IGN

Cyberpunk 2077 star Keanu Reeves says he's never actually played Cyberpunk, despite previous confirmation from CD Projekt itself that he loved playing the game.

During an interview with The Verge for The Matrix Awakens, Reeves was asked if he played video games at all. He responded that he did not. When asked about Cyberpunk, Reeves said, "no, I mean I've seen demonstrations, but I've never played it."

Last year, during a CD Projekt earnings call, CD Projekt President and Joint CEO Adam Kiciński said Reeves had been playing Cyberpunk 2077. According to a transcript of the meeting from Seeking Alpha, Kiciński said Reeves, "played the game and he loves it."

Reeves stars in Cyberpunk 2077 as Johnny Silverhand, who is with the main character for most of the story. The actor was a big part of the promotion for the game, including his on-stage appearance at E3 2019.

For the first time, Ubisoft is supporting an Assassin's Creed game with a second year of paid and free content, as the developer has revealed big plans for Assassin's Creed Valhalla. In addition to a newly announced crossover event featuring two Assassin's Creed protagonists, a major paid DLC expansion is coming to Assassin's Creed Valhalla next year.

Titled Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok, the story expansion is coming to the game on March 10, 2022, and it will take Eivor to the realm of Norse mythology as the character embraces a new role as the Norse God Odin.

Developed by Ubisoft Sofia, who previously worked on 2014's Assassin's Creed Rogue and The Curse of the Pharaohs DLC for Assassin's Creed Origins, this new DLC story is set to be the franchise's largest yet. Ubisoft says Dawn of Ragnarok contains over 35 hours of gameplay, with a Norse realm to explore that's one-third the size of Valhalla's England.

In this expansion, Eivor drinks a potion that transports them into the world of Svartalfheim, a mythology-infused world under invasion. Here, as Eivor embraces the role of Odin, they set out on a mission to save their son Baldr. Along the way, the player will interact with Dwarves, Frost Giants, and more creatures from Norse mythology.

Ubisoft is supporting Assassin's Creed Valhalla with a second year's worth of content, and it kicks off later this week with a big crossover event featuring the return of a fan-favorite character from the Assassin's Creed franchise.

A free content update is coming to Assassin's Creed Valhalla, as well as the previous game in the series, Assassin's Creed Odyssey on December 14 that unites the two timelines. Odyssey protagonist Kassandra will cross paths with Valhalla protagonist Eivor in a new event called, Assassin's Creed Crossover Stories.

The event includes a new quest in both Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Assassin's Creed Valhalla where the encounter between the two characters will be a playable quest. This crossover event means the Viking era of Assassin's Creed Valhalla will come face-to-face with the ancient Greek setting from Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

This quest event is a collaboration between Ubisoft Quebec and Ubisoft Montreal. The devs say they may continue to explore the idea of different classic Assassin's Creed characters meeting each other in new ways.

"The Assassin’s Creed content is connected by characters, lore, locations, eras, motivations and more," said Clémence Nogrix, the Associate Creative Director at Ubisoft Quebec. "We had so much fun imagining how interesting the encounter would be between two of our main Assassin’s Creed heroes, we may want to explore new paths in the future."

The best video game stories in 2021 took us far and wide, whether it was to a sleepy Colorado town, outer space, the past, or the inside of some truly messed-up minds. And while we'll be recounting all of these stories for years to come, one took us across the galaxy and captured our hearts (and Spotify playlists).

IGN's best video game story of 2021 winner is...

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy manages to achieve something quite difficult - successfully reimagine an already beloved group of characters and arguably elevate them to new heights. Eidos Montreal took the humour synonymous with the ragtag team and injected a surprisingly healthy amount of heart into a story that delicately manages to balance a universe-ending event with the personal demons haunting each member. It’s a confidently told linear tale that feels like a playable six-issue comic book run and turns out just as fun and colorful as that sounds. Oh, and there's a talking dog. That always makes a story better. - Simon Cardy

For more, check out IGN's Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy review.

These are the rest of our nominations for the best video game story of 2021.

A good story can make or break a game, and quality performances are essential to turning those words on the page into scenes that carry weight and emotion. And while 2021 was filled with memorable performances of existing characters, new protagonists (and antagonists), and indelible characters, one performance rose above the rest again... and again... and again.

IGN's best gaming performance of 2021 winner is...

Jason E. Kelley (Colt Vahn - Deathloop)

The amnesiac protagonist is a well-worn trope, but Deathloop puts a wonderful spin on it with Colt Vahn, voiced pitch-perfectly by Jason E. Kelley. Much of Colt’s appeal comes from his bewildered, colourful language as he attempts to find out who he is and what he must do. Kelley adds a brilliantly funny edge to each and every F-bomb that litters so many of Deathloop’s conversations, which makes for a game bursting with attitude-led personality. But beneath all his sweary monologues, Kelley conveys Colt’s hurt. Amnesia is often used to make game characters a blank slate for players to project themselves on, but Deathloop’s dialogue ensures that’s never the case. Colt is a complete person, and Kelley truly brings him to life. - Matt Purslow

These are the rest of our incredible nominations for best gaming performance of 2021.

Whether based on an existing property or set in an all-new world, these games provided some of the most fresh, fun, and challenging gameplay experiences of the year.

