While the Magic: The Gathering community remains split over Wizards of the Coast’s big push for Universes Beyond, there’s no arguing that Final Fantasy’s set from June this year was a set done right – and it set big records for the three-decade-old franchise as a result.
Amazon lists the MSRP for the Final Fantasy box at $209.70 (more on that in a moment), but it’s now down to $162.57.
That’s still more expensive than Universes Within boxes of Play Boosters, simply by virtue of being, well, Final Fantasy. Still, with that taken into account, you are saving almost $50 and still getting 30 Play Boosters of 14 cards each.
That’s 420 cards for $162.57, with some fantastic new designs included among them. Naturally, Collector Boosters, which feature rarer art treatments, have been out of stock (or endlessly marked up) for months, but if you’re looking to kickstart a Final Fantasy collection, this is the way to do it.
This Dragon-themed set has some awesome cards included, and with this deal, you’re paying $3.33 per pack and still getting 420 cards.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.
The performance of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is starting to come into focus, with sales data suggesting it’s struggling not just against rival shooter Battlefield 6, but also last year’s Black Ops 6.
The Game Business reported that Black Ops 7’s European launch saw opening week sales down 63% versus the blockbuster Battlefield 6 during the equivalent launch periods for each shooter. Black Ops 7 is also down by more than 50% versus Black Ops 6, The Game Business said.
There is an important context that must be considered when discussing Black Ops 7 sales. For example, there are Black Ops 7 sales made across various online stores that make it hard to take data from one store only, such as Steam, and use it to make a call on a game’s success either way (Call of Duty releases on Battle.net, for example).
And of course Black Ops 7, like all Microsoft games, launched day one on Game Pass. Downloads made via subscription services are not tracked here, and Microsoft has yet to announce any significant boost to Game Pass as a result of Black Ops 7’s launch. For all we know, Black Ops 7 hit its targets in terms of Game Pass subscriptions. And what even is success for Call of Duty these days in the context of Game Pass?
Meanwhile, much is made of Steam concurrents, where Black Ops 7’s launch appears to have fallen flat compared to Black Ops 6’s. Last year, Black Ops 6’s launch propelled the Call of Duty app on Steam to a peak player count of 315,000 on Steam. Black Ops 7 boosted the Call of Duty app to just above 100,000 concurrents. But Steam, too, does not paint the full picture of a game’s playerbase, given neither Microsoft nor Sony make player numbers public.
Of course, Black Ops 7 has had a big challenger this year from Battlefield 6, and it does indeed look like the tide has turned, at least at launch. Battlefield 6 secured the biggest opening ever in the Battlefield franchise, selling over 7 million copies in just three days. Microsoft — or Activision Blizzard — has yet to announce a sales number for Black Ops 7, nor has it announced a player number or even vague engagement stats, which is more surprising. Last week, Activision released a statement thanking players for their “great response” to the game, which was presumably more about Multiplayer and Zombies than it was the Campaign.
Adding to the brutal competition is the breakout hit that is Arc Raiders, which is doing fantastically well, too. Embark Studios’ extraction shooter has sold over 4 million copies worldwide and had a peak of over 700,000 concurrent players across all platforms since its launch in late October 2025. Arc Raiders Steam concurrents are actually growing, suggesting sales are continuing at a steady pace.
All in all, Black Ops 7 had a “terrible” launch, The Game Business’ chief Chris Dring said in a post on social media. Oh, and that down more than 50% figure on Black Ops 6 is in fact down more than 60%. Anecdotally, there’s certainly a feeling among some Call of Duty players that Battlefield 6 and then Arc Raiders stole Black Ops 7’s thunder. Getting in ahead of Black Ops 7 was crucial for Battlefield 6, and there are many Call of Duty fans who jumped ship and then skipped Black Ops 7 as a result. But it must be remembered that Call of Duty remains a gaming behemoth, regularly tops player number charts, and it’s come through sales disappointments (Vanguard and Infinite Warfare say hi) before. All eyes are on U.S. sales data for November, where we’ll hopefully get more evidence of Black Ops 7’s sales performance domestically.
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.
Right, time for some box news. The Steam Machine. Valve have confirmed, or reaffirmed, that its yet-to-be-revealed price will be in line with a regular PC built to similar specs, rather than subsidised in order to try and compete with consoles.
Maybe it’s time to ask Santa for MicroSD Express cards.
Storage-hungry consumers in Japan have been jumping on available stocks of super-fast MicroSD cards as an ongoing memory shortage continues across the computer industry, with no signs of getting better in the immediate future.
As reported by Tom’s Hardware, a spiralling issue of rising costs and demand that’s far exceeding availability means empty shelves and insane prices as regular consumers swoop on anything that’s left over once large data centres and AI companies have bought up their fill. Oh, AI, is there anything you can’t make worse?
To keep things straight, I’ve broken out my top picks into two buckets: the newest heavy hitters of 2025 and the rest of the must-play releases from the PS5’s nearly five-year run.
2025 PS5 Games on Sale for Black Friday
For the uninitiated, Black Friday deals tend to go live a week early these days, so while Black Friday isn’t until Nov. 28, we’ve already got all the best discounts on PS5 games to check out.
I also love to sing the praises of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 as well, and that’s just hit its lowest price ever as part of the Black Friday sales. It’s just $30 at Amazon right now, a huge $40 in savings.
That’s a “Used – Like New” copy, so you’re getting the best possible condition, at the best possible price. This can sell out quic, though, so snap it up fast while you still can.
While it came out for Xbox and PC in 2024, it hit PS5 in 2025, so this just scrapes through as a new game for PlayStation users. I love a cheeky Black Friday loophole.
More PS5 Game Deals for Black Friday
There’s some big discounts on first party PlayStation games in the sale as well, especially from the past few years. My top pick is Game of the Year 2024 winner, Astro Bot, for $39.99, which is endless amounts of fun.
I’ve barely scratched the surface across the sales as well, as there’s even more games to check out between now and Black Friday, including a 2025 Game of the Year nominee, Death Stranding 2, for $49.69. That’s $20 off, and matches the best deal on the game so far this year.
For example, Battlefield 6 is a significally better deal when buying a physical copy ($52.99 vs $59.49), while where as some games like Death Stranding 2 are just a tiny bit cheaper digitally ($49.69 vs $49.99). So, sometimes it comes in handy to have a disc drive (I’m looking at you, PS5 Pro owners).
Black Friday deals are a bit of a mess these days. Retailers spend the whole of November dangling so called limited time offers, but the truth is simple, the real discounts always land about a week before what I call “Black Friday proper”. And we’re already in the endgame now.
After over six years of tracking PlayStation pricing, one pattern never breaks, once a PlayStation deal goes live, it barely moves. So the prices you’re seeing right now on consoles, controllers, and games are almost certainly the prices you’ll be looking at through to early December.
If you’ve been sitting on your hands waiting for something better, stop. This is as good as it’s getting. Grab what you’ve been eyeing up, because the only thing you’re risking at this point is missing out.
Planning to grab anything in PlayStation’s Black Friday sale? Drop a comment, and keep an eye on IGN for daily updates as we track the best deals of 2025.
Robert Anderson is Senior Commerce Editor and IGN’s resident deals expert on games, collectibles, trading card games, and more. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter/X or Bluesky.
Ubisoft racerThe Crew has avoided yet another shutdown after being ressurected in server-emulated form by fans earlier this year. According to the modders behind its revival project, The Crew Unlimited, a bug would have seen the game stop working once 2029 rolled around. Thankfully, they say a solution’s been found.
Udo Kier, the German actor who starred in over 200 films, has died aged 81.
Kier, who appeared in 275 roles including in My Own Private Idaho, Blade, Armageddon, and Dogville, as well as Madonna music videos and video games, died on Sunday morning, his partner Delbert McBride confirmed to Variety. Photographer Michael Childers took to social media to say Kier died in hospital in Palm Springs, California. A cause of death has not yet been revealed.
The horror film specialist had a breakout role in 1970’s Mark of the Devil, before being cast as Frankenstein in 1973’s Flesh for Frankenstein, then Dracula in 1974’s Blood for Dracula — both produced by artist Andy Warhol. His first American role came in 1991 film My Own Private Idaho, which starred River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves. Madonna, a fan of Kier’s work, cast him in her music videos for Erotica and Deeper and Deeper. Later notable roles came in the likes of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Johnny Mnemonic, Armageddon, End of Days, and Blade. Kier’s final film was the political thriller The Secret Agent, in which he played a Jewish Holocaust survivor caught in the final years of the Brazilian military dictatorship.
As well as starring in hundreds of films, Kier was no stranger to the world of video games. He famously played Yuri in the live-action cutscenes that formed a part of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2’s story, and reprised the role in 2001’s Command & Conquer: Yuri’s Revenge.
RIP Udo Kier, who passed away today at the age of 81.
His performance as Yuri in Red Alert 2 has always stuck with me, and it’s one I constantly reference. I’m sad we won’t get to see you in Kojima’s OD but thank you for the great memories. pic.twitter.com/d8Y2ZBmV5r
Later, he had voice roles in 2017’s Call of Duty: WWII, and 2022’s Martha is Dead. He was set to appear in OD, the upcoming horror video game by Hideo Kojima and producer Jordan Peele, and indeed was a part of its teaser trailer, below, showing initial face scan work. It is unclear whether Kier will now be recast in the upcoming Microsoft game.
Kojima took to social media to pay tribute to Kier, expressing his shock at the news.
“I’m at a loss for words,” Kojima said. “It all happened far too suddenly. Because of the strike, we weren’t able to shoot OD for a long time, and we were forced to reschedule to next year. Even during that time, Udo and I exchanged emails frequently. We stayed in close contact. When we met in Milan at the end of September, he told me how much he was looking forward to the shoot starting up again next year. He was full of energy then too, making me laugh with his usual ‘Udo-isms.’
“I still can’t believe this. Udo wasn’t just an actor. He was truly an ‘icon’ of his time. We’ve lost a great ‘icon.’ There will never be another like him. Udo, rest in peace. I will never forget you.”
The tweet video below, shows Kojima and Kier together in Milan in September.
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.
November is… merry! As the great grim centipede of people and property that is Videogaming continues its progress of the midnight wood, a dozen auteur designers from theatre backgrounds don coxcomb hats and sequined codpieces. They climb onto carts and stage a chariot race, beating each other with bladders decorated to look like Roger Ebert. There is laughter up and down the train. Meanwhile, the industry seers and marketing-mancers have received hopeful tidings from their friends among the owls and bats. The trees are thinning out ahead. The stars can sometimes be seen. There is wild talk that third-person cover shooters are about to come back into fashion.
That isn’t all the owls and bats have seen, however. As the path curves, we find ourselves in the courtyard of a squat and forbidding tower. Five levels of blood-flecked obsidian and pixelated braziers, each named for a day of the week, each infested by perfectly terrifying new PC games. Never mind that the edifice has clearly been slapped together using assets lifted from a webinar. Never mind that you can see fuchsia checkerboards everywhere. The tower’s frightful denizens must be defeated – or possibly even bought – if the convoy is to proceed.
Black Myth Wukong has been a conversation-starter since its earliest gameplay footage was shown, and the mythology-inspired action-RPG has kept a pretty high price since it debuted.
Now, thanks to PlayStation Black Friday sales, it’s dropped to its lowest price at Amazon with a 22% discount from the MSRP, bringing the game down to just over $50. It’s not a huge discount, admittedly, but if you’ve been waiting for a chance to put yourself in Heroic Monkey’s shoes, then now’s the time.
Black Myth Wukong Hits Lowest-Ever Price
Thanks to this discount, Black Myth Wukong on PS5 is now $50.55, down from its $64.99 MSRP.
The game is inspired by ancient Chinese mythology, and sees Heroic Monkey taking the fight to bosses and beasts alike in a pseudo-retelling of the Journey to the West story, only with a lot more combat. Thankfully, the combat is the best part, so you won’t see us complaining.
If you have held out, then now really is a great time because developer Game Science dropped a massive patch for the game last month.
It promises improved performance, like faster loading speeds, better texture clarity, and improved CPU and rendering performance, making a great game even better.
That’s particularly important because, in IGN’s review, Mitchell Saltzman noted the game’s bugs.
“Despite some frustrating technical issues, Black Myth: Wukong is a great action game with fantastic combat, exciting bosses, tantalizing secrets, and a beautiful world,” he concluded.
The game is getting a sequel, Black Myth: Zhong Kui, as revealed at Gamescom Opening Night Live this year, but rumors continue to swirl about Wukong getting some kind of DLC. The game launched on Xbox platforms earlier this year.
More PS5 games on sale today
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.
