If the demo for this magical Scandinavian skiing game is so “serene” then why do I die constantly

The demo for SNØ: Ultimate Freeriding isn’t that new. It actually came out in September, but I’m filing it under the secret best unspoken RPS site category of “News (To Me)”, a whizcrack piece of web 3.0 technology that allows us to travel back in time and ‘announce’ things that don’t seem any less noteworthy for their advancing age.

If you think that’s a desperately cavalier and confusing way to run a news section, I can only suggest that you email a complaint to our news editor. Spoilers: our news editor is me, and I have already thrown your complaint in the bin. Mate, I don’t tell you how to do your job, but I’d be more than happy to, if you let me know what it is. Anyway, what were we talking about. Oh yeah, skiiing!

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Sony Adds Classic Sly Cooper and Jak and Daxter Games to PlayStation Plus Games Catalog Today

Sony has added a handful of beloved PS2 games to its PlayStation Plus Classic Games Catalog such as those from the Sly Cooper and Jak and Daxter franchises today, December 10.

The three games previously announced by Sony are available to players with the most expensive PS Plus Premium subscription. Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Sly 2: Band of Thieves, and Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves can all be downloaded now.

Sony will announce the full collection of December’s games coming to not just the Classic Games Catalog but the regular Games Catalog tomorrow, December 13.

All three games were well-received when IGN reviewed them upon release in the 2000s. Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy earned a 9/10, when IGN called it “really something special” and said “it has that magical feeling that not all games can possess and it’s just flat out a joy to play.”

Sly 2: Band of Thieves also received a 9/10. “The amount of creativity that is packed into the different quests and the various characters is nothing short of amazing and it all combines to form a mega fun adventure,” we said.

Finally, Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves is a touch lower but still well praised at 8/10. “It’s still a fun ride and many of the new additions work out well, especially the pirate sections, but there are enough rocky spots to make the game feel kind of awkward and hold it back from being truly great,” we said.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Dread toy-peddler Funko Pop gets cool, handsome Itch.io taken offline via dodgy “AI-powered” brand protection

Among my last-resort tactics for generating precious PC gaming news is to go on holiday – for as sure as toast lands buttered side down while cats always land on their feet, as sure as the number 13 breeds calamity and Star Citizen committing to a release date guarantees a delay, myself going on holiday will always, somehow, conjure a big story from the crevices. It’s basic physics. In this case, I was on holiday from Friday through Monday, and this fact and this fact alone appears to have coaxed some toy manufacturer into taking the internet’s most cherished indie gaming platform offline by means of a “bogus” phishing report, sent by “AI-powered” brand protection software.

The situation has now been resolved, thankfully, and you can access Itch.io as normal, but I will never pass up the opportunity to cast shade on Funko Pop, whose NFT-garlanded bobbleheads I hate as I do veruccas and forest fires. So here’s a quick recap if you, too, missed the drama.

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Path of Exile 2 Dev Admits the Game Doesn’t Feel Rewarding Enough, Outlines Plans to Increase Loot Drops

Changes are coming to action role-playing game Path of Exile 2 thick and fast following its huge Early Access launch, with a new hotfix out now.

In a post on the Path of Exile forum, developer Grinding Gear Games published a list of issues it felt needed to be “urgently addressed,” with other less urgent issues to be tackled later on. Chief among them is the feeling that Path of Exile 2 isn’t rewarding enough, something GGG acknowledged is a problem.

“One of the major problems that players have been experiencing is feeling that the game is not rewarding enough,” it said. “This is an area that we have to be very careful when adjusting because it’s very hard to reduce drops if we increase them by too much.”

Specifically, GGG felt that rare monsters were not rewarding enough, especially in the endgame where unique monsters are less common. GGG also saw that the reward players received for the increased difficulty of rares wasn’t lining up.

So, it’s doubling the rarity bonus per rare mod, increasing the quantity bonus per rare mod by 10%, and increasing the chance of rare monsters inherently having more modifiers as players progress through endgame.

