Microsoft’s already-impressive Xbox Design Lab is expanding even further, as the company announced a ton of new colors for its high-end Xbox Wireless Elite Series 2 controller.

Available starting today, the Elite Series 2 controller now has the choice of 16 main colors, 12 face button colors, 17 accent colors for the paddles and D-pad, and 25 accent colors for the rest of the controller. The new expansion starts at a price point of $149.99.

Some of the new colors include Garnet Red, Glacier Blue, and Deep Pink, along with new options like black-out ABXY buttons. You can take a look at some of the new colors for yourself in the image below.

CD Projekt Red (CDPR) has rolled out new high end ray-tracing features for the PC version of Cyberpunk 2077, courtesy of the newly released Ray Tracing: Overdrive mode introduced in Patch 1.62.

The new PC exclusive features are geared towards high-end rigs, and will bring a “fully ray-traced, aka path-traced, rendering mode to the game”, according to a new post on the Cyberpunk 2077 website.

The developer states that the technology is capable of accurately simulating light throughout any given scene, taking into account the characteristics of emissions from an unlimited number of sources to create faithful shadows, reflections, and global illuminations.

As a result, the full set of new features are extremely GPU-intensive, and will only be available on a limited number of NVIDIA cards.

At launch, Cyberpunk 2077’s Ray-Tracing Overdrive mode is available for PC players sporting the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series (4070 Ti and up), and can also be run at 30 fps at a resolution of 1080p on NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3090. PC players who have other ray-tracing capable cards will be able to render fully path-traced screenshots via the game’s photo mode.

Patch 1.62 also saw the implementation of NVIDIA’s artificial intelligence-based DLAA anti-aliasing mode, along with support for the Intel Xe Super Sampling 1.1 performance improving upscaling technology. Check out the official Cyberpunk 2077 blog for a full list of the updates and relevant PC specifications.

CDPR has branded the release of the new features as a “Technology Preview”, to reflect the fact that the developer is expecting the resource intensive graphics features to have significant “issues” at launch.

“It pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in technology,” read the update blog. “However, because it is so new and fundamentally different from what we’ve been using so far, we know it’s not going to be perfect from the start and players might experience some issues – that’s why we’ve decided to call it a ‘Technology Preview’”.

The new graphics options are switched off by default. However, players with the requisite hardware will be able to switch to the Ray-Tracing: Overdrive preset – or enable the Path Tracing feature alone – via the graphics menu. CDPR has also stated that it is committed to improving the feature moving forward.

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

The snowball of games delayed out of 2021 and 2022 has settled in 2023, coalescing into the most exciting games lineup of the decade so far. 2023, arguably, marks the proper start of the PS5 and Xbox Series X generation with Unreal Engine 5 support building and an increasing number of developers dropping support for last-gen hardware.

Each of the three console manufacturers has at least one blockbuster release scheduled this year — Starfield for Xbox, Spider-Man 2 for PlayStation, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for Nintendo — complemented by a generation-best third-party lineup that includes Hogwarts Legacy, Resident Evil 4, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Street Fighter 6, Diablo 4, Final Fantasy 16, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Hades 2, and Mortal Kombat 12.

The first quarter of 2023 is now behind us, and already the year has lived up to its lofty expectations: 20 games have received a review score of 8 or higher from IGN, including two 10s. Click through the gallery below or continue scrolling for our list of the best-reviewed games of 2023 so far.

This list only includes standalone software; despite qualifying scores, expansions/DLC (e.g., Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania) and hardware (e.g., PSVR2) are not included. This list will be updated weekly as new releases receive qualifying review scores.

Review Score: 8 (“Great)

These games leave us with something outstanding to remember them by, usually novel gameplay ideas for single-player or multiplayer, clever characters and writing, noteworthy graphics and sound, or some combination thereof. If we have major complaints, there are more than enough excellent qualities to cancel them out.

Atomic Heart

Atomic Heart is a deeply ambitious, highly imaginative, and consistently impressive atompunk-inspired attempt at picking up where the likes of BioShock left off – something it’s done with a lot of success. It certainly makes missteps, chiefly with an irritating leading man and a self-indulgent habit of using the same tired tropes it tries to make fun of, but this stern, superpowered, and stringently solo shooter has worked its way under my skin despite these flaws. Atomic Heart didn’t always blow me away, but it definitely has the ticker to punch well above its weight. – Luke Reilly

Company of Heroes 3 Multiplayer

It doesn’t have the bells and whistles that you might consider standard in a competitive RTS in 2023, but the core experience of Company of Heroes 3 is what really matters. What I’m saying here is that CoH3 has heart – it has that special something where moving your units to outplay opponents doesn’t just look pretty or mean you’ve played more hours and memorized the metagame, but genuinely out-thought the other player. A combination of interesting army design, good maps, and RTS fundamentals means I’m confident that playing Company of Heroes 3 multiplayer is going to be a fixture of my time off for years to come. – Jon Bolding

