Category: IGN

It is no secret that Square Enix’s Mana series has impacted the JRPG genre immensely since it debuted in 1991. It’s a franchise rich with deep stories and memorable combat that has stood the test of time. Despite the last mainline game releasing 18 years ago, fanfare has yet to die down, as seen with the success of the 2020 remake of Trials of Mana. The question is, can a brand new Mana game replicate the same success as a remake? If this two-hour hands-on preview is any indication of the rest of the game, then Visions of Mana’s fresh take on battle and class systems not only gives it the potential to meet the success of the originals but possibly even the chance to surpass them.

From the outset, it is clear that Visions of Mana is a completely different experience from previous games in the series. Gone are the days of sprite-drawn, top-down 2D combat. Here are the days of fast-paced, flashy and vibrant 3D semi-open field battles. Gameplay puts a heavy focus on the action part of the action-JRPG genre, introducing aspects like aerial combat to help open up the tag-based sword-slashing and magic system already in place.

During each encounter, the party’s three heroes can be swapped out with the push of a button, using their unique abilities and strengths in accordance with specific enemies that were in the battle. Val’s heavy attacks are useful for fighting big enemies one-on-one, while Morely’s speed is perfect for encounters made up of a higher number of enemies. Careena serves as the ideal support role, not only providing healing but dishing out powerful magic attacks like thunderbolt that deal area-of-effect damage that is both powerful and far-reaching.

Whenever the other two characters aren’t being used in combat, the AI takes over seamlessly. Having all three heroes participate in the battle at once results in a variety of combo moves that deal significant damage, especially when adding Elemental Vessels into the mix. These mystical artifacts play a huge role in Visions of Mana’s combat. Depending on who has which element attached to them, their skillsets, stats, and weapon types will change drastically. In this preview, there were two different Elemental Vessels: Moon and Wind. The first manipulates the flow of time, while the second controls air currents, lofting enemies off their feet while dealing damage.

Playing as Val’s Aegis class using the Vessel of the Moon is a completely different experience than when it’s equipped to either of the other party members. In this state, he uses a Lance and Shield while also having the ability to manipulate the flow of time, making for a terrifying one-two punch of slowing any enemy down to be able to dish out both quality and quantity with his damage. Nothing was more satisfying than using this on the Gem Valley Ochoro in the first area of the preview.

This sturdy and fast enemy, who felt like a beefy Sonic the Hedgehog, was an absolute menace, featuring crazy speed and high defense that made for a long and drawn-out battle. That battle became much easier after switching Val over to the Aegis class. Thanks to the Luna Globe, a time bubble is created that slows every enemy trapped within it to a crawl, which is perfect for speed demons like the Ochoro. While it still takes a few attempts, trapping the hedgehog in the bubble and whaling on it with a barrage of melee and magic spells resulted in a satisfying fight. Being able to approach battles by equipping different Vessels to different characters beforehand makes for an interesting rock-paper-scissors combat mechanic.

The longer each battle progresses, the more every character’s special meter grows. Depending on what Vessel is equipped, building this up to 100 percent results in a powerful onslaught that works on individual bosses and large crowds alike to deal some serious damage and inflict. This ability makes Visions of Mana’s more challenging fights, like the side quest mini-bosses, feel more manageable while maintaining its interesting degree of difficulty.

This brief look into what to expect from Visions of Mana paints an image of how exciting it has the potential to be. While it may seem like a scary change, the action-focused combat and the introduction of gameplay elements such as Elemental Vessels might be what the series needs to bring it back into the modern-day limelight.

Here’s an odd one: the developer of Helldivers 2 has warned players against having snowball fights because they’re causing the game to crash.

Some planets in Helldivers 2, such as Heath, have snow, and in this chilly environment players are able to make a snowball and throw it. When players discovered this mechanic they broke out in spontaneous snowball fights. Now, though, snowball fights may put the game itself at risk.

Streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has revealed he has been diagnosed with melanoma, a type of skin cancer.

32-year-old Blevins, who has the most-followed Twitch channel with over 18.8 million followers, revealed the diagnosis in a statement on Twitter / X after a mole removed from his foot was found to be cancerous. Blevins said medical professionals are “optimistic” it was caught in the early stages. “I’m grateful to have hope in finding this early, but please take this as a PSA to get skin checkups,” Blevins added.

