Category: Video Games

PlayStation Logo Pops Up on Work-in-Progress Starfield Creation, Sparking PS5 Release Speculation

Speculation that Starfield will soon be confirmed for release on PlayStation 5 ramped up over the weekend after fans spotted a PlayStation logo on Bethesda’s official Creations website.

The logo was attached to a work-in-progress ship decals Creation for Starfield, and although the Creation was removed, fans are speculating that Bethesda’s so-far PC and Xbox-only sci-fi game is soon set for PS5.

They have added the Playstation logo to a creation. (I think they are beta testers, the logo only appears on one creation)
byu/Dollar99Man inStarfield

Thoughts inevitably turn to whether Bethesda plans a significant content update, possibly even a new expansion, to coincide with Starfield’s seemingly inevitable release on PS5. There’s been little to shout about when it comes to Starfield in recent months, following the launch of the poorly received Shattered Space expansion. Bethesda parent company Microsoft is expected to hold another summer showcase this year, as it has done in recent years, and that event may be the right time and place to learn more about all things Starfield.

Bethesda itself has said it has “exciting things” planned for Starfield this year, amid growing discontent from players about a lack of communication and updates. In June 2024, Bethesda insisted it remained committed to supporting Starfield, and confirmed at least one other story expansion would release following Shattered Space. In an interview with YouTube channel MrMattyPlays, Bethesda Game Studios’ Todd Howard said the developer was aiming to release an annual story expansion for “hopefully a very long time.”

Starfield launched in September 2023 as Bethesda’s first brand new intellectual property in years, and its first mainline single-player game since Microsoft bought parent company ZeniMax Media in March 2021. IGN’s Starfield review returned a 7/10. We said: “Starfield has a lot of forces working against it, but eventually the allure of its expansive roleplaying quests and respectable combat make its gravitational pull difficult to resist.”

In January, Microsoft’s gaming boss Phil Spencer refused to rule out Starfield coming out on PS5. Starfield and MachineGames’ Indiana Jones and the Great Circle were both reported as being considered for PS5 as far back as March 2024. Indy ended up confirmed for PS5 with a spring 2025 release window, a few months after its release on PC and Xbox Series X and S. But Starfield is yet to be confirmed for PS5, although Spencer’s comments certainly suggested it was on the cards.

A number of Xbox games are currently available on PS5, including Rare’s Sea of Thieves, Tango Gameworks’ Hi-Fi Rush, and Obsidian’s Grounded and Pentiment. Microsoft already publishes Minecraft games on PlayStation consoles, among many other platforms, and is set to publish Doom: The Dark Ages and Ninja Gaiden 4 on PS5 later this year. Playground’s Forza Horizon 5 is also confirmed as coming to PS5 soon. There are even reports that Microsoft is finally ready to release Halo on PlayStation after decades of Xbox exclusivity.

Spencer has said Xbox’s multiplatform push is in part about bringing in more money to Microsoft’s gaming business — with the pressure on to deliver following its eye-watering $69 billion acquisition of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard.

“We run a business,” Spencer said in August last year. “It’s definitely true inside of Microsoft the bar is high for us in terms of the delivery we have to give back to the company. Because we get a level of support from the company that’s just amazing and what we’re able to go do.

“So I look at this, how can we make our games as strong as possible? Our platform continues to grow, on console, on PC, and on cloud. It’s just going to be a strategy that works for us.”

It’s a busy time for the 450-person Bethesda Game Studios, which currently operates five teams: Starfield; Elder Scrolls 6; Fallout 76; mobile; and external development partnerships.

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.

Final Fantasy I-VI Collection Anniversary Edition Just Dropped to an All-Time Low Price at Amazon

Final Fantasy I-VI Collection Anniversary Edition has hit its lowest price yet, now available for $49.99 at Amazon—its best deal to date, even beating Black Friday, according to our records, and even price-tracking site CamelCamelCamel.

Originally released on October 8 for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 (fully compatible with PS5), this collection brings together the first six mainline Final Fantasy games in their carefully remastered form. Square Enix has opted for refinement rather than reinvention, keeping the original pixelated aesthetic intact but sharpening it for modern displays.

