Sword of Convallaria X The Witcher 3: A Commemorative Interview

XD released Sword of Convallaria, a tactical RPG for iOS, Android, and PC to audiences in the west in August ’24 (around a year after the game’s East Asian launch). Heavily influenced by Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics, the game has captivated fans with its meticulously crafted war story and highly strategic battles, all played out to a beautiful soundtrack.

Just over a year following its release, a truly major collaboration between Sword of Convallaria: For This World of Peace and CD PROJEKT RED’s open-world RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been fully realised and delivered to gamers. Geralt, Yennefer, Triss, and Ciri now appear in Sword of Convallaria as playable characters; allowing players to enjoy collaborative stories and quests surrounding the Lord of the Forest from another world.

Bartosz Sztybor, Franchise Creative Director at CD PROJEKT RED, explained his take on the collaboration and how it came together: “At CD PROJEKT RED, storytelling is at the heart of everything we do, and we take a hands-on approach even when collaborating with external partners. For our partnership with Sword of Convallaria, our Franchise Creative team worked closely with developer XD International to craft a story that captures the essence of The Witcher universe, both for the anime trailer and the collaboration quest. Working with a partner who shares our passion for The Witcher is always a privilege, and we’re thrilled with the results of what we’ve created together. We’re looking forward to sharing the fruits of this partnership with the community, and can’t wait to see their response!”

CD PROJEKT RED’s Satoru Homma, Japan Country Manager, offered further insight into their partnership with XD Games: “For the collaboration between Sword of Convallaria and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, I was responsible for project management on behalf of CD PROJEKT RED. I am personally a huge fan of Sword of Convallaria, and I had a strong desire to see The Witcher 3’s characters — rendered in beautiful pixel art — playable within a tactical RPG. With the deep love and understanding Sword of Convallaria’s team holds for The Witcher 3, and under the thorough supervision of our in-house lore specialists, we were able to deliver grounded and authentic storytelling in the collaboration quest. I sincerely hope that The Witcher 3 players who may be unfamiliar with the tactical RPG genre will take the time to enjoy this content, which is infused with a deep appreciation for the world and its characters.

Director of Sword of Convallaria, Guo Lei (of XD Games)spoke about this collaboration in more detail — as well as the circumstances that led to it becoming a reality.

Inspired by Tactics Ogre, which he played in high school, Guo always wanted to become a game creator. He is also a fan of The Witcher 3, and his favourite characters are Geralt and Yennefer.

Guo on Sword of Convallaria passing the first anniversary of its western release and how he feels looking back on the past year:

Sword of Convallaria got off to a successful start, but there was a period when we were searching for the right direction to go in. However, thanks to the support of our fans, we were able to turn things around and successfully celebrate our first anniversary. From now on, we will continue to develop the game with confidence and enjoyment for the fans who have high expectations for it.

Regarding the game’s content, the Global version saw the release of Iria, and the story of her stepping into the world that lies beyond was depicted on the first anniversary. In the future, Sword of Convallaria will enter its 2.0 story arc, taking players on adventures beyond Iria, and develop a story in which the player protects peace. We hope you will look forward to it.

— On how the The Witcher 3 collaboration came about:

Guo: From the beginning, our team had already been acquainted with the CDPR China team. During one of these casual conversations, we mentioned that it would be exciting if we could one day work on something together based on Sword of Convallaria and The Witcher 3.

Later, we had the opportunity to meet the CDPR Japan team in person at Tokyo Game Show 2024. During our discussions there, I showed them my personal love for The Witcher 3 and the interest in exploring whether we might create something together. They encouraged us to submit a formal proposal, which set the collaboration into motion. The Witcher 3 is a game that boasts worldwide popularity, so I was over the moon when he positively considered our proposal for a collaboration. After considerable effort, the collaboration was officially approved. From that point onward, both teams dedicated nearly a full year to development, ultimately bringing this collaboration to life in the form you see today.

What it was about The Witcher 3 that particularly appealed to him:

First of all, it’s the sense of immersion that comes with being so realistic. You get the feeling that you’re immersed in the world, something you can’t experience in other games. Also, it’s the story element. What’s great about it is that it depicts so many stories that you can empathise with. It’s very unique in that you make painful choices that change the outcome of the story. I was overwhelmed by how the fascinating characters play an active role in the story.

How the story was designed, its core themes, and the creative collaboration behind it

We wanted to create the worldview of The Witcher 3 within the world of Sword of Convallaria. However, it goes against Geralt’s beliefs to get involved in conflicts between nations, and in fact, if we were to depict an epic story involving The Witcher 3, we felt that it would be quite a high hurdle to figure out how to resolve it. For this reason, we decided to aim for a down-to-earth story.

The story revolves around the Leshen from The Witcher 3 appearing and causing trouble, and Geralt and his friends teaming up with the Leader to defeat it. Behind the scenes, the story also depicts the malice of people. For example, when a problem occurs, people assume that it is the work of those from a different background to themselves and blame them. The theme of the story poses a question of morality, as Geralt and Yennefer intervene to try to resolve this.

