Category: Video Games

PlayStation Plus Game Catalog for January: God of War Ragnarök, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, Atlas Fallen: Reign of Sand, and more

Explore the mythical snowy landscapes in God of War Ragnarök, Osaka’s vibrant underworld in Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, the vast, sandy expanses of Atlas Fallen: Reign Of Sand, and the futuristic mech-sized battlefields of SD Gundam Battle Alliance. These games and more form January’s PlayStation Plus Game Catalog lineup* and will be available to play from January 21.

Two timeless classics are also joining PlayStation Plus Premium: PS2 adventure epic adventure Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings and PS2’s spooky Medievil II.

Finally, in case you missed it, PlayStation Portal released a system update that allows PlayStation Plus Premium members to test Cloud Streaming (Beta) for select PS5 games on Game Catalog. Learn more here.

PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium | Game Catalog

God of War Ragnarök | PS4, PS5

From Santa Monica Studio comes the sequel to the critically acclaimed God of War (2018). Embark on an epic and heartfelt journey as Kratos and Atreus struggle with holding on and letting go. Fimbulwinter is well underway. Kratos and Atreus must journey to each of the Nine Realms in search of answers as Asgardian forces prepare for a prophesied battle that will end the world. Along the way they will explore stunning, mythical landscapes, and face fearsome enemies in the form of Norse gods and monsters. As the threat of Ragnarök grows ever closer, Kratos and Atreus must choose between their own safety and the safety of the realms.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name | PS4, PS5

Once a legendary yakuza, Kazuma Kiryu faked his own death and abandoned his name for the sake of protecting his family. Now, he is thrust into conflict by a mysterious figure attempting to drive him out of hiding. Under the codename ‘Joryu’, Kiryu embarks on a gripping action narrative with bone-shattering combat in vibrant locations filled with exciting characters and activities.

Atlas Fallen: Reign Of Sand | PS5

In this action RPG, master the sands and explore a unique fantasy land teeming with secrets and dangers alone or in online two-player co-op, as you hunt colossal legendary creatures in spectacular combat. Reign of Sand is the ultimate version of Atlas Fallen: an expanded world, new enemies and challenges, revamped progression, new quests, reworked voice acting, additional difficulty mode and ‘New Game+’ modes! 

SD Gundam Battle Alliance | PS4, PS5

Mobile Suits and characters from across Mobile Suit Gundam history take center stage in this all-new action RPG. The story takes place in G: Universe, a world where Gundam canon twists and turns in ways no one can predict. To correct this world’s distorted history, you lead a 3-unit squadron consisting of Mobile Suits and pilots from across Gundam history – a true Battle Alliance. Experience Gundam history’s most famous scenes as you develop new Mobile Suits to add to your arsenal. In multiplayer, you can play through the game with up to 2 other players in a 3-person team. Enjoy this new SD Gundam action RPG solo, or with friends.

Sayonara Wild Hearts | PS4

Sayonara Wild Hearts is a dreamy arcade game about riding motorcycles, skateboarding, dance battling, shooting lasers, wielding swords, and breaking hearts at 200 mph. As the heart of a young woman breaks, the balance of the universe is disturbed. A diamond butterfly appears in her dreams and leads her through a highway in the sky, where she finds her other self: the masked biker called The Fool. Journey through a custom-written pop soundtrack, chase scores, and set out to find the harmony of the universe, hidden away in the hearts of Little Death and her star-crossed allies: Dancing Devils, Howling Moons, Stereo Lovers and Hermit 64. Let’s Pop!

ANNO: Mutationem | PS4, PS5

Welcome to the neon-covered, 2D-meets-3D Cyberpunk world of ANNO: Mutationem. In this Action-Adventure game with RPG elements, you become Ann: a highly-skilled combat-trained lone wolf on a personal mission in a giant Metropolis, full of sinister mega-corporations, mysterious fringe groups and creatures more bizarre than words can express. 

Orcs Must Die 3 | PS4, PS5

Orcs Must Die! 3 ushers orc-slaying mayhem to a previously unimaginable scale. Solo or with a friend by your side, arm yourself with a massive arsenal of traps and weapons. Slice, burn, toss and zap hordes of repugnant orcs in this long-awaited successor to the award-winning series. It’s everything fans loved about the first two games and more. More orcs, more traps, more weapons, more upgrades and even better looking. It’s cranked up to at least eleven.

Citizen Sleeper | PS4, PS5

You are a sleeper, a digitised human consciousness in an artificial body, owned by a corporation that wants you back. Inspired by Tabletop Roleplaying games, Citizen Sleeper uses Dice, Clocks and Drives to create a player-led experience, where you choose your path in a rich and responsive world. Thrust amongst the unfamiliar and colourful inhabitants of the Eye, you need to build friendships, earn your keep, and navigate the factions of this strange metropolis, if you hope to survive to see the next cycle. 

