Author: Game Infliction

Everyone’s Playing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Following Game Awards Sweep

In the wake of an incredible run at The Game Awards last week, during which Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 won a record-breaking nine awards and announced a free DLC out right now, a whole lot of people are purchasing and/or downloading the game to see what all the fuss is about.

This observation comes from multiple data sources, all of which are pointing to a sudden rush of players to Clair Obscur across platforms. On Steam, the game reached a peak over the weekend of 56,993 players, according to SteamDB. The numbers haven’t been that high since June.

The game’s popularity is reflecting in sales, as well. According to Rhys Elliott, head of market analysis at Alinea Analytics, sales of Clair Obscur have spiked since The Game Awards. They’re up 76% on Steam, 21% on PS5, and 3% on Xbox (where it’s available on Game Pass). Alinea’s estimate is that this amounts to over 200,000 more copies sold in just a few days.

But returning players are also coming back. Mat Piscatella, senior director at Circana, said that “the percent of US active PS, XBX and US Steam players engaging with the game more than tripled by Dec 13th when compared to Dec 10th. US Steam showed the largest lift,” in a Bluesky post. Piscatella affirmed that this was the highest total of players engaged on Steam since June 1, with Xbox in the US seeing its highest total since June 27, and PlayStation in the US since June 10th.

It’s an incredible spike no matter how you look at it, reflecting both those playing for the first time as well as returning players giving the free DLC a shot. It’s likely that its run of awards had something to do with this, especially since one of those awards was Game of the Year. It’s gained so much attention that even French president Emmanuel Macron spoke up to congratulate developer Sandfall Interactive.

If you, like all these other people, are just starting Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 this weekend, here at IGN we have a helpful Beginner Guide that you may find useful to read through as you start. You can also check in on our list of things Clair Obscur doesn’t tell you, or our full Walkthrough in case you get stuck.

We at IGN also loved Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, giving it a 9/10 and writing: “Wearing its inspirations on its sleeve, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 paints itself into the pantheon of great RPGs with a brilliant combat system and a gripping, harrowing story.”

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Fire Emblem Shadows Makes Metacritic’s “Worst Games Of 2025” List

It can’t quite make the top, though.

Metacritic’s annual round-up of the worst reviewed games of the year is upon us. And, by and large, there have been a lot of good video games in 2025. But there will always be a few that hit the bottom. And, well, if you’ve been keeping up with gaming news this year, number one shouldn’t surprise you.

As a reminder, the aggregate site determines the list based on games released between 1st January and 31st December 2025 and with at least four critic reviews. Obviously some games will have more than others on this list, so make of that what you will. And in multiplatform releases, only the lowest-scoring platform will appear here.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Marathon ViDoc highlights the extraction shooters’ dark world and survival challenge

Behind the scenes the team here at Bungie has been incredibly hard at work on Marathon, our brand-new PvPvE extraction shooter* – where the dark sci-fi world of Tau Ceti collides with tense survival FPS gameplay.

In Marathon, players scavenge the lost colony of Tau Ceti IV as a bio-cybernetic Runner while surviving against hostile UESC security forces, rival Runners, and unpredictable environments to seek their fortune.

Today’s ViDoc shares a new look at Marathon’s gameplay and immersive sci-fi setting. The team also explores updates since Alpha, like improved visual fidelity, proximity chat, solo play, and a new Runner shell: Rook.

Marathon ViDoc highlights the extraction shooters’ dark world and survival challenge

Captured on PC

On Tau Ceti, death is the first step.

Your journey begins in the proving grounds of Perimeter, where you’ll get your cybernetic legs under you and learn the basics of how to extract alive. Then, the anomaly-scarred Dire Marsh ups the ante and takes you to the remains of the human colony that’s filled with more danger and bigger rewards. As you grow your vault and survival skills, you’ll make your way to Outpost, the UESC’s forward base of operations with patrols, locked rooms, and loot that will have you tempting fate at each turn.

