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First Look at Animalities in Mortal Kombat 1 | SDCC 2024

NetherRealm has revealed animalities for Mortal Kombat 1 in what marks a return of the fatality variant after a 29-year absence.

Animalities, which made their debut in 1995’s Mortal Kombat 3, let the victorious character turn into an animal before tearing their victim apart in typically gory fashion.

During a panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 attended by IGN, NetherRealm showed off Mortal Kombat 1’s animalities with teaser footage. Rain, for example, turns into a puffer fish who explodes from the inside of his opponent.

A new trailer showed off more animalities, including hyena, hippo, gorilla, t-rex skeleton, and wolf finishers. Of course, Scorpion turns into a scorpion. Mileena turns into a preying mantis.

The animalities reveal came as part of the announcement of Mortal Kombat 1’s second year of content and the Khaos Reigns DLC. Kombat Pack 2 includes another six DLC characters, all of which had been datamined ahead of their announcement. They are:

  • Cyrax
  • Sektor
  • Noob Saibot
  • Ghostface
  • Conan the Barbarian
  • T-1000

Animalities can be performed by all playable fighters and will be available in conjunction with the Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns release on September 24.

Meanwhile, all owners of Mortal Kombat 1 will receive a free MK 95 Scorpion character skin, inspired by the original Mortal Kombat (1995) film, available today.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Castle Crashers Is Getting Steam DLC Over a Decade After Release

The smash hit Xbox 360-era 2D side-scrolling hack-and-slash game, Castle Crashers, is getting DLC on Steam over a decade after its launch on the platform.

Earlier today, developer The Behemoth unveiled Castle Crasher’s upcoming DLC, Painter Boss Paradise, during a YouTube livestream. The DLC will not only see an artistic update to its ensemble cast and weapons, but it will also let players design their characters using the Steam workshop. Paint Boss Paradise will also introduce a new playable character named Paint Junior, whom the devs describe as someone who can “vanquish enemies with the very power of their imagination.” Seeing as how the live stream is titled “The Behemoth Roadmap,” Painter Boss Paradise’s announcement wasn’t couched with a release date, though The Behemoth says it will divulge those details at a later date.

Castle Crashers DLC wasn’t the only thing The Behemoth announced today. In tandem with its yet-to-be-revealed release date tease for Painter Boss Paradise, The Behemoth also listed a slew of updates for its other previous release games:

  • Battleblock Theater is getting a quality-of-life update addressing visuals, frame rates, and bug fixes on Steam as well as a console port for Xbox Series X/S.
  • Pit People is also receiving a quality-of-life update
  • Alien Hominid HD and Alien Hominid Invasion are coming to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5

Capping off Behemoth’s cavalcade of announcements was a tease saying its next game is being prototyped. Little is known whether or not the upcoming game will be the long-awaited Castle Crasher 2 or if it will be a brand new game entirely. All the same, The Behemoth fans have a lot of gaming to look forward to in the coming days.

In our 9/10 review of Castle Crashers, we wrote, “Castle Crashers takes the best elements of traditional side-scrolling beat-em-ups and adds lots of flair. There’s some great humor here and some nice surprises that will please most. Of course, the most important thing is that it’s a whole lot of fun — especially when you play with friends.”

Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.

Grand Theft Auto 6 Among Games Exempt from Video Game Voice Actor Strike

Yesterday, SAG-AFTRA officially announced that it is officially on strike; this time, it is for video game voice actors. As the strike commences, many games currently in development will be affected due to the labor strikes. However, one notable game that will not be affected is Rockstar Games’ upcoming open-world game, which is undoubtedly one of next year’s most highly anticipated titles: Grand Theft Auto 6.

First reported by Kotaku and independently verified by IGN, Grand Theft Auto 6 is exempt from the video game voice actor strike. Take-Two declined IGN’s request for comment.

Additionally, this claim of GTA 6’s exemption from the video game voice actors strike can be verified by heading to the SAG-AFTRA database, which includes a search tool allowing SAG-AFTRA members to search for the struck status of video game projects. Below, you can read the message on SAG-AFTRA’s website regarding GTA VI’s exemption.

“While not struck, this game is produced by a struck company. If you have been engaged under a daily contract for this game, you can show solidarity with your fellow union members by choosing not to sign new contracts on the game. However, you may work the game and will not be disciplined for doing so.”

