Category: IGN

As the WWE continues to distance itself from Brock Lesnar, the wrestler has been removed from the cover art of the special edition of 2K’s upcoming WWE 2K24.

As spotted by wrestling reporter Andrew Ravens, who also posted a side-by-side of the original cover and the latest one, Lesnar was cut from the promo art of the Forty Years of WrestleMania edition of the game. There’s now a larger version of John Cena where Lesnar used to be.

Brock Lesnar was removed from the WrestleMania cover of WWE 2K24. The first photo is the latest version. pic.twitter.com/UPv2JCFsJG

— Andrew Ravens l WrestlingNews.co (@Andrew_Ravens) February 6, 2024

It’s unclear if Lesnar will be removed from the game altogether when it releases on March 8. A source with knowledge of the situation, however, tells IGN that steps are being taken to update the game in accordance with recent developments surrounding Lesnar and his reported connection to a lawsuit against Vince McMahon and the WWE. IGN has reached out to 2K for comment.

Lesnar has already been removed from 2K’s WWE Supercard mobile game. The developments come after the publication of the aforementioned bombshell lawsuit filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant, which contains a long list of disturbing allegations against McMahon, including sexual assault and sex trafficking.

The lawsuit alleges, among other things, that McMahon directed Grant to take explicit photos of herself for a WWE star that the company was trying to re-sign. The wrestler is not named in the lawsuit, but the Wall Street Journal reports that Lesnar is the wrestler in question.

Lesnar was also reportedly set to be a participant in last month’s 2024 men’s Royal Rumble, but those plans changed after the report.

WWE 2K24 will be released on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4/5, and PC on March 8.

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

CD Projekt Red is gearing up for its Cyberpunk 2077 follow-up, codenamed Project Orion, and it’s starting by bringing on developers with some impressive resumes.

The Witcher studio announced its new moves in a press release, marking a major milestone as it moves on from its dystopian RPG and its Phantom Liberty DLC. These next steps include a few “high-profile additions” to staff, including developers with experience on franchises like Hitman, Diablo, Mortal Kombat, Dishonored, and more.

First on the list is Dan Hernberg, who is jumping on to Project Orion as executive producer. His experience includes serving as head of production at Amazon Games and lead product manager at Blizzard Entertainment. Ryan Barnard, who will help as design director, is best known for working as a game director at Ubisoft Massive and gameplay director at IO Interactive.

The engineering director spot will be handled by Alan Villani, who previously aided with technical direction on past Mortal Kombat games. Former Control, Dishonored: Death of The Outsider, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora developer Anna Megill will serve on Project Orion as lead writer. Finally, Alexander Freed will also help with writing after previously working with studios like DICE, Obsidian Entertainment, and Wizards of the Coast.

“As work on the follow-up to Cyberpunk 2077, codename Project Orion, enters early stages of development at CD PROJEKT RED North America,” CD Projekt Red said, “the company is currently hiring for various positions across its Boston and Vancouver locations.”

Those interested in applying to work on Project Orion can check out open positions here.

Details on the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, which is being developed at CD Projekt Red’s Boston location, are scarce, but we do know some information about what the team has up its sleeve. One idea floating around is multiplayer, a feature absent from the original game that the studio is now “considering.”

We also know that the company is hoping that the Cyberpunk franchise will undergo a “similar evolution” as The Witcher series, meaning the team wants Orion to offer even more gameplay enhancements and features when it eventually arrives. This is all while much of the studio is focusing on The Witcher 4.

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

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

Capcom has officially floated the idea of sequels to Okami, Dead Rising, Mega Man, and other beloved franchises in a fan survey.

As reported by Nintendo Life, players can now vote in “Super Elections” on the Capcom website: a series of 10 questions surrounding myriad topics and game franchises.

One of the more interesting questions saw Capcom ask players which series they’d most like to see a sequel or spin-off to, with answers such as Dino Crisis, Okami, Onimusha, Dead Rising, Darkstalkers, Breath of Fire, Mega Man, Ghosts ‘n Goblins, and more, though it did include some ongoing franchises like Resident Evil and Monster Hunter too.

Beyond just a sequel or spin-off, Capcom is also considering which franchises are worth remaking completely, perhaps following the incredible success of the Resident Evil remakes. It again asked fans what they’d like to see, floating the likes of Mega Man, Onimusha, Commando, Rival Schools, Final Fight, Ace Attorney, and more.

These surveys aren’t especially unusual, with companies regularly using them to test the interest in various franchises. Embracer Group did the same with Legacy of Kain in late 2022, for example, asking fans if they’d be interested in a remake, remaster, or sequel.

It received over 100,000 responses to that survey though hasn’t said anything since, so even if fan interest in one of these Capcom franchises was especially high, it would likely be years before an official announcement was made.

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

Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered does not feature a platinum trophy on PlayStation 5, developer Aspyr has confirmed to IGN.

However, the PlayStation 4 version does. That means the PS5 versions of Tomb Raider 1-3 only feature individual Bronze, Silver, and Gold trophies.

In a statement issued to IGN, Aspyr, which has developed the remaster collection on behalf of principle Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics, said that the collection includes over 200 trophies to collect, but no platinum on PS5.

Here’s the statement in full:

“The PlayStation 4 version of Tomb Raider I-III Remastered features a platinum trophy, while the PS5 version does not. Players will receive both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 version of Tomb Raider I-III Remastered with their purchase. This collection includes over 200 trophies covering game completions, easter eggs, and new challenges.”

It’s a bizarre situation that has disappointed some PS5 owners who had planned to pick up Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered on their console, and rekindles memories of the PS5 version of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, which also launched without a platinum trophy.

Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered includes visually updated versions of Tomb Raider and The Unfinished Business Expansion, Tomb Raider 2 and The Gold Mask Expansion, and Tomb Raider 3 and The Lost Artifact Expansion. It comes out February 13 across PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, 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.

While the world waits to find out the future of Xbox, Microsoft has announced the Game Pass lineup for February 2024.

Available today, February 6, is Anuchard (Cloud, Console, and PC). Here’s the official blurb: “The kingdom of Anuchard has fallen. Generations after the collapse, its surviving descendants have chosen you to become The Bellwielder of the magical Audros Bell. Go forth, battle monsters, solve puzzles, and restore Anuchard to its former skyward glory!”

Tomorrow, February 7, sees the addition of Dovetail Games’ Train Sim World 4 (Cloud, Console, and PC): “Hit high speeds, roam free along the tracks and get creative with a host of new tools and features in Train Sim World 4. Design your own liveries, plan Scenarios and capture railfan shots with the new Photo Mode across three detailed routes in the UK, Austria and USA.”

Then, on February 8, courtesy of EA Play comes Madden NFL 24 (Console and PC). PC Game Pass or Ultimate members get access to EA Sports’ football game, just in time for the Super Bowl. IGN’s Madden NFL 24 review returned a 6/10. We said: “New animations and improved AI make Madden NFL 24’s on-field action the best it’s ever been, but everything that happens off the field is a slog of dated modes and laggy menus that brings everything around it down.”

Moving on, February 13 sees the addition of the Resident Evil 3 remake (Cloud, Console, and PC). “Another stellar remake of a classic survival horror from Capcom. Keep em’ coming,” we said in our Resident Evil 3 review, which scored the game 9/10.

Two games on February 14: cozy puzzle game A Little To The Left (Cloud, Console, and PC), and side-scroller action RPG Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Cloud, Console, and PC), which returns to Game Pass. “The wait was worth it,” we wrote in our Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night review. “Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a whole new castle to crash full of unexpected monsters and mysteries in the vein of classic Castlevania.”

February 15 sees PlateUp! (Cloud, Console, and PC) enter Game Pass. Here’s the description: “Classic cooking action with permanent roguelite progression. Cook and serve your dishes, design and decorate your restaurants, and expand your culinary kingdom with unlocks, abilities and dishes in procedurally-generated layouts. Take on the challenge solo or hire up to three friends.”

