Microsoft has solidified its plans for June, confirming an Xbox Games Showcase 2025 as well as an The Outer Worlds 2 Direct.
Microsoft normally hosts a June showcase to reveal upcoming Xbox games, and 2025 is no different. Xbox Games Showcase 2025 will be livestreamed on Sunday, June 8, starting at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK time.
Xbox Games Showcase 2025 will offer a look at upcoming titles from across Microsoft’s first-party studios, Microsoft said, “in addition to incredible new titles from our third-party partners across the globe.”
On the Activision Blizzard side of things, there will of course be a new Call of Duty game later this year, and various releases from Blizzard itself. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 launches in July, so that may make the cut.
And following in the footsteps of the 2023 Starfield Direct and 2024 Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Direct, this year Microsoft will follow its Xbox Games Showcase by The Outer Worlds 2 Direct. The Outer Worlds 2 is from Obsidian, which is fresh from the release of Avowed. The direct “will bring you inside the walls of Obsidian Entertainment, revealing new gameplay, details, and developer insights, straight from the people making the sequel to the award-winning, first-person sci-fi RPG.” The Outer Worlds 2 is expected out later in 2025, so it seems likely we’ll get a release date during the showcase.
Airtime for the Xbox Games Showcase followed by The Outer Worlds 2 Direct in local time zones:
PDT: June 8, 10am
EDT: June 8, 1pm
BST: June 8, 6pm
CET: June 8, 7pm
JST: June 9, 2am
AEST: June 9, 3am
Microsoft said the Xbox Games Showcase and The Outer Worlds 2 Direct will be digital-only, which means there’s no theatre experience for fans and media this year. But it promised that its livestream will bring fans “everything you’ll need to know about what’s next for Xbox, no matter where in the world you’re watching.”
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.
Hades 2 is coming to Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 as a timed console exclusive.
While we don’t yet have a firm release date, developer Supergiant confirmed the highly anticipated sequel would release on PC and Nintendo Switch 2, as well as the OG Switch, at the same time later this year.
We knew Hades 2 was coming to Nintendo’s beefed-up Switch 2 courtesy of last week’s Nintendo Direct, of course, but developer Supergiant has now confirmed that it’s not just coming to Switch 1 and 2, but it’ll be a timed exclusive on Nintendo’s console, too.
“Hades II v1.0 will launch simultaneously on our Early Access platforms (Steam and Epic Games Store), Nintendo Switch 2, and the original Nintendo Switch,” the team recently clarified on X/Twitter
Hades II v1.0 will launch simultaneously on our Early Access platforms (Steam and Epic Games Store), Nintendo Switch 2, and the original Nintendo Switch.
Right now, it’s not clear when Hades 2 will make the inevitable jump to other consoles like the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X and S.
Hades 2 is the sequel to Supergiant’s hit first game, mixing engaging storytelling and roguelite action elements in a dungeon-crawling experience.
“Hades 2 feels impossibly huge and unbelievably polished by any standard, much less an early access game,” we wrote in IGN’s Hades 2 early-access review, awarding it 9/10. “Mel is awesome, the new tweaks to the combat and progression are excellent, and it’s just unbelievably feature packed with twice the content of the first.
“What’s here right out of the gate is astounding, and the thought of more coming on the way is a tantalizing treat.”
Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Sabrina Carpenter has joined the ranks in Fortnite, and she’s bringing peace and love to the battle royale.
Developer Epic Games reported “dance-related stalemates are on the rise” as players sporting the Sabrina skin are putting away their weapons and getting jiggy with it instead.
“[Battle Royale] is all vibes now,” the developer teased on X/Twitter.
“So, I was playing a game of Fornite ZB Reload and I saw two Sabrina skins just hanging,” explained one fan on the Fortnite subreddit.
“They crouched and uncrouched and I stopped shooting, and well, before we knew [it], us three became, like, nine players who stopped fighting and only danced around.
“Truly the most wholesome thing I’ve seen in a video game,” they added.
“This right here is why I love Fortnite,” added a commenter. “Out of all the online games I’ve played, the fact that this game has silly emotes and a rotating character pool that the community gets into makes for unique moments like this, that I’ve never seen in any other game.
Sabrina Carpenter dropped into Fortnite as the Season 8 Icon of Fortnite Festival. As part of the Season 8 Music Pass, players can unlock the Sabrina Carpenter Outfit, themed cosmetics, and Jam Tracks like “Juno” and “Nonsense.” Sabrina Carpenter-themed items are also available on the Item Shop, including the “A Sweet Little Bundle” packed with items for fans to enjoy.
Did you catch the news that Fortnite is getting a special Nintendo Switch 2 port? Epic Games’ trend-setting battle royale showed up during a sizzle reel during last week’s Nintendo Switch 2 Direct to confirm that a new version is in development. It’ll launch with Nintendo’s new hybrid console this June.
Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Helldivers 2’s runaway success continues. It’s just won two BAFTA Game Awards: one for Best Multiplayer, another for Best Music. That’s from five nominations. The BAFTA wins bring to an end a fruitful video game awards season, drawing a line under what has been a remarkable year for Swedish developer Arrowhead.
Let’s remember, Helldivers 2 is the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game of all time, with an astonishing 12 million copies sold in just 12 weeks. It is a record no first-party Sony-developed game will likely ever beat. But so much has happened since that initial explosive release: a dramatic U-turn on PSN account requirements on Steam, review-bomb campaigns, and a community often at war with Helldivers 2 itself as nerfs and buffs either went too far or not far enough.
Through it all, Arrowhead has struggled to cope with a bigger, more mainstream playerbase than it’s ever had to contend with. But now, 14 months after Helldivers 2 hit PC and PlayStation 5, how does Arrowhead reflect on what’s gone before? Has it finally started to get to grips with the brutal, unforgiving world of live-service? And after that Killzone collaboration, could Warhammer 40,000 be next?
IGN sat down with Alex Bolle, production director on Helldivers 2, to find out more.
IGN: Congratulations on all the awards! When you were in the thick of development and things weren’t perhaps going as well as they might have otherwise been, did you ever imagine that a year after the game came out it would be considered one of the best games of 2024 and win all these awards?
Alex Bolle: No, no, definitely not. It’s a very humbling experience. I would say a year ago exactly, we had a hint that it would be a sweet year for us, but we were also in the thick of it. We were still fixing a lot of things, preparing our next big release for the content. So no, definitely not realizing we would get there.
