Category: IGN

Games Workshop has addressed the long wait for Henry Cavill’s Warhammer 40,000 Cinematic Universe, insisting that Amazon is in control of the delivery of the adaptation.

Former Superman actor and Warhammer 40,000 lover Henry Cavill is set to star in and executive produce the live-action Warhammer 40,000 adaptation for Prime Video.

Cavill’s Warhammer 40,000 Cinematic Universe is shrouded in mystery, and Games Workshop itself has cautioned fans not to expect to see anything of it for some time. But it is now over three years since Games Workshop’s deal with Amazon was announced, and fans have yet to see anything of it, or hear anything tangible about it.

In its latest financial results (the long and short of it is that Games Workshop is doing tremendously well and making loads of money), CEO Kevin Rountree addressed the elephant in the room: just what is going on with the Amazon stuff?

“We continue to work on some exciting projects that will bring Warhammer to screens like never before,” Rountree said, keeping his cards close to his chest. “Our live action endeavour is still in development with our partners: Amazon MGM Studios, Henry Cavill and Vertigo. It is the nature of these things to take several years, and while we wish we could tie down a release the way we can with our core business, the reality is that, as with any licensing deal, delivery is not in our control. We leave it to our partners to manage their own businesses.”

That doesn’t help fans much, to be honest. But at least we know the project is still in the works and hasn’t been lost to the Warp. Fans have spent the last few years in a state of enduring excitement about the prospect of finally seeing Warhammer 40,000 brought to life in live-action form across films and TV shows — and with Cavill steering the ship, they’re confident it will be done right. Hopefully we’ll get some details, including who Cavill himself will play, soon.

However, condensing the vast scope of Warhammer 40,000 into films and TV shows while sticking to a reasonable budget may prove a challenge. Warhammer 40,000 is a highly detailed setting with multiple factions, thousands of years of war played out on a galactic scale, and, at the heart of it all, enormous Space Marines who often fight against even bigger monsters. We’re talking space battles that can last hundreds of years, gargantuan land battles that can consume entire planets, and the Warp, a place so unknowable that it can be pretty much anything you can imagine.

In that context, what story will Cavill tell? Does it need to be more grounded than a big galactic epic? We’re left with scraps to mull over, such as recent comments from Dan Abnett about NDAs and upcoming books.

In June last year, Cavill himself touched on the “complexity” and “trickiness” of adapting the Warhammer 40,000 IP. But, he insisted, he’s loving the challenge, which for fans will be great to hear. Bringing Warhammer to life “is a dream come true,” Cavill said, “but it’s different from what I’ve done before, in the sense I haven’t had my hand on the tiller of things before. It’s wonderful doing that. It is a tricky IP, and a very complex IP, and that’s what I love about it. The challenges that come with putting this on the page in a way that is doing justice to that complexity, that trickiness, and that nuance, is a challenge I’m enjoying enormously.”

However, Rountree did have one solid bit of news to deliver: a standalone Warhammer Age of Sigmar episode is in the works. Age of Sigmar is the fantasy portion of the Warhammer universe, as opposed to Warhammer 40,000’s far future setting. This new episode follows on from the hugely popular Warhammer 40,000 episode for Amazon’s animated anthology series Secret Level, which starred Titus from Space Marine 2.

And it sounds like there’s more to come from a potential Secret Level Season 2. “After a successful collaboration with Amazon MGM Studios and Blur for Secret Level (a high-end animated anthology show), we are now meeting with writers to determine our next step to continue the momentum gained from that episode,” Rountree said.

“In the meantime, work is almost complete on a standalone Warhammer Age of Sigmar episode. Again, for Prime Video. We will update you further when we have more significant milestones to share.”

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.

Stellar Blade director and CEO of Shift Up Hyung-tae Kim has stated that without the use of AI, developers in smaller nations will struggle to keep up with studios in places like the U.S. and China.

As first reported by GameMeca, and picked up by Automaton, Kim addressed attendees at South Korea’s 2026 Economic Growth Strategy event and said that countries like China have an overwhelming advantage due to the sheer number of staff it can throw at video game development.

“We devote around 150 people to a single game, but China puts in between 1,000 to 2,000. We lack the capacity to compete, both in terms of quality and volume of content,” Kim said (via machine translation).

Using AI will not result in job losses, Kim insisted, but instead make employees more valuable, as “one person can perform the work of 100 people.” This week, Shift Up gifted its 300 staff an Apple Watch, AirPods Max, and a $3,400 cash bonus. A sequel, Stellar Blade 2, is in development, as well as Project Spirits, to be published by Level Infinite.

AI is, of course, a huge topic in gaming right now, with numerous companies forced to issue statements confirming they have not used AI to create games or the marketing materials that promote them. Just yesterday, January 12, we reported that Nintendo denied allegations that it used AI-generated imagery to advertise its new My Mario children’s toy range, while last month, a Fortnite artist was forced to defend their work after fans suggested numerous images found within the game’s new season were AI-generated, including a suspicious-looking poster showing a character in a hammock with an odd number of toes.

In November 17, Assassin’s Creed publisher Ubisoft had to remove an image found within Anno 117: Pax Romana that contained AI-generated elements after fans complained, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 players complained about suspected AI-generated images they had found across the game, following a trend of AI-Ghibli images from earlier this year. The Alters developer, 11 Bit Studios, and Jurassic World Evolution 3 developer, Frontier Developments, have similarly faced fan backlash.

More recently, Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian was embroiled in a genAI controversy of its own following the announcement of its next game, Divinity. It’s since pullled back somewhat from using the tech.

Opinion on the use of AI in games continues to divide studios and their fans, with some vehemently against its use, while others claim it’s an inevitable part of the future. Rockstar co-founder and former Grand Theft Auto writer Dan Houser recently likened AI to mad cow disease, but the CEO of Genvid — the company behind choose-your-own-adventure interactive series like Silent Hill Ascension — has claimed “consumers generally do not care” about generative AI in games, and stated that: “Gen Z loves AI slop.”

EA CEO Andrew Wilson has said AI is “the very core of our business,” and Square Enix recently implemented mass layoffs and reorganized, saying it needed to be “aggressive in applying AI.” Dead Space creator Glen Schofield also recently detailed his plans to “fix” the industry in part via the use of generative AI in game development, and former God of War dev Meghan Morgan Juinio said: “… if we don’t embrace [AI], I think we’re selling ourselves short.”

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

A former veteran Bethesda developer has said the studio may end up with “hateful comments” even if The Elder Scrolls 6 ends up just being as good as Skyrim, which he considers to be one of the top 10 games of all time.

In an interview with Esports Insider, former Bethesda lead artist Nate Purkeypile, who worked at Bethesda Game Studios from 2007 before leaving in 2021, agreed with the assertion that the development teams behind The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout are in a “no-win situation” because of the expectation fans have placed upon both games.

“Yes, and that definitely factored into me leaving because Skyrim being one of the top 10 games of all-time, how do you beat that?” Purkeypile, who founded solo indie dev Just Purkey Games after leaving Bethesda, replied.

“If they do, great! And I hope it’s a great game, but even if it’s just as good as Skyrim was, you’ll still get so many people throwing out hateful comments. I’m sure there will be more death threats again. All of that stuff. It’s really unfortunate that that’s the way things have gone.”

In January last year, The Elder Scrolls 6 announcement became as old as predecessor Skyrim was when The Elder Scrolls 6 was announced. Skyrim was released on November 11, 2011, and The Elder Scrolls 6 was revealed on June 10, 2018 — 2,403 days afterwards. It is now seven-and-a-half years since the announcement, and we’re no closer, it seems, to the release of the game.

When the six-year anniversary of The Elder Scrolls 6 announcement arrived in June 2024, even Bethesda chief Todd Howard paused to say, “oh wow, that has been a while.” The Elder Scrolls 6 is at least in production, with Bethesda confirming it had entered “early development” in August 2023 and “early builds” were available in March 2024.

Last year, amid increasing pressure from fans for some information on the game, Howard said The Elder Scrolls 6 wouldn’t be out for some time yet. In an interview with GQ magazine to celebrate the release of Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition, Howard said The Elder Scrolls 6 is “still a long way off,” adding: “I’m preaching patience. I don’t want fans to feel anxious.”

More recently, speaking to Game Informer, studio design director Emil Pagliarulo pointed to GTA 6’s high-profile delays as the “smartest thing they could do.”

“What do fans really want?” he asked. “Do they want a game that comes out before it should and doesn’t meet their expectations? Or do they want the turkey that is in the oven for long enough to be delicious when it finally comes out of the oven, you know? That’s what I think people are going to want. So, we’re going to take our time and as long as it needs to be great.”

Purkeypile said he assumed Bethesda announced The Elder Scrolls 6 so early because the studio was announcing Starfield at a time when it had already been so long since Skyrim came out, so “we needed to make sure people were not just pissed at us.” He continued: “it’s a very expensive way to do that, though. Those trailers are not cheap.”

Purkeypile added that Bethesda’s experience with the divisive Starfield shows it’s happy to delay games.

“I would imagine that they will take a while to deliver it because there’s so much pressure behind that title, and I think it’s been proven with Starfield that they’re finally okay, actually delaying stuff,” he said. “That was not really the case early on. On Skyrim, it was like, ‘It’s coming out on 11/11/11’ and we were like, what?! Oh boy, no pressure.

“I think there is less economic pressure to just get Elder Scrolls 6 out on a date, but there is more economic pressure to actually make sure it’s good, and I think that’s a good thing. That’s healthy so long as they’re also honest with the team about that.”

In the GQ article, Howard once again admitted that it had taken too long to get The Elder Scrolls 6 out the door, but did tease a The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered-style shadowdrop — without confirming anything.

“I do like to have a break between them, where it isn’t like a ‘plus one’ sequel,” Howard said of making The Elder Scrolls games again. “I think it’s also good for an audience to have a break — The Elder Scrolls has been too long, let’s be clear. But we wanted to do something new with Starfield. We needed a creative reset.” Bethesda is currently playtesting The Elder Scrolls 6, Howard revealed.

“I like to just announce stuff and release it,” Howard continued. “My perfect version — and I’m not saying this is going to happen — is that it’s going to be a while and then, one day, the game will just appear.” The Oblivion Remastered shadowdrop was “a test run,” Howard teased. “It worked out well.”

Earlier this year it was confirmed that The Elder Scrolls 6 will include a character designed in memory of a much-missed fan after a remarkable charity campaign that raised more than $85,000 for Make-A-Wish.

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.

Arc Raiders developer Embark Studios has released update 1.11.0 along with its patch notes, below. It adds the Abyss cosmetic set along with some fixes and balancing changes to the Trigger ‘Nade and Kettle.

These key nerfs to the Kettle and Trigger ‘Nade address some of the biggest complaints from Arc Raiders players in recent weeks. On the Kettle, Embark said it had reduced fire rate from 600 to 450. “The previous fire rate was only realistically reachable by players using macros, which creates an unfair dynamic that favors using third-party software,” Embark said in a post on Steam.

And on the Trigger ‘Nade, Embark admitted it had come to dominate PvP encounters, and “players favour picking it over all our other grenades.”

This nerf aims to make it less usable as a “trigger-in-air” grenade, while keeping its usefulness as a sticky bomb. Damage falloff has been rebalanced to concentrate the damage closer to the center of the explosion, and deal less damage farther away. The delay between triggering the grenade and it detonating has been increased from 0.7s to 1.5s, giving players more time to react, and making it harder to time the detonation in air.

Meanwhile, the update fixes a key card exploit that allows players to keep room keys after using them, and lighting has been lowered in some areas on Stella Montis Night Raid, making flashlights and listening more relevant.

Extraction shooter Arc Raiders is one of the biggest games around, selling over 12 million copies since its launch at the end of October. Embark just announced a free gift to all players to celebrate.

Elsewhere, we’ve got ongoing coverage of its ‘aggression-based matchmaking,’ as well as the current debate about aim assist.

Arc Raiders update 1.11.0 patch notes:

• Kettle
  • Dev note: Reduced fire rate from 600 to 450. The previous fire rate was only realistically reachable by players using macros, which creates an unfair dynamic that favours using 3rd party software.
• Trigger ‘Nade
  • Dev note: Trigger ‘Nade currently dominates PVP encounters, and players favour picking it over all our other grenades. This nerf aims to make it less usable as a “trigger-in-air” grenade, whilst keeping its usefulness as a sticky bomb. Damage falloff has been rebalanced to concentrate the damage closer to the center of the explosion, and deal less damage further away. The delay between triggering the grenade and it detonating, has been increased from 0.7s to 1.5s, giving players more time to react, and making it harder to time the detonation in air.
• Fixed a key card exploit that allowed players to keep room keys after using them.
• Lighting has been lowered in some areas on Stella Montis Night Raid making flashlights and listening more relevant.

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.

Capcom has announced a Resident Evil Showcase event that’s set to stream online later this week, featuring “brand new gameplay and news” for Resident Evil Requiem.

The Showcase will stream this Thursday, January 15 at 2pm Pacific, 5pm Eastern or 10pm UK time. Following that, Capcom will host a “post-show” discussion stream via its YouTube channel, suggesting there will be plenty to chew over.

What could Capcom have left to reveal about Resident Evil Requiem, with just six weeks to go until its launch on February 27? Well, despite Leon S. Kennedy’s presence now being out in the open, fans still have plenty of questions about the game to be answered — such as, is any of it open world?

Earlier this month, a teasing trailer published by Nvidia featured clips of a bustling city environment not yet seen in demos or other trailers. Featuring cars and pedestrians, the snippet looked more like an open world game than a Resident Evil title. Is this just a scripted gameplay sequence, or will there be more to explore? Fans are keen to find out.

Artwork for the Showcase predominantly features the gun also seen on Requiem’s cover, alongside what looks to be red-colored bullets. Resident Evil Requiem’s director Koshi Nakanishi has previously suggested this gun will be important — perhaps we’ll soon learn more of its signficance, and why it seems to pass from Leon to Grace during the game’s events.

There’s plenty more fans want to know, too. How action-y will Leon’s sequences feel? Will any other classic characters make an appearance? What’s up with that mysterious mark on Leon’s neck that looks like a zombie bite? And what was up with GameStop’s leak that Rosemary Winters will be in the game? Tune in later this week and you may 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

Arc Raiders and its cutthroat PvP encounters have generated dozens of viral clips since launch, but some peaceful players prefer PvE to such a degree that they’ve started using the aggression-based matchmaking (ABMM) to find friendly lobbies.

The jig is up: developer Embark Studios is matching aggressive PvP players together. It’s a matchmaking tactic that has set the Arc Raiders community ablaze since the company announced its implementation earlier this month. While some of the more aggressive fans aren’t sure how they feel about being linked up with other bloodthirsty Raiders, gentler players are using ABMM to find lobbies where player-vs.-player violence is practically off-limits.

The type of lobby you get after not shooting someone for 20 games pic.twitter.com/TAYzsiEd6e

— Arc Raiders Intel (@ArcRaidersIntel) January 11, 2026

Multiple players have shared stories online about finding friendly lobbies that see Raiders cooperate with one another by evenly sharing loot after taking down a Matriarch. Some runs have even been said to result in a group dance party.

“Took down a matriarch and everyone shared the loot equally and then danced together at extract,” one player explained. “After a week of pure PvP this is like a whole new world.”

“Lately I’ve been running into nothing but friendly players,” another added. “Last night, a gentlemen just randomly gave me two blue prints. Didn’t have too, just did.

“I’ve been trying to repay that kindness forward. I’ll be the first to admit im not even good at this game, but the exploring, looting and meeting friendlies has been totally worth it for me.”

There are plenty of fans, especially in the solo queue pool, who favor a more serene Arc Raiders experience. While players do their best to use ABMM to land them in friendly lobbies, some have begun offering advice to those who would prefer to avoid PvP but can’t quite crack the code. There are even some fans discussing their hope for official support for strictly peaceful lobbies, but for those who prefer to rummage for loot in Stella Montis with a hint of paranoia, ABMM can be manipulated in the other direction, too.

Those who keep the safety on when looking for rusted gears and light bulbs with friends may have some luck balancing their lobbies with both friendly and aggressive players if they don’t exclusively stick to PvE combat. With enough trial and error, a few fans say they’ve had luck tweaking matchmaking to add just a dash of mischief.

“I enjoy both lobbies,” one Reddit user commented. “PvE for making new friends and looting properly. PvP with my mate terrorising the whole lobby and losing all the good weapons we brought [because] someone outplays us with a big smile on our faces and having a great time.”

Embark has been clear: ABMM isn’t a science. The aggression-based matchmaking tool is also likely still being tweaked as Arc Raiders rides success through its third month since launching for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S October 30. Still, it’s proven to be at least somewhat useful for those looking to avoid PvP, and the tension that comes with it, as much as possible.

While players argue over whether ABMM is right for Arc Raiders, Embark seems to have made up its mind. For the Stockholm-based game developer, Arc Raiders is better off without doubling down on competitive gameplay mechanics like leaderboards, with CEO Patrick Söderlund explaining in a recent GamesBeat interview that “the game isn’t about shooting other players.”

“You can do that if you want to,” he added, “but the ethos of the game has never been to go in and shoot players. It’s a part that we use to craft tension.”

The Arc Raiders community is still deciphering its favorite way to experience the evolving extraction shooter. While we wait for more updates, you can see what Embark is doing to extinguish cheaters. You can also check out what to expect from upcoming patches as players look out for a potential in-game marketplace.

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).

Where can you play 1993 classic fps Doom? Loads of places. Cooking pots, smart photo frames, receipt printers (what), Wikipedia (what???), Alarmo, the wacky list goes on. And as of yesterday, that list includes unreleased indie sandbox Hytale, courtesy of a clever modder.

Doom running in Hytale comes courtesy of modder tr7zw (h/t Rock Paper Shotgun), who uploaded a video of Doom running “100% inside a Hytale mod, before Hytale is even released.” It is apparently fully controlled within the game of Hytale and isn’t actually very good to play in terms of controls working well. It’s a bit goofy, too, as it involves standing somewhere out in the world and then playing on what amounts to a blocky in-game monitor floating in the air in front of you. It runs at 20fps. But it is functional! That sure is Doom all right! I don’t know why you’d want to play it here when you have so many better options, many of which are on actual gaming platforms, but the purpose of the long-standing tradition of running Doom on weird systems has never been actually playing Doom in an ideal environment.

What’s really nuts about this is that Hytale isn’t even out yet: it launches in early access tomorrow. But modding platform CurseForge is already fully ready to support all the mods the community might desire, which imaginably will be quite a few given the game’s sandbox nature and similarities to Minecraft.

Hytale is showing some early signs of being a pretty big deal. According to its developers, it’s already made enough money to cover the next two years of development costs. Hypixel Studios founder Simon Collins-Laflamme is expecting over one million players on release day, and urged fans today to download the launcher now to help reduce stress tomorrow.

It’s a pretty incredible turnaround for a game that almost didn’t even get finished. Initially announced in 2018 from the developers of popular Minecraft server Hypixel, Riot Games ended up buying the studio mid-development to support the project. The game was delayed several times as its scope increased, until in June of 2025 the project was canceled and the studio closed. However, in November, Collins-Laflamme announced he had acquired the IP rights, announced that the game was back in development, and in a seemingly Herculean effort, the team has an early access version ready for tomorrow.

“It’s a damn miracle we were able to salvage Hytale,” Collins-Laflamme said in a statement last year. “It was barely playable. All basics were broken. Camera, movement, combat, crafting, building, gameloop, sounds, rendering. Everything, everything was wrong.

“It should have taken years to fix, but within weeks, we got the game into a playable, fun state. And now, instead of slowing down or celebrating a release, we have to keep pushing for years to make up for the time that was lost.

“So yes, I feel anger. And I’m turning that into focus and execution. I’m committing more money, more time, and personal sacrifice to deliver the game this vision deserves.”

