Category: IGN

Black Ops 6 acts as a “fresh start for everyone,” developer Treyarch has confirmed.

2023’s Modern Warfare 3 carried forward content from Modern Warfare 2 into the game. However, in Black Ops 6, fully revealed during Microsoft’s Xbox Games Showcase and Call of Duty Direct, only Black Ops 6 content will be available to use across Multiplayer and Zombies.

In an interview with IGN, Miles Leslie, associate creative director at Treyarch, said Black Ops 6 is “a fresh start.” This means that when Black Ops 6 comes out in October, players will not be playing Multiplayer and Zombies modes in the many and varied skins they’ve already bought for Modern Warfare 3 and Modern Warfare 2. Yes, that means you don’t have to worry about killer clowns and Warhammer 40,000 soldiers ruining that early 90s look and feel.

It also means you won’t see operators from the Modern Warfare sub-brand, which is currently set years after the events of Black Ops 6, confusing matters.

“So, day one, you won’t be running around with any of those skins, so that it doesn’t break that immersion in that narrative we want,” Leslie explained. “Now, of course, we’re going to add those things into post-launch. We know players like those stuff, and then we’ll find really cool things that tie to Black Ops lore and also new exciting stuff as well.”

There is one exception to this rule: the Black Ops 6 Vault Edition Woods Operator Pack preorder benefit. It is currently available in Modern Warfare 3 and will carry forward into Black Ops 6, Activision said.

When Modern Warfare 3 launched last year, some players complained that it was cluttered with fully leveled weapons carried forward from Modern Warfare 2. On the other hand, some players said they appreciated the fact the money they’d spent on content for Modern Warfare 2 did not go to waste just a year later.

Activision further explained the decision in a blog post. Here’s the statement:

We want to make sure that everybody starts fresh, together, as we move into an all-new experience with the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

Allowing everyone to experience the Black Ops universe the way it’s meant to be played, learning the era-specific weapons and gear, learning the gameplay innovations like Omnimovement, and keeping that signature Black Ops style is important.

Therefore, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare 3 content will not carry forward to the Black Ops 6 Premium experience.

Despite this fresh start for “premium” Call of Duty players, as Activision calls it, Black Ops 6 content will integrate into Warzone and sit alongside all the Modern Warfare 2 and 3 content already available in the battle royale. Warzone is a Call of Duty mash-up that seemingly has no restrictions when it comes to skins.

Black Ops 6 is set in the early 1990s, after the events of Black Ops Cold War and tied to the 1980s flashbacks in 2012’s Black Ops 2. Multiplayer launches with 16 new maps, including 12 core 6v6 maps, and four smaller Strike maps that can be played 2v2 or 6v6.

For more details, check out everything we know about Call of Duty Black Ops 6, including its brand new movement systems. And for more of what Microsoft has up its sleeve, check out everything announced at the Xbox Games Showcase 2024.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 launches November 19, 2024, Microsoft announced during its Xbox Games Showcase.

The follow-up to 2020’s well-received Microsoft Flight Simulator is designed to take advantage of the latest technologies in simulation, cloud, machine learning, and graphics, Microsoft said. It’s all powered by an evolved Asobo Studio engine and built by French outfit Asobo Studio.

we’ll be flying high in the skies from the comfort of our desk chairs November 19 ✈️

Answer the call in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 – available day one! | #XboxShowcase pic.twitter.com/w83HtIrCaP

— PC Game Pass (@XboxGamePassPC) June 9, 2024

As an Xbox Game Studios title, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 launches day-one across Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows 10/11, and Steam. For more, check out everything announced at the Xbox Games Showcase 2024.

Developing…

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

State of Decay 3 will be one of the games shown off at tomorrow’s Xbox Showcase, according to a fresh leak today.

As spotted by @gematsu on X/Twitter, developer Undead Labs seemingly accidentally leaked the news itself with a link to a press kit on its jobs page. The link, per gematsu, leads to a press release which reads, in part, “Undead Labs revealed its new brand during the highly anticipated Xbox Showcase presentation on June 9th in the newest State of Decay 3 trailer.” Its new logo also appeared to leak.

A new State of Decay 3 trailer will appear at Xbox Game Showcase 2024 tomorrow.

The “Press Kit” link on the Undead Labs website leads to a ZIP with the press release confirming it: https://t.co/xHygAWNTuc (scroll down to find the link)

Studio is also rebranding with new logo. pic.twitter.com/clQWgtsJtv

— Gematsu (@gematsu) June 8, 2024

The Undead Labs jobs page, however, was swiftly taken down once the leak was spotted. The website’s homepage is still live, but the navigation bar at the top of the page, which includes “jobs,” no longer has any hyperlinks.

It’s big news for fans of the survival horror series, considering it’ll mark our first look in years at the long-awaited sequel. The last one we got was its cinematic announcement trailer all the way back at a July 2020 Xbox Showcase, where Undead Labs revealed it was in early development. Ever since then, there’s been few updates, and it was a no-show at last year’s Xbox summer showcase as well. We’re still awaiting a release window, but that could be revealed during the trailer debut tomorrow.

State of Decay 3 is only one of a number of titles that have leaked ahead of tomorrow’s Xbox Showcase. In the days and weeks leading up to the livestream, reports have cropped up about the announcement of a new Doom installment (which is reportedly called Doom: The Dark Ages, and will apparently also be announced for PS5) and Gears of War 6.

While we wait to see if there are other surprises left in store for the Xbox Showcase, check out our breakdown of everything we’re expecting there. Additionally, stay turned for our subsequent chat with Xbox head Phil Spencer at IGN Live.

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.

IGN’s Summer of Gaming is in full swing, and as part of the festivities, indie developer platform indie.io took the stage at IGN Live for a showcase of their upcoming slate of games. If you’re not familiar with indie.io, you might know them as Freedom Games, publisher of popular titles like Symphony of War, Coromon, and Dark Deity.

They recently unveiled their new name, and they began their new era with a showcase that gave us reveals, trailers, and info for lots of upcoming games. If you weren’t able to watch it live, no worries. We have details on all the games that were featured during the show.

Forgotten Seas

Early Access Available Now!

You are stranded in the Bermuda Void; ocean stretches as far as your eyes can see, and dry land scarce. You’ll craft a ship in a bottle, then toss it into the ocean and watch it expand, morphing into a new ship primed to sail the high seas. Search for new land, build camps, and hunt for treasures — just be ready to defend your ship from pirates!

Everholm

Coming Soon – Wishlist Now

Everholm is an open-ended minimalist RPG where you play as Lilly, a young girl transported to a cute and cozy island while on a quest to find her missing sister. You soon discover that it’s not all sunshine and daisies in Everholm; everyone on the island seems to be acquainted with Lilly and her quest, yet she cannot recall ever visiting before. You’ll establish a homestead and work to uncover the secrets of the villagers as you try to solve the mystery surrounding this enigmatic island. Get whisked away to Everholm by playing its demo on Steam.

Dark Deity 2

Wishlist Now

In 2021, Dark Deity introduced a new turn-based strategy RPG series inspired by past classics, and Dark Deity 2 looks to expand on the foundation set by its predecessor. You’ll command an army of heroes as you try to push back the advance of an invading empire, and your decisions will shape the world, from which characters live and die to the fates of whole nations. With 20 heroes who have access to 45 branching classes, no two playthroughs will be the same.

Immortal Hunters

Wishlist Now

People killed an underground god, stole his power, and built a civilization ruled by the Church, which is served by powerful Immortal Hunters. But now, creatures rise out of the depths of the earth, and it’s your job to stop them. Choose your hero and fight back against the apocalypse in this side-scrolling action RPG. Play as an Immortal Hunter today, with its demo now available on Steam.

The Haunting of Joni Evers

Wishlist Now

This first-person psychological thriller will bring you to the small town of Harvest, Oklahoma. You’ll confront Joni’s memories in an emotional story of an estranged family … but there’s something very creepy afoot. Joni is being haunted by something, but what is it? And what does it want? Get a sneak peek by playing the brand-new demo on Steam.

Echoes of the Plum Grove

Available Now

If you’re a fan of cozy farming sims, this one’s for you. Start a new life in Honeywood, where you can build a community that will last generations. Tend your farm, socialize with the townspeople, find your soulmate, and raise a family. Everything, from the gameplay to the art style to the soundtrack, is meant to be relaxing and enjoyable at whatever pace you want.

SoulQuest

Wishlist Now

SoulQuest is a side-scrolling action game that puts you in the shoes of a powerful warrior on a journey to seize the power of the Goddess of Death and retrieve the soul of her beloved. Build up combos to destroy hordes of enemies in fast-paced gameplay through a world inspired by Celtic mythology. There’s a free demo available on Steam now, so give it a try.

Chronomon

Wishlist Now

Part monster tamer, part farming sim, Chronomon has you combine your skills at both to rebuild a post-apocalyptic world. Catch Chronomon out in the world, train them, evolve them, and use them on your ranch to get materials. Gather other materials by fishing and foraging, and use them to craft items to keep building up your farm and make the world beautiful again. Discover Chronomon and play the new demo on Steam.

World of Football

Wishlist Now

Do you love soccer but feel like most soccer video games are determined too much by luck or randomness? Then check out World of Football, a physics-based soccer game where the results are based purely on skill. It’s fairly simple at first blush, but the mechanics are challenging to truly master. Bring up to 10 people together to really test your skills.

Pinball Spire

New Demo Available on Steam – Wishlist Now

This one-of-a-kind game is a unique mix of genres that basically make it a pinballvania. You’ll make your way through a mysterious spire, with each floor being a dungeon-like pinball level. You can use abilities to complete challenges as you bump, spin, shoot, and flip your way to the top of the spire.

HumanitZ

Available Now in Early Access

HumanitZ is an isometric shooter that drops you into an open world that has been destroyed by a zombie outbreak. You’re one of the last humans left, and your task is to survive as long as possible, either solo or in co-op. You can craft weapons and build a base, but to gather the necessary materials, you’ll need to venture out into the zombie-infested world. How long can you last? HumanitZ is planning the game’s biggest update since its release into Early Access, which players can expect to go live on Steam near the end of June.

Cursed Dawn

Wishlist Now

How about a different flavor of zombie action? Cursed Dawn is a survival FPS with fast-paced, intense action that has you mowing through zombies by the dozens. Each map is large and packed with secrets and dynamic spawns, so you never know where the next horde is coming from. You’ll constantly need to stay on the move as you try to master each map.

Get Your Tentacles Off My Waifu!

Wishlist Now

Giant tentacle monsters have taken pony waifus hostage, and it’s up to you to save them. Dodge tentacles and projectiles and keep your blasters firing to destroy a variety of different monsters piece by piece. The monsters will get bigger and more difficult as the game progresses, but can you take them all down and save all the waifus? Get Your Tentacles Off My Waifu! also has a free Steam demo, so experience the fun for yourself and then add it to your wishlist.

Hauntsville

Wishlist Now

You’re stranded in a cursed ghost town in the Old West, surrounded by frightening monsters, with nothing but a few weapons and your own resourcefulness to aid you. You’ll need to build a homestead and work the land to help you survive this Western horror game. There’s a free demo on Steam for you to try, if you dare.

SCP: Fragmented Minds

Wishlist Now

Humanity is on the verge of extinction. The last hope of survival relies on an abandoned facility on Mars, where you awaken. The facility is overrun with horrifying anomalies that have escaped and are hunting down any remaining humans. You’ll need to use every tool you can find to help you survive and find a way to save humanity. Will you use the stealth approach, or take the monsters head on? Either way, the odds are stacked against you.

Shoot on Sight

Coming Soon – Wishlist Now!

In this multiplayer isometric tactical shooter, you’ll have several characters to choose from, each with their own weapon loadouts and abilities. As you continue playing with a character, you’ll level up and unlock new abilities and gadgets to keep gameplay fresh. There are lots of different maps, each with destructible pieces of the environment to use to your advantage. Blow up vehicles or shoot through walls, anything it takes to come out on top.

AI.VI

New Reveal! Wishlist Now

This FPS/tower defense hybrid casts you as a mercenary robot that’s been forced out of retirement to fight back against an evil corporation that conquered the planet and is bleeding it dry. Use all the skills at your disposal to turn your corporate enemies into scrap, seize the means of production, and retake the planet for the worker bots.

Blood Reaver

Wishlist Now

Use a combination of melee weapons, ranged weapons, and blood magic to take on hordes of enemies in this dark fantasy FPS. In wave-based combat, four heroes will team up to restore an ancient order and stop a demonic invasion. It’s a classic battle of good versus evil, with the fate of the world on the line.

A Death in the Red Light

Wishlist Now

It’s 1988 in Amsterdam, and a dead body has just been discovered in the Red Light District. A washed up detective takes on the case looking for redemption, but you’ll need to collect clues, connect the dots, and chase down leads. Can you solve this real-life mystery in time?

Shrine’s Legacy

Wishlist Now

Inspired by the 16-bit RPGs of the Super Nintendo era, Shrine’s Legacy is set in a fantasy world and tells a classic tale of two heroes who need to unite the elements and save the land. If you’re itching for some nostalgia and want to feel like a kid again, this is the game for you.

Adventurer’s Gambit: Dungeons of Fortune

Wishlist Now

Create your hero and enter endlessly varied dungeons as you try to ascend the Tower. You can test yourself solo or team up with up to three friends, and you’ll use deck-based character building to battle 18 foes and contend with traps and other obstacles. You can choose to use a blade, magic, or curses, but be prepared for a challenge.

Dwellink

New Reveal! Wishlist Now

Dwellink is a dark fantasy creature-collecting RPG where the nine worlds are holding out against an assault by beings known as Dwellers. You’ll capture them, harness their powers, and use them in turn-based combat to defeat your enemies as you try to solve the mystery of the Great Link before it’s too late.

G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra

Wishlist Now

The retro, side-scrolling, arcade-style beat ’em up is alive and thriving, and G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra is proof. The villainous Cobra is back and hatching up another one of their evil plots, but thankfully G.I. Joe is here to stop them. You’ll pick your hero, jump into the fight, and spoil Cobra’s plans once again. There’s a brand-new demo available now, so get in there and send Cobra packing.

It’s been another rough year for the games industry, with seemingly constant layoffs taking place and studios being shuttered. However, a new publishing label announced today hopes to help curb this trend by uplifting developers.

Today, European publisher MY.GAMES announced Knights Peak, its new publishing division “dedicated to supporting both emerging and established studios.” Knights Peak also revealed its diverse initial roster of upcoming games and re-releases.

Among Knights Peak’s announcements was the world premiere of Nikoderiko, a colorful platformer in the style of Banjo-Kazooie that’s in development at VEA Games. It’s headed to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC later this summer with music by Donkey Kong Country composer David Wise.

The previously announced dark fantasy Soulslike side-scroller Mandragora is also headed to Knights Peak. During a new trailer for the game, developer Primal Game Studio showed off the game’s massive skill trees and hinted at its story about lost humanity, with Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines writer Brian Mitsoda working as the game’s narrative lead. Mandragora is slated for release in late 2024 on PC, PS5, and Xbox X|S.

A Destiny 2 clan has completed The Final Shape expansion’s raid, unlocking a final mission for all players that brings to an end the series’ decade-long story that began back in 2014.

This article does not include any spoilers for Destiny 2 The Final Shape.

PC Gamer has a great rundown of events up to and including this moment, but for our purposes, we’ll just say that clan Parabellum completed The Final Shape raid before any other and in the process unlocked a 12-person final mission called Excision that acts as a fitting end to everything that has proceeded it over the last 10 years.

The Witness has retreated from the monolith – but, an important battle awaits.

We’ll need all Guardians available to help us defeat the Witness, once and for all.

Rally with us and launch into Excision, a newly unlocked 12-player activity. pic.twitter.com/HhIky06Vpc

— Destiny 2 (@DestinyTheGame) June 8, 2024

But it looks like there is an issue with Excision that is causing players in fireteams to be unable to view all cutscenes upon completion of the Excision activity. In a post on X/Twitter, Bungie recommended players complete the activity solo to ensure they experience all the cutscenes.

At this time, we recommend playing the Excision activity solo to experience all the cutscenes. Players who missed the cutscenes can select the Narrative version of Excision to replay them. https://t.co/lM40N6O4yC

— Bungie Help (@BungieHelp) June 8, 2024

Now that The Final Shape’s main story has come to an end, Destiny 2 players are wondering what’s next. Excision leaves a number of story threads hanging out there in the galaxy, threads Bungie will probably pull at over the coming months. The developer has already announced a showcase set for June 10 at 8am PT in which it will reveal the next year of Destiny 2. That could mean it will touch on The Final Shape’s upcoming three episodes, the first of which kicks off next week. But perhaps Bungie will also hint at bigger things to come.

It all begins with a single step.

Join us on June 10 at 8AM PT to learn about the next year of Destiny 2.

🎦 https://t.co/st5fsMFHyA pic.twitter.com/MIx8JQOnJi

— Destiny 2 (@DestinyTheGame) June 8, 2024

In previous videos, Bungie developers have teased that The Final Shape is not the end of Destiny 2 or even the series, with the developer — now owned by Sony — also working on multiplayer game Marathon. This week, in a series of X/Twitter posts marking the release of The Final Shape, Bungie executive creative director Luke Smith discussed the road to The Final Shape’s release and the effort its developers put in to make it happen. In one of the posts, Smith mentioned the word Hope three times, each capitalized, which was enough to spark Destiny 3 theories within the community.

Our Hope is always the same with Destiny games, expansions, seasons, DLCs, exotic missions, secret missions, in-game events, merchandise, et cetera – we genuinely Hope you enjoy the time you spend with it. Anything we’ve made or will make, that’s the Hope.

Make your own fate.

— Luke Smith (@thislukesmith) June 3, 2024

For now, The Final Shape is going down well with fans, despite initial server problems Bungie ended up apologizing for. Check out IGN’s The FInal Shape review in progress to find out what we think.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Showing off over 70 indie games with positivity and compassion at their core, today’s Wholesome Direct had quite a few neat games to keep an eye on, whether today marked their world premiere or just the debut of a brand new trailer. A handful of games even received surprise releases, and there are quite a few more demos out right now!

From a cheese-filled decorating simulator for mice to an exploration game where you play as a house on a date (and an impressive number of games with “lands” somewhere in their titles), here are 15 of our favorite games from this year’s Wholesome Direct.

Squeakross: Home Squeak Home

Receiving a world premiere at today’s Wholesome Direct, Squeakross: Home Squeak Home is an adorably named combination between a puzzle game and a decorating simulator. Players will solve furniture-shaped puzzles made of cheese, watch as the cheese turns into furniture, and then use it to decorate rooms for their mice. With hundreds of furniture items, stickers, and accessories available, I’m already determined to collect everything and be the best mouse parent I can be.

Squeakross doesn’t have a release window yet, but it’s headed to Steam (and will run on Steam Deck).

Fruitbus

In the upcoming adventure game Fruitbus, players will get to customize their own food truck, drive around and gather ingredients from an open world, and help adorable customers through cooking. While the core game loop is focused around cooking and experimenting with recipes, there’s also a narrative about the previous owner’s past to uncover, stirring up what looks to be a tasty balance between open-ended gameplay and story.

Fruitbus is headed to Steam and consoles this October, and it also has a demo out now.

Helldivers 2’s next patch is a big one — developer Arrowhead has promised it will make over 100 changes and fixes to the game.

In a post on the Helldivers Discord, community manager Twinbeard gave fans a tease for what to expect from the update, which all being well should be released next week.

As well as the over 100 changes and fixes, the patch will revert patrols and spawn rate after feedback from the community to changes made in previous patches.

There’s also the promise of invite-only lobbies, a fix for the unlimited grenade issue, and making super samples available at level six difficulty, which should make them easier to obtain by more players. Currently, super samples are locked to Helldivers 2 difficulties seven to nine (Suicide Mission, Impossible, and Helldive), making them out of reach to many. Super samples are used to unlock the final ship module in each section.

And here’s a really welcome change: visible supply lines and attack origins. Currently, planets viewable on the galaxy map have invisible lines between them that determine the path to liberation. To access a planet, Super Earth must have full control of a planet with a supply line connecting to it. But because Helldivers 2 does not surface this mechanic, the wider player base is most often oblivious to the focus of attention when new Major Orders come around. Hardcore Helldivers 2 players who enjoy playing the meta narrative that is the Galactic War believe this lack of information in the user interface has caused some Major Orders to fail.

The early patch news is going down well within the Helldivers community, which had called on Arrowhead to take more time with updates and Premium Warbonds after previous efforts fell flat. “It was frankly about time we offered you something,” Twinbeard said in a post on the Helldivers subreddit. “We know you’ve been waiting a long time. Hopefully the patch and new warbond are two steps in the right direction.”

Speaking of warbonds, Helldivers 2 gets the new jungle-themed Viper Commandos warbond on June 13. In a recent post on the PlayStation Blog, Katherine Baskin, social media and community manager at Arrowhead, said the studio had responded to feedback on Helldivers 2’s warbonds and had changed its approach as a result. For a start, Arrowhead has slowed down the pace at which it releases warbonds “to give us a little bit more time to polish these designs before they’re released.” Baskin continued: “We don’t want to rush anything out of the oven before it’s fully baked.”

So, next week is a big one for Helldivers 2, with the game-changing patch and warbond set to hit around the same time. It feels like the start of a new way of working for Arrowhead and cadence of updates for the game. Last month, Arrowhead revealed it was in the process of setting the studio up so it could “make more and better stuff” in the long-term. In an introductory post on reddit, new CEO Shams Jorjani, who recently replaced previous Arrowhead CEO and now current Chief Creative Officer Johan Pilestedt, said the studio has had to adjust to the enormous success Helldivers 2 has brought to the company.

PlayStation 5 and PC co-op shooter Helldivers 2 is the fastest-selling PlayStation game of all time, having shifted an incredible 12 million copies in just 12 weeks since going on sale earlier this year. Amid the huge revenue Helldivers 2 has generated, Arrowhead itself has suffered a number of crises, including launch server problems and, most recently, a battle with Sony itself over the console maker’s controversial attempt to force Steam players to account link to PlayStation Network.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

After weeks of internet rumours, Sony’s unusual new game was finally made official at Summer Game Fest 2024: LEGO Horizon Adventures. Built brick-by-brick by main Horizon developer Guerilla in collaboration with Studio Gobo, it looks to be exactly what you’d expect from a LEGO tie-in: bright, charming, goofy, and full of things to smash and studs to collect. That’s been a recipe for success multiple times over for LEGO, but this time around I’m not so sure. Who exactly is LEGO Horizon Adventures for?

This isn’t LEGO’s first foray into the Horizon universe. The Danish toy company’s fantastic Tallneck kit, based on Horizon’s giraffe-like walking towers, is an almost 14-inch tall behemoth made of 1,222 pieces. If the brick count didn’t give it away, the recommended age for this model is 18+. In the physical world, LEGO Horizon has been aimed at adults because it’s adults who play the video game series. But one look at LEGO Horizon Adventures and it’s clear this isn’t anywhere close to the type of experience we’ve had with the two mainline Horizon games so far. For existing fans who are already chomping at the brick for a new game, this likely isn’t what they were hoping for.

While I didn’t expect LEGO Horizon Adventures to simply be a full-fat Horizon game with a LEGO aesthetic, I am surprised that the trailer shows very little of what I’d consider to be the series’ core DNA. Horizon is all about tactically tearing apart robot dinosaurs and animals. Thunderjaw wrecking your day? Blast off its missile launchers. Struggling with a Snapmaw? Snipe its freeze sac. Each machine is built of components that can be broken and shattered, an idea that would surely translate beautifully into snapping and scattering Lego pieces. And yet the trailer suggests that combat in LEGO Horizon Adventures will be similar to prior LEGO games of the Star Wars and Marvel varieties – give something a good, simple boop on the head and they’ll break apart. I’m not sure how satisfying this is going to be for long-term fans.

And so the answer is obvious, isn’t it? LEGO Horizon Adventures is for children. This is a PlayStation Studios game being released for Nintendo Switch, afterall. But I’m not sure it’s that easy. LEGO games have been so successful with children because they’ve historically adapted licences that kids already love. As a pre-teen during the prequel era of Star Wars I loved the tie-in LEGO kits, and so the subsequent LEGO Star Wars video games were a no-brainer. But Horizon isn’t already beloved by kids in its original or LEGO form. And while my six-year-old nephew is as dinosaur obsessed as any kid his age, I don’t think an armour-plated t-rex is going to be a guaranteed magnet. He’d go wild for a new LEGO Jurassic World game, though, not least because there’s already age-appropriate LEGO kits he can play with.

So who is LEGO Horizon Adventures for? I think it’s for gamer families. It’s for parents who spend dozens and dozens of hours playing Horizon on PS5 after they’ve put their kids to bed, and who now want to introduce that world to their sons and daughters. The ingredients are all there: as detailed by the PlayStation Blog, LEGO Horizon Adventures is a light-hearted retelling of Aloy’s original story, playable completely in co-op. It’s a way for an older gamer to share something they love with a kid who’s not quite ready for something as intense and complex as the full-scale Horizon games.

That’s what I imagine the boardroom pitch was, anyway. And while I hope that LEGO Horizon Adventures finds its place, I think that place is going to be a much narrower niche than would be ideal for Sony. For the parent or older sibling in the co-op pairing, I wonder if LEGO Horizon Adventures will be able to translate all the things they love about the original games. Will the combat – the beating heart of Horizon – be good enough? Will turning the complex Aloy, with all her doubts and troubles and inner-fight, into a cartoon character be satisfying? And for the child with the other controller, will this bright new world of machines, hot dogs, and (presumably) a message of environmental protection prove alluring enough to pull them away from more established characters and the likes of Roblox? I fear that the sweet spot for both players will be slim.

Historically, the LEGO pipeline has taken movies families love, turned them into physical LEGO kits they can build together, and then reimagined those kits as worlds that can be explored through video games. LEGO Horizon Adventures disrupts that pipeline by being a family game inspired by a LEGO kit for adults that was adapted from a video game for more advanced players. And so while I really do hope it’s a co-op delight, I can’t help but wonder if LEGO Horizon Adventures is built on shaky foundations.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s Senior Features Editor.