Street Fighter 6 hasn’t even been out for a full day, and it’s already off to a flaming hot start.
Capcom’s latest entry in the Street Fighter franchise has already become Steam’s most-played fighting game of all time by concurrent player count. At 9 a.m. PT this morning, SteamDB‘s numbers show that 66,317 people were playing Street Fighter 6 on Steam alone. According to industry analyst Benji-Sales on Twitter, this figure has broken Steam’s all-time concurrent players record for a fighting game by nearly double.
For context, concurrent player count means the number of people playing a game at the same time. Here are some of the other numbers:
Street Fighter 6: 66,317
Mortal Kombat 11 – 35,147
Tekken 7 – 18,966
Mortal Kombat X – 15,743
Street Fighter V- 14,783
Street Fighter 6 has just SMASHED the All-Time concurrent players of every Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, or Tekken game on Steam
It’s a huge start for Street Fighter 6, which has also been performing very well critically. We awarded the game a 9 in our Street Fighter 6 review, saying, “Street Fighter 6 is the most feature-rich a Street Fighter has ever been at launch, but even beyond that, it’s roster of 18 characters is excellent, the new mechanics revitalize the one-on-one fighting formula, and it absolutely nails all of the little things that make for a stellar fighting game.”
It seems Capcom has done all the right things leading up to the launch of Street Fighter 6, as this success story is different from 2016’s Street Fighter V, which missed its initial sales targets. We’ll have to wait and see how well Street FIghter 6 sells, but all signs indicate that Capcom will be happy with the launch.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over seven years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
Since its very first announcement in 2019, Diablo IV has ignited infernal anticipation among players worldwide. In the past couple of weeks, we’ve had the chance to immerse ourselves in a preview build of the game and were ensnared by its exhilarating gameplay, sinister lore, and boundless replayability. Below is an interview we’ve conducted with the minds behind the game, shedding light on the depths of this highly anticipated hellish adventure.
Can we share any features or gameplay mechanics in Diablo IV that you believe will excite some of the longtime fans of the series?
Dorottya Kollo, Lead UI Designer, Diablo IV: I always like to kick it off with the classes, because of how in-depth we went with them. We created a lore to make sure that they’re not just classes, but you actually believe in what class you’re playing as. Like Druid, this is probably one of my favorites, they can talk with animal spirits, they can actually make an offering and get something in return so there’s that transaction. And I love the fact that other players if you are not a Druid, then you cannot actually see them and interact with them. Apart from classes the skill tree is something that we’re really proud of as we put a lot of effort into it. It looked extremely different six months ago. In general when it comes to lore and gameplay, giving players the opportunity to explore the world, to explore dungeons and strongholds.
Adam Z. Jackson, Lead Class Designer, Diablo IV: There’s a series of progression systems that I think a lot of long-term fans will enjoy. You start out with the skill tree, you start out with some very simple itemization, and then as you go through the campaign, you get more and more layers on top of ways to customize your character. Late in the game, you get unique powers that give you even more ways to customize your player, and then the Paragon board comes online. So we start gentle and then there’s more systems and ways to make your character really special and powerful.
How has the studio reapproached its design philosophy for activities outside of the main story campaign in consideration to Diablo IV being an open world?
Jackson: One of the things we did that’s very unique to Diablo IV is the Codex of Power. Normally, in other games it’s a bit random, you’re just killing enemies and hoping to get the gear that you want. The Codex of Power marries two things together, we want to get you invested in this open world that we’ve created, and we also give you some deterministic ways to create the character fantasy that you want. Every dungeon that exists has a Codex of Power legendary aspect attached to it. When you defeat that dungeon for the first time, you get the essence of a legendary power. Then you can take it to a crafter called the Occultist to imbue that power onto your items. You own that power indefinitely. There are still other legendary powers that you’ll have to find through the traditional way of going and killing monsters and hoping that you get the one that you want, but this is one of the ways the open world and our systems interact with each other, to hopefully create an even better experience that we don’t have in our previous titles.
Kollo: Yeah, and with the open world, it was definitely a feel of like, how do we handle the Diablo front when it comes to the actual gameplay, how do we engage players as they explore the world? The team did awesome because you never really know what you’ll find. You start going somewhere, it’s like, oh I’m going to pin this quest, and I really want to do it. But then you constantly get distracted, because there’s so many things going on. You might hear villagers screaming somewhere and now you want to check it out. So it’s all about that unpredictable element in creating the world.
Diablo games, as we’ve discussed, are known for their replayability. What efforts have been made in Diablo IV to ensure that players can enjoy the game over and over again, and are there any new systems or improvements in this regard?
Jackson: We kind of have a path that we expect players to go on, where it starts off a little bit narrower. We present ideas and fantasies to chase, then it gets broader and broader as more and more systems come online for you to interact with. As a simple example, let’s say you’re playing as Sorcerer, we give you very simple, easy to understand fantasies. Right when you log in the first skills you pick from, there’s a fire one, a cold one and a lightning one, right. So we kind of lead you down that path as you go through the campaign. It’s fairly linear. There’s customization within them in the Skill Tree but your general fantasy is straightforward. But then when you get legendary powers coming online and you get your class mechanic coming online, there’s now a lot of nuances like what kind of fire Sorcerer do I want to be because you can be like an incinerate one that burns enemies with a beam, firewall where you spawn things on the ground, a fireball one where you shoot them with fireballs, or a meteor one where you shoot down meteors. Though they’re all fire, they’re very different ways of playing in fantasy. And then even within those as you go further in the game, there’s different legendary powers that make those skills change in different ways and do different things and the nuances of how you play. Being a live service game also just changes a lot of what we’re able to offer to people, there’s going to be ever growing things coming into the game and ways that even the existing pieces are changing and shaping, so that there’ll be a lot for people to do for a very, very long time.
Kollo: Just to add to that, we’ve been doing a lot of testing and got some amazing feedback, and that’s something that we constantly like working towards to improve the game and to consider what else we can offer to players. As Adam said, the Skill Tree is also built in a way that is quite flexible in terms of starting with a certain path, let’s say the fire Sorcerer, and then you were like, okay, I’m bored with this, I want to try something else. Also if you want to try a new class at some point, instead of forcing you to replay the campaign, we give players the option to skip the campaign with that new character. Then they can just literally jump into the final elements of the game and play around with the payouts. It’s a flexible way for fans to enjoy the different classes.
Player versus player (PvP) interactions are a new addition to Diablo IV, could you elaborate on how PvP will work in the game? And what kind of experiences players can expect?
Kollo: Originally, we wanted to create these very obvious areas on the map to make sure you know it’s a dangerous area to enter. We wanted to make it into almost its own thing. The idea is that you can be hostile, but you don’t have to be. There’s two elements to it, one element is that let’s say I’m not going hostile, and I’m just going to kill monsters. There is a specific boss in the area that you can kill. You pick up these unclean shards and you have to go to this ritual area. Now when you do this ritual area, you need to spend x amount of time to convert these unclean shards into actual currencies. Once you get these currencies, it’s yours and you cannot lose them anymore. Then you use this currency to buy some really unique items in town, specifically PvP vendors that nobody else can have. But there’s obviously a chance that while you’re doing this ritual, someone can just come in and kill you, and then you can’t drop shards or spawn from the town so you’ll have to pick them up again. A lot of people end up becoming hostile to avenge themselves, which is fun. Then we have this additional aspect, if you kill a player 10 times without you dying, you’ll obtain the Vessel of Hatred title. If you can hold it for x amount of minutes then you get a special reward for it. But then the problem is that you get marked on the map, and everybody knows about your presence, and they’ll want to hunt you down. So there’s different elements and challenges we’ve brought to PvP. There’s also monsters too, plenty of them.
The resurrection of the demon, Lilith has set the stage for the story in Diablo IV. Without revealing too much, can you provide some insights into the narrative direction? And what elements of the story should players be excited about?
Jackson: The team is very excited about what Lilith represents, and how she has a huge history in the game. Lilith has been around since the beginning of time in this world, but also, we haven’t really interacted with her yet as players. It’s really cool to kind of bring a character like that, that is so influential and important, but we haven’t really seen (we’ve only heard whispers of) and now we actually get to see them be a main focal point. So we’re really excited for players to explore Lilith’s story, as well as to see how everyone else is reacting to the events that happened too. One of our pillars for the team is a return to darkness. We’re really trying to go back to kind of our old roots of seeing Sanctuary as a dark and scary place, and we reflect that in a lot of ways, the story being one of them.
Kollo: I also love how we have this strong female character with Lilith. Like, she’s scary. And I love the impact she had on the game, even if it’s more subtle. For example, the UI and what you actually see with the Gothic style of the game and the materials we use, our research was very heavily affected by the return to darkness theme that Adam mentioned. Originally, for UI we wanted to use materials like leather and paper, but based on how the story was developing on the side, we ended up looking at burn materials and lava rocks, almost reflecting burnt monster skins and stuff like that. So it’s just the idea of really bringing that fantasy into it.
What new options and choices will players have in Diablo IV when it comes to developing and evolving their characters? Maybe there’s something that’s specifically exciting for you and the way you like to play that you can discuss?
Jackson: One I can delve into a little bit more that we didn’t before is the Paragon system. This is our end game progression system that comes online a little bit post-campaign. We’ve got these giant boards, as you level up you still get experience from 50 to 100 and you get to move across these boards. We have different types of nodes: rare nodes and glyphs you can put in that empower nodes around it, and then legendary nodes that give you almost the equivalent of a legendary powers worth the power. You can choose multiple different boards and even rotate/change how they’re oriented to move across them and get stats in the way that you think is optimal for your character. You can chase the different rare glyphs and level them up. There’s a lot to do there, and it’s really meant for players who have been playing this game for a while, that’s why we don’t introduce it at the very beginning of the game.
Kollo: To me the character customization is something that stood out and that I’m personally very proud of. It’s the first Diablo game that has such in-depth customization and gives players the option to create characters that speak to them, to create something they can relate to. We’ve conducted a bunch of testing sessions and to see videos where people tear up or get really touched by the characters they created makes it worth it. Like this is the point of all our work.
