Builds, Guides and a Database for Wuchang: Fallen Feathers

The Land of Shu is full of dangers, and Wuchang: Fallen Feathers doesn’t always explain its mechanics. We’ve teamed up with the experts at Maxroll to bring you a beginner’s guide, builds to crush the game’s hardest bosses, additional resources and mechanical overviews, and much more.

Beginner’s Guide

Get started with Maxroll’s Beginner’s Guide. Combat in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is different from a lot of other Soulslikes, as your main resource Skyborn Might revolves around getting “perfect dodges” called Shimmers (think Sekiro but with hitting B instead of LB). You can then spend Skyborn Might to empower your weapon skills, or instantly execute a charged heavy attack. This is particularly useful because you can use charged heavy attacks to stagger foes, opening them up to a powerful Obliterate attack. Maxroll’s Beginner’s Guide also covers topics like leveling up using the Impetus Repository system, how the game’s unique Madness system works, and the various character progression systems including Temperance, Benedictions, Disciplines and more. Then, learn how to traverse the land of Shu, find hidden secrets and interact with Wuchang’s riddle doors.

Progression Systems

During Chapter 1 – Worship’s Rise, you’re introduced to several progression systems. Each system makes Wuchang a little stronger and by combining them you’re able to make some truly powerful builds that cut through the game’s hardest bosses with ease.

Weapons are the core of any build, the game offers five different weapon classes; Longsword, Spear, One-Handed Sword, Dual Blades, and Axe. Each weapon has a unique move set and a pool of customizable Disciplines. In addition, each weapon within a class has its own unique weapon skill.

  • Check out Maxroll’s Weapon guide to learn more about your options, or browse all of the available Weapons.
  • Weapons have unique skills, some of which can trivialize bosses. These Weapon Skills are powerful and can be further enhanced by expending Skyborn Might.
  • Each weapon offers several Disciplines, custom moves that can be used with L2/LT. Learn the best with Maxroll’s Discipline guide or browse all of them in the database.
  • Benedictions are gem-like enhancements socketed into your weapon. You can use one Oath type Benediction, one Wisdom and one Memory. Learn the best with Maxroll’s Benediction and Benediction Sets guide or browse the database to see all Benedictions and Benediction Sets.
  • Weapons are enhanced through the Impetus Repository, the unique level-up system in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. Learn more with Maxroll’s Impetus Repository guide, or browse all of the Impetus Repository skills in the database.
  • Temperance provides a powerful in-combat buff to Wuchang. She can insert various needles into her acupoints to change the element of the buff, or add unique effects. Learn more with Maxroll’s Temperance and Needle guide or browse the list of Bone and Stone needles.

Weapons aren’t the only item(s) you can equip in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. In addition, you have access to a variety of Armor Sets each of which has a unique appearance and provides slightly different stats. You can also use Jade Pendants that provide small bonuses, use consumable items (some of which are refilled when you rest at a Shrine), and equip powerful spells capable of unleashing devastation on bosses.

Burning Questions

In addition to explaining the game’s mechanics and progression systems, here’s a short list of guides from Maxroll that answer some burning questions like “how do I beat Commander Honglan” or where to find the most powerful defensive spell in the game!

Plus, check out these early-game guides from IGN. Blocking and “parrying” aren’t automatically built into Wuchang’s moveset:

Builds

Each of the game’s five weapons has a unique playstyle. The Longsword is a balanced weapon that acts as a middle ground. Spears have great reach and excellent Disciplines, but have a weaker charged heavy attack animation. One-Handed Swords have long animations and low damage but provide Spell Damage, enabling a dedicated caster archetype. The Dual Blades reward all out aggression as you clash through enemy attacks and heal yourself. Axes hit hard, staggering foes and stopping them in their tracks, but they also tend to be slower and have higher stamina costs.

Database

Use Maxroll’s Wuchang: Fallen Feathers database to learn more about all of the items in the game. This includes Weapon scaling at different upgrade levels, defensive stats on armor and spell scaling. You can also learn about the materials you need to upgrade your Weapons, Manna Flask and more. You can use the search feature to find exactly what you want or browse different categories to learn about your options. If you want more details, click through to an item’s page.

More to Come

That’s it for now, Maxroll is hard at work adding a Spear build, along with more resources. Check out their Wuchang: Fallen Feathers page for more.

By: IGN staff with help from Maxroll

6 of the 10 Best-Selling Games on PlayStation Last Quarter in the U.S. Were Published by Microsoft

Xbox just had a great Q2…and it might have PlayStation to thank. Or is it PlayStation that should be thanking Xbox?

Per data shared from Circana analyst Mat Piscatella, six of the ten best-selling games on PlayStation consoles in the U.S. during the second quarter of 2025 (April through June) were published by Microsoft.

Most of those games were new. Forza Horizon 5 debuted at No.2 for the quarter (just behind Elden Ring Nightreign). The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Remastered was right behind it. Doom: The Dark Ages debuted at No. 6 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle came in at No.8.

They were joined by returning titles Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 at No.4 and Minecraft at No.9.

Sony only had two first-party games in the top ten: MLB: The Show 25 at No.4, and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach debuting at No.7.

