Arknights: Endfield hits PS5 on January 22, new action-RPG gameplay details revealed

Hi everyone, I’m Light Zhong, co-founder and director at Hypergraph. With Arknights: Endfield launching on January 22 on PS5, today we’re excited to share more gameplay details on the game.

Over the past few years, our team has been working to create a new kind of experience set in the Arknights universe, one that blends real-time squad combat, exploration, and large-scale industrial systems into a single, interconnected adventure, where every decision you make helps shape humanity’s next frontier.

Welcome to Talos-II

Talos-II is a world of striking beauty and constant danger. More than 150 years ago, pioneers endured war and catastrophe to carve out the first “civilized zones.” But beyond those borders lies a vast, untamed wilderness, unexplored, unclaimed, and filled with lingering threats from the past and new dangers yet to emerge.

In Endfield, you take on the role of the Endministrator, tasked with leading Operators to protect, expand, and redefine the boundary of civilization. Exploration and development go hand in hand here. As Oripathy engines roar to life across the wasteland, automated production lines and industrial facilities rise alongside your growing foothold on the planet.

Strategic action combat with real-time decisions

At its core, Arknights: Endfield is an anime-style action RPG built around highly strategic, real-time combat. Battles feature up to four Operators fighting simultaneously, with players freely switching control between them at any moment.

Combat flows through a layered system of actions. String together basic attacks to transition into strikes, which deal stagger damage while restoring SP. Once an enemy’s stagger bar is maxed out, they enter a staggered state, becoming vulnerable and taking increased damage. That’s your opening to trigger a powerful Execution, dealing heavy damage and recovering additional SP.

SP fuels each Operator’s skills, which carry unique effects and tactical roles. Charge up your ultimate abilities for game-changing moments, and under the right conditions, operators can chain their abilities together to trigger combo skills that reward careful positioning and timing. The result is combat that’s fast, expressive, and deeply tactical, designed to reward thoughtful play rather than simple reflexes.

Building the backbone of civilization

Combat is only part of the journey. One of Endfield’s defining features is the Automated Industry Complex (AIC) System, which connects directly to nearly every aspect of gameplay.

Using a wide range of facilities, you’ll design and manage automated production lines that generate equipment, medical supplies, and other essential resources. These systems don’t just support character growth, they affect how you explore areas, manage resources, and approach combat challenges.

To keep the experience accessible, Endfield introduces the Blueprint system. Once unlocked, blueprints let you instantly build, copy, relocate, or dismantle entire production lines with a single action. You can even save your own layouts and share them with other players.

As your industrial zones expand, efficiency improves and trade routes emerge, with different regions specializing in distinct products, making where and how you build just as important as what you produce.

The story continues

As you look beyond launch, the story of Talos-II is only just beginning to unfold. The events in Valley IV are a warning that something has started to stir along the edges of the civilized ring. Before the full scale of the Corrosion reveals itself, you’ll be drawn to Qingbo Stockade on the outskirts of Wuling. A sudden loss of contact with Supreme Chief Tangtang, whom you already met and befriended before, coincides with reports of Bonekrushers appearing nearby. 

That convergence is no accident. As you step into Qingbo Stockade to uncover the truth, it becomes clear that the danger runs deeper than expected and that Wuling itself may not remain untouched by the coming Blight Tide. From here, the journey opens up. New regions will reveal themselves, new companions will stand by your side, and the choices you make will shape what comes next. Tangtang will play a key role in this unfolding chapter, and her path alongside yours is only just beginning.

Designed for PS5

On PS5, Arknights: Endfield fully supports the DualSense controller, including haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, the built-in speaker, and light bar effects. The game also features 3D Audio support, helping bring Talos-II’s environments to life, and Activities integration for the main story to help you jump back into key moments quickly.

Begin your journey

Arknights: Endfield launches January 22 on PS5. If you’re ready to step onto Talos-II and help define the future of civilization. We can’t wait to see what kind of frontier you build.

I love fantasy RPG Soulframe’s cosy start screen even though it could be a creepy piece of habit-forming design

I continue to have a soft spot for Soulframe, the new, sort-of-early access fantasy RPG from Warframe developers Digital Extremes, despite the fact that the lore writing is often wyrd to the point of giving me a concussion. Especially when it creeps into studio press announcements. For example, here is a snippet from the developer’s summary of Soulframey doings in the year 2025: “Together, we stepped into sap-dreams and freed Bromius from rotting roots. We Bestitched with a certain witch and crept into the crypts of The Circade.” …Right then! I expect you shall be tending to your ravens next.

Still, don’t let that turn you off. There’s a lot of gentle craft beneath the plus-plus-ultra world-building. Soulframe is a game that often comes alive in the quieter moments. Take, for example, the login screen, which I’ve just realised could be a hidden creature collection game.

