There Are No Ghosts at the Grand: Renovate by Day, Hunt Ghosts by Night

Anil Glendinning, Creative Director and Co-Founder, Friday Sundae

Summary

There Are No Ghosts at the Grand is a surreal first-person mystery where you renovate a haunted hotel by day and hunt ghosts by night.
Use talking power tools to uncover secrets, solve puzzles, and battle supernatural threats.
Explore a spooky English seaside town filled with side quests, hidden locations, and strange characters.

Revealed at the Xbox Games Showcase, There Are No Ghosts at the Grand is a surreal, first-person, narrative-driven mystery. It’s part-renovation game, part-ghost story, part-musical. See the trailer below, and read on for a full breakdown of our unique new game:

You play as a young American man, Chris David, who unexpectedly inherits The Grand, a dilapidated British seaside hotel along the English east coast.

Players will help Chris renovate and restore the old hotel using a set of talking power tools. But be warned… beneath the veneer of paper and paint you apply during the day, something horrible shivers and slithers in the night.

30 Days and 30 Nights to Complete the Renovations

To renovate the hotel, players will have access to exaggerated power tools such as the sand blaster, paint sprayer, furniture cannon, and the daisy chain gun, to blast the hotel back to its former glory. This isn’t a simulation though, players don’t have to be exact. Decorating and renovating is fast, fluid and fun. You don’t have to get every spot – just enough is close enough.

There Are No Ghosts at the Grand Screenshot

But with only 30 days and 30 nights to complete the job, choose each room carefully – because when the time runs out something will come for you.

Luckily, players are not alone. Meet your AI DIY assistant, Robert C MacBrushy. He’s a cross between Star Trek’s Scotty and Microsoft’s Clippy. He’s also an expert in all things DIY – and the supernatural, but we’ll come back to that.

With MacBrushy’s help, players will smash out old windows, blast broken furniture, splash paint and paper across walls, and shoot furniture cleaner across the room, like some crazy cross between Mary Poppins and Marcus Fenix. But sometimes, you’ll need to slow down and think, as you’ll also come across environmental puzzles that will need a little lateral thinking, and some hidden clues to solve.

Progress is made through the game by completing rooms and revealing their secrets, but you can only decorate by day. At night, you have other problems to deal with.

Decorator by Day, Ghost Hunter by Night

In There are No Ghosts at the Grand, the main character, Chris, has a secret. Although he inherited the hotel, he’s not just here to renovate… not really.

At night, once the decorating is done for the day, he searches for something. Clues hidden behind walls, old blueprints revealing hidden spaces, strange doors leading to strange places. Players will help him whilst also trying to figure out what’s really going on. There’s something unpleasant lurking in the hotel, something ancient that leaves multi-legged footprints across freshly painted walls. Scuttling can be heard in those walls, furniture moves by itself. At night, the hotel isn’t safe.

But don’t worry, Robert C. MacBrushy is here to help with this too. At night, when the world changes, so do your power tools, and they have hidden modes that have special effects on certain supernatural denizens. Unleash the vacuum on vengeful spirits. Expose invisible assailants with the paint sprayer. Take out an unpleasant spook with a well aimed bookcase to the face with the furniture cannon. If you learn how to use your tools, you can survive the night.

Quirky Characters and a Sarcastic, Australian Cat

At its heart, There Are No Ghosts at the Grand is a story about people and the baggage they leave behind. You’re never alone as you explore the hotel and the surrounding town, and you’ll meet each of our game’s quirky characters as you delve deeper into the hotel.

Each character is a custodian of a particular room that you can unlock: from Colin, the elderly caretaker in the lounge, to his daughter Lily in the garden. You’ll meet the town mayor, Maddie in the boathouse, and Adam the police officer in the cinema room, watching re-runs of old buddy cop films.

Presiding over them all is Mr Bones, the hotel’s cat, and perhaps its most mysterious resident. Like the hotel itself, he’s a creature of duality. By day, he’s an ordinary cat who follows you around and likes belly rubs. By night, he’s a sarcastic and mercurial character who waxes lyrical (in a deep Australian accent) about the hotel’s many secrets and hidden places. But is he a friend or foe?

Each character has their own story, questline, and agenda, which you can help or hinder as you play. They also each have their own song because There Are No Ghosts at the Grand is also a musical.

A Musical Ghost Story

There Are No Ghosts at the Grand is a musical, but not in the traditional musical theatre sense. Think of it more like a cool, dusty album of British ska and punk songs from the 1980s that you might find in your dad’s record collection.

