Today Amazon is offering the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7P wireless gaming headset for only $127.99. That’s a nearly 30% discount and the best price we’ve seen for the Arctis Nova 7 series headset so far this year. We deemed the Arctis Nova 7P as the best wireless PS5 gaming headset of 2024.
A quick note on compatibility. The Nova 7P is compatible with the PS5, PS4, and PC consoles. You will need to the the Nova 7X model for the Xbox console, although unfortunately it’s not on sale right now.
SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7P Gaming Headset for $127.99
The SteelSeries Arcis Nova 7P is the latest successor to the highly rated Arctis 7 series of headsets. It’s every bit as good as its predecessor but with some welcome upgrades like a USB Type-C charging port, a longer battery life (38 hours vs 30 hours), simultaneous wireless and Bluetooth connectivity, and multi-platform compatibility. PC gamers also have access to the SteelSeries GG app, which opens up a whole suite of customization for your audio. You can tailor your audio settings independently for each game. If that’s too much for you, there are presets for specific games that are actually tailor-made by the game developers.
Other than that, the Nova Arctis is largely similar to the original Arctis. That’s not a bad thing because the Arctis 7 happens to be Steelseries’ most successful gaming headset ever. This headset has significantly better build quality over the official $100 Xbox wireless headset. If you want an even better wireless headset, in our opinion you’d have to step all the way up to something like the Nova 7 Pro, whose $350 price point puts you in a completely different bracket altogether.
SSD prices are trending upwards for 2024, but there are still some excellent deals to be found if you’re vigilant. For a limited time, Amazon is current offering this PS5 compatible HP FX900 Pro 2TB PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 solid state drive (SSD) for only $107.99. For the even more space hungry, the 4TB is also on sale for $224.99. You’ll need to supply your own heatsink, but you can easily get a PS5 heatsink for under $10. All of the other best PS5 SSDs cost $40 or more.
HP FX900 Pro 2TB SSD (PS5-Compatible) for $107.99
4TB for $224.99
The HP FX900 Pro meets all the requirements for your PS5 SSD upgrade. This is a PCIe Gen4 x4 SSD with an M.2 2280 form factor and transfer speeds of up to 7,400MB/s read and 6,800MB/s write which is well above the 5,500MB/s minimum threshold. It also makes an excellent boot drive for your gaming PC, especially with its 2TB storage capacity. If you go with the 4TB version, you might not even need a second drive.
The PS5 is an outstanding gaming console, but the 1TB SSD is a real bottleneck. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, for example, can exceed 200GB alone. NBA 2K23 weighs in at 150GB and even older games like God of War: Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West require 90GB of space. Future games like Grand Theft Auto VI will undoubtedly demand even more space. The advantage of a PS5 console over the Xbox Series X is that the SSD slot is not proprietary; you can install most third party PCIe Gen4 x4 SSDs as long as they are fast enough. Slower drives WILL work, but they may bottleneck the original SSD.
At GDC 2024, Epic held its State of Unreal event, unveiling the latest news and developments coming to Unreal Engine — specifically Unreal Engine 5 and Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN).
If you missed the event, here’s a quick rundown of everything announced during the 2024 State of Unreal presentation.
Amy Hennig Reveals Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra at State of Unreal
In an unexpected yet pleasant surprise, Amy Henig and Skydance Media started the show by unveiling Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, one of two projects Hennig has spearheaded since joining the studio.
Alongside a proper reveal of the game, we also learned that it would use Epic’s tech, most notably MetaHuman Animator, to provide more photorealistic facial animations. Last year, it was revealed that Ninja Theory was using this same technology in its upcoming game Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga.
Epic is Integrating MetaHuman to UEFN
As we previously mentioned, MetaHuman Animator is one of the tools part of MetaHuman, and Epic announced today that both MetaHuman Animator and MetaHuman Creator are coming to UEFN. Epic says integration will debut “at the end of April.”
With MetaHuman, UEFN creators can craft both photorealistic fictional characters and provide photorealistic facial animations using captured footage they obtained from an iPhone or a head-mounted camera.
Epic Will Launch a Fortnite Season Developed on UEFN Next Year
As part of its UEFN roadmap, Epic Games revealed that “by the end of 2025,” it will ship the first season of its widely popular free-to-play Battle Royale, made entirely using the level editor.
Beyond that surprise, Epic went into more detail about the UEFN roadmap and the new creator tools it will add this year. This includes confirmation that the highly-requested first-person camera setting will arrive in UEFN sometime this year.
Fortnite Creators Will Get Access to Elements From Rocket Racing, Fall Guys, and LEGO Assets
Epic continues expanding on the Fortnite creator economy by introducing new creative devices and race track templates. Specifically, the publisher revealed that Fortnite creators would be able to leverage elements from Rocket Racing, Fall Guys, and LEGO, allowing creators more ways to express their creativity while building unique experiences all within Fortnite.
Fortnite’s creator economy has continued to go strong since both it and UEFN launched roughly a year ago. Epic revealed that since then, it has paid more than $320 million to creators in the first year of engagement payouts and that creators have published over 80,000 UEFN islands.
Some New Details on Epic Games Store Mobile Version
We already knew that Epic Games was planning to release its digital storefront on mobile devices via the iOS App Store and Android’s Google Play later this year, thanks to the new EU legislation, the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Epic took time during today’s State of Unreal to share its plans. It touts that the Epic Games Store (EGS) will become the “first-ever game-focused, multi-platform store” that will work across Android, iOS, PC, and macOS. Epic further revealed that mobile developers would benefit “from the same fair terms” found on EGS with an 88/12 revenue share, in addition to other programs that allow you to keep 100% of the revenue earned from using your own payments for in-app purchases.
Dune: Awakening Gets a Deep Dive at the State of Unreal
Skydance Media was not the only game developer to attend the State of Unreal. Funcom also appeared to dive deeper into its upcoming open-world game Dune: Awakening.
It was previously revealed that Dune: Awakening was powered by Unreal Engine 5, but Funcom also elaborated further on how the Dune IP was leveraging Epic’s technologies. This includes Funcom sharing how Dune: Part 2 cinematographer Greig Fraser used Unreal Engine for planning and pre-production purposes for the film.
Unreal Engine 5.4’s Full Release Is Coming Next Month
Epic told IGN ahead of the presentation that while it has some ideas for Unreal Engine 6, we should not expect the next major iteration of its game engine anytime soon.
With that in mind, State of Unreal provided the latest update for the already impressive Unreal Engine 5, revealing that version 5.4 Preview 1 is launching today with a full release slated for “late April.”
Most notably, Epic says that “animation takes big strides forward,” thanks to Unreal Engine 5.4, confirming that it features Motion Matching, a streamlining but highly effective way for developers to animate characters. Epic revealed that Motion Matching has already been on full display via Fortnite, which has used It since Chapter 5 was released.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
We already knew that Amy Hennig, the award-winning writer and director behind games such as Jak 3 and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, was working on a narrative-driven Marvel game focused on Captain America and Black Panther. And today, we finally learned some new details, including its official title:Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra. It’ll arrive sometime in 2025.
The reveal was made at Epic’s State of Unreal 20024 showcase, where we saw a cinematic trailer featuring Captain America and Black Panther in 1940s Europe. We also learned that the game will not only be powered by Unreal Engine 5, but it will include MetaHuman Animator, the same facial animation tool that Ninja Theory will be using for its upcoming project Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga. MetaHuman Animator will allow any developer taking advantage of the tech to use an iPhone or stereo helmet-mounted camera to “reproduce any facial performance as high-fidelity animation” on its characters, providing more realistic facial animations.
We previously learned when the game was announced in late 2021 that Hennig would make an “original story” set in the Marvel universe. A year after its initial tease, a Disney and Marvel games showcase revealed that Hennig’s project would be set in WWII and would have an ensemble cast with four playable characters, including Steve Rogers / Captain America and Azzuri / Black Panther. We learned that this project would not feature co-op despite the four playable characters.
This is one of two projects that Hennig is spearheading, with the second being an untitled Star Wars project. While little is known about the game following its announcement nearly two years ago, last June, we learned that Dominic Robilliard, who was the director of the canceled project Star Wars 1313, was hired by Skydance Media to work on this new game.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
The Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater remake, officially titled Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater (the Δ is pronounced ‘delta’), is set to bring “unprecedented new graphics” to Hideo Kojima’s 2004 sequel. The main menu screen, below, doesn’t reveal much, save a look at Snake Eater’s famous jungle environment. We also hear the classic Metal Gear Solid gun sound with a press of the start button.
Please don’t tell anyone…
(But I played the opening of #MGSDelta up to the bridge scene the other day.)
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 hugely popular Call of Duty YouTuber has said their seven-year-old video featuring Pokémon modded into COD Zombies was hauled offline after The Pokémon Company issued a removal request.
NoahJ456, who has 5.21 million subscribers on YouTube, tweeted a warning to other content creators, advising that if their videos feature any sort of modded Pokémon content, “I would delete/unlist it ASAP.”
Tweeting a picture of the notice from YouTube, NoahJ456 said: “Just got a manual strike for a video I made seven years ago featuring Pokémon modded into COD Zombies. Two more strikes and my channel gets deleted.”
WARNING TO ALL CONTENT CREATORS!
If your videos feature any sort of modded Pokemon content, I would delete/unlist it ASAP.
Just got a manual strike for a video I made 7 years ago featuring Pokemon modded into COD Zombies.
Replying to a user, NoahJ456 added: “They are technically within their rights to take this down, so unless they have a change of heart (lol) the strike will stay.”
It looks like The Pokémon Company is taking a renewed interest in content that shows Pokémon modded into other games after a modder showcased Pokémon in Palworld, the smash hit survival game dubbed ‘Pokémon with guns.’ Palworld features monsters called Pals, which some people have said “rip off” Pokémon. Indeed, the modder who put Pokémon into Palworld claimed “Nintendo has come for me” after a takedown of a tweet.
That creator, called Toasted Shoes, tweeted to say they felt responsible for the removal of NoahJ456’s video. “After the heat of Nintendo taking down my Palworld video I did a COD Zombies Pokemon video,” Toasted said. “My mindset was they wouldn’t take my video down since Noah and many others had made content on it in the past few years. However they still took action.
“I didn’t think they’d go scorched earth and I certainly didn’t think it would lead to a chain reaction of them punishing @NoahJ456 and every other creator. I am truly sorry that me being reckless may have played some part.
“Crazy that it took a month to go after everyone else but it seems they now have their sights set on other creators.”
IGN has asked The Pokémon Company for comment.
Last week, a former chief legal officer of The Pokémon Company shared a rare insight into its thinking behind fan project takedowns. Speaking to Aftermath, Don McGowan made clear that, at least during his time, The Pokémon Company didn’t actively seek out fan projects to shut down but only did so when they crossed a certain line.
“You don’t send a takedown right away,” McGowan said. “You wait to see if they get funded, for a Kickstarter or similar. If they get funded then that’s when you engage. No one likes suing fans.”
McGowan said he and the legal team at The Pokémon Company would typically only come across a project that used its copyright once it was raised in the press. “I would be sitting in my office minding my own business when someone from the company would send me a link to a news article, or I would stumble across it myself,” he said.
Despite this attitude, there are multiple examples of Pokémon fan projects that were issued a takedown notice, hauling them offline. In 2018, a popular fan-made creation tool players used to build their own Pokémon games bit the dust. In 2021, support for a Pokémon fan project called Pokémon Uranium ceased after nine years of development. And in 2022, The Pokémon Company removed almost all videos of a fan-made Pokémon hunting FPS that went viral on YouTube and social media.
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.
This week, the PS5 Pro specs leak, also verified by IGN, revealed the power of the console Sony reportedly plans to release during the fourth quarter of 2024.
The PS5 Pro CPU is said to be identical to the standard PS5’s CPU but with a ‘High CPU Frequency Mode’, which amounts to a 10% increase to 3.85GHz. The GPU enables faster rendering and higher quality ray tracing powered by 33.5 teraflops. The standard PS5 offers 10.28 teraflops. However, a direct PS5 to PS5 Pro comparison would work out at around 10.28 vs 16 to 17 teraflops.
The release of the PS5 Pro is thought to be particularly enticing in the context of the 2025 release of GTA 6, which is set to boost the video game market beyond developer Rockstar Games and parent company Take-Two.
But according to Digital Foundry founder Rich Leadbetter, speaking in the latest episode of DF Direct, the PS5 Pro’s CPU means GTA 6 will probably run at 30fps, assuming GTA 6 runs at 30fps on the standard PS5. Given no GTA game has launched with a 60fps option, this one seems nailed on.
According to Leadbetter, if GTA 6 runs at 30fps on PS5, it’ll run at 30fps on PS5 Pro barring some kind of programming miracle, because the CPU handles simulation, and the PS5 Pro’s CPU only increases performance by 10%. In the unlikely event GTA 6 has a 60fps mode on PS5, it’ll run at 60fps on PS5 Pro.
While the PS5 Pro’s CPU looks like a modest improvement, the PS5 Pro is much better than the PS5 at rendering, according to Digital Foundry. PS5 Pro, Digital Foundry predicts, is capable of upscaling 1080p older PS5 games to 4K via its upscaling/antialiasing solution PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution Upscaling), if the developer chooses to support the tech with a patch.
Digital Foundry says PS5 Pro will retain the same 16GB of GDDR6 memory as the standard PS5, but has an extra 1.2GB of system RAM for developers.
Last month, analysts signaled that Sony is “likely” to release the PS5 Pro later in 2024. Sony has form when it comes to releasing a Pro version of its consoles. The PS4 Pro, for example, launched in November 2016, three years after the PS4 came out. A PS5 Pro launch this November would come four years after the PS5 launched in November 2020.
Sony has revised its PS5 sales forecast for the current financial year, down from its lofty target of 25 million consoles sold to 21 million. This comes despite a year-on-year increase in PS5 sales for the holiday 2023 quarter, from 7.1 million sold to 8.2 million.
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.
Rockstar has issued a surprise title update for Red Dead Redemption 2 — its first for nearly two years — which makes a number of improvements and fixes for the game, but it does not add the update the community desperately wants.
Red Dead Redemption 2 Title Update 1.32, out now for the game across PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, includes improvements for FSR (now updated to FSR 2.2), support for HDR10, and a fix for an infamous Red Dead Online glitch that caused the game to freeze when entering stables.
However, the title update does not add 60 frames per second to Red Dead Redemption 2 on consoles, perhaps the most-wanted update in all of video games.
In September, the explosive FTC vs Xbox leak sent shockwaves throughout the Red Dead Redemption community after a Red Dead Redemption 2 next-gen update was found listed by a Microsoft executive in a planning email.
In an email chain between Microsoft executives dated May 2022 is a list of third-party games earmarked as potential day-and-date Game Pass titles. One of the games mentioned is Red Dead Redemption 2 “D&D for gen9”, which Microsoft expected to come out during the second quarter of its 2023 financial year (October to December 2022).
“Gen9” refers to the ninth generation of consoles, aka the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. Rockstar has yet to announce a next-gen update for Red Dead Redemption 2, despite the many calls from fans.
Then, in October, Rockstar quietly patched its Red Dead Redemption port to add a 60 frames per second toggle to the game on PlayStation 5 via backwards compatibility, which made Rockstar’s 2010 open-world western was officially playable at 60fps for the first time.
Red Dead Redemption 2 launched in 2018 on PS4 and Xbox One and in 2019 on PC, and is considered by some to be Rockstar’s greatest game. Fans have criticized Rockstar for a lack of meaningful updates in favor of support for GTA Online, but Red Dead Redemption 2 remains hugely popular, selling over 61 million copies to date.
Red Dead Redemption 2 Title Update 1.32 patch notes:
General Stability Fixes and Improvements
Red Dead Online General Fixes
Fixed an issue that resulted in Naturalist samples not being counted toward Daily Challenges
Fixed an issue in Dead of Night that resulted in Night Stalkers being able to collect the Night Stalker mask
Fixed an issue that resulted in ambient vehicles not appearing in certain content
Fixed an issue that resulted in Free Roam Missions not launching
Improved an issue that resulted in players becoming stuck when entering the stables
Improved an issue that resulted in players being unable to summon horses and wagons
Voice Chat now defaults to Off
Game Stability and Performance
Fixed various issues that could result in a crash
Game Stability and Performance (PC)
Fixed various issues that would result in the game crashing or failing to launch
Fixed an issue that resulted in Offline Mode not working due to Windows 11 updates
Fixed an issue that resulted in crashes after reporting other players
Fixed issues that resulted in Offline Mode not working correctly
Added support for HDR10+ GAMING, this will automatically set game graphics in HDR for HDR10+ GAMING displays on compatible graphics cards and monitors connected via HDMI
Updated AMD Fidelity Super Resolution (FSR) libraries to version 2.2
Fixed an issue that resulted in 3200×2400 resolution being unavailable
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.
Far Cry really has done it all: a two-decade-long span of sequels set across the world, a wide range of spin-offs, and a movie adaptation. The franchise even dove into the realm of anime last year, with Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix bringing the neon-tinged, tongue-in-cheek world of Far Cry: Blood Dragon to Netflix. As shown in the trailer video above, we can now celebrate 20 years of Far Cry, revisiting the journey from Far Cry 1 in 2004 to Far Cry 6 in 2021.
The Far Cry series has become a fixture of Ubisoft’s lineup, quickly accumulating a long lineage of games for players to dig through. Below, we’ll carve through this lengthy history, listing every game in release order and offering newcomers a recommendation of the best place to start.
How Many Far Cry Games Are There?
Excluding remasters and ports, there are 13 Far Cry games – 12 on home console/PC and one on mobile devices. Far Cry VR: Dive Into Insanity is also excluded given its lack of accessibility — it cannot be played at home, only at Zero Latency VR locations.
Where’s the Best Place to Start?
Thanks to plenty of ports on modern consoles, Far Cry is a series with a ton of viable jumping-off points. Far Cry 3, 4, 5 and 6 can all be purchased on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, and considering each of these games are very similar in mechanics and design, they should give you a good taste of Far Cry’s approach to open-world gameplay.
That being said, Far Cry 3 and 4 are largely considered the strongest of the bunch and are great entry points for those looking to sink their teeth into the series. Either option will provide a glimpse of Far Cry at its best.
Every Far Cry Game in Release Order
These blurbs contain mild spoilers for each game, including characters, settings, and story beats.
1. Far Cry (2004)
The birth of the series, and the only entry developed by Crytek,Far Cry hit PC in 2004 and later made its way to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Slotting players into the boots of former special forces operative Jack Carver, Far Cry takes place on a group of remote tropical islands swarming with trigger-happy mercenaries.
Trapped on the sunny locale’s shores after his boat is met with artillery strikes, Jack is forced to face his pursuers and embark on an adventure across the danger-filled archipelago, searching for a journalist he was escorting who mysteriously disappeared. Much like later games in the series, Far Cry focused largely on tense gun fights, stealth, and using open-ended environments to get the drop on enemies.
2. Far Cry: Instincts (2005)
In 2005, Ubisoft Montreal took over development duties on Far Cry, releasing a remake of the original game titledFar Cry: Instincts. It was exclusive to Xbox and followed the same story as the original, albeit with a fresh coat of paint and a handful of new mechanics.
Included was a trap system, which allowed players to booby trap objects to catch enemies by surprise, as well as new Feral Abilities, which gave Jack thermal vision, a powerful melee attack, increased running speed, and several other game-changing perks.
3. Far Cry Instincts: Evolution (2006)
A year later, Ubisoft released the first Far Cry sequel,Far Cry Instincts: Evolution. A direct follow-up to the story of Far Cry: Instincts, Evolution resumes the story of Jack Carver, who finds himself once again stranded on a tropical island after an arms deal gone wrong.
Framed for a murder he didn’t commit, Jack finds himself on a mission to clear his name, going up against a mysterious native chieftain and his band of fierce rebels. Alongside its fresh campaign, Evolution added additional weapons and vehicles, as well as a new slate of multiplayer maps and level-editor items.
4. Far Cry Vengeance (2006)
In December 2006, Ubisoft released its first Far Cry game on the Wii. TitledFar Cry Vengeance, it was something of a reimagining of Far Cry Instincts: Evolution, telling a similar but slightly altered story in which protagonist Jack Carver is arrested before he can make his way to the aforementioned arms deal.
The biggest difference, however, isFar Cry Vengeance offered a full suite of motion controls. Using the Wiimote, players could aim guns and perform melee attacks. The game also featured a split-screen versus mode, although Evolution’s online multiplayer and level editor didn’t make the cut.
5. Far Cry 2
Two years later, Ubisoft Montreal shifted the Far Cry series away from its supernatural origins, opting for a grittier, more grounded Far Cry 2. The sequel took the franchise to an unspecified country in Africa, casting players as a gun-for-hire sent to find and kill an arms dealer known as the Jackal.
Arriving during an ongoing civil war, the protagonist quickly realizes catching the Jackal will require playing both sides of the conflict, prompting them to exploit the power struggle to close in on their target. Far Cry 2 was a major change of pace for the franchise, focusing on brutal combat and tough moral choices within a fully open world. Among the new mechanics was a buddy system, where players could team with AI companions who would assist them on missions.
6. Far Cry 2 Mobile (2008)
A tie-in to the console release of the sequel, developer Gameloft released a mobile adaptation of Far Cry 2 in the months following the base game’s launch. It was a loose retelling of the events reframed as a top-down, 2D shooter.
Much like the original game, players arrive in Africa to take down the Jackal, going on missions and teaming with AI partners. Due to technical restraints, the mobile port of Far Cry 2 doesn’t feature an open world, focusing on linear levels and hubs you can explore between contracts.
7. Far Cry 3 (2012)
Four years after Far Cry 2, Ubisoft returned for the franchise’s most defining entry to date: Far Cry 3. Following new protagonist Jason Brody, the game begins with a holiday from hell, as Jason and his group of friends’ skydiving trip lands them on a remote island occupied by an army of pirates.
Kidnapped by their leader, the eccentric but ruthless Vaas (played by Better Call Saul’s Michael Mando), Jason manages to escape and join up with a local rebel militia opposing Vaas and his men. With his friends still captured, Jason begins an adventure to find them and escape the island in one piece, all the while being relentlessly pursued by Vaas.
Far Cry 3 was, in a lot of ways, a turning point for the franchise, introducing several elements that went on to become staples of the series. From radio towers that reveal the map and enemy outposts the player can liberate, to the introduction of a sinister lead villain that lives to chew the scenery, Far Cry 3 was the foundation of the Far Cry formula as we know it today.
8. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (2013)
A year on from the release of Far Cry 3, Ubisoft launched a standalone spin-off titledBlood Dragon. Taking the series in a new, neon-infused direction, Blood Dragon was a tongue-in-cheek parody of cheesy ‘80s sci-fi action flicks, casting players as a one-liner spitting cyborg badass known as Sergeant Rex Colt.
Sent on a revenge mission to kill his former commander, Colonel Sloan, the game drops Colt into an open-world dystopian future, where he uses his arsenal of futuristic weaponry to carve a war path through cyborgs, robot sharks, and dragons that can shoot lasers from their eyes. Blood Dragon was the first of several Far Cry spin-offs which took the series to imaginative new settings. It even went on to inspire an anime series called Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix.
9. Far Cry 4 (2014)
A year after Blood Dragon, Ubisoft released Far Cry 4, the next major installment in the franchise. Set in the snowy Himalayan mountains, players are cast as Ajay. Traveling to the fictional country of Kyrat to scatter his mother’s ashes, Ajay’s journey is cut short after his bus is raided by Pagan Min, a ruthless but immaculately dressed dictator who has a special interest in Ajay and his mission.
Returning to Pagan Min’s palace, Ajay manages to escape, fleeing into the countryside of Kyrat and joining the rebels in fighting back against their oppressor. As his battle against Pagan Min rages on, Ajay uncovers more about his heritage, slowly learning his mother’s past could be directly linked to the war that devastates the country.
Far Cry 4 largely built off the foundation established in Far Cry 3, adding campaign co-op, rideable elephants, a grappling hook, and a helicopter that could be used to raise hell from above.
10. Far Cry Primal (2016)
A spin-off from the mainline games, Far Cry Primal followed in the footsteps of Blood Dragon and reframed Far Cry in a wildly different setting, taking players to the prehistoric age. Centring on a hunter named Takkar, the story begins with the protagonist’s hunting party being wiped out by a sabertooth tiger, leaving him to walk the valley alone.
Determined to reunite with the other members of his clan, he sets forth on a perilous adventure, clashing with two rival tribes seeking to eradicate Takkar and his allies. Taking away the modern technology of previous Far Cry games and limiting players to clubs, bows, and other primitive weaponry, Far Cry Primal forced players to survive deadly animals, hazardous environments, and fierce rival tribes.
11. Far Cry 5 (2018)
With Primal in the rearview mirror, Ubisoft moved on to the next mainline entry in the Far Cry series, Far Cry 5. Moving the franchise to rural Montana, the franchise’s fifth entry unleashed players in the fictional wilderness of Hope County, playing as a nameless police deputy tracking an extremist cult known as Eden’s Gate.
Beginning with a player and a small squad of sheriffs attempting to arrest the cult’s leader – the sadistic zealot Joseph Seed – their mission descends into chaos after Seed’s followers free him and leave the player stranded in the wilderness. Vowing to rescue their allies and bring Seed and his lieutenants to justice, the players begin a journey across Hope County, slowly learning more about the cult’s leaders and the sinister, world-ending plot they’re concocting.
Far Cry 5 introduced several new ideas to the Far Cry formula, with players now able to fully customize their character, complete a non-linear main campaign, and, most importantly, recruit a friendly grizzly bear named Cheeseburger.
12. Far Cry New Dawn (2019)
A direct sequel to Far Cry 5, New Dawn hit consoles in 2019, envisioning an apocalyptic version of Hope County after it was struck by nuclear bombs during the previous game’s climax. Set seventeen years later, the game follows a player-created captain who, alongside other Hope County survivors, belongs to a settlement known as Prosperity.
As New Dawn begins, Prosperity finds its existence threatened by a group known as the Highway Men, who seek to take over Hope County and eradicate its various factions. Searching for a means to fight back against their new enemies, the captain ventures across Hope County, eventually making contact with a powerful hidden settlement led by the man who destroyed the world: Joseph Seed.
Much like Blood Dragon and Primal, New Dawn was a reframing of Far Cry’s formula, this time dropping the game into a post-apocalyptic setting. It included new, mutated foes; the addition of supernatural abilities; and a mode called Expeditions, which allowed players to head to other parts of the U.S. to complete contracts.
13. Far Cry 6 (2021)
Two years later, Ubisoft moved away from the post-apocalypse and returned for a more traditional mainline entry in Far Cry 6. Taking the franchise to the fictional Caribbean Island of Yara, players assume the role of Dani, a civilian attempting to escape the country due to a fierce civil war ravaging its shores.
Securing an escape route with their family via boat, Dani’s plans are thwarted after the ship is boarded by ruthless dictator Anton Castillo (played by Breaking Bad’s Giancaro Esposito), who is searching for his teenage son, Diego, among the refugees. Enraged at his son’s defiance, Anton sinks the ship, killing Dani’s family and setting the protagonist on a war path. Enlisting with the resistance and fighting against Anton’s regime, Dani joins the war, conquering Anton’s forces in a bid to confront the man himself.
Much like previous games, Far Cry 6 built on the Far Cry foundation, adding customizable vehicles, DIY super weapons, a new gear system, and back mounted rocket launchers.
What’s Next For Far Cry?
As for what’s next for Far Cry, there are currently no future projects confirmed. And, in Nov 2023, Far Cry 6 officially received its last patch after Ubisoft announced it would no longer be updating the game. However, early rumors suggest more Far Cry is likely on the way. In early 2023, two new Far Cry projects were reportedly in development, according to Insider Gaming and Kotaku: a standard sequel and a multiplayer spin-off. That being said, Ubisoft has yet to reveal anything official, so until the publisher is ready, we’ll have to wait and see where Far Cry heads next.
Developer Eric “Concerned Ape” Barone launched the content drop today, bringing loads of new additions and tweaks to the beloved farming sim after months of waiting. It’s proving to be a bit of a moment for fans, too, as according to SteamDB, Stardew Valley’s player numbers are soaring to new heights.
At the time of this story’s publication, there are more than 136,000 players currently logged on Steam alone. That number is climbing rapidly, too, burying the previous record of 94,879 in January 2021. It’s also worth noting that Stardew Valley 1.6 is available on GOG, and Barone says that the update will soon make its way to Game Pass, too.
Stardew Valley’s 1.6 might be its most anticipated drop yet, and the lead-up to its launch is proof. Barone helped drum up fan interest by releasing individual lines from the patch notes over the last few weeks. These have ranged from fascinating to hilarious, with some highlights including quality-of-life changes to resource gathering and the added ability to drink mayonnaise (ew). The full patch notes are littered with other interesting alterations, explaining why so many players are choosing now to dive in again or even for the first time.
Stardew Valley is available on mobile devices as well as PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox consoles, but its 1.6 update is not available on those platforms yet. Barone has yet to announce a release date. If you’re one of the thousands of players heading to go spruce up your in-game life today, you might want to read up on the developer’s thoughts regarding modding in 1.6 first. You can also be sure to check out how the game will evolve in the future.
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.
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