Embark Studios has released the first Title Update for ARC Raiders and shared its full patch notes. So, let’s see what this update brings to the table. Patch 1.1.0 mainly focuses on fixing some bugs. It does not pack any balance tweaks or performance improvements. Going into more details, the patch fixes a problem where … Continue reading First ARC Raiders Title Update Released – Full Patch Notes→
Each year, LEGO releases a major new set right around Black Friday. This year’s late November release has just been announced: the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D ship from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The ship is nearly two feet long and, just like in the show, it has a detachable command saucer. It's not available for preorder, but will be available to buy November 28 on the LEGO Store, for $399.99.
LEGO Icons Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D
The ship has a secondary hull and warp nacelles with red and blue detailing. It also has an opening shuttlebay and two mini shuttlepods.
Speaking of shuttlepods, if you buy the set between November 28 - December 1, you’ll receive the minifigure-scale LEGO Icons Star Trek Type-15 Shuttlepod (set #40768) for free as a Gift With Purchase. Of the set, LEGO says, "Exterior details include the vehicle name, Onizuka, and the interior features a depiction of an LCARS system display with the Stardate 45076.3 and a schematic of a Romulan spacecraft. This set also includes an Ensign Ro Laren minifigure."
Star Trek Minifigures Included
LEGO Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise comes with nine minifigures. Each minifigure comes with its own accessory, be it Spot the cat or a trombone with stand. Here's the full list:
Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Commander William Rier
Lieutenant Worf
Lieutenant Commander Data
Dr. Beverly Crusher
Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge
Counsellor Deanna Troi
Bartender Guinan
Wesley Crusher
Since this is a LEGO set for adults, it comes with a buildable display stand and an informational placard, plus a minifigure display tile that says “Star Trek: The Next Generation” on it.
Previous LEGO Black Friday Sets
In case you're wondering about previous LEGO Black Friday sets, here's a rundown of what's been released over the past few years:
Nintendo has revealed fresh details of Pokémon Legends: Z-A's upcoming Mega Dimension DLC, which stars two new variants of Pikachu evolution Raichu.
Today's trailer notably confirms a release date for Mega Dimension: December 10. We also got to see our first look at more new Mega Evolutions coming to Pokémon Legends: Z-A as part of the DLC: Mega Chimecho and Mega Baxcalibur.
Mega Dimension sees players enter Hyperspace Lumiose with the help of dimension portal Pokémon Hoopa. "At a glance, Hyperspace Lumiose may resemble the real Lumiose, but it’s a very different place," the trailer's description reveals. And indeed, this version of the city holds a big difference — here, Pokémon can temporarily be boosted beyond their normal Level 100 limit.
Visit a strange new dimension! #PokemonLegendsZA – Mega Dimension is slated for release on Wednesday, December 10, 2025.
With the help of new character Ansha, a donut chef, players can feed their Pokémon mystical sweet treats that over-level their critters within Hyperspace Lumiose's mysterious limits. Pokémon X and Y gym leader Korrina will also appear as an ally.
The trailer states that the Mega Stone to unlock Mega Baxcalibur will be distributed in Season 4 of the game's online ranked battles, following the similar release of Mega Stones for Mega Greninja, Mega Delphox and Mega Chesnaught.
An extra side mission within Pokémon Legends Z-A is also now available, which will provide the Mega Stone for Mythical creature Diancie. "Shine Bright like a Gemstone" will become playable today for all owners of the game, regardless of whether you have bought its DLC, or whether you get its Rihanna reference.
Modder ‘Kittytail’ has released a multi-hour DLC-sized fan expansion for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition. As with all fan expansions, this mod adds new free content to the game. So, if you’re currently replaying Skyrim, you should definitely check it out. In Midnight Sun, players will venture into the Boreal Valley and overcome … Continue reading Skyrim Just Got a Massive Multi-Hour Fan Expansion Mod→
In recent years, we've seen Hasbro unleash several pop culture crossovers between the Transformers franchise and other popular movies and shows. But now the company is revealing its strangest pop culture mash-up yet. Literally. IGN can exclusively reveal the first photos and details for the Transformers x Stranger Things Freakwency and 8-Trax set.
