Category: Video Games

The developer of Witcher 3 has congratulated the developer of Elden Ring after the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion overtook Blood and Wine to become the best-reviewed expansion ever.

At the time of this article’s publication, Shadow of the Erdtree has a Metascore of 95, whereas Witcher 3 expansion Blood and Wine currently sits on a Metascore of 92.

IGN’s Shadow of the Erdtree review returned a 10/10. We said: “Like the base game did before it, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree raises the bar for single-player DLC expansions. It takes everything that made the base game such a landmark RPG, condenses it into a relatively compact 20-25 hour campaign, and provides fantastic new challenges for heavily invested fans to chew on.”

Blood and Wine, which came out in 2016, got a 9/10. We said: “Geralt gets a fitting sendoff in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine, courtesy of a strong cast and new items.”

In a tweet, CD Projekt congratulated Elden Ring developer FromSoftware for the release of Shadow of the Erdtree, and even pointed to its own staff preparing for its release today, June 21.

“For the last eight years, The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine had the honor of being the best reviewed expansion for a role-playing game,” CD Projekt said, “but @ELDENRING gets to wear that crown now. Congratulations to the entire team at @fromsoftware_pr on their stellar work!”

Here’s a live view of REDs this week trying to prepare for Shadow of the Erdtree. pic.twitter.com/Ixb3rxrpyZ

— The Witcher (@witchergame) June 21, 2024

The tweet about CD Projekt staff preparing for the release of Shadow of the Erdtree is of course in relation to the requirements that must be met in order to access the expansion within the base game — players must tick off a handful of obscure feats beforehand, including beating an optional boss.

IGN’s guide on how to prepare for the Shadow of Erdtree is fully up to date with everything you need, however, and make sure to check out our Elden Ring interactive map to ensure you’re not missing any important collectibles.

As for The Witcher 3, CD Projekt is working on another game set within the fantasy universe, codenamed Polaris, but it won’t arrive until 2025 at the absolute earliest, and probably later. There are two other Witcher games on the horizon too, including a remake of the original Witcher and a multiplayer spin-off.

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.

Someone has made a mod for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt which replaces beloved horse companion Roach with a vicious fiend for Geralt to ride around The Continent.

Nexus Mods user apokryphos created the Rideable Fiend Mount mod, which does exactly what it says on the tin, letting monster and monster hunter team up to take on the world. What’s more, the fiend even mimics Roach’s behaviour by backing Geralt up when not being ridden, and its savage swipes are a touch more effective than a horse kick.

Only a handful of Fiends exist in The Witcher 3 naturally, and the massive monsters are always a threat. “Fiends are walking mountains of muscle capped with horned, tooth-filled heads,” reads the in-game bestiary entry. “When possible they avoid humans, but when not possible, they kill them, and without much difficulty.”

A Red Faction sequel was in the works at the Embracer-owned developer of Galaxy On Fire and Chorus before it was hit by layoffs, according to a new report.

Rock, Paper Shotgun reported that Fishlabs, bought by controversial video game group Embracer in 2018, was working on a sci-fi Metroidvania and had built a “visual prototype” for a brand new Red Faction game before both projects were canceled and their developers laid off in 2023.

Embracer had already shut down the original creator of the cult classic Red Faction, Volition, by the time Fishlabs put together its Red Faction pitch. According to RPS, a team at Fishlabs built a “fake trailer” with Unreal Engine 5 to present to Embracer-owned publisher Plaion, with the hope of creating a game similar to 2009’s well-received Red Faction: Guerrilla.

Critics praised that game for its huge open world and, in particular, impressive destruction-based gameplay that saw players smash up buildings with a sledgehammer. A sequel, Red Faction: Armageddon, followed in 2011, but sales were poor and then-publisher THQ canceled further follow-ups. Red Faction: Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered, a remaster of Guerrilla, launched in 2019.

Unfortunately, despite the pitches to Plaion, this new Red Faction was not greenlit, and in November last year it was canceled outright. According to RPS, Fishlabs studio leadership were told to lay off almost everyone not attached to an active game project, resulting in 50 job losses. The RPS article is well worth a read if you want some insight into what it was like working at an Embracer-owned studio in 2023.

In April, Embracer announced its intent to split into three separate companies: Asmodee Group, Coffee Stain & Friends, and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends. The move came after a brutal period of restructuring that over a thousand staff lose their jobs, multiple games canceled and studios shut down, and the sale of developers including Borderlands maker Gearbox and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic remake maker Saber Interactive.

Embracer Group’s financial struggles began following the collapse of a $2 billion deal, reportedly with Saudi government funded company Savvy Games Group. The Swedish firm has since come under fire for the sweeping cuts that followed its ill-fated acquisition spree. In January it emerged that Embracer had canceled a new Deus Ex game that was two years in development and laid off some staff at Eidos Montreal. Most recently, Embracer shut down Pieces Interactive after the Alone in the Dark reboot flopped.

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.

Ubisoft has insisted it’s committed to the Beyond Good & Evil franchise and even mentioned its long in development sequel as part of the reveal of Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition.

Beyond Good & Evil 2 is considered vaporware by many fans after an incredible 16 years since it was announced back in 2008. Despite Ubisoft’s many vague references to it being still alive, no video game has materialized thus far.

But this week’s announcement of Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition has sparked renewed hope that Beyond Good & Evil 2 is real and may even be re-revealed sooner rather than later. This remaster includes a brand new mission in which players can discover mode about Jade’s past and collective exclusive cosmetic rewards.

Crucially, Ubisoft included a note to press that this new mission “also reveals more about the narrative link to Beyond Good & Evil 2, showing Ubisoft’s enduring commitment to the franchise.”

That line strongly suggests Beyond Good & Evil 2 is not just still alive but closer than ever to launch. The question of course will be what form the game takes, given how many times development has stopped and started over the years. At E3 2017, Ubisoft revealed what looked like an incredibly ambitious project, promising a multi-planet world populated by dynamically-generated characters.

In the meantime, Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition launches June 25 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Amazon Luna and PC through the Ubisoft Store, Epic Games Store and Steam, with a physical version courtest of Limited Run Games out July 12. It features the aforementioned new mission, an anniversary gallery, a re-orchestrated soundtrack, support of up to 60FPS, and other “exclusive new content.”

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.

Minecraft developer Mojang has released a native PlayStation 5 version in preview form, bringing the game in-line with the Xbox Series X and S version.

The PS5 version adds native 4K resolution support and higher settings for render distances and anti-aliasing, settings already available in Minecraft on Xbox Series X and S. Unfortunately, there’s no word on the addition of ray tracing to either the Xbox Series X or PS5 versions, despite Microsoft teasing the tech years ago.

The first preview of the native PS5 version of Minecraft is available now for testing. If you own the PlayStation 4 version for your PS5, you can test this early version by heading to Settings and then Preview within the game. This preview includes the new Tricky Trials update, but multiplayer is only possible between other players on PlayStation 4 and 5. The exception to this is playing the preview on Realms, which allows you to cross-play with players on other devices. This preview version does not have access to the Minecraft Store.

Explaining the decision to release a native PS5 version in a blog post, Mojang said “we’ll be able to make the game run more effectively on the PS5’s hardware.”

Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all time with an incredible 300 million copies sold since its early access release in 2009. 15 years later, Microsoft and Mojang have so far resisted the urge to release a sequel, and with good reason — in March last year Xbox boss Phil Spencer said Minecraft had 120 million monthly players.

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.