The Switch 2 upgrade has arrived.
The preparations for Switch 2 continue with Pokémon Scarlet and Violet both being updated today to Version 4.0.0.
This update focuses on making the game a “more enjoyable” experience on the Switch 2 when it launches later this week. This includes frame rate improvements and a higher resolution. Here are the full patch notes, courtesy of the official Japanese Pokémon website:
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Zynga has officially shuttered Echtra Games, the development studio behind Torchlight 3, which had been working on an unannounced cross-platform ARPG in the four years since its acquisition.
IGN can confirm the San Francisco-based studio will be shut down by the end of the month. While we don’t have an exact number of individuals impacted, LinkedIn has 61 people who list their current job at the studio.
Zynga has provided the following statement to IGN:
Zynga has made the difficult decision to cease operations at its Echtra studio, ending development on future titles and reducing roles. This decision is part of a strategic realignment of the company’s resources and priorities. We will work closely with impacted employees so they are treated with the utmost respect and consideration as we navigate this difficult process.
Echtra Games was founded by Max Schaefer, one of the co-founders of Torchlight developer Runic Games. Schaefer left Runic after his fellow co-founders similarly departed the studio, and founded Echtra under investor Perfect World to work on a Torchlight MMO. Over time, the game’s vision shifted, eventually becoming Torchlight Frontiers and later Torchlight 3. In 2021, Echtra Games was acquired by Zynga, leaving Torchlight 3 in the hands of Perfect World and starting work on “a new, yet to be announced RPG for cross-platform play” alongside CSR Racing and Star Wars: Hunters developer NaturalMotion.
Unfortunately, Echtra Games’ RPG was never announced or shown. It is unclear precisely why Echtra was shuttered, though its closure comes just three months after Zynga announced it will shut down NaturalMotion-developed Star Wars: Hunters later this year — a decision that was itself announced just nine months after the game launched. Notably, Zynga is a subsidiary of Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive, which slowly dismantled and then sold off its Private Division publishing label earlier this year. The publisher also laid off around 5% of its workforce just over a year ago and canceled multiple projects.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Shocker.
OpenAI’s o3 model, which is reportedly the “smartest model to date” of AI, can play Pokémon Red — but it’s taken 80 hours to get two Gym Badges. Two. And it’s rightfully being roasted online.
The story was originally published by Dexerto, and the playthrough is being streamed on Twitch right now, but we’re a little bit amused that this “powerful” AI tool can only get past the first two Gyms in 80 hours.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Plunge into a chilling sci-fi horror experience deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean in Submersed 2: The Hive. Developed by Spanish studio Main Loop Videogames, this first-person action-horror adventure surfaces for Xbox One and Xbox X|S Series today.
In Submersed 2: The Hive, you are Celeste Brody, a woman who awakens in a strange and seemingly abandoned underwater facility. Stranded and surrounded by unimaginable dangers, Celeste must uncover the hidden secrets of the mysterious station and survive the threats lurking in the depths.
In Submersed 2: The Hive, survival is a constant battle. You’ll need to carefully manage your inventory, where every item, weapon, and bullet counts. With resources scarce and dangers lurking around every corner, making smart, strategic decisions is key to staying alive in the depths of the ocean.
But it’s not just the environment you’ll have to outsmart. The ocean’s deadliest predators are waiting, from grotesque marine creatures to ruthless abominations born from failed experiments. Each enemy presents a unique threat, pushing your skills and courage to the limit.
To survive, you’ll need to adapt your strategy to every situation. Sometimes, avoid conflict, using stealth, distractions, or the environment itself to your advantage. Other times, you’ll have to rely on the weapons you have, set deadly traps, or make a desperate escape when the odds turn against you.
All of this unfolds in a rich, immersive setting brought to life with high-quality visuals and an oppressive, atmospheric sound design. Every shadow, creaking bulkhead, and distant splash heightens the sense of isolation and dread, pulling you deeper into this unforgettable survival horror experience.
Descend into darkness. Face your fears. Escape The Hive… if you can, in Submersed 2: The Hive, available right now on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.
Relevo Videogames
Enter the world of SUBMERSED 2 – THE HIVE and face the horror of being submerged at the bottom of the ocean.
Find resources and weapons, investigate terminals and secret documents, and discover the hidden truth in the underwater facilities where you are trapped.
Face your deepest fears and fight the terrible creatures that hide in the deep water.
Search for the last survivors in the underwater station and experience the events that will shape the destiny of the facility and all of humankind.
FEATURES
Manage your inventory carefully: items, weapons and ammunition are extremely limited.
Solve ingenious puzzles and challenges, devised using original techniques, to advance in your search for answers.
Face the most terrible predators: different types of enemies and sea creatures await you in the depths.
Employ different strategies for each situation. Use the few weapons you have, create traps or distractions, or hide from the dangers that await you at the bottom of the ocean.
The immersive atmosphere, quality graphics and oppressive sound design create a terrifying world to explore.
DISCLAIMER
SUBMERSED 2 – THE HIVE contains scenes of violence, gore, nudity and explicit language. Enjoy!
The post Face the Horrors of the Ocean in Submersed 2: The Hive, on Xbox Today appeared first on Xbox Wire.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel’s annual World Championship is fast approaching, which means the Road to Worlds campaign is underway. There are free log-in rewards, and you can compete in qualifying events for the opportunity to represent your region at the World Championship in Paris.
If you don’t know about Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel, we can give you a quick rundown. It’s a free-to-play digital version of the popular Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game, with more than 10,000 cards and including the evolutions the game has made over its more than 25 years of existence. It’s available across nearly all platforms — iOS, Android, PC, PS4/5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S — and has cross-platform play, letting you Duel players of varying skill levels from all over the world.
If that sounds intimidating, don’t worry. If you’re a new player or haven’t played in a while and need a refresher, there are in-game tutorials that teach you the basics of the game. Once you finish those tutorials, you get a base Deck to get started and can collect new cards as you progress through the game. The game also provides visual cues to let you know when you can execute combos and chain effects or respond to your opponent’s effects, helping make sure you don’t miss anything while you’re learning the game.
You can continue practicing and getting better through Solo Mode, where you play through storylines and learn more about the lore behind the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. As you probably already know, the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise extends across several pieces of media and is a big reason for the international popularity of the TCG. That combined with the competitive nature of the game has also made it popular with professional athletes, which you can see NBA player Grant Williams and professional football players Kris Jenkins and Ryan Hunter discuss in the videos below.
Once you’ve gotten more comfortable with the game, you can move on to face your fellow Duelists. And now’s the time to jump in, since there will be free log-in rewards during the Road to Worlds event that can help you build up your Deck before taking on the qualifying events
From now until July 3, you can get a series of daily rewards for a total of 1,000 gems, a profile icon, and a Red Supernova Dragon Card. You can get additional gems and rewards if you take part in the World Championship Qualifiers, which anyone can enter starting June 3.
The initial qualifying round will last until June 12, with Duelists beginning at a different level depending on what rank they reached in May’s Season 41. But don’t worry, even if you didn’t take part in Season 41, you can still compete in the qualifiers, you’ll just start from Duel Level 1. Winning Duels will see you rise through the ranks, to a max of Duel Level 20. Anyone who reaches Duel Level 20 will then move on to Regionals between June 12–15, where the goal is simply to get as many points as possible by defeating other qualifying Duelists.
The top performers in each region earn an invite to the World Championship in Paris, where they’ll compete for the grand prize. While the qualifying rounds and Championship are all single-player matches, the players who win and move on to Paris will also get the chance to team up with two other Duelists to take on the defending champions from the United States.
There will be hundreds of thousands of Duelists of all skill levels from around the world competing during the Road to Worlds events. With so many active players and easily attainable in-game rewards, there won’t be a better time to start your journey in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel. The game is free-to-play and there’s no entrance fee for the qualifying events, so there’s nothing stopping you from building a Deck and giving it a shot.
For more information about Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel, including several tutorial videos to help you understand card types and strategies, you can visit the official website. For more details about all the events leading up to the World Championship, you can check out the Road to Worlds page. To keep up with news and updates, you can follow Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel on Twitter and Instagram.
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Hitman developer Io Interactive’s James Bond game has been reannounced with a proper title, 007 First Light. It also has some new key art, which confirms some important Facts: unlike Hitman’s depthless master mimic Agent 47, James Bond has hair, formed into a neat side-parting by the passage of a narrowly escaped bullet. He also has ears, a high-collared leather jacket, and a gun.
Or what looks like a gun. He could be just doing a finger pistol to fake us out. I do not trust this particular James Bond. He is, after all, a cousin of Agent 47, that barcode-blazoned Fury peering out of every mirror. Io Interactive’s James Bond doesn’t even have a face right now. The face is hopefully forthcoming in the world premiere later this week during Summer Game Fest 2025, along with James Bond’s legs and feet.
Real steamy.
Steam-Heart’s is a most curious Saturn Tribute release, for two significant reasons: Firstly, it was conceived many moons ago as hardcore hentai erotica; and secondly, it was never particularly great.
It first appeared in all its grammatically incorrect glory on the NEC PC-98 home computer in 1994. Compared to the console market, there were almost no content restrictions for PC software, giving rise to a vast catalogue of pornographic titles. Most were sold on the promise of a few titillating stills wedged between rough coding, while a few notable exceptions, like the visual novel Yu-No, soared beyond their eroge roots.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Xbox believes in the power of connection — and during Pride Month, we honor LGBTQIA+ people who have long shown the world what it means to build a community that transcends borders and expectations.
LGBTQIA+ individuals have formed networks of support and deep friendships rooted in love, resilience, and care. They remind us of the importance of community, connection and chosen family that encourages, uplifts, and cares for one another. Xbox celebrates exactly that: affection, support, and a shared belief that everyone deserves to be seen and celebrated by their communities.
In many ways, gaming offers new ways to connect with the community.
Whether you’re teaming up online, voice chatting in a cozy co-op farming sim, or building entire worlds together, games create spaces where connection thrives. For LGBTQIA+ players, these experiences often go beyond fun — they can help fill the need to find belonging.
This Pride Month, Xbox is proud to highlight a collection of games from LGBTQIA+ creators — stories that explore identity, celebrate self-expression, and reflect the beautiful complexity of the LGBTQIA+ experience. These creators are helping us see the world through different perspectives — telling stories where everyone can feel at home.
We’re committed to making gaming for everyone, which includes supporting LGBTQIA+ creators and communities — not just during Pride, but all year long. For more than 30 years, Microsoft and our employees have stood alongside LGBTQIA+ communities, contributing over $17 million to organizations advancing equity, dignity, and human rights. Last year, we gave more than $1.3 million to support this work globally, and this year we’re deepening that commitment with an additional $100,000 donation to organizations doing critical work for the community.
From the games we feature to the programs we support, our goal is to continue fostering a platform where everyone can play, create, and connect authentically. That’s the heart of what we’re celebrating this Pride: the power of community, built by choice and strengthened by care.
We have each other.
Pride returns to Overwatch 2 with more meaningful ways to celebrate and connect! From free rewards and a festive fan-favorite map, to a charity tournament with Twitch drops, plus community artwork and new narratives, Pride 2025 is a moment to reflect, express, and commemorate everyone who makes our world—and the game—stronger. Whether you’re rocking the Resilient Soldier: 76 skin, skipping through Midtown celebrating after a parade, or simply showing up as your authentic self, this event is about standing proud and honoring our diverse community.
So, we’re celebrating our heroes, players, and stories with heartfelt touches, creative moments, and a space to be exactly who you are. You belong here, and we’re proud to compete by your side.
During Pride Month, pirates sailing in Sea of Thieves can pick up the Progress Pride Flag from the ever-reliable Larinna outside the tavern! Proud pirates in participating territories will now be able to attach this fabulous fabric to their flagpole forevermore. While introduced as part of Pride Month 2025 activities, this beautiful banner is a permanent addition to Sea of Thieves and will be available to claim from the shipwright at any Outpost after June has passed.
Farm Heroes Saga is celebrating Pride Month with a vibrant Pride Season that sows the seeds of community, visibility, and joyful self-expression. Now in its third year, this celebration brings a fresh crop of Pride-themed events and mini-games to players around the world. From nurturing a magical Rainbow Superfruit in 1-2-3 Grow, to collecting cropsies in the Farmer’s Market and unlocking special rewards in the colorful Choo Choo’s Challenge; there’s something for every hero on the Farm.
With the Pride-themed Farm Pass and the premium Golden Pass, players can earn even more farmtastic rewards. Whether you’re digging through the Hidden Garden, playing Amelia’s Arcade, or making wishes at the Wishing Well, this month is all about growing love, celebrating identity, and having a fabulously good time.
Tell Me Why, the award-winning narrative adventure from Don’t Nod Entertainment and Xbox Game Studios Publishing, will be available for free on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox PC, and Steam for the entire month of June 2025. As in past years, the Tell Me Why team encourages players to give what they would have spent on the game to an independent trans creator or a trans-inclusive charity in their community.
This June, immerse yourself in a curated collection of games that highlight the incredible creativity and storytelling from LGBTQIA+ developers and creators. These games offer a window into the diverse experiences of the LGBTQIA+ community, showcasing how their unique perspectives continue to shape and enrich the world of gaming.
Check out a few highlights from our full Xbox Game Collections celebrating Pride Month:
Tell Me Why – This celebrated narrative adventure game comes from Don’t Nod, the studio behind the beloved franchise, Life is Strange. In this intimate mystery, reunited twins Tyler and Alyson Ronan use their supernatural bond to unravel the memories of their loving but troubled childhood. Set in beautiful small-town Alaska, Tell Me Why features true-to-life characters, mature themes and gripping choices. As you conjure up memories of the past, your choices will affect the twins’ relationship, determine the strength of their bond, and shape the course of their lives.
Play Tell Me Why Today
Overwatch 2 – An always-on and ever-evolving free-to-play, team-based action game set in an optimistic future, where every match is the ultimate 5v5 battlefield brawl featuring new heroes and maps, different ways to play, and unique cosmetics! Lead the charge, ambush your enemies, or aid your
allies as one of Overwatch’s 40 distinct heroes. Team up with friends, take them into battle across 25+ futuristic maps inspired by real-world locations, and master multiple unique game modes.
Thirsty Suitors – From Outerloop Games, Thirsty Suitors is a stylish, story-driven adventure that unfolds through turn-based battles, skateboarding, and cooking. Help Jala confront her mistakes, make up with her exes, reconcile cultural differences, and become the person she was meant to be. Easy, right?
Play Thirsty Suitors Today
Dragon Age: The Veilguard – Enter the world of Thedas, a vibrant land of rugged wilderness, treacherous labyrinths, and glittering cities – steeped in conflict and secret magics. Now, a pair of corrupt ancient gods have broken free from centuries of darkness and are hellbent on destroying the world. Thedas needs someone they can count on. Rise as Rook, Dragon Age’s newest hero. Be who you want to be and play how you want to play as you fight to stop the gods from blighting the world. But you can’t do this alone – the odds are stacked against you. Lead a team of seven companions, each with their own rich story to discover and shape, and together you will become The Veilguard.
Spirit Swap: LoFi Beats to Match-3 To – Samar is a young witch working the spirit-swapping night shift in the eastern outskirts of Demashq. A recent spike in spirits crossing over from another dimension breaks the chill atmosphere of their night shift, so with her trusty FamiliarZ by her side, she sets off into the city to find out what’s happened. With a popular band scheduled to kick off their big comeback tour in Demashq, Samar needs to work quickly before the city is overrun with stans and spirits alike!
Play Spirit Swap: LoFi Beats to Match-3 To Today
Psychroma – A psychological horror side-scroller set in a haunted cyberpunk house. Collect cards and explore the memories stored on them to piece together your past. But the deeper you go, the more you expose yourself to the brightest heat, the warmest color… Discover the hidden corridors and uncover the sordid past of a house out of time and place within a futuristic cyberpunk city. Collect the memory cards of three main characters, An underground cultist, an ambitious philanthropist, and a drifter.
The Xbox Gear Shop is celebrating Pride 2025 by bringing back our most popular designs for a limited time! These classic designs were made by and with the LGBTQIA+ community, and will be available through Pride month only, and only in the Xbox Gear Shop!
Celebrate Pride month with the new Blizzard 2025 Pride Collection exclusively on the Blizzard Gear Store!
Led by the Blizzard LGBT+ Employee Network, this year’s Pride Collection features all-new logo designs for each of our games, available on t-shirts, long sleeve shirts, and hoodies—all benefitting* GLAAD from June 2 through June 30, 2025.
*From June 2, 2025, to June 30, 2025, Blizzard Entertainment will donate 100% of the amount Blizzard receives from Blizzard’s e-commerce store operator from the sale of each of the products from the 2025 Blizzard Pride Collection to GLAAD. This represents approximately 25% of the purchase price (less any chargebacks, refunds, and Value Added Taxes (VAT), or similar taxes paid.)
Rewards members in the United States can earn and donate points to organizations supporting LGBTQIA+ communities with Xbox. The organizations below will be available on the Rewards hub:
Xbox players 18 and older can earn Rewards points in various ways, such as playing games, completing Game Pass Quests (terms apply), and purchasing games and other eligible items at the Microsoft Store (exclusions apply). Start earning for impact today and redeem your points for great rewards. Donate your points on the Rewards hub or on the Rewards redeem page.
The Xbox Pride Month design is available today as an Xbox wallpaper and dynamic background on console – follow these steps to apply the dynamic background:
You can choose between Games, Xbox, or Abstract dynamic backgrounds. Choose the background art that you want with the A button.
The post We Have Each Other: Celebrating Pride Through Play appeared first on Xbox Wire.
A new, single-player Dungeons & Dragons action adventure is on the way from Stig Asmussen, the director behind Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and God of War 3.
The currently-untitled D&D project was announced today by Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast, and is set to launch on PC and unannounced consoles “at a later date.”
Asmussen’s new studio Giant Skull is on development duties for the upcoming D&D project. Founded last year following Asmussen’s departure from Respawn Entertainment, the Los Angeles-based Giant Skull was previously announced as making a new AAA single-player game built using Unreal Engine 5.
“Our talented and experienced team at Giant Skull is built on creativity and curiosity,” Asmussen said in a statement today. “Our goal is to craft a rich new Dungeons & Dragons universe filled with immersive storytelling, heroic combat and exhilarating traversal that players will fully embrace.”
The announcement of Giant Skull’s project adds to a portfolio of games set to be published by Wizards of the Coast over the coming years, after the hugely-successful Baldur’s Gate 3 from Larian, another D&D game, helped raised the profile of the franchise globally.
Another D&D action adventure game is already in development at Invoke Studios, the team behind Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance. Wizards of the Coast is also set to publish Exodus, the promising-looking sci-fi RPG from Archetype Entertainment, a developer founded by a collection of former Mass Effect veterans.
As for the Baldur’s Gate series, it’s expected that another game will eventually materialise, though not from Baldur’s Gate 3 studio Larian, which has now moved on to something new. Instead, Wizards of the Coast is expected to announce plans to continue the franchise with a different developer.
“We’re kind of working out our plans for the future and what we’re going to be doing with that,” Hasbro gaming boss Dan Ayoub told IGN back in March this year. “And actually, in pretty short order, we’re going to have some stuff to talk about around that.”
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
With Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian now off doing their own thing and making multiple games that aren’t Baldur’s Gate 4, BG IP owners Wizards of the Coast have just revealed something that might help fill that void. They’ve agreed to a publishing deal that’ll see relatively new studio Giant Skull create a new game set in the D&D universe.
