Gloomwood opened the year not with a whimper, but with a town – a Hightown! Right on January 1st, a fresh update and new area (The Hightown District) arrived in the early access stealth game. This new district is very vaguely described as the game’s “most vertical open area” yet, and it certainly looks as suitably gloomy as the rest of the game.
The original art director of Magic: The Gathering, Jesper Myrfors, has once again taken to social media to offer some interesting behind-the-scenes insight into the early days of the game, this time explaining his efforts to ensure Magic “celebrated female empowerment along with male empowerment” through a simple rule: “No babe art!”
In a Facebook post over the weekend, Myrfors spoke at length about his intentions for inclusivity in card art, and his efforts to hire women artists for the game. He says he wanted to ensure that Magic was appealing to women and men, particularly in the midst of a wider gaming environment that was often “less appealing for women” in no small part due to portrayals of female characters as “window dressing”.
Here’s how Myrfors put it:
When I was art directing Magic, one of my rules was “No babe art!” That is no artwork that shows a scantily clad woman in a subservient or weak position. I really did want Magic to appeal to a broader group than traditional fantasy. My gaming groups had included women for years, I saw the things about gaming that made it less appealing for women first hand. I also firmly believe that women have a bigger role in fantasy than window dressing. I made a point of hiring a lot of women artists on the game because I wanted magic to have it’s own look and I figured in a male dominated industry, the voices that are not as often heard would provide that look easily. While we leaned on tropes I wanted to avoid clichés. I wanted this to be a world that celebrated female empowerment along with male empowerment and not just portray women as damsels who needed rescuing.
Was this “Woke?” If you think so you are probably an idiot. Seriously, get help.
This game was meant for all people. I did not want to just create another male power fantasy. There is nothing wrong with male power fantasies. They are fantasies. People are allowed to have fantasies. I grew up reading the Conan books and I enjoyed them greatly but I wanted a bigger audience. I wanted an inclusive power fantasy that did not favor a single sex. If the word “inclusive” sounds “woke” to you I once again suggest that you may be an idiot. I have had female friends my entire life, they have always been included in what I am doing. This was normal for me, not “woke”. “Woke” is a term weak men use derogatorily to hide the fact that they see inclusion of anyone other than themselves as a state of victimhood. It’s frankly embarrassing. We all see your weakness for what it is, you are not fooling anyone but yourselves.
Myrfors goes on to acknowledge that the No Babe Art rule was not 100% enforced, referencing the infamous example of Earthbind:
And it’s worth noting this is far from the only example of the type of art Myrfors was trying to avoid that made it into Magic over the years. The sets he worked on mostly avoid the tropes Myrfors was cautious of, if not entirely, and some of the more salacious cards were drawn by women, and masculine and feminine bodies are both depicted. Myrfors is clear that he has “no problem with scantily clad women” and just didn’t want the subject matter to “flood” Magic: The Gathering. “It’s crazy to me that one of the secrets to Magic’s success was as obvious and simple as ‘hire talented women’,” he concluded. Five of the 25 artists who worked on Magic’s first release of cards were women.
Myrfors’ efforts early on didn’t magically turn Magic into a perfectly-inclusive space. Since Myrfors departed Wizards, there have admittedly been a number of cards that do fall into the “babes” category (here’s just one example, combined with its transformation, and here’s another). It was notable enough that in 2018, designer Mark Rosewater announced that Wizard was moving away from both scantily clad women and men, as it “would make a subset of players feel uncomfortable to play it.” Prior to that in 2015, Rosewater shared that the gender breakdown of the game at the time was 62% male and 38% female. And women have historically reported feeling underrepresented and alienated in the community, particularly at larger competitive events and regular playgroups.
Myrfors has been speaking a lot on Facebook over the last few months about the creation of the original art for Magic: The Gathering, including a breakdown on the design of the backs of the cards, and borders for differently colored cards. He’s also spoken publicly on other aspects of the game’s art design in recent months, including an explanation of the game’s original brown packaging and the thought process behind The Dark set, for which he was also director. Myrfors departed Wizards of the Coast in 2000.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Eating up the dust.
