Category: IGN

Blizzard has revealed the roadmap leading up to the beginning of its massive Worldsoul Saga, the three-part series of expansions that’s expected to kick off in 2024.

The roadmap reveals that World of Warcraft will be releasing six content updates through fall 2024. They fully detail Season 4, which includes the return of the Dragonflight expansion’s raid, a new holiday event, and more. It will be followed by the pre-patch for The War Within, the Worldsoul Saga’s first expansion, which is set to release in the summer.

The Worldsoul Saga was first announced during BlizzCon 2023. It will comprise the 10th, 11th, and 12th expansions in the World of Warcraft timeline, and will serve as “the culmination of the first 20 years of our storytelling,” according to executive creative director Chris Metzen. In an interview with IGN, Blizard explained why the Worldsoul Saga will be three expansions, and why it’s kind of like the MCU.

In addition to the roadmap leading up to the War Within, Blizzard also revealed Wow Classic’s roadmap, which you can find below.

The Worldsoul Saga represents the largest swing Blizzard’s MMORPG has taken in many years, making 2024 especially critical. World of Warcraft has been on the rebound lately, with the Dragonflight expansion being largely well-received by fans, but it has seen increased competition of late. Final Fantasy XIV is also releasing an expansion in 2024, meaning the two MMOs will be going head-to-head.

For more, check out why Blizzard is embracing radical transparency as it enters a new era.

Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Suika Game, the fruity Japanese puzzle game that’s become wildly popular since its release on the Nintendo Switch in December 2021, is seemingly ready to drop onto PS5.

According to a report from Siliconera, a product page for Suika Game mysteriously appeared on the PlayStation Store, suggesting the PS5 version of the game is coming soon. However, the page gave the game an alternative name: “The Suika Game.”

Suika Game is called The Suika Game on the PlayStation Store because GoGame Console Publisher is developing the PS5 version, while Aladdin X made the original Switch title. The game’s art design on the PlayStation Store page is different from that of its eShop page — Suika Game is free on Nintendo Switch Online until tomorrow, by the way — in that the fruits appear happy, whereas they’re expressing a different range of emotions on the Switch store. That gives the impression that GoGame’s version of Suika Game is a knockoff of the original.

The origins of Suika Game

Suika Game originates from the Chinese browser game Merge Big Watermelon, and it works like Tetris in that you drop fruit into a confined space and watch them merge with fruits of the same type and grow into other fruits until you get a watermelon, called “suika” in Japanese, hence the title. Two cherries merge into a strawberry; two strawberries merge into a grape; two grapes merge into a dekopan; and so on.

The goal is to get the highest score possible, as each fruit elicits a higher score than others, without letting the fruits overflow from the container. If the fruits pass the line at the top of the box, all the fruits you merged will disappear, adding on to your points and leaving you with your final score.

For the first two years of its release, Suika Game was sold exclusively on the Japanese Nintendo Switch eShop after Aladdin X, the projector company in Japan, ported the game to the Switch due to its popularity among people who played it as a fun bonus game it installed into the projectors’ software. On October 20, 2023, the game received a global release, gaining popularity among Vtubers and streamers like Ludwig, who streamed the game on Twitch from his Japanese Switch profile three weeks before it was released in the U.S.

Suika Game became so popular that it surpassed over 4 million downloads. As of this writing, the game is still ranked number one on Japan’s Switch trending page.

Cristina Alexander is a freelance writer for IGN. To paraphrase Calvin Harris, she wears her love for Sonic the Hedgehog on her sleeve like a big deal. Follow her on Twitter @SonicPrincess15.

Video games and films have had a good year. Baldur’s Gate 3, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Alan Wake 2 all entertained us at home while Oppenheimer, Barbie, and John Wick: Chapter 4 drew us into cinemas. And though this gives us plenty to celebrate, there were also a few disappointments this year that we’re still not over.

Some of the biggest and most respected companies in both industries had some unfortunate moments this year, particularly Bethesda in video games and Marvel in film and TV. From the former we saw Starfield, which wasn’t quite the open worlds space epic we all dreamed of, while Redfall was a huge disappointment by any standards. Marvel premieres like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Secret Invasion also left us underwhelmed, but it’s perhaps the overall lack of direction in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 5 that has us most upset.

Not everything on this list is necessarily bad, of course, as we’re looking at releases which simply didn’t live up to their potential. Whether it was caused by unfulfilled promises, an oversaturation of similar content, or something else entirely, these are the eight biggest disappointments of 2023.

Starfield

Besides Tears of the Kingdom and Grand Theft Auto 6, it’s hard to think of a more highly anticipated game than Starfield in the last decade. The studio behind The Elder Scrolls and Fallout set out to create a space epic with deep customisation options, a rich story, immersive role-playing mechanics, and an entire universe to explore. Anticipation was high, built further by several delays, and as the game that’s kept The Elder Scrolls 6 half a decade away still, it almost had to be brilliant.

But Starfield isn’t quite that. It’s definitely good, and could probably provide hours of entertainment to most players, but it pales in comparison to Bethesda’s other games. Players found it bland, complaining it was too vast instead of deep. And especially when compared to some of 2023’s other heavy hitters, Starfield felt a tad uninspired.