In The Witcher 3, Geralt and Yennefer are portrayed as unusual people who present differently from the average person. Naturally, they have differing personalities and ways of conducting themselves. We made it a priority to carefully express the various facets of these characters in the collaborative story.

We made sure to communicate closely with CD PROJEKT RED. We created shared documents, edited those documents, and received feedback, all of which allowed us to proceed with development meticulously and efficiently. This resulted in a fun development experience unlike any other.

How they approached reimagining The Witcher 3 characters into the pixel-based world of Sword of Convallaria:

The Witcher 3 has a realistic 3D visual style, but when translating that into pixel art, our first priority was to think about how to express the movement in a way that would satisfy players.

However, the designers also love The Witcher 3, so they had fun designing it with care, for example, to make it clear the difference between a silver sword and a steel sword. As a result, I got the impression that the visuals went smoothly.

The regions that were main target for the collaboration:

Worldwide. Sword of Convallaria is available in four languages: Chinese, Japanese, English, and Korean. As with The Witcher 3, we have a global perspective and want game fans around the world to enjoy Sword of Convallaria Sword IP. Therefore, every region is important to us.

If I had to say, we’re particularly interested in English-speaking countries. We see the English-speaking world as a region where we still want to gain more fans for Sword of Convallaria. It goes without saying that The Witcher 3 has already gained many English-speaking fans, so we hope that this collaboration will help us further appeal to the English-speaking world.

Aspects that particularly stood out for him during this collaboration:

I think this was a true collaboration. The fact that both parties were working together in the same direction was a feeling I’d never had before, and it was a lot of fun. It was a wonderful experience for us. So, this time, we were able to communicate directly with CDPR, and not only was it very efficient, but we also felt that everyone gained something from this project.

The part of the collaboration that symbolised its success, or made him especially proud to be a part of it:

What’s necessary when collaborating with other artists is love for the work. I think that only when we have a strong love for the work can we create something that satisfies our collaborators. We ourselves had always wanted to collaborate with The Witcher 3, but it was thanks to CDPR that we were able to make it happen. We are truly happy. We have also prepared skins for Geralt, Yennefer, and Triss. We have created skins based on the scenes that moved us the most while we were playing The Witcher 3. Geralt usually wears armor, but for this skin we created one that realistically expresses the love between father and daughter when Ciri visits Geralt.

As for Triss, in The Witcher 3, Triss and Geralt attend a dance party. However, the two of them aren’t very interested in the dance party, so they sneak out midway through and enjoy a date in the garden. We recreated that atmosphere with the skin.

Each skin was created with love, so I hope all players will check them out.

His message to the Sword of Convallaria players who are looking forward to the collaboration:

I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all of our fans. It is thanks to you all that Sword of Convallaria has grown so much over the past year or so, and that we have been able to safely reach our first anniversary. Thank you so much! Thanks to everyone’s support, we were able to collaborate with The Witcher 3. How will Geralt and his friends play a role in the world of Sword of Convallaria? We hope that not only the Leaders but also fans of The Witcher 3 will enjoy the event.

©XD Inc.

The Witcher® is a trademark of CD Projekt S.A. The Witcher game ©CD Projekt S.A. All rights reserved. The Witcher game is based on a novel by Andrzej Sapkowski. All other copyrights and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

GTA Online Update Reveals First Look at Michael in the Grand Theft Auto Universe Since GTA 5 Launched Back in 2013 — and Settles Any Lingering Canon Ending Questions

GTA fans finally have their first look at Grand Theft Auto 5 character Michael in the Grand Theft Auto universe since the game launched back in 2013.

We can see Michael in the trailer for GTA Online DLC A Safehouse in the Hills, below. In the teaser for the upcoming expansion, which adds a luxurious new home for the most successful of online criminals to the online mode, a noticeably older, greying, Michael De Santa and his wife Amanda can be seen greeting a player at the front door of their fancy new Hollywood Hills crib. This is the first time that Michael, played by Ned Luke, has been seen in the Grand Theft Auto universe since GTA 5 launched back in 2013.

The update also settles any lingering questions around the canon ending for GTA 5, confirming once and for all that Option C, otherwise known as “Deathwish”, is how the story should end.

It now means that all three playable protagonists, with Franklin and Trevor being the other two, have appeared in GTA Online. Naturally, this means the “Deathwish” ending is now canon in Online’s version of Los Santos, as this is the only way that all three characters remain alive at the end of GTA 5’s final mission “The Third Way” — one of three possible last levels available depending on the player’s choice. For reference, “Something Sensible” is Option A, which leaves both Franklin and Michael alive, but kills Trevor, and “The Time’s Come” is Option B, resulting in Franklin and Trevor’s survival, but Michael’s death.

In all three possible endings, Franklin lives to walk the streets of Los Santos, so it always felt natural that he’d be a part of GTA Online, which takes place after the events of Grand Theft Auto 5. Trevor has also been present since 2013, giving the online protagonist missions and calling to berate them over the phone in his own peculiar manner, but this is the first time we’ve seen Michael’s face since.

Eagle-eared online players would’ve heard a small reference to the professional bank robber back in 2021, though, which, although it definitely alludes to Michael, didn’t 100% confirm he was still around. This occurs when Franklin is chasing two golfers through the Richards Majestic Studios film lot in the centre of the city. This is one of the places Michael works in order to achieve his Hollywood movie-producing dreams in the main game’s campaign. Franklin remarks, “I know one of the producers around here. I hope his ass ain’t work today…”, suggesting De Santa is still employed there after all this time.

It is curious that Rockstar has chosen to put Michael back into the world of GTA so many years after we saw him last, and it does beg the question of how long this was planned for, seeing as this update has dropped so close to GTA 6’s previous release date of November 19, 2025. Is this the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption developer saying their final goodbye to these characters before gearing up to unleash Lucia and Jason into the world in 2026?

How do you feel about the “Deathwish” ending being chosen by Rockstar as the canonical one for GTA 5? Let us know in the comments below. And, of course, for everything GTA 6, stick with IGN.

Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.

What to Expect From The Game Awards 2025

It’s that time of the year when a flurry of new video game trailers and gameplay reveals are shown as part of the annual Game Awards. And while who wins Game of the Year will steal some of the headlines on December 11, a lot of the excitement also comes from the secrets and surprises that get unleashed in the form of new game announcements.

So we’re keeping tabs on what has been confirmed to make an appearance so far, what has been teased, and some of the pie-in-the-sky dream games we know deep down in our brains won’t be there, but our heart tells us there might just be a chance. Don’t worry, we’re not going to be quite as far-fetched as to say GTA 6 will be at The Game Awards, nor The Witcher 4, which CD Projekt Red has already confirmed won’t be. But that’s enough of that. Let’s head straight into what you can expect from The Game Awards 2025.

What We Know Will Be There

Regal. Inspiring. Thickness. No, not words often used to describe me, but the ones that accompanied Geoff Keighley’s social media post of a mysterious demon-covered monolith that appeared in the Mojave Desert last week. Theories have been flying out as to what it could be teasing, but much of that speculation has been debunked, with Diablo, God of War, and The Elder Scrolls 6 all supposedly not what it relates to. What do you think it is?

We do know that Resident Evil Requiem will be showing up on the 11th with a new look at the long-running horror series’ latest entry. Arriving early next year, rumours have been circulating ever since its original reveal that Resident Evil 4 hunk, Leon Kennedy, will make an appearance in Requiem. Is now the time for Capcom to confirm his inclusion?

A new playable character will be revealed for Invincible VS, though. The fighting game adaptation of the cult-favourite comic and animated TV show has garnered a lot of attention since its summer reveal, so who do you think this character will be? We’ll also get a good look at Exodus, the upcoming sci-fi action RPG from Archetype Studios, formed by former BioWare developers. With that sort of Mass Effect pedigree behind it, it’s certainly one we’re looking forward to seeing a lot more of. We also know that a new Total War game will be revealed by developer Creative Assembly, following the series’ 25th anniversary.

And finally, we know that one of the musical performances on Thursday night will be from Evanescence, who will be showcasing their song “Afterlife” from the Netflix adaptation of Devil May Cry. Would I prefer they did “Bring Me to Life” with Nathan Fielder dressed as an airline pilot on backing vocals? Yes, of course, but we can’t have everything in this world.

What Might Be There

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 broke the record for the most nominations of The Game Awards, and looks set to be one of the big winners of the night. Could we see a release date announcement for the upcoming free update that will add a new dungeon, among other treats? Who knows, maybe even a cheeky little shadow drop…

Another announcement we could see from one of the big nominees of the night is a wider console release for Hades 2. Currently only on PC and Switch, could one of 2025’s best games come to PS5 and Xbox?

Fallout Season 2 arrives on Amazon Prime Video on December 17, and given Geoff’s penchant for having stars of the big and small screen on stage at The Game Awards, we wouldn’t be shocked to see some combination of Ella Purnell and Walton Goggins arrive to give us a sneak peek of what’s to come.

Speaking of stars of the big screen, things don’t come much more cinematic than James Bond. 007 First Light is the upcoming action-adventure from Hitman studio IO Interactive, and it’s shaping up very nicely, as you can read in my big preview. With it coming out in March 2026, surely we’re due for another hit on the Bond pipe soon. Could a big reveal, such as who the villain will be, or who is performing the game’s theme, be at The Game Awards? The stage certainly seems set for the latter to come with a live performance at the show.

Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, which is being helmed by Uncharted’s Amy Hennig, moved out of early 2026. The delay may mean that we’ll be waiting a little longer to play Captain America and Black Panther’s WW2 adventure, but is now the time for a full gameplay reveal?

Speaking of Marvel, Insomniac’s Marvel’s Wolverine is due late 2026, and while we’ve had some teases of what it will look like in action, we’d certainly love to see more. As for other PlayStation exclusives, Housemarque’s Saros looks set to follow in the sci-fi shooter footsteps of breakout hit Returnal when it arrives in March. Again, we’d love to see more. And one PlayStation Studios game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, may well be a while off yet — if you think you’re playing this in 2026, keep dreaming — but seeing as it got its big reveal at last year’s Game Awards, it wouldn’t be a stretch to see a bigger look at Naughty Dog’s next project very soon.