Have a Nice Death

Have A Nice Death is a punishing but satisfying roguelike with some diabolically tough boss fights. The darkly dorky setting and office humor lend it more than enough charm to make me want to discover more of its world. But it’s made significantly more frustrating than it probably needs to be by very stingy long-term progression and limited defensive abilities in comparison to its huge array of fun-to-use offensive weapons. When I wasn’t feeling the discouraging void inside dragging me down, I was reveling in the hundreds of ways I could make these visually and mechanically memorable undead wish they never lived at all. – Leana Hafer

Meet Your Maker

Meet Your Maker is an awesome action game that beautifully executes on a terrific concept. It’s missing some depth in its tools of destruction, has some bugs and wonkiness, and its thin story is a big ol’ nothing burger, but as a starting point for another live-service game from the team that brought us Dead By Daylight, it’s extremely impressive. Running through dungeons to best whatever unknown deviousness your fellow player has left for you is a great time, limited only by what the community can concoct, and building your own bases is the ultimate reward for your hard work that never stops being hilarious. As someone who loves a good heist and relishes any opportunity to watch others fall before my evil genius, Meet Your Maker has been hard to put down. – Travis Northup

Resident Evil Village VR

Resident Evil Village VR is far more than just a gimmicky afterthought, adding enough improvements and tweaks to justify fans of both the series and virtual reality reliving Ethan’s not-so-great European vacation one more time. While the controls be a little cumbersome as you take the time needed to master them and the VR perspective can cause a few awkward viewing angles, this is still a very enjoyable return to an already great game. – Taylor Lyles

Sons of the Forest (Early Access)

​​Sons of the Forest takes everything its predecessor did well and does it a little bit better. And considering how much I enjoyed the original, I can easily recommend this strong follow-up. Exploring a huge, beautiful, deadly island through the changing seasons is a treat on its own. The new base building mechanics could entertain me for days without ever touching the main story. And to top it all off, we have smarter and more unsettling enemy behavior paired with thoughtfully improved combat. It’s already great, and it’s still in Early Access. With some healthy performance optimization and shining up of an impactful but sloppy ending, it could become incredible. – Leana Hafer

Wild Hearts

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Koei Tecmo’s Omega Force is using Wild Hearts to flirt hard with Capcom right now. But using a beloved game as the template for a new one isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and Wild Hearts manages to introduce plenty of fun new ideas to the Monster Hunter formula while recapturing it well enough to stand proudly alongside the series that so clearly inspired it. The way it simplifies and streamlines things makes for a slightly shallower package, but its karakuri building adds a fresh new way to interact with the map in its place. And while its lower monster variety is certainly disappointing, I’m still having enough fun that I’m excited to party up with some friends and dive back into both challenging endgame fights and fanciful karakuri decorations alike. – Tom Marks

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty’s combat plays very differently from Team Ninja’s own Nioh games – more in the mold of Sekiro than Dark Souls – and yet it manages to excel and falter in just about the same areas. When it comes to the clashing of melee weapons, Wo Long is among the best in the genre, full stop. Its action is fast and thrilling, the options for taking down its ferocious enemies are many and immensely rewarding to master, and its deflection-heavy combat is one of the most satisfying since Sekiro. All of those strengths outweigh an overbearing loot system, poor storytelling, and even a disappointing lack of variety in enemies. If not for that, Wo Long might’ve been one of Team Ninja’s greatest achievements – as it is, it’s simply a great one. – Mitchell Saltzman

WWE 2K23

Whether you want to experience a TV-inspired story of young wrestling talent rising to glory, chop your way to the top at your leisure, take a guided tour of the most humbling moments in the career of one of the greatest to ever do it, or some other more nerdy diversion, WWE 2K23 is worth pinning down. It’s at least incrementally better in almost every way from last year’s entry in that combat feels more rewarding, flexible, and consequential. Where it overachieves, like in MyGM, it starts to finally restore the feeling that we could be on the ramp watching a new golden age of pro wrestling games make its glorious entrance. – Jarrett Green

Review Score: 9 (“Amazing”)

We enthusiastically recommend that you add these games to your to-play list. If we call a game Amazing, that means something about it seriously impressed us, whether it’s an inspired new idea or an exceptional take on an old one. We expect to look back at it as one of the highlights of its time and genre.

Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon

You know you’ve just played something special when you’re left with a bittersweet feeling while the credits roll. As I closed the book on Bayonetta Origins, I kept thinking about how it was an absolute joy through and through. From its impressive, fantastical story moments full of childlike charm to its clever platforming puzzles and satisfying battles, this is a superb action-adventure where every piece comes together to create a wondrous playable storybook. Its wild dual-character concept doesn’t really evolve much once you get the hang of it, and maybe its conclusion could have done more to leave a lasting impact. But it’s a journey I’ll cherish all the same, and one that’s been brought to life through a beautiful art style, stellar voice performances, and an outstanding soundtrack. Bayonetta Origins puts a neat little bow on an iconic franchise, and I’m glad we got to see that there was so much more to our beloved witch. – Michael Higham

Dead Space Remake

With its stunningly redesigned spaceship, smartly and subtly enhanced story, and spectacularly reimagined action scenes, Motive Studio has managed to successfully breathe new life into the seminal sci-fi horror universe of Dead Space. Despite the fact I’ve returned to the 2008 original several times over the years and found it to hold up fairly well, my latest journey through the darkened hallways of the USG Ishimura still managed to consistently surprise me and pull me into Isaac’s plight far more than ever before, while still satisfying my desire to butcher undead astronauts with an enjoyable arsenal of wildly unsafe mining tools. It’s clear that this superb Dead Space remake has been a labour of love for the team at Motive Studios, who’ve very carefully balanced innovation and renovation with preservation, and to their credit the end result is undoubtedly the definitive way to experience – or re-experience – one of the best survival horror shooters that Capcom never made. – Tristan Ogilvie

Fire Emblem Engage

It’s no small feat that Fire Emblem Engage is able to tell a simple-but-fun story that celebrates the vast history of its series in a way that doesn’t rely on prior knowledge of that legacy. Building the perfect team of diverse characters and pairing them with the Emblem Rings of past heroes allows for tons of customization and strategy, and blasting through the enemy ranks with their special powers is always immensely satisfying. Both its main and side missions provide a good deal of challenge, and clever twists and obstacles offset a reliance on overly familiar mission objectives. Couple all that with a suite of quality-of-life improvements that immediately feel vital and Fire Emblem Engage proves itself worthy enough to be counted alongside the legacy it honors so well. – Brendan Graeber

Gran Turismo 7 VR

Gran Turismo 7 is the same amazing simulation-focused racer it always has been, but playing in a PlayStation VR2 headset has elevated it in ways I wasn’t expecting. Driving its intense and alluring races in VR adds such a high level of tactility that you can physically feel the tweaks you make to your car, demystifying a lot of the otherwise intimidating optional customization for the average player. It also looks stunning, making up for flat menus and the lack of interactivity in its cabins with impressive lighting and audio alike. If you’re buying a PlayStation VR2 headset anyway, and you had to buy just one game to keep you busy for an indefinite amount of time, make it this one. – Gabriel Moss

Hi-Fi Rush

I swear Hi-Fi Rush could be a premier cartoon series. It’s got best-in-class animation, endearing heroes to cheer for, and villains you love to hate, all wrapped in good-natured humor. But on top of that everlasting charm, it turns a dynamic rock soundtrack into its greatest weapon, putting meticulous detail into syncing the beat to all aspects of the experience. It gives combat a uniquely satisfying momentum that other stylish-action games don’t offer, even when the platforming and targeting system drop a couple notes along the way. Hi-Fi Rush is a memorable journey that marches to the beat of its own drum and without a doubt stands among the action greats. – Michael Higham

Hogwarts Legacy

In nearly every way, Hogwarts Legacy is the Harry Potter RPG I’ve always wanted to play. Its open-world adventure captures all the excitement and wonder of the Wizarding World with its memorable new characters, challenging and nuanced combat, and a wonderfully executed Hogwarts student fantasy that kept me glued to my controller for dozens of hours. It’s certainly weighed down by technical issues, a lackluster main story, and some poor enemy variety, but even those couldn’t come close to breaking its enchanting spell over me. – Travis Northup

MLB The Show 23

After a somewhat disappointing 2022, it’s amazing how far forward Sony San Diego has pushed MLB The Show 23. It seems like every element has received attention, whether its the improved scouting in the Franchise mode, updates to match the current MLB rulebook, or a vastly more helpful practice mode. This remains a gorgeous showcase for baseball, with some of the most lifelike sights and sounds to behold in a sports game. It remains to be seen if Sets and Seasons in Diamond Dynasty will frustrate in the long run, but the crowning achievement this year is the Negro Leagues mode. This playable piece of baseball history is a triumph, presented with care, grace, and attention to detail. It’s courageous and bold, like the pioneers it highlights, and it’s astonishing to experience something so affecting from a baseball game. If for nothing else, that alone makes MLB The Show 23 a must-play. – Justin Koreis

Pizza Tower

Pizza Tower is a very special 2D platformer that transcends its inspirations and becomes something even greater. It’s a short ride, and it’ll be most appealing to those who are keen to restart levels in an effort to improve their score, but even if that’s not you, there’s a ton to like here. It is one of the most straight up fun and refreshing platformers I’ve played in recent memory, sporting an unforgettably unique art style, excellent animations, immensely rewarding platforming, wonderfully creative level design, a joyful sense of humor, and one of the best soundtracks of the year so far. Move over Wario, Peppino Spaghetti is-a number one now. – Mitchell Saltzman

Theatrhythm Final Bar Line

Theatrhythm Final Bar Line is full of charm and nostalgia alike, with cutesy versions of my favorite Final Fantasy characters and excellent remixes of the iconic songs that accompanied them. The light RPG mechanics, coupled with traditional rhythm mechanics, is easy enough to get into and deep enough to entertain fans of both. It’s a little bit of a letdown that there isn’t any storyline for your party of heroes to follow or another hook to keep me playing beyond beating my own scores in Endless mode, but its impressive tracklist makes Theatrhythm Final Bar Line an enjoyable way to listen to and play along with the most memorable songs from the Final Fantasy series. – Jada Griffin

Review Score: 10 (“Masterpiece”)

Simply put: this is our highest recommendation. There’s no such thing as a truly perfect game, but those that earn a Masterpiece label from IGN come as close as we could reasonably hope for. These are classics in the making that we hope and expect will influence game design for years to come, as other developers learn from their shining examples.

Metroid Prime Remastered

Metroid Prime has been one of my favorite games for decades, but I’m still shocked that its bones are so strong. 21 years later, in 2023, Metroid Prime Remastered had to do so little beyond modernizing the controls and updating the graphics to become one of the best games you can buy once again. This ultimate solo mission is a respite from the noise of hint-giving companions and lengthy cinematic cutscenes that make up much of today’s single-player games. Those things have their place, but Metroid Prime Remastered shows that you can tell a story and create a grand adventure by building an amazing world and creating unique and fun tools to explore it with. I strongly encourage you to delve into Metroid Prime Remastered, and get lost. – Samuel Claiborn

Resident Evil 4

Whether you’re a fan of the original or a newcomer with a hankering for some action-heavy horror of the highest quality, Resident Evil 4 is like a parasite-riddled Spaniard: a total no-brainer. Its combat is friction-free but no less stress-inducing thanks to its ferocious cast of creatures, its story rapidly shuttles through a series of action scenes that are diverse in structure but uniformly unwavering in intensity, and its world is rich in detail and full of fun and often snarling surprises. Its improvements over the original are too numerous to list, from simple quality-of-life changes to completely overhauled boss fight mechanics, and with the exception of the disappointingly diminished personality of the merchant, the team at Capcom has barely put a foot wrong. Whaddaya buying? Only the most relentlessly exciting Resident Evil adventure of all time that’s been rebuilt, refined, and realised to the full limits of its enormous potential. A wise choice, mate. – Tristan Ogilvie

What’s your pick for the best game of 2023 so far? Let us know by voting in the poll or dropping a comment below!

Jordan covers games, shows, and movies as a freelance writer for IGN.

Media Molecule has announced that it is ending live support of Dreams. From this September, no more updates will be provided for the game, and many community events will be concluded.

In a post to the Dreams website, Media Molecule explained that live support will end on September 1, 2023. Along with the end of any updates, the studio is also bringing events such as DreamsCom, All Hallows’ Dreams, and the Impy Awards to a close.

“We’re very proud of Dreams and grateful for the way you, the community, have embraced all it has to offer,” said Media Molecule in the post. “Whilst we’ve always had the desire to build on the foundation of Dreams and expand the experience, when reviewing our plans we were not able to define a sustainable path. We made the decision to change the studio product strategy. This is obviously disappointing to many people inside and outside of Mm, however we are incredibly excited for what will come next.”

The studio made it clear that Dreams will still be available after September 1, and players will continue to be able to play, create, and share with others. The game will also remain available to purchase.

“Although this is challenging news we do have a few more updates on the way, including the much anticipated Tren, and a significant improvement to animation and our last Create mode update,” the developer promised.

While active development on Dreams will finish, it does seem as if Media Molecule intends to support Dreams in other ways in the future. The post promises that “We will continue to share and celebrate creations in Dreams with the wider world on our social channels, our streams, Impsider roundups and more.” In-game curation will continue, ensuring that the most interesting creations are promoted to the community.

This change comes as Media Molecule works to “shift our focus to an exciting new project.” What that new project is has yet to be detailed; “we’re not ready to talk about at this stage, but stay tuned for more information in the future.” The studio has confirmed that the project is not Dreams 2, nor part of the Dreams IP.

Before the end of live support, Media Molecule will be migrating its servers in late May in order to “preserve the security and stability of Dreams.”

Since its launch in 2020, Dreams has been home to a huge variety of weird and wonderful creations, from an incredible Avatar: The Last Airbender game, to an amazing recreation of PlayStation Home, to an absurdly realistic train station. Despite its live support coming to an end, it will no doubt remain a home for its fantastically creative community for a long time to come.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Features Editor.

The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, is constructing a Donkey Kong arcade cabinet that’s big enough for King Kong to try out.

Announced on Twitter, the museum’s upcoming Donkey Kong arcade game will stand at nearly 20 feet tall, making it the largest playable Donkey Kong arcade game in the world. The Strong Museum also said that Nintendo of America provided input on the project.

What’s even better is that this gargantuan version of Donkey Kong will be available for guests to play via a smaller, human-sized control panel located at the base of the machine. We can only wonder if the bigger buttons on the machine itself also work to control the game. Donkey Kong is coming to the museum on June 30, and you can check out what the machine will look like for yourself below.

As part of our June 30 expansion, The Strong will create the world’s largest, playable Donkey Kong arcade game. The game will stand nearly 20-feet tall and will be available for guests to play! Thank you @NintendoAmerica for providing input on the project.#DonkeyKong #Arcade pic.twitter.com/xQhsRVvCib

— The Strong Museum (@museumofplay) April 10, 2023

Donkey Kong will be a part of the museum’s 90,000 square-foot expansion dedicated to the history of video games, the museum announced. It’s about 370% bigger than the original, and it will run on a motherboard from an original Donkey Kong cabinet.

Along with the reveal of this big arcade cabinet, Donkey Kong is currently co-starring in the biggest movie in the world: The Super Mario Bros. Movie. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll notice Donkey Kong got a redesign from the version of the character we’re used to seeing in Donkey Kong Country and Super Smash Bros. Shigeru Miyamoto said the redesign actually was supposed to give DK “a comical personality and design reminiscent of the original character” seen in this very arcade game.

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.

We’re excited to announce the star-studded celebrity gaming series Lost Odyssey is returning to the physical table after two years of virtual webcam games for one of the biggest events yet! The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War™ & Penny Dragon present Lost Odyssey: The Red Scribe — an actual play game event showcasing the World Premiere of the brand new Lord of the Rings™ Roleplaying Game. You can catch the Extra Life trailer featuring Elijah Wood here in case you missed it!

Lost Odyssey: The Red Scribe was filmed in front of a live audience during this past year’s LA Comic Con. Partnered with Fathom Events and Legion M, the game and charity campaign will be exclusively previewed in front of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 20th Anniversary Extended Edition release on April 13th and 19th in theaters nationwide.

You can catch the entire game on April 13 (Thursday) at 11am on IGN.

How to Watch the World Premiere of the brand new Lord of the Rings™ Roleplaying Game

If you want to tune in, we’re hosting the video right here on IGN.com and on our accounts across all major platforms including YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, and Facebook. Here are some of the places where you can watch the stream online:

• IGN.com (homepage)
• IGN’s iOS App
• IGN’s Android App
• IGN’s Xbox One App
• Roku
• IGN App for Android TV
• IGN for Amazon Fire TV
• Apple TV
• IGN 1 on Samsung TV Plus
• Pluto TV
• IGN’s Twitch Channel
• IGN’s Youtube Channel

What to Expect:

LOTR fans can anticipate narration by Elijah Wood at this event and a tabletop roleplaying experience like no other. The showcase will be starring game master Kate Welch (Acquisitions Incorporated), alongside players including:

• Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood, Daredevil)
• Reggie Watts (The Late Late Show with James Corden)
• TJ Storm (Godzilla, Deadpool)
• Luke Gygax (GaryCon, GaxxWorx)
• The Dark Lord Sauron himself, Sala Baker (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy)

You also won’t want to miss behind-the-scenes and a first look at the teams who made the event possible, all driving people to support Extra Life for Kids.

More About Lost Odyssey: The Red Scribe

• The game supports Extra Life for Kids, a program of Children Miracle Network Hospitals.
• The original story for this one-shot set in the Lord of the Rings Roleplaying 5E system was created by lifelong LOTR & Tolkien-verse fan and game master Kate Welch, with showrunners DiMuccio & Miller bringing the game to life with the teams of Lost Odyssey and Mind’s Eye Tribe Action Actor’s Academy.
• Within the actual play, audiences will see original music performances, stunt choreography, and the introduction of an original villain from Lost Odyssey lore who was teased back at the end of their first ever live show in 2019, Lost Odyssey: The Book of Knowledge. One pandemic later, the story continues…

What Is The Extra Life Marketplace?

Powered by eBay, The Extra Life Marketplace is a space where gamers and collectors can explore, play, and bid on all kinds of gaming gear, exclusives, and collectibles, with 100% of the proceeds from every sale going towards Extra Life for Kids.

By adding #UNITEFOREXTRALIFE into the title of a product listing and setting 100% of the sale profits to go to Extra Life, eBay will pull items into the Marketplace page so that anyone, anywhere can add to the shop to help the cause. Visit the marketplace now at: lostodysseyevents.com

Lost Odyssey: The Red Scribe is presented by The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War™ (an officially licensed mobile strategy game based on the iconic trilogy of books by J.R.R. Tolkien, developed by NetEase Games) and Penny Dragon (an indie TTRPG publisher with books packed with original content, art, narratives spanning elemental fantasies to sci-fi epics). Brought to you from sponsors including Free League Publishing (Creators of hit TTRPGs like ALIEN The Roleplaying Game, Blade Runner The Roleplaying Game, The One RingTM, and of course the new The Lord of the Rings™ Roleplaying Game), Magpie Games (Avatar: Legends, Root The Roleplaying Game, and Urban Shadows), Spidermind Games (creator of the new technologically advanced, Dragon Eye Dice), Miniature Market (the online gaming superstore), DUST (a diverse platform for visionaries across the sci-fi community), GaxxWorx (veteran-owned company focused on creating well-designed and fun games and gaming accessories for everyone), and Syrinscape (the app that brings immersive sound effects and music to your tabletop roleplaying games, offering unique soundscapes that will elevate your game at home), many of whom’s games and products, you can get in the Ext.

Studio Wildcard has announced that it will be scrapping the Ark: Survival Ascended bundle following backlash from fans.

The developer explained in a community blog post published on Steam last Friday that it has backpedaled on the decision to bundle Survival Ascended with Ark 2, which recently got delayed to 2024:

“Our intention behind this was to provide a package where you essentially got two products for the price of one. In hindsight, not the best move,” the studio wrote. “Our bad; we recognize how combining Ark Survival Ascended with Ark 2 and requiring further DLC upgrades wasn’t optimal, especially since you wouldn’t be able to judge Ark 2 as no gameplay or content would be available yet.”

Because of the fan feedback Studio Wildcard received regarding that issue, it is now making Ark: Survival Ascended a standalone game, with the DLC content gradually built in instead of being sold on digital storefronts, for $59.99. The content and their release windows include:

• The Island (released at launch)
• Survival of the Fittest: The Island & Scorched Earth map variants (released at launch)
• Scorched Earth (released at launch)
• Aberration (Q4 2023)
• Extinction (Q1 2024)
• Genesis Part 1 (Q1 2024)
• Genesis Part 2 (Q2 2024)
• All the community-created maps are also to be released over time in 2024 (Fjordur, Ragnarok, The Center, Lost Island, Valguero, Crystal Isles)

The studio also reiterated it would be sunsetting Ark: Survival Evolved on August 31 in order to prepare for the launch of Survival Ascended. However, it will update the game one last time on its 8th anniversary in June by introducing Rhyniognatha, a new creature that won a community election.

The initial announcement of the Ark Respawned Bundle caused confusion among fans because they were upset about Survival Evolved getting shut down and having to pay for the Unreal Engine 5 upgrade, had previously been teased as a free upgrade. Studio Wildcard explained that its original plan had been to port the Switch version of the game with no upgrades for free, but came to the conclusion that such an upgrade would “not be sufficient” and opted to create an “evergreen classic Ark experience” that can “continue to grow over time.” However, such a thorough update to the original Ark would apparently invalidate save data and render some mods useless, and could make the gameplay experience unbearable for some players.

However, the original Survival Evolved will still be available for unofficial/player-hosted sessions:

“ASE will still be available to play for those who choose to; that includes multiplayer through unofficial/player-hosted sessions, the endless amount of mods on the Steam workshop, and all the game content as you currently know it. All of that is going to remain, but after 8 years of development, we have to make the difficult decision of sunsetting ASE and the Official Network in order to provide that truly long-term and evergreen version of the game through ARK: Survival Ascended.”

Ark: Survival Ascended will release in August 2023 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

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.

2023 might finally be the year where 2TB PS5 SSDs might actually be worth the upgrade. Last year, prices for 1TB PS5 SSDs averaged around $150, whereas 2TB SSDs hovered closer to $300. This year, we’re seeing 1TB SSDs trickle below the $100 price point and 2TB SSDs are under $200. The reason PS5 SSD upgrades are pricey is that you can’t use any old SSD and expect it to perform well on the PS5 console. You’ll want to pick up an PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 solid state drive with a rated 5,500MB/s read speed to match the PS5’s internal drive. That means, for better or for worse, picking a top-shelf SSD.

Note that Sony recommends a heatsink attached to your SSD. Not all SSDs listed here have pre-installed heatsinks. For the ones that do, we’ll be sure to mention it. For the ones that don’t, all you have to do is purchase your own heatsink (we recommend this one for $10) and install it yourself. It’s very easy.

Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PS5 SSD for $119.99

Crucial’s newest M.2 SSD meets all the requirements for your PS5 SSD upgrade. It supports transfer speeds of up to 6,660MB/s which is well above the 5,500MB/s minimum threshold. Yes there are faster SSDs out there, but if your intention is to put this in your PS5, then that extra speed is worthless because you’re bottlenecked by the original PS5 SSD. If you’re worried about opening up your PS5 case, don’t worry it’s very easy. Crucial has an official YouTube PS5 SSD install guide to see you through the process.

Silicon Power XS70 2TB PS5 SSD for $119.99

This one includes a pre-installed heatsink

The Silicon Power XS70 offers ample amounts of performance and a pre-installed heatsink at a rock bottom price. This is the first time we’ve seen it priced this low… we usually see it for around $145-$150. It’s performance is surprisingly good for its low price point. It’s not the fastest drive out there, but it’s definitely not the slower either. As a PS5 SSD, it’s perfect because it performs better than the stock SSD and the low-profile heatsink will fit in the case without any modification.

