Bar a few exceptions, the days of opening your boxed copy of a new game and eagerly flipping through the instruction booklet are behind us. But it looks like Nintendo isn’t ready to give up on the nostalgia just yet, as it has released a printable ‘databook’ for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, that just makes our hearts sing (thanks for the heads up, @ninpatentswatch).
The booklet is only available on the Japanese Nintendo website at the time of writing — with all of the text in Japanese, natch — but it scratches such a retro itch for us that we’re amazed the big N doesn’t do something similar for all its releases.
It’s after 5pm on a Friday, but no force on this Earth can stop me hurrying back to my desk to report on a large financial transaction. Also, we should have written this up earlier, but we were busy deciding which are the objectively correct 100 best PC games.
I’m not… sure we put any Warner Bros games in that list. I’ve just done a CTRL-F for “Batman” and got zero results. I know, WTF – Arkham Asylum is amazing. Mark needs to stop driving things and think about capes for a change. I’m sure Warner Bros aren’t too bothered about this gross oversight right now, though. Netflix have just revealed plans to buy their entertainment business for $82.7 billion in stock and cash.
Cosmox Gaming offers up a lot of arcade controllers, including the modular Hautepad X at a more premium price and the remarkably affordable Hautepad C16.
Now, the company has launched the M-Ultra Gen2, an aluminium-built leverless that sits somewhere in-between the two. If the C-16 is primarily aimed at beginners and the X is for the more hardcore enthusiasts, then the M-Ultra Gen2 is, theoretically, for everybody. It’s quite possibly Cosmox’s best controller yet.
Last week, we asked you to share snow-filled views from the game of your choice using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here’s this week’s snowy highlights:
SheikhSadi80shares Atsu riding out to a shrine on a snowy hill in Ghost of Yōtei
rorottinoshares Sam snowboarding on a carrier in Death Stranding 2: On The Beach.
RhodWulfLeonshares Kratos on the ice with a wolf in God of War Ragnarök.
secondcaptureshares a student riding a Hippogriff over snowy grounds in Hogwarts Legacy.
treeblazahshares Aloy overlooking a snowy vista in Horizon Forbidden West.
discophotomodeshares a glamorous snow-themed outfit from Infinity Nikki.
Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme, or be inspired by other great games featuring Photo Mode. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week?
THEME: Zoomed Out SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on December 10, 2025
Next week, zoom all the way out and share panoramic shots using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.
XD released Sword of Convallaria, a tactical RPG for iOS, Android, and PC to audiences in the west in August ’24 (around a year after the game’s East Asian launch). Heavily influenced by Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics, the game has captivated fans with its meticulously crafted war story and highly strategic battles, all played out to a beautiful soundtrack.
Just over a year following its release, a truly major collaboration between Sword of Convallaria: For This World of Peace and CD PROJEKT RED’s open-world RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been fully realised and delivered to gamers. Geralt, Yennefer, Triss, and Ciri now appear in Sword of Convallaria as playable characters; allowing players to enjoy collaborative stories and quests surrounding the Lord of the Forest from another world.
Bartosz Sztybor, Franchise Creative Director at CD PROJEKT RED, explained his take on the collaboration and how it came together: “At CD PROJEKT RED, storytelling is at the heart of everything we do, and we take a hands-on approach even when collaborating with external partners. For our partnership with Sword of Convallaria, our Franchise Creative team worked closely with developer XD International to craft a story that captures the essence of The Witcher universe, both for the anime trailer and the collaboration quest. Working with a partner who shares our passion for The Witcher is always a privilege, and we’re thrilled with the results of what we’ve created together. We’re looking forward to sharing the fruits of this partnership with the community, and can’t wait to see their response!”
CD PROJEKT RED’s Satoru Homma, Japan Country Manager, offered further insight into their partnership with XD Games: “For the collaboration between Sword of Convallaria and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, I was responsible for project management on behalf of CD PROJEKT RED. I am personally a huge fan of Sword of Convallaria, and I had a strong desire to see The Witcher 3’s characters — rendered in beautiful pixel art — playable within a tactical RPG. With the deep love and understanding Sword of Convallaria’s team holds for The Witcher 3, and under the thorough supervision of our in-house lore specialists, we were able to deliver grounded and authentic storytelling in the collaboration quest. I sincerely hope that The Witcher 3 players who may be unfamiliar with the tactical RPG genre will take the time to enjoy this content, which is infused with a deep appreciation for the world and its characters.
