IGN

IGN can reveal that Riot Games global president A. Dylan Jadeja will succeed Nicolo Laurent as the company's CEO later this year.

Jadeja joined Riot in 2011 as Chief Financial Officer and became Chief Operating Officer in 2014 before being named president in 2017. He is credited as being an advocate of several Riot initiatives include the expansion of its global publishing footprint, eSport investment, the creation of Valorant, and the launch of Arcane.

"What drew me to Riot all those years ago was the authenticity of our mission, the enthusiasm of the global player community, and the passion in every corner of the company," said Jadeja.

"This is still true today. The creative heart at Riot is so inspiring — there’s real joy in what we do and who we do it for, and that’s not something you find everywhere. I’ve had the privilege of working alongside some of the smartest and most creative minds in the industry here at Riot, and am honoured to have the opportunity to lead this incredible team."

Laurent is moving to an advisory position after spending the last 14 years in leadership roles. "After 14 years, three expatriations, and our successful expansion into new games, esports, and entertainment, this is the right time for me to step back from the day-to-day at Riot and rebalance," he said.

"I've been wanting to spend more time on the personal side of my life for a number of years now, and I’m very fortunate to have the strong leadership bench and successor that allows me to make this decision. Being able to write this part of Riot’s story has been an honour, and while this chapter is coming to a close, I’m so proud that we have an amazing leader in Dylan to help us write the many chapters ahead."

Tim Cain, one of the original creators of the Fallout series, has revealed on his YouTube channel (watch the full video here) that the vaults initially had a much grander purpose.

They were initially meant to send people to space, he said, hoping they would find a new planet to live on. This, of course, harkens the upcoming Starfield's plot to mind, where humans have already begun space exploration and colonizing planets.

In the Fallout series, the entire world has been affected by nuclear missiles, leaving some people and creatures to mutate while those lucky enough not to be affected by the radiation fend for themselves.

The nuclear war was something that the Enclave (Fallout faction) and the U.S. government saw coming, so to prepare for this, they decided to take their "best and brightest" to space in hopes of finding a new earth. But they realized that this couldn't be done before the bombs dropped, and Vault-Tec thought it could use their vaults as trial runs to help get them to space.

Cain explained that getting the vault dwellers to space would be a "multi-generation" plan because they needed to figure out how to "grow plants really well in an enclosed environment" and ensure that the water being used was safe to consume.

Bandai Namco announced that One Piece: Odyssey’s Reunion of Memories DLC will release on May 25. In this upcoming expansion, the Straw Hats are approached by a girl resembling Lim and they are sent into another world.

Over on the PlayStation Blog, Bandai Namco explained how the Reunion of Memories has a new battle system called Limited Order Battles that emphasizes a more strategic way of fighting. In a battle with Rear Admiral Barricade, the Straw Hats must defeat him while avoiding knocking out his sailor allies. Defeating the sailors isn’t necessary to win the battle, and each sailor knocked out only makes Rear Admiral Barricade stronger.

While the Straw Hats can stun and confuse the sailors, the DLC adds an NPC ally that will try to defeat the sailors, boosting Barricade’s power level. The purpose of this ally is to make battles more dynamic.

Additionally, the DLC’s narrative has a branching storyline system where players can choose between two options. One choice potentially keeps the Straw Hats away from danger while the other will put them in it. When the Straw Hats are trying to save the mayor of Water Seven, they can either save the workers and ask for their help or take the streets back to the mayor’s house. Both paths result in a battle but the enemies will be different.

One Piece: Odyssey was released on January 12 for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. The Reunion of Memories DLC was teased back in April, but now it’s confirmed to release later this May.

In what is perhaps the least surprising, but nonetheless exciting new, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom review is gushing. Somehow, Nintendo not only did it again, but they did it better. I'm so unbelievably hyped on this game, and since you're here right now, I'm thinking I don't actually need to tell you anything about it. You're already hyped. I also don't have to tell you about how the Tears of the Kingdom Switch OLED model is still available pretty much everywhere, but the Tears of the Kingdom Pro Controller and the Tears of the Kindgom Collector's Edition sold out fast and probably aren't coming back.

• Jump to the Legend of Zelda amiibo

But hey, at least you can still get the Tears of the Kingdom Link amiibo, right?

Well, yes. You can get the Tears of the Kingdom amiibo at Best Buy and GameStop Walmart, but it's already sold out everywhere else. And those Link amiibo reprints? They're also hard to come by. In fact, pretty much everything The Legend of Zelda-related seems to be in short supply (other than the OLED Switch, which is both hugely popular and widely available).

Ask yourself this: what do you want from a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild? More enemy variety? Better dungeons? Totally unexpected new ideas? Or is simply more Hyrule to explore enough for you? Thankfully, you don’t have to pick just one, because Nintendo’s response to all of those answers is a casual but confident, “Sure thing.” The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom doesn’t necessarily revolutionize what already made Breath of the Wild one of the greatest games of all time, but it’s not a sequel that’s simply more of the same, either. This sandbox is bigger, richer, and somehow even more ambitious, with creative new systems like vehicle building, ridiculous weapon crafting, and a revamped map with a dizzying amount of depth further fleshing out the intoxicating exploration that made the original so captivating. Breath of the Wild felt far from unfinished but, inconceivably, Tears of the Kingdom has somehow made it feel like a first draft.

