He mentioned how he’s “very happy to have been consulted” and confirmed it’s a “real pleasure” to know Rayman and his pals will be returning. Ancel also took this opportunity to speak a little about the recently disbanded development team behind Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown – calling for a “well-deserved sequel”:
Tomb Raider I-III Remastered has done a great job reviving Lara Croft’s original trilogy of games, and months after its release, Aspyr is still rolling out new updates for this collection.
The latest one (Patch 4) is now available for all platforms and includes a bunch of fixes, changes and improvements for Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider 3. Here’s the full rundown, courtesy of the official Aspyr support page:
Ode to Castlevania is a full-circle moment for Vampire Survivors. Heavily inspired by the franchise, and originally built with assets influenced by Konami’s whip-cracking series, Luca Galante and Poncle have blown all of their other excellent DLC out of the water. If your jaw isn’t on the floor by the time you roll credits, we’ll get back in our coffin.
This is Vampire Survivors’ second collaboration with Konami following the Contra-themed Operation Guns DLC. This time it’s the same great, roguelike, auto-shooting, time-sucking Vampire Survivors gameplay, but now with a distinct twist to delight Castlevania fans. And while those fans will get the most out of the DLC, it doesn’t really matter whether you’ve played a Castlevania game before — this DLC is a must-play, in our book.
Stardew Valley creator Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone finally brought update 1.6 to console and mobile devices today, but there’s one small issue – everyone’s chickens are going missing.
The developer warned players about the poultry disappearances in a post on X/Twitter. He says that those who start a new meadowlands farm and open their animal door on day one will find that their chickens are vanishing. It’s a public service announcement that let’s players know that there’s a small issue with update 1.6, and a fix is on the way. Until a follow-up patch arrives, ConcernedApe says players can blame their missing chickens on a sneaky coyote that only appears on day one.
PSA: there is currently an issue, if you start a new farm on the meadowlands farm and open the animal door on the coop day 1, your chickens will disappear. If you leave the door closed for one day, it should save them. We will fix this. Lore: There is a wild coyote on the farm…
It’s unclear when Stardew Valley will fix its missing chicken problem. In the meantime, update 1.6 brings a field of other changes and additions for those still digging into the massively popular, cozy farming sim. Following its arrival on PC this past March, the update dropped Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One today (you can see the full patch notes here), adding the ability to find lost items, use cheat commands on certain platforms, and more. ConcernedApe recommends players start a new farm to see everything update 1.6 has to offer, which is why it’s so important to make sure the word about that pesky coyote gets out there.
We gave Stardew Valley a 10/10 in our updated 2024 review, calling it a “modern classic with an endless list of enticing activities to complete and a deeply satisfying time management challenge to take on.” For more on ConcernedApe’s farming masterpiece, you can read about how the creator only just managed to nab the game’s hardest achievement last week.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.
Our IGN First “cover story” game for November is Marvel Rivals, the upcoming 6v6 hero shooter featuring many of Marvel’s biggest superheroes. We kick off our exclusive coverage with five exclusive minutes of gameplay showing Psylocke, the most recently confirmed hero added to Rivals’s sizable roster.
Take a look at the exclusive gameplay above, and if you missed it, you can check out the Psylocke reveal trailer in the video below.
If you missed our hands-on preview impressions from the closed beta from over the summer, you can read that after you finish the Psylocke video. And stay tuned all November long for more exclusive Marvel Rivals coverage on IGN!
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.
First landing on PC back in March, this has been the longest fans have had to wait for a big update to make the jump from PCs to consoles. But it sounds like the wait has been worth it.
Support Virtual Agent is an AI-powered feature built to help Xbox players more efficiently solve their support-related gaming issues, and it is rolling out to select Xbox Insiders on support.xbox.com today. Support Virtual Agent can quickly access information from support.xbox.com to answer questions relevant to Xbox console and game support issues. Xbox Insiders located in the United States and with English selected as their preferred language can begin previewing the Support Virtual Agent today by visiting support.xbox.com while signed into an account that is registered with the Xbox Insider Program.
We value the feedback from Xbox Insiders for this preview experience and any feedback received will be used to improve the Support Virtual Agent. As you interact with the Support Virtual Agent, you can provide feedback via the “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” button on each of the responses or provide feedback directly via the “Give feedback” button at the bottom of the page.
How to Use Support Virtual Agent
Starting today, Xbox Insiders will see the Support Virtual Agent on the “Contact us” page on support.xbox.com. Sign in with the same account you registered with the Xbox Insider Program, then you’ll see a new option to ask our new Support Virtual Agent a question.