Last time we spoke, we were preparing Omens of Tyranny. Even then we are like, okay, we have The Game Awards. We were preparing the whole shadow drop and everything. We were ready to make that shadow drop and be like, okay, this one is going to be fun. The awards part, maybe not that much.
I was next to my release manager trying to monitor the progress of Omens of Tyranny and the whole major order with the Illuminate. And I turned my head towards the TV at the office, it was like 2am. And I see Mikael Eriksson, the game director, just shaking hands with Snoop Dogg. And I’m like, what is going on here? Which reality are we?
So yeah, it’s been good. The Golden Joysticks, DICE, all those awards, it’s a good way to take a step back and look at the impact of the game. We’re nearing the end of the awards season and this one feels really good, because the credibility and the fame of it is just amazing. So yeah, it’s great. It’s going to be a good addition for the team, I hope.
IGN: It’s been over a year since the game came out, so people have had time now to reflect upon its release and its impact. Have you come to understand why it’s won so many awards, why it’s done so well? Why it’s resonated so much with gamers? Have you worked out why Helldivers 2 has ended up being the success it has been?
Alex Bolle: I wish the interview was two hours! It’s a whole soup recipe, or maybe more like a very sophisticated French dish. I don’t think we figured it out. One thing we keep at heart is just the interaction with the community. All the players, taking the time to really talk to them, understand what they want. We have so many devs that are continuously looking at Discord, at Reddit. We have a lot of things that come from there and we want to keep that interaction level.
That has been the thing that we thought, okay, when we prepare the fantasy for the next updates and so on, this is the part that we want to keep. We were talking about the future of the game with Mikael and it was all about that. What is it that the player wants? What is it that we are not achieving yet? What’s next? And this is always like, players in mind. It’s what works well. It’s the ability to talk to them, ability to make that kind of fantasy in the game around the Galactic War.
Last week with Pöpli IX, it’s been a year and we still manage to get those moments in-game. I think it’s important. These are needed. I was talking to our Game Master this morning, it feels good to have that. It’s one of the things we’ll cherish until we don’t make the game, but so far it’s working well.
IGN: You’ve spoken as a team before about the impact Helldivers 2 had on you as a studio, and it was a big shock to the system. Do you feel like now you’re starting to get a handle on what Helldivers 2 is, what the audience is, and settling into a sustainable, healthy way of keeping it going as a live service? Especially after having that influx of players that you weren’t perhaps expecting and the type of players that were different than what you were expecting?
Alex Bolle: We’re still trying to figure out the good recipe for a healthy cadence for the developers, for the players as well. Who do we cater to as well? It’s been super interesting. I’ve been at Arrowhead for a bit more than three years now, coming from bigger studios and yeah, there’s a lot of things that we had to go back to square one, on how it works at Arrowhead.
Johan Pilestedt, as one of our founders and the lead of the studio for so long, has been key in setting a development culture that we try to keep at heart while maintaining that live service aspect. This has been catching lightning in a bottle.
And I feel like every week is taking learnings again from the different wins and failures that we had along the way. Also from other developers. I think it’s been one of the good advantages that we had, is that success also allows us to talk way more openly with all the devs. It’s been very good on that side. It’s sharing ways to do it, better ways, more sustainable.
On who do we make the game for? That’s a tricky one. Arrowhead’s motto has always been ‘a game for everyone is a game for no one.’ When you add this amount of players, no one and everyone is a bit muddy. So it’s always a bit of a puzzle of like, okay, this content is for these type of players, this content is for this type of player. And this is where we are still working very hard with PlayStation, with the team internally to understand, hey, when you want to make this enemy, who do you have in mind?
I think it’s a very fingertip sensitivity that we are getting slowly. I think there’s a lot of work within direction as well to remind us who we were making the game for at the very, very, very beginning, because we have a lot of the old guard of Arrowhead still around to help us figure this out. We have one of the features upcoming that we’ve been developing with one of our old-time founders for example, and it’s been so good because he brings that magical angle on the co-op.
IGN: The internet loves to talk about Steam concurrents, but I would like to get your take as someone who knows the data. Do you think Steam concurrents are misleading? Do they give some insight into the success or otherwise of a live service game? Obviously you had a huge peak, but it is unreasonable to expect that to maintain itself forever, and Helldivers 2 seems to have settled on Steam. From your perspective, how do you view that?
Alex Bolle: I am far from being the expert of the studio on this. I do see sometimes a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The more you talk about it, the more you show it, the more people are like, wow, interesting, it’s going up.
It’s a metric among many others. There’s many reasons for a game’s success or failure. I think we’ve been doing good numbers, like breaking some trends and everything. On our side, the only thing I can say is that, yeah, we want to keep that steady floor of players and bringing people again for new memorable moments for the game and for the community. So I would say that’s pretty much where we want to go. Do we have screens all around the studio with CCU [concurrent users] and all those metrics? Of course, because it’s always good to keep them in mind. But we’re not obsessed by it. I think we are in a position we don’t have to be, but we want to make sure, hey, when we make something, it’s meaningful. That’s the thing.
IGN: Whatever happens, you’ll probably forever now be the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game of all time. I can’t see a game ever really topping that. As a studio, does that mean you can be a bit more relaxed about what you’re doing with Helldivers 2?
Alex Bolle: Yes and no. Yes, in a way, especially in these days for the industry, it feels like such a privileged situation. That is amazing. I think we are cherishing that a lot. At the same time, we don’t want to take this for granted. There’s a studio, we have developers to pay. We have a studio life to keep on for years and years and years. So that’s the thing where we’re like, yeah, it’s been good. We need to make sure it keeps going great.
There’s also an accountability for, again, the people we make the game for. We’re not going to just start to be like, okay, it’s fine. It’s going to be fine. We can take a bit more time. We want to take more time to make things better, especially now that the players are asking for it. But yeah, there’s definitely an ambition to keep things going, keep our standards of development, keep finding creativity and innovation. If we just became complacent, I don’t think Arrowhead would be Arrowhead.
IGN: Do you think it’s reasonable for a game like Helldivers 2 to have a multi-year plan that envisages the game being around for a decade? For me, Helldivers 2’s gameplay feels almost timeless, so it could become a forever game. Or will there come a point where you have to think about what’s next when it comes to Helldivers itself?
Alex Bolle: Thank you for acknowledging that the game might not age at all! I love when you boot a game after 15, 20 years and it still plays the same.
IGN: Helldivers 2 has that about it doesn’t it? It‘s about the things that happen in the game and the physics at play and the feel of it, as opposed to it being future-proofed in terms of visuals, for example.
Alex Bolle: Absolutely. When I talk with the team, when I talk to the directors, when I talk to Mikael about the future, it’s exciting because we want it to be around for years and years and years to come. And it’s almost like, how do we stay true to the Helldivers 2 fantasy, challenging enough that we keep making amazing new features and new systems and all that while we stay true to who we are? And I think it’s something that is so motivating for the years to come.
The more we figure out how to thrive in a live environment, and we still have a way to go to figure out a lot of things around that, the more we can let creativity loose on new systems that we would’ve never thought about a year ago when we released. I’ve worked on live games before and it’s where you feel like you have something you can figure out: what if I would do this cool thing I’ve seen in other games and adapt it to our sauce, that still makes it true to ourselves? I’m looking forward to this moment.
IGN: You’ve done a Killzone collab. I’m a massive Warhammer 40,000 fan, and as soon as I started playing Helldivers 2 I thought, oh my God, if I was an Imperial Guard soldier dropping down, facing off against waves of Tyranids or Necrons… can you give me any hope as a fan of both Helldivers 2 and Warhammer 40,000 that this is even possible?
Alex Bolle: What I can say is that we had a blast working on the collaboration with Guerrilla on Killzone. One thing that everyone agreed internally is that making something from a different game IP in our universe, this is quite fun. It has challenges because again, we are very, very cautious about our fantasy. So we want to be able to explore those possibilities. We got super excited with Killzone. We want to do more for sure. I can’t tell you more.
Our devs are players, they play so many games. Obviously Warhammer 40,000 is something that a lot of guys internally love to death. So the devs are discussing, the devs are proposing stuff, and the hype is building. So these are discussions internally that we are having. Warhammer 40,000, I can’t really tell you. Maybe. Who knows? We’ll see!
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.
Astro Bot has once again won big at an awards show, this time securing five gongs at the 2025 BAFTA Games Awards, including Best Design, Best Family Game, and Best Game.
The BAFTA Games Awards — the UK’s independent arts charity celebrating excellence in games — took place overnight on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in London, UK. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, Astro Bot, and Still Wakes the Deep led the charge with 11, eight, and eight nominations, respectively. Thank Goodness You’re Here! also received seven nominations, Black Myth: Wukong six, and Helldivers 2 was up for five awards.
Accepting the award, Astro Bot director Nicolas Doucet paid tribute to the game developers of the past, who paved the way for Sony-owned Team Asobi and other current studios to find success in the modern era.
Whilst Astro Bot was the night’s most-crowned game, The Chinese Room’s impressive Still Wakes the Deep secured three wins — including both performer awards — and Helldivers 2 won two BAFTAs.
BAFTA polled the public to discover that while games like GTA, Tetris, World of Warcraft, Minecraft, Doom, and Half-Life 2did make the list, the top as ranked by the number of votes received was Sega’s 1999 action-adventure game.
Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Warning! Potential Mario Kart World spoilers follow:
As with the Donkey Kong snafu, the guilty images were removed speedily from the official website, but not before someone snapped them and posted them to Reddit, of course.
As the images are pretty fuzzy — and there’s no accompanying text — this is essentially all we know so far. With a little cross-checking, it looks as though a hidden Rainbow Road track will sit just below Princess Peach’s Stadium on the four-way intersection in the bay area (thanks, Eurogamer), although it’s unclear if it’s a secret track or some kind of unlockable extra.
“I would say it’s less about the strategy of pricing Mario Kart World, it’s more just whenever we look at a given game, we just look at what is the experience, and what’s the content, and what’s the value?” Trinen said at the time.
Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Whether twiddling their thumbs during the decades since Commandos 3 or calmly hiding in a hedge waiting to knife a nosey Nazi in the neck on his next stroll past, if there’s one thing Commandos fans are known for it’s lurking patiently. Good things come to those who’ve waited, and Commandos: Origins fits that bill. Slow-paced, challenging, and consistently satisfying when all your plans come together, its brand of isometric stealth action is intact and has never looked better. I’ve sunk nearly 60 hours into it over the last week and a half just to see out the missions, and there are potentially dozens more hours available should I return to play through some of them again with the intention of leaving no stone unturned and no soldier unslain. The only major issue is the assortment of bugs I’ve had to become accustomed to in order to keep enjoying myself. Like a peskily placed German sniper, some of these I learnt how to avoid entirely, but there were others I just needed to find a way to neutralise.
For those of you who skipped basic training, Commandos is a classic series of real-time tactics stealth ’em ups set during the Second World War that goes all the way back to the late ’90s. Picture a crew of elite but generally crabby commandos crawling around on their bellies behind enemy lines, driven by a whole lot of mouse clicking, and you’re most of the way there. For a modern comparison, it’s a lot like The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, only filmed exclusively from a drone (and without Guy Ritchie’s wit or Henry Cavill’s perfectly curled cookie duster). Or the BBC’s Rogue Heroes with 90% less swearing and 100% less AC/DC.
However, while its cheesy yet otherwise stony-faced approach may lack the outright humour of those crackling British Special Forces capers, Commandos: Origins is arguably the best version of the series’ concept to date. It’s a familiar yet modern experience for grizzled veterans, and also an intuitive and approachable one for new players who are ready to test themselves against a steadily escalating difficulty curve.
Where eagles stare
Like any great stealth game, Origins is as much a game about tactics as it is a salvo of deadly puzzles to solve. It essentially boils down to analysing every upcoming encounter, inspecting each enemy soldier’s vision cone, and finding a way to dispatch them that won’t bring the whole German army down on your squad’s heads. A large part of my time with Origins has been spent simply staring at the screen, surveying my prey like an ambush predator.
A large part of my time with Origins has been spent simply staring at the screen, surveying my prey like an ambush predator.
Each of the six commandos on your team has a set of unique tools and abilities. For the most part, Origins curates the characters available for each mission, tailoring the action for their skills. There are only two instances where all six soldiers will be on the same battlefield at once, which is kind of a shame because those are real highlights. That said, I probably would’ve played a huge amount of Origins exclusively using the Marine’s throwing knives and harpoon gun had I had the chance, so forcing me to expand my approach by sidelining him sometimes was probably wise and almost certainly kept things from becoming stale.
Speaking of sidelining, I actually don’t miss the inventory management of the previous games, though I feel like I wouldn’t have removed the ability to pick up and use enemy weapons for the Green Beret in particular. The argument here is that Origins is more about thoughtful stealth at all times – and less about spraying lead from scavenged MP40s at anything with a swastika on it. Thoughtful stealth, luckily, is empowered by the coolest part of Origins: Command Mode. Riffing on similar modes in the late, great Mimimi’s Desperados 3 and Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew, Command Mode allows you to freeze time indefinitely and queue up individual actions for each of your commandos. Back in real time, they’ll execute those simultaneously on your say so. Nailing the timing on a set of Command Mode instructions is powerfully satisfying, whether it’s simply two crawling commandos stabbing a distracted pair of soldiers from the side, or a more complicated and elaborately choreographed ballet of harpoons, blades, and bullets.
It’s all quite a slow process to do well, but it’s a truly rewarding one when you figure out the solution to taking on what initially may seem like too many meticulously positioned soldiers to tackle. Maybe your first choice of target is impossible to kill quietly because he’s always in sight of one of his other comrades, and maybe that very squadmate is always in view of a third, and so on. But there’s fun in uncovering who should be the first domino to fall throat-first onto a Fairbairn–Sykes combat knife. Some enemies will leave their posts to investigate strange sounds, like the Sapper’s whistle or the Green Beret’s radio – or inspect the Driver’s burning packets of cigarettes. Some will only temporarily turn and face a distraction, giving you precious moments to slip by them. Experimenting with which routes and tools work best is a task that tapped into a compulsive part of my brain.
There’s fun in uncovering who should be the first domino to fall throat-first onto a Fairbairn–Sykes combat knife.
The opportunities are always there; it’s just on us to find them – and the fact that they’re not telegraphed or signposted makes every victory feel like you’ve outfoxed the developers. At one point I spotted a tiny gap in the view cones of four soldiers on a small set of stairs in the water. It allowed me to not only get behind them to wipe them out, but also to bring three other squadmates via boat to the rear of my main objective. Was that there on purpose? Probably, but maybe not. Leaving it ambiguous as to whether you’ve gone about an encounter in the precise way Claymore Game Studios surreptitiously left ajar for us – or succeeded with an unpredictable sequence of moves the dev team perhaps never saw coming – is just good design. Either way, the encouragement to explore every corner of the maps for the best opportunities is thoroughly baked in.
In large part, that’s because these levels are all exceedingly detailed dioramas, sprawling and dense, and every one feels like I’m playing a high-stakes game of toy soldiers on the kind of miniature map exhibits you might see tucked behind glass at a war museum. Missions take place all across Europe and North Africa, too, so the variety of backdrops is terrific – from snowy Scandinavia to lush, soggy fields and baking deserts.
The huge environments are also rendered entirely in three dimensions and you can enter buildings seamlessly, and the fact that I felt the need to say that should give you an idea of how long it’s been since we’ve had a proper Commandos game. You can make fine camera rotations in any compass direction, so getting the right angle to spot a gap in security is easy. That said, scrolling around too fast sometimes introduces a bit of temporary choppiness, but it’s a short-lived gripe. It’s otherwise great looking overall.
There is, unfortunately, some occasional clumsiness when navigating particularly complex, multi-storey structures. Over the course of the campaign I encountered a few enemies that appeared to be sharing a floor with me, but who were actually on a different level entirely and should’ve been hidden from view at that moment. I also had the misfortune of placing down a beartrap that became irretrievable because it wasn’t on the same platform I wanted to leave it, and being shot through a solid container that apparently wasn’t really there is never any fun. There were also occasional instances where my commands were being misinterpreted and my men were setting off to unintended areas and directly into enemy sight lines, due to an apparent disconnect between what floors are being displayed and what floor Origins thinks I’m clicking on. These aren’t major frustrations, though, and remedying them typically just required some minor zooming, or panning the camera slightly. That, or a quick reload to bring back the prematurely deceased.
Saving dyin’ privates
In the trial-and-error world of tactical games like Commandos, quick save is your friend – and Origins is no exception. The ability to pick up directly where you left off after doing something risky and/or stupid is what actually gives us the freedom to experiment with different approaches in the first place. Make no mistake, quick save well and truly saved my bacon (and quickly!) on many occasions – but, unfortunately, this essential feature also seems to provoke some of Origins’ most bothersome bugs.
For instance, loading a save you made while one of your commandos was climbing a wire – or perched high on a climbable pole – appears to leave the poor bastard marooned on an invisible level above the map, fruitlessly crawling or moonwalking into oblivion. The solution, naturally, is to simply resolve to never save while one of your men is climbing anything. That wasn’t the end of my issues, though. After another reload I noticed my Marine was no longer in his boat, but walking on water back to the marker I’d placed. This bug eventually resolved itself, but one where my Sapper simply disappeared off the map and became unselectable did not.
That kind of issue could’ve become game-breaking, but Origins – seemingly aware that it has a few technical landmines for you to step on – keeps a queue of several quick saves. For the most part, if something goes awry, there’s a strong chance you’ll have a slightly older save you can revert too. In this instance, though, I’d sadly filled all my saves without noticing my Sapper was no longer present. The only solution was restarting the mission entirely, which was over an hour lost.
One weird issue, and one I can’t tell whether it’s related to the quick saves or not, is the occasional instance of enemies falsely detecting one of your commandos in a bush they’re no longer hiding in – and getting locked in an alert state about it. They’ll subsequently circle it and blast it to hell to no avail. It wasn’t so bad because I was able to either skirt around it or totally exploit it by stabbing all the soldiers while they were busy slaughtering the unfortunate shrubbery, but it definitely wasn’t supposed to happen.
I wouldn’t necessarily call the enemies smart overall, and it would’ve been nice if they displayed a little more of the initiative we see in other modern stealth games. Instead of callously ignoring dead bodies after an alert phase resets, for instance, they might want to drag their kaput companions off to a predefined location, à la Hitman. They make up for their dim bulbs by being extremely dangerous, though – and they’re just unpredictable enough to keep you on your toes when you think you’ve got their patterns figured out. They won’t inspect the nearest hiding places in the same order after a reload, for instance, so you’d better have a backup plan – or at least make sure nobody’s climbing a telephone pole when they come looking.
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is set to release for Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on September 5. In it, you strap yourself into an Arsenal mech and fly through an open world on your way to battle various enemies and create your very own loadout. It’s available to preorder in two different editions (see it at Amazon). In fact, this is one of the very first Switch 2 games available for preorder since preorders the Switch 2 itself have been delayed in the U.S. Read on for more info.
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion – Standard Edition
The limited edition costs $30 more than the standard edition, but it comes with the game itself, plus the following extras:
3 Flight Tag Keychains
Original Soundtrack CD
Full-Color Art Book
3D Acrylic Diorama
3 Emblem Patches
Outer Box
What is Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion?
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is a followup to the 2019 original Daemon X Machina game that was released on Switch and PC. This sequel is also helmed by Kenichiro Tsukuda, a producer for the Armored Core series.
Titanic Scion is all about speccing out your Arsenal mech to turn yourself into a fast-flying killing machine. It takes place in an open world, where you’ll blast your way through enemies, picking up the weapons and equipment they drop in order to expand your arsenal and abilities. Customization is key, so you can direct your abilities to your own particular play style. You can play solo or co-op with up to two friends online.
Other Preorder Guides
Chris Reed is a deals expert and commerce editor for IGN. You can follow him on Bluesky @chrislreed.com.
For a limited time, Amazon is offering the wildly popular and well-reviewed Monster Hunter Wilds game for PlayStation 5 for just $57.95, which is an 18% discount off its $70 list price. This is the best deal we’ve seen for the PlayStation 5 edition that isn’t reserved for just Amazon Prime members.
18% Off Monster Hunter Wilds for PlayStation 5
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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.
NetEase has published Marvel Rivals Season 2 update patch notes ahead of its April 11 release date.
Details on how the Version 20250411 update will change the Marvel game were published on its website today. It comes with a laundry list of changes as NetEase introduces diamond-plated X-Men regular, Emma Frost as Marvel Rivals’ newest playable character.
Headlines for the Season 2 patch include content that NetEase had largely already covered before today. That includes new Domination map Krakoa, X-Revolution and Blue Sapphire costumes for Emma Frost, a brand-new battle pass, a nine-division rank reset for Competitive players, and the added ability to gift cosmetics to other players. Marvel Rivals Season 2 has more than new content in store, however, as the team behind the hero shooter has also detailed many other setting changes for players across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S.
PC players can now take advantage of what NetEase is calling “an experimental feature” called Switch Shader Compilation Mode. The option allows players to – in theory – make Marvel Rivals run smoother by compiling shaders only when launching Marvel Rivals for the first time after an update. The team warns that you may run into issues depending on the power of your PC, so more tweaks for this experimental feature are sure to arrive in the future.
Marvel Rivals Season 2 console changes include several sensitivity adjustments that should make aiming and movement a bit easier to tailor to your liking. All platforms will also benefit from a variety of fixes to notification-related issues as well as problems related to a few maps, modes, and heroes. For example, players should find that they’re clipping through areas less with the upcoming update, while Captain America’s shield has also been fixed and should now reflect projectiles more reliably.
Marvel Rivals Season 2 launches April 11 for players on all platforms. While it will introduce Emma Frost (and Ultron with the mid-season 2.5 update), the soon-to-be-released update also marks the beginning of a new era for NetEase as it shifts its post-launch plans to account for speedier content releases. As explained last week, players can expect to receive at least one new hero every month as seasonal drops are shortened from three to two-month periods.
Marvel Rivals Season 2 Version 20250411 Update Patch Notes
Greetings, Rivals!
We trust you’ve received your exclusive invitation to the illustrious Hellfire Gala! The excitement is electric as everyone gears up to head to Krakoa for this extraordinary event! So, don your finest attire, and let’s dive into the thrilling new content and captivating surprises that await you!
1. New Content
1.1 All Platforms
Heroes and Costumes
1. Emma Frost makes her dazzling debut in Marvel Rivals!
2. New Costumes: Emma Frost – X-Revolution & Blue Sapphire!
Maps and Modes
1. Get ready for an all-new Domination map – Hellfire Gala: Krakoa.
2. Map Rotation Update: Hellfire Gala: Krakoa will enter the Competitive pool, while Yggsgard: Royal Palace and Tokyo 2099: Shin-Shibuya will be retired from ranked play. Tournament maps will align with the competitive mode, while Quick Match and Custom Game will still feature all maps without rotation.
3. Optimized the settlement logic for substitute players in Quick Match battles: victories will count normally, while losses will not affect combat history or scoreboard.
Battle Pass and Season Events
1. Unlock a dazzling shiny new Battle Pass featuring 10 brand new sets of heroic costumes!
2. The season event Cerebro Database has officially launched; participate to earn the free costume Mantis – Flora Maiden.
3. This season also brings exclusive bonus seasonal rewards: Complete 9 matches to receive the free costume Scarlet Witch – Chaos Gown.
4. An all-new Twitch Drops event is here! This event will gift players the Namor – Will of Galacta costume, nameplate, spray, and emote. (Stay tuned to official announcements for details!)
5. The mission system has been revamped: new weekly missions and rewards have been added, and the balance of daily and challenge missions has been adjusted while maintaining the overall Chrono Token distribution. The proportion of hero-specific missions has also been reduced.
Ranked
1. Rank Reset: based on your final Season 1.5 rank, ranks will be demoted by 9 divisions. For example, if you ended Season 1.5 at Diamond I, your Season 2 journey begins at Silver I.
2. New rank rewards are in! A dazzling new costume for reaching Gold — Emma Frost – Golden Diamond, along with new Crests of Honor for Grandmaster, Celestial, Eternity, and Top 500.
3. The minimum level required for new players to participate in Competitive has been adjusted to 15. (If you have previously completed at least one valid competitive match, you can still join Competitive in Season 2.0 even if you are below level 15.)
4. Pick/ban will now come into play starting from Gold III rather than Diamond tier.
5. When a team includes players from Eternity or One Above All, only solo or duo queuing will be allowed.
6. Currently, the score you earn per Competitive match is determined by both the outcome and your individual performance. After Season 2.0 launches, we will be increasing the weight of individual performances. The better you perform, the more points you will earn in victory, and the fewer points you will lose in defeat.
