Category: IGN

Last week I danced on top of a giant rubber duck DJ. No, I’m not back on the mushrooms – I was playing Foamstars, which is a similarly colourful and fun trip. Square Enix’s bubble-packed team-based shooter is bursting with character and style, while frequently managing to maintain a tense competitive edge. While not all of its launch modes hit home for me, I found myself pleasantly surprised at just how much fun I was having after four hours of hands-on time.

Foamstars will launch with multiple modes available, of which most are centred on multiplayer. The one exception is Foamstars’ PvE offering, which is playable in both solo and co-op and consists of fighting against waves of randomised enemies to achieve the highest score. While I only played one of these missions once, I can’t see it being where many will sink their time into; instead, the meat of this shooter is found in its three PvP modes.

Smash the Star is presented as Foamstars’ signature mode where two teams of four battle it out deathmatch-style until they reach seven eliminations, at which point an opponent’s “Star Player” is crowned. This player is buffed with increased health and damage output, making them formidable on the bubble-field, but once a Star Player is taken down the match is over. It’s a genuinely fun time and when teams are balanced can get really tense, as fights go down to the wire and the risk/reward nature of attacking your opponent and defending your Star Player comes to the fore.

First impressions may be to dismiss Foamstars as a Splatoon clone, but after playing it I found its hero-shooter DNA became much more apparent. Yes, painting the floor with your team’s foam colour aids movement, enabling you to surf along the perpetually changing floor with ease, but points are not awarded for how much territory you occupy.

While I had fun with Smash the Star, my favourite mode without a doubt is Rubber Duck Party. Teams of four battle it out to capture a wildly oversized rubber duck and escort it as far as they can toward the other team’s spawn point. It’s essentially Overwatch 2’s push mode and its objective-based focus spoke to those Overwatch sensibilities within me. That isn’t all though – the duck is also a DJ and if you climb on top of his shiny yellow head and manage to dance for a few seconds without being foamed up, it shoots forward at speed, pushing you further toward your team’s destination. It’s a nice little touch that once again encourages team play and smart team compositions as you look to defend the giant duck and his tiny dancer.

These two modes were easily the highlight of my time with Foamstars and came in stark contrast to the third multiplayer mode, Happy Bath Survival, which fails to offer the same level of tension or teamplay. Half of each team is stripped of their hero abilities and must assist the other two players with basic weaponry alone by painting the floor for them, in what is a relatively dull arena shootout. It’s disappointing because it sidelines the characters for stretches of time, as their usually tide-turning abilities can be combined to devastating effect in both Smash the Star and Rubber Duck Party.

Each of the eight heroes is equipped with their own weapon type, abilities, and super star skills. My favourite is the speedy Agito, who allowed me to dive under the foam, sneak around the back, and then erupt above the enemy in a shower of bubbles, before finishing up with a shotgun full of foam. They’re a great flanking option with a powerful super star skill that unleashes a homing shark that explodes on impact. Others I had fun with included Mel T who, despite sounding like a long-lost member of the Spice Girls, is in fact an ice cream-loving young lady who deals big damage thanks to explosive skills and a rocket-propelled foam cannon. In truth, I had a good time with all eight of the characters and can see where each will hold their value in different game modes, especially when teamed up with other heroes that offer synergistic opportunities.

There’s a level of charm to each too, which carries over into the maps themselves. Each showcases a different part of “Bath Vegas” and is visually distinct from one another and, crucially, is constructed with gameplay first in mind. They offer interesting architecture and varying levels of verticality, as well as obstacles such as the giant roaming roulette ball found circling Fomeopatra’s Crazy Wheel. In a time when so many shooters are militarised in their presentation and seemingly afraid to embrace colour, it’s welcoming to be barraged by it at every turn in Foamstars, which successfully marries Nintendo’s charm with the panache of Persona. The same can be said for the soundtrack, which delivers track after track of catchy tunes that wouldn’t sound out of place in an Atlus RPG.

