The Sims and The Sims 2 are getting digital PC versions with all their original expansion packs included, and should be released by the end of the week, say Kotaku. The report follows teases made by the official Sims account on X as part of a 25th anniversary celebrations roadmap, as well as a few other scattered hints in various bits of promo as collated by Redditor skyline7284. “According to a source familiar with the plans, both games will be released digitally on PC later this week,” write Kotaku.
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.
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:
Doom is an easy S-tier pick for me, with the past couple of entries being amongst my favourite first-person shooters, and I’m very excited to see that Doom: The Dark Ages looks like id Software is maintaining form. I’ve also placed Forza Horizon in the S tier as they’re, perhaps outside of Burnout 3 and Burnout Revenge, the best racing games I’ve ever played. I’m sure Halo in the A tier may raise a few eyebrows, but while 2 and 3 are two of the finest campaign shooters ever made, I can’t ignore more recent inconsistencies and put it in that top bracket. I’m also more of a Fallout person than an Elder Scrolls one. I’d rather own a set of power armour than a dragon, OK?
Don’t agree with me? Think Gears of War is Xbox’s best? A big defender of Fuzion Frenzy? Well, why not have a go at ranking all of the Nintendo consoles yourself in a tier list below where you can compare your own S, A, B, C, and D tiers with the whole of the IGN community.
Is there an Xbox series we’ve missed that you’d like to give a shout-out to? Let us know in the comments, as well as why you’ve ranked the games in the order you’ve chosen.
Simon Cardy is a Senior Editorial Producer who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.
The latest distribution event is underway in Pokémon HOME, and this one is a prime opportunity to nab some extremely rare shinies — if you’ve completed the necessary Pokédexes.
All those who have completed the Sinnoh Pokédex from Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl can head to the Pokémon HOME app to redeem a Shiny Manaphy, while a Shiny Enamorus is available for anyone who has polished off Legends: Arceus‘ Hisui Pokédex.
Outside The Blocks is a diorama building game so beautiful I was initially distrustful of it, as if it was some sort of dazzling carnivorous plant trying to lure me in to munch on my hands. I’ve had a play of the Steam demo now, and am happy to report that it’s still very beautiful, and also that I still have hands: an incredible victory on all counts.
The Marvel Rivals community was briefly awash with rumours than publisher NetEase were playing 4D chess with their hero-loving hearts last week, according to a new report by Michael Cripe for Ian Games The rumours began in a Discord for the team shooter named Marvel Rivals Leaks, where user Keone speculated that NetEase were seeding fake information on upcoming heroes for dataminers to find.
After ongoing delays, we’ve got another update about the long-awaited Switch release Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, and it might not be what you expect…
As highlighted by Gematsu, it seems the sequel may no longer be a Nintendo-only release, with a listing popping up on the PlayStation Store overnight for PS4 and PS5 versions of the game before being removed.
In case you somehow missed it, Donkey Kong seems to be getting a makeover in the upcoming Mario Kart title. His redesign has led to all sorts of conversation within the DK and Nintendo community, and now, some new themed items have been spotted on the My Nintendo Store.
Alongside the Switch 2 reveal earlier this month, Nintendo announced a “series of hands-on events” would be taking place around the world. Now that registrations have been live for a few weeks, it seems Nintendo is now sending out emails to let them know if they’ve been selected.
Hi everyone! We are happy to share our Power Up Deals in the Philippines and it will feature discounts on PlayStation 5, PS VR2, DualSense wireless controllers and PlayStation gaming audio peripherals.
