IGN

A Mortal Kombat sequel is reportedly in the works, but the question of who will return still lingers.

Hiroyuki Sanada, who played Hanzo Hasashi (a.k.a. Scorpion) in the 2021 film, is not sure if he’ll play the undead warrior again.

“I hope so,” he told IGN during a press junket for John Wick: Chapter 4.

Sanada’s John Wick 4 co-star Shamier Anderson also chimed in, “I hope so, too,” he said. “Come on, are you kidding me? He’s the man.”

The two actors then uttered Scorpion’s iconic line: “Get over here!”

In January 2022, Deadline reported that New Line is moving forward with Mortal Kombat 2, with Jeremy Slater set to write the sequel. Simon McQuoid, who helmed the first film, will also return to direct.

Sanada previously told ComicBook.com about his uncertainty of reprising his role as Scorpion.

“I have no idea, I didn’t hear anything officially yet,” Sanada said. “But, I hope they’ll make a Scorpion part, and I will get to say ‘Get over here!’ again.”

On the horizon, Sanada stars in the fourth installment of the John Wick franchise as Shimazu, the Continental Hotel manager in Osaka.

John Wick: Chapter 4 premieres in theaters on May 27.

Only two and a half hours after going live, Destiny 2's latest raid, Root of Nightmares, was first conquered by a relatively unknown team of underdogs called Team Hard in the Paint.

Raids are Destiny's ultimate endgame challenge, which involve six players working together to figure out complicated mechanics and execute them to perfection, all while avoiding being killed by hordes of enemies and powerful bosses alike. For many years, Bungie has observed the launch of their raids by hosting official "World First Races," which document the first team to beat these dastardly gauntlets.

Bungie confirmed the world first victory, writing, "Guardians from around the world fought against an ancient threat in the Root of Nightmares raid this weekend during the World First raid race. A massive congratulations to Team Hard in the Paint for emerging victorious. As the first team to both beat the raid and the additional challenges, all six members will receive World First title belts and will forever be known as the World First Champions of Root of Nightmares."

Super Mario Odyssey came to Nintendo Switch on October 27, 2017. It's kind of hard to believe but because time is an immutable constant, that date was almost five and a half years ago. In spite of that half-decade gap, we haven't had a proper follow-up and Nintendo hasn't really needed to rush into a sequel or successor because Mario is such a powerful property. It operates like a massive steam boiler: Mario is well into a red-hot operating temperature and only needs a steady stream of fuel to remain fantastically efficient. Mario is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, Nintendo's most important character, and I would argue nothing even comes close. No, not even Link, in spite of how excited we all are for Tears of the Kingdom.

What's interesting about Mario's importance to Nintendo is that originally, Mario was created because Nintendo couldn't get the license for Popeye. Think about that for a second: In the infinite possibilities of the universe, there exists a dimension where we're all anxiously waiting for the release of the Super Popeye Movie this year. Popeye's foil Bluto was replaced with an angry ape called Donkey Kong. Olive Oyl, the object of Popeye's affection and rivalry with Bluto, became "Lady," and Popeye was replaced with a mustachioed everyman named… Jumpman. Mario was never intended to be anything more than a recognizable side-character, someone who would pop into future Nintendo games as a thread of commonality for the company's works. And he did show up a lot in Nintendo's NES games: calling the fights in Punch-Out!! or hitting the links in Golf, among others.

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

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

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

Where Is Xûr Today?

Xûr's location can be found at The Tower on March 10 through March 14. To reach him, travel to the landing point at The Courtyard and make your way to the Hangar. Hang a left when entering the hangar and you'll come face-to-face with space Amazon.com.

Xbox has confirmed that it will not be on the E3 2023 showfloor, but signaled support for E3's digital week by confirming that it will be co-streaming the event when it kicks off on June 11.

In a new statement, an Xbox spokesperson told IGN, "We can't wait to host our Xbox Games Showcase on June 11 and will share more details later. We also look forward to co-streaming our event as part of E3 Digital and will not be on the E3 showfloor."

IGN first reported that Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo would not be formally taking part in E3 2023. Nintendo has since confirmed that it will be missing E3, while Xbox previously announced in January that it would be "returning to Los Angeles" for its own event. We have reached out to ReedPop for comment on Xbox's statement.

Xbox's confirmation was in response to a list of questions sent by IGN on whether it would be taking part in E3's week of digital events, which was announced yesterday, while asking for more clarity on the nature of its physical event, which did not receive a response from Xbox. E3's digital week will roughly align with Xbox's showcase, and will feature streams by Guerilla Collective and other graoups.

Beyond that, participation from AAA exhibitors remains unclear. Yesterday's announcement simply said, "Exhibitors from AAA companies to indie darlings and tech companies will be announced leading up to the expo."

