Grand Theft Auto 5 actor Steven Ogg wants co-protagonist Trevor to be killed off in the opening of GTA 6 in a full circle moment for the character.
Ogg told ScreenRant he wanted a moment similar to Trevor’s own murdering of GTA 4: The Lost and the Damned protagonist Johnny Klebitz, who appeared not long after Trevor’s own introduction in GTA 5 only to be killed off by him.
“It would be fun if Trevor appeared in it just to be killed at the beginning,” Ogg said. “I think that would be cool, because it also acknowledges the fans of like, ‘Hey, thank you.’ Pass the torch, stomp Trevor’s head in, and sort of put an end to that and allow a new generation to take over.”
This act would have to be carried out by one of GTA 6’s dual protagonists, Lucia or Jason, though neither has been portrayed to be as wild as Trevor was in GTA 5. Only a single trailer for GTA 6 has been released, however, and Grand Theft Auto has few limits when it comes to violence.
A Grand Theft Auto superfan is recreating the GTA 6 map in GTA 5 based on the snippets of information released by Rockstar so far.
YouTuber Dark Space is chronicling the work on their channel and on X/Twitter, showing how Vice Beach and the Venetian Islands are inside GTA 5 as fully detailed maps.
Despite the fact Rockstar has so far only released one trailer for GTA 6, fans have mapped out the playable area they expect to see in the game, which is due out fall 2025 on PS5 and Xbox Series X and S.
For my next video, I’ve been working hard at making the GTA 6 community map real. Here’s a look at my progress so far: pic.twitter.com/ejPu3EWKqa
Take-Two may take an even dimmer view of Dark Space’s work, given it attempts to recreate the map from the upcoming GTA 6. Dark Space admitted to IGN that he was “always worried” about a reprisal from Take-Two, but pointed out some key differences between his work and others that have suffered setbacks, such as the GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition project.
“This is a bit different from what I’ve been told by people who also make content like this for FiveM servers,” Dark Space said.
“Vice City mod is a whole game remade in GTA 4. Not good for Rockstar. Also makes them look bad. Liberty City Preservation project ripped a whole game map from 4 to 5 eliminating the need for Rockstar to ever do that.
“This is just me making my own fan-made map myself. All within GTA 5 itself. Any assets are from GTA 5 itself. A typical practice.”
Dark Space said the lack of GTA 6 news from Rockstar is fueling fan interest in projects such as his. Depending on how things go, he may expand the map to completion.
One former Rockstar developer has defended the company’s actions here, saying both Take-Two and Rockstar are protecting their business interests.
“Take2/R* are a commercial company,” former Rockstar Games technical director Obbe Vermeij tweeted. “They will take down mods that interfere with their business interests.
“The VC NextGen Edition mod for GTA4 directly competes with the Definitive Edition. The Liberty City preservation project (GTA4 in GTA5 engine) would interfere with a possible GTA4 remaster. (No idea whether they’re working on that. I think they should.)
“There’s no point getting angry about it. This is what companies are supposed to do. The best we can hope for is that they allow mods that don’t interfere with their business. Such as DCA3 (GTA3 for Dreamcast). Afaik they have recently been decent about letting these projects continue.”
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.
Nintendo is going all in on the Donkey Kong redesign spotted by fans in the Mario Kart 9 gameplay debuted during the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal event.
Donkey Kong has had the same design for years now, even decades, and has appeared as such in the likes of Mario Kart 8, Mario Tennis, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and more, but Nintendo is now pivoting to a look many think is similar to the incredibly successful The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
The handful of products show Donkey Kong with perhaps a friendlier look headlined by his once furrowed brow being rounded out. “They’re giving him the Kirby treatment, but backwards,” SmallBlueSlime said in the comments. “Instead of making him angry, they’re making him chill.”
“They really are dead set on redesigning DK,” said another user. “I’m gonna miss that eyebrow looking down. Always made DK seem both kind and strong,” added someone else. “It’s alright in my opinion,” added a fan in favor of the new look. “They probably did it to make him look more goofy and less angry.”
The Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2 update is available to download ahead of today’s launch, with patch notes live now.
The 1.068.000 update, which weighs in at 19.907 GB on PlayStation 5, can be downloaded now ahead of the launch of Season 2 later today, January 28.
Season 2 brings weapon tuning, spawn logic improvements, a bullet penetration update, much-needed challenge tracker details, improvements to camo challenges, equipment, perk, field upgrade, and wildcard updates, new ranked cross-play options on consoles, ranked play SR gain/loss adjustments, HUD preset updates, and Zombies bug fixes and improvements.
There’s also the promise of improved anti-cheat amid growing frustration and cheating across Black Ops 6 and Warzone, particularly in ranked. Updates include enhanced detection models for behaviors like aim botting, stricter account trust and hardware identification to target repeat offenders, and new tools to combat dishonest behavior such as playing with cheaters or attempting to spam report innocent players.
“We are also focusing on more precise tools, including major upgrades to the kernel-level anti-cheat driver and server-side systems starting this season and continuing into Season 03,” Activision said in a blog post. “These measures, combined with ongoing improvements and legal actions against cheat sellers, aim to deliver a more secure and enjoyable experience for everyone.”
Meanwhile, with Season 2 comes a new battle pass packed with new weapons and cosmetics. There are over 110 pieces of unlockable content excluding the more expensive BlackCell, including three new base weapons, an underbarrel crossbow attachment, and new operator skins and weapon blueprints, and a whole lot more.
There are three new Multiplayer maps: Bounty (6v6), Dealership (6v6), and Lifeline (6v6, 2v2). New Multiplayer modes at the launch of Season 2 include Overdrive and, in week two, the fan-favorite Gun Game.
Expect four new weapons during Season 2: PPSh-41 – SMG (Battle Pass); Cypher 091 – Assault Rifle (Battle Pass); Feng 82 – LMG (Battle Pass); and the TR2 – Marksman Rifle (Event Reward).
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.
Helldivers 2 creative director Johan Pilestedt has announced he has gone on sabbatical leave and, when he returns, will start work on developer Arrowhead’s next game.
In a tweet, Pilestedt said he’s spent 11 years working “around the clock” on the Helldivers intellectual property, starting with the first Helldivers game in 2013 and Helldivers 2 since early 2016.
“Eleven years of working around the clock on the same IP has made me set aside family, friends, and my lovely wife… and myself,” Pilestedt said. “I am going to take some time now to redeem what was lost from all of those that supported me for over a decade.
“I am sure my friends at Arrowhead will do their utmost in the meantime to deliver amazing stuff to Helldivers 2. When I’m back I will start working on the next Arrowhead game.”
Pilestedt was thrust into the headlines following Helldivers 2’s explosive launch in February 2024. Despite a raft of issues the cooperative shooter became PlayStation Studios’ fastest-selling game of all time, shifting 12 million copies in just 12 weeks. Helldivers 2 is so successful that Sony is turning it into a movie.
Pilestedt himself became the face of Helldivers 2, often wading into discussion about the game’s qualities and failings across social media, Reddit threads, and Discord. In May last year, Pilestedt revealed that Helldivers 2’s enormous success had caused a problem for the studio: more community toxicity than it had ever had to deal with before.
Prior to the release of Helldivers 2, Arrowhead had enjoyed big hits with the first Helldivers game and Magicka, but the success of Helldivers 2 raised the game and the studio’s profile. “The big difference now, which is horrifying, is the amount of threats and rude behavior that people in the studio are getting from some really shitty individuals within the community,” Pilestedt told G.biz. “That’s something new we have to deal with.”
When Helldivers 2 launched it faced significant server issues that made the game unplayable for many, sparking an initial backlash. Since then, Arrowhead has faced complaints about everything from weapon balance to low impact Premium Warbonds. But by far the biggest backlash was sparked by Sony’s controversial decision to force PC gamers to link to a PlayStation Network account to play. Sony eventually reversed its decision, but not before a review-bombing campaign savaged Helldivers 2 on Steam. Arrowhead community managers have said the PSN backlash caused staff to lose a week simply having to deal with the fallout.
Amid Helldivers 2’s success, Pilestedt changed his position from Arrowhead CEO to chief creative officer so he could focus more on the studio’s games as well as its community. Replacing Pilestedt as Arrowhead CEO was Shams Jorjani, former executive at fellow Swedish games company Paradox and publisher of Magicka.