But one action experience, which brought together some of the best flarkin' heroes in the galaxy, took home our top prize in this category. Our winner for Best Action Game of 2021 is...

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is oozing with nostalgia: not just for the music and fashion of the 1980’s, but also for the games of yesteryear, before everything had to be an open world riddled with microtransactions and battle passes. Guardians of the Galaxy takes bvits of Mass Effect's character interactions and other third-person action game's easy-to-learn battle mechanics that keep things focused, which simplifies the chaotic frenzy of the fights, which can get pretty cinematic. But everything works to serve the story, which has the polish and shine of a tentpole MCU movie, and at times can be very heartfelt (try not to shed a tear when you’re diving into Drax’s backstory). If you’re looking for a fun, bombastic, and heartflet ride that doesn't nickel-and-dime you, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is it. – Jobert Atienza

For more, check out IGN's Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy review.

These are our incredible nominees for the best action game of 2021.

The NPD Group has announced that the Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console in the US during November 2021. Not only that, but the console remains the US' best-selling console of 2021.

In the analyst group's latest data, the Switch was reported as being the best-selling hardware platform in November, both in terms of units sold and dollars spent. 1.13 million consoles were sold during the month, with 550,000 of them sold during Thanksgiving week.

This comes despite a colossal year-on-year decline for hardware sales; November hardware spending is down 38%, to $883m. This is the lowest total since November 2016. This is blamed on a lack of available console inventory, which is a symptom of the ongoing chip shortages.

Senior analyst at Niko Partners, Daniel Ahmad, notes that the PS5 and Xbox sales combined barely equals what Switch has sold in total, and that total sales of PS4, Xbox One, and Wii U back in November 2014 were higher than Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series consoles this November.

If you want to know how bad the supply situation is:

- The Switch sold less than November last year
- PS5 + Xbox barely = what Switch sold in total
- The PS4, XB1 and Wii U (yes Wii U) sold more in Nov 2014 than Switch + PS5 + Xbox Series in Nov 2021. https://t.co/pX6rpKb8Nk

Regardless of how you felt about it, Final Fantasy 15 was certainly an eccentric take on the classic JRPG series when it combined hallmarks of the fantasy genre with an American road trip. The developers behind FF15 are now working under the banner Luminous Productions, and are taking a similar, genre-bending approach to their next game, Forspoken.

Luminous Productions was founded in 2018 and is primarily staffed by the developers of Final Fantasy 15. A rare internal studio within Square Enix’s many development teams, it was formed to create games that push the boundaries of the Luminous Engine. Enter Forspoken.

In a hands-off presentation, IGN was able to get a better sense of what Forspoken is. And, to be perfectly frank, it looks more like an open-world RPG in the vein of Assassin’s Creed and The Witcher than anything I’ve previously seen from Square Enix.

Speaking with IGN, Forspoken director Takefumi Terada explains that the open-world gameplay will reflect one of Luminous’ themes as a studio. “When you look back to Luminous Productions and kind of a core concept or theme for the studio, it is to really blend art and technology,” Terada says.

“So the goals are quite high as far as developing an open-world game that achieves the highest heights, essentially. Through Forspoken, we believe we’ve been able to incorporate our concept for the studio and showcase that to a certain degree”

While Terada says there’s room to grow, Forspoken will serve as a showcase for the studio in terms of the quality Luminous can bring to the gaming landscape.

Sony has announced a range of PS5 console covers in five different colours. These covers replace the white face plates on the current PlayStation 5 console, allowing you to reshade your console in red, purple, black, blue, or pink.

As announced on the PlayStation Blog, the covers will be available in the first half of 2022, starting with Midnight Black and Cosmic Red in January 2022. Nova Pink, Galactic Purple, and Starlight Blue colours will arrive in the following months. Two different versions of each colour will be available, with one to fit the PS5 Digital Edition and another to fit the PS5 with disc drive.

The console covers are available to pre-order direct from Sony, priced at $54.99.

Additionally, Nova Pink, Starlight Blue, and Galactic Purple DualSense controllers will be released in January 2022. These will join the already released Cosmic Red and Midnight Black controllers.

The covers will be available in the following regions: USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Korea, and the Philippines. Sony states that additional territories will be added during the year, and that exact release dates will vary by region.

Keanu Reeves has said that he thinks "it's nice" that people attempted to mod Cyberpunk 2077 so that they could have sex with his character.

During an interview with The Verge for The Matrix Resurrections, the actor was asked about his experiences with Cyberpunk 2077. While Reeves admitted that he hasn't played the game in which he stars as Johnny Silverhand, he seemed genuinely happy to learn that players had tried to mod the game in order to get down and dirty with his character.

When Reeves found out that players had been modding the game to sleep with him, he fist-pumped the air in joy while receiving a pat on the back from his Matrix co-star Carrie-Anne Moss. When asked how he felt about that kind of attention, Reeves said "Oh my god, it’s always nice, when it’s nice, and…y’know."

Unfortunately for Reeves that joy was short-lived; while the mod did exist in the game for a short period of time, CD Projekt Red removed it earlier this year. In a statement at the time, the developer said, "When it comes to models of real people whom we've asked to participate in the game, we kindly ask you to refrain from using them in any situation that might be found offensive if you don't have their explicit permission."

