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

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

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

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

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

Company of Heroes 3 launched on February 23 for PC, while PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions are coming later this year. In IGN’s Company of Heroes 3 single-player campaign review, we said, “Company of Heroes 3’s single-player campaigns remix the series’ signature WW2 combat, but they wrap it up in a boring, buggy strategic map and a mismatched story.”

For the game’s multiplayer portion, we said, “Outfoxing your human foes remains excellent in Relic’s latest, Company of Heroes 3. The heart of this World War 2 RTS’ combat and faction design is stronger than ever.”

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

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

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

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

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

With Ubisoft out of the picture, as well as no presence from Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo, there are currently no major publishers announced for E3 2023. Earlier this month, E3 organizer ReedPop said that “Exhibitors from AAA companies to indie darlings and tech companies will be announced leading up to the expo.”

The in-person component of E3 2023 is set for June 13-26 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. This is ReedPop’s first year handling the event, but the company has experience putting on shows like New York Comic Con, Pax, Star Wars Celebration, and more. This will be E3’s first in-person show since 2019.

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

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

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

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

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

— Nenkai (@Nenkaai) March 25, 2023

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

This is quite the find for such an old game to have new discoveries, as the franchise is one of the most influential ever in the racing genre. The latest entry, Gran Turismo 7, was released last year for PS4 and PS5, as well as PS VR2 through a free in-game update.

In IGN Gran Turismo 4 review, we said, “GT4 is the greatest ideation of GT3 that’s possible on the PS2. There’s no doubt that this game absolutely kills everything else around in terms of graphics, sound effects, and force feedback. The license tests, circuits, missions, hundreds of cars, and dozens of tracks all add up to what is still one hell of an addictive racing game.”

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

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

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

But more importantly, Remnant 2 feels much more on par with its third-person shooter peers than its predecessor in terms of both movement and combat. For starters, melee combat is not only a practical option compared to the first game’s wimpy slashing, but it actually feels good to get up close and beat someone down when bullets just won’t do. I used everything from shotguns to rifles, and even a crossbow, and each felt satisfying and ferocious (even if some felt a bit overpowered in the early version I played).

The number of enemies and dastardly ways they attack you also seems like a step up, just from the small number of biomes I was able to explore. Whether I was fighting giant, slippery lizards, floating tentacled aliens, or creepy root-infested cultists, there was always a new enemy waiting around every corner.

Boss fights have also been tuned up, especially when it comes to the first game’s irritating overuse of adds during them. Gunfire Games clearly heard the feedback from players loud and clear, and most bosses I took down either made light use of them or made them the primary obstacle while some other puzzle waited to be solved. For example, I fought one boss called the Mother Mind, a giant plant monster who bombarded me with explosive pollen, and faced only a few floating adds in between damage phases, while in another fight against an enemy called Legion, a dark deity who tried to drive my character insane, I fought off waves of adds while trying to figure out the trick to overcoming the boss’ maddening gaze.

Moving around has also been reworked, as jumping between gaps is now possible – and my prayers have been answered regarding the first game’s most annoying feature: the stamina meter. Now it only applies during combat, meaning you don’t have to worry about getting arbitrarily slowed down every few seconds when exploring the world. Jumping around and climbing makes exploration and engaging the bad guys a lot more interesting, since clever use of verticality and putting gaps between you and your enemy allow for some fun moments. Plus, now there’s dozens of exciting new ways to fall to your death – something I was apparently fond of doing.

The sequel’s killer feature though, is the ambitious improvements it aims to make to its procedurally generated levels. Where the first Remnant mixed up the layout of levels and which enemies would spawn, Remnant 2 takes it to an entirely new level by randomly generating practically every element of your adventure. In fact, even the tutorial will differ from player-to-player as the starting area is assigned randomly between a few different options. Beyond that, you can expect boss fights, side quests, NPCs and storylines to all differ from that of your friends, making each new playthrough feel like a significantly different experience.

Finally, there’s the numerous ways in which character buildcrafting has been improved. Instead of picking a base class and slapping on a few weapons and modifiers from there, Remnant 2 has a staggering number of options for you to choose from, like its fantastic multiclass system that lets you mix and match archetypes like the Gunslinger or the Handler to create a unique cocktail of perks and abilities. Beyond that, the number of trinkets and items you can use to customize your build has been expanded, including new ways to customize your Dragon Heart healing item that may prove to be a game changer for players.

I played quite a bit of Remnant: From The Ashes, but everything I’ve seen from its sequel points to Remnant 2 being my next addiction. Simply put, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Here’s hoping the finished product turns out as promising as my early peek at it suggested.