Category: IGN

Red Dead Redemption is now playable for “free” (with an active subscription) via Rockstar Games’ GTA+ service on Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5.

The development was first spotted by X/Twitter accounts like @videotechuk_, and was later announced more formally by Rockstar Games. This includes the Undead Nightmare expansion as well. IGN has also verified that the version of Red Dead Redemption on GTA+ on PlayStation 5 includes the toggle for 60 frames-per-second.

Red Dead Redemption and Undead Nightmare have been added to the Games Included With GTA+ library, and are available for GTA+ Members to play on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S with their active Membership: https://t.co/G2BbgZT6yU pic.twitter.com/boFyDXkcj0

— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) March 26, 2024

Last year, Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption Update 1.03 quietly gave players a new 60fps toggle option on PS5 via backward compatibility. Although the news was exciting for PS5 owners, Xbox owners felt like they were left in a lurch because their versions of Red Dead Redemption — while running in 4K resolution — were limited to 30fps.

Unfortunately, Xbox owners still won’t be able to experience a “free” souped-up next-gen upgraded version of Red Dead Redemption with their $5.99 GTA+ subscriptions. Still, it’s a better situation than fans who are on PC, considering GTA+ is only on Xbox Series X/S and Playstation 5 and Red Dead Redemption still doesn’t have a port on PC.

Red Dead Redemption was originally released on Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 in 2004. In our review, we wrote, “Red Dead Redemption is a complete game in every sense — both the single player and multiplayer modes are excellent — and still manages to offer an attention to detail you rarely see from a game of this scope.”

Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.

Today Amazon is offering the recently released Crucial T500 1TB PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe SSD for only $72.99. The Crucial T500 is currently one of the top performing PCIe 4.0 SSDs on the market, and no other SSD that can match its speed is even close to this 1TB price right now. The T500 works equally well as additional storage for your PS5 console or as a blazing fast boot drive for your gaming rig.

1TB Crucial T500 PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 SSD for $72.49

The T500 is Crucial’s newest flagship PCIe 4.0 SSD and replaces the P5 Plus. It has proven to be one of the fastest SSDs on the market with sequential speeds of 7,300/6,800MB/s and random speeds of 1.15M/1.44M IOPs. There are only a few SSDs out right now that can match its speed, like the WD Black SN850X, the Samsung 990 Pro, and the SK Hynix P41 Platinum. The T500 utilizes a Phison E25 controller with 232-layer Micron TLC NAND flash memory. It’s backed by a 5 year warranty.

The Crucial T500 also makes for an excellent PS5 SSD.It fulfills all of Sony’s requirements, like a minimum read speed of 5,500MB/s and a PCI-Express Gen4x4 interface. The only caveat is that it doesn’t include a built-in heatsink. That is easily remedied by picking up a inexpensive PS5 heatsink off Amazon.

If you’re looking for more SSD storage upgrade options for your PS5 console, check out our best PS5 SSD deals of 2023. There are even less expensive options if you’re not married to any brand.

Diablo 4 hits Game Pass this week as the first Blizzard game on Microsoft’s subscription service since the $69 billion buyout of Activision Blizzard. However, there are a few hoops you need to jump through if you want to get stuck in on PC.

After Diablo 4 goes into Game Pass on March 28, it will be available as part of the PC Game Pass subscription. As outlined by Megan Spurr, Community Lead, Xbox Game Pass, in a post on Xbox.com, here’s how PC players can install Diablo 4 via Game Pass:

• Open the Xbox App on PC and make sure you are signed in with your Microsoft account tied to your Game Pass membership. Then click on Diablo 4 and then the Install button.
• Click “Install Battle.net” when prompted and complete the installation. (If you already have Battle.net installed, you’ll skip to the next step automatically)
• You’ll be prompted to connect your Battle.net account to your Microsoft account. If you already have a Battle.net account you can log in to complete the connection, or from here you can create a Battle.net account to make the connection.
• Once you have downloaded Battle.net and connected your accounts, you can complete the installation of Diablo 4!

Based on these instructions, installing Diablo 4 via Game Pass is not as seamless a process as PC subscribers had hoped for when Microsoft announced Blizzard games would hit the subscription service. Microsoft will no-doubt be hoping for less friction when other Blizzard games inevitably hit Game Pass in the future, but for now, players are essentially playing through Battle.net under the guise of Game Pass.

PC Game Pass subscribers have also expressed the lack of achievements with Diablo 4. Battle.net has an achievements system of its own, but some had hoped that playing the action role-playing game through PC Game Pass would incorporate the achievements the Xbox version already has.

If you’re planning to play Diablo 4 via Game Pass, check out IGN’s comprehensive Diablo 4 guide hub for everything you need to know.

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.

Ever since 2024 has rolled around, we have yet to see an outstanding deal on a WD Black solid state drive. Well, that streak is finally over. Walmart is offering the generously sized 4TB WD Black SN850X PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe SSD for only $249.99. The SN850X works equally well as additional storage for your PS5 console or as a blazing fast boot drive for your gaming rig. We picked the SN850P (which is identical to the SN850X) as the best high-capacity M.2 SSD for 2024.

4TB WD Black SN850X PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 SSD for $249.99

The SN850X is the latest generation of WD’s flagship Black series M.2 SSDs. It’s easily one of the fastest SSDs on the market and any other 4TB SSD with comparable speed would run you well over $300. There are only a few SSDs out right now that can match its speed. Off the top of my head, the only SSDs I can think of are the new Samsung 990 Pro and the SK Hynix P41 Platinum.

The SN850X’s upgrades over the SN850 include newer flash chips (BiCS5 vs BiCS4) and an updated firmware, both of which offer improved sequential and random read/write speeds. What this all means is that the SN850X will perform exceedingly well as a boot drive for a gaming PC. For PC gamers, there’s also an updated Game Mode 2.0 utility that’s designed to tune the SSD for better performance during gaming sessions. The 4TB capacity means you won’t have to worry as much about overfilling your drive full of games and apps. With that much storage you might not even need another drive.

The SN850X also makes for an excellent PS5 SSD. It is identical to the SN850P, which is the only officially licensed PS5 SSD on the market. It fulfills almost all of Sony’s requirements, like a minimum read speed of 5,500MB/s and a PCI-Express Gen4x4 interface. The only caveat is that this particular model doesn’t include a built-in heatsink. That is easily remedied by picking up a inexpensive PS5 heatsink off Amazon.

If you’re looking for more SSD storage upgrade options for your PS5 console, check out our best PS5 SSD deals of 2023. There are even less expensive options if you’re not married to any brand.

A viral Helldivers 2 gameplay clip seemingly showing Game Master Joel dropping into a random group’s game, spawning the unreleased APC vehicle, then leaving, set the cat among the pigeons within the shooter’s community this week. Was Joel, dubbed the Dungeon Master of Helldivers 2, really bestowing such gifts upon players of the game? Turns out, no, he wasn’t.

“Joel: Please take this”

WHAT?!!#Helldivers2 #HelldiversII pic.twitter.com/zoOSpd1I57

— Helldivers 2 Media (@Helldiversmedia) March 24, 2024

According to RPS, a source familiar with Joel’s goings on confirmed the player posing as ‘[AH] Joel’ in-game is in fact an imposter. So what’s going on? As IGN has reported, Helldivers 2 has seen a glut of gameplay leaks showing off officially unavailable stratagems, vehicles, and weapons (we saw a lot of the mech before it was officially released). They’re undoubtedly called in by players who are working around Helldivers 2’s anti-cheat to unlock the use of some of these normally unavailable features in live lobbies. Apparently unavailable stratagems such as unreleased vehicles are already in the game itself, but not officially enabled. Knowing this, some players are going into the files of the game to unlock their use in any lobby.

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has yet to directly respond to these allegations, but according to RPS, the real Joel doesn’t sound too bothered. According to the site: “Real Joel is, however, seemingly glad that the impersonator wanted ‘other people to have fun’ as it’s a goal that they ‘both share’.”

It looks increasingly likely that Helldivers 2 will get these so far unannounced vehicles at some point, which means players will be able to get around the map a lot faster. Players also expect a third faction, after hints from Arrowhead suggested a new arrival.

If you’re looking for more on Helldivers 2, check out IGN’s feature on the Let Me Solo Her of Helldivers 2, a player who has answered over 100 SOS Beacons as part of a mission to help others. Helldivers 2 has become one of the surprise hits of 2024 since launching in February, topping the charts on Steam and reportedly selling around three million copies. According to at least one analyst, it’s still growing. Check out IGN’s Helldivers 2 review to find out why it’s going down so well.

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.

Sony has announced plans to release Community Game Help on PlayStation 5 later this year.

Community Game Help is described as a new “enhancement” for Game Help, “powered” by user-generated content.

Here’s how it works: in supported games, PS5 players will be able to contribute their gameplay, view hints from fellow gamers, or access Game Help hints created by developers. Game developers can also continue to create their own hint videos.

Players can currently press the PS button to open the Control Center and look for an Action Card with the “Hints inside” icon. Eventually, players will also see hints labeled “Community Game Help”, which indicates the clip was generated from other players’ gameplay footage. You can also rate the usefulness of these hints, which Sony said will let it curate informative help content for players.

In a PlayStation Blog post, Sabrina Meditz, senior director, product management, Platform Experience at Sony Interactive Entertainment, said Community Game Help will add to the current Game Help experience “by expanding the library of helpful game hints, incorporating videos that are automatically generated from gameplay footage of players who have opted in to contribute”.

“We hope to see many players participate in Community Game Help and share their amazing gameplay feats!”

Community Game Help will be available to all PS5 players, with or without a PlayStation Plus subscription, Sony added. You can opt in to contribute to Community Game Help from the Settings menu. You can also opt out at any time, which will remove all your published videos. Expect to see these settings in the next few months, Sony said.

Once you turn on the settings, your PS5 will automatically capture a video when you complete a certain activity in a game, Sony explained. Then, it will be reviewed by a moderator, and if approved, your video will be published as a Game Help hint for PlayStation players to watch and rate. Sony said your videos will be removed from the PS5 console once they are uploaded to its servers, so will not impact console storage. When your video is published, you will receive a system notification on your PS5 console.

This process will be done automatically, so you don’t need to edit or upload your clips for submission, Sony stressed. Only your raw game footage will be uploaded, so images and audio from your webcam, microphone, or party chat audio will not be shared with the moderator or the community. Depending on the game you’re playing, your video may include online IDs or chat messages that are shown on your game screen.

Community Game Help will start to become available in select games later this year, Sony said. The goal is to expand it to as many titles as possible in the future.

PS5 launched in November 2020 with the Game Help feature, which lets players access hints, tips, and walkthrough videos without having to leave the game. But it relies upon developers making the Game Help content. With Community Game Help, Sony is getting PS5 players to do the heavy lifting.

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.

Activision has threatened to ban any Call of Duty Warzone player who uses so-called ‘boosting services’ to inflate their Skill Rating (SR).

Recent weeks have seen an uptick in reports of ‘bot lobbies’, or boosting lobbies. Boosting services, which have been a problem for competitive multiplayer games for years, create boosting lobbies in which cheaters can make significant gains in their skill rating and boost up the ranks.

This problem has hit Warzone hard recently, with some saying the top of the leaderboards are filled with cheaters who used boosting lobbies to achieve their rank.

There is a Chinese boosting service offering Resurgence Ranked bot lobbies. https://t.co/0SKDgCWekp pic.twitter.com/yeUXULUP29

— OMiT Brax (@Braxtvnn) March 25, 2024

Now, Activision has responded, issuing a statement that revealed its TeamRicochet had issued multiple ban waves that resulted in 29,000 recent bans. Then came a stark warning to those using boosting lobbies: “Artificially inflating SR won’t be permitted. Accounts engaging in this behavior will be banned.”

Activision also vowed to take down the people who provide boosting lobbies: “We will consider all available technical and legal options for shutting these illicit services down.”

Activision recently launched Call of Duty Warzone Mobile, which includes cross-progression with Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone on console and PC, but not cross-play. Season 3 launches alongside Rebirth Island on April 3.

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.

Gameloft has announced Asphalt Legends Unite, an expansion to 2018’s Asphalt 9: Legends that marks the arcade racing game series’ debut on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.

Asphalt Legends Unite, out July 17, 2024, is an expansion for Asphalt 9: Legends, which is already available on the App Store, Google Play, Microsoft Store, Steam, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. Its launch on PS4 and PS5 alongside a unified cross-platform experience, an upgraded graphic engine, a “modernized” art direction “tailored” for console players, a reimagined garage that carries over game progress and previously unlocked vehicles, and a redesigned user interface. Social features and customization options are currently in the works, Gameloft said.

“We are committed to expanding the game to deliver the definitive Asphalt experience,” commented game manager Ignacio Marin. “Today, we take the first step towards a new era for the Asphalt series, and we will soon offer players a glimpse at its future via the release of a roadmap. Dropping the number in the title is our statement: this is Asphalt, uniting all our players, now and for the future.”

It’s a busy time for Gameloft, which developed and released Disney Dreamlight Valley, and is also now working on a Dungeons & Dragons survival role-playing game life sim.

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.

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has released a new patch for the game that makes arc weapons and stratagems safe to use again.

Last week, Arrowhead told players not to use the Arc Thrower, Arc Shotgun, and Tesla Tower because they caused game crashes. At the time, the developer promised a patch addressing this would be released early this week, and now it’s out.

In releasing patch 1.000.104, Arrowhead issued an updated list of known issues it’s working to address. The list includes various issues involving friend invites and cross-play, and a problem with Hellpod steering, which is currently disabled in a large area around large or important objects.

If you’re looking for more on Helldivers 2, check out IGN’s feature on the Let Me Solo Her of Helldivers 2, a player who has answered over 100 SOS Beacons as part of a mission to help others. Helldivers 2 has become one of the surprise hits of 2024 since launching in February, topping the charts on Steam and reportedly selling around three million copies. According to at least one analyst, it’s still growing. Check out IGN’s Helldivers 2 review to find out why it’s going down so well.

Helldivers 2 update 1.000.104 patch notes:

Fixes

Game no longer freezes when firing arcs from the following

• Arc Thrower
• Arc Shotgun
• Tesla Tower

Known Issues

These are issues that were either introduced by this patch and are being worked on, or are from a previous version and have not yet been fixed.

• Various issues involving friend invites and cross-play:

🔹 Cross-platform friend invites might not show up in the Friend Requests tab.

🔹 Players cannot unfriend other players befriended via friend code.

🔹 Players cannot unblock players that were not in their Friends list beforehand.

🔹 Players cannot befriend players with Steam names shorter than 3 characters.

• Hellpod steering close to large or important objects is currently not functioning as intended, resulting in steering being disabled in a large area around the object.
• Online features are not functioning when console language is set to Ukrainian.
• Players may be unable to select loadout when joining a multiplayer via an activity card.
• Planet liberation reaches 100% at the end of every Defend mission.
• Drowning in deep water with a Vitality Booster equipped puts Helldiver in a broken state.
• Exosuits will sometimes be delivered in a damaged or broken state.
• Stratagem beam might attach itself to an enemy but it will deploy to its original location.
• Pink artifacts may appear in the sky when setting off large explosions.
• Text chat box display is obstructed by the cinematic letterboxing during extraction.
• Sometimes the player’s loadout customizations will reset after restarting the game.

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.

It’s easy to roll your eyes and say that MMORPGs are dead if you, ya know, don’t play MMORPGs. But 20-year-old World of Warcraft still seems to have plenty of spring in its step, according to Warcraft general manager John Hight. Its latest expansion, Dragonflight, has more subscribers now than it did at launch, and one intrepid content creator thinks they may have extrapolated roughly how many: over 7 million.

Speaking at the Game Developers Conference, Hight explained that World of Warcaft historically has a very predictable pattern of subscriber churn. When an expansion comes out, there’s a surge in subscribers that slowly declines over the course of an expansion, with small bumps at each new patch. It hits a low point at the end of each expansion, then surges again when a new one is released. World of Warcraft: Classic disrupted the pattern somewhat by creating another series of peaks connected with its own releases. Hight described it as a “constant inflow and outflow” with “almost as many new players coming in as other players going out.”