Mixtape isn’t entirely the retro 90s nostalgia piece you might be expecting from trailers – it’s also a playable job application. Protagonist Stacy Rockford is enjoying one last night in their east US hometown with childhood friends Slater and Cassandra, before Rockford sets off to chase a music supervisor gig in New York City. Mixtape is both a going-away celebration and, on some level, Rockford’s portfolio project, edited together from teenage flashbacks and waiting to be thrust into the hands of a distant producer.
Fantastical football sim Rematch has, we’re told, a passing problem. Specifically, no-one is doing it. While I suspect this dearth of teamplay is exaggerated in the darkness of upset Steam forum posts, I definitely remember a lot of ballhogging going on in the third person booter’s open beta.
It sounds to me, then, that Rematch is suffering from the same issue you get in low-ranked Dota 2 lobbies: everyone wants to be the superstar, the one who ends the match with the biggest numbers next to their name, oblivious to how few instances of the letter ‘I’ occur in the word ‘Team’. It’s very few, people. Clearly, what’s needed is someone willing to do the dirty work as a passing-focused support character, and today, that would be me. I’d score no goals and seek no glory, only defending, distracting, and most importantly, promoting the redistribution of stitched leather orbs.
In a statement today, Virtuous said it was “evolving to meet the changing needs” of its partners and the wider video games industry by cutting several hundred staff members, predominantly from its Asian workforce.
Describing the job losses as a “rebalancing of roles across our studios and geographies,” Virtuos said its changes would impact 200 roles in Asia and a further 70 roles in Europe.
Still, the company has made clear that its team behind the recent, well-received Oblivion Remastered is not among those hardest hit. “Fewer than 10” roles will be impacted in France, Virtuos continued, “where the core team working on Oblivion Remastered is located.” Oblivion Remastered update 1.2 will soon be released widely.
Ongoing work on Cyberpunk 2077 — which only today received its latest patch — will continue, Virtuos assured. The same is also true of its team working on Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, due out on August 28.
Discussing its staffing changes in more detail, Virtuos said the company’s focus had shifted over the past 12 months after acquisitions of teams in North America and Europe, and it was now “selectively exiting service segments where demand is weakening.”
“We are grateful for the contributions of those impacted,” Virtuos concluded. “We are providing separation packages, career transition assistance, and opportunities for redeployment across our global network where possible. The company’s immediate focus is on managing this transition with care, transparency, and respect.”
Headquarted in Singapore but with studios across the world, Virtuos employed 4,200 staff before these latest layoffs. The company is a renowned co-development partner that has contributed to a laundry list of recent blockbuster games, from Hogwarts Legacy to Call of Duty, and Horizon Zero Dawn to Mortal Kombat 1.
The Drifter is sometimes quite silly in ways I don’t think are intentional, and it managed to yank me right out of the experience more than once. You obviously have to be in a thing to get yanked out of it though, which is my way of saying that The Drifter is good, although I will be taking the piss out of it later. It’s stylish, moody, and pulls off the point n’ click adventure game two-for-one: characters worth caring about, and also characters worth irritating by fiddling with their stuff.
Mostly though, it’s just got a great eye for an arresting scene or setpiece. Some of my favourite parts did end up being its more complex multi-scene puzzles, but mainly because these are used sparingly in a story with bloody-minded dedication to anxious forward momentum.
Pac-Man, as iconic as he is, has felt like he’s been in a bit of a rut in recent years. The rather delightful PAC-MAN 99 aside, there’s an undeniable sense that the series has simply been unable to break away from its core concepts. So, regardless of what gimmicks are chucked in to justify a new entry — Battle Royale in Chomp Champs, endless runner in Pac-Man 256, co-op in Championship Edition 2 Plus — I often come away thinking, ‘Yep, it’s definitely Pac-Man.’ This might be enough for some, but more than 40 years after its arcade debut, many are hoping for a bit of a shake-up.
Enter Shadow Labyrinth. Developed at Bandai Namco Studios, this side-scrolling adventure is worlds apart from what you’ve likely come to expect from the pill-muncher. Set in a quiet, foreboding landscape with various biomes, the closest comparison that came to mind was Hollow Knight. Indeed, Shadow Labyrinth takes many cues from Team Cherry’s masterpiece, including the precise way that currency scatters on the ground from fallen enemies, hot springs to recover health, an eccentric merchant lurking underground, and a stylish, almost hand-crafted art style.
A deep dive into the physics behind this chaotic couch co-op.
Learn how to customize your warships and heat up the competition.
Ahoy, Captains!
Ruizhao Chen here, designer of BattleCap– the naval combat party game that transforms your living room into a bottle cap battleground. After years of sweat, laughter, and way too many “last rounds” with our dev team, I’m thrilled to announce: BattleCap launches today on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One!
Why our Team Couldn’t Stop Playing
During development, our golden standard was simple: If our team didn’t get hooked during testing, players wouldn’t either. We’d promise “one last match” only to keep hitting “Start Game.” This obsession shaped every decision:
Team-wide enjoyment: We refined mechanics until programmers and artists loved them – not just designers.
Accessible depth: Simple controls hide strategic depth. Kids to grandparents can enjoy it.
Perfect session length: Matches fit a lunch break but deliver maximum laughter.
Social chaos: Backstabs and comeback victories make players “scream, laugh, and stomp.”
Physics: our Biggest Challenge and Triumph
BattleCap’s soul is its real-time physics simulation. Every interaction follows physical rules:
Elastic Warships: Connect bottle caps with bubblegum adhesive. Attacks make ships wobble and deform. Clever players exploit this to steal enemy caps mid-battle by breaking connections.
Environmental Strategy:
Ride wind currents to dodge or chase.
Avoid deadly whirlpools that pull ships toward destruction.
True Projectile Physics:
Cannonballs arc with gravity.
Lasers pierce targets.
Flamethrowers have short range.
Smart Enemies: Foes use line-of-sight physics. Hide behind obstacles to ambush them!
Months of tuning ensured these systems feel intuitive yet strategically rich.
What Awaits on the High Seas
Build Custom Warships
Collect scattered bottle caps to assemble multi-functional warships that deform, extend, or split apart. Adapt your strategy on the fly!
Conquer three Battle Zones
Mysterious Ruins: Navigate ancient hazards.
Stormbreaker Bay: Harness tactical winds.
Devil’s Whirlpool: Lure enemies into the maelstrom.
Choose Your Combat
Four-Player Local PVP: Compete in chaotic “triple-match championships” across dynamic maps.
Roguelite PVE: Team up against sea monsters! Collect random blessings and relics (like Tidal Shields) to upgrade your ship each run.
Set Sail Today!
BattleCap delivers fresh naval combat where physics rules and bottle caps reign. Perfect for:
Chaotic couch co-op nights.
Strategic shipbuilders.
Players seeking “easy to learn, hard to master” depth.
The naval combat party game “BattleCap” is now available! This innovative party game, supporting 1-4 players, will take you into an exciting naval battle. Here, you can use various bottle cap modules to create your own unique warship, engage in intense battles with friends, or team up to challenge powerful sea monsters. The unique flexible physics engine makes every ship collision dynamic and fun, offering a refreshing combat experience!
In the game, players will find themselves in three major themed combat zones, ranging from mysterious ruins to the devil’s whirlpool. Each map is filled with tactical changes and mechanical challenges. By collecting scattered bottle cap modules, you can assemble multi-functional warships that can deform, extend, or even break apart. Adapt your strategy flexibly in battle and enjoy the unique fun of ship assembly. The game also features rich Roguelite elements, allowing you to strengthen your warship with randomly dropped blessings and relics.
Whether you want to compete with friends in party mode or team up to fend off angry sea monsters in cooperative mode,”BattleCap” has something for you. The local PVP mode offers a tense and exciting triple-match championship, while the PVE mode is filled with strategy and teamwork, challenging your operational and tactical limits.
Join BattleCap: Clashing Wars now and embark on a new and fun naval battle experience with your friends! Build your custom warship and face endless adventure and challenges!
It’s almost Zed Time again. The gore-drenched co-op FPS, Killing Floor 3, isexploding its way onto PS5 on July 24. In preparation for launch, Studio Creative Director Bryan Wynia and Design Director Leland Scali from Tripwire Interactive took me through what to expect in this big, brutal and bloody sequel to one of the best blasters on the block.
PlayStation Blog: In terms of gameplay, what was the main focus for Killing Floor 3? And what sets it apart from its previous titles?
Leland: It really was adding depth to existing systems. So, in Killing Floor 1 and 2, you could progress the player and add skills. You essentially have passive, throwable, and gadget skill sets. It’s much more robust and there’s more choices the player can make. Depending on what you choose, you could end up synergizing early skills with later skills, or you could find better mixes later.
Bryan: There’s also the new player hub, where you can adjust those skills, weapon mods, and other elements. But we wanted to find ways to keep it as immersive as possible. So these skill trees aren’t just numbers under the hood, but things you can actually see and feel when you play the game.
Leland: And we’ve modernized player movement. You can now do things like slide and clamber. But once we did that, we knew we needed to improve how the enemies moved, too. So instead of them walking around objects to get to you, they jump and climb over things. No matter where you go, they can go too.
How has the Zed Time mechanic been reworked?
Leland: When we started testing KF3, some of the early feedback we got was that this feature is cool, but what causes it? So there’s a bar at the top of the screen that you’re filling by doing different actions like destroying Critical Zones or killing enemies. And once it’s about to trigger, the whole team can take advantage at the same time. Also each Perk has two unique skills that increase as the player increases their proficiency level. This increases the effectiveness of the Perk during Zed Time as the player progresses. These are just some ways in which we’ve enhanced Zed time to be more of a meaningful tool in the player’s arsenal, rather than a random event.
Bryan: We hired a former SWAT team leader and weapons expert, and I remember him saying that in combat there’s this clarity that becomes present. That’s a huge source of inspiration for Zed Time. You can feel overwhelmed in the moment, but when it kicks in we put the power in your hands.
Can you tell us more about the new Critical Zone system?
Leland: So when you damage certain enemies enough, their armor breaks off and exposes a Critical Zone. Destroying that puts them in a state where you can perform this gory [explosive] execution on them, and by using Zed Time you can get them in that state quickly.
Bryan: I think players enjoy communicating that they’re skillful at something, so that was one of the biggest driving factors for implementing the Critical Zone system. You have multiple ways of killing enemies: you can unload rounds, go for headshots or you can look for Critical Zones to really take advantage.
Leland: For example, the Impaler boss has a ton of Critical Zones. If you destroy the ones on his arms, you’ll be able to disable him from firing rockets, while destroying the Zones on his back stops him from firing smoke grenades. Being able to disable abilities is really cool because you quickly realize if we fight him in a certain way at the beginning of the match, it’ll benefit us later in the following phases.
Are there any new updates to the weapon mods system that you can reveal?
Bryan: With a first-person shooter you experience and interact with the world through your weapons, so it was important to give players more than cosmetic ways of customizing their guns. For example, in the sharpshooter class I keep my distance and do really precise high damage. So, I’m going to craft weapon mods that are various types of sights and grips for when I aim down the sights. I can then combo those with skills, like taking a knee when I shoot does increased damage. We still want the identity of these weapons to be kept – we’re not turning a shotgun into a sniper rifle – but you can use mods to play with it the way that you like.
Leland: And you can modify ammo. So you can craft something like fire ammunition for a gun that’s not normally fire based. Which is useful for a new system called Wave Mutations, which randomly changes certain properties of the upcoming wave. A certain enemy may be more susceptible to freeze damage, for example, and instead of normally having to focus on a different enemy if you’re not a suitable class, you can craft a modded weapon to deal that freeze damage.
Are there any particular things you want players to pay attention to when they boot it up for the first time? And do you have any tips for them?
Bryan: I’d love for players to dive into some of our outer loops, looking at skill trees and weapon mods, and learning about Critical Zones. It’s about showcasing your skill and taking advantage of new features like movement and dynamically fighting your way through a wave to show you’re the best Zed hunter on the internet.
In terms of tips, the biggest thing that helps you survive is prioritizing targets. Just because that Zed is the closest one to you doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the one you should shoot first. There could be a Husk or a Siren at the back of the battlefield that’s lining up a shot that can take you out.
Leland: And when you hit the Critical Zone of some of the bigger Zeds they essentially turn into a bomb, which is super useful when you’re surrounded by low-level enemies – that big guy’s explosion will take out all the little guys. So even if you take a bit of damage focusing on that Critical Zone, that’s tactically a better move.
