Major gameplay leaks have offered a glimpse at the next era of Fortnite, in which its ever-popular battle royale mode will transition to a fresh map based on the USA.
Previously, official hints from Epic Games have pointed to coordinates based in Hollywood, while another leak suggested the game would feature a Las Vegas-esque location (and a Quentin Tarantino crossover). And now, thanks to footage that has leaked from a preview event attended by media and influencers, Chapter 7’s USA-style setting has been confirmed.
Footage now widely circulating on social media shows an arid area with palm trees. In the distance, the game’s map references an area named Sandy Strip. Signage names Chapter 7’s first season as being titled “Pacific Break.”
LEAKED CHAPTER 7 INFO FROM CREATOR EVENT đź’€
– Hot air balloons – Driveable Reboot Vans – Solo VS Bots mode – Rift A Palooza events that spawn rifts – Gameplay UI update – Battle Pass has Marty McFly and The Bride pic.twitter.com/l9lBrLZMIz
Other changes visible in the footage look to include driveable reboot vans, and the option for a new Solo vs Bots mode (although it’s unclear if this was provided just for the preview event).
Fortnite has followed up the leaks with its own, official look at Chapter 7, via a top-down view of the game’s new battle royale map that shows a more urban area, complete with wide city streets and homes with backyard pools. (The top-down view here is a bit GTA 1, isn’t it?)
Last night, Fortnite also publicly shared footage of Quentin Tarantino appearing at the aforementioned event, standing next to a Fortnite version of Kill Bill’s infamous Pussy Wagon car. Here, the word “pussy” has been replaced by a picture of Meowscles, the game’s fan-favorite swole cat. Leaked footage from the event, meanwhile, shows a new in-game skin for Uma Thurman’s Kill Bill character The Bride. Oh, and also Marty McFly from Back to the Future.
Fortnite typically works on its big annual map change around a year in advance, and it’s fun to consider the idea that, 12 months ago, Chapter 7’s USA-inspired setting was being planned with the expectation that a certain other big game with a USA-inspired setting would launch at the same time.
Of course, GTA 6 has now been delayed — twice. But up until May this year, Rockstar was still saying the game would arrive this week, around the time Epic Games has launched a fresh Chapter of Fortnite for the past few years.
This year, Fortnite will hold its big Chapter 6 finale event on Saturday, November 29. Chapter Seven will then launch imminently after, though some period of downtime is expected. A teaser trailer for that in-game event released officially last night and featured Fortnite going full Ready Player One and Avengers: Endgame with its plans, while tying up story threads from the past few years.
In recent weeks, the secret bunkers in Fortnite’s OG mode have been flashing messages in morse code, such as “Zero Hour”, which we now know is the name of the upcoming event, and “Titans”. After seeing that teaser trailer, fans think “Titans” refers to the game’s current main antagonist, The Dark Presence, a towering demonic entity that rules Chapter 6’s Spirit Realm, but also to the forces now squaring up against him.
In the coming battle, players look set to fight alongside a series of other looming figures: the returning Godzilla and King Kong, plus the newly giant-sized Homer Simpson. Is there a clue to a much longer story arc here too? Think back to Fortnite’s Chapter 5, which introduced the current era of storytelling focused on blue-haired hero Hope, and you could also link in the mysterious giant hand that erupted from the ground holding Pandora’s Box.
Are all of these Titans? And how will Fortnite wrap all of these things together (plus Star Wars’ X-Wings, Uma Thurman, and Marty McFly) as it moves to its new USA-based home? We’ve just over a week to go until we find out.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
18 years ago, NASA lost an asteroid. Officially designated 2007 FT3, the Empire State Building-sized rock was tracked for around 24 hours before it slipped back into the solar system’s darkness — and it hasn’t been spotted since. It remains the fourth-largest space object with a better than 1-in-2 million chance of smashing into Earth, but scientists remain unsure where it is now.
This year, the internet has taken great interest in 3I/ATLAS — only the third interstellar object ever detected, though also the third since 2017. (The overwhelming scientific consensus suggests 3I/ATLAS is a comet, though one rogue astrophysicist has sparked endless online speculation by suggesting it is an extraterrestrial spacecraft.)
Now, as NASA unveils fresh images of 3I/ATLAS this week and as the hunt for 2007 FT3 continues, one thing is certain: we are finding more things flying through space than we used to. That’s a good thing, YouTube scientist and author Hank Green tells IGN — as it shows we’re getting better at spotting them. But how prepared are we for something on an impact trajectory with Earth, and should we be getting worried that space is actually far busier than we thought?
“The first thing is we’re way better at spotting them than we’ve ever been,” Green begins, when IGN asks why new asteroid and comet discoveries seem more prevalent now than ever. “Literally, like as of two weeks ago, Vera Rubin went online [Chile’s new observatory which contains the biggest camera ever built]. We’ve got three different systems for detecting different threats now, to the point where if we were going to be hit by a really big rock, like a dinosaur-sized rock, we’d know. Which is amazing. We had all of this ignorance leading up to now, and now we have certainty.
“But once in a while there’s enough uncertainty about a particular rock, that’s big enough that if it hit in the wrong spot would be really bad,” he continues. “And there are way more of those than there are the big ones. So we have to continue to be vigilant and we have to figure what we would do if we actually spotted one that might cause a problem.”
“Once in a while there’s enough uncertainty about a particular rock…”
Earlier this year, Green was contacted by Supercell, the maker of hit smartphone game Clash of Clans, with a novel idea. The city-building strategy app was planning an in-game event where it threatened players’ hard-built bases with destruction by an asteroid. And not just any asteroid: it would be the long-lost 2007 FT3.
Months later, and the event is now live, fronted by a flashy trailer that sees the mystery of 2007 FT3 seemingly explained. In the world of Clash of Clans, the rock’s disappearance is revealed to be Green’s doing, as he zaps the asteroid away from Earth by digitizing it — sending it careening towards the Clash of Clans universe instead. Now, all these years later, the asteroid has finally loomed close enough to Clash’s world that it’s become your problem.