GTA 6 is exempt from the video game voice actors strike because games already in production before August 25, 2023, including live service games, are covered by the previous contractual agreement between SAG-AFTRA and gaming companies. However, actors may still choose not to work on the game in solidarity with fellow members and cannot be penalized by employers.

Grand Theft Auto 6 was officially revealed in December 2023. Its first trailer became a mega-hit for Rockstar Games, becoming YouTube’s most-viewed video game reveal within 24 hours. Set in the modern-day fictionalized version of Florida, players control Lucia and an unnamed male, who fans theorize is named Jason.

Upon its initial reveal, Rockstar confirmed that GTA 6 would be released in 2025. However, Take-Two Interactive would narrow that release window in May 2024, when CEO Strauss Zelnick told IGN in an interview that the company was “highly confident” that GTA would not be delayed, while also revealing the game would be released in Fall 2025 for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

While GTA 6 remains technically unaffected by the strikes, that does not mean the gaming industry will feel the effects of this ongoing labor strike. For more on what the strike means for gamers, check out our FAQ that runs down why the voice actors are on strike and why the union is seeking AI protections in its next contract.

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Valorant Out Now on PS5 and Xbox Series X and S

Valorant has launched on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S in open beta form, Riot has announced.

The free-to-play team-based shooter already enjoys enormous popularity on PC, where it launched first in 2020. But there are some key differences between the PC version and this console port.

On PC, hip-fire is Valorant’s primary shooting mode, and aim-down-sights (ADS) is a secondary, supporting mode. For the console port, Riot created Focus, a new shooting mode that functions much like hip-fire but with reduced sensitivity.

In a post on Xbox Wire, Microsoft said Valorant on console lets players shoot from the hip whenever they need speed in moving both their camera and aim (think: peeking around corners and dodging) but with the ability to utilize Focus mode whenever they need to pull off a precise, calibrated headshot.

“Some of the Agent abilities have been adapted for the new input controls, and various tunings across the board have all contributed to the team’s number one priority: capturing the dynamic pacing and mechanically expressive feel of the original,” Microsoft continued.

Because of this difference, Valorant does not feature crossplay between PC and console (crossplay is available between PS5 and Xbox Series X and S). “This is primarily due to a focus on maintaining the title’s competitive integrity, given the control changes required to bring the game to console,” Microsoft explained.

There is, however, shared cross-progression across PC and console, which means your inventory carries over. So, if you unlock skins on PC or console, they’ll work across the two. Similarly, battle pass progression carries across both versions.

The open beta comes ahead of the full console launch, which on Xbox includes bonuses for Game Pass subscribers. In the open beta and the full launch, Game Pass members unlock every Agent released so far, as well as any new additions on day one.

In addition to console ports, Riot announced in 2021 that it is working on a mobile version of Valorant. Riot promised that the mobile version would provide “the same competitive Valorant experience” currently available on PC. However, news on this version has been scarce since its initial announcement.

Last October, Bloomberg reported that Valorant had 28 million monthly players, with 70% of the player-base belonging to Gen Z.

In our review of Valorant, IGN wrote: “Valorant is a clever tactical hero shooter that’s plenty deep and a lot of fun to master.”

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

The 7th Continent Board Game Buying Guide and Expansions

The 7th Continent, a game that emerged from a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign, has not only met but exceeded the high expectations initially set for it. It’s an immersive game that draws inspiration from choose-your-own-adventure novels, video games, as well as legendary authors Jules Verne and H.P. Lovecraft. It’s not just one of the best cooperative board games but also an exhilarating solo experience that has earned its place among the medium’s finest.

As with other successful board games, The 7th Continent has seen several expansions that further iterate upon the core gameplay and add more harrowing scenarios. Given the number of releases over the years, however, it might be difficult to decide which packages to consider and in which order. That’s why we have crafted this handy buying guide that will walk you through the various releases and what each offers. Luckily, starting isn’t too difficult as there is really only one place to begin, the base game.

The Base Game

The 7th Continent

MSRP: $69.00 USD

  • Age: 14+
  • Players: 1-4
  • Play Time: 5-1000 mins

The 7th Continent is a heavily thematic board game that immerses players in the story of explorers returning to the newly discovered titular land. Together, they must remove a curse placed upon them during their last expedition. The continent, still largely uncharted, remains treacherous and mysterious, unfolding before players as they explore. The game doesn’t give players much direction when it comes to lifting the curse. Instead, players are dropped into a dangerous world, asked to explore, and must deal with various perils as they appear. This enveloping narrative, combined with the game’s unique mechanics, creates a challenging and captivating experience.

