Replaced developer Sad Cat Studios has announced a delay to its 2.5D cyberpunk game, just three weeks shy of its planned launch.

Instead of arriving on March 12, the retro-futuristic platformer will now debut on April 14 — a move that Sad Cat said was decided upon following the response to its Steam demo.

"As a small team working on our very first title, we've poured everything we have into this project," the studio wrote in a statement shared on X/Twitter. "While the game is technically finished, reaching this final stretch has shown us that we need just a few more weeks to ensure the experience is exactly what you deserve. We want the version of Replaced you play on day one to be polished, stable, and true to the vision we've shared with you.

"The response to our Steam demo has been the ultimate fuel for us," Sad Cat continued. "To be honest, putting it out there was nerve-wracking, but seeing your gameplay, reading your reviews and hearing your excitement has been overwhelming in the best way possible. We are constantly reading your comments, and that feedback is helping us make the final tweaks that will make the full game shine."

Replaced was originally announced back in 2021, when it had a 2022 launch window. Further delays have followed, as the team behind the title has repeatedly pushed its release back while saying it was unwilling to compromise on its quality.

On the upside, IGN went hands-on with the game earlier this month for one final look — and found it was shaping up very nicely indeed. Oh, and if you've not tried it yet, Replaced's Steam demo is still available.

"No matter what you’re tasked with doing, it seems as if Replaced never loses sight of its slick style and rich tone grounded in a love for all things Blade Runner, all while letting that reverence permeate into every aspect of its design in interesting ways," we wrote in our Replaced final preview. "I started my playthrough thinking I knew exactly what I was in for. I was wrong, but thankfully still ended it excited, knowing there’s still plenty left to discover."

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Magic: The Gathering is getting its new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set next month (with prerelease even sooner), but Amazon isn’t waiting to drop the price of booster boxes.

After some price fluctuations, the retailer has finally confirmed that the TMNT Play Booster Box will be sold for $125.99, which is only a dollar more than its all-time lowest price of $124.99 that we saw a few weeks ago as a sale item.

Last month, New York Pokémon card store The Poké Court was the focus of media attention following a frightening armed burglary that involved its staff and customers being held at gunpoint.

The incident prompted widespread shock and sympathy for the fledgling outlet, which lost $100,000 worth of stock in minutes. But now, the business has said the famously-litigious Nintendo has been in touch — not to offer aid, however, but to share "concerns" over its name and logo.

The Poké Court is now being forced to rebrand, with its storefront, social accounts and online site all being rebranded to "The Trainer Court" over the coming days. The previous design featured a stylized Pokéball logo that is now being replaced by a simple "C" colored in green.

In a statement posted to Instagram, the newly-retitled Trainer Court thanked fans for support "amidst the robbery and beyond" but said it was now having to change its name and logo due to a complaint from Nintendo.

"The short story is Nintendo reached out to us with concerns about our name and logo," The Trainer Court wrote. "This means we're evolving! Same team, same ridiculous hit rate, and soon, even greater things coming your way."

The post has already gained plenty of further support for the outlet, with more than 2000 likes at the time of writing and a comment praising the business from Sarah Natochenny, the voice actress who previously provided the voice of Ash Ketchum in Pokémon's animated TV series.

Numerous stores selling Pokémon cards have been hit by robberies over the past year, including locations in Boston, Los Angeles and Seattle. In December, $100,000 worth of stock was swiped from a store in Burbank — an incident that Californian cops suspected was linked to "half a dozen" similar thefts within the southern half of the state. Separately, IGN has reported on numerous other examples that have also occured nationwide over the past 12 months.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Is Crimson Desert an RPG? Does it even matter? What is an RPG anyway? Those are questions sparked by the hotly anticipated “open-world action-adventure” game as it nears release, and it’s fair to say there is a variety of opinion.

Let’s start with developer Pearl Abyss’ official description of its own game:

Crimson Desert is an open-world action-adventure game set in the beautiful yet brutal continent of Pywel. Embark on a journey as the Greymane Kliff and restore what has been lost. Explore uncharted lands, fight against threats that stand in your way, and discover the wonders the world has in store.

Pearl Abyss does not call Crimson Desert an RPG here. Nor does it call the game a ‘soulslike,’ which I’ve seen some wonder about. It’s an “open-world action-adventure” game, and it’s as simple as that. But why are people wondering if it’s an RPG in the first place?

X / Twitter user Synth Potato kicked things off by posting about how progression works in Crimson Desert, declaring the game not to be an RPG. That’s because it doesn’t have levels or experience points, which we associate with role-playing games. Rather, new abilities are gained by finding artifacts out in the world, and you can buy or craft better gear. This places Crimson Desert firmly in the action-adventure category, according to this analysis, and not in the RPG category.

But does this mean Crimson Desert cannot also be considered an RPG? Some say that playing as a character in an open world who can progress, even in this form, makes Crimson Desert a role-playing game. Levels and XP are not needed for it to be so, they say. But, following that, does that mean all open-world games are RPGs? Is GTA? Is Red Dead Redemption 2? What about The Legend of Zelda? Link doesn’t level up with experience points, but lots of people call The Legend of Zelda an RPG series.

It’s worth noting that, like in The Legend of Zelda games, in Crimson Desert you play a set protagonist (the wonderfully named Kliff) and experience a set story. You’re not making big decisions here that change the course of events, or determine which ending you’ll get. It’s a more fixed experience, although there is freedom of exploration within it.

“I think everyone is aware it’s not marketed as [an RPG],” a fan said. “It’s still got a ton of RPG systems. Gear score, skill points to progress skill trees and stats to increase for builds.” “It absolutely does have RPG elements,” added another. “What makes an RPG has become a very unclear line as well with how many action adventure games are RPGs.” "It’s more akin to Just Cause or Shadow of Mordor, which is just what I wanted," commented one fan.

I think this is one of the reasons why they’re being really careful to not call it a RPG. That term has expectations from the player that crimson desert doesn’t have. CD definitely strikes me as an open world action adventure with an incredibly fun combat sandbox https://t.co/7guY0AsEE2

— Ms5000Watts (@Ms5000Watts) February 17, 2026

Perhaps the last word should go to Pearl Abyss itself. Will Powers, director of marketing at Pearl Abyss America, recently told fans not to expect RPG elements in terms of decision-making and choice and consequence as it relates to your character in Crimson Desert. The sheer amount of things to do in the world will facilitate the role-playing part of the game instead, which players will form through “head canon.”

“You choose the type of character you want to play as in terms of your progression within the systems in the game,” Powers explained. “And then through head canon you’re having this very different experience than other players because of the scope and scale of the game. You’ll be distracted by something, you’ll go on this quest line, you’ll have an experience that’ll be radically different than someone else, even though they’re playing the same game and the same canonical storyline that you both are going through.”

And after the debate over whether Crimson Desert is an RPG or not went big online, Powers himself explained why Pearl Abyss doesn’t want to call it an RPG, even though it’s perfectly happy for fans to do so.

“Open world questing and action sandbox for sure,” Powers tweeted. Then, in response to someone who said it should be made clear that Crimson Desert is not an RPG to avoid mismanaged expectations, Powers said: “honestly.... it's not my place to dictate someone else's experience. If because of good amount of RPG elements in the game, they want to call it an RPG... Sure. I'm just explaining why WE don't call it one.”

Crimson Desert is due out March 19 priced $69.99. Pearl Abyss recently confirmed it does not contain a cosmetic cash shop nor microtransactions of any kind.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Bethesda has issued a new patch to address issues plaguing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's Nintendo Switch 2 port.

Bethesda shadowdropped the The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Anniversary Edition for Switch 2 last December. However, just a day after Bethesda announced and launched The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on Nintendo Switch 2, fans reported that the game had arrived with notable performance issues. There were widespread complaints about input lag and the locked 30 frames per second visuals. And there has been criticism, too, of the fact the game hogs 53GB of space on the Switch 2's relatively limited internal memory, compared to just 25GB on PC.

Update 1.2 addresses many of the complaints players have raised over the last couple of months, including adding a new 60 Hz mode, improved FPS performance, fixed "visual issues," and more. Here's the full list.

Skyrim Switch 2 Update 1.2 patch notes:

Features:

• Added a 60 Hz mode under Display settings that allows players to toggle between “Prioritize Visuals” or “Prioritize Performance”.
• In addition, frame rate has been locked at 30 Hz in “Prioritize Visuals” mode for smoother gameplay.

Crashes and Performance Fixes:

• Fixed a crash that occurred when reading “The Crimson Dirks Vol. 4” book for the “Tilted Scales” quest in German.
• Fixed an audio-related crash.
• Fixed a crash, infinite load, and game freeze that sometimes occurred when rapidly selecting “Load” multiple times in the pause menu.
• Fixed a crash that occurred when the “Transmute Ore” spell was repeatedly cast outside of the Haltered Stream Camp.

Improved FPS performance drops that occurred in the following locations:

• during the Hide and Seek quest in Kynesgrove
• during combat at Secunda’s Kiss
• when discovering the “Drelas’ Cottage” location
• when engaged in combat with a giant at the Talking Stone Camp.

Visuals Issues Fixes:

• Viewing water planes from a distance or within menus caused them to shift up and down.
• Distant aspen trees appeared with a blue tint.
• Transitioning out of caves caused an outline of the entrance to linger during the fade-to-back loading screen.

User Interface Fixes:

• Switching between mouse and controller mode while in dialogue or the Help menu, caused different options to be highlighted.
• Switching between mouse and controller mode while in help menus or user hints, did not dynamically update callout prompts.
• The “Ready/Sheathe” option was missing from the Joy-Con 2 Mouse Controls menu.
• The “Delete” prompt remained grayed-out within the Load menu when swapping between mouse and controller mode.
• Deleting a save in the Save/Load menus reset the highlighted selection to the top of the menu list.
• While in mouse mode, the cursor remained stuck within a smaller section of the screen when changing between docked/undocked modes or interfacing with GameChat.

Controls Fixes:

• The “Eagle Eye” Archery perk remained active after switching between mouse and controller mode.
• Holding down the Right Joystick while reassigning a button caused that button to disappear from the Controls list.
• The Joy-Con 2 controllers provided haptic feedback while in mouse mode.
• Buttons became unresponsive when controls were remapped while moving the Joy-Con 2 controllers in mouse mode.
• Rotating the map in mouse mode was slower and less smooth than in controller mode.

Audio Issue Fix:

• Scrolling SFX continued to play while holding up or down on the Left Joystick or buttons at the top or bottom of the Save/Load menus.

Localization Fixes:

• “Amiibo” appeared as plural in Spanish.

Miscellaneous:

• Added new translations for the features listed above and UI updates.
• Updates were made to the game credits.

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.

Kunal Nayyar has said he's spending some of millions he made playing Raj Koothrappali in The Big Bang Theory to anonymously pay random people's medical bills.

The actor played Raj in all 12 seasons of the former CBS comedy, and reportedly earned $1 million an episode during the show's peak. Now worth an estimated $45 million, the actor has said that he's spending some of his fortune secretly paying people's medical bills while browsing the internet in the dead of night.

"Money has given me greater freedom and the greatest gift is the ability to give back, to change people's lives," Nayyar said in an interview with The i Paper published in December that has now gone viral online.

"We also support animal charities because we love dogs," he continued. "But what I really love to do is go on GoFundMe at night and just pay random families' medical bills. That's my masked vigilante thing! So, no, money doesn't feel like a burden. It feels like a grace from the universe."

Nayyar's charitable giving has gained interest online now in the wake of the GoFundMe campaign set up to support the family of James Van Der Beek, the Dawson's Creek star who died earlier this month aged just 48. That campaign ended up raising $2.6 million.

The Big Bang Theory ended in 2019 after 279 episodes, but not before it spawned the successful prequel series Young Sheldon — which in turn now has its own spinoff, Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage. A fourth show, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, has begun filming and stars Stuart the comic book store owner.

Image credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Zach Cregger, director of Weapons and Barbarian, was given complete "carte blanche to do whatever he wanted" with the Resident Evil franchise.

Cregger's upcoming Resident Evil movie adaptation is not expected to feature any familiar characters, or adapt any specific Resident Evil game — a departure from the series' previous big screen adaptations that have featured famous faces such as Leon S. Kennedy and Chris Redfield, and repeatedly retold the various games' plots.

Most fans will be familiar with the six films directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and starring Milla Jovovich. These adapted bits and pieces of Capcom's Resident Evil games, culminating in the 2016 movie Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. The series was then rebooted in 2021's Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City with a younger cast, though this movie flopped and its intended sequel plans were scrapped.

Now, Resident Evil is being rebooted again, with Cregger on board and given the green light to go in a very different direction.

"With Resident Evil, we have had an incredible journey with one of the most successful international IPs of more than a billion dollars in box office for many years," Oliver Berben of production company Constantin Film told Deadline. "Now we are creating something new, not just a new story idea, but to allow a new generation to take the IP into their own hands and form something different."

Discussing the project's current editing process in more detail, Berben said the movie was notable for being "far away from everything that is connected to Resident Evil, only because Zach Cregger has his own style."

Speaking about the project last year, Cregger himself said his movie would be "obedient to the lore of the games," but also a different story from anything shown in Capcom's franchise previously. "I'm not going to tell Leon's story, because Leon's story is told in the games," he said. "[Fans] already have that."

Cregger is writing and directing the movie, which is currently set to launch on September 18, 2026, with Euphoria and Wolfs actor Austin Abrams and Fantastic Four: The First Steps' Paul Walter Hauser lined up to star.

Back in the world of Resident Evil video games, we're just a week away from the launch of the highly-anticipated Resident Evil Requiem — and yes, spoilers are already out there after early copies leaked.

Image credit: Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

The Boys Season 5 is set to bring the hugely popular Prime Video series to an end and fans are wondering which characters will die and which will survive. According to Karl Urban, who plays Billy Butcher, character deaths will come thick and fast — and "nobody is safe."

Speaking to Variety, Urban told fans they should look forward to The Boys “coming to a big crescendo” when the fifth and final season hits Prime Video on April 8 with a two-episode launch. He wouldn’t point to any specific moment as jaw-dropping, no doubt to avoid spoilers, but did say there are plenty of shocking moments to come.

“Every season, but particularly this season, from episode one, you’re like, oh wow,” he said. “Nobody is safe. Fatalities right from the get-go. Let’s go! Last season! It’s all on!”

(I did enjoy Urban saying "fatalities" here, given he plays Johnny Cage in the upcoming Mortal Kombat 2 movie!)

Shocking moments are The Boys’ trademark, so we can expect plenty of over-the-top, gore-filled scenes. But who might die? The main character fans are wondering about here is Homelander, who starts Season 5 ruling over the United States with an iron fist.

The Season 5 trailer, below, revolves around Butcher rallying the troops as The Boys mount a fightback against Homelander, played by Antony Starr. Everyone seems up for it, although it very much looks like not everyone will make it out of the end of Season 5 alive. Keep an eye out for Jensen Ackles' Soldier Boy, who is back on ice and watched over by Homelander. Speaking of Homelander, we see him beat someone, or something, to a bloody pulp. A glimpse at a big name character death, perhaps?

Here’s the official blurb on The Boys Season 5:

In the fifth and final season, it’s Homelander’s world, completely subject to his erratic, egomaniacal whims. Hughie, Mother’s Milk, and Frenchie are imprisoned in a “Freedom Camp.” Annie struggles to mount a resistance against the overwhelming Supe force. Kimiko is nowhere to be found. But when Butcher reappears, ready and willing to use a virus that will wipe all Supes off the map, he sets in motion a chain of events that will forever change the world and everyone in it. It’s the climax, people. Big stuff’s gonna happen.

Season 5 not only follows on from the end of Season 4, but Season 2 of spinoff Gen V. Fans were left wondering how the incredibly powerful Marie from Gen V might fare in a showdown with overpowered The Boys supervillain Homelander. Showrunner and executive producer Eric Kripke has said in the past, however, that fans shouldn’t expect Marie to appear in The Boys Season 5 as a Captain Marvel-style deus ex machina who kicks Homelander’s ass. That’s because Marie still hasn’t mastered her powers, or as Kripke has put it in a number of Gen V Season 2 finale spoiler interviews, she’s not Neo at the end of The Matrix.

For a much deeper dive on all this, check out IGN’s Gen V Season 2 Ending Explained: How It Sets Up the Final Season of The Boys article, but to summarize, Marie can control blood, which potentially makes her more powerful even than Homelander. Homelander, for the uninitiated, is a sort of evil Superman, a character so overpowered that few rivals dare question his word. But Marie Moreau, played by Jaz Sinclair, has the potential to kill him due to her ability to command and weaponize blood.