The Pokémon World Championships in Anaheim, CA are just around the corner in August, and with it comes an exclusive line of cute Pokémon merch, which IGN has an exclusive first look at. Each year, the Pokémon World Championships hosts a special Pokémon Center pop-up shop, and we’re getting three uniquely themed exclusive lines out of the event this time. Last year, we got a tropical, Hawaiian-themed Pokémon line. Check out the unique new Pokémon items, including a first-ever Pokémon bodyboard, below.
“In honor of this year’s Anaheim, CA location, Pokémon Center will be releasing three product lines – the Varsity Line, SoCal Beach Skater Line, and Rockabilly Line,” said Cindy Ruppenthal, senior director of Pokémon Center and e-commerce at The Pokémon Company International. “This year’s collection draws inspiration from bright, retro-diner design, blending vibrant colors and nostalgic elements that capture the spirit of our SoCal location.”
Check out a large selection of the exclusive merch that will be at the Pokémon World Championships in the slideshow above, but keep in mind, this won’t be everything!
The 2025 Worlds Pikachu Plush sporting a varsity jacket, revealed at this year’s North America International Championships in New Orleans, is sure to be a popular item along with the other SoCal-themed plush of Fennekin, Machamp, and Jigglypuff, but there’s a lot more to look forward to.
The standout premiere item this year is the SoCal Bodyboard, which is fully functional for riding waves at the beach, and is priced at $79.99 USD.
Ruppenthal “expects strong demand” for the SoCal Bodyboard along with other functional items from the SoCal Beach Skater Line, like the SoCal Beach Towels.
“Additionally, following popular reception from Pokémon Worlds in Honolulu, we teamed up with Reyn Spooner to create a Pokémon Aloha shirt, bucket hat, tote, and more to celebrate the event in Anaheim,” Ruppenthal said.
The Reyn Spooner Pokémon Aloha shirts from last year were so popular that I witnessed an attendee offer $300 for the shirt off someone’s back, literally, since they had sold out.
I witnessed an attendee offer $300 for the Pokémon Aloha shirt off someone’s back last year
“With this year’s California location, it felt like the perfect moment to reintroduce the
apparel collaboration as our laid-back, SoCal designs align perfectly with Reyn Spooner’s bright, beach vibe and signature Aloha shirts,” Ruppenthal said.
As far as other exclusive apparel goes, there willbe a varsity jacket, “as well as other standout apparel that matches the various design styles offered this year,” Ruppenthal said.
Most surprising of the designs overall this year is probably the Rockabilly line, featuring Arcanine, Squakabilly, and an edgy Pikachu wearing a leather jacket and sunglasses.
“We always keep in mind that the Pokémon community has diverse interests and styles, and as such, wanted to introduce a bolder counterpart to the Varsity Line and SoCal Beach Skater Line,” Ruppenthal explained. “The Rockabilly Line features darker tones and edgier styling – all while staying true to the retro-diner theme found throughout the Pokémon Center Pop Up Shop. It complements the store design, which takes fans through a journey (beach to boardwalk to nighttime).”
The theming Ruppenthal describes is important, as the Pokémon Center Pop Up Shop at the Pokémon World Championships each year isn’t just a plain holding room for goods, but more of an immersive experience to explore while shopping, complete with set pieces and unique art.
…this year, there will be a Pokémon Center special online-only shopping promotion taking place that same week.
Usually, all of the Worlds merch revealed here would be exclusive to the in-person Pokémon Center, which actually runs an additional two days ahead of the 2025 Pokémon World Championship, from August 13 to August 17. However, this year, there will be a Pokémon Center special online-only shopping promotion taking place that same week. During this time, the 2025 Pokémon World Championships Coin will be available online.
We don’t know anything else about this online shopping event, like whether any other 2025 World Championship items will be available, but Ruppenthall said, “It’s our way of making sure more fans can take part in the celebration.”
If you are attending in person, keep in mind that you usually need to make a separate Pokémon Center pop-up store reservation, but right now, the Anaheim 2025 Pokémon Center page says, “More information on how to attend the Pokémon Center pop-up store is coming soon!”
