Author: Game Infliction

Gears of War co-creator Cliff Bleszinski is confident Microsoft and developer The Coalition would benefit from his ideas, saying they would bring him in to consult on the next entry “if they were smart”.

Bleszinski posted a statement on X/Twitter to suggest Microsoft isn’t interested in collaborating with him on more Gears of War games despite his assertion “it would be gold”.

“I’ve down to consult, give my two cents. Crickets,” Bleszinski said. “I understand that Gears will always be an enormous part of my legacy. I appreciate and respect that. That said, Microsoft or The Coalition haven’t hit me up. Okay. It is what it is.

“If they were smart, they’d enlist me for my input because, just from a PR standpoint alone it would be gold. But nothing. Ah well. It is what it is. So be it. Last few years I’ve moved on. Boss Key didn’t work out. Fine. S**t happens.”

Boss Key Productions was the studio Bleszinski founded after leaving Epic Games (which owned Gears of War initially) in 2012. It only lasted from 2014 to 2018, however, with neither of its games able to gain much traction.

Commenting on the success of Palworld, commonly dubbed Pokémon with guns, Bleszinski also insisted he’d had a similar idea years ago. “Palworld’s success kinda validates my pitch that was turned down at Epic many years ago: medieval Pokémon with baby dragons instead,” he said in another post.

Gears of War’s latest mainline release was 2019’s Gears 5, although turn-based tactics spin-off Gears Tactics launched a year later in 2020. Work on another game is almost certainly underway, though Microsoft is yet to say anything official.

Bleszinski said in October 2023 he believes the franchise needs a God of War style reboot to make the next entry more appealing to gamers, and again made clear he was happy to consult on what that would be.

In our 9/10 review of the last mainline game, IGN said: “No matter which mode you approach it from, Gears 5 is an incredibly fun and polished game.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Rocksteady Studios has been forced to pull Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League offline just one hour into its Deluxe Edition’s early access launch due to a bug that automatically completed players’ games.

Though the Batman Arkham universe live service game doesn’t launch proper until February 2, those who paid an extra $30 for the Deluxe Edition were granted three days of early access. This means it now should be available in New Zealand, but as reported by VGC, the game is currently offline and will be for “several hours”.

Rocksteady issued a statement on X/Twitter addressing the issue, though didn’t indicate if the game would still be offline as of its launch in the U.S. or other regions. The developer didn’t say if it would issue refunds for customers who paid the extra $30 either.

“We’re aware that a number of players are currently experiencing an issue whereby upon logging into the game for the first time, they have full story completion,” the statement said. “To resolve this issue, we will be performing maintenance on the game servers.

“During this time the game will be unavailable. We expect this to take several hours and will update once we have more information. We apologise for the inconvenience.”

Those looking forward to Suicide Squad have responded with frustration to the game being taken offline, adding more fuel to the fire of what’s already been a rocky reception. “That’s pretty poor that they did not catch this in quality assurance. Sucks for the people that paid extra to play it early,” ethan_mac said on Reddit. “Absolutely does not help with the image that the game has,” added Mr_Rafi.

The issue also brought upon more calls for the importance of an offline mode, which Suicide Squad doesn’t have despite Rocksteady’s refusal to call it a live service game. An offline mode will be added after launch, but the developer only gave a vague 2024 release window.

Rocksteady has faced an uphill challenge bringing its fans on-side following the announcement of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and the revelations about its live service elements, with many hoping for a return to the developer’s roots with a Batman Arkham-style game in the future.

The PC community will also likely grow frustrated at the quiet addition of digital rights management (DRM), which has long been a controversial subject as players claim it negatively impacts performance. As reported by PC Gamer, Rocksteady added Denuvo to Suicide Squad’s Steam page just a week ahead of launch.

Official previews for Suicide Squad were also largely critical, with IGN’s own saying: “Once the fun story bits end, you’re left with a much less inspired combat system, and an open world that’s filled with tedious tasks.”

Rocksteady lifted the non-disclosure agreement for its closed alpha in response, letting fans who were granted early access share their opinions too.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Stardew Valley creator Eric ‘Concerned Ape’ Barone has confirmed that the long-awaited 1.6 update will launch in 2024, and that it will likely be coming to PC ahead of console and mobile versions of the game.

“1.6 ended up being a little larger in scope than originally planned,” said Barone in a post on Twitter / X. “I’m done adding major new content to it now, though, and it’s in a bug-fixing and polishing phase until it’s ready for release. Thx for your patience. It’ll be fun to see everyone play it!”

In a subsequent post, the developer told one curious fan that they would be able to experience most of the new 1.6 content without having to start a fresh game, but also advised that a new file would allow fans to see everything in its proper context. “It’ll be fine to play on an old save, but I’d probably recommend a new save just to experience everything in context, otherwise you’ll unlock a bunch of stuff right away when you load up your old save,” posted the developer.

Barone also revealed that the update will likely land on PC first, before making its way to console and mobile platforms at a later date. In the same post, the developer emphasised that he was striving to avoid a big delay between platform releases, which had proved to be “a nightmare in the past”.

The substantial 1.6 update is set to bring a smorgasbord of new content to the farming RPG, ranging from hundreds of lines of new dialogue to fresh items, enhanced modding support, and late game content. Barone has also begun development on his next title, the Haunted Chocolatier, which is set to place a greater emphasis on combat while sharing many design features and aesthetic elements of Stardew Valley.

Barone shared a number of screenshots from The Haunted Chocolatier last year, which revealed in-game locations and characters, including the town square, a spooky library, and a familiar-looking Grandpa-esque character. The developer has also hinted that he would be open to adapting Stardew Valley into a Studio-Ghibli-esque movie, should the right partners come along.

Image credit: Eric Barone / Twitter

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

Tekken 8 is already down to just £47.16 in the UK (see here), over £22 off its RRP of £69.99 and a tremendous saving for what is a spectacular new entry for fighting series. Similar to the Suicide Squad deal we’ve discussed, all you need to do is use code PAYDAY20 to save on the game.

This deal can be found at trusted UK retailer The Game Collection via their eBay storefront. We’ll leave some handy links to the deal just below as well so you can easily find your chosen platform for the deal. But, just as a reminder, this promo code will expire after January 31 — so you’ve not got long left to take advantage of it.

We gave Tekken 8 a mighty 9/10 in our review, stating: “Tekken 8 is an incredible evolution for the series, with tons of single player content, an excellent suite of training tools, a great online experience, and exciting new mechanics that make Tekken more dynamic than ever.”

There’s definitely still a benefit to buying physical games, especially when there are deals like this to be found only days before release on new AAA titles. As we’ve mentioned Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is also down to just £43.96 right now as well with JANJOY20, which is over £26 off the RRP.

JANPAY20 is one of the best promo codes we’ve had at eBay since the Black Friday sales, so it’s well worth taking advantage of while you can. Other deals available right now include Tekken 8 for £47.16 on PS5 and Xbox, alongside the Steam Deck 512GB for just £374.95.

For instant updates on the latest and greatest gaming, tech, and everyday item deals, make sure to follow @IGNUKDeals on Twitter/X. Additionally, we’re on the lookout for more PlayStation Portal stock in case you missed out last year.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.