Category: IGN

Attention Everyone: Animal Crossing: New Horizons has a jump button now!

You can also walk backwards, and sideways!!!

Why am I freaking out over this? Look. This is almost as exciting as when we all learned New Horizons would give us the ability to sit down on the ground.

This comes as a part of Animal Crossing: New Horizon’s 3.0 update, which dropped a day early today, giving access to a new Hotel area, loads of new decorative items, some quality of life features like bulk crafting, and Dream Islands you can build alongside friends. But as players have discovered since, it’s also added a subtle new feature to aid in construction and placement: essentially, a controlled way to step in the cardinal directions in very precise ways.

This feature is now tutorialed as part of obtaining the Construction App, though it’s possible it may be available prior to that, and it’s very easy to activate. You can use it any time by pressing the L button. Pressing it once will snap your character into place with a tiny little hop. Holding it down and moving the stick in a direction will let you take exactly one step in that direction, effectively the size of one “square” of space. This is ideal for activities such as precise furniture placement, or lining yourself up perfectly to hit rocks or even catch bugs.

So, sure, it’s not actually a huge deal – just a fun quality of life feature. It’s not like a REAL jump (and you can already jump small gaps automatically anyway). But Animal Crossing’s audience has historically gotten very excited about little touches like this, such as the wave of excitement when sitting on the ground was confirmed to be in the game, or the love for any number of other tiny details players have found over the years.

Anyway, if they ever add jump attacks it’s over for you people.

There are other small details in the new update worth celebrating, such as the ability to save individual custom designs to Slumber Islands (effectively giving you even more slots), and the fact that former Islanders visiting the Hotel will remember you.

We’ve got a comprehensive guide to the 3.0 update, including how to unlock everything and what’s included, as a part of our Animal Crossing: New Horizons Wiki guide. If you’re just getting back to New Horizons today after a long hiatus, we also have a number of tips for people getting back into the swing of things.

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

Umamusume: Pretty Derby’s anime film spinoff, Beginning of a New Era, released in theaters in Japan way back in May 2024. And now, it’s coming to the U.S. for a one-night-only theatrical release on February 27, 2026.

As shared by Crunchyroll, the film will hit select, to-be-announced theaters in the U.S. for a one-night screening next month, and shared an English-language trailer and poster alongside the news. Tickets will be available at a later date via the official English website, though it’s unclear how broad a release this film will actually get.

After about 10 hours in Hytale, the new survival crafter from some former Minecraft modders, there really isn’t a better way I could describe it other than to say it’s basically Minecraft 2. From the block-by-block breaking and building, to the stylized environments and enemies, to the procedural world generation, this feels like the, “What would we change if we had the chance to start over again?” version of the now legendary 2009 classic. Many games have been influenced by Mojang’s trendsetter, but this is more of a cover song than a subgenre from what I’ve seen so far (though I’ve got plenty more to play before my final review). And while developer Hypixel Studios’ lawyers might not love hearing me say that, I honestly don’t think it’s a bad thing. Even in Early Access, it’s a good cover!

All of the gameplay will be pretty familiar if you’ve put any time at all into Minecraft, but with some streamlining here and there. You no longer have to begin your journey punching trees, for instance, since basic tools are made with sticks and rubble that can be collected easily with your bare hands. Also, breaking the trunk of a tree will cause everything above it to collapse and drop its resources, which was almost enough to win me over on its own. I still to this day hate having to chop upwards to hollow out a tree in Minecraft!

Movement is also a lot more modern and fluid. You can jump up to three blocks high and pull yourself up, which feels like such a huge quality-of-life improvement over the one-block jump limit in Minecraft. It’s even possible to take a running leap at a ledge, hit the side, and pull yourself up. We’ve got proper parkour now, and I don’t know that I would ever want to give it up.

It also just runs better than Minecraft on my Ryzen 7 3700X, 32GB RAM, and RTX 4070 Ti-powered system. Even with the draw distance cranked up, my framerates sit comfortably above 60. We’ll see how long that lasts when I start building elaborate megastructures, but for now it’s like butter.

Combat is fine. There are a handful of different weapon types, from swift-slashing double daggers to a classic sword and shield setup with more defensive options, and every one has its own unique charge attack and a special meter that can be filled up to release a devastating finisher. I’m impressed with the enemy variety so far, with everything from goblin bomb-throwers to really terrifying lava toads that can catch you with their tongues and pull you in for a very painful bite attack.

Building can be a little bit fiddly. We have more pieces to pick from, like proper roofs that make Minecraft’s classic stair tricks redundant. But sometimes I had to do silly stuff like building a dirt “mold” to make sure all the pieces were facing the right way. Still, once I got the hang of its quirks, I was able to start making some pretty neat-looking stuff.

There’s very little direction in this Early Access version of Hytale, currently. The main hub area, the Forgotten Temple, is a rotunda of literal Under Construction signs. I even stumbled into some dungeons out in the world where I’d be excited to throw the doors open only to find one of these disappointing barriers. It’s not clear what the larger, overarching goal is supposed to be, although I’m happy enough to build cool stuff and seek out new ores for higher-level tools at the moment. But I’m not sure if there will eventually be a story or bigger bosses to find or anything like that. I haven’t run into them yet if they exist already.

Overall, I’m quite enjoying my time with Hytale so far, though. Even if it is just Minecraft again, it’s an enjoyable rendition with some thoughtful tweaks and additions. It’s almost like someone’s wishlist of things Mojang will never do, or can’t do with its legacy tech. I plan to put in at least a few dozen more hours before I give it a final evaluation, but check back for more updates on my progress in the coming week.

Hellboy star Ron Perlman has expressed his bemusement at the Fallout franchise and his legendary status within it as narrator of all the video games, joking he was paid “$40 and a sandwich” to record his iconic “war never changes” line for Fallout 1.

Perlman first recorded the “war never changes” line as part of the intro for 1997’s Fallout video game. He’s played the narrator for pretty much every Fallout video game since, with the “war never changes” line becoming seared into the memories of a legion of fans. It’s a line that even made it into Amazon’s Fallout TV show, although Perlman didn’t say it himself.

Good morning, everyone! If you, like me, popped open Animal Crossing: New Horizons before work today for a stroll around your island, you were greeted with a pleasant surprise: the 3.0 update just dropped a day early, and the Hotel is officially open for business, along with a number of other new features.

The meat of Animal Crossing: New Horizon 3.0 is a hotel that will set up on your island at the end of your pier, wherever that’s located for you. Just download the update (make sure you actually download it – there was a system update this morning as well for me and I almost missed it!) and it should be there waiting for you if you’re a returning player who put some time into your island already. It seems likely there is at least one other requirement for the hotel to show up that prevents it from being there for new players, but we’re still working out just what that is.

The hotel works a lot like the Happy Home DLC: you’ll be asked to decorate different rooms in it based on themes you’re given from Leilani. However, unlike the DLC, the catalog is the limit on what all you can put in these rooms. Though you’re given a list of recommended items if you need help, apart from that, any item you’ve ever collected (via DIY, purchase, gift, or whatever) is available for use in the hotel, as many times as you want.

Whenever you finish a room, it will become available for guests to stay in. This is a great way to meet other villagers you don’t have living on your island at the moment, as they’ll come stay and share cute and unique dialogue. You’ll also be given Hotel Tickets, which you can spend at the souvenir shop for unique decor newly added to the game that you can use in your own house or elsewhere on the island.

Additionally, outside the hotel, Tom Nook will invite you to use a box outside the hotel where you’ll be asked to craft certain DIY items to help promote your island elsewhere. Completing these requests will get you more Hotel Tickets to spend on more items. And, by the way, DIY crafting is easier than ever now that bulk crafting and crafting using ingredients from storage has been enabled with the new update.

In addition to all this, there are several other new additions: There’s tons of new furniture available both via the Souvenir Shop and the Nook Shopping app, including a bunch of LEGO items and classic game systems that you can use to activate games using Nintendo Switch Online from within Animal Crossing. Dream Worlds are now active, and let you build and decorate up to three Dream Islands either alone or with friends. And the new Zelda and Splatoon-themed amiibo villagers and themed items are available if you scan their amiibo.

Now, as of 1/14/2026, there are still a few new features you’ll have to wait for. Because while the 3.0 content update is now live, the Nintendo Switch 2 paid update feature isn’t available until tomorrow. So everything that comes with that update: improved graphics, 12-person multiplayer, the Megaphone item, and so forth, that’s not in the game just yet. But it will be soon, just hang in there one more day!