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Peak, a popular cooperative climbing game, costs $5. Except it actually costs $8, which is basically $5. And it’s on sale right now for just under $5, which is also $5, but if it dropped down to $3 it would actually be $2, which is basically free…

“What.”, you are probably thinking right now, but hear me out. It kinda makes sense. This goofy pricing scheme comes directly from Peak co-creator Nick Kaman in an interview with Game File, where he explains how his team came to the game’s actual sale price of $7.99. In the interview, he shares a theory about indie game pricing vibes that the team floated around as a bit of a joke that still has some truth behind it.

“We had this joke of, like, how much is a game really? In a player’s mind, what does it mean to spend five bucks? Well, that’s five bucks. But six bucks? Well, that’s still five bucks. Four bucks is also kind of five bucks. Three bucks is two bucks. And two bucks is basically free.

“So we’ve got these tiers: You know, twelve bucks… that’s ten bucks. But thirteen bucks is fifteen bucks. “And we found that eight bucks is still five bucks. It doesn’t become ten bucks. Seven ninety nine, that’s five bucks, right?

“So, eight bucks going to five bucks is the biggest differential we could find in pricing, so we found it very optimal.”

If you’re still reeling from this a bit, what Kaman is trying to say here is that a person getting ready to spend money on a game might see a price tag for $7 or $8, and psychologically not feel it’s that different from $5. But if a game is $9, it feels more expensive, closer to $10. And if a game is $2, it feels basically free to them.

There’s no exact science behind that, to be clear, but Kaman is working off his seven years of experience at Aggro Crab, and it seems to have worked out for the team. Peak launched in June 2025, and by August it had sold 10 million copies. Though its playerbase has (naturally and understandably) shrunk since launch, it’s still pulling in tens of thousands of people per day, which is a huge feat for such a small game.

Peak is currently on sale for $4.95, which is almost actually $5, and the lowest price it’s ever been offered for. It’s also significantly cheaper than basically everything AAA, as major publisher game prices in recent years have slowly crept up from $60 to $70, and now even $80, a price that definitely doesn’t feel like $5 or $10. Meanwhile, discussions in the indie game community about what to charge for a game remain ongoing, following a $20 price tag on Hollow Knight: Silksong causing some to panic about how it would impact their own prices.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Veteran video game developer Peter Molyneux has announced a release date for what’s described as his final god game: Masters of Albion.

Molyneux and his studio 22cans confirmed Masters of Albion for April 22, 2026 exclusively on PC via Steam, alongside a new video, below. 22cans said the trailer shows off Masters of Albion’s “unique blend of cosy creativity by day and brutal survival by night.”

Molyneux, who famously developed the likes of Fable, Populous, Dungeon Keeper, and Black & White before founding 22cans in 2012 and releasing controversial god game Godus, worked with the likes of Mark Healey, Russell Shaw, Iain Wright, and Kareem Ettouney on Masters of Albion.

“Blending strategy, simulation, town management, and real-time defence, the game gives players extraordinary freedom to play the game the way they want to play it,” 22cans said.

“Taking inspiration from some of Peter’s classic titles, Masters of Albion is a return to form, blending gameplay mechanics from multiple genres, strategy with simulation, town management with defence, to reinvigorate the god game, and give players the power and freedom to create. Or destroy…”

Here’s a comment from Peter Molyneux:

“Masters of Albion is the culmination of my life’s work, a game that owes so much to titles like Dungeon Keeper, Black & White, and Fable. It’s a totally unique game that we hope will delight players, a game that brings God Games into the modern gaming landscape and puts the genre firmly back on the map.”

Masters of Albion game features:

Build, Create, and Customise

As a god, you have absolute freedom over your towns and villages:

• Design and build every structure

• Hire, house and manage your workforce

• Customise buildings with paint, patterns and embellishments

• Combine building types into unique multi-purpose structures

• No timers or waiting, build instantly and iterate freely

From small workshops to sprawling towns, Albion grows exactly how you decide.

Wield the Power of the God Hand

Command the world with ancient powers:

• Manipulate buildings and objects freely

• Possess and control the living

• Inspire, reward, insult, or punish your people

• Throw giant boulders, spiked balls, exploding barrels or just plain old-fashioned people

• Rain lightning, fire and destruction down upon your enemies

• Shape Albion with absolute authority

Enjoy the freedom that being a god brings, but with great freedom comes great responsibility.

Roam Freely Across Albion

Experience the world from multiple perspectives:

• View Albion from the heavens or possess living beings to explore on foot

• Control heroes, dogs, workers and even chickens

• Complete quests to unlock treasures and secrets

• Delve into dangerous underground cave networks

• Craft weapons and armour for your heroes

• Design the clothes that your workers wear (however bizarre)

• Explore, experiment and uncover the forgotten history of Albion

Defend the Night

When night falls, Albion is no longer safe. Malevolent creatures emerge from the darkness, attacking towns and killing indiscriminately. Survival depends on preparation and decisive action:

• Design, build and arm powerful defensive turrets

• Hire heroes to protect the people

• Escort the vulnerable through the terrors of the night

• Construct walls, choke points, and deadly defences

• Channel enemies into carefully planned kill zones

• Use god powers to strike fear into the undead

• Possess heroes and fight enemies directly in real-time combat

Each night tests your planning, creativity, and resolve.

Key Themes

• Power and responsibility

• Industry versus ancient magic

• Freedom of choice and consequence

• Cosy creativity contrasted with chaos and danger

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.

Minecraft-style sandbox game Hytale looks set to be a significant hit even at the early access stage. Hot on the heels of predicting over 1 million players for tomorrow’s launch, its developer has said Hytale has already made enough money to cover the next two years of development.

In a social media post, Hypixel Studios founder Simon Collins-Laflamme said that the next two years of dev costs are now covered through Hytale pre-purchases. He added: “combined with my personal commitment of 10 years, we are looking very strong for the future.”

Three pre-purchase options are available: the Standard Edition costs $23.99; the Supporter Edition costs $41.99; and the Founder’s Edition costs $83.99. Collins-Laflamme confirmed the Hytale development team is now “50+ or so.”

It all points to enormous early success for Hytale, which has endured a tumultuous development. Hytale was announced in December 2018 with a trailer that has an incredible 62 million views on YouTube. Here’s the official blurb, as it was back then:

Hytale combines the scope of a sandbox with the depth of a roleplaying game, immersing players in a procedurally generated world where teetering towers and deep dungeons promise rich rewards throughout their adventures. Hytale supports everything from block-by-block construction to scripting and minigame creation, delivered using easy to use and powerful tools.

Excitement around Hytale was fueled by the experience of the developers themselves, who co-founded Hypixel, one of the most influential Minecraft servers in the world. Riot invested in the project and eventually bought the studio.

But in November, League of Legends developer Riot Games confirmed it had sold the rights to Hytale back to Collins-Laflamme after it had acquired the game back in 2020. Riot said that after considering “a range of options,” it decided to sell the IP rights back to Collins-Laflamme as this “gives players the best chance to one day experience a revised version of the game they’ve been waiting for.”

Development on the game had been stagnating despite its sale to Riot, but Collins-Laflamme set out to resurrect the dying IP, confirming he had rehired scores of developers who had worked on it.

In a statement published at the end of 2025, Collins-Laflamme expressed his “anger” at what had happened to Hytale over the years.

“The game has insane potential, but four years of engineering went into rebuilding the engine rather than gameplay features,” he said. “That leaves us with a four-year gap and a lot of catching up to do, and that rebuilt engine is never gonna be used.

“When you don’t invest in gameplay, you don’t just lose time. You lose momentum, iteration, and player feedback. Now the focus has to be on gameplay first and rebuilding trust by actually shipping things at a rapid pace.

“It’s a damn miracle we were able to salvage Hytale. It was barely playable. All basics were broken. Camera, movement, combat, crafting, building, gameloop, sounds, rendering. Everything, everything was wrong.

“It should have taken years to fix, but within weeks, we got the game into a playable, fun state. And now, instead of slowing down or celebrating a release, we have to keep pushing for years to make up for the time that was lost.

“So yes, I feel anger. And I’m turning that into focus and execution. I’m committing more money, more time, and personal sacrifice to deliver the game this vision deserves.”

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.