We’ll be sure to cover the Pokémon Center Pop Up Shop and a lot more during the 2025 Pokémon World Championships from August 15 to August 17 in Anaheim, so stay tuned for updates.
Casey DeFreitas is a deputy editor of guides at IGN. Catch her at the 2025 Pokémon World Championships, or on socials @ShinyCaseyD.
The dramatic dismissal of three senior developers at Subnautica 2 studio Unknown Worlds gets messier by the day. In a publicly filed lawsuit, the three fired heads of the studio have accused publishers Krafton of all sorts of dirty tactics, ploys, and shenanigans to purposefully delay the game until 2026, all in an intentional effort to avoid paying a maximum $250 million earnout bonus to the studio.
In one bizarre episode alleged in the lawsuit, Unknown Worlds co-founder Charlie Cleveland went to lunch with Krafton CEO, Kim Chang-han, who told him via translator that having to pay such an earnout would be “disastrous financially and hugely embarrassing” for the publisher.
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s the very first movie in James Gunn’s revamped DC Universe!
Now that Superman has hit theaters, James Gunn’s DC Universe is fully underway… Or is it? While Gunn has now released a movie, a TV show (Peacemaker), and an animated series (Creature Commandos) under his stewardship, there’s still a missing piece of the DC Universe puzzle: video games.
Gunn told fans back in 2022 that his master plan for an interconnected DC Universe includes video games. But unlike on the movies and TV side of things, there have been no official announcements regarding what the first DC Universe video game will be.
An absence of reveals doesn’t mean we don’t have a reasonably clear picture of what to expect, though. Across multiple interviews and press events, Gunn and co-studio head Peter Safran have explained their plans, including the fact that while they don’t technically oversee Warner Bros.’ gaming division, there’s now a much deeper collaboration between WB Games and DC Studios that could dramatically alter the way future DC video games are made. With that in mind, let’s analyze what the future of games will look like in the new DCU era.
Gunn Takes Over DC
The first time we learned that video games factored into Gunn’s DC plans was shortly after he and producer Peter Safran were announced as co-heads of DC Studios on October 25, 2022. While answering fan questions on X, Gunn responded to one user who asked if games would be connected to the DCU alongside films and TV. To this, he simply replied, “Yes.
It wouldn’t be until a few months later that Gunn revealed what movies and shows were in development as part of Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters, which is the DCU’s equivalent of the MCU’s Phase 1. And while video games were conspicuously missing from the Chapter 1 roadmap, Gunn told members of the press, “Television, movies, and games all intertwine within the same universe. We’re going to cast actors who are going to be able to play the characters in [animation and TV], as well as in other things.” This was the first clear indication from Gunn that video games were indeed a part of his plans for the DCU.
One important thing to know is that Gunn’s job as head of DC Studios doesn’t include control over any of Warner Bros’ video game studios, which include developers like Avalanche Software (Hogwarts Legacy), NetherRealm Studios (Mortal Kombat), Rocksteady Studios (Batman Arkham), and TT Games (Lego).
Under the current Warner Bros. Discovery corporate structure, Warner Bros. Games exists separately from DC Studios and is overseen by Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO of global streaming and gaming, JB Perrette. But after Gunn and Safran were named DC co-heads in 2022, Perrette appears to be deferring to the new DC bosses when it comes to matters of comic book video games.
The Walls Break Down Between WB Games and DC Studios
In an interview with Variety in 2024, Perrette revealed, “Frankly, there hasn’t been as close a relationship between the studio and the games business as there should have been. And James [Gunn] is actually a gamer, so having someone who’s passionate about it is super helpful.” Perrette added that the games departments are now “actively working with [Gunn and Safran] on the core franchises within the DC Universe.”
Based on this interview, it appears there was once a wall that divided WB’s gaming division from the movie and TV studios. And according to Perrette, it was only after Gunn and Safran took over DC Studios that a newfound sense of collaboration was achieved.
“Whether it’s NetherRealm or whether it’s Rocksteady, [we] sit with them and talk about characters and stories that we’re interested in and that they’re interested in.”
This dividing wall was confirmed a year later during a DC Studios Presentation held on February 24, 2025. During the event, James Gunn and Peter Safran confirmed Perrette’s statements regarding the separation between the two WB divisions and how that relationship has changed since they took over.