On the Xbox side of things, could we finally get a good look at some Fable gameplay? Or maybe see Gears of War: E-Day in action? There’s also Forza Horizon 6 on the way next year, of which we’ve seen nothing but the smallest of teasers. We know it’s set in Japan, so we would love to see just how beautiful Playground Games’ depiction of Tokyo is. Plus, let’s face it, driving games can never resist pulling out all of the stops and placing their cover car centre of stage at events like this.

It also wouldn’t be a Geoff Keighley show with a sprinkling of Hideo Kojima into the mix. The Metal Gear Solid creator is up for a few awards thanks to Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, but might we also get a look at what is coming up next from him? Xbox horror exclusive OD: Knock continues to be teased as it conjures up unsettling memories of P.T, so we could see more of that. There’s also Physint, his PlayStation espionage action exclusive. That may well be far away at this point, but not beyond the realms of possibility for Kojima to tease further.

Another legendary developer, Ken Levine, continues to work away on Judas. It’s been over 12 years since he last released a game, 2013’s Bioshock Infinite, so who really knows if now is the time to finally give us a launch date for this one. I’m very excited about it, but I won’t let myself get carried away until I have any idea when I’ll actually be able to play it. Something I have already been able to play a little of is Phantom Blade Zero, a quite punishing sword action game from Chinese developer S-Game. It was originally meant to arrive in 2025, but could a release date finally be unveiled on the 11th?

And, finally for now. FromSoftware’s Switch 2 exclusive, The Duskbloods, has been very quiet ever since its initial reveal back in April’s Nintendo Direct. Due for 2026 – and seeing Keighley has had several previous Hidetaka Miyazaki-related reveals at The Game Awards in the past – maybe now is the time for an in-depth look at exactly what this co-op action RPG is.

What We Can Dream Will Be There

Well, at least we don’t have to close our eyes and cross our fingers in hope of a Hollow Knight: Silksong release date anymore. But will Team Cherry tease DLC for one of 2025’s best games? Even I won’t go as far as to genuinely suggest that.

Another one of this year’s best games is Donkey Kong Bananza, which served as Nintendo’s big launch window 3D platformer. That may have come as a surprise to some who thought Mario would have that position nailed down. Could we see a new 3D Mario game announced at The Game Awards? It’s admittedly a long shot, but with the new Super Mario Galaxy Movie on the way next Spring, it sure would be nice to have a new game to play alongside it.

What might be more likely is a look at what Cory Barlog has been cooking up at Sony Santa Monica. A new game from the God of War director outside of that universe has been rumoured for a long time now, and it feels like we may be getting closer to seeing what it is. The Game Awards has a pattern of bringing back past winners of the Game of the Year award to tease their next projects. So this gives us a little hope here.

Following on from that train of thought, two recent recipients of the big prize have been Elden Ring and Baldur’s Gate 3. The former’s creator, FromSoftware, may well bring The Duskbloods with them, as mentioned earlier, but what about a new single-player action RPG in the mould of what has made them so well-renowned? Bloodborne 2, anyone? I almost feel bad for mentioning it. As for Baldur’s Gate 3, developer Larian is surely now working on its next game, although seeing as BG3 did take many, many years to make, we won’t be expecting to play this one soon. Could we see a tease of what’s to come, though? Do you think it would be Baldur’s Gate 4 or something altogether different?

Baldur’s Gate’s original developer, BioWare, has its sights set on the stars, as the EA studio returns to the beloved sci-fi RPG series, Mass Effect. Could we be given a glimpse into where the story may be heading next? Or dare we even dream of some Mass Effect 5 gameplay? That may be a little too far, but I do like to dream.

And speaking of dreaming, I can’t not mention Half-Life 3. Rumours have been circulating over recent weeks that the long, long-awaited FPS sequel might actually be in development, with an announcement imminent. Could it actually be at The Game Awards? Geoff Keighley does have a long history with Valve, but these days it operates more like Rockstar does, with outside help rarely called on for its big marketing beats. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see Gordon Freeman pop up on that giant screen, but I won’t believe it until I do.

What would be your dream Game Awards reveal? Let us know in the comments below. Mine, as ever, would be a full Burnout reboot from the original Criterion team, but I may have to admit that I’m not living in 2005 anymore.

Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond’s $30 Amiibo Sparks Exclusive Bike Radio Backlash

Nintendo fans are unhappy about a $30 Metroid Prime 4: Beyond amiibo figurine that lets you turn on your motorbike’s radio.

As previously announced, the Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Samus amiibo unlocks a range of in-game features, including an energy shield that blocks 99 damage — limited to one use per day. But fan discussion has now centered on the fact this amiibo also unlocks a jukebox feature for Samus’ Vi-O-La motorbike, which allows you to hear other themes from the game.

Discussion around the rights and wrongs of Nintendo providing extra features for amiibo owners is nothing new, and dozens of Nintendo games include exclusive additions for people who own associated figurines (or borrow them from friends). Additionally, in this case, there have also been a number of inaccuracies shared over the radio’s usage, with some reports incorrectly stating that it includes otherwise exclusive music, or that the bike’s main Sol Valley area is silent otherwise.

It’s true that the Sol Valley’s etheral, ambient music is relatively sparse — the desert-like area is meant to be a wasteland, after all, and a notably different environment from the game’s main areas that Samus once again explores on foot.

Still, some fans have suggested that it would have been nice to have the option of turning on the in-game radio without buying a $29.99 toy, which — while a familiar argument for Nintendo games with amiibo-exclusive features — seems fair enough.

“Couldn’t they have given us that jukebox mode in the first place instead of having us buy an accessory to unluck said jukebox mode?” wrote Nintendo fan knightedwolf851 on reddit. “Spending more money on a game we already bought for 70-80 bucks?”

“Honestly, if the DLC is something that doesn’t effect the gameplay and story then I’m fine with this,” countered another fan, Kerrpllady. “It is a cosmetic that doesn’t impact the game. (Unlike the the Skyward Sword teleport, which I think that mechanic removed some decision making from the game anyways.)”

“30 dollars to kill the intended ambiance? Okay then,” quipped a third fan, The_Pepper_Oni.

IGN has a full guide to Metroid Prime 4: Beyond’s amiibo functionality, rewards and unlocks, which also include a distance traveled counter and extra Vi-O-La paintjobs. Previously, we reported on the game’s Sylux amiibo figurine that allows you to watch a specially edited in-game cutscene that otherwise requires 100% completion.

“Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is an excellent, if relatively uneven, revival that reaches heights worthy of the Metroid name in its best moments,” IGN wrote in our Metroid Prime 4: Beyond review, scoring the game an 8/10.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

‘Rest in Peace. Your Soul Is Eternal’ — Tributes for Mortal Kombat Actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Who Has Died Aged 75

Actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, who played Shang Tsung in the original Mortal Kombat movie as well as video game Mortal Kombat 11, has died aged 75.

The star of The Last Emperor, Memoirs of a Geisha, and The Man in the High Castle, died Thursday in Santa Barbara due to complications from a stroke, Deadline reported.

Tagawa famously played evil sorcerer Shang Tsung in the 1995 adaptation of the Mortal Kombat video game, becoming an instantly recognizable face for an army of fans. In the movie, Shang Tsung points to a helpless Liu Kang while holding his brother, Chan hostage, and declares: “your brother’s soul is mine!” Tagawa would go on to make his ‘Your soul is mine!’ line an iconic part of Shang Tsung lore, and it has endured in the 30 years since. After the original Mortal Kombat movie, Tagawa went on to play Shang Tsung multiple times, including in 2019’s Mortal Kombat 11, where his voice and physical likeness was used — much to the delight of fans.

Other film roles included Kwang in James Bond movie Licence to Kill, Commander Minoru Genda in Pearl Harbor, and Heihachi Mishima in the 2009 Tekken movie and its 2014 sequel, Tekken 2: Kazuya’s Revenge.

Tagawa’s last major role came in 2015, when he played one of the lead characters in Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle. His final role was voicing Eiji the Swordmaker in Season 1 of Netflix’s well-received animated Blue Eye Samurai.

Ed Boon, development chief at Mortal Kombat studio NetherRealm, paid tribute to Tagawa in a post on social media. “We lost a legend today,” he said. “We had the privilege of his portrayal on the first MK film but also as an amazing voice actor in the Mortal Kombat 11 game. Cary was one of a kind. He combined danger, swagger and athleticism to his roles and will always be remembered as the man who first brought Shang Tsung to life on film. Rest in Peace. Your soul is eternal.”

Todd Garner, producer on the 2021 Mortal Kombat movie as well as its upcoming sequel, also took to social media, saying: “Sad news. Great man. Great actor. He will be missed.”

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.

World of Warcraft’s Housing Feature Is Now Live, and Horde Players Are Desperately Trying to Reinvent Their Spiky Huts

World of Warcraft’s housing feature launched this week for everyone who purchased the upcoming Midnight expansion early. Though the feature is still in its early stages, players (including yours truly) are already losing hours upon hours creating elaborate homes with the decor available. But Horde players in particular are really struggling to contend with one major issue: their house exteriors are ugly.

Okay, that’s a little mean. If you play an orc, or are into the orc aesthetics of spikes, flames, haphazard metal plates, and slapdash wooden boards nailed on, the Horde exteriors are fine. The issue is that a lot of the Horde – namely, everyone who doesn’t play an orc – generally prefers a less…grungey aesthetic. Alliance players also only get one exterior housing option, but their homes are fairly standard, inoffensive cottages that most people will find tolerable at worst.

Unfortunately for anyone unhappy with what’s on offer, until Midnight fully launches, this is it. You can customize your exterior in various ways by changing up roof colors and chimney styles, but it’s all in your faction’s default aesthetic. Blizzard has promised that Night Elf and Blood Elf exteriors will arrive on Midnight’s release, with more options planned for later on. But for now you’re stuck with either a cottage or a spike shack one way or another.

Some players, like myself, are just trying to make the best of it with outdoor decorations. Here’s my modest hut. You’d never know that inside is a cozy Shaman retreat, complete with a small magical library, a snug kitchen, and a stone altar dedicated in honor of the elements.

