The heavily rumoured, but yet to be confirmed, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Remake/Remaster is getting its very own art book, at least according to this recent Amazon listing in the UK.
Preorders are also now available, strangely, before we’ve got official confirmation of the game actually being real and given its own release window. Its art book is listed at £29.95 right now, a slight reduction from its initial £39.99 RRP, and the Amazon listing also mentions a release date of March 24, 2026.
Titan will be publishing the art book, and the publisher already has a history of releasing art books for the gaming franchise since 2012. That includes Assassin’s Creed III, Unity, Syndicate, Origins, and more.
More recent Assassin’s Creed art books have also been published by Dark Horse, a separate publishing house, including Shadows, Mirage, and The Making of Assassin’s Creed: 15th Anniversary.
Robert Anderson is IGN’s Senior Commerce Editor and resident deals expert on games, collectibles, trading card games, and more. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Bluesky.
Layoffs have hit the development studio Wildlight Entertainment, makers of the recently released multiplayer shooter Highguard. This comes just over two weeks after the free-to-play game’s January 26 launch.
Former senior level designer Alex Graner posted on LinkedIn, “Unfortunately, along with most of the team at Wildlight, I was laid off today.” While the number of people who were laid off has not currently been confirmed, the studio’s LinkedIn page states that its size is/was 51-200 employees.
Wildlight’s official X/Twitter account confirmed the layoffs with a statement reading, “Today we made an incredibly difficult decision to part ways with a number of our team members while keeping a core group of developers to continue innovating on and supporting the game.”
On BlueSky, Mat Piscatella from Circana (which tracks game sales and engagement) highlighted, “Highguard debuted in the top 10 in weekly active users on US Steam, was top 20 on both US PlayStation and Xbox (Circana Player Engagement Tracker week ending 1/31/26) and yet…” According to SteamDB, Highguard reached a peak concurrent player count of 97,249 on PC via Steam on release day and experienced a sharp decline with only 4,524 players two weeks after launch.
Graner also said, “This one really stings as there was a lot of unreleased content I was really looking forward to that I and others designed for Highguard.” While it initially had a 3v3 competitive mode, a 5v5 mode was implemented just days after release due to player reception to the small scale of the original mode. The team revealed a content roadmap on launch day that included updates with new items, modes, and characters each month throughout the year packed into seven separate episodes; it’s unclear how the layoffs will affect the studio’s plans as of now, but Widllight says it’ll continue to support the game.
Love and Deepspace is a virtual boyfriend game (also known as an otome game) where you play as a character who fights monster aliens while five men fight for her love. It’s available to download on iOS and Android and works on the old free-to-play, gacha mechanic. The ultimate aim is to build your relationships with one, two, or all of the men (we listen and we don’t judge) by interacting with them, fighting alongside them, texting them, completing their storylines and even… playing with claw machines to collect plushies. It was developed by Papergames, which is also the studio behind Infinity Nikki.
What’s the plot of Love and Deepspace?
You know how it goes, a Deepspace Tunnel opens up and suddenly alien monsters are causing havoc. As the main character living in 2034, in the fictional Linkon City, it’s your job to battle these alien monsters as part of an organisation called the Hunters Association. The Hunters all wield a special ability called an Evol and yours is Resonance, one that works alongside other Evol wielders’ to boost their skills. Throw in a shady biotech company called EVER, an organized crime syndicate called Onychinus, the Farspace Fleet, medical experiments and secrets a plenty, and you’ve got the storyline that makes the average love story look like child’s play.
Who are the men of Love and Deepspace?
There are five potential love interests in Love and Deepspace. Each has a different personality and storyline, but the one thing they all have in common is being obsessed with you. You can choose to focus on just one or play the field, and while they are mentioned in each other’s storylines, they don’t interact directly. Each has a specific Evol (think superpower) and multiple storylines that take place in both the modern day and in different lifetimes.
Light spoiler warnings ahead, although the non-linear way in which you unlock memories means piecing the storylines together is more of a puzzle than a straight path.
Xavier – Fights alongside you as a Hunter, gentle and caring, is actually a time traveller from the future. His Evol is light.
Zayne – A cardiac surgeon with a grumpy outer shell but a sweet toothed gooey middle. His Evol is ice.
Rafayel – A sensitive, pouty artist who hates cats and is actually one of the last survivors of an ancient race called the Lemurians. His Evol is fire.
Sylus – Powerful and strategic, with distinctive silver hair and red eyes, Sylus is the leader of the crime syndicate called Onychinus. His Evol is Energy.
Caleb – The main character’s adoptive brother, and a Farspace Fleet pilot. Protective and possessive, he was one thought dead, but returned as a Colonel in the Farspace Fleet. His Evol is Gravity.
What are the mechanics in Love and Deepspace?
There are a whole bunch of mechanics in Love and Deepspace, and all of them contribute to your relationship with the different male characters.
Combat
You take on different combat challenges in the storyline to progress, and regular activities like bounty hunts or Hunter training to earn rewards. You’re always paired with one of the male characters, and your choice of special attacks will depend on their Evol. Players have the option to set combat to an auto mode where the battle plays out without your input.
Texts and phonecalls
You’ll receive texts from each of the men at various points, and you’re giving a selection of dialogue options to reply with. As your relationship increases you’ll also get phone calls from them to discuss various events or check in. You can also comment on their posts on a Facebook like feed, send them emojis, and poke them.
Physical Interactions
You interact with each of the men in a setting called the Destiny Cafe. You can touch various parts of their body to elicit reactions, feel their heartbeat, or blow on your microphone.
Conversation
In the Destiny cafe you can also prompt them to have different types of conversations with you. You can get them to introduce themselves to your family or friends (a great way to weird your parents out over lunch) or to suggest what you should have for breakfast. Again, the dialogue options are heavily guardrailed so this isn’t going to head into AI sexbot territory. Sorry. You can also use the notebook function to ask them to set reminders for you, everything from important dates to tracking your period.
Quality Time
Basically the world’s most handsome Pomodoro timers. You can choose to Work, Workout, Study or Sleep for a set amount of time with any of the guys, and you can even do it in AR mode, so that you can reach new heights of comforting delusion by framing them in your real surroundings.
Dates
With Love and Deepspace dates you can go with the guys to try and grab plush toys at a claw machine, play a game called Kitty Cards against them, and go to a photo studio to get video or snapshots with them, or of them. You can style them, change the poses and backgrounds, and they have way more patience than any real life love interest would. In this section you can also update a personal journal with stickers and notes and photos, listen to audio recordings starring them, or access ‘Falling for You’ videos and visual novels content telling the story of your relationship.
Home
A recent addition, this mode brings a bit of The Sims to Love and Deepspace. You have a house to decorate with new rooms unlocking as you complete activities in the home, and each of the men can spend time with you there. It’s kinda cute to see badass Sylus dusting bookshelves because you’ve told him to do chores. There’s a gardening element too, where you can grow flowers that can be used in flower arranging without or without the boy’s input, and new blooms can be unlocked by hybridizing the plants.
How do the gacha mechanics work in Love and Deepspace?
Like Genshin Impact, you can buy or earn wishes to speed up your progress in Love and Deepspace, and there’s a number of in-game currencies which can be earned or bought.
Here the wishes represent memories with the men of Love and Deepspace, with different rarities and values attached to each. Five star memories, for instance, can be used to experience Each memory can be upgraded with Heartsand and crystals which can be earned by taking part in bounty hunts, or completing tasks and protocores, which are collected through combat.
Some memories are only available during special events, though those events are repeated sporadically to allow you more than one chance to grab specific wishes. Previous events have included a Star Wars style Throne of Eros storyline and Mortality’s Tenderness, which has a classical Chinese theme.
Rachel Weber is the Head of Editorial Development at IGN and an elder millennial. She’s been a professional nerd since 2006 when she got her start on Official PlayStation Magazine in the UK, and has since worked for GamesIndustry.Biz, Rolling Stone and GamesRadar. She loves horror, horror movies, horror games, Red Dead Redemption 2, and her Love and Deepspace boyfriends.
Blizzard will celebrate the 30th anniversary of Diablo by adding the Warlock class to a swathe of games — including Diablo 2: Resurrected, more than 25 years after the game’s original launch.
Resurrected, the 2021 remaster of Blizzard’s classic sequel, will receive the Reign of the Warlock DLC today, February 11, priced at $24.99 across PC, PlayStation, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch. The paid add-on is available already on Battle.net — and on Steam, where Diablo 2: Resurrected has also launched.
