Embark Studios’ Arc Raiders and The Finals are suffering from what the studio has described as “extensive, coordinated” Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks.
The attacks were said to be “ongoing” today while the studio battles to mitigate their impact on each game.
Arc Raiders players have been complaining of server issues all morning, with some unable to reconnect or abandon matches. Some affected players are hoping they will see lost loot return once the issues are fixed. “Was just rubber banding and died because it was of course in front of a shredder, and now stuck on the loading screen while trying to join a new lobby,” said one affected player.
The DDoS attacks come hot on the heels of Arc Raiders’ Headwinds update, which added a solo vs. squads matchmaking option, a Bird City map condition, and much more.
Meanwhile, Embark said it’s working on a hotfix that will “solve some of the issues and unintended changes” made by the update. That should be out later today.
Arc Raiders is one of the biggest games in the world, having sold an incredible 12.4 million copies in just 10 weeks. The enormously popular extraction shooter has seen impressive staying power, too, setting a new concurrent player peak of 960,000 in January 2026. To put Arc Raiders’ success into context, the similarly priced Helldivers 2 set a record for the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game of all time by selling 12 million in 12 weeks. Arc Raiders, which launched on Xbox as well as PC and PlayStation, hit the 12 million sales mark even faster. It’s done so well so quickly, that it crossed over into the world of South Park with a surprise appearance that was put together in just a few days.
Headwinds is the first of a four-phase roadmap that has content scheduled out through April 2026. Next on the docket is the Shrouded Sky update, which adds a new map condition, Arc threat, player project, map update, Raider Deck, and more sometime in February. Flashpoint will then arrive in March with another map condition and Scrappy update, with Riven Tides rounding things out with a new map and a new large Arc in April.
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.
Helldivers 2‘s next Warbond ‘Siege Breakers’ will release on February 3.
As detailed in a recent PlayStation Blog post by Arrowhead’s social media and community manager, this Warbond is for players needing “something to smash through […] towering foe with impenetrable fortifications.”
The Warbond includes the “new and improved version” of the “beloved” LAS-16 Trident, which now fires six beams instead of the original three, plus the CQC-20 Breaching Hammer, which “can do straight smashing, or it can have an explosive charge attached to its head to drive the point home.” There’s also the GL-28 Belt-Fed Grenade Launcher that lets you “continuously fire grenades in a non-stop explosive barrage,” as well as skins, armor sets, capes, banners, and a throwable shield, too.
Helldivers 2’s latest patch, Into the Unjust: 5.0.2., dropped last week and introduced a new mission type: Commando, the Redacted Regiment Warbond, and “important updates” to suppressed weapons. “Democracy doesn’t always need to shout,” Arrowhead said on Steam. “This patch is deploying some important updates to suppressed weapons, allowing Helldivers to eliminate threats with reduced detection and tighter tactical control. Expect quieter kills, cleaner engagements, and new opportunities for coordinated strikes before the enemy knows you’re there. Remember: stealth is a tool, not a substitute for overwhelming firepower. Use it wisely, Helldivers!”
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.
Some Fallout fans believe the latest episode of Season 2 of the Amazon show confirms a New Vegas ending is canon, while others believe the showrunners have kept their word and avoided picking an ending.
Fans of the Fallout video games had wondered how Season 2 might reflect the endings of Obsidian’s much-loved Fallout New Vegas, given the show is canon and is set 15 years after the game.
Depending on the choices the player, aka The Courier, makes throughout the course of the game, New Vegas can end with victory for the player during the Battle of Hoover Dam, which drives out all factions including Mr. House himself, a victory for Mr. House in which he remains in control of New Vegas and takes over Hoover Dam, a victory for Caesar’s Legion, or a victory for the New California Republic.
Fallout fans think ‘The House Always Wins’ ending is now canon after the events of the show. The Ghoul meets Maximus, and he uses the Cold Fusion diode that Maximus stole from the Brotherhood to power up the machine we saw back when Cooper met House in a flashback on the top floor of Lucky 38. The big terminal boots up, House appears on screen and says: “Well hello, old chum.”
A lot of people think that confirms “The House Always Wins” ending, which saw House survive. But there are some important points to consider. Until the show actually shows House’s body, there’s still potential for all sorts of explanations. Either this meeting between the Ghoul and House, plus whatever happens in the Season 2 finale, pulls the big trick of finally canonising an ending despite the showrunners saying they weren’t going to, or this is, for example, an AI version of House, rather than the weird husk from the New Vegas video game, which would leave us technically still left in the dark about what actually happened.
Fans are already debating the point, with some going so far as to already accepting The House Always Wins ending as canon. Some are even wondering what the point of New Vegas itself was, given the suggestion of a canon ending.
“What was the meaning of the game Fallout NV supposed to be and what was it trying to accomplish if none of the possible actions of The Courier had any lasting impact?” asked one fan. “With the newest episode of the Fallout Tv show, we find out House is alive. So what was the point of playing the game if none of the decisions would have mattered anyway? In the game the biggest consequences are, we get rid of House, give the power of hoover damm [sic] to the NCR, the Legion, or back to the Strip.
“But in the show the NCR is gone, the Legion is disconnected and in-fighting, the BoS is in the middle of a civil war with the East Coast, The strip became overrun with deathclaws. So what’s the point?”
Countering this, some fans have pointed to other explanations for what we see in the show, as mentioned above, but others have insisted that whatever happens on the show, it shouldn’t devalue your enjoyment of the games and how they work.
“The House we see at the end of episode 7 is a digital copy,” another fan added. “It doesn’t matter what happened to the real House’s body, this copy is separate from that. I don’t think there’s anything in the show that contradicts any of the four endings.”
“Seeing the House AI really doesn’t change anything,” said another fan. “The state of the Lucky 38, including a Securitron lying exactly where Yes Man does when you upload him, points strongly towards House’s death as a human at some point.” “I mean House is dead. He just uploaded himself to the Cloud,” joked another.
All eyes are now on the final episode of Fallout Season 2, which, given Season 3 is already confirmed, will no doubt pose just as many questions as it answers. While you wait, be sure to check out IGN’s Fallout Season 2, Episode 7 review.
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.
A number of high-profile video game developers have defended Highguard amid an online backlash during the game’s launch.
The free-to-play “PvP raid shooter” was the big new game reveal at the end of last month’s The Game Awards, but developer Wildlight then went dark until the January 26 release date in a bid to channel the successful shadowdrop of Apex Legends back in 2019.
At launch, Highguard hit a peak of 97,249 concurrent users on Steam — a significant number for any new game launch on Valve’s platform — but at the same time Wildlight has had to contend with a “mostly negative” user review rating. Meanwhile, Steam concurrents have fallen, and Highguard has slipped out of the top 100 most-played games list on Valve’s platform.
Chief among the criticisms from players is that the size of the map feels too big and empty for a 3v3 competitive shooter. You’re able to summon a mount to get about faster (the mounts are one aspect of Highguard that players seem to universally like), but some believe a 4v4, 5v5, or even 3v3v3 mode would have been a better fit.
There are also complaints about the resource-gathering phase of each map, which involves what some are calling boring mining and loot farming. The gist here is there is too much downtime and a lack of excitement, although players seem to be enjoying the raid phase of each match, where combat is concentrated. There is also criticism of the design of the playable characters, Highguard’s art direction, and a lack of content — as well as performance problems particularly on PC.
Through it all is a feeling that Highguard perhaps suffered from being the “one more thing” reveal at The Game Awards, where it might have better managed expectations in a slot earlier in the show. Wildlight staff have indicated they originally planned a true Apex Legends-style shadowdrop for Highguard, but The Game Awards chief Geoff Keighley asked the team about featuring it at the end of the show. Keighley has subsequently suffered a backlash of his own, with some feeling Highguard’ position in The Game Awards’ running order overly hyped the game.
