Category: IGN

Back in 2020, Naughty Dog, the studio behind The Last of Us Part 2, as well as Abby actor Laura Bailey and director Neil Druckmann, responded to the online harassment and death threats they had received following the game’s release.

Fast forward to 2025, and Druckmann has been “bootcamp-ing” Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet’s Tati Gabrielle on The Last of Us Part 2 online hate that occurred five years ago in preparation for what might be coming as a result of simply playing the protagonist in Naughty Dog’s upcoming video game.

Naughty Dog revealed Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet at The Game Awards 2024. It features a star-studded cast that includes Tati Gabrielle from the Uncharted movie as protagonist Jordan A. Mun, and Kumail Nanjiani of Marvel’s Eternals as a man called Colin Graves.

In a March interview with Alex Garland, the writer of zombie movie 28 Days Later, Druckmann talked candidly about the development process, confirming Intergalactic had been in the works for four years already.

“I joke about this with the team. We made a game, The Last of Us 2, we made certain creative decisions that got us a lot of hate. A lot of people love it, but a lot of people hate that game,” Druckmann said, to which Garland joked: “Who gives a shit?”

“Exactly,” Druckmann added. “But the joke is like, you know what, let’s do something that people won’t care as much about — let’s make a game about faith and religion.”

Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet takes place in an alternate historical timeline and features a “pretty prominent religion,” too, which has “changed and bastardized and evolved” over the years.

“This whole religion takes place on this one planet, and then at one point, all communication stops,” Druckmann teased. “And you’re playing a bounty hunter that’s chasing her bounty, and she crash lands on this planet.

“So many of the previous games we’ve done, there’s always, like, an ally with you,” he said. “I really want you to be lost in a place that you’re really confused about what happened here, who are the people here, what was their history. And in order to get off this planet — again, no one has been heard from this planet for 600 years or so — if you ever have hoped to have a chance to get off, you have to figure out what happened here.”

Now, speaking to Entertainment Weekly as part of promotion of The Last of Us Season 2, Gabrielle revealed Druckmann’s preparation as she begins life as not just a movie and TV star, but a video game star.

“Neil’s been bootcamp-ing me,” she said. “I know Troy’s experience, I know Ashley’s experience… I know Laura Bailey’s experience.”

As EW pointed out, Bailey endured online hate simply because she played the character Abby, who kills Joel. Gabrielle has also received racist and misogynistic online hate following the Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet reveal, she said.

“I got a lot of love, but there was a lot of hate over me being a woman, me being a woman of color, me having my head shaved, all these things that I didn’t even actually initially see — I’m out of the social media zeitgeist for that reason — but once I did, Neil was like, ‘Ignore it. No matter what, me and you, we’re going to make something beautiful. We’re going to make something that we’re proud of.'”

Gabrielle said that because she is entering the world of video games for the first time, she is trying to prepare herself as best as possible.

“This is a world — video games — that I’ve never stepped into before. So I don’t want to put one thing in my mind of expecting it’s going to be this way and then it’s not, and then I’m unprepared or take it too lightly,” she says.

Gabrielle also briefly touched on the theme of faith, which Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will revolve around.

“The question of faith is not black and white,” she said. “When you initially think of faith, you think of religion, which is a part of it, but there’s also faith in oneself. There’s faith in your environment or your community. All that faith means is, what are your beliefs? What are the things that you hope for? Faith sounds flowery, but we all experience it day in and day out. What is your reason for waking up?”

Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is not expected to release until 2027 at the earliest. It’s a pretty long wait, but speaking to IGN on the red carpet ahead of The Last of Us Season 2 premiere, Druckmann said that Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is not only playable right now, but “really good.”

“I will say we are playing it at the office and it’s incredible,” Druckmann teased. “It’s really good. I’m so excited to finally put gameplay out into the world and show people about it, because we just showed you the very, very, very tip on the iceberg. The game goes pretty deep beyond that.”

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

Capcom’s Street Fighter 6 will be hadouken-ing its way into an anime this year. Kadokawa recently revealed a teaser trailer for Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games, an anime adaptation of Eri Ejima’s manga of the same name.

The story is set in Kuromi Girls’ Academy, an exclusive school for rich kids which aims to produce refined young ladies. Gaining entry to the prestigious institution on a scholarship is main character Aya Mitsuki, who has played fighting games since elementary school. She soon becomes fascinated by beautiful and graceful fellow student Mio Yorue, nicknamed Shirayuri (white lily). However, appearances can be deceptive, as beneath her elegant exterior, Mio is a tough-talking button-mashing gamer! Will a mutual love of fighting games result in a deeper relationship between the girls?

📰(NEW) Seinen Anime ‘Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games’ Promotional Teaser featuring Street Fighter 6!pic.twitter.com/MAVLSBiWGW

— Fighting-Games Daily (@FGC_Daily) May 9, 2025

In the original manga, the characters played a fictional fighting game, however, with Capcom’s sponsorship of the anime, it seems like they will be battling it out in Street Fighter 6. Interestingly, FAV Gaming (Kadokawa’s professional esports team) is credited in the trailer for collaborating on recording.

The anime of Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games is due out sometime in 2025. If you are interested in catching up with the story before then, Seven Seas have already released the manga in English.

Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is packed with spooky stuff — skeletons, spirits, and even zombies — but no-one can remember seeing this ‘ghost horse’ in either the original 2006 game or this 2025 remaster.

Our story begins with a reddit post by TaricIsNotASupport, who flagged what looks like a spectral horse just… waiting to be found.

“So I was crafting stupid spells in Frostcrag Spire, as it’s possibly my favourite way to have fun in this game, however this time when I left the Cosy Chaos Spire that has divided this community so very much I noticed something suuuuuuper strange in the distance,” TaricIsNotASupport began.

“I did as any of us of the right mind would do and B-lined it over there like a maniac. To my amazement was this spectral horse with no name.

“I have played thousands of hours of the original Oblivion — and have already sunken over a hundred hours into the Remaster — yet this is the first I have ever seen this horse.

“I don’t know if it’s something new that’s been added, or if I’ve just missed out on it before and never knew.”

TaricIsNotASupport then called on the community to help them work out what had happened here, which sparked something of a ghost hunt online, with players searching through the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages website for any word of a spectral mount in the original Oblivion. So far, nothing.

Could it be a mod? TaricIsNotASupport followed up their post to say they are playing on PlayStation 5, where mods are unavailable. TaricIsNotASupport also posted a clip of their character riding the horse. Despite its non-corporeal form, it appears this horse is very much present and correct, and works how any other horse would in Oblivion. “He fast travels and even gets stabled!” TaricIsNotASupport said. “By all accounts it’s now my steed!”

Some are suggesting this ghost horse is the result of a glitch, perhaps caused by a spell gone horribly wrong. Bethesda games are known for their bugs (in fact one is making the camera break the longer you play the game), and maybe this ghost horse is another to add to the list.

“Very weird, the wiki says there’s only 2 unique horses, Shadowmere and unicorns,” ClaymoreBeatz commented. “And there’s no horse mods that I can see that do this so I highly doubt your [sic] lying about not being on PC, this is probably some sort of glitch that the new Remastered has or glitched magical effect. Armored horses names change to Armored horse I think so maybe it’s an Armored horse that got hit by a spell and now its name and spell effect is glitched.”

Others are wondering whether the developers at Bethesda and Virtuos might have added this ghost horse to the game as a spooky secret for players to discover in Oblivion Remastered. This seems less likely, although it is a fun thought because if it’s true, then what other secrets might be hidden within the ramaster?

There are plenty of players who want to work out how to replicate the steed so they can have a ghost horse for themselves. Again, there doesn’t appear to be any particular process TaricIsNotASupport used to spawn it, at least none so far discovered.

In lieu of an in-game name, TaricIsNotASupport has called their Oblivion ghost horse ‘Spookmane,’ which I think is a wonderful effort. TaricIsNotASupport has pledged to continue their adventure with Spookmane by their side. Perhaps this is a one-off, perhaps it’s a secret, perhaps it’s a bug. Either way, Spookmane has captured the attention — and maybe even a few hearts — of the Oblivion community and its fans.

“This creature might be my favourite new friend I’ve made,” TaricIsNotASupport said. “Spookmane, you’re glorious and I love you.”

Oblivion Remastered, developed by remake specialist Virtuos using Unreal Engine 5, has a long list of visual and feature improvements. It runs at 4K resolution and 60 frames per second, as you’d expect, but other changes are more meaningful. Everything from the leveling systems to character creation, and combat animations to in-game menus have been improved. Meanwhile, there’s lots of new dialogue, a proper third-person view, and new lip sync technology. The changes are going down well with fans, some of whom believe Oblivion Remastered would be more accurately described as a remake. Bethesda, however, has explained why it went down the remaster route.

Now the game is out in the wild, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered players are warning newcomers to do Kvatch before the level scaling makes it an absolute nightmare. We’ve also got a report on a player who managed to escape the confines of Cyrodiil to explore Valenwood, Skyrim, and even Hammerfell, the rumored setting of The Elder Scrolls VI.

And be sure to check out our comprehensive guide to everything you’ll find in Oblivion Remastered, including an expansive Interactive Map, complete Walkthroughs for the Main Questline and every Guild Quest, How to Build the Perfect Character, Things to Do First, every PC Cheat Code, and much more.

Image credit: TaricIsNotASupport / reddit.

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

The following article contains spoilers for The Last of Us season 2, episode 5.

Ellie’s descent into violence truly kicks off in this week’s episode of The Last of Us. The show’s fifth chapter sees her brutally assault Nora in the spore-infested basement of the WLF’s hospital base. It’s one of the game’s most recognisable scenes and remains similarly harrowing in HBO’s adaptation.

This and three other key sequences from the original game were adapted for this episode. Here we’ve compared them against the original source material, analysing what’s changed and what’s stayed the same. You can see both versions in the video above, or read on below for our written explanations.

Seattle Day 2

In both the game and the show Dina listens in on WLF radio chatter to work out the group’s location and patrol patterns. In the game, we see Dina explain all this to Ellie – in part because it helps establish the objectives of the upcoming level. In the show, Dina takes notes but there is no like-for-like conversation about what the WLF codes mean.

Elsewhere in the theater, Ellie explores the auditorium and finds a guitar. It’s one of the more memorable scenes from the game – Ellie takes a seat in the front row and begins to play. In the show, Ellie instead sits on a stool up on the stage. Both versions play the opening of Pearl Jam’s Future Days, although Ellie in the game sings the first two lines – show Ellie sings just the first.

In the game, Day 2 sees Ellie head out to Hillcrest. That section of the game is pretty much cut entirely from the show – there’s no hiding from dogs in overgrown houses – but we do get a version of the Seraphite mural that is seen shortly after Ellie leaves the theater. In the game, the “Feel Her Love” graffiti is on the back of a truck. In the show, a similar image is painted on a wall. The WLF have left dead Seraphites below it as some kind of ironic gesture.

Stalkers

Later in the episode, Ellie and Dina have a tense encounter with a group of Stalkers. While Ellie does come across Stalkers on Day 2 in the game, this scene isn’t a direct translation of that moment. For one, Dina is now with Ellie – in the game, Dina stays at the cinema. The location has also changed; Ellie was attacked in an office building in the game, where the show’s Stalker showdown takes place in a warehouse.

More significantly, though, the show’s Stalkers behave in a very different manner to their game counterparts. In the game, Stalkers are cautious, almost skittish predators, and so this encounter is a tense game of cat-and-mouse as you try to spot where they are hiding. While the show has made suggestion that Stalkers are more intelligent than the more animalistic Runner variants, in this scene there’s little evidence of that. The Stalkers pretty much just charge – or, indeed, run – at Ellie and Dina, and attempt to break into the cage the duo have barricaded themselves inside of.

Another change comes with the reintroduction of Jesse into this section of the story. In the game, towards the end of the Hillcrest section, Jesse emerges from the shadows to catch Ellie before she walks into a WLF patrol. In the show, Jesse turns up to help Ellie and Dina escape from the Stalkers.

The Seraphites

While much of what players will remember of Hillcrest has been removed for the show’s version of events, memories of the game will very much be evoked by the group’s encounter with the Seraphites. The forest and foliage is very similar to Part 2’s environment, and the sequence in which a hanging man is killed by his Seraphite captors is very close to the events of the game.

The key difference here is in the people present. In the game, Ellie explores this area on her own, whereas in the show she is accompanied by Dina and Jesse. This directly impacts a key moment when a Seraphite fires a bow and arrow; in the game, the arrow strikes Ellie and she is forced to wrench it from her shoulder. In the show, it is Dina who is shot, the arrow hitting her leg. This forces the group to move on, carrying Dina to safety.

