Sony has confirmed the PlayStation Plus monthly games for November 2025, confirming a prior leak.
Dealabs’ ever-reliable billbil-kun had reported that Stray would be the main title for the PlayStation Plus Essential selection for November 2025, and would be available from November 4, 2025 on PS5 and PS4 for Essential, Extra, and Premium subscribers. And so it has proved.
In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Sony confirmed Stray, EA Sports WRC 24, and Totally Accurate Battle Simulator as the three games for November. All three are available to PlayStation Plus members from Tuesday November 4 until Monday December 1.
Stray is French studio BlueTwelve’s third-person cat adventure game set in the neon-lit alleys of a decaying cybercity and the murky environments of its seedy underbelly. As a stray cat, you roam surroundings high and low, defending against unforeseen threats and solving the mysteries of this unwelcoming place inhabited by nothing but unassuming droids and dangerous creatures. Lost, alone and separated from family, you must untangle an ancient mystery to escape a long-forgotten cybercity and find the way home.
IGN’s Stray review returned an 8/10. We said: “Stray is a delightful cat-based platforming adventure in a cyberpunk world worth exploring.”
Codemasters’ EA Sports WRC launched in 2023 and managed a 6/10 in IGN’s review. We said: “EA Sports WRC feels like a great racing game trying to fight its way out of an unfinished one.” TABS, meanwhile, is Landfall Games’ physics based medieval battle simulator that lets you pit wacky waving armies against each other.
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.
Chasing Victini and Zekrom Black White Rares? How about getting your hands on any Secret Illustration Rare or Illustration Rare? Chances are you’ll find one in a Black Bolt Elite Trainer Box, and I’m not talsking about the included promo card. It has eight booster packs and other goodies such as 65-themed deck sleeves and dice. Plus, it’s very rare Amazon does competitive pricing on Pokémon TCG.
STAR WARS The Black Series Gaming Greats Kyle Katarn
Kyle Katarn is literally a legend in the Star Wars community, one for being Luke Skywalkers right hand man during the Dark Forces and Jedi Knight games building up the New Jedi Academy on Yavin IV. And he’s literally part of Legends continuity, which at this point makes for a far insteresting post-Return of the Jedi Star Wars romp. Also, this figure is cool so buy it. Rant over.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners MADNESS Volume 1
Follow Rebecca and Pilar as they pursue their dreams of becoming an Edgerunner just like their Dad. This is going to be worth preorders thanks to Amazons preorder price guarantee and that it’s written by the screenwriter of the Cyberpunk: Edgerunner anime, Bartosz Sztybor.
Pokemon Halloween Calendar 2025
Want some cute Halloween themed Pokémon figures for $9.99? Better hurry up, this is a fun little thing for everyone to look forward to opening on the leadup to Trick or Treating, even if you want to snag one and put it away for next year.
Meta Knight & Shadow Star amiibo
Kirby Air Riders is officially defying everyone’s expectations with what’s been revealed so far, and it’s another lesson in why no one should underestimate Sakurai San. It’s great to see new amiibo still up for preorder instead of being snatched up by scalpers.
8BitDo Ultimate 2 for Switch / Switch 2 / PC
8BitDo makes amazing controllers, end of. Riving first party options, this controller has every feature you can think of and for 10% off right now. I love the adjustable triggers and clicky buttons on this controller, and it even comes with a dock to keep it charged. How can you loose?
Creative Stage V2 2.1 Soundbar with Subwoofer
Creative have been making some of the best speakers for PC and gaming for decades at this point (and they still do Sound Blaster sound card, how awesome is that?). This setup is a bargain at a limited time deal of $69.99 and comes with all the connectivity options anyone will need, including Bluetooth 5.0 for you and your party guests to hook up too. Winner!
Shin Godzilla – Limited Edition Steelbook
Need more Godzilla and Steelbooks in your life? Good, because this is perfect for you. Featuring a boatload of extra features including cut scenes, outtakes, a making off and much more, this is the definitive edition of Shin Godzilla and great content value for money.
