IGN

The 26th annual D.I.C.E. Awards have arrived and, while God of War Ragnarok led the night with seven wins, Elden Ring took home the ultimate prize of Game of the Year for 2022.

The D.I.C.E. Awards are hosted by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) and this year's show was hosted by IGN's Stella Chung and Kinda Funny's Greg Miller. Additionally, IGN was proud to be the media partner for the 26th D.I.C.E. Awards.

There were 23 different categories in the show and, as previously mentioned, God of War Ragnarok won the most categories, including Outstanding Achievement awards for Animation, Art Direction, Character, Original Music Composition, Audio Design, and Story.

Elden Ring, alongside winning Game of the Year, won four other categories - Outstanding Technical Achievement, Outstanding Achievement in Game Design, Outstanding Achievement in Game DIrection, and Role-Playing Game of the Year.

Alongside honoring games and their studios, the D.I.C.E. Awards took the time to induct Double Fine Productions founder Tim Schafer into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame for his over 30-year impact on the games industry.

With all that out of the way, here are all the winners from the 26th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards:

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

• Cuphead - The Delicious Last Course
• Elden Ring
• God of War Ragnarok - WINNER
• Horizon Forbidden West
• Moss: Book 2

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

The PlayStation Plus games for March 2023 have been officially confirmed to be Battlefield 2042, Minecraft Dungeons, and Code Vein, and they'll be available to all subscribers from March 7 through April 3.

PlayStation shared the news during its latest State of Play, where it also shared that Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, Tchia, Ghostwire: Tokyo, Immortals Fenyx Rising, and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction will all be joining the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog, which is available to Extra and Premium members.

Minecraft Dungeons, Code Vein, and Battlefield 2042 are your PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for March, with Tchia and much more coming to Game Catalog. pic.twitter.com/PNYOlz8mQC

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) February 23, 2023

Battlefield 2042 is the latest entry in the long-running first-person shooter franchise and, while it doesn't feature a single-player campaign, it does introduce the Portal mode. For those unfamiliar, this new mode lets you mix and match maps, weapons, classes, and equipment from Battlefield 1942, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Battlefield 3, and Battlefield 2042 to make the experience you've always wanted to play.

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy has sold more than 12 million units since its debut earlier this month, making it the biggest global launch ever for Warner Bros. Games.

Hogwarts Legacy's sales numbers were revealed alongside Warner Bros. Discovery's earnings, which saw the company lose some $2.1 billion. That makes Hogwarts Legacy, which has been controversial itself, a rare bright spot for the company's financials.

On top of the large sales figure, Warner Bros. Games touted $850 million in sales globally and 1.28 million peak concurrent viewers on Twitch — a new record for a single-player game.

Developed by Avalanche Software under the Portkey Games label, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy earned notice by allowing players to roam a fully-realized version of Hogwarts Castle on next-gen platforms.

"Its open-world adventure captures all the excitement and wonder of the Wizarding World with its memorable new characters, challenging and nuanced combat, and a wonderfully executed Hogwarts student fantasy that kept me glued to my controller for dozens of hours," we wrote in our review. "It's certainly weighed down by technical issues, a lackluster main story, and some poor enemy variety, but even those couldn't come close to breaking its enchanting spell over me."

Hogwarts Legacy is available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

Changes are coming to the Call of Duty franchise's upcoming release in 2023, and players will remain settled in the modern era.

Though no official details are out as of this time, the Bloomberg report stated that the game would focus on a continuation of Modern Warfare 2 and its systems, but it will not be Modern Warfare 3. Sledgehammer Games, the developers behind Call of Duty: Vanguard, will be heading up the game's development, with support coming from other Activision studios, including Infinity Ward and Treyarch.

According to previous reports, the original plan for COD 2023 was to maintain growth and support for Modern Warfare 2, which is now the fastest-selling game to hit $1 billion in franchise history. In the Bloomberg report, this shift has caused concerns among the development team at Sledgehammer Games. However, anonymous staff has stated that Activision is putting significant resources toward the new game to ensure its release in 2023.

Mortal Kombat 12 is set to release this year, making 2023 an absolute juggernaut of a year for fighting games.

Warner Bros. Discovery made the announcement during its earnings call today. A clip from the call that's being passed around Twitter includes confirmation from Andrew Slabin, Warner Bros. Discovery's executive vice president of global investor strategy, that Mortal Kombat 12 is slated for 2023.

"And there's lots more to come, including the highly-anticipated Mortal Kombat 12 and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, games also set for release this year with amibitious launch projections," Slabin said.

