Author: Game Infliction

Bethesda’s Starfield exceeded one million concurrent players across all platforms today, according to CEO of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer.

“Thanks to all the players who helped us reach this great milestone and congrats to [Bethesda Studios],” the Xbox boss added alongside the news.

Starfield exceeded 1 million concurrent players across all platforms today. Thanks to all the players who helped us reach this great milestone and congrats to the @BethesdaStudios https://t.co/5jFaCyPz4G

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) September 7, 2023

Bethesda’s sprawling space epic, which topped sales charts even before its official launch on September 6, has enjoyed a positive start to its life after launch.

Players have been using Starfield’s ship creator to recreate famous vessels from the likes of Star Wars, Serenity, and Star Trek, and many hidden references to other games like Skyrim have already been discovered. Savvy speedrunners have even figured out how to complete it in under three hours.

However, if you’re still just getting started, here are all the things to do first in Starfield.

IGN’s review explains the pull to seek out Starfield’s “immense amount of quality roleplaying quests and interesting NPCs” is strong, despite a rough start and some core aggravations.

Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team. You can chat to him on Twitter @MrLukeReilly.

After a quick update on how our Starfield adventures are going, we discuss Phil Spencer and the Xbox leadership team’s big decision to bend the Series X/S parity rules to get Baldur’s Gate 3 on Xbox, Destin’s big interview with Phil Spencer — including whether or not Microsoft will produce a mid-gen refresh for the Series X — the sad closure of Volition, 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 my June 2023 interview with Todd Howard, who discussed the realization of his vision for Starfield after eight years, how Red Dead Redemption 2 was something of an inspiration, what his future holds, and more!

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.

Skull and Bones is suffering yet another breach in the hull, as Ubisoft’s long-delayed pirate game has lost another creative director.

According to a report from Kotaku, creative director Elisabeth Pellen left Ubisoft Singapore to return to Ubisoft’s Paris headquarters earlier this summer. Pellen had been working on Skull and Bones since 2018. This marks the third time Skull and Bones has lost a creative director. Kotaku’s report also says Ubisoft Singapore is facing an organized labor campaign from Singapore’s Creative Media and Publishing Union.

“Five years ago, Elisabeth Pellen went to Ubisoft Singapore with a mission to reboot the creative direction of Skull and Bones,” an Ubisoft spokesperson told Kotaku. “She succeeded, and the Skull and Bones team is now fulfilling her vision to deliver a unique naval action RPG experience to our players.”

But when Ubisoft will actually deliver Skull and Bones remains to be seen. At the beginning of 2023, Skull and Bones was delayed for the sixth time. Back then, Ubisoft slated Skull and Bones for sometime in its 2023-24 fiscal year, which we’re in the middle of right now. It seemed like we were finally approaching more concrete news on the game, but that changed when all Ubisoft brought to its Ubisoft Summer Forward presentation was an admittedly catchy musical performance and some closed beta dates.

And, amidst the wait for Skull and Bones, reports have surfaced claiming Ubisoft is working on an Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag remake — which is the very game with the pirate ship combat that kicked off Skull and Bones to begin with. Time really is a flat circle.

We went hands-on with Skull and Bones in August, and had positive impressions of the long-awaited pirate game. “After a good chunk of time climbing the ranks of notoriety in Skull & Bones’ beta, I’m more excited to dive into the full experience than I was even way back when it was announced at E3 all those years ago,” we wrote in our Skull and Bones gameplay impressions.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over seven years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is out on PlayStation 5 today, finally giving console owners a chance to see what the fuss is all about with Larian Studios’ critically-acclaimed RPG. Many are eager to play with their friends on PC, but Baldur’s Gate 3 does not currently support crossplay… at least not right now.

In a new interview with Eurogamer, Larian Studio’s confirmed that Baldur’s Gate 3 crossplay is “on the roadmap” for a future release. Larian has been working diligently to fix various bugs and performance problems since its release last month, which has kept the studio very busy.

We knew that Wolfenstein developer MachineGames is working on an Indiana Jones video game. But news since its announcement has been minimal. But according to Todd Howard, we might get more information on this mystery game next year.

In an interview with Esquire, Howard did not share much in regards to the upcoming game but teased that he could have more to share down the road. “Howard would talk more about Indiana Jones—I can tell he really wants to—but he’s not allowed,” the article reads. “Instead, as I exit his office, he flashes that smile. ‘We’ll talk next year.'”

The interview also explains how Howard pitched Lucasfilm back in 2009 to make an Indiana Jones game, stating it was on Howard’s “bucket list” to make such a game. Explaining that it “didn’t work out back then, but in the years since,” Disney was interested in the pitch.

Bethesda Softworks announced back in 2021 that it was collaborating with Lucasfilm Games to publish a new game based on the Indiana Jones IP, with MachineGames handling development. Though following its January 2021 announcement, details are slim. We do know that due to the Xbox vs. FTC trial that occurred over the summer, Indiana Jones was originally planned to be released on PS5 until MachineGames and Bethesda Softworks’ parent company, ZeniMax Media, was acquired by Microsoft.

Outside of being an Xbox console exclusive, we know that Todd Howard will serve as the game’s executive producer. In a previous interview, Howard noted that the upcoming Indiana Jones game would be a “mash-up” of different genres.

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.