IGN

Assassin's Creed Valhalla will get its final DLC - The Last Chapter - on December 6, but it will unfortunately not be getting the "highly requested" New Game+ feature.

Ubisoft shared the news in a blog, and it revealed The Last Chapter will wrap up "two amazing years of launch suport." The Last Chapter will arrive alongside Title Update 1.6.2, and it will serve as a "touching and intimate conclusion to Eivor's saga" and will "tie up some of the storylines developed throughout the game and offer closure to your time among the Raven Clan."

Those who wish to see the end of Eivor's story will need to complete a few things, and the full list is as follows;

• Complete the main storyline by pledging to all territories of England
• Complete the mythical story arcs of Asgard and Jotunheim
• Upgrade your settlement to level 5 and construct the Jomsviking barracks
• Kill all targets of the Order of the Ancients and unveil its leader

Ubisoft also confirmed it will no longer be running time-limited festival events in Ravensthorpe. However, all rewards from past festivals will be avaialble at Merchants after the quest The FIrst Night of Samhain is completed. There will also be brand-new rewards as a "thank you for your continued support."

As for New Game+, which Ubisoft acknowledged was a "highly requested feature," it will not be added to the game.

The Meta Quest 2 Black Friday deal is now live (see it at Amazon). So far, this is the biggest hit of Black Friday. For the Black Friday 2022 Meta Quest deal, the 128GB model is on sale for $349.99 (a $50 price drop) and the 256GB is $429.99 (a $70 discount), and both bundles include Beat Saber and now Resident Evil 4 VR.

Meta Quest 2 Black Friday Deals

If you're wondering if the VR device is any good, be sure to check out our Meta Quest 2 review (from back when it was called the Oculus Quest 2). And also take a look at our Resident Evil 4 VR review, which our critic scored a winning 9 out of 10.

As someone who has a Meta Quest 2 owner, I can highly recommend it. Not having wires is one of those things you don't realize is great until you experience it. My first VR experience was with PSVR, which was pretty amazing, but it had tons of limitations, including the bulky wires and less than great controller support. But the Quest 2 gets rid of those limitations, and works awesome. Seriously, Beat Saber on Meta Quest 2 is the absolute best way to play, in my opinion. Sure, it doesn't have the resolution of the higher-end VR headsets, but I'd gladly trade away resolution to be freed of wires.

Spoilers for a side quest in God of War Ragnarok are ahead!

God of War Ragnarok has a sidequest that is a beautiful tribute to Jake Snipes, a gameplay programmer at Santa Monica Studio that passed away in 2020.

The side quest in question is called Across the Realms, and its significance was shared on Twitter by Sam Handrick, a senior gameplay programmer at Santa Monica Studio who was also Snipes' partner.

There's something in God of War Ragnarok which is the most special to me. I got to pitch it and the team made it into everything I could have hoped.

I had hoped to wait for some time to talk about it but want to share it now, just in case.

It's the Ballad of Jari and Somr. pic.twitter.com/S9itiutGbq

— Sam Handrick (@MDSVeritas) November 18, 2022

"There's something in God of War Ragnarok which is the most special to me," Handrick wrote. "I got to pitch it and the team made it into everything I could have hoped. I had hoped to wait for some time to talk about it but want to share it now, just in case. It's the Ballad of Jari and Somr."

In case you’ve not already heard, God of War Ragnarok is a bit of a masterpiece. It’s a tremendous advancement on its predecessor in many aspects, building on themes, characters, and mechanics in fascinating ways. But while its story and script will always be the shining star in this new narrative-focused era for the series, I’ve found Ragnarok continues to add layers to what I believe is God of War’s secret weapon: its knotty, puzzle-packed level design. It’s a world that takes mathematical problems and asks you not to pull out your calculator, but instead hurl a deadly weapon at high speed and ricochet it around impossible angles. It turns puzzles into power fantasies, and through that makes the quest for its Platinum trophy all the more alluring.

There’s rarely a wasted square inch of map in God of War, particularly in its labyrinthine realms. Their routes, which climb and descend and twist around all manner of beautiful landscapes and architecture, are littered with challenges of varying sizes. Often that’s signalled by the glow of a treasure chest that is kept out of reach by a simply solved conundrum. Other times it's a locked route that demands a series of interlinked puzzles to be solved in order to progress onward. But even simply moving forward requires much more thought than just pushing on an analogue stick. Travelling from one objective to another is typically a gauntlet of micro puzzles; you might use an ability to open up a pathway, then track a route around an area to drop a climbing chain, and finally scale along and up a wall to your final destination.

Two years after the original Call of Duty: Warzone dropped into the battle royale arena, its sequel, Warzone 2.0, has arrived with a new map and some enticing new game modes. Or at least, it would offer those things if network and server issues weren’t preventing me from playing a single full, clean match since its launch on Wednesday. That could just be the typical release window woes, and I’ll be holding off on my full scored review until things have had a chance to settle and I’ve played more, but anyone looking to dive in over the weekend should be prepared for a bumpy landing.

