Nintendo released its very own alarm clock last year and it’s been getting regular updates ever since. If you’ve been wanting a new look, or at least a different theme, today’s update might be of interest.
We’re getting closer to the Switch 2 and Nintendo has now revealed its plans for the launch events at its stores in the US.
If you’re planning on heading to either the Nintendo New York store or the newly-opened San Francisco store, you’re going to want to show up on June 4th. Entry to both events is “first come, first served”.
PlayStation®5 exclusive “DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH” is set to launch on 26 June and we are excited to announce that DEATH STRANDING fans in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines will have the special opportunity to meet Hideo Kojima (GAME CREATOR) and Yoji Shinkawa (ART DIRECTOR) at DEATH STRANDING WORLD STRAND TOUR 2 TAIPEI on 6 July 2025.
Meet the legends behind the new DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH in Taipei as they share their passion and thoughts on their latest PS5 blockbuster.
How to Join:
1. Pre-order physical version of DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH (Standard Edition or Collector’s Edition)
2. Click the registration link here (in English/in Thai) and upload your proof of purchase.
3. In the same form, answer a couple of questions and submit your contact details.
Registration period begins on May 22, 2025 at 00:00:00 (Singapore time) and ends on June 20, 2025, 21:59:59 (Singapore time)
Prize:
A round-trip flight ticket to Taipei, 2-nights hotel stay, and entry to the DEATH STRANDING WORLD STRAND TOUR 2 TAIPEI *
* DEATH STRANDING WORLD STRAND TOUR 2 TAIPEI event will be conducted in Mandarin.
Please see more details of DEATH STRANDING WORLD STRAND TOUR 2 TAIPEI’s Terms and Conditions here: English/Thai.
A handful of staff at UK-based studio Playtonic, best known for creating Yooka-Laylee and for forming the indie publishing label Playtonic Friends, are sharing messages on social media as they have been made “redundant” at the developer.
We were first alerted to the news by a Bluesky post from former community manager Steve James, who left the company just two weeks ago (on his own terms).
Russell Adler didn’t eliminate Vikhor “Stitch” Kuzmin after all, instead confining the villain to an Icelandic black site prison as insurance for a rainy day. That day has come as Adler and crew free their former foe, their only chance to finally crack the Pantheon codenames.
Witness the return of Stitch in the massive Season 04 update for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Call of Duty: Warzone, bringing new maps, modes, weapons, and more. Season 04 launches May 29 on PS5 and PS4.
Multiplayer overview
New Core 6v6 Maps
Shutdown (Launch): Shut off the power to the prison with an attack on a hydroelectric dam in Iceland. Fight over the rugged terrain, dive into the lake, and battle around the damaged turbine.
Fugitive (Launch): With the power cut, it’s time to break Stitch out of the black site prison. Infiltrate the frozen compound, climbing, ziplining, and battling over the grounds and in the cell block where alarms warn of the jailbreak.
New 2v2/6v6 Strike Maps
Blitz (Launch): Traffic comes to a halt as Pantheon agents race towards the prison but get ambushed by the Rogue team. Duck under the bridge for quick cover or trek the cliffside seeking enemy targets.
Eclipse (Mid-Season): Stitch arrives in Avalon, slipping into an underground nightclub to discuss business. Battle in the neon lights down the halls and over the dance stage.
Remaster, Core 6v6 Map
Fringe (Mid-Season): Revisit Fringe, originally featured in Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 and coming to Black Ops 6 reimagined as the grand opening of the Rolling Hills distillery.
New Multiplayer Modes
Team Elimination (Launch): This twist on Kill Confirmed gives both teams a limited number of lives each round. Eliminated players drop a dog tag on death that can be picked up by the enemy to confirm the kill and drain the opposing team’s remaining lives, or by a teammate to prevent the action.
One in the Chamber (Launch Window): One pistol, one bullet, a knife, and three lives. Eliminate enemies to earn more bullets in this Black Ops classic.
Party Ops (In-Season): Get the party started in a new Limited-Time Mode arriving later in the season dropping players into a randomized set of themed minigames.
Now launching: The Grim Reaper
Scorestreak: Grim Reaper (Event Reward): The quad-tube loaded Launcher returns from the original Black Ops, inflicting heavy explosive damage on enemy Operators and Scorestreaks alike.
Zombies overview
Returning Mode: Grief (Launch)
The fan-favorite competitive Zombies mode returns! This 4v4 indirect PvP mode pits S.A.M. against Director Richtofen as teams pledge their support for one or the other, receiving handler comms guiding them throughout the match. Secure Capture Zones to thwart the enemy with modifiers including reduced damage, drained ammo, slowed movements, and more. Put your Zombies talents to the test in this mode while competing against real players attempting to survive longer than you and your squad.
New Ammo Mod, GobbleGums, Grim Reaper
Ammo Mod: Shatter Blast: Modify your ammo to explode on contact, dealing armor-piercing damage in a blast radius. Research Major and Minor Augments to specialize Shatter Blast’s abilities in all-new ways.
Three New GobbleGums: Chew on Explosive Flourish to trigger an area-of-effect explosion around your Operator when reloading. Pop Flavor Hex to activate a random Ultra GobbleGum, and force eliminated zombies to belch sparkly rainbow bubbles via Rainburps.
Grim Reaper: Build the new Support weapon at the Crafting Table and blast those zombies to bits!
New Challenges and LTMs
Expect an influx of Dark Ops Challenges awarding Calling Cards and bounteous amounts of XP for those able to complete the secret challenges. Play new Limited-Time Modes, including the Starting Room LTM and Abomination Challenge LTM later in the season.
Call of Duty: Warzone Overview
New Point of Interest: The Overlook
Battle up and down The Overlook, a new skyscraper under construction in Downtown. Burger Town and the SKN Comm tower have been demolished to make way for the building. Two cranes flank the dominant POI and checkpoints line the entrances. Work your way from ground level including the relocated Burger Town up to the Penthouse and Roof, or latch onto an ascender and get some serious height.
New Limited-Time Modes
Clash (Launch): Two teams of 52 drop into a specific POI within Verdansk. With no Circle Collapse and instant access to your Loadouts, be the first team to earn 500 points by eliminating enemies, completing contracts, and participating in Public Events. Earn upgrades like the new Door Barricade Field Upgrade and the Hand Cannon, spend cash to activate SAM Turrets, and earn powerups that alter the course of the match.
Havoc Royale (Mid-Season): Compete in a Resurgence mode where modifiers bend the rules in game-changing ways. Survive the havoc, be the last team standing, and claim victory!
Resurgence Casual (Mid-Season): Drop into a Resurgence match mixing human players and bots. A great mode for warming up, teaching new players about the game, or just chilling out.
Mid-Season Loadout Items
Care Package: Deploy this rare throwable to summon an aerial drop with the chance to obtain rare equipment, the Specialist Perk, and more.
Perk: Loot Master: Available only in Resurgence and Plunder, gear up faster by increasing the amount of loot you find while opening caches, including an increased drop rate for equipped weapon ammo, Tacticals and Lethals, cash, Field Upgrades, Killstreaks, and other high-tier gear.
General Overview
New Weapons: In the Battle Pass, unlock two rapid fire weapons in the LC10 SMG and the FFAR 1 Assault Rifle. Earn more across multiple seasonal events including the lever-action Essex Model 07 Marksman Rifle, Olympia Special weapon, and the Pickaxe Melee weapon.
New Attachments: Lock in with the G-Grip Tactical Foregrip available on most SMGs and Assault Rifles. Get three weapon conversions, including a burst conversion for the Stryder. 22 Pistol and full-auto conversions for the SVD Sniper Rifle and TR2 Marksman Rifle.
Events & Ranked Play
Earn additional rewards across several in-season events, including coveted items like the Essex Model 07 Marksman Rifle, Stryder .22 3-Round Burst Mod, and the Grim Reaper Scorestreak.
Plus, compete in a new season of Ranked Play for Multiplayer and Call of Duty: Warzone, including Ranked Play: Battle Royale and, in Mid-Season, Ranked Play: Resurgence. Play using a competitive ruleset and earn new seasonal rewards based on the highest Rank obtained in the season.
Season 04 Battle Pass & Store Content
Purchase the Battle Pass to immediately unlock rewards including a seasonal 10% Battle Pass XP Boost, the new “Supermax” Stitch Operator Skin, and more, providing access to over 110 pieces of unlockable content. Plus, earn up to 1,100 COD Points as you progress through the Battle Pass Pages. Get even more with BlackCell.
Look for exciting new Store Bundles including the cel-shaded Tracer Pack: Ink and Smoke plus the Tracer Pack: System Breach, Tracer Pack: Olympus Bolt, and much more.
Season 04 launches May 29
Black Ops 6 is available now on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4. Experience the spy action thriller Campaign, the in-depth tactical chaos of Multiplayer, and soak in the gory glory of round-based Zombies.
Summer is fast approaching, which means it’s time for Warhammer Skulls. The ultimate showcase of Warhammer video games is back for its ninth year, hosted for the third time by actor and superfan Rahul Kohli. There will be world premieres, exclusive reveals, and update announcements, and you can watch it all live.
Showcase Date, Time, and Where to Watch
The festivities will begin on May 22 at 5:00 p.m. BST, which means 12:00 p.m. Eastern / 11: 00 a.m. Central / 9:00 a.m. Pacific. You can see times for other regions in the graphic at the bottom of this page. IGN will livestream the full event, which will be around 50 minutes long. You can tune in on any of these channels:
If you’re not able to watch the showcase live, no worries. We’ll post the whole event on YouTube after it’s finished, like we did for last year’s show.
What to Expect from This Year’s Showcase
As usual, this year’s showcase will feature exciting world premieres, reveals, and updates for several games. You can count on updates for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, since we know Patch 8 and Horde Mode (or whatever it ends up officially being called) are on the horizon. Publisher Focus Entertainment previously gave an overview of Horde Mode, saying you can play with three players (or bots replacing the other players) and that the map will be in Kadaku. However, we don’t have a release date or know everything else that’s coming in Patch 8.
That’s the game we can be most confident in being part of the show, but there are several others that should be in line for updates and new info too. There’s Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II, which was announced with a trailer at last year’s Warhammer Skulls. There’s Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, which as of December is now available on PS5 in addition to Xbox Series X/S and PC. Now that it’s established itself across platforms, there will be new content coming.
We know there’s DLC coming for Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, but so far only know it’s planned to release in the summer. And there are plenty of other games that could see updates or new content — like Total War: Warhammer 3, Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus, Warhammer: Vermintide 2, Warhammer 40,000: Warpforge, and Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector. Plus, there’s sure to be brand-new premieres and announcements nobody could predict.
On top of all that, the showcase on May 22 also marks the beginning of a week-long celebration with marked down prices and freebies. During that week, you can get up to 90% off Warhammer titles, and there will be new content, DLCs, and free updates across several platforms, including Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store, GOG, and Geforce Now.
While publisher Spike Chunsoft has yet to drop the news itself, it has been teasing an official reveal on its YouTube channel, with the latest video saying “2 remaining”. Sounds like Steam went live a little early. Thankfully, Gematsu has uploaded the trailer for us.
Antonela Pounder, Director of Digital Content and Engagement, 505 Games
While MercurySteam’s latest action-adventure may look like a hack-and-slash on the surface, it’s anything but that! Blades of Fire has an incredibly unique combat system, one that is both challenging and incredibly rewarding. Today, we’re going to take a deep dive into what to expect, and share some top tips that will help you on your adventure.
For those unaware of Blades of Fire, let us set the scene. Blades of Fire takes place in a world reigned by Queen Nerea. You play as Aran de Lira, firstborn of the King’s Ward Commander. Your mission is simple, but weighty – take down the Queen, for she has cast a spell that has turned steel into stone. Only her army of enemies wield the divine metal against which other blades shatter. It’s up to you to forge your future and honour your duty.
Welcome to the Forge
In Blades of Fire, weapons are created and shaped in the Forge, which is accessible via the many anvils dotted around the world.
Here, you’ll need to choose a weapon. Blades of Fire features 7 weapon families: Spears, Swords, Sabers, Greatswords, Twins, Daggers and Polearms, as well as over 30 unique Forge Scrolls that are obtainable throughout your adventure. These will allow endless opportunities for different weapon combinations.
Once you’ve selected a Forge Scroll, you can then begin customising your weapon. Small changes can make big differences, so look carefully at how each adjustment will impact the weapon you create.
Once you’re happy with your selection, it’s time to shape your weapon. Check out our Blades of Fire – Guide to the Forge Tutorial for more info.
Enter Battles Prepared
Now you’ve forged a weapon, it’s time to put it to the test. Before entering combat in Blades of Fire, take a moment to understand your foe. Not every weapon you forge will be effective against every enemy. In some instances, what should be a simple battle could develop into something much more exhausting, if you don’t take the time to analyse the situation.
When approaching an enemy, target it to see an outline. This colour of the outline will highlight how affective your weapon will be against it.
Green – Your weapon will be effective. You’re ready to go!
Yellow – Moderately effective.
Red – Not worth the effort! Switch to a more effective weapon.
Trust us when we say, you won’t get away with button bashing in Blades of Fire. It won’t end well! Don’t get greedy.
Remember weapons are your allies. Make sure you handle them with care! While you’ll have the option to repair and reforge your weapons throughout your journey, you’ll need to acquire steel to do so. Weapons can be sharpened in battle using the Sharpening Stone, but there are consequences. Doing this will lower its durability. If you want to fully restore your weapon, you’ll need to head to one of the many Anvils dotted around the world. But how many repairs your weapon can go through is determined by the forging stars your earned during its creation. Every battle you enter will impact your weapons in some way. Keep a close eye on their condition.
Oh, and one other thing! Be selective and consider saving your best weapons for the tougher foes later down the line. You’ll thank us later!
Tactical Combat
Blades of Fire’s combat system is unique and one that allows the player to attack specific parts of an enemy, depending on which button your select on your controller. Use your weapon of choice to strike an enemy on their head (by pressing Y) torso (A) or the left (X) and right (B) sides of them. Attack with speed by quickly pressing any of the buttons above, or with strength by holding one of those buttons down. String any of these attacks together to unleash devastating combos.
Weapons (depending on which you select) deal slashing, piercing or blunt damage. Again, look at the enemy you’re up against and go for the attack in the most effective way possible.
Of course, you’ll also need to defend yourself in battle and there are four ways to protect yourself. Aran can dodge, roll, block and parry. How affective these methods are is dependent on the situation you’re in. Against a larger enemy? Dodging or rolling will be your best bet. Look after yourself out there, as all this defensive work comes at a cost.
In Blades of Fire, your stamina is impacted in numerous ways. Getting through this dangerous world will play havoc will your energy levels. However, there are ways to re-energise! For example, execute a successful parry in battle and you’ll be granted unlimited stamina for a short period of time. This will help you take down multiple enemies efficiently and effectively. Holding LT in battle will recover your stamina quickly. This technique is known as The Breath of the Defender. It’s vital you use this in battle.
Top Tip – Attack your enemies from the high ground where you can! It’s less tiresome and super effective!
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
Throughout your adventure, you won’t be alone. You’ll be accompanied by Adso de Zelk, a young student of the Abbey of Egion. Adso offers valuable support and can be seen analysing enemies and documenting their behaviours in his travel book.
Pay close attention to his notes – they’ll prove invaluable in combat!
Forge Your Legend
It feels like we’ve only scratched the surface of what Blades of Fire’s combat system offers and honestly, the best way to learn more is to play the game for yourself. Trust us when we say that the team at MercurySteam have developed something truly special and unique. We hope this blog helps you get started on your adventure. The road ahead is dangerous, but exciting! And we can’t wait to hear what you think.
At Sony Interactive, we’re always experimenting with new and exciting ways to bring our community of players together to share the joys of gaming and create lasting memories. That’s why three years ago, we created PlayStation Stars, a loyalty program to celebrate our players. The unique program includes playing games to earn rewards – including our unique Digital Collectibles that pay homage to incredible games and our PlayStation legacy. The program has helped foster a deeper connection with fans around the world.
Since launching the program, we’ve learned a lot from evaluating the types of activities our players respond best to, and as a company, we are always evolving with player and industry trends. Through this evaluation, we have decided to refocus our efforts and will be winding down the current version of PlayStation Stars. We will continue to evaluate our key findings from this program, and are looking into ways to build upon these learnings.
Here are some key things to know as these changes take place:
Starting today, PlayStation Stars will no longer accept new members for this version of the program.
If members choose to cancel their PlayStation Stars membership starting today, it will not be possible to rejoin this version of the program, and members will lose all earned Points.
Current PlayStation Stars members can still earn Digital Collectibles, Points and level up their status until July 23, 2025 at 7:59AM PDT | 3:59PM BST | 11:59PM JST. After this date, there will be no new PlayStation Stars Campaigns available, or any additional rewards or status benefits to earn.
This version of the PlayStation Stars program will fully end on November 2, 2026 and current PlayStation Stars members can continue to redeem Points as long as their Points don’t expire before then.
We also wanted to let you know that PlayStation Stars members can still access their Digital Collectibles, even after these changes take place.
We want to thank all of our players for supporting PlayStation Stars since the launch in 2022. As we explore new ways to evolve our loyalty program efforts for the future, we’ll continue to celebrate all of our players through the various community activities we have planned.
The programs we create are all inspired by you, and we look forward to bringing you compelling new experiences for many generations to come.