Once you click on “Ask a question,” you will see the Support Virtual Agent launch in a new browser window. You can ask the agent questions via text or voice, and it will answer with relevant information from support.xbox.com. If the Support Virtual Agent cannot solve the issue, you can request to speak with a live support agent as long as it is within Xbox Support’s normal hours of operation.
During this preview, you can also customize your support experience by clicking on the ellipsis menu icon and choosing between two different Support Virtual Agents.
How to Get Xbox Insider Support and Share Your Feedback
If you’re an Xbox Insider looking for support, please join our community on the Xbox Insider subreddit. Official Xbox staff, moderators, and fellow Xbox Insiders are there to help. We recommend adding to threads with the same topic before posting a brand new one. This helps us support you the best we can! Also, you can provide direct feedback to Team Xbox by following the steps here under the “Report a problem online” section.
If you aren’t part of the Xbox Insider Program yet and want to help create the future of Xbox and get early access to new features, join the Program today by downloading the Xbox Insider Hub for Xbox Series X|S & Xbox One or Windows PC.
For more information on the Xbox Insider Program, follow us on Twitter at @XboxInsider.
October had many spooky and epic adventures. What did you enjoy most about last month’s title lineup?
How does it work? At the end of every month, PlayStation Blog will open a poll where you can vote for the best new game released that month. After the polls close we will tally your votes, and announce the winner on our social channels and PlayStation.Blog.
What is the voting criteria? That’s up to you! If you were only able to recommend one new release to a friend that month, which would it be? Note: re-released games don’t qualify, but remakes do. We define remakes as ambitious, larger-scale rebuilds such as Resident Evil 4 (2023) and Final Fantasy VII Remake. How are nominees decided? The PlayStation Blog editorial team will gather a list of that month’s most noteworthy releases and use it to seed the poll.
Treyarch and Raven Software have published yet another Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 update, this time targeting a few of the game’s more annoying elements, such as the flashbang screen effect, the Recon Combat Specialty, and the spawn system.
The November 4 update is only the developer’s latest patch seeking to iron out the experience. Although players quickly took to this year’s Call of Duty when its release date arrived a few weeks back, many have made it clear that there are more than a few kinks left to deal with. Today’s update is one of the beefiest yet, as it tackles common issues and more while promising to provide even more specific fixes in the future.
One tool that players of every skill level can’t seem to stand is the flashbang, which has been called out for the lengthy affect it has on players’ screens. On smaller maps like Nuketown, of which there are a few of in Black Ops 6, the flashbang leaves Operators unable to see their screen for long portions of each match. Post update, players will notice that the duration of the effect has been reduced by 20%. Whether it calms complaints remains to be seen, but it’s clear Treyarch is at least listening.
Other common talking points the team sought to address with today’s patch include the spawn system and Recon Combat Specialty. The former is often a point of contention in any Call of Duty entry, so it should be nice to hear that spawn logic has been tuned across “several” Multiplayer maps in Black Ops 6.
Our number one goal is to always provide the safest spawn that we can across all maps and game modes.
“Spawn tuning will be an ongoing process of taking in data, reviewing gameplay and making measured adjustments in the live environment,” a developer note says. “Our number one goal is to always provide the safest spawn that we can across all maps and game modes.”
Recon, meanwhile, has left many concerned thanks to its ability to allow players to see through walls for a short time after respawning. The Perk combination bonus has now had its duration reduced from 2 seconds to 1.5, with Treyarch promising to reduce it even further ahead of Season 1.
These are the highlights for those looking for a less frustrating Multiplayer experience, but a number of weapon balance adjustments found their way into the November 4 Black Ops 6 update, too. Assault rifles like the XM4 and Model L received nerfs to their long-range damage, while more than a few SMGs had their range buffed. Most of the new Black Ops 6 patch focuses on tweaking Multiplayer, but Zombies players will notice that GobbleGum names should now properly update when players switch between tier tabs.
Today’s update follows a November 1 patch that squashed a number of bugs and exploits across the Multiplayer and Zombies modes. Although today’s fix fleshes out the experience even more, the team will surely polish the FPS further in the coming days and weeks.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launched October 25 and will begin its first season of content on November 14. For more on, you can read our reviews for the Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies modes. We gave Multiplayer an 8/10, saying, “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 plays it safe but is otherwise exactly what Call of Duty multiplayer should be: fast, fun, and a little on the ridiculous side.”
For everything else revealed in today’s patch, you can see the list of all the changes below. Specific weapon adjustments can be found on the patch notes page here, and make sure to check out ranking of the best guns as well would Black Ops 6 Zombies Guide.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 November 4, 2024 Patch Notes
GLOBAL
Stability
Improved stability when interacting with the Message of the Day.
