Category: IGN

Auto Added by WPeMatico

Black Ops 6 and Warzone December 10 Patch Features Big Changes to Multiple Weapons

Treyarch and Raven Software have published patch notes for their December 10 Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone update, revealing a list of changes that will impact the current weapon meta.

The team behind the latest Season 1 update unveiled all of the changes in two blog posts published on the Call of Duty website. The first covers core Black Ops 6 features, mentioning tweaks to weapon motion, aiming idle sway delay, maps, and modes. It’s an update that also comes with general adjustments to stability across the experience, including a handful of Zombies changes, too. However, the real focus of the December 10 Black Ops 6 update revolves around weapon balancing and headhsot damage.

Treyarch explained its goals in detail in a message baked directly into today’s patch notes. It says players can expect new adjustments to “increase the effectiveness of headshots on full-auto primary weapons.” That means most weapons will take less time to kill when executing headshots in Multiplayer, with the one weapon class exception being SMGs. The team says it’s “wary” of allowing SMG time to kill being too fast, so to account for the more general changes, SMG ranges are being increased “to help them keep that consistent edge at short ranges.”

It’s a shakeup that will no doubt alter how your average Multiplayer game plays out, and the team was quick to acknowledge this.

We expect this change to greatly impact the weapon meta…

“We expect this change to greatly impact the weapon meta, especially in conjunction with our weapon motion changes,” Treyarch said. “We will be monitoring closely as that new meta settles to make sure individual weapon and weapon class variety continues to be strong in Black Ops 6.”

Raven’s December 10 Warzone patch notes, meanwhile, detail its own changes to weapon motion and aiming idle sway. This includes reduced visual recoil on all weapons, with full-auto guns specifically mentioned as weapons impacted the most. Raven says its mission is to “improve the combat experience,” adding that players should notice more stability when moving, especially when aiming down sights. As for aiming idle sway, the team explains that individual values across every weapon class “are now improved and consistent.” Both the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone patch notes include fixes for bug fixes, too.

Major weapon changes like this are sure to leave the community divided, but tweaks such as this aren’t the only things that have fans talking. Activision was recently subjected to widespread criticism after players noticed that a Christmas-themed loading screen featured a Zombie Santa with a six-fingered hand, suggesting that it may have been created using generative AI. The company also moved to grant players access to their previously earned XP tokens after some took issue with the decision to remove them from Black Ops 6.

It’s not all doom and gloom for Black Ops 6, though, as players were recently treated to a brand-new Zombies map in the form of Citadelle des Morts. For more on Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, you can check out our 8/10 review of its Multiplayer mode. Finally, you can see the full list of the December 10 patch notes below. Individual Multiplayer weapon changes can be found here, and Warzone weapon changes can be found here.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 December 10 Update Patch Notes

GLOBAL

Weapons (MP/ZM/WZ)

We have taken a comprehensive pass on weapon motion and applied reductions across the board to improve the combat experience. Depending on the class and weapon, our targets for these reductions range from 30% to 75%. Players will notice far more stability while turning, moving, changing stances, and firing, especially while ADS. We are committed to continually improving Black Ops 6 gunplay with a focus on balanced and rewarding gameplay while maintaining the unique characteristics of each weapon.

  • Weapon Motion
    • Reduced visual recoil on all weapons, especially full-auto weapons.
    • Reduced turn sway on all weapons, especially on higher magnification optics.
    • Reduced gun kick on higher magnification optics on all weapons except for Sniper Rifles.
    • Reduced default idle sway on all weapons except Sniper Rifles.
    • Further reduced idle sway while firing on all weapons except Sniper Rifles.
    • Reduced weapon motion (bob, translation, and additional idle sway penalties) as a result of walking or changing stances in ADS.
    • Removed additional layers of hip fire deviation, which caused crosshair to bounce while firing.

Aiming Idle Sway Delay is a mechanic that scales a weapon’s idle sway when first entering ADS, so the initial point of aim matches the crosshair positioning. These values are now improved and consistent across all weapon classes. Sniper Rifles, which previously only scaled initial idle sway by 50%, now provide a complete reduction. As always we will be keeping a close eye on sniper balance after this change.

  • Aiming Idle Sway Delay
    • Aiming Idle Sway Delay on all weapons is now 2.2s
    • Aiming Idle Sway Delay on Sniper Rifles now fully removes Idle Sway, rather than reducing by 50%
    • Target Laser now improves Aiming Idle Sway Delay to 2.9s on all weapons

MULTIPLAYER

Maps

  • Hacienda
    • Adjusted spawn logic

Modes

  • Face Off
    • Face Off Domination score limit increased from 100 to 150
    • Face Off Kill Order score limit increased from 150 to 200
    • Face Off Kill Confirmed score limit increased from 75 to 100
    • Face Off Team Deathmatch score limit increased from 125 to 150
  • 10v10 Moshpit
    • 10v10 Kill Confirmed score limit increased from 75 to 100
    • 10v10 Team Deathmatch score limit increased from 100 to 150
  • Prop Hunt
    • Prop movement speed has been increased on all props except Extra Large props.
    • Round Time Limit reduced to 3 minutes from 4 minutes
    • Prop Hunt enabled in Private Match

LTM Updates

  • Nuketown Holiday
    • Addressed an issue where players could have green visual FX attached to them during the match..

Weapons

Headshot damage has been a big source of discussion in the community, and we are making adjustments that will increase the effectiveness of headshots on full-auto primary weapons. Our philosophy on hit location modifiers in Black Ops 6 has been to limit sources of inconsistency, especially when players are engaging in so many forms of movement. That said, we understand that players have muscle memory and expectations built around headshots, and we want our gunplay to support that.

In most cases, weapons will require one fewer headshot at all ranges to improve time to kill. The major exception is SMGs in the Max Damage Range, as we are wary of letting these TTKs get too fast. To compensate we are increasing SMG ranges to help them keep that consistent edge at short ranges. The CHF Barrel attachments have also been adjusted on all updated weapons to maintain a step up on the new default values.

We expect this change to greatly impact the weapon meta, especially in conjunction with our weapon motion changes. We will be monitoring closely as that new meta settles to make sure individual weapon and weapon class variety continues to be strong in Black Ops 6.

Melee

We are improving melee weapon attack speeds, especially on the two-hit kill weapons. Our goal is for all melee weapons to feel unique and satisfying to run, and we will continue to find ways to hit that target while ensuring that melee is not frustrating to play against.

  • Knife
    • Time between melee swings improved by 7.5%
  • Baseball Bat
    • Time between melee swings improved by 14%
  • Power Drill
    • Time between melee swings improved by 9.5%

Equipment

  • Reduced Frag Grenade inner radius damage to allow survival with Flak Jacket equipped.

UI

  • Addressed an issue that prevented teammates outside of a maximum range from displaying on the perimeter of the minimap.
  • Addressed an issue where previewing the “Gentleman’s Handshake” Finishing Move in the Bad Manners store bundle would show the wrong animation.

Graphics

  • Addressed an issue where the player’s weapon is missing during a benchmark test.

Stability

  • Various stability improvements.

ZOMBIES

Maps

  • Citadelle des Morts
    • Addressed an issue where players could get an AFK warning while actively running around the map.
    • Addressed an issue where loading a save after obtaining the four incantations would prevent players from entering the Final Encounter.
    • Addressed an issue where the light beams for obtaining the amulet would not be visible if a player disconnected and rejoined a match while in a squad.

Weapons

  • Addressed an issue where changing default attachments on a Blueprint Weapon would not apply in a match.

Stability

  • Various stability improvements.

Call of Duty: Warzone December 10 Update Patch Notes

RANKED PLAY

Adjustments

  • Buy Stations
    • Buy Stations in Warzone Ranked Play will now spawn at the same, fixed locations each match – identical to those found in our unranked modes.

Ranked Play is designed to minimize randomness wherever possible. By making buy stations static, we promote predictable rotations and reward players for their map knowledge. In addition to today’s change, an upcoming update will improve the buy station layout to address potential dead zones, ensuring a more balanced experience.

FIELD UPGRADES

Adjustments

  • Munitions & Utility Box
    • Both boxes have been adjusted to provide the maximum possible amount of ammunition for the primary and secondary weapons a player is carrying.
    • It will no longer provide ammunition for each other ammunition type.

WEAPONS

Adjustments

The following changes to Weapon Motion and Aiming Idle Sway only apply to Black Ops 6 weapons.

» Weapon Motion «

  • Reduced visual recoil on all weapons, especially full-auto weapons.
  • Reduced turn sway on all weapons, especially on higher magnification optics.
  • Reduced gun kick on higher magnification optics on all weapons except for Sniper Rifles.
  • Reduced default idle sway on all weapons except Sniper Rifles.
  • Further reduced idle sway while firing on all weapons except Sniper Rifles.
  • Reduced weapon motion (bob, translation, and additional idle sway penalties) as a result of walking or changing stances in ADS.
  • Removed additional layers of hip fire deviation, which caused crosshair to bounce while firing.

We have taken a comprehensive pass on weapon motion and applied reductions across the board to improve the combat experience. Depending on the class and weapon, our targets for these reductions range from 30% to 75%. Players will notice far more stability while turning, moving, changing stances, and firing, especially while ADS. We are committed to continually improving Black Ops 6 gunplay with a focus on balanced and rewarding gameplay while maintaining the unique characteristics of each weapon.

» Aiming Idle Sway «

  • Aiming Idle Sway Delay on all weapons is now 2.2s
  • Aiming Idle Sway Delay on Sniper Rifles now fully removes Idle Sway, rather than reducing by 50%
  • Target Laser now improves Aiming Idle Sway Delay to 2.9s on all weapons

Aiming Idle Sway Delay is a mechanic that scales a weapon’s idle sway when first entering ADS, so the initial point of aim matches the crosshair positioning. These values are now improved and consistent across all weapon classes. Sniper Rifles, which previously only scaled initial idle sway by 50%, now provide a complete reduction. As always we will be keeping a close eye on sniper balance after this change.

BUG FIXES

  • Fixed an issue preventing the Battle Royale Top 250 leaderboard from populating correctly.
  • Fixed an issue preventing the Grenadier Perk from slowing enemies hit by explosive damage.
  • Fixed an issue causing players to get stuck in a “Loading player stats” loop when launching Warzone.

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.

Ubisoft Details Assassin’s Creed Shadows Combat, Including Wandering Ronin, Katanas, and Hidden Blades

Ubisoft has shared a deep dive into combat in the Feudal Japan-set Assassin’s Creed Shadows, detailing enemies such as wandering ronin and weapons such as katanas and the iconic hidden blade.

A blog post from Ubisoft promised a huge amount of variety in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which was originally due out in November before being delayed to February 14. “The protagonist you’re playing as and the weapon you’re using dramatically alters combat,” the developer said.

Ubisoft has already outlined the two different characters playable in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, including the stealthy assassin Naoe and savage samurai Yasuke. Putting different weapons in their hands will change the playstyle, though Naoe only has three options while Yasuke has five.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Weapons

Naoe’s standard weapon is a katana, a slim sword with a good balance of speed, damage output, and defense. Correctly timed attacks stagger enemies and the katana also allows a nasty takedown through folding doors.

When stealth goes wrong and full combat is required, Naoe may prefer to use the Kusarigama, an extendable ball and chain attached to a scythe which can reach enemies a a distance and push back multiple at once. Once some distance is created, players can use the Rush Assassinate attack to close the distance and take down an enemy up to ten metres away.

Finally, for pure stealth approaches, the Tanto and Hidden Blade combo allows for lightning fast stabs, dubbed “the ideal weapon for that strike-and-retreat, death-by-a-thousand-cuts playstyle.” This option unlocks Double Assassinations, the iconic takedown method finally returning in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

Yasuke’s weapons are fully catered to cutting down enemies in open combat, as his basic weapon is a long katana equally efficient in attack and defense. Also capable of fighting multiple enemies at once is the Naginata, a two metre long pole with blade on the end.

Ubisoft deems the Kanabo the deadliest weapon possessed by Yasuke, however, as this long wooden mace of sorts can break through enemies’ defenses with ease, at the cost of speed and mobility, of course. Yasuke also has two ranged weapons, the long range yumi bow and destructive teppo rifle.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Enemies

Players will have plenty of opportunities to use these weapons as Assassin’s Creed Shadows features “numerous and varied” enemies. These include outlaws, ashigaru soldiers, ronin, samurai, samurai daisho, and guardians.

Outlaws and ashigaru soldiers are the meekest among them, the former being regular bandits roaming Japan and the latter being standard foot soldiers who are trained in the basics but no more.

Samurai are a harder chalenge. “Superb warriors, well-trained and fierce in combat, samurai can carry a wide variety of weapons, from their trusty katana to the mighty kanabo; they can also wear an impressive selection of armor sets, including some very high level end game ame sets, and employ a surprising number of attacks and counterattacks in a fight,” Ubisoft said.

These offshoot in three different ways too. Ronin are paradoxically described as “masterless samurai” but “in the employ of Naoe and Yasuke’s enemies,” so will wander the land and attack the player on sight. Samurai daisho go the other way, as these enemies are only found in military castles and usually defend some serious loot.

Finally, guardians are an elite group of samurai used as reinforcements when the alarm is raised in any given province. “With their unmistakable white manes and facemasks, Guardians aim to strike fear in their opponents, and offer some of the most difficult combat you’ll find in Assassin’s Creed Shadows,” Ubisoft said.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Combat

Fans of more modern Assassin’s Creed games will be familiar with the Dark Souls-esque combat returning in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Players can once again deploy simple light attacks and heavy attacks alongside what’s called a posture attack: essentially a charged version of either basic move.

“Mixing light, heavy and posture attacks is the best way to build up different types of complex combos,” Ubisoft said, and players should look to put enemies in a vulnerable state. This is a short window where devastating damage can be dealt.

Players can once again dodge to avoid incoming attacks, plus deflect and parry with their own weapons. Blocking is a mechanic unique to Yasuke, allowing him “to turtle up behind his weapon and withstand attacks including incoming arrows or kunai.”

Familiar combat actions including flurry attacks, unstoppable actions, and defensive actions are also making a return, alongside typical skills and ability mechanics.

Ubisoft is changing up a handful of practices behind the scenes of Assassin’s Creed Shadows despite bringing back old mechanics. It’s ditching its main paid content model of releasing a Season Pass with two main, paid expansion drops in the year after launch, for example. The faux “early access” period that sees publishers charge players more to play on the actual release date instead of three days later has also been scrapped.

Releasing myriad pieces of downloadable content for free will perhaps bring some Assassin’s Creed fans back on-side in what’s otherwise been a particularly rough pre-launch campaign for Ubisoft.

Issues began as some fans expressed frustration with inaccuracies in the game’s depiction of Japan, leading the development team to issue an apology and say the game is not intended to be a factual representation of history but instead “a compelling, historical fiction.” This despite art director Thierry Dansereau telling IGN that Ubisoft looked to make Shadows as “authentic as possible to match historical events” just two months prior.

Concern was also raised when the developer used a flag from a Japanese historical re-enactment group in artwork for Assassin’s Creed Shadows without permission. Ubisoft apologized for doing so but refused to remove the artwork from the aforementioned and presumably already printed artbook available in the Collector’s Edition. The historical re-enactment group said this was not good enough, but Ubisoft hasn’t publicly acknowledged it since.

Yet another controversy came as collectible figure maker PureArts removed an Assassin’s Creed Shadows statue from sale over its “insensitive” design.

All this comes as fans are already frustrated by the delay to the game, which puts Assassin’s Creed Shadows in more direct competition with PlayStation’s Ghost of Tsushima sequel, Ghost of Yotei. This is also expected in 2025 and is another open-world action adventure game set in Feudal Japan.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot maintained confidence, however. “There’s a lot of space for very high-quality games, and those two games can sell very well,” he said in the company’s latest earnings call. “The focus is to really make sure that we deliver a fantastic experience with this dual protagonist approach and two different and complimentary gameplays.”

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

Cyberpunk 2077 Patch 2.2 Fully Revealed — and It’s Out Now

CD Projekt has unveiled Cyberpunk 2077 patch 2.2, which significantly expands the game’s customization options.

Developed in partnership with support developer Virtuous, 2.2 is called ‘Express Yourself,’ with the idea that players can express themselves more in-game. The update launches today, December 10.

2.2 lets players change the colors of more cars in a more detailed way, with an upgraded vehicle customization user interface. The new TwinTone feature lets you scan any car in Night City and add its paint job to your car. The idea is if you’re driving around and see a cool car, you’ll be able to save its paint job in a database and from there apply it to your cars. This creates a paint job collecting and exploration aspect to Cyberpunk 2077.

There are gameplay implications, too – if you change the color of your car while you’re being chased by the police, you’ll fade out your heat level. So, you can escape into an alley, change your color, then drive away Scott free.

10 cars previously unavailable to buy or own will be added to the Auto Fixer website, eight to the base game and two to the Phantom Liberty expansion.

Johnny Silverhand, played by Keanu Reeves, will spawn next to you in the passenger seat around 25% of the time. The idea here is to increase the presence of Johnny while playing, reinforcing the fact he’s stuck in your brain. He’ll make comments, too, some of which are insults. Johnny will not spawn when you’re in combat, when another NPC is sat in the passenger seat, or when you’re on main story quests (since he’s usually involved in those) but CD Projekt said you’ll see him quite a bit. You’ll be able to use photo mode when Johnny is sat next to you, too.

Speaking of photo mode, the camera is much improved. It now has a drone mode letting it fly around farther due to a bigger range. You can disable collisions, too, to help nail that perfect shot. The new aspect ratio feature is PC only, unfortunately, due to limitations with the consoles. There are new lighting options, too.

2.2 will let you spawn up to three NPCs from a list of characters taken from the base game and Phantom Liberty in Photo Mode. Smasher is one of the NPCs you can spawn, complete with unique poses, so you’ll be able to have your revenge on him if you want.

Generally, photo mode has a reworked user interface, with additional depth of field options. CD Projekt hopes that the improvements to photo mode will mean players won’t need to rely on mods or other external software to take their in-game pictures.

There’s a new gallery you can display in your apartment to show off your snaps. So you can hang a picture of your date with Panam up on the wall for… future reference, if you fancy it.

Moving on to the character creator, there are 112 new assets available for customization of V. Eight new face plates are available, so you can make your character look like they’re a member of The Mox if you’d like. New nail and even lip designs are in there, too, lifted from the various corporations in Cyberpunk 2077, and loads of new eyes (including double eyes). There’s a new randomizer, too, with a ‘plain to punk’ slider to influence what it might spit out. You can lock specific assets, too, then continue with the randomizer.

During a community broadcast, game director Paweł Sasko teased additions CD Projekt will let fans discover for themselves. There are a “bunch of new things that happen in the city,” which will no doubt set players on a hunt throughout Night City. There are a couple of secrets Sasko has yet to see appear online even from the base game, so there’s plenty to work towards.

Is this the true end for Cyberpunk 2077? CD Projekt has yet to say. 64 staff at CD Projekt are working on Orion, the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, but most are working on The Witcher 4.

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.

Undaunted 2200: Callisto Board Game Review

Undaunted: Normandy was a surprise smash hit back in 2019 thanks to its novel marriage of building a deck of action cards in-game that you then played to command squads of soldiers on a board. It spawned several spin-offs with the same World War II theme, including the aerial Undaunted: Battle of Britain and the stupendous campaign version Undaunted: Stalingrad. (Those games are so exceptional, by the way, they landed on our lists of the best war board games and best deck-building games.)

However, right back to the original, some players who were uncomfortable reducing real-life conflict to a game wanted a sci-fi version. Now their wish has been granted, as the same systems have been ported to the fight for an icy, mineral-rich moon between miners and their corporate overlords in Undaunted 2200: Callisto

What’s in the Box

Undaunted 2200: Callisto arrives in a very heavy box, and those familiar with the previous entries in the series may be surprised to find the weight is mostly down to four double-sided, fold-out boards, replacing the modular board tiles of the original. While this reduces the number of maps you can fight on it is, for the most part, a positive change making setup easier and the boards better looking, with clear space demarcations and helpful information printed around the edges. The board art is suitably dark, cold and futuristic.

Some other surprises await. Alongside the 10-sided dice that the series has always used are a collection of eight- and 12-sided ones, used with one of this entry’s new rules, shooting at different elevations. This is also the first entry to contain a dedicated solo rule book, with solitaire play being available only via an expansion previously. There are also game rules and a scenario booklet which are clear and concise.

Beneath these are more familiar components. There are a couple of sheets of punch-out tokens and standees, which represent foot units and vehicles, respectively. There are also two large decks of cards, one for each faction, which you’ll use to command your troops. The art on these is detailed and atmospheric but has one problem: most of the figures depicted are in space suits, which makes them feel weirdly anonymous and identikit, despite efforts being made to visually differentiate the two factions. This, alongside the black-on-yellow and white-on-blue of the counters, can also make it a little awkward to tell at a glance exactly what unit under your command is what.

Rules and How it Plays

The core gameplay remains unchanged, so veterans of the series can dive right in. Each scenario gives you a list of cards for your starting deck, and a bigger pool of cards you can incorporate into your deck during play. At the start of each turn, both players draw four cards and pick one to bid for initiative, with more powerful cards having a higher bid value. Going first can have a huge impact on how the turn unfolds, and the loser’s card is wasted, so this is a rapidly repeating dose of tension.

Your other cards can be a mix of combat and command cards. Playing the former allows you to activate the corresponding counters on the board to do things like move and attack. The latter let you either choose new cards to add to your deck, or sometimes to draw more cards or re-activate units for a second action in the same turn. How you choose to use command cards is a fascinating strategic puzzle that depends on the scenario and the state of your forces. The more cards you add, the slower your deck will cycle and the less likely it is you’ll get complementary cards in your draw, but it also gives units more staying power in a game where eliminating enemies is often a victory condition.

When it comes to activating troops, you can’t just rush for objective spaces, or into combat with foes. Before most counters can reach a space, it has to be marked as scouted, which is the preserve of cards with the matching action, generally recon and navigation units. Once scouted, heavier units can move in and use an action to control the space, which is the other key victory condition in most scenarios. This sets up a constant stress over how to most effectively move and utilize the forces at your disposal. Each space has a defensive bonus, and the need to scout often leaves counters in vulnerable positions before they can creep into safely. Similarly, you often want your soldiers to be attacking, not spending precious actions to take control of spaces.

Most of the new game aspects add pieces to this tactical puzzle. Most noteworthy is a simple elevation system, where clearly marked spaces and platforms are treated as one level above standard spaces. Firing up a space means you’re rolling an eight-sided dice against the target number of the counter’s defense, plus the range, plus the bonus printed on the space they’re in. Firing down gets you a 12-sided dice, whereas the same elevation uses 10-sided dice. When target numbers are generally six or more, that variation makes a huge difference, meaning the fight over elevated spaces can be vicious, diverting your attention away from the objective spaces that can win you the game.

The other major change is the addition of space-specific actions, which are also printed on the board. Most commonly these are doors which you can spend an action to open, or to attack, removing them permanently, although some scenarios have laser turret spaces you can use to make a powerful attack. Between these action spaces and the elevation rules, Undaunted 2200: Callisto answers another common request from fans of the series for more interactive terrain rules. Like everything else in the game, the designer’s solution is streamlined yet effective, adding variety and depth to play with minimal extra rules overhead.

Undaunted 2200: Callisto answers another common request from fans for more interactive terrain rules.

Vehicles are another example of this thought process at work. They have a shield printed round their defensive values, which essentially means they’re immune to small-arms fire. Some attack options have values to use against soft foot units, while others can attack these armored targets: often the ranges and values are different. A mining Ripper unit, their standard troop, rolls one die at any range against soft targets, but gets two dice against armored targets in the same hex, for example. Vehicle units can be very powerful, not only in terms of firepower but also flexibility, and so become yet another move in the interlocking circles of prioritization that bedevil all your choices in this game.

Units also get plenty of variety. In addition to the standard scouts, solider and machine-gunners that you meet in the first scenario, later units add additional effects such as area attacks and suppressing fire, or the ability to transport other troops with them for fast deployment. It’s also noteworthy that there’s more asymmetry in the units available to both sides than there were in earlier Undaunted games. The scouts available to the corporate player, for instance, move faster but have more limited attack options compared to their mining counterparts. This minor asymmetry is a welcome addition, making trying out each side in a scenario a much more interesting prospect.

Despite the sci-fi trappings, and the presence of mechs and laser turrets, this still feels like a pre-modern skirmish game. There are no awesomely powerful sci-fi weapons to leverage on either side, no cool technologies to harness, just re-themed rifles and machine guns. This, of course, betrays the roots of the game in World War Two. It doesn’t really spoil the game – getting up close and personal enhances the tactical options available, and you could make the same arguments about perhaps the most popular sci-fi tabletop game around, Warhammer 40k – but some players may find it disappointing.

The solo version plays well, although the overhead in following simple flowcharts for each unit, specific to each scenario, is a bit of a pain. The payoff is a mute enemy that makes tactically sensible choices, often offering clues as to the best way to approach any given scenario. There’s also a new team game for four which works surprisingly well, in which the troops on each side are subdivided into two decks, with teammates swapping the lead role in bidding for initiative each time. Splitting forces like this makes the chances of piecing together combos you might need in any given turn less likely, can be frustrating but also very exciting, and leads to emergent co-operative decision-making.

Where to Buy

First Look at Conan the Barbarian Gameplay in Mortal Kombat 1

Mortal Kombat 1 developer NetherRealm has revealed a first look at Conan the Barbarian gameplay with a teaser video that also confirms the DLC character’s release date.

Conan the Barbarian’s early access release date is set for January 21, 2025, with a general release planned for a week later. In the video, below, we see Conan go up against Mortal Kombat’s villainous warmonger Shao Kahn and deliver the iconic line: “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you.” Shao Kahn, clearly recognising the wisdom of the words, replies: “Truly, what is best in life.” The pair are kindred spirits, it seems.

In the 1982 Conan the Barbarian movie, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s titular character is asked: “what is best in life?” He responds: “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.” It sounds like NetherRealm left that last bit out.

As for the gameplay, Conan plays as you’d expect, with what looks like a fairly straightforward use of his Atlantean Sword. We see a number of flashy moves fans of the film will find familiar, including Conan’s sword swirl. Conan can deflect projectiles, too.

One open question is who voices Conan in Mortal Kombat 1? It seems likely that Chris Cox, who voiced the Terminator in Mortal Kombat 11, plays Conan here, given publisher Warner Bros. would probably have trumpeted getting Arnie in if it had managed it.

Conan the Barbarian is the fifth DLC character to be released for Mortal Kombat 1’s Kombat Pack 2, and follows Noob Saibot, Cyrax, Sektor, and last month’s addition of Ghostface from the Scream films. The sixth and final DLC character is T-1000 Terminator. Warner Bros. is yet to announce a third Kombat Pack or a new set of DLC characters.

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.

Amazon Has a Magnificent New Sale on Board Games Today, Here’s the Best Deals

Amazon has just launched a brand new sale of some of the most popular board games available at the moment, including discounts on Azul, Catan, Ticket to Ride, and more.

Azul is undoubtedly the highlight of the sale, especially for those who might have missed the Black Friday discounts last month. It’s down to $15.99 when you clip the list voucher on Amazon, over 50% off its original list price of $39.99. It’s a brilliant board game, and quite rightly earned a spot on IGN’s list of the best family board games, and received a highly recommended 8/10 in our review.

But Azul isn’t the only board game in the sale, no matter how popular it is. Other top discounts include games like Pandemic, where players must work together playing to their characters’ strengths as they plan their strategy of eradicating the diseases before they overwhelm the world with ever-increasing outbreaks. It’s down to $18.39 when clipping the list voucher.

Then there are also absolute classics like Ticket to Ride or Catan, both also down to just $20.39 when clipping the voucher. While Azul is a couple of dollars more than the Black Friday sales, both Ticket to Ride and Catan are actually less, as each was listed for $25 over the past few weeks.

That makes this an excellent opportunity to stock on up on more board games ready for the holiday play sessions. For more board game roundups, check out the best roll-and-write games, and the best deck-building games.

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

Sony Adds Classic Sly Cooper and Jak and Daxter Games to PlayStation Plus Games Catalog Today

Sony has added a handful of beloved PS2 games to its PlayStation Plus Classic Games Catalog such as those from the Sly Cooper and Jak and Daxter franchises today, December 10.

The three games previously announced by Sony are available to players with the most expensive PS Plus Premium subscription. Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Sly 2: Band of Thieves, and Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves can all be downloaded now.

Sony will announce the full collection of December’s games coming to not just the Classic Games Catalog but the regular Games Catalog tomorrow, December 13.

All three games were well-received when IGN reviewed them upon release in the 2000s. Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy earned a 9/10, when IGN called it “really something special” and said “it has that magical feeling that not all games can possess and it’s just flat out a joy to play.”

Sly 2: Band of Thieves also received a 9/10. “The amount of creativity that is packed into the different quests and the various characters is nothing short of amazing and it all combines to form a mega fun adventure,” we said.

Finally, Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves is a touch lower but still well praised at 8/10. “It’s still a fun ride and many of the new additions work out well, especially the pirate sections, but there are enough rocky spots to make the game feel kind of awkward and hold it back from being truly great,” we said.

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

Path of Exile 2 Dev Admits the Game Doesn’t Feel Rewarding Enough, Outlines Plans to Increase Loot Drops

Changes are coming to action role-playing game Path of Exile 2 thick and fast following its huge Early Access launch, with a new hotfix out now.

In a post on the Path of Exile forum, developer Grinding Gear Games published a list of issues it felt needed to be “urgently addressed,” with other less urgent issues to be tackled later on. Chief among them is the feeling that Path of Exile 2 isn’t rewarding enough, something GGG acknowledged is a problem.

“One of the major problems that players have been experiencing is feeling that the game is not rewarding enough,” it said. “This is an area that we have to be very careful when adjusting because it’s very hard to reduce drops if we increase them by too much.”

Specifically, GGG felt that rare monsters were not rewarding enough, especially in the endgame where unique monsters are less common. GGG also saw that the reward players received for the increased difficulty of rares wasn’t lining up.

So, it’s doubling the rarity bonus per rare mod, increasing the quantity bonus per rare mod by 10%, and increasing the chance of rare monsters inherently having more modifiers as players progress through endgame.

“These changes will cause rare monster rewards to naturally scale up as you get to higher levels because the number of mods a monster can have increases throughout the campaign and into endgame,” GGG explained.

“In addition, many other forms of map juicing will indirectly cause rare monsters to have more mods as well, increasing the rewards of these other mechanics too.”

Meanwhile, GGG is changing the game to make sure each map has a minimum number of rares, which will also increase the average number of rare mods and thus increase drops further.

Another major issue GGG has identified is outlier “unlucky” drops. “A single unique boss dropping badly, especially early on can significantly affect your character,” GGG admitted. Changes here include no more than 50% of a unique monster’s drops can be gold, and act bosses and map bosses will now always drop at least one rare.

Elsewhere, GGG is making dodge roll changes after players complained about being trapped in by monsters. “While it is intended that monsters are able to trap and kill you, we felt that the frequency of this was a little too high,” GGG explained.

GGG has posted the first set of patch notes for these changes, with more to come as they’re rolled out. Check out the patch notes for 0.1.0c below (you will need to restart your client to receive the client changes in this patch).

GGG is already nerfing a number of Path of Exile 2 skills it’s deemed to have “unacceptable balance.” And in a fresh tweet, the developer said it plans to nerf Raging Spirits so it can only summon five Raging Spirits per cast at all levels. They will also no longer be able to be spawned from triggered Fire Skills. Players are already calling on GGG to give all a full character respec opportunity as a result.

Here’s which class to pick in PoE 2 Early Access, plus an early Mercenary build guide and Sorceress build guide to help you get started. Beyond that, if you’re wondering how to get more Spirit, how to trade, and how to ascend, we’ve got you covered.

Path of Exile 2 update 0.1.0c Patch Notes

  • Campaign bosses killed after the first kill will now drop less currency items, replacing them with other items.
  • Increased the drop rate of Regal Orbs.
  • Significantly increased the drop rate of Gemcutter’s Prisms.
  • A single Gemcutter’s Prism also improves the Quality of a Skill Gem by +5% (previously +1%).
  • Lowered the drop rate of Chaos Orbs and distributed it amongst the other more valued Currency Items (Like Regal Orbs, Exalted Orbs).
  • Lowered the drop rate of Artificer’s Orbs and distributed it to Lesser Jeweller’s Orbs.
  • Disenchanting Rare Items with 6 Modifiers now provides 2 Regal Shards (previously 1). The value displayed will still show as 1 until a later patch.
  • Increased the values of all Prefix Modifiers that can roll on Waystones. We’ve also adjusted the chances of getting the more commonly powerful Modifiers such as increases to Rarity and Pack Size.
  • Monster Modifiers now grant higher amounts of Item Rarity and Item Quantity. This is most common on Magic and Rare enemies, but also affects Unique Enemies if applied through various Endgame Mechanics like the Deadly Evolution Keystone.
  • Increased the chance for Rare Monsters in Maps to have 3 or 4 modifiers.
  • Rare Monsters in Map areas are now revealed on the minimap when there are 200 Monsters remaining (previously 50).
  • Fixed a bug where some Persistent Buff Skills, such as Raging Spirits and Mana Remnants, were not working for the Infernalist when in Demon Form.
  • Fixed a bug where you could sometimes be unable to interact with the Map Device in The Ziggurat Refuge.
  • Fixed a bug where Monsters Shattered in a Blood Circle Ultimatum Encounter were not contributing blood.
  • Fixed a bug that could cause the instance to permanently stop time (freeze) when trying to revive a Chronomancer.
  • Fixed a bug where Rare Monsters could not be found within the Chimeral Wetlands.
  • Fixed a bug where “Move only” was name-locking.
  • Fixed three instance crashes.
  • Fixed a client crash.

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.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Patch 5 Makes Big Balance Changes, Completely Reworks Blocking Weapons

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Patch 5 is out now across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, and it makes a number of significant balance changes.

There’s a lot to pick through, but the highlight here is a complete rework of Blocking weapons, which were deemed useless by players ever since Space Marine 2’s record-breaking September launch.

Now, by blocking enemy attacks, the player accumulates up to three stacks of melee damage buffs. Attacking while having those stacks of buffs will spend them and will result in massive AoE Damage discharge. Check out the patch notes, below, for more detail.

In a post on publisher Focus Entertainment’s website, game director Dmitriy Grigorenko explained that Fencing weapons will remain good versus limited numbers of enemies, Balanced weapons will be good versus big crowds, and Blocking weapons are now “damage dealer” type weapons.

Accompanying this change is a buff to all melee weapons, with normal melee damage increased across the board. Developer Saber Interactive hopes this change will give combat less reliance on the Parry -> Gun Strike flow.

Here’s a big one: Space Marine 2’s Operations mode now has an Extermination Bonus, which increases the amount of XP players get in PvE missions “if they are zealously exterminating enemy waves.”

The idea here, according to Grigorenko, is to incentivise players to not skip encounters (Space Marine 2 Operations players have a habit of skipping entire chunks of the PvE missions to finish as fast as possible and get on with the grind), without punishing those who want to skip, and make the game less grindy in preparation for new features coming down the line, such as Prestige Ranks.

And I’d like to pick out this one change I am particularly happy about: Shielded Zoanthrope will now attack much less frequently. Praise the Emperor!

Meanwhile, Saber has said it’s happy with firearm balance, but promised minor tweaks in Patch 6. Importantly, a big rework of weapon perks is coming with Patch 7. “Weapons perks are underwhelming compared to class Perks right now, and the issues with some weapons are actually a result of them having a bad Perk tree rather than their basic stats,” Grigorenko explained.

Grigorenko admitted a lot of the Class perks are not as good as we wanted them to be, and some Perk tree choices are really more efficient than others.” Patch 6 will “massively rework” a bunch of lacking Perks to make more builds viable.

There’s also a big problem with the Grenade Launcher that makes it overpowered, so Saber will look to make changes there in a future patch.

It’s a big day for Warhammer 40,000 fans, with Henry Cavill’s Amazon film and TV series based on Games Workshop’s grim dark universe finally proceeding to production, and the release of the Space Marine 2 animation as part of Amazon’s Secret Level anthology series. Check out IGN’s Secret Level review for more.

In September, Saber Chief Creative Officer Tim Willits told IGN how the breakout success of Space Marine 2 had “changed everything” for the company. Eagle-eyed fans have spotted the Space Marine chapter now all-but confirmed to get a cosmetic pack after the Dark Angels, too.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Update 5.0 patch notes:

NEW FEATURES

  • New Operation: Obelisk

In this new Operation, you’ll be sent to Demerium and your mission is to rotate a replica of the obelisk to disrupt the flow of energy protecting the Aurora device. This operation takes place in parallel to the final events of the campaign.

To reach the console control of the obelisk, you’ll have to make it through a tomb plunged into darkness.

  • New Enemy: Tzaangor Enlightened

A new Majoris enemy can spawn in all Operations featuring the Thousand Sons.

Note from our Game Director: “The Tzaangor Enlightened is a disk-flying, melee/ranged-hybrid unit. They are fearsome opponents, especially when met in greater numbers. However, catching them after parry or during a long animation makes them an easy target.

We strongly advise you to use Target Lock to face this enemy!”

  • New Season Pass Content: Dark Angels Chapter Pack

Added: Dark Angels Successor Chapters cosmetics

Added: Dark Angels Champion skin (Bulwark)

Added: Dark Angels–themed weapon skins for:

  • Auto Bolt Rifle
  • Plasma Pistol
  • Power Sword
  • Bulwark’s Storm Shield

GAMEPLAY & BALANCING TWEAKS

Melee

Note from our Game Director: “The melee system has been our main focus recently. The issue that we saw is that, on higher difficulties, the melee combat relied too heavily on the “Parry -> Gun Strike” flow. This also made Fencing Melee Weapons a universal choice for almost all situations, and we want to give players more options. To try and achieve that, we’ve made the following changes.

First, normal Melee Damage has increased across the board, so there will be more options instead of just Parry -> Gun Strike.

Second, we are drastically changing how Blocking Weapons work. In short, by blocking enemy attacks, the player will accumulate up to 3 stacks of Melee Damage buffs. Attacking while having those stacks of buffs will spend them and will result in massive AoE Damage discharge.

With these changes, Fencing Weapons will still be great versus limited numbers of enemies, Balanced Weapons will be good versus big crowds, and Blocking Weapons will become ‘damage dealer’ type weapons.”

Perfect Block

All Block Weapons have been reworked with a new mechanic: Perfect Block and Adrenaline Surge.

Perfectly timed blocks grant up to 3 Adrenaline Surge stacks. Adrenaline Surge stacks greatly increase Melee Damage and are consumed after the next melee attack.

Attacking with 3 stacks of Adrenaline Surge deals massive AoE Damage, staggers enemies, and restores 1 Armour Segment.

Note that the right wrist glows in yellow after the Parry, which signifies that the Adrenaline Surge is ready to use. When used, a red explosion detonates on the enemy hit, deals AoE Damage, and regenerates an Armour Segment.

Fencing Weapons:

  • Perfect Parry AoE stagger radius slightly reduced.

Balanced Weapons:

  • Perfect Parry AoE stagger radius greatly increased.
  • Master-crafted versions: Damage increased by 10%.
  • Artificer versions: Damage increased by 10%.
  • Relic versions: Damage increased by 10%.

Blocking Weapons:

  • Master-crafted versions: Damage increased by 20%.
  • Artificer versions: Damage increased by 20%.
  • Relic versions: Damage increased by 20%.

Unarmed/Firearm Melee:

  • Stomps can now be chained indefinitely.

Firearms

Note from our Game Director: “We are quite happy with recent updates to firearms. Pretty much all firearms are viable on the hardest difficulties now, and our win rate/pick rate data shows drastic improvements.

Still, there are a few weapons that are better than the others, and minor tweaks will be coming with Patch 6.

Further into the future, with Patch 7, we are planning to focus on reworking Weapons Perks. Weapons Perks are underwhelming compared to Class Perks right now, and the issues with some weapons are actually a result of them having a bad Perk tree rather than their basic stats.

The other big outstanding problem that we have is the Grenade Launcher. There are quite a few bugs/misconfigurations that make it the way it is.

  1. Due to a bug, a certain Perk restores its full Ammo when it shouldn’t.
  2. Due to a misconfiguration on our side, its Artificer and Relic versions deal 4x more damage than the Master-crafted version, which was not intended.
  3. Due to a bug, Perks that increase Auspex Scan damage stack buffs inconsistently. Normally all damage stacks buffs additively, thus providing consistent and predictable results. This bug results in crazy damage numbers with Auspex Scan Perks depending on the order they were activated. This is why bosses get erased by Grenade Launchers with certain builds.

If we approach this directly and fix all 3 bugs, it will make the Grenade Launcher useless and will hurt the entire Tactical class. We will be very careful with how we address this issue. We do want to keep the fun element of destroying entire waves of enemies with the Grenade Launcher. At the same time, no other weapon can match a Grenade Launcher with potentially unlimited Ammo.

Because of these complications, we want to take the time to carefully analyse and make the best decision possible about the Grenade Launcher, so we’re not modifying it in this patch.”

Neo-Volkite Pistol

Note from our Game Director: “We unified enemy sensitivity to Volkite Damage with Bolter Damage. This means a massive damage buff to certain Majoris and Extremis enemies that were more resistant to Volkite Damage than others.”

Volkite Damage sensitivity has been increased from 1 to 1.5 for these enemies:

  • Devourer Tyranid Warrior
  • Barbed Strangler Tyranid Warrior
  • Venom Cannon Tyranid Warrior
  • Rubric Marine
  • Flamer Rubric Marine
  • Zoanthrope

Bolt Carbine:

  • Max Ammo of all SMG-type Bolt Carbines increased by 1 magazine.

Extermination Bonus

Note from our Game Director: “This change simply increases the amount of XP players are getting in Operations mode if they are zealously exterminating enemy waves.

This aims to:

1. incentivise players to not skip encounters, without punishing those who want to skip, and

2. makes the game less grindy in preparation for new features coming down the line (e.g., Prestige Ranks).”

Added a new feature that increases the amount of XP players gain based on % of enemies killed during an Operation:

  • Rank A: killing more than 85% spawned enemies grants +120% XP pre-patch value.
  • Rank B: killing more than 60% spawned enemies grants +110% XP pre-patch value.
  • Rank C: killing less than 60% spawned enemies grants +100% XP pre-patch value.

*The rank is common to the party, everyone gets the same.

GAMEPLAY QOL

  • Dodge invulnerability logic is now client sided, meaning that Dodges will be responsive and more accurate with higher ping.
  • Players are now invulnerable to new instances of damage while in Knockback animation.
  • Added 10 frames of invulnerability at the start of Jump Pack launch animation (Campaign and Operations only).
  • Dodge and Parry sound notification clarity has been greatly improved.
  • Heavy’s Barrier can be activated in more player states (e.g., during stagger animation).
  • Player controls are slightly more responsive after using Vanguard’s Grapnel Launcher.
  • Added spawn protection in PvP.
  • Added Neo-Volkite Pistol in PvP.

AI

  • Zoanthrope:
    • Shielded Zoanthrope will now attack much less frequently.
  • Enemy Spawn Director:
    • You will no longer fight Extremis-level enemies on your first encounter right after the start of a Mission.
    • Lots of minor animation fixes for various enemies.

CUSTOMISATION

  • Added: Lenses colour customisation.
  • Fixed shading of Balthasar Gold and Ushabti Bone colours.
  • Fixed a number of small bugs with certain armour pieces not applying colours correctly.

OPERATIONS

Fall of Atreus:

  • Made adjustments to scripting to make this level shorter and more in line with the duration of other levels:
    • The second sequence with the Dreadnought (Repel the Assault) is randomised now and may not happen.
    • The fusion battery needs to be charged only once in the final sequence.
  • Large amounts of small fixes in level geometry collision and Terminus enemies getting stuck in some areas.

PERKS

Note from our Game Director: “In this patch, we are only fixing bugs with existing Perks, but trust me, we are seeing the issues with them. A lot of the Class Perks are not as good as we wanted them to be, and some Perk tree choices are really more efficient than others. With Patch 6, we are planning to massively rework a bunch of lacking Perks to make more builds viable.”

GENERAL FIXES

  • Getting kicked out of a session will still grant kicked player XP rewards based on checkpoint completion.
  • Exiting the Turret Charging Wheel in the “Termination” Operation is now quicker.
  • Improved a few enemies counting for Purge Them All Achievement.
  • Fixed a bug where Combat Knife charged attacks would occasionally Heavy Hit every time without charging.
  • Fixed a bug where Heavy’s Primary Weapon was not shooting after joining in progress.
  • Fixed a bug where party leader could get stuck on a loading screen in rare cases.
  • Fixed Hierophant’s damage sensitivity to certain weapons (it can still be damaged by normal weapons, but the damage is reduced).
  • Fixed a bug where Heldrake was not taking any damage from shots in rare cases.
  • Fixed a bug where Heldrake could be knocked off its pedestal by shots from an under-barrel Grenade Launcher.
  • Fixed a bug where Imurah would not take any damage from shots in the final mission in rare cases.
  • Fixed a rare bug where players were shown a long black screen instead of death screen in PvP.
  • Fixed a bug where players could not see each other’s customisation in rare cases.
  • Fixed a bug where the Neo-Volkite Pistol would deal damage further than its actual visual FX.
  • Fixed a bug where enemies were able to pierce Block stance with double attack.
  • Fixed a bug with Bulwark’s Armour of Contempt Perk not triggering correctly and dealing friendly fire.
  • Fixed an issue where the Neo-Volkite Pistol would sometimes trigger a chain of explosions and cause performance issues.
  • Fixed a rare bug with Vanguard’s Zone of Impact Perk not triggering correctly.
  • Fixed Perks that grant player immunity to Heavy Hits and Knockback during charging melee attacks not working with charged attacks unlocked via Weapons Perks.
  • Combat Knife charged attack buffs from other Perks (e.g., Sniper’s Shadow Stab) are now correctly applied on both damage instances.
  • Large number of minor fixes in Perks, how they stack, and how they trigger in rare cases.
  • Minor UI fixes and improvements.
  • Localisation fixes.

TECH

Added: PS5 PRO Enhancements:

Quality mode

Standard PlayStation 5

PS5 PRO

Resolution

1080p – 1440p with upscale FSR to 4K

1080p – 2160p with PSSR

Frame Rate

30 FPS

30 FPS

Performance Mode

Standard PlayStation 5

PS5 PRO

Resolution

720p – 1080p with upscale FSR to 4K

1080p – 1440p with upscale PSSR to 4K

Frame Rate

60 FPS

60 FPS

Added: FSR 3 / DLSS 3: Support of “Frame Generation” component for DLSS and FSR. For more details about FSR and DLSS, check our FAQ.

  • Crash fixes and general stability improvements.
  • General connectivity improvements.
  • Slightly improved performance.
  • Slightly improved texture streaming speed.
  • Improved Anti-Cheat.

MOD SUPPORT Please note that starting from 5.0 update, mods will no longer be supported in public lobbies.

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.

Doug Cockle ‘Got Slapped’ by CD Projekt for Saying Geralt Is in The Witcher 4 but Not as the Main Character

Geralt voice actor Doug Cockle has revealed he “got slapped” by CD Projekt for saying the character is set to appear in The Witcher 4 but not as the main character.

In an interview with Geektown at MCM Comic Con Birmingham, Cockle walked back comments he made in August in a Fall Damage video. Here’s what he said at the time:

“Witcher 4 has been announced. I can’t say anything about it. What we know is that Geralt will be part of the game, we just don’t know how much, and the game won’t focus on Geralt. So it’s not about him this time. We don’t know who it’s about. I’m excited to find out. I want to know! I have not seen any script yet — I mean, I couldn’t tell you if I did. This is the thing, so I could be lying through my teeth. But I’m not. Or am I?”

CD Projekt had long made clear that Geralt’s saga had come to an end, meaning a new protagonist was fully expected for Polaris, but this was the first confirmation he’d be in the next game at all — and fueled some rampant fan theories.

Only a single teaser image, below, has otherwise been revealed for The Witcher 4, but it was enough to suggest Ciri will be the protagonist this time around. What’s considered the “true” ending of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, thanks to its story being continued in canon comics, sees her become a witcher herself.

But now, Cockle has revealed those comments raised a few eyebrows at The Witcher developer CD Projekt, and he now insists he has no idea if Geralt is in The Witcher 4, or who the main character is — although he admits that a non-disclosure agreement would force him to lie about it if he did.

“I did go online and I said something about this and then I got slapped by CD Projekt,” Cockle said. “I don’t know how true it is. I went off a rumor. I thought I’d seen somebody from CD Projekt say that Geralt will be in Witcher 4 but he won’t be the main character. And I don’t actually know if that’s true now because they came back and they went, ‘We haven’t put anything out there, don’t say anything.’

“So the truth is, the answer to your question is, I don’t know what it’s going to be. I have ideas. I thought I had an idea what it was. And then I was kind of basically told, ‘We haven’t told anybody what it is, so where you got that information we don’t know.’

“I think it might be from a really really old statement that somebody who no longer works for CD Projekt actually put out about three years ago. So Witcher 4 is a complete mystery to me. I actually don’t know.”

Later in the interview, Cockle said Ciri as protagonist in The Witcher 4 would make sense, pointing to her ability to travel between worlds. He also reveals that years ago he spoke with someone at CD Projekt about what a future Witcher video game might look like, and discussed a Witcher origin story, among other ideas.

Ultimately, though, Cockle is keeping his cards close to his chest here. “The truth is I can’t answer the question because I’ve signed an NDA,” he said. “So even if I did know, I’d have to lie to you.”

Last month, CD Projekt confirmed The Witcher 4 had entered full-scale production. As part of its latest financial results, the Polish company said that Project Polaris — the first instalment in the new Witcher trilogy — had progressed from preproduction to full-scale production.

“I’m proud to confirm that several weeks ago the Polaris team wrapped up preproduction and moved on to full-scale production — the most intensive phase of development,” commented joint CEO Michał Nowakowski. “We are very pleased with our progress on this project, and I wish to thank the team for its dedication.”

“I’m thrilled to announce that Project Polaris has entered the full-scale production phase,” game director Sebastian Kalemba tweeted. “With new challenges just around the corner, it’s the talented and hard-working people who make me believe we can together make the upcoming Witcher Saga a remarkable experience. No stopping now! Stay tuned for what’s on the other side of the coin!”

CD Projekt currently has 400 developers working on Polaris, the majority of its 650-person total development staff. That’s down from the 410 reported at the end of July. 64 are working on Orion, the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, 42 on Sirius, The Witcher game developed by The Molasses Flood, and 18 on Hadar, CD Projekt’s brand new IP.

The developer had indicated it had left Cyberpunk 2077 development behind, but the studio plans to reveal Update 2.2 later today, December 10, in a surprise patch release.

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.