September 2023

Sega has cancelled Hyenas, the multiplayer extraction shooter in development at UK studio Creative Assembly.

Issuing a warning to investors that it will record a loss for the financial year, Sega said "profitability has been lowered mainly in European bases". As a result, it has implemented "structural reforms aimed at increasing efficiency", and reviewed in-development games. "We have made the difficult decision to cancel some titles under the development as well as to reduce the fixed expenses," Sega said.

"In response to the lower profitability of the European region, we have reviewed the title portfolio of each development base in Europe and the resulting action will be to cancel Hyenas and some unannounced titles under development," Sega continued. "Accordingly, we will implement a write-down of work-in-progress for titles under development."

A source close to Creative Assembly told IGN the entire Hyenas studio now faces redundancy, but staff expect massive cuts across the company. Staff were told the news this morning, September 28, at the same time Sega issued its statement. The cancellation of Hyenas so close to release came as a surprise to staff, IGN was told, although internally there was concern that the game would fail to do well.

"We will implement reduction of various fixed expenses at several group companies in relevant region, centered on the Creative Assembly Ltd," Sega said. "We expect to incur one-time expenses related to reduction of fixed expenses.

"We will continue to consider measures to improve profitability in European bases apart from above. We will announce the specific details and impact from them as soon as we make decision."

Fortnite V-Bucks will increase in price in the United States and several other countries on October 27, 2023, Epic Games has announced.

Revealed in a Fortnite blog post, the price increase of around 12% to 15% per bundle comes as a result of "economic factors such as inflation and currency fluctuations" and follows similar price increases seen in the UK, Canada, and Mexico.

Countries seeing a price increase now include the U.S., Czech Republic, Denmark, Eurozone countries, Hungary, Japan, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Turkey, and all countries where the U.S. dollar is the storefront currency.

The U.S. will see the following price increases: 1,000 V-Bucks rises from $7.99 to $8.99, 2,800 V-Bucks rises from $19.99 to $22.99, 5,000 V-Bucks rises from $31.99 to $36.99, and 13,5000 V-Bucks rises from $79.99 to $89.99.

Epic Games made clear Fortnite Crew subscription pricing is not impacted by the current changes but certain bundles will be adjusted when they return to storefronts. These include the Final Reckoning Pack, Skull Squad Pack, Graveyard Drift Quest Pack, Saint Academy Quest Pack, and Transformers Pack.

Spoiler Warning: The following article includes minor spoilers for Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion, mainly surrounding a decision in the fourth main mission: Lucretia My Reflection.

Cyberpunk 2077 players can very quickly lock themselves out of the game's one and only expansion, Phantom Liberty, by choosing the wrong dialogue option in-game.

As recorded in IGN's Cyberpunk 2077 Guide, the option to simply walk away from Phantom Liberty's main campaign comes during the mission Lucretia My Reflection as Idris Elba's Solomon Reed asks protagonist V of the mission: "is it worth it?"

"Know what, Reed? You're right," V will reply. "Somethin' real wonky 'bout this. I'm out." The other characters start sweating a little here, giving the player one last chance to select to continue the paid expansion. Even Johnny Silverhand chimes in to tell V this isn't a bluff.

By choosing, "Made my decision", however, V will opt to walk away from Reed's mission and leave Phantom Liberty behind. "Finally showin' me your true face," the character continues. "That the way of things? Hard pass from me then. If I gotta die, I'm not gonna die fightin' someone else's war."

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has paid tribute to outgoing PlayStation boss Jim Ryan, who announced his retirement overnight.

Jim Ryan, who's been president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) since 2019, retires in March 2024. Hiroki Totoki will assume the interim CEO role starting on April 1, 2024.

The Sony Group Corporation president, COO, and CFO will also become chairman of SIE starting next month to "support Ryan in his transition", Sony said.

Totoki will "work closely" with Sony Group Corporation Chairman and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida to navigate PlayStation's future, "including the succession of the SIE CEO role."

In a statement, Ryan cited the difficulty of living in Europe while working in North America as a reason for the decision.

“After 30 years, I have made the decision to retire from SIE in March 2024," Ryan said in the statement. "I’ve relished the opportunity to have a job I love in a very special company, working with great people and incredible partners. But I’ve found it increasingly difficult to reconcile living in Europe and working in North America.