And finally, Return to Grace (Cloud, Console, and PC) hits Game Pass on February 20. “A daring space archaeologist has just unearthed the ancient resting place of a long lost A.I. god known as Grace,” reads the official blurb. “Adventure with various fractured A.I. personalities as you uncover the great mystery of why she was shut down all those years ago in this first-person narrative adventure set in a visually stunning ‘60s retro sci-fi world.”

Here are the games coming to Xbox Game Pass in February 2024:

• Train Sim World 4 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – February 7
• Madden NFL 24 (Console and PC) – February 8
• Resident Evil 3 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – February 13
• A Little To The Left (Cloud, Console, and PC) – February 14
• Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Cloud, Console, and PC) – February 14
• PlateUp! (Cloud, Console, and PC) – February 15
• Return to Grace (Cloud, Console, and PC) – February 20

In its announcement, Microsoft said MLB The Show 24, due out March 19, is coming to Game Pass on day one.

Leaving Game Pass on February 15 are Galactic Civilizations III (PC), and Opus: Echo of Starsong (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.

Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales is a great game, and well worth playing on the PS5 if you haven’t checked it out yet. It’s also a wonderfully cozy game, with a snowy winter theme, so I highly recommend playing it while sipping hot chocolate and under a nice blanket.

Best Buy has got the game down to just $19.99 in its latest deal of the day—which is a tremendous discount. The only caveat is that the deal will expire by the end of the day (February 6), so act now if you’re looking to take advantage of the deal. I’ll leave some handy links just below to save you some precious minutes searching for the deal as well.

Best Buy also has Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition down to just $39.99 as well. The Ultimate Edition also comes bundled with Spider-Man Remastered – which comes complete with all three DLC chapters from Marvel’s Spider-Man: The City That Never Sleeps as well – so you can get the full experience before swinging into the new story of Spider-Man 2. Both rarely go on sale for that low, so this is your best option to pick up these games.

Upon release, we gave both of these games a 9/10 in their reviews, stating that Spider-Man Remastered is “one of the best superhero games ever made” and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales “earns its spot as a fantastic follow-up”.

Are you still looking for more Valentine’s Day ideas? We’ve got complete guides for everyone, and even a specific guide for Valentine’s Day gifts for gamers right here on IGN. Otherwise, Amazon’s Buy 1 Get 1 50% sale is another great opportunity to buy gifts, as it includes loads of great video games, Blu-rays, books, board games, and more.

Plus, for more great gaming and tech deals right now, don’t overlook Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora for just $40 at Best Buy, Super Mario Bros. Wonder dropping down to just $49.99, or a 2023 Alienware Aurora RTX 4090 gaming PC for $3299.99 ($400 instant discount).

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

Content Warning: The following article contains mentions of themes some readers may find distressing, including those of self-harm and suicide.

Silent Hill: The Short Message has surpassed one million downloads, publisher Konami has announced.

In a post on the Japanese Silent Hill X/Twitter account, Konami celebrated the milestone for the free-to-play Silent Hill spin-off. Confirmation The Short Message surpassed “over one million downloads” arrived in artwork depicting the creepy post-it notes appearing in the game.

The Short Message was revealed and released during Sony’s first PlayStation State of Play presentation of 2024 on January 31 and takes players to modern day Germany. Taking on the role of Anita, players explore a typically spooky house called The Villa from a first-person perspective, in what Konami described as an “experimental” taste of the wider Silent Hill franchise.

『SILENT HILL: The Short Message』

100万ダウンロードを突破しました。
プレイいただいた皆さまありがとうございます。

公式サイト：https://t.co/nbv0zTpl5P#SILENTHILL #SHTSM pic.twitter.com/aQKTTPURhU

— SILENT HILL (@silenthill_jp) February 6, 2024

Despite receiving a surprise release during the PlayStation showcase, The Short Message’s existence wasn’t very well hidden. Myriad leaks gave fans a good idea of the plot, gameplay, and visuals, including one from the Australian ratings board which confirmed what it described as “an exploration-based psychological horror game”.

Also outlined in the ratings board description, The Short Message includes “strong suicide themes” and “horror violence”, though we won’t disclose those scenes here for the sake of sensitivity and spoilers.

The Short Message’s themes also bring to mind images leaked in May 2022 that were allegedly from a Silent Hill game. Though they were quickly taken down, the images showed a young woman and a single house being viewed from a first-person perspective, which is now confirmed to be The Short Message.

Suicide: If you are having suicidal thoughts, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline in the U.S. is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-273-8255. A list of international suicide hotlines can be found here.

Sony has outlined a raft of new features and quality-of-life improvements for the PlayStation 5, out now in beta form and set to roll out for everyone in the coming months.

In a PlayStation Blog post, senior vice president of platform experience at Sony Interactive Entertainment Hideaki Nishino said the beta including these updates is limited to invited participants in the U.S., Canada, Japan, UK, Germany, and France, who’ll receive an email if chosen.

Nintendo is squeezing sales out of the seven year-old Switch, shifting 13.74 million units in the first nine months of the financial year, a 7.8% decline on the same period a year earlier. But it has revised its sales forecast for the current financial year up, predicting Switch sales of 15.5 million, up from the 15 million previously predicted.

Reporting its financials for the three months ending December 31, 2023, Nintendo said Switch exclusive Super Mario Bros. Wonder, the first side-scrolling Super Mario Bros. in almost 11 years, saw a “solid start” with sales of 11.96 million.

Sales continued to grow for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which is now up to an incredible 20.28 million units sold but some way off Breath of the Wild‘s 31.61 million sold. Pikmin 4 is now on 3.33 million units sold, and Super Mario RPG, which came out in November, reached 3.14 million units.

Boosted by the April release of the phenomenally successful The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe shifted another 6.79 million units. The kart racer is now up to an eye-watering 60.58 million sold, comfortably the best-selling Switch game and the best-selling kart racer of all time.

As for Switch, Nintendo said sales of the console “continued to be steady” in its seventh year since launch. The Switch is now up to 139.36 million units sold. It lags behind only the Nintendo DS and the PlayStation 2 in the best-selling consoles of all-time list. Indeed, the Switch has more annual playing users than ever before, with 122 million recorded during the 2023 calendar year.

Switch software sales totaled 163.95 million units (a decrease of 4.7% year-on-year) for the period. Nintendo reported a record net profit of 408 billion yen ($2.7 billion) for the April-December period.

“For hardware, by continuing to convey the appeal of Nintendo Switch, we try not only to put one system in every home, but several in every home, or even one for every person,” Nintendo said. “Another objective is to continually release new offerings so more consumers keep playing Nintendo Switch even longer and we can maximize hardware sales.”

Looking ahead, Nintendo will release Mario vs. Donkey Kong this month and Princess Peach:

Showtime! in March. Splatoon 3: Expansion Pass – Side Order, the second wave of paid add-on content for Splatoon 3, is due out this month.

Of course, expectations of an announcement of Switch 2 are sky high, with the console reportedly due out during the second half of 2024. One of the big unanswered questions is whether this next-gen console will be backwards compatible with the Switch. With 122 million Switch players in tow, is seems unlikely Nintendo will leave those accounts behind to start over.

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.

An Elden Ring mobile game is in development, but don’t hold your breath — it sounds like this one’s a while away.

Reuters reports that Tencent is working to adapt FromSoftware’s mega hit into a mobile game, but progress is described as “slow”.

Apparently Tencent wants the Elden Ring mobile game to work similarly to gacha game Genshin Impact, with a free-to-play business model supported by in-app purchases. But the design of Elden Ring, which is a single-player, premium action role-playing game, is “at odds” with Tencent’s vision.

News of an Elden Ring mobile game comes amid what fans hope is the imminent release of the hotly anticipated Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree. Various changes to the back end of Elden Ring’s entry in Steam suggest something is afoot. So far, however, both developer FromSoftware and publisher Bandai Namco have remained quiet.

As for Tencent, it appears to be struggling to create mobile game hits based on established PC and console games. Last week it emerged Tencent had canceled an unannounced Nier mobile game.

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.