IGN

Halo and 343 Industries was an arranged marriage from the start. After the latest sting of bad news – the cancellation of split-screen co-op – we spend an hour discussing 343's past, present, and future with the franchise. Is the arranged marriage working? Should Halo even be a "live service" game? It's a complex topic with no clear answers, but clearly it's time to have the conversation. Plus: September's Xbox Game Pass games, the Game Pass Friends & Family Plan goes live in a test market, and more!

Subscribe on any of your favorite podcast feeds, to our YouTube channel, or grab an MP3 download of this week's episode. For more awesome content, check out our recent 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.

They don’t get as much attention as Grand Theft Auto or God of War, but the survival genre is one of the most popular in video games. From Minecraft to Valheim, survival games consistently attract large and passionate fanbases dedicated to building their own unique worlds. They’re driven by rough challenges, an endless amount of content, and the pure satisfaction of building from an axe and a campfire to town, settlements, and even entire cities.

Every entry is unique, but they all share the common element of inviting you to craft your own survival in a hostile world, whether it be filled with monsters, dinosaurs, or giant ants. We picked up our tools and crafted our own list of the best survival games, picking the ones that have the most vibrant communities; the most interesting mechanics, and the most exciting worlds. Here’s our list of the top 10 survival games.

10. Rust

If you have a high pain tolerance, then Rust might be right up your alley! That said, if you're looking for a survival game that will keep you on your toes, Rust is equal parts exhilarating and very difficult. Have we underlined enough that this game is not easy? Rust advertises itself as having only one main objective: survive in a place where everything wants to kill you – the terrain, wildlife, weather, and oh yes, other players.

The IGN crew played a lot of games at Gamescom 2022. A lot of those were through dedicated appointments to write big previews of some of the most anticipated games out there. But my personal favorite bit of every conference is wandering down to the indie floors and seeing what gems are coming up that may not be getting the same mainstream attention, usually because their teams and budgets are much smaller.

In no specific order, here’s a collection of all the absolute best things I played at Gamescom 2022. Most of them aren’t out yet, though a few are, and some even have demos on Steam you can check out now. Chances are you’ll find something neat in here, especially if you’re currently looking at the massive slate of AAA delays right now and bemoaning the lack of games coming up soon. Don’t worry, everyone – the games are still coming (many of them, funnily enough, in exactly one week), and there are some darn good ones.

A good sports management game shouldn’t just accurately represent the sport on the cover; it also needs to show some personality. It needs to be a storyteller. In any sports organisation – as time, championships, seasons, and people come and go – their story grows and changes, building a folklore and a history that makes them unique and loved by their fans. It’s what gives them an identity. F1 Manager 2022, despite being a first attempt at the genre by Frontier Developments, is definitely a storyteller; one that will help you shape the future and history of any current Formula 1 team into one of your own making. Despite its quirks and the fact that it’s missing some features that experienced sim fans might expect, F1 Manager 2022 is more than worth the long, 22-year wait since EA’s similarly named, but unrelated, F1 Manager.

Gameplay is split between two main themes: the race weekends, and the management screens in between them. The latter is where you’ll field emails, start design and manufacturing projects to help improve the performance of your car, manage your race team staff and drivers, upgrade and do maintenance on the team’s facilities, and more. It’s certainly got a learning curve and can feel a little fumbly at first, but the impact of your choices feel immediate. Then it’s off to the excitement of the race weekends, which see you jetting around each of the 22 circuits that make up the Formula 1 World Championship, managing your cars and drivers through practice, qualifying, and the race itself. Moving between race weekends and the factory feels good, too, with the post-race analysis acting as a nice moment to decompress after the excitement and stress of managing a team through a Grand Prix.

The then founder of 2K Games, Christoph Hartmann revealed he actually let his pet pug, Sissi, decide the cover for the critically accalimed Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel.

The news comes through a GameSpot interview with the founder, now head of Amazon’s video game division, where he said the team, under heavy pressure, placed 40 different mock-ups on the floor of their office and let Sissi walk around and pick one herself.

“We're like, ‘What?’ We've been working so hard, our blood pressure is so high. We're like, ‘Okay, funny joke, haha, now let's get down to business.’ He's like, ‘No, we're doing this,;” Matt Gorman, one of 2K's earliest employees, recalled. “And so we all just looked at each other, and we're like, ‘Holy cow! We've all gone insane.’”

Sissi eventually plopped down on the iconic cover featuring the series’ main protagonists floating around in space, the legendary cover seen by millions of people.

CD Projekt Red has revealed the English voice cast of its upcoming Cyberpunk Edgerunners anime, which includes Breaking Bad actor Giancarlo Esposito.

Revealed in a tweet (below), Esposito — who played Gus Fring in Breaking Bad and Antón Castillo in Far Cry 6 — will be joined by fellow cast members Zack Aguilar (One Punch Man, Demon Slayer) playing protagonist David Martinez, Emi Lo (My Hero Academia) playing Lucy, and William-Christopher Stephens (Yasuke, An Invited Guest) playing Maine.

