Halo is looking for a fresh start, and today’s 2025 Halo Project Update livestream could give it just that.
Nearly four years removed from the launch of Halo Infinite, gaming fans from every corner of the industry are looking to today’s Halo World Championship 2025 festivities for a sneak peek at the future of the flagship Xbox franchise. What exactly the developers at Halo Studios (formerly known as 343 Industries) have cooking remains to be seen, but judging by a tease shared late last month, it sounds like the Halo universe could soon head into uncharted territory.
“Like last year we’ll be on the Main Stage to talk about it but this year we’ve also got a ‘deep dive’ panel planned for the Community Stage that you won’t want to miss,” Halo Studios said in a Halo Waypoint post last month.
The Halo World Championship 2024 presentation served as fans’ introduction to Halo in Unreal Engine 5, setting the series up for a new direction. We’ll keep track of everything Microsoft and Halo Studios have to announce at the 2025 Halo Project Update stream here, so be sure to check in when the presentation begins at 1 p.m. PT / 4 p.m. ET for all of the latest news.
Developing…
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
Board games and anime are living in a bit of a golden era right now, where both are more popular and widely accepted by the masses than ever before. I count myself lucky that I am living in a period of time where I also get to see these two awesome things blend and combine together, in equally – almost Voltron-esque – awesome new ways. One of the most exciting recent examples of this collaboration is Monolith Board Game’s upcoming Berserk: The Board Game, which has taken off on Gamefound this month.
With nearly 5,900 backers and pulling in just over €2 million at time of writing, this tabletop adaptation of Kentaro Miura’s Berserk manga/anime has cut through its funding goal like Guts cleaving through a demon with his signature Dragon Slayer. Berserk: The Board Game lets 1-5 players take up the weapons of characters, including Serpico, Farnese, Isidro, Shierke, and of course, Guts to dispatch and destroy demonic foes. All of Guts’ crew come in detailed miniatures just begging to be painted. These plastic avatars of the Grunbeld and its Grunbeld Apostle, Slan, and Makara are sights to behold, and more than 120 miniatures is a treasure trove for fans that enjoy painting.
Fans of the Berserk manga will be treated to a ton of artwork pulled from the original story to enjoy. All of the action cards that compose each character’s deck feature iconic moments from the series, along with the imposing enemy cards and more. The core game box gives you an 11 Act campaign that takes place during the Millennium Falcon arc, but the additional Black Swordsman expansion that is also available during the campaign allows you to build your own adventures with tons of possible combinations and options to pick from – including the characters in your party and the enemies you are going to face.
While board game adaptations, especially these grandiose boxes, aren’t uncommon these days, most of the time it seems as though video games are the source material, and seeing an anime with such legacy and personality as Berserk is exciting. Monolith Board Games has a pedigree for adapting properties for the tabletop that let players team up and bash some heads in, having previously designed games based on Conan the Barbarian and Batman. Berserk, with its mix of dice rolling, card draw, and grid-based movement, looks like it is going to be another gruesome good time.
Backing the project
Berserk: The Board Game looks to have set itself up as a box that will appeal to fans of Berserk who may not have much exposure to the board game scene, thanks to all of the miniatures, as well as fans of co-operative board games thanks to Monolith’s expertise. If you want to make sure that Berserk is for you and your game group before backing it, there is a WIP Rulebook available to look at for a better sense of gameplay. This is undoubtedly a premium product with just the Core pledge running you €200 (about $233) with the total jumping to €335 (about $390) if you want it all, including the 184 miniatures. Gamefound does offer StretchPay that lets you pay off these large costs over multiple months. As someone who has taken advantage of this myself, it helps a ton!
The campaign is going on for only a few more days, but late pledges will open soon after it closes for those to jump on if you miss the initial campaign.
More board game collaborations
Scott White is a freelance contributor to IGN, assisting with tabletop games and guide coverage. Follow him on X/Twitter or Bluesky.
If you’ve ever wanted to run your own zoo, then Raise Animals is the Roblox experience for you. Though you’ll start with just a single animal, you can race along an obstacle course, taming new animals with your lasso to bring them back to your farm. Feed your animals, level them up, and unlock new mutations that will increase the value of your zoo, so visitors will pay more to see your collection. Want a head start? Here are all the codes that are currently active for Raise Animals.
Working Raise Animals Codes
These codes are currently active and can be redeemed in Raise Animals:
FreeCorals: 1,000 Coral and 150 Rubies
SorryForAllTheBugs – 1,000 Coral and 500 Rubies
50MVisitsTysm – 1,000 Rubies
Ocean – 500 Coral, 1,000 Money, and 250 Rubies
Update1 – 500 Rubies and 500 Coral
How to Use Raise Animals Codes
When you’re ready to redeem your Raise Animals codes, launch the Roblox experience. You’ll then need to like the game and join the Raise Animals Studio group before codes will be accepted. Once you’ve done that, follow these steps to get your freebies:
Click the gear icon in the top right corner to open settings
Scroll down to “Redeem Code”
Copy the code from this article and paste it into the box
Click redeem!
Expired Raise Animals Codes
The following codes have now expired:
SryForTheGamepassIssue
10MVisitsTysms
10KActiveTysm
Release!
FREE RANDOM ANIMALS
5MVisitsTysm
1MVisitsTysm
5KActiveTysm
3KActiveTysm
SorryForBugs
Why Isn’t My Raise Animals Code Working?
Codes for Roblox experiences are usually case-sensitive, so the best way to ensure you’ve got a working code is to directly copy it from this article. We check all codes before we upload them, so you can guarantee they’re working. Just double-check that you haven’t copied over an extra space!
Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.
Battlefield 6 appears to have suffered yet another leak, this time relating to its battle royale.
According to ModernWarzone, which has a track record of accurate reporting around unannounced video game information, particularly in relation to Call of Duty, the Battlefield 6 battle royale is called Battlefield: RedSec.
ModernWarzone also reported that it’s free-to-play and is due out on October 28, the same day Battlefield 6 Season 1 is set to launch. Given EA and Battlefield Studios are yet to make any announcements about this so close to that date, a shadowdrop is expected.
Here’s a quick look at what changes you may notice the next time you play:
Close-range TTK: We’ve adjusted time-to-kill at close range for all weapons to reward clean positioning and tracking while giving players more time to counter attacks. We’ll keep monitoring this once it’s live.
Armor Changes: Everyone will now have the capacity for 2 armor plates at the start of the game. All players will spawn with 1 plate, so you will have the chance to upgrade as soon as you start looting, giving everyone an equal chance at upgrading their armor fully.
World Improvements: We’ve been fixing pesky world bugs and optimizing areas to improve the environment. With these improvements, we made adjustments to the lighting as well as enhancing the visibility across the map.
Vehicle Balance: We’ve adjusted the balance for helicopters and combat vehicles to keep them as powerful tools showing off Battlefield’s core DNA, without making them necessary to survive or win the late game. This includes significant adjustments to the heli countermeasures and ammo economy.
We have also been working on providing smoother performance overall. We have identified and addressed a range of issues that affected performance that we simply couldn’t have done without our players’ involvement in the tests.
Battlefield 6 Season 1 update 1.1.1.0 patch notes:
We are deploying Update 1.1.1.0 on Tuesday, October 28, followed by the Season 1 launch later that day at the following times:
09:00 UTC: Update 1.1.1.0 goes live on all platforms. Players will be prompted to download and install the update, which includes all technical and gameplay changes.
15:00 UTC: Season 1 content, including the Battle Pass and new seasonal features, becomes available for all players.
Between these times, players can continue to play Battlefield 6 as normal after updating, but Season 1 content and progression will unlock at 15:00 UTC.The Season 1 Update marks the next step in our ongoing journey to evolve and expand the Battlefield 6 experience. This includes fixes, balance changes, and quality-of-life improvements focused on polish, performance, and player feedback to deliver an even smoother experience moving forward.Major Updates for 1.1.1.0:
Improved core movement and animations, including smoother landings, faster stance transitions, better vaulting behavior, and reduced “bouncing” issues on landing or spawning.
Reworked weapon dispersion to better align accuracy and handling with each weapon’s intended design and performance over range. These changes address cases where accuracy behaved inconsistently, such as dispersion not properly settling after sprinting, and bring overall firing behavior closer to the intended balance between precision, control, and weapon power.
Significant visibility and lighting improvements, with better exposure transitions, interior lighting, and reduced fog and smoke persistence.
Audio overhaul, adding new projectile flybys, destruction and explosion sounds, refined vehicle and weapon mixes, and improved haptic feedback across multiple interactions.
UI and HUD updates for clarity and consistency, including overtime indicators, end-of-round fixes, and new unlock markers for weapons and gadgets.
Map fixes across multiple locations, resolving spawn animations, out-of-bounds issues, misaligned assets, and general stability across Conquest, Breakthrough, and Rush modes.
CHANGELOGPLAYER:
Fixed an issue where combat dive could break when diving uphill.
Fixed an issue where players would detach from ziplines when entering at high speed.
Improved steady aim and sight centering for more consistent precision.
Fixed an issue where movement could interrupt steady aim.
Adjusted misaligned character hitboxes for upper body and head to better match the visual models.
Fixed an issue where the jump animation could play twice when aiming down sights.
Landing animations now have their animation path properly centered, instead of shifting to the side when landing.
Fixed an issue where jump inaccuracy could linger too long after landing.
Fixed a visual issue causing weapons to appear rotated incorrectly after spawning.
Fixed an issue where throwing grenades from prone could make players appear standing in third-person view.
Fixed an animation delay when opening doors while sliding.
Fixed an issue where players could get stuck while vaulting over certain objects.
Fixed a visual issue where dead players appeared alive while swimming.
Fixed an issue where quick meleeing with a gadget would swap back to the primary weapon instead of the gadget.
Fixed an issue where getting killed by a mine would highlight it in the killcam.
Fixed a camera jitter that could occur when entering ladders and looking down.
Fixed an issue where camera and weapon sway behaved incorrectly after entering or exiting vehicles.
Fixed an issue where weapons of other soldiers could clip through walls when they entered your view.
Fixed an issue where pistols disappeared while swimming.
Improved lighting precision for visibility while hip-firing and aiming down sights.
Reduced occurrences of bouncing or landing issues when dropping onto certain objects.
Fixed an issue where the killer snapshot sometimes did not display in the killcam.