Before we dive too deep into Hyrule, a quick note about spoilers. I won’t spoil the (actually pretty great) story Tears tells, but these games are about so much more than the plot. That magic the first time you see one of BotW’s dragons soaring overhead is around every corner here too, and the last thing I’d want to do is steal the many moments that made my jaw literally drop from you. That said, there are some huge parts of Tears that are introduced fairly early on that I will be talking about because of how fundamental they are to why this game is so impressive. I am going to preserve as much of the magic as I can but, if (like millions of others) you’ve already decided you are going to play Tears, you should probably just go play it and then come back to share in the wonder with me later.

Phil Spencer's recent comments about Xbox's third-place standing in the video game marketplace have created quite a stir in the Xbox community. We play Phil's quote and then spend a LOT of time reacting to and discussing it. Plus: it's the First Annual Xbox Games Showcase Draft! We compile a list of the games we think are most likely to make an appearance at next month's Showcase. Some of our choices might surprise you!

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

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

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

As Diablo IV inches closer to its June launch date, Blizzard has revealed battle pass pricing and how the RPG will handle its seasonal content.

As detailed in its latest livestream developer blog, Blizzard outlined the Diablo IV season basics with a breakdown on rewards and progression. The first season begins in mid to late July, with four seasons planned per year–one per quarter, each set to last for three months.

Seasons aren't meant to expand upon Diablo IV's main narrative; that's being left to its expansions. Instead, it'll focus on separate, themed content iterating on the base game and introducing "fresh concepts and ideas into the world of Sanctuary." Those concepts include new gameplay mechanics, characters, questlines, items, and balancing tweaks.

With each season, Diablo IV adds seasonal questlines and self-contained stories to the mix. Those quests walk you through new gameplay events tying into the RPG's latest themed experience. During the stream, Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson added this split from the core campaign's story allowed the team to create quests and mechanics "not bound by the campaign."

"You're basically creating questlines in the open world that can be completely different and not constrained to it has to be about the narration level of story," Fergusson said. "It can be about anything that's interesting you want to play into in the open world."

Square Enix has announced that online servers for the Bravely Default games on Nintendo 3DS will shut down on June 30.

Producer Tomoya Asano said that there will be a second announcement later this month about how the shutdown will impact Bravely Default and Bravely Second: End Layer. He explained that the team expects Net Friend Invites and that sending Nemeses will no longer work. However, players can still enjoy the game offline and see their stories to the end after the shutdown. Additionally, StreetPass between 3DS players will still be available.

Thank you for 10 wonderful years of support!We have an important announcement concerning the online features of the Bravely Default titles released on Nintendo 3DS:https://t.co/jR2FtpQl2I

— ブレイブリーデフォルトII公式 (@BDFF_OFFICIAL) May 10, 2023

The 3DS and Wii U eShop storefronts were closed down back in March, and alongside that was the ability to purchase SP Drink items for use in the Bravely Default 3DS games. They aren’t the only game servers being shut down this year. The servers for Team Fortress 2 on PlayStation 3 were suddenly shut down last month after 15 years and Knockout City’s servers are shutting down on June 6.

Among the many new features of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, one of the most interesting is its building system via the Ultrahand mechanic, which lets players build vehicles and other structures out of parts. It's a fascinating new mechanic, and we just got a look at some of its early development footage that seemingly shows the prototype system in action not in Tears of the Kingdom, but Breath of the Wild.

The footage comes courtesy of Nintendo, which has been posting a series of developer Q&As leading up to Breath of the Wild's launch, along with some images and videos. One video in particular seems to have been posted a day early and captured thanks to a clever Reddit user, and it shows off some early development gameplay of Tears of the Kingdom's building using Sheikah technology and items, instead of the Zonai tech we've seen in preview and trailer footage.

The video includes a raft moved by large paddles, a kart with giant Sheikah gears for wheels, and the same kart again with a large cannon on the front. All of the pieces of these vehicles can be found as environmental items in Sheikah shrines, except for the raft, which is found out in the world. But it's a fascinating look at where the developers' heads were at when they were first imagining how building and vehicles would work.

When Guerilla Games released the trailer for Burning Shores, the new expansion for Horizon Forbidden West, developers from other studios quickly took notice of a moment that might otherwise have gone unremarked upon:

that hug at 0:45 is a technical flex like YOU HAVE NO IDEA https://t.co/h0dmivkOpl

— Xalavier Nelson Jr. (@WritNelson) April 19, 2023

“that hug at 0:45 is a technical flex like YOU HAVE NO IDEA,” wrote Strange Scaffold head Xalavier Nelson Jr. He was echoed in the replies by numerous other developers and fans, all of whom were struck by the realization of why we so rarely see two characters hugging one another in games. Turns out, it’s very, very hard for developers to make this happen while making it look normal and believable. And yet, Guerrilla has been making Aloy warmly hug her friends since Zero Dawn.

