A new report from research firm Newzoo indicates the storm may be tightening on the battle royale genre, but Fortnite is still holding strong.
Newzoo’s PC & Console Gaming Report 2025 has detailed a number of shifts and trends across the industry, and one of those moving trends is the battle royale genre. Newzoo’s tracking indicates the battle royale genre has shrunk in playtime, going from 19% of playtime in 2021 to 12% in 2024.
Citing its Game Performance Monitor which looks at 37 markets (excluding China and India) across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, Newzoo indicated that as a pair, shooter games and battle royale games routinely account for 40% of playtime. So as battle royale playtime has gradually shifted down, shooter playtime has been going up.
Despite the 7% shift, the difference within the genre might be the more surprising number. Per Newzoo, Fortnite went from a 43% share of the battle royale genre in 2021 to a 77% share in 2024. Essentially, even as battle royale games trended down, Fortnite ate up more and more of the space within the genre.
Role-playing games have also seen some noticeable growth, up to 13% in 2024 over their 9% share in 2021. Newzoo reported that 18% of RPG time in 2024 was spent in major releases from 2023, spotlighting Baldur’s Gate 3, Diablo IV, Honkai: Star Rail, Hogwarts Legacy, and Starfield.
As Newzoo stated in its report, the fight for attention in playtime and hours is fierce. While games like Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Apex Legends carry on, other games fall by the wayside. Meanwhile, shooters and role-playing games seem to be encroaching on more territory and mindshare. Looking at the success of standouts in those genres, be they Marvel Rivals or Baldur’s Gate 3, it’s hard to argue.
With its constant slate of changes, updates, and growing library of gaming experiences and genres contained within it, it might not be surprising that Fortnite has weathered the storm. Still, time passes, and we’ll doubtlessly see trends continue to shift as broad audience interests change as the years roll on.
The release of Monster Hunter Wilds brought with it the usual comments about the hypocrisy of a series that wants to both protect ecosystems and grind them up for parts. “When will Monster Hunter just be honest about its desire to endlessly turn dragons into pants,” we lamented to ourselves. “When will the Monster Hunters recognise – nay, embrace the fact that they are the biggest Monsters of all”.
We could have saved ourselves a few thousand words and just pointed at Hunters Inc, instead. It’s basically a first-person low-budget Monster Hunter game in which the Hunters are Orcs. Orcs do not do self-deception, as a rule. They do not go for sanitised violence or anthropocentric fantasies about becoming “nature’s caretakers”. They are straightforwardly happy to club things to bits. Looks like ludonarrative consonance is back on the menu, boys!
Pre-orders are one thing, but there’s something about lotteries and ‘invitations’ to pre-order hot-item electronics which rubs me the wrong way. “Here, it’s our honour to let you give us hundreds of your hard-earned currency units, you lucky sausage! Gis a card number.”
Still, it’s the name of the game if you’re a Switch 2 fan, and we Europeans should think ourselves lucky that we’re not in the uncertain position of our friends across the Atlantic when it comes to guaranteeing (as much as you can) that there’ll be a new console on your doorstep come 5th June.
Days Gone Remastered comes to PlayStation 5 on April 25. Experience the definitive version of Days Gone with new modes, features, and technical enhancements to leverage the PS5 and PS5 Pro consoles. The new game modes including Horde Assault, Permadeath, and Speedrun also arrive on PC via the Broken Road DLC. Whether you’re visiting Days Gone for the first time or jumping back on the Drifter bike, there’s plenty of content to explore and new things to discover. If you haven’t already, be sure to read our Days Gone Remastered announcement blog for more details on all the new content and features.
Introducing one of our most expansive new additions to Days Gone Remastered, Horde Assault – a survival arcade mode. Before we dive in, watch the gameplay trailer for the new mode below.
What is Horde Assault mode?
Horde Assault offers fresh and unexpected gameplay designed to challenge your skills as you try to achieve a high score, while surviving as long as possible against increased horde sizes and various other enemies, like Breakers, Reachers, and Rager bears, oh my! Fight your way through a brutal, ever-changing landscape where enemies escalate in difficulty the longer you survive. Horde Assault was built from the promise of “This World Comes For You,” showcasing the core gameplay of the Days Gone open world in a unique way. Horde Assault is your playground for a truly endless game mode, go show them Freakers who’s boss.
Begin Horde Assault by dropping into Cascade with only a sidearm weapon at your disposal. Fight your way through the initial assault of Freakers to reach your Drifter bike, a valuable tool to traverse the open region. Seek out Supply Boxes scattered around the map to obtain powerful weapons to greatly increase your chance at survival. With more than 20 available weapons to use, including a new flamethrower not offered in Story mode, finding a Supply Box could be life or death when encountering the next horde. What weapons drop from each Supply Box is random and will reset upon each new start.
While you’re out there fighting for your life (literally) refill your resources and earn additional XP by completing Side Jobs. These mini objectives are critical for keeping you in the fight. Running out of ammo with up to 800 Freakers chasing you, is not ideal. We did say there are increased hordes… Of course, we couldn’t make it that easy for you. Should you make it to 30 minutes of survival time in any map, you will be treated to the Ultimate Horde. A never-ending horde fight in a relentless approach to hunt you down. We’ll stop explaining it any further and let you experience it firsthand.
Survive
Move up in level to earn in-mode rewards with never-before-playable characters, new patch cosmetics, and unique Injectors on offer to greatly impact your gameplay experience.
Speaking of Injectors, players of Days Gone will already be familiar with the benefits of Injectors from the main story. This idea carries over to Horde Assault, but now with a big uplift to drastically change gameplay in the form of modifiers. During your journey to Legendary Survivor, you can earn a total of 24 unique Injectors – 12 Positive and 12 Negative. Positive Injectors provide a positive boost to your score but increase the challenge. Negative Injectors provide a penalty to your score but increases your chance of survival with gameplay benefits.
We don’t want to spoil the full list, but let’s spotlight a couple Injectors to give you a sneak peek what they have to offer.
Exploding Freakers – Upon death Freakers will explode. You need any advantage you can get when facing increased horde sizes and this Injector is a unique way to trim its numbers.
Wanted – Start at maximum heat level. In Horde Assault, the longer you survive the more difficult your survival chances become. With this Injector, that escalation difficulty system begins immediately proving to be a real challenge that only the strongest will survive.
During your time with Horde Assault, you will progress through a Reward path. The Reward path consists of 35 levels to achieve with each level earning you a reward including Injectors, character skins, and patch cosmetics. With the inclusion of Rewards, an additional six never-before-playable characters from Days Gone joins the roster including O’Brian, Lisa, fan-favorite Skizzo, and more.
Patches make a return from players who are familiar with the Challenges we released in 2019. This time, the patches serve as purely cosmetic on Deacon’s cut to show off to your friends. That Enhanced Photo Mode will come in handy here. Once you earn the patches, they will carry over to the story as well. In addition to the Reward path, there are bonus rewards in the Reputation Phase, beating the target score in all four regions. We don’t want to reveal this right away, but one of the rewards is a highly requested item our players have been asking for. Hint: It has to do with your bike.
Horde Assault is treated as end game content, though it is playable as soon as you boot up Days Gone Remastered. We encourage newcomers to get a handle on the combat and mechanics first by visiting the story, but nothing is stopping you from jumping right into the action to encounter the uniqueness of Days Gone, the hordes. Horde Assault will offer an additional 10 hours of gameplay packed on top of a content filled package that we hope will bring you plenty of enjoyment in the world of Days Gone.
When and where can you play Horde Assault
Horde Assault is available April 25, 2025 on PS5 with Days Gone Remastered as well as on PC with the Broken Road DLC.
Days Gone Remastered is available to pre-order today on PlayStation Store. For players that have purchased Days Gone on PlayStation 4, you can upgrade to Days Gone Remastered including all new content and features for $10 USD. *
We can’t wait for you to experience all the new content and features or relive the epic story of Deacon St. John once again.
*Price shown in U.S. currency and may vary by country. Check PS Store at launch for local pricing. Owners of the PS4 disc copies must insert them into their PS5 every time they want to download or play the PS5 digital version. PS4 game disc owners who buy the PS5 Digital Edition disc-free console will not be able to get the PS5 version for the discounted price. PS4 game redemptions via PlayStation Plus are not eligible for upgrade.
Sony has published the list of PlayStation Plus Game Catalog additions for April 2025, revealing a lineup of games that includes highlights like Hogwarts Legacy, Blue Prince, Battlefield 1, and more.
All of the newcomers were detailed in a PlayStation.Blog entry posted on the site today. It confirms a list of eight titles set to arrive for PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers starting April 10, with more PS4, PS5, and Classic games trickling in as the month rolls on.
PlayStation Plus Game Catalog members starting at the Extra tier receive access to six titles, two of which launch with the service on day one. Those are Dogubomb’s critically acclaimed puzzle adventure Blue Prince, which launches April 10, and Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 2, which launches April 15.
PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers can also look forward to two old-school titles: Alone in the Dark 2 and War of the Monsters. You can see the full list of games coming to the PlayStation service, along with the dates they’ll be made available, below.
PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium Game Catalog Additions – April 2025
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor 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).
Two Microsoft software engineers who interrupted a Microsoft anniversary event to protest against the company’s dealings with the Israeli military have been fired for misconduct, according to a report. Software engineer Ibtihal Aboussad, who is based in Canada and once worked for the company’s genAI division, lost her job on Monday 7th April due to “wilful misconduct, disobedience or wilful neglect of duty,” according to internal documents picked up by CNBC. Another Microsoft software engineer, Vaniya Agrawal, had announced that she would resign on April 11th, but according to another document cited by CNBC, Microsoft have terminated her job in advance.
Welcome to our latest IGN First – a month of exclusive coverage in April, and it’s all about The Outer Worlds 2. This is the very first look at its gameplay in real time, and it takes us through a quest where you infiltrate the N-Ray Facility to show off several of the game’s new features and mechanics, as well as how it’s rethinking level design. And one of the biggest things that stood out to me is how much deeper it’s going to be as an RPG with developer Obsidian looking back at its past and even drawing inspiration from immersive sims like Deus Ex and Dishonored.
While that DNA has always been a part of first-person RPGs, The Outer Worlds 2 has more sophisticated systems compared to the first game like a true stealth system and better tools to make the playstyle viable, including effective melee weapons and skills to make silent takedowns possible. Take, for example, the health bar above enemy heads – there’s a purple-colored readout that displays how damage a stealth attack will do, helping you judge whether or not you can get a one-hit kill or if it’s even worth pouncing on your target. Enemies will also detect dead bodies and alert guards, but you can quickly clean up if you have a skill to disintegrate bodies on the spot.
Later in the quest, you pick up the N-Ray Scanner, which lets you see certain objects and NPCs/enemies through walls. While this is crucial for finding important parts of more involved environmental puzzles, it’s also an important tool for a stealth and combat. There are enemies throughout the N-Ray Facility who cloak themselves; invisible to the naked eye, but not able to escape the lens of the N-Ray Scanner. If you’re not dilligent about using it, cloaked enemies can easily run up on you. That’s just one example of how the addition of gadgets add a new wrinkle to gameplay.
There are several interlocking systems that factor into how you’re able to play, leaning more into the RPG elements that make up specific character builds.
There are several interlocking systems that factor into how you’re able to play, leaning more into the RPG elements that make up specific character builds. So, stealth and those immersive sim sensibilities aren’t the only way gameplay is expanding in The Outer Worlds 2. Improving gunplay was a major focus for Obsidian, citing Destiny as a touchstone for what good gunplay should feel like. Not that this game is going to turn into an all-out shooter, but it plays closer to how a first-person game with firearms should play.
You see an example of this in the approach to the N-Ray Facility movement when we go in guns blazing. Movement has been tweaked to complement gunplay as well, letting you be more nimble and do things like sprint-slide while aiming down sights like an action hero – and with the return of Tactical Time Dilation (TTD), the bullet-time fantasy is again an effective part of your combat rotation. We were able to see throwables, which is by no means revolutionary for a game like this, but with their inclusion this time around, you have another tool that you can weave into your arsenal – and even do something sick like tossing a grenade, activating TTD, and shooting the grenade midair to have it blow up on unsuspecting enemies.
There isn’t much to share on the story front as of yet, let alone the context around the quest in the N-Ray Facility, but we do see how conversations have been tweaked slightly in the sequel. In the gameplay video above, there’s a moment we confront an NPC named Exemplar Foxworth who’s survived the cultist takeover of the place. She’s bleeding out and you can help patch her up based on your Medical stat, or respond depending on your Guns or Melee stats. Although we couldn’t dig into companions in more detail, this part also highlights the new companion named Aza, a former cultist who’s a bit frantic but joins you to seemingly help undo what they’ve done.
Many of these elements were part of the original Outer Worlds in some form, but where that game was more about laying a new foundation for Obsidian, The Outer Worlds 2 looks to be a fully realized version of what it was trying to build with the first one. In addition to checking it out early, I had conversations with the folks at Obsidian to get insight on a ton of its new features and the vision that drove this sequel. It seems keen on wielding the RPG roots of the studio’s past while considering what a modern first-person RPG can be in the vein of a Fallout – and to be clear, they often referred to Fallout: New Vegas as a touchstone when making The Outer Worlds 2, so my hopes are certainly high.
That’s just a taste of what’s to come in The Outer Worlds 2 and what we’re covering in this month’s IGN First. I’ll be breaking down character builds, the new flaws system, all the wild and wacky weapons, and how much bigger this sequel is through interviews with key people like original Fallout developer and creative director Leonard Boyarsky, game director Brandon Adler, and design director Matt Singh. Keep checking back at IGN all April long for more!
Michael Higham is the tech reviews editor at IGN, but is one of the RPG sickos on staff who still talks about Fallout: New Vegas on a regular basis. You can find him at @brazyazn.bsky.social.
Nintendo GameCube is coming to Nintendo Switch Online alongside the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, with a classic controller on the way too. But some small print indicates that Nintendo’s new GameCube controller for the Switch 2 may only, officially, be meant for GameCube use.
Spotted in the details of the UK version of the Switch 2 GameCube controller trailer (thanks, VGC), a statement read: “The controller is only compatible with Nintendo GameCube – Nintendo Classics.” This would indicate the GameCube controller is only going to work properly when playing GameCube games on the Switch 2 Online Expansion Pack, and not other Switch 2 games.
As VGC notes, it’s worth considering that other Nintendo controllers with similar disclaimers have not been fully limited. Players have been able to make retro controllers work where applicable. Also, the same disclaimer isn’t there in the Nintendo of America version of the trailer.
It’s still interesting, given the classic GameCube controller has enough buttons to manage many common gameplay inputs on the Switch 2. It could be a case of setting expectations, or trying to avoid frustrations if someone, say, tries to use their GameCube controller like a mouse.
Even if this particular GameCube controller isn’t your jam, Nintendo has confirmed the GameCube Controller adapter will work with the Switch 2 dock via USB port. Those who picked up the adapter back in the Wii U days are certainly getting some mileage out of the accessory.
The Classic GameCube controller for the Nintendo Switch 2 is planned to go live at launch with the new console, but the exact date those go up for pre-order hasn’t been announced yet. Pre-orders have been on shaky ground as U.S. tariffs have introduced a fair bit of chaos.
It’s a major update to the Nintendo Switch Online library that will grant subscribers access to a laundry list of classic 2000s-era titles, including The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, F-Zero GX, and Soulcalibur 2, which will all be available at launch this summer. Of course, this library will be expanded upon in the years to come, with some teased titles including Super Mario Sunshine, Luigi’s Mansion, Super Mario Strikers, Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, and more.
If you’re looking to pre-order a Nintendo Switch 2, GameCube controller, or other accessories and games, make sure to keep an eye on our Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order hub, which will stay updated with news and info.
Some video games aim to pull originality from the ether, and some video games try to accomplish it by theatrically amassing a bunch of rad parallels and sort of crushing them together until the molecular boundaries give way, and a new Element is produced. This is the vibe I get from Welcome To Brightville, a new “emergent immersive sim” that reminds me instantly of Thief, Dishonored, Bioshock and recent soulslike Lies Of P.
The setting blends “industrial Victorian architecture, neo-baroque extravagance, and futuristic cyberpunk elements” to produce a “manapunk” world in which magic and machinery jostle together like cats in a bag. It’s a heady stew of references, and perhaps not that novel for a dark fantasy RPG – people have been slopping the cyber over other literary genres for a while now, and don’t get me started on the abundance of -punk derivatives. Still, it rattles and whirrs along convincingly enough in the below announcement trailer.
For all the excitement of last week’s Direct, Nintendo’s Switch 2 pricing has gone down like a cold cup of something nasty. £75/$80 games, a sizeable bump in cost for the system itself, current economic conditions, and tariffs have melded into the perfect storm, with the once-affordable Nintendo now appearing a little more out of reach.
It’s a problem around the world, but Switch fans in Scandinavia are feeling particularly hard done by the pricing after the region’s main distributor has apparently driven up prices further, leading to some eyeing early-June flights abroad to save some cash on a launch-day Switch 2.