The big question, of course, is whether Homelander actually dies in The Boys Season 5. Kripke told THR last year that Butcher is “front of that line” when it comes to characters wanting to take Homelander out. But then there’s the likes of Stan Edgar, the aforementioned Marie, Annie, and Huey who would no doubt all like a piece of the action.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Harry Potter movie star Daniel Radcliffe has said that the franchise's new TV actors should be allowed to "get on with it" — without people asking about himself, Rupert Grint, or Emma Watson.

Speaking to ScreenRant, Radcliffe said that the TV series' young stars shouldn't be asked — or compared to — their predecessors, as he didn't want to be "weird spectral phantoms" in their lives.

It's a sentiment that Radcliffe has expressed before, when revealing he had penned a note to the new Harry Potter actor, 11-year-old Dominic McLaughlin. In a separate interview, Rupert Grint said that he had done similar for the new actor playing Ron Weasley. Now, though, Radcliffe has said that the TV series' actors would be best served by letting them focus on their own adaptation, which will be "new" and "different."

"When these kids got cast, there was a huge thing on the internet around the world, people being like 'we've got to look after these kids.' And I was like, if you mean that, one of the things you can do for me is not ask about us — me, Emma, Rupert — the whole time," Radcliffe said.

"I would like not to be weird spectral phantoms in these children's lives and just to let them get on with it. Because it is going to be a new thing and it's going to be a different thing, and they're going to be — I mean, I'm sure Dominic is going to be better than me and better than I was."

HBO's new Harry Potter TV series is expected to debut in early 2027 with an eight-episode first season. Filming began last summer, with various glimpses spotted by fans including work on fresh scenes not from the prior movies or books. Indeed, just this month we learned that we'll be seeing more of Draco Malfoy's home life, as the show won't be told from "over Harry's shoulder" like the books or movies.

As for other big changes, the show plans feature John Lithgow's Dumbledore meeting Nicolas Flamel, reintroduce History of Magic lessons with Richard Durden as Professor Binns, while Lucius Malfoy, Draco’s father played by Johnny Flynn, is expected to join the story in the first season of the show, before his introduction in the books and movies.

"I learned as I went, y'know, whatever," Radcliffe said of his performances as the boy wizard, honed over eight movies and over a decade of production. "I look back on what I did now with a lot more kindness and I find it less embarrassing now that I'm older, but I was very much learning how to do it for a long time on Potter. And [to McLaughlin] I'd just say, 'I hope you have the best time'."

Last year, Sophie Turner, who began playing Sansa Stark on HBO's Game of Thrones aged just 13, offered some words of warning for McLaughlin — as well as Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton, who will play Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, respectively — after saying that growing up in the spotlight "almost destroyed" her.

Image credit: Bruce Glikas/WireImage.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Konami has removed two Metal Gear games, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, from digital storefronts.

The Japanese company finally revealed Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 at last week's State of Play showcase, promising to re-release Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for PC and consoles this August. While it's exciting that two classic tactical espionage action titles are getting touch-ups, more importantly, it means MGS4 will finally be playable on something other than PS3 when the collection launches August 27, 2026.

Shortly after that announcement, however, players noticed that the two games included in the collection had been pulled from the PlayStation and Xbox stores.

It could be that Konami has removed the older games to avoid confusion when pre-ordering the new collection. A less charitable interpretation is that the publisher has removed the original versions to funnel sales towards the new one. Even though the games were only available on very old systems like PSP, PS3, and Xbox 360, Metal Gear Solid 4 had previously been streamable on PlayStation.

IGN has asked Konami for comment.

Konami released Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 in October 2023. Mixed in with the troubled launch of the first bundle was a leak, as confirmed by IGN, suggesting more MGS re-releases were on the way, but it wasn’t until August 2024 that the publisher would finally tell fans to “stay tuned.”

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 is coming to PC via Steam, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X/S. While we wait to see if Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 will have a more stable launch than its predecessor, you can read about what Konami is doing to reassure players.

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.

Marvel star Chris Hemsworth has confirmed there are plans for him to still play Thor "a couple of times" after this year's Avengers: Doomsday.

Speaking on the SmartLess podcast with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett, Hemsworth suggested audiences would see him portray the fan-favorite Norse god for some time yet.

