Category: IGN

EA has laid off an unknown number of individuals from across its Battlefield teams, including workers at Criterion, Dice, Ripple Effect, and Motive Studios, IGN understands.

Individuals are being informed that the layoffs are taking place as part of a “realignment” across the Battlefield studios, as the team continues its ongoing, live service support for Battlefield 6 following launch. All four studios will remain operational, though the layoffs seem to be impacting a variety of teams across multiple studios and offices. IGN has reached out to EA for comment on total number and types of roles impacted, as well as for the specific reasons for the layoffs.

Battlefield 6 was the best-selling game of 2025 in the United States. It sold a “record shattering” 7 million copies in three days and was the best launch ever for a game in the franchise. While its campaign received a bit of a mixed response from critics including us, we gave its multiplayer an 8/10 at launch.

However, the months since Battlefield 6’s launch have seen the game begin to struggle from patch to patch. Fans have criticized a number of updates due to reasons ranging from cosmetics to movement, and three months in, Steam reviews have fallen to “Mixed” from a “Mostly Positive” start. Major issues reported include criticism of heavy monetization, use of generative AI for in-game cosmetics, and fewer content updates than expected. The criticism was heavy enough that the teams delayed the start of Season 2 to allow more time to implement community feedback. EA recently published a three-month roadmap for its expected updates.

Steam concurrents have also dropped significantly following Battlefield 6’s big launch, when it hit a huge 747,440 peak. Steam concurrents are now, typically, in the tens of thousands. For example, Battlefield 6 hit 67,000 peak concurrent players on Valve’s platform yesterday. Of course, Steam numbers do not paint the whole picture of a game’s popularity or success, given Battlefield 6 is also available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. But they do give us a sense of where a game is at, and in Battlefield 6’s case the drop-off may have been more dramatic than EA had expected. Meanwhile, the free-to-play Battlefield battle royale, Redsec, has had problems of its own, with a ‘Mostly Negative’ Steam user review rating for recent posts.

These layoffs come just months after the unexpected death of Battlefield franchise head Vince Zampella in a car accident. They also come as EA is preparing to be acquired by an investor group composed of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners for approximately $55 billion. However, the acquisition has not yet closed (it’s expected to close in the first quarter of the 2027 financial year, or April, May, and June of this year). IGN understands internally, EA is stating that the layoffs are unrelated to the acquisition.

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

Fortnite has confirmed that The Foundation, its heroic character voiced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, will return next season – and begun an Avengers: Doomsday-style countdown for his reappearance.

A cinematic teaser trailer released today shows The Foundation currently frozen in ice, captured by The Ice King (another important character in Fortnite lore). Still, players expect they’ll be able to break out The Rock’s character in the battle royale mode’s next season, which begins in shortly over a week’s time.

Indeed, today’s teaser reveals the official name for Epic Games’ next slice of Fortnite, and riffs on the wording seen in recent Avengers: Doomsday teasers (not that they’re actually teasers, apparently) to confirm the return of several key characters.

“The Foundation and The Ice King will return in Fortnite: Showdown,” the teaser states, before the words shift into a date (March 19, 2026) and then a countdown clock revealing the weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds left to go until the update drops.

The teaser itself reveals a new in-game location, which looks to be a fresh and more detailed version of The Ice King’s classic Polar Peak fortress. Previous in-game imagery had teased this wintry palace, and suggested it was home to one of the game’s current Zero Point shard macguffins.

The suggestion here is that this new Ice King is working with Fortnite’s current baddie, The Dark Voyager, to reunite the Zero Point’s broken shards for nefarious means. But previous Fortnite lore, doled out through graphic novels, painted the original Ice King as something of a more noble figure, who freezes beings he has deemed a threat to reality. Fans have suggested the Dark Voyager is capable of corrupting previous Fortnite characters (such as Lynx) to do his bidding. Or maybe the Ice King really has just broken bad?

The original Ice King was a mysterious character who kept a prisoner in his dungeon back in Fortnite’s first chapter (something recently glimpsed again via the Fortnite OG mode, which retells the game’s original storyline). In today’s teaser, however, the new Ice King is shown to have several other captives, too, including golden skeleton lady Orelia and Marvel’s own Steve Rogers (though his may just be yet another nod to Doomsday).

The teaser concludes with The Ice King sidling up to The Foundation, frozen mid-punch. How he’ll escape remains to be seen, though one things for certain: with newly-tweaked designs for The Foundation and The Ice King on show here, fans will have several must-have new skins to obtain next season.

