Sega and Relic Entertainment announced that Company of Heroes 3 is receiving a new update called Operation Sapphire Jackal.

The game’s first major update includes daily and weekly challenges for players to compete in both multiplayer and co-modes. These challenges include tasks such as destroying 50 vehicles with anti-tank guns and gaining 50 veteran ranks with Wehrmacht infantry. Completing these challenges will earn players Merit, an in-game earnable currency that can be used to unlock cosmetics.

These new in-game cosmetics can be used to customize units and armies in both single-player and multiplayer modes. They can also be unlocked via War Bonds, a purchasable in-game currency, along with the earnable Merit in-game currency. War Bonds can only be earned by buying War Bond packs.

“One of our goals with the In-Game Store is to ensure there is always a balanced mix of earnable and paid content available so that players can choose how they use the store, and that there is unlockable content available to everyone,” Relic Entertainment explained in a blog post. “This will apply to everything in the store when it launches, and as we move forward.”

Additionally, there are several bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements, including a new voice-over for the Ghurka infantry and clearer descriptions to more accurately reflect abilities, units, and upgrades, as well as updated unique player color options with allies being cool colors and enemies being warm colors.

Ubisoft will not be a part of E3 2023 after all, the company has revealed.

In a statement to VGC, the Assassin's Creed publisher said it will hold its own, separate event in Los Angeles the same week as E3.

“E3 has fostered unforgettable moments across the industry throughout the years,” Ubisoft's statement reads. “While we initially intended to have an official E3 presence, we’ve made the subsequent decision to move in a different direction, and will be holding a Ubisoft Forward Live event on 12th June in Los Angeles. We look forward to sharing more details with our players very soon.”

In February, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said the company would have "a lot of things to show" at E3 2023, becoming the first major publisher to confirm attendance for the event. Ubisoft's upcoming slate includes Assassin's Creed Mirage, Skull and Bones, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, as the company plans to "launch a lot of games" in its next financial year. But now, Ubisoft pulling out of the event leaves E3's lineup in serious question.

Warner Bros. Games and Player First Games have announced that early access for MultiVersus will be closed on June 25, and will aim to launch the full game in early 2024. The announcement was shared in a blog post on Monday, thanking players for participating in the open beta for MultiVersus and calling it a "stepping stone" for the next phase of MultiVersus..

"Throughout our open beta, we’ve been working hard to build the best gameplay experience, and we appreciate all of the inspiration you’ve given us," Tony Huynh, co-founder and game director at Player First Games, said. "Our Open Beta has been an important learning opportunity for us and a stepping stone to the next phase of MultiVersus."

To that end, Huynh discussed what's ahead for MultiVersus as Player First Games prepares for its official post-beta launch next year. Some plans for the game include improving the "content cadence" of new characters, maps, modes, and matchmaking, as well as overhauling the game's progression system and finding new means for players to connect with other players online. Player First Games says that it also wants to update the game's netcode.

MultiVersus won't be receiving updates after it goes offline in June. However, players will still have access to the training room (aka The Lab), local matches, their characters, and cosmetics in an offline capacity. The only caveat is they won't be able to get refunds for any purchases during the game's downtime, including the Founder's Packs and Gleamium bundles.

Cheat codes have been found for Gran Turismo 4, which launched almost two decades ago in 2005 for PlayStation 2.

These cheat codes were discovered by Twitter user Nenkaai, but it’s unclear how they found them in the first place. These newly uncovered chat codes provide benefits for players when the corresponding buttons have been input into the game. However, they can only be used once 365 in-game days have passed in Gran Turismo 4:

• Earn 10,000,000 Credits in the GT Mode screen: Select, Left, Right, Right, Down, Up, Up, Left, Down, Up, Right, Left, Down, L1, R1, Select
• Pass any license in the License selection screen: Select, R1, Select, R1, Select, L2, L2, R2, R2, L1, Select, L1, Select
• Earn a Gold rating at any specific license test in the License Test selection screen: Select, Select, R1, R2, L2, L2, Select, L1, R1, Select, R2, L1, Select
• Earn a Gold rating at any event in the Event Course Selection screen: Select, L1, Up, Up, Select, R1, Down, Down, Select, L2, Select, R2, Select

So many years and this game still holds surprises, GT4 does actually have cheat codes👀👇 pic.twitter.com/toyyIHIJKW

— Nenkai (@Nenkaai) March 25, 2023

Furthermore, the prizes that come with earning a gold rating in events are also unlocked as well and 24-hour races can be skipped over. The codes apparently even work in the 2006 motorcycle game Tourist Trophy, which uses the same game engine that Gran Turismo 4 does.

With The Last of Us Season 1 in our rearview mirrors and viewership numbers now on record, let’s have a discussion about adaptations that take it upon themselves to veer from the canon continuity of their respective source material — what we’ll call “faithless adaptations.” HBO’s series based on Naughty Dog’s video game property kept setting new watch records until the finale, when 8.2 million people tuned in to end on the show’s highest ratings to date. The Last of Us rolled with momentum until the very last chance, which is a testament to its attention-grabbing quality. It’s a successful show, which means it’s a successful adaptation — even though the storytelling forges a unique made-for-TV path that’s not beholden to the game’s choices.

Faithless adaptations once again came into question after the departure of Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia from Netflix's The Witcher Season 4 raised many an eyebrow last December — but maybe not as many as executive producer and showrunner Lauren Hissrich's comments. In response to the megastar's jump-ship, Hissrich mentioned that she's excited about the prospect of story reshuffling because "you don't know where exactly the adventure is going to end." Except, if you're a devout fan of Andrzej Sapkwoski's The Witcher novels — which the show was supposedly following like blueprints — you do know where The Witcher will end after the eight-book storyline is complete. Fans might wonder if veering into faithless adaptation territory is a red flag for future seasons because what's an adaptation if it's not committed to its source?

Resident Evil 4 remake could introduce a mode from the original game through DLC, according to a recent datamine.

Posted to Twitter by Resident Evil Central, dataminer Gosetsu discovered a folder labeled "_anotherorder", which was the name of the original Resident Evil 4's extra mode in Japan. In the west, the bonus content was titled Separate Ways.

Thanks to Gosetsu from the RE Wiki Discord, they managed to datamine Resident Evil 4 Remake and find evidence that "The Another Order", otherwise known as "Separate Ways" exists in the files.

Will we see this announcement in the near future?#RE4 #ResidentEvil4Remake pic.twitter.com/Em0jpeytBS

— Will | Resident Evil Central 👁️ (@ResiEvilCentral) March 25, 2023

The original Separate Ways starred Ada Wong as players worked through the events of Resident Evil 4 from her perspective. The side game is significantly shorter than the main game, taking place over five chapters split across the village, castle, and island. Ada also controls slightly differently than Leon, with faster movement speed and a hookshot.

D&D Direct 2023 has been set for March 28 at 9am PT. This 30-minute pre-recorded showcase highlights a host of major Dungeons & Dragons announcements across several mediums. It's a perfect opportunity for D&D newcomers and veterans alike to learn about the state of the franchise, and what they can look forward to in the future. Whether you've been with D&D for a dragon's age, or whether you're curious about stepping into its fantastic world, you're sure to find something to get excited about when you tune in.

D&D Direct 2023 is certain to have a big focus on the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, which hits theaters on March 31. You should also keep an eye out for new reveals, as well as a first look at the D&D virtual tabletop built in Unreal Engine. The virtual tabletop was teased in August of 2022, alongside a host of other teases and announcements. D&D fans of all levels will be treated to hot reveals, and rookie adventurers will be made to feel especially welcome with content tailored for newcomers.

We'll be streaming the presentation. Here's what you need to know about the stream, including when it starts, where you can watch it, and what surprises fans might expect.

Oh, and In celebration of D&D Direct, the D&D Franchise is holding a sale on Steam. Get up to 75% off a number of D&D video game titles from March 27 to April 3!

D&D Direct 2023 Start Time

D&D Direct 2023 airs on March 28 at 9am PT/12pm ET/5 pm BST. For Australians, that's March 29 at 2:00am AEST.

In nearly every way, Remnant 2 feels like it’s shaping up to be a proper sequel to Gunfire Games’ underrated soulslike from 2019. Lovingly referred to as “Dark Souls with guns” by its community, Remnant: From The Ashes punched above its weight in many ways with just a handful of scrappy indie developers working on the project at the outset. Four years later, that team has the support of its new titanic parent company Embracer Group and has ballooned to over 60 people and counting, and in my time playing Remnant 2, the results of that doubling down were clear: this sequel seems like it’s going to absolutely rule. The gunplay is heads and shoulders above its predecessor, the buildcrafting is an RPG nerd’s dream, the enemies and bosses are relentless and badass, and the vastly improved procedural generation engine is one of the most ambitious things I’ve seen from a soulslike in a very long time.

The night before I got my hands on Remnant 2, I spent some time replaying the first game in my hotel room, and the thing that immediately struck me when booting up the sequel was just how much better it looks. Where From The Ashes was a bit drab aesthetically, Remnant 2 is absolutely bursting with color and detailed characters. Whether I was hanging around the rustic sanctuary of Ward 13 or running through Yaesha under the glow of an eerie crimson sun, the leap forward is no mere facelift – it’s a complete overhaul.

Dark Horse Comics continues to expand on the Witcher saga with new spinoff comics, and the latest series is about to reach its epic conclusion in April 2023.

IGN can exclusively debut a new preview of The Witcher: The Ballad of Two Wolves #4, which is written by Bartosz Sztybor and illustrated by Miki Montlló. Check it out in the slideshow gallery below:

The Ballad of Two Wolves is the seventh volume in Dark Horse's ongoing line of The Witcher tie-ins. This particular series puts a Witcher spin on iconic fables like Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs. When Geralt of Rivia arrives in the town of Grimmwald, he finds himself confronting rumors of werewolves and the emergence of the three Piglet sisters. All the while, everyone's favorite bard Dandelion sees the opportunity to write the greatest ballad of his career.

Here's Dark Horse's official description for the finale issue:

There's a grain of truth to every story and with Geralt's eyes on every suspect, the better for him to see through the lies. With monsters lurking in every size, shape, and pedigree, fate takes a turn. Vengeance is a cycle, life is a tragedy, and a ballad can rewrite history.

For those who haven't been following Dark Horse's Witcher comics, these stories are specifically designed as standalone tie-ins to the video games, rather than the original novels or the live-action Netflix series. Most of these projects tell original stories featuring Geralt rather than adapting author Andrzej Sapkowski's work.

A decade ago director Ken Levine and his studio, Irrational Games, introduced us to the rotting society of Columbia with a choice: would you like to throw a baseball at an interracial couple, or instead hurl it at the bigoted announcer goading you on? Will you commit a hate crime, or stand against oppression? Regardless of the option you pick, the scenario plays out identically, with the ball left aside as protagonist Booker DeWitt uses a power tool to obliterate the face of a police officer. The sequence is both a bold introduction to BioShock Infinite’s exploration of America’s sordid relationship with race and an indication that such an exploration is going to be deeply flawed.

The mishandling of this moment telegraphs all of BioShock Infinite’s problems; that it will eventually descend into a situation that paints Black revolutionist Daisy Fitzroy as a monster no better than Columbia’s ultra-nationalist leader, Zachary Comstock. That you will spend the final half of the game gunning down the oppressed working classes. That its message will eventually be lost among its multiverse ambitions. And so BioShock Infinite doomed itself to live in the shadow of its greatest mistake.

The developers of Rustler (Grand Theft Horse), a top-down, GTA2-style parody of Grand Theft Auto set in medieval times, has announced its next project: the Wild West-set Cowboys and Rustlers.

Cowboys and Rustlers promises "a unique friendship between a man and a horse" and adds that you will "help your best friend – a cynical horse named Theodore – write his revolutionary novel and enjoy each other’s company while wreaking havoc all around" in this Rustler follow-up that, like its predecessor, uses GTA2's top-down perspective as its foundation. Watch the announcement trailer above and check out the first screenshots in the gallery below.

The developers promise that you'll be able to "Rob banks, cheat in poker to earn money, race with stagecoaches, and try to catch anybody with a lasso (or learn how to use it differently)," along with plenty of anachronistic pop culture references.

Wishlist it on Steam if you're interested.

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.

Upcoming Nintendo Switch exclusive The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is getting a ten minute gameplay presentation tomorrow from Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma.

Announced in a tweet from Nintendo of America (below), the presentation (which wasn't explicitly called a Nintendo Direct) will take place on March 28 at 7am Pacific / 10am Eastern / 3pm UK (so midnight in AEST).

"Join The Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma for roughly ten minutes of gameplay from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom," the tweet said, adding that it can be watched on Nintendo's YouTube channel.

Join The Legend of #Zelda series producer, Eiji Aonuma, for roughly 10 minutes of gameplay from The Legend of Zelda: #TearsOfTheKingdom on 3/28 at 7:00 a.m. PT on our YouTube channel.

▶️ https://t.co/uMUCfVjFQL pic.twitter.com/y49N4jRUTz

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) March 27, 2023

The presentation will be the first major, uninterrupted chunk of Tears of the Kingdom gameplay we've seen, with Nintendo previously only sharing shorter clips in various trailers.

Forza Horizon developer Playground Games’ co-founder and former studio head Gavin Raeburn has revealed his new AAA studio Lighthouse Games.

Raeburn and “a team of world class developers” are currently working on an unannounced new IP, but shared no details as to what this will be or if it’s even in the racing genre.

As the former executive producer on several Dirt and GRID games, however, and the studio head of Playground as it produced five Forza Horizon games, it’s perhaps likely that Lighthouse is working on a new racing game.

You can currently get a brilliant PS5 SSD for just £125 in the UK, making this one of the best PS5 SSD discounts we've ever seen. Discounted 2TB SSDs have been sitting around the £150-180 price range for a good few months now, but this deal really blows the rest out of the water. For just £125 you can get a great PS5 compatible SSD, with 2TB of extra storage, and a heatsink included to boot. This deal is seriously tremendous and I highly implore you to consider it if you haven't yet expanded your console storage further (especially since the PS5 only comes with 667GB of useable space).

TL;DR - Best UK Deals Right Now

Perfect PS5 2TB SSD with Heatsink for £125

The Netac NV7000 is compatible with PS5 consoles for an ultra-fast M.2 SSD storage expansion, with read speeds of up to 7000/6700MB/s (PS5 requires 5500MB/s or faster). Not only that, but it includes the required heatsink built in so you can have a no mess, no fuss install process.

For just £124.49, and a 5-year warranty included, this is a steal and well worth your attention. To get the deal, make sure to scroll to and click the 'Apply 25% Voucher' before adding to the basket and checking out. If you need any help installing your new drive, see our how-to guide here, and the how-to install video here.

Square Enix has shared a new look at Final Fantasy 16, this time showing off the variety of locations players will visit in the world of Valisthea.

Shared as part of Square Enix's PAX East panel, the new footage shows protagonist Clive running through several newly-revealed locales. You can take a look at the new trailer for yourself below.

Introducing a closer look at the world of Valisthea in Final Fantasy XVI. #FF16 pic.twitter.com/ezqxe35Co1

— FINAL FANTASY XVI (@finalfantasyxvi) March 25, 2023

This video really focuses on the expansive areas found in Valisthea, as we see a montage of Clive looking over a canyon with an enormous waterfall, riding on a Chocobo through a desert, walking through a small, grassy village, exploring a castle on a dark and stormy night, and a lot more.

Final Fantasy 16 won't have an open world, instead focusing on large, segmented areas. But if there was any doubt on just how expansive the landscape would be, this trailer will likely put those worries to rest.

The dungeon-crawling PvPvE game Dark and Darker has been delisted from Steam after developer Ironmace was served with a cease and desist letter and subsequent DMCA takedown.

As reported by Eurogamer, it appears Dark and Darker's developer, Ironmace, may be in hot water as players recently noticed some of the game's features abruptly stopped working, such as PvP and online co-op, followed by portions of its Steam page being scrubbed overnight including all trailers, screenshots, and store description.

An official statement was posted on the Dark and Darker Discord (by way of Reddit) stating, "To all our fans, we have recently been served a cease and desist letter and DMCA takedown by Nexon regarding Dark and Darker based on distorted claims."

"We are currently working with our legal team to remedy this issue in the best manner possible. Due to the sensitive legal nature of this issue we must be careful with our statements so as to not jeopardize our position," the Discord post read. "We ask for your understanding as we work to get the game back up as quickly as possible. Please know that we will do all that is possible for our fans. Thanks!"

In the 1980s, everyone who owned a Nintendo Entertainment System knew the only way to fix a faulty game was to eject it, hold it to your lips, and blow on it. If it didn't work after that, you simply repeated the process, with more force, until it finally worked. This was not only wrong but it was super gross, because you basically just sprayed spit particles all over your copy of Super Mario Bros. 3.

On top of being unhygienic, your kid-spit also probably contributed to corrosion on your cart's contacts, and if your mouth was particularly juicy, a glob of nasty saliva could actually short some of the contacts, and that's bad.

But what's the real solution to this very real problem? Well, there are two that immediately spring to mind: one of which will cost you nothing but your time, and the other will cost you like $20 maybe? Depends. Oh, it also costs time. So time plus $20 for that second one.

Let's take a look at how, exactly, your NES is able to entice the game to emerge from the cart. You might think there are ghosts inside, and the NES is a conduit for their spirits. It is simply impossible for me to prove there aren't ghosts inside every video game cartridge, so to be safe, just assume your game collection is very haunted. However, there is science behind how your cartridge gets its code inside your game, although I guess technically it's engineering, which is basically applied science. But I'm neither a scientist, nor an engineer, and as previously discussed I know very little about the spirit realm, but I'm going to do my best to explain the very simple theory behind how your game goes from your cart, to inside your NES, and then up on your screen.

The Destiny 2 community has been mourning the passing of Lance Reddick, remembering him through tributes like flocking en masse to The Tower. And, according to Bungie, Reddick will continue to live on in more voicework for the game.

Reddick, who's also known for his work in The Wire, Fringe, and the John Wick series (including this weekend's John Wick: Chapter 4), voiced Commander Zavala in Destiny 2. Bungie followed up on its initial statement about Reddick's passing in a blog post yesterday.

"The tributes that have poured in for Lance have been overwhelming; from endless heartfelt messages on social media to impromptu gatherings of respect in Zavala’s corner of the Tower, overlooking the Last City," the blog read, in part. "As an actor, musician, gamer, and family man, the passion Lance brought to the things he loved was reflected in the eyes and hearts of all who loved him. For now, we will honor his presence through his performances yet to come in the game, and in the memories that will last us a lifetime."

Fans of Magic: The Gathering, the Pokémon TCG, Yu-Gi-Oh, Flesh and Blood, and other trading card games are likely familiar with eBay-owned TCGplayer, one of the largest card buying and selling platforms in the U.S.

What they may be less familiar with are the recent unionization efforts of employees at its Syracuse authentication center, and the several complaints the union has raised accusing TCGplayer of increasing surveillance of organizing workers, holding anti-union meetings, and more.

TCGunion officially voted to unionize on March 10, but after an employee involved in the union organizing was fired just a few days later, further concerns were raised. "We do not believe that the termination of an organizer this close to our election is a coincidence," TCGunion said on Twitter (below).

We do not believe that the termination of an organizer this close to our election is a coincidence, and we will not stand for the denial of our Weingarten rights. @TCGplayer and @eBay, stop with the intimidation tactics and accept that your workers have spoken. #TCGUstrong

— TCGunion-CWA (@TCGunionCWA) March 15, 2023

TCGplayer itself has made clear it isn't happy that employees of its authentication center voted to unionize, with 136 voting yes and 87 voting no.

Resident Evil 4 Remake may have new boss fights, reworked maps, and a shiny new look, but one thing that remains the same as all previous versions is the terrifyingly scarce ammo. There are many ways to save ammo in RE4 remake, we document those right here, but for new players and returning veterans alike there’s a new method of ammo conservation you need to know about: The Bolt Thrower. This entirely new weapon is available from the merchant in Chapter 2 (and on sale at said merchant in Chapter 3, which you should take advantage of if you are short on money – as well as ammo). There’s a video about how the Bolt Thrower works and exactly where to get it at the top of the page, so check that out.

The swag bag, Xûr, is now live in Destiny 2 for the weekend until next week's reset. If you're looking to get your some shiny new Exotic armor or weapons for your Guardian, look no further.

Each week, Xûr has a random assortment of Exotic armor, one for each Guardian class, as well as a random Exotic Weapon and an Exotic Engram available for purchase. In addition to his Exotic wares, he's got a random collection of Legendary weapons and armor to deck out your Guardians.

We've rounded up all the info on Xûr for the week including where to find Xûr, which Exotic weapons and armor are available, as well as which Legendary weapons you should pick up, either for PvE or PvP.

Where Is Xûr Today?

Xûr's location today can be found at Watcher's Grave on Nessus on March 24 through March 28. To reach him, travel to the landing point at Watcher's Grave. When you arrive, make for the red moss-covered tree straight ahead. Climb up the roots and you'll find Xûr waiting at the top to sell you exotic items and legendary weapons.

It's official: Street Fighter 6 is coming to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on June 2, 2023. It will be available in four different editions, including a Collector's Edition that's still in stock (see it at Amazon). The other editions of SF6, as it's lovingly known, are also available to preorder at all the usual retailers. Below, we break down what comes in each edition, how much it costs, where it’s available, what preorder bonuses to expect, and more.

Street Fighter 6 Collector’s Edition

PS5

• Get it at Amazon - $249.99
• Get it at Best Buy - $249.99
• Get it at GameStop - $249.99

PS4

• Get it at Amazon - $249.99
• Get it at Best Buy - $249.99
• Get it at GameStop - $249.99

Xbox Series X

• Get it at Amazon - $249.99
• Get it at Best Buy - $249.99
• Get it at GameStop - $249.99

Want to go all-in on SF6? This is the bundle you're going to want. It’s comes with the following items:

Physical Items

When it comes to debating the Greatest of All Time, no one’s more spirited than sports fans. And when it comes to naming the G.O.A.T. of sports video games you won’t find a more passionate, opinionated audience than sports gamers.

That’s why IGN partnered with the U.S. Army for the Best Sports Video Games Showdown that kicks off with an epic bracket featuring 32 sports video games divided into four ultra-competitive brackets.

Between March 24th and March 28th, we’ll invite IGN fans to select their guesses for each phase of the bracket with the hopes of correctly selecting the greatest sports video game.

The best part? You can walk away as the grand prize winner if you manage to correctly predict how the fan-voted bracket unfolds. Be All You Can Be and put your prediction skills to the test.

To make sure you don’t miss the opportunity to win big – keep reading for details on how to enter. And if you want to know why we chose the games featured in this bracket, tune into ign.com and youtube.com/ign to watch our bracket livestream on March 27th at 10:00am PT.

Genshin Impact developer MiHoYo has announced that Honkai: Star Rail will launch on April 26 for PC, iOS, and Android. PlayStation 4 and 5 versions are also currently in development.

The game takes place after the events of Honkai Impact 3rd on a space train called the Astral Express. The protagonist is planted with something called Stellaron, which is defined as a destructive seed that will eventually bring disaster. Somewhat similar to Genshin Impact, players will unlock new characters to join their party as they progress through the story.

Honkai: Star Rail features a vast universe filled with a variety of different cultures and environments, such as the ice-covered Jarilo-VI and the eastern fantasy-inspired flagship Xianzhou Luofu.

The game also focuses on turn-based combat rather than the real-time combat found in Genshin Impact, as well as familiar microtransactions and gatcha features.

In IGN’s Honkai: Star Rail closed beta preview, we said: “Honkai is shaping up to be a well-made game with an interesting enough universe, story, and characters making me want to come back to it and see it evolve over time.”

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He's been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.

Players hoping to join the Diablo 4 open beta this weekend must prepare themselves for “unprecedented" queue times as the developers test online infrastructure.

The official Diablo Twitter account reiterated Blizzard's comments last week that a beta is about testing functionality instead of just letting people play early. "As we prepare to open the gates to Sanctuary, we'd like to remind our players that the Diablo 4 open beta is a test to ensure a smooth launch," it said (below).

"We expect unprecedented traffic and queue times as a result. We appreciate your patience and understanding."

As we prepare to open the gates to Sanctuary, we'd like to remind our players that the #DiabloIV Open Beta is a test to ensure a smooth launch.

We expect unprecedented traffic and queue times as a result. We appreciate your patience & understanding.

📜: https://t.co/Q4Q3Manehg

Zack Snyder has announced that a three day celebration of his DC trilogy, consisting of Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and Justice League, will be held in April with all proceeds going to charity.

Taking place from April 28 to April 30, the Full Circle event will be held in support of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Snyder himself will host the weekend of screenings in honour of his daughter, Autumn Snyder, who passed away at the age of 20. The director's cut of each film will be shown before Snyder participates in a Q&A with special guests that will be livestreamed too.

The screenings on April 28 and 29 will take place at the Ahmanson Auditorium at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena while the April 30 screening will take place at Universal Cinema AMC at CityWalk Hollywood.

"We’re honoured to participate in this fundraiser in support of suicide prevention and to help increase awareness of this important issue in our community,” said Karen Hofmann, president of the ArtCenter College of Design.

Tickets to the events are now on sale and are available for each individual day. Entry to day one costs $150, entry to date two costs $150, and entry to day three costs $175.

Snyder had teased a "full circle" announcement earlier in March in an incredibly cryptic tweet, causing fans to speculate wildly about what could be coming. Alas, now we know.

Diablo 4 is the next entry in Blizzard’s iconic and highly influential RPG series. While each Diablo game has had its own impact on the industry at large — with Diablo 2 popularizing the genre abroad, and Diablo 3’s real money marketplace not forgotten — Diablo 4 moves towards modernization.

Adopting mechanics found in MMORPGs, the world of Sanctuary has changed in some surprising ways. While Blizzard has shown off World Event Quests and World Bosses that feel oddly similar to Smilegate’s Lost Ark, the developer has gone a step further to change how some pivotal systems in the series work. And some of these quality-of-life improvements have perhaps made the biggest splash in how players can approach their endgame builds.

Here are some of the most significant changes we’ve found in our hands-on experience with the Diablo 4 beta.

Socketing Items Is No Longer Randomized

No longer do players need to rely on RNG to add sockets to their Rare or Legendary items. Instead, with the right amount of gold and materials, the Occultist can add sockets to your weapons, armor, and accessories.

If you couldn't get enough of the Mario Day sales earlier this month, don't worry, Nintendo has plenty more to offer before we move into April. Wave 2 of Mario Day is kicking off now (which has basically made March into Mario Month instead), and you can pick up select digital Mario games for just $39.99 each.

Below, you can find a selection of discounted digital Mario games available to pick up on Amazon. However, you can also find these sales going on at Best Buy, the Nintendo eShop, and on Humble Bundle.

Digital Mario Games on Sale at Amazon

Mario Day Switch Bundle

The Mario Day sales don't just end with these digital games, either. You can also still pick up the Nintendo Switch Mario Day bundle, which contains a Switch console with red Joy-Cons and a game of your choosing (between Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe or Super Mario Odyssey) for just $299.00.

Sony has officially dropped the PS5 God of War Ragnarok Bundle down to just $509.99 at all retailers in the US, that's a $50 discount from the list price of $559.99. This includes Amazon, PS Direct, Best Buy, Walmart, GameStop, and Target.

This is the first major discount we have seen since the PlayStation 5 launched over two years ago. A standard PS5 will cost you $500 at the moment, so with this discount you're effectively only paying $10 for God of War Ragnarok on PS5. This is an absolute steal and well worth considering.

It wasn't all that long ago that the PS5 was completely out of stock, with many gamers unable to secure the new consoles for almost two years. But, the tide seems to have turned, as PS5 consoles are now available 100% of the time, and fans are now even getting discounts on the console in 2023.

If you’re curious to see what other PlayStation items are worth picking up alongside the console, make sure to visit our gift guide for the best PlayStation and PS5 gifts to pick up this year. Alongside games, this guide also includes the PlayStation Pulse 3D wireless headset and the PS5's DualSense controller.

Friday’s news of Lance Reddick passing hit me hard. Writing this piece without crying has been impossible. But I want to – I need to – talk about Reddick’s impact on the gaming community. Reddick voiced Zavala in the Destiny series and Sylens from Horizon Zero Dawn, and both Bungie and Guerrilla Games issued statements in tribute to Reddick’s fantastic work in their games.

Not only was Reddick an incredible talent, he was also a passionate gamer. He showed so much love for Zavala, Destiny, and Destiny 2. I remember seeing him talking about Destiny on Twitter, and his smiling face as he sent video messages to the community members cheering them on, or throwing casual crap their way.

I specifically remember seeing a video of Reddick showing his “Saturday vibes”, where he was grinding in Destiny, surrounded by his dogs and relaxing on his couch completely engrossed in his game. That one stuck with me because it was just so familiar, so relatable, because that’s how I spend a lot of my weekends. Just playing my favorite video games. Seeing a voice actor who brought one of the key characters in Destiny playing the game with true delight was something I didn’t know I’d connect with so well.

Gaming allows so many people to find each other, that otherwise they would not meet. I played Destiny on Xbox One with my best friends from high school, who I reconnected with through our love for gaming. I met several other good friends through Destiny. Whether it was people finding me through my Twitch stream and vice versa, or if it was me finding a friendly player in Destiny I wanted to add as a friend, we became connected.

Dale and Jesse have played a ton of Resident Evil 4 and they're here to tell you all about it and how it compares to the original. Matt P also joins the pod to share his thoughts on Redfall and the bizarre game creator/social space, Everywhere. We also have an extra long feedback section this week due to all your awesome submissions.

Got a game for us to play, or just want to tell us the weirdest thing you've eaten for breakfast? Drop us an email: ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.

IGN UK Podcast 689: The Big Resident Evil 4 Chat

• IGN UK Podcast 688: What is the Best Shape of Doughnut?
• IGN UK Podcast 687: The Build-a-Horror Movie-Workshop
• IGN UK Podcast 686: Sons of the Final Fantasy
• IGN UK Podcast 685: You Kang Make Me Whole Again
• IGN UK Podcast 684: Horizon Call of the Weetabix

Resident Evil 4 Remake’s horde-style mode The Mercenaries will arrive on April 7, meaning folks will only have to tolerate a short, two-week wait for the fan favourite mode to arrive in-game. Capcom revealed the date at the conclusion of the fresh Resident Evil 4 Remake launch trailer it published today, which you can watch below.

At Sony’s first 2023 State of Play last month, Capcom confirmed that The Mercenaries would be coming as a free, post-release update – though April 7 may be pleasantly closer than some were expecting.

Resident Evil 4 Remake is available today and earned a 10 out of 10 in IGN’s review as “the series’ most relentlessly exciting adventure rebuilt, refined, and realised to the full extent of its enormous potential.”

For much, much more on Resident Evil 4 Remake be sure to check out our look back on how the original completely revolutionised the survival horror genre, plus our top 10 beginner tips for tackling this superb remake and why the iconic custom chainsaw controller Capcom crafted for the original is sadly not making a comeback this time around.

The Wichita City Council in Kansas has reached a $5 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by the family of Andrew Finch, who was killed by police in the first fatal swatting incident in the U.S. over an online Call of Duty match.

According to The Wichita Eagle, city officials approved the settlement on Tuesday in a five-year lawsuit against Wichita police detective Justin Rapp, who killed 28-year-old Finch despite him being unarmed. The city voted 6-1 in favor of the lawsuit.

The swatting incident stemmed from an argument between Casey Viner and Shane Gaskill during an online match in Call of Duty: WWII in December 2017. Viner made a hoax call to the police, and Gaskill gave a false address to Tyler Barriss, a serial swatter who ultimately made a false report of a hostage situation and a murder. The SWAT then surrounded Finch's house, and when Finch, who was unaware of the situation, stepped outside to see what was going on, Rapp immediately shot Finch in the chest from 40 yards away, even though he didn't pose a threat to police or others on the scene.

Barriss, who was also linked to another swatting incident in Canada, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter, while Viner was sentenced to 15 months and given a two-year ban on gaming for hiring someone to make a prank emergency call to police.

Twelve Years after the doors of the 3DS and Wii U eShop opened, they are sadly closing for good.

Nintendo has announced that on March 27th, 2023, it will no longer be possible to purchase games digitally from that generation of consoles. But for months now, it’s been impossible to buy anything ever since they revoked the ability to directly add funds to your account, so we shouldn’t care about this announcement, right? Well, turns out there’s a completely valid way Nintendo has allowed you to still add funds to your account, and it’s super simple to do.

So here is how you can still buy 3DS games and Wii U games before they are gone forever–plus some game recommendations in case you don’t know what to get.

How to Still Buy Games on 3DS and Wii U.

To start, you’re gonna need a Nintendo Switch, this is the key to all of this. Click on your personal user icon in the top left of the home screen, then scroll down to “Friend Suggestions.” You’ll notice icons for the 3DS and Wii U in the top bar. Go ahead and click “Next” in either tab and it will prompt you to sign in to your “Nintendo Network ID Account.” This was the 3DS/Wii U equivalent of the modern-day MyNintendo account that was used to tie purchases to your email.

Civilization games have always been popular but they tend to be long and complex and thus hard to get to the table. 7 Wonders’ claim to fame is that it’s a card-based civilization game that you can teach and play to completion in well under an hour. Such is the appeal of this concept that since its release in 2010 it’s been showered with an endless parade of awards and sold so strongly that it’s had an overhaul reprint and a slew of expansions that have kept it relevant and popular to this day. It's well on its way to becoming a classic board game.

What’s in the Box

Like a lot of high-concept card games, 7 Wonders comes in a big box that’s largely empty. The top layer of contents consists of two token punchboards, a rulebook and a pile of reference sheets. Beneath that there’s a storage tray that holds player boards, each printed with a different wonder of the world, a pad of scoring sheets, and some decks of cards.

Most of the space on the boards and cards is devoted to artwork, a pleasing blend of realism with a little bit of artistic licence.

See our picks for the best strategy board games.

The race is on to recreate Fortnite's original map using the popular battle royale's newly revamped Creative Mode.

The teams are using the brand-new Unreal Editor for Fortnite — also known as Fortnite Creative 2.0 — which is a new add-on available for Fortnite on PC. As discussed during yesterday's State of Unreal event, the Unreal Editor for Fortnite is for players to use for "designing, developing, and publishing games and experiences directly into Fortnite."

The new tool runs in Unreal Engine 5 and builds on concepts from the existing Fortnite Creative toolset, adding new features for expanded custom content, modeling, textures, VFX, and more. It's a total game changer for Fortnite creators, and we're already starting to see some of the possibilities take shape.

Right after the Unreal Editor for Fortnite reveal, multiple teams started working to put the finishing touches on recreations of Fortnite's original island.

One team, called Atlas OG Battle Royale, has already released a recration of the original Fortnite island.

The map is ready to play and we are in the publishing process now. There are some issues with publishing for all creators. We will hopefully have an update for you soon. Thank you all for your support and patience! pic.twitter.com/YqR3j6onzs

Nintendo's colorful cast of mascot characters have, over the years, by and large all made the jump from 2D into 3D. Mario, Donkey Kong, Legend of Zelda's Link, Samus Aran, and others who began in 2D environments all eventually made their way into fully 3D games. But there's one Nintendo staple that took much longer than others: Kirby. And at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2023, HAL Laboratory expert director Tatsuya Kamiyama explained exactly why.

The short answer: It's because Kirby's round.

Okay, this is a bit of an oversimplification. As Kamiyama explained during his GDC panel and a subsequent interview with IGN, it's not that HAL Laboratory has been sitting on a 3D Kirby game for years and was only just now able to get a 3D Kirby off the ground, so to speak. But once HAL decided that was a leap it wanted to make, a 3D Kirby action game presented a number of challenges for the studio that took considerable work to overcome. And many of them stem from the fact that our puffball friend is effectively a simple, pink sphere.

The hit 2020 comic book series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is being adapted as a video game, and it's one that draws heavy inspiration from the God of War franchise and similar action games.

Polygon broke the news in an interview with Doug Rosen, Senior Vice President for Games and Emerging Media at Paramount Global. While the developer involved is still being kept under wraps, Rosen indicated the goal is to create a AAA action title that draws heavily from the comic book source material.

The Last Ronin is notable for being the first collaboration in many years between TMNT creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. Based on an unproduced story from the '80s, Last Ronin is a Dark Knight Returns-esque tale set in a bleak, futuristic version of the TMNT universe. In this world, all but one of the four Turtles has been killed by the Foot Clan, leaving the lone survivor to seek revenge against the grandson of Shredder.

Rosen also indicated the game will break from TMNT tradition by only focusing on one character (though he didn't rule out the possibility of the other Turtles appearing via flashback sequences). The titular Last Ronin carries the weapons of his fallen brothers, which could suggest the game will allow players to switch weapons and fighting styles on the fly.

Little else is known about the Last Ronin game right now, and the game is said to be "a few years" from release at this early stage.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will launch on PlayStation 5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC on May 25, with the Nintendo Switch version scheduled for sometime later this year.

The gameplay will feature a blend of stealth and action as Gollum sneaks around Middle-earth. The game will also have players making choices that align with either the character's darker side — Gollum — or his gentler half known as Sméagol. The developers have said the game is taking inspiration directly from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, rather than Peter Jackson's film adaptations of the books.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was first announced back in 2019 for a 2021 release date. The original reveal said the game would explore events between Gollum's discovery of the One Ring and the beginning of the events seen in in The Lord of the Rings.

If you’re anything like me, when you first heard that a game set in the Lord of the Rings universe following the exploits of Smeagol was being developed, you were skeptical. Though vital to the story of Middle Earth’s conflict with Sauron, he’s largely a one note antagonist who is present for as long as necessary throughout the books, and no longer. At least that's what I thought going in. But my brief time with The Lord of the Rings: Gollum makes a solid first argument that the lost journey of the third “hobbit” could be just as interesting as Frodo and Bilbo’s. Much of the new story blends seamlessly into the well-established lore, but it’s Smeagol’s relationship with his suppressed alter ego that keeps the journey compelling.

A big selling point for me was the possibility of following the footsteps of Middle Earth’s greatest misfit and watching him duel with himself. The body of the man is piloted by two minds, the naive and placid Sméagol and the selfish and malicious Gollum. Whenever he’s guided to make a choice, they’re usually from either perspective. Does Sméagol answer a question honestly and earnestly, or does Gollum lie and insult the inquirer? The developers told me that these choices do add up, and eventually you’ll find yourself in positions where one personality will dominate the conversation based on your preference of one over the other.