“There’s an element of just the cleverness of using this old science story that I thought was clever,” Green says of his involvement, sparked by the hunt for 2007 FT3. “But it was mostly like, ‘I’ve never done anything like this before, I’ve never gone out to LA to make a little movie.’ It was like, directors and third assistant directors and everybody was on it. It was wild. I feel like I learned so much just about how things get made and also what I’m capable of.
“Also,” he adds, referencing the prosthetics he wore to make himself briefly look over a decade younger, “that was my first experience with spirit gum.”
Sadly, however, aiming a giant laser at the sky and digitizing an asteroid isn’t an effective method of stopping doomsday rocks in the real world. Not yet, at least. So what could we do if do spot a dangerous-looking space object given enough warning?
“We’ve started to do that work,” Green says. “We’ve sent probes to smash into asteroids to change their trajectory very slightly, and the nice thing about that is if you get them when they’re very far away, a very slight change of trajectory is enough. We’ve done the first of those missions and we’ve shown that we can.”
All of this still relies on finding the rock first, but Green is pretty confident. “There’s a chance that something could come from a weird interaction somewhere out in the far reaches of the solar system, and a comet could get surprise flung in and we can track those less well, but as far as asteroids go, the big ones are easy to spot.”
“They’ve been flying through the solar system the whole time…”
Comets are trickier, as typically they have longer orbits and spend a lot of time lurking in the outer solar system (or beyond, as 3I/ATLAS appears to show). But Green isn’t overly worried here either. ATLAS was spotted by an asteroid detection system (on explaining this, he pulls up the comet’s acronym, which stands for the Asteroid Terrestrial Impact Last Alert System that found it). And the other thing Earth has going for it? Well, space is really, really big.
“When we turn on Vera Rubin for real, we’ll probably start detecting even more of these interstellar objects, and we’ll kind of understand they’ve been flying through the solar system the whole time,” Green says, estimating that a single-digit number of interstellar objects will be discovered passing through each year.
“But as far as them being a potential threat, the odds are just so tremendously… there are so many rocks already in the solar system that could get close enough to be a potential problem and none of them are, because Earth is very small in comparison to the size of the solar system,” Green affirms.
All that’s needed are a few fragments of location data and scientists can begin to model if any object may become a problem over the coming decades or centuries, Green explains, “because the solar system is pretty much Newtonian, it’s pretty much just doing physics.”
Or, back in Clash of Clans, all you need is to hit things with hammers — which seems a lot more convenent. Happily, the game’s ongoing event has progressed to the point where players have successfully completed a meteor catching device, though at least one meteor shard has landed, helpfully bringing with it a new Town Hall.
“It can be quite intimidating at first because you can see some of the things people have done and think ‘I will never get there’,” Green says of the game. “It’s like seeing someone do a backflip and think, ‘well that’s great for you but I am really far away from that.’ But the great thing about the structure of it is it does keep you engaged and pulls you from that early [gameplay] when your Town Hall looks like a villager’s house.”
Will the real 2007 FT3 ever be found? Green seems confident it will. NASA has lost asteroids before, and typically it catches sight of them again within a few decades — and none of those were on a collision course either. “As we’ve seen, we were able to detect 3I/ATLAS fairly early on in the process,” he concludes. “But I’m certainly in favor of having a system ready to go, just in case.”
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Omelet You Cook, a roguelike cooking game on Steam, has been having a great early access it seems. It recently passed 500 player reviews, and every last one of them was positive, making it one of a rare few games on Steam to have 100% positive reviews.
Until today.
As pointed out to us by developer Dan Schumacher of SchuBox Games, the game received its first negative review today. And sure, negative reviews are just part of the deal when releasing a game on Steam. But what really bothered Schumacher is that according to the text of the review, the reviewer didn’t actually dislike the game. They played for 0.8 hours total, 0.2 hours when they posted the review, and wrote the following:
“Game is amazing. I just like to be different.”
IGN reached out to the reviewer for further comment ahead of this piece but didn’t hear back.
The community appears to have sprung to Omelet You Cook’s defense, as the game has received almost 40 new positive reviews in the 14 hours since the negative review was posted, and a number of people have commented scolding the negative reviewer for ruining the positive streak just for kicks, though some of those comments are unfortunately far harsher than the negative review itself.
“Seeing this review was very draining for us,” said Schumacher to IGN. “We knew 100% wouldn’t last forever but it hurt to have the streak ended by someone who in their own words thinks the game is amazing. Emotionally I think I’d feel better if it was someone complaining about bugs, or design choices, or just feeling the game isn’t for them.”
A single negative review is hardly the end of the world for SchuBox Games, but it does make a difference. There are very, very, very few games on Steam with perfectly positive reviews, or at least in meaningful amounts like this. The more you get, the more likely it is someone will have something bad to say. There’s a game called Shooters, Ready! on Steam that’s only available in Japanese and similarly has over 500 positive reviews and 0 negative ones. But at least using the built in search by user reviews, there don’t seem to be any others.
According to Schumacher, having no negative reviews actually did afford him some benefits, too:
“Having 100% positive reviews was a huge benefit for us because it’s extremely abnormal for a game with hundreds of reviews,” he told IGN. “People see 100% and become curious enough to read through some of the reviews to understand why it’s so beloved or to check out the demo for themselves. We’ve had multiple people join our Discord or leave their own review and mention that they gave the game a chance because they couldn’t believe it was maintaining 100% for so long.
“…The biggest impact this will have on Omelet You Cook is losing that mystique of a perfect 100%. That led to some opportunities for Omelet You Cook to be mentioned because it was atypical. But honestly for players coming across the Steam page, I don’t think 99% vs 100% makes any difference at all. Some users like to filter by negative reviews to understand where the pain points are and I have to appreciate that this negative review frames Omelet You Cook in a very positive light.”
