Project Hail Mary co-director Christopher Miller has moved to clarify recent comments in which he said there isn't a single green screen shot in the entire movie.
The Ryan Gosling sci-fi film, due out March 20, is based on The Martian author Andy Weir’s hard-science novel of the same name, and revolves around an astronaut who encounters an alien while trying to save Earth.
In interviews with the press, Miller, who directed Project Hail Mary alongside collaborator Phil Lord, said there is no green screen at all, the ship was built as a set, and the alien character, called Rocky, was actually in the scenes as a puppet. This, Miller said, helps make Project Hail Mary feel real.
Those comments sparked a mixed reaction, with some expressing disbelief, especially when you consider Project Hail Mary spends much of its runtime in space. “They actually shot in space,” joked author Zoë Rose Bryant.
Now, Miller has issued a clarification statement, taking to X / Twitter to say "no green screen" doesn’t mean "no VFX.”
“There were, in fact, thousands of VFX shots in the film (2018!),” Miller went on to say. “Green screen is sometimes used in lieu of building sets or figuring out locations/lighting in advance, which can be noticeable if not done carefully, and is something we didn’t want to do. We built the entire interior of the Hail Mary ship — but within the ship, there were still wire and puppeteer removals and ceiling replacements, etc.
“When Ryan is outside on the hull of the ship, we shot him in front of a black background for space and a shifting hue background when he was up against the aurora of a planet which allowed for truer interactive light on him than a green screen would. The wide space exteriors and spaceship shots were entirely digital and beautifully done by ILM. Rocky was a seamless blend of puppetry and animation from Framestore. And other great work from many more. It really does take a village and we had the best of the best on our side.”
So, Miller was correct in saying no green screen was used, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t visual effects in Project Hail Mary, which some had taken it to mean.
One high-profile fan of the approach taken for Project Hail Mary is Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro, who praised Miller and Lord in a social media post. "What Phil and Chris did here, the amount of PRACTICAL sets and effects and puppets is just so beautiful to see," he said.
What Phil and Chris did here- the amount of PRACTICAl sets and effects and puppets is just so beautiful to see- so inspiring to hold- it's a goal- and aspiration and a commitment. Specially now- so much- now. https://t.co/7GjAdUC2wA
The first trailer for Project Hail Mary was released at the end of June last year — and it blew up online, garnering over 400 million views in a single week. At the time, that was a record for a film that was not a sequel or a remake.
Project Hail Mary stars Ryan Gosling as a professor, scientist, and astronaut who wakes up one day on a spaceship with no recollection of how he got there and a new mission that will put him at the center of saving humanity from a catastrophic event. Sandra Huller and Milana Vayntrub star alongside Gosling, who also produced the project. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse fame have teamed up once again for their first directed film in 12 years following 2014’s 22 Jump Street.
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.
Highguard, the free-to-play PvP raid shooter announced at The Game Awards last year and set to close next week, has released its final update.
Developer Wildlight announced that it would permanently shut down Highguard on March 12, but not before a "farewell tour," which also just-so-happens to be the name of the shooter's final patch.
Highguard launched on January 26 after almost no communication with prospective players between its December announcement and launch day. While Steam concurrents almost hit a high of 100,000, peak concurrents on Valve's platform soon plummeted (neither Sony nor Microsoft make player numbers public). And though Wildgate was quick to address issues with the game, even adding a 5v5 game mode to counter 3v3 complaints, shortly thereafter, most of the studio was laid off.
Now, as the team issues its final patch, it thanked everyone who has and is still playing Highguard, writing: "Even though we are shutting the game down, we are excited to give our remaining players one last big update to keep you entertained over the weekend. Thanks again for playing with us. Enjoy!"
This final update adds a new Warden, a new weapon, account level progression, and a skill tree for those who want to get their final matches in.
Highguard 'The Farewell Tour' Patch Notes:
For our final patch, we’d like to thank everyone who has played and is still playing Highguard. Even though we are shutting the game down, we are excited to give our remaining players one last big update to keep you entertained over the weekend. Thanks again for playing with us. Enjoy!
Account Progression
You’ll now level up your account level just by playing the game. As you return to the lobby, you’ll gain XP, level up, and earn Skill Points to be spent on the new Skill Tree!
