Mortal Kombat 1’s Ed Boon has confirmed the door is not closed on Injustice 3.

IGN had the chance to speak with Boon and ask him about NetherRealm’s decision to go with another Mortal Kombat game after Mortal Kombat 11, given the studio has alternated between Mortal Kombat and Injustice since the 2013 release of Injustice: Gods Among Us.

“There were a number of factors, some of which I can talk about, some of which I probably shouldn’t,” Boon said.

Two reasons Boon was willing to discuss were the unfortunate onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the team’s choice to switch to a newer version of the Unreal game engine (Mortal Kombat 11 runs on Unreal Engine 3, whereas Mortal Kombat 1 runs on Unreal Engine 4).

“But we did go to a new graphics engine, Unreal,” Boon said. “We really wanted to be careful with COVID and all that stuff and everybody staying safe. So there were a bunch of variables involved that eventually we realised, ‘Okay, let’s do another Mortal Kombat game and hopefully we’ll get back to the Injustice games.’ ”

Just to be sure, we wanted to confirm with him directly that the door was not closed on the Injustice franchise.

“Not at all,” Boon answered.

Injustice: Gods Among Us was released in 2013 and its sequel, Injustice 2, arrived in 2017. In our Injustice 2 review, we said: “Faster, deeper action, and a wealth of content make this DC heroes fighting game feel super.”

As for Mortal Kombat 1, which is set to launch on September 19, 2023, we got a brutal new look at the game in action and the new Kameo system at Summer Game Fest. We also got a chance to get hands-on with Mortal Kombat 1, and we thought there were some exciting differences from Mortal Kombat 11 even though the gameplay felt pretty familiar.

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

Microsoft has insisted any similarities between inXile’s Clockwork Revolution and BioShock Infinite are “unintentional”.

Microsoft unveiled Clockwork Revolution during the Xbox Games Showcase with a reveal trailer some said looked remarkably similar to Irrational Games’ 2013 shooter adventure BioShock Infinite.

As a reminder, here’s the Clockwork Revolution reveal trailer:

And here’s a BioShock Infinite trailer:

While both games share a similar steampunk aesthetic, Twitter user Butmac hammered home the point in a series of posts that included side-by-side images lifted from both games. The shots show similar perspectives of statues, sky rails, characters, enemies, and posters.

The Daisy Fitzroy character replete with scarf really cracked me up. pic.twitter.com/t9LNxEMNQa

— Butmac (@Butmac) June 11, 2023

pic.twitter.com/YcrGXUZFfa

— Butmac (@Butmac) June 11, 2023

Clockwork Revolution is described as a “time-bending steampunk first-person RPG”.

“After stumbling across an incredible invention that allows you to travel into the past, you discover the city you call home — the vibrant steam-powered metropolis of Avalon — has been carefully crafted through the alteration of historical events,” reads the description.

“By traveling back to key moments, your interactions and choices will have a butterfly effect on the deep, narrative-driven world and characters of Avalon, causing them to change and react in unprecedented ways.”

The similarity with BioShock Infinite has become the top talking point for Clockwork Revolution in the wake of its reveal at the Xbox Games Showcase. In response, a Microsoft spokesperson told IGN:

“Any similarities are unintentional. Players will be able to fully customize their own main character in the game.”

Character customisation was one feature highlighted by inXile boss Brian Fargo in a series of tweets that stressed the RPG-ness of Clockwork Revolution.

Fargo called Clockwork Revolution a “deep RPG” with “full character creation”, a “branching dialogue system”, “awesome” steampunk weapons and “dark humour”.

Important to know that Clockwork Revolution is a true RPG with all of the stats, crunchy details and deep reactivity that we’re known for.

— Brian Fargo (@BrianFargo) June 11, 2023

These features are points of difference between Clockwork Revolution and BioShock Infinite, the latter of which is less a role-playing game, more a linear, story-based first-person shooter adventure that features lite-RPG elements.

These features are also in-keeping with the types of games inXile has made in the past, including Wasteland 3, Torment: Tides of Numenera, and The Bard’s Tale 4.

Clockwork Revolution is due out “in due time”. There is of course a new BioShock game in development from 2K’s Cloud Chamber Studios, although it has yet to be revealed.

Here’s everything Microsoft announced during its Xbox Games Showcase. And here’s the full Summer of Gaming schedule.

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.

Think of Avowed like The Outer Worlds rather than Skyrim in terms of size and scope, developer Obsidian has said.

