Category: IGN

Japanese developer Cygames published a list of rules for fans wanting to visit the real-life horses behind the characters in its anime racehorse-girl management game Umamusume: Pretty Derby, which got a long-awaited global release this June.

Yes, anime racehorse-girl management game, you heard that right. In the world of Umamusume: Pretty Derby, racehorses are reborn as cute anime girls, complete with equine ears and tails. The franchise started off in 2018 as an anime, followed by a Japan-only release of the mobile game in 2021. In the game, players can talk to, train and manage horse-girls like Special Week and Mejiro McQueen, sharing in their triumphs and losses. As a result, the Umamusume franchise has inspired a cult following, and apparently many fans have become interested in the real-life Japanese racehorses behind their favorite characters.

However, in their enthusiasm, it seems that some fans may have caused distress to their favorites and their owners in real life. As previously reported by Dexerto, Cygames shared guidelines for those who want to visit real-life racehorses in Japan, reminding people that you can’t just rock up to a ranch and that horses are easily startled by loud noises and camera flashes.

The 9-point guideline was created by the Racehorse’s Hometown Information Center. The first two points urge would-be visitors to check with the center for tour availability and to confirm tour times before visiting. The rules also remind visitors to follow the instructions of ranch staff at all times, to refrain from smoking on-site, and not to enter stables or pastures without permission. The rest of the rules are centered on the horses’ wellbeing — don’t make loud noises and refrain from touching, feeding or taking flash photography of the horses.

Subnautica 2 is officially delayed to 2026, publisher Krafton has confirmed to IGN. The news follows a report that claimed the delay may cost the development team a $250 million bonus.

Krafton, the Korean company behind smash hit battle royale PUBG, acquired the $500 million-valued Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds in October 2021. At the time, Krafton insisted Unknown Worlds would continue to operate as an independent outfit. Following its announcement, the hotly anticipated Subnautica 2 was set for an early access release later in 2025.

However, last week, Unknown Worlds founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, and CEO Ted Gill, were replaced by former Striking Distance CEO, Steve Papoutsis, in a shakeup that shocked the Subnautica community and sparked concern over the sequel’s future.

Cleveland subsequently revealed on Reddit that while he and his colleagues believed Subnautica 2 was “ready for early release… that decision is in Krafton’s hands.” Krafton issued a community update of its own, suggesting a delay was incoming.

Then, earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that Subnautica 2 was delayed to 2026 — just months before it was due to pay a $250 million bonus to the development team. Bloomberg added that the delay was “against the wishes of the studio’s former leadership,” and that the $250 million bonus would have kicked in if Unknown Worlds hit certain revenue targets by the end of 2025. Without Subnautica 2 coming out this year, hitting those revenue targets is unlikely, and the bonus won’t be paid out.

Per Bloomberg:

Unknown Worlds’ leadership planned to share the additional money with all of the studio’s employees, which number around 100. Staff who were at the company at the time of the acquisition were told they were eligible for bonuses ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to seven figures, the people said.

Now, Krafton has made Subnautica 2’s delay to 2026 official, but in a statement to IGN, it insisted the decision had nothing to do with “any contractual or financial considerations.” Instead, Krafton claimed, the delay was about responding to feedback from playtests, and delay talks were already under discussion before Cleveland, McGuire, and Gill were outed.

Here’s Krafton’s statement in full:

During playtests for Subnautica 2, we received valuable feedback from our community that reinforced our confidence in the game’s direction. At the same time, the feedback highlighted a few areas that could benefit from further refinement before release.

As community voices play a central role in how we shape our games, we’ve made the decision to give the development team more time to implement that feedback and deliver a more complete experience. As a result, Subnautica 2’s Early Access launch has been rescheduled for 2026.

This decision was based solely on our commitment to quality and to delivering the best possible experience for players. It was not influenced by any contractual or financial considerations. Additionally, the decision had already been under discussion prior to recent leadership changes at the studio.

For fans, the wait for Subnautica 2 goes on.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Both LEGO aficionados and Nintendo fans should check out this new deal that just popped up at Walmart. The imposing LEGO Super Mario The Mighty Bowser 71411 set is currently on sale for $219. As of this moment, this deal is exclusive to Walmart and doesn’t seem to be an official part of Prime Day (it’s still $270 on Amazon). The Mighty Bowser has been in production since October of 2022, so this set is expected to be retired within the next year.

20% Off the LEGO Super Mario The Mighty Bowser 71411

Prime Day is still going on until this Friday, July 11, and there are countless great deals available in a wide variety of categories. There happens to be a significant amount of Legend of Zelda-related items in these sales, so I’ve gathered some of the best and put together a little Prime Day gift guide for that Zelda fan in your life. Amazon has everything from games, books, and apparel on sale, so Hyrule is your oyster.

If the Prime Day deals don’t quite have what you’re looking for, be sure to check out the IGN Store for more awesome Legend of Zelda gift ideas.

Some of the Best Legend of Zelda Gifts to Grab During Prime Day

Legend of Zelda Video Games

Of course, the Legend of Zelda video games are the bread and butter, and we wouldn’t have any of these other snazzy gifts without them. While the discounts on these aren’t as steep as I’d like, it’s never a bad time to experience Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom for the first time. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is the highest discounted of the bunch at 15% off, and I highly recommend it if you enjoy the classic top-down 2D style like I do.

Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom both have Nintendo Switch 2 upgrades available, so if it’s your first time dipping your toes into these masterpieces and you have the snazzy new handheld-hybrid console, you won’t be disappointed. There are also quite a few other Switch games on sale if you’re looking outside of Hyrule for games to play.

Legend of Zelda Books

Part of Prime Day is a buy 2, get 1 free promotion on dozens of physical media. A handful of Zelda books are included in this at a discount, so if you’ve had your eye on these, you can bundle and save for some great coffee table books. Of note, while the Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia is sitting at 55% off, it isn’t included in the buy 2, get 1 free sale like Hyrule Historia and Art & Artifacts.

Then you have the Legend of Zelda manga series, covering the stories from most of the games like Twilight Princess and Ocarina of Time. Another odd selection of these is included in buy 2, get 1 free, but the box sets of the entire library of Zelda manga is still discounted for Prime Day. Check them out below.

Legend of Zelda Manga Box Sets

Buy 2 Legend of Zelda Books, Get 1 Free

The Legend of Zelda Animated Series

You’re likely familiar with the “well excuuuuuuse me, Princess” meme at this point. It originated in the incredibly cheesy and campy animated series from the 80’s. Luckily for us, the complete series on DVD is on sale during Prime Day and qualifies for the buy 2, get 1 free promotion. You can save an additional 10% off the already discounted 43% with the attached coupon.

The Legend of Zelda Apparel

We all love a good graphic tee, and the Legend of Zelda selection is pretty good. There are countless styles, sizes, and colors available and discounted for Prime Day, but here are some of my favorites. The Retro Kanji Link Portrait is an awesome recreation of the classic Link design and goes with any style. These are all 30% off, so if you’ve been looking to upgrade your wardrobe with awesome nerdy shirts Prime Day has you covered.

Other Great The Legend of Zelda Gifts

There are countless cool gifts to pick from, it really was hard to narrow down this list without making it too extensive. Below are some more of my favorite things I’d actually get for my home office, light the heart container light and the Majora’s Mask LED neon sign. The ceramic ocarina actually works and comes with a song book with music from the games, as well as an easy explainer for how to play it. These are going for between 20% to 42% off for certain items and make great additions to bookshelves, desks, what have you.

Myles Obenza is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Bluesky @mylesobenza.bsky.social.

Elden Ring Nightreign has already rolled out three of its enhanced bosses, dubbed Everdark Sovereigns, since launch. And before the next ones arrive in the Lands Between, developer FromSoftware is bringing the original three back for some limited-time rematches.

The Everdark Sovereign versions of Gaping Jaw, Sentient Pest, and Darkdrift Knight will all be coming back in pairs over the next three weeks, starting tomorrow on July 10. Don’t worry, you won’t have to fight them both at the same time; this just seems like a way for players who missed the original runs of the monstrously enhanced Nightlords to get a second shot at them.

Per FromSoftware’s schedule, the Gaping Jaw and Darkdrift Knight will be the first duo up. Here’s the full schedule:

• July 10 – 17: Gaping Jaw, Darkdrift Knight
• July 17 – 24: Sentient Pest, Darkdrift Knight
• July 24 – 31: Gaping Jaw, Sentient Pest

Now, for those who have dropped off a bit or need a reason to come back to Elden Ring Nightreign, you’ll have some big, bad bosses to tackle.

Players who have been locked-in since launch, though, might be disappointed to see FromSoftware re-running the old Everdark bosses already. If so, don’t fret. The studio confirmed that Everdark Sovereign versions of Tricephalos, Augur, Equilibrious Beast, and Fissure in the Fog are still in the works, and the timing of their arrival will be announced at a later date. I don’t know what’s in store, but I like this one reply suggesting Tricephalos will continuously split into even more dogs, like some kind of dog-hydra.

All of the Everdark Sovereigns seem to have been fairly well-received so far, too. While Gaping Jaw certainly made an impact with its surprise debut, the comparatively tamer upgrades to Darkdrift Knight and Sentient Pest both added a lot to each bout.

There’s still DLC expected somewhere down the road for Elden Ring Nightreign, but considering we’re only a few months removed from its launch, I think we’re seeing a reasonable cadence of new content and recurring shots at timed events. Duos and crossplay would still be nice, but otherwise, there’s still much to do and see in the Lands Between.

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.

Like UFOs, ball lightning and bigfoot, one of the great mysteries of our time is that Superman is apparently Kryptonite to good videogames. There’s yet to be a truly great Kal-El game in the vein of Batman: Arkham Asylum or Spider-Man, but as you can see from the list below, many have tried.

The latest developer to try is Epic Games, as the Man of Steel has landed as part of Fortnite X Superman, the latest crossover event for one of the world’s biggest games. But what does his inclusion in Fortnite involve? Our list takes a look at that, as well as taking you through a history of Superman in pixels. Discover where you can find Superman as a hero, a playable guest character or just a cheeky Easter Egg in the words below.

Official Superman Games

These are “true” and “proper” Superman games, experiences where you embody the Man of Steel himself.

Superman (1978)

This Atari 2600 release marks Superman’s debut to gamers, all four kilobytes of him. It might not seem much to look at today, but won positive reviews for its action and graphics back in ye olde 1970s. In the role of Superman, players have to rebuild a bridge at the Metropolis waterfront damaged by Lex Luthor, capture your evil nemesis, and return to the Daily Planet as quickly as possible. Complicating things are the fact that Lois Lane has been kidnapped, Luthor has released Krytonite satellites that can deactivate your powers, and there are henchmen waiting to take you down. Using your powers, you can see beyond the area you’re in with X-ray vision and then fly in to grab and drop Lex and his goons into jail. Just remember to use phone booths to change back into your Clark Kent clothes before stopping by the Daily Planet.

Superman (1987)

Jump forward almost a decade and our favorite alien adoptee found his way to the NES, and got a cute 8-bit makeover in the process. For this outing Superman gets a bunch of abilities including super hearing, x-ray vision, heat vision, super spin, and not one but two types of super breath. He needs them to take on not just Lex Luthor but also Kryptonian bad guys Ursa, Non and General Zod.

Superman (1988)

A year later, Superman leveled up for the Taito arcade game. Notable for having its own original villain Emperor Zaas, this time around Kal-El also got to use his fists, his feet and a Sonic Blast ability. A mix of sidescroller, action adventure and fighting game, it had a mixed reception, but snapping up one of these arcade machines today will set you back around $4,000.

Superman: The Man of Steel (1989)

Released in 1989 on both the ZX Spectrum and Amiga, Superman: The Man of Steel was split into flying levels, a side scrolling beat ‘em up, and a vertical scrolling battle in battle in space. The story that linked those levels was told with cute comic book page panels.

The Death and Return of Superman

In 1994, a pre-Warcraft Blizzard Entertainment released The Death and Return of Superman, a beat ‘em up featuring five playable flavors of the Man of Steel; the vanilla original, Superboy, Steel, Cyborg Superman, the Eradicator. Doomsday is the opening act’s big bad, and bio-genetically engineered monster Clawster also makes an appearance. The action was focused on melee combat and airborne projectile attacks. Fun fact: one of the game’s artists and producers, Samwise Didier – who just retired in 2023 – was later responsible for the addition of the Pandaren race to World of Warcraft in 2010.

Superman 64

Also known as Superman: The New Superman Adventure, this Nintendo 64 Supes game is infamous among retro gamers for its terrible execution. Created as a spin off from Superman: The Animated Series, it was the first time our blue boy scout has appeared in a 3D game, though he probably should have skipped the opportunity. It was called out for visual flaws like its Kryptonite fog (which crudely disguised a very short draw distance), terrible controls and a bizarre race mode. IGN reviewed it in 1999, and we weren’t fans. “With horrible control, unforgivable framerates and more bugs than can be counted, [developer] Titus should be absolutely ashamed of this awful game, and the company should be doubly ashamed for pissing all over such a beloved license,” said our reviewer. “Do not buy this piece of garbage.”

Superman: Shadow of Apokolips

Luckily Superman 64 wasn’t the end of the road for Kal-El’s adventures in video games, and the PlayStation 2/GameCube third person action game Shadow of Apokolips was better received than its predecessor. Its story saw Lex Luthor team up with Darkseid and the Intergang crime syndicate, and featured voice acting from Malcolm McDowell, Michael York and Lori Petty. “It’s a thrill to finally play a Superman game that’s handled with this much care and keen observation, with regard to control and special abilities,” said our reviewer, before branding it a “a slightly better-than-decent action game.”

Superman: The Man of Steel

Based on the events of Superman: Y2K and featuring Brainiac 13, Xbox’s alternative to Shadow of Apokalips, released in the same year, was another disappointment for Superman fans. “Superman: The Man of Steel is, at the very best, a weekend rental. It’ll take about 10 hours to complete, mainly because it’s so impossible to beat the missions thanks to the controls,” wrote IGN’s reviewer. “Someday someone is going to get Superman right and make a killer game. But not today.”

Superman Returns

2006 was the last time Superman got to star in his very own game, but unfortunately it was a game where the final boss was a tornado, rather than an exciting supervillain. Very loosely based on the Bryan Singer movie, star Brandon Routh actually leant his voice to the game, although he “sounds about as interested in saving Metropolis as he is in deciding on a ripe melon at the market,” according to the IGN review. “Punching out bad guys becomes about as fun as taking out the garbage, and the “epic” battle between Superman and the forces of evil is as simple and dull as a day of chores.”

Super Playable Characters

These games are not about Superman, but they do feature Superman… and you can play as him, too.

Justice League Task Force

It’s 1995. You’ve fired up your SNES, eaten your Honey Frosted Wheaties and your best friend is coming over to play your new fighting game. Justice League Task Force, developed by Blizzard Entertainment (wow, these guys sure loved DC before they got into orcs and elves) featured Superman alongside characters like The Flash, Wonder Woman, and Green Arrow battling mechanical clones of the DC heroes. Despite rocky reviews, the Justice League fighting series would get another three games, and Superman is a playable fighter in them all.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

In a world where Leatherface is a guest character in the Mortal Kombat series, a mash up between MK and a comic book universe looks positively tame. This 2008 crossing of the streams is the result of not just a canny guy in the licensing department at DC, but because Raiden and Superman accidentally create big bad Dark Kahn, who threatens both their universes. Superman has moves like Soaring Knockout, Ice Breath, and the Heroic Brutality finishers where he hammers his opponent into the ground like a rusty nail, or freezes them before shattering their bodies to pieces.

Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes

Superman gets a mention in the first Lego Batman game, but in Lego Batman 2, Lego Batman 3 and Lego DC Super-Villains he’s a playable character. You get most brawn for your buck in the second Lego Batman game, where he’s a big part of the story (and comes complete with his signature theme tune, taken from the classic Christopher Reeves films). He rescues the Dark Knight and Robin, takes on a large Joker robot, and helps his Bat Buddy defend Wayne Tower.

Injustice: Gods Among Us

Superman appears on the roster of NetherRealm’s fighting game, Injustice, but as it’s set in Earth-49 he’s the spicy bad version, driven mad by the death of Lois Lane, and so gets to be a villain. He brings all the tricks you’d expect to the 1v1 matches; heat vision, Ground Tremor, and freezing Super Breath. His Super Move – the Kryptonian Smash – is brutal, he literally punches his opponent into space before punching them back down to Earth.

Injustice 2

And Super(bad)man came back for the sequel, with a new Final Flight Super Move that again sees him punching his opponent upwards, this time giving them a few wallops in the sky before slamming them into the ground. You can also add Meteor Drop to that too, where you introduce your opponent to the wonders of geology at close quarters.

Lego Dimensions

The 2015 game that used a Skylanders-style mix of real world figures and in-game content added the “Superman starring DC Comics fun pack” in 2016. By grabbing the Superman minifigure, players could get access to his Hoverpod and the DC Comics World in-game, opening up the glittering city of Metropolis. Admittedly, it’s a version of Metropolis that The Lord of the Rings villain Sauron has installed one of his creepy sky eyes into, but that’s about on par with the many other evils the city has had to contend with over the years.

MultiVersus

Warner Bros. free to play fighting game MultiVersus was shut down just this year, but while it lived it was a fever dream where an eclectic mix of WB franchise characters faced off in platform-based, Super Smash-like combat. Superman was there along with his DC compadres Black Adam and Wonder Woman, but then so was Velma from Scooby-Doo, Gizmo from Gremlins, Arya Stark from Game of Thrones, Jake The Dog from Adventure Time, and Looney Tunes pin-up Lola Bunny. Oh, and you could dress them in skins, so Ugly Sweater Superman was a real thing that existed in the world for a short, beautiful time.

Honorable Mentions

This category is for the games where there’s the barest whiff of Superman spandex. Little details hidden in the game world, special skins, or if you’re lucky, an evil cameo.

Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure

This super cute 2013 spin off has you help Superman with a Lex Luthor problem and lets you summon him to help you in other battles, too. Using the right words you can call on a bunch of different Kal-El variants, from Cyborg Superman to Kingdom Come Superman, and you can even borrow a Superman costume to grant main character Maxwell heat vision and ice breath attacks.

DC Universe Online

The DC Comics MMO lets players create their own personalized brand of superhero (or supervillain) but Superman makes an appearance as a mentor for new superhero players, taking them through tutorial missions. He can also be found in the in-game Metropolis and appears as an ally to support players with his skillset. If you choose to be a villain you’ll need to battle him as you level up. You can also try out a Superman avatar in the game’s PvP mode, Legends.

Batman Arkham Knight

While you won’t catch a glimpse of the hench hero in Rocksteady’s fantastic Batman Arkham series, there are multiple references to him in the third game’s world. There are posters for flights to Metropolis, a few LexCorp buildings dotted around Gotham City, and the NPC thugs seem to enjoy gossiping about Superman on the regular. They call him “that freak from Metropolis,” and “the other guy in the cape” and speculate on his alter ego. “”Next thing you know, someone’s gonna tell me Superman’s really a janitor. Or no, a journalist.” Oh, if they only knew.

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League

Evil Superman makes a dramatic entrance in Rocksteady’s ill-fated 2024 follow up for the Arkham series, appearing just in time to grab a nuke, laugh maniacally, and take on the Suicide Squad in a boss fight. He delivers some pretty weak sauce villain banter until you can bring him down to Earth with Gold Kryptonite assisted violence. The poor guy doesn’t even get to play the top boss in the game; that role is taken in the finale by one of many Brianiacs.

LittleBigPlanet 2

A tiny Sackboy Superman skin and outfit based on the iconic hero, complete with adorable Superman forehead curl? Perfect. No notes.

Minecraft

To celebrate the release of the new James Gunn Superman movie, Minecraft has added a bunch of free Superman skins, featuring Lois Lane, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Mr. Terrific and of course, the old red cape and shiny suit. Previously, players could add some super to their world with the Superheroes Unlimited mod, which was first released in 2012.

Fortnite

The new Fortnite X Superman event, launched to coincide with the new James Gunn movie, adds a Kal-El themed battle pass that culminates in a skin based on David Corenswet’s version of the iconic superhero. There’s also an in-game item that will unlock Supes’ heroic abilities, allowing you to wipe the floor in a battle royale match. While this is the most prominent use of Superman in Fortnite to date, it’s not actually his first appearance: back in 2021, Chapter 2, Season 7 featured a Superman skin that had two styles; one featuring the suit and cape, and another that transformed you into the more civilian-looking Clark Kent, complete with glasses.

Rachel Weber is the Senior Editorial Director of Games at IGN and an elder millennial. She’s been a professional nerd since 2006 when she got her start on Official PlayStation Magazine in the UK, and has since worked for GamesIndustry.Biz, Rolling Stone and GamesRadar. She loves horror, horror movies, horror games, and French Bulldogs. Those extra wrinkles on her face are thanks to going time blind and staying up too late finishing every sidequest in RPGs like Fallout and Witcher 3.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered finally has a new update with much-needed performance improvements and tweaks to the difficulty settings.

Bethesda said update 1.2 focuses on fixes for quests, gameplay, and performance, and includes new damage settings. 1.2 won’t roll out to all platforms just yet, Bethesda added, but it will be released today, July 9, on Steam Beta.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered update 1.2 patch notes:

SETTINGS CHANGES

• We’ve added additional difficulty settings to allow players to further tune their “Player Combat Damage” & “Enemy Combat Damage”. Players can now select from “Novice”, “Apprentice”, “Adept”, “Journeyman”, “Expert”, and “Master” options in the Gameplay menu. We hope the “Journeyman” setting, specifically, will act as a better bridge between “Adept” and “Expert” for players.

UI

• Fixed map markers disappearing
• Fixed missing punctuation in Simplified Chinese text
• Fixed “Toggle All” button on Map screen to work as a ‘Hold’
• Various fixes to localized text
• Fixed controller issues in Spell making menu
• Fixed menus being cropped incorrectly in 1280×1024
• Fixed the incorrect player stance in the inventory menu after fast travel
• Fixed rebinding keys for Lock Picking
• Fixed keybinds not updating in AZERTY
• Fixed soft lock with controller in Enchanting menu
• Fixed stats not updating when equipping enchanted items
• Fixed a character skin glitch when closing the inventory menu

CRASHES

• Fixed crashes that could occur while fighting Jyggalag
• Fixed crashing when killing a paralyzed NPC with an arrow
• Fixed crashing when paralyzing an already-paralyzed NPC
• Fixed crashing in Spellmaking menu when rapidly removing & implementing effects
• Fixed various GPU crashes
• Fixed crashes that could occur during auto saves

AUDIO

• Fixed underwater SFX persisting after leaving exiting water
• Fixed missing ambient SFX in Shivering Isles

QUESTS

• Fixed NPCs floating after being knocked down during Priory of the Nine quest
• Fixed crashing when entering Flooded Mine during Final Justice quest
• Fixed pathing for Shaleez in Flooded Mine during Final Justice quest
• Fixed crashing when opening Gate to The Fringe during Retaking the Fringe quest
• Fixed mages loading without clothes in Fort Ontus during The Necromancer’s Amulet quest
• Fixed NPC pathing issues in Gardens of Flesh and Bone during ‘Through the Fringe of Madness’ quest
• Fixed missing VFX during the closing of the Great Gate
• Fixed Ilav Dralgoner’s missing facial animation during ‘Saving Time Itself’ quest
• Fixed Sir Thredet’s speech during ‘Umaril the Unfeathered’ quest
• Fixed NPC pathing issues during ‘Baiting the Trap’ quest
• Fixed Obelisk Crystals spawning disconnected during ‘Baiting the Trap’ quest
• Fixed crash at end of ‘Through a Nightmare, Darkly’ quest
• Fixed wall crumbling in Malada during ‘Nothing You Can Possess’ quest
• Fixed misaligned food at the Castle Leyawiin County Hall dinner party during ‘Sanguine’ quest
• Fixed an issue with visibility of ghosts during ‘Ghosts of Vitharn’
• Fixed cutscene not playing during ‘Light the Dragonfires’
• Fixed missing textures in Cropsford Campsite after finishing ‘Goblin Trouble’

PERFORMANCE

• Fixed frame rate drop in Deepscorn Hollow
• Fixed frame rate drops in Black Rock Caverns
• Fixed frame rate drop between Skingrad and Skingrad Castle
• Fixed frame rate drop south of Bravil Castle courtyard
• Reduced the frequency of hitches in the open world.
• General improvements to frame time in many locations.
• Optimize updating of character attachments.
• Optimize rendering of water volumes in the open world.
• Optimize light/shadow updates in several lairs.
• Optimize waterfall particle FX and rendering.
• Optimize the weather system.
• Optimize character animation system.

GAMEPLAY

• Fixed player character height scaling
• Fixed armor items hiding Argonian and Khajiit tails
• Fixed slow camera movement when initiating NPC dialogue
• Fixed soft lock when a player with a high bounty goes to jail
• Fixed Orrery animations
• Fixed physics bug with floating necklaces
• Fixed vampire sleeping animations
• Fixed NPC beards not following facial animation.
• Fixed ghost NPCs being completely invisible
• Fixed missing animation when talking to Shamada in Leyawiin
• Fixed occasional very long load times when fast traveling
• Fixed missing facial animation for Snak gra-Bura
• Fixed falling unconscious in water preventing player from getting up
• Fixed NPCs losing collision when swimming
• Fixed NPCs stopping combat when player is blocking
• Fixed female Dremora teeth clipping
• Fixed soft lock after choosing player class
• Fixed Amber weapons clipping in first person view
• Fixed vines clipping into columns
• Fixed helmets clipping into player character’s head
• Fixed missing textures on Daedric statues
• Fixed duplicated pages between Oghma Infinium and Mysterium Xarxes

SYSTEM

• Fixed flickering shadows when using XeSS Upscaling
• Fixed title properly restarting after purchasing the Deluxe Upgrade on PC
• Fixed settings properly migrating between PC and XBOX
• Fixed water disappearing after fast travel
• Fixed cursor slowdown when enabling high frame rate V-Sync
• Fixed shaders not preloading due to cloud save replication
• Fixed long blackout during loading screens
• Fixed weather VFX flashing while outside
• Fixed motion blur artifacts while in the Oblivion Plane
• Fixed NPCs not obeying the Wait action from the player

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Stalker 2 is set to launch on PlayStation 5 late 2025 a year after it hit PC and Xbox Series X and S.

GSC Game World’s open world horror shooter launches on PS5 with full support for the DualSense controller’s features, including haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. Further technical enhancements for the PS5 Pro are also in development, the Ukraine developer said.

Stalker 2 launched in November 2024 to a positive reception on Steam and 1 million sales. It’s a success story for the Ukrainian studio; a miracle, really, considering the harrowing circumstances that followed Russian’s full-scale invasion of the country in 2022.

But Stalker 2 launched with well-documented bugs and issues, chief among them A-Life 2.0. A-Life was a key feature of the first Stalker game that governed AI behavior across the game world. At a high level, it is a system for simulating life in the Zone that works its magic seemingly independently of the player’s actions or whereabouts. It helps to create convincing AI and the emergent gameplay Stalker is famous for.

GSC had said A-Life 2.0 would make the Zone feel alive as never before, that it would fuel emergent gameplay on a scale previously thought impossible. Indeed for some fans, A-Life 2.0 was Stalker 2’s biggest selling point. But when Stalker 2 actually came out players discovered that A-Life 2.0 didn’t work properly, with some questioning whether it was even in the game at all.

In an interview with IGN, GSC explained what went wrong with Stalker 2’s A-Life 2.0, and vowed to fix the system. They’ve been working on doing that ever since, and the expectation is that the PS5 version will include all the latest updates and fixes the developer has released for the PC and Xbox versions.

Read more on how Stalker 2 has changed everything for the studio here.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

The Last of Us and Intergalatic: The Heretic Prophet development chief, Neil Druckmann, is enjoying his time away from the HBO series by indulging in a LEGO set based on the latter’s spaceship.

Last month, 2Bricks — who specializes in custom (MOC) LEGO builds — released a YouTube video documenting a custom build of “a sleek Porsche-designed red ship” inspired by the next Naughty Dog game franchise, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. And apparently, it caught the eye of one very intrigued fan.

Dune: Awakening developer Funcom has apologized after “patching out” a layout change in the Deep Desert that briefly transformed PvE territory into PvP, leading to “an unfortunate amount of lost bases and equipment.”

Yesterday, Funcom released another patch for Dune: Awakening, with more tweaks to improve the endgame experience for players who’d prefer to spend time in PvE activities, including the ability to farm Tier 6 resources and a better chance of getting Unique drops in PvE loot in Deep Desert.

It follows on-going efforts from the developer to improve PvP in the Deep Desert after an AMA revealed many players branded the endgame “toxic” due to griefing even after the ability for players to squish each other with their Ornithopter was supposedly patched out. Later, griefers intentionally landed their Ornis on other players’ own thopters to prevent them from farming.

However, the change — which was “intended to only occur with the next Coriolis cycle and not impact the ongoing cycle” — resulted in an “oversight in the development process and internal communications,” resulting in heavy losses for some players.

“We’re incredibly sorry that this happened and we want to acknowledge that this should have been handled better. We’ve changed our internal processes as a result of this and will be better in the future,” the team said in a statement.

“We are working to reimburse vehicles and items (to the best of our ability) to players who were impacted by this. You can expect the reimbursed materials, items, and vehicle components to show up in the in-game ‘Claim Rewards’ tab by the end of this week.”

In the same statement, the team also revealed it was working hard to eliminate cheaters from Arrakis, writing, “our primary focus, which continues over the next weeks and months, will be to remove all identified exploits (third party cheat engines, client hacks, or in-game exploitation of game mechanics). In addition, we will be hard at work improving the game, adding quality of life features, and addressing critical gameplay issues.

“We have zero tolerance for the type of player behavior that has an impact on the experience of other players, and we will continue to focus on ensuring that players can enjoy the game as it is intended,” the statement added. “If you see someone cheating or exploiting, please report them to us using the available reporting channels.”

Funcom said that so far it has taken action on “several hundred” cheats caught using exploits, cheats, and hacks, with “more waves of bans coming as we identify further culprits.”

“We have a team dedicated exclusively to fighting hackers and fixing exploits. Over the next few patches, they will be introducing additional efforts to prevent exploits by increasing security on several client/server communication layer, performing additional penetration testing against common attack vectors, and auditing our item and inventory systems to make sure they are resistant to item duplication,” Funcom stated.

Finally, the team also apologized to players who had lost “vehicles or other resources” due to in-game bugs. Though admitting some issues are hard to replicate and resolve, Funcom said it is now working on tools to “better reimburse players for vehicle losses due to bugs.”

Dune: Awakening has enjoyed a superb launch, with a ‘very positive’ user review rating on Steam. Within hours of going live on June 10, Funcom’s survival MMO had clocked up over 142,000 concurrent players on Valve’s platform, and hit a new high earlier this month of 189,333 players. And it’s already clocked up over 1 million players, too, making it Funcom’s fastest-selling game ever, and securing a Great 8/10 in our review.

If all that’s got you interested but you’re not sure where to start, make sure to check out all the Dune: Awakening classes you can choose from, and our Dune: Awakening walkthrough for a step-by-step guide to the story. We’ve also got Dune: Awakening resource guides that’ll help you find iron, steel, aluminium, and a Dune: Awakening Trainers locations guide to help you survive on Arrakis.

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.