Everyone’s account will start at level 0, and goes to level 100.
Your first level acquired will reward you with 5 Skill points. Afterwards, you receive 1 skill point per level up until level 40 for a total of 44 points to spend. This allows players to choose up to two skill trees to max.
Skill Tree
The Skill Tree is designed for players to build out their upgrades in 4 distinct playstyles. Each branch has a variety of options for players to choose from, with 2 tiers of power on all small nodes. Here is a list of what each branch focuses on, along with a few examples.
Raider - for players looking to be unstoppable during Raids, along with some buffs and abilities focused on general combat efficiency.
Infiltration - while raiding, zipline further into the enemy base
Juggernaut - destroying a wall provides a short duration overshield
Spearhead - you receive a Domesplitter and a Thumper Charge when your Siege Tower rolls in
Harvester - for players who are looking to increase their Vesper gain and the power of their Warden Axe
Heavy Swing - you swing your axe with two hands, instantly destroying Vesper Nodes
Shatter Orb - destroy enemy soul orbs with your Throwing Axe or Regular Axe Swing
Field Crafting - Create Armor, Equipment and Raid Tools in the battlefield
Treasure Hunter - for those players who love to loot
Treasure Seeker - hidden chests can be found and opened at PoIs
Archaeologist - Can sell items to Trader Flynn
Artifact Mastery - Amulets have a bonus magical property when equipped
Protector - for players who enjoy defending and keeping the team together
Resonant Walls - reinforced walls are more durable
Unbreakable Armor - once every 2 minutes, armor loss is prevented on death
Vanguard - while defending your base, allies can spawn on you
You can unequip a skill easily, and you can Reset all your points at no cost by clicking the button at the bottom.
We’ve tuned the XP gain to be very fast so players can earn points quickly and enjoy the full spectrum of the feature.
New Warden - Koldo
Koldo was discovered on Highguard. A lost soul from long before the continent disappeared, trapped inside a suit of armor, he searches for answers to his past. Koldo uses the power of his soul to protect his allies.
Passive: Guardian Angel
Protect any friendly orbs around you from destruction.
Automatically deploy your shield when reviving allies.
Tactical: Soul Shield
Deploy a shield for you and your allies.
Ultimate: Battle Cry
Koldo raises a standard that creates a protective dome. He can pick up and carry the standard, and drop it again at will.
Being inside the dome gives allies faster health regeneration.
New Weapon - The Switchback
The Switchback brings unparalleled versatility, comfortably handling both close range and long range encounters. When used in hipfire, it’s a shotgun. Aiming down the sights will transition the weapon into a marksman rifle.
The name “Switchback” originates from its unique double-barrel design. You’re able to rapidly shoot twice before needing a rechamber, though you also can pace your shots to keep up a continuous stream of fire.
In the field, many Wardens have sought to wield the Switchback. Only a few have truly learned to master it.
Gold Versions
The Switchback has 2 gold versions that can be found in loot chests, or with Trader Flynn.
Basebreaker
Repeater
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.
This article contains spoilers for Resident Evil Requiem.
Resident Evil Requiem is now in our hands and, as our review makes clear, it’s a massive success. But what’s next for Capcom’s long-running horror series? Resident Evil has settled into a release cadence over the last few years that alternates between new mainline entries and extravagant remakes. With the most recent remake being an overhaul of Leon S. Kennedy’s iconic Spain-set adventure,Resident Evil 4, the next one up on the docket is likely to be Chris Redfield’s co-op odyssey,Resident Evil 5. That would be interesting for many reasons, but to make matters more intriguing, one of Resident Evil Requiem’s third act plot reveals seems to hint at the ways Capcom intends to alter the series’ continuity in a hypothetical remake of the fifth mainline chapter. Let’s take a look at how Requiem may be quietly setting up a lore-altering remake of Resident Evil 5.
Big Spencer
Even people who have never played a Resident Evil game before have probably at least heard of the Umbrella Corporation, the nefarious pharmaceutical company behind many of the series' biohazardous events. Who they’re less likely to be familiar with is Oswell E. Spencer, the founder and CEO of Umbrella. Although he’s rarely made direct appearances in the games, Spencer could arguably be considered the overarching antagonist of the entire franchise. The first game took place in his mansion, after all, and the series’ dense web of viruses, monsters, and shady villainous factions almost all tie back to Spencer in one way or another because of his initial work with bioweapons.
