I can’t remember the first time I felt “immersed” in a videogame, but I can remember the first time I got stuck under a swimming pool float as a kid, scratching at a scabby foam ceiling roamed by mocking silver jellyfish of air. I can remember the first few times I drowned in videogames, fighting the waterlogged handling in Sonic’s Labyrinth Zone, or operating the agile sarcophagus that is Lara Croft in Aztec print grottos of antiseptic blue.
I find the continuing use of “immersive” to describe believable videogame worlds weird and a bit alarming. Partial immersion would be one thing – the videogame as nice hot bath at the end of the day, the videogame as splashing around in a stream of thought, the videogame as a kind of apple-bobbing. The “immersion” of the “immersive sim” is a different matter entirely: it’s a box of clockwork you’re invited to tease apart, not some hyperreal enclosure. But the “full” or “total” sensory immersion repeatedly offered by big-budget, photoreal 3D games seems a lot like suffocation.
The Battlefield 6 team at EA and Battlefield Studios is shrinking ticket sizes for their large-scale Conquest multiplayer game mode, but players aren’t sold that these changes will improve the pace of matches.
An update to the structure of Conquest matches arrived in an official post from the Battlefield Comms X/Twitter account. It details blanket changes across every Conquest map in Battlefield 6, as the developers aim to ensure matches “finish at a more natural pace.”
To achieve this, BF Studios says it has reduced ticket sizes from 1000 tickets to a unique ticket goal for each map. These range from 900 tickets on maps like Siege of Cairo and Empire State to 700 tickets on maps like Mirak Valley and Operation Firestorm. You can see the full breakdown below.
Siege of Cairo from 1000 to 900
Empire State from 1000 to 900
Iberian Offensive from 1000 to 900
Liberation Peak From 1000 to 800
Manhattan Bridge From 1000 to 800
Operation Firestorm From 1000 to 700
New Sobek City from 1000 to 900
Mirak Valley from 1000 to 700
BF Studios says its goal is to keep matches moving at a more natural pace, but players aren’t convinced that reduced ticket requirements are what Battlefield 6 needs.
Meanwhile, BF Studios added in a separate tweet that the Out of Bounds timer for vehicles on Battlefield 6’s Manhattan Bridge map in Conquest and Escalation have been increased from five to 10 seconds.
Developing…
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
Nintendo has announced its next game trial for Nintendo Switch Online users, and this one is a doozy.
Yes, if it wasn’t obvious from the above image, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance will be available to download for free for NSO members from 16th to 22nd October 2025.
Congratulations on picking up your new ROG Xbox Ally or ROG Xbox Ally X! Whether you’re a handheld gaming veteran or just getting started, you’ve joined a growing and vibrant community of players who appreciate the flexibility of Windows and the power and ease of use of Xbox in the palm of your hands. While you probably picked up your Xbox Ally to dive right into your favorite games (we share some of our handheld favorites here), you’ll quickly discover that these handhelds offer tremendous flexibility to personalize your gaming experience. To help you hit the ground running, we’ve pulled together some must-know tips to make the most out of your new Xbox Ally.
If you’re just setting your device up, check out the informative guide at Xbox Support for step-by-step instructions. Of note: Don’t skip the option to set up the fingerprint reader; unlocking your Xbox Ally with just a touch is fast and feels a little bit magical. Once setup is complete, you’ll boot up directly into the immersive Xbox full screen experience, a purpose-built gaming experience.
Ready to go? Here’s a few helpful pointers.
Navigating your Xbox Ally
Master the Menus: The Xbox Ally gives you multiple ways to find what you’re looking for— you can use the d-pad, joysticks, shoulder and face buttons to make selections, or simply tap the responsive touchscreen directly. For instance, to reach the all-important Game Bar settings menu, you can press the Xbox button and hit the right bumper, or simply swipe from the left edge of the screen toward the center. Swapping between apps? Long press the Xbox button or swipe up from the bottom to access the Task Switcher, making switching between apps and games seamless.
Get Familiar with Command Center: ASUS Command Center is now integrated into Game Bar, giving you instant access to many advanced features to personalize your experience, both inside and outside of games.
For a more expansive set of advanced settings and customization options, you can also launch the full-featured Armoury Crate SE right from this overlay.
