Ubisoft was, at one point not too long ago, working on a brand new Splinter Cell game. But it morphed over time to become XDefiant, according to a new report.
This comes from a Bloomberg story about AdHoc Studio, the developers of workplace superhero comedy game Dispatch, which describes their journey from Telltale Games to Ubisoft to their own independent studio. The leadership of AdHoc began working together at Telltale Games, working on Tales from the Borderlands, before Nick Herma, Dennis Lenart, and Pierre Shorette departed for Ubisoft in 2017. There, the trio worked on a new entry in the Splinter Cell franchise.
“I was so excited to be a part of this and help revitalize it, because it’s been dormant for a while,” Herman told Bloomberg. “And we thought we could tell a great story and do something the fans would love.”
However, they explain that Ubisoft was beginning to push games as a service hard across its portfolio, and Splinter Cell didn’t quite fit that mould. Over time, the Splinter Cell project transformed into what would become xDefiant, a free-to-play first-person shooter that launched to middling reviews last year and shut down just this past June, taking two entire studios with it.
The trio eventually reunited with Michael Choung, another former colleague from Telltale, to start AdHoc Studio in 2018. While working on a version of what would eventually become Dispatch, they also took on a scriptwriting co-dev gig on The Wolf Among Us 2, only to pull out of the project after writing an 800-page script due to frustrations with a lack of creative control. That project, last we heard of it, seemed similarly ill-fated.
Eventually, though, the group was able to pull together the final version of Dispatch with the support of both a publisher and a number of well-known actors thanks to casting director Linda Lamontagne. A last-minute deal with Critical Role for another game helped get them across the finish line.
As for Splinter Cell, fans remain bereft of a new game, with the last new Splinter Cell title being Blacklist from way, way back in 2013. There’s allegedly a remake of the original 2002 game in the works, but Ubisoft has been so quiet about it since 2022 that it’s hard to say whether or not it will ever fully emerge.
Dispatch, meanwhile, is excellent. We’re working on a review in progress as each episode comes out, but you can read our thoughts on the first two episodes here for now, where our reviewer says they’re “totally enthralled in this world, and I’m keen to get tangled up in Robert’s fractured personal life.”
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Magic: The Gathering is getting yet another big Secret Lair collab with a major video game series, and this time it’s Monster Hunter.
Announced today in a very odd press release, the Monster Hunter Secret Lair Superdrop will be available from December 1 at 9am PT to December 22 at 11:59pm PT, but only while supplies last, and these things tend to sell out pretty quick.
The collaboration includes four separate drops, each priced at $29.99, with a foil edition for $39.99. All cards involved are reprints of existing cards with Monster Hunter themes, nothing mechanically unique or new. The press release includes some basic information about each of the drops, titled respectively The Hunt, The Hunters, The Monsters, and The Monsters II, but no card images as of yet.
The Hunt focuses on non-creature spells, themed around “the terrifying attacks that monsters across the Monster Hunter franchise can unleash.” There is one spell of each color:
1x Blind Obedience: Malzeno from Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak
1x Snap: Kushala Daora from Monster Hunter 2
1x Village Rites: Magnamalo and Tobi-Kadachi from Monster Hunter Rise
1x Mizzium Mortars: Yian Garuga from Monster Hunter Generations and Monster Hunter 2
1x Tooth and Nail: Azure Rathalos and Seregios from Monster Hunter 4
The Hunters is, as it sounds, about the hunters themselves, with each card depicting a different set of armor and weapons and having the human creature subtype. As before, there’s one spell of each color:
1x Grand Abolisher: Tigrex Armor with Bone Scythes from Monster Hunter Generations and Monster Hunter Freedom 2
1x Archaeomancer: Velkhana Armor with Slinger and Winged Seraphyd Greatsword from Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
1x Grim Haruspex: Nargacuga Armor with a Hidden Eye Light Bowgun from Monster Hunter P2G/MHFU
1x Imperial Recruiter: Rathalos Armor with Red Tigrex Claws; Brachydios Armor with Burning Knocker; Gore Malaga Armor and Royal Rose from Monster Hunter 4G
1x Champion of Lambholt: Astalos Armor with Verdant Lightning Shield from Monster Hunter Generations.
The Monsters and The Monsters II are similarly self-explanatory, including the following monsters as legendary creatures. These are two different sets, but the press release is unclear exactly how these nine creatures will be split between them. IGN has reached out to Wizards of the Coast for comment on this and just generally on the confusing nature of this press release:
Nezahal, Primal Tide: Lagiacrus from Monster Hunter 3
Drakuseth, Maw of Flames: Rathalos from Monster Hunter Generations
Sarulf, Realm Eater: Zinogre from Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire: Nergigante from Monster Hunter World
Ziatora, the Incinerator: Fatalis from Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
Razaketh, the Foulblooded: The Gore Malaga from Monster Hunter 4
Amareth, the Lustrous: Velkhana from Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
Wasitora, Nekorus Queen: Nargacuga from Monster Hunter Portable 2nd Generation/Monster Hunter Freedom Unite
Kalamax, the Stormsire: Brachydios from Monster Hunter 3 Generations
It’s been a busy year for both Secret Lair and third-party Magic collabs in general, with some incredible Secret Lair card drops including Sonic, Final Fantasy, Deadpool, SpongeBob, The Office and more. We’re currently eagerly awaiting the release of the Avatar: The Last Airbender Universes Beyond set, following close on the heels of Marvel’s Spider-Man. Next year is looking equally stacked, with planned Universes Beyond sets featuring TMNT, The Hobbit, Marvel, and Star Trek. It’s too many cards. Please, slow down.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
As part of its early Black Friday Doorbuster Sale, Best Buy just dropped the best deals we may see this entire month on the Meta Quest 3S VR headset. Not only do you get $50-$70 off in instant discounts ($249 for the 128GB model and $329 for the 256GB model), you also get a bonus $50 Best Buy gift card with your purchase. That’s basically getting a Quest for as low as $199. This is the best deal I’ve seen this year on a Quest 3S headset with warranty. Recently we’ve seen deals on refurbished models, but in this case the advantage of buying new is that you also get a couple of free games.
Meta Quest 3S Starting at $249 Plus $50 Best Buy Gift Card
The Meta Quest 3S is the best standalone consumer-oriented VR headset under $300. It costs 40% less than the Quest 3 and yet retains most of its hardware and functionality, including the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor, Touch Plus controllers with inside-out tracking, and mixed reality passthrough. However, whereas the Quest 3 has been updated with a new pancake lens design, the Quest 3S retains the Fresnel optics of the Quest 2. Although obviously not as good as the Quest 3, the Quest 3S still very much offers an immersive visual experience that is sure to impress. I myself logged in hundreds of hours on the Quest 2 before I moved on to the Quest 3. For newcomers who want to try out VR gaming without investing tons of money, of for people who want to give this as a gift to someone who’s never tried VR, I would recommend the Quest 3S over the Quest, especially at this price.
TL;DR Quest 3S vs Quest 3:
Same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor
Same Touch Plus controllers
Same 120Hz refresh rate
Same Mixed reality passthrough functionality
Same tetherless and tethered functionality
Quest 3 has sharper resolution (2064×2208 vs 1832×1920)
Quest 3 has better lens array (pancake vs fresnel)
Quest 3 has lower FOV (104°/96° vs 96°/90°)
Quest 3 has higher storage capacity (512GB vs 128GB)
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 launches on November 14, and we’re hosting a launch day livestream to celebrate. The latest entry in the long-running FPS franchise is set in 2035, 44 years after the events of Black Ops 6. Omnimovement is back, but there are added movement options and new game modes in both multiplayer and Zombies.
The livestream is presented by Xfinity, where you can get reliable Wi-Fi at a reliable price for five years. And with Unlimited Data, you won’t miss a moment of action. It’s powerful and secure with fast downloads. Gaming is better with Xfinity.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Livestream Date, Time, and Where to Watch
The livestream will start on Friday, November 14 at 5 p.m. Pacific / 7 p.m. Central / 8 p.m. Eastern. It will stream across IGN’s channels, and you’ll be able to watch it at any of these places:
If you’re not able to watch it live, that’s alright. You can still watch it in its entirety on our YouTube page after it’s over.
What to Expect in the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Livestream
The stream will run for an extended period, but we don’t have a specific amount of time in mind. We’ll feature as much as we can during the stream. You’ll see extended gameplay, get a look at what’s new in Black Ops 7, and different game modes to get a sense of everything on offer. See you there!
Hands-on impressions of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond have hit the internet, bringing stinging criticism of an early human sidekick. And now, a new trailer published by Nintendo shows Samus will also interact with a wider cast of human characters throughout the game.
In IGN’s just-published Metroid Prime 4: Beyond hands-on preview, we described Galactic Federation trooper Myles MacKenzie — who Samus gets lumbered with for a lengthy chunk of the game’s opening area — as “mildly annoying to downright infuriating” with “cringey” dialogue and contstant chattering through gameplay.
Alongside Myles, three other human troopers are highlighted in Nintendo’s new 7-minute Overview Trailer (which feels as close as we’re going to get to a dedicated Direct) seemingly from later sections in the game.
Beyond is structured with four major areas accessible via its desert hub (a forest area where you meet Myles, then an electrical power plant, frozen research center, and firey volcano area). The suggestion is that Samus will meet more of the main quartet in each.
“Like Samus, some Galactic Federation troopers were also transported to Viewros,” the trailer states. “Follow distress signals to help the troopers, and occasionally battle alongside them. They can provide useful upgrades. Teamwork is key if any of you hope to escape the planet alive.”
A montage then shows the other troopers in action, chatting away about getting back to their families, donning a mech suit to smash a wall for Samus, and even prising open a door. Huh — couldn’t Samus have just done that with a new suit upgrade?
Of course, Metroid games have featured other human characters before — even while Samus is typically a silent protagonist. But the real concern here, beyond it interrupting the core solitary exploration of most Metroid adventures, is that the human characters on offer in Beyond are simply too distracting, and too unlikable.
As we discovered in our hands-on preview, gameplay with Myles features escort-style sections and moments where you need to defend the hapless trooper while he hides behind the rock. Allow him to perish in a firefight and you’re given the chance to revive him using Samus’ psychic powers. Fail to do so (or try and refuse) and you get a Game Over screen.
“Of all the things Metroid Prime 4 could’ve been, I never would’ve guessed it would include outdated escort missions with a companion that never stops talking,” we wrote. For much more on the impact of playing alongside the game’s NPC characters, check out Metroid Prime 4: Beyond hands-on preview now.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Uma Racing is based on the popular anime and game franchise, Umamusume: Pretty Derby. In this Roblox experience, you’ll play as a trainer who will raise and race uma – hopefully to victory. You’ll start with just one uma, so use these Uma Racing codes to give you a big cash bonus. In doing so, you’ll be able to purchase new uma to strengthen your team, MVPs, and intros. You never know, you might get lucky with your pick and get a Legendary uma.
Working Uma Racing Codes (November 2025)
The following codes are all active and working and can be redeemed for cash.
RELEASECUH – 1,500 cash
MBFORANOTHERDELAYBRO –2,500 cash
UFFUEWANTTOMATO – 1,000 cash
FIRSTBUGFIX –1,500 cash
THANKFORSUPPORTIN – 4,500 cash
FIFTYTHOUSANDLIKES –3,000 cash
IOOKMEMBERS – 3,000 cash
How to Use Uma Racing Codes
Ready to redeem the active Uma Racing codes listed above? Here are the steps you need to take:
Press Codes (it’s the fifth option on the Menu, next to Settings)
Copy the code from this article and press redeem
Expired Uma Racing Codes (November 2025)
These codes no longer work. We test all of our codes on a regular basis, so, as soon as a code is expired, we’ll move it into this section:
CINDERELLAGRAY
PLAYTEST
DELAYMBBRO
SORRYFORBUG
Why Isn’t My Uma Racing Code Working?
Codes for Roblox experiences are usually case-sensitive, so the best way to ensure you’ve got a working code is to directly copy it from this article. We check all codes before we upload them, so you can guarantee they’re working. Just double-check that you haven’t copied over an extra space!
Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.
After eight years of waiting, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is just three weeks away, and honestly, writing that still doesn’t feel real. Maybe that’s partly because Nintendo has kept a pretty tight lid on specifics surrounding Samus Aran’s next adventure – we’ve only seen a small handful of trailers, and much of Prime 4 has remained a total mystery. That’s caused a lot of fans to think that they must be preserving some special surprise, right? Well, while playing over an hour of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond on Nintendo Switch 2, I discovered a seemingly major component that’s been completely absent from any footage we’ve seen so far: an extraordinarily talkative companion who’s constantly spewing unwanted hints, quippy jokes, and cries for help, breaking the isolated, atmospheric themes Metroid is known for.
His name is Myles MacKenzie, a specialist from the Galactic Federation stranded with Samus on the planet Viewros. Myles tagged along for a significant chunk of my play session, and the way Retro Studios has implemented this NPC companion is far and away my biggest concern about Prime 4 after my time with it. But we’ll get to him a bit later.
Because everything else was pretty encouraging: classic Metroid Prime exploration and combat, an intriguing setup, gorgeous art direction, and great technical performance on Switch 2 are coming together to create an adventure that likely won’t redefine Metroid in any meaningful way – or live up to the unrealistic hype built by nearly a decade of waiting – but one that could serve as a great return for a subseries that hasn’t seen a new mainline entry in 18 years, as long as annoying sidekicks don’t keep getting in Samus’ way.
Behind the Visor
Before we get too far, a word about spoilers. Everything I played takes place during the first 90 minutes or so of the adventure, so you really don’t have to worry that you’re going to see too much. It’s also worth pointing out this was all on Switch 2, no one outside of Nintendo knows how Prime 4 will perform on Switch 1 just yet.
But on Switch 2, it’s looking fantastic so far. I started my preview in handheld mode, where I replayed the same introduction sequence we got to play at the Nintendo Switch 2 Premiere event back in April. This was the final build of Prime 4’s opening, and it’s still an explosive introduction that sets the stage for the conflict between Samus and the Metroid-breeding bounty hunter, Sylux, as our hero is warped away to the mysterious planet Viewros. The biggest takeaway here is that Prime 4 looked fantastic on the Switch 2 screen, specifically at 120 fps in Performance Mode.
Once I was set up on the TV – playing in Quality mode at a crisp 4K 60 fps – things got started with a very familiar, nostalgic chain of events: the camera snaps behind Samus’ visor and I’m left alone to explore a lush forest region, so I – almost reflexively – start scanning everything in sight to add it to my logbook. Gameplay-wise, Prime 4 doesn’t seem to be reinventing the Morph Ball: this still looks and plays like Metroid Prime, and I really enjoyed falling back into its investigative flow: examining the local flora and fauna, locking onto floating gaseous spores or roots that leap out of the water and blasting them away with my arm cannon, scanning lore tablets to learn about the ancient race called the Lamorn, seeing Samus’ reflection in the visor as I open the blue and orange wireframe map all Prime fans will recognize… I felt like Retro Studios was picking up right where it left off, retaining the core DNA of the series in this first major area.
This still looks and plays like Metroid Prime, and I really enjoyed falling back into its investigative flow.
The forest is called Fury Green, and after making my way through several linear hallways I was formally introduced to it with a sweeping wideshot that showed how great Retro’s art direction still is. You can tell Prime 4 was built as a Switch 1 game in a couple ways – some background elements look a bit flat – but handing the added power of the Switch 2 to a studio with an artistic track record like Retro has resulted in what’s shaping up to be a really beautiful game.
At least in this self-contained area – my preview didn’t cover the open desert or Samus’ motorcycle we’ve seen in the last couple of trailers. It’s important to note that Nintendo specifically chose not to include that content at this preview event. Make of that what you will, but it leaves those two key components as our biggest unanswered questions that will have to wait for our final review.
But back to what I did actually see: in classic Metroid fashion, I soon ran into the first door I couldn’t pass, so I morph-balled over to a new area and unlocked one of Prime 4’s main new powers: the Psychic Glove. This gives Samus telekinetic control of psychic objects. I returned to the blocked door and used the glove to grab a psychic energy “mote” from a nearby statue and redirect it into the lock, allowing me to proceed. All examples of this were pretty simple so far, but this is the first major area, so it’s probably fair to expect they’ll get more complex as Samus progresses.
I’m hoping the same for the other uses of the Psychic Glove, which involve slowly tracing basic shapes to unlock an energy tank, or painstakingly pulling a lever to open the way to a Save Room. The animations felt sluggish and the actions were completely mindless – another thing I’m expecting to ramp up as we go.
Retro’s art direction is still great, and Prime 4 is shaping up to be a really beautiful game.
My map beeped, alerting me of a distress beacon from the Galactic Federation a few rooms away. On the way there, I passed some hardened tree resin I couldn’t yet destroy, and scanning it indicated that a missile would take the wall down. I appreciate that Prime 4’s blockades aren’t all the same familiar doors, and that in this case, it was naturally woven into the environment. We’d be back here later, but with a friend in tow….
Beyond Chatty
After tiptoeing through an eerie, condensed part of Fury Green, I came across a crash-landed Galactic Federation ship, where I was immediately taken aback by the tonal whiplash. My way here was filled with hauntingly beautiful choral melodies and isolated exploration – it was vintage Metroid Prime. But now, it’s finally time to get to know specialist Myles MacKenzie, who introduced himself with this honestly cringey monologue (and if you don’t believe me, watch it in the video version of this preview at the top of the page):
“Oh wow! Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. What a mess. You’re alone, on a planet, with no hope of survival. But, you’re also not sitting next to Phil anymore in that cubicle… So… Win?”
He didn’t leave a great first impression, but I was still intrigued to see where it went. Samus and Myles got swarmed by some jungle monsters, and it became my job to protect Myles from them. After a close-quarters firefight that concluded with shooting the vines holding up Myles’ ship, he awarded me with the missile upgrade for being his savior. “This is fine,” I thought. I prefer isolation in Metroid, but I don’t mind running into a character here and there to flesh out the story with some voice acting and cutscenes. But then…
“If it’s OK with you, I’m gonna tag along. So, where to? It might be a good idea to check the map and get our bearings.”
I started to get a sinking feeling. In one turn, Samus not only gained an unwanted companion, that companion also instantly started chiming in on what I should be doing, like Atreus to Kratos in God of War, or Aloy to… Aloy in Horizon. The next 20 minutes of my demo ranged from mildly annoying to downright infuriating, as Myles constantly bombarded me with either awkward attempts at quippy humor…
“It’s about to get reeeeal nerdy in here!”
Unwelcome hints that directly defy Metroid’s spirit of exploration and discovery:
“Missiles are effective against a creature with a hard shell, you know.”
He would scold me for not stopping to save my game:
“Samus, there’s something interesting over there. Are you sure we don’t need to use that?”
Comment on everything I scanned:
“Can you read that? Does that say anything about this place? They really don’t want anyone in here. Must be a sacred space.”
State the obvious:
“I can see the door, Samus! Let’s get out of here.”
And he’d scream whenever an enemy popped out of the ground suddenly. I promise I’m not cherrypicking here – I was in complete disbelief at how Myles was constantly talking during gameplay, to the point where I dug around the settings menu to see if I could tone it down. The only option I found was to mute voice acting entirely, but I don’t see myself doing that when there are plenty of actual cutscenes I’d still like to see play out normally.
I don’t have a problem with Metroid focusing more on story or introducing important new characters. But that story and those characters still need to be good, and Myles was so annoying and overbearing that I honestly found it hard to focus on what I was doing. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption features other bounty hunters that Samus occasionally crosses paths with, but it’s never been this much of a focus. And, throw in as many cutscenes as you want, but I can’t help but feel a sacred line has been crossed when I’m playing Metroid and an annoying engineer tells me how to open my map, how to defeat an enemy, or reminds me to save without me asking for any of it. There are far smarter, more nuanced ways to onboard new players and push a franchise forward while still respecting the reasons people love it in the first place. And, the way Retro weaved Myles in caused a lot of dissonance that shattered the immaculate vibes the introduction set up. How am I supposed to soak in these gorgeous vistas, and this epic, serious music when this guy is asking me if that “strange smell” is “sweet or stinky?”
I’d had enough, and I tried to ditch Myles during a fight on a (very cool) bridge. I heard Myles yelling to not leave him behind, but before I knew it, he went down and my visor prompted me to use Samus’ psychic powers to revive him. When I failed to do so, Myles died, and I got a game over for letting a federation trooper fall in battle. Of all the things Metroid Prime 4 could’ve been, I never would’ve guessed it would include outdated escort missions with a companion that never stops talking. Samus doesn’t respond at all – which if you’re going to pick between Samus talking a lot or not at all, silence is the right choice in a vacuum, even if I think a few words here and there would work better than awkward silence – but there are three words I really wanted to hear her say: “Please shut up.”
I never would’ve guessed Prime 4 would include outdated escort missions with a companion that never stops talking.
Thankfully, this didn’t last forever. After earning the new Control Beam ability that lets Samus direct her charge shots to hit multiple targets, (to which Myles said: “You found something for your suit, didn’t you?”) we arrived in a Lamorn temple, where Myles decided to stay behind to work on fixing up some tech. Finally, some peace and quiet! I controlled a charge shot to open a blocked door from the other side, which reminded me of using Zelda: Skyward Sword’s Beetle ability – both in its close-up camera angle and use of optional Wii-era motion controls – and pressed forward on my own.
After enjoying the silence while working through a few more simplistic rooms, Samus was face-to-face with Carvex, Fury Green’s plant-based boss. I blasted its tail, opening its belly up for a serving of missiles. It entered its next phase with two tails, and I found that by the time I destroyed the second, the first one had grown back. So, in classic Metroid fashion where your most recent upgrade is often key to beating a boss, I had to use the Control Beam to destroy both its tails with one bullet. This was neat, and really felt like more vintage Metroid Prime game design shining through.
Defeating Carvex netted Samus the Power Bombs, which have received a psychic buff this time around. You can place standard bombs to blow up suspicious spots as usual, but placing one infused with psychic power essentially turns it into a mote Samus can telekinetically move. I grabbed the first of five Master Teleporter Keys Samus is collecting to escape Viewros, and…
“Booyah! Long-reange comms are back online!”
Myles was back, this time in my visor. But he didn’t stick around for long, just asking Samus to return to base camp to talk about what to do next. Once I returned, Myles shared that Viewros isn’t on any known star charts, saying we could be anywhere, or we could be nowhere, setting up an interesting story that – paired with Samus’ other main objective of preserving the history of the Lamorn civilization before it’s lost to time – I can’t wait to see play out.
With that, Myles and Samus agreed to be partners, sharing data with each other now that the comms are working, and Myles stayed behind as Samus returned to the desert area we still know so little about, bringing my time to an end before I could take a single step.
So, how big of a role will chatty companions play in the full adventure? It’s hard to say. The game over screen telling me a “Federation Trooper” was killed in battle rather than that “Myles” was killed in battle, coupled with the fact that the Federation page of the logbook had several blank entries to fill out after I scanned Myles, tells me that each major area of Prime 4 will likely have a companion to find. If that fear turns out to be true, I can only hope that they aren’t all as overbearing as Myles, that his section felt particularly frustrating because it was the opening area, and that Prime 4 won’t be afraid to let me explore and figure things out on my own, which is a strength of all the best Metroid games. Because other than that major exception, I really enjoyed my first big look at Prime 4, and I’m beyond curious to see how it all – finally – comes together on December 4th.
Logan Plant is the host of Nintendo Voice Chat and IGN’s Database Manager & Playlist Editor. The Legend of Zelda is his favorite video game franchise of all time, and he is patiently awaiting the day Nintendo announces a brand new F-Zero. You can find him online @LoganJPlant.
The story campaign in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has numerous restrictions tied to its always-online nature, with no method of pausing levels. You’ll also be booted from your game if you’re idle for too long.
As detailed in IGN’s just-published Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 campaign review (which rates the offering as a 6/10), the story experience — traditionally offered as a solo affair — is really more geared to being played via online co-op, which it supports for up to four people.
The downsides of that, however, are that the game offers no AI companions to fill in if you have missing spots on your four-person squad, no checkpoints, no difficulty options, and the need to repeat tasks clearly designed for completion by multiple players if you are playing solo.
“Playing solo is borderline tedious due to having to repeat multiple objectives, such as placing C4 on a building yourself four times rather than splitting them up as is intended,” our review notes as one example of this.
Set in 2035, Black Ops 7’s campaign features a starry cast that includes Gilmore Girls and This is Us star Milo Ventimiglia as the returning David Mason, alongside Guardians of the Galaxy hero Michael Rooker and Sabrina the Teenage Witch actress Kiernan Shipka.
Long-term Call of Duty fans may raise their eyebrows at some of the more fantastical sequences presented in the mode, with trippy visuals and towering bosses more often seen in something like Activision’s former stablemate Destiny. But it’s here that the offering also provides some variety.
“Dodging giant falling machetes like you’ve stumbled into a Looney Tunes cartoon is a one-off joy, as is taking control of a lavish luxury boat and ramming into the side of a building,” our review continues. “Moments like this feel pinched right out of Christopher Nolan’s back pocket and sit perfectly in the Call of Duty mold.”
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 arrives just 12 months on from last year’s Black Ops 6 — the first time that the veteran shooter franchise has gone back to the same well of one of its sub-brands for a second year running. The tight turnaround comes just as EA’s rival Battlefield franchise makes its own big return, amping up the pressure on Activision’s new shooter installment.
Plants Vs Brainrots is a Roblox experience that combines elements of Tower Defence with mechanics from Roblox’s two most visited and played games – Grow a Garden and Steal a Brainrot. You’ll buy seeds, place them in your garden, and then wait for your plants to attack brainrots as they make their way down the catwalk.
As well as combining gameplay elements from both experiences, Plants Vs Brainrots also has codes. So, if you’re getting ready to plant crops, earn brainrots, and fuse them, here are some codes to give you a little boost.
Working Plants Vs Brainrots Codes (November 2025)
These are the currently working codes for Plants Vs Brainrots:
STACKS – 1x Lucky Potion
frozen – 1x Frost Grenade
based – $5,000
Expired Plants Vs Brainrots Codes (November 2025)
There are currently no expired Plants Vs Brainrots codes.
How to Redeem Plants Vs Brainrots Codes
When you launch into the Plants Vs Brainrots experience, these are the steps you need to follow to redeem codes:
Complete the tutorial of buying a seed and placing a brainrot
This will unlock the Shop icon on the left of the screen. It’s red and looks like a shopping basket.
Scroll down to the bottom of the shop and click “Codes” under rewards
Enter the code and press Claim!
Why Isn’t My Plants Vs Brainrots Code Working?
Codes for Roblox experiences are usually case-sensitive, so the best way to ensure you’ve got a working code is to directly copy it from this article. We check all codes before we upload them, so you can guarantee they’re working. Just double check that you haven’t copied over an extra space!
When is the Next Plants Vs Brainrots Update?
The next update scheduled for Plants Vs Brainrots is on Saturday November 15, which is an unknown update. The previous update was Merge Madness, which introduced a new fusion machine alongside other content like new weather, brainrots, story missions, an dmore.
Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.
Grand Theft Auto VI has been delayed again, this time to November 19, 2026, and while the fan community is reeling in its own way, the impacts are not limited to just GTA’s eager audience. Grand Theft Auto is a juggernaut, with GTA V having sold 220 million copies to date, GTA Online still a wildly popular space month after month, and anticipation for the sequel breaking trailer viewership records. With a game’s release as hot as this one, what does moving it to a year away mean for everyone else? How will GTA VI’s delay impact the wider games industry?
As usual, we consulted our favorite panel of industry analysts to get their takes.
Delay-shaped ripples
It probably goes without saying, but GTA VI’s delay into November of 2026 also means that behind the scenes, dozens of publishers are now reevaluating their own planned release dates.
At the moment, analysts point out, there aren’t that many games with public release dates specifically set for the final three months of 2026. But companies of course have their own internal plans, and those plans have been actively shifting around both GTA VI delays, out of sight, this entire time. That could mean a much, much thinner slate of game releases at a time that’s normally bursting with games, says Rhys Elliott, head of market analysis at Alinea Analytics.
“Publishers historically avoid launching anything major within several weeks of a Rockstar title. Sadly, GTA now again lands squarely in what is usually a packed holiday window. I can see the typical Q4 blockbuster season looking considerably thinner in 2026, especially when it comes to the single-player titles.”
Manu Rosier, director of market intelligence at Newzoo agrees,pointing out that major publishers have probably already modeled multiple scenarios that include a GTA VI delay, and have plans for where to move their own games instead – plans that may benefit them in the long run.
“Newzoo’s title-level data shows that nearly 45% of major single-player launches since 2021 have landed between August and November, and those late-year releases underperform by roughly 25–35% compared to February–May launches in their first three months of playtime,” Rosier says. “That means a shift out of that congested window could benefit GTA VI and other game launches nearby.”
Even without release dates set already, there are some games we can genuinely count on coming out late in the year, such as a Call of Duty game, EA Sports FC, and Madden. Analysts told me that it’s possible this GTA VI delay causes at least some of them to move out of their usual corner late in the year to another date either earlier or later than usual.
“GTA will also steal engagement and revenues from the current live-service juggernauts like Fortnite and Roblox, which are always having an engagement tug of war, anyway,” Elliott continues. “All these games – and indeed the entertainment industry at large – will be competing with GTA VI for time and attention. Both money and time are finite, so GTA is going to eat up revenue and engagement across the market.”
Rosier disagrees, saying live-service games will be largely unaffected by GTA VI regardless of where it lands.
“Newzoo’s engagement data shows that average monthly playtime across the top 20 console titles has remained up year-over-year, with live-service games accounting for more than half of total console playtime. Those ecosystems will keep momentum regardless of whether GTA VI arrives in spring or later in 2026.”
It’s not just AAA games that will be impacted, too. George Jijiashvili, senior principal analyst at Omdia suggests that major publishers will be cautious about making big changes to their own dates after two GTA VI delays and with a whole year to go. “The real impact will fall on indies and AA games, which are most sensitive to major launches and likely to feel a much bigger ripple effect.”
Upgrades for the Holidays
But while there may be fewer brand new games coming out around the 2026 holiday season, analysts are optimistic for sales of hardware.
“This is the big question that I’ve been talking with retailers and publishers about for, well, years now,” says Mat Piscatella, senior director at Circana. “When GTA V launched, there was a positive impact to sales of console hardware and accessories in the launch month, but that incremental boost was short lived before sales returned more or less to previous baseline. But that did not happen in a holiday window, so I’d expect the positive impact here to potentially be more profound. Let’s call it somewhere between 250k-800k incremental units of console hardware sold in the holiday quarter worldwide above what would otherwise be expected because of Grand Theft Auto VI (yes, that’s a big range). It’s very difficult to say with any confidence.
Piscatella adds that if a PC version were released around the same time, that would boost PC hardware and accessory sales in the same way. But, he caveats everything by noting that he’s making future predictions based on what happened over ten years ago at the launch of GTA V. Things could always be different now.
But Elliott does agree with him, pointing to College Football 25’s launch last year boosting PS5 and Xbox Series sales in the US last year. GTA VI is much bigger.
“While most are on PS5, a huge share of PlayStation’s monthly active users are still on PS4, and GTA VI will not ship on last-gen consoles,” he says. “Many of the holdout players have been waiting specifically for GTA to justify purchasing a PS5 (or Series X/S). That wave of new console owners – and their spending – has now been pushed deeper into 2027.”
Piers Harding-Rolls, research director at Ampere analysis, also noted that “console sales will be even more back loaded in 2026 than is normal,” and told me he thinks this move was one the hardware manufacturers would celebrate: “Generally, in terms of launch timing to generate the most console sales, I think a Q4 release is better than Q2.”
Will this delay impact GTA VI’s sales?
No.
Literally every analyst I asked said no, GTA VI’s delay won’t impact its sales. Interest and anticipation for GTA VI are off the charts, historically unprecedented, according to Piscatella and Rosier. Piscatella added that GTA VI’s November release would likely make Q4 2026 the biggest in video game history in terms of U.S. game spending.
“Grand Theft Auto is such an outlier franchise when it comes to this stuff that the sky really is the limit, and because it is an outlier in so many ways there aren’t benchmarks from which a reliable forecast can really be generated.”
Other Impacts
The analysts I spoke to also mentioned other possible impacts of the delay that I hadn’t considered. One big one, which turned out to be controversial, was whether or not GTA VI’s delay could also end up delaying the release of next-gen consoles.
Other impacts were a bit more…psychological. Elliott pointed out that GTA VI was likely to be a cultural moment where entertainment, internet, and social identity all collided in a very public way. While it would be impossible to ever say exactly how the delay impacted that, the timing of GTA VI’s release will inevitably fall into a very specific cultural time and moment in politics and online culture, and will both influence and be influenced by what’s going on around it.
“Each major GTA release has shaped how people joke, what music goes viral, how cities are portrayed in art and media, and even how players relate to the idea of rebellion in their daily lives,” he said. “A launch in holiday 2025 or early to mid-2026 would have placed that cultural shift inside a very specific online environment, one defined by the competition between TikTok, Reels, YouTube Shorts, and livestreaming for social dominance. That timing would have made GTA the loudest voice in a conversation driven by rapid content remixing and constant viral cycles. In other words, the memes that could have defined 2026 will instead take shape in 2027!”
Rosier also posed the question of psychological impact, but from a different angle. His view is that the delay itself, regardless of when the game releases, signals something much bigger going on in the AAA gaming industry that other major publishers are watching close:
“A GTA VI delay reinforces the growing tension between creative ambition and production realities in AAA development. It’s another signal that even the most established studios are struggling to balance scale, technology, and timelines.
“Newzoo’s historical engagement data shows that single-player titles typically retain 40% of their active players by week 5 and stabilize between weeks 6–12, declining only ~1% per week thereafter. That means publishers can fill gaps between major launches with live-service content, updates, or early-access beats to sustain engagement.
“From a market view, the broader PC & console segment is forecast to reach $85.8 billion in 2025 and continue growing through 2028, supported by rising engagement rather than an expanding release slate. Publishers are learning that the industry’s biggest risk isn’t fewer releases, it’s announcing too early.”
Joost van Dreunen, NYU Stern professor and author of the SuperJoost Playlist newsletter, was thinking along similar lines. As he points out, the industry has been going through a rough patch the last few years, with mass layoffs, game cancelations, studio closures, price increases, and general economic uncertainty. While there’s a sense from a number of sectors that GTA VI could swoop in and be the industry savior, van Dreunen cautions against putting too many hopes on one game – even one as big as GTA VI:
There’s even a somewhat naive expectation that this one release will reverse the industry’s current direction. It won’t.
“After the high comes the hangover,” he said. “I realize that many in the industry are looking forward to this undoubtedly pivotal moment. There’s even a somewhat naive expectation that this one release will reverse the industry’s current direction. It won’t. Once Take-Two releases the game, and both players and investors each enjoy their respective highs, I expect a period of sobriety to follow. In the absence of any similar releases in the near future especially investors are likely to redeploy their capital elsewhere, thereby lowering the industry’s overall valuation.”
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
