The Paramount series will include a bunch of special features.
The Sonic the Hedgehog series ‘Knuckles‘ made its debut on Paramount earlier this year and it was generally well-received. If you haven’t already watched it or would just like a hard copy, you’re in luck. As previously confirmed a Blu-ray and DVD is on the way and we’ve now got a bit more information about it.
It will apparently be arriving later this year in September according to some updated online listings. Along with all six episodes, we now also know it will come packed with a bunch of special features including: “gag reel, cast featurette, working with Knuckles, this or that? and Knuckles impressions”.
From the very first gameplay prototypes to getting the game ready before launch in August, playtesting Concord every day has been a defining aspect of development and core to our culture at Firewalk and our mission of delivering great-feeling multiplayer. There’s simply no substitute for getting your hands on a controller or mouse and keyboard, squadding up as a team, and experiencing the game for yourself.
That’s why we’re excited to share that your first chance to play Concord during our upcoming beta is just a couple of short weeks away! Here’s everything you need to know:
Concord Beta Early Access dates for Southeast Asia (July 13 – 15) and Open Beta (July 19 – 22)
In Southeast Asia, the Concord Beta will kick off with an Early Access weekend on PS5 and PC* from Saturday, July 13 through Monday, July 15. For those that pre-order, this early access weekend will be your opportunity to be among the first to play Concord—and you’ll get to bring your own crew. Those that pre-order any digital versions of Concord will get five codes for Concord Beta Early Access: one for you and four of your friends.
Following the Early Access weekend, the Concord Open Beta in Southeast Asia will be available to all players on PS5 and PC beginning on Friday, July 19 through Monday, July 22.
No matter what platform you play on, the Concord Beta Early Access and Open Beta will allow you to team up with friends on either PS5 or PC through optional cross-play support.
Play the full 16 Freegunner roster
You won’t have to wait until launch to find your favorite Freegunner(s). During the Concord beta weekends, you’ll be able to play as all 16 of the Freegunners that will be available at launch. Whether you like to run and gun, lock down an area, lay down fire from afar, or back up your team, there are Freegunners for players of a wide range of playstyles and skill levels.
From familiar faces like Haymar, Vale, Lennox, 1-0FF, and Star Child from the reveal trailer to other members of the Northstar crew, like It-Z, Teo, Bazz, and more, you’ll get to experiment and learn how each character brings distinct strategic abilities, traversal and gunplay feel, and, most of all, your own personality to the battlefield.
Explore (and Battle Across) Multiple Planets and Modes
Throughout both Concord Beta weekends, you’ll be able to visit and battle across multiple worlds and maps in the Concord Galaxy.
During the Concord Beta Early Access weekend, you’ll have a chance to play on four maps:· Freewater: Set in a fortified outpost on the sun-scorched planet of Glance, Freewater features intersecting perimeter lanes and a large central courtyard in the middle of the map that serves as a prime convergence point and inspires intense combat engagements.
Water Hazard: On the stormy water-covered planet of Leviathan, a massive, armored eel, known as a Morack, has been caught and is being harvested on a large floating fishing rig. Players will fight across the platform and within the jaws of the Morack in a primary harvesting site.
Star Chamber: Located atop the tallest mountain on the planet Gloom sits an ancient observatory with narrow corridors and a meteorite at the center, which creates great opportunities for team fights and one-on-one battles.
Shock Risk: Located beneath a massive conductive kite in the sky that harvests lightning on the planet Leviathan, Shock Risk features multiple unique arenas for battling with rival crews with pathways that converge on a large center tower.
During the Open Beta weekend, a new world and fifth map will be introduced: Bone Mines on the planet Akkar.
Bone Mines: The remains of massive vastadons on the tropical planet Akkar have become the site of a lucrative Guild mining operation, where you will fight through the excavated bones and mining caverns in a mix of close-quarters and mid-range combat.
The Concord Beta will also have multiple modes to fit your mood, whether it’s to jump in for a quick match after work or to team up with friends for more coordinated and competitive play.
The Concord Early Access Beta weekend will launch with three modes:
Trophy Hunt: A respawn-based mode where you fight to take down members of the rival crew and collect their bounty cards to earn points for your team. The first team to reach the target score before time runs out wins the match.
Cargo Run: A no-respawn mode where teams compete to retrieve the Blue Buddy robotic package delivery system, plant it at one of the zones, and defend it from the rival crew to win.
Clash Point: A round-based, no-respawn game mode where teams compete to control a single capture zone at a central location on the map.
Then, during the Open Beta weekend, you’ll be able to try out a new mode: Area Control.
Area Control: A respawn mode where teams compete to control multiple capture and control zones around the map. Control two or more zones to increase your team’s score and reach the point threshold to win.
Witness the beginning of the Northstar Crew’s Story
Alongside familiarizing yourself with the Northstar crew through gameplay, you’ll also be able to see the beginning of their story. When you play the beta, you’ll be welcomed with the very first of our cinematic vignettes—brief cinematics that, when Concord launches, will premiere every week in game. When the Beta Early Access launches and then when the Open Beta starts, we’ll introduce new cinematic vignettes in-game to give you a small glimpse into how the Northstar crew’s stories will unfold each week.
We can’t wait to see you all in-game during the Concord Beta to experience just some of the content that will be available when the game launches on August 24 (Asia time zone) and will grow over time through post-launch updates at no additional cost.
Be sure to stay tuned for more information about the beta, including pre-load and server availability timing, PC specs, and more, by following Concord on Twitter/X, Instagram, and TikTok, as well as by joining the community in the Official Concord Discord.
*Account for PlayStation™Network and internet connection required. Beta terms and conditions apply.
Mario & Luigi: Brothership kicked off the latest Direct broadcast and although we’ve already seen a fair bit of footage of the game, one thing Nintendo hasn’t properly shown off just yet is the game’s box art. Yes, it’s been featured in listings here and there, but now in the latest update it’s been given an official reveal via social media.
As you see it shows the famous duo, a new character called Snoutlet and a little bit of the world Mario and Luigi are about to explore, known as Concordia. An empty background similar to Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey also returns. As noted by Nintendo, pre-orders for this game have also gone live.
IGN’s Palworld Sakurajima Island map is here! Added in a major Palworld update on June 27, 2024, the new island brings fresh content to the Palpagos Islands, which we’ve mapped out on our Palworld interactive map – including markers for new Lifmunk Effigies, chests, Syndicate Towers, and more. We’ve also included the new Rayne Syndicate Oil Rig.
Note that the Sakurajima Island map is still a work in progress, though our dedicated guides team is busy ensuring it’s updated as quickly as possible, so check back often!
If you’re still playing the Palworld base game, you’ll find everything you need as the rest of our Palworld Palpagos Islands map is 100% complete with all locations, collectibles, and more.
Palworld Crude Oil
While you’re tracking your progress through Sakurajima withour Palworld interactive map, keep your eyes peeled for Crude Oil, which is a valuable resource for crafting powerful endgame armor and another necessary material, Plasteel.
You’ll find Crude Oil across Sakurajima – look out for black patches scattered around the north, east, and central sections of the island. You’ll need the right machinery to extract it, though. Check out our How to Get Crude Oil guide for detailed instructions on how to craft the Crude Oil Extractor and extract Crude Oil from these black patches.
Meg Koepp is a Guides Editor on the IGN Guides team, with a focus on trends. When she’s not working, you can find her adventuring around Eorzea in Final Fantasy XIV.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has spoken out about “malicious and personal online attacks” that have been directed at his employees and partners, citing it as one of his major concerns in the games industry at the moment.
Guillemot gave a wide-ranging interview that was posted on the Ubisoft website on Thursday, speaking about various topics including the future of Assassin’s Creed, XDefiant, and more. He was also asked what dismays him about the industry currently, and pointed specifically to online harassment in response.
“One thing I am concerned about right now is the malicious and personal online attacks that have been directed at some of our team members and partners,” Guillemot said. “I want to make it clear that we, at Ubisoft, condemn these hateful acts in the strongest possible terms, and I encourage the rest of the industry and players to denounce them, too.”
While Guillemot didn’t mention Assassin’s Creed Shadows specifically, his comments follow backlash to the game’s male protagonist, a samurai based on the historical Black samurai Yasuke. Some pulled AC Shadows into ongoing harassment campaigns targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts on social media, which the International Game Developers Association (IDGA) condemned in a statement in March.
“I want to make it clear that we, at Ubisoft, condemn these hateful acts in the strongest possible terms.
As for what excites him about the games industry, Guillemot pointed to evolving technology: “If, as game makers, we can adopt and master technological advancements like generative AI and the cloud more quickly, we will be much better positioned to create new, stand-out experiences for players,” he said.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows will launch on November 12 for those with Ubisoft+ Premium, or those who purchased the Gold or the Ultimate Edition, and will otherwise be available on November 15.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
Considering the lengthy ongoing development of Beyond Good & Evil 2 and the subsequent grilling from eager fans that Ubisoft has brought upon itself over the years, it’s easy to forget just how darn good the original game is. First released on PS2, Xbox, and GameCube at the end of 2003, Beyond Good & Evil was one of the most unique adventure games of its day, showcasing a world that Nintendo itself would have been proud to call its own.
