Category: IGN

Rockstar owner Take-Two Interactive is suing online marketplace PlayerAuctions, alleging it contains “thousands of listings for unauthorized, infringing GTA V content – including heavily modified player accounts, in-game assets, and virtual currency – all gained by using hacking software, cheats, and technical exploits.”

The lawsuit was filed last week in the U.S. Central District Court of California against the Chinese company that owns the website, Paiao Network Technology. It accuses PlayerAuctions of operating “with full knowledge that its sellers are engaged in rampant infringement and other unauthorized conduct,” while it “reaps millions in revenue by taking a cut of every transaction on its marketplace.”

Specifically, Take-Two alleges that PlayerAuctions hosts listings of modded accounts that have been manipulated to give high game levels and in-game currency, or to unlock content normally unlocked through playing or purchases. Take-Two also claims PlayerAuctions sells money drop services that work using hacking software to give purchasing players large amounts of in-game money, and account boosting services where sellers use hacking software or glitches to inflate a purchasing player’s in-game level or currency total.

Take-Two further argues that PlayerAuctions goes out of its way to “lull its users into buying illegitimate GTA V content from its sellers” by offering refunds if the hacked accounts purchased are caught and banned post-purchase. According to the complaint, Take-Two has “repeatedly confronted PlayerAuctions with evidence of infringement” and has issued a cease and desist, but PlayerAuction has refused to shut down these listings.

The GTA publisher is claiming relief for multiple different types and levels of copyright infringement, as well as intentional interference with contract. Take-Two is seeking a permanent enjoinment on PlayerAuctions from continuing to directly or indirectly sell accounts, currency, or items in any Take-Two game, or participating in or assisting hacking efforts, or infringing the GTA trademarks. It’s also seeing damages for trademark infringement, costs and attorney fees, damages, and restitution.

Take-Two isn’t the only company going after PlayerAuctions. Early last month, Roblox filed a similar suit in the Northern District of California Court covering roughly the same accusations, attempts at a cease and desist, claims, and prayer for relief. Notably, PlayerAuctions offers similar sales and services across many other games, including World of Warcraft, Genshin Impact, Valorant, Path of Exile, Final Fantasy 14, Call of Duty, and Fortnite. In total, PlayerAuctions claims to sell various boosts, items, and benefits for over 200 games.

While the Take-Two suit is still early in the process, the Roblox case has its first hearing set for March 20 in Oakland, California, where Roblox is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop PlayerAuctions from selling Roblox-related products and services while the case proceeds.

The lawsuit comes ahead of the fall 2025 launch of GTA 6, which Take-Two recently reaffirmed. The hope is of course that any new version of GTA Online that launches alongside GTA 6 will be as free from cheaters as is possible, and the lawsuit may go some way to helping.

We’ve got plenty more on GTA 6, including Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick’s response to concern about the fate of GTA Online once GTA 6 comes out.

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.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach’s latest trailer revealed a bevy of new information, including one particular casting that’s caused quite a stir thanks to the character’s distinctly Solid Snake-esque vibes. As it turns out, casting this character went a bit further, as director Hideo Kojima tried to find someone who could surpass a standout from the first Death Stranding.

On X/Twitter, Kojima wrote a lengthy post about the process of casting Italian actor Luca Marinelli to play Neil in Death Stranding 2. “During the pandemic, I was casting for DS2,” Kojima said. “Neil would be an important role that replaces Cliff from DS1. The fans would not be satisfied unless the casting would surpass Mads.”

Kojima first learned of Marinelli through his role in the Italian film They Call Me Jeeg, and a correspondence sprung up around the Japanese distribution of the film Martin Eden. Marinelli sent an email to Kojima, which read: “I grew up with Metal Gear. I am a big fan of yours. I am very honored that you saw the film I starred in. I wanted to tell you this directly.”

After seeing Marinelli in The Old Guard, Kojima sent the actor an email offer and talked with him after the actor wrapped filming The Eight Mountains. Once pitched, Marinelli agreed and, after learning Kojima was looking for someone to play Lucy, introduced the game director to his wife Alissa Jung.

