IGN

Nintendo is shutting down the Pokémon Sound Library later this week, just three months after the service was launched.

As reported by Eurogamer, the Pokémon DP Sound Library - which lets content creators download and legally use sound effects and music from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl - will cease to exist as of May 31.

The move is quite unexpected as Nintendo heavily promoted the Sound Library when it launched in February, even collaborating with Japanese performer and DJ Alan Shirahama to have a single released that solely used Pokémon music.

Though not confirmed to be related, the service was also launched shortly after Nintendo removed several videos from video game music YouTube channel GilvaSunner, prompting its owner to delete the channel completely. The Pokémon Sound Library was therefore seen as a viable, safe, and completely legal way for Nintendo fans to enjoy otherwise hard-to-find music.

No reason for the shutdown was given, with the Sound Library now simply displaying a message that states users can no longer stream or download sounds after 2am PT on May 31.

Users who have already downloaded files from the website can continue to use them as long as that use adheres to the Sound Library's terms and conditions, though it's currently unclear if these will change following the website's closure.

Memorial Day has landed and with it is your chance to snap up some great bargains. While Memorial Day sales tend to focus on household appliances and clothing, there are some great gaming and tech deals out there if you know where to look. Be sure to check out our roundup of all the best Memorial Day offers this year.

One of the best deals we've managed to pick out so far is this wonderful offer from Amazon on the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller which has dropped to just $54.99 (see price in cart).

Memorial Day Savings on Nintendo Switch Pro Controller

You can grab yourself a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller for just $54.99 over on Amazon. That's a 21% discount this Memorial Day, and it's pretty rare to see the controller see such a significant discount, so this could be a great opportunity to pick one up. Just make sure you add it to your basket to see the correct price at Amazon.

These controllers are such a handy piece of kit that allows you to take your handheld gaming to the next level. It also comes with a handy USB C to USB A charging cable to keep you going no matter where you are.

More Great Deals on Controllers

A $100,000 tournament hosted by Dr Disrespect had Twitch streamers following some absurd rules to not mention him as he was previously banned from the platform.

Full Squad Gaming's Jake Lucky shared a recap of these Twitch community guidelines that were posted in-house by the organizer of the event, BoomTV.

"It is prohibited to use your channel to knowingly feature or advertise a suspended user," the message reads. "We understand that there may be instances where suspended users may appear on your stream due to circumstances beyond your control, such as through third-party gaming tournaments, but we expect that you make a good faith effort to remove them from your broadcast, mute them, or otherwise limit their interactions with your stream."

The message then shared a "few helpful tips to navigate this tournament if you are a Twitch streamer:"

• Use "Hot Shot Duo Drop featuring Fortnite" to refer to the event.
• User other Names for DrDisrespect, example the "two-time", "Blockbuster video game champion."
• Hide images, videos and streams of DrDisrespect from your stream.
• Mute DrDisrespect in game.
• Be mindful of showing the tournament/bracket page on stream.

As previously mentioned, this is a recap of sorts of the Twitch community guidelines for Suspension Evasion.

Weeks before Star Wars Celebration 2022, word broke of a new animated anthology series called Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi. That series shares its name with one of the earliest and most influential comics in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. But now that the series has been officially unveiled, we know the new Tales of the Jedi is a very different project, one that focuses on multiple Jedi Knights during the Prequel era.

Tales of the Jedi is a name with deep significance to the Star Wars mythos. The original Dark Horse Comics series was among the first Star Wars stories to flesh out the ancient history of the Jedi Order and their war with the Sith. It doesn't appear that the new animated series shares much more in common than the title, but there's always a chance the connection runs deeper. With that in mind, let's take a closer look at the original Tales of the Jedi comics and why they're so different from the newest Star Wars cartoon.

These are the topics we cover here:

• Tales of the Jedi: What We Know About the Animated Series
• Tales of the Jedi: The Comic Books
• The Plot of the Tales of the Jedi Comics
• The Knights of the Old Republic Connection

With Advance Wars Re-Boot Camp indefinitely delayed and a new Fire Emblem tactical game nowhere in sight for now, lovers of cartoonish tactics games would do well to pay some attention to Floppy Knights. It’s inspired heavily by both aforementioned tactics franchises, but is still wholly itself thanks to a whimsical aesthetic and the addition of a deck-building mechanic that throws in an element of strategic randomness to reckon with on top of the usual unit moving and attacking and objective completion.