The news was announced just moments ago at Blizzard’s Diablo Anniversary Spotlight showcase, which featured Warlock-flavored reveals for the franchise’s other games, too. A Warlock class will arrive as part of Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred on April 28, across PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, before dropping in the free-to-play Diablo Immortal this summer.
But it’s the addition to Diablo 2: Resurrected that comes as the biggest surprise — since the class was never available in the original game. As of today, however, you’ll be able to summon demons (including the suitably devilish-sounding Goatman, the Tainted and the Defiler), then bind and even devour them to gobble up their lifeforce, granting temporary buffs and traits.
Today’s Diablo 2: Resurrected update also adds enhanced Terror Zones, where you can earn consumables and choose which acts are terrorized. On Hell difficulty you’ll encounter the stalker enemies Heralds of Terror, though also have the ability to unveil five mystical statues to unlock an uber boss — the Colossal Ancients — which Blizzard describes as “the next evolution of endgame battles.”
Lastly, today’s update also adds a sprinkling of quality-of-life updates too, including built-in loot filters, improved stash tabs (yes, including stacking!), and a Chronicle to track the items you’ve collected.
Blizzard launched Diablo 2: Resurrected more than five years ago for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch. The game “brings a beloved classic up today’s graphical standards, but it overlooks 20 years of obvious flaws,” IGN wrote in our Diablo 2: Resurrected review, awarding the game 7/10.
No matter how much time goes by, the gory, loot-filled embrace of Diablo 4 is something I always seem to return to, and with the Lord of Hatred expansion right around the corner it’s only a matter of time before I lose myself for dozens of hours once again. That’s especially true now that I’ve had the chance to check out the second of two new character classes coming alongside the expansion, the Warlock, who uses the power of Hell against itself to become an unstoppable, demonic magic user that even Mephisto himself should have reason to fear. This summoner of satanic sigils and swarms of sinister spawn has numerous distinct builds that make it an interesting option for different types of players, and make it less likely that you’ll end up in a party filled with identical demon summoners when going toe-to-toe with the Lord of Hatred, and I truly cannot wait to see what insane builds people come up with. Combined with the new region of Skovos, an overhauled endgame experience, and a whole bunch of tweaks to skill trees and loot, this finale to Mephisto’s story is looking truly epic so far.
Blizzard was happy to share plenty of news about their upcoming Lord of Hatred expansion for Diablo IV, but the main course was the Warlock character class – a mage who turns the dark powers of hell against itself and uses demons as disposable tools in his battle against their kind. It’s truly the most metal class in Diablo to-date, and after spending some hands-on time messing around with several pre-configured variations, it’s given me another reason to look forward to diving back into one of my favorite ARPGs.
Like the Spiritborn class from last year, the Warlock seems to have a bit more build diversity than the classes found in vanilla Diablo 4. Instead of a ranged magic user like the Sorcerer, who has a handful of elemental options that apply different status effects to enemies, the Warlock has a version that turns him into an aggressive melee monster, leaping around to stomp the enemy flat, or a summoner class that lets his minions do his fighting for him and has much more in common with the Necromancer. No matter which you pick though, they all have the same flavor of using hellish powers, whether that be unholy rituals or imposing your will over enemies on the battlefield to turn them into your meat puppets. And since you can mix and match these options at your discretion, there’s a lot of potential to create a well-rounded fighter that perhaps ends up being a jack of all trades, but master of none, which is both a neat option to have available, and also maybe not advisable (though that won’t keep me from at least giving it a try).
If You Build it, They Will Die
My favorite of the builds I tried was called the Legion, which focused on summoning demons to aid me in battle, then feeding off of their death to do additional damage to my enemies. In this version of the Warlock, absolutely every attack involved using and abusing my infernal servants to deal damage, including my base attack that fired exploding fallen lunatics at my foes. Naturally, the ultimate for this build let me summon an absolutely massive demon called the Fiend of Abaddon, who swung a gigantic claymore at everything in the area, doing huge damage. It’s been a while since I did a playthrough with the Necromancer, but the Warlock felt to me like a much more aggressive version of this type of minion character archetype and I absolutely loved it.
But summoning demons to do your bidding is still a fairly passive strategy, and for a truly aggressive alternative, I tried out the Vanguard build, which focused on turning myself into a hideous, profane hellspawn instead of just summoning them. This version of the Warlock involved unleashing a bunch of fire and lava all over the place, like one ability that let me summon a demonic head that spewed flames from his mouth (hell yeah), and another that caused my enemies to explode upon death, causing a chain reaction of destruction in my wake. The main draw of this variety of Warlock though, was Metamorphosis, an ultimate ability that straight-up turned me into a demon, replacing my existing hotbar with a whole new slew of blasphemous temporary abilities as I ran around tearing my way through Mephisto’s hordes with my razorsharp claws. This build felt like it would definitely take some learning to master, especially since replacing all your skills while in demon form could be fairly jarring at first, but I really liked the idea nonetheless.
Whether I was opening up molten cracks in the earth, using totems to chain enemies in place, or hexed enemies within an area and turned me invisible when killing enemies within them, I was almost always placing lethal traps all over the map that made it impossible for demons to reach me without suffering my wrath first.
Another build that really clicked with me was the Ritualist – a version of the Warlock that focused on creating sigils that impacted whole areas of the map with various status effects, often causing demons to up and explode into pink giblets. Whether I was opening up molten cracks in the earth, using totems to chain enemies in place, or hexed enemies within an area and turned me invisible when killing enemies within them, I was almost always placing lethal traps all over the map that made it impossible for demons to reach me without suffering my wrath first. Naturally, the ultimate ability for this build just summoned an absolutely humongous sigil on the ground (filling nearly the entire screen) that exploded multiple times and just wiped the area clear of any baddies. I probably only scratched the surface with this build, and there were a few sigils I didn’t even get to try, but it already felt super powerful and very different from any of Diablo 4’s other character classes.
Finally, there was the Mastermind Warlock, which was all about mobility, stealth, and applying a bunch of status effects to enemies. I definitely felt the least at home with this build, but the vibe I got from it was that it’s sort of the rogue version of the Warlock, where you’re given lots of ranged attacks and options to dodge around or become invisible, but are also quite squishy. The ultimate ability involved summoning a swarm of hungry Hell bugs that ran around the map eating everything in sight. Overall, this one seems like it requires a fair bit more finesse than some of the other options that were much more straightforward brute force plays, but even in my limited time with it, I could see that the DPS potential on this one was pretty insane. It maybe won’t be the choice for my first playthrough of Lord of Hatred, but I could definitely see myself deep-diving into this option and seeing what interesting combos I could come up with.
After experimenting with these options, I also tried my hand at building my own Warlock that mixed and matched my favorite abilities from each. I can’t say I was very successful at doing so on my first attempt, but the vibes of using Hell against itself and all the different forms that can take definitely sold me on giving this class a try come April.
More to Explore
Though most of my time was spent checking out the Warlock and its various permutations of demonic badassery, I also was given a sneak peek at some of the new systems, like the reworked skill trees that put more emphasis on customizing abilities rather than passive increases, new details on the new endgame progression system called War Paths, some seriously cool changes to itemization, like set bonuses being added, new crafting systems, and a much-needed loot filter (finally), and even a fishing minigame. I didn’t get to go hands-on with most of these, instead just learning about them from developers over the course of several Q&A sessions, but everything I’ve heard so far has me feeling really optimistic about Diablo 4’s chances at consuming my life (again) later this year.
The skill tree changes are easily my favorite tweak, as they’ve done away with all the boring nodes that just make your numbers go up (that’s what the paragon tree is for, after all), and have instead made each skill purchase an interesting decision that augments how your character plays. Some of the examples of this are a skill tree that can turn the Sorcerer’s Hydra fire summon into an ice summon instead, or in the case of the Warlock, a perk that turns a defensive wall of demons into an offensive group of roaming monsters. I really like the idea that now the core skill trees for each character will focus on modifying skills to match your playstyle, instead of just boosting DPS, and am pretty eager to dive in and see what new options are waiting to be exploited.
As for the endgame changes, set bonuses, and the new crafting systems, IGN will have plenty more to share in the future as the Lord of Hatred nears ever closer to ensnaring Sanctuary. For now, I’m sold on the Warlock, and am already noodling on some chaotic summoner builds to let loose later this year.
Arc Raiders players have gathered to applaud Embark Studios after it took just one day to tackle new duplication and infinite ammo exploits – even though reports of a new inventory glitch have already popped up in their place.
The developer behind the successful extraction shooter published a hotfix addressing a variety of issues today, defying the expectations of fans who thought the latest exploits would be around for nefarious players to take advantage of for days, if not weeks. Initially, at least, it resulted in a wave of positive comments from fans.
🛠️Attention, Raiders! We’ve just deployed a new hotfix to address additional reported issues: • Fixed an inventory slot mechanic duplication glitch • Fixed an infinite ammo weapon glitch • Fixed an issue where some quests were missing from the Headwinds update • Fixed an… pic.twitter.com/xv0k1dIQ1t
“Dude I was literally in firing range, tried it (successfully), went back to Speranza to grab a bobcat and give it a 100 round mag in practice range, and it just stopped working,” another replied.
“Insane work Embark, I didn’t even restart my client.”
Arc Raiders has suffered from those looking to take advantage of dupe exploits since its launch in October, and Embark has played whac-a-mole with cheaters and exploiters since. This was the case earlier this week, when the Stockholm-based studio launched an update fixing the latest dupe glitch only to find reports of a new one cropping up shortly after.
It’s an annoyance for players, who are often forced to confront Raiders who have earned their items and in-game currency through illegitimate means, and it’s apparently keeping Embark up at night, too. As players – and even popular streamer TheBurntPeanut – began showcasing examples of the latest glitches, the developer launched the new hotfix, bringing adjustments just one day after its last patch.
In addition to fixing the inventory slot mechanic duplication glitch and infinite ammo weapon glitch, the update tackles two bugs related to quests. Embark says it is “dedicated to investigating and squashing exploits” in Arc Raiders and will “keep you in the loop” regarding future issues. The problem is, these issues are already here, with what appears to be hundreds of players already taking to various Arc Raiders social media accounts to share that they’ve been impacted by a new problem.
🚨BREAKING 🚨 Since today’s hotfix to fix the infinite ammo glitch, there are many reports of Raiders losing their loot when they extract. Be careful out there!
Reports related to a separate glitch, which seemingly robs players of their topside inventory when extracting, appeared moments after today’s hotfix went live. It’s unclear if this is an ongoing issue or if the lost loot bug is only affecting those who were mid-raid while the hotfix was published. The confusion has been enough to see fans directly ask Embark for their loot to be returned, while others worry a new topside run could result in them losing their gear, too.
“Damn, they fix one thing and break something else entirely,” another replied. “Good lookin out!”
It’s unclear how the Embark team plans to handle the latest Arc Raiders glitch. For now, at least, it seems some of its community managers are working with fans to determine the cause.
The Arc Raiders team can’t catch a break, at least when it comes to cheaters and exploits. Since laying out a plan to deal with widespread reports of cheaters last month, the studio has done its best to keep players coming back with frequent gameplay adjustments, new content, and a four-month roadmap. Its post-launch plan currently has it sitting in the middle of its Headwinds update, with its next chapter, Shrouded Sky, set to bring a new map condition, a new Arc threat, and more later this month.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
The Secretlab Presidents Sale has officially commenced and with it are a couple of different promotions that are running concurrently (some are stackable). For starters, you can save up to $139 off across Secretlab’s lineup of Titan Evo gaming chairs and Magnus gaming desks, including themed editions from One Piece, Jujutsu Kaisen, Star Wars, Demon Slayer, and more. Secretlab’s highest-end gaming chair, the Titan Evo Nanogen, has also ben discounted.
In addition to these instant discounts, you can get extra tiered savings by hitting a certain order amount for each category. These should be stackable with the instant discounts, although some themes are excluded.
Extra $40 off Chair orders of $850+ with code “SLEV-MINCPRES26“
Extra $50 off Desk orders of $1,489+ with code: “SLEV-MINDPRES26“
$100 off all orders of $1,999+ with code: “SLEV-MINSWPRES26“
Finally, Secretlab’s Genshin Impact themed gaming chairs gets some love of its own. The Ninguang and and Xiao inspired gaming chairs are on sale as well, to coincide with the Lantern Rite event that’s going on right now in-game.
