Category: IGN

OpenAI’s Sora 2 generative video app has gone live, and immediately it’s been used to create countless videos featuring licensed characters, such as Mario, Pikachu and an array of other Pokémon.

While videos featuring Pikachu in Saving Private Ryan, or Mario in Star Wars, might look surprising, a statement from OpenAI earlier this week suggested the company knew exactly what people would be getting up to when Sora 2 arrived — and what the company’s own algorithms had apparently been trained on.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, OpenAI has already begun contacting movie studios and other intellectual property owners to discuss next steps — and offer them the chance to retroactively opt out of their fictional characters being available within Sora 2’s AI videos.

But, for now, it’s open season on Pikachu and his pals, as these initial results from Sora 2 demonstrate (thanks, Nintendo Life):

“The Dark Knight” pic.twitter.com/2Hk0vlJBKJ

— Justine Moore (@venturetwins) October 1, 2025

And finally – “The Titantic” starring Pikachu and Eevee pic.twitter.com/63HjZC9toy

— Justine Moore (@venturetwins) October 1, 2025

Ever wondered what Pikachu would sound like if he could actually chat away in human speech (and wasn’t secretly Ryan Reynolds)? Well, wonder no longer — though you may regret listening to this.

Entertainment time, best to hear Pokémon Pikachu complaining about Sora 2 😬 pic.twitter.com/WlFqqEnpoy

— Skyla Vtuber 幻萍 VTuber (@skyla_vtuber) October 2, 2025

While characters are fair game, OpenAI has previously said that real-life people, whether that’s users of the app or the those seeking to use the likeness of celebrities, will need to have manually opted in to having their appearances generated. Of course, OpenAI boss Sam Altman has allowed for his likeness to be used — so here he is having a lightsaber battle with Pikachu:

Pokemon don’t sue me 🥲 Sora 2 is insane pic.twitter.com/dInl6EysJl

— Pm Prod (@PMProdResearch) October 2, 2025

Alongside Pokémon, Nintendo’s own Mario characters have been getting plenty of use. And then there’s the final clip below, which mashes together Valve’s Portal and Activision’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (and also Twin Peaks).

Sora 2 just broke the Internet yesterday.

Reimagine famous movies

100% AI parody

1. “Star Wars” but starring Mario & friends pic.twitter.com/t9QqOT8RnG

— Min Choi (@minchoi) October 2, 2025

This is my favorite Sora 2 generation I’ve made so far.

It can seamlessly combine the disparate gameplay elements of Portal and Tony Hawk Pro Skater and then slip in a Twin Peaks reference… and generate in 1.5 minutes.
Unreal. pic.twitter.com/C3XUEzgHsH

— 🌟twinstar🌟 ଘ(✿˵•́ ᴗ •̀˵)੭🧁 (@1ketaminepatch) October 1, 2025

Is any of this legal? “In short, we don’t have a definitive answer yet,” business lawyer and creator of the Virtual Legality podcast Richard Hoeg told IGN today. “There are indications in some quarters that training on protected materials is likely going to be deemed legal so long as the materials themselves were acquired for some lawful purpose (and not pirated). But on the output side, the Disney/Dreamworks lawsuit makes some good arguments for why/how the law should expect these platforms to police prompts for infringing requests, especially if they are already policing for something else (porn, bigotry, etc.). But all of those are still just arguments, not settled law..

Hoeg continued: “The law moves slowly, far slower than technology, which is why you see these tech companies racing ahead of it a bit. My best guess is that OpenAI is probably going to be okay long term on the training sets they used (assuming they weren’t pirated), and that the ‘opt out of training’ option therefore won’t do much of anything. Where they really need to concern themselves is on the output side and/or if they are marketing their software’s abilities with protected content themselves.”

IGN has contacted Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for comment.

Last week, the famously litigious The Pokémon Company formally responded to the use of Pokémon TV hero Ash Ketchum and the series’ theme tune by the Department of Homeland Security, as part of a video showing people being arrested and handcuffed by law enforcement agents. “Our company was not involved in the creation or distribution of this content,” a spokesperson told IGN, “and permission was not granted for the use of our intellectual property.”

But while The Pokémon Company may not begin legal action over that usage, the firm is still keenly battling on against Palworld developer Pocketpair in its claim that the game infringed upon multiple patents. Earlier this week, former Capcom designer Yoshiki Okamoto sparked a backlash in Japan after suggesting that Pokémon and Nintendo’s legal action against Palworld was justified, since Pocketpair’s game had “crossed a line that should not be crossed.”

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

I enjoy a good bout in a fighting game from time to time, with Bandai Namco’s Tekken being my favorite 3D fighter out there. Conveniently enough, I am also a fan of board games, so when these two passions of mine mingle with one another, such as with the Guilty Gear Strive or Street Fighter V board games, I make sure to check them out. Now, thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign over on Gamefound, it’s time for the King of Iron Fists to enter the cardboard ring with Tekken: The Board Game.

The game is made by Go On Board, the publisher of The Witcher: Old World and Cyberpunk 2077- The Board Game among others. I’ve had a chance to get some rounds in with a prototype of Tekken: The Board Game, graciously sent to me by the developer, and I have to say, it may have nailed the feeling of “reading your opponent” in a fighting video game better than any other board game I’ve played.

In Tekken, two players (the final release will include a solo mode and optional tournament expansion for up to eight) pick from their favorite fighters and duke it out until one player’s life is gone. Characters I got to try out and that will be included in the base game are Jin, Kazuya, Paul, King, Nina, Asuka, Yoshimitsu, and Jack-8, each coming with detailed minis featuring the character and a pretty nifty colorful accent.

Playing a match of Tekken feels a bit like a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, and is fairly quick to pick up and learn. Matches are short, too, taking 10 to 15 minutes. Attacks are dictated by cards that you play in front of you, which show not only the area they are targeting, either high, mid, or low, but also the effects and damage the attack will do, indicated by icons.

At any given time, only one person is on the offense, laying out cards and trying to dish out damage. The idea behind this system is born out of the need to keep Tekken feeling fast and dynamic, Go On Board told IGN. “To truly capture the dynamic feeling of the video game, we needed a mechanic that keeps the fight fast-paced and full of tension. In Tekken, reading your opponent’s intentions and reacting at the perfect moment is crucial – blocking a key attack can break a combo and turn the tide of battle. The ‘guess the right card’ mechanic embodies that essence. It’s simple and intuitive, like pressing a button on a controller, but mastery comes from deeply understanding your opponent and predicting their moves. It’s all about timing, reading, and skill – just like in the original game.”

For the defending player, your only goal is to read the opponent and try to guess which area the attacker’s card is going to target, indicated by a card played face down in front of them. Guessing correctly will stop the attack in its tracks, and the defending player becomes the attacker, with their first attack being unblockable. Guessing wrong, however, not only will let the attack go through and connect, but the player who played the card continues their assault and is able to play another card, extending their combo and potentially triggering added bonuses based on their character’s specific combos or how lanes on cards may line up with the next.

Only three attacks can happen before roles reverse, with the exception of a once-per-game HEAT action that each player can take, which allows one additional attack to be played, or lets the player continue attacking after a correct guess by the defensive player.

This element of trying to read your opponent to guess what they are going to do next is an intrinsic part of fighting video games. Having it condensed in such a way to a one-in-three chance to guess correctly works shockingly well. The actions that an attack can trigger are also rather straightforward: you can deal damage, move your character, push an opponent, or sweep an opponent, causing them to fall down, letting you deal extra damage. Your character’s special Rage attack is a bit more complicated, but my friends and I never felt overwhelmed.

Tekken also uses mechanics that make it feel like you’re playing, well, Tekken. Pushing an opponent into the wall causes a wall bounce, dealing damage. You can break through stage walls or floors into other areas and dish out that extra hurt on the ground. Even the small arenas you fight on feel very Tekken-like, giving you enough space to move around, but not so much that it turns reaching your opponent into a chore.

Tekken has never been about playing keep-away and hurling fireballs at one another; instead it’s about getting in close and letting loose devastating punch-and-kick combos, and I think Go On Board has captured that spirit perfectly. “Each fighter in Tekken: The Board Game feels truly unique thanks to a combination of design elements. Each character has a distinct deck composition, combo structure, and a Rage ability that reflects their iconic playstyle from the video game. Some characters also feature unique components or mechanics that set them apart even further.”

When the game comes out, fighters will have a variety of ways to check out Tekken and prove themselves. The core box contains eight fighters (Jin, Kazuya, King, Paul, Jack-8, Yoshimitsu, Asuka, and Nina) and four stages (Sanctum, Urban Square, Descent into Subconscious, and Into the Stratosphere). Or, if you just want a taste, a starter set featuring Jin and Kazuya and the Descent into Subconscious will also be available.

But any Tekken fan knows that one of the defining aspects of the series is its characters, and Go On Board is bringing many of them over through various expansion sets that you can purchase separately, too. These include the following.

Expansion 1

• Fighters: Jun, Leroy, Xiaoyu, Panda
• Stage: Yakushima

Expansion 2

• Fighters: Heihachi, Reina, Lee, Kuma
• Stage: Secluded Training Ground

Expansion 3

• Fighters: Azucena, Leo, Lili, Shaheen
• Stage: Ortiz Farm

Expansion 4

• Fighters: Lidia, Eddy, Victor, Raven
• Stage: Seaside Resort

Expansion 5

• Fighters: Lars, Alisa, Claudio, Zafina
• Stage: Rebel Hanger

Expansion 6

• Fighters: Hwoarang, Law, Steve Fox, Feng
• Stage: Arena

Expansion 7

• Fighters: Dragunov, Bryan
• Stage: Midnight Siege

“Legendary” Expansion

• Fighters: True Ogre, Mokujin
• Stage: Tekken 3 Stage “Carnival”

When asked about what went into deciding the character pairings, the design team not only wanted to make sets that played well together, but also ones that made sense from a narrative standpoint. “When creating the character packs, we took into account several key aspects. We wanted each box to include characters that work well together mechanically, but also share meaningful narrative connections. For example, the pack featuring Jun, Xiaoyu, Panda, and Leroy with the Yakushima board was designed this way because Yakushima is Jun’s stage. Xiaoyu once fought off the Jacks units attempting to reach the Sanctum near Yakushima, while Panda is Xiaoyu’s close friend, and Leroy served as her mentor.”

With so many characters, including my personal favorites Leo, Steve, and Hwoarang all making appearances, it has my blood pumping, and I can’t wait to see how they play. Even in the core box, I could already tell that care was being put into highlighting qualities of the characters to make them feel different from one another, such as King’s ability to throw opponents around or Yoshimitsu’s special wheel that lets you bid life to spin for a potential big payoff. I can’t wait to see how all the other characters feel.