INIU Portable Charger
INIU power banks always do what they say on the tin, and I’ve never had an issue with their product lines. This one is perfect for a commute that doesn’t require a big bulky power bank, with enough charging capacity and power to fast charge your Switch and mobile phone.
JVSCAM Cordless Electric Air Duster
I bought a similar model a couple of months ago and it’s fantastic for cleaning out fans, PCs, keyboards and anything that requires precision cleaning. You will end up using all the tips of this and I can’t recommend this desktop gadget enough.
2 Pack Hand Warmers
It’s getting cold out, and those one-use hand warmers are OK if you fancy bringing a bag full for a day out. These bad boys are USB-rechargable and last for ages. This should be a winter coat pocket essential.
Paladone Nintendo NES Cartridge Retro Drink Coasters
This makes for a great gift this holiday, or just something run to buy for your dining table or coffee table. They’re literal NES cdartridges modeled after fan-favorite games such as The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros. Series and other gems. Just buy them, they’re awesome.
10Pcs Model Tools
Into your Bandai Gundam building kits? This is the perfect tool set for you, providing everything you need for clean builds. It would even be a great little set for any kind of model building such as Warhammer and DnD. Not the biggest saving, but it’s a handy bit of kit for the right job.
There’s some crazy hype behind Mega Evolution right now, and for good reason. Gold rare Mega Lucario and Mega Gardevoir exs are fetching around $400 at the time of writing, and the artwork on the Secret Illustration Rares and Illustration Rares is phenominal (Looking at you Mega Lucario ex SIR). All of these deals are at market value or below, and in some cases knocking big box retailers like Amazon out of the Poképark.
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.
Arc Raiders ended its recent ‘Server Slam’ playtest with big player numbers on Steam, suggesting a strong launch ahead of its October 30 release date. It hit a peak concurrent player count of 189,668, making it one of the most-played games on Valve’s platform the weekend it ran and the biggest extraction shooter ever on Steam. That said, with the full release slated for tomorrow, which happens to be between the launch dates of two of the world’s biggest FPS franchises, Embark Studios CEO Patrick Soderlund admitted some people may wonder “what the hell are they doing?”
“I know. The insanity,” Soderlund told The Game Business. “People may look at that [Arc Raiders’ release date] and say, ‘What the hell are they doing?’ We have spent a lot of time looking at this from multiple angles and you know, for right or wrong, we believe that the game can launch there. This is the start of a long journey. It needs to start somewhere.”
As for whether or not the game’s huge playtest was enough to retain players for a full release? “I think it comes down to not being complacent enough to believe that we can build something without making a meaningful impact or innovation,” Soderlund said. “We have to bring something so that people pay attention. And if we’ve done a good enough job, maybe they’ll stick around. But in order for them to break away from what they’re already playing, there needs to be an attraction.
“A couple of years ago, I was concerned about Arc Raiders and whether it would find its market. So, when we launched the technical test, which was earlier in the spring, we were just blown away by how many people played it. We obviously tried our best to market it, but it became one of those things that just spread virally. We were humbled by that. It’s testament to the work that the team has done building something that is complicated, yet accessible. Something that is easy to play, yet has a lot of gameplay depth.”
Arc Raiders’ design director has said it was fortuitous timing to have its extraction shooter launch a playtest around the same time as Bungie’s Marathon, calling it “a great A/B test for us.” In an interview last week, Virgil Watkins said: “It was very coincidental that they had their test around the time we did. To my knowledge, I don’t think any of us knew that was going to happen. It was a very great A/B test for us, because obviously, they made decisions that we didn’t, and vice versa. So we could kind of compare and contrast how some of those things shook out.”
Embark Studios’ previous game, free-to-download competitive shooter The Finals, is still going, although its concurrent player numbers on Steam are a far cry from those during its explosive launch back in December 2023.
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.
Amazon is walking away from making new content from its MMO, New World, amid huge layoffs affecting 14,000 roles at the company. Now, there is concern over the status of its The Lord of the Rings MMO.
Yesterday, October 28, Amazon confirmed cuts affecting an eye-watering 14,000 roles. It’s one of the biggest round of layoffs the tech giant has ever seen, and comes at a time when other companies in the tech sector, such as Microsoft and Meta, have made similarly huge cuts.
It also comes at a time when Amazon is performing well. So why are they happening? AI, basically. In a note to employees, Beth Galetti, Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology at Amazon, said:
Some may ask why we’re reducing roles when the company is performing well. Across our businesses, we’re delivering great customer experiences every day, innovating at a rapid rate, and producing strong business results. What we need to remember is that the world is changing quickly. This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet, and it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before (in existing market segments and altogether new ones). We’re convinced that we need to be organized more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and business.
What does this all mean for Amazon’s gaming business? According to a report by Bloomberg, nothing good. There are “significant” cuts coming to Amazon’s video game operation, which will reduce development work and layoff staff mainly in its Irvine and San Diego offices.
The New World changes are a part of that, and while the game will remain online during 2026, this is basically the beginning of the end for once hugely popular MMO. Let’s remember, New World was a rare hit for Amazon in the video game space, and followed multiple flops that resulted in game and studio closures. The MMO set in an alternate 1600s America saw huge player numbers on Steam, with a whopping 913,634 peak concurrents on Valve’s platform back in 2021. Player numbers have significantly declined since that peak, however.
Bloomberg said Amazon is cutting back especially on MMOs, but will continue to develop Amazon Games Montreal’s strategy March of Giants, its new Tomb Raider game in the works at Crystal Dynamics, and “casual and AI-focused games” for its cloud gaming service Luna. UK studio Maverick Games will continue to work on its racing game, too. Amazon Games also continues to publish externally developed games such as Lost Ark and Throne & Liberty in western markets.
On The Lord of the Rings MMO, however, Hartmann insisted it was still early days. “We’re still trying to find the hook, find that idea of what it is because we don’t just want to go and do the same thing over,” Hartmann said at the time.
“While it’s tempting sometimes with an existing IP, that’s not the point of doing it. You’ve got to find a fresh twist, and we’re still, I think, in that period where we really want to find out what could be the hook, what could be the thing which is different to all the other games out there. So it’s a little bit early.”
IGN has asked Amazon for an update on The Lord of the Rings MMO.
There are also plenty of questions around Tomb Raider, which has been caught up in the mire around the Embracer Group. Hartmann mostly waved off those concerns, saying that developer Crystal Dynamics is “fairly sheltered from everything going on with Embracer.”
“People obviously look at what the parent company is doing, but it never impacted on resources, never led to any changes on management for them, so they’re fine. I mean, doing a new Tomb Raider, the bar is so high. The longer you go, the expectation goes higher, so it’s a huge, huge task, but things are progressing. I mean, there’s some really great ideas here,” Hartmann said.
“Obviously, we’re not going to share any with you even if we would love to, but things are going well, things are moving forward. And from what I could tell, Crystal was pretty sheltered, because also when you look before…they went through a couple of ownership changes anyway before, it’s not brand new for them.”
Crystal Dynamics was originally brought in to revitalize Perfect Dark after struggles getting the project moving with former co-developer, Certain Affinity. Crystal was later acquired by the Embracer Group in 2022, at which time the studio was revealed to have 273 employees across its Austin, Bellevue, and San Mateo offices. Crystal laid off 10 people in 2023, and laid off 17 more people earlier this year. It’s unclear how many remain now.
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.
Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding developer Hideo Kojima says he was “surprised” to read that the creators of The Matrix wanted him to develop a game based on the franchise, insisting: “no one ever told me such a conversation had taken place.”
Yesterday, IGN reported that The Wachowskis, the writers and directors behind the Matrix movies, once asked Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima to design a Matrix video game, but publisher Konami reportedly turned it down. “The Wachowskis were big fans of Kojima,” Konami Digital Entertainment VP of licensing, Christopher Bergstresser, said. “So Kazumi Kitaue, Kojima, Aki Saito (who still works with Kojima), and I were at the Konami HQ, and we got a call from the Wachowskis, who wanted to come in and meet with Kojima. So they did!
“The two of them came in with their concept artist, and effectively they said to Kojima, ‘We really want you to do the Matrix game. Can you do that?’ Aki translated this into Japanese for Mr. Kitaue, and Kitaue just looked at them and told them plainly, ‘No.’ We did still get to enjoy the Matrix Japanese premiere and afterparty, though.”
However, in a message posted to social media in English, Kojima said that while he and The Wachowskis were “mutual fans and exchanged emails,” he didn’t know they were hoping he’d take on a game adaptation of the movie, and “there could’ve been a way to make it work” despite his commitment to Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.
I was surprised to see on social media that the Wachowski sisters had “offered me a Matrix game project!” back in 1999. In all these 26 years, no one ever told me such a conversation had taken place. At the time, we were mutual fans and exchanged emails. The Matrix hadn’t been… pic.twitter.com/4P10P9eEfT
“I was surprised to see on social media that the Wachowski sisters had ‘offered me a Matrix game project!’ back in 1999,” he wrote. “In all these 26 years, no one ever told me such a conversation had taken place. At the time, we were mutual fans and exchanged emails. The Matrix hadn’t been released in Japan yet, but I had already seen it in theaters in the U.S. and at a preview screening.
“When the Wachowskis came to Japan for promotion, I believe I met them three times. In the morning, we had a Famitsu interview in Shinjuku — that time, Geof Darrow joined us for the talk session. In the afternoon, they were invited to the headquarters of Konami’s CS Division. Back then, I was vice-president of KCE Japan, a wholly-owned subsidiary. When I arrived at the headquarters, their meeting with Mr. Kitaue, the head of the CS Division, had just ended.
“I joined them afterward, and we chatted for about an hour without an interpreter (Aki wasn’t even there),” he added. “I think John Gaeta, the visual effects supervisor, was also present. That evening, I attended the premiere screening and party, where I also met Joel Silver. Even then, there was no mention of an offer.
“At that time, I was already extremely busy with [Metal Gear Solid 2] and probably couldn’t have accepted the offer right away. But if someone had told me, maybe there could’ve been a way to make it work.”
The Matrix franchise was eventually adapted into a series of games, of course, starting with Shiny Entertainment’s Enter the Matrix in 2003, follow up The Matrix: Path of Neo in 2005, and Monolith Production’s The Matrix Online in the same year. We were also treated to a Matrix-themed tech demo in 2021, The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience, in which Epic Games showed us what Unreal Engine 5 was capable of.
Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Kojima Productions.
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.
It’s hard to imagine what first-person shooters would be like today, if they were to exist at all, without the original DOOM, released back on December 10, 1993, for MS-DOS. A lone super soldier, the legendary Doom Guy, fending off the hordes of demons from hell is one of the defining images of PC gaming, and the series continues to shock and amaze fans to this day with every new gory entry. Now, Modiphius Entertainment is bringing DOOM to the tabletop with the upcoming Doom Arena Board Game, now on Kickstarter, and I had a chance to get some time with a prototype to see just how well I could rip and tear in my dining room.
While Doom Arena isn’t the first cardboard adaptation of the series, this latest rendition is a bloodbath contest between one player controlling Doom Guy and the other controlling the demons. Taking place in – you guessed it, an arena – the two players maneuver their plastic forces around the hexagon grid-based warzone, competing to see who can dish out the most pain.
Each point of damage done to an opponent earns you blood, which serves as a victory point.
Each point of damage done to an opponent earns you blood, which serves as a victory point. The winner is whoever comes out ahead in two out of the three rounds by earning the most blood, with each round consisting of six turns each for both sides. Between rounds, both Doom Guy and the Demons can upgrade their arsenals. Doom Guy gets new weapons and armor, while the Demons swap out weaker enemies for hartier ones like Pinky, Cacodemons, or the mighty Cyberdemon.
Doom Arena is one of those games that fits great as a filler between some heavier ones during a game day, or when you just want to have some fun while sipping a cold one and munching on some snacks. The gameplay is a slick dice-chucker where the strategy takes a back seat to running in guns blazing and seeing how much pain you unleash, which is very reminiscent of its source material. The only real “strategy” I found myself thinking about is what upgrades I was going to spend my resources on between rounds.
I appreciate the simpler ruleset behind Doom Arena, because you can explain the rules to friends pretty quickly and be rolling dice shortly after. That being said, I wouldn’t complain if there were a smidgen more depth to be found. To be fair, the prototype I had access to and a work-in-progress ruleset included only two-player game modes, whereas the final game will be playable with 2-4 players, so it’s possible the additional depth I am hoping for will be found in the final rules and other game modes. On the topic of game modes, I will say that having official rules for starting with more upgrades is smart, and makes for a ton of chaotic fun, and I could see some great matches happen by adopting a pick/counter-pick approach.
The version of Doom Arena that I played featured miniatures showcasing the classic looks of Doom Guy and demons that players of the original game from the ’90s will recognize. But those who jumped on the chainsaw wagon in more recent decades will have a version for them, too. Modiphius is producing a mechanically identical version that instead has arenas, models, and weapons pulled from the most recent Doom: The Dark Ages, with Doom Guy replaced by the menacing Doom Slayer and demons including the Mancubus, Imps, Imp Stalkers, Hell and Battle Knights, Pinky Rider, Arachnotron, and Soldiers. And for folks who may be lacking in storage space, Modiphius will also offer a version that replaces the plastic miniatures with acrylic standees, shrinking the box size and lowering the cost.
When I first heard the announcement that Modiphius was designing a new Doom board game, my mind immediately went to images of playing as Doom Guy, exploring corridors, finding keys to unlock doors, that eventually would lead to a fight with a big scary demon. Something more akin to say a Betrayal at House on the Hill, Cthulu: Death May Die, or Zombicide. I still would love a Doom game like that, but I can’t deny that Doom Arena captures the spirit of these games splendidly.
This is a series about killing as many things as fast as possible, and Arena delivers on that premise in an exciting and digestible package. Even playing dice with this WIP build led to tense moments where I had to hold my breath as I rolled my dice, or giant sighs of relief as my demons avoided being brutally dismembered by a chainsaw. I eagerly look forward to seeing what sort of additional elements or add-ons will be available to play around with and what sort of other game modes will ship in the final release that use three and four players. With the Doom Arena Board Game, Modphius looks to deliver a box that fans of both the video games and board games in general can enjoy, and I am counting down the days until I can rev up my chainsaw again and take it to some demons again.
Doom the Arena Board Game’s campaign runs until November 21, 2025 with an expected delivery date of October 2026.
Scott White is a freelance contributor to IGN, assisting with tabletop games and guide coverage. Follow him on X/Twitter or Bluesky.
The classic 1995 first-person shooter Star Wars: Dark Forces is finally getting its due, in action figure form. Kyle Katarn, the hero of the video game, is getting a Star Wars The Black Series action figure. It costs $27.99 and will be available on April 1. You can preorder it now at Amazon.
Preorder the Kyle Katarn Star Wars The Black Series Action Figure
The Kyle Katarn figure is six inches tall, with a good amount of articulation. It comes with a blaster and a blue-bladed Lightsaber, with a standard blade and one that mimics the blurred swinging effect. It’s a figure that looks good enough for adults to enjoy as a collectible, but it works equally well for play, with a suggest age range of 4+.
The video game Star Wars: Dark Forces hit PC in 1995, with a port to PS1 the following year. It’s one of the early “Doom clones,” but it had strong enough story and gameplay elements to stand up on its own. Gameplay-wise, it included novel ideas like the ability to jump and duck, as well as to look up and down, all of which Doom and Doom 2 lacked.
Dark Forces is set in the (no-longer-canon) extended universe, around the time of the first Star Wars movie. It follows Kyle Katarn, a mercenary working for the Rebel Alliance, as he uncovers the Dark Troopers Project and goes about trying to stop it. This mission brings him all over the galaxy to locations like Jabba’s yacht, the Imperial mines on Gromas, inside a Star Destroyer, and more.
Star Wars: Dark Forces got the remaster treatment last year, making it accessible on modern platforms and tweaking its graphics and adding various quality-of-life improvements.
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.
Fallout Day has just recently concluded, and plenty of news was released for Bethesda’s online RPG. Fallout 76 continues to deliver new content each year, with the Burning Springs DLC set to release later this year. Next year, Bethesda is finally set to release native PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions of the game. Similar to the rest of the franchise, nothing is more iconic in Fallout 76 than Vault Boy. Today, you can pre-order the Vault Boy 76 Nendoroid at IGN Store. If you’re a fan of the legendary RPG series, this is the perfect item to level up your collection.
Shop the Vault Boy 76 Nendoroid at IGN Store
The Vault Boy 76 Nendoroid is set to include three face plates: smiling face, grinning face, and jealous face. Depending on where you put Vault Boy 76, you can customize these for a completely different style of figure! Additionally, the following optional parts are included:
Nuka-Cola
Hat
Limbs of other Vault Boys
Other optional parts for different poses
If you’re unfamiliar, Nendoroid is a line of figures manufactured by Good Smile Company. Each figure sits at approximately four inches tall, offering owners many different poses and parts to customize their Nendoroid to their liking. This Vault Boy 76 Nendoroid is set to release in Q2 2026. Be sure to head over to IGN Store today and secure yours before pre-orders close!
About IGN Store
IGN Store sells high-quality merch, collectibles, and shirts for everything you’re into. It’s a shop built with fans in mind: for all the geek culture and fandom you love most. Whether you’re into comics, movies, anime, games, retro gaming or just want some cute plushies (who doesn’t?), this store is for you!
IGN has once again teamed up with ID@Xbox for a brand-new showcase that arrives today, just a few days before Halloween. This show promises to be packed with exclusive trailers and new gameplay for games from such studios as Serenity Forge, Thunder Lotus, Raw Fury, Skybound, and many more.
To help ensure you don’t miss a thing, we will be gathering all the biggest announcements right here, as they happen. Be sure to refresh during the show to stay up to date with all the exciting reveals, and then let us know what your favorite moment was below!
How to Watch ID@Xbox on IGN and What to Expect
You can watch the ID@Xbox fall showcase on Tuesday, October 28 on the following platforms. The show kicks off at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST and will run for roughly 50 minutes.
The free-to-play Battlefield 6 battle royale game mode has officially arrived in the form of Battlefield REDSEC – but it’s probably not exactly what you think it is.
EA and Battlefield Studios surprise launched their Battlefield battle royale experience across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S just moments ago, bringing months of rumors and leaks to an end with a standalone offering that’s free for both those who do and do not own Battlefield 6. Its name, shorthand for “Redacted Sector,” teases an updated take on a popular multiplayer pastime that’s been bundled in with two additional modes: Gauntlet and Portal. There’s more to REDSEC than fans may have expected, and it’s all tied in with the Battlefield 6 experience under one unified umbrella.
Battlefield Battle Royale
Battle royale is no doubt the headline here, offering access to 100-player matches where classic battle royale gameplay is mixed with the Battlefield 6 formula. Infantry can be seen parachuting over and into explosive firefights in its first trailer, which reveals how BF Studios translated familiar elements into the Battlefield universe, all while 2Pac and Dr. Dre’s California Love plays in the background.
Finding rare loot, hoarding armor plates, mastering small and large points of interest, and completing missions with friends are core parts of many battle royale experiences, and each is necessary to survive in Battlefield, too. It’s more Warzone than Fortnite, but REDSEC has some features that help it stand apart.
Fort Lyndon, a Southern California location that EA and BF Studios call the “biggest Battlefield map ever,” serves as the backdrop for each match. As the trailer highlights crumbling buildings, REDSEC aims to convince players it can build on battle royale without sacrificing what so many love about the franchise: tactical destruction.
