A supermajority of workers at Sega of America have announced today that they have formed a union under the Communications Workers of America, and are asking for voluntary recognition from company management.
The group, which is based out of Irvine, California, consists of 144 workers in departments such as brand marketing, games as a service, localization, marketing services, QA, product development, ops, and more. Referring to themselves as “AEGIS-CWA,” they have filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board, which will take place unless Sega of America management chooses to voluntarily recognize the union first.
AEGIS has stated the following goals in its mission statement:
Higher base pay for all, following industry standards, with raises tied to the cost of living and inflation.
Improved, stable benefits for all, including healthcare, retirement, remote work opportunities, and more.
Increased, clearly outlined opportunities for advancement.
Balanced workloads and schedules, and defined responsibilities for all positions.
Adequate staffing of departments to end patterns of overwork.
“Working for SEGA is a passion for many of us and it’s been so exciting to see that through organizing, we can make this work a sustainable long-term career,” said Mohammad Saman, Sega QA lead and AEGIS member. “By creating our union, AEGIS-CWA, we’ll have a say in the decisions that shape our working conditions and ensure the job security and working conditions we deserve. We’re excited to protect what already makes SEGA great, and help build an even stronger company, together.”
Despite the overwhelmingly positive reception to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild when it launched back in 2017, there are undoubtedly those who yearn for a return to what they deem to be a more “traditional” Zelda experience. With its open world, shrines, weapon degradation, and ‘rune’ abilities, Breath of the Wild most certainly made some significant changes to the games that came prior, but we have to ask ourselves here: just what constitutes a “traditional” Zelda game, anyway?
From a story perspective, Zelda games have always followed a pretty similar path: you play as a hero who must embark on a grand adventure to save the land and defeat evil. That’s always been the case, whether you’re talking about the original NES game, Ocarina of Time, or Breath of the Wild. Some titles, like Majora’s Mask or Link’s Awakening, might well feel different in how they approach their respective narratives, but those games still boil down to the same essentials.
Alone, Redfall is creepy. The town is littered with stories of people who were attacked by or turned into vampires when the vampire gods took over the once-charming island town. Wandering through dark houses and caves with only a flashlight to guide the way heightens tension, even when armed. Developer Arkane Austin knows how to craft a menacing atmosphere. However, adding other players to Redfall noticeably changed the odds. Together we made quick work of basic vampires, their cult followers, and the mercenary group intent on taking us down. Instead of quiet mutters in the dark, there was camaraderie. And what was once a potentially chilling challenge through an infested city became a hunting party ready to take on the biggest baddies with guns and powers blazing.
I had the pleasure of playing about four hours of Redfall on PC with one, two, and three additional co-op members. In that time we liberated a community center, took on the procedurally generated vampire nests, fought mini-bosses, and did plenty of exploring. My temporary teammates at Arkane Austin indulged me in trying out the hard difficulty, and with that settled, we were off.
If you’re most interested in the solo experience of Redfall, be sure to check out IGN’s first preview of Redfall.
The First Differences Between Solo and Co-op
The Redfall developers have made it abundantly clear at this point that, despite having the look of some other looter shooters or four-player co-op games, this is, ultimately, still an Arkane game. When I played on my own for a little over an hour, it certainly felt like it. Sure, there are limited abilities per character and stealth isn’t always as big of a factor, but the storytelling and simulated world are all there. You’ll randomly stumble across a vampire feasting on an unfortunate victim, opposing factions suddenly break out in gunfire, and sometimes you’ll hear enemies discuss their plans for the future. This all still feels true with two-player co-op.
The bulk of my playtime at Arkane Austin was with Creative Director Ricardo Bare, who played as Jacob, a former mercenary turned solo sniper with a magical eye and raven to go with it, while I tested Devinder, a cryptid hunter who came to Redfall for a book signing. I picked up the controller and promised Bare I’d reign in my worst gaming tendencies; scanning the contents of a shop for spare health in imaginary junk food my character doesn’t need but deserves, reading notes left to lost lovers, and watching enemy patterns to scheme the best way to eliminate them as efficiently as possible. Of course, the first thing I did when we loaded into the second of two Redfall area maps was run on top of a truck to see if there was anything in its bed. Old habits die hard.