Baldur’s Gate 3’s unprecedented level of player customisation and choice set a new standard for RPGs, for example, while the thrilling cinematic storytelling of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is among the best ever seen in a video game. Starfield almost seems a product of the past in comparison, as if Bethesda kept its head down since Fallout 4’s launch in 2015, only to look up and realise the genre had evolved beyond it.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Fans cut Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe some slack since it followed Avengers: Endgame, the grand finale of an 11-year saga. A lack of direction across the likes of Black Widow, Eternals, Moon Knight, and so on was forgiven as Disney was rebuilding and setting up another epic Avengers moment down the road. This through-line would arrive in Phase 5, which kicked off in 2023 with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – or so we thought.

A year into Phase 5 and Disney has released Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Secret Invasion, Loki Season 2, The Marvels, and soon, What If..? Season 2. There’s no real consistency to these in the same way every film in the first three phases set up their subsequent Avengers finales, though a vague connection exists in some with Kang the Conqueror. While this perhaps gave Marvel a little traction as it built up to the next Avengers, Kang actor Jonathan Majors was found guilty of assault and harassment and dropped by Marvel, putting Disney’s plan into a tailspin.

The onslaught of otherwise middling MCU entries that began with Phase 4 has continued in 2023, causing many fans to lose hope Marvel can once again achieve the heights of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. And although the MCU has always had ups and downs, the amount of intertwined content being released by Disney is demanding more and more attention and commitment. Phase 1, for example, lasted 12 hours and 24 minutes in total; Phase 4 lasted 54 hours and 40 minutes. Even Disney CEO Bob Iger has admitted the volume of shows has “diluted focus and attention,” but any changes to address this might come too little and too late.

PlayStation VR2’s Launch Line-Up

The PlayStation VR2 headset offered a huge upgrade to Sony’s first attempt at virtual reality, albeit sacrificing some of the price accessibility the original offered. Regardless, with a 4K HDR OLED screen, specially designed controllers with haptic feedback, and a lightweight design, IGN said the PSVR2 set a new standard for console VR gaming in our 9/10 review.

That said, only a couple of its exclusive games have hit the same standard so far. The headset launched with more than 40 titles but only four were exclusive: Horizon Call of the Mountain, Fantavision 202X VR, Gran Turismo 7 VR, and Resident Evil Village VR. While the latter two are definitely up there, Horizon and subsequent exclusives like The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR were good but not great.

In fact, PSVR2 only has 10 exclusives in total, and that’s including the end of year surprise of Resident Evil 4 Remake VR. This was a bit disappointing in itself, however, as Capcom’s usually expert adaptations, combined with the masterpiece that is Resident Evil 4 Remake, could have immediately propelled it to the best game on the platform and seriously bolstered PSVR2’s launch year. The game is still great, but the transition from third-person to VR leaves it feeling a little half-baked in parts.

The Flash

Faith in the DC Extended Universe had admittedly already dwindled by the time The Flash premiered, but this one really did have the potential to be different. The mash-up of DC properties brought Ezra Miller’s Flash together with Michael Shannon’s General Zod, Michael Keaton’s Batman, Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, and many more in what could have been DC’s take on Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Instead it was a CGI-flooded cameo-fest that, while not necessarily bad, left many fans disappointed. The Flash could have been an incredible tribute to DC movie history and a perfect send-off to the troubled shared universe, but instead became a flashing highlight reel of shallow fan service. Ben Affleck and Adam West’s Batmen appeared, albeit briefly, alongside George Reeves’ Superman and even a deep-cut Nicolas Cage reference (which Cage himself criticised for its over-use of CGI).

The Flash was also expected to provide a clean transition to the new DC film universe (the DCU) in a clear and thematically consistent manner. It didn’t. An event called Flashpoint reset the DC comic universe back in 2011, and while a version of this sort of happened in The Flash, it also sullied itself somewhat by featuring another cameo teaser at the end which is all but confirmed to go nowhere. The film therefore missed its chance to send the DCEU off with some dignity, and only made the upcoming revamp more confusing. Aquaman 2, it’s up to you now…

Secret Invasion

With the MCU’s TV offerings in a rocky spot, with most shows barely shifting the needle beyond the occasional highlight like WandaVision and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Disney was desperate for a hit to kick off 2023. Secret Invasion was the perfect opportunity to accomplish that, as a no-nonsense, six-episode series based on one of Marvel Comics’ most beloved stories. Its cast was stacked too, with Samuel L. Jackson, Emilia Clarke, Olivia Colman, and Don Cheadle all starring.

Somehow that potential ended up becoming an utterly mundane and monotonous MCU entry, and a far cry from its source material. The Secret Invasion comic did have a similar premise, of course, where the Skrulls infiltrated Earth by impersonating various Marvel heroes and world figures. But the comics imposed true mystery, with seemingly any Marvel superhero possibly emerging as a Skrull (and Spider-Woman, Captain Marvel, Hank Pym, Elektra, and more all did). Comparatively, Skrulls in the Disney+ show peaked at James Rhodes and otherwise included Shirley Sagar, Chris Stearns, Sergio Caspani, and a handful of other characters you’ve likely never heard of.

Secret Invasion therefore emerged as a thriller with little thrill, an espionage show with little mystery, and an MCU entry with little Marvel colour or charm.

Redfall

Redfall found itself in a similar camp to Starfield as one of the first couple of Xbox exclusive games from Bethesda. While Starfield was developed by the studio behind The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, Redfall came from Arkane, the studio behind Dishonored, Prey, and Deathloop. That’s a strong pedigree, and when Redfall was announced as a stylish, cooperative game about killing over-the-top vampires, many were understandably excited.

