Author: Game Infliction

Witcher TTRPG Going on ‘Disappointing’ Hiatus During The Witcher 4 Development

The Witcher tabletop RPG has been placed on a “disappointing” hiatus while CD Projekt Red works on The Witcher 4, codenamed Polaris.

Tabletop developer R. Talsorian Games announced the hiatus in August but has now told IGN it doesn’t know when it can continue work on the game.

“We’re doing alright over here at Talsorian though the news is disappointing to say the least,” line manager and lead developer Cody Pondsmith told IGN. “We don’t have a time frame yet as many things are still up in the air with [CD Projekt Red].”

We’re doing alright over here at Talsorian though the news is disappointing to say the least.

Polaris isn’t launching until 2025 at the earliest so the hiatus could be lengthy. Though grander story details are likely to be locked in earlier on in development, content could be cut for several reasons later on, leaving it unclear what stories actually make it into the main game.

Pondsmith said its story — which takes place between The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — isn’t directly related to Polaris, but Talsorian and CD Projekt Red work closely together to ensure its Witcher canon remains consistent.

“The new content we have planned isn’t directly related to The Witcher 4 but it touches on a lot of parts of the lore of The Witcher that are integral to the entire canon,” he said.

Pondsmith delved into this further in the initial announcement: “As CD Projekt Red begins work on the fourth Witcher video game we’ve been collaborating to make sure that the information between our two products stays as connected as possible.

“We’ve had countless meetings covering days’ worth of time discussing the lore of The Continent and the direction of the Witcher franchise. What we’ve come to realize is that it would be extremely difficult or perhaps impossible to continue work on The Witcher TTRPG line at the moment and still maintain the connection with CD Projekt Red’s upcoming plans.”

Fans of The Witcher TTRPG might have some new content to look forward to though, as Pondsmith made clear in the post that the game “is not dead”.

He also told IGN that some smaller content drops are a possibility: “Currently, we don’t have any plans to release substantial new content during this hiatus but we are hoping to be able to release free downloadable content on our website focusing on well established concepts in the Witcher canon that won’t be touched by The Witcher 4.”

Polaris was revealed in March 2022 with a single teaser image and, though the game is due to get a big development boost soon, CD Projekt Red has said very little else about the long-awaited sequel.

The teaser still spawned myriad fan theories centred around a new medallion, which led some to believe The Witcher 3’s Ciri would be the protagonist of the new game. CD Projekt later confirmed the image to be that of a Lynx, but whether it’s a new witcher school or not is still up for debate.

We don’t know too much else about the game, other than that CD Projekt Red has partnered with Epic Games to build it in Unreal Engine 5 and that its director has promised no crunch on his watch.

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

Visiting every Starfield planet: a diary with Turbo Eclipse

I am currently juggling two playthroughs of Starfield with very different aims. While Sayer the Space Scoundrel is having trouble getting around as they engage with the main story, I have started another character to engage in some nonsense (to the extent that there is any in Starfield) – the first of such I’ve detailed here.

I’ve said it before, but you’re my very best friend, so we’re going to play Starfield together. Join me as we step, wobbly and uncertain like Bambi on ice, into Bethesda’s huge and partially procedurally generated space RPG universe for the adventures of Turbo Eclipse (I used an astronaut name generator intended for a child’s party), a spacefaring nerd who longs only for the thrill of science. Yes, we’re going to visit every planet in Starfield. Or at least as many as possible before I lose every single one of my marbles. And hey, planets look kinda like marbles! Strap in, spacefarers. Let’s put this proc gen through its paces.

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Impressive Baldur’s Gate 3 Mod Adds 54 Fantastical Races to the Game

If you’re playing Baldur’s Gate 3 and feel like it could do with some Final Fantasy races, there’s a mod for that.

Dungeons and Souls’ Fantastical Multiverse 1.0, which just launched in full release form, adds 54 fantastical races to Larian’s Dungeons & Dragons-themed role-playing game, including some from Final Fantasy 14.