IGN has reached out to Warner Bros. Discovery for an official statement.

Mortal Kombat 12 confirmed for this year in a Warner Bros. Discovery earnings call https://t.co/VrllYL9bDP

— Wario64 (@Wario64) February 23, 2023

We haven't heard anything official about Mortal Kombat 12 prior to today. Back in September, Johnny Cage voice actor Andrew Bowen appeared to tease the sequel by posting a video of him standing in the Warner Bros. studio lot. And, NetherRealm creative director Ed Boon told IGN the team was "working on another game", but he couldn't share exactly what it was at the time.

The first gameplay for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was revealed during Sony's State of Play February livestream, confirming that it will be a live-service game focusing on single-player and co-op gameplay.

The Arkhamverse returns

The extended gameplay shown during the State of Play gave us the most in-depth look at the game yet. Confirmed to be still set in Rocksteady's "Arkhamverse," roughly five years after Arkham Knight, the conceit of Suicide Squad sees that familiar universe from the side of the villains. That new perspective also brings in some new gameplay systems, which can be experienced in either single-player or co-op.

We got our first early at the events of Destiny 2's Lightfall expansion during Sony's February State of Play showcase. Launching next week on February 28, Lightfall sees the Guardians embrace the Strand darkness power to even the odds against The Witness and their army.

BREAKING: Lightfall Launch Trailer pic.twitter.com/GECpFgKxzL

State of Play is back! Sony has announced its State of Play broadcast is happening this Thursday, February 23rd and that it will be showing off upcoming PlayStation 5 and PlayStation VR2 games. This guide will provide you with everything you need to know to watch the show, including when it starts, a list of places you can stream State of Play live, and the biggest PlayStation announcements from last year.

PlayStation State of Play 2023 Start Time

The State of Play stream will take place Feb 23 at 1pm PT / 4pm ET / 9pm UK (and 7am AEST on February 24) and will run for approximately 15 minutes.

Where to Watch the PlayStation State of Play Broadcast

If you’re interested in watching the State of Play broadcast yourself, we host the stream here and across our many channels like YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, and more. Here’s the full list of places you can watch the February PlayStation State of Play tomorrow:

Microsoft makes 10-year deals to bring Call of Duty to other platforms with not one but TWO different companies in an effort to get regulators to approve the Activision-Blizzard acquisition. We discuss how Microsoft might be nearing the endgame of this corporate chess match. Plus: we're stoked for the Diablo 4 beta, Ubisoft makes a puzzling statement about attending E3, 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.

It’s been a little over a year since Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard. Since then, what looked to be another blockbuster acquisition appears far more uncertain as regulators in multiple countries scrutinize a deal that could potentially upend the video game industry.

While legal experts have maintained that the Activision Blizzard acquisition doesn’t constitute a monopoly (more on that later), it still marks a seismic shift in the video game landscape – and warrants an appropriate level of examination. But how did another day in the increasing mergers-focused industry become such a regulatory landmine? Read on for a full breakdown of how we got here.

January 18, 2022 - Microsoft Announces It Will Acquire Activision Blizzard.

Xbox announced via its official Xbox Wire site that it would acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. All Activision Blizzard studios which include Blizzard but also Call of Duty developers like Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer would report to Xbox head Phil Spencer. The main thrust of the deal is that Xbox announced it would work to bring as many Activision Blizzard games as it can into the Xbox Game Pass subscription service.

The deal was not immediate and Xbox did not provide a timeline for when the acquisition would be completed, but the news easily eclipsed Xbox’s last major acquisition, a purchase of ZeniMax Media in 2020, for what seems now like a paltry $7.5 billion.

Ever since Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard in an unprecedented $69 billion deal, it’s felt like the news around regulators swarming to slam on the merger brakes hasn’t let up.

There are pages of arguments, tweets and interviews and quotes from executives, and plenty of internet chatter about what’s happening and why. From the outside looking in, it can be tough to sift through what’s important and what’s not, and who’s speaking from a position of expertise and who’s just guessing at the outcome.

Regardless, this deal has the potential to impact gamers more than any other merger to date, so it’s important to be informed on how and why governments look at this stuff, how unprecedented this is exactly and why, and what the possible outcomes might actually be beyond “Will they or won’t they?”

To help untangle this, IGN consulted three legal experts about the particulars of this deal and what the outcome might be. But while their analysis of what’s happened so far was in agreement, their predictions of the deal’s future were surprisingly divided.

Ubisoft has announced a new update for the PlayStation 4 version of Assassin's Creed Syndicate that will finally fix the game's flickering issues when playing on PlayStation 5.