It’s long been known that engagement with games on Steam in the form of Wishlists and reviews can be a massive boon, especially for small developers. There are simply too many games, and getting attention on such a crowded storefront is impossible if you don’t already have a built-up audience or a lot of advertising money. Having lots of positive reviews and few negative ones gets games like Omelet You Cook visibility when searching under certain filters or ranking systems, including third-party ones. That’s certainly been the case for Omelet You Cook
“We’re very fortunate and grateful to have reached 507 positive reviews before our first negative,” Schumacher said. “We worked incredibly hard to achieve that with 15 content updates over 5 months. But we also got incredibly lucky and it’s nowhere near a flawless game. There’s plenty of valid reasons somebody might have a negative experience with the game and we’re grateful to all 507 chefs who took the time to write a positive review. Each one helps Omelet You Cook reach a wider audience.”
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Epic Games is teasing an explosive return to Fortnite story content with a Chapter 6 Zero Hour Finale Live Event teaser trailer that packs in heavy-hitter cameos ahead of the inevitable launch of Chapter Seven.
The description for the new Fortnite story video teases that some familiar faces will “assemble in the final endgame to save reality,” and the footage proves it. In just 30 seconds, we see Jonesy dodging giant tentacle monster attacks as Godzilla, King Kong, and Star Wars X-Wings battle overhead. Naturally, a giant, half-naked Homer Simpson then shows up before Uma Thurman’s Kill Bill character, The Bride, swoops in, with the trailer then finally telling players to expect the Fortnite Chapter 6 Zero Hour Finale event to take place November 29 at 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET.
It’s an unveiling that will also surely reinforce rumors that Tarantino himself is involved in some of Epic’s upcoming festivities, with some believing the filmmaker directed its new cinematic. There’s been no official word on what exactly the big finale has in store, but with some eagle-eyed fans already spotting a Fortnite-related premiere at Tarantino’s The Vista Theatre in Los Angeles, the evidence is only getting harder to deny.
As everyone from Godzilla to Homer stomps in for what is poised to be one of the biggest Fortnite events ever, fans can’t help but look forward to how Chapter Seven may shake up the long-running live-service experience’s formula. Some believe Epic is dropping hints that The Seven, a star-studded group that has largely been MIA from Fortnite story content for years, could somehow make a comeback for the Seven-themed Chapter, for example.
Should The Seven return to Epic’s grand video game multiverse, it would likely mean the stars who play them, including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Brie Larson, would be back, too. We should find out more about the Fortnite Chapter 6 Zero Hour Finale and Chapter Seven in the coming weeks
In the meantime, players have spent November gallivanting around none other than The Simpsons’ Springfield, as the long-running animated series made its debut with themed skins, Easter Eggs, and more. It’s a crossover that’s been particularly successful for Epic, with players also enjoying the new Sidekicks feature and the return of the Omniverse.
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).
As a fighting game fan, I’ve grown to enjoy the process. Spending extended amounts of time in training mode learning the timing of memorized button presses in the hopes that, when it really counts, that practice will pay off. This might be why I found Forestrike, a 2D martial arts inspired roguelite that lets you plan out your approach to solving a gauntlet of combat encounters before executing upon them for real, so uniquely appealing. It successfully evokes the feeling of classic kung fu fight choreography by mixing straight up hand-to-hand combat with clever moments of using the environment to your advantage, or turning an enemy’s own weapon against them, or causing friendly fire simply with an effortless step to the side, all on a 2D plane with minimalist spite art. The precision and memorization needed to accomplish these impressive looking feats can be brutal, especially considering how easy it is for one mistake to cascade into many more, eventually cratering a run, but this clever concept still manages to pack a heck of a punch.
Forestrike puts you in control of Yu, a young martial artist who is part of the Order of the Foresight, a faction dutifully devoted to serving their Emperor, and one that becomes dedicated to the mission of saving said emperor from the manipulation of a being known as The Admiral. There’s a surprising amount of dialogue in Forestrike as we learn more about The Order and the various masters that guide Yu along his journey in between each run. In that way, it’s a lot like the intermissions between runs of Hades, but instead of always looking forward to the new things characters had to say, I generally found myself eager to get on with it so I could get back to fighting. A complete lack of voice acting certainly contributed to this, but the writing and characters themselves also just weren’t strong enough to keep my interest for very long.
Once you’re in an actual run, Forestrike flexes its muscles. It’s structured like a gauntlet of combat encounters against increasingly difficult foes, but before the actual fighting starts you’re able use your foresight technique to essentially do a practice run. That lets you find the right combination of attacks, dodges, and techniques to defeat all of the enemies in the most efficient way possible. Defensive resources like blocks and dodges are extremely limited, and it’s rare that you’ll go into an encounter with more than one of either. At first it felt rather frustrating as I just continuously found myself being forced to burn my dodge or block against the first tough enemy, which meant I wouldn’t be able to avoid the attacks of the last one. Eventually, though, a visual language started to develop as I learned how enemies would react to my actions and how I could use those predictable tendencies to my advantage.
If one enemy was charging me from the right, I could use my dodge resource to move an enemy on my left to the other side, putting him right in the way of that attack. If I was up against an enemy with spikes on the front of their body, I could look for a type of puppet enemy that drops its head when killed, which could then be picked up and thrown to kill the spiked foe from a distance. Figuring out this visual language organically was super satisfying, and I felt like I was getting further and further in my runs not because my character was becoming more powerful, but because I was simply getting better, which is always a great feeling in a roguelite.
I was getting further because I was simply getting better, which is always a great feeling in a roguelite.
What really makes the gameplay sing are the different martial masters that you take along with you in each run, which dictate what techniques you’re able to use. There’s Talgun, who is the master of the Leaf style, which focuses primarily on redirecting enemy attacks so that your foes take each other out; Nodai of the Cold Eye style, which focuses primarily on blocking, restoring health, and brute force; and my favorite, Monkey, who utilizes a wild fighting style that relies on surprising foes with dropkicks, bananas, and resting on the floor so that enemy attacks go right over and slam into the foe behind you.
Each style requires a completely different approach to solving the puzzles of combat, and I loved jumping between them and seeing the many different techniques that unlock the further you get in a run. Each time you beat the boss of one of the four regions, you unlock more techniques that get added to the pool of randomly selected rewards, which essentially acts as the permanent progression that helps give you the extra edge you’ll need to conquer each of the four regions of the campaign.
The one big issue with this formula is that the amount of precision required in some of the later stages can get pretty out of control, especially considering how quickly things can go off the rails with just one error. I’ve had multiple combat encounters where all of my practice runs went flawlessly, but on the actual attempt I was just a hair off on the timing of a single strike, which would essentially cause my whole plan to break down and force me to improvise the rest of the way, which usually leads to either death or near death. That’s just part of the design, but it doesn’t stop it from being extremely frustrating to lose an otherwise great run to what ultimately amounts to being off by just milliseconds one time.
The sprite based art style is intentionally minimalist – much like Skeleton Crew Studio’s previous game, Olija – and for the most part is very charming. The sprites themselves are surprisingly expressive despite their lack of detail, the 2D art is fantastic, and the actual combat animations are great – but for whatever reason the same attention was not given to the walk and run animations, which are some of the most awkward I’ve seen in 2D pixel art. It’s not a huge deal since Yu only really walks and runs in between runs at the monastery, but it’s still a very strange quirk in a game that otherwise looks great.
Fallout fans have a whole lot to be excited about these days. From Season 2 of the hit Amazon Prime Video series dropping next month to Fallout 4 coming to Nintendo Switch 2 and Fallout 76 getting a Burning Springs expansion, we’re spoiled for content. Fallout Day on October 23 brought even more announcements. With everything that’s coming, there are tons of fun new collectibles and memorabilia to buy or pre-order in anticipation.
IGN Store is stocked up on awesome Fallout exclusives; there’s even a functional, true to the TV series Pip-Boy Die-Cast replica and Lucy’s Vault 33 Backpack, both of which would be any cosplayer’s dream. Bethesda’s Gear Store already has the 15th Anniversary Fallout: New Vegas bundle up for preorder, along with mementos from the Mojave Wasteland. Or grab my personal favorite, a decorative, rocket-shaped Nuka Mix bottle to create your own Nuka Mix Station at home.
TL;DR: Top Fallout Gear Any Fan Will Love
Take a look at this curated list of top Fallout gear any fan would love, alongside a handy blurb about each. With the holidays quickly approaching, these items also make great gifts for all the Wastelanders in your life.
Fallout Desert Sandtrack Flea Die-Cast Replica
Chryslus Motors classic Fusion Flea got a wasteland makeover with a sick camouflage livery and a rear wheel swapped for tracks, ensuring it’s ready to take on the unforgiving dunes. The Desert Sandtrack Flea is a 1:18 scale replica from The Wand Company, and an IGN Store exclusive that has a limited run of just 1,500 units available for preorder right now. With a mix of die-cast metal, thermoplastic rubber, and engineered plastics, it’s built to last. The attention to detail, from the steerable front wheels and tinted windshield to the engine and its glowing nuclear core, makes this military-ready hot-rod a great addition for any collector.
Fallout: New Vegas 15th Anniversary Bundle
Bethesda has a brand new Fallout: New Vegas Bundle available for pre-order from its Gear Store for the 15th Anniversary. In addition to getting the Ultimate Edition of the game via a digital code, which includes all the officially released DCL expansion packs and two weapons packs, it comes with a bunch of cool memorabilia that every Courier will want.
An 8-inch PVC Victor Statue is ready to watch over Good Springs, while one pin and two patches let you represent the Mojave Wasteland anywhere. It even comes with Doc Mitchell’s evaluation cards, allowing you to do a psychological evaluation of friends in the real world. Everything then comes packaged in a retro display box created exclusively for this 15th Anniversary Edition. This bundle doesn’t drop till June 2026, but it’s perfect for any New Vegas fan.
Fallout Pip-Boy 3000 Replica
Fans of Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 3 will want to get their hands on, or rather arms into, this 1:1 replica of the Pip-Boy 3000. Each detail of this wrist-mounted computer remains faithful to the game. A fully functional IPS display delivers that vintage cathode ray tube look, complete with screen glitches and a huge gallery of media, including the Atomic Command minigame. The Wand Company spared no expense when creating this replica, from its die-cast metal front casing and memory foam cuff with a spacer to a rechargeable LiPo power cell and LED torch. It’s sure to elevate your cosplay to another level, but the included machined metal stand is ideal for displaying this exhibition-grade collectible — or using the Pip-Boy 3000 as an alarm clock; yes, it does that too.
Fallout New Vegas Ranger Statue
The detail is incredible on this 8.4-inch resin statue of a New Vegas Ranger. It’s clear he’s a veteran warrior with his battle-worn armour, instantly recognizable Desert Ranger trench coat, gas mask, and dark red eyes. He’s combat-ready with his finger on the trigger of a meticulously decorated revolver. Anyone looking to add an iconic figure of the Mojave Wasteland to their collection will love this statue.
Fallout Official Vault 33 Hoodie
Represent Lucy and the rest of the vault dwellers in Vault 33 from the Prime TV series with this official Vault 33 hoodie. Featuring the signature blue and yellow color scheme with an embroidered “33” on the front and a bold patch across the back, there’s no mistaking your commitment to a brighter tomorrow. The 60/40 cotton-poly blend on this heavyweight zippered hoodie is sure to keep you cozy, especially during the cooler months ahead.
Fallout Nuka Mix Glass Bottle & Caps
Take a piece of the dreamy post-apocalyptic soda fountain from Fallout home with your very own Nuka Mix glass. The 12-ounce bottle features that iconic rocket shape and comes with 10 brown tinplate bottle caps ready for your own Nuka blends. It’s for display purposes only, so you can’t actually drink (or enjoy the gameplay buffs and weird side effects) from this bottle. Nuka Mix isn’t the only Nuka-Cola flavor available; Bethesda’s Gear Store has a bunch of other kinds for an epic Nuka Mix Station at home.