But, all of that leads up to the endgame. Hanging high above Tau Ceti is the looming UESC Marathon, which houses the Cryo Archive – the first deck you’ll be able to explore aboard the derelict colony ship. Solve raid-like security measures to unseal frozen vaults and pillage the artifacts within. Every cramped corridor forces you into conflict with fully-geared enemy crews racing for the same prize. Breach the seventh vault to challenge an entity that even the UESC fears.

Captured on PC

Unsteady truces, unforgiving worlds, and unforgettable experiences await you on Tau Ceti IV. With huge thanks to our incredible community, we’ve been able to playtest and gather feedback to ensure that we’re building Marathon with our players in mind. We’ve made several improvements, including:

  • Proximity chat, to make on-the-fly alliances – or break them – in the field
  • Rook, our solo scavenger experience
  • Solo Runner queue, so you can test yourself against Tau Ceti’s most challenging odds
  • Updates to visual fidelity across the board, to further immerse you in the world

Whether you were with us back in April for our first Alpha or you’re just joining us now, there’s a rich world full of lore and loot for you to discover when your cybernetic biosynthetic shell takes its first steps into our new world.

Captured on PC

We’ve built Marathon to shine on PlayStation 5, with the goal of delivering smooth, intense combat – whether you’re playing with your crew for a night full of runs, going it solo, or filling into teams of up to three. The PS5’s hardware is perfectly suited for us to bring this dark and gritty world to life, and we can’t wait for you to get your hands on it.

Marathon releases in March 2026 at the target price of $39.99/€39.99/£34.99, with additional regional pricing to be announced.

Keep up with the latest news from our team at Bungie by wishlisting Marathon for PlayStation right here.

If you want to join in on the discussion and chat with the dev team, make sure to head over to the Marathon Official Discord! We’d love to hear your stories, get your feedback, and share what’s coming next as we chart the path forward.

We can’t wait for you to join us on Tau Ceti soon.

*Bungie.net account and internet connection required. Paid for PlayStation Plus membership (sold separately) required on PS5.

PlayStation Plus membership subject to recurring subscription fee taken automatically until cancellation. Age restrictions apply. Full terms: play.st/psplus-usageterms.

Marathon lives, as Bungie set a March release date and try to convince you the extraction shooter is good now

Right, shall we try again? Marathon! A game that was technically meant to be out by now, but is very obviously not out right now, is now a game that has a release month (no date, Bungie don’t appear to be ready to share that one yet). That month is March, 2026, which I’m assuming has been chosen so that PlayStation manage to release one of their many promised but mostly cancelled live service games before the tax year wraps up.

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The Final Update for Assassin’s Creed Shadows in 2025 Arrives Tomorrow, With New Finishers, Another Animus Quest, and More

Ubisoft will launch its final Assassin’s Creed Shadows update of the year this week, ahead of the game’s arrival on Nintendo Switch 2.

Included in Title Update 1.1.7 are a set of brutal-looking new finishers to spice up Naoe and Yasuke’s combat (there’s some brutal-looking new moves in there).

For fans following Shadows’ typically-bizarre Animus content, this week brings a new Rift to explore as the mysterious Guide seeks players’ help once again. And there’s another new battle pass-like Project to work through, unlocking a fresh bo staff, as well as an outfit for Naoe (sadly, no more cats or Ezio costumes this time).

One useful tweak is the ability to access your Vault content — those text logs with modern day story — without fully quitting the game and heading to the Animus desktop, which was a faff. You’ll also be able to exchange Animus keys for more Gold, Mastery and Knowledge Points, should be be needing any more of those.

The above improvements come in addition to a long list of bug fixes and other changes, including some launch day updates for Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Nintendo Switch 2 edition (that arrives this Wednesday, December 17).

Here are the rest of those changes in full:

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Title Update 1.1.7 — Bug fixes & Improvements patch notes:

Nintendo Switch 2

  • Improved various FPS issues.
  • Fixed crashes for stability improvements
  • Fixed various visual issues.
  • Improved the touchscreen experience.
  • Fixed an issue where players were asked to connect to a controller whenever the Switch 2 was docked or undocked, even if controllers were already connected.
  • Resolved an issue where the players would remain in an infinite black screen after creating a Ubisoft Connect account or log in with an already existing account upon selecting an audio pack from the initial boot menu.

