February 2023

The loot lizard, Xûr, is now live in Destiny 2 for the weekend until next week's reset. If you're looking to get your some shiny new Exotic armor or weapons for your Guardian, look no further.

Each week, Xûr has a random assortment of Exotic armor, one for each Guardian class, as well as a random Exotic Weapon and an Exotic Engram available for purchase. In addition to his Exotic wares, he's got a random collection of Legendary weapons and armor to deck out your Guardians.

We've rounded up all the info on Xûr for the week including where to find Xûr, which Exotic weapons and armor are available, as well as which Legendary weapons you should pick up, either for PvE or PvP.

Where Is Xûr Today?

Xûr's location today can be found at Watcher's Grave on Nessus on February 24 through February 28. To reach him, travel to the landing point at Watcher's Grave. When you arrive, make for the red moss-covered tree straight ahead. Climb up the roots and you'll find Xûr waiting at the top to sell you exotic items and legendary weapons.

Baldur's Gate 3 finally got a release date yesterday, but fans quickly noticed that Xbox wasn't included in developer Larian Studios' launch plans.

In a statement to IGN, Larian Studios clarified the situation, saying the studio is "planning to release Baldur’s Gate 3 for PC, Mac, GeForce NOW and PS5." An Xbox version is in development, but Larian Studios has struggled to get splitscreen co-op working on Xbox Series X|S, causing it to delay an official announcement.

Check out the full statement below, where Larian Studios explains that there's no exclusivity deal holding back an Xbox version:

After reports that all three major platform holders were skipping E3, Nintendo has confirmed to IGN that it will indeed be missing the event slated for June.

"We approach our involvement in any event on a case-by-case basis and are always considering various ways to engage with our fans," Nintendo told IGN in a statement. "Since this year’s E3 show didn’t fit into our plans, we have made the decision to not participate. However, we have been and continue to be a strong supporter of the ESA and E3."

IGN previously broke the news that Xbox, Sony, and Nintendo would not be formally taking part in E3 2023, with Nintendo pulling out due to a lack of major releases to promote. Xbox will be hosting its own event in Los Angeles, but it will not be at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

With E3 roughly three months away, uncertainty continues to hover around the event as publishers weigh their options. Ubisoft recently announced that it would attend E3 if the event went forward, but otherwise IGN understands that little has changed from a month ago, with few publishers being willing to full commit to attending.

E3 2023 is currently slated for June 13 to June 16 in the Los Angeles Convention Center. It is unclear whether Nintendo will hold a Nintendo Direct to match, as it has in previous years.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

It's time for another Question Block edition of the weekly NVC column. This week, we're answering what seems like an easy one, but it turns out it's NOT easy. Shane Dowley wrote us at nvc@ign.com and asked the following question:

"For new Switch buyers, what would be your top 5 essential games that you would tell them to buy?"

First off, we answered this during this week's episode of NVC, but we're getting a little more formal with the answers. Much as Wheel of Fortune automatically gives players in the final round a free R,S,T,L,N and E, we answered this question with the most common games as give-ins: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Super Mario Odyssey. The remaining picks are below.

Atomic Heart is out and Cardy, Mat, and Dale have been having a dabble with it as well as dipping into the PS VR2 waters. That isn't all, though. Dale has some thoughts on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Mat has been enjoying Like a Dragon: Ishin, and Cardy has had a blast with Kerbal Space Program 2.

Got a game for us to play, or just want to tell us the weirdest thing you've eaten for breakfast? Drop us an email: ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.

IGN UK Podcast 685: You Kang Make Me Whole Again

• IGN UK Podcast 684: Horizon Call of the Weetabix
• IGN UK Podcast 683: Magical Castles and Talking Cats
• IGN UK Podcast 682: Creating the Next Best Video Game TV Show
• IGN UK Podcast 681: Shadow Drop It Like It's Hot
• IGN UK Podcast #680: Dead Space and Other Games We Want Remade

The 26th annual D.I.C.E. Awards have arrived and, while God of War Ragnarok led the night with seven wins, Elden Ring took home the ultimate prize of Game of the Year for 2022.

The D.I.C.E. Awards are hosted by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) and this year's show was hosted by IGN's Stella Chung and Kinda Funny's Greg Miller. Additionally, IGN was proud to be the media partner for the 26th D.I.C.E. Awards.

There were 23 different categories in the show and, as previously mentioned, God of War Ragnarok won the most categories, including Outstanding Achievement awards for Animation, Art Direction, Character, Original Music Composition, Audio Design, and Story.

Elden Ring, alongside winning Game of the Year, won four other categories - Outstanding Technical Achievement, Outstanding Achievement in Game Design, Outstanding Achievement in Game DIrection, and Role-Playing Game of the Year.

Alongside honoring games and their studios, the D.I.C.E. Awards took the time to induct Double Fine Productions founder Tim Schafer into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame for his over 30-year impact on the games industry.

With all that out of the way, here are all the winners from the 26th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards:

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

• Cuphead - The Delicious Last Course
• Elden Ring
• God of War Ragnarok - WINNER
• Horizon Forbidden West
• Moss: Book 2

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

The PlayStation Plus games for March 2023 have been officially confirmed to be Battlefield 2042, Minecraft Dungeons, and Code Vein, and they'll be available to all subscribers from March 7 through April 3.

PlayStation shared the news during its latest State of Play, where it also shared that Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, Tchia, Ghostwire: Tokyo, Immortals Fenyx Rising, and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction will all be joining the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog, which is available to Extra and Premium members.

Minecraft Dungeons, Code Vein, and Battlefield 2042 are your PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for March, with Tchia and much more coming to Game Catalog. pic.twitter.com/PNYOlz8mQC

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) February 23, 2023

Battlefield 2042 is the latest entry in the long-running first-person shooter franchise and, while it doesn't feature a single-player campaign, it does introduce the Portal mode. For those unfamiliar, this new mode lets you mix and match maps, weapons, classes, and equipment from Battlefield 1942, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Battlefield 3, and Battlefield 2042 to make the experience you've always wanted to play.

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy has sold more than 12 million units since its debut earlier this month, making it the biggest global launch ever for Warner Bros. Games.

Hogwarts Legacy's sales numbers were revealed alongside Warner Bros. Discovery's earnings, which saw the company lose some $2.1 billion. That makes Hogwarts Legacy, which has been controversial itself, a rare bright spot for the company's financials.

On top of the large sales figure, Warner Bros. Games touted $850 million in sales globally and 1.28 million peak concurrent viewers on Twitch — a new record for a single-player game.

Developed by Avalanche Software under the Portkey Games label, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy earned notice by allowing players to roam a fully-realized version of Hogwarts Castle on next-gen platforms.

"Its open-world adventure captures all the excitement and wonder of the Wizarding World with its memorable new characters, challenging and nuanced combat, and a wonderfully executed Hogwarts student fantasy that kept me glued to my controller for dozens of hours," we wrote in our review. "It's certainly weighed down by technical issues, a lackluster main story, and some poor enemy variety, but even those couldn't come close to breaking its enchanting spell over me."

Hogwarts Legacy is available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

Changes are coming to the Call of Duty franchise's upcoming release in 2023, and players will remain settled in the modern era.

Though no official details are out as of this time, the Bloomberg report stated that the game would focus on a continuation of Modern Warfare 2 and its systems, but it will not be Modern Warfare 3. Sledgehammer Games, the developers behind Call of Duty: Vanguard, will be heading up the game's development, with support coming from other Activision studios, including Infinity Ward and Treyarch.

According to previous reports, the original plan for COD 2023 was to maintain growth and support for Modern Warfare 2, which is now the fastest-selling game to hit $1 billion in franchise history. In the Bloomberg report, this shift has caused concerns among the development team at Sledgehammer Games. However, anonymous staff has stated that Activision is putting significant resources toward the new game to ensure its release in 2023.

Mortal Kombat 12 is set to release this year, making 2023 an absolute juggernaut of a year for fighting games.

Warner Bros. Discovery made the announcement during its earnings call today. A clip from the call that's being passed around Twitter includes confirmation from Andrew Slabin, Warner Bros. Discovery's executive vice president of global investor strategy, that Mortal Kombat 12 is slated for 2023.

"And there's lots more to come, including the highly-anticipated Mortal Kombat 12 and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, games also set for release this year with amibitious launch projections," Slabin said.

IGN has reached out to Warner Bros. Discovery for an official statement.

Mortal Kombat 12 confirmed for this year in a Warner Bros. Discovery earnings call https://t.co/VrllYL9bDP

— Wario64 (@Wario64) February 23, 2023

We haven't heard anything official about Mortal Kombat 12 prior to today. Back in September, Johnny Cage voice actor Andrew Bowen appeared to tease the sequel by posting a video of him standing in the Warner Bros. studio lot. And, NetherRealm creative director Ed Boon told IGN the team was "working on another game", but he couldn't share exactly what it was at the time.

The first gameplay for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was revealed during Sony's State of Play February livestream, confirming that it will be a live-service game focusing on single-player and co-op gameplay.

The Arkhamverse returns

The extended gameplay shown during the State of Play gave us the most in-depth look at the game yet. Confirmed to be still set in Rocksteady's "Arkhamverse," roughly five years after Arkham Knight, the conceit of Suicide Squad sees that familiar universe from the side of the villains. That new perspective also brings in some new gameplay systems, which can be experienced in either single-player or co-op.

We got our first early at the events of Destiny 2's Lightfall expansion during Sony's February State of Play showcase. Launching next week on February 28, Lightfall sees the Guardians embrace the Strand darkness power to even the odds against The Witness and their army.

BREAKING: Lightfall Launch Trailer pic.twitter.com/GECpFgKxzL