While Starfield was a disappointment because it was just good and not great, Redfall was just bad – so much so that even Xbox boss Phil Spencer personally apologised for it. It seems everything that could have gone wrong did, as Redfall was criticised for having bland missions, unengaging combat, poor AI enemies, abysmal performance, endless bugs, a weak story, an always online requirement, and so on.

Post-launch support didn’t come quickly either. It took over a month for Arkane to release its first big patch for Redfall, and not even the Xbox Series X version had 60 frames per second support until October, five months after its release. Furthermore, Arkane upset fans again the following month when it released another patch that was headlined by a new sniper rifle instead of highly requested features like an offline mode. Its dependence on online also doesn’t bode well for Redfall’s future, with its player count sitting at around 1% of its launch numbers, at least on Steam.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Call of Duty is often the target of abuse as one of the biggest video game franchises around, but the faux criticism of Activision recycling the same game year after year came true with Modern Warfare 3. It reportedly began as a Modern Warfare 2 expansion that was spun into a full release in just 18 months, evidenced further by a rebranded version of last year’s game needing to be installed before Modern Warfare 3 could be played. The PlayStation 5 version lacked a Platinum Trophy too.

Alongside these logistical frustrations came uninspired gameplay, with Activision essentially forcing its usually well put together game modes like Campaign and Zombies into the maps of battle royale Call of Duty: Warzone. Modern Warfare 3 was bad, and as we said in our 4/10 review, the single player is “underbaked, rehashed, and cobbled together from multiplayer parts”.

Even its premiere multiplayer mode was a let down, with Activision seemingly hoping the nostalgia of including classic Modern Warfare maps like Highrise and Rust would be enough to keep fans happy. The game was lacking in any actual steps forward though, with its biggest changes such as a slowed down progression system only causing more disappointment.

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1

Almost a decade after the last mainline release, Konami finally gave Metal Gear fans something to look forward to when it announced a collection of the first five games. The Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 would be the best way for players to get their hands on these classic entries short of dusting off a PlayStation 3, and would come bundled with some fun fan service extras like comics and soundtracks.

Fans assumed this to be a simple task as Konami essentially released the same collection on PS3 but cracks began to show even before launch. The publisher was criticised when it revealed the first Metal Gear Solid would be locked to 30 frames per second, then again when it emerged cutscenes could finally be paused… but only after ten seconds. The cherry on top arrived as Konami itself announced the Master Collection Vol. 1 would launch with several issues such as mistimed subtitles, significant slowdown during cutscenes of the two-decade-old games, and more.

But the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 somehow still failed to meet the very low expectations that had been set. Fans grew frustrated at the Nintendo Switch version only including the two original Metal Gear games on the cartridge (meaning Metal Gear Solid 1, 2, and 3 had to be downloaded), but it was perhaps PC players who faced the most problems. Issues included Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 being displayed at 720p resolution despite being advertised as 1080p, none of the games having audio options, and the entire collection being locked in full screen.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

What was once considered the biggest gaming event of the year, E3 has officially closed its doors for the final time as the ESA announced it will no longer be continuing the video game trade show.

The first E3 was held in 1995 and the event has been hosted annually ever since. But E3 has had a rough couple of years, having gone through several major format changes, and canceled several annual events due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But it’s important to remember that this was once the biggest gaming event in the world, and the site where some of the biggest game news was delivered each year. Following the announcement of E3’s end, we’ve compiled a list of the biggest announcements made over the course of the trade show’s long lifespan.

The Sega Saturn (E3 1995)

E3 1995 was a memorable one. Outside of being the very first year of the trade show, it would see the announcement of several iconic games like Turok, EarthBound, and Resident Evil as well as new video game consoles, one of which was the Sega Saturn.

While the Sega Saturn had already launched in Japan to moderate success, then-CEO Thomas Kalinske revealed that the Sega Saturn would be immediately available to purchase at select retailers in North America during SEGA’s presentation. This would have been an amazing shadow drop in 2023, but without the internet creating viral moments like it does today coupled with lower supply than anticipated, this announcement didn’t quite have the effect SEGA hoped for. The Saturn went on to sell less than 10 million units worldwide.

There hasn’t been a shadow dropped console since the Saturn, but that’s likely due to the next item on our list…

The Sony PlayStation (E3 1995)

At E3 1995, Sony would forever change console gaming when it announced the very first PlayStation. Even the confidence of the announcement foreshadowed how big of an impact this would have on gaming history as a whole.

Then Sony Computer Entertainment of America President Steve Race, walked on stage to announce that the Sony PlayStation would cost $299 USD — $100 cheaper than the Sega Saturn. And that was that, Sony “won” in an era where such a concept still existed. The Sony PlayStation would go on to sell over 100 million units and the brand is now a fixture in many gamers’ homes.

The Nintendo GameCube (E3 2001)

At E3 2001, Nintendo announced its hugely anticipated successor to the Nintendo 64. The GameCube, as it was revealed, would go on to be a technical powerhouse of its generation, beating the PS2 on specs. Finally making the transition from cartridge to disc, the Nintendo GameCube was a bold step in a new direction for Nintendo, but one the company would quickly abandon.

While the announcement of the console was followed by several testimonials from developers that would be working on titles that would release on the Nintendo GameCube, the company later abandoned the tech arms race Sony and Xbox would compete in, in favor of delivering innovation at a lower price point. This was best seen with its next system, the Nintendo Wii. But for one generation, and at one E3, Nintendo chose to go head-to-head on power with its rivals.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (E3 2004)

Fans will debate where The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess ranks within the history of The Legend of Zelda series, but one thing is undeniable: The reaction to the announcement trailer for Twilight Princess was truly legendary.

