Author: Game Infliction

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is nearly here and one of the most exciting things about this sequel is that it features a story focused on both Peter Parker and Miles Morales. As if that wasn’t amazing enough, Insomniac has confirmed that players will be able to switch between the two Spider-Men at will in the open-world and at specific times during the story.

Speaking to Eurogamer following Spider-Man 2’s 10-minute gameplay demo in the latest PlayStation Showcase, Spider-Man 2 creative director Bryan Intihar explained how the game handles switching between the characters and how a lot of it is made possible thanks to the power of the PS5.

“When you’re playing the main story, we control when you switch between Pete and Miles… it’s done in service to the story when we’re making those switches, for sure,” Intihar said. “So, as you saw on that gameplay reveal, which is a segment of the main story, we are pre-determining those based on what we want to do for how the story plays out.

“We have content designed around Peter, we have content designed around Miles and we have content where you can play either. You’ll be able to – in the open world – freely switch between them with a simple button press.

“Being able to switch in the open world so quickly between the two characters is really, really awesome. Just being able to pick and choose who I want to play as for a certain activity… it’s been so awesome to have that feature. [It’s] something we probably wouldn’t have explored previously.”

Spider-Man 2 game director Ryan Smith then touched upon the fact that there will not only be dedicated skill trees for both Miles and Peter, but there will also be one shared between the two superheroes.

“We want to make sure that when you do switch between the heroes, there’s a sense of familiarity. They’re both Spider-Man, you know how to play the game, but you still have that flexibility in that customisation for upgrading each of them with their [skill trees],” Smith said.

“We saw in the gameplay reveal where Miles has the evolved Venom powers, whereas Peter has the Symbiote abilities. And so those, those change a bit of how you play, and you can upgrade those in their respective trees as well.”

Spider-Man 2 is set to swing on PS5’s around the world this Fall. For more, check out our chat with Insomniac about how the team set out to create a “borderline brutal” Venom suit, nine brand new details from the PlayStation Showcase trailer, and how the sequel’s map will be twice the size of the original.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Aspyr Media announced that it is canceling the Restored Content DLC for the Switch version of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords.

“Sadly, today we’re announcing that the Restored Content DLC for the Nintendo Switch version of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords will not be moving forward for release,” Aspyr revealed in a statement on Twitter.

However, Aspyr is trying to do right by fans by letting those who purchased the game before this announcement receive a complimentary game on Switch. The complimentary games include: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Star Wars: Republic Commando, Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, and Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. There’s also the option to get a Steam version of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II.

Update on the Restored Content DLC pic.twitter.com/P0TQtJsgRc

— Aspyr (@AspyrMedia) June 3, 2023

To receive your game key, people must visit support.aspyr.com and then submit a request along with a proof of purchase of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II.

The Restored Content DLC was a fan volunteer effort to mod in missing content for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, as well as fix technical issues. It was officially endorsed by Aspyr Media back in 2015.

Aspyr was working on a remake of the first Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic game. However, back in August 2022, development was reportedly paused due to Lucasfilm and Sony being disappointed in an internal demo. Now, development has reportedly shifted from Aspyr to Saber Interactive.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He’s been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.

When not writing about video games, George is playing video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey

We’ve just gotten some clarity on how big Spider-Man 2’s map will be, and rest assured: there will be plenty to explore.

The game’s creative director Bryan Intihar revealed as much in an interview with The Washington Post, saying that the sequel’s map will be twice the size of Spider-Man 1’s. He also teased what it’s like to swing around in Queens, which we previously learned would become available during last week’s 12-minute gameplay demo.

“In terms of the size of the city, it’s double the size compared to Spider-Man 1,” Intihar said. “When you play in Queens, there’s much more of a neighborhood feel, smaller buildings, which is why the web wings work so well traversing in that area, where you can swing low to the ground if you want to, or you can fly through.”

In Spider-Man 1, players were only able to traverse Manhattan. Spider-Man 2, on the other hand, will include both Queens and Brooklyn, with other boroughs expected as well. Speaking to Japanese outlet Famitsu (via Gematsu), Intihar teased how the additions of Queens and Brooklyn will break up some web-slinging monotony.

“Since these two areas are somewhat smaller and residential, I think you’ll find them different from Manhattan,” he said. “We’ve prepared some unexpected situations we haven’t done before, like a battle on the river between two of the cities, so I hope you’ll look forward to them.”

Expectations are no doubt high for Spider-Man 2, as Spider-Man 1 and Spider-Man: Miles Morales are two of the most popular PlayStation games. We still, however, don’t have a release date; last week’s PlayStation Showcase only reiterated the previously announced fall 2023 release window.

For more on Spider-Man 2, check out all the new details we learned from the gameplay demo and our sitdown with Intihar and game director Ryan Smith.

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Blaseball, the horror fantasy baseball game that gained a cult following, is officially ending after a turbulent hiatus.

Today, in a post on Medium, Blaseball makers The Game Band announced that Blaseball is not going ahead with the Coronation Era, its current iteration, as planned and is instead ending permanently. The Game Band, which also faced layoffs, attributed Blaseball’s ending to a lack of financial sustainability.

“We are making the decision to end it here instead of changing Blaseball into something unrecognizable,” the post reads. “Part of this loss is many of our incredible team members. Our team size has to change to give us enough runway to even begin to make something new. We are losing so many good people, and we will miss them terribly. They changed the game, literally.”

We are devastated to announce we are ending Blaseball and saying goodbye to some incredible team members.

Our full post here:https://t.co/8ZagEGwiW4

— The Game Band (@thegameband) June 2, 2023

In the post, The Game Band pledged to support employees affected by layoffs and discussed Blaseball’s impact. Released during the height of the pandemic in July 2020, it gained a loyal following and inspired quite a few fanmade works of art.

“To Fans of Blaseball, who have cheered and cried with us, who watched Suns die and Eras pass, who have defied the Gods and death itself, who have been with us through the end of the world as we knew it and then what came after: thank you,” the post continues. “It has been one of the great joys of our lives to make Blaseball for you, and we will grieve its loss like everything else — together.”

Blaseball initially went on hiatus in 2021 after its lore quickly expanded, which culminated in a black hole swallowing every player to give the game a clean slate. The game returned in January 2023, though it quickly went on another hiatus less than a month later after its new format received mixed feedback. Blaseball was slated to return in the spring.

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they’ve contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.