Blizzard fans are freaking out about the only current way to access the long-awaited Diablo 4 beta: ordering KFC.
As the beta kicks off today, March 17, hopeful players are taking to the game’s Reddit to express their surprise, frustration, and amusement over the KFC beta code promotion. Players could previously preorder Diablo 4 to get a beta code, but this is no longer available now that the beta has begun.
Some users are ordering KFC simply for the beta code, with no intentions to eat the chicken sandwich, while some are protesting it altogether.
Reddit user kuroineko666 posted an “anti vegan beta key” post, asking why the only way to access Diablo 4’s beta other than preordering is “to order a dead chicken from KFC”.
Another user, MahiMatt, falls into the latter category. “Just ordered my KFC chicken sandwich with the Diablo promotion,” they said. “Question: do I actually have to pick up the sandwich to get the code?” Other users have expressed similar plans, while one called the collaboration a “dystopian nightmare”.
The beta code is available to anyone in the United States who orders a Double Down sandwich or other valid options, though a vegan or vegetarian meal is absent from the list.
Cardy, Emma, and Mat are here once again to talk absolute nonsense. In amongst that, though, Emma has played 5 hours of Dead Island 2 and tells us all about its delicious gore. Mat has had the pleasure and relative displeasure of seeing both John Wick 4 and Shazam Fury of the Gods. Plus, Cardy has finished Death Stranding so has some 3 year-delayed thoughts.
Got a game for us to play, or just want to tell us the weirdest thing you’ve eaten for breakfast? Drop us an email: ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.
In light of the high-quality remakes of Resident Evil 2 and 3 released in 2019 and 2020, it felt like a safe bet that Capcom would do an equally admirable job of rebuilding Resident Evil 4. Even so, when I hit the start button on this 2023 remake of the legendary 2005 action-horror game I wasn’t prepared for how forcefully it would knock my knees out from under me and suplex me headfirst into 16 hours of sustained tension and exhilaration. This fully revitalised campaign dramatically one-ups the original in almost every conceivable way. Its Spanish countryside setting is substantially more sinister, its pacing has been tightened to the point where hardly a single minute is wasted, and its controls have been modernised in order to allow its signature dynamic shooting mechanics to really shine. I’ve been waiting 18 years for a game to thrill me in the same way as Resident Evil 4; as it turns out, this whole time I’ve just been waiting for another Resident Evil 4.
The original Resident Evil 4 is a landmark installment in Capcom’s seminal survival-horror series that, for many, would need no introduction. However, considering it came out back when we assumed that Episode III would be the last Star Wars film and iPhones didn’t even exist yet, I should probably give it some context. At the time it was a big deal for Resident Evil to switch from the series’ traditional fixed-camera perspectives to a then radical over-the-shoulder viewpoint that brought us uncomfortably close to the gore and put the emphasis on reflexes and precision targeting, and as a result Resident Evil 4 was an action-horror epic without peer. Its influence has subsequently been felt in countless other third-person classics like Gears of War, Dead Space, and The Last of Us, and now its original DNA has been extracted, synthesised, and injected into a state-of-the-art host game, mutating it into a menacing new monster that’s breathtaking to behold and immensely intimidating to encounter.
In preparation for this review I returned to the original game for the first time in years and was shocked at how badly this remake was needed. The movement of main star Leon Kennedy felt ridiculously restricted; he struggles to get around as though he’s wearing an old pair of skinny jeans that haven’t fit him since his police academy days, and is immobilised anytime he gets his gun out as though he’s incapable of independent control over his hands and feet at the same time. By modern standards it’s absurd, and would absolutely put off a lot of newcomers before they could begin to understand why this game is so highly regarded.
Sight for Saw Guys
Thankfully, those days are gone. Not unlike the recent Metroid Prime Remastered, this Resident Evil 4 remake plays like a 2023 game. Luxuries like simultaneous twin-stick movement and targeting mean that you can cautiously back away while still keeping your gun trained on the advancing hordes, or side-step out of the way of an incoming crossbow bolt without having to remove your eye from the scope of your rifle. This newfound freedom of movement makes you better equipped to really make the most of the immensely satisfying area-specific damage effects; blowing kneecaps out to expose an enemy to a melee finisher, blasting sticks of dynamite held in the hands of attackers before they have a chance to throw them, or simply reveling in some of the grisliest headshots in the history of video game shotguns.
Resident Evil 4’s original DNA has been extracted, synthesised, and injected into a state-of-the-art host game, mutating it into a menacing new monster.
None of this will shock you if you never played the original, but trust me, it’s a big deal to those of us who are back for round two: the rough edges of a number of other interactions have been filed down, like how crates and barrels can be quickly smashed at the tap of a button rather than having to clumsily line up a knife swing, making it much faster to scramble for ammo and health pickups in the heat of a battle. Weapon switching is now performed instantly with a tap of the D-pad rather than having to pause to hop in and out of the inventory screen, and Leon’s combat knife can also be used to parry enemy attacks or bring a swift finish to staggered foes, or to take enemies out silently after he’s crept up on them with his new ability to crouch. (It must be those looser fitting jeans).
Crucially, though, this overhauled control setup makes combat more enjoyably fluid without compromising any of the challenge when played on the Hardcore setting recommended for returning players. (‘Standard’ and ‘Assisted’ modes are included if you want an easier time of it.) The added benefits of the knife are balanced by the fact that it takes damage with each use, so you can only rely on it sparingly – otherwise it will break like a tiny Master Sword and must be repaired at a merchant before you can resume stabbing.
Meanwhile, enemies move in dangerously erratic ways and have a tendency to quickly overwhelm in numbers, so you still have to make snap decisions when it comes to prioritising targets. They’ve also learnt a few cunning new tricks to trip you up with, like the sneaky way the homicidal villagers will lay down bear traps in the middle of a fight to keep you on your toes while you’re busy flexing your trigger finger. Resident Evil 4 may well give you a more expansive toolset to aid Leon’s survival, but you still need to keep your wits and reflexes sharp – because losing your head amidst a crowd crawling with a murderous mind-controlling parasite can swiftly result in Leon literally losing his. Thankfully, a new checkpoint save system minimises any arduous backtracking from your last manual typewriter save should Leon perish – but purists should take note that the unlockable Professional difficulty mode removes that safety net if you prefer a more punishing run the next time through.
No matter what difficulty you choose, a major strength of Resident Evil 4 is that enemy types are continually shuffled so that you can never really settle into a one-size fits all strategy. Just as you’re comfortably pulling off headshots, they start wearing helmets to force you to target their legs. Then, once you’ve busted more kneecaps than a debt collector, they start coming back to life with deadly whipping tendrils sprouting out of their shoulders. Then, when you’ve figured out how to take out these terrifying mutations efficiently, you come face to face with a seemingly unstoppable waddling tub of nightmare fuel that can regenerate every blown off body part like a T-1000 that was hand-sculpted by Clive Barker. Resident Evil 4 gives you a growing number of guns that all feel great to use, from submachine guns to rocket launchers and the especially powerful magnums, and does its absolute best to ensure you’re leaving very little in the chamber after each frenzied firefight.
I also love how the tactile nature of almost every element in your surroundings can be used as a tactical advantage, provided you can think fast enough on your feet. The chainsaw attacks from the terrifying, sack-hooded Dr. Salvador are just as deadly to Leon as they are to every other enemy in the vicinity, so baiting him into lunging at you and then steering him into a crowd of his own minions is a great way to thin the herd. Meanwhile, dangling oil lanterns can be shot and dropped onto an angry mob to set them all ablaze, but they can also be used to ignite hapless animals like cows who will rage out of control and scorch everyone in their path. When ammunition is always at a premium, it’s both practical and ridiculously entertaining to let a flaming hunk of hamburger do your dirty work.