Floppy Knights takes place in a mish-mash world of fantasy and 90s-era technology, and follows a teenager named Phoebe and her sentient robot arm Carlton. Phoebe’s ready to move out from her parents’ house and build a life of her own, but she’s also uninterested in most jobs and would rather spend her time doing cool science. So she creates a digital army of “Floppy Knights” named for the floppy discs they’re stored on, intending to use them for typical odd jobs. But she quickly winds up commanding them to fight off little armies of goblins and slimes causing problems for her neighbors instead.

On its face, Floppy Knights is a perfectly competent tactics game with an interesting spread of units, some challenging maps and enemies, and plenty of additional objectives for those whose strategic brains want a bit more. But what really elevates it is the way the deck building element interfaces with all the rest. Unlike Fire Emblem, there’s no dumping a pile of units on the field with built-in movement from the start. You need to make sure your deck is equipped with enough units to draw what you need when you need it, and you’ll have to stock it with movement cards too if you ever want them to get anywhere.

Cal Kestis’ journey is officially continuing in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, set for a PS5, Xbox Series, and PC release in 2023. The sequel is coming nearly four years after Jedi: Fallen Order introduced us to new Jedi, new Inquisitors, and one of the cutest droids in the galaxy. But it’s actually been an even longer stretch of time in between the stories of both games: EA confirmed Survivor is set five years after the events of Fallen Order, and our first look at Survivor shows Cal and BD-1 in some serious trouble.

Now, one big component of Cal’s life, as far as players know, is his found family and crew of the Stinger Mantis, Cal’s starbound home throughout the events of Fallen Order. We don’t really see the crew - Cere, Greez, and Merrin - in the Survivor reveal, but we can surmise things haven’t gone all that well for them. The trailer shows the Mantis downed on a desert planet, with a slow pan through its main hull spelling nothing but trouble. Looking out the cockpit window, you can see a singular set of footprints trailing off into the distance, suggesting either Cal or another member of the crew escaped this crash alone. But the rest of the team’s fate remains a mystery.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords will officially be released on Nintendo Switch on June 8, 2022.

The news was shared during Star Wars Celebration, and the teaser trailer gives a glimpse of the game in action and the promise that "Restored Content DLC" is coming soon.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords will soon join Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic on Switch, as the original arrived on Nintendo's latest console in November 2021.

The original Knights of the Old Republic is being remade for PS5, but there has been no word as of yet as to whether the sequel will also get the remake treatment.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords was first released on Xbox in 2004 before making its way to PC in 2005.

In our review of KOTOR II: The Sith Lords, we said, "If you like roleplaying games or if you like Star Wars, you'll be hard pressed to find a game as enjoyable as Knights of the Old Republic II. Sure, it's got some technical problems and, sure, it starts fairly slowly but if you can see past those flaws, you're in for one hell of a treat."

The first trailer for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor premiered as part of Star Wars Celebration. The sequel to Respawn’s critically-acclaimed Star Wars game is set to be released in 2023.

In a brief, cinematic trailer we see Cal Kestis after the events of Jedi: Fallen Order. Where he is still on the run from the Empire. While the trailer is short on plot, it’s got plenty of Star Wars with new inquisitors and new mysteries.

Curiously, Cal who spent the previous game gaining a family of allies is all alone. And his lightsaber which he spent so much time rebuilding appears to fall into the hands of the Empire. Essentially, Cal is in a bad place at the start of Jedi: Survivor.

Respawn’s next Star Wars action RPG will be released on next-gen platforms PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. EA doesn’t make mention of past-gen consoles, but with developers moving towards new-gen systems there’s a good chance Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is too.

The trailer premiered during Star Wars Celebration amid the buzz of new trailers for upcoming Star Wars shows like Andor, and Mandalorian season 3.

Everyone's favorite hoarder, 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 The Tower on May 27 through May 31. To reach him, travel to the landing point at The Courtyard and make your way to the Hangar. You'll find ol' snake-face chilling near the stairs at the back of the Hangar area.

WB Montreal has responded to criticism that Batgirl's official biography for Gotham Knights is a harmful trope of disabled people, and has made adjustments to her description accordingly.

In a Discord Q&A, as reported by Eurogamer, Gotham Knights developers acknowledged the controversy around Barbara Gordon, whose biography was published to the game's website recently. The initial criticism of her backstory centered on her ending up in a wheelchair after an unspecified "face-off" but returning to "active duty" as Batgirl following training.

While it's unclear what her injury in Gotham Knights entails, in the comics, Barbara is shot in the spine, and many fans pointed out that overcoming a disability through sheer training and determination is an inaccurate and harmful trope throughout media.

During the Q&A, however, creative director Patrick Redding said that the Gotham Knights team "worked with the awesome folks at AbleGamers to learn about different types of spinal injuries and the potential for someone to regain mobility."