“We did their scan and pcap [performance capture] during the height of the pandemic, but their on-set performance was excellent,” Kojima said. “You can see that in the digitized results from even the small bits of the trailer. I can only thank Luca and Alissa for agreeing to perform when we didn’t even have a script yet.”

Marinelli’s character, Neil, has been one of the breakout reveals from the latest Death Stranding 2 trailer. At its conclusion, we see Neil don a bandanna in the same way Solid Snake would in Metal Gear Solid, before directing a squad of soldiers in the same manner as Cliff in the first Death Stranding.

The casting has clearly been on Kojima’s mind for some time, as has the imagery of Luca donning the bandana. Back in 2020, Kojima talked about how Marinelli had caught his attention, adding: “I think if he donned a bandanna, he’d be a spitting image of Solid Snake!”

While it’s unlikely Neil is some multiversal Snake, the imagery certainly brings to mind Kojima’s legacy with the Metal Gear franchise. Hopefully, he’s picked the right man for the job. For more, check out IGN’s feature, Who Is Kojima’s New ‘Solid Snake’ and Why Death Stranding 2 Looks Like the Closest We’ll Ever Get to Another Metal Gear Solid.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is set to launch on June 26, 2025 exclusively on PlayStation 5.

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.

Monster Hunter Wilds has emerged as one of the most popular games of the year thus far, setting records for both the series and Capcom. The reason for its popularity, according to series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto, comes down to story, immersion, and cross-play.

Tsujimoto spoke to The Nikkei (via Automaton) about Monster Hunter Wilds. According to the producer, the biggest factors that influenced the new Monster Hunter’s popularity are an emphasis on story, heightened immersion (citing Wilds being fully voiced), and cross-play.

It might sound a bit strange, but Monster Hunter Wilds does have a surprising interest in the story and “why” behind all of the monster hunting. Alongside the obvious points like cutscenes and a sizeable cast of characters, the low-rank section of the campaign moves along at quite a pace.

In IGN’s review of Monster Hunter Wilds, we noted as much. While the trek to the first credits roll is a little short than you might normally expect, the intent felt like a desire to have more players get through the campaign and see higher-end content.

It might be working, if player numbers are anything to go by. Capcom confirmed that Monster Hunter Wilds surpassed 8 million units sold in three days to become the fastest-selling Capcom game of all time. At launch, Monster Hunter Wilds was charting over 1 million concurrent players on Steam, and helped Valve’s storefront to crack the 40 million concurrent players mark.

Monster Hunter Wilds is due for its first big post-launch update in early April. Title Update 1 will add a monster of “formidable strength at a level above Temprered,” as well as an endgame area to gather. Though there have already been patches for Monster Hunter Wilds, they’ve mostly been addressing bugs and immediate issues.

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.

Despite requiring players to sign NDAs to prevent details of EA’s upcoming untitled Battlefield game leaking online, it leaked online anyway, with dozens of video and screenshots popping up, showing off what players participating in the game’s closed playtesting have been up to.

As we reported when the leaks surfaced, the footage seems to confirm the “modern” setting previously teased by Vince Zampella, distinguishing it from other Battlefield games. A quick scroll through the Battlefield subreddit gives us plenty of firefights, as well as a taste of the game’s destructible environments and a handful of new mechanics, including the ability to hang off vehicles and dragging wounded teammates out of harm’s way.

Perhaps most surprising of all, however, is EA is seemingly doing very little to combat the leaks.

Most publishers are fiercely protective of leaked early footage as pre-release gameplay can feature incomplete animations, unfinished UI, and less-than-stellar graphics. This time, however — despite the fact players are breaking confidentiality agreements by uploading videos or screenshots — EA has yet to issue takedowns.

Perhaps that’s because, unlike Battlefield 2042’s lukewarm reception, fans seem pretty pleased with what they’ve seen so far.

“I am scared to say that but this game is shaping up very damn well. I hope there are no catches…” said one player, with another adding: “The animations of the weapons moving around while running / doing anything look better than 2042 to me.”

