Author: Game Infliction

Microsoft has created what it’s calling the “first ever official edible controller” to go alongside a Willy Wonka inspired Xbox Series X.

Revealed on the Xbox Wire, the latest in Xbox’s weird and wacky gamepads takes inspiration from the upcoming Wonka film by giving fans the chance to win an (X)box of chocolates and other goodies.

The edible gamepad doesn’t actually work, of course, but is an Xbox controller replica made entirely of chocolate. For those worried about how they’d control the giant chocolate bar themed console, Xbox is packing an actual controller in the box too. This one comes in a burgundy colour inspired by Wonka’s coat.

The box also includes five video game themed and slightly suspicious sounding chocolates:

• Achievement Hunting: Delicious chocolate with a boost of energy ingredients, which helps with long-term gaming focus. Time to rack up that Gamerscore.
• Button Masher: Buzzing with bold espresso to keep your reactions crisp and your head in the game.
• Your Citrus Sidekick: Chocolate and orange team up for a sunny burst of flavour, in honour of the fruitful variety of games available on Xbox Game Pass.
• Xtra Kick: Balances out the sweet with just the right amount of heat. Just like any end boss, this gets you a little fired up but yields sweet rewards.
• Wonka for the Win: Sometimes the greatest joys in life are also the simplest. So, this treat focuses on the essence of what makes a great truffle: the chocolate. 100% pure, decadently delicious chocolate.

Fans can attempt to win the package, which includes the Xbox Series X, controller, chocolate controller, and the five sweets, by following Xbox on X/Twitter and retweeting the official Xbox sweepstakes post before December 14.

Microsoft makes these special controllers quite regularly, with Xbox Series X generation highlights including red and blue fluffy Sonic the Hedgehog gamepads and one made out of actual Jade.

Its more regular line of controllers including the sexy Gold Shadow, cosmic Stellar Shift, dusty Stormcloud Vapor, and even an Earth Day one made partly from recycled CDs, water jugs, and other Xbox controller parts.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Ark: Survival Ascended’s Xbox Series X and S release date has been delayed once again, this time just a day before it was due to come out.

Developer Studio Wildcard had already delayed the console version of the dinosaur-themed survival game following its Steam launch, with the Xbox and Windows PC version set to come out today, November 14, and the PlayStation 5 version due out at some point later this month.

In a post on X/Twitter, however, Studio Wildcard said the Xbox and Windows PC version of Ark Survival Ascended “is still going through the certification process”, which means it will not come out as planned today. Studio Wildcard said it expects the game to come out on Xbox and Windows PC “later this week”, but it sounds like a further delay could be on the cards. “We’ll update with a more precise time when we have it,” the developer said.

Given Studio Wildcard’s track record when it comes to sticking to release dates for the Ark series of games, there’s a degree of healthy scepticism from the community whenever release windows are announced. And it’s fair to say this latest announcement was met with just that.

When y’all say “on track” must mean we have no idea

— Holla Atcha Bowl (@HollaAtchaBowl) November 13, 2023

I’m pretty much convinced that you do this intentionally.

— ARKstuff Servers 🦖 (@realARKstuff) November 13, 2023

So you guys just keep coincidentally keep finding all this out last minute? Stop the shade and just tell us it’s gonna be 6 months we can cope

— Milly🎲 (@Hoodie_Milly) November 13, 2023

Not surprising at all, i think all of us were expecting you guys to pull this…

— Angells Dream (@Aisali0308) November 13, 2023

Not shocked at all. At this point, only when the game actually drops is when we will be surprised.

— Nachonian (@Nachonian) November 14, 2023

Ark: Survival Ascended is Studio Wildcard’s Unreal Engine 5 remake of the original Ark: Survival Evolved. It’s out now on Steam (if you’re playing, check out IGN’s comprehensive Ark: Survival Ascended guide).

Ark: Survival Ascended quickly shot to the top of Steam’s best-selling games list upon release, but players ran into performance issues that marred the launch. The game currently has a ‘mixed’ Steam user review rating of 56%.

Studio Wildcard has acknowledged these issues, admitting to “a few bumps” since launch. But, it stressed, it’s working to address issues players report with patches.

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 developer of Cities Skylines 2 has issued an update on the game, confirming a significant delay to a key feature and the slowdown of patch releases.

The city builder, which launched on Steam to a ‘mixed’ user review rating last month, does not currently have official mod support or the expected in-game editor. Without an asset import feature, mod makers are unable to import their own assets into the game. The original Cities Skylines enjoyed strong support from the modding community.

In a blog post, Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen said the studio’s goal is to release the editor “as soon as possible”, but expects it will take a couple of months to get into “a shape where we can release it”. “We don’t have a concrete timeline yet as we don’t want to make promises we can’t keep,” Hallikainen said.

Cities Skylines 2 has endured a tumultuous release. In the month preceding launch, Colossal Order and publisher Paradox announced the Xbox Series X and S and PlayStation 5 versions of the game were delayed to spring 2024 in order to allow the developers more time to match “quality and performance across all platforms.”

The minimum and recommended PC specs were also raised significantly to account for the game’s “next-generation” features and to allow for “a better player experience”. In a subsequent joint statement Colossal Order and Paradox admitted they had “not achieved the benchmark” targeted for launch performance on PC, but stuck to the planned release date anyway.

Despite the warning, Cities: Skylines 2 surpassed 100,000 concurrent players on Steam on launch day as it soared to the top of the storefront’s best-sellers chart. However, a great many of these players were left frustrated by the game’s foreshadowed poor performance, along with a number of bugs, which Colossal Order has worked to fix in the weeks since.

And just last week, Hallikainen questioned the reaction from some within the Cities Skylines community after the developer patched out an in-game radio advert it had deemed offensive.

In this week’s update, Hallikainen said the console version of the game, now slated for the first half of 2024, will have all the intended editor features in place for launch, and the editor itself will be on par with the PC version apart from code modding and asset importing, due to console restrictions. Console players will, however, be able to download user-created assets from Paradox Mods and create custom maps. The performance improvements Colossal Order is making to the PC version will also “benefit” the console version, Hallikainen said. “We’re actively working on the console versions so they will be ready for you in the first half of 2024.”

Now onto patches. Hallikainen said the quick pace of patches will slow down after the next one is released soon. Colossal Order will then focus on “bigger fixes that take longer to work on”. The focus here is on LODs (of Cities Skylines 2 teeth fame) and improving GPU performances. There are a “ton of tweaks and adjustments required”, Hallikainen admitted, but the expectation is a “relevant performance boost”.

“The workload is significant and unfortunately, there is no silver bullet to improve the performance at once, instead, it requires several tasks completed before we are happy with it,” Hallikainen explained. “This results in less frequent updates so we won’t have weekly patches going forward.”

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.