Palworld has just pushed out a significant new patch, bringing a collab with Ultrakill and a ton of improvements as developer Pocketpair continues work to prepare for the launch of Palworld 1.0, the game's eagerly-anticipated full release.
John “Bucky” Buckley, communications director and publishing manager, teased that this update, dubbed Home Sweet Home, "puts a lot of groundwork in as we work towards our MASSIVE 1.0 release in 2026, but we have lots of little surprises in this update so check it out!"
As part of the Ultrakill collaboration, you'll find several "iconic weapons and armor," as well as a V1’s infamous coin toss, while the Home Sweet Home update — as the name suggests — makes it a little more intuitive to put down roots and make your own cozy base.
Pocketpair said it had been "blown away by all the incredible builds that you guys have been sending us," and knows we've "been eagerly waiting for more freedom in how you design your base." That's why this update brings a number of new building parts, including the ability to change the color of building pieces and the "much-requested triangular pieces." The building menu UI has also been redesigned and reformatted into a list.
But that's not all. Melee combat has been improved to make it "more viable and fun," and now, when summoning a raid boss at the Summoning Altar, players can choose to either fight at their base as before, or take on the raid boss in a special Raid Area.
"These Raid Areas allow you to fight with all your might, without risking any damage to your base," the team explained. "You can build temporary structures and take items into these special Raid Areas." Which is just as well, as a new raid boss will also pop up after the update.
"2025 has been an incredible year for Palworld, and we’re excited to end the year with v0.7, Home Sweet Home!" Pocketpair exclaimed. "The purpose of this update is to begin improving existing features, and while this update may not be as content-rich as previous ones, we hope players understand that it’s necessary for us to begin laying the groundwork now as we work on the development of Palworld 1.0."
Last but definitely not least, PvP! Though the studio admits PvP has been a topic of discussion in the Palworld community for a "long time," and it’s "hard to fully integrate PvP into the game," it is trying to make the dream a reality, albeit with some careful parameters.
"We are releasing all the necessary tools for players to set up their own PvP rules on their own terms," Pocketpair said. "Show off your skills and compete with other Pal Tamers! Please note that PvP is experimental, and as such, there may be some balancing issues."
Palworld v0.7 patch notes:
ULTRAKILL Collab!
Added V1 and V2 armor sets! Terrorize the Palpagos Islands as your favorite blood-fueled robot!
Added a pair of iconic weapons from ULTRAKILL!
Unique Mechanic - Coin Toss
Throw coins while using the Marksman Revolver to perform a Ricoshot! Bullets will ricochet off the thrown coin and deal devastating damage to nearby targets!
Base Building Improvements
Added 48 new building parts, including triangular pieces!
Added the ability to change the color of some buildings and foundations!
Changed the building UI to a list-based system.
Raid Boss Improvements
Added a new raid boss!
Added a new battlefield for raid bosses. Players can now choose to challenge raid bosses in their base or in a new separate battlefield.
Melee Combat Improvements
Improved the melee gameplay for swords, katanas and beam swords. Pressing left click (right trigger) will perform a new consecutive combo attack.
Special attacks have been added to the katana and beam sword. Holding either left or right click (left or right trigger) will activate these abilities.
New Features
Added PvP functionality (Experimental!).
[PC - Steam Only] Added Steam Workshop, allowing players to download and use mods.
Mechanic Adjustments
When placing a building, an arrow indicating the building's orientation will now be displayed.
When placing a building, buildings with a set work location will now display a Cattiva icon indicating the work location.
Adjusted the Palbox so it can be aligned with foundations and roofs.
[Keyboard & Mouse Controls] Building controls have been made more intuitive, and continuous building has been changed to the default setting.
Balance Adjustments
Added new implants to the surgery table:
Implant: Mine Foreman
Implant: Logging Foreman
Implant: Fine Furs
Implant: Sleek Stroke
Implant: Work Slave
You can now get a Little Kinship Peach from a Pal when freeing them from an enemy camp.
The last hit done to an enemy while using mercy will now display ""MERCY HIT"" to indicate that no damage was done.
Changed specifications so that all Pals will no longer lose SAN when taking damage.
Reduced the impact of bad status effects:
Hungry... Attack, Defense, Work Speed -20% → -10%
Starving... Attack, Defense, Work Speed -50% → -20%
Cold... Work Speed -10% → -5%
Sprain... Movement Speed -10% → -5%
Overfull... Increased hunger loss rate by 100% → +50%
Ulcer... Work Speed -20%, Movement Speed -10% → Work Speed -10%, Movement Speed -5%
Fracture... Work Speed -10%, Movement Speed -20% → Work Speed -5%, Movement Speed -10%
Weakened... Work Speed -20%, Movement Speed -30% → Work Speed -10%, Movement Speed -20%
Depressed... -30% Work Speed, -20% Movement Speed → -20% Work Speed, -10% Movement Speed
Changed the attribute of the Broncherry's unique skill ""Body Smash"" from neutral to the grass.
Changed the attribute of Rushoar's unique skill "Heavy Charge" from neutral to earth.
Added "Item Decay Speed Multiplier" to the Options Settings.
・[Dedicated Servers] Police NPCs targeting players who have committed crimes will now only deal damage to the target player and their guild.
・The appearance of the work aptitude icon has been changed.
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue where Flopie would not collect dropped items in the field while her partner skill "Helper Bunny" was active.
Improved Pal pathfinding AI to make it easier to reach the target location within the base.
Fixed an issue where summoned Pals would attack visitors when set to "attack aggressively."
Fixed an issue where attacking visitors in your base would not result in the correct attacking state.
Many other minor bug fixes.
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.
The future of M3GAN spinoff Soulm8te and indeed the M3GAN cinematic universe is in doubt after Universal pulled the movie from its release calendar.
Variety reported that Soulm8te, which was due out January 9, 2026, will now be shopped to other Hollywood studios.
Soulm8te was announced in 2024 following the huge success of M3GAN and its production company Blumhouse. It was described as an "erotic thriller" spinoff of M3GAN that focuses on a man who tries to cope with the loss of his wife by using an AI android. “In an attempt to create a truly sentient partner, he inadvertently turns a harmless lovebot into a deadly soulmate,” reads the official blurb.
Soulm8te is directed by Kate Dolan, who described the movie as "an exploration of relationships and loneliness.” “Despite technological advances, there are enduring human truths we cannot escape, and I am looking forward to delving into those depths.”
But then M3GAN 2.0 happened. It saw $10.2 million domestically and just $6.958 million internationally during its launch weekend, suggesting the first M3GAN movie, released in December 2022, may have been a lightning in a bottle moment with its eventual $180 million global haul. M3GAN 2.0 ended its theatrical run making a paltry $39 million globally, according to Box Office Mojo. That's $24.1 million domestically and just $14.9 million internationally, and an enormous $141 million decline on its predecessor.
IGN’s M3GAN 2.0 review returned a 6/10. We said: “M3GAN 2.0 hotswaps horror for sci-fi/action to mixed results, but M3GAN’s absolutely heinous wit and killer moves leave her, and not the new genres, the star of the show.”
“We all thought M3GAN was like Superman,” he said. “We could do anything to her. We could change genres. We could put her into summer. We could make her look different. We could turn her from a bad guy into a good guy. And we classically overthought how powerful people’s engagement was really with her.
“We decided to genre swap. The audience was not ready to genre swap. People wanted more M3GAN just like she is.”
This is a reference to M3GAN 2.0 being less of a thriller horror, like the first film, and more of an action comedy. Clearly, this didn’t work.
Blumhouse, however, has recovered somewhat with the successful release of Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 ($175 million and counting) and Black Phone 2 ($132 million). The question now is, what next for M3GAN? A significant expansion with spinoffs seems unlikely, but will M3GAN get a third movie?
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.
Concerns over child safety are stopping Disney from collaborating with Roblox, a new report has revealed.
With 151 million daily active users, Roblox is one of the biggest games in the world — if not the biggest. And increasingly, access to this audience is seen as a lucrative and highly accessible method of marketing everything from big-name brands to Hollywood blockbusters.
Still, worries over how safe Roblox is for its enormous audience of players — many of whom are under the age of 18 — remain offputting to Disney, a new Variety report has highlighted.
While some had suspected Disney was avoiding Roblox due to its $1.5 billion investment in rival gaming platform Fortnite, sources told Variety that Disney was instead avoiding Roblox specifically because the company did not believe the larger platform was safe at this time.
Disney content is of course deeply embedded within Fortnite, which regularly hosts Star Wars and Marvel crossovers, recently featured a well-received The Simpsons mini-season, and now includes a small army of licensed skins for everyone from Maleficent to the Mandalorian. A specific Disney Fortnite mode is also in development.
For now at least, Roblox fans shouldn't expect anything similar, the report continues. That's despite Roblox's far larger audience (Fortnite averages between 30 and 40 million daily users) and the platform playing host to other large brands, such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Squid Game.
"The issue is basically the ability of younger players to cheat those systems — to pretend to be older, to use the older siblings, to use facial identity to get into those systems," Ron Kerb, CEO at child safety platform Kidas, told Variety. "And we know that it's happening on TikTok, we know that it's happening on gaming platforms, on Roblox. Platforms are trying to block kids, and kids are going to find ways to open it up."
In Roblox's most recent Safety Snapshot, the company said it "continued to innovate around safety," and revealed it had open-sourced a version of Roblox PII Classifier, which "has significantly enhanced" its ability to detect and block attempts to violate its policies around sharing personally identifiable information (PII).
Image credit: Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
FromSoftware has deployed a new patch across all platforms for Elden Ring: Nightreign that brings more Deep of the Night content for players of the The Forsaken Hollows DLC, as well as new features, balance changes, bug fixes, and more.
For those with the DLC (which FromSoftware recently announced has an impressive 2 million players), you'll now see new targets, landmarks, raid events, and Shifting Earth when playing the ultra-hard Deep of Night mode.
Patch 1.03.1 also updates some pre-order bonuses, such as the artwork and soundtrack, and addresses the security vulnerability announced by Unity Technologies on October 3 (although the developer insists the main game "is not impacted by the security vulnerability and the update").
The full patch notes are detailed below. Please note you won't be able to play online — which, for an online game, means you won't be able to play at all — until this update has been applied.
Elden Ring Nightreign Update 1.03.1 patch notes:
Additional content
Players that own the DLC The Forsaken Hollows will now encounter new targets, Landmarks, raid events and Shifting Earth when playing The Deep of Night mode.
These additions will only appear when matched with players that also own the DLC content.
Balance Adjustments and Feature Updates
Increased the Fire, Magic, Lightning, or Holy related curse effects applied to weapons and items that occur in the temples of the Great Hollow Shifting Earth.
Adjusted the Continuous HP Loss & Continuou powers HP Recovery curse effects that occur in the temples of the Great Hollow Shifting Earth.
Decreased the attack power of the wolves summoned that appear during the Tricephalos raid event.
Added a stack count display to the damage negation reduction icon that appears when hitting enemies with level 3 Dart-type items thanks to Scholar’s Bagcraft Skill.
Shcolar’s Ultimate Art Communion will no longer break when transforming using Executor's Ultimate Art Aspects of the Crucible: Beast.
Added a near-death animation when reviving with the Power to Balance the World special effect.
When swapping identical consumables in the Equipment Menu, they will now combine in accordance to their stack limit.
Added icons and explanations to indicate active effects for some special effects in the status menu.
When pinning an item, the item rarity color will now be displayed in the You indicated equipment message.
When engulfed in the Night’s Tide in the Great Hollow Shifting Earth, your character’s feet will now appear to be burning.
Expanded the range of clues discovered when using a map to reveal hidden clues in the Great Hollow Shifting Earth.
Added additional types of attacks when fighting the Night Aspect if all Nightfarers present own The Forsaken Hollows DLC.
You can now remap the Map Display key in the system menu's keyboard/mouse settings.
Note: remapping this key will also change the navigation key in some menus, such as "Open All Presets" in the Relic Rites Menu.
Bug Fixes and Improvements
Fixed a bug in the Sentient Pest fight where the boss would not lose sight of the player when using Duchess's Ultimate Art Finale.
Fixed a bug where the effect of Scholar's Skill Communion would continue to be applied to the player even if no other targets were affected.
Fixed a bug where the damage to linked enemies and healing to allies would not propagate correctly in the event where a Scholar was put into a Near Death state during the activation of his Communion Ultimate Art.
Fixed a bug in Scholar's Skill Analyze where the art gauge would not increase from the shockwave triggered on oneself at maximum charge.
Fixed a bug where the number of targets analyzed by Scholar's Skill Analyse would reset if any player would perform the Open door action to transition to the boss fight within the Spirit Tree shelter.
Fixed a bug in Scholar's ability Bagcraft where the damage negation reduction effect’s duration would not extend when hitting enemies with level 3 Dart items.
Fixed a bug in Scholar's ability Bagcraft where the damage negation reduction effect would not be applied according to the number of hits when hitting enemies with level 3 Fan Daggers.
Fixed a bug in Scholar's ability Bagcraft where the healing effect added to the level 3 Holy Water Pot would not cause damage to the Royal Revenant.
Fixed a bug where the Crystal Tear count would not display correctly when obtaining a second one from Dormant Powers as Scholar.
Fixed a bug with the Frozen Needle attack motions as Scholar.
Fixed a bug where some enemies appearing in specific Scholar’s Remembrances would not behave as expected.
Fixed an issue where the immortality granted by Revenant's Ultimate Art Immortal March was not being overwritten by other visual effects.
Fixed a bug where the effect added by the skill Mists of Slumber to the Sword of St. Trina by the special would disappear upon taking enemy attacks.
Fixed a bug where Bow attacks affected by the Black Flame Blade and Bloodflame Blade incantations would not remove the frostbite status effect from enemies.
Fixed a bug where the Improved Rolling Attacks passive effect was not applied to Bows.
Fixed a bug where the Partial HP Restoration upon Post-Damage Attacks effect would not trigger on critical hits performed with Bows.
Fixed a bug where the player character would accumulate frostbite status ailment while standing on the area created by the Holy Ground skill while the weapon is imbued with frost by the Chilling Mist skill .
Fixed a bug where the effect applied to the weapon by the Black Flame Blade incantation would not be applied to attacks made with the Frenzyflame Thrust skill.
Fixed a bug where the effect applied to the weapon by the Black Flame Blade incantation would be applied in hitbox of the Wave of Gold and Thundercloud Form skills.