Small improvements to weapon and camera sway for smoother movement.
Fixed an issue where enemies could take melee damage in protected vehicle seats.
Fixed an issue where vaulting could fail if triggered right as the player hit an obstacle.
Fixed an animation issue where repeated vaulting could cause incorrect hand placement.
Fixed an issue where simultaneous melee hits could make an enemy briefly invisible
Fixed an issue where soldier heads briefly disappeared during redeploy transitions.
Improved training path progression display to better match actual unlocks.
Fixed an issue where friendly players could clip into each other when climbing ladders.
Fixed an issue preventing vaulting directly from a slide.
Fixed an issue causing the camera to rotate abruptly after a takedown.
Fixed an issue where hands briefly disappeared after using the AJ-03 COAG Med Pen.
Improved stab animations when reviving with drag and revive.
Fixed issues affecting peeking and prone transitions, ensuring both actions function correctly.
Fixed a camera clipping issue when going prone while strafing.
Fixed a missing third-person animation when transitioning from prone to sprint.
Fixed an issue where falling while sprinting caused incorrect hand movement.
Fixed visual clipping when soldiers stood too close to glass doors.
Fixed jittery aim animations in third-person when mounted.
Fixed a bug where mounting near walls prevented aiming left or right.
Fixed an issue where leaning, peeking, or mounting could cancel unexpectedly.
Fixed an issue where third-person hit reactions were missing when hit while mounted.
Fixed an animation issue where the character’s knee clipped with the camera when falling while crouched.
Fixed takedown inconsistencies, allowing players to properly perform melee takedowns even near walls.
Fixed an issue where taking melee damage interrupted weapon fire.
Fixed multiple visibility improvements including lighting, exposure, and fog behavior for better contrast and clarity across all maps.
Improved vaulting, parachute, and door-opening animations for smoother transitions.
Fixed rare animation freezes for friendly soldiers reloading off-screen.
Fixed minor inconsistencies in mounting, peeking, and prone transitions for more reliable gameplay.
Added parachute customization for soldiers.
Prevented unintended shoulder bump animation when equipping a weapon while sprinting.
Improved ragdoll impacts for more consistent and reliable reactions.
Improved stance transition and landing animations to settle faster and feel smoother.
VEHICLES:
Fixed missing haptic feedback when switching between tank weapons.
Fixed a visual issue where the player’s hand clipped with the M1A2 SEPv3 handle when sitting in external seats.
GADGETS:
Fixed a rare issue where the MAS 148 Glaive could block the first-person view during a combat dive.
Fixed a MAS 148 Glaive visual issue during combat dives in first-person.
Fixed an issue where Defibrillators appeared floating during vaulting animations.
Fixed an issue where the Supply Pouch would sometimes not resupply correctly.
Deployable gadgets are not destroyed/removed from debris piles
AT grenades now create a small sized crater instead of a medium one.
Buildings now take more hits to be destroyed by a Sledgehammer.
WEAPONS:
Weapon dispersion has been rebalanced to better match each weapon’s damage profile across all ranges. Lower-damage weapons will now see a slightly higher increase in dispersion when firing, while higher-damage weapons will experience slightly less.
Using Sniper Rifles with any class other than Recon will no longer increase weapon spread. Instead, weapon sway will now begin during the zoom transition, maintaining balance and distinguishing Recon’s precision advantage.
Fixed a misalignment issue with top-mounted red dot sights.
Fixed an issue where mounting a bipod while zoomed only changed the FOV instead of using the correct optic.
Fixed an issue where the Long Suppressor used the wrong attachment point cost for some weapons.
Improved reticle settling for automatic weapons to make burst firing more efficient.
Fixed an issue where using a bipod too close to complex geometry could throw the player off position while prone.
Balanced sledgehammer damage against world objects for better consistency.
Fixed an issue preventing players from leaving the Firing Range.
MAPS & MODES:
Improved fog and smoke effects after destruction to prevent them from lingering too long and impacting visibility.
Improved exposure transitions between indoor and outdoor areas for better visibility.
Fixed an issue where the zipline carabiner could appear offset and fly next to the wire instead of along it.
Squad names are now randomized at the start of Squad Deathmatch matches.
Added visible bomb meshes to armed M-COMs in Rush.
Updated overtime UI visualization across all modes.
Fixed animation and positioning issues during insertion sequences on all maps.
Fixed an issue where the game mode UI could display incorrect scores or fail to update during a round.
Fixed an End of Round progression issue in King of the Hill mode.
Fixed an issue where players could encounter a bouncing animation when spawning at HQs after capturing new territories in Escalation across multiple maps.
Mirak Valley
Fixed a misaligned zipline mesh in Conquest.
Fixed an issue where the deploy camera in Rush displayed attackers on the wrong side of the map.
Fixed an issue that prevented players from arming M-COM A in Rush due to a misplaced asset.
Siege of Cairo
Fixed overlapping territory lines and boundaries during the briefing screen in Escalation.
Liberation Peak
Fixed an issue in Escalation where a portion of the map on the NATO side was disconnected during the first period of the match.
Fixed an issue in Rush where part of the Attacker’s HQ area was incorrectly marked as out of bounds.
New Sobek City
Fixed an issue preventing players from capturing part of Flag C in Escalation.
