Category: IGN

If you thought it was too early for this game to go on sale, guess again. Woot! (owned by Amazon) is offering The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom for Nintendo Switch for only $51.99. This is a good deal only if you’re an Amazon Prime member because you get free shipping. Otherwise, you’ll have to pay an additional $6 for shipping, which makes it just a few dollars cheaper than buying it elsewhere.

This is a physical copy and includes a 90-day Woot! warranty. Woot! mentions that copies may or may not be imported, but all Nintendo Switch games are region-free so you’ll be able to play the game regardless. Also, you won’t have to worry about language either, since that setting is determined by your Switch console.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Castlevania veteran Shutaro Ida has announced that he will be stepping back from work on Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night 2 following his recent cancer diagnosis.

The game developer, who worked on a long list of entries in Konami’s Castlevania series and more recently directed 2019’s Bloodstained, announced the news in a post on X/Twitter. He says he’ll be offloading some of his responsibilities with the rest of the team at developer ArtPlay now that he has begun his cancer battle.

It looks like popular Nintendo Switch emulator Ryujinx is no more.

One of its developers, riperiperi, announced the news on its Discord server today, saying that lead developer gdkchan “was contacted by Nintendo and offered an agreement to stop working on the project, remove the organization and all related assets he’s in control of.”

“While awaiting confirmation on whether he would take this agreement, the organization has been removed, so I think it’s safe to say what the outcome is,” riperiperi continues. The message, which you can read below, was also posted on Ryujinx’s X/Twitter account.

pic.twitter.com/2Ggt9SWoDI

— Ryujinx (@RyujinxEmu) October 1, 2024

It also came just hours after some users raised concerns, noticing that Ryujinx’s Github page currently leads to a 404 message. Others pointed out Ryujinx’s download page also wasn’t loading, sparking more concern for the emulation project. Amid the speculation, one of the Discord’s mods assured fans that an announcement was coming, asking them to not spread misinformation in the meantime.

As it says on its website, Ryujinx is an open-source Nintendo Switch emulator written in C# for Windows, Linux and macOS. It began as a single-developer project in 2017, collecting a small team of developers along the way.

Today’s news is only the latest in Nintendo’s ongoing crackdown on emulators following its lawsuit against Tropic Haze, creators of the popular Switch emulator Yuzu. Tropic Haze paid $2.4 million in damages in the settlement, and Yuzu was shut down entirely. Nintendo claimed that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was pirated 1 million times before its release in the lawsuit, and issued a takedown notice for more than 8,500 copies of code of Yuzu in May.

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.

Throne and Liberty is off to a very strong start. The new MMORPG by NCSoft and Amazon Games has already rushed to number four on Steam, behind only Dota 2, Counter-Strike 2, and that one banana game.

At the time of this article, Throne and Liberty sits at around 292,116 concurrents, putting in the top half of the list of Steam’s ten most popular games. Its early performance is all the more impressive in light of mixed reviews, most of which have focused on its server issues and microtransactions.

Indeed, server issues seem to be the biggest problem facing Throne and Liberty, with fans complaining about spending 45 minutes creating a character only to get disconnected. What’s more, it doesn’t appear possible to choose a different server, leaving fans little recourse except to hope that things improve.

Still, Throne and Liberty seems to be doing well, following in the footsteps of other Amazon Games releases including Lost Ark and New World. Originally billed as a Lineage sequel, Throne and Liberty is described as a free-to-play 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.

We wrote about Throne and Liberty during its beta, “Overall, I certainly enjoyed most of my time with Throne and Liberty. There are big, late-game things that I want to come back and participate in, like large-scale PVP battles between guilds and raid dungeons. The story and quests won’t upend any long-standing MMO conventions. The inner voice that usually commands me to make sure every task that can be done must be done very quietly let me skip through slow dialogue and turn a blind eye to many menial side tasks. I never skipped an opportunity to fight, though.”