With its dark atmosphere, highly customisable combat, and immersive storytelling, Diablo IV promises to deliver a highly replayable and satisfying entry in the series for both newcomers and long-time fans.
This interview has been edited and condensed for brevity and clarity.
Diablo IV launches June 6. Deluxe and Ultimate Edition owners can enjoy Early Access of the game from today.
Stardew Valley allows players to upgrade their tools through a few different methods, with the highest tier for every tool being the rare purple mineral iridium. That is, every tool except one — the scythe only has a standard and gold variant and can’t be upgraded to iridium, which has left players with unsatisfyingly incomplete toolbars for years. However, players might soon be able to complete their shiny purple set of tools.
On Wednesday, Stardew Valley developer Eric Barone, also known as ConcernedApe, teased the long-requested iridum scythe update in a tweet.
If the Stardew community’s reaction is any indication of things, this is a big deal. “FINALLY ALL PURPLE,” one fan responded.
While he didn’t officially announce the scythe in this tweet, it could mean that the coveted tool is headed to Stardew Valley’s upcoming 1.6 update. Barone announced the update in April, and while it will mostly include support for modders, it will also feature some new content (though he noted that it’ll include less than the game’s massive 1.5 update).
We gave Stardew Valley a 9.5 in our 2018 re-review, praising its charming residents and exploration.
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.
Earlier this month, we asked you to vote for your favourite space games of all time, and man alive did you lot come out swinging for this. Hundreds and hundreds of votes have been beamed in over the last few weeks, resulting in an overwhelming favourite that was (no word of a lie) several thousand points ahead of its nearest rival. Not hundreds. Thousands. When you see it, you’ll probably go, ‘Of course, of course that’s number one!’ but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Come and find out what other games made the cut as we count down your 25 favourite space games of all time.
Publisher Outright Games has revealed Paw Patrol World, a new open-world take on the popular children’s TV series, coming to Nintendo Switch on September 29th, 2023.
Taking place around recognisable environments from the series, including Adventure Bay and Barkingburg, you’ll be setting off on a mission to foil Mayor Humdinger and his Kitten Catastrophe Crew’s plans to disrupt the Paw Patrol Day festival celebrations.
Last week, we asked Guardians in Destiny 2 to share epic moments wearing the PlayStation collaboration armor. Here are this week’s highlights:
Jake__Bellamy shares a Guardian wearing Ghost of Tsushima-inspired armor standing strong.
xelastarkly shares a Guardian wearing Horizon-inspired armor holding up their hand.
xenobitz shares a Guardian wearing Ghost of Tsushima-inspired armor kneeling beside a tree.
piyopiyopop shares a Guardian wearing Ghost of Tsushima-inspired armor using a bird calling emote.
Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week?
THEME: Tropical SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on June 7, 2023
Next week, we’re headed somewhere warm. Share moments spent in tropical locations from the game of your choice using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.
PlayStation’s big Days of Play sale is finally here. It features sizable discounts on games and accessories, particularly on big first-party PS5 titles. But one of the best deals available during the sale, which runs June 2 – 12, is an across-the-board 25% discount on 12-month subscriptions to PlayStation Plus. This PS Plus deal works for new, existing, and returning members, so anyone can take advantage. Let’s dig into the details.
Save 25% Off PS Plus Memberships
As mentioned above, you can save 25% off a 12-year membership to any PlayStation Plus membership of your choosing, be it Essential, Extra, or Premium. Current customers can add a year to their subscription and take advantage of the discount. New and returning customers can load up at the discounted rate as well.
If you’re a lapsed PS Plus member, you might not know that Sony’s subscription service has gotten more features (and more complicated) in recent years. There are now three tiers to the PlayStation Plus subscription service, each of which offers its own batch of features. Thankfully, the 25% discount applies to all three tiers.
The Essential PS Plus tier grants you online multiplayer, cloud storage, exclusive access to discounts, and free monthly games. A year of Essential normally costs $59.99, but this deal brings it down to $44.99.
The Extra tier gives you all that, plus access to Ubisoft+ Classics and hundreds of games in the Game Catalog. A year of Extra normally costs $99.99 for a year, but is now available for $74.99.
Premium, the most expensive tier, gets you everything in the Extra tier, plus game trials, cloud streaming, and access to the Classics Catalog, which features games from previous generations of PlayStation consoles. Premium normally runs $119.99 per year, but is currently on sale for $89.99.
It’s kinda complicated, to be honest, so if you want a deeper understanding of what you get from each tier, check out our big PS Plus explainer article.
Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN’s board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed or on Mastodon @chrislreed.
You know who you shouldn’t trust? Hotel cleaners. Not in real life, I should add – where they are hardworking and one time one helped me catch and kill cockroach even though we didn’t speak the same language – but in the game This Bed We Made, a third person mystery set in a slightly grimy 1950s hotel. The reason why you shouldn’t trust this particular cleaner because it is, in fact, you, in the kitten heels of Sophie here, as you rifle through their belongings and ogle at their undies. There’s a demo of one such room on Steam now, and it plops you right in medias of some juicy res.
