our first glimpse at God of War Laufey, seen in a 20-minute gameplay segment aired at the end of this week's PlayStation State of Play showcase, began with Kratos and Atreus burning Faye's body — as seen in 2018's God of War. Kratos then pops up again shortly after, aiding Faye while she's briefly imprisoned. It remains unclear if Kratos will make any other appearances before Laufey's credits roll, or if these brief glimpses of the hero are it, as he's then busy with the events of God of War Ragnarök.

"Kratos is the God of War – we have many more stories to tell with him," Santa Monica Studio's official X/Twitter account wrote in a post issued last night. "For now, we're excited to take fans on a journey into the afterlife of the gods with Faye and hope you’ll come along for the ride!"

Of course, Santa Monica Studio has also announced a remake of the God of War Greek trilogy remake — which, of course, will see Kratos back in the spotlight. The original God of War launched back in 2005 for PS2, with its sequel arriving two years later. God of War 3, for PS3, then debuted in 2010. No release date for the God of War Trilogy Remake was announced, and work is still in its "early stages."

"We'll always tell stories about Kratos, but I think for us, it was just a chance to talk about somebody who was so pivotal to the beginning," Barlog told IGN previously in an exclusive interview, which discussed why Faye was chosen as the protagonist. "For us, it's not a departure; it's more of an expansion," he added.

Here's everything announced at State of Play June 2026 if you need a catch up on what else PlayStation has in store.

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

LEGO has announced its biggest set ever, the 12,060-brick LEGO Architecture Sagrada Familia, which recreates the world-famous church in extraordinary detail. It's available to preorder from today, in both the U.S. and the U.K. (see here).

Priced at $799.99 / £649.99 and available from November 1, the LEGO Architecture Sagrada Familia is not the most expensive LEGO set ever — but it is the biggest in terms of the number of pieces it contains. (The most expensive remains LEGO's recent $999.99 Death Star, which featured just 9,023 bricks.)

IGN can exclusively reveal the premiere date and first look at Batman: Caped Crusader Season 2. All 10 episodes of the second season of the Warner Bros. Animation series will launch on Prime Video on Friday, July 31, 2026.

Batman: Caped Crusader Season 1 reimagined the iconic DC Comics characters as denizens of a retro, film noir Gotham City. Season 2 will continue this moody stylistic approach and introduce new takes on some of Batman’s most popular friends and foes.

Spoiler alert but Batman: Caped Crusader Season 1 ended with a tease that the show’s incarnation of the Joker might appear in Season 2. Based on these exclusive photos (seen in the slideshow below), the Clown Prince of Crime does indeed show up this season.

Our exclusive image gallery reveals that Season 2 will also introduce the show’s incarnations of the iconic Bat-villains Edward Nygma/Riddler, Scarecrow, and Mad Hatter. Mad Hatter, like Minnie Driver’s Penguin in Season 1, appears to be a gender-swapped version of the character.

Prime Video informed IGN that Roxy Rocket will also appear this season. She was a character created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini for The New Batman Adventures.

The character in the Grey Ghost-esque outfit is Carrie Kelley, DC's first female Robin who was created by Frank Miller for The Dark Knight Returns.

No word yet on who is voicing these roles, but returning voice cast members include Hamish Linklater as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Jamie Chung as Harley Quinn/Harleen Quinzel, Jason Watkins as Alfred Pennyworth, Eric Morgan Stuart as Commissioner Jim Gordon, Krystal Joy Brown as Barbara Gordon, Michelle C. Bonilla as Renee Montoya, and Bumper Robinson as Lucius Fox.

Executive producers J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves and Bruce Timm are back for Batman: Caped Crusader Season 2. Along with Abrams, Reeves and Timm, Batman: Caped Crusader executive producers include James Tucker, Geoffrey Thorne, Sarah Geismer, Rachel Rusch Rich, and Sam Register.

In his Batman: Caped Crusader Season 1 review, IGN critic Erik Adams awarded the season a 7 out of 10, praising the series for telling “a tightly focused, slightly more mature story of Bruce Wayne and his alter ego learning that they’re not so alone.”

Elden Ring Tarnished Edition launches on Nintendo Switch 2 on August 28, 2026, FromSoftware has announced. The additional content included in the Tarnished Edition will also be available to buy on other platforms on the same day via the Tarnished Pack DLC.

Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition is now available to preorder for Switch 2, and we now have a confirmed release date - August 28, 2026.

