Ubisoft has said its Call of Duty rival XDefiant does not feature skill-based matchmaking in its casual playlist.

For years, skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) has been the hottest of topics within the Call of Duty community, with some proclaiming it ruins the experience, others saying quite the opposite. High-skilled Call of Duty players often bemoan SBMM for chucking them into what they call “sweaty” lobbies full of similarly high-skilled players. Activision has defended its use, insisting skill in matchmaking means all players (regardless of skill level) are more likely to experience wins and losses more proportionately. “We use player performance to ensure that the disparity between the most skilled player in the lobby and the least skilled player in the lobby isn’t so vast that players feel their match is a waste of time,” Activision said earlier this year.

“Our data shows that when lower skill players are consistently on the losing end, they are likely to quit matches in progress or stop playing altogether,” Activision continued. “This has an effect on the player pool. A smaller player pool means wait times for matches increase and connections may not be as strong as they should be. This can compound over time to create a spiral effect. Eventually, when only high-skilled players remain because lower skilled players have quit out of frustration, the result is an ecosystem that is worse overall for everyone.

“Game data indicates that having some limitations on the disparity of skill across the players in a match makes for a healthier ecosystem. We also understand that many high skill players want more variety of experience, but often feel like they only get the ‘sweatiest’ of lobbies. We have heard this feedback clearly and will continue to test and actively explore ways to mitigate this concern.”

Ubisoft, though, clearly has a very different philosophy for its free-to-play first-person shooter, which it outlined in a blog post.

“The most important thing to know is — there is no skill-based matchmaking in our casual playlist,” Ubisoft confirmed. “We believe that no SBMM is paramount to a fun and varied game experience in the long-term. Frankly, skill-based matchmaking means every casual game is repetitive — constantly repeating matches that are just as stressful and matched as ranked. We believe casual playlist should be fun and no SBMM is the way to do that. If you want that competitive every second counts go all out playstyle — you’ll find our ranked mode to your liking.”

Ubisoft’s stance on SBMM makes for a clear distinction between XDefiant and Call of Duty multiplayer, and is sure to go down well with a subset of hardcore competitive FPS fans. Ubisoft has been keen to attract disgruntled Call of Duty fans with a number of crowd-pleasing design decisions as it works to wrestle players away from Activision’s behemoth. Indeed, XDefiant developer Ubisoft San Francisco is helmed by Mark Rubin, a former Call of Duty executive producer at Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward.

After a number of delays, XDefiant’s pre-season launches May 21 on PC via Ubisoft Connect, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. The game is not set to launch on Steam or the Epic Games Store.

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.

The director, producer, and composer of Square Enix’s beloved Nier series have teamed up for a new project, but are refusing to say whether it’s a Nier game or not.

Speaking to Famitsu and translated by Gematsu, Square Enix executive officer and Nier series producer Yosuke Saito teased the upcoming project but still didn’t give fans a concrete answer on whether they should expect Nier 3.

“I’ve been talking about wanting to do something with [series director Yoko Taro] and [series composer Keiichi Okabe] for some time now,” Saito said. “I’ll have something a bit more put together to say in the not too distant future, so please stay tuned.” He than laughed: “It might be Nier, it might not be Nier. That’s about all I can say for now.”

Nier: Automata arrived in February 2017 and, while fans’ appetites were somewhat satiated with the Nier Replicant remake of the original game in 2021, Square Enix has said nothing concrete about a full sequel.

Hope has gone back and forward too. Saito said in November 2023 that Square Enix will definitely make another Nier at some point in Yoko’s lifetime but it won’t be soon as the pair are working on a separate project. But a few months later in March 2024, Taro seemingly teased a third game through a subtle concert message.

Saito told Famitsu in this latest interview he’s working on “various things”, however, so perhaps there’s a chance the new project is just one of those and Nier 3 is another.

“I’m doing various things with the idea of creating something that does not yet exist,” he said. “I can’t devote my time to that fully, so most of it has been left to the staff, but it’s turning into something quite interesting. I’m looking forward to the day we can announce it.”

Nier: Automata was a standout success for Square Enix thanks to strong critical reception and sales to match. In our 8/10 review, IGN said: “Nier: Automata is a great action role-playing game filled with beautiful locations and zany, fun-filled combat.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has announced plans to roll back changes made to patrols and spawn rates following a recent patch after admitting the PlayStation Network controversy was the focus of its attention in recent weeks.