Sony is claiming it's not happy with Microsoft's latest Call of Duty offer, as the company said it would "irreparably" harm competition and innovation.

Earlier this week, reports filed from Sony and Microsoft to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority went public. From these documents, we learned that Microsoft is confident it can get Call of Duty running on Switch, and that Sony is worried Xbox will find ways to sabotage Call of Duty on PlayStation.

Also in these documents, however, were redacted details about Microsoft's proposal to Sony to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for the next decade. In a new statement regarding these documents, Sony claimed that the 10-year deal in its current state would be bad for competition.

The console versions of Ingame Studios’s Crime Boss: Rockay City will launch in June 2023. The PC version is still releasing on March 28.

In a recent financial report, Digital Bros said, “The personal computer version of Crime Boss will be exclusive on Epic Store only until June 2024, at least. The launch of the console version will follow in June 2023. Crime Boss was first showcased last December during The Game Awards.”

Since the game is a timed Epic Games Store exclusive, it won’t land on any other PC storefronts like Steam for at least a full year.

Digital Bros also explains that Crime Boss: Rockay City is one of the largest investments made by the company through an internal studio and is set up to receive additional content over the next few years to generate recurring revenue.

Crime Boss: Rockay City was first revealed at The Game Awards 2022 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. The game also features big stars in its cast of characters such as Chuck Norris, Danny Trejo, and Vanilla Ice.

If you are excited to play Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 4: MEGA on your PC today, make sure your computer is not running Windows 7 and 8.

As previously announced, starting with Battle Royale Chapter 4 Season 2, players will be required to use Windows 10 or higher in order to continue playing Fortnite natively on PC in an officially supported manner. Windows 7 and 8 will be officially unsupported in Fortnite. pic.twitter.com/9XwyIBATwD

— Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) March 7, 2023

Announced earlier this week, developer Epic Games shared on Twitter that the PC version of its critically acclaimed battle royale no longer supports PCs running Windows 7 or 8. The move is not entirely surprising, given that developer Epic Games announced in December last year that it planned to stop supporting Windows 7 and 8 machines once Fortnite Chapter 4.

Update March 10, 2023: Physical copies of Metroid Prime: Remastered are out of stock at most retailers, but they've been going in and out of stock at Amazon. So that's probably your best bet if you're in the market for a physical copy. If it's out of stock when you check, try again later and you may get lucky.

The physical version of Metroid Prime: Remastered has been tricky to get a hold of. The demand has so far seemed to have vastly exceeded Nintendo's estimation of its popularity, leading to shortages of stock.

In response to the shortage, Nintendo of America has told Nintendo Life "We will do everything we can to meet the strong demand for the product."

Square Enix has conceded that sales of its action role-playing game Forespoken fell below its expectations following the title's January 23 release on PlayStation 5 and PC earlier this year.

“Reviews of Forspoken, which we released on January 24, 2023, have been challenging,” said Square Enix’s president and representative director Yosuke Matsuda in a February financial results briefing detailing the fortunes of the past year.

“However, the game has also received positive feedback on its action features, including its parkour and combat capabilities, so it has yielded results that will lead to improvement of our development capabilities of other games in the future.”

Despite this positive note, Matsuda admitted that sales of the game had been “lackluster”, and that there was “considerable downside risk to our FY2023/3 earnings”. The concession follows an announcement from earlier this month that Forspoken developer Luminous Productions - founded in 2018 - would be folded back into Square Enix effective on May 1.

"Luminous Productions Co. Ltd. is meanwhile equipped not only with AAA title development capabilities but also technical expertise in areas such as game engine development," said Square Enix following the announcement. "Combining the two entities will further enhance the Group’s ability to develop HD games."

Cardy, Dale, and Jesse are here to talk all things chainsaws and dinosaurs following new looks at Resident Evil 4 and Exoprimal. Excitement for The Super Mario Bros movie continues to grow as well as Cardy's long-delayed appreciation for Death Stranding. It's all building up to the building of three Frankenstein monster creations of horror movies, though, as some truly unwatchable films are pitched.