“These changes will cause rare monster rewards to naturally scale up as you get to higher levels because the number of mods a monster can have increases throughout the campaign and into endgame,” GGG explained.

“In addition, many other forms of map juicing will indirectly cause rare monsters to have more mods as well, increasing the rewards of these other mechanics too.”

Meanwhile, GGG is changing the game to make sure each map has a minimum number of rares, which will also increase the average number of rare mods and thus increase drops further.

Another major issue GGG has identified is outlier “unlucky” drops. “A single unique boss dropping badly, especially early on can significantly affect your character,” GGG admitted. Changes here include no more than 50% of a unique monster’s drops can be gold, and act bosses and map bosses will now always drop at least one rare.

Elsewhere, GGG is making dodge roll changes after players complained about being trapped in by monsters. “While it is intended that monsters are able to trap and kill you, we felt that the frequency of this was a little too high,” GGG explained.

GGG has posted the first set of patch notes for these changes, with more to come as they’re rolled out. Check out the patch notes for 0.1.0c below (you will need to restart your client to receive the client changes in this patch).

GGG is already nerfing a number of Path of Exile 2 skills it’s deemed to have “unacceptable balance.” And in a fresh tweet, the developer said it plans to nerf Raging Spirits so it can only summon five Raging Spirits per cast at all levels. They will also no longer be able to be spawned from triggered Fire Skills. Players are already calling on GGG to give all a full character respec opportunity as a result.

Here’s which class to pick in PoE 2 Early Access, plus an early Mercenary build guide and Sorceress build guide to help you get started. Beyond that, if you’re wondering how to get more Spirit, how to trade, and how to ascend, we’ve got you covered.

Path of Exile 2 update 0.1.0c Patch Notes

  • Campaign bosses killed after the first kill will now drop less currency items, replacing them with other items.
  • Increased the drop rate of Regal Orbs.
  • Significantly increased the drop rate of Gemcutter’s Prisms.
  • A single Gemcutter’s Prism also improves the Quality of a Skill Gem by +5% (previously +1%).
  • Lowered the drop rate of Chaos Orbs and distributed it amongst the other more valued Currency Items (Like Regal Orbs, Exalted Orbs).
  • Lowered the drop rate of Artificer’s Orbs and distributed it to Lesser Jeweller’s Orbs.
  • Disenchanting Rare Items with 6 Modifiers now provides 2 Regal Shards (previously 1). The value displayed will still show as 1 until a later patch.
  • Increased the values of all Prefix Modifiers that can roll on Waystones. We’ve also adjusted the chances of getting the more commonly powerful Modifiers such as increases to Rarity and Pack Size.
  • Monster Modifiers now grant higher amounts of Item Rarity and Item Quantity. This is most common on Magic and Rare enemies, but also affects Unique Enemies if applied through various Endgame Mechanics like the Deadly Evolution Keystone.
  • Increased the chance for Rare Monsters in Maps to have 3 or 4 modifiers.
  • Rare Monsters in Map areas are now revealed on the minimap when there are 200 Monsters remaining (previously 50).
  • Fixed a bug where some Persistent Buff Skills, such as Raging Spirits and Mana Remnants, were not working for the Infernalist when in Demon Form.
  • Fixed a bug where you could sometimes be unable to interact with the Map Device in The Ziggurat Refuge.
  • Fixed a bug where Monsters Shattered in a Blood Circle Ultimatum Encounter were not contributing blood.
  • Fixed a bug that could cause the instance to permanently stop time (freeze) when trying to revive a Chronomancer.
  • Fixed a bug where Rare Monsters could not be found within the Chimeral Wetlands.
  • Fixed a bug where “Move only” was name-locking.
  • Fixed three instance crashes.
  • Fixed a client crash.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Path Of Exile 2 patch makes looting significantly more rewarding, with further updates planned for dodge rolls

Goblin-hitting bonanza Path Of Exile 2 launched into early access last weekend and the devs Grinding Gear Games have dropped some big patch notes that outline some things they’ve updated already, or things they plan on updating in a future patch. Things like dodge-rolling, checkpoints, items, currencies, and other stuff I can’t list here because the intro to this article would expand and pop into a flurry of common rarity boots and bones, maybe with the odd purple rarity sword mixed in.

