The Crew 2‘s offline mode is now live, ensuring that the racer “remains accessible for years to come”. Well, assuming you’re not bothered about playing online, which would still be deep-sixed if Ubisoft opted to shut down the game’s servers, as they did with its predecessor. Odds are that won’t happen at least in the immediate future, due to the player feedback the publishers have credited as the impetus behind this addition.
That acknowledgement very much looks to be a way of nodding to the Stop Killing Games campaign, who rose to prominence following Ubisoft’s shutdown of the first Crew’s servers – thereby rendering it totally unplayable – without naming them directly.
Ah, the humble Metroidvania. We’ve seen more additions to this genre than we can count in recent years and now — with all other bases covered, presumably — even memes are being adapted into the format of non-linear exploration.
After a successful Kickstarter campaign, This is Fine: Maximum Cope takes KC Green’s iconic dog meme and bends it into a metroidvania complete with perilous platforming, challenging bosses, nasty enemies and unlockable abilities. Oh yes, and it all takes place in the anxiety-riddled mind of the central character, Question Hound.
A little over a year since Konami relaunched its long-dead Silent Hill horror series with the superb Silent Hill 2 Remake, the publisher has provided a sales update, confirming that it’s now up to 2.5 million worldwide.
The updated milestone now means the 26-year-old series itself has surpassed 10 million units shipped, despite lying dormant for over a decade.
As reported by Gematsu, the news came via a Konami News video report which primarily discussed its most recent release, Silent Hill f, which similarly debuted to a positive reception last month. At the beginning of the report, a text pop up says: “Silent Hill series has shipped over 10 million copies, and [Silent Hill f’s] predecessor, Silent Hill 2, has shipped over 2.5 million copies.”
Silent Hill 2 is a remake of the 2001 psychological horror game wherein you play as protagonist James Sunderland drawn to the terrifying titular town after receiving a mysterious letter from his late wife, Mary. IGN’s Silent Hill 2 Remake review returned an 8/10 score, and dubbed it “a welcome modernisation of a survival horror masterpiece.” Silent Hill f returned 7/10, where we called it “a fresh new setting to explore and a fascinatingly dark story to unravel,” but warned “its melee-focussed combat takes a big swing that doesn’t quite land.”
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Former Assassin’s Creed series lead Marc-Alexis Côté’s departure from Ubisoft after 20 years in various roles was announced earlier this week, and the developer’s now put out a post in which he says that leaving wasn’t his choice. Instead, Côté asserts that it came after he was asked to step aside as Assassin’s Creed boss by Ubisoft as part of a corporate restructure, then offered a reduced role as part of the company’s Tencent-backed Vantage Studios subsidiary.
With Pokémon Legends: Z-A releasing today for Nintendo Switch 1 and 2, excitement has been building among Pokémon fans on social media.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is taking us back to a revamped Lumiose City. Of course, you can catch Pokémon, battle them and do quests, but there’s also time for relaxing. One aspect of the game that some Japanese fans have been getting excited about is simply chilling with your Pokémon outside an in-game cafe.
YouTuber and blogger Koiwa Hawawa posted on Twitter / X: “What I’m most looking forward to in Z-A is having tea with Pokémon. But could it be that your Pokémon is just staring at the desserts? Is there anything more cruel?”
What Hawawa noticed is that while the trainer relaxes over a cuppa and cake, their Pokémon just sits on the other chair with nothing on the table in front of it. As evidence of possible Pokémon cruelty, Hawawa posted screenshots. The last image highlights Totodile, whose wide eyes and open mouth make him look like he is salivating at the thought of some sweet treats.
This post quickly attracted views (1.3 million at the time of this article’s publication) and comments from other users, with many questioning whether or not Pokémon can eat sweets meant for humans without getting some serious indigestion. However, as many pointed out, Pokémon have a history of eating all sorts of things, even curry and sandwiches (in Generations VIII and IX respectively). One user even posted an image of Meowth and Rocket Team members stuffing themselves with ramen.
One thing fans were in agreement with was that the Pokémon should also be snacking on something alongside their trainer. “Whether it’s a Poké Block, Poké Puff or Poffin, just give it something delicious,” one user implored. Another added: “The only food on the table is the protagonist’s, so for me that’s a bit of a negative.”
But maybe the Pokémon are content with just watching you eat? Discovered cafes in Legends: Z-A serve as fast travel points, and visiting them has several benefits. Firstly, sitting with a particular Pokémon strengthens your bond, which could be helpful for evolving them later on. Plus, buying drinks at a cafe restores your entire party’s health and removes status effects, so maybe your Totodile is sneaking a sip when you are not looking?
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.
Update: It’s the ‘Mad Dog’ from Yakuza and Like A Dragon.
In case you missed it, SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance is getting Sega Villains Stage DLC next year, which will see Joe Musashi face off against classic bad guys from past releases.
In August, we found out Sonic’s Dr. Eggman would be first up, and now Sega and Lizardcube have lifted the lid on the second character. It’s Death Adder – the fearsome giant from the Golden Axe series. Here’s a teaser:
: Following last month’s release, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is now getting updated to Version 1.05 on the Switch and Switch 2.
Perhaps, most notably, the Switch 2 update will add “image quality and performance settings”. Additionally, there is also a first-person perspective mode. Here’s the translation from the official Falcom website (via Gematsu):
In an impassioned end to his keynote address on the opening day of Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show in Bangkok, Dead Space creator and industry veteran Glen Schofield has declared that the games industry is in dire need of fixing, and he believes he knows just how to go about it.