For years, Nintendo fans have clamored for a realistic Zelda game following Wind Waker’s divisive aesthetic, and at E3 2004, Nintendo delivered. Look back at videos of Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto walking on stage at E3 2004 with a Master Sword and shield in hand and you’ll realize Nintendo hasn’t had a pop like that at E3 since. Nevermind that Nintendo was one of the first to transition away from live E3 stage presentations thanks to its industry-shifting Nintendo Direct announcements.

The Microsoft Kinect (E3 2010)

Originally announced in 2009 as Project Natal, Microsoft debuted a swing for the fences piece of hardware for the ages. Using motion sensor technology, the Microsoft Kinect could effectively track players’ body movement and even respond to voice commands. It showed the limits of what was possible with gaming accessories at the time, and predated future gaming peripherals like the Meta Quest and PlayStation VR and VR2. Ultimately the motion-control era would prove to be only successful for one company, Nintendo. And Xbox would show that it was about a decade too early for the party.

Final Fantasy 15 (E3 2013)

The history of Final Fantasy 15 is a long one. Originally announced as Final Fantasy Versus 13, yet another spinoff of Final Fantasy 13, the game instead went back into development. In fact, it disappeared for so long that many began to question the existence of the game entirely. However, at E3 2013 Square Enix revealed that Final Fantasy Versus 13 was very much alive, only it had reappeared as an entirely different game.

At the end of its E3 2013 trailer the Versus 13 logo was shattered, and in its place was Final Fantasy 15. This was monumental for the future of the franchise, as reception to Final Fantasy 13 was generally mixed, Final Fantasy 14 was still in its A Realm Reborn phase, and fans had placed their hopes for a serious revitalization of the series through the then-Nomura led entry. Despite what Final Fantasy 15 ended up being (which was yet another divisive entry in the Final Fantasy series) the announcement was a moment of excitement for Final Fantasy fans long-awaiting a reset for the venerable franchise.

Sony’s Used Game PSA (E3 2013)

The PS4/Xbox One Era proved pivotal as Sony would effectively gain a firm grip on the title of most popular next-gen console of that generation and set the Xbox brand back years thanks to the disastrous launch of the Xbox One. While Microsoft’s Xbox One press conference failed to impart any confidence in the Xbox 360 successor, Sony found a way to quickly kick them while they’re down by putting together a quick video of how to trade used PlayStation 4 games with friends — simply hand each other the disc. This was much simpler than the proposed always-online system of the Xbox One.

Fallout 4 (E3 2015)

Following the success of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Bethesda was on top of the world when it came to open world RPGs — despite the massive amount of bugs that seem to plague every modern Bethesda release. So when Fallout 4 was announced at E3 2015 it was met with a tangible kind of excitement. Not just because of Bethesda’s penchant for making vast, open world games players could spend hundreds of hours in, but because of its continuation of the Fallout series, which had been dormant since 2010 when the critically acclaimed Fallout: New Vegas was released. But Todd Howard saved the best for last, when he announced Fallout 4 would be released that year, the same year as it was revealed at E3. To this day there hasn’t been an ambitious release announcement quite like it.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake (E3 2015)

Perhaps one of the most, if not the most, anticipated remake of all time, Square Enix finally confirmed the existence of the often rumored remake at E3 2015. During the announcement, the crowd roared in excitement for what turned out tobe the first entry in a trilogy of Final Fantasy 7 games. Rumored for years, and for many just a fanciful dream, Final Fantasy 7 Remake was finally on the way and Square Enix was determined not to treat it like an easy cash-grab. This was a full-on remake, and as gamers later found out after release, maybe something far more ambitious than that.

Death Stranding (E3 2016)

After decades of collaboration, Hideo Kojima left Konami after the development of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and the cancellation of the highly anticipated Silent Hills. The game director regrouped, started his own studios, Kojima Productions, and at E3 2016 the developer appeared on stage to debut what would be his next major project — Death Stranding. The trailer featured Kojima’s signature, atmospheric, directorial style, while telling the audience everything and nothing about his new game. Furthermore, Death Stranding would star Norman Reedus who had been previously attached to Silent Hills. This would be a first look at Kojima Productions’ first new franchise and continue his status as an auteur among the press and public. And while it wasn’t his first appearance at the trade show — Kojima’s Metal Gear E3 reveals have obtained legendary status — it felt like a return to form for the creator and his team at Kojima Productions.

Resident Evil 2 Remake (E3 2018)

Resident Evil 2 Remake — much like the Final Fantasy 7 Remake — was heavily rumored to be in development afterCapcom effectively halted fan-led remake projects of one of the most influential horror games of all time. And at E3 2018 Resident Evil 2 Remake was finally announced to thunderous applause. Resident Evil 2 Remake would be the start of one of the most ambitious and successful remake projects of all time, and Capcom has since remade more Resident Evil games including Resident Evil 3 and Resident Evil 4. As it turns out, E3 2018 would be hugely successful for Capcom as a whole as during the Microsoft Showcase Capcom revealed a trailer for Devil May Cry 5, heralding the return of one of the greatest action franchises of all time. It was a double-whammy for Capcom that year, and definitely one die-hard fans of the horror genre and action genre wouldn’t be forgetting

Keanu Rings In Cyberpunk 2077 (E3 2019)

The last in-person E3 conference ever was poetically grand in terms of scale. Major publishers like Bethesda, Square Enix, and Ubisoft showed off major titles like Deathloop, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and Watch Dogs: Legion. But it was Microsoft who went all out that year. Alongside teasing what would become the Xbox Series X, the company brought out the newly announced star of Cyberpunk 2077, Keanu Reeves, to reveal the highly-anticipated release date. This kind of celebrity powered E3 announcement would end up being the show’s swan song as after 28 years, the popular gaming trade show announced it will not be continuing.

E3 may have come and gone, but it was without a doubt one of the most influential trade shows in the game industry. This was largely due to its status as the largest video games focused trade shows within North America at the time. Even if E3 may have been a shadow of its former self, dwindling over the course of the past five or so years (and suffering multiple data leaks that more or less destroyed trust among attendees and press), it hosted major console and video game announcements, and eventually became a place where the public could congregate over their shared love of the medium. E3 will be missed, even if its time in the sun has passed and newer events like Summer Games Fest have taken its place.

There are only so many ways you can say 2023 was a great year for game releases without sounding like a broken record. So, instead, we’ve decided to collect all of our best-reviewed games from this past year in one place. We’re talking about our Editor’s Choice recipients, the games that have received either a nine or a 10 on our illustrious 10-point scale.

34 games and two DLC made it onto our round-up of best-reviewed games of the year. But look a little closer and you’ll find that of those games, only five received a perfect 10 from IGN. The bulk of our best-reviewed games this year received a 9, falling just short of making it into the uppermost echelons of our review score top tier, but still an amazing game by any standard.

Speaking broadly, 19% of games IGN reviewed this year received a nine or 10, which is a bit higher than normal according to IGN’s senior reviews editor, Tom Marks. But if we only look at our best reviewed games, 87% of our best-reviewed games list is made up of titles that received a 9, highlighting how exclusive our list of games that scored a 10 is.

Several of the games we reviewed and gave a 9 ended up getting nominated for our Best Game of the Year Award, including Alan Wake 2, Cocoon, Dave the Diver, Dead Space Remake, Final Fantasy 16, Hi-Fi Rush, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Street Fighter 6, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder. I don’t have to tell you twice why each of these games deserved such high marks. For that, you can check out our list of Best Game 2023 Award nominees on IGN.

However, there were big games that ultimately didn’t make the final shortlist despite their obvious quality. Blizzard released its long-awaited sequel, Diablo 4, to widespread acclaim. But, one of the downsides of live-service games is that the experience can change as the seasons continue and the stellar launch has since hit some turbulent times among fans who aren’t as pleased with the ongoing experience as they were with the initial drop.

Another big title from this year that we gave a 9 to was Hogwarts Legacy, which realized the dream of attending everyone’s favorite wizarding school. For fans of open-world games and Harry Potter, Hogwarts Legacy is a match made in heaven, with players able to live out what it would be like if they were an actual student in Hogwarts, complete with getting sorted into a House and learning different spells.

Looking over our reviews, a few patterns begin to emerge, which you might not have noticed amid the mad flurry of great games. For example, you might be surprised to learn just how good a year Nintendo had in 2023. Although speculation over the Switch successor is reaching a fever pitch as we head into 2024, Nintendo is still delivering great games for the current Switch. And I’m not just talking about games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Beyond the obvious suspects, Nintendo’s hybrid system received a bevy of exclusives that have earned 9s, not including Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Games like Platinum’s Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon, Fire Emblem Engage, and Pikmin 4 all wowed our reviewers, and filled out an entire year of excellent Nintendo titles.

While no other developer was delivering a steady stream of great games like Nintendo, one overlooked genre also had a surprisingly great year. As it turns out, 2023 was very good for sports and racing games. Titles like EA Sports UFC 5, Gran Turismo 7 VR, and MLB: The Show 23 all received 9s in our reviews, highlighting how sports game developers are still pushing the envelope in new and exciting ways.

But there are still so many games that deserve your attention, and with such a jam-packed year there were a lot of small games that may have fallen through the cracks. While we’ve celebrated indie darlings like Cocoon already, small studios were responsible for some of our favorite games this year, from mind-bending games like Humanity – a new puzzle title from the developer of Tetris Effect – to Ghostrunner 2 from Polish indie dev team One More Level. Our resident action lover and reviewer Mitchell Saltzman praised the cyberpunk sequel as one “that builds upon everything that made the first game great.”

There were also two standout indie platformers this year. The first is Pizza Tower whose ridiculous name belies a Mad-Cap homage to Wario Land 4, but combined with the expressionistic art style of classic LucasArts games. And Laika: Aged Through Blood which combines excellent 2D shooting with a Trials-like motorcycle experience.

The current juggernaut in mobile gaming, MiHoYo, also released its newest title after taking over the world with Genshin Impact. Honkai: Star Rail is the Shanghai-based studio’s sci-fi offering compared to Genshin’s fantasy setting, and ditches the latter’s action in favor of a turn-based combat system. The result was one of our favorite mobile games of the year, and MiHoYo is already getting ready to release its next game in 2024, Zenless Zone Zero.

There were so many great games in 2023 beyond just the ones we’ve spent all year obsessing over, too. Other games that received a 9 from IGN this year include the tactical RPG Jagged Alliance 3 which adds another feather to this year’s cap of great computer RPGs. There’s also the Making of Karateka, which is both a classic game collection and insightful making-of documentary in one package. Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 – the cartoon studio’s take on Super Smash Bros. but with iconic animated characters – also impressed this year, as did the shooter soulslike Remnant 2. Finally, there was the ghost pirate strategy game Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew, yet another masterfully remade classic, System Shock, and Square Enix’s winning rhythm game sequel Theatrhythm Final Bar Line.