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Rumour: ‘Switch 2’ May Support Samsung’s Upcoming MicroSD Cards For Higher Transfer Speeds

We feel the need.

In 2024, the Switch’s transfer speeds leave a lot to be desired, but that might be one of the wrinkles Nintendo is hoping to iron out with ‘Switch 2’, if the speculation surrounding a new job listing is to be believed (thanks, Gameranx).

Yep, the latest chatter from the ‘Switch 2’ rumour mill is all about microSD cards, specifically, Samsung’s upcoming ‘SD Express’ cards, which the company revealed earlier this year. Samsung claims that these microSDs can reach transfer speeds of up to 800 MB/S — a noticeable bump on the current Switch’s 60 MB/S on the branded SanDisk cards and 150 MB/S max on the SanDisk SDXC card — and it looks like Nintendo is hoping to support it in the future.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Patch 5 Makes Big Balance Changes, Completely Reworks Blocking Weapons

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Patch 5 is out now across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, and it makes a number of significant balance changes.

There’s a lot to pick through, but the highlight here is a complete rework of Blocking weapons, which were deemed useless by players ever since Space Marine 2’s record-breaking September launch.

Now, by blocking enemy attacks, the player accumulates up to three stacks of melee damage buffs. Attacking while having those stacks of buffs will spend them and will result in massive AoE Damage discharge. Check out the patch notes, below, for more detail.

In a post on publisher Focus Entertainment’s website, game director Dmitriy Grigorenko explained that Fencing weapons will remain good versus limited numbers of enemies, Balanced weapons will be good versus big crowds, and Blocking weapons are now “damage dealer” type weapons.

Accompanying this change is a buff to all melee weapons, with normal melee damage increased across the board. Developer Saber Interactive hopes this change will give combat less reliance on the Parry -> Gun Strike flow.

Here’s a big one: Space Marine 2’s Operations mode now has an Extermination Bonus, which increases the amount of XP players get in PvE missions “if they are zealously exterminating enemy waves.”

The idea here, according to Grigorenko, is to incentivise players to not skip encounters (Space Marine 2 Operations players have a habit of skipping entire chunks of the PvE missions to finish as fast as possible and get on with the grind), without punishing those who want to skip, and make the game less grindy in preparation for new features coming down the line, such as Prestige Ranks.

And I’d like to pick out this one change I am particularly happy about: Shielded Zoanthrope will now attack much less frequently. Praise the Emperor!

Meanwhile, Saber has said it’s happy with firearm balance, but promised minor tweaks in Patch 6. Importantly, a big rework of weapon perks is coming with Patch 7. “Weapons perks are underwhelming compared to class Perks right now, and the issues with some weapons are actually a result of them having a bad Perk tree rather than their basic stats,” Grigorenko explained.

Grigorenko admitted a lot of the Class perks are not as good as we wanted them to be, and some Perk tree choices are really more efficient than others.” Patch 6 will “massively rework” a bunch of lacking Perks to make more builds viable.

There’s also a big problem with the Grenade Launcher that makes it overpowered, so Saber will look to make changes there in a future patch.

It’s a big day for Warhammer 40,000 fans, with Henry Cavill’s Amazon film and TV series based on Games Workshop’s grim dark universe finally proceeding to production, and the release of the Space Marine 2 animation as part of Amazon’s Secret Level anthology series. Check out IGN’s Secret Level review for more.