On this week's episode of IGN's weekly PlayStation show, host Jonathon Dornbush is joined by Mark Medina and Jada Griffin to check in on Mark's perilous journey atop Splash Mountain, and also discuss the biggest PlayStation news of the week.

We also discuss some of PlayStation's future ambitions for not just PlayStation's biggest games becoming movies and TV shows, but also their plans to expand their PC experiences, as well as their mobile games output. We look into their plans for the next few years, what they likely mean for PlayStation's focuses, and while we think the great PlayStation games we love aren't going anywhere.

We also dig into the leaks of a Death Stranding 2, some PS Plus updates, Jada's impressions of Multiversus, and more!

Timestamps:
00:00:00 - Intro
00:05:55 - PlayStation Bets On Big TV Shows
00:33:33 PlayStation Investments Report
00:48:36 - Death Stranding 2 Speculation
01:09:51 - News Roundup
01:11:40 - What We’ve Been Playing
01:17:20 - Outro

Follow us all on Twitter: twitter.com/jmdornbush twitter.com/mark_medina twitter.com/jada_rina

It's a great time to be a fan of that galaxy far, far away. From Star Wars Celebration to Disney+'s Obi-Wan Kenobi series there's a lot going on, plus there's the promise of a whole suite of new games that developers are busy working on behind the scenes.

As we impatiently wait for that bright future to arrive, we thought it would be a great time to sort through the games that have blazed the trail for the next generation. We need you to help us decide what the best Star Wars video game of all time is.

Do you think Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic deserves the top spot? Or does relative newcomer Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order take number one? Maybe even LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga? We've selected 64 of the best Star Wars games to "Face-Off" against each other two at a time. Will you choose Star Wars: Rogue Squadron over Star Wars: Republic Commando? Masters of Teras Kasi (we know there are some of you out there!) over Jedi Power Battles? The choice is yours...

(And don't forget, you can pass on a Face-Off round if you don't know a character by just hitting "skip" at the bottom of the page.)

Click here to start voting in the Star Wars Face-Off!

Much like Nintendo's other online-heavy games on Nintendo Switch, like Splatoon 2, Nintendo Switch Sports, and Arms, the upcoming Mario Strikers: Battle League is getting a free demo with limited time slots for players to try out the action online.

From June 3 to June 5, you'll be able to try out Quick Battle online multiplayer with friends or strangers across the globe. The times are as follows:

Friday, June 3

• 8:00-9:00pm PT/04:00 - 05:00 BST

Saturday, June 4

• 4:00-5:00am PT/12:00 - 13:00 BST
• 12:00-1:00pm PT/20:00 - 21:00 BST
• 8:00-9:00pm PT/4:00 - 5:00 BST

Sunday, June 5

• 4:00-5:00am PT/12:00 - 13:00 BST
• 12:00-1:00pm PT/20:00 - 21:00 BST

The demo is already available to download now for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. While you can't play any online matches outside of the specified windows, you can play the offline training exercises starting today to learn the controls and techniques in the game.

Nintendo also revealed that Mario Strikers: Battle League will receive free post-launch updates that include new characters. This is similar to the approach seen in Mario Tennis Aces and Mario Golf Super Rush, where the roster was expanded for months after launch.

On release day, the Battle League roster will have ten playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Wario, Waluigi, Rosalina, and Toad. This has led some longtime Strikers fans to note the absence of Daisy, who was a part of both previous Strikers games. Now there's hope that she could be added via post-launch support.

No, sorry, we didn't talk about Star Wars because we did this in the past.

Instead! We talked about the Gollum video game, the TV show you've never heard of that you should probably give a try, the TV show you HAVE heard of and probably have given a try, and much more.

Oh, and Joe has an IMPORTANT new chocolate bar recommendation.

Want to get in touch to talk about digging graves? Or maybe Elden Ring? Feel free to send us an email at ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.

IGN UK Podcast #646: Gollum, Sméagol & Irene

• IGN UK Podcast #645: Chip 'n Dale 'n Cardy 'n Joe
• IGN UK Podcast #644: Top Gun: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters
• IGN UK Podcast #643: Doctor Strange in the Desperate Search for Seal Meat
• IGN UK Podcast #642: Overwatch 2 is a Playable Thing that Exists
• IGN UK Podcast #641: Grave Digger 4000

Lego games, like the recently released Skywalker Saga, typically focus on combat, storytelling, and light puzzle-solving, but don't include much actual construction. Sure, there's ample opportunity to build, but the task requires little more than holding down a button until the colorful bricks magically connect. Lego Bricktales aims to remedy this, focusing on creativity-fueled construction above all else.