So how is Guerilla pulling off this technical feat? I spoke with Guerilla studio animation director Richard Oud, who admitted he was pleasantly surprised that anyone was noticing how impressive this was. Oud says that because Aloy is a hugger, Guerrilla’s gotten used to the extreme challenge required to get all these hugs to happen...and recently, it’s made some technical strides in the field of video game hugs.

WARNING: While this article's text does not contain spoilers, the video content in this article shows cutscenes from the endings of Horizon: Forbidden West and the Burning Shores DLC. Watch at your own risk!

Ubisoft has laid off 60 people from its North Carolina and Newcastle, UK offices. The cuts seemed to have impacted Ubisoft’s customer service department the most.

"Ubisoft’s Customer Relation Center team is evolving its organization to focus on where we can have a significant impact while remaining steadfast in our commitment to consistently support our players anywhere in the world." the company said in a statement.

Ubisoft continued: “We estimate that, due to organizational changes, 60 team members from our offices in Cary, North Carolina in the US and Newcastle in the UK could be impacted.”

Several now former employees have already taken to Twitter to confirm that they’ve been laid off by the company. According to these employees, they were not given advance notice about the cuts.

I (and about 60 other amazing people) were laid off today with no notice. I'm divorced, living alone with a mortgage, and have a daughter who I love and support, so if any of you have any leads, please reach out. Thank you so much. <3

— Matthew Hayes (@MatthewFace) May 10, 2023

I was laid off after 6 years as a lead from Ubisoft. If anyone has leads, preferably wfh for social media positions, please let me know 💖

In recent months, Netherrealm Studios has been slowly teasing another installment in the Mortal Kombat series. But now, we've gotten a more firm confirmation that the next game is on the horizon.

Does anyone know what time it is? #MortalKombatpic.twitter.com/pXY2wlidde

— Ed Boon (@noobde) May 10, 2023

This tease aligns it with a previous video focusing on a 30th-anniversary tribute to the series. At the end of that video, we saw a short animation of an hourglass, with the sand inside freezing. No doubt, this is a reference to Mortal Kombat 11's time-traveling antagonist Kronika, who manipulated the sands of time to disrupt the timeline.

Becoming a fashion icon can be hard work. It takes time, creativity, and an eye for perfectly crafted outfit composition. Not to mention a sense of design to create the perfect home in which to wear your new fancy clothes. It can take years to curate the ideal wardrobe and house.

Unless you have Life Makeover, the new social simulation game from Famous Heart Limited. The game already has over 15 million followers from around the world and over 4 million players from Southeast Asia, America, and Europe who have already pre-registered to unlock early rewards. Many people are looking to express their unique sense of style in the digital space. Life Makeover has already reached the top spot in the iOS store in China, Japan, and Singapore, with English, Russian, Thai, Bahasa Indonesia, and Vietnamese localization. It has quickly become a cultural hit because of its customization options, home designs, and social elements, putting the freedom of limitless creativity in the player's hands.

Sony has revealed that the PlayStation Plus Games Catalog line-up for May 2023 includes Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Watch Dogs Legion, Humanity, and more.

Revealed on the PlayStation Blog, a total of 23 games will join the service on May 16, meaning they're available at no extra charge to PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium members.

PlayStation 5 exclusive Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart headlines May's offering, bringing the interdimensional adventure to even more players. What we called "a fantastic showpiece for the PS5's power" in our 9/10 review is classic gaming fun full of wild and wonderful characters, levels, and weapons.

Watch Dogs Legion is another new game but quite different in tone to Ratchet and Clank, taking players to the mean streets of London as they fight off corrupt corporations with neat hacking abilities and more than a few weapons.

The game's "bold use of roguelike mechanics in an open-world action game pays off in interesting ways", earning it an 8/10 in IGN's review.

Coming to the Games Catalog on its launch day is Humanity, a puzzle game where the player manipulates hoards of humans while playing as a Shiba Inu. "While it may appear, at first, as 3D Lemmings, Humanity already feels like so much more," IGN said in our preview.

After Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope and Marvel’s Midnight Suns last year, I’m champing at the bit for more of the fantastic and challenging turn-based tactics that not enough games offer. So when I recently went hands-on with Shadowrun developer Hairbrained Schemes’ The Lamplighters League, it was like stepping into a warm bath. The alternate-history 1930’s setting evokes an Indiana Jones-like adventurer’s charm filled with fedoras and tommy guns, and that felt like the perfect backdrop for the mix of diabolical stealth and strategic combat I overwhelmingly enjoyed in this admittedly small taste.