Still, those habits felt relevant in co-op. With only one other person on the adventure, more often than not I felt like we were partner detectives. Redfall stands still in the moment the vampires attacked; homes are a mess as people evacuated and battlegrounds of warring cults are host to corpses with stories of their own. Some of those stories are in the form of loot, while others are written out on loose sheets of paper or notecards to collect. One of my favorites was a torn-up convenience store in the middle of a cult fight. I’m not certain why they needed to string up a rotting pig, but I have a feeling it had to do with them worshiping the vampire god “Bloody Tom.” I don’t think he’d be too interested in pig blood, though. Maybe offering the wrong blood is what brought misfortune upon this group.
Though we didn’t spend much time with the main Redfall story, what I know is this: in order to defeat the now-reigning vampire gods of Redfall, we must first understand who they were before they turned. Then, we can strike. I did get to liberate the Redfall Maritime Center from a menacing blood tree, though. By destroying three vampire hearts strewn throughout its roots (and killing vampires that came to protect it), we were able to draw out a special Siphon vampire called the Heartwood Fiend. It was a quick fight with some loot and story beats as a reward. With the center free, we were able to collaborate with the civilians to establish another main base of operations.
Working with the people of Redfall is not only a major story element, but a nice general theme that’s apparent through all its parts. For instance, instead of getting money, you earn “support.” The currency is earned by completing objectives and finding useful items that go back to the folks hiding in safe houses; toilet paper has a higher value than, say, a creepy doll or a wedding ring. Arkane Austin Studio Director Harvey Smith confirmed the toilet paper value is a nod to the early pandemic when toilet paper was hard to find as they were developing Redfall.
Working with the people of Redfall is not only a major story element, but a nice general theme that’s apparent through all its parts.
When we were back to exploring and shooting down our enemies, I found a lot of satisfaction in working with Bare to combine our character’s powers to fight efficiently. Jacob’s raven highlighted enemies behind a far wall, confirming our suspicions that I should throw Dev’s translocator device further down the wall. Or, sometimes one of us would use a cool UV weapon to turn a vampire to stone from afar, giving the other an opportunity to finish it off with a satisfying punch. Though Redfall doesn’t require each player to use a different character, nor is any character limited on the weapons they can use, I’d much prefer to play with someone playing a different character for the strategic bonuses.
Staying together is important too. Being close earns trust, a stat that gradually builds between players as they complete missions and complete encounters. As trust builds, the characters will talk more to each other. Sometimes this is a compliment for getting a headshot, other times it’s a deeper discussion about their past. This is by far the biggest reason (aside from valuing my friendships, sorry friends) I want to play co-op. There’s context and personality for these characters present in a solo version of campaign, but shines far brighter in co-op.
The Power of Three
Redfall Lead Producer Aaron Carter joined us next as Layla, a woman with psychic abilities and a vampire ex-boyfriend who she can call in to help slay enemies. Combat balance with three players still felt great as we challenged more special vampires. The best chance we had at a guaranteed fight with good loot was by taking on side quests. We did one that required us to eliminate another Blood Tree, but this time Redfall’s iconic Angler waited inside the tree as its fiend. This vampire was noticeably at a disadvantage when taking on three of us as it was only able to target and reel in one player, but it still got some pulls on us that we were able to quickly counter.
During our time taking on cult camps, we encountered other special vampires among their ranks. These included things like the Shroud, a tricky vampire that casts a dark bubble over players, limiting their field of vision with a dark purple wall. She’ll also throw attacks that can be rather damaging if you’re not paying attention. Then there was the Bloodbag, a gross vampire that floated around with sacks of blood that, when destroyed, does explosive damage. Killing any of these special vampires and completing objectives contributes to angering the vampire gods. A meter shows up as a reminder. Once full, The Rook appears.
Our first Rook showed up right after we completed a Safehouse mission that tasked us with destroying a nearby cult camp and destroying a vampire god effigy. As soon as we destroyed it, a thunderstorm of red appeared, indicating The Rook was on the way. The only way to be rid of a Rook is to either die or kill it. Like other vampires, The Rook can teleport and has its own special abilities, like summoning the thunderstorm that does heavy damage if you stay outside. However, kiting indoors poses its own challenge as The Rook is fast.
Since we were playing on the highest unlocked difficulty, one lightning strike hit took about a fifth of the health bar away, and a few swipes from The Rook is a fast K.O. My teammates were both down at one point after we accidentally drew mercenaries into our fight. Through careful kiting and use of Dev’s translocation beacon, I was able to revive them without going down myself. We eventually were able to take down The Rook through kiting and opportune shots. Slaying the Rook gives a guaranteed “Unrivaled” drop, the most powerful kind of weapon in Redfall. Needless to say, I gladly took the new semi-automatic pistol drop. Random enemies getting dragged into the fight certainly makes this far more challenging, but that changes with four people.
Four Makes a Chaotic Good Time
Our fourth and final player joined in as Remi, the last of the four characters available at launch. Like Dev, Remi is big on gadgets. Her robot partner Bribón can distract enemies, she’s got C4 to explode enemies from afar, and her ultimate serves as a massive buff to revive fallen allies in the well and heal all members in the well over time. This time we aimed to get more intel on the vampire gods and take out vampire nests plaguing nearby neighborhoods.
The four-player co-op dynamic is as chaotic as you’d imagine it, though it was also easy to pair off and approach objectives creatively. I’d team up with Layla and use our abilities to race our waypoint then boldly jump into a battleground knowing my team had my back. I especially enjoyed beating a teammate to a kill shot but was equally pleased when someone finished off a kill as I was trying to reload.
The main new challenge we took on as a group was fighting our way through vampire nests. These procedurally generated challenges only take a few minutes to get through and don’t necessarily involve combat. In our run we got the basic Blood Trance nest characteristic, one that meant all vampires were asleep and would wake upon being attacked or if we touched the blood tendrils connecting them to the nest. We carefully avoided them, destroyed the heart at the end of the nest to trigger its collapse, and gathered a ton of loot before making our escape. If you don’t leave before the nest completely destabilizes, you’ll only lose the bonus experience that’s awarded for successfully escaping.
Nests provide an interesting gameplay element aside from a one-off adventure; their territory is marked by a field that gives a buff to all vampires within its vicinity, making the area more dangerous. The longer a nest is left alone, the larger its territory becomes. Though I didn’t get to play them, Smith told me that other nest characteristics include things like a complete dark version filled with the sleeping vampire traps and even nests with fire hazards everywhere. Cozy, huh?
Despite playing on the hardest difficulty, mini-boss challenges like The Rook were easy to take on with four people. Instead of requiring a lot of kiting to take it down, we just let Bribón grab its attention and filled the monster with bullets. Bare did say that they’re constantly tuning difficulty and I even heard him making notes to the team watching us play regarding changes he wanted to make. We weren’t on the final build either, which was noticeable with some graphical glitches and hitches, but that’s not too unusual with pre-release builds. And as with most games these days, Bare said they’d be listening to the Redfall community post-launch and tune the game as needed.
Combat aside, one of the greatest joys in co-op with all the characters are the interactions. It’s not only their conversations, but also how they engage with the world. For example, each character plays instruments like random pianos or guitars with varying levels of skill. It’s a small detail, but a delightful one that further immersed me in Arkane’s Redfall.
Collecting notes and reading documents throughout the world did make me feel like I was falling behind at times, but exploration is still important. After all, this is still the same game, just with four people. A note we found hinted at an optional path that led to more rewards, a collectible, and allowed us to get the jump on enemies. Bare told me later that when someone in the party finds an audio log or other important readable, a notification appears allowing all members to listen in.
Even with the additional time I got in Redfall, I still feel like there’s a lot to explore, learn, and of course plenty to uncover about the mystery behind the vampire gods. I haven’t gotten to play much with weapon loadouts or skill trees either. My time did confirm that when Redfall is out on May 2 I’ll want to have multiple instances going; a solo playthrough so I can explore corners and read notes to my heart’s content, and at least one instance of a co-op game so I can learn more about all the characters. I’m still unsure about who I want to play, but I know at the very least I’m going to have a good time staking vampires.
Miranda Sanchez is the executive editor of guides at IGN and a member of Podcast Unlocked. She’s a big fan of stationery and fountain pens. You can sometimes find her on Twitter.