Spanish Castle Magic
Many of you under 30 might have no clue what Resident Evil 4 is about: it’s perhaps best described as riding a rollercoaster that’s careening off the rails to crash through a row of spectacular haunted houses. What starts as a fairly straightforward rescue mission, with Leon sent into a small Spanish village in search of the US President’s missing daughter Ashley, soon hurtles into a heart-stopping series of battles against giant sea monsters and towering trolls, desperate defenses against crazed hordes in boarded up cabins, outrageous assaults on a heavily fortified castle, skulking sections through shadowy laboratories, explosive minecart chases, and countless run-ins with some truly twisted freaks infected with the mutating Las Plagas parasite, all of which look consistently incredible reimagined on Capcom’s RE Engine (which also powered the last two remakes). The original RE4’s famously flabby final third has been tightened up considerably, and it all builds towards an improved and genuinely imposing final boss fight that took all of my skill and ammo reserves to topple.
Of equal importance to its renovated environments and enemies is the anxiety-inducing audio design. It can’t be overstated how effective the sounds of Resident Evil 4 are when it comes to cultivating a genuine sense of dread. Whether it’s the manic chanting of its parasite-riddled peasant farmers when you enter a new area, the snarl of wolves as they whip through the leaves around you in the castle’s hedge maze, or the throaty rumble of a chainsaw motor idling in the distance, just listening to it all routinely had me inching towards the edge of my seat in anticipation for each enemy encounter, so when the the carnage kicked off and the tension spiked I had hardly any couch left to cling to.
Resident Evil 4 is like riding a rollercoaster that’s careening off the rails to crash through a row of spectacular haunted houses.
At every step of the journey there are enhancements, both big and small. The original’s gimmicky, quicktime-event-heavy knife battle against Major Krauser has been transformed into a gripping blend of parries and counter-attacks, while the frustration of escorting Ashley through certain sections has been reduced significantly by ditching her health bar so you don’t need to waste valuable green herbs on healing her, and her intelligence has been improved so she’s less prone to foolishly stumble into the hands of a bloodthirsty mob. Elsewhere, there have been considerable structural changes that make the environment feel more cohesive. For instance, in the original game the lake area primarily served as the backdrop to a boss fight, but now you can fully explore the lake and its surroundings by boat, docking at various inlets to scour cabins and caves for additional puzzles, valuable treasures, and hidden horrors lying in wait.
In fact, despite having played the original several times over, there still seemed to be something that surprised me around each and every corner, and the pacing of Leon’s plight never gets bogged down in the sort of storytime stroll that’s become so common in a lot of big-budget single-player adventures. With all due respect to the likes of The Last of Us and God of War Ragnarok – which are both excellent in their own ways – Resident Evil 4 has no time for dialogue-heavy deep and meaningfuls. Leon’s foppish haircut might scream noughties emo but his stoic attitude is all-out ‘80s action hero, and no matter how much I had to Tetris-swap the expanding selection of guns and ammo to fit his inventory case he always seemed to have plenty of room left up his sleeve for a winking one-liner to whip out after a thoroughly insane action sequence before sliding a fresh clip into his submachine gun and running headlong into the next.
The pacing of Leon’s plight never gets bogged down in the sort of storytime stroll that’s become so common in a lot of big-budget single-player adventures.
Stranger’s Things
When you do need to take a breather, the mysterious merchant returns to keep Leon topped up with a suite of dangerous devices like a quaint form of Q Branch, along with new recipes that allow you to craft the exact ammo types you want when out in the world rather than having to rely on randomised drops. He also pays the bounties on the optional side quests that have been added throughout the campaign, like shooting down hidden blue medallions or tracking down a rare golden chicken egg, which proved to be fun little diversions away from the story’s murderous main path. These bounties are paid in spinel gemstones which can be traded for unique items and upgrades outside of his standard inventory of wares, so although I was initially sad to see the iconic red dot sight removed from Leon’s starting pistol, it only took me a few short quests to be able to buy one and satisfyingly fit it myself.