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 687: The Build-a-Horror Movie-Workshop

This week’s reveal trailer for Mutant Mayhem has us extremely stoked for the next generation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the big screen, but more than anything, it just makes me want a new TMNT game. As much as we loved last summer’s throwback beat-em-up Shredder’s Revenge, this is one pop-culture franchise that desperately needs the triple-A game treatment. And no, adding Shredder to Call of Duty doesn’t count (nor does it make much sense to bring a guy made out of knives to a gunfight.) But you know what really stings? We just got an incredible AAA open-world co-op action game that captured all the fun of TMNT… it just happened to be centered around Batman characters: Gotham knights.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: four masked vigilantes take to the streets and wage war on crime using martial arts skills and gadgets. You’ve got the leader in blue, the tech expert in purple, the surly short-tempered heavy-hitter in red, and of course the youngest member of the team who offers some comic relief. They operate out of a cool hideout in the middle of the city where they train, park their extremely toyetic vehicles, play video games to unwind and receive guidance and/or scoldings from an elderly mentor who drinks a lot of tea. They fight a variety of animal-themed villains, but their biggest threat is a gang of ruthless assassins who operate from the shadows, and which has a high-ranking member whose namesake is something that can cut you.

Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2: MEGA, arrives today, bringing with it a host of map changes, new vehicles and traversal mechanics, an Eren Jaeger skin, and a whole lot more.

One of the biggest map changes is the introduction of the neon-lit urban playground of MEGA city. Beyond this seemingly cyberpunk-inspired cityscape, a range of new biomes have also been added, including Steamy Springs, Drift Ridge, Kenjutsu Crossing, and more besides.

Chapter 4 Season 2 also brings new traversal mechanics to the game. Players will be able to zip around MEGA city with the help of the omni-directional mobility gear (ODM) ripped straight from the anime Attack on Titan, which is not so coincidentally ramping up to an epic endgame that has been 10 years in the making.

Incoming… #FortniteMEGA pic.twitter.com/n8QBNv2Pcg

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) March 10, 2023

Beyond that, players will be able to jump on grind rails to get around quickly, or make use of the two-person Rogue bike or the Nitro Drifter four-seater sports car.

A few weeks ago, Devin Reimer was doing a bunch of game testing at VR developer Owlchemy Labs, when one of the developers asked him, in VR, if he would like a donut. He said he did. But instead of reaching out and taking it with his hand, the developer passed Reimer the donut and put it in his mouth. His character ate it.

It’s a simple gesture, one that any of us could do in the real world any time there are donuts around. But in VR, this sort of combination of simplicity and playfulness has been the successful brand of Owlchemy Labs for over 12 years. And it’s a legacy Reimer is deeply proud of as he steps down from the post of “CEOwl” to move into philanthropic work using climate tech to fight the ongoing global climate crisis, leaving his colleague Andrew Eiche as the new “CEOwl” in his stead.

Speaking to me at DICE, the two are ecstatic about the leaps and bounds Owlchemy and VR as a whole have been able to make over the years. Hand tracking technology, for instance, is progressing well, and is a major staple of Owlchemy’s plans for multiplayer play in its upcoming new, untitled VR game. Specifically, they tell me, they want to work on multiplayer play that’s collaborative, not competitive, because they believe it just works that much better in the VR space specifically.

“VR multiplayer in the current state, which is totally great and fine, is a lot like, I lay on my floor and shoot you with a big sniper rifle, or I'm flying around an arena throwing the ball,” Eiche explains. “But people haven't conceptualized: we're playing a duet on the piano, the equivalent to that, or we're writing together on a whiteboard or we're sculpting together. And we are experimenting with those things.”

We already knew that The Last of Us Part I would make its way to PC later this month. And now we know exactly what type of features will be available to the port and the PC's requirements to run it.

In a new PS Blog post, we learned that Part I's PC version will support ultrawide monitors (both 21:9 and 32:9 aspect ratios), 4K resolution, and "a host of features designed specifically for PC, including adjustable Texture Quality, Shadows, Reflections, Ambient Occlusion, and more."

Additionally, the upcoming port will support AMD's FSR 2.2 and Nvidia's DLSS supersampling tech.

The Last of Us Part I's PC port will also support the PS5 DualSense controller's haptic feedback. Allowing players to "feel the impact of battle, the rumble of a tank rolling by," and more, though to take advantage of the haptics, you must have your DualSense wired to your PC.

PC requirements for Part I also revealed, including that players need at least 16GB of RAM and 100GB of SSD storage freed up on their rig. If you're curious to see what you need to run the game, including how to achieve 4K at 60FPS, check out the PC specs requirements image above.

With the highly anticipated remake for Resident Evil 4 releasing in a few weeks, Capcom has shed a new trailer for the upcoming title, including when the demo will be available.

Announced during the Capcom Spotlight event, the "Chainsaw Demo" is available starting today and will allow players to play an early portion of the game where Leon enters the village. The demo will have no time limit and is available on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam.

Ahead of the event, the developer released a new teaser website for Resident Evil 4 Remake, which contains riddles, puzzles, and a ton of backstory for the game.