Square Enix has announced the system requirements for its upcoming PC release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade.

As per Twitter, the publisher has announced both the minimum and recommended requirements for the PC port of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, which originally released as a PlayStation 5 upgrade of the PlayStation 4 original. While the title may be a bit of a handful, thankfully the game's specifications aren't too bad.

Introducing the minimum and recommended specs to play @FinalFantasy VII Remake Intergrade on PC, available on Thursday.

Wishlist the game on @EpicGames Store now: https://t.co/YOQ5Fh9Ybz pic.twitter.com/y8EhXdHxDB

— FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE (@finalfantasyvii) December 10, 2021

As per the tweet above, players will be able to get by on 8GB RAM, an i5-3330 or AMD FX-8350 processor, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 graphics card (or equivalent). While the game's 100GB storage is a little more demanding, overall the game's requirements don't appear to be too intense for those running the game at minimum specs.

Similar can also be said for its recommended specs. While assuming that players will be running the game at a resolution of 2560x1440, the specs call for an i7-3770 processor (or equivalent), 12GB RAM, and a GTX 1080 graphics card.

Peter Molyneux has announced that his next game will be Legacy, a play-to-earn blockchain-powered business sim that includes NFTs.

As part of a blog post on the game, 22cans describes Legacy as "an innovative new game that pushes the boundaries of Blockchain Gaming" and " a creative entrepreneur’s dream come true."

To start playing Legacy, players must purchase a "Land NFT," which will allow you to begin your own "blockchain business association" in the game. If you buy an NFT and become a Land Owner, you can then create your own digital buildings and products from thousands of available parts in order to build and expand their business empire. Alternatively, you can become an "in-game business partner" and borrow items from someone who is a Land Owner... although you'll have to share a cut of your earnings with the them.

Fans of Persona have reason to celebrate as iam8bit has just put a special Persona 25th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set that gathers newly remastered music from Persona 1-5 together in one beautiful package.

Not only is iam8bit offering up the Persona 25th anniversary box set, but the vinyl soundtracks of Persona 1 + 2, Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5 will also be made available. Additionally, each cover comes with new art from Drew Wise.

Today we're announcing iam8bit's most ambitious project ever: The Persona 25th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set! This collection bundles together 15 LPs with 8.5 hours of music from Persona 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Pre-orders open 7AM PT on 12/14. https://t.co/iDY96aY98R #P25th @Atlus_West pic.twitter.com/SbUUCEpAJU

Shovel Knight is everywhere these days. He’s in fighting games, rhythm games, 3D platformers, 2D platformers, and so much more, but a puzzle game is certainly new for the blue-clad shovelrous knight. Enter Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon, a wonderful spin-off of the Shovel Knight series that manages to successfully merge the characters, villains, and enemies of the classic 2D platformer with finely tuned puzzle and roguelite mechanics that make it hard to put down.

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon is a block-matching-puzzle-adventure-roguelite, which I know sounds like I just reached into a bucket, pulled out a handful of unrelated genres, and mashed them together – but somehow developers Vine and Yacht Club Games managed to make this concoction work. It’s simple on the surface: you control Shovel Knight or one of 12 other playable characters and move them around a 8x8 grid in four directions, while blocks and a rogue’s gallery of Shovel Knight enemies drop from the heavens like tetrominos in Tetris. It’s all very simple and intuitive: You can clear enemies and blocks by moving into them to attack, but every time you make an attack you also take damage equal to that enemy’s offensive stat, with the key exception being if your attack is a killing blow on your target. All of this to the tune of an incredible soundtrack that consists almost entirely of modern arrangements of the classic Shovel Knight soundtrack, with a couple of awesome new tracks for the new knights as well.

In a new six-part documentary series Microsoft has said that its handling of Lionhead Studios, which was shut down in 2016, was a “mistake” that helped shape the way Microsoft now works with its acquired developers.

The sixth episode of Power On: The Story of Xbox features a short segment dedicated to Lionhead. “One of the biggest missteps that we learned from in the past was Lionhead,” said Shannon Loftis, who was General Manager of Global Games Publishing when Lionhead was shuttered. “We had already published Fable 1, and it was a hit... People wanted more, and so we bought Lionhead. Those were good years.

“But after Fable 2, Kinect came along and the Fable-Kinect marriage just never really took,” she explained. “And then Fable: The Journey was a passion project for a lot of people, but I think it deviated pretty significantly from the pillars of what made Fable 1 and 2 so popular.”

“We acquired Lionhead in 2006, and shut it down in 2016,” said Sarah Bond, Head of Game Creator Experiences and Ecosystem at Xbox. “A couple of years later we reflected back on that experience. What did we learn, and how do we not repeat our same mistakes?”

So what did Microsoft learn? “You acquire a studio for what they’re great at now, and your job is to help them accelerate how they do what they do, not them accelerate what you do,” said Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox.

343 Industries has confirmed that Halo Infinite's multiplayer will not only get Slayer, Fiesta, Free-For-All, and Tactical Slayer (SWAT) playlists on December 14, but there will also be changes to make challenges less frustrating.