I do love me a good farming sim, and I also love a good detective game, so imagine my brain exploding when I saw Grave Seasons for the first time, a farming murder mystery hybrid in the works by developer Son M and their studio Perfect Garbage. It’s still very early in development (like there isn’t even a Steam page for it yet), but it’s still an incredible-sounding concept, as every time you start a new game, a random NPC will be selected to become a serial killer. You can grow crops, fish, raise cattle, and also help save your fellow townsfolk from a rampaging murderer. Cute!
Ubisoft has said that it is unlikely The Division 2 will see native PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions as that would mean leaving behind players who are playing on the last generation of consoles.
Speaking to MP1st, creative director Yannick Banchereau explained why Ubisoft hadn’t released a new version of the game on current generation consoles.
“That’s unlikely because if we really wanted to take full advantage of those, since we only have one version of the game that is available on all platforms, taking full advantage of those would mean that the game would no longer be available on the old generations,” he said.
Beanchereau continued: “We still have a lot of players that play on all generations and we are not ready to leave them behind and ask them to upgrade. Right now we are trying to make sure every time we add something, it still runs smoothly on the old gen as well.”
While there won’t be PS5 or Xbox Series X|S versions of The Division 2 any time soon, Ubisoft did release a patch back in 2021 that gave the game a 4K and 60 FPS upgrade for those consoles.
Ubisoft has already confirmed its fifth year of support for The Division 2 starting in June 2023, with Season 1 including a rogue-lite feature called Descent Mode.
In IGN’s The Division 2 review, we said: “The Division 2’s campaign is full of great gunplay, loot, and missions. Only toward the end of my 60 hours of play did it start to suffer from a lack of interesting incentives, but the journey was enough fun that it made up for the destination.”
George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He’s been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.
When not writing about video games, George is playing video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey
We had to wait a while for this one, and we don’t just mean due to the ‘global events’ (also known as the Russian invasion of Ukraine) that caused Nintendo to delay Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp for a year.
Nope, ever since Fire Emblem took off in the West, the Advance Wars series has taken a back seat to turn-based tactical battling of the fantasy kind involving more swords — lots more swords — than more modern artillery.
What started out as DLC for My Time at Portia, has become a much larger project now known as My Time at Sandrock. Coming this summer to PlayStation on PS4 and PS5, players will be exploring the town of Sandrock, a city-state located in the Eufaula Desert within the Alliance of Free Cities. Returning players will be satisfied with a fresh but familiar experience, while newcomers will be able to comfortably fall in love with the gameplay and people of Sandrock!
Once players design their character, they will arrive at Sandrock as a recruited builder. Upon arrival, they will find what was once a well populated metropolis is now a dilapidated town where water and wood are scarce resources. The player’s job will now be to collaborate with the townspeople to revitalize the town of Sandrock. Take in the views of the mesas, deep canyons, vast deserts, and breathtaking ruins along the journey!
Farming is just one of the many activities in Sandrock
In order to progress through My Time at Sandrock, players must complete story missions. Story missions require the player character to build or rebuild something that has gone wrong in the town. Some examples are gathering materials to rebuild the water tower or fixing up the stage found outside the Blue Moon Saloon after a sandstorm passes through. Once a story mission is completed, players will find themselves with a few in-game days of free time. During this period, players can complete commissions to earn money, focus on building relationships with people in the town, or just exploring the world!
With the help of your workshop, saving Sandrock will be no trouble at all
The central focus of Sandrock will be found in the workshop, which serves as the player’s primary base of operations. Here, players bring materials and relics from all over the map to assist with accomplishing commissions from local townspeople and government. As players progress and complete commissions, they can upgrade machines in their workshop, customize the space with furniture, and even draw their own designs for decor. These things will help attract more industry to the town and in turn, contribute to the player’s workshop moving toward becoming the #1 workshop in the region!
The player battles a Geegler President and Geegler Manager
The battle system in My Time at Sandrock is fresh and feels much better this time around. Players will encounter several enemy types from monsters, robots, bandits, and more! Enemies behave intelligently with coordinated attacks, so players must anticipate their movements to successfully counterattack. Watch out for larger enemies, as they can send players flying through the air with one strong hit! Plan attacks with melee weapons or choose a ranged approach.