Fixed an issue where players could ignite when spawning near a burning lorry in Team Deathmatch.
Adjusted an infantry vehicle spawn that was placed too close to a building in the PAX Armata HQ area.
Manhattan Bridge
Fixed an issue in Breakthrough where players could become stuck on the End of Round screen if the party leader left during the EOR sequence.
UI & HUD:
Added new markers for newly unlocked weapons, weapon packages, attachments, gadgets, and throwables.
Updated 3D previews for certain gadgets to show their deployed state.
Added preview videos demonstrating how gadgets work.
Added new cosmetic options for selected gadgets.
Changed “Save & Close” to “Close” in the Deploy menu for clarity.
Fixed various UI issues in Loadouts.
Fixed an issue where Battlefield 6 Ownership XP Boost did not display properly at End of Round.
Fixed multiple text inconsistencies in Dog Tags and Challenges.
Fixed an issue where the HUD would not appear when using a 16:10 aspect ratio with certain resolutions.
SETTINGS:
Added Flick Look bindings to Helicopter, Jet, and Transport control schemes.
Fixed visual issues where some aspect ratio settings caused transparent borders or inconsistent display behavior.
SINGLE PLAYER:
Fixed an issue in Mission 01 where players were unable to lean out during the Last Stand sequence if the cinematic began while the knife was equipped.
Fixed a black screen issue in the Night Raid mission.
PORTAL:
Fixed an issue where the Host Experience screen did not display the Portal experience image.
Fixed a crash that could occur if a party leader started a Portal server while Content Packs 01 and 04 were disabled.
Improved loading times for the Server Browser experience info tab to ensure joining functions properly.
Corrected a spelling error in the message shown when attempting to join an unavailable server.
AUDIO:
Fixed an issue where footstep sounds were missing when moving with the knife equipped.
Fixed a voiceline issue where directional callouts (e.g., “enemy north”) played the wrong direction.
Tuned haptic feedback across multiple actions, including window barging, defibrillator use, swimming, rocket pods, mounted MGs, and sea vehicle collisions.
Polished large projectile audio with new missile, rocket pod, and cannon shell flyby effects; improved distance handling and overall mix for more realistic impact sounds.
Updated audio configs for light rockets and LMGs; refined explosion sound crossfades and adjusted distant sound behavior.
Improved vehicle and weapon firing audio balance, reducing noise artifacts, unwanted phasing, and over-saturation.
Added radio chatter through controller speakers.
Fixed an issue where firing range dummies and vehicle-hit reactions sometimes played incorrect or processed hurt sounds.
Disabled radio processing for stationary vehicle pings and fixed compass orientation for ping indicators.
Fixed missing or incorrect ambient and destruction sounds across several maps, including Siege of Cairo, as well as missing explosion sounds for silos and tanker trailers.
Added missing ambient audio setups for environmental props like construction barriers and buses.
Added new sound effects for the bulletin and takeover sections of the main menu, including improved reveal animations.
Fixed an issue where delayed challenge tab displays triggered early audio playback.
Fixed an issue where defibrillator loop sounds could get stuck when vaulting.
Fixed missing or out-of-sync reload sounds.
Corrected the M39 EMR using suppressed audio when unsuppressed.
Restored missing external sound effects for RWS Gunner countermeasure mines.
Fixed issues where soundtrack tracks cut off abruptly or skipped mid-song.
Reload audio polish for several weapons.
This announcement may change as we listen to community feedback and continue developing and evolving our Live Service & Content. We will always strive to keep our community as informed as possible.
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.
So I’m going to be that guy and start bringing up Christmas 2025 before Halloween has started, but for good reason. Ever thought “My Christmas tree needs more Nintendo?” Well Hallmark just dropped their Mario, Pokémon and the Legend of Zelda tree ornaments and I want to buy all of them.
TL;DR: Deals for Today
Not ready to get festive just yet? How about a beast of a power bank from Anker that can handle Macbooks, Xbox ROG Ally X and Switch 2? Yeah, it’s a cracking prime-exclusive deal. In other deals today i’ve found a craceking deal on a cult classic 4K steelbook and some last minute Steam game deals that you can’t ignore, so let’s get into it:
Hallmark Nintendo Christmas Tree Ornaments
Today’s deals article marks the only time i’ve paid attention to anything Hallmark, and it’s a worthy sacrifice considering I could have Link, Elephant Mario and Snorlax hanging on my Christmas tree this year. Pricing varies, but I couldn’t ignore all of these epic Christmas tree decorations.
Anker 737 24,000mAh 140W Power Bank
There’s hardly any power bank brands I trust more than Anker, as every product i’ve bought or tested has been brilliant. So coming across this prime member-exclusive 32% discount on a 24,000mAh 140W Power Bank for $74.99 is Black Friday territory. This will charge anything from a Macbook or handheld gaming PC to your smartphone, so don’t sleep on this deal.
The Fog (1980) – Limited Edition Steelbook 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
A 4K Steelbook with stunning artwork at 55% off? That once sentence sells this deal, but The Frog (1980) is also a cult classic. 100% worth $17.99 if this kind of film is up your street.
EDENS ZERO Standard Edition (Steam)
Using code “OMENVIP” will bag players Edens Zero on Steam for just $35.33, down from $49.99. Pretty great deal, right? It’s a 3D action RPG based on the Manga and Anime “Eden Zero” by Hiro Mashima, and might just be your way in if you don’t have the patience for reading or binge watching a new anime.
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner (Steam)
It’s $4.68 for a steam code, what’s not to like? It’s a full-length remaster of the original featuring full Steam VR support, native 4K support and surround sound. So now if going to be a great time to take JEHUTY out for a spin.
Unknown 9: Awakening (Steam)
Another banger for the price of a posh coffee, Unknown 9: Awakening for $4.99 is well worth it. Redeemable on Steam, play as Haroona who’s able to pull powers from a parallel dimension known as “The Fold” to dodge bullets, vanish, fire energy Dragon Ball style and more.
Hulu (with ads) + Live TV for $64.99/mo for 3 Months
30% off Hulu just in time for the world series? Yes please! It contains adds, but a saving is a saving especially when it’s commitment free after the offer ends. Just in time for the holiday season, you can have cosey film nights for less this year.
77″ LG Evo C5 4K OLED Smart TV
Over $2,000 off one of the best TVs of this year, plus you get free stand or wall mount setup and a LG S40T Soundbar and Subwoofer bundle (Worth $229.99), just add it to your basket. If you need a new TV in time for the holidays, this is an absolute banger to have in the lounge.
Anker 25,000mAh 165W Power Bank
No more loosing USB-C cables with this bad boy. It pumps out enough power to charge anything from your phone and Nintendo Switch 2 to a Macbook. The 25,000mAh power capacity means it’ll store more than enough more to charge two devices at once too. It’s a win-win kind of deal.
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Gen 10
30% off an Nvidia RTX 5070Ti gaming laptop brings the price of entry for DLSS 4 to way under $2,000. 16GB of DDR5 RAm alongside a Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor backing up the GPU means this 16-inch Lenovo Legion beast is well worth it!
Football Manager 26 (Steam)
Preorders are now available for Football Manager 26 over on Fanatical, which gives players early access for pre-purchasing. New features such as Premier League and Womens Football is included this time around, to there’s plenty to go at in this new instalment.
Once Upon A KATAMARI (Steam)
Releasing today, Once Upon a Katamari introduces tiem travel to the frankly insane cult classic series from Bandai Namco. Roll through Jurrasic, Ice Age and other eras to rebuild the Earth and Moon that the king destroyed whilst playing as The Prince and one of his 68 cousins. Mental.
SILENT HILL f (Steam)
Set in 1960s Japan, Silent Hill f follows Shimiza Hinako as she deal with her town and home covered in a strange fog, turning her life into a living nightmare. This next instalment focuses more on Psycological horror and finding beauty hidden in terror. I’d find out for myself, but i’ll be giving my goldfish a bath instead (I’m scared).
Alienware Gaming Desktop Discounts
Fancy a solid RTX 5080 build for under $2,000 including free delivery? You’ll be able to take advantage of DLSS 4 with more gas in the tank than a RTX 4080 Super, which is one of Nvidias best graphics card releases last year. Buyers can look forward to high frame rate 4K gameplay with all the bells and whistles added. We’re talking ray tracing and definition sharper than any console can currently output. Check our review out for more information on this epic GPU.
Alienware Gaming Laptop Discounts
When it comes to gaming laptops in general, picking one within your budget is the first major step. For something worth gaming on, the $1,000 mark is the price of entry. That will include a RTX 5060, going all the way up to $3,549 for a RTX 5090 build if you really want that mobile gaming flex.
Nvidia RTX 5000 Series Refurb Deals
Still running a Nvidia RTX 1000 to 3000 series? This is your chance to upgrade your rig to DLSS 4 and Ray Tracing with Woots RTX 5000 series refurbished sale. The sweet spot with this generation has to be RTX 5080 that includes 16GB of GDDRR6 RAM that can handle 4K gaming and all the frames. Need to upgrade on a budget? RTX 5070 12GB is a great option for $529 too.
MTG: Cheapest at Amazon
There’s a handful of booster boxes available for slightly less at Amazon this week, but it’s a bit of a poor turnout for Magic: The Gathering players. Most of the listing on Amazon are above MSRP and higher than secondary market values, but the carosel above are good deals when compared to TCGPlayer.
MTG: Cheapest at TCGPlayer
TCGPlayer’s sellers are keeping away from the sneaker-heads and crypo bro mentality that’s hit Magic and Pokémon TCG is 2025 and is keeping prices down. Market value for MTG sealed product goes off what people are willing to pay, and it shows. There’s so much here that’s at a lower price than big box retailers it’s embarassing. But, it’s great for your pocket!
Blaziken ex & Volcanion ex Premium Collection
Trainers and collectors will get five Destined Rivals Boosters and five Journey Together Boosters in this bad boy, so that’s about the right kind of ball park for ten booster packs, plus you’re getting the promo Volcanion ex and Blaziken ex promo card and a jumbo version of Blaziken ex.
I think these promo’s would work great together in a fire-themed deck. Use Blazikens Seething Spirit to grab fire energy from your discard pile to build up Volcanion. In the meantime Volcanion can burn opposing Pokémon then use Scorching Cyclone for 160 damage then transfer all it’s energy to a benched Pokémon. So many possibilities here.