This new collaboration is inspired by Stranger Things' upcoming fifth and final season. Freakwency is a new character modeled on the WSQK van driven by Millie Bobby Brown's Elle and the gang in the show, while 8-Trax transforms from an 8-track tape to a hawk. Check out the slideshow gallery below for a closer look at this intriguing new set:
Freakwency is a 6-inch robot who transforms into van mode in 16 steps, while 8-Trax transforms between tape and hawk in 8 steps (and can also fit inside Freakwency's chest while in tape mode). This set also includes a blaster accessory for Freakwency that can transform into a rubber chicken.
The Transformers x Stranger Things Freakwency and 8-Trax set is priced at $57.99 and will be available exclusively through Target. Preorders are open on the Target website now.
Kicking off our top 10 with the first of many Showcase cards, Darius, Hand of Noxus is a Legend card ‘signed’ by artist Peter Kim. Still waiting on that ‘Dunk’ skin, though…
Another card that’s sold for under market value, this Signature variant of Leona, Radiant Dawn’s darker tinting makes it look incredible. Its value is over $1,000, though!
3: Ahri, Nine-Tailed Fox (Signature) - $1,100
A Legend that debuffs attacking foes, Ahri, Nine-Tailed Fox (Signature) has some incredible artwork, and it’s just hit $1,100 for market value.
2: Lee Sin - Blind Monk (Alternate Art) - $1,164
Lee Sin - Blind Monk (Alternate Art) was the chase card for the game’s first set, with the Champion reaching $1,200 in pre-launch pricing, but he’s been knocked from his pedestal…
1: Jinx, Loose Cannon (Signature) - $1,199.99
Just beating out Lee Sin, Jinx, Loose Cannon (Signature) sees the Arcane star sitting at the top of the pile. If you packed her, congratulations - you’re sitting on a cool $1,200.
That makes it tricky to pick products up for its usual price, so be sure to skip aggressively marked-up offerings - we’re expecting that Riot is working to stock retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy as quickly as it can.
For now, it's only available directly through Riot (when in stock, and with around a $20 shipping fee), or via trusted resale sites like TCGPlayer.
Sadly, as the first set of Riot’s first card game hits shelves, it’s being snapped up by scalpers and put on the secondary market.
It’s a standard practice in TCGs, but Riot is reportedly printing more. If you can hold out, there will be more product.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He's a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife's dismay.
Warner Bros. Discovery has announced a new Gremlins movie, due out in 2027.
During a financial call, David Zaslav, CEO and President of Warner Bros. Discovery, said the new Gremlins movie will launch on November 19, 2027, with Steven Spielberg involved as an executive producer.
Original Gremlins writer Chris Columbus returns to both direct and executive prodiuce this new entry in the series. Plot details and cast information remain under wraps.
Gremlins is a much-loved 1984 comedy horror movie written by Columbus and starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, and Hoyt Axton. It tells the story of Billy Peltzer, who receives Gizmo the Mogwai as a pet as a Christmas present from his father. After getting wet, Gizmo spawns more Gremlins who go on to terrorize the fictional, snowy American town of Kingston Falls, Pennsylvania.
Gremlins 2: The New Batch followed in 1990, with Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates reprising their roles, this time with the Gremlins causing havoc in New York.
And that's where the Gremlins movie series ends, with a prequel animated series coming out in 2023. Season 1, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, is set in 1920s Shanghai, China, and tells the story of how 10-year-old Sam Wing met Gizmo. Season 2, Gremlins: The Wild Batch, came out last year.
Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP.
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.
“Wouldn’t it be cool if BLANK met BLANK?” is a question fans have asked each other for a long time, and occasionally we get an actual, official answer. Whether it be two different rival comic book companies joining forces for a big crossover, a hodgepodge of outside IP inclusions in a fighting game, or two slasher icons finally facing off thanks to the rights to one of them swapping studios, we’ve seen some notable events of this sort through the years. Then the MCU caused an explosion in the idea of a shared movie universe akin to what comic books have long offered, with the likes of the Conjuring Universe, the DCEU (and now the DCU), and more exploring a larger world that allows for characters and concepts to freely interact with each other across multiple projects. Still, Alien and Predator deserve credit for being early to this idea, even as their own exploration of the concept has ebbed and flowed a lot through the decades.