Mechanically speaking, The 7th Continent is a narrative-driven card game with an expanding board of tiles that are placed when players meet various requirements. Like other explorative survival board games, it features crafting, combat, and even RPG elements. However, it’s The 7th Continent’s unique mechanics that set it apart from other titles in the genre, making it an unforgettable experience. For example, the card deck players draw from to resolve actions and add to their respective hands also serves as their life force. Once players work their way through the deck, they risk pulling a curse card, ending the game and resulting in a loss. Also, you might notice that campaigns can run quite long; luckily, however, The 7th Continent includes a handy save feature that allows players to pause, pack up the contents, and pick up the story at a later time. Still, due to its length, it might be difficult to get the same group of players together, but you can also take The 7th Continent at your own pace as a single-player campaign, considering it is one of the best solo board games currently available.

The various curses in the box make up the scenarios, and there are four alone in the base game—each of which takes players hours to complete. Multiple curses can be combined in the same campaign to add even more variability to the base game. With plenty of random events baked in, the Core Box offers plenty of replayability on its own, but players looking to revisit the mystifying world on multiple occasions may want to check out one of The 7th Continent’s several expansions.

Main Expansions

The 7th Continent: The Crystal’s Song & Game Modes Expansion

MSRP: $12.00 USD

Components (REQUIRES THE BASE GAME)

  • 1 New Curse
  • 3 New Game Modes
  • 1 Divider
  • 40 New Cards

While The Voracious Goddess curse in the Core Box was initially the recommended starting point for new players, The Crystal’s Song curse in this expansion has since become the ideal first scenario thanks to its brief and tutorial-esque introduction to The 7th Continent’s mechanics. In fact, publisher Serious Poulp bundles The Crystal’s Song and the Core Box together as a starter pack. Additionally, the expansion includes an easier Prodigy Mode, an advanced Immortal Mode, and a tense Traitor Mode that gives players secret objectives. Not only is this the first expansion most players should pick up, but it’s actually a recommended purchase alongside the base game if possible.

The 7th Continent: The Icy Maze Expansion

MSRP: $20.00 USD

Components (REQUIRES THE BASE GAME)

  • 1 New Curse
  • 96 New Cards

The 7th Continent Website actually recommends playing The Icy Maze before The Bloody Hunt – the last curse in the Core Box, which requires an in-depth knowledge of the map and mechanics. It’s certainly not a requirement to play The Icy Maze before finishing the base game, or at all, even, but if you feel that cutting your teeth on the more advanced Bloody Hunt is trying your patience, just know it’s designed too. The Icy Maze places an emphasis on movement, eventually giving players a greater understanding of the various corners of the continent.

The 7th Continent: The Forbidden Sanctuary Expansion

MSRP: $20.00 USD

Components (REQUIRES THE BASE GAME)

  • 1 New Curse
  • 96 New Cards

The Forbidden Sanctuary is the next recommended curse from the makers of The 7th Continent. This curse takes players to a mysterious temple riddled with booby traps. Learning the secrets hidden inside can be treacherous, but it’s necessary to lift the curse. Like the other expansions listed here, The Forbidden Sanctuary is designed to fit right into the Core Box and requires the base game.

The 7th Continent: The Veins of the Earth Expansion

MSRP: $25.00 USD

Components (REQUIRES THE BASE GAME)

  • 1 New Curse
  • 149 New Cards
  • Barge Standee
  • 4 Dividers

The Veins of the Earth expansion gives players a look at what lurks below the continent. Underground waterways span the entire continent, which players will discover as they float along on their barge. The added layer to this mysterious land is accompanied by its own set of perils for explorers to stumble across. Initially, The Veins of the Earth was bundled with A Prison of Clouds, Forgotten Passages, and The Crystal’s Song in a collector’s expansion box available through Kickstarter. All of these, except for The Crystal’s Song, can still be purchased in the What Goes Up, Must Come Down bundle – a nod to the title of the original expansion title.