This news comes as Xbox announces its Q2 earnings, which saw gaming revenue up 10% year-over-year and Xbox content and services revenue up 13%, driven by growth in first-party content and Xbox Game Pass (hardware revenue declined 22% year-over-year).

Notably, the top 10 games on Xbox last quarter look a bit different. Oblivion: Remastered still took a spot all the way up at No.2, followed by The Elder Scrolls: Online at No. 2 and Minecraft at No.4. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 showed up at No.9.

But Indiana Jones and Doom didn’t rank, likely due to both games launching into Game Pass (though Oblivion did as well). Forza Horizon 5 also wasn’t present, though this is more likely due to it releasing on Xbox back in 2021 initially, as compared to it appearing on PlayStation for the first time this past April.

Regardless, it’s no surprise why Xbox’s gaming content revenue was up this quarter, demonstrating that its strategy of multi-platform releases may work for it after all as long as it can keep the new games coming. That said, it may find that more difficult to do going forward, as the company has recently laid off hundreds of workers and canceled multiple projects, including Everwild and Perfect Dark.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 Adds Blade, Resource Rumble Mode, and More in August

Developer NetEase Games has pulled back the curtain on Marvel Rivals Season 3.5, revealing a first look at Blade and many of the other additions coming in August.

The studio offered a breakdown for everything included in the mid-season refresh today, including how players will be able to use the legendary comic book Daywalker’s abilities to cut through the new content included in the upcoming August 8 update. It follows the launch of Season 3: The Abyss Awakens – and Jean Grey – just weeks ago and is a sign that NetEase intends to stick to its quick content release schedule.

Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 Adds Blade and New Team-Ups Next Week

Blade’s introduction into Marvel Rivals as an actual playable character and not just a creative bit or world-building has been a long time coming. The infamous vampire-hunting hero first made his debut all the way back in Season 1, but has been sidelined as an NPC since.

Now, players finally have the chance to control Blade for themselves, and NetEase didn’t hold back. He’ll arrive next week as a Duelist, using his shotgun as a mid-to-close-range weapon before going in for the kill with his Ancestral Sword. Finally, players can use the Sword of Dracula for Blade’s ultimate ability, allowing him to tear through entire enemy teams with style.

“Almost a century ago, Eric Brooks was born of two worlds: the light of his mother’s embrace and the dark of the vampire that attacked her,” a description from NetEase says. “After embracing his existence as a dhampir, he became the Daywalker, the ultimate vampire hunter, combining unmatched combat skills and unwavering supernatural abilities.

“When Dracula reigned over New York City, it was none other than Blade who confronted him first. By then, however, it was too late. Dracula had mastered the almighty power of Chronovium, defeating the Daywalker and imprisoning him within the castle dungeon.

“After Dracula’s fall, Blade was sent to Wakanda to recover, but his story is far from over. Now recruited by Shuri to save all existence, Blade stands awake and at the ready against the dark forces of Hela and Knull.”

With the launch of the Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 update next week comes changes to the team-up abilities. Guardian Revival and Atlas Bond are both being removed from the experience, and Loki is being removed from Ragnarök Rebirth. In place of these adjustments come two new team-ups: Duality Dance and Vibrant Vitality. The former includes Adam Warlock and Luna Snow, while the latter brings Mantis together with either Groot or Loki. Existing team-ups are also expanding, with Iron Fist joining Chilling Assault, Star-Lord joining Rocket Network, and Blade joining Lunar Force.

NetEase Is Making a Splash With Marvel Rivals in August

Also set to join NetEase’s popular hero shooter come August 8 are adjustments to how players can help maintain a positive environment in their matches. In what the studio calls “Operation: Shield the Community,” players will be able to utilize a custom text chat filter, allowing users to mute specific words. NetEase says it will monitor popular muted words, which may then be added to its official list, while also saying that it’s been able to monitor all in-game voice chat conversations since July 24.

Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 will also introduce increased penalties for players who leave in the middle of Competitive game modes. Examples include longer bans from Competitive play and larger point deductions, with remaining players gifted point compensation at the end of affected matches. Leaver penalties will be handled on a case-by-case basis, with NetEase promising to speed up the appeals process for those looking to appeal a ban.

Finally, the new Resource Rumble game mode and its Throne of Knull map will arrive later in the month alongside an August 22 update. NetEase stops short of detailing exactly what makes these additions stand apart from other maps and modes but teases more with plans to premiere a gameplay deep dive soon. Expect to see Resource Rumble first launch in Quick Match before it joins Competitive at a later date.

Marvel Rivals is chugging forward as NetEase works to maintain the two-month seasonal release schedule it promised back in April. It means more characters will be added faster as the team continues to address player feedback with frequent updates.

Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 launches next week. While we wait for full patch notes, you can see how the cast of The Fantastic Four: First Steps reacted to the Invisible Woman’s infamous Malice skin.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

Monster Hunter Wilds Endgame Expansion Moved Up as Game Suffers From ‘Soft’ Sales

Monster Hunter Wilds got off to an incredible sales start when it launched in February. Unfortunately, it seems as though its success has fallen off one heck of a cliff since then – and Capcom appears to be trying to amend that by releasing an endgame content expansion much sooner than expected.

The sales data comes from Capcom’s quarterly earnings report, which includes a slide presentation showing sales data for the company’s top ten best-selling games from April 1 to June 30. The presentation shows that Monster Hunter Wilds sold 477k copies during that period, only just above the 389k copies sold of four-year-old game Monster Hunter Rise. Wilds was the 9th best-selling game of the quarter for Capcom, while Rise was the 10th.

To be clear, even though Rise is four years old, those aren’t exactly gangbusters sales figures either. In Capcom’s consolidated financial results, the company says, “Regarding catalog titles, although sales were soft for Monster Hunter Wilds, the latest title in the series released in February this year, Monster Hunter Rise, a previous title in the same series, continued to see sales growth.” This is technically true, in that Rise continues to sell copies, but calling it “growth” is a bit strong.

Last quarter, Monster Hunter Rise only sold 384k copies. In fact, sales of the game slowed down significantly throughout last year after the game sold 725k in Q1, 640k in Q2, and 691k in Q3. That’s not really shocking, especially once Wilds was announced – people were bound to hold off on buying Rise if there was a brand new game just around the corner.

What’s more interesting here is how much better Rise was selling throughout most of last year, several years after its release, than Wilds is selling now. Just a few months out from its launch, Wilds saw a steep, steep sales dropoff. After releasing during the first quarter to a Capcom record-setting 10.108 million copies sold, 8 million of which were in just three days, Wilds shot up to become the best-selling game in the U.S. year-to-date according to Circana. And while it’s still No.1 as of July 5 due to that initial spike, for the month of June, it didn’t even crack the top 20 best-selling games.

Why is Wilds having such a bad time of things? Well, despite reviewing well initially, its endgame content is sorely lacking compared to past games, so the many fans who play Monster Hunter over time, with friends, are struggling. It’s also suffering from severe performance issues on PC specifically that have yet to be fully resolved. Despite new content and seasons, fans remain unsatisfied with the state of the game, to the point where some players are taking things too far and apparently harassing and threatening individual Capcom team members over it.

Which all perhaps explains why Capcom has bumped up a planned expansion of endgame content from the end of September to August 13. The planned expansion will include a new level of quest difficulty, a new rewards system, weapon balance adjustments, and other improvements. It’s unclear as of yet if this will solve the performance issues, but perhaps it will sate those frustrated at Wilds’ weaker endgame.

We’ll have to wait for more details to see if this is the start of a turnaround or if Wilds will go down as one of the more disappointing Monster Hunter titles long-term. In the meantime, perhaps a Rise Renaissance is on the horizon if fans gravitate back to older games.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

The Biggest Pokémon Card Crashers And Climbers This Week – July 30

Prices for Scarlet and Violet 151 Pokémon cards have been moving fast this month. As more booster boxes get opened and singles flood the market, some of the set’s Illustration Rares have started to dip in value, especially the middle evolutions of the starter Pokémon. On the flip side, big Special Illustration Rares of fan favourite Kanto starter final evolutions are seeing steady climbs as collectors chase the best‑looking cards from the set.

Charizard ex, Blastoise ex and Venusaur ex are the top of the climbers hill this week with noticeable price jumps, while Zapdos ex and Alakazam ex are also gaining traction with collectors and competitive players. All five of these cards have strong artwork, great playability, or both, which is helping push prices higher.

The same can’t be said for some of the Illustration Rares of Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and their evolutions. These cards spiked when the set first dropped, but with more supply on the market, prices have started to settle. They’re still popular pulls, just not commanding the same premium they did in June.

Crashers

While the Kanto starters’ final evolutions are climbing, their earlier forms have started to dip in value as more Scarlet & Violet 151 product hits the market. Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur were among the hottest Illustration Rares when the set launched, but prices are cooling as supply catches up with demand. Charmander is down 14% to $44.44, Squirtle has dropped 7% to $43.80, and Bulbasaur has fallen 18% to $32.20. These cards are still popular with collectors who want to complete the evolutionary lines, but they no longer command the inflated early prices from the set’s release month.

The middle evolutions are following the same trend. Charmeleon has dropped 14% to $30.54, while Wartortle is down 15% to $27.36. Both Illustration Rares have fantastic artwork and remain fun pulls, but they simply don’t hold the same appeal as the Special Illustration Rare ex cards of their final evolutions. As Scarlet & Violet 151 booster boxes continue to be opened, the market has become saturated with these mid‑tier rares, bringing prices back down to more reasonable levels.

Even with these price drops, the Illustration Rares of the Kanto starters and their evolutions are still great pickups for collectors who want the full line. Prices are likely to stabilise at these lower points, making now a good time to grab them if you missed out early. The final evolutions will continue to be the big-ticket items, but these cards remain iconic pieces of the set for anyone who grew up with the original Pokémon games.

Climbers

Charizard ex has risen to $210.00, up 14% from early July. It remains one of the most in-demand cards in the set thanks to its powerful Explosive Vortex attack, which hits for 330 damage, and the fantastic Special Illustration Rare artwork that collectors continue to chase. Blastoise ex has seen an even sharper jump, climbing 28% to $84.99, driven by both its intimidating art and competitive appeal.

Solid Shell makes Blastoise surprisingly tanky, and Twin Cannons can unload massive damage by discarding Water Energy from your hand.Venusaur ex is seeing a similar surge, up 27% to $69.99. While Charizard usually grabs the spotlight, Venusaur’s Illustration Rare version has become a favourite for collectors who love its vibrant, personality-filled design. Its ability Tranquil Flower lets you heal 60 damage every turn while in the Active Spot, and Dangerous Toxwhip spreads status conditions alongside 150 damage, making it a tricky card to deal with in grindy matchups.

Legendary Pokémon aren’t being left out either. Zapdos ex has climbed 23% to $61.99, buoyed by a dynamic Illustration Rare that shows the Legendary Bird mid-strike. It isn’t just binder candy, though. Voltaic Float removes its retreat cost when it has Lightning Energy attached, and Multishot Lightning can deal big damage to both the Active and a damaged Benched Pokémon.

Rounding out the climbers is Alakazam ex, which has risen the fastest of the bunch, up 35% to $44.98. The surreal, psychedelic artwork on its Special Illustration Rare has kept collector interest high, but it’s also a flexible attacker. Mind Jack punishes opponents with full benches, while Dimensional Hand can be used even if Alakazam stays on the Bench, giving it options that most other attackers don’t have.

10 Most Expensive Cards In Black Bolt and White Flare

Black Bolt and White Flare are the final Scarlet and Violet expansions, released together earlier this month. Each half of the set has its own focus, with Black Bolt featuring Pokémon like Zekrom, Kyurem, and Genesect, while White Flare highlights Reshiram, Keldeo, and Hydreigon. What makes these sets unique is the new Black White Rares and the fact that every single Pokémon has at least one Illustration Rare or Special Illustration Rare.

Among the most expensive cards are the Black White Rare versions of Zekrom ex, Reshiram ex, and Victini, all highly desirable for both their powerful attacks and prestige foil treatments. Special Illustration Rares like Hydreigon ex, Keldeo ex, Genesect ex, and Kyurem ex are my favorites, plus they’re cheaper than their Black White Rare versions.

Pokémon TCG Price Updates

I can’t believe I was singing Amazon’s praises last week for some near MSRP deals on sealed Pokémon TCG product, as this week they’re back up to ridiculous pricing. You should stay away until they lower their prices and stick to TCGPlayer and eBay right now, which in some cases are a clean $15 below Amazon’s current pricing. The benefit of buying from TCGPlayer is the vetted sellers and full transparancy on market values, but if you can save even more on eBay then go for it. All links are above to make your life easier.

Last Week’s Crashers and Climbers

Scarlet and Violet base set prices have been volatile lately, with Illustration Rares seeing steady gains while some Special Illustration Rares have cooled off. The Ralts evolutionary line has been one of the biggest surprises this month, with Ralts and Kirlia both climbing around 28% in value. Their popularity seems to be driven more by collectors chasing the full evolution line rather than playability alone. Gardevoir ex has also risen significantly, up to $54.99, thanks to its strong Psychic Embrace ability and frequent appearances in competitive decklists. Miraidon ex and Koraidon ex have seen smaller but consistent gains, reflecting their continued use in Lightning and Fighting decks.

At the same time, several Illustration Rares have dropped sharply. Dondozo and Starly saw the biggest falls, down 30% and 37% respectively, likely due to their limited competitive relevance. Fidough, Armarouge, and Pachirisu also dipped, correcting from their initial launch hype. Overall, Scarlet and Violet’s market is shifting as collectors focus on full evolution lines and competitively viable cards, while once‑popular lower‑tier Illustration Rares settle into lower price ranges.

Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of “Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior”. Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.

Riot Games’ League of Legends Card Battler Riftbound Gets Release Date and Product List

Riot Games has revealed that its League of Legends card game, Riftbound, will launch on October 31 in multiple regions.

The physical game (not to be confused with Legends of Runeterra) will be available to preorder from Riot’s Merch Store starting on August 4.

“One of the primary goals of the Riftbound team is making Riftbound as accessible as possible to League of Legends players and TCG players alike, as soon as possible,” a press release explains.

Riftbound Product List Revealed

If you’re keen on trying your hand at Riftbound, a store locator will go live on August 4 to find local game stores, while Riot says “Select mass market stores may have Riftbound available at launch, as well.”

The initial offerings will be split between decks and booster boxes, with ‘Origins’ sets being available from October 31.

These include Proving Grounds, a starter set which includes decks based on Annie, Garen, Lux, and Master Yi, as well as Champions Decks which include Viktor, Jinx, and Lee Sin decks.

Players can also pick up 14-card booster packs to supplement their decks or build fresh ones, while booster boxes will include 24 packs. Riot has also promised playmats and card sleeves featuring Ahri, Jinx, Miss Fortune, and Volibear.

Riot Store preorders will require a Riot ID, and there will be limits on purchases. Participating stores will host Riftbound: Origins launch events, with a Promo booster up for grabs, while Riot has said it will “continue to monitor and assess the overall market demand over time for Riftbound: Origins and are prepared to take additional actions as needed.”

There’s an Arcane Boxed Set coming, too, with preorders opening at the end of August.

In the crowded landscape of TCGs, is there room for another? That remains to be seen, but Riot’s clearly excited about Riftbound.

Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.

Here’s Everything Coming to Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone Season 5 — And It’s A Lot

Activision has finally dropped new details of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6‘s fifth season.

Set to launch on August 7, Activision wants you to “unleash your inner action hero” courtesy of six new modes, four new and/or remastered maps, and a smorgasbord of new weapons, updates, and enemies across Black Ops 6, Zombies, and Warzone.

“The Rogue Black Ops team is finally back in the good graces of the CIA, and that means access to all the weapons and firepower they could ask for,” the publisher teases. “It’s time to finish the job they started and crush the final Pantheon moles, putting their betrayal to rest once and for all.”

In terms of maps, you’ll find three new ones in Black Ops 6: Runway (6v6), Exchange (6v6, 2v2), the remastered World Motor Dynasty (WMD) (6v6), plus an in-season update is on the way for Jackpot (6v6). Warzone, on the other hand, gets a Stadium POI update in Verdansk.

New modes coming to Black Ops 6 are the headshot-tastic Aim High, Snipers Only, Cranked Moshpit, plus in-season updates to Cranked Demotion, Blueprint Gunfight, and Ransack. Warzone gets LTM modes Stadium Resurgence and Deadline.

Warzone gets new cosmetics, weapon attachments, bundles, and a number of limited-time events like 90 Action Heroes, Atomic Block Party, and Operation: Hell Ride “and more.”

“Recent intelligence indicates a massive disruption across Verdansk is imminent, as recon teams have confirmed the existence of a clandestine military base hidden within the sealed walls of the National Acropolis Arena,” Activision added. “The extent of the threat remains unclear, though a weapon capable of large-scale destruction is expected to be unearthed within the vicinity.

“Breach the stadium in possibly the most impressively explosive way possible as you and other enemy squads attempt race to complete the multi-step Satellite Hijack Contract. Infiltrate the Stadium by any means necessary, confirming the nefarious operations and hidden compound within.”

As always, expect a plethora of rewards — charms, emblems, calling cards, stickers, and weapon skins — for those daring to step into ranked play, regards of whether you’re jumping into Black Ops 6’s multiplayer or Warzone’s battle royale.

Activision added that it has now completed the second phase of testing Warzone’s Casual Solos and Core Solos side-by-side, with results showing players are more than three times likely to step into Casual over Core. Consequently, as Season 5 rolls over, both Core and Casual will be available globally on day one, but within a couple of days, Core Solos will only remain an option for North American and European players — Casual will continue to be available for all.

“By tailoring playlists based on regional data, we’re ensuring that every Call of Duty: Warzone player gets the best possible experience, regardless of location,” the publisher said. “This is the next step in refining how we build playlists that serve all Call of Duty: Warzone players. We’ll continue to evaluate performance and feedback as Season 05 rolls out.”

Rounding out the update are some features for Zombies, including new map Reckoning and new Wonder Weapon Gorgofex, which combines fungal, floral, and insectile traits to “deliver precise impact damage and gravity-defying disruption in close quarters, glowing membranes on the weapon show hints of motion and circulation under the surface.” You can also expect new field upgrade Mister Peeks, enemies Uber Klaus and Kommando Klaus, as well as new grief arenas and a shiny new combat bow for stealthy takedowns.

Earlier today, we learned that Activision unshackled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 from the main Call of Duty HQ launcher. In a brief message posted to social media, publisher Activision confirmed people with either Modern Warfare 2 or 3 will be able to “access them directly” and without going into HQ first once they’ve redownloaded fresh installs of the shooter games.

Activision didn’t give a reason for the change, but it’s fair to suggest this is just a way of tidying up HQ ahead of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7‘s release later this year.

And while we’re talking about the next Call of Duty game… Announced at the Xbox Games Showcase 2025 last month, we know it’ll feature the Skirmish and Overload multiplayer modes as well a 20v20 wingsuit option after details of a developer-only Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 playtest were accidentally released to all fans on the Call of Duty app last month.

That’s not the only CoD-flavored news we had last month, either. Activision ended up pulling controversial adverts placed inside Black Ops 6 and Warzone loadouts, insisting they were a “feature test” published “in error.”

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

How Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Was Transformed Into a Festival Feature Film

If you’ve put down your controller this year to go touch a very particular patch of grass, you might have noticed that something strange is going on at the world’s major film festivals. It started in May, when a film adaptation of virally-successful Japanese indie game Exit 8 premiered at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival – the first videogame movie to do so. The film’s director, Genki Kawamura, gives his source material a compelling structural spin, appealing equally to the arthouse crowd and to game fans. But live-action adaptations of video games are, of course, nothing new.

That’s why Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Cinematic Cut is so interesting. It is not a live-action adaptation of developer Warhorse Studios’ critically-acclaimed RPG. Instead, it is an abridged and reformatted version of Act One of the game itself, presenting a newly-edited blend of the open-world game’s cutscenes and gameplay in a two-hour linear form. It was perhaps the strangest Special Presentation at this month’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic – a unique cross-format experiment. One that wasn’t Warhorse’s idea.