Now, the new film Predator: Badlands is getting attention for its prominent use of Weyland-Yutani, the organization that has been a major part of the Alien franchise since the start. Yet this is hardly the first time Alien and Predator have bled over…and sometimes bled on…each other, with a history that includes everything from fun easter eggs to outright direct crossovers across multiple media. So let’s look back at the history of these two franchises intersecting, and the long road to the idea becoming officially integrated into the core canon films.
It’s All Thanks to Comic Books
The first Predator movie came out in 1987, eight years after the original Alien. A big hit in its own right, Predator’s timing was also notable, coming out just a year removed from the major success of 1986’s Aliens, the first Alien sequel. There were some innate, albeit basic, similarities in the films, beginning on the corporate side. Both movies were owned and released by 20th Century Fox, something that would prove to be key to allowing crossovers without the legal hurdles that can often curtail such a thing. But more than that, both films were about a visually distinctive and notably dangerous alien creature fighting humans, and while the Alien movies were set in the future and Predator in the present, there was no reason to think either species hadn’t been around and would continue to be around for a long time.
In 1988, Dark Horse Comics began publishing Aliens-branded comic books, and it was a quick success, proving the appeal to that title beyond the films. Both 20th Century Fox and Dark Horse were clearly pleased with the results; in 1989, Dark Horse put out their first licensed Predator comic book limited series as well. Then, well, it’s actually quite impressive how quickly the two were pitted against each other, especially when you consider how new Predator was as a title at all.
There was no reason to think either species hadn’t been around and would continue to be around for a long time.
Dark Horse’s Chris Warner is credited with being the one to first suggest bringing the two extraterrestrial threats up against each other in comic book form, telling Syfy Wire in 2018, “It’s a pretty obvious idea. When you say, ‘Ali vs. Frazier, King Kong vs. Godzilla, Aliens vs. Predator,’ the ideas just exploded. You hear the adage, ‘It almost wrote itself.' Well, it almost wrote itself.”
As 1989 came to a close, a three-part storyline was launched in the black-and-white anthology series, Dark Horse Presents, except its true interconnected nature was saved for the end. In Dark Horse Presents #34, readers got an Aliens story, and then in issue #35, a Predator story. But then came Dark Horse Presents #36, with a cover that read “Aliens vs. Predator” among the list of that issue's stories and accompanying art showing one of each species in battle. And just like that, a major sub-franchise/spin-off connected to two other established franchises was born.
That first Dark Horse Presents story was in fact a lead-in to a full Aliens vs. Predator five-issue limited series, which launched in the summer of 1990. Some of the core elements of this comic, including the Predators hunting xenomorphs as a rite of passage, and a partnership forming between the intelligent Predators and a human (in this case, Machiko Noguchi, a colonist on the planet Ryushi) against the insect-like, monstrous Aliens, would be explored further and echoed in many other stories that followed.
That first limited series was a hit, and from then on, AVP (as it quickly became commonly referred to) was a go-to concept for Dark Horse, even as they continued to publish independent Aliens and Predator comics. For nearly 30 years, until the rights to both properties would change hands after Disney bought 20th Century Fox, and subsequent Alien and Predator comics would move to Marvel, Dark Horse would revisit Aliens vs. Predator in various limited series, one-shots, and short stories.
The First Movie Connection
When the initial Aliens vs. Predator limited series launched in 1990, it was a big year for Predator in general. Just as that comic series was wrapping up, Predator 2 hit theaters, and with it came the arrival of arguably one of the biggest and most tantalizing easter eggs in franchise movie history up to that point.
In Predator 2’s conclusion, LA cop Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) follows the Predator he’s been battling onto its ship, and comes across a trophy wall which is covered in skulls from previous successful Predator hunts. Some of these skulls are human, but many are from various alien species which were created just for Predator 2…except, most notably, a large freaking ALIEN skull that is very clearly in the shape of a xenomorph.
As someone who is old enough to remember, I can tell you that even in a pre-Internet era, seeing this huge connection between the two franchises actually appearing in a movie was a big deal, and immediately had many fans hyped for the implications and potential. For those of us who had been reading the Aliens vs. Predator comic especially, this seemed like a huge signal that a movie version was imminent, and how cool would that be!?
However, those involved have said there were no real conversations about making an Aliens vs. Predator movie at the time, and that the easter egg was intended as simply a fun reference, not a promise of anything to come. Moreso, they downplayed the AVP comic book as an influence, saying it was more of an in-joke over the fact that legendary special effects makeup creator Stan Winston had worked on both Alien and Predator films.
