Sony has published the list of PlayStation Plus Game Catalog additions for April 2025, revealing a lineup of games that includes highlights like Hogwarts Legacy, Blue Prince, Battlefield 1, and more.
All of the newcomers were detailed in a PlayStation.Blog entry posted on the site today. It confirms a list of eight titles set to arrive for PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers starting April 10, with more PS4, PS5, and Classic games trickling in as the month rolls on.
PlayStation Plus Game Catalog members starting at the Extra tier receive access to six titles, two of which launch with the service on day one. Those are Dogubomb’s critically acclaimed puzzle adventure Blue Prince, which launches April 10, and Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 2, which launches April 15.
PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers can also look forward to two old-school titles: Alone in the Dark 2 and War of the Monsters. You can see the full list of games coming to the PlayStation service, along with the dates they’ll be made available, below.
PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium Game Catalog Additions – April 2025
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor 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).
Two Microsoft software engineers who interrupted a Microsoft anniversary event to protest against the company’s dealings with the Israeli military have been fired for misconduct, according to a report. Software engineer Ibtihal Aboussad, who is based in Canada and once worked for the company’s genAI division, lost her job on Monday 7th April due to “wilful misconduct, disobedience or wilful neglect of duty,” according to internal documents picked up by CNBC. Another Microsoft software engineer, Vaniya Agrawal, had announced that she would resign on April 11th, but according to another document cited by CNBC, Microsoft have terminated her job in advance.
Welcome to our latest IGN First – a month of exclusive coverage in April, and it’s all about The Outer Worlds 2. This is the very first look at its gameplay in real time, and it takes us through a quest where you infiltrate the N-Ray Facility to show off several of the game’s new features and mechanics, as well as how it’s rethinking level design. And one of the biggest things that stood out to me is how much deeper it’s going to be as an RPG with developer Obsidian looking back at its past and even drawing inspiration from immersive sims like Deus Ex and Dishonored.
While that DNA has always been a part of first-person RPGs, The Outer Worlds 2 has more sophisticated systems compared to the first game like a true stealth system and better tools to make the playstyle viable, including effective melee weapons and skills to make silent takedowns possible. Take, for example, the health bar above enemy heads – there’s a purple-colored readout that displays how damage a stealth attack will do, helping you judge whether or not you can get a one-hit kill or if it’s even worth pouncing on your target. Enemies will also detect dead bodies and alert guards, but you can quickly clean up if you have a skill to disintegrate bodies on the spot.
Later in the quest, you pick up the N-Ray Scanner, which lets you see certain objects and NPCs/enemies through walls. While this is crucial for finding important parts of more involved environmental puzzles, it’s also an important tool for a stealth and combat. There are enemies throughout the N-Ray Facility who cloak themselves; invisible to the naked eye, but not able to escape the lens of the N-Ray Scanner. If you’re not dilligent about using it, cloaked enemies can easily run up on you. That’s just one example of how the addition of gadgets add a new wrinkle to gameplay.
There are several interlocking systems that factor into how you’re able to play, leaning more into the RPG elements that make up specific character builds.
There are several interlocking systems that factor into how you’re able to play, leaning more into the RPG elements that make up specific character builds. So, stealth and those immersive sim sensibilities aren’t the only way gameplay is expanding in The Outer Worlds 2. Improving gunplay was a major focus for Obsidian, citing Destiny as a touchstone for what good gunplay should feel like. Not that this game is going to turn into an all-out shooter, but it plays closer to how a first-person game with firearms should play.
You see an example of this in the approach to the N-Ray Facility movement when we go in guns blazing. Movement has been tweaked to complement gunplay as well, letting you be more nimble and do things like sprint-slide while aiming down sights like an action hero – and with the return of Tactical Time Dilation (TTD), the bullet-time fantasy is again an effective part of your combat rotation. We were able to see throwables, which is by no means revolutionary for a game like this, but with their inclusion this time around, you have another tool that you can weave into your arsenal – and even do something sick like tossing a grenade, activating TTD, and shooting the grenade midair to have it blow up on unsuspecting enemies.