“I will leave having been privileged to work on products that have touched millions of lives across the world; PlayStation will always be part of my life, and I feel more optimistic than ever about the future of SIE. I want to thank Yoshida-san for placing so much trust in me and being an incredibly sensitive and supportive leader.”

Spencer tweeted to call Ryan “a great contributor to our industry and a fierce leader for PlayStation” He continued: “I wish him the best in what he does next. Thank you for all you’ve done for the community over the last 30 years, Jim.”

Baldur’s Gate 3 has been out for nearly two months and developer Larian has revealed its most-popular multiclass builds.

In a PlayStation Blog post, product manager Emily Gera discussed the “art of multiclassing”, which lets players create versatile, powerful, and “occasionally kind of weird” class builds.

Baldur’s Gate 3 hybrid characters are made by combining two or more classes in the game. There are 12 classes and 46 subclasses to pick from (for more information, check out IGN’s Baldur’s Gate 3 How to Multiclass guide).

The most-popular multiclass combination is Rogue/Ranger, with over 175,000 players giving it a shot. The Rogue/Ranger class build “marries sneak attacks with high damage at long range”, Gera said. Given how tricky Baldurs Gate 3's combat can be, you can see why Rogue/Ranger would be so popular.

In second place is the “beefy” Barbarian/Fighter combo with 158,161 players. Barbarian/Paladin is in third, closely followed by Cleric/Paladin and Fighter/Paladin.

Here’s Baldur’s Gate 3’s top 20 multiclass combinations by number of players:

A wholesome collaboration between Pokémon and the Van Gogh museum immediately devolved into chaos as scalpers flooded the site looking for an exclusive Pikachu trading card.

As reported by VGC, the exhibition (which opened today, September 28), was intended to encourage children and young people to explore the artistry of Van Gogh, but videos have already appeared online showing the museum rammed full of scalpers.

The Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat card, which depicts Pikachu in the style of Van Gogh's Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat, has already been listed on eBay more than 100 times, with prices anywhere between $100 and $1,500.

This makes me so sad and is why we can’t have nice things

I saw so many wanting to go over in the first few days just to get any card and merch to resell. This is not an acceptable practice. If you do that, shame on you. https://t.co/vVHLHhVyZ1

— Joe Merrick (@JoeMerrick) September 28, 2023

"This makes me so sad and is why we can’t have nice things," said Joe Merrick, head of Pokémon news website Serebii, on X (above). "I saw so many wanting to go over in the first few days just to get any card and merch to resell. This is not an acceptable practice. If you do that, shame on you."

Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone, AKA Concerned Ape, has given fans a sneak peak at the content coming to the game in the highly anticipated 1.6 update, including a new farm type, fresh dialogue, and eight-player multiplayer support for PC.

According to Barone the 1.6 update will bring new Joja-related alternatives to late game quests, 100 lines of original dialogue, new secrets, and content that “expands on each of the skill areas”. The update will also introduce a new major festival and two mini festivals to the yearly calendar.

An entirely new farm type will also be dropping with the influx of new content, along with new items, crafting recipes and winter outfits, while PC players will also benefit from eight-player multiplayer support. The developer had stated the update will make the game “easier and more powerful to mod”.

1.6 content sneak peek. no release date yet pic.twitter.com/vyhbFRkZ00

You’re reading the second chapter of my eight-day travelog recounting my unbelievable trip to Japan to cover the 2023 Pokémon World Championships. If you already haven't, check out Day 1 of my Pokemon journey in Japan.

Day 2 - Pokémon Sweets and Unbearable Heat

6:00 am - I wake up and I’m so tired my face hurts. The 16-hour time difference is brutal. I was awake for 18 hours straight yesterday and my body is not having it. I push the button on the nightstand that automatically opens the blinds (this hotel is so fancy) and I’m surprised when the room fills with sunlight. My eyes scream. Turns out the sun rises at 5:00 am in Japan. But once my eyes adjust, I see a beautiful view of Yokohama and suddenly the pain of being a lil sleepy guy fades and I get hyped for the day’s planned adventures.

6:20 am - The weather here is obscenely hot and muggy so I pack a bag full of essentials to deal with the extreme heat: sunglasses, cap, mini-fan, and one of the hotel’s complimentary water bottles from atop the minibar.