Save $50 off Secretlab Titan Evo gaming chairs
The Titan Evo is Secretlab’s most iconic and best selling chair. Over 70 different styles are currently on sale, with prices ranging from $529 to $634 after a $50 off instant discount across the entire lineup. It’s available in small, medium, and large sizes, which is great for smaller people because most gaming chairs sold here in the United States are huge. Discounted upholstery optioins include Neo Hybrid leatherette and SoftWeave Plus fabric.
Signature features include a solid steel frame with aluminum wheelbase, firm and supportive cold-cure foam upholstery, adjustable four-way lumbar system, full length backrest with 165 degrees of recline, full metal 4D armrests with magnetically attached PU cushions, and a memory foam headrest pillow. Check out our own glowing Titan Evo review.
Genshin Impact themed chairs see their first discount ever
Genshin Impact’s annual Lantern Rite in-game event is going on right now, coinciding with the actual Chinese New Year, which lands on February 17. In celebration of the event, Secretlab has discounted two Genshin themed chairs inspired by Liyue characters: Xiao, an anemo adeptus, and Ningguang, the geo-wielding Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing (she’s basically a royal). This is the first time a Genshin chair has gone on sale, so if you’re a Hoyoverse superfan, don’t miss it.
Secretlab’s flagship Titan Evo Nanogen is also on sale
The Titan Evo Nanogen Edition is Secretlab’s highest end chair and is rarely discounted. It normally sells for $799 at Secretlab direct, but both the white and black colors have been discounted by $50 during the Presidents Day Sale. If your budget can accomodate it, this is the best gaming chair. In our recent Titan Evo Nanogen Edition review, Chris Coke wrote that “the Secretlab Titan Evo Nanogen Edition deserves every bit of the overwhelming praise I’ve given… The Titan Evo Nanogen Edition is class-leading, and is hands-down the most comfortable gaming chair I’ve ever used.”
Sadly, Titan Evo Pokemon Edition preorders aren’t discounted
Secretlab’s recently announced lineup of Pokémon gaming chairs is, not surprisingly, still listed at full price. Even so, these chairs are so cool that they’re worth a mention. These chairs showcase one of three iconic Pokémon – Gengar, Pikachu, and Eevee – with ostentatious use of color, patterns, and figures. My personal favorite is the Eevee edition, with its detailed embossing of Eevee’s myriad evolutions; it also seems to be the top seller, since it’s already on its third wave of preorders.
Unusual for a collab, Secretlab opted to go with its Softweave Plus fabric instead of leatherette, and I for one am happy with that decision. Fabric ages more gracefully, feels softer, and doesn’t stick to your sweaty skin on hot days.
Save $30 off the Titan Evo recliner add-on (it’s worth it)
Also on sale for the first time, Secretlab’s new recliner add-on is $30 off for Christmas. This is a nice upgrade for anyone who already owns the Titan Evo chair. In our recliner add-on review, Chris Coke wrote that “while both comfort and value are subjective things, the recliner is able to take the Titan Evo and transform it from one of the best racing style gaming chairs to standing head and shoulders above the competition at its price point.”
Secretlab Magnus deals are also on sale, including Genshin
Not only are the Magnus and Magnus Pro discounted for Presidents Day, you also get the desk mat topper (your choice of style) free of charge. The Magnus is a traditional fixed-frame gaming desk while the Magnus Pro ups the ante with practical electric sit-stand functionality. Both desks feature a metal desktop surface, solid steel frame, and clever cable management, but the Magnus Pro has some unique features including a power cable that runs internally inside one of the telescoping legs and an in-line control panel. Check out our Magnus Pr0 review review for hands-on impressions.
Secretlab has the best “racing-style” gaming chairs
It’s no secret that we love our Secretlab gaming chairs. Three of the eight chairs in our best gaming chair roundup are Secretlab models. Of all the gaming chairs we covered in our “Budget to Best” roundup video earlier this year, my colleague Akeem Lawanson considered the Secretlab Titan Evo to be the most comfortable. No good chair comes cheap and Secretlab chairs definitely cost a premium, but we think the craftsmanship, materials, and customizability are worth it.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
February 27 is Pokémon’s big 30th anniversary of its original launch in Japan, and while details are slowly trickling in on how Nintendo and Game Freak plan to celebrate, TIME Magazine is already getting into the spirit.
The 96-page special edition issue of the magazine is coming out with three different covers, each featuring iconic pocket monsters from over the year – one cover depicts Mega Charizard X, one has Lugia and Ho-Oh, while the third shows off Rayquaza. You can purchase any of the three covers for $14.99 each on Amazon now.
The special oversized issue of TIME Magazine takes readers on a deep dive through Pokémon’s history, analyzing its rise to iconic status, how it’s garnered such staying power, and even gives a few tricks and tips on how to get better at playing Pokémon GO.
It doesn’t just focus on the video games, either; you’ll get a detailed retrospective of the Pokémon anime and its many spin-offs, as well as education on the Pokémon trading card game and how to navigate the secondary market.
With Pokémon celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, fans are expecting big things. We got a special video during Super Bowl LX, with celebrities like Lady Gaga gushing about their favorite Pokémon.
With Pokémon Legends: Z-A being as big of a hit as it was on the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 and Pokémon Pokopia launching in just a few short weeks, fans still have plenty to do until the inevitable Pokémon Presents comes out, detailing what we can expect for the rest of the year and beyond.
Personally, I’d love to see the original Game Boy games onto the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service. Those games desperately need better accessibility.
A lengthy, 60-plus minutes Sony State of Play is heading our way this Thursday, February 12, and promises new looks at “third-party and indie games headed to PS5, along with the latest from teams at PlayStation Studios.” So, what upcoming games can we expect to see fresh reveals for and gameplay of? Well, here’s what we think is likely to show up, as well as a few out-there guesses.
Exclusives
Seeing as it’s shaping up to be PlayStation’s biggest game of 2026, you’d perhaps have expected Wolverine to show up in Thursday’s stream. Well, a late spanner has been thrown into the works via Insomniac’s official X account, which claims that we won’t be seeing any more of its latest Marvel game until “Spring 2026”. Last time I checked, February was in Winter, so maybe we’ll have to wait a little longer.
At the last State of Play, back in September 2025, Insomniac Games gave us a first look at Marvel’s Wolverine in action. As one of Sony’s tentpole releases for this year, it certainly wouldn’t be a shock to see some more X-Men gameplay, as well as perhaps a release date for Logan’s latest adventure. Could we also catch a glimpse of Daredevil, who has been teased to be making an appearance, too?
PlayStation Studio’s first big exclusive of the year comes in the shape of Marathon, Bungie’s extraction shooter, which will be looking to emulate the success of last year’s Arc Raiders. It’s been a bumpy road for the Destiny developer, such as a plagiarism scandal and poor reception to its alpha, but this week’s State of Play will be one of the last chances for it to convince players to hop into its world on March 5.
Later in Spring, we have Saros, Housemarque’s follow-up to Returnal, which will be dropping on April 30. We’ve seen it pop up regularly on recent State of Play streams, and it would make perfect sense to see it here, too, seeing as we’re only 10 weeks away from launch.
Another PS5 console exclusive is Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, the upcoming superhero fighting game from Guilty Gear Strive developer Arc System Works. Due for release this year, the flashy-looking fighter suffered from an unfortunate leak earlier this week that revealed a few key details about the game, such as the size of its roster. It would not be a shock to see some of this information officially confirmed as fact on Thursday.
PS5 console exclusive Phantom Blade Zero is a hotly anticipated wuxia action RPG coming from Chinese developer S-Game. The lead character is called Soul, so you can probably guess what genre this project borrows heavily from, too. It’s all looking very impressive, and maybe we’ll get yet another look at it in action this week ahead of its September 9 launch.
Then there’s the freshly revealed Horizon Hunters Gathering, yet another spin-off of the mechanical monster-hunting series created by Guerrilla Games. A 3-player live-service co-op action game, it’s getting its first playtest at the end of this month, so, again, it wouldn’t be a surprise if we were to get a further look at some gameplay in this State of Play.
Unveiled at The Game Awards, 4:Loop is a PS5 and PC exclusive that appears to infuse some roguelike elements with the co-op shooting of games like Helldivers and Left 4 Dead. That makes more sense when you consider that Left 4 Dead creator Mike Booth is behind the project, working with Bad Robot Games, the video game wing of film director J.J. Abrams’ production company. No release date has been given yet, but playtesting will start soon, with maybe a timing for that revealed at this State of Play.
One exclusive that we don’t think is coming this year, but would certainly love to see more of, is Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. The Last of Us and Uncharted studio’s upcoming sci-fi action-adventure has gone very quiet since its initial reveal back at the 2024 Game Awards. So, is it time for a deeper look into what this new world has to offer? Let’s hope so.
As for what the other PlayStation Studios are up to, your guess is as good as mine, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t expect one or two surprise reveals or updates. This State of Play stream is over an hour long, after all, so surely there’s something brand-new in there? Perhaps a look at the next project from God of War developer Sony Santa Monica, or a look into the world of Ghost of Yotei: Legends from Sucker Punch? Maybe the time is right for a first sighting of Gran Turismo 8, or an update on the development of Haven Studios’ Fairgames — if we don’t see this one soon, we’ll really start to get worried about it. Then there are two of Sony’s most creative studios, Media Molecule and Team Asobi. We’ve certainly been waiting a lot longer for a follow-up to Dreams than we have Astro Bot, but you never know what’s been going on behind those doors…
Multiplatform
Will we see GTA 6 at this Sony State of Play? No. I will eat my whole fist if we do.
There are a fair few other exciting games that we wouldn’t put body parts on the line for in terms of their likelihood, though. Resident Evil Requiem is imminent, so now seems like as good a time as any to show us one last slice of Leon Kennedy action before the big day on February 27. Sticking with survival horror, Konami has curiously announced a Silent Hill stream will be taking place just two hours after the State of Play. Is this a signal that a more in-depth look at a new Silent Hill game will be at that show, following its reveal just minutes prior as part of PlayStation’s stream? Perhaps this week is when we’ll see Bloober Team’s remake of the original in the series, or – more likely – our first proper look at the Annapurna-published Silent Hill: Townfall, which was first announced in 2022 and has been MIA since.
Back at Capcom briefly, and you can likely expect to see something from one of, if not both, Pragmata and Onimusha: Way of the Sword. Final Fantasy 7 remake director, Naoki Hamaguchi, recently teased that Square Enix will “share more updates than ever before” about the project this year. Does that mean a potential reveal of the third part in the modernised RPG trilogy will happen at this State of Play? Or could we get an Intergrade-style bridging chapter as DLC for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth?
But, before we get too sidetracked, let’s stick with games closer on the horizon, such as Hitman developer IO Interactive’s 007 First Light, and Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight from Warner Bros. Games. Both are coming this May, and their respective developers could share further info on Thursday. Before those, though, March will bring with it Crimson Desert, Pearl Abyss’ ambitious open-world action-adventure that looks set to push the PS5 to its limits. No stranger to a trailer, we can likely expect it to turn up here, too.
As for later in the year, Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra recently shifted out of its original window of early 2026 to “beyond early 2026”, so your guess is as good as mine as to when we’ll be playing Amy Hennig’s Captain America and Black Panther in World War 2 story. Legendary PlayStation hero Lara Croft will be returning in a “reimagining” of her original game, titled Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, and Finnish developer Remedy is back with another entry in its connected universe, Control: Resonant. Also announced at The Game Awards was the pleasantly surprising Star Wars: Galactic Racer from the makers of Burnout and Need For Speed that is scheduled to drop in 2026. All of these are possibilities.
As for indies, outside of the announcement of a PS5 version of Hades 2, there are a few destined for PlayStation that I’d personally love to see more of on Thursday. Namely, Beethoven & Dinosaur’s coming of age story Mixtape, old-school cartoon-inspired shooter Mouse P.I. For Hire, and Japanese convenience store sim inKONBINI: One Store. Many Stories.
What game are you most looking forward to seeing more of at this week’s Sony State of Play? Let us know in the comments!
Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.
Sony’s State of Play show is due to air tomorrow, February 12 at 2pm Pacific / 5pm Eastern / 10pm UK time, and run for at least 60 minutes — suggesting PlayStation has plenty up its sleeves.
But will we get a new flash of adamantium during the showcase? Perhaps not. Overnight, Insomniac Games has posted on social media to lay out when we’ll next see more of Marvel’s Wolverine — seemingly ruling out any big reveal this week.
When asked “when more info” by a fan, Insomniac Games’ official account has now responded: “spring 2026.”