Halo's community director Brian Jarrard shared the news on Reddit, confirming that the much-requested Slayer playlist will be available to all Spartans very soon.

Jarrard notes that the "team's original plans for a Slayer playlist included a variety of new variants that weren't going to be ready in time to deploy before the holiday break." In the meantime, players will still be able to enjoy a "basic Slayer offering to start and [the team] will look to bolster and expand with more variants in a future update."

Alongside these new playlists, 343 is also adjusting challenges to remove "some particularly frustrating mode-specific ones, reducing some requirements for others, making the weekly ultimate challenge less intensive (getting there is tough enough), and adding brand new challenges specific to the new playlists."

There will even be one that is "based on accumulating player score" and is a "small initial step towards 'performance based XP.'" 343 will share more details about these changes on next week's Halo Waypoint.

Hello Neighbor 2 is bringing some big changes to the original’s stealthy formula, including a wider open-world sandbox, multiple creepy characters, and a neural network to make enemy characters more dangerous than ever.

IGN got the chance to sit down with TinyBuild’s CEO Alex Nichiporchik as well as the game’s Head of Franchise Mike Rafiienko, Assistant Producer Nadya Zhuk and Lead Designer Alex Kravchenko to dig a little deeper into what fans should expect from the game’s sequel.

Hello Neighbor 2 will look to greatly expand on a number of elements that contributed to the commercial success of its predecessor while also adding to the multimedia story that TinyBuild is trying to create for the franchise. In an exclusive hands-off look at the game, we took a closer look at the game’s new open-world sandbox setting, quirky characters, and intuitive AI.

Expanding the Neighborhood

As was noted in our first preview of the game, one of the biggest changes in Hello Neighbor 2 is its new open-world sandbox style. The game has made an impressive jump in scale when compared to its predecessor, and with a complete graphics overhaul, it looks stunning too.

“Raven Brooks is not a particularly big town,” Kravchenko says. “But it’s pretty dense with all of the other bright characters that are colorful and interesting. I would say it’s gorgeous and I think our artists did a great job.”

Hello Neighbor 2 has been pushed back to an unannounced date in 2022. Publisher TinyBuild has announced that pre-orders will begin in April, and that an upcoming beta will show off some of the game's open world.

According to the publisher, pre-orders for the stealth horror sequel will go live from April 7, 2022. The last time we heard about the game's release, it was due for 2021, meaning it's received a quiet delay.

As well as ensuring that they'll be able to play the game at release, fans pre-ordering Hello Neighbor 2 will also receive access to the game's beta when it releases.

While a release date is yet to be announced, the studio has said that those accessing Hello Neighbor 2's beta will be able to explore a good part of the game's fictional town, Raven Brooks. Elsewhere in the announcement, the publisher also shared a short trailer for the game.

"In this game, you'll be playing as Quentin - a journalist investigating a series of missing person cases in the open world of Raven Brooks," explains a narrator over the top of the trailer. "Create your own adventure as you interact with a host of new characters and take on the infamous Mr. Peterson - a suspect who has been hiding from the police and is now designed with a neural network. But trust no one, everyone's a suspect."

Alan Wake 2 is officially happening and Remedy is promising a true, survival horror experience. This is an important distinction because the first Alan Wake was more akin to a psychological thriller. But in an interview with IGN (watch it below), Remedy creative director Sam Lake says the team is going full-speed with the survival-horror genre and has the freedom of an “M” rating to chase this creative vision.

When asked about the M rating (The first Alan Wake is Rated T) Lake called it, “Liberating,” to not make “compromises or censor yourself with the content.” At the same time, Lake reiterated that Alan Wake will be true to the psychologically-tinged vision Remedy cooked up for the story and that the developers “are not necessarily trying to do shocking content for its own sake.”

“For anything to do with Alan Wake the story is very central — this horror story,” Lake says. “Let’s do Remedy’s take on a survival horror game and focus on story… the horror story is this psychological, layered, deep mystery to dive into. And yes, it’s going to be scary. But it just works really really well with the gameplay.”

The original Alan Wake followed the eponymous character, a writer, to a small town of Bright Falls with his wife. A mysterious dark force takes over the town and Wake must use the power of light to rescue his taken wife.

For years Remedy has been developing games on a proprietary game engine called Northlight. And Remedy creative director Sam Lake says that Alan Wake 2 will set a new bar for Remedy in terms of visual quality.

“Alan Wake 2 will, by far, be the best-looking, most beautiful Remedy game ever,” Lake says during a sit-down interview with IGN (which you can watch below). Given that Northlight is the engine powering graphically-rich games like Control and Quantum Break, this is a bold and exciting claim.

IGN asked if the partnership between Remedy and Epic Games on Alan Wake 2, where Epic Games is publishing the title, means the Alan Wake sequel could be developed on Epic’s Unreal Engine 5. But Lake says that it’s sticking with Northlight because it has tech best-suited for the experience Remedy is trying to create for the next Alan Wake game.

“[Alan Wake 2] is on Northlight. We feel that especially for this kind of experience where atmosphere and stylization are more important than ever before, is that we know Northlight so well we can focus on certain things and push certain things forward.”

The Northlight engine was designed to push forward storytelling elements Remedy Entertainment favors when developing games. This includes an emphasis on cinematic realism, photorealistic characters, large-scale destruction and physics, and more. Alongside Alan Wake 2, Northlight is being used for the upcoming CrossfireX story campaign which Remedy is developing for Smilegate.

PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst announced today that Sony Interactive Entertainment has acquired independent developer Valkyrie Entertainment — making this the 17th studio under the PlayStation Studios umbrella and the fifth acquisition the gaming giant has made in 2021 alone.

Founded in 2002, Valkyrie Entertainment is a Seattle-based game developer best known for offering co-development services for several development studios. Valkyrie Entertainment's portfolio consists of assisting in the development of games such as Halo Infinite, Forza Motorsport 7, God of War (2018), and more. More recently in September, the studio announced it is helping Sony Santa Monica studio with the development of God fo War Ragnarok, which is slated for a 2022 release.

Today we announce @valkyrieent will be joining the PlayStation Studios family. The studio will be making invaluable contributions to key PlayStation Studios franchises pic.twitter.com/sNTugminD5

The JBL Quantum Cup is back for its second annual tournament and it looks to provide fans all across the world a way to not only watch the best Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players compete for a prize pool of $180,000, but also a chance to win prizes and even play their way into the global JBL Quantum Cup Fortnite tournament.

All the exciting action begins on December 17 and this guide will ensure you know how you can watch the event, how you may have a chance to win some prizes, and what you can expect to see from this year’s JBL Quantum Cup.

JBL Quantum Cup Event Time and Dates

If you live in the Pacific Time Zone, the JBL Quantum Cup will begin on December 16, 2021, at 11pm with the Fortnite Asia Pacific Finals. Otherwise, the tournament will start on December 17 at 2am ET/7am GMT/6pm AEDT and will run for three days straight until the end of the tournament on December 19.

Fortnite Asia Pacific Finals: December 16, 2021, at 11pm PT / December 17, 2021, at 2am ET/7am GMT/6pm AEDT

Fortnite Europe Finals: December 17, 2021 at 9am PT/12pm ET/5pm GMT / December 18, 2021, at 4am AEDT

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Asia Pacific Finals: December 17, 2021 at 11pm PT / December 18, 2021, at 2am ET/7am GMT/6pm AEDT

Apex Legends North America Finals - Day 1: December 18, 2021, at 1pm PT/4pm ET/9pm GMT / December 19, 2021, at 8am AEDT

Apex Legends North America Finals - Day 2: December 19, 2021, at 1pm PT/4pm ET/9pm GMT / December 20, 2021, at 8am AEDT

In September, Bungie made a huge announcement. After the developer spoke publicly about its desire to push back on toxic work culture, CEO Pete Parsons pulled back the curtain on a number of new initiatives in an effort to "recognize our shortcomings." Bungie would hire a Diversity & Inclusion director, update hiring practices, improve training and tools, allow anonymous HR reporting, and end forced arbitration. The announcement was lauded across the industry, appearing to be a set of proactive, forward-looking moves amid industry-wide working conditions scandals.

The response from within the company was different.

Many of its current and former employees felt that their experiences at the company — going as far back as 2011 and as recently as this year — dramatically clashed with Bungie’s virtuous self-portrait. While some praised the news, for many others, hiring a D&I director or ending mandatory arbitration in all employee contracts was far too little, far too late. For others still, it was only one step on a long journey to a potentially better future, but with roadblocks remaining along the way.

It's gaming Christmas, aka The Game Awards, in which dozens of adverts for upcoming video games arrive at Geoff Keighley's awards ceremony. Cardy stayed up all night to watch them because he's mad, and so he joins Alex and Matt on this week's IGN UK podcast to talk about all the highlights. (Alex and Matt watched the trailers this morning like normal people).

In addition to discussing the likes of Star Wars: Eclipse, Alan Wake 2, Sommerville, Arc Raiders, Space Marine 2, and Suicide Squad, this week's podcast also covers the big topic of the week: Halo Infinite's campaign. Has 343 Industries finally made a campaign that lives up to the best of Bungie, or does the open world design just not suit Master Chief? We've got plenty of thoughts.

Plus, to make this episode extra special, we've got an interview with one of the finest directors in history: Mr. Steven Spielberg.

As ever, there's another edition of the Endless Search (this time it's Halo flavoured) and we respond to your feedback about replaying games and sucking on chocolate.

Want to submit your own Endless Search, food opinion, or a bit of other nonsense? Feel free to get in touch with the podcast at: ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.

IGN UK Podcast #622: Sucking on Chocolate is Wonderful

Banjo-Kazooie will join the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack line-up of N64 games in January.

As Paper Mario joins the service today, Nintendo has announced the next retro classic to come to subscribers – Rare's 1998 3D platformer.

Guh-huh! Head to Spiral Mountain when Banjo-Kazooie joins the Nintendo 64 games line-up available to #NintendoSwitchOnline + Expansion Pack members in January! pic.twitter.com/PbJ4H5gGB6

— Nintendo UK (@NintendoUK) December 10, 2021

Rare is, of course, a Microsoft studio these days, and studio head Craig Duncan tweeted to confirm this had been a collaboration with Nintendo. "Always a pleasure to work with our good friends at Nintendo, I’m a big fan of #NintendoSwitchOnline and it’s really important to preserve classic games for future generations to play," he wrote.