One thing in particular that I appreciate about the remake’s merchant is that he’s a lot more generous when it comes to the trade-in value of your weapons. In the original it never really made sense to invest too heavily in upgrading the base pistol and shotgun early on, only for their value to drop dramatically when it came time to trade up for some beefier boomsticks. However, in the remake you’re effectively refunded close to the full value of each weapon along with the cost of any upgrades you’ve added to it, so you can re-spec your favourite guns and boost them towards their optimal forms without copping as big a penalty to your purse of Spanish pesetas.
The merchant also gives you access to the new bolt thrower weapon during your first encounter, and its reusable bolts come in handy in the story’s early hours when you’re still finding your feet as far as managing ammunition reserves and crafting resources goes. Yet despite his generous prices and fabulous wares, I couldn’t help but feel a little shortchanged after each transaction; his re-recorded dialogue isn’t delivered with quite the same kind of goofy charm as that of the grizzled original. However, in the scheme of things it says a lot for the overall quality of this remake when the only minor black mark I can give it is for its slightly blander black market dealer – and if this is your first time playing it won’t bother you in the slightest.
It’s also a shame that The Mercenaries mode isn’t included at launch, although it’s reassuring to know that it will be coming as part of a free update sometime in the future, and I’m extremely keen to tackle its frantic time attack challenges with the benefits of Leon’s more malleable move set. In the meantime there’s a New Game+ mode and a lengthy list of in-game challenges to complete in order to unlock additional weapons, costumes, and concept art, though it seems that bonus modes Assignment Ada and Separate Ways that were present in older versions of Resident Evil 4 have either been scrapped or potentially saved for DLC. Their loss isn’t that big of a deal since they were never as huge a draw as The Mercenaries for me personally, but when a campaign is consistently this amazing, it’s hard not to feel greedy for a little bit more.
Bethesda’s upcoming RPG Starfield has received a Restricted rating due to its depiction of “interactive drug use,” the Australian Classification Board has announced. It is Australia’s strongest classification, meaning sales of Bethesda’s new RPG will be restricted to adults over 18 in Australia.
Violence was classified as having a “Strong Impact,” while nudity and sex received very low ratings. Drug use did the most to drive Starfield’s ratings, which its depiction being classified as “High Impact.” Starfield’s rating is stronger than Fallout 4, which received an MA-15 rating for its violence when it was released back in 2015.
Bethesda’s RPGs have long been known for their explicit content, including featuring a fictional drug called “Jet” that your character can get addicted to in-game. This is the strongest rating to date, though, offering a hint of what to expect when it’s eventually released later this year.
A little more insight into Starfield
While Bethesda has delved into some of Starfield’s systems and gameplay, there’s still a good deal we don’t known. Back in 2022 we interviewed director Todd Howard, where he talked about how it would mix handcrafted content with a procedurally-generated galaxy, among other features.
Starfield was originally supposed in late 2022, but was subsequently delayed into 2023. Xbox boss Phil Spencer supported the delay and said “the decision to give the team the time to build the game that they feel they should be building is just the right thing to do.”
Starfield is currently slated to release September 6 on PC and Xbox Series X|S, and has been confirmed to be available Day 1 on Xbox Game Pass.
Hyperkin, the company that makes retro-inspired gaming accessories for modern-day consoles, is at it again. Instead of making an original Xbox controller this time, the company has decided to jump a generation and create an Xbox 360-style controller for the Xbox Series X|S called the Xenon.
The Xenon is set to come out on June 6 and will be priced at USD 49.99. You’ll be able to buy the controller in black, white, pink, or red.
Additionally, the 360-inspired controller will come with precision analog impulse triggers, a view and share button allowing you to take screenshots and record gameplay, vibration feedback, a 3.5 mm headset jack, and a detachable Type-C cable so you can charge/update your controller.
The controller was announced last November and is named after the original codename given to the Xbox 360’s first console iteration.
This isn’t the first time Hyperkin has decided to pay homage older Xbox consoles. On its website, you can purchase a Duke wired controller that works on the Xbox Series X|S and even the iconic single-ear-piece headset used in the 360 era.
You can play a pre-order for the Xenon controller on the Hyperkin Website on May 5.
Hi Luis Joshua Gutierrez is a freelance writer who loves games. You can reach him at @ImLuisGutierrez on Twitter.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been confusing global officials for over a year. What’s even more confusing is a reference to PlayStation’s Superman in a case underway in the U.K.
The legal team representing Microsoft referenced a PlayStation Superman game in a document responding to the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) provisional findings regarding concerns the company’s nearly $70 billion acquisition of the publisher may render Activision Blizzard games exclusive to Xbox should the merger go through… but that reference was most likely a typo.
In Section 2.20, where it discusses the impact the merger will have on PlayStation exclusive titles on Xbox console sales, it wrote, “This applies for ‘big titles’ like God of War and Superman. There has never been evidence that exclusivity of one single franchise can drive console sales.”
The problem is, a Superman game hasn’t been made for the PS5 or PS4. In fact, the last time a Superman game was made for a PlayStation console was Superman Returns, the video game adaptation of the 2006 movie of the same name starring Brandon Routh as the Man of Steel, for PS2.
The superhero game Microsoft’s attorneys probably meant to write in that section is Marvel’s Spider-Man, as it was mentioned three times throughout the document. Insomniac Games made that game and Spider-Man: Miles Morales exclusively for PS4 and PS5. Although, both games aren’t necessarily PlayStation-exclusive titles anymore since they got ported over to PC last fall, especially the remastered version of the former.
If you tried looking for a Superman game on the PlayStation Store because of the typo, you’re out of luck. But don’t worry, you’ll get to see him in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which reportedly got delayed to later this year because of the backlash directed at the gameplay shown off during Sony’s recent State of Play live stream. The game also generated controversy over Rocksteady Games making it online-only, even in single player mode.
Cristina Alexander is a freelance writer for IGN. She has contributed her work to various publications, including Digital Trends, TheGamer, Twinfinite, Mega Visions, and The Escapist. To paraphrase Calvin Harris, she wears her love for Sonic the Hedgehog on her sleeve like a big deal. Follow her on Twitter @SonicPrincess15.
I’m not exactly sure why a developer best known for quiet, choice-filled games that border on interactive movies is so interested in turning them into arcade-style rail shooters, but Supermassive Games is taking another crack at exactly that – this time with the help of the new PlayStation VR2 headset. Like Until Dawn: Rush of Blood before it, The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR focuses less on storytelling and more on action to mixed results. While it’s fun to blast through ghouls and bats in my path, this spinoff is plagued by many of the same issues as its predecessor, including a disappointingly short runtime.
Switchback VR’s story feels like an afterthought, putting you in the role of an unnamed protagonist on a hellish rollercoaster ride across ten different stages. Most are locations featured in the first season of The Dark Pictures Anthology, but you’re never really told much about why the protagonist is visiting them or any of the few supporting characters they meet. That’s partially because Switchback VR is very short, only taking me about four hours to complete, but it’s disappointing all the same, given how good of a job Supermassive usually does providing backstory and depth to its characters.
But what it lacks in story, Switchback VR mostly makes up for in gameplay. While the on-rails nature of its action naturally limits where you can go, you are able to move your head to look around in any direction in VR. It was fun to quickly turn each time I heard eerie screams or enemies creeping up on me in the background or occasionally having to physically duck to avoid falling beams and leaning pillars. That situational awareness is key as enemies will sometimes sneakily appear to the left and right of your peripheral vision.
You will always have two guns to fend off enemies, each independently controlled with the PS VR2’s Sense controllers. While you start every level with the default pistols, you can grab ammo-limited alternatives like a revolver or a machine gun by shooting red crates that appear in convenient sections of each stage. It’s annoying that these special weapons are locked into the hand you initially shot the crate with, but you can still have some fun switching up your strategy for a bit when you find them. For example, you could use a machine gun to swiftly remove enemies close to your cart and conserve ammo by firing the pistol at enemies further away. Other weapons like a flare gun are required to solve certain puzzles and progress further – they do not require a lot of thought to solve, as you just need to shoot at certain objects to keep the track moving forward, but it is a nice change of pace from just shooting hordes of enemies.
