Author: Game Infliction

Konami is Finally Ready to Show Us Silent Hill: Downfall, And Fans Cannot Wait

Konami is finally ready to share more about the last of the five Silent Hill projects announced back in 2022, Silent Hill: Townfall.

Coming hot on the heels of tomorrow’s PlayStation State of Play broadcast at 2pm PT (5pm ET, 10pm UK), Konami will be revealing the latest updates from its horror series from 4pm PT, including “the latest news on Silent Hill: Townfall.”

Konami similarly hosted a Transmission shortly after a State of Play last year, too. In that presentation, the publisher showed off a little of Silent Hill f in Sony’s showcase, then went into more detail in its bespoke presentation afterwards, so it’s plausible we’ll see the same happen tomorrow (February 12), too.

Without doubt the most mysterious of the five projects announced at the Silent Hill Transmission in 2022, the one-minute teaser that announced Screen Burn’s (formerly known as No Code) Silent Hill: Townfall spawned more questions than answers, complete with a secret message embedded in the spectrogram that ominously read “whatever heart this town had has now stopped.” Four years later, we still know very little about the secretive project, and the silence has been so disconcerting to some that in late 2024, publisher Annapurna was compelled to publicly confirm the game was still in development.

With its abstruse messaging, secrets, and references to Silent Hill 1’s Alessa, some fans hope that, unlike the two most recent projects, Silent Hill: The Short Message and Silent Hill f, Townfall will take us back to the mysterious town itself.

“Whelp, I think this puts to rest all the speculation that Townfall’s been having a troubled development cycle lol,” posited one happy fan. “Konami does this every year, they only focus on one SH project at a time and don’t reveal anything about other projects until a few months after the most recent one has released. Expect to not hear anything else about the Silent Hill 1 Remake until 2027 for this very same reason.”

“I still remember time when all this sub could talk about is old releases, now look at us, there is something new coming up almost every quarter of the year,” joked another. “Say what you want but I am convinced Silent Hill fans are living major these days!”

“Yeah, I’m expecting the SOP into Transmission,” another fan wrote on Discord. “Doubt we will see much of SH1R, but they might mention it in the Transmission. With Townfall we will have officially gotten everything from the original Transmission.”

“We are absolutely getting SH Townfall gameplay finally!” added someone else. “Also a small chance of a[n] actual trailer for SH 1 Remake. Don’t get your hopes up for that SH2 Remake DLC.”

That latter note refers to the dozens of comments from fans desperately wanting the Born from a Wish DLC for Silent Hill 2: Remake. Right across Discord, subreddit, and X/Twitter threads — including the Townfall Transmission tweet — you’ll find loads of fans asking for the Maria-centric story DLC, with others clamoring for some kind of Silent Hill Master Collection.

Silent Hill series producer Motoi Okamoto recently opened up on why Konami revealed three new Silent Hill games at once after a full decade of silence, saying the publisher was keen to stress to old fans and new that it was “serious” about resurrecting the flailing horror series.

Reflecting on how the series has performed since Konami’s inaugural Silent Hill Transmission back in October 2022, Okamoto explained how the impressive Silent Hill 2 Remake was designed with “half new, half old customers in mind” to ensure it could attract new fans to the franchise.

Of all the projects revealed since that 2022 showcase — Silent Hill: The Short Message, Silent Hill 2 Remake, Silent Hill f, Silent Hill: Townfall, and media projects Silent Hill: Ascension and the movie, Return to Silent Hill — the majority have been received well by critics, fans, and new players alike, suggesting it was a gamble worth taking for the Japanese publisher.

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.

“Unleash the Kraken,” bellows Skull and Bones, which somehow still exists

I still haven’t left the starting area in Skull and Bones, but it’s a relief to know that as and when I do, I’ll have some big molluscs to bombard alongside those boring galleons. Ubisoft’s open world Jolly Rogerer forges bravely on with another season of updates, Eye of the Beast, despite Ubisoft recently jettisoning a bunch of games and studios in their efforts to buoy up the share price. Yes, this is the same Skull and Bones that has 320 in-game players on Steam as of writing, and a worryingly Biblical user review average of 66.60%.

Read more

Square Enix Reveals Save Data Bonuses For Its New HD-2D Game

Got save data?

The new HD-2D title The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales locked in a June release last week, and alongside this news, the team has also revealed multiple save data bonuses if you own certain other Square Enix titles.

As long as you’ve got existing save data (or for certain platforms, purchase history on the same player account), you should be able to unlock these bonuses. It’s noted how demo save data for titles “may also fulfill the bonus eligibility requirements”.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Save $35 Off the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Processor and Get a Free Copy of Crimson Desrt

If you’re in the process of building out a new gaming PC and you’re looking for CPU recommendations, the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D AM5 processor should most definitely be on your shortlist. Amazon is currently offering it for $443.99 with free shipping after a $35 off instant discount. Even better, it comes with a free voucher code for the highly anticipated Crimson Desert game, which will be released on March 19. The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is considered to be the best gaming processor currently on the market and outperforms even pricier AMD and Intel CPUs.

The Gamer’s Choice: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU for $444

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D boasts a max boost clock of 5.2GHz with 8 cores, 16 threads, and 104MB of L2-L3 cache. What really makes it excel in games, however, is the 3D-V-Cache technology that’s only found in AMD’s X3D lineup. Despite being the least expensive processor in this stack, the 9800X3D performs nearly identically in games compared to its more expensive siblings. It has the fewest number of cores, but that doesn’t matter for gaming. On Passmark, the 9800X3D has the second highest gaming score, trailing a mere 300 points behind the considerably pricier 9900X3D.

Note that there’s a new 9850X3D that’s now available. We reviewed it and, short answer, you’re not missing out.

Crimson Desert is an upcoming open-world RPG for the PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X platforms that will be released on March 19. The studio, Pearl Abyss, also created the popular MMORPG Black Desert. Whereas Black Desert was a free-to-play game with microtransactions and gacha elements, Crimson Desert will be a primarily offline single-player experience with a retail price of $69.99. Getting it for free with your CPU upgrade, then, is a great perk.

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

The Future of Diablo Will Be Revealed Tomorrow

Blizzard Entertainment is just one day away from unveiling the future of Diablo with its 30th Anniversary Spotlight.

Just like last week’s gargantuan Overwatch Spotlight, the February 11 presentation is said to show an extended look at new announcements and updates for the classic dungeon-crawling franchise. That means reveals for Diablo 4, Diablo 2: Resurrected, and Diablo Immortal, as all three games seek to keep players scrounging for loot in 2026.

Unlike the presentation for its hero shooter, Blizzard has given fans a taste of what to expect. Diablo 4, which launched in June of 2023 and received its Vessel of Hatred expansion in October 2024, is barreling toward the launch of its next expansion, Lord of Hatred, this April. We already know one of its two new classes will be the Paladin, but Blizzard says the Diablo 30th Anniversary Spotlight will come with a look at the yet-to-be-revealed class, too. The World of Warcraft company also teased that fans should expect a deep dive into “major updates to skill trees” as well as its new endgame systems.

Diablo 2: Resurrected is an unexpected but welcome addition to the Spotlight. Blizzard has been coy when it comes to what it will show for its Diablo 2 remake, only teasing that “there’s a lot we want to share with you,” as it prepares for the launch of Ladder Season 13 February 20. Some are hoping for quality-of-life changes while others speculate about a potential Steam release, but with the 2021 remake largely remaining faithful to the original 2000 experience, it’s hard to say what its future holds.

Finally, there’s Diablo Immortal, Blizzard’s 2022 mobile spinoff. A closer look at the 2026 roadmap is locked in, as the company has told players its ongoing story will carry them “deeper into a world shaped by corruption, conflict, and consequences.” Its blog post on the matter promises more information about a new class, a new region, and “the return of a malevolent force.”

The Diablo 30th Anniversary Spotlight premieres tomorrow, February 11, at 2pm PT/5pm ET, and can be streamed on Twitch and YouTube. Keep an eye on IGN for a breakdown of all of the biggest announcements and reveals but, in the meantime, you can check out our reviews for Diablo 4, Diablo 2: Resurrected, and Diablo Immortal.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

For its first anniversary, Monster Hunter Wilds gets a collab with its kid friendly cousin, and the promise of some DLC

Monster Hunter Wilds is fast approaching its first anniversary, meaning if it were a real human baby it would be legally unable to do anything really because have you met a one year old? Still, ahead of that anniversary, Capcom has outlined the game’s next big update which, shock horror, includes a new monster to hunt, a new weapon to hunt with, a collab with basically itself, and more coming on February 18th. Oh, and there’s DLC coming! But once again, the horror, the shock.

Read more

Modern classic dungeon crawler board game Descent is getting its first, very TTRPG-sounding, video game adaptation

If you like your board games a little less physical, and a little more not technically a board game any more if we’re being honest but that’s fine because it’s a neat looking, strategy RPG now, then boooooy howdy do I have the game for you! Those familiar with the dungeon crawling tabletop game Descent will be interested to learn that it’s getting a video game adaptation in the form of Terrinoth: Heroes of Descent.

Read more

Magic: The Gathering Just Had Its Most Successful Year Ever…Again

Magic: The Gathering just had its most financially successful year yet, Hasbro has announced. And it’s largely thanks to its collaborations with other brands, via its Universes Beyond and Secret Lair releases.

In its earnings call today, Hasbro revealed that MTG revenue was up 59% year-over-year, in no small part thanks to the Avatar: The Last Airbender set last year, which is now the third highest-selling set in Magic history after Final Fantasy and Lord of the Rings. Other Universes Beyond sets, as well as Secret Lair, also had a hand in the success.

That 59% is a huge increase, and one that is responsible for Hasbro’s overall numbers looking good. The company overall was up 14% year-over-year, almost entirely driven by 45% growth in the Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming segment (Monopoly Go! also helped a little). Its other segments, Consumer Products and Entertainment, both saw declines of 4% each.

The revenue-raising capabilities of Universes Beyond and Secret Lair are a helpful look for Hasbro’s C-suite, which has found itself the target of a shareholder lawsuit on the very subject recently. The lawsuit alleges that Hasbro has mismanaged Magic: The Gathering by overprinting sets of cards, specifically Universes Beyond and Secret Lair, thereby devaluing existing cards. The complaint itself contains some pretty sharp accusations that the company’s top brass have been holding such sets in reserve to deploy whenever the rest of the company is struggling.

In response, Hasbro has stated that such claims have “no merit,” and has recently moved to dismiss a similar lawsuit with very similar accusations filed in 2024 by the West Palm Beach Firefighters’ Pension Fund and City of Miami General Employees & Sanitation Employees’ Retirement Trust, on the basis that the complaint has been amended so significantly since it was originally filed that it is no longer related to the original issue.

Hasbro reached out to share the following updated statement on these lawsuits as pertains to its earnings today:

As we shared when you covered the matter in January, these claims have no merit. Our strategic plan for Magic was implemented, and the results underscore the strength of that strategy. As further reflected in our earnings results released this morning, Magic: The Gathering just completed its most successful year ever.

Magic: The Gathering’s next set will be a Universes Beyond set for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, complete with commander deck, and will release on March 6.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.