Nintendo Switch Online is a subscription-based online gaming service for the Nintendo Switch gaming platform. Memberships include online functionality, allowing you to compete or cooperate with friends, as well as a collection of classic Nintendo games spanning four decades, including titles from the NES, SNES, Game Boy, Nintendo 64, and, most recently, the new GameCube library. A free seven-day trial is also available.
We thought Chibi-Robo! was great when it released way back in 2006, awarding it an IGN’s Editor’s Choice award and scoring it a healthy 8.2/10, imploring you to: “Give [it] a chance.”
“I expect that too many people will glance at this game and conclude that it’s not for them, simply because it’s either too weird or too cute,” we wrote in IGN’s Chibi-Robo! review. “Truthfully, it’s both, but it’s also a very enjoyable, fun, and rewarding puzzle-platformer.”
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 must admit, Magic: The Gathering’s new Edge of Eternities surprised me. I felt it was going to be a relatively soft follow-up to the game’s most popular set ever, Universes Beyond: Final Fantasy, and yet it feels like another home run.
A great new setting, unique designs, and some big chase cards have seen stock selling out fast, particularly when it comes to Collector Boosters. As a result, you can still find them, but you’ll need to brave the secondary market – and pay over the odds, sadly.
Where To Find Magic’s Edge of Eternities Collector Boosters
Because they contain a higher chance of opening chase cards worth hundreds (and maybe even thousands), Collector Boosters cost more than Play Boosters and are also unlikely to be reprinted. Once they’re gone, there’s a good chance they’re gone for good.
Thankfully, Play Boosters are looking much more likely to be found closer to MSRP for months. The set is standard legal for a long time yet, meaning you can reasonably expect Play Boosters (and the set’s pair of Commander Decks) to be reprinted pretty regularly.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.
Blizzard’s Story and Franchise Development team (SFD) has voted in favor of unionization with the Communications Workers of America, according to a press release shared today.
SFD consists of Blizzard workers producing in-house cinematics, animation, trailers, promotional videos, in-game cutscenes, and other narrative content across Blizzard franchises, in addition to archival workers and historians.
“After more than a decade working at Blizzard, I’ve seen all the highs and lows,” said organizing committee member and principal editor Bucky Fisk. “For years, Blizzard has been a place where people could build their careers and stay for decades, but that stability’s been fading. With a union, we’re able to preserve what makes this place special, secure real transparency in how decisions are made, and make sure policies are applied fairly to everyone.”
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.
Walmart is offering a steep discount on one of the most recently released themed Xbox Series X wireless controllers. For a limited time, the Xbox Wireless Controller Doom: The Dark Ages Limited Edition is on sale for $54 with free shipping. It is sold by Walmart directly and not a marketplace vendor. Even if you don’t own an Xbox, this is still a great deal, since it’s also one of the best PC gamepads for the price.
Get Doom: The Dark Ages Limited Edition Xbox Controller for $54
This Xbox controller is themed after the new Doom: The Dark Ages, which we recently reviewed. Specifically, it’s modeled after the Doomslayer’s blood-splattered matte green armor with 3D elements like silver helmet spikes and plated sheathing across the top case, a blood red thumbstick, and rubberized grips made to feel like leather. The green buttons replace the traditional XYAB letters with Sentinel symbols, and the right trigger is bright orange.
Aesthetics aside, these Xbox wireless controllers are identical to the ones bundled with the Xbox Series X and S consoles. Standard features include textured grips, a hybrid D-pad, button mapping with the Xbox app, a 3.5mm audio jack that works with any wired headset, and a Share button to upload screenshots and videos.
The controller supports both Xbox wireless and Bluetooth connectivity. That means you can use it for your PC or mobile device. In fact, we think this is the best PC controller you can get. If your PC doesn’t have Bluetooth, you can still use it in wired mode with a USB Type-C cable or go out and buy a Bluetooth or Xbox wireless adapter.
Doom: The Dark Ages was released on May 15 and is easily one of the best shooters of the year. The game is a prequel to the original 2016 Doom game and explores more of the lore behind the Sentinels and the Maykrs. It’s available for PlayStation 5, Xbox, and PC and it also happens to be on sale right now.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
Krafton has issued a response to a recent lawsuit filed by the former leads of Subnautica 2, offering rebuttals to the developers’ claims and alleging they “resorted to litigation to demand a multimillion-dollar payout they haven’t earned.”
This comes in reply to a legal complaint filed by former Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill, and fellow co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, last month. In it, the former leads alleged that Krafton went out of its way to hinder Subnautica 2’s development, delay the game, and ultimately fire them from their roles all in an effort to stop them and other employees from collecting a $250 million bonus payment that would have kicked in if the game’s early access released on time later this year and reached certain sales milestones.
In its response, Krafton says the game was planned for a Q1 2024 release. However, “Cleveland and McGuire abandoned their roles as studio-wide Game Director and Technical Director to focus on their personal passion projects and quit making games for Unknown Worlds entirely. And Gill, who remained, focused on leveraging his operational control to maximize the earnout payment, rather than developing a successful game.”
Krafton goes on to allege that by 2023, Unknown Worlds’ development director had commented on the founders being “checked out,” and that Cleveland in particular had stated publicly he had abandoned video games to pursue filmmaking. The release date of Subnautica slipped to 2024 and then 2025. “An internal assessment of the first playable in March of 2024 made clear that the team had failed to deliver on their promise of developing sufficiently new content. But rather than roll up their sleeves and make the game they had promised, the Key Employees blamed others and overhauled the team.” Krafton also says that the leads continued reducing the scope of the game over time.
The response says that by spring 2025, Krafton was trying to stop them from releasing the game, saying it was not ready. However, Krafton alleges the leads tried to release it anyway in order to get their maximum earnout.
“Krafton, fearing how an underbaked EA Subnautica 2 would be received by both existing fans and the broader market, urged Cleveland and McGuire to return to their posts to generate a market-ready product that would not disappoint fans. Cleveland and McGuire declined. In response to Krafton’s request for the Key Employees to return to lead the development of Subnautica 2, Gill stated that ‘[t]here’s no coming back to a job they didn’t have.'” Krafton further alleges that the leads said they would self-publish the game without Krafton, and that they downloaded “massive amounts of confidential information” from Unknown Worlds.
The Key Employees’ insistence on releasing the game immediately was singularly driven by self-interest in obtaining the earnout. At every turn during development, the Key Employees were laser focused on avoiding “a timeline that doesn’t tank the earnout opportunity” and scheduling the release to maximize their payments. Conversations throughout the post-acquisition period make clear the Key Employee’s [sic] focus was on their payday, and not on the game. As early as 2022, an employee who was due to receive a portion of the earnout stated that despite the significant delays in the game, he was confident “Ted [Gill] will concoct a scheme to get us that earnout.” [emphasis Krafton’s]
The response goes on to issue answers to every claim in the founders’ lawsuit, paragraph by paragraph. Krafton asks the court to rule in its favor, deny the founders’ claims for relief, and award Krafton costs, including attorney fees.
This saga began in July, when Krafton seemingly out of the blue announced it would replace Unknown Worlds’ leads with former Striking Distance CEO Steve Papoutsis. In the weeks that followed, reports emerged surrounding the $250 million bonus promised to staff amid questions as to whether that payout would be honored. While the Subnautica leads claimed in various statements and in their lawsuit that Krafton had tried to delay Subnautica 2 and ultimately fired them to avoid paying them the bonus, Krafton accused them of neglecting their duties, saying Subnautica 2 was not ready to launch. That final claim remains up in the air, with leaked documents since verified by Krafton confirming that Unknown Worlds was receiving feedback from the publisher that the game was not ready for early access launch. However, a report from Bloomberg suggests this may not have been wholly true.
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.
Special Illustration Rares from Temporal Forces have seen significant movement since their highs earlier in the year. Cards like Raging Bolt ex, Iron Crown ex, and Walking Wake ex were once among the most sought-after pulls from the set, but all three have dropped from their spring peaks.
Raging Bolt ex is down 11% from its May value of $82.36 and now trades around $73.45, while Iron Crown ex has fallen 13% in the same timeframe, moving from $55.74 to $48.30. Walking Wake ex has taken the hardest hit of the trio, losing 20% since May, with its price sliding from $50.37 to $40.45. This downturn mirrors a wider cooling in the set’s high-end singles as both players and collectors reassess their priorities.
Twilight Masquerade has seen a more mixed picture, with some cards losing steam while others continue to gain. Perrin has eased down 11% from March, moving from $106.43 to $94.87, and Carmine has dipped the same percentage since June, going from $78.70 to $69.99. Both are Special Illustration Rare Supporters that enjoyed early interest thanks to their unique effects, but neither has become a fixture in competitive lists, leading to softer demand.
At the same time, the set’s Illustration Rares and certain Pokémon ex cards are climbing in value as interest from both casual and competitive buyers grows.Gastly has risen 13% since June, from $35.74 to $40.99, helped by its role in Gengar evolution lines and appealing artwork.
Greninja ex has climbed 17% since January, from $18.44 to $21.59, thanks to its versatile attacks and solid HP. Sinistcha ex and Tatsugiri have each moved up 10% since April, now priced at $21.59 and $18.48 respectively, while Eevee has gained 10% from early August to reach $21.59. These changes highlight how certain cards can gain value steadily over months due to competitive experimentation, collector interest, or them just being stunning cards. Let’s break this all down:
Pokémon Card Crashers
For cards that saw heavy demand early on, the market has cooled. Some have slipped due to a lack of tournament use, others because collectors have shifted their focus.
Raging Bolt ex brings explosive plays with Bursting Roar to refill your hand and Climactic Descent to convert discarded Basic Energy into heavy damage. It looked set to become a staple in certain builds, but the high retreat cost and inconsistent setup have made it less reliable in practice. As competitive players experiment with more stable options, extra copies have been hitting the market. The Special Illustration Rare artwork still turns heads in a binder, but with demand slowing, Its price has slipped.
Iron Crown ex offers useful bench support in Future decks through Cobalt Command, adding damage to your other Future Pokémon’s attacks. Twin Shotels provides a reliable way to apply pressure across the board, bypassing common defenses. Despite this, it has not found a consistent place in top tournament lists, and collector buying has eased off. Without strong competitive results to keep attention high, the price has edged down since May.
Walking Wake ex debuted with plenty of buzz thanks to Azure Wave, which ignores effects on the opponent’s Active Pokémon, and Cathartic Roar, which can hit 240 damage under the right conditions. The trick has been making those conditions happen consistently. Decks built around it have seen mixed success, and without the sustained performance to keep it in the spotlight, its Special Illustration Rare price has fallen noticeably from its early high.
Perrin gives players the option to cycle Pokémon from hand into the deck and fetch an equal number in return. It can be a valuable setup tool in certain builds, but it faces competition from other Supporters that fit more universally into current decks such as PRofessors Research. Collectors still appreciate the detailed Special Illustration Rare art, yet its price has eased back since March as demand from both has softened.
Carmine is one of the few cards that can be used on the very first turn when going first, letting you discard your hand and draw five cards. It can enable quick starts, but the narrow conditions for use mean it often sits unused. As the metagame evolves, it’s not become a fixture in competitive decks, and its Special Illustration Rare has seen its value slip since June.
Pokémon Card Climbers
Not every card is moving down. Loads of Twilight Masquerade singles have been gradually climbing in value over months, thanks to a mix of playability, collector interest, and unique artwork.
Tatsugiri is a small but effective utility card for certain strategies. Attract Customers can pull a Supporter from the top six cards of your deck if it is in the Active Spot, offering a low-maintenance way to find key cards. Its single retreat cost and light-hearted Illustration Rare artwork make it a popular pick for collectors as well. Since April, that mix of function and style has helped it hold steady gains.
Sinistcha ex benefits from Re-Brew, an attack that spreads damage based on the Grass Energy in your discard before shuffling it back into your deck. Matcha Splash offers reliable damage while healing your team, which can matter in longer matches. As Grass-focused decks see more experimentation, this Special Illustration Rare has moved upward in value since April.
Eevee is always in demand among collectors, and the Twilight Masquerade Illustration Rare shows a group of them cuddled up on a comphy chair. Ascension allows it to evolve quickly, which can be useful in certain setups, though its main draw is its place in the franchise’s history. Since early August, interest has pushed the price up slightly. I expect this card go carry on growing in value indefinately, albiet in small increments.
Greninja ex offers strong offensive options in Shinobi Blade and Mirage Barrage, the latter being able to hit two targets at once. That combination of damage output and flexibility makes it appealing for a variety of decks. The stunning Special Illustration Rare artwork and Greninja fighting for the starter Pokémon top spot with Charizard adds collector appeal, and trainers are willing to pay a premium to get their hands on one of the most valuable Pokémon cards in the Scarlet and Violet era.
Gastly combines a distinctive Illustration Rare design, showing and also evolving into competitive Gengar deck builds. Mysterious Beam offers potential energy disruption, and Suffocating Gas gives cheap damage when needed. Its appeal has been as much about binder displays as tournament tables, and since June it has been steadily rising in value.
Last Week’s Crashers and Climbers
Last week’s Pokémon TCG market update saw Paldean Fates and Hidden Fates dominating the spotlight, with several Special Illustration Rares and Shiny Vault classics making notable moves. On the climbing side, Mew ex led the charge with a 76% jump since October to $389.45, driven by its strong Restart ability and flexible Genome Hacking attack. Gardevoir ex followed with a 51% increase to $78.99, benefitting from its energy acceleration in Psychic decks, while Charizard ex rose 36% to $160.00 thanks to its powerful Infernal Reign Ability. Hidden Fates heavyweights also gained ground, with Charizard GX up 12% to $482.89 and Umbreon GX up 19% to $188.88, both continuing to appeal to collectors and players alike.
The crashers list was led by Pikachu from Paldean Fates, which plunged 48% from January to $25.00 as play demand faded despite its nostalgic appeal. Charmander from the same set fell 19% to $20.80, while Glaceon GX from Hidden Fates dropped 33% to $40.30 due to declining GX-era relevance. Moltres & Zapdos & Articuno GX saw a smaller 4% dip to $33.68, and Eevee from Hidden Fates slipped 8% to $33.13. Across both sets, the pattern was clear: high-end, competitive, or visually prestigious cards held or gained value, while smaller, less impactful pulls struggled to maintain early hype.
The Most Expensive Prismatic Evolution Cards You Can Still Pull From Packs
Prismatic Evolutions remains one of the most valuable sets in the Scarlet and Violet era, led by the Umbreon ex SIR at $869, still the top chase card despite dropping from its $1,300 high earlier this year. The Sylveon ex SIR sits in second at $315, bringing powerful control options with its Magical Charm and Angelite attacks. Espeon ex SIR follows closely at $204.99, offering disruption through devolving effects, while Leafeon ex SIR at $209.99 mixes healing and scaling damage. Vaporeon ex SIR holds $200.98 with strong spread damage potential, and Jolteon ex SIR matches the same $179.99 price as Glaceon ex SIR, though Glaceon has dropped 44% since May. Flareon ex SIR at $153.99 remains a hot pick for Fire decks, Roaring Moon ex SIR stays above $140, and Eevee ex SIR closes the top ten at $112.98 with its versatile evolution ability.
Outside the Eeveelutions, the set boasts affordable but striking SIRs like Dragapult ex at $94.99, Ceruledge ex at $93.85, and Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex at $83.99. Mid-range options such as Raging Bolt ex ($75.95), Gholdengo ex ($60.00), Palafin ex ($63.54), Iron Valiant ex ($50.99), Iron Hands ex ($45.95), Terapagos ex ($39.00), and Iron Crown ex ($40.60) offer standout art at a fraction of the top card prices. With many of these having corrected down from earlier highs, collectors now have a chance to secure key pieces at stable values before the next upward shift.
Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of “Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior”. Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.
As we exclusively announced earlier this year, we’re finally getting our first first-person Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game – and first TMNT game in VR to boot. It’s called TMNT: Empire City, and in the new developer diary video above, you’ll get a look at some first-person parkour/traversal gameplay in this early look at the upcoming co-op action-adventure starring your favorite heroes in a half-shell.
Creative director Ace St. Germain gives some insight on the first-person VR parkour mechanics of Empire City: “Movement through sewers is slower and stealthier, while above-ground movement emphasizes parkour, allowing for fast and vertical exploration. We’re not recreating the full New York City but are focusing on key areas. The city’s haze and mist are narrative devices, rather than invisible walls. The architecture is inspired by real New York buildings, like the Confucius Plaza (renamed “Wise Man Building”). Using hands for parkour, players can grab ledges, dash mid-air, and launch themselves dynamically. Zip lines and uninterrupted momentum mechanics enhance freedom of movement. This verticality is essential for exploration, combat, and player expression.
You can wishlist TMNT: Empire City on Steam if you’re interested.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
Fans of Star Wars: Unlimited have reason to celebrate this week as Amazon rolls out a series of discounts across multiple sets in the fast-growing trading card game. Not every expansion has boosters or bundles that have gotten the price-cut treatment, but for those looking to stock up on boosters or grab a starter kit, there are some standout Star Wars deals worth jumping on before they vanish.
For example, the Twilight of the Republic Booster Display Box, featuring 24 packs steeped in Clone Wars-era drama, has seen one of the biggest drops, plunging 52% down to just $57.98 (was $119.76). Each pack contains 16 cards, including guaranteed rares, a leader, and a base/token card, making it a prime choice for competitive deck builders or collectors chasing those foil highlights.
For those after something a little more beginner-friendly, the Twilight of the Republic Two-Player Starter Set has dipped to $27.54 (was $34.99), complete with two fully built decks, playmats, counters, and a quickstart rulebook.
If the Outer Rim calls louder than Coruscant, the Shadows of the Galaxy Two-Player Starter Set (headlined by The Mandalorian and Moff Gideon) is now $25.36 (down from $34.99), offering the same ready-to-play convenience with exclusive cards you won’t find in boosters. Single Shadows of the Galaxy booster packs are also available for $8.95 (was $10.99), perfect for topping off a deck with Mandalorian-era firepower.
The deals don’t stop there because the Legends of the Force set, only released last month and packed with Jedi, Sith, and iconic Force-users from across the saga, has had its own 24-pack display box dropped down to $88.00, a 27% cut from its original $119.76 price tag.
Spark of Rebellion is on sale, too, though the 24-pack display box is still sitting at over $105 (although better than its original $119.76 price). Altogether, though, the current markdowns on Twilight of the Republic, Shadows of the Galaxy, and Legends of the Force make for a good case to anyone looking to expand their collection without paying full retail.
Since this sale’s dropped, some other items in the Star Wars: Unlimited range have sold out already, so it seems to be only a matter of time before stock sells out and any replenishments are put back at their original MSRP. If you’ve been holding off on building your next Star Wars: Unlimited deck, this looks to be the perfect time to drop some Galactic Credits.
Ben Williams – IGN freelance contributor with over 10 years of experience covering gaming, tech, film, TV, and anime. Follow him on Twitter/X @BenLevelTen.
2025 has already been a productive year for Phasmophobia maker Kinetic Games, not least because though it’s only August, we’ve already seen a major overhaul of the in-game journal, the release of the (terrifying) reworked Bleasedale Farmhouse, and now a revamp for the fan-favorite Grafton Farmhouse map has just gone live.
As we dive into the final half of the year — and get ever closer to spooky season — we sat down for a chat with art director Corey J. Dixon to talk about what’s new, when Phasmophobia will finally feel finished, the possibility of Phasmophobia 2, and what it’s like working with Blumhouse Films on a movie adaptation.
IGN: Tell us about the reworked maps. Why rework them at all?
Corey J. Dixon: [Creator] Dan [Knight] wanted Phas[mophobia] to be the best thing it could be. And with the amount of asset packs that he had to use to create the game, there was a feeling of it not being his own thing. The design and the game and everything else inside of it was his baby — and it was successful because of that — but anyone could recreate Tanglewood. They just needed to buy the asset. So Dan was like: ‘I want to make this the best puzzle horror game I can. Let’s rework the maps.’
I joined Kinetic Games about nine months after Phas came out, so it’s just over four years now. Back then, there were only three of us. It was me, Dan, Ben [Lavender], and I was doing all the art myself. My first job was slowly replacing all the art assets, [and] we’re still going four years later. But there’s a lot more people now.
IGN: Why was Grafton next on the list to get a revamp?
Corey J. Dixon: We do what we feel is best for players. Asylum was the most repetitive map. It was absolutely huge before. I’d had chats with Dan where he’s like, ‘Oh yeah, it took me so long, like I was just copy-pasting rooms because I’d made it so big,’ and it just wasn’t that enjoyable to make. That was the first target — we felt that that was the most repetitive, and could have the biggest uplift.
So we did that one first, and then the farmhouses. There are two farmhouse maps, but they were almost identical. We had so many players who couldn’t even tell the difference between Bleasdale and Grafton because they were the same asset pack. So we had the conversation, and I suggested that we should really spread them apart. Let’s make one of them this kind of ornate, mansion-y, bigger map, and then take the other one in the opposite direction. Let’s ruin it, destroy loads of it — give it that abandoned ghosthunting experience that a lot of people do in real life. I think it’s worked — they feel completely different now.
IGN: Do you have plans to rework anything else?
Corey J. Dixon: Earlier this year, we announced we would be doing Tanglewood, and that’s a fan-favorite map. Everyone absolutely loves Tanglewood. So we’ll have to make sure we maintain a balance of, you know, giving it a fresh coat of paint, but not changing too much, because we know how much players absolutely adore it. But I’m pretty sure we’ll find that balance.
IGN: How do you manage demand from players who want smaller maps with those who want much bigger ones?
Corey J. Dixon: It’s a combination of things, the first mainly being the community. We’ve got statistics on what maps people play. We know that people play small maps, and we hear people talk about small maps all the time. That’s a massive factor. We want to update and add things that players want to play. We understand there is a community of players that do like the larger maps, but the bigger the map, the longer it takes to make or redo. So, for us, if we’re going to do, for example, three maps in a year, and if we [chose] a large map, that might mean we only get to do one or maybe two a year. So players are missing out because we’re doing something that takes much longer.
It’s kind of weighing up what the benefit is for the community versus how long it takes. We would like to rework all of the base game maps eventually — it’s just how long that takes, and in what order.
IGN: Have you ever considered expanding beyond four-player co-op?
Corey J. Dixon: A lot of the community have asked for that, especially on the big maps! Yeah, more players means you’ll find the ghost and identify it quicker. But it’s not really something we’re looking into. The whole game is locked in around four players. And it’s a 10-year project. Now, for Dan, he’s [already] worked on the game that long, and the code base is kind of locked in, there’s a lot of linking, intertwining systems, and it all kind of works together. So even if we wanted to do that, it would be an absolutely huge project.
IGN: You’ve also recently revealed that the next new map coming to Phasmo is Nell’s Diner. Tell us about it.
Corey J. Dixon: We planned for a new, small map this year and, again, looked at the community. People suggest things all the time. We have a massive list that has all of the things the community has suggested, so we reference that and see what we think, what we think would work or not.
We need to make sure that small maps make sense, because the way that the game plays, you’re restricted in what kind of maps you can do. A lot of people have suggested a theater or an amusement park, and while those would be absolutely amazing art tasks — they’d be so fun to make, gameplay-wise — they’d be really difficult. Massive open spaces mean you don’t have ghost rooms, and you need to have things on the floor or things for the ghost to interact with. So a diner just kind of made sense. You can split it up into these nice little chunks — you’ve got the dining area, the counter, the kitchen, the staff areas at the back, and then some toilets. It’s a perfect little, small map.
It’s also a familiar thing. People love the house maps because they play Phas in a familiar environment, which is just a house that doesn’t look creepy or abandoned. They stop playing [for the night] and walk around their house at night and go, ‘Oh my God. This is so similar. This is my house, and I’m scared of looking around at night.’ And a diner is very familiar for a lot of people.
The theming is super unique. We’ve never done a retro American style or really embraced the culture of it all. Shout out to the art team!
IGN: Is that because you have a bigger team now? One of the criticisms we see is about the pace of development, which has felt sluggish at times.
Corey J. Dixon: Oh, yeah. Definitely. If you compare our updates this year to last year — I think last year was just the console update, and then we did [new map] Point Hope. This year, we’ve already done the Bleasdale update. Grafton. The Chronicle update — which was a huge shake-up of the gameplay — came out a couple of months ago, and we’re still on track with our roadmap. We did Easter, we’ve got the Halloween holiday, and then Nell’s Diner as well.
IGN: You recently said the diner was a chance to use a little environmental storytelling, too?
Corey J. Dixon: We’re trying to push that as much as possible. Phas doesn’t have a story, per se, but even back when I did the asylum map, I tried to add a bit of storytelling there about, like, maybe there’s an origin story there for one of the ghosts, or maybe it’s just a crazed lunatic.
We’re trying to let players think about what happened here without being too hand-holding. We’ve dropped these little bits and pieces around, and people absolutely love it. We did some stuff in Bleasdale that even referenced Grafton. [Our community] absolutely loves it. So we’re just trying to push that Phas is not just a ghost-hunting game with these environments that look pretty but don’t mean anything. It’s a living, breathing world. We’ve got a lore update coming at some point that’s just going to push the storytelling in the game as far as we can.
IGN: Does this mean we’re closer to a 1.0 release? Phasmophobia’s been in early access since its 2020 debut.
Corey J. Dixon: We definitely have plans for 1.0, probably in line with our Horror 2.0 update [slated for 2026] is where we feel the game is feature-complete. It doesn’t mean we’ll stop working on it — we still want map reworks and new maps and stuff in the future, so there’ll be more stuff for the game. But I think once the Horror 2.0 has been redone, which is the next thing we work on after the [2025’s] Player Update, the game will feel finished. Once that’s in, I think it will be in a good spot.
It’s really difficult to know [when it may be finished]. Our community is constantly putting out, ‘Oh, it should have this!’ so we can look at that and just keep doing it! We’d love to work on it until we’re really happy with it. We haven’t set a date or an update that’s like: we’re done. I think we’ll just know: there’ll be that company-wide feeling that this project is done now, we’ve made it the best it can be, which is what Dan wanted Day One. I think we’ll know when we hit that milestone — I don’t think we can plan for that.
IGN: How do you keep the horror sequences fresh (and scary) for veteran players while keeping the gameplay loop simple enough for new ghosthunters?
Corey J. Dixon: We just try and maintain a balance. Like with the Chronicle update, we wanted to make it make sense. Before, something would be dropped on the floor, and you take a photo and go to the person you’re selling them to, and say: ‘I promised the ghost threw this! It wasn’t me!’ So that was the main goal of the update: let’s make the evidence system make sense, right?
People come up with crazy ideas, and some of them are great. Going back to the first anniversary, and we did a mini update where we redid the journal, because that was a big pain point for players. And people were posting designs on Reddit. It meant that when we came to do it, we had tons of reference, and we knew what players wanted feature-wise, and we just had to make it kind of look pretty, and we haven’t touched it since. The community’s great, it’s almost like you don’t need anyone [on the development team] with a brain now. We could just be developers that don’t have any thought, and we just follow the Reddit thread and just churn out stuff, because there’s so many good ideas on there!
When we got to the gameplay design of the Chronicle Update, it was just about maintaining that interest for new players, but having it complicated enough so that experienced players would enjoy it as well. With the unique and duplicate system, you can go in and take whatever photos, videos, and sounds you want, and not worry about the unique and duplicates, and you’ll still get a pretty good payout.
But veteran players with thousands of hours [in the game] — they know every nook and cranny. They can kind of curate their own really difficult game mode in custom difficulty, and they can go for a perfect investigation, and they can make each game the hardest they want it to be, and then end up with these huge payouts. The custom update is kind of ‘play your way.’ We noticed so many people were making their own little challenges, and we were like, let’s just put it in the game. Let’s just spend the time and put it in. We did a few updates to get the rewards right, but now it’s super solid. It’s rewarding when it needs to be, and it’s less rewarding when it doesn’t. I’m really happy with how that turned out.
IGN: Given how much Phasmophobia has changed since its launch half a decade ago, have you ever considered starting from scratch with a sequel?
Corey J. Dixon: I wouldn’t write it off. It would be a fun challenge to see if we could do another one. There are a lot of things that I know we would change as a company if we went into Phas fresh. There’s definitely things we would all probably say, ‘Oh, let’s not do that!’ Or ‘that would be awesome. We should do that instead.’ So, yeah, you never know. It’s definitely not off the cards.
IGN: What about a Nintendo Switch 2 version?
Corey J. Dixon: We want what’s best for the game, and if the opportunity arises, we’d love to. But there’s no news or anything I can share.
IGN: Before we go — the Blumhouse movie adaptation. How can Phasmophobia’s genre-defining gameplay translate to a movie?
Corey J. Dixon: We’ve got a really good partnership with Blumhouse. It’s brilliant. It will be a Phasmophobia film, it won’t just be a ghost hunting film — we’re going to make sure it’s a film that fans want to watch, and we’re going to work with them really closely. They’re really willing to work with us, and, obviously, we want to work with them. So yeah, we’ve got a really good partnership, and I think fans are going to love it when it comes.
Phasmophobia’s Grafton Farmhouse reworked map is now live across all platforms, including PC via Steam, PS5, PS VR2, and Xbox Series X and S.
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.
Monster Hunter Wilds’ crucial update 1.021 goes live tomorrow, August 13, and ahead of that Capcom has released early patch notes alongside a message to the community apologizing for the state of the game.
Director Yuya Tokuda confirmed update 1.021 expands the endgame, adds 9★ Monsters and Talismans, and makes improvements to weapon balance, quality of life changes, and optimizations.
Of particular interest to PC players will be Capcom’s effort to improve “stability.” Monster Hunter Wilds has a ‘mixed’ user review rating on Steam for all reviews, but recent reviews are ‘mostly negative.’
Despite reviewing well initially, Monster Hunter Wilds’ endgame content is sorely lacking compared to past games, so the many fans who play Monster Hunter over time, with friends, are struggling. It’s also suffering from severe performance issues on PC that have yet to be fully resolved. Despite new content and seasons, fans remain unsatisfied with the state of the game, to the point where some are taking things too far and apparently harassing and threatening individual Capcom team members over it.
Tokuda began his message to the community by apologizing for the time it’s taking to make improvements to the game, but insisted Capcom is committed to the cause. To that end, Title Update 3 is scheduled for release at the end of September, and Title Update 4 is due out this winter. “For our fourth title update this winter, on top of new monsters, we are also considering additional weapon-related end-game features,” Capcom said.
Monster Hunter Wilds update 1.021 patch notes:
Expanded End-game Content
Originally planned for implementation in the third title update scheduled for the end of September, we’ve moved up the implementation of expanded end-game content to the Ver. 1.021 update.
We will be adding a new set of high-difficulty quests, and as rewards for completing them, you can obtain talismans with randomly assigned bonuses, including weapon skills.
1. As a new set of high-difficulty quests, 9★ monsters will start appearing when you are HR 100 or higher.
Starting with Ver. 1.021, Tempered Monsters (9★) of nine monster species will begin appearing in locales. Following that, our third title update in late September will see additional 9★ monsters appear in event quests.
For veteran players who have experienced end-game content in previous Monster Hunter titles, we understand that the difficulty of Tempered Monsters at launch may have felt lacking. Therefore, starting with Title Update 2, we’ve introduced a system for more detailed monster parameter customization, as well as other adjustments to ensure a challenging and rewarding experience.
2. We’re adding the Glowing Stone appraisal item as a quest reward for quests with 9★ monsters.
Upon quest completion, the Glowing Stone appraisal item — a quest reward for quests with 9★ monsters — will transform into an Appraised Talisman with randomly assigned skills. Unlike other talismans which can be crafted and upgraded at the Smithy, Appraised Talismans cannot be upgraded. However, they can be randomly granted not only armor skills but weapon skills and decoration slots (both weapon skill and armor skill decoration slots), allowing for more customization and experimentation with builds. We hope this leads to more engaging gameplay and encourages hunters to try different weapons and armor based on the talismans they obtain.
Additionally, we recognized that end-game content early after the game’s release was slightly skewed around Arkveld. This, combined with the fact that Arkveld is relatively resistant to elements, resulted in limited opportunities to try out diverse builds. In response, we have adjusted the difficulty, average hunting time, and rewards for each of the 9★ monsters being added in an effort to ensure that all monsters offer balanced rewards fitting with the effort spent hunting them. We encourage you to select your hunts based on your own individual skill, equipment, or needs, and enjoy each challenge.
9★ Monster Adjustments
In light of the addition of 9★ monsters, we’ve lengthened the duration of meal effects so that they’re less likely to expire if the hunts go on a little long. We also raised the upgrade limit for armor of rarity 5 or above, so that players can squeeze in a little more defense before they go up against these challenging new monsters. Additionally, from HR 100 and higher, Rey Dau and Nu Udra will now appear in the Wounded Hollow, and each region’s apex predator will be more likely to appear even with that region is not experiencing an inclemency.
Title Update 3 As mentioned previously, Title Update 3 will see the gradual introduction of 9★ monsters in Event Quests as well. We are also adjusting the strength of support hunters in line with the addition of 9★ monsters. We apologize that the timing of these adjustments are in stages and come after the implementation of the monsters themselves, but we hope you understand that this is a result of expediting the monster implementation. In order to diversify the lineup of quests, we are working to make it possible for Lagiacrus to appear in the Wounded Hollow, as well as other additions such as more hunts targeting packs of monsters. We are also implementing adjustments to improve gameplay convenience, such as preventing monsters from spontaneously destroying pop-up camps and resetting the cooldown for mantles upon beginning a quest.
Finally, we can also assure you that any new monsters added in Title Update 3 will also feature 9★ difficulty quests. We hope you look forward to the new contents for Title Update 3, and that in the meantime you can enjoy the new additions from Ver. 1.021 to strengthen your equipment and collect Appraised Talismans in preparation for the challenging hunts ahead.
Weapon Balance Changes
As previously announced, we had been planning balance adjustments for 5 weapon types. However, in the end we have expanded the scope and will be implementing adjustments (upward adjustments) for 11 total weapon types.
Affected Weapon Types: Great Sword, Long Sword, Sword & Shield, Dual Blades, Hunting Horn, Lance, Switch Axe, Charge Blade, Insect Glaive, Light Bowgun, Heavy Bowgun
Bug Fixes Only: Gunlance, Bow
Overall Direction
In previous updates, we aimed for greater diversity in hunting styles and equipment builds, including equipment with elemental properties. We performed balance adjustments, including some downward adjustments, to ensure no single strategy was overly effective against monsters introduced later on. However, this resulted in some hunting styles becoming less viable and certain weapon types experiencing lower-than-intended viability. We apologize for the results and that we did not communicate our balancing intentions clearly enough.
This update will mitigate the excessive downward adjustments made in Title Update 2, and will focus on enhancing each weapon type’s individuality while strengthening their ability to face high-difficulty monsters planned in the future. We will be implementing upward adjustments for 11 weapon types.
Revisiting Downward Adjustments
For sword & shield, charge blade, light bowgun, and heavy bowgun, we will be revisiting the downward adjustments made in Title Update 2.
Sword & Shield In Wilds, we’ve been particularly focused on making the weapon easy to handle even for beginners, making adjustments to its moveset so that a certain level of damage can be dealt with any action. Among these, the damage output of some actions was found to be too high in relation to their ease of use when compared to other weapon types. Therefore, we made some downward adjustments in Title Update 2. Among those adjustments, we found that the downward adjustment to Guard Slash reduced the usage frequency of Counter Slash, so we’re applying a slight power increase to Guard Slash to compensate.
Charge Blade In Title Update 2, we aimed to balance Amped Element Discharge so that it could offer another reliable source of damage beyond multi-hit attacks in Axe Mode. However, the adjustment resulted in less power than intended, and also failed to expand player options. To address this, we revisited these adjustments and made it so that increased damage via enhanced phials is reflected while in Power Axe Mode, making it easier to maintain high damage output while keeping Power Axe Mode active.
Light Bowgun & Heavy Bowgun In the Ver. 1.011 update, we introduced downwards adjustments to elemental and pierce ammo to prevent them from being overpowered against future high-difficulty monsters, like the recently-introduced Arch-tempered Uth Duna, and to ensure that a variety of weapon types were viable. However, we’re reviewing this change and will be slightly increasing the power of elemental ammo for light bowguns. We will also relax the downward adjustment to the amount of rapid fire and ignition gauge recovery when using pierce ammo. Finally, we’ll increase the amount of gauge recovery for various ammo types and improve the handling and power of special ammo in order to expand viable ammo selections for more situations.
Other Weapons
We will perform some upward adjustments for weapons like the great sword and insect glaive as well, which previously have not been the subject of balance changes.
For dual blades, we focused on improving usability, such as making Demon Boost Mode easier to maintain and making Focus Strikes easier to use. In particular, based on player feedback, we added a Focus Strike action (which can be chained into others) that provides another option for continuing attacks without changing your position.
We have implemented upwards adjustments for each weapon type, focusing on expanding playstyle options. We encourage hunters to try each of the weapons out again after the update is live. Details on the adjustments made for each weapon type will be included in Guild Reports on our official social media accounts, so please check the reports for more information that we weren’t able to share here.
We also plan to adjust some series skills that were previously difficult to use, with the overall goal of increasing equipment build options.
Efforts to Improve Game Stability
We’d also like to touch on our efforts to improve game stability, particularly for the Steam version, in response to numerous player comments.
Bug Fixes
We are currently aware of an issue across all platforms where the game may crash when a player gesture, such as the Water Gun gesture, hits another player at the same time that a specific type of communication error has occurred.
We plan to fix this issue in the Ver. 1.021 update. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and ask that you please wait a little longer for the fix.
We are strengthening our checking system to prevent game crashes caused by issues on the application side. In the event that a bug is found, we will investigate and fix it promptly.
CPU Usage Optimization (Steam Version)
In Title Update 2, we fixed bugs related to shader compilation and reduced the impact of anti-cheat measures on processing load by about 90%. In addition, as an option to reduce CPU load while improving frame rate, we implemented support for the latest super-resolution technologies, DLSS4 and FSR4.
In addition, in Title Update 2 we improved our texture loading process, reducing instances where low-quality textures are displayed when monsters suddenly enter the player’s field of view. Title Update 3 will see similar improvements for NPCs and Seikret mounts.
Future Plans In general, increasing the native frame rate will also increase CPU usage. If the frame rate limit is set to unlimited or a high value in the options, CPU performance will be maximized(*) in the attempt to increase the frame rate, which may result in a very high CPU usage. Please adjust your graphics options to limit the frame rate in accordance with your hardware’s specifications.
*In cases where GPU performance is bottlenecked, CPU performance may not be fully utilized.
We are aware that some players may be concerned about the potential strain on their PCs, particularly those using CPUs known to have stability issues (as reported by various manufacturers), due to prolonged high CPU usage during extended play sessions. On the other hand, as making changes to CPU processing could affect the game’s overall performance, we plan to proceed with caution.
In regards to CPU load reduction, we plan to address this issue in the fourth title update scheduled for this winter. Once the initial implementation is complete, we will proceed with a second stage of further mitigation measures. We will also address GPU load reduction in a similar manner.
We will continue to work on improving the game’s stability so that more players can enjoy the game on PC with peace of mind. Thank you for your understanding.
Looking Ahead!
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of you who have provided us with valuable feedback and requests.
We will continue to share the development team’s progress on these through our Guild Reports. For detailed information on adjustments, including those we were unable to cover in this update, please refer to our official social media accounts and website.
Note: Information will be published on our social media accounts first, and later posted on our official website as well. For the absolute latest, please check social media.
We will continue to make various fixes and adjustments through future updates, as well as implement additional exciting new content. We also plan to address improvements that were not included in the Ver. 1.021 update in future title updates.
Please also look forward to more details we’ll be announcing soon about Title Update 3, scheduled for release at the end of September. For our fourth title update this winter, on top of new monsters, we are also considering additional weapon-related end-game features.
We’ll continue to work hard to make Monster Hunter Wilds as enjoyable as possible for hunters throughout the world. Thank you for your continued support.
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.