Poker Club | PS4

Welcome to Poker Club. Live the life of a poker pro in the most immersive poker simulation ever seen, with Ultra HD 4K visuals and breath-taking ray tracing. Join a community of online players on their way to the top and track your progress in more than 10 Texas Hold’em tournament modes including freezeouts, shootouts, super-turbos, bounties and more. Whether you’re a seasoned poker pro or brand new to the table, perfect your play style for the chance to win big. 

PlayStation Plus Premium

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings | PS4, PS5

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, originally released in 2009 on PlayStation 2, takes you on a perilous, around-the-world quest for the staff of Moses. This classic third-person action adventure has been enhanced with up-rendering, rewind, quick save, and custom video filters. Grab your whip and get ready for a thrilling journey in true Indiana Jones tradition.

Medievil II | PS4, PS5

The sequel to MediEvil released on the original PlayStation in 2000. In this new and improved version, featuring up-rendering, rewind, quick save, and custom video filters, you’ll have to challenge the powers of darkness and untold magic as Sir Daniel Fortesque returns from the grave to thwart an evil sorcerer’s plans. Arm yourself with a mighty arsenal of weapons, including swords, daggers, crossbows, hammers, and even the occasional chicken drumstick. Solve fiendish puzzles and riddles, face ghoulish enemies that will strike fear into the bravest of souls, all of it set to a spine-tingling soundtrack.

*PlayStation Plus Game Catalog and PlayStation Plus Premium/Deluxe lineups may differ by region. Please check PlayStation Store on release day.

Larian Keeps Baldur’s Gate 3 Fans Abreast of Latest Mod Download Milestone With New Withers Pic

Baldur’s Gate 3 players have now downloaded more than 100 million mods since developer Larian Studios released its official modding toolkit with Patch 7.

Similar to how it shared the Withers “Bone Daddy” mod to celebrate hitting 50 million mod downloads, Larian has once again relied upon the helpful companion to announce the new milestone. It released an image of the living undead corpse man with large breasts, from a Baldur’s Gate 3 mod called Withers Big Naturals.

“You are modding naturals,” Larian said, with the “100” of the 100 million mods suggestively positioned over Withers.

Baldur’s Gate 3 crossed the 50 million mods mark in October so it’s taken just another two and a half months to reach this new milestone. Patch 7 and official mod support arrived in September, meaning an average of around 25 million mods have been downloaded each month.

Larian is only counting mods created with this tool too, meaning traditional mods (that have been available since the game arrived in July 2023) aren’t counted towards the 100 million number. The actual number is therefore much higher.

Mods released so far include one that adds real-time combat to the otherwise turn-based RPG and another that brought entire new maps to Faerûn, including the highly requested Avernus.

Earlier this week, Larian said it was fully focused on its next game, promising a “media blackout” for the foreseeable future. The hotly anticipated Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 8 is still due out this year.

In our 10/10 review of the base Baldur’s Gate 3, IGN said: “With crunchy, tactical RPG combat, a memorable story with complex characters, highly polished cinematic presentation, and a world that always rewards exploration and creativity, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the new high-water mark for CRPGs.”

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

Forest Reigns is a STALKER-style FPS in which Paris has been conquered by sentient trees

My feelings about Forest Reigns are equal parts enthusiasm and disappointment, inflation and deflation, straight off the back of the announcement trailer. On the one hand, as a fan of weird forests, which is to say all forests, I’m keen on the prospect of an FPS set in a post-apocalyptic Paris that has been overrun by sentient, pissed-off trees. It’s from a team led by a former S.T.A.L.K.E.R. developer, too, and those S.T.A.L.K.E.R. alumni certainly know how to post a good apocalypse. On the other hand, the announcement video suggests a game in which you will mostly treat the frenzied flora as a source of “emergent” cover and terrain traps. Have a look.

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New Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater Funko Pops Are Up for Preorder

What a thrill… Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater Funko Pops are officially up for preorder. There are two figures currently available, one of Naked Snake and the other of The Boss, with price tags of $12.99 a piece. You won’t have to wait too long to add them into your collectible collection either as they’re set to release on March 25 this year. Head to the links below to get your preorders in today.

Preorder Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater Funko Pops, Out March 25

As for when the game itself is coming out, it’s still unannounced. You can check out our Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater preorder guide for all the info about what comes in each edition, though. Generally, Funko Pops come out around the release of the main game/movie/show/etc.