Map-altering vehicles are a mainstay for any true Battlefield experience, and that remains the case for Battlefield 6 battle royale, which features everything from tanks to attack boats to golf carts to find. As the ever-present, ever-shrinking ring of fire (fans may remember it from Battlefield V: Firestorm) forces teams out of the frying pan, discovering an M1 Abrams could mean the difference between victory and succumbing to the flames. There will be plenty of less-threatening vehicles to discover around the new battle royale map, but those looking to drive a heavily armored tank will first need to complete missions, nab a keycard reward, and then use it to unlock specific garages.
Battlefield 6 and REDSEC will coexist, so those who have already enjoyed the former can expect to find familiar vehicles, guns, and gadgets in the latter – save for a few tweaks. Class upgrades are just one element to consider and give Assault, Engineer, Support, and Recon players upgrades to work toward. Earn enough XP as the Recon class, for example, and you’ll gain access to an enhancement that powers up drones with bomb-dropping capabilities. Custom loadouts can also be built and used, with players able to earn them by completing missions or by betting on the slightly riskier option of waiting for limited global drop events.
Battlefield 6 players have not-so-patiently waited for battle royale updates for months. Now that REDSEC is finally here to toss Battlefield into a battle royale blender, fans should know that it’s not the only new experience dropping today.
Gauntlet
If you need a break from battle royale, Gauntlet is a separate mode that is also offered as part of today’s new standalone free-to-play experience. While Battlefield battle royale may see squads prowling for loot in between shootouts throughout longer matches, Gauntlet is propped up as a relatively short, elimination-driven gameplay experience.
Instead of 100-player matches, just 32 players (eight squads with four players each) are spread across Fort Lyndon. BF Studios says Gauntlet is structured as a tournament, with teams tasked with fighting through fast-paced, round-based missions.
Players have five minutes to complete the objective for each round, with Gauntlet keeping everyone on their toes with rotating missions and locations. As objectives and settings shift, it’s teamwork that will determine which squad emerges victorious.
REDSEC takes the promise of limitless game-creation tools and brings them over to Fort Lyndon’s massive play area. It’s more room for fans to let their imaginations run wild, with one example we’ve seen including a midair obstacle course that features golf carts, colorful shipping containers, and narrow paths.
REDSEC Portal looks more Grand Theft Auto Online than Battlefield, but that also seems to be what EA and BF Studios are going for. Two official Portal maps will be available at launch, with more set to follow in the future.
How Does Battlefield 6 Work With REDSEC?
The base Battlefield 6 experience takes after Call of Duty, bundling in REDSEC so that players can access it from one main menu. Those who don’t own the recently released Battlefield game can still download REDSEC without issue and at no extra charge, but there are a few differences for those who own the full, premium experience and those who don’t.
Coinciding with the launch of Season 1 today is Battlefield 6’s battle pass system, which shares unlocked rewards and XP progress between both the base game and its REDSEC counterpart. Though some unique challenges and events will be tied to each experience, and some Battlefield 6 vehicle skins won’t appear in certain REDSEC experiences, EA says “there are no plans” for REDSEC-exclusive unlocks.
Portal is where things get slightly complicated. Creative fans who own Battlefield 6 can enjoy the new Portal tools introduced with REDSEC completely unrestricted, gaining access to all the new standalone experience and Fort Lyndon have to offer. Those without the base game, however, won’t have access to any Battlefield 6-exclusive content, such as maps, when making Portal creations. These restrictions don’t stop at the creation side of the user-generated community content hub, either, as EA clarifies that REDSEC-exclusive players won’t be able to create or play any content using Battlefield 6 materials.
Battlefield REDSEC isn’t just battle royale – it’s a completely different beast. This three-pillar standalone experience will change as seasonal updates continue to roll out, and if the weeks following the launch of Battlefield 6 are anything to go by, it will also likely rapidly change as community feedback pours in.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