6:40 am - I head downstairs and run to the 7/11 across the street for a quick breakfast. I decide on some banana bread rounds topped with dried banana chips. I had heard tales of Japanese 7/11s and their scrumptious wonders, and it turns out the legends were true. They have aisles and aisles of yummy foods, and I would make many a trip here during my stay.

The studio behind summer hit Dave The Diver has announced its next game — and it’s very different indeed.

Dave the Diver is a casual, single-player adventure RPG featuring deep-sea exploration and fishing during the day and sushi restaurant management at night.

Mintrocket’s next game is Nakwon: Last Paradise, which sounds anything but casual. It’s described as a third-person zombie apocalypse stealth survival game in which you experience a new form of ‘post-apocalypse life’ we’ve never seen before. There is exploration, extraction, survival, resource gathering, and a PvPvE city in which zombies and survivors coexist to survive ‘in this new societal structure”.

Mintrocket said the core “fun” of Nakwon lies in your ability to survive on your own “amidst the extreme tension with aggressive zombies and unreliable survivors”. Survivors compete for limited resources or find ways to survive without casualties.

It’s set in Seoul, which makes sense given Mintrocket is a division of Nexon Korea Corporation. “The unique setting in Seoul will elevate your gaming experience to a level unlike anything you've played before,” the developer said. “Here, zombies behave like humans but are more powerful and will relentlessly pursue you.”

A pre-alpha test is expected soon. There’s no release date yet.

IGN’s Dave the Diver review emerged with a 9/10. We said: “Dave The Diver is an aquatic adventure RPG that’s wholesome, wonderfully complex, and delightfully hard to put down.”

The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S version of Cities: Skylines 2 has suffered a big delay from the planned October launch to some point during spring 2024.

Publisher Paradox Interactive and developer Colossal Order insisted the PC version of its hotly anticipated city building game is on track for the original release date on October 24 via Steam and the Windows Store, as well as PC Game Pass.

“We are hard at work getting the game ready for our release on October 24,” Paradox said in a statement issued to IGN. “While doing so, we have come to realize that we need more time to reach the quality targets we have set. As we want to provide the best experience for our players, we are updating the release window for Xbox and PS5 to spring 2024. The additional time allows us to focus on matching the quality and performance across all platforms.”

Preorders will be automatically refunded, Paradox said, with no action needed by customers. It may take a few weeks for an order to be refunded, the publisher added. The refund process for the physical edition preorder is handled via the retailer.

Meanwhile, Paradox has raised Cities Skylines 2’s minimum and recommended PC specs. “Cities: Skylines 2 is a next-generation title and therefore has certain hardware requirements,” Paradox said in a FAQ. “The recommended specs were set when the game was still in development. After having done extensive testing with different hardware we made the decision to update the minimum/recommended specs for a better player experience.”

Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion introduced players to a new area called Dogtown, but its residents really aren't a big fan of Night City's police force.

As recorded in IGN's Cyberpunk 2077 Easter Eggs and References Guide, the private-military controlled area doesn't even let police officers in. Any player who acquires (steals) a police car or van isn't allowed to pass through the Dogtown gates, with the residents offering up a rude response to those who try.

"F**k off NCPigs", a giant red message across the door reads, a play on words of sorts of the Night City Police Department, or NCPD. While the gates to Dogtown usually open as soon as the player approaches, they remain firmly closed while driving a police car.

The lack of police in Dogtown makes sense given it's a more or less lawless area, with even the abhorrent rest of Night City coming off friendly in comparison. It's ruled instead by the Barghest which, alongside being a neat reference to the original Witcher game, are a private military run by the vile and violent Kurt Hansen, Phantom Liberty's big baddie.

Generally speaking FromSoft’s games are synonymous with difficulty, and the “tough but fair” approach to combat has been applauded by gamers looking for a challenge. There’s certainly a masochistic appeal to getting your ass kicked for not pushing the buttons real good, but that’s really just one facet of a larger design philosophy: these games have faith that players will figure out how they work.

Elden Ring in particular makes the delightful assumption that maybe players already know the basics of how to play, and if they don’t… Well, they can go jump in a hole. I mean, they actually put a tutorial at the bottom of a hole. If you already know how blocking and rolling works, you don’t have to go down in the hole, you can just go outside and do Tarnished shit. If you’re new here? Get in the hole, idiot.