The 7th Continent: A Prison of Clouds Expansion

MSRP: $25.00 USD

Components (REQUIRES THE BASE GAME)

  • 1 New Curse
  • 169 New Cards
  • Hot Air Baloon Standee
  • 4 Dividers

While The Veins of the Earth explored the underground passages of the continent, A Prison of Clouds has players taking to the skies in a hot air balloon. The two expansions together serve to expand the map vertically, and A Prison of Clouds even allows players to land on the continent whenever they choose and explore on foot. In fact, it’s a necessary excursion as you will certainly face strong headwinds and intense hunger along your journey that will require you to trek on foot for a bit.

The 7th Continent: Forgotten Passages Expansion

MSRP: $20.00 USD

Components (REQUIRES THE BASE GAME)

  • 3 New Explorers
  • 115 New Cards
  • 3 Character Standees

While Forgotten Passages doesn’t include any new curses against which players can test their skills and luck, the expansion does include plenty of new cards and three new explorers with various abilities. Joining the cast are the skilled hunter Anjika, American aviator Amelia Earhart, and English Gentleman Phileas Fogg, along with his valet Jean Passerpartout. Not to mention, new alternate terrain cards change up the map enough to keep players on their toes.

The 7th Continent: Facing the Elements Expansion

MSRP: $20.00 USD

Components (REQUIRES THE BASE GAME)

  • 40 New Cards
  • 5 Cardboard Figures
  • 5 Plastic Stands

As if curses and traps weren’t enough, Facing the Elements adds various acts of nature to the world of The 7th Continent. These random events can throw a wrench in your excursion entirely, or they can perhaps aid you in your exploration. Again, there’s no new curse here, but these wild card events can help keep things interesting and add even more depth to an already content-rich game.

The 7th Continent: Fear the Devourers Expansion

MSRP: $20.00 USD

Components (REQUIRES THE BASE GAME)

  • 30 New Cards
  • 7 Rock Worm Standees

Fear the Devourers adds the fearsome Rockworm to The 7th Continent. These random exploration cards fold right into the base game and can pose quite a challenge. If not immediately dealt with, these creatures will remain a persistent threat. Players who want a bit of extra challenge added to the base game without a ton of extra rules should check out Fear the Devourers.

The 7th Continent: The Flying Roots Expansion

MSRP: $20.00 USD

Components (REQUIRES THE BASE GAME)

  • 40 New Cards
  • 6 Flying Roots Standees

Like Fear the Devourers, The Flying Roots adds another interesting element to the base game. Unlike the Rockworms, however, it’s initially unclear what the flying roots’ intentions actually are. While these plants aren’t necessarily nefarious, their presence can serve as quite a hindrance. This new mysterious addition is perhaps a bit deeper and has more in store for players who choose to investigate them further.

Mini-Expansions

The 7th Continent: Path of Repentance Expansion

MSRP: $10.00 USD

Components (REQUIRES THE BASE GAME)

  • 30 New Cards

Path of Repentance is a small but meaningful expansion that further deepens the thematic experience of The 7th Continent. This mini-expansion builds upon the sleep mechanic from the base game but goes the extra mile to illustrate just how mentally distraught the crew is over the looming curse. To speak too much about the Path of Repentance would spoil the experience, but just know that, especially at $10, this mini-expansion is well worth the price of admission.

The 7th Continent: Comfort Creatures Expansion

MSRP: $10.00 USD

Components (REQUIRES THE BASE GAME)

  • 30 New Cards

Comfort Creatures inserts a bit more randomness and fun into the 7th Continent experience. This mini-expansion adds an egg that will hatch into a mysterious creature if cared for. Hatch and raise the newborn beast to potentially gain a powerful companion to aid you on your journeys across the strange land.

Bottom Line

The 7th Continent is an excellent cooperative board game for small groups and a great solo experience as well. The base game is required for all expansions, many of which add new curses that can either replace or supplement the base scenarios. Other expansions add new players, foes, and mechanics. The Crystal’s Song is a great purchase alongside the base game, as it helps onboard new players with its streamlined tutorial scenario.

For even more great tabletop recommendations, see our picks for the best board games to play right now. Our list of the best dungeon crawler board games is another great resource for those looking to pick up some more great solo and cooperative titles.

Bobby Anhalt is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering board games and LEGOs. He has more than 8 years of experience writing about the gaming industry with bylines at Game Rant, Screen Rant, TheXboxHub, and Ranker. You can follow him on Twitter.