The upgraded release was announced during a Nintendo Direct last year and includes new armor sets and starting classes in addition to the base game and Shadow of the Erdtree expansion.

The recent preorder listing confirms the Tarnished Edition will be priced at $79.99. However, it also confirms that the new edition only comes with a game-key card.

Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition Preorders Now Live for Switch 2

Images allegedly showing leaked Persona 6 characters and logos have been scrubbed from the internet via copyright claim, with Sega believed to be behind the takedowns.

The copyright enforcement comes ahead of this weekend's Summer Game Fest livestream and Xbox Games Showcase, with fans now expecting the game to get a formal announcement in a matter of days.

Grainy images of a blond-haired boy in school uniform and a girl with black and red hair initially surfaced via social media last week. At the time, top Persona fansite Persona Central suggested the images originated from an outsourced animation team, and that the artwork had subsequently been verified as legitimate by several noted Persona leakers.

This week, further leaks showed a better look at the game's logo — a green "P6" in a circle. Now, various instances of the concept art and logo have been scrubbed from social media, and replaced by a copyright takedown notice. That said, numerous more examples remain.

"Got a DMCA takedown request by Sega," wrote X/Twitter user Dkmariolink, one of those hit by copyright removals. "Not posting it again, but if you know, you know." IGN has asked Sega for comment.

It's been a decade since the launch of 2016's Persona 5, though the hugely popular role-playing series has offered numerous spinoffs and re-releases in the years since, with the franchise receiving a notable push on Xbox since 2022, including a day one launch via Game Pass for P4R: Persona 4 Revival last year.

Just yesterday, Xbox announced that Persona 5: Royal would land on Xbox Game Pass next week, on June 9. I wonder if we might hear more at Xbox's big show? Tune in this Sunday, June 7, at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK via IGN to watch along with us for all the big reveals.

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

The Sims 4 is a bit of an oddity. What began as the fourth mainline base game entry in the long running Sims series in 2014 is, nearly 12 years out from that initial launch, almost unrecognisable as a Sims game as we knew them up until this iteration. While history had taught us to expect a brand-new Sims generation every four or five years, The Sims 4 has broken that unspoken rule to become the first truly live-service title in the franchise. The base game went free-to-play in 2022, meaning that monetization is now exclusively through add-ons, ranging from classic expansion packs to increasingly granular microtransactions; and while other Sims games are known to be in development, the intention seems to be to keep The Sims 4 alive alongside whatever successors and spin-offs are coming next.

It's uncharted waters all round — for the many Simmers who aren't used to such a long generational lifespans (although, I regret to remind you, TS4 is old enough now that it's entirely plausible for a teenaged player to have grown up exclusively on this version of the game), but also for the development teams at EA/Maxis who handle the day-to-day of keeping a game running through its transition into live service. One such team member is Morgan Henry, a producer who joined The Sims 4 team in 2018 and has worked on multiple major additions ever since, including acting as lead producer on the Werewolves game pack and the Life & Death expansion pack.

Now, Simmers have their hands on Morgan's latest project: a hefty free base game update released earlier this month, which saw a variety of high-demand bug fixes, quality-of-life improvements, and a couple of brand-new features. I spoke to Morgan about the behind-the-scenes processes that go into making this update.

IGN: May 12 saw the launch of the first patch honouring EA's commitment to improve quality-of-life for Sims 4 players in 2026, tackling some long-standing bugs in the game. Which bug are you proudest to have squashed in this update, and do you have any interesting stories you can share about the testing and implementation that went into developing the fixes in this update?

Morgan Henry: Improving ‘Infant pick ups and put downs’ is probably what we’re most proud of for the May update. The work around this was very challenging and it took a lot of collaboration and fine-tuning to get right. Bug fixing is particularly challenging, because to fix a bug you have to first figure out what is happening. When does it happen, how, under what circumstances, are there connections to past changes in code (even from years back)? We joke internally that solving the mystery of a bug is 90% of the work, so it really does feel a lot like detective work at times! I’ve referred to engineers as “detectives” more than once. It’s challenging work, but we have fun with it.

IGN: Infants and toddlers are a major focus of the bug fixes in the May 12 update. Will there be a similar thematic throughline for future QoL updates like this?

Morgan Henry: Yes! We very much want to hit ‘themes’ alongside our top community-reported bug fixes with our upcoming updates. The next one is planned to be themed towards general autonomy plus cutting back on phone/TNS (The Sims Notification System) spam. After that, we’re investigating an update with fixes themed around food, dining, and drinking. We’ve been getting player feedback on Discord and Reddit to determine our focuses within these themes.

IGN: The brand new base layer feature in CAS is a first for The Sims franchise. Are there any other similar small-but-impactful brand new additions you're hoping to bring out in otherwise bug-fix-focussed updates?

Morgan Henry: In May, alongside Base Layers, we’ve also released a new Base Game Infant Playmat and more Backup Save versions. Most of our upcoming feature additions are smaller in scope than Base Layers (along the lines of our new Toggle Option to turn off Caregiver Autonomy), but still aimed at making the overall gameplay experience feel smoother and more customizable for players.

IGN: One of the highlights of the base layer feature is that it addresses a long-standing issue for Sims who wear binders, drawing attention to the game's oft-stated commitment to improving inclusivity. Do you plan to use future QoL updates to similarly strengthen representation in the game?

Morgan Henry: We’re always looking for opportunities to improve inclusivity whenever we’re making any changes or adding features to the game. Representation has always been a very important part of The Sims, and it’s genuinely meaningful to work on a team where those conversations are part of the development process every day. We have a few smaller upcoming changes focused on inclusivity and representation we’re excited about, and we’ll share more in the future.

IGN: Has the emergence of high-profile Sims-likes such as InZoi and Paralives influenced EA's decision to focus on QoL improvements for The Sims 4 in 2026?

Morgan Henry: As The Sims 4 has grown, so have the opportunities to improve the day-to-day player experience. Quality-of-life improvements have always been part of how we support The Sims 4, and we’ve been progressively honing our process for these updates. Our 150+ Community-Voted Fixes update back in November was a major step in this process. Since then, we’ve released quality-of-life updates in December, January, March, and now May. These improvements come from listening to our players and understanding the areas they have told us matter most, so everyday gameplay feels smoother, more intuitive, and more reliable.

IGN: Looking ahead on the roadmap, it seems like the Dine Out game pack will be a major focus of the planned updates in the latter part of this year. Will this pack be receiving a comprehensive refresh, along the lines of the one given to Spa Day back in 2021?

Morgan Henry: For our update on Food/Dining/Drinking, we plan to focus on addressing reported bugs in those categories across Base Game and all packs, plus responding to player feedback from our Discord and Reddit threads. A lot of the feedback we’ve received from players has centered around Base Game Autonomy, so that’ll be more of a focus for us, but I wouldn’t rule out improvements for Dine Out as well.

Rebecca Jones is a guides writer for IGN.

Official artwork for DC Comics' upcoming Supergirl movie features an alien from Star Wars, in what appears to be an unintentional but hilarious mistake.

The $119.95 Supergirl (2026 Movie) Metal Print (available to buy now via the DC Comics Shop) shows Kara Zor-El and other characters from the film, illustrated by Brazilian comic book artist Bilquis Evely. Also among the figures, however, is a hulking long-necked alien that's unmistakably Lexo Sooger, a character seen in Star Wars: The Last Jedi deleted scenes.

Fans of both franchises quickly spotted Sooger this week (thanks, GamesRadar), and began questioning what was going on. But rather than some form of official crossover, fans have now figured out a potential source for the error.

Supergirl does also feature a hulking long-necked alien, and there is a similarity between the two. Physically, the two species appear somewhat similar, and both wear long, flowing dress-like robes with a large gold necklace. It therefore seems possible that Evely worked on the artwork using the wrong reference material — whether sourced by herself, or given to her by someone else at DC.

The upcoming DCU movie follows on from last year's Superman, and sees Milly Alcock return as Kara Zor-El. Jason Momoa, who played Aquaman in the DCEU, appears in the movie as Lobo, opposite Mattias Schoenaerts as the villainous Krem of the Yellow Hills. Kara, driven to drink by the destruction of her homeworld, fights to save Krypto the Superdog from dying from the effects of some sort of poison.

To date, neither Evely or DC Comics have not commented on the image, which currently remains on sale. How much longer this remains the case, however, will be seen.

Supergirl arrives in theaters later this month on June 29. In the meantime, you can try to spot Lexo Sooger in the Star Wars: The Last Jedi Blu-ray's deleted scenes — the character was planned to pop up in the Canto Blight casino sequence, acting as a bathhouse masseur.

Image credits: DC Comics, Lucasfilm/Disney.

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

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has outlined some major changes coming to the game, including roguelite systems called Planet Warfronts.

In a post on Steam outlining the future of community and player progression in Helldivers 2, game director Mikael Eriksson confirmed Planet Warfronts is the roguelite system Arrowhead CCO and Helldivers 2 creative director, Johan Pilestedt, revealed was being worked on back in December.

“Before we launched the game, we experimented with dynamic warfronts on planets, where players needed to make strategic community decisions on a planet level in order to liberate it,” Eriksson explained. “While it was promising, we realized we didn't have the content needed to do it justice at the time. We feel we've now added enough content to realize the vision we had for Planet Warfronts, and it's going to be the next big thing we're working towards in the Galactic War. When you've seen Johan talk about experimenting with roguelite systems, he was referring to this.”

When Planet Warfronts goes live, missions will be grouped under different categories:

• Defend missions in liberated territory
• Frontline War missions on the frontlines
• Behind Enemy Lines missions in enemy controlled territory

Eriksson said players will fight to reach key strategic locations on planets, like cities, which can have different active enemy variants in different areas of the planet. “Of course, you’ll still have the Game Masters to contend with, too,” Eriksson insisted. In the final version of this feature, there will also be gameplay altering effects and consequences for achieving planet liberation goals, like reaching and liberating a city within X time or disabling enemy artillery in one location to unlock crucial Operations.

“The intention is to make it more fun to liberate planets with your squad and deepen the Galactic War and Community Progression systems,” Eriksson continued. “We want liberating planets to feel unique and epic for everyone. We have some development and design work ahead to make these feel great and provide the best experience, but I wanted to share just one of the ideas we have in active development. More to come on these changes in the next few months!”

When Pilestedt teased the roguelite mode, he said it “changes the game fundamentally!” That was enough to set fans of the explosive co-op action shooter into overdrive imagining how a roguelite mode would work in the game, which revolves around open and shut missions restricted by time limits.

But that’s not all. Helldivers 2 will get Galactic War Campaigns this month. Campaigns are the “next evolution” of Major Orders, and will last 1-3 weeks. “The intention that it will always be clear what the active Campaign is, how it's going, what the outcomes have been, and what's at stake,” Eriksson said, admitting this has not always been the case before with how players interact with the Galactic War.

The introduction of Campaigns means there will always be at least one Campaign reward if the conditions are met. “We want to make these rewards special, because we also think players should earn more than just medals,” Eriksson explained. Some will alter gameplay, some will be cool items. “It also means there is more stuff for players to work towards outside of warbonds,” Eriksson teased. “Pray J.O.E.L is feeling generous, the first reward you’ll be working to unlock is a new FRV!”

Meanwhile, Personal Orders are changing into a system called Personal Campaign Progression. The intent here is for every Galactic War Campaign to come with a personal progression reward track. “That way, even if the community fails to reach a larger goal, players can still do their part toward their personal goals and get rewarded with cool things to mark their participation in various Campaigns,” Eriksson said.

“This change won't happen with the launch of Galactic War Campaigns, but we are planning to deploy it this year.”

And finally, Arrowhead has news on upgrading your ship, with an overhaul of the ship module system that significantly increases the offerings for players to progress. Perhaps more exciting, Arrowhead is also adding more ships.

“The biggest shift we've done internally is we now have a dedicated ship team, working on the first new ship,” Eriksson revealed. “Our intention is that each new ship will have their own unique progression paths, specializations and customizations. And if you like the ships, we want to keep adding them; at least the ones we've planned so far!

“I can't share when the new ship can reach your hands... yet, but I'll be sharing more details later this year for certain.”

Eriksson also outlined upcoming fixes coming to Helldivers 2, below, which I’ve rounded up here:

• Helldivers will be able to use assisted reload, as long as either the carrier or the reloader of the weapon have the corresponding backpack.
• More emotes! Helldivers will have 8 emote slots instead of 4.
• Reducing dead input on stimming.

And, looking futher ahead, Helldivers 2 is getting the following:

• Stratagem bouncing. We've assembled a task force to prototype fixes for this issue and we're hoping to have it solved by the end of the year.
• Hellpod steering. Similar to stratagem bouncing, we're also tackling this long standing issue.
• Improving enemy and player traversal, which includes environmental collision and reducing movement penalties on grass and vegetation.
• Increasing the level cap to 300
• Economy and resource improvements
• Fixes to the Warbond and Superstore menus that make them easier to navigate.
• Closed beta testing that focuses on stability and balancing, and that includes getting beta test feedback from our Propaganda Commanders.

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.