Category: IGN

Epic Games has announced a creative mode for Fall Guys that lets players build and create their own competitive stages.

Available today, May 10, the mode promises to bring “a comprehensive and full-featured level editor” that puts the developers’ tools into the hands of the players. Fans can sample other players’ creations in a dedicated mode but the most-loved levels will often be included in the main Fall Guys show selector too.

Other changes are coming to the game in the Creative Construction update too, including the Season Pass changing to the Fame Pass. Epic Games this change will bring “more regular and better value content drops” thanks to the new system, as each season now contains multiple consecutive Fame Passes lasting four to seven weeks each. The first Fame Pass will be available from May 10 to June 12.

Fame Passes consist of 40 rewards and still include both a free and paid progression path, with each one seemingly revolving around a certain entertainment franchise collaboration. Hello Kitty is the first Fame Pass star, and a special costume will unlock immediately for all players who purchase the pass.

In our 8/10 review of the game, IGN said: “A collection of exciting minigames and a burst of every colour under the rainbow makes Fall Guys a consistent delight.”

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

EA’s latest earnings report contains no mention of BioWare’s upcoming RPG Dragon Age: Dreadwolf in its list of upcoming games, suggesting the next entry in the beloved franchise won’t release until April 2024 at the earliest.

As reported by Eurogamer, EA’s latest earnings report included a schedule of previously announced games that are slated to release in the 2023/24 financial year, which runs until the end of March 2024. The list featured a range of upcoming titles including The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle Earth, Immortals of Aveum, and Madden 24, but contained no mention of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.

EA’s omission suggests that BioWare’s highly anticipated RPG won’t be released until April 2024 at the earliest. Officially revealed back in December 2018, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is set to be the fourth entry in the fantasy series.

The game has yet to be given an official release window. However, BioWare revealed in October 2022 that an alpha version of the game was now playable from start to finish, giving fans hope that a release might not be too far away.

Further evidence that BioWare was ramping up for the release of Dreadwolf came with the January 2023 release of Dark Horse Comic’s prequel miniseries, Dragon Age: The Missing. Written by George Mann and illustrated by Kieran McKeown, Dragon Age: The Missing helps set the scene for the upcoming game while following protagonists Varric Tethras and Lace Harding’s descent into the blight-infected Deep Roads beneath Marnas Pell.

January also saw Dragon Age: Dreadwolf’s production director Mac Walters step away from the project, and BioWare as a whole after spending almost two decades with the developer. Walters had previously worked on the second and third entries in the Mass Effect series, along with the most recent title Mass Effect: Andromeda, and EA’s ill-fated sci-fi RPG Anthem.

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

A Japanese restaurant is offering a Hungry Burger as part of a special Yu-Gi-Oh collaboration menu, and it looks like it’s the type of burger that could bite back.

In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Yu-Gi-Oh OCG, Coco’s restaurant will be serving up a dish inspired by the ritual monster Hungry Burger from May 16. The horrific hamburger looks mouth-watering, layered up in a bun with lettuce, tomato, and teeth-shaped cheese.

As reported by Siliconera, other items on Coco’s Yu-Gi-Oh collaboration menu include a Galactica Oblivion Parfait, a Seventh Road Magician Curry, and a Blue Eyes White Dragon Parfait. The dishes will be available in two waves from May 16 through June 5 and June 6 through June 26.

Team Cherry has announced that Hollow Knight: Silksong has been delayed past the first half of 2023 and that more details will come as the game nears its release date.

Over on Twitter, Team Cherry’s marketing and publishing lead Matthew Griffin said: “We had planned to release in the 1st half of 2023, but development is still continuing. We’re excited by how the game is shaping up, and it’s gotten quite big, so we want to take the time to make the game as good as we can.”

He continued: “Expect more details from us once we get closer to release.”

Hey gang, just a quick update about Silksong.

We had planned to release in the 1st half of 2023, but development is still continuing. We’re excited by how the game is shaping up, and it’s gotten quite big, so we want to take the time to make the game as good as we can.

Expect…

— Matthew Griffin (@griffinmatta) May 10, 2023

Hollow Knight: Silksong was first revealed back in February 2019 and was later confirmed to release sometime in the first half of 2023. However, it looks like that won’t be the case anymore. The game was initially only announced for a PC and Nintendo Switch release, but has since included Xbox and PlayStation. It will also be on Xbox Game Pass the day it launches.

As the sequel to 2017’s critically acclaimed Hollow Knight, fans have been looking forward patiently for Silksong. In IGN’s Hollow Knight review, we said: “The world of Hallownest is compelling and rich, full of story that’s left for you to discover on your own, and built with branching paths that offer an absurd amount of choice in how you go about discovering it. With such a high density of secrets to find and fun, challenging enemies to face, it’s worth spending every moment you can in Hollow Knight.”

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

Amidst a recent new wave of interest in AI technology, a number of gaming companies have lately been addressing what this means for them and their businesses. Count EA among them now, as CEO Andrew Wilson and COO Laura Miele addressed the future of games, AI, and EA on the company’s Q4 earnings call.

Addressing a question about AI, Wilson began by saying that the games industry would probably be “one of the greatest beneficiaries of AI.” He described AI as an “augment” to EA’s teams, as well as a way to allow players to create content within EA’s worlds.

However, he also addressed some fears about AI in…not the most reassuring way.

“The fear of displacement of the workforce is something we read a lot about and we talk a lot about,” Wilson said. “And as we think about every revolution over the course of time from the agricultural revolution to the industrial revolution and on, there has been displacement of the workforce in the near term, and then meaningful increases in workforce opportunities over the longer term. Our hope is that AI represents the same opportunity, and we’re working very closely inside of our company to ensure that our people benefit in that way and actually facilitate them to do more things.”

Wilson also addressed other concerns, noting that issues around ownership of AI output were not a concern for EA given its 40+ years of internal data and owned content an AI could conceivably learn from. He also remarked on concerns about bad actors using AI, promising that EA would work with others across the industry as well as governments and regulators to make laws around AI to protect consumers.

At this point, Wilson tossed to Miele who reiterated a number of Wilson’s points, adding that EA’s partnerships similarly put the company in a strong position for training AI thanks to data from third-parties like La Liga.

Then, Miele mused on the numerous possibilities for AI use in live service games.

“So in game development you would imagine the velocity of content, creative iteration is going to be advantaged greatly by having really smart content tools. Andrew mentioned creator content, lifelike animation, realtime text-to-speech for players and what that will mean for them and the experiences they have. As we think about live game support at scale there’s going to be some really great imagery detection, issue detection, economic modeling that we’re going to be able to apply as we continue to grow these connected ecosystems. So we’re pretty opstimistic and excited and inspired about this new wave of AI.”

EA executives also talked about the possibility of Apex Legends content crossovers in the future, and Andrew Wilson said the potential acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft is “not really material” to EA. For more on the subject of AI, IGN recently held an AI Week of articles and video content all about the nascent technology.

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

No, you’re not seeing things – Apex Legends could eventually include Overwatch-style crossovers, bringing pop-culture content to Kings Canyon.

“I don’t think anything is off the table,” said EA CEO Andrew Wilson during an investor call today. “I think that as we think about game IP today, it’s kind of like comic book IP of 20 or 30 years ago. This is the IP that Gen Z and Jen Alpha perhaps identify mostly with.”

“I think the opportunity for us to continue to grow and expand and stretch the nature of the experiences that we’re able to offer to our global player base over the next decade and beyond is unfettered,” he added.

Overwatch 2 recently made headlines when it featured its first-ever major brand crossover, adding One-Punch Man-themed skins, challenges, victory poses, and more.

It’s not the first to do this, of course, and follows in the footsteps of Fortnite which has long used brand crossovers to win over fans. It’s currently sporting some pretty neat Star Wars-themed gear courtesy of its mini-battle pass, Find the Force.

Although there are no concrete plans to add this in the near future, Apex fans could well see something similar. At the very least, it’s not being ruled out.

“Apex is certainly front and center as we think about our business model,” said Wilson. “We have a substantial player base with incredible retention and you know, as is the nature of these free-to-play environments, there are ebbs and flows and I think what is unique to Apex is its ability to engage and re-engage through those ebbs and flows.”

IGN’s Apex Legends review gave it 9/10 and said: “Apex Legends has become my go-to game when I want something fun and competitive. Being able to squad up with friends and try out different combinations of Legend abilities in the hunt for that satisfying Champion win screen is the perfect mix of thrilling and approachable. The consistent updates keep the gunplay from ever feeling repetitive and boring, and no match is ever the same as another, no matter the mode or map. “

Want to read more about Apex Legends? Find out about the single line of code responsible for its Season 16 bugs as well as all the details about Season 17’s new legend.

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

Following the halt of Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Activision/Blizzard, both companies have vowed to appeal the decision from the UK’s CMA (Competition and Market Authority) board. And now, Activision has taken the first big step forward by hiring a lawyer who previously handled cases for the UK Parliament and Queen Elizabeth II to represent the appeal.

As reported by Florian Mueller, the legal advisor — whose full title is Lord David Pannick KC (King’s Council) — will represent the appeal for Activision/Blizzard to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT). Microsoft also plans to proceed with a parallel appeal with UK lawyer Daniel Beard KC handling the case.

This news comes a full two weeks following the sudden and surprising halt to Microsoft’s plans to acquire Activision/Blizzard’s various studios and its IPs. Before the CMA’s decision, the acquisition gained traction over its yearlong examination from global agencies following the announcement in January 2022.

If you’ve been holding off on getting a PS5, but are eager to play Final Fantasy XVI when it comes out on June 22, here’s some good news. You can pick up a bundle that includes a PS5 disc console, plus the upcoming Final Fantasy installment, all for $559.99. That represents a $10 discount off buying the items separately, but you also get the awesome Final Fantasy PS5 box. So it’s probably worth grabbing, all things considered.

Where to Preorder the PS5 Final Fantasy XVI Bundle

• Get it at Amazon
• Get it at Best Buy
• Get it at GameStop
• Get it at PS Direct
• Get it at Target

The PS5 is an excellent console that continues to dominate Xbox Series X|S this generation. Final Fantasy XVI is shaping up to be a massive, epic adventure involving warring kingdoms and powerful crystals that must be destroyed. It’s also a PS5 exclusive, at least for the first six months after launch. Check out our Final Fantasy 16 preorder guide for information about what comes in the various editions and how much they cost.

You can find out more about the game in our exclusive Final Fantasy XVI interview with the game’s director, and be sure to check out our Final Fantasy XVI hands-on preview. That ought to tell you everything you need to know about whether it’s your kind of game or not.

Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN’s board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed or on Mastodon @chrislreed.

The release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 may mark the end of an era for the original team, but it’s an era that will stand the test of time. James Gunn’s trilogy of Marvel films will always be adored, along with that beloved bunch of A-holes we’ve grown to love over the years.

It’s true, this team fooled around and we fell in love. And with all of that comes a desire to show off that love, which is why we’ve collected a variety of Guardians of the Galaxy-themed gifts and merch for you to enjoy. Whether you want to have the Awesome Mixes to play around the house or some excellent LEGO sets to build, we’ve got you covered in our Guardians of the Galaxy gift guide.

Best Guardians of the Galaxy Gifts and Merch

Below, you can find some of our personal favorite gift ideas. The latest Awesome Mix for Vol. 3 has some excellent songs on it — from the acoustic version of Creep by Radiohead to the Beastie Boys’ No Sleep Till Brooklyn — and the Nerf Quad Blaster and Adam Warlock figure are great pick-ups for those interested in toys and collectibles.

Guardians of the Galaxy LEGO Gifts

Whether you want to construct the Guardians’ new ship from Vol. 3 or an adorable baby Groot, we’ve got a great selection of LEGO gifts below to choose from.

Guardians of the Galaxy Music/Vinyl LPs

Music is at Guardians’ core, and there are plenty of excellent songs scattered throughout each of James Gunn’s films. If you have yet to get your hands on one of the Awesome Mixes or its score, you can find links to their CDs and vinyls below.

Guardians of the Galaxy Funko Pop Vinyls

Funko Pops are aplenty when it comes to Guardians of the Galaxy, and there’s truly no better time to pick them up than now so they don’t end up in a landfill. Below, you can see a wide variety that are available, from Vol. 3 and last year’s Christmas special.

Guardians of the Galaxy Comics/Books

Even though their cinematic journey is over (for now), the Guardians’ adventures carry on in both comics and books. From classic comics to an ultimate guide to the Guardians, we’ve listed a variety that’s sure to make any Guardians fan happy.

Consider Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy on PS5 or Xbox

It’s an underrated gem, and well worth considering if you or your loved one never got around to playing it. With some of the best video game writing and voice work of the current (and even the last) generation, GotG is the perfect companion piece to the new movie if you’re looking for even more action, laughs, and emotional vulnerability from your favorite space-based heroes.

Guardians of the Galaxy Clothing/Merch

If you prefer to wear your love of Guardians, we’ve got you covered with several different clothing items that look and feel great. Most have an excellent 80s style as well for a nice creative touch.

Guardians of the Galaxy Blu-rays

Even though Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is in theaters — to which you can check out showtimes for your local cinema here — there’s nothing wrong with picking up a Blu-ray pack of Volumes 1 and 2 to have at home right now. Below, we have both the Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD versions listed that are worth adding to your Marvel movie collection.

Cute Guardians of the Galaxy Gifts and Merch

You really can’t go wrong with these adorable Groot socks and stuffed pillow! We are Groot, after all.

Guardians of the Galaxy Toys and Collectibles

And for those looking to pick up new toys and collectibles, we’ve got a fantastic array to choose from. Whether you want to jump on preorders for the new Star-Lord and Rocket statue from S.H.Figuarts or an action figure from the Marvel Legends Series, you can find a great selection listed below.

To see even more toys and collectibles that are worth picking up, make sure to check out our toys and collectibles gift guide to see some of the best that are available in 2023. And, for more from the world of Marvel, check out our collection of the best Marvel gifts for this year.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.

Nintendo has put a stop to rumours about its new hardware, whether it’s the long-rumoured Switch Pro or otherwise, by declaring that a Switch successor won’t be released until April 2024 at the earliest.

As reported by Bloomberg, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa explained during an investors presentation that it isn’t considering new hardware in the 2023/24 financial year. This means that Nintendo’s next home console won’t be released until late April 2024 at the earliest.

This comes despite a decline in Switch sales. The console sold close to 18 million units in the last financial year, down from 23 million sold the year before and 28 million the year before that. Nintendo isn’t looking to rush a new console out to tackle this decline though, as it has forecast another drop for the coming year.

“Sustaining the Switch’s sales momentum will be difficult in its seventh year,” said Furukawa during the presentation. “Our goal of selling 15 million units this fiscal year is a bit of a stretch, but we will do our best to bolster demand going into the holiday season so that we can achieve the goal.”

Rumours surrounding a new console have been circulating for years, with even analysts unsure if Nintendo was planning to release the Switch 2 (for lack of a better name) as early as 2021. The new console was said to offer boosted graphics akin to the PlayStation 4 and its Pro model, but there is no official information regarding the next piece of Nintendo hardware yet.

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