Arrowhead butted heads with Sony over the Helldivers 2 IP owner and publisher’s decision to force PC players to link their accounts to PlayStation Network in order to continue playing. Sony eventually backed down, although not before a Steam review bombing campaign that looks set to become the inspiration for a new in-game cape.

Clearly, events of the past few weeks have taken their toll on Arrowhead staff, who have had to contend with a player revolt while also trying to work with Sony on a change of policy. Community manager Twinbeard had said the PSN controversy was a huge tax on resources: “… when sth like the PSN-gate (TM) happens, a lot of things come to a halt. Many of us at AH more or less ‘lost’ a week due to this, and only now are slowly getting back to what we were doing before all of this (and that’s even with it not being entirely resolved as well).”

Now, in a new statement issued to the Helldivers Discord, Twinbeard announced the studio’s intention to address patrols and spawn rate following what has been a “hectic” past couple of weeks.

“As many of you have noticed, something has been off with patrols and spawn rate for some time now,” Twinbeard said.

“This primarily leads to more enemies rearing their ugly heads than they’re supposed to, indirectly to players feeling overrun, kiting, and subsequently less fun gameplay. This has been the case for all players, but predominantly for smaller teams and solo playing. We’ve been aware, but frankly, the past couple of weeks have been so hectic that we haven’t been able to give this the TLC that it required. We now have, and we’ve concluded that it’s not working as intended and we’re changing it.

“There might be some minor tweaks, but overall we’re reverting back to how patrols and spawn rate worked before the patch that changed them a few weeks ago. We believe that this is more or less how you currently want them to be.

“We also know you want us to do things and changes properly instead of rushing them, and we do as well. Therefore, implementing this will take some time. We want to give it proper testing and review it… ah heck, simply see that it works this time. Even if this means we’re faced with more bugs and bots than even the bravest of citizens would deem realistic for a while longer, we hope you’re happy with us fixing the problem.

“Onwards and upwards!”

Twinbeard’s statement touches on a call from the Helldivers 2 community for Arrowhead to take more time with its balance patches, and even slow down the release of new weapons and gear via what have so far been monthly Premium Warbonds. The feeling at the moment is Arrowhead is feeding the Helldivers 2 live service beast too often and to the detriment of other parts of the game, such as weapon balance and gameplay, and that new content added to the game fails to make an impact.

Earlier this month, Arrowhead boss Johan Pilestedt acknowledged that weapon nerfs had gone “too far in some areas” while responding to complaints the studio had patched the fun out of the explosive PC and PlayStation 5 shooter. “It feels like every time someone finds something fun, the fun is removed,” Pilestedt admitted.

Despite these issues, Helldivers 2 is an astonishing success story for both Arrowhead and Sony. This week, Sony announced Helldivers 2 had sold an incredible 12 million copies in just 12 weeks, making it the fastest-selling PlayStation game of all time.

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.

Nintendo has added three new Game Boy games to the Nintendo Switch Online library of titles, each a launch title for the handheld.

The headline addition is Super Mario Land, the classic mini-Mario platformer that launched on Nintendo’s handheld console back in 1989.

Next is Alleyway, another classic 1989 Game Boy game developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems as a launch title for the handheld. This Breakout clone was one of the first four games released for the Game Boy.

And finally, Baseball rounds out the list of additions. Nintendo’s sports game first launched for the Famicom in Japan in 1983 before hitting it out the park on the NES in 1985. The Game Boy version launched alongside the console in 1989.

Three classic games are now available to play for #NintendoSwitchOnline members!#GameBoy:
☑️ Super Mario Land
☑️ Alleyway
☑️ Baseball pic.twitter.com/jbQN6uLGN5

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) May 15, 2024

Game Boy games added to Nintendo Switch Online on May 15, 2024:

• Super Mario Land
• Alleyway
• Baseball

Here’s the official blurb from Nintendo:

To properly celebrate 35 years of the Game Boy system, we have to take it back to year one! Game Boy launched in 1989, and with it arrived classic titles such as Baseball, Alleyway and the first Super Mario game available on the system, Super Mario Land. Today, Nintendo Switch Online members can play all three of these original launch titles as the latest additions to the Game Boy – Nintendo Switch Online library. All just in time for the system’s 35th anniversary!

Interestingly, Nintendo Switch Online Japan gets an extra game: The Frog For Whom the Bell Tolls. This Nintendo and Intelligent Systems-developed action role-playing game was released for the Game Boy exclusively in Japan in 1992.

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.