Samsung 990 Pro 2TB PS5 SSD for $179.99

The fastest SSD on the market

The Samsung 990 Pro is currently one of the fastest, if not the fastest, SSDs out there and there’s a $100 price drop that makes this a competitive deal compared to other top-of-the-line SSDs. It outperforms other top-end contenders like the WD SN850X or SK Hynix Platinum P41. It might be overkill, but it’s also PS5 compatible.

WD 2TB PS5 SSD for $159.99

Amazon is offering a 2TB WD Black SN850X for $159.99. This is generally considered one of the top three fastest SSDs out there right now. The SN850X is the successor to the SN850 SSD. It has newer flash chips (BiCS5 vs BiCS4) and an updated firmware, which combined offer improved sequential and random read/write speeds. For PC gamers, there’s also an updated Game Mode 2.0 utility that’s designed to tune the SSD for better performance during gaming sessions.

SK Hynix P41 2TB SSD for $156.99

Up until the Samsung 990 Pro release, the SK Hynix Platinum P4 was considered the fastest SSD on the market. It’s also considerably less expensive than the 990 Pro. Benchmarks consistently exceed its rated specs and it performs better than other well known brands like WD and Seagate. SK Hynix might not be immediately recognizable to some people, but they are in no way a fledgeling company. SK Hynix is the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker and the world’s third-largest semiconductor company.

Acer Predator 4TB PS5 SSD for $326.99

Whether it be for your PS5 or your PC, the Acer Predator GM700 offers both performance and storage capacity in spades. This is currently the least expensive 4TB PCIe M.2 SSD we’ve found that boasts speeds higher than the PS5 minimum requirement. It performs similarly to the Crucial P5 Plus and faster than the Samsung 980 Pro.

Corsair MP600 PRO LPX 2TB “Optimized for PS5” SSD with Heatsink for Only $154.99

Corsair is a very well known brand for DIY PC builders. Corsair makes some of the best gaming products on the market, and that includes solid-state memory like RAM and SSDs. The MP600 Pro is the same super-fast M.2 NVMe PCIe x4 Gen4 SSD that’s marketed for enthusiast gaming PC builds. This one is “optimized for PS5” because it includes a rugged preinstalled heatsink that is slim enough to fit in the PS5 bay without any issues. Performance wise, the MP600 Pro matches the best SSDs out there with its 7,100MB/sec sequential read and 6,800MB/sec sequential write speeds.

More PS5 SSD Deals

There may be other SSD deals out there, but these are the PS5 SSDs we’ve tried ourselves and highly recommend. They also double up as outstanding boot drives for your gaming PC, in case you don’t need additional storage for your PS5 console.

How easy is it to install the SSD?

It’s extremely easy! Removing the case cover is completely toolless. In fact, the only screw you have to remove is the one that keeps the cover for the SSD bay in place. You don’t even put it back when you’re done. Sony has a quick and easy YouTube video guide.

What if the SSD I bought doesn’t have a heatsink?

Sony recommends you install an SSD that has an attached heatsink. If the SSD you purchase doesn’t include one, it’s simple enough to buy one for about $10 on Amazon and add it yourself. Most of these heatsinks are just attached using an adhesive like thermal tape.

For more deals, take a look at our daily deals for today.

The Diablo 4 open beta period has ended, and players were given a taste of what they can expect in the full release of the game. While Blizzard has been sharing more information about certain systems through periodic developer livestreams and videos, not much has been revealed about the end-game, if certain game modes will be making a return, or even whether certain features from previous games will return to help add more depth to general gameplay and character builds.

Here are some things we would like to see potentially make a return in Diablo 4.

Adventure Mode

Adventure Mode was an optional game mode available in Diablo 3. This mode allowed players to skip the story and dive right into the action and tackle different quests set in the different locales available to the game’s main campaign. Objectives included defeating major story bosses, killing a set amount of enemies in a specific dungeon, opening curses chests, and more. Completing the objectives would net players experience, gold, and special chests when clearing all designated quests in an area.

These chests would drop recipes for Legendary gear and Set pieces, which incentivized tackling these objectives before heading into other end-game content like Nephalem Rifts. While engrossing, not everyone is interested in the narrative the Diablo games have provided for well over a decade, and an Adventure Mode is more than appealing for those that simply just want to play the game and not be barred by story progression.

Given Diablo 4’s pivot to being more like an MMO, perhaps Blizzard will hand out story skips through its battle pass or other avenues if Adventure Mode doesn’t make a return.

Return of the Crusader or Paladin

While offering a decent roster of playable classes with the Rogue, Barbarian, Druid, Necromancer, and Sorcerer available to choose from, Diablo 4 is sorely missing the Crusader or Paladin. Unlike the Barbarian or Druid, the Crusader and Paladin fill a unique niche as a warrior-type class that utilizes a range of holy magic, capable of tanking absurd amounts of damage while also providing valuable buffs to party members.