“We need to fix the gaming industry right now,” said Schofield to a room of games industry professionals. “It’s broken. It’s beaten, it’s battered, our developers are battered, they’ve been taking it on the chin for the last couple of years. We need to bring it back to what it was, right? Instead of all this negativity.”
The first and arguably most controversial step to take in Schofield’s opinion, is for the games industry to widely embrace the use of generative AI as a standard part of their development tool set.
“AI isn’t here to replace us,” continued Schofield. “It’s here to make us faster, better, and more efficient. And AI is for all of us, it really is. It’s not just for directors and artists, it’s for writers and marketing execs.
“So, I think [games industry] executives, owners, founders… Let’s start training our people on AI. Start it as soon as you can. Who cares if I’m EA or Activision or Namco or whatever, we should be working together at least in training and training our people up. That would be a huge help because I know we’re going to start hiring people back again.”
Next up, Schofield believes that investors need to loosen their purse strings and start spending more on games development, as well as putting the right people in charge of each studio.
“Come on, investors and execs, let’s stop this madness,” said Schofield. “You want to make a AAA game for like eight million dollars? You gotta get your guts back again. If we start putting money into the industry again, we know it’s going to make money.”
“To me, you picked the wrong people to run the teams, to run the games, right? In my opinion [you need] a big, creative person who’s running it. And then you put people around to help with this and that. That’s the way I work these days, right? I still run my studio in ways but I have people to help now so I can be 100% or 98% on that. That’s what these games need. I saw some of the people that were chosen and they were really good people, but there’s no way they were ready to direct a game.”
“So I said, let’s start putting money in, do due diligence a little better on that. We know we’re going to make money. But we have to make quality games, and you have to give them to the right people.”
Lastly, and perhaps most strangely given that he was presenting the opening keynote address at a rival games industry show, Schofield wished for the return of E3.
“Bring back E3,” said Schofield to soft applause. “I mean, come on. E3 is the granddaddy of them all. And I will tell you every single E3 that I went to made my games better. And I know there’s no formula to show a [return on investment] on that, [but] every game got better when you went there. You talked with your friends, you talked with colleagues, everybody’s thrilled to help you with the next technologies, or showing you mechanics. When the companies started going outside of E3 I knew this was the end, and I started boycotting those because [that] was not an industry that was working together, this is an industry that’s fragmented. And so now there’s no E3.”
Schofield concluded his address by reiterating that while he’s fully onboard with AI, the most important aspect of games development were the people making them, not the machines.
“Remember, ideas are the lifeblood of the industry,” said Schofield, speaking to the developers in attendance. “And those ideas? They come from you.”
How do you feel about Schofield’s plan to “fix” the games industry? Sound off in the comments below!
Tristan Ogilvie is a senior video editor at IGN’s Australian office, currently attending Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show.
“This item can’t be obtained through normal gameplay”.
In case you missed it, the first season of Pokémon Legends: Z-A Ranked Battles is already underway. It will run from now until 4th November 2025, and gives trainers who reach ‘Rank K’ a special reward of Greninjite. This item can be used to Mega Evolve Greninja into Mega Greninja, and “can’t be obtained through normal gameplay”.
The official Pokémon website further explains the three types of rewards for Ranked Battles. You’ll get rewards at the end of the battle (regardless of your performance), and promotion rewards are gained when you advance to the next rank (this includes items for training such as Mega Shards). The last type of reward is a seasonal reward, which is based on your ranking at the end of a season.
A new offline mode for Ubisoft’s The Crew 2 is available now, which will allow owners to play the racing MMO offline if desired. The functionality – dubbed Hybrid Mode – has been explained in full on the publisher’s website.
According to Ubisoft, Hybrid Mode gives us the “freedom to choose” how we want to play The Crew 2. That is, online mode (which is “the original experience as it was designed from the start, complete with multiplayer features, leaderboards, summits, and community sharing”) or offline mode (which the publisher describes as “a new experience”).
“Whether you’re looking to preserve your progression for the future or simply enjoy the freedom of playing without a connection, Hybrid Mode ensures The Crew 2 remains accessible for years to come,” explains the publisher.
To transfer progression into offline mode, players can simply select “Export to Offline Save” after a session online. Doing so will create a copy of current progression in the game’s multiplayer world stored locally on a personal PC or console. Ubisoft notes online and offline saves are separate, however, so progress made offline will not carry back over into online saves. Players will be able to re-export online saves to update offline files at any time.
Custom liveries will not transfer to offline saves.
An offline mode for The Crew 2 was announced last year in the wake of the the shutdown of the original game in March 2024. Disappointed players of The Crew (which was not a free-to-play game, but became inaccessible for its owners to play after its shutdown – even solo) were justifiably concerned about The Crew 2 suffering the same fate.
“We heard your concerns about access to The Crew games,” Ubisoft said at the time. “Today, we want to express our commitment to the future of The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest. We can confirm an offline mode to ensure long term access to both titles.”
Ubisoft was subsequently sued after the shutdown, a lawsuit the publisher responded to by insisting that buying a game doesn’t give players “unfettered ownership rights” to it, but rather only a “limited license to access the game.”
Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team. You can track him down on Bluesky @mrlukereilly to ask him things about stuff.
