Naughty Dog Owner Sony Files Opposition to ‘Naughty Cat’ Trademark Application, Says ‘Dog’ and ‘Cat’ Are ‘Highly Similar’

Are the words “dog” and “cat” similar enough to cause confusion? Naughty Dog owner Sony thinks they are, and has used that as the basis of an official opposition to a trademark application for ‘Naughty Cat.’

Sony Interactive Entertainment has filed a Notice of Opposition with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) against the “Naughty Cat” trademark application filed by a company called Naughty Cat Co., Limited.

This Hong Kong-based company has two apps listed on the App Store, both gambling “games” that promise to reward users with real cash. That’s a world away from the likes of The Last of Us and Uncharted, but that hasn’t stopped Sony’s lawyers from baring their teeth and barking angrily at their feline competitor.

In documents reviewed by IGN, Sony’s lawyers argue that the Naughty Cat trademark is “confusingly similar” to the Naughty Dog trademark it owns “in overall commercial impression and connotation.”

“The first, dominant element of the two marks, NAUGHTY, is identical,” Sony said. “The second elements, DOG and CAT, are highly similar in that both refer to house pets and are likely to mislead consumers into believing, mistakenly, that Naughty Cat is affiliated with SIE and/or Naughty Dog or that its goods are licensed or approved by SIE and/or Naughty Dog.”

The opposition note goes on to insist that any registration of the Naughty Cat trademark is “likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake or to deceive the public as to the source of Applicant’s goods offered under Applicant’s Mark, to the harm and damage of SIE and the public.”

“Registration of Applicant’s Mark will lead the public to conclude, incorrectly, that Applicant is or has been affiliated or connected with SIE, and/or that Applicant’s goods provided under Applicant’s Mark are or have been authorized, sponsored, endorsed, or licensed by SIE. Issuance of any registration to Applicant for the proposed mark will result in damage to SIE and the public.”

On top of this, the Naughty Cat application claims a first use date of December 25, 2023. The Naughty Dog trademark was of course in use many years beforehand.

Whether you agree with Sony’s assertion here or not, the USPTO has outlined a schedule to resolve the dispute and set trial dates if it comes to that. Naughty Cat Co., Limited has until July 12 to answer Sony’s opposition. If it fails to do that, the USPTO may mark the application as abandoned and Sony will have their victory. If not, the dispute may go to trial in 2026.

It seems unlikely any of the developers at Naughty Dog will have much of anything to do with this trademark business. Neil Druckmann and co are busy working on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet and a second, secret, unannounced project.

We don’t know anything about it yet. Perhaps it’s about cats?

Photo by Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images.

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.

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, Which Everyone Thinks Should Be Free, Requires $95 of Accessories and a 4K TV for 100% Completion

Nintendo’s $10 Switch 2 mini-game collection — the game that many fans believe should have been free — requires you own at least $95 of accessories in order to complete 100%.

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is available today alongside the new console, and offers a selection of miniature games and experiences designed to show off the new hardware.

But this also includes mini-games designed to showcase the Switch 2’s camera, and the extra GL/GR buttons which are not found on the standard Switch 2 Joy-Con and instead require a Charging Grip or Pro Controller (thanks, NintendoSoup) — which of course are sold separately.

Oh, and you’ll also need a 4K TV, in case you don’t already have one of those, or were planning to only play your Switch 2 in handheld mode.

Three mini-games require specific equipment, fans now report, with a camera needed to play 1 minigame, a controller with GL/GR buttons for another minigame, and a 4K-supported screen needed for 1 minigame and a separate tech demo.

Nintendo fans who want to see absolutely everything in Switch 2 Welcome Tour will therefore not only need to pay up the $10 cost of the game, but also $54.99 for a Switch 2 Camera, and either $39.99 for a Charging Grip or $84.99 for a Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller to use those GL/GR buttons.

One useful PSA here is that the Switch 2 does support third-party cameras — so you could get hold of a USB-C webcam for cheaper.

But while the Switch 2 does also support the Switch 1 Pro Controller, this does not have the necessary GL/GR buttons — so you really will need to fork out separately for those. And, thanks to tariffs, these now cost slightly more at launch than Nintendo originally announced.

Nintendo has previously faced criticism for not including Switch 2 Welcome Tour with the console itself. An experience designed as an introduction to Nintendo’s new hardware and essentially act as an interactive instruction manual, Welcome Tour would have been a perfect fit to be packed-in with the console — just as Wii Sports was with the Wii.

Even former Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aimé has got stuck into the debate, highlighting the Wii Sports situation from his tenure in charge. At the time, Fils-Aimé disagreed with Nintendo’s Japanese bosses who said Wii Sports should have been sold separately (as it still was in Japan). But Fils-Aimé got his way for the U.S. and European markets, and Wii Sports went on to become one of the most successful games of all time.

“Everyone has to decide if it’s worth their $10 to learn about the Switch 2 cartridge slot and watch an HDR fireworks display, and the whole conversation surrounding Welcome Tour has suffered because of Nintendo’s irritating decision to charge for it,” IGN wrote earlier this week. It’ll be interesting to see whether the added costs further impact customer purchases.

Earlier today, IGN reported on the issue of damaged Switch 2 consoles due to retailers puncturing the console’s thin boxes with staples. If you’re buying a console (with or without Welcome Tour), it’s something to be aware of.

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

XDefiant Chief Quits Industry Entirely, Claims Ubisoft’s Doomed Call of Duty Rival Had ‘Very Little Marketing’ or ‘The Right Resources to Make Content’

XDefiant‘s servers went dark on Tuesday, June 3, a little over a year after Ubisoft’s free-to-play arena shooter was released. Ubisoft gave its Call of duty rival just four months before confirming it would discontinue support. Almost half the team lost their jobs as Ubisoft made a swath of cuts across its San Francisco and Osaka studios.

Producer Mark Rubin, who led development fo the game having previously worked on the Call of Duty series at Activision, called it a “sad day” in a lengthy statement posted to X/Twitter earlier today. After thanking his co-workers for making a “really fun and terrific game,” he announced he’s decided to “leave the industry” for good.

“In case everyone doesn’t know, the team behind XDefiant was all let go at the end of last year and I know many people have moved on to other studios, which is great, and I hope that for all of those still looking, that they find something quickly,” Rubin wrote.

“As for me, I’ve decided to leave the industry and spend more time with my family so unfortunately you won’t be hearing about me making another game. I do care passionately about the shooter space and hope that someone else can pick up the flag that I was trying to carry and make games again that care about the players, treat them with respect and listen to what they have to say.”

Rubin said the team made “remarkable” progress despite “very little marketing,” claiming that despite a lack of advertising, XDefiant “still had the fastest acquisition of players in the first few weeks for a Ubisoft title” just from word-of-mouth promotion.

“But unfortunately, with little to no marketing, especially after launch, we weren’t acquiring new players after the initial launch,” he added, before claiming Ubisoft’s in-house game engine “wasn’t designed for what [XDefiant] was doing.”

“We had other issues, though, as well that we tried to be transparent about. For one we had crippling tech debt using an engine that wasn’t designed for what we were doing, and we didn’t have the engineering resources to ever correct that. I do personally think that in-house engines are not the valuable investment that they used to be, and they are often doomed to fall behind big engines like Unreal.

“This tech debt included the dreaded netcode issues that we could just not solve given the architecture we were dealing with,” he added. “And so, for many players with solid network connections (in both speed and consistent reliability) the game played well but if your connection had even the smallest amount of inconsistency the engine just couldn’t handle it and you would have a bad experience. Normally, you should be able to weather those bad moments on your network. But this was a major issue with XDefiant.”

Rubin also lamented the lack of resources to make content.

“Another issue we had was having the right resources to make content for the game. What we saw at Season 3 wasn’t even enough content in my mind for launch. There were some really cool features coming later in Season 4 or even 5 that would have completed the game in a way that I felt it should have been for launch. I can say everyone’s (devs, HQ leadership, etc.) heart was in the right place, but we just didn’t have the gas to go the distance for a free-to-play game.”

In October 2024, Ubisoft insisted it wasn’t shutting XDefiant down, then announced it would be shutting XDefiant down just a few weeks later. We thought the fundamentals of XDefiant were good, but “conflicting ideas and mechanics stop it from standing above a crowded shooter field.” We ultimately awarded it a “Good” rating of 7.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Sony’s All-New First-Party PlayStation Fight Stick ‘Project Defiant’ Goes On Sale in 2026

It’s 2025, and Sony PlayStation has finally designed its own wireless fight stick for PS5 and PC.

Edwin Foo, VP of product development at Sony Interactive Entertainment, said the stick — codenamed internally as Project Defiant — will give players “more flexibility to play their favorite fighting games.”

Sony promises ultra-low latency through a wireless connection on PS5 or PC, as well as the option to play with a wired connection. This is essential for fighting game fans who need their combo inputs to be as precise and as instant as possible.

It also boasts an ergonomic design, a “high-quality digital stick” that’s been custom-designed by Sony, and toolless interchangeable restrictor gates, so players can choose between square, circle, or octagon, all of which can be stored in the controller’s handy compartment when not in use. It even comes with a sling carry case.

What we don’t yet know is the cost, or when it will go on sale: right now, Sony will only commit to a 2026 window.

Sony’s fight stick is well-timed, given it’s working on Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, a new 4v4 Marvel fighting game from Arc System Works, the developer of the Guilty Gear series. That’s also out 2026, so perhaps we’ll see the game and stick come out around the same time.

Sony kicked off the summer reveal season with a bang, presenting a smorgasbord of new games to whet our appetites going into Summer Games Fest Week. Here’s everything announced at PlayStation State of Play 2025 last night, including 007 First Light, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, Romeo is a Dead Man, and Silent Hill f’s release date.

If you’re new to fighting games or it’s been awhile since you indulged, here’s our picks of the 10 best fighting games of all time. Did your favorite reach the top spot?

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

James Bond Fans Think They’ve Worked Out Secret Identity of 007 First Light Actor

Fans of secret agent James Bond haven’t taken long to decide who they think is the (not so) mysterious actor playing the role in 007 First Light.

The game’s new trailer, revealed at Sony’s State of Play broadcast, shows off a notably younger-looking Bond, fresh out of the Royal Navy and keen to earn his 00 agent status. But who is playing the title role?

Minutes after the trailer aired, fans on reddit began guessing that Dexter: New Blood star Patrick Gibson was the behind the new Bond — and he certainly shares a strong similarity with the character in the trailer.

“I clocked it THE SECOND I saw the dirty smirk of his,” wrote one 007 aficionado. “Yeah I peeped that as soon as I seen it,” said another.

“Watching the trailer and knew the face looked familiar,” said a third. “After about a minute or so I screamed ‘DEXTER.’ I’m pretty sure it’s him.”

Aged 30, the Irish actor is just a few years older than the 26-year-old version of Bond he looks set to portray in the upcoming game — and, if IO Interactive gets its way, several sequels.

And if Gibson looks familiar to you too, well, the actor already has a swathe of TV and film roles under his belt, including appearances in Shadow and Bone, The Tudors, and The OA. But it’s his role as a younger version of Dexter Morgan in prequel series Dexter: Original Sin for which he’s most famous.

Curiously, 007 First Light developer IO Interactive is yet to confirm Gibson itself — though IGN has asked the studio if it can comment on the internet’s speculation. Gibson also, for now, appears to keeping schtum.

A press release issued alongside Gibson’s apparent debut in 007 First Light’s trailer describes the game as as globe-trotting story-driven action-adventure game where you can choose how to navigate various challenges — either with brute force or 007’s trademark charm.

The trailer showed Bond cracking a couple of deadpan jokes as he got himself out of (and into) trouble. Gibson’s acting chops as the antihero Dexter look set to be put to good use.

007 First Light is due to launch at some point in 2026 for Nintendo Switch 2, PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. In case you missed it, here’s everything announced at Sony’s State of Play June 2025 showcase.

Photo by Francois G. Durand/WireImage.

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

PlayStation Plus Summer 2025 Additions Include Resident Evil, Twisted Metal, Sword of the Sea, and More

PlayStation Plus subscribers can look forward to playing a selection of video games, new and old, as part of its Extra and Premium catalogs, including classic titles from the Resident Evil, Twisted Metal, and more.

New PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 additions to the ever-changing lineup of titles were revealed during today’s June 2025 State of Play showcase. Every game on the list is prepped to drop at some point throughout the summer, with some titles launching on the service day-one.

Sword of the Sea, an atmospheric adventure game about surfing through a colorful oasis, is the headliner here. It’s the next project from the Abzu and The Pathless team at Giant Squid and promises an experience that focuses on skateboarding-like gameplay, magical visuals, and exploration. It’ll be available for PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers at no extra cost starting August 19, 2025.

Remedy Entertainment’s FBC: Firebreak, meanwhile, will offer a new perspective on the world of Control when it’s made available for Premium and Extra users’ Game Catalog June 17, 2025. These are fresh experiences from developers with proven track records, but the Premium Classics Catalog will soon allow players to revisit retro titles, too.

New Classic Catalog additions include Deux Ex, Twisted Metal 3, Twisted Metal 4, Resident Evil 2, and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. Myst and Riven will also be added for PlayStation Plus subscribers to enjoy as part of Days of Play festivities later this month. These are simply the highlights Sony was willing to share as part of State of Play, with more games likely to be revealed in the coming months. You can see everything confirmed, along with their PlayStation Plus release dates, in the list below.

PlayStation Plus Games Coming Summer 2025

While we wait for concrete release dates for some of these PlayStation Plus titles, you can check out everything else announced as part of today’s State of Play presentation. You can also read up on all of the titles that have joined the service as part of its June additions.

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

Ghost of Yotei Gameplay Deep Dive State of Play Set for July as October Release Date Draws Near

Sucker Punch Productions will debut a Ghost of Yōtei gameplay deep dive with a special State of Play presentation next month.

A promise to show off more of how the highly anticipated samurai follow-up has sharpened its blade was revealed in a PlayStation Blog post published following today’s June 2025 State of Play showcase. The Ghost of Tsushima sequel did show up for a brief appearance during the tail end of the presentation but mostly served simply as a reminder that Sucker Punch is still hard at work to meet its October release date.

While it may have been disappointing to see Ghost of Yōtei come and go so quickly, it sounds like the July State of Play gameplay deep dive will do more to help with the wait. Sucker Punch’s showcase doesn’t have a release date yet but is said to focus entirely on Ghost of Yōtei and its “evolved gameplay mechanics, including exploration, combat, and much more.”

Sucker Punch formally announced its Ghost of Tsushima sequel last September, promising to place players in the shoes of new protagonist Atsu as she embarks on a bloody journey through Japan in 1603. Although the wait for story and gameplay details has been painful for those hoping for a sequel since the original game launched in 2020, director Nate Fox has said the experience will be “a respectful representation” of Japan, just like its predecessor.

Ghost of Yōtei has a release date of October 2, 2025 for PS5. For everything else announced during today’s June 2025 State of Play presentation, you can click here. To help with the wait for more information, you can read up on everything we know about Ghost of Yōtei.

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

Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls Is a 4v4 Fighting Game From the Developer of Guilty Gear

Arc System Works, the developer of the Guilty Gear series, is making a 4v4 Marvel fighting game called Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls for Sony.

Announced during Sony’s State of Play June 2025, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is due out on PS5 and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store at some point in 2026.

In a post on PlayStation Blog, Reed Baird, Senior Producer, XDEV, PlayStation Studios, confirmed the inclusion of iconic Marvel heroes and villains such as Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Doctor Doom, Storm, Ms. Marvel, Star-Lord, and Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes) – each with Arc’s unique twist on their character designs and gameplay styles.

A 4v4 tag fighting game sounds overwhelming, but Game Director and Lead Battle Designer, Kazuto Sekine, insisted that wouldn’t be the case.

“Generally, a team VS fighting game requires the player to learn multiple characters, but for Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, you only need to master one character in order to play the game,” Sekine said.

“We have designed the mechanics in such a way that you can perform a variety of actions with either traditional fighting game inputs or simple inputs. With the press of a few buttons, multiple characters can appear on screen to provide backup or attack together – creating a new and exciting team VS battle experience.”

Visually, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls has the Japanimation style Arc system Works is known for. As for gameplay mechanics, each character has a bespoke set of Normal, Special, and Unique attacks inspired by their abilities and powers in Marvel lore. And of course there are cinematic Ultimate Skills.

“Team VS fighting games have a long tradition of 2v2 or 3v3 team formats, so this is something we discussed in-depth within the development team,” Sekine added. “We went back and forth many times, from thinking we might be better off making a 1v1 game or sticking to the established 3v3 format.

“At its core, we felt that the appeal of team VS fighting games is the intensity of battles with multiple characters on screen at once. Additionally, one of the appeals of Marvel comics is seeing the vast cast of characters coming together to create all kinds of unique team-ups.

“With these two ideas in mind, we concluded that creating a 4v4 team VS system would be the best way to not only create those over-the-top moments, but to further evolve the tag fighting genre.”

Most stages also feature multiple areas, with transitions that play a “strategic role.” Sony suggested fans check out the screenshots from Marvel’s New York City to see what you can find.

In case you missed it, here’s everything announced at Sony’s State of Play June 2025 showcase.

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.

Silent Hill f Is Out This September – Sony State of Play

In a haunting new trailer at today’s Sony State of Play, we learned that Silent Hill f’s fog of fresh horrors is imminent: it’s coming out on September 25, 2025.

In a deeply upsetting new trailer today, we saw a longer, darker look at what’s in store for us in Silent Hill f. We saw the main character, Hinako Shimizu, and her friends in Ebisugaoka living normal, peaceful lives, just before a mysterious fog envelopes the town and makes everything real weird.

Creepy red flowers bloom. Heinous, jerky dolls start chasing Hinako around and trying to rip her apart. Her friends don’t seem to be doing so hot, either. There’s gore, there’s violence, lots of paranormal, and Hinako proving remarkably efficient with a crowbar.

Silent Hill f was first announced in 2022. It’s set in 1960s Japan and is intended to juxapose horror with beauty in a story written by acclaimed Japanese writer Ryukishi07. We’ve since learned that it’s standalone from the other Silent Hill games, and that it’s Japan’s first M-rated Silent Hill game, with truly gruesome warnings about impalement, faces being ripped apart, a character being burned alive in a cage, entrails on serving platters, and lots more. Yikes!

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Where Is Our Mario Kart World Review?

Drivers, ready your A buttons, because Mario Kart World’s countdown clock is finally about to tick down! Unfortunately, Nintendo opted not to send out the Switch 2 for any early coverage, so my review is still in the garage getting tuned up. The good news, however, is that I’ve already gone hands-on with Mario Kart World twice, and when this article is published, I’ll probably already be standing in line to pick up my copy so I can jump right back in. (Sorry, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, but you’ll have to wait a bit longer to get my 10 bucks.)

You can read my most recent thoughts on World from a preview earlier this week, but I also wanted to take a moment to briefly share who I am and why I’m assigned to this review. (Those who have been watching our video reviews to the end may have seen us sharing some context about our reviewer’s tastes and history there as well.) Earlier this year I took over hosting duties for IGN’s Nintendo Voice Chat podcast, and I’ve been excitedly reporting on Nintendo for roughly a decade. I’ve also been doing more and more Nintendo reviews for IGN, including both Super Mario Party Jamboree and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door last year.

I’m also an enormous Mario Kart fan. I’m not sure there’s a video game franchise I’ve spent more total hours playing than this one. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is my favorite entry – and in my top 10 favorite games of all time – and I’ve logged over 500 hours of track time there alone. That’s not even counting the base Mario Kart 8 on Wii U, which I proudly picked up at launch back in 2014 as one of the few Wii U owners out there at the time. (There were dozens of us!) With its gorgeous art direction, amazing track design, and impressive amount of content (including the return of F-Zero!), Mario Kart 8 Deluxe felt like the franchise reaching the finish line of the more-or-less linear Mario Kart formula that began on Super Nintendo, so I’m very excited that World is tackling something entirely new to this series rather than simply iterating on what came before.

I’ve logged over 500 hours of track time in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe alone.

Beyond that one, my favorites are Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Kart 64, which are the two I spent the most time playing with friends and family growing up. Double Dash’s two-character mechanic is such a blast and 64 is an undeniable classic, but I’ll also shout out the 3DS’s Mario Kart 7, which I believe is the most underrated entry in the series. I’ve always loved just playing as Mario in Mario Kart – which leads some of my friends to call me crazy – but I am looking forward to racing as the new-look Donkey Kong in World.

As I mentioned, I do have a bit of a head start here because I’ve already played a healthy amount of Mario Kart World at a pair of Nintendo preview events. I went hands-on with the Switch 2 and Mario Kart on the same day as their reveal Direct, and I was intrigued by what I saw from the new Knockout Tour mode – even though that initial demo was fairly limited. But earlier this week, we published my impressions from a more robust Mario Kart World preview event where I got unmitigated access to the launch version. You can check out my final preview while you wait for the full review, but there I said, “I’m confident Mario Kart World’s thrilling racing will kick off Nintendo’s eighth generation with a rocket start, even if I’m still not completely sold on its open-world exploration.” The combination of that hands-on time means I’m going into launch with roughly eight hours of gameplay already logged, so I can hit the metaphorical A button right after the “2” flashes to have a good boost off the line. I’m hoping to get our final, scored review published before the end of next week.

I’ll even be working on my review from the floor of IGN Live 2025, which is happening in downtown Los Angeles at The Magic Box this weekend, June 7-8. There’s a ton happening at the show, and you can come on down to IGN Live yourself for a chance to be part of the review process by playing against me. We’ll have an official “Game with IGN” setup featuring Mario Kart World where you can play against IGN editors like myself, our co-founder Peer Schneider, and many others – and if you see me on the show floor, you can channel your inner Pokémon trainer and challenge me to a race. (You can’t back out of a trainer battle once a stranger locks eyes with you, that’s just how it works.) Last year at IGN Live 2024, I had a great time playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe against fans that came out to the show, and I can’t wait to do it again – this time with a brand-new Mario Kart.

You can look forward to some updated thoughts on Mario Kart World in the coming days – and, if you managed to secure a Nintendo Switch 2 at launch, then I’ll see you on the open roads!