Marvel Rivals Players are Already Worried Human Torch Is OP Days Before Mid-Season Update

As Marvel Rivals players plot how they’ll use the Human Torch to smoke enemy teams when he arrives alongside a mid-season update later this week, others are already worried the fiery Fantastic Four member will be overpowered at launch.

NetEase Games pulled back the curtain on its next Duelist hero addition yesterday, revealing a first look at how Johnny Storm’s gameplay will light up the Marvel Rivals battlefield. While it’s easy to look at things like flight as standout features for the character, there are a few specific abilities that have players fearful of Human Torch takeovers once the Season 1.5 update launches February 21.

Concerns about the fire-based Marvel hero’s impact really kicked off when content creator Necros shared an early peek at some of the character’s abilities. It was here players got a closer look at how the Pyro Prison ability, which allows Human Torch to burn enemies within a certain area, can be used to control a match. In short, Pyro Prison’s reach can extend across massive portions of a stage, inflicting constant damage to any enemy who steps in the affected location. It’s not an insignificant amount of damage either, as the viral clip shows training range bots losing health at a staggering pace.

There’s also Human Torch’s team-up ability with Storm, which allows the X-Men hero to create a giant fire tornado. The move seems to be one of Marvel Rivals’ stronger team-up moves, and although we don’t know exactly how effective it will be in your average match, there are plenty of players already worried about running into this exact strategy for the next few weeks. X/Twitter user @xBattledR0id is convinced this means we’ll see Human Torch “perma banned” in upper-tier competitive games out of the gate.

“I am just being honest,” they added in a follow-up post. “Between this and the Storm team-up there will be very few games where he isn’t banned.”

Making matters worse is Human Torch’s ability to fly, a feature that has already had players fearful of Iron Man attacks from the sky since launch. As with any live-service title, new character additions will draw attention from players regardless of their preferred playstyle. In other words, expect to see a lot of Johnny Storms lighting up matches for the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile, some fans are looking for their own solutions to a potential Johnny Storm problem. Many have jokingly come up with the idea that water-based heroes like Jeff the Land Shark and Namor should be able to extinguish Johnny’s flames or even do a bit of extra damage. There’s no sign that any such mechanic will be made available in Marvel Rivals for now, of course. We won’t really know how the new hero will shift the meta until he launches in a few days.

The Human Torch isn’t the only Fantastic Four member touching down this Friday. When the Season 1 mid-season update launches, it will also introduce The Thing as the newest Vanguard member. Although the rocky hero isn’t quite as scary as his silver-tongued teammate, he’ll almost certainly be showing up in most players’ matches in the weeks ahead.

For more on Marvel Rivals, you can read about NetEase’s recent decision to cut members of Marvel Rivals’ U.S.-based design team in Seattle. You can also learn more about why NetEase those rumored hero leak plants are nothing to worry about.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

Upcoming Nintendo Switch Games: Release Dates for 2025 and Beyond

The Nintendo Switch is going out in a blaze of glory, with some exciting games launching to make way for the console’s successor: the now officially announced Switch 2. Whether they’re exclusively developed for the Switch or ported over from other platforms, these upcoming Switch games will wrap up the Switch’s final year while also being compatible with the Switch 2 upon release.

In 2025, we’ll get our hands on the last few games that were announced during last year’s Nintendo Directs as well as The Game Awards 2024. Whether you own the original Switch or are looking ahead to what will release on the Switch 2, here are all the new Switch games we can look forward to in 2025 and beyond.

Take a look at our guide to all upcoming video games for release dates on every platform.

All Upcoming Switch Games With Release Dates

Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection (February 27, 2025)

Duelists, rejoice. This collection comes jack-packed with some of the earliest games in the Yu-Gi-Oh! series: 16 of them, to be precise. Most of the Konami-developed titles originally released in the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance generations, with highlights including 2001’s The Eternal Duelist Soul and 2002’s The Sacred Cards.

Suikoden I&II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars (March 6, 2025)

Not the first, and probably not the last, remastered compilation of Konami’s first two Suikoden games. Suikoden I & II were first released on the original PlayStation back in the late 90’s and were previously remastered for the PlayStation Portable in the 2000’s. In early 2025, new HD remasters of the classic RPGs are arriving on the Nintendo Switch.

MLB The Show 25 (March 15, 2025)

Paul Skenes, Elly De La Cruz, and Gunnar Henderson are all featured on the cover of this year’s MLB The Show, which will celebrate the series’ 20th anniversary. The baseball sim has advertised more enhancements to baseball mechanics, including an all-new Ambush Hitting difficulty, as well as more personalization in its “Road to the Show” gameplay mode.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition (March 20, 2025)

Xenoblade Chronicles X was originally released on the Wii U back in 2015, and a “visually enhanced” Definitive Edition of the action RPG is coming to Switch in 2025. This release follows a Definitive Edition of the original Xenoblade Chronicles that was released for Switch back in 2020, while Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and 3 were released straight onto the handheld console in 2017 and 2022, respectively.

Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land (March 21, 2025)

The newest addition to Koei Tecmo’s Atelier series introduces a new alchemist, Yumia Liessfeldt, and a host of new companions. Try to uncover the mysteries of an empire’s fall while learning synthesis skills to defeat enemies in real-time combat.

Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game (March 25, 2025)

A cozy farming game set in The Shire is pretty much a match made in heaven. Tales of the Shire lets you create your own hobbit during a time of peace in Middle-earth. Starting in March 2025, you’ll be able to indulge in the ultimate fantasy by spending your days cooking and eating delicious meals with your friends.

Care Bears: Unlock the Magic (March 27, 2025)

Remember the Care Bears? Apparently the show got rebooted in 2019 as “Care Bears: Unlock the Magic,” and now the family-friendly franchise is getting a Switch game tie-in. The arcade-style collection features staple characters from the cartoon, including Cheer Bear, Grumpy Bear, and Funshine Bear.

Star Overdrive (April 10, 2025)

Star Overdrive is an upcoming indie adventure game set on a distant alien planet. Fly around on your hoverboard while conquering enemies and solving puzzles to try and reunite with your lost love.

Rusty Rabbit (April 17, 2025)

Several years after Nitroplus revealed Rusty Rabbit in a concept trailer, the side-scrolling action platformer is finally coming to Switch. Play as the middle-aged rabbit, Stamp, who has built his own mech to traverse a post-apocalyptic frozen wasteland.

LUNAR Remastered Collection (April 18, 2025)

This remastered collection brings the two original Lunar JRPGs, LUNAR Silver Star Story and LUNAR 2 Eternal Blue, to modern consoles. The remasters come with several quality-of-life improvements, including enhanced graphics and both English and Japanese voice-acting.

Capcom Fighting Collection 2 (May 16, 2025)

That’s right, it’s another fighting game collection. This time, Capcom is compiling games released between 1998 and 2004, which is what some would call a peak era for arcade fighting. This second fighting collection includes both the English and Japanese versions of six games total, including Capcom vs. SnK and the Power Stone beat-em-up series.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time (May 21, 2025)

The highly-anticipated sequel to 2014’s Fantasy Life finally has a release date. This “slow-life” RPG combines adventure storylines with life-sim mechanics, allowing players to build a life (and a city) on a deserted island while facing mysteries of the past. Explore randomized dungeons, switch between 14 different “Jobs,” and meet friends to help you in your journey.

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma (May 30, 2025)

The iconic RPG social sim is back. As a powerful Earth Dancer, you must travel across the eastern nation of Azuma to battle monsters and restore villages. The new Rune Factory game looks like it places a stronger emphasis on action and anime-style character designs, though improved Switch performance with an all-new storyline will hopefully mark an improvement over Rune Factory 5. This is Rune Factory, so there will be plenty of romance, now with fully voiced “scenarios” and even the ability to romance the unselected MC.

Upcoming Switch Games With Unknown Release Dates

There are plenty more Nintendo Switch games in development that don’t have a solid release date yet. Here are some more Switch games we know are on the way:

When Is the Nintendo Switch 2 Coming Out?

Over the last year, we’ve been hearing rumors about the Nintendo Switch successor regarding its appearance, release date, and name. On January 16, Nintendo finally confirmed a decent chunk of these rumors with the official announcement of the Switch 2. While the announcement trailer shows off some new features (including what looks like the potential to use the Joy-Con as a mouse), it doesn’t provide any insight into specs or game launches. More official info, including pricing and a release date, will arrive via a Nintendo Direct scheduled for April 2.

What Games Will Launch on the Switch 2?

One thing the trailer confirms is that the Switch 2 will be, for the most part, backward compatible, supporting both physical and digital games from the original Switch. Otherwise, it definitely looks like the trailer features a new Mario Kart game, and plenty of leaks have suggested third-party games like Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7 Remake will be ported onto the console. For more info, you can check out our list of games reportedly set to release on the Switch 2.

Cristina Alexander is a freelance writer for IGN. She has contributed her work to various publications, including Digital Trends, TheGamer, Twinfinite, Mega Visions, and The Escapist. To paraphrase Calvin Harris, she wears her love for Sonic the Hedgehog on her sleeve like a big deal. Follow her on Twitter @SonicPrincess15.

Microsoft and Hellblade Developer Ninja Theory Built an AI Called Muse Designed to Generate Ideas for a Game’s Design — and It’s Already Making ‘Complex’ Gameplay Sequences

Microsoft has announced a new generative AI model designed for gameplay ideation.

The company detailed what it calls the first World and Human Action Model (WHAM). The WHAM, Katja Hofmann, Senior Principal Research Manager and lead of the Microsoft Research Game Intelligence team, said in a blog post, is a generative AI model of a video game that can generate game visuals, controller actions, or both.

Microsoft calls this generative AI model Muse, which was developed by the Microsoft Research Game Intelligence and Teachable AI Experiences (Tai X) teams in collaboration with Hellblade developer Ninja Theory. It’s open sourcing the weights and sample data and making the executable available for the WHAM Demonstrator — a concept prototype that provides a visual interface for interacting with WHAM models and multiple ways of prompting the models.

The company provided a number of gameplay clips showing what Muse is capable of. Currently, the model can generate “complex gameplay sequences that are consistent over several minutes” just by prompting the model with 10 initial frames (one second) of human gameplay and the controller actions of the whole play sequence.

The game used to train Muse was Ninja Theory’s 2020 multiplayer game Bleeding Edge. “We worked closely with our colleagues at Ninja Theory and with Microsoft compliance teams to ensure that the data was collected ethically and used responsibly for research purposes,” Hofmann insisted.

“It’s been amazing to see the variety of ways Microsoft Research has used the Bleeding Edge environment and data to explore novel techniques in a rapidly moving AI industry,” said Gavin Costello, technical director at Ninja Theory.

“From the hackathon that started it all, where we first integrated AI into Bleeding Edge, to building AI agents that could behave more like human players, to the World and Human Action Model being able to dream up entirely new sequences of Bleeding Edge gameplay under human guidance, it’s been eye-opening to see the potential this type of technology has.”

Muse is used in “world model mode” meaning it is used to predict how the game will evolve from the initial prompt sequence. The more closely the generated gameplay sequence resembles the actual game, the more accurately Muse has captured the dynamics of that game.

Generative AI is one of the hottest and most controversial topics in the creative industries. As video game development costs rise, publishers are increasingly looking to AI tools to speed up work and cut costs. Call of Duty reportedly sold an “AI-generated cosmetic” for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in late 2023, and fans accused Activision of using generative AI again for a loading screen last year. EA said in September that AI was “the very core” of its business, and just last month, Capcom said it was experimenting with generative AI to create the “hundreds of thousands” of ideas needed for in-game environments.

Head of PlayStation Productions and head of product at PlayStation Studios Asad Qizilbash weighed in on AI to say its use in video games is important to Gen Z and Gen Alpha gamers who seek “personalization across everything.”

“For instance, non-player characters in games could interact with players based on their actions, making it feel more personal,” Qizilbash said. “This is important for the younger Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences, who are the first generations that grew up digitally and are looking for personalization across everything, as well as looking for experiences to have more meaning.”

Microsoft is all-in on generative AI, as anyone with even a cursory knowledge of ChatGPT and OpenAI will be aware of, and so this development with Ninja Theory comes as little surprise. Still, the company will face tough questions from some within the video game development community who are worried models like Muse will put them out of a job.

In the blog post, Hofmann insisted that Microsoft’s team “focus on exploring the capabilities that models like Muse need to effectively support human creatives.”

“I look forward to seeing the many ways in which the community will explore these models and build on our research,” Hofmann continued. “I cannot wait to see all the ways that these models and subsequent research will help shape and increase our understanding of how generative AI models of human gameplay may support gameplay ideation and pave the way for future, novel, AI-based game experiences, including the use cases that our colleagues at Xbox have already started to explore.”

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.

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake Is on Sale for Up to 23% Off

Presidents’ Day video game deals may have come and gone, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still some worthy discounts to check out. If you’ve had Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake on your radar to add to your collection of physical games, we’ve got good news: Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake for Xbox, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch is on sale right now at Amazon.

Each copy has varying discounts, though. The Xbox Series X version is currently 23% off, dropping its price to $45.99, the Nintendo Switch version is 16% off, dropping its price to $50.40, and the PlayStation 5 version is 9% off with a price tag of $54.50. Regardless of the price, though, we consider this game a “shining example of how to remake a classic RPG” in our review, so pick it up at a discount for your collection today.

Save up to 23% on Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake

IGN’s Logan Plant has plenty of praise for this game in our Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake review. He explains that, “It spruces up the 36-year-old original with great quality-of-life improvements that enhance the journey without unrecognizably transforming it, along with a beautiful new coat of paint that proves Dragon Quest and the HD-2D art style are a perfect match.”

If you’re on the hunt for even more gaming deals, have a look at our roundups of the best Nintendo Switch deals, the best Xbox deals, and the best PlayStation deals. In each of these we’ve gathered up our favorite discounts at the moment across video games, hardware, and accessories so you can save some cash while stocking up on excellent items for your preferred platform. It’s also worth checking out our breakdown of the best video game deals for an overall look at the best offers for each console.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.

Xbox Game Pass February 2025 Wave 2 Lineup Confirmed

Microsoft has announced the Xbox Game Pass February 2025 Wave 2 lineup, which kicked off with Obsidian entertainment’s single-player fantasy role-playing game Avowed on February 18.

On February 20, EA Sports F1 24 (Cloud, Console, and PC) hits Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass on EA Play. IGN’s F1 24 review returned a 7/10. We said: “In isolation, F1 24 remains a slick, deep, and marvellous motorsports experience, but it’s hard to argue it’s essential for returning players.”

Also on February 20, the well-received Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) enters Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard. “Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is an isometric RPG by Owlcat Games, set in the grim darkness of the 41st millennium,” reads the official blurb. “As a powerful Rogue Trader, you command a starship, assemble a crew, and explore the Imperium, making fateful decisions in tactical, turn-based combat.” IGN’s Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader review returned an 8/10.

Here’s a big one: on February 25, Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs: Legion (Cloud, Console, and PC) hits Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard. “Explore a massive urban open world featuring London’s many iconic landmarks and fun side activities where you can recruit (and play as) anyone. Everyone you see has a unique backstory, personality, and skill set for unique situations. Team up with your friends to complete new four-player co-op missions and PvP matches online.” IGN’s Watch Dogs: Legion review returned an 8/10.

Xbox Game Pass February 2025 Wave 2 lineup

  • EA Sports F1 24 (Cloud, Console, and PC) EA Play – February 20
    Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
  • Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – February 20
    Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard
  • Watch Dogs: Legion (Cloud, Console, and PC) – February 25
    Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard

As usual, a number of games leave Game Pass this month as new games enter the subscription. You can use your membership discount to save up to 20% on your purchase to keep a game in your library.

Leaving Xbox Game Pass on February 28

  • F1 22 (Console and PC) EA Play
  • Gris (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Maneater (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • PAW Patrol World (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Space Engineers (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Wo Long Fallen Dynasty (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Yakuza 3 Remastered (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Yakuza 4 Remastered (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.

Activision’s Costly Call of Duty Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Crossover Has Some Players Saying Black Ops 6 Should Just Go Free-to-Play at This Point

Call of Duty’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover looks set to cost up to $90’s worth of COD Points in order to obtain all the items — and the community is now saying Activision should just make Black Ops 6 free-to-play at this point.

Activision unveiled the Black Ops 6 Season 02 Reloaded content coming to the shooter on February 20, and detailed the mid-season Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover in the process.

Each of the four turtles (Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael) has their own premium bundle. Based on previous collaborations, these bundles are expected to cost 2,400 COD Points, or $19.99, each. So, if you want all four turtles you face the prospect of handing over $80’s worth of COD Points.

But that’s not all. As it did with the controversial Squid Game crossover, Activision has created a premium event pass for the Turtles crossover, which costs 1,100 COD Points / $10. This includes a number of eye-catching cosmetics, chief among them Splinter. Again, there is no other way of getting Splinter than paying the $10 for the premium track of the event pass. The free track includes two Foot Clan soldier skins, among other cosmetics.

As many have pointed out, the Turtles crossover is heavy on the cosmetics but does not feature gameplay affecting items. No-one has to buy any or all of it to compete in Black Ops 6 multiplayer. And there are many within the community saying it’s easy to ignore Call of Duty crossovers like the Turtles one and leave those willing to spend more to it.

But that hasn’t stopped some players within the community from criticizing Activision once again for the high cost of these cosmetics, and are saying this second ever Call of Duty premium event pass suggests Black Ops 6 is now being monetized as if it were a free-to-play game like Fortnite.

“Activision casually glossing over the fact that they want you to pay $80+ if you want the 4 Turtles, plus another $10+ if you want the TMNT event pass rewards,” redditor II_JangoFett_II said. “Call of Duty’s Gross greed strikes again… DESPICABLE!”

“Guess we can expect an event pass sold every season now,” Hipapitapotamus suggested. “Remember when events were good and got you cool universal camos for free.”

“The Turtles don’t use guns,” APensiveMonkey declared. “Their fingers wouldn’t even… I hate this…”

It’s worth going into more detail on how Activision monetizes Black Ops 6. Each season brings with it a new battle pass, the base version of which costs 1,100 COD Points / $9.99. There’s an extra premium version of the battle pass, called BlackCell, which costs $29.99 (you can’t buy this one with COD Points). Then there is a constant stream of cosmetics available to buy from the store. The Turtles crossover, with its premium event pass, is on top of all this.

“So they expect the playerbase to buy the game itself, buy the battle pass/black cell and now this? Na that’s too much,” PunisherR35 added. “If this is gonna be the norm moving forward, CoD needs to move to a FTP model (campaign, MP).”

In truth, Activision’s aggressive monetization of Call of Duty is nothing new. It’s just that the new premium event pass, which made its debut with Black Ops 6’s Squid Game crossover, has pushed some fans over the edge. And as has been pointed out many times before, the standardized monetization across the $70 Black Ops 6 and the free-to-play battle royale Warzone does Black Ops 6 no favors. What might be acceptable for Warzone given it’s free-to-play isn’t necessarily acceptable for Black Ops 6, given it costs $70 just to be able to play Multiplayer.

And that’s where the calls for Black Ops 6 Multiplayer to go free-to-play come from. With each new microtransaction Call of Duty Multiplayer feels more and more like Fortnite, Apex Legends, Marvel Rivals, and of course Warzone.

Activision and parent company Microsoft will of course stick to its guns, given Call of Duty’s incredible popularity. Black Ops 6 was the biggest Call of Duty launch ever, and set a new single day Game Pass subscription record. Sales on PlayStation and Steam jumped 60% compared to 2023’s Modern Warfare 3. Clearly, Call of Duty is doing the business for Activision and new owner Microsoft, which the financial officers will no doubt be delighted with given the Xbox maker paid an eye-watering $69 billion for the company.

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.

Team Fortress 2 Modders Rejoice as Valve Releases Full Client and Server Game Code

Surprise! Valve’s just released a massive update to the Source SDK, adding “all” the Team Fortress 2 client and server game code.

Valve said the update lets players build entirely new games from its source code, and unlike Steam Workshop or local content mods, it gives modders access to change, extend, and even rewrite Team Fortress in pretty much any way imaginable.

You won’t be able to sell anything you make with it — which means any mods or spin-off content will have to be released for free on a non-commercial basis — but creations can be published on the Steam Store, “appearing as new games in the Steam game list.”

“Players have a lot of investment in their TF2 inventories, and Steam Workshop contributors have created a lot of that content,” Valve explained via a blog post. “The majority of items in the game now are thanks to the hard work of the TF2 community.

“To respect that, we’re asking TF2 mod makers continue to respect that connection, and to not make mods that have the purpose of trying to profit off Workshop contributors’ efforts. We’re hoping that many mods will continue to allow players access their TF2 inventory, if this makes sense for the mod.”

Valve also added that it was making “a big update” to all its multiplayer back-catalog Source engine titles, too, adding 64-bit binary support, scalable HUD/UI, prediction fixes, and “a lot of other improvements” to not only TF2, but also DoD:S, HL2:DM, CS:S, and HLDM:S.

Back in December, after seven long years, The Team Fortress 2 comic released its seventh and final update. The comics have not only been a great place for fans to uncover new information about their favorite characters and stories, but they’re also a testament to Valve’s own continuing interest in one of its oldest series.

Image credit: Valve.

Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Pokémon Go Developer Niantic Reportedly in Talks to Sell Video Game Business to Saudi-Owned Company Behind Stumble Guys

Pokémon Go developer Niantic is reportedly in talks to sell its video game division to Saudi-owned Scopely for $3.5 billion.

As first reported by Bloomberg, the sale would likely include Pokémon Go, the hit augmented-reality mobile game that sends players out into the real world to collect Pokémon.

A source talking to Bloomberg under the promise of anonymity said that while the deal was by no means complete, if approved, it could be confirmed in a matter of weeks.

Neither Niantic, Scopely, nor its owner Savvy Games Group were prepared to comment publicly on the reported acquisition.

Savvy Games Group acquired Scopely back in April 2023 in a deal worth $4.9 billion that came after the Saudi Arabia government said it wanted to buy “a leading games publisher.” Scopely publishes a range of hit mobile titles, most notably The Walking Dead: Road to Survival, Stumble Guys, Marvel Strike Force, and Monopoly Go.

Savvy Gaming Group also purchased two of the world’s biggest esports companies, ESL and FACEIT, for a total of $1.5 billion in 2022.

“Savvy Games Group is one part of our ambitious strategy aiming to make Saudi Arabia the ultimate global hub for the games and esports sector by 2030,” Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz said at the time.

“We are harnessing the untapped potential across the esports and games sector to diversify our economy, drive innovation in the sector, and further scale the entertainment and esports competition offerings across the Kingdom.”

Vikki Blake. Reporter. Critic. Columnist. Consultant. Guardian. Spartan. Silent Hillian. Legend. High Chaos.

Marvel Rivals Director and Entire Seattle Design Team Laid Off, NetEase Tells Fans Not to Worry About the Game

Marvel Rivals developer NetEase has confirmed cuts to its Seattle-based design team for “organizational reasons.”

Overnight, Marvel Rivals game director Thaddeus Sasser took to LinkedIn to announce that he and his team were laid off.

“This is such a weird industry,” Sasser began. “My stellar, talented team just helped deliver an incredibly successful new franchise in Marvel Rivals for NetEase Games…

“…and were just laid off!

“Oh well! Times are tough all over – Let’s find these incredible people new jobs, because we all need to eat, right? :D”

The video game development community reacted with a mix of shock and anger to the cuts, given Marvel Rivals’ explosive success. The free-to-play hero shooter has seen over 20 million downloads since launch in December, and huge peak concurrent player numbers on Steam.

According to Sasser’s LinkedIn profile, his team focused on game and level design work for Marvel Rivals, “offering guidance, strategy, and design direction over the last couple of years.”

NetEase issued IGN a statement confirming the layoffs, but failed to specify how many people were cut.

“We recently made the difficult decision to adjust Marvel Rivals’ development team structure for organizational reasons and to optimize development efficiency for the game,” NetEase said.

“This resulted in a reduction of a design team based in Seattle that is part of a larger global design function in support of Marvel Rivals. We appreciate the hard work and dedication of those affected and will be treating them confidentially and respectfully with recognition for their individual contributions.”

But NetEase was keen to stress that the layoffs won’t impact ongoing support for Marvel Rivals, whose primary development team is based in China.

“We want to reassure our fanbase that the core development team for Marvel Rivals, which continues to be led by Lead Producer Weicong Wu and Game Creative Director Guangyun Chen in Guangzhou, China, remains fully committed to delivering an exceptional experience,” NetEase continued.

“We are investing more, not less, into the evolution and growth of this game. We’re excited to deliver new super hero characters, maps, features, and content to ensure an engaging live service experience for our worldwide player base.”

This is the latest round of layoffs at NetEase, which has pulled back from a number of overseas investments and closed studios in the U.S. and Japan, including Visions of Mana developer Ouka Studios. In November, Worlds Untold, headed by Mass Effect alumni Mac Walters, announced a pause of operations after a split with publisher NetEase. And in January it cut Jar of Sparks, founded by Halo and Destiny 2 veteran Jerry Hook in 2022.

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.

How to Play the Borderlands Games (and Spin-Offs) in Timeline Order

Quickly earning a reputation as the face of the looter shooter genre in the years since its release, Borderlands really has become one of gaming’s most recognisable franchises. From its cel-shaded art style to its masked psycho poster child, the foul-mouthed, tongue-in-cheek sci-fi universe is now a staple of modern video game culture. It’s not stopping there though, with the series quickly morphing into a multimedia sensation in its own right, spinning off into comics, novels and even a tabletop game.

This month, that journey reaches its biggest milestone yet, with Borderlands finally making its long-awaited jump to the big screen courtesy of Hostel and Thanksgiving director, Eli Roth. Reimagining Pandora and its vault-obsessed locals for a brand new audience. And while the film did not review particularly well, it’s still a major step for any franchise.

With Borderlands 4 confirmed for release later this year, there’s likely to be a lot of new and returning fans looking to dive back into the games and reacquaint themselves with where it all started. So, we decided to put together a quick timeline of the series to get you caught up on how it all fits together.

Jump to:

How Many Borderlands Games Are There?

In total, there are currently seven Borderlands games and spin-offs that are canon to the series, and two smaller, non-canon titles: Borderlands: Vault Hunter Pinball and Borderlands Legends.

Where’s The Best Place to Start?

While it’s the simplest answer, the best place to start is arguably Borderlands 1, although if you don’t care about the story, any of the three mainline games are a good introduction.

All three entries in the trilogy are relatively similar in style, scope and gameplay, and better yet, they’re all available on modern consoles and PC. That being said, there is a great overarching story that runs through the Borderlands saga, and if you’ve just come off the movie and want to follow it as intended, starting from the beginning is the best way to play.

Every Canon Borderlands Game in Chronological Order

These blurbs contain mild spoilers for each game, including characters, settings, and story beats.

1. Borderlands (2009)

The game that kickstarted it all. The very first Borderlands launched in 2009, telling the story of Lilith, Brick, Roland and Mordecai: a group of four “Vault Hunters” that venture out on the treasure hunt of a lifetime. Arriving on the volatile planet of Pandora, they seek out a legendary bunker known as The Vault, which is said to house unimaginable treasures.

As expected, their expedition quickly turns into a chaotic maelstrom of carnage, with the group facing off against a militia known as the Crimson Lance, contending with the planet’s savage wildlife and taking down hordes of bloodthirsty bandits. From the moment Borderlands hit shelves, it was a huge hit, launching the looter shooter genre into the stratosphere through its compelling gameplay loop of killing masses of enemies, discovering a near-limitless supply of guns and building your chosen character.

The game was also supported heavily after release, getting a further four expansions that took the game from zombie-themed islands to a tongue-in-cheek riff on Mad Max’s Thunderdome.

2. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (2014)

Developed by 2K Australia with the assistance of Gearbox Software, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel may have launched after Borderlands 2, but it fills in the gap between the first two Borderlands games. The story follows a group of new Vault Hunters, Athena, Wilhelm, Nisha and Claptrap, as they head out on a mission to find a Vault on the moon of Elpis.

The Pre-Sequel was, in a lot of ways, a bunch more of the Borderlands fans knew and loved. Set in a new locale with fresh classes to master and learn, it offered more guns, boss fights, quests and enemy encounters to plough through while the world waited for an inevitable Borderlands 3. However, its main selling point was further fleshing out the story of Borderlands 2, with the game featuring the second game’s main antagonist, Handsome Jack, in a leading role.

Alongside featuring many of the second game’s main bosses and characters years before their roles in the sequel’s story, it also offered a full view of Jack’s descent into madness, establishing the iconic foe’s origins. Much like the other games, 2K Australia added several expansions after the game launched, including the Holodome Onslaught and Claptastic Voyage maps, as well as two playable characters: the Doppelganger and the Baroness.

3. Borderlands 2 (2012)

The official sequel to Borderlands, Borderlands 2 launched in 2012, bringing players back to Pandora with a new squad of ambitious Vault Hunters in tow. The tale begins with our heroes, Maya, Axton, Salvador and Zer0, heading to Pandora to search for a new Vault. However, it quickly becomes apparent that the planet’s overlord, the sadistic Handsome Jack, doesn’t take kindly to brave adventurers seeking fame and fortune by uncovering the latest fabled Vault on Pandora. While riding a train across the untamed planet, Jack attempts to have them killed, leaving them stranded in an icy wasteland.

Left for dead, the team set out on an adventure to discover the truth behind Handsome Jack’s schemes, attempting to stop to him and find the Vault in the process. Borderlands 2 was essentially a bigger, more expansive take on the original game, offering plenty of quests, new classes to master, a charismatic main villain to take down and, somehow, even more guns to find and collect.

It’s still regarded by many as the best Borderlands to date, offering a fun story, memorable combat encounters and a healthy dose of the series’ trademark sense of humour. Much like the first game, it also came with a bunch of post-release support, including four additional campaigns, two bonus playable characters, and several Headhunter missions.

4. Tales From The Borderlands (2014 – 2015)

The first full spin-off of the series, Tales From The Borderlands was Walking Dead developer Telltale’s take on the Borderlands universe, offering an episodic, story-focused adventure set on the surface of Pandora. Unlike the mainline entries, Tales doesn’t centre on a team of super-powered, gun-obsessed Vault Hunters. Instead, it follows a crook and a corporate lackey who unwittingly stumble into a grand adventure.

Set after the events of Borderlands 2, we follow Rhys, a Hyperion employee lobbying for a higher position in the company, and Fiona, a con artist working with her sister, Sasha. After Rhys attempts to one-up a colleague by intercepting a deal to acquire a vault key, he learns the key was a fake in a con set-up by Fiona, entangling the two together and setting off a chain reaction of events that put them on the trail of a brand new Vault.