But what about the cream of the crop? The best-reviewed games of the year? As I said before, despite the huge flood of amazing games this year, the perfect scoring masterpieces remain few and exclusive.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, IGN’s Best Game of 2023, is a no-brainer. Its predecessor, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, also received a perfect score from us in 2017 and the sequel improves upon it in every way. In our review, we said The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom “is an unfathomable follow-up to one of the greatest games ever made, somehow improving upon it in nearly every way — be that with simple quality-of-life improvements, a genuinely exciting story, or wildly creative new building mechanics that make you rethink what is possible.”

Tears of the Kingdom’s closest competitor for our Best Game Award, Baldur’s Gate 3, also received a perfect score from IGN, and it’s looking very likely that Baldur’s Gate 3 will have as big an impact on CRPGs as Zelda has had on open-world adventure games. Our reviewer called Larian Studio’s monumental RPG “a landmark moment in the [CRPG] genre, and if I had to point to one paragon that I would like everyone else making these to take inspiration from, this is absolutely it.”

It’s not like Larian Studios is even finished with Baldur’s Gate 3 either. The RPG finally made its way onto Xbox Series X and S consoles, and the studio recently released an Epilogue update that adds thousands of more words of dialogue to this already jam-packed game.

Elsewhere, 2023 was an amazing year for stellar remakes and we got two perfect 10s this year. Resident Evil 4 Remake set the new bar for Capcom’s remake library with our review claiming the reimagining’s “improvements over the original are too numerous to list, from simple quality of life changes to completely overhauled boss fight mechanics.” Capcom has already confirmed even more remakes are on the way too, and if they’re anything as good as what we’ve already seen, I cannot wait.

But another remake that received an IGN 10 was Nintendo’s Metroid Prime, which made a surprise appearance on the Switch. With newly improved graphics and performance, one of Nintendo’s all-time great games is better than ever. IGN’s resident Metroid aficionado Sam Claiborn said, “21 years later, in 2023, Metroid Prime Remastered had to do so little beyond modernizing the controls and updating the graphics to become one of the best games you can buy once again.”

The only VR game to score a perfect 10 this year is Asgard’s Wrath 2, a fully-fledged open-world RPG completely in VR. It has four unique characters and stories, fantastic and satisfying combat, intricate and rewarding RPG systems, and a great story, and even after more than 90 hours throwing squids at gloriously shredded lizards and whipping across gaps, it still has plenty more to give.

Finally, a special shout-out to the DLC that made it onto our best-reviewed games list. The first is CD Projekt Red’s near-perfect expansion, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, which delivers on the initial promise of the ambitious base game. The second is Dead Cells’ Konami collaboration, Return to Castlevania, which brings the Metroidvania series’ iconic monsters to the roguelike world of Dead Cells. This received a perfect score from IGN.

These are our best-reviewed games of 2023. Let us know which of these were your favorites in the comments.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN’s Senior Features Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

As hackers release stolen data obtained following the cyber security attack of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 developer Insomniac Games, the video game industry is sending messages of support to staff at the studio.

Today, December 19, the hackers who breached Insomniac and vowed to release confidential data unless they were paid 50 BTC, or around $2 million, within seven days made good on their threat. According to Cyber Daily, the ransomware group released 1.67 terabytes of data, made up of more than 1.3 million files which contain a variety of videos and images showing upcoming game Marvel’s Wolverine, Insomniac’s entire release slate up to the early 2030s, and even company contracts. But, most worryingly, the data also includes staff information such as passport scans. Neither Sony nor Insomniac have commented on the latest developments.

In a tweet, Alan Wake 2 developer Remedy Entertainment called the leak of employee personal information “truly disgraceful and shameful”.

Our sympathies to @insomniacgames and all the affected team members. After all the effort and dedication they have poured into their games, they didn’t deserve this. No one does. The hackers also leaked employee’s personal information, which is truly disgraceful and shameful.

— Remedy Entertainment (@remedygames) December 19, 2023

A number of individual developers have also offered messages of support, with one saying leaking employee data “is absolutely inexcusable”. Cory Barlog, creative director of God of War developer Sony Santa Monica, a fellow Sony-owned studio, tweeted the following message of support:

💙insomniac✊

— the fake cory balrog (@corybarlog) December 19, 2023

Cyber attacks are of increasing concern to tech companies, with the video game industry suffering a number of breaches in recent years. In 2020, Capcom suffered a devastating data breach that revealed a number of unannounced games, including Dragon’s Dogma 2 and Street Fighter 6. International law enforcement finally apprehended the ransomware group responsible in October.

Last year, dozens of video files related to GTA 6 were stolen and leaked online. One of the accused hackers, Arion Kurtaj, of the Lapsus$ group, was convicted of 12 different offenses following a seven-week trial in August.

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 Insomniac data breach has revealed Sony signed a deal with Marvel to make exclusive X-Men games until the end of 2035.

One leaked slide detailed the X-Men licence terms, which include a note on exclusivity. According to the document, between now and December 31, 2035, Marvel cannot release or announce any X-Men games on console, PC, or streaming platforms, or use an X-Men character as a “competitive advantage” in a game. The document provides the example of playing as Wolverine in Ultimate Alliance exclusively on Xbox, which would not be allowed under the terms.

