Category: IGN

With Fallout Day upon us and rumors swirling around remakes, remasters, and even new games in the famous post-apocalyptic role-playing series, one Hollywood star has made his thoughts crystal clear.

That star is Danny Trejo, whose appearances in the likes of From Dusk till Dawn, Con Air, and Spy Kids made him a cult figure. But he’s intimately familiar with Fallout, too, having played Raul Alfonso Tejada, a Ghoul companion, in the much-loved Fallout: New Vegas.

So it stands to reason that Trejo would, like so many fans, love to see Fallout: New Vegas return in some fashion. Responding to Bethesda’s official Instagram post on what to expect from Fallout Day, Trejo said: “Remaster New Vegas boss!” alongside a fire emoji. Trejo has 3.1 million followers on Instagram, so his comment will be heard loud across the social network.

Alas, a Fallout: New Vegas remaster was not on Bethesda’s official list of games set to appear during its Fallout Day broadcast, which is set for 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm UK today, October 23. Specifically on Fallout 76, Bethesda will show more of the Burning Springs update. This big expansion, due out in December, sees Walton Goggins reprise his fan-favorite role as The Ghoul from the Fallout TV show.

Fallout Shelter is also mentioned, as is Fallout 4 and Creations, which suggests the decade old role-playing game will get some new content soon. Creations are community created mods released officially for Bethesda’s video games.

Elsewhere, there are new merch drops, community in-person events, and a post-show celebrating the community. There is no specific mention of the Fallout TV show, either. with Season 2 due out in December.

There are all sorts of rumors floating around about potential Fallout remakes now that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is out the door (Fallout 3 Remastered was leaked back in 2023, but those plans may have changed). And we know Bethesda plans to eventually get to Fallout 5, albeit after The Elder Scrolls 6.

The last we heard on Fallout 5, by the way, was back in June 2024, when Bethesda Softworks head Todd Howard said he wasn’t interested in rushing it out the door. Howard opened up about the future of the hit post-apocalyptic RPG series during an interview with YouTube content creator MrMattyPlays.

“For other Fallout games in the future, you know, obviously I can’t talk about those right now, but I would say, sort of rushing through them, or we kind of need to get stuff out that is different than the work we’re doing in 76… we don’t feel like we need to rush any of that,” he said. “The Fallout TV show fills a certain niche in terms of the franchise and storytelling.”

The last mainline Fallout game was Fallout 4, which was released in 2015. DLC content for the entry was steadily released for PC and consoles over the next year, and in 2018, Bethesda launched its multiplayer-centered offshoot, Fallout 76. While fans slowly flocked to the West Virginia-set open-world RPG, it wasn’t until the premiere of Prime Video’s Fallout TV show that the Bethesda series leveled up in terms of attention.

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has released the Into the Unjust: 4.1.0 update, which it said is designed to make the game “feel better to play.”

This much anticipated update overhauls how Arrowhead approaches patching “to better target the pain points you’ve shared with us.” The studio said that means “more focus on stability, balance, and the issues that affect your experience the most.”

Over 200 bugs have been fixed, along with key balance updates and quality-of-life improvements. Arrowhead said that while new features are coming, this patch marks “a big step forward: both in the game itself and in how we work to improve it.” More refinements are already underway, the studio continued.

In terms of balance, the overall effectiveness of primary weapons, sidearms, throwables, and stratagems is increased. SMGs and pistols, for example, have been adjusted to emphasize their role as close-quarters weapons, with increased close-range damage and increased damage falloff.

It’s worth noting changes are made to enemies across the board. The Dragon Roach, for example, has seen its spawn rate decreased, and destruction of the wings now results in instant death. Each wing has a health pool, and the Dragon Roach should be more susceptible to explosions because even if you hit the body you now also hit the wings and do more damage. Overall, there should be fewer Dragon Roaches and they should be easier to take down.

Check out the patch notes, courtesy of the Helldivers 2 Discord, below:

Helldivers 2 Into the Unjust: 4.1.0 patch notes:

Balancing

General changes

Primaries, Sidearms, Throwables, and Stratagems

• Improvements have been made to increase the overall effectiveness of primary weapons, sidearms, throwables, and stratagems

Light vs. Medium Penetration Weapons

• Light and medium penetration weapons now offer more distinct advantages.

Light penetration weapons generally deal a higher percentage of their total damage against durable enemies, differentiating them more clearly from medium penetration options

SMGs and Pistols

• SMGs and pistols have been adjusted to emphasize their role as close-quarters weapons. Close-range damage has been increased, and damage falloff has been increased to reinforce their short-range combat identity

Melee Weapons and Throwables

• Melee weapons and throwables have been improved to make each feel more impactful and unique in their function

Resupply Rack

• The resupply rack is not climbable anymore

Primary weapons

SG-8P Punisher Plasma

• Damage projectile decreased from 100 to 0
• Damage explosion increased from 150 to 225

SG-8S Slugger

• Damage increased from 280 to 330
• Durable damage increased from 75 to 90

AR-23 Liberator

• Damage increased from 80 to 90
• Durable damage increased from 15 to 22

AR-23A Liberator Carbine

• Damage increased from 80 to 90
• Durable damage increased from 15 to 22

AR-23P Liberator Penetrator

• Damage increased from 60 to 65

AR-23C Liberator Concussive

• Damage increased from 65 to 75
• Durable damage increased from 30 to 35

AR-61 Tenderizer

• Durable damage increased from 22 to 30

AR-32 Pacifier

• Damage increased from 50 to 55
• Stun value per projectile increased from 1.5 to 2