Warzone 2.0 is still a battle royale at its center, bringing back a lot of the first game’s mechanics and base features while introducing a few tweaks of its own, like having two or three smaller circles that eventually converge into one. It’s not all familiar though, as the brand new Al Mazrah map nicely incorporates some of the multiplayer stages from Modern Warfare 2, and the new DMZ mode that takes place on it provides a welcome change of pace from Warzone’s usual last person standing structure.

It's seemingly official: Pokérus is gone. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet just released on Thursday, but players are already discovering the rare, fictional disease is not present in the new games.

Pokérus was first introduced in Gen 2 Pokémon games. The status is essentially a virus; it infects any Pokémon adjacent to an infected Pokémon in your party, even though they're both still in Poké Balls.

The disappearance of Pokérus was discovered by Twitter user and dataminer @mattyoukhana_, who found that the game's code showed no indication of Pokérus.

Pokérus is no longer present in Scarlet & Violet! No assets for the Pokérus status icons exist in the game, and it can not be found on wild Pokémon.

After testing with a Pokémon forcibly given Pokérus, they still gain the usual EV yield (not x2), and Pokérus does not spread. pic.twitter.com/DIklfjbQHS

— Matt (@mattyoukhana_) November 18, 2022

While a virus surely sounds bad, Pokérus is actually completely beneficial. The status, which was indicated by a small icon, doubled the EV points that the infected Pokémon gained from battle, making training exceedingly easy.

All you had to do was place your Pokémon all around the infected and poof! Within hours, all your Pokémon would have the status.

The otherwise sweet and wholesome Cooking Mama has been in some hot water over the last year as a legal dispute threw 2020's Cooking Mama: Cookstar into contention. The good news is that this dispute seems to have been resolved.

The bad news is that Cooking Mama: Cookstar is being pulled from store shelves, and may never return.

In a press release from license holder Office Create, the company says that its ongoing legal battle with Cookstar publisher Planet Entertainment has been resolved in its favor.

According to Office Create's account, Planet Entertainment released Cookstar back in 2020 for the Switch without Office Create's approval — a decision for which Office Create revoked its license to Cooking Mama. But Planet continued to sell the game and even released a PS4 version the following year.

Office Create took Planet to international court over it, which has now ruled that the release infringed on Office Create's trademark, and has ordered the game removed from all digital and physical store shelves.

It's a bit confusing how we got here in the first place, but here's the summary: Cooking Mama: Cookstar is licensed by Office Create, the company that owns the Cooking Mama franchise. Planet Entertainment signed on to develop Cookstar, but according to Office Create, the game wasn't up to standards. Office Create says it instructed Planet to correct the issues and resubmit, but that Planet then just went and released the game anyway on the eShop.

The creature that brings weapons but not new Crucible maps, 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 can be found at Winding Cove in the EDZ on November 18 through November 22. To reach him, travel to the landing point at Winding Cove. When you arrive, make for the rock cliffs at the far end of the cove and look for a cave winding up to a platform next to some Fallen. There you'll find the freakish salesman we all adore.

Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty: Warzone 2 may be about pitting 150 super soldiers against each other in a fight to the death, but one player has opted for a less violent career.

As reported by VG247, Reddit user Crescendummain has become an in-game taxi driver thanks to Warzone 2's new proximity voice chat feature. The player pulls up to other squads and, as long as they don't kill him first, offers them rides to anywhere on the map.

Seeking that five star review, Crescendummain sticks to main roads only so that players have a smooth ride to their destination, offering the typical small talk along the way.

Proximity chat, as the name suggests, means players can now hear the voice chat of nearby enemies. While this naturally results in a lot of screaming and swearing, Crescendummain has used it to spread a little friendliness in the otherwise intense first person shooter.

Warzone 2 finally launched this week as a successor to developer Infinity Ward's hit Call of Duty Battle Royale, bringing a variety of new features with it. The biggest of these changes is its new map Al Mazrah, however, as the series has moved away from its classic Verdansk and Caldera settings.

Update, November 18, 12 PM ET: Retailers have continued to discount the Xbox Series S, and it can now be bought for $240 from Amazon, and $235 from Dell. We've updated the original story below to reflect this.

Microsoft has officially dropped the price of the Xbox Series S for the holidays. This is a part of its Xbox Black Friday promotion sale, where you can also find up to 67% off digital games, up to $25 off Xbox Controllers, and plenty more as well.

This is probably the best deal we're going to see when it comes to the 'new-gen' consoles this coming Black Friday. For a limited time only, you can get $60 off the smallest Xbox ever, the Xbox Series S, and set yourself up for one of the best years Xbox has ever had in 2023.

Moreover, this deal also makes the Xbox Series S officially cheaper than the most popular gaming console, the Nintendo Switch, which is also set to have its own Black Friday deals. While you're here, several retailers have also got Xbox Controllers down to just $39.99 right now for Black Friday, which is another superb deal. Don't miss our full best Xbox Black Fridays deals roundup, and make sure you're following @IGNDeals for the very latest Black Friday updates on Twitter.