Meet Gaming Copilot (Beta) — Your Personal Sidekick: You can access Gaming Copilot on the Xbox Ally, where it offers recommendations, tips, and insights when you need them. To get started, long press the Command Center button to open the Gaming Copilot widget in Game Bar, and complete the onboarding experience. After that, if you want to check your next achievement or get advice for a tough boss fight without leaving your game, long press the Library button and then release to start your conversation with Gaming Copilot.
Play What You Want
Browse Your Games Library: Now it’s time to find some things to play! Head to the Library by pressing the dedicated Library button above the right thumbstick to find games you already own, as well as those available with Game Pass, and titles playable via the Xbox Cloud Gaming. Note: you can select more than one category at a time; highlighting Owned and Installable allows you to go shopping in your own closet for games that play natively on your Xbox Ally. Looking for something new? You’ll find the Store on the left rail as well.
Access Your Games, From Leading PC Storefronts: With the aggregated gaming library, you can easily add your titles from leading PC storefronts to your library, to see all your games in one place. All you have to do is head to the My Apps tab in your Library, and select the PC storefront you want to install.
If you don’t see your desired launcher, open Edge (also located in My apps), navigate to the store’s website, and download it.
Play Anywhere—Including Offline: Handheld freedom means you’re bound to play in places without WiFi. While many titles work best online, most single-player games run great without a connection. Before you travel, test your games offline, pre-download any updates or DLC, and make sure you’re signed in. For detailed offline setup, see our guide: Play games in offline mode on Windows | Xbox Support. And if you’re flying, don’t forget to switch to airplane mode to save battery and avoid interruptions.
Personalizing your Setup
Play Your Way Using Accessibility Features: With the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, the Xbox experience and Game Bar have been optimized for handheld use, bringing along familiar accessibility features from Xbox consoles and Windows 11 PCs. Most visual, cognitive, and sensory accessibility features can be found by selecting the Profile & Settings icon in the upper left of the screen, selecting Settings, then Accessibility. Input accessibility settings, including on-screen keyboard, input customizations, and the ability to re-map your Xbox Ally’s buttons are found in Armoury Crate SE.
Connect External Controllers: Pair Xbox Wireless Controllers to your Xbox Ally just like you would with a PC. Turn on your controller, hold the Pair button, and look for the connect notification. Missed it? Open the Game Bar, navigate to Settings > Bluetooth > Manage devices, select Add device > Bluetooth, and follow the prompts.
And don’t miss the clever detail: inside the underside of your Xbox Ally box lid, you’ll find a lightweight, sturdy paperboard stand—perfect for holding your Xbox Ally while charging or playing with an external controller without blocking the screen. This pairs well with the next feature:
Docking for the Big Screen: The Xbox Ally–is your perfect gaming companion when you’re on the go, and when you’re at home it provides even more options to play. It’s easy to connect an external monitor or TV for a larger, even more immersive experience . Simply connect your Xbox Ally directly to a monitor or TV or to a dock via the USB-C port,. For optimal performance, it’s best to use “Second Screen Only” to match your TV’s resolution and refresh rate.
Customize the Joystick Ring Lights: The Xbox Ally’s colorful lights surrounding the thumbsticks are one of its defining visual flourishes, but sometimes you may want to dim them for a red-eye flight or if you’re playing in dark room. To adjust them, open Armoury Crate SE and select Lighting to change how they pulse, or turn them off entirely.
Stay up to date: The Xbox Ally you take out of the box is only the starting point; Xbox and ASUS will continue to add new features and functionality to enhance your experience. To ensure you’ve always got the latest updates, there are two places you’ll want to check from time to time.
Windows OS Update:
Open Game Bar > Settings Widget > More Settings > Open Windows Settings > Windows Update
Install all updates and restart your device when prompted
Update Armoury Crate SE:
Open the Command Center
Select “Open Armoury Crate SE”
Select Update Center > Check for Updates > Update All
We can’t wait to see where your new Xbox Ally or Xbox Ally X takes you. Whether you’re enjoying handheld gaming on the couch or setting high scores on the go, these tips will help you get the most out of every session.
A yellow kimono. A damaged lacquered hat. The Ghost mask with its kintsugi effect.
More than a simple garment, Atsu’s outfit from Ghost of Yōtei’s trailers and artwork has quickly become iconic. And while this is the outfit you’ll begin your journey with, you’ll quickly be searching for upgraded armour and speciality gear if you plan on surviving Ezo.
Understanding the challenges that lay ahead of you, developer SuckerPunch has introduced a builds system to Ghost of Yōtei, allowing players to combine the special features of armour and outfits with the boons offered by the charms found throughout the world. At the start, you can have three builds, and eventually you will be able to save up to five at any one time.
