Stalker 2 is set to launch on PlayStation 5 late 2025 a year after it hit PC and Xbox Series X and S.
GSC Game World’s open world horror shooter launches on PS5 with full support for the DualSense controller’s features, including haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. Further technical enhancements for the PS5 Pro are also in development, the Ukraine developer said.
Stalker 2 launched in November 2024 to a positive reception on Steam and 1 million sales. It’s a success story for the Ukrainian studio; a miracle, really, considering the harrowing circumstances that followed Russian’s full-scale invasion of the country in 2022.
But Stalker 2 launched with well-documented bugs and issues, chief among them A-Life 2.0. A-Life was a key feature of the first Stalker game that governed AI behavior across the game world. At a high level, it is a system for simulating life in the Zone that works its magic seemingly independently of the player’s actions or whereabouts. It helps to create convincing AI and the emergent gameplay Stalker is famous for.
GSC had said A-Life 2.0 would make the Zone feel alive as never before, that it would fuel emergent gameplay on a scale previously thought impossible. Indeed for some fans, A-Life 2.0 was Stalker 2’s biggest selling point. But when Stalker 2 actually came out players discovered that A-Life 2.0 didn’t work properly, with some questioning whether it was even in the game at all.
In an interview with IGN, GSC explained what went wrong with Stalker 2’s A-Life 2.0, and vowed to fix the system. They’ve been working on doing that ever since, and the expectation is that the PS5 version will include all the latest updates and fixes the developer has released for the PC and Xbox versions.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Last month, 2Bricks — who specializes in custom (MOC) LEGO builds — released a YouTube video documenting a custom build of “a sleek Porsche-designed red ship” inspired by the next Naughty Dog game franchise, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. And apparently, it caught the eye of one very intrigued fan.
“When I released my model based on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, I had no idea that [Neil Druckmann] himself would want one!!!” 2Bricks wrote on Instagram (thanks PushSquare), appending an image of him passing the completed 984 Tempest NDX to Druckmann. “Had a great chat and I got to nerd out showing off all the little details I included.”
If you like the look of it, you too can grab the build instructions for the 1349-part set for $10 on Rebrickable.
As for Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet? It features a star-studded cast that includes Tati Gabrielle from the Uncharted movie as protagonist Jordan A. Mun, and Kumail Nanjiani of Marvel’s Eternals as a man called Colin Graves. It is not expected to release until 2027 at the earliest. It’s a pretty long wait, but speaking to IGN on the red carpet ahead of The Last of Us Season 2 premiere, Druckmann said that Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is not only playable right now, but “really good.”
Druckmann also recently revealed the studio has a secret, unannounced second game in the works although he’s not as involved in the nitty gritty of development on that one. “There’s another game that’s being worked on at Naughty Dog where I am more of a producer role and I get to mentor and watch this other team and give feedback and be like the executive in the room,” he said. “I enjoy all those roles, and the fact I jump between one to the next, it makes my job very exciting and always feeling fresh. I’m never bored.”
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Dune: Awakening developer Funcom has apologized after “patching out” a layout change in the Deep Desert that briefly transformed PvE territory into PvP, leading to “an unfortunate amount of lost bases and equipment.”
However, the change — which was “intended to only occur with the next Coriolis cycle and not impact the ongoing cycle” — resulted in an “oversight in the development process and internal communications,” resulting in heavy losses for some players.
“We’re incredibly sorry that this happened and we want to acknowledge that this should have been handled better. We’ve changed our internal processes as a result of this and will be better in the future,” the team said in a statement.
“We are working to reimburse vehicles and items (to the best of our ability) to players who were impacted by this. You can expect the reimbursed materials, items, and vehicle components to show up in the in-game ‘Claim Rewards’ tab by the end of this week.”
In the same statement, the team also revealed it was working hard to eliminate cheaters from Arrakis, writing, “our primary focus, which continues over the next weeks and months, will be to remove all identified exploits (third party cheat engines, client hacks, or in-game exploitation of game mechanics). In addition, we will be hard at work improving the game, adding quality of life features, and addressing critical gameplay issues.
“We have zero tolerance for the type of player behavior that has an impact on the experience of other players, and we will continue to focus on ensuring that players can enjoy the game as it is intended,” the statement added. “If you see someone cheating or exploiting, please report them to us using the available reporting channels.”
Funcom said that so far it has taken action on “several hundred” cheats caught using exploits, cheats, and hacks, with “more waves of bans coming as we identify further culprits.”
“We have a team dedicated exclusively to fighting hackers and fixing exploits. Over the next few patches, they will be introducing additional efforts to prevent exploits by increasing security on several client/server communication layer, performing additional penetration testing against common attack vectors, and auditing our item and inventory systems to make sure they are resistant to item duplication,” Funcom stated.
Finally, the team also apologized to players who had lost “vehicles or other resources” due to in-game bugs. Though admitting some issues are hard to replicate and resolve, Funcom said it is now working on tools to “better reimburse players for vehicle losses due to bugs.”
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
The four-day marathon that is this year’s Prime Day is live now, running from July 8-11. There’s hardly any product category that’s not on sale at Amazon at the moment. But each year Prime Day is one of the best times to stock up on board games, and this year is no different.
It seems like most board games are on sale right now for Prime Day 2025, and the prices are mostly excellent. Below, we’ve highlighted our picks for the best board game deals available now – but you’ll need a Prime membership to get most of them. You can sign up here.
Save Up to 50% Off Board Games for Prime Day
As an added bonus, a bunch of the games are part of another sale that’s also going on right now that saves you $10 when you spend $40 on select items. So if your game(s) are eligible and you spend more than $40, you’ll get an additional $10 off. As a deal-focused commerce editor, I love it when you can stack a deal on top of a deal. It feels like you’re working the system.
Azul
So what worthy board games are on sale right now? A whole lot of them. Azul is always one of our top sellers when it goes on sale, and it’s currently on sale for $19.49, which is great considering it usually hovers around the $33 range. Check out our Azul board game review for details.
This brand makes some of the coolest puzzles for adults I’ve come across on Amazon. It’s not as well-known as Ravensburger or some of the big names, but the quality definitely holds up—and the artwork is designed to be framed, not shoved back in the box.
These 1000-piece puzzles are basically ready-to-hang posters by the time you’re done. If you enjoy fandom-inspired art that actually looks good on a wall, this sale is worth a look.
Right now, only four designs are included, each tied to a popular franchise. The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter options are easily my favorites—they have a bookish, collector’s feel that works way better than most licensed puzzle art.
Is Prime Day a Good Time to Buy Board Games?
Short answer: yes. If you’re looking to pick up a few new board games or card games, Prime Day is one of the best times of the year to do it, matched only by Black Friday in terms of overall discounts and variety.
Some of the deals available during Prime Day 2025 represent the lowest prices ever tracked on popular games, including modern classics, family favourites, and party staples. It’s unlikely they’ll drop any further later in the year, and by the time Black Friday rolls around, you’ll have missed a solid few months of potential game nights.
If you’re unsure whether a deal is truly worth it, use a site like CamelCamelCamel to check Amazon’s price history. It’s a quick way to confirm whether a discount is as impressive as it looks.
In a world filled with screens, board games offer a refreshingly analog way to spend time with friends and family, or just take a break solo. Whether you’re looking for something light and fast or deep and strategic, there’s something in this year’s sale worth grabbing. Just don’t wait too long, stock will disappear fast, and the best offers rarely hang around past the main Prime Day event.
More Prime Day Deals
Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN’s board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Bluesky.
It’s all to tie in, of course, with James Gunn’s new big-screen take on Superman, which is out later this week (July 11) and sees Superman fighting to balance his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as the new DCU properly kicks off.
Superman stars David Corenswet as the titular hero — who replaces prior leading man, Henry Cavill — Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, as well as Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, and Isabela Merced.
In our Superman movie review, we slapped it with a healthy 8/10, writing: “Superman is a wonderfully entertaining, heartfelt cinematic reset for the Man of Steel, and a great start for the DCU on the big screen.”
Last week Minecraft announced a raft of new features to make use of the copper resource — including the long-awaited debut of copper golems. Not only will Minecraft now let you craft copper tools and armor, the copper golem from Minecraft’s 2021 Mob Vote is finally being added, after remaining a fan-favourite concept over the years.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
I’d argue one of the biggest comic storylines of the past half-decade came not from people in spandex and capes, but instead from half-shell heroes in the IDW mini-series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin. Now, the sequel series picks up 15 years after the conclusion of the original storyline with a new team of turtles released as an all-in-one collection – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II: Re-Evolution. To celebrate this release, Amazon has it on sale for $24.49. As an added bonus, even with it being Prime Day, you don’t need a Prime membership to take advantage of this deal.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II–Re-Evolution
Re-Evolution isn’t a brand-new comic; instead, it is a graphic novel that combines the five issues that composed The Last Ronin II’s story into a single release. As someone who grew up with the 1987 animated turtles series, the original Last Ronin broke me, but being able to step foot back in this timeline with Ronin II felt a bit cathartic for me. Despite being their own characters, the new mutants do things that make me want to believe they would get along just fine with Donny, Leo, Raph, and Mikey.
For fans of any era of Turtles, the Last Ronin and Ronin II stories are must-reads and thanks to its popularity with fans, we already know that the original tale is getting its own video game courtesy ofBlack Forest Games and even alive-action movie that is planned to be rated R to do justice to the dark nature and tone of this series. Hopefully, with the release of this Re-Evolution graphic novel, Odyn, Yi, Uno, and Moja will endear themselves to audiences enough that we see them hit the silver screen or game console in the future as well. In the meantime, snag this book while it’s on sale because it really kicks some shell.
Grab your cards, Samurai. CMON’s Cyberpunk 2077: Gangs of Night City is getting in on the Prime Day savings with a nice 36% discount, making it only $69.99. Instead of trying to cram the massive video game’s story into a box, Gangs of Night City instead puts you in control of one of the universe’s various gangs (each gang having unique asymmetric abilities), and you wage war as you and the other players try to carve out more territory.
Cyberpunk 2077: Gangs of Night City The Board Game
This game isn’t just a bloodbath, and while you can expect some good ol’ shootouts, Gangs of Night City will reward strategic planning more. For those of you who may be hoping for some story, this does manage to inject some narrative elements into the mix, thanks to the scenarios you play with. These will mix things up for you and your fellow players with some new rules or mechanics, or even some alternative victory conditions. That said, this game is about seeing who is best at dishing out the most pain, and it just feels fun to cause some chaos with some friends over some drinks during a game night.
Board game adaptations of popular video games have become pretty commonplace these days, and we have covered a bunch, including Gangs of Night City! In our review, we said, “It’s a proper board game where factions vie for turf and street cred,” so grab a few friends (the game plays 1-4 players), have everyone chip in a bit, and at this price that would only be about $20, and you have the makings for fun game night.
Other Prime Day Deals
If you are looking for more Prime Day Deals, check out some other things that are on sale!
Scott White is a freelance contributor to IGN, assisting with tabletop games and guide coverage. Follow him on X/Twitter or Bluesky.
The four-day marathon that is this year’s Prime Day is live now, running from July 8-11. There’s hardly any product category that’s not on sale at Amazon at the moment. But each year Prime Day is one of the best times to stock up on board games, and this year is no different. It seems like most board games are on sale right now for Prime Day 2025, and the prices are mostly excellent. Below, we’ve highlighted our picks for the best board game deals available now – but you’ll need a Prime membership to get most of them. You can sign up here.
Save Up to 50% Off Board Games for Prime Day
As an added bonus, a bunch of the games are part of another sale that’s also going on right now that saves you $10 when you spend $40 on select items. So if your game(s) are eligible and you spend more than $40, you’ll get an additional $10 off. As a deal-focused commerce editor, I love it when you can stack a deal on top of a deal. It feels like you’re working the system.
So what worthy board games are on sale right now? A whole lot of them. Azul is always one of our top sellers when it goes on sale, and it’s currently on sale for $19.49, which is great considering it usually hovers around the $33 range. Check out our Azul board game review for details.
Nineteen employees have been laid off from Star Trek: Bridge Crew and Tom Clancy studio Ubisoft Red Storm, IGN has learned.
Ubisoft confirmed the layoffs to IGN in a statement as follows:
Today, Ubisoft made the decision to eliminate 19 roles at Red Storm Entertainment. This step is part of our ongoing, targeted restructuring and global cost-saving efforts, and reflects the needs on the studio’s projects. While this was not an easy decision, it was a necessary one given our operational priorities. We remain committed to supporting those affected with comprehensive severance packages, extended health-care benefits, and career transition assistance. We deeply appreciate their hard work and the impact they’ve had on Ubisoft.
Ubisoft PR also confirmed that no other Ubisoft locations were impacted by today’s layoffs. However, the company did not respond to IGN’s request for information on how many employees remain at Red Storm or the status of the company’s current projects.
Ubisoft Red Storm was originally Red Storm Entertainment, founded by author Tom Clancy specifically to make games based on his novels, including Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six. The studio was acquired by Ubisoft in 2000, going on to create hits such as the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon series and assisting on other popular Tom Clancy games such as The Division. In more recent years, it has taken a backseat role as more of a VR and support studio beginning with Werewolves Within in 2016. and continuing more recently with Star Trek: Bridge Crew and Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR.
Red Storm also worked on a canceled Splinter Cell VR game, and the also-canceled The Division Heartland. Most recently, Red Storm assisted on XDefiant, which just shut down completely last month after an announcement last year. At the time, Ubisoft shut down the San Francisco and Osaka studios behind the game, with some layoffs occuring at Red Storm as well. It is unclear what project Red Storm is currently working on.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
If I say the name “Hideo Kojima” what comes to mind? Is it his latest creation, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (a game we rather enjoyed) or would be it be one of his earlier creations? I would be willing to bet a large portion of folks would immediately think of Metal Gear Solid and the gravely tones of David Hayter.
Thanks to Prime Day, the Nintendo Switch version (which will also run on the Switch 2) of the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 is the lowest it has ever been at only $16.99 – that’s a whopping 58% discount.
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol.1 (Switch)
This collection contains a bunch of tactical stealth goodness from the original Metal Gear Solid that first called the PlayStation home, and its PS2 follow-ups, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, in addition to plenty of other goodies.
These three games alone are packed with memorable gaming moments, such as the emotional conflict between Boss and Snake in MGS3, to the back-of-the-box Codex number in MGS, that it’s hard to count just how many there are. Even if you are only familiar with Kojima from his newer games, for this sale price, even if you are only slightly interested or intrigued, you can’t go wrong trying this series out. If you are a longtime fan, you already know how good these games are.
Just ask yourself, is having these games with you on the go worth the price of less than it costs to go see a movie and get some popcorn? Heck, even if you already own it on another platform, for 16 bucks, why not get another copy?
As a note only Metal Gear (MSX), Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, Metal Gear (NES), and Snake’s Revenge are on the cartridge, with the other games requiring a download.
More Prime Day Deals
Prime Day is one of the best times to buy pretty much anything. Even Best Buy’s joined the fun with tons of Switch game discounts. Here are some other deals to check out.
Scott White is a freelance contributor to IGN, assisting with tabletop games and guide coverage. Follow him on X/Twitter or Bluesky.