X-Men characters can appear in what are called multi-family Marvel games, however, so you might see Wolverine, for example, show up in an Avengers game. And Marvel retains the rights to children’s games and certain X-Men games from the 90s. But otherwise, this is a watertight exclusivity deal that gives Sony the rights to X-Men games for the next 12 years.

The document details development and marketing spend for each X-Men game, Marvel’s royalty, which varies depending on the nature of the sale (physical, digital, bundle), and the terms of a potential termination. Platforms are, as you’d expect, PlayStation and PC.

According to another slide, Marvel’s Wolverine is due out in 2026, and the first X-Men game is due out in 2030. An extended roadmap, possibly out of date, slates a third X-Men game for 2033, suggesting the Wolverine game is considered Insomniac’s first X-Men game. There’s also mention of Wolverine Online (2026) and X-Men Online (2028). There’s word of a provisional fourth X-Men game, too.

The video game industry has descended upon Marvel in recent years to snap up licenses to make games based on its intellectual property. Last year, Electronic Arts announced it had signed a long-term deal with Marvel to develop at least three new action adventure games for consoles and PC, the first being a single-player, third person, action-adventure Iron Man game from Star Wars: Squadrons and the Dead Space remake developer Motive Studios. EA is also making a single-player action-adventure game based on Marvel’s Black Panther at a new Seattle-based EA studio called Cliffhanger Games.

Elsewhere, Skydance Media is developing a Marvel World War 2-set narrative-driven adventure with Amy Hennig of Uncharted fame. It lets you play as Steve Rogers as an early Captain America, among other Marvel characters.

And let’s not forget Marvel’s Blade, just announced at The Game Awards 2023 as in-development at Dishonored and Deathloop studio Arkane Lyon. Arkane is owned by Bethesda, which in turn is owned by Microsoft. Platforms are yet to be announced, but we can of course count Xbox and PC among them.

As for the X-Men, Sony’s deal comes as Marvel prepares to properly unleash the X-Men within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with a significant tease at the end of the recently released The Marvels setting up the inevitable arrival of the popular mutant superhero team. Deadpool 3, which features mutants Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), is 2024’s only Disney MCU movie.

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.

Sony’s Santa Monica Studio has released the first patch (v. 05.03) for PlayStation 5 exclusive God of War Ragnarok’s Valhalla expansion, which changes up the difficulty of the roguelike mode.

Released on Santa Monica’s website, the patch notes outline fixes for several bugs alongside increases in difficulty to some areas and decreases to others. The developer made “tuning adjustments” to The Forum to make difficulty “more appropriate”, for example, while also increasing the difficulty of some arena challenges.

The Spear kill perk has also been slightly nerfed, and Santa Monica has made various other “combat tuning and balance updates”. For those solely focused on the story, the difficulty of the first Týr fight has also been reduced on the lowest difficulty setting, Show Me Will.

As for bug fixes, out of sync cinematics have been addressed alongside actual gameplay changes. These include an issue where Greek Labyrinth Mastery would not increase in the Open Greek Chests value if Kratos forfeited a reward selection after spending Fleeting Echoes to open a chest, an exploit when using the Spear against Ormstunga, and an issue where Týr would teleport away and not come back. You can read the full patch notes below.

The Valhalla expansion was announced earlier in December and released on December 12, giving fans of the beloved sequel an excuse to return. It lets players travel between different environments to take on new enemies, while also including some new story elements that fans are already sleuthing over.

In IGN’s 10/10 review of the base game, we said: “God of War Ragnarok is an almighty achievement and creates a new high that makes many of its peers look mortal by comparison.”

God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla v. 05.03 Patch Notes

CINEMATICS

• Fixed an issue where audio would not play and characters would be out of sync during the first cinematic after death
• Cleared lingering Draupnir Spear particles when cinematic starts

GAMEPLAY

• Reduced difficulty of first Týr fight on the ‘Show Me Will’ difficulty setting
• Increased difficulty of some arena challenges
• Tuning adjustment to ‘The Forum’ to make difficulty more appropriate
• Slightly reduced health gain and chance of proc on Spear kill perk while in Valhalla
• Various combat tuning and balance updates
• Fixed an issue where Greek Labyrinth Mastery would not increase in the “Open Greek Chests” value if Kratos forfeited a reward selection after spending Fleeting Echoes to open a chest
• Fixed an exploit when using the Spear against Ormstunga
• Fixed an issue with the encounter not ending when kicking Einherjar outside of the arena
• Fixed an issue where Týr would teleport away and not come back
• Fixed an issue where not all Hunter armor pieces were available
• Fixed an issue where encounter would not end if Nightmare was ejected from a creature near the arena boundary
• Fixed an issue where Kratos could erroneously stay in Spartan Rage when interacting with Shield Maidens

GENERAL STABILITY

• Resolved multiple crashes including when opening certain chests or rifts, non-English language specific crashes, and memory leak on PlayStation 4
• Fixed an issue where Kratos would be falling through the world
• Fixed an issue where Kratos would fall out of the arena when interacting with a rift on the Aegean Ship
• Fixed an issue with Kratos falling through the world after walking through a Mystic Gateway
• Fixed some issues with textures not streaming in properly when entering arenas

