Ubisoft’s next big patch for Assassin’s Creed Shadows arrives tomorrow, June 25, 2025, and the publisher has now detailed everything included.

As we knew already, Title Update 1.0.6 includes the game’s next story pack, which introduces a new Ally character for Naoe and Yasuke played by Critical Role’s Robbie Daymond. Players will meet Rufino, Daymond’s character, and get to hang out with him at their hideout — though whether you can also romance him is unconfirmed.

Another big addition that was previously announced is a new Nightmare Difficulty option. Today brings further detail on what this will comprise, with perfect parries required to deflect hits without taking any damage, fewer combat resources, plus smarter enemies able to see and hear Naoe’s movement even while crouched or in the shadows.

For a slightly more difficult challenge generally, Ubisoft has added an Open World Alarm system that extends the stomping grounds of Shadows’ fearsome Guardian warriors outside of castles and enemy camps. Now, Naoe and Yasuke can earn Wanted status in the open world, should you repeatedly be naughty and attack civilians or military units.

Ubisoft is set to continue adding small dollops of extra story missions, alongside other fixes and feature additions, through the rest of 2025, as fans await Shadow’s first major expansion Claws of Awaji, due at some point before the end of this year.

The full list of additions, and a long rundown of the update’s bug fixes, lie below in full.

PATCH HIGHLIGHTS

New Free Story Pack: “A Critical Encounter”

• Reward: New Ally based on Critical Role’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows One-Shot campaign character, Rufino, played by Robbie Daymond. You will also get a banner in the hideout with the Critical Role logo.
• New Trophy/Achievement: “A Critical Encounter”, received upon completion of the questline.

New Nightmare Difficulty Setting

• Player defensive options are less effective, and enemies deal greater damage at all levels.
  • E.g., Parries now require perfect timing to deflect the hit – imperfect parries will only partially block incoming damage.
• Enemy AI is smarter, faster, and more aggressive in a variety of circumstances, including detection.
  • E.g., Even while crouching, Naoe now generates some sound! And even while in the shadows, she can be seen while moving!
  • E.g., Enemies will no longer become vulnerable from dodges or parries – only abilities can put them into a vulnerable state.
• Combat resources (like adrenaline, rations, and shinobi items) are harder to come by, making their use even more vital.

Toggle Headgear in Cutscenes

• Note that headgear will not be displayed in cinematics or in some specific instances where a rule overrides this setting (romance-specific cutscenes).

VFX Toggles

• Players can now disable/enable specific VFX to further customize their experience. These include the ability to hide or show the loot on dead bodies, the last known position of the player, the special attacks indicators of the enemies, and more. All will be accessible in the Interface option menu.

Open World Alarm

• We have expanded the Regional Alert System available in Castles to the whole Province. Now by repetitively attacking Civilians or Military units outside Castles, the alarm can be triggered, and a group of Guardians will hunt you in the world.

Horse Camera Presets

• You can now toggle between 3 different camera presets while riding on your mount (hold the down button on controller/’X’ key on keyboard while riding) allowing for a more cinematic experience to take in the full beauty of Japan.

Ultra Low Specs for PC

• We are adding a new visual quality level, the Ultra Low mode. This will allow PC players with a limited GPU configuration to experience the game in better framerate conditions.

LIST OF BUG FIXES

General

• Fixed an issue where the Onryo Mask remained visible despite selecting the option to hide gear.
• Fixed an issue where players were unable to earn Mastery Points.
• Fixed an issue where Mastery Points were not returned after resetting the Mastery Tree.
• Fixed an issue where players could not switch characters anymore even without gameplay context restrictions.
• Fixed an issue where allies could be trained to veteran rank without upgrading the dojo to level 3.
• Fixed an issue where Gennojo did not immediately appear in the hideout after recruitment. He was busy washing his hair!
• Fixed an issue where sometimes a player remains stuck in a Red Zone, without being able to fast travel anywhere, by allowing them to fast travel to the hideout.
• Fixed an issue where the Oni Drawing remains stuck on screen after completing the “Vision of the Realms” quest.
• Fixed various localization issues.