As with all of Telltale’s games, Tales From The Borderlands focuses primarily on a branching, cinematic story with moral choices that can change the direction of the narrative. In the years following its release, Tales From The Borderlands has been acknowledged as a key piece of the Borderlands canon, with original characters from the game even popping up in Borderlands 3.

5. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands (2022)

Gearbox Software’s most recent entry in the Borderlands franchise, from the outside, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands doesn’t look like a Borderlands game. Subbing out futuristic desert wastelands for a sprawling fantasy kingdom, while Wonderlands may have plenty of dragons, goblins and unicorns, it’s very much still a Borderlands game in everything but the setting.

Acting as a fully-fledged version of the beloved Borderlands 2 DLC, Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands once again has you entering the world of Bunkers and Badasses; the Borderlands equivalent of Dungeons and Dragons. With Tina as your very enthusiastic dungeon master, you’ll battle against a range of fantasy monsters, embark on some heroic quests and battle your way to the monstrous Dragon Lord.

As with all Borderlands games, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands boasts a metric ton of guns to find, classes to master and enemies to kill, while also incorporating new ideas to complement the shift in setting, such as an overworld area you traverse between missions and the ability to use spells. It also has its own helping of expansions to dig into, with four separate DLCs featuring new dungeons, bosses and gear.

6. Borderlands 3 (2019)

Seven years after the release of Borderlands 2, Gearbox Software returned for an official third entry, launching Borderlands 3 in 2019. As always, the threequel brings a fresh new cast of Vault Hunters into the fray, introducing players to Amara, FL4K, Zane and Moze, and sending them out on a chaotic new adventure.

This time around, players are tasked with stopping a pair of murderous siren twins named Troy and Tyreen, who are venturing across the galaxy and harnessing the power inside the vaults for a mysterious cause. In a franchise first, players are tasked with travelling to multiple planets to take them down, teaming with an array of familiar faces such as Lilith, Rhys, Maya, Brick, Zer0 and, of course, Claptrap.

As always, you can expect plenty of looter shooter chaos to ensue, with a heap of guns to find, enemies to eviscerate and new character classes to master. There’s also plenty of DLC content to jump into when you’re done, with Borderlands 3’s additional content offering four new campaigns, takedown missions and even designer and director cuts that resurrect a bunch of content left on the cutting room floor.

7. New Tales From The Borderlands (2022)

Gearbox Software’s official follow-up to Tales From The Borderlands, New Tales From The Borderlands is currently the last game on the chronological timeline. Bringing in a slate of fresh characters instead of opting for a continuation of the original Tales game, New Tales has three protagonists: Anu, Octavio and Fran.

The story follows the group’s adventures after stumbling into a vault and finding a precious artefact, which inadvertently puts them in the line of fire of the Tediore corporation and its ruthless CEO, Susan Coldwell. With the relic now in their possession, the trio begins to uncover its true powers, all the while attempting to evade Coldwell as she hunts them down.

Much like the previous game, New Tales From The Borderlands is focused almost entirely on weaving a branching story that adapts and warps based on your choices. You can expect plenty of dialogue options, QTE fight sequences and tough decisions that will impact the outcome of the adventure.

Every Borderlands Game in Release Order

  1. Borderlands (2009)
  2. Borderlands Legends (2012)
  3. Borderlands 2 (2012)
  4. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (2014)
  5. Tales From The Borderlands (2014 – 2015)
  6. Borderlands 3 (2019)
  7. Tiny Tina’s Wonderland (2022)
  8. New Tales From The Borderlands (2022)
  9. Borderlands: Vault Hunter Pinball (2023)
  10. Borderlands 4 (2025)

What’s Next For Borderlands?

In terms of games, Borderlands 4 is the next major release on the horizon, set for release on September 23, 2025. Gearbox Software revealed the sequel after the studio announced it was being acquired by Take-Two, with Gearbox head Randy Pitchford telling us in an interview that “It’s the greatest thing [the studio has] ever done.”

Although that’s all we have to go on for now, It seems as though projects in the Borderlands universe could be more frequent going forward. We learned recently that the franchise will be a big focus for Take-Two following the acquisition, with Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick noting in a investor’s call that the company sees a lot of “potential growth opportunities” for the IP. We’ll have to wait to see exactly what Zelnick means by that, but it appears we could be trekking to Pandora a lot more in the coming years.

Callum Williams is an IGN freelancer covering features and guides. When he’s away from his desk, you can usually find him obsessing over the lore of the latest obscure indie horror game or bashing his head against a boss in the newest soulslike. You can catch him over on Twitter at @CaIIumWilliams.