Category: IGN

Sony’s Until Dawn remake for PlayStation 5 and PC is having a rough launch, with not just technical issues but low player numbers too.

The remake of the 2015 horror game — which comes with updated graphics, technical improvements, and minor story changes — launched October 4 with a full price tag of $59.99 and no cheaper upgrade option for those who own the original.

This seemingly wasn’t too appealing for PC players, as Until Dawn has debuted to a peak concurrent player count of just 2,607 players on Steam, according to tracking website SteamDB. Other single-player PlayStation games performed much better when making the jump to PC, with Ghost of Tsushima reaching 77,154 concurrent players, God of War reaching 73,529, and Spider-Man reaching 66,436 on Valve’s platform. Until Dawn’s Steam launch is the worst Sony debut on Steam since the ill-fated Concord and Sackboy: A Big Adventure.

This small player base is reporting myriad issues too. Until Dawn currently has a “mixed” user review rating on Steam with just 69% of reviews being positive. The review deemed most helpful recommends the game but complains about the required PlayStation Network account, poor optimisation, music changes from the original, bugs, and poor controls at times.

Other reviews also comment on ray tracing and DLSS not working alongside graphical issues which “destroy immersion.” Others comment on the full price tag for the originally nine-year-old game and it still launching with issues.

Developer Ballistic Moon, which suffered a “significant” round of lay-offs even before the Until Dawn remake launched, has acknowledged the problems in an post released today, October 8. “We understand that some of you may have encountered some technical issues or bugs, and we’d love to hear from you so we can address these concerns,” it said.

“We are also aware of a couple of recurring issues, such as HDR and AMD FSR frame generation settings not functioning as intended, and issues with save/load. We hear you and we’re actively testing fixes for these issues (and more). We will provide further information with our next patch update.”

Issues are not exclusive to the PC version of the game, however. The tech experts at Digital Foundry noted that the PS5 version has frame pacing or frame ordering issues, 30 frames per second and 1440p output with significant aliasing on high contrast edges, and break up when there’s motion on-screen.

Ballistic Moon has at least said updates are coming, but these may be too little, too late for those who’ve already spent $59.99 on the remake. No release dates or windows have been shared for these fixes.

Until Dawn fans otherwise got a kick out of story changes in the remake (when it all leaked ahead of launch) with some even thinking a sequel is on the way. The universe is expanding elsewhere too, as filming wrapped on the Until Dawn movie adaptation earlier in October.

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

Throne and Liberty, the free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by NCSoft and published by Amazon Games, has seen more than three million players in just a week.

Originally billed as a Lineage sequel, Throne and Liberty is an MMO with PvE and PvP set in a dynamic and seamless world. It suffered numerous delays over the course of a development cycle spanning several years.

Throne and Liberty finally launched on October 1 across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, and soon proved a hit on Steam with an impressive player concurrent peak of 336,300. That’s enough to make Throne and Liberty one of the most-played games on Valve’s platform right now. Neither Sony nor Microsoft make player numbers public.

Amazon added that Throne and Liberty players had amassed 24 million hours in the game, with more than 11 million hours watched on Twitch.

“Bringing Throne and Liberty to players around the world has been a huge shared undertaking by our team and our friends at NCSoft, and we’re so pleased to see the results as players join the game,” said Christoph Hartmann, VP, Amazon Games.

“We’re only getting started, and we have a series of updates planned including our first castle siege coming soon.”

Throne and Liberty’s early performance is all the more impressive in light of its ‘mixed’ user review rating on Steam, with most of the negative reviews about server issues and the typical monetization you get from these sorts of F2P MMOs. IGN’s impressions of Throne and Liberty during its beta said the game “is fun but doesn’t do enough to stand out.”

For Amazon Games, Throne and Liberty’s success comes as it continues to support its own developed MMO, New World, and Smilegate’s action role-playing game Lost Ark, which it published in 2022. Amazon is also publishing Crystal Dynamics’ next Tomb Raider game, and has a The Lord of the Rings MMORPG in the works, among other projects.

In August, Hartmann told IGN the Lord of the rings MMO was “still early,” and the next Tomb Raider a “huge, huge task.”

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.