We’ve got a comprehensive guide to the 3.0 update, including how to unlock everything and what’s included, as a part of our Animal Crossing: New Horizons Wiki guide. If you’re just getting back to New Horizons today after a long hiatus, we also have a number of tips for people getting back into the swing of things.

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

Games Workshop confirmed this week that it has banned the use of generative AI for the production of its designs and content, a decision many Warhammer fans have welcomed.

As I’ve discussed before (and highlighted by a recent kerfuffle about Displate Warhammer 40,000 art), if Games Workshop were to start using AI to, for example, produce artwork, write stories, or design its games and miniatures, it would likely spark a community uproar. The Warhammer 40,000 setting is in many ways built upon the evocative and enduring art drawn by the likes of John Blanche, who shaped its “grimdark” aesthetic alongside other key Games Workshop staff. This official, human-made Warhammer 40,000 artwork is beloved by fans, most of whom take a dim view of the mere whiff of generative AI “art” sold or released in any official capacity by either Games Workshop itself, or its partners. Indeed, Games Workshop sells expensive Warhammer 40,000 ‘codex’ rulebooks that are packed with stunning official art as well as lore. Any suggestion that this art was created either in part or entirely by generative AI tools would likely cause a community uproar.

So, this anti-AI policy is being called a ‘Games Workshop W’ by many fans. But as any fan of Warhammer 40,000’s sweeping lore — pulled this way and that over the course of decades — will tell you, perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

I appreciate what we’re about to talk about is in the Warhammer 40,000 weeds, but I’ve seen enough social media posts, reddit comments, and Discord messages delighting in the parallels here that I think it would be fun to explain what the fuss is about.

You see, in the world of Warhammer 40,000, AI does not stand for Artificial Intelligence. Rather, it stands for Abominable Intelligence. And, as Games Workshop has banned AI within the confines of its Nottingham headquarters, humanity has banned AI within the Imperium of Man. That’s because during the ‘Dark Age of Technology’ (stick with me here), AI rebelled against humanity in a bloody war that almost resulted in our extinction.

Eventually, humanity won out, and, sufficiently traumatized by… everything… forbid the use of AI at all. That is, you can’t have ‘thinking machines’ in the Imperium, which is in part why the future tech is all a bit backwards for the 41st millennium.

Rockstar has launched an official marketplace where creators can sell mods.

The Cfx Marketplace, described as a “curated digital storefront where talented FiveM/RedM creators can share and sell their work,” is currently only open to a select few creators, but players running their own servers can choose from hundreds of mods — some free, some not — to add new maps, scripts, characters, clothing, vehicles, and more to their games.

If the name Cfx sounds familiar, that’s because Rockstar acquired the modding team behind the wildly popular Grand Theft Auto 5 roleplay servers FiveM and RedM back in 2023. That came as something of a surprise given the company’s combative relationship with modders in the past.

Now, as part of that relationship, select creators worked with Rockstar to build and supply the new mod superstore as it rolls out “in phases to ensure the best experience for both creators and server owners.”

As one happy player said, the official marketplace makes it “much easier to find some trusted creators and hopefully more competition.” “Amazing idea! Hope this will be a better way for both creators and server owners to reach more people and find what they need,” added another.

Right now, there are hundreds of mods to choose from, some of which are free, and others, most typically bundles, are available for upwards of $450. The Attractions & Parks Bundle, for instance, includes a Theme Park, Water Park, and Maze Bank Theme Bank for $137.99.

Right now, most mods seem to be for GTA 5, but Cfx.re has mods for both Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2, so we may see more Red Dead 2 mods as the marketplace expands.

Grand Theft Auto is an enduring juggernaut, with GTA 5 having sold 220 million copies to date. Rockstar is yet to detail how GTA Online will change as a result of November’s release of GTA 6, but it seems likely the Cfx Marketplace lays the groundwork for a similar offering in whatever’s next for the game.

It also seems in preparation for whatever other plans Rockstar has for monetising GTA RP when GTA 6 comes out. GTA fans had begun speculating about what Rockstar RP servers would look like when the company announced it was working with Cfx.re back in 2023. That excitement then only increased when popular musician Faheem Rashad Najm a.k.a. T-Pain teased in 2024 that he was working on GTA 6 but had been asked by Rockstar to stop engaging with RP servers like nopixel.