These are songs with attitude, bite, and hummable hooks. Each character will introduce themselves through song, the style of which is unique to them, from spooky ska to wartime jazz, and even skater punk.

You’ll be able to duet with them and make dialogue choices in verse to explore their story further. The songs are full gameplay sequences involving player action and choices, whilst the lyrics and furniture go flying.

Exploring Kingswood-on-Sea

Players won’t be spending all their time in the Grand Hotel. Right outside the door lies the village of Kingswood-on-Sea, a crumbling, spooky, seaside town, full of secrets and side activities.

This small open world lets players leave the hotel at any time, even at night, to explore its abandoned shops, winding streets and hidden mysteries. You can restore an abandoned minigolf course and play a round or two, comb the beach with a half-working metal detector, or find shops to renovate and restore, each with unique rewards.

The streets of Kingswood-on-Sea are full of strange little secrets, and they reward curiosity. Find a rusty old scooter that you can restore and ride through the village, discover an old fishing boat that players can fix up and take out into the shallow coastal waters, or explore the hidden coves and sunken bays. It even has a winch to dredge for lost treasures, if you can find the locations hinted at in clues found in the hotel.

Just… be back before nightfall. Under the inky blackness of the frozen North Sea, something stirs in the depth, and it slithers onto the land at night.

Summing It All Up

There Are No Ghosts at the Grand is a game about restoration and ruin. About strange townsfolk and suspicious upholstery. About music, memory, ghosts, and the awkward legacy of inherited property. It’s a spooky, funny, slightly tragic mystery, wrapped in ska riffs, talking tools, and night-time terrors.

You’ll renovate. You’ll investigate. You’ll duet. It’s a musical where you can skip the songs, a comedy with a dark secret, and a game that lies to you constantly, with a narrator you shouldn’t quite trust. If you’re very lucky, or very unlucky, you might just uncover the truth about the Grand Hotel. Assuming the Grand doesn’t uncover something about you first.

There Are No Ghosts at the Grand is a ghost story where the ghosts might be memories, or lies, or something crawling up the beach in the moonlight. The Grand Hotel is waiting, and is coming to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox PC, and Game Pass in 2026. Just… don’t trust the upholstery.

The post There Are No Ghosts at the Grand: Renovate by Day, Hunt Ghosts by Night appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Hasbro Reveals Comic-Con-Exclusive Marvel Legends Savage Land Set

Hasbro has revealed its exclusive Marvel Legends set for San Diego Comic-Con 2025, and ’90s X-Men fans will be pleased. The Marvel Legends Series: Gamerverse Marvel Snap Savage Land 3-Pack features brand new figures of iconic heroines Rogue and Shanna the She-Devil, as well as the fearsome mutant villain Sauron.

Check out the slideshow gallery below for a closer look at this stunning new set:

This set gets the Gamerverse branding because it’s technically based on a series of unlockable cards in the mobile game Marvel Snap. But it also has plenty of nostalgia factor, hearkening back to artist Jim Lee’s run on Uncanny X-Men in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

The Savage Land 3-Pack includes 15 different accessories, such as spears, alternate heads and hands, and even a hypnosis effect for Sauron. All three figures are designed in the usual 6-inch Marvel Legends scale.

The Marvel Legends Series: Gamerverse Marvel Snap Savage Land 3-Pack is priced at $89.99 and will initially be sold only in person at Hasbro’s SDCC booth (#3213). Limited quantities will then be made available on the Hasbro Pulse website after SDCC ends.

Will you be adding this Marvel Legends set to your collection? Let us know in the comments below. And stay tuned for plenty more collectibles coverage as the build-up to Comic-Con continues.

In other Marvel Legends news, Hasbro recently teased a new line of figures inspired by the Marvel vs. Capcom games. You can also check out the many Marvel collectibles available on the IGN Store.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.

Rebirth Board Game Review

If gaming has an equivalent to A-list celebrities, then the only person in the frame for that honor would be German designer Reiner Knizia. He made his name in the mid-late ’90s with a slew of brilliant games like Ra and Battle Line, which struck a beautiful balance between luck, strategy and player interaction, so much so that the latter still ranks among our picks for the best 2-player board games today. His games were so well received that they’d make a memorable legacy for any designer but, astonishingly, the hits just keep on coming. Last year saw him produce the brilliant Cascadero and now, age 67, he’s come out with the appropriately titled Rebirth.

What’s in the Box

Since this is a tile-laying game, there are a lot of tiles to punch: 144 of them to be exact, across four player colors. These are the most disappointing aspects of production, small, fiddly, slightly flimsy counters that are easily lost and feel like they will wear quickly with the frequent handling required. Each player also gets a little clan board to store spare counters, a score marker and a fun, if superfluous, balloon you flip over when you reach a hundred points.

Thereafter the component quality goes through the roof. The board is double-sided with a map of Scotland on one side and Ireland on the other. The art is lush and green, depicting the titular rebirth: the theme of this game is rebuilding civilization in harmony with nature after an apocalypse. That doesn’t really come through in the mechanics – as is often the case with Knizia – but it certainly does through the presentation.

Yet the board layout is clear and functional despite all the little artistic flourishes you can enjoy. The accompanying decks of cards don’t have any art but are still presented in a matching style and are equally clear and usable.

In keeping with the theme, each player also gets a set of 3D castle and cathedral pieces, intricately detailed sculptures of celtic-style buildings. They’re really delightful, not only for the visual aesthetics but because they’re not cold plastic but feel like pleasantly-textured resin. In fact, they’re RE-Wood, a new technology that allows recycled wood to be molded in great detail while still remaining recyclable. It’s lovely stuff, which we will hopefully see much more of in future releases.

Rules and How it Plays

Rebirth is actually two related games in one box. There’s a basic version, played on the Scotland side of the board and a more advanced version, played on the Ireland side. The rules for Scotland are incredibly straightforward. On your turn, you pick up a tile in your supply. If it shows a food or energy symbol, you can place it on any hex showing the same icon, and it will score you points equal to the number of continuous adjacent matching tokens. If it shows one or more house symbols you can place it in a town, a delineated area which isn’t scored until it’s full, at which time it scores points for the players with the most house symbols in the group.

Many hexes are also adjacent to castles or cathedrals. If you place in one of these, you can assign one of your delightful RE-wood pieces to the adjacent feature. Castles are worth a handy five points at the end of the game, but there’s a catch. If another player can get more adjacent hexes to a castle you own than you have, then they can remove your castle piece and replace it with theirs. Cathedrals, by contrast, can be shared. Each one you place allows you to draw a mission card, which you can fulfil for extra points.

That’s pretty much the whole deal. Yet in Knizia’s trademark near-magical style, these easy rules blossom into a whole set of madly competing priorities from the very first placement. Castles are worth immediate points, but they have to be defended, and the missions cathedrals grant can be worth more in the long run, so getting them early gives you more control into the endgame. Is it worth more to capture a castle or cathedral over extending a run of tiles and getting bigger points? Are any of these more valuable than blocking an opponent’s run of tiles, or progressing a mission card instead? And let’s not even start on the relative merits of when and if to finish filling out a town.

In Knizia’s trademark near-magical style, these easy rules blossom into a whole set of madly competing priorities from the very first placement.

All these competing priorities make the process of placing a single tile far more engaging and dynamic than it sounds. Most don’t have hard answers, and take experience and educated guesswork to muddle through, ensuring the game doesn’t get bogged down in analysis paralysis. And as things progress and placement options become more limited, the race for control of castles and to finish missions ensures that there’s no let-up in terms of tension as options dwindle. Well-timed and well-placed late tiles can be crucial in determining the overall victor.

At the same time, the fact you pull a random tile each turn gives more longevity than you might anticipate to playing over and over on the same map. Because of the chaotic tile order and the interactions between the players, no two games unfold in the same way. And, although the game does get more interesting – and slightly longer – as you add players, it’s still a lot of fun with two, though three players is a sweet spot. This is, however, where the simplicity of the base design begins to show some weakness. Once you’ve learned the ins and out of the Scotland map, the game does start to feel a little lightweight.

This, of course, is the ideal time to move to Ireland. The basic rules for castles and placement are the same, although there’s a bigger town and a lot of unmarked hexes where you can place either food or energy tiles as you prefer. Cathedrals have been replaced with towers, adjacency to which wins you a bonus depending on a random tile assigned to the tower such as a score bonus, or an immediate extra turn. The mission cards you earned from cathedrals are replaced with eight public cards which are all a race, giving top points to the first player to complete, and a more modest reward for those who manage it thereafter.

So: you still have all the same competing priorities you had to juggle when you were playing Scotland. But, on top of that, it dumps a whole load of additional stuff to consider from the very first turn: you’ve got an additional eight public missions, and six different tower effects. While it isn’t a big step up in terms of rules weight, it feels like a huge step up in terms of depth, especially for the first few games on the new board, when the sheer number of factors you need to consider when placing one tile can be almost crushing. It’s a very different kind of depth to the slowly snowballing web of actions and resources that characterize more complex strategy board games because it’s front-loaded, but it’s depth nevertheless.

It’s almost too much in terms of adding to the decision-making, especially for more casual players, but it’s inarguable that it’s an effective way to address concerns that the Scotland side of the board is too straightforward. However, it can weirdly reduce the sense of competition for board space that Scotland has. With so many other priorities, the uncertain rewards of blocking other players, or trying to steal their castles, tend to take a backseat. Over time, as you get used to all the competing demands, Ireland shows its own rewards as a slower, more reflective, but still very engaging version of the game.

Where to Buy

New Dragon Age: The Veilguard report reveals more about turbulent development, including Forspoken-prompted shift from snark to seriousness

A fresh report has shed a bit more light on Dragon Age: The Veilguard‘s famously difficult time in development, offering info on culture clashes between BioWare’s different teams, and revealing that the game was re-written due to concerns about its banter being too snarky.

The report, from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, goes through the whole sordid story of Veilguard’s journey from in-the-works single player game, to in-the-works online thing, back to in-the-works single player thing, parts of which you’re likely familiar with at this point. There’s also a bunch of context as to how wider events across the studio and publisher EA influenced the game that ended up hitting shelves after a decade or so of development.

Review: Fortnite (Switch 2) – A Visual Overhaul & Neat Mouse Mode Tricks For Ol’ Reliable

A mouse-t play.

Listen. I’m not gonna dive into this review of Fortnite on Switch 2 with any ideas of pretending to know everything, or even understand anything, about a game that’s grown from hastily retooled battle royale to…well…it looks kind of like Roblox now, in all honesty. What on earth is going on here?

Yes, since the last time I launched into a game of Epic’s Fortnite, it’s changed, I think it’s fair to say, immeasurably. The menu system that you boot into is incredibly confusing if you haven’t been keeping up with the changes, and looks exactly like the mess of game modes, fan content, and madness I watch my sons syphon through on a daily basis in the Roblox Corporation’s behemoth.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Aniimo: Breaking Down This Beautiful Creature Collector – Sign Up for a Closed Beta!

Category: Xbox Games Showcase

June 11, 2025

Aniimo: Breaking Down This Beautiful Creature Collector – Sign Up for a Closed Beta!

Jovi Zhang, Executive Producer, Aniimo

Summary

Learn more about Aniimo, the creature collecting action-RPG revealed at Xbox Games Showcase.
Aniimo is coming to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, and Xbox Cloud as an Xbox Play Anywhere title in 2026.
Sign up for a closed beta today!

It’s been an exciting time for the whole Aniimo team as, during the Xbox Games Showcase, we were finally able to open the doors of Aniimo to players and welcome them to our passion project; an open world creature collecting action-RPG.

This is truly the game of our dreams. We’ve been focused on crafting something new and unforgettable, laying the foundations for a magnificent open world with immense potential. All of us are excited to have players join us in discovering the world of Aniimo, and getting them involved in the next step of development by sharing valuable feedback with us during an upcoming closed beta test.

If you’re keen to know more, let me break down our new game for you:

The Aniimo

Thanks to Aniimo, we have discovered a fascinating bunch of creatures called, you’ve guessed it, Aniimo. These are magical beings who we are getting to know better every day. The Aniimo have captured our curiosity, and we’re constantly learning more about them – their personalities, abilities, charm, our own emotional connections with them and how they adapt to Idyll, the world that they live in. One example is Budclaw, a shy crab-like Aniimo who is good at digging and navigating different terrains, but can’t see too well underground. That’s a good trick to know because if it hits a rock it will go dizzy and be easier to catch. Another is Nimbi, the cloud-shaped sheep who reacts to its environment, making it incredibly light and able to jump to huge heights – but who behaves very differently in thunderstorms.

This world is so rich and detailed that we’re still seeking more Aniimo out, learning about them, capturing them, battling with them, developing and evolving them, and we’re excited to be able to now have players join us on this journey of discovery.

The Gameplay

When players join us in the world of Idyll they will gradually embark on their own unique journey of exploration. This is a multiplayer game in a fully open world. Players can choose the areas they want to explore, and the narrative will be shaped by their choices. Everyone’s adventure will be different.