Coming from Bridge Constructor developer Clockstone Studio, Bricktales doesn't do the hard work for you, but rather challenges you to use your brain to build pre-determined objects from piles of plastic. While it looks to stimulate the mind more than blister the thumbs though, it's still a Lego game packed with plenty of the brand's signature personality and charm.

As its story goes, you must help your quirky, scientist grandfather restore his disheveled theme park. You're partnered with an adorable robot sidekick, then unleashed into a variety of vibrant, themed worlds, such as a tropical island, medieval castle, and lush jungle. My demo unfolded primarily in the latter area, where I was charged with helping find and help a group of plane crash survivors.

Exploring the detailed, diorama-like worlds regularly presents progress-blocking obstacles, which then call on you to essentially construct solutions. Bridges, stairways, platforms, and other projects must be tackled to clear obstacles and access new areas. But again, it takes much more than a simple button-press to bring the Lego bricks together and form something that's structurally sound.

Kao the Kangaroo reminded me why I fell in love with 3D platformers back in the N64 days. While I missed the Dreamcast console-exclusive original back in the day, it surprised me how familiar this reboot of the 22-year-old series felt, though the revived Kao doesn’t exactly try hiding how it’s looked to other modern platformers to create a highly derivative comfort-food experience. It’s a lot of fun, colorful, and certainly rather nostalgic; just don’t come in expecting a Crash Bandicoot 4-level challenge.

Stories of heroes rescuing loved ones against the odds is nothing new in this genre, so suffice it to say that Kao’s not breaking from tradition here. Dialogue could’ve been stronger, too; there’s good humor to it, but that’s sometimes weakened by outdated pop-culture references. Kao’s mom referencing “taking an arrow to the knee” is hardly topical, and the younger crowd a game like this is aimed at probably won’t recognise it. Still, there’s a pleasant cast joining our young hero like his wise teacher, Walt, whose more grounded nature keeps scenes entertaining by acting as an effective straight man for Kao.

Since its premiere on the GameCube in 2005, Mario Strikers has been a favorite of many Mario sports fans, thanks in large part to its non-stop action. Its successful formula was improved in Mario Strikers Charged just two years later on the Wii. And then…nothing. It's now been 15 years since the last time we got Mario and his friends on the field for a friendly (or not-so-friendly) soccer match. My demo session left me intrigued by the updates and excited to take it for a spin myself, but in the back of my head, I had the looming question: Is Mario Strikers Battle League playing it too safe?

I recently watched 45 minutes of Mario Strikers Battle League ahead of next month's release, played by members of the Nintendo Treehouse. The session showed us two offline modes: Quick battles and Cup battles. The latter features multiple double elimination tournaments of increasing difficulty. Mario Strikers Battle League will also support up to 8 players offline versus on one console and four-player co-op in the offline cup battles.

For those wondering about what it offers beyond the offline content, we also got to check out the online Striker club mode. Strikers club is Battle Leagues online mode where players can create or join football clubs and compete against others in seasons to earn rewards and customizations. Matches played online will earn or lose your club points and place you in various tiers that will determine your prizes at the end of each season.

Dark Horse Books is adding another major franchise to its ever-growing library of video game art books. This time, Horizon Forbidden West is the subject of a lavish hardcover book that gives fans a much closer look behind the scenes.

First off, check out the stunning cover to The Art of Horizon Forbidden West below:

Warning: If you want to know knothing about potential details for Cyberpunk 2077's first expansion, turn back now.

It looks as though Cyberpunk 2077 is about to get a whole lot bigger after the game's 2023 expansion.

According to VGC details of the still-untitled expansion have been leaked online, pointing to inaccessible areas from the main game being opened up for the first time.

The Combat Zone, an area of the Pacifica region which was mentioned in the main game but remains locked, is said to be opened up in the new expansion. The zone was previously featured in the Cyberpunk 2077 art book. Additionally, the Sports Dome will finally be opened – another large, inaccessible area from the main game. It’s said that this area will house one of the new main missions from the expansion.

The leaked files have already circulated on social media, and also reveal some details about the new content of the expansion. The DLC will reportedly follow Songbird – a character previously datamined from the main game.

Although the leak appears to be incomplete, it’s said that the expansion will include several new side missions, as well as seven main missions. According to users who have seen the leaked files, the expansion will also include fixer quests, world stories, and new world encounters.

Valve has responded to a growing Team Fortress 2 community movement in protect of the game's massive botting problem, and is reassuring players it is "working to improve things."

