Key Dragon Age developers have announced they are leaving BioWare after the developer restructured to focus on the next Mass Effect.

Yesterday, January 29, IGN reported that BioWare had moved a number of the studio’s developers onto other projects within EA as it focuses entirely on Mass Effect 5.

General manager Gary McKay said the studio is “taking this opportunity between full development cycles to reimagine how we work.”

“Given this stage of development, we don’t require support from the full studio,” McKay continued. “We have incredible talent here at BioWare, and so we have worked diligently over the past few months to match many of our colleagues with other teams at EA that had open roles that were a strong fit.”

IGN understands that EA has already placed an unknown number of developers from BioWare into other, equivalent roles within the company. But a smaller number of Dragon Age team members are also seeing their roles terminated, and are being offered time to apply to other roles within the company if they so choose.

Following the announcement, a number of BioWare developers took to social media to say they were now leaving the studio. Editor Karin West-Weekes, narrative designer and lead writer on Dragon Age: The Veilguard Trick Weekes, and editor Ryan Cormier all said they were looking for work, with producer Jen Cheverie and senior systems designer Michelle Flamm also confirming their exit.

BioWare already suffered a round of layoffs in 2023, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard director Corinne Busche announced her departure from the studio last week.

IGN asked EA for specifics on how many individuals at BioWare were being impacted by this latest change, how many face potential layoffs, and how many remain at the studio, but EA’s response was vague:

“The studio’s priority was Dragon Age. During this time there were people continuing to build the vision for the next Mass Effect. Now that The Veilguard has shipped, the studio’s full focus is Mass Effect.

“While we’re not sharing numbers, the studio has the right number of people in the right roles to work on Mass Effect at this stage of development.”

BioWare’s work on Dragon Age: The Veilguard was brought to an end last week with what sounded like its last major update.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard was the first new game in the fantasy RPG series in 10 years, but it came and went not with a bang but a whimper. Amid the launch BioWare confirmed Dragon Age: The Veilguard wouldn’t get any post-launch DLC, shocking fans who had hoped for expansions as previous Dragon Age games had received.

Last week, EA admitted Dragon Age: The Veilguard had failed to meet sales expectations by a whopping 50%; it had expected three million players, but the game managed only 1.5 million. We’ve chronicled some of the game’s development challenges already, including layoffs and the departure of several project leads at different stages.

As for Mass Effect, EA said a “core team” at BioWare is developing the next Mass Effect game under the leadership of veterans from the original trilogy, including Mike Gamble, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts, Parrish Ley, and others.

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.

Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket has today received its next major update and first full set since launch as the Pokémon Diamond and Pearl-themed Space Time Smackdown expansion is now available.

This set, which comes in two booster packs themed after Dialga and Palkia, includes a total of 207 cards and is therefore significantly smaller than Genetic Apex’s 286. That being said, 52 of these are the alternate art, Star and Crown rarity cards, and as Genetic Apex had 60 of these, there is a higher percentage of rare pieces to collect.

Space Time Smackdown’s official card count therefore comes to 155, as alternate arts aren’t included in the overall collection number. Included in this count are 10 ex Pokémon: Yanmega, Infernape, Palkia, Pacharisu, Mismagius, Gallade, Weavile, Darkrai, Dialga, and Lickilicky.

Every Pokémon type therefore has a new ex Pokémon with the exception of Dragon, and the Darkness type gained two.

Space Time Smackdown’s biggest addition is perhaps in the introduction of Pokémon Tool cards, however. These are items which can be attached to the active Pokémon to give it extra benefits in battle, and three have arrived in the new set.

These include Giant Cape, which gives the Pokémon an extra 20 Hit Points; the Rocky Helmet, which does 20 HP to the opponent’s Pokémon whenever the active trainer takes damage; and the Lum Berry, which removes conditions such as Poison from the Pokémon.

Battles

As is the case with every new set release, the addition of Space Time Smackdown has brought new Solo Battles to Pokémon TCG Pocket. Eight new battles are available in the Intermediate tier, nine are available in the Advanced tier, and eight are available in the Expert tier, though none have been added to the simplest Beginner tier.

These focus on Pokémon introduced in the set such as Dialga ex and Palkia ex but also the likes of Togekiss, Bastiodon, Glacion, Magmortar, Magnezone, Rampardos, Tortrerra, and more.

As for multiplayer, it’s too early to tell exactly what will shake up the meta but many of the Space Time Smackdown cards have great potential to. Infernape ex, for example, can do 140 damage for just two Fire Energy, and while it discards both of these on impact, this is still an incredibly powerful and quick move that can one hit knock out all but the strongest ex Pokémon.

Palkia ex also poses a threat given its resemblance to Mewtwo ex. It similarly does 150 damage for four Energy, though also does 20 damage to each benched Pokémon at the cost of losing 3 total Energy. Weavile ex, meanwhile, has a single one Energy attack that does 30 damage or 70 if the defending Pokémon has damage. Perhaps the biggest boost will come to Steel type decks though, as Dialga ex and a wealth of other cards join the likes of Melmetal and Bisharp which are already available.

Missions and Rewards

Myriad new missions have joined Pokémon TCG Pocket alongside Space Time Smackdown too, though these are relatively similar in structure to what players are used to. Collecting signature cards will unlock rental decks as usual, for example, while piecing together the entire set slowly but surely will unlock Dialga and Palkia icons.

Museum missions have returned too, including two for collecting each 1 Star card and another two for collecting each full art 2 Star card. The final secret mission is called Champion of the Sinnoh Region and is awarded for collecting the full art Cynthia card alongside 1 Star cards of her four key Pokémon: Gastrodon, Lucario, Spiritomb, and Garchomp.

Missions, as usual, award Pack Hourglasses, Wonder Hourglasses, Emblem Tickets for the shop, and more, though notably none of the controversial Trading Tokens. Developer Creatures Inc. did give players a free 500 of these to celebrate trading’s addition to the game though.

Rewards can be used to unlock some new items in the shop too, including Dialga and Palkia album covers and the Lovely Hearts backdrop. A new Poké Gold bundle has replaced the previous Gardevoir one too, this time focusing on Cynthia.

Trading

Creatures Inc. still hasn’t commented on the controversial trading update since its release yesterday, with its social media accounts and the game itself only really focusing on Space Time Smackdown. The aforementioned “Trade Feature Celebration Gift” did arrive with 500 Trade Tokens and 120 Trade Hourglasses (the former of which is enough to trade a single ex Pokémon), but the developer has otherwise remained quiet on fan complaints.

Trade Tokens are at the centre of the controversy, as these are required for trading any card at 3 Diamonds or higher. 120 Trade Tokens are required to trade a 3 Diamond card, 400 are required to trade a 1 Star card, and 500 are required to trade a 4 Diamond card, meaning an ex Pokémon.

They can only be obtained by essentially selling cards. Players can delete from their collection a 3 Diamond card for 25 Trade Tokens, a 1 Star card for 100, a 4 Diamond card for 125, a 2 Star card for 300, a 3 Star immersive card for 300, and a Crown gold card for 1500. Cards of lower rarities are worthless, though require no Trade Tokens to trade either.

This means players must sell, for example, five ex Pokémon before they can trade one ex Pokémon, or five 1 Star card (the rarest available to trade) before they can trade one 1 Star card. What’s more, selling one Crown rarity card, which are the rarest in the game and may not be obtained even after months of playing, will only net players enough tokens to trade three ex Pokémon.

Fans have called it “hilariously toxic” and a “monumental failure,” and lamented that a “safe way for the community to connect more” was sacrificed for something “so laborious.”

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

The developer of the Path of Exile games has apologized to fans of the first game after putting a new update on hold until a crucial update for Path of Exile 2 is out the door.

Grinding Gear Games had promised fans that it would continue to update action RPG Path of Exile 1, which has been running for over 10 years now, through the release of Path of Exile 2 in early access and beyond.

However, Path of Exile 1’s 3.26 update, which was originally planned for release late October before the Path of Exile 2 launch, then planned for mid-February this year, is now delayed further, with all hands on deck sorting out Path of Exile 2’s problems. Path of Exile 1’s last league release was Settlers of Kalguur in July 2024.

In a video message, Path of Exile 2 game director and GGG co-founder Jonathan Rogers explained that the studio brought the Path of Exile 1 team across to help get Path of Exile 2’s endgame into shape ahead of the December launch, but thought that they would be able to return to get 3.26 ready for its mid-February launch.

It turned out that was impossible, given the myriad problems Path of Exile 2 has. “We were fooling ourselves,” Rogers admitted. Not only was Path of Exile 2 itself delayed a few weeks, but it suffered from crashes and balance problems that needed to be addressed immediately.

“How could I justify taking some of the most experienced developers we have off PoE2 when it’s on fire?” Rogers said.

The upshot is the Path of Exile 1 team is still working on Path of Exile 2, and will continue until Path of Exile 2 0.2.0 has shipped and probably a couple of weeks after that. “Unfortunately, I just can’t promise a date right now,” Rogers added. Path of Exile 2 is currently at 0.1.1.

“I’m really sorry for how this went down,” he continued. “Honestly, I should have predicted the fact that taking the Path of Exile 1 team off Path of Exile 1 would lead to this outcome, and I probably should have resisted doing it. But at every stage I just kept thinking, we still have time, we still have time. And then we didn’t have time any more.

“We still have a lot to learn about how to run two games simultaneously. We were overconfident. We still need to work out how to structure our studio to make this possible. But we do have a solid plan for what we want to do with 3.26.”

The long wait for the Path of Exile 2 early access launch finally came to an end when it released on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S on December 6, 2024. It saw massive success, securing its place as the 15th most-played game Steam game ever.

Here’s which class to pick in PoE 2 Early Access, plus an early Mercenary build guide and Sorceress build guide to help you get started. Beyond that, if you’re wondering how to get more Spirit, how to trade, and how to ascend, we’ve got you covered.

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.

Assetto Corsa Evo is easily one of the most exciting racing games of 2025. The huge open-world map of German countryside surrounding the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife that developer Kunos Simulazioni is currently crafting for it should make it one of the biggest in the genre. Literally, that is. The map is going to be 1,600 square kilometres in size. That’s about 15 Forza Horizon 5s. However, we’ll need to be patient for that, as the first chunk of it isn’t set to arrive in Evo’s evolving early access version until mid-year, and then grow from there. For now, at least, we get five tracks and 20 cars to noodle around in. The good news is that the driving feel is unsurprisingly fabulous, right out of the gate. At this point, however, that’s… essentially it. It’s hard to argue Evo makes a strong case as an immediately crucial purchase in this early state if you’re not especially keen on taking some warm-up laps before the main event kicks off.

It’d be unfair to haul Assetto Corsa Evo over the coals too severely for its current technical blemishes. Yes, I’ve had it hitch up and drop frames occasionally and, yes, it’s crashed or frozen on me several times following its launch – although I’ve certainly had lengthy stints on-track where it’s been entirely cooperative on my current high-powered PC setup (RTX 4080, Intel Core Ultra 9 185H). Overall, it’s admittedly not running on all cylinders right now, but that’s the nature of ‘Early Access’ as a concept. We obviously need to be prepared for it to be a little more Alpha Romeo than Alfa Romeo at this point.

And while five circuits and 20 available cars is modest, it does make for a decent amount of combinations to experiment with – and that’s without factoring in the adjustable wet weather options that obviously have very real effects on handling. If you think you’ll be happy to simply hotlap solo around the initial tracks (which include Mount Panorama, Brands Hatch, Imola, Laguna Seca, and Suzuka), Evo’s early access version may keep you busy for at least a few days. It’s certainly worth remembering the early access program for Evo’s immediate predecessor, Assetto Corsa Competizione, launched with just a single car and a single track – the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 race car and the Nürburgring GP circuit. By comparison, Evo’s launch is at least a considerably chunkier one.

Moreover, it’s a well-curated one. Notice, for instance, the first salvo of circuits includes a track from the US, Japan, the UK, continental Europe, and Australia. That’s a thoughtful mix that I don’t doubt was deliberate. Similarly, the short but sweet car list includes a spectrum of vehicles, ranging from front-wheel drive hatches to purpose-built race models. The feel of the cars I’ve tested so far has been top notch. I won’t pretend to be able to gauge the accuracy of the tyre model with the kind of insight you might glean from a professional racing driver, because I’m not one; I’m a car nerd journalist with a handful of trackdays in my past that I’m skeptical I’ll ever be able to afford to repeat. What I can say is the sensation of grip is excellent and I was instantly confident to push hard across the top of the mountain at Bathurst. Things always get a little murky when I’m comparing experiences gleaned many years ago using totally different racing setups (I personally migrated from a Thrustmaster TS-XW racing wheel to a direct drive Moza R12 some years ago), but Evo already seems to have nailed that feeling of being able to overdrive a car but still snap it back under control, because the grip will return as long as you wrestle it back into the window. That always suits me, as I’m a bit more of a butcher than a surgeon when it comes to racing sims these days. Forget the whole world turning into ice the second you slip into a slide; Evo is wonderfully intuitive.

Compared to ACC, race cars also feel a little less punishingly stiff and cling to the track more tenaciously, even while clattering over bumps or kerbs. In ACC, I generally felt like I was going as fast as I could without losing control. In Evo, I’ve found I feel like I could probably push faster. If I had the skill, that is.

There’s also a really great feeling of balance, especially as cars squirm under braking, and the feel of the front end becoming lighter and heavier based on elevation changes is nice and pronounced.

So yes, in the tradition of the original Assetto Corsa and ACC before it, Evo is already a genuinely terrific driving experience. But does that make this first taste a must-play?

Right now, no. Not really. If you get it today you’re essentially just pre-ordering the final game at a slightly discounted price. That alone could be reason enough for you to grab it, and it’s a totally fair argument. However, other than confirming it feels good, there’s just not really much more joy to extract from Evo for the time being. As a man who peeled countless demo discs from the front of magazines back in ’90s, I’ve certainly got nothing against what’s essentially a hefty demo, but it’s not one I really want to keep playing anymore after seeing all of its tracks. But I’ll definitely be back for more when it’s available and some of the more annoying aspects have been resolved.

Simply put, the racing itself just isn’t that robust at the moment, and it’s tedious being punted off track by computer-controlled opponents who simply try to drive through you around corners. I don’t know what the answer is, but the AI certainly still needs work. There have definitely been times when other cars seemed to be deliberately giving me racing room, and others where they’ve made unscripted mistakes. That’s good, because it creates the illusion they’re not just machines. It’s also true that getting speared into from behind is an unfortunate reality in real racing. Incidents happen, sure. But it’d be something that would happen to you quite irregularly in reality, whereas it’s far too common in Evo for racing to remain fun. If I wanted to get rear-ended for kicks, I’d brake-check Lance Stroll in a drive-thru.

That’s a pretty big problem when these races are largely all Evo offers in its current condition. There were supposed to be some other modes available, based on what was announced when the early access version launched, but ever since I started playing Evo has been stuck in ‘Offline’ mode. Evo’s Driving Academy mode and Special Events are currently inaccessible to me. All I can do is generate custom practice or race sessions. Tying functionality to an always-online caveat is very concerning, and I cannot fathom why it’s necessary for single-player content. Fortunately, there’s still plenty of time for Kunos to tweak that on the road map ahead.