Category: Video Games

In the wake of Monolith Productions’ closure, CD Projekt’s GOG has moved up its timeline for preserving one of Monolith’s classics. F.E.A.R. Platinum will join the GOG Preservation Program by next month, and may also be the first of more Monolith games to hit the program.

The inflential 2005 first-person shooter is getting moved up on GOG’s timeline for the Preservation Program to “properly recognize Monolith’s contributions to gaming.” The Preservation Program is GOG’s initiative to keep classic games playable on modern systems, maintaining the titles in DRM-free form and with dedicated tech support.

GOG has previously featured everything from Heroes of Might and Magic 3: Complete, to the original Resident Evil trilogy, to I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream. It’s an eclectic spotlight of games preserved in playable form, available on GOG’s storefront, and F.E.A.R. Platinum — which includes the base F.E.A.R. and both expansions — will soon join the lineup.

It may not be the last Monolith game there, either. GOG said that other Monolith icons will “join eventually as well.” The storefront also teased more news to come about the Preservation Program tomorrow, February 27.

The preservation effort is a nice recognition of Monolith Productions’ legacy in the wake of its sudden closure. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier broke the news yesterday that Warner Bros. had canceled its planned Wonder Woman game and shuttered three studios: Monolith, Player First Games, and WB San Diego.

Warner Bros.’ games division has been in a difficult spot for some time. While Hogwarts Legacy chalked up a commercial win for the publisher, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League spurred a double-digit decline in revenue, and the financial failure of Smash-alike MultiVersus piled on the misery.

Furthermore, David Haddad is set to leave the company after 12 years of helming Warner Bros. Games, and the division is rumored to be considered for-sale.

Monolith had a legacy dating back decades, with games like Blood, Condemned: Criminal Origins, No One Lives Forever, and The Matrix Online on its resume. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor became an instant hit, spurred on by its inventive “Nemesis System,” which Warner Bros. held in a vice-grip with its patent.

Though Monolith may be closed, it’s nice to see other companies acknowledge the effect one studio has had on the medium. Hopefully we see more of Monolith’s classics preserved for years to come.

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.

BioWare has built up several legendary series across its run as a game development studio, like Baldur’s Gate, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age. The lesser-known martial arts RPG Jade Empire could have made the list too, though it sounds like its chances were spoiled thanks to a rough launch window and some bad advice from Microsoft.

Over on the My Perfect Console podcast (as spotted by GamesRadar), BioWare co-founder Dr. Greg Zeschuk discussed one of the regrets he’d had; specifically, launching Jade Empire at the end of the original Xbox’s life cycle. The RPG hit Xbox on April 12, 2005, several months before the November 22, 2005 launch date for the Xbox 360. And according to Dr. Zeschuk, Microsoft advised BioWare to launch it then, rather than later.

“And Microsoft’s like, ‘no no, you should release it now, right at the end of the cycle, because it’s a great time,'” Dr. Zeschuk said. “It was like, the worst advice. Like, absolute moronic advice from them. It was the stupidest thing ever.”

If BioWare had pushed the project back a bit, putting Jade Empire on the Xbox 360, Dr. Zeschuk speculated that the studio could have “rezzed it up,” and had it ready to go. It might have cost some more money, but could have put Jade Empire in a better place.

“Give us six months, give us the chance to make it a launch title for the 360 and we’d have another franchise,” Dr. Zeschuk said. “And I mean, who knows where… like, I just think it would have been a way more successful product at the beginnning of a cycle, versus the end.”

Granted, the BioWare co-founder also acknowledged that the combat of Jade Empire “wasn’t as good as it could have been.” In theory, though, it would have given Microsoft an RPG closer to, or even within, the 360’s launch window. While the Xbox 360 had games like Condemned: Criminal Origins, Perfect Dark Zero, Project Gotham Racing 3, and the immaculately titled Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie, it was short on role-playing games.

The Xbox 360 would become a defining console for BioWare, especially its current era. Mass Effect and Dragon Age would both launch on the Xbox 360, eventually becoming the dual pillars of modern BioWare. Could Jade Empire have been a third? There were once rumors of a Jade Empire 2, and visions of a canceled spiritual successor to Jade Empire surfaced a few years ago.

As it is now, BioWare is in a precarious position. After layoffs and several project lead departures, Dragon Age: The Veilguard fell short of Electronic Arts’ expectations. The studio was restructured earlier this year, with some developers moved to other EA projects, while others were laid off.

Now, all of BioWare’s efforts are pinned on one of those aforementioned pillars: the next Mass Effect. Announced at The Game Awards 2020, we’ve seen only a few teasers in the years since. Whether Jade Empire might have offered another pillar or not, it’s still interesting to consider how an Xbox 360 launch might have changed the games’ appraisal, and BioWare’s history as a whole.

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.

If you’ve been looking to add some Spider-Man action figures into your collectible collection, Marvel Legends is releasing new figures based on Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 game that are up for preorder. At the moment, the figures available to preorder are of Miles Morales in his Brooklyn 2099 Suit, Miles Morales’ Upgraded Suit Style, Black Cat, Peter Parker in his Black Suit, Miles Morales in his Boricua Suit, and Peter Parker in the Anti-Venom Suit Style.

Each of these is listed for $24.99 and is set to release on June 1 this year. Head to the links below to get your preorders in today.

Preorder Marvel Legends Spider-Man Figures

Each of these figures comes with different parts and items so you can customize and pose them the way you want. This includes a variety of alternate hands, webbing, and more. For Marvel fans, and those who loved Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 game, these figures are a great addition to your collectible collection.

If you’re on the hunt for even more gaming items outside of these preorders, it’s worth having a look through our roundups of the best PlayStation deals, the best Xbox deals, and the best Nintendo Switch deals. These cover the best discounts we’ve found across each platform for games, hardware, and accessories, so you can save big on items for your favorite console.

Or, if you’d prefer an overall look at the best gaming deals of the moment, both our roundups of the best video game deals and the best deals of the day are worth a look. While the former focuses on game deals, our deal of the day breakdown will provide an even bigger look at the best offers across games, tech, and movies if you want a little bit of everything instead.

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