In a tweet today from the official Team Fortress 2 account, Valve said "TF2 community, we hear you! We love this game and know you do, too. We see how large this issue has become and are working to improve things." It is the first tweet from the account since July 2020 (not counting a single retweet of an official Valve tweet from October 2020).

TF2 community, we hear you! We love this game and know you do, too. We see how large this issue has become and are working to improve things.

Striking Distance Studios CEO Glen Schofield revealed that upcoming game The Callisto Protocol no longer takes place within the PUBG universe.

"FYI @CallistoTheGame is its own story and world," he explained on Twitter. "It no longer takes place in the PUBG Universe. It was originally part of the PUBG timeline, but grew into its own world. PUBG is awesome, and we will still have little surprises for fans, but TCP is its own world, story and universe."

FYI @CallistoTheGame is its own story and world. It no longer takes place in the PUBG Universe. It was originally part of the PUBG timeline, but grew into its own world. PUBG is awesome, &we will still have little surprises for fans, but TCP is its own world, story and universe.

— Glen A. Schofield (@GlenSchofield) May 26, 2022

The survival horror game was originally announced in December 2020 and was going to take place within the same universe as PUBG several centuries into the future. However, it was unclear what kind of ties the two games would have. Earlier this week, Schofield stated that The Callisto Protocol was so far into the future in 2320 that any connections didn't even really matter. Now, he clarifies that there simply aren't any.

Just days after QA workers at Raven Software voted to unionize, Xbox’s head Phil Spencer announced that he will recognize the new union after the company acquires Activision Blizzard.

According to a report by Kotaku, during an internal meeting today, Spencer said he would “absolutely support” the union.

“Once the deal closes, we would absolutely support [an] employees’ organization that’s in place,” he told employees during the internal meeting, according to Kotaku. “We think it is a right of employees and something that can be a part of a relationship between a company and people who work at the company.”

Previously, Microsoft had announced that it wouldn’t “stand in the way” of unionization, though today marks the first time a Microsoft executive has officially announced their support for the union.

The company’s move to acquire Activision Blizzard is still being investigated and has been muddied by various complaints and protests against Activision Blizzard, including a lawsuit over allegations of “frat boy culture” and unequal pay.

Hangar 13, the studio behind Mafia III, is facing yet another round of layoffs.

According to a report by Kotaku, developers at all three of the studio’s worldwide locations were let go today. The layoffs have hit the Novato, California office particularly hard — nearly 50 developers at this office alone lost their jobs, drastically shrinking the size of the office’s staff, which had just 87 employees before today.

“I know it sucks,” Brighton, UK office head Nick Baynes told Novato staffers today, according to Kotaku. “I’m sorry I’m not over there to deliver this message. I will be coming over soon. I know you need some local leadership and structure and we’re working on it.”

This isn’t the first time Hangar 13 has laid off large numbers of staffers — the studio fired significant numbers of employees in both 2017 and 2018. The studio was also drastically affected by the cancellation of the Take-Two project titled Volt, which was scrapped despite a $53 million investment and left around 200 developers without a project.

According to Kotaku, Baynes said the plan is for remaining developers at Hangar 13 to focus on the Mafia prequel and Project Hammer, another project currently in the works.

At first, Apex Legends Mobile seems like an ill-proposed idea. After all, Apex on the Nintendo Switch didn’t work out as well as we’d all hoped, and it’s a struggle to properly experience the best parts of Respawn’s battle royale on that platform due to the lack of horsepower. However, Apex Legends Mobile is not a direct port of Apex Legends; instead, it is its own standalone experience that is extremely polished and well optimized for iOS and Android. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying my time playing on my tiny screens -- and that’s coming from someone who is not usually a mobile-first gamer. In fact, in some ways I found myself liking Apex Mobile more than I do the PC and console version, given the current state they’re in.

Apex Mobile isn’t cross-platform compatible with its sibling but it’s not a big departure, either: it uses the same basic formula of playing in teams of three, and of the 10 Legends available at launch, nine are the originals from Apex Legends’ launch: Bangalore, Bloodhound, Caustic, Gibraltar, Lifeline, Mirage, Octane, Pathfinder, Wraith. Having the original group available feels fine, especially since these Legends are still highly viable in the original game – and they’re even more so here without the additional Legends who were dropped in the PC/console version after launch.

The Witcher 4 (for lack of an official name) has officially concluded its research phase and entered pre-production.

Confirmed in a CD Projekt Red blog post, the studio looked back on the first quarter of 2022 and revealed that, during this time, it completed its research for the new Witcher game.