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.
After a strong Xbox Developer Direct to kick 2025 off, things are looking good for Microsoft and its strong stable of first-party studios. But, which Xbox game series get you most excited? Which gave you more enjoyment than any other in the glory days of the 360? Or if you’ve never owned an Xbox console, which are you most looking forward to coming to other platforms like PlayStation, as Microsoft seemingly continues its plans to share its library with the world.
There are many legendary game series to choose from (especially since Microsoft’s acquisitions of both Bethesda and Activision Blizzard. That means this tier list can include any series associated with Xbox, Bethesda, and Activision Blizzard, as long as there has been more than one entry into it so far – sorry to MachineGames and Indiana Jones! Give us a sequel, please, and then you can make the cut. Just a reminder that this isn’t an all Xbox Game Series list, so we haven’t involved every single Xbox game series here, but have tried to cover the bases of current relevance and historical impact. Take a look at my personal tier list, based completely on what I’ve enjoyed playing the most over the years, here:
Doom is an easy S-tier pick for me, with the past couple of entries being amongst my favourite first-person shooters, and I’m very excited to see that Doom: The Dark Ages looks like id Software is maintaining form. I’ve also placed Forza Horizon in the S tier as they’re, perhaps outside of Burnout 3 and Burnout Revenge, the best racing games I’ve ever played. I’m sure Halo in the A tier may raise a few eyebrows, but while 2 and 3 are two of the finest campaign shooters ever made, I can’t ignore more recent inconsistencies and put it in that top bracket. I’m also more of a Fallout person than an Elder Scrolls one. I’d rather own a set of power armour than a dragon, OK?
Don’t agree with me? Think Gears of War is Xbox’s best? A big defender of Fuzion Frenzy? Well, why not have a go at ranking all of the Nintendo consoles yourself in a tier list below where you can compare your own S, A, B, C, and D tiers with the whole of the IGN community.
Is there an Xbox series we’ve missed that you’d like to give a shout-out to? Let us know in the comments, as well as why you’ve ranked the games in the order you’ve chosen.
Simon Cardy is a Senior Editorial Producer who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.
Poland-based game studio People Can Fly has been announced as the co-developer of the upcoming Gears of War: E-Day alongside The Coalition.
In a press release People Can Fly says it is “honored to return to the world of Gears of War[.]” The studio previously served as the lead developer of Gears of War: Judgment after co-developing Gears of War 1-3. “Returning to collaborate on the next chapter of this ligendary saga is both a privilege and an exciting opportunity to build upon the intense, visceral action and rich storytelling that fans have come to love.”
Gears of War: E-Day was announced at last year’s Xbox Showcase and is set to be a prequel to the original trilogy starring younger versions of characters like Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago. And yes, the original actors will be returning to reprise their roles.
The game will cover the origins of the Locust invasion on Emergence Day. In a sit down with IGN, Brand Director Nicole Fawcette and Creative Director Matt Searcy said that the goal is to focus on the horror elements from the original trilogy. “What if the ground opened up and monsters came out? Yeah, it’s set on a fictional, other planet, but there are very human reactions and stories we get to tell,” Searcy tells IGN. “To do that, we need to be able to tell a story that feels like a horror story.”
People Can Fly was founded in 2002 and became known for games like Bullestorm and Painkiller. Epic Games acquired the studio in 2007, briefly renaming the studio Epic Games Poland, before the company spun off independently under its old name and logo.
Gears of War: E-Day will be the studio’s next major game after the launch of Outriders in 2021. Be sure to check out our op-ed on why Gears of War needs to rediscover its blockbuster levels of entertainment again with E-Day.
Warner Bros. Games and Avalanche Software have confirmed plans to launch Hogwarts Legacy mod support for PC, opening the floodgates for players to add whatever their hearts desire to the Harry Potter video game.
The team announced the addition with a special video presentation, below, revealing a release date of January 30, 2025 for a free update that includes the highly requested feature. It’ll only be for PC for now, with the team sharing no news about when or if players can expect to see modding come to consoles.
“We’ve made it easy for everyone. It’s all simplified with official tools provided by us,” Avalanche community manager Chandler Wood said. “For mod creators, you’ll be able to get the official Hogwarts Legacy creator kit, free on the Epic Games Store. The creator kit provides powerful tools right at your fingertips, allowing you to flex your inner developer like the ones here at Avalanche and conjure the magic with custom mods that other players can enjoy, too.”