But while Amazon Games have a way of getting off to a fast start, they have struggled to maintain that momentum amid slow updates, balance problems, and other issues. New World launched to huge numbers, wound up getting heavily retooled, and is trying to get a fresh start on console as New World: Aerturnum. We’ll see if Throne and Liberty has better luck.

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.

Starting today, Amazon is offering the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth game for PlayStation 5 for only $49.99. That’s a savings of nearly 30% off and the lowest price we’ve seen for it on Amazon. We saw this deal once before at Walmart, but that has long since expired. This is the “exclusive Amazon edition,” which also includes a themed controller skin featuring Cloud and Sephiroth. Rebirth is easily one of the best games of 2024, PS5 or otherwise.

30% Off Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Console-playing Baldur’s Gate 3 fans no longer have to look at PC players in envy — Patch 7 is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Mac today.

Highlights of the patch include 13 new endings for players doing evil runs, including unique new endings for each Origin character, as well as revamped split-screen. But the real highlight is the new Mod Manager, allowing console players to take advantage of the bevy of mods players have made for the hit RPG.

Patch 7 hit PC a little less than a month ago, bringing with it the official mod toolkit. Since then, Larian says on its Steam page, players have uploaded 1,000 mods and racked up more than 15 million downloads.

Patch 7 is starting to roll out to Mac & console players!

Get ready to begin a modded run with Community Update #29, which covers:

❔ Mod troubleshooting
👥 How to synchronise mods for Multiplayer
🎮 Mod recommendations to get you started!

Read now: https://t.co/KBkT1c61Ml pic.twitter.com/p48ERo3JLj

— Baldur’s Gate 3 (@baldursgate3) October 1, 2024

While console players can’t use the official toolkit to create mods, they can now use those that have been made with the toolkit, and that have passed internal testing. There are currently 69 mods that have passed internal testing, and Larian says more will become available on console and Mac as they continue to test them.

Larian also released a couple of videos to celebrate the news: a fresh animated short in collaboration with Mashed and Spud Gun Studios (nice bowl cut, Astarion) and one highlighting five mods that console and Mac users can now get their hands on.

The absolutely massive Patch 7 includes even more than mods and new evil endings, also adding Honour Mode improvements, new Legendary Actions, and various gameplay improvements and bug fixes. Larian also notes that Hotfixes #26 and #27 are available on all platforms today as well.

Patch 7 was long rumored to be Larian’s last update to Baldur’s Gate 3, although the studio clarified last month that it’s not the final patch after all — but declined to offer specifics on what’s to come. For more in the meantime, check out our recent interview with the developer looking back on the year since release.

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.

Now that the price hike has kicked in for existing Game Pass users, there’s no better time to stock up on cheap codes to save some cash. If you’re wondering where to find deals like this, don’t worry, we’re here to help you track down the best offers available on Game Pass right now – offers like this deal on 3 months of Game Pass Ultimate at Woot that’s down to just $36.49. You can learn more about that deal and other discounts available on Game Pass below.

Navigate to:

• Best Xbox Game Pass Deals
• What’s Coming Soon to Xbox Game Pass?
• What Games Are Leaving Xbox Game Pass?
• Biggest Games Releasing on Xbox Game Pass

Best Xbox Game Pass Deals

One of our favorite Xbox Game Pass Ultimate deal has returned at Woot, providing another opportunity for users to stack their membership at a discounted rate. You can get three months of the service for just $36.49. This price won’t stick around for long, so act fast to secure your membership.

Considering the new price of Game Pass Ultimate is $19.99/month, you’re saving $23.48 with this 3-month deal. This is the best way to avoid the Xbox Game Pass price hike. By stacking these codes you can set yourself up for success to play all of Xbox’s upcoming releases at a lower price.

What’s Coming Soon to Xbox Game Pass?

Game Pass has a nice rotation of new titles to play every month. If you’re curious about what’s in store for the start of October, we’ve got you covered there as well. The Xbox Game Pass October wave 1 lineup is:

• MLB The Show 24 (Console) – October 2 Game Pass Standard
• Open Roads (Console) – October 2 Game Pass Standard
• Sifu (Cloud, Console, and PC) – October 2 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard
• Mad Streets (Cloud, Console, and PC) – October 7 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard
• Inscryption (Cloud, Console, and PC) – October 10 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard

Another massive piece of Game Pass news is that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is officially available to play on Game Pass right now for console, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Ultimate users. This features the full package for CoD fans: the campaign, multiplayer, and zombies modes. Subscribers can also expect to see Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 day-one on Game Pass when it releases on October 25. However, for those subscribing to the new Standard tier (available for $14.99/month), this does not give Game Pass users access to day one releases, meaning Black Ops 6 will likely not be available on that tier.

What Games Are Leaving Xbox Game Pass?

Unfortunately with new games joining the catalog it means a few must take their leave. Below, we’ve listed the games that’ll be leaving Xbox Game Pass on October 15.

• Dyson Sphere Program (PC)
• Everspace 2 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• From Space (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• F1 Manager 2023 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Scorn (Cloud, Console, and PC)

Biggest Games Releasing on Xbox Game Pass

Xbox’s Summer Showcase back in June was a massive success, showcasing an incredible amount of new titles coming to the platform. Alongside the aforementioned Black Ops 6, the showcase also included Doom: The Dark Ages, Perfect Dark, Fable, Gears of War: E-Day, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and so many more. But which of these titles will appear as day-one releases on Game Pass? Thankfully, quite a few! Including all of the previously mentioned titles.

While most of the games listed above have release dates in 2025, or no release dates at all at the moment, the one to keep an eye on for now alongside Black Ops 6 is Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Gamescom’s Opening Night Live revealed that Indy’s latest adventure will be available to play on December 9 for Xbox users, so there’s truly no better time to hop on the Game Pass bandwagon.

If you’re looking for even more savings on all things Xbox, have a look at our roundup of the best Xbox deals. There, we’ve highlighted all of the latest and greatest discounts on the platform, from incredible game deals to fantastic offers on high-quality headphones. Or, if you’d rather see what’s going on with other platforms, check out our roundups of the best PlayStation deals, the best Nintendo Switch deals, and our overall roundup of the best video game deals.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.

Smite 2 developer Hi-Rez Studios has laid off an undisclosed number of employees as the MOBA sequel struggles throughout its early access period.

Hi-Rez Studios CEO Stewart Chisam announced the layoffs on X/Twitter alongside a shift in strategy for Smite 2, which launched in early access on August 27 and is planned for a full, free-to-play launch in 2025.

“We’re making some difficult but necessary changes to ensure Hi-Rez’s long-term success, with a specific focus on positioning Smite 2 for a long and sustainable future,” Chisam said.

“As part of this internal reorganization and reprioritization, we are laying off some team members across Hi-Rez. This will disproportionately impact those in marketing and publishing roles, as well as some from our Evil Mojo, G&A, and Titan Forge divisions. The game team roles impacted disproportionally affect our team working on cosmetic skin content and system features.”

Hi-Rez is now focusing entirely on Smite 2 beyond “small teams supporting light updates” for its other games. It is “exclusively prioritizing gameplay development in the near term” instead of the cosmetic and monetization features previously planned.

Chisam assured the development team hasn’t been decimated by the layoffs, saying it’s still a “significant size” and larger than the development team behind the original Smite for the majority of its lifecycle.

“Our goal for Smite 2 in the near term is to create the best possible game experience for our community and a game that provides joy to players and can sustain itself long into the 2030s,” Chisam added.

“As we’ve gained experience through the Alpha, the process of migrating gods from Smite 1 to Smite 2 is now clearer, and we also better understand what players want from the game. We’re doubling down on ensuring this transition meets player expectations and moves faster, taking into account the lessons we have learned in the early alpha.”

Smite 2 was announced in January as essentially a complete remake of the original game but with revamps across the board. Bringing over the skins players have collected for the last decade isn’t so easy, however, as Hi-Rez Studios previously said porting all 1,600 of them would take 246 years worth of work.

