Nier creator Yoko Taro would like you to know he has been working on games, they just keep getting cancelled

It’s been a while since Yoko Taro has made a game, hasn’t it? That last public (key word here) thing he worked on was a mobile game about how Sega controls pretty much everything called 404 Game Re:set in 2023 (it shut down in 2024). Before that was a trio of Voice of Cards games in 2021/22, and before that the Nier Replicant not-quite-a-remake and also now defunct mobile game Nier Reincarnation. In terms of the big thing that everyone wants, a non-gacha Nier game, things have been very quiet, but that can be said of Taro’s work as a whole. Apparently, though, that’s not for lack of trying.

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Amazon Has a ‘Buy 1, Get 1 Half Off’ Board Game Sale Ahead of Black Friday

We’re a week away from official Black Friday week, but the early deals are already popping off. One such deal is a “Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off” sale that’s live at both Amazon and Target. All you have to do is add two games to your cart, and at checkout the cheaper of those two games will show up at half price. That’s a great deal, but it ends November 22, so don’t hold off too long. In any case, let’s take a look at what games are available.

Buy 1, Get 1 Half Off on Board Games

As you can see, we’ve focused on the Amazon sale in the catalog above, but you can check out Target’s sale here if you prefer doing your shopping there. It’s also worth noting that this is in fact a “Buy 1, Get 1 Half Off” sale at Amazon, despite the confusing way Amazon words it on the retailer’s sale page. Amazon has been using confusing wording for these types of sales for years now, and I don’t expect anything to change. That said, you can rest assured that you only need to buy two games total, and you’ll save 50% off one of them.

In particular, this sale is a great time to pad out your board game shelf with some of the most popular and accessible of the newer crop of games. We’re talking games like Catan, Splendor, and Ticket to Ride: Europe. These are mainstays. You’ll also find crowd-pleasers like Camel Up and Horrified, giving you a nice range of themes, from horror board games to Marvel board games.

In addition to these more advanced board games, you’ll also find tons of family and party games on sale. We’re talking classic games like Scrabble and Twister, as well as newer family games like What Do You Meme and Flip 7.

It’s not just board games that are eligible for this sale, either. Check the main sale page, and you’ll find things like candy, toys, and Starbucks coffee in there, too. So even if you don’t find two games you like, you can still grab some Nerds Gummy Clusters for cheap.

For more, check out our picks for the best board games to play in 2025 as well as our extensive Black Friday coverage, because buddy, it’s coming whether you like it or not.

Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN’s board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Bluesky.

Deals for Today: Elegoo 3D Printer Early Black Friday Sale And Pokémon TCG Under Market Value

Let’s brighten up your Monday with a fresh set of awesome deals that should have been during Black Friday, That’s right, there are some epic early Black Friday deals today, kicking off with a fantastic sale from Elegoo across their line of FDM and Resin 3D printers. There has never been a better time to get into the hobby.

TL;DR: Deals for Today

Did you manage to pick up any Phantasmal Flames or Mega Evolution over the weekend? Well I’ve got just the thing to scratch that Pokémon TCG itch with Phantasmal Flames Booster Boxes under market value. How about another $60 off? Or free Phantasmal Flames and Mega Evolution Booster bundles? I’ve got you.

For the shell heads i’ve got the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Roning box set up for preorder with a chonky discount. That also goes for a Meta Quest 3S headset early Black Friday Deal. There’s also a solid chunk busted of the Final Fantasy I – VI collection (Anniversary Edition) on Nintendo Switch. Let’s get straight into it:

Phantasmal Flames and Mega Evolution Deals

So the Phantasmal Flames Booster Box is $239.99, with Booster Bundles for free if you sign up and get accepted for an Amazon Visa card. Upon Approval, you’ll get a tidy $60 Amazon Gift Card automatically and instantly added to your account. It’s that simple, just behave yourself with that Visa card!

Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra Resin 3D Printer Deals

The Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra line of Resin printers are perfect for anything that needs intricate detail, especially the 16k model, although the standard ultra does an amazing job too. The Saturn 4 Ultra and Mercury V3.0 wash is a perfect starter kit for anyone wanting to get into the hobby.

Elegoo FDM Printer Deals

What if I said I printed a full sized Stormtrooper helmet on a Neptune 4 Max in one go? It was such a fun project and this printer can handle some insane projects on the large and small side. In fact all of these FDM 3D printers are great for printing anything practical. I’m looking at you cosplayers.

Meta Quest 3S 128GB (Gorilla Tag Bundle)

$50 off a Quest 3S isn’t a bad deal to say the least, and you also get the “Cardboard Hero: Gorilla Tag” game bundled alongside a three month trial to Meta Quest Horizon+, which means free access to over 40 games. You can also upgrade to the 256GB version and get Batman: Arkham Shadow bundled in instead for $329 instead of $399.99. Now that’s an early Black Friday deal.