Adding a little more detail in a developer update video (below), CD Projekt Red executive Piotr Nielubowicz said the game has now entered pre-production.

Q1 2022 - financial update from Piotr Nielubowicz, CD PROJEKT's CFOhttps://t.co/dKIChe4Wbo

— CD PROJEKT IR (@CDPROJEKTRED_IR) May 26, 2022

"We are very eager to revisit the universe which has shaped our history to such an extent," said president Adam Kiciński in the post. "We have recently concluded the research phase for the first game in the new Witcher saga, which means that from now on further development expenditures will be capitalized on our balance sheet."

Having only recently entered pre-production means that the new Witcher game is likely still years away, explaining why CD Projekt Red only revealed it with a single teaser image.

Elden Ring director and FromSoftware CEO Hidetaka Miyazaki has officially declared his favourite boss in the game to be Starscourge Radahn.

Speaking to Xbox Wire Japan (and independently translated by IGN), Miyazaki was asked what his favourite boss in Elden Ring is and was also asked to explain himself over the infamous, terrifying Spider Hand enemy found in Caria Manor.

"It's tough to decide", Miyazaki said about the bosses, "but I'd have to say Radahn. As an individual character he's really alluring, and I really like the Radahn Festival situation. There’s a literal sense of festivity and exuberance, but also a unique tinge of sadness and loneliness."

He also laughed that, when the Radahn Festival was first brought up - which is perhaps the most ambitious boss set piece in any FromSoftware game, in which various champions from across the land battle alongside you for glory against Radahn - "no one on the team took it seriously".

His second favourite boss, Miyazaki added, is either Godrick, the Grafted or Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy, but one of his other favourite designs in the game is the Spider Hand, the giant 12-fingered hand that scuttles after players in Caria Manor.

Two Point Studios originally burst onto the scene in 2018 with Two Point Hospital, which allowed players to manage an eccentric, often faulty healthcare system in a world where patients routinely needed treatment for "animal magnetism" and "light-headedness." (That is, a lightbulb attached to their heads.) Two Point Campus aims to be the ideal successor to that legacy with an equally daffy tone. You are the administrator of one of the strangest colleges in the country, overseeing a student body full of underachievers pursuing questionable degrees in, say, knighting or archaeology. Some simulation games are full of serious, logistical choices about finance, resources, and logistics, but in Two Point Campus, you'll be boosting student morale by placing a plastic whale fountain in the front yard of your esteemed institution. This is a very silly game with a cockeyed perspective on higher education, but as always, Two Point attempts to weave in just enough strategic decision-making to give this farce some teeth.

Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki said that while Elden Ring doesn't take inspiration from any one game in particular, he himself has been influenced by other open worlds including Zelda: Breath of the Wild, The Elder Scrolls series, and The Witcher 3.

Speaking to Xbox Wire Japan (independently translated by IGN), Miyazaki was asked if he took direct inspiration from any other open world games.

"I don’t think we took specific inspiration from any particular game," he said, "but I’ve personally played a lot of open world games that are considered classics of the genre, and I’ve been influenced by all of them.

"These include The Elder Scrolls series, The Witcher 3, and more recently The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild," he added.

Elden Ring's world was built with bosses in mind first, however, typical of developer FromSoftware and its series of games including the Dark Souls trilogy, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

The online multiplayer portion of Supermassive Games' The Quarry has been delayed until July 8 at the latest.

The rest of the Until Dawn spiritual successor will launch as planned on June 10, however, including the couch co-op and movie mode options.

Supermassive Games released a statement on Twitter confirming the delay but didn't give an explicit reason as to why the online multiplayer was pushed back.

An update on The Quarry's online multiplayer: pic.twitter.com/Bipo0yxp2g

— Supermassive Games (@SuperMGames) May 26, 2022

"We've made the difficult decision to delay the online multiplayer mode to deliver the best possible experience for you," it said. "It's not a long wait though; online multiplayer will be added via an update by July 8th."

The online multiplayer portion gives control of the game to the host player while up to seven others could provide input on the dozens of choices available throughout the game.

A game listing for what appears to be Returnal has appeared on Steam's database, suggesting the currently PlayStation 5 exclusive could be the next Sony game to appear on PC.

There isn't an explicit reference to "Returnal" in the listing, spotted by @Nibellion on Twitter (below), but there are several mentions of names and locations from within the game.

The localisation portion of the listing mentions Atropos, the alien planet where Returnal is set, the Tower of Sisyphus, Returnal's endless mode, and Helios, the ship from which Returnal's protagonist arrives in and respawns from on each new run.