Resident Evil 4 Remake will launch on March 24 for PC, PS5, PS4, and Xbox Series X/S. A free VR mode for PS VR2 is also in development. For more information, including changes coming to Resident Evil 4 Remake, check out our full interview with director Yasuhiro Ampo and Capcom producer Yoshiaki Harabayashi and our separate breakout, where the developers explain the hurdles they faced while trying to recreate the iconic chainsaw controller.

Monster Hunter Rise's Sunbreak expansion will release for PlayStation 5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One on April 28, Capcom announced today.

During the Capcom Spotlight stream, Capcom confirmed that another digital event focusing on post-launch content will arrive sometime in April.

Monster Hunter Rise was initially released in 2021 exclusively for the Nintendo Switch before it made its way to Steam in June 2022. Last year the Sunbreak expansion was released on both Switch and PC, while the standard version of Monster Hunter: Rise launched on PlayStation and Xbox home consoles (in addition to Xbox Game Pass) last January.

In our review of Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, which we gave a 7, my colleague Tom Marks wrote that Sunbreak is "an enjoyable expansion full of cool new monsters but not many new ideas."

Alongside the release date for the Sunbreak expansion on PlayStation and Xbox, Capcom's Spotlight event unveiled new details on the company's other projects, including Resident Evil 4 Remake and Exoprimal. Check out our everything announced post for a roundup of today's announcements

During today's Capcom Spotlight Showcase, we finally got a June 30th release date for the HD port of Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective.

Alongside HD graphics, Capcom confirmed that all 37 tracks for Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective are "newly-arranged," but you will have an option to listen to the original tracks, too.

Originally released on the Nintendo DS in 2011, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a detective adventure game where you solve crimes as a spirit named Sissel. The port was announced last month during a February 2023 Nintendo Direct, and in addition to a Switch release, the HD remaster will also be available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

In our review of the Nintendo DS original, IGN's Daemon Hatfield praised the game for its innovation of the point-and-click adventure genre, further noting that fans of Secret to Monkey Island and the Ace Attorney series should check it out.

For more information on today's Capcom Spotlight event, check out our everything announced post for a roundup.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Exoprimal — the team-based action game announced a year ago today at Sony's State of Play — finally has a release date. Today's Capcom Spotlight Showcase confirmed that Exoprimal will release on July 14.

Set in 2043, Expoprimal has players assuming the role of Exofdighters, that are fending off hordes of dinosaurs and mutated prehistoric creatures that appear in the modern world via mysterious vortexes.

Alongside a release date, Capcom confirmed that an open beta test will be released ahead of launch. The beta test will run from March 17 until March 19. The more interesting confirmation from the stream, however, is that Exoprimal will require a continuous internet connection to play.

Although the game is not related in any way to Dino Crisis, another Capcom IP pertaining to dinosaurs, Dino Crisis producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi is involved with the game's development.

For more information on Exoprimal, check out our hands-on preview. You can also check out our everything announced post to see what else was shown during today's livestream.

The Capcom Spotlight for March 2023 aired today, and the developer showed off new updates for Resident Evil 4, Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, and more. We also got a release date for Capcom's new dinosaur game, Exoprimal. Read on below for everything Capcom announced during the event.

Resident Evil 4 Special Demo Available Today

Capcom revealed that the Resident Evil 4: Chainsaw Demo is available to download today. This trial version of the game takes place at the beginning of the game, as Leon first enters the iconic European village. There is no time limit on the demo, so you can play it as many times as you want. You can download it on PlayStation 5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam.

Exoprimal Release Date Revealed

We got a new trailer and release date for Exoprimal, which is coming to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PS4, and Steam on July 14. We got a look at a ton of dinosaur hunting action, as well as an introduction to some of the game's characters. The trailer also said that Exoprimal is an always-online game with a continuous internet connection required. There will also be an open beta test with cross-platform matchmaking from March 17 to March 19.

The creator behind the Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse says that its development was actually haunted. Director Makoto Shibata said that while he doesn’t believe in zombies or monsters, the game was inspired by spirits he’s encountered.

In a blog post by Xbox Wire, Shibata explained that in the Japanese game industry, developers visit a shrine and perform a purification ceremony when working on a horror title, so that way no strange phenomena would occur during the game’s development. However, the development team behind Fatal Frame did not do so in order to get spirits to come out.

“Like the time we were recording sound and a mysterious voice was actually recorded in the background,” Shibata said. “We tried to remove it from the recording, but eventually gave up because no matter what we did, the voice kept coming back onto the recording, so we actually left it in the game!”

A haunted development

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse was inspired by an experience Shibata had in an old hot spring hotel. He woke up in the middle of the night and saw a man he didn’t recognize standing on the other side of the hallway. As Shibata tried to approach the man, he ran off. Shibata then wondered if the man was some sort of spirit or vision, and wanted to recapture the atmosphere of the hotel in Mask of the Lunar Eclipse.

During the development of the original game for Wii, Shibata said he saw a spirit of a girl who would circle around a ping-pong table. He claimed that the girl was singing numbers in the form of verses, and thought this was a message to include in the game. As a result, Shibata included an event where a girl sings numbers.

So far we haven't seen any discount on the PlayStation 5 console from an authorized reseller. That means any discount is worth mentioning, even if it requires a little bit extra legwork. Today, Newegg is offering 10% off the PS5 Disc Edition God of War: Ragnarok console bundle, or $503.99, after applying code: ZIPPIDY10 and checking out with Zip.

Zip is a payment platform that divides your payment into four equal interest-free installments, with the first installment due at purchase. You don't need to sign up for anything beforehand... it's all done during checkout. If you want to, you can pay off your installments early as well. Read more about Zip here.

10% Off PS5 God of War: Ragnarok Console Bundle

Use code: "ZIPPIDY10" and Zip Checkout

The PS5 Disc Edition features a disc player that can play 4K Blu-ray movies as well as physical game media. It comes preload with Astro's Playroom (an excellent platformer) as well as God of War: Ragnarok. God of War is a must-own title and to purchase it separately would run your $70. If you need more convincing, check out our 10/10 review.

Newegg is an authorized Sony reseller and you will be getting the full 1 year warranty.

Want to upgrade your PS5 storage? Here are the cheapest options:

In 2008, a handful of frustrated developers at a tiny, Quebec-based Ubisoft subsidiary (of sorts) called Longtail Studios led a valiant, if doomed, unionization attempt that was well ahead of its time.

Rocksteady's Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League appears to be facing another delay.

According to a report from Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, Warner Bros. has delayed the game from its May 26 release date. This comes after fan backlash from the gameplay shown in Sony's most recent State of Play. However, as Schreier noted, delays like this are mainly for polish, rather than overhauling the gameplay elements fans weren't fond of in last month's reveal.

For what it's worth, a delay like this is mainly for polish, not to overhaul the core gameplay that caused the backlash. Suicide Squad started off as a Game as a Service and will remain one short of a complete reboot, which would require a much longer delay

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) March 9, 2023

The information comes from an anonymous source with direct knowledge of the matter, according to Bloomberg. A new release date has not yet been made clear. IGN has reached out to Warner Bros. for comment on this story.

The State of Play's big gameplay showcase confirmed that Suicide Squad will be a live-service game with a battle pass, an RPG-style gear system, and a required online connection. The game takes place in Rocksteady's Arkhamverse, but it looks like a big departure from the Arkham games that came before it.

Developer Obsidian has apologized on Reddit for the performance issues plaguing The Outer Worlds: Spacers’s Choice Edition, following its March 7 release on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

“I am sorry that you all have been experiencing performance issues with The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition,” read the post. “I understand how frustrating this can be, and I assure you the team at Private Division is working on getting a patch out as soon as possible. When we have more information about that patch we'll be sure to let folks know."

The Reddit post also provided a link where players could submit support tickets to publisher Private Division as and when they run into issues with the game.

The Spacer’s Choice Edition got off to a shaky start earlier this week, with players reporting poor performance for both PC and console versions of the game. There are numerous posts on the game’s subreddit bewailing the issues, and the Steam rating for the game is currently sitting on Very Negative.

The Spacer’s Choice Edition — which includes the DLC packs Murder on Eridanos and Peril of Gorgon — was expected to bring a range of improvements to The Outer Worlds, including a dynamic weather system, overhauled lighting, and improved load times.

The most popular game in our IGN Deals reporting for 2023 so far is Metroid Prime: Remastered. In fact, no other game this year even comes close. In our Metroid Prime: Remastered review we scored it a 10, saying it "honors a lauded classic and brings it up to code, fixing outdated controls and adding a slick coat of polygons and textures that make this masterpiece of a shooter shine once more." And I agree whole-heartedly with that assessment.

It's truly one of the greatest games of all time, but what if you're new to the Metroid series? Great news: you can play many of the greatest Metroid games right now, on your Nintendo Switch. Should you? Yes, absolutely, are you kidding me? Metroid rules! For the vast majority of Metroid games on Switch, you can play them with a subscription to Nintendo Switch Online, and a subscription to Nintendo Switch Online with Expansion Pack unlocks even more. In fact, Metroid Prime Fusion is now available if you have the Expansion Pack, and man... that is a good game.

Of all the things I saw in my time playing Remnant 2, by far the coolest parts were the procedurally generated worlds I spent my time battling my way through. Like the first game, this soulslike sequel creates a fresh set of areas and enemy spawns for each player, so your time fighting the enemies of humanity feels bespoke and unique. But where Remnant: From the Ashes mostly changed up the rooms and enemy spawn points depending on what you rolled, Remnant 2 designs its randomization to change up absolutely everything: from the biome and enemy types within it to the bosses you face – even the NPCs and storylines you encounter along the way.