Resident Evil Requiem brings Spencer back in the spotlight, but in an unexpected way that recontextualizes his place in the Resident Evil universe. Where previous lore depicted Spencer as a megalomaniacal oligarch who wanted to remake the world using weaponized viruses, Requiem presents a more human side of this ambitious scientist.
In the game’s final act, protagonist Grace Ashcroft learns that her mother, reporter Alyssa Ashcroft, interviewed Spencer in his twilight years. As part of their meeting, Spencer explained that he’d been taking care of an orphaned infant – Grace herself – and gave her to Alyssa to raise. He also seemed to express genuine remorse for all the death and destruction he’d caused. Requiem doubles down on this idea with the twist that Elpis, Spencer’s secret final project that the villains have been seeking all game long, is not a new bioweapon like they believed, but in fact an antiviral agent that can cure infections caused by Umbrella’s viruses. In Requiem’s “good” ending, Grace realizes that Spencer wanted to atone for his actions by using Elpis to nullify the bioweapons he once created. She releases the antiviral into the world, and Leon is saved from his T-Virus infection.
The scene of Spencer and Alyssa’s conversation is remarkable because it managed to evoke pity and even a bit of sympathy from me for a character who I know is an egotistical madman responsible for numerous atrocities and millions of deaths. That’s the power of strong writing and voice work. But while making Spencer more sympathetic serves a self-contained purpose within Requiem’s story, the idea that he had regrets before his death carries huge implications for the series’ established canon, especially as it relates to Resident Evil 5’s place in the timeline.
Flashback Attack
Spencer made one of his few in-person appearances in Resident Evil 5, popping up in aflashback cutscene that featured him talking with another recurring series antagonist, Albert Wesker. Spencer is shown as an old man in a wheelchair, barely clinging to life while still espousing his eugenics-minded philosophy. He raves about how he had the “right to be a god,” and reveals to Wesker that he was part of a program designed to create superior beings whom Spencer was to be the master of. Wesker then kills Spencer, saying that he was “arrogant even until the end.”
This is Spencer’s canonical death, although this version of him is incongruous with the revelations in Requiem. But that might not be a problem if a Resident Evil 5 remake reworks this scene and Spencer’s role in the plot to fit with his newer, more regretful portrayal.
Spencer’s death in Resident Evil 5’s main campaign is merely part of a cutscene, but the sequence became more interactive with the Lost in Nightmares DLC. The expansion sees Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine battle Wesker shortly after he kills Spencer, with you fighting in the very same room he commits the deed in. Should this sequence be recreated and integrated into the main campaign of a potential RE5 remake, Capcom would have the opportunity to rewrite Spencer's final moments so they line up better with Requiem’s reveals. This could be the first moment in the series’ timeline that our heroes learn of Spencer’s real feelings on his legacy. And with the DLC being one of the only parts of RE5 that mechanically feels akin to the franchise’s classic survival horror gameplay, it’s a prime candidate for a level that could be included in a remake that would, presumably, look to reformat the story to better suit the series’ renewed survival horror ambitions.
Capcom has already been fairly liberal with Resident Evil remakes making adjustments to previous continuity.
It makes a certain amount of sense for Capcom to do this, because this very scene has already been the subject of a retcon. The villains’ conversation sees Spencer claim that Albert was the only survivor of the Wesker program, but that turned out to be untrue when we learned about Alex Wesker, who was the main villain of Resident Evil: Revelations 2.
Capcom has already been fairly liberal with its Resident Evil remakes making adjustments to previous continuity. The first game’s remake introduced entirely new characters, the most notable being Lisa Trevor, the daughter of the Spencer Mansion’s architect. Umbrella used Lisa as a test subject, and her mutated body was the vessel from which William Birkin, one of the main villains of RE2, first harvested that game’s G-Virus. Resident Evil 2’s remake, meanwhile, adds a lot of flesh and nuance to characters like Ada Wong, Marvin Branagh, and Annette Birkin.