There isn’t much to share on the story front as of yet, let alone the context around the quest in the N-Ray Facility, but we do see how conversations have been tweaked slightly in the sequel. In the gameplay video above, there’s a moment we confront an NPC named Exemplar Foxworth who’s survived the cultist takeover of the place. She’s bleeding out and you can help patch her up based on your Medical stat, or respond depending on your Guns or Melee stats. Although we couldn’t dig into companions in more detail, this part also highlights the new companion named Aza, a former cultist who’s a bit frantic but joins you to seemingly help undo what they’ve done.
Many of these elements were part of the original Outer Worlds in some form, but where that game was more about laying a new foundation for Obsidian, The Outer Worlds 2 looks to be a fully realized version of what it was trying to build with the first one. In addition to checking it out early, I had conversations with the folks at Obsidian to get insight on a ton of its new features and the vision that drove this sequel. It seems keen on wielding the RPG roots of the studio’s past while considering what a modern first-person RPG can be in the vein of a Fallout – and to be clear, they often referred to Fallout: New Vegas as a touchstone when making The Outer Worlds 2, so my hopes are certainly high.
That’s just a taste of what’s to come in The Outer Worlds 2 and what we’re covering in this month’s IGN First. I’ll be breaking down character builds, the new flaws system, all the wild and wacky weapons, and how much bigger this sequel is through interviews with key people like original Fallout developer and creative director Leonard Boyarsky, game director Brandon Adler, and design director Matt Singh. Keep checking back at IGN all April long for more!
Michael Higham is the tech reviews editor at IGN, but is one of the RPG sickos on staff who still talks about Fallout: New Vegas on a regular basis. You can find him at @brazyazn.bsky.social.
Nintendo GameCube is coming to Nintendo Switch Online alongside the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, with a classic controller on the way too. But some small print indicates that Nintendo’s new GameCube controller for the Switch 2 may only, officially, be meant for GameCube use.
Spotted in the details of the UK version of the Switch 2 GameCube controller trailer (thanks, VGC), a statement read: “The controller is only compatible with Nintendo GameCube – Nintendo Classics.” This would indicate the GameCube controller is only going to work properly when playing GameCube games on the Switch 2 Online Expansion Pack, and not other Switch 2 games.
As VGC notes, it’s worth considering that other Nintendo controllers with similar disclaimers have not been fully limited. Players have been able to make retro controllers work where applicable. Also, the same disclaimer isn’t there in the Nintendo of America version of the trailer.
It’s still interesting, given the classic GameCube controller has enough buttons to manage many common gameplay inputs on the Switch 2. It could be a case of setting expectations, or trying to avoid frustrations if someone, say, tries to use their GameCube controller like a mouse.
Even if this particular GameCube controller isn’t your jam, Nintendo has confirmed the GameCube Controller adapter will work with the Switch 2 dock via USB port. Those who picked up the adapter back in the Wii U days are certainly getting some mileage out of the accessory.
The Classic GameCube controller for the Nintendo Switch 2 is planned to go live at launch with the new console, but the exact date those go up for pre-order hasn’t been announced yet. Pre-orders have been on shaky ground as U.S. tariffs have introduced a fair bit of chaos.
It’s a major update to the Nintendo Switch Online library that will grant subscribers access to a laundry list of classic 2000s-era titles, including The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, F-Zero GX, and Soulcalibur 2, which will all be available at launch this summer. Of course, this library will be expanded upon in the years to come, with some teased titles including Super Mario Sunshine, Luigi’s Mansion, Super Mario Strikers, Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, and more.
If you’re looking to pre-order a Nintendo Switch 2, GameCube controller, or other accessories and games, make sure to keep an eye on our Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order hub, which will stay updated with news and info.
Some video games aim to pull originality from the ether, and some video games try to accomplish it by theatrically amassing a bunch of rad parallels and sort of crushing them together until the molecular boundaries give way, and a new Element is produced. This is the vibe I get from Welcome To Brightville, a new “emergent immersive sim” that reminds me instantly of Thief, Dishonored, Bioshock and recent soulslike Lies Of P.
The setting blends “industrial Victorian architecture, neo-baroque extravagance, and futuristic cyberpunk elements” to produce a “manapunk” world in which magic and machinery jostle together like cats in a bag. It’s a heady stew of references, and perhaps not that novel for a dark fantasy RPG – people have been slopping the cyber over other literary genres for a while now, and don’t get me started on the abundance of -punk derivatives. Still, it rattles and whirrs along convincingly enough in the below announcement trailer.
