It’s been a billion years since I played a proper new Front Mission game, and I’m depressed to learn that Square Enix cancelled one in 2022. Titled Front Mission 2089: Borderscape and developed by BlackJack Studio, it was announced for release on iOS and Android but, who knows, might have clanked and rumbled onto PC, the place all good mobile games go when they die. Alas, Square Enix shut the project down a few months after reveal. Now, they’re suing BlackJack for releasing a new game that allegedly makes use of leftover parts from the Front Mission contract.
We Switch fans are no strangers to AI-generated software — heck, we hardly bat an eyelid at it when opening the eShop any more — but seeing it used to promote hardware still catches us a little off guard. Sure, the product likely exists, but can we assume that it actually has any of its promised features if even the images have been tampered with?
That’s how we arrived at UGR Tech’s ‘Wireless Controllers for Nintendo Switch with RGB Lights‘ (as spotted by Yanko Design). At an initial glance, these controllers look pretty darn funky, boasting all the features of Nintendo’s first-party offering (rumble, gyro etc.) but with the added bonus of some jazzy RGB strips and rapid press ‘Turbo’ buttons.
A new year is filled with new possibilities for games, and the indie scene is a great place for innovation to thrive. Today, we showcased five indie titles coming to PlayStation, revealing release dates, updates, and a surprise or two.
Forever Skies | Coming to PS5 April 14
Far From Home showcased some new co-op gameplay for Forever Skies, along with the official release date. Survive the skies with your friends and brave new worlds filled with threats that desire to halt your progress. Players who pre-order now will be gifted with the Supporter Pack DLC and 72-hour early access.
For those looking for a classic adventure of a hero’s journey, The Knightling is here to scratch that itch. We were introduced to the mysterious land of Cornered Bosk in the new trailer to celebrate its summer release date. A sprawling forest with a giant whirlpool in the middle that is swallowing everything. Can you become the knight you’re meant to be in this tale from Twirlbound?
Enter the dystopian ruins of Sanzu City in Possessor(s) as you fight to survive as a human who is possessed by a demon. The pair attempts to form a symbiotic relationship to survive this hellscape, finding themselves in battle with other demonic hybrids. This fast-paced action side-scroller from Heart Machine blends high stakes and art.
Learn the origins of the magical Swap ability and see how swapping textures in Ruffy and the Riverside changes how you approach platforming and combat in this completely hand-drawn world. Zockrates Laboratories adventurous bear will hit the ground swapping this June.
This labor of love by sole developer Sam Eng, Skate Story is coming to PlayStation. To mark the announcement, they’ve shared a new gameplay trailer, which shows the demon made of glass you’ll play as shred through obstacles in the Underworld on their quest to consume the moon. Be prepared to meet a cast of zany characters and sell your soul for the best board.
Hollow Knight fans have been waiting quite a while for news about its sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong. The wait has been so unbearable that even a casual mention, like the one Xbox dropped in a recent ID@Xbox post, can ignite the fires of those holding out for a 2025 drop.
On Xbox Wire, ID@Xbox director Guy Richards shared a post detailing how over $5 billion have been paid to independent developers through the program. It mostly goes over the success of past ID@Xbox launches, ranging from Phasmophobia and Balatro to Another Crab’s Treasure and Neva. Then, in a portion about upcoming games, we get the name-drop:
“Looking ahead, our lineup is incredible with upcoming games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Descenders Next, and FBC: Firebreak to play across the whole Xbox universe… and of course Hollow Knight: Silksong too!”
This mostly confirms that Hollow Knight: Silksong will launch sometime between me typing this, right now, and the end of all time. Granted, those games are interesting mentions. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is set for April 24, Descenders Next for April 9, and FBC: Firebreak has had a tentative 2025 window. This could imply Hollow Knight: Silksong is within some measure of grasp.
Fans are, to some degree, understandably impatient to learn whether Silksong might arrive, as it’s been roughly six years since its announcement. Now, let’s see how the Silksong faithful are reacting to this mention.
“Where’s the bait?” one commenter asked on the Silksong subreddit. Another said: “Silksong being mentioned by Xbox?” and followed it up with an image of the Squid Game Season 2 scene where protagonist Seong Gi-hun declares: “I have played these games before!”
There is a palpable air of both joking and irony that comes with communities like this, where groups have essentially bonded over waiting for news about something. Another post draws attention to this, noting that “we” — the Silksong holdouts — are a “circus at this point,” making their point with the Patrick Star/Man Ray meme format.
Hope and doubt comes in all shapes and sizes. But my favorite response to Xbox casually saying, “and of course Hollow Knight: Silksong too!” and all the speculation and cycles this causes, came from Reddit user u/cerberusthedoge: “We got Hollow Knight Silksong 2 before Hollow Knight Silksong.”
Pokémon Go, alongside Niantic’s broader gaming division, was recently acquired by mobile gaming juggernaut Scopely. The $3.5 billion sale has players a little worried about what it means for the walk-around monster-catching game, and its director is trying to assuage those fears.
In a new interview with Polygon, Pokémon Go senior product director Michael Steranka discussed the sale to Scopely and what its plans are under the Monopoly Go! publisher. Steranka said he’s been looking online at some of the player theories. “What I would love to be able to get across is like, ‘Hey, it’s actually great,'” Steranka said. “It’s going to be a good thing for the game and for the communities out there.”
Concerns over Pokémon Go’s future run the gamut, from monetization and mechanics to influence from Saudi-based ownership. When asked about the potential for intrusive ads and playtime restrictions, Steranka said “definitively no, that is not happening in Pokémon Go — not now, not ever.”
“Again, Scopely really recognizes how unique this game is, and they’ve told us themselves that they would be foolish to try to change the recipe of what’s made this such a huge hit and a success,” Steranka insisted.
“So yeah, absolutely not. We will not be building into our games any type of obtrusive ads or anything like that. I just really want to reiterate Scopely as a company, the way that they operate is they give all of their teams the agency to make the decisions that’s right for their games. And that is not something that we feel would ever be right for Pokémon Go.”
Steranka went on to stress that the Go team does not sell player data to third parties, “full stop,” and that it only leverages location data for game operations, with any data needed stored on U.S.-based servers and following all “incredibly strict” regulatory best practicies as best it can.
Getting out and going outside will remain a core focus, too, even after leaving Niantic: “And I would be remiss if through this transaction, Pokémon Go became Pokémon Stay at Home,” Steranka said.
Mortal Kombat 1’s T-1000 update has added the iconic Terminator 2 villain to the fighting game, and with it revealed how the developers at NetherRealm have handled its liquid metal form in the face of the series’ trademark Fatalities.
The gory fighting game franchise is famous for slicing and dicing characters in all sorts of gruesome ways, ripping out organs and even complete skeletons. Some characters tear the very soul from their hapless foe’s body, or break bones every which way possible.
But none of this should work on the T-1000, right? The T-1000 is made entirely out of a liquid metal called mimetic polyalloy, meaning it can reform into any shape it touches of the approximate size. And that’s exactly how the T-1000 works in Mortal Kombat 1, with his moveset, Fatalities, and Brutalities all in keeping with the character’s movie rules.
Of course, when it comes to damage being done to T-1000 in the game, some of those rules had to be broken. But as players have discovered, the developers at NetherRealm have done a fantastic job creating a custom look for the T-1000 when it’s on the receiving end of Fatalities and other devastating attacks.
X / Twitter user @daehnny published a series of videos showing how the T-1000 reacts to being torn to pieces. We see that in Mortal Kombat 1, the T-1000 melts as it does in the movies.
But we also see that in Mortal Kombat 1, the T-1000 has a skeleton of sorts and even an intestine. And, not to get too philosophical, but in the world of Mortal Kombat 1, the T-1000 has a soul.
There are some cool visuals at play here, with a dissolve effect for the T-1000 that makes the character look a little more unique than it would otherwise.
There are also unique effects for when the T-1000 is on the receiving end of a Fatal Blow, and we see the character turn to liquid form when it’s “dead,” which is a cool detail.
Of course, none of these Fatalities and Fatal Blows would actually kill the T-1000 were Mortal Kombat 1 playing by the rules established by the films. But then, Mortal Kombat 1 has never really made much sense. It’s about over-the-top, laugh-out-loud violence, and there’s no reason the T-1000 shouldn’t get in on the fun.
Meanwhile, Mortal Kombat 1 players have been working out the T-1000’s Brutalities, and there are some cool Easter eggs in there, as well as references to Terminator 2 itself.
T-1000 is the final DLC character in the Khaos Reigns expansion, and follows playable fighters Cyrax, Sektor, Noob Saibot, Ghostface, and Conan the Barbarian. Fans have wondered for some time now whether NetherRealm plans a third set of DLC characters, or a Kombat Pack 3, amid questions about the 5 million-selling Mortal Kombat 1’s success.
And just this week, NetherRealm offered a first look at skins based on the Mortal Kombat 2 movie that are coming to Mortal Kombat 1 at some point in the future.
Here’s is a sneak peek at the MK2 movie skins in Mortal Kombat 1 🐉
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
It’s no secret that 8BitDo is one of the premier manufacturers of third-party Switch accessories, with the firm making waves over the years with the likes of the SN30 Pro Gamepad and the M30. Its latest Switch pad, the Ultimate 2C Bluetooth Controller, is another slam dunk, offering up a compelling alternative to Nintendo’s Pro Controller with minimum concessions at half the price ($29.99 / £24.99 / €29.99).
Available in pink and two shades of blue, the Ultimate 2C rocks most of the functionality you want in a Switch pad. You’ve got gyro support, Hall effect analogue sticks, a proper D-pad, roughly 15 hours of playtime on a single charge, and rumble (not HD), with an extra pair of remappable ‘L4’ and ‘R4’ shoulder bumpers thrown in for good measure. The only major missing component is NFC support for your amiibo; a shame, for sure, but potentially not a dealbreaker for many.
According to Circana, not only was Monster Hunter Wilds the best-selling game of February, but launch month dollar sales more than doubled the total Monster Hunter: Rise achieved during its March 2021 debut.
That stat came as part of a discussion about the current console generation. In the U.S., February video game hardware spending fell by 25% when compared to a year ago, to $256 million. That’s the lowest February total for video game hardware spending since the $184 million reached in February 2020.
Zelnick pointed to the PC platform as growing in importance while publishers wait for Sony and Microsoft’s next moves and with the Nintendo Switch 2 waiting in the wings.
“We have seen PC become a much more and more important part of what used to be a console business, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see that trend continue,” he said. “Of course, there will be a new console generation.”
Monster Hunter Wilds is evidence of the trend, then. But it wasn’t the only new release in February to do well. In fact, according to Circana’s data, the top four best-selling games of February 2025 were new releases, with Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, Sid Meier’s Civilization VII, and PGA Tour 2K25 joining Monster Hunter Wilds. Other new releases appearing among the month’s top 10 best-sellers included Obsidian’s Avowed, which also launched day-one into Game Pass, and Sega’s Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.
Circana said the launch month dollar sales total Kingdom Come: Deliverance II reached in February 2025 was more than five times higher than the original Kingdom Come: Deliverance achieved during its February 2018 debut. Embracer Group, parent company of Kingdom Come: Deliverance developer Warhorse Studios, has already hailed the sequel’s sales success.
February 2025 U.S. Top 20 Best-Selling Games:
NEW Monster Hunter: Wilds – Capcom USA
NEW Kingdom Come: Deliverance II – Plaion
NEW Civilization VII – Take-Two Interactive
NEW PGA Tour 2K25 – Take-Two Interactive
NBA 2K25 – Take-Two Interactive
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 – Microsoft (Corp)
NEW Avowed – Microsoft (Corp)
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii – Sega
Grand Theft Auto V – Take-Two Interactive
Madden NFL 25 – Electronic Arts
Minecraft – Multiple Video Game Manufacturers
EA Sports FC 25 – Electronic Arts
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – Sony (Corp)
Red Dead Redemption II – Take-Two Interactive
Hogwarts Legacy – Warner Bros. Games
EA Sports College Football 25 – Electronic Arts
Helldivers II – Sony (Corp)
Elden Ring – Bandai Namco Entertainment
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero – Bandai Namco Entertainment
Astro Bot – Sony (Corp)
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) are set to launch an industry-wide union of video game workers in the U.S. and Canada at this year’s GDC. The United Videogame Workers-CWA (UVW-CWA) will bring together “video game artists, writers, designers, QA testers, programmers, freelancers and beyond to build worker power irrespective of studio and current job status”.
Forthcoming life sim InZoi – the plucky (genAI-ridden) David to The Sims 4‘s Goliath – will cost $40 at its early access launch, the developers have announced. What’s more, “all updates and DLCs will be provided for free” until the game hits 1.0, according to translated commentary from game director Hyungjun Kim.
This is being styled as a gift unto the gamers, and another way of tempting them from the clutches of The Sims, whose DLC packs commonly sell for full-game prices. The other way of looking at it is that of course early access “updates and DLC” should be free. The point of early access is that you’re paying for an unfinished game with the expectation that it’ll eventually be worth the money. Also, what’s the difference between an update and a DLC? My my, Inzoi, what a can of worms you have opened.
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