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Alan Wake 2 Might Get a Physical Release After All, at Least on PC

A physical release for Alan Wake 2 might be possible after all as THQ Nordic has teased it’s interested in publishing a hard copy of what was a digital only sequel.

THQ Nordic published the first Alan Wake game on PC and released a physical disc. “I mean… we did the disc version of Alan Wake for PC back in the day ICYMI,” THQ Nordic said on Twitter. “And just because one person (or company) does not love physical, there is plenty who still do. Give it some thought. We’d love to go at it again! Full circle and all.”

While this is far from a confirmation, THQ Nordic’s proposal gives a glimmer of hope for those wanting to get a physical copy of Alan Wake 2.

Earlier this week, Remedy Entertainment revealed the sequel would be a digital-only release across all platforms in order to maintain costs. As a result, the game remains $60 on console and $50 on PC instead of $70 like many other publishers are charging at the moment.

Alan Wake 2 was shown at May 2023’s PlayStation Showcase and features a second playable protagonist in Saga. It launches on October 17, 2023, for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

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

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Includes Original Metal Gear 1 and 2 Alongside Solid Trilogy

The PlayStation Store has revealed the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 to include the original Metal Gear 1 and 2 alongside the Solid Trilogy as previously announced.

As reported by Eurogamer, the previously teased additional games coming to the Master Collection Vol. 1 look to be the two classic titles released for the MSX2.

The collection was announced earlier this week as a three-in-one package containing Metal Gear Solid 1, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, though Konami teased that fans should “stay tuned for more information” regarding additional content.

The PlayStation Store listing has let the cat out of the bag, however, saying the “Volume 1 line-up features the original titles and beginning of the Metal Gear Series” including Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.

This essentially makes the package a modern console version of the Metal Gear HD Collection released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, though Konami will likely soon confirm the full extent of its contents ahead of its launch this fall.

A full blown remaster of the third game called Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater is in development too, though no release date was given for this. Though announced at the 2023 PlayStation Showcase, the remake (and it’s odd name) will also be released for Xbox and PC alongside a ton of other games from the event.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

IGN UK Podcast 698: Snake N’ Wake

The Summer of Gaming has officially begun, and Cardy, Matt, and Mat are here to discuss some of the highlights from Sony’s PlayStation showcase. There’s everything from the Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater remake to Spider-Man 2 and Alan Wake 2 to Foamstars. Cardy and Matt have also played through the opening four hours of Final Fantasy 16 and let you know why you should be excited. All of this as well as trying to work out exactly how to describe Ari Aster’s new movie, Beau is Afraid.

We know you’re probably playing Zelda too, so let us know what you think by dropping us an email: ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.

IGN UK Podcast 698: Snake N’ Wake

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Getting Pokémon Home Support Next Week, for Real This Time

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet support is finally being added to Pokémon Home on May 30 after Nintendo announced and then cancelled the update last week.

As reported by Serebii, Pokémon Home will go down ahead of the update as it undergoes maintenance, meaning players won’t be able to access the service from 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern on May 29 for six hours.

Though players on the west coast of the U.S. will therefore be able to access Version 3.0 of Pokémon Home at 11pm on May 29, most players around the world will have access to the updated app on May 30. East coast players can access the update at 2am, UK players at 7am, and AEST players at 4pm.

Version 3.0 will allow players to move Pokémon from Scarlet and Violet into Home and vice versa, finally adding the long-awaited feature to the latest pocket monster adventure six months after launch.

It was expected a little sooner, however, as Nintendo announced last week that the update would arrive on May 23 before retracting the statement by saying it “put the cart before the Mudsale” and didn’t mean to announce a release date.

It’s not the only issue players have had with Pokémon Scarlet and Violet though, as it launched with myriad glitches that continue to persist in different forms.

This was a major factor in our 6/10 review, as IGN said: “The open-world gameplay of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is a brilliant direction for the future of the franchise, but this promising shift is sabotaged by the numerous ways in which Scarlet and Violet feel deeply unfinished.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Alone in the Dark Reboot Arrives This October, Demo Available Now

THQ Nordic has announced that the Alone in the Dark reboot is launching October 25 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC and that a free demo is available now.

Users on these platforms can download the playable prologue of Alone in the Dark to experience what the full game will have to offer without receiving any spoilers from the main story. The standalone demo puts players in the shoes of 11-year-old Grace Saunders as she runs an errand that quickly goes wrong.

The publisher also revealed that Stranger Things’ David Harbour will star as one dual-protagonist Edward Carnby while Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer will play the other, Emily Hartwood.

Players can choose to play through the story as either character, though THQ Nordic promises that each character will provide a different take on the same narrative.