In September, Saber Chief Creative Officer Tim Willits told IGN how the breakout success of Space Marine 2 had “changed everything” for the company. Eagle-eyed fans have spotted the Space Marine chapter now all-but confirmed to get a cosmetic pack after the Dark Angels, too.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Update 5.0 patch notes:

NEW FEATURES

  • New Operation: Obelisk

In this new Operation, you’ll be sent to Demerium and your mission is to rotate a replica of the obelisk to disrupt the flow of energy protecting the Aurora device. This operation takes place in parallel to the final events of the campaign.

To reach the console control of the obelisk, you’ll have to make it through a tomb plunged into darkness.

  • New Enemy: Tzaangor Enlightened

A new Majoris enemy can spawn in all Operations featuring the Thousand Sons.

Note from our Game Director: “The Tzaangor Enlightened is a disk-flying, melee/ranged-hybrid unit. They are fearsome opponents, especially when met in greater numbers. However, catching them after parry or during a long animation makes them an easy target.

We strongly advise you to use Target Lock to face this enemy!”

  • New Season Pass Content: Dark Angels Chapter Pack

Added: Dark Angels Successor Chapters cosmetics

Added: Dark Angels Champion skin (Bulwark)

Added: Dark Angels–themed weapon skins for:

  • Auto Bolt Rifle
  • Plasma Pistol
  • Power Sword
  • Bulwark’s Storm Shield

GAMEPLAY & BALANCING TWEAKS

Melee

Note from our Game Director: “The melee system has been our main focus recently. The issue that we saw is that, on higher difficulties, the melee combat relied too heavily on the “Parry -> Gun Strike” flow. This also made Fencing Melee Weapons a universal choice for almost all situations, and we want to give players more options. To try and achieve that, we’ve made the following changes.

First, normal Melee Damage has increased across the board, so there will be more options instead of just Parry -> Gun Strike.

Second, we are drastically changing how Blocking Weapons work. In short, by blocking enemy attacks, the player will accumulate up to 3 stacks of Melee Damage buffs. Attacking while having those stacks of buffs will spend them and will result in massive AoE Damage discharge.

With these changes, Fencing Weapons will still be great versus limited numbers of enemies, Balanced Weapons will be good versus big crowds, and Blocking Weapons will become ‘damage dealer’ type weapons.”

Perfect Block

All Block Weapons have been reworked with a new mechanic: Perfect Block and Adrenaline Surge.

Perfectly timed blocks grant up to 3 Adrenaline Surge stacks. Adrenaline Surge stacks greatly increase Melee Damage and are consumed after the next melee attack.

Attacking with 3 stacks of Adrenaline Surge deals massive AoE Damage, staggers enemies, and restores 1 Armour Segment.

Note that the right wrist glows in yellow after the Parry, which signifies that the Adrenaline Surge is ready to use. When used, a red explosion detonates on the enemy hit, deals AoE Damage, and regenerates an Armour Segment.

Fencing Weapons:

  • Perfect Parry AoE stagger radius slightly reduced.

Balanced Weapons:

  • Perfect Parry AoE stagger radius greatly increased.
  • Master-crafted versions: Damage increased by 10%.
  • Artificer versions: Damage increased by 10%.
  • Relic versions: Damage increased by 10%.

Blocking Weapons:

  • Master-crafted versions: Damage increased by 20%.
  • Artificer versions: Damage increased by 20%.
  • Relic versions: Damage increased by 20%.

Unarmed/Firearm Melee:

  • Stomps can now be chained indefinitely.

Firearms

Note from our Game Director: “We are quite happy with recent updates to firearms. Pretty much all firearms are viable on the hardest difficulties now, and our win rate/pick rate data shows drastic improvements.

Still, there are a few weapons that are better than the others, and minor tweaks will be coming with Patch 6.

Further into the future, with Patch 7, we are planning to focus on reworking Weapons Perks. Weapons Perks are underwhelming compared to Class Perks right now, and the issues with some weapons are actually a result of them having a bad Perk tree rather than their basic stats.

The other big outstanding problem that we have is the Grenade Launcher. There are quite a few bugs/misconfigurations that make it the way it is.

  1. Due to a bug, a certain Perk restores its full Ammo when it shouldn’t.
  2. Due to a misconfiguration on our side, its Artificer and Relic versions deal 4x more damage than the Master-crafted version, which was not intended.
  3. Due to a bug, Perks that increase Auspex Scan damage stack buffs inconsistently. Normally all damage stacks buffs additively, thus providing consistent and predictable results. This bug results in crazy damage numbers with Auspex Scan Perks depending on the order they were activated. This is why bosses get erased by Grenade Launchers with certain builds.

If we approach this directly and fix all 3 bugs, it will make the Grenade Launcher useless and will hurt the entire Tactical class. We will be very careful with how we address this issue. We do want to keep the fun element of destroying entire waves of enemies with the Grenade Launcher. At the same time, no other weapon can match a Grenade Launcher with potentially unlimited Ammo.

Because of these complications, we want to take the time to carefully analyse and make the best decision possible about the Grenade Launcher, so we’re not modifying it in this patch.”

Neo-Volkite Pistol

Note from our Game Director: “We unified enemy sensitivity to Volkite Damage with Bolter Damage. This means a massive damage buff to certain Majoris and Extremis enemies that were more resistant to Volkite Damage than others.”

Volkite Damage sensitivity has been increased from 1 to 1.5 for these enemies:

  • Devourer Tyranid Warrior
  • Barbed Strangler Tyranid Warrior
  • Venom Cannon Tyranid Warrior
  • Rubric Marine
  • Flamer Rubric Marine
  • Zoanthrope

Bolt Carbine:

  • Max Ammo of all SMG-type Bolt Carbines increased by 1 magazine.

Extermination Bonus

Note from our Game Director: “This change simply increases the amount of XP players are getting in Operations mode if they are zealously exterminating enemy waves.

This aims to:

1. incentivise players to not skip encounters, without punishing those who want to skip, and

2. makes the game less grindy in preparation for new features coming down the line (e.g., Prestige Ranks).”

Added a new feature that increases the amount of XP players gain based on % of enemies killed during an Operation:

  • Rank A: killing more than 85% spawned enemies grants +120% XP pre-patch value.
  • Rank B: killing more than 60% spawned enemies grants +110% XP pre-patch value.
  • Rank C: killing less than 60% spawned enemies grants +100% XP pre-patch value.

*The rank is common to the party, everyone gets the same.

GAMEPLAY QOL

  • Dodge invulnerability logic is now client sided, meaning that Dodges will be responsive and more accurate with higher ping.
  • Players are now invulnerable to new instances of damage while in Knockback animation.
  • Added 10 frames of invulnerability at the start of Jump Pack launch animation (Campaign and Operations only).
  • Dodge and Parry sound notification clarity has been greatly improved.
  • Heavy’s Barrier can be activated in more player states (e.g., during stagger animation).
  • Player controls are slightly more responsive after using Vanguard’s Grapnel Launcher.
  • Added spawn protection in PvP.
  • Added Neo-Volkite Pistol in PvP.

AI

  • Zoanthrope:
    • Shielded Zoanthrope will now attack much less frequently.
  • Enemy Spawn Director:
    • You will no longer fight Extremis-level enemies on your first encounter right after the start of a Mission.
    • Lots of minor animation fixes for various enemies.

CUSTOMISATION

  • Added: Lenses colour customisation.
  • Fixed shading of Balthasar Gold and Ushabti Bone colours.
  • Fixed a number of small bugs with certain armour pieces not applying colours correctly.

OPERATIONS

Fall of Atreus:

  • Made adjustments to scripting to make this level shorter and more in line with the duration of other levels:
    • The second sequence with the Dreadnought (Repel the Assault) is randomised now and may not happen.
    • The fusion battery needs to be charged only once in the final sequence.
  • Large amounts of small fixes in level geometry collision and Terminus enemies getting stuck in some areas.