Poké Price Check: Mega Evolution In Stock
Mega Evolution seems to be a well-printed start to the next era of Pokémon TCG. I’m seeing boosters in convienience stores and some products on physical shelves, not to mention the Booster Bundle ($52.89), Gardevoir ETB ($88.81) and Three Booster Blister ($28.90) available on Amazon. Like the rest of the products in this carousel though, the cheapest is TCGplayer right now.
Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of “Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior”. Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.
Halloween is just a week away, and the most popular Roblox experiences are continuing their hauntingly good celebrations. This weekend is packed with Roblox updates for the spooky season, so here’s a roundup of everything you can expect.
Friday October 24th Roblox Updates:
Several experiences are getting their updates in before the weekend starts, giving you plenty of time to participate in them.
Anime Eternal Update
First up is Anime Eternal, which is a fighting game that will take you through different anime-inspired worlds as you level up and build your strength to be the strongest player. This experience is planning to release Update 21 in three parts just like the previous one. The first part is planned to launch today, with the second part is due on Sunday, 26th October. The final part will conclude on Wednesday, 29th October. The new updates are set to add a new island, champions, powers, and overall quality of life improvements.
Adopt Me! Update
Following this is Adopt Me! This notoriously adorable experience that lets you collect and trade pets has already launched Halloween content. Today (October 24th) the final pets will be revealed, and you can get DJ Snooze and a Ghostly Cat pet. Adopt Me! Is also participating in the Halloween Spotlight event that Roblox is running until November 3rd.
Don’t Wake the Brainrots Update
Don’t Wake the Brainrots, which is a game where you sneak around and steal sleeping Brainrots, launched its Halloween event last week. This week, today’s event is a Secret Update, with information yet to be revealed. Following this, on Sunday, Slime Vine Studios plan to have their Admin Abuse event with special guest stars once again.
Dandy’s World Update
It’s no surprise that the survival horror experience where you work together to explore the Gardenview Center is making the most of the spooky season. Dandy’s World has had Halloween content running for two weeks, adding new Halloween toons, skins, and a limited-time Halloween floor. You can expect to see more stickers and skins arrive in today’s update.
Brookhaven Update
Brookhaven is a roleplaying game where all of the inhabitants live on an island and can use vehicles and visit stores. The simulator experience regularly releases new items, clothing, and more to customize your character. This week, it launches its Halloween Event.
Rivals Update
The first person shooter game that sees you face off against others either in 1v1 battles or in teams of 5v5 is bringing a new Halloween update to the game. The most recent update introduced a new ranked season, season pass, new weapons, and more. The Halloween Update, meanwhile, promises new skins and rewards.
Additional Roblox Updates for Experiences on Friday 24th October
Those are not the only popular experiences launching updates today, you can also find:
Heading into the weekend, you’ll see the most-played Roblox experiences launch their usual weekly content.
99 Nights in the Forest Update
99 Nights in the Forest has sat near the top of the Roblox charts for months, showing that survival horror isn’t just for Halloween. For the unfamiliar, the game involves trying to keep your character fed, warm, and sheltered while you rescue missing children and avoid a dangerous deer-like entity at night.
Naturally, the game is also keen to get into the Halloween spirit. Potion Making is coming to 99 Nights in the Forest on Saturday, October 25th. In this update, you’ll be able to combine ingredients in a cauldron to get potions that grant new effects.
Grow a Garden Update
The gardening simulator, Grow a Garden, has an abundance of seeds, pets, and mutations to discover as you plant, harvest, and sell your crops. Grow a Garden launched their Halloween event two weeks ago with Ghoul Garden. Last week, we saw Ghoul Garden Part 2, and this week, Ghoul Garden gets another extension. Though it’s not clear yet what this will involve, you can always expect new seeds, pets, weather events. This week, there’s also a special admin abuse event hosted by Glass Animals.
Steal a Brainrot Update
Steal a Brainrot is a particularly popular Roblox experience where you’ll need to capture Brainrots from a conveyor belt and keep them locked away from other players. You can steal Brainrots and have your Brainrots stolen, so we advise you stick close to that lockdown button if you want to protect your Secret Brainrots.
This week, the Big Halloween update called Frightrot is taking place. There will be a new Witch Fuse Brainrot called the Headless Horseman, a Spooky Lucky Block that contains 8 new Brainrots, and a new Trick or Treating and Graveyard event.
Plants vs Brainrots Update
This experience, which is a fusion of Grow a Garden, Steal a Brainrot, and Plants Vs Zombies, has quickly climbed the Roblox charts and is regularly releasing new content. In this game, you’ll plant seeds that attack Brainrots, helping you capture them. As you earn money, you can unlock better plants and take down rarer Brainrots. Last weekend PVB launched the story update, and currently, little has been revealed at the newest update. All we know for now is that it takes place on Saturday and there will be Admin Abuse about an hour before it launches!
Additional Roblox Updates for Experiences on Saturday 25th October
Those are not the only popular experiences launching updates today, you can also find:
Sunday is a quieter day for Roblox updates. There’s just one major update we can see taking place from one of the top experiences, and that’s Fish It!