Quests

• Fixed an issue where players could not progress in the “A Chance Encounter” quest when following Fuyu.
• Fixed an issue where players could not complete the quest after defeating all Kabukimono.
• Fixed an issue where Lady Oichi’s letter became unavailable after the Fuji-maru cutscene.
• Fixed an issue where players were unable to talk to Katsuhime in the crop field when she was sitting on the ground. She just wanted some peace and quiet!
• Fixed an issue where tracking the “Temple Stories” quest only showed a progress bar with no text.
• Fixed an issue where Genzaburo’s Teppo Master was missing from the Kaya Shrine.
• Fixed an issue where Yagyu Munetoshi revealed a later plot point too early in the “Nobutsuna’s Students” quest.
• Fixed an issue where players could not assassinate the Godai of Void because the NPC was missing. He took his name too seriously.
• Fixed an issue where players could not complete the “Diary of Lady Rokkaku” quest after dodge rolling and dropping Katsuhime.
• Fixed an issue where players could not complete the “Diary of Lady Rokkaku” quest when there was no immediate option to carry Katsuhime.
• Fixed an issue where players glitched through an anomaly in the “Heads Will Roll” quest, making Animus activities unavailable.
• Fixed an issue where players could not progress in the “Lost Honor” quest because the game failed to switch to Naoe.
• Fixed an issue where players could not progress through the Tournament after dying.

Visuals & Graphics

• Fixed some minor visual issues.
• Fixed misplaced visual elements with the Dark Woods Kusarigama.
• Fixed an issue where all NPC horses appeared as identical.
• Fixed a clipping issue with Naoe’s Sekiryu outfit.
• Fixed an issue with the “Bloodshade Katana” being visible out of the sheath when transmogged.
• Fixed a movement physics issue with the Dead by Daylight Oni’s armor.

Audio

• Fixed an issue where footstep audio occasionally ceased when opening the map while moving.

Elden Ring Nightreign is adding its next enhanced Everdark Sovereign boss into the game. Fulghor, Champion of the Nightglow will be the next Nightlord to get an enhanced version, arriving on June 26.

The update goes live at 7am PDT / 4pm CEST / 11pm JST on June 26, as a new target for a Nightfarer expedition. If the big guy is anything like the previous Everdark Sovereign, you’ll have to successfully take down the base version of the Nightlord at least once to challenge its more difficult variant.

Developer FromSoftware started rolling these Everdark Sovereigns out in a surprise drop last week, with the addition of a souped-up Gaping Jaw challenge. These enhanced bosses can throw a lot at the player. Adel, Baron of the Night’s upgraded form was terrifying, zipping around the arena and, at one point, making a giant storm inside the arena.

Fulghor, who reigns under the Darkdrift Knight banner, has already been a bit of a challenge for players in Elden Ring Nightreign in his base form. The centaur can cause some serious damage fast and leaves little room to get in and hit him. The area-of-effect attacks especially cause some problems, if you’re not ready.

So, naturally, the enhanced version of Fulghor could pose some real challenge. Replies to the announcement tweet are gearing up for the prospect of tackling this warrior’s even-more powerful version.

More Everdark Sovereigns are planned to roll out, as FromSoftware has confirmed each week will host a new upgraded boss. As Darkdrift Knight rotates in, it looks like the Gaping Jaw challenge will rotate out. Sentient Pest is the next on the docket, and should pose a fairly interesting challenge, especially with the phase shifts.

We’ve got plenty of Nightreign tips and tricks to help you take down all the eight Nightlord Bosses, and if you’re wondering how to unlock the two locked Nightfarer Classes, check out How to Unlock the Revenant and How to Unlock the Duchess, plus How to Change Characters.

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.

Nintendo has once again used its Today! app to announce news, this time a release date for Switch 2 exclusive Drag x Drive.

Drag x Drive launches exclusively on the eShop for Switch 2 on August 14, 2025. That confirms no physical release for the game is planned.

Nintendo has so far failed to confirm a price for Drag x Drive, which was announced in April as part of Nintendo’s Switch 2 reveal Direct.