Fallout Desert Ranger Battle Wearable Helmet
Before the New California Republic Rangers formed, there were the Desert Rangers, and you can grab a piece of their history with a durable plastic helmet modeled after one found in Fallout: New Vegas. It’s hand-painted with weathered detail to make each helmet unique. A green glow even comes from the eyes, thanks to the inclusion of LED lights. Best of all, this helmet is wearable for some epic cosplay, and it comes with a stand for displaying. An enamel pin of a completely geared-up Desert Ranger is also included. You can pre-order the Desert Ranger Battle Helmet now, with shipping expected to begin in December.
Fallout Lucy’s Vault 33 Backpack
While you might not be navigating the Wasteland like Lucy, you can accessorize similarly to her in the real world with this remarkably accurate replica rolltop backpack. While it’s brilliant for cosplay, this bag is well-built, durable, and surprisingly big, making it a great option for everyday use. You’ll find a 20L interior compartment, a laptop slot, pockets for various accessories, and, of course, the thick signature yellow blanket that rests on top. Given that this backpack is from the minds at The Wand Company, even the patterns and materials to create it are specially sourced to match what’s used in the show.
Fallout Bottlecap Series: Sunset Sarsaparilla with Collectible Tin
While you can’t use these bottle caps for currency in the real world, they do make for one fun keepsake. The Mojave Wasteland is known for its abundance of Sunset Sarsaparilla, and this pack of 20 tinplate caps and collectible tin with a cowboy on the lid will please any New Vegas fan. You might even luck out and find a few caps with a blue star underneath.
Fallout Vault Boy Resin Plaque
The most iconic figure in the Fallout franchise is Vault Boy, and you can preorder a plaque to display Vault-Tec’s cheerful mascot at home. This 200 x 198mm full-color, embossed resin sign comes with hardware to display it on a wall, or plop it on a shelf with the included stand. It’s perfect for game rooms, adding a touch of retro flair to your space.
Danielle is a Tech freelance writer based in Los Angeles who spends her free time creating videos and geeking out over music history.
Haha. Yeah, I know. “Half-Life 3”. The long-fabled, often-rumored, still non-existent third numbered entry in the Half-Life series that fans have craved but never heard a credible whisper of. It’s been a pervasive joke in the industry and among fans for years, a stand-in for a thing that doesn’t exist and never would.
And yet, for some reason, a lot of people seem to think it’s being announced soon. Possibly in the next few weeks. Maybe even today.
You might have seen it. The sudden flurry of mentions of Half-Life 3, some humorous, some quite serious. The surge of memes. A handful of people that seem to have lost their dang minds:
So what’s going on? Why do people think Half-Life 3 is imminent, seriously or unseriously? We investigated:
Half-Hope
Half-Life 3 rumors have existed pretty much since Half-Life 2 first released, so that’s nothing new. But the last couple of years have seen a steady trickle of interesting little threads that have lead many to believe that a third entry was actually in development, quietly, at Valve. There were vague nods, such as the Half-Life: Alyx team saying they wanted to make more Half-Life games and a Final Hours documentary that actually confirmed it was in development at one point between 2013 and 2014. We’ve also seen dataminers pulling crumbs from various Valve releases over the last few years of what seems to be an in-development game internally at Valve known only as “HLX”, using Source 2. Dataminers have worked out that it’s a full-fledged, non-VR, Half-Life game of some sort, that’s been in the works since at least 2021, probably earlier. That game is possibly the same one as was accidentally leaked by a voice actor in 2024, who referred to it as “Project White Sands”.
But this year there’s been a marked increase in little breadcrumbs. Right after the new year, G-Man’s voice actor issued a cryptic post teasing “unexpected surprises” in 2025 – it was his first tweet since he congratulated Valve on Half-Life: Alyx in December 2020. Fans proceeded to tear apart the post, delving deep into an album cover image and the number 197 for what they believed were even more hints that something was in the works.
But an already simmering pot of rumors turned into a full boil with the announcement last week of new Valve hardware: the Steam Machine, complete with a new Steam controller, and a VR headset known as the Steam Frame. Notably, there were no software announcements alongside these hardware reveals, which is a bit odd given that Valve tends to release new games alongside new hardware – recall Half-Life: Alyx and the Valve Index headset. Around the same time, a number of Valve and industry insiders began mentioning Half-Life 3, saying confidently that it was planned for a 2025 announcement still. One leaker, who has a good track record of getting Valve stuff right, said back in May that Half-Life 3 was officially “playable, end-to-end.” There’s a massive Miro board floating around that has catalogued every remotely credible recent mention of Half-Life 3, and is worth digging into if you want follow along.
Go, G-Man, Go
There are so many other weird little indicators floating around that are leading to wild speculation. For instance, Valve’s “Upcoming Releases” tab on its own Steam page only lists one game (Deadlock) despite the sidebar indicating that there are two upcoming game releases. A tweet/X post from the official The Game Awards account commemorating Half-Life’s 27th anniversary today has sent everyone into a frenzy, even though it tweets this anniversary every year. There was a weird amount of extra security at Valve during the recent Steam hardware preview events – something noticed by IGN’s own representatives and contrasted with my personal experience there for Half-Life: Alyx years ago, which featured a relatively normal and relaxed amount of security.
And there was an incredibly silly saga where Geoff Keighley posted a screenshot that showed he had one game in his Steam wishlist. When asked what the game was, he responded with an eyes emoji, and then showed the game Dadlympics. Of course, the Half-Life nerds pounced. Keighley then posted a screenshot of his wishlist showing only the game “Dadlympics,” but notably, this was added on 11/18, the same day he posted the screenshot, suggesting he’s hiding something. Is he hiding Half-Life 3? Probably not! It doesn’t have a viewable Steam page! That’s not how Steam works! But that hasn’t stopped Half-Life 3 fans from pouncing. Seriously, the replies are hilarious.