Recent weeks have seen several surviving members of Fortnite’s heroic Seven faction return in game, including a new version of The Visitor voiced by a very familiar-sounding actor. Fortnite is yet to officially confirm the return of Dwayne Johnson to his own role, though fans seemingly won’t have long to wait until The Foundation speaks once more.

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

If the absurd silliness of 2019’s Untitled Goose Game is the type of thing that floats your boat, then the upcoming multiplayer puzzle game Big Walk by the same developer should rank pretty high on your list for 2026. This wacky adventure occupies the growing number of games lovingly dubbed “friendslop,” in the same vein as Lethal Company, R.E.P.O., and most applicable here, Peak, making use of proximity chat and goofy gameplay to create memorable times with friends. And if the opening hour is any indication, then Big Walk stands a strong chance of capturing the attention of those, like myself, who will happily jump online to joke around with their buds during some low-stress shenanigans.

Big Walk is a cooperative puzzle game meant to be played with friends that emphasizes creativity, silly scenarios, and limited communication options as a core game mechanic. Unlike many games in this genre, you’re not stuck in a survival horror scenario, but instead solving a series of increasingly challenging puzzles that require your team to work as a group. Playing as weird, birdlike creatures, you’ll run around searching for oblong key items hidden throughout the island, tackling puzzles that have you doing things like describing hieroglyphs to your friends while they enter them into a codepad, or stacking up on top of one another like a circus troupe in order to get to areas unreachable on one’s own. The goofy and low-stakes nature of these obstacles means that, if you’re anything like my group, you’ll spend most of your time messing around and making very little progress while you crack jokes and come up with lore for the completely unexplained and odd world you find yourself in.

Talk About It

Like other multiplayer-focused indies of its kind, you’ll be limited strictly to proximity chat and won’t be able to hear your co-op partners if they’re standing more than a few feet away, so will have to make use of signs, hand signals, and other non-verbal forms of communication. This creates some unique hurdles, especially when players are required to split up to solve a puzzle. For example, in one scenario where one player had to hold down a button while I ran a long distance away to grab an item that was only accessible while said button was being held, my teammates had to keep an eye on me with binoculars so they could verify that I’d recovered the item.

To help ease the communication limitations, a whole bunch of the controls are dedicated to your character moving their arms about, including raising them in the air, holding them out at your sides, or pointing directly forward, and individual buttons are assigned to your left and right arm as well, allowing you to get quite specific with the different combinations. All of the puzzles placed before us in this demo were simple enough that we weren’t really required to get fancy with hand signals, but I could see the building blocks there that could lead to more complicated scenarios.

Stick Together

It’s also notable that in my time with Big Walk I encountered no puzzles that could be solved without the assistance of my companions, which I learned early on after becoming separated from the rest of the group and stumbled upon a puzzle and tried to solve it myself, only to quickly discover that I needed at least two players to complete it. Not only is solving puzzles with friends just fun to begin with, but I think it’s a good decision to make it so your friends can’t take off in different directions and make progress on their own, since it meant I never had to worry about missing out on any of the puzzle solving if I got lost or stopped to smell the roses while the others forged ahead.

In fact, puzzles actually change dynamically to fit the number of players in your party, from 2-4. For example, one puzzle requires everyone to stack on one another to reach a button located high up, and the height of that button is adjusted relative to the number of teammates you have. In another area, our prize could only be acquired when all four of us hit four buttons at the same time, and the number of buttons that had to be pushed simultaneously was determined by our player count. These examples are obviously quite simple since I effectively only played through the tutorial area, but I really like the idea that the participation of everyone on the team is required to make progress, and could see them coming up with some really devious challenges that require everyone taking on a vital role, overcoming communication obstacles along the way.

Low Stakes

Aside from solving puzzles, you’ll also find things in the world that seem intended purely to waste your time, like one area where we found a paintbrush that allowed us to change the color of various parts of our weird bird characters’ bodies, and another where we found an odd rest stop of sorts, which had no puzzle to speak of, but played some chill jams and provided a nice view to admire. In a game that relies so heavily on creating silly memories with your friends, it’s great to see how apt Big Walk is when it comes to knowing when to slow things down and give players an opportunity to be childish dorks. We definitely took the developer up on every chance they gave us to do just that, and much of the joy from our demo came not from any novel game mechanic, but from us finding our own fun within their bizarre sandbox. At least in this short demo, they did a really great job at making room for this kind of fun, and it was surprising just how quick all four of us fell into a comfortable state of juvenile behavior. It’s the kind of pure, good-time nonsense vibes that we just don’t see enough of these days.

The premise of Big Walk might seem like it won’t have staying power, and that’s because it probably won’t. The whole thing is roughly 10 hours long according to developer House House Games, and none of the puzzles change aside from adjusting to your player count. But a lack of longevity or replayability isn’t such a bad thing with games like these, where a few amusing nights with your friends is well worth the time invested. I think of it a bit like doing an escape room – you likely won’t have a reason to return to the same collection of puzzles more than once, but it’s the kind of unique experience you’re unlikely to find elsewhere. In an era where more and more games are asking for absolutely every minute of our time for years and decades to come, I really relish the opportunity to play these bite-sized adventures that leave a lasting impression and then let me move on with my life (Don’t worry, GTA V. I still love you, baby).

I should also mention that the build of Big Walk I played was running on a (wait for it) Mac Mini. That’s right – A. Mac. Mini. Look, it’s not like this goofy co-op game could be even remotely demanding on hardware, since you’re mostly just hopping around and stacking on top of one another, but it’s still pretty impressive just how approachable this game seems to be, not just in terms of gameplay, but by the low barrier of entry in terms of the hardware you play on. For that reason, this might even be a good option if you’re looking to play with friends and family who aren’t normally into video games. After all, goofing around as a weird bird creature seems like a pretty universal kind of experience.

After a very memorable first hour, I’m absolutely sold on this as the next friendslop for my crew and I to jump in on. If it managed to be this enjoyable when all the puzzles were super simple, I can only imagine how ridiculous and memorable it’ll be when they introduce more complicated scenarios.

Slay the Spire 2 has enjoyed an enormous early access launch on Steam, breaking into the top 20 most-played games of all time on Valve’s platform.

Mega Crit’s sequel had already become the most-played roguelike ever on Steam after it launched last week, but now, after hitting an astonishing 574,638 peak concurrent players over the weekend, it’s joined the special top 20 club — and there are some big hitters within its sights.

Chief among them in the indie space is Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight: Silksong, which hit a peak of 587,150. And it’s that game the developers at MegaCrit cheekily pointed out as its target in a social media post celebrating their success.

“Our team is TOTALLY blown away by the amount of people who have been playing and sharing their love for the game we’ve been working on for the past half decade,” MegaCrit tweeted. “We’re excited to continue to make StS2 the best that it can be!! Also obligatory joke: we’ll getcha one day Silksong.”

Mega Crit had already playfully took aim at Bungie’s Marathon, which came out the same day as Slay the Spire 2, in a tweet they eventually admitted came off meaner than intended. But the truth is Slay the Spire 2 is the hottest video game on Steam right now, and is behind only the eternally popular PUBG, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike 2 in terms of current popularity.

You might be wondering what MegaCrit will do to capitalize on its success. Many developers would go hard on microtransactions, but it doesn’t sound like they’re coming to Slay the Spire 2. “We’re microtransaction haters,” Casey Yano, MegaCrit co-founder, told Destructoid, despite the fact that “a lot of our players threaten to buy all and any cosmetics we may ever release.”

I’m among the many playing at the moment, and I initially found it a tad confusing having not played the original. If you’re new to Slay the Spire, our Slay the Spire 2 Beginner’s Guide can help you get familiar with the basics, and for fans of the first game, take a look at the biggest changes in Slay the Spire 2. We’ve also got a guide to all the Slay the Spire 2 characters and how to unlock them, plus how to play co-op with friends.

Not only are a huge number of people playing Slay the Spire 2, but the vast majority are loving it. On Steam it enjoys a user review rating of ‘overwhelmingly positive,’ with nearly 14,000 user reviews already online. Check out IGN’s Slay the Spire 2 Early Access Review So Far to find out what we think.

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.

Amazon has unofficially made Pokémon Pokopia an $80 Nintendo Switch 2 game, after the retailer suddenly increased the price for the new life sim’s physical edition amid supply constraints.

Numerous retailers have completely run out of Pokémon Pokopia boxed copies, though Amazon still has availability in the U.S., albeit now at the higher price of $80.

It’s the second time in as many months that Amazon has jacked up the price of a physical Switch 2 game while demand is high. A couple of weeks ago, the retailer was selling Resident Evil Requiem on Switch 2 for $76.84, almost $7 more than its recommended retail price.

Pokémon Pokopia has an RRP of $70, which Amazon has maintained if you just wish to buy a digital download code. But, right now, a boxed copy of the game will cost you $79.99, up $10 for seemingly no reason other than the fact its stock is hard to find.

Physical copies of Pokémon Pokopia appear limited outside the U.S., too. This morning, The Game Business chief Chris Dring wrote on social media that the game was “seriously undersupplied at UK retail,” which has resulted in less than half the Switch 2 physical launch sales of last year’s Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

So, what’s going on here? Has Nintendo intentionally kept physical stock low? Pokémon Pokopia’s physical edition is just a Game-Key Card launch, something the company may have expected would push more people towards its digital version. The game’s Animal Crossing-esque life sim genre may also have been considered more likely to attract digital sales, so that the game is always available as people continue to play for weeks and months to come.

Officially, Nintendo has only marked Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World as an $80 game, though the full price of several Switch 2 Edition re-releases of existing Switch 1 games have also hit the same high price point (such as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV). Previously, Nintendo has said it will experiment with variable pricing for games on its latest console, while retailers are of course able to charge whatever they like.

IGN’s Pokémon Pokopia review returned a 9/10 score, and dubbed the game as “an enjoyable building and town simulator that capitalizes on the charming personalities of its monsters in a way that appeals to both the creative and collector alike.”

Wondering which Pokémon you’ll be able to live alongside? Check out our list of all the Pokémon in Pokopia, and take a look at our Things to Do First in Pokopia guide to make the most of your first few days. To help you get started, we’ve also got a list of 17 things that Pokopia doesn’t tell you, plus How to Raise the Environment Level and How to Raise Pokémon Comfort Level.

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

Today brings an ultra rare Pokémon card from the upcoming Mega Evolution — Perfect Order expansion, and it’s the first time this Mega Evolved ex creature has appeared in the Pokémon trading card game.

Mega Skarmory ex sees the recently-revealed Mega Pokémon appear in powerful form, with 260 HP and a punishing special attack.

Sonic Ripper will require two Steel energy and one Colorless energy to pull off, and comes with the requirement that you shuffle all energy attached to the creature into your deck. In return, though, you’ll be able to damage any one of your opponent’s Pokémon, including those that are Benched.

The team behind Project Motor Racing has acknowledged the game did not meet expectations upon its initial release in November. The admission comes via a new newsletter update from developer Straight4 Studios, which also announced a major update is set to arrive at the end of March.

“When we launched Project Motor Racing in November, we set out to build a racing sim that captured the intensity, immersion, and discipline of real motorsport,” the studio wrote.

“So let’s start with the simple truth: we didn’t hit the mark. Not on the stuff that mattered most. We let you down, and we let ourselves down.”

Conceding “more than one thing” went wrong, the studio explained it has been focusing on working “tirelessly to right the ship.”

“Patch by patch, we’ve listened closely to your feedback – the good, the bad, and the blunt – and we’ve acted on it,” the studio continued. “We’re now seven patches into making PMR the experience you want. Are we there yet? No. Not yet. But we’re moving closer to the standard you deserve and the standard we expect of ourselves.”

“At the end of March, we’ll be delivering a really significant update aimed at resetting PMR’s foundation and bringing the sim much closer to what a serious motorsport title should feel like. We’ll share a lot more detail about what this looks like throughout March.”

The most recent update for Project Motor Racing arrived just days ago, introducing the 2013 Ford FG Falcon V8 Supercar as a free vehicle for all players, plus a “total overhaul to the GT4 class.”

IGN’s November 2025 review of Project Motor Racing noted the sim’s great selection of cars and praised its self-contained nature, which overtly shunned a subscription model or “free-to-play chicanery,” but noted that, unfortunately, “Project Motor Racing feels like an early access game that hasn’t actually been identified as such” and made for a “mediocre single-player racing experience” at that time.

Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team. You can track him down on Bluesky @mrlukereilly to ask him things about stuff.

A new weekend has arrived, and today, you can save big on select Mario games for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. Check out our top picks for Sunday, March 8, below.

Mario Kart World for $64.99

A new weekend has arrived, and today, you can save on Mario Kart World for Nintendo Switch 2. Check out our top picks for Saturday, March 7, below.

Mario Kart World for $69.99

Whether you love them, hate them, or just get enraged waiting in the queue to try and get them, there’s little doubt that Secret Lair has proven itself to be a goldmine for the folks at Wizards of the Coast.

These special drops highlight different properties that a player, even five years ago, would scoff at as being impossible inclusions, bringing new eyes to the long-running card game.

As the releases are limited, some of the cards included in these Secret Lair drops are highly sought after, whether it is from a collector standpoint or just because folks love the art.

#10 Armiger Unleashed (Forge Anew – Rainbow Foil)