Category: IGN

Veteran role-playing game maker Obsidian Entertainment has no plans to continue The Outer Worlds with a third game, the studio has confirmed.

As part of a Bloomberg interview, Obsidian revealed that last year’s The Outer Worlds 2 had underperformed, and a sequel is not in development. Avowed, the company’s other blockbuster RPG released last year, also missed its targets — but Obsidian reportedly still has plans for more from its world of Eora, the same setting as Pillars of Eternity.

On a more positive note, Grounded 2 — yet another 2025 launch — was a hit. But of the three, it had the shortest (and almost certainly the cheapest) development period by far. Grounded 2 took just over two years to meet its early access launch, compared to the more than six years required for both Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2.

In 2025, Xbox trumpeted the fact that Obsidian was about to launch three games in just eight months, with Avowed hitting in February, Grounded 2 launching in early access in July, and The Outer Worlds 2 arriving in October. But the effort was “the result of things going wrong,” studio design director Josh Sawyer has now said — and something that is unlikely to be repeated.

“Spacing those releases helps the company manage its resources and not burn everybody out,” Sawyer told Bloomberg. “It’s not good to release three games in the same year. It’s the result of things going wrong.”

Famously, Avowed began life as a multiplayer game with ambitions to be a cross between The Elder Scrolls and Destiny, before its online co-op was stripped out and the project was rebooted. It then took a while to steady the ship, though the arrival of Carrie Patel as its director saw the game on a smoother path — albeit some three years into the project.

As for The Outer Worlds 2’s prolonged development, Bloomberg’s report simply states that the project was made more difficult by the pandemic and technical challenges. Now, Obsidian’s focus is reportedly fixed on ensuring games can be made on shorter development timelines, with releases more spaced out, and with as generous a profit margin from Microsoft as they can get away withmuster.

“I don’t think anybody really likes five-, six-, seven-year dev cycles,” noted Brandon Adler, who served as director on The Outer Worlds 2. “We’ve kind of grown into that.”

Referencing Microsoft’s eye-opening 30% profit-margin target for some Xbox studios, Obsidian boss Feargus Urquhart said he hoped the company still continued to fund riskier projects and accepted that “maybe where we are going to be from a profitability standpoint isn’t going to be 30%.”

Obsidian is yet to announce its next project, following 2025’s exhaustive release schedule. Work on Grounded 2 continues, of course, and it sounds like Eora will be returned to. (Avowed will also launch for PlayStation 5 later this month.) As for what else might be in the pipeline, time will tell.

“I know everyone on the internet, on every game we ever announce, will constantly reference back to, ‘When’s the next New Vegas?'” Obsidian’s VP of operations Marcus Morgan said last year, referencing the studio’s beloved Fallout game that’s served as the inspiration for the hit Amazon TV series’ second season setting. Well, it’s a good question.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Microsoft has announced the Xbox Game Pass February 2026 Wave 1 lineup, which includes big hitters such as High on Life 2, Madden NFL 26, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.

As detailed in a post on Xbox Wire, available today, February 3, are Final Fantasy II (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) and Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii (Cloud, Console, Handheld, and PC), both across Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, and PC Game Pass.

February 5 sees Madden NFL 26 (Cloud, Console, and PC) join Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, and — something totally different — Paw Patrol Rescue Wheels: Championship (Cloud, Console, Handheld, and PC) on Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, and PC Game Pass.

Moving on to February 10 and Relooted (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) hits Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. February 12 is a solid day for Game Pass with BlazBlue Entropy Effect X (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC), Roadside Research (Game Preview) (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC), and Starsand Island (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) all hitting Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.

A day later, on February 13, we have two big hitters: High on Life 2 (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC), which launches day one on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, and open-world RPG Kingdom Come Deliverance (Cloud, Console, and PC) on Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, and PC Game Pass.

Rounding out the list, on February 17 we have Ubisoft’s Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, and Obsidian’s fantasy RPG Avowed (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) hitting Game Pass Premium, which should open its doors to more players.

Xbox Game Pass February 2026 Wave 1 lineup:

• Madden NFL 26 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – February 5 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
• Paw Patrol Rescue Wheels: Championship (Cloud, Console, Handheld, and PC) – February 5 Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, PC Game Pass
• Relooted (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) – February 10 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
• BlazBlue Entropy Effect X (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) – February 12 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
• Roadside Research (Game Preview) (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) – February 12 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
• Starsand Island (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) – February 12 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
• High on Life 2 (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) – February 13 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
• Kingdom Come Deliverance (Cloud, Console, and PC) – February 13 Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, PC Game Pass
• Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – February 17 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
• Avowed (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) – February 17 Now with Game Pass Premium

Only one game leaves Game Pass this month: Madden NFL 24 (Cloud, Console, and PC), on February 15, which makes sense since last year’s game is replacing it.

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 latest patch, Into the Unjust: 6.0.1., is rolling out now, adding a playable tank and interchangeable victory poses and emotes as part of a push towards the liberation of the Cyborg homeworld, Cyberstan.

“We have confirmed, with concrete proof and beyond any doubt, that the Automaton Collective stole our schematics for the Star of Peace. We cannot let them turn this defensive tool of peace into a destructive weapon of war,” developer Arrowhead teased. “It’s now up to you, our most elite and powerful force, to bring them to justice on their own turf.

“We have approved the deployment of new equipment for squads to aid in the swift elimination of the Automaton threat. Push toward Cyberstan and end this insult to Managed Democracy. Helldivers, let this be the last time the Automatons steal from Super Earth.”

Highlights of the patch include the Bastion Tank, a new tank vehicle that is “ready to roll over entrenched enemies,” and “offering unrivaled firepower and defense on the battlefield.” Be warned, though — “it will require your team to work together to hunt down the enemy!”

You’ll also see a 50% increase to base melee attack, changes to enemy behavior, and a trickier challenge in the game’s hardest difficulties, with Arrowhead explaining that the “biggest change should be noticed on the Automaton front while Terminids and the Illuminate are less affected.”

As for those aftermentioned Automatons? There’s nothing specific about them in the patch notes beyond a cursory note that it’s now confirmed that it was the Automatons that stole the Star of Peace schematics, but a fan-run Twitter/X account dedicated to Helldivers found this to share with us:

Cyborgs 💀 #Helldivers2 pic.twitter.com/SBVhHYDm7W

— Helldivers Alerts (@HelldiversAlert) February 3, 2026

Helldivers 2 update 6.0.1 patch notes:

*** INCOMING MESSAGE FROM HIGH COMMAND ***

We have confirmed, with concrete proof and beyond any doubt, that the Automaton Collective stole our schematics for the Star of Peace. We cannot let them turn this defensive tool of peace into a destructive weapon of war. It’s now up to you, our most elite and powerful force, to bring them to justice on their own turf.

We have approved the deployment of new equipment for squads to aid in the swift elimination of the Automaton threat.

Push toward Cyberstan and end this insult to Managed Democracy. Helldivers, let this be the last time the Automatons steal from Super Earth.

📍 Patch Highlights

• Bastion Tank: A new tank vehicle is ready to roll over entrenched enemies! The Bastion Tank offers unrivaled firepower and defense on the battlefield. It will require your team to work together to hunt down the enemy! (2pm CET)
• Chinese VO has been added to Helldivers 2!
• Arm yourself with the latest premium Warbond Siegebreakers, loaded with a devastating hammer built for close-range persuasion and an upgrade to a Helldivers favorite, the LAS-16 Trident!
• March into battle in style with the new War Horse set, available in the Superstore on February 10!
• With a few exceptions, all victory poses and emotes are now interchangeable!

⚖️ Balancing

General changes overview

Melee weapons and Armor passive with increased melee damage re-balance

• Intent is to make the Armor passive that increases melee damage less mandatory but still be useful to make melee weapons more effective.
• We increased all the melee weapons damage and decreased the modifiers on the armor passives that increase melee damage.
• Total damage with the melee armor passive will be higher or the same as before.
• Base melee attack also got a 50% damage increase.

SMG and Pistol rounds less Sway

• The intent is that the increased drag of SMG and Pistol which make it a close combat weapon and less effective at range is the main characteristic of these weapons.
• We decreased the Sway modifier to be the same as most other weapons

Unify Weapon function directions inputs

• The intent is to make the “weapon function modes” that are similar to be on the same “weapon function direction input”.
• This is to make it easier to remember which direction similar types of weapon functions are and also make it so you need to use less “quick weapon functions” inputs.
• Weapon function modes that affect Programmable ammo, Ammo types, Volley modes, Safe modes, Guided modes will now be in the left direction.
• We have not moved the underbarrel weapon switching option to the left yet, but we are looking into moving it to the left direction so all ammo altering switching is in the left direction even if it is an underbarrel selection that usually is in the down direction.

Difficulty on difficulty 9+

Made changes across all factions to increase the intensity on high difficulties, the biggest change should be noticed on the Automaton front while Terminids and the Illuminate are less affected.

Value changes

Primary weapons

R-2124 Constitution

• Increased Bayonet melee damage from 110 to 165
• Increased Bayonet melee durable damage from 55 to 83

R-2 Amendment

• Increased Bayonet melee damage from 110 to 165
• Increased Bayonet melee durable damage from 55 to 83

MP-98 Knight

• Decreased sway modifier from 1.2 to 1

SMG-37 Defender

• Decreased sway modifier from 1.2 to 1

SMG-72 Pummeler

• Decreased sway modifier from 1.2 to 1

M7S SMG

• Decreased sway modifier from 1.2 to 1

SG-20 Halt

• Move the “ammo type” weapon function from Right to Left weapon function direction

DBS-2 Double Freedom

• Move the “Volley/Semi mode” weapon function from Right to Left weapon function direction

Sidearms weapons

P-72 Crisper

• Increased magazine capacity from 30 to 50
• Decreased sway modifier from 1.2 to 1

P-2 Peacemaker

• Decreased sway modifier from 1.2 to 1

LAS-58 Talon

• Decreased sway modifier from 1.2 to 1

GP-31 Grenade Pistol

• Decreased sway modifier from 1.2 to 1

LAS-7 Dagger

• Decreased sway modifier from 1.2 to 1

P-113 Verdict

• Decreased sway modifier from 1.2 to 1

M6C/SOCOM Pistol

• Decreased sway modifier from 1.2 to 1

PLAS-15 Loyalist

• Decreased sway modifier from 1.2 to 1

P-11 Stim Pistol

• Decreased sway modifier from 1.2 to 1

SG-22 Bushwhacker

• Decreased sway modifier from 1.3 to 1
• Move the “Volley/Semi mode” weapon function from Right to Left weapon function direction

P-4 Senator

• Decreased sway modifier from 1.3 to 1

GP-20 Ultimatum

• Decreased sway modifier from 1.3 to 1

CQC-30 Stun Baton

• Increased damage from 50 to 75
• Increased durable damage from 25 to 38

CQC-19 Stun Lance

• Increased damage from 110 to 165
• Increased durable damage from 55 to 83

CQC-2 Saber

• Increased damage from 125 to 188
• Increased durable damage from 65 to 98

CQC-5 Combat Hatchet

• Increased damage from 160 to 240
• Increased durable damage from 80 to 120

CQC-42 Machete

• Increased damage from 200 to 300
• Increased durable damage from 100 to 150

Throwables

G-7 Pineapple

• Increased max amount uses 3 to 4
• Increased start amount uses 2 to 3

G-31 Arc

• Increased max amount uses 4 to 5
• Increased start amount uses 3 to 4

Stratagems

SH-20 Ballistic Shield Backpack

• Shorter cooldown from 300 to 240 sec

Orbital Smoke Strike

• Shorter cooldown from 100 to 75 sec

CQC-9 Defoliation Tool

• Increased damage from 300 to 450
• Increased durable damage from 150 to 225

CQC-1 One True Flag

• Increased damage from 110 to 200
• Increased durable damage from 55 to 100

RS-422 Railgun

• Move the “Safe/Unsafe mode” weapon function from Right to Left weapon function direction

StA-X3 W.A.S.P. Launcher

• Move the “Programmable ammo mode” weapon function from Right to Left weapon function direction

GL-21 Grenade Launcher

• Increased armor penetration level from Medium to Heavy

Armor passives

Peak Physique

• Decreased melee damage bonus from 100% to 40%

Rock Solid

• Decreased melee damage bonus from 100% to 40%

Reinforced Epaulettes

• Decreased melee damage bonus from 50% to 20%

Enemies

General

Some enemies have had their damage vs durable rebalanced to adjust for Helldiver vehicles with large health pools. It will not change their effectiveness against normal Helldivers, only their vehicles.

Things like attacks from Bile Titans, Chargers, Crescent Overseers, Overseers, Rocket firing Automatons, Hulk melee attacks, mortars, acid etc have gotten values adjusted. Some of the adjustments only affect certain targets (ie the Bastion). Other adjustments also affect the FRV and Exosuits.

Enemies Aim calculations were not always updated when there were many enemies trying to aim, making Automatons on higher difficulties a bit bad at aiming. They should now attempt to update the aim better considering the data they have before they get another proper aim update. This means that Automatons will aim better even when there are a lot of them without any further cost to performance.

Terminids

Dragon roach

• lowered the direct damage from the flame attack by 25%

Automatons

Rocket Raider

• Rockets now deals increased damage vs Durable targets

Devastator

• Removed durable on arms

Rocket Devastator

• Rockets now deals increased damage vs Durable targets

Hulk Bruiser

• Rockets now deals increased damage vs Durable targets

Gunship

• updated its targeting software and should now be better at hitting their targets
• Rockets now deals increased damage vs Durable targets

Illuminate

Overseer

• Overseer`s weapon now deals increased damage vs Durable targets

Crescent Overseer

• Increased force on artillery attack to stagger the Helldiver
• Increased the damage of its direct shot attack
• Crescent Overseer`s weapon now deals increased damage vs Durable targets

🎮 Gameplay

Emotes and Victory poses

Emotes and victory poses are now interchangeable. Except for a few exceptions like emotes that require 2 people, the kick and a few others, all the victory poses can now be used as emotes and all emotes can now be used as victory poses

🔧 Fixes

Hang Detection

As part of our ongoing war against bugs and instability we have introduced a “hang detection” feature in the PC version. If the game hangs (freezes) for more than 20 seconds then this new feature will crash the game instead of letting it stay hung. This generates a file called a “crash dump” which contains important debugging information for our programmers to diagnose and fix the root cause of the hang.

If you experience a hang, please wait at least 40 seconds before restarting your PC to allow the hang detector to do its job.

If you experience a 20+ second hang followed by a crash:

• If the crash reporting window shows up then please submit the report as usual.
• If the crash reporting window doesn’t show up (it can fail), we humbly request that you share the crash dump file with our player support team (https://arrowhead.zendesk.com/). They will be able to assist you in locating and sharing the crash dump file.

With your help, we can eliminate these issues once and for all!

Crash Fixes

• Fixed a rare crash caused by weapon customization desynchronization
• Fixed a rare crash that would occur when players would access the Galactic Map
• Fixed a crash caused by Automatons in Lava Missions

Weapons & Stratagem Fixes

• The RS-422 Railgun magazine during reload animation is now visible
• When finishing an Eradication mission after the mission time has run out, an over-zealous second Pelican pilot will no longer heroically try to extract our noble Helldivers if another is already en route
• AX/FLAM-75 “Guard Dog” Hot Dog has its sound effects fixed
• AR/GL-21 One-Two underbarrel explosions sound effects are now fixed
• MLS-4X Commando rockets will now target properly, rather than targeting the last place the Helldiver aims at
• Fixed an issue where the R-36 Eruptor displayed incorrect zoom levels options when using non-zoomed scope attachments
• Fixed a bug where the B-1 Supply Pack would give infinite supplies when dropped
• Fixed the visual glitches that appear in the preview section of the Weapon Customization Menu
• Helldivers can now reload whilst inside an M-102 Fast Reconnaissance Vehicle
• B-1 Supply Pack can no longer be used on Helldivers when their ammo, grenades and stims are full
• Fixed bug where story campaign operations would not persist between game sessions
• Projectiles from turret stratagems will now also hit their owners
• The Ministry of Defense has installed scrubbing chips on the Ground All-Terrain Extraction Rig, preventing accidental lock-on by smart weaponry
• RS-422 Railgun now properly displays the clip during the Reload animation if the player reloads the weapon immediately after firing
• When cancelling a reload after a new projectile was made visible, but before it was put into the weapon; the weapon would display the new shell in the weapon, even with the weapon empty. The weapons will now correctly display if it is ready to fire or not
• Heat based weapons are now displaying overheating properly, in the Weapon Function Menu
• Kills with “One True Flag” will now count towards Major Order kills
• Fixed the M-1000 Maxigun wind-up sounds which would sometimes not play properly
• Player can no longer throw multiple stratagems after entering and exiting emplacements
• Grenade launcher shots and explosions from AR/GL-21 One-Two rifle should now be visible when shot by other players

P-92 Warrant

• Made the drag and gravity the same on the non-guided projectile as the last patch change for the guided projectile.
• Move the “Guided mode/None Guided mode” weapon function from Right to Left weapon function direction

Enemies

• Enemies have learned how to target better
• Fixed spawn rate on Rapid Acquisition missions on difficulty CR7-10. Adjusted spawn points on Rapid Acquisition map

Miscellaneous Fixes

• Automaton dropships will now move less erratically when dropping enemies
• Fix incorrect camera positioning when transitioning to first person while reloading
• Fixed an issue where players could land on Command Bunkers in city missions
• Fixed certain items not being interactable inside specific PoIs on Magma planets
• Solved terrain height changing when approaching or moving away from a deformed piece of terrain, causing a weird visual effect
• Exiting a vehicle now properly inherits the vehicle`s velocity
• High-Command has now authorized Commando Operations to be carried out on all Automaton controlled planets. They will frequently be available to choose alongside the regular Peace Keeping Operations going forward
• Fix damage inconsistencies between client and host damage. Clients should no longer do less damage than the host
• Players no longer get stuck under the bridge during Rapid Acquisition missions
• The Helldiver properly follows hand position protocols when activating power stations
• Camera correctly points towards the Hellidver during the push-up emote
• The battery light will now turn off after its delivery during “Seize Fusion Batteries” objective
• Draw! Emote no longer locks melee weapons
• Adjusted Automaton scanner glow – they will no longer shine white whilst scanning for Helldivers
• The Super Earth Flag is now correctly playing the Super Earth Anthem when using the stratagem during Hive World Missions
• The Helldiver now moves their hands away from terminal screens to not block sight to whoever is looking over their shoulder
• [Xbox Only] Smoke will no longer display green artifacts on red planets
• The Guard Dog series of stratagems have had their names shortened to improve readability. They’re still your loyal companions, but now with shorter, easier to read names.

Optimizations

• We improved fog density / visibility between Volumetric Fog Quality settings, making the Lowest and Low settings match
• Improved performance of building material found in colonies and cities
• Removed the light-source that was attached to the Helldiver, which was used for making dark environments brighter near the player; tweaked and improved playability and visibility in darker environments instead
• Fixed an issue that was causing some players to get a “10002026” error during login attempt
• Implemented performance improvements affecting explosions and general destruction, primarily surrounding bot factories

Helldivers 2’s next Warbond, Siege Breakers, is out today, February 3, as part of this update. As detailed in a recent post, this Warbond is for players needing “something to smash through […] towering foe with impenetrable fortifications,“… which I’m pretty sure means it’s needed by all of us.

Don’t forget that February will a “month of anniversary surprises” as Helldivers 2 hits its second anniversary. To kick us off, Arrowhead formally introduced us to the “face of Freedom, the voice of Victory, the light of Liberty,” John Helldiver himself.

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.

Ubisoft is yet to formally announce its Tom Clancy’s The Division: Definitive Edition, but you can now purchase it via the Xbox store. Unfortunately, however, its release has confirmed exactly what this new version of the game entails — and it’s not the remake or remaster that some fans had expected.

On Xbox at least, you can now pay $49.99 to own Ubisoft’s 2016 extraction shooter and all of its add-on content, including the game’s three expansions, season pass, and various DLC outfits.

There does not appear to be any new content here — or any new versions of existing content, either. This has come as something of a surprise to fans who had spotted advertising for the game’s Definitive Edition pop up last month alongside new merchandise, just in time for the game’s 10th anniversary.

Instead, for your money you’ll get access to the following Tom Clancy’s The Division items:

• Tom Clancy’s The Division
• Season Pass
• Season Pass Exclusive Outfits
• Expansion I: Underground
• Expansion II: Survival
• Expansion III: Last Stand
• Sawed-off Shotgun
• Frontline Outfit Pack
• Let it Snow Pack
• Military Specialists Outfits Pack
• Parade Pack
• Sports Fan Outfit Pack
• Streets of New York Outfit Bundle
• Marine Forces Outfits Pack
• Upper East Side Outfit Pack

“Get the complete The Division experience in this Definitive Edition!” Ubisoft’s blurb reads. “The base game, all three Season Pass expansions, and multiple cosmetic packs await you. Restore order and rebuild New York City after a devastating pandemic in this tactical open world third-person shooter.

“The Definitive Edition also includes gear sets, weapon skins, and customization options, everything you need to stand out as an elite agent.”

Two years on from its announcement, Ubisoft is still working on The Division 3. And while it has yet to show off the game or provide us with a release date, its now-departed chief developer Julian Gerighty has said he believes it will have as big an impact as The Division 1 did back in the day.

“So, The Division 3 is in production, right? This is not a secret. It’s been announced. It’s shaping up to be a monster,” Gerighty said. “I can’t really say anything more than that. But this is, within these walls in Massive, we are working extremely hard on something that I think will be as big an impact as Division 1 was.”

Last month, Ubisoft announced the cancelation of six games, the closure of two studios and further job losses at another three locations, and a cost-reduction initiative aimed at eliminating 200 positions at its Paris headquarters. Of the half dozen games that were scrapped, Ubisoft only publicly named one — its long-awaited Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

An unboxing video that purportedly reveals a Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake collectible dagger has been shared online, with fans pointing to the footage as further evidence that the project was nearing completion when recently canceled by Ubisoft.

The two-minute video was originally uploaded to YouTube last week, though remained unlisted and not widely-seen until it was later shared via social media.

The video is labelled as showing an unreleased “press kit” — a promotional item typically sent to media and influencers to generate hype. Housed within a wooden box with the game’s logo, what appears to be a replica of the infamous Dagger of Time comes encased in foam and packaged with a display stand. (The dagger itself looks to be made of resin, so won’t be cutting anything anytime soon.)

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake (2020) | Unreleased Press Kit Unboxing🔥⏳#PrinceofPersiaRemake @princeofpersia pic.twitter.com/Fd7CzmqRjY

— Prince of Persia Universe (@princeozzyX) January 30, 2026

While the item doesn’t tell us much more about the game itself, other than how the Dagger of Time might have looked, the item’s appearance now has prompted further questions from fans over how close Ubisoft was to releasing the game at the point that it was canceled. IGN has contacted Ubisoft for comment, but did not receive a response.

Last week, actress Eman Ayaz — who is widely-believed to have been playing the major role of Farah — said she had “filmed marketing” for the project as recently as November last year, and had now lost three years’ worth of work due to the game being scrapped. “Sadly the entertainment industry isn’t just about entertainment,” Ayaz said, “it’s about guaranteeing a cash flow. And that means making decisions that treat people’s lives as collateral damage, and art as disposable content… This project existed, even if the world never got to see it.

Ubisoft confirmed it had canned the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake last month as part of a wider reorganization that featured layoffs at three development studios, the closure of two more, and the shutdown of five other game projects. A swathe of other, unnamed games were also delayed — reportedly including Ubisoft’s unconfirmed but widely-expected Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag remake.

Last week, a collectible figurine believed to be set to launch alongside the Black Flag remake also popped up online, as someone tried to sell the item via used clothing app Vinted. Ubisoft, seemingly unable to deny the remake’s existence any longer, then responded online with a GTA meme.

For its part, Ubisoft told Prince of Persia fans that despite six years of work, its Sands of Time remake was still too far away from being ready to fund any further. “We weren’t able to reach the level of quality you deserve,” the company said in a statement, “and continuing would have required more time and investment than we could responsibly commit.”

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Magic: The Gathering has a busy year in 2026, particularly when it pertains to Universes Beyond.

June 2026 will see a Marvel Super Heroes set arrive, and unlike Spider-Man, it’s bringing Commander precons. We’re still waiting for more information about what’s in each, but we’ll update this page as we hear more. Any you’ve got your eye on? Let us know in the comments!

There are four Commander Decks for the Marvel Super Heroes set, following in the footsteps of other Universes Beyond sets like The Lord of the Rings, Warhammer 40,000, and last year’s Final Fantasy.

Here’s the lineup, including the brief description on the box of each precon, as well as their color identity.

• Avengers Assemble (Captain America and Nick Fury – Red/White/Blue)
  • ‘Grow your ranks, equipment and counters’
• Wakanda Forever (Black Panther – Green/White)
  • ‘Power up with artifacts, reign as the Monarch’
• The Fantastic Four (The titular team – Red/Green/White/Blue)
  • ‘Noncreature spells, protection fields’
• Doom Prevails (Doctor Doom and Loki – Blue/Black/Red)
  • ‘Connive for power, drain life’

It’s worth noting that Marvel’s Spider-Man, which launched in 2025, didn’t get the Commander Deck treatment. Given it’s Magic’s most popular format, we’re unsure if this is Wizards of the Coast correcting that oversight, or if it was always planned this way.

What’s in the Collector’s Edition Commander Decks?

This morning Wizards of the Coast put a new Magic: The Gathering product up for sale with an unexpected twist. The “Prints Charming” Secret Lair drop contains four reprinted cards with pretty excellent new art – but rather than simply telling us how much it costs, it was given five different non-foil store listings and five more for the foil version, each with a different price ranging from $10 all the way up to $50. The product description on all of them is careful to point out the following: “The only difference between listings is the price. Higher-priced listings do not include anything extra.”

This, by my estimation as someone who has been playing Magic since the 90s and literally wrote the announcement for the very first Secret Lair, is pretty lame. Taken graciously, it’s a goofy marketing stunt meant to do something silly and get folk talking about it, but it nevertheless leaves those who arrived too late with a very sour taste in their mouth. A more pessimistic reading would be that WOTC is price testing what people are willing to pay for a Secret Lair drop in broad daylight, shedding even the thinnest veneer that may be hiding the capitalist hunger a lawsuit recently alleged is designed specifically to hide shortfalls in other parts of Hasbro’s business.

The reaction amongst the Magic community has been muddled. Some were confused. Some very generously assumed the higher price points were to bait automated scalper bots into spending more while real people could snag a more affordable version – an argument that doesn’t exactly hold water when you consider that they could just make them all cheaper if that was the desire. And some were just angry, either because the cheapest versions sold out so fast, or because they similarly see this as bold-faced market research in cardboard form.

I actually really love the idea of Wizards of the Coast’s Secret Lair line overall. Directly selling small drops of thematically linked cards with cool and unique art treatments is quite fun, and often comes at little-to-no cost for those who just want to ignore it. Being able to give Kratos or Aloy their own cards without the production lift a larger product would require is a neat tool in WOTC’s toolbelt. The “Chaos Vault” moniker this latest one was released under intentionally pushes the envelope even further with weird, off-schedule ideas and one-offs that are explicitly meant to experiment. I dig that!

But that does not mean Secret Lair is free from criticism. Most pressing here, folk (myself included) were already displeased by WOTC’s 2024 decision to move these drops from a “print to demand” model to one with limited and undisclosed quantities. The former system meant anyone who wanted a certain drop could get it within a specific timeframe, while the latter has historically meant you need to get in line right when a popular drop arrives in order to have a chance at purchasing it – something you can’t do if you, say, have work or school at the same time.

So, given there is already anxiety around the availability of Secret Lairs, one that got almost no pre-promotion offering an early bird discount (alongside the option to pay WOTC more money) is understandably frustrating. It’s the sort of thing that independent creators admittedly do with their products from time to time without drawing any ire, rewarding their most dedicated fans while also providing a way to support them even further for those who want to. But for a multibillion-dollar corporation to do it is not endearing in the same way – it comes across more like profit analysis wearing a sign around its neck that reads “it’s just a prank, bro.”

Much to my dismay, both the lowest and highest priced versions of Prints Charming sold out the quickest, either lending some credence to the “ha ha stupid bots” theory or offering evidence that “speaking with your wallet” is and will always be a doomed suggestion. The standard Secret Lair pricing of $30 for non-foil and $40 for foil lasted much longer than the others, so it seems likely the “stock” for those versions was intentionally the largest of all the options. But even if that does make this one big stunt, or even a cute way to subsidize a few discounted drops through folk who are willing to spend a little more, the ultimate result is still that a majority of players feel like they are the ones left holding the proverbial bag.

I don’t know, maybe I am yelling at the clouds. The card-selling company is experimenting with how much money it can sell its cards for. This should not be a shock, nor am I surprised to see Prints Charming sell out within hours (the art is really excellent, even if its total reprint value of around $5 is not). But the quiet part is being said louder than usual here. The teacher has handed us a test, and I fear what the results will be. The theme of this drop is cards that speed up your green resource production, and if that’s not as on the nose as naming your giant evil space station the Death Star, I don’t know what is.

Tom Marks is IGN’s Associate Reviews Director and local MTG Cube obssessive. He loves puzzles, platformers, puzzle-platformers, and lots more.

Check out this big price drop on a lightweight gaming mouse with no lack of flair. Starting today, Amazon has dropped the price of the SteelSeries Counter-Strike 2 Dragon Lore Limited Edition wireless gaming mouse to just $56.76 $52.93 after a massive 65% off discount. Historically speaking, the price of this mouse was fixed at $150 since it first released last July… until today. The Dragon Lore Edition gets points for its gorgeous design, but it also happens to be an excellent performer for any gamer looking for a lightweight mouse with top-of-the-line accuracy and precision.

Update: The price has dropped even further.

SteelSeries CS2 Dragon Lore Edition Mouse for $52.93

Fortnite fans are on the edge of their seats as rumors and leaks seem to suggest a potential Chappell Roan crossover coming to Fortnite in February.

The Femininomenon of the pop music world has been the talk of the Fortnite community since cosmetics related to some of her most iconic songs supposedly leaked late last month. Developer Epic Games hasn’t confirmed whether Chappell Roan or her famous pink pony mascot will actually show up in-game, but fans are still expecting an announcement as soon as this week.

CHAPPEL ROAN POTENTIALLY NEXT FESTIVAL ARTIST #Fortnite pic.twitter.com/Ut2jTrm6Ok

— Leaky (@itsmeleaky) January 22, 2026

X/Twitter user @itsmeleaky seems to have been the first to kick off rumors that the Midwest Princess was next to join Epic’s roster of Festival stars, sharing images of some very Chappell Roan-looking music cosmetics and what appears to be a llama sidekick dressed up as a pink, cowboy hat-wearing pony. Players were then able to find these same items in a special room in-game, with some other familiar visuals, including flashy pink stars and some knight armor, adding to the pile of alleged evidence.

All three items would certainly fit the occasion, especially the potential sidekick, which looks a lot like a reference to the star’s mega-hit song, Pink Pony Club. The knight armor, meanwhile, has been taken as a sign that at least one of what could be a few skins could pull from Chappell Roan’s medieval-themed Video Music Awards performance of Good Luck, Babe!. She’s known for her many, many memorable looks, though, so music fans are still guessing which direction Epic could take her cosmetics should she have a substantial presence in Fortnite this month.

👀| Fortnite appears to have begun teasing a possible collaboration with Chappell Roan pic.twitter.com/zUMRqjXlxx

— Chappell Roan Now (@ChappellRoanNow) January 23, 2026

Meanwhile, the studio confirmed plans to launch Fortnite version 39.40 this week on January 30, leaving fans to look out for new content in the days ahead. Again, Epic hasn’t confirmed whether the star will show up at all, but for some, it’s not a question of if, but when and how.

Chappell Roan’s status as a Grammy award-winning artist with millions of listeners has many expecting her to headline an upcoming Festival update as its new icon. It would mean potentially multiple skins to accompany the inclusion of more of her music, though how the star’s career could be represented is unclear. It’s possible she could have a more muted presence, but with the previous icon, Lisa, set to rotate out in just a few days, fans believe it could be the perfect time for Chappell to make her proper Fortnite debut.

FORTNITE VALENTINE’S DAY EVENT TEASER pic.twitter.com/ew7rxBrrzg

— Shiina (@ShiinaBR) February 1, 2026

As Chappell Roan rumors for Fortnite heat up without official confirmation, players are still looking forward to other updates for February. The game’s official account recently put out what appears to be a tease, saying, “In February, Fortnite wears pink.” It could be more evidence that Chappell Roan is on the way, but it’s also likely referencing its upcoming Valentine’s Day plans. Another post from today has music and movie fans looking forward to more KPop Demon Hunters content.

Fortnite leapt into Chapter 7 with an Avengers: Endgame-style event late last year. The months since have, of course, been filled with more crossover content, including a collaboration that brought South Park items into the fold and a few skins from The Office.

Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

The latest Magic: The Gathering set, Lorwyn Eclipsed, is here to kick off the game’s 2026 release schedule.

This release marks the return to the classic fae and elf-heavy realm of Lorywn, last visited back in 2008. Recently, as I was perusing Instagram, I came across a video by Daniel Powell (aka JollySaintClick), who brought to my attention the new “Mirrorform” card that is part of the latest set.

This card, costing four colorless and two blue mana, reads as follows: “Each nonland permanent you control becomes a copy of target non-aura permanent.” JollySaintClick pointed out how the card can get out of hand with something like Coveted Jewel, and it got me thinking: What other cards would be great to copy with Mirrorform?”

Mirrorform Explained