Whatever you believe is happening here, the reality is that this has resulted in the community going completely bonkers. The Half-Life subreddit is overflowing with Half-Life 3 summoning and hope posts. A quick search for Half-Life on Twitter/X reveals an overflow of discourse, prayers, and memes. It’s kind of nuts, and also really, really fun:
Okay, so let’s say everyone’s right, and we really are getting Half-Life 3 announced soon. When? Well, some think it’s as soon as today. November 19, as The Game Awards posted, is the anniversary of Half-Life – what better time to make an announcement? We’ve already passed the anniversary of Half-Life 2, and the anniversary of Half-Life: Alyx’s announcement, but that particular anniversary is the reason you’re likely seeing so much noise around this today. The other big possibility floated by some is an announcement at The Game Awards, which is coming up on December 11. That would be a little surprising, given that Valve doesn’t need an awards show to command attention with such an announcement. But Valve also has a long history of friendliness with host Geoff Keighley, so maybe it’s not so far-fetched after all.
Whatever the case, one thing is certain: either Half-Life 3 is getting announced before December 31, 2025, or an awful lot of folks are going to have egg on their faces come January 1, 2026. I’m personally hoping for the former, but the community has been hoodwinked before with Half-Life rumors, multiple times even. Keep injecting that Hopium, folks. Perhaps the return of G-man is right around the corner.
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.
Mafia: The Old Country’s Free Ride update finally has a release date: November 20. It adds a number of new features, including challenges, a first-person driving camera, classic difficulty, and photo mode.
The major update to Hangar 13’s narrative adventure is a callback to the original Mafia’s Free Ride Extreme and the Free Ride mode in Mafia: Definitive Edition. As explained by Peter Amato, Content Manager at publisher 2K in a post on the PlayStation Blog, Mafia: The Old Country’s Free Ride update is a collection of challenges separate from the main story that give players chances to revisit the world in a “more self-guided way.” Veteran fans of the series will find that Mafia: The Old Country’s Free Ride mode will be slightly different from previous titles as a result.
The repeatable challenges include combat, stealth, and different race types. Completing them earns you the Dinari in-game currency to spend on the new outfits, charms, weapons, and vehicles unlocked by progressing through this content (as well as on items unlocked via the campaign).
“We want players to explore the world in a freeform way, and Free Ride turns it into an expansive hub where you’ll find and access various challenges by travelling around, unlocking Hitching Posts, and meeting contacts,” Amato said. “Challenges are instanced and accessed via these contacts, and doing so will place you into a combat location or special world state.
“These combat encounters reuse mission locations, so once you’ve played the corresponding story chapter and unlocked a Challenge in Free Ride, you’ll get to re-experience areas in new ways. Races happen out in the world and we’ve placed them along less-traveled paths, so it should be fun seeing parts of the map you may have previously passed by.
“Of course, there may be new places to explore too, but that’s something you’ll have to discover for yourself…”
Elsewhere, there’s the Cinema Siciliano visual treatment, which Amato said makes Mafia: The Old Country feel like playing “a genuine piece of classic Italian cinema.” “The visual treatment is stunning and it feels like you’re experiencing a black-and-white movie shot on an old-school sound stage, while the vintage-sounding audio convincingly brings the whole thing together,” Amato explained.
All the new items earned by playing Free Ride are usable in the main story campaign. All the new elements are present from the start, so new players will have them as options going through the game for the first time.
The addition of first-person driving is a first for the Mafia franchise. And the Classic difficulty makes the game harder.
“Definitely,” Zelnick said when asked if The Old Country performed well enough to instill confidence to continue the franchise. “We’re really excited about Mafia, and I think that’s a great question because it is sort of a reset for the franchise. We don’t have anything to announce — that comes from the label — but it definitely performed well ahead of expectations.”
Take-Two stopped short of providing exact sales figures but said the early 1900s Sicily-set Mafia “quickly surpassed our internal expectations and affirmed our belief that consumer demand remains strong for premium, narrative-driven experiences that over-index on value.” Although it’s unclear when or how another Mafia game could materialize in the future, more new content and updates for The Old Country are confirmed to be in the works.
Mafia: The Old Country launched in August as a prequel for the crime drama video game franchise that got its start with the original Mafia in 2002. The series saw semi-regular releases up until the launch of the divisive Mafia 3 in 2016, with only a group of well-received definitive edition remasters arriving to break up the wait for more in 2020.
IGN’s Mafia: The Old Country review returned an 8/10. We said: “Mafia: The Old Country is a conventional but effective return to the linear and tightly story-driven format of the original Mafia and Mafia II, and it boasts a wonderful eye and ear for detail.”
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.
Remember that MTG: Avatar Collector Booster Box I shared yesterday? Well it’s just dropped by nearly $100, so get your preorder in before prices go up. Seeing as you all liked the Final Fantasy Anniversary Collection deal so much, I’ve also included the HD-2D remakes of Dragon Quest I – III on Nintendo Switch. It’s a pixel art kind of week.
TL;DR: Deals for Today
The Prismatic Evolutions Figurine Collection is also dropping from today at potentially four different retailers, so if you missed out on your preorder I have all the inside scoops on where it’ll show up and when. I’ve also got a couple of essential gadget deals for your desk and car too, so let’s get straight into it:
Prismatic Evolution Figurine Collection
Missed out on preorders? Well multiple retailers will be selling the Prismatic Evolution Figurine Collection out of the gate. Here are the details on when I think they’ll be on sale and where:
Black Friday Arzopa Portable Monitor Deals at AliExpress
A portable USB monitor has many practical uses, such as a secondary display for your laptop or a travel-friendly screen for your Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck handheld gaming PC. Ahead of Black Friday, Arzopa is hosting some big markdowns on its popular lineup of portable USB monitors via its official AliExpress storefront. Combined with some general AliExpress coupon codes, these deals are the lowest prices I’ve seen all year long. All of the portable monitors listed ship free from the United States, which means you don’t have to worry about tariffs or long shipping times.
Magic: The Gathering | Avatar: The Last Airbender Collector Booster Box
The price on this has already dropped by nearly $100 to $455.88 compared to yesterday, so now is a better time than ever to get your preorder locked in. Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the best things Nickelodeon put out when I was a kid, and its fandom still beats strong. This Universes Beyond MTG set hasn’t only got me back into Avatar, but it’s got me on MTG Arena to learn the game, not just collect it when I can. Collector Boosters aren’t for playing, it’s for those who want some solid binder material with far better pull rates than standard play boosters. There’s a premium for that of course, but Amazon won’t charge until it ships, which means you’ll probably have a day or two to get the money you need together.
Final Fantasy I-VI Collection Anniversary Edition
For Final Fantasy fans who haven’t played the 2D old school games, or for those who are fans of the sprite-based RPG vibe, this is the deal for you. It features a re-arranged soundtrack by original series composer Nobuo Uematsu, improved gamplay, a user interface overhaul, auto battle options and more quality of life improvements. 47% off makes this collection a no-brainer.
Dragon Quest HD-2D Remakes
Dragon Quest I, II and III HD-2D remakes are all out now on Nintendo Switch, with I and II also out on Nintendo Switch 2. Nintendo Switch titles can be played on Nintendo Switch 2 if you want the full game on-cart rather than a game-key card, which requires a sizable content download to play. Of course you’ll miss out on graphical fidelity and other upgrades.
JVSCAM 130,000RPM Cordless Electric Air Duster with Adjustable Tips
I love my cordless electric air duster, it comes in so handy for my desk and gaming rig, with the added attachments turning it inot a mini vacuum cleaner or duster. Ditch the cans of compressed air when cleaning out your keyboard and get one of these bad boys, you won’t regret it for under $20.
AstroAI P10 Car Battery Jump Starter
Unless you’ve been stuck with a dead battery waiting for your breakdown cover to pick you up, you have no idea how handy these things are. They fit right in the trunk of the car, ready to save the day when you’ve left your headlamps on at night or need a bit of juice to get you to your local mechanic. With $50 off, this is something everyone should have in their diesel and gas cars.
You read that right, everything is eligibe too. Buy something, get 10% back as in-store credit. With sets like Mega Evolution and Phantasmal Flames finding new floors, this is 100% the best time to fill those gaps in your binder. The sale kicks off on Black Friday, November 28. and ends on Cyber Monday December 1.
Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra Resin 3D Printer Deals
The Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra line of Resin printers are perfect for anything that needs intricate detail, especially the 16k model, although the standard ultra does an amazing job too. The Saturn 4 Ultra and Mercury V3.0 wash is a perfect starter kit for anyone wanting to get into the hobby.
Elegoo FDM Printer Deals
What if I said I printed a full sized Stormtrooper helmet on a Neptune 4 Max in one go? It was such a fun project and this printer can handle some insane projects on the large and small side. In fact all of these FDM 3D printers are great for printing anything practical. I’m looking at you cosplayers.
Meta Quest 3S 128GB (Gorilla Tag Bundle)
$50 off a Quest 3S isn’t a bad deal to say the least, and you also get the “Cardboard Hero: Gorilla Tag” game bundled alongside a three month trial to Meta Quest Horizon+, which means free access to over 40 games. You can also upgrade to the 256GB version and get Batman: Arkham Shadow bundled in instead for $329 instead of $399.99. Now that’s an early Black Friday deal.
TMNT: The Last Ronin Box Set
This set contains three hardcover graphics novels encompassing the TMNT: The Last Ronin continuity. That includes “Lost Years”, “The Last Ronin”, and “The Last Ronin II: Re-Evolution”. I won’t spoil them for you, but this is one of the best series i’ve ever read, and I’m not a massive TMNT fan. And you won’t be charged for your preorder until this bad boy ships. Not a bad deal at all with that cheeky 25% off.
Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of “Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior”. Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.
I like to think of the mainline Dragon Quest series sort of like a donut. A donut may have sprinkles on top, be glazed, or maybe tied in a knot, depending on where you get it, but at its heart, you know what to expect when you bite into one. You know you will get a delightful treat of fried dough, sweet, and usually covered with some sort of other goodies, and in Dragon Quest’s case, you know you can expect a grindy turn-based RPG, the distinctive designs of Akira Toriyama, and the vexation that comes with trying to dispatch smiling metallic blobs. That familiarity is comforting and the differences exciting, all at the same time. Dragon Quest is the same way, and even after nearly 40 years, even the latest entries all these years later, feel like a DQ game. After sinking my teeth into the upcoming Dragoon Quest VII Reimagined, slaying slimes and solving mysteries, this latest looks to retain that same DQ goodness.
Dragon Quest VII Reimagined marks the third iteration of Dragon Quest VII, the best-selling entry in Japan, following the original 2001 PlayStation release just before the PS2, and the mid-2010s 3DS remake.
Running around the dreary village of Wetlock, where my demo took place, I got a good look at the new art style of Dragon Quest VII Reimagined in action. Coming off the sprite-based goodness of the HD-2D Erdrick Trilogy remakes of Dragon Quests I & II, seeing this new handcrafted style was quite a spectacle. The use of real-world materials as textures in the clothing and gear of the main characters, thanks to the highly detailed puppets that were made and scanned in, gives this version of DQVII, and Prince Kiefer’s broad chin, a distinct vibe and feeling all of its own.
The use of real-world materials as textures in the clothing and gear of the main characters, thanks to the highly detailed puppets that were made and scanned in, gives this version of DQVII, and Prince Kiefer’s broad chin, a distinct vibe and feeling all of its own.
Speaking to Reimagined’s producer, Takeshi Ichikawa, he explained that this shift in style was done to better capture the unique proportions and style that the characters in Dragon Quest VII have. “They’re drawn shorter than the other mainline Dragon Quest characters. So we kind of wanted to leverage that. We explored a lot of ideas of visual styles that leverage the adorableness and the cuteness of those short characters.”
Taking out my reverence for sprite-based games, the new style of Reimagined is impressive, but at least for me, it took some getting used to, and one that I’m not entirely sold on just yet. As you might expect from a DQ game, the distinctive art of Akira Toriyama is expertly rendered in this new way, but with representations of real-world materials such as the weave that made up the Bag O’ Laughs enemy, or more pronounced scales, felt… odd? It’s hard to describe, but it’s that “off” feeling whenever you see a more realistic version of your favorite cartoon or anime character, like seeing actual hair strands on Goku. Okay, maybe it isn’t that level of odd, but you get my point.
I also noticed that the colors seemed rather muted compared to what I’ve come to expect from these games and Toriyama’s Dragon Quest work. The green of the hero’s little hat and outfit that I am used to being a vibrant spring-time green looked more like the color of a cloak – like what a sneaky elfish ranger may wear when trying to be seen among the brush, for instance. I’m also a bit bummed that we are losing out on party members changing their appearance based on the vocation they have equipped that was featured in the 3DS version, but I imagine making that many outfits for the puppets would have taken a considerable amount of time to do, and then scan in for the game, so I’m willing to forgive that one.
Trimming the Fat
Square previously mentioned that, for Reimagined, the team removed non-critical storylines and other content, including Grondal, El Ciclo, Providence, the Casino, and more, to streamline the experience and make it more approachable. One area that the team has paid special attention to is the opening few hours, which, speaking from experience, really drag on, with your first encounter with a slime not coming until close to three hours in. It was a barrier that caused even Ichikawa-san to give up the game back when he first played it as a child in elementary school. Thankfully, he promises that you will be slaying your first critter within an hour of starting up the game this time.
I realize hearing terms like “streamlining” or “more approachable” – along with the mention of cut content – may be off-putting to hear for some folks, or even causing some to be concerned that Reimagined will be a “diet” version of Dragon Quest VII. Obviously, the small snippet I did get to try out doesn’t give me much insight into how the cut and adjusted narrative content impacts things. At least from a gameplay standpoint, Reimagined feels just like a Dragon Quest game should, with the new mechanics and features feeling right at home.
Get a Second Job
Dragon Quest VII is part of the small and exclusive club of series, alongside the likes of Dragon Quests VI, IX, and III, that features a vocation system that lets you swap around the jobs, and as a result, the abilities of your party members. Reimagined further expands on this with the introduction of Moonlighting, which allows each character to have not just one, but two jobs, with abilities to pick from and level up, giving me flashbacks to Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age. I am a self-admitted job-system sicko, and even though a ton of jobs were still locked and hidden in the snippet I played, I could have easily spent my entire time tinkering around with different combinations of roles and seeing how they played off of each other. I appreciated that Reimagined also clearly shows what the requirements are to unlock new vocations, too, meaning I will be able to really target the ones I want when Reimagined releases!
After fights, I would earn vocation points that act as experience that will level up whatever ones I had equipped. It looks like Reimagined pulls from the 3DS version’s school of vocations, as my characters could only use skills of the jobs they had equipped. Vocations also come with associated “Perks” —special actions they can take when specific criteria are met, essentially a Limit Break of sorts. These can be big attacks, heals, or buffs that will help you turn the tide of particularly nasty boss fights, which Dragon Quest games are never lacking in.
Finding Fragments
The aspect of Reimagined that I was most interested in checking out and seeing how this latest version would handle was the magical fragments, which are, debatably, the most defining mechanic of this seventh installment. These artifacts, which you collect and then stick together like LEGO to reveal new locations to visit, can be a real pain to find. The previous 3DS remake had a special finder on the system’s bottom screen that would alert you when one was nearby, and really eliminated a good bit of the frustration and headache from tracking the suckers down, so I was really curious how this new game would address it.
This time around, fragments simply will show up on your minimap. When you collect them, they will appear greyed out, alongside a support system with the strange Caretaker and adjusted locations for the pesky tablets to make the whole hunt easier. I do hope there is still some challenge in finding fragments in the final release. I don’t need to feel like Indiana Jones uncovering a long-lost and forgotten artifact, but I don’t want to feel like a toddler picking out the square from an assortment of circles and triangles either.
Tweaked for You
There were other handy little tweaks and additions that aided me in my quest to discover missing townsfolk around Wetlock. I stumbled on special Goddess statues that I could save and heal at, which made them far more attractive spots to do some level and job grinding. Reimagined brings over some of the help options from the HD-2D remakes, like being able to toggle fully healing when a character levels up and adjustable difficulty settings, among others, to help bring this tale into the modern era with modern expectations. One unfortunate feature that Ichikawa-san and the team weren’t able to work out was a good way to use the lizard-gecko creature in this new game, never making it past early discussions on how you could utilize this creature. But at least our favorite little critter has made its triumphant return to the character art for the hero after being completely absent from the 3DS release.
When Dragon Quest VII first came to the West in 2001, a year after the PlayStation 2 was released, its dated sprites on 3D backgrounds were competing with the evolutionary leap of the RPG in Final Fantasy X that same year. The 3DS version suffered a similar though not as troublesome, release window in the States, coming to the aging handheld a mere six months before the Switch would begin its campaign to conquer the world with the likes of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Super Mario Odyssey, and a little game called The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, redefining what was possible with a handheld gaming device. Dragon Quest VII Reimagined marks the first time that this story is being told from a standpoint of being already outdated on arrival in the West.
After my 45 minutes were up, I had successfully solved the mystery of the disappearing citizens of Wetlock, climbed to the top of a tower to avoid a devastating flood, and vanquished the monster behind it. All in all, a typical day in the life of a Dragon Quest hero and his friends. While many aspects of Dragon Quest VII Reimagined are still a mystery, all of those special little qualities and personalities that have kept this series going for almost 40 years are still on display. I am eager to see all that this new version has to offer and just how the removal of some story beats and addition of new ones impacts the overall campaign, along with what the new gameplay mechanics bring to the Dragon Quest DNA. 2026 may just be the year that the rest of the world really sees what has made Dragon Quest VII the best-selling entry over in Japan, giving it the stage to finally shine.
