Category: IGN

Grand Theft Auto VI is one of the most anticipated games ever. Its notoriety has also made it a big target for hacking. According to a recent Reuters story, this includes a hacker sending a message to all Rockstar staff members on the company’s Slack threatening to release GTA VI’s source code.

According to Reuters, the accused hacker is Arion Kurtaj, a teenage member of the Lapsus$ hacking group. He is facing 12 charges total, including three counts of blackmail, two counts of fraud, and six charges under the U.K.’s Computer Misuse Act.

On top of Rockstar, Kurtaj is also accused of targeting companies including Revolut, Uber, and Nvidia, and of blackmailing the British broadband provider BT Group and demanding a $4 million ransom. Kurtaj has been deemed mentally unfit to stand trial.

In 2022, Rockstar Games suffered an a “network intrusion” resulting in a host of unfinished gameplay and assets being leaked across social media. Rockstar moved quickly to remove the leaked material, but it wasn’t able to entirely prevent its spread. It even appeared in Goat Simulator 3 before being promptly taken down.

“We take leaks very seriously indeed and they disappoint all of us, it’s really frustrating and upsetting to the team,” Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said in the wake of the leaks. “However as a business matter we’re not affected. But as a personal matter and an emotional matter, our teams are affected.”

While Kurtaj wasn’t named at the time, Uber released a blog revealing that it was working with the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate its own data breaches, and that they suspected it was the same hacker behind the Rockstar breaches.

We don’t know when GTA 6 will be released, but it could be as soon as next year. In the meantime, a jury will attempt to determine whether Kurtaj is responsible for the alleged hacking, though it will not issue a guilty or not guilty verdict.

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 bathrobe boy, Xûr, is now live in Destiny 2 for the weekend until next week’s reset. If you’re looking to get you some shiny new Exotic armor or weapons for your Guardian, look no further.

Each week, Xûr has a random assortment of Exotic armor, one for each Guardian class, as well as a random Exotic Weapon and an Exotic Engram available for purchase. In addition to his Exotic wares, he’s got a random collection of Legendary weapons and armor to deck out your Guardians.

We’ve rounded up all the info on Xûr for the week including where to find Xûr, which Exotic weapons and armor are available, as well as which Legendary weapons you should pick up, either for PvE or PvP.

Where Is Xûr Located Today?

Xûr’s location can be found at Winding Cove in the EDZ on July 14 through July 18. To reach him, travel to the landing point at Winding Cove. When you arrive, make for the rock cliffs at the far end of the cove and look for a cave winding up to a platform next to some Fallen. There you’ll find the retail monster who inspires us all.

Ubisoft has partnered with OWO to create a haptic feedback vest that will allow wearers to physically feel the actions of protagonist Basim as he parkours, and fights his way through ninth-century Baghdad in Assassin’s Creed Mirage.

“By leveraging OWO’s ground-breaking technologies and expertise, we are able to immerse players in the world, sounds and sensations of Assassin’s Creed Mirage in an innovative and enhanced way,” said Fabian Salomon, lead producer at Ubisoft Bordeaux. “We can’t wait for our players to discover and enjoy the coming-of-age story of Basim with the power of OWO.”

The Assassin’s Creed Mirage Edition of the OWO Haptic Gaming System includes the patented OWO Skin, 20 gel pads, an ‘OWO device’, and a game code, along with a charging cable, and storage pouch. The system is set to be compatible with PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S versions of the game.

Where mirage meets reality… Discover the Assassin’s Creed Mirage haptic system in collaboration with @owogameofficial
Learn more: https://t.co/z7zGWfZTQA pic.twitter.com/WZNMNalRx2

— Assassin’s Creed (@assassinscreed) July 13, 2023

The vest itself has been given a bespoke Mirage aesthetic, and is made of a lightweight lycra augmented with a series of high conductivity electrodes and haptic pads that allow the wearer to feel a variety of sensations across the torso and arms.

It is also completely wireless, and will likely have a battery life of around eight hours, assuming that its specs are similar to those of the Founders Edition, which is the only other version of the system released to date.

Donning the vest will allow players to “feel all the impacts” and precise parkour movements that protagonist Basim makes and takes as he fights his way through Baghdad. According to OWO the Mirage edition of the haptic system will “incorporate new sensations never felt before” by existing users.

These haptic sensations can be controlled via the My OWO smartphone app, which allows users to customise their settings, and modify the intensity of the feedback as needed. To date no price has been given for the Assassin’s Creed Mirage Edition. However, the Founder Edition of the system is currently on sale for 499 Euros on OWO’s website, so with the addition of a game code, the new offering will more than likely meet that price point, or exceed it.

Whilst no confirmation has been given, the special edition will likely be usable with the library of games that are already compatible with the Founder Edition system, which includes a small pool of native games, and a wider selection of titles with modded support, including Fortnite, and Half Life Alyx.

Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer

This week’s column comes by way of a Question Block asked during the most recent episode of Nintendo Voice Chat (NVC 670, if you’re reading this in the distant, or not so distant, future). I like the question a lot, because it dovetails nicely with the subject of last week’s column, where I went through my list of wants and “don’t wants” for Nintendo’s next console.

A question with infinite answers, honestly. Creating a console made entirely of diamonds, for example, would price it out of range of all but the richest kings of Europe. Inventing organic game cartridges with chimeric DNA that scream every time you put them into the console is another worst-case, but rather than focus on the limitless – but completely unlikely – scenarios, I’m going to instead focus on missteps well within the realm of possibility.

Worst Case Scenario 1: It’s Not Backwards-Compatible

This is probably the biggest blunder Nintendo could make with the follow up to its next console, but the sad truth is it might not be that far out of the realm of possibility, for various reasons. Technologically, it doesn’t seem like it’s too hard to just slap the brains of the Switch inside a new, more powerful console, or to just crank the framerate and graphics sliders up on more powerful hardware.

If the next console uses a chip with different architecture than the current Tegra, it would require a layer of software emulation to get Nintendo Switch games running. If the next Nintendo console isn’t up to the task of emulating its predecessor in an acceptable fashion, Nintendo could just pass on it as a feature rather than face blowback for bad emulation.

The Switch wouldn’t be as hard as something like the N64 (look at the NSO N64 games and how they STILL sometimes don’t run correctly), but it’s possible it could be a tech headache and Nintendo drops it altogether.

If the Switch follow-up lacks backward compatibility, a whole lot of Switch owners will be left holding onto a second console to play their library. Hardcore gamers who already own a dozen or more consoles won’t mind, but those aren’t the people Nintendo is courting with its hardware. It would also be a huge public relations blunder.

The last few generations have proved, regardless of how much people actually use it, backwards compatibility is enormously important in the minds of gamers. Remember when we all thought the PS5 was going to play every PlayStation game, ever? Well, some of us did, and Xbox fans sure do love talking about how they can play Fusion Frenzy any time they want, in 4K.

Plausibility: I’d say it’s not likely, but entirely possible, because as Kat said on the show this week, “Nintendo.”

Worst Case Scenario 2: It’s Confusing

There’s always a little confusion around a new console, and the discourse doesn’t seem to mind helping to stoke the flames of confusion, even if there’s nothing to be confused about. Remember when everyone was saying grandmas were going to go into GameStops and buy an Xbox One X because they wouldn’t know their grandchild actually wanted an Xbox Series X, thus ruining Christmas? It was a whole thing, a very dumb thing, but nonetheless there is often confusion when a new console comes out, real or imagined.

The Wii U is probably the ultimate example of a console actually confusing consumers. If you’ve watched NVC (Thursdays at 6:30 ET/3:30 PT on IGN.com and YouTube!), you know I’ve said a million times how much I enjoyed my Wii U, but I personally know people who just didn’t get it.

One friend of mine bought his son a Wii U because they had a road trip coming up and he thought the game pad worked on its own. The name “Wii U” didn’t help much, either, because it didn’t make itself known instantly as something entirely new. It was just a vowel at the end of the name of a super-successful product, and why would anyone outside of Wheel of Fortune buy a vowel?

The New Nintendo 3DS also suffered from being confusing, although the upgraded version of the 3DS sold almost as well as the Wii U. But certain games could ONLY be played on the New Nintendo 3DS hardware, and it wasn’t immediately obvious which ones unless you were savvy enough to know there was a difference between the 3DS and the New Nintendo 3DS.

It split the user base, which Nintendo has done in the past with stuff like the N64 memory expansion, but at least the memory expansion didn’t require you to purchase a whole new console (New Nintendo 64 XL?).

Plausibility: There are tons of ways Nintendo could muddle the messaging around its next console, but ever since the Switch reveal, Nintendo has been batting close to a thousand when it comes to marketing. We got a few trickles of info over the years about Tears of the Kingdom, then, BAM, they gave us a whole bunch, but it was JUST the right amount. I mean, it helps TOTK is the best game ever made, but Nintendo seems to have really figured it out.

Worst Case Scenario 3: It Costs Too Much for What It Is

The “4K” PS5 and Xbox Series X have been on the market for three years this November, which is absolutely bonkers. While neither of them has yet seen a significant price drop, we’ve started to see deals on bundles, where you can get a console and a game for the price of just the console. Before you know it we’re going to see slim versions, costing less, and serious price drops for the first-edition of the hardware.

If Nintendo announces its next console, and it’s a hybrid like the Switch, and it costs more than $400, people are going to turn up their noses. We just saw the first-ever sale on the Steam Deck, which is more powerful than the Nintendo Switch by a fair amount, so there’s a lot of downward pressure on Nintendo. The convenience of a hybrid design might not be that appealing when you can buy a much more powerful console for less.

Plausibility: Nintendo has traditionally bowed out of the console-power race, but with 4K TVs being the standard now, there might be a temptation to try and add more power to the next console, which could drive up the price. I think this is the least plausible, honestly, but not so fanciful that I can rule it out completely.

I’m fairly confident Nintendo is going to check the right boxes when it announces its next console. I’m also pretty sure at least one decision will baffle us, like online will still require friend codes, or it’ll make it so the existing dock still works but only if you turn it sideways or something. But what about you, what do you think is the worst case scenario for Nintendo’s next console?

Seth Macy is Executive Editor, IGN Commerce, and just wants to be your friend. You can find him hosting the Nintendo Voice Chat podcast.

The Last of Us Part 2 may be getting a new, enhanced release according to series composer Gustavo Santaolalla.

During an interview with Blender, Santaolalla teased his cameo appearance in The Last of Us Part 2 will be expanded upon in “new editions” of the game. “In the new editions you can make me play certain themes and well, I can’t tell you anything else,” he said.

Santaolalla originally appeared in-game as Gustavo – a survivor of the Cordyceps infection outbreak who resides in Jackson. This small cameo, in which he plays the banjo, seems to be getting expanded in the supposed new versions of the game, with Santaolalla hinting that players will be able to make Gustavo play songs from the game’s soundtrack.

This is far from an official announcement, however, as it’s the first we’ve heard of any new editions of The Last of Us Part 2. It’s perhaps likely the popular sequel will be heading to PC like its predecessor, though the game so far only exists on PlayStation 4 so a PlayStation 5 version could be in the works too.

The Last of Us Part 1’s PC port was slammed upon release, however, due to a variety of crippling performance issues, and player reviews were “mostly negative” as a result. Since then, the game was updated with a huge 25GB patch to improve framerate, fidelity, and more.

IGN’s The Last of US Part 2 review gave it 10/10 and said: “The Last of Us Part 2 is a masterpiece worthy of its predecessor. Taking strides forward in nearly every way, Ellie steps into the spotlight and carries the sequel in a manner that feels like the culmination of everything that’s made Naughty Dog’s blockbuster storytelling so memorable.”

Want to read more about The Last of Us? Check out which Naughty Dog co-president has retired after 25 years and find out why so many studios struggle with PC ports.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

EA Sports FC 24 on Nintendo Switch will run on the Frostbite Engine for the first time, meaning EA isn’t just releasing a rebranded version of FIFA 19 again this year.

Following the game’s full reveal on July 13, Nintendo revealed the rebranded FIFA will finally move Switch players along from the years of essentially reskinned Legacy Editions.

The Frostbite Engine promises to bring “immersive detail” to the Switch version of FC 24, especially when paired with the game’s new PlayStyles technology that “heightens the realism and individuality of each player”.

Switch players will also get to fully enjoy what’s easily FIFA’s (and now, presumably, FC’s) most popular mode in Ultimate Team, where players can develop their own teams of football legends, now including both men and women. Previous FIFA games on Switch included just a limited version of this mode.

These updates are a stark difference to EA’s prior treatment of the Switch versions of its premier football franchise. As illustrated in IGN’s reviews of these games, we awarded the original FIFA 19 a 5/10, and it’s on this foundation that EA released the rest of its Switch offerings.

FIFA 20 (which we said offers “nothing but a barebones roster update”) earned a 4/10, while FIFA 21, FIFA 22, and FIFA 23 earned just a 2/10 each. The final entry is “a prime example of minimal effort for maximum profit”, we said in our review.

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article said EA Sports FC 24 on Switch would include Ultimate Team for the first time, instead of the full version of Ultimate Team for the first time. IGN has corrected this and regrets the error.

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

Not only has the request by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to temporarily halt Microsoft’s $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard pending its appeal decision been denied, but Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are also reportedly considering selling off some of their UK cloud-gaming rights to appease the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

As reported by Reuters and Bloomberg, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, the same judge who denied the FTC’s preliminary injunction request against the massive deal, also denied the FTC’s request to stop the deal until the Ninth Court of Appeals has made its decision.

“The FTC asks this Court to enjoin the merger at issue pending resolution of the FTC’s appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The motion is denied,” Corley wrote.

Corley’s decision to deny this motion and the FTC’s preliminary injunction was due to many factors, with one of the main reasons being Call of Duty.

“Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision has been described as the largest in tech history,” Judge Corley said in the ruling. “It deserves scrutiny. That scrutiny has paid off: Microsoft has committed in writing, in public, and in court to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for 10 years on parity with Xbox. It made an agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to Switch. And it entered several agreements to for the first time bring Activision’s content to several cloud gaming services.

“This Court’s responsibility in this case is narrow. It is to decide if, notwithstanding these current circumstances, the merger should be halted — perhaps even terminated — pending resolution of the FTC administrative action.

“For the reasons explained, the Court finds the FTC has not shown a likelihood it will prevail on its claim this particular vertical merger in this specific industry may substantially lessen competition. To the contrary, the record evidence points to more consumer access to Call of Duty and other Activision content. The motion for a preliminary injunction is therefore DENIED.”

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard’s Attempt to Appease the CMA Reportedly Lies in the Cloud

As for the CMA, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are reportedly considering giving up some of their cloud-gaming business in the UK in an attempt make the regulators more willing to let this mega-deal go through.

Sources have noted the companies could sell off their “cloud-based market rights for games in the UK to a telecommunications, gaming or internet-based computing company” or a “private equity company.”

The CMA vetoed the deal back in April 2023, but it said Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are more than welcome to restructure the terms of the proposed acquisition. Unfortunately, this would require a whole new investigation that could take quite some time to complete.

In regard to the original proposal, the CMA said, “the deal would alter the future of the fast-growing cloud gaming market, leading to reduced innovation and less choice for UK gamers over the years to come.”

Microsoft appealed the decision and a court date was set for July 28, which would be after the July 18 deadline for the Microsoft and Activision Blizzard to close. However, some analysts believe Microsoft negotiated a deal with CMA to let the deal close before their quarrel is resolved.

Speaking of the deadline, if the deal is not completed by July 18, Xbox would need to pay $3 billion to Activision Blizzard and the two companies would be able to renegotiate the terms of their merger.

IGN spoke to a handful of analysts who believed the deal will still go through, but it’s hard to predict with 100% certainty what will happen as we race fast to July 18.

For more, check out our complete trial recap for the Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, and FTC court case and why the FTC boss was recently accused of wasting taxpayer money with the Xbox verdict appeal.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

More details about Call of Duty’s 2024 entry appear to have leaked from an actor who claims his likeness is being used for the game’s main protagonist.

First spotted by Insider Gaming, actor and singer Luke Charles Stafford reportedly posted on Facebook saying that Activision is using his likeness for the main character, which he says is named “Ratcliffe,” in a Call of Duty game that is scheduled to release next year.

“Activision decided to adapt their next main character, ‘Ratcliffe’ for Call of Duty off my face/likeness, and I am elated,” Stafford reportedly said in the post, which has been screencapped but is no longer on their Facebook page.

“To all of my college roommates back at Anderson University and those years in Smith Hall Playing Black Ops 2…next year, we can beat the snot out of each other again, but I want to play as me.”

Insider Gaming reports that Stafford also shared several images and videos of himself on set with a body scanning rig as well as saying hello to what seems to be a member of the Call of Duty team.

The main character’s name suggests that the Call of Duty 2024 game will take place during the Gulf War and is speculated to be a sequel to Black Ops: Cold War titled Black Ops: Gulf War. Major Peter Ratcliffe, is also a former British Army soldier who participated in the Gulf War. He received as a Distinguished Conduct Medal for gallantry in action.

Stafford’s reported post is the latest in a string of Call of Duty 2024 leaks, which is expected to be a sequel to Black Ops: Cold War.

The Call of Duty 2023 game likewise hasn’t been officially revealed yet, but it is rumored to be Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3. It’s allegedly being developed by Sledgehammer Games and launch on November 10.

In the meantime, Call of Duty: Warzone and Modern Warfare 2 continue to roll along, with its latest collaboration featuring characters from The Boys.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He’s been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.

When not writing about video games, George is playing video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey

A cascade of release date changes is currently underway as this holiday season’s most-anticipated RPGs seek to avoid running into one another.

The latest domino to fall is Stray Gods, the new RPG developed in part Dragon Age writer David Gaider. Originally slated to release on August 3, it has been pushed back a week to August 10. The move follows Larian Studios’ decision to move the PC release of Baldur’s Gate 3 in order to avoid Starfield.

Stray Gods developer Summerfall Studios was candid about the decision to change the release date, saying it wants to avoid Larian’s juggernaut, which has been gaining momentum on Steam ever since its infamous bear sex reveal (by which we mean you can romance a druid in bear form).

“We want everyone to have ample space to check out Stray Gods when it launches. Baldur’s Gate 3 is hotly anticipated (by us, too!) and we want to give our fans room to celebrate Stray Gods,” the studio wrote in a statement posted to its social media channels.

The Stray Gods delay is part of a knock-on effect that arguably began when Starfield was delayed out of 2022 and into 2023. This seemed to put Todd Howard’s opus in in line to be in direct competition with Tear of the Kingdom before it was eventually pushed into September. This resulted in Larian Studios shifting Baldur’s Gate 3, which in turn impacted Stray Gods.

✨ UPDATE ✨

Stray Gods will now release on August 10th. pic.twitter.com/xTEevmEPLb

— Summerfall Studios – Stray Gods coming Aug 10 🎉 (@summerfallgames) July 13, 2023

In short, it’s a pretty stacked holiday season if you’re an RPG fan. Baldur’s Gate 3, Starfield, and Stray Gods are all garnering positive buzz from fans, and that’s not even including the Super Mario RPG remake on Switch that’s slated for later this year.

Stray Gods is Summerfall Studios’ first project. It’s touted as a “roleplaying musical,” having been inspired in part of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s famous musical episode “Once More, With Feeling.” It’s written by Gaider, who previously worked on Dragon Age and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. It utilizes 2D hand-illustrated visuals and generally looks quite wonderful.

Stray Gods is slated to release on August 3 on Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

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.