Gameplay

  • Removed an exploit that would permit double engravings on the Sword of Fathoms.
  • Fixed an issue preventing Naginatas from being sold. Fine, I shall sell my best wares somewhere else!
  • Resolved an issue where perks that checked Mastery points spent would not update if Mastery points changed after equipping the item.
  • Fixed an issue where upgrading skills to Rank 3 would sometimes cause damage upgrades from Rank 2 to be missing.
  • The Bo Staff will now increase its affliction buildup stat when upgrading it Mythic and Artifact quality.
  • Perks with affliction effects now have dynamic wording that specify which affliction they apply, based on the item they are engraved on.
  • Fixed an issue where Knowledge Scrolls were removed from the players inventory. Junjiro did you take my scrolls again??
  • Shared skills between Naoe and Yasuke will now correctly be learned by both.
  • Edited wording for the “Affliction After Deflect” perk to clarify it applies 35% buildup instead of a full Affliction.
  • Ensured that “Restore 6% Health With Posture Attack” is present for all Critical Damage and Health Gain engravings for all weapons when equipped.

Claws of Awaji

  • Fixed an issue where players with two copies of the game, one with the Claws of Awaji Expansion and one without, would permanently lose the ability to fast travel to the island of Awaji when switching between the two editions of the game.

World

  • Players can now whistle while using the Follow Road mechanic. Enjoy the open road, whistle a tune and relax!
  • Corrupted Castles will no longer reset when loading into a previous save after a season has already changed.
  • Fixed an issue where enemies and loot would respawn upon loading a save before changing seasons.

Visuals & Graphics

  • Adjusted some facial animation for Naoe or Yasuke that looked unnatural during all cinematics when a hood was equipped. Psst! Naoe, stop making silly faces, please!

UI

  • Corrected inconsistencies between the smuggled rewards shown in the UI at the end of a season and what was truly received. All the goods are there, boss!
  • Fixed inconsistencies with the smuggled rewards UI when the Stables are upgraded. Remember to give your trusty steed an apple as a treat.
  • Corrected location name for “Kawarajiri Lumber Camp” in Japanese.

Online Store

  • Fixed an issue with receiving Store, Deluxe and Premium items into the player’s inventory.

PC SPECIFIC

  • Fixed inputs issues when rebinding on Mouse and Keyboard.
  • Improved FPS stability issues on PC.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Quests

  • “Swords And Sake”: Fixed an issue where the mission couldn’t be completed due to Gennojo dying.
  • “Eliminate Outlaws”: Corrected issues preventing the completion of the mission.
  • “Temple Stories”: Ensured that Joken Hokkyo will not disappear so that the quest objective can be completed. Wait! Don’t go! I need to complete this mission!
  • “Dismantling One by One”: Wandering enemies will now be indicated with a marker.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Shadowrun devs’ survival body horror Graft gets a gameplay trailer filled with fleshy delights

If this is a single flavour of genre that, if you put a gun to my head and forced me to pick a favourite, I would say is my favourite, it’s probably body horror. There are a seemingly infinite amount of ways to project images of devolving flesh and altered bodies into your eyeballs, many of which I find strangely relatable, occasionally comforting. Graft, the next game from the studio behind Battletech and the Shadowrun series, does none of that for me, but its first gameplay trailer successfully twisted my guts into a collection of pretzels, so it’s doing something right (though perhaps avoid the trailer if you’re quite squeamish).

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Digital Foundry’s ‘Graphics Of The Year Awards’ Nod To Some Switch 2 Beauties

Metroid, Mario, Kirby and more.

2026 is almost upon us, so naturally, everyone is thinking about end-of-year awards. Geoff Keighley hosted his ceremony last week, and today, it’s time for the tech experts from Digital Foundry to get involved, as they run down their best graphics of 2025.

It will come as no surprise that the shortlist this year is mainly comprised of titles found on PS5 and Xbox Series, with the likes of Ghost of Yōtei, Mafia: The Old Country, and Silent Hill f getting their flowers, but a handful of Switch newbies got a nod too.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Celebrate the Season with EA Play’s Holiday Picks

Celebrate the Season with EA Play’s Holiday Picks

  • Juliet Niczewicz, Senior Director, Corporate Communications, EA

From Dec 15-24, we’re shining the spotlight on titles in The Play List and trials — with unique benefits and challenges. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass members receive EA Play with their subscription, so make sure to check out all your rewards starting today.

EA Play’s Holiday Picks

Sports games dominate days 1 to 4, with EA Sports UFC 5 ringing the starting bell. Set up your favorite matches from 2025 to relive iconic wins or change their outcomes.

Then switch gears for day 2, and play up to 10 hours of EA Sports College Football 26. Plus, grab this month’s reward, the EA Play Loyalist Ultimate Team Pack (now through December 31), if you haven’t claimed it yet. Replay one of last year’s memorable bowl matchups, and see if you can flip the results.

On day 3, we’re highlighting EA Sports FC 26 with a 10-hour trial and Holiday Header Blue Boots (now through December 25). Show off your festive flair in Clubs, and recreate iconic matches between the league’s biggest rivals.

Then it’s off to gridiron greatness in Madden NFL 26. Try it out for up to 10 hours and pick up a MUT EA Play December Pack (now through December 31). Test your skills by playing your favorite NFL team’s latest matchup, or take them on a historic postseason run ahead of the upcoming NFL playoffs.

Step out of the sports arena on day 5 with 2 Star Wars titles available on The Play List. Play as iconic characters from the movies in Star Wars Battlefront II. A fan of the Light or Dark side? Try fighting for the opposite side! Or launch Star Wars Jedi: Survivor to take on a single-player narrative where you wield the Force as Cal Kestis.

Next up on day 6 is Battlefield 6, the new standard for FPS combat. Save 10% on the Standard or Phantom Edition as a member, and receive an EA Play Deployment Pack and Season 1 Pack (now through January 19). Can you harness Tactical Destruction and destroy 10 structures in one match?

Next up on day 7, celebrate the end of the racing season with a 5-hour trial and 5,000 XP Boost (now through December 31) in EA Sports F1 25. Up for a challenge? Break the fastest lap record on your favorite track.

The holidays aren’t complete without a little bling, so log in to Apex Legends on day 8 to redeem a Gold Topper Weapon Charm (now through January 5). Update your loadout today.

On day 9, pay a visit to your Sims in The Sims 4 — did we mention it’s free to play? — and add to their adventures with packs (10% off for members). Design a year-end retreat, city loft or creative build that captures your favorite vibe.

All roads lead to play on day 10. Get 10% off San Van Bucks, and use them to unlock the Premium skate.Pass, cosmetics, and more. Skate in style, and drop in to San Vansterdam now.

To learn more about EA Play, check out X and Instagram, or visit here. For more details on all the EA Play member benefits this month, visit the EA Play Member Benefits site. Conditions, limitations and exclusions apply. See EA Play Terms for details.

Members can experience the world of EA with unlimited access to a collection of top titles, trials of select new games, in-game member rewards, 10% on EA digital purchases and more.

The post Celebrate the Season with EA Play’s Holiday Picks appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Seasons greetings 2025 from PlayStation Blog and friends

Another year has come and gone, but we can’t help looking back at the incredible gaming memories made in 2025. The PlayStation Blog team wants to thank you for your support all year long, and wish you a happy holiday season.

And we’re not alone! We gathered season greetings from our talented friends and studios from across the industry. So grab a cup of cocoa and, and enjoy this year’s collection of holiday greetings. Cheers to 2026!

