LEGO Horizon Adventures Reportedly a New PlayStation Game Set for Reveal Soon

Sony and LEGO are reportedly collaborating on a new PlayStation video game called LEGO Horizon Adventures.

Insider Gaming reports the unannounced video game is “essentially Horizon Forbidden West but Lego”, with “realistic graphics.” IGN has asked Sony for comment.

X/Twitter user @Kurakasis had previously flagged the collaboration, and Insider Gaming suggests this was the result of a recently discovered trademark filing.

That’s pretty much all we have right now. We don’t know which studio is behind the game, or the platforms it will launch on. But Sony is rumored to be set to hold a PlayStation showcase this month. Perhaps we’ll learn more there.

While a LEGO Horizon video game may sound like an odd choice, the two brands have collaborated before on LEGO sets based on Guerrilla’s post-apocalyptic franchise.

Sony has a quiet year ahead for first-party PlayStation games, and has ruled out sequels in its major franchises such as Spider-Man and God of War until at least April 2025. But it still has a number of key games set to release over the next 12 months, including PS5 and PC FPS Concord and, potentially, LEGO Horizon Adventures.

In February, Sony announced a significant round of layoffs affecting around 900 staff, or about 8% of its global PlayStation workforce. The layoffs affect a number of PlayStation studios, including Insomniac, Naughty Dog, Guerrilla, Firesprite, and, most significantly, PlayStation’s London studio. Alongside the layoffs, a number of in-development games were canceled.

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.

Call of Duty Black Ops 6 Pretty Much Confirmed After Treyarch Acknowledges Sally Pistols Discovery in Warzone

The next mainline Call of Duty game looks set to be called Call of Duty Black Ops 6, not Black Ops 5 as previously thought, after developer Treyarch acknowledged the recent discovery of the Sally pistols in Warzone.

The Sally is a variant of the Akimbo version of the 9mm Daemon Pistol, and rekindles memories of 2010 Black Ops’ iconic cover art.

To unlock the gun in-game you must first find the Sally as ground loot in battle royale Warzone and get just one kill with it. This unlocks the Sally for use in Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone.

Treyarch responded to the discovery of the Sally pistols, which feature six scratched tally marks, in a series of tweets.

Fans have speculated about the name of the next Call of Duty for years now, with everything from Black Ops Gulf War to Black Ops 5 mooted. But it now seems clear Activison has decided on Black Ops 6, which makes sense given Call of Duty 2024 is the sixth main Black Ops game, but that does also mean we’re skipping Black Ops 5 (2020’s Black Ops Cold War looks set to be considered Black Ops 5 in the run).

Reports from last year indicated Black Ops 6 will take place during the Gulf War, additionally touching on the global political fallout after the Cold War. Additionally, the reports suggest the new game will lean back into more traditional military combat tech and Black Ops gadgets, rather than focusing on the futuristic tech some of the more recent Call of Duty games have embraced.

Currently, Black Ops 6 is planned for a launch in 2024 around roughly the usual time in late fall/early winter. Activision owner Microsoft has announced an Xbox showcase for June, with a Call of Duty Direct to follow afterwards. Fans are expected to get a first look at the game then.

Microsoft is in the process of laying off 1,900 staff across its gaming business, including people at Activision Blizzard and Bethesda owner ZeniMax. This month, Microsoft shocked the gaming world by closing down Hi-Fi Rush maker Tango Gameworks and Redfall developer Arkane Austin, with fears more cuts are to come.

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.

You Can Currently Save a Few Bucks on Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Before Release on PC

Shadow of the Erdtree, Elden Ring’s ‘first and last’ DLC expansion, is a little over a month away. Whether you’re jumping back into the base game before release or starting from scratch altogether, the hype is slowly building. Shadow of the Erdtree will release on June 21 and is set to cost $39.99 — but if you’re on PC, there’s already a tantalizing saving on offer to you.

Fanatical, a trusted PC and Steam code seller, currently has the Elden Ring: Shadow of The Erdtree expansion listed for $35.19 / £30.79 in the UK, alongside the ‘Premium Bundle’ for $43.99 (down from $49.99). That’s at least $4.80 savings and 12% off one of the most anticipated DLCs ever. This feels like a no-brainer.

If playing Shadow of the Erdtree already seems like a done deal for you, this offer is like finding almost $5 in change stuffed into the back pocket of the jeans you wore last week. While this isn’t a Fire Giant-sized discount, it’s one of the best PC video game deals running.

Codes at this price aren’t unlimited either, so it could be worth securing ASAP to ensure you’re paying the best price possible. In case you missed some other finer details, this is a Steam code purchase and only for those on PC. For those on console, you can see our complete preorder guide for Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Edition right here on IGN as well.

While this may be the only expansion Elden Ring is getting, it may not be fans’ final taste of The Lands Between. FromSoftware boss Hidetaka Miyazaki hasn’t shut down the possibility of a full sequel, and when asked about the future of the franchise, he commented that FromSoftware deliberately leaves the end of its games open to potential sequels, and it seems Elden Ring will be no exception.

Miyazaki suggested in March 2024 that FromSoftware hadn’t made a decision on a sequel yet, but similarly spoke to the desire to keep its options open. “We don’t want to say this is the end of the Elden Ring saga for now,” he told IGN.

As part of the reveal of the hotly anticipated Shadow of the Erdtree this year, Bandai Namco also issued a sales update for the base game, which has now sold over 20 million copies after launch. If you’re excited for the upcoming expansion, it’s worth checking out 15 hidden details that we found in the Shadow of the Erdtree trailer as well.

The base version of Elden Ring returned a 10/10 in IGN’s review. “Elden Ring is a massive iteration on what FromSoftware began with the Souls series, bringing its relentlessly challenging combat to an incredible open world that gives us the freedom to choose our own path,” we said.

If you’re keen on saving a few extra dollars elsewhere, we also have a slew of other gaming deals roundups worth checking out, including the best Xbox deals, the best PlayStation deals, and the best Nintendo Switch deals. In each of those, you can find a wide variety of great discounts on games, hardware, accessories, and more.

Another great spot to look for the latest sales is in our Daily Deals roundup, where we highlight all the best deals on stuff you actually want to buy. Currently, we have some great video game deals listed alongside Nintendo Switch OLED and CRKD Nitro Deck discounts.

When is Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdree Available?

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree will release June 21 on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, and PC. The release date was announced earlier this year, alongside the release of a brand-new trailer, which includes glimpses of a host of new bosses, powers, and more.

What Level Should You Be for Shadow of the Erdtree?

We already have a handy guide on how you should prepare for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, but here’s a quick rundown. We recommend that characters should likely be at least Level 100 to Level 150 to properly prepare for the challenges of the DLC.

Most players who have reached the final boss of Elden Ring usually find themselves around Level 100 or higher depending on the challenges you face, so it’s likely that having that many points allocated in various stats will give you a good fighting chance.

But, it’s also worth noting that the DLC will introduce a new power scaling mechanic. Players will be able increase their power by seeking out minor bosses and defeating them, so this will be an additional factor to consider besides your level when entering the Land of Shadow.

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

Helldivers 2 Players Failed the Last Major Order, and Now ‘The Second Galactic War’ Has Begun

Helldivers 2’s ongoing meta-narrative took another twist this week after players failed the last Major Order and thus failed to unlock a promised new Stratagem.

The explosive PC and PlayStation 5 co-op shooter had set the community a stiff challenge: kill 2 billion Automatons in five days and the Anti-Tank Mines Stratagem would unlock.

But despite players’ best efforts, Helldivers came 78% towards the stated goal, and in an in-universe Galactic War update from Super Earth High Command posted to the Helldivers Discord, Arrowhead signaled it would hold the the Anti-Tank Mines Stratagem back — for now.

“After five days of intense decommissioning of Automatons into scrap metal for use in advanced anti-tank mines, the Helldivers came 78% towards the stated goal of 2 billion dead bots,” the message reads. “This means that the new stratagem will continue to elude the Helldiver arsenal for now…”

It’s perhaps no surprise to see this Major Order failed, given Arrowhead had warned it had fixed a bug that caused a previous Major Order to kill 2 billion bugs to be completed too quickly. The Anti-Tank Mines Stratagem will obviously be released in time, but what’s interesting is what comes next in the Galactic War.

Dungeon Master Joel, who pulls the meta-narrative strings from within the bowels of Arrowhead headquarters, appears to have a surprise up his sleeve. The rest of Super Earth’s statement says the war has now escalated into what’s called The Second Galactic War, and that all conflict leading up to this point “was merely an elaborate special operation.”

And here’s a very interesting line, already being picked apart by the Helldivers community: “New recruits are being trained to bolster the ranks of SEAF, and the Helldivers are tasked with guarding these training facilities so that each recruit can be given their rigorous 72 hour basic training.”

“All conflict leading up to this was merely an elaborate special operation.

It could be nothing, but some players are speculating that this is a tease for the arrival of NPC squads. Perhaps an upcoming Stratagem will call in a four-person team who drop down onto the battlefield to help out until they, inevitably, bite the dust.

Here’s the rest of the statement in full:

“The war now escalates into what is officially called ‘The Second Galactic War.’ All conflict leading up to this was merely an elaborate special operation. New recruits are being trained to bolster the ranks of SEAF, and the Helldivers are tasked with guarding these training facilities so that each recruit can be given their rigorous 72 hour basic training.”

Helldivers 2 is the fastest-selling PlayStation game of all time, selling an astonishing 12 million copies in just 12 weeks. But it’s had a bumpy ride since coming out earlier this year, with Arrowhead butting heads with Sony over PSN account linking. This week, Arrowhead said it plans to roll back changes to patrols and spawn rates, admitting the PSN controversy had diverted its attention away from gameplay tweaks.

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.

Toys for Bob Updates Website With Simple Purple Tiki Mask, Sparking Speculation Over Next Project

It looks like Toys for Bob is beginning its next chapter, and it’s starting with a mysterious purple tiki mask.

The Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time and Spyro Reignited Trilogy developer published the strange picture in a new update on its website. Those who head to the site will notice that an image of a purple, teeth-clenching tiki head is now the only accessible page.

It’s unclear what it could mean, but there is a good chance the mask is simply Toys for Bob’s new logo. Opening the image reveals that it’s named “TFB_LogoVector_TikiMask-purple.” It’s also been pointed out that the Toys for Bob offices have been tiki-themed in the past. Still, that hasn’t stopped fans from speculating that the image may be tied to a new game.

In March, Windows Central reported that Xbox would still work with the developer on its next game following the news that Toys for Bob would be going indepedent earlier this year. Microsoft also finalized its acquisition of Activision last year, so if Xbox and Toys for Bob have indeed come to an agreement, then the developer could theoretically be working on a Crash Bandicoot and/or Spyro the Dragon game.

The presence of the tiki mask has many fans believing that Crash Bandicoot 5 is in development. Others, meanwhile have pointed out that its purple coloring could be pointing to a new Spyro game.

It’s best to not assume such a project is in development until Toys for Bob has more to announce. The studio separated itself from Activision and Microsoft in February, expressing a desire to return to its roots as “a small and nimble studio.”

“With the same enthusiasm and passion, we believe that now is the time to take the studio and our future games to the next level,” Toys for Bob said at the time.

We enjoyed the studio’s last game, Crash 4, giving it an 8/10 in our review. We said, “Crash Bandicoot 4 is a great return to form, with some new ideas that add a fresh spin to Crash’s classic gameplay.”

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.

The Best Trick-Taking Games (2024)

Trick-taking, where a hand of cards progresses by one player leading a suit and others following, matching that suit if they can, is so old that its origins are lost. The earliest one we have records for in Europe is called Karnöffel, and it dates from 15th century Germany, but playing cards generally are far older and were developed in the far east. Such is the popularity of this mechanism that it’s still with us, and has blossomed into thousands of different forms, many of which you can enjoy with a standard deck of playing cards.

Needless to say, such a popular method of play has also made its way into any number of more modern, more specialized and more strategically rich games, and it’s those we’ll be focusing on to pick out the best. Designers have been able to adapt it into myriad forms, across competitive and cooperative play, and by marrying it with other mechanics to create longer games. But the real trick of trick-taking is that it’s so familiar that almost anyone can pick up and play these games with ease.

Wizard

Trick-taking is an old concept that dates back to playing card games, so it makes sense to start with this relatively old game that mostly uses a deck of standard playing cards. The magic comes from eight extra cards, four wizards and four jesters. The first wizard played always wins a trick, while jesters are the lowest value and are beaten by all other cards. While that not sound much like sorcery, Wizard also uses another common feature of trick-taking games: before each round you must bid the number of tricks you think you’ll win, and must match that number to score. The wizard and jester combo make this notoriously hard to predict, but also leaves you with the strategic flexibility to play defensively or offensively in attempts to shore up your score, or push for a sudden, thrilling win.

Skull King

Pirate-themed Skull King is the captain of the bidding game ship. There are three normal suits alongside a trump suit and, as usual, the highest card wins a trick. You start each hand looking at your cards and predicting how many tricks you’re going to win, scoring points if you hit the target but losing them otherwise, ensuring each hand comes down to a thrilling climax. But the deck is full of special cards to give the game some serious spice: pirates always win a trick, escape cards always lose and the terrible skull king himself lords it over everything, gaining a bonus if he scoops up any pirates. They’re easy enough concepts to learn, but fill the game with more than enough variety to ensure there’s lots of skill in making your bids.

Sail

Staying with the nautical theme, Sail sees two of you working together to steer a ship across a course of islands while being chased by a ferocious kraken. It’s notoriously hard for trick-taking games to work as two-player games, but Sail’s ingenious ruleset not only manages it, but ensures a white-knuckle ride on every game. Each card has not only a suite and a value but also a symbol, and the pairing of symbols determines what your ship does that round, whether that’s moving, firing on the kraken or taking a smash from one of the thing’s tentacles. The round ends when one player wins five tricks, meaning you’ve got to balance the load while still taking the right action pairings, a task made doubly difficult by a ban on communication. Every attempt is an edge-of-the-seat challenge across six scenarios.

The Crew: Mission Deep Sea

If you want a cooperative trick-taker for more than two (this one ended up on our list of the best four-player board games as well), then it’s time to venture into the depths of the ocean as you attempt to keep your team alive in The Crew. The game plays through a long sequence of narrative scenarios of increasing difficulty, giving you more and more tasks to complete from a random and imaginatively varied selection. The basic formula is that a given player has to win a trick containing a particular card, but the concept blossoms into all kinds of demanding challenges, for example winning or not winning particular suits or numbers of tricks. This would be easy if you could share what’s in your hand, but that’s not allowed: you can only offer elusive hints. Success is thus a matter of tracking plays and trying to engineer situations where you can complete your assigned tasks. It’s harder than it sounds, highly addictive, and its cooperative nature makes it superb for family play.

Brian Boru: High King of Ireland

Most of the games on this list are fast-playing games, but Brian Boru is a rare instance of a much deeper strategy affair that uses trick-taking. Players are competing to become the next King of medieval Ireland by controlling towns on the map, but control of any given town is decided by playing cards from your hand, which you’ll have picked via drafting at the game start. As usual the highest card value wins, from the suit matching that of the town you’re vying over, but there are some cool wrinkles. First, there’s a wild white suit that matches any color. Second, the lower value the card, the better rewards you get whether you win the trick or lose. This spatial control element married to those cunning inverse rewards give this a unique and engrossing strategic feel, while trick-winning is full of tension.

Cat in the Box

Bidding games don’t come much more bizarre than this beauty, inspired by Schrödinger’s famous feline thought experiment. On the face of it, it’s a normal trick-taking game where you follow a color suit, one color is a trump, and the highest-value card wins. The twist is that the cards are not colored: you decide what color a card is as you play it. That pairing is then crossed off a grid because, after all, you can’t have two cards of the same color and value, right? You can even decide, at any point, that your hand is completely out of a particular color, allowing you to sneak in a trump, but you’ll never be able to play that color again! This can lead to paradoxes where you’re left with unplayable cards, and you lose points. But win or lose, the sheer, head-spinning innovation of this game will take your breath away.

Ghosts of Christmas

Another cleverly peculiar bidding game, this time inspired by Dickens’ famous Yuletide yarn “A Christmas Carol,” Ghosts of Christmas lets you hedge your bets and bid numbers for tricks you think you might win, for a points penalty. But that isn’t its secret sauce. Rather, this is a game where you play hands at once, represented by the multiple time periods of the titular ghosts: past, present and future. Once a given time has a card lead in it, it’s fixed to that for the rest of the hand, so everyone gets a chance to lead, and the unfolding play sees you juggling strategy across several hands from the same pool of cards. Even Scrooge himself might have trouble doing that kind of accounting, although the result is no humbug but a top class, challenging title.

Jekyll vs Hyde

Another trick-taker for two, even if you are representing personalities in the same body as per the classic tale of gothic horror, Jekyll vs. Hyde manages to bring some thematic class to the genre. Each suit represents a negative character trait and, unusually, they’re ranked in the order of which they get played each round and, if a player can’t follow suit, a higher-ranked card will beat a lower-ranked one, a deliciously devious strategic flair. You can also dump out potion cards, which have unexpected effects depending on the suit it’s paired with, resetting the ranks, swapping cards or even stealing a trick from your opponent. But winning isn’t always the point: at the end of a hand, you work out the difference between the two tricks and Hyde advance that many spaces toward his transformation, and victory. If he can’t manage it within three hands, good wins and Jekyll keeps his self-control, but you’ll have a fun time either way.

Inside Job

Imagine a cooperative trick-taking game like The Crew, but with slightly simpler missions and a time limit. Might not sound terribly appealing, but there’s a big surprise waiting in each game of Inside Job: one of the players is a traitor, trying to sabotage the group’s spy missions. Each trick won earns the winner an intel token, and if the traitor gets enough of these, they win instantly. The rest of the agents win if they clear a threshold of successful missions in time. Should neither happen, it comes down to a vote, with the agents winning if they can successfully identify the insider, or losing if not. Blending the best of trick-taking and hidden role games in an easy to learn package, this is genre blending at its most fun.

The Fox in the Forest

Our final specialist two-player pick, The Fox in the Forest is a standard, simple trick-taker with one glorious twist that makes it stand out: you get points for winning either very few or slightly above average tricks, rather than sweeping the board. This necessitates a complete rethink of how you approach the game, as you’re no longer leading to win every time. Instead, you’ve got to consider what your opponent might be holding and mix things up so that you can win the requisite number of tricks to net the big points. To further mix things up, all the odd-numbered cards have special powers like changing the trump suit or the win conditions for a given hand, ensuring this is a game where you always have to think on your feet as you field the constant curveballs that it throws you.

Seas of Strife

As you’ve probably noticed, many trick-taking games take the basic formula and succeed by making a small twist – that’s how addictive the basic recipe is. Seas of Strife, which unusually has different numbers across all its suits, has two. Firstly, you win by losing: that is, collecting as few tricks as possible. Second, if you can’t follow suit and have to dump a card, that card’s suit not only becomes valid but can win the trick if it’s the most common suit played. This makes the obvious tactic of dumping high cards extremely dangerous, and ensures that every hand has the unexpected in store right until the final card is played. At the same time it’s super-easy to pick up, and great fun for all ages.

Matt Thrower is a contributing freelance board game and video game writer for IGN. (Board, video, all sorts of games!)

PlayStation Plus Game Catalog Additions for May 2024 Revealed

Sony has revealed the full line-up of PlayStation Plus Games Catalog additions for May 2024, which includes Red Dead Redemption 2, Cat Quest, Watch Dogs, and more.

Announced on the PlayStation Blog, a total of 13 games are joining the library: 10 in the Games Catalog available to Extra and Premium members and three in the Classic Games Catalog only available to Premium members.

While perhaps a thinner line-up compared to recent months, the addition of Red Dead Redemption 2 will carry May’s line-up a long way. It’s worth noting this is actually a return to the service for Rockstar’s open-world cowboy adventure, however, as it was one of the first games announced for the Games Catalog two years prior. All games hit the service on May 21.

PlayStation Plus Games Catalog Additions for April 2024

PlayStation Plus Classics Games Catalog Additions for April 2024

Red Dead Redemption 2 is Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar Games’ take on the wild west as players take on the role of Arthur Morgan as he looks tries to survive in America’s unforgiving heartland. IGN deemed it a masterpiece in our review. “Red Dead Redemption 2 is a game of rare quality; a meticulously polished open world ode to the outlaw era,” we said.

Deceive Inc. deploys you into the world of high stakes subterfuge, working for a private corporation with complete monopoly over the international espionage market. Rival spies are after the same objective as the player, however, and each one of them is as equally skilled, cunning, and well-equipped.

The Sims 4: City Living is an expansion for the beloved simulation game, and while the base version of Sims 4 is required to play, this is also permanently free. City Living lets players take their Sims to the city and explore everything it has to offer, from bustling action right outside the front door to unique situations that come only with apartment living.

Crime Boss: Rockay City is a stealth action first person shooter where players look to become the leaders of a criminal underworld in 1990s Florida. IGN didn’t rate it very highly, however, giving it a 4/10 in our review. “Crime Boss: Rockay City’s hokey charm is nowhere near strong enough to offset its bugs and repetitive design, and it totally squanders its kitsch cast,” we said.

The latest instalment in the long running strategy game series, The Settlers: New Allies lets players discover new worlds and build sprawling cities as they take control of a band of settlers who have fled cataclysmic events in their homeland to seek new lands to settle, explore, and conquer.

On a somewhat similar note, albeit with a sprinkle of sci-fi, Stranded: Alien Dawn is a planet survival sim placing the fate of a small marooned group in the player’s hands. Promising compelling and immersive strategic gameplay, players must make vital decisions to protect their survivors.

Cat Quest and its sequel, the aptly titled Cat Quest 2, will both be available through the PlayStation Plus Games Catalog. Both 2D, open world role-playing games set in a world full of cats, players must embark on a quest to save their catnapped sister in the first game while the second sees them fight to save the world of cats from advancing dog armies.

Classic LEGO goodness arrives through The LEGO Movie 2 Video Game, which lets players bash and build their way through the events of the film. Alien monster invaders have left Bricksburg in ruins and taken Emmet’s friends, and it’s now up to him and his team of heroic characters to go beyond their world and save their friends from the strange inhabitants of the Systar System.

Watch Dogs is the first open-world action game set in the fan-favorite franchise, kicking things off with solemn protagonist Aiden Pearce hacking (with, like, a smartphone) his way through Chicago. “Watch Dogs is an excellent open world action game with some unique hacking magic that makes it a memorable experience,” IGN said in our 8/10 review.

On the classic games front, 2Xtreme was promised to be a high flying sports game where players could snowboard in Japan, in-line skate in Last Vegas, mountain bike in Africa, skateboard in Los Angeles, and more. Unfortunately, however, it couldn’t stick the landing, as when the PlayStation classic was re-released for the PlayStation Portable, IGN gave it a rare 2/10 in our review.

Another PlayStation classic, and one that received a better rating from IGN, comes in G-Police. This 1997 title saw Jeff Slater join a voluntary police force after an unspeakable corporate cover-up caused his sister’s death. As a helicopter pilot, players must fly through 35 grueling levels to take their revenge. “With a flair for the dramatic and an attention to detail that should impress even the toughest of critics, G-Police is a rock-solid example of great gameplay,” we said in our 8/10 review.

Finally, Worms Pinball rounds out May 2024’s PlayStation Plus Classic Games Catalog additions, and does exactly what it says on the tin. This 2000 title is a mix of pinball and the wacky Worms characters, offering a table sporting 3D LED displayed sub-games and parallel objectives, transparent ramps, user-controllable moving gadgets, bounce and flip passes, bang backs, death saves, and more.

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

Sunny Soulslike Enotria: The Last Song Gets New Release Date, Playable 8-Hour-Long Demo for PC and PS5

Enotria: The Last Song, a sun-kissed soulslike that we previewed last Fall, has been pushed back a month, from August 21 to September 19. That’s the bad news. The good news is that an eight-hour-long playable demo will be released for PS5 and PC very soon, on May 22. The full version of Enotria will be released for Xbox Series X|S as well as PS5 and PC.

We’ve got a new, exclusive 15-minute developer-narrated gameplay showcase you can watch above, along with the latest batch of screenshots in the gallery below.

According to developer Jyamma Games, “the demo will have 4 distinct weapon classes, each with a variety of unique weapons and 6 unique masks to discover that bring with them devastating new playstyles and distinctive passive abilities. Augment different playstyles by choosing from over 20 spells and 30 perks to make your Mask of Change build your own.” The gameplay showcase video at the top of this page also gives an overview on required and recommended PC specs as well.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

Ubisoft’s Call of Duty Rival XDefiant Ditches SBMM, Says It’s No Fun at All

Ubisoft has said its Call of Duty rival XDefiant does not feature skill-based matchmaking in its casual playlist.

For years, skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) has been the hottest of topics within the Call of Duty community, with some proclaiming it ruins the experience, others saying quite the opposite. High-skilled Call of Duty players often bemoan SBMM for chucking them into what they call “sweaty” lobbies full of similarly high-skilled players. Activision has defended its use, insisting skill in matchmaking means all players (regardless of skill level) are more likely to experience wins and losses more proportionately. “We use player performance to ensure that the disparity between the most skilled player in the lobby and the least skilled player in the lobby isn’t so vast that players feel their match is a waste of time,” Activision said earlier this year.

“Our data shows that when lower skill players are consistently on the losing end, they are likely to quit matches in progress or stop playing altogether,” Activision continued. “This has an effect on the player pool. A smaller player pool means wait times for matches increase and connections may not be as strong as they should be. This can compound over time to create a spiral effect. Eventually, when only high-skilled players remain because lower skilled players have quit out of frustration, the result is an ecosystem that is worse overall for everyone.

“Game data indicates that having some limitations on the disparity of skill across the players in a match makes for a healthier ecosystem. We also understand that many high skill players want more variety of experience, but often feel like they only get the ‘sweatiest’ of lobbies. We have heard this feedback clearly and will continue to test and actively explore ways to mitigate this concern.”

“Frankly, skill-based matchmaking means every casual game is repetitive.

Ubisoft, though, clearly has a very different philosophy for its free-to-play first-person shooter, which it outlined in a blog post.

“The most important thing to know is — there is no skill-based matchmaking in our casual playlist,” Ubisoft confirmed. “We believe that no SBMM is paramount to a fun and varied game experience in the long-term. Frankly, skill-based matchmaking means every casual game is repetitive — constantly repeating matches that are just as stressful and matched as ranked. We believe casual playlist should be fun and no SBMM is the way to do that. If you want that competitive every second counts go all out playstyle — you’ll find our ranked mode to your liking.”

Ubisoft’s stance on SBMM makes for a clear distinction between XDefiant and Call of Duty multiplayer, and is sure to go down well with a subset of hardcore competitive FPS fans. Ubisoft has been keen to attract disgruntled Call of Duty fans with a number of crowd-pleasing design decisions as it works to wrestle players away from Activision’s behemoth. Indeed, XDefiant developer Ubisoft San Francisco is helmed by Mark Rubin, a former Call of Duty executive producer at Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward.

After a number of delays, XDefiant’s pre-season launches May 21 on PC via Ubisoft Connect, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. The game is not set to launch on Steam or the Epic Games Store.

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.

Nier Series Director, Producer, and Composer Start New Project: ‘It Might be Nier, It Might Not Be Nier’

The director, producer, and composer of Square Enix’s beloved Nier series have teamed up for a new project, but are refusing to say whether it’s a Nier game or not.

Speaking to Famitsu and translated by Gematsu, Square Enix executive officer and Nier series producer Yosuke Saito teased the upcoming project but still didn’t give fans a concrete answer on whether they should expect Nier 3.

“I’ve been talking about wanting to do something with [series director Yoko Taro] and [series composer Keiichi Okabe] for some time now,” Saito said. “I’ll have something a bit more put together to say in the not too distant future, so please stay tuned.” He than laughed: “It might be Nier, it might not be Nier. That’s about all I can say for now.”

“It might be Nier, it might not be Nier. That’s about all I can say for now.

Nier: Automata arrived in February 2017 and, while fans’ appetites were somewhat satiated with the Nier Replicant remake of the original game in 2021, Square Enix has said nothing concrete about a full sequel.

Hope has gone back and forward too. Saito said in November 2023 that Square Enix will definitely make another Nier at some point in Yoko’s lifetime but it won’t be soon as the pair are working on a separate project. But a few months later in March 2024, Taro seemingly teased a third game through a subtle concert message.

Saito told Famitsu in this latest interview he’s working on “various things”, however, so perhaps there’s a chance the new project is just one of those and Nier 3 is another.

“I’m doing various things with the idea of creating something that does not yet exist,” he said. “I can’t devote my time to that fully, so most of it has been left to the staff, but it’s turning into something quite interesting. I’m looking forward to the day we can announce it.”

Nier: Automata was a standout success for Square Enix thanks to strong critical reception and sales to match. In our 8/10 review, IGN said: “Nier: Automata is a great action role-playing game filled with beautiful locations and zany, fun-filled combat.”

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