Shooting feels responsive and the motion-controlled aiming is very accurate.
The shooting mechanics themselves have been simplified for VR, with firing and reloading both mapped to two buttons on each Sense controller since so few are needed overall. That’s not a bad thing as on-rail shooters focus more on throwing as many enemies at you as possible in a short period of time than nuanced gunplay. Still, shooting in Switchback VR feels responsive and the motion-controlled aiming is very accurate, which made headshots extremely rewarding each time I pulled one off.
The heads you’ll be popping vary depending on the stage you’re on, ranging from standard zombies to flying vampires. Most of these enemies will be familiar to those that played any of the first season of The Dark Pictures Anthology, each a faithful recreation of the monsters from those games. Killing enemies or destroying inanimate objects such as bottles, empty crates, and skulls will increase your score for a level, which is a nice incentive to deal as much damage as you can. There are even local and online leaderboards for you to compare scores with other players, but it feels like a shallow exercise when they don’t measure important factors like accuracy.
Switchback VR nails the creepy atmosphere and tension of each stage – from the dark and abandoned World War 2 freighter seen in Man of Medan to the sandy underground ruins of the ancient empire featured in House of Ashes. Unfortunately, the frequent overuse of cheap jump scares quickly overshadows any building suspense provided by a given location. While the first two enjoyably caught me by surprise, it doesn’t take long for them to become more annoying than alarming.
But while the jumpscares did little to keep me on the edge of my seat, the handful of sections where Switchback VR took advantage of the PS VR2’s eye-tracking were actually impressively unsettling. These areas have enemies that move closer and closer to you each time you blink, which is an incredibly novel experience for any game that left me wanting to see more. It’s a shame that only a few moments of Switchback VR make use of this concept, but the parts that do are a great showcase of the potential of this new tech in future horror games made for the headset.
The little bit of variety alternate routes offer isn’t very memorable.
Although Supermassive has done a good job of including some of the PS VR2’s new technology, Switchback VR still feels a bit technologically unpolished in a few places. I noticed a few performance issues while playing: Some background textures, like tree branches, would randomly appear as the cart moved closer to them, and I had three instances where the screen froze for a few seconds. These issues were relatively minor and didn’t totally throw my ride off the rails, but they were still noticeable and annoying on such a brief trip.
Despite its short length, Switchback VR does offer some replayability by letting you go down different routes that help shake up each run. Most of these decisions are made by shooting at specific gates that allow you to change your cart’s course, which is a nice way to blend that choice into the action. You even get a complete view of your route at the end of each stage, along with a tease of the alternate paths you could have taken, encouraging me to go back in and see what I missed. That said, the little bit of variety those routes offer isn’t very memorable when you can still see everything Switchback VR has to offer in two or three playthroughs.
In addition to changing your route, some stages give you an option to save, kill, or abandon survivors that appear in some stages. Each survivor is tied to an optional puzzle that gives you amount of time to at objects in a specific order. However, like most of Supermassive’s games, the majority of these small decision points have little or no impact on the overall story.
Boss fights are also included at the end of some stages, but their execution leaves a lot to be desired. These battles pit you against antagonists from their respective Dark Pictures entries, such as the final form of the Sailor Girl in Man of Medan, whose boss battle consists of her levitating and throwing projectiles at you. Most of the boss fights end up boring and unremarkable, like busy work to slow you down rather than an epic obstacle you must overcome to finish the stage.
Dying Light developer Techland has revealed more information and another piece of concept art for its upcoming open-world fantasy action RPG, which is shaping up to look like a big departure from the studio’s previous works.
On Twitter, Techland shared just a bit more information about its unannounced title, writing, “Our newest game is set to be a narrative-driven #fantasy epic with an exotic open world ready to be explored. We strive to create a compelling story-focused #AAA title that combines and refines the best aspects of gameplay that Techland is known for.”
Along with that, Techland posted a piece of concept art, showing a character climbing a tree looking out at a vast, lush world littered with ruins. There also appears to be a broken moon or planet in the sky.
