Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was the best selling game of April 2023 despite only being available for two days before sales for the month stopped being recorded.
According to the latest figures from Circana (formerly NPD), EA’s long-awaited sequel to 2019’s Jedi: Fallen Order overcame Dead Island 2, PGA Tour, Minecraft Legends, and all other new releases to take the top spot and instantly become the 4th best selling game of 2023 so far.
Dead Island 2 came in second, followed by MLB: The Show 23, Resident Evil 4 Remake, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Hogwarts Legacy, PGA Tour, Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection, FIFA 23, and Mario Kart 8 in tenth.
My ever-growing backlog of farmlife sims gives me a judgemental side-eye every week, as I crawl back to my scarily silent husband in Stardew Valley. That list of Stardew-likes is becoming harder and harder to ignore, though. I’m very much looking forward to Grave Seasons (aka Stardew meets murder mysteries). I was looking forward to Roots Of Pacha (aka Stardew meets the Stone Age) before its publisher woes. And now, I’m incredibly excited about Mirthwood (aka Stardew meets Fable). Check out its announcement trailer below:
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has a sold an eye-watering 10 million copies in its first three days on the market, making it the fastest selling title in franchise history.
The early sales milestone also makes it the fastest selling Switch game ever in the Americas and the fastest selling Nintendo title on any system released in the region.
Nintendo also revealed that the Zelda series overall has sold 130 million units as of March this year, before Tears of the Kingdom’s ten million sales have been added at all.
The Legend of #Zelda: #TearsOfTheKingdom has sold over 10 million copies worldwide in its first three days, becoming the fastest-selling game in the history of the Legend of Zelda series.
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) May 17, 2023
“Many players are returning to Hyrule with all its new mysteries and possibilities, and with the record-breaking launch of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for Nintendo Switch, we can’t wait to see what they’ll create in the game and the stories they’ll share next,” said Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales, marketing and communications Devon Pritchard.
“We’re grateful for all of our fans who’ve shown their passion for The Legend of Zelda over the years, and these sales numbers for the latest instalment continue to show the strong momentum for both the franchise and Nintendo Switch this year.”
For everything else Tears of the Kingdom, be sure to take a look at our walkthrough and guide about making your way through Hyrule. In fact, you can start here:
Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer
It was in the second official trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (the one that closed out the February 2023 Nintendo Direct) where we first got a snippet of Link driving around on what appeared to be a hand-made vehicle. We couldn’t make sense of it. Are these cars dotted around Hyrule? Will someone make them for us? Is this just Zelda: Nuts and Bolts?
Some of these questions were answered in the 10-minute gameplay demonstration, in which Eiji Aonuma showcased a small amount of what the new Ultrahand ability would be capable of. We were amazed at the thought of being able to stick two logs together and whack a fan on the back. Maybe two or three. “It can’t get more creative than this”, we thought.
Alongside armored knights or Viking raiders, the king’s court endures as one of the most popular public images of the Middle Ages. We all have pictures of a royal throne at the center of a tapestry decorated hall in our mind, with peasants and petitioners seeking justice from a mighty ruler, or bringing gifts to cultivate favor with the royal power.
So, Royal Court is a natural jumping off point for an expansion to Crusader Kings III, our role-playing strategy game about the Medieval world. This expansion puts players in the seat of majesty, dealing with the problems that a king or emperor would face, while leveraging the grandeur of their court for diplomatic and strategic goals.
First of all, it’s important to note that the royal court in Royal Court is aspirational. Only player characters with the rank of king or emperor get to hold court; the court is intended as a kind of reward and distinctive attribute of these higher titles. Lower ranked characters can, however, pay homage to their liege at court.
Second, your court is kind of a superbuff for your character and realm. Beyond the obvious role-playing elements of making decisions whenever a vassal or courtier asks you for a favor, spending money on your court and decorating it with relics and artifacts will convey bonuses on your character, realm or dynasty.
Decorating your Royal Court with artifacts fits into two of the new features in Crusader Kings III for console – Inventory and Inspirations.
Inventory works a lot like a traditional role-playing game. You have your character model, and you can outfit them with weapons, armor, jewelry and so on to make them more impressive or powerful. So how do you get these special items? You find special people, of course.
Inspirations are when you, as the ruler, hire a craftsperson to make something special for you and your castle. It can be a special tapestry, a new weapon, a shiny crown, and so on. Each of these, as said above, can give bonuses to you and your realm. But, sometimes, master crafters will approach you with their own inspiration and ask that you hire them. The more impressive your Royal Court is (better food, better lodging, a better calibre of people), the higher the quality of crafter you will attract. They can make better weapons and better decorations, which can further increase the reputation of your Royal Court.
In many ways, Royal Court accentuates one of the core strengths of Crusader Kings III. Even if you choose to play as a personal story of a specific family, all of the seemingly minor cosmetic decisions – decoration choices, money invested in your court, selecting which relics to put on display – can have repercussions for your realm. It’s like the old nursery rhyme about the horseshoe nail – small things can have big consequences.
A lot of this comes down to the fact that in Crusader Kings III, gold isn’t the only currency that matters. You will need gold, of course. Soldiers cost money, titles cost money, bribes and ransoms cost money. Gold is certainly important.
But gold is, in Royal Court, an investment in other major currencies, like Prestige, or the odds of success in certain activities. Any gold you spend to increase your grandeur will, as your grandeur increases, give your certain advantages. For example, if you have a court with a fashion focus (maybe in Milan), higher grandeur can mean a hefty Prestige bonus. A court that emphasizes good servants can add power to your spymaster’s schemes. You can even reduce the effects of bad food or unlock special actions for your council with enough grandeur.
So, the Royal Court is not simply a fun place to act out little medieval plays. Carefully managed, the court can be the hub of activity from where you plan a long term theme for your dynasty. It can even serve as a center for short-term activity if you redecorate the throne room with artifacts and relics that enhance a specific skill you need right now.
Royal Court is the first major expansion for Crusader Kings III, and we hope you find it a challenging and diverting way to make your royal family the greatest in history.
There is but one true center for power and prestige: a ruler’s court. Step into your own fully immersive throne room with Crusader Kings: Royal Court, and get ready to impress vassals and courtiers with your splendor and treasure on display. Watch visitors pay respect or family members squabble as you pass judgment in royal audiences, establishing the vital link between your people and your realm.
In Crusader Kings: Royal Court, you can commission great works of art from inspired craftspeople. Impress your rivals with the grandeur of your court, or awe them with your noble house’s heirlooms and relics. An enhanced Culture system lets you guide your people to novel cultural understandings as they merge or splinter off, embrace their heritage, learn languages, or acquire new traditions.
A Royal Court on display
● As King or Emperor, watch as your personal throne room comes to life with the vast range of drama and intrigue of your court. Step into a fully 3D realized space, available in one of four major cultural visual styles, and fill it with regalia and majesty.
● Harsh or benevolent, pass judgment on those seeking arbitration. Hold court and watch as your courtiers scheme and vie for your attention.
● Match yourself against your greatest rival with your court’s grandeur. Or fail to impress them and suffer the sad diplomatic consequences of bad taste.
A true treasure
● Show off your exquisitely crafted relics, or focus on your noble house’s history with your family heirlooms. A whole range of new artifacts can be admired in the series’ return of the inventory system.
● Talented craftspeople, from jewelers to weavers, can be employed on special projects, adding even more unique items to your domain.
● Commission special great works of art or win artifacts in battle. Be careful, as they can just as easily be lost in a botched duel or rival’s scheme.
Culture and the people
● A greatly overhauled Culture system lies ready at your fingertips. Major new Cultural Traditions allow you to significantly change the way you play, from choosing the right benefits due to your realm’s terrain to giving your military new bonuses. Determine your heritage through Cultural Pillars or have your subjects learn new languages.
● Create a truly dynamic melting pot through the new Hybridisation feature, mixing and matching the defining traits of your people into a unique cultural fusion. Become a great Bedouin conqueror who merges with freshly subjugated people or follow the adventurous Norse ruler who came to adopt the local Sri Lankan ways.
● Witness your realm’s culture evolve with the new Divergence feature, with the hands of time subtly transform a single cultural strand into smaller sub-cultures. Shape it as you see fit, or sow the seeds of change, and watch as one monolithic culture grows into a collection of many different people.
Strategy sequel Jagged Alliance 3 is coming out on July 14th, publisher THQ Nordic have announced. The last numbered entry in the series was released almost 25 years ago, and Jagged Alliance 3 continues the tradition of eccentric mercenaries who politely wait for their turn before shooting people. Take a look at the latest trailer below to see what the game is and is not, plus some pumped-up voicework ripped straight from an early 2000s MTV reality show:
Online services for Pac-Man 99 will be discontinued later this year, though some game modes will continue to be available for some past the October 8 deadline.
However, online services for Pac-Man 99, including its public and private battle royale modes are set to be delisted permanently in October, at which point Nintendo will also halt the distribution of free custom themes for the game, according to a new post on the Nintendo website.
Paid custom themes meanwhile will be removed from the store on the earlier date of August 8, while the game’s two major DLC offerings, the Mode Unlock and Deluxe Pack, will be delisted on September 8.
Players who downloaded either of the major DLCs will be able to continue playing the CPU battle, blind time attack, and score attack modes in offline mode after the online services have been discontinued. Any additional themes and paid DLC content claimed before the services were shuttered will be available to redownload for use in the offline game modes.
In IGN’s 7/10 review we described Pac-Man 99 as a “smart multiplayer twist on a classic”, which boasts fast-paced gameplay that rewards quick, strategic thinking. We just wish that there was a little added variety when it comes to the map.
Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer
Whoooo we’re officially in the double-digits gang! We’ve somehow managed to make it to episode 10 of Indiescovery without going completely feral and wrecking the joint. I say that, but this week’s episode is a little, shall we say, unhinged? Rebecca, Liam, and Rachel hadn’t really had a proper chat all week so there’s a lot of Friday energy and catching up, and the energy levels only increase when we start to talk about our main topic of this episode: Eurovision! And indie games, of course.
When Overwatch 2 was first announced at Blizzcon 2019, Blizzard promised an ambitious “highly replayable” PvE component that somewhat justified the ‘2’ at the end of the title. Last night, the Overwatch 2 development team announced that they’ve scrapped most of their ideas including the Hero Missions mode which had skill trees, levelling up, and other light RPG elements shown off in the trailer below. Instead, they’ll be gradually releasing co-op story missions and integrating them into their ongoing seasons, similar to how PvE operated in the first Overwatch.
Sega Sammy has suggested that it may join other major publishers in raising some of its game prices up to $70.
In a recent Q&A session (thanks, VGC) with President / Group CEO Haruki Satomi and Senior Vice President / Group CFO Koichi Fukazawa, it’s been confirmed that the company will be reviewing the price of its titles in the wake of $69.99 games cropping up in the past year or so.