Most pressingly, Resident Evil 4’s remake ends with Ada stealing the dominant plaga sample (referred to as “the Amber”) and refusing to give it to Wesker, something that very much did not happen in the original game. Since Wesker’s work with Las Plagas created many of the threats present in Resident Evil 5, this alteration (as well as the reveal that Wesker recovered Jack Krauser’s corpse), hints that the context for how RE5’s monsters come to be will be different in the seemingly inevitable remake.
What Does This Mean For Resident Evil 5?
Recent Resident Evil games hinting that the events of RE5 will be different in the new continuity are pretty big clues that a remake of the fifth game is all but assured. While the remakes have been a largely successful creative endeavor, Resident Evil 5 in particular is an interesting subject for a remake. Both its mechanical and narrative relationships to the rest of the franchise are somewhat fraught, and a remake provides the opportunity to smooth over those discrepancies. I doubt that a remake would ditch the co-op campaign – one of the original version’s most beloved and foundational features – but the game marked the point where it was borderline impossible to argue that the series was still trying to be a survival horror game. Resident Evil 4 got away with the shift to a more action-heavy style because it revolutionized third-person shooting and was a masterclass in tension. RE5 doesn’t have the same pedigree and moved even further away from the atmosphere of the early games, something that could be rectified in a remake.
I say this as a fan of the fifth game: it could really use some serious changes. I have played through Resident Evil 5 somewhere north of 20 times, on multiple platforms and with many different co-op partners. It’s an excellent game to throw on with a buddy, and is easy to play as a casual hangout activity. That said, the series’ adherence to the “stop and shoot” mechanic, as appropriate as it is for the classic entries, is not conducive to the fast-paced two-person experience RE5 wants to be, nor is its incredibly primitive attempt at cover mechanics for specific encounters. A version of RE5 that uses the many refinements the franchise has made to its gameplay in the years since the original’s release would let it feel more fresh and dynamic instead of an awkward midpoint between Resident Evil 4 and Gears of War.
More substantively, the Resident Evil remakes have done a tremendous job of improving the franchise’s narrative credibility with stronger writing and more believable performances while not significantly altering the actual plots of each respective entry. Resident Evil 5 could use this more than most, both because it pushes RE4’s carefully considered campy tone a bit too far into maximalist absurdism, and also because the game did not do the best job of navigating the perils of being a horror game with an African setting. RE5 has been a subject of controversy for racial insensitivity since before it was even released, and while your mileage may vary on how big of a problem that is for you, it’s difficult to absolve the game of the accusation. Not even secondary protagonist Sheva Alomar being a heroic figure can eliminate how misguided some parts of RE5 are. It’s not that the story can't be set in Africa, but the game’s middle chapters with plaga-infested tribal warriors could be easily swapped out for something that feels more in line with contemporary sensibilities.
No matter how Capcom decides to tackle a Resident Evil 5 remake, the alterations in these recent games indicate that the studio won't be faithfully remaking RE5's story. Quite how changes to Spencer's legacy and Ada Wong's decision will change the direction of any hypothetical remake is not yet clear, so we can't yet say if such retcons will pave the way for Capcom to better align the game with the creative sensibilities of the modern era, or if it simply means the lore around its story will feature minor adjustments.
We don't know what the next Resident Evil game following Requiem will be, but whenever the Resident Evil 5 remake does come together, it seems like it won't be exactly like we remember it.
Carlos Morales writes novels, articles, and Mass Effect essays. You can follow his fixations on Twitter.
If you’ve spent any time in Resident Evil Requiem’s Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center, you know to steer absolutely clear of “the chef." A towering, burly, machete-wielding shambler, he’s the toughest “regular” zombie Grace can face in Requiem’s terrifying first half. The only way to take him down is to stock up on bullets, Hemolytic Injectors, and a whole lot of courage.
Or just get one of the noise-sensitive zombies to one-shot him.
As you’ll probably already know, there are a number of different zombie types or “characters” in Rhodes Hill. Among them are audio-sensitive patients who will lash out at anything that makes too much noise. If you’ve unlocked the Internal Dispute trophy, you’ll know you can exploit that quirk to get this zombie type to attack other enemies. That’s exactly what X user @neko_sougo did, baiting the noise-hater into attacking the chef. The results are unbelievable: a one-hit kill.
