Often, the gaming internet depresses me with *gestures expansively*, but sometimes, it delights me with some relatively specific and impassioned Thing like, in this case, a single-player aerobatics sim dedicated to formation flying. Created by Japanese indie CloveTek, Dancing Wings – The Aerobatic Simulator is as far from yer Ace Combats and Delivery Must Completes as you can get while still having wings. A bunch of wise guys have tagged it “Automobile Sim” on the Steam page, but ignore them! I expect they’re just sore about never having performed a genuine Immelmann turn. Here’s a trailer.
Publisher Silver Lining Interactive and developer Sunny Lab are bringing The Witch’s Bakery to Switch 2 in addition to Switch, with the cosy RPG arriving on both consoles in Q2 2026.
Imagine opening a bakery in modern-day Paris — not easy, right? Well, as Lunne the witch, that’s exactly what you’re doing. But this slice-of-life adventure is more than just making Mont Blancs and macarons; being a witch, Lunne has the ability to see inside people’s hearts and heal their emotions. Anyone getting some Kiki’s Delivery Service vibes from the premise alone?
Riftbound, the new trading card game (TCG) from Riot Games, released on October 31, 2025, in the West, and has since seen incredible growth, both in terms of overall interest and card listings at online storefronts.
According to new data provided by TCGplayer.com, daily searches for the game have increased by over 300% since launch, compared to the preorder period (about 2 weeks prior to launch). Globally, the term “Riftbound” was searched over 6,300 times per hour, and that’s just by TCGplayer users.
TCGplayer CEO Rob Bigler also provided comment to IGN on the new TCG’s immense success so far: “Riftbound’s early success is a huge positive for the hobby and reinforces that fans are excited to engage with the worlds and characters they love in new ways. Trading card games are a compelling and social way to extend fan affinity when developed authentically and thoughtfully – and we see this via the demand on our marketplace.”
With a property as popular as League of Legends, supplementary media such as Netflix’s Arcane and the upcoming fighting game 2XKO have garnered significant mass appeal, with many fans staying true to their favorite characters from all mediums.
Per TCGplayer, the most popular Riftbound card searches between October 17 and December 7 included some of the most iconic League characters. Jinx, the star of Arcane, had over 65,000 searches, while other fan-favorite character Ahri had more than 54,900. Other popular searches included other League of Legends characters like Sett, Teemo, and Darious, each with over 43,000 searches on the site.
TCGplayer is the biggest online storefront for all things TCGs in the world, and the launch of Riftbound exploded exponentially with related card and sealed product listings.
It’s no secret that getting your hands on sealed Riftbound product was (and still is) a bit tough, but the marketplace saw a 750% increase in listings a month after launch; October 30 saw more than 68,600 listings, while October 31 saw that number almost double, with over 118,100 listings. As of November 30, the number of listings was sitting at more than 585,000.
Riftbound’s second set, titled Spiritforged, is scheduled to launch in the West on February 13 after launching in China on December 12. Preorders are now open for Spiritforged products.
While yesterday saw the end of Ubisoft’s plans to release a Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake (a project that the company had been working on for at least six years) and five other unnamed games, no mention was made of Beyond Good & Evil 2, whose record-breaking development now spans almost 20 years, off and on.
Indeed, Beyond Good & Evil was named by Ubisoft as an ongoing franchise that would now be overseen by its reorganized “Creative House 4” division, dedicated to narrative driven and fantasy games. Separately, Insider Gaming has reported that the project is indeed still alive today, as the dust settles.
On reddit, Beyond Good & Evil’s long-suffering fans have reacted to the sequel’s survival by calling it “miraculous“, “insane” and simply “too big to fail.”
“It’s insane this game is still in production and survived,” dan_in_his_own_way wrote. “Don’t get me wrong, I want to play it but the cancelation of the Price of Persia remake hit really hard. A project that would arguably cost them less and require less resources than Beyond Good & Evil.”
“Beyond Good and Evil 2 will survive World War 3,” quipped Travguard. “But it still won’t be out by the armistice,” added meathappening.
One fan, 33Sharpies, pointed to the likely financial implications of Beyond Good & Evil 2 ever being canceled, at which point Ubisoft would have to write down the cost of its gargantuan development. While the project is still alive, however, it can still be listed as an ongoing asset. (Insider Gaming has reported that the project has been valued internally as having now cost over $500 million, though that figure is unverified.)
Beyond Good & Evil 2 is believed to have originally begun early development in 2007, with series creator and Rayman mastermind Michel Ancel and his Ubisoft Montpellier team on board. Over the coming decade, development was mostly paused while Montpellier worked on other projects, but Ubisoft re-announced the game with fanfare in 2017 and showed off an in-engine concept featuring space flight and designs to feature multiple solar systems and planets.
Beyond Good & Evil 2 still lacks any word of a release date — and may well have been one of the titles Ubisoft delayed to receive further polish yesterday. As of now, however, it remains alive — however improbable that may seem.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
A new Helldivers 2 patch has arrived ahead of the slightly delayed Redacted Regiment warbond also making its sneaky debut today, January 22nd. In line with that warbond’s stealthy shushness, this patch has seen Arrowhead add in new commando missions designed to reward those who know when to crouch-walk. They’ve also revealed that the slim build that’s been in beta for a little while is finally ready to take the reigns from the standard version and its very chunky install size.
Ubisoft has said that completing its now-canceled Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake would have “required more time and investment than we could responsibly commit,” after more than half a decade of development.
Yesterday, Ubisoft shocked fans by announcing it had scrapped the long-awaited remake completely as part of a major business reshuffle, nearly six years after the project was first announced, and five years to the day after it was initially set to launch — on January 21, 2021.
Ubisoft has never fully explained why the remake has had such a tortured development — first at the company’s Mumbai and Pune studios, then at Ubisoft Montreal since the project was rebooted in 2022. What has been happening behind the scenes since then, and why has the game been scrapped now, after so long trying to get it right?
A statement that’s now been shared via the official Prince of Persia social media account holds few answers. Here it is in full:
“To the Prince of Persia community, we wanted to share this with you directly,” reads a statement attributed to Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia team.
“We’ve made the difficult decision to stop development on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake. We know this is deeply disappointing. The game carries enormous meaning for fans and for the teams who worked on it.
“While the project had real potential, we weren’t able to reach the level of quality you deserve, and continuing would have required more time and investment than we could responsibly commit. And, we didn’t want to release something that fell short of what The Sands of Time represents.
“Prince of Persia as a universe and a legacy continues to matter deeply to us, and this decision does not mean we’re stepping away from the franchise.
“Thank you for your passion, patience and love for Prince of Persia.”
While many of the details around Ubisoft’s business reshuffle remain to be seen, the company did at least name the Prince of Persia franchise as part of its new fourth “Creative House” division yesterday, suggesting it was indeed still an ongoing concern.
For the fans waiting half a decade to play the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake, however, this is likely of little comfort.
“Pretty sad we’ll never get this,” wrote Ubisoft fan SynthPotato, “people were convinced its on the edge of releasing.” “Saw this coming a mile away unfortunately,” added another fan, 8biteric. “Please tell me you’re going to reverse time and take back this post and make an announcement that the game is done and will release later this year,” suggested TheChrisLambert, hopefully.
Five other games were canceled yesterday as part of Ubisoft’s reshuffle, while a further seven titles have been delayed — including the company’s similarly long-awaited Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag remake.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Rebirth and third entry are now in development for Switch 2.
If you’ve been keeping up with Final Fantasy VII Remake on the Switch 2, then you’ll probably already know that its direct sequel, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, along with the untitled third entry, will also head to the hybrid console in the future.
Rebirth represents quite a drastic departure from Remake, introducing a vast open world that serves as an almost direct contrast to the tightly-designed environments found in the first entry. This will no doubt sow doubts in fans’ minds about just how well it might hold up on the Switch 2. After all, Rebirth’s visuals were already noted to have suffered from a few downgrades at launch when compared to Remake.
Nintendo has released an update for Pokémon Legends: Z-A, with some handy item adjustments and a list of bug fixes for the game’s Mega Dimension DLC.
The Switch and Switch 2 Pokémon adventure has today been patch to Version 2.0.1, which makes both berries and Mega Shards easier to buy and hold onto. With the update installed, you will now be able to purchase multiple berries at once from food vendors. Mega Dimension owners, meanwhile, will gain the ability to buy berries at Nouveau Café’s Truck.
Speaking of Mega Dimension, players with the DLC purchased will see a range of bugs fixed — including Shiny Pokémon not registering in your Pokédex, a side mission progression blocker, and an issue where the game’s weather was stuck being sunny (if only this was true in real life).
Launched last month, Mega Dimension adds a fresh story campaign to Pokémon Legends: Z-A, starring a donut chef and the Mythical Pokémon Hoopa. It’s set within an alternative Hyperspace version of Lumiose City, where the franchise’s typical level 100 cap can be surpassed. Most excitingly, it adds a swathe of all-new Mega Evolutions — though none as freaky as the fan-favorite Mega Starmie.
Looking ahead, the Pokémon series celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2026, and fans are eagerly awaiting news on the next generation of mainline games. Many expect these to be announced on the franchise’s anniversary during its annual Pokémon Presents livestream, due on February 27. There’s also the promising-looking life simulation spin-off Pokémon Pokopia to look forward to.
For now, Pokémon Legends Z-A’s latest full patch notes lie below:
Pokémon Legends: Z-A: Ver. 2.0.1 (Released January 21, 2026)
Adjustments Applied for Obtaining Items:
When purchasing Berries from a food stall, you can now purchase multiple Berries at once.
After beginning the story of the Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension DLC, you will be able purchase Berries from the clerk at Nouveau Café’s Truck No. 3.
The maximum number of Mega Shards you can carry has been increased from 999 to 9,999.
Fixes Applied for the Following Confirmed Issues Related to Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension Content:
When using moves in certain pockets of hyperspace, Pokémon may sometimes have faced a different direction from the intended target.
There were cases in which the weather remained sunny and did not change.
Shiny Pokémon obtained prior to the release of Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension may not have been registered to the Mega Evolution Pokédex, even if their Mega Stones were obtained after becoming available in the DLC.
During missions, images from unrelated scenes may occasionally have been displayed.
Players may not have been able to complete side mission 188 “Start Special Scanning!” even after earning the maximum number of survey points. (Players who are already experiencing this issue should be able to progress after entering and exiting hyperspace.)
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Ubisoft’s bloodbath of game cancellations and restructuring yesterday has attracted the expected fiery response from unionised workers, with the French game industry union Solidaires Informatique calling a half-day strike today. Cost-cutting and potential layoffs aside, the strikers are protesting against Ubisoft’s decision to mandate a full return to office, with workers given an annual allowance of work from home days instead – something a publisher executive has justified as a move “to enhance collective efficiency” and “the sense of belonging”.
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