Category: IGN

Baldur’s Gate 3 recently launched on PS5. Like the PC version, it includes support for split-screen, allowing PS5 owners to play with their friends who are playing Larian Studios’ critically acclaimed RPG on PC. But while split-screen mostly works fine, IGN has nevertheless encountered some issues.

We discuss these issues in our new performance review of Baldur’s Gate 3, where we compare the PS5 and PC versions of the game. Reviewer Michael Thompson says that the game’s performance tanks when two characters explore different parts of a city, with the frames per second fluctuating while conducting the test in Act 3.

He notes that the CPU is being taxed while doing this work and not the GPU. Thompson reports an average of 27.3 frames per second while testing split-screen mode in Act 3. The PS5 version with split-screen enabled runs the game in Quality mode — 1440p at 30fps.

Thompson says that the game’s performance tanks when two characters explore different parts of a city, with the frames per second fluctuating while conducting the test in Act 3. He notes that the CPU is being taxed while doing this work and not the GPU. Thompson reports an average of 27.3 frames per second while testing split-screen mode in Act 3.

The third act in Baldur’s Gate 3 is known for being particularly taxing, regardless of platform, due to the large area of the location combined with the high number of NPCs populating the in-game location.

Despite performance dropping to varying degrees in Act 3, our reviewer points out that Baldur’s Gate 3 on PS5 does “a decent job of staying at or around the 30fps target” when outside of that location.

Baldur’s Gate 3 split-screen has been an issue on every platform

Split-screen has proven to be a pain point for every version of Baldur’s Gate 3, particularly on Xbox, where it was initially delayed due to performance issues. Larian compromised by removing split-screen from Xbox Series S version, though it may get the feature at a later date.

Larian Studios is also working on cross-play support that will allow PS5 owners to hop on their PC and pick up where they left off and vice versa.

Roblox Corporation announced today that its popular game platform will be coming to PlayStation consoles next month.

More than 65 million people are on Roblox every day, enjoying immersive experiences and connecting with others all over the world. Soon, Roblox will be accessible to even more people to enjoy – on Meta Quest and PlayStation. pic.twitter.com/Tzvpa5UMFs

— Roblox (@Roblox) September 8, 2023

At the 2023 Roblox Developers Conference (RDC), the company confirmed that both PS4 and PS5 versions of Roblox will be available starting in October. Roblox is already available on Xbox, in addition to PC, Mac, iOS, and Android, with a Meta Quest version receiving a broader launch sometime this month.

The press release from Roblox Corporation notes that PS4 and PS5 owners can anticipate access to “the full catalog of Roblox experiences,” implying that users playing Roblox on another platform can log into their account and pick up where they left off.

Roblox was originally released in 2006 and has become a juggernaut in recent years. Most notably, the platform saw a drastic increase in users in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic – so much so that the company told me in 2020 that over half of U.S. kids and teens under 16 play Roblox. A post on the official Roblox account also says more than 65 million people are playing Roblox daily.

With Xbox and soon PlayStation getting console versions of Roblox, there has yet to be any plans for a Nintendo Switch release. Roblox Corporation spokesperson Roman Skuratovskiy told The Verge’s Jat Peters that the company wants “Roblox to be on all devices, anywhere worldwide,” but they “currently have no imminent plans to have Roblox available on the Nintendo Switch.”

CEO Davee Baszuki, however, is not ruling it out entirely, as he mentioned during an earnings call last month that a Switch version may arrive at some point in the future.

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

After sharing a sneak peek during a recent episode of Hot Ones featuring Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon, Netherrealm Studios has released a new trailer today spotlighting the Jean-Claude Van Damme skin in Mortal Kombat 1.

The new trailer shows off Van Damme fighting a few characters, including Johnny Cage, the former being an alternative skin for the Mortal Kombat veteran that can only be unlocked if you purchase Premium/Kollector’s editions of the game. The costume the Van Damme skin wears even resembles the outfit worn in the 1988 film Bloodsport.

Van Damme becoming a playable character in the next installment in the Mortal Kombat franchise comes full circle as the character, dating back to the original Mortal Kombat game, when then developer Midway Games attempted to secure the license to use Van Damme’s likeness in their game but did not pan out at the time. The character Johnny Cage is inspired by the actor, with one of Cage’s special moves being the split-legged groin punch that Van Damme performs in the film Bloodsport.

“We tried a number of times going back and forth with [Van Damme],” Boon said during a recent episode of Hot Ones. “This time, we hit the lottery, and we got him. And we actually have his voice, and he’s going to be the Johnny Cage character.”

Mortal Kombat 1 is out on September 19. For more information, check out the recent reveal that series veteran Nitara is joining the roster (and is voiced by actress Megan Fox) and our interview with Boon at gamescom last month. Or the live-action trailer featuring Dave Bautista that also pays homage to the iconic Mortal Monday TV commercial.

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Starfield players have already made some incredibly useful mods, like a fix for the frustrating inventory system or the addition of DLSS support, but they’ve also added some very silly things like hairy chests, colourful juice boxes, and the lasagne loving cat Garfield.

That’s not to say the creators of these mods aren’t looking to provide a service and more options for players, of course. The Hairy Chest for Men of Starfield mod by kosmos84 comes with two options to suit different needs, for example: Normal and Furball.

Another from KaySato upgrades the bland juice boxes of Starfield: “This mod adds unique textures for the boring grey drink packs, giving more variety and immersion.”

Last week we discussed Starfield. This week – the week of its official launch – three other IGN UK crewmates discuss their experiences of Bethesda’s spacefaring RPG. Join Matt, Jesse, and Emma as they analyse the layers of roleplaying and space exploration, before moving on the sing even more praises of Baldur’s Gate 3 (now available on PS5!) There’s also a bit of Counter-Strike 2 chat, an enthusiastic assesment of Armored Core 6, and your feedback.

Tell us your thoughts on Starfield, Baldur’s Gate 3, and any other RPG you fancy. Or, of course, whatever food you’ve been eating this week. Get in touch at ign_ukfeedback@ign.com

IGN UK Podcast 713: Starfield – Bethesda Strikes Back

• IGN UK Podcast 712: Starfield – The Good, The Bad, and The Inventory
• IGN UK Podcast 711: The Best of gamescom 2023
• IGN UK Podcast 710: Goodbye Xbox 360
• IGN UK Podcast 709: More Baldur’s Gate 3 Because Why Not
• IGN UK Podcast 708: Baldur’s Great

The creator of viral Steam hit Only Up! has pulled the game from the storefront, citing “stress”.

Only Up! is a rock-hard physics-based platformer that went viral in May after high-profile streamers and YouTubers showcased their often futile attempts to make it to the top.

In an update on Steam spotted by PCGamesN, Only Up!’s creator described themselves as a solo developer, and said the unexpected hit was their first experience of video game development.

Only Up! is “a game I did for creativity, to test myself, and where I made a lot of mistakes” they admitted. “The game has kept me under a lot of stress all these months. Now I want to put the game behind me.”

The developer, who published Only Up! on Steam under the name SCKR Games, said they were moving on to their next game, codenamed Kilth.

“What I need now is peace of mind and healing,” they continued. “I plan to take a pause, and continue my education in game design and further with new experience and knowledge to direct my energies to my next game with the working title ‘Kith’ — it will be a new experience and a new concept with realism, a completely different genre and setting, and the emphasis is on cinematography.

“This time I hope the project will be created by a small team. This is a challenging project on which I want to significantly improve my skills in game design.”

This isn’t the first time Only Up! has been pulled from Steam. At the end of June the game was removed from Valve’s platform due to the use of copyrighted assets, but returned a day later with the infringing assets removed.

This appears to have been a recurring problem. In an update dated July 5, the developer said an “anime girl” asset “got into the game by mistake”, but had resolved the issue with the asset’s creator “on friendly terms”.

“Thanks to those who noticed the flaws in the game,” the developer said at the time. “Sometimes novice developers find themselves in such situations, and even official marketplaces for developers can sell kits containing other people’s assets.

“It’s tricky to follow and humble young developers are not safe. But thanks to those authors who are sympathetic and friendly to colleagues.”

Only Up! was also found to have quietly promoted NFTs.

The comments from the creator of Only Up! echo those of Dong Nguyen, creator of 2014 mobile phenomenon Flappy Bird, who pulled the game from the App Store and Google Play. At the time, Nguyen said he felt guilty that Flappy Bird had become “an addictive product”, and that his life had become uncomfortable. “I couldn’t sleep,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a mistake. I have thought it through.”

At the time of publication, Only Up! is unavailable to buy from Steam, although its Steam page remains online. The game’s title was changed to “not available”, and its developer renamed to “
Indiesolodev”. Only Up!’s mostly positive user review rating and near 13,000 user reviews remain online.

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.

Starfield players have already built ships based on famous craft from across science fiction, but this player did something else entirely — and may have created the most overpowered ship possible.

Redditor Solace_of_the_Thorns worked out enemy ships target your ship’s midpoint, which is calculated by taking the distance the farthest two point on the X, Y, and Z axis intersect. Solace_of_the_Thorns wondered, what would happen if the AI shot at a ship without a midpoint? The answer is the “Fat L”, or the “L-Wing”.

Baldur’s Gate 3 launched on PlayStation 5 this week following its PC release in August, and the tech experts at Digital Foundry have delivered their verdict.

According to Digital Foundry, Larian’s sprawling Dungeons & Dragons-themed role-playing game is an impressive port on PS5, and runs at a level equivalent to the PC version on ultra settings, the highest set of options available. As Digital Foundry pointed out, this isn’t typical of most console games.

The PS5 version lets you turn performance mode on or off. Both result in a 1440p resolution. Performance mode targets 60 frames per second and, according to Digital Foundry, for the most part the game hits that.

As is the case with the PC version, in the PS5 version the city of Baldur’s Gate itself causes some issues. Digital Foundry reported a frame-rate in the low 20s at worst here. Larian has said it’s working on performance improvements across the game, as well as specifically for its third act.

Baldur’s Gate 3’s quality mode targets 30fps and, Digital Foundry said, hits that target without any issues except in Act 3, where the frame-rate drops to mid-to-low 20s.

Digital Foundry also took a look at Baldur’s Gate 3 PS5 running in split-screen (split-screen multiplayer in particular has been challenging for Larian, with the studio ultimately having to drop support for the mode on Xbox Series S in order to launch the game on Xbox in 2023). There are understandable cut-backs here, but a relatively stable 30fps except, once again, in Act 3, where the frame-rate drops to the low 20s.

Baldur’s Gate 3 does not currently support crossplay, but in a recent interview Larian confirmed it’s “on the roadmap”. Larian has been working diligently to fix various bugs and performance problems since its release last month, which has kept the studio busy. When crossplay arrives, Baldur’s Gate 3 fans can play co-op across PC and PS5.

We praised Baldur’s Gate 3 in our review, calling it a “landmark moment in the genre.”

“I waited 14 years for the stars to align again so that we could get the ideal mix of crunchy, tactical, old-school RPG combat, an epic and well-written story with complex characters and lots of meaningful choices, and a level of polish and cinematic presentation that let me see the sweat and the sorrow on characters’ faces in their darkest hours,” we wrote.

PlayStation 5 owners just now getting into Larian’s RPG can check out our full Baldur’s Gate 3 walkthrough among other resources.

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 has announced an Xbox Digital Broadcast for Tokyo Game Show.

The broadcast is set for 2am PT / 5am ET / 10am UK / 6pm JST, and will share progress on games from Xbox and Bethesda, showcase games from creators mainly from Japan and Asia, and make announcements of new games coming to Game Pass.

“Players can expect to hear progress updates from Xbox and Bethesda Softworks and see a creatively diverse collection of games from creators predominantly located in Japan and across Asia,” Xbox chief marketing officer Jerret West said in a post on Xbox Wire.

“We’ll also share exciting new games coming to Xbox Game Pass, which continues to grow with great content from teams all around Asia.”

At Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest 2023, game director Naoki “Yoshi-P” Yoshida welcomed Xbox boss Phil Spencer onto the stage alongside Square Enix boss Takashi Kiryu to celebrate the announcement that Final Fantasy 14 is finally on its way to Xbox consoles after years of PlayStation console exclusivity. And it sounded like Microsoft had ensured even more Square Enix games will end up on Xbox in the coming years. In a subsequent interview with IGN, Spencer suggested more deals are currently being worked on, although he stopped short of announcing Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 16 for Xbox.
Bethesda this week released high-profile space role-playing game Starfield, and overnight announced it has more than six million players. This makes Bethesda’s biggest game launch of all time, beating out the likes of Fallout and The Elder Scrolls.

Announced upcoming Xbox Game Studios games include Compulsion Games’ South of Midnight, The Initiative’s Perfect Dark, inXile’s Clockwork Revolution, Ninja Theory’s Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, Obsidian’s Avowed, Playground’s Fable, Rare’s Everwild, Turn 10’s Forza, and Undead Labs’ State of Decay. Microsoft-owned Mojang runs Minecraft, and Rare operates Sea of Thieves.

On the Bethesda side of things, MachineGames is working on an as-ey untitled Indiana Jones game, which Bethesda boss Todd Howard recently hinted is set for a reveal in 2024. Bethesda also owns Japanese developer behind The Evil Within, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and Hi-Fi Rush.

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.