Category: IGN

Here’s some good news for Final Fantasy XVI holdouts: the game is on sale for $49.99 right now. That’s a fun little $20 discount on this PS5 exclusive, which also happens to be an excellent game (see our 9/10 Final Fantasy XVI review for details). You can grab it from your retailer of choice below.

Final Fantasy XVI Deal

• See it at Amazon
• See it at Best Buy
• See it at Walmart

Final Fantasy XVI is the latest mainline game in the stalwart JRPG series that’s been tirelessly representing the genre since its debut in 1987. As is typical for new, numbered Final Fantasies, it keeps the Cids and Chocobos but throws out much of what came before in favor of a whole lot of new things. For one, combat this time around is more akin to character action games like Bayonetta and Devil May Cry. It also features a darker, more adult story (a la Game of Thrones) than previous entries. In other words, prepare for swears and sex scenes.

From our review: “Featuring fast, reflex driven, action heavy combat, Final Fantasy 16 is certainly a departure from what fans may expect out of a Final Fantasy game, but its excellent story, characters, and world building are right up there with the best the series has to offer, and the innovative Active Time Lore feature should set a new standard for how lengthy, story-heavy games keep players invested in its world.”

There’s certainly no shortage of games to play these days, but saving $20 off an excellent recent title is always better than paying full price. Grab this one on sale if you’ve had your eye on it but missed out on it at release.

Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN’s board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on (long inhale) Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and the social network formerly known as Twitter.

Nintendo has unveiled its holiday hardware plans for 2023, including the return of a very familiar Nintendo Switch bundle alongside two new Nintendo Switch Lite options.

Beginning October 6, Nintendo will sell the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Nintendo Switch bundle for $299.99. This will include a Base Model Nintendo Switch, a digital copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and a three-month individual membership for Nintendo Switch Online.

The Mario Kart 8 Deluxe bundle has become a holiday tradition for Nintendo, as the company has rolled with this strategy for several years in a row. In IGN’s recent interview with Doug Bowser, the Nintendo of America President explained why the company continues to offer this package every year.

“Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is in pretty much everyone’s catalog, and so we think it’s a great entry point for families who are coming into Nintendo systems because it’s got this plug and play type mentality to it where you can just… When you get the unit, plug it in, start playing Mario Kart and having fun as a family,” Bowser said.

But Nintendo will also release two brand-new hardware bundles on the same day the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe bundle returns to shelves. The Nintendo Switch Lite Animal Crossing: New Horizons bundle comes in two different variations: Isabelle’s Aloha Edition and Timmy & Tommy’s Aloha Edition. These two bundles will each retail for $199.99, and include a Switch Lite with a new leaf design on the front and back, and a digital copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Isabelle’s Aloha Edition comes in coral and is exclusive to Target, while Timmy & Tommy’s Aloha Edition comes in turquoise and will only be available at Walmart.

Nintendo still doesn’t appear to be considering a price drop on Nintendo Switch hardware, even as the machine approaches its seventh birthday. Instead, the company opts to bundle software with the unit while keeping the price steady.

“[We have] Switch Lite at $199.99, Base Model at $299.99, and then OLED at $349.99. We think there’s tremendous value in those price points for consumers, and you only have to look at our results in the first quarter of this fiscal year to see the demand is still there,” Bowser said when asked where NoA stands on a potential price drop.

“And so as a result, we think about opportunities to bring more consumers in and encourage people to come in, especially during the holiday period. We think the best method, and it’s worked well for us in the past, has been through the bundles themselves, and by offering a software that they can engage with and get their catalog started with. So that’s really the direction we’ve been taking.”

For more, check out our full interview with Doug Bowser, where we chat with the NoA boss about Charles Martinet’s new role as Mario Ambassador, why Nintendo Switch is still in high demand, and how 2023 has been a “banner year” for Nintendo.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over seven years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Microsoft has announced the features coming in its Xbox September update, such as Discord streaming, Variable Refresh Rate support, and more.

In a post on Xbox Wire, no release date was given for the update but Microsoft did say it was coming “soon”. The headline feature for social gamers is in the ability to stream gameplay straight from the Xbox to Discord friends.

Players looking to do so will need to have their Discord and Xbox accounts linked, but once that’s done it’s as simple as hitting the Stream Your Game button.

Payday 3 will hold an open beta on Steam and Xbox from September 8 to 11, Deep Silver and Starbreeze have announced.

Starbreeze said the open beta is designed to stress test servers for the co-op heist shooter ahead of the launch on September 21.

The open beta requires no key access and includes the same content as the recent technical closed beta test. Starbreeze mentioned the open beta build is based on a build from April 2023 and is not a final representation of Payday 3, but it will let the studio identify potential issues with the servers before launch.

Here’s what the open beta offers, from Starbreeze:

• The original gang: Dallas, Hoxton, Chains and Wolf. The iconic clown-masked characters that made the Payday franchise infamous are all playable.
• No rest for the wicked is a Payday 3 bank heist, that charges the players with relieving a small bank of the cash cluttering up their vault. It’s their own choice to go stealth without anyone noticing how the cash evaporated or go loud to really experience that NYC robbery feeling.
• All difficulties will be playable, level cap is Infamy Level 22 and Weapon Level Progression is at eight.

Payday 3 launches on PC via PC Game Pass, on Steam and Epic Games Store, as well as Xbox Series X and S Game Pass, PlayStation 5 and GeForce Now on September 21.

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.

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon now has an unofficial easy mode on PC, courtesy of a modder who made mech design and gameplay more forgiving and rewards more generous.

As reported by Eurogamer, the aptly named EZ-Core mod posted to the NexusMods website changes key aspects of Armored Core 6’s mech design process, which ordinarily places significant restrictions on what parts you can use based on their weight and energy requirements.

The EZ-Core mod lessens this burden by reducing these energy and weight loads by half, thus making it easier for struggling players to build a relatively overpowered AC. It also increases the amount of starting ammunition for each weapon by 300 percent.

The effective range of weapons has also been increased by 300 percent, which means the rounds fired from your weapons and those of your enemies are far less likely to ricochet harmlessly away. The mod also increases the amount of credits earned for successfully completing both standard missions and arena battles by 200 percent, and adds new camera options, along with the ability to make manoeuvring around with boosters more energy efficient.

However, the mod’s creator has warned players against using the unofficial version of the game in multiplayer out of fear it could result in a ban. While Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is an entirely different beast compared to other FromSoftware titles such as Elden Ring, it still features the same hard as nails gameplay players have come to expect from the Hidetaka Miyazaki-led studio.

The frenetic nature of the gameplay plus the lack of invincibility frames has led many players to have a hard time against early bosses, including Chapter 1’s Balteus, who is capable of firing off a kaleidoscope of missiles that can initially feel impossible to avoid. From there, things only get more intense, which will make the mod a welcoming prospect for players who need a helping hand to progress further into Armored Core 6’s dystopian world.

In IGN’s 8/10 review we said every sortie in Armored Core 6 “is a satisfying combat puzzle to solve thanks to fantastic mission design, intense boss encounters, an extremely wide assortment of weapons and parts”, which kept our attention throughout the 15-hour campaign, and beyond.

Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer

EA and Respawn Entertainment have released the biggest patch yet for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor across all platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC.

Patch 7 “makes sweeping improvements to Quality and Performance modes” on console, EA said, while its PC counterpart is headlined by the addition of NVIDIA DLSS support.

PS5 and Xbox’s Performance Mode has received a complete rework that has disabled Ray Tracing to guarantee a consistent 60 frames per second performance alongside other improvements. Other technical improvements have also boosted Quality Mode across both consoles and added Variable Refresh Rate support on PS5.

PC users, who faced the brunt of Jedi: Survivor’s technical issues at launch, can also enjoy changes to the save system that helps prevent save game corruption, various crash fixes, and more. The full patch notes can be seen below.

Jedi: Survivor launched in April to positive critical reception and commercial success but some users were left with a buggy, broken version of the game, even after a big day one download. The studio released plenty of patches in the weeks following launch, though has been quiet for a while as it presumably worked on this bigger performance-boosting update.

In our 9/10 review of the running well version, IGN said: “If Respawn makes a third game like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Fallen Order, it’ll complete the best Star Wars trilogy in 30 years, hands down.”

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Patch 7 Notes

• This patch introduces several performance-related improvements* on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S including:
  • Performance mode has been completely reworked to substantially improve player experience.
    • A number of GPU and CPU optimizations – along with disabling Ray Tracing – has resulted in a better player experience, including a solid 60 FPS in Performance mode.
  • Quality Mode has also received optimizations to help reduce FPS fluctuation and introduce other visual improvements.
• Variable Refresh Rate support added for PS5
• Additional performance and optimization improvements for PC, including DLSS support.
• Save system tweaks to help prevent save game corruption.
• Fixed issues where players could not retrieve their XP after dying under certain circumstances.
• Various crash fixes
• Various bug fixes and improvements across all platforms, including fixes for cloth, lighting, and UI.

* Note: cinematics in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor are locked to 30 frames per second.

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

Charles Martinet, the now former voice of Mario, has discussed his new role as “Mario Ambassador” for Nintendo, saying: “I don’t know what that is yet.”

Last month Nintendo announced Martinet was “stepping back” from voicing Nintendo characters, and confirmed the much-loved voice actor, who has voiced Mario for 32 years, is not involved in upcoming Switch exclusive Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

Nintendo has yet to announce Martinet’s replacement, but did say he will assume the new role of “Mario Ambassador”.

But what does “Mario Ambassador” mean? It seems Martinet himself is unsure. Speaking during a Q&A panel at GalaxyCon Austin 2023, Martinet said: “I am now a Mario Ambassador. I don’t know what that is yet. I’m not retired as it were, but I’m an ambassador. As we step forward into the future, we’ll all learn exactly what that is.”

It sounds like Martinet is in the dark about his new role for Nintendo, but, as he stresses, he is not retiring. As for his replacement, during a recent interview with IGN, Nintendo of America boss Doug Bowser said fans will have to wait until the release of Super Mario Bros. Wonder on October 20 to find out, as the company will keep the new voice of Mario under wraps until the game’s credits are public.

“Charles has obviously been a voice actor with us for quite some time, and as we look for ways to keep Charles involved in Nintendo’s business, we thought this was a very nice transition for him,” Bowser said.

“And Charles is very excited about it. I’ll let Charles speak to it himself if he’d like to, but we look forward to having him continue to represent Nintendo and importantly the Mushroom Kingdom as we go forward. I think people have recognized this when they see Super Mario Bros. Wonder, they’ll hear a different voice and we’ll let that play out and that’ll be within the credits, and people will learn who the new person is at that point in time, but we don’t plan to make any announcement in advance of that.”

Image credit: Tales From The Collection: Autographs & Fan Mail YouTube channel / GalaxyCon Austin 2023

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.

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:

• IGN.com (homepage)
• IGN’s Twitch Channel
• IGN’s Youtube Channel
• IGN’s iOS App
• IGN’s Android App
• IGN’s PlayStation 4 App
• IGN’s Xbox One App
• Roku
• IGN App for Android TV
• IGN for Amazon Fire TV
• Apple TV
• IGN 1 on Samsung TV Plus
• Pluto TV
• Plex Live TV

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.

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.