The sequel has not necessarily gone down well with fans, however. Only 55% of its Steam reviews are positive and concurrent player numbers have fallen off, having premiered at 12,549 but dropped off to a 24 hour peak of jut 1,869, according to player tracking website SteamDB.

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

Hi-Fi Rush 2 looks like a certainty following PUBG company Krafton’s acquisition of Tango Gameworks.

Microsoft shocked the video game world when it closed Japanese studio Tango Gameworks earlier this year as part of devastating cuts that saw 1,900 staff let go from its gaming business.

Three months later Krafton announced its intention to buy Tango Gameworks. Only the Hi-Fi Rush intellectual property was brought over as part of the studio transfer from Microsoft-owned Zenimax Media to Krafton, leaving the likes of The Evil Within and Ghostwire: Tokyo behind.

In a new interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Krafton’s head of corporate development Maria Park was asked about the company’s plan for the Hi-Fi Rush franchise following the acquisition. Park said Tango Gameworks wants to bring the first game to other platforms, such as Nintendo Switch, and wants to work on Hi-Fi Rush DLC. Rather than rush out a sequel, Tango Gameworks wants to “take the necessary time to refine the game and come up with a different experience,” Park added.

But what of the sequel? Park revealed that not only was Tango Gameworks working on Hi-Fi Rush 2 when Krafton first met with the team, but it had a six month old build ready, with the goal of offering a more open world type of game after the linear level design of the first.

“Yes, the team was working on Hi-Fi Rush 2 when we first met them,” Park said. “They want to make sure [it] surpasses the expectations of the existing fans. For instance, some of the feedback about Hi-Fi Rush was that some people felt it was [just] going through factories, so now they want to give a more open world type of experience. I don’t think it’s going to be completely open world, but a more dynamic environment [that] you play in. Also, having more advanced technology applied to the rhythm action so that it feels more synchronized.”

Park continued: “I think the build that we looked at was about six months old when we went to meet with them. At the moment, because the IP acquisition is in progress, it’s been on hold because all the related assets and tools will be transferred to Krafton from Microsoft. But yes, we’ll continue working on it for sure. Like I said, we won’t really rush to the market just to deliver a sequel. We want to make sure that the sequel is actually at a quality level that surpasses the community’s expectations.”

Meanwhile, Park confirmed Tango Gameworks was working on anniversary content for The Evil Within, which is now unlikely to see the light of day. Park also said that by the end of the acquisition process, around 70 to 80 of Tango’s 90 staff will have joined Krafton. “We’re also going to backfill some of the positions that are immediately in need,” Park added. “So the studio total will probably add up to around 90 to 100 towards the end of the year or the beginning of the next.”

Park also teased that Tango Gameworks has a new co-op online game under development, and that Krafton will bring its live-service expertise to bear and “help bring it to the next level.”

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.

Sony has released the PlayStation Plus Essential Tier games for October 2024, meaning subscribers can now download Dead Space (PS5), WWE 2K24 (PS4 and PS5), and Doki Doki Literature Club Plus (PS4 and PS5).

First revealed on during Sony’s 2024 State of Play, all three games are available at no extra cost to PlayStation Plus subscribers until November 4.

Dead Space is perhaps the biggest game in October’s line-up. It arrived in 2023 as a remake of the survival horror classic that puts players aboard a desolate space station with very little to protect them from the invading hoards of aliens.

“Dead Space is a superb remake and undoubtedly the definitive way to experience one of the best survival horror shooters that Capcom never made,” IGN said in our 9/10 review.

Also available in October is WWE 2K24, the latest in the long-running wrestling franchise from 2K Games.

“While not drastically different, WWE 2K24 is better in almost every way, touting small but smart additions to well-tested systems and modes as opposed to taking bigger risks,” IGN said in our 8/10 review.

Finally, Doki Doki Literature Club Plus is a revamped version of the beloved indie title. “The Literature Club is full of cute girls,” reads the synopsis. “Will you write the way into their heart? Now that you’re a club member, you can help make the dream of creating something special out of the things you love come true!” While all cute and fluffy on the outside, however, the visual novel holds a very sinister secret.

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