Category: IGN

Sony just released a $700 PS5 Pro, a mid-gen console upgrade that offers better performance than the base PS5.

While we still don’t know how well the PS5 Pro is selling, thoughts have inevitably turned to whether Microsoft will follow suit and offer a mid-gen console upgrade of its own. After all, Microsoft has form when it comes to mid-cycle hardware refreshes, offering a more powerful version of the Xbox One.

According to Xbox boss Phil Spencer, though, times have changed, and while he failed to definitively rule out releasing a more powerful Xbox Series console, it doesn’t sound likely.

This week, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 received a new update (patch 4.5) and with it the hotly anticipated Neo-Volkite pistol.

The Neo-Volkite pistol is a powerful thermal ray weapon that shoots lethal beams that burn enemies to ash. It’s available for the Assault, Vanguard, and Bulwark classes and is limited to Operations, Space Marine 2’s three-player co-op focused PvE mode.

And it’s there that Space Marine 2 players are teaming up to form a three-pronged Neo-Volkite pistol death stream, rekindling memories of all those moments when the Ghostbusters use their iconic Proton Packs to trap ghosts.

The Neo-Volkite pistol is unique among Space Marine 2’s armory in that it blasts a heat ray onto enemies, dealing accumulative thermal damage. Focusing on one enemy ramps up the damage until it generates a localized explosion for huge damage to your target and all nearby enemies.

Players have found that while the Neo-Volkite pistol is fun to use, it isn’t that effective especially on harder difficulties where ammo is scarce. At least, that’s the case in isolation. But what happens when all three players use the Neo-Volkite pistol to concentrate three heat rays onto the pesky Terminids? You get satisfying, Ghostbusters-style alien death, that’s what.

Redditor Crimsas demonstrated this in action, showing just how effective three Neo-Volkite pistols all trained on a single, powerful Termanid enemy (in this case a Carnifex) can be brought down to size.

All we now need is a mod that replaces the Neo-Volkite pistol model with an actual Proton Pack and we’ve got Ghostbusters 40k edition.

Publisher Focus Entertainment has said it’s limiting the Neo-Volkite pistol to Operations mode for now “as we continue to experiment with balancing in PvP.” It will be added to Eternal War mode in Space Marine 2’s next major update alongside a new Operations map, a new enemy, and the Dark Angels cosmetics. So, hopefully it won’t be long before even PvP is filled with a spot of Ghostbusters action.

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.

Image credit: Crimsas / reddit.

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.

It was inevitable: Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 now has wild, out-there soldier and weapon skins with the launch of Season 1 — skins it was always going to get given what’s gone before in previous Call of Duty games — but that hasn’t stopped fans from lamenting the end of the game’s Gulf War-themed Honeymoon period.

To be clear, there is no surprise here. Indeed, Black Ops 6, which is set in the early 90s, launched with various Zombies-themed soldier and weapon skins, including a robot, but they were at least lifted from the Zombies story.

Now, it’s open season on cosmetics, and Activision has gone hard with operator skins based on dragons, a shark, and even a raccoon.

If you’re playing Black Ops 6 Multiplayer for Season 1 you’ll have no-doubt spotted these outlandish skins out in the battlefield. Already there are many options, but there is one the community has zeroed in on, included with the super expensive Tracer Pack: Draconic Forge Mastercraft.

Microsoft has announced its launch plans for Obsidian’s RPG Avowed, including a surprise release on Blizzard’s Battle.net.

Avowed’s release date is set for February 18, 2025, across Xbox Series X and S, the Xbox app on Windows, Steam, and Battle.net. As a first-party Microsoft game, Avowed launches day one on Game Pass.

It’s the Battle.net launch that’s of most interest here, because it means you’ll be able to buy the game with World of Warcraft gold.

Here’s how it works: WoW Tokens can be exchanged for Battle.net Balance, not just game time, which means players can indirectly buy anything Blizzard sells for real-world money with in-game gold. Players can buy a WoW Token from Blizzard for $20 and either keep it for later or put it on the in-game auction house. Another player will (hopefully) buy that token from the auction house for in-game gold, then exchange it for $15 of Battle.net Balance (Blizzard effectively takes a $5 tax from the transaction). Battle.net Balance can then be used to buy anything Blizzard sells for World of Warcraft for real-world money, including video games.

At the time of this article’s publication, a WoW Token is going for 262,365 gold (the price fluctuates as demand rises and falls). At its cheapest, Avowed costs $69.99, which means you’ll need five WoW Tokens to exchange for enough Battle.net Balance to buy the game. That equates to 1.3 million gold.

That’s a lot of gold most players probably don’t have lying around. But with Avowed three months from launch, there is time to get that WoW gold grind going, if you’re determined to buy the game without actually buying the game.

Meanwhile, it’s worth noting that Microsoft is selling up to five days of early access to Avowed via the Premium Edition, which costs $89.99 and also includes two premium skin packs and access to the digital artbook and soundtrack.

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.

Microsoft gaming boss Phil Spencer has responded to the launch of the company’s ‘This Is An Xbox’ ad campaign, which is already a meme online.

This week, Microsoft launched a new advertising campaign designed to hammer home the fact that you can play Xbox pretty much on any device and anywhere, sparking yet more backlash at the company’s console strategy.

The ‘This is an Xbox’ campaign includes images of cats and a bento box among other devices that play video games. The idea Microsoft is trying to get across, which is in keeping with its previous messaging, is that Xbox is less about consoles these days and more about being able to play on any device capable of playing a video game. So, in this sense, a TV is an Xbox, a phone is an Xbox, etc.

Lenovo is pushing Black Friday pricing on Xbox controllers earlier than we expected. Starting today, you can pick up an official Microsoft Xbox Series X|S wireless controller for as low as $34.99 after you apply coupon code “PLAYXBOX“. Seven different color schemes are on sale right now. Most of them are $39.99, however the Velocity Green controller is $5 cheaper than the rest at $34.99. These controllers are compatible with Xbox Series X and S consoles as well as your PC.

Xbox Controllers for $34.99-$39.99

Aesthetics aside, these Xbox wireless controllers are identical to the one that’s bundled with the Xbox Series X and S console. Standard features include textured grips, hybrid D-pad, button mapping with the Xbox app, a 3.5mm audio jack that works with any wired headset, and a Share button to upload screenshots and video.

The controller supports both Xbox wireless and Bluetooth connectivity. That means you can use it for your PC or mobile device. In fact, we think this is the the best PC controller you can get. If your PC doesn’t have Bluetooth, you can still use it in wired mode with a USB Type-C cable or go out and buy a Bluetooth or Xbox wireless adapter.

21% Off Xbox Controller Ghost Cipher Edition

Shattered Space hasn’t fared terribly well among fans since releasing back in September, sitting at a Mostly Negative rating among fans on Steam. Most of the comments center around the quest’s story, though there’s plenty of broader criticism for Starfield itself. But Todd Howard seems to have his own theory on why Shattered Space might not have gone down as well as it should have.

In an interview with the Game File newsletter, Phil Spencer said “we’re always learning” when talking about how to approach expansions, and mentioned a conversation he had with Howard about the release cadence for content. Howard focused in on the buggy, which was surprise released during Gamescom Opening Night Live ahead of the expansion.

“Todd and I were talking about Shattered Space. Starfield is a game I put a ton of hours into and really love, but they’ve had this thing where they’ve added features throughout the year and then they had an expansion,” Spencer said. “I think some of the feedback on the expansion is: ‘We wanted more features.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, should we have waited to put buggies out?'”

He continued, “And so, I think you’re trying to tune both development effort and the impact of the expansion. And I think there will always be a balance to managing the game month to month. But not every game will do expansions.”

Ultimately, though, Shattered Space was criticized more for its lack of space content than its lack of ground content. We wrote in our review, “As far as I can tell there’s absolutely nothing added for spacefarers other than now you have a way to legitimately acquire Va’ruun ships instead of stealing them from Zealots who attack you in space. That’s fine, as an expansion doesn’t always have to meaningfully expand every aspect of a game – but I was surprised that there wasn’t at least a token feature thrown in for space jockeys in an expansion with ‘space’ in the title.”

As for Spencer, he shares various other thoughts about Xbox’s game lineup in the interview, including some of the biggest surprises (Blizzard and South of Midnight among them) and Avowed’s release timing. Xbox also launched a new marketing campaign today called “This is Xbox,” which highlighted various items that may or may not be an Xbox.

Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Lenovo is pushing Black Friday pricing on Xbox controllers earlier than we expected. Starting today, you can pick up an official Microsoft Xbox Series X|S wireless controller for as low as $34.99 after you apply coupon code “PLAYXBOX“.

Seven different color schemes are on sale right now. Most of them are $39.99, however the Velocity Green controller is $5 cheaper than the rest at $34.99. These controllers are compatible with Xbox Series X and S consoles as well as your PC.

Xbox Controllers for $34.99-$39.99

Aesthetics aside, these Xbox wireless controllers are identical to the one that’s bundled with the Xbox Series X and S console. Standard features include textured grips, hybrid D-pad, button mapping with the Xbox app, a 3.5mm audio jack that works with any wired headset, and a Share button to upload screenshots and video.

The controller supports both Xbox wireless and Bluetooth connectivity. That means you can use it for your PC or mobile device. In fact, we think this is the the best PC controller you can get. If your PC doesn’t have Bluetooth, you can still use it in wired mode with a USB Type-C cable or go out and buy a Bluetooth or Xbox wireless adapter.

21% Off Xbox Controller Ghost Cipher Edition

Lenovo didn’t wait around until Black Friday to drop the price of the Ghost Cipher Limited Edition Xbox Series X|S wireless controller to the lowest we’ve seen. Right now you can get it for just $54.99 after a 21% off discount. Although Xbox controllers in standard colors are likely to be discounted further for Black Friday (we expect they’ll be $39.99 each), it’s less probable that the Ghost Cipher edition will follow the trend, since it was only just released on October 21. This is an official Microsoft controller that’s compatible with Xbox Series X and S consoles as well as your PC.

21% Off Xbox Controller Ghost Cipher Edition

PlayStation 5 exclusive Astro Bot saw its supposedly final drop of downloadable content released today in the last announced weekly speedrunning level, but fans are scratching their heads over a number of unreleased bots present in the credits.

Reddit user pkowswald noted that, even with the additional two bots released in today’s DLC, there are still several game franchises such as Assassin’s Creed and Rayman credited in Astro Bot despite not having individual bots of their own.

While it’s entirely possible this is from deals fallen through or content cut, what makes the prospect of more DLC down the line more believable is that the credits were actually updated to include an extra character upon the final speedrunning level’s release. None of the unused franchises were cut either.

And what’s more, Astro Bot similarly featured franchises such as Stellar Blade in its credits before its protagonist Eve was added as a bot in the speedrunning DLC.

Astro Bot still includes licensing credits for Rayman, Worms, Assassin’s Creed, Beyond Good & Evil, Croc, and Tomba, the last of which was added today. Nothing official has been said about if these games will be featured eventually, or if more DLC is planned. The PS5 exclusive seems to have performed well both commercially and critically though, so Sony may want to push more DLC down the line.

Astro Bot sold 1.5 million units in its first two months on sale and earned a 9/10 in IGN’s review. “A fantastically inventive platformer in its own right, Astro Bot is particularly special for anyone with a place in their heart for PlayStation,” we said.

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