To help you in your hunt for the Yōtei Six, we’ve put together a selection of unique builds to try out during your time at the edge of Japan. Note that while this guide names amour sets and charms, it avoids spoilers and specific details. However, we recommend spending a few hours exploring Ezo yourself, before delving further into this article.
The Warrior – Combat and Melee
Built around stagger damage and useful for facing multiple foes at once, this build will boost your health, increase your ability to push enemies back and put you in strong stead during combat scenarios.
To make the most of this build, focus on parrying incoming attacks and using your heavy attack to stagger enemies quickly, but make sure you select the correct weapon for your opponent, as this armour’s abilities are only triggered when you are weapon-aligned.
Armour: Armour of the Undying
Found: The Undying Samurai questline
Benefits:
Staggers restore health if weapon aligned
Window to perform perfect parry and dodge increased if weapon aligned
Focus attacks increase stagger damage if weapon aligned
Charms:
Charm of Thoughtful Restoration
Gain increase to maximum health
Father’s Charm
Perfect parries regain a moderate amount of Health
Takezo’s Charm of Bold Deflection
Parrying inflicts additional stagger damage
Charm of Shattering Strike
Shields destroyed with the Kusarigama unleash an explosion of shrapnel, inflicting stagger damage to nearby enemies
Charm of Thunderous Assault
Staggering an enemy with the odachi has a chance to knock down that enemy
Charm of Cannon Steps
The Yari’s Typhoon kick has a chance to instantly stagger an enemy
The Ghost – Stealth and Assassination
Perfect for infiltration missions or when you’re outnumbered but not yet discovered, this build will slow down enemy detection speed and allow you to silently take down multiple opponents at once.
For this build, keep out of sight, sneak up on enemies and trigger the chain assasination ability, allowing you to take several of them down quickly. If you are detected, sake jars and smoke bombs allow you to return to the shadows.
Armour: Crimson Kimono
Found: Crimson Kimono questline
Perks:
Chain assassinations can be performed with kunai
Enemy detection is reduced
Kusarigama assassinations can be unleashed from further away
Charms:
Charm of Lingering Shadows
Reduces enemy detection speed
Charm of the Wary Opponent
Press L2 to focus on an enemy that has begun to detect you
Charm of the Blind Drunk
Throwing a sake jar at an enemy will briefly blind them
Charm of Masaka
Using a smoke bomb regains health
Charm of the Fearful End
All types of assassinations have a chance to terrify nearby enemies
Charm of Assassin’s Resolve
All types of assassinations grant an additional amount of Spirit
The Dragonfly – Ranged
Want to take enemies on from a distance? This build focuses on the use of Atu’s dual bows, allowing you to put down enemies from farther with precision and speed.
This build works best if you hit enemies with either bow, making use of the time-slowing Concentration feature, which is extended by the attributes of the chosen charms. You can then quickly close the gap for a chance to refill your quiver, before retreating to a safe distance to continue your volley.
Armour: Dragonfly Armour
Found: Daijiro questline
Perks:
Fully drawing your bow creates a brief timed glint. Firing your arrow during this glint empowers your shot, increasing its damage and range
Firing an empowered arrow grants an amount of concentration
Increase arrow reload speed
Charms:
Mother’s Charm
The wind quickens your arrows, increasing their damage
Charm of True Aim
The Yumi locks onto enemies and fires two arrows
Charm of Kibitsuhiko
Land headshots while using Concentration to extend its duration
Charm of Iron Focus
Increases total concentration time
Charm of Archer’s Fortune
An increased chance to recover arrows that kill or miss their target
The Dueller – Risk and Reward
A risky choice, this build is all about precision and allows you to plow through opponents, provided you have your timing right. It is especially useful during 1-on-1 duels.
Perfect parries are key here; performing one allows you to land multiple damaging blows on your opponent while retaining and regaining health through the choice of charms. But be warned – regular parries are disabled, opening you up to devastating damage if you miss your window, which is why this build leans heavily on health-related perks.
Armour: Bounty Master Armour
Found: Soma the Condemned bounty
Perks:
Perfect parry windows are increased, but regular parries are disabled
A perfect parry enables additional counter attacks
All Spirit gains are increased
Charms:
Father’s Charm
Perfect parries regain health
Takezo’s Charm of Bold Deflection
Parrying inflicts additional stagger damage
Charm of Thoughtful Restoration
Gain an increase to maximum health
Charm of Healing
While at half health or less, potency of the Heal technique increases
Charm of Masakado
Onryō’s Will revives you at full health
The Firefly – Quickfire Chaos
Focused on the use of flaming kunai, with this chaotic build you can overwhelm groups of enemies while your armour and charms buff damage and burn time, igniting enemies and melting shields.
This build’s attributes can refill your Kunai through assassinations and looting to keep your fiery attack going.
Armour: Nine Tail Armour
Found: Kitsune questline
Perks:
Quickfire weapon damage and duration of status effects are increased
Assassinations has a chance of dropping quickfire ammo
Enemy detection speed and assassination noise is reduced
Charms:
Charm of Burning Blades
Kunai now inflict fire damage and ignite flammable objects
Charm of the Hidden Blades
Throw additional kunai
Charm of Homusubi
Inflict increased fire damage to enemies
Charm of Lingering Affliction
All harmful status effects on enemies last longer and deal additional damage
Charm of Uncanny Aim
Quickfire weapon damage increased
Charm of Generous Opponents
Chance to recover quickfire weapons when looting the dead
Additional tip: All armour sets and many charms can be upgraded several levels, increasing their special effects. To fully benefit from these builds, focus on reaching the top level with your chosen armour and charms.
These builds will help you on your hunt for the Yōtei Six, but they are not the only options. Combining one of the many other discoverable armour pieces with your chosen combination of charms allows you to craft a build that perfectly suits your own playstyle.
Play around and discover what works for you. You’re going to need all the help you can get as you face The Snake, The Oni, The Kitsune, The Spider, The Dragon, and Lord Saito.
Destiny 2’s recent Edge of Fate expansion marked the game’s seventh mainline annual expansion, and if there’s one thing that’s never been clearer, it’s that Bungie’s MMO/loot-shooter is tough for new players to get into.
Sure, the game isn’t in its best state right now ahead of the Star Wars-themed Renegades in December, but it’s still one of the best-feeling shooters.
If you’ve ever wanted to become a Titan, Hunter, or Warlock but felt you missed your chance, there’s good news: Green Man Gaming has bundled together every expansion for charity.
The Destiny 2: Expansion Bundle includes every major Destiny 2 expansion released to date, with tiers including Edge of Fate and even the upcoming Renegades, which supports the Bungie Foundation.
The combined value of the bundle tallies at $274.92, with a series of tiers. The top tier, Legend, includes the Year of Prophecy Edition of Destiny 2, which would normally cost $79.99, as well as all prior expansions, for $35.
The Vanguard tier includes Edge of Fate and earlier expansions for $18, while the Guardian tier offers older expansions up to The Final Shape for $8.
Finally, the Ghost tier is just $5 and includes the Beyond Light and Shadowkeep packs, as well as The Final Shape. Given I’ve spent thousands of hours in Bungie’s sci-fi universe, I certainly recommend playing through, especially at this price.
“Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate isn’t the worst expansion the looter shooter’s been given, but it’s a major step back from The Final Shape in almost every regard, mixing content that’s simply more of the same with a few experiments here and there that don’t always work out.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.
The best thing about the ROG Xbox Ally X is that it finally acknowledges the truth – a truth that, despite continued denials by device after device, at least partly accounts for why the little old Steam Deck still rules the world of handheld PCs despite being slower and lower-rez than almost everything that followed it. You know it, I know it, and at last, Microsoft know it: Windows 11 just isn’t that good as a handheld OS.
Thus, the biggest upgrade that the ROG Xbox Ally X – and its little brother, the ROG Xbox Ally – makes is not to its hardware, but the software. Instead of booting straight into the Windows 11 desktop, a miserable experience when your only navigational tools are thumbsticks and a touchscreen, it defaults to a far more gamepad-optimised (and specifically gaming-focused) ‘Xbox’ mode that provides quick, D-paddable access to your choice of launchers and the games installed within. Yes. Great. Cool. Big fan. I still wouldn’t buy one.
The Outer Worlds 2 is almost here, aiming to not just be bigger than its predecessor but a better RPG in every respect when it releases on October 29 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S.
We had a great time with The Outer Worlds 2 when we previewed it back in August, writing: “If it’s not clear by now, I’m really into what Obsidian is doing with The Outer Worlds 2. While I appreciated Obsidian’s prior attempt at this universe, I never totally fell for it, but what the studio has achieved here in this prologue is exactly what I’d hoped for the first time around. And that’s exactly why I’m willing to bet that The Outer Worlds 2 will be one of those sequels. The ones that finally take an idea all the way to greatness.”
