Marvel’s Spider-Man 2: J. Jonah Jameson Returns to The Daily Bugle And Other New Details From SDCC

In the lead up to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 this October, a panel at San Diego Comic-Con today gave an in-depth look at new details about the game, including an exclusive (thus far) trailer that focused on Venom and the news that one J. Jonah Jameson is back at the Daily Bugle where he belongs.

The panel itself included a number of development team members from Insomniac as well as several key voice actors. Following the trailer, kicking off the panel was Peter Parker actor Yuri Lowenthal, who opened by stating the group stands “in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the strike.”

“The WGA and SAG, we’re able to be here because we’re under contract for games… but that might not last forever.”

Then, the group got into details Spider-Man 2, starting with what all the heroes of the first game are up to when the game opens. It takes place roughly 9-10 months after the events of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, with Miles applying for college, eventually confronting Mister Negative, the villain who killed his father.

And yes, J. Jonah Jameson is back at the Daily Bugle. Previously, Jameson was a radio host of a show called “Just the Facts” where he talked crap on both Parker and Morales as Spider-Man. Now, it looks like he’s been restored to glory (or something) and is Mary Jane’s boss.

The panel then moved on to discussing some of the new landmarks and gameplay features. Previously, we’d been told that new areas such as Queens and Brooklyn will be included in Spider-Man 2. Today, we learned that will include Aunt May’s house along with other known Marvel landmarks. And around the city, new features are added such as Web Wings, which can help either Spider-Man gain speed and height as they weave their way around the city.

Then, the group got into discussion of characters, starting with the symbiote. Lowenthal quips that the symbiote impacts Peter Parker by letting him “say anything I want and blame it on the symbiote,” but then adds with a laugh that it makes him a better Spider-Man. It’s power, but with little responsibility, indicating that things will get complicated with Peter and his interpersonal relationships as a result.

Meanwhile, Miles Morales is coming into his own according to voice actor Nadij Jeter. “Miles would not be anywhere without Pete,” he says, noting that Miles still looks up to him even after time has passed.

Finally, we hear from Laura Bailey about Mary Jane, who’s a reporter for the Daily Bugle under Jameson. Her relationship with Peter is more comfortable by the start of the game, and she’s more comfortable with Miles as well and present in their work.

And then there’s Venom, played by Tony Todd. Todd reiterates that much of the story of Venom, as a symbiote, is about the darkness inside of all of us, and the ways that darkness impacts relationships when allowed to fester or thrive. Insomniac senior art director Jacinda Chew talks about Venom’s design and its visual contrasts to Spider-Man’s design, and the team’s goal to make him “look semi-liquid.” He’s buff, but also nimble, sometimes huge and sometimes skinny.

“Our Venom was inspired by the comics, but there have been so many interpretations that it was fun to pick and choose what fits the game,” said Chew in a PlayStation blog post about the panel. “He has a unique take on the white spider icon and has the anatomy of a human. He also has powerful tendril attacks that can take many forms. It was challenging to find the right balance between liquid and solid in Venom’s materials as going too watery makes him look weak and going too solid can quickly turn him into a tentacle monster. Venom must look both powerful and semi liquid at the same time.”

Venom’s influence was only highlighted further as the panel revealed a brand new Spider-Man 2 PS5 and DualSense controller that shows the symbiote’s power threatening to overtake Spider-Man’s. We have more details on both items right here, and they’ll be up for pre-order next week.

You can also read more about the new trailers shown at the panel, and everything else coming out of ComicCon in our roundup of everything announced.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2: New Story Trailer 

San Diego Comic-Con has always been one of the most exciting times for Marvel fans. We had an amazing time in 2018 with the original Marvel’s Spider-Man, and we were thrilled to make a return trip to Hall H today to talk about Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. For those of you who couldn’t join us – here’s a recap of what happened!

We wanted to start the panel off with a bang, debuting our brand-new Story Trailer. Take a look!


Marvel’s Spider-Man 2: New Story Trailer 

The trailer sets up our story in the game while also giving you your first full look at the monstrous Venom in Marvel’s New York! Here’s Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Senior Narrative Director Jon Paquette to offer a deeper look:

“At the beginning of our story, our Spider-Men are at the top of their game,” said Paquette. “But both Peter Parker and Miles Morales are struggling with their personal lives. Miles is trying to find time to write his college entrance essay, but he keeps procrastinating and focusing on Spider-Work instead. Meanwhile, Peter is underwater on payments for Aunt May’s house, but he can’t sell, it means too much to him. And just like Miles, Peter tries (and fails) to find balance with so many responsibilities. MJ wants to help Pete with the mortgage, but her job is on the line now that J. Jonah Jameson is back at the Bugle and looking to clean house. Our heroes have arrived at a confluence of crossroads, with uncertain futures, and some tough decisions ahead.”

When Kraven’s hunters arrive in the city, it sets off a mystery of why they are there and who, and what, they are hunting. But as the Spider-Men and MJ dig deeper into Kraven’s motivations, the symbiote begins to threaten Marvel’s New York and everyone and everything they hold dear.

As many of you noticed in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s Gameplay Trailer from the PlayStation Showcase in May, Peter’s new Black Suit affected his personality and gives him new, powerful symbiote abilities. You see bits of that in this trailer as well, and you can see Peter’s symbiote powers tax his relationships with Miles, MJ and Harry.

(Spoilers for 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man ahead!) Given how much Miles Morales looks up to Peter for mentorship and guidance, this creates further problems. Beyond trying to figure out what’s next for his life, Miles continues to struggle with the death of his father at the hands of Martin Li, aka Mister Negative. As you saw from the trailer, you haven’t seen the last of Mister Negative.

We asked Senior Creative Director Bryan Intihar about some of the new abilities that players will get to use in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2:

“We’ve always thought of our Spider-Heroes as ‘acrobatic improvisors,’ and in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, we wanted to equip them with new ways to do so during combat,” said Intihar. “This includes Pete’s Spider-Arms and Symbiote powers, while Miles now brings two forms of bioelectric Venom to every fight. And when you start combining these abilities with all-new Spider-Gadgets like the Web Grabber, it can lead to some exciting combos.”

This trailer also provided some new looks at our expanded Marvel’s New York. Now, you’ll be able to swing across the East River and explore Brooklyn and Queens. Coney Island makes its debut as well in the trailer and we can’t wait for you to explore it! And one way you can explore is with the Web Wings! Let’s hear more from Senior Game Director Ryan Smith:

“We are really excited for people to try out the Web Wings,” says Smith. “For us it was a cool opportunity to bring something people have seen in comics and movies and integrate it in the game. Swinging is the core of our Spider-Man traversal, so we designed the Web Wings to work with swinging and complement it. That way you can weave back and forth between the two to build up speed and height. When you use the Web Wings with our wind tunnels, though, that’s one of the ways to go across the city super-fast and really push the speed of traversal, which was one of our goals. Thanks to the power and speed of the PS5, Web Wings, add another layer to our traversal system and change up how you look at getting around the different parts of the city.”

With the reveal of Venom we thought it only appropriate to bring out our Collector’s Edition Statue for the first time and show it to the crowd.

If you still haven’t pre-ordered yours, be sure to check with direct.playstation.com or, in countries that aren’t serviced by Direct, your local retailer!

We asked both Bryan and Jon about bringing such an iconic Marvel character like Venom to life in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

“Our philosophy has always been that we want to respect the history of the franchise and the Spider-Man DNA, but also not be afraid to mix things up,” said Intihar. “The same holds true for one of its iconic characters, Venom. While the look of the character and several of his powers/abilities should be familiar to fans, this will be a unique Venom story that we are excited for everyone to experience this October.”

“When we decided to craft a Venom story, we knew we’d be making a bit of a tone shift. The best symbiote stories serve as an allegory: We all have darkness inside of us– but what would happen if we let it take over? With the introduction of the symbiote into our franchise, our heroes are forced to battle darkness, in all its forms,” added Paquette. “We wanted to see them change, both inside and outside, and feel the effect it has on those around them. And when Venom takes control, they face the real danger that they could lose themselves, and their loved ones, forever.”

Venom was brought to life by the sensational actor Tony Todd. We’ve long admired Tony and were so grateful to work with him to play Venom. His voice work brings to life Insomniac’s new monstrous design for the character – and Senior Art Director Jacinda Chew explains more:

“Our Venom was inspired by the comics, but there have been so many interpretations that it was fun to pick and choose what fits the game,” said Chew. “He has a unique take on the white spider icon and has the anatomy of a human. He also has powerful tendril attacks that can take many forms. It was challenging to find the right balance between liquid and solid in Venom’s materials as going too watery makes him look weak and going too solid can quickly turn him into a tentacle monster. Venom must look both powerful and semi liquid at the same time.”

We had some other fun news to share from SDCC. We are thrilled to work with one of my favorite poster artists, Tomer Hanuka, along with Marvel Games and Mondo, to produce a brand-new Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 poster for San Diego Comic-Con. The poster depicts Venom battling our Spider-Men in Tomer’s signature art style. While the variant screen print’s sale (Edition of 215) is limited to Mondo’s Booth (Booth 5137) at the event, Mondo has a Timed Edition screen print on sale on their website! It’s available from now until Sunday, July 23rd at 9:59pm PDT and they will print one for everyone who places an order. There’s also a special Promo Edition lithograph that the developers and voice actors will be signing at the Marvel Booth (Booth #2329) on Thursday, July 20.

We also discussed another collaboration with Mondo to release a vinyl soundtrack of the game’s amazing score from composer John Paesano. Kris Anka graces the vinyl with his incredible art which is currently in development. Starting today you’ll be able to pre-order the vinyl from Mondo’s website

Finally – we had one last big announcement to make and it’s one you’ve all been waiting for! If you missed it, check out the video below.


Marvel’s Spider-Man 2: New Story Trailer 

That’s right! Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will be featured on custom PlayStation 5 hardware. The PS5 Console – Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Limited Edition Bundle has a custom PS5 console cover design with the symbiote closing in on our White Spider icon. Additionally, a matching DualSense wireless controller is included which again shows the symbiote threat creeping across the entire controller! The bundle also includes a voucher for a digital copy of the game. 

And you’ll be thrilled to know that for those who already own a PS5 console, you’ll also be able to purchase these Limited Edition items separately as individual products if you want. For those of you who have a PS5 console with a disc drive, you can purchase the PlayStation 5 Console Covers – Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Limited Edition. If you own a PS5 Digital Edition, you can purchase the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition Console Covers – Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Limited Edition. And finally, you will also be able to purchase the DualSense wireless controller – Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Limited Edition separately, as well.   

We’re very excited to announce that the Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Limited Edition Bundle, PS5 console covers, PS5 Digital Edition covers, and DualSense wireless controller will release on September 1st. Pre-orders begin on July 28th

For players purchasing the full PS5 bundle, the included game voucher can be redeemed when Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 releases on October 20. Players who purchase the bundle, which has a voucher for the digital Standard Edition of the game, will also get the same pre-order incentive items available to those who pre-order Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, including an early unlock Arachknight Suit for Peter with 3 additional color variants, an early unlock Shadow Spider Suit for Miles with 3 additional color variants, an early unlock Web Grabber gadget, and 3 skill points.

For all the details on where and how to pre-order, as well as additional specifics around the Limited Edition designs, please check out the blog post here

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is now available for Pre-Order on PlayStation Store. We can’t wait for you to play the game on October 20, only on PS5. As always, for all the latest, be sure to follow Insomniac Games on Twitter and Instagram.

The Most Popular iPhone Games to Play Right Now (July 2023)

When you have the latest and best iPhone, then that means you can play just about any mobile game with ease—thanks to the smartphone’s sheer power and buttery smoothness. In fact, even if your iPhone is a few years old, you’ll still get a great experience gaming on the go.

And while there are millions of them on the Apple App Store and Apple Arcade, there’s a very useful list of the most popular mobile games—divided by the most popular free games and paid games available for the iPhone in July 2023 (most of these titles are available as iPad games as well).

Jump to:

From simple match-three games to powerful MMORPGs, we rounded up the top 10 from the top free and top paid games (20 games in total) to help you navigate the App Store easily. There are a lot of winners, below:

TL;DR – These are the Most Popular Apple iPhone games

Free iPhone Games

  1. Monopoly Go! (Free)
  2. Pokemon Sleep (Free)
  3. Royal Match (Free)
  4. Happy Hospital: ASMR Doctor (Free)
  5. Roblox (Free)
  6. Subway Surfers (Free)
  7. Fishdom (Free)
  8. Call of Duty: Mobile (Free)
  9. Wordscapes (Free)
  10. Among Us (Free)

Paid iPhone Games

  1. Minecraft ($7)
  2. Heads Up! ($2)
  3. Monopoly – Classic Board Game ($5)
  4. Geometry Dash ($2)
  5. Bloons TD 6 ($7)
  6. Plague Inc. ($1)
  7. Papa’s Freezeria To Go! ($1)
  8. Five Nights at Freddy’s ($3)
  9. Stardew Valley ($5)
  10. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ($7)

Most Popular Free Games

1. Monopoly Go!

Everyone’s favorite board game Monopoly is available to play on the Apple iPhone with Monopoly Go!. It features the same gameplay as the original, but faster, wilder, and more ruthless. Play with your friends and family from around the world, while the object of the game is to buy property, build houses and hotels, collect Monopoly Money, bankrupt everyone, and destroy their properties.

2. Pokemon Sleep

A sleep tracker mixed with Pokemon Go? Sign us up. By setting Pokemon Sleep up before you go to bed, and letting it track your sleep, you’ll bring in Pokemon overnight with similar sleeping patterns to yours. And in the morning, you can add those Pokemon to the Sleep Style Dex. Snorlax is your main companion in the app as well, which makes it even better.

3. Royal Match

Royal Match is a match-three puzzle game where you help King Robert restore his kingdom back to glory. The more you match, the more levels you complete, and the more you restore the kingdom. Meanwhile, you can unlock bonus levels and rooms to collect coins to stay alive.

4. Happy Hospital: ASMR Doctor

Happy Hospital: ASMR Doctor has you working in and/or managing a hospital. In it, you can play as a doctor, nurse, or even take on the role of a hospital administrator if you want to build, maintain, and manage your own hospital.

5. Roblox

Immerse yourself in an entirely virtual experience in Roblox, a cross platform game that’s available on Apple iOS, Android, Windows, and Xbox. The app is part-gaming and part-social media where you can play games, create your own game, or just chat with friends from all around the world with thousands of experiences—think of it as Club Penguin, but for Gen Z.

6. Subway Surfers

Set in Windy Chicago, Subway Surfer is an endless running game where you play as Jake, a graffiti artist, as he runs through subways and train yards to escape the inspector and his dog. You must dodge moving subways, poles, tunnel walls, barriers, and more to gain items and power-ups to increase your speed and upgrade your special abilities.

7. Fishdom

In Fishdom, you can build and decorate your own aquarium, interact with your fish inside of it and take care of them, and even play a variety of minigames. According to the game’s App Store description page, there are “hundreds of challenging and fun match-3 levels,” to keep you busy.

8. Call of Duty: Mobile

A few years ago, Activision created a mobile version of their hit video game called Call of Duty: Mobile. This is the fourth season of the first-person shooter with various multiplayer modes, including Team Deathmatch, Domination, Battle Royale, and more. This is a cross-platform game for iOS and Android devices.

9. Wordscapes

Puzzle games are always great to have on your phone, and word-based puzzle games are even better. In Wordscapes, you need to connect letters from the center circle to find as many hidden words as you can to fill out the crossword puzzle above it.

10. Among Us

Who’s the Imposter? In this mobile version of Among Us, you can team up with some crewmates to track down who the killer is among you! You can play online with up to 15 people as you journey into space. It even supports cross-play, so you can play with friends on PC and console, too.

1. Minecraft ($7)

Minecraft is one of the most popular games in the world and it’s available to play on Apple iPhone for just $7. It’s a sandbox game where players are free to create and explore the world to climb mountains, unearth caves, and mine precious ore to build homes, weapons, villages, and more.

You can also see our guide to how to play Minecraft for free.

2. Heads Up! ($2)

It’s the game “Who Am I?,” but for the digital age. Created by Ellen DeGeneres, Head Up! is charades with a twist. You place your iPhone (screen out) on your forehead, then a name or title appears on the display, your friends or family have to act out the clues, and then you have to guess the name of the character, movie title, animal, superhero, and more within 60 seconds. You can even play via Apple Facetime or Zoom. Not bad for just $2.

3. Monopoly – Classic Board Game ($5)

Now play Monopoly with your Apple mobile device. This is the classic version of the board game with new graphics and fun animations in a fully immersive mobile experience. Roll the dice and travel around the board to buy up properties, build houses and hotels, collect Monopoly Money, and bankrupt friends and family.

You can even play as classic game pieces, including the scottie, cat, T-Rex, rubber duck, and others. And since this is the paid version at only $5, it’s ad-free with no interruptions or distracting pop-ups.

4. Geometry Dash ($2)

Geometry Dash is a rhythm-based platformer where players control shapes to jump from point-A to point-B with unique soundtracks for each level. The game even features a level editor where you can create and share your own levels. The app is just $2 and doesn’t include any in-app purchases, so unlocking new icons and characters is completely based on your skills throughout the game.

5. Bloons TD 6 ($7)

At $7, Bloons TD 6 is a top-down tower defense where players create defenses made up of hero monkeys, structures, towers, bridges, and traps to stop “Bloons,” balloon-like objects, from exiting each map. Players collect coins to upgrade their defenses.

6. Plague Inc. ($1)

Why live through a pandemic in reality when you can play with one on your iPhone? At $1, Plague Inc. is a strategy game where you must end humanity with a deadly pathogen during a global plague. However, the people around the world are more adaptive than you think, so you have to create and evolve more and more deadly viruses to wipe away all of the people on Earth.

7. Papa’s Freezeria To Go! ($1)

Make the ultimate ice cream sundae with Papa’s Freezeria To Go!. At just $1, play as a worker at a beachfront ice cream shop, as more and more customers come in for a sweet treat during the hectic and hot summer season. Take ice cream orders and build and serve treats, while you earn points and tips for upgrades around the shop.

8. Five Nights at Freddy’s ($3)

With the new film from Blumhouse releasing this October, there’s no better time than now to play Five Nights at Freddy’s. For just $3, you’ll step into the shoes of a security guard working the night shift at a place called Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. However, the animatronics here have been getting up to trouble at night, so you’ll have to keep a close eye on them through the monitors in your office… and try to survive five nights. See our guide to the FNAF games in order to see the full series.

9. Stardew Valley ($5)

Stardew Valley sets your character up in Pelican Town, which is located in Stardew Valley, where you inherit a small house and plot of land from your grandfather. From there, you need to clear the land and build up your own farm, with plenty of livestock and crops. It offers over 50+ hours of gameplay, too, so it’ll keep you busy.

10. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ($7)

For $7, you can play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on your iOS device. This version offers remastered graphics “including lighting enhancements, an enriched color palette and improved character models,” according to its App Store description page, dual analog stick controls, and more. Explore the open world of San Andreas and its three major cities — Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas — as you unfold the main character, CJ’s, story. See our guide to the GTA games in order to see the full series.

How to Choose Which iPhone Games to Play

There are millions upon millions of apps and games on the Apple App Store, so it might be intimidating to start with just one to play. While the most popular game lists—either free or paid—are a good place to start, there are some other factors you should consider before you tap download. Here’s what to look for in Apple iPhone games.

First of all, if you have a very old iPhone, you should check if it’s compatible with the mobile game. Most games require your iPhone to run, at least, iOS 8 or higher—which is compatible with the Apple iPhone 4S or higher. This iPhone model was released in October 2011, so any iPhone release beforehand will not be compatible with these games.

You should also be aware of how much space you have on your iPhone. The file size for mobile games can go from a few hundred megabytes all the way up to about 20GB, so if you don’t have enough space on your smartphone, then it won’t be able to download completely on your hardware. If that’s the case, you should consider deleting a few apps to free up some space, get a new iPhone with a larger storage capacity, or think about downloading a new game altogether.

Then, you should consider the price. While there are a lot of free games available, free doesn’t necessarily mean completely free. A lot of these free games offer in-app purchases for upgrades. For example, in the game Royal Match, you have a limited number of lives to play, once you lose a life, you have to wait 30 minutes to regain it. However, if you pay, you can unlock the app to get more lives.

Unfortunately, the same thing can be said for a paid game too. Just because you have to pay for an app at first, it doesn’t mean there aren’t additional in-app purchases available. But, if a mobile game is on the pricey side, then it’s likely that the unlocked version will download to your iPhone.

Additionally, you can also get a subscription to Apple Arcade for $5/mo. to unlock all of the iOS games available with no in-app purchases to play on iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and Apple TV. If you’re an avid mobile gamer, then this is the way to go.

The final thing you should look out for in an Apple iPhone game is if it looks fun to play. If a game looks like a lot of fun or a challenge, then tap download and immerse yourself in a whole new universe and experience.

Upcoming iPhone Games

Wondering what new iPhone games are coming down the pipeline? Take a look at our guide to all of the biggest upcoming iPhone games to see what’s coming in 2023 and beyond.

Rudie Obias is a contributing freelance Tech writer and editor for IGN with a speciality in all things Apple products.

Miyamoto Considers Pikmin To Be Nintendo’s “Most Global Characters”

And the favourite child is…

Nintendo has today published the final part of its Ask the Developer interview series focused on Pikmin 4, and this one saw the development team open up about their personal thoughts on the franchise as a whole.

It should come as no surprise that Shigeru Miyamoto had some thoughts to share on his relationship to the Pikmin series — the games have long been considered something of a “favourite child” for the legendary designer, after all — and his answers did not disappoint. Speaking about what Pikmin means to him, Miyamoto confessed that he considers the adorable plant species to be “Nintendo’s most global characters” and he wants players to have a real sense that the creatures could exist in the everyday world:

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Anime Month: Game Pass Ultimate Members Get Crunchyroll Premium Perk

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perks continues to enhance the experience for our members by offering a continually expanding selection of complimentary in-game content, entertainment, and other benefits. In the past, we have collaborated with esteemed companies such as 2K, Ubisoft, EA, and Discord.  In celebration of Anime Month and to help elevate your anime experience, we are thrilled to announce that we are once again teaming up with Crunchyroll, the global anime brand, to bring our members Crunchyroll Premium at no extra cost.*

Starting today, Game Pass Ultimate members can embrace their inner otaku with 75-days free of Crunchyroll Mega Fan*. Crunchyroll Mega Fan grants members access to stream the world’s largest anime library (with over 1,300 titles) ad-free, anywhere you want, with access to new episodes simulcast the same day following premiere in Japan.  Press play on music videos, concerts, and enjoy “JUJUTSU KAISEN,” “One Piece,” “BLUELOCK,” “SPY x FAMILY,” and many more great titles in Crunchyroll’s extensive catalog. 

Anime Month is a collective celebration of the medium for all fans: both newcomers and those who have been watching since it was called “Japanimation.” Whether you plan on celebrating by rewatching an old favorite or starting a new series, now is the perfect time to claim your free trial of Crunchyroll Mega Fan.

With this limited time, extended offer, Game Pass Ultimate members who are new or returning to Crunchyroll Mega Fan will be eligible to claim the 75-day free trial (not valid for previous trial users in the past year) through the Perks gallery on their Xbox console, on the Xbox app for Windows PC, or through the Xbox Game Pass mobile app on iOS and Android. Once the Perk is claimed, members will be directed to the Crunchyroll site to activate their subscription. Make sure you claim this offer by October 20, 2023!

We hope that you enjoy the rest of Anime Month and continue watching your favorite shows through the summer with your Crunchyroll Premium Perk. Stay tuned for more new games and Perks available with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate soon! For more information about Crunchyroll, check out the official website.

Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll, LLC


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Stream the world’s largest anime library. Watch over 1,000 titles—from past seasons to new episodes fresh from Japan, including critically acclaimed Crunchyroll Originals.

Get full access to new shows like Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Attack on Titan, My Dress-Up Darling, The Strongest Sage With the Weakest Crest, In the Land of Leadale, ORIENT, plus favorites like One Piece, BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS, JUJUTSU KAISEN, Black Clover, Naruto Shippuden, My Hero Academia, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and more! Whether you’re new to anime, or have been a fan for decades, Crunchyroll has something you’ll love. Want to upgrade your experience? Try Crunchyroll Premium FREE for 14 days!

Depending on your plan, you’ll get great perks like:
• No ads
• New episodes same day as Japan
• Offline viewing
• Quarterly Crunchyroll Store discounts

*Terms and conditions apply. Offer available to eligible new and returning subscribers. Crunchyroll Premium Mega Fan Membership will automatically renew unless canceled after promotional period. Not available in Russia, Cuba, China, Iran, Japan, and Sudan.  Must be claimed by 10/20/23 and redeemed by 10/27/23, one offer per account, not valid for previous trial users in the past year. For more details, visit www.crunchyroll.com/terms/xboxgp2023promo.

Related:
Coming to Xbox Game Pass: Venba, The Wandering Village, Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem, and More
Introducing Xbox Game Pass Core, Coming This September
Explore the Stars: Everspace 2 Comes to Xbox Game Pass This August

Learn how Wayfinder takes colorful heroes from pages to play – Early Access begins August 15

Airship Syndicate, the developer behind the upcoming online co-op RPG Wayfinder, loves a colorful world. It’s no surprise why, either. The team’s co-founder — artist and Creative Director Joe Madureira — traces his roots back to the equally vivid world of professional comics.

It’s a legacy you can clearly see in the bold, vibrant character designs of the titular Wayfinders themselves. These are heroes, called back from death to push back a hostile force in an ever-expanding, thriving online world when Early Access launches on August 15.

On the road to the initial release, we sat down with Joe to discuss how the Wayfinders came to be and what makes them so special to both play and create.

Where do you start designing a Wayfinder? Does it begin with an idea of what the character should look like, or does the design emerge from the gameplay?

Joe Madureira: It’s definitely both. Sometimes we start with a theme in mind, like with Venomess. We’ll say “Wouldn’t it be cool to have a character who was some sort of poisoner? Do we already have a character that does damage over time? Do we even want that?”

Other times, we step back and realize we don’t have enough ranged characters, or we haven’t featured a particular type of weapon enough to show players what’s possible. Sometimes we use those kinds of concessions to at least narrow things down.

But, you know, sometimes we just start drawing something cool and see where it takes us.


Learn how Wayfinder takes colorful heroes from pages to play – Early Access begins August 15

What led you to build a game based around the Wayfinders instead of more traditional custom RPG characters?

Well, it’s because we actually started with a more blank slate, generic characters where you picked a class – like a rogue or a warrior. We started designing the warrior first, with a classic sword and shield, and that’s where we started developing our very basic combat. Then we started on the rogue archetype, which ended up becoming Silo.

What actually prompted the change was that I did a sketch of what would become Silo with a little more modern flair. His shoes became a little more sneaker-like and he began to look a little more “tactical gear sporty,” rather than like a typical fantasy ranger.

At that point, everyone who saw it said that Silo had more character than what we could fit into a blank slate mannequin. We wished we could have characters with their own unique backstories. We realized that, having worked on games like Ruined King with Riot Games, we weren’t leaning on our strengths enough.

So, we reevaluated the other classes we had in the cooker and asked “What if this was a paladin? What if he was older and more grizzled and not some 30-year-old stud? What could we build from that?”

Once you get those early pieces in place, the rest of the puzzle starts to make sense.

Is there any detail about the Wayfinders that you’re particularly proud of?

I think we do a good job of telling each character’s story in-game, even right now, but it’s something we’re always trying to expand.

Right now, we have this discovery system that exists even outside of each character. By visiting different locations or interacting with certain objects, you get a little more lore and some rewards. Within that system, each character also has their own quest that kicks off new chapters based on how many discoveries you’ve made.

They’re all personalized, so Senja will have her own questline that Silo does not, but we want to have them all culminate together in a special way. Even when you complete that, though, it’s only the end of that first chapter. We definitely plan on adding more in the future.

I’m sure it’s hard to choose, but do you have a personal favorite Wayfinder so far?

It’s probably Niss, honestly, but I think Senja was more of a longshot. I didn’t know if we were going to be able to pull off the combination of her abilities with her personality — the way the crowd cheers around her and rose petals fall as she attacks.

I think she was the first Wayfinder that felt super unique, to the point where we said “We’ve got to push some of these other guys a little bit more…” Senja set the bar and it was really encouraging to pull it off, so we’re going to try more fun stuff like that.


Wayfinder enters Early Access on PS4 and PS5 on August 15. Season 1 puts the spotlight on Venomess, a Wayfinder that loves to play with her prey while switching between ranged and melee combat with ease. Her chemicals can poison her enemies and strengthen her allies, and her thrusters give her tremendous mobility.


Learn how Wayfinder takes colorful heroes from pages to play – Early Access begins August 15

You can support Wayfinder’s development and gain entry to Early Access by purchasing one of four Founder’s Packs available at PlayStation Store. In addition to Early Access, Founders will unlock a set of time-limited and exclusive rewards that will never again be available in Wayfinder: including character skins like Hyroic Kyros, as well as a unique weapon, and mount. You can also upgrade your Founder’s Pack at any time via PlayStation Store.

Exoprimal Review

For a game with “Dino Forecasts” that warn the populace of thousands of dinosaurs about to rain out of portals in the sky, what’s surprising about Exoprimal is that it’s somehow even stranger than that premise would suggest. It’s a hero shooter that pits two teams of five against each other in dino-hunting war games, where they compete indirectly – but also occasionally directly – in separate parallel universes to see who can complete a grab bag of objectives faster. And sometimes they cooperate! It takes a lot of familiar elements from team-based multiplayer games like Overwatch and Team Fortress 2, and combines them with wave-based survival to create an experience that feels like its own thing, and a lot of fun if you’re able to find a well-balanced squad.

If it wasn’t already abundantly clear, Exoprimal multiplayer-only, but boldly, it’s a multiplayer-only game with the story and progression of a single-player game. The general set up of it all is the exact kind of silly sci-fi you’d expect: you and your squadmates are all trapped on a mysterious island where a catastrophe leaked dinosaurs into a near-future world. While your three squadmates collect data and try to figure out what the heck happened, you are whisked away by a malevolent AI called Leviathan to endlessly compete in a Dinosaur vs Exosuit themed war game, all for the sake of gathering combat data. It’s pretty clear this is where ChatGPT is headed, folks.

And it’s these war games that make up Exoprimal’s PvEvP (player-vs-environment-vs-player) multiplayer gameplay. You and another team rush to complete a series of fun, but initially limited objectives that range from simply killing X number of dinos, to capturing control points, to defeating an extra-beefy dino that tries to run away from you, forcing you to carve a way through hordes of velociraptors as you try to hunt it down. Much like in Capcom’s own Dead Rising, there’s a certain unique charm when it comes to decimating literally hundreds and sometimes even thousands of dinos in just one objective. The team that gets through their objectives the fastest gets a head start in the final round, which will either just be more PvE-style objectives, or will converge the two universes into one and have the teams directly competing to push their payload to the goal in a mode straight out of Overwatch.

There’s a certain unique charm when it comes to decimating literally thousands of dinos.

I really like this twist where the majority of each match of Exoprimal is an indirect race against the other team rather than slugging it out the whole time. Instead of focusing on hyper-precise accuracy, twitch reflexes, and map knowledge, you get to kick back and concentrate on efficiency for a bit. Things like making sure you’re staying on top of your cooldowns, using your special techniques so that they deal the most damage to the biggest number of enemies, and supporting your teammates so that they’re able to do their jobs as well scratch a uniquely satisfying itch in the usually directly confrontational space. It also makes the final round feel extra special, especially when it’s a PvP match – where the final team is essentially like the final boss. Here you have a totally different set of considerations to balance, like whether to stick with your team to try and push the payload faster or to break away and attempt to harass the other team to slow their progress down.

At certain points throughout the match, Leviathan will also allocate a ‘dominator’ to one of the teams, giving one player the ability to transform into a giant carnotaurus or triceratops and wreak havoc on the opposing team for a limited period of time. Does that make any sense? No, not really! Does it add even more layers of strategy to the match? You bet it does! Does your team use the dominator immediately and try to build a lead or make up ground? Or do you risk saving it for when you’re closer to the end and your opponents’ ultimate abilities are more likely going to be on cooldown, letting you run amok? Who on your team should be the one taking the dominator in the first place? Can your team make do without you while you’re harassing the other team as a dinosaur? All of these are the kinds of quick on-the-fly decisions that make Exoprimal’s multiplayer battles quickly expand to feel much deeper than they might seem after the first round or two.

Exo-Evoultion

If this was all Exoprimal was it would be little more than a fun but ultimately forgettable twist on the hero shooter genre that’s worth a weekend of play, but not much more. But after playing a set number of matches, something interesting happens: The story that’s been going on in the background suddenly takes the wheel and introduces new elements that reflect what’s happening in the world outside the war games, and those become permanent fixtures in every future match you play. As a result, hour 10 of Exoprimal is dramatically different than hours one through five, and hour 20 is dramatically different than hour 10. It’s full of surprises.

These curveballs range from new, more dangerous dinosaurs to fight, new objectives, new final rounds and, in the best moments, Leviathan will even straight-up cancel the standard 5v5 War Game and put both teams together to fight cooperatively in a 10-person boss fight or raid-like challenge with limited respawns. I don’t want to spoil their specifics, but these sequences are incredible surprises and are absolutely worth pushing through the repetitive early hours of fighting through the same handful of dinosaur types, objectives, and maps to get to them. The only negative thing I can say about them is that there’s no way to queue into the exact kind of match you want to play specifically – you just have to keep on grinding through matchmaking until Leviathan decides it’s time for another 10-person raid event. Though in a way, that makes it more special when you get to play one.

Hour 10 of Exoprimal is dramatically different than hour one, and hour 20 is dramatically different than hour 10.

Each match you complete unlocks nodes on the Analysis Map, an enormous chart that chronicles Exoprimal’s story. The idea is that the more matches you play, the more data your squad receives, and the more they’re able to learn about the various mysteries. These mysteries include: what happened on the island, why is Leviathan running these war games, why are there even dinosaurs raining from the sky in the first place, and the central plot point: how to escape the island. It took a while for Exoprimal’s story to sink its claws into me, and I don’t know if I would’ve seen it all the way through had it not been for a reviewer’s sense of diligence, but I’m glad that I did because eventually it does get fairly interesting once the mysteries of the island start to unravel. That said, don’t expect your party to be happy about you taking 20 minutes to view the next handful of cutscenes and video logs before queueing up for the next match.

Tyrannosaurus Rexosuits

This is a hero shooter, and that means it comes with a set of classes to choose from, and they’re divided into the usual three categories. There are no surprises here: Assault suits tend to focus on maximum damage, Supports are naturally the ones you’ll look to for heals and crowd control, and Tanks soak up damage and aggro. Within those classes, though, there’s a great variety of playstyles. My favorite exosuit ended up being Barrage, who focuses almost entirely on area-of-effect damage, which is great considering the fact that almost every match of Exoprimal has you dealing with hordes upon hordes of tightly grouped velociraptors. Barrage can equip a grenade launcher, remote mines, and stun grenades, and his ultimate turns him into a human missile that you can guide and manually explode for massive damage.

If Barrage sounds a lot like Junkrat from Overwatch, well, you’re right. There are a lot of parallels with Overwatch characters, some a little more brazen than others. And while I wish there was a little more originality in some of Exoprimal’s exosuit designs, they are generally different enough from their clear inspirations to never feel like straight up carbon copies.

The other roles are fun to play, too. Krieger’s bubble shield feels like a must in certain situations and you’ll always feel instrumental in your team’s success if you pick him; Roadblock is capable of holding the attention of big threats like the carnosaurus and triceratops to let the rest of your team focus on dealing damage; and Muramasa is a great blend of tank and assault classes by increasing his damage when he’s able to successfully block attacks. On the support side, Witch Doctor is a fun and easy-to-play Exosuit that just needs to focus on staying alive, dropping healing fields, and zapping dinos to paralyze them briefly; Skywave is capable of taking to the skies to get away from the action while using primary fire to heal allies; and Nimbus is another hybrid assault class that’s able to switch between healing and damage dealing bullets.

It’s a blast when you’ve got a communicative and well-balanced team, and frustrating when you don’t.

The teamwork-focused design of Exoprimal matches also leads to the very familiar issue of it being a blast when you’ve got a communicative and well-balanced team, and a very frustrating experience when you don’t. It’s an issue that’s exacerbated by the progression system, which encourages you to stick to a single exosuit by assigning each one its own level progression. The more you play with an exosuit, the quicker you’ll unlock the advanced modules that can dramatically affect its power, but this feels at odds with the hot-swappable nature of the actual mode. If I want to focus on unlocking modules for Zephyr, but my team already has three other assault characters, I’m then put in the uncomfortable position of either having to beg someone else to change, change myself and slow down my progression with Zephyr, or stubbornly refuse to budge and just play the match with a poor team composition. It’s not an ideal situation at all, and I wish there was a system that allowed me to continue progress on an exosuit’s level without being forced to play as that exosuit.

The good news is that the modules offer satisfying and very noticeable bonuses that reward skillful play and allow you to cater an exosuit to your playstyle. As an example, with Barrage I could either opt for a module that increases my blast radius and increases my ammo by four, or one that deals 15% more base damage when I land a direct hit with my grenade launcher. I took the second option, paired it with a module that let me reload by dodging, and now my Barrage feels like a damage machine when it comes to the large dinosaurs – as long as I stay on top of how much ammo I have left and make sure to dodge whenever I run out.

San Diego Comic-Con 2023: Everything Announced

San Diego Comic-Con 2023 is back, and with it came a ton of news from the world of entertainment.

If you were unable to attend SDCC this year, no worries. IGN covered SDCC 2023 live and in-person, bringing you all the biggest news coming out of the convention. If you want to learn more about the collectibles and figurines announced at SDCC, check out our separate roundup on the topic.

Here’s a quick recap of everything announced during San Diego Comic-Con 2023.

Invincible: Season 2 Exclusive Poster Revealed

A day prior to SDCC starting, IGN exclusively revealed a poster for the highly anticipated second season of Prime Video’s adult animated series Invincible. We still do not have a premiere date other than “coming soon,” but series creator Robert Kirman will be at SDCC to promote the second season, with a panel scheduled for July 21 starting at 5:45pm PT.

The Walking Dead: Betrayal is a New Survival and Social Deception Game from Skybound

Another piece of news coming a day before SDCC was from Skybound Games, where the developer unveiled that it is working on a new multiplayer social deception survival game set in The Walking Dead universe. The Walking Dead: Betrayl will have players trying to survive the undead outbreak, where you will craft, cook, survive and communicate with party memebers, and maybe do a little bit of decieving along the way.

The Walking Dead: Betrayal is out later this year and wil release exlcusively on PC via Steam. A closed beta test is set for August 10.

The Boys Spinoff Gen V Premieres September 29

Leading up to San Diego Comic-Con 2023, Amazon Studios teased a September release window for its college-themed TV series. But on the first day of the convention, the studio revealed that Gen V will premiere on September 29 with three episodes with the first season finale scheduled for November 3.

Blizzard Unveils Some New Changes and Plans Coming to Diablo IV

During an interview with us, Diablo IV associate game director Joe Piepiora addressed the disconnect deaths that hardcore players have been experiencing while playing the game. Piepiora suggested that the Scroll of Escape could circumvent the issue. But Piepiora also explained that Blizzard is making a number of performance adjustments in Diablo IV’s first season that will help improve the connectivity.

Piepiora also elaborated more on Blizzard’s thought process around the controversial drop rate for Diablo 4’s coveted Uber Unique items.

The Borderlands Movie Hits Theatres Next Year

Lionsgate Films announced that its upcoming live-action adaptation of Borderlands will arrive on August 9, 2024. The film was announced back in 2015 and is being directed and written by Eli Roth.

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Blizzard Defends Diablo 4’s Miniscule Uber Unique Drop Rate

Blizzard has explained its decision-making around the miniscule drop rate for Diablo 4’s coveted Uber Unique items, insisting obtaining one should be a “fall out of your chair moment”.

Diablo 4 players have criticised Blizzard for the extreme rarity of these Uber Uniques, with some saying the chances of seeing one drop are lower than winning the lottery or getting struck by lightning.

Initially, just six of these items were in the game, but following the release of the highly-controversial pre-Season 1 patch there are now seven. Blizzard warned players that this seventh Uber Unique, a World Tier 4 staff called Ahavarion Spear of Lycander, is an “extremely rare drop”. “We wish you luck in recovering it from the armies of the Burning Hells,” Blizzard said.

In an interview with IGN ahead of the launch of Season 1, associate game director Joseph Piepiora defended the drop rate for Diablo 4’s Uber Uniques. “We want players, the moment that these things actually drop, we want that to be a fall out of your chair moment,” Piepiora said. “We want that to be a really critically important thing.”

“We want players, the moment that these things actually drop, we want that to be a fall out of your chair moment

Piepiora said Blizzard wants to maintain the extreme rarity of these items in order to prevent them from becoming mandatory for builds. “If we make it so, let’s say that over the course of 10 hours, five hours even, you’re guaranteed to get this item, what that really means is that item now becomes kind of a mandatory piece of equipment that’s required for your build to feel successful,” Piepiora explained.

“We don’t want these items to fall into that space. We want them to be these really extraordinary, massive bonuses on top of basically anyone’s build that can occur on occasion. When you get them, the character is just going to feel overpowered. They’re going to feel very, very strong. That is how they’re balanced.”

Earlier this month, Blizzard added unique items to the Helltide Chest loot pool. Helltide Mystery Chests are special chests available from taking part in Helltide events. (For a more detailed look at the Mystery Chest locations check out our Interactive Map. You can filter Mystery Chest Locations at the bottom to clear some of the clutter.)

The change was welcomed by players on the hunt for Diablo 4’s Uber Uniques because the chance to obtain one, however small, from a Helltide Chest at least gave players a clear, singular farming objective.

While Blizzard is leaving the door open to changes based on feedback from the community, Piepiora signaled the developer plans to stay the course on Uber Unique drop rates, so it’s perhaps best not to get your hopes up for a significant change there.

“Now as we’ve been looking at the feedback and seeing how many these have dropped for players around the world, we are thinking internally about sorts of things we want players to be able to do, but we don’t want players to feel that this is very easy to go and target farm them,” Piepiora said.

“We don’t want them to feel like they are mandatory for your build to come online. These are the cherries and fun, exciting things for players to chase. This is a back and forth, and we’re having conversations internally on what we want to do here.”

The debate around Uber Unique item drop rates taps into a more general debate about the Diablo grind. The backlash to Diablo 4’s latest patch was fuelled by the feeling Blizzard’s changes made progression more of a “slog” in what was already considered a slow endgame.

“Action RPGs are games where grinding is an essential part of the experience

But Piepiora said that for action role-playing games such as Diablo 4, which are meant to be played for years, perhaps even for over a decade, grinding is “an essential part of the experience”.

Blizzard is, however, exploring changes that will make grinding more rewarding, which touches on a common complaint about Diablo 4’s current endgame experience. Piepiora said Blizzard was investigating making it easier for players to look at loot and quickly identify upgrades, so they can decide what’s meaningful and move on. Blizzard is also looking at the general density of monsters so players spend less time running around inside a dungeon or a Helltide going from place to place on the hunt for enemies to kill.

“And we’re regularly looking at the rate at which players are acquiring legendary items, Sacred, and Ancestral items, how many items are getting in their inventory, how easy it is to manage those items in general on the storage side,” Piepiora continued.

“These are all contributing factors when we talk about what the end game of Diablo 4 needs to feel like. And the reality is that there’s just a lot of improvements we have to make, and we plan to make. As a live game, we have that benefit in our favor in that we know that we’re now getting this feedback.

“So while I don’t think that grinding is the problem here, I think it is the nature of the experience while going through some of these activities that can be smoothed out and made cleaner for folks. And that’s the stuff that really can we try to improve.”

Right now the Diablo team is focused on Season 1, titled Season of the Malignant, which is going live now. The new season introduces several new features while rolling out the battle pass system. For more, check out our Altar of Lillith guide as well as the complete map of Sanctuary.

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.