I enjoyed my time with Foamstars then, and hope you will too, but I just can’t help but fear for its long-term appeal due to the recent fate many live-service games have met. Both free and premium season battle passes will be available throughout the first year of Foamstars’ life with new cosmetics, characters, maps, and modes promised, but all of which are a mystery at this point. It’s free at launch on PlayStation Plus, which will definitely give it an initial boost with millions of PlayStation players being able to download it for free. It’s a strategy the likes of Rocket League and Fall Guys enjoyed great success with, but it didn’t have the same effect on Destruction AllStars – a game I reviewed and thought was a fun enough time, but sadly one that didn’t take off. I just hope that Foamstars doesn’t suffer a similar fate and finds its audience, as it’s shaping up to be a genuinely fun and family-friendly hero shooter.

Simon Cardy couldn’t stop dancing on the duck. Follow him on Twitter at @CardySimon.

I had only just played Persona 3 Portable in the last few years, so that hundred-hour saga felt relatively fresh in my mind going into my demo of Persona 3 Reload. I was excited to hang out with all my old pals, but a bit skeptical that it would be different enough to warrant the time investment all over again. In my playthrough that ran more than an hour, though, I didn’t feel at all like Reload was covering the same ground, even if it basically is. The added gameplay elements, updated graphics, tweaked areas and social links compel me to sink another handful of months into getting to the bottom of Apathy Syndrome with the S.E.E.S. crew.

The biggest vibe shift was wandering the tower of Tartarus, which is now the creepiest of all the Persona dungeons. The aura is truly unsettling in the chunk of floors that I played, with the intent to closely emulate the themes of death in the game, producer Ryota Niitsuma and director Takuya Yamaguchi told me after the demo. Reworking Tartarus was a high priority for the team and it shows. The pacing feels leagues more natural with other shiny distractions to hold attention, including crystalized Shadow energy stalagmites to smash and grab items from and chests that, to open, need expendable bits called Twilight Fragments, which are scattered throughout Tartarus and the real world. Even these seemingly simple additions drastically improve the tempo of moving through the many floors of Tartarus.

The battle mechanics are exactly what one should expect from Persona games, although actions like switching Personas and analyzing skills feel more modern and seamless than they once were. All-out attacks have also been upgraded with brand-new finishing screens (which are cool) and catchphrases (which are also good). And now, the S.E.E.S. armband is a functional piece of clothing, acting as a gauge to facilitate a new special attack feature called Theurgy. Though it’s based on Persona 5’s Showtime, Theurgy attacks require heightened emotional states and have special conditions personalized to each character to activate, so it takes more strategy to pull off. I didn’t spend enough time grinding in Tartarus to get to everyone’s moves, but from what I did see, the results are devastating for the enemy.

Plenty is different back in the outside world, too. First and foremost, I can physically run around 3D city streets and classroom hallways, as opposed to moving a cursor to callout bubbles in a relatively static environment like in past Persona 3 iterations. In general, the camera maintains a tighter shot, making bouncing around locations feel more intimate and nearly first-person. It finally feels like I’m truly exploring, experiencing, and learning the geography of Tatsumi Port Island instead of merely hovering above it. I didn’t feel the limitations of a small town in the same way I did prior, where moving from place to place felt more like data entry than a game as the hours wore on. And: I can get a part-time job at the movie theater!

For me, the most potentially exciting changes to life outside of hunting Shadows were made inside the dorm that make it feel like the main character actually co-exists there with a half-dozen classmates. The rooftop, the kitchen, Fuuka’s DVD player, and the bookshelf are all now available to use in one’s free time for gardening, cooking, or watching movies, or reading with a friend or reading to improve your three character traits. Plus, the desktop computer that sits in the lobby is also usable to juice personality stats. Yamaguchi and Niitsuma acknowledged that the dorm was always a special environment for these games, and the effort they put into creating a home-y, social space gives the S.E.E.S. HQ a welcome warmth against the game’s largely bleak main narrative.

All in all, my doubts about diving back into Persona 3 territory were shattered from this demo. Persona 3 Reload isn’t a remake with a few alterations here and there; it’s a sincerely thought-through updated game that can seemingly stand on its own two legs in the competitive Persona lineup.

Street Fighter 6 has sold three million copies in seven months, publisher Capcom has announced.