Read more

Amazon’s once-hailed fantasy MMO New World will vanish from servers in a year’s time

Amazon’s colonial fantasy MMO New World (latterly rebranded New World: Aeternum) is no longer available for purchase as of yesterday, and will be taken offline for good from 31st January 2027, the publishers have announced. The news follows the release of the game’s final major update back in October, amid mass layoffs at Amazon.

Read more

Amazon Has Some Brilliant Deals on Magic Booster Boxes Today, Including the Excellent Edge of Eternities Set

Magic: The Gathering is set to have another big year in 2026, but there’s no harm in looking back at the best of 2025 as well right now, especially with the latest discounts available on booster boxes and more.

My favorite deal in Amazon’s latest MTG sale is on the Edge of Eternities Booster Box, featuring 30 packs, which has dropped to just $139.99 today. That’s just $1 off its best price ever ($139.98), and a brilliant offer to kick off the year with.

Amazon Has Big Discounts on Magic: The Gathering Today

However, that’s not all. You can also find some of the most recent 2025 Universes Beyond sets, like Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Marvel’s Spider-Man, at low, low prices right now as well. That includes Spidey’s Play Booster Box, which is available for just over $110.

That’s a pretty big discount compared to the almost $210 asking price back when preorders kicked off last year, just about $100, in fact. Avatar only came out in November, and you can already pick up its Play Boosters for even less than Edge of Eternities, and now just $134.99 at Amazon.

You can also score the Collectors versions of these Universes Beyond sets as well, both of which have seen tidy price drops since last year, and are your best bet of finding the rarest cards from each set.

Play Boosters are now the standard way to crack open Magic packs, having replaced both Set and Draft Boosters. But if you’re on the hunt for rare cards, Collector Boosters are the best option.

These packs are more expensive, but are much more likely to include various foil treatments, extended arts, and all sorts. There are usually 5 Commons, 4 Uncommons, 5 Rare or Mythic Rare cards, a Land and a Token, but the rub here is that 6 of the included cards have a ‘booster Fun frame’ and 12-13 of them are foil.

In terms of 2026 sets, Magic’s highly anticipated Lorwyn Eclipsed set is getting closer as well, but we can already expect another trip to New York not long after in March.

On that note, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Booster Box preorders are also discounted right now at Amazon (out March 23), down to the lowest price so far at $148.20 (and down from $209.70).

In other TCG news, there are also some great deals on Pokémon cards right now at Amazon and TCGplayer, including a great deal on the most recent expansion’s ETB, Mega Evolution – Phantasmal Flames. It’s down to its lowest price ever at Amazon after its market price took a mighty tumble over the New Year, dropping almost 50% in a matter of weeks.

Unsurprisingly, stock is still running low on Amazon for a lot of Pokémon cards, even from last year, and even upcoming MTG sets like Lorwyn and TMNT. That said, sites like TCGplayer still have a solid supply, and in some cases, better prices too, so are definitely worth checking out while on your hunt for cheap boosters.

Robert Anderson is Senior Commerce Editor and IGN’s resident deals expert on games, collectibles, trading card games, and more. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter/X or Bluesky.

That Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag sea shanty deluge was just down to “technical issues”, Ubisoft say

I be a poor journo. Newly come from the official Ubisoft music YouTube channel. I spend my life in jeopardy.
Of a publisher suddenly turning around and saying that a sudden mass reupload of Black Flag‘s sea shanties was in fact just a case of behind-the-scenes issues, rather than another harbinger of a remake announcement.

Tp be fair, it did follow many reports about the badly kept secret that is the Black Flag remake and a PEGI rating that sure looks like it’s for such a game.

Read more

The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy Is Now Officially ‘Two Games In One’

Bang for your buck.

Those who have played The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy know just how big of a game it really is. According to the publisher, however, the release was actually two games in one, and that’s supposedly how it’s going to be marketed from now on.

Confused? Yeah don’t worry, it’s understandable. Effectively, once you complete 100 in-game days, you roll the credits and then commence ‘New Game +’ (although the title menu does, in fact, display ‘The Hundred Line 2’), during which you make key decisions to splinter the narrative into dozens of potential branches.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Amazon MMO New World Has Just a Year to Live, Rust Dev Offers to Buy It

Amazon has announced that its MMO, New World, will be officially taken offline from all platforms on January 31, 2027.

The game is now delisted, which means it is no longer available for purchase. You can still play New World until January next year, with the Nighthaven season extended until the servers are taken offline.

“We want to thank the players for your dedication and passion,” a statement on the New World website reads. “We are grateful for the time spent crafting the world of Aeternum with you. Together we built something special. While we are saddened to say goodbye, we’re honored that we were able to share so much with the community.

“It has been our pleasure to work on New World: Aeternum and evolve this unforgettable adventure with you all. We look forward to one more year together, and giving this fantastic adventure a sendoff worthy of a legendary hero. From the bottom of all our hearts, thank you for sharing this world with us.”

Amazon announced plans to put New World into maintenance mode back in October, as part of a round of layoffs affecting an eye-watering 14,000 roles. At the time, Amazon said New World would remain online during 2026.

New World was a rare hit for Amazon in the video game space, and followed multiple flops that resulted in game and studio closures. The MMO set in an alternate 1600s America saw huge player numbers on Steam, with a whopping 913,634 peak concurrents on Valve’s platform back in 2021. Player numbers significantly declined following that peak, however.

Bloomberg had reported that Amazon was cutting back especially on MMOs, but would continue to develop Amazon Games Montreal’s March of Giants, its new Tomb Raider game in the works at Crystal Dynamics, and “casual and AI-focused games” for its cloud gaming service Luna. UK studio Maverick Games were said to be continuing to work on its racing game, too. Following the news about New World, there was concern over the status of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings MMO. Amazon has yet to provide an update on it.

But is there hope for New World yet? Alistair McFarlane, COO and company director at Rust developer Facepunch Studios, tweeted to offer Amazon $25 million for New World, adding: “Games should never die.” “If you need tips about buying cancelled games, lmk,” Hypixel Studios founder Simon Collins-Laflamme, who rescued Hytale after years spent in the doldrums at League of Legends maker Riot Games, replied.

It sounds like McFarlane has thought about this, explaining what should happen to New World rather than closure: “As with everything we do at Facepunch, empower the community. Give them control, make servers publicly hostable. A game will live forever in the hands of a dedicated community.”

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.

Further testing seems to confirm Monster Hunter Wilds DLC performance improvement theory, to an extent

I think we all want it to be true that the Monster Hunter Wilds’ infamously limp PC performance can be blamed upon, as was reported yesterday, an overzealous DLC checking process gumming up what might overwise be a perfectly fine-running beastfight game. Partly because it just sounds funny. Willing but frustrated graphics elves running about, harangued to distraction by a hairstyle add-on overseer nagging for licenses, like a Daily Telegraph reader demanding to know why you aren’t wearing a poppy on November 3rd.

The best part? All evidence suggests it genuinely is true – albeit only to varying degrees, and in the case of my own testing, nowhere near as drastically as in the originally discovered case.

Read more

LEGO Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Final Battle Set Leaks, Features Link and Zelda Fighting Ganon

LEGO’s upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time set featuring Link and Zelda’s climactic battle with Ganon has leaked online, alongside its pricing and release details.

The Final Battle will be a 1,003-piece design that launches on March 1, according to Brick Tap. The set will be priced at $129.99 / €119.99 / $99.99 — a cost that has raised eyebrows among fans when compared to other, non-licensed LEGO offerings.

At least the design itself is going down well, with fans praising the look of Ganon in his pig-human guise, and the inclusion of three The Legend of Zelda minifigurines: Link, Zelda, and a human form of Ganondorf. You’ll also get a set of recovery hearts, Navi, and the Megaton Hammer.

The set features the flaming rooftops of Hyrule Castle, where Ocarina of Time’s dramatic final boss fight takes place in the classic N64 video game. LEGO had teased this location previously in an earlier sneak peek at the set — presumably an official reveal isn’t far off.

“It’s INCREDIBLE,” wrote Zelda fan TheLegendofCap via reddit. “I’m buying this day one for sure. Happy we’re getting a Ganondorf minifigure.” Added Donkeyrocket: “Yeah, the Deku Tree set is pretty cool but I’d be far more eager to have this one as a display piece. Really good size and detail.”

LEGO’s first foray into The Legend of Zelda came in September 2024, when it launched a Great Deku Tree set. This included versions of the tree from both Ocarina of Time and Breath of the Wild, as well as two sets of Link and Zelda minifigures.

Earlier this week, LEGO unveiled its initial wave of Pokémon toys to a mostly positive reaction, albeit with some disappointment for its angular Pikachu and Poké Ball design. The range’s other sets — Eevee, and a giant combined Venusaur, Charizard and Blastoise creation — have been praised, however. And of course, the range is already selling fast and appearing for higher prices on eBay.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Fallout Shelter is being turned into a reality TV series by Amazon, as vault life gets Squid Gameified

Abandon your plans to run for public office. If you don’t, you’ll not be eligible to apply to be a contestant on the Fallout Shelter reality TV series Amazon are now working on, following the success of their other Fallout show. Stop protesting, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be locked in a set resembling a vault and subsequently have your mind messed with as you and your fellow inmates take on a bunch of challenges.

Read more