From the different stage hazards, the quick-to-learn systems, and highly detailed miniatures, Tekken: The Board Game has quickly shot up my list as one of my most anticipated board games next year. My biggest worry is that, with just how many characters they’re promising, some will run the risk of feeling samey. Time will tell how successfully the team is able to avoid that potential pitfall, but considering that by taking the expansion approach with the characters, not to dissimilar to something like Unmatched, means fans can pick and choose from those packs they want, and aren’t required to buy them all. Even the core box offers a good bit of variety on its own. You can have a perfectly good time with that alone.

While Tekken’s initial campaign is over, late pledges will be starting soon with an expected delivery date of April 2026, but if you want to try it out for yourself, head over to Board Game Arena right now, or check out the WIP rules.

Scott White is a freelance contributor to IGN, assisting with tabletop games and guide coverage. Follow him on X/Twitter or Bluesky.

It’s all well and good to grab ridiculously expensive Pokémon TCG cards regardless of the climate, and I’m absolutely writhing in jealousy at those who can.

But imagine going back in time and pulling one of those epic chase cards straight off the shelf? Of course, you could today if you hate your bank account that much, but what about the most expensive Pokémon cards in packs right now?

I’m talking about Pokémon TCG bangers that you can pull in a booster pack today, and there are loads. We’re focusing on Mega Evolution, Black Bolt & White Flare, Destined Rivals, Prismatic Evolutions, Twilight Masquerade, and Surging Sparks for today, so let’s have a deeper look at the mad bangers you could pull from an in-print Pokémon TCG booster pack.

Just to note, the chances of pulling these cards are extremely slim, so if you plan on spending massive amounts of money on Booster Bundles, Booster Boxes, and ETBs, bear in mind that the actual value of the card itself is usually cheaper than ripping packs. Unless you’re mega lucky, of course.

10. Mega Lucario ex – 179/132

Starbreeze has canceled Project Baxter, its co-op Dungeons & Dragons game, laid off a significant portion of its development team, and announced plans to double down on its Payday franchise.

Project Baxter was announced in December 2023 as an Unreal Engine 5 D&D game that would “carry the signature Starbreeze cornerstones of co-operative multiplayer, lifetime commitment through a Games as a Service-model, community engagement and a larger than life experience.”

The plan then was to launch Project Baxter on all major platforms in 2026 with crossplay. But news has been scarce, with a social media post showing off a single in-engine image in September 2024.

In November last year, Starbreeze said it was still hiring for Project Baxter, with work on the game continuing “at full speed.” “Internally, we have weekly playtests of Baxter, and active discussions with a number of industry-leading players regarding potential collaborations around Baxter’s development and launch,” the studio said at the time. As of November 2024, Starbreeze had 191 total employees, most of which were based at its head office in Stockholm, Sweden.

The decision to cancel Project Baxter has cost the Swedish company SEK 255 million (approx. $27.2 million) in a write-down of development costs.

CEO Adolf Kristjansson called it a “difficult but necessary decision,” but failed to mention any particular issues with the development of Project Baxter that might have factored in.

“Our strategy is clear: Payday is one of the most iconic IPs in gaming, with unmatched reach and potential,” Kristjansson said in a prepared statement. “By focusing our investment and talent here, we can accelerate delivery, engage players with more content, and reinforce Starbreeze’s position as the clear leader in the heisting genre. This is about sharpening our focus to create the strongest long-term value for our players, our people, and our shareholders.”

“Part” of the Baxter team will be redeployed across Starbreeze’s projects, mostly within Payday, but around 44 full-time employees across staff and contractors will lose their jobs.

“We are doubling down on what our players love – and what we do best – owning the heisting genre,” Kristjansson continued. “Payday is more than a game — it’s a genre we created and continue to lead. By redeploying talent and capital, we can bring innovation to heisting gameplay faster, while also laying the foundation for the future expansion of the genre.”

Starbreeze said Payday has had more than 50 million players worldwide and generated close to SEK 4 billion (approx. $427 million) in lifetime gross revenue.

“With increased focus and resources, Starbreeze will accelerate its roadmap, delivering more frequent updates, new content drops, and continuous live-engagement,” the company said. “The discontinuation of Baxter, combined with an increased focus on the Payday franchise, will enable Starbreeze to become cash-flow positive in 2026.”

Kristjansson added: “I want to sincerely thank the Baxter team for their passion and creativity, and express appreciation to Wizards of the Coast for their support. Though we have made the decision to not continue forward with this project, we are proud of what was achieved in Baxter, and those contributions will carry forward into Payday and the future of Starbreeze. By concentrating our efforts on Payday we give Starbreeze and all our employees the best chance to succeed.”

So, what does the future hold for Starbreeze? The 12-year-old Payday 2 still has significantly more players than Payday 3 on Steam, but the developer insisted Payday 3 “is being developed into a scalable live-engagement platform to engage millions of players worldwide.” The Payday 3 team will grow to about 50 employees before the end of the year “and continue to grow in line with increased player engagement.”

Meanwhile, Starbreeze said it has new heist games in the works, too, including spinoffs and narrative-driven projects, and plans to expand Payday into new platforms. Meanwhile, it’s offering its services as a work-for-hire studio.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

The long-awaited Mega Evolution era has finally arrived in Pokémon TCG following the Japanese releases of Mega Brave and Mega Symphonia in August 2025. With their towering HP values, spectacular full-art designs, and that notorious 3-Prize rule when a Mega ex is knocked out, these cards are already shaking up both the collector market and early deck-building experiments in Japan, and we expect the same to happen worldwide, too.

Like every major set, certain chase cards have risen to the top. That’s whether for playability, stunning artwork, or simply the popularity of their featured trainer or Pokémon. Below, we’ve ranked ten of the most expensive Mega Evolution cards in today’s market on our favourite dedicated marketplace, TCGPlayer, starting from the lowest on the chart and working up to the crown jewel.

The original Mega Brave and Mega Symphonia expansions have already delivered some of the most eye-catching and valuable cards of the year, with the 10 most valuable of which from the combined Mega Evolution set can be found below, for those who don’t feel like scrolling through the whole larger list.

However, with the set only just being released, TCGPlayer’s exact most valuable card rankings are changing rapidly, due to continuous market price changes. So, be sure to also check out the live page showing the most expensive Mega Evolution Pokémon cards on TCGPlayer right now.

Still, as for our top 15 picks, from dazzling behemoths like Mega Venusaur ex and Mega Gardevoir ex, to nostalgic Special Art Rares of fan-favourite trainers like Lillie’s Determination, collectors are still scrambling to secure them before prices climb higher. Here’s a proper look at fifteen of the most expensive cards currently dominating the Mega Evolution market.

15. Mega Venusaur ex – 155/132 (Ultra Rare)

Phil Spencer has been the head of Xbox (now officially the CEO of Microsoft Gaming) for over a decade now. And up until very recently, I’d argue that under his watch, the brand really did put players first, even if Xbox has continued to lose market share to PlayStation. As a reminder: Phil immediately unbundled the Kinect from the Xbox One, removing the $100 albatross weighing the console down. His first big initiative as boss was championing backwards compatibility, which is inarguably a huge success. FPS Boost on Xbox Series later made many of those old games run even better. He dragged Sony kicking and screaming into normalizing cross-play. The Xbox One X one-upped the PS4 Pro by offering true, native 4K. And Xbox gaming has undeniably become more inclusive in the Phil Spencer Era thanks to the Xbox Adaptive Controller as well as laudable ASL features in multiple first-party games. Finally, there’s Xbox Game Pass, whose mystery economics continue to make it controversial amongst both gamers and developers alike, but has nevertheless been a tremendous value for subscribers.

Until now, at least. On IGN’s Unlocked podcast, I (far too) often make reference to that Simpsons gif where Sideshow Bob keeps stepping on the rakes he’s surrounded by. And the reason I do that is because Xbox always seems to find a way to ruin any momentum it builds up, typically through no fault of anyone but itself. Take the month of October, for instance. Microsoft is shipping not one or two but three really exciting new games in the next 30 days: the very–awesome-so-far Ninja Gaiden 4, which revives the beloved fast-action franchise after a dormant decade; Double Fine’s promising Keeper, the studio’s next project after its Game Awards Game of the Year-nominated Psychonauts 2; and ever-reliable Obsidian Entertainment’s RPG/shooter sequel The Outer Worlds 2, which we’ve loved every time we’ve seen or played it. That’s a potentially huge month for Xbox – particularly when so many Xbox fans remember how it wasn’t long ago when we’d be lucky to get three ultra-promising first-party releases in an entire year, let alone a single month.

All three will drop onto Xbox Game Pass on day one – but this is the part where Xbox starts stepping on all those rakes. Effective immediately, you’ll need to pay a whopping 50% more for that privilege. Microsoft has raised Game Pass prices for the third year in a row, with the give-me-all-the-day-one-releases tier now setting players back $30 per month. Fourteen months ago, by the way, Game Pass Ultimate was $17. That’s how high and how fast the price has risen.

In fairness to Microsoft, the company has added more to Ultimate: Ubisoft+ Classics, Fortnite Crew, and higher-resolution cloud gaming. It’s also worth mentioning that multiple likely Game of the Year candidates hit Game Pass Ultimate on day one this year: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Hollow Knight: Silksong, and Blue Prince. But we all know that the biggest appeal of Game Pass are those day-one benefits for Xbox-published games, and this price increase feels directly targeted at that. (For the record, PC Game Pass is going from $12 to $16.49 per month.)

This comes immediately on the heels of the company jacking up Xbox console prices for the second time in the past four months, with the top-end Xbox Series X now carrying an eye-watering price tag of $800. But that $800 almost sounds like a damn bargain next to the much-hyped ROG Xbox Ally X handheld gaming PC, which weighs in at NINE-HUNDRED AND NINETY-NINE U.S. DOLLARS. Sure, there’s a less powerful, more affordable version for $599, but nobody knows if that one’s worth a damn, because Microsoft has only ever let media and influencers get their hands on the more powerful Ally X. Hopefully it proves useful, as the Series S has for the non-hardcore gamer part of the market.

Heck, the only thing the Xbox folks haven’t raised prices on are first-party games. Oh, they tried with The Outer Worlds 2, to be clear – and they inevitably will next year when Fable, Gears of War: E-Day, Forza Horizon 6, etc. drop – but the Xbox community wasn’t having any of that, and Microsoft relented.

I realize we live in crazy times, and that Sony and Nintendo are not exactly blameless here either after each of them raised prices on their own aging hardware in the past year (with Nintendo also aggressively raising software prices for the Switch 2 generation as well). Blame the Trump tariffs if you want to (heck, Microsoft does), but I’m sorry: at the end of the day, the buck stops with Microsoft. This is a company with a market cap of nearly $4 trillion, who has done layoff after layoff, after spending upwards of $80 million on studio and publisher acquisitions. And it’s fair to wonder if those naysayers who question the sustainability of Game Pass and its business model are being proven right with this latest, deepest round of price hikes.

What’s worse is that, in the bigger picture, we’ve reached a sad point where gaming is becoming less accessible to new players rather than more. Historically, console prices go down and the size and quality of the game library goes up over the course of a generation, leading to more units sold and a healthier ecosystem for everyone inside it. And while again, the blame for the absence of that this generation does not rest squarely on Microsoft’s shoulders, the actions of Team Xbox are of a company that isn’t showing a lot of empathy towards its customers as the cost of groceries, gas, and other bare essentials keeps going up. Again, these larger economic issues aren’t Microsoft’s fault, and it has to contend with rising development costs too, but they are choosing profit over players.

As such, while I recognize that this Xbox console generation isn’t over yet, it’s almost certainly going to be remembered first and foremost for Microsoft’s greed: two hardware price increases (and counting), three Xbox Game Pass price increases (and counting), one software price increase (so far), and tens of thousands of layoffs as well as multiple studio closures.

It’s kind of a monkey’s paw situation, really: all Xbox gamers have wanted since the start of the catastrophic Xbox One generation was a steady supply of great first-party games. Well, in 2025 we’re finally getting that – and as I’ve already mentioned, 2026 is shaping up to be a banger too – but it’s coming at the cost of, well…practically everything else. But it’s not our fault. Instead, Microsoft’s greed is to blame.

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.

Hell Clock is a Roguelike Action RPG developed by the Brazilian indie studio Rogue Snail and published by Mad Mushroom. Drawing inspiration from the ARPG greats like Diablo, Path of Exile, and Grim Dawn while packaging everything in a highly replayable roguelike formula, Gell Clock provides a great middle ground for people who want to experience the power fantasy of an ARPG without having to grind for hundreds of hours every season.

Patch 1.1, the Clockmaker’s Tools, is Hell Clock’s largest update yet. This patch brings crafting to Hell Clock, allowing you to modify the affixes on your Relics, craft powerful new Imbuements and corrupt Relics (the ultimate risk and reward).

• Tool of Tinkering randomizes 1 primary or secondary affix on the Relic. Use this to reroll unwanted modifiers.
• Tool of Enhancement upgrades a Common Relic to Magic.
• Tool of Greater Enhancement upgrades a Magic Relic to Rare adding a new Rare Affix.
• Tool of Locksmithing locks a primary or secondary affix, preventing other tools from modifying it
• Imbued Tool of Fury adds an imbued implicit. Fury implicits include bonuses for Melee damage, Fire damage, physical damage, and Life.
• Imbued Tool of Faith adds an imbued implicit. Faith implicits bolster Lightning damage, Mana, and Spellcasting.
• Imbued Tool of Discipline adds an imbued implicit. Discipline implicits include bonuses to Plague damage, Marksman skills, and Projectiles.
  • Items can only have 1 imbued implicit at a time.
• The Divine Tool randomizes the numerical values of your modifiers with the potential to push them beyond their normal maximum.
• A Corrupted Tool unpredictably changes your Relic, it could randomize primary or secondary affixes, add a powerful corrupted implicit, or do nothing at all.

In addition, there has been a complete balance rework with the goal of providing smoother progression and greater overall game viability. Take a look at IGN’s post on the Hell Clock 1.1 Update for more information.

Maxroll Hell Clock Beginner’s Guide

Maxroll’s comprehensive Hell Clock Beginner’s Guide gets into the details of Hell Clock’s core systems and mechanics with links to more detailed guides where you can learn more. Start by exploring the campaign, progressing through each act, and challenging bosses. Next, learn more about the game’s progression and metaprogression systems. These include Skills, Blessings, Gear, Passives, Relics, and Constellations, all of which combine to make a variety of builds. Then learn about what awaits you in the endgame with Abyss, Oblivion, and Ascension.

Getting Started in Hell Clock

After getting started with the Beginner’s Guide, continue your journey with Maxroll’s new player resources. First up, the Campaign Guide has information on all of the Survival Encounters and Bosses you find when progressing through Hell Clock’s 3 Act story.

Note: As part of the endgame, you fight the Campaign bosses again. When you do, keep an eye out for enhanced move sets and new mechanics!

Skills

Skills are the core of your build in Hell Clock. Some Skills, like Split Shot, are easy to spam and often act as your primary damage. Others, such as Spectral Knives, have a longer cooldown and often take a secondary role. As you progress through the Acts and defeat bosses, you can access new skills (via the Skill Book), but you must spend 100 Soul Stones to unlock them. Check out Maxroll’s Skills Guide to learn more or browse all of the game’s Skills in the database.

Blessings

Check out Maxroll’s Hell Clock Blessing Guide to learn about the progression (and metaprogression) systems you interact with throughout a run. Blessing of Proficiency enhances your skills, Blessing of Foundation gives global character buffs, whereas Blessings of the Future and Legacy give you new Gear or Relics.

Gear

You can find gear within your run or purchase it from the Blessed Corner. The items you have equipped are carried over between runs, and you can only equip 1 item at a time within each slot (you can store the spares in your Blessed stash or recycle them into Soul Stones). Maxroll’s Gear Guide covers everything you need to know about Blessed Gear in Hell Clock. Alternatively, you can also browse all of them individually:

• Revolvers
• Left Rings
• Right Rings
• Keepsakes
• Accessories
• Caps
• Jackets
• Shoulders
• Bracers
• Pants
• Shoes

Relics

Last but not least are Relics. This is the most impactful metaprogression system as Rare Relics offer a lot of power, and Unique Relics completely transform skills. Relics in Hell Clock function a lot like gear in ARPGs like Path of Exile or Diablo, giving you tools to build around and make something that feels unique. In addition, Relics can be crafted with the Clockmaker’s Tools giving you more control over the affixes that you have available. Check out Maxroll’s Relic Guide to learn more about Relics in Hell Clock or browse the database for a complete list of Unique Relics.

More Maxroll Hell Clock Guides

In addition to the getting started resources, Maxroll has a variety of guides that provide a deeper dive into the game’s mechanics. This includes guides on the endgame activities, including Abyss & Oblivion and Ascension. Last but not least, learn the nuances of progressing the Blessings of Foundation to obtain the best Epic Blessings.

• The Great Bell / Passive Tree Guide
• Constellation Guide
• Relic Crafting Guide
• Unique Relic List and Affinity Guide
• Blessing of Foundation Progression
• Endgame Activities
• World Tier Guide (Abyss, Oblivion, and Void)
• Ascension Guide

Maxroll Hell Clock Builds

Maxroll’s development team has been working on a Hell Clock planner where you can theorycraft builds and share loadouts. This is currently a work in progress and likely to get updates in the future.

Planner Features

• First, select the mode between Campaign, Endgame, and Ascension.
  • If you select Campaign, the Bell Tree transforms into The Old Bell.
  • Endgame covers Abyss, Oblivion, and Void, giving you access to the Oblivion Bell tree.
  • Ascension transforms your Bell tree to the Infernal Bell and allows you to select Penances in the Ascension Tree.
• Next, start building your loadout by selecting Skills. If you want to set the build Public later, put your primary skill in the left-most slot to make it easier for people to identify your build.
• After that, work on filling out Gear, Relics, and Constellations.
  • Both your Constellation and Passive Trees track the order in which you allocate nodes.
• When it comes to Relics, you can select size, Rare Affix, Imbuement, Corrupted Implicit, and Prefix(es)/Suffix(es).
  • Common, Magic, Rare, and Unique Relics are supported.
  • Use the fields at the top to adjust Tier and Rank.
• Use Variants to create step-by-step progression for Gear, Relics, Constellations, and Passive Trees.

Coming Soon

There are a few features that haven’t quite made it into the planner yet:

• Blessing Recommendations – The ability to recommend (or banish) specific blessings for each skill
• Relic Stats adjusting as you change a Relic’s Rank/Tier
• Displaying Resistances to make it easier to tell when you’re going to be capped
• Save importing
• And more

Community Builds

Use the Community Builds section to share your build with other Hell Clock players. You can also browse for something new to play. Use the Skill filter at the top or look for builds based on game mode (Campaign, Endgame, Ascension) and tag.Here are a few examples of what you can do with the planner:

• A Veil of Quills Endgame build that crushes both Abyss and Oblivion by flooding the screen with projectiles.
• This Physical Split Shot setup uses variants to show progression from Act 1 to Act 3.
• You can continue your journey with a lategame Split Shot Summoner able to challenge the Void.
• This Bleed Rosary Summoner is a theorycrafted build, adapting an existing build (Rosary Summoner) into something new.

Planners can be more casual too, if you’re doing an Ascension run you can upload a snapshot of your character.

Maxroll Hell Clock Database

Dive into the mechanics with Maxroll’s Hell Clock database. Here are a few of the things you can find:

• Skills, including their scaling as you level them up.
• Unique Relics, including their affinities.
• Gear, learn about different equippable items and the stats they offer.
• Explore all 3 of the game’s skill trees, including The Great Bell (Campaign), The Oblivion Bell (Abyss, Oblivion, & Void), and The Infernal Bell (Ascension).
• Constellations: learn more about the bonuses offered by Constellations and browse individual Constellation nodes.
• Check out the Clockmaker’s Tools to learn more about crafting in Hell Clock.
• Last but not least, if you’re going to play Ascension, first familiarize yourself with the Penances.

The Battle Continues

Patch 1.1 may be huge, but it isn’t the end of Rogue Snail’s content development plans. Rogue Snail has a detailed roadmap which includes two more major updates. Of course, like with all road maps the content and delivery date are subject to change. The next major patch is Movement 2.0, which will allow you to use all of your skills while moving. This is going to be particularly impactful for channeled skills like Repeaters. In addition the patch will bring a new character animation system and all 52 Constellations. The plan is to release this in November 2025.

After that the next major update is the Cursed War, slated for Q1 of 2026. This includes a free update with a full version of the Ascension endgame activity, 12 new biomes for endgame and improved random dungeon generation. This could include the Endless Nightmares system that has been teased in recent updates.

Along side the free update is a paid expansion, Hell Clock: The Cursed War, where Pajeu travels to a new location to fight the forces of hell. The expansion will add a 4th Act to the campaign, new biomes, new monsters, new bosses, Skills, Relics, and a “Cube Crafting System” which sounds suspiciously like the Kanai’s Cube mechanic from Diablo 3.

Written by IGN Staff with help from Tenkiei.

Capcom’s upcoming new IP, Pragmata, features a main antagonist that’s really a rogue AI on the moon making the life of a spaceman and his android buddy difficult. But as much as artificial intelligence is in the news lately, especially in gaming, the developers of Pragmata say they had absolutely no idea it would be such a hot topic when they started developing the game.

Speaking to me at Tokyo Game Show 2025, game director Cho Yonghee and producer Naoto Oyama tell me that the concept for Pragmata simply came from Yonghee thinking about the moon, and asking the team to brainstorm ideas for a game set on the moon. From there, developers pitched a “black and white world” on the moon, and the concept of the enemy being AI came later.

But none of the team, they said, knew they were about to release a game about an enemy AI at a time when real-life AI was such a fraught subject.

“We really couldn’t predict that AI would be this big from where we started from what you see now, but now that we have AI become this huge thing in the real world, we see like, ‘Oh, maybe we should have added this or that from what you see in the AI right now,'” Yonghee tells me. “So we are like, ‘We should have thought of that.'”

However, the pair confirm that the real-world shifts around AI didn’t impact the game’s story or direction. By the time it became a hot topic, the direction was already set.

“We have this sort of the idea of the AI in the game locked down very early in the development back when we released the concept trailer back a few years ago,” Oyama says. “And so we had that as what you see in the game basically. And then we really couldn’t predict that the AI would become this big right now.”

“Yeah,” Yonghee adds. “So the real life AI’s progression or development, it’s been so fast that it’s perhaps overtaken what do we have in the game right now. So what you see in the game might not look as amazing than what’d you compared to real life.”

I laughed a bit at this and remarked that I didn’t think we had Dianas running around in the real world just yet.

“We created to be in the near future, but the future has come closer,” Oyama replies.

“Yeah, just the word AI is getting a bit old right now,” Yonghee says. “So maybe by the time that we reach the age or the time where Pragmata takes place, people are not using the word AI even anymore.”

We recently got another look at Pragmata at Capcom’s Online Program alongside TGS, and we had a hands-on preview of the game at Gamescom earlier this year. We also spoke with Oyama and Yonghee about early ideas for Pragmata, including the possibility that it might feature a talking dog. Pragmata is out sometime next year.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

In the intro cinematic for World of Warcraft: Midnight, Lady Liadrin of the blood elves was joined by a conspicuously anonymous group of reinforcements to defend the Sunwell against this and last expansion’s big bad, Xal’atath. And it turns out there’s a reason for their ambiguous appearance: it’s us, the players. The first moments of the next chapter of the Worldsoul Saga, which I’ve played through a big chunk of on an alpha build, had me emerging at that precise moment to put a stop to this shadowy invasion. And the revamped elven kingdom of Quel’Thalas beyond was worth the abrupt summoning.

The Clock Strikes

If you aren’t caught up on the events of The War Within, Midnight is something WoW has never really tried before: a direct follow-up to a previous expansion, and the midpoint of a planned trilogy that tells a single, overarching story. And at the end of The War Within, the manipulative Xal’atath used us to knock out a godlike being called a Void Lord and slurped it up to power her favorite plot bauble, which has enabled her to launch a full-scale void invasion of Azeroth. To bring about her plans, she has to snuff out the Light itself, hence starting her invasion at the logical place, the Sunwell.

The design of the new void creatures is diverse and evocative, especially with the more powerful lieutenants, and they help sell the stakes of the invasion well. I won’t spoil exactly how this intro section ends, but Blizzard has once again done a great job using the skybox to tell a story.

I got a bit of a welcome breather once the immediate disaster was under control, though, as I was quickly shepherded into the new expansion hub of Silvermoon City. This was an awe-inspiring homecoming as someone who has followed the story of this elven kingdom since Warcraft 2 and would call myself kind of a Thalassaboo. The reimagined version is so much larger, richer, and more dense than the one that’s been around since 2007. Quel’Thalas, and the adjoining troll kingdom of Zul’Aman, are also now fully, seamlessly connected to the Eastern Kingdoms, finally letting us fly across the entire continent without entering a different instance.

Where once the Dead Scar left by Arthas tore the city in half is now the Path of Dawn, a highway stretching all the way across the zone and through the capital. Only small remnants remain of the undead corruption and mana addiction that once plagued these lands. What were once the gloomy Ghostlands are now folded into the larger Eversong Woods zone, with the eternal light having returned to all but the furthest corners. It’s been one of my favorite zones since The Burning Crusade, and I was thrilled to come back and see it bigger, healed, and thriving.

Summit of the World

In the city itself, most of the real estate is now a faction-neutral expansion hub with all of the vendors and services you’d expect. The Bazaar has been extended across the Path of Dawn to form a new city center, anchored by our command HQ in the war against Xal’atath – the imposing Sanctum of Light. What was once the Ruins of Silvermoon sub-area on the western side has been completely rebuilt with two lovely districts: Falconwing Square, new home of the Farstriders, and Thalassian University, a gleaming college of magic that’s also the setting of one of the new delves. Murder Row, representing Silvermoon’s shady back alleys, is also tweaked and now part of the faction neutral area.

Around a quarter of the city is still a Horde-only zone, taking up the remixed Path of the Elders, Royal Exchange, and Court of the Sun areas from old school Silvermoon. The old Farstrider Square has sort of been folded into the latter two, with the Exchange leading right up into the Court of the Sun, but there is also a new subdistrict on the Southeastern side called the Court of Blood, where all of the Blood Knight stuff has been relocated. The Sunfury Spire, center of the kingdom’s government, is now a floating tower above the city that is also restricted to Horde only.

Alliance players who enter these areas will get a 10-second grace period before all the guards become hostile like any other faction capital, but this aggro can be cleared instantly by re-entering a sanctuary area. Overall, I’m pretty satisfied with the balance of cross-faction to faction-specific areas, even if it feels like maybe we should be ready to bury the hatchet at this point. The tensions between the visiting Alliance and their Horde hosts play out in the opening hours of the story, which makes for an interesting political drama.

Blinded By the Light

The first conundrum we’re sent to solve in Quel’Thalas is an odd and unexpected one, having just come from beating up a bunch of void baddies. It seems that the reignition of the Sunwell has also caused areas called Lightblooms to pop up, which have become overgrown with life and brightness. In fact, the entire zone looks a bit washed out, with an altered color balance that makes it feel like someone has turned a floodlight up too high. The ongoing story of WoW has long hinted that Light can be just as dangerous as Void if you have too much of it, and it seems like we might be dealing with both this expansion.

This issue becomes even more dire in the first of Midnight’s delves, Collegiate Calamity, which takes us inside Thalassian University where the Lightbloom has gotten out of control. Compared to The War Within’s delves, it felt quite short, but I was playing it on a fairly low difficulty. On the other hand, it feels much more like a connected area, similar to a lot of WoW’s best dungeons, as opposed to several War Within delves that were caves with no real sense of place. You can see the rest of Silvermoon in all its glory from the upper terrace, which really helps situate it as part of the world and the story.

Replacing the cheerful Brann Bronzebeard as your delve companion is the ruthless Valeera Sanguinar, a blood elf assassin who still dresses like every female video game character did in 2007. She’s pulling it off, though. I like the new cape. I’ve only found a couple of her curios so far, so it’s hard to say how she fights, but the tone is very different when you’re running with a femme fatale edgelord instead of a happy-go-lucky explorer. The change of pace is kind of nice. I don’t know if we’ll be BFFs, but stranger things have happened.

In Shadow I Serve

We haven’t been able to play the new Haranir allied race yet, and Midnight isn’t adding any new classes. But it does include a whole new spec for the Demon Hunter, the Devourer, using the Void to fuel its powers rather than demonic energies. Thematically, it’s a very cool idea with a lot of grim reaper vibes and a rotation that encourages getting into melee for a bit, then getting some distance, and repeating that dance. If you’ve played a Red Mage in Final Fantasy XIV, it’s kind of similar. The best part about Demon Hunters has always been how much their fighting style relies on movement, and that’s still true here.

As for my trusty Marksmanship Hunter, it’s hard to compare apples to apples when this is still an alpha and my character on the test server is hilariously undergeared compared to my retail main, but it doesn’t feel vastly different, at least in single target. I did my best to recreate my talent build as close as possible to how it is on the live version, and the biggest thing I noticed was that cast time reduction for Aimed Shot is much harder to come by, which slows down the tempo of my rotation quite a bit. The Sentinel hero talents have also seen a significant rework, as have our main multitarget damage-dealing abilities. We’ll put a pin, or an arrow, in that.

Homecoming

The biggest feature coming in Midnight is definitely player housing, and I was thrilled to discover how powerful the tools for customizing my own little abode in Azeroth are – from the floor plan, to the decor, to the walls and flooring. It seemed like adding multiple levels was a little bit buggy in this build, so I didn’t get to mess with that much. But everything else works great.

The Horde neighborhood of Razorwind Shores is triumphant, with everything from a blooming desert to rocky bluffs to tropical islands to a rugged pine forest. I do think the Alliance might be getting the short end of the stick here, though. Their neighborhood of Founder’s Point seems really one-note in comparison. It’s mostly just a sweeping, green fairy tale forest with a couple areas featuring different kinds of trees, one being mildly spooky.

There’s still a lot of the Midnight alpha for me to see. Try as I might, they wouldn’t even let me into the mysterious realm of Zul’Aman! But having played it basically every waking hour since I got access, which was about 10 hours ago as I write this, I am certainly impressed with the new zones and the customization housing allows, and I’m excited to see where the story of the Worldsoul Saga goes next. World of Warcraft: Midnight is due out some time next year, but housing will be rolling out to anyone who owns the expansion in December.

Magic: The Gathering’s popularity is growing, and it’s getting easier to get good deals on sealed Magic product.

Amazon currently has a slate of Magic deals, including up to 39% off of Commander Decks, over 25% off Bundles, and more, and you can snag 10% cashback when using Amazon’s Prime Visa Card.

Here are the best deals we’ve found.

Kicking off with Commander Decks, there are four of note here. The first is Modern Horizons III’s Tricky Terrain deck, which is all about turning land into, well, any other land, and making your creatures all creature types.

It’s a genuinely unique preconstructed deck, and it’s reduced by 39% from its $70 MSRP down to $42.98. Fans of Doctor Who can pick up Paradox Power, which contains the twelfth and thirteenth Doctors, for just $34.95 with the same percentage knocked off the MSRP.

The Fallout set’s Scrappy Survivors deck has seen a 25% discount, bringing the Dogmeat deck down to just $44.99. If you want a deck that involves pulling equipment from the graveyard, this is perfect.

Finally, the Final Fantasy XIV deck, Scions and Spellcraft, is down to just $44.99, a discount of 36% from the MSRP. If you missed out on Aetherdrift’s race to the finish, the Finish Line Bundle, which includes 6 Play Boosters, 2 Collector Boosters, extended art cards and more, is down to $58.47 – a discount of 27%.