Microsoft has announced Wave 2 of the Xbox Game Pass July 2025 lineup, which includes the launch of Grounded 2 via Xbox Game Preview, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, and more.
As revealed in a post on Xbox Wire, returning today, July 15, is High on Life (Cloud, Console and PC) across Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard. Next up is the arrival of RoboCop: Rogue City (Cloud, PC and Xbox Series X/S) on July 17, for Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard.
Also on July 17 are My Friendly Neighborhood (Cloud, Console and PC), before Back to the Dawn (Cloud, Console and PC) on July 18. Abiotic Factor (Cloud, PC and Xbox Series X/S) follows on July 22, before Wheel World (Cloud, PC and Xbox Series X/S) then rolls around on July 23 — all for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
Microsoft then saves its biggest hitters for the end of the month, with the launch of promising-looking Soulslike action RPG Wuchang: Fallen Feathers (Cloud, PC and Xbox Series X/S) on July 24, before the launch of Obsidian’s garden survival sequel Grounded 2 (Cloud, PC and Xbox Series X/S) in Game Preview on July 29 — both for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers.
Capping off the end of the month — or, technically, next month — is the arrival of Farming Simulator 25 (Cloud, Console and PC) on August 1 for Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard.
Xbox Game Pass Wave 2 July 2025 lineup:
High On Life(Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 15 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard
RoboCop: Rogue City(Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X/S) – July 17 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard
Back to the Dawn(Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 18 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Abiotic Factor(Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X/S) – July 22 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Wheel World(Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X/S) – July 23 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers(Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X/S) – July 24 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Grounded 2 (Game Preview) (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X/S) – July 29 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Farming Simulator 25(Cloud, Console, and PC) – August 1 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard
As always, whenever Microsoft giveth, it also taketh away. The following games are set to leave Game Pass on July 31, though subscribers can get a 20% discount to keep the games in their library.
Gigantic (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
In fact, its needs are so modest and homely that I’m wondering whether you might be able to run it on a Hobbit, provided you could find one in real life and staple some Nvidia – or AMD- branded plastic into the surface of its flesh. It’s ok, I’m sure Gandalf has a magic stapler that doesn’t produce excruciating pain if you fire it directly into a person.
The door in question is at the centre of an iconic moment in Oblivion, one players who took on the excellent Dark Brotherhood quest will probably remember well. In the original Oblivion, the glowing door has a heavy mood aesthetic and a relief showing the Night Mother (who members of the assassination-obsessed Dark Brotherhood worship) murdering five children. The Oblivion Remastered version of this door has no glow, is light on atmosphere and, weirdly, has two extra children.
You can see a comparison with accompanying complaint in the reddit post from alvaro-elite, below:
The Elder Scrolls lore fans were quick to point out that the addition of two kids on the relief makes no sense given what we know about the story of the Night Mother. This moment in time is meant to represent the Night Mother’s murdering of the five children she conceived with Sithis, the Elder Scrolls deity who represents emptiness and the Void. As the story goes, the Night Mother is murdered by the locals for killing her kids, which turns her into the immortal Night Mother in the first place. In fact, in Oblivion, the Night Mother’s tomb includes skeletal remains of one adult and five children, reinforcing this lore.
Fans had wondered whether Bethesda and developer Virtuos would patch Oblivion Remastered to change the door to be lore compliant, and so it has proved. As noticed by PC Gamer, with the recent release of Update 1.2 in Steam beta form, those who have opted in to test the patch now have a lore-compliant door with five children, rather than seven in the relief. Strangely, this change isn’t in the officially released patch notes, below.
The expectation is this new door is what Oblivion Remastered will include across the board when Update 1.2 launches fully.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered update 1.2 patch notes:
SETTINGS CHANGES
We’ve added additional difficulty settings to allow players to further tune their “Player Combat Damage” & “Enemy Combat Damage”. Players can now select from “Novice”, “Apprentice”, “Adept”, “Journeyman”, “Expert”, and “Master” options in the Gameplay menu. We hope the “Journeyman” setting, specifically, will act as a better bridge between “Adept” and “Expert” for players.
UI
Fixed map markers disappearing
Fixed missing punctuation in Simplified Chinese text
Fixed “Toggle All” button on Map screen to work as a ‘Hold’
Various fixes to localized text
Fixed controller issues in Spell making menu
Fixed menus being cropped incorrectly in 1280×1024
Fixed the incorrect player stance in the inventory menu after fast travel
Fixed rebinding keys for Lock Picking
Fixed keybinds not updating in AZERTY
Fixed soft lock with controller in Enchanting menu
Fixed stats not updating when equipping enchanted items
Fixed a character skin glitch when closing the inventory menu
CRASHES
Fixed crashes that could occur while fighting Jyggalag
Fixed crashing when killing a paralyzed NPC with an arrow
Fixed crashing when paralyzing an already-paralyzed NPC
Fixed crashing in Spellmaking menu when rapidly removing & implementing effects
Fixed various GPU crashes
Fixed crashes that could occur during auto saves
AUDIO
Fixed underwater SFX persisting after leaving exiting water
Fixed missing ambient SFX in Shivering Isles
QUESTS
Fixed NPCs floating after being knocked down during Priory of the Nine quest
Fixed crashing when entering Flooded Mine during Final Justice quest
Fixed pathing for Shaleez in Flooded Mine during Final Justice quest
Fixed crashing when opening Gate to The Fringe during Retaking the Fringe quest
Fixed mages loading without clothes in Fort Ontus during The Necromancer’s Amulet quest
Fixed NPC pathing issues in Gardens of Flesh and Bone during ‘Through the Fringe of Madness’ quest
Fixed missing VFX during the closing of the Great Gate
Fixed Ilav Dralgoner’s missing facial animation during ‘Saving Time Itself’ quest
Fixed Sir Thredet’s speech during ‘Umaril the Unfeathered’ quest
Fixed NPC pathing issues during ‘Baiting the Trap’ quest
Fixed Obelisk Crystals spawning disconnected during ‘Baiting the Trap’ quest
Fixed crash at end of ‘Through a Nightmare, Darkly’ quest
Fixed wall crumbling in Malada during ‘Nothing You Can Possess’ quest
Fixed misaligned food at the Castle Leyawiin County Hall dinner party during ‘Sanguine’ quest
Fixed an issue with visibility of ghosts during ‘Ghosts of Vitharn’
Fixed cutscene not playing during ‘Light the Dragonfires’
Fixed missing textures in Cropsford Campsite after finishing ‘Goblin Trouble’
PERFORMANCE
Fixed frame rate drop in Deepscorn Hollow
Fixed frame rate drops in Black Rock Caverns
Fixed frame rate drop between Skingrad and Skingrad Castle
Fixed frame rate drop south of Bravil Castle courtyard
Reduced the frequency of hitches in the open world.
General improvements to frame time in many locations.
Optimize updating of character attachments.
Optimize rendering of water volumes in the open world.
Optimize light/shadow updates in several lairs.
Optimize waterfall particle FX and rendering.
Optimize the weather system.
Optimize character animation system.
GAMEPLAY
Fixed player character height scaling
Fixed armor items hiding Argonian and Khajiit tails
Fixed slow camera movement when initiating NPC dialogue
Fixed soft lock when a player with a high bounty goes to jail
Fixed Orrery animations
Fixed physics bug with floating necklaces
Fixed vampire sleeping animations
Fixed NPC beards not following facial animation.
Fixed ghost NPCs being completely invisible
Fixed missing animation when talking to Shamada in Leyawiin
Fixed occasional very long load times when fast traveling
Fixed missing facial animation for Snak gra-Bura
Fixed falling unconscious in water preventing player from getting up
Fixed NPCs losing collision when swimming
Fixed NPCs stopping combat when player is blocking
Fixed female Dremora teeth clipping
Fixed soft lock after choosing player class
Fixed Amber weapons clipping in first person view
Fixed vines clipping into columns
Fixed helmets clipping into player character’s head
Fixed missing textures on Daedric statues
Fixed duplicated pages between Oghma Infinium and Mysterium Xarxes
SYSTEM
Fixed flickering shadows when using XeSS Upscaling
Fixed title properly restarting after purchasing the Deluxe Upgrade on PC
Fixed settings properly migrating between PC and XBOX
Fixed water disappearing after fast travel
Fixed cursor slowdown when enabling high frame rate V-Sync
Fixed shaders not preloading due to cloud save replication
Fixed long blackout during loading screens
Fixed weather VFX flashing while outside
Fixed motion blur artifacts while in the Oblivion Plane
Fixed NPCs not obeying the Wait action from the player
This update will be in the Steam Beta. If you would like to opt in to the The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Beta update, please follow these instructions:
1. Open your Steam Library and navigate to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
2. Right click on “The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered” and select “Properties”
3. In the new properties pop-up window, select “Betas”
4. In the beta drop down to opt into, select “[beta]”5. Wait for app to download new build and launch.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Fresh Helldivers 2 patch alert. This one’s patch 01.003.200, and it brings the latest in pointy flag tip technology, in addition to another round of weapon balancing. You’ll need that flag stabbiness too, as the latest Galactic War twist has seen the Automatons try to wrestle control of Super Earth’s space station.
Yep, stop trying to rename a city ‘Gun’ for five minutes, some stuff’s going down in HD2 that you need to be clued in on, even if its just so you can run around the room cheering at how much more effective your Flame Sentry‘ll now be.
A former head of communications at Dead Island 2 publisher Deep Silver has opened up about the “eight-year product delay” Dead Island 2 endured after early playtests reported “horrific feedback.”
At the end of a Develop:Brighton talk as reported by GamesIndustry.biz, Martin Wein — now at GameFlex Consultants — talked candidly about the sequel’s troubled development, and how it was decided at a major milestone meeting with then-developer, Yager, that the game as it was then “sucked.”
“I was working on that with the creative team, and we were mightily proud of that [trailer],” Wein said. “But then, about three to four weeks later, we had a major milestone with the development studio that was in charge at that time. And boy, that game sucked.
“It had nothing to do with what [made] the original Dead Island […] really fun. So we commissioned a play test and got horrific feedback. And we sat down with the development team and said, ‘Okay, what’s the course of action?’ And they said, ‘Yeah, leave it with us.'”
But at the next touch-point, Wein said little had changed, with playtest feedback indicating the sequel was “not fun, not engaging, [and] does not feel like the Dead Island that I played.”
“So at the end of the day, we had to take the game away from that external developer, find a new studio, and that put the game on a journey of… well, it was supposed to launch in 2015. When did it come out? 2023?
“Sometimes you have to make hard decisions,” Wein added. “Because we could have, at that point, put out a sh*t game. It might have made some money, but it would have killed the franchise.
“I cannot really speak to the conversation between the production team and the development partner as I was not part of those, but as the developer wanted to pursue their vision rather than follow player feedback, the ultimate decision was made to part ways.”
When it did finally release in 2023, IGN’s Dead Island 2’s review returned a 7/10. We said: “Dead Island 2 is a hilarious gore-fest and a competent zombie-slaying adventure, but lacks creativity outside of its great sense of humor.”
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
One of the best things about my job is that I get to fly around the world and go to events, and while I’m off to Warframe’s TennoCon this week (and very excited about it) there’s always a bit of a panic about what to pack to keep oneself sane on a long flight.
Though how successful it will be remains to be seen.
Nintendo has seemingly taken steps to combat so-called ‘eSlop’ on the Switch 2 – at least in Japan and some regions in Asia.
In a report from IGN, Nintendo has implemented new guidelines for publishing on the Switch 2 eShop, most (if not all) of which appear to be targeting the relentless proliferation of low-quality ‘eSlop’ games. How successful this proves to be remains to be seen in these early days, but it at least sounds like Nintendo is trying to make the eShop a much better experience on Switch 2 than its predecessor.
Arrowhead’s Helldivers 2 updates continue with patch 01.003.200, which makes a big balance change and a number of fixes.
According to patch notes released by the developer, 01.003.200 reduces the time it takes for the Helldiver to regain control after ragdolling from 0.8 to 0.5 seconds.
This seemingly innocuous change will have big implications for how Helldivers 2 feels to play. It’s a game that leans heavily on its physics systems and the emergent gameplay that comes from them, and that includes being blasted around the map.
As any Helldivers 2 player will know, you spend a lot of time prone on the floor recovering after being smashed into a ragdolling status. There’s a panic that sets in as you slowly pick yourself up and dust yourself off while the forces of the Illuminate, the Automatons, and the Terminids continue their assault. Those precious few milliseconds may make all the difference, especially on harder difficulties.
Meanwhile, the flag can now be “proudly” planted directly into enemies — dead or alive — “ensuring the eternal colors of Super Earth are never tainted, only quenched by the blood of its foes.” So, if you want that Charger to be running around with your flag on its back, now you can make it happen.
There are a number of balance changes worth checking out in the patch notes below.
Reduced the time it takes for the Helldiver to regain control after ragdolling from 0.8 to 0.5 sec
Increased chest injury bleed damage from 1 to 10. Chest injuries now cause more noticeable damage, as the previous value of 1 was so low it appeared to have no effect
CQC-1 One True Flag
Thanks to some groundbreaking military research into pointier flag tips, the flag can now be proudly planted directly into enemies—dead or alive—ensuring the eternal colors of Super Earth are never tainted, only quenched by the blood of its foes. Absolute Democracy
Primary weapons
AR-32 Pacifier
Stun duration increased from 1.5 to 3 sec
Starting magazines increased from 5 to 6
Max amount of magazines increased from 7 to 8
Slight increase in stun value applied to enemies
SMG-72 Pummeler
Stun duration increased from 1.5 to 3 sec
Slight increase in stun value applied to enemies
ARC-12 Blitzer
Slight increase in stun value applied to enemies
R-2124 Constitution
Bayonet stagger strength increased from 20 to 25
R-2 Amendment
Bayonet stagger strength increased from 20 to 25
Sidearms
P-92 Warrant
Now also locks-on to Large sized enemies
Throwables
G-109 Urchin
Stagger strength increased from 0 to 50
It now staggers and affects Large sized enemies
G-10 Incendiary
The amount of fuel has been increased in the grenade, resulting in longer-lasting fire duration
G-13 Incendiary impact
The amount of fuel has been increased in the grenade, resulting in a longer-lasting fire duration
Stratagems
A/FLAM-40 Flame sentry
Fire damage resistance increased from 0 to 95%
Cooldown reduced from 150 to 100 sec
GL-52 De-Escalator
Slight increase in stun value applied to enemies
Boosters
Firebomb Hellpod
Now affects the Hellpods default explosion as well
Stagger strength decreased from 80 to 15 to prevent ragdolling players
Demolition strength decreased from 40 to 20 because we now correctly also additively apply the normal Hellpod explosion
Stun Pods
Now affects the Hellpods default explosion as well
Stagger strength decreased from 80 to 15 to prevent ragdolling players
Demolition strength decreased from 40 to 20 because we now correctly also additively apply the normal Hellpod explosion
Enemies
General
It’s now easier to put Large to Massive sized enemies on fire
Terminids
Warrior
Damage needed to gib Warriors increased from 500 to 750 damage
This is how much damage is needed to explode the body without leaving a corpse behind
Automatons
Scout strider
Legs armor decreased from 3 to 2
Legs durable resistance has been increased
Illuminates
Overseer variants
Unarmored Torso healthzone armor decreased from 2 to 1
🔧 Fixes
Weapons Stratagems & Boosters
Fixed an issue with the R-2124 Constitution playing audio during the wrong instances
Fixed an issue with the draw and holster speed with the Gunslinger Armor Passive
Fixed an issue with ranged weapon grips after dropping the Entrenchment Tool
Enemies
Fixed an issue where status effect damage were attempting to apply more times than intended
Missions
Fixed an issue that prevented stratagems from working correctly on Terminate Illegal Broadcast objectives
Fixed an issue with bad enemy pathing on military uplink objectives
Fixed an issue for the terminal and drop off point, where they became inaccessible during the Retrieve Recon Craft Intel objective
Miscellaneous Fixes
Fixed an issue in first person view where some armors resulted in visible obstructions around the shoulder while using a high Field Of View
Fixed an issue during map generation that could result in missing terrain features
Fixed fall animations occasionally playing before victory poses
Extended some fonts to handle Bengali characters in player names
Fixed an error that caused some enemy models to appear in lower quality
Fixed an issue to prevent accidentally triggering jump packs or climbing on supply pods while using the interact button on controller
Fixed an issue where exiting the chat was leaving players unarmed
Fixed an issue with aiming during the draw emote
Fixed issues when exiting First Person View using emotes
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
As part of their mass layoffs earlier this month, Microsoft cancelled an MMORPG that was in the works at The Elder Scrolls Online developers ZeniMax Online Studios. Now, the union that represents a number of devs left in limbo by that game’s canning have issued an update about the process of fighting for their futures.
ZOS’ MMO, codenamed Project Blackbird, wasn’t the only game Microsoft pulled the plug on as they let go of around 9k people. Rare’s Everwild and The Initiative’s Perfect Dark reboot were also wiped out, with the latter studio being shuttered to boot.
The only officially licensed John Wick video game is being removed from sale just six years after launch.
Bithell Games’ well-received John Wick Hex launched in October 2019. It’s a fast-paced, action-oriented strategy game “that makes you think and strike like John Wick.” John Wick, of course, is the hugely popular action hero made famous by Keanu Reeves.
Fast forward six years and John Wick Hex is set for the digital scrapheap. In an update directed at the game’s community, publisher Big Fan Games (which is part of Devolver Digital) said John Wick Hex will be removed from sale on all platforms beginning July 17, 2025.
After July 17, existing owners of John Wick Hex will still be able to access the game via their digital libraries across PC and console, and of course physical copies will continue to work on console. However, new purchases of John Wick Hex will not be possible, regardless of platform or storefront.
Big Fan Games failed to say why John Wick Hex was being removed from sale, but it seems likely it’s the result of the expiration of its licence with John Wick rights holder Lionsgate Entertainment. IGN has asked Big Fan for comment.
As for Bithell Games, it released Tron: Catalyst last month. The game was developed in collaboration with Disney and Pixar Games, and is set within the world of Tron.
Lionsgate has confirmed it has a John Wick AAA video game in the works, although it has said nothing about it.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