“It all happened at the official launch of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2,” explains KVIFF artistic director, Karel Och. “The first contact was made through a mutual friend, and Warhorse and KVIFF made each other understand that they wanted to collaborate at some point. During the following months, it was exciting to have a glimpse of what Warhorse represents – and I dare to say the same goes for our friends from the top of the gaming business.”

Warhorse’s communications director, Tobias Stolz-Zwilling, concurs. “They wanted to make the festival more modern and interesting – to offer something new”. The largest film festival in Eastern Europe, KVIFF attracts a younger, more adventurous audience than its contemporaries. The studio saw the film festival’s strange idea as a chance to give video games greater cultural relevancy in the broader mainstream. Besides – much of the game’s cinematics team were already speaking the festival’s language.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s cinematic director, Petr Pekař, studied film editing and directing with the intention of becoming a traditional filmmaker, but he found his calling in video games. “There are a lot of filmmakers in the Czech Republic, but the market is not that big, so it’s a bit overcrowded.” says Pekař. “Thankfully, there are multiple studios creating cutscenes, which are basically animated movies”. Pekar learned on the job creating cutscenes for Mafia 3, then joined Warhorse – first as a cinematic designer on the original Kingdom Come, then as director on its sequel.

Bringing Deliverance 2’s cutscenes to the big screen invites comparison with conventional cinema, an arena far from the cinematics’ original purpose. “If you’re a player, you’re mainly looking forward to playing the game,” says Pekař. “The cutscenes are more like dessert for the game – not necessary – but when it’s good and it clicks, it really helps the game, the story, and the overall feel”.

The Cinematic Cut opens, naturally, on the game’s first cutscene. As it happens, you can’t help but feel like you’re settling in for a YouTube video titled ‘Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 – All Cutscenes’ (“I don’t think anybody actually watches those in full” Pekař quips). The team’s cinematic direction is confident, but familiar – steeped in high fantasy tropes. A fiery siege on the castle is highly reminiscent of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy – a major influence on Warhorse’s stylistic approach. Transported to the cinema screen, the scene serves as a striking reminder of how video games have traded in pastiche since their inception, responding to our desire to live out the fantasy ourselves whenever we see something cool on screen. But, of course, Cinematic Cut doesn’t deliver on this pivotal fantasy like its source material does – it’s non-playable.

I think this is an experiment that somebody can pick up and do better than we did.

When the cutscene footage ends, something curious happens. Father Godwin readies his crossbow and the scene transitions into first-person. But this is no Let’s Play. Smart, quick cuts establish a new, more cinematic editing language for first-person gameplay. Godwin heads towards the stairs – cut – now he’s halfway up them – cut – now he’s atop the ramparts, plunging his sword into an enemy. It’s remarkably thrilling. “[The gameplay] was mostly recorded by Vítek Mičke, our marketing specialist,” explains Pekař. “He also made the trailers, and he’s got a good sense of timing and aesthetics. He knows how to control the camera with the controller to properly set the scene and set the mood – so it looks cool.”

A couple of awkward transitions disrupt this otherwise ‘cinematic’ tempo. A sudden cut to a ladder lowering, for example, has the distinct feel of a gameplay segment ending and a cutscene beginning, and reminds you of the objective-based game that birthed the footage. But these moments are few and far between, and they accentuate how much Warhorse has otherwise succeeded in their first attempt.

“I think this is an experiment that somebody can pick up and do better than we did – or maybe we can do it again in the future with our future projects, and learn from our mistakes.” reflects Pekař. “It’s a really interesting experience to see it on the big screen – and I was surprised that it held up. It’s odd, but it somewhat works. It’s not some kind of new cinematic media that will sit next to the movies, but for festivals and conventions, for fans – I think it’s a format that others will be doing as well”.

The team at KVIFF are equally pleased with the results. “Storytelling has many faces,” says Och. “We’re proud that a new chapter in the festival’s modern history was written in collaboration with people that we respect a great deal who follow the same goal.”

“I think this format builds a bridge,” concludes Pekař. “Gamers can come to appreciate aesthetics and cinematography, the color palettes and moods in games more, and – in the same way – movie fans can understand how movies have different functions when they’re working with interactivity. When these two mediums collaborate, sometimes it creates really strange and cool ideas. When people go out of their bubble to see something different, it helps us to understand each other’s mediums.”

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Cinematic Cut is available to watch on the KVIFF.TV website for a small fee (approx. $6) until July 31, 2027.

Blake Simons is a journalist with a taste for the self-reflexive, sentimental and surreal.

Pokémon TCG Pocket Suddenly Pulls Card Design Embroiled in Plagiarism Controversy, as Company Admits ‘Production Issue’ and Launches Wider Investigation

The Pokémon Company has dramatically pulled the design of a new Pokémon TCG Pocket trading card, amid a firestorm of controversy over its apparent origins.

Fans had said the card, Ho-Oh EX from the game’s Wisdom of Sea and Sky expansion, was based on plagiarised fan art — and in a statement issued today, The Pokémon Company essentially admitted as much.

Now, the card’s artwork — alongside that of its sister Lugia EX card, which also features the Ho-Oh design — have been pulled from the game, mere hours before Wisdom of Sea and Sky’s global launch. Addressing the situation, The Pokémon Company said it “deeply apologize[d] for any inconvenience” and was now conducting a review of all other cards, to ensure no other designs were at fault.

“To our community, thank you for your continued support and passion for Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket,” The Pokémon Company wrote. “We want to share an important update regarding the upcoming expansion, Wisdom of Sea and Sky. It has come to our attention that there was a production issue regarding the illustration of Ho-Oh featured in the immersive card artwork for Ho-Oh EX (3-Star) and Lugia EX (3-Star).

“After internal review, we discovered that the card production team provided incorrect materials as official documents to the illustrator commissioned to create these cards. As a result, both cards have been replaced with a temporary placeholder that the team is actively working to replace with new artwork as soon as it’s ready.

“We are also conducting a broader investigation to ensure no similar issues exist elsewhere in the game.”

Currently, obtaining the card shows an empty card design with awkward-looking “New Art Coming Soon” text — and then a black screen in place of the card’s immersive artwork. It doesn’t look great.

Yesterday’s controversy, which came after the Wisdom of Sea and Sky’s card designs were datamined and examined online, sparked a wider discussion over the Pokémon’s legal terms for fanart — which appear to suggest the company could, if it wanted, do whatever it liked with fan-made designs.

Today’s action strongly suggests that while The Pokémon Company may legally be able to argue it can use fan designs, it in practice does not want to typically do so, or leave fans thinking it now sees fanart as fair game for its commercial use.

“To all our players who have been looking forward to this expansion, and to the talented illustrators who bring the Pokémon world to life, we deeply apologize for any inconvenience this has caused,” The Pokémon Company continued. “We take this matter very seriously and are committed to strengthening our quality control processes to prevent this from happening again.

“Thank you for your understanding, patience, and continued support of Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket. We remain dedicated to delivering an experience that you can enjoy.”

Speaking to IGN yesterday, video game industry legal expert Richard Hoeg, host of the Virtual Legality podcast, said The Pokémon Company’s legal terms on fan art act as an acknowledgement that fans will create their own Pokémon art — but that ultimately, from a legal standpoint, any publicly-shared designs fall under the ownership of The Pokémon Company.

“It effectively says ‘Look, we (TPC/Nintendo) are legally still the only ones allowed to make derivative works (fan art included), but we all know you’re going to do it,” Hoeg said of the terms, “so if you do, on the off-chance it’s special, we can use it without otherwise paying you (since it was ours to begin with)’.”

Today’s statement, however, suggests Pokémon TCG Pocket will not be featuring any more fan art anytime soon.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Wildgate Review

It only took one match of Wildgate to see the potential in its spacefaring PvPvE mayhem. The intensely cooperative chaos of managing a spacecraft, delving into PvE dungeons for loot, and fending off rival crews makes for complex and exciting contests of teamwork and communication. After dozens of matches and more than 20 hours of playtime, though, it’s also become clear that there’s plenty of room left to build on that compelling concept. There are only a small number of characters, ships, and weapons to bring into battle, and once you’ve trekked across a few matches worth of dungeons, you’ll likely have seen all the different enemies to fight and areas to explore, which limits the longevity of these cosmic bouts. But when a good crew comes together, Wildgate’s simple but solid gunplay and multifaceted ship-to-ship combat gives Sea of Thieves a run for its money.

Wildgate is a unique multiplayer shooter that sends five teams of four players out into the most dangerous section of the galaxy, called the Reach, to battle it out for loot and glory. Their ultimate goal is to find the all-important Artifact hidden somewhere in space and escape with it out of the Wildgate, but since there’s the little issue of only being one to go around, a clash of crews in tumultuous FPS combat is all but inevitable. To improve your chances of survival (and search for the Artifact along the way), you’ll want to hurriedly touch down on various asteroids and planetoids to enter as many of the small PvE dungeons as possible, killing enemies and solving simple puzzles to claim whatever loot they’re hiding.

Upgrading your spacecraft with better shields, weapons, defensive measures, and stat improvements (like improved turning speed) can make all the difference when an enemy vessel nears and all hell breaks loose, which make for Wildgate’s tensest moments. I especially enjoy picking my favorite cannons for my ship, as there are some really neat options, like the sniper cannon that can cause a whole lot of trouble for enemies even when they’re far away, or the bomb cannon that attaches bombs to whatever they hit and can be exploded when shot by another cannon. If you’re able to find and escape with the Artifact, or simply murder all the enemy crews before they’re able to extract it themselves, then victory is yours – and in matches that can run over 40 minutes each, the taste of triumph is one of the sweetest there is.

Unfortunately, the level of coordination required doesn’t always lead to great outcomes when matchmaking with random crewmates, where silent players or, worse yet, insanely toxic personalities can make for a bad time. I found the vast majority of my matchmade experiences resulted in catastrophically bad showcasings of Wildgate’s potential, as you really need a full team communicating and firing on all cylinders to have any hope of beating your opponents. But when I got lucky with matchmade teams or brought my own friends to the party, working together to take down dungeons and outplay rival squads made for some incredibly memorable matches.

As with a lot of Wildgate, the biggest issue is simply a scarcity of options.

There’s no story to be found in Wildgate, or at least not one outside of little snippets you can read from a menu between matches, but the world definitely has a distinct and endearing personality to it. That could be in the baddies like raiders and alien life forms who look like booger people, or the playable characters, called Prospectors, who span from a big dog-looking alien to an aquatic creature in a mecha fishbowl. Each Prospector has their own interesting set of traits and abilities they can use to contribute to the team’s success (or demise). A four-armed alien named Ion, for example, can use his brawn to damage the hulls of ships just by smacking them with his fists, while Venture the robot serves as a great starter character since they don’t require oxygen to survive, regenerate health faster, and get warned when enemies are behind them.

I had a lot of fun trying each one out to see which suits my playstyle, with my favorite being Sal, an aquatic engineer who is an expert at healing the ship and can turn unwanted loot into useful items by rerolling it – a frankly overpowered ability in a game where your luck with loot drops is often the difference between life and death. There seems to be a little bit of imbalance with the characters in that regard, as Prospectors like Kae, whose teleport and telekinesis abilities makes her amazing at boarding ships without notice, even stealing items off their hull without ever entering the vessel, can seem quite busted at times. On the other hand, characters like Adrian, who can mostly just move through space extremely quickly, feel woefully underpowered by comparison. And, as is the case with lots of stuff in Wildgate, the biggest issue is simply a scarcity of options, because it doesn’t take long to unlock all seven Prospectors and decide on the winners. Seeing the same handful of familiar characters aboard each ship just feels a bit underwhelming in what’s supposed to be a galaxy of possibilities.

There are also several ships to unlock, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Your starter ship, the Hunter, is reliable all around, with three front-facing cannons and increased speed when you elect to drop your shields that make it well-suited for getting in and out of skirmishes quickly, but the other three are more interesting in their tradeoffs. My favorite, The Bastion, has a special feature that makes it much more difficult to board by rival players, with doors that lock down tight (if your knucklehead teammates remember to close them) and the ability to detect intruders by default – plus it has more health and defensive capabilities than other ships to offset its modest cannons and speed. This allowed me to play it slow in matches, building up defenses and resources while outlasting my opponents like a balled up hedgehog waiting to prick would-be predators.

There’s also the Privateer, a warship with eight cannon slots that fire faster and do more damage than other ships, which all but mandates an extremely aggressive playstyle that either proved immediately effective or resulted in the shortest matches imaginable. Finally, there’s the Scout: a tiny little ship with low health and offense that’s more than made whole by insane maneuverability and speed, and which I must admit that I won the most matches with just because being able to more easily find or steal the artifact, then outrun my opponents for a quick extraction, is pretty hard to beat. Unfortunately, these were also some of the less interesting games I played since ship-to-ship combat is so much fun and it’s tough to set that aside in the name of victory.

There are few better feelings than killing an enemy with a regular ol’ rock. 

When fighting on foot, you’ll use a small handful of weapons and gadgets to ward off NPC monsters, and occasionally other players when boarding or being boarded by the enemy. With only nine weapons currently available, there’s not a lot of different playstyles to choose from. That’s especially true when some options like the Sidelong launcher, a weird, horizontally-firing blaster that pierces through the environment, didn’t really connect with me and gathered dust on the shelf, making my viable pool of options that much smaller. Still, there are a few that stole my heart, like the goo-firing gatling gun or the powerful anti-ship rocket launcher that lets you tear through enemy vessels without needing to be mounted on a turret. You’ll also pick two gadgets to keep in your toolbelt, which allow you to do things like toss a drill onto the side of a ship to damage it over time, or a tool that automatically reloads all your weapons whenever you teleport back to your ship. My personal favorite is the rock, which is, well, a rock. You throw it at people and it does enormous damage – I just really appreciate that they could have made it a throwing dagger, but they chose the funniest possible option instead. There are few better feelings than bringing down a rampaging enemy who is carrying a massive weapon with a regular ol’ rock.

Although matches can be a ton of fun and you can definitely develop a “just one more match” mindset early on, with only one game mode and such limited character and ship options, it all feels a tad thin at the moment. Wildgate could have some real legs with regular content updates, and it’s nice that developer Moonshot Games has already put out a roadmap that promises three new characters or ships per year, because what’s here at the moment feels like just a taste of what will hopefully be a game with a lot more variety down the road. I’m not quite sure that update cadence will be fast enough to sustain my short attention span, but it’s at least a good sign there’s a plan in place that has the potential to keep me coming back to this weird galaxy. There’s still a ton of fun to be found in getting better at winning, and knowing what I know now about the types of dungeons to be found and loot to be claimed has made me a lot more strategic with how I play, but I stopped being surprised by things I saw out in the Reach pretty quickly.

One thing that does help keep games fresh is the fact that there are randomly generated modifiers injected into each match that require you to adapt if you want a chance at winning. One game might feature energy-devouring leeches floating out in the void that attach to your ship as you go and need to be shot off, while another might be filled with an abundance of asteroids that make traveling especially dangerous, or a cosmic storm that sweeps through large swathes of the map and will destroy your ship unless you’re able to loot a special shield to defend against it. These are a really clever way to make every match not feel like a carbon copy of the last, but once again, there just aren’t that many of them yet, and I started seeing repeat modifiers in pretty short order – definitely one of the areas where a bit more variety would go quite a long way, especially if they have live events that impact the world in some way to shake things up.