UI/UX

• Fixed an issue with the “Time Extended” message displaying in timed challenge trials when it should not
• Fixed an issue with subtitles overlapping UI when in vendor menus
• Fixed some instances of the navigation assist pointing to incorrect locations
• Fixed an issue where the timer would overlap the Warrior Soul health bar
• Fixed instances where the “Elites Killed” counter would remain after timer expired
• Corrected the “Costly Damage” burden to show appropriate duration in description
• Fixed the King of the Hill challenge timer overlapping progress bar
• Fixed an instance when the timer would never reach zero on the Aegean Ship encounter
• Fixed an issue which would cause a screen reader to read the Tablet of Reflection prompt twice in a row
• Fixed instances where subtitles were not formatted properly
• Fixed an issue where “Flawless Kills” and “Flawless Parries” Challenge UI updated any time Kratos was hit
• Added a ‘Download in Progress’ screen if attempting to launch God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla before God of War Ragnarök is fully installed
• Fixed an issue with the options menu displaying when opening the glyph tutorial for the first time

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

The hackers who breached Marvel’s Spider-Man developer Insomniac and threatened to release confidential data unless paid 50 BTC, or around $2 million, within seven days have made good on their threat after Sony reportedly refused to meet their demands.

According to Cyber Daily, the ransomware group released 1.67 terabytes of data, made up of more than 1.3 million files, which contain a variety of videos and images showing upcoming game Marvel’s Wolverine, personal staff information, and even a contract signed by both Marvel and Sony for future projects.

Videos showing early Wolverine footage and unannounced characters are now online, as is the game’s cast, a list of locations, and a target release date. Insomniac’s release slate up to the end of 2033 is also listed alongside estimated development budgets.

When news of the data breach first emerged, Sony issued a statement saying it had launched an investigation, and confirmed no other Sony divisions were affected. Neither it nor Insomniac have commented on this latest publication of the material.

Cyber Daily published a statement attributed to a Rhysida spokesperson: “Yes, we knew who we were attacking. We knew that developers making games like this would be an easy target. We were able to get the domain administrator within 20–25 minutes of hacking the network. Sony has launched an investigation, but it would be better in the backyard.” Apparently the Rhysida spokesperson said money was the only motive for the attack.

Cyber attacks are of increasing concern to tech companies, with the video game industry suffering a number of breaches in recent years. In 2020, Capcom suffered a devastating data breach that revealed a number of unannounced games, including Dragon’s Dogma 2 and Street Fighter 6. International law enforcement finally apprehended the ransomware group responsible in October.

Last year, dozens of video files related to GTA 6 were stolen and leaked online. One of the accused hackers, Arion Kurtaj, of the Lapsus$ group, was convicted of 12 different offenses following a seven-week trial in August.

Developing…

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.

When I first got my hands on Skull & Bones during its last closed beta in August, I was stunned that this legendarily elusive game actually existed. Now, with a release date in February of next year fast approaching, it would seem any doubt that this seafaring adventure won’t see the light of day is fading. Now I just want to know if it’s going to be good, and after another six hours in the most recent closed beta this past weekend, I find myself more hopeful than ever that this plundering simulator might actually capture the attention of me and my friends. Though the most recent beta included some odd and unexpected changes to the story, my friends and I dove deep into the waters of this ship-based adventure’s RPG mechanics and came away pleasantly surprised.

First off, if you haven’t seen our preview from a few months ago, you should go and check that out, because the vast majority of my praise and cautious optimism still applies. Having a chance to develop my sea legs a few months ago, me and two of my fellow skallywags spent a good chunk of the weekend tinkering with our boats and exploring as much of the map as we could before running into horrifyingly overpowered enemy crafts that turned us into driftwood in one second flat.

Upgrading and customizing your very own piracy vessel remains one of the coolest things Skull & Bones offers, and that’s especially true after the first few hours once I acquired the means to craft class-based ships with specific strengths and weaknesses to suit my playstyle. For my part, I like to prioritize DPS and enjoy getting in close and smashing the enemy craft to pieces, so I built “The Rammer,” a ship that’s great for doing as much damage as possible. Meanwhile, the other members of my party built a tank-y ship called “The Defender” and a support-focused ship called “The Sentinel,” so that when we fought as a crew, we had the perfect diversity of specializations we needed to absolutely crush any poor landlubbers who dared set sail in our seas.

Combining these different ship types with various kinds of weapons like long-ranged sniper cannons that do lots of damage versus others that blast large volleys of close-quarters fireballs, and attachments that adjust various resistances and armor scores, made Skull & Bones feel like a true naval RPG, and it felt like my crew had only just begun scratching the surface of what’s possible, with dozens upon dozens of more powerful options locked out for vessels of our level.

“Upgrading and customizing your very own piracy vessel remains one of the coolest things Skull & Bones offers.”

After the previous beta, I praised Skull & Bones for having a story that was surprisingly more fleshed out than I was expecting, and while that still held true in this second beta, there were also some really bizarre changes to the narrative I don’t fully understand. For example, in the early moments of the previous beta I found a dying pirate captain, Abel Rassler, who served as a jumping off point for the rest of the story, but in this latest version, when I went to loot that same ship, the good captain had already expired, leaving me to quietly grab his stuff before leaving.

I’m really not sure why this major story change happened! Maybe Ubisoft got feedback that there was too much talking in the early part of their cannonball-focused pirate game, or perhaps they just cut this part out of this beta since participants were only allotted six hours of playtime, but it wasn’t the only big one I noticed. There were also a few significant dialogue changes, and one of my main crewmates had been replaced by a new character altogether. It’s pretty surprising that, after all these years of development, they’re still making significant story changes in the four months since the last beta. But then again, I suppose that’s what betas are for. Here’s hoping that’s not a sign that the script’s going through too many last-minute rewrites this close to launch.