Category: Video Games

In a recent interview with Ruliweb translated by Genji and confirmed by IGN, director Kim Hyeong-tae talked about what players can expect on launch day. One feature Stellar Blade fans shouldn’t expect is microtransactions… at least not initially.

“We want to make it clear at this point that Stellar Blade will not require any additional expenses that gamers are not aware of beyond what they paid for the package,” Kim told Ruliweb.

If you’re looking for a well-rated power bank from a reliable brand, then we’ve got a deal for you here. Amazon is offering Amazon Prime members an Anker PowerCore PIQ 10,000mAh Power Bank for a mere $12.64 after you clip the 24% off coupon on the product page. The power bank is as simple as they come come by, but it’s inexpensive, compact and lightweight, and has both USB Type-A and Type-C outputs.

Anker 10,000mAh USB Type-C Power Bank for $12.64

Amazon Prime members only

The 10,000mAh power bank is the perfect compromise between battery capacity and size. The Anker Powercore model measures about 6.3″ long, 3.2″ wide, and 0.65″ thick, which makes it easy to carry with you just about anywhere, including on airplane carry-on. There are two ports: a USB Type-C port that serves as both output and input and one USB Type-A port that is output. The maximum power output at any one time is 12W. Note that the Nintendo Switch console accepts up to 18W of delivery. That means that although this power bank can and will charge your Switch to max (over two times), it will do so at a slower rate than the wall adapter that your Switch comes with.

Anker is one of the most trusted brands on Amazon when it comes to quality control and reliability. They are on our list of best power banks of 2024. Usually that means Anker commands a higher price point, but this 10K power bank is inexpensive even compared to other “no-name” brands give its featureset. If you’re in need of an inexpensive and universal battery backup, then Anker is usually a very safe bet.

Roblox boss Stefano Corazza has opened up about accusations of young developer exploitation on its platform, saying that the opportunity Roblox gives its teenage creators is “a gift.”

Roblox has had in-game development tools via its Studio feature for a while, offering users the chance to create entire games that can then be published for other players and monetized. It all takes place within Roblox itself, streamlining the experience for creators and giving Roblox a cut of the profits.

The Roblox creator website encourages users to “make anything you can imagine,” enticing would-be developers with the promise that experiences can be published instantly to more than 66.1 million other users across the globe. It adds that there are currently more than 3.1 million Roblox developers.

The Roblox name has long been associated with a younger player base, and many have accused Corazza and his team of taking advantage of children who use the platform to create games. The studio head attempted to shut down these claims during an interview with Eurogamer by explaining why their creation tools aren’t exploiting child labor.

“I don’t know, you can say this for a lot of things, right?” Corazza explained. “Like, you can say, ‘Okay, we are exploiting, you know, child labour,’ right? Or, you can say: we are offering people anywhere in the world the capability to get a job, and even like an income. So, I can be like 15 years old, in Indonesia, living in a slum, and then now, with just a laptop, I can create something, make money and then sustain my life.”

He continued: “There’s always the flip side of that, when you go broad and democratised – and in this case, also with a younger audience. I mean, our average game developer is in their 20s. But of course, there’s people that are teenagers – and we have hired some teenagers that had millions of players on the platform.”

Corazza elaborated, declaring the benefits Roblox Studio offers its more creative teenage users. He even says that the money the studio gives its creators every year is nearing $1 billion.

“For them, you know, hearing from their experience, they didn’t feel like they were exploited! They felt like, ‘Oh my god, this was the biggest gift, all of a sudden I could create something, I had millions of users, I made so much money I could retire.’ So, I focus more on the amount of money that we distribute every year to creators, which is now getting close to like a billion dollars, which is phenomenal.”

A Roblox PR representative clarified with Eurogamer that “the vast majority of people that are earning money on Roblox are over the age of 18.” It’s unclear how many creators are under 18 or exactly how much money they are bringing in for themselves and the Roblox company.

Roblox originally released for PC in 2006 and eventually came to iOS and Android devices in 2012 and 2014, respectively. It came to Xbox shortly after but wouldn’t arrive on PlayStation platforms until 2023. With some VR platforms also under its belt, Roblox is accessible on nearly every modern gaming platform.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

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

Dragon’s Dogma 2‘s pesky Dragonsplague illness turns pawns murderous but only exhibits a few subtle symptoms up to that point, so one modder has made things really obvious for PC players by sticking a big number on the follower’s forehead.

As reported by VG247, NexusMods user rthomasv3 uploaded the “Dragonsplague Counter”, which doesn’t change non-infected pawns but brands those who are with a red number ranging from one to 10.

This tracks the severity of the infection in a more stark way than its normal symptoms, which include slight changes in behaviour like acting independently of the player and not obeying direct orders (you can find these explained further in IGN’s Dragon’s Dogma 2 guide).

If the disease gets out of hand, a cutscene will trigger when a player rests that sees nearly every other character in an area die. Dragon’s Dogma 2 doesn’t sugarcoat things for players either, as even important NPCs will be taken out and there’s limited revival items in the game.

The Dragonsplague Counter mod can therefore prevent disaster to those who aren’t paying incredibly close attention to their pawns. More information is now in the wild, thankfully, but players freaked out about the plague upon discovering it in the days following launch, not yet understanding what it was, how it was contracted, or when it would consume their pawns.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 arrived more than a decade after its predecessor on March 22, 2024 and proved a monster hit for publisher Capcom despite being seeped in controversy, selling 2.5 million units in 11 days amid microtransaction and performance complaints.

In our 8/10 review, IGN said: “More of a redo than a sequel, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a strange and wonderful action-RPG that bolsters the original’s strengths without addressing its weaknesses.”

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