Alongside preorders for new gaming items, the year has started off strong with an excellent variety of video game deals as well. Best Buy, in particular, has a major sale going on at the moment on a variety of games for PS5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch. This includes Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Sonic X Shadow Generations, and quite a few more that are worth having a look at if you’ve been hoping to expand your physical game collection.

To see even more of the best deals available at the moment, check out our individual roundups of the best PlayStation deals, the best Nintendo Switch deals, and the best Xbox deals. For an overall look of the best gaming deals available right now across each platform, our roundup of the best video game deals will point you in the direction of some of our favorites.

Another great place to look for gaming deals is our Daily Deals roundup. There, we gather up some of the best offers across games and tech that have caught our eye recently. At the moment, some of our favorites include a discount on Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora for Xbox Series X and a deal on an M2 MacBook Air.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.

Random: Now You Can Play DOOM… Inside A PDF?

PDF Software.

Your eyes are not deceiving you, reader — the hugely influential FPS DOOM is now fully playable inside a PDF file. Did anyone ask for this? Probably. And it’s a pretty impressive feat.

Reported on by IGN (via Push Square), a high-school student known as ading2210 on github has ported DOOM into a PDF that you can play inside a Chromium-based browser. Dubbed DOOMPDF, it’s missing some text and sound, but it’s otherwise a fully functioning black-and-white version of DOOM.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Arken Age – A new sci-fi fantasy adventure hits PS VR2

We’re back! My name is Blake Stone, Lead Designer at VitruviusVR, the development team behind Mervils & Shadow Legend VR on the original PS VR. We are very excited to launch our newest title Arken Age, a single-player VR adventure set in a terraformed sci-fi fantasy world. 

In the game you engage in full physics-based combat using Arkenite infused swords & guns; and can freely explore the densely filled environments under siege by Hyperion’s neural corruption. Arken Age has a full 15-hour story driven campaign, was built from the ground-up for PlayStation VR2, and is launching tomorrow, January 16.

10 years of developing for PlayStation VR 

In 2015, we were demoing an early version of Mervils: A VR Adventure, our third-person VR platforming game at the Immersed Conference in Toronto, Canada when we were approached by Richard Marks, Head of Sony’s Magic Lab at the time. He couldn’t tell us too much, but said that his team “had something really cool in works for VR” and that Mervils could be a great fit for it. He later sent us a prototype of the Project Morpheus headset which would later be renamed PlayStation VR, and since then we have never looked back.

We released Mervils in 2017 and later launched Shadow Legend VR in 2020, a first-person medieval sword-fighting game, and we learned a ton from the PlayStation VR community’s feedback on those games that we have directly applied to Arken Age. 

From Shadow Legend we learned that players loved the Climbing Picks both for their fluidity of movement in VR and haptics on impact. For Arken Age we took the Climbing Picks one step further and physically integrated them into the players forearms and added the ability to flick your wrists upwards to deploy them at any time during the game. 

The Climbing Picks is only one example, but there’s so much more included in the game. We further refined our custom VR inventory system, weapon crafting, character interactions, unique combat features, exploration elements, and our design philosophy behind building high-fidelity worlds in VR.

Dynamic Foveated Rendering & breath-taking HDR graphics 

In order to take full advantage of the PlayStation VR2 we worked hard to ensure Arken Age’s rendering, shaders, particle-effects, and post-effects were compatible with Dynamic Foveated Rendering (DFR) for the best image resolution possible. Although, image quality is not the only benefit of the PS VR2, with the vibrant world of the Bio-Chasm in Arken Age, it really showcases the importance of HDR graphics in VR with the bright blue waters, lush foliage, and emissive energy bloom from Arkenite weapons, buildings, & the robotic Hyperion soldiers in the world. 

VR weaponry & custom adaptive triggers

When developing Arken Age our biggest focus was on realistic physics-based combat and one-of-a-kind VR weaponry; each with their own unique Adaptive Trigger haptics.  In the game you begin with 3 fully customizable & paintable weapons and can collect over 30 unique weapon mods in total. Each attachment is custom designed for VR gameplay, ranging from the Hyperion God Axe; a throwing axe that uses PS VR2’s eye-tracking & can be recalled at your will, the Tempered Cutter; a deployable saw blade that dismembers enemy limbs, and the Astral Ballista; a high-powered chargeable bow, to name a few. In addition, eye-tracking is used to enable the sniper scopes in the game, just close one eye when your head is close to a scope and watch the magic happen!

Uncover the story of Bio-Chasm & your full VR alien body 

In Arken Age you are a biological alien creation, built with full locomotion and the ability to freely jump, crouch, climb, & swim. You can view your full body in first-person and holster all weapons physically onto your character. 

Your journey begins in Celestial Custodian’s Tower on the shores of the Bio-Chasm, a terraformed realm created to harvest Arkenite Energy. Its divine founder, the Grand Arborist, has ceased cultivation of your planet and every transmission sent to him has been met with abject silence. In Arken Age you uncover the truth behind the disappearance of the Grand Arborist, forge alliance with the Nara alien race, take up arms against Hyperion’s legion of corrupted soldiers, and learn how your character; who is part Nara and part Hyperion tech, fits into this world. 

Arken Age takes the player through a full 15-hour adventure, combines both physics-based sword combat with long-range gun combat, has a wide-range of custom VR interactions, epic VR boss fights, and gives the player full freedom to explore the dense environments of the Bio-Chasm.

We want to thank everyone in the PlayStation VR community for their support over the years and we hope Arken Age will be something PS VR2 fans can enjoy this Jan 16 and for the years to come!

Promise Mascot Agency Voice Cast Includes PlayStation Legend Shuhei Yoshida and Deadly Premonition Dev Swery

Promise Mascot Agency just announced its voice cast, which includes a number of surprise additions from the world of video game development.

Kaizen Game Works’ open-world narrative adventure sees players explore a cursed Japanese town and recruit mascot friends. You even help a living finger work through anger issues.

Where Promise Mascot Agency is punching above its weight is in the voice cast department. It’s nabbed PlayStation developer legend Shuhei Yoshida in his first ever video game voice role, and the announcement comes hot on the heels of Yoshida’s last day at Sony.

Shuhei Yoshida worked on PlayStation from the very beginning, playing a key role in the original console’s success from 1993. He was one of the more public-facing PlayStation executives while President of SIE Worldwide Studios from 2008 to 2019, championing indie and VR success in particular. Yoshida announced his exit from Sony in November during his 31st year at PlayStation.

“When I hit 30 years, I was thinking, hmm, it may be about time for me to move on,” he explained at the time. “You know, the company’s been doing great. I love PS5, I love the games that are coming out on this platform. And we have new generations of management who I respect and admire. And I’m so excited for the future of PlayStation.”

While Yoshida long-term plan remains up in the air, in the short-term he’s turned to video game voice acting, and that’s where Promise Mascot Agency comes in. Yoshida plays Monouge, an odd-looking green-skinned former mascot who is opening their own game center.

Yoshida isn’t the only big name joining the Promise Mascot Agency voice cast. Yakuza: Like A Dragon’s Takaya Kuroda, who plays series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu, and Legend of Zelda’s Ayano Shibuya also star, as do Eri Saito (Chainsaw Man, Metal Gear Solid 4, Way of the Samurai 3) and Swery, developer of Deadly Premonition, The Good Life, and Spy Fiction.

You can see what Yoshida and co sound like in-game in the exclusive trailer, below.

“We can’t believe that our weird game managed to attract such a strong voice cast,” said game director Oli Clarke Smith.

“When our lead Japanese localiser, Roppyaku Tsurumi, told us that Kuroda-san had auditioned, we just about lost our minds. All of the cast have brought our group of misfits to life wonderfully. After working on these characters for four years, they have become like friends to us, and we’re so happy that they have all been given a voice. The team at the recording studio, Xenorex, did an amazing job.”

Here’s the official blurb:

Takaya Kuroda voices the disgraced ex-yakuza Michi, exiled to the forgotten (and quite definitely cursed) Japanese town of Kaso-Machi with two goals: pay off his debt and restore glory to the town’s defunct mascot agency! Recruit the weird and wonderful mascots across town with help from your severed finger assistant manager and chaos goblin, Pinky☆ – voiced by Ayana Shibuya, negotiate their contracts and assign them jobs they love.

Promise Mascot Agency will be available on PC and consoles early 2025.

Photo by Stuart Wilson/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA.

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 Lawyer Lifts the Lid on Approach to Piracy and Emulation

Nintendo is famously litigious when it comes to emulators. In March 2024, developers of Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu were ordered to pay $2.4 million in damages after a court settlement with Nintendo. In October 2024, Switch emulator Ryujinx ceased development following “contact from Nintendo.” In 2023, the developers behind Dolphin, an emulator for Gamecube and Wii, were advised against a full Steam release by lawyers at Valve, who were contacted by Nintendo’s lawyers alongside “strong legal wording.”

Perhaps most famously, in 2023 Gary Bowser, a reseller of Team Xecuter products that allowed users to bypass the Nintendo Switch’s anti-piracy measures, was charged with fraud and ordered to pay $14.5m back to Nintendo, a debt he will repay for life.