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

Meta is laying off around 10% of staff at its Reality Labs division as part of sweeping cuts set to affect more than 1,000 people. This includes the closure of a number of VR-first studios, such as Twisted Pixel, the studio behind Deadpool VR, Resident Evil 4 VR developer Armature Studio, and Asgard’s Wrath maker, Sanzaru Games. According to Bloomberg, the cuts come as Meta pivots away from the Metaverse towards AI, phones, and wearable tech.

The cuts come just over four years after Facebook changed its name to Meta and went big on virtual reality and the Metaverse.

Letters reportedly went out yesterday (Tuesday, January 13) morning, and developers from the impacted studios shared their shock on social media throughout the day.

“I’ve just been laid off. It appears the entire Twisted Pixel games studio has been shut down. Sanzaru Games, too,” one now former member of staff said, while a designer wrote: “unfortunately, I was part of the layoffs today at Meta, and will be seeking a new role. To my Twisted Pixel Games family: it was an honor to work alongside you for 3.5 years and ship Marvel’s Deadpool VR. We made something really special together and no one can ever take that away.”

Twisted Pixel is the studio behind a number of popular Xbox Live Arcade games, such as 2009’s The Maw and ‘Splosion Man. It became a part of Microsoft Studios in 2011, and went on to release Xbox 360 Kinect-exclusive shooter The Gunstringer, and Xbox One game LocoCycle, before becoming an independent company again in 2015 and moving into VR game development.

Meta only acquired Armature and Twisted Pixel in late 2022, and Sanzaru in 2020. However, it is now seemingly shedding much of its internal VR business as Meta scrambles to recover billion-dollar losses and pivot to AI.

In a statement, Meta confirmed the three studio closures: “we said last month that we were shifting some of our investment from Metaverse toward Wearables. This is part of that effort, and we plan to reinvest the savings to support the growth of wearables this year.”

According to Reuters, CEO Mark Zuckerberg prioritized and spent heavily on the Metaverse, only for the business to burn more than $60 billion since 2020. The Reality Labs business also produces Meta’s Quest mixed-reality headsets.

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

It’s been a banner launch day for Hytale, the new sandbox game from the creators of popular Minecraft server Hypixel. In addition to a surge of players and a lot of positive buzz, it’s shot up to become, briefly, the most popular game on Twitch, with over 420k viewers.

This was observed first by PC Gamer, who earlier today clocked that it was the most-watched game on Twitch and the second-most-watched category, only behind Just Chatting by about 43k views. At the time this piece was written, Hytale had dropped down to around 260k viewers, but is still the most-watched video game and the third-most-watched category. It’s now behind both Just Chatting and football (soccer, for the Americans) league Kings League. And it seems possible that it will surge further in the coming days.

It’s a heck of a comeback story for a game that, half a year ago, was thought to be canceled entirely. Hytale, made by the developers of wildly popular Minecraft server Hypixel, was first announced in 2018 with an incredibly popular trailer, and garnered plenty of buzz at the time. Riot Games took notice, invested, and in 2020 acquired it entirely. However, Hytale was delayed several times as its scope grew, and just this past year was canceled entirely by Riot. Then, in November, co-founder Simon Collins-Laflamme announced he had acquired the IP rights back from Riot, and in an incredibly fast turnaround, he and the team got the game ready for an early access release today.

In addition to its popularity on Twitch, Hytale has already made enough money to cover two more years of development, and its modding scene is already bustling day one. Someone’s even got Doom running in it. Though we’re still waiting for confirmation from Hypixel as to how many players are checking it out today, Collins-Laflamme made a bold prediction of one million players on day one. We’ll hopefully soon see if that’s come true.

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

Humble’s new Decked Out Collection bundle features seven games that are great for Steam Deck users looking to add a little something new to their handheld’s library. If you have some trips planned for the months ahead, these are sure to keep you entertained on any long journeys.

The seven games in this bundle (which you can see in full below) have a total value of $129, but through the bundle you can get them all for as low as $12. That’s a sweet offer to jump on, though keep in mind it’s only live for 15 more days. If the selection has caught your eye, now is the time to grab it.

Humble Bundle Decked Out Collection