What Steam operators Valve are and aren’t prepared to allow onto their storefront has been a major talking point for the past year or so, especially when it comes to mature or sexually-themed content. Our Edwin’s done some fine reporting on the topic and how it relates to payment processors, as well as delving into individual cases like Santa Ragione’s Horses.
Now, the developers of point-and-click comedy Earth Must Die say things looked “unclear” for a bit in terms of whether they’d be able to launch on Steam, with the platform then offering a thumbs up after reviewing footage of an “alien orgy”.
Helldivers 2‘s next Warbond ‘Siege Breakers’ will release on February 3.
As detailed in a recent PlayStation Blog post by Arrowhead’s social media and community manager, this Warbond is for players needing “something to smash through […] towering foe with impenetrable fortifications.”
The Warbond includes the “new and improved version” of the “beloved” LAS-16 Trident, which now fires six beams instead of the original three, plus the CQC-20 Breaching Hammer, which “can do straight smashing, or it can have an explosive charge attached to its head to drive the point home.” There’s also the GL-28 Belt-Fed Grenade Launcher that lets you “continuously fire grenades in a non-stop explosive barrage,” as well as skins, armor sets, capes, banners, and a throwable shield, too.
Helldivers 2’s latest patch, Into the Unjust: 5.0.2., dropped last week and introduced a new mission type: Commando, the Redacted Regiment Warbond, and “important updates” to suppressed weapons. “Democracy doesn’t always need to shout,” Arrowhead said on Steam. “This patch is deploying some important updates to suppressed weapons, allowing Helldivers to eliminate threats with reduced detection and tighter tactical control. Expect quieter kills, cleaner engagements, and new opportunities for coordinated strikes before the enemy knows you’re there. Remember: stealth is a tool, not a substitute for overwhelming firepower. Use it wisely, Helldivers!”
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.
Some Fallout fans believe the latest episode of Season 2 of the Amazon show confirms a New Vegas ending is canon, while others believe the showrunners have kept their word and avoided picking an ending.
Fans of the Fallout video games had wondered how Season 2 might reflect the endings of Obsidian’s much-loved Fallout New Vegas, given the show is canon and is set 15 years after the game.
Depending on the choices the player, aka The Courier, makes throughout the course of the game, New Vegas can end with victory for the player during the Battle of Hoover Dam, which drives out all factions including Mr. House himself, a victory for Mr. House in which he remains in control of New Vegas and takes over Hoover Dam, a victory for Caesar’s Legion, or a victory for the New California Republic.
Fallout fans think ‘The House Always Wins’ ending is now canon after the events of the show. The Ghoul meets Maximus, and he uses the Cold Fusion diode that Maximus stole from the Brotherhood to power up the machine we saw back when Cooper met House in a flashback on the top floor of Lucky 38. The big terminal boots up, House appears on screen and says: “Well hello, old chum.”
A lot of people think that confirms “The House Always Wins” ending, which saw House survive. But there are some important points to consider. Until the show actually shows House’s body, there’s still potential for all sorts of explanations. Either this meeting between the Ghoul and House, plus whatever happens in the Season 2 finale, pulls the big trick of finally canonising an ending despite the showrunners saying they weren’t going to, or this is, for example, an AI version of House, rather than the weird husk from the New Vegas video game, which would leave us technically still left in the dark about what actually happened.
Fans are already debating the point, with some going so far as to already accepting The House Always Wins ending as canon. Some are even wondering what the point of New Vegas itself was, given the suggestion of a canon ending.
“What was the meaning of the game Fallout NV supposed to be and what was it trying to accomplish if none of the possible actions of The Courier had any lasting impact?” asked one fan. “With the newest episode of the Fallout Tv show, we find out House is alive. So what was the point of playing the game if none of the decisions would have mattered anyway? In the game the biggest consequences are, we get rid of House, give the power of hoover damm [sic] to the NCR, the Legion, or back to the Strip.
“But in the show the NCR is gone, the Legion is disconnected and in-fighting, the BoS is in the middle of a civil war with the East Coast, The strip became overrun with deathclaws. So what’s the point?”
Countering this, some fans have pointed to other explanations for what we see in the show, as mentioned above, but others have insisted that whatever happens on the show, it shouldn’t devalue your enjoyment of the games and how they work.
“The House we see at the end of episode 7 is a digital copy,” another fan added. “It doesn’t matter what happened to the real House’s body, this copy is separate from that. I don’t think there’s anything in the show that contradicts any of the four endings.”