“Explore Derceto Manor in this reimagination of Alone in the Dark, a love letter to the 90’s cult classic horror game,” reads the announcement. “Set in the gothic American south in the 1920s, Alone in the Dark features a noir-setting with classical Lovecraftian horror-elements, where the familiar meets the surreal.”

First announced in August 2022, THQ Nordic has gone relatively quiet on Alone in the Dark since, only re-emerging now to announce the release date and prologue. In our first preview of the game, IGN said “the team and motivation seem right to deliver an exciting take on a classic of horror gaming.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Alone in the Dark: The First Preview

Survival Horror is a genre we take for granted, but back in 1992 a little game called Alone in the Dark really kickstarted the whole idea, giving us a taste of limited resources and investigative adventure against the odds. Now Pieces Interactive is remaking that classic in a star-studded, atmospheric take that promises to deliver the classic horror plot to modern audiences. Heading that up is Mikael Hedberg, writer and director of Amnesia and Soma, and between his answers and answers from publisher THQ Nordic at a press Q&A things are looking pretty promising as we gear up to return to the deeply haunted Louisiana Bayou around Derceto.

The big reveal is that Stranger Things actor David Harbour will be playing the role of detective Edward Carnby, a hard boiled scenery-chewing role that’s a perfect cast for Harbour and one that he seems genuinely excited to undertake. Meanwhile Killing Eve actress Jodie Comer will take over as Emily Hartwood, the woman who has hired Carnby to investigate the fate of her uncle while she pries deeper into her family secret, the mystery-shrouded “Hartwood Curse.”

Pieces looks to be keeping many key elements of the early Alone in the Dark games in their remake, especially the series’ classic melee combat: While getting stuck in with a monster was a death sentence in later Survival Horror, carving up Ghouls with a sword was always a much better choice than wasting precious bullets on them.

The original Alone in the Dark is a pretty big deal. It’s one of those things where, when looking at it, nothing seems special only because so many games since have done everything exactly like Alone in the Dark did them. That fixed camera for a 3D space? The way the mystery is investigated? All Alone in the Dark’s creations. It all showed up again later in a little game called Resident Evil, which you might have heard of. That makes it all the cooler to see where the new Alone in the Dark is drawing from design work done in the Resident Evil remakes while still staying unique to what it is. An over the shoulder camera should be a real improvement to both navigating and appreciating the locales, not to mention fighting monsters.

Being Southern myself, one of the most important bits of Alone in the Dark is the setting. The Louisiana Bayou is iconic for a reason, and the Southern Gothic is a genre far older than Survival Horror. Mikael Hedberg gave me a pretty satisfying answer to whether Alone in the Dark will explore those roots, noting that expanding the story in the remake gave Pieces space to expand on the local historic traditions and connect the story more deeply to Voudou, among other things. He also referenced the oppressive atmosphere of the 1986 movie Angel Heart, a psychological thriller that I think will set him on the right path to some good old down-home horror.

While the setting is certainly home-grown for me, I’m even more pleased to hear the musical choices that Pieces has made. Jazz is a Louisiana staple, but the Alone in the Dark directors have pulled in a modern European twist: The metal-infused ambience of Doom Jazz. Most horror games aren’t willing to risk a heavy soundtrack, but it looks like Pieces knows you can’t have noir—even horror noir—without a good saxophone. The involvement of Doom Jazz legend Jason Köhnen is a really powerful choice for the aesthetic direction of Alone in the Dark: There’s just not much like the power that these strange ambient pluckings and pressurized drum rolls can achieve.

In all, the team and motivation seem right to deliver an exciting take on a classic of horror gaming. I’m looking forward to learning more about Alone in the Dark as we get closer to release, and you can bet I’m downloading the free prologue Grace in the Dark right now.

Homeworld 3 Has Been Delayed to 2024

Developer Blackbird Interactive and publisher Gearbox have announced that Homeworld 3 has been delayed to February 2024. It was originally planned to launch during the first half of 2023.

“Our primary goal is to deliver a Homeworld experience that lives up to the standards set by its predecessors and is worthy of this series’ incredible legacy,” Blackbird and Gearbox explained in a statement on Twitter.

They continued, saying, “Homeworld 3 is shaping up to be exactly that, but in order to fully realize that vision we need more time to refine and polish the game.”

Homeworld 3 was first announced all the way back in 2019 for PC. The game was initially scheduled to release in Q4 2022 but then was delayed into 2023 in order to protect the health of the developers. The game will also feature simplified controls. Now, fans will have to wait at least another year.

In the meantime, fans can play Homeworld: The Remastered Collection, which has the first two games included. In IGN’s Homeworld: The Remastered Collection review, we said, “Gearbox gives Homeworld the respect it deserves in this impressive refitting of Relic’s classic RTS games.”

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

Tears of the Kingdom: Which Dungeon Should You Do First?

Look, we don’t want to tell you how you should play Tears of the Kingdom. Go out, make a mess, explore the world, do whatever you want. But there are certain things in this game that if you don’t do early, you might find yourself later wishing you had chosen differently. And one of those is the order in which you tackle the Regional Phenomena quests, which lead to Tears of the Kingdom’s dungeons.

Once you pass the tutorial of Tears of the Kingdom, you’ll be handed a main quest called Regional Phenomena, which sends you to complete the game’s four major dungeons in any order you like by visiting the Rito, the Zorah, the Gerudo, and the Goron cities and people. You can put these quests off as long as you want, do them in a random order, or go wherever your heart takes you, but there is a recommended order to do these in, and it’s for pretty good reason: some of the rewards are much, much better than others, and can make the rest of the game significantly easier.

Put simply: we recommend doing Regional Phenomena – To Rito Village first. It’s the one the game pushes you toward first, so if you’re feeling contrarian, consider saving that for other areas of the game and just go to Rito Village immediately. Make sure you grab some warm clothes on the way.

Spoiler Alert: Below the video, we explain exactly why Rito Village is the best way to go. Read on at your own risk!

Rito Village partners you with the new Rito champion, Tulin, who comes with a truly awesome ability. He can create wind gusts that will blow you forward quickly in a direction when you’re on your paraglider. It’s a massive gamechanger, making it much easier to get around the world, especially in the sky. Trust me – you’re going to use this ability a lot, and once you have it, you’ll wonder why you waited so long to get it.

By contrast, the other Regional Phenomena quest abilities aren’t quite as impressive. The Goron ability, used by Yunobo, is a close second: he can use it to bust through breakable rocks, meaning you don’t have to keep grinding through rocks on sticks to mine your way through caves. We recommend heading to Goron City second for this reason.

But the remaining two abilities, used by Riju and Sidon, are more combat-oriented and less useful for traversal. Riju’s power, which zaps foes with lighting from a distance, is great when fighting mobs – especially Gloom Hands. Prince Sidon’s ability is a shield that can send out a magical orb when released, but is a little more situational in its use. It’s good to have, but probably the lowest priority of the four.

Along with heading to Rito Village first, we also recommend players track down an important quality of life feature, Autobuild, before getting too far into the meat of the game. Again, trust us, you really want this. And we have a detailed guide on how to get it.

Once you have visited Rito Village, gotten Tulin’s power, and collected Autobuild, there’s tons more to do. We have it all catalogued in our full guides to Tears of the Kingdom.

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

World Championship Boxing Manager 2 Developer Interview: Experience the Journeys of Classic Boxers

Fistfighting has been around since the beginning of time, and boxing (or some form of martial pugilism) has been around basically as long.

Celebrate the ancient tradition (as well as the modern advancements in boxing) by taking fighters under your wing, coaching them, and leading them to victory (or defeat) in World Championship Boxing Manager, which you can claim right now as part of IGN Plus.

Plus members – get your key for World Championship Boxing Manager 2 here on its IGN Rewards page. Not a Plus member? Sign up now. You can also follow the devs on Twitter.

Developer Interview: Creative Director Andrew Marsh

I sat down with Andrew Marsh, the Creative Director for WCBM2, to discuss the development of the game, its goals, and what players can expect when they jump into this retro (but approachable) management sim.

Making a Sequel to a Beloved Retro Management Sim

Boxing games have been around since very early in gaming history, and the team at MegaCat was interested in creating a boxing management game for several reasons. One major draw was to tell a wide range of stories, from stories about up-and-coming boxers, to underground club fighters and huge prize fighters, and depicting the seedy underbelly, the massive spotlight, and everything in between.

The team also found the style of the original World Championship Boxing Manager (WCBM) appealing, so the idea of creating a sequel that built off the (beloved) original was enticing to the retro-enthusiast team, who took this opportunity to iterate and improve upon the original, adding new quality-of-life improvements and even entirely new phases of the game.

Melding Old and New

Nothing was off the table for the development team, who want to bring a classic experience for older players, while making it easy for new players to jump in, particularly those who are new to management sims, new to boxing, or new to retro-style games. Playing the original game, they started by streamlining and modernizing it, then looked for new elements they could bring in to make it more fun for players.

Just like the original, players take on the role of a boxing manager who is trying to find up-and-coming boxers and make a career for them both, but unlike the original, there is more interaction when it comes to the real fights, and not solely an adventure-game focus.