Director of Sword of Convallaria, Guo Lei (of XD Games)spoke about this collaboration in more detail — as well as the circumstances that led to it becoming a reality.
Inspired by Tactics Ogre, which he played in high school, Guo always wanted to become a game creator. He is also a fan of The Witcher 3, and his favourite characters are Geralt and Yennefer.
Guo on Sword of Convallaria passing the first anniversary of its western release and how he feels looking back on the past year:
Sword of Convallaria got off to a successful start, but there was a period when we were searching for the right direction to go in. However, thanks to the support of our fans, we were able to turn things around and successfully celebrate our first anniversary. From now on, we will continue to develop the game with confidence and enjoyment for the fans who have high expectations for it.
Regarding the game’s content, the Global version saw the release of Iria, and the story of her stepping into the world that lies beyond was depicted on the first anniversary. In the future, Sword of Convallaria will enter its 2.0 story arc, taking players on adventures beyond Iria, and develop a story in which the player protects peace. We hope you will look forward to it.
— On how the The Witcher 3 collaboration came about:
Guo: From the beginning, our team had already been acquainted with the CDPR China team. During one of these casual conversations, we mentioned that it would be exciting if we could one day work on something together based on Sword of Convallaria and The Witcher 3.
Later, we had the opportunity to meet the CDPR Japan team in person at Tokyo Game Show 2024. During our discussions there, I showed them my personal love for The Witcher 3 and the interest in exploring whether we might create something together. They encouraged us to submit a formal proposal, which set the collaboration into motion. The Witcher 3 is a game that boasts worldwide popularity, so I was over the moon when he positively considered our proposal for a collaboration. After considerable effort, the collaboration was officially approved. From that point onward, both teams dedicated nearly a full year to development, ultimately bringing this collaboration to life in the form you see today.
What it was about The Witcher 3 that particularly appealed to him:
First of all, it’s the sense of immersion that comes with being so realistic. You get the feeling that you’re immersed in the world, something you can’t experience in other games. Also, it’s the story element. What’s great about it is that it depicts so many stories that you can empathise with. It’s very unique in that you make painful choices that change the outcome of the story. I was overwhelmed by how the fascinating characters play an active role in the story.
How the story was designed, its core themes, and the creative collaboration behind it
We wanted to create the worldview of The Witcher 3 within the world of Sword of Convallaria. However, it goes against Geralt’s beliefs to get involved in conflicts between nations, and in fact, if we were to depict an epic story involving The Witcher 3, we felt that it would be quite a high hurdle to figure out how to resolve it. For this reason, we decided to aim for a down-to-earth story.
The story revolves around the Leshen from The Witcher 3 appearing and causing trouble, and Geralt and his friends teaming up with the Leader to defeat it. Behind the scenes, the story also depicts the malice of people. For example, when a problem occurs, people assume that it is the work of those from a different background to themselves and blame them. The theme of the story poses a question of morality, as Geralt and Yennefer intervene to try to resolve this.
In The Witcher 3, Geralt and Yennefer are portrayed as unusual people who present differently from the average person. Naturally, they have differing personalities and ways of conducting themselves. We made it a priority to carefully express the various facets of these characters in the collaborative story.
We made sure to communicate closely with CD PROJEKT RED. We created shared documents, edited those documents, and received feedback, all of which allowed us to proceed with development meticulously and efficiently. This resulted in a fun development experience unlike any other.
How they approached reimagining The Witcher 3 characters into the pixel-based world of Sword of Convallaria:
The Witcher 3 has a realistic 3D visual style, but when translating that into pixel art, our first priority was to think about how to express the movement in a way that would satisfy players.
However, the designers also love The Witcher 3, so they had fun designing it with care, for example, to make it clear the difference between a silver sword and a steel sword. As a result, I got the impression that the visuals went smoothly.
The regions that were main target for the collaboration:
Worldwide. Sword of Convallaria is available in four languages: Chinese, Japanese, English, and Korean. As with The Witcher 3, we have a global perspective and want game fans around the world to enjoy Sword of Convallaria Sword IP. Therefore, every region is important to us.
If I had to say, we’re particularly interested in English-speaking countries. We see the English-speaking world as a region where we still want to gain more fans for Sword of Convallaria. It goes without saying that The Witcher 3 has already gained many English-speaking fans, so we hope that this collaboration will help us further appeal to the English-speaking world.
Aspects that particularly stood out for him during this collaboration:
I think this was a true collaboration. The fact that both parties were working together in the same direction was a feeling I’d never had before, and it was a lot of fun. It was a wonderful experience for us. So, this time, we were able to communicate directly with CDPR, and not only was it very efficient, but we also felt that everyone gained something from this project.
The part of the collaboration that symbolised its success, or made him especially proud to be a part of it:
What’s necessary when collaborating with other artists is love for the work. I think that only when we have a strong love for the work can we create something that satisfies our collaborators. We ourselves had always wanted to collaborate with The Witcher 3, but it was thanks to CDPR that we were able to make it happen. We are truly happy. We have also prepared skins for Geralt, Yennefer, and Triss. We have created skins based on the scenes that moved us the most while we were playing The Witcher 3. Geralt usually wears armor, but for this skin we created one that realistically expresses the love between father and daughter when Ciri visits Geralt.
As for Triss, in The Witcher 3, Triss and Geralt attend a dance party. However, the two of them aren’t very interested in the dance party, so they sneak out midway through and enjoy a date in the garden. We recreated that atmosphere with the skin.
Each skin was created with love, so I hope all players will check them out.
His message to the Sword of Convallaria players who are looking forward to the collaboration:
I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all of our fans. It is thanks to you all that Sword of Convallaria has grown so much over the past year or so, and that we have been able to safely reach our first anniversary. Thank you so much! Thanks to everyone’s support, we were able to collaborate with The Witcher 3. How will Geralt and his friends play a role in the world of Sword of Convallaria? We hope that not only the Leaders but also fans of The Witcher 3 will enjoy the event.
He’s back. Tim Cain, co-creator of the original Interplay Fallouts and Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines programmer has emerged from semi-retirement, returning to Obsidian to work on a game he can’t talk about yet because legal documents. For the past few years, the veteran developer’s been contracting on a number of games, including Obsidian’s own The Outer Worlds 2, having previously co-directed the first Outer Worlds.
GTA fans finally have their first look at Grand Theft Auto 5 character Michael in the Grand Theft Auto universe since the game launched back in 2013.
We can see Michael in the trailer for GTA Online DLC A Safehouse in the Hills, below. In the teaser for the upcoming expansion, which adds a luxurious new home for the most successful of online criminals to the online mode, a noticeably older, greying, Michael De Santa and his wife Amanda can be seen greeting a player at the front door of their fancy new Hollywood Hills crib. This is the first time that Michael, played by Ned Luke, has been seen in the Grand Theft Auto universe since GTA 5 launched back in 2013.
The update also settles any lingering questions around the canon ending for GTA 5, confirming once and for all that Option C, otherwise known as “Deathwish”, is how the story should end.
It now means that all three playable protagonists, with Franklin and Trevor being the other two, have appeared in GTA Online. Naturally, this means the “Deathwish” ending is now canon in Online’s version of Los Santos, as this is the only way that all three characters remain alive at the end of GTA 5’s final mission “The Third Way” — one of three possible last levels available depending on the player’s choice. For reference, “Something Sensible” is Option A, which leaves both Franklin and Michael alive, but kills Trevor, and “The Time’s Come” is Option B, resulting in Franklin and Trevor’s survival, but Michael’s death.
In all three possible endings, Franklin lives to walk the streets of Los Santos, so it always felt natural that he’d be a part of GTA Online, which takes place after the events of Grand Theft Auto 5. Trevor has also been present since 2013, giving the online protagonist missions and calling to berate them over the phone in his own peculiar manner, but this is the first time we’ve seen Michael’s face since.
Eagle-eared online players would’ve heard a small reference to the professional bank robber back in 2021, though, which, although it definitely alludes to Michael, didn’t 100% confirm he was still around. This occurs when Franklin is chasing two golfers through the Richards Majestic Studios film lot in the centre of the city. This is one of the places Michael works in order to achieve his Hollywood movie-producing dreams in the main game’s campaign. Franklin remarks, “I know one of the producers around here. I hope his ass ain’t work today…”, suggesting De Santa is still employed there after all this time.
It is curious that Rockstar has chosen to put Michael back into the world of GTA so many years after we saw him last, and it does beg the question of how long this was planned for, seeing as this update has dropped so close to GTA 6’s previous release date of November 19, 2025. Is this the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption developer saying their final goodbye to these characters before gearing up to unleash Lucia and Jason into the world in 2026?
How do you feel about the “Deathwish” ending being chosen by Rockstar as the canonical one for GTA 5? Let us know in the comments below. And, of course, for everything GTA 6, stick with IGN.
Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.
Postal developers Running With Scissors have revealed… and now cancelled Postal: Bullet Paradise, a spin-off shooter created by Goonswarm Studios. It seems Bullet Paradise may have featured some AI-generated material, which has prompted an evidently massive backlash among the Postal faithful in the literal two whole days since the project’s announcement. Gosh.
It’s that time of the year when a flurry of new video game trailers and gameplay reveals are shown as part of the annual Game Awards. And while who wins Game of the Year will steal some of the headlines on December 11, a lot of the excitement also comes from the secrets and surprises that get unleashed in the form of new game announcements.
So we’re keeping tabs on what has been confirmed to make an appearance so far, what has been teased, and some of the pie-in-the-sky dream games we know deep down in our brains won’t be there, but our heart tells us there might just be a chance. Don’t worry, we’re not going to be quite as far-fetched as to say GTA 6 will be at The Game Awards, nor The Witcher 4, which CD Projekt Red has already confirmed won’t be. But that’s enough of that. Let’s head straight into what you can expect from The Game Awards 2025.
What We Know Will Be There
Regal. Inspiring. Thickness. No, not words often used to describe me, but the ones that accompanied Geoff Keighley’s social media post of a mysterious demon-covered monolith that appeared in the Mojave Desert last week. Theories have been flying out as to what it could be teasing, but much of that speculation has been debunked, with Diablo, God of War, and The Elder Scrolls 6 all supposedly not what it relates to. What do you think it is?
We do know that Resident Evil Requiem will be showing up on the 11th with a new look at the long-running horror series’ latest entry. Arriving early next year, rumours have been circulating ever since its original reveal that Resident Evil 4 hunk, Leon Kennedy, will make an appearance in Requiem. Is now the time for Capcom to confirm his inclusion?
A new playable character will be revealed for Invincible VS, though. The fighting game adaptation of the cult-favourite comic and animated TV show has garnered a lot of attention since its summer reveal, so who do you think this character will be? We’ll also get a good look at Exodus, the upcoming sci-fi action RPG from Archetype Studios, formed by former BioWare developers. With that sort of Mass Effect pedigree behind it, it’s certainly one we’re looking forward to seeing a lot more of. We also know that a new Total War game will be revealed by developer Creative Assembly, following the series’ 25th anniversary.
And finally, we know that one of the musical performances on Thursday night will be from Evanescence, who will be showcasing their song “Afterlife” from the Netflix adaptation of Devil May Cry. Would I prefer they did “Bring Me to Life” with Nathan Fielder dressed as an airline pilot on backing vocals? Yes, of course, but we can’t have everything in this world.
What Might Be There
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 broke the record for the most nominations of The Game Awards, and looks set to be one of the big winners of the night. Could we see a release date announcement for the upcoming free update that will add a new dungeon, among other treats? Who knows, maybe even a cheeky little shadow drop…
Another announcement we could see from one of the big nominees of the night is a wider console release for Hades 2. Currently only on PC and Switch, could one of 2025’s best games come to PS5 and Xbox?
Fallout Season 2 arrives on Amazon Prime Video on December 17, and given Geoff’s penchant for having stars of the big and small screen on stage at The Game Awards, we wouldn’t be shocked to see some combination of Ella Purnell and Walton Goggins arrive to give us a sneak peek of what’s to come.
Speaking of stars of the big screen, things don’t come much more cinematic than James Bond. 007 First Light is the upcoming action-adventure from Hitman studio IO Interactive, and it’s shaping up very nicely, as you can read in my big preview. With it coming out in March 2026, surely we’re due for another hit on the Bond pipe soon. Could a big reveal, such as who the villain will be, or who is performing the game’s theme, be at The Game Awards? The stage certainly seems set for the latter to come with a live performance at the show.
Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, which is being helmed by Uncharted’s Amy Hennig, moved out of early 2026. The delay may mean that we’ll be waiting a little longer to play Captain America and Black Panther’s WW2 adventure, but is now the time for a full gameplay reveal?
Speaking of Marvel, Insomniac’s Marvel’s Wolverine is due late 2026, and while we’ve had some teases of what it will look like in action, we’d certainly love to see more. As for other PlayStation exclusives, Housemarque’s Saros looks set to follow in the sci-fi shooter footsteps of breakout hit Returnal when it arrives in March. Again, we’d love to see more. And one PlayStation Studios game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, may well be a while off yet — if you think you’re playing this in 2026, keep dreaming — but seeing as it got its big reveal at last year’s Game Awards, it wouldn’t be a stretch to see a bigger look at Naughty Dog’s next project very soon.