Tournament Updates
1. The second season of the Marvel Rivals Championship is here! The champion, runner-up, and third-place nameplates have been upgraded to dynamic designs, showcasing your hard-earned glory! This season features adjusted rank requirements and a revised sign-up phase. For all the details, please refer to the Marvel Rivals Championship rules.
2. The global tournament regions have been enhanced! North America (NA), Europe (EU), and Asia (AS) have now transformed into the Americas (AMERICAS), Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and the Pacific (PACIFIC). This upgrade allows for a more compatible and organized classification of server nodes across various regions.
3. A new faction search function has been added for the Knockout Stage.
4. The Tournament Overview page has been revamped! Players can now quickly access core tournament information in a visually engaging manner, with detailed explanations of each process and the specific rules for advancement and elimination in various tournament formats.
5. Introducing a new custom feature for the Marvel Rivals Championship nameplate emblem! Players with a Championship Emblem can now customize its display in Career – Customize.
6. A new Tournament Room option has been introduced in Custom Game, featuring additional tournament-related functionalities.
7. In the Custom Game – Tournament Room, we’ve added a pause function. The room host and authorized players can now initiate a game pause.
8. In the Custom Game – Tournament Room, an “Away” feature has been added. Non-host players can set their status to away, making it visible to others in the room.
Faction Updates
1. Introducing the all-new Faction Recruit and Seeking Factions system! Factions and players can now use this system to form their dream squads and prepare for various in-game tournaments.
2. A fresh batch of faction emblems has been added! Players can freely switch emblems in the faction details interface.
3. New reporting functionality for factions has been implemented. Players can report inappropriate custom content for factions, including names, abbreviations, and announcements.
General Updates
1. A new gift feature for friends has arrived! Now you can gift cosmetics to your friends.
2. The Career Overview page now supports the selection of specific hero forms.
3. Rank leaderboard display has been added to Career.
4. Real-time voice chat has been optimized! An interface prompt now appears when you activate voice chat using push to talk.
5. In Custom Games, spectators can now temporarily exit during matches, enabling them to rejoin the action anytime.
6. A new room host transfer function has been introduced. The current host can right-click on other players to transfer host privileges.
1.2 PC
Graphics and Settings
1. We’ve introduced an experimental feature: Switch Shader Compilation Mode. When activated, shaders will only compile the first time you launch the game after a new version or graphics driver update. This feature can significantly reduce memory usage and minimize in-game stuttering. —Especially on systems with 16 GB of RAM or less.
However, if you’re using a CPU with less threads in combination with AMD FSR3 Frame Generation, you may notice occasional additional stutters with this feature enabled.
*Please note: This is an experimental feature. If you encounter any issues during use, our support team is standing by ready to assist.
2. We’ve added support for AMD FSR 4, using an AI-accelerated upscaling algorithm to deliver image quality improvements over AMD FSR 3.1. (Available exclusively on the AMD Radeon™ RX 9000 series graphics cards)
1.3 Console
⦁ New Vertical Deadzone Sensitivity Settings: Players can now customize the additional acceleration sensitivity after reaching the vertical deadzone.
⦁ Additional Sensitivity Acceleration Delay Settings: Players can tailor the delay time for acceleration to kick in after reaching the deadzone.
⦁ Character Movement Stick Deadzone Settings: Players can set the maximum and minimum deadzone values for the joystick controlling character movement.
⦁ Trigger Deadzone Settings: Players can now define the trigger depth required for activation.
⦁ New Player Initial Settings Feature: First-time players will receive a reminder of default sensitivity settings, vibration, and trigger effects upon entering the game, making their introduction as smooth as a Super Hero landing.
⦁ Focus Memory Optimization: The focus feature has been upgraded to intelligently remember the last position on the screen.
2. Fixes and Optimizations
2.1 All Platforms
General Updates
⦁ Resolved numerous issues related to notifications.
⦁ Rectified various text errors.
⦁ Fixed an issue in Custom Game where spectators would incorrectly exit the room after a match.
⦁ Fixed a rare occurrence where settings would reset to default upon restarting the game.
Maps and Modes
⦁ Fixed terrain issues that could cause characters to become stuck or clip through odd locations.
⦁ Resolved various issues including floating broken objects, collision errors, etc.
⦁ Addressed several sound issues on maps.
⦁ Resolved a rare issue in Custom Quick Match, where on the Empire of Eternal Night: Midtown map, spawn room transfer could sometimes not work correctly.
Heroes
⦁ Captain America’s Shield Bounce: Resolved an issue where Captain America couldn’t ricochet enemy projectiles while moving backward. Now, the Sentinel of Liberty can send those pesky projectiles flying no matter which way he is moving!
⦁ Spector Sightings: Fixed a glitch that sometimes caused abnormal camera angles after being revived by Adam Warlock’s Ultimate Ability. No more wobbly views for our heroes—everyone deserves to enjoy their epic returns in all their heroic glory!
⦁ Namor’s Super Soldier Shenanigans: In Hydra Charteris Base: Hell’s Heaven – Super-Soldier Factory, Namor’s Ultimate Ability could occasionally fail to deal damage when targeting the raising pillars. This issue has been resolved, ensuring the Sub-Mariner delivers his Giganto impact!
⦁ Winter Soldier’s Time Warp: Addressed an issue where Bucky would sometimes descend before ascending while unleashing his Ultimate Ability in unstable network conditions. Now, the Winter Soldier rises to the occasion without any time-traveling hiccups—no need for a Doctor Strange intervention!
⦁ Cloak & Dagger’s Form Flaw: Fixed an issue where Cloak or Dagger sometimes left their character model lingering for a brief moment during form switches. Now, they’ll slip into action smoother than a stealthy shadow.
⦁ Iron Fist’s Floating Fumble: Resolved a rare glitch where Iron Fist could end up floating indefinitely. The Immortal Weapon is now back on the ground, delivering justice and martial arts mastery without any unintended levitation!
⦁ Wolverine’s Ferocious Leap: Fixed a rarely occurring issue where Wolverine’s Feral Leap could leave him stuck in an abnormal state, unable to finish the move. Now, Logan can unleash his claws with confidence, ensuring his foes don’t get a second to breathe!
⦁ Claws and Consequences: Resolved a rare occurrence where being hit by Wolverine’s Feral Leap could render all abilities unusable. No more claw-induced chaos—heroes can now fight on without fear of losing their abilities mid-battle!