Assassin's Creed Syndicate first launched for PS4, Xbox One, and PC in 2015. But, when playing the game on PS5, fans noticed a flickering issue during gameplay with seemingly no solution.

Reddit conversations about the issue date back over five months, with the issue becoming a bigger problem after the game was noticed by more people through PlayStation Plus' Extra tier. Now, thanks to the Title Update 1.53 coming tomorrow, players will be able to enjoy the game flicker free.

Syndicate was the last traditional Assassin's Creed game before Ubisoft "re-examined" the franchise. After taking 2016 off, the franchise returned in 2017 with Assassin's Creed Origins, the franchise's first attempt at its current open world RPG formula.

Genshin Impact creator miHoYo has officially subpoenaed Twitter in an attempt to discover the identities of three prevalent leakers.

As spotted by Axios, the subpoenas were issued on HoYoverse’s behalf by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and targeted the individuals behind the Twitter accounts XWides, Merlin Impact and Genshin World.

The legal documents demand that Twitter hand over a range of information including the telephone numbers, emails, and names of the leakers, along with their IP and real world addresses.

In other video game legal drama, MiHoYo, makers of Genshin Impact, got a California court to subpoena Twitter to reveal the identities of people behind three Genshin Impact accounts that tweet leaks

Comments from MiHoYo and one of the leakers here: https://t.co/DWvrVaa8vx pic.twitter.com/fPFJdb47Bv

Valve has permanently banned over 40,000 accounts in Dota 2 using third-party software to cheat over the past few weeks. These players used software to look at internal data in the Dota client that isn’t ordinarily visible during gameplay.

Valve’s priority was to fix the issues that allowed for cheating in the first place. However, Valve also took the extra step to get rid of these players. “With that goal in mind, we released a patch as soon as we understood the method these cheats were using,” Valve said in a statement.

The company continued, “This patch created a honeypot: a section of data inside the game client that would never be read during normal gameplay, but that could be read by these exploits. Each of the accounts banned today read from this ‘secret’ area in the client, giving us extremely high confidence that every ban was well-deserved.”

Valve mentioned that it wanted to make an example out of these banned players and will not tolerate cheaters who use software that reads data from the Dota client. Additionally, professional players will be banned from all Valve competitive events.

In IGN’s Dota 2 review, we said, “The fact that it’s completely and totally free to play in the way we wish all free-to-play games could be isn’t just one of the most generous propositions anywhere in gaming, it creates a level playing field where skill and cooperation are paramount.”

Amazon Games has announced that its MMORPG New World is switching to a seasonal model and will be getting a free and premium Season Pass as a result.

The seasonal model will come into effect on March 28 and Amazon has promised it will allow for more frequent content drops with the likes of new features, gameplay experiences, and more. Seasons will last three months and Amazon said players can expect further unique additions to New World as each one rolls in.

The Season Pass will work more like a Battle Pass from the likes of Fortnite or Call of Duty: Warzone, in which players will gain levels and rewards by completing certain tasks in-game. Players can stay on the free track if they like, but upgrading to the premium version will grant more rewards per level including cosmetics, Marks of Fortune, Boost Tokens, and more.

This premium track can be purchased using New World's in-game credit and will cost 20,000 Marks of Fortune, with $19.99 getting players 23,000 Marks of Fortune in the shop. Amazon made clear that all of the premium track content can be earned through normal gameplay except for the cosmetics, meaning this won't be a pay-to-win feature.

As for what's coming in Season 1 overall, which is called Fellowship and Fire, players can enjoy new story content, a new Expedition, a new Heartgem Ability called Fire Storm, the addition of Gear Set Storage, and a new server region.

One success story in a live-service game market where big names are being shut down is Genshin Impact, an open-world action game with quality ongoing additions and updates despite implementing microtransactions in the hopes of potentially unlocking new characters to use. Developer HoYoverse seems to be doubling down on Genshin’s success with Honkai: Star Rail, which shares many similarities with its predecessor while also having enough to differentiate itself from its best-known game. After spending plenty of hours in its closed beta, Honkai: Star Rail seems like it’s shaping up to be another success for HoYoverse – even if there are a few things that may initially overwhelm and intimidate players.

Honkai: Star Rail is technically a follow-up to a previous game called Honkai Impact 3rd, but you don’t need to worry about knowing what’s happened previously to understand the story here. However if you are knowledgeable you will run into some familiar faces along the way. Similar to Genshin, Honkai stars a prismatic colored cast of anime-style characters. The main character – who you get to choose between male or female gender and name yourself – is the product of a Stellaron, which is best defined as a seed of destruction that will inevitably bring disaster. And it happens to sit inside your character.