The result is a collection that looks fantastic, whether on a massive TV or in handheld mode. The soundtrack has also received an orchestral upgrade, with legendary composer Nobuo Uematsu overseeing the new arrangements. On top of that, the package introduces a handful of thoughtful quality-of-life improvements, including the ability to disable random encounters and boost experience and gil gains—useful for those who want to focus on the story without the grind.

As a small but nostalgic extra, this edition includes a sticker sheet featuring 12 classic character sprites, including the Black Mage, a Moogle, Terra, Kain, and a mid-cackle Kefka. It’s not the most extravagant of bonuses, but it’s a fun little touch for fans of the series.

At its original $74.99 price, the collection was a tougher sell, but at $49.99, it’s a much easier recommendation for anyone interested in the series’ origins. Whether you’re revisiting these classics or playing them for the first time, this is a well-executed remaster of six of the most influential RPGs ever made. And with physical copies being the only collectible edition available, it might be worth picking up before they become harder to find, especially at this time.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

R.E.P.O. is Steam’s latest viral horror despite its high mate requirement – but the devs are working on matchmaking

R.E.P.O is a six player co-op extraction spooper that currently sits atop Steam’s best seller charts, having amassed around 70k players the week following early access launch on Feb 26, and another 160k since then. That’s around 230 thousand players avoiding knifey chef frogs and persistent ducklings while extracting valuables to fill a cash quota. It’s a bit Lethal Company but even heavier on the absurdity.

As far as I can tell, this popularity comes down to two things. Firstly, the game is a verdant flub factory, stuffed with the sort of chaotic physics mishaps that translate very well to short video clips. Even the loot extraction point can kill you if lingered in too long. Secondly, the ‘Jim Henson does Nier Automata’ robots you play as flap their mouths in time to your mic chatter, making even the most bowel-curdling fear shrieks from your teammates look like a hammy comedy routine.

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Rumour: Metroid Prime 4 Will Apparently Make Quite The Splash At The Switch 2 Direct

Beyond expectations.

If you can believe it, we are a little over two weeks out from the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct. While we’re all ready and waiting for more news from Nintendo’s next console, some folks believe they already have an inkling of one of the showcase’s key players (thanks for the heads up, Notebook Check).

Reece Reilly, the host of the Kiwi Talkz podcast, recently took to BlueSky with the heavy hint that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will be making quite the splash at the Switch 2 Direct. “Nintendo & Retro were keeping their cards close to their chest with Metroid Prime 4 for this exact moment,” Reilly teased, “The true unveiling will blow everything else in the direct out of the water”.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

New Star Wars Turn-Based Tactics Game to Be Revealed at Star Wars Celebration 2025

EA’s Star Wars turn-based tactics game will be revealed at Star Wars Celebration 2025.

The untitled Star Wars strategy game was announced in early 2022 as in development at Bit Reactor, a studio composed of Firaxis Games veterans best-known for their work on the XCOM franchise. Bit Reactor has worked closely with Star Wars Jedi developer Respawn Entertainment on the new project, and is finally ready to show the game off.

The first look is set for April 19 via a live panel with the lead development team from Bit Reactor, along with Respawn Entertainment, and Lucasfilm Games, as revealed on the official Star Wars Celebration 2025 schedule.

We know next to nothing about this game, neither in which Star Wars era it’s set, nor the exact nature of its gameplay. But given it’s being made by former developers of XCOM, it seems reasonable to assume something along similar lines drenched in all things Star Wars.

Respawn is of course also working on the third game in its Star Wars Jedi trilogy, although there is no indication it will turn up at Star Wars Celebration this year. Respawn was at one point working on a third Star Wars game, an untitled first-person shooter rumored to feature a Mandalorian protagonist, but it was canceled as part of a major EA shake-up that saw around 670 staff lose their jobs. Earlier in March, Respawn quietly canceled a multiplayer first-person shooter incubation project and cut an unknown number of individuals working on it.

Elsewhere at Star Wars Celebration, Lucasfilm will offer a sneak peek at The Mandalorian & Grogu movie, due out May 2026, and a first look at Star Wars: Visions Volume 3.

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.