One area I saw in my time with Remnant 2 was Yaesha, which returns from the first game but has now been completely taken over and corrupted by The Root. But each time I played through it, I saw completely different versions of this world that were shockingly unique. In my first playthrough Yaesha appeared as a heavily wooded area filled with lizard-like creatures that would crawl down from trees to ambush me, but in my second run, those woods were replaced with a series of floating islands that were home to hovering tentacled aliens that attacked from above and surrounded me with deadly, homing attacks. In a third blitz through the exact same area, I found myself inside a dark temple almost the entire time, where I was required to make use of my flashlight as creepy cultists waited to sacrifice me to their dark deity.

The latest update for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has arrived, and it shows that five more characters will join the racer roster in future DLC waves.

Wave 4 of the Booster Course Pass added eight new tracks to the game alongside Birdo as a playable racer. However, there are now five empty slots on the character selection screen, indicating that more drivers will arrive in future DLC drops.

Alongside Birdo and these mystery characters, the fourth wave introduced eight new tracks, including Singapore Speedway, Bangkok Rush, Amsterdam Drift, Donkey Kong Summit, Riverside Park, Mario Circuit, Waluigi Stadium, and one brand new course: Yoshi's Island.

The Booster Course DLC launched in March 2022 with Wave 1 bringing Paris Promenade, Toad Circuit, Choco Mountain, Coconut Mall, Tokyo Blur, Shroom Ridge, Sky Garden, and Ninja Hideaway to the game.

Wave 2, which was released in August, saw Sky-High Sundae, Kalimari Desert, Mario Circuit 3, Mushroom Gorge, Sydney Sprint, Waluigi Pinball, Snow Land, and New York Minute expand the course pool.

After launching in 2004, Nexon’s KartRider series became an immediate hit in Asia. It gained a huge following, with an official league starting a year later in 2005. Its popularity grew, amassing over 380 million players on PC alone. Its characters, gadgets, game modes, and approachable gameplay have made the multiplayer kart racing a hit over the last 19 years.

KartRider: Drift, the newest game in the KartRider franchise, has taken inspiration from past titles and leveled up with new game modes, more customization, and upgraded visuals courtesy of Unreal Engine 4. Season 1 is finally here, and players can dive in for free on PlayStation and Xbox consoles, mobile (iOS and Android), Steam, and the Nexon Launcher. This means racers from all over the world can experience the cross-platform, cross-play kart racing thrills against players on PC, mobile platforms and consoles. Here’s a list of six things you need to know before getting in the driver’s seat.

1. The Basics

Whenever I’m asked what my favorite roguelike is, my answer is confidently and unabashedly Dead Cells. That’s been true across five years of superb content updates, and it’s even more true with the arrival of its latest paid DLC, Return to Castlevania. This sizable expansion expertly remixes the base game and Konami’s classic action-platformer series – one of Dead Cells’ biggest inspirations – into something that feels wonderfully and wholeheartedly its own. Its more traditional story structure is less mysterious than the connect-the-dots style we’ve seen in the past, and it's immediately clear how much work has gone into bringing Castlevania's iconic characters, weapons, music, and locations into Dead Cells’ world. It puts the castle itself center stage and makes it feel alive, and that reverence really helps sell the crossover fantasy. Return to Castlevania is a masterful mashup that brings together the best parts of both games, with the same challenging and engaging Dead Cells action that might leave you in bloody tears of frustration or joy by the end.

While the story traditionally hasn’t been the reason you’d play Dead Cells in the first place, Return to Castlevania does an amusing job setting up why you’re satisfyingly smashing your way toward Dracula’s notorious throne room this time rather than simply trying to escape your island prison like in runs of yore. By the end of its story I’d not only taken on the Count in an epic final battle, I’d also faced Medusa and even Death itself in fierce showdowns. It almost felt like a new, more streamlined version of a classic Castlevania adventure, all while still staying true to the Dead Cells name.

Google ended its Stadia services months ago, but it's not out of the games industry entirely. Instead of building its own platform, Google is pursuing live-service games to support using its Cloud infrastructure and admitting past endeavors didn't work well alone.

Speaking to Axios, Google Cloud's director of games industry solutions, Jack Buser, offered insight into the company's new gaming strategy. Instead of pursuing its old consumer-facing platform, Google is bundling Cloud services for live-service game publishers. Buser said they're still "absolutely committed to games," but the future looks different after Stadia.