Sega has announced sweeping layoffs that affect Sega Europe, Total War maker Creative Assembly, and Sonic Dream Team developer Hardlight.

Sega Europe boss Jurgen Post sent staff an email this morning notifying them of the cuts, as well as the sale of Company of Heroes and Dawn of War developer Relic Entertainment. The layoffs affect approximately 240 roles across Sega Europe, Creative Assembly, and a “small number” at Hardlight. Football Manager developer Sports Interactive and Two Point Hospital developer Two Point Studios, also owned by Sega Europe, were not mentioned.

Sega did not disclose how many staff at each studio were affected, but did issue IGN an additional update on the status of Creative Assembly’s upcoming projects: “Creative Assembly continues to have multiple projects in development with Total War and a new unannounced project.”

Post said the sale of Relic had been agreed and the studio is transitioning to become independently run, which means it is no longer part of Sega. “Sega is working closely with Relic on this shift, and we wish them the best for the future,” Post said.

Relic issued a statement of its own, saying it had become independent with the help of an unnamed external investor. It added that work on updating real-time strategy game Company of Heroes 3 continues, and indeed it will continue to support its games.

Important Update from Relic Entertainment pic.twitter.com/nCcF8olDaC

— Relic Entertainment (@relicgames) March 28, 2024

Post then apologised to staff at Sega Europe, and insisted the cuts were necessary “to secure the future of our games business”.

“Before I go on, I want to sincerely apologise for the worry and understandable distress this news will cause, particularly for those directly affected. These decisions have been incredibly tough to make, and they follow meticulous consideration and deliberation with leadership teams across the business. Change is necessary to secure the future of our games business, and to ensure that we are well placed to deliver the best possible experiences to our players going forward.

“We need to streamline, focus on what we are good at, and position ourselves as best we can for the road ahead. In order to do that, we need to respond to the changing economic landscape and the challenges we’re facing in the way we develop our products and bring them to market.”

Post then apologised to any staff who found out about the layoffs from social networks or the media before Sega itself. “Sega Sammy Holdings made a declaration regarding this news to the Tokyo Stock Exchange moments ago,” Post said. “Due to the nature of this announcement and our legal obligations in Japan, we were unable to share any detail with you until now. That is far from ideal and means some of you may have read about this in the media or via social networks before seeing this email. If that is the case, I’m sorry.

“Again, I want to reiterate that these are not decisions we take lightly. Every affected employee will be treated with respect and compassion, and you have my commitment on the following:

“We will provide support to affected employees where we can, including severance pay, career support and access to independent and internal guidance. We will adhere to the proper regional processes for redundancy. We will communicate individually with everyone affected to offer as much transparency on this process as we can. More details relating to impacted business areas and associated roles will be communicated in due course from within the affected business units.

“I fully appreciate this means we are moving into a very unsettled phase, and I ask that we all look after each other through this difficult time.”

These layoffs are the latest at Sega Europe and across the video game industry in what is one of the toughest times for developers in recent memory. In May 2023, Sega Europe laid off 121 employees from Relic. Then, in September, Sega canceled Hyenas, the multiplayer extraction shooter in development at Creative Assembly, with a source telling IGN the entire development team faced redundancy. Late last year, Total Assembly released Total War: Pharaoh, which has struggled to find an audience. The studio also apologized for various missteps it had made with Total War: Warhammer 3 DLC.

In January of this year, Sega of America laid off 61 staff as it moved to outsource QA and localization, a move which impacted AEGIS-CWA union members. At the time, the union said it was able to negotiate to double the number of saved jobs, and offer severance to temporary workers.

Overnight, AEGIS-CWA announced they had ratified their first contract with Sega, less than a year after their recognition as a legal union. The contract includes a number of worker protections, including raises for all unit members (roughly 150 full-time and temporary employees), Just Cause protections, layoff protections including a recall list and severance, commitment to crediting all workers on games they work on, and a number of other benefits.

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.

Sega Europe has announced sweeping layoffs that affect Total War maker Creative Assembly and Sonic Dream Team developer Hardlight.

Sega Europe boss Jurgen Post sent staff an email this morning notifying them of the cuts, as well as the sale of Company of Heroes and Dawn of War developer Relic Entertainment. The layoffs affect approximately 240 roles across Sega Europe, Creative Assembly, and a “small number” at Hardlight. Football Manager developer Sports Interactive and Two Point Hospital developer Two Point Studios, also owned by Sega Europe, were not mentioned.

Sega did not disclose how many staff at each studio were affected, but did issue IGN an additional update on the status of Creative Assembly’s upcoming projects: “Creative Assembly continues to have multiple projects in development with Total War and a new unannounced project.”

Post said the sale of Relic had been agreed and the studio is transitioning to become independently run, which means it is no longer part of Sega. “Sega is working closely with Relic on this shift, and we wish them the best for the future,” Post said.

Relic issued a statement of its own, saying it had become independent with the help of an unnamed external investor. It added that work on updating real-time strategy game Company of Heroes 3 continues, and indeed it will continue to support its games.

Important Update from Relic Entertainment pic.twitter.com/nCcF8olDaC

— Relic Entertainment (@relicgames) March 28, 2024

Post then apologised to staff at Sega Europe, and insisted the cuts were necessary “to secure the future of our games business”.

“Before I go on, I want to sincerely apologise for the worry and understandable distress this news will cause, particularly for those directly affected. These decisions have been incredibly tough to make, and they follow meticulous consideration and deliberation with leadership teams across the business. Change is necessary to secure the future of our games business, and to ensure that we are well placed to deliver the best possible experiences to our players going forward.

“We need to streamline, focus on what we are good at, and position ourselves as best we can for the road ahead. In order to do that, we need to respond to the changing economic landscape and the challenges we’re facing in the way we develop our products and bring them to market.”

Post then apologised to any staff who found out about the layoffs from social networks or the media before Sega itself. “Sega Sammy Holdings made a declaration regarding this news to the Tokyo Stock Exchange moments ago,” Post said. “Due to the nature of this announcement and our legal obligations in Japan, we were unable to share any detail with you until now. That is far from ideal and means some of you may have read about this in the media or via social networks before seeing this email. If that is the case, I’m sorry.

“Again, I want to reiterate that these are not decisions we take lightly. Every affected employee will be treated with respect and compassion, and you have my commitment on the following:

“We will provide support to affected employees where we can, including severance pay, career support and access to independent and internal guidance. We will adhere to the proper regional processes for redundancy. We will communicate individually with everyone affected to offer as much transparency on this process as we can. More details relating to impacted business areas and associated roles will be communicated in due course from within the affected business units.

“I fully appreciate this means we are moving into a very unsettled phase, and I ask that we all look after each other through this difficult time.”

These layoffs are the latest at Sega Europe and across the video game industry in what is one of the toughest times for developers in recent memory. In May 2023, Sega Europe laid off 121 employees from Relic. Then, in September, Sega canceled Hyenas, the multiplayer extraction shooter in development at Creative Assembly, with a source telling IGN the entire development team faced redundancy. Late last year, Total Assembly released Total War: Pharaoh, which has struggled to find an audience. The studio also apologized for various missteps it had made with Total War: Warhammer 3 DLC.

In January of this year, Sega of America laid off 61 staff as it moved to outsource QA and localization, a move which impacted AEGIS-CWA union members. At the time, the union said it was able to negotiate to double the number of saved jobs, and offer severance to temporary workers.

Overnight, AEGIS-CWA announced they had ratified their first contract with Sega, less than a year after their recognition as a legal union. The contract includes a number of worker protections, including raises for all unit members (roughly 150 full-time and temporary employees), Just Cause protections, layoff protections including a recall list and severance, commitment to crediting all workers on games they work on, and a number of other benefits.

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.

Embracer Group has officially divested Gearbox Entertainment, selling the division to Take-Two Interactive for $460 million.

In a press release, Embracer shared that it is divesting Gearbox Software, Gearbox Montreal, Gearbox Studio Quebec, and the franchises Borderlands, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, Homeworld, Risk of Rain, Brothers in Arms, and Duke Nukem. Embracer will retain rights to Gearbox Publishing San Francisco (formerly Perfect World Entertainment, and which it plans to rename), the publishing rights to Remnant, Hyper Light Breaker, and other unannounced games, Cryptic Studios, Lost Boys Interactive, and Captured Dimensions. All of its retained assets will be integrated into other parts of Embracer Group. The sale is expected to close by the end of June.

Gearbox will join Take-Two’s 2K division and will continue to be led by CEO and founder Randy Pitchford. Currently, Gearbox has both a new Borderlands and a new Homeworld game in development, as well as “at least one exciting new intellectual property,” per a separate press release.

Notably, the full purchase price of $460 million will be paid to Embracer Group in Take-Two shares rather than cash. For comparison, Embracer originally purchased Gearbox for $363 million, half in cash and half in newly-issued Embracer Group shares, with an additional consideration of $1.015 billion (also partially in shares) to be paid out if Gearbox hit certain targets within six years.

Gearbox and Take-Two have had a long-standing relationship, with Take-Two serving as the publisher of the Borderlands franchise via its 2K label. The two also have partnered on an upcoming Borderlands film, as well as Gearbox’s 2016 game Battleborn.

Embracer Group has been gradually shedding a number of its many, many studios after an multi-year acquisition spree fell apart last year. Most recently, it divested Saber Interactive, and has made numerous cuts such as the closure of Saints Row developer Volition, the cancellation of an unannounced Deus Ex game, and the layoffs of over 900 staff, with more expected in the future.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Images of a white Xbox Series X have leaked and it looks to be a disc-less version of the black Xbox Series X.

First published by Exputer, the images show a white Xbox Series X console, with what looks to be the same coating as the white Xbox Series S. The report also stated that it will have a different heatsink, among other upgraded parts. The Verge corroborated that the images look genuine as it has seen documents detailing the specifications of the console.

Additionally, Microsoft insider Brad Sams suggests that the chassis on the white Xbox Series X console is the same as the black Series X, which indicates that the former will not include any bump in specifications. The console is reportedly set to be released in June or July and cost less than the standard black Xbox Series X.

Back in September 2023, court documents leaked with seemingly some of Microsoft’s future plans. The leaks included a mid-generation refresh for both the Series S and X consoles, the former codenamed Ellewood and the later codenamed Brooklin. Both were digital-only consoles as well.

It also provided a timeline, with Ellewood releasing in August 2024 while Brooklin was due for October 2024. If the white Series X presumably releases during the summer, then there’s a chance that Microsoft shifted its mid-generation refresh strategy. Microsoft’s Phil Spencer even said that those plans were outdated.

There are also rumors that Microsoft is currently working on an Xbox handheld, and Microsoft has already confirmed that it will have a next-generation console.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He’s been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.

When not writing about video games, George is playing video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey

If you’re feeling intimidated by the growing complexity of Call of Duty: Warzone and want somewhere to train, you won’t have to suffer on the battlefield anymore. Instead, Warzone is officially introducing the ability to play against bots via a mode called Bootcamp.

An expansion of the Modern Warfare III Training Course that launched in Season 2, Bootcamp is a Quad-only training mode set on Urzikstan that is designed to give players a “snapshot of the real-deal Call of Duty: Warzone experience.” It features up to 20 players via mode-specific matchmaking, and can be accessed either by partying up or via a fill-squad.

Bots are only available in Bootcamp, so their integration is fairly limited, and the new mode also won’t progress the various Daily/Weekly challenges or other in-game quests. Activision said in its announcement that if bots are introduced in any other mode that it it will “ensure the community is informed ahead of time.”

While never really acknowledged by Activision, Warzone is long believed to have had bots in one form or another, usually to fill out games or smooth out the ranked matchmaking. Bots are also a common sight in other shooters like Fortnite.

Elsewhere, Activision has revealed all of the details on Modern Warfare and Warzone Season 3, including the return of Rebirth Island, Warzone Mobile integration, and Snoop Dogg. Season begins April 3 at 9am PT.

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

With few major games on the horizon and the Switch 2 seemingly delayed, Nintendo of America’s testing department is undergoing major changes, according to a new report from Kotaku that includes a statement from Nintendo.

In its statement, Nintendo acknowledged that it is restructuring its internal testing, which will “involve some contractor assignments ending, as well as the creation of a significant number of new full-time employee positions.”

“For all assignments that are ending, the contractors’ agencies, with [Nintendo of America’s] support, will offer severance packages and provide assistance during their transition,” Nintendo said in its statement. “For those contractor associates who will be leaving us, we are tremendously grateful for the important contributions they’ve made to our business, and we extend our heartfelt thanks for their hard work and service to Nintendo.”