Races added with the mod are lifted from lands outside the game setting of Faerûn, such as D&D’s Eberron, Etharis (the official world for the Grim Hollow setting), and Final Fantasy 14’s Eorzea. This means Changeling, Kobold, Goliath, Goblins, Dhampir, Aasimar, Laneshi, Yuan-ti, and many more are included. The Final Fantasy 14 races added are the Hyur, Elezen, Roegadyn, and Garlean.

The mod even makes Ogresh (like giant humans) from Grim Hollow playable.

Dungeons and Souls made all the new races compatible with current standards to “ensure that none of the races fall behind if they aren’t already upgraded by the source material”. “Fantastical Multiverse aims to aid players who play races outside of the vanilla and encourages the fantastical,” reads the mod’s description on Nexus.

There’s more to come, too. “Yes, all FF14 races will be added eventually,” Dungeons and Souls’ said in a post on X.

Baldur’s Gate 3’s explosive launch has come with an equally explosive modding scene, with everything from an improved user interface to a party limit increase available. In our 10/10 review, IGN said: “With crunchy, tactical RPG combat, a memorable story with complex characters, highly polished cinematic presentation, and a world that always rewards exploration and creativity, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the new high-water mark for CRPGs.”

Image credit: @DungeonsNSouls on X.

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.

Mortal Kombat 1’s slick story mode instantly shows up its new seasonal challenge mode

As someone with a general aversion to online competitive modes in games, I’m always grateful when someone, for once, especially in this age of endlessly bland multiplayer experiments, thinks of the solitary solo player. I’m especially grateful when us single player preferers get a knowing nod of acknowledgement in fighting games, too, which are so naturally geared toward pitting your skills against other human beings that anything involving playing against the AI is often either an afterthought or so threadbare that you can’t help but feel like you’re missing the point.

But that’s still, for my sins, how I like to consume fighting games when I occasionally play them – which isn’t often, I’ll admit, for exactly the reasons described above – and so when I sat down for my Mortal Kombat 1 demo session at Gamescom this year, I was pleased to see not just a very slick story mode in attendance, but also a new single player challenge mode called Invasions that publishers Warner Bros described as “a giant interactive board game” that “lent into action RPG” territory. Its numerous node-based missions looked substantial based on what I played, and the idea of applying a seasonal service model to it, endlessly rotating in new locations and missions every so often – a whole different Invasion, so to speak – is actually something I’d be very much behind. It, that is, I was a) good at Mortal Kombat, and b) the missions I played during my demo weren’t quite so… err… boring.

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Best Nintendo Switch Micro SD Card Deals (September 2023)

If you’ve started compiling a collection of digital games, you probably already know just how limited the Switch’s base storage capacity is. The Switch and Switch OLED have 32GB and 64GB of internal storage, respectively. Some of that is reserved for the OS. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom takes up over 18GB of storage all by itself. Other must-have titles like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Pokemon Sword or Shield tap out at 13.5GB each.

TL;DR – Best Switch SD Card Deals

There’s only one expansion slot in the Switch console so you want to make sure you get the biggest card you can afford. Below, we’ve found some of the best SD card deals right now so you can maximize your Switch’s storage space without breaking the bank.

TeamGroup A2 Pro Plus SD Card for $25.99

For now, our favorite deal is definitely on the TeamGroup 512GB Micro SDXC card. You can pick up the TeamGroup card for just $25.99 at Amazon right now, which is a great price vs the next best deal on the Samsung Evo Plus for $33.24. This is also less than the Prime Day price from a few weeks ago, so you’re absolutely bagging a bargain here. Otherwise, the 1TB is also at a great price for $57.99 right now as well.

Samsung EVO Plus 512GB Micro SDXC Card for $33.24

Amazon has the Samsung EVO Plus 512GB Micro SDXC card for only $33.24, making it one of the lowest prices currently for a Micro SDXC card of that size. It boasts a U3 A2 speed rating, which is faster than most Micro SDXC cards, including the official Nintendo Switch ones.

It doesn’t make any difference for the Nintendo Switch itself, since it will throttle any Micro SDXC card down to U1 speeds. However, it will be useful if you ever want to swap it down the road to your smartphone, GoPro, camera, or any device that supports faster speeds. Plus, it could future proof your purchase if the next Nintendo console supports A2 micro SD cards.

Budget to Best: Micro SDXC Card Deals

If you’re not married to a particular brand, then there are plenty of lesser-known but still legitimate companies that offer some outstanding deals on memory cards.

For example, TeamGroup is actually a well-known company, but people recognize them more for their T-Force branded lineup of RAM and SSDs.

The Switch isn’t the only gaming system that accepts these cards. If you’re a Steam Deck or ROG Ally owner, you can also use this card, especially if you picked up the 64GB Deck storage option.

For even more Switch deals, check out our complete Nintendo deals round-up featuring discounts on games, accessories, Switch online memberships, and more.

With how expensive gaming is getting in 2023, we’re trying to save you as much money as possible on the games and other tech you actually want to buy.

We’ve got great deal roundups available for all major platforms such as PS5 and Xbox, and keep these updated daily with brand new offers. If you’re trying to keep costs down while maintaining your favorite hobby, stay tuned for more incredible discounts.

Nintendo Launches Mobile Browser Game ‘Pikmin Finder’

Harmless fun.

Nintendo has quietly launched a browser-based AR game titled Pikmin Finder to coincide with the Nintendo Live event in Seattle.

Accessible via any mobile browser application, Pikmin Finder needs to be played via a mobile device such as a phone or tablet to be fully appreciated (which we imagine is to give folks waiting in queues at Nintendo Live something to keep them occupied), as it utilises the built-in camera to implement AR Pikmin in your immediate surroundings.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

“I’m the least romantic guy”: Dragon Age’s David Gaider on romanceable companions and his cancelled Planescape sequel

“It’s incredibly weird for anybody who knows me that I’ve become the romance guy,” David Gaider tells me. “I’m the least romantic guy. Especially when I get to the characters saying ‘I love you’ to each other…” Gaider mimes the sickliness of the scene and his own horrified response. “Apparently I did it so well on Baldur’s Gate II that James Ohlen kept handing me this stuff. And, god, I hated it so much.”

It’s weird, in fact, that Gaider wound up working on Baldur’s Gate II at all – let alone that he became synonymous with Dragon Age and romanceable companions afterwards. At 27 years old, he ran a hotel in Edmonton, Alberta – the same city where, unbeknownst to him, Bioware was busy making its name. Once it came time to make a sequel to Baldur’s Gate, Bioware cast around for local writers, and a friend recommended Gaider, who had played D&D in the ‘80s before it fell out of fashion.

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Starfield Lets You Fly Directly to Other Planets — It Just Takes Ages and It’s an Anticlimax

Starfield is designed to keep the surface of planets and the space between them separate, but it is possible to fly directly to another planet — if you have the time and patience.

Earlier this year, Bethesda Game Studios boss Todd Howard confirmed to IGN that Starfield doesn’t let you fly seamlessly from space to planet, insisting “that’s really just not that important to the player” to justify the engineering work involved.

“People have asked, ‘Can you fly the ship straight down to the planet?’ No. We decided early in the project that the on-surface is one reality, and then when you’re in space it’s another reality,” Howard said.

“If you try to really spend a lot of time engineering the in-between, like that segue, you’re just spending a lot of time [on something] that’s really just not that important to the player,” Howard reasoned. “So let’s make sure it’s awesome when you’re on the surface and awesome when you’re in space, and those realities look and play as good as they can be.”

The upshot is Starfield is more of a Mass Effect than a No Man’s Sky when it comes to space exploration, but that didn’t stop streamer and Sony Santa Monica writer Alanah Pearce testing Starfield’s space limits.

During a weekend stream on Twitch, Pearce set course for Pluto, pointing her ship directly at Starfield’s virtual version of the dwarf planet. “I’m leaving my ship running while I sleep to see if I eventually collide with Pluto in some way, for science,” Pearce said in a post on X. Pluto was chosen because of its slow orbit, making it a relatively stable point in space to aim at. Still, Pluto moved about enough that Pearce had to course correct every 30 minutes or so, setting a timer to wake up.

Seven – yes, seven – hours later, Pluto loomed over the horizon. What happened next was an anticlimax. As Pluto neared its pixelated form presented itself. “I can’t believe I’m about to touch Pluto,” Pearce said. But there is no realistic representation of Pluto to be found travelling in this way. Pluto, it seems, is nothing more than a blocky, grey picture in space, and Pearce eventually travelled straight through it. There is no forced landing animation. It’s all an illusion. “I don’t know what to do,” Pearce said, nonplussed.

So, what have we learned about the way Starfield works? The game’s space travel is not restricted to small skyboxes or zones you can’t leave, which means you are able to fly to a planet in a semi-realistic representation of distance in space. But once you get to a planet, Starfield breaks down a bit, letting you get close to an object that represents a planets, but is not a planet. What’s next? In a follow-up post on X, Pearce wondered whether you can fly between systems. Anyone got a spare 100 hours?

If you’re playing Starfield, here’s IGN’s handy guide to starting ship customization. Meanwhile, here are all the things to do first in Starfield.

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.

Baldur’s Gate 3 characters were super-horny due to a bug, Larian admit

Baldur’s Gate 3 is a relentlessly horny videogame, Alice B wrote back in August, and that certainly describes the shock I felt when noted Githyanki grouch Lae’zel abruptly told me that she was down to clown, a whole three hours in. “Ms Lae’zel, I happen to be a graduate of BioWare Sex University,” I told her sternly, adjusting my robe. “If I’m going to have a torrid liaison in an RPG it’ll be 60 hours from now, just before the final battle, and let’s face it, I’m more likely to get scared of alienating party members and end up friendzoning everybody.”

Lae’zel proved persuasive, however – “I like the way you stink,” was how I think she phrased it – and one risque fade-to-black later, we were triumphantly entwined in post-coital bliss. Well, at the risk of empirically demonstrating that romance is dead, it turns out that might have been a technical problem. According to Larian CEO Sven Vincke, Baldur’s Gate 3 characters were accidentally encoded to have very low standards at launch. Haha, I certainly can’t relate!

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Best EA Sports FC 24 Preorder Deals Right Now

Another year, another FIFA. Oh wait, it’s not, well it is, but it’s not – you still with me? EA has finally done away with the FIFA license and has rebranded its premium money-making sports simulator to EA Sports FC 24. If you’re looking to play the game on September 29, we’ve already found all the best preorder deals available right now in the UK.

There’s an extra limited-time deal on right now, with an extra 15% off the deal at The Game Collection Outlet via eBay. This trusted seller is partnered with eBay and therefore users can use the extra 15% off code TAKE15 to preorder EA Sports FC 24 for just £53.51.

The RRP is £69.99 so you’re saving a considerable £16.48 on launch day. The only catch is you’ll need to cough up the cash right away, so if you’re okay with that, we’ve left the relevant links you need to the deal here. Act fast, however, as this promo code will expire after September 6 (see more games on sale here).

EA Sports FC 24 Best Preorder Deals

If you don’t want to front the cash for EA Sports FC 24 just yet, then we’ve got you covered there as well. Amazon has got FC 24 preorders down to £64.99 right now, and there’s plenty of choice from other UK retailers right now. Here’s every EA Sports FC 24 preorder deal available before the game launches.

EA Sports FC 24 Release Date

When is EA Sports FC 24 out? The official release date for the game is September 29, but you can also play seven days early on September 22 if you opt to buy the Ultimate Edition on your relevant console or PC storefront.

How Much Does EA Sports FC 24 Cost?

The official RRP for EA Sports FC 24 is £69.99, but a lot of retailers are already listing the game well below that in order to try and get some market attention. It’s highly likely the game will be a bestseller once again for EA, so choose carefully and you might be able to pick up a great discount before release day.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.