"It was at that moment when we basically had to make decisions about Stadia that we realized that at Google Cloud, we are at our best when we’re helping other people build this stuff, not necessarily building it ourselves," Buser told Axios.

It's a pivot positioning Google as competition for other Cloud infrastructure providers, like Amazon and Microsoft, and abandoning its pursuit as a gaming platform. Google Cloud has already partnered with publishers and developers like Niantic, Embracer Group, and 2K. The service is one that's distinctly different from its original Stadia offerings, it's not there to provide the old Stadia streaming tech.

Starfield finally has a release date, so we kick off the show discussing why this new September window makes a lot of sense for Bethesda Game Studios's next big RPG. Plus: we share nine moves we think Xbox should make in 2023, and more!

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.

Following Microsoft and Nintendo's agreement to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms for at least a decade, Microsoft has further detailed its plans for Call of Duty on Nintendo Switch.

In a filing submitted to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (via The Verge), Microsoft revealed that it believes the free-to-play Warzone and Call of Duty's full premium releases can both have a home on Nintendo's hybrid console.

"The game engine that powers Warzone is mature and has been optimized to run on a wide range of hardware devices (ranging from the Xbox One console released in 2015 up to the Xbox Series X)," part of the filing reads. "Warzone supports PC hardware with GPU cards that were released as far back as 2015 (i.e., prior to the release of Nintendo Switch in 2017)."

Just because the Switch is newer than the Xbox One doesn't mean that Nintendo's console is more powerful. In fact, it's quite the opposite, as we've seen multiple games that originally released on Xbox One get native Switch ports with lowered performance and resolution to get it running on the system.

It seems Microsoft is ready for Activision Blizzard to pursue the downgraded port option as well when it comes to releasing Call of Duty on Nintendo platforms.

Spoilers for The Last of Us HBO Episode 8 - When We Are In Need. Read our review of the episode here.

Troy Baker loves The Last of Us, and being such a vital part of the series there was no way he’d pass up getting involved with the hit HBO live-action adaptation. “I would be happy if I’d just been a clicker,” Baker tells IGN in a post-episode interview.

Well, Baker isn’t a Clicker in The Last of Us HBO series, he plays James, a member of David’s survivors in the penultimate episode of The Last of Us season one. “Neil and Craig came to me and said, "We have a role for you." And Neil was like, "It's James,"’ says Baker on how he first got involved with the HBO series.

“And I went, ‘Oh dude… who's James?’ Like, ‘Oh, right, buddy boy, the guy with the hat.’”

Baker is one of the hardest working actors in video games, and despite playing characters like the Joker and Revolver Ocelot, no role is more linked to Baker than his turn as Joel in The Last of Us video game. Across two video games, and a special One Night Live stage production, Baker portrayed the post-apocalyptic survivor Joel. But he wasn’t fighting to get the role in the HBO show, he was looking to learn from someone new.

“The thing that I wanted more than anything was for whoever was going to play Joel to just show me something new about the role,” Baker tells IGN. “Was there something that I overlooked? Was there something that I missed? Was there something that I didn't know?”

Eight years after Bloober Team formally became known as a horror game developer, the studio is preparing for another shift, though it’s admittedly a touch less radical. It wants its games to start competing with industry giants of horror and adjacent genres like Resident Evil, The Last of Us, and Hellblade, and it’s starting with the remake of Silent Hill 2.

Speaking to IGN at DICE Summit 2023, Bloober Team CEO Piotr Babieno says it wants to change the way it tells stories. He wants to move beyond games that lean on simple mechanics typically found in “walking simulator” games – a term that Babieno acknowledges still attracts undeserved derision from gaming audiences.

Instead, he wants Bloober to be making games with larger scopes and more complex and involved gameplay mechanics on the level of other giants in the horror genre. He wants Bloober to be known as the studio that defines the future of video game horror, especially as he observes more people turning to horror for catharsis amidst increasingly chaotic and terrifying real-world events.

“We still would like to make meaningful games, we still would like to keep our DNA to tell [stories] about things which are important to us,” he says. “However, not by environmental storytelling, but by full action, to have much more mass appeal. And I think that this is the reason why we have chosen Silent Hill.”

Earlier today, Sony launched version 7 of the PS5 software, which includes support for VRR at 1440p resolution and Discord integration for PS5. But the latest PS5 firmware update also rolled out several quality-of-life improvements for PS5 owners.

Thanks to the latest firmware update, US and UK can now use voice commands to capture gameplay. These users can say actions such as "Hey PlayStation, start recording" to begin capturing gameplay footage. This feature is convenient for those who want to capture gameplay footage without using button prompts to start recording.

Sony also made it easier for PS5 owners to find their VR games. Using new filters in your game library, you will be able to filter out and quickly locate all your PlayStation VR and PlayStation VR2 games you currently own.