For all the excitement of last week’s Direct, Nintendo’s Switch 2 pricing has gone down like a cold cup of something nasty. £75/$80 games, a sizeable bump in cost for the system itself, current economic conditions, and tariffs have melded into the perfect storm, with the once-affordable Nintendo now appearing a little more out of reach.
It’s a problem around the world, but Switch fans in Scandinavia are feeling particularly hard done by the pricing after the region’s main distributor has apparently driven up prices further, leading to some eyeing early-June flights abroad to save some cash on a launch-day Switch 2.
Make some space on your calendar – the Xbox Games Showcase 2025 will be livestreamed on Sunday, June 8, starting at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK time. Following in the footsteps of the 2023 Starfield Direct and 2024 Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Direct, this year we will again have a double feature, with the Xbox Games Showcase immediately followed by The Outer Worlds 2 Direct.
It all begins with our annual Xbox Games Showcase, bringing you a look at upcoming titles from across our first-party studios, in addition to incredible new titles from our third-party partners across the globe. This year, the show will be digital-only – our livestream will bring you everything you’ll need to know about what’s next for Xbox, no matter where in the world you’re watching.
Immediately following Showcase, The Outer Worlds 2 Direct will bring you inside the walls of Obsidian Entertainment, revealing new gameplay, details, and developer insights, straight from the people making the sequel to the award-winning, first-person sci-fi RPG.
You’ll be able to enjoy our June 8 double feature through a variety of outlets, in over 40 languages, as well as American Sign Language, British Sign Language and English Audio Descriptions. These include (but won’t be limited to):
Airtime for the Xbox Games Showcase followed by The Outer Worlds 2 Direct in local time zones:
PDT: June 8, 10am
EDT: June 8, 1pm
BST: June 8, 6pm
CEST: June 8, 7pm
JST: June 9, 2am
AEST: June 9, 3am
The double-feature broadcast also kicks off a week’s worth of coverage here on Xbox Wire, The Official Xbox Podcast, and the Xbox YouTube channel, featuring updates, exclusive extra details, and deep-dives on many of the games you’ll see in the show.
Join us on June 8 for the Xbox Games Showcase followed by The Outer Worlds 2 Direct. Be sure to check back here on Xbox Wire for more information and tune-in details ahead of the show.
Today, we have an announcement for our fellow gamers on PlayStation Portal remote player.
As we continue to improve user experience based on community feedback, we are releasing a new system software update for PS Portal starting later today, which will add a few new features to improve your gaming experience while using Cloud Game Streaming Beta.
As a reminder – Cloud Streaming (Beta) is an option for PlayStation Plus Premium members to play games via cloud streaming on PS Portal, allowing select PS5 games in the PlayStation Plus Catalog* to be streamed directly from our servers, even without a PS5 console. Since Cloud Streaming (Beta) on PS Portal is still an experimental offering, the features available during the beta period may change over time and may not reflect the final experience. For more details, visit here.
Without further ado, here are the new features added in this update:
Sort
You can now sort games in the Cloud Streaming (Beta) catalog screen. There will be a new sort icon added to the top left corner, allowing you to sort games by: Recently added to PS Plus (default), Name, and Release date.
Capture gameplay
The Create button on your PS Portal will now be enabled during a Cloud Streaming (Beta) session. Here is what you can do:
Press once: Display the create menu
Press and hold: Take a screenshot
Press twice: Start/finish recording a video clip**
Images and videos captured during a streaming session will be automatically uploaded to the cloud server, which can be accessed from the PlayStation App by selecting [Library] > [Captures]. Your captures will be stored for 14 days after they were created.
Queue
You can now wait for your turn to play when the streaming server is full. The estimated wait time will be displayed on screen, and the game session will automatically start as soon as it’s your turn.
Pause
During a Cloud Streaming (Beta) game session, gameplay will now pause in the following situations:
Gameplay will pause when you open the PS Portal quick menu. You can open the quick menu by pressing the PS button, swiping left from the top right corner of your screen, or tapping the quick menu icon from the status bar.
When you press the power button once, PS Portal will be put into rest mode and the game will be paused. You can un-pause and get back to your game play by pressing the power button again. If PS Portal remains in rest mode for more than 15 seconds, the cloud streaming session will be disconnected.
Gameplay will also pause when a system error message is displayed at the bottom of the screen.
Note that the pause feature will not be supported in some cases, such as during an online multiplay session.
Notification of inactivity
You will now receive a system notification when your streaming session is about to close due to inactivity of over 10 minutes.
User feedback screen
We have added a user feedback screen at the end of the streaming sessions to rate the quality of your streaming experience. This will help us identify what went well or could be improved, as we continue to enhance the quality of our service.
Thanks to the support and feedback from our player as we continue to add new features to further enhance the PS Portal experience, including support for select public Wi-Fi networks, which we launched last year. We hope you enjoy the new beta features – your feedback is essential for us to evolve the streaming game experience even further, and we look forward to hearing what you think!
*Includes select PS5 games in the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog and Classics Catalog. Titles available in the PlayStation Plus Catalog vary over time, region/country and plan. See https://www.playstation.com/Plus for details and updates on PlayStation Plus offerings. PlayStation Plus is an ongoing subscription subject to a recurring subscription fee taken automatically (at the then-current PS Store price) at the frequency you choose at purchase until cancellation. Terms apply: play.st/psplus-usageterms
**Video clips up to 1920×1080 in resolution and up to 3 minutes in duration are supported.
Microsoft has solidified its plans for June, confirming an Xbox Games Showcase 2025 as well as an The Outer Worlds 2 Direct.
Microsoft normally hosts a June showcase to reveal upcoming Xbox games, and 2025 is no different. Xbox Games Showcase 2025 will be livestreamed on Sunday, June 8, starting at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK time.
Xbox Games Showcase 2025 will offer a look at upcoming titles from across Microsoft’s first-party studios, Microsoft said, “in addition to incredible new titles from our third-party partners across the globe.”
On the Activision Blizzard side of things, there will of course be a new Call of Duty game later this year, and various releases from Blizzard itself. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 launches in July, so that may make the cut.
And following in the footsteps of the 2023 Starfield Direct and 2024 Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Direct, this year Microsoft will follow its Xbox Games Showcase by The Outer Worlds 2 Direct. The Outer Worlds 2 is from Obsidian, which is fresh from the release of Avowed. The direct “will bring you inside the walls of Obsidian Entertainment, revealing new gameplay, details, and developer insights, straight from the people making the sequel to the award-winning, first-person sci-fi RPG.” The Outer Worlds 2 is expected out later in 2025, so it seems likely we’ll get a release date during the showcase.
Airtime for the Xbox Games Showcase followed by The Outer Worlds 2 Direct in local time zones:
PDT: June 8, 10am
EDT: June 8, 1pm
BST: June 8, 6pm
CET: June 8, 7pm
JST: June 9, 2am
AEST: June 9, 3am
Microsoft said the Xbox Games Showcase and The Outer Worlds 2 Direct will be digital-only, which means there’s no theatre experience for fans and media this year. But it promised that its livestream will bring fans “everything you’ll need to know about what’s next for Xbox, no matter where in the world you’re watching.”
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Hades 2 is coming to Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 as a timed console exclusive.
While we don’t yet have a firm release date, developer Supergiant confirmed the highly anticipated sequel would release on PC and Nintendo Switch 2, as well as the OG Switch, at the same time later this year.
We knew Hades 2 was coming to Nintendo’s beefed-up Switch 2 courtesy of last week’s Nintendo Direct, of course, but developer Supergiant has now confirmed that it’s not just coming to Switch 1 and 2, but it’ll be a timed exclusive on Nintendo’s console, too.
“Hades II v1.0 will launch simultaneously on our Early Access platforms (Steam and Epic Games Store), Nintendo Switch 2, and the original Nintendo Switch,” the team recently clarified on X/Twitter
Hades II v1.0 will launch simultaneously on our Early Access platforms (Steam and Epic Games Store), Nintendo Switch 2, and the original Nintendo Switch.
Right now, it’s not clear when Hades 2 will make the inevitable jump to other consoles like the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X and S.
Hades 2 is the sequel to Supergiant’s hit first game, mixing engaging storytelling and roguelite action elements in a dungeon-crawling experience.
“Hades 2 feels impossibly huge and unbelievably polished by any standard, much less an early access game,” we wrote in IGN’s Hades 2 early-access review, awarding it 9/10. “Mel is awesome, the new tweaks to the combat and progression are excellent, and it’s just unbelievably feature packed with twice the content of the first.
“What’s here right out of the gate is astounding, and the thought of more coming on the way is a tantalizing treat.”
Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
