Category: IGN

Auto Added by WPeMatico

Fear Fest 2023’s Black Summer and Horror Game Awards: How to Watch and What to Expect

IGN is proud to partner with Feardemic for Fear Fest 2023, a two-day celebration of horror games that will not only showcase some of the biggest games in the scariest genre that are headed our way this year and next, but will also present the first-ever Horror Game Awards.

All things Fear Fest 2023 will be streamed exclusively on IGN’s YouTube, Twitch, and homepage, and this guide will provide you with everything you need to watch the events, including when they start and what you can expect from the frightful festivities.

Fear Fest 2023 Schedule

Fear Fest 2023 will kick off its two-day event with Black Summer, a showcase hosted by Feardemic and some of the most prolific horror content creators that will give fans a preview of the biggest spooky games headed their way in 2023 and 2024.

Fear Fest’s Black Summer 2023 will take place on Wednesday, September 6, at 11am PT/2pm ET/7pm BST. That translates to Thursday, September 7, at 4am AEST. The show is expected to last roughly five hours and feature approximately fifty games.

Day 2 will bring with it the first-ever Horror Game Awards. The event will celebrate the best games from July 2022 to July 2023 and the incredible developers who brought them to life. The show will be hosted by some of the most famous names in horror.

Fear Fest’s Horror Game Awards will take place on Thursday, September 7, at 11am PT/2pm ET/7pm BST. That translates to Friday, September 8, at 4am AEST. The show is expected to last around 1.5 hours.

Where to Watch Fear Fest 2023

If you’re interested in watching Fear Fest 2023’s Black Summer event and the Horror Game Awards, we’ll be hosting the stream here and on our YouTube and Twitch channels. Here’s the full list of places you can watch all the shows with us:

What to Expect at Fan Fest 2023

As we previously mentioned, Fear Fest 2023 will be headlined by its Black Summer event and the first-ever Horror Game Awards.

Fear Fest’s Black Summer will be a show filled with horror games that will be released in 2023 and 2024, and fans can expect to see about 50 exciting titles throughout the event. In addition to these world premiere trailers, the show will also feature interviews, special industry guests, and some of the most beloved horror content creators from all over the world.

The list of content creators include Sneevil, Walkrman, ItsPeepoHere, LuigiKid, Batkitto, John Wolfe, Otter Lady, 8BitRyan, JazzyGuns, Z0mbyte, Vallarys, MopGarden, and more.

While we don’t know all the games that will appear at Black Summer, Feardemic did tease that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, Alan Wake 2, Alone in the Dark, and Slave Zero X will all be part of the show in some capacity.

Fear Fest’s Horror Game Awards will take place the next day and will honor the best games in the horror genre that were released between July 2022 and July 2023. There will be 14 categories that were previously voted on by fans, including Horror Game of the Year, Best Art Direction, Best Peformance, Lifetime Achievement Award, and more. Oh, and the winners will be presented with the prestigious golden bat trophy, and who wouldn’t want that?

As for which games will be competing for the ultimate prize at the Horror Game Awards, they include Amnesia: The Bunker, Bramble, Dead Space Remake, Dredge, Immortality, Faith: The Unholy Trinity, Resident Evil 4, Signalis, System Shock Remake, and The Callisto Protocol.

For more from the world of spooks and scares, check out our list of the 12 best horror games on PC and the winners of our best horror video game face-off.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Space Week Face-Off: Which Game Set in the Stars Above Is the Best?

It may be hard to believe, but Starfield has finally arrived (in early access!). While we are just as excited as you to fly off into the great beyond and make a name for ourselves among the stars, we also think it’s the perfect time to look back at the history of games set in space to decide which game is the best. However, we can’t do this alone and we’re going to need your help.

Do you think Mass Effect 2 deserves the top spot? Or does Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic or EVE Online take number one? We’ve selected 93 of the best games where space is integral to the game to “Face-Off” against each other two at a time. The choice is yours…

Oh, and we’ve decided to include Starfield in this Face-Off as we know many of you have already started playing this space epic. If you have yet to start your journey in Bethesda’s latest RPG, feel free to hit “skip” at the bottom of the page! You can also do that for any game you aren’t familiar with!

Click here to start voting in the best space game Face-Off!

What Is a Face-Off?

Like the name suggests, a Face-Off pits two things against one another and you decide which one is the superior of the two. In this case, you are voting to determine what the best game set in space is. It’s possible to see certain games multiple times, so you can keep voting for your favorites to ensure they get ranked higher than the rest. IGN’s resident team of space experts pre-selected 93 games for you to choose from. These get randomly paired up and each time you pick a winner, it’s tracked.

How Is the Winner Determined?

When voting ends on September 8 at 5 pm P.T. where we’ll tally up the total number of “wins” and “losses” each space video game has and create a ranked list based on your choices that will go live on September 9. The game that won the most matchups will be crowned the “winner,” and in the event of a tied number of “wins,” the game with the least “losses” will take the top spot. If you continue to keep voting for your favorite game, they’ll have a better chance of ranking high on the list. You can vote as many times as you want until the Face-Off closes.

How Do I Know When I’ve Clicked Through Everything?

It’s difficult to know when you’ve seen every space video game included because they are matched randomly, and there are many possible match-ups. Playing until you vote for all your favorites or ensuring that certain games don’t get in the winner’s circle are different options you can take with a Face-Off. By deciding the winner throughout all these match-ups, you’re ensuring that your picks for the best space video game will have a fighting chance to reach the top of the list.

Which Space Video Games Have You Included?

The list of space video games has been decided by IGN staff, and we’ve tried to include only those games where space is integral to the game and not just a backdrop. So this means games that we love like Super Metroid or Dead Space don’t quite make the list as they aren’t as much about traveling between planets and experiencing the great beyond. After much discussion, we settled on 93 games, but we’d love to hear if we missed one of your favorites! Let us know in the comments below!

Click here to start voting in the best space game Face-Off!

For more, check out all the details on Space Week @ IGN and our look at why there aren’t more space RPGs like Starfield.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Dev Says Aggressively Horny Companions Were a Bug

If you are wondering why Baldur’s Gate 3’s companions were extremely… forward, it turns out it was the result of a bug.

Developer Larian told TheGamer Baldur’s Gate 3 came out with a bug that meant the companions were too horny too soon into the player’s relationship with them.

Explosive wizard Gale is perhaps the most aggressively horny of Baldur’s Gate 3’s companions. He’s very much up for a fun night at camp pretty much as soon as you pull him out of his magic hole. But red hot Tiefling Barbarian Karlach isn’t far behind. She had a burning desire for my half-elf before we’d even exchanged numbers.

Larian boss Swen Vincke told TheGamer the companions’ “approval thresholds” were set too low, which brought forward their interest in sex. “That’s why they were so horny in the beginning,” explained Vincke.

Apparently Larian has fixed this bug for some, but not all the game’s companions, which shows Larian’s intention when it comes to the relationships in the game. Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t supposed to be this horny, basically. It wouldn’t be right in real life, Vincke said. “There were a lot of people that enjoyed it. But it was too fast,” Vincke said. “It was supposed to simulate how real relationships are.” Acting this way in real life would be “problematic”, Vincke added.

In the meantime, if everything’s moving too fast for you, you can always select the dialogue that tells your determined companions to calm down.

If you’re in two minds, IGN has a comprehensive guide to all Baldur’s Gate 3’s sex and romance options. It’ll help you play the field while you play the game, so to speak.

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.

Witcher TTRPG Going on ‘Disappointing’ Hiatus During The Witcher 4 Development

The Witcher tabletop RPG has been placed on a “disappointing” hiatus while CD Projekt Red works on The Witcher 4, codenamed Polaris.

Tabletop developer R. Talsorian Games announced the hiatus in August but has now told IGN it doesn’t know when it can continue work on the game.

“We’re doing alright over here at Talsorian though the news is disappointing to say the least,” line manager and lead developer Cody Pondsmith told IGN. “We don’t have a time frame yet as many things are still up in the air with [CD Projekt Red].”

We’re doing alright over here at Talsorian though the news is disappointing to say the least.

Polaris isn’t launching until 2025 at the earliest so the hiatus could be lengthy. Though grander story details are likely to be locked in earlier on in development, content could be cut for several reasons later on, leaving it unclear what stories actually make it into the main game.

Pondsmith said its story — which takes place between The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — isn’t directly related to Polaris, but Talsorian and CD Projekt Red work closely together to ensure its Witcher canon remains consistent.

“The new content we have planned isn’t directly related to The Witcher 4 but it touches on a lot of parts of the lore of The Witcher that are integral to the entire canon,” he said.

Pondsmith delved into this further in the initial announcement: “As CD Projekt Red begins work on the fourth Witcher video game we’ve been collaborating to make sure that the information between our two products stays as connected as possible.

“We’ve had countless meetings covering days’ worth of time discussing the lore of The Continent and the direction of the Witcher franchise. What we’ve come to realize is that it would be extremely difficult or perhaps impossible to continue work on The Witcher TTRPG line at the moment and still maintain the connection with CD Projekt Red’s upcoming plans.”

Fans of The Witcher TTRPG might have some new content to look forward to though, as Pondsmith made clear in the post that the game “is not dead”.

He also told IGN that some smaller content drops are a possibility: “Currently, we don’t have any plans to release substantial new content during this hiatus but we are hoping to be able to release free downloadable content on our website focusing on well established concepts in the Witcher canon that won’t be touched by The Witcher 4.”

Polaris was revealed in March 2022 with a single teaser image and, though the game is due to get a big development boost soon, CD Projekt Red has said very little else about the long-awaited sequel.

The teaser still spawned myriad fan theories centred around a new medallion, which led some to believe The Witcher 3’s Ciri would be the protagonist of the new game. CD Projekt later confirmed the image to be that of a Lynx, but whether it’s a new witcher school or not is still up for debate.

We don’t know too much else about the game, other than that CD Projekt Red has partnered with Epic Games to build it in Unreal Engine 5 and that its director has promised no crunch on his watch.

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

Impressive Baldur’s Gate 3 Mod Adds 54 Fantastical Races to the Game

If you’re playing Baldur’s Gate 3 and feel like it could do with some Final Fantasy races, there’s a mod for that.

Dungeons and Souls’ Fantastical Multiverse 1.0, which just launched in full release form, adds 54 fantastical races to Larian’s Dungeons & Dragons-themed role-playing game, including some from Final Fantasy 14.

Races added with the mod are lifted from lands outside the game setting of Faerûn, such as D&D’s Eberron, Etharis (the official world for the Grim Hollow setting), and Final Fantasy 14’s Eorzea. This means Changeling, Kobold, Goliath, Goblins, Dhampir, Aasimar, Laneshi, Yuan-ti, and many more are included. The Final Fantasy 14 races added are the Hyur, Elezen, Roegadyn, and Garlean.

The mod even makes Ogresh (like giant humans) from Grim Hollow playable.

Dungeons and Souls made all the new races compatible with current standards to “ensure that none of the races fall behind if they aren’t already upgraded by the source material”. “Fantastical Multiverse aims to aid players who play races outside of the vanilla and encourages the fantastical,” reads the mod’s description on Nexus.

There’s more to come, too. “Yes, all FF14 races will be added eventually,” Dungeons and Souls’ said in a post on X.

Baldur’s Gate 3’s explosive launch has come with an equally explosive modding scene, with everything from an improved user interface to a party limit increase available. In our 10/10 review, IGN said: “With crunchy, tactical RPG combat, a memorable story with complex characters, highly polished cinematic presentation, and a world that always rewards exploration and creativity, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the new high-water mark for CRPGs.”

Image credit: @DungeonsNSouls on X.

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.

Best Nintendo Switch Micro SD Card Deals (September 2023)

If you’ve started compiling a collection of digital games, you probably already know just how limited the Switch’s base storage capacity is. The Switch and Switch OLED have 32GB and 64GB of internal storage, respectively. Some of that is reserved for the OS. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom takes up over 18GB of storage all by itself. Other must-have titles like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Pokemon Sword or Shield tap out at 13.5GB each.

TL;DR – Best Switch SD Card Deals

There’s only one expansion slot in the Switch console so you want to make sure you get the biggest card you can afford. Below, we’ve found some of the best SD card deals right now so you can maximize your Switch’s storage space without breaking the bank.

TeamGroup A2 Pro Plus SD Card for $25.99

For now, our favorite deal is definitely on the TeamGroup 512GB Micro SDXC card. You can pick up the TeamGroup card for just $25.99 at Amazon right now, which is a great price vs the next best deal on the Samsung Evo Plus for $33.24. This is also less than the Prime Day price from a few weeks ago, so you’re absolutely bagging a bargain here. Otherwise, the 1TB is also at a great price for $57.99 right now as well.

Samsung EVO Plus 512GB Micro SDXC Card for $33.24

Amazon has the Samsung EVO Plus 512GB Micro SDXC card for only $33.24, making it one of the lowest prices currently for a Micro SDXC card of that size. It boasts a U3 A2 speed rating, which is faster than most Micro SDXC cards, including the official Nintendo Switch ones.

It doesn’t make any difference for the Nintendo Switch itself, since it will throttle any Micro SDXC card down to U1 speeds. However, it will be useful if you ever want to swap it down the road to your smartphone, GoPro, camera, or any device that supports faster speeds. Plus, it could future proof your purchase if the next Nintendo console supports A2 micro SD cards.

Budget to Best: Micro SDXC Card Deals

If you’re not married to a particular brand, then there are plenty of lesser-known but still legitimate companies that offer some outstanding deals on memory cards.

For example, TeamGroup is actually a well-known company, but people recognize them more for their T-Force branded lineup of RAM and SSDs.

The Switch isn’t the only gaming system that accepts these cards. If you’re a Steam Deck or ROG Ally owner, you can also use this card, especially if you picked up the 64GB Deck storage option.

For even more Switch deals, check out our complete Nintendo deals round-up featuring discounts on games, accessories, Switch online memberships, and more.

With how expensive gaming is getting in 2023, we’re trying to save you as much money as possible on the games and other tech you actually want to buy.

We’ve got great deal roundups available for all major platforms such as PS5 and Xbox, and keep these updated daily with brand new offers. If you’re trying to keep costs down while maintaining your favorite hobby, stay tuned for more incredible discounts.

Starfield Lets You Fly Directly to Other Planets — It Just Takes Ages and It’s an Anticlimax

Starfield is designed to keep the surface of planets and the space between them separate, but it is possible to fly directly to another planet — if you have the time and patience.

Earlier this year, Bethesda Game Studios boss Todd Howard confirmed to IGN that Starfield doesn’t let you fly seamlessly from space to planet, insisting “that’s really just not that important to the player” to justify the engineering work involved.

“People have asked, ‘Can you fly the ship straight down to the planet?’ No. We decided early in the project that the on-surface is one reality, and then when you’re in space it’s another reality,” Howard said.

“If you try to really spend a lot of time engineering the in-between, like that segue, you’re just spending a lot of time [on something] that’s really just not that important to the player,” Howard reasoned. “So let’s make sure it’s awesome when you’re on the surface and awesome when you’re in space, and those realities look and play as good as they can be.”

The upshot is Starfield is more of a Mass Effect than a No Man’s Sky when it comes to space exploration, but that didn’t stop streamer and Sony Santa Monica writer Alanah Pearce testing Starfield’s space limits.

During a weekend stream on Twitch, Pearce set course for Pluto, pointing her ship directly at Starfield’s virtual version of the dwarf planet. “I’m leaving my ship running while I sleep to see if I eventually collide with Pluto in some way, for science,” Pearce said in a post on X. Pluto was chosen because of its slow orbit, making it a relatively stable point in space to aim at. Still, Pluto moved about enough that Pearce had to course correct every 30 minutes or so, setting a timer to wake up.

Seven – yes, seven – hours later, Pluto loomed over the horizon. What happened next was an anticlimax. As Pluto neared its pixelated form presented itself. “I can’t believe I’m about to touch Pluto,” Pearce said. But there is no realistic representation of Pluto to be found travelling in this way. Pluto, it seems, is nothing more than a blocky, grey picture in space, and Pearce eventually travelled straight through it. There is no forced landing animation. It’s all an illusion. “I don’t know what to do,” Pearce said, nonplussed.

So, what have we learned about the way Starfield works? The game’s space travel is not restricted to small skyboxes or zones you can’t leave, which means you are able to fly to a planet in a semi-realistic representation of distance in space. But once you get to a planet, Starfield breaks down a bit, letting you get close to an object that represents a planets, but is not a planet. What’s next? In a follow-up post on X, Pearce wondered whether you can fly between systems. Anyone got a spare 100 hours?

If you’re playing Starfield, here’s IGN’s handy guide to starting ship customization. Meanwhile, here are all the things to do first in Starfield.

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.

Best EA Sports FC 24 Preorder Deals Right Now

Another year, another FIFA. Oh wait, it’s not, well it is, but it’s not – you still with me? EA has finally done away with the FIFA license and has rebranded its premium money-making sports simulator to EA Sports FC 24. If you’re looking to play the game on September 29, we’ve already found all the best preorder deals available right now in the UK.

There’s an extra limited-time deal on right now, with an extra 15% off the deal at The Game Collection Outlet via eBay. This trusted seller is partnered with eBay and therefore users can use the extra 15% off code TAKE15 to preorder EA Sports FC 24 for just £53.51.

The RRP is £69.99 so you’re saving a considerable £16.48 on launch day. The only catch is you’ll need to cough up the cash right away, so if you’re okay with that, we’ve left the relevant links you need to the deal here. Act fast, however, as this promo code will expire after September 6 (see more games on sale here).

EA Sports FC 24 Best Preorder Deals

If you don’t want to front the cash for EA Sports FC 24 just yet, then we’ve got you covered there as well. Amazon has got FC 24 preorders down to £64.99 right now, and there’s plenty of choice from other UK retailers right now. Here’s every EA Sports FC 24 preorder deal available before the game launches.

EA Sports FC 24 Release Date

When is EA Sports FC 24 out? The official release date for the game is September 29, but you can also play seven days early on September 22 if you opt to buy the Ultimate Edition on your relevant console or PC storefront.

How Much Does EA Sports FC 24 Cost?

The official RRP for EA Sports FC 24 is £69.99, but a lot of retailers are already listing the game well below that in order to try and get some market attention. It’s highly likely the game will be a bestseller once again for EA, so choose carefully and you might be able to pick up a great discount before release day.

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

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Has Gotten a Massive Discount

Xbox Game Pass is getting a price hike, as Ultimate is rising to $16.99 per month. That makes today’s lead deal even more appealing, as you can get three months of Xbox Game Pass for $31.49 (vs. $50.97 if you paid monthly). This effectively translates to roughly $10.49 per month for access to one of the most extensive game subscription services available, even featuring noteworthy titles like Bethesda’s Starfield (available on Game Pass September 1). Given the high demand, we recommend taking swift action to seize this deal before it vanishes.

How to Avoid The Xbox Game Pass Price Hike

Yes, Xbox Game Pass has gone up in price in recent months, but that won’t stop us from trying to secure the best deal possible for this service. Game Pass Ultimate, the all-inclusive package, has seen a $2 hike, landing at $16.99 per month. Meanwhile, the standard Xbox Game Pass has gotten a $1 increase, making it $10.99 monthly. The new pricing officially took effect on July 6 for newcomers and has since been applicable from August 13 for those already part of the Game Pass family.

With the deal we listed above, this means you’re effectively getting all the benefits of Game Pass Ultimate at a price less than the cost of bog-standard Xbox Game Pass. This includes online multiplayer access, EA Play, PC Game Pass, and a whole slew of other benefits.

But, there is also a way to avoid this price hike for as long as possible, and this new deal makes it all the more enticing. We’re currently recommending securing your current subscription for as long as possible. You can stack up to a maximum of 36 months of Game Pass, meaning you have the option to accumulate 3-month subscriptions up to 12 times.

Admittedly, this approach might put a strain on your wallet, totaling $377.88 if you purchase the 3-month codes via the deal we mentioned above. However, when you compare it to the new cost of Game Pass Ultimate for 36 months at $16.99 per month, amounting to $611.64, you’ll realize you’re saving a substantial $233.76 on your subscription for the next three years.

This is also just an example of the maximum savings available here, as it’s unlikely many of us have got a spare $400 to burn on Game Pass right this second. But it’s still food for thought, and you could even just buy 12 months’ worth of codes for $125.96 (vs. it costing $203.88 per year) if you don’t want to stomach the cost of buying three years of Game Pass at once.

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

Grand Theft Auto 6: Potential Release Window, Leaks, Story, and Latest News

With over 185 million copies sold, Grand Theft Auto 5 is easily the best-selling full-priced game of all time and among the most successful entertainment releases across all mediums. To this day, GTA 5 ranks among the most played games on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, though 10 years on from its debut, fans are eager for a new addition to the Grand Theft Auto series.

In anticipation of Rockstar’s next open-world adventure, we’ve compiled this comprehensive overview of everything we know about Grand Theft Auto 6, including a potential release window, platforms, settings, gameplay, and more.

GTA 6 Potential Release Date

A release window for GTA 6 has not been announced. However, publisher Take-Two Interactive implied GTA 6 may be scheduled for the company’s 2025 fiscal year (April 1, 2024 – March 31, 2025). The implication is found in Take-Two’s latest yearly earnings report, which included a meteoric rise* in forecasted bookings for its fiscal year 2025 — a rise possibly explained by the anticipation of GTA 6.

*Take-Two projects over $8 billion USD in net bookings for fiscal year 2025 — a 50% increase over its previous record-high of $5.3 billion achieved during fiscal year 2023.

GTA 6 Platforms

GTA 6 will likely launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. A PC version is expected, though there’s no guarantee it’ll be available at launch; Rockstar’s two latest original releases — GTA 5 and Red Dead 2 — were released on PC at least a year after debuting on consoles. Switch, PS4, and Xbox One versions seem unlikely, though no official platform details have been confirmed.

GTA 6 Announcement

In February 2022 Rockstar officially confirmed the next Grand Theft Auto (presumably named GTA VI) was in development. Here’s the official announcement from Rockstar:

“With the unprecedented longevity of GTA V, we know many of you have been asking us about a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series. With every new project we embark on, our goal is always to significantly move beyond what we have previously delivered — and we are pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway. We look forward to sharing more as soon as we are ready, so please stay tuned to the Rockstar Newswire for official details.

“On behalf of our entire team, we thank you all for your support and cannot wait to step into the future with you!”

GTA 6 Setting

Grand Theft Auto 6 will reportedly return to Vice City — the franchise’s stand-in for Miami. According to a 2022 Bloomberg report, Vice City is only the starting point, as Rockstar will purportedly add “new missions and cities on a regular basis.” It’s also said to include more interior locations than any previous GTA.

The report states GTA 6 is codenamed Project Americas, in reference to Rockstar’s rumored plan to originally include North and South American locations at launch. That plan, however, is said to have been scrapped to reduce crunch.

Adding to the reports of a return to Vice City is a potential tease found within the remastered version of GTA: San Andreas:

GTA 6 Story, Protagonist(s)

Grand Theft Auto 6 will reportedly star two bank robbers in a Bonnie & Clyde-inspired story, according to the aforementioned Bloomberg report. The dual protagonists are possibly named Lucia and Jason, with Lucia potentially marking the first female playable character in GTA’s 3D era.

The report noted no further plot details, though it did mention a change in Rockstar’s philosophy around satire: The company is reportedly making an effort to write fewer jokes at the expense of marginalized groups.

GTA 6 Gameplay (Leak)

On September 18, 2022, Grand Theft Auto 6 was the subject of what may be the most significant video game leak of all time. A hacker gained access to Rockstar’s network and stole dozens of assets before uploading 90 GTA 6 videos online.

The in-development footage, which was verified by Rockstar, showed off parts of the game world, gunplay, and NPCs. It also seemingly confirmed GTA 6 will feature one male and one female protagonist. (Speaking of NPCs: Rockstar filed a patent in 2019 for more realistic and immersive NPC drivers. The technology, which may be used in GTA 6, allows AI drivers to “define [their] own specific characteristics for traversing the road nodes.”)

10 months after the leak, a British teenager was arrested for his involvement in a series of hacks, one of which is believed to be the origin of the big GTA 6 leak.

GTA 6 Developer

Grand Theft Auto 6 is being developed by Rockstar North, the studio responsible for every mainline GTA game since the franchise’s debut in 1997. Notably, in August, Rockstar began officially working with Cfx.re, the modding team behind the biggest GTA 5 roleplay servers. It’s unclear if the group will work on similar content for GTA 6.

Two staple developers of the Grand Theft Auto series left Rockstar in the years following GTA 5: Rockstar games co-founder/head writer Dan Houser and former Rockstar North president Leslie Benzies. Houser wrote on most of the Grand Theft Auto games from Grand Theft Auto 2 to Grand Theft Auto 5, while Benzies served as a series producer since Grand Theft Auto III.

Rockstar’s VP of writing Mike Unsworth has also left the company, though given the timing of his departure (August 2023), his work on GTA 6 may have been completed.

Jordan covers games, shows, and movies as a freelance writer for IGN.