The latest PS5 firmware update makes it easier for PS5 owners to access their PS4 saved data. When users install a PS4 game on their PS5 and have a saved data file, a notification will appear in the PlayStation Network cloud storage. PS4 to PS5 data transfer aside, the latest firmware update makes it easy to transfer PS5 data to another PS5 console by using a local Wi-Fi network or LAN cable.

The last noteworthy thing introduced in the new PS5 firmware update is that PS5 owners that own a game's physical disc can now use the same disc installation to play the digital copy without inserting the disc into their console.

Sony is worried that Microsoft could sabotage PlayStation versions of Call of Duty if Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard were to be approved.

As first reported by The Verge, Sony submitted documentation to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority saying that Microsoft could do a variety of moves to make the Call of Duty franchise on PlayStation unappealing to play on. This includes things such as raising the price of the games, prioritizing the development of the Xbox version, or releasing a buggy build of the games on PlayStation.

“Microsoft might release a PlayStation version of Call of Duty where bugs and errors emerge only on the game’s final level or after later updates. Even if such degradations could be swiftly detected, any remedy would likely come too late, by which time the gaming community would have lost confidence in PlayStation as a go-to venue to play Call of Duty,” Sony explained in the documents.

Sony continued, “Indeed, as Modern Warfare II attests, Call of Duty is most often purchased in just the first few weeks of release. If it became known that the game’s performance on PlayStation was worse than on Xbox, Call of Duty gamers could decide to switch to Xbox, for fear of playing their favorite game at a second-class or less competitive venue.”

Clearer skies are ahead for the Resident Evil 4 remake, as Capcom said there's a patch in the works to diminish the extreme rain effects.

In an interview with Press Start Australia, Resident Evil 4 producer Hirabayashi Yoshiaki addressed fan concerns about the overbearing weather.

“We’ve seen everyone’s reaction to the rain effects, and we are working on a day-one patch to make adjustments,” Yoshiaki said.

Fans first noticed Resident Evil 4's extreme rain in a Game Informer gameplay video. The vertical slice of the game took place shortly after Leon and Ashley escape the church, and it showed the pair working their way through a cemetery.

Heavy rain was falling during the gameplay, and while it was probably intended to enhance the moody atmosphere, many fans found the intensity and visual prominence of the rain effects too distracting. Based on Yoshiaki's comments, it didn't take long for the Resident Evil 4 dev team to notice the feedback and begin working on changes.

With the rain issue out of the way, Resident Evil 4 fans can look forward to all of the exciting details about the remake. We recently spoke with the developers ourselves, where we learned about new finishing moves, side quests, Ashley's revamped mechanics, and more.

Chucklefish and Robotality have announced Wargroove 2, a sequel to the Advance Wars-inspired strategy game for PC and Nintendo Switch. The game does not have an official release date yet.

As reported by Nintendo Life, Wargroove 2 takes place in a beachy region named Aurania and will have three campaign arcs with a storytelling approach similar to that of Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

It has new features such as Conquest, which is a roguelike single-player mode, as well as new commanders and unit types to control, an improved map, campaign, and cutscene editors.

Wargroove is BACK!⚔️

We’re excited to announce we've teamed up with @Robotality, and #Wargroove2 is coming to PC & Switch!

🛡️All-new groove system
💥Roguelike mode
🎮Co-Op & Multiplayer locally/online
🏴‍☠️New Commanders & factions

⚔️Wishlist NOW: https://t.co/s4MUrP4a5T pic.twitter.com/kIRrPWeYFx

— Chucklefish (@ChucklefishLTD) March 8, 2023

Commanders have a unique skill called a Groove that promise to change the pace of a battle, as players can supercharge their Groove ability to unleash an even more powerful attack.

Rare’s multiplayer role playing pirate extravaganza Sea of Thieves is getting its own tabletop board game, courtesy of Steamforged Games.

As reported by Polygon, Sea of Thieves: Voyage of Legends will see two to four players compete to upgrade their ships, hire crews, hunt treasure, and sell cargo at outposts as they strive to outdo one another and crown themselves the Pirate Lord.

Steamforged Games is responsible for creating a range of tabletop adaptations based on popular gaming franchises including Dark Souls and Resident Evil. Adaptations of Monster Hunter: Rise and FromSoftware’s hit 2022 title Elden Ring are also on the way.

As many of you sharp-witted scallywags guessed – we’re making a Sea of Thieves board game in collaboration with Rare! 🏴‍☠️

Hoist the mainsail, raise anchor, and take to the waves with our new board game, launching later this year! ⚓ https://t.co/1NC6z17M5T pic.twitter.com/nDkSPJqvNj