The Lamplighters League’s killer feature is how it blends realtime stealth hijinks with turn-based combat in the same vein as XCOM. Before fists and lead start flying, characters can move freely to gather recon, collect items, and take out enemies undetected, but once I was inevitably spotted, the action switched to the cover-based tactical combat you’d find in the likes of Gears Tactics. The advantage of this hybrid model is that I was allowed to sneak around, feeling like a roguish ne’er-do-well as I scouted ahead and set myself up for success in the upcoming bout. Then, by the time the turn-based shenanigans began, I was armed with the knowledge and tools I needed to win the day.

If you've come away from Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 and you're looking for even more time with the beloved heroes, then look no further than the 2021 game. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (2021) is a certified underrated gem, and well worth your time and money. It's not connected to the MCU, but it's still got some of the best video game writing and voice work of the current (and even the last) generation.

GotG is the perfect companion piece to the new movie if you're looking for even more action, laughs, and emotional vulnerability from your favorite space-based heroes. Not only that, but that game is now 100% Verified on Steam Deck, so you can rest assured it'll run perfectly on the magnificent PC gaming handheld.

To top it all off, it's even 70% off at the moment on Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox, making this one of the absolute finest deals you could pick up in 2023. Guardians was even on Game Pass for a decent chunk of time, but for now, it is resting nicely in the libraries of anyone with a PS Plus Extra membership. We'll leave some handy links below if you want to pick it up, or you could even check out our full Guardians of the Galaxy merch and gift guide, or our full 8/10 review of the game as well.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom includes dungeons that feature a "wide variety of regional characteristics," each with their own unique look and feel.

Revealed in a developer interview on Nintendo's website, the team behind Tears of the Kingdom finally confirmed the game will step away from Breath of the Wild's Divine Beast style of dungeons, which were criticised by some fans for being a bit too samey.

"We’ve made dungeons unique to their respective environments, so we think you’ll be able to enjoy the wide variety of regional characteristics," said technical director Takuhiro Dohta.

This was expanded upon by art director Satoru Takizawa, who made clear that dungeons in Tears of the Kingdom will be more akin to those featured in previous games like Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess.

"Making a wide variety was pretty challenging. The four Divine Beasts were the dungeons in the last game, and they shared similar designs," Takizawa acknowledged.

"This time, the dungeons are huge and each carry their own regional look and feel, just like traditional The Legend of Zelda games. We think they will provide a satisfying challenge for players. They were certainly a challenge to develop."

The 1997 cult classic movie Starship Troopers by director Paul Verhoeven is a relentless war film that leans heavily into the spectacle and over-the-top nature of intergalactic warfare. With the upcoming Starship Troopers: Extermination from Beyond the Wire developer Offworld Industries, the video game adaptation seeks to expand upon the film's chaotic and gory combat sequences for its focus on co-op squad-based action.

I got an early look at Extermination ahead of its early access release on May 17th and saw its unique blend of large-scale combat and tower defense-style gameplay firsthand. And so far, it has the makings for a compelling twist on the original film's concept of soldiers out of their depth being thrust head-first into a fight against an endless swarm of alien bugs.

Extermination takes place decades after the original film and sees a new division of Deep Space Vanguards face off against the extremely hostile alien species known as the Arachnids – otherwise known as "bugs." The squad of troopers takes on a variety of resource-gathering and bug hunt missions, all while facing off against an onslaught of vicious Arachnids that can easily tear your squad apart.

The main loop focuses on running and gunning against the bugs, capturing territory, and building bases and ammo depots to mostly even the playing field against the opposition. Before each game, you get to choose from one of three different class types; the jet-pack-wearing Assault class, a Heavy class that can pull up a mobile shield to hunker down and lay down suppressive fire on bugs, and a support unit that can call up medic drones to heal the squad.

Honkai: Star Rail starts with a bang, serenading you with a symphony and blowing up a space station. You quickly ground yourself in a world with code-locked chrome doors, mech-like invaders with bladed arms, and rooms with monitors spread across the walls. Its hook of a prologue gives just enough that you can see why the story and gameplay are worth sticking around for without grinding. Charming characters, engaging combat, and carefully crafted worlds blend together into a game with enough content to keep you entertained for well over 50 hours, using polished versions of the progression systems from Honkai Impact 3rd and Genshin Impact to create HoYoverse’s best RPG yet.

HoYo has a reputation for crafting gacha games with a strong emphasis on story, and Honkai: Star Rail lives up to it. You play as the Trailblazer, an amnesiac protagonist who travels planet to planet on a train-like spaceship-like train called the Astral Express. It becomes a story surrounding the train’s crew, their backstories, and the different planets they visit. The story has its own twists and turns with some questionable pacing, but eventually it leads to an entertaining outcome that kept me wanting more.

Major story arcs dip into the city of Belobog’s political conflict and its poverty-stricken Underworld. It also balances darker themes like loss with lighthearted jokes, some of which reference pop culture or RPG cliches. Weaving these threads together puts the spotlight on other characters and makes the overall story more cohesive as a whole. These arcs kept me up at night, grinding through levels just so I could get to the next quest.

Epic Games has announced a creative mode for Fall Guys that lets players build and create their own competitive stages.

