Category: IGN

Content Warning: The following article contains mentions of themes some readers may find distressing, including those of self-harm and suicide.

Silent Hill: The Short Message has surpassed one million downloads, publisher Konami has announced.

In a post on the Japanese Silent Hill X/Twitter account, Konami celebrated the milestone for the free-to-play Silent Hill spin-off. Confirmation The Short Message surpassed “over one million downloads” arrived in artwork depicting the creepy post-it notes appearing in the game.

The Short Message was revealed and released during Sony’s first PlayStation State of Play presentation of 2024 on January 31 and takes players to modern day Germany. Taking on the role of Anita, players explore a typically spooky house called The Villa from a first-person perspective, in what Konami described as an “experimental” taste of the wider Silent Hill franchise.

『SILENT HILL: The Short Message』

100万ダウンロードを突破しました。
プレイいただいた皆さまありがとうございます。

公式サイト：https://t.co/nbv0zTpl5P#SILENTHILL #SHTSM pic.twitter.com/aQKTTPURhU

— SILENT HILL (@silenthill_jp) February 6, 2024

Despite receiving a surprise release during the PlayStation showcase, The Short Message’s existence wasn’t very well hidden. Myriad leaks gave fans a good idea of the plot, gameplay, and visuals, including one from the Australian ratings board which confirmed what it described as “an exploration-based psychological horror game”.

Also outlined in the ratings board description, The Short Message includes “strong suicide themes” and “horror violence”, though we won’t disclose those scenes here for the sake of sensitivity and spoilers.

The Short Message’s themes also bring to mind images leaked in May 2022 that were allegedly from a Silent Hill game. Though they were quickly taken down, the images showed a young woman and a single house being viewed from a first-person perspective, which is now confirmed to be The Short Message.

Suicide: If you are having suicidal thoughts, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline in the U.S. is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-273-8255. A list of international suicide hotlines can be found here.

Sony has outlined a raft of new features and quality-of-life improvements for the PlayStation 5, out now in beta form and set to roll out for everyone in the coming months.

In a PlayStation Blog post, senior vice president of platform experience at Sony Interactive Entertainment Hideaki Nishino said the beta including these updates is limited to invited participants in the U.S., Canada, Japan, UK, Germany, and France, who’ll receive an email if chosen.

Nintendo is squeezing sales out of the seven year-old Switch, shifting 13.74 million units in the first nine months of the financial year, a 7.8% decline on the same period a year earlier. But it has revised its sales forecast for the current financial year up, predicting Switch sales of 15.5 million, up from the 15 million previously predicted.

Reporting its financials for the three months ending December 31, 2023, Nintendo said Switch exclusive Super Mario Bros. Wonder, the first side-scrolling Super Mario Bros. in almost 11 years, saw a “solid start” with sales of 11.96 million.

Sales continued to grow for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which is now up to an incredible 20.28 million units sold but some way off Breath of the Wild‘s 31.61 million sold. Pikmin 4 is now on 3.33 million units sold, and Super Mario RPG, which came out in November, reached 3.14 million units.

Boosted by the April release of the phenomenally successful The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe shifted another 6.79 million units. The kart racer is now up to an eye-watering 60.58 million sold, comfortably the best-selling Switch game and the best-selling kart racer of all time.

As for Switch, Nintendo said sales of the console “continued to be steady” in its seventh year since launch. The Switch is now up to 139.36 million units sold. It lags behind only the Nintendo DS and the PlayStation 2 in the best-selling consoles of all-time list. Indeed, the Switch has more annual playing users than ever before, with 122 million recorded during the 2023 calendar year.

Switch software sales totaled 163.95 million units (a decrease of 4.7% year-on-year) for the period. Nintendo reported a record net profit of 408 billion yen ($2.7 billion) for the April-December period.

“For hardware, by continuing to convey the appeal of Nintendo Switch, we try not only to put one system in every home, but several in every home, or even one for every person,” Nintendo said. “Another objective is to continually release new offerings so more consumers keep playing Nintendo Switch even longer and we can maximize hardware sales.”

Looking ahead, Nintendo will release Mario vs. Donkey Kong this month and Princess Peach:

Showtime! in March. Splatoon 3: Expansion Pass – Side Order, the second wave of paid add-on content for Splatoon 3, is due out this month.

Of course, expectations of an announcement of Switch 2 are sky high, with the console reportedly due out during the second half of 2024. One of the big unanswered questions is whether this next-gen console will be backwards compatible with the Switch. With 122 million Switch players in tow, is seems unlikely Nintendo will leave those accounts behind to start over.

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.

An Elden Ring mobile game is in development, but don’t hold your breath — it sounds like this one’s a while away.

Reuters reports that Tencent is working to adapt FromSoftware’s mega hit into a mobile game, but progress is described as “slow”.

Apparently Tencent wants the Elden Ring mobile game to work similarly to gacha game Genshin Impact, with a free-to-play business model supported by in-app purchases. But the design of Elden Ring, which is a single-player, premium action role-playing game, is “at odds” with Tencent’s vision.

News of an Elden Ring mobile game comes amid what fans hope is the imminent release of the hotly anticipated Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree. Various changes to the back end of Elden Ring’s entry in Steam suggest something is afoot. So far, however, both developer FromSoftware and publisher Bandai Namco have remained quiet.

As for Tencent, it appears to be struggling to create mobile game hits based on established PC and console games. Last week it emerged Tencent had canceled an unannounced Nier mobile game.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Obsidian Entertainment has responded to criticism revolving around its upcoming fantasy RPG, Avowed, saying that there is still work to be done before players try the experience for themselves.

This update on one of Xbox Game Studios’ most anticipated titles comes from the Dropped Frames podcast, which recently invited Avowed Game Director Carrie Patel on to talk about how development is going. She says it’s been interesting to work on Avowed while periodically unveiling slivers of content to the public. However, as fans get to peek behind the curtain and critique what they see, she hopes they realize that these demos represent somewhat dated builds.

Avowed has only shown up at events a handful of times, with one recent example being a gameplay-focused demo that appeared at the Xbox Developer Direct in January.

“We’re getting to show more and more, but all of that is while the game is still in progress, obviously,” Patel explained. “One of the heartening things has been seeing fans call out some of the things that we are actively working on, like the sense of hitting and impacts as you’re attacking enemies. It’s like, ‘Yep, what you all saw was still a few weeks behind where we were even when that footage was released just because of the nature of the way these things are put together, and the team’s been working on it.’”

Patel says it’s nice to see feedback like this and know Obsidian has already addressed those concerns or is at least in the process of addressing them. When asked how the studio incorporates online commentary surrounding Avowed, she said that “it’s definitely a point of discussion.”

“We’ve definitely got enough people who follow that stuff closely enough that, if there’s something that’s coming up a lot in commentary, we’re probably talking about it internally,” Patel said.

We recently learned a lot about how Avowed will compare to some of Obsidian’s past titles. Fans familiar with the studio will be happy to know that the adventure will have multiple endings to uncover. However, you won’t be able to romance your companions as you wander through the magical settings, and you’ll only be able to play as either a human or an elf.

Avowed is currently slated to launch for PC and Xbox Series X | S sometime this fall. In other Microsoft gaming news, Xbox head Phil Spencer just revealed that the company will talk about its future in interactive entertainment in a business update next week. This follows swarms of reports that the company is interested in bringing some of its titles to other platforms.

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.

Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.

For those with a Nintendo Switch, we’ve found an excellent deal that you definitely don’t want to miss out on. Right now, Walmart is offering a great discount on a physical version of Super Mario RPG. You can save $15.11 on the title, as its price has dropped from $59.99 to $44.88.

This is a deal that’s definitely worth jumping on, as discounts like this can disappear fast. Pick up your copy at the link below.

Get $15 Off Super Mario RPG at Walmart

In our Super Mario RPG review, we gave the game an 8/10, expaining that it’s, “considered a classic for a reason, and this wonderfully faithful remake makes it easy for anyone who missed it in the SNES era to see why.” We also came to the conclusion that, “Super Mario RPG already held up pretty well if you didn’t mind a bit of dust on its different systems, but now there’s no excuse not to see why Mario’s most unexpected adventure is still so beloved.”

If you’re curious to see even more deals on Nintendo Switch games, make sure to check out our roundup of the best Nintendo Switch deals today. Alongside this deal on Super Mario RPG, you can also find discounts on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Bros. Wonder. For the latter, it marks its first discount as well (down to $50), so it’s well worth taking advantage of before the price goes back up! You can also save on some games right now over at Amazon as they have a Buy 1 Get 1 50% Off sale going on that includes some Switch titles. There’s also a selection of Blu-rays, books, and more included in that sale that are worth a look.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.

When it comes to game night, it’s always a great idea to have a variety of board games around for people to choose from. Unfortunately, building that collection of games can oftentimes cost you more than you’d expect. Have no fear, though, as we’re here to help you out with a variety of deals on board games that are worth picking up.

TL;DR – The Best Board Game Deals

This doesn’t just cater to events like Amazon Prime Day or Black Friday, either. We try to find deals on the best board games all throughout the year, so you can buy your favorites without breaking the bank. Below, you can find a selection of the best board game deals at the moment.

The Best Board Game Deals

Board Games: Budget to Best

For when board games aren’t on sale, it’s nice to know you still have options that don’t cost you tons of money. Here, we’ll point you in the direction of more affordable board games that are still worth the investment for your next game night.

When Is the Best Time to Find Board Game Deals?

Board games go on sale at sites like Amazon, Target, Walmart, and even GameStop fairly regularly — you can generally find special discounts every month or two. In addition, they absolutely get big discounts during major sale events like Amazon’s Prime Day and Black Friday.

While Prime Day is primarily an Amazon shopping holiday, other retailers always put on competing sales events at the same time. Those are great times to look for board game deals.

As for Black Friday, it’s not just a one-day event: you can often find deals on board games the whole week of Black Friday, as well as on Cyber Monday and throughout that whole following week. Keep in mind that stock runs out (particularly at Amazon), so if you see a good price on a board game you want during one of these major sale events, grab it before it’s gone.

How to Know if it’s Really a Good Board Game Deal

At online board game retailers like Amazon and Walmart, prices are always in flux, to say the least. Many of the board games in the board game section will be discounted to some degree from their MSRP. But there are a few ways to know when a board game is on sale for a notable discount.

For one, you can check Amazon’s daily deals page, where you’ll occasionally find an actual sale on various board games. Sometimes these are from one company, sometimes they’re on the whole category of board games. Target also periodically runs sales on board games, so check their deal page, too.

If you’re looking at a board game and are wondering if the sale price is good, copy the URL and paste it into the search field at camelcamelcamel. That’s an Amazon price tracker that shows you price history. Better yet, it works for any item, not just board games.

Finally, you can follow IGN Deals on Twitter, where we’ll always tweet any notable board game deals we come across.

How Do You Know if a Board Game Is Any Good?

IGN reviews board games fairly regularly, so you can always search to see if we’ve reviewed a game you’re considering picking up. Other websites do, too. We also have a whole lot of board game roundups, ranging from the best classic board games and the best cooperative board games to the best horror board games.

Outside of IGN, the best board game resource around (for my money) is Board Game Geek. It maintains a database of every board and card game you’d want to know about, with all kinds of news, stats, and user reviews all gathered together in one place.

The Xbox version of Final Fantasy 14 requires a Game Pass subscription on top of the massively multiplayer role-playing game’s own monthly cost.

Tucked into a blog post revealing the Xbox version’s open beta begins on February 21 at 12 midnight Pacific / 3am Eastern / 8am UK, Square Enix revealed that, unlike PlayStation, Xbox players will have to pay for two subscriptions to play Final Fantasy 14.

“The Free Trial version, including the open beta test, will not require an Xbox Game Pass (Core or Ultimate) plan to play,” Square Enix said. “However, the full Xbox Series X and S version will require an Xbox Game Pass (Core or Ultimate) plan to play.”

A 30 day subscription to the game costs $14.99, 90 days costs $41.97, and 180 days costs $77.94. Xbox Game Pass Core, which is the cheapest tier, costs $9.99, $24.99 for three months, or $59.99 for a year. The cheapest Xbox players could play Final Fantasy 14 for per month is therefore $17.98 if they commit to the longest possible subscription of each. Xbox players will otherwise pay $24.98 if they choose to pay for both on a monthly basis.

PlayStation players are not required to own a PlayStation Plus subscription to play Final Fantasy 14, leaving many fans confused over why the Xbox equivalent is required. PC players don’t require any additional subscriptions either.

“Mind boggling decision,” said Super on ResetEra. “Xbox will be the only platform where you need paid online and the game subscription to play.” Yam’s chimed in too: “Greedy move. Not like you have time to benefit from a Game Pass subscription while playing an MMO.”

The blog post also confirmed the game will fully release on Xbox immediately upon the open beta’s conclusion, though it didn’t offer any idea as to when this may be.

In our 9/10 review of the game’s latest expansion, IGN said: “Final Fantasy 14’s Endwalker expansion brings its longest story arc to a satisfying close and cements its place as one of the best Final Fantasy stories ever told.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora has dropped a significant $30 from its MSRP in a brand new sale at Best Buy. It’s down to just $39.99 for PS5 and Xbox, marking a serious saving on a game that came out just less than two months ago on December 7, 2023.

From what we can tell, this is the best price on the game at the moment, compared to the $50 pricepoint that is being offered at Amazon and Target. As they say, it can pay to be a patient gamer. If the $70 pricepoint was too steep for you, this new sale might just hit the sweet spot for many of us to pull the trigger on the latest entry into the famous franchise.

IGN reviewer Tristan Ogilvie gave the game a 7/10 in his review, stating: “Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora features a stunning alien world to explore with a refreshingly uncluttered approach to navigation, countless enemy bases to destroy and Na’vi clan sidequests to complete, and no shortage of exotic flora and fauna to harvest and hunt.

“However, its combat is pretty one-dimensional, its mission design is a bit on the repetitive side, and its environment is generally lacking in any major surprises beyond visual splendor, meaning that Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a solid shooting adventure that’s more inside the box than truly out of this world.

A Ubisoft exec has recently stated that gamers will need to get “comfortable” not owning their games for subscription models to take off. This comes after the launch of Ubisofts revamped subscription model titled Ubisoft+ Premium — which now costs $17.99/month and conceded with the recent launch of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.

Other gaming and tech deals to consider right now include Super Mario Bros. Wonder dropping down to just $49.99, alongside the 2023 Alienware Aurora RTX 4090 gaming PC for $3299.99 ($400 instant discount), and $100 off an Apple Watch Series 9 in the latest sales.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

Who’s excited to dive back into the world of Gaia with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on PS5? We are as well, and what’s more, you can snag this rebooted adventure for a steal at Currys. By using code ‘REBIRTH20’, you can preorder the game for just £55.99—that’s 20% off and £14 off the RRP. That’s right, a saving that feels almost as good as summoning Bahamut in a boss fight.

This deal from Currys is giving us an offer that’s hard to resist. This is the best Final Fantasy VII Rebirth preorder deal in the UK right now, making it the perfect time to secure your copy and ensure you’re among the first to explore the expanded universe. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to save big and embark on an unforgettable adventure, as the game is set to release on February 29.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth promises to bring back the nostalgia, while adding layers of depth to the story and gameplay that we’ve been dreaming of since the original. The game is the highly anticipated second installment in the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy, taking the iconic story into its next chapter.

The anticipation surrounding the release of the game is palpable, with fans eagerly discussing how good they expect the game to be. Whether you’re a die-hard fan or a curious newcomer, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is shaping up to be an unforgettable journey through one of gaming’s most cherished universes.

We’ll be able to get a much closer look at the game next week, because it looks like a demo is on the way, giving fans a chance to try out the game and hopefully get their nostalgic juices flowing.

In our first hands-on preview of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, we said: “Story-wise, Rebirth again feels very familiar, and yet also different. This is due in part to the tremendous difference in scale and presentation. Here, like with Remake, areas that were previously sparse or bare are expanded out into lush zones to explore. But there are also little changes that are mostly inconsequential, but they still play out in different ways than fans of the original FF7 are used to.”

Joe O’Neill-Parker is a freelance writer and audio producer. He is the owner of O’Neill Multimedia. He writes commerce, sports, and audio-related tech articles for IGN.