It's a surprising revelation, not least because Avengers: Doomsday is expected to be an apocalyptic affair, where the fates of many Marvel characters will likely hang in the balance. But it also serves to reverse the narrative on Hemsworth being ready to hang up his hammer — a narrative Hemsworth initially sparked himself by saying he was "ready to close the book" on the character, before more recently walking that sentiment back.

"It's been so much fun," Hemsworth said, via The Playlist, after confirming there were plans for him to return post-Doomsday more than once. "Unlike a lot of what the other characters that the [actors] were given, they have had to be pretty consistent — whereas working with Taika Waititi on his films versus Kenneth Branagh with those films and then with the Russos, all [the films] had quite a different sort of tonal opinion."

"I was talking to Kevin Feige about it, and he said it's cool because the audience now expects dramatic turns with the character," he continued. "And whatever we do next — we've got some ideas to do something pretty unique again and hopefully be [different]."

The recent Thor-focused Avengers: Doomsday trailer (that's not a trailer but actually a piece of narrative information, apparently) featured a somber take on the character, far removed from the wackier version seen in the widely-panned Thor: Love and Thunder. Hemsworth has discussed the failings of that movie before, but doubled down on them again here, acknowledging that it had taken the silliness too far.

"You do need to be careful," Hemsworth said. "When we made Ragnarök, it was quite a twist, with Taika's [film]. And it was so fun. There was a huge appreciation for the shift. And then Love And Thunder, it was kind of like a Monty Python sketch, and we took the piss probably a little much, and then there was some backlash. There was this real kind of, 'Why is he a goofball and why is it like this?' And, [audiences] violently offended and we were like, 'Oh, we're just having fun or trying to try something different.'"

Of course, Thor is expected (but not yet confirmed) to return after Avengers: Doomsday in its forthcoming sequel Avengers: Secret Wars. Marvel has said very little of its plans for films after that, though we know that it is rebooting X-Men and plans to make Black Panther 3. It's hard to imagine Thor appearing in either of those. Does this mean we're getting a more grounded Thor 5, then? And what will its story be?

Already, fans are wondering whether this means Hemsworth's character definitely survives the events of Doomsday and Secret Wars — or not. One storyline could see him fall in battle and end up in Valhalla, which would also reunite him with Jane and Heimdall. There's also the dangling plot thread of Hercules to resolve — perhaps he ends up in Valhalla also? But these are ideas which we'll need to wait several years still to see. As a reminder, Avengers: Doomsday lands in theaters on December 18 this year, before Avengers: Secret Wars opens on December 17, 2027.

Image credit: Lisa O'Connor/AFP via Getty Images.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Monster Hunter Wilds patch 1.041 is now live, and it's a big one.

Marking the game's anniversary, from now until March 18, there'll be a login bonus plus rotations of past Festivals of Accord. And, as we learned last week, we're also getting the Arch-Tempered Arkveld, 10-star Arc-Tempered monsters, a special collaboration with Monster Hunter Stories 3 — a spin-off series that releases next month — plus an anniversary event where all previous awards and quests will be "re-available."

We also learned last week that Monster Hunter Wilds will welcome a "large-scale" expansion later this year. Addressing fans in a video celebrating the open-world adventure game's first anniversary, series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto teased that this expansion will be similar to Monster Hunter World's Iceborne add-on, but was otherwise coy about the details. He did, however, stress that this will be the "final update" for the monster hunting game.

Monster Hunter Wilds has had something of a bumpy ride. Title Update 4 arrived at the end of last year and ushered in a long list of gameplay and balance changes, as well as CPU/GPU improvements, load reduction, and the optimization of "PC-specific processes and addition of options and presets to reduce processing load." A development roadmap, detailed in December, outlined plans to address the myriad issues impacting the PC version.

Note that you won't be able to access DLC or play online multiplayer until this update has been installed. Steam users are also advised to update to driver versions to NVIDIA GeForce 581.57 (or newer) or AMD Radeon: 25.9.1. (or newer). "Some issues have been identified with AMD Radeon drivers versions 25.10.2 and higher on certain PCs using AMD Radeon graphics cards such as the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT/7800 XT," the team warned.

Full patch notes for Monster Hunter Wilds Ver.1.041.00.00 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S

Release Date

• Wednesday February 18, 2026 2:30 a.m. UTC (Tuesday February 17, 2026 6:30 p.m. PT)
• Note: Release date and time are subject to change without prior notice.

Required Space (Current Update Only)

• PlayStation5: Approx. 13.0 GB
• Xbox Series X|S: Approx. 16.0 GB
• Steam: Approx. 15.0 GB (With High Resolution Texture Pack: Approx. 18.0 GB total)
• Note: Make sure to have enough additional storage to allow for slight differences in final size.

Major Additions and Changes

• – Arch-tempered Arkveld has been added as a permanent Event Quest.
• – New 10★ difficulty quests have been added as permanent event quests for the following monsters: Arch-tempered Rey Dau, Arch-tempered Uth Duna, Arch-tempered Nu Udra, and Arch-tempered Jin Dahaad.

• – New equipment and pendants have been added.

• – Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection Special Collaboration side mission "A Royal Request" has been added. This side mission will become available after reaching HR 9+.
• – New side mission "Love for a Hero" has been added. This side mission will become available after completing the extra mission "Ghosts Pay No Heed to Tomorrow" and then talking to Nadia and Mina.

• – Added a new feature to the Melding Pot that allows you to meld Gogma materials.
• – Added a new feature that allows you to earn random ingredients at the Ingredient Center after reaching HR 9.
• – New Appraisal Items called "Timeworn Charms" have been added to quest rewards. (No changes have been made to the attributes of Talismans earned. Chances of receiving Talismans with high rarity are increased when using Timeworn Charms.)
• – Increased the maximum number of Pop-Up Camps for the Windward Plains, the Scarlet Forest, and the Oilwell Basin. (This will be unlocked by talking to the Pop-up Camp Meowster or the Support Desk after completing the assignment "Germination".)
• – Added an option to the Barrel Bowling results screen that allows you to retry immediately. An option has also been added that allows you to use 10 Barrel Bowling Vouchers and receive all rewards at once.
• – Adjusted the parameters of the Blossom Barrel Bombs used in Barrel Bowling to behave differently from the Large Barrel Bombs used out in the field. In accordance with this adjustment, new placement patterns have also been added.
• – Reduced the waiting time between throws in Barrel Bowling, so that players can throw the second barrel while the results of the first throw are still being displayed.

• – Reduced CPU/GPU processing and made adjustments to lower the load on the game.
  – Added internal Levels of Detail (LOD) for 3D models, adjusting them to display optimal quality based on the situation to reduce GPU load.
  – Optimized monster and endemic life spawn-time processing to reduce CPU load.
  – Added effect caching to decrease CPU load when generating duplicate effects.
  – Optimized rendering processes to reduce CPU/GPU load.
  – Performed other minor adjustments to lower the overall load.
• – The following 9★ event quests have been made permanently available:
  – The White Wonder
  – Ultimate Berserker
  – The Monkey King
  – Sovereign Brute
  – There Goes the Neighborhood
• – Added a new special environment quest. (This quest will become available after completing the existing three special environment quests as well as the 10★ Arch-tempered Arkveld event quest.)
• – When quick-accessing "Quest Last Played" on the top screen at the Quest Counter, the default departure point will now be set to the last departure point used. (If the last departure point used is not available, the player will start from the base camp as usual.)
• – Adjusted the display for event quests to make it clearer that the player is offline on the screens for accepting or joining a quest.
• – Added a Refresh button to the search results list for SOS Flare Quests.
• – Added Thai as a text language. Text language can be changed in the title menu options.
• – Added Latin American Spanish as a voice language. Voice language can be changed in the title menu options.
• – Added a "Favorited Items Safeguard" feature to the Start Menu options. This will lock the confirm button for specific facilities so that the player cannot use items that are registered as favorites. (Note: This setting can be changed back to "Require Confirmation" on the same options screen.)
• – Added a shortcut button for checking the details before registering an equipment loadout for shared loadouts on the Invitation List screen.
• – Added a shortcut button for going back and forth between the "Upgrade from Box" screen and "Transcending" screen at the Smithy.
• – Adjusted the UI for when the player approaches a Hunting Assistant (Werner or Gemma) in the field, making it easier to distinguish between the positions of Werner or Gemma and their hunting tools.
• – All nine permanent event quests that were only playable online have been made available for offline play as well. (Please refer to the Event Quest schedule for more details.)
  – Heart of Judecca (Arch-tempered Jin Dahaad)
  – Specter of Their Sins (Gogmazios), etc.
• - All 29 event quests that yield equipment materials and that were only available for a limited time have been made permanent and playable offline. (Please refer to the event quest schedule for more details.)

• – Made adjustments that should prevent the Handler from pushing the hunter while out in the field during hunts or exploration. An option to hide them completely during a hunt was also added.

Bug Fixes and Balance Adjustments

• – Fixed an issue preventing some pins from being displayed and the score from being tallied correctly if the player throws a barrel right before starting Barrel Bowling.

• – Fixed an issue where the outcome of a turf war between Lagiacrus and Rathalos would differ between players.
• – Fixed an issue where a weak point appeared at the incorrect timing during a Rompopolo's toxic gas attack.
• – Fixed an issue where Compact Anti-Wyvern Guns that fall to the ground sometimes wouldn't appear under specific conditions during the Gogmazios quest.
• – Fixed an issue in Jin Dahaad, Tempered Jin Dahaad, and Arch-tempered Jin Dahaad quests where, under certain conditions, only the monster would move to the final area, preventing quest progression.

• General
  • – Fixed an issue preventing the correct system messages from being displayed when a skill effect ends due to the player switching weapons.
  • – Fixed an issue where Fabius could get hit by the player's slinger during Gogmazios's special attack.
• Sword & Shield
  • – Fixed an issue causing some items to disappear temporarily from the Radial Menu when using items like traps and such while the sword & shield are unsheathed.
• Dual Blades
  • – Fixed an issue where landing a Focus Strike with the Dual Blades on Gogmazios while airborne caused the player to move erratically.
• Bowguns
  • – Fixed an issue causing unintended elemental effects to be displayed on Artian weapons.
• Skills
  • – Fixed an issue that caused an elemental resistance increase icon to appear when the "Protective Veil I" skill was active, despite the skill not having that effect.
• Support Hunters
  • – Fixed an issue where Support Hunters may fire Compact Anti-Wyvern Guns away from Gogmazios while riding Seikret.
  • – Fixed an issue where Support Hunters may stop to carve Gogmazios's severed tail during the quest.
  • – Fixed an issue where Fabius would stop guarding if the quest leader changed during Gogmazios's special attack.
  • – Fixed an issue where the direction of Fabius's guard would deviate from the intended direction during Gogmazios's special attack.
  • – Fixed an issue where Support Hunters would not take cover during Jin Dahaad's large area-of-effect attack.
  • – Fixed an issue where Support Hunters would attack Omega Planetes instead of the Nerscylla while it was charging the Delta Attack.
  • – Fixed an issue where Support Hunters inside a shield could still take damage during Omega Planetes’s Delta Attack.
  • – Fixed an issue that caused Support Hunters to be unable to get in or out of the underwater combat area during the Lagiacrus hunt.

• System
  • – During a Field Survey, if the player deals extensive damage to a large monster that isn't the current quest target, the health value conditions that would prevent that monster from becoming a target in a subsequent Field Survey have been relaxed.
  • – Fixed an issue where unnecessary chat logs (indicating monsters leaving the locale) could display during a Special Environment Quest in which the environment contains a monster of the same species as large monsters that are already designed to appear in that quest.
  • – Fixed an issue where the Cosmetic DLC Pass text was not displaying correctly under Add-ons in the Support Desk menu.
  • – Fixed an issue where the pattern thickness for the "Whitewing Caparison" decoration could not be adjusted in Seikret Customization.
  • – Added a fix to correct weapon performance when unintended bonus combinations are applied during reinforcement of Artian Weapons or Gogma Artian Weapons.
  • – We have implemented a solution to reduce the load time experienced at startup when the user has a large number of add-ons.
• Locales
  • – Fixed an issue that sometimes caused Pitfall Traps or Shock Traps to disappear after being placed in certain areas in the Windward Plains.
  • – Fixed an issue that would sometimes cause two Convergent Elderbreaker cannons to appear under specific conditions during the Gogmazios quest.
• Other
  • – Fixed an issue where some voice lines would not trigger properly.
  • – Fixed various text issues.
  • – Fixed other miscellaneous issues.

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.