For October Prime Day, Amazon is offering an excellent deal on the best gaming SSD. Right now you can get the blazing fast Samsung 990 Pro 2TB PCIe 4.0 M.2 solid state drive (SSD) for only $139.99. This is the lowest price we’ve seen this year and $10 less than the previous Prime Day deal back in July. 4TB and 1TB models are also on sale. The 990 Pro is still considered one of the fastest PCIe 4.0 SSDs on the market. It’s also compatible with the PlayStation 5 console right out of the box, especially since it’s pre-equipped with a low-profile heatsink.

Prime Day Deal: Samsung 990 Pro PS5 SSD with Heatsink

The 990 Pro is the successor to the venerable 980 Pro and is Samsung’s flagship SSD. The 990 Pro has been updated with Samsung’s newest Pascal controller and 7th gen TLC NAND flash chips which are manufactured in-house. It boasts sequential speeds of 7,450MB/s read and 6,900MB/s write and random speeds of 1400K read and 1550K IOPS write, which is up to 50% faster per watt than the 980 Pro. This is absolutely the best boot drive you can get for your gaming PC, especially since 2TB is currently the best compromise between capacity and price point.

For console gamers, the Samsung 990 Pro also happens to be one of the best SSDs for the PlayStation 5. In fact, performance-wise, it’s overkill since the stock PS5 SSD only has speeds of up to 5,600MB/s. This 990 Pro comes pre-equipped with a low-profile aluminum heatsink that’s guaranteed to fit in both the PS5 and PS5 Slim consoles. It also back by a 5 year warranty; by the time your warranty runs out, you might have already moved onto the PS6.

If you want to compare this deal with other PlayStation 5 compatible options, here’s a list of our favorite PS5 SSDs. If you’re looking for deals on other PS5 accessories, check out the best PS5 deals going on right now (we update it often). If you don’t yet own a PS5 console, you’re in luck. The PS5 Slim is currently on sale for Prime Day, and Sony recently announced a more powerful PS5 Pro that is currently up for preorder and ships out next month. For all other deals, head over to our Prime Day megapost to see our cherry-picked list of the best deals we’ve found.

Are October Prime Day Deals as good as Black Friday?

Although Black Friday is still the overall best time to buy just about anything every year, October Prime Day is just as good as Black Friday for many different items. Amazon’s own devices that are currently on sale likely won’t go much lower in price. The same goes for most of the deals we’ve featured on this list, which are at some of their lowest prices of the year so far. If you are unsure whether or not you’re getting a good deal on anything, you can reference specific products on the CamelCamelCamel website to see historical Amazon pricing.

More Prime Day Deals on Console Storage Upgrades

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.

Here’s your chance to get one of the best Micro SD cards for your Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch. As part of the October Prime Day Event, Amazon is offering a 1TB TeamGroup Pro Plus Micro SDXC card for only $59.99. Besides being compatible with gaming handhelds, the Pro Plus has a faster speed rating than most Micro SDXC cards in this price range and would make an excellent card for 4K action cameras and DSLRs.

1TB TeamGroup Pro Plus Micro SDXC Card for $59.99

The Tetris community has reached another major milestone, with 16-year-old Michael “dogplayingtetris” Artiaga becoming the first player to clear level 255 and achieve the mythical “rebirth” — community parlance for reaching the game’s highest possible level and looping all the way back to the beginning.

As reported by Ars Technica, Artiaga accomplished the feat in front of hundreds of Twitch viewers, clearing some 3,300 lines over the course of 80 minutes. It’s an achievement that was thought to be impossible until techniques like rolling and hypertapping came into play, inspiring a new generation of Tetris pioneers.

35 years after its release, @dogplayingtris just became the first person to get the NES Tetris rebirth. He made it all the way to level 255, then the game wrapped around and restarted from level 0. pic.twitter.com/Igwa2fIrmJ

— SummoningSalt (@summoningsalt) October 6, 2024

Notably, Artiaga was playing on a special version of the Tetris NES rom that keeps it from crashing after passing level 155. Earlier this year, Tetris expert and fellow teen Willis “Blue Scuti” Gibson managed to beat Tetris for the first time by hitting one of these crashes on level 157, marking the first ever instance of a human player getting one over on Alexey Pajitnov’s classic. After level 157, the crash points continue to proliferate, making them virtually impossible to avoid.

Still, that doesn’t make Artiaga’s feat any less impressive. As Ars Technica notes, the NES version of Tetris actually has a glitch in level 235 that results in it taking an incredible 810 lines to clear — an eternity when you’re playing at the fastest possible rate. Artiaga spent 20 minutes on this level alone, finally proclaiming that he had “seen the light” when it was finished.