But a lot of players are getting far, far more creative in their attempts to subvert the shabby exterior design. You see, Blizzard’s decoration tools are very, very precise if you want them to be, and can ignore collision if you want them to. Which has led to Horde players trying to mask the orc-ness of their huts by covering them with…well, all sorts of other things.

For instance, this person turned their house into a nice cave:

This person took a crack at a more Blood Elf-looking style:

This person made something simple yet effective:

Posts from the wow
community on Reddit

I think this one is pretty cool:

Unfortunately, in doing this, one issue players are running up against is that there is a limit to how much decor you can put outside, and many of the objects people are using to cover up the orc turrets use up a significant portion of that limit. As a result, if you want to cover your house in rocks, you can’t do much else with your yard. It seems like everyone is begging Blizzard to raise the exterior decor cap, an issue they told us they’re well aware of and working on.

Realistically, this is not a massive issue at the moment: we knew going in that this was effectively an early access feature and some functionality would be limited. More than anything, it’s funny to see the lengths players will go to in order to get creative with the tools they have available to them. Just imagine what they’ll be capable of once they don’t have to waste all their outdoor decor space on big wooden platforms.

World of Warcraft: Midnight launches on March 2, 2026. If you want to get your hands on housing before then, you’ve got to pre-order the expansion – any version of it will do. We recently spoke with Jesse Kurlancheek, housing lead and principal game designer, and Joanna Giannullis, senior UX designer, about the housing feature, including how its gone in the beta so far, and what to expect in Midnight.

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

Destiny 2: Renegades Review So Far

Destiny has always been the “we’ve got Star Wars at home” looter shooter, and with Destiny 2: Renegades, Bungie has decided to lean into that directly with a crossover expansion. Weirdly enough, so far that decision seems to have kinda worked out alright! Renegades doesn’t solve many of Destiny 2’s longstanding issues, including the fact that it’s been awkwardly spinning its wheels for over a year now (reminiscent of the MCU post-Endgame), but embracing the cheesiness and over-the-top drama of Star Wars is at the very least a surprisingly nice change of pace in what has become quite a predictable universe. The story is silly, to be sure, but introduces a few new mechanics and weapon types that are a welcome change, and there’s an impressive level of enemy density throughout practically all of the activities that keeps the action interesting. I’ve still got a lot more questing and looting to do before my final review, but so far this expansion has been a pretty compelling breath of fresh air in a game I’ve otherwise been far less excited about than usual.

If you’ve read any of my previous expansion reviews (of which there are a lot), then you’ll already know I am one those weirdo Destiny fans who has stuck with this game through thick and thin – so it should mean something when I tell you that saying I am also a Star Wars fan would be such a massive understatement that I’m actually too embarrassed to elaborate further publicly. But even with my undying love of space wizards, I was initially mortified to learn Destiny 2 was planning a crossover with it. For me, it was the ultimate sign that Destiny was out of ideas, had gone “full Fortnite” in a way that seemed cheap and tacky, and was making one last desperation play during the slow death it’s been suffering for a number of years now. And, yeah, that all pretty much turned out to be true. But when I found myself watching two lightsaber-wielding foes square off in an epic cutscene while listening to the John Williams-esque music this expansion makes heavy use of, I’ll admit it won me over… at least a little.

Renegades does go out of its way to include every little Star Wars reference to a degree that can feel a bit forced – a crutch that’s continuously leaned upon in lieu of any original ideas. For example, you find yourself trapped in a garbage compactor during the very first mission, rescue someone from off-brand carbon freezing, and make a jump to lightspeed while a brooding, masked villain angrily watches you escape his grasp. It’s extremely on the nose stuff, and I was just as likely to experience a full-body cringe as I was to smile about it. But the complete “screw it” energy at play here as it full-throatedly embraces all the corniness and drama for which Star Wars is known does have a certain kind of refreshing charm that’s at least a distinct direction for Destiny 2. I’ve been complaining about this game feeling stale for at least five years now, so I’ve got to give Bungie a bit of credit for trying something new here.

There are also a fair number of new mechanics that I wasn’t expecting, like a shielding system for certain enemies that forces you to deal a whole bunch of damage in a short span of time before you can actually hurt them, AT-ST-inspired walkers that have some unique attacks I wasn’t expecting, and even some new weapon types, like battery-powered guns that can be fired until they overheat and need to cool down. None of this is massively game-changing stuff, but they’re decent little tweaks to the sandbox that are welcome additions. Of course, there’s also a ton of stuff that hasn’t changed at all, and even while you’re facing off against a new kind of enemy in theory, you’ll still be fighting the same Cabal armored warriors and bony Thrall monstrosities you’ve been shooting for over a decade, which has made this feel like a cheap reskin at times.

I’m still fairly early into my space opera journey (I haven’t even crafted my lightsaber yet!), so I have a whole lot more to play before I can definitively say where Renegades lands. But so far this expansion seems much better than I expected… though that’s partially because I expected very little. I’ll have much more to say once I’ve completed the campaign and begin to dive into the endgame activities. For Light and Life!

Warhammer Quest Darkwater Board Game Review

For gamers of a certain age, Warhammer Quest is a name to conjure with. The original 1995 release was the premier dungeon-crawler of its day, a rare cooperative title in an age of head-to-head conflict games. Once it was out of print it became, and remains, highly collectable. But in 2016, publisher Games Workshop resurrected the brand with the well-received Silver Tower. Darkwater is the latest iteration, with a few new tweaks and a lot of new toys on board to try and uphold its considerable legacy.

What’s in the Box

Games Workshop is rightly known as the premier producer of plastic miniatures and, even by its own exalted standards, the range of figures included in this set are a little bit special. Six of them are heroes, the remainder are their enemies, servants of the noxious, squelchy plague god of the Warhammer universe, Nurgle. The Nurgle range has always been a terrible beauty, crammed with unpleasant details of open sores and drooling maws and there’s plenty of that on display here. But what makes these stand out is a sense of character, something that’s often missing in modern, dynamically posed figures.

These pop out of your tabletop with an air of individuality, particularly the heroes who display a fine mix of old-school adventurer alongside the current sensibilities of GW’s Age of Sigmar setting. Facial expressions and poses seem to tell you something about each of them, from the dour scowl of mercenary Bren Tylis to the gloating grin of the central villain, Gelgus Pust. And it’s worth noting for less experienced modellers that the box’s claim of push-fit is largely true. Most of the figures are fairly easy to assemble, although a couple will benefit from a drop of polystyrene cement. Painting them is another matter, however, as the level of detail may be a bit daunting for novices.

Outside of the miniatures, GW boxed games often skimp on the remainder of the components. That’s not the case here: this is a lavish production at every level, and you can see where the considerable asking price has been spent. Once you’ve lifted the figure sprues out of the box, the cards and punch-out tokens have their own carefully packed sub-box, with the cards for each of the game’s campaign acts presented in their own sealed envelopes. Although the cards could use more, and more varied, artwork, they’re sturdy, shiny and clear to read.

“This is a lavish production at every level.”

Most surprising of all is the book of maps that are used in the skirmish scenarios that make up most of the game. While this is hardly a new idea, most examples are clunky and spiral-bound. This one is hard-bound, yet it still lies flat, making it an absolute pleasure to use. And the maps within are full of the kind of detailed art that we should also have seen on the cards, effectively evoking the plague-corrupted environments of the game’s setting, the Jade Abbey. More detail on the setting and narrative are provided in the game’s rulebook, offering up a great foretaste of the adventures to come.

Rules and How It Plays

Warhammer Quest: Darkwater is a cooperative board game, but you’ll play with four heroes in every game, so it’s best with two or four players: solo is possible, but you’ll end up juggling a lot as the campaign progresses. It has two game modes, a one-off skirmish fight or a longer campaign game. The focus is definitely on the latter mode, as single fights can be unbalanced depending on the scenario you end up playing, and you don’t get the fun of slowly building up your characters and revealing your own narrative of attempting to free the Jade Abbey from Nurgle’s putrefaction.

A campaign consists of three acts, each of which sees you dealing out 14 random encounter cards from that act’s deck, with a boss card beneath. You then get a choice of two possible encounter cards for each adventure, and this is an important decision. Many of the encounters aren’t skirmish fights but little narrative snippets or mini-games. Most of these are of the push your luck or risk versus reward variety, but there are a couple of the more imaginative designs that made Silver Tower’s scenarios such a pleasure.

When it comes to battle scenarios, it’s important to read the cards carefully and consider how the fight might play out. They offer a variety of maps, of enemies to fight, sidequests, victory conditions and special rules. These cause them to vary wildly in difficulty, and some can be almost impossible if you haven’t found certain rewards for your party. This is a big deal because the price for failure is high: you lose some rewards and get to try again, with a second fail ending the campaign.

Duking it out on the map is based on a set of rules from another game in the series, Warhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game (see it at Amazon). Each hero has three action cards: move, attack, and aid. Using one requires you to expend energy, which is most commonly obtained by exhausting one of said cards, either for the action you’re taking or one of the others. Essentially this boils down to heroes taking three actions each turn, which can be any combination of the available options, although some of the rewards you can get later in the campaign complicate the picture a little.

Combat involves you rolling dice, almost always a pair, hoping to achieve a target number depending on what you’re fighting. Many enemies have a defense value that cancels out an equal number of hits, meaning you’ll have to hit on both dice to hurt them. Between the probabilities involved and the flexibility of the action system, this provides a satisfying balance of decision-making and randomness. This is not a deep game by any means, but you’ll often be torn as to how to best distribute your actions, while the turn limit on completing each battle can lead to some thrilling, high-stakes rolls towards the close.

Between each hero’s turn, the monsters get to activate. How they behave depends on a dice roll, and most enemies switch between a sedate black die and a more threatening red die with each passing battle round. Mostly they’ll move toward a target at variable speed and try to attack, although all the monsters also have a special effect: horrible little pox-wretches spawn new companions, while the tough daemonic cankerborn blast all nearby heroes with an area effect attack. This roll can have a major impact on the difficulty of a scenario, as monsters sometimes do nothing and sometimes unleash a terrifying onslaught, a quirk that the rules put down to their chaotic nature.