Cardy, Dale, and Jesse are here to debate what the best chocolate bars are. After that, they finally get to talking about some games and films as thoughts on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Pentiment, and The Devil in Me are shared.

If you're into it, get tickets for our live show in London on December 2nd here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ign-uks-the-podcast-before-christmas-tickets-445286492887

Got a game for us to play or some feedback you'd like read out on the show? Why not email us: ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.

IGN UK Podcast 671: Black Panther: Mars Bars Forever

• IGN UK Podcast 670: Kissing Sonic and Long Furbys
• IGN UK Podcast 669: God of War Ragnarok Review Discussion
• IGN UK Podcast: The Elden Ring Special (Finally)
• IGN UK Podcast #668: Goodbye Beef Boy Joe
• IGN UK Podcast #667: God of War Ragnarok Early Impressions

Several Call of Duty: Warzone 2 players have been locked out of the game after a glitch demands they first buy Modern Warfare 2, even if they already own it.

As reported by PC Gamer, the glitch seemingly arrived as developer Infinity Ward administered a hotfix for another issue with the free-to-play game, as even players who've logged hours of play-time have been locked out.

There is currently no known solution for the issue and neither Infinity Ward or publisher Activision Blizzard have acknowledged it.

Purchasing Modern Warfare 2 doesn't work either, as players who've owned the game since its launch in October are also locked out. While the two games use the same launcher, Warzone 2 is its own, standalone experience that shouldn't require any other purchases to play fully.

"I played probably around six Warzone 2 matches with no problem (finished my last match a few minutes ago)," said Reddit user Unf0cused. "Now when I try to play it, when I click 'Battle Royale Solos' I get the 'Purchase Modern Warfare II to have access to everything' window'."

Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka has been arrested for suspected insider trading for an investment made while working at Square Enix.

As reported by IGN Japan, Naka was arrested by the Special Investigation Department of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office alongside two other former Square Enix employees.

He allegedly bought 10,000 shares in developer Aiming, at a value of around $20,000, ahead of it announcing the Dragon Quest Tact mobile game in partnership with Square Enix. The other employees arrested, Taisuke Sazaki and Fumiaki Suzuki, allegedly purchased a combined total of 162,000 shares at a value of around $337,250. Sazaki is also alleged to have informed Naki and Suzuki about the potential rise in value.

Insider trading is the buying and selling of stocks with confidential or non-public information, usually with the intention to make money, and is illegal in Japan.

The trio are therefore reportedly suspected of investing in Aiming before the Dragon Quest game was announced, expecting the collaboration with Square Enix to drive up the value of the company. It's currently unclear if Naka or the other employees have sold their shares.

At last, Game Freak has done it. As of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet there are now more than 1000 Pokémon.

Pokémon Sword and Shield, along with their DLC, brought the total up to 905, and Scarlet and Violet's new additions cap the number at a whopping 1008. For those tracking, that's not counting regional variants such as Wooper's new variant in the Paldea region, though it does count new regional evolutions, assuming they have different names than their counterparts elsewhere.

So who, then, is Pokémon number 1000? Turns out, Game Freak seems to have been very aware they were designing a monster with the distinguished honor of being number 1000, so they leaned into that a bit.

Warning: We're going to spoil Pokémon number 1000 for you below this video. Don't scroll further if you don't want to know.

Who's that 1000th Pokémon? It's...Gholdengo!

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's review embargo has lifted, and as it ticks over to November 18 around the world, folks are beginning to get access to them. Which means everyone is now able to see an extremely unfortunate, glaring issue with the games: they run very, very poorly.

We covered this in our review in progress, and there's a lot more to the game that we discuss in there, but here's a quick excerpt summarizing the issues we specifically ran into:

Overwatch 2 fans aren’t entirely happy with the game’s rewards and cosmetics, especially considering their high cost. And Blizzard isn’t satisfied, either.

During a lengthy blog post, new Overwatch 2 executive producer Jared Neuss revealed that Blizzard is planning some big changes to how its season passes will work.

“In Season 2, we’ve changed up our rewards a bit so that each event has a skin you can earn by playing, in addition to the other cosmetic rewards we already offer,” he explained. Notably, the game’s recent Halloween Terror event rewarded little beyond voice lines, some titles, and XP.

“We’re also going to continue our Twitch drops programs so that you can earn skins and in-game goodies by supporting your favorite creators,” he added. “While we're working on the long-term plans, we want upcoming seasons to feel more rewarding than Season 1.”

Improvements to battle pass rewards will go a long way, especially if this includes additional free skins… but there’s more to do in the long term.

Thankfully, Blizzard is planning to up the ante when it comes to Season 3.

“For Season 3 and beyond, we’re looking at a mix of Battle Pass changes, more interesting Challenges to pursue, and more exciting play-focused progression systems for you all to dig into. We’ll be able to talk about some of these changes soon, but other changes may take more time to lock-in.”