PERKS

Note from our Game Director: “In this patch, we are only fixing bugs with existing Perks, but trust me, we are seeing the issues with them. A lot of the Class Perks are not as good as we wanted them to be, and some Perk tree choices are really more efficient than others. With Patch 6, we are planning to massively rework a bunch of lacking Perks to make more builds viable.”

GENERAL FIXES

  • Getting kicked out of a session will still grant kicked player XP rewards based on checkpoint completion.
  • Exiting the Turret Charging Wheel in the “Termination” Operation is now quicker.
  • Improved a few enemies counting for Purge Them All Achievement.
  • Fixed a bug where Combat Knife charged attacks would occasionally Heavy Hit every time without charging.
  • Fixed a bug where Heavy’s Primary Weapon was not shooting after joining in progress.
  • Fixed a bug where party leader could get stuck on a loading screen in rare cases.
  • Fixed Hierophant’s damage sensitivity to certain weapons (it can still be damaged by normal weapons, but the damage is reduced).
  • Fixed a bug where Heldrake was not taking any damage from shots in rare cases.
  • Fixed a bug where Heldrake could be knocked off its pedestal by shots from an under-barrel Grenade Launcher.
  • Fixed a bug where Imurah would not take any damage from shots in the final mission in rare cases.
  • Fixed a rare bug where players were shown a long black screen instead of death screen in PvP.
  • Fixed a bug where players could not see each other’s customisation in rare cases.
  • Fixed a bug where the Neo-Volkite Pistol would deal damage further than its actual visual FX.
  • Fixed a bug where enemies were able to pierce Block stance with double attack.
  • Fixed a bug with Bulwark’s Armour of Contempt Perk not triggering correctly and dealing friendly fire.
  • Fixed an issue where the Neo-Volkite Pistol would sometimes trigger a chain of explosions and cause performance issues.
  • Fixed a rare bug with Vanguard’s Zone of Impact Perk not triggering correctly.
  • Fixed Perks that grant player immunity to Heavy Hits and Knockback during charging melee attacks not working with charged attacks unlocked via Weapons Perks.
  • Combat Knife charged attack buffs from other Perks (e.g., Sniper’s Shadow Stab) are now correctly applied on both damage instances.
  • Large number of minor fixes in Perks, how they stack, and how they trigger in rare cases.
  • Minor UI fixes and improvements.
  • Localisation fixes.

TECH

Added: PS5 PRO Enhancements:

Quality mode

Standard PlayStation 5

PS5 PRO

Resolution

1080p – 1440p with upscale FSR to 4K

1080p – 2160p with PSSR

Frame Rate

30 FPS

30 FPS

Performance Mode

Standard PlayStation 5

PS5 PRO

Resolution

720p – 1080p with upscale FSR to 4K

1080p – 1440p with upscale PSSR to 4K

Frame Rate

60 FPS

60 FPS

Added: FSR 3 / DLSS 3: Support of “Frame Generation” component for DLSS and FSR. For more details about FSR and DLSS, check our FAQ.

  • Crash fixes and general stability improvements.
  • General connectivity improvements.
  • Slightly improved performance.
  • Slightly improved texture streaming speed.
  • Improved Anti-Cheat.

MOD SUPPORT Please note that starting from 5.0 update, mods will no longer be supported in public lobbies.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Doug Cockle ‘Got Slapped’ by CD Projekt for Saying Geralt Is in The Witcher 4 but Not as the Main Character

Geralt voice actor Doug Cockle has revealed he “got slapped” by CD Projekt for saying the character is set to appear in The Witcher 4 but not as the main character.

In an interview with Geektown at MCM Comic Con Birmingham, Cockle walked back comments he made in August in a Fall Damage video. Here’s what he said at the time:

“Witcher 4 has been announced. I can’t say anything about it. What we know is that Geralt will be part of the game, we just don’t know how much, and the game won’t focus on Geralt. So it’s not about him this time. We don’t know who it’s about. I’m excited to find out. I want to know! I have not seen any script yet — I mean, I couldn’t tell you if I did. This is the thing, so I could be lying through my teeth. But I’m not. Or am I?”

CD Projekt had long made clear that Geralt’s saga had come to an end, meaning a new protagonist was fully expected for Polaris, but this was the first confirmation he’d be in the next game at all — and fueled some rampant fan theories.

Only a single teaser image, below, has otherwise been revealed for The Witcher 4, but it was enough to suggest Ciri will be the protagonist this time around. What’s considered the “true” ending of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, thanks to its story being continued in canon comics, sees her become a witcher herself.

But now, Cockle has revealed those comments raised a few eyebrows at The Witcher developer CD Projekt, and he now insists he has no idea if Geralt is in The Witcher 4, or who the main character is — although he admits that a non-disclosure agreement would force him to lie about it if he did.

“I did go online and I said something about this and then I got slapped by CD Projekt,” Cockle said. “I don’t know how true it is. I went off a rumor. I thought I’d seen somebody from CD Projekt say that Geralt will be in Witcher 4 but he won’t be the main character. And I don’t actually know if that’s true now because they came back and they went, ‘We haven’t put anything out there, don’t say anything.’

“So the truth is, the answer to your question is, I don’t know what it’s going to be. I have ideas. I thought I had an idea what it was. And then I was kind of basically told, ‘We haven’t told anybody what it is, so where you got that information we don’t know.’

“I think it might be from a really really old statement that somebody who no longer works for CD Projekt actually put out about three years ago. So Witcher 4 is a complete mystery to me. I actually don’t know.”

Later in the interview, Cockle said Ciri as protagonist in The Witcher 4 would make sense, pointing to her ability to travel between worlds. He also reveals that years ago he spoke with someone at CD Projekt about what a future Witcher video game might look like, and discussed a Witcher origin story, among other ideas.

Ultimately, though, Cockle is keeping his cards close to his chest here. “The truth is I can’t answer the question because I’ve signed an NDA,” he said. “So even if I did know, I’d have to lie to you.”

Last month, CD Projekt confirmed The Witcher 4 had entered full-scale production. As part of its latest financial results, the Polish company said that Project Polaris — the first instalment in the new Witcher trilogy — had progressed from preproduction to full-scale production.

“I’m proud to confirm that several weeks ago the Polaris team wrapped up preproduction and moved on to full-scale production — the most intensive phase of development,” commented joint CEO Michał Nowakowski. “We are very pleased with our progress on this project, and I wish to thank the team for its dedication.”

“I’m thrilled to announce that Project Polaris has entered the full-scale production phase,” game director Sebastian Kalemba tweeted. “With new challenges just around the corner, it’s the talented and hard-working people who make me believe we can together make the upcoming Witcher Saga a remarkable experience. No stopping now! Stay tuned for what’s on the other side of the coin!”

CD Projekt currently has 400 developers working on Polaris, the majority of its 650-person total development staff. That’s down from the 410 reported at the end of July. 64 are working on Orion, the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, 42 on Sirius, The Witcher game developed by The Molasses Flood, and 18 on Hadar, CD Projekt’s brand new IP.

The developer had indicated it had left Cyberpunk 2077 development behind, but the studio plans to reveal Update 2.2 later today, December 10, in a surprise patch release.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Jean-Claude Van Damme is coming to Hitman this week as a double-crossing ICA agent, and it’s free to play for a month

I’ve got a strange relationship with the stealth sandbox murderbox that is Hitman: World of Assassination. If you were to ask me to list my favourite games, the latest Hitman trilogy would be in the top five, no question. And yet, I must have gotten intimidated at some point with the amount of new updates and all the spiffy unlockable suits I was missing out on, and just haven’t touched it in a couple of years now. Is the appearance of Jean-Claude Van Damme as the game’s newest elusive target enough to reel me back in? I’m not sure, but I will say that I doubt Sean Bean can stretch his legs like that, even with the legendary flexibility offered by O2’s famously variable plans. Here’s a trailer.

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