Category: IGN

Update: You can still bag the new bundle for just £399 at select UK retailers like Amazon, AO, and Very. GAME, Currys, and John Lewis also have the deal for around £409 as well. While these aren’t as good as the original EE deal, this is still an excellent offer and a tremendous £140 in savings vs the RRP of buying each of these products separately. The original story continues below.

This early Black Friday deal in the UK is already a cut above the rest, and could well be the best discount we see over the holiday shopping season. With the PS5 Slim launching soon globally, we’re already starting to see huge discounts on the previous standard PS5 Disc model and its relevant bundles.

At select UK retailers, you can currently find the PS5 and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (2023) bundle for just £399.95, which is already a tremendous discount from the RRP of £539.99, but at the EE Store, you can currently get the bundle for £389.49 with code 5GAMEDAYEE. This will be one of the best Black Friday deals this year, but it’s definitely an early deal as it will expire on November 7 — so act fast to secure your order and avoid disappointment.

Considering the best PS5 deal we had this year was a discount to £400 standalone, this deal which now includes a brand new £70 is hard to ignore. While we also have the PS5 Slim to look forward to, for now, this is absolutely the best PS5 deal available before Black Friday officially kicks off.

If you don’t need the PS5, Modern Warfare 3 is also down to £61.99 at Amazon right now for PS5 and Xbox. We’re expecting to see a lot more deals like this in the coming weeks and throughout November, so stick with IGN or follow @IGNUKDeals on Twitter/X for even more Black Friday updates.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

The James Bond rights holders weren’t interested in making another video game until Hitman developer IO Interactive pitched Project 007.

As reported by GamesRadar, IO Interactive co-owners Hakan Abrak and Christian Elverdam told Edge Magazine they had a hard time convincing the James Bond owners to let them make a game in that universe, with poorly received recent releases perhaps putting them off.

“Our impression was clearly that [at the time] they were not looking for a game,” said Abrak. “And I think it’s fair that they might not have been super happy with some of the later games.”

There hasn’t been a James Bond release in a while, but the latest two were 2010’s 007: Blood Stone (which IGN said was mediocre) and 2012’s 007 Legends (which IGN said was bad).

Compared to these more traditional shooter experiences, Elverdam said IO interactive instead proposed an entry less focused on endless violence and more on being a spy that only took down critical targets, which sounds a lot like the Hitman games.

Project 007 was announced in 2020 but IO interactive still hasn’t said lots about it. We do know it will have an original story, however, and Elverdam has previously called it an “agent fantasy”. The developer is also putting Hitman on hiatus while it works on the James Bond game.

It will still have plenty to keep busy with, of course, as IO Interactive announced in February that an online fantasy RPG is also in development at the studio. “We are embarking on a new adventure. One that expands our creativity, our capabilities, and in some sense our identity. We are building a new world, a new IP: an online fantasy RPG,” it said at the time.

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

Dead by Daylight’s latest chapter update brings Chucky, the doll-turned-serial-killer star of the Child’s Play slasher-movie franchise, into the world of the popular asymmetrical multiplayer game as a Killer. He will be available on November 28.

Developer Behaviour Interactive notes that Chucky’s original voice actor, Brad Dourif, reprises his role. They also add: “Players can further customize the new Killer with the Good Gal outfit, inspired by Tiffany Valentine (aka the Bride of Chucky), which is voiced by Jennifer Tilly.” Check out the announcement trailer above and the first screenshots of Chucky in Dead by Daylight (along with a render of Bride of Chucky) in the image gallery below.

As you’d expect, Chucky is adept at sneaking around the map, and he has a Slice & Dice ability that lets him lunge at his larger would-be victims in order to more efficiently close the gap. His human form, Charles Lee Ray, can assist him in spirit form, and his Scamper ability lets him leap through windows and move under pallets.

IGN re-reviewed Dead by Daylight in 2021 after originally reviewing it upon its initial release in 2016. In the re-review, we called it “an incredible slasher film simulator, and the best asymmetrical multiplayer game around.”

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

DualSense Controllers have once again dropped to its sale price of $49.99 (see here), a reasonable $20-$25 discount depending on which color variant you choose. This is available at most major retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, and PS Direct. If you want to wait, Walmart will also have this deal for $1 cheaper soon (from 12 PM ET for Walmart+ members, and 3 PM ET for everyone else).

We understand that the difference may not be significant, but it’s still worth mentioning for anyone seeking the best possible offer. For now, just below you can find all the information you need about the DualSense offer and reasons why you should consider taking advantage of an early Black Friday deal. Remember to also check in with us at @IGNDeals on Twitter/X where we will be providing play-by-play updates for Black Friday throughout the whole of November.

DualSense Controllers Are Down to $49.99 (Save Up to $25)

Opting for controllers like the Volcanic Red, Cobalt Blue, Galactic Purple or Grey Camo is your best bet as these are some of the most popular, tend to sell out during sale events, and cost the most at $74.99 MSRP so buying at this at the $49.99 Black Friday offer will maximize your savings.

$49-$50 is the standard discount price we’ve been seeing for the PlayStation gamepad, and well worth considering over the holiday season, or as a potential gift for the PlayStation fan in your life.

GameStop has also got a great deal on the controllers, dropping them further to $44.99 if you decide to click & collect — another great option if you have a store nearby and don’t lose too much on the gas to get there as well.

See Other Retailers Here

Should You Shop Early Black Friday Deals?

The answer to this is always: it depends. Black Friday has become something of a misnomer over the past few years and typically spans the whole of November rather than just the traditional day after Thanksgiving. Deals begin to crop up early these days, and that can leave many of us wondering whether or not these offers are actually worth taking advantage of — or whether it’s best to actually wait until Black Friday itself.

For these PlayStation deals, we highly recommend taking advantage of them right now. The DualSense controllers are currently available at their lowest price of $49, which has consistently been the discount price since Black Friday last year and also during the PlayStation Days of Play sales in 2023.

This also is the first time we’re seeing the new Cobalt Blue and Volcanic Red DualSense color variants go on sale, and as we mentioned, these could sell out by the time we get to the tradtional Black Friday sale week (from November 17-27 this year). So, for now, go nuts with these latest PS5 discounts and relish in the fact that you’ve scored a real early Black Friday deal.

Walmart+ DualSense Controller Deal: $49 from 12 PM ET

This early Black Friday deal will only be available for Walmart+ members as part of early access to their Black Friday sale (12 PM – 2:59 PM ET) — this is also your last chance to secure Walmart+ at $49 for the next year (50% off). This specific $49 offer will also open up to general buyers from 3 PM ET today at Walmart.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

If you enjoy puzzle games, I have an exceptional one for you. To celebrate the launch of The Talos Principle II, you can grab a key for the original Talos Principle, a first (or third) person puzzle game, on Steam right now as part of IGN Plus.

IGN Plus Monthly Game: The Talos Principle

The Talos Principle (check out the review) is a fantastically written, well-crafted puzzle game with a healthy side of philosophy. They are like nothing else and, if you ask me (and our reviewer), the sequel is even better. If you want to jump in and simply enjoy it as a puzzle game, you can do that. If you want to dig deeper and figure out what’s going on in this world, you can do that. If you want to explore the meaning of consciousness, what it means to be human, and other heady questions mulled over by philosophers for ages, The Talos Principle has you covered there, too.

The Talos Principle is a modern classic, and The Talos Principle II is every bit the worthy sequel we could have hoped for, and I hope you enjoy both as much as I have. Now onto the interview!

Talos Principle Developer Interview – Jonas & Verena Kyratzes (Narrative Writers)

You’ve said that creating the story for the sequel was challenging because… the first game is very self-contained. What was it like working on the sequel compared to the original? What was that kind of creative process? Were there different types of struggles that you went through? Was there some stuff that was easier when coming back for the sequel?

Jonas: We kind of conceptualized where the story would go for Talos II and Talos III when we were making Talos I, so there was an idea to where it could go. And in fact, there’s a lot of foreshadowing of things in Talos I and in Road To Gehenna, which is DLC, which we probably shouldn’t have sold as DLC because it’s basically an entire game. It’s almost a side-quel. It’s an enormous thing. So there’s a lot of foreshadowing of a lot of important elements of Talos II then. So we knew a lot, but how to then actually make that work, and how to really pay off everything that the first game has set up… That was what made it challenging. That’s what made it different.

What made it different was that you were always building on the first game, and you always had the awareness of the first game. And what we tried to do with the second game was to really follow the logic of the world. At the end of the first game, a new civilization is created. Well, in most games, you would say, ‘Well, yeah, but you know, Tallos I was like this, so Talos II will be exactly the same again, but reskinned. So we’ll send you into another simulation.’ And we were like, ‘No, why don’t we follow the story logic as we really wanted to,’ and that world is there. That means you can talk to people. That means that there’s going to be other people with you, if you go to do something. It means we’re going to be in the real world.

So there were a lot of consequences to that, which we hadn’t thought about on a kind of abstract ‘story’ level. But actually executing that was challenging. And I think that’s always the awareness of, we’re not trying to remake Talos I, we’re trying to continue the story and follow where it leads, while being very respectful towards everything from Talos I, because people are emotionally invested. And because also, we kind of come at it with the idea of, well, this is a serious work of art. So we don’t want to just do something random, just so that we have a premise.

Are there elements in the game, whether artistically or narratively, in Talos I or II, that really speak to you or are your favorites? I’m curious what both of your answers would be.

Verena: I think our answer might be slightly the same, so I’m just gonna go first. [laughs] No, so the first game was very much about ‘what makes a human being a human being,’ which is also why we used so much of older philosophers because that was what a lot of older philosophers talked about. You know, our relationship to the Divine and all that. But in the second game, we talk a lot about what makes us special as a species, what our species should be, what our responsibilities are, both towards the world around us but also towards the individual. And I think what is very important for both Jonas and me is that we take a hopeful view on all of this.

Nowadays, there’s a there’s a real trend towards dystopian storytelling where the storyteller says, “How about we try to change something? How about we we cure cancer?” And then at the end, it’s always like, “It had an unforeseen side effect, and we all died. So maybe we shouldn’t cure cancer.” So we wanted to tell a story that takes the hopeful view. That maybe it’s not going to go wrong, maybe we’re not destined to mess this up. And when I say ‘we,’ I mean ‘robot-kind,’ but they are humans in the framework of the game. That’s what I really care about, to tell a story that still has hope.

Jonas: Yeah… obviously, for me, that’s also the most central thing. This humanist view, this view that’s very much informed by the ‘enlightenment.’ Principles of freedom and progress and belief in humanity, because I think it’s become the default to assume that people are bad. If I’m going to just pick something that I like, in these games, that’s not that, I just like the small touches of humanity that there are in the game.

There’s little conversations, little silly things, or small details that make the world more human. Like, in the first game, the fact that they’re working on the robot body and they end up not being able to decide on a name, so it has two. Or they have a name for us, and then they try to come up with a backronym for it. Little conversations that they have in the second game between each other, teasing each other, that just give us a little bit more about the world and things that have happened in this world. These small moments messy humanity are very important to me.

Q: Is there anything else that you would tell players who are thinking about jumping into The Talos Principle II? Is there any message that each of you would have for them?

Jonas: Mostly I would say; take your time, and just be open to it as an experience. Don’t expect the same thing [as Talos I] exactly. But just allow the story to happen, allow this world to happen around you and immerse yourself in it. I think the best experience of Talos is a slow, meditative exploration of various parts of it. It’s not something to be rushed.

Verena: Yeah, the same essentially. We thought a lot about how to make this game and try to look at it both from the perspective of somebody who had played Talos I and from the perspective of somebody who hadn’t played Talos I and we tried to make the experience interesting for both groups of people. So if you don’t understand something straight away, just assume that somebody thought about where to place the corresponding bit of information very carefully, and just take your time and let it all happen at its own pace. Dive as deep into it as you want to, or just skim the surface, both is completely fine, and enjoy yourself.