Our English cast:
David — Zack Aguilar
Lucy — Emi Lo
Maine — William C Stephens
Dorio — Marie Westbrook
Kiwi — Stephanie Wong
Pilar — Ian James Corlett
Rebecca — Alex Cazares
Falco — Matthew Mercer
Gloria — Gloria Garayua
Ripperdoc — Borge Etienne
Faraday — Giancarlo Esposito

— Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (@edgerunners) September 6, 2022

Also joining them is Marie Westbrook (Jujutsu Kaisen, Titanic 2), Stephanie Wong (Green Snake, American Pie's Girls' Rules), Ian James Corlett (the Sky Cooper film), Alejandra Cazares (Fallout), Gloria Garayua (Fun with Dick and Jane), and Borge Etienne (Shadows in the Mirror).

Critical Role's Matthew Mercer will also be a part of Cyberpunk Edgerunners, playing Falco. Mercer is a voice actor with extensive credits in Naruto Shippuden, Monsters University, Hunter x Hunter, and more.

God of War: Ragnarok will allow players to travel to all nine realms, meaning previously unexplorable areas in God of War 2018 will bring brand new experiences to players in Ragnarok. Thanks to Game Informer, we're now getting our first look at Svartalfheim, the new dwarven realm players will be able to explore.

The footage shown revealed a giant, industrialized dwarven realm, complete with "technical marvels like mine pits, artificial water channels, and sprawling cities," which will no-doubt lead to a number of environmental puzzles. The gameplay footage shows Kratos freezing geysers with the Leviathan Axe and breaking obstacles with the Blades of Chaos.

The new God Of War Ragnarök clip (..1:37) from Game Informer is now available in 4Khttps://t.co/p6fAO3xxoz pic.twitter.com/NxptDRsgQC

— Nibel (@Nibellion) September 6, 2022

Svartalfheim will also make use of the canoe, as Kratos and Atreus are shown travelling through cities by boat. However, Game Informer teased that other methods of travel may also be used to get through Svartalfheim.

Firewall is coming to the PlayStation VR2 with Firewall Ultra.

A sequel to Firewall: Zero Hour, the upcoming VR-based FPS is getting a bit of an upgrade as it heads to PS5 – utilizing all-new PSVR2 features to improve on the formula.

“Firewall Ultra utilizes new PlayStation VR 2 Sense Technology features like eye tracking, which enables you to intuitively swap weapons and bring up HUD indicators through cameras built into the PSVR 2 headset,” said Firewall community manager, Frank Marm.

Sony’s PlayStation VR2 is being released in early 2023, featuring a whole range of notable upgrades compared to the original PSVR.

As well as eye tracking, the PSVR2 boasts a 2000x2040 OLED display for each eye, with a refresh rate of up to 120hz and a 110-degree field of view.

That’s on top of the rather cool-looking new VR controllers that include haptic feedback.

And when it comes to Firewall Ultra, it sounds as though developers First Contact Entertainment are planning to make the most of the headset’s new and improved fidelity.

“Since PSVR 2 offers a much higher level of visual fidelity with 4K HDR, we’ve completely remade all character models,” said Marm. “The maps have also seen a complete overhaul, with new areas and new textures.”

Set 5 years after the original game, there are also a whole bunch of new locations and contractors… not to mention weapons and gear that promise a “much deeper” level of customization.

Company of Heroes 3 sticks close to the World War 2 RTS's roots in many regards. But maybe the biggest departure is its open-ended Italian campaign. While Company of Heroes 2's Ardennes Assault expansion played with the idea of nonlinear storytelling, this new campaign is taking things to another level in terms of branching story and player freedom.

One way this campaign shows the war from a new side is the inclusion of Italian partisan forces who worked against Mussolini's government and the occupying Axis forces, assisting the Allies in liberating the country. They are represented by the fictional rebel leader Valenti, who will come to you with requests and suggestions.

"So if you work toward loyalty with Valenti … you can gain access to abilities that will let you use partisan hubs on the campaign map."

Partisans can weaken enemy strongholds before you even attack, and partisan units can also assist you in combat if you stay in their good graces, granting you Italian irregular troops who are good in a skirmishing and harassing role. But it won't always be easy to stay on their good side while trying to achieve your broader objectives.

"They're reminding you: take care of our land and our people. You're here to help. Don't hurt us. Don't destroy these culturally significant places."

"We did a lot of research, and what we came up with was trying to tell the best story while being as close to accurate as we could. An amazing story told in Italy is the Battle of Monte Cassino.

CD Projekt Red has announced that Cyberpunk 2077's first major expansion is called Phantom Liberty and will only be released for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PC, and Stadia.

Announced during its Night City Wire livestream the expansion marks the first major addition of new content to Cyberpunk 2077 outside of its various patches that fixed the game following its disastrous launch on consoles.

A short teaser trailer (above) was also released, reiterating the 2023 release date that CD Projekt Red had previously announced and also sharing a handful of story details. Keanu Reeves will return as Johnny Silverhand in the expansion, and the trailer sees him warn V about an oath they just took, swearing allegiance to the New United States of America.

"We're having a lot of fun with [the expansion]," said game director Gabriel Amatengelo. "It's a new style of plot, a new cast of characters, [and will expand] on a district in Night City where it primarily takes place."