Available today, May 10, the mode promises to bring "a comprehensive and full-featured level editor" that puts the developers' tools into the hands of the players. Fans can sample other players' creations in a dedicated mode but the most-loved levels will often be included in the main Fall Guys show selector too.

Other changes are coming to the game in the Creative Construction update too, including the Season Pass changing to the Fame Pass. Epic Games this change will bring "more regular and better value content drops" thanks to the new system, as each season now contains multiple consecutive Fame Passes lasting four to seven weeks each. The first Fame Pass will be available from May 10 to June 12.

Fame Passes consist of 40 rewards and still include both a free and paid progression path, with each one seemingly revolving around a certain entertainment franchise collaboration. Hello Kitty is the first Fame Pass star, and a special costume will unlock immediately for all players who purchase the pass.

In our 8/10 review of the game, IGN said: "A collection of exciting minigames and a burst of every colour under the rainbow makes Fall Guys a consistent delight."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

EA’s latest earnings report contains no mention of BioWare’s upcoming RPG Dragon Age: Dreadwolf in its list of upcoming games, suggesting the next entry in the beloved franchise won't release until April 2024 at the earliest.

As reported by Eurogamer, EA’s latest earnings report included a schedule of previously announced games that are slated to release in the 2023/24 financial year, which runs until the end of March 2024. The list featured a range of upcoming titles including The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle Earth, Immortals of Aveum, and Madden 24, but contained no mention of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.

EA’s omission suggests that BioWare’s highly anticipated RPG won't be released until April 2024 at the earliest. Officially revealed back in December 2018, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is set to be the fourth entry in the fantasy series.

The game has yet to be given an official release window. However, BioWare revealed in October 2022 that an alpha version of the game was now playable from start to finish, giving fans hope that a release might not be too far away.

A Japanese restaurant is offering a Hungry Burger as part of a special Yu-Gi-Oh collaboration menu, and it looks like it's the type of burger that could bite back.

In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Yu-Gi-Oh OCG, Coco's restaurant will be serving up a dish inspired by the ritual monster Hungry Burger from May 16. The horrific hamburger looks mouth-watering, layered up in a bun with lettuce, tomato, and teeth-shaped cheese.

As reported by Siliconera, other items on Coco's Yu-Gi-Oh collaboration menu include a Galactica Oblivion Parfait, a Seventh Road Magician Curry, and a Blue Eyes White Dragon Parfait. The dishes will be available in two waves from May 16 through June 5 and June 6 through June 26.

Team Cherry has announced that Hollow Knight: Silksong has been delayed past the first half of 2023 and that more details will come as the game nears its release date.

Over on Twitter, Team Cherry’s marketing and publishing lead Matthew Griffin said: “We had planned to release in the 1st half of 2023, but development is still continuing. We're excited by how the game is shaping up, and it's gotten quite big, so we want to take the time to make the game as good as we can.”

He continued: “Expect more details from us once we get closer to release.”

Hey gang, just a quick update about Silksong.

We had planned to release in the 1st half of 2023, but development is still continuing. We're excited by how the game is shaping up, and it's gotten quite big, so we want to take the time to make the game as good as we can.

Expect…

Amidst a recent new wave of interest in AI technology, a number of gaming companies have lately been addressing what this means for them and their businesses. Count EA among them now, as CEO Andrew Wilson and COO Laura Miele addressed the future of games, AI, and EA on the company's Q4 earnings call.

Addressing a question about AI, Wilson began by saying that the games industry would probably be "one of the greatest beneficiaries of AI." He described AI as an "augment" to EA's teams, as well as a way to allow players to create content within EA's worlds.

However, he also addressed some fears about AI in...not the most reassuring way.

"The fear of displacement of the workforce is something we read a lot about and we talk a lot about," Wilson said. "And as we think about every revolution over the course of time from the agricultural revolution to the industrial revolution and on, there has been displacement of the workforce in the near term, and then meaningful increases in workforce opportunities over the longer term. Our hope is that AI represents the same opportunity, and we're working very closely inside of our company to ensure that our people benefit in that way and actually facilitate them to do more things."

Wilson also addressed other concerns, noting that issues around ownership of AI output were not a concern for EA given its 40+ years of internal data and owned content an AI could conceivably learn from. He also remarked on concerns about bad actors using AI, promising that EA would work with others across the industry as well as governments and regulators to make laws around AI to protect consumers.

No, you’re not seeing things – Apex Legends could eventually include Overwatch-style crossovers, bringing pop-culture content to Kings Canyon.

“I don’t think anything is off the table,” said EA CEO Andrew Wilson during an investor call today. “I think that as we think about game IP today, it's kind of like comic book IP of 20 or 30 years ago. This is the IP that Gen Z and Jen Alpha perhaps identify mostly with.”

“I think the opportunity for us to continue to grow and expand and stretch the nature of the experiences that we're able to offer to our global player base over the next decade and beyond is unfettered,” he added.

Overwatch 2 recently made headlines when it featured its first-ever major brand crossover, adding One-Punch Man-themed skins, challenges, victory poses, and more.

It’s not the first to do this, of course, and follows in the footsteps of Fortnite which has long used brand crossovers to win over fans. It’s currently sporting some pretty neat Star Wars-themed gear courtesy of its mini-battle pass, Find the Force.

Although there are no concrete plans to add this in the near future, Apex fans could well see something similar. At the very least, it’s not being ruled out.

Xbox's nascent Activision Blizzard acquisition remains a hot topic following the decision by the UK Competition and Markets Authority [CMA] to block the deal, but Electronic Arts CEO Andrew doesn't seem too worried one way or another whether it goes through.

Speaking on a call following EA's most recent round of earnings, Wilson said EA is "Microsoft's biggest partner" while claiming that it is "the number one publisher on their platform."

"So whether that deal goes through or not is not really material to us, broadly," Wilson finished. "We think we have the scale, again back to our network, our IP and our talent, to continue to navigate the future and lead the future of entertainment and compete in a marketplace regardless of whether that deal goes through or not."

Talking about the broader trend of industry consolidation, Wilson said he would love for EA to "have the scale to be a meaningful consolidator."

"I think we have tremendous assets with respect to the future of entertainment. But as it stands today, we're indifferent as to whether that goes through or not. We think we have an incredible strategy, we feel like we have an incredible opportunity, and whether it goes through or not we'll continue to be the number one publisher on the Microsoft platform," Wilson said.

Following the halt of Microsoft's planned acquisition of Activision/Blizzard, both companies have vowed to appeal the decision from the UK's CMA (Competition and Market Authority) board. And now, Activision has taken the first big step forward by hiring a lawyer who previously handled cases for the UK Parliament and Queen Elizabeth II to represent the appeal.

If you’ve been holding off on getting a PS5, but are eager to play Final Fantasy XVI when it comes out on June 22, here’s some good news. You can pick up a bundle that includes a PS5 disc console, plus the upcoming Final Fantasy installment, all for $559.99. That represents a $10 discount off buying the items separately, but you also get the awesome Final Fantasy PS5 box. So it’s probably worth grabbing, all things considered.

Where to Preorder the PS5 Final Fantasy XVI Bundle

• Get it at Amazon
• Get it at Best Buy
• Get it at GameStop
• Get it at PS Direct
• Get it at Target

The PS5 is an excellent console that continues to dominate Xbox Series X|S this generation. Final Fantasy XVI is shaping up to be a massive, epic adventure involving warring kingdoms and powerful crystals that must be destroyed. It’s also a PS5 exclusive, at least for the first six months after launch. Check out our Final Fantasy 16 preorder guide for information about what comes in the various editions and how much they cost.

While blockbuster single-player titles like Dead Space make the news headlines, massive live service games continue to sustain industry giants like EA for another year running. The publisher just reported a record Q4, nearing $2 billion in net bookings, with FIFA 23 taking the crown as the most successful in the series to date as its handoff to EA Sports FC looms.

In a press release, EA reported record net bookings of $1.95 billion for the quarter ending March 31, 2023, up 11% year-over-year. This was largely thanks to record live service game performance, especially from the FIFA franchise. In particular, EA reports that FIFA 23 is now the most successful game in franchise history, surpassing the sales of FIFA 22, and the FIFA franchise's net bookings grew 31% year-over-year in the quarter.

Notably, however, this is officially the last FIFA game from EA.

With its partnership with FIFA coming to an end, EA has rebranded its annual soccer franchise to be called EA Sports FC, with new information promised in July. EA CEO Andrew Wilson has been dismissive of the value the FIFA brand brought to the series, and critically, the publisher will retain necessary partnerships such as its deal with the Premier League to keep the most popular teams in the sport in its games.

Game Freak, the studio best-known for Pokémon, is partnering with Private Division in what appears to be its first major foray into the AAA action-adventure space.

Private Division announced that it is working with Game Freak on Project Bloom, an "ambitious" new action-adventure game. In a statement, Game Freak director Kota Furushima said that fans can expect something very different from its usual monster collecting fare.

While Hyrule has been the setting for many Legend of Zelda games, we've also taken departures to locations such as Termina, Koholint Island, Holodrum, and others. But for Tears of the Kingdom, there was absolutely no question in the developers' minds that the Breath of the Wild sequel would return to the same Hyrule of its predecessor.

In an interview published by Nintendo, series producer Eiji Aonuma said that creating a completely new world in a new game was never even really a discussion, because the team had been coming up with ideas for a direct sequel since Breath of the Wild was in development.

"Just like somewhere you know inside and out, we understand where everything is in Hyrule from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and because of that, we believed it was possible to create new gameplay," added director Hidemaro Fujibayashi. "For this reason, in the initial proposal, we clearly stated 'the setting will not change' as an important concept. Even when I shared this with the team members here, there were no objections, and we were all aligned on that idea from that point onward."

Furthermore, technical director Takuhiro Dohta said that idea of staying in the same place but layering on new mechanics and ideas came to him through a rather surprising inspiration: Wii Sports Resort.

Potential minor spoilers ahead for Starfield.

While we may have to wait until June to get our next big look at Starfield, the game's ESRB rating has appeared online and confirms it will include drugs, in-game purchases, and... jetpack sex.

The ESRB, or Entertainment Software Rating Board, has given Starfield an M for Mature 17+ for "blood, strong language, suggestive themes, use of drugs, and violence." Many of these classifications are pretty standard for an M-rated game, but the rating summary is filled with some very interesting details.

First off, it confirms Starfield is an "open-world role-playing game in which players assume the role of a miner tasked with finding Artifacts across the galaxy." The next bit of text describes some more standard features, including that Starfield allows for first and third-person perspectives, and that it will feature character interactions, quests, futuristic guns, lasers, axes, and explosives, and more.

The ESRB's rating summary then gives some examples of the "suggestive material in the dialogue" players will find in the game, specifically after they share a bed with another character.

"The game contains some suggestive material in the dialogue, and after sharing a bed with characters (e.g., “Life is a sexually transmitted disease that's a hundred percent fatal”; “I'm all for getting a little wild, but next time let's try it without the jetpacks”; “Talk about seeing stars, whew… that was amazing.”)," the summary reads.

We obviously don't have the full context and it may not be exactly as it sounds or even appear in game beyond a mention, but next-gen jetpack sex is probably not something many had on their Starfield bingo cards.

God of War (2018) and God of War Ragnarok raised the bar for immersive, narrative-rich action-adventure games. It's only the fifth time IGN has awarded consecutive mainline games in a series review scores of 10, putting God of War in the company of The Legend of Zelda, Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid, and The Last of Us.

Naturally, comparing a game to God of War sets it up for failure, and in turn, sets you up for disappointment. These games don't necessarily exceed the bar set by Santa Monica Studio, rather they share and successfully implement notable design and/or gameplay characteristics found in the recent God of War games.

So as we await news on the future of Kratos and Atreus, these are 7 games God of War fans may enjoy, whether you come to the series for its visceral third-person combat, inspired world design, compelling narrative, and/or exploration of Norse mythology.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

For fans of God of War’s combat, Norse setting/mythological exploration, and/or story.

Like Kratos in God of War (2018), Senua embarks on a perilous journey motivated by a deceased lover — a journey set within a similarly mythology-rich Norse world. Senua’s journey takes her to Ninja Theory’s iteration of Helheim, a mythological realm that will be familiar to those who played God of War, with appearances from shared characters like Garmr and Surtr. Like Kratos, Senua even carries and communicates with a decapitated head that swings from her hip.

The release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 may mark the end of an era for the original team, but it’s an era that will stand the test of time. James Gunn's trilogy of Marvel films will always be adored, along with that beloved bunch of A-holes we've grown to love over the years.

It's true, this team fooled around and we fell in love. And with all of that comes a desire to show off that love, which is why we've collected a variety of Guardians of the Galaxy-themed gifts and merch for you to enjoy. Whether you want to have the Awesome Mixes to play around the house or some excellent LEGO sets to build, we've got you covered in our Guardians of the Galaxy gift guide.

Best Guardians of the Galaxy Gifts and Merch

Below, you can find some of our personal favorite gift ideas. The latest Awesome Mix for Vol. 3 has some excellent songs on it -- from the acoustic version of Creep by Radiohead to the Beastie Boys' No Sleep Till Brooklyn -- and the Nerf Quad Blaster and Adam Warlock figure are great pick-ups for those interested in toys and collectibles.

Guardians of the Galaxy LEGO Gifts

Whether you want to construct the Guardians' new ship from Vol. 3 or an adorable baby Groot, we've got a great selection of LEGO gifts below to choose from.

Bungie has been awarded $6.7 million in damages and legal fees after winning yet another anti-cheating lawsuit, this time against the defendant LaviCheats.

The Destiny 2 developer was awarded a total of $6,700,973, and 34 cents in a default ruling handed down by U.S. district judge Tana Lin, according to a legal document tweeted by Axios’ Stephen Totilo, and reported on by GameSpot.

“NEWS: Bungie wins another cheating lawsuit: a $6.7 million award against Lavicheats, which it sued in 2021”, read Totilo’s tweet. “Defendant never responded to the suit. Was a default judgement. Bungie said the cheats had been downloaded more than 1,700 times, says it spent $2m battling cheat-makers.”

NEWS: Bungie wins another cheating lawsuit: a $6.7 million award against Lavicheats, which it sued in 2021

Defendant never responded to the suit. Was a default judgment

Bungie said the cheats had been downloaded more than 1700 times, says it spent $2m battling cheat-makers pic.twitter.com/m6nIkzjPZ4

— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) May 8, 2023

More specifically, the judgment punished LaviCheats for a number of copyright and trademark law violations, while also awarding Bungie over $240,000 to cover its legal costs and attorney fees.

In the first scene we ever saw for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Zelda falls down a hole while Link desperately tries to catch her. Sounds like she sure could use a hand, huh?

Well, she's apparently getting many, many hands, as producer Eiji Aonuma and director Hidemaro Fujibayashi have said that "hands" are a major, major theme throughout Tears of the Kingdom.

In an interview published by Nintendo, Aonuma and Fujibayashi talk about how "hands" as a theme was introduced in part to distinguish Link in Tears of the Kingdom from any other Link, hence his strange, morphed right arm.

"Titles in the Legend of Zelda series intertwine all the elements of gameplay, mechanics, and story, and combine them all into a single game," Fujibayashi said. "For this title, we chose “hands” as the key theme to bring them all together. For example, abilities that Link uses to solve puzzles are all released from his hand and arm. We even included this symbolically in the game's mechanics, such as having scenes that use hands when opening special doors. This "hands" theme also crops up here and there as a key element as the story develops."

We've already seen this play out a little in preview and trailer footage, with Link's "Ultrahand" ability being used to combine objects in the world into vehicles and other useful apparati. But according to technical director Takuhiro Dohta, it goes farther than that.

It's a philosophical theme, too.

Nintendo has put a stop to rumours about its new hardware, whether it's the long-rumoured Switch Pro or otherwise, by declaring that a Switch successor won't be released until April 2024 at the earliest.

As reported by Bloomberg, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa explained during an investors presentation that it isn't considering new hardware in the 2023/24 financial year. This means that Nintendo's next home console won't be released until late April 2024 at the earliest.

This comes despite a decline in Switch sales. The console sold close to 18 million units in the last financial year, down from 23 million sold the year before and 28 million the year before that. Nintendo isn't looking to rush a new console out to tackle this decline though, as it has forecast another drop for the coming year.

"Sustaining the Switch's sales momentum will be difficult in its seventh year," said Furukawa during the presentation. "Our goal of selling 15 million units this fiscal year is a bit of a stretch, but we will do our best to bolster demand going into the holiday season so that we can achieve the goal."

Guerrilla Games has revealed that Horizon Forbidden West has sold 8.4 million units so far and that the franchise overall has sold 32.7 million.

In a PlayStation Blog post, studio director and studio art and animation director Jan-Bart van Beek said: “Millions more around the world have discovered Horizon thanks to PlayStation’s subscription services and initiatives, including PlayStation Plus, and Play at Home.

"All told, it’s a milestone we never imagined possible twenty years ago when we first started making games.”

Guerrilla has already confirmed that a third main game in the Horizon series is currently in development over at the studio as well as an online game. The latest game in the franchise is Horizon: Call of the Mountain for PSVR 2 and Horizon Forbidden West received the Burning Shores DLC last month.

Aloy's keeping busy in other media too, as there's also an upcoming Horizon Netflix series in the works from Umbrella Academy director Steve Blackman.

Nintendo Switch sales have dropped for the second year running and Nintendo expects further decline next year.

Revealed in the company's latest financial earnings, the Switch sold 17.97 million units in financial year 2022/23, which came in below 2021/22's 23.06 million and 2020/21's peak of 28.83 million units.

The console has now sold 125 million units in total, up slightly from the figure announced in February that saw it become the third best selling console of all time. These figures cover all iteration of Switch hardware including the original, OLED model, and Lite.

As the Switch is entering its seventh year on the market following two years of decline, Nintendo is expecting a further dip in sales to follow in financial year 2023/24 by forecasting 15 million sales.

"For the fiscal year ending March 2024, we forecast a decrease in net sales and profits due to a reduction in the unit sales of Nintendo Switch hardware and software, as well as the assumed exchange rate having an appreciated yen compared to the fiscal year ending March 2023," Nintendo said in its financial presentation.

"Nintendo Switch has entered its seventh year since launch, and while it will become more challenging to maintain the same sales momentum as before, our goal is to have more consumers continue to play Nintendo Switch for longer, leading to maximized sales."

To celebrate 60 years of Doctor Who, Magic: The Gathering is releasing four ready-to-play Commander decks and a Collector Booster box (and individual packs) for Whovians to enjoy. They’re set to release this year on October 13, so you can pick them up before the show returns for the anniversary specials in November.

Below, you can find links to all of the Commander decks and Booster packs that are up for preorder on Amazon, along with where to pick up a Starter Kit if you’re new to the world of Magic!

Magic: The Gathering Starter Kit

For those who want to learn the basics of Magic, this is another excellent preorder to jump on. This 2023 two-player Starter Kit serves as an easy and fun introduction to the game with everything you need to learn how to play, including two ready-to-play decks and two codes to play online. It's set to release on September 8, 2023, so you can have it before the new Doctor Who set drops, too.

Doctor Who Magic: The Gathering Collector Boosters

Magic: The Gathering has revealed a Doctor Who Collector Booster box of 12 packs and a single Collector Booster pack of 15 cards for the show's anniversary. According to their website, the Collector Booster box features "your favorite Doctor Who characters with 12 boosters full of Rares (7-14 in every pack!), TARDIS Showcase frames, and more shiny foils than you can shake a sonic screwdriver at." You can see links to both below.