While this may sound similar to what the Druid can offer, and to some extent, the Barbarian, both the Crusader and Paladin were more or less powerhouses in this regard to being one of the tankiest classes available in the Diablo series as whole, while still capable of doing large amounts of damage. Overall, it was a nice hybrid that never felt weak if you chose to favor one type of build over the other. It would also add more variety in general in terms of what more melee-focused classes could offer, providing a nice middle ground between a solid DPS and a tank.

Rifts and Greater Rifts

Nephalem Rifts and Greater Rifts were introduced in Diablo 3 as content that appeared in its Reaper of Souls expansion. These seemingly endless procedural dungeons may not have the same attention to detail as the ones in Diablo 4, but were a great source of end-game content. Rifts allowed players to farm Legendary items and Set pieces consistently, with Greater Rifts more or less a “high risk, high reward” version of the standard Nephalem Rifts.

The core gameplay loop of the Rifts features players fighting waves of enemies in order to spawn a “super boss” of sorts, that when defeated would reward players with gear and unique gems for their gear and end-game builds. While we don’t know what Diablo 4’s end game looks like right now, Nephalem Rifts were a great way to not only obtain highly coveted Set pieces and Legendaries but allowed players to test out builds against hordes of enemies, which in turn would shape the meta for seasonal content.

Runes

As introduced in Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction, runes are a unique type of socketable item that are different from gems. While gems allow for passive upgrades to stats such as increased barrier potency or damage to Elite enemies, runes could change entire builds.

By combining runes on pieces of armor to create rune words, players could add more than one incremental stat change. These words would effectively generate Legendary passives onto items such as creating a Nova when killing an enemy or even generating Charged Bolts or Frozen Orbs when striking. While this could create passive skill bloat given Diablo 4’s Aspects effectively serve this function, seeing runes and rune words come back would be interesting — mostly because it would give players an even greater way to customize their builds to create something wholly unique.

Free Respecing

While not the most well-regarded of the Diablo games, Diablo 3 allowed players to change their builds at a whim and for no cost. Diablo 4 will require players to spend gold in order to change their skills and accompanying passives. This didn’t cost an obscene amount during the open beta period, but it can quickly add up. Especially since removing and applying Aspects to weapons and armor can also get pretty expensive.

Forcing players to spend gold to respec feels like a way to keep the grind going, but could be counterintuitive to finding new builds. And Potentially leaving experimentation to players who have massive quantities of gold could alienate more casual players. While it seems like Blizzard has made up its mind regarding whether or not this feature will come at no cost, it would be interesting to see them potentially walk back on this in the future if reception is less than favorable.

Pets and Companions

Pets in Diablo 3 were unobtrusive, if not immersion-breaking, companions that would run out and collect gold for you. This meant you wouldn’t need to run your character over or around gold in order to pick it up. It’s more or less a modern convenience that isn’t required for the overall game experience but is something of a smaller quality-of-life feature that was surprisingly missing in the Diablo 4 beta.

Since Diablo 2, players could recruit NPC companions to join them as they explored the world of Sanctuary. Diablo 3 allowed players to pick from a total of three different companions — the Templar, Enchantress, and Scoundrel — that you could choose to build in a few different ways depending on what skills you picked for them and what gear you equipped them with. Since Diablo 4 is leaning towards a more open world and MMO-lite experience, it wouldn’t be surprising if companions didn’t make a comeback.

The Return of the Angiris Council

With Diablo 2’s Andariel returning in Diablo 4, it isn’t out of the question that major characters from previous Diablo games could potentially make a return — either as bosses or major characters in the narrative. The conflict between Inarius and Lilith could see members of the Angiris Council return, which would lead to more elaboration on the leaders of the High Heavens. While players were given a taste of these stories in Diablo 3 (where Lilith and Inarus’ relationship and subsequent creation of Sanctuary were very briefly elaborated on) and its expansion Reaper of Souls, Diablo 4 has the chance to elaborate on the inner workings of the council itself. And maybe even allow characters like Imperius or other members of the council to make an appearance after the open-ended nature of how that particular narrative wrapped up. Either way, it would be great to see more lore about the High Heavens appear in Diablo 4, especially since one of the game’s key figures used to reside there.

These are just a few things we’d like to see make a return in Diablo 4 after our extensive time in the open beta period. Let us know in the comments what you’d like to see come back in Diablo 4.

Performing odd jobs around all sectors of the industry ranging from translation, narrative design, and consultation, Kazuma spends his time playing a variety of games ranging from farming simulators to classic CRPGs. In his spare time he speedruns games from the Resident Evil series as a VTuber on his Twitch channel, and raids with friends in Final Fantasy XIV and Lost Ark. You can find him on Twitter at @JusticeKazzy_.