The word “morsel” comes from the Latin “mordeo”, meaning “I bite”. Every time you play Morsels, you are bitten and eaten by a horrible cat. The beast’s incisors crash shut around the screen, and you tumble slowly down its oesophagus after the game’s squealing mouse protagonist.
I could write a whole article about the bastardly antics of cats – there’s one living next door who’s at that stage of feline youth when she really, really enjoys playing with her food. But the first time I succumbed to those jaws, I thought instead of the plughole in my bathroom sink, a trivial hellmouth full of hair and toothpaste. I thought, too, of the tenacious little flies that keep emerging from that soap-scummed porcelain sphincter, the life that keeps surfacing from a conduit of my filth.
Escape from Tarkov game director Nikita Buyanov has apologized to players for the “rough” release of the extraction shooter’s 1.0 version and Steam debut, saying the team is “willing to continue fighting” to “finally crack the performance problems.”
On Steam, Escape from Tarkov currently has a ‘mixed’ user review rating, with most of the complaints around server issues that are causing long queues, performance problems, and bugs.
Writing on Twitter/X, Battlestate’s Buyanov thanked players “for this overwhelming interest for the game,” adding: “servers get full really fast so we[‘re] adding more and more servers worldwide to cut matching times more. We are also fixing all of the incoming bugs, and as I said, we will continue to improve and fix the game for the next months.
“The release was rough for sure, sorry for that. But we are willing to continue fighting for everything good against bad. We will continue to provide to you, actual fans of the game, things that you will enjoy. We need to finally crack this performance problems, outdated stuff and legacy bugs which [are] left. Yes, a lot of things were fixed in release version, but it’s not enough.”
In a separate statement posted to Steam, Battlestate thanked players for “supporting the project throughout all stages of development and testing, and for deciding to share this important event,” and said, “despite careful preparation, unforeseen situations may arise during the process. Your bug reports help us quickly find and fix issues, making your gaming experience more comfortable and stable.”
Battlestate also promised in-game compensation for all players in the near future: a Bear Classic and USEC Night Patrol set. If these sets have already been purchased, an in-game reward will be credited, the developer continued.
A technical update released on Monday, November 17, issued a handful of issues. Patch notes are below:
Fixed an issue with a broken character model appearing in the Hideout in certain cases;
Fixed the game client freeze when switching to Trader interaction screen from the Hideout;
Fixed the incorrect lighting for Jaeger when SSR is enabled in graphics settings;
Fixed the cause of main menu elements appearing during matching in certain cases;
Disabled several PostFX settings;
Fixed the cause of bots teleporting while using stationary weapons in certain cases;
Fixed the cause of bots flying in the air in certain cases.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Rebecca Heineman, known best for co-founding original Fallout developer Interplay alongside Brain Fargo, Jay Patel, and Troy Worrell in the early 1980s, has died aged 62.
The news was shared by her friend Heidi McDonald, who wrote on BlueSky that “my trailblazing game industry bad-ass friend Rebecca Heineman has passed away. F**k cancer. Friends, let’s not forget her.”
On a GoFundMe page set up by Heineman shortly after her diagnosis, she described herself as “the very first video game champion, creator of Bard’s Tale 3, Dragon Wars, and one of the founders of Interplay Productions and MacPlay. Creator of Sailor Ranko the webcomic and software archivist.” The fund remains open to support Heineman’s family.
In her final message, penned yesterday, November 17, she wrote: “It’s time. According to my doctors. All further treatments are pointless. So, please donate so my kids can create a funeral worthy of my keyboard, Pixelbreaker! So I can make a worthy entrance for reuniting with my one true love, Jennell Jaquays. My daughter Cynthia Elizabeth heineman, will be making the arrangements.”
Heineman rose to fame when she won a national Space Invaders tournament in 1980 aged 14, then carved out an impressive gamedev career, having taught herself to code by reverse engineering. Her development and publishing credits include Wasteland, Fallout, Baldur’s Gate, and The Bard’s Tale 3: Thief of Fate. She most recently served as CEO of Olde Sküül.
