Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human Developer Quantic Dream Insists Star Wars Eclipse Development ‘Continues,’ Despite Competitive Multiplayer Game Plans

Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human developer Quantic Dream has given fans a brief update on its long-gestating Star Wars Eclipse, as it reveals plans for a separate competitive multiplayer project.

In a blog post published today, Quantic Dream chief David Cage revealed that the company had now decided to operate with multiple internal teams, “after years as a single-project studio” dedicated to single-player narrative-focused games.

Discussing its plans, Cage said Quantic Dream was now creating “something very different, a competitive multiplayer experience” that “may surprise our fans as it is very different from what we have done so far.”

“Of course, development of Star Wars Eclipse continues,” Cage confirmed, “and we are eager to share more with you in the future.”

Announced in 2021 via a flashy cinematic trailer, Star Wars Eclipse has flown under the radar in the years since. Set within the franchise’s High Republic era, Eclipse is expected to integrate Quantic Dreams’ traditional story-based gameplay with an action-adventure game set in the Star Wars universe.

Beyond that, details on what to expect remain thin on the ground, and Quantic Dream has only commented on the project over the past few years to quash rumors of development trouble and delays, amid suggestions that the studio was struggling to hire staff following previous workplace allegations.

“Can I say it still exists? Because it exists,” Quantic Dream marketing boss Lisa Pendse told IGN in 2023, when asked for an update on Star Wars Eclipse. “It’s just not ready. It’s simmering.”

Still, eyebrows were raised in August 2024 when the game’s lead writer Adam Williams announced he’d left Quantic Dream after a decade at the studio. As of now, there’s no word on when Star Wars Eclipse will actually materialize.

“Star Wars Eclipse has not been delayed because Quantic Dream never announced or promised a launch window for the title,” the developer said in 2022. “Recruiting remains active as it works on Star Wars Eclipse, third-party publishing, and unannounced projects.”

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Crisol is a baroque Spanish horror shooter with blood bullets that sometimes feels too wooden for comfort

In Crisol: Theater of Idols, you fire bullets of your own blood at frenzied wooden puppets while exploring an island saturated with unpleasant Spanish folklore. As elevator pitches go, I like the immediacy of this one’s trade-offs. Blood? But I need that stuff inside my body to convey oxygen and vital nutrients to my trigger fingers. Surely there are other fluids I can fill the bullets with. I get that it would prompt the less sexy kind of revulsion, but Norman Reedus did get away with lobbing cannisters of piss and dribble in Death Stranding.

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‘Not All Games Are Created Equal’ — Original Saints Row Dev Says GTA 6 ‘Deserves’ to Be $100

As the debate over the price of Grand Theft Auto 6 rages on, one developer of the original Saints Row — itself heavily inspired by GTA — has said he hopes Rockstar charges $100 for it, insisting it’s the only game in the world that can get away with it.

Strauss Zelnick, boss of Rockstar parent company Take-Two, is often asked how much Rockstar will charge for what is expected to be the biggest entertainment launch of all time. And each time he’s asked, Zelnick dances around the question, pointing to delivering value for customers.

Adding fuel to the scrutiny is the industry’s recent jump from $70 to $80 for some games. If Nintendo is charging $80 for Nintendo Switch 2 games like Mario Kart World, and Microsoft, as many expect, jumps to $80 for its games from next year after backtracking on doing just that this year, then it’s hard to see GTA 6 priced any cheaper.

Fans often baulk at the idea of forking out $100 for GTA 6. But according to Chris Stockman, the design director of the first Saints Row game, GTA 6 “deserves” to be $100.

In an interview with Esports Insider, Stockman responded to the suggestion that GTA 6 will be the first $100 video game.

“They’re the only ones that can get away with it, Stockman said. “I don’t think it’s a rising tide that floats all boats. I think that there’ll be a tremendous amount of backlash if everyone switched to $100. Not all games are created equal. I think GTA is the only one that can get away with it, and I hope they do. I really hope it’s $100. I think it deserves to be $100.

“The scope and magnitude of this production deserves that price tag, but not everything is treated equally. It would be a disaster if everyone tried to match them.”

Stockman here is saying the sheer scope of GTA 6 will be of a magnitude higher than any video game before it. Certainly it’s rumored to have the largest development budget of all time. Rockstar has barely shown any of the game, so it’s unclear exactly how big and varied an experience it will be. But it seems like a safe bet that barring the worst disaster in video game history, GTA 6 will rewrite the record books when it comes to critical and commercial acclaim.

But is the world ready for the jump to $100? Earlier this year, a $100 GTA 6 was mooted by Epyllion CEO and analyst Matthew Ball in a lengthy presentation on the state of gaming in 2025. Near the end of the presentation, Ball said that “some gamemakers hope GTA 6 will be priced at $80 to $100, breaking the $70 barrier and helping $50 titles to move up to $60, $60 to do $70, $70 to $80 etc.”

“Packaged game prices have never been lower in real terms than they are today — even though budgets are at all-time highs and player growth is stalled,” Ball wrote. “GTA 6 could re-establish packed video game prices after decades of deflation despite rampant cost growth.”

Other analysts have poured cold water on the $100 suggestion though, saying that such is the huge excitement around GTA 6 that there’s simply no need to limit the game’s potential audience by pricing some out of the experience.

Indeed, recently published research claimed that if Rockstar were to go with $100 for GTA 6, it would actually cost the company money, with the revenue “sweet spot” remaining $70.

Price is just one of the many unanswered questions swirling around GTA 6. Another is what Rockstar plans to do with GTA Online. Could the company charge more for access to GTA Online? Will it be a standalone free download? Could Rockstar sell a subscription? Will Rockstar and Take-Two really keep GTA Online available at no additional cost, as before?

Hopefully it won’t be long before we get answers. GTA 6 is due out May 26, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S.

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.

Around 400 Blizzard platform & technology staff are the latest Microsoft workers who’ve voted to unionise

Another group of workers at Microsoft-owned Blizzard have voted to form a union, with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) set to represent them. The CWA say that this union will be made up of “nearly 400” workers across Blizzard’s platform and technology department.

Their action follows the formation of a number of other unions at Blizzard over the past couple of years, with developers on World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and Diablo all having recently secured representation.

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Switch 2’s First Warhammer 40,000 Game Isn’t The One You Might Expect

Sorry, Space Marine II, your time will come.

Switch 1 was home to plenty of Warhammer 40,000 titles, so it was only a matter of time before Switch 2 got in on the fun. Well, that time is finally upon us, and the first series title on the new hardware is… the classic RPG Rogue Trader! Wait, that’s not Space Marine II.

Yep, there was a part of us that expected to see the immensely popular 2024 shooter as the one to lead the 40k charge on Switch 2, but it looks like we’re going for something different.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Pokémon Legends: Z-A Finally Introduces Unique Nurse Joys to Pokémon Centers

The Pokémon world can feel a bit idyllic at times to imagine, especially when you think of the free universal healthcare via magic healing machines provided to all Pokémon at any Pokémon Center. Since the very first games, these Pokémon Centers have been staffed by a roster of completely identical women (skin, hair, eyes, expression, everything!), all known in the anime as Nurse Joy.

But in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, for the first time, working Nurse Joys can be a little different.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A introduces unique Nurse Joys at every Pokémon Center for the first time in a Pokémon game. While the first one you’re likely to encounter looks like a fairly standard Joy, every woman staffing a Center has slightly different features: different skin tones, different eyes, different mouths, and different eyebrows. They’re all still in the same uniform and still sporting the same red loopy pigtails, but they now are giving a lot less pre-1980s Rockette.

This is in keeping with one of the features I’ve really enjoyed about Z-A so far: its character diversity. In past Pokemon games, towns could start to look a little samey, as every character of a single trainer class would have the exact same features copy-pasted. That has started to change in more recent games, but Scarlet and Violet took a bit of a step backward by dressing most of its cast in samey uniforms, again creating the illusion that every character looked the same.

In Z-A, though, not only do NPCs all have different facial features, their outfits can change things up a bit too. You still might see a couple of matching characters here or there, but I’ve spotted athletes sprinting through town in different colored workout gear, and artists with different colored aprons. It’s a small touch, but it adds a lot to the feeling that Lumiose City is actually populated by real people and not a lot of weird clones.

So congrats to every woman who didn’t look exactly like the original Nurse Joy in Pokémon Red and Blue (read: every woman), the job is now open to you, if you want it! Sorry to the gents though, as I still haven’t seen any men in the profession. Hopefully next game we can move into the 21st century on that front.

My review-in-progress of Pokémon Legends: Z-A is now live, if you want to check out my impressions of the first 24 hours, with a full review coming next week.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Doom modders fall into civil war as devs launch new engine in protest at GZDoom creator’s leadership and use of ChatGPT

The future of GZDoom, the community-updated engine behind many thousands of brilliant Doom mods, is in doubt following a bust-up over the lead developer’s use of generative AI to create code. The fracas has seen a number of GZDoom developers announce plans to splinter off and maintain their own engine, UZDoom.

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Nintendo Responds to Reports its Servers Were Breached, While Keeping Silent on Pokémon Teraleak

Nintendo has responded to reports that its servers were recently breached by hacking group Crimson Collective, and has claimed that no development or business information was taken.

In a statement to Japanese newspaper The Sankei Shimbun, Nintendo suggested that any breach had been minimal, and limited to servers simply hosting its websites.

The short statement, below, notably makes no mention of this week’s other major hacking story that has dominated gaming headlines: the continued spread of development details relating to the Pokémon franchise, originating from a confirmed breach of developer Game Freak’s servers last year.

Nintendo had attempted to pursue those responsible for last year’s so-called Teraleak of Pokémon details — which until this week appeared to be confined to information on past projects. But Nintendo does not appear to have had much success in locating the culprit, and this week a further cache of development details that seemingly chart The Pokémon Company’s roadmap of game releases until at least 2030 have hit the internet, timed to hit alongside the launch of Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

Last week, Crimson Collective claimed it had breached Nintendo’s servers, and an image purporting to show a long list of Nintendo development files was widely shared on social media. “We have not confirmed any leak of personal information, and there has been no leak of development or business information,” Nintendo’s statement today reads.

IGN has contacted Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for comment on this week’s further spread of information derived from the Teraleak, but has not heard back.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Ravensburger Reveals Disney Lorcana’s 10th Set Whispers in The Well, and It’s Now Up for Preorder

Disney Lorcana’s latest expansion, Whispers in The Well, has been revealed by Ravensburger and is now available to preorder. Amazon has preorders up at the moment for a booster box, the Illumineer’s Trove box, a single booster pack, and two single-player decks: Amber & Emerald and Sapphire & Steel.

All of these are set to be released on November 14 this year as well, so thankfully, you only have about a month to wait before you can get your hands on them. Get your preorders in at the links below before they sell out.

Disney Lorcana Whispers in The Well Expansion Revealed

On top of the expansion, two new Disney Lorcana playmats are releasing on the same day.

One of these is a delightful playmat featuring a design of Mickey Mouse, while the other features Jasmine from Aladdin. At the moment, they are both available to preorder for $19.99 a piece.

If the big booster box has caught your eye, it comes with 24 booster packs that each contain 12 randomized cards. Illumineer’s Trove, on the other hand, comes with 8 booster packs alongside six damage-counter dice, six card dividers, one lore counter, and a card storage box.

If you’re not looking to splash out on these big sets, though, the single booster pack will just set you up with 12 cards. As for the single-player decks, these come with 60 cards (including two foil cards of the characters featured on the front of the package), 11 damage tokens, a bonus booster pack, and a rulebook.

If you’re looking for even more card deals and preorders to drop some cash on, check out our breakdown of the best deals of the day. Yesterday’s write-up featured some great Pokémon TCG discounts and information on where you can preorder the new Magic: The Gathering’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.

Reminder: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Switch 2 Hardware Bundle Now Available

Will you be getting it?

Apart from the anticipated arrival of Pokémon Legends: Z-A this week, Nintendo has also released a new Switch 2 bundle.

Here’s your reminder that it’s now available in stores for $499.99 / £429.99 (or your regional equivalent). It comes packed with Nintendo’s new hardware and everything else required, as well as a full game download for the new entry in the series.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com