This 20th Anniversary Edition remaster updates the experience with revamped visuals, improved performance (sort of), quality-of-life upgrades, and more. But is it still as enjoyable now as it was two decades ago? Well, the answer is thankfully a resounding “yes”: Ubisoft’s re-release is easily the best way to experience Jade and Pey’j’s epic journey on Nintendo hardware, but it’s also not without a few niggling issues.
Collecting Scadutree Fragments and leveling up your Scadutree Blessing level in Shadow of the Erdtree is one of the best ways to get stronger in the Elden Ring DLC. If you’re struggling with a challenging boss, such asMessmer the Impaleror Commander Gaius, finding some Scadutree Fragments can help you survive longer by increasing your attack and damage negation stats.
You’ll find Scadutree Fragments in the following Shadow of the Erdtree locations:
Gravesite Plain (8 Fragments)
Belurat, Tower Settlement (1 Fragment)
Castle Ensis (1 Fragment)
Scadu Altus (12 Fragments)
Shadow Keep (11 Fragments)
Cerulean Coast (2 Fragments)
Charo’s Hidden Grave (1 Fragment)
Stone Coffin Fissure (1 Fragment)
Ancient Ruins of Rauh (5 Fragments)
Abyssal Woods (3 Fragments)
Jagged Peak (1 Fragment)
Enir-Ilim (4 Fragments)
Note that there are only 42 Scadutree Fragment markers on our Shadow of the Erdtree interactive map, rather than 50. This is because some Scadutree Fragments can be found together.
Our Shadow of the Erdtree interactive map also has map filters for the following:
Locations, such as Sites of Grace, Landmarks, and Stakes of Marika.
Meg Koepp is a Guides Editor on the IGN Guides team, with a focus on trends. When she’s not working, you can find her adventuring around Eorzea in Final Fantasy XIV.
Frostpunk 2 is being delayed so its developers have time to address player feedback gathered during the beta earlier this year. The survival citybuilder was originally due to begin shovelling orphans into the furnace in July, but those dear children now have a reprieve until September 20th.
This article contains minor spoilers for the Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.
The Elden Ring community’s greatest co-op hero “Let Me Solo Her” has officially rebranded himself “Let Me Solo Him.” After years of crushing Malenia, he’s seemingly announced the beginning of a new pasttime of brutalizing one of Shadow of the Erdtree’s toughest bosses: Messmer the Impaler.
Since then, by his own estimation, he has played for over 1,200 hours and fought Malenia thousands of times, in each instance allowing the Tarnished who summoned him at the threshold to her arena to stand by and watch as he went toe-to-toe against the rot-infested demigod until only one stood triumphant. His efforts earned him legendary status in the Elden Ring community, and even saw FromSoftware send him an actual sword in recognition of his contributions.
Now, having rebranded himself “Let Me Solo Him,” the co-op MVP has seemingly returned to hunt a new but no less imposing target in the form of late-game DLC boss Messmer the Impaler. The name change announced in an X/Twitter post earlier this week was accompanied by the simple phrase “I’m ready,” along with a link to a YouTube video, in which he systematically wore down the boss without ever allowing him to land a blow in return.
Without getting into spoilers, Messmer the Impaler is among the DLC’s toughest bosses, who attacks with a brutally swift set of powerful, fire-imbued attacks, and boasts a second stage that would leave Rykard, the Lord of Blasphemy with a case of serpent envy. Yet in the face of Messmer’s onslaught, Let Me Solo Him was able to calmly and consistently evade and counter, his signature look enhanced by the addition of a ragged cloak.
“This is actually Messmer’s boss fight against LMSH, not the other way around,” commented YouTube user Maxwellschmid588. “This man could walk through a monsoon and not get wet,” chimed in Firstlast-cg2nk. “If an asteroid were to hit Earth, he’d take no damage because he’d dodge roll at exactly the right moment.”
Only time will tell if Let Me Solo Him is back to his old boss-busting ways, but given the short video description of “it’s time,” it certainly seems as if a new co-op campaign is about to begin. Be sure to check out IGN’s comprehensive guide if you’re looking to face down Messmer yourself, or simply need help traversing the perilous environments of the Land of Shadow.
Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer
