Who can say what made Ubisoft change their minds on Steam Deck support for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the pretty good samurai stealther that previously stated an intention to go without. Perhaps a high-ranking executive, visiting family to invite them to a trip on his spare yacht, had his frozen heart melted by the sight of a Naoe-cosplaying granddaughter clutching a Steam Deck OLED in her clearly-too-small-for-it hands. Perhaps.
It works, is the main thing. And works well – remarkably well, actually, considering not just the previous denial and 11th hour U-turn, but the game’s high PC system requirements and at least partially mandatory ray tracing. This does come at the cost of a severely stripped-down quality settings menu, and you’ll still need to sign into a Ubisoft Connect account even if you own Shadows on Steam, but there’s no doubt that its Steam Deck Verified status is deserved.
What folks have seemingly noticed, however, is that the new release comes with an added ‘sex’ warning as part of the overall rating; something that wasn’t present on the original Wii U version. Observe the below post from @starfallblossom on social media; they post a comparison of both physical editions with a caption that reads “WHAT DID THEY ADD??:
Detective Dotson is far and away one of the most charming games I’ve played this year. It’s as if you were to throw Ace Attorney and classic Monkey Island games together, wrap it up in a Bollywood film, and then set it in modern-day India. That should give you an idea of what independent developer Masala Games is trying to achieve, as Detective Dotson is fast approaching its April 24, 2025, release date for Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC with support for Xbox Play Anywhere.
The developer, which houses talent that has worked at studios like Pixar, Electronic Arts, and Prana, was one of the featured teams at this year’s ID@Xbox Showcase during GDC and it was a standout experience for me at the show — I also had a chance to speak with Director Sharlin Shodhan separately about the game’s support for Xbox Play Anywhere.
In Detective Dotson, you take on the role of the title character, an aspiring actor turned amateur detective who is trying to track down who killed his father. That’s the high-level pitch. But the fun of the game are the wild adventures he’ll embark on as he becomes a more honed gumshoe, taking on unexpectedly riveting cases like who shunned someone from attending a prominent tea party, or who’s responsible for stealing someone’s lunch to ruin a film production.
These lighthearted quests play out in a traditional adventure game style, where you guide Dotson across a 2D plane with a brightly colored, Indian-influenced 3D backdrop, talking with other characters for clues, picking up objects for your inventory, scanning the environments for hints, and taking down notes to later piece all your evidence together.
Once all your notes and clues are assembled, you’ll then head to an evidence board to solve the active case. Here you’ll effectively move sticky notes with clues on them like, “Broke Up With,” “Trained by,” and “Hides in,” to then draw lines between all your suspects to solve the mystery at hand.
What I enjoyed the most during my time with the game is that it taps into classic adventure gaming, a genre I love. It’s not quite point-and-click, but it’s similar enough in its functions that it scratches that adventure game itch. It also feels like an incredibly accessible, cozy experience that gamers of all skill levels will be able to enjoy.
It also looks like nothing I’ve seen before, with its brightly colored world, diverse characters, and dance-offs. I’m not proficient in the realm of Indian customs, but the game does a good job of easing you into the experience with its terminology, presentation of characters, as well as the cases you’re given. There’s a reason why being shunned from a tea party can have a dramatic impact on someone’s social standing, which makes it the kind of thing Dotson would want to solve for – who seems to not only be a better detective than advertised, but also a standup dude who is just trying to do right in his community.
Even though my demo was short, it’s clear there are many more layers to explore within Detective Dotson, ones that I’m eager to uncover. This lighthearted story of a reluctant hero has already moved to the top of my “Can’t Wait to Play More of This” list – which thankfully isn’t a long wait: Detective Dotson is set to launch April 24, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC with support for Xbox Play Anywhere.
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THEME: Assassin’s Creed Shadows SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on March 26, 2025
Next week, leap into Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and share epic moments of Naoe and Yasuke exploring feudal Japan using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.
It’s time for a new booster set in Pokémon TCG Pocket, and it’s introducing quite a bit to the game when it arrives. Shining Revelry, the next themed booster pack for Pokémon TCG Pocket, arrives on March 27, 2025, introducing Shiny Pokémon, ranked matches, and the Paldea region’s trainers and Pokémon.
As part of the new booster, Shining Revelry will introduce Shiny variants of popular Pokémon, including Charizard ex, Lucario ex, and Pachirisu. You can see a preview of what they’ll look like in the latest Pokémon TCG Pocket teaser below:
The Shiny variants not only add some extra sparkle and shine to these Pokémon, but also change their color schemes. For Pokémon TCG Pocket, the Shiny Pokémon cards will sparkle when tilted, adding to the effect. Fans of the Shiny look can also get a Shiny Charizard display board and binder starting on April 1.
Themed booster sets, like Mythical Island or Triumphant Light, are typically smaller sets with fewer cards compared to larger sets like Genetic Apex or Space-Time Smackdown. That doesn’t mean they aren’t making some interesting additions to the sets, though. Shining Revelry will bring the Paldea region from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet to Pokémon TCG Pocket, introducing the likes of Tatsugiri and Sprigatito, as well as the trainer Iono.
Ranked matches are also launching on March 27, letting players battle and earn emblems based on their end-of-season rank to display on their profile. The first season will run from March 27 to April 26.
Recently, the Pokemon TCG Pocket team confirmed it would be changing the trading system, which has earned the ire of players looking to exchange cards and round out their collections. The actual changes will be rolling out gradually though, so we’ll see if the suprisingly robust drop for Shining Revelry mollifies the community or not.
I expected Pokémon TCGrestocks in 2025, but not this soon. While everyone scrambles for Prismatic Evolutions and floods paid Discord servers hunting for Rival Destinies, the smart move is picking up older sets from the Scarlet & Violet and Sword & Shield eras before they disappear—especially now that Amazon just got a massive restock.
You won’t find Prismatic Evolutions or much Surging Sparks stock just yet, but for collectors, this is a gold mine. ETBs, Big Boxes, Booster Bundles, and more are all here—straight from Amazon Global. That means stock has been pulled from the UK and other regions to ensure wider availability.
This is exactly what the community needs: a flood of inventory that makes botting and scalping far less appealing. I’ve dug through everything, and just to make things easier, sorted it all by category alongside a handy TL;DR just below.
Pokémon TCG: Elite Trainer Boxes
All of these ETBs are harder to come by thanks to Pokémania 2025. There’s some amazing cards to be found in these sets, from Greninja Secret Art Rare (214/167) found in Twilight Masquerade to The Loyal Three Secret Art Rare set found in Shrouded Fable.
Pokémon TCG: Booster Bundles and Blisters
Surging Sparks Booster Bundle is the biggest restock here thanks to the infamous Pikachu ex Secret Illustration Rare (238/191) and the sets other amazin cards such as Latias ex Special Illustration Rare (239/191) and Milotic ex Special Illustration Rare (237/191). It’s also a great time to snap up from Brilliant Stars boosters, with chances of pulling Charizard V Alternate Art (154/172) and the stunning trainer gallery sub-set.
Pokémon TCG: Big Box Products
Whilst these are the most awkward thing to display or store for collectors, there’s some cool promo cards and accessories for TCG players. There’s even some discounts knocking around, such as the Paradox Fury Premium collection down 12% at $60.11. This is probably one of the better boxes to buy from this restock as it’s a 2024 Amazon holiday exclusive.
Pokémon TCG: Tins
There’s a collectors scene for just the tins people, and they come in handy for storing bulk, dice, sleeves and whgatever else trainers need to their battles.
A good tip here is to buy anything with a Pokémon V card as their promo card. This means you’ll get Sword and Shield era booster packs inside, which are going to be harder and harder to find as we move into the second half of 2025.
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.
The first big update for Monster Hunter Wilds looms on the horizon, and next week, Capcom will host a showcase to spotlight what’s in store for Title Update 1 in Monster Hunter Wilds.
The Monster Hunter Wilds Showcase airs on March 25 at 7am PT / 10am ET on the Monster Hunter Twitch channel. Hosted by producer Ryozo Tsujimoto, the showcase will spotlight what’s arriving alongside returning monster Mizutsune.
Join us March 25 at 7am PT/2pm GMT for the Monster Hunter Wilds Showcase, hosted by producer Ryozo Tsujimoto! We’ll be detailing the first Free Title Update coming in early April, which includes Mizutsune and a host of other new additions.
Currently, there’s no exact date locked in for Title Update 1 outside a general “early April” window. A firm launch date for the first big content drop of Monster Hunter Wilds would be one of the big takeaways players would likely want to see in the spotlight.
As for content, we know Mizutsune — a leviathan monster with dangerous bubbles — will return for Monster Hunter Wilds. We also know Capcom plans to add a new challenge as well as a “new place to meet, communicate, have meals together and more with other hunters,” specifically for those who have completed the main story.
What’s on players’ longer wishlist for Title Update 1? Layered weapons, or changing the appearance of your weapon without altering its stats, is a repeated ask. Additional camera options and other quality-of-life features are also sensical options.
Mostly, hunters seem keen on hunting a new monster, getting some new challenges, and having more to dig into with Monster Hunter Wilds. The latest in Capcom’s long-running monster-fighting series brought in some big numbers with its launch, and with Title Update 1, the company will be setting the cadence for how it moves forward.
The villagers of Wyndham are miserable. Stuck in a military cordon with little to do except look up at the exploded power plant that put them there, escape made even less feasible by the bandits and forest cultists on the other side, even the stiffest upper lips are starting to sag. One such fed-up chappie moans that it’s so bad, he’d rather be back in Swindon.
First off, way to disrespect our towering culturalcontributions, philistine. He’d have a much better time if he actually did make a break for those big metal gates to the outside, because while Atomfall is an unexceptional FPS and only a decent survival game, its sheer openness and barrels upon barrels of on-tap intrigue make it worth poking your head in. If, that is, you’re able to go looking for answers unprompted.
Gal Guardians! Assault Suit Leynos 2! Atelier Yumia!
The latest Nintendo Download update for North America arrived yesterday, but we were otherwise engaged with important Skell-related work – our apologies! But here it is, and it’s bringing new games galore to the eShop in your region.
As always, be sure to drop a vote in our poll and comment down below with your potential picks for the week. Enjoy!
Welcome to Next Week on Xbox! In this weekly feature we cover all the games coming soon to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows, and Game Pass! Get more details on these upcoming games below and click their profiles for further info (release dates subject to change). Let’s jump in!
Breakout Beyond – March 25 Optimized for Xbox Series X|S, Smart Delivery Breakout is back! Choice Provisions (Bit.Trip) has flipped the legendary series on its head. Or rather side. In this neon-drenched take on the classic, you’ll need to literally break through each puzzle by clearing bricks to breach the final goal. Longer play will rack up a combo and increase the intensity of the effects creating a spectacular light show as a reward for the most skilled players.
Atomfall – March 27(Deluxe Edition March 24) Optimized for Xbox Series X|S, Smart Delivery, Xbox Play Anywhere A survival-action game inspired by real-life events, Atomfall is set five years after the Windscale nuclear disaster in Northern England. Explore the fictional quarantine zone, scavenge, craft, barter, fight and talk your way through a British countryside setting filled with bizarre characters, mysticism, cults, and rogue government agencies. From Rebellion, the studio behind Sniper Elite and Zombie Army, Atomfall will challenge you to solve the dark mystery of what really happened.
Blue Wednesday – March 27 Optimized for Xbox Series X|S, Smart Delivery An interactive game where the player can move through the city and chat with various NPCs, play the piano, and interact with lots of other items through the main character, Morris. The main parts of the game are mini games and adventures, and learning more about Morris’s story through vivid cutscenes that pop up at key moments in the game.
Sports: Renovations – March 27Optimized for Xbox Series X|S Your hometown basketball court is in danger – once home to a top-tier league team fostering many new talents in the field, now covered in cobwebs and dust. And now a big developer is only waiting to get his grubby hands on the place, tear it down and build a new shopping mall instead. But you won’t accept that. Give sports facilities a second life in this relaxing story-driven simulator. Restore the glory of old gyms, courts and pitches, and add a sprinkle of your own style.
The First Bezerker: Khazan – March 27Optimized for Xbox Series X|S The First Berserker: Khazan is a hardcore action RPG based on the Dungeon Fighter Online (DnF) universe, Nexon’s flagship IP with more than 800 million players worldwide. Set 800 years before the events of DnF, the game unfolds on the continent of Arad and explores the untold story of Khazan, the first Berserker. Players will experience Khazan’s legendary journey firsthand as they master intricate and engaging combat mechanics and strategic battles that bring his epic tale to life.
Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror – March 28 Optimized for Xbox Series X|S Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror is a terrifying first-person horror adventure game that tells a dark and mysterious story in a cinematic style. Enter the broken mind of Eliza de Moor, once a celebrated singer, now trapped in the labyrinth of her own forgotten memories. Since collapsing on stage during a performance, Eliza has been suffering from amnesia. The only hope for recovering her memories lies with Dr. Stern and his experimental medicine.
