For once, I bring what should hopefully be good news for folks looking to buy or upgrade their PC hardware without having to factor in a bunch of inconveniences they can do nothing about. The RAM crisis is still in full swing, but the US Supreme Court have struck down the majority of President Trump’s tariffs on imports. These tariffs have been another of the key annoyances complicating the state of play when it comes to hardware companies being able to sell you the bits you need at prices which haven’t been driven far above where they should typically be.
For as long as humanity has existed, we’ve looked up at the stars and wondered how we got here, and whether we were alone. In Causal Loop, the answer to the latter is obvious: no. Or, at least, we might not have been. Causal Loop follows exo-archaeologist Bale and exo-linguist Jen as they land on the planet of Tor Ulsat to study the ruins of the Tor civilization. Whatever was here is gone now. Only the monuments and the structures remain. It’d be a pretty neat set up in and of itself (we need more games about archaeology), but that’s just the start for Causal Loop, though you wouldn’t necessarily know it from the jump.
Causal Loop starts slowly, letting you get to know its characters, systems, and world before pushing you into the deep end of the pool that’s the actual game. See, Jen and Bale aren’t alone. They’re accompanied by Walter, an AI housed in a drone armature. It’s clear from the jump that Bale and Walter don’t get along. Bale constantly needles Walter and openly resents his presence; it’s clear that the AI is there to supervise him and keep the mission on track because Bale did something in the past that caused issues, and Walter isn’t about to let him forget it. “That’s why they pay me the big bucks,” Bale crows when his idea to open an early door by shorting it works out. “Until your contract gets terminated again…” Walter shoots back. Even letting Walter have access to his suit so he can activate Bale’s amplifier is something Bale pushes back against. They don’t like each other much, these two.
Ironically, Causal Loop wasn’t always that way. It kind of happened by accident, according to creative director Kai Moosmann. “So the first version of Walter was like, “Hey, Bale, my scans detect this and that. And that’s very interesting.” And Bale would be like, “Oh, thank you Walter, let’s move on to the next thing.” So it was always: they see something, they comment on it, they move on to the next thing. And more by accident, one of the placeholder audios for Walter was a bit snippy, and I was like, ‘That’s interesting.’ That’s interesting stuff right there because now we could maybe have these characters quip with each other and riff off of each other on that emotional level. And the problem was still though that Walter was not really sentient and I was not sure whether or not Walter and Bale, their relationship should be seen as something like a tool versus an actual character. And so we started experimenting and started treating Walter like an actual person, and that’s how all of it happened. That’s how Jen was introduced. That’s how all the other characters got into the mix because now we needed a reason for Bale to dislike Walter.”
“I think one of the rules in the design document was whenever we can do Hollywood, we do Hollywood.”
The moderating influence is Jen, who is clearly sympathetic to Bale but would like him to try to work with Walter to make things go more smoothly. The pacing here is very deliberate, Moosman tells me. “We said right from the get-go, we didn’t want to lock the player into a playground, into a jungle gym or something like that. We wanted to make sure that the story of Causal Loop and the gameplay are completely inseparable in so many ways… We wanted to make sure that people get to know these characters and that they get to care about the characters and what happens to them. I think one of the rules in the design document was whenever we can do Hollywood, we do Hollywood. That was sort of the rule for all of this, and it led to this slow opening and it was deliberate. We could have made it even slower, but we accelerated it even a little bit because at the beginning we had a scene where we showed the characters arriving on the planet and unpacking their gear, having conversations with each other, but we just wanted to push people into gameplay faster.”
And make no mistake, Causal Loop is teaching you how to play it long before it becomes obvious. Whether it’s Jen’s gentle ribbing about Bale’s speed (he’s not fast; Jen often refers to him as slowpoke), learning how to scan items in the world and determine their purpose, or having Jen and Bale synchronize their actions to open a door or switch on a bridge at the right time so the other one can cross. There’s also some really nice foreshadowing as to what you’re actually dealing with before the characters themselves find out.
As the group progresses, they gradually awaken more of the Tor technology, which culminates in the awakening of what seems to be a power source. Walter is hesitant to check the thing out because they have no idea what it is, but Bale’s full steam ahead, and… well, it goes about as well as you’d expect. Jen gets zapped away, Walter’s drone armature is destroyed, and Bale… Bale dies. When Walter brings him back, things are different. There’s a massive megastructure they didn’t notice before, alien squids are flying through the air, and there are farting plants. Yeah, no seriously. And all of that is intentional, because the developers at Mirebound knew that Tor Ulsat needed to feel alien, despite being a barren planet. What does the ecology of a planet like that look like? What still lives here? And that, in turn, influences the story. The blue goo you see everywhere eventually became something that powered the Tor’s buildings.
But the biggest difference is what that energy source did to Bale. Soon after waking up, Bale is contacted by a Tor named Nala’Tor, who informs him that the device he activated is called the Chronolith, and that Bale’s meddling has “fractured the fabric of reality, altering the very constraints that define [Bale’s] existence.” Fancy. In reality, that means that Bale can now see and interact with phase rifts, which allow him to create echoes of himself. The uses for this start small. Is that button that opens a door too far away from said door for Bale to press the button and run through it? Have an echo do it for you and waltz through once he opens the door. That bridge too far for you to cross before it vanishes? Get an echo to press the button for you and walk on over once it materializes.
The cool thing about echoes is that they’ll repeat their path over and over again until you tell them to stop… or until you run into them, which will kill them. There are some interesting existential questions there, and even Bale doesn’t quite know how to feel about them. What’s better is that everything you need to know about echoes is presented diegetically, as is almost every part of Causal Loop’s UI. Walter color-codes them for you and creates a meter that shows how much time you have while creating one – and where each echo is in their cycle.
After getting a good grasp of the basics, I’m taken to a later part of the game to kick off the training wheels. Now, there are teleporters – which, like doors and bridges, often need to be activated by an echo, and can also be used by echoes. Handy – and square keys that explode if they’re out of a socket for too long. Now, the puzzles become more complicated and more interesting. Make an echo to run down and turn on a teleporter, then stand on it when he does. It takes me to an isolated, outside area with a key. Great. I grab that sucker and head back to the teleporter, and the damn thing promptly explodes in my hands. Okay, so teleporters and keys are out. But there’s a hole in the wall, so I chuck it through there, zap back through the teleporter, and manage to slot the key into another wall slot before it explodes (though it takes me a few attempts).
To get him through, I have to synchronize my echoes, passing through the forcefield while creating my second after my first has lowered it.
A couple of pit stops later, and I put it in its lock, which reveals a gravity lift that takes me up real high. A little key-throwing and another gravity lift later, and I get to what is probably my favorite puzzle in my time with Causal Loop, and the first one I play that requires two echoes. I send the first to a lower level and through a teleporter into a sectioned-off room to hit a switch that controls a forcefield. That done, I make another echo (this one’s blue) who runs around the upper level I got to from the gravity left. He needs to hit another button, but the trick is that there’s a forcefield in the way, and running into one means you’ll have a dead echo. To get him through, I have to synchronize my echoes, passing through the forcefield while creating my second after my first has lowered it. It’s not the most elaborate puzzle I play in Causal Loop, but it’s a great example of the strengths of Causal Loop’s puzzle design. When designing them, Daniel Radschun, Mirebound’s Technical Director, told me that he’s often starting from the end goal of the puzzle. “I work my way a little bit backwards, but also not, and I add separate elements step by step and really make sure that each of the elements are already working together.” Every element builds on the last.
I’ll be honest, y’all: I have an extremely poor sense of direction in both video games and real life, and I’m pretty map reliant. Causal Loop doesn’t have one, so my path through it often started with exploring a bit, finding a phase rift, and saying, “Okay, what can I do from here? What can I interact with? If I push that switch, what happens? Where does that teleporter take me?” Then, I’d work out the answers to those questions and see what I could do from there. A lot of my time with Causal Loop was spent in trial and error, learning new mechanics and seeing what did what. Sometimes, that meant doing something dumb and dying. Others, it meant looking at something like a gravity lift over a pit of lava and saying, “I wonder if I can get into that?” and learning I could in the coolest way possible. But I was always learning as I played it.
Radschun and Moosmann assured me that the full game builds these lessons up organically and reiterates the lessons you’ve learned, something I got a feel for even though I was jumping around to several points in the game. The fact that I was solving some of Causal Loop’s later puzzles without help speaks to how well it teaches you, and both developers I spoke to were proud that folks had been finishing Causal Loop’s public demo in ways they hadn’t intended.
Mirebound is rightfully proud of the way story and gameplay are inseparable in Causal Loop, but when I asked the team what they were most proud of, they told me it was Causal Loop’s optimization. Obviously, the build I played was a work-in-progress, but Moosmann told me every decision they made was with optimization in mind so Causal Loop could run on as many computers as possible. It was a ton of work, but the gamble seems to have paid off: other studios are now asking them how they did it. “If there’s a wall, for example,” Moosmann told me, “and that wall is casting a shadow, and in that shadow frustum, inside that shadow frustum, there are several other objects, they’re still casting a shadow even though you don’t see it because that big shadow is on [top of them]. We just disable the shadows of the objects…where you don’t see that they’re casting a shadow. And that might sound stupid. We’ve been called stupid for this. ‘Unreal handles this very well.’ Yeah, up to a point, up to a couple of thousands of objects. But our worlds are made of 7, 8,000, 9,000 objects and yeah, it stacks, so it’s totally worth doing that work.” The result is that as of our interview, they tell me that Causal Loop still runs at around 60 FPS on a 1080 Ti on high settings.
After spending a few hours with Causal Loop, I’m not surprised. You can see the attention to detail Mirebound is putting into everything, whether it’s the story, the characters, or the world. Causal Loop is shaping up to be a brain-bending puzzle game, and an interesting story to boot. It may not have been what I imagined when I first met Bale, Jen, and Walter, but one of the best parts of digging through the past is being surprised at what you find.
Nightsoil is a sombre little top-down narrative adventure about a gong farmer – that is, a collector of human waste – in 1854 London, at the height of the cholera epidemic. Gong farmers were, I understand, required to work after sunset, to avoid causing revulsion among the decent folk. In this case, you’re a gong farmer at the end his tenure, working his final shift alongside his trusty carthorse Ol’ Boy, while reminiscing about his bygone youth and the happier days that might have been.
Buying the digital Switch 2 edition of Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition from the Nintendo eShop will cost you $64.99. However, if you buy the digital edition for the original Switch through this Amazon deal and then purchase the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition Upgrade Pack from the eShop for $4.99, that’ll set you back about $45 instead. That’s roughly $20 in savings, so why not take this opportunity to upgrade for less if you’ve wanted Xenoblade Chronicles X for Nintendo’s latest console?
Step 1: Buy Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition for Switch
Step 2: Buy Nintendo Switch 2 Edition Upgrade Pack
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is a game that’s worthy of a spot in your gaming library. Our review from George Yang had high praise for it, saying “Xenoblade Chronicles X was already one of the Wii U’s best games, and this Definitive Edition has escaped the destruction of its old home like the White Whale and settled down nicely on Switch.”
Yang continued on to say that, “The quality-of-life improvements here are enough to justify another trip to Mira alone for veteran players, and it’s the perfect opportunity for newcomers to explore its beautiful landscapes for themselves.” If its one that’s been sitting on your must-play list, this is a great time to pick it up, especially because the Switch 2 upgrade lets you play at up to 4k resolution and with smoother frame rates.
Alongside Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, Amazon has plenty more digital Switch game deals to explore right now. Our rundown of Amazon’s digital Nintendo Switch game sale highlights some of our top picks, including Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, Princess Peach: Showtime, and more.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.
The thing you need to understand about Fogpiercer is that this deckbuilding roguelike, in which you control a train battling Mad Max-style road bandits, knows the secret joy of artillery. It is one of the few games that recognises that while it’s satisfying to hit an enemy with a shell from a howitzer, it’s even more satisfying to target the space next to them and use the force of the blast to give them a sideways shove into a wall.
It’s a mechanic that puts Fogpiercer into the same fine company as Into The Breach.
Only Nintendo could get its fans excited about a re-release of one of its most dramatic commercial flops, and, as somebody who is old and grey enough to recall the disaster that was the Virtual Boy the first time around, I find it endlessly amusing that its resurrection as a Switch accessory has caused such interest.
But then again, this is a platform that arguably deserves a second look, despite its well-documented shortcomings.
Welcome to Next Week on Xbox! In this weekly feature we cover all the games coming soon to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox on PC, and Game Pass! Get more details on these upcoming games below and click their profiles for further info (release dates subject to change). Let’s jump in!
A new era of survival horror arrives with Resident Evil Requiem, the latest and most immersive entry yet in the iconic Resident Evil series. Experience terrifying survival horror with FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft, and dive into pulse-pounding action with legendary agent Leon S. Kennedy. Both of their journeys and unique gameplay styles intertwine into a heart-stopping, emotional experience that will chill you to your core.
Towerborne is an exciting side-scrolling action RPG brawler. Rise again as an Ace, an immortal warrior reborn to defend the Belfry against the darkness beyond its walls. Journey across a crumbling world, uncover the mystery of the fallen City of Numbers, and push back the corruption threatening humanity’s survival.
Tales of Berseria Remastered Deluxe Edition Pre-Order
Engage in the ultimate quest for self-discovery, remastered for the first time. The sacred kingdom awaits the arrival of its savior, and a lone woman named Velvet is marked by traumatic deceit. Join Velvet on her journey for vengeance, along with her cast of eccentric companions, as they sail through the archipelago which comprises the kingdom of Midgand.
Bread & Fred is a challenging co-op platformer where two players must cooperate to jump and climb to the top of a snowy mountain. Play as both Bread and Fred in their exasperating and sometimes maddening climb that requires precision with every jump. Each time you land you’ll be closer to the peak and one step closer to mastering the platforming, but your fall down the mountain will be even farther.
Grab your towels because the chillest capybara in gaming is ready for a soak! In Capy Spa, you help Pipa, a relaxation-loving capybara, push herb buckets into hot springs to prepare the perfect bath. With 30 carefully crafted levels, two charming biomes (Savanna River and Forest Onsen), and a soothing soundtrack that blends with the rising steam, every stage invites calm and thoughtful moves.
Emotional Damage Incoming! The most ridiculously epic Souls-like parody ever created meets outrageous humor in this absolutely insane action-RPG! You’re no chosen one – just a blacksmith with questionable bean-eating habits who accidentally gained ancient dragon powers. Now, you’re humanity’s last hope, and it’s time to show these evil corporations what REAL power smells like!
Again you are alone against the hordes of hostile spacecrafts where you can only rely on yourself. It is the victory or the death! An automatic station deep in space has sent an alarm signal and then the connection is disrupted. Your spaceship set off there to carry out reconnaissance. But all of the sudden you encounter huge forces of an unknown enemy. Now there’s no way back – you either defeat them or die. This game is a vertical scroll-shooter with numerous enemies and a gradually increasing level of complexity.
A squad of mutant kids from the hood is humanity’s last hope in this colorful, humor-packed zombie apocalypse. Blast freaky zombies with ridiculous guns, spray wild graffiti across the city, and face a monstrous Zombie Boss at the end of every mission. Each hero in the squad offers a unique playstyle: choose yours, dig the weirdest guns out of dumpsters, and enjoy the insane headshot animations.
Journey of Johann is an action-adventure platformer with puzzle elements. Make your way through levels and a boss with different challenges and obstacles. Collect goblets and secrets and beat time trials. Use your weapons as tools such as climbing, blocking hits, and defeating enemies. The game was designed with speedrunning in mind.
Pogui – February 25 Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery / Xbox Play Anywhere
Safely guide a lovable pup through crazy platforming stages so he can get back to his naptime! Pogui is just a little dog who wants to take a nap, but crazy stuff keeps happening around him! Guide the lovable pug through dreamlike worlds and help him get to bed. Pogui is a side-scrolling precision platformer presented in retro pixel art style. Run, jump and dash your way through colorful but hazardous levels!
UFOphilia is a first-person psychological horror game where you explore areas marked by alien phenomena. Use specialized equipment to detect, identify, and photograph aliens, but do so at your own risk… They are watching you too. Equipped with advanced tools, your mission is to detect, identify, and photograph extraterrestrials, each encounter involving unique behaviors and unpredictable dangers.
A small town in the far north goes about its life: preparing for the Festival of the New Star, decorating streets, celebrating. The festival is inseparable from a cycle that repeats month after month. And Sonya stands at its center. She’s part of a story she’s still trying to understand. A kind girl with a sharp mind and countless questions, she searches for answers among snow and lights. Sonya helps friends, makes new ones, explores hidden corners, fights spirits, and solves puzzles. She acts, hoping her actions will lead to understanding.
Buy cooking equipment, prepare delicious meals, and serve hungry customers. Upgrade your setup, read customer reviews, and expand your business to become the top fast-food joint in the city.
Golfing Over It with Alva Majo is a discouraging game about climbing a surreal mountain with a golf ball, a different take on 2017’s hit Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy. Experience the challenge of climbing an unyielding mountain without infuriating controls being part of that challenge. Bennett Foddy has played this game and granted it his blessing.
Hunt the Night is a retro-style action-RPG that blends fast, skillful combat with dark fantasy lore. Play as Vesper, a member of the Stalkers, and traverse the ruined world of Medhram on a mission to save humanity from a deadly cycle of annihilation. Endure nightmarish overworlds, slash through horrific dungeons, face brutal bosses, and wield an arsenal of powers in a relentless struggle against the Night itself.
Unleash chaos, control magic, and save the village… with a flute. Manairons is a 3D action platformer game inspired by the legends of little creatures living in the Pyrenees. Help Nai face off against the landowner who has taken control of a charming village using the power of the “canut,” with magic, flute, and plenty of chaos.
Get ready for an underground adventure full of charm and strategy! In Mole Cart Mining, you guide a determined little mole riding a mine cart while rotating tracks on a hexagonal grid to create the perfect route. The goal is simple and satisfying: collect every mineral and reach the exit in style.
No Sleep For Kaname Date – From AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES
Iris has been abducted by aliens?! Finding herself on board a mysterious UFO and tasked with completing a bizarre escape game, Iris knows there’s one person who she can always count on for help: Kaname Date, Psyncer! As Date, conduct investigations, solve escape game puzzles, and Psync into the dreams of potential suspects to help Iris escape and unravel the mystery behind The Third Eye Game!
Sands of Aura is an open-world action adventure with a fantasy setting of a realm in its twilight–a world buried beneath a sea of sand. Sail across the sandseas to return life to a dying world in an unforgettable experience that is equal parts engaging story and unrelenting, souls-like combat.
A total of 300 questions with easy, normal, and hard difficulties have been included. Complete problems to unlock background effects and BGM tracks. There are 3 background effects and 3 BGM tracks. Sudoku allows you to use your brain while also being soothed by the effects and BGM.
The gods of Olympus seek a mortal champion to fight against a rising darkness. Only those who endure their trials may be chosen. In Trials of Olympus, you journey through the realms of Ares, Artemis, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. Each god’s domain holds three great trials — vast platforming levels filled with traps, enemies, and divine essences to recover. You cannot fight, for no weapon is yet yours. Instead, rely on agility and wit.
What if you could freely choose another life? WorldNeverland – Elnea Kingdom is a sandbox life simulation game where you can move to a fictional kingdom you’ve always dreamed of and enjoy a carefree life. Why not weave a grand story spanning generations with your own hands?
Aquamarine is a turn-based playable comic book about surviving in an alien ocean. Inspired by the psychedelic sci-fi of the ’70s & ’80s, Aquamarine combines the mystery of old-school adventure games and challenging roguelikes with elements of survival, exploration, and puzzle solving. Journey across a water world reclaimed by nature. Overcome survival and navigational challenges as you discover the planet’s lost history. Master your pod’s controls, study the ocean wildlife, and solve environmental puzzles to help you find your way home.
This game is worth every penny, and you should buy it right now, why? Firstly because the whole story was written during a livestream, which makes the story totally nonsensical! If this doesn’t convince you remember that not only do I have a gun, I also know all your secrets. This is of course a joke, I do not know your secrets, yet.
You’ve washed ashore on a mysterious island where ancient emojis have awakened — and they’re not happy to see you. This rogue-like first-person shooter throws you into wild, fast-paced combat against tiki emojis wearing carved masks and wielding primal powers. Before each run, customize your experience with crazy modifiers: make enemies bounce, wear funny hats, or unleash volcanic chaos for maximum challenge. Choose your arena — from overgrown jungles and hidden beach ruins to ancient temples filled with deadly traps — each location has its own hazards, secrets, and surprises.
Manage your mini racer car shop, sell mini cars and spare parts, and unleash your creativity with custom builds. Test drive your creations on the racetrack before putting them up for sale. Transform your shop into a haven for mini car enthusiasts and build a thriving business in the process!
Showcase your style and become a supermodel in one of the best shopping games! No matter what your fashion style may be, this shopping mall has exactly what you’re looking for! Get a fabulous new hairstyle at your favorite hair salon Chic Cuts, and dress up in the latest hot trends from our stylish shops! It’s Black Friday! The excitement is real as you race to grab the clothes you need before they vanish from the shelves! Dress up in shirts, skirts, shoes, and accessories, or get expert advice from your personal shopper!
Solar Machina is a vibrant 2D pixel art platformer where you control a robot on a colorful journey through tropical landscapes filled with traps and enemies. As you progress, your robotic suit evolves, granting new movement abilities that transform how you play. With smooth controls, distinct biomes, and a nostalgic chiptune soundtrack, Solar Machina offers a satisfying blend of challenge, rhythm, and exploration that keeps engagement from start to finish.
In a realm between life and death, a confused soul seeks redemption and freedom from a past life filled with misguided choices. Playing alone or together via co-op multiplayer, command a soul in search of the exit from this dark and desolate realm. Use the environment to your advantage and avoid treacherous traps to clear 30 challenging levels of hauntingly morose pixel art.
Welcome to the untamed frontier! In Wild West Tycoon you are tasked with transforming the rugged Wild West into a thriving economic powerhouse. This low-poly style simulation game invites you to master the art of frontier entrepreneurship where every decision counts and every enterprise takes you one step closer to building a legendary empire.
It was an understandably quiet January in the U.S. games market, with very few new releases and a bit of a comedown from a busy holiday season leaving Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 again the best-selling game of the month, and the PlayStation 5 on top for consoles.
The PS5 led hardware in both unit and dollar sales, with the Nintendo Switch 2 taking second in both, according to analysis shared by Circana senior director and analyst Mat Piscatella. Overall hardware spending was up 16% year-over-year, with an increase in Switch 2 spending (admittedly an increase over nothing, as the Switch 2 wasn’t out last year) offsetting declines in spending on PS5 (down 17%), Xbox Series (down 27%) and Switch 1 (down a whopping but understandable 79%). Accessories spending was down 5% to $185 million.
In content, spending up was up 3% year-over-year to $4.3 billion, largely driven by a 23% increase in subscription spending. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was once again the best-selling game of the month, followed by NBA 2K26 again in the No.2 spot, and Madden NFL 26 rising from No.4 last month to No.3 in January. Battlefield 6, last month’s No.3, dropped to No. 5 in January.
The only new game entering the top 20 for January was Code Vein II, which came in at No. 11. We did see Final Fantasy 7: Remake leap from No.225 last month to No.9 for January, thanks to its Xbox Series and Nintendo Switch 2 releases. Fallout 4 also made a big jump from No.68 to No.20, possibly thanks both to Season 2 of the Fallout TV show coinciding with a major drop in price on Steam at the end of the month.
Overall, total gaming spending reached $4.7 billion, up 3% year-over-year. Not exactly a thrilling start to 2026, but when has January ever been an explosive month for games?
January 2026 U.S. Top 20 Best-Selling Games:
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
NBA 2K26
Madden NFL 26
Minecraft*
Battlefield 6
EA Sports FC 26
Grand Theft Auto V
Red Dead Redemption II
Final Fantasy VII: Remake
Forza Horizon 5
Code Vein II (NEW)
Ghost of Yotei
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
EA Sports College Football 26
Helldivers II
Pokemon Legends: Z-A*
Split Fiction
Elden Ring
Flight Simulator 2024
Fallout 4
* Indicates that some or all digital sales are not included in Circana’s data. Some publishers, including Nintendo, do not share certain digital data for this report.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Valve currently have three Steam Deck models on offer: you’ve got the standard 256GB LCD variant (basically no longer in production), the 512GB Steam Deck OLED, and a beasty 1TB edition of the latter. All of them are lovely handheld PCs, but whether you’ve got one of these or you invested earlier in a smaller model, you might still be itching for a little more capacity to make that 32-hour flight to New Zealand a lot more bearable. At this point you have two options: a microSD card, or for storage with more clout, one of the best Steam Deck SSDs.
Finji, publisher of beloved indie titles such as Night in the Woods and Tunic and the developer behind Overland and Usual June, says that TikTok has been using generative AI to modify its ads on the platform without permission and pushing those ads to its users without Finji’s knowledge, including one ad that was modified to include a racist, sexualized stereotype of one of Finji’s characters.
This was first brought up by Finji CEO and co-founder Rebekah Saltsman on Bluesky, where she shared a screencap of a social media post from another brand that appeared to be going through the same thing, and saying the following, “If you happen to see any Finji ads that look distinctly UN-Finji-like, send me a screencap.”
Unusual June
According to Saltsman speaking with IGN, Finji’s official account on TikTok does push ads for its games, but has “AI turned all the way off.” The team first learned that generative AI ads were being created without their knowledge thanks to social media comments on Finji’s actual, regular ads from users concerned about what they were seeing. Saltsman was able to get screenshots from audience members showing the offending ads, which prompted her to escalate the issue to TikTok support.
The original adsin question appear to be videos advertising Finji’s games, with one showing off several games and the other focused on Usual June. The AI-“enhanced” versions, which appear on TikTok as if posted directly from the official Finji account, seem to consist of slideshows rather than videos as indicated by a number of comments on both ads. Finji has sent IGN screenshots sent in by viewers who claim they saw the AI version of those ads. While several of the AI-“enhanced” images seem to be relatively unedited compared to their official counter parts, one image seen by IGN is noticeably modified.
The offending image depicts an edited version of the official cover art, the original version of which is pictured above. In the seemingly AI-edited version, the main character June (center in the image above) is depicted alone, but the image extends down to her ankles. She is depicted with a bikini bottom, impossibly large hips and thighs, and boots that rise up over her knees, seemingly invoking a harmful stereotype. This is extremely distinct from June’s actual depiction in the game:
IGN has viewed a conversation between the official Finji account and TikTok customer support, including a part of the discussion where the customer support agent confirmed Finji did have TikTok’s “Smart Creative” option shut off. “Smart Creative” is essentially a TikTok function that uses generative AI to create multiple versions of user-created ads. So if a company makes Ad A with Image A and Text A, and Ad B with Image B and Text B, generative AI will mix and match these in different combinations to test which versions of the ads work best with users, and then surface the best ones more frequently. There’s also an “Automate Creative” feature that uses AI to “automatically optimize” assets, such as “improving” images, music, audio, and other things to make an ad allegedly more pleasing to an audience. Saltsman confirms that Finji has both of those options shut off, and showed screenshots of the TikTok backend for several of the ads in question to confirm this.
Finji also says it is unable to view or edit the AI-generated versions of its own ads, and is only aware of them via numerous comments on the ads as well as users in its official Discord reporting the problem and sharing screenshots. Saltsman says she suspects there is at least one other inappropriate generative AI ad circulating based on comments on some of the ads regarding another character in Usual June, Frankie, but is unable to see the modifications herself and thus cannot confirm.
In that same support conversation, the TikTok support agent was unable to find an immediate solution for Finji. At one point, the agent suggests that one of Finji’s ads was inadvertently using the Automate Create feature, to which Finji replies, “I have never turned that on,” and had the agent confirm that option was not on for the ads described above.
Later in the conversation, the agent said, “I am checking all the possible cause [sic] why this can happen but as per checking all the setup is clear and there should be no ai generated content included.” The agent offers to “raise a ticket” for further investigation, but ignored repeated requests from Finji to share a timeline for when the ticket might be responded to.
The Support Circle of Hell
Since this incident took place, Finji staff have made efforts to follow up and get answers, only to be shut down by TikTok support repeatedly. Finji has sent IGN screenshots of all of the following messages to TikTok, and their responses.
The above conversation happened on February 3. On February 6, after a follow-up message to support from Finji asking for an update, TikTok Ads Support responded as follows:
After checking the creatives, we do not see any indication that AI-generated assets or slideshow formats are being used. Both ads are confirmed as video creatives sourced directly from your Creative Library / TikTok posts, and creatives appear unchanged at the ad level. There is no evidence that AI-generated content or auto-assembled slideshow assets were added by the system. [All emphasis TikTok’s.]
A Finji representative responded that same day with the screenshot of the offensive ad (which Finji had already sent during the initial support request) and asked for TikTok to escalate the issue, which prompted the following response from TikTok:
We acknowledge receipt of the evidence you’ve provided and understand the seriousness of your concerns. Based on the materials and context you’ve shared, we recognize that this situation raises significant issues, including the unauthorized use of AI, the sexualization and misrepresentation of your characters, and the resulting commercial and reputational harm to your studio.
We want to be clear that we are no longer disputing whether this occurred. We understand that you have provided documentation and that audience comments on the ads further corroborate your claims. This matter will be escalated immediately for further review at the highest appropriate level.
We are intiating an internal escalation to ensure this issue is investigated thoroughly, and we will work to connect you with a senior representative who has the authority to address the situation and discuss next steps toward resolution.
On February 10, having not received further responses nor been connected with a “senior representative”, Finji followed up again to ask where the ticket was at. It received a message containing the following:
I understand how surprising it was to see AI-generated or automatically created content appear in your ads, especially when you weren’t expecting any changes to your creatives.
Here’s what happened and why you saw those assets:
Your campaign recently included an ad that used a catalog ads format designed to demonstrate the performance benefits of combining carousel and video assets in Sales campaigns. This is part of an initiative aimed at helping advertises [sic] like you achieve better results with less effort. Campaigns that use these mixed assets typically see a 1.4x ROAS [return on ad spend] lift, and we wanted to ensure you had access to that potential improvement. [All emphasis TikTok’s].
The message from support went on to describe the claimed improvements gained from a catalog ads format, followed by an offer to request to be added to an “opt-out blocklist” for which approval “isn’t guaranteed.”
Finji responded, understandably pretty irate at this point, demanding to know why it had not been put in touch with a senior representative, why it isn’t addressing the “SEXUALIZED, RACIST, and SEXIST representation of [the] studio’s work” [emphasis Finji’s], why the company can’t track AI-generated versions of the ads, why it was opted into this without the company’s consent, and why TikTok cannot guarantee an opt out.
TikTok responded again, stating that the most recent response it sent was in fact from its escalation team, and that Finji would not be contacted by a “senior representative” because the person currently speaking was “the highest internal team available for this type of issue.” The representative went on to say the escalation team had already reviewed the situation and “their findings were included in the previous response” and that the feedback “had been taken seriously.” It said that Finji had been included in “a broader automated initiative” and concluded that the escalation team had “already provided their final findings and actions on this matter.”
Does TikTok want me to be grateful for the mistreatment of my company and our game?
After another reply from Finji, the TikTok representative promised to “re-escalate the issue internally,” but this was the final communication received as of publication time, even after another check-in from Finji on February 17. When reached out to by IGN, TikTok declined to provide comment on-record.
“I have to admit I am a bit shocked by TikTok’s complete lack of appropriate response to the mess they made,” said Saltsman in a statement to IGN today. “It’s one thing to have an algorithm that’s racist and sexist, and another thing to use AI to churn content of your paying business partners, and another thing to do it against their consent, and then to also NOT respond to any of those mistakes in a coherent way? Really?
“What really is utterly baffling is what appears to be a profound void where common sense and business sense usually reside. Does TikTok want me to be grateful for the mistreatment of my company and our game? Based on the wild response through the weeks of customer service correspondence we have received, I think this is their stance and take on their obvious offensive and racist technology and process and how they secretly use it on the assets of their paying clients without consent or knowledge.
“This is just simply embarrassing but not for me as an individual. For me- I am just super pissed off. This is my work, my team’s work and mine and my company’s reputation- which I have spent over a decade building. My expectation was a proper apology, systemic changes in how they use this technology for paying clients and a hard look at why their technology is so obviously racist and sexist. I am obviously not holding my breath for any of the above.”
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
