Author: Game Infliction

Apple Arcade is adding Vampire Survivors to its collection at no extra cost on August 1, 2024 — and it’s ad free.

Apple announced the addition of Vampire Survivors+ as a version with both premium expansions included at no extra cost. The complete removal of ads is perhaps what makes this version most appealing, however, giving it a leg up on the version of the gothic rogue-lite game already available on mobile.

“Mow thousands of night creatures and survive until dawn in Vampire Survivors, a gothic horror game with rogue-lite elements, where your choices can allow you to quickly snowball against the hundreds of monsters that get thrown at you,” reads the official synopsis.

Vampire Survivors became one of the biggest surprise hits of the last few years as what launched as a humble indie game on Steam blew up into and snowballed in popularity itself. Developer Poncle soon added layers of new content to the game, and the core experience now offers 50 playable characters and 80 weapons to play with. That’s before the two major expansions too, meaning Apple Arcade is about to add a ton of content at no additional cost, though the service is priced at $6.99 a month otherwise.

In our 7/10 review, IGN said: “It may look extremely basic, but if you give Vampire Survivors’ clever one-stick shooter idea a chance to sink its teeth into you it might not let go for a while.”

Apple Arcade is also adding Temple Run: Legends on August 1, while Castle Crumble joins on August 29.

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

EA Sports has finally revealed College Ultimate Team, a game mode originally introduced in NCAA Football 14. In this mode, players can build their own dream team using real players from any of the 134 FBS schools past and present and create their dream team to compete against the AI or other players.

Which Ultimate Alumni are you adding to your Day 1 lineup?

Pre-order the Deluxe Edition of #CFB25 or the MVP Bundle to get one of these players on your Ultimate Team.

Learn more about CUT | 🔗: https://t.co/oaR0iJb3cU pic.twitter.com/PIqeuEqXSw

— EASPORTSCollege (@EASPORTSCollege) July 9, 2024

College Ultimate Team (CUT) was first introduced in NCAA Football 14 as Ultimate Team and functions much like Madden Ultimate Team (MUT), as EA Sports revealed that current and past college football players will be available in CUT.

Some of them are currently in the NFL, like former UGA Tight End Brock Bowers, who was drafted by the Las Vegas Raiders this year. This group also includes current NFL stars like Patrick Mahomes, Davante Adams, Christian McCaffrey, and Joe Burrow.

More interestingly, the blog post mentions two programs coming to CUT: ICYMI and Legends; the former program will feature players who contributed to iconic moments in past seasons and helped their team excel on the iron, while the latter focuses on legendary All-Americans and see how they fare against the current stars of collegiate football.

This announcement is part of EA Sports’ weeklong set of reveals for College Football 25 ahead of its release next week. Yesterday, the developer provided a new look at gameplay featuring two Play Now matches between college football content creator James “BordeauxYT” Bordeaux and cover athlete Donovan Edwards. Throughout the week, the developer will reveal the launch roster and the new additions to fan-favorite game mode Road to Glory on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

College Football 25 will be released for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on July 16 for those who pre-order the Deluxe Edition or MVP Bundle, or July 19 for everyone else. For more, check out the top 25 rated teams, the best offensive and defensive teams, and the toughest stadiums to play in. Check out our hands-on preview to hear IGN’s initial thoughts before the full release.

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

An enterprising pair of Elden Ring players going by the name “Let Us Duo Her” have invented a new method for cheesing one of Elden Ring’s toughest bosses, using a simple combination of weapons and techniques introduced by the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.

Malenia, Blade of Miquella is without doubt one of the toughest bosses offered up by Elden Ring’s based game, featuring a range of lightning swift sword strokes and rot-infused attacks that work in concert to melt the player’s health bar while frustratingly regenerating her own. Now, a pair of players have taken to Reddit to reveal a new — and vaguely humiliating — method of cheesing the troublesome boss by harnessing the new hand-to-hand fighting style introduced by the new DLC.

As shown in a YouTube video, the pair, who have branded themselves “Let Us Duo Her”, were summoned into battle as co-operators while donning the Dane’s Footwork gear, which was equipped with the Dryleaf Whirlwind ash of war.

NEW Malenia Cheese (Let us duo her)#ELDENRING #EldenRingDLC
📹oRezyn pic.twitter.com/M0PCjdEKbM

— ELDEN RING Alerts (@EldenringAlerts) July 7, 2024

Upon entering the boss chamber, the Tarnished who had summoned the duo stood back as the unorthodox pair took it in turns to unleash kick upon kick against the boss, which locked her into a stun animation that went unbroken for the entire first stage of the fight. The ordinarily troublesome boss was then granted a brief reprieve following the mid-battle cutscene to unleash her fearsome Scarlet Aeonia attack, before being savagely kicked into oblivion by the scantily clad warriors.

“Inspired from ‘Let me solo her’, we adopted ‘Let us duo her’ to introduce the world to the Malenia cheese we discovered while playing around with the new DLC weapons,” explained oRezyn, who posted the footage. The build apparently needed no specialised talismans to stunlock Malenia, though oRezyn has warned that the stagger could have been interrupted if the summoning player had chosen to get involved.

Malenia’s Haligtree arena has borne witness to a slew of extraordinary challenge feats in the years following Elden Ring’s 2022 release, along with the rise of the community co-op hero “Let Me Solo Her”, who specialised in taking down the rot-infused demigod.

Of course the attention has long since shifted away from Malenia and towards the new cast of brutally difficult bosses introduced by the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. Be sure to check out IGN’s comprehensive guides and walkthroughs to ensure that your Tarnished warrior is prepared to take on everything that the land of shadows has to offer.

Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer

Ubisoft has apologized after using a Japanese historical re-enactment group’s flag in concept art for Assassin’s Creed Shadows without permission.

As reported by Siliconera, Ubisoft Japan issued an apology on X/Twitter and admitted it used the flag in two pieces of art without permission. It also claimed to have apologized to the flag’s owner Sekigahara Teppo-tai, a historical re-enactment group made up of volunteers who perform to the public at festivals and other events.

Eagle-eyed fans noticed the identical recreation of the flag, which can be seen below, in a piece of concept art for the Japan-set Assassin’s Creed released alongside its full reveal. It was raised to a leading member of the Sekigahara Teppo-tai, X/Twitter user @matchlock_kage, who posted a photo of the real flag taken on October 27, 2019, and expressed concern at it being used by Ubisoft without permission.

Ubisoft has now apologized for using the flag, however, and said it will no longer use the associated artwork with one exception: the presumably already printed physical art book featured in the Collector’s Edition of Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Ubisoft has said it strived to make the world of Assassin’s Creed Shadows as “authentic as possible.”

Assassin’s Creed Shadows was fully revealed in May 2024 as a Japan-set entry where players take control of two protagonists: the stealthy shinobi Naoe and the action-orientated Yasuke, who’s a real figure from Japanese history.

IGN had a wealth of exclusive content on the reveal, and you can read about all the gameplay changes, story beats, and open-world assassinating coming with Shadows in our extensive interview with the development team.

If that’s not enough, check our analysis and explanation of where and when Shadows is set and 40 key details we’ve learned about the game. You can also watch our full breakdown of the cinematic trailer to discover all its hidden details, Easter eggs, and more.

Shadows launches November 12, 2024 for those buying the Gold, Ultimate, or Deluxe Editions, while the Standard Edition is available on November 15, 2024.

Image Credit: @matchlock_kage on X/Twitter

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