SMG-37 Defender

• Damage increased from 80 to 100
• Durable damage increased from 8 to 18
• Drag increased from 0.6 to 1.2

MP-98 Knight

• Damage increased from 70 to 90
• Durable damage increased from 7 to 18
• Drag increased from 0.6 to 1.2

SMG-32 Reprimand

• Damage increased from 125 to 135
• Drag increased from 0.6 to 1.2

SMG-72 Pummeler

• Damage increased from 70 to 85
• Durable damage increased from 7 to 18
• Stun value per projectile increased from 1.5 to 2
• Drag increased from 0.6 to 1.2

LAS-16 Sickle

• Damage increased from 55 to 60
• Durable damage increased from 5 to 6

MA5C Assault Rifle

• Damage increased from 80 to 90

M7S SMG

• Damage increased from 70 to 80
• Durable damage increased from 7 to 16
• Drag increased from from 0.6 to 1.2

StA-11 SMG

• Damage increased from 70 to 90
• Durable damage increased from 7 to 18
• Drag increased from 0.6 to 1.2

PLAS-39 Accelerator Rifle

• Extra spare magazines increased from 8 to 12
• Ergonomics increased from 40 to 60

Sidearm weapons

CQC-2 Saber

• Damage increased from 110 to 125
• Durable damage increased from 55 to 65

CQC-5 Combat Hatchet

• Damage increased from 110 to 160
• Durable damage increased from 55 to 80
• Attack speed has been slightly reduced

CQC-42 Machete

• Damage increased from 170 to 200
• Durable damage increased from 80 to 100

P-2 Peacemaker

• Damage increased from 85 to 95
• Durable damage increased from 25 to 30
• Drag increased from 0.6 to 1.2

P-19 Redeemer

• Damage increased from 60 to 70
• Durable damage increased from 5 to 12
• Drag increased from 0.6 to 1.2

P-113 Verdict

• Damage increased from 125 to 135
• Drag increased from 0.6 to 1.2

M6C/SOCOM

• Damage increased from 100 to 110
• Drag increased from 0.6 to 1.2

P-92 Warrant

• Drag decreased from 0.3 to 0
• Gravity multiplier decreased from 1 to 0.3

Throwables

TED-63 Dynamite

• Damage increased from 700 to 1000
• Armor penetration increased from Medium to Heavy
• Demolition strength increased from 30 to 40
• Stagger increased from 30 to 40
• Uses decreased from 4 to 3

G-7 Pineapple

• Shrapnel from main explosion increased from 7 to 18
• Demolition strength on the main explosion increased from 20 to 30
• Inner radius on shrapnel explosion increased from 1 to 2.5m
• Damage on shrapnel explosion increased from 70 to 100
• Removed lifetime on the shrapnel
• Shrapnel from the shrapnel explosion decreased from 6 to 0

G-50 Seeker

• Higher priority for flying enemies
• Highest target priority for marked target
• Damage increased from 400 to 500

G-6 Frag

• Uses increased from 5 to 6

G-3 Smoke

• Uses increased from 4 to 5

Throwing knifes

• Damage increased from 250 to 300
• Durable damage increased from 100 to 150

PLAS-1 Scorcher

• Plasma projectiles will now pass through foliage without losing velocity

Stratagems

PLAS-45 Epoch

• Duration until explosion increased from 3 to 3.25 sec
• Delayed muzzle charge VFX by 0.5 seconds so it now appears when the projectile is overcharged, improving visibility of the charge state
• Damage on standard projectiles explosion increased from 400 to 500
• Demolition strength on overcharged projectile increased from 10 to 30

M-105 Stalwart

• Damage increased from 80 to 90
• Durable damage increased from 15 to 22

FLAM-40 Flamethrower

• Canister capacity increased from 130 to 150
• Starting canisters increased from 2 to 3
• Max spare canisters increased from 4 to 5

APW-1 Anti-Materiel Rifle

• Durable damage increased from 180 to 225
• Starting magazines increased from 4 to 5
• Max spare magazines increased from 6 to 8

AC- 8 Autocannon

• Damage increased from 260 to 325

GL-52 De-Escalator

• Damage increased from 55 to 100
• Durable damage increased from 55 to 70

MS-11 Solo Silo

• Health increased from 800 to 1500
• Enemies will not attack it
• Increased demolition strength needed to destroy it

Orbital Railcannon Strike

• Cooldown decreased from 210 to 180 sec

EXO-45 Patriot Exosuit

• Missile Armor penetration in worse angles increased from 6-6-4-0 to 6-6-5-0
• Rotary gun ammo capacity increased from 1000 to 1350

Enemies

• The goal is to make light and medium armor-piercing weapons equally effective against certain common enemies by adjusting their durable damage and durable resistance values

Illuminates

Fleshmob

• Targeting the faces deals extra damage to its main health, effectively creating weak spots
• Main health decreased from 6000 to 5000
• Most health zones are slightly more durable
• Slightly less vulnerable to fire to balance health decrease

Elevated Overseer

• Main health decreased from 600 to 450
• Head health increased from 150 to 200
• Head zone armor decreased from 3 to 2
• Torso health decreased from 600 to 450
• Arms health decreased from 300 to 250
• Slight increase on how easy it is to set on fire