This wasn't the only Cyberpunk news to come out of CD Projekt Red's livestream, however, as the developer also announced more DLC for the game that will be released today, September 6.

CD Projekt Red has announced Roach Race, a Witcher-themed mobile spin-off that arrives today.

Announced during a Cyberpunk 2077 stream, the pixel art game will be totally free, with no microtransactions. It will be playable on iOS, Android... and inside Cyberpunk 2077 itself. It will seemingly be the first of a set of arcade games released inside Cyberpunk.

We only saw a hint of the game in action during the stream, but it appears to be an endless runner in which you play as Geralt of Rivia's horse, Roach. It doesn't look all that different to Google's Dinosaur Game.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

CD Projekt Red has announced that Cyberpunk 2077 is getting DLC based on the Cyberpunk Edgerunners Netflix series later today.

The developer kicked off its Cyberpunk Edgerunners edition of its Night City Wire livestream by announcing the DLC and its release today, September 6.

The DLC will seemingly be a story-focused expansion that lets players take on the role of David Martinez, the protagonist of Edgerunners, in a tale taking place alongside the events of the main Cyberpunk 2077 game.

It also acts as Patch 1.6 and will be the final major update coming to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of Cyberpunk 2077.

The game's first major expansion is making a similar transition, as CD Projekt Red has announced that it too will only be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PC, and Stadia when it's launched in 2023.

Titled Phantom Liberty, the DLC will seemingly follow protagonist V as they pledge allegiance to the New United States of America - something that Johnny Silverhand, who's confirmed to be returning, doesn't agree with whatsoever.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Wild Arena Survivors, Ubisoft's new mobile Battle Royale game that launched quietly last week, was reportedly once a Far Cry game.

A source familiar with Wild Arena Survivors told mobilegamer.biz that it was once called Far Cry: Wild Call and was intended to be a Battle Royale spin-off for the franchise, with a similar art direction as Far Cry 6. The name remains in some parts of the game - players take part in the Wild Call Festival - and the game is reminiscent of Far Cry 6 in other ways, including its colour palette, art style, roaming animals, and more.

The Far Cry name was reportedly cut from the game as a means for Ubisoft to cut back on marketing and other costs, after the game failed to make much of an impact during its testing phase. The source also claimed that Ubisoft's mobile games get less care and attention than the publisher's bigger console and PC titles, seemingly contributing to the quiet launch of Wild Arena Survivors last week.

"You’ve got the publisher that we all know - Assassin’s Creed, Tom Clancy – and you’ve got mobile, which is the forgotten child," the source said. "Mobile has very little oversight, support, or financing from the larger parent company."

As for why it was released under the new name at all: "I’d imagine [Ubisoft] spent more money than they should have on development, and this is an attempt to recoup what they can and also learn from pushing a fully real-time multiplayer game out," the source said. "Even if games are bloated, expensive and showing poor metrics, if there are learnings from releasing it there’s value in doing it"

In a time where the soulslike genre’s influence can be felt in just about every action-RPG, it’s easy for the plethora of challenging adventures to blend together in a montage of death screens. Asterigos: Curse of the Stars is a cartoonish odyssey inspired by Greek and Roman mythology with a stripped-down version of the soulslike formula at its center, and while at first I thought its formula might feel a bit too familiar, it ended up surprising me with consequential decisions in each act that made me lean forward in my chair. I’m used to being punished for my foolhardy behavior with numerous character deaths, but it was another thing entirely when my questionable decisions had an adverse impact on the story, and that raised the stakes for me in an extremely refreshing way.

Upon first look, I felt a sense of deja vu with Asterigos’ simple hack-and-slash combat that had me dodge-rolling and drinking potions as I fought my way through each area and boss. Similarly, its Greek and Roman mythology-inspired world and cartoony art style reminded me a whole lot of last year’s Immortals: Fenyx Rising. That’s not to say Asterigos doesn’t carve its own path – it clearly goes out of its way to be more accessible than typical soulslike games thanks to things like multiple difficulty options, resources you get to keep even after dying, and more. It also tells a fantasy story set in a larger-than-life world of Gods and monsters that feels quite unique so far. But with the embarrassment of riches currently available when it comes to action-RPGs, I still couldn’t help but struggle to find what set Asterigos apart…at least in the beginning.

Sony hardware architect Masayasu Ito, who led the engineering work on both PS4 and PS5, is retiring at the end of September.

The 60-year-old engineer is currently the vice-president of Sony Interactive Entertainment, but according to Bloomberg, will step down from his position on October 1.

Ito first joined Sony in 1986, transferring to its console division in 2000. During his time at the company, he led the engineering of the PS3, PS4, and PS5, as well as the PS4 Pro.

Although not as famous as Sony hardware designer Mark Cerny, Ito was nevertheless instrumental to PlayStation’s success – a key engineer when it comes to the hardware and system software of the PS3, PS4, and PSP. Now, he will be leaving Sony behind, exiting as representative director as well as SIE vice president.