If you thought Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds was slowing down anytime soon, think again. Sega has announced that the Pac-Man Pack will be available on 7th January 2026.
Alongside the upcoming DLC, which includes the iconic Namco character as a playable racer, PAC-MAN Festival is also kicking off a day later on 8th January from 4pm PT / 7pm ET / 9th January 12am GMT until 11th January at 3:59 pm. PT / 6:59 p.m. ET / 11:59pm GMT. Note that you don’t need to buy the Pac-Man pack to take part in the festival.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
When a game like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 rocks up, rakes in a bunch of success and critical acclaim, alongside the top game of the year prize at Geoffie’s Lil Night of Ads, there will be certain expectations of what’s next. It’s always what’s next! Because there has to be more. But whatever more ends up being for developer Sandfall Interactive, the team is trying to make sure they don’t just bow down to what people want from them.
Matt Firor, the former studio head and founder of ZeniMax Online Studios, has confirmed his resignation from the company as a direct result of the cancelation of the studio’s unannounced game, Project Blackbird.
In a LinkedIn post today, Firor reflected on the last year and confirmed his departure back in July, which had already been rumored after he stepped down from his leadership role last year. “Project Blackbird was the game I had waited my entire career to create, and having it canceled led to my resignation. My heart and thoughts are always with the impacted team members, many of whom I had worked 20+ years with, and all of whom were the most dedicated, amazingly talented group of developers in the industry.”
Firor also made clear he is not involved in any of the projects that have been started by former ZeniMax Online members who were laid off from the company around this time. He added that he is advising some of them “informally” and confirmed they were “in good hands.”
He concluded by stating that while he doesn’t know what he’ll do next, he’s currently both advising some projects and startups unofficially, as well as investing in some small teams. “But I have not yet seriously contemplated spinning up a new development studio.”
Project Blackbird was an unannounced MMORPG that was in development at ZeniMax Online Studios, but was canceled by Xbox in the summer of 2025 as a part of the layoff of hundreds of individuals at Xbox Game Studios, and thousands Microsoft-wide. Blackbird would have been a brand new, sci-fi IP that had been in development since 2018. In July, sources speaking to IGN told us that the project was going well and was about to move into full production with Xbox’s approval to scale up the team. Blackbird’s cancelation led to the layoffs of every member of the team.
Firor founded ZeniMax Online Studios under ZeniMax Media in 2007 after 10 years at Mythic Entertainment, where he was a founding employee. There, he oversaw the creation of The Elder Scrolls Online, which launched in 2014 and continues to be supported, with the most recent major expansion Gold Road releasing in January 2024. Firor was also in charge when parent company ZeniMax Media was acquired by Microsoft in 2021.
Following the cancelation of Blackbird, ZeniMax Online Studios remains in operation, continuing work on The Elder Scrolls Online under the leadership of Joseph Burba, a 13-year veteran of the studio.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
The best puzzle games are often the ones where the thing you actually do is dead simple, with the challenge coming from an intricately woven path of twists and turns on doing said thing. Like, for example, Baba is You. You (Baba) are a rabbity thing that pushes wordy blocks around, changing the very fabric of reality as you (Baba) do so. And here we are, with one last big update for the game.
Shipping starts this month.
Accessory manufacturer Belkin has added a new Switch 2 case to its catalogue, and this one looks like a doozy. The Charging Case Pro retails for $99.99, which certainly sounds like a lot for a case, but you’re also getting a lot with this one.
