Back when Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown was announced, we knocked it for offering zappy muzak in place of the TV show’s official theme. Gamexcite and Daedalic have added the theme, now, and I sort of wish they hadn’t. “Help!” I screeched to my bedroom walls, as the rousingly sorrowful opening bars wafted from the speakers like nitrous oxide. “A videogame is making me feel something! It is making me feel like 31 years have passed, and I can still remember Neelix getting drunk on water. I still remember the Doctor’s first words. I still remember blowing up the Caretaker Array rather than using it to insta-warp home.”
Marking the game’s anniversary, from now until March 18, there’ll be a login bonus plus rotations of past Festivals of Accord. And, as we learned last week, we’re also getting the Arch-Tempered Arkveld, 10-star Arc-Tempered monsters, a special collaboration with Monster Hunter Stories 3 — a spin-off series that releases next month — plus an anniversary event where all previous awards and quests will be “re-available.”
We also learned last week that Monster Hunter Wilds will welcome a “large-scale” expansion later this year. Addressing fans in a video celebrating the open-world adventure game’s first anniversary, series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto teased that this expansion will be similar to Monster Hunter World‘s Iceborne add-on, but was otherwise coy about the details. He did, however, stress that this will be the “final update” for the monster hunting game.
Monster Hunter Wilds has had something of a bumpy ride. Title Update 4 arrived at the end of last year and ushered in a long list of gameplay and balance changes, as well as CPU/GPU improvements, load reduction, and the optimization of “PC-specific processes and addition of options and presets to reduce processing load.” A development roadmap, detailed in December, outlined plans to address the myriad issues impacting the PC version.
Note that you won’t be able to access DLC or play online multiplayer until this update has been installed. Steam users are also advised to update to driver versions to NVIDIA GeForce 581.57 (or newer) or AMD Radeon: 25.9.1. (or newer). “Some issues have been identified with AMD Radeon drivers versions 25.10.2 and higher on certain PCs using AMD Radeon graphics cards such as the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT/7800 XT,” the team warned.
Full patch notes for Monster Hunter Wilds Ver.1.041.00.00 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S
Release Date
Wednesday February 18, 2026 2:30 a.m. UTC (Tuesday February 17, 2026 6:30 p.m. PT)
Note: Release date and time are subject to change without prior notice.
Note: Make sure to have enough additional storage to allow for slight differences in final size.
Major Additions and Changes
Monsters
– Arch-tempered Arkveld has been added as a permanent Event Quest.
– New 10★ difficulty quests have been added as permanent event quests for the following monsters: Arch-tempered Rey Dau, Arch-tempered Uth Duna, Arch-tempered Nu Udra, and Arch-tempered Jin Dahaad.
Player
– New equipment and pendants have been added.
Story Progression
– Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection Special Collaboration side mission “A Royal Request” has been added. This side mission will become available after reaching HR 9+.
– New side mission “Love for a Hero” has been added. This side mission will become available after completing the extra mission “Ghosts Pay No Heed to Tomorrow” and then talking to Nadia and Mina.
Bases and Facilities
– Added a new feature to the Melding Pot that allows you to meld Gogma materials.
– Added a new feature that allows you to earn random ingredients at the Ingredient Center after reaching HR 9.
– New Appraisal Items called “Timeworn Charms” have been added to quest rewards. (No changes have been made to the attributes of Talismans earned. Chances of receiving Talismans with high rarity are increased when using Timeworn Charms.)
– Increased the maximum number of Pop-Up Camps for the Windward Plains, the Scarlet Forest, and the Oilwell Basin. (This will be unlocked by talking to the Pop-up Camp Meowster or the Support Desk after completing the assignment “Germination”.)
– Added an option to the Barrel Bowling results screen that allows you to retry immediately. An option has also been added that allows you to use 10 Barrel Bowling Vouchers and receive all rewards at once.
– Adjusted the parameters of the Blossom Barrel Bombs used in Barrel Bowling to behave differently from the Large Barrel Bombs used out in the field. In accordance with this adjustment, new placement patterns have also been added.
– Reduced the waiting time between throws in Barrel Bowling, so that players can throw the second barrel while the results of the first throw are still being displayed.
System
– Reduced CPU/GPU processing and made adjustments to lower the load on the game. – Added internal Levels of Detail (LOD) for 3D models, adjusting them to display optimal quality based on the situation to reduce GPU load. – Optimized monster and endemic life spawn-time processing to reduce CPU load. – Added effect caching to decrease CPU load when generating duplicate effects. – Optimized rendering processes to reduce CPU/GPU load. – Performed other minor adjustments to lower the overall load.
– The following 9★ event quests have been made permanently available: – The White Wonder – Ultimate Berserker – The Monkey King – Sovereign Brute – There Goes the Neighborhood
– Added a new special environment quest. (This quest will become available after completing the existing three special environment quests as well as the 10★ Arch-tempered Arkveld event quest.)
– When quick-accessing “Quest Last Played” on the top screen at the Quest Counter, the default departure point will now be set to the last departure point used. (If the last departure point used is not available, the player will start from the base camp as usual.)
– Adjusted the display for event quests to make it clearer that the player is offline on the screens for accepting or joining a quest.
– Added a Refresh button to the search results list for SOS Flare Quests.
– Added Thai as a text language. Text language can be changed in the title menu options.
– Added Latin American Spanish as a voice language. Voice language can be changed in the title menu options.
– Added a “Favorited Items Safeguard” feature to the Start Menu options. This will lock the confirm button for specific facilities so that the player cannot use items that are registered as favorites. (Note: This setting can be changed back to “Require Confirmation” on the same options screen.)
– Added a shortcut button for checking the details before registering an equipment loadout for shared loadouts on the Invitation List screen.
– Added a shortcut button for going back and forth between the “Upgrade from Box” screen and “Transcending” screen at the Smithy.
– Adjusted the UI for when the player approaches a Hunting Assistant (Werner or Gemma) in the field, making it easier to distinguish between the positions of Werner or Gemma and their hunting tools.
– All nine permanent event quests that were only playable online have been made available for offline play as well. (Please refer to the Event Quest schedule for more details.) – Heart of Judecca (Arch-tempered Jin Dahaad) – Specter of Their Sins (Gogmazios), etc.
– All 29 event quests that yield equipment materials and that were only available for a limited time have been made permanent and playable offline. (Please refer to the event quest schedule for more details.)
Miscellaneous
– Made adjustments that should prevent the Handler from pushing the hunter while out in the field during hunts or exploration. An option to hide them completely during a hunt was also added.
Bug Fixes and Balance Adjustments
Bases and Facilities
– Fixed an issue preventing some pins from being displayed and the score from being tallied correctly if the player throws a barrel right before starting Barrel Bowling.
Monsters
– Fixed an issue where the outcome of a turf war between Lagiacrus and Rathalos would differ between players.
– Fixed an issue where a weak point appeared at the incorrect timing during a Rompopolo’s toxic gas attack.
– Fixed an issue where Compact Anti-Wyvern Guns that fall to the ground sometimes wouldn’t appear under specific conditions during the Gogmazios quest.
– Fixed an issue in Jin Dahaad, Tempered Jin Dahaad, and Arch-tempered Jin Dahaad quests where, under certain conditions, only the monster would move to the final area, preventing quest progression.
Player
General
– Fixed an issue preventing the correct system messages from being displayed when a skill effect ends due to the player switching weapons.
– Fixed an issue where Fabius could get hit by the player’s slinger during Gogmazios’s special attack.
Sword & Shield
– Fixed an issue causing some items to disappear temporarily from the Radial Menu when using items like traps and such while the sword & shield are unsheathed.
Dual Blades
– Fixed an issue where landing a Focus Strike with the Dual Blades on Gogmazios while airborne caused the player to move erratically.
Bowguns
– Fixed an issue causing unintended elemental effects to be displayed on Artian weapons.
Skills
– Fixed an issue that caused an elemental resistance increase icon to appear when the “Protective Veil I” skill was active, despite the skill not having that effect.
Support Hunters
– Fixed an issue where Support Hunters may fire Compact Anti-Wyvern Guns away from Gogmazios while riding Seikret.
– Fixed an issue where Support Hunters may stop to carve Gogmazios’s severed tail during the quest.
– Fixed an issue where Fabius would stop guarding if the quest leader changed during Gogmazios’s special attack.
– Fixed an issue where the direction of Fabius’s guard would deviate from the intended direction during Gogmazios’s special attack.
– Fixed an issue where Support Hunters would not take cover during Jin Dahaad’s large area-of-effect attack.
– Fixed an issue where Support Hunters would attack Omega Planetes instead of the Nerscylla while it was charging the Delta Attack.
– Fixed an issue where Support Hunters inside a shield could still take damage during Omega Planetes’s Delta Attack.
– Fixed an issue that caused Support Hunters to be unable to get in or out of the underwater combat area during the Lagiacrus hunt.
Miscellaneous
System
– During a Field Survey, if the player deals extensive damage to a large monster that isn’t the current quest target, the health value conditions that would prevent that monster from becoming a target in a subsequent Field Survey have been relaxed.
– Fixed an issue where unnecessary chat logs (indicating monsters leaving the locale) could display during a Special Environment Quest in which the environment contains a monster of the same species as large monsters that are already designed to appear in that quest.
– Fixed an issue where the Cosmetic DLC Pass text was not displaying correctly under Add-ons in the Support Desk menu.
– Fixed an issue where the pattern thickness for the “Whitewing Caparison” decoration could not be adjusted in Seikret Customization.
– Added a fix to correct weapon performance when unintended bonus combinations are applied during reinforcement of Artian Weapons or Gogma Artian Weapons.
– We have implemented a solution to reduce the load time experienced at startup when the user has a large number of add-ons.
Locales
– Fixed an issue that sometimes caused Pitfall Traps or Shock Traps to disappear after being placed in certain areas in the Windward Plains.
– Fixed an issue that would sometimes cause two Convergent Elderbreaker cannons to appear under specific conditions during the Gogmazios quest.
Other
– Fixed an issue where some voice lines would not trigger properly.
– Fixed various text issues.
– Fixed other miscellaneous issues.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
One of these developers happens to be Moon Studios, with the CEO Thomas Mahler asking on social media if fans of the studio (as well as Ori games and Nintendo platforms) would be interested in the team’s new release, No Rest for the Wicked on Switch 2.
Magic: The Gathering has become “crossover central” in recent years, and while some fans have conflicting thoughts on the game’s 2026 roadmap, it does lead to some absolutely bizarre combinations.
Artifact Creatures in Magic: The Gathering are essentially just that – a blend of two card types. That means cards that affect Artifacts, and those that buff Creatures, will help power them up nicely.
We mention this because Krang, Utrom Warlord, could be quite ridiculous when paired with a deck focused on Artifact Creatures, like Necron Dynasties from the Warhammer 40K Universes Beyond Commander deck lineup.
Krang, Utrom Warlord is a nine-cost (expensive, yes), but has the keywords Flying, Trample, Indestructible, and Haste. Oh, and it’s a 9/9.
That’s a pain to deal with on its own, but the card also gives other Artifact Creatures you control Flying, Trample, Indestructible and Haste.
For context, almost every single creature in the Necron Dynasties deck is an Artifact Creature, so dropping Kang onto the battlefield alongside them could be a potential game-ender.
It feels like it’ll find a spot in a lot of decks based around that creature type, given it’s colorless, too, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see it climb in value somewhat.
As for Necron Dynasties, you’ll need to find it on the secondary market these days, but the mono-black deck was already plenty powerful already.
We’ll find out soon, though – the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set launches on March 6, with preorders available already.
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.
Highguard is in a bit of a Schrödinger’s cat situation. That’s because at the time of writing, the official site only shows the shooter’s logo, and text that reads “This site is currently unavailable. Please contact support@codethirtytwo.com for assistance,” alongside links to its official Discord server and Dwitter page. This, of course, could just be a blip, but even as I’m writing this it’s been the case for several hours, and there’s not a single word from developer Wildlight about why it’s down. So, it is both dead and not dead until someone opens the box.
Highguard, the free-to-play PvP “raid shooter” announced at The Game Awards last year and released to preemptive criticism and mockery only for most of its developers to be laid off just weeks after launch, was apparently financially backed by Tencent, according to a report.
This comes from Game File, which reports that the Chinese gaming mogul was the primary financial backer behind developer Wildlight Entertainment, an arrangement that was not publicly shared by either company.
Prior to this report, it was unclear who was funding Wildlight, despite Highguard seemingly being in development for a number of years prior to its announcement at The Game Awards in December. Its official LinkedIn page has long included the line that Wildlight is “a new, fully-funded entertainment studio.”
It remains unclear how heavily reliant Wildlight was on Tencent, or whether a decision to pull funding was made at some point that led to the mass layoffs. Wildlight’s future as a studio also remains unclear, with a studio statement saying that it would retain a “core group of developers” to keep Highguard going. However, the game’s website went offline earlier today and has yet to be restored, leading some to speculate that the game or even the studio is about to fully shut down.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
“Huh.” This, as admiringly as I can make this sound, was the first thought I thunked when I put down the demo for Titanium Court. Here is a game that is many things. The first thing it is is a play, in perhaps a literal sense, perhaps as a tool to immediately allow one to suspend their sense of disbelief at everything that is about to follow. We’re watching a play, a narrative vehicle where anything can happen as long as what’s on stage is convincing enough to make us believe it’s happening. And truthfully, I’m still trying to wrap my head around what did happen.
When the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set was originally announced, it felt like we’d be getting one Commander deck per Turtle, Heroes vs Villains, or some other combo, so I was particularly surprised when Wizards said it’d be cramming attitude and pizza as much as possible into a single, 100-card deck. Having seen just some of the cards included, though, I’m impressed.
Magic’s New Turtle Power Precon Looks Awesome
I should preface this ‘precon preview’ with an explanation that in our behind-closed-doors look at the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set, Wizards revealed around a dozen cards from the Turtle Power precon – but there are more reveals to come.
That means we’ve not been able to see how the deck plays, but we do know that your Commander of choice can be any of the Turtles, two of them partnered up with the Partner ability, or all five with the Heroes in a Half Shell card.
There’s nothing truly revolutionary about this modular approach (swapping Commander precons to use other Legendary Creatures within them as their leader is part of the fun of the format), but having five options for Turtles means that no one is left behind.
That includes the likes of Splinter (who has the Partner mechanic, too), but also members of the TMNT’s rogues gallery like Baxter, Fly in the Ointment, Leatherhead, Iron Gator, and, of course, Shredder, Shadow Master.
There are also some fun nods to the gaming history of the awesome foursome. Electric Seaweed from the hard-as-nails NES game makes an appearance to strike fear into gamers of a certain age, while other cards reference the squad’s love of arcade machines, like High Score and, uh, Arcade Cabinet.
Will the deck play well? We’ll have to wait to find out, but in terms of cramming as much personality into a single precon as possible, I think Wizards of the Coast may have just nailed the assignment.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set launches on March 6, with preorders already available for the Turtle Power precon.
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.
It has felt like a long old wait since Mario’s last sports outing, but last week, Mario Tennis Fever finally arrived on the Switch 2 court.
It’s tennis, again, but with a Fever Racket gimmick that gives the whole thing a fun party twist. With a 38-character roster — the biggest in series history to date, no less — and 30 different rackets to try out, there’s an impressive amount of variety on display here, and we can see it cropping up at its fair share of game nights down the line.