What Is IGN Plus?

IGN Plus is the paid membership program for IGN, and right now you can grab an annual membership for just $29.99, or just $4.99 a month, if you prefer to go that route. You can also try it for just $1 for 30 days.

What you get as an IGN Plus member:

• Monthly Game keys (Like 20XX, Anima Flux, & more)
• Discounts on game bundles (via Humble Bundle)
• Huge giveaways (Porsche Xbox Series X, Summer of Gaming PS5, Switch, Xbox, etc.)
• Removes all ads from IGN
• Grants 15% off most items at the IGN Store
• Gives you a MapGenie Pro membership (for tons of game maps & collectible locations)
• Unlimited access to IGN maps and checkpoints
• & more.

Brian Barnett writes reviews, guides, features, & more for IGN & GameSpot. You can get your fix of his antics on YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Bluesky, & Backloggd, & check out his fantastic video game talk show, The Platformers, on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Rockstar is reportedly planning on officially announcing Grand Theft Auto 6 soon and will show a trailer in December.

According to Bloomberg, Rockstar plans to announce it as early as this week. It’s currently unclear how much Rockstar will show off with this supposed initial announcement, but the company will reportedly release a trailer for it next month. This would most likely appear at The Game Awards on December 7, but so far there has been no confirmation.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is one of the most anticipated games, so much so that fans have become delusional and thought that an update for Red Dead Online was some sort of secret tease that the game would be announced soon.

Rockstar has already confirmed that GTA VI is in development, but has remained quiet about it otherwise. It may even be released as early as next year. Footage of the game was leaked last year, and Rockstar also confirmed that the leaks were real. However, the company also mentioned that the leaks would not impact the development pipeline.

Information on GTA VI is scarce so far, but it will reportedly feature a female Latina playable character. The game will also reportedly start with a fictionalized version of Miami and will add new cities over time.

GTA V is one of the best selling video games of all time, so brace yourselves for when GTA VI finally gets a proper reveal.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He’s been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.

When not writing about video games, George is playing video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey

Earlier today, BioWare revealed a new 30 second trailer for Mass Effect 5 on the occasion of N7 Day, leading fans to once again don their detective hats as they comb the new footage for fresh info.

The biggest revelation is that the long-awaited sequel will indeed tie into Mass Effect: Andromeda in some way. There had been questions about whether BioWare would quietly drop any references to its ill-fated spin-off, but it seems like it’s still fully part of the canon.

Fan speculation that Mass Effect 5 would incorporate Andromeda somehow was seemingly confirmed by the following code.

////ACCESS CODE: EPSILON

/////ACCESS CODE ACCEPTED

/////SECONDARY ENCRYPTION DETECTED

/////VJBSVU-XXXX-XXXXXXXX

/////ANDROMEDA DISTRESS SIGNAL DETECTED

/////YEAR SENT: [REDACTED]

/////AUDIO TRANSCRIPT: ALTHOUGH THEY SHOULD KNOW BY NOW NOT TO UNDERESTIMATE HUMAN [REDACTED]

The subsequent reveal of the OCULON-2819-DEFIANCE code appears to be another nod to Andromeda, and implies that Mass Effect 5 will be set long after the events of the original trilogy. In Andromemda’s lore, 2819 is the year that the alliance arrives in the Andromeda Galaxy.

Fans remain mixed on Andromeda, rife as it was with technical problems and aimless design.

Still, it remains beloved among a certain segment of dedicated Mass Effect fans. We wrote in our 2017 review, “Mass Effect: Andromeda is an expansive action role-playing game with a few great moments that recapture the high points of the landmark trilogy that came before it, and energetic combat and fantastic sound effects contribute to a potent sci-fi atmosphere. Without consistently strong writing or a breakout star in its cast to carry it through the long hours and empty spaces, however, disappointments like a lack of new races, no companion customization, and major performance problems and bugs take their toll.”

Many have always known that Andromeda would not simply be brushed past or ignored.

And so it has come to be. 😊

/////ANDROMEDA DISTRESS SIGNAL DETECTEDhttps://t.co/LwijBtKpmD

— BSN BioWare forums (@BSNforums) November 7, 2023

In the meantime, there are plenty of other questions about the 30-second trailer released during N7 Day, including who exactly is wearing that stylish new N7 armor. Some fans speculate that it’s Liara T’Soni, one of the major heroes of the original Mass Effect. As long-lived asari, Liara could theoretically live to see the events of Andromeda.

Liara’s inclusion was teased in last year’s reveal, in which she can be heard saying, “The Council will be furious! Although, they should know by now not to underestimate human defiance!”

Others speculate that the character striding purposefully down the corridor before turning and briefly facing the camera is a revived Shepard, or even a new protagonist entirely. One fan joked that the main character is actually just Daft Punk based on their look of their helmet.

WHOSE LEGS ARE THEY. RYDER’S? LIARA’S? SHEP’S??? HOW ARE THE LATTER 2 GETTING TO ANDROMEDA IF ALL THE RELAYS ARE BUSTED??? WHAT IS HAPPENING

— 𝙗𝙚𝙚 (@sailorbeeee) November 7, 2023

N7 Day teases have become an annual tradition among Mass Effect fans, who have little else to go on while they await the return of their favorite series. With BioWare focused on finishing up Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, Mass Effect 5 is rumored to still be very early in production. BioWare is also still grappling with the layoffs that have affected many longtime employees, some of which marked N7 Day by protesting outside of BioWare HQ.

One way or another, Mass Effect fans will have to keep speculating for a while longer as they wait to see where BioWare takes the series next.

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.

Nintendo is finally making a live-action Legend of Zelda movie, after years of hopes and months of rumors.

The news was shared today in an official post to Nintendo investors, with few details. The film is being produced by Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto and Avi Arad, chairman of Arad Productions and former founder and CEO of Marvel Studios.

Arad has been credited as a producer on numerous successful films over the years, most recently including Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Into the Spider-Verse, No Way Home, Far From Home, and Homecoming. He’s also worked on upcoming films including Kraven the Hunter and the Borderlands movie.

The Maze Runner director Wes Ball is set to direct, and Sony Pictures Entertainment will handle theatrical distribution in addition to co-financing the movie with Nintendo.

Though the press release indicates that development is just beginning, in a tweet/X post today Miyamoto indicated that the project has been in the works in some form for “many years now.”

Live-action Zelda movie is finally a reality

Earlier this year, rumors abounded that a live-action Legend of Zelda movie was in the works, but the word on the Hyrule street was that Universal was involved, or perhaps Illumination, rather than Sony. The rumors were fueled by the Tears of the Kingdom developers themselves, who expressed that they were “interested” in making a Zelda movie after the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie earlier this year. However, as Eiji Aonuma said at the time, “it’s not just me being interested in something that makes things happen, unfortunately.” A Netflix series was reportedly canceled after leaking on the internet.

I have asked Avi-san to produce this film with me, and we have now officially started the development of the film with Nintendo itself heavily involved in the production. It will take time until its completion, but I hope you look forward to seeing it. [2]https://t.co/2H9lzzS5Pv

— 任天堂株式会社 (@Nintendo) November 7, 2023

Unlike the Mario movie, however, the Zelda film is live-action, meaning casting characters such as Link, Zelda, Ganon, and others will take on an entirely new dimension. The Super Mario Bros. Movie, while well-received, did undergo pre-release criticisms over the decision to cast Chris Pratt as Mario. A Zelda film would presumably be held up to similar fan scrutiny — even if Link remains a silent protagonist, as in the games.

It’s unclear which Zelda story this movie will explore

Fans have speculated on the possibility of a Zelda movie for many years now, with more than a few donning costumes to create their own trailers. Way back in 2008 we created our own vision of a live-action Legend of Zelda. Back then it was just an April Fool’s joke, but now the prophecy has seemingly been fulfilled.

It’s unclear exactly which Zelda story will be explored in this film adaptation, or if a new Zelda story would be told instead. It’s possible Nintendo opts to explore the most recent and successful entries in the franchise by telling the story of Breath of the Wild, especially if it would open the door to a sequel in Tears of the Kingdom. One way or another, we’ll have to wait for updates from Nintendo to find out what’s in store.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Mass Effect fans officially know Nov. 7 as N7 Day, which BioWare usually commemorates with teases of upcoming installments of the series – and this year’s N7 Day is no exception. However, the tease for the next Mass Effect comes amid serious turmoil at the company, with previous layoffs, a lawsuit, and a protest looming in the backdrop.

Still, for its part, BioWare marked the occasion by dropping what appears to be the first look at Mass Effect 5, possibly teasing its name: Epilson. After posting a countdown with the header “Access Code: Epilson” on EA’s website, the studio posted a five-second video on the Mass Effect YouTube channel titled “N7 Day 2023 | EPSILON.” It’s… honestly not much, just showing someone’s boots, but those boots do seem to have N7 colors.

Plus, the countdown description was updated to say the following:

“/////SECONDARY ENCRYPTION DETECTED

/////VJBSVU-XXXX-XXXXXXXX

/////ANDROMEDA DISTRESS SIGNAL DETECTED

/////YEAR SENT: [REDACTED]

/////AUDIO TRANSCRIPT: ALTHOUGH THEY SHOULD KNOW BY NOW NOT TO UNDERESTIMATE HUMAN [REDACTED]”

That audio transcript is from last year’s N7 Day teaser, a message from Liara T’Soni saying “The Council will be furious! Although, they should know by now not to underestimate human defiance!”

As of press time, another countdown is now live on the site, with approximately 20 minutes on the clock.

Still, even as fans get excited over the new glimpse of what the next Mass Effect game could actually be, several suing laid-off BioWare devs are hoping this year’s N7 Day can serve as a reminder of “the importance of loyalty to your crew.”

Turmoil at BioWare

BioWare laid off 50 roles back in August, sparking a lawsuit with seven former devs demanding better severance. Now, in a new statement first reported by Kotaku’s Ethan Gach, the group of suing devs say “BioWare’s lawyers refused any offers to negotiate and settle out of court.”

More BioWare news: laid off devs suing for severance say the company is going to court instead of negotiating a settlement and call the process anything but “empathetic, respectful.”

They call N7 day a reminder of “the importance of loyalty to your crew”https://t.co/sBT04B0Dvq pic.twitter.com/UAu5yNUVJq

— AmericanTruckSongs9 (@ethangach) November 6, 2023

“Despite what they publicly announced when they laid us off, this process has been anything but empathetic, respectful, and communicative,” said one of the devs in a statement in the press release.

They additionally say that they believe BioWare is using “intimidation and stalling tactics” to try and get the group to drop the lawsuit: “A lot of the more junior employees and those with families, who had more monetary pressure on them, could not risk waiting on a court case that may take many months more to resolve, and have already had to drop out,” it adds.

The just of the lawsuit is that the former employees should be receiving 1.7 months of severance per year of service. Currently, the employees are only entitled to two weeks of severance per year at the company, all because of a contract provision that counsel R. Alex Kennedy says is unenforceable.

Meanwhile, Game Developer reports that quality assurance testers at Keywords Studios, who were laid off separately earlier this year while working on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, will be picketing BioWare’s Edmonton headquarters today. BioWare ended its contract with the studio back in October – its union is contesting the termination, though, and arguing that that there may be union-busting tactics at play.

Also according to the Game Developer report, EA and BioWare appealed to the Alberta Labour Relations Board to block the protest, claiming that the issue was between Keywords and the laid-off employees. The board, however, ruled in the union’s favor, and the protest will continue.

It is, no doubt, a complicated N7 Day for Mass Effect and BioWare fans, but we’ll keep an eye out for more developments.

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.