Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP players can look forward to a free update in “mid-December” which will see the release of the fan-designed “Cutie Zombie Hunter” costume for Juliet.
This costume won a special costume design contest and will be followed by additional winning designs from the same competition in future updates. You can see the other submissions on the game’s official campaign page. And here’s a look at the winning design:
It’s not every day there’s a new Metroid release, and after an 18-year wait since the last major entry in the Prime series, the fourth adventure is finally here.
To mark this occasion, Metacritic has now rounded up every Metroid game in its database to share a look at each title’s metascore (based on the aggregate score of critic reviews). This includes not only the Prime games but also the spin-offs, Samus’ 2D outings, and the re-releases.
Many Switch games have been receiving compatibility updates for the Switch 2, and following an update to one of Square Enix’s games earlier this week, it seems the indie developer Brace Yourself Games has now rolled out a fix for Crypt of the NecroDancer.
If you’ve been experiencing any crashes when playing this rhythm-based Switch game on the Switch 2, the good news is that a patch has now been rolled out to fix this issue.
World of Warcraft’s housing feature launched this week for everyone who purchased the upcoming Midnight expansion early. Though the feature is still in its early stages, players (including yours truly) are already losing hours upon hours creating elaborate homes with the decor available. But Horde players in particular are really struggling to contend with one major issue: their house exteriors are ugly.
Okay, that’s a little mean. If you play an orc, or are into the orc aesthetics of spikes, flames, haphazard metal plates, and slapdash wooden boards nailed on, the Horde exteriors are fine. The issue is that a lot of the Horde – namely, everyone who doesn’t play an orc – generally prefers a less…grungey aesthetic. Alliance players also only get one exterior housing option, but their homes are fairly standard, inoffensive cottages that most people will find tolerable at worst.
Unfortunately for anyone unhappy with what’s on offer, until Midnight fully launches, this is it. You can customize your exterior in various ways by changing up roof colors and chimney styles, but it’s all in your faction’s default aesthetic. Blizzard has promised that Night Elf and Blood Elf exteriors will arrive on Midnight’s release, with more options planned for later on. But for now you’re stuck with either a cottage or a spike shack one way or another.
Some players, like myself, are just trying to make the best of it with outdoor decorations. Here’s my modest hut. You’d never know that inside is a cozy Shaman retreat, complete with a small magical library, a snug kitchen, and a stone altar dedicated in honor of the elements.
But a lot of players are getting far, far more creative in their attempts to subvert the shabby exterior design. You see, Blizzard’s decoration tools are very, very precise if you want them to be, and can ignore collision if you want them to. Which has led to Horde players trying to mask the orc-ness of their huts by covering them with…well, all sorts of other things.
For instance, this person turned their house into a nice cave:
Unfortunately, in doing this, one issue players are running up against is that there is a limit to how much decor you can put outside, and many of the objects people are using to cover up the orc turrets use up a significant portion of that limit. As a result, if you want to cover your house in rocks, you can’t do much else with your yard. It seems like everyone is begging Blizzard to raise the exterior decor cap, an issue they told us they’re well aware of and working on.
Realistically, this is not a massive issue at the moment: we knew going in that this was effectively an early access feature and some functionality would be limited. More than anything, it’s funny to see the lengths players will go to in order to get creative with the tools they have available to them. Just imagine what they’ll be capable of once they don’t have to waste all their outdoor decor space on big wooden platforms.
World of Warcraft: Midnight launches on March 2, 2026. If you want to get your hands on housing before then, you’ve got to pre-order the expansion – any version of it will do. We recently spoke with Jesse Kurlancheek, housing lead and principal game designer, and Joanna Giannullis, senior UX designer, about the housing feature, including how its gone in the beta so far, and what to expect in Midnight.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
There’s a new game from Fullbright on the way, revealed tonight at the PC Gaming Show, called Springs, Eternal. The studio’s obviously best known for narrative focused games like Gone Home and Tacoma, and Springs, Eternal unsurprisingly looks like more of that, albeit with more of a lo-fi, not-quite PS1 but certainly lower poly kind of vibe, this time set in a hot spring. Sure!