Bard’s Tale 3 stands out as one of her defining moments at Interplay and of her entire career, Heineman told Women in Gaming: 100 Professionals of Play in 2024. “Being able to head the project and be the decision maker was what started me on the path to being a studio head,” she said. Heineman stayed at Interplay until 1995, watching it grow to upwards of 500 employees. She departed for a new entrepreneurial adventure, desiring a return to small but passionate teams.
She was honored as the 2025 Gayming Icon Award for “her advocacy for LGBTQ+ inclusion, accessibility, and diversity in tech has inspired countless developers and players,” (thanks, PC Gamer).
Interplay co-founder Brian Fargo called her “one of the most brilliant programmers around,” and said news of her death was “a real gut punch.” “Rebecca Heineman sadly passed away. Known her since the 80s when I’d drive her to work, one of the most brilliant programmers around. A real gut punch earlier today when she messaged me: ‘We have gone on so many adventures together! But, into the great unknown! I go first!!!'”
Rebecca Heineman sadly passed away. Known her since the 80s when I’d drive her to work, one of the most brilliant programmers around. A real gut punch earlier today when she messaged me: “We have gone on so many adventures together! But, into the great unknown! I go first!!!” 🙁 pic.twitter.com/lu3i0fyt5C
Other game developers have also shared their memories, including Rami Ismail and Josh Sawyer, with many others sharing stories of Rebecca’s mentorship, kindness and support.
A game industry legend died a few mins ago, Rebecca Heineman (@burgerbecky), taken away by aggressive lung cancer. She oversaw the porting of Wizordum to the Mac OS most recently for Apogee. My local friends would often have dinner with her and I loved her industry stories and…
— Scott Miller – Apogee/3D Realms Founder ☢️ (@ScottApogee) November 17, 2025
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Battlefield 6‘s latest set of additions, dubbed the California Resistance update, have arrived today, November 18th. Alongside the unboxing of the new suburban skirmish setting that is the Eastwood map and a sabotage mode, the update brings a sizeable patch with tweaks aimed at the likes of ensuring bullets do end up where you intend and making sure mortars are clean enough to eat meals off of.
Every game we scored 9/10 or higher, plus one personal pick.
Ahhh, the Holiday season fast approaches, and you know what that means? Sales and sales galore. Black Friday is just around the corner, so Nintendo has rightfully kicked off its big ol’ November sale over on the European eShop.
This year’s Black Friday sale — which runs until30th November 2025 — is still stacked, but in terms of the big hitters, it’s actually a little lighter than usual, perhaps to allow the Switch 2 to shine over the season. There’s some gems in here, though, including a couple of Switch 2 exclusives.
Desmond’s death in Assassin’s Creed 3 was ambiguous enough that voice actor Nolan North didn’t realize he’d just recorded the character’s last gasp — and now, North has said that the series’ original modern day protagonist is “technically” still alive.
North played Desmond in five games until the character’s big sacrifice at the end of 2012’s Assassin’s Creed 3. But despite stepping up to save the world — and collapsing in the process — Desmond’s death scene apparently only clicked with North after he checked Twitter following the game’s launch.
“That technically was Desmond’s death scene, and I didn’t know it,” North told Fall Damage. “I found out on Twitter. ‘Are you upset Desmond’s dead?’ And I’m thinking, what? Because there’s no ‘Argh!’ There’s nothing that you’d expect from a main character’s death, although the good people at Ubisoft have told me that he’s not technically dead.”
Here, North is likely referring to the ending of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, where the actor returned to the franchise as a mysterious character named The Reader. Valhalla makes it pretty clear that The Reader is Desmond — or his consciousness which now lives on inside the Animus, at least. And, seemingly, Ubisoft has confirmed this to North.