Ito began engineering consoles in the early ‘00s – largely working on PlayStation 1 and 2 peripherals including LCD Monitors for the PSOne. He then led the development of Sony's popular handheld, the PSP. He was also heavily involved in the creation of Sony’s first dabble in VR, the original PSVR, as well as the PS5.

Ito’s exit marks the end of a 36-year-long career with Sony – originally working on audio equipment. Current director and deputy president Lin Tao will replace Ito when he steps down on October 1. Additionally, Kiichiro Urata will take over as representative director in his absence. However, it’s also assumed that Cerny will remain as lead designer for Sony’s next generation of consoles.

Tiktok's parent company ByteDance has reportedly laid off hundreds of staff members, and is "aggressively downsizing" its video game business.

As reported by the South China Morning Post (and spotted by GamesIndustry), ByteDance has shut down most of its Shanghai-based Wushuang Studio and either laid off staff or moved them to other divisions of the company. Jobs have also been cut at the Jiangnan game development studio in Hangzhou.

Sources familiar with the downsizing said ByteDance's current gaming projects - which include a handful of mobile games - will continue to be supported in its Shanghai office, but seemingly no new developments will begin. Perhaps the most notable game coming from ByteDance is Marvel Snap, a new collectible card game developed by former Hearthstone director Ben Brode.

Ubisoft Forward will play host to an Assassin's Creed showcase that promises to "unveil the future of the franchise," possibly bringing more news on Assassin's Creed Infinity.

Ubisoft Forward will deliver new reveals and updates on several of the publisher's upcoming games, as well as a special Assassin's Creed showcase offering a peek at what's next for the franchise. This part of the presentation will include more details on the recently confirmed Assassin's Creed Mirage and may possibly provide an update on Assassin's Creed Infinity.

Assassin's Creed Infinity was announced by Ubisoft in July as "an important upcoming, early-in-development project" between Ubisoft Quebec and Ubisoft Montreal, with the creative leads at each studio being Quebec's Jonathan Dumont (Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Assassin's Creed Odyssey) and Montreal's Clint Hocking (Far Cry 2, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Watch Dogs: Legion).

Rocksmith has been around since 2011, beginning as an alternative to the five button rhythm guitar craze, set apart by the fact that it lets players use their own real six strings as the controller, turning the act of actually playing a guitar into a rhythm game. Over the years, it’s more been touted for its success as a guitar learning tool than an actual competitor to other rhythm games, and that’s really what Rocksmith+ leans into. Rocksmith+ is a subscription service that costs either $14.99 per month, $39.99 for three months, and $99.99 for a full year, and along with that cost comes a library of more than 5,000 songs, a comprehensive suite of lectures to teach you how to play guitar at just about every level, and a staggering amount of tools to help meet you at your level of guitar skill, and fine tune it from there.

And it all works! Having given it a test run for a few weeks, and coming in with just a handful of guitar lessons from back when I was a teenager and a few hours of messing around with previous Rocksmith iterations as my foundation, I certainly improved my knowledge of chords, increased my finger dexterity, and learned about proper guitar playing form.

News on State of Decay 3 has been about as rare as a pleasant day in a zombie apocalypse, but Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty has just revealed that the upcoming game is being made in Unreal Engine 5 with the assistance of Gears of War developer The Coalition.

As reported by Wccftech, Booty appeared on Xbox's Major Nelson podcast and shared some interesting behind-the-scenes details on the development of State of Decay 3.

"You mentioned [State of Decay 3 developer] Undead Labs, they're working with The Coalition up in Vancouver, our Gears of War studio, using some of the technology around Unreal Engine 5 and some of the stuff that's been in Gears of War before to bring that into State of Decay 3," Booty said to Nelson.

"Last week before last, we spent all day at Undead Labs in Seattle, which was great, getting the update on State of Decay 3, which has really got some cool stuff, in addition to the fact that State of Decay 2 just continues to grow its user base," Booty added. "It's kind of this stealth thing that just keeps growing, and it was cool to get an update. I think we hit eleven million lifetime players on State of Decay 2 now, which is pretty cool. All of that, the things they are doing there, are really the testbed, the proving grounds, for all the stuff that's going in State of Decay 3."

Booty also discussed how he and the team handle learning from the teams about the progress of their games and how these studios share technology back and forth, and it all happens at various summits.

Following the news that Halo Infinite will no longer be getting split-screen local co-op, some players have already discovered a way to take advantage of a menu glitch to make it happen.

As reported by Eurogamer, @Zeny_IC on Twitter discovered that players on Xbox Series X/S can use a menu glitch to add three local co-op players to their game. You can check out how it works in the tutorial by @HaloCreation below and read the steps after the video.

Follow-up on this, here's a quick tutorial on how to play #HaloInfinite Splitscreen Coop using a menu glitch found by @Zeny_IC!

(Kinda low effort, but it's 2AM, I'm tired, and it does contain everything you need to know to DIY! 😆) https://t.co/I1Cxx7YXqk pic.twitter.com/x0VAYW2tUh

An official Elden Ring manga has been released, featuring characters such as Melina, Radahn, and Malenia, but instead of following a deep and dark story akin to the game, the comic is actually a comedy.