Techland shared a similar tease nearly a year ago, where we also learned the studio brought on narrative director Karolina Stachyra and narrative lead Arkadiusz Borowik for the project, a pair of fantasy veterans who previously worked on The Witcher 2 and 3. The studio also has talent with credits on games such as Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Mad Max, Deathloop, Horizon Zero Dawn, and more.
We don’t have a title or release window for this game, knowing little beyond the concept art and that Techland wants to make this game a “fully next-gen experience”.
Techland’s last game was 2022’s Dying Light 2, which we called. “Another in a long series of big, ambitious games whose potential greatness is visible just beneath a grimey layer of bugs”. In addition to work on the new IP, Techland is just one year into a five-year plan of post-launch content for Dying Light 2.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
Emmett Shear, CEO of uber-popular streaming platform Twitch, is resigning from his position after more than 16 years at the helm.
Shear announced his departure in a Twitter thread today. According to screenshots of his blog post, the birth of his son made him pause and reflect on his future at Twitch. He compared its growth from a 24/7 reality show to a site where streamers can broadcast their gameplay to millions of people to raising a child — his first child.
“Twitch often feels to me like a child I’ve been raising as well,” Shear said. “And while I will always want to be there if Twitch needs me, at 16 years old it feels to me that Twitch is ready to move out of the house and venture alone. So it is with great poignancy that I share my decision to resign from Twitch as CEO.”
In October 2006 we started working on live video for the internet. That became Twitch. More than 16 years later, I’m now a father and ready to move to my next phase of life. I wrote a blog post, but the short version is: thank you so much to everyone who built this with me.
Dan Clancy, the current president of Twitch, will now serve as CEO effective immediately. Shear will continue working at Twitch in an advisory role.
Growing pains
Shear founded Twitch in October 2006 as a 24/7 reality show named Justin.tv, named after one of his co-founders, Justin Kan, and made to document Kan’s life.
As the years passed, Shear said he didn’t think a round-the-clock reality series focusing on one person was the best idea, so in 2013, Justin.tv grew and transformed into Twitch, a site where streamers can broadcast gameplay of their favorite games for millions of people to watch.
In the last decade, it put Fortnite on the map, turned Ninja and Pokimane into stars, and became a fully-owned subsidiary of Amazon. It’s also dealt with no shortage of controversies, including a deepfake scandal and more. Either way, Twitch’s influence on the gaming community is undeniable, attracting millions of users per day.
Cristina Alexander is a freelance writer for IGN. She has contributed her work to various publications, including Digital Trends, TheGamer, Twinfinite, Mega Visions, and The Escapist. To paraphrase Calvin Harris, she wears her love for Sonic the Hedgehog on her sleeve like a big deal. Follow her on Twitter @SonicPrincess15.
Five ex-Criterion and Need for Speed developers, including former GM Matt Webster, have founded Fuse Games, a AAA studio focused on “blockbuster spectacle and player-centric innovations in social gameplay, self-expression, and creativity”.
Joining Webster, who will serve as the new studio’s GM, are head of content Steve Uphill, head of production Pete Lake, head of operations Alan McDairmant, and head of technology Andrei Shires, according to Eurogamer. The quintet of developers departed Criterion in December with over 90 combined years of experience at the prolific racing studio.
Fuse Games will develop for consoles and PC. Despite the developers’ experience with racing games, Webster told GI.biz the team hasn’t committed to a genre for its debut: “Obviously arcade racers and open world racers are what we know very deeply,” they said.
“But we have played around in other genres over the years, including Battlefront, Battlefield… VR. We know what we are good at, and that spans a broad range of things now. Once we select our genre, we want to lead that genre.”
Webster and his colleagues are looking to set up shop in Guildford, the same UK town Criterion calls home. The staff has already been built up to 17 employees.
The developers left Criterion just weeks after the studio shipped its latest Need for Speed game in December. IGN’s Need for Speed Unbound review praised its bold new style while noting its lack of innovation.
Jordan covers games, shows, and movies as a freelance writer for IGN.