Amazon Games has revealed its latest online collaboration, confirming that it will team with NCSoft to bring Throne and Liberty to PC, PlayStation, and Xbox Series X|S in North America, South America, Europe, and Japan.

Originally envisioned as a sequel to Lineage, Throne and Liberty has gradually morphed into an entirely new franchise over the course of its many years of development. It joins Amazon's growing portfolio of online games, which also include Lost Ark and New World.

In announcing the deal, Amazon Games vice president Christoph Hartmann praised NCSoft and said would online games would continue to be a big part of the company's strategy going forward.

"Publishing games that live and grow over time remains a critical piece of our strategy, and delivering games of the highest quality from the world’s most talented developers is one of the cornerstones of our business. The last year has taught us a great deal about publishing and managing a successful live-service game on a global scale, and we’re ready to bring Throne and Liberty players an incredible experience at launch," Harmann said in a statement.

Elden Ring has officially sold over 20 million copies in less than a year according to Bandai Namco and developer FromSoftware.

The announcement came just days before Elden Ring’s one year launch anniversary on February 25 in a tweet from the game’s official account (below), and an accompanying statement on Bandai Namco's website. "Our heartfelt thanks for your support and companionship on this journey," the post said.

We last heard of Elden Ring sales figures in June last year when it had sold 16.6 million units, but the holiday push and perhaps the slew of Game of the Year awards pushed it over the 20 million figure.

Our heartfelt thanks for your support and companionship on this journey.#ELDENRING pic.twitter.com/S8eqiNk0Uv

The critically acclaimed Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is getting a sequel dubbed Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. But that game only tells you part of the story. The saga of Cal Kestis is also expanding into the Star Wars novel line with a new book called Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars.

Written by Sam Maggs, this book will bridge the gap between the two games and chronicle another adventure for Cal and the crew of the Stinger Mantis. When Cal and friends encounter an Imperial Stormtrooper looking to defect, they catch wind of a powerful weapon that could deal a major blow to the Empire. The only catch is that pursuing this mission will once again put them in the crosshairs of the Sith Inquisitorius, and Fifth Brother is itching for a fight.

IGN can debut an exclusive excerpt for Battle Scars, as we see Merrin's point of view as she has an unexpected encounter with the Stormtrooper in question. Read on to see the print or listen to Sean Kenin Elias-Reyes' audiobook narration.

There are generally two types of Kirby games: the standard platformers where Kirby copies enemy abilities across easy-to-complete stages, and the more unique adventures that break wildly from that formula. Kirby’s Return to Dream Land has been solidly in the former camp since its original release on Wii in 2011, making its Deluxe rerelease on Switch recognizable in more ways than one. Strong platforming fundamentals, creative late-game level design, and some worthwhile new content still make it worth revisiting, but it’s a more appealing package for newcomers than those who have already gone on the original adventure.

Like those aforementioned traditional Kirby platformers, the first few worlds in Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe are so remarkably unchallenging that they strip away any sense of resistance and, frankly, fun to be had. Flashy Super Abilities, which allow Kirby to do things like roll enemies up into a giant snowball or slash a massive sword across the screen, often start as almost automated sections that require very little player input. It’s important to have games that welcome newcomers, but it takes at least a couple of hours before this adventure begins to feel even remotely interesting, regardless of if you’re playing solo or with friends.

No Man’s Sky’s Fractal Update is adding full PlayStation VR2 support, a new starship, Expedition, and more when it launches today, February 22.

While PSVR 2 support was already confirmed for the game and virtual reality was already available on other devices, Hello Games has promised that a completely refreshed and upgraded VR experience is arriving in the Fractal update, or version 4.1.

The PSVR 2 version specifically adds reflections, terrain tessellation, increased draw distance, denser foliage, and ultra high quality textures and refraction in game, while the tech also includes headset vibrations, 3D audio technology and intelligent tracking, haptic feedback and adaptive triggers from the PSVR 2 Sense controllers, and more.

The entire game can be played in virtual reality, but players can switch back to normal gameplay at any time or start using VR from an old save.

Exploring No Man’s Sky in virtual reality does have its own benefits though, as players gain an extra level of immersion thanks to features including grabbing plants and other collectables with their hands, physically opening the cockpits of ships and exocraft (and being able to look around at VR-only details), piloting starships directly with a VR stick/throttle, and punching objects to cause damage.

“We’ve always been incredibly passionate about VR,” said Hello Games. “No Man’s Sky is about exploration and there’s nothing quite like exploring the infinite universe in virtual reality.