St. Mary’s Hospital

This episode’s big, climactic event takes place in St. Mary’s Hospital. It’s the sequence that most closely resembles the video game – a near 1:1 recreation of Nora’s final minutes. Like the game, Ellie finds Nora in the WLF-occupied hospital and holds her at gunpoint, demanding to know where Abby is. Their exchange culminates in Nora saying that Joel got what he deserves, her wording in the show closely resembling the script of the game. She then makes a run for it, throwing a container of liquid at Ellie to momentarily stun her. That last detail is slightly different to the game, in which Nora just throws a steel tray that only catches Ellie off guard for a second.

The chase through the hospital is similar to that in the game, although notably shorter and less game-y. Nora shouts for her allies to shoot and they do so from a balcony, replicating the gunfire that sparks around Ellie as you push her forward in the game.

The chase finally ends in the same spore-filled corridor bathed in red light that we saw in the game. Nora, collapsed and breathing in fatal spores, finally realises who Ellie is. “You’re her,” she says in both versions of the story. In the show, Ellie then takes a single swing with a metal pipe and the show cuts to black. In the game, Nora’s death is much, much more violent – with the camera lingering on Ellie’s twisted face, she strikes Nora three times. While this shot isn’t used for the show, HBO does somewhat replicate it a minute earlier by holding the camera on Ellie’s face as she holds Nora at gunpoint. It’s not as viscerally powerful as the shot from the game, but you can see where the inspiration comes from.

For more from The Last of Us, check out our spoiler-free season two review and our spoiler-filled review of the fifth episode.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s Senior Features Editor.

This is one of the best Mondays we’ve had for deals for a while. Pokémon TCG sealed stock is sitting on digital store shelves, whilst single prices are down.

Amazon also decided to keep their Keyboard and Mouse sale after the countdown finished, while also holding a solid book sale that includes some of the best Legend of Zelda hardcovers.

TL;DR: Deals For Today

There are some classics up for grabs in the Xbox Game Studios Bundle, whilst IGN Store has some stunning Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 art prints.

We’ve also got some best sellers from over the weekend, including a LEGO Technic set, Jason X 4K Blu Ray, and a cracking deal on a Nintendo Switch 2 carry case that includes screen protectors. Let’s get into it:

Surging Sparks Booster Box

GravaStar Wireless Mercury M1 Pro

Xbox Game Studios Game Bundle

Corsair K70 RGB Pro Cherry MX Red

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Art Prints

Buy 2 Books, Save 50% on 1

Apple AirPods Pro 2

LEGO Technic Planet Earth and Moon in Orbit

Jason X 4K UHD Blu Ray

Nintendo Switch 2 Travel Carrying Case

Nintendo has disputed accusations it used AI-generated images to create billboards in Mario Kart World.

Rumors began to swirl when a Nintendo Treehouse livestream gave us a closer peek at the upcoming racer a few weeks back. Eagle-eyed fans pointed out that a handful of in-game advertising boards looked a little strange, with images of a construction site, a bridge, and a peculiarly tall car all raising eyebrows.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 fans are rejoicing after the developer handed modders the keys to its internal editor, sparking hope it could ‘do a Skyrim’ and last for years with user-generated content.

Game director Dmitry Grigorenko took to the Space Marine 2 modding Discord to announce what he described as “our biggest milestone yet in supporting the modding community.”

Developer Saber Interactive has released the official Integration Studio for public use. This is the same editor the developers use internally for all gameplay development. This first release lets modders work with everything from level scenarios to game modes, tinker with AI behavior, abilities and melee combo logic, user interface and HUD elements, and make much of the general modding work with Space Marine 2 faster and easier.

“Not long ago, I promised we would support the modding scene — and we meant it,” Grigorenko said. “Watching this community grow, push boundaries, and create incredible experiences has been both inspiring and humbling. We’re excited to see what you build next — whether it’s a cinematic campaign, wild new game mode, or something we never saw coming.”

To get the ball rolling, Grigorenko released jokey concept art for a “Fishing With Daddy Calgar” mini-game, below, which is technically possible now with these tools. Calgar is Marneus Calgar, the leader of the Ultramarines chapter of Space Marines.

Tech experts say The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered has significant performance problems across all consoles as fans wait for a much-needed patch.

Oblivion Remastered has enjoyed a hugely successful launch, with over 4 million players and a ‘very positive’ user review rating on Steam. However, if there’s one issue that continues to crop up, it’s performance problems.

Digital Foundry has run an extensive analysis on Oblivion Remastered on all console platforms and found the game to have significant problems across the board. DF’s Thomas Morgan said of Virtuos’ Unreal Engine 5 overhaul:

No platform is spared of issues: whether it’s PS5, PS5 Pro, or either Xbox Series machine, all struggle with traversal hitches while roaming the open world. Secondly, there’s major sub-60fps frame-rates, where I’ve also discovered that performance slowly degrades with more playing time – quite possibly down to a memory leak. And finally, software freezes are the icing on the cake, with all PlayStation and Xbox platforms crashing to the system menu on loading a save one too many times.

How does this manifest itself in-game? According to DF, a “charged” playthrough with more continuous play time behind it performs worse than a fresh boot. Cycling through saves also introduces bugs in the charged play through, Morgan revealed. And this is particularly curious: this also leads to the camera position being too high while riding horseback. You can fix this by resetting the game.

The discovery of performance degrading over time as a result of a potential memory leak is of particular concern. The crashes on loading a save too many times is a significant issue, too.

The hope of course is that Bethesda addresses these problems sooner rather than later, especially as players spend more time with the expansive fantasy role-playing game and are more likely to run into these performance problems.

“It’s a dire position for any remaster to be in and developer Virtuos needs to address the game’s stability – the crashes – as a priority,” Morgan continued.

Digital Foundry asks some tough questions in its analysis, suggesting Oblivion Remastered was “rushed to market.” There also seems to be a discrepancy between versions, with a hotfix released for Xbox Series X so far unavailable for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro.

That’s a damning assessment of Oblivion on console, but what about PC? DF had already issued its analysis of the PC version, calling its performance “dire.” It’s worth checking out DF’s analysis in full for more.

Despite the performance issues, Oblivion Remastered is a hit. It became the third best-selling game of 2025 in the U.S. after just one week on sale, having shadow-dropped on April 22. Oblivion Remastered trails only Monster Hunter: Wilds and Assassin’s Creed: Shadows at the top of the 2025 sales chart.

Oblivion Remastered, developed by remake specialist Virtuos using Unreal Engine 5, has a long list of visual and feature improvements. It runs at 4K resolution and 60 frames per second, as you’d expect, but other changes are more meaningful. Everything from the leveling systems to character creation, and combat animations to in-game menus have been improved. Meanwhile, there’s lots of new dialogue, a proper third-person view, and new lip sync technology. The changes are going down well with fans, some of whom believe Oblivion Remastered would be more accurately described as a remake. Bethesda, however, has explained why it went down the remaster route.

Now the game is out in the wild, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered players are warning newcomers to do Kvatch before the level scaling makes it an absolute nightmare. We’ve also got a report on a player who managed to escape the confines of Cyrodiil to explore Valenwood, Skyrim, and even Hammerfell, the rumored setting of The Elder Scrolls VI.

And be sure to check out our comprehensive guide to everything you’ll find in Oblivion Remastered, including an expansive Interactive Map, complete Walkthroughs for the Main Questline and every Guild Quest, How to Build the Perfect Character, Things to Do First, every PC Cheat Code, and much more.

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

The Monster Hunter franchise is a phenomenon, accumulating critical and commercial acclaim and spanning dozens of main titles and spinoffs. The secret to its success is an addictive gameplay loop, where you battle huge and terrifying monsters to gain loot that, in turn, lets you acquire better gear and hunt bigger, badder beasties. It’s an easy loop to replicate on the tabletop and that’s exactly what Monster Hunter World: The Board Game does. Just like its parent franchise, however, it comes in a variety of flavors, so here’s what you need to find your feet in this video game board game.

Featured in this article

If you’re not one for blurbs, you can scroll through all the items in this article right here. However, if you’d like to know more about what’s available and what comes in each box, read on for the goods.

Core Boxes

Each of the core boxes is a standalone game, containing four hunters and four monsters for them to hunt. However, they can also be combined, allowing you to mix and match characters and their prey from different sets. The majority of the components in each box are specific to the hunters and monsters unique to that set, but there is some overlap, and each set contains a few extra cards that are only used if you’re combining with its opposite number.

As such, you’re probably best off with a single core box to start with and, if you get into the game, you can start by adding some of the smaller expansions, listed below, doubling up on a second core set in the event that you develop a passion for the series.

There’s not really any difference between the core sets in terms of quality. Both feature the same ruleset, the same compulsive loop and the same stratospheric levels of production quality, with gigantic monster miniatures that tower above the hunters for an awesome sense of scale. But the look and feel of each is quite different, so you’re best off just going whichever one appeals most aesthetically, or ties in with fond memories from the video game series.

Monster Hunter World: The Board Game – Ancient Forest

Monster Hunter World: The Board Game – Wildspire Waste

Monster Hunter World The Board Game: Hunter’s Arsenal Expansion

Monster Hunter World: The Board Game – Nergigante Expansion

Monster Hunter World The Board Game: Kushala Daora Expansion

Monster Hunter World: The Board Game – Teostra Expansion

Monster Hunter World – Kulu-Ya-Ku Expansion

Monster Hunter World Iceborne: The Board Game

Mafia: The Old Country was in ‘managing expectations mode’ this week, announcing a cheaper than expected $49.99 price point, and confirming that it is absolutely not an open-world game, rather a linear, narrative-driven game.

The Hangar 13-developed gangster shooter showed off new gameplay in the trailer, below, and it is impressive indeed. But this is no GTA 6. Indeed, it is no Mafia III. Tellingly, 2K President David Ismailer said of Mafia: The Old Country: “We think there’s a large audience for compelling stories that don’t require massive time commitments.” It felt like a PSA more than a promo.

Based on these comments, Mafia: The Old Country will be a relatively short affair. There is no multiplayer mode, so the story is the entire package. How long will it be? Some are speculating anything from five to 15 hours.

Yes, there are some complaints in the reaction across the internet, mostly from those who were hoping for a Mafia game more along the lines of a GTA than a, say, shorter Uncharted-style game. But The Old Country was never going to be that sort of game.

In December, I interviewed Hangar 13 President Nick Baynes and game director Alex Cox about all things Mafia: The Old Country, and the prospect of running up against GTA 6, which was still due out fall 2025 at the time.

In the interview, the pair dismissed comparisons to GTA 6, insisting Mafia: The Old Country shouldn’t be considered an open-world game at all.

Rather, the pair explained, Mafia: The Old Country is more like Mafia 1 and 2 than it is the open-world Mafia 3. It is a “linear, narrative-driven” game, a “focused package” that offers a “cinematic experience.” You might find yourself driving around an authentic representation of 1900s Sicily in Mafia: The Old Country, or even riding around on horseback a bit like that other Rockstar game, Red Dead Redemption 2, but the similarities to Rockstar games stop there.

So, while there are the perhaps inevitable complaints about the scope of The Old Country, I’ve seen positivity about the experience on offer. Many are saying they’re more interested in a high quality, cheaper, shorter story-driven Mafia game than a bloated open-world game filled with repetitive mechanics.

Indeed, there seems to be a growing call for more of these cheaper, manageable games, with Sandfall’s well-received Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which has sold an impressive 2 million copies despite being available day-one on Game Pass, held up as a potential trend-setter.

This comes as game prices are becoming more expensive, with both Nintendo and Microsoft hitting $80. In a market when Mario Kart World costs $80, a $50 Mafia: The Old Country looks like a bargain.

“I think setting the price at $50 is the move,” said IGN reader BabyGroot1 in response to the Mafia news. “Look at Clair Obscur sales.”

“Yea, I think there could be a lot of fence-sitters that see $70-80 and wait for a game to be on sale around $30,” added Automating_The_Game. “But at $50 they’re like f*** it, getting it now.”

It’s a similar sentiment across social media and reddit. “I hate putting things on a number scale, but if this is one of those games that are like a good 10-12 hour, 8/10 experience I feel like we have to support it as best as possible,” said 99DGE of Mafia. “$50 when publishers are pushing for $80 is so fascinating that we need to reward and vote with our wallets if it’s worth it (that is of course, we can afford it given the economic climate).”

“I was probably going to pass on this as I just don’t have it in me for most open world games anymore, but hearing that it’s linear, story focused, and priced at $50? I’m on board day one now,” said ElJacko170.

“I’d rather have a short Mafia game for $50 than one with a needlessly empty open world with almost nothing to do in them like all the previous Mafia games,” said everythingsc0mputer.

“If they’re not gonna add side quests or side activities for you to do like the previous Mafia games, then might as well keep it short and linear.”

For all this positivity online, for publisher 2K and developer Hangar 13 it will be sales of Mafia: The Old Country that determine its and the franchise’s future. The game will have a sales target it needs to hit in order for the project to be declared successful, and social media and forum posts do not generate revenue. Hard sales do.

All eyes will be on Mafia: The Old Country to see if the success of Clair Obscur really is the start of something sustainable for the video game industry.

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