“We work incredibly closely with JB Perrette, who runs that division, and it’s really the first time ever it’s been this way at Warner Bros,” Safran confirmed. “It’s been great, and we’ve enjoyed it enormously. Everything had been so siloed, and now that’s completely broken down, and it’s been great. Because it also applies to consumer products and experiences, and everything that DC touches runs up through us now, which is awesome.”
“James [Gunn] and I sit with literally the guys that run the studios underneath JB,” Safran added. “Whether it’s NetherRealm or whether it’s Rocksteady, [we] sit with them and talk about characters and stories that we’re interested in and that they’re interested in.”
It’s funny that Safran mentions Rocksteady, as it was reported earlier this year that the studio is developing a new single-player Batman game. While it may be too soon to tell, at least according to Gunn and Safran, there will likely be some input from their side of things at DC Studios.
“We see designs for the projects in their very earliest stages,” Gunn said at the event. “When they’re talking about what the story might be, we say, ‘Well, maybe you want to go this way because we’re planning on maybe doing something with this character and so forth and so on,’ and help deal with that.”
Does this mean Gunn will be fully in charge of the next Rocksteady Batman game? Not quite. Gunn confirmed that “not all” games will be connected to the DCU’s overarching story when another fan on X shared their concern about losing standalone experiences like Rocksteady’s Arkham series. So, depending on where Rocksteady wants to take its next single-player Batman game, there’s a chance it could be incorporated into the DCU, or treated as a separate universe like Matt Reeves’ The Batman movies.
Furthermore, Perrette said in the aforementioned Variety interview that WB’s game studios will still be making projects based on what’s best for the studios and gamers, saying, “We’re not going to launch a Superman game purely because we feel obligated. We have to do something that makes sense for the gaming strategy and for fans and for the consumer.”
How James Gunn’s DCU Is Already Shaping Games
Even if DC’s full gaming plans remain a mystery, we’re already seeing Gunn’s unified vision for DC play out in several games right now.
“Our characters can move in and out of animation or jump into a game or onto the big screen, but they will remain consistent throughout: same character, same history, same actor,” Gunn said during the press tour for Creature Commandos last year — a couple months after Peacemaker was added to Mortal Kombat 1 as a DLC character on February 28, 2024.
Just as Gunn said, NetherRealm enlisted John Cena to reprise his TV and movie role as Peacemaker in Mortal Kombat 1. Not only is his likeness and design identical to the version of the character that appears in the HBO series and The Suicide Squad movie, but even his Victory Pose in Mortal Kombat 1 is a direct reference to Peacemaker’s glam rock-themed opening credits.
Similarly, this month’s Superman-themed content for Fortnite features skins for Superman, Mr. Terrific, and The Engineer, which are all based on the likenesses of their movie counterparts. So, rather than a comic-book version of these characters, you’re playing as David Corenswet’s Superman, Edi Gathegi’s Mr. Terrific, and Maria Gabriela de Faria’s Engineer. Like Peacemaker, it seems that any appearance by a DCU character in a video game will be identical to their movie and TV counterpart, just as Gunn promised (with the exception of those standalone projects Gunn also promised, of course.)
“Since taking the reins, our true north has been to bring DC film, TV, animation, and gaming into alignment under a single banner and bring a sense of unity and consistency into the DCU as a whole,” Gunn said ahead of the premiere of Creature Commandos. “This frees us to create a range of products that are diverse and compelling, and deliver great stand-alone entertainment experiences on every medium, while also being part of a larger story that we’re telling within our unified DCU.”
It’s been a rough couple of years for DC games under Warner Bros.. Between the closing of Monolith Software and the cancellation of a Wonder Woman video game, to Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s lackluster release, the future of DC video games appeared to be in major flux. Warner Bros. even considered selling off its gaming business entirely.
And while WB Games’ fortunes have changed with the massive success of games like Hogwarts Legacy, there’s still no official word yet on the future of DC video games. But it’s clear based on statements from Gunn, Safran, and Perrette that Warner Bros. Games and DC Studios are collaborating deeply when it comes to any upcoming video game starring DC’s caped heroes. Although the basic expectation is that if a character from DC’s movies and shows appears in a game, it will feature the same actor, the full plans for DC video games, especially from developers like Rocksteady, remain to be seen.