Splinter Cell fans today got an unexpected glimpse at the game’s upcoming remake.

Some new concept art was released by Ubisoft as part of Splinter Cell’s 20th Anniversary celebrations, depicting Sam Fisher in action with those familiar multi-vision goggles… not to mention a particularly intense-looking interrogation.

Creative director Chris Auty confirmed that the Splinter Cell remake is still “very early” in production, and it sounds as though it’s still a long way off.

But by the time it gets here, it looks as though it’ll include some improvements on the original.

“20 years later, we can look back at the plot, the characters, the overall story of the game [and] make some improvements - things that might not have aged particularly well,” said creative director Chris Auty. “But the core of the story, the core of the experience will remain as it was in the original game.”

The game may be a way off, but Ubisoft also explained how some of these improvements will work, including an upgrade to the game’s AI.

“Obviously a special forces soldier will be better trained,” said technical director, Christian Carriere. “They’re going to breach differently or enter rooms differently to something like a regular security guard would.”

Embracer Group has announced that Borderlands developer Gearbox now owns the Risk of Rain franchise.

“After the quarter, Gearbox acquired the Risk of Rain IP along with all released games in the commercially successful video game franchise from Hopoo Games,” Embracer Group explains in its second-quarter interim report.

“Risk of Rain now joins Gearbox’s portfolio of owned games that includes acclaimed franchises such as Borderlands, Brothers in Arms, Homeworld, and more.”

Risk of Rain was released in 2013, developed by Hopoo Games and published by Chucklefish to critical and commercial acclaim. A sequel, Risk of Rain 2, was published by Gearbox into early access in 2019 with a full 1.0 launch in 2020.

In IGN’s Risk of Rain 2 review, we said, “What’s here now is polished, fun, and immensely replayable, and what’s on the horizon leads me to believe I’ll be playing Risk of Rain 2 for a very long time to come.”

Update 11/17 2:56 pm PT: IGN has learned additional details leading to what ended Activision Blizzard's 14-year partnership with NetEase following one NetEase executive's social media statement pointing the finger at a 'jerk.'

According to sources at Activision Blizzard familiar with the company's partnership with NetEase, the agreements between the two companies are reviewed every few years in order to extend the existing agreements.

However, a new proposal from NetEase would have "fundamentally changed" the terms of the agreement and impact certain aspects of the deal including, "how games are launched and operated," as well as changes over the "control of our IP."

Our sources also indicate that the company is committed to the Chinese gaming market, one of the largest consumer markets in the world, and that "alternatives" are being looked at to bring the games back to the region in the future.

NetEase and Blizzard’s partnership might not mean too much in North America, but was the reason why Blizzard games were available in one of the world’s largest gaming markets. That partnership is dead as of today and according to one senior NetEase figure, it’s all because of one “jerk.”

Simon Zhu, a 10-year veteran at NetEase who has held several senior positions at the company, including President of Global Investment and Partnership, wrote a short post on LinkedIn mourning the end of the NetEase and Blizzard partnership.

Ever since the The Callisto Protocol trailer dropped at The Game Awards in 2020, the frightening gameplay remains instilled in our minds. With its release date right around the corner (on Dec 2nd) we just had to find out all we can about the anticipated horror game, from none other than the game's creators. With tons to unpack around The Callisto Protocol, we have an exciting 3-part docuseries and an exclusive panel around "Mastering Horror" to share with you all.

The docuseries is now released, so be sure to catch up on the 3-part horror docuseries below. Then, tune in this week to the finale livestream, Part 2 - The Callisto Protocol: Mastering Horror Roundtable. More details below on everything you can watch and look forward to!

How to Watch

• What: 3-part horror docuseries
• Where: Right here on IGN.com
• When: The episodes will release at different times. The next stream will be live at 9am PT on Friday, November 18th, and the first few episodes are now available to watch below!

Part 1 - Mastering Horror: The Callisto Protocol Docuseries

• Ep 1 Brutality in Horror Cinema: Oct 27. Watch Episode 1 Below!

You’re going to be smashing a lot of robots in Atomic Heart. You’ll need to blast them in two or tear them limb from limb to ensure your own survival. But those moments of violence are just one part of a bigger cycle; by destroying robots you can then harvest their components, which can then be used to upgrade your weapons and abilities, which in turn can then be used to destroy more robots. That’s the cycle of life in the halls of Facility 3826.

Rip and Tear

Developer Mundfish has put a lot of work into making Atomic Heart’s combat system as satisfying as possible, and a big part of delivering that satisfaction is through detailed damage. As you cleave through robots, their synthetic skin will tear open and reveal the metal structures within. More industrial-style enemies will see their armored casings become scratched and dented with each new strike. And, of course, bullets will puncture enemies with holes and rockets will blast them to pieces. No matter your choice in weaponry, the deadly impact of them will be reflected on the enemies you battle.