The new Pro model comes with an LED indicator so you can quickly see how much charge the 10,000 mAH power bank has, allowing you to charge the Switch 2 up to 1.5 times while on the go. The console itself can be docked into the case and used in table-top mode whilst it’s charging, and you can store up to 12 Game-Key Cards game cartridges in the included sleeves.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
As we step into the new year, many of us are looking for fresh ways to play, connect, and explore. That’s why we’re excited to announce a new partnership with V (formerly VIDAA) that expands where your gaming adventures can happen: the Xbox app is coming to select Hisense and V homeOS-powered Smart TVs in 2026.
This partnership is all about giving you more freedom and flexibility to play how you want. Xbox Game Pass subscribers – including Ultimate, Premium, and Essential subscribers – will be able to stream hundreds of games, from new releases to fan favorites, directly through the Xbox app on supported TVs via Xbox Cloud Gaming.
With the Xbox app, you’ll be able to explore a variety of great games including Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and many more. As an Xbox Game Pass subscriber, you’ll also unlock unlimited cloud gaming, giving you the flexibility to play games across different devices, including select games you already own. It’s all about giving you more freedom to play your way.
Our vision is to make sure your games, your community, and your achievements are always within reach. Bringing the Xbox app to select Hisense and V homeOS-powered TVs is another step toward making gaming available across a broad range of devices, to meeting you wherever you want to play. We’ll share more details on the Xbox Cloud Gaming experience with Hisense TVs in the coming months. Stay tuned to Xbox Wire and follow our social channels for the latest updates.
The post Xbox to Bring Cloud Gaming to Select Hisense and V homeOS-powered Smart TVs appeared first on Xbox Wire.
Super Meat Boy, the hard-as-nails platforming classic where dying dozens of times per level comes as standard, has now been played from start to finish in a perfect run.
It’s been 15 years since Super Meat Boy originally released for Xbox 360, and it has taken all of those 15 years for someone to pull off this frankly astonishing feat.
Step up shredberg, a Nintendo speedrunner with a particular soft spot for Super Meat Boy, who livestreamed his deathless completion of the game just before the end of 2025. The achievement quickly drew congratulations from Edmund McMillen, the game’s co-creator, who dubbed shredberg as “awesome” for being the one who finally managed it.
For anyone who’s played and struggled with Super Meat Boy over the years, particularly its later levels which simply look impossible when you first see them, it’s hard to not watch the full video of shredberg’s run and be impressed at the calm way he leaps, slops and slides around each level just pixels away from sawblades, meat grinders and explosions.
“Let’s go,” shredberg said calmly, upon completing Super Meat Boy’s final level after more than 2000 attempts and over 1000 hours of gameplay. “Let’s go dude! I cannot believe it, I’ve been doing this too long. I got to go to work tomorrow.
“I’ll be honest, I’m not going to say I wasn’t nervous, because I was very nervous at the end there… but I was way more nervous just in Dark Cotton,” he continued, referencing an earlier level. “Once I got past Dark Hell 2, I was relatively fine. I got super nervous whenever I had any minor slip-up.”
“I’m going to be emailing everyone,” shredberg added. “Kotaku, IGN, CNN, Chef’s Illustrated, they’re all going to hear about it. I will unironically email IGN.”
Over the years, Super Meat Boy has launched on every major console from Nintendo Switch to PlayStation Vita, though no one else has managed this feat — something many players thought was impossible. A sequel to the game, Super Meat Boy Forever, launched in 2020. Next up for the series is Super Meat Boy 3D, due for launch early this year.
And for shredberg? The second he completed his run, one viewer had a suggestion for what he should play next. “I have to play Silksong now?” shredberg said, reading the inevitable comment. “Yeah… I’m so glad it’s over. Not even in a ‘this wasn’t even fun’ kinda way, because it was. But, man.”
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
A nice, juicy nine-minute-long Styx: Blades of Greed gameplay trailer has been plucked from the tree of stealth games today. Juicy in the sense that nine minutes is plenty of time to help ascertain whether a game looks like it could be fun, yet if we’re sticking with this metaphor this is one of those apples that’s really good but has a nasty bruise on it you have to avoid.