On the Xbox side of things, could we finally get a good look at some Fable gameplay? Or maybe see Gears of War: E-Day in action? There’s also Forza Horizon 6 on the way next year, of which we’ve seen nothing but the smallest of teasers. We know it’s set in Japan, so we would love to see just how beautiful Playground Games’ depiction of Tokyo is. Plus, let’s face it, driving games can never resist pulling out all of the stops and placing their cover car centre of stage at events like this.
It also wouldn’t be a Geoff Keighley show with a sprinkling of Hideo Kojima into the mix. The Metal Gear Solid creator is up for a few awards thanks to Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, but might we also get a look at what is coming up next from him? Xbox horror exclusive OD: Knock continues to be teased as it conjures up unsettling memories of P.T, so we could see more of that. There’s also Physint, his PlayStation espionage action exclusive. That may well be far away at this point, but not beyond the realms of possibility for Kojima to tease further.
Another legendary developer, Ken Levine, continues to work away on Judas. It’s been over 12 years since he last released a game, 2013’s Bioshock Infinite, so who really knows if now is the time to finally give us a launch date for this one. I’m very excited about it, but I won’t let myself get carried away until I have any idea when I’ll actually be able to play it. Something I have already been able to play a little of is Phantom Blade Zero, a quite punishing sword action game from Chinese developer S-Game. It was originally meant to arrive in 2025, but could a release date finally be unveiled on the 11th?
And, finally for now. FromSoftware’s Switch 2 exclusive, The Duskbloods, has been very quiet ever since its initial reveal back in April’s Nintendo Direct. Due for 2026 – and seeing Keighley has had several previous Hidetaka Miyazaki-related reveals at The Game Awards in the past – maybe now is the time for an in-depth look at exactly what this co-op action RPG is.
What We Can Dream Will Be There
Well, at least we don’t have to close our eyes and cross our fingers in hope of a Hollow Knight: Silksong release date anymore. But will Team Cherry tease DLC for one of 2025’s best games? Even I won’t go as far as to genuinely suggest that.
Another one of this year’s best games is Donkey Kong Bananza, which served as Nintendo’s big launch window 3D platformer. That may have come as a surprise to some who thought Mario would have that position nailed down. Could we see a new 3D Mario game announced at The Game Awards? It’s admittedly a long shot, but with the new Super Mario Galaxy Movie on the way next Spring, it sure would be nice to have a new game to play alongside it.
What might be more likely is a look at what Cory Barlog has been cooking up at Sony Santa Monica. A new game from the God of War director outside of that universe has been rumoured for a long time now, and it feels like we may be getting closer to seeing what it is. The Game Awards has a pattern of bringing back past winners of the Game of the Year award to tease their next projects. So this gives us a little hope here.
Following on from that train of thought, two recent recipients of the big prize have been Elden Ring and Baldur’s Gate 3. The former’s creator, FromSoftware, may well bring The Duskbloods with them, as mentioned earlier, but what about a new single-player action RPG in the mould of what has made them so well-renowned? Bloodborne 2, anyone? I almost feel bad for mentioning it. As for Baldur’s Gate 3, developer Larian is surely now working on its next game, although seeing as BG3 did take many, many years to make, we won’t be expecting to play this one soon. Could we see a tease of what’s to come, though? Do you think it would be Baldur’s Gate 4 or something altogether different?
Baldur’s Gate’s original developer, BioWare, has its sights set on the stars, as the EA studio returns to the beloved sci-fi RPG series, Mass Effect. Could we be given a glimpse into where the story may be heading next? Or dare we even dream of some Mass Effect 5 gameplay? That may be a little too far, but I do like to dream.
And speaking of dreaming, I can’t not mention Half-Life 3. Rumours have been circulating over recent weeks that the long, long-awaited FPS sequel might actually be in development, with an announcement imminent. Could it actually be at The Game Awards? Geoff Keighley does have a long history with Valve, but these days it operates more like Rockstar does, with outside help rarely called on for its big marketing beats. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see Gordon Freeman pop up on that giant screen, but I won’t believe it until I do.
What would be your dream Game Awards reveal? Let us know in the comments below. Mine, as ever, would be a full Burnout reboot from the original Criterion team, but I may have to admit that I’m not living in 2005 anymore.
Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.