While Atomic Heart’s numerous weapons and special powers can be used on any enemy, there’s often a benefit to choosing the right weapon for the job. Each type of robot has a unique vulnerability that you’ll want to exploit, and so discovering that weak point and targeting it with the right weapon will help you take down ferocious foes as fast and efficiently as possible. Sometimes those weaknesses will be obvious during the course of battle, such as a robot’s armor opening up to expose its glowing core. For the times when a weakness is not obvious, your personal scanner will provide hints to help you find it.

Usually the most unsettling thing you can find in a hotel is a mysterious mattress stain or clumps of hair in the shower drain, but The Devil in Me presents you with accommodations that are less like a Best Western and more like your worst nightmare. Inspired by a real life murder castle and its infamous serial killer hotelier, the fourth and final episode in The Dark Pictures Anthology's first season presents a fascinating facility full of ghastly deathtraps and creepy animatronics to encounter. Unfortunately it squanders it all on a bland band of lead characters, and pads its runtime with tension-draining detours that made me wish I could have called down to reception to request an earlier check out time.

The Devil in Me's premise is certainly a tantalizing one. An unsolicited invitation to spend the night in a remotely located reconstruction of H.H. Holmes’ house of horrors would seem easier to turn down than the volume on a silent movie, but it proves to be too good to refuse for a small crew of filmmakers struggling to produce a documentary on America’s first serial killer. The team is effectively there just to grab footage that will lend some authenticity to its production, and indulge in the lavish hospitality of reclusive hotel owner Granthem Du’Met. But the promise of bed and breakfast soon gives way to the threat of bedlam and bloodlust as it becomes clear that Du’Met isn’t just intent on recreating the look and feel of the World’s Fair Hotel, but reenacting the horrifying events that took place within its maze-like structure too.

A new Legacy of Kain game is looking likely after Embracer Group received 100,000 responses to its recent survey asking fans if they wanted more from the franchise.

In its second quarter financial results, Embracer Group said it was overwhelmed with the number of responses to the survey it released in October and responded plainly: "We hear you loudly and clearly".

Phil Rogers, CEO of Embracer's 12th operative group that encompasses Legacy of Kain creator Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Interactive, said: "We wanted to gain a community perspective on what players are looking for should we revisit the land of Nosgoth and, of course, our iconic IP Legacy of Kain."

He continued: "In the past we've found that surveys typically get between [1,000] and 3,000 responses, but when we asked folk about Legacy of Kain we received over 100,000 responses, and 73,000 gamers completed it entirely.

"We saw the news of our survey shared across social and press platforms and really felt this was a great way to reignite this passionate fan community with this legendary PC console game series. Rest assured, we hear you loudly and clearly and will continue to update you on the 'What if?' possibilities ahead for Legacy of Kain in the future."

Developer EA Dice has announced that Battlefield 2042 Season 3: Escalation arrives on November 22, bringing a new map, Battle Pass, Specialist, and more.

The new map, Spearhead, puts players in the Swedish wilderness as they fight in and around two high tech weapon manufacturing facilities. Season 3 will also see launch maps Manifest and Breakaway reworked, but not until December and January respectively.

A refreshed 100-tier Battle Pass will also arrive with the update that includes new Specialist Rasheed Zain as one of the free unlockables. This Egyptian-born security expert comes armed with an XM370A airburst launcher designed to force enemies out of cover and the fastest health recharge of any Specialist.

Speaking of weapons, Season 3 brings the Rorsch MK-4 Railgun, NVK-S22 Smart Shotgun, NVK-P125 Bullpup Pistol, and the Battlefield-favourite throwing knives to 2042. A new vehicle, the EMKV90-TOR Tank, is also being added to the game, which can be switched into different modes depending on the situation.

New assignments are also being added, letting players unlock even more Vault weapons to use in All Out Warfare.

EA DICE also announced that its Specialist rework will be arriving sometime during Season 3, seeing a return of the classic Battlefield Class system. Though it won't be finished until Season 4 is available, Specialists will be slowly but surely changed to reflect the new system.

Until Dawn and The Quarry developer Supermassive Games is currently developing another Dark Pictures Anthology game set in space.

As reported by Eurogamer, a trailer for the new game appeared at the end of The Dark Pictures: The Devil In Me, and YouTube user Slimpy has already uploaded footage from an early copy.

The game is called Directive 8020 and will act as the Season 2 premiere of The Dark Pictures Anthology after The Devil In Me wrapped up Season 1. The minute-long trailer shows what appears to be a space station from well into the future, as a narrator comments that it's looking for humanity's new home.

"This is Commander Stafford of the forward reconnaissance vessel Cassiopeia," the voice said. "After successfully rendezvousing with the Charybdis marker we have detached the booster ring and spirits are high as we make our final approach to Tau Ceti f.

"The ship has suffered a hull impact, but damage is minimal and our technicians are restoring full functionality. Our next transmission will be broadcast from orbit around humanity's future home."

Activision Blizzard has announced that several of its game franchises including Overwatch, Diablo, World of Warcraft, and more will be unplayable in China as of January 23, 2023.