There are two battle modes in the game. By capturing an Aniimo you can engage in real-time battles with other Aniimo, and grow your own Aniimo’s strength and skills. But beyond having a creature with incredible abilities and powers, wouldn’t it be even better if you could experience those powers for yourself? By “twining” with the Aniimo, a spiritual connection takes place, essentially enabling us to become our chosen creature, and experience the game in a totally new way.

We can move through the world as an Aniimo, battle as an Aniimo and explore the world of Idyll through the unique features of the Aniimo we have twined with. This feature also immerses us more fully in the Aniimo’s society – the everyday exchanges and habits that the Aniimo have developed amongst themselves.

The Open World

Idyll is a huge, living world, but there are bigger reasons for travelling around it than simply to see the sights. Each Aniimo reacts to the different environments and conditions and adapts their behavior accordingly. For example, an Aniimo may be able to leverage terrain to burrow and dodge attacks, or use special vision to spot danger, which takes the discovery of the world to a whole new level.

Join the Closed Beta

This is just the beginning! We can’t wait to welcome players to Idyll and introduce you to the Aniimo! Our closed beta test will open for PC players later this summer and more information on how to participate can be found here.

Aniimo

Kingsglory Games

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

Get it now

Aniimo is a next-gen open-world creature-catching ARPG set to launch in 2026.

The post Aniimo: Breaking Down This Beautiful Creature Collector – Sign Up for a Closed Beta! appeared first on Xbox Wire.

PlayStation Plus Game Catalog for June: FBC: Firebreak, Battlefield 2042, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 and more

This month, join forces to tackle the paranormal crises of a mysterious federal agency under siege in the cooperative first-person shooter FBC: Firebreak, lead your team to victory in the iconic all-out warfare of Battlefield 2042, test your skills as a new Fazbear employee managing and maintaining the eerie pizzeria of Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 or live for the thrill of the hunt in the realistic hunting open world theHunter: Call of the Wild. All of these titles and more are available in June’s PlayStation Plus Game Catalog lineup*. 

Meanwhile, PS2’s Deus Ex: The Conspiracy merges action-RPG, stealth and FPS gameplay in PlayStation Plus Premium. 

All titles will be available to play on June 17. 

PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium | Game Catalog

FBC: Firebreak | PS5

Launching on the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog this month is FBC: Firebreak, a cooperative first-person shooter set within a mysterious federal agency under assault by otherworldly forces. Return to the strange and unexpected world of Control or venture in for the first time in this standalone, multiplayer experience. As a years-long siege on the agency’s headquarters reaches its boiling point, only Firebreak—the Bureau’s most versatile unit—has the gear and the guts to plunge into the building’s strangest crises, restore order, contain the chaos, and fight to reclaim control. Join forces with friends or strangers to tackle each job as a well-oiled crew. Survival in this three-player cooperative FPS hinges on quick thinking and seamless teamwork as you scramble to tame raging paranatural crises across a variety of unexpected locations. 

Battlefield 2042 | PS4, PS5

Battlefield 2042 is a first-person shooter that marks the return to the iconic all-out warfare of the franchise. With the help of a cutting-edge arsenal, engage in intense, immersive multiplayer battles. Lead your team to victory in both large all-out warfare and close quarters combat on maps from the world of 2042 and classic Battlefield titles. Find your playstyle in class-based gameplay and take on several experiences comprising elevated versions of Conquest and Breakthrough. Explore Battlefield Portal, a platform where players can discover, create, and share unexpected battles from Battlefield’s past and present.

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 | PS5

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 is the sequel to the terrifying VR experience that brought new life to the iconic horror franchise. As a brand new Fazbear employee you’ll have to prove you have what it takes to excel in all aspects of Pizzeria management and maintenance. Find out if you have what it takes to be a Fazbear Entertainment Superstar!

theHunter: Call of the Wild | PS4

Discover an atmospheric hunting game like no other in this realistic, stunning open world – regularly updated in collaboration with its community. Immerse yourself in the single player campaign, or share the ultimate hunting experience with friends. Roam freely across meticulously crafted environments and explore a diverse range of regions and biomes, each with its own unique flora and fauna. Experience the intricacies of complex animal behavior, dynamic weather events, full day and night cycles, simulated ballistics, highly realistic acoustics, and scents carried by the wind. Select from a variety of weapons, ammunition, and equipment to create the ultimate hunting experience. With a diverse range of wildlife, including Jackrabbits, Mallard Ducks, Black Bears, Elk, and Moose, you will need to strategically match prey to weaponry to successfully track, lure, and ambush animals based on their unique behavior and environment.

We Love Katamari Reroll + Royal Reverie | PS4, PS5

We Love Katamari Damacy, the second title in the Katamari series released in 2005, has been remastered with redesigned graphics and a revamped in-game UI. The King of the Cosmos accidentally destroyed all the stars in the universe. He sent his son, the Prince, to Earth and ordered him to create a large katamari. Roll the katamari to make it bigger and bigger, rolling up all the things on the earth. You can roll up anything from paper clips and snacks in the house, to telephone poles and buildings in the town, to even living creatures such as people and animals. Once the katamari is complete, it will turn into a star that colors the night sky. You cannot roll up anything larger than the current size of your katamari, so the key is to think in advance about the order in which you roll things up around the stage. In Royal Reverie, roll up katamari as the King of All Cosmos in his boyhood!

Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes | PS4, PS5

Directed and produced by the creator of treasured JRPG series Suikoden, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes provides a contemporary take on the classic JRPG experience. In the land of Allraan, two friends from different backgrounds are united by a war waged by the power-hungry Galdean Empire. Explore a diverse, magical world populated by humans, beastmen, elves and desert people. Meet and recruit over 100 unique characters, each with their own vivid voice acting and intricate backstories. Over four years in the making, and funded by the most successful Kickstarter videogame campaign of 2020, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes features turn-based battles, a staggering selection of heroes and a thrilling story to discover.

Train Sim World 5 | PS4, PS5

The rails are yours in Train Sim World 5! Take on new challenges and new roles as you master the tracks and trains of iconic cities across 3 new routes. Immerse yourself in the ultimate rail hobby and embark on your next journey. Be swept off your feet with the commuter mayhem of the West Coast main line with the Northwestern Class 350, the twisting Kinzigtalbahn with the tilting DB BR 411 ICE-T, or the sun-soaked tracks of the San Bernardino line and its Metrolink movements, powered by the MP36 & F125.

Endless Dungeon | PS4, PS5

Endless Dungeon is a unique blend of roguelite, tactical action, and tower defense set in the award-winning Endless Universe. Plunge into an abandoned space station alone or with friends in co-op, recruit a team of shipwrecked heroes, and protect your crystal against never-ending waves of monsters… or die trying, get reloaded, and try again. You’re stranded on an abandoned space station chock-full of monsters and mysteries. To get out you’ll have to reach The Core, but you can’t do that without your crystal bot. That scuttling critter is your key to surviving the procedurally generated rooms of this space ruin. Sadly, it’s also a fragile soul, and every monster in the place wants a piece of it. You’re going to have to think quick, plan well, place your turrets, and then… fireworks! Bugs, bots and blobs will stop at nothing to turn you and that crystal into dust and debris. With a large choice of weapons and turrets, the right gear will be the difference between life and death.

PlayStation Plus Premium

Deus Ex: The Conspiracy | PS4, PS5

This is an emulation of the classic PS2 title, Deus Ex: The Conspiracy, playable on PS4 and PS5 for the first time. The year is 2052 and the world is a dangerous and chaotic place. Terrorists operate openly – killing thousands; drugs, disease and pollution kill even more. The world’s economies are close to collapse and the gap between the insanely wealthy and the desperately poor grows ever wider. Worst of all, an age- old conspiracy bent on world domination has decided that the time is right to emerge from the shadows and take control.

*PlayStation Plus Game Catalog and PlayStation Plus Premium/Deluxe lineups may differ by region. Please check PlayStation Store on release day.

Deals For Today: MTG Preorders And Save On AirPods with AppleCare+

Another day and another boatload of deals for anyone looking for new AirPods, Beats and big brand EarBuds. We’ve also got the latest stock updates and preorders for Pokémon TCG and highly anticipated Magic: The Gathering sets such as Final Fantasy, Spider-Man and Edge of Eternities.

TL;DR: Deals For Today

I’ve also had a look at some of the most sought-after Final Fantasy and Pokémon TCG: Destined Rivals single cards, with the latter mostly on sale under market value right now. It’s certainly a better deal than buying sealed big-box retailer product right now, but it’s nice to have options, right? I’ve even found a cracking deal on 4K Blu Rays, picking out some of the best options for a “Buy one get one for 50%” offer. And yes, it includes the Lord of the Rings trilogy (theatrical and extended). Let’s get into it:

MTG Final Fantasy And Spider-Man Preorders

It’s mad how Final Fantasy and Spider-Man products are still available to preorder after the initial pre-sale flying off digital shelves. My take on these sets is to preorder whilst you can, the pricing on these sets are only going to go above MSRP on release day.

MTG Final Fantasy: Best-Selling Presale Cards

I usually share immensely cool Cloud and Sephiroth cards that belong in a slab in someones collection, but all of these cards are what MTG players are going for right now. Looking to build a deck instead of collect MTG Final Fantasy? Snap these up before other players realise how playable they are.

MTG Spider-Man Single Card Pre-Sale

Whilst it’s early days for MTG MArvel’s Spider-Man coming later this year, snapping up early deals on Spidey and his rogues gallery is going to look sick in anyones MTG binder. I might not get around to playing this, but I just want these scene box cards for my TCG display shelves.

Magic The Gathering Edge of Eternities Preorders

Sci-Fi buffs will find MTG: Edge of Eternities a cracking entry point into one of the hottest trading cards games on the planet. If going to the edges of the MTG multiverse to battle it out in the name of cosmic power in the heart of a dying star doesn’t grab you, I don’t know what will.

Magic: The Gathering Stock Updates

Big box retailers are squeezing us on pricing right now, but there’s still some deals to be had. I’m liking the look of the Lord of the Rings Scene Box bundle, but stretching to the commander decks would make for one hell of a games night.

Pokémon TCG Stock Updates

Another day of ridiculous pricing on Amazon for Pokémon TCG sealed products, but keeping an eye on it so you all have options is still important. If you can’t find other sealed products for a decent price, I can almost guarantee the market value on TCG Player is cheaper right now.

Destined Rivals: The Most Valuable Cards

On a more positive note, Destined Rivals top chase card prices are stablising, making it a great time to snap some up. Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex SIR has been going for anything over $450 since release, but is starting to settle on a more respectable $370.

Apple AirPods Sale

The big sell with this AirPods sale is the free AppleCare+, with some decent savings on the hardware itself for good measure. They’re all solid choices, but i’d personally snap up AirPods 4 as they’re currently the same sale price as their third generation variant.

Beats Earbuds and Headphones Sale

No, I didn’t forget about Dre thanks, and neither did Amazon. If you want Apple quality without the basic white branding, Beats are the way forward. They all come with AppleCare+ or AppleCare for headphones too, with the exception of a $25 Amazon Gift card for Beats Fit Pro.

Samsung and Sony Ear Buds

Samsung and Sony are two personal audio brands you can set your smart watch too, and I’m seriously tempted to sink some money into Sony WH-1000XM5 whilst they’re on offer. The noise cancelling is best-in-class, and those cans pack some serious punch.

4K Blu Ray Sale: Buy 2, Save 50% on 1

Amazon is at it again with a cracking promotion on Blu Ray, 4K Blu Ray and DVDs with a Buy 2, save 50% on 1 deal. There’s currently over 1000 qualifying items here, but here’s some of my favorite picks. Seeing the Lord of the Rings trilogy in this is a banging deal, but this offer is also a great way to get your physical media collection off to a healthy start without burning your bank card out.

Woodkid for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach 2LP Vinyl

Experience the haunting soundscape of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach with this deluxe 2LP vinyl from Woodkid. It features 16 tracks, including collabs with Elle Fanning and Bryce Dessner, pressed on translucent vinyl and housed in a metallic case. Pre-order now ahead of the Sept. 26 release.

IGN Live Game Bundle

Celebrate IGN Live 2025 with a killer Steam bundle featuring eight solid games for just $22. Highlights include the tactical RPG Wartales, indie horror hit The Medium, and the endlessly replayable Slay the Spire. That’s over $230 worth of games, and proceeds support Child’s Play Charity.

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.

An Elder Scrolls voice actor is teaming up with top Fallout 4 modders to livestream a 48-hour modding jam for charity

A group of prominent Fallout 4 modders will be livestreaming the creation of a big mod over a single weekend later this month. It’s part of a charity drive led by voice actor Wes Johnson, probably most famous for providing the dulcet tones of mad Daedric prince Sheogorath in Oblivion and Skyrim.

The gang – led by Kinggath and the team behind the popular Sim Settlements mod – will be letting viewers decide the specifics of the mod via a stream this weekend, with the actual mod creation streams then taking place on Twitch across June 28th and 29th.

Officially, it’s called Resident Evil Requiem, but make no mistake: this is the ninth mainline entry into the Resident Evil franchise, and set to star yet another new protagonist: FBI Agent Grace Ashcroft.

While Capcom surprised everyone with a trailer during the Summer Games Fest trailer, we got a chance to get the first hands-on preview with Resident Evil Requiem (aka Resident Evil 9) shortly after the announcement. And fans will be happy to know that Capcom is still keeping the series rooted in its newfound survival horror goodness.

First Person or Third Person?

The first question for everyone is likely to be whether or not Resident Evil Requiem will be in the first-person perspective like past mainline games Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil Village, or will it be playable in third-person like the Resident Evil remake games? The answer to that is both!

That’s right, from the jump Capcom will let players toggle between first-person and third-person perspectives through the Options menu at any point during the campaign. While it’s not the most seamless way to change perspectives, the fact that Resident Evil Requiem lets you swap perspectives at all without needing to restart feels pretty revolutionary for this series.

And with the perspective swaps comes an interesting dilemma, at least one that I encountered while playing Resident Evil Requiem. But first, let me set the table for you.

Scary Times at the Wrenwood Hotel

The trailer shows agent Grace Ashcroft as she awakes upside down on a scary looking examination table, and this is where the gameplay demo begins. Once free, Grace must navigate what appears to be a medical ward. It’s unclear if this is in the hotel or in a separate location, but like other Resident Evil locations such as Raccoon City Police Department, for example, this medical ward appears to be decorated by someone who loves classical architecture.

Grace is pretty powerless from the get-go, and she’s only able to pick up makeshift weapons like glass bottles to use as projectiles. The narrow hallways are sometimes bathed in blinking red emergency lights, or no lights at all, while some doors only lead to pure darkness. At some point Grace finds a lighter that helps her navigate these previously unlit areas.

Capcom describes Grace as a kind of bookworm – as evinced by the trailer when she’s surrounded by a stack of files. So while she’s had combat training thanks to being in the FBI, she’s not a hardened combat veteran like Leon Kennedy or Jill Valentine. That means she’s more afraid of her nightmarish surroundings, and as you explore the dark hallways, you can hear Grace as she lets out calming breaths to steady her nerves. It does a lot to convey how powerless Grace feels compared to more confident heroes like Leon or Jill, and even helps her stand out against Resident Evil’s last new hero, Ethan Winters, who was stoic to a fault.

I know online there’s been some theorizing about who the true main character of Resident Evil Requiem is. And while Capcom has done bait-and-switches before for Resident Evil protagonists, Grace Ashcroft makes a compelling new hero, whose vulnerability in particular already helps her stand out. I’m curious to learn more about Grace, particularly her connection to the forgotten Resident Evil Outbreak games.

Eventually, Grace will encounter a horrifying new monster that kind of reminds me of the creature from the 2022 horror film Barbarian (Fun fact: Barbarian director Zach Cregger is set to direct the next Resident Evil live-action movie). This monster will stalk Grace through the dark corridors much in the same way as Mr. X or Lady Dimitrescu. Combined with Grace’s palpable fear, running away from this mysterious new monster feels even more terrifying and reminds me almost like the first time I played Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

However, this fear I describe is mostly present if you play the game in first-person perspective. And as Capcom revealed during the preview, you can switch perspectives at any time. When I played the demo I did extensive testing in third-person mode, including while running away from Requiem’s new monster. In third-person I found that the tension of hiding and running to still be there, but the fear factor was replaced somewhat with a more action-like feel. In third-person, running away from the monster felt a little more tactical than survival-horror, though given Grace’s limited arsenal it was no less stressful.

Like I said, with only bottles to throw at the monster, Grace is better off running away, and in third-person Grace will stumble over her own feet while getting away, highlighting her inexperience and adding more stress to the encounter.

Resident Evil Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi says that the game will stay true to the survival horror core, but highlight a kind of thrill to the action – and I feel like these two elements are highlighted whenever you swap perspectives. For exploration and dread, first-person is the way to go, but for monster encounters, third-person feels livelier.

Visually, Capcom maintains the high standards set by all previous Resident Evil games since switching to the RE Engine with particular emphasis added to the contrast between light and dark. There are moments where Grace will turn on a hallway light only for it to cast the smallest light possible, while casting menacing shadows.

With Resident Evil Requiem, you no longer have to make the choice between first-person and third-person perspective, something Capcom flirted with when it released a third-person option as DLC for Resident Evil Village. While the balance between horror and action naturally shifts depending on the perspective, my main takeaway is that Resident Evil Requiem was exciting to play in either mode, and looks to continue Capcom’s strong string of game releases.

Matt Kim is IGN’s Senior Features Editor.