Category: IGN

Indie sensation Vampire Survivors is finally coming to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on August 29, 2024.

Developer Poncle announced the release date in an admittedly ridiculous trailer, below, promising 500,000 texture mapped garlic balls and at least 13.5 hours of gameplay, all for the price of a peri peri chicken wrap.

Vampire Survivors is a fast paced and over the top gothic horror game with rogue-lite elements, where your choices can allow you to quickly snowball against the hundreds of monsters that get thrown at you.

It became one of the biggest surprise hits of the last few years as what launched as a humble indie game on Steam blew up in popularity and snowballed itself.

Poncle soon added layers of new content to the game and the core experience now offers 50 playable characters and 80 weapons to play with. That’s before the two major expansions too.

In our 8/10 review, IGN said: “Need a game to play while listening to podcasts? This is it. Vampire Survivors is outwardly simple but turns out to be an incredibly deep hole to fall down — though it’s not without extended dull periods when you get ahead of its curve.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Nearly a month ago, the long-awaited return to College Football video games arrived on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. And today, EA Sports has announced the first major update for College Football 25, which introduces new playbook options, new uniform pieces, tweaks to gameplay, addresses various bug fixes in game modes like Road to Glory, and more.

In a new Campus Huddle blog post, EA Sports revealed a slew of new changes as part of College Football 25’s Title Update 2. The most notable ones include expanded playbook options and new uniform pieces. Regarding new playbook options, the new update adds 8 new shotgun formations to 35 teams, providing more variation in offensive strategies to the applicable terms. This update’s specific formations include Bunch Quads Open and Slot F Wing.

Regarding the new uniforms, EA Sports revealed that new uniform pieces are introduced in College Football 25. According to the blog post, the following teams have received new uniform pieces: Baylor Oregon, Iowa State, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Bowling Green, Northwestern, UTEP, Boise State, New Mexico State, App State, Texas State, Louisiana, New Mexico, and South Alabama. Some schools, like TCU and Missouri, also received adjusted uniform pieces to reflect the upcoming season.

College Football 25’s Title Update 2 also introduces tweaks to gameplay. Some notable adjustments include adjusting the O-Line behavior, resulting in fewer ineligible receiver downfield penalties when players executed an RPO-style play, specifically when players opted to pass instead of running the ball.

Changes to specific game modes, most notably Dynasty and Road to Glory. The most notable one for the former includes addressing an issue where players could not have more than 20 created coaches at one time during an online Dynasty League. The most notable change for the latter includes an additional undisclosed scenario and new NIL content, alongside fixing an issue that caused some players’ games to crash when quitting a Position Battle.

The full patch notes will be provided below.

College Football 25 has been a massive success for EA. While the publisher has disclosed no firm sales numbers, the publicly available data revealed that 2.2 million people were willing to spend $100 to pre-order the Deluxe version, which granted buyers access to College Football 25 a couple of days early.

In our review of College Football 25, IGN wrote: “College Football 25 nails the on-field action with a dynamic feel, stellar graphics, and tons of smart gameplay tweaks. However, so much of what’s off the field feels unfinished, with UI issues and barebones modes that seem like they are waiting for a rebuild next season.”

College Football 25 Title Update 2 Patch Notes

• Gameplay
  • Included 8 new shotgun formations to a total of 35 teams: Bunch Quads Open (Known as Diamond Quads; added to teams including Texas Tech, Western Michigan), Deuce Twins Over (Buffalo, Toledo), Slot F Wing (NC State, Liberty), Split Pro Far (NC State, Liberty), Split Pro Near (NC State), Tight Y Off Flex (Florida), Wing HB Wk Close (Indiana, Minnesota), Wing Slot Over (Texas A&M, Kansas State)
  • Tuning and logic enhancements to pursuit angles.
  • Introduced new behavior that further differentiates players with high pursuit ratings vs lower pursuit ratings.
    • Dev Note: We will monitor feedback on how this change impacts gameplay and based on results could make further adjustments in a future title update.
  • Reduced frequency of broken tackles from trailing defenders.
  • Fixed various instances of rare broken play bugs.
  • Fixed issue where certain formations had offensive players align too wide when on the near or far hash.
  • Fixed an issue where you could not use 4-2-5 or 3-3-5 formations in a custom playbook.
  • Fixed an issue where singleback formations would be assigned the wrong name when creating a custom playbook.
  • Fixed an issue where Spiking the Ball in online modes was not working as part of the Turbo Tempo system.
  • Fixed an issue so a Speed Option Running Back will follow the QB longer.
  • Adjusted AI QB behavior on shot plays to make more lob throws vs bullet passes.
  • Adjusted AI QB behavior to be less aggressive based on awareness rating.
  • Adjusted AI offensive line behavior resulting in less illegal man downfield penalties during RPO style plays.
    • Dev Note: For best chances at success, make sure you press the icon of which receiver you want to throw to before the RB receives the ball.
  • Adjusted the DB’s ability to more effectively shed blocks on the perimeter.
  • Increased the speed penalty for running out of stamina during play.
  • QB scrambles behind the line of scrimmage will lose stamina at a faster rate.
  • Fixed an exploit where players would leave a QB contain player unblocked and run around them.
    • Dev Note: We will make further improvements to QB Contain in a future title update.
  • Increased the reward players receive for shading inside or outside correctly in Man Coverage vs passing routes.
  • Adjusted False Start chances when you make preplay adjustments late in the play clock.
  • Fixed an issue where run-fit defenders were not responding as effectively to Wildcat run plays.
  • Made an adjustment to the Wildcat Unbalanced Motion Zone play.
  • Reduced the effectiveness of multiple laterals in a single play.
  • Adjusted the thresholds required to receive the most effective Juke and Spin moves.
  • Adjusted press animations to be more of an effective counter to the Takeoff Ability.
  • Updated pass protection mechanic to only include the RB in the protection if they are already on a block or block and release assignment.
  • Abilities
    • Updated the coloring of Platinum tier Abilities to further distinct the look vs Silver Abilities.
    • Rebalanced the Gold and Platinum tiers of the Juke and Spin abilities like 360 and Side Step.
    • Rebalanced the Platinum tier of the extender ability which includes not firing on QB designed run plays.
    • Slightly rebalanced the effectiveness of the Gold and Platinum tiers of the Quick Jump Ability. Additionally we made adjustments to the tier levels found on the Texas Front 7.
• Dynasty Mode
  • Fixed an issue where players were unable to have more than 20 created coaches at one time in an online Dynasty League.
  • Various fixes around score summaries and Box Scores.
  • Various fixes for News Stories.
  • Introduced a new Playoff Bracket Screen.
  • Updated Texas/Oklahoma Rivalry data.
  • Discovered that FCS SE, MW, and NW were secretly using professional players and passing them off as collegiate players. Gave them sanctions and ensured they are now using properly-rated players.
    • Dev Note: For this change to go into effect, you will need to create a new Dynasty.
  • Fixed an issue where Wear and Tear did not recover for FCS teams resulting in a high number of FCS team injuries during gameplay.
  • Reduced dynamic attendance penalties for playing FCS teams.
  • Increased dynamic attendance in rivalry games.
  • Retuned Toughest Places to Play formula to reduce the impact that large stadiums have on Toughest Places to Play and increase the value of filling the stadium and winning games at home historically.:
  • Reduced impact of raw crowd size.
  • Increased impact of historical win rate.
  • Increased impact of attendance rate.
  • Updated Right hand panel in Stadium Atmosphere Grade on My School screen to accurately reflect the Toughest Places to Play at all times.
  • Increased the accumulation of Pride stickers, particularly for defensive players and offensive linemen.
  • Reduced the Chance to Transfer Penalty for players rated below 90 OVR.
  • Updated Coach Talents on Wyoming Offensive Coordinator.
    • Dev Note: For this change to go into effect, you will need to create a new Dynasty.
  • Defensive Schemes and Playbooks for the following teams have been updated.
    • Dev Note: For this change to go into effect, you will need to create a new Dynasty.
      • USC
      • UCLA
      • Mississippi State
      • Texas Tech
      • UConn
      • Miami
      • Memphis
      • Nevada
      • North Carolina
      • Notre Dame
      • Oregon State
      • San Jose State
      • TCU
      • Texas A&M
      • Troy
    • UMass
  • Updating your coach’s playbook in the Schemes and Playbooks screen will now update your team’s scheme and should be reflected in Team Needs.
  • Fixed an issue where Offensive Linemen would appear in the Preseason Heisman Watch in future seasons.
  • Updated the Heisman Watch logic to reduce the value of receiving TDs.
  • Recruiting
    • Dev Note: Our primary goals for this update were to remove most of the recruiting strategies that were discovered during early access and to smooth out the pain points our players were reporting. Recruiting is a delicate balance as we want to try to make things as realistic as possible, while also allowing players to live out their football fantasies. With that in mind, we decided to introduce additional recruiting logic and balance changes:
• Fixed an issue where teams were pursuing too many quarterbacks in High School Recruiting.
• Reduced the number of unrecruited 4 and 5 stars early in the season.
• Increased the number of players that the AI will pursue at one time.
  • Dev Note: The above changes strive to decrease the number of players that go unrecruited until late in the cycle, while also slightly reducing how aggressive the AI could be with those recruits once they start to recruit them. Our goal is to deliver a fun but balanced recruiting experience that feels rewarding to all players. We will monitor the impacts these changes have on the overall recruiting experience and continue to adjust as needed.
  • Visits
  • Fixed an issue where you could not schedule visits for recruits in certain situations.
  • Fixed an issue where a visit remained scheduled even if a recruit was removed from a board.
  • Fixed an issue where the allowed the number of visits scheduled for a week to exceed 4.
  • Tuned Visit Influence effects:
  • Removed initial influence when scheduling a visit.
  • Increased disparity between winning and losing a game during a visit.
  • Tuned the logic for game stakes to better account for ranked teams.
  • Increased the penalty for choosing a visit activity that the team does not have a high grade in or the player is not interested in.
  • SuperSim
  • Increased hand off rate for simulated RPOs to increase the number of running plays across the country, especially for teams with a lot of RPOs in their playbook.
  • Various tuning fixes to increase the gap between good and bad teams/players.
    • Dev Note: We are going to continue to monitor the simulation results to ensure that teams and players are performing within expected ranges, including reducing frequency of upsets, based on Pre-Season Projections and expected win totals.
  • Polls
  • Increased the loss penalty for schools with more than 1 loss.
  • Increased the weighing of Conference Prestige in the poll calculation.
  • Reduced variance in CFP poll logic vs Media/Coaches
    • Dev Note: As with the other systems mentioned above, we will continue to monitor the Polls system to ensure that it strikes a balance between realism and reward for player success.
  • Custom Conferences/Custom Schedules
    • Dev Note: We will continue to monitor feedback about Custom Conferences and Scheduling. Based on this feedback we plan to continue making adjustments in future title updates.
  • Fixed an issue in Conference Rules where Divisions were changed to off, even if those Divisions were previously turned on.
  • Fixed an issue where the Independents Tab disappeared when removing all teams from Independents
    • Dev Note: This also fixes issues with tabs to the right of Independents having incorrect or missing data.
  • Addressed UI issues around the Conference Title game for the CUSA and PAC-12
  • Addressed UI issues around Dynasty Team Select UI appropriately respecting Custom Conference moves
  • Updated text in the Team Header on the Custom Schedules Screen
• Road to Glory
  • Added an additional scenario and NIL content.
  • Fixed rare issues where you’d get a scenario reward screen that did not align with your received bonuses.
  • Fixed an issue where users were getting Skill Points maxed out after completing a practice.
  • Fixed a crash when quitting a Position Battle.
  • Reworked Wear and Tear UI to show position-appropriate ratings-impacts.
  • Fixed an issue where you cannot equip a Mental Ability during the RTG Player creation flow if you enter a settings menu during creation.
  • Fixed an issue where Meter Mental Progress is not tracked during Bye Weeks.
  • Fixed an issue where it is impossible to lose Coach Trust once you reach max Coach Trust.
  • Fixed a UI issue related to the display of Coach Trust when a user is close to max Coach Trust.
  • Fixed an issue where you cannot Upgrade your player during Bye Weeks.
  • Fixed a UI issue related to the display of Weekly Energy in the Meters Screen.
  • Fixed issues with Mental Goals not tracking correctly or reaching Platinum correctly.
  • Fixed UI issues around Text Messages.
  • Fixed an issue where backing out of the Team Selection step in RTG Creation can soft lock the mode.
  • Fixed an issue where a player can continue to work on Academics after graduating early.
• College Football Ultimate Team
  • Generating ‘Best Lineup’ no longer changes your equipped visuals and playbook.
  • Player Portraits will no longer appear on non-player items after filtering or sorting.
  • Fixed a crash that occurred during kicking off at halftime when playing Champs.
  • Attributes on the front of Player Items should update correctly after a Player Item has been upgraded.
  • Fixed an issue that was occurring when highlighting the Rename Team tile on the UT Hub.
  • Fixed an issue with Squads 3v3 that prevented 2 users from being able to connect to the game.
  • Fixed an issue with the Orientation Pack that was preventing new users from being able to upgrade their lineup and progress through the Orientation Field Pass.
  • Fixed an issue on the Player Profile Screen that prevented users from being able to transition within the Profile selections.
  • Removed the Green Gavel icon that appeared on owned items placed on the Auction House.
  • Fixed a crash with House Rules: Touchdown Tango that triggered when the play clock reached 0.
  • Player Items displayed on the New Items Screen no longer appear transparent when not highlighted.
  • When viewing Challenge Details the yardage marker is now displayed within the Conditions.
  • On the Lineup Screen names of players in backup slots contributing to Chemistry should change in scale when highlighting a Chemistry boost.
  • Improved UI around Attributes that are receiving chemistry boosts when viewing the Attributes tab of the Item Detail screen.
  • Fixed issue that was causing long load transitions on the New Item Screen during the First Time User Experience.
  • The Difficulty star for Challenges now displays correctly when scrolling down the Play Co-op List.
  • Fixed an issue that was causing users to error out to the Main Hub when trying to access the Auction House.
  • Conference Filters in the Auction House now work correctly.
  • Fixed stability issues for users entering Ultimate Team for the first time.
• Presentation
  • Added new uniform pieces for Baylor, Oregon, Iowa State, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Bowling Green, Northwestern, UTEP, Boise State, New Mexico State, App State, Texas State, Louisiana, New Mexico, and South Alabama.
  • Adjusted uniform pieces for 2024 season: TCU, Arkansas, Missouri, Baylor
  • Various improvements made to teams’ uniform pieces for authenticity
  • Updates have been made to the following stadiums:
    • Holiday Bowl
    • Texas State
    • Kansas
    • Kennesaw State
    • Oklahoma State
    • Wake Forest
    • UL-Monroe
    • Nebraska
  • Fixed an Issue where the USC Mascot would disappear during the opening ceremony.
  • Fixed an Issue where the incorrect mascot would appear during different situations.
  • Restored opening chants for Penn State, FSU, and Tennessee on Xbox Series S.
• Road to the College Football Playoff
  • Tier Rebalancing and Reconstruction changing the format from 3 tiers to 5 tiers.

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

A new entry in the Mario Party series is heading our way. Super Mario Party Jamboree is set to release exclusively for Nintendo Switch on October 17. It comes with over 110 minigames and supports up to 20 players in online competitions. Better yet, it includes a free three-month membership to Nintendo Switch Online (individual membership). It’s available to preorder now from a variety of retailers (see it at Best Buy). Read on for the details.

Preorder Super Mario Party Jamboree

• Get it at Best Buy – $59.99
• Get it at GameStop – $59.99
• Get it at Target – $59.99
• Get it at Nintendo eShop (digital) – $59.99

No special editions have been announced, so the standard one is all you can get. If you’re holding off to preorder from Amazon, you might not want to do that. Recently, physical copies of Switch games have been appearing on Amazon at launch rather than becoming available to preorder beforehand.

Super Mario Party Jamboree Bonus

Preordering (or buying) Super Mario Party Jamboree gets you a free 3-month individual membership to Nintendo Switch Online. An NSO account is required to play the 20-player online Koopathlon mode, which should be pretty cool. It also gets you access to cloud saves, a bunch of NES and SNES games, and more.

What is Super Mario Party Jamboree?

The Super Mario Party series dates all the way back to 1998, in the halcyon days of the Nintendo 64 era. The series has come a long way since then, so long (and with so many entries) that they stopped numbering the new installments after the 10 one, which came out on the Wii U. And that’s just the console entries — there were even more on Nintendo’s handhelds throughout the years.

Jamboree is the third Mario Party game on the Switch, and it’s the biggest one yet. Announced during the June 2024 Nintendo Direct, it takes place on an island resort. It has seven boards, including new ones like a racetrack-themed one called Roll ‘em Raceway and a shopping mall one called Rainbow Galleria. It also has a few favorite boards from previous games. With over 110 minigames, it’s the biggest Mario Party game yet. It has a number of play modes, including a 20-player online Koopathlon, which has you duke it out for a high score against more players than ever before in the series.

Other Preorder Guides

Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN’s board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Threads.

Nintendo games can be pricey, but Switch fans can still find fantastic deals. Throughout the year, there are numerous sales on games, Switch consoles, and accessories that are worth exploring. We’ve gathered the top deals currently available below, including Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown for Switch for $24.99 (50% off), the Timmy & Tommy’s Aloha Edition Nintendo Switch Lite bundle for $159 at Walmart, and more. Check out our favorite deals at the moment below, and for more updates on the latest discounts, follow @IGNDeals on Twitter or Threads.

Preorder the the Nintendo Switch Lite Hyrule Edition Console

Announced alongside The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom during June’s Nintendo Direct, the Nintendo Switch Lite: Hyrule Edition handheld console is officially up for preorder. Best Buy is offering preorders for $209.99 with orders shipping out on September 26. That’s $10 more than a stock Switch Lite, but that’s more than justified by the fact that this edition includes a 12 month Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership.

Score a Nintendo Switch Lite with Animal Crossing for $159

Walmart still has this excellent deal available, which is worth taking advantage of if you’ve been hoping to get your hands on a Switch console. Right now, you can grab a Nintendo Switch Lite (Timmy & Tommy’s Aloha Edition) bundle with Animal Crossing for 20% off, marking it down to $159.

More Nintendo Switch Game Deals

There are quite a few different Switch games on sale at the moment that are worth picking up for your collection. Some of our favorites right now are Unicorn Overlord for $39.99, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for $45.95, and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, which is 50% off to just $24.99. You can see even more of our favorite Switch game deals below.

More Switch Video Game Deals

• Unicorn Overlord for $39.99
• Shin Megami Tensei V for $39.99
• Rabbids: Party of Legends for $19.99
• Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope for $19.99
• Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble Launch Edition for $34.99
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for $63.99
• Super Mario Maker 2 for $39.99
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD for $44.99
• Metroid Dread (Preowned) for $44.99

Best Switch Micro SD Card Deals

The best Switch SD card should be fast, reliable, and as future-proof as possible. That last one is important, especially with the Switch successor on the horizon. Therefore, you’re going to want to opt for the latest in SD card tech, which is a micro SDXC UHS-I U3 A2 V30 memory card. That’s a lot of random letters, so to save you a bit of time we’ve left our top suggestions and deals just above and below for your convenience (like this excellent deal on a Lexar 1TB PLAY microSDXC Memory Card for $73.99). To see even more SD card deals, make sure to check out our roundup of the best SD card deals.

More Switch Micro SD Card Deals

Best Nintendo Switch Accessory Deals

Whether you’re looking for a new controller or a little bag to carry your Switch in, there are quite a few different deals on Nintendo Switch accessories that are worth checking out right now as well. Here, we’ve listed just a few of our favorite discounts at a variety of retailers that are worth picking up.

When Should You Buy a Nintendo Switch?

The short answer is that you should buy a Nintendo Switch whenever there’s any kind of sale, regardless of the time of year. Amazon will likely offer the same console bundles on any other sale as it will on Black Friday or Amazon Prime Day, so there’s no real reason to wait if you’re in need of a Nintendo Switch.

That being said, there are sometimes some unique bundles and promotions during Black Friday that you won’t find any other time of the year. They usually includes additional games (like the infamous Mario Kart 8 bundle) or Switch accessories for free, but quantities tend to be limited. As always, do your research into the seller before you make a purchase and keep in mind that the Nintendo Switch 2 is coming out next year.

Where to Buy a Nintendo Switch in 2024

• Nintendo Switch Console for $299.00
• Nintendo Switch Lite Console for $199.00

With how expensive gaming is getting in 2024, we’re trying to save you as much money as possible on the games and other tech you actually want to buy. We’ve got great deal roundups available for all major platforms such as PlayStation and Xbox, and keep these updated daily with brand-new offers. If you’re trying to keep costs down while maintaining your favorite hobby, stay tuned for more incredible discounts.

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Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

Batman. Justice League. Harry Potter. Looney Tunes. Game of Thrones. The list of intellectual property owned by Warner Bros. Discovery is massive, and an awful lot of it seems ripe for being turned into a video game. If you’re thinking WB’s been a little slow to leverage that library, it sounds like the company’s leadership agrees, and is looking not just to make more of its own games, but to license out some of its biggest franchises to other game studios in the future.

Today on the Warner Bros. Discovery Q2 earnings, call CEO David Zaslav and president of global streaming and games JB Perrette responded to a question about the “strategic value” of games to Warner Bros. given recent “uneven performance”. The company had just reported gaming revenue down 41% year-over-year due to underperformance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League compared to Hogwarts Legacy’s massive success last year. Does WB see games as a core part of its portfolio?

Seems like the answer is yes. Both Zaslav and Perrette explained that they wanted to grow the gaming business, especially in the free-to-play space, which Perrette says can help balance out some of the ups-and-downs of the cyclical console industry. That’s part of why WB acquired Player First Games, developer of Multiversus, earlier this year.

Zaslav followed up by noting that not only did WB want to keep leveraging its eleven studios, but that there’s “also a lot of interest among others in coming to take advantage of some of that IP for gaming, which we’re looking at.”

Here’s both of their answers in full below:

Warner Bros. Discovery reported revenue of $9.7 billion for the quarter, but an overall net loss of $10 billion, $9.1 billion of which was due to impairment charges. The company also reported subscription services were up 3.6 million subscribers from last quarter, bringing its total to 103.3 million.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Ready at Dawn, a venerable game studio that once worked on God War and Daxter among other projects, is closing its doors. Android Central reports that Meta is shuttering the studio effective immediately, with employees being encouraged to apply for other positions within Oculus Studios.

The closure follows Meta’s decision to discontinue Echo VR in 2023, which coincided with major layoffs impacting a third of the studio. Oculus Studios had previously acquired Ready at Dawn, which had found success with the Lone Echo series, to develop VR games for its platforms.

Brutal to hear about the closure of Ready at Dawn. Here’s a documentary I made about the studio while at Game Informer. Woof, double-whammy of sadness this week. https://t.co/Nd9NU5vqkH

— Ben Hanson (@yozetty) August 7, 2024

“As many have already heard, this morning Ready At Dawn Studios is closing its doors. I’ve been at RAD for over 10 years and I am incredibly sad to see this wonderful team I’ve grown to love be broken apart this way,” designer director Robert Duncan wrote. “That said, at least for now I’m trying to focus my effort on (and, let’s be honest, distract myself by) finding solid places for all my dear friends to land. If anyone has any leads/positions they’d like to share, please feel free to reach out to me directly and I’ll try my best to get you in touch with good folks that might be interested.”

The games industry mourned the closure on social media and elsewhere, with many describing it as underappreciated. MinnMax founder Ben Hanson posted a documentary he produced with Game Informer that provides a snapshot of the studio circa 2014, when it was preparing to release The Order: 1886.

Ready at Dawn’s history extends all the way back to 2003, when it was formed by former employees of Naughty Dog and Blizzard Entertainment. It was particularly well-known for its prowess on the PlayStation Portable, producing multiple God of War games for the platform.

Following the mixed reception of The Order: 1886, Ready at Dawn began to move into VR, releasing Lone Echo for the Oculus Rift in 2017. We wrote at the time, “Lone Echo and Echo Arena are the rare games that demonstrate the true value of VR and hand tracking. Its sense of movement feels great, and it couldn’t exist in any other way.”

After it was purchased by Oculus Studios in 2021, Ready at Dawn released Lone Echo II, but otherwise has not put out a game since. A report in mid-July stated that Meta was reportedly cutting its Reality Labs division’s budget by 20 percent in 2026 in order to make a “better long-term impact” in VR development. Meta subsequently told Android Central that this isn’t a signal “wider cuts” to the number of first-party games on Quest.

Ready at Dawn is one many game studios to close in 2024, joining Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, Roll7, and more in what has been a difficult year for games. For more, check out our deep dive into the layoffs impacting the games industry.

Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Warner Bros. Discovery reported today that its game revenue suffered a major drop this quarter from the same period last year, largely due to weak performance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

Games revenue, under the WB Games division, dropped 41% year-over-year. Though Suicide Squad’s struggles were the main culprit, it was admittedly up against stiff competition: last year’s comparable included strong sales of Hogwarts Legacy, which launched in February of 2023 and continued to do exceedingly well throughout the year that followed. It sold 22 million copies in 2023 alone, and has since reached 24 million.

Suicide Squad, meanwhile, was panned by critics and called “disappointing” by WB Discovery boss David Zaslav last quarter, and resulted in a $200 million impairment charge in that report. An impairment charge is a practice businesses use when they need to write off or report a reduction in the value of some of their assets that they previously thought would have a higher value.

Speaking of impairment charges, Warner Bros. Discovery undertook a massive one this quarter outside of games. The company reported revenue of $9.7 billion, but an overall net loss of $10 billion, $9.1 billion of which was due to impairment charges. Officially, WB cited the charge as due to “the difference between market capitalization and book value, continued softness in the U.S. linear advertising market, and uncertainty related to affiliate and sports rights renewals, including the NBA.”

The first part, about book value, is WB reevaluating the value of its TV networks segment in light of customers and advertiser interest in streaming and digital content over traditional TV. But the NBA bit was likely responsible for a hefty sum of the impairment charge too. WB’s contract for NBA media rights expires after the 2024-2025 season, and the NBA appears to have opted to take its business to Amazon instead. Though WB has since attempted to exercise what it says are its rights to match Amazon’s offer and is suing the NBA over them, it doesn’t seem likely to win.

While all that sounds fairly dismal, WB’s subscription services were up 3.6 million from last quarter, bringing its total to 103.3 million. This is the first time the company has passed 100 million subscribers.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

The Switch dock isn’t very portable. It’s a little bulky and you’ll still need to bring along a wall charger. Fortunately, there’s a pretty awesome alternative. Right now Amazon is offering the Mirabox Portable 30W Nintendo Switch Dock Charger for only $17.99 after instant savings and 50% off coupon code “N9XORL7H“. This compact gadget charges your Nintendo Switch (at its maximum charging rate) and has an HDMI port for you to connect your Switch to a TV. It has all the functionality of your dock but in a much smaller size.

Mirabox Portable Nintendo Switch Dock Charger for $19.99

The Mirabox dock charger is clad in your choice of black, white, or the iconic Switch red and blue color scheme. It has three ports: a USB Type-C port, a USB Type-A port, and an HDMI port. The USB Type-C port supports Power Delivery up to 25W, which is enough juice to charge the Switch at its maximum rate of 18W. That basically means that the Switch will charge up even while you are playing games on it. The HDMI port connects your Switch to your TV. The Mirabox supports up to 1080p resolutions at 60Hz, which is good enough for the Nintendo Switch, since it doesn’t natively support 4K resolution or 120Hz refresh rate.

The biggest advantage of the Mirabox is that it is 1/10th the size of the Switch dock. That makes it much easier to stow this away in your bag without having to buy yet another larger Switch case. A USB Type-C cable is already included as well, so all you need to supply is your Nintendo Switch and an HDMI cable.

Get the 65W model for Steam Deck and ASUS ROG Ally

Note that there’s a 65W model that is $25.99 after you apply the same code “N9XORL7H“. This is overkill for the Nintendo Switch, however it’s the preferred model if you plan to use the charger dock with the ASUS ROG Ally, which accepts up to 65W, or the Steam Deck, which accepts up to 38W.

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It’s been one year since Baldur’s Gate 3 launched, and now, developer Larian Studios has revealed how players chose to navigate their journey through its Dungeons & Dragons video game.

The studio unveiled a smorgasbord of stats in a lengthy X/Twitter thread. While it includes interesting data related to Baldur’s Gate 3’s soul-crushing permadeath Honour Mode and which characters fans favored over others, it also reveals that 1.9 million players were, at one point or another, turned into a wheel of cheese.

Another crucial stat update reveals that while everyone’s favorite dog, Scratch, was pet 120 million times, The Owlbear Cub and His Majesty the cat received only 41 million and 141,660 pet attempts, respectively. What matters most, though, is that we now know just how everyone chose to approach the game’s romance options.

Over the last 12 months, you’ve smooched your companions a total of 75 Million times.

Please give them a break, their lips are losing pixels. pic.twitter.com/6UWN45gri6

— Baldur’s Gate 3 (@baldursgate3) August 7, 2024

Larian’s posts include a nice selection of romance-related figures. Baldur’s Gate 3 companions have been kissed more than 75 million times in total, with Shadowheart leading the pack at a whopping 27 million kisses. Astarion is, unsurprisingly, in second at 15 million smooches, with poor Minthara in last with 169,937. We also have a look at some stats about Halsin, Larian’s infamous Druid character. Of the 658,000 players who had sex with Halsin, 70% chose to sleep with him in his human form, while the other 30% chose his grizzly bear form.

In all of Baldur’s Gate 3, Astarion proved to be the most-played as Origin being at 1.21 million characters created with him to start. That’s a lot of High Elf Rogues running around, but Larian does clarify that 93% of players did choose to create their own custom character when beginning an adventure. Meanwhile, while 141,660 players managed to complete Honour Mode, a staggering 1,223,305 playthroughs ended in a loss.

As for some of the more important story moments achievable in Baldur’s Gate 3, 3.3 million users managed to kill the Netherbrain, while another 1.8 million chose to betray the mind-flayer emperor. Interestingly, only 34 players who chose Lae’zel as their Origin character also chose to kill themselves at the end of the game.

Astarion has been your favourite Origin character avatar, shortly followed by the wizard of Waterdeep and, of course, God’s favourite princess.

However, over 93% of players chose to play as a custom avatar. Nice. pic.twitter.com/rzyj3scKPx

— Baldur’s Gate 3 (@baldursgate3) August 7, 2024

Baldur’s Gate 3 is a game of near-infinite possibilities, and that’s one of the biggest reasons players fell in love with it last summer. Despite so much to offer at launch, Larian has continued to deliver more content in post-launch updates, with many speculating that Alfira may be added as a new companion when Patch 7 arrives soon.

While we wait for Larian to expand on the already massive world of Baldur’s Gate 3, be sure to read our 10/10 review. At the time of its launch in July 2023, we said, “With crunchy, tactical RPG combat, a memorable story with complex characters, highly polished cinematic presentation, and a world that always rewards exploration and creativity, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the new high-water mark for CRPGs.”

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.

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