The Blizzard side of its business was unable to reach a new deal with Chinese tech company NetEase, who publishes the games in China, meaning its agreement will expire on the aforementioned date.

World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Warcraft III: Reforged, Overwatch 2, the StarCraft series, Diablo III, and Heroes of the Storm will all be unplayable. Diablo: Immortal, Blizzard's controversial mobile game, is published under a separate agreement and is therefore unaffected at the moment.

Activision Blizzard is already looking into alternative ways to bring its games to China but it's unclear if and when this may happen.

"We’re immensely grateful for the passion our Chinese community has shown throughout the nearly 20 years we’ve been bringing our games to China through NetEase and other partners," said Blizzard president Mike Ybarra "Their enthusiasm and creativity inspire us, and we are looking for alternatives to bring our games back to players in the future."

Deep Silver has once again delayed Dead Island 2 and the game will now be released on April 28 next year.

Announced on the Dead Island Twitter (below), the delay from February 3 at least only marks a 12 week delay compared to the several years it's been since Dead Island 2's initial release window of spring 2015.

No specific reason for the delay was given so it appears developer Dambuster Studios simply needed more time, though it said it understands the irony in delaying Dead Island 2 again.

The delay is just 12 short weeks and development is on the final straight now. The new release date for Dead Island 2 will be April 28th 2023.#DeadIsland #SeeYouInHELLA pic.twitter.com/Vf1NARTECo

— Dead Island (@deadislandgame) November 17, 2022

"The irony of delaying Dead Island 2 is not lost on us and we are as disappointed as you undoubtedly are," it said in a joint statement with publisher Deep Silver. "The delay is just 12 short weeks and development is on the final straight now.

"We're going to take the time we need to make sure we can launch a game we're proud to launch. For those of you who've been waiting for years, thank you for hanging in there with us."

Before I started Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, I didn’t quite believe they would actually let me wander off in any old direction like developer Game Freak claimed I could. Even with the increasingly open nature of recent Pokémon games like Sword, Shield, and Arceus, this has still been a very linear RPG series, with a set path of challenges and plot points lined up in a neat order. But then I picked up my Fuecoco and ventured out into the Paldea region only to have that disbelief completely shattered. After a few years of experimentation on the Switch, Game Freak has finally stumbled upon an open world formula that successfully reinvents how Pokémon is played, while remaining true to the nostalgic childhood vision of exploration, adventure, and cute monster collecting. It is, in almost every way, the transformation I’ve been waiting for – but the grievously poor performance that has come along with it significantly mars this otherwise exciting design evolution.

After a fairly beefy opening route and some exposition about going to school to become good at Pokémon , you are given three major story paths to follow, each with several objectives you can choose to tackle in any order. It’s not unlike The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s structure of opening all four Divine Beasts at once – and similar to heading straight for Hyrule Castle to fight Ganon, you can (as far as I can tell) walk out of your school and run straight to the hardest gym and challenge it, though I wouldn’t actually recommend doing that.

Our Xbox crew mourns the passing of legendary longtime Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy, discussing how his presence and performance in the Batman: Arkham games helped elevate not just those games but the entire superhero game genre. Plus: our impressions of this week's new Xbox-exclusive releases Somerville and Pentiment, CD Projekt Red shares notable news on both Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3's next-gen update, and more!

Subscribe on any of your favorite podcast feeds, to our YouTube channel, or grab an MP3 of this week's episode. For more awesome content, check out our interview with Todd Howard, who answered all of our Starfield questions after the big reveal at the Xbox Showcase:

For more next-gen coverage, make sure to check out our Xbox Series X review, our Xbox Series S review, and our PS5 review.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

Feelings of glee and wonder not unlike walking into an arcade full of classic games befell me as I booted up Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, gawking at its wide and varied wonders. This collection offers a completely new, very fun way to explore several decades of Atari arcade machines, consoles, handhelds, and PCs. With no musty old, red museum ropes to restrain me (only five of the 103 games require unlocking), I found myself not just absorbing, but exploring the past – like that chunky pixel in Adventure for the Atari 2600 gliding through rainbow-colored castles. Experiencing history in Atari 50 is like nothing else I’ve ever seen in any collection before, let alone a documentary, book, or a classroom. It’s all of those things in one, and a lot more fun!

If you’ve played a recent game collection, you know what they are about: A list of emulated games, sometimes presented with new save options, control schemes, and other adaptations – and often a sampling of digitized extras, like scans of box art. Atari 50’s creators, Digital Eclipse, are unparalleled collection creators. Their previous efforts, including the Mega Man Legacy Collection and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection came packed with art and unearthed design documents in addition to presenting very playable versions of emulated games. In Atari 50, the historical artifacts are not buried in an extras menu on the home screen. Here, the extras menu is a game itself. Presented as a branching timeline, a single point of interest might be a playable game, a short documentary, a slideshow, a scan, a quote, or an artifact, all adding to an irresistible completion percentage as you delve deeper.

After announcing Discord integration on Xbox a few months back, Microsoft officially released the Xbox November update, allowing Xbox owners to connect to a Discord voice channel using their console.