In the original game, announcers would simply tell players how the boxing match was going, but in WCBM2, players will see the fights play out, watching as the fighters land hits and expend their energy. Between rounds, the player will be able to restore either their boxer’s health or endurance a bit, then tell them whether to stick with their current strategy, or switch it up. This is all unique to WCMB2, and it creates an engaging rhythm of strategizing during the week, and seeing if the training paid off when it comes time to fight on Friday night.

Representation of the Sport and its Champions

I enjoyed the strategic rhythm of planning training sessions for boxers, then picking tournaments to enter and managing the ‘big picture’ strategy for the boxer as they fought, round to round, and the team at MegaCat saw that puzzle-solving and strategizing as a key part of the sport.

Another addition was the Knowledge section, which has a ton of interesting information on boxing, including techniques, equipment, and other things. Beautiful, detailed art pieces depicting different styles of boxing gloves are there, and a whole lot more, which is great for someone like me, who doesn’t know much about the more intricate aspects of the sport.

The dev team also talked to classic boxers (and their estates) to get first-hand knowledge about the sport to bring a higher level of realism, and to craft their stories, which players can enjoy in WCBM2. In story modes, you can play as more than a random boxer. You can certainly do that, but you can also manage Sugar Ray Robinson, from before his career even began. Even if you aren’t into simulation games, give it a chance, and you may find something new (and old) to enjoy.

What Is IGN Plus?

IGN Plus is the paid membership program for IGN, and right now you can grab an annual membership for just $29.99, or just $4.99 a month, if you prefer to go that route. You can also try it for just $1 for 30 days.

What you get as an IGN Plus member:

Brian Barnett writes reviews, guides, features, & more for IGN & GameSpot. You can get your fix of his antics on Twitter (@Ribnax), Backloggd (Ribnax) & Twitch (Ribnax) or check out his fantastic video game talk show, The Platformers, on Twitch & Apple Podcasts.

Marathon: Bungie Hid a Ton of Secrets in Reveal Trailer, Including a Mini Video Documentary

Bungie has shared a new video documentary about Marathon, its newly announced sci-fi PvP extraction shooter.

Announced at yesterday’s PlayStation Showcase, the new Marathon is the first entry in the franchise since 1996. The game is PvP-focused and won’t have a single-player campaign, but it will honor the mythology and story of the original Marathon games.

We’ve already learned even more details about the upcoming shooter thanks to a six-and-a-half minute video Bungie posted after fans quickly solved one of the developer’s famous ARG (alternate reality game) puzzles.

We’ll get to the scavenger hunt Bungie fans went on yesterday to uncover the ViDoc, but first, let’s get to the content of the video itself.

In Marathon, you play as a Runner exploring the hostile world of Tau Ceti IV while searching for artifacts and weapons. Bungie showed off concept art for the Runners, describing them as a combination of fashion, sci-fi, and cyberpunk.

Bungie says players will be a part of the narrative in Marathon that will unfold over the course of a season. For example, one extraction team may find an alien key that unlocks a new zone. The responsibility then falls on those players to figure out how to unlock the zone for everyone else.

Marathon is releasing on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, and it will have full crossplay and cross progression. No release date was given, but Bungie said it is marching towards its alpha. The team plans to go dark for a while to work on the game, saying we will see gameplay the next time Marathon emerges.

Bungie Fans Follow a Trail of Breadcrumbs to Unlock the Marathon ViDoc

It turns out Bungie hid a ton of secrets in yesterday’s reveal trailer, including one puzzle that involved Bungie developers posting cryptic images on social media. When the community tracked down all 12 secret images and overlaid them, it revealed a sequence of dots.

Thanks to some hints from a well-hidden Marathon Twitter account, the community discovered this was a binary sequence that needed to be run through a punch card decoder. This led the puzzle solvers to a stream that needed 7,777 viewers to unlock the full ViDoc. Destiny YouTuber Skarrow9 solved the final step of the puzzle yesterday evening, and posted a video explaining the solution in full.

There are even more secrets hidden within Marathon’s reveal trailer. In fact, Skarrow9 shared a Google Doc that is tracking all of the secrets Bungie fans are working on uncovering. In less than 24 hours since the reveal, the Marathon community has already put in a ton of legwork, as this document stretches across 37 pages of clues and findings.

The unsolved mysteries include decoding pages of a Marathon Zine, figuring out purchase order and memo documents, and a lot more.

Bungie is known for teasing fans with these scavenger hunts, digging a number of deep, winding rabbit holes for Destiny fans to discover throughout the years. The developer’s ARG history stretches all the way back to the Halo days, when it promoted Halo 2 on a website called ilovebees.com.

For more, check out every announcement from yesterday’s PlayStation Showcase 2023.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over seven years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.