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Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 – The First Preview

It's about to kick off in the centre of Kuttenberg, the sprawling medieval city at the heart of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Menhard the sword master has offered to teach protagonist Henry of Skalitz a few tricks with the blade, but the lesson has been interrupted by Kuttenberg's official fencing guild. They won't let Menhard teach so much as a pommel strike, despite him having a charter from King Wenceslas to do just that. Moreover, they're going to fine the old Fechtmeister for breaching their rules.

Things are getting heated, with the chance of a real swordfight breaking out growing by the second. But Henry has an idea. "Menhard wasn't teaching me anything," he blurts out. "We were duelling because I insulted his honour!"

Unconvinced, the guild master asks what the duel was about, at which point I'm given an array of choices for Henry to respond with. Reacting quickly, I decide to have Henry say that he slept with Menhard's daughter. I don't know whether Menhard has a daughter, but it seems like the sort of thing medieval people would get into a duel over, so I roll with it.

The guild master buys my bald-faced lie and waives the fine...

It works. The guild master buys my bald-faced lie and waives the fine, though Menhard is still prohibited from teaching longsword in the city. With a fight avoided, I turn to Menhard expecting him to be grateful. Instead, he's furious. It seems Menhard really does have a daughter, and the very idea of Henry sleeping with her has genuinely insulted his honour. Oops. With their relationship damaged, Henry must desperately placate the raging swordmaster before they can focus on more important matters, like plotting how to get back at Kuttenberg's fencing guild.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is shaping up to be an even bigger RPG than the original, a 100+ hour epic featuring massive battles, sweeping Bohemian landscapes, and a fully simulated medieval metropolis. But at Warhorse Studios' preview event hosted in the real-life city of Kutná Hora (the modern Czech name for Kuttenberg) it was this throwaway detail that stuck with me the most. Warhorse claims every choice the player makes in its RPG will feel like it matters, and this dramatic response to a decision I barely thought about was the first (but not the last) indicator that KCD2 could well deliver on this promise.

It'll be several hours before KCD 2 opens-up to you in this way, however. Warhorse provided access to two separate chunks of the game, the first of which took place right at the beginning. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 opens in medias res, with an explosive castle siege where you defend the ramparts with crossbow and longsword. Warhorse says KCD 2 will feature substantially larger battles than the previous game, and this initial sequence was an impressive taster of playing at a larger scale, from booting down siege ladders from the castle wall, to firing crossbow bolts into a crush of enemy soldiers as they come barrelling through the gate.

Following this exciting opening, KCD 2 rewinds to connect with the end of the first game, as we rejoin Henry and his friend and liege lord Sir Hans Capon on a mission to deliver a letter to neighbouring lord Otto von Bergow. This initial hour is strictly linear and heavy on cutscenes, but it keeps you engaged through the feelgood vibes of Henry and Hans' friendship. Like the first Kingdom Come, the sequel is written in a very humanistic style. Henry remains a deeply affable, fish-out-of-water protagonist, while his position as Sir Hans' squire leads to an interesting blend of camaraderie and tension between the two.

Together, the pair have big "lads on tour" energy, clearly revelling in the rare freedom their position and assignment affords them in medieval society. It isn't all fun and games, however. An encounter with a retinue of Bergow's knights emphasises the danger that lurks around every corner, as the two have to convince the armed horsemen that they aren't bandits. It's the first of many elaborate dialogue sequences, with numerous player choices and a lot of exposition. Indeed, while KCD's conversations are generally interesting, I did wonder if they might benefit from some sterner editing at times.

KCD2 is built to be played with no foreknowledge of the original. As such, the opening hours fold in several refresher tutorials, such as Henry and Hans having a friendly duel that reintroduces you to KCD's unique swordfighting system. This has been refined for the sequel, reducing the number of directions you can swing your sword from five to four, and making actions like parrying and riposting easier to pull off. While it's been years since I played the first game, I was nonetheless able to hold my own against Sir Hans after a few minutes of instruction, suggesting that Warhorse's changes have indeed made the system easier to grapple with. The sequel also introduces bespoke fighting systems for certain non-sword weapons like maces, letting players who don't fancy mastering the blade to adopt the simpler approach of cracking skulls.

KCD2 is built to be played with no foreknowledge of the original.

The introduction culminates in Henry and Hans taking a bath in the river, followed by a goofy scene where they sneak through the reeds along the riverbank, drawn by the sound of peasant women singing nearby. The scene quickly takes a darker turn, however, as the pair's camp is attacked by bandits, whereupon they're forced to flee into the woods wearing nothing but their pants. It's a sequence that shifts between dramatic and comedic multiple times, and the game handles those tonal changes well.

Through a series of unfortunate events, Henry and Hans end up in the care of a local peasant woman, where we get a chance to see the quieter side of KCD2. One of the original’s strengths was how it strived to immerse players in moment-to-moment play, and KCD2 seems just as indulgent in this regard. Simple actions like eating stew from a pot and picking herbs to make potions are depicted with intensely detailed first-person animations, while the Bohemian forests you explore are verdant and alive with birdsong. There's a chance to experiment with the updated alchemy system, which is even more tactile and involved than the first game, with you sprinkling ingredients into a big cauldron, before adjusting its height with a lever to change the heat level. Later, when Henry has to fight and kill a couple of bandits who come looking for him, an optional objective unlocks to bury the bodies away from the peasant woman's home, and you can go through the entire process of putting these wayward souls to rest.

Everything in this initial demo suggests KCD 2 will retain the original’s capacity for letting players steep in its medieval setting. What it didn't show was anything wildly new. For this, the second demo was more promising. This fast-forwarded the campaign to the 50-hour mark, where Henry arrives in Kuttenberg. This medieval metropolis is the largest urban space seen in the series yet, a bustling environment where every NPC has their own daily routines and behaviours.

It's here where Henry encounters the swordmaster Menhard and becomes embroiled in the dispute over who has the rights to teach longsword in the city. To settle the disagreement, Menhard hatches a plan, and asks Henry to steal the fencing guild's official sword and hang it on the wall of the Rathaus (the town hall). This, Menhard explains, is the formal way of issuing a challenge of arms to the town, a challenge which Menhard could then accept to prove his martial superiority.

Of course, this means sneaking into a guildhall filled with master swordsmen, which Menhard wisely suggests you do at night (though you are free to try it in the daytime if you wish). Yet even in darkness, clandestine activities are a risky business in Kuttenberg. Anyone walking around at night is expected to carry a torch, and not doing so will get you in trouble with the guards. Having successfully evaded the city watch, I then have to climb over the wall of the guild house, pick the lock on one of several potential entrances, find the sword, and escape.

Here, the open-ended nature of KCD 2 becomes much more apparent, with the quest feeling closer in spirit to a game like Dishonored than the more directed sequences of the early game. The first time I attempt the theft, things go south quickly. I pick the lock but attract the attention of one of the nightwatchmen, who relocks the door after searching for me. I pick the lock again, and proceed three steps into the building before I'm rumbled. I try to fight my way out with fisticuffs, managing to knock out one of the nightwatchmen, but another has roused the town guard, who come barrelling in with swords drawn to quickly cut me down.

The quest can alter in multiple ways depending on your actions, both in narrative choices and general play.

In my second attempt, I'm more careful, and succeed in lifting the sword unnoticed and hanging it on the wall of the Rathaus. This would be a natural endpoint for the quest, but it proves to be far from over. Succeeding in the theft leads to a multi-stage longsword tournament between Menhard and the swordmasters' guild, and you can choose to be sworn in under Menhard's stewardship and fight for his honour and right to teach longsword in the city. Moreover, the quest can alter in multiple ways depending on your actions, both in narrative choices and general play. If you steal the sword but are spotted doing so, for example, the guild will accuse you of the theft when Menhard accepts their challenge. Consequently, the swordmasters' guild is given heavier armour during the tournament, making the fight more difficult on your end.

This elaborate structure isn't entirely surprising; quest design was one of the first game's strengths too. Nonetheless, it certainly feels like the sequel is operating at a higher level amid the busy streets of Kuttenberg. And if Menhard's quest is reflective of the sequel's 100+ hour total, then Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 could end up being something rather special indeed.

The Best Computer Vacuums and Dust Blowers for Your Desk

Whether you work from home or in an office, your desk will quickly become messy and cluttered with all sorts of things. Bits of paper, crumbs, pet hair—you name it. Thankfully, there are tiny vacuum cleaners, dust blowers and dusters that are made for these small surfaces, and maybe even your laptop and accessories. You can use brushes and wipes, but you’ll likely get a more powerful clean with a compact cleaner or tool.

If you aren't sure an actual handheld or tiny vacuum is what you need, another practical cleaning device to consider is a duster or electric dust blower. These are stronger and less wasteful than compressed air cans and can double up as a keyboard or PC cleaning option. The below picks are small enough to fit at your desk and strong enough to fight the mess!

Best Computer Vacuums and Dust Blowers

🔥 Editor's Pick: DataVac Dust Blower

IGN's Commerce Manager, Eric Song recommends this environmentally-friendly dust blower, which draws over 450W from the kilowatt. Plus, he said it's been working well since he bought it (back in 2012). Eric also mentioned a bonus use for this one: using it to blow dry his dog after a bath! Who knew? You can check out his favorite model below, which is on sale right now at 30% off:

More Small Vacuums for Cleaning Your Computer and Desk Space

If you want something lightweight, powerful and easy to use, the below choices provide options for whatever your needs are right now. Most of these vacs are cordless and rechargeable, so there's no extra hassle. Whether you're looking for an all-in-one duster and vacuum or one that comes with different nozzles, you'll find something to help clean up your desk space and beyond.

Tiny, Cute Contenders:

If the above options don't do the trick, these three small desk vacuums are perfect for surface area messes on your desk, coffee table and beyond! Plus, they're super affordable.

Lastly, if you do want to go the compressed air route, but make it fancier, there's a deal on an electric compressed air duster right now:

A Super Cheap Switch Pro Controller, The Lowest FC 25 Prices, 94% Off Borderlands, and More!

Our week continues, fellow bargain hunters, with an average Wednesday of nowhere near average savings. Top of my list includes that Borderlands Pandora Collection—because we all may as well blast through the entire franchise as prep for Borderlands 4. I'm also all about that PSDiscount on No Man's Sky, the game that just keeps on giving. Stupid amounts of value for money there. Get amongst it already.

In retro news, I’m celebrating the 15th birthday of Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again, one of the best DSi downloads you could nab. Minis March Again bolstered the original article with four more game worlds of 10 stages apiece. Along with the brilliant DIY level creator that let me wirelessly share my conundrums with friends, this was just more of the same—old school Nintendo game design with pitch perfect puzzle platforming and high sheen visuals. Please remake more of this sizeable series on Switch, Ninty.

This Day in Gaming

- Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! (DSi) 2009. Similar

- Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare (PS3/4) 2014. Get

- The Bard’s Tale (PS4,PSV) 2017. Get

- Burnout Paradise Remastered (PC) 2018. Get

Table of Contents

Nice Savings for Nintendo Switch

Expiring Recent Deals

Or gift a Nintendo eShop Card.

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Purchase Cheap for PC

Expiring Recent Deals

Or just get a Steam Wallet Card.

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Exciting Bargains for Xbox

Expiring Recent Deals

Or just invest in an Xbox Card.

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Pure Scores for PlayStation

Expiring Recent Deals

Or purchase a PS Store Card.

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Legit LEGO Deals

Expiring Recent Deals

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The Top 10 Games in Australia

(According to IGEA and Game Sales Data.)

  1. GTA V
  2. Hogwarts Legacy
  3. Elden Ring
  4. College Football 25
  5. COD MW3
  6. GTA Online
  7. Red Dead 2
  8. South Park: The Fractured But Whole
  9. NBA 2K24
  10. Hitman WoA Part 1

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Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He plays practically everything, often on YouTube.

Starfield Update 1.13.61 Full Patch Notes Details New Settings and Other Additions as Starfield Becomes Carfield

Earlier today, Bethesda announced that in the lead-up to Starfield's upcoming Shattered Space DLC, players would be treated to the game's first land vehicle, the Rev-8, in an update coming later tonight. Well, it's now later tonight, and Starfield's 1.13.61 update is now live.

The big centerpiece of this patch is, of course, the Rev-8. It's the game's first land vehicle, and we got our first look at it earlier today in a trailer. It's kinda cute, bouncing around craters and things with its little hover jets and turret. Take a look:

The update isn't just car-centric, though the Rev-8 is a pretty big deal. There are a number of new settings being added such as a frame rate target setting allowing players to pick between 30, 40, 60, or uncapped on VRR displays. Non-VRR displays will still be able to select between 30 and 60, though players are warned screen tearing may occur on non-VRR displays if 60 is selected. There's also a new setting allowing you to prioritize between visuals and performance, and toggling Vsync on and off. And there are new Xbox Series S performance options added as well.

Gameplay-wise, the majority of the changes appear to be fixing various bugs or minor other adjustments to make gameplay a bit smoother.

Today's update comes ahead of a much larger DLC expansion entitled Shattered Space, which we learned today would be releasing on September 30. Shattered Space was first revealed back in June at the Xbox Games Showcase and is the game's first story expansion. It takes place on the homeworld of House Va'Ruun and includes a new planet, weapons, spacesuits, gear, and more.

We gave Starfield a 7/10 in our launch review, saying that it "has a lot of forces working against it, but eventually the allure of its expansive roleplaying quests and respectable combat make its gravitational pull difficult to resist."

The full patch notes are below.

New settings:

  • Frame Rate Target: You can now choose between 30, 40, 60 or an Uncapped frame rate on VRR displays. If you do not have a VRR display running 120hz, you will still be able to select from 30 or 60. Screen tearing may occur at times when selecting 60 on a non-VRR display.
  • Prioritize: You can now prioritize between
  • Visuals and Performance while trying to maintain the frame rate target. If you’re choosing a frame rate target of 60 or above, we recommend changing this to Performance. Prioritizing Visuals keeps the highest resolution while maintaining full detail for special effects, lighting, and crowds. Prioritizing Performance lowers internal resolution and detail for special effects, lighting, and crowds. Both modes may adjust internal resolution dynamically when scenes or action get heavier as well. When switching between modes, you will see the lighting change briefly as the system catches up to the new mode.
  • VSync: You can now toggle between VSync off or on. Choosing off will separate the game frames from the monitor's refresh rate and may result in screen tearing. Toggling On will synchronize the frame rate to the monitor's refresh rate avoiding screen tearing but limiting number of frames.

Features

  • Added the new Rev-8 Vehicle which can be purchased from the ship technician
  • Added Xbox Series S performance options

General

  • General performance and stability improvements
  • Creations UI fixes and improvements

Gameplay

  • Addressed an issue that could prevent fully scanning the planet Beta Marae I
  • Gameplay Options: Addressed an issue with Legendary weapons that could cause the Well Fed and Hydrated effects to refresh
  • Gameplay Options: Addressed an issue with switching weapons that could cause the "You are now Hydrated" notification to appear frequently
  • Gameplay Options: Addressed an issue that could cause Sustenance effects to stop working in NG+ variants
  • Fixed an issue with reloading the Novastrike sniper rifle
  • Resolved an issue that caused other characters to hold the Novastrike rifle incorrectly
  • Fixed a visual issue with the Magshot reload animation in zero-g
  • Extreme Temperature Entry Spacesuit can now be put on displays
  • Addressed an issue that could cause multiple items to spawn on display stands
  • The Rattler displayed on the Trackers Alliance headquarters wall can now be interacted with
  • Gravity Well no longer pulls NPCs into the ships in the Chop Shop
  • Adjusted map location markers in cities to improve fast travelling
  • The apartment in The Well in New Atlantis now has a map marker
  • The marker for Shepherd's General Store in Akila should display properly
  • Fixed an issue that caused the Rapid Legendary effect to not properly apply to melee weapons
  • Addressed an issue that could cause Lyle Brewer to become hostile to the player as a follower
  • Updated the status text for the Shielded Grip and Large Shielded Grip mods for the Plasma Cutter
  • Adjusted the balance on Mysterious Tracker’s Voice audio
  • Resolved an issue that could cause unexpected noises upon entering the Lodge for NG+ variants

Ships

  • Fixed an issue that could cause Ship docking bridges to remain extended
  • Addressed an issue with modifying a landed non-home ship that could cause a duplicate ship model to appear on the landing pad
  • Shipbuilder: Ship module variants and flip versions will now correctly revert to the original when pressing the Cancel button
  • Ship Decoration: Addressed an issue with the Ecliptic Claymore that could allow objects to be placed outside of the ship

Graphics

  • Fixed an issue that would cause the Frame generation setting to be turned off when DLSS was selected for Upscaling (PC)
  • Fixed lighting for ship and station interiors in photo mode
  • Improved quality of reflections in shallow puddles
  • Addressed an issue with upscaling that could cause visual artifacts on planets when viewed from space
  • Helmets will now toggle correctly for companions who are downed in photo mode

UI

  • Addressed an issue with the Ship and Inventory menus on 21:9 resolutions
  • Fixed an issue with how large Carry Capacity is displayed in the inventory with large font enabled
  • Addressed an issue with how The Cue Ball and Ping Pong Ball display in the inventory menu

Outposts

  • Flood lamps decoration items will now correctly toggle off and on at outposts featuring a power source

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

How Much Are You Willing to Spend on a LEGO Set?

We're living in an age where playing with LEGO bricks has become an adult hobby just as much as one for kids. Because of that, there are more and more LEGO crossovers with popular brands every month resulting in some of the most expensive LEGO sets we've ever seen. In fact, the most expensive set you can currently buy from the LEGO store is priced at a whopping $850. While not everyone can afford a set that costs as much as an iPhone, the popularity of these pricey sets means that a lot of folks are willing to fork over some serious cash for them.

Whether you're a fan of LEGO bricks or know someone who is, what is the limit you'd pay for a set? Although the most expensive sets are often the more attention grabbing options, there are a lot of great cheap LEGO sets you can get for $25 or less.

What Do You Think?

Our poll only goes up to the $100 price point, but what is your limit for a new LEGO set? Let us know in the comments! For reference, the two most expensive sets you can buy are both Star Wars LEGO sets. The Millenium Falcon and the AT-AT are both priced at $850 right now. While these expensive LEGO sets do sometimes go on sale, that is still a lot of money to spend on a bunch of gray bricks.

For an idea of some of the latest options available to buy, you can check out our guide to the newest LEGO set releases for August and beyond.

Xbox Game Pass Subscribers Will Have to Wait 12 Months or More for Some Of Ultimate's Biggest Releases

Microsoft says those who subscribe to its Game Pass Standard tier won’t see day-one game releases for up to a full year – if not longer – after they launch.

Xbox clarified what day one releases will look like going forward in a recent Xbox Wire post. While Game Pass Ultimate players will continue to see brand-new experiences launch on the service at no additional cost, those who subscribe to the Standard tier will wait up to 12 months or more to see those same titles arrive.

Microsoft first revealed Standard in July as an option without day one releases, leaving many fans to wonder how long they would have to wait. Now we know.

“Some games coming to Game Pass Ultimate (day one games or other game entries) will not be immediately available with Game Pass Standard and may be added to the library at a future date (can be up to 12 months or more and will vary by title),” Microsoft explained today. “We’ll continue to share with all Game Pass members when games are being added and available to play for each plan.”

Game Pass Standard is set to go live in the coming months and follows a series of price increases also announced in July. When Standard does arrive, it will leave Xbox players with four options to choose from: Core ($9.99/month), Standard ($14.99/month), PC ($11.99/month), and Ultimate ($19.99/month). So while console owners looking to save $5 per month may find that Standard tier enticing, they should know that they'll have to wait quite a bit longer to play highly anticipated titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

We'll learn more about how Standard operates when it arrives. Microsoft has tweaked its Game Pass offerings more than a few times, so if you’re still confused about how it all works, you can read our breakdown here. Then, be sure to see why the FTC wasn’t happy with the recently announced price increases and why some analysts think they were inevitable.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.

Save Up to 50% Off UltraGear Gaming Monitors During the LG Back to School Sale

Od: Eric Song

As part of the LG 4th of July Sale, LG is discounting a wide assortment of their UltraGear gaming monitors -- including their top-end OLED models -- for up to $500 off. There's also a bonus coupon code: "HECA14701" that takes off an extra 10% on top. You better hurry though, because the most popular models are already starting to go out of stock, and it's very possible that the coupon code will expire soon.

LG UltraGear OLED Gaming Monitors

LG Ultragear Gaming Monitors 30" and Bigger

LG Ultragear Gaming Monitors 24" and Bigger

Gaming Monitor FAQ

What's the difference between G-Sync and FreeSync?

FreeSync and G-Sync are similar, using VRR technologies to synchronize the refresh rate of the display and the frame rate of the PC or console you’re gaming on. Both types of monitors have the same VESA Adaptive-Sync technical standard, and most FreeSync displays work as G-Sync-compatible, or vice versa, even if manufacturers can’t make the claim outright.

The only exceptions are G-Sync and G-Sync Ultimate monitors, which require additional hardware, only work with Nvidia GPUs, and handle adaptive sync through a display’s entire refresh rate — other VRR usually taps out around 48Hz. That means these monitors are often pricier.

What’s the best resolution for a gaming monitor?

The ideal resolution for your display really depends on your needs. If you’re after ultra-high refresh rates or have a more modest graphics card, 1080p is the way to go. These monitors are also going to be the most budget-friendly option.

For those that prefer a stunning, crisp display, 4K monitors keep pixel peeping to a minimum and are ideal for a 27-inch screen size or bigger. However, you won’t hit 500Hz like some Full HD offerings, and to enjoy a speedy refresh rate – like the Asus ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDM offers – you need to be willing to drop a good chunk of change. Driving those high frame rates will also be taxing on your system.

That leads us to the perfect middle ground: a 1440p display. You’ll enjoy a sharper resolution than 1080p, and hit impressively high frame rates. You will still need a mid-range or better graphics card, but if you have the hardware, these monitors are great for competitive gaming. Plus, you’ll find they’re often cheaper than UHD options.

Is HDR worth it?

HDR, or High Dynamic Range typically brings more vivid colors, improved brightness, and better contrast than SDR, or Standard Dynamic Range on supported monitors, making images pop. In HDR games, that increased clarity provides richer details for a more enjoyable viewing experience and can possibly give you an edge over opponents. For those who gravitate towards those cinematic games, it’s worth it to find a solid HDR monitor.

However, not all monitors that claim HDR support deliver a true HDR experience, so finding an option with ample local dimming zones and high peak brightness or an OLED panel is your best bet to make the most of HDR. Check out our guide on HDR for more info.

Want to know our favorite picks? LG is a stable brand in our best gaming monitors roundup, but there are plenty of other options out there. The best gaming monitors deliver stunning picture quality, speedy response times, and a host of gaming features to show off all the capabilities of the rig you’ve invested in. So, whether you’re after best budget gaming monitor while you save up for a new CPU or GPU, or an absolute beast of a display to help you reach the top of the leaderboards in Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 3, we’ve tested and researched a range of options, bringing you the best of the best.

Civilization 7: The First Preview

There's nothing quite like the moment right before sitting down to see a new Civilization game for the first time – particularly since this is the longest we've ever had to wait for a new one – and I'm happy to say I came away with a pretty positive outlook on Civilization VII. It's a more daring, risky take on the formula than any of the past few iterations have been, and I think that's definitely the way to go, considering those older games aren't going anywhere and are still quite playable. From Ages that completely transform your chosen civ, to a bold, readable, but grounded new art style, Firaxis is already putting their best foot forward.

The historical 4X space has gotten a lot more crowded since Civ 6, and it seems apparent Firaxis has been paying attention to what others dipping a toe into the genre have been doing. That leads us to the biggest single change Civ 7 is introducing: like in 2020's Humankind, you won't be playing a single civilization for your entire campaign.

There are three distinct Ages: Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern. The devs were quick to point out that Ages aren't exactly equivalent to Eras in past Civ games, since they're quite a bit longer and more distinct. By turn 125 on Standard speed, I was still in 1150 BCE according to the RP clock, for instance. A campaign should take about the same amount of time as in past Civ games. You'll pick a new civ to play for each Age, with its own bonuses, units, and map graphics. The thing that will stay with you is your initial choice of leader, a 3D avatar for your entire campaign that comes with their own set of permanent bonuses.

The leaders themselves remain visually consistent through the ages – you won't see Hatshepsut in a pant suit in modern times, for instance. And they're all civilization agnostic. Hatshepsut's bonuses synergize well with those of the ancient Egyptian civ, so you'll have some incentive to match a leader to their historical people if you're min-maxing. But you can play her as the leader of any civ. After all, you might be finishing the campaign as the United States, so there will be some mixing and matching regardless.

HEAD OF STATE

Firaxis is also taking the opportunity to include some leaders who weren't necessarily top-level political figures this time, so we don't just end up with the exact same cast. Ben Franklin was specifically called out, though we haven't seen him fully animated yet.

What isn't totally agnostic is your choice of a new civ in the coming age, addressing one of my gripes with Humankind – that you could go from Celts to Chinese with little or no narrative context. Every starting civ will have at least one "natural" path that's always available to them. Egypt can naturally transition into Songhai, and then Buganda. But everyone can also potentially earn access to certain later-age civs that are unlocked by gameplay choices. For example, cultivating several horse resources in Antiquity can allow you to become the Mongols for the Exploration Age. Other interesting progression paths mentioned included starting as Rome, then becoming the Normans, and finally the England.

Transitioning between Ages will come with a period of Crisis, and I got to see just the beginning of one of them for Antiquity: The Rising Storm. Depicting the fall of the great empires of old, it required me to take one Crisis policy card (similar to Civ 6's Dark Ages), where all of them were bad, so it was kind of a "pick your poison" moment. At the same time, new groups of independent people – who have completely replaced barbarians, and can be dealt with militarily or diplomatically – started spawning around my hinterlands.

LONE AND LEVEL SANDS

Transitioning to a new Age doesn't only give you new mechanical bonuses, though. Lead designer Ed Beach used the city of London as an example of how you build cities in Civ 7. Comparing maps of Roman London to medieval London, very little of the former city is left standing. And the same is true if you compare medieval London to modern London. New civilizations are built over the ruins of the past. And through a concept called "overbuilding," that's literally what we'll be doing in the later ages of Civ 7.

Cities are still sprawled across multiple tiles like in Civ 6, but there are now only two types of districts: Urban and Rural. Urban districts can hold up to two buildings at the start of Antiquity, increasing over time, and might gain special meta attributes based on what you build there. For Egypt, I was able to establish a unique funerary district by building both of their civ unique buildings in the same place. So a "science district" isn't a thing you plop down that is going to start out being focused entirely on science. It's just an urban district that you chose to specialize toward science with synergistic buildings.

Rural districts are more or less what used to be called tile improvements. Remember builders? They're gone! Moving citizens around between tiles? Also gone! Instead, what now happens is, when you would gain a new citizen through population growth, you immediately plop down a new district (which will be empty if it's urban – you still need to spend production on city buildings), or possibly add a specialist to an existing one if you have unlocked the civics for it.

In the build I played, you could only place districts adjacent to existing ones, which on the one hand creates tighter and more believable urban cores. I didn't really think this restriction made sense for rural districts, though. I'd like to be able to place those a bit further out, since the look of outlying mines and farms, I think, creates a really nice scene. And the way it is currently, you can't really save room for future urban sprawl, so I ended up with kind of a weird-looking checkerboard of urban and rural, which doesn't feel especially authentic.

Settling new cities also now starts them out as a Town, which doesn't have a production queue and instead turns all of its production into gold. You can still buy things in a town directly with gold, and the cost of upgrading it to a city will be reduced by how much you've built it up this way already. I found this to be a nice option, since I don't really like managing 15 different production queues.

AMBER WAVES OF GRAIN

Overall, Civ 7 looks great so far. Civ 6's art style was, shall we say, divisive, and I was more on the negative side, for sure. All these years later, I still think Civ 5 looks better than its direct successor. Civ 7 has taken another stylized, but much more grounded and tactile, approach. The main influences on the art style were painted miniatures, model trains, dioramas, and museum displays. And everything on the map is great to look at. I really did feel like I could reach down and pick these little guys up to get a closer look at them.

It's the first Civ game in a while that really feels "next gen" in a visual sense. The mountains look a bit less… mountain-y? More like isolated peaks than the nice, realistic ranges you'd get in previous games. But that's my only gripe so far.

The leaders, continuing on the tradition of Civ 6, are rendered with tons of detail and personality. We got a look at Hatshepsut of Egypt, Amina of Zazzau (the "natural" leader for Aksum), Augustus of Rome, and Ashoka of the Maurya. On the diplomatic screen, both of the negotiating leaders are now shown interacting, which adds a nice bit of extra dramatic flair.

Diplomacy has also been greatly reworked from Civ 6.

Diplomacy has also been greatly reworked from Civ 6. Influence is now a baseline currency produced by certain buildings, and you spend it on direct actions that target another civ. Firaxis wants to reduce the emphasis on transactional horse trading, so every time you do something diplomatically, it's more of a specific jab or handshake. Influence also has a fairly low cap, and is use it or lose it, encouraging you to engage in diplomacy regularly.

One really interesting example of this was a treaty Amina kept hitting me with when we were on less than great terms, which would cause my relationship with my BFF Augustus to deteriorate unless I spent a larger ante of influence to counter it. This presents some diabolical ways you can play other civs against each other.

The other really great twist with Influence is that you can spend it during a war to increase your side's War Support, which works like a diplomatic tug-of-war. If one side has invested a lot more influence than the other, the side with less war support will suffer scaling penalties to combat effectiveness and happiness in their cities. So diplomacy is now key to the military game as well, which I love.

AD ASTRA

Even with only three hours of hands-on time, I could probably talk for six or more about Civilization 7. There's so much I haven't even touched on yet, from commanders that can "pack up" entire armies for easier transport across the map, to Culture and Leader-specific perk trees. So keep an eye out for much, much more about Civilization 7 between now and release.

New Mafia Game Revealed, Set to Release in 2025 | gamescom 2024

A fourth Mafia game, titled Mafia: The Old Country, was officially unveiled at gamescom Opening Night Live today as the ceremony's big closing announcement. It's set to arrive in 2025 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam.

It'll take place in Sicily in the 1900s, although we didn't get a lot of information outside of that. More details will be revealed in December, likely at The Game Awards.

Are you ready to commit your life to this family?

Get ready to play Mafia: The Old Country | #gamescom2024 pic.twitter.com/79GcCB1a2c

— Xbox (@Xbox) August 20, 2024

"Uncover the origins of organized crime in Mafia: The Old Country, a gritty mob story set in the brutal underworld of 1900s Sicily," reads the trailer's YouTube description. "Fight to survive in this dangerous and unforgiving era, with action brought to life by the authentic realism and rich storytelling that the critically acclaimed Mafia series is known for."

It marked a massive and generally unexcepted reveal to close out gamescom Opening Night Live. A new Mafia game had been hinted at in the past, but this is the first official unveiling of The Old Country.

2K Games started the Mafia series all the way back in 2002, followed by Mafia II in 2010 and Mafia III in 2016, the most recent mainline Mafia game. Mafia III was also the first to be developed by 2K's Hangar 13, which also developed the remake of the first Mafia game, Mafia: Definitive Edition, in 2020.

Hangar 13 General Manager Roman Hladík and Head of Production and Media Director Tomáš Hřebíček previously confirmed that the studio was working on an "all-new Mafia project" in 2022, with Hladik saying at the time, "While it's a few years away and we can't share anything more right now, we're really excited to keep working on this beloved franchise and to entertain our players with new stories."

We're still awaiting more information, of course, but the reveal of its setting will no doubt get fan theories spinning. In the meantime, check out our roundup of everything announced at gamescom Opening Night Live.

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle First Look Preview: It’s So Riddick and I Love it for That

The last time the developers at MachineGames made an Xbox-exclusive first-person action-adventure based on a movie character, it turned out to be one of the best experiences of the entire original Xbox/PS2 console generation. That game was The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, back when the core of MachineGames was still at Starbreeze. I bring this up because after I got to see an extended demo of the studio’s newest project, the also-Xbox-exclusive Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, I couldn’t help but be strongly – and I do mean strongly – reminded of the Vin Diesel-starring original-Xbox classic, in the very best of ways. Indy absolutely screams Riddick, and because of that, The Great Circle went from something on my most-anticipated list to being far and away the game I’m most looking forward to playing this year (specifically, December 9 on Xbox and PC, with PS5 getting it in Spring 2025).

My hands-off demo began in (where else?) a huge underground temple, with the sun shining down onto a small figurine. Indy picks it up and the door closes behind him. He cracks the figurine open with a rock. Inside is a small block of some sort – a key, perhaps? Naturally, this triggers a cave-in, with our hero remarking, “Oh, you gotta be kidding me.”

The player takes over as the camera shifts to first-person (though it will go third-person for platforming sequences). As sand fills the room, Indy shuffles over to a window that’s suddenly become reachable thanks to all the sand. He tumbles into a stand and then a run, a stamina bar showing how much longer Jones can keep sprinting. He uses his trusty whip to make a leap across a chasm as the temple conditions grow more lethal by the second. He goes into a slide to exit the temple just in the nick of time.

MachineGames promises plenty of these kinds of exhilarating action sequences in The Great Circle, which notably – just like in Riddick – rarely involves the use of a gun. Sure, Dr. Jones has his trademark revolver, but, as creative director Axel Torvenius explained, “The key to the combat is to carefully decide your approach,” and added, “It’s very dangerous in this game to fire a gun.” It won’t be done particularly often, and it shouldn’t be taken lightly when the moment comes. “You should firstmost try to use your wits and your whip,” he continued. “To understand that there are optional ways to solve [problems].” Don’t, then, call this Indy game a first-person shooter. It’s a very first-person game, alright, but it’s decidedly not a shooter. It’s a mix of puzzle solving, platforming, stealth, and combat. Just like this team’s first game that starred a certain bald convict who can see really well in the dark…

“The focus for this game is adventure,” said director Jerk Gustaffson. “We want exploration to feel truly rewarding.” As such, one of your primary tools is Indy’s journal. It starts blank but quickly becomes a jam-packed archive of your travels, which will include visits to Egypt and the Himalayas, among several other locales. Furthering the spirit of adventure, there will be times where you’ll wear disguises in order to fit in, like one scene I saw where our favorite professor of archaeology dresses up like a priest in order to infiltrate a heavily guarded area. The adventure focus will even reflect in the gameplay structure of The Great Circle, with MachineGames revealing that the campaign will consist of a mix of linear areas and more open areas that you’re free to wander in.

Meanwhile, you’ll earn Adventure Points by finding journal entry-worthy items and secrets – as well as by taking pictures of key items with your camera – and those points can be spent to upgrade your Indiana Jones to play more like you prefer, be it upping your stealth abilities, combat abilities (like True Grit, which essentially lets you survive an otherwise-fatal blow to get back in the fight), or other skills. MachineGames says there are “dozens” of upgrades to choose from. You can also buy items from shopkeepers, like one I saw that had a monkey beside him at his booth. What these are, though, I have not yet seen.

Much of the combat looks like it’ll involve your fists, but like in Riddick, your foes won’t go down with a simple press of the punch button. You’ll have to skillfully parry, block, and combo your way to victory in hand-to-hand combat. And don’t be afraid to get your whip involved too, by lashing it at opponents’ feet to knock them down, as one example of what it can do for you in gameplay. But your dukes aren’t always going to be your go-to weapons. I saw Indy use a rolling pin in a kitchen to bash a Nazi’s face in. I also watched him pick up a shovel, sneak up behind a Nazi, and whack him on the back of the head. In fact, sneaking looks to be a big part of The Great Circle, with stealth emphasized as a core tenet of gameplay – as it was in Escape from Butcher Bay.

Sneaking looks to be a big part of The Great Circle, with stealth emphasized as a core tenet of gameplay – as it was in Escape from Butcher Bay.

Something Richard B. Riddick didn’t do, though, was bring any friends along with him for the ride. Indiana Jones, on the other hand, will welcome help along the way. I saw a couple of companions at his side throughout my demo across numerous scenes in the game. They’re not always around, but when they’re by your side, I didn’t see enough to know exactly what they’ll be capable of? Are they solely to help advance the plot and allow for more Indy quips? Or will they also offer an Elizabeth-in-BioShock-Infinite-like assistance in combat?

That remains to be seen, but my demo ended with a sequence that showed off a lot of what The Great Circle is going to be all about: adventuring, avoiding traps, and solving puzzles! To find a key that would unlock a temple, Indy needed to sneak into enemy territory disguised as a regular worker. After snooping around for a while, he finds the golden medallion he’s after and takes it quietly (banking +5 Adventure Points). He encounters four bad guys at a table and, this time, walks out of the tent without incident. Upon returning to the nearby temple’s hidden door and inserting the medallion, the door opens. Indy and his accompanying ally go deeper into darkness, using a lighter to illuminate the way. “This hasn’t been disturbed for thousands of years,” the professor remarks. They slowly explore the dark temple before lighting up a torch. At the end of a narrow hallway stands an ornate iron gate. Pulling the lever causes the floor to give way – revealing spikes underneath! The companion saves Indy from being impaled. Indy then uses his whip to hook onto a bar above and then lower himself down to a newly revealed crawl space underneath the floor. He shuffles through, finds a pull chain, yanks it, and the gate opens. Both Dr. Jones and his ally find a mural and take a photo of it (for 10 more Adventure Points).

They come to a sunlit room with a half-obelisk, half-throne in the back of the room, bathed in sunlight. Sunbeams point at a golden mask. The puzzle here is to redirect the sunbeams by tilting the mirrors adjacent to the throne. Your companion grabs the mask after the mirrors are aligned properly. And in a moment of overexcitement, she sits in the throne with the mask and the seat of the throne gives way! As Indy reaches to save her, both end up dragged down to a darkened pit below, where the light of the torch reveals a floor covered in…scorpions. (You thought I was going to say snakes, didn’t you?)

The fact is, this core group of developers at MachineGames – many of whom have been together for two decades – have never missed. From Riddick to The Darkness to the modern Wolfenstein games, this is an incredibly successful team. And now, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a playable Indiana Jones adventure being built using the best parts of the template that this development team used to make its first – and in my humble opinion, best – game of all. I absolutely can’t wait to play it.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

Masters of Albion: A New Spin on Fable’s World From Its Original Creator | gamescom 2024

The trailer for Masters of Albion, Peter Molyneux’s return to ‘traditional’ style games after a decade-plus stint in mobile development, welcomes you to “the familiar, vast world of Albion.” This world is, of course, the setting of Fable, the beloved RPG series Molyneux served as creative lead on at Lionhead Studios through the 2000s. But today he returns to Albion not to craft a new Fable (that’s Microsoft and Playground Games’ job), but to make something simultaneously new and nostalgic.

Masters of Albion aims to be something of a Molyneux Greatest Hits; a project that revisits ideas from many of the prolific designer’s past games and reinterprets them for the modern age. The result seems to be a mashup of Dungeon Keeper, Black & White, and Fable – a city-building god game that’s also a third-person RPG. Yup, Molyneux’s trademark wild ambition is definitely back.

It’s best to approach Masters of Albion one piece at a time. Let’s start with the god game stuff, born of the design DNA Molyneux created with Populous back in 1989. Played from an isometric perspective, you look after a growing population – building them up from a tiny village to a collection of bustling towns. Establishing supplies and constructing buildings form the basics, but there’s a variety of fun, very Lionhead-esque ideas, such as designing what your villagers will eat in a digital kitchen (with anything from soup and sandwiches to rats on the menu).

Crafting towns that are both economically and physically strong is vital. “We've got this very simple mechanic where by day everything's peaceful, you can explore, you can plan, you can build, you can create,” Molyneux tells me in an interview ahead of Masters of Albion’s reveal. “And then by night, everything will attack everything you own.”

Trolls, zombies, werewolves, and other horrors all descend as the sun goes down. And that’s where another familiar idea comes into play. Just like in Black & White, your avatar within the world is a giant floating hand that can cast miracles. Smiting foes with divine bolts of lighting and flamethrowers is just as important a task as using those deity digits to fit together houses and factories in build mode.

“I think the hand can be a lot more than just picking things up,” says Molyneux, referring to the more simplistic version featured in Black & White and his aims to evolve it for Masters of Albion. “I think we can enhance it. We can make people feel really powerful [and] creative with that hand.”

Eye in the Sky, Boots on the Ground

The short trailer revealed as part of gamescom 2024’s Opening Night Live doesn’t really detail how this next-generation hand has evolved beyond its 20-year-old predecessor. What it does show is a surprising callback to 1997’s Dungeon Keeper that promises to turn Masters of Albion into a wild genre hybrid.

“I loved the Hand [in Dungeon Keeper],” enthuses Molyneux. “I loved being able to pick things up. I loved being able to possess things, but it didn't feel like they comfortably lived together. [...] So what I decided to take is possession mode, but take it in a way that improves and enhances it, makes it meaningful and deep.”

You can point at any living creature in your kingdom and take direct control of it.

In Masters of Albion, you can point at any living creature in your kingdom and take direct control of it. That could be a villager, a soldier, or even one of Albion’s beloved chickens. More likely, though, it’ll be your hero; a customisable character with their own RPG skill tree, weapons, and armour. They are, effectively, a Fable-like protagonist. And when you possess them (or, yes, a chicken), the camera drops from your eye-in-the-sky god perspective and swings behind them, settling into a familiar third-person camera.

“Possession enables you to play the game rather like the Fable combat system,” Molyneux explains. “You can use magic and you can fight, you can blend the two styles together.”

But possession mode isn’t just about taking command of a warrior to push back your enemies. “You can explore,” Molyneux explains. “And in exploring this vast land of Albion, inspired by Fable, which was inspired by old England, there are many, many places to explore and find.”

The world of Albion is shrouded by a fog of war in which your god hand has no power. It’s through the possession of your hero that you’ll explore what’s hiding in that fog, pushing the clouds back to unlock more and more land for your hand to interact with. And so the two modes depend on each other; you can’t build cities in god mode without exploring via possession mode, and your hero needs to be equipped with new weapons that must be forged in god mode (or, indeed, baked – that returning Fable sense of humour means you can send your hero to war with a baguette blade).

Importantly, Molyneux doesn’t want possession mode to feel like an optional extra. “You can play the majority of the game in that third-person view, which is fantastically exciting,” he says.

“I think my realisation after all these years is I don't want to create a game which forces you, the gamer, to be a certain sort of player,” he explains. “I want you to think, ‘Well, I'm not interested in god mode, I'm interested in possession mode, I'm interested in fighting, I'm interested in creating the armour and the weapons that my hero is going to use in possession mode.’ That's fine.”

Playing God in Old Albion

The demonstration of possession mode in Masters of Albion’s trailer is both impressive and clunky (perhaps to be expected; it is being developed by a lean 20-person team rather than a AAA studio, after all.) That considered, I’m cautious with my expectations. I can’t yet imagine this RPG side being totally fulfilling if played as the primary mode. But Molyneux and his team at 22cans have ambitions of working with the same RPG fabric that Fable was cut from. That means a significant relationship with the concepts of good and evil, with physical transformations based on your choices.

“Your hand will morph, your hero will morph,” Molyneux promises, a feature that echoes both Fable and Black & White. “The whole landscape will morph to reflect what you are doing.”

He hopes, though, that things will be much more nuanced than Black & White’s titular binary ethics. “We have these factions in the game, the Lords’ faction and the Commoners’ faction, and which you are going to support allows us to measure whether you are a person of the people or a person of the aristocracy. So there's a lot more interesting things going on.”

There are also systems that breed consequences not directly linked to any kind of moral ethos. “You can design whatever building you want and these buildings have functions, so you can make a building that's a farm and a mill and a factory and a pub and an inn and a housing block,” explains Molyneux. “And it can be one monstrous building. But be careful. The more you put things together, the more you stress those buildings, the more pollution they cause, and the whole landscape will morph to reflect the pollution you've got.”

Perhaps this is what Molyneux means by finding a way to be more nuanced – pollution isn’t quite as clear cut as, say, forcing children to work in factories and eat rats, but it’s still a philosophical issue that divides opinion.

It's an interesting universe that Fable touched upon and really I think Masters of Albion extends and expands that.

Masters of Albion sounds like classic Peter Molyneux; a shoot-for-the-stars concept album of ideas from across the industry (or, at the very least, across the UK’s Guildford region where he has always worked). And with classic Molyneux comes ideas you can’t help but wonder if they could possibly work out. This time it’s a question of legality rather than scope: Albion is the setting of Fable, which is owned by Microsoft. So how are Molyneux and 22cans able to set this new game, unaffiliated with Microsoft, in Albion? Is it perhaps a different world, just with the same name?

“Fable was set in Albion, Masters of Albion is set in Albion,” Molyneux clarifies.

So this is the same world. And the reason 22cans can use Albion, at least according to Molyneux, is because Albion is the historical term for Great Britain. “[It’s] like saying if you set a game in America, you can't set any other game in America,” he says. “So Albion can't be copyrighted. It's the name for England and Wales and that's how we get away with it.”

By this logic, the argument seems to be that Fable does not take place in a fantasy world, but simply in historical England – a place that, despite the inclusion of comedy chickens, presumably cannot be copyrighted?

“I don't know if I'm honest, I don't really know,” Molyneux admits. “I hope so. I mean you would think that the responsible person I should be, I would've spent the last six months in lawyers' offices…”

If there are legal complications for 22cans to explore and resolve, they will come in time. For now, Molyneux’s mind is on exploring the untapped depths of the setting. “It's an interesting universe that Fable touched upon,” he says, “and really I think Masters of Albion extends and expands that.

“But it's not actually Fable 5 or anything like that,” he emphasises. “But if you've played Fable, then definitely Masters of Albion will be familiar to you. One of the things that we have got and we absolutely wanted a nail was the humour. I think in the Fable games, it's not so much about telling jokes, it's more about giving you, the player, the ability to do ridiculous and funny things. And we've got that in Masters of Albion in absolute spades. I think we’re really nailing that.”

Masters of Albion may not be a new Fable game, but it is a new spin on Fable’s world – a spin that reunites Peter Molyneux with the god game ideas that he built a career on. We’ll need to see much, much more of this strange genre hybrid before we can say if its ambitions are attainable, but it's nonetheless exciting to see one of gaming’s most prolific creators return with something so distinctly of his inventive mind.

Matt Purslow is IGN's Senior Features Editor.

Peter Molyneux Insists His New Game Isn’t Set in the World of Fable, Despite Being Called Masters of Albion | gamescom 2024

Peter Molyneux is back, this time with a new god game called Masters of Albion that he’s talking up at gamescom 2024. Sound familiar? Anyone who’s played Fable, one of the many games from Molyneux’s much-loved back catalog, will know Albion well.

Albion is the setting for the Fable series, originally developed by legendary UK studio Lionhead before Microsoft shut it down in 2016. Microsoft is currently working on a brand new Fable game, in development at Forza Horizon maker Playground. So, is Masters of Albion a Fable game?

In a new interview with IGN, Molyneux explained his thought process:

“So Albion is the old English name for England and Wales and Cornwall. And I think it's a really interesting world. It's an interesting universe that Fable touched upon and really I think Albion in Masters of Albion, it extends and expands that, but it's not actually Fable 5 or anything like that.

“But if you've played Fable, then definitely Masters of Albion will be familiar to you. One of the things that we have got and we absolutely wanted a nail was the humor and a lot of what the humor is. I think in the Fable games, it's not so much about telling jokes, it's more about giving you the ability, the player, to do ridiculous and funny things. And we've got that in Masters of Albion in absolute spades really. I think we're really nail that.

“So there's a lot you can do with your hero, which is very funny. Some of it can be very cruel, some of it can be very kind. There's a lot you can do with your hand that can be kind and cruel. And I really love the detail that we can go into.”

Albion can't be copyrighted. It's the name for England and Wales and that's how we get away with it.

IGN followed up to ask, directly, whether the Albion in Masters of Albion is the Albion players have explored in the Fable games.

Molyneux replied:

“Yes, yes. Fable was set in Albion, Masters of Albion is set in Albion.”

But how? Surely Microsoft might have something to say if Masters of Albion is set in the Albion from Fable?

Molyneux said Albion as a setting doesn’t belong to anyone.

“Albion is like saying if you set a game in America, you can't set any other game in America,” he said. “So Albion can't be copyrighted. It's the name for England and Wales and that's how we get away with it.”

It sounds like the Albion in Masters of Albion isn’t exactly the Albion in Fable, then, rather yet another humor-filled fantasy take on old England.

Speaking of Fable, we asked Molyneux how it feels to see another company make a Fable game, following Lionhead’s demise.

“I'm fascinated to see what Playground does with Fable,” he replied. “I'm absolutely delighted that the franchise is continuing to grow. I mean, that makes me so proud, to be involved with the brilliant people that made Fable and we made something that was worthy for someone as brilliant as Playground to make it.

“I hope they make it their Fable. I hope they keep the humor, the trailers that I've seen so far look stunning. But I'm curious about the gameplay and I'm curious about what their Fable looks like and plays like and feels like, as opposed to what Lionhead would look like and feel like. What an incredibly diplomatic answer that was!”

Peter Molyneux is one of the most controversial video game designers around, with a reputation for over-promising and under-delivering across his career. He created the seminal god games Populous, as well as the likes of Dungeon Keeper and Theme Park while at Bullfrog.

After founding Lionhead, Molyneux worked on Black & White, the Fable games, and The Movies, as well as a number of canceled projects. Molyneux left Lionhead in 2012, following the completion of Fable: The Journey, to work at new studio 22cans.

22cans itself is a highly controversial studio, with god game Godus failing to leave early access on Steam. Molyneux was also heavily criticized for failing to make good on a promise to change the life of the winner of experimental mobile game Curiosity: What's Inside the Cube?

Now, after something of a hiatus, Molyneux is speaking to the press once again to talk about his new game. Be sure to check out IGN’s interview with Peter Molyneux in full to find out more about Masters of Albion. And catch up on everything announced at Opening Night Live for more.

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.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Finally Gets a Release Date for Xbox...and PlayStation | gamescom 2024

After its proper reveal earlier this year, MachineGames has finally provided a release date for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which is coming to PC and Xbox Series X/S on December 9, 2023. Additionally, we learned that it's coming to PS5 in Spring of 2025.

As part of Xbox's Gamescom 2024 announcements, the company confirmed the game's release dates, as well as confirmed various reports that it was coming to PlayStation. Reports of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle's release date first surfaced in May when The Verge reported the project was targeting a December release window.

Alongside the release dates, Xbox and MachineGames have provided a new trailer for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. The trailer, narrated by Troy Baker, discusses his feelings on stepping into the boots of Indiana Jones.

This reveal of a PS5 release is especially interesting, given Xbox head Phil Spencer previously insisting that MachineGames' next project would remain an Xbox console exclusive. The move is part of Xbox's broader initiative for some of its first-party games to make their way onto other platforms, including Doom: The Dark Ages, Grounded, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves, and Hi-Fi Rush.

Set between the events of Indiana Jones's films Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Last Crusade; players control the titular character on another globetrotting adventure to uncover the secret to an ancient power connected to the Great Circle.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is set in a first-person perspective. Troy Baker has been cast to play Indiana Jones in the game, while in the films, Indiana Jones is portrayed by actor Harrison Ford.

The project was first announced in January 2021, when it was revealed that MachineGames, in collaboration with LucasFilm, was working on a video game based on Indiana Jones. Todd Howard, a key employee at MachineGames' sister studio, Bethesda Game Studios, serves as the game's executive producer.

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

The First Berserker: Khazan Announces Closed Beta on Console Ahead of Early 2025 Release | gamescom 2024

The First Berserker: Khazan appeared at gamescom 2024 kick-off show Opening Night Live to reveal details of a technical closed beta test on console ahead of the game’s early 2025 release date.

The new trailer, showcased during ONL, is below:

The First Berserker: Khazan is described as a “hardcore action role-playing game” with a 3D cel animation graphical style and a dark fantasy setting. The developer is Neople, which is behind the enormously popular multiplayer beat ‘em-up Dungeon Fighter Online, known in South Korea as Dungeon & Fighter. Indeed, The First Berserker: Khazan is set in the DNF universe. Fighting game DNF Duel is similarly set in the DNF universe. The publisher is Nexon, the company behind recently released looter shooter The First Descendant.

The technical closed beta test is set for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X from October 11- 20. Expect a release on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S at some point in early 2025.

Here’s the official blurb:

The player will become Khazan, the great general of the Pell Los Empire, who overcame death and sets out to reveal the incidents that led to his downfall and seek vengeance on his enemies. Survive the relentless pursuit of imperial forces, navigate conspiracies aimed at killing Khazan and overcome the harsh environments encountered.

Catch up on everything announced at Opening Night Live via our round-up.

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.

Amazon Series Secret Level Reveals Animated Stories For God Of War, Sifu, Warhammer And More

Secret Level is an anthology series coming to Amazon Prime Video, and it brings several games to animated form to tell new short stories for those games. The series was finally revealed with a teaser trailer during Gamescom 2024's Opening Night Live showcase. It comes from Blur Studio, the creators of Love, Death, and Robots, which is another animated anthology series that was well-received. Bringing that ethos to video game stories is what Secret Level sets out to do and it will release on December 10.

Several games were teased in the premier trailer, which you can watch above. Secret Level will have 15 episoides and includes the following games and series:

  • God of War (PlayStation Studios)
  • Sifu
  • Warhammer 40K
  • Unreal Tournament
  • New World: Aeternum
  • Dungeons & Dragons
  • The Outer Worlds 2
  • Pac-Man
  • Honor of Kings
  • Armored Core
  • Mega Man
  • Exodus
  • Spelunky
  • Crossfire
  • Concord

For more on all the news coming out of Gamescom 2024, be sure to check out our roundup of everything announced during Opening Night Live 2024.

First Look at Batman VR Game Arkham Shadow Gameplay, Voice Cast Revealed | gamescom 2024

Meta Quest 3-exclusive VR game Batman: Arkham Shadow now has a gameplay trailer, courtesy of an appearance during Opening Night Live at gamescom 2024.

The gameplay video, below, shows off combat that will be familiar to fans of the Arkhamverse games, retooled to work in virtual reality. We see punching, gliding, grappling, stealth takedowns, as well as Batman’s famous Detective Vision, all displayed in first-person for a VR headset.

Batman: Arkham Shadow is a new entry in the Arkham series made famous by developer Rocksteady, and is developed exclusively for Meta Quest 3 by Camouflaj and Oculus Studios. Arkham Shadow is a prequel to 2009’s groundbreaking Arkham Asylum, and takes place between the events of 2013’s Arkham Origins and Arkham Asylum.

Fittingly, Origins voice actor Roger Craig Smith reprises the Batman role here. This is a younger Batman than the one seen in the main Arkham trilogy, but more seasoned than the relative rookie hero we saw in Arkham Origins. This Batman takes on the Rat King, a “dangerous new criminal with a cultish following.”

We also have the full cast reveal: Troy Baker as Harvey Dent; Tara Strong as Dr. Harleen Quinzel; Mark Rolston as James Gordon; Khary Payton as Otis Flannagan; Earl Baylon as Lyle Bolton; Chelsea Kane as Barbara Gordon; and Martin Jarvis as Alfred Pennyworth.

“Experience the origins of these legendary characters — and discover which (if any) of them turn villain before the credits roll,” Meta teased. Batman: Arkham Shadow also has a slightly narrowed release window of October 2024.

For more, check out IGN’s extensive Batman: Arkham Shadow - 5 Details We Found In the New Trailer feature. And be sure to check out our Opening Night Live 2024 roundup to see what else was at the show.

Batman: Arkham Shadow is of course set to launch after Rocksteady's own Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, a controversial Arkhamverse live-service looter shooter that flopped to the tune of $200 million.

While publisher Warner Bros. has said Rocksteady will release Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's first year of post-launch content, it has yet to announce the studio's next game. According to Bloomberg, staff at the studio are currently working on a director’s cut of the phenomenally successful Hogwarts Legacy, while leadership pitches a return to single-player following this live service misstep.

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.

Monument Valley 3 Finally Has a Release Date, And It's Netflix Games Exclusive | gamescom 2024

Five years ago, ustwo games announced it was developing a third entry in the critically-acclaimed puzzle series, Monument Valley. Now, after all that waiting, it's finally coming out on December 10, 2024, and it will be exclusive to Netflix Games at launch.

In a trailer at Opening Night Live today, we got our first real look at Monument Valley 3. It's both familiar and new, featuring a new little protagonist named Noor carrying a lantern. Per a press release, Noor is searching for a new source of power "before the light of the world fades, forever." As before, the player uses the touchscreen to move M.C. Escher-like environments around and create paths for the character to progress.

Monument Valley 3 seems to use similar spatial and visual puzzle styles to its predecessors, but it looks like the lantern-carrying protagonist will occasionally have to lead other characters effectively through the mazes. The very first game starred a single protagonist, while the second featured a mother and her child navigating mazes together and explored themes related to their relationship. Both games were critically acclaimed for their design, with Monument Valley 2 winning the Game Award for Best Mobile Game in 2017, and winning best Puzzle at the 2018 Webby Awards.

Monument Valley 3 will technically be coming to both iOS and Android like its predecessors, but at launch will only be available via the Netflix Games app. Additionally, both Monument Valley and Monument Valley 2 will come to Netflix Games on September 19 and October 29, respectively. Netflix, as we've previously written, has struggled to lure in large amounts of subscribers, and has reportedly been discussing internally whether or not to add in-app purchases or ads to its games platform in the future.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Marvel Rivals Release Date Set for December

Od: Bo Moore

Marvel Rivals is set to launch on December 6, 2024. The release date was revealed today at Opening Night Live during Gamescom 2024, along with a new gameplay trailer featuring Captain America, The Winter Soldier, and a massive Doctor Doom moving chess pieces on a cosmic scale.

Coming from developer NetEase, Marvel Rivals is a 6v6 hero shooter in the same vein as Overwatch, with many of Marvel's finest heroes and villians slinging powers to achieve team-based objectives.

Marvel Rivals will be available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC via Steam and the Epic Game Store. For more information, check out our preview of the game from earlier this year, and for more from Gamescom, head over to our roundup of everything announced at Opening Night Live.

Starfield's Shattered Space DLC Reveals September Release Date | gamescom 2024

Shattered Space, the highly anticipated upcoming DLC for Bethesda's Starfield, will officially be releasing on September 30.

The announcement was made today at gamescom Opening Night Live, where it was also revealed that a new vehicle, the Rev-8, will be made available in a free update tonight. We got to see the vehicle in action in footage unveiled at gamescom, showing off some fun world exploration.

Shattered Space, too, got a brief tease in the footage, although it didn't show too much outside of a darker tone, with much of the focus begin on the Rev-8.

Shattered Space got its first trailer back in June during the Xbox Games Showcase, and it'll focus on a mysterious new faction called House Va'Ruun. "Investigate a frightening cosmic threat, explore a new planet, and find unique weapons, spacesuits, and gear in this all-new adventure," Starfield's official website explains in a page dedicated to the Shattered Space expansion.

Bethesda confirmed it was working on the story expansion in 2023, but we've been waiting for a release date since then. It's set to arrive both on Xbox and PC.

We gave Starfield a 7/10 when we reviewed it last year, writing at the time that it "has a lot of forces working against it, but eventually the allure of its expansive roleplaying quests and respectable combat make its gravitational pull difficult to resist."

For more from gamescom, check out our roundup of everything announced at Opening Night Live.

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Sid Meier's Civilization 7 Release Date Announced, Gameplay Trailer Revealed | gamescom 2024

Sid Meier's Civilization 7 appeared during Opening Night Live to help kick off gamescom 2024 with a first-look gameplay trailer and a release date.

Firaxis’ strategy sequel launches February 11, 2025 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam, with the deluxe edition including five days of early access (what amounts to an effective release date of February 6).

Based on the new trailer, Civilization 7 features a more grounded art style than the divisive Civilization 6 look. We loved Civilization 6 when it came out back in 2016, saying it would "go down in history as the most fully-featured launch version in the series." Though the series has changed leadership hands a number of times over the years, it remains beloved and successful. In fact, the first human equipped with a Neuralink brain implant apparently stayed up all night playing Civilization 6 with the technology.

Be sure to check out IGN’s Opening Night Live roundup to see everything announced during the show.

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.

J.B. Smoove Is Making and Potentially Starring in a High on Life Animated Comedy - Report

An animated series based on Squanch Games’ High on Life is reportedly in the works with Curb Your Enthusiasm's J.B. Smoove attached as a producer.

These first details on the video-game-to-show adaptation come from Deadline, which says that Smoove will produce the project via his Alternate Side Productions banner. He starred as Gus in Squanch’s first-person shooter upon its release in 2022, and although the site says there is a “good chance” he’ll play a part in the series, he’s not officially joined the cast yet.

In addition to live-action roles in movies like Date Night and Spider-Man: Far From Home, Smoove has provided his voice talents in projects like Max’s Harley Quinn, Teen Titans Go!, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012).

Smoove shared a statement about how High on Life will shoot its shot in animation:

“When Squanch Games originally reached out to JB Smoove (I like to talk about myself in the third person) about voicing a character in their incredible video game High on Life, my first question was what does my character look like? They told me that I would be a fish that shoots…which makes perfect sense to me! As a Vegan I feel a fish should have the right to defend itself! I mean right?! And now that I’m partnered with Squanch Games and Striker Entertainment to bring the hilarious High on Life to series it feels like it was inevitable!"

“High on Life is wild, weird, and wonderful, and the series is going to be that and more!

Smoove continued: “They invited me to join them in the gaming universe and now I’m helping them move into the TV world! It’s a case of a game recognizing game! High on Life is wild, weird, and wonderful, and the series is going to be that and more! Get ready to laugh your way through space with some unforgettable characters like myself! We are locked and loaded and ready to go!”

Alternate Side is handling the executive producer role along with Striker Entertainment’s Russell Binder and Mandy Bardisbanian. Squanch is also involved in the animated show’s development, with the original game’s narrative director, Alec Robbins, attached as well.

High on Life released for PC and Xbox in late 2022 and arrived on PlayStation consoles July 2023. Story DLC content, titled High on Knife, then followed in October. The animated show has no release date and has not officially confirmed who will join its cast. The game, however, is known for its list of talent, which includes notable appearances from stars like Tim Robinson, Michael Cusack, Mike Stoklasa, Zach Hadel, Tom Kenny, Nolan North, and more.

High On Life began as a video game two years ago, and in our 8/10 review, we explained why we loved the “laugh-out-loud funny” story it had to tell. Though its journey into animation will mark a major change from its humble start in games, it’s not quite the first time the series has explored other mediums. Robbins helped bring the franchise to comics, too, and you can learn more about its off-shoot stories here.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.

Every Deadpool and Wolverine Blu-Ray Collection You Can Still Buy

Now that Deadpool & Wolverine is in theaters, you may be looking to add some of the previous movies to your Blu-ray collection. Thanks to the overly confusing X-Men movie timeline, there is no single set you can currently buy that gets you all of the movies featuring Deadpool and Wolverine.

To help guide you to the best overall Deadpool and Wolverine Blu-ray sets for your needs, we've gone ahead and listed out every collection currently available online. We only focused on the sets that you can buy new, which doesn't include the Adamantium Blu-ray collection that is currently out of stock everywhere. There also isn't currently a Blu-ray set available that includes Logan, so you will have to pick up that film separately for now if you want to complete your Wolverine collection.

Deadpool Blu-ray Collection

If you're more of a fan of Deadpool than Wolverine, The Deadpool 2-movie collection is your best bet. This set includes both Deadpool 1 and 2 on Blu-ray and is significantly cheaper than buying both of those movies separately. While there is likely going to be a new set released alongside the new movie, it won't be for quite some time seeing as we haven't heard any mention of a Blu-ray release date for Deadpool & Wolverine.

X-Men Blu-Ray Collection (10 Movies)

For fans of the X-Men movies, there is also the popular X-Men Blu-ray collection that features 10 of the films on Blu-ray. This includes the original trilogy, X-Men: First Class, X-Men Origins: Wolverine Days of Future Past, Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix, The Wolverine, and The New Mutants. So you get pretty much all of the X-Men movies that feature Wolverine except for Logan. This is by far the most Wolverine movies you can get for under $50. You can always add on a Blu-ray copy of Logan to complete your set.

X-Men Blu-Ray Collection (6 Movies)

The other option for X-Men fans is to ditch the extra films and just pick up this set of the core 6. This Blu-ray collection only includes the original trilogy and the newer trilogy, so you won't get X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Wolverine, Dark Phoenix, or The New Mutants. The main draw of this collection over the 10-film collection above is that you can watch the movies in the U.S. without a region-free Blu-ray player.

Where Can You Stream These Movies Online?

If you don't want to purchase the physical versions of these films, you can always stream them online. Now that Disney owns both Marvel and Fox, you can currently watch all of the X-Men movies as well as the Deadpool movies on Disney+. A basic Disney+ and Hulu plan with ads starts at only $9.99, but you can also get the new Disney+ bundle that includes Max for just $7 more.

Daily Deals: Xbox Game Pass,GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, Shin Megami Tensei, Nintendo Switch, and More

Od: Eric Song

Here are this week's best daily deals, including up to 40% off Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (post price hike), a new lowest price on a Spider-Man themed RTX 4070 Ti GPU, $200 off Alienware's top-end 32" 4K OLED gaming monitor, 33% off the Shin Megami Tensei: Vengeance Steelbook Launch Edition for all platforms, and more.

3 Months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $33.49

Woot! (which is owned by Amazon) is offering the best deal on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Right now you can get a 3 month code for only $36.49. Microsoft recently raised the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to $19.99 per month, so now you're saving 40% off a 3 month membership. Note that you can purchase multiple codes and apply them to your account, up to a maximum of 36 months. This deal expires on August 10 or sooner if the quota is met.

Note: There is a coupon code "VIDEOGAMES" that takes $3 off one order. If you purchase multiple gift cards, this code will only work on a single gift card.

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance Steelbook for $39.99

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is on sale for all platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X. This is the "Definitive Edition" of the Shin Megami Tensei game that was released back in 2021. Updates include a brand new storyline with several new sidequests, an increased level cap to 150 as well as a harder difficulty mode, new demons, new skills, and more. This version also comes packaged in a slick steelbook case.

ZOTAC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GPU for $673.20

Today Amazon is offering a ZOTAC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12GB AMP AIRO GPU for only $673.20. This is the least expensive RTX 4070 GPU on Amazon right now, with the next best price going for over $50 more. This particular model is a limited edition Spider-Man: Across the Spider Verse collab with themed backplate, tote bag, and more. Even with the release of the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER refresh, the RTX 4070 Ti is still an outstanding card for up to 4K gaming. At this price, it's a much better value too.

32" Alienware AW3225QF 4K OLED Monitor for $999.99

As part of its Dell Back to School Sale, Dell is taking $200 off the 2024 Alienware AW3225QF 32" 4K QD OLED gaming monitor. It's normally $1199.99, but today you can get it for $999.99. This is one of the very few 4K OLED gaming monitors under 42" on the market, and at this price it's also the least expensive. If you're looking for the best gaming monitor for 2024, this should definitely be on your short list.

Apple iPad 10.9" 10th Gen for $299

The latest Apple iPad is back down to Prime Day pricing. Currently, Amazon has the 10th Gen Apple iPad for only $299.99. This iPad was originally priced at $449.99 when it launched back in 2022, but recently Apple slashed the price by $100 to $349.99. Now you can get it for an extra $50 less. This is another chance for you to score an excellent deal on the most affordable current gen iPad, even if you missed out on Prime Day.

Arzopa S1 15" 1080p USB-C Portable Monitor for $59.98

Amazon is offering an excellent deal on this Arzopa 15" 1080p USB Type-C portable monitor. It's normally $129.99, but right now you can get it for only $59.98 shipped. That's the best price we've ever seen for this particular model, and the lowest price compared to other legit 15" USB Type-C monitors on Amazon. This is a great portable display for your Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, or ASUS ROG Ally gaming handheld.

Ecoflow River 2 256Wh LiFePO4 Power Station $141.55

Walmart is offering an excellent price on the Ecoflow River 2 256Wh LiFePO4 Power Station. Right now it's listed at $149. Log into your (free) account and the price drops even further to $141.55. This is a well rated power station because it's equipped with safer and longer lasting LiFEPO4 batteries.

Nintendo Switch Lite with Animal Crossing for $159

Walmart is offering the Nintendo Switch Lite (Timmy's and Tommy's Aloha Edition) console for only $159. This is an outstanding deal because this particular bundle also includes a digital copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. A standard Nintendo Switch Lite console with no game still costs $199.

Movie About the Legal Case That Killed Gawker in the Works, With Ben Affleck Rumored to Play Hulk Hogan

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity is working on a movie that will tackle controversial former wrestler Terry Bollea a.k.a. Hulk Hogan and his legal battle against Gawker Media.

As reported by Variety, Artists Equity’s work on the film is underway following its acquisition of a screenplay written by Charles Randolph (The Big Short, Bombshell). The project is in active development under the name Killing Gawker and is set to be directed by Good Will Hunting alum Gus Van Sant.

Killing Gawker is based on the book Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue by Ryan Holiday. Its major players are listed in the title, and according to rumors initially shared by Jeff Sneider in his The InSneider newsletter, Affleck will be the one to portray Hogan.

However, it's unclear if Affleck or his frequent collaborator, Damon, will appear in the movie as no casting information has been confirmed.

Gawker’s legal troubles began when it published a sex tape featuring Bollea, an act that he quickly moved to fight back against. The resulting suit, which investor Peter Thiel backed, led to the wrestler winning a total of $140 million from the media company in 2016. Gawker filed for bankruptcy shortly after. Though a relaunch was attempted in 2021, the site was shut down again in 2023.

Artists Equity has yet to reveal a production schedule for Killing Gawker, so a release date has not been announced. While we wait to see if Affleck really will play Hogan in the movie, you can see our list of some of the biggest movies coming in 2024.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.

Save Over 50% Off This 15" USB Portable Monitor (Works with Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck)

Od: Eric Song

Amazon is offering an excellent deal on this Arzopa 15" 1080p USB Type-C portable monitor. It's normally $129.99, but right now you can get it for only $59.98 shipped. That's the best price we've ever seen for this particular model, and the lowest price compared to other legit 15" USB Type-C monitors on Amazon. This is a great portable display for your Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, or ASUS ROG Ally gaming handheld.

Arzopa S1 15" 1080p USB-C Portable Monitor for $59.98

This 15" 1080p monitor works as a secondary display for your laptop, tablet, phone, gaming console, or pretty much any device that has either a USB or HDMI output. If your device has a USB Type-C output with Power Delivery, than you may only need a single USB Type-C cable (included) for both power and data. If your USB Type-C output doesn't support Power Delivery, then a USB Type-A to Type-C cable is also included for additional power. If your don't have a USB Type-C port at all, an HDMI cable is included, however you will need to supply your own USB wall charger to provide power to the display.

The monitor is designed to be portable. It weighs only 1.3 pounds and measures 0.3" thin. It sports a sturdy metal frame and even includes a smart cover that doubles as a stand. The 15" display boasts a 1920x1080 resolution with 60Hz refresh rate, an IPS panel that offers respectable viewing angles and color gamut, and an anti-glare matte surface. It even has built in speakers.

Because this monitor can connect via USB or HDMI, it supports a lot more devices than your typical monitor. You won't need to install any app or drivers, either. It's definitely worth the price if you want an inexpensive second screen to boost your productivity without weighing you down.

An Excellent Portable Monitor for Your Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck Gaming Console

This monitor works quite well with both the Steam Deck or Switch consoles. I'd recommend using the wall charger to power the monitor, otherwise you'll be draining the gaming system pretty quickly (you can use the one provided with your Steam Deck or Switch console). The 1080p and 60Hz specs on the monitor is more than good enough, since neither the Switch nor the Steam Deck supports refresh rates higher than 60Hz. If you're looking for other USB monitor options, check out our picks for the best portable monitors of 2024.

Looking for more deals of Switch and Steam Deck accessories?

House of the Dragon Season 2 Review

This review contains full spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2.

Sometimes in the UK they say that a person is “all mouth and no trousers”: They promise a lot but never deliver. Season 2 of HBO’s House of the Dragon is often all-mouth-and-no-trousers TV. Sure, there’s a really accomplished cast, wearing costumes clearly crafted by experts and standing in gloriously realised environments. But they’re just going around in circles, week after week. There are beautifully written monologues that lead to dilly-dallying and a lack of resolution; there’s good writing but far less good storytelling. There are entire episodes worth of chat that could have been an email – or OK, a raven. It’s all entertaining in the moment, but it doesn’t feel like a full season of forward momentum. No one wants TV told at the same, sluggish pace at which George R.R. Martin has been writing lately, even if there are fabulous scenes encountered along the way.

Think about where we are at the end of the season relative to eight episodes ago. The “Black” Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) started off devastated by the death of her son Lucerys in last season’s finale, but was reluctant to start a devastating all-out war among the dragon-riding Targaryen clan in order to claim her rightful throne. It has taken her the entire season to accept the need for battle: even in the final episode, “The Queen Who Ever Wars,” she says that she hoped the new dragon riders she had recruited would act as “deterrents” to the “Green” wing of the family who have, as she sees it, usurped her throne. After eight episodes, she’ss still talking about avoiding the fight, despite all those moments in earlier episodes where she wishes she’d been trained more for battle. That kind of vacillation is one way to show she’s her weak father’s daughter, but it doesn’t make for a gripping series lead. Her estranged husband, Daemon (Matt Smith), spends the whole season moping around Harrenhal before a single final vision changes his mind (why did the old gods not lead with that one?). In that same span of time, her Master of Ships and newly appointed Hand of the Queen Corlys Velaryon (Steven Toussaint) has been rebuilding a single boat and ignoring his illegitimate sons – though at least now we’ve met them, so that’s something.

On the other side of this slowly brewing civil war, there’s been growth of a sort. Prince Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) has somehow become even more awful, what with slaying the dragon Meleys and her rider, Rhaenys (Eve Best), in the middle of the season (the tragic and heroic high point of the show so far) and almost murdering his brother King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney). By the end of the season, he has his mother and sister scared for their lives, while his convalescent brother is advised to hurry his recovery in case Aemond sneaks in to finish him off in the night. Still, none of that is a surprise after last season, and as long as he rides the biggest dragon in Westeros he has the firepower to back up his villainous instincts. The Dowager Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) appears to accept, in the end, that all her plotting has failed and that all she can do is try to keep as many of her children alive as possible (and to protect as many as possible against Aemond), but there’s at least a hint in the finale that she may have ensured the flight of Aegon and the others first.

After two seasons, the so-called Dance of Dragons is still only a matter of minor skirmishes. The endless interesting characters and intricately moving parts are all just spinning in place. House of the Dragon isn’t necessarily boring, thanks to those beautifully written scenes and that casting, but when you think back on an episode it’s hard to remember much that really happened, because not much is happening.

Does that make it a bad show? That seems too harsh. Almost any scene involving Smith, Best, or Simon Russell Beale this season is worth watching; actors like Cooke and Abubakar Salim (the latter playing Corlys’ son Alyn of Hull) have charisma to burn. Even potentially one-note villains like Aemond and Ser Criston Cole (Fabian Frankel) get moments of grace and complexity this season. And there’s that wonderful bit of dragon-battling in the middle of the season, with the shouting-at-the-screen-excitement of the clash that we’d been promised all this time and the sense that now, finally, shit is about to get real. And then it just… doesn’t.

It's not only about grading this against its mega-successful (to a point) predecessor either. Of course, House of the Dragon is its own thing. It’s drawing from a book that’s written as a historical account, and embroidering that – heavily – with character detail that’s missing or only implied in the source material, and that’s a different challenge from Game of Thrones. But at the same time we’re not coming to Westeros for in-depth analysis of how a reluctant leader decides to go to war. This is not Succession. The attraction of Martin’s world has always been the way that people make cunning plans, only for some utterly unforeseen element to come along and screw them up. Ned Stark works to uncover a plot, but he doesn’t account for Littlefinger. Robb Stark plans a war, but fails to consider the Freys. Everyone focuses on the Lannisters, but doesn’t know about Daenerys. Daenerys is so filled with rage, she loses sight of Jon. Here, the sabotage Rhaenyra faces is self-sabotage, and it makes for less thrilling twists and turns. There are fewer big battle scenes, and way fewer small confrontations along the way too, and that’s a problem for viewers’ excitement levels. It doesn’t have to be Thrones, but it does have to have a compelling story of its own.

The frustrations of the season finale are also hard to get past. Everything actually in the episode is fine; you can’t really complain that you didn’t get some dramatic heavy lifting and actually quite a bit of character payoff. But it leaves a horrible taste in the mouth because it moves all the pieces into place for something exciting to happen and then just… ends. Is it so much to ask for a quick skirmish? A little dragon fight? It’s hard to think of a more frustrating season finale to a major show like this. Yes, it’s given us time with the major characters and finally moved all the pieces in place; good work everyone. But where’s the scene that reminds us the show can be shocking, and that it’s going to deliver thrills as well as promising them?

So it’s not a bad show, then, but drawn out this way it’s less than the show should be or wants to be. You have to wonder if showrunner Ryan Condal stripped the action out of season 2 to save up a literal war chest for next time when there must be more conflict. But then why not spread the battles out across two seasons? We’re halfway through this show’s planned four-season run, but it feels like we’re barely off the starting blocks. As good as the individual scenes are – and they are good, and their dialogue is typically better than Thrones’, too – House of the Dragon will simply never get off the ground and soar if it keeps dawdling along at this pace.

David Lynch Says He Can No Longer Direct in-Person Due to Health Issues

Though David Lynch has not directed a film in a long time, if he were ever to take the director's chair again, it certainly wouldn't be in person as the prolific director has recently revealed that health issues have caused him not to leave his house.

In an interview with Sight & Sound, Lynch revealed that he was diagnosed with emphysema due to Lynch smoking throughout his life. Due to his health issues, Lynch told Sight & Sounds that he can't "go out" of his home as he fears of catching something such as a cold or COVID, due to being immunocompromised.

"I've gotten emphysema from smoking for so long, and so I'm homebound whether I like it or not. It would be very bad for me to get sick, even with a cold," Lynch explained.

As a result, Lynch said that he is unlikely to direct another film, but "if it comes to it," he would have to direct the film remotely. Though Lynch revealed that he "wouldn't like that so much."

In a follow-up tweet, Lynch talked more about his condition.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Yes, I have emphysema from my many years of smoking. I have to say that I enjoyed smoking very much, and I do love tobacco — the smell of it, lighting cigarettes on fire, smoking them — but there is a price to pay for this enjoyment, and the price for me is emphysema. I have now quit smoking for over two years. Recently I had many tests and the good news is that I am in excellent shape except for emphysema. I am filled with happiness, and I will never retire.

I want you all to know that I really appreciate your concern.

Love,
David

Throughout Lynch's career, he has worked on a slew of projects. This included directing The Elephant Man, for which he won an Oscar for Best Directing Movies, like Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, and, most infamously, the 1984 adaptation of Dune. Lynch also co-created Twin Peaks, in addition to its film prequel and limited series Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me and Twin Peaks: The Return.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Yes, I have emphysema from my many years of smoking. I have to say that I enjoyed smoking very much, and I do love tobacco - the smell of it, lighting cigarettes on fire, smoking them - but there is a price to pay for this enjoyment, and the price for me is…

— David Lynch (@DAVID_LYNCH) August 5, 2024

Lynch's last full-length feature film was 2006's Inland. Since then he has directed short films, such as What Did Jack Do? released in 2017 and 2020’s The Mystery of the Seeing Hand. Additionally, Lynch has dabbled in music, announcing in June that he was working on a new album with his frequent collaborator Chrystabell.

Blogroll Credit: Michael Tran / Getty Images

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

House of the Dragon Showrunner Explains the Decision to Put That Massive Cameo in Season 2 Finale

Warning: The below article contains full spoilers for last night's House of the Dragon Season 2 finale.

Last night’s House of the Dragon Season 2 finale had its biggest cameo yet: Daenerys Targaryen. Well, sort of, at least.

Obviously, Daenerys hasn’t been born yet in the world of House of the Dragon, but fans got a glimpse at the Game of Thrones favorite via a weirwood vision from Daemon in the Season 2 capper. The image of Daenerys, with her three freshly hatched dragon eggs – a different perspective of the scene from Game of Thrones’ Season 1 finale – has quickly become one of the most-talked-about moments from the episode.

The vision also included another image familiar to Game of Thrones fans in the Night King, as well as a glimpse at Brynden Rivers, or the Bloodraven, a character crucial to Targaryen history. During a virtual Q&A with press on Monday, House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal was asked about the vision, the decision to pull in Daenerys, and if we should take this as confirmation that she was indeed the Prince Who Was Promised.

DAENERYS TARGARYEN RETURNS #HouseOfTheDragon pic.twitter.com/pdrYyMAcP4

— westerosies (@westerosies) August 5, 2024

In a wide-ranging answer, Condal explained that the decision came from the need for “some sort of interconnectivity,” and that interconnectivity is the dragons: “We don't know how the events play out in this history, but we do know that at the end of it, there are no dragons left in the world until they're reborn to Daenerys in the end. And I think that is the interconnectivity,” he explained.

But he also touched on an idea that has been explored, as he explained, in media including Harry Potter and Star Wars: the philosophy of “the chosen one, the one who is going to save us from everything, the light-bringer, the Prince Who Was Promised.”

“(We’re interested in) how those ideas are interpreted in George's world, which is, as we know from all the storytelling that he has taken us through to date, that these things are very rarely black and white and 'one thing or the other,' and often can be cautionary tales for how ideas like this are interpreted by people in power,” he said. “Remember that Game of Thrones, a Song of Ice and Fire, House of the Dragon in many ways, or Fire and Blood in many ways, are warnings about the perils of power and people in power, and particularly I think in this world, absolute power. So I will say, we're very interested in how those things play out in this world and how once somebody is given, as we've seen Rhaenyra be given this football to run with that – ‘my father chose me, I was the Prince Who Was Promised, it must be me, this dragon rider was delivered to me’ – and how that's going to see itself manifested over the course of this war."

“We are not trying to make any kind of specific interpretation of a prophecy that has yet to be revealed by its author."

Moderator Joanna Robinson then asked if there was ever a thought to include Jon Snow in that vision as well. Condal responded that it’s “just a more complex idea,” and the focus instead was to focus on that interconnective tissue that is the dragons, and also how Daemon interprets that vision.

"In the world where we meet Daenerys, and she's staring across the Narrow Sea at her lost empire, there are zero dragons,” he explained. “So again, the connectiveness between this family and the family to come. And Daemon's seeing something [where], we know who that is, but Daemon has no idea. That could be his future daughter with Rhaenyra, who has three dragons right now. He doesn't know, but he is sensing that ‘this was something that was shown to me for a specific reason.’ We know Rhaenyra is already running with this idea of the Prince Who Was Promised; if Daemon also believes that is Rhaenyra, as we've seen him say to her in High Valyrian in Episode 8, there's a very interesting thing that can be done with his interpretation of that.”

“So for that reason, I think it was important that it was Daenerys, the image,” he concluded. “We are not trying to make any kind of specific interpretation of a prophecy that has yet to be revealed by its author. And that is George's world and George's space to tell that story. I think we're more interested in playing with the character drama that lives in and around that imagery."

Condal touched on a number of things in the hour-long press conference, including why the Battle of the Gullet wasn’t in Season 2 and the number of seasons they’re currently committed to. For more, check out our review of last night’s finale, where we wrote, “as a mid-season episode it would be glorious, but as finales go, 'The Queen Who Ever Was' is all setup and no payoff.”

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.

The Best Dell & Alienware Deals and Coupons: Gaming Laptops, PCs, Monitors, and More

Od: Eric Song

Not everyone is the DIY type. If you're in the market for a prebuilt gaming PC, Dell is one of best brands we'd recommend. The Alienware gaming desktops offer a staggering array of options, all built into a custom chassis that's both easy on the eyes and easy on the wallet. Alienware gaming laptops in recent years have been redesigned to be thinner and lighter while still offering the same immense power under the hood. Consistent build quality, available inventory, frequent sales, and solid customer service are the main reasons why Dell is at the top of our buying list.

Dell Back to School Sale Starts Now

Dell is kicking off its Back to School Sale with some great deals on Alienware gaming PCs, laptops, and monitors. Students can get many of these configs even cheaper thanks to an exclusive 10% off coupon code. We'll keep updating the page with new deals as they come in.

Dell and Alienware Coupons

Alienware m16 R2 RTX 4060 Gaming Laptop for $1299.99

Earlier this year during CES 2024, Dell released its updated second generation Alienware m16 R2 16" RTX 4060 gaming laptop . Today it's on sale for only $1299.99 after $300 in instant savings. The previous m16 R1 excelled at gaming, but it was heavier and bulkier. The new m16 R2 is just as good at gaming, but it's considerably lighter and more compact.

Alienware x14 R2 RTX 4060 Gaming Laptop for $1499.99

Here's an Alienware laptop you don't see discounted very often. As part of the Dell Back to School Sale, Dell is offering the Alienware x14 R2 RTX 4060 gaming laptop for $1499.99 after a $500 instant discount. This is the smallest and lightest Alienware laptop you can get but it is still a very capable gaming rig.

Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 4090 Gaming PC for $3099.99

If you're in the market for a super high-end prebuilt PC, here's a great deal for you. Dell has the Alienware Aurora R16 GeForce RTX 4090 gaming PC for $3099.99 after a $350 instant discount. The RTX 4090 is by far the most powerful GPU on the market, and if you wanted to buy a standalone card it would run you over $1600. This PC will obviously run any game you want in 4k at ultra settings.

The R16 is the most current Alienware Aurora gaming desktop. The R16 chassis is 40% smaller in volume compared to previous iterations. It features a simple yet proven airflow design; air is drawn in through a front 120mm fan as well as side intake vents over the GPU area. Both the CPU and GPU are supplied with fresh air from the outside instead of recirculating hot internal air. A generously sized 240mm all-in-one liquid cooler exhausts air out through the top.

Alienware RTX 4080 SUPER Gaming PC for $2399.99

Dell is offering the Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 4080 SUPER gaming PC for only $2399.99 after a $350 instant discount. It's also equipped with the newest Intel Core i7 processor and a generous amount of DDR5 RAM and SSD storage. This is a very powerful gaming PC that can run any game you can throw at it, even at 4k resolution with high framerates and ray tracing enabled.

Alienware RTX 4070 Ti SUPER Gaming PC for $1899.99

Dell is offering the 2024 Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 4070 Ti SUPER gaming PC for $1899.99 after a $350 instant discount. It's equipped with an 14th gen Intel Core i7 processor and a 240mm AIO cooler. The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is an excellent GPU that can handle 4K gaming.

Alienware RTX 4070 Gaming PC for $1599.99

Dell has dropped the price on this Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 4070 gaming PC to only $1599.99, a savings of $350. This is a good price for a gaming right that can handle 1080p or 1440p gaming rig comfortably.

Dell G16 RTX 4060 Gaming Laptop for $949.99

Dell is offering a Dell G16 GeForce RTX 4060 Gaming Laptop for only $949.99 after a $350 instant discount. The G16 is Dell's line of 16" laptops that is marketed towards budget gamers. It offers solid gaming performance at a price that's usually about $300-$500 cheaper than a similar Alienware build. It's definitely one of the better budget gaming laptops you can get for under $1K.

32" Alienware AW3225QF 4K OLED Monitor for $999.99

As part of its Dell Back to School Sale, Dell is taking $200 off the 2024 Alienware AW3225QF 32" 4K QD OLED gaming monitor. It's normally $1199.99, but today you can get it for $999.99. This is one of the very few 4K OLED gaming monitors under 42" on the market, and at this price it's also the least expensive. If you're looking for the best gaming monitor for 2024, this should definitely be on your short list.

The Dell Back to School Sale Starts Now: The Best Deals on Alienware Gaming Laptops and PCs (Updated)

Od: Eric Song

Dell is kicking off its Back to School Sale with some great deals on Alienware gaming PCs, laptops, and monitors. Students can get many of these configs even cheaper thanks to an exclusive 10% off coupon code. We'll keep updating the page with new deals as they come in.

10% Off Alienware Coupon for Students

Students in particular have an extra discount they can capitalize on. They're eligible for two unique coupon codes that's good for either 5% off or 10% off select product categories. The specifics are:

  • 10% off Inspiron, XPS and Gaming PCs, Alienware and S Series monitors and Dell accessories
  • 5% off Latitude, OptiPlex, Precision, Chromebooks, all other monitors, and 3rd party accessories

Alienware m16 R2 RTX 4060 Gaming Laptop for $1299.99

Earlier this year during CES 2024, Dell released its updated second generation Alienware m16 R2 16" RTX 4060 gaming laptop . Today it's on sale for only $1299.99 after $300 in instant savings. The previous m16 R1 excelled at gaming, but it was heavier and bulkier. The new m16 R2 is just as good at gaming, but it's considerably lighter and more compact.

Alienware x14 R2 RTX 4060 Gaming Laptop for $1499.99

Here's an Alienware laptop you don't see discounted very often. As part of the Dell Back to School Sale, Dell is offering the Alienware x14 R2 RTX 4060 gaming laptop for $1499.99 after a $500 instant discount. This is the smallest and lightest Alienware laptop you can get but it is still a very capable gaming rig.

Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 4090 Gaming PC for $3099.99

If you're in the market for a super high-end prebuilt PC, here's a great deal for you. Dell has the Alienware Aurora R16 GeForce RTX 4090 gaming PC for $3099.99 after a $350 instant discount. The RTX 4090 is by far the most powerful GPU on the market, and if you wanted to buy a standalone card it would run you over $1600. This PC will obviously run any game you want in 4k at ultra settings.

The R16 is the most current Alienware Aurora gaming desktop. The R16 chassis is 40% smaller in volume compared to previous iterations. It features a simple yet proven airflow design; air is drawn in through a front 120mm fan as well as side intake vents over the GPU area. Both the CPU and GPU are supplied with fresh air from the outside instead of recirculating hot internal air. A generously sized 240mm all-in-one liquid cooler exhausts air out through the top.

Alienware RTX 4080 SUPER Gaming PC for $2399.99

Dell is offering the Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 4080 SUPER gaming PC for only $2399.99 after a $350 instant discount. It's also equipped with the newest Intel Core i7 processor and a generous amount of DDR5 RAM and SSD storage. This is a very powerful gaming PC that can run any game you can throw at it, even at 4k resolution with high framerates and ray tracing enabled.

Alienware RTX 4070 Ti SUPER Gaming PC for $1899.99

Dell is offering the 2024 Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 4070 Ti SUPER gaming PC for $1899.99 after a $350 instant discount. It's equipped with an 14th gen Intel Core i7 processor and a 240mm AIO cooler. The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is an excellent GPU that can handle 4K gaming.

Alienware RTX 4070 Gaming PC for $1599.99

Dell has dropped the price on this Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 4070 gaming PC to only $1599.99, a savings of $350. This is a good price for a gaming right that can handle 1080p or 1440p gaming rig comfortably.

Dell G16 RTX 4060 Gaming Laptop for $949.99

Dell is offering a Dell G16 GeForce RTX 4060 Gaming Laptop for only $949.99 after a $350 instant discount. The G16 is Dell's line of 16" laptops that is marketed towards budget gamers. It offers solid gaming performance at a price that's usually about $300-$500 cheaper than a similar Alienware build. It's definitely one of the better budget gaming laptops you can get for under $1K.

32" Alienware AW3225QF 4K OLED Monitor for $999.99

As part of its Dell Back to School Sale, Dell is taking $200 off the 2024 Alienware AW3225QF 32" 4K QD OLED gaming monitor. It's normally $1199.99, but today you can get it for $999.99. This is one of the very few 4K OLED gaming monitors under 42" on the market, and at this price it's also the least expensive. If you're looking for the best gaming monitor for 2024, this should definitely be on your short list.

Why pick a Dell or Alienware gaming PC?

If you're in the market for a prebuilt gaming PC, Dell is one of best gaming brands we'd recommend. The Alienware gaming desktops offer a staggering array of options, all built into a custom chassis that's both easy on the eyes and easy on the wallet. Alienware gaming laptops in recent years have been redesigned to be thinner and lighter while still offering the same immense power under the hood. Consistent build quality, available inventory, frequent sales, and solid customer service are the main reasons why Dell is at the top of our buying list for gaming laptops and PCs.

House of the Dragon Showrunner Defends Season 2's Finale, Explains Why It Wasn't Battle of the Gullet

Warning: The below story contains some spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2, including last night's finale.

House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal is aware some fans are disappointed with the largely lacking-in-action Season 2 finale, but he has a message of assurance: the Battle of the Gullet is coming, and it'll be huge.

During a virtual Q&A with press on Monday, the day after Season 2's highly anticipated finale aired, moderator Joanna Robinson asked Condal a multi-part question about the Battle of the Gullet, why it wasn't included this season, and fantasy battles in general. While the finale clearly set up the massive naval battle from George R.R. Martin's Fire and Blood (as IGN breaks down here), the finale is largely devoid of action, especially when compared to Season 1's capper that saw Aemond's dragon Vhagar kill Lucerys and his dragon Arrax. It led to many fans and critics calling the episode "anticlimactic," and IGN's own review said it was "all setup and no payoff."

Condal gave a long response to the question, which both touched on the challenges of making a big-budget production like House of the Dragon and what fans can expect for Season 3.

"I mean, one of the challenges of making television at any scale, even this scale, which seems to be one of infinite time and resources, it's just never the case. Nobody has infinite time and resources," Condal began. "As a showrunner, you're always in the position of having to balance storytelling and the resources you have available to tell that story, and you're also starting to think about — and one of the things that came into play in Season 2 — is, what is the final destination of this series and where are we going? And I think it was a combination of factors that led us to rebalance the story, knowing where we're going and where that endpoint is, to rebalance the story in such a way that we had three great seasons of television [after Season 1]... to round out and tell this story."

He went on to point how that the show takes a "tremendous amount of resources," and called the Battle of the Gullet one of the most anticipated action events of anything in Fire and Blood. He added that the team is "trying to give it the time and the space that it deserves. And obviously, as anyone who has seen the finale [knows], we are building to that."

"That event (the Battle of the Gullet) will happen very shortly in terms of the storytelling in House of the Dragon. And it should be, based on what we know now, it should be the biggest thing to date that we've pulled off," he said. "And we just wanted to have the time and the space to do that at a level that is going to excite and satisfy the fans in the way it deserves. And we also wanted to build some anticipation towards it."

"The team that we have together, we're gunna pull off a hell of a win with the Battle of the Gullet in the future."

"The show is so complex that we're really making multiple feature films every season, so I apologize for the wait," he concluded. "But I will just say, if Rook's Rest and the Red Sowing are any indication, the team that we have together, we're gunna pull off a hell of a win with the Battle of the Gullet in the future."

Condal is, of course, referring to two of House of the Dragon's most-lauded events in Season 2, with Rook's Rest being the massive dragon battle in Episode 4, and the Red Sowing being the penultimate episode that saw the emergence of three new dragon riders.

At least, for fans disappointed not to see the Battle of the Gullet in Season 2, Condal's quotes seem to confirm it'll likely be the first thing we see in Season 3. Elsewhere in the virtual press conference, Condal also confirmed that House of the Dragon is currently on track to last four seasons, with the third season set to start production early next year.

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Save $500 Off Alienware's Thinnest and Lightest Gaming Laptop

Od: Eric Song

Here's an Alienware laptop you don't see discounted very often. As part of the Dell Back to School Sale, Dell is offering the Alienware x14 R2 RTX 4060 gaming laptop for $1499.99 after a $500 instant discount. This is the smallest and lightest Alienware laptop you can get but it is still a very capable gaming rig.

Alienware x14 R2 RTX 4060 Gaming Laptop for $1499.99

The Alienware x14 is one of the most portable gaming laptops around, measuring in at only 0.57" at its thinnest point and weighing in at 4.22 pounds. A large part of that is due to the smaller 14" display, but this is also a newer x-series model that is categorically thinner and lighter than its m-series counterparts.

This particular laptop features a 14" 2560x1600 QHD+ display, Intel Core i7-13620H CPU, GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, 32GB of DDR5-4800MHz RAM, and a 1TB NVMe SSD. The 13th gen Intel Core i7-13620H has a Turbo Max Frequency of 4.9GHz with 10 cores, 16 threads, and a 24MB cache. This is a low voltage processor that is capable of your everyday tasks and gaming while sipping power.

The RTX 4060 sits between the RTX 3070 and the RTX 3070 Ti so it's definitely no slouch in terms of gaming performance. It's worth nothing that this RTX 4060 GPU has a max TGP of 85W. That's less than what the x16 and m16 laptops offer (115W TGP) so it won't perform as well as its bigger siblings. You'll need a decent amount of GPU power to be able to run games smoothly on the display's bumped up QHD+ resolution, so you will probably need to reduce settings on the most demanding games.

For more deals, check out the best Alienware and Dell gaming deals today.

House of the Dragon Still on Track for Four Seasons, Likely With Similar Episode Counts to Season 2

House of the Dragon is still on track to last four seasons, showrunner Ryan Condal confirmed in a press conference following the series' finale on Sunday.

Condal's answer came in response to a question about whether or not the Game of Thrones spinoff, which just wrapped up its second season, will last for five seasons. Both Game of Thrones writer George R.R. Martin and HBO drama chief Francesca Orsi have previously said they expect it to last a minimum of four seasons, with Orsi saying it "could be more."

Condal, however, hedged in his response, saying, "No, I think it's four."

His team is currently in the midst of writing Season 3, which is expect to start production in "early-ish 2025." That would likely put the premiere date for House of the Dragon's third season at some point in 2026.

House of the Dragon Seasons 3 and 4 will retain the same "cadence"

As for how many episodes the final two seasons will be, Condal said he hasn't had conversations with HBO about it, but added, "I would just anticipate the cadence of the show, from a dramatic storytelling perspective, will continue to be the same from Season 2 on."

At eight episodes, House of the Dragon's second season was two shorter than its first. Naturally, plans can change, but with the story it's based on already complete, it faces a less formidable task adapting its source material than its parent series did.

In the meantime, we were broadly positive on House of the Dragon's Season 2 finale in our review, writing, "It felt like loads of pieces were moved into place for the future, a really exciting future at that. And then, yet again, it proved to be all cliffhanger for next time, and a season finale needs to do more than that."

We have tons of House of the Dragon Season 2 coverage here on IGN, including 54 changes from Fire & Blood in Season 2 and our ranking of its various villains. House of the Dragon is currently available for streaming on Max.

Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

The Deathadder V3 Hyperspeed Proves Why Razer’s Flagship Mouse Still Rules

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it – but you can at least tweak it. That’s pretty much been the way of the Deathadder, which has continually been one of the best gaming mice and Razer’s mainstay for well over a decade. Even with modernized features, slight changes to the shape, and upgrades in the tech used, there’s something very familiar about using the new Deathadder V3 Hyperspeed which is to say it’s still a fantastic mouse. While it may not stack up in terms of peak performance out of the box compared to the recent Viper V3 Pro, this new Deathadder does everything right, resulting in an all-rounder that’s easy to recommend.

Razer Deathadder V3 Hyperspeed – Design and Features

Like the aforementioned Viper V3 Pro, the Deathadder V3 sports a rather understated lowkey design – no RGB or gaudy flair, just a simple Razer logo on the palm area. While I do appreciate a bit of flash to give peripherals some personality, I tend to like the recent trend of more non-descript mice. Admittedly, it’s easy to get confused between this model and the recently released Deathadder V3 Pro but one of the defining differences is in their size. The V3 Hyperspeed still contours nicely for right-handed players with the hump fitting just right for a good grip. But it is slightly more compact by nearly every measurement, which makes a claw grip a little easier to maintain, yet it’s still beefy enough to feel comfortable in hands if I’m using a palm grip. This also means it shaves off some weight, coming in at 55 grams compared to the V3 Pro’s 63 grams.

Similar to other Razer mice, this one uses the “smooth-touch” texture that has a matte finish – without deep grooves or rubber material, it consistently sticks to my hand even in heated situations. Both mouse buttons have a crunchy and bouncy tactile feedback to them thanks to the Razer’s Gen-3 optical mouse switches, which makes left and right clicks satisfying and great for rapid-fire clicking. One minor change I like a lot is that the two side buttons have a bit more of a gap between each other that helps my thumb distinguish between the two, and they’re still in the perfect position to hit easily. The scroll wheel has a grippy and bumpy texture with distinct notches for each registered scroll, which works well for keeping the wheel in place when using it as a button.

It’s not really surprising that the Deathadder V3 Hyperspeed is a superb gaming mouse.

The most noticeable feature found underneath the mouse are the extra large PTFE feet – it’s similar to the Viper V3 Pro and was a surprisingly effective change that improved the smoothness of it gliding across my desk mat. I can say the same about the Deathadder V3 Hyperspeed, and it makes the mouse a joy to use. There’s also a slot to stow the 2.4GHz wireless dongle, which is convenient when storing the mouse. The unified power button and DPI switch is also on the bottom, which also highlights the fact that there are no Bluetooth capabilities on this mouse. It’s not a huge loss considering it’s a gaming mouse, but it does lose some versatility even if it’s to rid a bit of bloat.

The Deathadder V3 Hyperspeed uses the Focus X 26K optical sensor which is quite as robust as the Focus Pro 30K found on the V3 Pro, but it’s still a high-performance sensor that’s more than worthy of pro-level play. Out of the box, the V3 Hyperspeed sports a 1000Hz polling rate with its 2.4GHz wireless dongle, which is the modern standard in gaming mice for competitive play. It is also capable of up to the coveted 8000Hz polling rate, but it requires Razer’s Hyperpolling dongle that is not included with the V3 Hyperspeed – unless you are very serious about competitive gaming and running a super high refresh rate monitor, you are likely to not reap the benefits of a higher polling rate. And in this particular case, it’s probably for the best since it helps keep the price of the Deathadder V3 Hyperspeed down ($99.99 compared to the V3 Pro’s $159.99).

Razer Deathadder V3 Hyperspeed – Software and Battery Life

Customization requires you to use the all-in-one Razer Synapse software, which can be unwieldy at times. It’s straightforward to adjust features on the Deathadder V3 Hyperspeed, however. Since there is no RGB lighting on the mouse, customization comes down to DPI settings (of which X- and Y-axes can be changed separately), button assignments, activating Smart Tracking, and power saving options.

A big new feature here is Dynamic Sensitivity which allows the mouse to automatically adapt its sensitivity based on how fast you physically swipe it. There are a few presets for how the acceleration curve works and can even be customized down to your exact liking. This helps make drastic turns in shooter games much faster without having to rely on a higher base sensitivity, so this can be useful for competitive gamers who want to use granular adjustments to improve their game. One other setting worth noting is mouse rotation – the idea is that if you hold your mouse at an inward angle, the sensor can recognize your horizontal movements as if they were on a normal axis. I have more thoughts on both features in the next section.

Synapse is also where you’re going to be able to monitor battery life, and with it rated for 100 hours using 1000Hz polling rate, I didn’t have to worry about the mouse dying after a full charge. I used the Deathadder V3 Hyperspeed for four days while gaming and working, which would account for roughly 50 hours, the battery was slightly above 50% charged – it seems Razer’s claims hold up.

Razer Deathadder V3 Hyperspeed – Performance

Once again, I’ve played several ranked matches in Counter-Strike 2 to put the Deathadder V3 Hyperspeed through its paces in a competitive setting. And I continued to grind out my daily and weekly raids and dungeon runs in Final Fantasy XIV to see how the mouse fares as an all-rounder. This being yet another iteration of the Deathadder, I was not surprised by how well it performed and how comfortable it was to use regardless of setting.

Counter-Strike 2 is my main shooter and having tested all my mice in competitive play, I can attest to the Deathadder V3 Hyperspeed being as good as anything I’ve used in recent memory. I have noticed an improvement in the tracking and smoothness of my mouse movements when playing CS2 with a higher polling rate like 4000Hz (running 1440p resolution and 144Hz refresh rate), however I don’t feel it’s a defining factor in my overall performance. Between the optical sensor, ergonomics, and solid buttons, the Deathadder has all the foundations covered. Also, 1000Hz polling rate is nothing to scoff at, and the option for up to 8000 Hz is still open with this mouse if you pick up the $30 Hyperpolling receiver. I was still getting them headshots, getting picks around corners, and controlling my recoil pattern to maintain a positive K/D ratio.

Comfort is the main thing I’m looking for in a mouse when I play FFXIV, and as I mentioned earlier, the size, weight, and grippy texture makes it a breeze to use. The perfectly positioned side buttons and their distinct spacing help executing key actions with ease. Running raids for two or three hours felt effortless because it’s so lightweight and ergonomic, but also the reduced friction makes navigating menus and managing inventory

On paper, Dynamic Sensitivity can be a useful feature if quick turns or flick shots are key parts of the shooters you play. However, I find it feels unnatural regardless of the advantage it may offer. And for me who will continue to use different mice, it’s not the kind of thing I want to rely on or get used to. If you’re locked in on a specific game and want to squeeze every advantage possible, then I would suggest at least looking into it, otherwise it may not be worth using.

The Lenovo Back to School Sale Starts Now: The Best Deals on Legion Gaming PCs and Laptops

Od: Eric Song

The Lenovo Back to School Sale is underway, and this is a great opportunity to take advantage of some excellent deals on gaming laptops and desktop PCs. There are also some stackable coupon codes going on right now that sweeten the deal. The build quality on a Legion laptop or desktop is generally higher quality than what you'd find from most other prebuilt PCs, and they offer robust cooling options. People like the fact that Lenovo does not use proprietary components in their rigs, so they're much easier to upgrade with easiy obtainable, off-the-shelf components compared to some other popular prebuilt PC brands.

Lenovo Back to School Gaming Laptop Deals

Lenovo Slim 5 Gen 9 16" RTX 4070 Laptop for $1299.49

Lenovo is offering this Lenovo Legion Slim 5 Gen 9 16" Ryzen Edition RTX 4070 Gaming Laptop for only $1299.49 shipped after coupon codes "BUYMORELENOVO" and "EXTRAFIVE". This is a very competitive price for a Lenovo branded RTX 4070 gaming laptop, especially since this particular model is more compact than your typical gaming laptop, and yet the GPU has a max 130W TGP.

Lenovo Legion Pro 5 Gen 8 16" RTX 4070 Laptop for $1536.99

The Legion Pro 5 is bigger than the Slim 5, but in return you get a superior display (brighter, higher refresh rate, and better color reproduction), more ports, and a longer battery life. This particular config is also equipped with a more powerful processor and double the RAM. It's priced about $240 higher than the Slim 5, but the upgrades justify the surcharge.

Lenovo Legion Pro 7 16" RTX 4090 Laptop for $2559.99

Lenovo has dropped the price on this extremely powerful Lenovo Legion Pro 7 Gen 8 RTX 4090 gaming laptop for only $2560 shipped after coupon codes "BUYMORELENOVO" and "EXTRAFIVE". The RTX 4090 is still the most powerful mobile GPU on the market, and by a very substantial margin. It's roughly equivalent to a desktop RTX 3090 GPU. It will run games comfortably on the 2560x1600 240Hz display.

Lenovo Legion Pro 7 16" RTX 4080 Laptop for $2255.99

If the RTX 4090 is too pricey or too powerful for your needs, here's a laptop that will also run circles around most games but for $300 cheaper. This Lenovo Legion Pro 7 Gen 8 config is equipped with an RTX 4080 GPU for $2255.99 shipped after coupon codes "BUYMORELENOVO" and "EXTRAFIVE". The RTX 4080 mobile GPU performs about 20%-35% faster than the previous generation RTX 3080 Ti mobile. Compared to desktop variants, the mobile RTX 4080 approaches a performance level similar to the desktop RTX 3070 Ti. The RTX 4080 is actually a huge upgrade from the RTX 4070 so if you're a gamer that wants to use this as your primary rig, then the RTX 4080 is still a very good choice.

Lenovo Back to School Gaming PC Deals

Lenovo Legion 5 RTX 4070 SUPER Gaming PC for $1522.74

Lenovo is offering an Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen 8 gaming PC equipped with a GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER graphics card for only $1522.74 after coupon codes "BUYMORELENOVO" and "EXTRAFIVE". The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 CPU boasts a max boost clock of 5.3GHz with 8 cores, 16 threads, and a 32MB L3 cache. It's cooled by a robust 120mm tower heatsink fan. The RTX 4070 SUPER video card is a significant improvement in performance over the 4070. It's the perfect card for 1440p gaming, where it's about 10%-15% faster than the RTX 4070 or RTX 3080.

Lenovo Legion 7 Gen 8 RTX 4080 SUPER Gaming PC for $2298.74

This Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 config is one of the most powerful gaming PCs that Lenovo carries on its site currently. It's on sale for RTX 4080 SUPER gaming PC to only $2298.74 after coupon code "EXTRAFIVE". The unlocked 14th gen Intel Core i9-14900KF Raptor Lake "Refresh" CPU boasts a max turbo clock of 6GHz with 24 cores, 32 threads, and a 36MB cache. This is one of the most powerful consumer CPUs on the market right now. It's cooled by a 360mm all-in-one liquid cooler that's better than most DIY enthusiast setups. The GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the second most powerful GPU on the market and can easily handle any game at 4K resolution, even at 100+ fps and ray tracing enabled. It's 5%-10% faster in performance than the RTX 4080 thanks to its higher base clock speed, higher CUDA core count, and higher memory bandwidth.

Looking for more gaming PCs? Check out the Alienware Back to School Sale that is running concurrently.

Save $300 Off the Lighter and Slimmer 2nd Gen Alienware m16 R2 RTX 4060 Gaming Laptop

Od: Eric Song

Earlier this year during CES 2024, Dell released its updated second generation Alienware m16 R2 16" RTX 4060 gaming laptop . Today as part of the Back to School Sale, it's on sale for only $1299.99 after $300 in instant savings. The previous m16 R1 excelled at gaming, but it was heavier and bulkier. The new m16 R2 is just as good at gaming, but it's lighter and more compact.

Alienware m16 R2 RTX 4060 Gaming Laptop for $1299.99

The Alienware m16 R2 is lighter and slimmer than the previous generation m16 R1. The hump behind the display is no longer there, resulting in a 14% reduction in both dimensions and weight. Additionally, the m16 R2 is now equipped with low voltage Intel Meteor Lake CPUs for less power draw and thus less heat and noise. For those of you who didn't like the very noticable RGB bling of the original m16 R1, you can now switch to a more subtle white LED backlighting with a press of a button.

This particular Alienware m16 R2 laptop features a 16" 2560x1600 QHD+ display, the new 14th gen Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, 16GB of DDR5-5600MHz RAM, and a 1TB NVMe SSD. The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H is a current-gen Meteor Lake CPU with a Turbo Boost Max clock speed of 4.8GHz with 16 cores, 22 threads, and a 24MB cache. The Core Ultra 7 is the successor to the Intel Core i7 CPU; it offers similar performance while consuming less power, and thus reducing heat and increasing battery life. This is a new processor and future optimizations should only make it faster.

The RTX 4060 sits between the RTX 3070 and the RTX 3070 Ti so it's definitely no slouch in terms of gaming performance. You'll need a decent amount of GPU power to be able to run games smoothly on the display's bumped up QHD+ resolution, so you'll find that having the newest RTX 40 series GPU will come in handy.

Why Pick a Dell or Alienware Gaming Laptop?

Alienware is always one of our top picks. The Alienware m16 made it into our list of best gaming laptops of 2024. Alienware gaming laptops in recent years have been redesigned to be thinner and lighter while still offering the same immense power under the hood. Consistent build quality, available inventory, frequent sales, and solid customer service are the main reasons why Dell is at the top of our buying list.

For more deals, check out the best Alienware and Dell gaming deals today.

Star Wars Outlaws Season Pass Roadmap Revealed Along With Two Story Packs

Star Wars Outlaws is out later this month, and Ubisoft has revealed the road map for those who buy the season pass.

Sabacc, pirates, and exclusive day 1 mission await in the Star Wars Outlaws Season Pass. Learn more about the upcoming content here: https://t.co/inRuMpk0qi pic.twitter.com/qupuyrfX9d

— Star Wars Outlaws (@StarWarsOutlaws) August 5, 2024

In a blog post, Ubisoft confirmed that the Star Wars Outlaws season pass will include content divided into three release windows. On launch day, season pass owners will gain access to a character pack and the previously confirmed Jabba's Gambit exclusive mission. Star Wars Outlaws' season pass previously received controversy earlier this year when Ubisoft revealed that it was locking the Jabba above's Gambit mission behind the Season Pass. However, Ubisoft insisted that Jabba the Hutt will be available to all players, not just season pass holders.

More interestingly, Ubisoft confirmed that two DLC story expansions will be released in Fall 2024 and Spring 2025, respectively. The first story pack subtitled Wild Card, will see Outlaw's protagonist Kay "hired to infiltrate a high-stakes Sabacc tournament." This story DLC pack will also see Kay cross paths with Star Wars character Lando Calrissian.

The second story, DLC, subtitled A Pirate's Fortune, will have Kay running into an experienced pirate named Hondo Ohnaka, who Ubisoft described as someone "looking to settle old scores with a ruthless gang of pirates."

In our final hands-on preview with Star Wars Outlaws, my colleague Ryan McCaffrey wrote: "Open-world games tend to be jacks-of-all-trades, masters-of-none, and while I'm not sure Outlaws will master any of its gameplay components, it nonetheless not only does them all very well, but it does so with a convincing Star Wars sheen."

Star Wars Outlaws is out on August 27 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. For more, check out our IGN First coverage from last June, which includes 10 minutes of exclusive gameplay and our piece on how Ubisoft created a brand new canon world for Star Wars: Outlaws.

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

John Wick 4 Sequel TV Series Featuring 'Franchise Stalwarts' and 'New Characters' - Report

A new John Wick TV series is in development according to Deadline, this one set directly after the events of John Wick: Chapter 4. While it doesn't yet have a home, Lionsgate Television is said to be actively shopping the series to various streaming services.

The new show's official logline reads as follows.

John Wick has left the world of the High Table in a tenuous position and a collection of new characters will look to make a name for themselves while some of the franchise stalwart characters remain committed to the old-world order. The series will combine new and old and thrust the Wick universe into a new age.

Keanu Reeves is reportedly set to serve as an executive producer on the series, with Robert Levine (Black Sails) serving as the writer and showrunner. John Wick creator Chad Stahelski, who is overseeing the franchise as a whole, will also be involved as a producer.

It's worth noting that John Wick 5 was confirmed to be in development in 2023. It's unclear how John Wick: Under the High Table will connect up with the sequel.

In the meantime, John Wick: Under the High Table is just one of several spinoffs from the acclaimed action series, with films centered on Donnie Yen's Caine and a ballerina out for revenge played by Ana de Armas also in the works. The Continental, a prequel series focusing on Winston Scott (Ian McShane), was released on Peacock in 2023 to middling reviews.

There will certainly be plenty of material for Under the High Table to work with, as John Wick: Part 4 ended on an ambiguous note. Whether or not Mr. Wick ultimately returns, the world he inahabits will live on. For more, check out all the biggest releases of 2024.

Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Olympians Reveal Nerdy Side With Poses From One Piece and Dragon Ball

Athletes competing at the Paris Olympics 2024 have honored their favorite One Piece and Dragon Ball characters by striking familiar poses.

As the globe's greatest athletes continue to compete against one another, anime fans watching from the sides have increasingly found themselves reenacting the Leonardo DiCaprio point meme in real life after recognizing references to popular series like One Piece and Dragon Ball during the summer edition of the Olympic Games.

The USA's Noah Lyles, a known Yu-Gi-Oh card aficionado, immediately broke into Goku's trademark Dragon Ball Kamehameha pose upon winning Olympics gold in the men's 100M sprint. And he wasn't the only one, as the French fencing team also performed a group Kamehameha in celebration of their bronze medal triumph.

Noah Lyles ONCE AGAIN celebrating an Olympic Medal with Goku's Kamehameha pic.twitter.com/gcUf8wuNem

— Anime Craze (@crazedanime_) August 4, 2024

At the Paris Olympics, the American athlete Payton Otterdahl does Gear 4 pose !

One piece influence is CRAZY pic.twitter.com/BtgGRyXzOd

— Sam (@yonkoluffyszn) August 3, 2024

The French Fencing Team after winning the Bronze did a group Kamehameha.#DragonBall pic.twitter.com/KL38KtpjBb

— SUPER クロニクルス (@SupaChronicles) August 1, 2024

'Dragon Ball' ULTRA INSTINCT AT THE OLYMPICS pic.twitter.com/2uB16KeZVA

— Anime Craze (@crazedanime_) August 4, 2024

Meanwhile, Team USA shot putter Payton Otterdahl paid tribute to One Piece with a memorable entrance at the sporting event that saw him throw out the iconic Gear 4 Luffy pose. One person on X/Twitter noted that the "influence is CRAZY," while another shared the video and remarked: "One Piece is dominating!"

These shoutouts come after the Olympics' competitive shooters won over pop-culture fans, with their effortless style and impressive skills prompting some talented artists to immortalize them as animated action characters. Others used these illustrations to create posters for a mock anime — one aptly titled "Lock On."

I'D HELLA WATCH A ANIME ABOUT THE OLYMPICS CALLED LOCK ON. pic.twitter.com/7CvMWFfRmm

— TPC | KiS (@KeepsitSimple89) August 3, 2024

The Paris Olympics will end on August 11. That means there is just one week left for the world to compete and, inevitably, deliver more viral moments.

Cover image credit: Getty.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter here.

The Least Expensive GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GPU Includes an Eye-Catching Spider-Man Backplate

Od: Eric Song

Today Amazon is offering a ZOTAC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12GB AMP AIRO GPU for only $673.20. This is the least expensive RTX 4070 GPU on Amazon right now, with the next best price going for over $50 more. This particular model is a limited edition Spider-Man: Across the Spider Verse collab with themed backplate, tote bag, and more. Even with the release of the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER refresh, the RTX 4070 Ti is still an outstanding card for up to 4K gaming. At this price, it's a much better value too.

ZOTAC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GPU for $673.20

If you wanted to stick with an NVIDIA card, the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is the least expensive GPU we'd recommend for 4K gaming. This is an ideal choice for playing games at 1080p or 1440p at very high framerates, or 4K gaming at 60fps or more. It's a significant upgrade in performance compared to the RTX 4070 and 3080: about 25% improvement in 4K, 20% in 1440p, and 15% in 1080p. It's also considerably more powerful than the RTX 4070 SUPER, which I think is slightly underpowered for 4K gaming.

On the AMD front, at this price the RTX 4070 Ti is even less expensive than the RX 7900 XT ($690 on Amazon). A big advantage that the RTX 4070 Ti holds over any of the AMD cards is its support for DLSS 3.0, which offers a rather significant boost in frame rate for games that support as well as superior ray tracing performance. Ray tracing isn't really a viable option for lower end cards, but the RTX 4070 Ti has enough horsepower that you could run ray tracing while still maintaining good framerates.

This ZOTAC "AMP AIRO" variant features a rugged triple fan active cooling with an eye-catching magnetic Spider-Man: Across the Spider Verse backplate. The metal backplate itself features a passthrough design that allows one of the fans to flow through for ambient air movement. As a side effect, it also helps to cool some of your motherboard components. The ports on this particular GPU are 3x DisplayPort and 1x HDMI 2.1. This model is also slightly overclocked out of the box.

Daily Deals: PlayStation VR2, Returnal, Demon's Souls, and More

The weekend is finally here, and new deals have popped up. This time, most of the major deals are for PlayStation 5, as Sony is currently hosting its Back to School sale. Today is your last chance to score on these deals before they're gone. The best deals for Saturday, August 3, include PSVR2, PS5 Slim, Persona 5 Tactica, Returnal, Demon's Souls, and more.

PSVR2 for $349.99

You can score a new PlayStation VR2 headset for a record-low $349.99 right now at Amazon. This VR headset has all sorts of high-end features, including a 110-degree FOV, 4K HDR visuals, eye tracking, and more. Plus, the PC Adapter is set to release in just a few days, which will allow you to play Steam VR titles through the PSVR2 headset. While it's certainly a tough buy if you play exclusively on PS5, the PSVR2 can make for an excellent PC headset, especially at this price.

Save $50 Off a PS5 Slim Console

Alongside deals on games and PSVR2, you can also save on a PlayStation 5 Slim! Both the Disc and Digital versions are available on sale for $50 off, which is likely the best deal you can grab outside of the Holiday season. If you've been thinking about picking up a PS5 for College Football 25 or the upcoming Astro Bot, now is an amazing time to save $50 and grab a new system.

Demon's Souls for $29.99

Demon's Souls has returned to an all-time low with the PlayStation Back to School sale. For $29.99, you can expirence this Bluepoint Games remake of one of FromSoftware's most memorable titles. Since this title is only on PlayStation 5, you won't be able to play Demon's Souls on PC or other platforms. Slay the demons and explore the world of Boletaria like never before.

Persona 5 Tactica for $19.99

Amazon has Persona 5 Tactica listed for $19.99, matching the all-time low for this title. This action-packed adventure takes the Phantom Thieves into a new adventure with tactical combat. If you enjoyed Persona 5 Royal or Persona 5 Strikers, P5 Tactica should be a game on your radar. Erina, a character new to the series, is a great addition to an already amazing cast of characters.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 for $49.99

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is also on sale, priced now at $49.99. This matches the previous low, which occurred during the Days of Play sale earlier this year. Spider-Man 2 features both Peter Parker and Miles Morales as playable characters, with a whole new area of New York to explore. You can swing through the city with new suit abilities like Web Wings and take down criminals all around. You'll need to be prepared, as both Kraven the Hunter and the symbiote Venom are prepared to take you down and rule over NYC.

Save 57% Off Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart was one of the first major PlayStation 5 titles, releasing in June 2021. This title featured Rivet for the first time, another Lombax who exists in the universe. Together, Rivet and Ratchet must work to take down Doctor Nefarious and save the galaxy once again. With the classic action gameplay and new features, Rift Apart is an excellent platform you should play if you are a fan of the genre.

God of War Ragnarok for $39.99

Years later, God of War Ragnarok is still one of the best PS5 games you can pick up. This action game acts as the sequel to 2018's God of War, following Kratos and Atreus as Fimbulwinter looms. If you've yet to play this game, this is a great time to pick up Ragnarok at a discount and see why so many players love this series. $39.99 is a fantastic price, and you're not likely to see anything lower outside of major holiday sales toward the end of the year.

Returnal for $29.99

Returnal is also on sale this weekend as part of Sony's Back to School sale. This challenging shooter features a procedural world that changes at every death. To date, this is still one the most tactical games you can buy on PS5, with dozens of hours of action awaiting. At $29.99, it's not likely that we'll see this title go much lower, if at all.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition on Sale for $39.99

Amazon has Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition listed for $39.99, which is one of the lowest prices we've seen. This is an amazing deal since you're essentially getting both Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Spider-Man Remastered for under $20 each. Both rarely go on sale for that low, so this is your best option to pick up these games.

Dress to Impress Codes (August 2024)

Od: Meg Koepp

If you're looking for DTI codes, IGN's got you covered! In this article, you'll find a list of active and working Dress to Impress codes in August 2024 that you can redeem for free rewards and bonuses.

Dress to Impress is a popular dress-up Roblox experience where you put on your best outfits and walk the runway in a bid to become a top model on PC, console, and mobile devices.

Active Dress to Impress Codes (August 2024)

Here are all the active Dress to Impress codes in August 2024 and the rewards you get for redeeming them:

  • THEGAMES (must complete all three The Games quests): Blue mermaid set
  • KREEK: Bear hat
  • FASHION: Black and white dress
  • LANA: White shorts, shirt, and legwarmers
  • LANABOW: White bow
  • BELALASLAY: Black jacket with pink halter top
  • LALATUTU: White dress
  • IBELLASLAY: Red, green, and blonde hairstyle
  • M3RM4ID: Orange mermaid set
  • TEKKYOOZ: White handbag
  • M0T0PRINCESSWAV: Gold crown
  • LABOOTS: Black boots
  • ITSJUSTNICHOLAS: Black jacket
  • ASHLEYBUNNI: Bunny slippers
  • LEAHASHE: Sweatshirt and sweatpants
  • CHOOPIE10K: Pastel dress and lamb bag
  • KITTYUUHH: Black cat
  • C4LLMEHH4LEY: Puffy dress and bear headband
  • SUBM15CY: Necklace and makeup

Expired Dress to Impress Codes

Below, you'll find a list of expired DTI codes that no longer work as of August 2024:

  • EYELASHES

How to Redeem Dress to Impress Codes

To redeem Dress to Impress codes, follow the steps below to claim free rewards in DTI:

  1. Open Dress to Impress and click on the handbag icon on the right-hand side to open the DTI Codes menu.
  2. Enter your code in the "Type here..." field.
  3. Click the checkmark icon to redeem the code.

Why Isn't My Dress to Impress Code Working?

If the code you're trying to redeem in DTI isn't working, it's likely because of one of the two following reasons:

  • The Dress to Impress code is expired
  • There's a spelling mistake in the code

When inputting a Dress to Impress code in Roblox, make sure it's spelled correctly (for example, a capital I isn't a lowercase l and vice versa) and that there are no spaces before or after the code. If your DTI code still isn't working, it's more than likely expired.

How to Get More DTI Codes

To get more Dress to Impress codes, the best way is to join the DTI Discord server. While we check for new codes often, the quickest way to know about new Dress to Impress codes is to follow the Roblox experience's official Discord server.

Meg Koepp is a Guides Editor on the IGN Guides team, with a focus on trends. When she's not working, you can find her adventuring around Eorzea in Final Fantasy XIV or making miniatures.

Hunter Era Codes (August 2024)

Od: Meg Koepp

If you're looking for Hunter Era codes, IGN has you covered! In this article, you'll find a list of active and working Hunter Era codes in August 2024 that you can redeem for free rewards and bonuses.

Hunter Era is a popular Hunter x Hunter-themed Roblox experience in which you fight and grow your skills to become the very best hunter on PC, mobile, and console.

Active Hunter Era Codes (August 2024)

Here are all the active Hunter Era codes in August 2024 and the rewards you get for redeeming them:

  • 35klikes: 10x Skill Spins, 10x Nen Color Spins, 10x Hatsu Spins, 10x Family Spins
  • Update2: 15x Skill Spins, 15x Nen Color Spins, 15x Hatsu Spins, 15x Family Spins
  • FunzyLabs: 10x Skill Spins, 10x Nen Color Spins, 10x Hatsu Spins
  • AmineGuyOnTop: 5x Skill Spins, 5x Nen Color Spins, 5x Hatsu Spins
  • LabsEra: 10x Skill Spins, 10x Nen Color Spins, 10x Hatsu Spins
  • howtfitagain: 2.2x EXP for two hours and five minutes

Expired Hunter Era Codes

Below, you'll find a list of expired Hunter Era codes that are no longer working in August 2024:

  • negativeexp
  • leorioop
  • GenthruOp
  • 30klikes
  • ReworkIslands
  • Update1
  • hunterexam
  • 4klikes
  • 6klikes

How to Redeem Hunter Era Codes

To redeem Hunter Era codes, follow the steps below:

  1. Open Hunter Era and press the M key to access the main menu.
  2. Click on Configs to open the Settings menu.
  3. You'll see a code redemption field at the bottom of the screen. Paste your code into the "Enter Codes" field.
  4. Double check the code is inputted correctly, and then click "REDEEM" to redeem your Hunter Era code.

Why Isn't My Hunter Era Code Working?

If the Hunter Era code you're trying to redeem isn't working, it's likely due to two possible reasons:

  • The Hunter Era code is expired.
  • There's a typo in the Hunter Era code.

When inputting a Hunter Era code into Roblox, ensure it's spelled correctly and that there are no accidental spaces before or after the code. If it still isn't working, the code is probably expired.

How to Get More Hunter Era Codes

To get more Hunter Era codes yourself, the two best ways are:

  • Check the Hunter Era Roblox experience page
  • Join the Hunter Era Discord server

While we check for new codes often, the quickest way to know about new Hunter Era codes is to follow the experience's official Discord server, where you can set your notification preferences for new codes.

Meg Koepp is a Guides Editor on the IGN Guides team, with a focus on trends. When she's not working, you can find her adventuring around Eorzea in Final Fantasy XIV or making miniatures.

Avowed Delayed to February 2025 to 'Give Players' Backlogs Some Breathing Room'

Xbox has announced that it is delaying Avowed from later in 2024 to February 18, 2025, to "give players' backlogs some breathing room."

Xbox shared the news on X/Twitter alongside a graphic showing all of its currently announced first party Xbox games.

"So many games coming! As such, we're moving Avowed to Feb 18, 2025, to give players' backlogs some breathing room," Xbox wrote. "Stay tuned for more from our games across Activision, Blizzard, Bethesda & Xbox Game Studios at gamescom, including our Aug 23 livestream for a look at Avowed."

So many games coming! As such, we're moving Avowed to Feb 18, 2025 to give players’ backlogs some breathing room.

Stay tuned for more from our games across Activision, Blizzard, Bethesda & Xbox Game Studios at gamescom, including our Aug 23 livestream for a look at Avowed:… pic.twitter.com/3RnyVwlHRa

— Xbox (@Xbox) August 2, 2024

The current release schedule for all of these games is as follows;

  • World of Warcraft: The War Within - August 26, 2024
  • Age of Mythology: Retold - September 4, 2024
  • Ara: History Untold - September 24, 2024
  • Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred - October 8, 2024
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - October 25, 2024
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 - November 19, 2024
  • Indiana Jones and the Great Circle - 2024 TBA
  • Starfield: Shattered Space - 2024 TBA
  • TowerBorne - 2024 TBA
  • Avowed - February 18, 2025
  • South of Midnight - 2025
  • Doom: The Dark Ages - 2025
  • Fable - 2025
  • And More...

Avowed was originally planned to be released in Fall 2024. In June, a blog post accidentally revealed a new date of November 12, 2024, but it was quickly deleted as it appeared to not be set in stone.

Avowed got a new story trailer at the Xbox Games Showcase in June, and a 30-minute gameplay deep dive followed shortly after. The lengthy gameplay showed both first and third-person gameplay in the world of Eora and showcased some of the magical tools players will access to in the RPG.

With Avowed out of the way for now, you can check out what other games to focus on in our look The Biggest Games of August 2024 and beyond. Additionally, you can also check out the rest of Xbox's gamescom plans right here.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.

Discover New Collectibles for Warhammer, Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and More at IGN Store!

Each Friday, we round up the latest items at IGN Store! This week, the newest items include two new Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Custom Controllers, Gen Con 2024 Exclusive Dice Sets, and new Elden Ring and Bloodborne books. Additionally, the hottest items of the week include a new figma of Ganondorf from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the Skippy Gel Blaster from Cyberpunk 2077, the Fallout TV Series 2LP Vinyl, and Shirt Club #6 - Elden Dog. Lastly, the Solo Leveling Season 1 Vinyl and the 1/2 Scale Assassin's Creed Ezio are set to leave IGN Store very soon. Don't miss any of these amazing products!

What's New: Warhammer, Elden Ring, and Bloodborne

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Controllers

Calling all Warhammer fans: IGN Store now has two custom controllers ahead of next month's Space Marine 2 release! Each controller features artwork from Focus Entertainment's upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 game. If you're excited for Space Marine 2, this is the perfect item for you!

Gen Con 2024 Exclusive Dice Sets

IGN Store managed to snag a few exclusive Gen Con 2024 dice sets! Three items are available: the Gen Con 2024 Ice Dragon Inclusion Sharp Edge Set, the Gen Con 2024 Blacklight Dice Tray, and the Gen Con 2024 Liquid Core UV Reactive Dice. Quantities are extremely limited, as these items are only available at IGN Store and Gen Con!

Elden Ring & Bloodborne Books

Two new books based off hit FromSoft games are now available to pre-order at IGN Store. First, a new book guide based on Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree is here! This book features every single item mapped out across the map, with a new map featuring each of the hidden routes you can take in your journey. The other book up for pre-order is perfect for any Bloodborne fan. This complete edition title includes every secret you can ever discover within one of PS4's most popular titles.

What's Hot: Zelda, Cyberpunk 2077, Fallout, and Elden Ring

The Legend of Zelda - Tears of the Kingdom Ganondorf figma - Action Figure

Tears of the Kingdom fans, the ultimate figma is now available to pre-order at IGN Store. The King has revived, and this figma captures all kinds of details on Ganondorf, including his weapons. Some of the optional parts include the Gloom Sword, Scabbard, Gloom Spear, Demon King's Bow, and more. This figma is set to ship out in September 2025.

Cyberpunk 2077 Skippy Gel Blaster Deluxe Edition

This week, one of the hottest items at IGN Store was the Cyberpunk 2077 Skippy Gel Blaster. This blaster from Zing Toys has numerous features to create the ultimate replica you won't want to miss. First, the blaster features push button voice activation utilizing voice lines from the Cyberpunk 2077 game. These sound bytes make it seem like the blaster really is alive. Additionally, a light up stand is hidden in the charging station, illuminating the Cyberpunk 2077 logo.

Fallout - Original Amazon Series Soundtrack by Ramin Djawadi 2 LP - Vinyl

Next, the Fallout Original Amazon Series Soundtrack 2LP vinyl is back in stock and shipping now! This set includes one Opaque Canary Yellow LP and one Opaque Sky Blue LP, with a total of 21 tracks across the two. Composed by Ramin Djawad, this soundtrack is one you do not want to miss!

Elden Dog - Shirt Club #6

The next tee in the IGN Shirt Club line is here: the Elden Dog! If you're struggling through Shadow of the Erdtree, this shirt is the perfect way to carry a man's best friend right alongside you for support on the journey. IGN Shirt Club tees are exclusive to IGN Store, with free shipping to anywhere in the United States. Each design is only available for a limited time, and any purchase of Shirt Club #6 will net you an exclusive discount on Shirt #7.

What's Leaving: Solo Leveling and Assassin's Creed

Solo Leveling - Original Series Soundtrack 2 LP - Vinyl

The official Solo Leveling Original Series Soundtrack Vinyl is now available to pre-order! This 2LP set contains 19 tracks that were used in the first season of the hit anime. Each translucent blue vinyl is sure to be a standout in your collection. As of now, this vinyl is set to ship out in early September, so be sure to get your pre-orders in now!

Assassin's Creed - Ezio Auditore 1/2 Scale Prestige Line - Statue

A massive 1/2 scale figure of Ezio Auditore from PureArts is now available to pre-order at IGN Store. This figure features a polyresin cast body with realistic silicone skin and glass eyes. Additionally, the clothing is hand-made, with details, down to the stitching, matching that found in the game. Only 500 units are available to purchase, so don't miss out on this highly collectible figure!

About IGN Store

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How a Murder Mystery Tabletop Game Managed to Outsell Monopoly

If you were called on to guess the best-selling tabletop games on Amazon, you’d probably opt for a household name like Monopoly, or one of its exhausting catalog of identikit variants. Much of the time – sales numbers vary day by day, of course – you’d not only be wrong, but likely astonished to learn that Monopoly, Scrabble and a host of other well-worn names are regularly outsold by a humble series of murder mystery games called Cryptic Killers.

"Our bestselling game, Murder of a Millionaire, has consistently been above Monopoly’s classic board game for quite some time," says Andrew Hobbs, co-inventor of the series. "We’re super proud to be up there amongst the big guys." It also made IGN's list of best murder mystery games.

Perhaps even more astonishing is the fact that this sales behemoth arose from a chance holiday meeting. "Luke Stephenson and I met each other at the beach bar in Mexico, over a beer back in 2012," Hobbs continues. "When the holiday came to an end, we added each other on Facebook and left it there. We both thought we’d never see each other again."

Fate, however, had other ideas. Both men were fond of keeping notebooks to scribble down ideas and inventions when inspiration struck, and it was something that came back to them five years later when they considered starting a business together. Hobbs picks up the tales. “Fast forward a couple more years, and we found ourselves enjoying a few detective style games during the pandemic,” he continues. "We both believed that we could do a great job of creating our own range of games in this genre, so we got to work, and Cryptic Killers was born."

Even at the height of lockdown, however, murder mystery was already a crowded genre, and the games needed a selling point to help them stand out from the crowd. They turned to another in-vogue genre for inspiration. “We knew that true crime on Netflix, Amazon and the like is extremely popular,” Hobbs explains. “We wanted to mimic the type of feeling that you get after watching a great crime documentary, and we knew that if we could do that, we’d be onto something.”

We knew that true crime on Netflix, Amazon and the like is extremely popular

But they also put a lot of thought into how to make sure the game started and remained compelling as players worked their way through the evidence. "Our cases contain multiple suspects with different motives, and players get a sense of achievement each time they’re able to eliminate one of the suspects, so rather than having one win at the end of the game, you have multiple “mini wins” throughout the experience," Hobbs explains. He’s tapping into what psychologists call a feedback loop, where you achieve a small gain and immediately feel like you want to put your new knowledge into practice. It’s pleasurable and addictive, and is one reason why some games have that "one more turn" feeling, but it’s unusual to find it in a murder mystery.

Their initial design, Murder of a Millionaire tasked players with identifying the killer of an unlucky lottery winner from a cast of well-drawn characters, using a varied case file of evidence that included photographs, witness statements and ephemera such as train timetables and newspaper clippings. Solving the case called for a surprising variety of skills, from logical deduction, through puzzle solving and into the good, old-fashioned grunt work of picking out tiny details from images and reams of text.

The amount of information involved can make it feel like the game is best suited to a solo sleuth who can digest it all and not have to repeat reams of text for the benefit of a group, but Hobbs believes a small team works best. “The games encourage conversation,” he observes. “Most games have you competing against your peers; our games are the opposite, needing collaborative play. People digest the information differently to one another. This means that one person may pick up on a clue that someone else didn’t.” The breadth of different approaches required to solve the case also support the group approach, as it benefits from a range of skill sets.

While the case presented was thorough and compelling, some of the image work had room for improvement, even if it was supposed to represent the grainy images of CCTV. That’s partly because the intrepid designers had to literally do it all themselves. "Luke and I both appear as characters in the games because we didn’t have the luxury of being able to hire actors and professional sets," Hobbs laughs. "It is actually Luke’s wife who is laying in a puddle of blood in the crime scene photos from Murder of a Millionaire. As our games have evolved, and budgets have since increased, we’ve been able to invest more time and money into developing higher quality assets."

There were also elements of it that felt like a stretch, such as the idea that the investigating detective would just pass over their notes to a colleague, with no verbal explanation, and leaving them without essential information such as a password, which is one of the game’s opening puzzles. “We created a scenario that was possible, even if it wasn’t probable,” Hobbs explains. “The implausible often adds an element of fun or intrigue to the storyline. Take the story of Ted Bundy. He escaped from custody not once, but twice. He also represented himself in court, and proposed to his girlfriend while she was on the witness stand. If that didn’t seem implausible enough, some of the evidence in the case had been mishandled or lost during the investigation too!”

Leveraging a password as the basis for a puzzle also allowed the designers to explore new avenues of play, adding an online element to the experience. “It makes the games more interactive, more immersive, and allows us to introduce different types of media into the game such as video and audio,” says Hobbs. “It also helps with staging the game play. Sometimes you want players to read a piece of information in a certain order to lead their mind in a certain direction, and that’s not always easy to do if you hand over a case file of evidence where they can read it in any order they wish.”

Murder of a Millionaire sold well initially, but its real success came after a fan featured it on TikTok, showcasing the growing power of that platform to market long-playing tabletop games, despite its short-form video format. "When we first went viral on TikTok, we didn’t even have an account there," Hobbs recalls. "Sales went through the roof and have remained that way ever since. I remember calling Luke, saying we needed to be on TikTok, and we ended up in the early hours of the morning pulling together bits and pieces to set up the account. We are extremely grateful to everyone that posts about us on social media, it really helps small companies like us."

When we first went viral on TikTok, we didn’t even have an account there

From that initial explosion, Cryptic Killers has become a diverse range of mystery modules with a dedicated fan base who like to swap completed scenarios with each other once the solution is out. Hobbs is happier about this than you might imagine. "It hearkens back to the old discussion of whether libraries are a good thing for book authors," he observes. "If someone shares one with a friend, there’s always a chance that friend will come back to buy another one of our cases for themselves. It also helps us to build our community of loyal detectives, and encourages more word of mouth marketing. One way other companies have gotten round this is to create game assets that must be destroyed as part of the playing process. That’s not a route we wanted to go down."

Further scenarios have led to Hobbs and Stephenson looking to add new elements to the gameplay to keep things fresh for fans. One thing they’ve become renowned for is a sense of theatricality, which was missing in their first games. “We’ve added more drama to each of the stories, heightened by introducing unique methods of murder, such as a poisoned saxophone reed,” says Hobbs. “Our later releases are themed to different decades, like the 1920s or the 1960s. This allows us to change up the type of evidence in each of the games.”

Of course, as the games have gone on, Hobbs has particular favorites from the titles he’s worked on. “My personal favorite is Murder at Merivale Manor,” he reveals. “It’s the case set in the 1920s, but you’re trying to solve the case in the present day.” But in terms of individual puzzles, he’s most proud of the double-whammy in Murder in Market Hill. “There is a big plot twist to the game and this particular puzzle incorporates two different puzzles that need to be solved to get to the answer,” he continues. "But I can’t say too much more without giving the game away!"

Despite the popularity of their murder mystery series, Hobbs is aware that he and Stephenson need to explore new territory to keep things fresh. But he’s staying as tight-lipped about what that might involve as he is about his precious puzzles, saying only that there’ll be a new case file soon, followed by the Cryptic Killers range “diversifying” into new areas. Fans of the series will have to do their own sleuthing if they want to try and figure out what that might mean.

Matt Thrower is a contributing freelancer for IGN, specializing in tabletop games. You can reach him on BlueSky at @mattthr.bsky.social.

WWE SummerSlam 2024 Preview and Predictions | Wrestling Wrap Up

SummerSlam is mere days away so I’m spittin’ out a nitty gritty ditty all about the “Biggest Party of the Summer” or whatever the tagline was back when the posters used to be Santino on a roller coaster, eyes crossed, looking like he was gonna barf.

In two years this event’s going to be two nights, in Minneapolis, so this is a gently special occasion. We don’t know if next year’s ‘Slam will one or two nights. The 2025 Indianapolis deal is weird since it’s, like, they get Royal Rumble 2025 and then “a two-night SummerSlam and two-night WrestleMania in future years.” So it’s not all three happening in one year. Which leaves ‘Slam ‘25 still open.

My point is that, wherever next year's Slam is, this just might be the final one-night SummerSlam ever, so we should raise our glasses accordingly. A triumphant toast to a lean seven-match card that will be over at a reasonable time for most since it’s EST. And hometown homeslice Miz is hosting so he’ll keep that s*** tight.

It’ll be as easy as a Cleveland…I dunno. I don’t know Cleveland sayings. F*** you? No, that’s every city’s motto. Does Cleveland have a type of food? Like, some weird omelet? A sandwich? A sauce? Is the pizza just tomato soup ice cubes? Anyway, I love cities. I grew up in a major city. My favorite part is when something happens the people are like “Only in [this city].” And it’s just someone being odd or angry.

Okay, so you know how this goes: Some dumb thoughts on each match and then my winner pick followed by the almighty Opposite Momentum pick (which isn’t always calculable if there’s no clear go-home TV violence)...

SummerSlam 2024 Preview and Predictions

Sami Zayn (Intercontinental Champion) vs. Bron Breakker

Given Bron’s big push I can’t readily see Sami Zayn beating him twice. Heck, Zayn’s first victory, at MITB, even surprised me. So I’m going with Bron. And with Sami getting a win over Dominik on RAW, OM is going with Bron too.

Winner: Bron Breakker

OM Pick: Bron Breakker

Logan Paul (United States Champion) vs. LA Knight

Believe it or not, there are even more reasons to boo Logan Paul these days, outside of his natural heel-bilities. And at this point, there’s no one propped up enough to beat this part-timer aside from LA Knight, who still has not seen true dividends since his meteoric rise a year ago. So if Knight can’t do the job then…who? Jay Uso? If he somehow has an interbrand feud with Paul?

Once, there may have been value to keeping the strap on Paul, just for his villainous virtues, but he’s slowly proving to be more PR trouble than he’s worth. Going with Knight here.

Yeah.

Based on SmackDown though, where Paul's Primemoble got stolen by Knight, he's keeping the gold.

Winner: LA Knight

OM Pick: Logan Paul

Damian Priest (World Heavyweight Championship) vs. Gunther

This is a tricky one because Damian Priest’s fate is sort of also tied to Rhea Ripley’s, from a “leaders of The Judgement Day” standpoint. These two came out of ‘Mania 40 with the gold and had only one week together as top dawgs. Will WWE want to reclaim that, and mend the oft-fractured Judgement Day?

There are a dozen ways to go here. Firstly, there could be a DQ and these two could get a rematch. Secondly, Judgement Day could turn on Priest and align with Gunther. Or Liv Morgan. Or both. Priest’s story is that he hasn’t had a clean title defense, despite his wanting to prove he can go it alone. Will this be that clean win? Or will he have to ditch Judgement Day to do this?

The fascistic-coded European criticizing the Puerto Rican "street kid" angle juuuuust barely veers away from being totally icky and it’s helped build up this match in a short period of time. But while Gunther is definitely a future World Champm I think Priest takes this one. Somehow. If he loses, it will probably be because his goons turn on him.

The OM Gods were keeping an eye on Priest beating Gunther’s ass as Raw went off the air, however.

Winner: Damian Priest

OM Pick: Gunther

Liv Morgan (Women's World Champion) vs. Rhea Ripley

Will this mark the end of the Liv Morgan Revenge Tour? Or does Liv have one more trick up her sleeve? Is her bitter “breakup” with Dominik all a ruse or is he truly back with Mami (a victory for line cooks everywhere).

I’d like to think Dom’s playing Rhea for a fool and that there’s more value now in Rhea chasing Liv a bit longer. Once, it seemed like Liv may have won over Finn and JD, given their tag team title win, but that ploy hasn’t really been explored any further. Still, I think Dom’s being extra dirty these days and since Liv was a crying, spiteful mess on Raw, the OM overlords are giving this one to her too.

Winner: Liv Morgan

OM Pick: Liv Morgan

Cody Rhodes (Undisputed WWE Championship) vs. Solo Sikoa

The new Bloodline has a ton of talent but Solo, as a usurper, doesn’t have the magnetism of a Roman Reigns. Part of that’s the whole point, but it just seems super-duper doubtful that he’s ending Cody’s run. Solo’s a good, solid adversary for Cody, as the Bloodline still continues on as a beatdown squad, but his main eventer story ends when Roman returns - which may, in fact, be at SummerSlam (especially now that the match is Bloodline Rules). The Bloodline’s big MITB win may have set up this bout, but it didn’t set up a Solo Sikoa victory.

Winner: Cody Rhodes

OM Pick: n/a just an in-ring promo segment, but the Bloodline winning the tag titles gives the OM Pick to Cody

Bayley (WWE Women's Championship) vs. Nia Jax

Sadly, this title match feels lost in the shuffle, though the added Tiffany/MITB contract aspect makes it a bit more intriguing. I feel like I need to watch this week’s SmackDown to get a better handle on this one but overall it just feels like a hard-fought Bayley win, with some Tiffany shenanigans. I’ve already picked my title changes so Bayley’s safe…for now

Winner: Bayley

OM Pick: n/a just a video package, though Nia did give Tiffany a pink MITB case...

CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre (special guest ref: Seth Rollins)

Everyone hates everyone in this match and I’d really love to give this one to Drew McIntyre, given how much great work he’s done for the last eight months, practically carrying this feud while Punk’s been on the shelf, but...I just can’t see Punk losing his first one-on-one match in WWE in a decade.

But man, I reaalllly want to give it to Drew. I don’t think I’ve rooted this much for a HEEL to get payback in forever.

Of course, if Drew loses, Seth’s there to take the blame. And the same goes for Punk. Seth’s the buffer here, to protect whoever takes the “L” but regardless of the outcome, let’s give it up for this match in general. This feud. This build. There are four title matches at SummerSlam but this is the “main event.” I hope it goes on last. I think when grudge matches are this big and fun they can close out a show.

One finish could have been the Wyatt Sicks coming in and demolishing everyone, setting up an uneasy alliance between Drew, Punk, and Seth that takes us to Survivor Series but they’re not fighting Gable and the Creed Brothers at SummerSlam. They’ve got ‘em on Raw which means they need to remain babyfaces until then. Right?

Winner: CM Punk

OM Pick: n/a it’s was just a three-way promo (but will Seth remember that he promised never to let Punk get his revenge?)

I put some polls up throughout this whole piece, so vote with your hearts, heads, and whatever other biological region you feel is valid. And sound off below if you’ve got big grownup emotions about the card and whatnot.

KNEELIFT!

Watch wrestling!

A New Darksiders Game Has Just Been Revealed: 'Be Prepared to Ride Again...'

A brand-new Darksiders has just been revealed at the THQ Nordic Digital Showcase, and while we didn't learn much, we do know that we should all "be prepared to ride again..."

As detailed by PlayStation.Blog, the currently untitled Darksiders project was given a brief teaser trailer that takes place in a fiery "chamber impossibly old." In this chamber, there are "three colossal stone heads, suddenly set ablaze with otherworldly flames. The Charred Council awake, and roar a single word in unison: Horseman."

Darksiders fans will remember the Charred Council as a trio who keeps balance in the universe and prevents one being from becoming too powerful.

As those familiar with the franchise know, the Darksiders franchise stars the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. 2010's Darksiders starred War, 2012's Darksiders II featured Death, 2018's Darksiders III put players in Fury's shoes, and Darksiders Genesis let players control Strife (and War!).

Could this game bring all Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse together for one grand adventure? Or will this be another spin-off title like Darksiders Genesis? We shouldn't have too long to wait to find out, as THQ Nordic said it will have more to "share on where the world of Darksiders is going soon."

This new Darksiders project was just one of the reveals from the THQ Nordic Digital Showcase, and it joined an unannounced Tarsier Studios title, Way of the Hunter: Lintukoto Reserve, the Gothic Remake, Titan Quest 2, Wreckfest 2, Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, Space For Sale, and The Eternal Life of Goldman.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.

Enter to Win a Custom Spin Rhythm XD PS5 Console and More on IGN Rewards

Are you looking for the opportunity to win new games, consoles, and accessories? Look no further than IGN Rewards! Multiple new giveaways and deals are now available for members this July! If you're not familiar with IGN Rewards, it's a platform free for all registered IGN users. You can enter into new giveaways each month, claim exclusive discounts, and so much more!

This month, you can enter to win a custom Spin Rhythm XD PS5 Console, a custom Tohou Genso Wanderer -FORESIGHT- Steam Deck, and a Cat Quest III Cat Companion Bundle! Check out all the available IGN Rewards for July 2024 below, and be sure to enter before these giveaways close.

Note: Giveaways are exclusive to accounts based in the United States unless noted otherwise.

A Custom Spin Rhythm XD PS5 Console Could Be Yours!

To celebrate the release of the new Spin Rhythm XD DLC, IGN is excited to give away one custom-skinned PlayStation 5 Slim Disc console! Spin Rhythm XD is inspired by classic rhythm titles like Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution, offering a classic experience with fresh new ideas. The game offers fluid, analog-inspired controls with reactive backgrounds as you progress through each handmade level. This giveaway is set to end on August 13 at 12 PM PST.

Win a Custom Touhou Genso Wanderer -FORESIGHT- Steam Deck!

Tohou Genso Wanderer -FORESIGHT- follows famous Tohou protagonist Reimu Hakurei as she faces threats against her shrine. It's up to you to solve the mystery behind these threats and determine the source. One Grand Prize Winner will receive a 256GB LCD Steam Deck, a custom skin, and one Steam key of the game. Additionally, four runner ups will be selected and win one Steam key of Touhou Genso Wanderer -FORESIGHT-.

Win Cat Quest III-Themed Goodies!

With Cat Quest III set to release next week, IGN has partnered with the team behind the game to offer IGN readers a fun Cat Quest III bundle! One IGN reader will win a $200 prize, which includes plenty of cat-themed items like the Razer Kraken Kitty headphones, a Cat Wanted Poster, a Bandana, and more! There are even items for your cat, like The Black Purrl, a printed ship which can provide any cat pirate with maximum comfort. Additionally, one Cat Quest III Steam Key is included. This giveaway is set to end on September 12 at 12:00 PM PST.

Claim a Free Mecha BREAK Beta Steam Key!

IGN Plus members can also claim a free Steam Key for the upcoming Mecha BREAK beta! This beta is available during the Limited and Open Access phases, set to run from August 3 to August 13. Full access to the game will be available for IGN Plus users starting on August 2 at 7 PM, so you can play the game for the entirety of the beta period. Don't miss your opportunity to try out this explosive action title!

About IGN Rewards

IGN Rewards is a free platform that allows IGN readers to access free giveaways, discounts, and offers. You'll only need to create an IGN account to be eligible for the program. If you'd like to further your IGN Rewards experience, you can check out IGN Plus, where you can earn monthly games, ad-free browsing, and so much more.

Scientists Are Hoping to Safeguard Earth's Biodiversity By Locking It Away in An Ark On The Moon

Scientists are looking to create a lunar ark of cryogenically preserved animal samples on the Moon, all in an attempt to safeguard Earth’s declining biodiversity and support future efforts to terraform inhospitable planets.

Earth is the only world we're aware of that is known to play host to a magnificent and diverse abundance of life. However, a host of factors ranging from over-exploitation to climate change have forced biodiversity on Earth to plunge into a dramatic decline. Some scientists believe that we have entered a sixth mass extinction event of life on our planet, in which ecosystems are becoming destabilized and countless species face extinction threats that are accelerating at a rate beyond our ability to counter.

Now, an international group of scientists have come together to propose an ambitious decades-long endeavour which would see partners attempt to preserve our planet’s biodiversity by storing samples taken from across the animal kingdom in a vault on the Moon.

Several institutions already exist in the present day that specialise in storing cryogenically frozen living cells, which can potentially stay alive for hundreds of years before being thawed out. These can be analysed by scientists hoping to recover DNA, cells, or even entire organisms. The problem is that these Earthly facilities require expert human management and ready supplies of electricity and liquid nitrogen. On top of that, they are vulnerable to wars, natural disasters, and a host of other dangers.

A lunar arc situated near the Moon’s south pole, on the other hand, would be isolated from many of these threats, while simultaneously benefiting from the naturally stable -196°C temperatures present in permanently shadowed craters pitting the barren surface. According to the authors of a new paper published in the journal BioScience, these conditions would allow for the design of a passive, low-maintenance base with a reduced emphasis on active cooling technology and manpower relative to its terrestrial counterparts.

Of course establishing any such lunar vault would be a leviathan enterprise, requiring international backing and expertise from entities ranging from nations and agencies, to private and scientific partners. Alongside shouldering the inevitable cost, these partners would need to develop the hardware and technologies required to safely transport the samples to their new home on the Moon, and to ensure that they are adequately protected from solar and cosmic sources of radiation. The effects of microgravity will also need to be explored, potentially by sending samples for a prolonged stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Once operational, the Moon vault would initially be used to preserve biological samples of species that face the greatest threat of extinction. However, the collaboration's overarching goal is to establish a biorepository that will house most of the animal species on Earth, before eventually extending to accommodate plant life.

Looking to the far future, the scientists hope that the arc specimens could one day prove useful to explorers hoping to terraform worlds for human settlement both in our solar system, and beyond. For more science news read up on SpaceX’s plan to bring down the ISS using a powered-up Dragon spacecraft, or find out about how scientists scanned the interior of an ancient tunnel extending beneath the surface of the Moon.

Image credit: NASA, Bill Anders.

Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer

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