As soon as Hitman devs IO Interactive were revealed to be making a Bond game, I was on board with it. Agent 47 and 007 have a bunch in common, at least in terms of the sneaky, shooty, or stabby stuff their jobs entail, so IO’d be putting a fresh twist on a kind of game it’s already proven great at making. There is a difference though, and having killed Le Chiffre in Hitman over the weekend, I feel like I understand it better than before.
IO exec Hakan Abrak has offered his view on how 007: First Light‘s Bond will play differently to 47 in an interview with IGN, which I’m glad to see also saw him emphasise that the studio aren’t done with the Hitman series.
I’ve been curious about MindsEye ever since it was announced, but as the first game from former longtime Grand Theft Auto lead Leslie Benzies has neared release, I’ve become increasingly confused. Benzies’ studio Build A Rocket Boy’s debut game is a linear-action adventure, with GTA-style mechanics used to tell a more direct, cinematic story. But it’s also set in an expansive city that is, in theory, fully explorable. On top of that, it’s also a digital platform that lets players create and publish their own game content, using bespoke tools that were used in-part to build the game itself.
It’s a lot of different layers? But how do they all come together? Can you actually explore MindsEye’s world freely? And what the hell happened to Build A Rocket Boy’s previous project, Everywhere?
These are the questions that were on my mind when I visited Build A Rocket Boy’s studio last week. Now that I’ve seen MindsEye in action, I have a much clearer picture of what it is and what it hopes to achieve. With that in mind, here are ten things you should know about MindsEye.
1) MindsEye is set in the city of Redrock, a near-future spin on Las Vegas
MindsEye’s setting of Redrock is heavily inspired by Las Vegas, a desert city that arose to prominence as a hub for casinos and entertainment. But MindsEye takes place in an imagined near-future where those casinos have been shut down, and Redrock’s economy has shifted into being a haven for tech companies. “You find a lot of companies moving to very specific places in America because of these tax breaks, and it’s also a good place to go and hide,” says Benzies, MindsEye’s director. “There’s a lot of characters, or groups of characters who are hiding from things.”
MindsEye’s setting of Redrock is heavily inspired by Las Vegas.
As a virtual space, Redrock is fully mapped out, with a total map size of 9×9 kilometres, and a playable area measuring 6×6 kilometres. As you’re driving around it, it has a definite GTA-ish feel, with a believable road network, a built-up downtown area, more suburban areas on the fringes, and sparser settlements on the outskirts. “We took a lot of inspiration from Las Vegas, of course, like the population, the way that the different demographics are working,” says executive producer Misha Shmakov. “We have low-income areas, high income areas. So we see different cars, different people there.”
2) MindsEye’s story takes place at a tipping point in society’s relationship with technology
Redrock is essentially a city-wide social experiment, where the residing tech companies have a heavy influence on society and, in some cases, operative control of social institutions. The city is “protected” by AI powered copbots, and citizens are monitored by a centralised surveillance system called ‘CARE’.
These ideas were still far-flung concepts back when MindsEye began development, but have become more relevant as tech-like large-language models have emerged. “A lot of the things that we came up with back then weren’t necessarily mainstream, or even really known about, and we just thought they would be great ways to present the world,” Benzies says.
MindsEye’s story sees Redrock at a crossroads with this technology – one inspired by Benzies’ own perspective on the power and potential pitfalls he sees in real-life technological innovations. “Whenever I jump on and use AI and ask it questions, I am communicating with the most intelligent thing that exists on this planet right now, the collective intelligence of every single human being, and it’s quite friendly to me,” he says. “Used wisely, it’s going to benefit humans. Used wrongly, which so many pieces of technology are, things could go pretty bad for us.
“That’s the question that MindEye poses. What do you think? What’s going to happen? Is it going to end up like this, like, this story we’re telling you. Or is it all going to be happy and light?”
3) You play as Jacob Diaz, an ex-military drone pilot with a shattered memory
In MindsEye’s campaign, you play as Jacob Diaz, a former military drone pilot who has been implanted with a MindsEye chip that allows him to interface with the drone directly. Players enter Diaz’s story after he has left the military and his chip has been decommissioned, a process that left his memory in pieces.
At the story’s outset, Diaz gets a new job as a security guard at Silva Industries, the manufacturer of the MindsEye chip. Through this, Diaz intends to conduct his own investigation of the company and attempt to piece together his past.
It’s a story you experience through a sequence of missions that’ll take you all across Redrock, in a similar fashion to the Mafia games. According to Benzies, the linearity of the experience is a storytelling decision. “It’s sometimes difficult to tell a story in an open world, and you join Jacob at a very set point in his life, and then you leave Jacob at a very set point in his life,” he explains. “If Jacob was to go off and pop into a casino and gamble for three days, it kind of breaks the illusion of being Jacob who’s on a mission.”
4) Missions will involve racing across the city by both land and air, and occasionally shooting enemies with a massive energy cannon
The mission I was shown involves Diaz escorting Silva Industries’ CEO Marco Silva to a campaign rally for Redrock’s mayor. After arriving at the rally via his personal VTOL, and engaging in a heated debate with mayor Vega over his plans to launch a rocket into space, Silva is drugged and abducted by an armed gang, and Diaz must chase them down.
The ensuing mission sees you pursue Diaz’ abductors in a VTOL before continuing the chase in a car, weaving through the desert and barrelling through an ongoing dune buggy race. The vehicle handling is slightly lighter and more arcade-y than GTA, but still has enough weight and inertia that they require skill to control at high-speed, as I learned after repeatedly slamming my car into the boulders strewn across the desert.
The mission culminates in a protracted gunfight through an industrial backlot. At a basic level, combat is a familiar, cover-shooter affair, pressing yourself against cars and shipping crates as you pick off enemies one by one.
Your basic arsenal comprises slightly futuristic variants of familiar firearms like pistols, assaults rifles etc. While these are effective weapons (the shotgun in particular has a satisfying punch to it) they aren’t vastly different from what you’d see in other cover shooters. But later weapons include a massive energy cannon that fires charged, explosive projectiles.
The developers stressed this would not normally be available at this point in the campaign, but I nonetheless enjoyed using it to obliterate cars and send enemies flying, and it was interesting to see how MindsEye’s arsenal will expand over the course of the campaign.
5) Combat is designed to be tactical, with you using a drone to scout enemy placements and hack robots to fight by your side
When you’re not causing havoc with a rocket launcher from the future, MindsEye’s combat is designed to be a more tactical affair than that seen in GTA. Enemies will not only attempt to outgun you, but also outmanoeuvre you too. “Some of them will be more defensive. “Some of them will come and try to push you out of [cover], some of them will try to flank you,” Shmakov says. “They also look at what type of weapon [you] use. If you use a shotgun, they will try to close the distance while others are putting pressure on you.”
Initially, you’ll have to deal with these foes using straight firepower. But eventually, Jacob will regain access to his MindsEye drone, which has several functions. It can scan the environment, highlighting enemy positions. It can stun enemies for a short duration, and it can hack robotic enemies to turn them to your side. You can also deploy these functions either as quickfire abilities, or through direct control of the drone, piloting it into enemy territory to survey the battlefield or disrupt enemies before engaging directly.
6) MindsEye also features optional side-missions that provide more insight into the world of Redrock
Although MindsEye’s campaign is linear, there are side missions. As you follow Jacob’s story, you’ll occasionally encounter optional missions designed to provide a broader understanding of MindsEyes world. “These are narratively extra experiences that relate to the game but are not main story critical,” says Adrian Butchart, creative strategist at Build a Rocket Boy. “We’ve got some that are young Jacob, and some that are just completely different characters that we meet.”
One such example sees you play as Jacob in his military years, while another places you in the role of a member of the Back Niners, a criminal gang embroiled in a deal gone wrong. Both seemed like fairly straightforward combat sequences, but I didn’t see the full extent of how they played out, because these side missions don’t just exist to fill out the backstory, they’re also intended to be a gateway into MindsEye’s more creative side.
7) Build.MindsEye lets you create your own missions and experiences using MindsEye’s own assets
Part of the side content’s role is to introduce players to Build.MindsEye, aka the creative tools. These can actually be accessed at any time during play, and are usable in any area of Redrock. But the portals are designed to showcase what’s possible with the tools, and act as isolated bubbles for experimentation.
The tools themselves are designed balance accessibility with power. Assets like vehicles and characters can be added to the world through a simple drag and drop interface, while you can adjust their size, positions, and mess around with other parameters. Senior Level Designer Josh Mattyas demonstrates this in the side-mission set in Jacob’s past, jumping into build mid-action and adding in several trucks that deploy copbots. Returning to the action, the mission plays out precisely as it would normally, cutscenes and all, but with the copbot trucks integrated. “It’s quite powerful. It’s tempting to throw in all kinds of crazy stuff,” he says.
But Build can be used to construct the entire logic of a level or the ruleset of a game, via a node-based scripting system that Build a Rocket Boy describes as a blend of Unreal Engine Blueprint scripting and Minecraft Redstone. Users can also save groups of assets or scripted elements as stamps, which you can then place with a single click or publish for other people to use.
According to Benzies, the end goal of Build.MindsEye is to give players the tools to create games of blockbuster quality. “There’s nothing really out there that allows you to build triple-A quality content with ease,” he says. “Roblox, great for building in, but it’s bloody difficult, whereas Minecraft is a lot easier, but you’re not really getting that quality. We’re trying to create something in the middle.”
8) Build.MindEye is PC only, but there are plans to bring it to consoles in the future.
On launch, MindsEye Build will only be available on PC. Benzies says this is mainly a control issue. “Controllers are difficult. We will do it on console at some point. We just didn’t have the time to do it properly.” Moreover, if and when Build does arrive on console, it may not function in precisely the same manner as the PC version. “I can see there’s certain things you wouldn’t be able to do, but I think it will still [be able to] make a pretty compelling piece of content.
In the meantime, console players will receive monthly updates of new missions and other content via Play.MindsEye, the same menu that enables access to the existing side missions when you’re not near a portal.
9) While MindsEye’s campaign is linear, you can explore Redrock openly through its “Free Roam” mode
Although MindsEye’s campaign doesn’t let you explore Redrock freely, players can wander around the city as they please through its recently added Free Roam mode. Free Roam takes place after the events of the story, putting you in the role of a character called the Preacher. “You can just explore the city, see what’s happening, like, see what the other gangs are up to, fight them,” Shmakov says. “You will have a functionality where you can just call a car, your car, to come to you.”
It isn’t clear how much there will be to do in Free Roam on launch, but Build a Rocket Boy plans to add more features with future updates. “[It’s] a really big part of our post-launch, because we’ll keep updating it and keep improving on it,” Shmakov says. Part of this may well include making free roam multiplayer. “This is at first, it’s single-player, then we’ll think about how it can evolve.”
10) Build a Rocket Boy plans for MindsEye to build into its larger project, Everywhere
MindsEye is designed to function as a standalone game, but it also forms part of Build A Rocket Boy’s larger project, the massively multiplayer game platform Everywhere. “Everywhere still exists, we just closed it down,” Benzies says. “It was in beta for a while, so we got a load of data from the players. It was a decent-sized community, a very engaged community. So we’ve learned a lot from that. We took all that learning [and] we put it into the Builder Tools.”
Benzies says the tools players can use to build MindsEye are game and genre-agnostic. “Those builder tools don’t really care if it’s MindsEye, if it’s Everywhere, or if it’s any other game. They just work in exactly the same way,” he says. “It doesn’t matter what theme the game is, once you’ve learned the skills of the creator, they’ll just work across anything.”
As for how MindsEye and Everywhere relate, Benzies says the former ties into the overarching narrative of the latter. “MindsEye is a piece of content that probably sits in the middle of our big story,” he says. “So Everywhere will come back online in a slightly different shape, but will be the same thing, and it will all be part of the story.”
Microsoft has announced via Xbox Live Japan that the remaster of the first Gears of War game, Gears of War: Reloaded, will not get a Japanese PS5 release. However, the title will still come to Xbox Series X and S, Xbox PC, Game Pass, and PC via Steam in Japan this August.
According to Microsoft, Gears of War: Reloaded, due out August 26, 2025, will not be sold for PS5 in the country due to “regional rating restrictions” and “platform policies.” The “regional rating restrictions” explanation refers to the classification standards laid out by CERO, Japan’s game rating board. Although it has not been officially announced exactly what aspect of Gears of War: Reloaded failed to pass the board, it is highly likely that violence and gore was the issue.
The Gears of War series features chainsaw weapons that allow you to bloodily slice your way through enemies. “Mutilation/body-cutting” is one of the categories of violent expression highlighted on CERO’s official website. The ratings board has historically had a strict approach towards depictions of limb severance — The Callisto Protocol and the 2023 Dead Space remake are two examples of games that were banned on consoles in Japan due to this.
So why is Gears of War: Reloaded coming to other platforms in Japan, but not PS5? If a game is refused CERO classification, developers can either make suggested cuts and apply for re-rating from CERO, or they can try to obtain a classification from the IARC (International Age Rating Coalition) instead. However, all games with 18+ content in Japan must pass CERO’s board in order to be sold on the PlayStation Store (source: Automaton) — this is likely the “platform policies” that the announcement refers to. The Japanese Microsoft Store page for Gears of War: Reloaded shows an IARC 18+ rating, with no CERO certificate listed. This suggests that Microsoft decided to go with IARC after the title failed to obtain a CERO Z (18+) classification.
The original Xbox 360 version of Gears of War had its violence censored in Japan, with the severed limbs being blacked out. At the time of writing, it is not known whether Gears of War: Reloaded will be censored in Japan or not.
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.
Hey, that’s the Gary Oldman Dracula armour, I thought to myself as I watched the trailer for At Fate’s End last night. That’s the raddest and reddest armour anyone has ever worn, and any game with armour that looks like it has my interest. Oh, oh. It’s from Spiritfarer developers Thunder Lotus? You can ride a giant bull who looks like it subsists entirely on HGH and Weetabix? Yeah, go on then. Go on all the way.
When you’ve got a shiny new handheld like the Switch 2, getting a good carry case is of the utmost importance. However, not all carry cases are created equal; some are fine when it comes to providing a modicum of protection on the move, while others are built with a little more robustness. I’m pleased to report that Genki’s Sleeper Case ($42.99 / £36) is definitely in the latter camp and perhaps represents one of the best Switch 2 cases on the market right now.
The first thing that struck me when I removed the Sleeper Case from its packaging was just how sturdy it felt. According to Genki, the case is constructed with “materials trusted in motorsport gear”, and it certainly feels that way.
007: First Light. Project Fantasy. MindsEye. IO Interactive has a lot going on in the coming days, months, and years. But one key franchise of theirs has been conspicuously quiet: Hitman.
So I asked Hakan Abrak, CEO of IO Interactive, if that was the case when we sat down for an interview this past weekend following the reveal of 007: First Light. And he reassured me that Agent 47 was still on active duty.
“The Hitman series is definitely not done,” Abrak said. “We’re not done with Hitman. IO has been synonymous with Hitman, despite the other IPs we have done. We absolutely are proud, grateful, and happy with Hitman. But obviously doing another new IP, Project Fantasy, and doing Bond, it takes a lot of our resources and time. But as you saw, we announced the Hitman co-op, which is a big dream of mine. And they will be maybe in different shapes, but they will definitely be more Hitman in the future.”
My question to Abrak was sparked by our prior discussion of the differences between Agent 47 and James Bond. Though IO Interactive’s espionage pedigree is certainly what led to the studio being trusted with the Bond license [to kill], the two heroes are quite different in practice. Bond leans more toward action, with Agent 47 preferring stealth and disguise. And while Bond certainly has a classy sense of humor, the Hitman games are renowned for being… well, pretty silly! Agent 47 dresses up in a flamingo mascot suit at one point, for Pete’s sake.
So will 007: First Light still have that Hitman flavor? Yes, said Abrak, but it will have a tone all its own.
“It is very, very important to get the humor right. In Denmark, we love dark humor and the silliness because it takes away from the seriousness of being an assassin. Bond is different. Bond, the humor is first of all very British. And the humor there is to support the energy and his personality, which is much more front and center. So I would say less silly. It’s not flamingo disguises, as you said, but still entertaining.”
Abrak continued: “And it’s a game that plays differently. It’s emphasizing more action, for sure. And the structure of Bond is more like it’s breathing more. Like there are more linear parts where you have the spectacle moments and exotic vehicles. And then we also give space in Bond to open up a bit and breathe a bit. So you have definitely glimpses of IO Interactive, as you would know from Hitman games as well, but it’s more front foot. It’s less of an analytical mind, chess play, where you sit and meticulously plan. All the clockwork things in Hitman where if you do this or do this, where Bond is more impulsive, more reckless sometimes. It’s more like he’s just taking things and acting and handling it more as they arise.
“So it’s a different dynamism, because we want to make something that feels true for a Bond fantasy. So it’s definitely not a re-skin of a Hitman kind of thing, but I feel that people will see IO Interactive, that is a game made by Interactive, but they will also see that this game is something else. It’s something that’s true to what we are hopefully going to deliver 360, an ultimate Bond experience.”
We’ll be publishing our full interview with Abrak later this week, including discussion of not just Hitman, but also 007: First Light and upcoming IO Interactive-published game MindsEye.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Nintendo has hidden a few cool Easter eggs for the GameCube within Switch 2, fans have discovered.
With the launch of Nintendo’s new console, fans can finally play GameCube games using Nintendo Switch Online — but load up a title from the era of Nintendo’s beloved purple brick, and you’ll note that something is missing: the console’s iconic startup animation.
Anyone who owned a GameCube will have the image of the console’s logo unfurling around the screen burned into their memories, as its chirpy soundtrack played. Well, with a simple button press, Nintendo actually allows you to restore this sequence — not that the console ever specifically tells you how.
Credit, then, goes to Spawn Wave for noting that you can prompt the GameCube startup animation by holding the Switch 2’s control stick in any direction while loading the Nintendo Switch Online GameCube app. This will then play the retro console’s startup sequence, just as you remembered it.
Except this isn’t quite as you remembered it — it’s actually polished up in 4K. Yes, this is the shiny new version of the logo that debuted during Nintendo’s Switch 2 Direct earlier this year, when GameCube games were first confirmed for the console.
“Cool, when the stick drift starts you can get it every time,” one fan quipped when learning of the secret.
As tested by IGN, a further version of this Easter egg allows you to replicate the secondary GameCube startup sound, prompted on the original console by holding down its Z button. On Switch 2, you must tilt the control stick and hold down the R button (try doing it just as the ‘2’ on the Switch 2 app logo pops up).
Now, fans are wondering the third GameCube startup sound might also be included, hidden behind an even more secret button combination. This could originally be prompted by the Z button down on four GameCube controllers at once.
Right now, the Switch Online’s Nintendo GameCube – Nintendo Classics collection is looking pretty thin, with just the original version of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, plus F-Zero GX and SoulCalibur 2 available.
Still, Nintendo has confirmed a number of other GameCube classics will follow (including Super Mario Sunshine, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, Mario Smash Football, Luigi’s Mansion and Chibi-Robo!), though there’s no word yet on when they might materialise.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
The collective desperation for Hollow Knight: Silksong has evolved. Rather than people getting all up a height about the prospect of getting any news about it, they’ve now been left up a height due to confusion around some news they have gotten about the game. Cue Team Cherry having to step in to offer a bit of clarification about Silksong’s Xbox Showcase cameo yesterday.
In case you were washing your hair, Silksong popped up during the bit that saw Microsoft introduce its handheld, the ROG Xbox Ally. There was the usual hardware spinning around and looking cool, plus Xbox’s Sarah Bond saying when Silksong popped up on the handheld’s screen that the game’ll be “available at launch and in Game Pass when the Ally releases later this year”.
Some players took issue with the quality of the graphics, coloring, animations, and lighting, while others were frustrated that there were no further details like a release date or a confirmed Nintendo Switch 2 version.
“Man, the graphics looks like stock Unreal lol,” said one player. “Honestly, almost looks fanmade (don’t hit me),” to which another replied: “Highly underwhelming trailer, lol.”
As this remake was one of the worst-kept secrets in gaming, some fans speculated that the teaser was put together simply to acknowledge that yes, it was in development.
“This is a ‘damn, here you go’ ass trailer,” responded this fan, while another said: “Feels like they threw this thing together after the VAs said they weren’t returning. I could imagine they walked over to marketing and asked them to throw together a 30-second clip the same day.”
Following the reveal, P-Studio director Kazuhisa Wada popped up on social media to reassure fans that Atlus is “actively preparing for the future development of the Persona series as a studio.”
“We are very pleased to announce the release of Persona 4 Revival. We look forward to sharing even more information in due time,” Wada wrote. “Persona 4 has spawned numerous spin-off works, including TV anime, Persona 4 Arena, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, and Persona 4: Dancing All Night, and is a special title that has been a part of Atlus for many years and holds a personal place in my heart.
“We are currently working on this project with all our passion and love. We are confident that this will be a fresh and surprising product for both newcomers and long-time fans and we look forward to sharing it with you all.”
Wada added: “Additionally, we are actively preparing for the future development of the Persona series as a studio. We are working hard to meet the expectations of fans around the world, and our work is progressing well.” Wada then thanked fans for their support and teased that they should “stay tuned” for more updates.
We gave the original Persona 4 a 9/10 back in the day, saying: “A significant improvement over the previous Persona games in many ways, Persona 4 provides a deeper dungeon crawling/social link experience that makes it engaging to play.” An enhanced version, Persona 4 Golden, has since become the best way to enjoy the game on modern consoles, but fans have long lamented that it’s not available on Nintendo Switch, despite years of begging.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Mewgenics, the long-in-development endless cat breeding game from devs Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel, has just had its release pencilled in for February 10th, 2026, by a fresh trailer. Yes, it’s still looking very weird and nigh impossible to explain to a mate in less than two minutes.
Following on from the trailer it got in April, this latest one roped in the most fitting collab Binding of Isaac developer McMillen and co could have landed, in the form of sinewy surrealism expert and YouTuber MeatCanyon. We’ve also gotten a nice overview of where the devs are at in assembling their weird feline with two heads.
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