The Nintendo-developed exclusive uses the Joy-Con 2 for 3v3 basketball-style matches where you control wheelchair-using characters. You can use the controllers in mouse mode at the same time to simulate the act of pushing the wheels, speed up, and perform tricks.

With the announcement of Drag x Drive’s release date, we’re starting to get a clearer idea of what’s coming exclusively to Switch 2 during the second half of 2025. On July 17, Donkey Kong Bananza comes out (it just got an eye-catching Nintendo Direct all to itself), then there’s Drag x Drive a month later. Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV launches on July 24, with Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World due out August 28. Switch 2 exclusives down for 2025 but without a release date include Kirby Air Riders, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, and Splatoon Raiders. FromSoftware’s definitely not Bloodborne 2, The Duskbloods, is due out at some point in 2026.

Of course, Nintendo has a number of other big games set for both Switch and Switch 2 later this year, but they’re worth mentioning here as there will be plenty of Switch 2 owners interested in playing them on their new console. These include the long-awaited Metroid Prime 4 and Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

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.

Firaxis and 2K are committed to reversing the fortunes of Civilization 7 with an all-new update, much of which has been “influenced by the community.”

This month’s “hefty” Update 1.2.2 brings a raft of long-awaited features like Large and Huge Maps, expanded Advanced Game Options, and a community favorite: Steam Workshop support. There’s also new Town Specializations, City-State Bonuses, Beliefs, balance changes, UI improvements, and — best of all, of course — “a very pettable Scout dog.”

Players can also finish their current save under a previous version by using the legacy Steam beta branch. Backwards compatibility for existing saves is also available, although you should note that “some new abilities or effects may not appear until you start a new game or advance to the next Age in your current campaign.”

“For the best experience, we recommend starting a new game, or continuing your current game into the next Age,” Firaxis said.

Large and Huge map sizes — which I’m afraid aren’t available on Switch, along with Standard — default to 10 players, but multiplayer campaigns max out at eight people, inclusive of AI companions. The team hopes to expand Huge to accommodate 12 players eventually, but right now it “needs a bit more time to make sure increased player counts won’t compromise game stability or performance.” That said, because of the size, these maps have been spruced up with Pantheons (and two new ones have been added to Antiquity), Religious Beliefs, Discoveries, and City-State bonuses to “ensure there’s enough content for all the players in a game.”

“One of the best things about Civilization is how many ways there are to play,” the update added. “Some players are happy to peacefully build the biggest, best Cities while others want to ignore all that and go conquer the world (‘Yes, your amazing City does look great in my empire’). With 1.2.2, we’ve added several new advanced game setup options to give you even more control over how you play.”

This means you can now decide whether to enable, disable (or turn off entirely) Legacy Paths per Page, specific Crises, as well as disable Score Victory. AI difficulty can be amended, too, and you can bypass Civ Unlocks On Age Transitions now.

“We’ve had a lot of fun playing with different Legacy Paths on or off in each Age. While Legacy Paths that don’t lead to a Victory are always optional, sometimes it’s nice to just tune them out entirely and focus on playing into the unique strengths of your leader and civ,” Firaxis added. “For a fun sandbox game we’ve been playing in the office, try turning off Legacy Paths for Antiquity and Exploration, and setting the game to Abbreviated Ages. If you want to lean into the sandbox feel even more, try turning off Legacy Paths in Modern and the Score Victory, too.”

Feedback from fans about Religion has necessitated changes, too, with the team now adding new Beliefs and updating existing ones to give bonus incentives for converting your own Settlements. There are “bigger and bolder changes” also on the horizon for Religion, but we’ll find out more about those at a later date. You can also expect Town focus bonuses to help them feel more “impactful.”

“Urban Centers in particular have received a glow-up, and now gain access to many of the Buildings that were otherwise only available in Cities (like Libraries and Monuments in Antiquity),” the update explained. “Fort Towns gain the ability to purchase multiple walls so they can really lock down strategic chokepoints. We also introduced a new type of Town Focus: the Resort Town. These relaxing scenic retreats gain extra Gold and Happiness on Rural tiles with Happiness and increased Yields on Natural Wonders.