The feature is a welcome addition for Xbox owners, as users previously needed to transfer their Discord voice call from the app (desktop or mobile) onto their Xbox Series X/S or Xbox One. Thanks to the new update, this additional step is no longer required.

Noise suppression in Discord Voice has also been introduced thanks to the new update, meaning you can enable the feature to block background noises that may obstruct your Discord voice call, like a dog barking or you typing away on a keyboard. However, the feature is only available on Xbox Series X/S consoles.

In addition to making it easier to connect to a Discord voice call, Microsoft announced today that the new Xbox November update introduces a new Captures app that has improved how you playback, edit, and manage gameplay captured from your console.

The update can be downloaded free on Xbox consoles.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

A fan-made Fallout 76 live-action concept trailer has left Bethesda impressed. The video’s director, Brian Curtin managed to fit much of the Fallout franchise’s iconography into the two-and-a-half-minute trailer.

The official Fallout Twitter account posted Curtin’s video and praised it, saying that it had left the team “speechless.” There are many references to Fallout 76 in the trailer, such as the Power Armor and Pip-Boy items. Throughout the video, many dialogue lines from the game can be heard.

This fan-created video capturing #Fallout76 in live-action left us SPEECHLESS! 🤯

Brian Curtin (@infectious_designer on IG and YouTube) did an incredible job directing this!https://t.co/m8VofkMHzw

— Fallout (@Fallout) November 14, 2022

Roger Maxon, founder of the Brotherhood of Steel says, “I know most of you love America, but America failed. It’s not because of its citizens, no, its leaders failed us. Their failure almost destroyed all mankind...”

Fallout 76’s DJ, Julie, can be heard saying, “I know what it's like to lose family and friends.…but there's one thing that always kept me going, always meant something to me…this music.” The video closes out with the Scribe Grant’s Plea, a voice tape from the game, and shows someone picking it up and putting it in their Pip-Boy.

It's an intense race for the 12 Emblem rings in the newest trailer for Fire Emblem Engage.

The next installment in the Fire Emblem series got its first trailer from Nintendo on Wednesday, showcasing heroes old and new. The trailer sees the Divine Dragon Alear, the blue-and-red striped protagonist of the game, attempting to piece together their past in order to fight the villainous Fell Dragon.

They must bring peace to the Continent of Elyos by collecting the Emblem rings, each containing the power to summon Fire Emblem heroes from other worlds including, of course, Marth.

Watch the full trailer below.

Marth — or Emblem Marth, to be clear — seems to be Alear's personal protector, fighting alongside him in treacherous battles.

According to Nintendo, summoning the heroes is known as engaging. When a player engages a hero, they can inherit the hero's weapons, skills, and more. While the relationship between Marth and Alear has yet to be seen, it also appears that it's entirely possible Emblem Marth can be turned to the dark side.

But the heroes don't stop there. Alongside Marth, the Emblem rings also seem to showcase the return of Sigurd and Cecilia. Fire Emblem Engage is also introducing a whole new cast of characters to aid Alear in their quest.

Bethesda has responded to composer Mick Gordon’s detailed statement regarding his experiences working on Doom Eternal.

In a statement published online, Bethesda says Gordon’s account of Doom Eternal’s soundtrack development “both mischaracterized and misrepresented the team at id Software” and that Bethesda “Unequivocally support Marty [Stratton], Chad [Mossholder, audio designer] and the team at id Software.”

Bethesda adds that it “reject[s] the distortion of the truth and selective presentation of incomplete ‘facts.’” You can read the company’s statement below.

pic.twitter.com/ydVghud1v1

— Bethesda (@bethesda) November 16, 2022

In 2020 Doom Eternal executive producer Marty Stratton issued a public statement on the state of the Doom Eternal soundtrack and Gordon’s work with concerns over Gordon’s ability to deliver the finished product.

Two years later, Gordon published a lengthy response on Medium countering Stratton and alleging id Software failed to pay him for half the game’s soundtrack and that Stratton was an abusive presence that enforced crunch and declined to work with Gordon on solutions to the game’s development woes.

I don’t know if I’ve ever played something as gobsmackingly unhinged as Goat Simulator 3. Developer Coffee Stain North’s doggedly rebellious attitude is apparent in everything from the incoherent “story” to gameplay so over-the-top that half the time it’s hard to tell what’s happening – even the title refuses to play by the rules, skipping Goat Simulator 2 and going straight to three for no particular reason. Throw in four-player co-op that multiplies the madness to even greater extremes as you run rampant through a large open-world map filled with things to lick, headbutt, and blow up, and you’ve got yourself a game so absurd it’s hard to imagine being bored for even a second. This deranged sequel is bigger, packed with silly jokes and pop culture references, and one of stupidest things I have ever beheld. It was love at first bleat.

Streets of Rage is coming to the silver screen.

Lionsgate has acquired the motion picture rights for the Sega game, opening the door for a film adaptation of the popular franchise. Derek Kolstad, who has previously written John Wick and all of its sequels, will write and produce the adaptation.

Streets of Rage centers around a group of ex-cops who weaponize their fists in deadly fashion to take on a dangerous crime syndicate. Alongside Kolstad, Sega’s Toru Nakahara and dj2 Entertainment’s Dmitri M. Johnson, Timothy I. Stevenson and Dan Jevons will produce the film. Nakahara, who produced the first two Sonic the Hedgehog movies to massive box office success, is overseeing the project for Sega alongside Shuji Utsumi.

Streets of Rage was one of the most popular videogame franchises of the ’90s, and Sega published three games between 1991 and 1994. In 2020, the long-awaited fourth game in the series was released to greaat reviews, earning a 7/10 by IGN.

For Kolstad, working on a project such as this is a childhood dream. "When Dmitri first mentioned the idea of cracking a Streets of Rage movie, I was so immediately freaking in," he said in a statement. "And to play with Sega? The 10-year-old me is still grinning.”

Johnson echoes Kolstad's intense love for the franchise. "I’ve wanted to make a Streets of Rage film since I was 12 years old," he added. "This has shaped up to become a ‘dream project’ alongside a ‘dream team.’"

Sony's Santa Monica Studio may have just shipped God of War: Ragnarok but it seemingly has no plans to slow down thanks to multiple projects in the works.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Santa Monica's creative director Cory Barlog said the studio is currently "spread out on a lot of different things," presumably including the project he moved to after leaving God of War.

It's unclear exactly what these projects are, however, as Barlog refused to give anything away. Santa Monica also has an external development team that publishes third party games (like Hohokum and Twisted Metal) so these could also be included in the projects mentioned..

That being said, Santa Monica has over 200 employees, and though the majority of these were likely working on Ragnarok, the long-awaited sequel was completed around a month ahead of its launch on November 9.

Given this was only last week, Santa Monica is yet to announce what it's working on next, but it's likely to have at least one or two major game projects in the works.

One such game could be the next God of War, though Santa Monica has been very clear that the Norse saga that began in 2018's iteration has concluded with Ragnarok.

WizKids has reavealed the next collectible in its line of life-sized statues, the next entry in its "Familiars" line (following the debut Quasit demon earlier this year).

The new is a Pseudodragon. The creature is a popular choice of magical familiar for mages - afterall, who wouldn't want a dragon that's roughly the size (and in some cases, temperment) of a housecat?

According to WizKids, the Pseudodragons - curled up in a cozy ball and ready to doze on any mantle, bookshelf, or coffee table - is roughly 14 inches long and molded out of latex and soft foam. The statue is set to release in March of 2023 and is currently available for pre-order from WizKids (DnDmini.com) and on Amazon for $99.99.

If an adorable dragonkin familiar isn't for you, we've got a bunch of recommendations for the best D&D gifts this holiday season (with plenty of other great TRPGs in there, too!), or you can check out everything we know so far about next year's D&D movie, Honor Among Thieves.

JR is a Senior Producer at IGN, you can follow him on Twitter for more video games and tabletop RPG shenanigans.

Microsoft's streaming-only Xbox console, codenamed Project Keystone, was put on hold because it was too expensive to produce.

Speaking to The Verge (and spotted by VGC), Xbox boss Phil Spencer said Microsoft couldn't create a streaming-only console it could sell for a cheap enough price. Spencer hoped to sell Project Keystone for around $99 to $129, and even though Microsoft takes a hit on every console it sells, the streaming-only machine simply cost too much.

"The console we built that people have seen, Keystone, was more expensive than we wanted it to be when we actually built it out with the hardware that we had inside," Spencer said. "We decided to focus that team’s efforts on delivering the smart TV streaming app."

Especially as Xbox already offers a cheaper next generation console in the Series S, which retails for $299 compared to the Series X's $499, Spencer said Microsoft would need to sell Project Keystone for significantly cheaper to make it a viable option for customers.

Overwatch 2's mid-season update has been delayed at the last minute, leaving original hero Mei unplayable for the time being.

A post on the official forums confirmed the patch has been pushed back due to an unexplained “critical issue” that was discovered shortly before it was due to go live.

“Today’s patch is delayed as we work to resolve a critical issue,” Blizzard confirmed. “We’ll provide an update here and set the patch live as soon as the problem is addressed.” The patch will now go live on November 17 at 11am PST, so Mei mains won’t have too long to wait.

Mei was removed from the game earlier this month due to a bug that allowed her to reach out-of-bounds locations using her Ice Wall ability. Essentially, players were able to exploit this and hide out of reach of other players.

“We are temporarily disabling Mei to address a bug with her Ice Wall ability that allows heroes to reach unintended locations,” Blizzard said at the time. “We are working to address these issues as quickly as possible and aim to bring Mei back in our next upcoming patch which is set for November 15."

The delayed patch includes some other changes too, including "upcoming balance changes, bug fixes, including those that affect Mei, and core content updates we have planned for this patch,” said Blizzard.