Now, a patent lawyer representing Nintendo has lifted the lid on the company’s approach to piracy and emulation, and discussed how the propagation of emulators could lead to software piracy.

In a report from Denfaminicogamer (via VGC) at Tokyo eSports Festa 2025, “Intellectual Property Managers” from Capcom, Sega, and Nintendo gathered to discuss the laws designed to protect companies’ intellectual property. Speaking for Nintendo was a patent attorney and Assistant Manager of the Intellectual Property Division, Koji Nishiura. In a translation by Automaton, he explained:

“To begin with, are emulators illegal or not? This is a point often debated. While you can’t immediately claim that an emulator is illegal in itself, it can become illegal depending on how it’s used.”

Nishiura explained further that if an emulator copies a program from the game it is running, it may constitute copyright infringement, and this is also the case if the emulator can disable a console’s security mechanisms.

This is largely down to Japan’s “Unfair Competition Prevention Act,” or UCPA, which is only enforceable in Japan itself. This makes it more difficult for Nintendo to pursue legal action overseas.

The example given in a slide during the Tokyo eSports Festa talk was the Nintendo DS “R4” card, which allowed users of the cartridge to circumvent and run backed-up or pirated versions of games on a single cartridge. Ultimately, after Nintendo and 50 other software manufacturers cried out about the R4, Nintendo won a ruling that the manufacturers and resellers violated the UCPA, effectively outlawing sales of the R4 in 2009.

Nishiura further explained that tools that allow users to download pirated software within an emulator or piece of software would also constitute copyright law infringement. Named “reach apps” in Japanese law, these third-party tools like the 3DS’s infamous “Freeshop,” or third-party app installer “Tinfoil” for Switch, may also violate copyright laws.

In its Yuzu lawsuit, Nintendo claimed that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was pirated one million times. Specifically, the filing claimed that Yuzu’s Patreon page allowed its developers to earn $30,000 per month by providing subscribers with “daily updates,” “early access,” and “special unreleased features” to games like Tears of the Kingdom.

Sayem is a freelancer based in the UK, covering tech and hardware. You can get in touch with him at @sayem.zone on Bluesky.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Origins Finally Fixed on Windows 11, But Odyssey Remains Broken

Ubisoft has finally fixed the Windows 11 versions of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Origins but Odyssey remains broken.

The Ubisoft games broken by Windows 11 version 24H2 in November are therefore now, almost, fully fixed. While Ubisoft released updates to Viking era England-set Valhalla and Ancient Egypt-set Origins, Ancient Greece-set Odyssey is still without a fix.

“Hello everyone, we have just deployed a new title update for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla,” Ubisoft said on the game’s Steam page, alongside a similar one on Origins’. “This patch fixes compatibility issues with Windows 11 update 24H2.”

These “compatibility issues” saw the Assassin’s Creed games crash every few minutes, essentially rendering them unplayable. While Ubisoft released fixes for other affected games Star Wars Outlaws and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora relatively quickly, disgruntled Assassin’s Creed fans review bombed their games on Steam in an attempt to prompt action.

This finally came two months later, though obviously Odyssey remains broken. Ubisoft has not said when it will release a fix for this final game.

These issues come amid a stream of other bad news for Ubisoft, which hoped it would now be celebrating big hits in Star Wars Outlaws and Assassin’s Creed Shadows but is instead scrambling amid poor sales of the former and a handful of delays to the latter.

Star Wars Outlaws underperforming prompted myriad changes at the developer including a cancelling of its Season Pass and faux “early access” model alongside a return to Steam. In dire need of a success, it has delayed the Japan set Assassin’s Creed Shadows twice in hopes its eventual release on March 20 will bring a win.

The game has not enjoyed a particularly positive promotional period so far, however, with the development team having to apologize on separate occasions for inaccuracies in Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ depictions of Japan and using a historical recreation group’s flag without permission.

Yet another controversy came as collectible figure maker PureArts removed an Assassin’s Creed Shadows statue from sale over its “insensitive” design, and combined with the two delays, fans are growing increasingly impatient as a result.

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

The creator of retro FPS Fortune’s Run is going to prison for three years

The current sole creator of immersive sim-shooter Fortune’s Run has abruptly announced that the project will be going on hiatus, because they are going to jail. Team Fortune’s lead developer, Dizzie, has been handed a three year sentence for a “violent crime”, following around five years of legal proceedings. The other developer, Arachne, recently left game development after recovering from a mishandled surgical procedure last year. According to Dizzie, her departure doesn’t have anything to do with the aforesaid violent crime, which pre-dates their relationship.

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