Remnant 2’s Third and Final DLC, The Dark Horizon, Revealed

Remnant 2‘s third and final DLC is called The Dark Horizon, developer Gunfire Games has announced.

The announcement was made a year after the successful launch of the co-op shooter sequel, dubbed ‘Dark Souls with guns’, alongside a release window of September 2024.

“Players will return to the necropolis world of N’Erud only to discover that a bizarre phenomenon has taken hold,” Gunfire teased.

The September 2024 release window for The Dark Horizon amounts to a delay of sorts, given Gunfire had committed to releasing all three DLCs in Remnant 2’s first year.

“We’ve made the difficult decision to move back the release of our third DLC, so that we have more time to deliver you the best possible experience that you deserve,” Gunfire explained.

“Our goal is for The Dark Horizon to be the most expansive DLC for Remnant 2. Not only have we packed this DLC full of even more of the Remnant greatness you’ve come to expect, we’re also hard at work on a brand-new game mode that will be free for everyone that we’ll reveal soon along with a new progression system.

“While we’re not happy about delaying this DLC release – one you’ve been itching to jump into already – we feel very lucky to see your ongoing support and loyalty to the Remnant franchise. The past year has been nothing short of amazing, and we’re glad that Remnant 2 and its DLCs have brought you as much joy as it has brought us creating this world for you. That said, we’re not quite done yet, more news about The Dark Horizon DLC will come soon!

“Thank you once again for your continued support and for being an essential part of the Remnant family. We are excited for what the future holds and look forward to sharing more adventures with you.”

Remnant 2 launched in July 2023 to significant praise from players and critics alike, and sold more than one million copies in its first week across Xbox Series X and S, PlayStation 5, and PC. It went on to take down Diablo 4 as July’s best-selling game in the U.S. By the end of September 2023, it had sold over two million units.

IGN’s 9/10 review called Remnant 2 “a triumphant sequel that doesn’t just reimagine the soulslike genre as a co-op looter-shooter, but absolutely nails that concept in nearly every way.”

With Remnant 2 DLC wrapping up soon, thoughts inevitably turn to Gunfire’s next game and the possibility of Remnant 3.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Is ‘Steam Native,’ So You Don’t Need the EA App to Play the Game on PC

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is “Steam native,” which means the EA App is not required to play the game on Valve’s platform.

Most EA-published video games do require the EA App, which replaced Origin in 2022, to play on Steam, much to the annoyance of many PC gamers.

For example, the Steam store page for Respawn’s battle royale Apex Legends includes a note that it “requires” an EA account, which supports linking to a Steam account. The 10-year-old Dragon Age Inquisition not only requires an EA account to play on Steam, but EA online activation and Origin (now outdated) client software installation and background use as well.

But EA and developer BioWare have decided to make the upcoming action fantasy role-playing sequel go “all-in” on Steam in news that’s already been welcomed by PC gamers. The decision comes following a backlash to Sony’s decision to force Steam users to create a PlayStation Network account in order to play games published to Valve’s platform — including single-player games.

Meanwhile, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is verified on Steam Deck, BioWare tweeted.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is still without a release date, although BioWare has said it’s out fall 2024. The studio said it’s making “great progress” towards the fall launch date, but there’s no announcement just yet. Details on launch are coming later this summer, the developer added.

Earlier this week, BioWare revealed who voices the companions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, in addition to some returning actors from past games. As previously confirmed, all the companions are romance options for the player.

Much of BioWare’s creative and voice talent are set to appear on a panel today, July 26, at San Diego Comic-Con. Overnight, SAG-AFTRA announced that its video game voice actors are on strike from today after over a year-and-a-half of negotiations between game companies and workers that has not yet resulted in a deal.

In the meantime, check out some of the Dragon Age: The Veilguard details we’ve learned so far about its difficulty options, combat, and character creator, as well as our first preview.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Elden Ring Streamer Defeats Shadow of the Erdtree’s Final Boss on PS5 and PC Simultaneously — Using a DualSense and a Dance Pad

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the final boss of Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.

Elden Ring streamer MissMikkaa has successfully defeated Shadow of the Erdtree’s final boss on PC and PlayStation 5 simultaneously while using a dance pad and a DualSense at the same time, marking the end of an impressive challenge run.