“Lastly, we felt massed Hub Towns were overshadowing some of the other options and gave them a slight nerf from +2 Influence per connected Settlement to +1 Influence. We’re going to keep our eye on them to see how they compare against the other newly buffed Towns.”

Players will also now be able to find and install mods from Steam Workshop. Oh, and there’s even a new loading screen, with rewritten and re-recorded narration from Gwendoline Christie.

There’s also an absolute smorgasbord of tweaks and fixes, but if I wrote all those out here, we’d be here until Christmas. You can head on over to the official website to see it.

Civilization 7 has had a rough launch on Steam — that much is clear. The strategy sequel has struggled for players on Valve’s platform ever since its launch in February. Despite a number of patches issued by developer Firaxis to reverse things, Civilization 7 finds itself in the unenviable situation of having fewer players on Steam than Civilization 6 and even the 15-year-old Civilization 5. According to Steam user reviews the game is ‘mixed,’ although the last 1,500 or so reviews has it falling to a ‘mostly negative’ rating.

Update 1.2.2 is out now, although Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 players will have to wait a little longer as the team works “diligently to get these updates through the additional Switch submission requirements.” Players still experiencing issues or bugs are encouraged to disable mods and make the team aware.

We thought Civilization 7 was ‘good,’ awarding it a fitting 7/10, writing: “Civilization 7’s improved warfare and added bits of narrative flair give me reasons to keep clicking one more turn late into the night, but the desire to streamline and simplify this legendary 4X series feels like it has also gone a bit too far, particularly when it comes to the interface.”

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.

Back in March this year, game industry veteran Masahiro Sakurai received a lifetime achievement award at the 30th AMD awards. In an interview by ITMedia Business Online conducted at the time (recently republished on Yahoo Japan), Sakurai revealed why he doesn’t hire people, reflected on how the games industry has changed, and touched on the potential use of generative AI in development.

Sakurai is best known as the creator behind two of Nintendo’s big franchises, Kirby and Smash Bros. After working at game dev studio Hal Laboratories from 1989 to 2003, Sakurai became a freelance game creator, founding his own company Sora Ltd. in 2005. In 2022, he created the award-winning YouTube channel “Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games,” in which he shared insight and advice on all aspects of making a game.

Sakurai’s approach differs from that of many game creators who have gone on to form their own companies. “When a game creator becomes the president of a company, it is difficult for them to fully engage in creative activities,” explained Sakurai. “There was a conflict between making interesting games and making management decisions — the problem was that being overwhelmed by the duties of being a president made it hard to focus on the vital part, game creation.”

This led Sakurai to his current approach, which involves creating games without directly hiring or managing any employees. “Basically I work together with other game companies to avoid having to manage a company,” Sakurai explained. “This method has worked well so far. I am able to continue being creative and concentrate on making things without becoming extremely busy running a company.”

However, Sakurai noted that his method is not without its challenges. Working with different game devs means that Sakurai has to “build up trusting relationships and working styles from scratch every time. So, I think it is necessary to have a certain degree of flexibility.”

According to Sakurai, one of the most important elements when working with a team on a new project for the first time is to make sure everyone is on the same page and has a clear, shared vision of the game. “I make sure that many members of staff can share the same information at the same time, regardless of their job or whether they are designer or programmer.” Although this takes more time and planning, Sakurai said that in his experience, this approach “reduces the risk of information gaps” and misunderstandings. “Conversely, if I just conveyed my ideas to the producer, and then they assign work to various other people, then some kind of misunderstanding would occur, or even a 180 degree difference (in what was intended).”

However, when asked whether his approach would be the best for the game industry as a whole, Sakurai was hesitant. “It depends on the person. As for me, I had built up a track record and trust through working on Kirby and Smash Bros. titles in the past. If you don’t have this, if you don’t have any track record at all, then the work won’t come to you. This is a way of working that becomes possible through gaining more allies by continuing to make good games, and it is not a style of working that works well for everyone.”