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.
The first thing that happened to me in the demo for The Little Tomb: The Maholova Club And The Search For A Dead Body was a stuffed horse on a spring telling me it knew when and how I’d die. Many such horses. You play as Kofun, a boy shaped like a keyhole tomb who is also sort of an actual keyhole tomb but also a boy who wants to fulfill his destiny as a keyhole tomb, namely by finding a dead body to bury inside of himself. He lives in a park with his mate Haniwa, who is a Haniwa. Haniwa’s secret is that he’s very good at calligraphy. Here’s some visual orientation in case you’re not caught up yet.
Square Enix’s Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake is due out on the Switch and Switch 2 this October, and ahead of release, an official FAQ has shared an important detail.
The weekly updates for the mobile app Nintendo Music continue this week with the arrival of Mario Kart 64‘s soundtrack.
Even if you haven’t played this game before, you’ve likely heard some of its music elsewhere over the years. This latest album, which originally debuted alongside the N64 release in 1996/97, features tracks such as Luigi’s Raceway, Rainbow Road and much more.