Desmond’s death (or his physical body’s demise, at any rate) came as a surprise to some fans who’d followed the character since the franchise’s origins. But Ubisoft developers have said that as the Assassin’s Creed series grew in scope, each game began to struggle to onboard new players. Following the end of Desmond’s arc, the series experimented with other ideas for its modern day sections, and currently pushes players directly into the historical action instead.
“I think the original idea was eight or nine games with Desmond,” North continued, referencing Ubisoft’s ever-changing original plans for the Assassin’s Creed series, “but, as it so often goes in the entertainment industry, different developers, different creative directors come in, and they have their own way of continuing the story — and it’s done very, very well.
“I was very sad to step away from the role of Desmond,” he concluded, “because Assassin’s Creed is one of my favorite stories I’ve ever been part of.”
This update includes “various improvements” which should enhance the overall experience. There are some fixes (including addressing an issue that prevented the Akademy report “Master of All Trades” from being completed), character name fixes, adjustments, and much more.
It’s been a huge year for Nintendo with the launch of the Switch 2 in June. Since then, it’s been one major first-party release after another, and following on from Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment earlier this month, it’s now time for some Kirby Air Riders action.
Since the reveal of this new entry, there have been all sorts of details about it shared by Nintendo and its game director Masahiro Sakurai. This includes two Nintendo Direct presentations, and more recently some Global Test Ride Demos. Now that everyone has hopefully had some time to try it out, we’re curious to know if you’ll be jumping back in for the official release later this week.
Nintendo Music has added all sorts of albums recently, and today’s update sees the arrival of the Wii Fit Plus soundtrack.
There are 90 tracks included in this album, with a run time of 1 hour and 54 minutes. Some are just quick musical notes or sounds that play during certain segments, while others are proper tracks. This album also includes tracks from Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plaza. Here’s the rundown of every song in this latest update:
There are a lot of different jigsaw puzzle brands out there, but one of my overall favorites is The Magic Puzzle Company. What really makes them stand out is how unique their approach to puzzling is. Each piece is odd and interesting, and the puzzles themselves feature a secret ending you can only uncover once you’ve fully completed it. True to its name, these puzzles feel like a mix of magic and puzzling as you’re making your way through them. Although they usually cost $25 each, Amazon is currently running a buy 1, get 1 50% off sale that includes quite a few of them. If you’ve been looking for a good gift to buy the puzzle fanatic in your life, I’d definitely recommend checking these out while the sale lasts.
Magic Puzzle Company Sale at Amazon (Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off)
Each of the Magic Puzzle Company puzzles is 1,000 pieces and features artwork from different artists around the world. There are hidden Easter eggs in every puzzle and the secret endings are all unique and interesting. There have been 13 Magic Puzzle Company puzzles released across five different series so far, but only eight of them are part of Amazon’s early Black Friday promotion. Series One and Series Two are underrepresented here, but many of the newer releases are eligible for the discount.
Most notably, the only Series Five puzzle that’s been released so far is included in this sale. The Drippy Trip came out back in early August and features some interesting ties to the animated series Adventure Time. I haven’t had the chance to put this one together myself, but as a fan of that show I can’t help but admire the resemblance to Adventure Time artwork I’ve grown to love.
Should you wait for Amazon’s Black Friday sale?
In case you aren’t keeping up with Black Friday sale dates as closely as I am, it’s worth noting that the Amazon Black Friday sale actually starts on Thursday this week. While I do recommend taking advantage of this discount right now, there’s no guarantee that there won’t be a better deal once that sale actually kicks off. I’d expect at least some of the Magic Puzzle Company puzzles to get discounted during Black Friday, but we won’t know which ones until Thursday (or next week even).
With that in mind, this sale is definitely worth checking out if you’re looking to buy more than one puzzle at once. You may be able to find a lower price on some of these next week, but the extra 50% off now isn’t likely to last forever. Amazon launched a similar sale on books last week that has already ended, so it’s probable this week’s promotion will expire before we even get to Black Friday as well. You may want to check out some of the board games included in these early Black Friday deals while you’re at it.