Improved stability when sending voice communications.
Progression
Completion display will now properly appear when completing Prestige Challenges in both Multiplayer and Zombies.
Operators
Addressed an issue where Bailey wasn’t holding an intended Pistol in the Operator selection menu.
MULTIPLAYER
Maps
Nuketown
Nuketown is now available in Private Matches.
Modes
Addressed an issue where players were spawned in when joining a session in progress instead of spectating before selecting a Loadout. Yes, we saw ourselves in a Killcam before selecting a Loadout too.
Improved stability in Infected game mode.
Spawns
General spawn logic tuning across several maps for improved spawning.
Spawn tuning will be an ongoing process of taking in data, reviewing gameplay and making measured adjustments in the live environment. Our number one goal is to always provide the safest spawn that we can across all maps and game modes.
Loadouts
Addressed an issue where players would automatically equip their previously used Loadout when joining matches already in progress.
Addressed an issue where Players would die at initial spawn when selecting their Loadout.
Weapons
It’s been awesome seeing players discover and share their favorite weapon builds during the first week of launch. Every day we monitor both player feedback and game data to keep tabs on how the weapon meta is evolving and prepare for a comprehensive tuning pass in Season 01.
We have seen the discussions about the relative balance of Assault Rifles and Submachine Guns, and we are making some early, general changes to adjust their effective ranges. For ARs, we are pulling in minimum damage ranges and lessening the impact of headshots at close range. SMGs are receiving damage range increases to improve their mid-range effectiveness.
Shotguns
Last week, we fixed an issue with shotgun Slugs, but we are still working on an additional issue causing this attachment to perform better in hip fire than intended. Slugs are meant to offer an alternate playstyle for shotguns that trades close quarters effectiveness for improved range and precision. We are removing the ability for Slugs to one-hit kill to the body for now and will be revisiting the overall tuning of this attachment in an upcoming update.
Marine SP
Slug attachment Max Damage reduced from 106 to 92.
ASG-89
Slug attachment Max Damage reduced from 106 to 92.
Perks
Recon Combat Specialty
Reduced duration that enemies are highlighted after respawning to 1.5 seconds from 2 seconds. An additional reduction will be coming before Season 01.
Resolved an issue that allowed players to activate Recon Combat Specialty by changing Loadouts.
Dispatcher
Increased Dispatcher Perk score cost for UAV from 500 to 550.
Increased Dispatcher Perk score cost for Counter UAV from 550 to 600.
As we head into Season 1, we are continuing to observe data and feedback for Perks and Combat Specialties in Multiplayer. Currently, Enforcer is the most popular Combat Specialty with Recon in second place. It’s not just about the data though, as your feedback is a critical part of how we approach tuning of the live game. With that said, we are making some spot adjustments today as we as we continue to take a holistic look at our Perks and Combat Specialties moving forward.
Equipment
Flashbang
Reduced Flashbang Tactical screen effect duration by 20%.
Scorestreaks
Increased health of UAV and Counter UAV (rockets to destroy remain unchanged).
Increased initial explosion radius of Napalm Strike.
Reduced the initial entry delay of the LDBR.
Increased the fly-in speed of the Strategic Bomber.
Reduced score cost for Interceptors from 1250 to 1150.
Movement Updates
Adjusted stance change cooldowns to reduce effectiveness of repeated prone to stand movement (enough snaking).
XP Earn Rates
Adjusted Player XP and Weapon XP earn rates for most modes to ensure that players are being rewarded for their match performance as expected wherever they play. These changes include:
Increased Weapon XP earn rates for most modes
Increased Player XP earn rates for the following modes:
Team Deathmatch
Control
Search & Destroy
Gunfight
Slight decrease to Player XP and Weapon XP earned in Face Off modes
Challenges
Addressed an issue where players were able to complete the Nuke Challenge while dying.
UI
Appropriate Perks will now display when viewing the featured player during Best Play.
Known Issues
Gunsmith
We are investigating an issue where any equipped Optic attachment is removed when when entering the Gunsmith in Main Menus.
Players will not notice this issue if entering Gunsmith during a match.
Players can equip Optic attachments, but will need to re-equip them anytime they enter Gunsmith in a Main Menu to adjust attachments or customizations.
In cases where an Optic is locked and equipped via a Blueprint, players will need to reapply the Blueprint to obtain the Optic.
ZOMBIES
UI
GobbleGum names will now properly update when switching between tier tabs.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.
Stardew Valley 1.6 is finally out on console and mobile devices following the PC release back in March with the Stardew Valley 1.6.9 update. This adds all previous 1.6 content to PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android, alongside some new stuff.
If you’ve been holding out for the 1.6 release on console and mobile, we’ve got plenty of Stardew Valley 1.6 guides to help you through the new content, such as an explainer on the new Mastery Points system and new crops like Carrots and Broccoli.
Essential Stardew Valley 1.6 Guides
Below, you’ll find IGN guides that we recommend checking out to aid you in your farming adventure.
Mastery Points
The Mastery Points system is a new feature that rewards those who have leveled all five Stardew Valley skills (Fishing, Farming, Combat, Foraging, and Mining) to level 10. Now, when you use a maxed-out skill, you’ll gain EXP in the new Mastery Gauge. Once the Mastery Gauge is full, you’ll get a Mastery Point that can be spent at Mastery Cave in Cindersap Forest.
For more information on Mastery Points and the rewards you can spend them on, head to our Mastery Points guide.
Raccoon Family Quests
In Stardew Valley 1.6, you’ll receive an announcement randomly telling you that a strong windstorm occurred overnight and if you head to Cindersap Forest, you’ll find that there’s now a giant treestump where a tree was. Once you repair the stump, a raccoon will be standing by it the next day, and he’ll have a quest for you. This is actually a chain of quests known as the Raccoon Family Quests.
As you complete the quests, the raccoon’s family will grow. You can accept a new quest from him every seven in-game days, and you’ll get rewards for doing so, as well as new Shop.
Check out our Raccoon Family Quests guide for walkthroughs on all the quests, as well as checkmarks to track your exact progress!
Golden Joja Parrot
Struggling to track down all 130 Golden Walnuts on Ginger Island? The Golden Joja Parrot is here to help—for a price. In the Stardew Valley 1.6 update, you can now pay the Golden Joja Parrot 10,000g to tell you the location of a Golden Walnut. It’s a pricy service, but if you can afford it, it’s very useful.
Of course, we would recommend NOT spending 10,000g (sorry, birdy!) and instead using our All Golden Walnuts guide to track down the 130 Golden Walnuts scattered around Ginger Island. We’ve also got checkmarks so you can check off the ones you’ve found.
New Fish and Resources
A fish, the Goby, has been added in Stardew Valley 1.6, which you can learn more about, including location, season, and selling price, in our Fish guide. Additionally, there are new fishable resources to find, which can be used to craft the Fish Smoker, which is also new. You’ll need the Fish Smoker for a Raccoon Family Quest!
Head to the following guides to learn more about obtaining the new fishable resources:
Alongside a fish, there are also four additional crops for you to grow. You can find out more about how to find the seeds for the new crops and how to grow them in the following guides:
Click on a link above to visit the guides page for that festival. You’ll find out information such as when each festival takes place, attractions, and what you can buy.
Starting a New Game?
If you’re starting a new game for the Stardew Valley 1.6 update on console and mobile, you may need a refresher on the basics, especially if it’s been a long time since you’ve played early-game content or you’re new to Stardew Valley. We recommend the following guides for new playthroughs:
Beginner’s Guide and Tips – Begin here if you’re starting a new playthrough. Our Beginner’s Guide and Tips page lists key things to know, including the best type of farm to choose, what to do in your first week to set yourself up for success, information on the Community Center, and more!
Skills – There are five skills to learn, each with 10 levels to unlock. As you level a skill up, you’ll unlock new rewards, such as crafting recipes and proficiency, and you can even choose between professions. Our Skills page teaches you everything you need to know.
How to Fish– Fishing is one of the five skills in Stardew Valley. Our How to Fish page teaches you how to unlock fishing, how to fish (including mini-game tips), and how to use Bait.
Cooking Recipes – Once you’ve upgraded your house, you unlock a kitchen with a stove and a fridge, which in turn, unlocks cooking. Our Cooking Recipes page lists every recipe in Stardew Valley and how to get them, plus required ingredients, stats, and sell price.
Crafting Recipes – There are a plethora of crafting recipes that you can use to make items to help you out with farming, decorating, combat, and more. Our Crafting Recipes page lists every crafting recipe in Stardew Valley, how to unlock them, and the materials you’ll need.
How to Make Money – Money is an incredibly valuable resource in Stardew Valley. In fact, you can’t do much without it! Our How to Make Money guide lists essential tips for making cash so you can fill up your coinpurse in no time.
Marriage Guide– Every farmer needs a partner, and our Marriage Guide teaches you everything you need to know about marriage in the game, including all 12 eligible bachelors and bachelorettes, how to actually get married, and how to have a baby. If you fall out of love with your partner, we even tell you how to get divorced. You’ll need to increase your villager hearts to get married, which we also have an explainer for.