Total War: Warhammer 3’s next updates will tackle “anti-player bias” and self-destructive AI

Back in Total FebWar, the Total War: Warhammer III team penned a desperate missive in entrail fluids, full of scrawled warnings about the changes coming to the strategy game‘s AI. With their last ounce of strength, they rolled out a beta test for the planned tweaks. Now, the results are in, circling in the eerily fallow wake of over 50,000 campaigns, like carrion crows with tangible datasets grasped tight in their beaks. Thanks, death crows!

The new query system worked well, with foes no longer cowering from lone enemy agents as if they were doomstacks. The tweaks to faction aggression and potential were shakier, causing some unintended consequence. As such, the upcoming 6.1 patch won’t include changes to how fighty or flourishing your foes are. “Faction Potential changes made minor factions significantly easier to defeat for major factions,” reads the blog. “This in turn caused Elector factions to perish too early and to be ineffective even when brought back”. Makes sense. Can’t summon the dead, unless you’re one of the several Warhammer factions that can actually do that quite easily.

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Horizon Actor Ashly Burch Says Sony’s AI Aloy Video Left Her Feeling ‘Worried About Game Performance as an Art Form’

Horizon actor Ashly Burch has addressed the AI Aloy video that leaked online last week, using it to call attention to the demands of striking voice actors.

Last week, The Verge reported on the emergence of an internal Sony video showing off tech that uses Aloy from the Horizon series to demonstrate AI-powered characters. Sony has yet to respond to IGN’s request for comment.

In the now deleted video, Sony Interactive Entertainment director of software engineering, Sharwin Raghoebardajal, has a conversation with an AI-powered Aloy via voice prompts and AI-generated speech and facial animations. Raghoebardajal asks Aloy how she’s doing, to which she responds: “Hello, I’m managing alright. Just dealing with a sore throat. How have you been?”

The voice heard coming from Aloy’s mouth is clearly not that of Burch, rather a robotic voice similar to those heard from text-to-speech voice generators. AI Aloy’s facial movements are stiff and her eyes appear lifeless as she converses with Raghoebardajal.

Burch, who has voiced Aloy in all four Horizon video games released so far (Zero Dawn, Forbidden West, Call of the Mountain, and Lego Horizon Adventures) took to social media platform TikTok to confirm that she had seen the video, and that Horizon developer Guerrilla had got in touch to let her know that the tech demo did not reflect anything that was in active development, nor did it use any of Burch’s performance (facial or voice data). That presumably rules out AI Aloy for the upcoming Horizon multiplayer game, assuming the character is in the game, and the inevitable Horizon 3. However, as Burch pointed out, Guerrilla (and parent company Sony Interactive Entertainment) owns Aloy as a character.

With all this in mind, Burch said the AI Aloy video left her feeling “worried about game performance as an art form,” and used it as a jumping off point to discuss the ongoing video game voice actors strike that has claimed a number of high-profile casualties in recent weeks.

Last week, the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) issued an update to its members on the status of negotiations over video game actor AI protections, saying that while progress had been made, it was still “frustratingly far apart” with the industry bargaining group on key issues.

“Currently what we’re fighting for is, you have to get our consent before you make an AI version of us in any form, you have to compensate us fairly, and you have to tell us how you’re using this AI double,” Burch said.

“I feel worried not because the technology exists. Not even because game companies want to use it. Of course they do. They always want to use technological advancements. I just imagine a video like this coming out that does have someone’s performance attached to it, that does have someone’s voice or face or movement. And the possibility that if we lose this fight, that person would have no recourse. They wouldn’t have any protections, any way to fight back. And that possibility, it makes me so sad it hurts my heart. It scares me. I love this industry and this art form so much and I want there to be a new generation of actors. I want there to be so many more incredible game performances. I want to be able to continue to do this job. If we don’t win, that future is really compromised.

“I’m genuinely not trying to put any game company specifically on blast,” Burch continued. “Certainly not Guerrilla. The technology isn’t the problem. Game companies wanting to use the technology isn’t the problem. The problem is we’re currently on strike and the bargaining group will not agree to give us common sense protections.

“I support the strike. I’ve always supported the strike. I believe fighting is what we have to do to protect the future and the longevity of this career that we all love so much.”

Burch then pointed to the temporary union contracts that currently give all the protections the striking voice actors are asking for, that any video game company can sign right now. “There’s the interim, the tiered, and low budget agreement contracts available right now for any game company to sign,” Burch said. “I believe we deserve to be protected.”

@ashly.burch

let us speak on AI aloy

♬ original sound – Ashly Burch

Generative AI is one of the hottest topics within the video game and entertainment industries, which have both suffered massive layoffs in recent years. It has drawn criticism from players and creators due to a mix of ethical issues, rights issues, and AI’s struggles to produce content audiences actually enjoy. For instance, Keywords Studios attempted to create an experimental game internally using entirely AI. The game failed, with Keywords citing to investors that AI was “unable to replace talent.”

Still, that hasn’t put off a number of video game companies from using generative AI in the development of their products. Activision recently disclosed the use of generative AI for some Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 assets as part of new requirements on Steam, amid a backlash to an “AI slop” zombie Santa loading screen.

And the voice actor strike has begun to impact a number of video games. Players have reported that games such as Destiny 2 and World of Warcraft appear to have certain NPCs left unvoiced in otherwise voiced scenes, likely due to the strike. Late last year, SAG-AFTRA struck League of Legends after Riot allegedly tried to subvert the strike by canceling a game in response. And Activision confirmed Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 characters were recast after players expressed concern about new voices.

Just last week, two Zenless Zone Zero voice actors revealed they learned they’d been replaced when they saw the game’s latest patch notes.

Head of PlayStation Productions and head of product at PlayStation Studios Asad Qizilbash recently weighed in on AI to say its use in video games is important to Gen Z and Gen Alpha gamers who seek “personalization across everything.”

“For instance, non-player characters in games could interact with players based on their actions, making it feel more personal,” Qizilbash said. “This is important for the younger Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences, who are the first generations that grew up digitally and are looking for personalization across everything, as well as looking for experiences to have more meaning.”

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.

Mailbox: Switch 2 FOMO, Spark Games, Pancakes & BOTW – Nintendo Life Letters

Issue #22 – March 2025.

Oh, hello there! You must be here for our monthly rummage through the Nintendo Life Mailbox. Pull up a chair!

Got something you want to get off your chest? We’re ready and waiting to read about your game-related ponderings. Each month we’ll highlight a Star Letter, the writer of which will receive a month’s subscription to our ad-free Supporter scheme. Check out the submission guidelines at the bottom of this page.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Amazon Has Glory Islands for 28% Off in Board Game Sale

Who doesn’t love a pirate game, especially a pirate game that involves racing your ships around an archipelago of islands? And, extra-especially, a pirate game that’s currently on sale? Glory Islands, from Rio Grande Games, typically retails for $45, but Amazon has it on sale right now for the oddly-specific price of $32.17. To save you a calculation, that’s a 28% discount. Not bad.

Glory Islands for 28% Off

In Glory Islands, you’ll be dropping off your scurvy crew onto the spaces in the hope of winning treasure and scoring points via a fun mishmash of different mechanics that adds up to a shipshape whole. Ship movement is governed by playing numeric cards from your hand that also have special powers, such as the five allowing you to pause and drop a second pirate. But be careful, as using too many high-value cards will cost you points at game end. Occupying an island space wins you small bonuses but, once an island is full, it bags a bunch of points for the player with the most crew members there.

Glory Islands is a fast, fun, family-friendly board game that doesn’t have the depth to sustain itself over repeat plays or for hardcore hobbyists, but it’s plenty enjoyable if you pick it up at sale price. Getting the balance right between doing well in the race, while still hitting the spaces you need to score with your crew and not incurring a penalty for sailing too recklessly is surprisingly hard. And there’s real tension in watching where other players drop their sailors, as islands you think are in the bag can swing away from you with surprising speed.

The game also comes with neat wooden ships and sailor pieces, plus miniature barrels of rum you can stockpile to really feel like a miniature pirate king.

Check out more cool board games:

Matt Thrower is a contributing freelance writer for IGN, specializing in tabletop games. You can reach him on BlueSky at @mattthr.bsky.social.