“Seeing the House AI really doesn’t change anything,” said another fan. “The state of the Lucky 38, including a Securitron lying exactly where Yes Man does when you upload him, points strongly towards House’s death as a human at some point.” “I mean House is dead. He just uploaded himself to the Cloud,” joked another.
All eyes are now on the final episode of Fallout Season 2, which, given Season 3 is already confirmed, will no doubt pose just as many questions as it answers. While you wait, be sure to check out IGN’s Fallout Season 2, Episode 7 review.
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.
Arc Raiders has a new Headwinds game update that, amongst many other things, removes an extravagantly drawn-out puzzle from the game’s Buried City map. Introduced in December, the puzzle in question saw people tracking down and pushing 15 buttons in a certain order to unlock a secret chamber containing an actual, strummable guitar. As of this updating, you’ll now be able to buy that guitar at Shani’s, like a millionaire tourist paying to be flown to the top of Mount Everest.
I regard this as a dilution of the game, on paper, but I am not one of the players who’ve driven themselves crackers trying to get hold of the instrument (or paying real money for the battle pass to unlock it). Arc Raiders is a multiplayer game, of course, so even if you survive being shot at while stampeding between buttons, it’s possible another, distant player might innocently press one and reset your progress.
A number of high-profile video game developers have defended Highguard amid an online backlash during the game’s launch.
The free-to-play “PvP raid shooter” was the big new game reveal at the end of last month’s The Game Awards, but developer Wildlight then went dark until the January 26 release date in a bid to channel the successful shadowdrop of Apex Legends back in 2019.
At launch, Highguard hit a peak of 97,249 concurrent users on Steam — a significant number for any new game launch on Valve’s platform — but at the same time Wildlight has had to contend with a “mostly negative” user review rating. Meanwhile, Steam concurrents have fallen, and Highguard has slipped out of the top 100 most-played games list on Valve’s platform.
Chief among the criticisms from players is that the size of the map feels too big and empty for a 3v3 competitive shooter. You’re able to summon a mount to get about faster (the mounts are one aspect of Highguard that players seem to universally like), but some believe a 4v4, 5v5, or even 3v3v3 mode would have been a better fit.
There are also complaints about the resource-gathering phase of each map, which involves what some are calling boring mining and loot farming. The gist here is there is too much downtime and a lack of excitement, although players seem to be enjoying the raid phase of each match, where combat is concentrated. There is also criticism of the design of the playable characters, Highguard’s art direction, and a lack of content — as well as performance problems particularly on PC.
Through it all is a feeling that Highguard perhaps suffered from being the “one more thing” reveal at The Game Awards, where it might have better managed expectations in a slot earlier in the show. Wildlight staff have indicated they originally planned a true Apex Legends-style shadowdrop for Highguard, but The Game Awards chief Geoff Keighley asked the team about featuring it at the end of the show. Keighley has subsequently suffered a backlash of his own, with some feeling Highguard’ position in The Game Awards’ running order overly hyped the game.
Now, developers from the likes of Baldur’s Gate 3 studio Larian as well as Fortnite maker Epic have hit out at the discourse surrounding Highguard, and the internet’s capacity to “hate” on video games at launch. Developers like Cliff Bleszinski of Gears of War fame, Epic executive Mark Rein, and Larian boss Swen Vincke spoke up against, in particular, negativity from critics.
“I don’t like people s****ing on things others have created,” Vincke tweeted. “Putting something out into the world makes you vulnerable, and that alone deserves respect, even if you dislike the creation. It’s easy to destroy things, it’s a lot harder to build them. The best critics understand this. Even when they’re being critical, they do their best not to be hurtful.”
Vincke went on to suggest a Metacritic-style scoring system for reviewers, based on how others evaluate their criticism. “I like to imagine it would encourage a bit more restraint,” he said. “The harsh words do real damage. You shouldn’t have to grow callus on your soul just because you want to publish something.”
He continued: “And yes — I get that if people are charging money, you want to know if it’s good or not. But reviewers can just say — I didn’t enjoy it or I don’t think it’s well made or I don’t think it’s worth the money they are charging. That’s enough. No need to get personal for the sake of some likes.“
And in a follow-up post, Vincke added: “What I’m trying to say is that most creative souls are sensitive souls and those sensitive souls are the ones that care the most. When they check out because they can’t handle the vitriol, we all lose because what’s left are those that don’t care. The effect the words have on those sensitive souls may not be underestimated. You don’t want them to lose their idealism and love of players.
“There’s other ways of dealing with player exploitation. Not playing the games is probably the best one. You don’t have to verbally hurt the people behind the game to express your disdain. If enough people stop playing the games that don’t respect players, those in charge will get the message and change course soon. There’s enough other games there.”
Cliff Bleszinski, whose own live service shooter LawBreakers was a commercial failure, leading to the closure of his studio, asked: “When did it become trendy to hate on a new game? Been seeing it more and more in recent years. It’s exhausting.”
“It’s downright horrible,” Mark Rein, vice president and co-founder of Epic Games, commented. “Especially a FREE game from a new studio. Just so sad. This is a hobby for people, they should approach with joy not hatred.”
The reality is that Wildlight faces an uphill challenge turning online sentiment about its live service shooter around, and the studio will be particularly concerned by Highguard’s Steam user review rating, which remains ‘mostly negative.’ Currently, 37% of the 19,439 user reviews are positive; Wildlight plans to continue to update Highguard with various patches, and has announced its 2026 roadmap of content.
Meanwhile, Keighley responded to one person on social media who asked if he had a financial stake in Highguard’s success. “lol absolutely not,” he said.
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.
Crusader Kings 3 developers Paradox have decided now’s the time for the medieval strategy game to take a leaf out of its predecessor’s book – as well as fellow strategians Hearts of Iron IV and Europa Universalis 4 – by getting its own DLC subscription service. Starting today, you’ll have the option to pay a monthly fee for access to all nine billion or so CK3 expansions and add-ons, if you don’t fancy paying to own them outright in the usual fashion.
A collectible statue apparently due for release alongside the unannounced Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag remake has popped up online.
Ubisoft is yet to make its Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag remake official, but the game’s arrival has long been expected following a constant series of leaks. Now, fans have seemingly gotten a first look at merchandise for the game, in the shape of a new statue designed by collectible maker Pure Arts.
The lavish design features Black Flag hero Edward Kenway sat on a treasure chest that’s spilling gold coins, leaning back against his ship’s wheel, a cutlass and pistol in each hand. The statue is then topped off by a large billowing flag featuring the game’s logo: the Assassin’s Creed sigil with a skull in the middle.
⚠️ LEAK BLACK FLAG REMAKE ?
Un gars sur Vinted vend une toute nouvelle figurine de Edward Kenway et prétend qu’elle sortirait cette année.
En sachant que le remake de Black Flag était censé sortir dans moins de 2 mois, serait-ce la figurine officielle du jeu ? pic.twitter.com/ctVWiavA6c
If Ubisoft has made any change to Kenway’s character design for its remake, there’s no evidence of it here. That said, any alteration to the now-iconic pirate assassin’s look would have been a surprise.
What is curious, though, is how this statue has seemingly come to light. Unboxed and with no mention of its origins, the item was reportedly listed via used clothing resale app Vinted. Numerous fans spotted the item pop up, including notorious Assassin’s Creed leaker j0nathon, who quickly realized this was not a statue that had been publicly released already.
The item’s listing states that it is 35cm tall and features a 20cm width, and due for release in 2026. A detailed close-up of the statue’s base shows logos for Ubisoft and Pure Arts, with a copyright mark registered for 2026.
Perhaps the most notable confirmation of the project came from Edward Kenway’s own voice actor, who initially teased the project before later suggesting he’d been told by Ubisoft in no uncertain terms to stop talking. Finally, last month, the game popped up on the PEGI European ratings board website revealing what looks to be its final title: Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced.
Ubisoft itself previously said it would release an unannounced game before the end of its current financial year on March 31, though this launch has now been delayed into the coming financial year (ending March 31, 2027) due to the company’s major recent reshuffle of teams, projects and studios.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
It’s expected to drop the same day as other versions.
WWE 2K25 delivered an excellent Switch 2 port last July, and if you were hoping for the next entry on Nintendo’s new hybrid system, it seems you’re in luck.
According to Dealabs’ Billbil-kun, who has accurately reported on game announcements ahead of schedule in the past, the next WWE 2K will not only be coming to the Switch 2, but it will also be arriving on the same date as the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 counterparts.
Just a week after Ubisoft announced it was making a huge amount of cuts and cancellations in order to aid efficiency and corporate restructuring, the French studio has confirmed it will be increasing the price of Just Dance+ subscriptions from April 2026.
The streaming service, which launched back in November 2022, can be used in-game from Just Dance 2023 Edition onward, and gives you access to even more songs from the series’ back-catalogue.