As reported by PC Gamer, the manga is available for free online in 12 languages and published by FromSoftware's parent company Kadokawa. It follows Asea, a wretched Tarnished (the naked starting character from Elden Ring) as he navigates the weird and wonderful world of The Lands Between.

While just two chapters are available now, the manga will evolve over time with the release of new episodes on the fourth and 19th day of each month. It's written by Nikiichi Tobita, the artist behind another gag manga called A Cursed Sword's Daily Life, but follows the same lore and storylines set out by FromSoftware.

"Aseo, a poor, Tarnished wretch, finds himself cast out into Limgrave, naked, penniless, hopeless, and maidenless," an official plot synopsis reads. "His only hope in his harsh, unforgiving new home is a mysterious woman named Melina

"A cast of colorful characters awaits Aseo along the way: Patches the Untethered, Blaidd the Half-Wolf, Margit the Fell Omen, Godrick the Grafted, and of course, Ranni the Witch. With little but a loincloth between Aseo and certain death, he strikes out for the first stop on his quest: Stormveil Castle. Will he make it there, or will his journey end before it even begins?"

New details about Tom Clancy's The Division Heartland have emerged on an Ubisoft Store listing, revealing more about the free-to-play shooter and its various game modes.

Twitter user Unknown1Z1 posted a video of the game listing together with a link to the page for it, which now returns a "404 - Page not found" error. The same information, however, appears on another page on the Ubisoft Store that spotlights several in-game images as well as new details about the different gameplay features and character options available to players.

The Division Heartland is now available in the Ubisoft Store listed as "Coming Soon" #thedivisionheartland #thedivision #comingsoon #f2p @TheDivisionGame https://t.co/pydu6vY2mn pic.twitter.com/tuBbNpcdDK

Head of Microsoft Studios Matt Booty already wants to show off Fable on the Xbox Series X but developer Playground Games has refused to do so until it's properly ready.

Speaking at PAX West 2022, Booty said that Playground is doing so many cool things with the next generation Fable game that he asks them to share it every time he sees it:

"Part of my job is giving air cover to the team," he explained. "They don't want to show stuff early before it's ready to go, but if there's one game where that's kind of flipped around, where every time I see something I say, 'We should show this', it's Fable. Because there's a lot of cool stuff."

That being said, "the team has made it very clear that I am not going to be able to show anything until it's ready," Booty laughed.

He gave a brief update on its development, however, commenting that Playground is bringing the same "craft and dedication that they brought to Forza Horizon". Booty also admitted that giving Fable to a developer best known for its racing games was "a bit of a head scratcher," but Playground has "proven that they get it".

No indication was given as to when fans can expect to see more of the legendary fantasy franchise, but it's certainly been a long wait so far, given Fable for Xbox Series X was officially announced more than two years ago in July 2020.

The Warhammer 40,000 universe isn’t known for being shallow. It is chronicled across hundreds of different novels, lore articles, and rule books, each drilling deeper into the histories and abilities of the 41st millennium’s many factions. With that in mind, Owlcat Games - creator of the incredibly layered Pathfinder series - is the perfect developer for a 40k CRPG. And after seeing just 30 minutes of Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, it seems as though Owlcat is well underway creating a dizzyingly deep and complex game that’s totally authentic to the setting.

At Gamescom 2022 I sat down with game director Alexander Gusev to watch him play through two combat scenarios against a crew of Drukhari warriors (sadistic space elves, for anyone not literate in 40k). At first glance Rogue Trader’s turn-based combat is a close cousin of XCOM; a party of six companions navigate a battlefield built upon a grid that dictates movement, cover, and weapon ranges. But as the turns go by, I begin to realise that Rogue Trader has the potential to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the most strategic RPG battle systems ever made. It draws on the unique opportunities of 40k lore, providing a huge library of combat skills that demand careful set-up to make the most of.

New details about the Sheik game once in development at Retro Studios have been revealed. The Zelda spin-off was reportedly in various stages of early development for three years, but one developer described the simplistic gameplay as "an experiment gone wrong," leading to its cancellation.

First properly revealed through concept art in 2020, the game itself has remained something of a mystery since, but DidYouKnowGaming has published a new report that seemingly contains a number of details about the canned game, codenamed both 'Project X' and 'Sheik'.

Early concept art shows that Retro was toying with some unusual ideas, from introducing new races based on Axolotls and clockwork automata, and the storyline would reportedly have seen the Sheik of Ocarina of Time's dark timeline taking part in the events that led to the creation of the Master Sword.

The game itself, sadly, sounded less ambitious than its set-up. An anonymous source familiar with the project said that the gameplay style could never have been "called a 'traditional Zelda.'" Ex-Retro programmer Paul Tozour added:

"I see people, you know, commenting on that concept art on the internet... and being like, 'Oh my god, Retro was working on a Zelda game, that would have been so awesome,' and like, I understand that feeling, but what they have to understand is it was not actually a Zelda game. At no point was it really anything like Zelda – it was an experiment gone wrong that happened to be set in the Zelda universe."

