Category: IGN

Pokémon World Championships competitor Ian Robb had seemingly defeated opponent Fernando Cifuentes in the quarterfinals of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, advancing to the penultimate round of the Pokémon’s most prestigious competitive event. But when the next round began, Cifuentes was in Robb’s place, sparking confusion among observers and throwing the bracket into chaos.

As it turned out, Robb had been issued a loss over what The Pokémon Company International Global Esports and Events Director Chris Brown called an “unsporting conduct penalty” in a follow-up interview with IGN.

“It was an unsporting conduct penalty,” Brown said. “We applied it to the match that had just occurred and the standard penalty for that’s a match loss.”

Ian Robb 選手の非紳士行為何かと思ったけど、準々決勝の最後に取った自慰行為のジェスチャーがダメだったっぽい。

#ポケモンWCS2024Day2 #WCS2024 pic.twitter.com/izx5vyabjq

— ゆうD (@ikuo_x) August 18, 2024

The unsporting conduct Brown was referring to was a motion that Robb performed after claiming victory that many took to be an offensive gesture. The result was that Robb was removed from the tournament, though he was allowed to keep his prize money for placing in the final eight. Quarterfinalists receive $15,000 while the winner receives $50,000.

The decision was criticized by some fans for altering the tournament, though others came forward to defend The Pokémon Company’s judgment.

“When I first heard about it I assumed Pokemon was being soft, but after seeing the clip I think they made the right call. He should know better. It can’t be emphasized enough how much Pokemon is geared towards children. I fully understand them wanting to discourage gestures like that,” one fan wrote on Reddit.

Robb, for his part, has been mostly silent, though he did post his support for Cifuentes on X/Twitter. “I’m cheering for him today. After meeting him and his dad I could tell how much making cut at worlds meant. He’s a deserving champion.”

Ultimately, Cifuentes won the tournament, defeating runner-up Seinosuke Shiokawa in the Masters division.

Asked for more detail on how the rules are enforced in such situations, Brown said it’s a “little tricky” in Pokémon due to the way the tournament is structured. “Generally the match is not considered to be over until you’ve actually signed your match slip…And so that’s sort of that key moment. There’s other kind of moments, and this is really fine detail and sort of the rules and policies, but in the [Swiss-system tournament] for example, when the information is actually put in the computer could be a factor, because then we have to pair the next round. Single elim is a little different. But ultimately we looked at it as that penalty basically was assessed for the match that was in progress.”

Pokémon World Tournament wrapped up on Sunday, crowning its overall winners while revealing info where the next tournament will take place. The Pokémon Company also shared the release date for Pokémon TCG Pocket and other info. You can find everything announced at the Pokémon World Championships right here.

Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Pokémon World Championship competitor Ian Robb had seemingly defeated opponent Fernando Cifuentes in the quarterfinals of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, advancing to the penultimate round of the Pokémon’s most prestigious competitive event. But when the next round began, Cifuentes was in Robb’s place, sparking confusion among observers and throwing the bracket into chaos.

As it turned out, Robb had been issued a loss over what The Pokémon Company International Global Esports and Events Director Chris Brown called an “unsporting conduct penalty” in a follow-up interview with IGN.

“It was an unsporting conduct penalty,” Brown said. “We applied it to the match that had just occurred and the standard penalty for that’s a match loss.”

Ian Robb 選手の非紳士行為何かと思ったけど、準々決勝の最後に取った自慰行為のジェスチャーがダメだったっぽい。

#ポケモンWCS2024Day2 #WCS2024 pic.twitter.com/izx5vyabjq

— ゆうD (@ikuo_x) August 18, 2024

The unsporting conduct Brown was referring to was a motion that Robb performed after claiming victory that many took to be an offensive gesture. The result was that Robb was removed from the tournament, though he was allowed to keep his prize money for placing in the final eight. Quarterfinalists receive $15,000 while the winner receives $50,000.

The decision was criticized by some fans for altering the tournament, though others came forward to defend The Pokémon Company’s judgment.

“When I first heard about it I assumed Pokemon was being soft, but after seeing the clip I think they made the right call. He should know better. It can’t be emphasized enough how much Pokemon is geared towards children. I fully understand them wanting to discourage gestures like that,” one fan wrote on Reddit.

Robb, for his part, has been mostly silent, though he did post his support for Cifuentes on X/Twitter. “I’m cheering for him today. After meeting him and his dad I could tell how much making cut at worlds meant. He’s a deserving champion.”

Ultimately, Cifuentes won the tournament, defeating runner-up Seinosuke Shiokawa in the Masters division.

Asked for more detail on how the rules are enforced in such situations, Brown said it’s a “little tricky” in Pokémon due to the way the tournament is structured. “Generally the match is not considered to be over until you’ve actually signed your match slip…And so that’s sort of that key moment. There’s other kind of moments, and this is really fine detail and sort of the rules and policies, but in the [Swiss-system tournament] for example, when the information is actually put in the computer could be a factor, because then we have to pair the next round. Single limb is a little different. But ultimately we looked at it as that penalty basically was assessed for the match that was in progress.”

Pokémon World Tournament wrapped up on Sunday, crowning its overall winners while revealing info where the next tournament will take place. The Pokémon Company also shared the release date for Pokémon TCG Pocket and other info. You can find everything announced at the Pokémon World Championships right here.

Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Minecraft Realms have been struggling with downtime and other connectivity issues for almost a week now, and fans are taking notice.

Fans trying to access Realms have been reporting long loading times, connection errors, and other problems since at least August 13. It appears to have started around the release of Minecraft update 1.21.20, which included updates to Realms invite links as well as various bug fixes.

On August 15, Mojang tweeted that the Realms team was working “around the clock” to resolve the Bedrock Realms service issues. It subsequently reported that service had been restored, but connectivity issues continued throughout the weekend.

We are still hard at work to bring Realms back online for all players. As of now roughly 70% of players should have access. As part of this work we have had to block traffic to Realms on 1.21.20 on all platforms other than Switch (until Switch gets the hotfix). -DK

— Mojang Status (@MojangStatus) August 18, 2024

“We are still hard at work to bring Realms back online for all players. As of now roughly 70% of players should have access,” Mojang wrote on August 17. “As part of this work we have had to block traffic to Realms on 1.21.20 on all platforms other than Switch (until Switch gets the hotfix).”

Minecraft Realms are personal servers that are available to players via subscription. It’s touted as an area where fans can “easily and safely play online with their friends in shared worlds across devices.”

As of August 19, fans are still reporting connectivity issues with Minecraft Realms, which is corroborated by a large spike on Downdetector. IGN reached out to Mojang representatives for an update, but have not received a response.

Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

While Nintendo still has a few first-party games like The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and Mario & Luigi: Brothership in the works for 2024, it appears Nintendo’s gamescom presence is so small that even the event organizer has confirmed it will not issue a Best Nintendo Switch Game award this year.

A gamescom spokesperson confirmed to TheGamer today that it will not issue a “Best Nintendo Switch Game” award because the event organizers received a small number of submissions to warrant an award at gamescom 2024.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is getting a big bad new ending for the Dark Urge playthrough in September and developer Larian Studios has shared a first look at its cinematic.

In a post on X/Twitter, the studio showed (spoilers ahead) what appears to be the Dark Urge protagonist sacrificing their beloved companions Shadowheart, Lae’zel, and Wyll, using mind control to force them to jump to their deaths.

The “cinematic teaser” is 52 seconds long, suggesting the full version must be fairly significant. It will arrive alongside the final full update to beloved role-playing game Baldur’s Gate 3 sometime in September, though no specific release date has been announced yet.

Father would be so proud.

Embrace your destiny and feast your eyes on a new evil ending cinematic teaser for the Dark Urge, landing this September 👇

Warning: contains spoilers! pic.twitter.com/1TkwDGqyle

— Baldur’s Gate 3 (@baldursgate3) August 19, 2024

“Father would be so proud,” reads the post. “Embrace your destiny and feast your eyes on a new evil ending cinematic teaser for the Dark Urge, landing this September.”

Baldur’s Gate 3 was the surprise hit of 2023, as the Dungeons & Dragons-based game captured the attention of fans in unprecedented ways with its seemingly unlimited ways to tackle a seemingly unlimited number of situations.

In our 10/10 review of the game, 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.”

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

PC gamers, your wait will be over soon, as Square Enix has officially announced that Final Fantasy 16 is headed to PC on September 17, 2024.

Announced ahead of tomorrow’s gamescom Opening Night Live presentation, the publisher confirmed that the PC port is on the way and will cost $49.99. Final Fantasy 16’s two DLC expansions, Echoes of the Fallen and The Rising Tide, are launching simultaneously on PC, too, but you’ll need to pay extra if you want to play them. While it’s unclear if the story add-ons can be purchased individually, Square Enix is offering a “Complete Edition” version of the game for $69.99 that comes with the base experience, both DLC expansions, and a few miscellaneous in-game items. Additionally, Square Enix confirmed that a demo is available on Steam and the Epic Games Store now, with any progress made in the demo carrying over to the full build.

Final Fantasy 16 was released in 2023 exclusively for the PS5. Last September, Square Enix confirmed that a Final Fantasy 16 PC port was in the works, which came to the surprise of many as Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida previously shut down the possibility of it coming to PC, noting players should go buy a PS5 if they wanted to play it. In March, during an interview with Game Informer, Yoshida revealed that the PC port of Final Fantasy 16 was in the “final stages of optimization” and hinted that the system requirements to run the game would be “somewhat high.”

In our review of Final Fantasy 16, IGN wrote: “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.”

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

There are few ideas more worthy of a sequel than that which powered Splitgate. Cribbing Aperture Science’s portal tech and loading it into a competitive arena shooter? I mean, c’mon – who the heck wouldn’t want to play that?! But while the first stab at this awesome concept proved too much of a rough draft to keep players’ fickle attentions for long, Splitgate 2 hopes to build on what worked by making modest improvements to the formula. After playing four hours of its fast-paced PvP matches for myself, I think this streamlined sequel stands a much better chance of keeping my attention, even though it seems like it won’t exactly swing for the fences with the kind of significant overhauls one might hope for.

Most of Splitgate 2’s tweaks are incremental improvements rather than anything revolutionary, but nearly all of the decisions developer 1047 Games has made are welcome changes. Without question the biggest refinement is the addition of character classes in the form of the three playable factions. Aeros is all about mobility, with abilities that keep you moving faster and let you easily restore your health. My personal favorite, Meridian, is a support faction that can reveal enemies through walls for their whole team and manipulate time within an area of effect, so you can do things like shoot and reload faster, but your enemies do so more slowly. Finally, there’s Sabrask, who are brute force bruisers with sticky grenades and deployable protective walls they can shoot through while their opponents can’t.

None of the factions play all that differently from one another (you’re still always manipulating the battlefield with portals, jetpacking all over the place, and using samey feeling weapons with all three), but the abilities and equipment they each bring into battle are pretty significant, and since they all have quite short cooldowns to boot, that makes them feel pretty distinct despite having a lot in common. Dropping barriers as a Sabrask knucklehead or a time-altering dome as a Meridian agent can have a significant impact on the flow of battle, and encountering a Aeros fighter hopped up on stims and flying through the air at blazing speeds can be extremely bad for your health. It’s also neat that you can customize all three with a handful of different options for your class equipment, a few options for perks that passively augment how your character plays, and more. For example, if you want a more tactical version of the Sabrask faction, you can replace your sticky grenade with a smoke grenade that gives you a different sort of advantage with that class. Or, if you’re like me, you might just want to go into battle with a shotgun to pop out of portals and give the enemy a lead surprise at close range.

Another fairly big adjustment comes in the form of Splitgate 2’s maps, which are much smaller than its predecessor’s arenas and are more conservative in their placement of surfaces you can place portals on. The original Splitgate’s maps were often too big for the player count and as a result, it took a bit too long to get into the action after each respawn. In Splitgate 2, that’s not a problem at all, and maps on the whole seem to be a lot more thoughtfully planned out. Of course, smaller maps mean there are also more opportunities for spawn killing, and at least a few of my deaths came mere seconds after spawning, which never feels great. The fact that portals only appear in select areas and are way less common than in the last game is also mostly a good thing. Plus, there’s generally less chaos and fewer opportunities for more experienced players to sweat all over newcomers with their portal-based tricks and superior map knowledge, which definitely makes for more welcoming matches. On the other hand, though, it’s a bit of a bummer that there are fewer opportunities to get creative and pull off wild stunts. I’ll probably need more time in the wild with the more prudently placed portal surfaces to say for sure whether this adjustment is for the best.

While factions and map design represent the biggest changes in Splitgate 2, most of the other adjustments are much more minor. One nice update is how your respawn timer works, which grows longer with each death, and can be sped up by having your teammates score kills against the enemy, with each frag reducing it by three seconds. Another is how portal mechanics have been simplified, so instead of having to juggle two separate commands for each part of your portal, your gun is now smart enough to do this automatically based on context. The freedom you lose from getting to assign your portal manually is more than worth sacrificing for a simpler and more intuitive experience. These minor quality of life updates might not be the game-changers one might expect from a sequel, but they definitely help nudge an already rock-solid concept in the right direction.

The flip side, though, is that so much of Splitgate 2 remains unchanged from the original that I’m genuinely not sure if it’ll be enough of a shot in the arm for this sequel to avoid the fate of its predecessor. From what I can tell, it certainly seems this will be a step up from Splitgate 1, but will it be enough of an improvement to keep my attention? Time will tell.

Geoff Keighley has teased the reveal of a brand new game some fans believe is a new entry in the Dying Light series.

Keighley tweeted a live action video called The Beast, which depicts a woman desperately trying to escape from a terrifying beast in a wooded area. Alongside the tease is the promise of more information at ONL, which kicks off at 11am PT / 2pm ET tomorrow, August 20.

👹 The Beast Is Coming 👹

Tune into @gamescom Opening Night Live, tomorrow at 11a PT / 2p ET / 8p EST for the reveal.

Set a Reminder on YouTube to Watch Live: https://t.co/M13YlBGqFW pic.twitter.com/jPT8pEqqhx

— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) August 19, 2024

But what is The Beast? Fans have already linked it to a recent trademark for a new Dying Light game called Dying Light: The Beast, which popped up on the United States Patent and Trademark Office last week. Dying Light developer Techland is listed as the owner of the trademark.

Techland has filed for a new trademark:

DYING LIGHT: THE BEAST

➡️https://t.co/YwPaWewYSh pic.twitter.com/QaPwCQesKn

— Kurakasis (@Kurakasis) August 14, 2024

The question now is whether Dying Light: The Beast is DLC for Dying Light 2, a standalone expansion, a smaller-scale entry or spin-off, or what should be considered a fully-fledged sequel in the Dying Light series.

Dying Light 2 launched two-and-a-half years ago, in February 2022, as a sequel to the hugely popular zombie kill ‘em-up Dying Light. It sold five million copies in its first month on sale. In July 2023, Chinese mega corp Tencent bought Techland for an undisclosed fee.

So, it looks like we’re going to see a new Dying Light game at ONL, but we won’t see the hotly anticipated Hollow Knight: Silksong, which Geoff Keighley has already ruled out. Confirmed games set to appear during the two-hour show include Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Civilization 7, Monster Hunter Wilds, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

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.