Artiaga went on to clear level 255 and finally pull off the “rebirth,” sending the game all the way back to level 0. Then, incredibly, he kept right on playing, continuing all the way to level 91 before finally giving up. His final score was 29,486,164, breaking the previous world record by Alex Thach by more than 12 million points.

“Oh my god, I’m so glad that game is over, bro,” Artiaga said. “I never want to play this game again, bro… I was starting to lose my mind.”

Fans hailed Artiaga’s accomplishment online, not just because he pulled off a world first rebirth, but because he proved that endless play was indeed possible. Now speculation has already begun on who might pull off the first “double rebirth.” If records keep falling at the pace that they have been, it shouldn’t be long. After all, it’s been less than a year since Blue Scuti beat Tetris, and he’s now crashing it for fun.

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

The cool thing about board games is the emphasis on playing with other people in real life. You call over your friends and gather around the table and have a grand old time. Thanks to Amazon’s October Prime Day, you can snag a bunch of cool board games on sale right now. That is, assuming you’re a Prime member (sign up here if not). One of the most popular board games on sale is Splendor, which you can pick up for $17.99 when you clip the $6 coupon on the page. That’s a massive discount off the $40 MSRP, so grab it before the deal goes away.

Get Splendor on Sale for $17.99

We’re now properly into the month of October, and that means that some of 2024’s biggest game releases are starting to roll out.

Monday morning saw several big reviews go live, including very positive reviews for Metaphor: ReFantazio (currently a 94 on Metacritic) and Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero (our review is currently in progress, but we feel like it’s a labor of love). That’s on top of Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred, the Silent Hill 2 remake, and more.

Here are some of the biggest games coming out this week

• Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S) – October 8 (though it’s available in some regions today)
• Silent Hill 2 Remake (PC, PS5) – October 8
• Destiny 2: Revenant (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S) – October 8
• Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S) – October 11
• Starship Troopers: Extermination (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S) – October 11
• Metaphor: ReFantazio (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S) – October 11

It’s a busy week in what looks to be a customarily busy month for games, with Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 also due to release (the latter just got a brand-new trailer).

So the question is: Which of these games are you planning to play first? Silent HIll? Dragon Ball? Metaphor? All of the above? Answer the poll and share your thoughts in the comments.

In meantime, make sure to keep it locked on IGN for lots of coverage around all of these releases, including why Silent 2 Hill is powerfully miserable and why Metaphor: ReFantazio is a brilliant evolution of Persona and Shin Megami Tensei.

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

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom pushes players to use creativity, rather than brute force, to solve its most tricky puzzles and even boss fights. But while most dungeons and boss fights are a breeze as long as you’ve been keeping your collection of Echoes up to date, there’s one ultra-challenging roadblock that more and more players are reporting is stumping them. No, it’s not a super-hard enemy…it’s a horse race.

Over the last week, player after player has posted on the Echoes of Wisdom and Zelda subreddits complaining about the game’s horse races, and specifically the “short race” in particular. The short race, which Zelda can enter once she passes a point in the game where she gets her own horse (as opposed to a rental) is supposed to be simple. Ride the horse around a circular track exactly one time, and do it in under 17 seconds. Basic stuff.

But for some reason, this particular horse race is a nightmare to do in that amount of time. The track is littered with crates (which Zelda’s horse can jump) and trees (which it cannot jump) to trip you up, making it hard to gain and maintain speed. Post after post has appeared with players finishing the race in just over 17 seconds or even 17 exactly…but needing under 17 to win. Even players who have passed the other horse races with flying colors are struggling with the short race.

Fortunately, some players are finding creative solutions. One player posted a clip of Zelda using Echoes of lava rocks to build little staircases allowing the horse to jump over the tree obstacles, meaning they could get past them without swerving and losing speed. Another popular tactic was even simpler: just use Tri to move the trees out of the way as you ride past, avoiding them entirely. That method in particular is saving other players already:

If you need more tips to beat the horse races yourself, we’ve got a guide to all horse races in Echoes of Wisdom right here. You can also check out our wiki guides to everything else in Echoes of Wisdom, and our interactive map to help you track down heart containers, might crystals, and more.

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

On the 10-year anniversary of Alien: Isolation’s release, developer Creative Assembly has confirmed that a sequel is in development.

In a statement marking the survival horror classic’s 10th birthday, creative director Al Hope said the development team would share more details “when we’re ready.”

Hope returns to lead development on the sequel having done so on the first game. In his statement published to X/Twitter, Hope said: “On the 10th anniversary, it seems only fitting to let you know that we have heard your distress calls loud and clear.

“Today, I’m delighted to confirm, on behalf of the team, that a sequel to Alien: Isolation is in early development. We look forward to sharing more details with you when we’re ready.”

That’s all we have for now. We don’t have a final title for the game, a release window, or target launch platforms. Given the sequel is in early development, it will probably be some time before we find out what to expect and get our first look.

For now though, there’s genuine excitement from Alien: Isolation fans, many of whom had called on Creative Assembly and owner Sega to greenlight a sequel ever since the first game came out. Alien: Isolation sold one million copies within three months of going on sale, then 2.11 million after six months, which was not enough for Sega to have considered it a commercial success.

IGN recently revisted Alien: Isolation for the 10-year anniversary, exploring why the 2014 horror game was just as impoactful now as it was when it launched. “It’s an unforgettable feat of video game design that has successfully endured the test of time, and – like the 1979 film from which it burst forth – will undoubtedly still hold up after another decade has passed,” we said. “Today, on its 10th anniversary, Alien: Isolation remains a singular, extraordinary experience.”

It’s been a difficult time for Creative Assembly in recent years, with the cancelation of live service shooter Hyenas, Total War: Pharaoh’s failure to find an audience, and a significant round of layoffs coming hot on the heels of a studio apology for the various missteps it had made with Total War: Warhammer 3 DLC.

However, the UK studio still has plenty in the works in addition to the Alien: Isolation sequel from its Survival team. Creative Assembly is reportedly also working on a Total War Star Wars video game, one of three new Total War games in development. Total War fans have called on Creative Assembly to give a Star Wars game a shot for years, although there are equally vociferous calls for the studio to follow its Warhammer trilogy of Total War games with a similar effort for Warhammer 40,000.

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.

Halo’s move to Unreal Engine 5 would make it easier for developer Halo Studios, née 343 Industries, to take Xbox’s flagship first-person shooter multi-platform, including a launch on PlayStation 5, tech experts have said.

Speaking to Eurogamer, Digital Foundry chief Richard Leadbetter said moving to Unreal 5 makes for “easier” multi-platform development than porting across the existing Slipspace engine.

“It stands to reason that an engine designed for deployment across multiple platforms would be easier to work with than existing technology built for Xbox and PC,” Leadbetter said.

While Microsoft’s multi-platform video game push has seen the likes of Rare’s Sea of Thieves and Obsidian’s Grounded make the jump to PS5, the company has yet to announce any Halo game for a non-Xbox console.

Despite a backlash from some hardcore Xbox fans, Microsoft’s multi-platform push appears to have been a success. Sea of Thieves, for example, topped Sony’s sales chart earlier this year, and Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said the company’s franchises are stronger for heading to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.

Indeed more PS5 launches are coming, including Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, albeit a few months after MachineGames’ adventure hits PC and Xbox, and id Software’s Doom: The Dark Ages. Could Halo be next?

In August, Spencer said Xbox’s multi-platform push is in part about bringing in more money to Microsoft’s gaming business — with the pressure now on to deliver following Microsoft’s eye-watering $69 billion acquisition of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard last year.

“… we run a business,” Spencer said. “It’s definitely true inside of Microsoft the bar is high for us in terms of the delivery we have to give back to the company. Because we get a level of support from the company that’s just amazing and what we’re able to go do.

“So I look at this, how can we make our games as strong as possible? Our platform continues to grow, on console, on PC, and on cloud. It’s just going to be a strategy that works for us.”

Microsoft has so-far used older games released over a year ago for its multi-platform push as opposed to brand new games, but that will soon change with the release of Indiana Jones. The most dramatic move would be to bring Halo to PlayStation, given the shooter’s symbiotic relationship with Xbox. But would Microsoft actually go through with it? As former Xbox boss Peter Moore recently told IGN, Microsoft will be debating whether to bring Halo to PlayStation as we speak.

Halo’s shift to Unreal comes amid a tumultuous time for Xbox that has seen an eye-watering 2,550 staff cut from the gaming business this year and multiple studio closures. All the while, sales of Xbox Series X and S have fallen dramatically, Xbox Game Pass growth has stalled, and Microsoft faces a backlash from hardcore Xbox players about its potentially wavering commitment to exclusives and the console business.

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.