Gotham Knights is set to release on October 21, 2022, and if you were thinking about preordering, I've got an excellent deal for you to check out right now. You can preorder Gotham Knights for just £49.95 on both PS5 and Xbox. This is around a £15 discount overall, a far-flung difference compared to the £65 it was it's been listed at when preorders went live earlier in the year.

The deluxe edition on PS5 is also down to £61.95 (was £79.99), if you're interested in the few extra digital items. Another of my favourite deals from today is Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Remastered (including the IMAX footage) dropping to just £9.99 at Amazon, alongside a whole slew of new random deals to check out.

Here's My Latest Favourite Random Deals

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Cinema in 4K for £9.99 (Save at Checkout)

Gotham Knights Preorders Down to £49.95 (was £15)

Nintendo Switch Sports Now £29.99 (was £39.99)

TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection Down to £27.95 (was £34.99)

Free Money To Claim at Amazon Right Now (Select Users)

A new ad for God of War Ragnarok is a legendary crossover with Rick and Morty that sees our favorite duo travel to the Nine Realms for some hilarious fun.

The new ad was revealed on the night of the Season 6 premiere of Rick and Morty, and it begins with Rick shaving his head and putting red paint on his face to look just like Kratos before he and Morty travel to the world of God of War Ragnarok.

God of War Ricknarock #ad @PlayStation pic.twitter.com/jIn5lIGo5M

— Rick and Morty (@RickandMorty) September 5, 2022

Rick quickly opens a chest and finds Kratos' Leviathan Axe and "other unannounced upgrades," but he refuses to help Morty when he is attacked by a flock of birds as he doesn't want to get blood on the axe.

Rick also finds a boat and tells Morty that he will have to row as he has the important job of making sure the Leviathan Axe doesn't get wet.

As previously mentioned, Rick and Morty's sixth season has finally arrived and you can check here to see how you can watch it. Also, while you wait for our review, be sure to take a look at our picks for the top 15 Rick and Morty episodes of all time.

While Hogwarts Legacy is aiming to let you live your wizarding world dreams, one thing it won't let you do is play the magical sport of Quidditch.

Quidditch's absence from Hogwarts Legacy has been confirmed on the game's official FAQ page. Fortunately, Hogwarts Legacy will still feature a ton of flying on brooms to give you that feeling of soaring through the sky.

"Quidditch is not playable in Hogwarts Legacy," the official FAQ reads. "However, broom flight for traversal and broom race challenges are part of the game. Players can also fly brooms to explore new and familiar locations surrounding Hogwarts Castle. "

Playable Quidditch has been a thing in the past, and the sport has even had its own game in Quidditch World Cup.

The rest of the FAQ is well worth a read as it gives a pretty in-depth breakdown of what fans can expect from Hogwarts Legacy when it is released on February 10, 2023, including how much of Hogwarts players can explore, what kinds of classes they can take, how leveling up works, and more.

The Callisto Protocol director Glen Schofield has apologized for his previous comments that hinted at a possible crunch culture at his studio Striking Distance.

As spotted by those like Ian Walker, Schofield tweeted out a statement that he and his team are working 6-7 days a week for 12-15 hours each in order to finish The Callisto Protocol. While he wrote that no one was "forcing us" to do this, a lot of the problems in studios experiencing crunch stem from the top and can create a silent expectation for others to work as much as they do.

"I only talk about the game during an event," Schofield wrote in the now-deleted tweet. "We r working 6-7 days a week, nobody's forcing us. Exhaustion, tired, Covid but we're working. Bugs, glitches, perf fixes. 1 last pass thru audio. 12-15 hr days. This is gaming. Hard work. Lunch, dinner working. U Do it cause ya luv it."

Schofield then wrote an apology to his previous tweet, saying that he values "passion and creativity, not long hours," and that it was wrong how he wrote out his previous comment.

"Anyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about the people I work with," Schofield wrote. "Earlier I tweeted how proud I was of the effort the hours the team was putting in. That was wrong. We value passion and creativity, not long hours. I'm sorry to the team for coming across like this."

Have you ever moved to a new town and, what do you know, there’s an abandoned farm ready for you to claim and revitalize all on your own? With adorable creatures to collect and eccentric townsfolk to befriend, Ooblets doesn’t follow a completely unfamiliar formula. But while the unique twists it adds to that structure aren’t very deep, they did keep me smiling for the roughly 30 hours it took to finish the main story.

You arrive as the newest citizen of Badgetown, a down-on-its-luck community you immediately start working to improve that lives in harmony with charming creatures called Ooblets. Though they’re all little and very cute, their designs vary pretty widely. You have Ooblets like Dumbirb, an actual small birb… bird friend; Clomper, a round, fluffy puppy-looking chum with stick horns; and Firmo, one of a few robots on the roster.

Rather than being caught, you grow your own Ooblets right out of the ground, who will then act as your cutie-patootie farm assistants. Of course, they serve a higher purpose than that too – Ooblets are also used to battle on your behalf in order to earn new Ooblet seeds or to solve a plethora of local problems. Violence isn’t the answer in Ooblets though – dance battles are. It’s a clever twist that removes the questionable ethics present in some other monster collecting games.

The first hour of I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is dictionary definition coziness, by and large. There are vague hints of outside or future threats to the space colony on the planet Vertumna, but within the walls of the colony my 10-year-old protagonist is safe in a world of cotton candy trees, gentle guidance from adults, simple school lessons, and low-stakes interactions with peers. I chose to fill my days with sports, digging in the fields to help the colony, and occasionally studying engineering.

And then, one of my friends died – suddenly, seemingly unpreventably. I was crushed. They had been a favorite character of mine so short a time in. And from there, the pastel loveliness of the colony dimmed a bit, and the world of Vertumna became a bit more grounded, a bit more human.

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist deftly balances the dichotomy of its soft aesthetics and loveliest moments with stories of grief, conflict, confusion. It is, after all, a tale of growing up. The protagonist is a child brought to Vertumna with their family to build a new life with a colony on a (so we think) uninhabited planet, where the colonists have big dreams of freedom from capitalism in an (at first) peaceful, self-sufficient society. You play through year by year, choosing which activities in the colony you’ll engage in each season, which in turn influence your stats and unlock different careers and paths for the young exocolonist. Your decisions, knowledge, who you choose to befriend, and how you interact with the rest of the colony will ultimately influence both its direction and yours as you grow to age 20.

From Spider-Man swinging across the map to players using Dragon Ball Z's famous Kamehameha attack, Fortnite's collaborations have only gotten more elaborate over the years. Witness Fortnite's recent collaboration with Destiny, which includes a full-blow recreation of the famous Javelin-4 map from the game's Crucible mode.

In a brand-new interview that you can see above, IGN was given a tour of Fortnite's version of the Javelin-4 map, which was meticulously recreated within the Fortnite’s Creative toolset. According to Bungie lead concept artist Dima Goryainov, the map was built entirely with existing assets from Fortnite.

"The creation of Javelin-4 was a collaborative process between Bungie and Team PWR. Bungie provided visual guidance, while Team PWR reconstructed the entire map using Fortnite’s Creative Toolset. They did an amazing job in finding creative ways to use existing assets in order to closely recreate this iconic map," Goryainov explains. "Since no new assets could be built, there were some visual changes to the map in areas where Team PWR had to use the closest pieces they could find. Even though everything was created using existing models, the overall look and feel was captured incredibly well."

The result is a remarkably faithful adaptation of the original map. The collaboration also goes so far as to include Destiny's three iconic character classes — Titan, Warlock, and Hunter — and familiar weapons and abilities from the game.

At PAX West, Gearbox Software revealed the first extended look at the gameplay for New Tales From the Borderlands. While Gearbox is committed to the narrative style pioneered by Telltale Games, there are plenty of surprises in store for this revival.

As revealed last month, Gearbox and key alumni from Telltale Games who worked on the first Tales From the Borderlands, are working on a spiritual successor to the series. New Tales From the Borderlands will follow a new cast of characters on a new adventure set sometime after Borderlands 3.

The gameplay reveal at PAX West showcased a lot of familiar elements. Players will still have to make choices that will impact the way the full story will unfold, and decisions could reverberate and affect outcomes far into the game.

Alongside dialogue choices, there will be quick-time events and while failing some might lead to unique outcomes, others could prove deadly and final.

However, aside from QTE and making story choices, Gearbox has added some unique gameplay elements to New Tales. There are gameplay homages like one iconic stealth scene you see in the gameplay reveal, as well as a new figure combat minigame around collectibles called Vaultlanders.

Throughout New Tales From the Borderlands, you’ll be able to collect new Vaultlander figures each with their unique stats and abilities. Then, when the time comes, you’ll be able to bust these figures out in toy vs. toy combat.

Developer 1047 Games announced that it will be ending development on future features for Splitgate and will be creating a new game in the Splitgate universe using Unreal Engine 5.

“After careful consideration and much deliberation the 1047 Games team has determined that in order to build the game fans deserve - and to build it in a way that isn’t trying to retrofit and live operate an existing product - we are ending feature development on Splitgate,” the studio said in a statement.

The team emphasizes that the next game will be a shooter and it will still have many portals, as well as be free-to-play.

Important announcement from 1047 Games about the future of Splitgate: pic.twitter.com/5E0YG1DWQm

— Splitgate (@Splitgate) September 2, 2022

1047 Games continues, “We want to be clear that Splitegate will remain online as will your items and progression. In fact, we will roll out a new Battle Pass on September 15 - and it will be free to everyone as a thank you for playing Spligate.”

Splitgate was released in 2019 in early access and has remained in beta ever since, with regular content updates. The beta was overwhelmingly popular, with tens of thousands of players jumping into the game. 1047 also raised $100 million in funding off the popularity of Splitage.

Xbox announced a partnership with IHOP where players can redeem new Xbox-related prizes through the restaurant’s International Bank of Pancakes rewards program.

As for the kinds of rewards players can get, they include a 1-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate trial, a full game download code for Grounded, and the Forza Horizon 5 Premium Add-Ons bundle.

Today, Xbox announced a new and delicious partnership with @IHOP to celebrate two things we love: a full menu and unlimited games! Learn more: https://t.co/uDdrqQEQiQ

— Xbox Wire (@XboxWire) September 2, 2022

For a limited time, IHOP will also have three Xbox-inspired meal combos. Party Animals includes a pancake combo with 2 cupcake pancakes, pork sausage links, hashbrowns, and 2 eggs over medium. Grounded includes the Big Brunch Steakburger with bacon, fried egg, a crispy potato pancake, American cheese, IHOP sauce, and a side of buttermilk pancakes.

Last but defintely not least is the gargantuan Forza Family Feast. It comes with four servings of scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, eight bacon strips, eight sausage links, and 8 buttermilk pancakes. However, this meal is limited to IHOP ‘N Go and is not available to order for dine-in. All of these Xbox-inspired meals can be ordered at participating IHOP restaurants until October 31.

Hogwarts Legacy may have been delayed until early next year, but if you are itching to get a head start and get pre-sorted into your Hogwarts house, now you can!

A new blog post on WizardingWorld.com notes that you can link your WB Games and Harry Potter Fan Club and transfer all your data, such as what house you were sorted into. Once the game is released, you will get an account link prompt at launch where you can either scan a QR code or visit the website that appears on the screen. Once you link up everything, you will be set to go.

In addition to carrying over your Harry Potter Fan Club data, WizardingWorld.com members will also receive two in-game rewards: a Beaked Skull mask and a House Fan-atic School Robe.

Set long before the events of Harry Potter, Hogwarts Legacy has players assume the role of a student at Hogwarts starting their fifth year. While not much is known about the story, we do have some insight into the villains of the game, like a goblin named Ranrok.

The swag chaffeur, 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 September 2 through September 6. 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.

Fans of 2005's Star Wars: Republic Commando are still waiting for a sequel, but there is one ray of light on the horizon. Hasbro is immortalizing one of the enemies from that video game as part of the Star Wars: The Black Series action figure line.

The Republic Commando Battle Droid is the latest entry in Hasbro's "Gaming Greats" lineup, which has previously covered iconic titles like Knights of the Old Republic and Jedi Fallen Order. This Battle Droid variant is the latest Republic Commando-inspired figure to join the Black Series, following characters like Sev and Fixer. Check out the slideshow gallery below for an exclusive first look at the figure:

While not the first time Hasbro has tackled the Battle Droid in the Black Series line, this particular version features a unique, weathered paint scheme and weapon based on Republic Commando. Based on these photos, the figure boasts some pretty impressive articulation, even allowing for collectors to fold it up into Trade Federation deployment mode.

Like all Black Series figures, the Gaming Greats Battle Droid is designed at 1:12 scale and measures about 6 inches tall. The figure will carry an MSRP of $27.99 and is slated for release in Spring 2023.

The Battle Droid figure isn't available for preorder just yet. Preorders will open on Thursday, September 15 exclusively through Gamestop, as part of the Gamestop Collector Fest event.

A Cyberpunk 2077 stream next week will spell out what’s coming up for the sci-fi RPG.

The next edition of Night City Wire will give us a glimpse of what’s on the horizon for Cyberpunk 2077 as well as discuss the upcoming anime, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. It looks as though the upcoming show might be getting a little in-game love, too.

The upcoming stream is going online on September 6 at 8am Pacific / 11am Eastern / 4pm UK, but with the announcement came a brief teaser… and it might just have tipped its hand a little bit.

“Choooom! There's something new on the horizon – a special episode of Night City Wire,” CD Projekt Red revealed via Twitter. “We will talk about our upcoming anime Cyberpunk: #Edgerunners and what's next for #Cyberpunk2077.”

Choooom! There's something new on the horizon – a special episode of Night City Wire!

We will talk about our upcoming anime Cyberpunk: #Edgerunners and what's next for #Cyberpunk2077. 🔥

See you on Tuesday, September 6th at 5 PM CESThttps://t.co/cBU8yS6pfc pic.twitter.com/8yobnx18qz

Mario Kart Tour is removing its gacha pipe, putting a stop to its most controversial feature.

Gacha mechanics are a popular form of loot box-like drops in mobile gaming, and Mario Kart Tour offered them in the form of the Pipe. The Pipe feature previously allowed players to randomly obtain drivers, karts, and gliders by paying in-game currency rubies. Much like the old gachapon machines, it would give players an entirely random item. Although it didn’t allow duplicates, it still meant a certain element of luck was needed to get the karts or drivers you wanted. Worse still, it could set players back hundreds of dollars to pick up particular limited-time drivers.

Now, the game is replacing the Pipe with a new Spotlight Shop with a rotating inventory, which allows players to purchase drivers, karts, and gliders without having to resort to pure luck to get the ones they want.

“We’ll be adding a Spotlight Shop, where you can exchange rubies for drivers, karts, and gliders featured in tours,” reads an in-game notification (via VGC). “New drivers, karts, and gliders, as well as drivers, karts, and gliders that have appeared in the past, will be available.”

According to the in-game notification, the pipe you can currently fire using rubies will be completely removed from the game. The new Spotlight Shop will debut with tours that begin after October 4, 2022. While it could still be expensive, it's certainly a fairer way for players to be able to pay for their items.