But that didn’t stop fans from speculating about the possibilities, that’s for sure…
Read All About It
Throughout the 1990s, Dark Horse kept publishing Aliens vs. Predator comics, with the concept eventually expanding into books as well. In 1994, the novel Aliens vs. Predator: Prey was published, featuring an adaptation of the first AVP comic book limited series. Besides its subtitle, foreshadowing a title eventually used for a Predator film, this book also stands out as the source for the name “Yautja” for the Predator species, something that would remain true in all Predator media since then and later find its way into the films.
Two more AVP novels – Aliens vs. Predator: Hunter's Planet and Aliens vs. Predator: War – would shortly follow to form a connected trilogy with the first book. After that, things stayed quiet on the AVP book front until 2016’s Alien vs. Predator: Armageddon. This book took a page from the original Dark Horse Presents AVP story by serving as the concluding chapter to two earlier novels – Predator: Incursion and Alien: Invasion – that had been released with only Alien or Predator branding, though they told one complete story. More recently, 2022 saw the release of two AVP books – an anthology titled Aliens vs. Predators: Ultimate Prey, and the standalone story, Aliens vs. Predators: Rift War.
Games Aplenty
Even if there was nothing being planned for the movies just yet, 20th Century Fox clearly saw that the Aliens vs. Predator concept could have a life beyond the printed page. Shortly before the first AVP book was released, the concept also made its first leap into video games with 1993’s Alien vs. Predator for the SNES, which was a side-scrolling beat-'em-up where you play as a Predator taking on one xenomorph after another. That same year saw a Game Boy release as well, Alien vs. Predator: The Last of His Clan. This was then followed by a different game, also just called Alien vs. Predator, for arcades in 1994, which had four selectable characters to choose from, including two different Predators and two human cyborgs…one of whom was Arnold Schwarzenegger's character Dutch from the first Predator movie! While none of these games are identical in setting or story, they do share the same basic side-scrolling approach to Alien fighting.
That would change with another 1994 release, the Alien vs. Predator game for the Atari Jaguar. This game was AVP’s introduction to the realm of first-person shooters and also had players changing perspectives between humans (in the form of Colonial Marines, as introduced in Aliens), Predators, and even xenomorphs depending on the level.
This quick glut of AVP games would then lead to some time off before the concept was revisited in 1999 with the Aliens Versus Predator PC game, which told its own story while heavily echoing the Jaguar game’s approach via another FPS where you play as an Alien, Predator, or Colonial Marine at various stages. This was followed by a 2002 sequel, the cleverly titled Aliens Versus Predator 2, while the Alien/Predator/Colonial Marine approach would be used yet again in 2003’s PS2 and Xbox release, Aliens Versus Predator: Extinction, though Extinction was instead a real-time strategy game.
As the AVP movies were released in the mid-aughts (more on those in a moment), some forgettable tie-in games came out as well, including an Alien vs. Predator mobile game in 2004 and the PlayStation Portable’s Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem in 2007. And though the decidedly poor reaction to the Requiem movie put an end to the AVP movies (for now?), the concept would still result in a couple more self-contained games.
Another FPS featuring – you guessed it – Aliens, Predators, and Colonial Marines as playable characters, the 2010 Aliens vs. Predator game for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 stands as the most recent full AVP game released for any system, with the exception of 2013’s poorly received AVP: Evolution mobile game. At this point, it’s now been 12 years since the last Alien vs. Predator game, which is the longest gap since they began making AVP games in 1993. somehow, though, I would bet we’ll get another one at some point.
Those Actual AVP Movies
With no individual Alien or Predator film being made at the time, 2004 saw that Predator 2 tease finally get paid off on a movie screen, as 20th Century Fox released Alien vs. Predator in theaters. And man was it…not worth the wait. Yes, sadly, the first AVP movie was a poorly constructed letdown with weak characters and unmemorable action.
The first live-action Alien-connected story to be set in the present day, the film did lean into some established Alien lore by including the character Charles Bishop Weyland. Played by Lance Henriksen, he was a bit of a double reference, since Charles is the founder of Weyland Industries – obviously meant to be the precursor to Alien’s powerful and usually antagonistic corporation, Weyland-Yutani – while his middle name, and the casting of Henriksen, indicated that he was the physical template for Henriksen’s earlier character, the synthetic Bishop in 1986’s Aliens. There were also some echoes of that first Aliens vs. Predator comic, given the story eventually involves a human female protagonist (here, Sanaa Lathan’s Lex) needing to team with a Predator against the mutual threat of the xenomorphs.