Obsidian boss Feargus Urquhart told PC Gamer the studio’s initial pitch was for Avowed to be a bigger, sprawling open-world fantasy role-playing game like Bethesda’s Skyrim, but it ended up being smaller scale, similar to its previous sci-fi role-playing game The Outer Worlds.

After announcing Avowed three years ago during a livestream, Microsoft finally revealed gameplay during its Xbox Games Showcase event alongside a 2024 release window. It’s a first-person fantasy RPG set in Eora, the world of Pillars of Eternity, with fantastical monsters and lots of magical combat.

So, expect typical Obsidian first-person melee and magic battles, all cast in the brightly coloured and vibrant environments in a section of Eora called The Living Lands. The trailer was narrated by a character named Kai, a former soldier and one of the companions who joins the player in Avowed.

There’s still a lot we don’t know about Avowed, but it seems story and companions are very important to the game. According to PC Gamer, when Obsidian started focusing on this, Avowed’s smaller scale “came naturally”.

It’s busy times at Obsidian. It’s working on The Outer Worlds 2, continues to support Grounded and Pentiment, and of course has Avowed in development.

In case you missed it, here’s everything announced during the Xbox Games Showcase. When you’re done with that, check out our Summer of Gaming schedule to find out what’s next.

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.

The Xbox Games Showcase was full of announcements and surprises. From a full reveal of Fable to release windows for Avowed and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, there’s plenty to be excited about if you’re an Xbox gamer.

But there are several Xbox Game Studios games announced previously over the last several years that have been MIA ever since. Here’s a list of Xbox Game Studios we know exist but were a no-show today.

MachineGames’ Indiana Jones

In early 2021, we learned Wolfeinstein: The New Order and The New Colossus developer MachineGames and Bethesda were working on an Indiana Jones game. Outside of the announcement, we have not heard much about the project.

We do know Bethesda Game Studios’ Todd Howard will serve as Executive Producer and that he pitched the game. Last year Howard went on Lex Fridman’s podcast and mentioned this untitled Indiana Jones game would be a “unique” mash-up of different genres.

State of Decay 3

Three years ago, an Xbox showcase previewed a list of games that would be available on the Xbox Series X/S consoles. State of Decay 3 was one of those games announced during that July 2020 showcase that has yet to be released.

State of Decay 3 has no release window and we have yet to see any gameplay of the third installment from Undead Labs’ third-person survival horror zombie game. The most recent news came from Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty, who confirmed State of Decay 3 was being made in Unreal Engine 5 and that The Coalition would be involved in development.

The Outer Worlds 2

At the 2021 Xbox Games Showcase, Obsidian announced it was developing a a sequel to its 2019 hit The Outer Worlds. Not much is know about it, which is not entirely surprising when you consider Obsidian has been busy with multiple projects.

From Grounded leaving early access last year, to its critically-acclaimed adventure game Pentiment launching last year, and Avowed currently slated to release next year, Obsidian has been keeping busy.

Perfect Dark

At the 2020 Game Awards, Microsoft revealed a new Perfect Dark game. It’s being developed by The Iniative a new studio formed by Microsoft back in 2018. A blog post published during its unveiling noted that this project is “aiming to deliver a secret agent thriller set in a near-future world”.

Everwild

At X019, Rare announced Everwild, a new IP that was in early development. While back in 2021, it was reported that Everwild was being completely rebooted, Matt Booty would go on to say in an interview with Kinda Funny that the report was “more definite and a little more extreme” than the truth.

With Rare working on this plus Sea of Thieves, which announced a new Monkey Island crossover at today’s Xbox Games Showcase, hopefully the legendary British studio will have more to share on Everwild soon.

Contraband

In 2021, Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios announced a brand new game called Contraband. It’s an open-world co-op game that will be an Xbox console exclusive (and its coming to PC, too). Xbox Game Studios is publishing the title, but outside of its reveal two years ago, we have not heard much about the game and no gameplay has been shown as of yet. We do know that the game will be using the latest iteration of Avalanche’s Apex Engine.

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.

Bandai Namco announced that Soulcalibur V will be delisted from the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 digital storefronts on June 19, 2023.

In a statement on Twitter, the official Soulcalibur account said, “Valiant Warriors – Soul Calibur V is taking its final curtain call on the stage of history and will be sunset on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on June 19, 2023. The base game and all associated DLC will no longer be available for purchase. Thank you for your continued support.”

Valiant Warriors – Soul Calibur V is taking its final curtain call on the stage of history and will be sunset on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on June 19, 2023. The base game and all associated DLC will no longer be available for purchase. Thank you for your continued support.

— SOULCALIBUR (@soulcalibur) June 12, 2023

While the game will no longer be available for purchase digitally after the June 19 date, players can still find physical copies and play them. However, all of its DLC will be gone from storefronts. Thankfully, Bandai Namco didn’t mention anything about server closures, so that means players can still enjoy the game’s online functions.

Soulcalibur V was first released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012. The latest entry in the franchise, Soulcalibur VI, launched in 2018 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

In IGN’s Soulcalibur V review, we said, “Soulcalibur V is at its absolute best with friends, when it’s testing your skill, reaction times, and trash talking ability. The combat is still great and the graphics are still beautiful. Outside of that, it’s a slight disappointment, as this is the weakest single player experience in the series yet.”

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

The Elder Scrolls 6 may be the last game in the fantasy series Todd Howard makes, the Bethesda boss has said. Speaking to IGN ahead of Starfield Direct, 52-year-old Howard discussed the length of time it takes for Bethesda Game Studios to make its games.

Starfield is Bethesda Game Studios’ first new intellectual property in over 25 years, and its first major release since Fallout 4 came out eight years ago in 2015.

While Bethesda Game Studios has grown bigger since those days, with four studios (Rockville, Montreal, Austin, and Dallas) set up and contracts with multiple partners in place, this expansion does not necessarily speed up development, Howard insisted.

The Elder Scrolls 6 was announced in 2018 with a teaser video, below. Howard has confirmed it will follow Starfield, although a release window has yet to be announced.

In a 2022 interview with IGN, Howard said Fallout 5 would be Bethesda Game Studios’ next game after The Elder Scrolls 6, but he clarified that comment, saying now: “it [Fallout 5] will clearly be after Elder Scrolls 6 at some point… At some point in the future.”

What’s clear is Bethesda Game Studios titles take many years to develop, something Howard has bemoaned in the past. But Howard insists the most important thing is to give these games the time they need, pointing to the long gap between the launch of games like Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto as not negatively impacting their series.

“I think Half-Life 3 will do fine, right?” Howard said. “So even though in the moment, how do I bring that closer to reality today, because I want to play it, those gaps, these are still evergreen franchises that I think when they come, it’s about just doing it right.

“I want to be faster, but speed isn’t the goal.”

In that context, and with planned long-term support for Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 in mind, Howard has begun to think about how many games he has left in him.

“So our ability, like we talked about, to support Starfield… Whereas maybe in the old days, you would put it out and then you’d go on to a sequel, now we can support that game for a much longer period of time, which is what our plan is.

“And then as we look to an Elder Scrolls 6, that is one where… I probably shouldn’t say this. But if I do the math, I’m not getting any younger. How long do people play Elder Scrolls for? That may be the last one I do. I don’t know.”

Based on Bethesda’s track record for development timescales, The Elder Scrolls 6 may end up skipping the current generation of consoles entirely. It seems certain that whatever Bethesda Game Studios releases after The Elder Scrolls 6, whether it be Fallout 5 or something else, it will launch on Microsoft’s next-generation console. And after that? Assuming The Elder Scrolls 7 is a game Bethesda Game Studios intends to make, we could be looking at it coming out 20 years from now.

For more from Todd Howard, check out the interview in full. We’ve also got a roundup of Starfield Direct, and a Summer of Gaming 2023 schedule if you’re wondering what’s coming up next.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. Send news tips to wesley_yinpoole@ign.com.

Bethesda has clarified Doom developer Id Software’s involvement in Starfield’s development in the wake of a May rumor claiming the fellow Zenimax-owned studio had stepped in to overhaul Starfield’s combat.

In an interview with IGN ahead of the Xbox Showcase and Starfield Direct, Bethesda boss Todd Howard confirmed Id Software had helped out with Starfield’s graphics, but “they did not help us with the combat.”

“Well, first of all, I’d say being in the company, knowing the folks at Id Software for a long time, I’m a huge Doom fan,” Howard said. “They’re the absolute best. Doom Eternal is one of my favorite games.

“So with Fallout 4, they did give us a few tips on how to handle combat. And Starfield, we redid the combat ourselves and it’s really feeling great. But Id has helped us really more on the graphics side.”

Howard said Bethesda wanted to “bring over” some aspects of the Id Tech engine into the Creation Engine in a bid to improve Starfield’s look and feel. Id Software is of course well-known for its first-person shooters, and Starfield, like the Bethesda’s Fallout games, incorporates this type of action into its combat.

“So we get into motion blur,” Howard explained. “It’s just how the game feels smooth. Some other things that they do in id Tech that we wanted to bring over into Creation Engine 2, and they helped us do that, and it’s great.”

Howard then teased Id Software’s unannounced next game, but stopped short of saying anything meaningful about it.

“And I’m such a fan of what they do. So being able to get an early look at what they’re doing next… Not here to talk about that, but it’s just…”

Id Software’s last major release was 2020’s Doom Eternal, although it launched the full version of Quake Champions in 2022 after five years of early access. The studio has been quiet since.

Check out IGN’s roundup of the Xbox Showcase, IGN’s roundup of the Starfield Direct, and be sure to check out our Summer of Gaming 2023 schedule to find out what’s coming next.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. Send news tips to wesley_yinpoole@ign.com.

Starfield is officially getting its own limited edition Xbox accessories, and they’re all available to order right now, shipping within a few days. There’s a Starfield-themed Xbox controller, wireless headset, and external hard drive available right now.

We’re expecting these accessories to be incredibly popular and sell out fast, so we’ll leave some handy links just below if you’re looking to preorder ASAP. Preorders for the Constellation Edition ($299.99) are also live at GameStop for Pro Members, plus see everything else related to Starfield in our dedicated preorder guide. Plus, for more updates on preorders from other retailers like Amazon or Best Buy, stay tuned, or follow @IGNDeals on Twitter.

Where to Preorder Starfield Xbox Wireless Headset (Limited Edition)

Xbox Wireless Headset is also now available from Best Buy for $124.99, or the Microsoft Store as well for $124.99 / £114.99.

Where to Preorder Starfield Xbox Controller (Limited Edition)

The Starfield Xbox Controller is now available from Best Buy for $79.99, as well as the Microsoft Store for $79.99 / £69.99. The Starfield controller unfortunately leaked before the Xbox Games Showcase, but now it has been officially announced and looks to be a stylish if minimalist controller that should be a great addition to any collection.

Preorder Starfield Special Edition HDD (2TB-8TB)

The portable hard drives are externally based, featuring USB A and USB C ports, and are compatible with Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S. Each HDD also features Starfield’s signature logo and crisp white design. Preorders are now live.

More Xbox Deals

Xbox Deals Unlocked sale is also currently live, with deals on Xbox games, alongside various other discounts including the Electric Volt Xbox Controller coming down to just $39.99, dropping $25 in total during the sale. Best Buy also has the standard Seagate Game Drive for Xbox 2TB (without the Starfield theming) down to just $79.99 at the moment.

Starfield was originally planned to be released on November 11, 2022, but it was delayed back in May 2022. For more, check out Starfield’s official gameplay reveal from June 2022, everything we learned from our interview with Bethesda Game Studios’ Todd Howard about the game, and why we believe Starfield has to have a perfect landing, especially after the troubles of Redfall.

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

Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty told an audience of media and content creators today that he believes Xbox has “turned the corner” on first-party releases, stating that the company is moving closer to a goal of four first-party releases per year.

In an Xbox panel entitled “What’s Next for Gaming?”, Booty was questioned about the company’s first-party slate, which has been under criticism throughout the last year due to a perceived dearth of major releases and weaker showings from major pillars such as Redfall.

Booty replied by acknowledging that Xbox “had some gaps last year,” but added, “I think we’ve turned the corner.”

He called out Hi-Fi Rush, Minecraft Legends, Age of Empires, and the coming releases of Forza Motorsport and Starfield later this year as examples of recent benchmarks. And he pointed out that in the last five years, Xbox has shipped ten games with over 10 million players life to date apiece.

But then, Booty noted that in 2024, Xbox’s first-party slate “really kicks into gear.”

He mentioned Towerborne, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, Avowed, Microsoft Flight Simulator, and “some other things we haven’t really talked about so far” planned for next year. Booty also called out Obsidian’s Avowed, inXile’s Clockwork Revolution, and Compulsion’s South by Midnight as the first games each studio has shown that “are beginning, middle, and end under the Xbox banner.”

“All of that is really part of our goal to get to at least four games a year,” Booty concluded.

Xbox’s showcase today featured a number of new announcements included, besides what Booty mentioned, the first look at Fable and a deep dive into Starfield gameplay and features. You can check out a full roundup of everything we saw right here.

Photo credit: Rebekah Valentine / IGN.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.