Capcom has confirmed that Resident Evil 4 Remake's virtual reality mode will be free DLC for PlayStation 5's PSVR 2.

Revealed on the Japanese Resident Evil Twitter account (below), Capcom first announced that development has now begun on the VR mode before following up with confirmation that it would be free DLC.

Given that the virtual reality version has only just started development, it's unlikely that it will be released alongside the main game on March 24, though this follows suit with VR additions to other recent Resident Evils.

『バイオハザード RE:4』のVRモードはPlayStation5/PlayStationVR2向けの無料DLCとして配信される予定です。 https://t.co/Qqci7d49Ao

— バイオハザード(カプコン)公式 (@BIO_OFFICIAL) February 22, 2023

Resident Evil Village, for example, is only getting its virtual reality mode today, February 22, to coincide with the launch of the PlayStation VR2 headset, despite the main game having launched in May 2021.

Capcom revealed that Resident Evil 4 Remake would be getting a VR mode when it originally announced the game back in June, letting fans play the game with an all new level of immersion.

The 2023 roster for this year’s Evo fighting game tournament has been revealed, with Capcom’s Street Fighter 6 set to make its debut in the wake of its official launch this June and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 making a high-profile return.

A total of eight fighting games will be featured in competition at Evo 2023, and are listed below:

• Street Fighter 6 - PS4 (Capcom)
• Guilty Gear Strive - PS4 (Arc System Works)
• Mortal Kombat 11: Ultimate - PS4 (Warner Bros. Games)
• Tekken 7 - PS4 (BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment)
• The King of Fighters XV - PS4 (SNK)
• Melty Blood Type Lumina - PS4 (Lasengle)
• Dragon Ball FighterZ - PS4 (BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment)
• Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 - PS4 (Capcom)

“We are excited to once again feature an incredible lineup of fighting games at Evo 2023 and are thrilled to be including our first Evo Throwback tournament with Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3,” said Evo general manager Rick Thiher in a statement. “This year we’re establishing $25,000 minimum prize pools for each tournament in our lineup, and continuing our efforts to improve the Evo event experience for players and fans.”

As a fan of Star Wars, Soulslikes, and big-budget single-player action games, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was a game that spoke to me on multiple levels. It successfully merged the risk/reward elements of From Software’s Souls series with the power fantasy that inherently comes with being a Jedi. That said, it wasn’t a perfect combination. Backtracking without any means of fast travel was annoying, exploration was rewarded primarily with underwhelming cosmetics, and I couldn’t help but wish I could do more with my powers than just push, pull, and slow.

I say all of this because my main takeaway from roughly five hours with the upcoming sequel, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, is that it felt like I was systematically crossing off the issues I had with Fallen Order. Survivor feels grander without ever letting the burgeoning scope compromise the exploration and sense of discovery that serves as its heart.

My preview time was broken up with me spending about four hours on the planet Koboh, a gigantic and wide open planet that largely serves as Cal’s home away from home throughout the course of Jedi Survivor’s story, and then about an hour on a moon planet to showcase some more traditional combat and platforming encounters that fans have come to expect. Let’s start off with Koboh, because it represents the biggest change in Jedi Survivor versus Fallen Order: A vast open world that sprawls out in every direction, with interesting encounters and rewards everywhere you turn.

Bungie has achieved a legal victory in its attempt to stop Destiny 2 cheat sellers, as a judge ruled that cheat maker AimJunkies violated Bungie's copyright through the creation of its aimbots. Reported by Eurogamer, Bungie has won $4,396,222 in damages and legal fees.

The anti-cheating legal battle has been going on for nearly two years. Bungie first filed the lawsuit against AimJunkies in April 2021, saying that AimJunkies violated its copyright laws by producing cheats.

The case was originally dismissed in May 2021 when a U.S. District Court Judge said there wasn't enough evidence to prove copyright infrigements. Bungie filed a new complaint just a few weeks later.

Last August, AimJunkies' parent company Phoenix Digital Group LLC released an aggressive statement against Bungie that read in part, "Bungie and their counsel apparently believe the more s**t you throw at the wall, the greater the possibility of something sticking with the court, no matter how ridiculous or absurd it is in the real world."

At the time, the company said its features should be officially implemented into Destiny 2. As of November, it seemed the legal battle was starting to lean in Bungie's favor.

Sony has announced that a PlayStation State of Play event will take place on February 23 and share new details on Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and more.

Announced in a tweet (below), the event will take place at 1pm Pacific / 4pm Eastern / 9pm UK (so 7am AEST on February 24) and can be viewed on PlayStation's YouTube and Twitch channels.