Leviathan

• Now equipped with beam-based weaponry
• Leviathans will not show up in missions outside of cities

Terminids

Rupture Strain enemies

• Updated textures for all Rupture Strain enemies for better readability

Rupture Warrior

• Movement speed when underground has been decreased
• Needs to surface more often when moving underground
• Its burrow attack is slightly slower and leaves more space to be dodged
• Smaller damage boxes when attacking from below
• Front legs armor decreased from 3 to 2
• Will prefer to emerge before attacking turrets instead of destroying them from below ground

Rupture Spewer

• Retuned the timing of how fast it starts to act from when it unburrows

Bile Spewer Variations

• Increased size of its mouth weak spot

Brood Commanders

• Slightly harder to set on fire

Warriors

• Slightly harder to set on fire
• Slight durable increase in head and body

Dragon roach

• Spawn rate decreased
  • 50% lower on difficulty 5,6
  • 40% lower on difficulty 7,8,9
  • 33% lower on difficulty 10
• Destruction of the wings results in instant termination of the Dragon
  • Wings now have their own health pool of 4000
  • Increased how much damage wings take from explosion

Bile spewers

• Slightly harder to set on fire
• Larger body parts are slightly more durable

Hive Lord

• Improved performance during Hive Lord encounters.

Automatons

Base Alarming

• Automaton troopers in bases will require better visual confirmation before calling in reinforcements, instead of calling them in immediately

Devastators

• Slightly harder to be put on fire
• Large body parts are slightly more durable

Command Bunker Turret

• Removed ragdolling from its projectiles explosion

Factory Strider

• Slightly less vulnerable to fire

War Strider

• Shoots 2 fewer grenades per salvo
• Shoots grenades less often
• Removed ragdolling from its projectiles explosions
• Added weak spots aim for the eyes and the vents on the back

Scout Striders

• Armored top shield is more durable

Fixes

Stratagems

• Fixed an issue where Helldivers were unable to call down stratagems in the objective area of the “Nuke Nursery” cave mission
• Fixed an issue with the B-100 Portable Hellbomb stratagem sometimes falling on Cave roofs in the “Destroy Spore Lung” mission
• Fixed an issue with the drill objective stratagem sometimes landing in unintended places such as on top of caves, in Nuke Nursery Hive World missions
• Players can now stay aiming down sights when activating the LIFT-860 Hover Pack

Crashes

• Fixed a rare crash occurring when fighting Illuminates
• Fixed a crash when hotjoining and readying up before other hotjoiners
• Fixed a crash occurring when a player would re-join multiple times
• Fixed a rare crash caused by Eagle-1
• Fixed a rare bug where the Eagle-1 would never be removed from the game session and eventually cause crashes
• Fixed rare crash bug that could happen when spawning in groups of enemies
• Fixed crash affecting Helldivers trying to lean out from a vehicle
• Fixed a crash that could happen when scrolling through the weapon customization menu
• Fixed a crash that could happen during game shutdown

Weapons

• Fixed armor penetration values in the Stats Menu for CQC-5 Combat Hatchet, CQC-30 Stun Baton,CQC-19 Stun Lance, CQC-2 Saber, CQC-1 One True Flag and the G-7 Pineapple grenade; the armor penetration value displayed as Medium instead of Light
• Improved initial bullet alignment while strafing and riding in vehicles
• Moved the first person camera further away from the MS-11 Solo Silo’s Target Designator scope
• Fixed the weapon reload animations desyncing when wielding armor passives that give increased reload speed
• The FAF-14 Spear can now lock onto Automaton AA turrets
• Fixed projectiles hitting direct center of sights when extremely close to objects
• Haptics feedback is now present throughout the firing of the FLAM-40 Flamethrower stratagem

Miscellaneous

• Fixed a bug where Hive Lord body parts would not spawn properly
• Fixed an instance where the Helldiver couldn’t re-join their previous host, if said host left a joined game in progress from the loadout
• Fixed a bug where the LIFT-182 Warp Pack would sometimes get stuck suspended in the air or crash
• Fixed Adreno-Defibrillator armor passive animation bug
• Fixed disconnection issues when joining a solo player with 3 cross-platform players
• Fixed mesh clipping for the arms on some animations
• Reduced the chance of the Extraction Shuttle clipping through terrain
• Fixed a flickering bug on the avatar when the Helldiver gets affected by mud or snow
• Fixed a bug hole covered by terrain in one of the CR10 Mega Nests
• Rupture Warriors can no longer destroy deployable turrets while still underground
• Fixed an issue where the front door of the GATER could become inaccessible
• Fixed a rare issue where the player could be disconnected when they are a part of a mixed platform, 3 person lobby that joins a solo player under poor network conditions
• Fixed an issue with Illuminate dropships not taking correct damage during the “Repel Invasion Fleet” missions
• The currency symbol for Saudi riyal is now displayed correctly in the in game shop
• The Oil Rigs reverse audio will no longer continuously play if the player attempts to reverse during oil extraction
• Fixed Helldivers going through the floor in the tutorial mission, when diving near the barbed wires
• Fixed a rare soft-lock in tutorial
• Helldiver is now killed when driving into drill holes during Nuke Nursery missions
• Fixed an issue where Helldivers could enter a vehicle even though the seat got claimed by someone else first
• Fixed controller vibrations behaving incorrectly when connecting or disconnecting controllers on PC
• Fixed miscellaneous threading issues in the audio system
• Fixed minor texture clipping issues on the floor between hellpod launchers on the ship
• Fixed an issue where voice chat could sometimes change volume unexpectedly – particularly when entering caves

Optimizations

• Optimized status effects
• Optimized physics by only enabling powered ragdolls when needed
• Optimized physics body handling for damage calculations
• Optimized Automaton units and NPC eyes, by changing them from particle effects to shaders
• Optimized AI behaviors by analyzing and stripping out redundant code
• Reduced stuttering during drop-in sequence for missions on Hive Worlds
• Improved audio IO performance
• Snow distribution and overall look has been reworked
• Improved performance by tweaking LOD settings for characters
• Optimized asset distribution for several planets types
• Optimized scattered assets such as grass on various planet types
• Optimized asset distribution in Hiveworlds and Terminid caves
• Optimized asset setup and geometry for assets used in Hiveworlds and Terminid caves
• Optimized status effect physics and particle systems while maintaining visual feedback and fidelity
• Optimized various Automaton explosion VFX
• Optimized Acid Rain effects during Acid Storms
• Optimized Dragonroach fire attack VFX
• Made various optimizations to the fire system, including particle and light optimization.
• Improved performance by optimizing the rendering of several shaders

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.

Magic The Gathering’s Final Fantasy set in June set new records for the franchise, and given the popularity of Commander, we’d imagine plenty of the four decks included in the set were shifted.

The trouble is, there’s always been a discrepancy in price, with the Final Fantasy 6 deck ‘Revival Trance’ going for much less, Final Fantasy 7’s ‘Limit Break’ going for much more, and the other two falling somewhere in between.

Best Buy’s answer? Discounting them all to the same price.

Best Buy Has Every Final Fantasy Magic Deck Under MSRP

On the positive side, this means you can get Limit Break, a deck that regularly sells for much more than its MSRP, for $48.99.

It’s a very fun deck that’s themed around equipment and dealing combat damage, and will no doubt be an easy pickup for anyone who waited for a discount.

On the downside, that means Revival Trance is also $48.99. It’s under MSRP, sure, but this deck’s messy game plan and lack of big reprints mean you can snap it up for around $35 elsewhere if you keep an eye out.

Rounding out the quartet, I’ve been having more fun with Scions and Spellcraft recently, the Final Fantasy 14 deck helmed by Y’Shtola. It’s all about pinging opponents around the table for damage, which isn’t something you often get in a blue/white/black deck. It’s $48.99 now.

Finally, arguably the best deck from the set, Counter Blitz is helmed by Final Fantasy X’s Tidus and Yuna, and lets you manipulate counters to deal big damage or keep Summons around longer. And, guess what? It’s $48.99 now, too.

Each deck also comes with a ‘Collector Booster Sample Pack’ which includes two cards in foil or borderless treatment, too.

Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.

Magic: The Gathering’s next big collaboration brings PlayStation’s biggest worlds to the table, with Secret Lair drops inspired by God of War, The Last of Us, Horizon, and Sucker Punch’s Ghost duology. It follows June’s record-breaking Final Fantasy set, marking yet another major gaming crossover with Magic.

Fresh off the launch of Ghost of Yotei, we caught up with Jason Connell, Creative Director at Sucker Punch, along with Wizards of the Coast’s Jacob Covey, Steve Sunu, and Annie Sardelis, to learn how Jin Sakai’s world was reimagined in card form.

They shared how brushstroke met blade, and how Sucker Punch’s involvement went far beyond a simple seal of approval. And even more excitingly, IGN has also got an exclusive first look at Ghost of Yotei’s Atsu card, joining the upcoming PlayStation superdrop.

A Cardboard Ghost

“Part of the fun of working with game studios is the mutual fandom between us—there’s usually a Magic fan or three on their side and a group of fans for their game on our team,” WOTC Art Director, Jacob Covey, explains.

When it comes to Sucker Punch, there are even a few tournament games being played within the development team.

“It’s about 10-12 folks who play monthly, mostly Commander format,” Jason Connell explains. “A few people who regularly come into the office have decks at their desks just in case the mood ever strikes.”

As for making it happen, the conversation began a while ago, and it was Wizards who wanted to work on a PlayStation collaboration.

Borderlands 4 looks like a big hit in the U.S. at least, where it has outperformed Borderlands 3 in terms of money made.

U.S. video game data company Circana said Gearbox’s looter shooter was the best-selling premium video game of September, debuting as the third best-selling game of 2025 so far. It was September’s best-seller on both the Xbox and aggregated PC storefront charts.

Most importantly for publisher 2K Games, Borderlands 4 generated the highest launch month dollar sales of any title in the franchise’s history, nearly 30% higher than the previous best, Borderlands 3.

It’s worth noting this stat isn’t about unit sales, rather revenue generated. Borderlands 4 launched at $69.99 (eventually, after a weird kerfuffle online about whether it would jump to $80), with the Deluxe Edition priced $99.99 and the Super Deluxe Edition at $129.99. At its launch in September 2019, Borderlands 3 cost $59.99 for the standard edition, $79.99 for the Deluxe Edition, and $99.99 for the Super Deluxe Edition. It’s also worth noting that Borderlands 3 was a PC exclusive to the Epic Games Store for six months after its release, whereas Borderlands 4 launched across PC via Steam as well as consoles.

So, we don’t have hard sales figures yet (2K Games has made no announcement so far). But according to Circana, Borderlands 4 was the first Borderlands title to launch as the best-selling game of its release month, so there’s that.

There were encouraging signs for Borderlands 4 when it came out last month. It set a peak concurrent player number record for the franchise on Steam (neither Sony nor Microsoft make player numbers public). But it has suffered from performance issues that have contributed to its ‘mixed’ Steam review rating on Valve’s platform. Gearbox has issued a series of patches since launch, but fans are waiting for the Borderlands 4 ‘Day 30 Update,’ which is due out later this week.

NBA 2K26, by the way, is 2025’s best-selling game year-to-date, ahead of Capcom’s Monster Hunter: Wilds. Helldivers 2 was the fourth best-selling game of September on Xbox platforms, after debuting third during its August launch month. Helldivers 2 ranked as the sixth best-selling game overall in September and was 19th for the 2025 year-to-date period.

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.

Only the first two episodes of Dispatch’s eventual eight have been released so far, but it’s safe to say I’m already quite invested in this unique narrative adventure, which feels like a spiritual successor to the Telltale Games of the 2010s. Half TV show, half puzzle game, this superpowered workplace comedy quickly captured my attention with its cavalcade of oddball characters, engaging minigames, and giggle-inducing dialogue. It’s too early to say where the story will lead across the next three weeks of its episodic release schedule (and we’ll have a final, scored review at the end), but the threads AdHoc Studio are pulling on are immediately compelling, and I’m cautiously optimistic.

Dispatch takes place in an alternative take on modern Los Angeles where superpowered beings, aliens, demons, and all manner of hyperpowered humanoids live amongst the regular folk. Naturally, some of these gifted beings use their powers for good, while others opt for a distinctly villainous approach. With so many supers roaming the streets, an organisation called the SDC has stepped in, launching an insurance-type racket that allows citizens to pay for the privilege of a powerful watchdog. One of the aforementioned good guys is the series’ protagonist, Robert Robertson — otherwise known as Mecha Man — whose heroic aspirations are quickly thwarted when a rogue explosive takes his suit out of commission and plops him into the role of a call centre worker at a small branch of the SDC. So far we’ve only experienced his first day on the job, but I’m already compelled by his predicament and curious to see how this desk job will impact his halcyon dreams of helping people.

Dispatch is split into two distinct parts: most of the time you’ll be chatting through beautifully animated scenes, picking amusing dialogue options, and doing quick-time events like those seen in The Wolf Among Us or the Life is Strange series. Certain decisions trigger a heart-pounding ‘X Person remembered that’ notification at the top of the screen, which feels like a refreshing jolt of nostalgia in 2025. Crucially, though, I often couldn’t feel the weight of my decisions until I had already committed to them. So far, my choices haven’t seemed false or meaningless — I was frequently surprised by how even the most nonchalant comment could impact the tale, and only time will tell how considerable these ripple effects may become.

The rest of your time in Dispatch is spent at work in the role of a titular Dispatcher, assigning superheroes to a variety of jobs. Unlike the animated sequences, these sections take place on a computer screen and resemble a point-and-click puzzle. Using your mouse and wits, you’ll monitor a city map where orange exclamation points periodically pop up with a timer, alerting you to various jobs SDC needs to handle efficiently. Each hero under your command has a stat matrix, similar to that seen in Pokémon, and as a job appears, you’ll receive a verbal description of the issue with aligned icons denoting the stats needed to successfully resolve it.

From here, your job is to match your best hero, or in some cases heroes, by their stats and personalities and then send them on their way. You’ll be told right away whether you’ve passed or failed, with success earning you a stat boost you can apply to your hero for future shifts. It’s a moreish feedback loop that works well with the tonal complexity of the context surrounding it. Dispatch carefully balances your team’s tongue-in-cheek banter with the stressful necessity of saving citizens on time, which is a blast.

That’s not all, though, as there’s a secondary hacking minigame folded into your workday. Here, you’ll roll a 3D object through a cybernetic maze as the clock ticks down, using arrow key inputs to forge a path towards the end goal. Given that these scenarios are often blended with an intense event happening across town, the stakes feel high, and it was easy to get absorbed in the fantasy. Dispatch’s ‘augmented episode’ approach is compelling so far — it helps that the script is so witty and satirically acerbic, and delivered well by its ensemble cast.

As well as the puzzles in play, your team is another complication to your success. Robert Robertson is new to the job, so naturally, he’s not exactly running a gold star operation. The group you’re trying to control is entirely comprised of former villains who, after a life of crime, are trying to reintegrate into society. As you can likely imagine, it’s not going well. The concept of ethically murky superhumans has been explored across film and TV before, but Dispatch often diverts expectations through a steady mix of dirty jokes and sincere interactions that keep you on your toes.

For example, in a meeting after my first shift, my boss, Blonde Blazer, asked why I had a bloody nose. Moments earlier, due to some potentially ill-advised decisions during a conversation, one of my ‘heroes’ promptly smacked me in the face. I had a choice here: I could snitch on her, or pretend everything was fine. Hoping not to get hit again, I chose not to fess up, which led to a warm interaction between myself and another member of the SDC. Dispatch could have chucked in another joke here for a cheap laugh, but it didn’t. This measured restraint imbues the world with a sense of realism that’s easy to get emotionally invested in.

It helps that the pool of characters I’ve met so far have wormed their way into my heart, even when their attitudes stink. No one is one-dimensional, and while it’s unclear what’s hiding in their layers, it already feels like there is a lot to unpack. There’s Invisigal – formerly Invisibitch – a bratty, quippy menace escaping a dubious past voiced by Laura Bailey; the SDC leader Blonde Blazer played by Erin Yvette, whose noble front hides a world of insecurity; and Jeffrey Wright’s Chase, a retired hero and potty-mouthed veteran of the game, just to name a few standouts. I would be remiss not to mention Robert here, too, who, thanks to Aaron Paul’s emotive and nuanced performance, feels deeply flawed but lovably human.

Just a quarter of the way through this story, it’s still too early to say where Dispatch might end up. It’s clear there’s lots still to come, from levelling up my heroes in the Dispatch minigame to living out Robert’s saviour fantasy after his accident. I’ll be back with a scored review shortly after the release of the final episodes on November 12 – but, as of right now, I’m totally enthralled in this world, and I’m keen to get tangled up in Robert’s fractured personal life.

The first Battlefield 6 Season 1 trailer is here, revealing a first look at the new Blackwell Fields and Eastwood maps, new weapons, and more.

EA and Battlefield Studios published the debut trailer for the Season 1 update ahead of its launch next week, October 28. The two-minute video shows off glimpse of the team’s plans to keep Battlefield 6 content flowing following its strong October 10 launch for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S.

“Blackwell Fields spans besieged facilities and homesteads under a burning horizon, supporting all combat sizes with land and air,” an official description for the new Battlefield 6 Season 1 maps says. “Eastwood turns a quiet villa and golf retreat into a frontline, with land vehicles and helicopters in play.”

Today’s Battlefield 6 Season 1 trailer shows off first gameplay on the Blackwell Fields map and Eastwood map, but it also serves as an update for content fans have already been told to expect. BF Studios previously shared a roadmap for its first seasonal content run earlier this month, revealing three waves of updates that are set to roll out from next week through December 9.

Things kick off with the Rogue Ops update next week, starting with highlights like Blackwell Fields, the Strikepoint mode, Traverser Mark 2 vehicle, GGH-22 pistol, SOR-300SC carbine, Mini Scout sniper rifle, rail cover & LPVO attachments, and more. California Resistance content then follows November 18, bringing the Eastwood map and Sabotage limited-time mode, as well as a trio of new weapons. Finally, Empire State gets the Ice Lock makeover with the Winter Offensive update December 9. We know it includes at least one new tool in the form of the Ice Climbing Axe melee weapon.

Hello Games has released yet another No Man’s Sky update, this time adding space wrecks to explore. The patch notes, courtesy of the No Man’s Sky website, are below.

Just over a month after the Voyagers update released for the long-running space game, and the highest player numbers since launch over nine years ago, the Breach update lets players salvage wrecks, unlocking new ship building parts along the way.

Hello Games has also improved and expanded ship building “in response to watching players spend so much time in the workshop designing their dream ships,” Hello Games chief Sean Murray said.

There’s also a new expedition where players will traverse a desolate and abandoned universe to discover what happened to a mysterious abandoned wreck. “Voyaging to the edge of space will be required if you are to salvage from the wreckage of the ill-fated ship and add unique parts and modules to your ship-building workshop,” Murray teased.

“The Breach expedition also brings players together to explore the strange and rare purple-star solar systems,” he continued. “The planets in these systems are particularly fun to explore with their deeper oceans, incredible terrains and volatile gas giants. It guides players towards the new space wrecks, is a great way to salvage some new rare ship parts, while uncovering a spooky story – suitable for the Halloween season!

“It has been a crazy year for the No Man’s Sky team and we’re so proud and pleased to be able to continue working on this game we all love so much nine years after launch.Seeing so many folks enjoying Voyagers has really inspired us, and we can’t wait for you to see what we have in store in future.”

No Man’s Sky continues to receive free updates even now, years after launch. And it’s clearly keeping players interested. No Man’s Sky launched in August 2016 on PS4 and PC to tens of thousands of negative reviews on Steam, with players complaining about broken promises and a lack of meaningful content, particularly on the multiplayer side. The game quickly settled on the dreaded ‘overwhelmingly negative’ Steam user review rating, a clear sign to anyone who visited its Steam page that something was very wrong.

But Guildford, England-based developer Hello Games has continued to update No Man’s Sky over the years, improving player sentiment to the point where it is now considered superb. It took two years to hit ‘mixed,’ then another three to hit ‘mostly positive.’ At the time, five years after launch, Tim Woodley, Head of Publishing at Hello Games, explained how hard it was to claw back Steam user reviews from such a low base.

As Hello Games continues to work on No Man’s Sky, it’s developing its next game, Light No Fire. It’s about adventure, building, survival and exploration together, set on a fantasy planet the size of Earth.

No Man’s Sky Breach update 6.10 patch notes:

BUG FIXES AND QOL

• Fixed an issue that could cause the player to be ejected into space if on an internal stair in a corvette while the pulse drive was active.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the corvette “current flightpath” autopilot from cancelling when the ship came into proximity of a large object such as a Space Station.
• Fixed an issue that prevented exiting the corvette pilot seat in the Space Station and Space Anomaly when using the Quick Menu in VR.
• Fixed an issue that prevented stairs in corvettes from being traversable using VR teleport movement.
• Fixed an issue that caused weapons to be misaligned with the crosshair when flying a corvette in first person.
• Fixed an issue that caused the corvette teleporter to persist after the corvette had landed on a planetary surface.
• Fixed an issue that could cause water to behave erratically when teleporting from a corvette into water.
• Fixed an issue that caused newly-assembled corvettes to appear at the wrong scale if another owned Corvette was docked nearby.
• Fixed an issue that could cause corvette interior doorways to become blocked.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the corvette Torpedo Launcher module from correctly installing the Rocket Launcher weapon.
• Fixed some corvette structural modules appearing under the exterior decoration category of the build menu.
• Fixed a rare issue that could cause corvette assembly data to be replaced with planetary base data.
• Improved the placement of corvette-class ships when teleporting to a Settlement with a corvette as the primary ship.
• Improved the behaviour of floating exotic creatures, especially in response to being offered Creature Pellets.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent biological monstrosities on derelict freighters from reacting aggressively to nearby Travellers.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent some varieties of hazardous flora appearing on planets.
• Fixed a timing-specific issue that could cause the player’s wanted level to get stuck when using the pulse drive to exit planetary atmosphere.
• Fixed an issue that caused the current primary ship’s thrusters to be used for launch fuel calculations when attempting to summon other ships from the Quick Menu.
• Fixed an issue that caused refiners to reset their requested output value to the maximum when refining was started.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the Personal Refiner from automatically starting when an input substance was inserted from the Inventory screen.
• Improved the error messaging when attempting to install duplicate technology in the inventory.
• Fixed an issue that caused rain to be audible when standing inside a corvette.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent the Corvette Assembly tutorial from starting in abandoned star systems.
• Fixed an issue that could cause Exosuit upgrade stations to lose their interaction prompt after a single use, especially in Abandoned Mode.
• Fixed an issue that could cause misleading instructional text during missions requiring planets with extreme weather conditions.
• Fixed an issue that caused some markers to persist unnecessarily in excavation and flora extermination missions from the Corvette Mission Radar.
• Fixed a number of minor messaging inconsistencies in missions requiring the player to prepare ingredients in the Nutrient Processor.

ART AND VISUALS

• Fixed an issue that could cause large waves to abruptly appear and disappear on the surface of water.
• Improved lighting transitions when changing environments – notably when warping between solar systems, when entering or exiting planetary atmosphere, or when moving between interior and exterior locations.
• Fixed a number of minor visual “seams” in lighting.
• Improved the appearance of holographic previews of corvette modules during corvette assembly.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Boundary Herald starship to render incorrectly.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the jetpack from displaying on the Inventory screen when using first-person camera view.
• Fixed an issue that prevented some varieties of aquatic creature from rendering in the Discoveries page.
• Fixed a number of minor visual and collision issues with corvette modules.
• Improved the appearance of corvette modules when viewed from a distance.
• Improved the icons on a number of corvette modules.
• Improved the collision of several planetary curiosities, such as large mushrooms.
• Fixed missing collision that allowed you to walk through the back of some freighter hangars.
• Fixed a number of issues that could prevent decals from being placed on Corvette modules.

INPUT

• Enabled Steam Input on Mac.
• Fixed a Steam-only issue that could cause controller bindings to shuffle or not respond on the first boot after the game was updated.
• Fixed an issue that prevented jetpacking while the Terrain Manipulator was in Create mode.

UI

• Improved the readability of several UI elements.
• Fixed a UI overlap issue on the Corvette trade menu, which could cause the “Make Offer” button to be activated when selecting a part to trade.
• Fixed an issue that caused markers for other players in a multiplayer session to appear at their feet instead of above their head.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the display of additional recipes in the Catalogue.
• Fixed a rare issue that could cause an incorrect UI to appear when absorbing a Memory Fragment to expand inventory slots.

STABILITY AND PERFORMANCE

• Fixed a crash that could occur on Corvettes with a large number of attached weapons.
• Fixed an issue that could cause a hang when opening the airlock door of a derelict freighter.
• Fixed an issue that could cause a hang when jumping through the centre of a galaxy in a freighter.
• Fixed an issue that could cause a softlock if opening the corvette parts menu while a dialog box was open.
• Implemented a number of engine optimisations to improve performance, especially when rendering complex objects such as corvettes.
• Implemented a number of lighting optimisations to improve performance.
• Implemented a number of optimisations and performance improvements on Nintendo Switch.

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.

Former Bethesda developer Bruce Nesmith has offered his thoughts on the divisive Starfield, insisting if it has been released by any other studio “it would have been received differently.”

Speaking to FRVR, the former Starfield systems designer admitted that the sci-fi RPG is “not in the same calibre” as Bethesda’s much-loved The Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises, but insisted it was still “a great game.”

“I think it’s a good game,” Nesmith, who left Bethesda around a year before Starfield came out, said. “I don’t think it’s in the same calibre as the other two, you know, Fallout or Skyrim, or Elder Scrolls rather, but I think it’s a good game. I worked on it, I’m proud of the work I did. I’m proud of the work that the people I knew did on it. I think they made a great game.”

When “the studio that gave you Skyrim and Fallout makes a space game,” Nesmith said, there are certain “expectations,” and these weren’t met. “If the same game had been released by not Bethesda, it would have been received differently,” Nesmith insisted.

Starfield launched in September 2023 as Bethesda’s first brand new IP in 25 years, but it was not as well received as the studio’s previous games in the Fallout and The Elder Scrolls franchises, and the Shattered Space expansion, released a year later in September 2024, has a ‘mostly negative’ user review rating on Steam.

Starfield went on to reach 15 million players, but the question of whether Bethesda might walk away from the game to focus on its other franchises has been a running theme since release. In June 2024, Bethesda insisted it remained committed to supporting Starfield, and confirmed at least one other story expansion would come out following Shattered Space. And in an interview with YouTube channel MrMattyPlays, Bethesda Game Studios’ Todd Howard said the developer was aiming to release an annual story expansion for “hopefully a very long time.”

That, obviously, hasn’t happened. In August, it was reported that Starfield’s second expansion and much-anticipated PlayStation 5 port would now arrive in 2026, following the poor reception to Shattered Space.

So, what went wrong? Nesmith pointed to Starfield’s reliance on procedural generation as a problem, as opposed to the lack of real-time space travel, which he described as “inherently boring.”

“But when the planets start to feel very samey and you don’t start to feel the excitement on the planets, that’s to me where it falls apart,” he continued. “I was also disappointed when, pretty much, the only serious enemy you fought were people… there’s lots of cool alien creatures, but they’re like the wolves in Skyrim. They’re just there, they don’t contribute, you don’t have the variety of serious opponents that are story generators.”

Bethesda has confirmed plans to improve Starfield space gameplay “to make the travels there more rewarding” after datamined fragments of code suggested the developer had a more streamlined space travel experience in the works. Based on this datamine, while you may be able to travel between planets within the same system, you won’t be able to fly all the way between systems, nor fly directly from a planet’s surface into orbit, like No Man’s Sky.

In a new video discussing his career, veteran Bethesda developer Tim Lamb confirmed that the studio had been working on Starfield’s space gameplay, and that a new DLC story was still coming at some point.

“I think as it comes to Starfield, I’m really excited for players to see what the teams have been working on,” he said. “We have some cool stuff coming, including free updates and features the players have been asking for, as well as a new DLC story.

“I can’t go into all the details just yet, but I will say part of the team has been focused on space gameplay to make the travels there more rewarding. We’re also adding some new game systems, and a few other smaller delights. There’s also some really interesting stuff coming down the pipe from our verified creators. There’s some fun stuff.

“I just want to say thanks. We really appreciate the support and the enthusiasm. We can’t wait to get it into the hands of our players.”

Last month, Bethesda teased new content for Starfield — at least that’s what fans thought after they spotted a hidden message in a social media video released to celebrate the game’s two-year anniversary.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

A post on the official Japanese Twitter / X account for the upcoming game Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy received a reply from none other than veteran developer Akitoshi Kawazu, who surprised users by revealing new information about the inspiration behind a Final Fantasy II character.

Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy is Square Enix’s upcoming free-to-play mobile game, slated for a 2026 release. Featuring cel-shaded graphics, Dissidia Duellum takes beloved Final Fantasy characters from throughout the RPG series’ history and transports them to modern Tokyo, where they take on monsters in 3vs3 battles. Two teams of Final Fantasy characters will race to fight their way through roaming monsters to beat the boss faster than the opposing team. The game will also feature voiced story segments.

Dissidia Duellum will not only let you put protagonists like Cloud, Squall, and Lightning in your party, but a whole host of other characters are also making a return, some in the form of special abilities. The official X account recently revealed that Minwu, a character from 1988’s Final Fantasy II, will be lending power to your party with his teleport ability.

ミン=ウは漢字で表記すると、呉明、となります。モデルは戦国時代の呉起。孫呉の兵法という形で孫氏と並び立つ兵法家という評価です。

— 河津秋敏 (@SaGa30kawazu) October 19, 2025

Veteran dev Akitoshi Kawazu, battle designer for Final Fantasy I and II as well as the key creator of the SaGa series, responded to this post with some insight into Minwu’s original inspiration. In his post, Kawazu revealed that Minwu was modelled on Wu Qi, a real life military general and philosopher from China’s Warring States period. He explained that when Minwu’s name is written in kanji characters, it contains the same character for Wu as Wu Qi (rendered as 呉 in Japanese, and 吳 in traditional Chinese). For the Japanese release of Final Fantasy II, Minwu’s name was written phonetically in katakana (a script used for foreign loan words) just like the rest of the game’s cast of characters, so the reference to Wu Qi was not apparent to players.

In Final Fantasy II, Minwu is a white wizard from Mysidia who temporarily joins your party. He serves the Flynn royal family in exile as an advisor when the Palemecian Empire’s attack forces them to flee. He plays a key role in organizing rebel forces and the quest for the Ultima Tome.

Another reason Minwu’s inspiration is not readily apparent is his physical appearance. With his turban and dark skin, he does not visually resemble Wu Qi. However, his strategic role as an advisor plus his loyalty to the Flynn royal family and Princess Hilda does bear some resemblance to Wu Qi’s appointment as the head of Chu State and his fealty to King Dao. Sadly, both meet tragic ends.

Kawazu’s comment attracted many appreciative responses from other users. “It makes me extremely happy to receive new information about FFII in this day and age. Thank you,” said one commenter. Others were eager for more insight into the 37-year-old game: “I wonder if there are any behind-the-scenes revelations or inspirations for other Final Fantasy II characters?”

Dissidia Duellum is scheduled to launch on iOS and Android in 2026. Those in Canada and the U.S. can sign up for the closed beta in November to get a sneak peak at the game.

Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.