The Outer Worlds 2’s official release date is October 29, but if you’ve bought the $99.99 Premium Edition, you can jump in five days early from October 23-24, depending upon where you are in the world. Xbox Game Pass subscribers can also jump in early if they have a valid subscription and upgrade to the premium edition for $29.99. The Outer Worlds 2 is available for pre-download now.
The Outer Worlds 2 Early Access Launch Times
Thursday, October 23, 2025
PDT (San Francisco):
9pm
Friday, October 24, 2025
EDT (New York):
12am midnight
BST (London):
5am
CEST (Paris, Rome, Berlin):
6am
EEST (Turkey):
7am
HKT (Hong Kong):
12pm noon
CST (Beijing):
12pm noon
JST (Tokyo):
1pm
AEST (Sydney):
3pm
The Outer Worlds 2 Global Launch Times
Wednesday, October 29, 2025
PDT (San Francisco):
10am
EDT (New York):
1pm
BST (London):
5pm
CEST (Paris, Rome, Berlin):
6pm
EEST (Turkey):
8pm
Thursday, October 30, 2025
HKT (Hong Kong):
1am
CST (Beijing):
1am
JST (Tokyo):
2am
AEST (Sydney):
4am
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.
Ubisoft have opened up the pandora’s box of mid-2000s shooters and deployed Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow onto Steam, rendering its PC version easy to grab for the first time in ages. It’s not a remaster, so don’t get too excited, as you might still have fun getting things to run as smoothly as your covert ops.
Ghost of Yotei sales are in-line with Ghost of Tsushima’s in Europe, new data shows.
As reported by The Game Business, Ghost of Yotei debuted at No.2 in the GSD European charts behind EA’s FC 26.
Sony has yet to announce a sales figure for Ghost of Yotei, which launched exclusively on PlayStation 5 on October 2, 2025. But we now know that in Europe it’s doing about as well as its predecessor, which launched in 2020 exclusively on PlayStation 4. That is, for its first few days on sale, as the GSD European chart runs to October 5.
There are a number of things worth noting here. Not only did Ghost of Tsushima launch on a console with a bigger install base at that point than PS5 has now, it launched during the pandemic, which saw record video game sales and player numbers as people were forced to stay at home during lockdowns.
The Game Business noted that Ghost of Yotei is the biggest first-party PlayStation launch since Spider-Man 2 in October 2023. Helldivers 2, which launched February 2024, remains the fastest selling PlayStation Studios game of all time, with an incredible 12 million sold in 12 weeks. The question is whether Ghost of Yotei will end up meeting Sony’s sales expectations over time; Ghost of Tsushima ended up a hugely successful release, with over 13 million sold as of September 2024.
But it shines a light on just how few new games Sony’s first-party studios have released over the last few years. Since Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 came out in October 2023, we’ve had the aforementioned Helldivers 2, the disastrous Concord, Team Asobi’s wonderful Astro Bot, Lego Horizon Adventures, MLB The Show 25, and a bunch of remasters. Naughty Dog has seemingly skipped the PS5 generation entirely in terms of brand new games.
First-party Sony games we know to be in the works include Bungie’s Marathon, Housemarque’s Saros, Insomniac’s Marvel’s Wolverine, Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, Haven’s Fairgames, and a multiplayer Horizon game from Guerrilla. A whole bunch of Sony first-party games were canceled as the company’s live-service push faltered, including a multiplayer The Last of Us game, a live-service God of War game, and another live-service title from Bend Studio. Bend’s last brand new game was 2019’s Days Gone on PlayStation 4, which launched on PC in 2021.
But how has Ghost of Yotei done in the U.S.? According to Mat Piscatella, senior director at Circana, Ghost of Yotei ranked 12th on its Top 15 Titles by Total Weekly Active Users chart for the week ending October 4, with 4.4% of active PlayStation players giving it a go. Coincidentally, Ghost of Tsushima also ranked 12th in its launch week back in 2020 with 4.4% of active PlayStation players engaging.
So it sounds like Ghost of Yotei has done about as well as Ghost of Tsushima did, at least at launch. It will be interesting to see if Sony says anything about its performance in upcoming financial reports, and how sales hold up in the coming weeks as we head into the crucial holiday season.
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.
