Category: IGN

Attack on Titan Revolution Update 2.5 is kicking off 2025 for Roblox fans with a new Armored Titan Raid, a rework for Fritz, new Abnormal variants, and more.

The update, which is live now for players across all platforms, launched earlier today and seeks to set the Attack on Titan simulator up for a colossal year. Arriving alongside the ongoing Christmas festivities, every gameplay tweak and cosmetic addition gives players new anime-themed gear and challenges to enjoy.

The aforementioned Armored Titan Raid tops the list of additions, with the team behind Attack on Titan Revolution describing it as a two-phase event that tasks soldiers with defending rescue boats while fighting off the plated beast. With this comes new Raid Artifacts, such as the Scars and Rifle, and cosmetics, like the Young Reiner’s Outfit and Marleyan Band.

Square Enix has shared the list of features available in the PC version of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, which includes up to 4K resolution and 120 frames per second alongside Nvidia DLSS support.

A trailer for the PC version, below, arrived ahead of its January 23 release date and, while it stopped short of specifics, did confirm that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will feature improved lighting and enhanced visuals compared to the PlayStation 5 version.

Not completely departing from its original platform, however, it does also include support for the DualSense wireless controller and all the additional features it brought. Mouse and keyboard support is available too.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will offer three graphics presets (low, medium, and high) though Square Enix said it has “numerous graphics options.” This includes the ability to customize the number of background non-player characters appearing on screen.

The role-playing game arrived in February 2024 as the second part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy. It follows Cloud, Aerith, Tifa and the rest of the party as they leave Midgar and explore an open world and its vibrant towns and cities.

The PC version therefore arrives almost a year later as part of Square Enix’s push to go multiplatform, though director Naoki Hamaguchi has asked fans to please not make inappropriate mods upon its PC release.

In our 9/10 review of the original PS5 version, IGN said: “Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth impressively builds off of what Remake set in motion, both as a best-in-class action-RPG full of exciting challenges and an awe-inspiring recreation of a world that has meant so much to so many for so long.”

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

Microsoft has announced the return of its Developer Direct showcase, and confirmed what fans can expect to see.

Developer Direct is set for Thursday, January 23 at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK. In a blog post, Microsoft said fans “will get an inside look at a selection of highly anticipated games coming to Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Game Pass players this year.” That confirms a focus on 2025 games only.

Expect developers to offer an in-depth look at their upcoming titles. Compulsion Games will show off South of Midnight, Sandfall Interactive will showcase Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and id Software will reveal more on Doom: The Dark Ages.

Microsoft also teased that it will “visit a surprise location to see another studio’s brand new game.”

Marvel Rivals fans now have their first official look at upcoming playable character Blade and even an idea of when he’ll be playable, via a fresh leak.

First revealed by X/Twitter user Miller Ross, the Blade image is lifted from an in-game gallery card set to launch alongside Season 1. The image also features Ratatoskr, a giant Asgardian squirrel beast. Developer NetEase Games has yet to announce Blade as an upcoming playable character.

In the lead up to #MarvelRivals #EternalNightFalls, Dracula subdues the two greatest threats to his Empire of Eternal Night—Blade and Ratatoskr. But the #FantasticFour won’t let New York fall to the undead without a fight, and they prove to be formidable foes in Blade’s absence. pic.twitter.com/eIceN8rX97

— Miller Ross (@mmmmmmmmiller) January 8, 2025

According to the in-game lore, new villain Dracula “subdues” Blade and Ratatoskr, but the Fantastic Four, set to arrive with the launch of Season 1 this week, are ready to save the day.

Based on this image and lore, fans are speculating that by the end of Season 1, the Fantastic Four will have defeated Dracula and saved Blade, making him available as a playable character for the launch of Season 2.

Blade was leaked as an upcoming playable character ahead of this official first-look. The vampire hunter is part of a list of leaked characters that popped up even before Marvel Rivals launched in December. That list included Mister Fantastic and Sue Storm, both of which are due out with Season 1’s launch on January 10.

Season 2 is expected to launch in April 2025. In the shorter term, we have Marvel Rivals Season 1 global release times info, Season 1 patch notes, and official stats that reveal Marvel Rivals’ pick and win rates in Quickplay and Competitive modes for Season 0.

Check out IGN’s Marvel Rivals Review to find out what we think. And keep an eye on the latest Marvel Rivals codes for free skins, and vote on the strongest Marvel Rivals characters in our community tier list.

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.

Marvel Rivals developer NetEase Games has confirmed the global release times for the Season 1 update, which sees the arrival of the Fantastic Four.

While Marvel Rivals is available across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, NetEase has targeted a simultaneous launch for Season 1, dubbed Eternal Night Falls, on January 10.

Season 1 begins with the addition of Invisible Woman and Mister Fantastic, with Human Torch and The Thing arriving in the second half of the season. There are three new maps, special events, and a new Doom Match game mode.

The new Battle Pass includes “over double the content” of the Season 0 pass, NetEase said, with the Luxury Pass featuring 10 new costumes for the heroes.

The three new maps include Sanctum Sanctorum and Empire of Eternal Night: Midtown, which arrive in the first half of the season, and Central Park, which will be added in the second half.

The new Doom Match puts 8-12 players in factions on a single map. Players begin in different parts of the map and earn points by knocking out enemies. Whichever faction includes the top 50% of players wins.

NetEase has published the Marvel Rivals Season 1 patch notes early, revealing all the nerfs and buffs coming to the cast of playable characters. When you’re done with that, check out official stats that reveal Marvel Rivals’ pick and win rates in Quickplay and Competitive modes for Season 0.

Marvel Rivals Season 1 Eternal Night Falls global release times

• 1am PST, January 10
• 4am EST, January 10
• 9am GMT, January 10
• 10am CET, January 10

It’s worth noting that NetEase plans to bring the Marvel Rivals servers offline for just over two hours ahead of the launch of Season 1 for planned maintenance. During this time players will not be able to access the game.

• Maintenance Schedule: 11pm PST January 9 to 1.10am PST January 10.

The maintenance looks set to bleed into the Season 1 launch time, so players should brace themselves for a delay unless NetEase can bring the maintenance to an end earlier than planned.

Marvel Rivals is a smash hit for NetEase, securing 10 million players in just three days and 20 million in two weeks. The free-to-play superhero team-based PvP shooter launched on December 6 across PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, and while Sony and Microsoft do not make player numbers public, Steam makes Valve stats available.

On Steam, Marvel Rivals peaked over its launch weekend with 480,990 concurrent players, which was enough to put it in the top five most-played games on Valve’s platform. It’s the 20th highest concurrent player number ever seen on Steam, ahead of the likes of Helldivers 2, Grand Theft Auto 5, and Destiny 2.

Check out IGN’s Marvel Rivals Review to find out what we think. And keep an eye on the latest Marvel Rivals codes for free skins, and vote on the strongest Marvel Rivals characters in our community tier list.

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.

Here’s a great opportunity to score a battery backup for your Nintendo Switch at a super low price. Amazon is offering two INIU branded power banks at just over $10:

• INIU 10,000mAh 22.5W USB Power Bank for $11.59 with code: “CCPUVQ4A“
• INIU 10,000mAh 22.5W USB Power Bank for $12.58 with code: “L6FIOIAI“

INIU power banks generally have very good reviews and are considerably less expensive than equivalent Anker models. These two models have the same battery capacity and power delivery output, but the $11.58 model has two USB Type-C and one USB Type-A ports. The $12.58 model has one USB Type-C and two USB Type-A ports and a battery indicator.

INIU 10,000mAh 22.5W Power Banks

Marvel Rivals Season 1 balance changes are nearly here, and NetEase Games has revealed details that promise tweaks for popular heroes like Captain America, Cloak & Dagger, and Jeff the Land Shark.

The team detailed its reasoning for the buffs and nerfs that will soon be delivered with version 20250110 in a post on its website. Despite having launched only last month, NetEase says it’s happy with the “vibrant diversity of lineups” it has seen this far but still sees some room for improvement.

“Hence, in the first half of Season 1, we are set to make balance adjustments to certain heroes, enabling a broader roster to partake in more intricate gameplay, ensuring a richer, more engaging, and diverse gaming experience for all,” the team explained.

Some of the balance tweaks arriving in the first half of Marvel Rivals Season 1 include slight nerfs to a few of the more dominant heroes in the roster. Hulk’s Indestructible Guard gamma shield is going from 250 to 200 health, while Hela will be hit with a base health reduction that brings her from 275 to 250. Hawkeye is also getting a decrease to his medium-long range damage alongside a slight increase to his close combat resistance. Then there’s Luna Snow, whose ultimate ability will now take longer to switch from damage to healing.

The list of heroes set to benefit from buffs, meanwhile, is quite long, with Cloak & Dagger, Storm, Punisher, Moon Knight, and more due improvements in some form. Captain America is getting some of the more substantial balance adjustments, with NetEase aiming to enhance his survivability. Jeff’s Joyful Splash healing is also getting an increase from 140/s to 150/s, while the team has also moved to make his ultimate ability warning marker line up better with its actual radius.

Marvel Rivals Season 1 launches this Friday, January 10. In an X/Twitter post, NetEase announced that a maintenance period will begin tomorrow, January 9, starting from 11pm to 1.10am PST. Servers go offline during this time, with the team warning that server return times may vary based on progress.

Alongside today’s patch notes, NetEase revealed what it is calling the Hero Hot List, a stat page that details pick and win rates for heroes across console and PC quickplay and competitive matches. It’s a list that will almost certainly change with Season 1 not only because of the balance adjustments but the introduction of four new heroes with the Fantastic Four. Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman start things off with the first half of the season, with The Thing and Human Torch set to arrive in the second half.

You can read the full balance changes planned to arrive in the first half of Marvel Rivals Season 1 below.

Marvel Rivals First Half of Season 1 Balance Changes

VANGUARD

Captain America

Steve will receive some enhanced survivability, allowing more frequent entering and exiting of the combat.

– Reduce the delay time for shield restoration after releasing Living Legend from 3s to 2s.

– Reduce Liberty Rush cooldown from 12s to 10s.

– Increase base health from 650 to 675.

– Reduce the energy cost for releasing Freedom Charge (ultimate ability) from 3400 to 3100; Reduce the additional health provided per second to self after releasing it from 110 to 100.

Doctor Strange

We’ll be reducing the threat range and increasing the defense window of the Sorcerer Supreme.

– Add damage falloff to Maelstrom of Madness and Gamma Maelstrom. Starting at 5 meters and reducing to 70% at 8 meters.

– Slightly decrease the shield value recovery rate after releasing Shield of the Seraphim from 80/s to 70/s.

Thor

The God of Thunder could use some slightly increased survivability and improved the success rate to his ultimate ability.

– Increase base health from 500 to 525.

– Added immunity to control effects during God of Thunder (ultimate ability).

Hulk

Dr. Banner has been dominant, but some decreased sustained combat capability upon entering the battlefield will bring him more in line with other Vanguards.

– Reduce the Indestructible Guard gamma shield value for Hero Hulk from 250 to 200.

Venom

With increased survivability and the threat of his ultimate ability, the symbiote menace will strike fear into the backlines of all enemy teams.

– Increase the Symbiotic Resilience bonus health ratio gained per lost health point from 1 to 1.2.

– Increase the base damage of Feast of the Abyss (ultimate ability) from 40 to 50.

DUELIST

Black Panther

We’re slightly decreasing T’Challa’s combat survivability.

– Reduce the additional health provided to self after refreshing Vibranium Marks with Spirit Rend from 40 to 30, and the upper limit of additional health provided from 120 to 75.

Black Widow

Natasha was very much in need of optimization when evaluating the release experience of her abilities as well as a slightly increase to the threat of her ultimate ability,

– Increase the range of the first effect of Edge Dancer from a 3-meter radius to a 5-meter radius.

– Reduce the time required for Fleet Foot to recover from 0 stamina to full from 12s to 4s.

– Reduce the time required for Electro-Plasma Explosion (ultimate ability) to reach maximum power from 1s to 0.6s.

Hawkeye

We’ll be decreasing the medium-long range damage capability, reducing the threatening combat radius, and slightly improving the close combat resistance for the avenging archer.

– Slightly reduce the spread angle between every two Blast Arrows.

– Reduce the triggering distance of passive ability Archer’s Focus from 60 meters to 40 meters. Reduce the maximum additional damage of the passive from 80 to 70.

Hela

The Goddess of Death has been a menace and we’ll slightly decreasing her combat strength.

– Reduce base health from 275 to 250.

Magik

The Queen of Limbo needed an Increase to her threat after unleashing her ultimate ability.

– Increase Umbral Incursion damage in Darkchild form from 115 to 135.

Moon Knight

The Hand of Khonshu will receive a slight increase to the threat of his ultimate ability.

– Increase the number of talons generated by Hand of Khonshu (ultimate ability) from 10 to 14.

– Increase the explosion radius of each talon from 4 meters to 5 meters.

Namor

We’re optimizing the throwing feel of Namor’s eggs!

– Adjust the throwing feel of Monstro Spawn and Frozen Spawn. Now, Namor can more accurately throw them to the desired location.

Psylocke

We’ll be providing more options for other heroes to counter the demon slayer’s ultimate.

– Now Dance of the Butterfly (ultimate ability) will check for barriers (including Magneto’s Metal Bulwark, Hulk’s Indestructible Guard, etc.).

The Punisher

We’re slightly increasing the damage capability of Frank’s weapons.

– Slightly reduce the spread of Deliverance and Adjudication.

Scarlet Witch

We’re Increasing Wanda’s combat strength when she’s facing Duelists or Strategists.

– Increase Chaos Control’s fixed damage from 50/s to 60/s.

– Reduce the percentage damage per second from 5% to 3%.

– Increase Chthonian Burst’s projectile damage from 30 to 35.

Storm

The Weather Witch needed an overall increase to her damage capability; We’re also optimizing the feel of her left-click projectile and the release experience of her ultimate ability.

– Increase Wind Blade projectile speed from 100m/s to 150m/s and left-click damage from 50 to 55.

– Increase Bolt Rush damage from 70 to 80.

– After releasing Omega Hurricane (ultimate ability), the bonus health provided for herself will be increased from 350 to 450. Moreover, following its conclusion, the extra health will no longer vanish instantly but will instead diminish at a rate of 100 per second.

Squirrel Girl

We’re increasing the threat of Doreen and her furry friends in their ultimate ability.

– Addition of a new effect to the Unbeatable Squirrel Tsunami (ultimate ability): the squirrels will rush towards the nearest enemy after bouncing instead of bouncing randomly.

– Reduce the squirrel tsunami health from 600 to 300.

Winter Soldier

We’ll be adjusting Bucky by decreasing his long-range combat strength and increasing his survivability in medium-close range combat.

– Increase the bonus health provided by Bionic Hook and Tainted Voltage from 30 to 40.

– Increase Roterstern’s projectile damage from 70 to 75.

– Reduce the area damage from 70 to 65 and reduce damage decay from 65% at 40 meters to 60%.

– Increase base health from 250 to 275.

Wolverine

Logan will receive an increase to basic combat strength, but a slight decrease to the additional survivability after activating Undying Animal.

– Increase base health from 300 to 350.

– Reduce the damage reduction ratio provided by Undying Animal from 50% to 40%.

STRATEGIST

Cloak & Dagger

Ty and Tandy will receive an increase to their healing capability as well as an expansion to the coverage area of their ultimate ability.

– Reduce Dagger Storm cooldown from 15s to 12s.

– Increase the number of dashes in Eternal Bond (ultimate ability) from 3 to 4.

Jeff the Land Shark

We’ll be adjusting the range for his ultimate ability so it now better fits the warning marker. In addition, we’ll also be increasing his healing capability.

– Adjust It’s Jeff! (ultimate ability) range from a 10m sphere to a 10m radius, 5m high cylindrical spell field.

– Increase the healing of Joyful Splash from 140/s to 150/s.

Luna Snow

While we’ve enjoyed her dropping the bass, we’ve made adjustments to Luna’s ultimate ability to prevent players from abusing its healing capabilities.

– Increase the interval for switching between healing and damage in Fate of Both Worlds from 0.1s to 0.5s.

Mantis

We’ll be making Mantis a bit less fleet-footed, reducing her roaming support capability.

– Reduce Nature’s Favor (passive) movement boost from 2.5m/s to 1.5m/s.

Rocket Raccoon

Rocket could use an enhancement to his healing capability.

– Increase the healing of Repair Mode from 60 per/s to 70 per/s.

TEAM-UP ABILITIES

Hawkeye – Black Widow

To further tone down Hawkeye’s oppression, we’ ll be reducing his seasonal buff.

– Reduce Hawkeye’s season bonus from 20% to 15%.

Hela – Thor – Loki

Much like Hawkeye, Hela’s overwhelming power will be receiving a slight reduction.

– Reduce Hela’s season bonus from 20% to 15%.

Luna Snow- Namor

We’ll be increasing the threat of Namor’s Frozen Spawn.

– Increase Frozen Spawn damage from 25 to 27.

– Increase Frozen Spawn slowing effect applied to hit enemies from 25% to 30%.

– Increase berserk state Frozen Spawn damage from 16 to 18.

Rocket Raccoon – The Punisher – Winter Soldier

One of Rocket’s best tools will be available more often!

– Reduce the cooldown of Ammo Invention from 45s to 40s.

Scarlet Witch – Magneto

A bit underwhelming, the damage capability of this father-daughter Team-Up ability will be enhanced.

– Increase Metallic Fusion projectile damage from 55 to 60.

– Increase Metallic Fusion spell field damage from 30 to 35.

Thor – Storm – Captain America

We’ll be enhancing the damage capability of Storm’s side of this Team-Up ability.

– Reduce the cooldown of Charged Gale from 20s to 15s.

– Increase the damage of Charged Gale from 50 to 55.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.

NetEase Games has unveiled a Hero Hot List for Marvel Rivals, revealing pick and win rates for everyone from Jeff the Land Shark and Mantis to Storm and Spider-Man.

It’s a straightforward list of every playable character in the massively popular hero shooter that gives players more insight into which Marvel icons are being picked over the others. You probably won’t be too surprised to see Jeff leading the pack as the number-one pick across PC and console quickplay games. He’s sitting at 21.18% pick rate, with Venom in second at 19.09% and Cloak & Dagger in third at 18.81%. At the opposite end of the list, we find Storm, with only 1.66% of players choosing to smite opponents with her weather abilities in quickplay.

Pick rates for competitive, meanwhile, tell a slightly different story. Pop-centric healer and Strategist Luna Snow tops the pick rate list at 20.66%, with Jeff still cracking the top 10 in seventh with 13.86%. The tough-to-handle Storm remains at the bottom in competitive games at just 0.69% on PC, while Black Widow sits in last with 0.79% in competitive console matches. It also seems that the Strategist and Vanguard roles remain equally popular among players regardless of mode or platform.

Concrete numbers for Marvel Rivals show NetEase is willing to be a bit more transparent about how fans are choosing to engage with the roster, but many will likely find little surprise in the pick rate list. Jeff, specifically, has proven to be quite the punching bag for the community since launch arrived last month. This adorable dog shark has terrorized enemy teams with his It’s Jeff! Ultimate ability, which sees him swallowing multiple enemies and, usually, sending them hurtling to their deaths. He’s relatively easy to get a handle on, so it’s never been a surprise to see him show up in a match.

Win rates, on the other hand, reveal that Marvel Rivals has been a mostly even experience regardless of which hero players dive into battle with. While nearly every character hovers around a 50% win rate regardless of game mode, Jeff actually finds himself on the lower end of the spectrum at 45.39% of matches won in quickplay and 44.38% in competitive. It’s actually Mantis who brings home the most consistent victories, with 56% of games won in quickplay and 55.20% won in competitive.

Some of these stats may give players clues as to how NetEase will push forward when it comes to future balance changes. That said, those pick rates will certainly change once Season 1 introduces new maps, modes, and characters, such as the Fantastic Four, starting this Friday, January 10. Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman kick things off starting this week, with The Thing and Human Torch set to arrive halfway through the season.

While we wait for more updates to swoop in, you can read up on why we gave Marvel Rivals and 8/10 in our review. Keep an eye on the latest Marvel Rivals codes for free skins, and vote on the strongest Marvel Rivals characters in our community tier list.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.