Fixed a bug where the Golden Retaliation skill and the Carian Retaliation skill/sorcery would not rescue allies from a near-death state in some instances.
Fixed a bug where attack power enhancing effects would be not applied to the Regal Beastclaw and Wave of Gold skills.
Fixed a bug where charging a skill/spell by holding the cast button would not enhance the Ancient Death Rancor sorcery and the Beast Claw incantation.
Fixed a bug where the post-cast delay of the Beast Claw incantation could not be canceled by chaining it with a sorcery or incantation.
Fixed a bug where attribute marks created by Recluse’s Passive Skill Elemental Defense did not appear with attacks from a weapon imbued with an attribute by the Order's Blade incantation.
Fixed a bug where the reduced HP recovery from the Black Flame's Protection incantation would also affect the shared healing from the Flask Also Heals Allies relic effect.
Allies that receive shared healing from this effect will have their HP recovery reduced if they are under the effect of the Black Flame's Protection incantation.
Fixed a bug where the Creates Holy Ground at Low HP effects would overwrite each other when players with the same special effect stand near each other.
Fixed a bug where the Critical Hits Inflict Blood Loss special effect did not display its physical attack power enhancement effect.
When the "Communion Grants Anti-Dragon Effect" special effect adds an Anti-Dragon Effect to a weapon, additional physical damage will now be applied as well.
Fixed a bug where the Cold Mirage special effect was not properly applied to Executor's Ultimate Art Aspects of the Crucible: Beast.
Fixed a bug where the player would be defeated even after reviving from a near-death state through the Power to Balance the World special effect when playing a Solo Expedition.
Fixed a bug where enemies directly defeated by Raider's Ultimate Art Totem Stela would not be counted by the Defeating enemies near Totem Stela restores HP relic effect.
Fixed a bug where the attack power enhancement at the sixth stage of the Attack power increased for each Evergaol prisoner defeated relic effect would be differed than expected.
Fixed a bug where the stacks granted by relics that grant accumulating effects while on an Expedition would disappear if the player died and revived during an Expedition after reaching a certain number of stacks.
Fixed a bug where the Increased rune acquisition for self and allies Relic Effect would not share its effect to allies after dying and reviving once.
Fixed a bug where the weapon Great Bow of the Erdtree would not appear as intended.
Fixed a bug where the near-death gauge state from the second day's boss battle would carry over if any player would perform the Open door action to start the final fight in the Spirit Shelter.
Fixed a bug where it would be not possible to lock on to a near-death ally in some cases.
Improved the hit detection and effect position of ground-based attacks accuracy used by the boss during the fight against Gaping Jaw.
Fixed a bug in the combat with Everdark Sovereign Equilibrious Beast where enemy Raiders would spawn if a Revenant in specific costumes was present during the Expedition.
Fixed a bug where other players could not deal damage to the Dancer of the Boreal Valley while a critical hit was performed against her.
Fixed a bug in the fight against the Dreglord where some spells or ghosts summoned by Revenant's skill Summon Spirit would sometimes aim incorrectly.
Fixed a bug in the fight against the Dreglord where enemy attacks intended for specific players would sometimes target other players.
Fixed a bug in the fight against the Dreglord where players could become stuck inside objects and be unable to move.
Fixed a bug in the fight against the Dreglord where the timing of the music during multiplayer did not align with the intended sequence.
Fixed a bug in the fight against the Balancers where the sound effect for enemy grab attacks would not play.
Fixed a bug where the defeat animation would not occur when the Demon in Pain and Demon from Below bosses would be defeated simultaneously.
Fixed a bug where arrows hitting the heads of the Demon in Pain and Demon from Below bosses did not deal increased damage.
Fixed a bug where some Night bosses would die if a player who had previously left the session rejoined under some circumstances.
Fixed a bug where the Curseblade Night boss version would sometimes perform specific attacks at unintended timings.
Fixed a bug where enemies summoned by some bosses in The Great Hollows Shifting Earth would not disappear even after the boss was defeated.
Fixed a bug in in The Great Hollows Shifting Earth where the Tree Guard that appear in the temple would not die.
Adjusted the behavior of some enemies in The Great Hollows Shifting Earth
Fixed a bug in The Great Hollows Shifting Earth where unintended enemies would appear in some areas.
Fixed a bug where the Omenkillers located in the Blacksmith Village could not be hit under certain conditions.
Fixed a bug where some enemies added in the DLC The Forsaken Hollows would not drop appropriate weapons upon defeat.
Fixed a bug in The Great Hollows Shifting Earth where HP was not fully restored when a player died with its maximum HP reduced by the Crystal Curse, and then respawned in an area unaffected by the Crystal Curse.
Fixed a bug in The Great Hollows Shifting Earth where site of graces and blacksmithing tables would appear even though the special merchant did not.
Fixed a bug in The Great Hollows Shifting Earth where players could become immune to the effects of the Crystal Curse when moving to the Eastern Underground Fort or the temple under certain conditions.
Fixed a bug in the temple in The Great Hollows Shifting Earth where it would be impossible to proceed under certain conditions.
Fixed a bug in The Great Hollows Shifting Earth where additional enemies that appear during the combat might already be present from the start if a player left and then returned to the temple during a boss fight.
Fixed a bug in The Great Hollows Shifting Earth where players could sometimes get stuck on some treasure chests and be unable to move.
Fixed a bug in The Great Hollows Shifting Earth where the players who remained in the session if a player left and rejoined a session would become unable to use the temple's Spiritstream.
Fixed a bug in The Great Hollows Shifting Earth where Raider's Ultimate Art Totem Stela would spawn underground on some platforms.
Fixed a bug in The Great Hollows Shifting Earth where runes might not be acquired when defeating the temple boss under certain circumstances.
Fixed a bug in The Great Hollows Shifting Earth where some Spiritstreams would not be displayed on the map.
Fixed a bug in the While on Expedition and Result menus where the Enemy felled message would not be displayed when defeating a boss in the temple of The Great Hollows Shifting Earth.
Fixed a bug where Nightfarer enemies would not appear when Cataclysms occurred in the Blacksmith Village.
Fixed a bug in the Blacksmith Village's Combat Art workbench where some weapons could be assigned unintended skills.
Fixed a bug in the Augur Raid Event where the powerful water bomb would become invisible to players that left and rejoined a session during the event.
Fixed a bug in the Tricephalos Raid Event where summoned wolves would not immediately disappear after the event was cleared.
Fixed a bug in the Tricephalos Raid Event where the summoned wolves’ HP was higher than intended when on an Expedition with 2 or 3 players.
Fixed a bug in the Tricephalos Raid Event where the damage reduction rate of some summoned wolves was different than intended.
Fixed a bug in the Tricephalos Raid Event where the Raid Event would continue for longer than intended if the last remaining enemy appeared within the night boss spawn area.
Fixed a bug in the Fissure in the Fog Raid Event where the blizzard effect, which precedes the hail, would not be displayed if the event occurred while all player characters were inside a mine.
Fixed a bug in the Fissure in the Fog Raid Event where fog would also appear indoors at some strongholds.
Fixed a bug in the Fissure in the Fog Raid Event where multiple bosses would appear on a rejoining player's screen if a player left and rejoined a session that was active or had previously experienced the event.
Fixed a bug in the Fissure in the Fog Raid Event where runes could not be acquired upon clearing the event under certain circumstances.
Fixed a bug in the Balancer Raid Event where the Balancer might not appear under certain circumstances.
Fixed a bug where the attack from the Summon foe-chasing vengeful spirits field item effect could not rescue allies in a Near Death state.
Fixed a bug where Dormant Powers would disappear immediately after obtaining them under certain circumstances.
Fixed a bug in Sparring Grounds where some effects applied to the player would persist even after changing characters.
Fixed a bug where Undertaker's Skill Loathsome Hex could be used to reach unintended locations.
Fixed a bug where some effects in specific Remembrances for Scholar and Undertaker would be displayed in incorrect position upon launching the game.
Fixed a bug where accumulated Newly found Sites of Grace would be reset when respawning from death, opening the Spirit Shelter door through the action button leading to the Day 3 boss fight, or leaving and rejoining a session, while under the special effect Traces of Grace-Given Lord.
Fixed a bug where runes from some defeated bosses could sometimes be re-obtained upon leaving and rejoining a session.
Fixed a bug where, if a player exited a session with a curse active while in The Great Hollows Shifting Earth and then respawned inside a Spirit Shelter, the curse would remain active.
Fixed a bug where leaving and rejoining a session at a specific timing during the Balancers Raid Event, the UI emphasis effect for the remaining number of flasks would persist.
Fixed a bug in the Status Menu where stats other than Level and HP for allied players did not reflect their decreased level state after death or other events.
Fixed a bug in the Status Menu and Victor's Record menu where an empty popup would be displayed when hovering over an empty talisman equipment slot.
Fixed a bug in the map menu where icons from a different depth would sometimes remain on the map when switching floor displays.
Fixed a bug in The Great Hollows Shifting Earth where some Scarabs, Treasures, and Sites of Grace were displayed at incorrect locations on the map menu.
Fixed a bug where the Enemy felled message would appear twice when a specific powerful enemy was defeated in The Great Hollows Shifting Earth.
Fixed a bug in the Relic Rite Menu where the [Revenant] Power up while fighting alongside family effect was incorrectly displayed as active when changing Relics for Scholar and Undertaker.
Fixed a bug in the Relic Rites Menu where the filter function displayed related effects regardless of additional content ownership or Deep of Night unlock status.
Fixed a bug where the item help function could not be used in the Equipment section of the Visual Codex menu.
Fixed several minor issues related to menu displays.
Fixed a bug where, while The Great Hollows Shifting Earth was active, you would not be able to match with players who did not possess The Forsaken Hollows DLC when starting an Expedition other than Balancers or Dreglord.
Fixed a bug where starting a Deep of Night Expedition with a pre-made team, the dialog warning indicating a decrease in the Deep of Night rating was not displayed when pressing the Return to Title Menu from the menu.
Fixed a bug where, depending on the network environment during gameplay, the Deep of Night win/loss results might not be correctly reflected in the rating.
Fixed a bug where the game would crash when transitioning to the Battle Results screen or the Title screen while targeting allies with the Scholar's Analyze skill.
Fixed a bug in the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 where the game would sometimes crash when opening and closing the button configuration menu from the controller settings menu.
Fixed a bug where the text for the next objective in the journal menu was displayed cut off in German.
Fixed some graphics and effects rendering issues.
Fixed a bug where some sound effects were not playing correctly.
Revised some texts.
Fixed other bugs and improved performances.
Steam Only Adjustments
Updated the list of prohibited words.
The version number of this update shown at the lower right corner of the Title Screen will be as follows:
App Ver. 1.03.1 Regulation Ver. 1.03.2
In PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S versions, Regulation files can be downloaded by logging in to the server.
If the Regulation Ver. listed in the lower right corner of the title screen is not 1.03.2, please select LOGIN and apply the latest regulation before enjoying the game.
Online play requires the player to apply this update. After downloading the update file, please restart the game and apply the update.
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.
The developer of Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus 2 has delayed the game to respond to feedback from its Steam Next Fest demo.
Kasedo Games and Bulwark Studios said the turn-based strategy sequel will now launch in spring 2026 across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, so the developers can “further refine the experience.”
Chief among the complaints from fans was the Adeptus Mechanicus (the Tech-Priests of the Warhammer 40,000 universe) speaking English instead of the binaric machine language, a corrupted form of binary code (a weird digital warbling) we heard in the first game. While this may seem like an innocuous change, binaric really added to Mechanicus’ dark, foreboding atmosphere (this is the grim darkness of the far future after all!), and fans were disappointed to find it ditched in the Steam Next Fest demo.
Bulwark is now changing Mechanicus 2 to add an audio option to play with either “lingua-technis,” the official name for the binaric machine code language of the Adeptus Mechanicus, or with the traditional human voiceover as heard in the demo. Praise the Omnissiah!
Meanwhile, movement systems are also being “enhanced,” with an optional setting to allow the Move action to auto-select when cycling between units, creating “a smoother and more efficient tactical flow.”
“The team is equally committed to addressing performance concerns raised during the demo period,” the developer continued. “These optimisations, together with the continued refinement of new systems and campaign content, are central to delivering a sequel that meets the expectations set by both the community and the studio’s own ambitions.”
In Mechanicus 2, both the Necrons and the Adeptus Mechanicus are fully playable over multiple campaigns. You manage your territories’ garrisons and assemble forces for each mission, choosing from an expanded selection of fighters from each faction’s range. New environmental mechanics require players to maneuver their forces, taking cover behind terrain as the Mechanicus, or destroying it as the Necrons.
The story is penned by Black Library author Ben Counter, with music and audio design by composer Guillaume David. Narrative events will see the player choosing the course of the war and its outcome, with The Leagues of Votann (Warhammer 40,000's space dwarves) popping up as a non-playable threat.
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.
Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10 Studios has confirmed the end of new content development for the game, following layoffs at the company this summer.
Released in 2023, the latest and (for now) final entry in the Forza Motorsport series was launched as a reboot of Xbox's veteran sim racing franchise, with years of new content expected. But the game launched to a mixed response, and around half of Turn 10 Studios' staff were made redundant in July. (The studio remains open, with support for the more popular Forza Horizon brand now a key focus.)
Word that Forza Motorsport will not receive any further big updates is unsurprising, then, though a fresh statement in a blog post from the studio has now laid it out in black and white.
"As our team shifts its focus toward delivering the best possible experience with Forza Horizon 6 in 2026, we do not plan to introduce new cars, tracks, features, or regular bug fixes for Forza Motorsport," Turn 10 Studios wrote.
"However, we will continue supporting the game by keeping online servers active, hosting special events and competitions, and reintroducing previously released Featured Tours and reward cars on a monthly basis, until all content is available for you to enjoy anytime."
Turn 10 is now a co-development partner for Forza Horizon 6, which is primarily being made at British studio Playground Games. The latest entry in the series will be set in Japan, and launch at some point in 2026.
Microsoft has not officially detailed its cuts to Turn 10 Studios this summer, but one former employee stated at the time that around "120 people" were "gone from FM side" of the studio. "Turn 10 Studios has shuttered the Forza Motorsport space and the team is no more," wrote a second former employee amid the layoffs. "A very sad day for one of the best car racing video games. I loved my time there."
The first Forza Motorsport from Turn 10 Studios launched for the original Xbox in 2005, and established the racing franchise as one of Microsoft's key gaming brands, as well as a serious rival to PlayStation's Gran Turismo. Seven Forza Motorsport sequels launched since, across every Xbox console generation.
Is Forza Motorsport gone for good? In October, Xbox gaming boss Phil Spencer offered this comment to Famitsu on the franchise's status, which seems to suggest that while not fully scrapped, it's at least currently parked with the engine off.
"As for Forza Motorsport, we sometimes have to shift our focus to games that will be released earlier," Spencer said. "And I also understand that many people reacted when the scale of Turn 10 Studios was reduced. As far as we are concerned, there are many games that we would like to support carefully, and sometimes we give the development team a little more time so that they do not continue to be in a state of tension."
"Forza Motorsport is brimming with new features across the board, from its muscular new multiplayer to its much-improved handling, but its new RPG-inspired upgrade system feels like a step down," IGN wrote in our Forza Motorsport review, handing the game an 8/10.
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 leaked Spider-Man trailer is of extremely low quality, but — like Avengers — is now being scrubbed from the internet by copyright claims, effectively confirming its legitimacy. According to one report, the video originated from a market research app which offers early peeks at marketing materials to gauge audience feedback.
While much of the trailer is hard to make out visually, its audio is easier to understand. The biggest reveal? That Sadie Sink's character is clearly threatening Peter Parker — and knows his secret identity as Spider-Man.
Fan speculation on who Sink might be playing has been rife, with everyone from the X-Men's Jean Grey to Mayday Parker up for grabs. But a persistant rumor has pointed to Sink playing shapeshifting multiversal villain Shathra — something that fans are now leaning towards after hearing her character speak.
"You're a mess, Spider-Man," Sink's character says. "Don't get in my way. Otherwise, it won't just be your friends who don't remember who Peter Parker is."
While the trailer begins with Peter Parker telling someone he is Spider-Man (it's hard to make out who), it's unclear how Sink's character knows Peter's secret the whole world was made to forget. And there's clearly no love lost between the two — at least from this dialogue.
But could this all be a double bluff? Sony and Marvel's Spider-Man movies have a habit of surprising audiences with characters' true identities (MJ and Mysterio, to name two). And with Sink reportedly returning for 2027's climactic Avengers: Secret Wars, has she really just been cast as this film's villain?
"A lot of people forget that hair color can change, but, yeah, I understand all of the theories," Sink said recently, when asked about all the redheaded Marvel characters that fans have speculated she's playing. "Tom [Holland] can wave at the fans because people know who he is, but then you get a glimpse of me and I'm [wrapped up] like a penguin. That'll be the situation for a bit, it seems."
Other notable lines in the trailer include Spider-Man talking to "Professor Banner," and the arrival of Frank Castle, AKA Punisher, who tells Peter he's here to "save your ass." Marvel has been coy around Mark Ruffalo's involvement in the movie, though at this point it is an open secret. As for Frank, played once again by Jon Bernthal, it's just nice to see him after years in Marvel's Netflix-era shows.
It's been a remarkable week for Marvel, which is still expected to officially release its first look at Avengers: Doomsday alongside Avatar: Fire and Ash. Reportedly, four different trailers will launch over the next four weeks to encourage repeat viewings of Avatar, each focusing on a different character. With this all in mind, it seems likely we weren't supposed to see a first look at Spider-Man still for some time.
Image credit: Samir Hussein/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
The team behind the reimagining of the original Lara Croft adventure, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, have opened up on how they're approaching the 1996 game's difficulty and instakills, acknowledging it will have to be adjusted for "modern player tastes."
Speaking at a press event and captured by GamesRadar+, Crystal Dynamics' game director Will Kerslake said: "part of reimagining a game right is adjusting that game evolving for modern player tastes."
He also hinted at what kind of gameplay we can expect to see, insisting "it is core to the Tomb Raider experience that there are puzzles in combat and traversal and death-defying action." However, Kerslake stressed that the things we remember from the original game will remain, adding: "you'll see big rolling balls, and you know, the things that you expect in a Tomb Raider game are going to be there in spades."
Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis is due out at some point in 2026 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC via Steam. Alix Wilton Regan will now play Lara Croft in both Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis and 2027's Tomb Raider: Catalyst, with Camilla Luddington, who portrayed Lara Croft in the Survivor Trilogy, issuing a heartfelt goodbye to the character this week.
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.
Gil Gerard, best known for playing Buck Rogers, has died aged 82.
His wife, Janet, shared the news in a Facebook post, confirming his death on Tuesday, December 16.
Early this morning Gil - my soulmate - lost his fight with a rare and viciously aggressive form of cancer. From the moment when we knew something was wrong to his death this morning was only days. No matter how many years I got to spend with him it would have ever been enough. Hold the ones you have tightly and love them fiercely.
Gerard played the titular light-hearted sci-fi hero in NBC series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, which ran from 1979-1981 following the successful theatrical release of a movie of the same name. The plot follows 20th-century astronaut Buck Rogers, who is frozen for 500 years after a space anomaly sends his shuttle off course. He awakes in the futuristic, post-nuclear-holocaust Earth of 2491. Revived by the alien Draconians, who are secretly planning to invade Earth, Buck adjusts to his new time, teams up with Earth Defense Directorate Colonel Wilma Deering (Erin Gray), and convinces humanity of the imminent threat.
The first made-for-TV movie was released theatrically in March 1979 as Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Fueled by a surge of interest in all things sci-fi following the blockbuster release of Star Wars, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century made $21 million at the North American box office, which was enough to convince Universal to greenlight a weekly series later that year. The movie was used to form the pilot and two-part first episode of the series, with key edits to give it a lighter tone.
After key changes were made for the second season, not just in tone but in characters and story, Gerard became unhappy. A new executive producer for Season 2 saw the show ditch Earth's futuristic cities and political intrigue for a setting on board a starship called the Searcher, which was on a mission to find lost colonies of humanity.
In later interviews, Gerard heavily criticized the change of direction. “I hated that season,” Gerard told Star Wars Interviews in 2005. “It was such a rip-off of Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica. I was thinking: 'Why are we doing this?' I always wanted Buck to stay on Earth, but we got a new executive producer who had no respect for the audience and the show.”
Amid declining ratings, NBC canceled the series, with no finale storyline produced.
His wife, Janet, shared a farewell message from Gil on Facebook:
My life has been an amazing journey. The opportunities I’ve had, the people I’ve met and the love I have given and received have made my 82 years on the planet deeply satisfying.
My journey has taken me from Arkansas to New York to Los Angeles, and finally, to my home in North Georgia with my amazing wife, Janet, of 18 years. It’s been a great ride, but inevitably one that comes to a close as mine has.
Don’t waste your time on anything that doesn’t thrill you or bring you love. See you out somewhere in the cosmos.
Photo by Herb Ball/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images.
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.
ARC Raiders has been hailed as one of the most optimized Unreal Engine 5. As I’ve showcased, the game runs with 100FPS at Native 4K/Epic Settings with Ray Tracing on an NVIDIA RTX 5090. However, the reason it runs so well is because the devs have locked its Cinematic/Max Settings. But now, thanks to Patch … Continue reading ARC Raiders Patch 1.7.0 Unlocks Previously Hidden Cinematic Graphics Settings→
The Fallout TV show is packed full of characters, factions, locations, and items familiar to any who has played the beloved RPGs. There are so many easter eggs to spot that we found 111 video game details in Season 1 alone. With Season 2 heading to a fan-favourite region of the Fallout universe, New Vegas, there's naturally a whole new flood of iconography set to make its way from the games into the Prime Video series. So, we’ll be digging into each and every episode and picking out everything we’ve noticed that relates to the source material. Without further ado, let's take a look at every video game easter egg and details we spotted in the season premiere of Fallout Season 2.
Characters and Factions
1. The likes of Lucy and The Ghoul obviously return in Fallout Season 2, but one less obvious returning character is Robert House, who first appeared at the end of Season 1, albeit looking a little different. That’s because he’s now been recast, with Justin Theroux taking over (sort of) from Rafi Silver, in anticipation of a presumably larger role this time around. It makes sense, too, as New Vegas is where the founder of RobCo Industries is found in the game, declaring himself as CEO, President, and Sole Proprietor of the New Vegas strip. We first see him in a flashback sequence at a local bar.
2. New Vegas is also home to some iconic factions that battle for control over the Mojave wasteland. One we see prominently in this episode is the Great Khans, a raider tribe inspired by Mongolian culture of the old world. This can clearly be seen in their horned helmets and recognisable logo that’s proudly on display in Novac.
3. A number of corpses wearing fur hats can be seen as Lucy and The Ghoul investigate an abandoned vault. These are similar to the hats worn by the People's Liberation Army, as seen in Fallout 3 and its Operation: Anchorage DLC, although these are not actually dead members of the PLA, but the rotting carcasses of Americans brainwashed into thinking they’re communists.
4. Before the bombs dropped, we also get a look at a Vault-Tec salesman who looks to be dressed pretty much exactly like the one who rings your doorbell at the start of Fallout 4. We’d be highly surprised if it’s the exact same one, considering they’d have to be in both Boston and Los Angeles near the beginning of the apocalypse, but it's great to see that Vault-Tec enforces a strict dress code policy.
Locations
5. In fact, the whole neighborhood that the salesman is roaming around is similar to the one seen at the beginning of Fallout 4. Even a military Vertibird can be seen flying over the street, exactly like it does in the 2015 game.
6. Lucy and The Ghoul walk past a sign pointing towards the Starlight Drive-In Theater as they wander the wasteland. This drive-in cinema is actually a location you can visit in Fallout 4, but I guess there must have been a large chain of these that spread throughout America.
7.Vault 24 is a curious one. Strictly speaking, it doesn’t exist in Fallout: New Vegas, but following its 2010 release, a Vault 24 jumpsuit has been found in the game files of Obsidian’s RPG. It seems like this was a location that was ultimately cut, so it's nice to see it get its moment in the limelight here, even if it doesn’t seem the most welcoming of places.
8. One location that is definitely in Fallout: New Vegas is the Dino Dee-lite Motel. Arguably one of the Mojave wasteland’s most iconic landmarks, in this part of the timeline, the Great Khans have seemingly taken control of it at the expense of the game’s previous occupant, Jeannie May Crawford, who ran it fifteen years earlier in 2281.
9.Dinky the T-Rex is the motel’s looming dinosaur mascot, and he looks just like he does in New Vegas. In a clear reference to the video game, Lucy uses its gaping mouth as a sniper’s nest, just as Craig Boone and Manny Vargas once did.
10. The Dino Dee-Lite motel is what the town of Novac is built around, having gotten its name from the damaged “No Vacancy” sign that sits outside of it. In the game, its residents describe it as “a small oasis in a big desert”, but it looks like it's seen better days in the show.
Items and Iconography
11. A nice little detail is the shield and skull decoration seen in Novac. This is a reference to the Great Khans ending slide from the first Fallout, which you may have seen based on the choices you’d made in that original Interplay Productions game.
12. And of course, it wouldn’t be Fallout with Nuka Cola. A vending machine for the wasteland’s favourite carbonated drink can be seen in Novac by the motel.
13. Caffeine isn’t the only drug rife in the Mojave, though. This Great Khan member can be seen inhaling some Jet, a powerful hallucinogenic chem that gives the user a brief period of enhanced awareness. In the games, this translates as slowing down the action around you to give the player an edge in combat. Incidentally, the most common form of Jet is created using the fumes emanating from the dung of Brahmin (Fallout’s multi-headed bovine).
14. The Ghoul can be seen using a device that produces a green light or mist to heal the cuts on his neck. We initially wondered if this was a miniaturised version of Fallout 76’s Stimpack Diffuser, which creates a cloud of green healing mist. However, IGN reader ZaFreesh pointed out this is actually a damaged Fusion Core, the devices used to power many of the universe's devices (you can see its yellow body and connecting prongs through The Ghoul's fingers.) In all of Bethesda's Fallout games, ghouls are able to use radiation to heal. That green light is leaking ionizing radiation.
15. Of course, there are also more traditional ways of harming your insides. Big Boss cigarettes are a very common brand in the Fallout universe, and we can see Mr House with a pack of them in the opening.
16. If you’re more of a straight-edge kinda person, perhaps we can interest you in some of the wasteland’s more precious items – purified water. A bottle can be seen on the floor of a vault back in Los Angeles.
17. Another great way to restore some health in the Fallout games is by eating some Sugar Bombs. An incredibly sugary breakfast cereal, a box can be spotted in the far less sweet-looking medical facility inside Vault 24.
18. Back in the very Fallout 4-looking town in the middle of the episode, we can spot a Vault-Tec van, presumably belonging to the aforementioned salesman. In case you don’t know, Vault-Tec is the company responsible for building and maintaining the hundreds of nuclear bunkers across North America.
19. And don’t get too excited, but that isn’t the only van-related detail, as in the episode’s opening scene we are shown a Radiation King van behind Robert House. Radiation King is an electronics company that, among other items, makes many of the televisions spotted across Fallout’s wasteland.
20. Speaking of technology and Mr House, could the neck-mounted radio chips that he uses to overpower the construction worker’s brain be an early prototype of the Mesmetron, or perhaps a competing design from RobCo Industries? The Mesmetron is a mind control device that we’ve only previously seen in Fallout 3. This unique weapon was developed by Implied Hypnotics Inc. and grants the player the ability to confuse enemies, and even make their heads explode.
21. Speaking of non-Fallout: New Vegas-related items from the games making their way into the TV show, the Whack a Commie! arcade machine from Fallout 4’s Nuka World expansion can be seen being played by Cooper’s daughter, Janey, in a flashback.
Music
22. Music is a huge part of the Fallout games, and that’s no different in the show. During the Novac shootout, we can hear “Big Iron” by Marty Robbins. This track features in Fallout: New Vegas and has lived a long life since, becoming a meme in its own right.
23.“It’s All Over” by The Ink Spots can also be heard in the episode. This is from Fallout 4, with The Ink Spots being a 1930s and ‘40s group that has become synonymous with the games, having had songs featured in multiple entries.
24.“Make the World Go Away” is a country song originally written by Hank Cochran. Though not in any Fallout, a cover of it has been used in a video game: GTA San Andreas, which also visits Las Vegas as one of its key locations.
25. A couple of other tracks also get aired throughout the season two premiere: A cover of “Cheek to Cheek” by Frank Sinatra, and “Workin’ For the Man” by Roy Orbison. These have no connection to the already established Fallout universe as far as we can tell, but do fit the vibe perfectly.
And that’s everything we spotted in the first episode of season two of the Fallout TV show. Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments. For more Fallout, check out our review of the premiere, and stay tuned next week for all of episode two’s easter eggs.
Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.
You don't have to pay more for a white-colored graphics card. For a limited time, Amazon is offering its Prime members a Gigabyte Aero GeForce RTX 5070 OC 12GB Graphics Card, decked out in a white and silver colorway, for $499. That's better than most 5070 deals I've seen because the GPU also features a triple-fan cooling system. The RTX 5070 is an excellent GPU for gaming at up to 1440p at comfortable framerates, and even at 4K with the help of DLSS4.
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5070 12GB OC Graphics Card for $499
Triple fan cooling
Compared to the previous generation GPUs, the RTX 5070 performs comparably with the RTX 4070 Super, which was already an excellent card for 1080p and 1440p gaming. The RTX 5070 also features DLSS 4 with multi-frame generation, and the performance gap widens in games that support it, including Doom: The Dark Ages, Clair Obscur, Borderlands 4, Battlefield 6, and more. DLSS4 also makes the 5070 a viable card for 4K gaming. This particular Gigabyte model has a triple-fan cooling system, which has the potential to run cooler and quieter than two-fan cards.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
This review contains spoilers for Fallout Season 2’s premiere episode, “The Innovator”, which is available to stream now on Prime Video. For a spoiler-free look at what's to come, check out our Fallout Season 2 Episodes 1-6 review.
We may have only known them for just under eight hours in total, but it feels really good to be back in the company of Lucy MacLean and The Ghoul. Ella Purnell and Walton Goggins have breathed exceptional life into this odd couple pairing, and their first season triumphs are effortlessly picked up in this second season premiere – Purnell never less than completely charming, even when guzzling flea soup, and Goggins always ready with a sharp blade or sharper word. The strength of this duo is emblematic of Fallout’s strength as a whole – a project that completely understands the often contradictory tone required of this eccentric world, where the goofy walks side-by-side with the terrifying. That deep understanding is vital for this season’s new challenge: the gargantuan task of working within the lore of Fallout: New Vegas, one of the most beloved RPGs of all time. And while the most interesting and iconic stuff is still beyond the horizon of this episode, the authenticity of the show is still plain to see, and it helps this enjoyable premiere rise above a few noticeable blemishes.
While Fallout’s Season 2 premiere never fails to be entertaining, the first half is too preoccupied with reminding you what Fallout is and who all of its characters are to truly get this season’s storyline going with earnestness. The sequence at the Dino Dee-lite Motel, one of Fallout: New Vegas’ most famous landmarks, is an enjoyably silly showcase of just how much The Ghoul takes pleasure in turning humans into bits of pie-filling, and how Lucy will always look for the non-lethal way out of sticky situations. But the entire event is a reiteration of character traits we already know, and so is essentially homework for those arriving late to the party. It’s a revision exercise that feels slightly unnecessary following almost six minutes of “previously on Fallout” montage, and one we’ll likely have to go through again soon considering the show’s third lead, Maximus (Aaron Moten), has yet to show his face.
While Lucy and Ghoul’s journey does eventually stumble into more interesting territory (more on that later), it’s by visiting the past that this premiere episode is able to establish more compelling stories for the show’s future. The pre-war flashbacks return, picking up just seconds after The Ghoul’s former self, Hollywood actor Cooper Howard, eavesdropped on Vault-Tec’s diabolical plans in the Season 1 finale. I’m pleased to see that Sarita Choudhury’s Moldaver is back as part of all this, and that her first task is pressuring Howard into becoming a cold-blooded killer. While it seems like she’ll be no more than a shadowy figure on the sidelines, at least she gets to be the person that kickstarts Cooper’s descent into becoming a frequent creator of bloody messes.
Cooper’s involvement with Moldaver, Vault-Tec, and attempting to prevent armageddon puts him in the fascinating position of being on the frontlines of what has previously only ever been Fallout’s distant backstory. Season 1 used Cooper as a lens through which to truly live the kind of pre-apocalypse existence that the games have only hinted at through shattered retrofuturistic kitchens and rusted robot butlers, but we’re going somewhere very different now: right into the middle of the events that caused Fallout. It’s sacred territory, the stuff I’d usually say should be kept perpetually beyond our reach, only ever learned about through notes and audio logs hidden behind a hacking puzzle. But I can’t deny that I’m excited to see where this more hands-on approach takes both Cooper and Fallout as a whole.
Cooper’s attempt to prevent armageddon puts him in the fascinating position of being on the frontlines of Fallout’s distant backstory.
Much of that excitement is generated by Moldaver and Howard’s target: Justin Theroux’s Robert House. Or, as the episode’s ominous intertitle credits him as, “The Man Who Knew.” A cold opening provides an impressive look at Theroux’s take on New Vegas’ most important character, who combines immaculate grooming, unbreakable confidence, and a trademark breathy “hw” sound at the start of his “when”, “where”, and “why”s to create a delightfully insufferable upper-class intellectual. His deal with the striking construction worker is a neat demonstration of how he’s able to use that intellect to orchestrate scenarios to optimum outcomes; he uses money to lure the man into becoming his test subject, and then a mind control chip to take total control. He’s a master manipulator who’ll do anything to bend you to his will. If last season’s finale didn’t make it abundantly clear, billionaires are the problem.
The splattery back-alley experiment is a fantastic introduction to House, but one minorly stained by the show’s attempt to create an in-universe explanation for the character’s re-casting. Rafi Silver, who played House for a single scene last season, returns in a retconned role that appears to be the industrialist’s “public face.” In the strikers’ local bar, workers decry the sight of Silver’s face on the TV, but have absolutely no idea who Justin Theroux is. Perhaps this is supposed to be some kind of twist in the making – “Surprise, this guy was House all the long!” But if that’s the case, perhaps they shouldn’t have given Theroux the exact same hair, make-up, and smoking habit that Silver has. The whole sequence had me confused as to if the person who looked like House was actually House, rather than genuinely hoodwinked by a red herring. While the character does admittedly need to sport his iconic moustache, that could always have been added in a later reveal. And, more importantly, if Amazon was shooting for a twist, they shouldn’t have confirmed Theroux was playing House in both trailers and interviews that landed months ahead of this episode.
Despite this rough edge, I’m excited about House’s position in the show and can’t wait to see him butt heads with Cooper. I’m less enthusiastic about the ongoing tale of interconnected vaults 31, 32, and 33, which so far still needs to prove it was worth continuing into this second season. I’ll admit that I was unoptimistic about this storyline in the first season and was eventually proved wrong by the finale, but what we seem to have this time is multiple vault dweller storylines, rather than just the one spearheaded by Moisés Arias’s Norm. His journey is thankfully off to a reasonably strong start that instantly builds on his discovery of the now-thawing 200-year-old battalion of frozen Vault-Tec managers, and I expect things will heat up as soon as they’ve wiped the frost from their eyes next week. But the other vault-based plots already threaten to be inconsequential, such as the broken water chip (which reared its head last season for little more than a single line of dialogue), Steph’s ascent to overseer, and especially the in-breeding social club started by a very bored Reg. While it’s true that these jumpsuited idiots do provide a few good laughs, I think gags are better delivered within the main narrative and not as comedy sideshows. There may be three vaults, but I don’t think there needs to be three stories… although, like with last season, a good final twist may justify the time spent with these vault boys and girls.
Some of the vault-based plots already threaten to be inconsequential.
When you can see the exciting sparks of disparate plot threads being welded together, though, it really does feel like the best of Fallout is back. The first season eventually wrought many of its ideas into one satisfying, coherent whole, and it feels like this second season is getting started with that process even earlier. Stories from across both the timeline and breadth of the wasteland are stitched together in this episode’s more propulsive second half, as Lucy and The Ghoul discover the abandoned vault that was once used to trial the mind-control chips we saw Robert House testing in the opening sequence. The “turn Americans into communists” theme of the vault’s experiment is a good laugh – not sharp enough to be genuine satire, but enough to colourfully evoke the idea of a mad Vault-Tec scientist creating “monsters,” Clockwork Orange-style. It further enriches Fallout’s shadowy corners, demonstrates that aforementioned understanding of the games’ tone, and hopefully points towards even more messed up experiments in the future. Anyone up for a trip to the “Gary” vault?
Meanwhile, in the metal bowels of yet another underground bunker, we’re treated to a precious few minutes with Kyle MacLachlan to round the episode out on a high. Hank MacLean initially appears to be a dedicated Vault-Tec company man, getting ready to complete his employer’s plans in a fantastically upbeat sequence set to Roy Orbison’s “Working for the Man,” which is only made better by the involvement of a hot cup of coffee and a damn good smile. But that final radio call really threw me for a loop. Hank may be working for the man, but that man certainly ain’t Vault-Tec. Fallout veterans will recognise that all signs point to Robert House, but how are these men connected? What does Hank’s promotion entail? And is House even still alive? There well may be nobody listening to Hank’s report, after all. Whatever the answers, there’s now a clearly defined web of intrigue that links Hank, Lucy, The Ghoul, Cooper Howard, and Robert House all together. And there’s our central throughline established. While this premiere certainly has its struggles, it gets to exactly where it needs to be before everything fades to black.
Sonos is hosting a last-minute Christmas sale across its entire site, but one of its best deals can be found in its certified refurbished section. For a limited time, the certified refurbished Sonos Era 100 smart speaker drops to just $134. Shipping is free, but there's also a Best Buy in-store pickup option for even faster retrieval.
A brand new Sonos Era 100 is also on sale right now for $169, but in my opinion there's no reason to spend the extra $35, especially since the warranty is exactly the same. Sonos refurbished products come like new, in pristine packaging with all the original accessories and a one year Sonos warranty.
Sonos Era 100 Smart Speaker for $134
Certified refurbished with 1 year Sonos warranty
The Sonos Era 100 retails for $219 new, but you can pick up a certified refurbished model for just $134. This is Sonos' most popular and most versatile speaker. Despite its compact size, the Era 100 houses two tweeters, a mid-woofer, and three class-D digital amplifiers to produce precise, distortion-free audio even at high volumes. It has a built-in microphone for smart functionality. Because of its flexibility, it's often paired with a sound bar or a second Era speaker.
You can also get a discounted price on a new unit
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
In this week’s deals haul, I fell down the familiar rabbit hole of "just checking prices" and somehow emerged with a shortlist of games I have already sunk irresponsible hours into. Some of these are comfort food, some are long overdue, and a few are perfect excuses to cancel weekend plans. No regrets.
In retro news, I’m using a precision railgun shot to simultaneously light 26 candles on a cake baked for Quake III Arena. I have extremely fond memories of my older, vastly more employed brother building his first PC to play this at launch as I watched on in awe. It was an absolute batcomputer of a rig packing a Pentium II 266 MHz, 64MB RAM, and a beastly 4MB video card. The latter was very much needed because, unlike most other games released at the time, the idTech3 engine demanded an OpenGL-compliant graphics accelerator to run.
From the first FMV frames of a stogie-chewin’ Sarge making his last stand, I was hooked. The Quake series wasn’t really known for its narrative depth, so pinging around a meticulously crafted Thunderdome with 15 other bots/players was a clever pare back of all the puzzle solvin’ and key findin ‘for pure, unadulterated killin’ at a greased lightning pace. Never shall I forget those all-nighter LANs, the arsey rocket jumps, and railgun duelling across The Longest Yard.
On Switch, this lot covers chaos, catharsis, and comfort food. Whether you want couch rivalries, moody JRPG soul searching, or a magical school fantasy that absolutely knows its audience, these are all easy recommends at these prices.
Mario Kart 8 Del. (-26%) A$59 Still the best party racer ever made. I have played hundreds of races and still get shell shock every time I hit second place.
Shin Megami Tensei V (-60%) A$40.30 Brutal, stylish, and absolutely uninterested in holding your hand. Pokemon for people who enjoy consequences and philosophy homework.
Pokemon Violet (-25%) A$60 Rough edges aside, the open world formula works. I accidentally lost an entire weekend chasing shinies and felt zero shame.
Everybody's Golf Hot Shots (-33%) A$47 Golf that remembers games should be fun. Perfect for zoning out while still pretending you are good at sports.
Hogwarts Legacy (-51%) A$44 A wizard fantasy that absolutely nails atmosphere. I spent far too long ignoring quests just to explore corridors.
On Series X, this batch swings hard. Big open worlds, tight competitive fighters, and some old school FPS energy that refuses to die quietly.
Assassin's Creed Shadows (-55%) A$49.90 Stealth finally feels cool again. I actually planned assassinations instead of sprinting and hoping for the best.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Heart of Chornobyl (-40%) A$53.90 Hostile, moody, and deeply stressful. Exactly how fans wanted it. Do not expect mercy or tutorials.
Painkiller (-42%) A$34.90 Dumb, loud, and gloriously fast. Sometimes you just want demons, metal, and zero narrative responsibility.
Far Cry 6 (-80%) A$19.90 A gorgeous mess with moments of brilliance. At this price, the chaos is more than worth it.
Street Fighter 6 (-50%) A$31.40 The best Street Fighter has felt in decades. Accessible, deep, and dangerously good for your ego.
Xbox One
Dying Light 2 Stay Human (-52%) A$47.90 Parkour still slaps and the nights are still terrifying. Play with friends or accept your fear alone.
Monster Hunter Rise (-80%) A$11.30 One of the best action RPGs ever made at a laughable price. Say goodbye to your free time.
Yoku's Island Express (-85%) A$4 A pinball platformer that should not work but absolutely does. Pure joy from start to finish.
Just like I did last holiday season, I'm getting festive with the LEGO section. In Mathew Manor, my sons and I are again racing this year's batch of LEGO Advent Calendars. Basically, we open the City, Harry Potter, Minecraft, and Star Wars on the daily and compare the mini-prizes for "Awesomeness" and "Actual Xmas-ness". 2024's winner was the Lego Marvel one, but, weirdly, there's no 2025 equivalent. So it's anybody's race this year.
Here are the cheapest prices for the four calendars we're using. Score them yourself or just live vicariously through our unboxings.
Adam Mathew is a passionate connoisseur, a lifelong game critic, and an Aussie deals wrangler who genuinely wants to hook you up with stuff that's worth playing (but also cheap). He plays practically everything, sometimes on YouTube.
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