Now, developers from the likes of Baldur’s Gate 3 studio Larian as well as Fortnite maker Epic have hit out at the discourse surrounding Highguard, and the internet’s capacity to “hate” on video games at launch. Developers like Cliff Bleszinski of Gears of War fame, Epic executive Mark Rein, and Larian boss Swen Vincke spoke up against, in particular, negativity from critics.
“I don’t like people s****ing on things others have created,” Vincke tweeted. “Putting something out into the world makes you vulnerable, and that alone deserves respect, even if you dislike the creation. It’s easy to destroy things, it’s a lot harder to build them. The best critics understand this. Even when they’re being critical, they do their best not to be hurtful.”
Vincke went on to suggest a Metacritic-style scoring system for reviewers, based on how others evaluate their criticism. “I like to imagine it would encourage a bit more restraint,” he said. “The harsh words do real damage. You shouldn’t have to grow callus on your soul just because you want to publish something.”
He continued: “And yes — I get that if people are charging money, you want to know if it’s good or not. But reviewers can just say — I didn’t enjoy it or I don’t think it’s well made or I don’t think it’s worth the money they are charging. That’s enough. No need to get personal for the sake of some likes.“
And in a follow-up post, Vincke added: “What I’m trying to say is that most creative souls are sensitive souls and those sensitive souls are the ones that care the most. When they check out because they can’t handle the vitriol, we all lose because what’s left are those that don’t care. The effect the words have on those sensitive souls may not be underestimated. You don’t want them to lose their idealism and love of players.
“There’s other ways of dealing with player exploitation. Not playing the games is probably the best one. You don’t have to verbally hurt the people behind the game to express your disdain. If enough people stop playing the games that don’t respect players, those in charge will get the message and change course soon. There’s enough other games there.”
Cliff Bleszinski, whose own live service shooter LawBreakers was a commercial failure, leading to the closure of his studio, asked: “When did it become trendy to hate on a new game? Been seeing it more and more in recent years. It’s exhausting.”
“It’s downright horrible,” Mark Rein, vice president and co-founder of Epic Games, commented. “Especially a FREE game from a new studio. Just so sad. This is a hobby for people, they should approach with joy not hatred.”
The reality is that Wildlight faces an uphill challenge turning online sentiment about its live service shooter around, and the studio will be particularly concerned by Highguard’s Steam user review rating, which remains ‘mostly negative.’ Currently, 37% of the 19,439 user reviews are positive; Wildlight plans to continue to update Highguard with various patches, and has announced its 2026 roadmap of content.
Meanwhile, Keighley responded to one person on social media who asked if he had a financial stake in Highguard’s success. “lol absolutely not,” he said.
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.
A collectible statue apparently due for release alongside the unannounced Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag remake has popped up online.
Ubisoft is yet to make its Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag remake official, but the game’s arrival has long been expected following a constant series of leaks. Now, fans have seemingly gotten a first look at merchandise for the game, in the shape of a new statue designed by collectible maker Pure Arts.
The lavish design features Black Flag hero Edward Kenway sat on a treasure chest that’s spilling gold coins, leaning back against his ship’s wheel, a cutlass and pistol in each hand. The statue is then topped off by a large billowing flag featuring the game’s logo: the Assassin’s Creed sigil with a skull in the middle.
⚠️ LEAK BLACK FLAG REMAKE ?
Un gars sur Vinted vend une toute nouvelle figurine de Edward Kenway et prétend qu’elle sortirait cette année.
En sachant que le remake de Black Flag était censé sortir dans moins de 2 mois, serait-ce la figurine officielle du jeu ? pic.twitter.com/ctVWiavA6c
If Ubisoft has made any change to Kenway’s character design for its remake, there’s no evidence of it here. That said, any alteration to the now-iconic pirate assassin’s look would have been a surprise.
What is curious, though, is how this statue has seemingly come to light. Unboxed and with no mention of its origins, the item was reportedly listed via used clothing resale app Vinted. Numerous fans spotted the item pop up, including notorious Assassin’s Creed leaker j0nathon, who quickly realized this was not a statue that had been publicly released already.
The item’s listing states that it is 35cm tall and features a 20cm width, and due for release in 2026. A detailed close-up of the statue’s base shows logos for Ubisoft and Pure Arts, with a copyright mark registered for 2026.
Perhaps the most notable confirmation of the project came from Edward Kenway’s own voice actor, who initially teased the project before later suggesting he’d been told by Ubisoft in no uncertain terms to stop talking. Finally, last month, the game popped up on the PEGI European ratings board website revealing what looks to be its final title: Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced.
Ubisoft itself previously said it would release an unannounced game before the end of its current financial year on March 31, though this launch has now been delayed into the coming financial year (ending March 31, 2027) due to the company’s major recent reshuffle of teams, projects and studios.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
The Ascended Heroes expansion is about to kick off the Pokémon TCG’s 2026 run with its 30 January release date fast approaching, and there are only a couple of places where you can reliably buy preorders for ETBs, booster packs, and collections right now.
That’s along with not every product being launched on that 30 January release date.
As expected, the usual drops at MSRP at sites like the Pokémon Center US and UK are already sold out. Preorders at Target are already sold out as well, while Best Buy’s selection is merely marked as “Coming Soon”.
With that, outside of keeping up with deal trackers, you’ll very more than likely have to pay above retail price for the time being.
That said, we’ll give you a full breakdown of the best places to get your buy for Pokémon preorders for whichever Mega Evolution: Ascended Heroes products you’re looking out for.
Only a handful of Pokémon TCG products for the Ascended Heroes expansion are launching right away on 30 January, with the Charmander and Ghastly Tech Collections preorders being the best to buy first — the cheapest being at Walmart for $39.97 each (random), or at Amazon for around $43 each.
Each collection gets you three Ascended Heroes booster packs, a titular promo card, and a tech sticker sheet.
Pre-orders for individual Ascended Heroes booster packs are sold out over at TCGplayer and aren’t listed at Amazon or Walmart, so the Tech Sticker Collections give you the best value for money.
Ascended Heroes Collection Blisters — Erika & Larry
One of the first Ascended Heroes products releasing with the set’s launch on 30 January, the Erika and Larry blister packs are arguably the second-hottest to buy right now — and pre-orders can be bought cheapest for $34.99 at Amazon.
However, whichever one you get between the Larry and Erika edition (Larry’s has a Komala promo card, and Erika’s with Tangela). If you want Larry’s specifically, you can spend a little more at Amazon, with the cheapest listing available being $39.95.
Ascended Heroes Elite Trainer Boxes
As is normally the case with a new expansion in the Pokémon Trading Card Game, Ascended Heroes is the most in demand, but pre-orders can be bought right now at TCGplayer for $117.85 or Walmart for $149.99.
The one thing to keep in mind with each option here is that these are individual or third-party retailers trading on each platform, but what they’re offering with their listings for Ascended Heroes Trainer Boxes is all the same:
Nine Ascended Heroes booster packs
N’s Zekrom foil promo card
65 themed card sleeves
40 Energy cards
Player’s guide
Six damage-counter dice
Coin-flip die (competition legal)
Plastic coin
Code card for the Pokémon Trading Card Game Live
Collector’s box, plus six organizational dividers
For the very serious collector’s out there, TCGplayer is also stocking resales of the Exclusive Pokemon Center edition of the Ascended Heroes ETB — the lowest for a whopping $399 plus $200 shipping; all of that extra money gets you an extra N’s Zekrom foil promo card, but also emblazoned with the Pokemon Center Logo, and arriving in an alternative box.
Keep in mind, however, that the Pokémon Company announced a delayed launch date of 20 February 2026 for Ascended Heroes ETBs to 20 February 2026. So, even if you do get a pre-order in before January 30, you’ll need to wait a few more weeks.
Ascended Heroes Mini-Tins
Also, with a delayed release date of February 20, listings for the Pokémon TCG’s Ascended Heroes Mini-Tins are still incredibly expensive on TCGplayer — making Walmart’s pre-order price of $29.99 the cheapest to buy right now.
Granted, whichever style of tin you’ll get among these is totally random, but is cheaper than paying over six times the price to get a specific one on TCGplayer.
Ascended Heroes Premium Poster Collections
Packing ten Pokémon TCG: Ascended Heroes booster packs, a titular promo card (Mega Gardevoir ex or Mega Lucario ex; and a poster to go with it, you can buy a pre-order of the Premium Poster Collections right now at Walmart for $124.99 each.
This is currently the only place to buy, with TCGplayer being sold out. Plus, keep in mind that whichever one you get of the two will be random.
Also, The Pokemon Company also announced these collections will be released at a later date of 20 March.
Ascended Heroes Booster Bundles
Offering a box of six Pokémon TCG booster packs, the Ascended Heroes Booster Bundle is best to pre-order at Walmart — offering the lowest price of $77.95, compared to TCGplayer sellers asking for $82.44 plus $200 shipping at best.
We expect better TCGplayer sellers with better offers to be closer to the Ascended Heroes Booster Bundles’ release date, which was also announced as an even further delayed date of 24 April 2026. In the meantime, though, Walmart’s the best go-to.
Ben Williams – IGN freelance contributor with over 10 years of experience covering gaming, tech, film, TV, and anime. Follow him on Twitter/X @BenLevelTen.
The release of GTA 6 may still be a long way off, but indie filmmaker Todd Wiseman Jr. has made an ambitious new short film, titled Six Stars, that essentially brings Grand Theft Auto into live-action. The short film is available on YouTube and can also be watched via the embed below.
Wiseman Jr. (The School Duel) wrote and directed Six Stars and also produced it with Christa Boarin. Trevor Gureckis (M. Night Shyamalan’s Old) composed the score.
The short film stars Anatomy of a Fall’s Milo Machado-Graner as a French teenage gamer who, according to the logline provided to IGN, “goes on an ‘American rampage’, spiraling through a world that can’t look away… where violence is packaged, shared, and applauded.“
Watch the entire seven-minute short film Six Stars via the player embedded below.
The logline adds: “Shot against the backdrop of Tampa, Florida, Wiseman Jr.’s hometown, Six Stars questions the representation of masculinity in today’s entertainment while simultaneously confronting the glorification and entertainment value placed on violence, one of The United States’ chief exports.”
Check out the poster and some select still photos from Six Stars by scrolling through the slideshow below.
Plus, watch this behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film here:
Reigns: The Witcher has been announced by indie publisher Devolver Digital, in collaboration with CD Projekt Red.
This card-based take on The Witcher features the familiar Reigns gameplay formula where players draw random opportunities and encounters then swipe left or right to choose what to do next (yes, exactly like a dating app).
Today’s reveal trailer features plenty of familiar faces from The Witcher franchise who will be familiar to fans of CD Projekt’s existing trilogy of RPG titles, including Yennefer, Triss, Vesemir, Dandelion, The Bloody Baron, Roach and… Maisy the Cow? We’re less sure about that last one.
Here, Geralt’s quests are retold as plays by Dandelion, who holds the hero’s fate in his hands. Whether sticking to the facts or stretching the truth, you’ll need to keep Geralt’s infamy in balance to ensure your run continues for as long as possible. And while your adventures with Geralt are likely to end in many deaths, each run will reward you with songbooks to perform on ever grander stages in the hope of ultimately reaching narrative immortality.
Reigns: The Witcher is developed by Reigns series developer Nerial, and set for launch on February 25 for PC via Steam and on mobile via Google Play and the iPhone App Store.
Take a deep dive into the Orks faction in the latest trailer for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4, the upcoming real-time strategy game sequel from King Art Games that’s due out later in 2026 for PC. It’s a mixture of cinematics and gameplay. Check it out above. And if you know anything about this universe, you probably won’t be surprised that the Orks are literally driven by mayhem and sporting a reckless, no-nonsense offensive playstyle. What you may not have been expecting is the scale of the carnage.
In particular, we get a great look at the Ork superunit, the Gorkanaut, which can crumple up dreadnoughts and go toe-to-toe with the likes of an Imperial Knight. Towering over the battlefield at a scale that sets Dawn of War apart from its predecessors, the number of guns on this thing could be described as both bewildering and hilarious. And that’s just what the Orks are about.
Dawn of War 4 has been our IGN First “cover story” all January long. If you missed any of our previous exclusive coverage, don’t miss our exclusive Ork cinematic trailer (watch it below), our hands-on impressions of the Ork faction, a look at how kill-sync animations are being enhanced with the combat director, and an interview with the creative leads behind the project.
We’ve got one more exclusive IGN First bit of coverage coming your way on Dawn of War 4 later this week. In the meantime, you can wishlist the upcoming RTS if you’re interested.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our semi-retired 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.
A UK court has ruled that the unauthorized stealing of in-game currency can be legally classified as criminal theft.
Former Jagex developer Andrew Lakeman was charged with allegedly stealing 705 billion Gold from almost 70 RuneScape players, with a real-world value of over half a million pounds, equivalent to around $750,000. He then sold this currency online for Bitcoin.
Although Lakeman had no access to player accounts in his position at Jagex as a content developer, he allegedly accessed them by “hacking and/or using credentials of members of the account recovery team.” In all, 68 players allegedly lost gold to Lakeman, starting around 2018.
Here comes the science bit: the defendant’s defence claimed that the in-game currency could not be classed as property under the definition of the UK’s Theft Act, and initially, the court agreed, concluding that as RuneScape gold is not real — or “pure information” or “knowledge” as it’s legally defined — it could not technically be stealable.
The judge at the time also deemed RuneScape’s supply of Gold as being infinite, and it wasn’t “rivalrous” given that having a piece of Gold doesn’t deprive another player of getting Gold, too. The Court of Appeal, however, disagreed and last week handed down a judgment while explaining its reasoning.
“We differ from the Judge in his reasoning for reaching the contrary conclusion on rivalrousness. The two reasons which the Judge gave in his ruling do not, with respect, bear analysis,” Judge Popplewell wrote. “The first was that ‘one gold piece is like any other, and their supply is infinite.’ This does not, however, distinguish them from many other forms of rivalrous property. One paper clip from a given manufacturer is like any other; and the manufacture and supply of them infinite, in the sense that is not capped at any finite number. Yet each paper clip constitutes property. The same is equally true of gold pieces.”
“[RuneScape’s gold is] properly described as something which can be stolen as a matter of normal use of language,” the judgment added. “They do not fall within any of the established exceptions. They are not ‘pure knowledge:’ functionally, they exist as identifiable assets distinct from the code which gives rise to them and outside the minds of people. There is no good policy reason for excepting them from the category of property which can be stolen.”
The judgment concluded: “On the contrary, they are assets which have an ascertainable monetary value and which may be traded for that value both in the game and outside the game. Within the rules of the game they represent money’s worth as the product of purchase of a bond. Outside the game they are regularly traded for money’s worth. They are capable of being subject to dishonest dealing which deprives their possessor of their use and value. It would be surprising and unsatisfactory if such dishonest dealing did not amount to the offence of theft.”
It’s a judgment that could have profound implications for the games industry, as up until now, vendors that sell (or re-sell) in-game currency have existed in a grey market wherein technically, no theft has occurred if the digital asset stolen did not meet the definition of an intangible item under the definitions of theft in that country. The dubious line of when ownership of any such in-game currency transfers from the developer to the player — if at all — further compounds an already complex issue, too.
With the issue of whether removing gold from player accounts constituted theft now settled, the case against Lakeman can proceed.
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.