2K Games (WWE 2K25) ❅ 505 Games ❅ Acquire Corp ❅ Activision ❅ Annapurna Interactive ❅ Arc System Works ❅ Arrowhead Game Studios ❅ Asobo Studio ❅ Astragon ❅ Bandai Namco Entertainment ❅ Behaviour Interactive ❅ Bend Studio ❅ Blizzard Entertainment (Diablo IV) ❅ Blizzard Entertainment (Overwatch 2) ❅ Bloober Team ❅ Bloober Team (Chronos: The New Dawn) ❅ Bluepoint Games ❅ Bokeh Game Studio ❅ Bungie ❅ Capcom ❅ Chrono Studio ❅ Clouded Leopard Entertainment ❅ Crystal Dynamics ❅ Dark Star ❅ Digital Extremes ❅ Dragami Games ❅ Enhance ❅ Enigmatrix ❅ Firaxis Games ❅ Firesprite ❅ Funcom ❅ Gearbox Software ❅ Gemdrops Inc. ❅ Gryphline ❅ Guerrilla ❅ GungHo Online Entertainment ❅ Hangar 13 ❅ HB Studios / 2K Games ❅ Housemarque ❅ Insomniac Games ❅ Inti Creates Co. ❅ Kalypso Media ❅ Klei Entertainment ❅ Koei Tecmo ❅ Konami ❅ Level 5 ❅ Media Molecule ❅ Midgar Studio ❅ Mintrocket ❅ Moon Hood ❅ Naughty Dog ❅ nDreams ❅ NetEase (Ananta) ❅ NetEase (MARVEL Rivals) ❅ NetEase (Naraka: Bladepoint) ❅ NetEase (Once Human) ❅ NetEase (Sea of Remnants) ❅ NetEase (Where Winds Meet) ❅ Nexon (The First Berserker Khazan) ❅ Nexon (The First Descendant) ❅ Nihon Falcom ❅ Nippon Ichi Software ❅ Nuverse ❅ Outerloop Games ❅ Outright Games ❅ Outright Games (Bluey: The Video Game) ❅ Pearl Abyss ❅ Pocketpair Publishing (Never Grave) ❅ Pocketpair Publishing (Palworld) ❅ Polyphony Digital ❅ Raw Fury ❅ RecRoom ❅ Red Candle Games ❅ Resolution Games ❅ Saber Interactive ❅ San Diego Studio ❅ Santa Monica Studio ❅ Sega ❅ Serenity Forge ❅ Shueisha Games ❅ SNK ❅ Spike Chunsoft ❅ Steel Wool Games ❅ Sucker Punch Productions ❅ Supermassive Games ❅ Team ASOBI ❅ Thatgamecompany ❅ The Game Bakers ❅ Tripwire Interactive ❅ Turtle Rock Studios ❅ XL Games ❅ ZA/UM ❅


Holiday card from Sucker Punch Productions


Holiday card from Guerrilla


Holiday card from Housemarque


Holiday card from Insomniac Games


Holiday card from Bloober Team


Holiday card from Bungie


Holiday card from NetEase (Marvel Rivals)

br>Holiday card from Team Asobi


Holiday card from Naughty Dog


Holiday card from Activision


Holiday card from Sega


Holiday card from Santa Monica Studio


Holiday card from Polyphony Digital


Holiday card from Capcom


Holiday card from Bend Studio


Holiday card from Gearbox Software


Holiday card from Bluepoint games


Holiday card from Media Molecule


Holiday card from Konami


Holiday card from Koei Tecmo Games


Holiday card from Firesprite


Holiday card from San Diego Studio


Holiday card from Mintrocket


Holiday card from Bandai Namco Entertainment


Holiday card from Tripwire Interactive


Holiday card from Pocketpair Publishing (Never Grave)

Holiday card from 2K Games (WWE 2K25)


Holiday card from Crystal Dynamics


Holiday card from Astragon

Holiday card from Pearl Abyss


Holiday card from NetEase (Where Winds Meet)


Holiday card from Behaviour Interactive


Holiday card from Blizzard Entertainment (Diablo IV)


Holiday card from Funcom


Holiday card from Hangar 13

Holiday card from 505 Games


Holiday card from Firaxis Games


Holiday card from Outright Games (Bluey: The Video Game)


Holiday card from Arc System Works


Holiday card from SNK


Holiday card from The Game Bakers


Holiday card from Enigmatrix


Holiday card from Chrono Studio


Holiday card from NetEase (Ananta)

Holiday card from Annapurna Interactive


Holiday card from Digital Extremes

Holiday card from Enhance


Holiday card from Asobo Studio


Holiday card from nDreams


Holiday card from Gemdrops Inc.


Holiday card from Acquire Corp


Holiday card from Gryphline


Holiday card from Inti Creates Co.


Holiday card from Spike Chunsoft.


Holiday card from Kalypso Media


Holiday card from Blizzard Entertainment (Overwatch 2)


Holiday card from Raw Fury


Holiday card from Bloober Team (Chronos: The New Dawn)


Holiday card from NetEase (Naraka)


Holiday card from Klei Entertainment


Holiday card from Level 5


Holiday card from Nexon (The First Descendant)


Holiday card from Supermassive Games


Holiday card from Midgar Studio


Holiday card from Saber


Holiday card from Moon Hood


Holiday card from Thatgamecompany


Holiday card from Nexon (The First Berserker Khazan)

Holiday card from HB Studios / 2K Games


Holiday card from Nihon Falcom


Holiday card from Clouded Leopard Entertainment


Holiday card from Nuverse


Holiday card from Outerloop Games


Holiday card from RecRoom


Holiday card from NetEase (Once Human)


Holiday card from ZA/UM


Holiday card from Serenity Forge


Holiday card from Pocketpair Publishing (Palworld)


Holiday card from GungHo Online Entertainment


Holiday card from Resolution Games


Holiday card from NetEase (Sea of Remnants)


Holiday card from Shueisha Games


Holiday card from Outright Games


Holiday card from Steel Wool Studios


Holiday card from Turtle Rock Studios


Holiday card from Dragami Games


Holiday card from Bokeh Game Studio


Holiday card from XL Games


Holiday card from Red Candle Games


Holiday card from Dark Star


Holiday card from Tencent

Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl Gets Free Update This Week Adding New Quests, Locations and Hub

Just weeks after making its PlayStation 5 debut, Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is getting a big free content update adding new quests, characters and a fresh hub, as well as an additional weapon.

In a post on the PlayStation blog, Stalker 2’s Ukranian developer GSC Game World announced the new update and noted that it would be “completely free to all owners of the game” — so anyone who may have played previously on PC and Xbox Series X/S should expect to receive the additional content also.

Xbox owners who played the shooter via Xbox Game Pass when it originally launched in November 2024 may need to check if they still have access, however, as Stalker 2 departed from the subscription’s catalog last month, causing something of a stir.

“Strange things start happening near the Malachite on the western part of the map,” GSC says of its new questline. “The research groups sent by scientists were reporting a signal interfering with their usual PDA communications. After listening to it, stalkers were suffering from headaches, nose bleeds, and hallucinations.”

It all sounds like something interesting, if potentially deadly, that’s well worth investigating. Eight missions are included, with seven locations to explore, six more characters to meet, plus a new rifle to master: the GP37V2. You’ll also get the chance to establish a new hub in the Burnt Forest region.

GSC had previously promised new quests were on the way as part of its 2025 development roadmap, which included fresh gameplay featurs and story missions, as well as continued technical upgrades — such as a move to the latest version of Unreal Engline. Memorably, Stalker 2 launched in a bit of a state, though GSC has pledged to continue working to turn things around.

“Underneath the technical problems that plague Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a unique greatness,” IGN wrote in our Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl review, giving it 8/10. “It emerges as a refreshingly brutal shooter that strives to hook you with its incredible atmosphere and leave you invested by the end of this long, arduous journey.” Read more on how Stalker 2 has changed everything for the studio amid the full-scale invasion of Ukraine here.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social