Category: Video Games

A Grand Theft Auto superfan is recreating the GTA 6 map in GTA 5 based on the snippets of information released by Rockstar so far.

YouTuber Dark Space is chronicling the work on their channel and on X/Twitter, showing how Vice Beach and the Venetian Islands are inside GTA 5 as fully detailed maps.

Despite the fact Rockstar has so far only released one trailer for GTA 6, fans have mapped out the playable area they expect to see in the game, which is due out fall 2025 on PS5 and Xbox Series X and S.

For my next video, I’ve been working hard at making the GTA 6 community map real. Here’s a look at my progress so far: pic.twitter.com/ejPu3EWKqa

— Dark Space (@Dark_SpaceYT) January 25, 2025

Speaking to IGN, Dark Space expects to release the GTA 5 modification in the next two weeks.

Rockstar owner Take-Two has a history of taking down fan projects, most recently the YouTube channel belonging to the makers of the ‘GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition,’ which ports the world, cutscenes, and missions from 2002’s Vice City into 2008’s GTA 4.

Take-Two may take an even dimmer view of Dark Space’s work, given it attempts to recreate the map from the upcoming GTA 6. Dark Space admitted to IGN that he was “always worried” about a reprisal from Take-Two, but pointed out some key differences between his work and others that have suffered setbacks, such as the GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition project.

“This is a bit different from what I’ve been told by people who also make content like this for FiveM servers,” Dark Space said.

“Vice City mod is a whole game remade in GTA 4. Not good for Rockstar. Also makes them look bad. Liberty City Preservation project ripped a whole game map from 4 to 5 eliminating the need for Rockstar to ever do that.

“This is just me making my own fan-made map myself. All within GTA 5 itself. Any assets are from GTA 5 itself. A typical practice.”

pic.twitter.com/MNejkdrsxn

— Dark Space (@Dark_SpaceYT) January 27, 2025

Dark Space said the lack of GTA 6 news from Rockstar is fueling fan interest in projects such as his. Depending on how things go, he may expand the map to completion.

One former Rockstar developer has defended the company’s actions here, saying both Take-Two and Rockstar are protecting their business interests.

“Take2/R* are a commercial company,” former Rockstar Games technical director Obbe Vermeij tweeted. “They will take down mods that interfere with their business interests.

“The VC NextGen Edition mod for GTA4 directly competes with the Definitive Edition. The Liberty City preservation project (GTA4 in GTA5 engine) would interfere with a possible GTA4 remaster. (No idea whether they’re working on that. I think they should.)

“There’s no point getting angry about it. This is what companies are supposed to do. The best we can hope for is that they allow mods that don’t interfere with their business. Such as DCA3 (GTA3 for Dreamcast). Afaik they have recently been decent about letting these projects continue.”

As for GTA 6 itself, the latest fan theory suggests an imminent announcement of a new trailer, the game’s release date, and potentially more. While you wait to find out, IGN has much more on GTA 6 to check out, including an ex-Rockstar dev who says the studio probably won’t be able to decide whether GTA 6 is delayed until May 2025, the boss of Take-Two’s coy response on whether GTA 6 is coming to PC, and the expert opinion on whether the PS5 Pro will run GTA 6 at 60 frames per second.

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.

Nintendo is going all in on the Donkey Kong redesign spotted by fans in the Mario Kart 9 gameplay debuted during the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal event.

Donkey Kong has had the same design for years now, even decades, and has appeared as such in the likes of Mario Kart 8, Mario Tennis, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and more, but Nintendo is now pivoting to a look many think is similar to the incredibly successful The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

While Donkey Kong’s video game revamp had only been seen in Mario Kart 9 so far, Nintendo has now revealed a range of Donkey Kong merchandise that also includes the redesign. As spotted by Nintendo Life, cookiemaster221 shared the products on Reddit. “History is being rewritten in front of our very eyes,” they said.

The handful of products show Donkey Kong with perhaps a friendlier look headlined by his once furrowed brow being rounded out. “They’re giving him the Kirby treatment, but backwards,” SmallBlueSlime said in the comments. “Instead of making him angry, they’re making him chill.”

“They really are dead set on redesigning DK,” said another user. “I’m gonna miss that eyebrow looking down. Always made DK seem both kind and strong,” added someone else. “It’s alright in my opinion,” added a fan in favor of the new look. “They probably did it to make him look more goofy and less angry.”

This is the best look fans have had at the redesign since the glimpse at Mario Kart 9, where Donkey Kong only appeared in a few scenes himself and not particularly clearly. An extended look at Donkey Kong in action will likely come in April when Nintendo hosts a Switch 2 focused Nintendo Direct.

In anticipation of this event, the console reveal trailer included just a few hints of the Switch 2, focusing mostly on how it looks. It did confirm the hardware is mostly backwards compatible, the Joy-Cons feature a mysterious new button, and that a theory about using the controller as a mouse appears spot on.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

The Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2 update is available to download ahead of today’s launch, with patch notes live now.

