Ever since Gravity Rush 2 came out eight years ago (let’s not focus too hard on how much time that actually is for my mental health), I have, unfortunately, not been able to stop thinking about it. It is a game with a world full of whimsy, video game ass mechanics, and, most interestingly of all, a plot that quite directly deals with topics like class. What more can you want! And yet a sequel has never materialised. Lucky for me, just yesterday a new gravity shifting game entered the scene: Metro Gravity.
I know this is a PC games focused outlet, but I’d like to present to you the most PS3 coded game I’ve seen in a long while: Chains of Lukomoyre. Now, to be clear I mean this in the most loving of ways possible. That era of video games obviously set the foundations for the rinse and repeat we see in a lot of triple-A games these days, but there was still the occasional oddity out there that just had the right vibe. And I think Chains of Lukomoyre fits that vibe quite well.
We’ve rounded up the best deals for Saturday, June 21, below, so don’t miss out on these limited-time offers.
Donkey Kong Bananza Now Available to Pre-Order
This week’s Donkey Kong Bananza Direct was absolutely bananas, and if you weren’t interested in the game before, you probably are now. Bananza is set to be DK’s biggest adventure yet, and this time, he’s joined by a young Pauline. The two are tasked with heading to the very core of the planet, where wishes are supposedly granted. If you are looking for the next big game on Nintendo Switch 2, this right here is sure to be it. Donkey Kong Bananza is the best-selling game on Amazon at the moment, so be sure to lock in your copy to get it day one.
The Legend of Zelda Collector’s Chess Set
Chess is more popular than ever, especially with the rise of digital games. However, nothing beats a quality physical chess set that you can play at home. This Zelda-themed chess set features pieces sculpted after Link, Zelda, Ganon, and more, with a total of 32 different characters and enemies. If you’re a fan of The Legend of Zelda, this is an excellent way to add some functional decor to your home.
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance for $24.99
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is back at its all-time low price this weekend! SMT V: Vengeance is an enhanced version of the former Nintendo Switch exclusive SMT V, launched in 2019. The biggest feature available in this upgraded re-release is the all-new Canon of Vengeance route, which is essentially 40 hours of new story content.
Save Over 50% Off This LEGO Animal Crossing K.K.’s Concert in The Plaza Set
LEGO sets nowadays do not come cheap, especially for those with a larger number of pieces. A few years ago, Nintendo teamed up with LEGO for Super Mario, and that has grown to include both The Legend of Zelda and Animal Crossing. This weekend, you can save over $45 off the LEGO Animal Crossing K.K.’s Concert Set, which is perfect for fans of all ages.
Super Mario Party Jamboree for $44.99
With the recent reveal of Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games, it’s no question that you are going to want to save anywhere you can. The Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Super Mario Party Jamboree is set to cost $79.99, but you can upgrade from a Nintendo Switch copy for $20. This weekend, save your cash and pick up a copy of Super Mario Party Jamboree from Woot for only $44.99.
Death Stranding 2: On The Beach Out Next Week
After almost six years, the sequel to Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding is finally set to arrive this upcoming week. Following the events of the first game, Sam Porter Bridges is now tasked with venturing outside the United States, with both Mexico and Australia set as destinations. If you’re like me and incredibly excited for this game, you can even purchase the deluxe edition to play two days early on Tuesday, June 24.
Most of us can always use a new SSD, and this deal from Crucial is quite good. Normally priced at $144, you can score this Crucial T500 1TB Gen4 NVMe SSD for $75.19 this weekend at Amazon. You can use this SSD in a laptop, desktop, or even a PlayStation 5 to expand your storage for games, media, and more.
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii for $37.99
The latest Like a Dragon game stars everyone’s favorite ex-yakuza, Goro Majima, on an adventure to sail the seas as a pirate. When Majima wakes up unable to remember anything about himself, he embarks on a quest to regain his memories, and of course, in true Like a Dragon fashion, things get crazy. This is the lowest we’ve seen this game so far, so be sure to pick up a copy while you can.
Noah Hunter is a freelance writer and reviewer with a passion for games and technology. He co-founded Final Weapon, an outlet focused on nonsense-free Japanese gaming (in 2019) and has contributed to various publishers writing about the medium.
Unfortunately, it’s that time of the month again. Yesterday, Splitgate 2 developer 1047 Games shared a post on LinkedIn announcing that layoffs had taken place at the company. It was described as a “small group of valued 1047 Games team members,” but as is par for the course for games industry layoffs, there was no mention of how many have been laid off – though of course the usual spiel about “redirecting resources” to make the game better. You know, classic corporation speak.
Splitgate 2 developer 1047 Games has confirmed an undisclosed number of layoffs, with the co-founders of the studio opting not to take salaries as they bid to turn things around.
The free-to-play ‘Halo with portals’ shooter launched under a cloud after co-founder and director Ian Proulx took to the Summer Game Fest stage wearing a hat that read ‘Make FPS Great Again.’ During his speech, Proulx called out Call of Duty in what was considered a marketing gaffe.
When Splitgate 2 launched, it did so with a battle royale mode and a heavily criticized $145 microtransaction bundle. Splitgate 2 saw a peak concurrent player count of 25,785 on Steam, well below Splitgate’s 67,724 peak concurrent player count. Steam user reviews remain on ‘mixed.’
Steam stats do not paint the whole picture, of course, given Splitgate 2 launched across consoles as well as PC. Indeed, 1047 Games has said Splitgate 2 has had over 2.5 million players. But clearly, things have not gone as well as the studio had hoped. In an interview with IGN shortly after launch, Proulx said he was “surprised” by the reaction, admitting “we didn’t expect this to be nearly as controversial as it was and we didn’t intend for it to be.”
Now, 1047 Games has suffered a round of layoffs, which it characterized as “a small group” of staff in a post on LinkedIn. Also in the post came confirmation that co-founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian have opted not to take salaries, as the studio aims to improve the game.
Here’s the statement in full:
Today we parted ways with a small group of valued 1047 Games team members. We’re still perfecting the Splitgate 2 gameplay experience in response to community feedback, and we are redirecting resources to build the best game for our players. We are sad to see our teammates go, and we are actively working to help them secure new opportunities. Further, our co-founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian have opted not to take salaries as we lock in to deliver the next phase of the project. Thank you to those who’ve built alongside us — we are sad to say goodbye and would not be here without you.
To everyone who’s playing Splitgate 2, we’re continuing to work hard to deliver more things we know you’ll love. We are committed to building this game for the long haul.
While 1047 did not specify how many were let go, or who exactly, a number of key staff have announced their departures across social media platforms. Meanwhile, Splitgate 2 had a 24-hour peak concurrent player count of 10,059 on Steam, with 4,437 players on Valve’s platform at the time of this article’s publication.
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.
As it stands, Remedy Entertainment’s latest entry into their Connected Universe, FBC: Firebreak, is not doing so hot. Across the board it’s not been received entirely positively (including by our own James, you can read his review here), not exactly the ideal launch for a live service game. All the same, it being a live service game might ultimately be its benefit thanks to the power of that mystical force called “updates.” In a Steam post shared by the FBC: Firebreak team, some planned improvements were outlined, which certainly sound like they’d make for a better experience.
Grow a Garden has released its Summer update 1.11.0, propelling the Roblox game to comfortably the highest recorded concurrent player count in video game history. The patch notes are below.
The microtransaction-fueled free-to-play farming simulator had already shot past Fortnite’s concurrent peak of 15.3 million players, achieved during the Marvel-themed season finally back during Covid-era 2020, with an incredible 16.4 million concurrent players. At the time of this article’s publication, with players logging in for the Summer update, Grow a Garden was at an astonishing 21.3 million concurrents.
Grow a Garden Summer update official details:
Summer’s here! Introducing our biggest update so far with all new seeds, pets, gear and the limited time Summer Harvest event to celebrate the coming of summer.
Explore the all new Summer Season and join forces with other gardeners to participate in the Summer Harvest event. This update brings brand new seeds, pets, craftable items, all new weather, features, and so much more in this Grow A Garden update! 😎🌴🌞
In Grow a Garden you do exactly that: grow a garden. Each new player starts off with a plot of land and 20 Sheckles, the in-game currency, to buy simple seeds for vegetables like carrots. Your garden even continues to grow while you’re offline.
The 16-year-old who created Grow a Garden in just a few days remains creatively involved in what it’s become but is no longer the only name attached. Roblox experience management company DoBig Studios and popular developer Janzen Madsen (a.k.a. Jandel) and his network of creators at Splitting Point are now also involved.
Grow a Garden’s success is down to tight update strategies and events as reliable draws for Roblox players, and this Summer update is a perfect example. Other recent examples include bringing in a DJ for entertainment and organizing a mass dance party.
The summer harvest event happens at the start of every hour. Gather your friends and submit as many summer fruits as possible to the cart! The more summer plants you submit in the 10 minute time frame, the higher tier of random rewards you can unlock – 1000 points minimum are required. There are all kinds of rewards including old event items. Don’t miss out…
The summer update brings a refreshed seed shop with lots of brand new seeds, new pets, new gear, and lots more!
Plants:
Feijoa
Loquat
Prickly Pear
Bell Pepper
Kiwi
Pineapple
Banana
Avocado
Green Apple
Cauliflower
Elephant Ears
Rosy Delight
Parasol Flower
Pear
Cantaloupe
Wild Carrot
Pets:
Mimic Octopus
Macaw
Orangutan
Flamingo
Crab
8+ More
New Items:
Summer Seed Pack, 6 possible new seeds inside!
Reclaimer, destroy a plant and get the seed back!
Tanning Mirror, Help attract the sundried mutation during the Heat Wave event
Paradise Egg, 5 possible new pets inside!
Rare Summer Egg, 5 possible new pets inside!
Common Summer Egg, 3 possible new pets inside!
Events:
Heat Wave: when it’s hot crops have a chance to get the ‘sundried’ mutation
Gale: a rare and powerful gust of wind, chance to give the ‘windstruck’ mutation
Windy: blowing air, chance to give the ‘windstruck’ mutation
Tornado: multiple tornados at once, chance to give the ‘Twisted’ mutation
Windstruck, applied by the gale and windy events, 2x multi
Twisted, applied by the Tornado event, 5x multi
Sundried, applied by the Heat Wave event, 85x multi
Verdant, applied by the Scarlet Macaw, 4x multi
Paradisal, sundried + verdant , 18x multi
Cosmetics:
20+ Summer Cosmetics!
Fixes, Changes, & QOL:
Crafting has been added permanently
Sam has gone on holiday…
Lightning rod moved to crafting
Made lots of performance optimisations & improvements
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.
After the best part of a decade with Mario Kart 8, we’d wager that you had probably grown pretty close to your main. You know, your main. The character that you picked to sit behind the wheel, regardless of the situation, because their weight class, look, or general vibe matched your playstyle perfectly.
But then Mario Kart World came along and shook those mains up. A new batch of racers have been added to the mix, but a huge batch have also fallen off the roster (pour one out for the Koopaling mains out there). After two weeks of open-world racing, huge swathes of us have found ourselves pivoting to a new racer, either drawn in by the shiny new faces, or rebounding from the loss of our go-to picks.
The Switch 2 is off to an amazing start all over the world, but in Japan, its success has been especially remarkable; it’s already the fastest-selling console in the nation’s history, outperforming even the mighty PS2.