Though it didn't say exactly what it would be showing, Sony has confirmed that five brand new PlayStation VR 2 games will be shown off at the State of Play alongside indie and third party reveals.

State of Play is back! Tune in Thursday at 1pm PT for:
☑️ Five new PS VR2 titles from partners
☑️ Hot indie and third-party reveals
☑️ An extended look at Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguehttps://t.co/kMPyPpMhSk pic.twitter.com/mu8RX0ZJFk

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) February 21, 2023

The main attraction will perhaps be a 15 minute gameplay showcase from Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League though, which will share new game mechanics and updates on Rocksteady Studios' latest.

We've all been waiting patiently for the Link Tears of the Kingdom amiibo preorder to go live in the UK, and thankfully they now are, just not in the form we were expecting. Right now Amazon is the only retailer you can preorder the new amiibo from (see here). But, the catch is it's currently listed for £29.54 which is a whole £16.55 more than the RRP of £12.99. We're not entirely sure what's going on here, but hopefully the price drops before the release on May 12.

For now, if you're desperate to get the amiibo and not miss out, I'd get the preorder sorted ASAP. Amazon won't charge you until the amiibo is dispatched in May, so you've still got time to cancel the order if they stubbornly don't reduce the price any lower. For even more gaming and tech deals, check out all the links just below, or follow @IGNUKDeals on Twitter for instant updates.

TL;DR - Best UK Deals Right Now

Where to Preorder Link Tears of the Kingdom amiibo

Preorders are now live for the Link Tears of the Kingdom amiibo in the UK. This listing isn't from a third-party seller or anything, this is direct from Amazon who currently has it listed for just under £30. Sure, this is going to be a widely popular amiibo, but I'd be surprised if the price inflation isn't corrected before May 12. Plus, Amazon has a preorder price guarantee, so you'll pay the lowest price on the listing even if you order now at £29.54.

IGN Fan Fest 2023 is a wrap! Our two-day event brought a ton of exclusive reveals, interviews, announcements, and more. From a new look at John Wick: Chapter 4, to fresh gameplay of the highly-anticipated Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, there was something for every type of fan to enjoy.

To mark the end of Fan Fest, we've created this roundup to make sure you don't miss a moment. Read on to learn about everything announced at IGN Fan Fest 2023.

Diablo IV Beta Kicks Off in March

We finally have a date for the Diablo 4 beta. Fans can look forward to trying out the game next month, where pre-order early access buyers will get to play from March 17 through 19, while the general public will get access from March 24 through 26. We learned this during our interview with director Joe Shely, who also shared the opening cinematic for Diablo 4.

IGN Fan Fest is back and bigger than ever for 2023! If you hadn’t heard of Fan Fest before, IGN Fan Fest is a two-day event, bringing fans exclusive interviews and sneak peeks from some of the biggest movies, shows and games you all love.

What better way to celebrate fans than giving out special discounts this week on the coolest merch from your favorite franchises and beyond? Keep reading to see what deals are up for grabs this week only on our very own IGN Store.

The dark, Souls-like twist on the story of Pinocchio, Lies of P, has once again resurfaced, this time with a brand new trailer at IGN Fan Fest this week, which you can watch above. And at the end of the trailer, we've got a narrowed release window at last: it's coming out this August.

The bulk of this trailer focused on the unsettling monsters of Lies of P, which in this trailer feature strange combinations of mechanized puppet creatures with weird, slimy-looking, Lovecraftian horrors. There's also a lot of footage of what seems to be the Blue Fairy, a creature who serves as a guide to Pinocchio in the original story but who, given the sinister plot of Lies of P, may not be entirely trustworthy this time.

With this, we've now seen most of the main cast members people associate with the traditional (or Disney) Pinocchio story, including Geppetto and a companion that may or may not be a nod to Jiminy Cricket. But it's still a mystery how much this will deviate from what we know about the little wooden boy, who largely didn't have to fight off any Lovecraftian horrors in his original tale.

We've seen a lot of Lies of P's Souls-like combat now though, as well as it's "lie" system where choices to lie or not, as well as how to lie, in different situations will impact the story.

Lies of P is coming out in August for Xbox, PlayStation, and PC. You can check out all the rest of the news from IGN FanFest, including spotlights on Street Fighter 6, HBO's The Last of Us, and Diablo 4, right here.

It's been a long road, but we're finally just months away from the long-awaited release of Diablo 4. And as revealed today at IGN FanFest, we're getting a taste of gameplay even sooner. Diablo 4 is getting an open beta next month, with pre-order early access buyers getting to play early on March 17 through 19, and the general public getting access March 24 through 26.

We learned this at IGN FanFest in an interview with game director Joe Shely, who also showed us the opening cinematic for Diablo 4, which you can watch below. If the central character you're watching in that cinematic doesn't look familiar, surprise, that's because it's a custom character made in the character creator. Custom characters will feature in Diablo 4's cinematics, of which there are apparently multiple in the beta alone to check out and even more across Diablo 4's 30+ hours of campaign and sidequests.

Said beta consists of a "significant look at the game," per Shely: both the prologue and the first act taking place in the "Fractured Peaks" zone, with characters able to level all the way to 25 and all main and sidequests in that area available. For early access pre-order owners, progress in the beta will transfer between the two beta weekends - so if you start on the 17th, you can play on that same file again March 24 through 26. However, beta progress will not carry over to the final game.

Diablo 4's full release is June 6, and it's coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, and PC. The beta will be available on all those platforms. While you wait, stay tuned to IGN FanFest for the latest from properties like Street Fighter 6, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, HBO's The Last of Us, and more.

IGN Fan Fest Day 2 is happening live right now, Saturday , Feb 18th! Tune in at the video above, on Steam, on YouTube, or any of our IGN channels!

What to Expect at 2023 Fan Fest

From Redfall to John Wick: Chapter 4, we’re excited to bring you exclusive new looks, sneak peeks, and interviews from the games, movies, and shows you love. We showcased exclusive preview content before the livestreams as well! Catch up on Day 1 here: Full IGN Fan Fest 2023 Schedule.

What’s more, we’ll be hosting giveaways and freebies during, including giving away an average of 1 free game code per minute* during the streams on February 17 and 18. You can expect codes for Street Fighter V, Resident Evil Village, and many more. Lastly, the IGN Store is also hosting 3 deals for Fan Fest this week only, so be sure to check those out too! Be sure to browse the new IGN Fan Fest 2023 collection.

TL;DR

In the two decades since the original release of Metroid Prime I’ve had no problem giving it my highest recommendation, along with one nagging reservation: The controls take some getting used to. Thanks to the outstanding updates in Metroid Prime Remastered, I can finally drop that caveat: Metroid Prime Remastered is one of the best first-person shooters ever made, full stop. This updated version goes above and beyond the typical coat-of-paint remaster by adding modern controls along with fabulously improved models and textures – it’s a perfect example of how to both honor a lauded classic and bring it up to code. Replaying it feels almost entirely new, evoking that same fresh feeling as the Dead Space remake or Resident Evil 2 and 3 despite not actually being such a drastic remake itself – and it’s a far cry from the disappointing treatment that the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection on Switch received.

What makes Metroid Prime obviously different from other legendary FPS campaigns like Halo, Half-Life, Titanfall 2, and Wolfenstein is its solitary nature. There’s not a single conversation to be had, no radio or AI assistant voices chattering in your ear, and, just for the record, no multiplayer. This is a game about a lone hunter – Samus Aran – on a hostile world, and Prime revels in that setup. Like other great Metroid games (e.g. Super Metroid, Metroid: Zero Mission, and the most recent Metroid Dread), Metroid Prime’s spareness in its storytelling makes for a uniquely moody magnificence. It’s more horror than space opera, no doubt owing to Metroid’s key influence, Ridley Scott’s 1979 masterpiece movie, Alien.

The gun genie, 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 February 17 through February 21. 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.

When I reviewed the original Octopath Traveler almost five years ago, I absolutely loved it. I was completely smitten with its art style, its spiritual and artistic connections to the 16-bit JRPGs I grew up with, and its amazing battle system. Playing Octopath Traveler 2, I was excited to see everything I loved about the original return. What’s surprising, however, is how little it's advanced in the last half-decade. In fact, outside of the specific stories being told, Octopath Traveler 2 is almost indistinguishable from its predecessor. That means it’s just as great in many ways, but that lack of novelty also makes it a bit less magical the second time around.

Because Octopath Traveler 2 is so similar to its excellent predecessor, there’s no reason not to go back and play the original first. But the stories aren’t directly connected either, so if you are considering starting the journey here, you should know that once again the name ”Octopath” refers to the eight playable characters and the paths they follow through the world. You can choose to start with any of them, and after playing through the first hour-long chapter of their story you're stuck with that character for the rest of the campaign – meaning you can't remove them from your party. You're then free to wander the beautiful tilt-shift world, but areas are more or less locked out by their difficulty level. For example, if you enter an area with a "Danger Level 16" and you're at level five, you're going to be murdered pretty much instantly upon your first encounter. You might think to yourself "Ah, but I am a seasoned JRPG veteran, I know a thing or two about how to approach high-level zones," but I'm here to tell you you're wrong. If the area says it's 16, you best have a party of characters at or above level 16.