The 1.068.000 update, which weighs in at 19.907 GB on PlayStation 5, can be downloaded now ahead of the launch of Season 2 later today, January 28.

Season 2 brings weapon tuning, spawn logic improvements, a bullet penetration update, much-needed challenge tracker details, improvements to camo challenges, equipment, perk, field upgrade, and wildcard updates, new ranked cross-play options on consoles, ranked play SR gain/loss adjustments, HUD preset updates, and Zombies bug fixes and improvements.

There’s also the promise of improved anti-cheat amid growing frustration and cheating across Black Ops 6 and Warzone, particularly in ranked. Updates include enhanced detection models for behaviors like aim botting, stricter account trust and hardware identification to target repeat offenders, and new tools to combat dishonest behavior such as playing with cheaters or attempting to spam report innocent players.

“We are also focusing on more precise tools, including major upgrades to the kernel-level anti-cheat driver and server-side systems starting this season and continuing into Season 03,” Activision said in a blog post. “These measures, combined with ongoing improvements and legal actions against cheat sellers, aim to deliver a more secure and enjoyable experience for everyone.”

Helldivers 2 creative director Johan Pilestedt has announced he has gone on sabbatical leave and, when he returns, will start work on developer Arrowhead’s next game.

In a tweet, Pilestedt said he’s spent 11 years working “around the clock” on the Helldivers intellectual property, starting with the first Helldivers game in 2013 and Helldivers 2 since early 2016.

“Eleven years of working around the clock on the same IP has made me set aside family, friends, and my lovely wife… and myself,” Pilestedt said. “I am going to take some time now to redeem what was lost from all of those that supported me for over a decade.

“I am sure my friends at Arrowhead will do their utmost in the meantime to deliver amazing stuff to Helldivers 2. When I’m back I will start working on the next Arrowhead game.”

Pilestedt was thrust into the headlines following Helldivers 2’s explosive launch in February 2024. Despite a raft of issues the cooperative shooter became PlayStation Studios’ fastest-selling game of all time, shifting 12 million copies in just 12 weeks. Helldivers 2 is so successful that Sony is turning it into a movie.

Pilestedt himself became the face of Helldivers 2, often wading into discussion about the game’s qualities and failings across social media, Reddit threads, and Discord. In May last year, Pilestedt revealed that Helldivers 2’s enormous success had caused a problem for the studio: more community toxicity than it had ever had to deal with before.

Prior to the release of Helldivers 2, Arrowhead had enjoyed big hits with the first Helldivers game and Magicka, but the success of Helldivers 2 raised the game and the studio’s profile. “The big difference now, which is horrifying, is the amount of threats and rude behavior that people in the studio are getting from some really shitty individuals within the community,” Pilestedt told G.biz. “That’s something new we have to deal with.”

When Helldivers 2 launched it faced significant server issues that made the game unplayable for many, sparking an initial backlash. Since then, Arrowhead has faced complaints about everything from weapon balance to low impact Premium Warbonds. But by far the biggest backlash was sparked by Sony’s controversial decision to force PC gamers to link to a PlayStation Network account to play. Sony eventually reversed its decision, but not before a review-bombing campaign savaged Helldivers 2 on Steam. Arrowhead community managers have said the PSN backlash caused staff to lose a week simply having to deal with the fallout.

Amid Helldivers 2’s success, Pilestedt changed his position from Arrowhead CEO to chief creative officer so he could focus more on the studio’s games as well as its community. Replacing Pilestedt as Arrowhead CEO was Shams Jorjani, former executive at fellow Swedish games company Paradox and publisher of Magicka.

There’s no word on Helldivers 2’s next game, but it seems likely we won’t see it for some time. Meanwhile, Arrowhead continues to update Helldivers 2, with the recent addition of third enemy faction the Illuminate breathing new life into the game.

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.

After a strong Xbox Developer Direct to kick 2025 off, things are looking good for Microsoft and its strong stable of first-party studios. But, which Xbox game series get you most excited? Which gave you more enjoyment than any other in the glory days of the 360? Or if you’ve never owned an Xbox console, which are you most looking forward to coming to other platforms like PlayStation, as Microsoft seemingly continues its plans to share its library with the world.

There are many legendary game series to choose from (especially since Microsoft’s acquisitions of both Bethesda and Activision Blizzard. That means this tier list can include any series associated with Xbox, Bethesda, and Activision Blizzard, as long as there has been more than one entry into it so far – sorry to MachineGames and Indiana Jones! Give us a sequel, please, and then you can make the cut. Just a reminder that this isn’t an all Xbox Game Series list, so we haven’t involved every single Xbox game series here, but have tried to cover the bases of current relevance and historical impact. Take a look at my personal tier list, based completely on what I’ve enjoyed playing the most over the years, here: