EA Takes Plants vs. Zombies 3 Offline for ‘Major Overhaul’

EA has pulled Plants vs. Zombies 3 offline for what it called a “major overhaul” as it works to once again improve the game before a worldwide launch.

In a blog post, EA said in-app purchases are no longer available and the game is no longer available to download. November 15, 2024 is the final day to play. After that, the servers go offline and Plants vs. Zombies 3 will be inaccessible in all territories.

Any earned or purchased coin balances as of November 15, 2024 will be saved as long as you’ve connected your account through Google Play, Apple ID, or your EA Account. Boosts, game progress (including levels and unlocked units), and narrative will all be reset.

Plants vs. Zombies 3: Welcome to Zomburbia is a 2024 free-to-play tower defense mobile game developed by EA-owned PopCap Games and published by EA on iPhone and Android in January this year. That followed a soft launch in select regions in 2020, a re-work and subsequent re-launch in April 2022, then another soft-launch in October 2022. A worldwide launch was then planned for later in 2024, but clearly PopCap is still working to get to the root of the game’s issues.

EA said it’s now “excited to re-tool” the game and “bring you an even better PvZ3 experience soon.”

“We’ve been grateful for your enthusiasm and feedback during our soft launch,” EA said. “We’ve always had love for our plants, and yes, even our zombies, and it has been a joy bringing life to Dave, his niece, Patrice, Nate, and many more in PvZ3. It’s clear that we’re onto something great and following the recent releases of Choose Your Seeds and the manual activation of Grapes of Wrath, we want to go even further to make the game truly special.

“That’s why we’re taking the game offline for a major overhaul, and we can’t wait to share what’s taking root!”

The Plants vs. Zombies franchise has suffered a difficult time in recent years, with various spin-offs failing to replicate the phenomenal popularity of the first two games. Fans often call on EA to release a third game in the third-person shooter spin-off series Garden Warfare, which has been dormant since the release of Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville in 2019.

A canceled single-player Plants vs. Zombies game had been in the works within EA from about 2015 to 2017. Read all about what happened to that in a special IGN investigation.

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.

EA Sports FC 3 Title Update 3 Makes Some Much-Needed Balance Changes, Nerfs Overpowered Trivelas and 5 at the Back Formation, and More

EA Sports has released a significant balance update for FC 25 addressing some of the key issues with the game.

Since FC 25 launched last month, players have complained about a number of gameplay issues that have made competitive play frustrating, including overpowered Trivelas (shots taken with the outside of the foot) and a much-maligned five at the back formation that was incredibly difficult to break down.

Title Update 3, which is rolling out now across all platforms, addresses those concerns with sweeping balance changes to many aspects of gameplay.

The accuracy of Trivelas, for example, is “greatly reduced,” and the width of the defensive line for five defender formations is “greatly increased,” which will hopefully open up space. Meanwhile, first-time lobbed through passes are nerfed, as are driven passes.

There’s a general boost to attacking play, too, with attacking runs for AI players in certain roles given a shot in the arm among other tweaks. This will hopefully make attacking more effective in-game. Those annoying offsides should hopefully calm down, too, with improved AI player recognition of offside situations.

Elsewhere, there are fixes for various bugs and improved referee decision making when calling for fouls and penalty kicks. FC 25’s refs had become the focus of ridicule for failing to give obvious penalties in-game.

Last week, EA Sports issued FC 25‘s first live tuning update, which patched out an exploit that was ruining competitive play. Live tuning lets EA Sports roll out some changes without requiring a full title update like today’s. The developer said it can make tuning changes “faster and with more frequency while working on the balance of the game.”

Wondering what’s changed in FC 25? Here’s a list of everything new – we’ve also got the Best EA FC 25 Tactics Codes to help you prepare your game plan, plus a breakdown of every Skill Move in FC 25 and how to perform them.

EA Sports FC 25 Title Update 3 patch notes:

Gameplay

Made the following changes:

  • Reduced accuracy of First Time Lobbed Through Passes including when performed at extreme angles.
    • This change is most noticeable for players with high passing Attributes.
  • Greatly reduced potential accuracy of Trivelas.
  • Greatly increased width of the defensive line for 5 defender formations.
  • Reduced potential accuracy of Driven Passes.
  • Increased the frequency of attacking runs for AI players in the following roles: Shadow Striker, Inside Forward Attack, Inside Forward Roaming, Wide Playmaker Attack, and Wingbacks in scenarios with open space ahead of them.
  • Improved AI player decision making when considering diagonal runs into open space, and when considering runs into nearby open space.
  • Improved accuracy of shots taken in situations where the player is not being pressured and generally has a clear line of sight on goal, including 1 on 1 situations and open goals.
  • Improved AI Center Back decision making when attempting to provide a safe option for a pass.
  • Improved AI player recognition of offside situations.
  • The CPU AI will look to further prioritize passing during build up play instead of dribbling.
  • Reduced the speed of some slide tackling animations.
  • Slightly increased clearance accuracy.
  • Reduced Ground Pass and Through Pass ball velocity in wet weather.

Addressed the following issues:

  • During some long distance shots and corners, goalkeepers faced away from the ball unintentionally.
  • In some cases, defenders could have turned and faced away from the ball instead of trying to intercept a pass.
  • Right Wing Inside Forward AI players did not always position themselves as intended.
  • Improved referee decision making when calling for fouls and penalty kicks.
  • During a match, Half Wingers could not have changed sides when swapped with their counterparts in Team Management.
  • Players could have sometimes lost the ball too easily when making physical contact during a Skill Move.
  • In some scenarios goalkeepers were attempting to punch or deflect the ball instead of catching it.
  • Some passes could have resulted in the ball traveling faster than intended.
  • The CPU AI incorrectly ignored certain Skill Moves and did not perform them.
  • When remaining in control of the ball after a tackle attempt by the defender, a requested Lob Pass could have taken longer to execute than intended.
  • Some passes could have been more accurate than intended.
  • Improved animations that can occur when performing short passes.
  • In rare scenarios, the user could have lost control of a player receiving a pass.
  • During Set Pieces, an incorrect off the ball player animation could have occurred.
  • Goalkeepers could have sometimes unintentionally dived the wrong way when attempting to make a save.
  • In some dribbling situations, the CPU AI did not attempt to challenge for the ball against a user controller player.
  • In rare cases, goalkeepers could have gotten stuck around their goal posts when attempting to make a save.
  • Sometimes, automatic clearance animations were occurring outside of intended heading and goal line clearance situations.
  • The CPU Slider for Skill Moves previously only applied to Legendary difficulty.
  • Improved goalkeeper animations when dribbling with the ball.
  • The ball could have passed through a goalkeeper in some rare scenarios.
  • In some rare situations, players’ feet could have gotten stuck around goal posts instead of attempting to hit the ball.
  • During Rush penalties, the goalkeeper could have sometimes moved off the line and gotten stuck.
  • During Rush corners, players could have incorrectly positioned and continuously readjusted themselves until the corner was taken.
  • In certain scenarios, the opposing goalkeeper could have been controlled during set pieces by all players in a match.
  • During penalty kicks, players outside of the box did not always perform the correct idle animations.
  • When a Free Kick timed out, sometimes the automatic action could have resulted in a pass instead of an inaccurate shot.
  • Players could have run up directly to the set piece taker in some scenarios, ignoring the minimum distance they must keep.
  • Sometimes, sliding or falling shot animations could have occurred unintentionally.
  • In some cases, defenders going to ground could have applied more pressure to the ball carrier than intended.
  • Addressed instances of player switching not functioning as intended.

Ultimate Team

Addressed the following issues:

  • Attribute upgrades were not showing in the Player Bio when using an upgraded Evolution Item in another Evolution.
  • A stability issue could have occurred when claiming Season Pass, Objective, and Milestone Rewards.
  • After creating a Squad in Single Player Ultimate Draft, new tactics could not be created on the team management screen.
  • Loan Player Items in Seasonal Objectives were showing as having 0 contracts, this was a visual issue only.
  • Sometimes, the Objective notification would still be present even if all Objectives were claimed.
  • A stability issue could have occurred after swapping players and then making tactical changes in Ultimate Draft.
  • If a player forfeited a Rush match, they were not able to party up with their original group again with a new invite.
  • In rare situations, a Player Bio can be displayed after returning after Pack Preview.
  • After completing the onboarding in Ultimate Team, Learn and Upgrade was sending players to the FC Hub.
  • Stadium Items set to active on the New Items screen were not applied.
  • A Season Pass screen could have displayed when an Objective reward was claimed.
  • Sometimes, the match result was displayed when waiting in the match lobby.
  • In Evolutions, Role rewards did not display + or ++ symbols.
  • Some Stadium Items were showing a placeholder image on the Item.
  • In some circumstances, it was not possible to navigate to the SBC Storage.
  • Addressed instances of players not being able to preview rewards in the Season Pass.
  • Player profiles could overlap with Club Badges in the Rush lobby.
  • Sometimes, a Custom Tactics share code could have disappeared.
  • A player could have been assigned more than one Corner Kick Instruction.
  • Sometimes, a Goalkeeper could have come up for a corner kick unintentionally.
  • Addressed instances of stability issues when navigating SBCs.

Clubs

Addressed the following issues:

  • In a rare scenario, an incorrect match result was shown when the opposing team left the match.
  • Drop-in matches didn’t proceed to penalties if Golden Goal Extra Time ended in a draw.
  • CAM Avatars could have been placed in incorrect positions when selecting the Any option in some cases.
  • The Captain was not always able to interact with Quick Tactics.
  • Highlights in Rush displayed an incorrect time format.
  • After getting a Match Rating of 10 in Rush, it was not possible for it to decrease during the match.
  • Addressed a stability issue when using the Reset Tactic option.
  • In Rush, the pop-up message to join the team voice channel did not always display.
  • In certain situations, a Waiting for Clubmates message would display at the end of a match.

Career Mode

Made the following changes:

  • The Simulation gameplay preset is now the default for new Career Mode saves.
  • Added multiple settings when creating a new Career Mode save, including the ability to disable Club Growth Board Objectives.

Addressed the following issues:

  • Improved Growth Plan logic for secondary positions in Manager Career.
  • Addressed instances of social media posts not displaying as intended.
  • Youth Academy goalkeepers had lower Diving Attributes than intended.
  • Addressed an instance of conversations interrupting Calendar time advancement.
  • Youth Academy surnames could have repeated too often.
  • Sometimes in Manager Career, the Player of the Month award was not present.
  • In Player Career, created Players were not always displaying correctly.
  • Addressed instances of incorrect camera angles.
  • Addressed instances of Manager customization not displaying as intended.
  • In some cases, the Transfer tab could have been inactive.
  • Improved some UI transitions.
  • A stability issue could have occurred when firing a Scout.
  • Improved social media comment context.
  • The audio for goal sounds could play at inconsistent volumes.
  • Updated Youth Academy player body types.
  • Addressed visual issues when customizing players.
  • Addressed an instance of an incorrect task present in Women’s Player Career.
  • Addressed instances of Team Sheets not functioning as intended.

General, Audio, and Visual

Made the following changes:

  • Updated some art and UI elements, balls, badges, placeholder text, QR codes, kits, accessibility settings, stadia, audio and commentary, crowds, star heads, camera angles, and visual effects.

Addressed the following issues:

  • Sideline players and staff did not always react to shots as intended.
  • During Tournament matches, an NPC could have appeared standing in the middle of the pitch.
  • Adjusted the timing window for Suggested Tactic pop ups in game.
  • Addressed instances of incorrect lighting.
  • Sometimes after using the Rewind functionality, the EA connect widget can appear during gameplay
  • When connecting online in Kick Off, Main Menu settings could have overwritten Kick Off settings.
  • Some Tactical Suggestions did not display the Substitutions option.
  • In Kick Off some player roles were not highlighted when playing them in their preferred position.
  • Addressed instances of UI not displaying or functioning as intended.
  • In Learn To Play Rush, the game could have started on a full-size pitch.
  • [Xbox Only] The Online Seasons Leaderboard did not update correctly.
  • In Kick Off, the CDM role was not shown as an option in some formations.
  • When switching the player role from Goalkeeper to an outfield position in the create Avatar screen, the option to change gloves was not available.
  • The Lob Pass Skill Game did not always calculate scoring correctly.

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.

XDefiant Dev Says ‘We Have Done Very Little Marketing So Yes Our Numbers Are Down,’ Denies Support Could End After Season 4 if Player Count Doesn’t Improve

XDefiant, Ubisoft’s free-to-play Call of duty rival, has missed the publisher’s expectations since launching in May — that much CEO Yves Guillemot admitted during a recent financial call. But are there plans to shut the game down? Not so, its chief developer has insisted.

Rumors began circulating this week that support for XDefiant could come to an end after Season 4, which closes out XDefiant’s Year 1 roadmap, if its player count failed to improve. Ubisoft has yet to announce player numbers or revenue figures for XDefiant, with Guillemot promising to say more at the end of October.

Now, XDefiant executive producer Mark Rubin, who works at Ubisoft’s San Francisco development studio, has responded to those rumors, insisting the company does not plan to shut the game down after Season 4.

However, in-line with Guillemot’s comments, Rubin — who was an executive producer on Call of Duty before making the switch to Ubisoft — admitted player numbers are down. This, Rubin said, was because Ubisoft has done “very little marketing” as it works to improve the game. Once XDefiant is in “a better place”, the marketing push will begin, Rubin said.

“To be crystal clear there are NO plans to shut down after Season 4,” Rubin tweeted. “I’ve literally been in meetings as of last week to discuss our Year 2 plans. But, right now we are super focused on improving the technical experience (which includes netcode) and adding more content for Seasons 3 & 4.

“We have done very little marketing so yes our numbers are down but that is just to give the team the time to get the game in a better place before we do bigger spends on marketing to bring new players to the game and to bring back players that have left.”

XDefiant launched into the brutal live service shooter market at a time when it had already claimed a number of high-profile victims. Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League flopped to the tune of $200 million after Starbreeze’s Payday 3 suffered a disastrous launch last year. Since then, things have only got more difficult, with Sony’s Concord going down as one of the biggest PlayStation disasters of all time.

Meanwhile, Ubisoft has endured an awful year with the aforementioned disappointing return from XDefiant and, most recently, Star Wars Outlaws. It delayed Assassin’s Creed Shadows into 2025 following poor sales of Outlaws, and its staff in France are currently on strike.

In its recent note to investors, Guillemot acknowledged that the company’s “second quarter fell short of expectations” and vowed to launch “a review aimed at further improving our execution.” He also addressed some of the cultural conversations happening around the company lately, which have intensified around Star Wars Outlaws and the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

Things have got so bad at Ubisoft that its founding Guillemot family and shareholder Tencent are reportedly considering teaming up to take the company private following the collapse of its share price.

Meanwhile, Ubisoft has ditched Epic Games Store timed exclusivity for its PC games and gone back to day-one launches on Steam, a move clearly designed to boost flagging sales of its games. Ubisoft has yet to announce a Steam launch for XDefiant, but it feels like a certainty at this point.

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.

XDefiant Dev Says ‘We Have Done Very Little Marketing So Yes Our Numbers Are Down’ Amid Rumor It Could Shut Down After Season 4 if Player Count Doesn’t Improve

XDefiant, Ubisoft’s free-to-play Call of duty rival, has missed the publisher’s expectations since launching in May — that much CEO Yves Guillemot admitted during a recent financial call. But are there plans to shut the game down? Not so, its chief developer has insisted.

Rumors began circulating this week that support for XDefiant could come to an end after Season 4, which closes out XDefiant’s Year 1 roadmap, if its player count failed to improve. Ubisoft has yet to announce player numbers or revenue figures for XDefiant, with Guillemot promising to say more at the end of October.

Now, XDefiant executive producer Mark Rubin, who works at Ubisoft’s San Francisco development studio, has responded to those rumors, insisting the company does not plan to shut the game down after Season 4.

However, in-line with Guillemot’s comments, Rubin — who was an executive producer on Call of Duty before making the switch to Ubisoft — admitted player numbers are down. This, Rubin said, was because Ubisoft has done “very little marketing” as it works to improve the game. Once XDefiant is in “a better place”, the marketing push will begin, Rubin said.

“To be crystal clear there are NO plans to shut down after Season 4,” Rubin tweeted. “I’ve literally been in meetings as of last week to discuss our Year 2 plans. But, right now we are super focused on improving the technical experience (which includes netcode) and adding more content for Seasons 3 & 4.

“We have done very little marketing so yes our numbers are down but that is just to give the team the time to get the game in a better place before we do bigger spends on marketing to bring new players to the game and to bring back players that have left.”

XDefiant launched into the brutal live service shooter market at a time when it had already claimed a number of high-profile victims. Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League flopped to the tune of $200 million after Starbreeze’s Payday 3 suffered a disastrous launch last year. Since then, things have only got more difficult, with Sony’s Concord going down as one of the biggest PlayStation disasters of all time.

Meanwhile, Ubisoft has endured an awful year with the aforementioned disappointing return from XDefiant and, most recently, Star Wars Outlaws. It delayed Assassin’s Creed Shadows into 2025 following poor sales of Outlaws, and its staff in France are currently on strike.

In its recent note to investors, Guillemot acknowledged that the company’s “second quarter fell short of expectations” and vowed to launch “a review aimed at further improving our execution.” He also addressed some of the cultural conversations happening around the company lately, which have intensified around Star Wars Outlaws and the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

Things have got so bad at Ubisoft that its founding Guillemot family and shareholder Tencent are reportedly considering teaming up to take the company private following the collapse of its share price.

Meanwhile, Ubisoft has ditched Epic Games Store timed exclusivity for its PC games and gone back to day-one launches on Steam, a move clearly designed to boost flagging sales of its games. Ubisoft has yet to announce a Steam launch for XDefiant, but it feels like a certainty at this point.

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.

Riot Lays off More League of Legends Developers While Promising to Increase Team Size

Riot Games has announced it will be laying off an unknown number of developers from the League of Legends PC development team, while simultaneously pledging to increase the size of the League of Legends team.

In a post to X/Twitter today, Riot Games co-founder Marc Merrill shared “An Update on How We’re Evolving League” in which he announced the layoffs, explaining that this “isn’t about reducing headcount to save money.” Instead, the layoffs are apparently occurring so the company can make “sure we have the right expertise.”

“While team effectiveness is more important than team size, the League team will eventually be even larger than it is today as we develop the next phase of League,” Merrill continued. “For Rioters who are laid off, we’re supporting them with a severance package that includes a minimum of six months’ pay, annual bonus, job placement assistance, health coverage, and more.”

Merrill continued his explanation in a follow-up post, in which he said that the success of a development team is unrelated to its size. “If we’re solving the wrong problems, more resources won’t fix it. It’s about building smarter and healthier, not just bigger.”

IGN has reached out to Riot Games for more clarity on why these layoffs are occurring, how many roles were impacted, and if any of those individuals are being considered for placement in roles as a part of the planned team expansion. A spokesperson confirmed that 27 employees were impacted across League of Legends development team and an additional five roles on Riot’s publishing team. The spokesperson stated that those impacted would have the ability to use the company’s internal job board to apply for other roles at Riot, but declined to share anything else.

These layoffs come rather uncomfortably as League of Legends celebrates its 15th anniversary, which Merrill references briefly in the post “so that League continues to be great for another 15 years and beyond.” They also come nine months after Riot already laid off 530 individuals, roughly 11% of its staff, in an effort to cut costs after allegedly taking on too many “big bets” as a company.

According to a games industry layoff tracker, this puts the number of laid off game developers this year alone at over 13,000, with over 10,000 laid off in 2023 and over 8,000 in 2022. We wrote about how the ongoing industry mass layoffs have impacted developers earlier this year.

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

One of the Best PlayStation 5 SSD Deals for Prime Day Is Available Again on Amazon

We’ve seen the cost of SSDs trending upward for most of 2024, but lately it looks like prices have normalized and are even starting to drop back down. Today, Amazon is offering the PS5 compatible Lexar NM790 2TB PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 Solid State Drive (SSD) with pre-installed heatsink for only $128.99. This was one of the best SSD deals we saw during Amazon Prime Day. It expired quickly after, but available once again for a little while longer.

Lexar NM790 2TB PS5 SSD for $128.99

The PlayStation 5 console comes with a 1TB SSD, but 300GB of that is reserved for the OS, leaving around 700GB left over for games. That space will run out quickly because some games take up an enormous amount of space, especially if you buy digital copies. For example, Star Wars: Jedi Survivor, Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, and NBA 2K25 all require 140GB each. Even older games like God of War: Ragnarok, Gran Turismo 7, and Horizon Forbidden West require 90GB of space apiece.

Enter the Lexar NM790 SSD. Although we didn’t pick it as one of our favorite SSDs for the PlayStation 5, Lexar is a well known and established flash memory brand and its SSD has garnered plenty of positive reviews. The NM790 is a guaranteed fit with any PlayStation 5 console. Performance-wise, it boasts read speeds of 7,400MB/s and write speeds of 6,500MB/s, which is well above Sony’s minimum recommendation of 5,600MB/s. It’s also pre-equipped with a low-profile aluminum heatsink. The 2TB capacity triples the storage of a PS5 or doubles the storage of a PS5 Pro.

Alternative: Silicon Power XS70 2TB PS5 SSD for $127.99

Amazon is offering Amazon Prime members this Silicon Power XS70 2TB PS5 SSD for $127.99 shipped. The primary difference is that the Lexar NM790 is a DRAM-less drive and the Silicon Power XS70 has a DRAM cache. Instead of onboard DRAM, the NM790 uses HMB (host memory buffer), which basically means that it uses the system memory as cache. The XS790, on the other hand, has a dedicated DRAM cache built into the stick. Theoretically, having a DRAM cache offers fast random write performance, but both types of SSDs are so fast that there really any noticeable performance difference when it comes to gaming on a PS5 or PC.

If you want more options, here’s a list of the best PS5 SSD deals available right now. If you’re looking for deals on other PS5 accessories, check out our constantly updated best PS5 deals article. If you don’t yet own a PS5 console, note that the new PS5 Pro is currently up for preorder and ships out next month. This is a more powerful version of the PS5 with double the storage capacity at a significantly higher price.

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.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Dev Reveals New Tyranid Enemy, the Huge Hierophant Bio-Titan

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 will soon get a brand new enemy type: the terrifying Tyranid Hierophant Bio-Titan.

Publisher Focus Entertainment said this huge xenos hits the explosive third-person melee shooter as part of the new PvE operation: Termination, which takes players back to the planet Kadaku. This will be made available for free, and is coming “very, very soon.”

Also part of this free update is the new Lethal difficulty, which is “designed to test your skills against the most brutal xenos and heretics.” The new weapon is the Neo-Volkite pistol, also free for all players.

As for cosmetics available through the premium season pass, the Dark Angels chapter of Space Marines is first in-line for new threads with a theme pack. This adds new weapon styles, armor pieces, and color schemes featuring the Unforgiven (the name given to the Dark Angels chapter following the disastrous events of the Horus Heresy in Warhammer 40,000 lore). This theme pack includes a full armor set for the Bulwark class.

All the above forms part of Season 2 of Space Marine 2, which runs from October until the end of 2024. Focus also teased the first year of updates coming to the game as part of Seasons 3 and 4. This includes new PvE operations, new PvP maps and modes, new Tyranid and Thousand Sons enemies, and a new Horde mode “with just one challenge: survive.” Expect cosmetics for new Space Marine chapters, too.

Specifically, Season 3 also adds PvE Prestige ranks and a Battle Barge expansion (the Battle Barge is the Ultramarines’ base of operations during the events of Space Marine 2). Season 4 adds the aforementioned Horde mode, a new enemy, and a new weapon. More seasons will follow.

Developer Saber Interactive recently released Space Marine 2’s game-changing patch 3.0, which made a seemingly innocuous change to the ending that got Warhammer 40,000 fans excited. Fans have also unearthed interesting and unannounced Space Marine 2 cosmetics by datamining the game.

Meanwhile, IGN interviewed Saber Chief Creative Officer Tim Willits about Space Marine 2’s record-breaking success. He revealed the boost he expects the PS5 Pro will give Space Marine 2, discussed how the breakout success of Space Marine 2 had “changed everything” for the studio, and how protective Games Workshop is over the Warhammer 40,000 brand.

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.

Talisman Board Game Buying Guide and Expansions

Originally published in black and white by Games Workshop in 1983, Talisman is a classic fantasy board game with a rich history spanning over 40 years. Commonly compared to Monopoly, Talisman features an easy to learn and basic gameplay loop that makes it a great board game for beginners, despite its extremely randomized outcomes, hectic situations, and often longer-than-average play times.

Players choose from over 12 characters, all of which are classic fantasy classes, like the Wizard and Thief, and then the game begins. In it, two to six players battle it out to be the first to reach the Crown of Command in the center of the board and defeat the dragon, venturing through three main sections of the board: the outer, middle, and inner.

Throughout the game, you’ll have the opportunity to use over 100 different Adventure, Spell, or Talisman cards to gain the upper hand or screw with your opponents. You might even be able to turn one of them into a toad.

Featured in this article

The entire history of Talisman is vast and has many out-of-print versions and expansions, so this guide will focus solely on expansions and spin-offs that are more easily accessible.

The Base Game

Talisman: The Magical Quest Board Game 5th Edition

  • Price: $59.99
  • Players: 2-6 players
  • Age Range: 12+
  • Play Time: 60-90 minutes

Released in July 2024, the 5th Edition of the decades-spanning fantasy board game is the latest and most up-to-date version available. With the game’s rich history, it’s easy to get confused on which versions to pick up – don’t look on eBay, as 4th Editions can go for almost $150! Instead, pick up the 5th Edition, which offers the base game as well as the gameplay mechanic changes first introduced in the 3rd Edition. Additionally, compared to the 4th Edition, the newest edition of Talisman is a more streamlined, slightly less chaotic experience; the 5th Edition rulebook even mentions explicit changes with a symbol next to the rules blurbs. This version also comes with two fewer characters; it cuts the Bard and Druid.

Talisman Expansions

A very notable bummer is that the 5th Edition is not backwards compatible with the extensive library of 4th Edition expansions. But there’s a new 5th Edition expansion available called Fate Beckons.

Talisman Alliances: Fate Beckons

  • Price: $33.99
  • Players: 2-6 players
  • Age Range: 12+
  • Play Time: 60-90 minutes

The first expansion for 5th Edition, Fate Beckons offers cooperative play for the first time in mainline Talisman history. Players must complete 5 Trials in order to win the game, and do so using over 50 new cards, tokens, and figures.

Talisman: Legendary Tales

  • Price: $49.99
  • Players: 1-6 players
  • Age Range: 14+
  • Play Time: 20-40 minutes

Not so much an expansion as it is a spin-off, Talisman: Legendary Tales is a story-focused adventure that has players working together to recover the five Talismans to thwart the evil that vies for control over the Crown of Command. Each of the five lost Talismans is recovered in their own unique adventures, and can be replayed as many times as possible to get the full experience. Great for beginners and those looking for quick-playing board games.

Talisman: Themed Versions

There are a few themed versions of Talisman, with Batman and Star Wars tie-ins out of print.

Talisman: Harry Potter

  • Price: $59.99
  • Players: 2-6 players
  • Age Range: 11+
  • Play Time: 90+ minutes

The gameplay mechanics are virtually unchanged from the 4th Edition here. The main draw is the Wizarding World setting, with amazing art and figures of fan favorite characters, like Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, and Dumbledore. Make your way to the center of the board to take on the Dark Lord Voldemort to win the game.

Talisman: Kingdom Hearts

  • Price: $59.99
  • Players: 2-6 players
  • Age Range: 13+
  • Play Time: 90+ minutes

This version also maintains the mechanics of the original game, and sees classic Kingdom Hearts characters like Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Riku battle their way through Heartless to reach the inner part of the board and seal the Door to Darkness.

Talisman Adventures RPG

Talisman Adventures: Core Rulebook

  • Price: $35.94
  • Players: 2-6 players
  • Age Range: 13+
  • Play Time: 2-4 hours

Essentially a DnD-like (and DnD-lite), the Talisman Adventures RPG Core Rulebook has everything you need to get started with the 3D6 ruleset: a breakdown of each character class, the lore, and, of course, how to play. Choose your class, ancestry, and skills as you set forth on your own unique Talisman adventure. You can find other RPG board games here.

Talisman Adventures: Myths and Monsters

  • Price: $33.52
  • Players: 2-6 players
  • Age Range: 13+
  • Play Time: 2-4 hours

The first expansion for the RPG experience adds an impressive amount of content, including bigger and badder enemies and bosses, as well as new events and festivals. This’ll surely add a lot of meat to the bare-ish bones of the starter book.

Talisman Adventures: Tales of The Dungeon

  • Price: $22.11
  • Players: 2-6 players
  • Age Range: 13+
  • Play Time: 2-4 hours

The next expansion is much darker in tone, and sees adventurers delving into the Glittering Caverns to confront the Lord of Darkness. This offers two new ancestries; minotaur and vampire, and two new classes; necromancer and tomb robber.

Talisman Adventures: Tales of the City

  • Price: $16.60
  • Players: 2-6 players
  • Age Range: 13+
  • Play Time: 2-4 hours

Finally, Tales of the City brings players to some of the seedier areas of the City. From shady goblins to pickpockets, this expansion adds plenty of new and unique story content to round out your adventure, as well as the new goblin ancestry and three new classes: alchemist, tinkerer, and gladiator.

Talisman Board Game Accessories

Talisman Board Game Organizer

If you’re in possession of the 4th Edition and its expansions, this organizer has everything you need to house the insane amount of cards, tokens, and figures all in one place.

Talisman Adventures RPG Game Master’s Kit

The perfect tool for those looking to DM your first campaign, this kit includes 24 pages of tips and expanded rules explanations, a four-panel screen used for reference while playing, more Fate tokens, and blank character sheets.

Talisman Adventures RPG – Premium Dice Pack

Includes six gorgeous 6-sided dice and a Talisman Adventures drawstring bag.

Talisman Adventures RPG – Accessory Pack

This set includes six more awesome D6, as well as 7 heavy light and dark Fate tokens.

Talisman Adventures RPG Playtest Guide

  • Price: $6.99
  • Players: 3-6 players
  • Age Range: 13+
  • Play Time: 2-4 hours
  • See it at Amazon

A sort of proof of concept entry level appetizer, the playtest guide is great for those looking to dip their toes into their first RPG. Includes six characters and nine classes to choose from.

Drawstring Bag Bundle

Looking for a one-stop-shop and then some for all these accessories? Online retailer Fapeto has you covered. This bundle includes the Playtest Guide, Accessory Pack, and Game Maker’s Kit mentioned above, with a bonus 8x10in. drawstring bag to carry it all.

How to Play Talisman Online

  • Digital: $52.99
  • Physical: $29.97

This video game adaption of the board game classic is a faithful recreation, offering the same gameplay mechanics and rules, but with awesome 3D graphics and visuals that make the experience that much more immersive. The 40th Anniversary Collection includes all 13 of the 4th Edition expansions, from Blood Moon to the Nether Realm. The PS4 and PC versions include extra characters not available on Switch. Notably, the physical versions on PS4 and Nintendo Switch are not region-locked, but the expansions are.

The Bottom Line

Talisman is undeniably one of the most popular fantasy board games of our time, with a rich history of expansions and revisions spanning over 40 years. The streamlined ruleset of the 5th Edition makes learning it for the first time a breeze, and the updated fantasy art is worth the upgrade. And while many of the 4th Edition expansions are out of print and are either hard to find or expensive on the secondary market, the 5th Edition of the base game marks a perfect jumping on point for newcomers or those looking for a more laid back experience. The Talisman Adventures series of RPGs is a worthy, barebones competitor to DnD, and is great for budding DMs and players of all ages looking into trying out their first RPG.

Myles Obenza is a freelance commerce writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter @Myles Obenza.

PlayStation: The Concert World Tour Coming With Music From God of War, The Last of Us, and More

Sony has announced PlayStation: The Concert, the world tour of a “state of the art production” with music from games such as God of War, The Last of Us, Horizon, Ghost of Tsushima, and more.

Some details are still hazy as the PlayStation Blog post detailing PlayStation: The Concert and a press release provided to IGN have conflicting and seemingly incomplete information, but the world tour will premiere in April 2025.

The first show will take place in Dublin, Ireland, seemingly on April 19, before shifting to the UK for six tour dates between April 21 and April 27. It will then head to “more than 200 cities” across Europe, the U.S., and more.

Concert locations beyond Europe will be announced “very soon,” Sony said, and so far only the Ireland and UK dates have been announced. PlayStation: The Concert will take place in Birmingham on April 21, Manchester on April 22, Leeds on April 23, Newcastle on April 24, Glasgow on April 25, and London on April 27.

It will later take place in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Paris and Amnéville, France, Brussels, Belgium, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Berlin, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Leipzig, Munich, and Oberhausen, Germany, Zurich, Switzerland, Bologna, Italy, Budapest, Hungary, Sofia, Bulgaria, Vienna, Austria, Bratislava, Slovakia, Prague, Czech Republic, Lodz, Poland, Copenhagen, Denmark, Gotenburg, Sweden, and Oslo, Norway.

Antwerp in Belgium and Tampere in Finland were also listed but have a strikethrough on the PlayStation Blog, seemingly suggesting these dates were removed.

Tickets will be available on the PlayStation website on October 16 at 7am Pacific / 10am Eastern / 3pm UK for those who use the early access code PLAYCONCERT24, though the site doesn’t appear to be available as of yet. The press release provided indicates an October 18 availability date for those without early access, which is essentially no one since PlayStation made the code public.

PlayStation: The Concert is promised to be a “deeply immersive live concert experience,” Sony said. “An innovative multi-screen design, combining advanced LED and projection technologies, will enhance the event and deliver the most iconic moments and imagery from these games.

“Coupled with surround sound, the show delivers breathtaking visual and audio depth, creating an immersive experience that will allow the audience to relive their gaming adventures like never before.”

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

Xbox Game Pass Wave 2 October 2024 Lineup Headlined by Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Microsoft has announced the Xbox Game Pass Wave 2 October 2024 lineup.

The headline here is of course the October 25 release of Black Ops 6, the first Call of Duty game to launch day-one on Game Pass. It comes following a year after Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which has also seen the likes of Diablo 4 and Modern Warfare 3 arrive on Game Pass, and will, in November, see StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft 2: Campaign Collection hit the subscription service.

Black Ops 6’s launch straight into Game Pass is a big gamble for Microsoft. It hopes the power of Call of Duty will boost subscriber numbers and revenue (itself bolstered by a recent Game Pass price rise and restructure), but it comes with the risk of losing sales of the full-price game. While Xbox executives have insisted sales can be boosted by a game’s presence on Game Pass, some publishers remain unconvinced. Former Activision boss Bobby Kotick, for example, was always against putting Call of Duty into subscription services. Unlike Microsoft, console rival Sony does not release its new exclusives straight into its subscription service.

In an interview with IGN last year, Xbox boss Phil Spencer was asked how he’d handle his and Kotick’s different ideologies after the deal to buy Activision Blizzard closed. “Well, there’s a different person making the decisions,” Spencer laughed.

In the shorter term, tomorrow, October 16, South Park: The Fractured but Whole (Cloud, Console, and PC) hits Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard. A day later, on October 17, Donut County (Cloud, Console, and PC) returns to the Game Pass library via Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard, and MechWarrior 5: Clans (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) hits Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass as a day-one release.

Then it’s the big one: Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Cloud, Console, and PC) on October 25 via Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass only. Also on October 25, last year’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Cloud) via Game Pass Ultimate, and battle royale Call of Duty: Warzone (Cloud) via Game Pass Ultimate.

Moving on from October 25 and Call of Duty, Ashen (Cloud, Console, and PC) returns to Game Pass via Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard on October 29.

And finally for October, Dead Island 2 (PC) enters Game Pass for PC gamers via Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass on October 31 (it’s already available on Game Pass via Cloud and Console).

Microsoft also mentioned StarCraft: Remastered (PC) – November 5 (Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass) and StarCraft 2: Campaign Collection (PC) – November 5 (Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass), which are set to kick off Wave 1 of November 2024’s Game Pass lineup.

Xbox Game Pass October 2024 Wave 2 Lineup:

  • South Park: The Fractured but Whole (Cloud, Console, and PC) – October 16
    Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard
  • Donut County (Cloud, Console, and PC) – October 17
    Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard
  • MechWarrior 5: Clans (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – October 17
    Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – October 25
    Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (Cloud) – October 25
    Game Pass Ultimate
  • Call of Duty: Warzone (Cloud) – October 25
    Game Pass Ultimate
  • Ashen (Cloud, Console, and PC) – October 29
    Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard
  • Dead Island 2 (PC) – October 31
    Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
  • StarCraft: Remastered (PC) – November 5
    Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
  • StarCraft II: Campaign Collection (PC) – November 5
    Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pas

As usual, a number of games leave Game Pass as new titles arrive.

Here’s what’s leaving Xbox Game Pass on October 31:

  • Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Headbangers (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Inkulinati (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Lonely Mountain’s Downhill (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Mineko’s Night Market (Cloud, Console, and PC)

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.