I had been under the impression that bringing a gun to a knife fight was strictly the Chicago way, but apparently it was the way of the samurai too – at least if the mix of gunslinging and sword-swinging in Like a Dragon: Ishin! is any indication. This 2023 remake of a 2014 Yakuza series spin-off that was previously only available to Japanese audiences transposes the tried and tested street fighting formula from modern Tokyo onto the final days of Japan’s Edo period, replacing the weaponised traffic cones and potted plants with katanas and primitive pistols. It suffers somewhat as far as its substories and side activities go, with both not quite up to the standard set by subsequent releases, but a card-augmented combat system keeps the fighting fresh and the crime story plot is packed with more delicious pulp than a Nashi pear. Like a Dragon: Ishin! might not be on the cutting edge of the katana blade, but it rarely strays onto the dull side either.

Double Fine PsychOdyssey, the 32-part, 20+ hour documentary that chronicles the development of Psychonauts 2, is now available for free for everyone on YouTube.

Double Fine PsychOdyssey was created by 2 Player Productions and Double Fine and follows a similar and equally as wonderful documentary that was released for Double Fine's Broken Age. It's an extensive, very rare look behind the curtain of game development and you can check it out now by clicking here.

Okay! Okay! The time is here! Six years and thousands of hours of footage have led to a fresh documentary series by 2 Players Productions.

Behold Double Fine PsychOdyssey, a deep dive into the creativity and chaos that birthed Psychonauts 2! pic.twitter.com/OEP6q6dX4Z

— Double Fine (@DoubleFine) February 10, 2023

"Ten years after the release of their flagship video game Psychonauts, Double Fine Productions returns to its most celebrated franchise with Psychonauts 2," The official description reads. "Now facing the pressure to produce a worthy sequel, the studio must confront overly ambitious designs, poor morale, technical challenges and financial woes, all during a turbulent span of time for the world.

An Easter Egg on a screen near the end of Hi-Fi Rush very well may be teasing The Evil Within 3.

As reported by GamesRadar, this screen in question is visible for less than a second during a cinematic that plays before Track 11: The Needle Drop and takes place in an elevator. You can see the screen in the image below or in action courtesy of YouTuber Shirrako, and can see, on the bottom, it says, "Sequel to popular survival horror game franchise announced."

Warning: This article contains some NSFW references.

CD Projekt Red has confirmed that certain NSFW community mods were accidentally added to The Witcher 3's next-gen update and that it is working to remove them from the game.

As reported by Kotaku, Reddit users and other players began noticing that certain characters, including the "crones from Crookback Bog and the bruxas (the only women NPCs that regularly do full-frontal without any obscuring shots or panties) have landing strip-styled pubic hair and visible labia."

Also noted by Kotaku, the original version of The Witcher 3 had the same nudity, but the women had "no visible genitals, just a sort of smoothed over, Barbie doll area."

CD Projekt Red commented on the matter and stated this was a byproduct of bringing in a ton of community-sourced mods not created by the studio into The Witcher 3 and was "unintended."

“The next-gen version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt features several community-sourced mods not created by CD PROJEKT RED, on top of numerous enhancements created and implemented by the studio internally," CD Projekt Red said. "Merging everything together was a complex process and the textures in question are an unintended result present in the release version. This is something we are working to address.”

Warning: Full spoilers ahead for episode 5 of HBO's The Last of Us.

Episode 5 of HBO's The Last of Us has arrived early and, just like in the game, it brings Joel and Ellie face-to-face with Henry and Sam - two brothers who are also trying to survive the end of the world. But, how close does their fateful and tragic meeting in the show compare to the game?

To help answer this question, we've gathered images from episode 5 of HBO's The Last of Us and put them next to stills from Naughty Dog's The Last of Us to see how faithful the adaptation is, and you can check it out below. Additionally, the video above will let you see the scenes from both the show and the game in action.

In our review of episode 5 of The Last of Us, we said it is "an excellent closing to a chapter packed full of memorable moments – some thrilling, some haunting. A standout flurry of action followed by a shocking snap of violence delivers Joel and Ellie yet another broken friendship, but not before moments of kindness and warmth are allowed to grow. It’s another fantastic episode of the HBO hit and one that builds impressively on what came before it, while ominously foreshadowing what may be to come."