Set in a pulp adventure 1932 where secret societies seek to use magic to reshape the world, The Lamplighters League combines a strategic campaign layer with real-time stealth and tactical combat to deliver a twist on the tactics genre that's fun, but doesn't do anything too radically new. It took a bit to grow on me, with a really slow start to get through, but once it gets up to speed this sometimes absurd, always entertaining pulp story is a blast that plays through to a memorable finale.

The Lamplighters League will immediately hit home with people who love the kind of pulp adventure exemplified by The Mummy or Indiana Jones. The three enemy houses of the Banished Court, all of whom want to remake the world in their own image, perfectly encapsulate the villain archetypes you'd want from the setting: House Nicastro is your classic cult of squid-worshippers devoted to bringing back their dead god, House Strum is a noble lineage of tyrannical conquerors pillaging ancient Egyptian magic to be immortal and control fiery mummies, and House Marteau is headed by an upstart American industrialist – complete with period-perfect pencil mustache – whose wonderful new contribution to capitalism is enslaving your ghost when you die working the assembly line. Now that's disruption!

Valve dropped Counter-Strike 2 on Steam yesterday alongside a stark warning to cheaters: not only will it ban them, but all their friends, too.

“When one or more party members get convicted of cheating and permanently banned, all their associates will be penalized with loss of Profile Rank and CS Rating,” Valve said in the release notes for Counter-Strike 2.

“In Premier, players with a very high established CS Rating are not allowed to party with accounts that do not have an established CS Rating,” Valve added, revealing another anti-cheating tactic specifically for Counter-Strike 2’s hardcore competitive mode.

Valve has battled against Counter-Strike cheaters ever since its hugely popular first-person shooter went on sale. Indeed, Counter-Strike 2 had a cheating problem before it even came out. So it makes sense that Valve would want to lay down a marker now at launch.

Valve announced Counter-Strike 2 in March. Running on Source Engine 2, the same game engine used on other Valve games including Dota 2 and Half-Life: Alyx, Counter-Strike 2 replaces its predecessor on Steam, where it’s already shot through the 1.3 million concurrent players barrier.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Mortal Kombat 1 players have spent the game’s early life experimenting with the new Kameo system, which lets you call in other characters to perform an action. Using Kameo characters, players are working out how to do elaborate combos that involve “juggling” their opponent with multiple hits. But this new combo from evil sorcerer Shang Tsung is perhaps the most ridiculous yet.

Mortal Kombat professional player Jarrad "NinjaKilla212" Gooden, who won the Mortal Kombat 11 tournament at Evo this year, took to Twitter to publish a video showing an 89-hit combo from Shang Tsung, who, in old form, repeatedly juggles poor Baraka with Ground Skulls fireballs, and keeps the fun going by calling in Scorpion for a cheeky Kameo juggle. There's even a fancy side switch. (For more, check out IGN’s Shang Tsung character guide, which includes a move list and Fatalities list.)

Your opponent hits you with this in a tournament, what you doing? pic.twitter.com/mKMwkNOHIr

— DuckKilla_212 (@212Ninjakilla) September 28, 2023

“Your opponent hits you with this in a tournament, what you doing?” asks NinjaKilla212. I don’t know about you, but probably put my controller down and put the kettle on.

Teardown, the first-person, voxel-based heist game that might fairly be described as the delightfully bizarre lovechild of Burnout 3's Crash Mode, Minecraft, and Thief, is on its way to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on November 15. Check out the release date trailer below, and our all-new exclusive eight-minute PS5 gameplay footage above.

Teardown was initially released for PC in April of last year, and developer Tuxedo Labs has been hard at work on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series version of it ever since. In Teardown, you'll roam an environment, planning out your route both to the loot and then out to the getaway van. But part of that planning involves utilizing the fully destructible voxel-based environment. If you need to blow a few holes in a few walls in order to simplify your route, go for it. Because once you set the heist in motion, you'll have precious few seconds to execute your plan and make it safely to the escape point.

Tuxedo Labs also detailed its content roadmap, telling IGN, "Players will be able to expand their experience even further with four new DLCs available as part of the game’s Ultimate Edition for $49.99, the Season Pass for $29.99, or individually for $7.99 each. This new content will include: