Category: IGN

Concord’s $39.99 price point “provides the full experience,” Sony has said.

Following Concord’s divisive reveal during Sony’s State of Play showcase in May, some had wondered whether the live service hero shooter would release in free-to-play form.

Confirming Concord launches in both physical and digital standard editions for $39.99 / £34.99 / €39.99, Pam Piscitello, director of marketing and operations at developer Firewalk, said in a post on the PlayStation Blog that this full experience includes all 16 playable characters (called Freegunners in-game), 12 maps set on various worlds, and six team-based modes.

This will expand shortly after launch with regular, post-launch updates for all players at no additional cost, Piscitello added.

“From the very beginning, we wanted Concord to be a complete multiplayer-focused experience that combines engaging gameplay, rewarding progression, and a robust roster of characters, maps, and game modes right out of the gate, while also creating a platform for us to evolve and expand the game and universe over time,” Piscitello commented.

As is the modern video game way, the more expensive Digital Deluxe Edition ($59.99 / £49.99 / €59.99) gives early access to Concord when it launches this August. That amounts to up to 72 hours of early access before the global launch on August 23.

As already announced, a pre-launch beta is set for PlayStation 5 and PC with cross-play support. Those who pre-order get early access to this. Pre-ordering any edition of Concord grants you five codes for the beta early access weekend in July.

By launching Concord on PS5 and PC simultaneously priced $39.99, Sony is replicating the release strategy employed for Arrowhead’s co-op shooter Helldivers 2, which went on to become the fastest-selling PlayStation game of all time with an incredible 12 million copies sold in just 12 weeks.

Cheaper price points and simultaneous releases on PS5 and PC may be the way forward for Sony’s live service games, if Helldivers 2 and now Concord are evidence of an overall strategy. Sony has insisted it will continue to release its big ticket single-player games on console first before coming to PC later.

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.

A Counter-Strike 2 weapon skin, meaning a variant color and pattern for an in-game gun, has sold for more than $1 million of real world money.

CS:GO, now Counter-Strike 2, lets players earn Weapon Cases (loot boxes) through gameplay or by purchasing them in the store, but each also requires a corresponding key to open it. These can, again, be earned through gameplay or purchased in the store.

The competitive first-person shooter is free to play but has an extensive economy surrounding the contents of these loot boxes: weapon skins. Players can buy, trade, and sell them to each other, and the rarer pieces have sold in the past for hundreds, thousands, and even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The most expensive skin in Counterstrike history was publicly sold this morning, a StatTrak Factory New AK-47 Blue Gem pattern 661

For over $1 million pic.twitter.com/1FdxoNM2ov

— Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) June 5, 2024

As reported by Kotaku, the StatTrak Factory New AK-47 Blue Gem pattern 661 has blown away all previous records, however, after it was sold by X/Twitter user @roflm0nster for more than $1 million. A look at the gun can be seen in the post above.

The exact amount it sold for is unknown, as the seller is “not at liberty to disclose the buyer or exact amount”, according to a post on the platform. But @roflm0nster confirmed to IGN it was a seven-figure number. “What I can say is that $1 million offers were rejected multiple times,” they said. “Make your own conclusions.”

Such high offers came in as a result of the skin being truly unique, meaning only one exists within Counter-Strike. Its existence was discovered earlier in 2024, when fans marveled at its Blue Gem coloring, which adds a metallic blue look to the gun.

It’s also of Factory New condition, which is the rarest form of such a skin. A near identical version of this gun, just with the lesser Minimal Wear condition, sold for $400,000 in 2022, as reported by PC Gamer. Experts therefore valued the Factory New version to sell for up to $1 million, but it’s now gone above even that.

CS:GO is a PC classic which remains as popular as ever despite the forced transition to Counter-Strike 2 in September 2023, more than two decades after the original first released.

Image Credit: Jake Lucky on X/Twitter

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

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has revealed the game’s next Premium Warbond, dubbed Viper Commandos and due out June 13.

In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Katherine Baskin, social media and community manager at Arrowhead, said the studio had responded to feedback on Helldivers 2’s Warbonds and had changed its approach as a result. For a start, Arrowhead has slowed down the pace at which it releases Warbonds “to give us a little bit more time to polish these designs before they’re released.” Baskin continued: “We don’t want to rush anything out of the oven before it’s fully baked.”

Arrowhead has also changed the arrangement of items in each Warbond to make room for new item types as well as higher quality armor and weapons. “This will prevent us from simply adding more of everything, which can lead to weapons that feel redundant and uninteresting armor,” Baskin explained. “It’s time to focus on quality over quantity.”

“When we started researching items for Viper Commandos, we wanted to be sure we answered our player calls for stronger theming that coordinates across all the items, more emotes, unique armor passives, and more thoughtful designs rather than simply giving more of the same.”

The game’s community had called on the developer to slow down when it came to significant balance changes as well as Warbond releases, feeling Arrowhead had sometimes gone too far with nerfs and failed to include meta-affecting weapons and gear in the Warbonds.

To that end, Viper Commandos revolves around an up close and personal playstyle, which for any existing Helldivers 2 player may sound a little frightening. The new primary is a new version of the Liberator called the AR-23A Liberator Carbine. It has a modified, shortened form-factor that handles differently from the original, with a bit higher recoil, but faster handling designed for spraying and praying up close.

There’s also the new SG-22 Bushwhacker triple-barrel, sawed-off shotgun with two different firing modes, including one that fires all three barrels at once. This shotgun is the first in Helldivers 2 to be classed as a secondary weapon, which should open up the loadout meta a bit.

There are two new armor items, both of which feature the Peak Physique passive, which improves melee damage and weapon handling. They both also feature bare arms, so you can really show off your guns.

Another first for the game is new skins for your hellpods, Exosuits, and Pelican-1, “inspired by the classic woodland and tiger stripe camouflage patterns.”

The new utility item is the throwing knife. “Imagine mowing down a crowd of Terminids and running out of ammo with only one bug remaining, no time to reload, so you dive backward and throw a hunting knife into its carapace right before it descends on you,” Baskin said, hyping it up.

There’s also a new booster called Experimental Infusion, which gives your stims the added bonus of boosting your movement speed and reducing the damage you take for a short time. And, as you’d expect, there are new capes, player cards, and emotes.

EA Sports has added the Euro 2024 mode to FC 24, letting fans play through a virtual version of the tournament ahead of the real deal.

Title update 15, out now for FC 24 across PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, is called the Festival of Football update, and adds the aforementioned Euro 2024 mode as well as a new skill move and celebration. There are 27 new Star Heads, including Rodri, Sven Botman, Pedro Porro, and Eberechi Eze.

The Euro 2024 mode lets you play in the final, semi-final, and group stage matches in nine authentic stadiums. You can choose from any of the 24 qualified teams or rewrite history with any other European national team already in the game. The Match of the Day fixture is updated with every real-life tournament matchday up to the Final match. Check out how it looks in the image below:

Square Enix has made the Octopath Traveler series available on all console platforms as well as Xbox Game Pass as part of a multi-pronged shadow-drop.

Octopath Traveler, first released on Nintendo Switch in 2018, is now available to buy on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 for the first time. Octopath Traveler 2, which launched on Switch, PS4, PS5, and PC in 2023, is now available for the first time on Xbox Series X and S and Xbox One, including launching straight into subscription service Xbox Game Pass. Both Octopath Traveler games are now in the Game Pass library across Xbox and PC.

Octopath Traveler is a well-received role-playing series with a unique HD-2D art style, with 2D characters in 3D worlds. Both games are a standalone experience set in different worlds with eight distinct protagonists, each with their own stories to explore and Path Actions to use.

IGN’s Octopath Traveler review returned a 9.3. We said: “Octopath Traveler’s beautiful style and outstanding take on traditional turn-based combat make it a game that pushes JRPGs forward rather than simply paying homage to the greats.” IGN’s Octopath Traveler 2 review scored a 7: “Octopath Traveler 2 is a very enjoyable JRPG sequel that feels a little too safe and familiar,” we said. Square Enix said the Octopath Traveler series has sold over four million copies worldwide.

Team Asano, the Square Enix group led by Bravely Default and Octopath Traveler designer Tomoya Asano, released a surprise free update for Octopath Traveler 2 that includes Extra Battle mode, which becomes available after defeating the final boss in the final chapter. The Extra Battle mode lets players test their skills against newly added tough opponents, including the main characters of Octopath Traveler, Square Enix said. This mode is available on Xbox consoles from launch and has been added to the PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC versions today, June 6, via an update.

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.

Player First Games has clued players into how upcoming patches will flesh out its Warner Bros.-themed platform fighter, MultiVersus, with more enhancements, options, and the return of the Iron Giant.

The developer detailed its plans on social media today, promising to deliver improvements based on player feedback in the near future. Included in the list of soon-to-be changes are performance improvements, End of Game stats, and the option to turn off team colors. Additionally, Player First clarifies that the option to purchase extra lives in-game is unintentional and has been addressed.

Greetings MVPs – we’re working hard on updates for #MultiVersus. Here’s a sample of what’s currently planned for upcoming patches based on your feedback:

Performance improvements
Inclusion of End of Game stats
Option to turn off team colors

— MultiVersus (@multiversus) June 5, 2024

Meanwhile, the studio explains that its work on Iron Giant is still underway, but it plans to reintroduce the character “shortly.” The Iron Giant was removed June 3 following complaints that the character offered players an unfair advantage. It’s not currently clear in what order the new fixes and improvements will roll out outside of the promise that fans can expect to see them in “upcoming patches.”

MultiVersus relaunched last month following the end of its open beta last summer. Since the Warner Bros. fighter has returned, Player First has introduced new characters like Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th), Agent Smith (The Matrix), and the Joker as well as additional game modes like Rifts. The studio is also working on bringing back some missing features that were previously present in the beta.

For more, you can read up on the player who managed to walk away victorious after their main character, Iron Giant, was pulled mid-tournament. You should also check out our 8/10 review, where we said, “MultiVersus may not be a must-play at social gatherings, but its refreshing team-based battles make it a great platform fighter online.”

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.

Sony appears to have removed the 8K tag from PlayStation 5 boxes that has been clearly visible on the front of them since launch.

As spotted by Digital Foundry’s John Linneman, new PS5 boxes now only include the 4K/120 fps and HDR tags and no longer shout to the world that Sony’s latest console is capable of outputting to 8K.

So they apparently removed the 8K from the box on PS5s? Ha ha, that’s pretty funny and should have been done years ago. It’s pretty obvious that not only is 8K not suitable for these machines (aside from The Touryst) but 8K displays are not desirable. I wouldn’t want one. pic.twitter.com/XgFpPx0FWi

— John Linneman @dark1x.bsky.social (@dark1x) June 5, 2024

IGN has reached out to Sony for a comment, but we have confirmed in the meantime that the PS5 boxes on the PS5 pages of PlayStation Direct are also missing the 8K tag.

Prior to PlayStation 5’s launch in 2020, Sony noted that “PS5 is compatible with 8K displays at launch, and after a future system software update will be able to output resolutions up to 8K when content is available, with supported software.”

Since then, there has been virtually no true support for 8K titles, except for a game known as The Touryst. Additionally, the adoption of 8K TVs is not quite at a level where it has been a priority for console makers.

Sony wasn’t alone in highlighting 8K back in 2020, as Microsoft also touted that Xbox Series X was able to support the resolution. However, Xbox head Phil Spencer cautioned that 8K is “aspirational technology” and that we’re “years away from 8K being – if it ever is – standard in video games.”

For more on PS5 and its potential to output to 8K, check out our breakdown of what would really need to happen for games to make the jump to that next resolution.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.

Amazon is offering Amazon Prime members an older generation Anker PowerCore 737 25,600mAh USB Power Bank, which also includes a 65W USB PD wall charger for only $49.99 shipped after you clip a $10 off coupon on the product page. That’s over 50% off its original $110 MSRP. This is close to the highest capacity power bank you’re allowed to bring on airplane carry-on, and it also boasts 60W of USB power delivery to charge your Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, or ASUS ROG Ally gaming handheld.

Anker PowerCore 737 25,600mAh Power Bank for $49.99

Includes a 65W USB PD wall charger

The Anker PowerCore 737 can be used like any other power bank; it does a fine job of charging any of your standard mobile electronics. It has two USB Type-A ports and one USB Type-C port. This is one of the largest capacity power banks that can be brought onto an airplane as carry-on. It can charge a Nintendo Switch OLED over 5 times, iPhone 15 Pro Max over 5 times, Steam Deck over 4 times, and an ASUS ROG Ally over 9 times. The power bank is physically larger than smaller capacity ones and weighs in at 1.3 pounds.

The USB Type-C port supports up to 60W Power Delivery. That’s enough to charge the Steam Deck (35W) and Nintendo Switch (18W) at their maximum charging speed. It’s also very close to the maximum charging speed of the ASUS ROG Ally, which caps at 65W. The two USB Type-A ports support up to 18W of total charging, which is enough to fast charge a Nintendo Switch.

What’s unique about this deal compared to some other similar deals we’ve posted is that this one also comes with a USB Type-C wall charger that supports 65W of Power Delivery. There’s no need to buy another wall charger or scavenge one from another power bank you might have sitting around.

The Anker 737 is our pick for best Steam Deck / ASUS ROG Ally charger

We picked the newer Anker 737 as our favorite portable charger for the Steam Deck and ASUS ROG Ally portable gaming handhelds. Both the ROG Ally and Steam Deck suffer from a short battery life when gaming on the go. For instance, when playing most games at 60 FPS, you’re likely looking at four hours of battery life, at most. We even found games like God of War or Spider-Man would tap out in under 2 hours on the Steam Deck. At the end of the day, you’ll never get the full potential out of your Steam Deck or ROG Ally if you’re not equipped with a decent portable charger.

Developer 11 Bit Studios has announced an upcoming playable demo of The Alters, the team’s alluring and unique new survival game. Check out the stellar new trailer above, and then play the demo for yourself on Steam on June 10 until June 17.

So what is The Alters? Well, we encourage you to watch our recent hands-on preview below, but in short, you play as Jans. But not just one Jans. Lots of Jans. See, you’re a miner on a hostile planet who must pull in versions of yourself from other realities in order to survive. But they’re not mere clones. Rather, they’re you but they’ve lived their own completely unique lives, and as such they’ll bring different looks, skills, and personalities to your tall task at hand.

Our exclusive month-long IGN First coverage starts now with the demo announcement trailer at the top of this page, and it continues tomorrow with exclusive gameplay footage from the very demo you can play for yourself on Monday.

And be sure to check back all June long for lots more coverage of The Alters as our June IGN First “cover story”! Check out more of The Alters on their Steam page.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.