TMNT: The Last Ronin Box Set

This set contains three hardcover graphics novels encompassing the TMNT: The Last Ronin continuity. That includes “Lost Years”, “The Last Ronin”, and “The Last Ronin II: Re-Evolution”. I won’t spoil them for you, but this is one of the best series i’ve ever read, and I’m not a massive TMNT fan. And you won’t be charged for your preorder until this bad boy ships. Not a bad deal at all with that cheeky 25% off.

Final Fantasy I-VI Collection Anniversary Edition

For Final Fantasy fans who haven’t played the 2D old school games, or for those who are fans of the sprite-based RPG vibe, this is the deal for you. It features a re-arranged soundtrack by original series c omposer Nobuo Uematsu, improved gamplay, a user interface overhaul, auto battle options and more quality of life improvements. 47% off makes this collection a no-brainer.

Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of “Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior”. Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.

Ahead of its early access release this week, Prologue: Go Wayback gets a roadmap filled with big ambitions

Prologue: Go Wayback is due out in early access later this week, and ahead of that developer PlayerUnknown Productions laid out a little roadmap of updates you can expect in the coming… months? They didn’t specify, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing – I think setting expectations of when certain features may arrive encourages a more demanding audience – but they did give a good overview of what’s to come.

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Poll: What Do You Make Of Link And Zelda’s Live-Action Looks?

Sheik it off.

Nintendo has officially lifted the lid on the live-action looks for Zelda and Link in the upcoming Zelda movie with a trio of official photos (compared to the leaked ‘on-set’ footage that appeared online days before).

We’ve got our first look at Benjamin Evan Ainsworth’s Link and Bo Bragason’s Princess Zelda in their full Hylian garb, and while it’s far from a detailed look at either, there’s no denying that some video game inspo has gone into the design choices — who would have thought it!

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Xbox Partner Preview: See the Latest Games From Our Amazing Third Party Partners This Week

Xbox Partner Preview: See the Latest Games From Our Amazing Third Party Partners This Week

We’re excited to reveal that the next Xbox Partner Preview – our broadcast that shines a light on upcoming games from our talented third-party partners – is coming this Thursday, November 20. This show will include news on upcoming games from partners including IO Interactive, Tencent and THQ Nordic, plus some brand-new reveals and Game Pass announcements.

During Xbox Partner Preview, we’ll show you an exciting first look at content coming to 007 First Light, an electrifying extended gameplay trailer for the upcoming dark fantasy epic Tides of Annihilation, and a fresh look at Reanimal, the new horror adventure from the creator of Little Nightmares, among other great games heading to Xbox consoles, Xbox on PC, and Xbox Game Pass.

Additionally, all the games featured during Xbox Partner Preview are Xbox Play Anywhere, which means you can enjoy every single one of them across console, PC and supported gaming handhelds with just one copy of the game.

Xbox Partner Preview is all about bringing you news from our partners across the globe; be it release date announcements, fresh new gameplay from upcoming titles, and world premieres of unannounced new games. We’re also excited to reveal that Jennifer English, who portrays Tides of Annihilation protagonist Gwendolyn, is our voiceover artist for the show. And as always, Xbox Wire will post exclusive deep dives and behind-the-scenes stories about select titles shown during the broadcast.

The event will be broadcast digitally on Thursday, November 20, at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK across our Xbox channels on YouTube and Twitch. Find out all the details below:

What time does Xbox Partner Preview begin? Thursday, November 20, at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK.

How do I watch? Xbox Partner Preview will be available through a variety of outlets:

Please note, YouTube.com/Xbox will be in 4K at 60fps, while all other channels will be 1080p / 60fps.

Is the event available in languages other than English?  We will be providing live subtitle support in the following languages:  Simplified Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Castilian Spanish and Mexican Spanish. 

Aside from going directly to a regional Xbox channel, you’ll be able to find 30+ languages at YouTube.com/Xbox in the days following the show. Just click the gear icon in the lower righthand corner of the primary stream to choose the language of your choice.

Is the show going to be Accessible to those with low/no hearing or low/no vision? There will be a version of the show with Audio Descriptions (AD) in English on the Xbox YouTube channel, and American Sign Language (ASL) on Xbox’s YouTube channel and the /XboxASL Twitch channel.

I’m not going to be able to watch, where can I find out what was announced? A full show recap will go live immediately following the end of Xbox Partner Preview. As announcements roll out during the broadcast, the Xbox Wire team will be publishing exclusive blog posts about select titles right here on Xbox Wire (including localized versions in Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, LATAM Spanish, and Japanese).

Co-streamer and content creator notes for the Xbox Partner Preview: We at Xbox greatly appreciate any co-stream efforts and aim to ensure you have a smooth experience if you choose to do so. However, due to forces beyond our control, we cannot guarantee that glitches or disruptions by bots and other automated software won’t interfere with your co-stream. For those planning to create post-show breakdowns of Xbox Partner Preview in the form of Video on Demand (VOD) coverage, we recommend you do not use any audio containing copyrighted music to avoid any action by automated bots, and to also consult the terms of service for your service provider.

We can’t wait for you to join us on Thursday for the next Xbox Partner Preview! See you soon.

The post Xbox Partner Preview: See the Latest Games From Our Amazing Third Party Partners This Week appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Assassin’s Creed Publisher Ubisoft Says ‘Many New Games Are Struggling’ As Players Turn Away From Traditional Releases In Favor of Subscriptions, Live-Service and Free-To-Play Games

Ubisoft has warned of falling company revenues and said it’s seen that “many new games are struggling to stand out” as players turn away from traditional full-price releases.

Projects that would previously have stood out are now finding it tough to “achieve the sales they may once had had,” Ubisoft wrote in a new UK financial filing (thanks, CityAM), which blames a wider change in taste among players.

Explaining that the “traditional ‘full game model’ of selling a single £50-60 [$65-$80] game to a consumer as a one-time purchase” was continuing to “become less ubiquitous”, Ubisoft said players were now opting to spend their time and money in other ways, such as “subscription services, long-running Games As A Service titles, Free to Play Games and cloud streaming.”

In a nutshell, Ubisoft continued, “consumers are playing fewer games.” And while some one-off, full-price titles were continuing to be successful, these had become “a few notable exceptions” to the wider trend, it continued.

The remarks come amid a continued period of uncertainty for Ubisoft, which has suffered layoffs and a sizable corporate restructure in the past year. The Paris-headquartered company — whose biggest franchises are now operated by an independent subsidiary backed by Tencent — has struggled to find its next big hit after disappointing sales for Star Wars Outlaws and continued attempts to crack the increasingly-saturated live-service game market, such as with doomed shooter XDefiant, and the pre-emptively cancelled The Division: Heartland.

As for Assassin’s Creed, the company has gone all-in on its biggest brand — though was forced to slow its production line of upcoming games and remakes to give this year’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows more time. Still, a slew of upcoming other titles in the franchise are expected over the next few years (including the witchcraft-focused Hexe, a multiplayer spin-off, and a long-awaited Black Flag remake).

Last week, Ubisoft dramatically halted trading of its company shares and postponed the wider firm’s latest financial report mere minutes before a scheduled shareholder call was due to go live. Days later, Ubisoft is yet to provide more context for the move, as fans of its games — and the vast majority of its staff — wait to hear more.

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

Subnautica 2 publisher Krafton allegedly looked to ChatGPT to figure out how to not pay that $250 million bonus

Is this what life is now? Witnessing massive, incredibly successful companies turning to AI to get advice on legal proceedings? You don’t need to pinch me, I’ve already done it, and this world is real. The company in question here is Subnautica 2 publisher Krafton, who you might remember are being sued by three ex-leads of the game; developer of the game Unknown Worlds are (technically) also suing this trio of developers in kind. This all came about because Krafton delayed Subnautica 2, a decision that meant Unknown Worlds wouldn’t get a $250 million bonus. And it seems that the publisher even asked ever-reliable ChatGPT for advice on how they could avoid doing just that.

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Borderlands 4 Hits a New Low Price, Including Switch 2 Preorders

Black Friday is creeping up on us. For those keeping an eye on the calendar, the big sale event kicks off next week on November 28, but there are already plenty of great deals to look through. This is especially true of video games, with select releases seeing some nice discounts so far. Borderlands 4 is among them at Amazon, as it’s hit a new low price for PS5, Xbox Series X, and even preorders on Nintendo Switch 2.

Borderlands 4 Hits a New Low Price

According to price tracker camelcamelcamel, this is the lowest price yet for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions of Borderlands 4. It’s also a first-time price drop for the Switch 2 preorders, which is worth taking advantage of if you’ve been looking to own it for the handheld. It’s worth keeping in mind that the Switch 2 version has been delayed indefinitely, but this will still secure you a copy for when it’s ready.

We were big fans of Borderlands 4. In our 8/10 review, writer Travis Northup said it’s “a badass open-world evolution of a wonderfully unhinged looter-shooter series that needed to try something new, and it largely nails the biggest swings it takes. Combat is slicker than ever thanks to exciting new movement options and some interesting enemy designs, and the entertaining story takes things in a fresh direction while still tying neatly into existing lore.”

This deal is just the beginning. There’s so much more to come as we get closer to Black Friday, especially when it comes to video game deals. Our breakdowns of what to expect from PS5 and Xbox’s sales this year can help you plan ahead. Nintendo’s already announced its Black Friday sale so you can see what they’ll have up their sleeves as well.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.

If Valve creates an “entry point” for living room PCs, the console-beating Steam Machines will follow, argues Baldur’s Gate 3’s publishing director

Last week saw Valve reveal three pieces of hardware. The Steam Machine, a console-like mini PC you plug into your TV. A newly updated Steam Controller, which combines the original’s trackpad-style thumbpads with the double thumbsticks of a regular gamepad. And also the Steam Frame, a new virtual reality headset that streams games from your PC and opens up your whole game library to be played in the privacy of your own goggles.

While I have a default thrill setting that engages whenever Valve announces new hardware, it’s been interesting to see the variety of responses to the hardware reveals. I was surprised, in particular, by the muted response to the Steam Machine in our comments.

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