Category: Video Games

Modern Warfare 3 Dataminer Reveals Get High, a Call of Duty Parkour Map That’s Trippy as Hell

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 is set to receive a trippy parkour map called Get High as part of an upcoming 4/20 event.

Following this week’s release of the Season 3 update, dataminer @BobNetworkUK unearthed the map and even published gameplay showing how it works. Get High is a neon-drenched parkour map made up of shifting platforms and treacherous balance beams that challenges the player to complete the increasingly high course under the clock. It’s about as far removed from your standard 6v6 Call of Duty map as we’ve seen from Modern Warfare 3.

There’s no release date for this map or its accompanying event, but we do know it starts “in-season”. April 20 feels like a safe bet!

Season 3 already added a number of 4/20-themed cosmetics, including the return of Snoop Dog as an operator, the addition of Cheech & Chong and their associated takedowns and tracers.

Here’s everything revealed in the Season 3 patch notes, and confirmation that developer Treyarch has moved on from Modern Warfare Zombies development, with this year’s Call of Duty Black Ops Gulf War waiting in the wings.

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.

Well toot my lizards, Void Bastards is rustling up a space-western sequel

‘The Wild Bastards’ is about the best name I’ve heard for a gang of alien outlaws in a space-western, good enough that let’s skip past the fact that the game was announced last year and we’ve only just noticed. Wild Bastards is the follow-up to Void Bastards, 2019’s roguelikelike first-person shooter about a prisoner in a corporate nightmare forced to raid derelict spaceships on a wild goose chase. This time, it’s leaning into crime, jaunting across the galaxy to resurrect a game of legendary outlaws, the Wild Bastards. Allow me to repeat that name: the Wild Bastards. Alright, now come watch the gameplay trailer.

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Japanese Charts: Princess Peach: Showtime Wears The Crown Once Again

Well isn’t that just peachy?

This week’s Japanese charts are in from Famitsu (via Gematsu) and Nintendo’s latest release once again finds itself sitting on the throne.

Yes, Princess Peach: Showtime! is number one again this week, though its additional 27,258 sales are nothing compared to its 77,562 debut. The PS5’s Rise of the Ronin has, uhh, risen to number two this time, kicking last week’s silver medallist, Dragon’s Dogma II, down into fifth.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Foamstars new season Mysterious Swing begins on April 12

Foamstars Producer Kosuke Okatani here. I hope that everyone is enjoying the Foamstars Groovy Disco season. I’d like to share details regarding the new season Mysterious Swing which begins from Friday April 12.


Foamstars new season Mysterious Swing begins on April 12

New Foamstar – Chloe Noir

Mysterious Swing will feature the new Foamstar Chloe Noir. Chloe Noir is a Foamstar who combines a charge rifle–that can shoot straight foam shots–with skills to hunt down opponents using her bubble beastie, Ciel. She blasts all her enemies with the utmost precision.

Everyone can unlock Chloe Noir for free by progressing the Season Pass to Tier 31. 

She may also be unlocked immediately for users who purchase the Premium Pass, so please check out the Season Pass!

Mysterious Swing – Season Pass introduction

Earn XP via online matches, completing missions or clearing Challenges to progress through the Season Pass tiers and unlock skins, items, and more for free. In the Mysterious Swing Season Pass: Chloe Noir, a weapon skin for Jet Justice, a character skin for Mel T, and more will be unlockable. By purchasing the paid Premium Pass, you can unlock even more glorious rewards. Players will immediately unlock any rewards up to their Season Pass tier at time of purchase.

New feature – Skill Gems 

Mysterious Swing will introduce Skill Gems as a fourth slot of bubble gems which are used to strengthen your Foamstars. Skill Gem effects differ among the Foamstars allowing players to enhance each Foamstars’ skills and Superstar skill. Try making a Skill Gem by using Energy Stones acquired from playing! The existing three bubble gem slots are now categorized as Star Gems.

Ranked Party – Compete for seasonal rankings

Mysterious Swing will also have both the solo-based Ranked Party Lonestar and the team-based Ranked Party Tribe-Vibe as limited-time events.

Ranks are categorized into seven tiers: Bronze Star, Silver Star, Gold Star, Platinum Star, Diamond Star, Superstar, and Party Legend. Once enough Rank Points (RP) have been attained, you will be able to partake in Rank Up Trials.

Ranked Party Tribe-Vibe schedule

April 12 at 6 PM ~ April 19 at 6 PM (PDT)

Ranked Party Lonestar schedule

April 19 at 6 PM ~ May 16 at 6 PM (PDT)

Extreme Party – season events with crazy rules

The new season will also feature two types of Extreme Parties and hold each event twice during the season. All players will battle with Chloe Noir in the All Chloe Party. The second event, Bubbly Penguin Party, will have all players use Penny Gwyn while only being able to use her two skills and Superstar skill to battle.

Unlock free in-game items available for a limited-time

Throughout the season, we will be providing items that are unlockable for free in the in-game shop’s Events section. The items will be updated each weekend, so please check out the in-game shop!

We hope you look forward to joining us for the Mysterious Swing starting April 12.

Sea of Thieves on PS5 Has Progress and Item Transfer, and PlayStation-Only Servers

With Sea of Thieves set to launch on PlayStation 5 on April 30, developer Rare has answered a number of questions about how the soon-to-be former Xbox exclusive works on PlayStation.

The highlights here are that progress and items transfer from the Xbox version to the PS5 version, there are PlayStation-only servers with the ability to disable crossplay, and performance options match the Xbox Series X version. Elsewhere, the PS5 version has 60 base Trophies and a Platinum Trophy called Pirate Perfectionist.

In a blog post, Rare said there are some PlayStation-exclusive cosmetics, including the Ruby Viper cosmetics or Dauntless Adventurer Closed Beta rewards, which are exclusive to the PlayStation pre-order campaign. These won’t be equippable on Xbox or Steam. Rare said it’s making plans for a unique sail that will be available to all players during the PS5 launch period. This sail will “commemorate the coming together of pirates across all platforms”.

It’s worth noting that PS5 players need to use a Microsoft account to play Sea of Thieves. “Newcomers will find that their Microsoft account keeps track of their pirate’s journey, antics and adventures, making sure everything stays in place between gaming sessions,” Rare said. This also enables progress tracking on the Sea of Thieves website, and lets players buy cosmetics from the Pirate Emporium.

As expected, PlayStation players need a PS Plus subscription to play Sea of Thieves multiplayer. Solo play in Safer Seas mode does not require a sub, however.

The aforementioned PlayStation-only servers let players deactivate cross-play functionality, thereby restricting their gaming sessions to exclusively include other PlayStation users. Players will also have the option to confine gameplay to fellow controller users, enabling play between both PlayStation and Xbox players who favor controller-based gameplay.

Sea of Thieves makes use of the PS5’s DualSense controller in a number of ways. Here’s the breakdown, from Rare:

  • Haptics – Sea of Thieves uses the haptic feedback technology within the DualSense controller to enhance the experience of movement and interacting with the world.
  • Adaptive Triggers – Sea of Thieves uses the adaptive triggers within the DualSense controller to heighten gunplay, allowing players to feel each pull of the trigger.
  • Built-In Microphone and Speaker – Sea of Thieves uses the built-in microphone so players can chat to their friends without the need for a connected headset.

Meanwhile, Rare confirmed Sea of Thieves is playable via the PlayStation Portal. Sea of Thieves on PS5 is “optimized” to run at 60fps in 4K resolution, with an additional performance mode available for supported TVs allowing for 120Hz refresh rates at 1080p resolution. This has parity with the Xbox Series X experience, Rare clarified.

All active Sea of Thieves achievements on Xbox and Steam will convert into Trophies on PS5, Rare continued. “While existing achievement progress may result in some Trophies unlocking immediately upon login, players will need to replay to fully unlock Trophies on PS5.”

And finally, detail on the upcoming closed beta, which lets players earn Renown, currency and cosmetic rewards as part of the Season 11 Seasonal progression track. Their pirate will keep these rewards, and these items will be accessible when the game launches globally at the end of April, Rare clarified. “They will also be awarded 10 levels of Renown towards their Season 12 Seasonal progression track, as a thank you for participating,” Rare said.

“Closed beta participants will not be able to engage with the Pirate Emporium, and will only be playing with other PlayStation players during this period. While Trophies will be disabled during the Closed Beta, progress towards them will be tracked, carried over and unlocked appropriately upon launch of the retail version.”

The closed beta is planned for April 12-15 (you need a pre-order to play), with the premium edition offering five days of early access from April 25.

Sea of Thieves is the latest Xbox game to make the jump to rival platforms, joining Grounded, Pentiment, and Hi-Fi Rush. Microsoft is testing the multiplatform waters with this quartet, and may release more of its first-party games on non-Xbox consoles in the future. In an interview with IGN, former Xbox chief Peter Moore offered his thoughts on why Microsoft was making this move now.

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.

Gameplay for Canceled ‘Nolanverse’ Batman Game That Became Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Unearthed

Gameplay and images for the canceled ‘Nolanverse’ Batman game that was once in development at Monolith Productions have emerged online.

Before it released the much-loved Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor in 2014, Warner Bros.-owned studio Monolith worked on a game codenamed Project Apollo that was intended as a Nolanverse Batman game based on the version of the Caped Crusader played by Christian Bale. Liam Robertson of DidYouKnowGaming? has reported that director Christopher Nolan himself may have killed the game because he wanted to focus on The Dark Knight Rises, the third and final movie in his Batman movie trilogy. Project Apollo was said to feature the genesis of the Nemesis System Monolith later used with great effect in Shadow of Mordor.

Now, years later, X/Twitter user SpideyRanger has unearthed images and gameplay footage that gives us an idea of what might have been. They show Monolith’s intent to create an open-world Batman game set in Gotham, with stealth and combat mechanics that will look familiar to anyone who’s played Rocksteady’s Arkham games.

Warner Bros. studios are no strangers to canceled Batman video games. Gotham Knights maker WB Games Montréal had its Damian Wayne Batman game canceled before it was even announced. Work on that game followed the cancellation of a Suicide Squad game in 2016. Batman Arkham developer Rocksteady released a Suicide Squad game of its own, called Kill the Justice League, earlier this year.

As for Monolith, after scrapping the Nolanverse Batman game it went on to release the aforementioned Shadow of Mordor, then its follow up, 2017’s Middle-earth: Shadow of War. It’s now working on an untitled Wonder Woman game.

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.

The Dead Cells developer’s new roguelike Windsblown has a dash so potent it makes the game seem disposable

A terrible confession: I almost fell asleep during the presentation for Motion Twin’s Windblown. This wasn’t really Motion Twin’s fault. It was the afternoon of day four at GDC, my adrenaline reserves were spent, and there I was, in a warm, shuttered hotel room, with two men gently bombarding me with French-accented details of synergies, stackable trinkets and i-frames (I’m aware that the scenario I’ve just described is probably somebody’s kink – let’s move swiftly on).

Windblown itself is an airy, bright fusillade of Saturday morning cartoon vibes, a series of breakneck arena fights waged on procedurally generated island chains floating against a whirlpool sky. It’s all shaping up very nicely, and if I’d been playing the demo, I’m sure it would have woken me up better than any emergency deluge of instant coffee. But watching somebody else tear through this stratospheric world simply overloaded my depleted senses, and I came perilously close to nodding off.

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Gamers Mostly Played Older Games like GTA 5 and Fortnite in 2023

Spider-Man 2, Starfield, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom all launched in 2023 but these blockbusters didn’t stop Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch players from spending most of their time with older games like Grand Theft Auto 5 and Fortnite.

As reported by Kotaku, video game market analyst Newzoo released a report which revealed 66 titles accounted for 80% of overall playtime in 2023. Of that number, a huge 60% of playtime was spent with games released six years ago or more.

Newzoo ranked games on each platform based on their monthly active users across 37 markets, with the exception of Switch which only used data from the U.S. and UK. Not one new release breached the PC list, while only EA Sports FC 24 made it onto PlayStation’s. Starfield was the only 2023 game on Xbox’s list, while Switch saw three new additions including Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and Hogwarts Legacy.

Fortnite was the most played game on all platforms, while Roblox, Minecraft, GTA 5, Call of Duty (with Modern Warfare 2, 3, and Warzone 2.0 counted as one game), Rocket Leagues all proving mainstays too. All together, Fortnite, Roblox, League of Legends, Minecraft, and GTA 5 accounted for 27% of all playtime in 2023, while annual releases like FC (formerly FIFA), NBA 2K, and Madden NFL accounted for around 15% of all playtime.

“Studios hoping to release a new title will find it challenging to include these playtime hours in their addressable market, as they nearly always go to these games that engage players on a reliable annual basis,” Newzoo said. “In other words, it’s a tall order to steal playtime hours from a Call of Duty or big sports title.”

This left just 8% of total playtime for completely new releases, which includes games released in 2022 and 2023. “While that may sound dire, the reality is that it’s easily possible to be successful within these constraints,” Newzoo added.

Diablo 4 claimed the top spot of these wholly new games with 1.4% of 2023’s total playtime. This was followed by Hogwarts Legacy at 0.8%, Baldur’s Gate 3 at 0.6%, and Elden Ring and Starfield both at 0.3%. “It’s worth noting that four of these titles are premium games, while only one of them is a live service,” Newzoo said.

Despite these comparatively low playtime numbers, all of these games were still deemed incredibly successful. Diablo 4 saw 10 million players in its launch month of June 2023 which led to record breaking financial quarters for publisher Activision Blizzard, the same company which releases Call of Duty.

Hogwarts Legacy, the Harry Potter universe game, was the best selling game of 2023, and the first non-Call of Duty or Rockstar game (like GTA 5) to do so since 2008. As for Baldur’s Gate 3, not only did it capture the imagination of players in unprecedented ways and win myriad game of the year awards, it also made $90 million for publisher Hasbro.

Elden Ring launched in February 2022, so its presence in the top five most played games of 2023 is testament enough to its popularity, but publisher Bandai Namco confirmed it had crossed a whopping 23 million units sold as of March 2024. And finally, Starfield reached 10 million players in just three weeks and overcame the likes of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim and Fallout 4 as publisher Bethesda’s biggest launch of all time.

One incoming game that may upset this trend of new releases only claiming a small percentage of overall playtime is GTA 5’s sequel, Grand Theft Auto 6. Launching in 2025, it’s already being touted as the most important release in video game history.

The GTA 6 trailer — which reintroduces fans to Rockstar’s take on Miami, Vice City — featured a ton of intricate details (here are 99 things IGN spotted) and plenty of references to wild and wacky real life events too.

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

Last Epoch developers would appreciate it if you’d stop committing forgery, please

In response to gold generation and item exploits in action rpg game Last Epoch, developer Eleventh Hour have released a statement on Steam admonishing those responsible and reaffirming their commitment to preventing further exploits on “both a technical and user level.”

The statement, which also mentions nefarious goings on involving the very much banned RMT (real money trading), details the recent fixes released to combat these issues, as well as the identification and banning of accounts found to have broken the game’s terms of service.

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Nintendo Reveals New Details For Endless Ocean Luminous

Dive in next month.

Nintendo has today revealed the Japanese website for Endless Ocean Luminous, containing new details of what we can expect from the diving sim when it makes a splash on Switch on 2nd May.

The Japanese website is (shockingly) in Japanese, though TokyoGameLife has translated the newly revealed features so that we can see what’s in store.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com