The Heart of Democracy update for Helldivers 2 has marked out a new battlefield on Super Earth itself. And it looks like Helldivers are jumping back on to help hold the line against the Illuminate invasion.
Earlier this week, the Illuminate officially launched an invasion of Super Earth as part of the Heart of Democracy update in Helldivers 2. After a long build-up involving a mobile black hole, Super Earth has become a zone of conflict, and Helldivers are dropping into various cities to assist with the defense efforts.
There are quite a few more Helldivers dropping in now, too. A quick look at SteamDB shows the player count rebounding back up alongside the Heart of Democracy update’s drop, currently sitting at a 24-hour peak of just over 163,000 players. It’s a number that exceeds the peak of the Omens of Tyranny update, though it’s still far off from the release window peaks for Helldivers 2.
Over on X/Twitter, Arrowhead CCO Johan Pilestedt posted a few fascinating numbers. First, that this surge might be one of the largest simultaneous returns of players for Helldivers:
I think this is the largest simultaneous return of players for Helldivers? 🤔
And second, that around 2.5 million Helldivers have been playing the game every week. It’s a pretty staggering number for any live service game, but shows how the community has stayed attached.
Around 2.5 million Helldivers playing the game every week, super excited to see how many more log in with this update!
So happy and blessed that we have such an amazing community!
Over on the Helldivers Discord (via VG247), Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani responded to players congratulating the team on the player count surge. “It’s all you folks and your amazing support,” said Jorjani.
If you’re eager to dive back in yourself, I can attest to it being a good time to play right now. The new Super Earth battlefields are great fun, and you can even recruit some SEAF helpers to assist in holding back the Illuminate threat. Just be mindful of all the chaos and destruction.
Nintendo has discussed Mario Kart World’s fan-favourite new character, Cow, and shown off the piece of concept art that secured her place in the game as a playable character.
Speaking as part of a fascinating Ask the Developer interview, the Mario Kart World development team revealed their “silly sketch” that convinced the game’s development team to upgrade Cow from a background character to a fully-fledged part of the game’s roster.
“In previous games in the series, Cow was part of the scenery or an obstacle on one of the courses,” producer Kosuke Yabuki said. “But when we were working on an early version of a course in this game set on a ranch that players can drive through, this sketch came up.”
The sketch, which shows a smiling Cow driving a truck and looking like she does not have a care in the world, was immediately seized upon as inspiration for Cow to become Mario Kart’s next playable character — and led to other background NPCs becoming playable, too.
“Each new Mario Kart game features new characters to race with, but since we added so many to the previous game, we wondered where we could go from there,” art director Masaaki Ishikawa continued.
“And then one of the designers came up with that silly sketch of Cow cruising along, and I thought to myself, ‘This is it!’ (Laughs) So that’s when we realized the course surroundings actually contained a lot of untapped resources.”
Cow’s addition to the Mario Kart World roster was quickly followed by Cheep Cheep (the red fish Mario often has to dodge) and Pokey (the smiling, wiggling cactus character) also becoming playable.
“It was like, ‘They’re NPCs, but they’re playable? Which is it?'” Yabuki continued. “It’s pretty funny to see a four-legged Cow holding onto motorcycle handlebars with her front hooves.”
“But when she jumps, she strikes a proper quadrupedal pose,” Ishikawa added. “So I’m pretty sure Cow is still in touch with her animal nature. (Laughs)”
Elsewhere in the same interview, Yabuki confirmed that Nintendo had the name Mario Kart World in mind “from the early stages of development” when the game’s open-world nature was already being worked on.
“If the idea had just been to add more courses, then I think we would’ve called it Mario Kart 9,” Yabuki said. “But, that wasn’t our approach this time. We wanted to take the series to the next level. So, we decided to drop the numbering this time and go with a completely new title.”
Finally, the development team discussed Mario Kart World’s addition of unlockable character costumes, found by snacking on food at Yoshi’s drive-thru restaurants in different in-game regions.
Each region will unlock its own costumes, and offer its own food varieties. One example given is a Yoshi’s drive-thru in a volcano region selling hot soup inspired by Bowser.
Originally, Nintendo says it hadn’t linked its ideas for unlockable costumes and food together, with the former simply being planned to be purchasable from in-game shop locations. But stopping at these interrupted the game’s open-world driving experience, developers said, and anyway — didn’t Mario magically transform costumes already when he gobbled food up?
“The question came up: ‘Does Mario, in fact, eat mushrooms?’,” Yabuki laughed. The query prompted Mario Kart World’s development team to hunt down Nintendo legend Takashi Tezuka, and get his verdict.
“Tezuka-san [answered], ‘Yeah, he is’,” Yabuki confirmed. And thus, Mario Kart World’s costume-producing food was born.
The roguelike deckbuilder is a remorseless evil that strives to colonise every dream ever dreamt by the human brain. It is a sparkling, shuffling plague, germinated by Slay The Spire, that threatens to absorb every other mortal pastime, from space travel through poker to carpentry. We must find a way to neutralise the entity before it assimilates us all. But in the words of the oldest proverb: just one more go. Just one more go, before I dissipate raging into that goodnight. Just one more run, before I play all those shortform avant garde releases in my Itch.io wallet.