The fighting game hit the milestone on January 3, 2024, and comes seven months after it went on sale on June 2, 2023. Street Fighter 6 got off to a strong start with one million sold over launch weekend. It then hit two million copies sold after just over a month on sale. That means it’s taken half a year to sell one million more copies.

Commenting on the two million sales milestone, Capcom said Street Fighter 6 was “generally progressing in line with our expectations”, adding it hoped positive word of mouth would fuel follow-up success.

“Compared to the internal plan for the title, sales are generally progressing in line with our expectations,” Capcom said at the time. “We believe that its positive critical reception will work as a tailwind in expanding future sales of the game as a catalogue title.”

Capcom had said it aimed for Street Fighter 6 to outsell Street Fighter 5, targeting over 10 million copies sold over the course of its lifetime.

“While we do not communicate specific figures for internal budgets, we look to outperform the title’s predecessor, Street Fighter 5, and are aiming for more than 10 million units over the life of the title,” Capcom said.

Speaking this week, Capcom said it had “steadily” grown sales by pushing Street Fighter 6 DLC and esports. The game has seen DLC characters and costly new outfits come out, as well as various collaborations with other brands. Looking to the future, Ed is Street Fighter 6’s next DLC character, then fan-favourite Akuma comes out at some point in the spring.

Total Street Fighter franchise sales are now up to 52 million. Street Fighter 5 remains the best-selling game in the series, with 7.4 million sold as of September 30, 2023. 1992’s Street Fighter 2, for reference, sold 6.30 million.

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.

Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian has released yet another hotfix for its phenomenally successful Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, this time taking on everyone’s favourite magic item-gobbling wizard, Gale.

Spoilers for Baldur’s Gate 3 follow.

Baldur’s Gate 3 players will know that in the early game, Gale is in desperate need of magic items in order to prevent him from suffering a grizzly fate. He’s so desperate, in fact, that if you don’t give him a magic item to consume pretty much every time he asks for one, he’ll get so fed up he’ll leave your party. What a grump!

Hotfix 17, out now, makes Gale chill out a bit when it comes to his magic item addiction. Here’s Larian describing the change in a post on Steam:

“Poor Gale – we know your pain, sometimes it’s easy to read something into a situation that wasn’t there. We’ve sat him down and explained that if someone doesn’t offer him a shoe to eat every time, that doesn’t mean they never will. You’ll find him more likely to stick around now.”

And here’s the relevant line from the patch notes:

• Gale will no longer permanently leave the party if you don’t offer him any magic items while talking to him – unless you’re abundantly clear that you don’t plan on ever doing so.

Elsewhere, Hotfix 17 makes some promising-sounding improvements to how Baldur’s Gate 3 handles savegames.

• Increased the compression of savegames, which should fix several issues caused by large savegame files (such as Error 544)
• Reduced the size of save files by removing summons that don’t exist in the game anymore.

Larian issued a warning about Baldur’s Gate 3 mods, which may stop working when new patches and hotfixes are released. “If you experience any issues after installing the latest update, please check if the issue persists with all mods uninstalled,” Larian suggested. “If it persists, please reach out to our support team with your report.”

Baldur’s Gate 3 Hotfix 17 Patch Notes

PERFORMANCE AND CODE

• Fixed black and colourful visual artefacts sometimes appearing for 1 frame on PS5 when switching scenes or opening and closing UI windows.
• Increased the compression of savegames, which should fix several issues caused by large savegame files (such as Error 544)
• Reduced the size of save files by removing summons that don’t exist in the game anymore.
• Guarded against crashes caused when certain character resources (Actions, Bonus Actions, Superiority Dice, etc.) were added and later removed by a mod or cheat engine.

GAMEPLAY AND COMBAT

• In Honour Mode, the aura of Cazador’s Potent Mist Form now properly dissipates after he’s no longer in Mist Form. Sorry!
• Fixed the camera sometimes zooming in while jumping or casting projectile spells.
• Fixed the ability to walk through open doors when you click beyond them from far away.
• Fixed Thieves’ Tools in the camp chest or inventory of a companion who is waiting at camp not being accessible when lockpicking.

UI

• Safeguard Shield’s Saving Throw modifier is now correctly reflected on the Character Sheet.

FLOW AND SCRIPTING

• Gale will no longer permanently leave the party if you don’t offer him any magic items while talking to him – unless you’re abundantly clear that you don’t plan on ever doing so.
• Fixed characters getting stuck ‘in a story event’, preventing you from controlling them, after getting killed in the fight with Grym.

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.

Square Enix has dropped a ton of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth details alongside artwork, screenshots, and even a trailer showing off Cait Sith, Nibelheim, Junon, and lots of other additions and changes coming in the highly anticipated sequel.

A huge blog post from Square Enix akin to one from November revealed lots of new information ahead of Rebirth’s launch on February 29. It outlines how new party members like Cait Sith and Yuffie fight, Elena’s new look in the remake, the different editions of the game available to preorder, and more.

Combat

It’s unclear who’ll be unlocked first out of Cait Sith and Yuffie, though as fans got to play the latter in Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Integrade on PS5, let’s start there. Yuffie is focused on speed (with a fast charging active time battle meter) and inflicting raw damage with her large throwing star.

Magic can be applied to her weapon through ninjutsu, made even more effective by chaining attacks together. Her Doppelgänger ability also allows Yuffie to attack from two places at once and seek out enemies’ weakness.

Cait Sith, the little cat who fights atop a chunky moogle mount, also darts around the battlefield quickly or calling upon the moogle for some slower but higher damage attacks. These attacks will also fill the Moogle Meter, which once charged can apply buffs to allies.

Keeping to Cait Sith’s focus on luck from the original Final Fantasy 7, different abilities can seemingly apply random buffs or damage to enemies and allies alike. The Let’s Ride ability, however, combines Cait Sith with his moogle to attack in tandem, enhancing both his regular attacks and unique abilities. Cait Sith can also drop kick his enemies while riding his moogle friend.

Yuffie and Cait Sith also have their own Synergy Ability, which are essentially combo attacks, called Moogle Pinwheel. Square Enix didn’t share too much of what it does, but promised the pair will attack together “with a secret ninja technique”.

Characters and Locations

Fans of the original Final Fantasy 7 were surprised to see Elena left out of Remake, but the young Turks member will make her revamped debut in Rebirth.

“Though she may be a rookie, she’s as skilled with her fists and a gun as anyone else in the Turks unit of Shinra’s General Affairs Division,” reads her official description. Her involvement appears directly related to the Remake Trilogy’s multiverse shenanigans, however, as her and Rude are tasked with pursuing the black-robed figures this time around.

One brand new character is Captain Titov, who also headlines a big change from the original Final Fantasy 7. Rebirth doesn’t feature the cargo ship Cloud and friends use to sneak across to Costa del Sol from Junon, but instead a cruise ship called the Shinra-8.

“He’s earned a sterling reputation among his crew, thanks to his unerring devotion to his duties.” Square Enix said. “This is most evident during the various festivities held aboard his vessel, which he personally — and passionately — emcees.”

Speaking of Junon, the trailer and screenshots show off its Shinra parade which Cloud must infiltrate, plus other iconic locations like The Gold Saucer and even brand new ones like the aforementioned Shinra-8 ship. It’s “a Shinra cruise ship that ferries travelers between the planet’s eastern and western continents,” Square Enix said. “After departing the port of Junon, it heads for the resort town of Costa del Sol. As part of the on-board entertainment, the ship plays host to a Queen’s Blood tournament.”

Editions

Rebirth will be available in several different editions, headling by the $349.99 / £349.99 Collector’s Edition, which includes a Sephiroth statue, steelbook case, mini soundtrack CD, physical artbook, and a physical version of the full game (which Square Enix loves to point out is across two discs). It also includes a Moogle Trio Summoning Materia, Magic Pot Summoning Materia, Reclaimant Choker, and Orchid Bracelet as in-game items.

The $99.99 / £99.99 Deluxe Edition includes the game, steelbook case, mini soundtrack CD, and physical artbook with no digital add ons. The Standard Edition naturally only comes with the game and is priced at $69.99 / £69.99. Preordering either of these also grants access to the Midgar Bangle in-game item.

As for full digital offerings, the Digital Deluxe Edition comes with the game, digital mini soundtrack, digital artbook, plus the Magic Pot Summoning Materia, Reclaimant Choker, and Orchid Bracelet as in-game items. Preordering this also grants access to the Moogle Trio Summoning Materia.

Finally, a Twin Pack includes both games digitally but no other add ons. Preordering will grant access to the Moogle Trio Summoning Materia, however.

Rebirth is the highly anticipated sequel to Final Fantasy 7 Remake. A third game will wrap up the Remake Trilogy, and while no release window has been shared, it’s already in development.

Rebirth therefore follows Cloud and friends as they leave Midgar and enter the wider Final Fantasy 7 world, encountering locations like Kalm, the Mythril Mine, Junon and Costa del Sol plus brand new ones created for the remake.

Square Enix has added new playable characters, too, plus a card game akin to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s Gwent, and impressive fast travel. An ESRB rating has otherwise teased deep cleavage, pools of blood, and a clue to Aerith’s fate.

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

Elden Ring fans have grown ravenous for a Shadow of the Erdtree expansion announcement after developer FromSoftware made a change to the game’s backend on Steam.

X/Twitter user and Elden Ring YouTuber Ziostorm noticed the change on SteamDB’s page for Elden Ring, sharing an image of a new application added to the Downloadable Content section of Elden Ring’s Steam page for the first time since launch.

“I’m not saying it’s 100% Shadow of the Erdtree but there’s a pretty good chance it is,” they said, and fans are similarly hopeful elsewhere online. “Announcement must be imminent,” JoRads said on Reddit. “Definitely. It’s a matter of days now, or even less,” Hector_Savage_ replied.

A new Elden Ring DLC package has just been added to Elden Ring within the files for the first time since launch.
–
I’m not saying it’s 100% Shadow of the Erdtree but… There’s a pretty good chance it is. pic.twitter.com/1j6HCVfGQo

— Ziostorm (@Ziostorm1) January 15, 2024

This update also adds fuel to the fire of a previous rumour, as a leaked collaboration between Elden Ring publisher Bandai Namco and accessory creator Thrustmaster also suggested a February release of Shadow of the Erdtree.

That being said, it’s not the first time Elden Ring fans have grown a bit out of hand anticipating an announcement after growing incredibly confident about a reveal at The Game Awards 2023 — an announcement that obviously never game.

Shadow of the Erdtree was initially announced in March 2023 as a major expansion coming to Elden Ring. A single piece of concept art was released alongside the announcement but didn’t give much away, just showing a character atop a spectral steed looking towards the horizon that featured a dying Erdtree.

It will likely arrive as the only Elden Ring expansion (outside of a smaller piece of player-versus-player DLC) and be akin to the likes of Bloodborne’s The Old Hunters expansion or Dark Souls 3’s The Ringed City.

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

When it comes to game night, it’s always a great idea to have a variety of board games around for people to choose from. Unfortunately, building that collection of games can oftentimes cost you more than you’d expect. Have no fear, though, as we’re here to help you out with a variety of deals on board games that are worth picking up.

TL;DR – The Best Board Game Deals

This doesn’t just cater to events like Amazon Prime Day or Black Friday, either. We try to find deals on the best board games all throughout the year, so you can buy your favorites without breaking the bank. Below, you can find a selection of the best board game deals at the moment.

The Best Board Game Deals

Board Games: Budget to Best

For when board games aren’t on sale, it’s nice to know you still have options that don’t cost you tons of money. Here, we’ll point you in the direction of more affordable board games that are still worth the investment for your next game night.

When Is the Best Time to Find Board Game Deals?

Board games go on sale at sites like Amazon, Target, Walmart, and even GameStop fairly regularly — you can generally find special discounts every month or two. In addition, they absolutely get big discounts during major sale events like Amazon’s Prime Day and Black Friday.

While Prime Day is primarily an Amazon shopping holiday, other retailers always put on competing sales events at the same time. Those are great times to look for board game deals.

As for Black Friday, it’s not just a one-day event: you can often find deals on board games the whole week of Black Friday, as well as on Cyber Monday and throughout that whole following week. Keep in mind that stock runs out (particularly at Amazon), so if you see a good price on a board game you want during one of these major sale events, grab it before it’s gone.

How to Know if it’s Really a Good Board Game Deal

At online board game retailers like Amazon and Walmart, prices are always in flux, to say the least. Many of the board games in the board game section will be discounted to some degree from their MSRP. But there are a few ways to know when a board game is on sale for a notable discount.

For one, you can check Amazon’s daily deals page, where you’ll occasionally find an actual sale on various board games. Sometimes these are from one company, sometimes they’re on the whole category of board games. Target also periodically runs sales on board games, so check their deal page, too.

If you’re looking at a board game and are wondering if the sale price is good, copy the URL and paste it into the search field at camelcamelcamel. That’s an Amazon price tracker that shows you price history. Better yet, it works for any item, not just board games.

Finally, you can follow IGN Deals on Twitter, where we’ll always tweet any notable board game deals we come across.

How Do You Know if a Board Game Is Any Good?

IGN reviews board games fairly regularly, so you can always search to see if we’ve reviewed a game you’re considering picking up. Other websites do, too. We also have a whole lot of board game roundups, ranging from the best classic board games and the best cooperative board games to the best horror board games.

Outside of IGN, the best board game resource around (for my money) is Board Game Geek. It maintains a database of every board and card game you’d want to know about, with all kinds of news, stats, and user reviews all gathered together in one place.

The director of Overwatch 2 has said it was a “mistake” to reveal a controversial new self-healing mechanic coming to all characters in the hero shooter “out of context.”

Last week, developer Blizzard unveiled seismic changes coming to Overwatch 2 as part of Season 9, none more disruptive than giving both Tank and Damage heroes a “modified, tuned-down version of the Support self-healing passive.”

Overwatch game director Aaron Keller explained the decision in a blog post on Blizzard’s website:

“This should give non-Support players more options in terms of sustaining themselves. It should also take some of the pressure off Support players to keep everyone alive since individual players now have more control of their own health pool. In Overwatch, there is a constant tug of war between the power of a team and the power of an individual hero or player. A change like this shifts that balance a bit. This is something that we are constantly evaluating. We still want Overwatch to be defined by team strategy and mechanics, but we feel this can be pulled back a bit now and possibly more in the future.”

The announcement sparked a vociferous debate within the Overwatch community, with some complaining that it risked devaluing the team play that has defined Overwatch’s competitive multiplayer since day one, and could make Support characters useless or Tank and Damage heroes overpowered.

Responding to the response, Keller tweeted to issue a clarification around the self-heal announcement.

“It’s one part of a much larger set of changes coming to the game in S9,” Keller said. “Internally we’re talking about, and targeting some of these changes at damage spikiness in game, the role of DPS in securing kills, and the strength of healing.

“It was a mistake to talk about this lone change out of context, since it’s a part of a much bigger set coming to Season 9. Sorry for that, and I look forward to more discussion around S9 balance changes when we drop more details.”

Keller’s clarification has done little to calm Overwatch’s concerned community, which has to contend with a number of controversies during Overwatch 2’s short life. Last month, executive producer Jared Neuss said Blizzard was “actively working towards” giving away new heroes to all players, not just those who buy a premium battle pass, in what would amount to a major shakeup of the free-to-download game’s monetisation model. Overwatch 2 currently only allows new heroes to be acquired instantly if players buy the premium battle pass at 1,000 Overwatch Coins, which costs $10.

Indeed, monetisation has been a controversial topic within Overwatch 2 since its launch in October 2022, as highlighted by its Steam release becoming the platform’s worst reviewed game of all time.

Blizzard was also heavily criticised when Overwatch 2 launched as it forced its premium predecessor to update into a free-to-play sequel, rendering the original Overwatch unplayable. Blizzard also cancelled Overwatch 2’s long-awaited PvE Hero mode — the one feature, players said, that justified the sequel’s existence.

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.

Grand Theft Auto voice actor Ned Luke, who played Michael De Santa in GTA 5, has called out a “f**king bulls**t” AI chatbot that used his voice.

As reported by PCGamesN, Luke responded to a post on X/Twitter from AI company WAME for promoting a chatbot that let users have “a realistic voice conversation with Michael De Santa.” WAME quickly removed the chatbot following Luke’s post, saying “this incident has highlighted the intricate interplay between the advancement of AI technology and the ethical and legal realms.”

Luke didn’t mince words in his post. “This is f**king bulls**t WAME,” he said. “Absolutely nothing cool about ripping people off with some lame computer estimation of my voice. Don’t waste your time on this garbage.”

He also tagged Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar Games and actors union Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) in his response, and WAME quickly removed the chatbot and all promotional materials for it from the internet.

It also responded to PCGamesN: “In light of the recent controversy surrounding the utilization of Mr Ned Luke’s voice in our application, we at WAME wish to express our profound understanding and concern,” it said. “This incident has highlighted the intricate interplay between the advancement of AI technology and the ethical and legal realms.”

“WAME commits to protecting the rights of voice actors and creators while advancing ethical AI practices. We believe this controversy serves as a pivotal moment in harmonizing AI technology with relevant legal statutes.”

Luke is the latest in a long line of video game voice actors to address the threat of AI and share how it impacts them. The Witcher voice actor Doug Cockle recently told IGN that AI was “inevitable” but “dangerous”, sharing in Luke’s assessment that chatbots and similar uses are “effectively robbing [voice actors] of income.”

Video games have endured a complicated relationship with AI in recent years. Embark Studios, the developer of smash hit shooter The Finals, was criticised for using AI voiceovers by myriad actors and even other developers, for example. Embark told IGN that “making games without actors isn’t an end goal” and claimed it uses a mix of both recorded audio voices and audio generated via AI text to speech tools for its games, however.

Video game voice actors previously called out AI-generated explicit Skyrim mods, and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate voice actress Victoria Atkin called AI-generated mods the “invisible enemy we’re fighting right now” after discovering her voice was used by cloning software. Paul Eiding, the voice actor behind Colonel Campbell in the Metal Gear Solid series, also condemned its use.

Ironically, the biggest developer to use AI for voice acting so far is The Witcher studio CD Projekt Red, though this was only done to replace a deceased voice actor after gaining permission from the family.

Looking to counter chatbots like the Grand Theft Auto one, Cissy Jones, a voice actor known for her roles in Disney’s Owl House, Destiny 2: The Witch Queen, Shin Megami Tensei 5, and more, has started a company called Morpheme.ai to let voice actors embrace AI in their own way and gain control of their own voices going forward.

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

We’ve rattled on about micro SD card deals in the past but this might be one of the best we’ve ever seen for Nintendo Switch owners. The 128GB SanDisk SD card is down to just $8.99 at Amazon (see here), a significant markdown from its original $34.99 MSRP and a reasonable reduction vs. its average $14-15 price most recently.

These officially Nintendo-licenced SanDisk SD cards look cool but typically have a significant markup when compared to a regular SanDisk model. But, that is not the case this time, and this is legitimately the best deal you can currently get on a micro SD memory card for a portable console like the Switch.

This is one of those standout deals where we have to mention that it could expire or sell out at any time, due to its significant value. If you just got a Switch over the holiday period or even gifted one, this is the perfect next step in ensuring a digital library is available at all times.

The nearest comparison for alternate options for expanding your Switch’s internal memory is the SanDisk 128GB Ultra microSDXC for $12.99, or the Samsung Evo Select 128GB A2 microSDXC for $15.50 (which is slightly more futureproof vs. the previous two). For even more Switch deals, check out our complete Nintendo deals round-up featuring discounts on games, accessories, Switch online memberships, and more.

IGN has gathered a number of details about the rumored Switch 2 console in the meantime, which analysts have been predicting would launch this year, and there were rumors that Nintendo was demoing the console to partners behind closed doors at last year’s Gamescom. We also know that Nintendo briefed Activision on a Switch successor in late 2022.

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