Enemies can be found in the hazardous ruins dungeon type, but there are two other dungeon types to experience as well. One is known as the Abandoned Ruins, which are dungeons without enemies and allows players to mine safely for minerals and relics. The third type is known as the Half-Explored Ruins, which consists of mining areas as well as enemies to fight. Dungeons will unlock as players complete story missions and can be used to gain massive amounts of character EXP and high value materials used for upgrading weapons and equipment.
Another standout feature of My Time at Sandrock is the ability for players to pursue romantic relationships with other characters in the game. Players can date, marry, have children, as well as go on a series of in-depth story missions for each character they wish to romance. Pursuing romantic relationships will open up more in-depth plot points, as well as character growth.
However, players must balance their building and restoration objectives with the constant threat of attacks from the nefarious Logan and his gang of bandits, which makes their task even more challenging. The game features a deep and compelling storyline with unexpected plot developments that’ll have players asking for one more day.
Message from the developer
“My Time at Sandrock builds upon the beloved gameplay mechanics of My Time at Portia while introducing new features and QOL elements that fans of the series will love,” said Aaron Deng from Pathea Games. “We’re excited for players to experience the unique storyline, characters, and mechanics of My Time at Sandrock, and we encourage everyone to dive in and start rebuilding the desert oasis.”
As our shuttle hits the ground, the world erupts into smoke, chaos, and confusion. Samantha, one among my ragged band of survivors, breaks down sobbing on the ground and I direct Maki, a veterinarian, to do something about it. She punches Samantha full-on in the face, knocking her unconscious (“Oh, I guess that’s what ‘knock out’ means,” I realize a moment too late). Well, at least I don’t have to worry about her running off into the woods or something. It’s a rough start, but they have no choice but to work together from here on out.
For fans of the survival simulation genre, crashlanding on an alien planet is a familiar premise, but it’s one Stranded: Alien Dawn absolutely smashes. This game has been at the top of my to-be-played list for a while and now that it’s exiting early access for a full release, it’s safe to say that Stranded is the closest thing to my dream human vs nature survival game I’ve seen yet.
Update: This preorder deal is now out of stock. Please see the other deals listed for any further discounts on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
We’re now only a few weeks away from release, and if you haven’t yet secured your Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom preorder, then you’re in luck. All preorders for the highly anticipated Switch exclusive are currently down to £43.96 at eBay / trusted seller The Game Collection, just use code APRIL20 at checkout. At the time of writing, is the absolute best deal on Tears of the Kingdom preorders in the UK.
This is a £16.03 saving compared to the RRP and £1.03 better than the previous best preorder deal at Currys (which has now expired). This is well worth considering if you don’t have any leftover extra credit at Amazon, or you won’t be trying for the Tears of the Kingdom Collector’s Edition. We’ve left some handy links to the preorder deal just below, and make sure you’re following @IGNUKDeals on Twitter for more updates.
Best Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Preorder Deal (Use Code APRIL20)
Bonus: Use Code APRIL20 to Save 20% on More Purchases at eBay
There are plenty more deals to check out in the brand new APRIL20 sale at eBay, with 20% off select trusted sellers until April 26. For even more UK discounts, check out our latest Daily Deals update, with discounts on Star Wars Jedi Survivor, Xbox controllers, PS5 games, and more.
Where to Preorder Tears of the Kingdom – Switch OLED Model
If you’re looking to add the special Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Switch OLED model to your collection, then look no further. Preorders for this special edition console are still available and will be delivered on April 28 (this week).
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Collector’s Edition Preorders Are Back In Stock for £109.99
Currys currently has a new allocation of The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom collector’s edition preorders available. These are still available at the time of writing, and you can secure one through our handy link here, or by clicking through the shopping info left below as well.
Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.
The next 7-Star Tera Raid Battle event has been announced for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and this one will see you facing off against Gen VIII’s Inteleon first from 28th-30th April, before repeating 5th-7th May.
The details of this event were shared on Twitter by @SerebiiNet, revealing that the latest ‘mon to get the seven-star treatment will have the Ice Tera Type and the Mightiest Mark. As is always the case, you will only be able to catch this version of Inteleon once per save file.