Fish It! Update
Last week, Fish It! launched their Halloween Event. The popular fishing sim boasts over 1,000,000+ variations and introduces 23 new event fish as part of their Halloween celebrations. There’s also limited skins and a pumpkin crate to find. But if that wasn’t enough, Week 2 of the Halloween Update begins this Sunday!
Additional Roblox Updates for Experiences on Sunday 26th October
Those are not the only popular experiences launching updates today, you can also find:
A new update for a dusty trip that’s currently celebrating Halloween
Battlefield Studios has outlined changes coming to Battlefield 6 ahead of the launch of Season 1 and with the expected battle royale mode waiting in the wings.
In a social media post, the developer collective revealed the priority updates for the record-breaking Battlefield 6. BF Studios said its immediate focus is on improving overall performance and the combat experience. It’s looking into changes for weapon dispersion, balance, visibility, aim assist, progression, and more, with further updates due out over the course of Season 1.
Live now are changes to Custom Search to “improve how accurately matchmaking aligns with your selected map and mode preferences.” The system still maintains flexibility to support reasonable queue times, BF Studios said, so players with more specific selections may notice slightly longer waits. “We’ll keep monitoring Custom Search performance and continue fine-tuning as needed,” the developers said.
Elsewhere, BF Studios said it had recently released a fix for an issue where vehicles could sometimes fail to spawn as expected across certain maps and modes. “The current results have shown that it has greatly reduced the number of occurrences and started to improve the balance issues on some map/mode combinations,” BF Studios said. “We are aware of a few outliers that this fix did not address, and we’re working on a fix to resolve these outstanding issues. We also saw that this backend change had a slightly positive impact on Breakthrough win rates, but we are working on further balancing changes that are meant to be more impactful and bring the win rates into a better state.”
One of the big talking points within the Battlefield community since the game’s launch is Portal server availability. Earlier this week, BF Studios made XP adjustments for Community Experiences after players used Portal to farm for XP.
Now to the gameplay details. BF Studios said it’s planning to change player movement “to address areas that previously felt inconsistent, while staying true to the gameplay pace and maintaining the core feel of the launch experience.” At the same time, it’s enhancing sight stability by minimizing reticle movement during specific animations. “These adjustments aim to deliver a smoother and more precise aiming experience, all while preserving an immersive first-person feel,” the developers explained.
As for progression, BF Studios said it’s continuing to monitor the impact of the changes it made last week, but it’s already seeing “a smoother experience.” It’s tracking XP earned in Escalation and King of the Hill, which isn’t always working as intended. “We are planning to significantly increase the payout to bring them in line with other modes and will keep monitoring once the changes are live,” BF Studios said.
“We’ve seen all your feedback about the challenges and their criteria, the team’s working on a series of improvements to make challenges more straightforward to understand and faster to complete,” BF Studios continued. “Given the scale of challenges, these changes will roll out over at least two updates. Some examples of what we are currently considering are:
Class Assignment – Assault 1 – Get kills while using the Adrenaline Injector – 30 to 3
Class Assignment – Engineer Expert 3 – Repair Vehicles in a Match – From 6000 to 1000
Weapon Assignment – Deadeye 2 – Get headshot kills over 200m with Sniper Rifles – from 150 to 5
In addition, a later game update will reduce the 200m distance
Now on to visibility. BF Studios is looking into adjustments to exposure and brightness. “This will lead to improvements in places where players have experienced blinding light when looking outdoors, overly dark interiors when looking indoors, and a lack of visibility around weapon optics when zooming in,” the developers said.
When the Season 1 update kicks in on October 28, BF Studios will make several adjustments to how weapon dispersion behaves. These changes are aimed at ensuring each weapon’s accuracy better reflects its intended performance over range. BF Studios said it’s also fixed a bug that caused dispersion to not decrease as expected when transitioning from sprinting to a prone position.
“We’ll continue refining how weapon accuracy behaves in battle to make your shots feel more consistent and rewarding across all weapon types,” the developers said. “Our upcoming tuning pass will reduce the overall impact of dispersion across multiple weapon types while keeping the core intent intact. Burst-firing will remain the most effective way to control a weapon, and each weapon will still perform best within its intended range. We’ve also identified a couple of bugs that caused weapons to feel less accurate than intended:
Post-Sprint Firing: Weapons fired immediately after sprinting while zoomed could retain higher dispersion, reducing accuracy.
Movement Start: Dispersion was increasing faster than it should when players began moving, making even small adjustments unexpectedly impact precision. This was especially noticeable on controllers.
Battlefield Labs is taking a “brief hiatus” so BF Studios can focus on rolling out Season 1 content. This probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise, given the idea behind Battlefield Labs was to help shape Battlefield 6 before launch. BF Studios promised play sessions will return, “and we will continue to develop the future of Battlefield 6 together.”
Close-range TTK: We’ve adjusted time-to-kill at close range for all weapons to reward clean positioning and tracking while giving players more time to counter attacks. We’ll keep monitoring this once it’s live.
Armor Changes: Everyone will now have the capacity for 2 armor plates at the start of the game. All players will spawn with 1 plate, so you will have the chance to upgrade as soon as you start looting, giving everyone an equal chance at upgrading their armor fully.
World Improvements: We’ve been fixing pesky world bugs and optimizing areas to improve the environment. With these improvements, we made adjustments to the lighting as well as enhancing the visibility across the map.
Vehicle Balance: We’ve adjusted the balance for helicopters and combat vehicles to keep them as powerful tools showing off Battlefield’s core DNA, without making them necessary to survive or win the late game. This includes significant adjustments to the heli countermeasures and ammo economy.
We have also been working on providing smoother performance overall. We have identified and addressed a range of issues that affected performance that we simply couldn’t have done without our players’ involvement in the tests.
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.
If you are interested in catching up on the Metroid Prime trilogy ahead of Metroid Prime 4, Nintendo isn’t making it easy at the moment. We think that should be remedied — and so does Metroid Prime series producer Kensuke Tanabe.
In the new book, Metroid Prime 1-3: A Visual Retrospective, out October 28, 2025, the legendary Japanese developer brings up the idea of a Metroid Prime 2: Echoes remake himself while musing on the multiplayer mode Echoes introduced, saying: “Retro completed the multiplayer mode without compromising on quality… Being of its time, it was designed for local play, so the number of players who actually experienced it might not have been very large. If it is remade, I would be delighted for more people to have the chance to experience it.”
Metroid Prime’s 2023 remake for Nintendo Switch, which I scored a lofty 10/10, seemed to be, ahem, priming us for more remakes, with Metroid Prime 2: Echoes being naturally on deck. In the lead up to Metroid Prime 4’s December 4 release date, a series of remake drops seemed like a natural choice. But remakes take lots of time and resources, which made it even more likely, perhaps, that Metroid Prime 2: Echoes would appear on the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack’s recently added GameCube selection. But no!
As of right now, you can’t play Metroid Prime 2: Echoes anywhere but off of an original GameCube or Wii disc. It is not easy to play any Prime game other than Metroid Prime Remastered. The Metroid Prime Trilogy for Nintendo Wii was the last time Echoes or Metroid Prime 3: Corruption were made available, and that disc has long since become a hot collector’s item. And you can forget about playing Metroid Prime Hunters for DS, or Metroid Prime Pinball, which are both locked to DS carts – and you can just plain forget about Metroid Prime Federation Force for Nintendo 3DS entirely, that’s fine.
Samuel Claiborn is IGN’s managing editor and a fixes/breaks ancient arcade and pinball machines in his garage. TCELES B HSUP to follow him @Samuel_IGN on Twitter.
In a statement, The Pokémon Company announced that Pokémon Legends: Z-A, which debuted on October 16, has already sold 5.8 million units worldwide, with around half of those bought for Nintendo’s new console, the Switch 2.
This means the first Pokémon game to feature real-time Pokémon battles is the fifth best-selling game of the franchise in terms of first week sales.
By comparison, that’s more than Pokémon X/Y and Let’s Go Pikachu / Eevee managed in their first weeks, but, according to X / Twitter user Pierre485, not as much as Pokémon Scarlet / Violet, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and Pokémon Sword / Shield managed.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is set in Lumiose City, where an urban redevelopment plan is underway to shape the city into a place that belongs to both people and Pokémon and features a new battle system. It returned 8/10 in IGN’s review in which we concluded: “Pokémon Legends: Z-A finally feels like Game Freak hitting its stride in Pokémon’s 3D era, with a fun setting to explore, a well-written story, and a total battle system overhaul that works surprisingly well.”
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.
Halloween may be right around the corner, but the winter holiday season will come at us just as fast. If you’re a big Zelda fan or have special someone in your life that is obsessed, Hallmark has a handful of awesome ornaments spanning the franchise’s storied history you can buy right now. Ranging in price from $12 to $32, purchasing one of these won’t break the bank and will last for holidays to come. If you’re looking for an affordable Legend of Zelda gift to buy ahead of the 2025 Christmas season, this is a delightful option worth considering.
Legend of Zelda Hallmark Ornaments
Pretty much every era from Zelda’s history is represented with these ornaments, from the NES original 8-bit Link to 2023’s Tears of the Kingdom Decayed Master Sword. The Link with his sword and shield ornament is another notable inclusion, since it plays classic Zelda tunes at the push of a button. I personally would have appreciated some Twilight Princess love with this collection, but I can’t complain with what’s on offer here.
Each ornament is only a few inches in every dimension, so storing them efficiently in the off-season or utilizing them as year-round decor is definitely on the table. I have a game shelf that the Toon Link ornament would be right at home on. The 8-bit Link ornament is low on stock, so if you’ve had your eye on it, now’s the perfect time to pick one up.
More Hallmark Nintendo Ornaments
Naturally, The Legend of Zelda franchise isn’t the only Nintendo property receiving the Hallmark treatment. There’s an Elephant Mario from Super Mario Bros. Wonder would look great on any Christmas tree, and the winter hat Rowlet is one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.
Is Hallmark a Good Ornament Brand?
Hallmark isn’t the only ornament brand out there, but it is certainly one of the most well-known. The main appeal of Hallmark Keepsake ornaments is that the brand offers yearly releases from popular IPs like Nintendo, Star Wars, Disney, and more. If you’re looking for a little piece of your favorite movie or video game to hang on your tree, it’s most likely going to be a Hallmark-branded ornament. Seeing as the ornaments are officially-licensed, they are also likely to be of higher quality than any knock-off brands you find elsewhere.