“2X RADAHN HAS BEEN DEFEATED! 4 days of 239 non-stop tries (14 hours) in my Ultimate Challenge run where I play Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree two times simultaneously, on dance pad & controller,” tweeted the streamer after defeating the DLC. “I really thought this might be impossible in the DLC, but holyyy.. I did it.”

Shadow of the Erdtree’s bosses are legendarily difficult at the best of times — focusing on one game of Elden Ring using a traditional controller is no-doubt what FromSoftware president Hidetake Miyazaki and his team had in mind when setting the difficulty for the game. However, none among the DLC’s pantheon of enemies are as fearsome as its final boss, Promised Consort Radahn, who assaults the player with a relentless barrage of physical, gravity, and holy attacks, along with the upsettingly powerful meteor strike seen in the base game.

Quite how MissMikkaa was able to overcome two of these brutes at the same time while controlling Tarnished using a traditional controller for one, and button presses triggered by stepping on a pressure-sensitive dance pad for another, is frankly a little beyond us.

The streamer was able to perform an entire run of the DLC in this fashion, while enduring “685 (x2)” Tarnished deaths in the process. 35% of these were incurred in the final Radahn boss fight. MissMikkaa was also kind enough to share her complete build, which could prove a useful template to players struggling with the climax of the DLC. Be sure to check out IGN’s Elden Ring guide to find out exactly where you can get the items.

“The final build was level 194 with 60 vigor, 54 endurance & strength, 40 faith and 33 mind,” MissMikkaa tweeted. “I was using a Giant Crusher with Prayerful Strike. Talismans were: Crimson Seed Talisman +1, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman, Shard of Alexander and Golden Braid. I was using Holy Shrouded Cracked Tear and Opaline Hardtear in my flask.”

Of course this isn’t the first time MissMikkaa has danced her way to internet fame by completing insane challenges using an unconventional controller. She had already defeated Shadow of the Erdtree using the dance pad earlier this month, but apparently decided that fighting just one boss at a time simply wasn’t difficult enough. She also showed off her gaming talent last year by defeating two instances of Malenia, Blade of Miquella at once using the same dual controller setup employed against Promised Consort Radahn.

For more Elden Ring content why not read up on how another challenge player dooted his was through the DLC using a modified saxophone as a controller, or find out about another FromSoftware savant, who is attempting a run while controlling her tarnished using signals from her brain.

Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer

Marvel Rivals Reveals First Look at Thor and Jeff the Landshark | SDCC 2024

Hero shooter Marvel Rivals hit San Diego Comic-Con 2024 with a long list of announcements, including story details, new character reveals, and the voice cast.

During a Marvel Games presentation at SDCC, developer NetEase showed attendees trailers for the Marvel Rivals story, as well as a feature on Thor and Jeff the Landshark, who join the roster of playable characters on July 29. As you’d expect, Thor, the God of Thunder, brings his powerful hammer and lightning abilities, while Jeff the Land Shark adds… his own unique charm and ferocity to the game.

Marvel Rivals is a free-to-play superhero team-based PvP shooter in the Overwatch style, with fan-favorite characters such as Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Doctor Strange available to play. The closed beta, which ends on August 5, is available on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox with cross-play and cross-region support.

It’s yet another entry in the already crowded hero shooter genre, but it looks like Marvel Rivals may make an impact, if the interest in the closed beta is anything to go by. The closed beta has already posted impressive player numbers on Steam, hitting a peak of 52,671 concurrents since it went live on July 23. Sony and Microsoft do not reveal player numbers for PlayStation or Xbox consoles, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Marvel Rivals voice cast includes Cassandra Lee Morris (Persona 5’s Morgana) as Galacta, Troy Baker as Loki, Nolan North as Rocket Raccoon, Yuri Lowenthal as Spider-Man, and Mara Junot as Storm. Other playable characters include Groot, The Punisher, Hela, Iron Man, Magneto, and Venom.

While the focus here is very much on PvP gameplay, Marvel Rivals does feature a narrative, which revolves around heroes and villains uniting against a “looming cosmic threat.” Doctor Doom is set up as the antagonist.

Be sure to check out IGN’s impressions of Marvel Rivals to find out what we think about the game.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Guilty Gear Strive Producer Talks Lucy From Cyberpunk Edgerunners – Evo 2024

Guilty Gear Strive is now entering its fourth year of content updates, and despite now earning the reptutation as being the “old man” on the block, especially when put side-to-side with more recent releases like Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, and Mortal Kombat 1, Strive is still continuing on just as strong as ever.