It appears Returnal is headed to Steam

A SteamDB page features tags that accurately describe the game and some text string that mentions the 'Tower Of Sisyphus'https://t.co/wuFqDwLV7o pic.twitter.com/jrvZf70s1K

— Nibel (@Nibellion) May 26, 2022

The game is also tagged as a single player third-person shooter with online co-op and lots of exploration in an atmospheric world, is a sci-fi rogue-like, and also features a female protagonist. For those unfamiliar, this describes Returnal pretty much perfectly.

God of War: Ragnarok has received a rating in South Korea, suggesting the game is on track for its 2022 release date.

As spotted by ResetEra user modiz, Ragaorok was rated as an "18 and over" game by South Korea's Game Rating and Administration Committee, and a game being rated usually signifies that a relatively complete version has been presented, and therefore isn't too far from being released.

While developer Sony Santa Monica has reassured fans recently that the long-awaited sequel to God of War (2018) will be released this year, there's also been reason to be a little sceptical. 2022 has proved a particularly nasty year for game delays as the impact of COVID-19 still echoes throughout the industry. 29 games have been affected by delays this year so far, headlined by the recent shift of Bethesda's Redfall and Starfield into next year.

By the end of the 2025 financial year, 50% of Sony's investment into its PlayStation Studios will go towards the creation of brand new IPs.

Revealed in its latest investor briefing, Sony said that investing in new IP is part of its overall growth plans and it's looking to increase this area significantly over the next few years.

While it was previously mostly focused on developing existing IP, pointing to a 2019 figure that saw a 77% investment in its current franchises and only 23% in new ones, Sony has been slowly shifting towards a more even split.

By the end of the 2022 financial year Sony will be investing 66% in existing IP and 34% in new IP, and by the end of the 2025 financial year it wants this number to be exactly 50/50.

This is just the latest confirmation that Sony sees great value in developing its first party PlayStation Studios as it revealed earlier in May that it's investing a further $300 million into its developers including God of War's Santa Monica Studio or Horizon: Forbidden West's Guerrilla Games.

This investment is separate from its acquisitions budget as Sony is also looking to significantly expand the number of studios it owns.

The PlayStation VR2 will launch with more than 20 major games, seemingly including the Horizon virtual reality game, Call of the Mountain.

Revealed in Sony's latest investor briefing, there are "20 plus first-party and third-party titles confirmed for PS VR2 at launch".

Interestingly, the slide uses Horizon: Call of the Mountain - the VR game set in the world of Horizon: Zero Dawn and Forbidden West - as its image to go alongside the launch game reveal. While Sony hasn't confirmed that Call of the Mountain will be a launch title explicitly, the investor briefing certainly makes it appear to be.

At the latest Sony investor presentation, Sony revealed that it plans to be done with PS4 games by 2025. Additionally, the company also explored the growth they’ve had in the PC and mobile realms, and used numbers to examine the past and predict the future of releases.

In the 2019 fiscal year, almost all Sony's releases were on PS4. But the estimated spread for 2022’s fiscal year accounts for Sony’s recent success on PC, and includes their foray into mobile as well. For 2025? There is nary a mention of the PS4. Instead, half the graph broadcasts releases for the PS5. Sony expects that PC should account for around 30% and mobile 20% for the rest of that fiscal year’s releases.

Many current games, like Elden Ring and Horizon: Forbidden West, can be found on both PS4 and PS5, but according to Sony’s projections that will be a thing of the past within three years.

Elsewhere, the presentation largely focused on how the company plans to expand its reach to more people, what it's doing to get there, and what is working currently. One thing that is working is Sony's dive into the world of PC gaming. The company is projected to make a staggering $300 million in net sales at the end of this fiscal year next March.

Three major PlayStation franchises are getting TV adaptations with Horizon going to Netflix, God of War to Amazon, and Gran Turismo to a currently unannounced platform or network.

Revealed in an investor briefing on May 26 and confirmed by industry insiders including David Gibson on Twitter (below), Sony president Jim Ryan revealed during a Q&A that the company was expanding its entertainment adaptations even further.

The long-rumoured God of War series and other shows will join PlayStation exclusives including The Last of Us, Uncharted, and Ghost of Tsushima in being adapted to other media, though there's no inclination as to when these series will be released.

Sony IR - 3 positives in the presentation 1) Horizon (Netflix), God of War (Amazon) and Gran Turismo in TV development 2) 2 live service games coming in FY3/23 are not Destiny and 3) PC gaming revenues will surge 3.8x in FY3/23 (which I think relates to live service games) #sony

We're entering a brand new day for the Days of Play sale in the UK, and there's still plenty of incredible discounts to check out at the moment. One of the biggest deals is definitely on the DualSense Controller, with up to 25% off every single colour available right now. Not only that, but Amazon is selling the gamepad at a better price than PS Direct, with some controllers like the Cosmic Red dropping to just £44.99.

There's also discounts on plenty of PS5 games right now, including Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart for just £34.99, or Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection down to £23.99, and more which I've included down below. There's only discounts on other PS5 accessories like the DualSense Charging Station, or the Media Remote, which are both down to just £19.

TL;DR - Our Favourite UK Deals Right Now

Days of Play: 25% Off PS5 DualSense Controllers

Days of Play: Best PS5 and PS4 Game Deals

Any multiplayer game that makes me push up my glasses and lean forward in my chair is right up my alley, and Roller Champions, the hyper-competitive roller derby, certainly appeals to that competitive sensibility. I split my sides as my team relentlessly tackled the enemy team in a highly toxic manner, fist pumped to zero onlookers in my living room as I heroically sunk a nail-biting shot, and devised a strategy with my team to pull off crazy stunts just for a laugh, and all of that was an absolute blast. But although I’ve only played for a short time as of now, I’m already a little concerned that the experience might already feel a little played out after the initial climb to learn the ropes has been overcome. Though it’s a solid start to what could be my next team-based competitive addiction, it also feels in danger of becoming repetitive rather quickly.

At its best, Roller Champions reminds me a lot of its pseudo-sport brethren, Rocket League, where a simple concept became endlessly entertaining as I honed my skills and pulled off trickier maneuvers. Should I try to tackle the ball carrier, or should I speed ahead and try to intercept the ball when they shoot for a point? Should I try dodging my pursuers, or should I throw the ball down the loop in hopes a teammate can recover it? Communicating with my squad and devising a strategy to dominate the competition became increasingly important as my opponents’ tactics evolved, and that’s exactly the kind of dynamic I want in this kind of fast, team-based contest.

Sony is telling its investors to prepare for a big PC gaming windfall in the coming year. Really big.

In a business segment briefing for shareholders today, one slide showed off Sony's net sales from PC games thus far, highlighting how titles such as Horizon: Zero Dawn, Days Gone, and God of War had brought in $80 million in the last fiscal year (which ended on March 31, 2022).

But the gaming giant expects more to come, and is telling them to expect a whopping $300 million in net sales on PC in the coming fiscal year ending March 31, 2023.

That's a massive jump, especially for a gaming hardware manufacturer that has only just in recent years dipped its toe into the PC space with real seriousness. What's more, it's not fully clear where that chunk of change is coming from. At the moment, Sony's only announced plan for PC is Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, which still doesn't have a release date.

What's most likely happening here is that Sony has high expectations of Bungie, with its acquisition of the Destiny 2 maker expected to close by the end of this year. With Bungie being privately held, we don't have a good idea of what it brings in, though analyst Michael Pachter has speculated it's around $200 million in revenue a year across all sources (including console, merchandise, and more).

As other companies in the games industry speak out about abortion rights in the wake of the government’s recent decisions, Electronic Arts is telling employees it plans to stay silent.

According to a report by Kotaku, during a company meeting on May 24, multiple EA staff members questioned executives about a possible statement regarding these two issues. In response, they were told that the company wouldn’t announce a stance because “being an inclusive company means being inclusive of all those points of view.”

“These things are hard and they’re personal and we all have our own perspectives and sometimes we won’t speak, and that will be upsetting and I understand that, we really do,” Chief People Officer Mala Singh told employees during this meeting, according to the transcript obtained by Kotaku.

Despite the FIFA publisher’s refusal to make a public statement regarding the issues, EA’s corporate communications director Lacey Haines told Kotaku that the company is focusing on “making sure that people have access to the healthcare benefits we provide as a company, even if those aren’t available locally.”

EA also signed an open letter opposing Texas’ anti-trans bill in March.

Arma Reforger is not Arma 4. Bohemia Interactive has made that abundantly clear during the slightly confusing rollout of the new entry in the storied military simulation series, which hit early access on Steam last week. Instead, it’s meant to be a "test bed" for features and design choices that may or may not be integrated in a future numbered franchise entry, which means that in every sense of the word, Reforger is unfinished. Textures flicker in and out of reality, flagrant bugs litter the battlefield, and nearly all of my matches ended in a sudden, anticlimactic disconnect from the server. In its current state, Bohemia's latest is a deeply frustrating experience. And yet, when everything comes together, Reforger is still totally capable of mustering that steely, one-of-a-kind Arma immersion.