If Monster Train 2 were the last roguelike deckbuilder I ever played, I would consider myself fairly pleased, and also very relieved. While not a huge departure from the game that plunged Matt Cox (RPS in peace) into unholy raptures, it’s a great pick if you’re fond of numbers going up and realising it’s 1.30am and that you are now too addled by card synergies to sleep. You do not have to like or understand trains, but it’s a plus.
Reddit user Expensive_Age_3406 took to the r/GameStop group last weekend to share their experience of trying to nab the latest Prismatic Evolutions Super Premium Collection — a new bundle spun out from the immensely popular Eevee-focused set. As we’re sure you can imagine, it doesn’t sound like the most pleasant experience.
Today marks a special milestone for us at underDOGS. After years of sweat, love, and relentless passion, we’re proud to reveal the first official gameplay teaser of our upcoming narrative adventure game, Mukti.Â
And yes, you can wishlist it today on PlayStation Store.Â
A glimpse into Mukti
Mukti isn’t just a game. It’s a journey of discovery, redemption, and the impact of hidden narratives in a first-person exploration set within the authentic backdrop of an Indian museum. Â
Following her grandfather’s mysterious disappearance amid accusations of heinous crimes, Arya returns to find the museum he owned vandalized and abandoned. Through the silent echoes of the past, she pieces together a narrative of heritage, compassion and obscured truths, questioning everything she knew about his existence. What truths lie in her grandfather’s museum?Â
As the story unfolds, you’ll uncover layers of mystery, ancient secrets and a world that blurs the line between myth and reality.
​​
From India, for the world – backed by Sony
Mukti is proud to be part of the prestigious Sony India Hero Project, being selected for this program not only gave us the fuel to bring our vision to life, but also reaffirmed our belief that Indian stories belong on the world stage.
After over a year of working closely with the fantastic folks at Sony, the journey has been nothing short of insightful and full of learning. Now, we’re thrilled to finally give you a glimpse of what we’ve been crafting behind the scenes.
Built for the big screen
On PlayStation 5, Mukti is designed to fully harness the power of Sony’s hardware. Our immersive environments, intense sequences, and emotionally-driven scenes are meant to be experienced in 4K, with responsive controls that pull you right into the heart of the story.
We’re also working closely with the PlayStation team to ensure features like DualSense haptics and adaptive triggers elevate the experience, from feeling the impact of every hit in combat to the subtle tension of solving puzzles and uncovering truths.
Why wishlist matters
As an indie studio from India, every wishlist counts. It tells the world, especially platforms and publishers, that there’s a growing hunger for Indian stories told through high-quality, console-level games. It pushes boundaries and opens doors, not just for Mukti, but for a whole generation of Indian developers.
So if the teaser stirs something in you… if you believe in bold stories, fresh voices and unforgettable adventures – hit that wishlist button today.
Xbox console exclusive Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 will come to PlayStation 5 this summer in an Enhanced Edition with new features, Microsoft has announced.
There’s no firm launch date yet for the game on Sony’s console, and developer Ninja Theory is yet to detail what this Enhanced Edition’s new features will be.
Still, in a video update posted to social media today — the anniversary of the game’s original PC and Xbox launch — the developer said these extras would also arrive as a free update on other platforms.
“The team have been working hard to optimise Hellblade 2 for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro to give you the very best experience we can,” Ninja Theory said. “We look forward to sharing more details with you soon.”
Microsoft bought Ninja Theory back in 2018, a year after the original Hellblade launched as a timed PlayStation console exclusive. Now, seven years’ later, the sequel’s console exclusivity is being dropped for a very different reason.
“A spellbinding adventure packed with cinematic spectacle and story surprises that maintains a surging sense of forward momentum and never wastes a second of its slender run time,” IGN wrote of the game in our Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 review.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social‬
The backlash to Randy Pitchford’s controversial Borderlands 4 $80 comment has leveled up, with video game publishers jumping on the bandwagon to promote their games. Meanwhile, Pitchford himself has pointed to previous comments he made about Borderlands 4’s price, declaring: “If you want the truth, here it is.”
One such publisher is Devolver Digital, which has a reputation for edgy marketing that often takes advantage of hot topics on social media. Devolver, which is behind the likes of Hotline Miami and Cult of the Lamb, has done just that with Pitchford here.
If you’re late to the party, Pitchford sparked a backlash by responding to a fan who expressed concern about the prospect of paying $80 for Borderlands 4 by saying: “if you’re a real fan, you’ll find a way to make it happen.”
Here’s the exchange:
“Randy, this game better not be 80 dollars. Don’t take that risk, a lot of gamers aren’t gonna pay 80 dollars and feed this notion of constant increase of the price tag. You are the CEO, you have some say with the price when it comes to your publisher.”
And here’s Randy Pitchford’s response:
“A) Not my call. B) If you’re a real fan, you’ll find a way to make it happen. My local game store had Starflight for Sega Genesis for $80 in 1991 when I was just out of high school working minimum wage at an ice cream parlor in Pismo Beach and I found a way to make it happen.”
Devolver QT’d IGN’s X / Twitter post on this story to promote Mycopunk, its upcoming Borderlands-style mission-based co-op first-person shooter, saying: “You’re gonna be able to buy Mycopunk for you and three of your friends for the price of one copy of Borderlands 4.”
Pitchford himself caught wind of the tweet, and QT’d it himself, saying: “Mycopunk is cheaper than a point of meth – probably has fewer side effects, too!”
Mycopunk is cheaper than a point of meth – probably has fewer side effects, too! https://t.co/ICgEYZ7FEq
As you’d expect, the response to that tweet has been mostly negative. “I am going to pirate Borderlands 4,” said one X / Twitter user. “Please stop. Just apologize and move on. This isn’t fair on your developers. If you care about them, just do the right thing dude,” added another. “Randy we are begging you to stop. BL4 had so much hype and it’s being ruined in a day. Let people want to like and support the game and all the amazing people who made it,” said one commenter.
At the time of this article’s publication, Pitchford has yet to retract his comment or apologize for it. But he did point to a recent answer he gave on-stage at PAX East on Borderlands 4’s price, calling it: “If you want the truth, here it is.”
Last week, during a PAX East panel, Pitchford insisted that he didn’t know the Borderlands 4 price but refused to rule out $80.
“I’ll tell you the truth. I don’t know. That is the truth. I’ll hit it straight on. It’s an interesting time,” he said.
“On one level, we’ve got a competitive marketplace where the people that make those choices want to sell as many units as possible and they want to be careful about people that are price-sensitive. There are some folks who don’t want to see prices go up, even the ones deciding what the prices are.
“There’s other folks accepting the reality that game budgets are increasing, and there’s tariffs for the retail packaging. It’s getting gnarly out there, you guys. Borderlands 4 has more than twice the development budget than Borderlands 3. More than twice. So the truth is, I don’t know what the price is going to be.”
Pitchford continued: “Here’s the philosophy we have, whatever the price is: we’re entertainers. Yes, we want to get more resources so we can make bigger and better games. There’s a reason why Borderlands 4 is so awesome: it’s because you guys showed up and supported Borderlands 3 and we had the budget. So we could more than double the budget and feel confident in that. And that’s awesome. When the revenue comes in we can spend it to make bigger and better games.
“As artists we want everybody to have it. We want to make it as easy as possible for everybody to enjoy what we’re creating. So it’s a weird thing. The fundamental philosophy is, we want people to buy it so we have the resources to make more, but we want everyone who buys and plays a Gearbox game to feel certain that they got the better end of the bargain, whatever the price is that they got the best value. And that’s the philosophy we live by.
“And so we’re going to have the price set soon. It might be the new price that Nintendo and Microsoft have led with. It might be that we stay back. It’s going to be the people at the publishing house that decide that. And if it is cheaper, then maybe we’ll sell you that mini-map that you guys want that we’ll develop later. How bad do you want that? 10 bucks? I’m just kidding… or am I?”
He concluded: “Borderlands is f***ing amazing and it’s worth it.”
Some social media users have said Pitchford’s PAX East comment would have been worth pointing to in the first place, with the backlash now a significant brand problem for Borderlands 4 ahead of launch.
“This was a perfect response and should have been left at this,” said Borderlands streamer Moxsy. “Your second response is receiving backlash not because of the price of the game but because of the wording. Every game is gonna be 80 dollars by this time next year. However fans of Borderlands want the price to be justified because of the ambition, the passion, and the quality that BL4 will have. They want to feel good about the purchase they are making in a franchise they have loved for more than a decade and support the devs that have had a real impact on their lives. This toxic “not a real fan” mentality is not it and is only hurting the people that want to support the game.”
Publisher 2K Games is expected to announce the price of Borderlands 4 when pre-orders go live soon. Borderlands 4 is due out September 12, 2025.
In a recent interview, IGN asked Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick if the company would go to $80 for its games. Zelnick wouldn’t say either way, but did say consumers would be “willing to pay for the very best.”
“I have said for a long time that we offer enormous value and that that’s our job,” Zelnick said. “Of course, we certainly believe that compared to other forms of entertainment, whether that’s movie tickets or live events or streaming services, the value for our entertainment that we offer is just astonishing, and it’s our job. It’s our job to deliver much more value than what we charge. That’s our goal. We think consumers are willing to pay for the very best. It’s our job to make the very best.”
Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Lionsgate. 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.
One of the many game studios smashed to pieces by Embracer Group has come back to life. Campfire Cabal, which was seemingly shut down in 2023 as part of their parent corporation’s scorched earth “restructuring” policy, have crawled out of the grave to announce they’re still around and, in fact, “never stopped working”. They’ve been making a new game in the Expeditions series of historical RPGs, and have been given “the green light to scale back up and transition into full production.”