The first AVP movie was a poorly constructed letdown with weak characters and unmemorable action.
The first AVP movie made enough money to lead to a sequel in 2007, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, which didn’t include any returning human characters, but did continue the earlier film’s amusing set up of a “Predalien,” a xenomorph who had gestated within a Predator. Despite the film’s pre-release hype pushing its R rating (after the previous AVP was PG-13), Requiem was another muddled mess, delivering a poorly conceived, not to mention poorly lit, film that failed to capitalize on what people love about the two title characters. And so that was it for actually putting Aliens and Predators together in a movie, at least for the time being.
It’s worth noting that imagery from the AVP movies was used as the basis for much of the Alien vs. Predator house that was part of Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights in 2014 (in both Orlando and Hollywood) and again in 2015 (Hollywood only). As weak as the AVP movies were, these were very cool and visually impressive houses, and something we’re not likely to see again. Now that Alien and Predator are owned by Disney, an HHN partnership isn’t going to happen again, not unless something major changes in terms of the adversarial theme park dynamic between Disney and Universal.
Even when the Alien vs. Predator movies first came out, it felt like some of the backstory for these two creatures would be difficult to match what the other Alien and Predator films had established. These days, like the comics, books, and games before them, both AVP movies are pretty much considered non-canon to the two separate central movie franchises that begat them…especially once Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel, Prometheus, established a different founder (Peter Weyland, played by Guy Pearce) for a slightly different company now named Weyland Corp. Once again, that Predator 2 xenomorph skull is the only actual core canon connection the two series have had with each other…until now.
The Modern Resurgence
With Alien and Predator now in their Disney-owned 20th Century Studios era, both franchises have been successfully revived in recent years. In 2022, Dan Trachtenberg’s 18th century-set Prey brought an exciting new flair to the Predator films, which he continued in his animated anthology, Predator: Killer of Killers, released this summer. Alien, meanwhile, returned to the big screen via 2024’s Alien: Romulus, while Fargo’s Noah Hawley brought xenomorphs to TV for the first time this year in the FX series, Alien: Earth.
While Romulus and Prey had zero connections to anything outside of their own respective realms, things are changing in a big way in 2025 with Predator: Badlands, which also brings the Predator series back to movie theaters after Prey and Killer of Killers were released on Hulu. In Badlands, one of the central characters – Elle Fanning’s Thia – is an android who teams with a Predator. But she’s not just any android; she’s a Weyland-Yutani synthetic, giving a very prominent role to a character directly connected to Alien lore. Other pre-release material has confirmed the film has plenty of Weyland-Yutani involvement, including a second synthetic played by Fanning, and an army made up of an identical male synthetic.
Trachtenberg told EW this all came about because he first had the idea for a Predator to team with a robot, "and then the next thought was, wait a minute, I know a company that makes robots. And that led to the Weyland-Yutani synth of it all.” Trying to keep expectations in check, he’s also stressed Badlands is a “toe-dip” crossover; don’t expect something more in terms of xenomorphs showing up for a full AVP detour.
But of course, it’s hard not to speculate on what might come next for the two concepts. There remains the potential for another true showdown that hopefully can be accomplished in a more satisfying way than the two AVP movies. We now have both series moving forward on a regular basis – a sequel to Alien: Romulus is on the way – alongside this newfound development of an actual major canon connection between them. And sure, this comes after a lot of other shared universes have been seen in films in recent years, but giving credit where it’s due, the idea of Alien and Predator being connected was first set up literally decades ago. They deserve another chance!
Predator: Badlands will be released in theaters on November 7, 2025.
Thanks to work from Reddit users kurtinthegrind and andy_6170 (a.k.a. ViperAndyStudios), the Battlefield 6 community now has Club House, a large-scale Conquest play area that pulls elements from REDSEC’s Southern California-set Fort Lyndon map for an (unofficial) version of the kind of wide-open spaces they’ve been asking for. There are also Tech Center and Operation Tech Center map options, with the former set up as a large-scale, infantry-focused Conquest map, while the latter offers linear gameplay centered around one main building.
“The credit to the original version of Tech Center and the Conquest Script belongs to Andy,” kurtinthegrind says, “though I've made a few modifications to them.
“Club House and the smaller version of Tech Center are my creations, and honestly, I'm not too proud of them. But until Ripple Effect/Battlefield Studios provides improved Portal support and releases ALL parts of Battle Royale map, these will have to suffice.”
Both bot and bot-less versions of the Club House and Tech Center maps are currently available for players to create servers, but it’s Club House that’s attracting the most attention online. In the middle of a Wednesday, the map, also known as Golf Course, boasts a few hundred active players across different server browsers in Battlefield 6, with some 64-player servers populated almost entirely with real people.
We played a few matches on Club House and noticed that, even with around 30 players on each team, combat encounters feel spread out, with infantry required to sprint long distances to reach each Conquest objective without redeploying. Everything from small vehicles like golf carts to attack helicopters and tanks can help with travel, too, with above-average ticket sizes and a relatively large play area resulting in more room for vehicle warfare and lengthy matches.
"This is brilliant," one popular comment says. "Fingers crossed they actually put these on the official map rotation. For now, I’ll just mess around with my squad."
It’s certainly a change of pace when compared to other, standard Conquest maps, and it’s an experience those playing on Club House seem to enjoy. Our short time with real-world players saw the in-game chat filled with comments praising the map for its long, clear sightlines and vehicular combat potential.
Fingers crossed they actually put these on the official map rotation. For now, I’ll just mess around with my squad.
Portal game modes – Club House Conquest included – have dedicated fans, even if a modified XP rate means significantly slower progression for all. One Battlefield 6 player took to Reddit after trying the mode for themselves, saying, “for the first time, I felt like I could breathe in this game.”
“There are too many small, cramped, and poorly designed maps in this game, and I never had much opportunity to play normally without constantly confronting opponents in narrow alleys or buildings,” the popular post says.
“I think there should be maps like in BF3/4, small, medium, but also large - I know I haven't discovered anything new, everyone has been saying this since the game's release, but we need to keep talking about it until we finally get some comment on the matter.”
While some have already begun calling for these fan-made maps to join official Battlefield 6 playlists, others argue the emergeance of Club House and other similarly large Conquest maps only serve as proof that Portal is working just as the developers intended. For now, it's unclear if Portal experiences like this could get a bigger spotlight from BF Studios.
Although BF Studios has yet to confirm just how big future Battlefield 6 maps will be, we do know that much, much more is on the way. The first post-launch map, Blackwell Fields, was met with criticism from fans, but another new map called Eastwood is just weeks away. Both locations are included as part of Season 1, with more content set to follow in the months ahead as future seasons roll out.
Infantry Conquest "Operation" Tech Center (Bots): z3ey8
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot has discussed last year's intense backlash to Assassin's Creed Shadows, and said the unexpected conversation shift "from gameplay to ideology" led directly to its high-profile delay.
Speaking during a recent event at Paris Games Week, as reported by GameFile, Guillemot screened a short internal video Ubisoft had created to narrate its response to the backlash surrounding Shadows' Black samurai co-protagonist Yasuke — which even saw Tesla and X boss Elon Musk getting involved.
Guillemot has now stated that the level of vitriol required Ubisoft to rethink its plans for Shadows — back then, set for launch in November 2024. Ultimately, the company elected to delay the game until March 2025, a decision explained last year as necessary to "polish" the game further. But, behind the scenes, Guillemot says the firm understood it needed to bolster fan sentiment to ensure the game launched to a more positive response.
With more time to improve the game, Ubisoft gave itself the opportunity to share more with fans pre-launch, Guillemot said, something the company hoped would both impress long-term Assassin's Creed aficionados, and move the conversation around Shadows on.
"What we saw is that, by allowing our fans to see in the game — everything they were going to be able to rediscover — of what they love about Assassin's Creed, [that] ultimately helped to combat this aggression, which is linked to the fact that video games have a very strong impact on the people who play them," Guillemot said. "They’re kind of caught between 'I want to play, and what interests me is self-expression within a game' and 'there is a cultural message that comes with the video game.'
"So our goal is really to be able to ensure that our fans discover and defend what they expect from our games," Guillemot continued. "It very quickly eliminated the fights, which were just fake fights."
In an internal video, also shown last week, Ubisoft described its response as a successful turnaround of public opinion on a game featuring a pre-launch crisis.
"What happens when a legendary franchise reveals one of its most anticipated experiences," the video begins, "only to become the game everyone loves to hate? When conversation shifts from gameplay to ideology? When everything you say only adds fuel to the fire?
"In September 2024, we had our backs against the wall, and that's when it clicked," the video continues. "To get out of the corner, we had to stop focusing on those who hated us. We had to start firing up our allies. So we stopped trying to win the argument, and leaned on what had carried us for 18 years: The Assassin's Creed brand.
"We started by doing the last thing anyone would have advised. We delayed the game. The extra time allowed the devs to polish, optimize, and reach the high standards fans expect from an Assassin's Creed game.
"It also gave us time to rebuild the Assassin’s Creed brand pact, putting the markers of the franchise back at the center. More hood, more stealth, more leap of faith, more lore. So we could show that the spirit of Assassin’s Creed lives on in Shadows.
"Instead of fearing leaks, we showed the game," Ubisoft concluded. "Fans came back, conversations started shifting, and everyone who built, played, and loved this game could be proud again."
The framing of the delay as a positive response to the game's backlash is an interesting one, though one which feels limited considering what we already know from other reports detailing events at the time.
In October last year, Insider Gaming reported that the game's delay had been widely expected within the company "and desperately needed" to address feedback from playtests and mock reviews (a standard industry practice where external consultants size-up projects before copies are given to press).
Speaking in December last year, former Assassin's Creed franchise boss Marc-Alexis Coté suggested similar, saying that the game's delay was necessary to change the "narrative" of Ubisoft's "inconsistency in quality" (just months after the company's fellow blockbuster Star Wars Outlaws underperformed).
And, perhaps most notably, there's no mention here by Guillemot of the fact that Ubisoft's plans to delay Shadows came alongside a decision to reportedly cancel a separate Assassin's Creed game set in post-Civil War America — a project that would have featured a former slave as its main character. While still in pre-production, the game's fate was apparently sealed after Ubisoft judged the idea too risky to continue amid the current U.S. political landscape — and, to a lesser extent, after having seen the Yasuke backlash.
Assassin's Creed Shadows has gone on to sell "in line with expectations," Ubisoft said in July, with 5 million copies sold so far.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
When it comes to LEGO sets, high piece counts and high prices often go hand-in-hand. For years, the standard LEGO pricing came out out to approximately 10 cents per brick, which meant a 5,000-piece set would probably cost $500, give or take. But the modern era has made this formula a bit more nuanced. Partnering with a third-party (like Disney, for example) will drive the price higher. And sometimes, the uniformity and commonness of the pieces will make the price lower.
So, even though this list and our list of the Most Expensive LEGO Sets have some significant overlap, it's not identical. Here, in ascending order, are the 10 Biggest LEGO Sets You Can Buy, as measured by piece count. We'll be updating this list, but it'll probably be awhile before another set tops 10,000 pieces.
Biggest LEGO Sets You Can Buy
The above is a quick TL;DR of the list. If you want details about any of the sets, keep on reading.
There are some big Star Wars LEGO sets out there. This model of the massive Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser is over three-and-a-half feet long, and it captures the power of the Republic Army during the Clone Wars – a power that would one day be absorbed by the Galactic Empire years later. The model comes with a display stand and minifigures of Captain Rex and Admiral Yularen.
The Lord of the Rings: Barad-dûr
Close to three feet tall, Barad-dûr is one of the biggest Lord of the Rings LEGO sets. It's topped with a glowing fire eye, and spiky, intimidating architecture covers the entire structure from base to peak. Each piece of the tower slides and stacks onto the others, like a grotesque wedding cake. The model opens in the back to reveal numerous, detailed interiors, including a dungeon, an armory, and Sauron's throne room. We reviewed this set at the time of its launch; check out our We Build feature and photo gallery of the entire build process.
Harry Potter: Diagon Alley
Of all the brand partnerships, the LEGO Harry Potter one may be the most fruitful. In the same manner that you can build a massive LEGO Hogwarts Castle by combining multiple sets, you can also build a massive LEGO Diagon Alley by slowly buying and building all the notable stores. And this set is how to get started on that magical (albeit expensive) journey. You get four large buildings in the Diagon Alley set, which encompass seven different magical boutiques: Ollivanders Wand Shop, Scribbulus Writing Implements, Quality Quidditch Supplies, Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, Flourish & Blotts, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and the Daily Prophet.
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Castle
Scaled down to microfigure proportions, this recreation of Hogwarts Castle is over two feet tall and a little under two feet wide. In September 2025, it will have been 7 years since it first launched – an eternity in LEGO land, especially when some sets retire in under two years. It contains 27 microfigures, but the real treat, at least for Potter afficionadoes, are the four full-size minifigures of the Founders: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin.
Ninjago: City Markets
There are also plenty of LEGO Ninjago sets to collect for fans of the Japan-inspired offshoot. The City Markets are crammed with activity and people (22 minifigures in all!). This is not the small-town nostalgia of LEGO's annual modular buildings. This is urban congestion, with people living on top of one another. Do you want to do karaoke? Eat sushi? Ride a cable car? Buy something sweet? Play pool? You can do it all on four floors in half a city block.
The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell
Rivendell is not only one of the biggest LEGO sets for adults ever made. It is one of the best designed and the prettiest, with elven architecture that looks too light and delicate to be real. From the iconic gazebo to the bridge over the River Brunein; from Bilbo's study to the Council of Elrond; there's so many movie references, so many cool little details for the discerning eye. Check out our review and photo gallery of this set.
Star Wars: Razor Crest
The Razor Crest hasn't been active since Gideon destroyed it back in Season 2 of The Mandalorian. But its design, and the narrative weight of those first two seasons, have made it iconic; it is the most recognizable starships from the post-Lucas Star Wars era. With a Mandalorian movie on the way, this is one set that isn't going to lose popularity anytime soon. It includes a minifigure-sized carbonite freezing chamber, a weapons cabinet, and an escape pod.
Star Wars: Millennium Falcon
The oldest LEGO set on this list has been available for purchase since 2017 – a time when LEGO was just dipping its toes into the adult demographic. That it is still flying off the shelves is proof how timeless and bar-setting this set truly was and continues to be. Close to three feet long and two feet wide, the entire Falcon mounts on a stand that allows it to 'fly' at a dramatic angle.
Death Star
This thing is massive and heavy; one should not build this set without reinforcing the shelf that it will eventually display it. It's fragile, and it would not survive a fall. The LEGO Death Star is six floors tall and nearly three feet wide. It contains a working elevator to all of its floors, which operates by the turn of a crank. It's an ambitious build, but it's also decadently expensive, costing close to $200-$300 more than the only two sets with higher piece counts.
Titanic
The excessive piece count is almost the point of this set. The 'unsinkable' Titanic was the largest ship ever built when White Star Line launched it in 1911. It's best known today for its tragic sinking on its maiden voyage, in which 1,500 people died. But this four-and-half-foot long build remembers Titanic the way she was, with all her first class decadencies in tact. Check out our review and photo gallery.
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is composed of 10,001 pieces, which sounds terrifyingly expensive on its face. But it's actually $630 instead of the $1000 that conventional wisdom would dictate. Nearly five feet tall, with observation decks and elevators that run on cables, this is the biggest LEGO set by piece count in the company's history, beating even the 9,036-piece Roman Colloseum that retired at the end of 2023.
What's The Best Way To Get LEGO Sets On Discount?
LEGO piece counts and prices often go hand-inhand. So what's the best way to get expensive, big sets for cheaper?
First, join the LEGO Insiders program, which gives you points for every purchase that you make from the LEGO Store. Those points translate into money, which you can use towards the purchase of an expensive LEGO set. There are also select promotions – Star Wars Day, for example –where purchase of certain LEGO sets will garner double the points. So keep an eye out for deals.
Also, check Amazon, Walmart, Target, Barnes & Noble, and other places where LEGO are sold. Extra inventory, especially when a set's about to be retired, can often go for cheap. And these online and brick-and-mortar outlets often have specific days (Amazon Prime Days, for example) that offer deep discounts on sets that would otherwise sell at retail price.
Kevin Wong is a contributing freelancer for IGN, specializing in LEGO. He's also been published in Complex, Engadget, Gamespot, Kotaku, and more. Follow him on Twitter at @kevinjameswong.
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