2.2 PC
Graphics and Settings
⦁ Fixed an issue where the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics card renders with excessively low brightness in certain scenarios.
2.3 Console
⦁ Fixed a rare issue where raw mouse input settings unexpectedly affected controllers, potentially causing crosshair drift.
⦁ Fixed an issue in console matches, where there was a chance that button prompts were displayed as keyboard and mouse inputs.
We will continue to vigilantly monitor game bug issues and fix them as fast as we can. Stay tuned for ongoing content updates and keep an eye on the official channels for the latest news!
Marvel Rivals Season 2 Hero Balance Adjustments
VANGUARD
Captain America
Steve will undergo some adjustments to his survivability, leading to a slight decrease in his overall resilience.
– Reduce base health from 675 to 650.
– Reduce the shield value of Living Legend from 400 to 350.
Doctor Strange
The Sorcerer Supreme will see a reduction in his offensive capabilities, limiting his battlefield control.
– Decrease Daggers of Denak damage per projectile from 18 to 16.
– Reduce the Maelstrom of Madness conversion ratio of Dark Magic to damage from 1.3 to 1.2.
Hulk
The Green Goliath will boast enhanced maneuverability and improved survivability upon entering combat.
– Increase base movement speed from 600 to 650.
– Reduce cooldown time for Indestructible Guard from 12 seconds to 10 seconds.
– Decrease minimum charge time for Incredible Leap from 0.7 seconds to 0.5 seconds.
Magneto
The Master of Magnetism will experience a slight decrease in the frequency of his Ultimate Ability.
– Increase energy cost for Meteor M (Ultimate Ability) from 3100 to 3400.
Peni Parker
Peni will receive enhancements to her primary attack damage efficiency and a boost to her survivability and combat capabilities.
– Cyber-Web Cluster now has a chance to crit; reduce movement speed penalty while firing Cyber-Web Cluster from 40% to 20%.
– Increase base health from 650 to 750.
The Thing
The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing will see a slight reduction in his damage reduction effect.
– Decrease Embattled Leap’s damage reduction effect for himself and teammates from 30% to 25%.
Thor
The Mighty Thor will receive an increase in survivability.
– Increase base health from 525 to 600.
– Increase base movement speed from 600 to 650.
DUELIST
Black Widow
Natasha is receiving optimizations to her shooting experience.
– Added a new effect where Black Widow can directly shoot after releasing the second kick of Edge Dancer and after using Electro-Plasma Explosion (Ultimate Ability).
Hawkeye
We’re improving Clint’s mobility while drawing his bow, enhancing his combat capabilities, and increasing the threat of his Ultimate Ability.
– Reduce the slow effect while charging the bow from 30% to 20%.
– Increase both instances of damage for Hypersonic Arrow from 50 to 55.
– Decrease energy cost for Hunter’s Sight (Ultimate Ability) from 3700 to 3100 and improve the bow draw speed increase from 1.35x to 1.5x.
Hela
The Goddess of Death will see a reduction in mobility while slightly enhancing her offensive power.
– Increase cooldown time for Astral Flock from 12 seconds to 15 seconds.
– Increase Spell Field Damage of Piercing Night from 30 to 35.
– Decrease cooldown time for Soul Drainer from 12 seconds to 10 seconds.
Human Torch
Johnny’s attack feedback and survivability are being improved to enhance his impact across various combat scenarios.
– Reduce attack interval for Fire Cluster from 0.6 seconds to 0.5 seconds; the launch timing of the primary attack projectile has been advanced.
– Increase the cooldown for Flaming Meteor from 12 seconds to 15 seconds, but add a new effect: After releasing Flaming Meteor, immediately gain 75 Bonus Health, which will start to falloff 3 seconds later at a rate of 30 per second.
Iron Man
Iron Man is seeing improvements to his mid-range combat effectiveness.
– Slightly reduce Iron Man’s hitbox size.
– New feature: Gain 100 Bonus Health activating Armor Overdrive or Gamma Overdrive that will start to falloff 5 seconds later at a rate of 30 per second.
Iron Fist
Lin Lie will see an increase in his combat effectiveness against Vanguards, a slight improvement to his mobility, and a slight reduction to his survivability when first entering the battlefield.
– Reduce the Bonus Max Health gained from Harmony Recovery from 150 to 100, but slow the falloff rate of that health from 25 per/s to 15 per/s.
– Lower fixed damage of Yat Jee Chung Kuen from 10 to 9, but increase the percentage damage of the enemy’s Max Health per strike from 1.7% to 2.1%.
– Decrease the cooldown for K’un-Lun Kick from 12 seconds to 10 seconds.
Mister Fantastic
We’re enhancing Reed’s capabilities while making some balance adjustments to his ultimate energy charge rate, adding additional control ability, and optimizing the release experience of his Ultimate Ability.
– Increase base health from 350 to 375.
– Boost the damage of Stretch Punch from 60 to 65 and from 75 to 80 while in Inflated state.
– Flexible Elongation New Effect: Enemies within range now suffer a 35% slow effect; reduce Flexible Elongation cooldown time from 10s to 8s.
– Reduce the Elasticity gained from Elastic Strength (passive ability) from 30 to 20, while the Elasticity provided by Stretch Punch is increased from 5 to 8. After entering the inflated state, the Bonus Health provided to self has been reduced from 450 to 400.
– New Feature: When Mister Fantastic uses Brainiac Bounce (Ultimate Ability), immediately gain Bonus Health equal to that gained when entering inflated state.
Moon Knight
We’re optimizing Marc’s Moon Blade projectile bounce feedback while improving maneuverability, Ultimate Ability, and survivability.
– Increase Crescent Dart projectile speed from 120m/s to 150 m/s.
– Moon Blade New Effect: Gain 25 Bonus Health with each enemy hit, up to a max of 100. 3 seconds after the Bonus Health stops increasing, it will start to falloff at a rate of 20 per second.
– Speed up Moonlight Hook pull startup time after hit from 0.4 seconds to 0.15 seconds.
– Extend the duration of the Hand of Khonshu (Ultimate Ability) from 3.5 seconds to 4.5 seconds, and increase the number of talons generated during this period from 14 to 18. Additionally, the fall speed of the talons has been slightly enhanced. A new damage falloff mechanic for the spell field has been added, beginning at 1.5 meters from the center and reaching a maximum reduction of 70% at 5 meters.
Scarlet Witch
We’re reducing Wanda’s survivability but increasing her threat level against Strategists and Duelists while optimizing her Ultimate Ability release experience.
– Remove Chaos Control percentage damage while increasing fixed damage from 60/s to 80/s.
– Increase Chthonian Burst projectile damage from 35 to 40 and spell field damage from 35 to 40.
– Increase the cooldown of Mystic Projection from 8 seconds to 10 seconds, and reduce Phased state time from 2 seconds to 1.5 seconds.
– Rework the slow effect of Reality Erasure to start at 1.5 seconds instead of starting immediately, with a linear increase to a 35% slow over 3.5 seconds.
Star-Lord
We’re reducing Peter’s damage output and the efficiency of his Ultimate Ability charge rate.
– Reduce Blaster Barrage damage from 80 per second to 75. Introduce a new damage falloff mechanic, starting at 4 meters and maxing out at 80% reduction at 8 meters.
Winter Soldier
We’re lowering Bucky’s threat level against Vanguards and reducing the margin for error in his Ultimate Ability.
– Increase the cooldown time for Bionic Hook from 8 seconds to 12 seconds.
– Reduce base damage of Kraken Impact (Ultimate Ability) from 100 to 80, but lower the culling threshold from 20% of maximum health to 15%.
Wolverine
We’re tuning Logan’s Rage acquisition rate and slightly lowering his control intensity over enemies:
– Increase Rage gained from Savage Claw hits from 7 to 10, while Rage gained from Berserk Claw Strike has been decreased from 7 to 5. Reduce Rage gained from Feral Leap from 20 to 10, and from Vicious Rampage from 20 to 15. However, Rage gained from taking damage has been increased from 3 to 5.
– Reduce the time an enemy is knocked down after impact from Last Stand (Ultimate Ability) from 1 second to 0.75 seconds.
STRATEGIST
Adam Warlock
We’re slightly reducing the frequency of Adam’s abilities and adjusting the healing provided by his Ultimate Ability after reviving teammates.
– Increase the cooldown for Soul Bond from 30s to 40s.
– Karmic Revival (Ultimate Ability) now restores 30% of a fallen ally’s maximum health instead of a fixed 100 Health.
Cloak and Dagger
We’re optimizing the logic of this dynamic duo’s Ultimate Ability
– After activating Eternal Bond (Ultimate Ability), the duration of the first three healing zones will no longer be calculated separately; instead, they will remain active until the duration of the final healing zone ends, at which point all will be removed together.
Invisible Woman
We’ll be fine-tuning Susan’s protective capabilities to create a more strategic gameplay experience.
– Decrease the shield value of Guardian Shield from 300 to 250.
Loki
To balance Loki’s influence in matches, we’re making a small adjustment to the frequency of one of his key abilities.
– Increase Regeneration Domain cooldown from 25 seconds to 30 seconds.
Mantis
To emphasize strategy over speed, we’re modifying Mantis’ health and buff mechanics.
– Reduce base health from 275 to 250.
– Effects of Healing Flower and Allied Inspiration can be stacked, up to a maximum of 16 seconds.
Rocket Raccoon
Rocket’s healing abilities will see some adjustments to enhance team survivability while balancing his mobility.
– Decrease the healing area of Repair Mode spheres from 70 health/s to 50 health/s, but add a new effect of one-time healing of 55 health to allies hit. Projectile speed reduction increased from 4.5 m/s to 7 m/s.
– Extend cooldown for Jetpack Dash from 6 seconds to 10 seconds; reduce dash distance from 10 meters to 8 meters.
– Reduce C.Y.A. (Ultimate Ability) damage boost from 40% to 25%, but add a new effect: during the ability’s duration, linked allies will receive an additional 100 Bonus Health points per second, capping at 150. After breaking the link, this bonus starts to falloff after 1 second at a rate of 75 per/s. Additionally, increase the energy cost from 3700 to 4000.
TEAM-UP ABILITIES
NEW:
Arcane Order (Doctor Strange – Scarlet Witch)
This mystical duo is set to enhance their powers!
– As the Team-Up Anchor, Doctor Strange gains a maximum health increase of 100.
– Scarlet Witch unlocks a new magical Mystic Burst ability through her team-up with Doctor Strange.
Stars Aligned (Captain America – Winter Soldier)
A classic partnership now with added strength!
– As the Team-Up Anchor, Captain America gains a maximum health increase of 100 and a 5% boost in damage output.
– Winter Soldier unlocks the devastating Stellar Impact ability through his team-up with Captain America.
Mental Projection (Emma Frost – Psylocke/Magneto)
A powerful trio that connects minds and abilities!
– As the Team-Up Anchor, Emma Frost gains a maximum health increase of 100.
– Magneto receives the Magnetic Resonance ability through his team-up with Emma Frost.
– Psylocke receives the Soul Resurgence ability through her team-up with Emma Frost.
ADJUSTED OR REMOVED:
Ammo Overload (Rocket Racoon – Winter Soldier)
A slight change for this battle-hardened hero!
– Winter Soldier loses the Infinite Grit ability he once had through his team-up with Rocket Raccoon.
Chilling Charisma (Luna Snow – Namor)
Things are heating up as synergies change!
– Namor has lost the Frozen Spawn ability from his team-up with Luna Snow.
Dimensional Shortcut (Magik – Psylocke)
A temporal reconfiguration for these powerful souls!
– Psylocke has lost the Psionic Disc ability previously attained from her team-up with Magik.
Gamma Charge (Hulk -Doctor Strange/Namor)
Changes in synergy for these heavyweights!
– Doctor Strange loses the Gamma Maelstrom ability previously gained from his team-up with Hulk.
– Namor now gains the Gamma Monstro ability through his team-up with Hulk.
Metallic Chaos (Scarlet Witch – Magneto)
A disconnect in family synergy!
– The Team-Up Anchor enhancement effect for Scarlet Witch has been removed, along with the Metallic Chaos Team-Up Ability.
– Magneto loses the Metallic Fusion ability he had through his team-up with Scarlet Witch.
Voltaic Union (Thor – Captain America/Storm)
A shift in electrical dynamics for this trio!
– The Team-Up Anchor effect for Thor has been removed, along with the Voltaic Union Team-Up Ability.
– Captain America loses the Charged Aegis ability from his team-up with Thor.
– Storm loses the Charged Gale ability gained from her team-up with Thor.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor 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).