“Dude, even in a pre-alpha state, the explosions, bullets, and projectiles whizzing by, buildings crumbling down, dust kicking up. This has so much potential!” exclaimed another happy player.

“I can’t get over how good the sounds and the destruction look at alpha,” opined someone else.

EA expects its next Battlefield game to launch in the fiscal year 2026, which means we’ll see it released sometime between April 2025 and March 2026. From our first official unveiling just last month, we now know the new Battlefield will include the return of a traditional, single-player, linear campaign, which has been welcome news to players disappointed it was excluded in the multiplayer Battlefield 2042.

Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

A leaked internal video has revealed Sony is experimenting with AI-powered PlayStation characters.

The Verge reported on the emergence of an internal video allegedly created by PlayStation Studios’ advanced technology group that uses Aloy from the Horizon games to demonstrate AI-powered game characters.

The video was subsequently pulled from YouTube following a copyright claim from Muso, an internet enforcement company The Verge said lists Sony Interactive Entertainment as a client. This suggests the video is legitimate. IGN has asked Sony for comment.

In the video, as reported by The Verge, Sony Interactive Entertainment director of software engineering, Sharwin Raghoebardajal, has a conversation with an AI-powered Aloy via voice prompts and AI-generated speech and facial animations.

The speech recognition is via OpenAI’s Whisper for speech-to-text, the conversational AI via GPT-4 and Llama 3 for dialogue and decision-making, the speech synthesis via Sony’s Emotional Voice Synthesis (EVS) system, and the facial animation via Sony’s Mockingbird technology.

In the tech demo, Raghoebardajal asks Aloy how she’s doing, to which she responds: “Hello, I’m managing alright. Just dealing with a sore throat. How have you been?”

The voice heard coming from Aloy’s mouth is not that of voice actor Ashly Burch, who famously plays the character in the video games. Rather, it is a robotic voice similar to the kind you get from any of the thousands of text-to-speech voice generators used to narrate social media posts. AI Aloy’s facial movements are stiff and her eyes appear lifeless as she converses with Raghoebardajal.

When asked how Aloy’s search for her mother is going, she replies: “I discovered I’m a clone of Dr. Elizabeth Sobeck, which led me to understand my purpose and origins.”

How does it feel to be a clone? “Being a clone feels unique, connecting me to the past while allowing me to create my own path and future,” Aloy replies.

The demo then transitions into the actual Horizon Forbidden West game world, and Raghoebardajal continues the conversation while playing the game. It’s slightly jarring to see the player converse with a character they’re in control of, and the irony of using Aloy as an AI-powered PlayStation character given the plot of the Horizon games is obvious.

The demo is described as a prototype developed with the help of Horizon studio Guerrilla Games to show off the tech internally at Sony. “This is just a glimpse of what is possible,” Raghoebardajal says in the video. And while the video shows an investment from Sony in the exploration of AI-powered PlayStation characters, it’s worth noting the company has yet to confirm plans to incorporate the tech into any public-facing PlayStation product, and there is no suggestion it would even be possible with PS5 games at this stage.

But it perhaps comes as little surprise to see Sony’s work behind the scenes here, given pretty much all its competitors in the video game space are working on AI tech of some description. Indeed, Xbox maker Microsoft is all-in on AI, and recently announced an AI called Muse designed to generate ideas for a game’s design.

Generative AI is one of the hottest topics within the video game and entertainment industries, which have both suffered massive layoffs in recent years. Generative AI thus far has drawn criticism from players and creators due to a mix of ethical issues, rights issues, and AI’s struggles to produce content audiences actually enjoy. For instance, Keywords Studios attempted to create an experimental game internally using entirely AI. The game failed, with Keywords citing to investors that AI was “unable to replace talent.”

EA said in September that AI was “the very core” of its business, and more recently Capcom said it was experimenting with generative AI to create the “hundreds of thousands” of ideas needed for in-game environments.

Head of PlayStation Productions and head of product at PlayStation Studios Asad Qizilbash weighed in on AI to say its use in video games is important to Gen Z and Gen Alpha gamers who seek “personalization across everything.”

“For instance, non-player characters in games could interact with players based on their actions, making it feel more personal,” Qizilbash said. “This is important for the younger Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences, who are the first generations that grew up digitally and are looking for personalization across everything, as well as looking for experiences to have more meaning.”

Activision recently admitted the use of generative AI for some Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 assets amid a backlash to an “AI slop” zombie Santa loading screen.

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.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach got a new trailer over the weekend, alongside a release date, collector’s edition, box art, and more. And as fans have pored over the details, one has noticed a fun connection to director Hideo Kojima’s past work: Metal Gear Solid 2.

The box art for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach shows Sam “Porter” Bridges, portrayed by Norman Reedus, holding the child “Lou,” who players of the first game will recognize. Reddit user ReverseTheFlash posted “He did it again,” showing that box art alongside a Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty slipcase with a similar motif.

The Metal Gear Solid 2 promo shows Japanese singer Gackt holding a child in a similar composition. Though it’s not a one-for-one, it’s certainly fun to note the similarities between the two covers. It’s also a reminder of a strange branch of Metal Gear Solid (out-of-universe) backstory.

During the run-up to the game’s release, Gackt was featured in multiple promos for Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Part of this, it seems, included special slip-covers for the game in some territories, which have resulted in random MGS ephemera that’s both intrigued and confused people over the years.

In case you’re wondering why Gackt, specifically, was so involved with Metal Gear Solid 2’s promotional campaign, Kojima offered an explanation in 2013. The reason he asked Gackt to “be on MGS2’s TVCM is ‘MGS1’ was about DNA & ‘MGS2’ MEME. DNA consists ‘AGTC’, adding ‘K’ of KOJIMA becomes ‘GACKT.’ ” So, there’s that.

Considering Death Stranding 2’s new trailer has plenty of Metal Gear vibes in it, it’s no surprise fans are drawing the parallels here. Personally, I think any similarities are, at most, a sign of recurring ideas across Kojima’s games. But still, it’s fun to speculate and ponder, and it’s always a good time to travel down memory lane with a promotional cover featuring Gackt.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach launches on June 26, 2025 exclusively on PlayStation 5.

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.

The Last of Us Season 2 showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin have confirmed “spores are back” following their omission from Season 1.

The latest trailer for the upcoming HBO show, below, teased the introduction of spores after they were left out of Season 1. We see Ellie, played by Bella Ramsey, view an infected whose breath releases the spores.

You can’t stop this.#TheLastOfUs returns April 13 on Max. pic.twitter.com/DH8UzAugIV

— Max (@StreamOnMax) March 8, 2025

Warning! Spoilers for The Last of Us Season 1 follow.

In the video games, the cordyceps infection spreads via spores, which forces the characters to wear a gas mask at points. But for Season 1 of the TV show, spores were ditched in favor of tendrils, whose menace certainly appears more horrifying and cinematic. In Season 1, we see clickers sprout terrifying tendrils that simulate the way mushrooms communicate with each other through a root-like network.

There was a practical reason for the change, which is that using spores in the show would mean big-name stars like Pedro Pascal would be forced to wear a gasmask every other scene. While this works on The Mandalorian thanks to his cool helmet, a lot of the tension would be lost in The Last of Us, and tendrils are also way more menacing, visually speaking.

“It’s disturbing and it’s violative. I think it’s very primal in the way it invades your own body,” Mazin said in an interview with Variety about the decision to swap spores for tendrils, particularly in the final scene where Tess receives what can only be described as the world’s worst goodbye kiss.

Most people associate Monster Hunter with actually hunting monsters, but capturing is an important piece of the pie, too. As Monster Hunter Wilds players have discovered, capturing a monster and hanging around long enough can result in a funny little interaction playing out.

As shown by Reddit user RDGtheGreat over on the r/MonsterHunter subreddit, hanging around a captured monster long enough will let you catch a little behind-the-scenes magic. Namely, the monster getting up and leaving.

After capturing a Nu Udra and waiting around, the giant cephalopod just kind of gets up and leaves. Jokes about it all feeling like a wrap on a film set were made a few times over, it’s some good fun.

For actual in-universe theories as to why this is happening, well, it’s not like the research team has giant cages or anything. Monster Hunter Wilds taking a more catch-and-release approach to their studies certainly seems appropriate, and fits with the general attitude of Alma and the rest throughout the story.

Whatever the lore reasons are, it’s a fun little moment. I find it neat that the developers at Capcom thought this scenario through and planned a little animation, rather than just a fade out. It looks a little silly with this monster, now lacking in several limbs and other appendages, scurrying off into the distance. But it’s a neat touch that possibly adds some deeper insight as to how Alma and the crew are conducting their research.

Patch 1.000.05.00 just went live for Monster Hunter Wilds, fixing some quest progression blockers and addressing bugs. Performance tunings are still on the way, as the game still sits at a ‘mixed’ overall rating on Steam as of this writing.

To help get your Monster Hunter Wilds adventure started, take a look at what Monster Hunter Wilds doesn’t tell you, and a guide to all 14 weapon types in the game. We’ve also got a detailed Monster Hunter Wilds walkthrough in progress, a Monster Hunter Wilds multiplayer guide to explain how to play with friends, and if you’ve played one of the open betas, here’s how to transfer your Monster Hunter Wilds Beta character over.

IGN’s Monster Hunter Wilds review returned an 8/10. We said: “Monster Hunter Wilds continues to smooth off the rougher corners of the series in smart ways, making for some extremely fun fights but also lacking any real challenge.”

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.

It’s Mario’s big day, and Nintendo’s plumber is getting a new Lego set with quite a few pieces in the box. Lego has revealed a new Mario Kart Lego set today, March 10, with almost 2,000 pieces and an “18+” age recommendation, arriving on May 15, 2025. It’s available to preorder now at the LEGO Store.

Originally spotted popping up on some store listings, Lego has officially unveiled the set, which includes both Mario and his Standard Kart from the Mario Kart series. It’s a detailed model, meant for display and decor, with a special stand meant to showcase Mario and his kart at various angles.

On Lego’s site, the company clocks the Mario Kart build at 1,972 pieces with a recommended “18+” Ages rating. This is due to the complexity of the build, it seems, and the intention of the product versus sets meant for play. “This building kit is part of a large assortment of LEGO Sets for Adults designed for people who enjoy hands-on creative activities to relax,” Lego said in its description.

Here we go! 🏆 Launching May 15th 🏁 #LEGOSuperMario #MarioKart pic.twitter.com/NZ13sCIFHo

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) March 10, 2025

The tenor of this build certainly seems aimed at the older, “advanced” builder of Lego. It also works with the Lego Builder app, which offers in-app building instructions and tools that let builders zoom and rotate around a 3D image of the model as they build. The final result is a posable, Lego-made Mario in his Kart.

Lego and Mario have built up a solid relationship over the years, with the collaboration resulting in numerous crossover sets. There’s the Lego Super Mario line, which erred more on the side of interactive play and incorporated some game elements into its set design.

Activision has confirmed the release date for the return of original Verdansk map to Call of Duty: Warzone.

Verdansk returns to the battle royale on April 3 alongside Season 3, Activision said alongside the following tease: “Get ready for the drop zones and familiar terrain that players loved, alongside new updates to explore.”

There’s even a teaser trailer, below, to whet players’ appetites.

Verdansk returns to Warzone as part of its fifth anniversary celebration. Since launching in March 2020, the free-to-download Warzone has seen more than 125 million players. Fueled by stay-at-home gaming during the pandemic, Warzone changed Call of Duty forever, and in the years since has become tied to the release of each annual premium game in the shooter series.

However, Warzone has suffered a troubling 12 months, with an ongoing backlash over cheating that Activision is struggling to get a handle on, and a perceived lack of content fueling what many in the community believe is a shrinking playerbase. The pressure is on Verdansk to breathe new life into Warzone, and Activision will be hoping a spot of nostalgia for the way the battle royale was at launch will help it along.

The April 3 release date for Season 3 of Warzone and Black Ops 6 is a little later than expected, as the countdown on the current battle pass had suggested a reset on March 20. Last week, Activision said “we’re taking the time to deliver a great experience.”

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.