If you were Senior Floor Manager of Earth, and a weird planet innocently appeared on the fringe of our solar system, what would you do? I would probably not zip out there and plant a factory on that planet, in much the same way that I wouldn’t high-five a bear-shaped shadow on the edge of a campsite. But I am not the modder behind beloved Factorio mod Ultracube, who is now part of game developer Dubious Design.
DMM Games, Tookyo Games and Spike Chunsoft are releasing a physical version of SHUTEN ORDER on both Switch 1 and Switch 2 in Spring 2026, the companies have announced.
Both the Switch 1 and Nintendo Switch 2 Edition will be getting a physical in the US courtesy of PM Studios, with Reef Entertainment’s European release sticking with just the Switch 2 version.
Hi, this is Emeric Thoa, creative director at The Game Bakers, and I’m joined by Art Director and Writer Mathieu Bablet. Today, we’d like to tell you a bit about the story of Cairn and its main character, Aava.
So far, we’ve been highlighting the ultra-realistic climbing simulation in Cairn — a completely new climbing system that’s easy to pick up but creates surprising tension when you venture onto the walls of Kami, the mountain no one has ever reached the summit of.
But Cairn is more than just a climbing game. As you climb Kami, you’ll also have to survive in the mountain — finding food, water, and places to rest. It’s also a human adventure: the story of a determined alpinist, and perhaps more than that — a reflection on mountaineering itself, on what drives people to push themselves beyond their limits to climb mountains.
Cairn tells the story of Aava, an experienced mountaineer determined to do the impossible: reach the summit of Kami, alone.
Emeric: How would you describe Aava — her personality, her motivations? Mathieu: Aava is a climber with a mind of steel, forged through years of climbing that have demanded a lot from her as she kept breaking records. She’s demanding, perfectionist, and can’t stand failure. And when she conquers a difficult route, when she pauses for a moment on a ledge with a breathtaking view, she feels free. It’s for moments like these that she climbs — that’s her main drive.
Emeric: What I love about Aava is feeling her determination — even though it sometimes makes her a bit tough. Was it intentional to make her somewhat solitary? Mathieu: After watching a lot of documentaries about climbers and mountaineers, one clear pattern emerged: this discipline, as liberating as it is, comes with its share of sacrifices and trade-offs. You have to harden your body, harden your mind, and sometimes set your emotions aside. Such individual feats often leave marks on the people around these athletes.
Emeric: That said, not all climbers are the same. In Cairn, Aava crosses paths with a certain Marco — who is he? Mathieu: Marco is also a climber, younger than Aava. In fact, he’s a bit like Aava before she became the accomplished mountaineer she is in the game. He’s carefree, someone who climbs purely for the joy of it, not for the pride of reaching the top. Through him, Aava rediscovers a bit of the simple pleasure of climbing.
Emeric: And there are other characters and encounters Aava will have along her ascent? Mathieu: Cairn is a true adventure game, with an emotional and meaningful story. Even though it’s a solo ascent, Aava will meet people on the mountain and reveal more of her personal story. This happens through exchanges with those she’s left behind — Naomi, who regularly checks in on her, and her agent Chris, who’s constantly chasing after her! But also through encounters with other climbers on the mountain — those alive like Marco, and those who never made it back down. And then there’s the troglodyte civilization, or what remains of it — incredible climbers and rock carvers who lived in seclusion high in the mountains. Cairn is the story of Aava and her passion for the mountains, told through these encounters and places to discover — showing what drives humans to go beyond their limits to reach new heights.
Emeric: We could have made Cairn just a climbing simulation, but for the whole Game Bakers team it was important to go further — to tell a story that moves us. Mathieu, for you, what’s the most important part of this story? Mathieu: For me, Cairn is about Aava’s obsession — a kind of relentless drive that keeps her from thinking about anything but the ascent of Kami. That feeling of determination is what I want players to experience throughout the game, along with all the consequences that come with such a quest for the absolute.
Emeric: That’s also what made me want to create a game like Cairn. I was fascinated by that very tangible sense of determination you find in mountaineering stories (like in Taniguchi’s manga The Summit of the Gods). It made me wonder — what would I be willing to give everything for? What’s my summit? And what’s yours?
Get ready for the climbing thrill when Cairn hits PS5 on January 29!
Crank up the pounding metal riffs and make sure you’re covered in spikes. Carmageddon: Rogue Shift, a roguelite-infused take on the old school automotive murder-battler from Redout devs 34BigThings, has just been revealed and is set to smash onto the scene early next year.
Destiny has always been the “we’ve got Star Wars at home” looter shooter, and with Destiny 2: Renegades, Bungie has decided to lean into that directly with a crossover expansion. Weirdly enough, so far that decision seems to have kinda worked out alright! Renegades doesn’t solve many of Destiny 2’s longstanding issues, including the fact that it’s been awkwardly spinning its wheels for over a year now (reminiscent of the MCU post-Endgame), but embracing the cheesiness and over-the-top drama of Star Wars is at the very least a surprisingly nice change of pace in what has become quite a predictable universe. The story is silly, to be sure, but introduces a few new mechanics and weapon types that are a welcome change, and there’s an impressive level of enemy density throughout practically all of the activities that keeps the action interesting. I’ve still got a lot more questing and looting to do before my final review, but so far this expansion has been a pretty compelling breath of fresh air in a game I’ve otherwise been far less excited about than usual.
If you’ve read any of my previous expansion reviews (ofwhichtherearealot), then you’ll already know I am one those weirdo Destiny fans who has stuck with this game through thick and thin – so it should mean something when I tell you that saying I am also a Star Wars fan would be such a massive understatement that I’m actually too embarrassed to elaborate further publicly. But even with my undying love of space wizards, I was initially mortified to learn Destiny 2 was planning a crossover with it. For me, it was the ultimate sign that Destiny was out of ideas, had gone “full Fortnite” in a way that seemed cheap and tacky, and was making one last desperation play during the slow death it’s been suffering for a number of years now. And, yeah, that all pretty much turned out to be true. But when I found myself watching two lightsaber-wielding foes square off in an epic cutscene while listening to the John Williams-esque music this expansion makes heavy use of, I’ll admit it won me over… at least a little.
Renegades does go out of its way to include every little Star Wars reference to a degree that can feel a bit forced – a crutch that’s continuously leaned upon in lieu of any original ideas. For example, you find yourself trapped in a garbage compactor during the very first mission, rescue someone from off-brand carbon freezing, and make a jump to lightspeed while a brooding, masked villain angrily watches you escape his grasp. It’s extremely on the nose stuff, and I was just as likely to experience a full-body cringe as I was to smile about it. But the complete “screw it” energy at play here as it full-throatedly embraces all the corniness and drama for which Star Wars is known does have a certain kind of refreshing charm that’s at least a distinct direction for Destiny 2. I’ve been complaining about this game feeling stale for at least five years now, so I’ve got to give Bungie a bit of credit for trying something new here.
There are also a fair number of new mechanics that I wasn’t expecting, like a shielding system for certain enemies that forces you to deal a whole bunch of damage in a short span of time before you can actually hurt them, AT-ST-inspired walkers that have some unique attacks I wasn’t expecting, and even some new weapon types, like battery-powered guns that can be fired until they overheat and need to cool down. None of this is massively game-changing stuff, but they’re decent little tweaks to the sandbox that are welcome additions. Of course, there’s also a ton of stuff that hasn’t changed at all, and even while you’re facing off against a new kind of enemy in theory, you’ll still be fighting the same Cabal armored warriors and bony Thrall monstrosities you’ve been shooting for over a decade, which has made this feel like a cheap reskin at times.
I’m still fairly early into my space opera journey (I haven’t even crafted my lightsaber yet!), so I have a whole lot more to play before I can definitively say where Renegades lands. But so far this expansion seems much better than I expected… though that’s partially because I expected very little. I’ll have much more to say once I’ve completed the campaign and begin to dive into the endgame activities. For Light and Life!