Banjo-Kazooie's addition to the service will bring the total number of N64 games on Switch to 11. You can check out the full line-up below:

As 2021 comes to a close, Twitch is hosting a celebration of all things video games with The Winter Gathering on /twitchgaming. This two-day event is "dedicated to everything new, now, and next in gaming," and it will feature reveals from ID@Xbox, Saber Interactive, and more.

IGN is carrying the stream and, as usual, this watch guide will provide you with everything you need to know to watch all of the events, including when they start, a list of places you can watch them with us, and what you can expect to see throughout the event.

The Winter Gathering on /twitchgaming Schedule

The Winter Gathering on /twitchgaming kicks off on Thursday, December 9 at 11am PT with A Special Gathering episode of "The Weekly." Other events will take place throughout the day, and there will also be coverage of The Game Awards, including a pre-show and a post-show.

On December 10, the ID@Xbox Gathering Showcase will start the day at 12:45pm PT, and it will be followed by announcements from Saber Interactive, a holiday special from Devolver Digital, and more.

The schedule for The Winter Gathering on /twitchgaming for Friday is as follows, and IGN will be carrying ID@Xbox Gathering Showcase, along with Saber Interactive.

Friday, December 10

ID@Xbox Gathering Showcase - Friday, December 10 at 12:45pm PT/3:45pm ET/8:45pm GMT / Saturday, December 11 at 6:45am AEST

Saber Interactive - Friday, December 10 at 1:50pm PT/4:50pm ET/9:50pm GMT / Saturday, December 11 at 7:50am AEST

Some of these PS5 and PlayStation deals are even better than in the Black Friday sales, that's actually incredible. New users can now get 50% off PlayStation Plus again, bringing it down to £24.99. That's better than the sale during Cyber Week (£32.99), but with the caveat that's it's for new users, and can't be stacked.

But that's not all, there's also a whole slew of PS5 and PlayStation games on sale again in the UK, including Returnal for £40, Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut for £35, and Marvel's Spider-Man Miles Morales down to just £30. If you haven't sorted your Christmas gifts, or even games to play over the holidays, this is your sign to buy a few.

TL;DR - Our Favourite Deals Right Now

Get 12-Months of PlayStation Plus for £24.99 (Save £25)

Incredible Sale on PS5 Games Right Now

AD: Save Up to £90 on Facebook Portal Devices

Facebook Portal devices currently have up to £90 off in the Christmas sales, making this the perfect opportunity to pick up the perfect gift to keep in touch with your loved ones. These discounts are even better than the Black Friday sales.

Blackbird Interactive just announced at The Game Awards that Homeworld 3, the long-awaited space RTS sequel, will be launching from the mothership in Q4 of 2022. While we've known it was coming for a while, we didn't know many details until now. So we had a chat with Blackbird's CEO Rob Cunningham, who has worked on the series since the original Homeworld, about what exactly to expect for both new and old fans.

It's a bit hard to believe how long it's been since Homeworld 2, which felt very ahead of its time when it came out. In the meantime, we got the excellent Deserts of Kharak, a prequel that shared a lot of gameplay ideas but eschewed the series' signature, fully 3D combat by setting its story planetside. While we're headed back to space now, some things the series picked up on that sandy world will be carried forward.

"The major evolutionary element [in Deserts of Kharak] was in the storytelling," Cunningham said. "The cinematic execution was where we really evolved the franchise. The techniques of storytelling

We can expect similar interactions with characters and emotional moments told with presentational flair, but that's not the only way Homeworld 3 will be raising the stakes. With the benefit of modern PCs, Blackbird is able to create both larger-scale conflicts, full ballistic modeling, and battle spaces where there's more going on. The unit caps will be larger, and the largest structures will be truly gargantuan.

Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss appeared at The Game Awards 2021 to reveal The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience, in partnership with Epic Games -- and it's out right now.

As Reeves and Moss suggested on stage, the experience is intended to blur lines between reality, game, and film. The brief trailer we saw at the show did indeed look almost like watching a film, but for what appear to be player-controlled shooting mechanics during a high-speed car chase.

Fortunately, we don't have to wait at all to learn more about what was going on here, because the experience is out now on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. But IGN also got quite a bit more detail in a preview ahead of release, during which our previewer had to check and confirm which scenes were real and which were "unreal." There's a bit of uncanny valley going on, and its playable bits are more of a proof of concept than anything -- a tech demo, if you will. But the tech on display is apparently impressive.

If you think Fortnite would be better if you replaced all of the shotguns, sniper rifles, and rocket launchers with irish whips, bodyslams, and elbow drops, I’d say you have very peculiar and oddly specific tastes, but also that you should really keep your eye on the upcoming free-to-play, pro wrestling-inspired battle royale, Rumbleverse.

Developed by Iron Galaxy, the studio behind seasons 2 and 3 of Killer Instinct, Rumbleverse hits all of the usual expected notes of any other battle royale: you launch into a huge map, spend the early game trying to gear up, and then battle it out with a large group of opponents in order to be the last person standing. But where Rumbleverse takes a hard left turn on this formula is the complete omission of guns, opting instead for almost entirely melee-focused combat with the core theme being, of all things, professional wrestling.

Speaking with Adam Boyes, CEO of Iron Galaxy Studios, he told me that Rumbleverse was designed from the outset with pro wrestling in mind. “It was our co-CEO Chelsea Blasko who just yelled out ‘We should do wrasslin’!’ and that inspired the whole night of brainstorming in the next coming weeks as we put together this world of Grappital City, and this happens on Planet Suplex, where every person is born a champion,” said Boyes.

A brand new Elden Ring trailer premiered at The Game Awards that focuses primarily on the expansive story involving the war between demigods.

The cinematic story was light on gameplay but instead dove deep into Elden Ring's lore. The next FromSoftware RPG takes place in the backdrop of a war between demigods who wage war against each other in order to possess the Elden Ring.

Elden Ring is a collaboration between FromSoftware and A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin. The mind behind Game of Thrones was responsible for creating the lore and narrative foundations of Elden Ring while FromSoft used the framework to build out the rest of the game. Director Hidetaka Miyazaki is also handling the in-game writing for Elden Ring.

The trailer included several references to some of the demigods that populate the world of Elden Ring, names that should be familiar to anyone who has read our Elden Ring preview. You can check out a full boss fight with Margit the Fell Omen, or read our full Elden Ring preview for all the details.

I think this is the first time I’ve had to hop on a call with PR to ask “So… which intro sections were real and which were in Unreal Engine?” What followed was a conversation where we went shot by shot and outlined what is real and what is “Unreal.” That scene from Neo’s room in the first film? Unreal. Some Intro shots with Keanu? Real.

The visual results are ultimately a mix. For the majority of the time, you can tell the demo was made in Unreal Engine 5 But in those first few moments where you’re questioning everything, it’s clear Epic is showing off. It is a testament to what they managed to accomplish that I even had to have this call. But while the introduction probably showcases some of the most difficult to distinguish moments, from the time Carrie Anne Moss comes on the screen forward it’s all clearly Unreal Engine 5.

The entire demo enters that uncanny valley feeling from there. I think cynics are going to call out how, yes, things do look a tad plastic-y, but the “trick” the Unreal team pulls here is quite cheeky. They’ve already been showing you the engine and reality mixed together for the first 2 minutes of the experience.

Matrix Awakens isn’t just a visual teaser, however. There’s a playable component as well, but what you “play” is more a proof of concept than what you should expect from any final product. Really, it’s a chance for the team to say, ‘Yes. You can absolutely make an open-world game in Unreal.’

Arc Raiders, the debut game from Embark Studios, will be a vibrant sci-fi PVE third-person shooter, with 3-player co-op and a focus on teamwork. It's free-to-play, and coming in 2022 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

Unveiled during The Game Awards 2021, Arc Raiders comes from a team notably made up of ex-DICE devs with experience on Battlefield and Star Wars: Battlefront under their belts. The studio is headed by Patrick Söderlund, who was previously in charge of game production at EA.

Our first look at the game shows off a retro sci-fi look, with player teams facing off against occasionally huge robotic threats that have dropped from orbit.

The developers make clear that this is a game specifically about teamwork, pointing out that looting enemies and the world itself will be key to survival. There's also an emphasis on using physics, which we see in shots of grappling hooks and jump pads.

“We started Embark Studios three years ago with a blank canvas and some big ideas. Today, that canvas is a lot less blank and those ideas are becoming realities,” said Söderlund in a press release. “With this reveal, we want to celebrate gameplay and give players more than a hint of how ARC Raiders looks and what it feels like to play. Ultimately for a co-op action game like ARC Raiders, that's what matters the most. We look forward to sharing more about the game in the coming months.”

Asobo Studio brought a new trailer for A Plague Tale: Requiem to The Game Awards. The new footage reintroduced us to heroes Amicia and Hugo, as well as giving as a glimpse at the new journey they are embarking on.

The trailer shows the main character sailing on a ship, traversing through a burned down town, running through a lush field, and, of course, rats. Lots of rats.

The official description for the game says that Amicia and Hugo embark on a journey south after escaping their homeland. The characters will use a variety of tools and supernatural powers in their struggle for survival.

A Plague Tale: Requiem was first announced at E3 2021 earlier this year. The game is set to release on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, PC, and Nintendo Switch (via a Cloud Version) sometime next year.

In our A Plague Tale: Innocence review, we called the original "good", saying, "A Plague Tale does an admirable job of making its young protagonists appropriately vulnerable to the surrounding dangers as you move through them from a third-person perspective, but the stealth gameplay and puzzles rarely feel imaginative."

CrossfireX, the upcoming first-person shooter from Smilegate but with a single-player campaign developed by Remedy, is coming to Xbox Series X|S on February 10.

As announced at The Game Awards, CrossfireX is coming out next year. Alongside the free-to-play multiplayer portion developed by Smilegate, Alan Wake and Control developer Remedy Entertainment has been working on two single-player campaign Operations to go with the release.

CrossfireX is set in a conflict between two private military factions. There is Global Risk who uses technology to fight for order and security, and Black List who work to undermine these efforts. The two operations are titled Operation Catalyst and Operation Spectre and both will be available at launch.

Meanwhile, players will be able to play CrossfireX's fully-featured multiplayer modes for free on Xbox platforms. CrossfireX has been announced for Xbox Series X|S as well as Xbox One.

For more check out our page for The Game Awards for all the latest news and announcements.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

Soon you can murder your friends, run away, take cover in vents, set off alarms, and then lie about all of it...in VR. Because that's where Among Us is releasing next.

Announced this evening at The Game Awards, we got a very, very small sneak peek at Among Us VR: just a very brief code input puzzle in a small room. But it's easy enough to imagine the weird betrayal possibilities.

There's no release date for Among Us VR yet, but we do know that it's coming to PlayStation VR, MetaQuest 2, and Steam when it does drop. Given the small size of the Among Us team and the astronomic way it blew up over the last few years, moving it to VR eventually is a pretty impressive feat.

Released in 2018, Among Us blew up suddenly in 2020 as streamers began to pick it up to play during lockdowns. When we reviewed it then we loved the way it transformed in-person cloak-and-dagger games to a virtual space. It's since gotten tons of updates, and there may even be a collaboration with Fortnite in the works down the road.

Saints Row premiered a new story and gameplay trailer during The Game Awards showing off some of the havoc players can get into while running a new criminal empire.

The gameplay trailer was all about celebrating the outrageous stuff you can do in the upcoming Saints Row. Whether that's piloting a high-speed jet through skyscrapers, flying your wingsuit across the city, or kicking some poor guy in the junk, Saints Row has you covered.

A Saints Row game was first officially announced earlier this year. There was some initial pushback online regarding the direction of the reboot, but developer Volition stood by its vision for Saints Row and today showed off a trailer that leans fully into the brand of lunacy Saints Row is known for.

Koch Media announced a new Saints Row was in the works as early as 2019, but the official reveal didn't happen until 2021. IGN was able to get an early look at the upcoming Saints Row which is set in a fictional, southwest USA-inspired city of Sant Ileso. Here a group of friends must start their own criminal empire in a city with several feuding gangs.

While there aren't any classic Saints characters this time around, you'll be aided by new crewmates like driver/mechanic Nina, finance guru Eli, and thrill-seeking DJ Kevin.

Shiro Games has announced Dune: Spice Wars, "a real-time strategy game with 4X elements based on Frank Herbert’s groundbreaking novel Dune". It will be released into PC early access next year.

Created by the same team behind Northgard and published by Funcom, the game will include several playable factions based on Dune's houses, and will include options for politics, subterfuge, and combat. Your goal, of course, is to control Arrakis' Spice using your armies and spice harvesters, while avoiding sandworms, sandstorms, and enemy forces.

"You can deploy agents to sabotage, assassinate and spy on your opponents," reads the press release, "use political means to influence the Landsraad and pass beneficial resolutions, amass incredible wealth and simply overwhelm the other houses through economic and technological supremacy, or you can opt for open war."

The early access game will focus on single player gameplay, with multiplayer and story Campaign modes to be added before full release. The Campaign is not yet set in stone, but is likely to " allow players to write their own stories, based on the characters and factions they play."

The game's been produced with help from film studio Legendary, which means the looks and writing should feel of a piece with Denis Villeneuve's recent movie adaptation.

Publisher Funcom has made clear that this is a separate game to the open world survival game it's developing itself, which will be unrelated to Dune: Spice Wars.

We've finally seen real gameplay from Rocksteady's Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

Revealed at The Game Awards 2021, we got a look at gameplay for all four playable characters: King Shark, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, and Deadshot. After opening with footage of the Suicide Squad taunting the Flash by calling him the Justice League's mascot, the trailer then cut to a gameplay montage filled with explosive combat. Take a look at some of the new shots below.

The fight took took place in a downtown city area, and showcased combat as crazy as you'd expect from the Suicide Squad. We saw clips of King Shark scaling buildings, using his fists for some blazing fast melee combat, and, yes, biting off an enemy's head.

Harley Quinn used what looked like a grapple to swing through the air, and she whipped out her baseball bat om the ground to take out foes. We saw some third-person shooter combat from Deadshot, and it also seems you'll have the ability to blast helicopters out of the sky.

No specific release date was given, but we know the game is coming in 2022 to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Warhammer 40k: Space Marine is returning after more than a decade. During The Game Awards, Focus Home Interactive and Saber Interactive announced Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2, a sequel to the third-person shooter first released in 2011.

The new trailer shows everything you'd expect from a Warhammer 40K game: Space Marines, Tyranids, and Chainswords. It will star Titus, an Ultramarines captain and hero of the original game.

"Space Marine may stumble here and there, but manages to remain entertaining from start to finish. For every moment where a character gets stuck on part of the environment, has an animation that breaks, or just randomly pops into the world, I’m left remembering great boss battles and encounters that made me feel like a badass," we wrote in in our original Warhammer 40k: Space Marine review. "It may not be the best or most original action game, but it’s a fine first outing for the franchise, and a rare gem for Warhammer fans."

The new Warhammer 40k: Space Marine will apparently take cues from World War Z, Quake Champions, and other games. But at its heart, it's still the third-person shooter we knew and loved back in the day.

It will release on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN