Category: IGN

Marathon director Chris Barrett was fired after an internal misconduct investigation at Bungie, according to a new Bloomberg report citing sources within the studio, who say that at least eight women came forward saying that Barrett behaved inappropriately toward them.

The new report says that Barrett “called lower-level female employees attractive, asked them to play truth-or-dare and made references to his wealth and power within the studio, suggesting that he could help advance their careers.” Barrett also allegedly befriended women in various department and sent them a “barrage of text messages that blurred the lines between professional and personal.”

Activision has revealed fresh details on the next map coming to battle royale Warzone, and it’ll be familiar to fans of Call of Duty multiplayer.

Wazone is getting a new Resurgence map in Season 1 called Area 99, which is described as the “birthplace” of Nuketown. Check it out in the trailer below.

Welcome to Area 99, the birthplace of Nuketown and Treyarch’s new Resurgence map for Warzone, dropping in Season 1. pic.twitter.com/n0k6ApeJRF

— Treyarch Studios (@Treyarch) August 28, 2024

Set in a U.S. fake town used for nuclear tests, Nuketown is one of the most famous and popular recurring maps in the Call of Duty series. It’s tiny, which makes for fast and often chaotic gameplay, perfect for players who are on the Call of Duty grind and want to level up weapons, unlock attachments, or complete challenges.

Area 99, developed by Black Ops 6 studio Treyarch with support from Warzone custodian Raven Software (union staff from which recently filed a ‘bad faith bargaining’ complaint against Activision and parent company Microsoft), includes 10 unique POIs (points of interest), each fleshing out the Nuketown we know from Black Ops.

We’re still a couple days away from the release of the Black Ops 6 beta release date, but one streamer has already managed to pull the notable feat of dropping the game’s first nuke.

Streamer JustHazzardous, who claims to have pulled off a similar achievement in Modern Warfare 3, posted a clip of what looks like Black Ops 6’s very first nuke, which he recorded live from Activision’s Call of Duty NEXT event. While it’s unconfirmed how many kills it takes to reach a nuke in Black Ops 6, nukes can typically be achieved after gaining 25 kills without dying.

The first ever #BlackOps6 Nuke just happened at #CODNext

this is insane pic.twitter.com/jDaRpWRElE

— Tridzo (@Tridzo) August 28, 2024

The imagery of the nuke is as intense as you’d expect, with even the player character catching fire and burning up, Terminator 2-style, in a brand new animation ahead of a massive fireball. You can watch the video of Black Ops 6’s first nuke in the video embedded above.

Treyard Studios acknowledge the achievement on its own social media account, congratulating JustHazzardous on getting Black Ops 6’s first nuke.

Drop Nukes in #BlackOps6 ☢

Congrats @JustHazzardous! Who’s next? pic.twitter.com/HV4k42Hsvj

— Treyarch Studios (@Treyarch) August 28, 2024

It’s all part of Call of Duty NEXT, which has seen Activision fully take the wraps off Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s multiplayer mode ahead of the beta. You can find out more info about Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s beta right here.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is the latest entry in Treyarch’s long-running subseries, shifting the timeline to around the original Gulf War in the early 1990s. It is set to release on October 25 on Xbox, PC, and PlayStation, and will have the distinction of being the first Call of Duty available Day 1 on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

Stay tuned for all the rest of IGN’s coverage of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 event, and make sure to check out all the rest of the biggest games releasing in 2024.

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.

Sony has announced the PlayStation Plus monthly games for September 2024, all playable for subscribers from September 3.

As revealed in a post on PlayStation Blog, the headline addition is Harry Potter game Quidditch Champions (PS4, PS5), which makes its debut as part of September’s PlayStation Plus Monthly Games lineup.

Live your Quidditch fantasy: take to the sky as one of the classic positions – Chaser, Seeker, Keeper or Beater – each with their own unique play style. Soar into legendary Quidditch arenas and new maps that showcase never-before-seen areas of the wizarding world. Take on Career Mode to progress from backyard battles in the Weasley Burrow to high-stakes showdowns at the Quidditch World Cup. Rise to become a champion either solo or in online co-op with teams of up to three friends, and launch into exhibition matches where you’ll set your teams, map and difficulty and play alone or on teams of up to three in online co-op. Or select player vs player to test your skills in competitive online matches against other Quidditch teams.

MLB The Show 24 (PS4, PS5), meanwhile, also joins September’s PlayStation Plus Monthly Games lineup. IGN’s MLB The Show 24 review returned an 8/10. We said: “MLB The Show 24 continues to push the genre forward – not every choice is a homerun, but it has enough hits for another all-star appearance.”

Swing for the fences, experience game-deciding moments, become a legend and live out your baseball dreams. Set out on the road to baseball greatness – whatever it is you want to achieve, MLB The Show 24 has got you covered.

Earn your call up from the minors to the big leagues and prove you’ve got what it takes at the top. Learn about known and unsung legends of the sport and take inspiration from their heroics. Hold your nerve when it matters and earn the right to be called World Series champions. Chalk up the wins, pick yourself up after the losses. Whatever happens, know you left nothing in the dugout. Everyone has a moment to own. Everyone has a story to tell. Unlock your moment. Own The Show.

And rounding out the month is Tarsier Studios’ horror adventure Little Nightmares 2 (PS4, PS5). IGN’s Little Nightmares 2 review returned a 7/10. We said: “Little Nightmares 2 delivers similar stealth and scares to the original, but leaves less of a lasting impact.”

Discover the sinister secrets of The Signal Tower in this horror-themed platform adventure where you control Mono, a young boy trapped in a distorted and broken world. Joined by Six, the raincoat wearing hero from the original Little Nightmares, only you can help her from fading away into nothingness. As the relationship between Mono and Six grows, the duo must work together using a combination of stealth and an array of items to overcome tricky puzzles and horrifying enemies. Muster your courage and begin your journey in the face of terrible threats in a mission to stop the source of evil that’s spreading throughout the land.

With news of September’s games comes warning of the last chance to download August’s games. PlayStation Plus members have until September 2 to add LEGO Star Wars The Skywalker Saga, FNAF Security Breach and Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights to their game libraries.

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.

Crash Bandicoot, a character owned by Xbox subsidiary Activision Blizzard, shows up in upcoming PlayStation 5 exclusive Astro Bot.

VGC spotted a reference to the beloved bandicoot in a PlayStation Blog post discussing character designs in Astro Bot, confirming Crash would appear as a cameo character in the reference-heavy platformer. Astro meets characters wearing costumes from games like God of War and Horizon, for example, and Crash Bandicoot is also on the list.

“With all of these characters, the eyes are paramount,” said Astro Bot director Nicolas Doucet “Sometimes LED eyes just didn’t work on certain characters because the original design relies so much on the pupils being a certain size or color for instance. So for more cartoony VIPs like Crash Bandicoot or from Ape Escape, the Bots are wearing a mask to help bridge that problem.”

Crash Bandicoot debuted as an original PlayStation game from The Last of Us and Uncharted developer Naughty Dog but, while those two franchises are still firmly in camp PlayStation, Crash has found himself on the opposite side of the console war.

The series came under the control of Activision in 2008 when the company merged with original producer Vivendi. In turn, when Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard for a staggering $68.7 billion in 2023, Crash Bandicoot officially became an Xbox-owned franchise.

It obviously still has roots in PlayStation though, and is still associated with the brand given Crash Bandicoot’s prominence in the early PlayStation days.

The series has been quiet since Crash Bandicoot 4 launched in 2020, and a former developer recently broke hearts by discussing a fifth game that never got off the ground.

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

With Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater due out later in 2024, and Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 nearly a year old, thoughts have inevitably turned to what’s next for the Metal Gear series from franchise custodian Konami.

In June last year, fans spotted that inspecting the Metal Gear Solid timeline page on the official Metal Gear Solid website revealed placeholder buttons for Metal Gear Solid 4, Metal Gear Solid 5, and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker — three games IGN understands will indeed form a part of the unannounced Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2.

While the entire collection will no doubt excite Metal Gear fans, it’s the inclusion of Metal Gear Solid 4 that’s of most interest. Kojima Productions’ 2008 action-adventure stealth video game has been shackled to the PlayStation 3 since launch, and with Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2. expected to launch on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch, an army of newcomers are set to experience Guns of the Patriots for the first time.

At the time of IGN’s report, Konami declined to comment. But in November, original Solid Snake voice actor David Hayter set tongues wagging within the Metal Gear community after he teased involvement in something Metal Gear Solid 4-related.

“Had a pretty cool meeting the other day…” Hayter posted on X/Twitter, below, next to a model of Snake from Metal Gear Solid 4.

Had a pretty cool meeting the other day…#MGS pic.twitter.com/By8XNFcdqi

— David Hayter (@DavidBHayter) November 18, 2023

Now, in a recent interview with IGN to discuss the upcoming Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Konami producer Noriaki Okamura teased Vol. 2 and its inclusion of Metal Gear Solid 4.

Asked directly about bringing Metal Gear Solid 4 to modern consoles, Okamura replied:

“We definitely are aware of this situation with MGS4. Unfortunately we can’t really say too much at the moment with Vol. 1 containing MGS 1-3 dot dot dot… you can probably connect the dots!

“Right now we still are internally concerned about what we should be doing for the future of the series. So sorry, we can’t really reveal anything at the moment. But stay tuned!”

While we wait for the inevitable Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 announcement, check out IGN’s Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater preview. It’s due out on PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC via Steam later in 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.

Employees at Call of Duty studio Raven Software, who formed the first Activision Blizzard union in 2022, have filed a complaint against the developer, Activision, and new parent company Microsoft.

According to Game File, the workers filed a complaint with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board under categories including Refusal to Bargain/Bad Faith Bargaining, Changes in Terms and Conditions of Employment, and Concerted Activities (Retaliation, Discharge, Discipline).

“After Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, our members were optimistic that they would progress quickly to a first contract at Raven Software,” Communications Workers of America (CWA) president Claude Cummings Jr. said. “Unfortunately, that has not happened. We encourage Microsoft to address the concerns raised in the Unfair Labor Practice charge and make reaching a fair agreement a priority.”

The CWA declined to comment on specifics of the allegations when contacted by Game File, but a Microsoft spokesperson said: “We are committed to negotiating in good faith.”

The CWA, under which the Raven Software employees formed their union, initially expressed support of Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. “It is a new day for workers at Activision Blizzard,” it said when the acquisition went through.

Things have seemingly turned sour, however, though it could be a while before the National Labor Relations Board makes its verdict.

Raven’s action is part of a growing labor movement within the video game industry that comes amid mass layoffs and studio closures. Paris-based studio Spiders recently announced plans to go on strike just weeks before its next game, Greedfall 2, goes on sale. In July, Starfield developer Bethesda Game Studios became the first Microsoft studio to fully unionize under the CWA, forming a “wall-to-wall” union of developers including artists, engineers, programmers, and designers. Sega of America’s union ratified a contract earlier this year.

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

The developers of upcoming fantasy role-playing game Greedfall 2 have announced plans to strike in protest of management just a few weeks before the game comes out.

Paris-based studio Spiders, which also developed Steelrising and The Technomancer, published an open letter signed by 44 of the 95 staff to studio management including CEO Anne Devouassoux. Spiders is wholly owned by publisher Nacon, which IGN has asked for comment.

The open letter details “several years of known problems, which have been greatly amplified over the past year with the arrival of the current head of the company: instability, opposition to anticipating problems and securing working conditions, global mismanagement, turnover and recruitment problems, unacceptable delays in achieving gender equality and parity, important lack of transparency, denial of problems, refusal to acknowledge worker representation and blocked negotiations.”

Specifically on Greedfall 2, workers allege it has suffered a “difficult” production and there is “widespread anxiety and a loss of interest among employees.” The staff also said they have suffered significant crunch working on the game.

“For many, it translates into a fear of releasing a disappointing game at the end and/or a feeling of shame over their own work,” the workers said. “For some, it’s the last straw that pushes them to look for work elsewhere.”

Elsewhere in the document, the workers claimed that Greedfall 2’s budget “was reworked multiple times and its early access release postponed several times.”

“Management gives the impression of treating us like galley slaves in the hold of a ship, rowing on and on without ever knowing either the route or the destination of their journey,” the workers said. “Spiders feels like a ship sailing with no one at the helm.”

Greedfall 2 currently has an early access release date of September 24, 2024, with a plan to release the game in full less than a year later. According to staff, that seems unlikely.

“The early access release is painful, as attested by the several delays it suffered, and the complete release of the game less than a year later seems difficult to achieve, as there is so much left to do,” they said.

The staff published a list of demands and outlined a plan to strike the week of September 2. Pickets will be held in front of the company’s offices and online on a Minecraft server created for the occasion, the staff said.

The Spiders strike comes amid a growing labor movement within the video game industry as workers seek to protect themselves from mass layoffs and the threats posed by AI. In July, Starfield developer Bethesda Game Studios became the first Microsoft studio to fully unionize under the Communication Workers of America, forming a “wall-to-wall” union of developers including artists, engineers, programmers, and designers. Sega of America’s union ratified a contract earlier this year, with Activision’s QA workers announcing a union of their own.

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.

It appears that Crysis developer Crytek was at one point working on a battle royale-inspired Crysis project codenamed Crysis Next.

Very early gameplay, which hit YouTube last week, shows third-person shooting in a basic warm-up arena with Crysis’ trademark abilities and sound effects layered on top. Crytek is working to remove the footage from YouTube, with videos now displaying a message that confirms a copyright claim by the company. However, some remain live at the time of publication.

Crytek never announced Crysis Next, and it appears it was canceled in favor of Crysis 4, which was announced in January 2022. Crytek declined to comment when contacted by IGN.

Given the battle royale boom sparked by PUBG and Fortnite in the late 2010s, it’s perhaps no surprise to learn that Crytek experimented with the genre. Many developers tried their hand at capitalising on battle royale during the period, some successful, some less so, some even failing to launch. The canceled TimeSplitters reboot that was in development at the now shuttered Free Radical Design was reportedly originally pitched as a battle royale game to rival Fortnite. There will be many more such projects that failed to see the light of day.

Crysis is a first-person sci-fi shooter series known for its impressive visuals, cool nanosuit powers, and open-ended gameplay. The first game in the series, released in 2007, was often used as a PC benchmark given the demands it would make of PCs at the time. Crysis was so demanding that it spawned the now infamous catchphrase, “But can it run Crysis?”, which was used in the years following the game’s release to deliver a verdict on a PC spec.

The last mainline game in the series, Crysis 3, came out in February 2013. Crytek released remasters of the originals in recent years, but we’ve yet to hear more about Crysis 4 since its announcement and teaser two-and-a-half years ago.

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.