One flaw in this system and the map design is that most of the boards have one or more choke points caused by impassable hexes, and most of the scenarios require players to get somewhere and do something in order to win. The result is that both players and monsters get funneled toward the tight corners and scenarios can bog down in repeated roll-offs until you either clear the enemies or the time runs out. Some character abilities and items can bypass this – the dwarf ranger Drolf Ironhead can move through the odd impassable hex – but while this gives some scenarios the feel of a spatial puzzle, in others having one or two characters get a shortcut doesn’t make much difference to achieving the goal. This issue also causes a sense of repetition, despite the fairly varied scenario design.

Victory, and the completion of sidequest goals, results in reward cards being doled out to the adventurers. Like the scenarios themselves these vary in power, with better items being available later in the campaign, but the more impressive items are often one-shot, while more minor power-ups can be re-used. They all add more tactical options to battles, which is absolutely a good thing. Weighing up whether or not to throw your magical one-off widget into the mix in an attempt to save a scenario that’s going south is always a knife-edge decision and adds extra frisson to the dice-rolls that usually result.

Even on-board battle scenarios only last about 30 minutes so, when you mix in the much shorter mini-game encounters, playing through an act doesn’t take all that long. “Saving” the game state between sessions is a minor pain but perfectly possible. All the adventure cards have their own text preamble to set the scene and, as you progress through the campaign, there are secrets to uncover and some new playable characters to unlock. The unfolding narrative isn’t going to win any literary awards but it’s effective at giving your playthrough a solid storybook backbone. Nurgle is a particularly fun opponent to tackle, his servitors by turns fatherly and feculent, so freeing the once-pristine Jade Abbey from their clutches feels like a worthy goal.

Where to Buy

Fortnite Really Does Seem To Have Changed Its Nipple Policy — And Now It’s Not Just Homer Simpson’s Chest That’s in the Game

Fortnite fans believe developer Epic Games has indeed relaxed its rules around the depiction of male nudity, as the game’s first fully detailed areola have now been spotted.

A shirtless style for the game’s new Chapter 7 battle pass skin Carter Wu shows a relatively detailed nipple present and correct on the character’s chest — the first in almost a decade of Fortnite history.

The development comes just weeks after fans spotted two telltale dots on the chest of Fortnite’s underpants-wearing Homer Simpson skin, and wondered whether the game’s long-term decision not to show nips had been reconsidered.

At the time, Homer’s design featuring nipples was debated as potentially being an exception to Fortnite’s no-nips rule — perhaps due to some licensing requirement, or because his cel-shaded model was low in detail.

But the arrival now of a standard Fortnite skin — prominently available in Chapter 7’s first battle pass, no less — suggests otherwise, and points to more nipples likely now appearing within Fortnite in future.

In the past, everyone from Travis Scott to God of War’s Kratos, Avatar: The Last Airbender’s Aang, WWE’s John Cena, Dragonball Z’s Goku, and Marvel superheroes such as Drax and The Hulk have all appeared in Fortnite topless, with smooth nipple-less chests. Even third-party creator-made modes have been nipple-free, with a high-profile promotional crossover with body hair shaver brand Philips featuring a smooth-chested model.

Could Epic Games now re-add nipples to previous skins, restoring characters like Kratos to their fully chested glory? We will have to wait and see. IGN has often contacted Epic Games about Fortnite’s previous no-nipple policy for more detail, though is yet to receive an official statement on the subject.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

The Fallout: New Vegas: 15th Anniversary Bundle for PC Is Now Up for Preorder at Amazon

Fallout: New Vegas turned 15 this year, and to celebrate, Bethesda announced a Fallout: New Vegas 15th Anniversary Bundle back in October. For those who simply can’t wait to get their hands on a bundle of their own, preorders are now finally live at Amazon (as well as at the Bethesda Gear Store) for $154.99.

Unfortunately, there’s still a little ways to wait before fans will be able to boot it up in their PCs, as it’s currently set to be released on June 30, 2026. So it’ll have to be a slightly delayed anniversary celebration, but a fun one nonetheless.

Preorder the Fallout: New Vegas: 15th Anniversary Bundle

This looks like the ultimate bundle for New Vegas fans to enjoy, too. First and foremost, it comes with a PC digital code for Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition, which includes the Dead Money DLC, Honest Hearts DLC, Old World Blues DLC, Lonesome Road DLC, Courier’s Stash Weapon Pack, and Gun Runner’s Arsenal Weapon Pack. What’s even better, though, is that it comes packaged in a retro Collector’s Big Box (which can be seen in the photo above) which was exclusively made to celebrate the game’s anniversary.

Alongside the PC code and collector’s box, it also comes with an 8-inch PVC statue of Victor the Securitron, a set of Doc Mitchell’s evaluation cards, a Vault Boy enamel pin, a Mojave Express patch, and an NCR Recon patch. What better collection to have to celebrate 15 years of this excellent game? Plus, with the Fallout TV show heading to New Vegas for its second season, there’s no better time to play it.

Looking for even more Fallout-themed items to pick up, whether for fun or shopping for a fan for the holidays ahead? Check out our guide to the best Fallout gear and collectibles to see some more of our favorite picks, alongside this bundle, that we think are well worth a look right now.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.