Hogwarts Legacy mods will almost certainly devolve into chaos immediately as players rush to add Shrek, Thomas the Tank Engine, and more nonsense to the open-world Harry Potter game. Thankfully, Avalanche is here to help fans get a head start. The studio said it’s been working with members of the community to make a few mods available on day one, including creative broom options like dragons and a vacuum cleaner as well as unique cosmetics, an endless dungeon experience to test your combat skills, and a magical creature fetch quest. More community-generated content will no doubt appear in the months ahead, giving players more than enough content to keep them busy as Avalanche looks ahead.
Hogwarts Legacy launched for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S in February 2023, with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions following in May and the Nintendo Switch version following in November. That means it’ll celebrate its two-year anniversary next month with full-on mod support, but the free update is far from the only post-launch support the project has received since it arrived.
Baldur’s Gate 3’s long-awaited Patch 8 is currently available to players on PS5…but it’s not supposed to be.
In a social media post today, the official Larian Studios account revealed that PS5 players do indeed have access to Patch 8 through what seems to be an accident somewhere, as the patch itself isn’t ready for prime time.
“No, the Patch 8 stress test hasn’t yet begun,” the post reads. “Yes, PS5 players do currently have access to Patch 8. While we work with our partners to understand what’s going on, please note that any new saves made while on Patch 8 will not be compatible with Patch 7.
“How’s your Monday going?”
Patch 8 was first announced back in December and is the final major update expected for Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s planned to add cross-platform progression and play, photo mode, and 12 new subclasses, as well as new abilities, animations, VFX, summons, cantrips, and even voicelines. It’s a massive update that promises to really shake things up a year and a half after launch, and while it’s seemingly due out this month, today’s PS5 release seems to have jumped the gun a bit.
Late last month, Larian opened registrations for a stress test of Patch 8, which it opened to players on PC via Steam and on console via Xbox and PlayStation. However, that stress test hasn’t actually happened yet, and as Larian wrote, this release on PS5 is not the stress test.
For now, it’s probably recommended for PS5 players not to download this patch just yet in case it comes with unintended bugs or other issues, and as Larian says, saves won’t be compatible with Patch 7 if you need to roll back for any reason. Proceed with caution here.
But the good news is that even if this was an error, it sounds like Larian is inching much closer to releasing Patch 8 in earnest. We’ll be keeping an eye out for news of the actual stress test and the release itself, which seems likely to make what we called a 10/10 game at launch even better.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Pokémon TCG Pocket is warning players of the consequences for cheating, just ahead of the expected release of in-game trading later this week.
In an announcement pushed to the app yesterday, players were warned about violations of the Terms of Service that specifically relate to cheating:
“We are aware that some players have engaged in data tampering, real money trading, and other behaviors that violate the Terms of Use,” reads the in-game notice. “If we confirm that a player has engaged in behavior that violates the Terms of Use, we will warn them, suspend their account, or take other action.”
No further details were offered as to what behaviors, specifically, are being targeted. Players on r/PTCGP have been speculating that this warning is related to a few different behaviors. One of these, referred to as Wonder Pick Farming, is a practice where individuals mass-create new accounts to take advantage of the many free packs available for new players, and try to roll a “god pack,” or a super rare pack of cards with five very rare cards. Then, they offer their friend code to others for money, so that buyers can add them as friends and then see the “god pack” in the game’s Wonder Pick function and be guaranteed a very rare card.
Another behavior speculated to be the target of a crackdown is a practice where players will grind accounts to level 50 with plenty of banked currency by participating in PvP battles over and over, using the game’s timeout function to stall games until the opponent concedes so they can win repeatedly.
Beyond that, it’s possible that the warning was simply published because of the game’s upcoming trading feature release, which could potentially kickstart a new wave of inappropriate behavior, especially where “real money trading” is concerned. The trading feature, which was panned by fans upon announcement, allows players to trade cards of one star rarity and below with friends. Players have expressed frustration with both the rarity limit on trading, as well as the need to spend some sort of currency to make the trade happen in the first place.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