Which brings us to Evo 2024, where Arc System Works made perhaps their biggest announcement involving Guilty Gear Strive to date: In addition to two returning characters, Dizzy and Venom, and one brand new character, Unika, they would also be adding their first guest character to the roster: Lucy from Cyberpunk Edgerunners. I got a chance to catch up with Guilty Gear Strive Producer Ken Miyauchi to find out how this surprising collaboration came to be, along with getting some insight regarding Strive’s future.

IGN: We learned that Lucy from Cyberpunk Edgerunners is going to be in Strive. Can you talk a little bit about how long this has been in the works and how this collaboration came around?

Ken Miyauchi, Guilty Gear Strive Producer: So yeah, we’ve tried to find who will be a good guest character for Guilty Gear Strive. And we’ve been doing this work since 2023, actually. And we’ve been talking to CD PROJEKT RED because our lead artist, Hidehiko Sakamura, is actually a big fan of The Witchers series. And we’ve been in talks with CD PROJEKT RED, and then there was several conversation going on and that kind of led to the decision to get Lucy from Cyberpunk Edgerunners.

Now, I’m not opposed to the idea of Lucy, but Lucy’s not the main character of Cyberpunk Edgerunners, David is. What made you want to go with Lucy instead of David?

Miyauchi: So I cannot talk much about why because that might spoil what we are trying to do. But there is a reason we decided Lucy. Of course, I personally wanted to see David with Sandevistan, but yeah, so I can’t talk about it right now, but I hope people will figure [it] out in the future.

Is there any kind of collaboration happening between you and Studio Trigger who made the Cyberpunk Edgerunners anime? Are you working together with them to make Lucy happen in Strive?

Miyauchi: Honestly, we’ve been in talks with CD PROJEKT RED directly, not through Trigger, but if there could be any kind of collaboration that we [would] be able to do with Trigger, I’d like to do [it]. But that’s still not in [the] plan.

Another thing that you guys announced, which is something that you’ve talked about in the past, is the 3-on-3 mode. Can you talk a little bit about what makes this mode different than something like Dragon Ball FighterZ or a Marvel vs Capcom?

Miyauchi: So you’ll eventually see the game mechanics explanation from our website or social post. So what makes the Team of 3 unique compared to the other games is that people will play at the same time, not just you controlling the character and doing the 1v1 in one screen. So I’m just going to explain the first layer of this game mechanic. The team will be formed with one main role and two assist roles, and the two assist roles will be able to select their skills to interact in the battle.

Oh, interesting.

Miyauchi: And of course, during the battle, the assist players can switch with main players or assist player can interact into the battle with their own character in certain condition. Well the game mechanics-wise in the open beta test, I think people will be able to find out in tutorial, there’s a Team of 3 tutorial mode in open beta test. So I hope people will figure out how they can utilize the new game mechanics that’s exclusive for team of 3.

And then another character that I’m sure people are very excited for is Dizzy. Can you talk a little bit about how Dizzy is going to perform in this iteration of Guilty Gear? And specifically, I saw that she was Queen Dizzy, can you talk a little bit about what the significance of that is?

Miyauchi: I want to explain the details, but I’ll keep it secret for now why she’s called Queen Dizzy. I had the same question when I first received [the] Queen Dizzy name from Daisuke Ishiwatari. There’s a interesting story going on and you if actually see the trailer, you might find some hint of why she’s called Queen. But for more details I’d like to say please look forward to actual her arcade story mode.

There’s a interesting story going on and you if actually see the trailer, you might find some hint of why she’s called Queen.

And then other characters that were announced were Venom and Unika, from the anime. I know they’re probably early on development, but is there anything you can tell us about how those characters are going to play in Strive?

Miyauchi: So yeah, Venom, and also Unika, I can’t explain the details of how their battle styles are for now. I think Venom is going to be quite similar to how he played in the past series, but sort of like how we’ve been doing, [it won’t be] exactly same as the past series. Because if you want to play his past series style, you can play for example Xrd or XX. At the same time there is certain type of [uniqueness] in what makes Venom, Venom. And we would like to keep that as his gameplay. Regarding Unika, anything that I talk about her is going to spoil the anime series. So I’m going to expect people to watch the anime and then also try to maybe bring up their own theory of how she’s going to play in the game play and check her actual game style later.

Did you ever expect Strive to be going this strong for this long? It had a lot of entries at Evo this year.

Miyauchi: Yeah. I’m actually very, very surprised to see that we’ve been getting [consistently] over 2000 [entrants], throughout all the years of Evo for now. And I’m really, really happy that communities are supporting our game. And it’s achieved all because I think the Guilty Gear community is very enthusiastic and they keeps wanting to support the game, and really appreciate it, and I really want to pay back their support with Gear Guilty updates.

Is there anything you can tell us, any kind of hints you can give us about what to expect mechanically from the updates that you’re bringing to Season 4?

Miyauchi: In a Developer’s Backyard just a month ago that I released, I kind of talked about what’s coming in the next few months, which are the Battle Balance updates, the minor version, it’s coming out at the end of this month. And also the major one is coming sometime… I don’t remember when I said this, but I think it’s around October, end of October timing.

But the minor updates is more of mainly targeted to those characters who have less chance of getting access to their potential. So more of, buffs to those characters. And also adjusting on some of the universal mechanics such as the burst meter gain and also the positive bonus kind of thing. And also we have some changes to Roman Canceling mechanics on some of the invincible moves. So those are coming in the next character balance update. And I think this update will sort of shake up some meta in the current competitive fighting scene and I hope people will look forward to it.

Beyond new mechanics, is there any kind of intention of improving some of Strive’s more, let’s say, base level features? Are we ever going to get frame data in training mode? Are we ever going to get matchmaking that doesn’t go through the lobby system? Anything like that in the works?

Miyauchi: So those are updates that I’ve been always thinking that I want to accomplish, I mean, implement in some point. This is just from the producer perspective, I’ve been always talking about it with director. And we are always talking about when we’ll be able to do this update. And currently we announced the new updates that’s coming in next, which is the Team of 3, and the development on Team of 3 is going so hard right now. And once we release that, I think we’ll be able to take our hands on those updates. So I’d like players to look forward to them, too.

I apologize for this in advance because I feel like I ask you this every single time that I’ve talked to you, but insta-kills, fans love them. It’s one of the things that I think fans love the most about the Guilty Gear series. What are the chances of them still making their way into Strive? And if it’s something that you’ve thought about, are there any unique challenges involved with implementing insta-kills into Strive?

Miyauchi: So implementing instant kills is something that we would also like to do, and I do agree that it’s some, how do I say, very, very unique mechanic that presents Guilty Gear. So we would like to make that happen sometime in the future. I can’t tell when will that be possible because developing instant kill actually takes a lot of time. And also the character animations, emotions, which makes instant kills very, very unique and cool, will take a lot of time developing.

Implementing Instant Kills is something that we would also like to do.

We try to make it unique because we animates them by frame, by frame. And if the instant kill motions are long and cool, that means we have to have more time to make sure every pattern looks cool, right? And if we decide to implement instant kill to all characters, that means we have to develop that to all characters, which is almost nearly equal to developing maybe two characters. So we’ll try to find a chance. Our team has been expanding still even now, we have our motion designers and animators recruited in our team and our team is getting bigger. So I’m looking, please look forward to future updates if we’ll be able to do it.

Final question, I’m asking this of pretty much everyone that I’m talking to here at Evo, but we’ve just crossed a milestone of Rollback netcode, everyone kind of has rollback netcode now. It’s now become standard among fighting games. I think fighting games are a lot better for it. What do you think is the next step for fighting game evolution across the genre?

Miyauchi: That’s something that we’ve been also discussing among the development team. Of course, as you know, Arc System Works has been making fighting games and we’ll continue making fighting games. And if we make new fighting games, we’ll always discuss about what will be something that we can bring, revolutionize the fighting game, how do I say, industry. And I don’t have the answers yet or I can’t share any answers for it, but I will be always thinking about it. And I honestly think the community right now, fighting game community right now, is in the best form of the current era. In the past, there was always… I mean, I wish if I would be a player in this fighting game era right now, people are expecting more and more fun things to the fighting game and we’ll try to find out what we’ll be able to provide to the community.

Mitchell Saltzman is a Senior Producer at IGN. You can find him on Twitter @JurassicRabbit