It seems impossible, and it is… well, certainly on the standard difficulty level. But this video clip seems to have been captured from an Insanity difficulty run. That would not only explain the massive amount of damage the zombie can inflict, but also the location of this one-sided brawl. Typically the chef hangs out in the kitchen, and later patrols the adjoining hallway of the west wing’s first floor. The noise-hating zombie, meanwhile, is located one floor up, in the office, which is where this clip was filmed. And so the chef has had to be baited far away past his typical patrol boundaries, something that the Insanity difficulty allows for.
There’s another clip to further suggest the noise-hater is a juggernaut on Insanity mode. User @SparkingSushi posted a clip showing the patient one-shotting Chunk, Rhodes Hill’s grotesque stalker enemy. To be clear: Chunk is the most formidable enemy in this section of the game. He takes no less than three Hemolytic Injectors to kill on standard difficulty. A hit to the cranium with a metal pole shouldn’t flatline him. And yet here’s the evidence in full-colour.
While these clips do seem to suggest that the noise-hater is incredibly powerful at Insanity difficulty, there are other things to consider. Requiem has only recently been released, and so hasn’t had every patch it’s likely to get across its lifetime — perhaps, then, this is a bug. We should also consider the idea that the clips are rigged. In a world where we’d all like our clips to go viral (and the chef one very much has, with 2 million views on @neko_sougo’s post and a further 2.5m views on a repost from @REBiohazardNews), we shouldn’t discount that perhaps the chef had been heavily damaged before the camera started rolling, allowing for the one-shot kill.
Should the power of this zombie be real, though, then it’s not only a very cool quirk, but potentially a wildly useful addition to Grace’s toolkit during an Insanity run. Forget pistols, knives, and lethal blood injections, all you need is a few glass bottles to bait all of your foes towards the insta-kill I.V. drip.
Bungie has finally revealed Marathon’s premium currency, called LUX, while promising it can’t be used to buy gameplay advantages.
In a tweet, the official Marathon account reiterated that seasonal gameplay content is free for all players. This includes zones and Runner shells (playable characters) for the extraction shooter.
“There is no pay for power,” Bungie said. Premium Pass rewards only include cosmetics, not gameplay items. And LUX can only be used for cosmetics, “not gameplay advantages.”
Meanwhile, Reward Passes do not expire, so you can buy a previous season’s Reward Passes. You unlock rewards in your Rewards Passes using Silk, which is earned by playing the game. You can’t buy SILK. You can also earn cosmetics via the Codex, with others available for purchase.
Confirmation of Marathon’s premium currency comes just hours before the game itself goes live (check out the Marathon release times here).
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.
Castlevania: Belmont's Curse — announced at Sony's State of Play showcase last month as part of Konami's celebration of Castlevania's 40th(!) anniversary — will play like a classic Castlevania game rather than a roguelike, despite the expertise of the studio making it.
That's according to Konami, which told The Verge earlier this week that while the game is in development by Dead Cells maker Motion Twin, it will play like a traditional Castlevania game.
"Castlevania Belmont's Curse is a 2D action-exploration game where players can freely explore vast, elaborately crafted maps," Konami's Tommy Williams said. "It is not a roguelike or roguelite game."
As for why Konami's making this clear now? Well, the announcement trailer did leave some fans wondering about the gameplay, not least because some thought they spotted a whip card pop-up on screen, as though it was a roguelike power-up.
As one prospective player said on Reddit following Konami's clarification: "Okay NOW I'm interested. I'm so sick of Metrovania games that are roguelike or roguelite or Soulslike, for that matter." Another simply said: "I wouldn't want it any other way, to be honest."
Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is out later this year on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, and is already available to pre-order. The new stylized 2D Castlevania game co-developed by Evil Empire and Motion Twin is set in 1499, where Medieval Paris is engulfed in flames as monstrous creatures suddenly emerge from the shadows. Armed with the legendary holy whip, the Vampire Killer, Trevor Belmont’s successor ventures into the burning streets and the looming castle to hunt down the beasts.
Konami says this is just the first announcement to mark the series' fourth decade, which started way back on the original Nintendo Entertainment System and has since spawned a hugelysuccessful and critically acclaimed adult animated series on Netflix.
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.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the latest Universes Beyond set for Magic: The Gathering, and it's out this week. If you’re already sold on meeting up with cardboard versions of the Heroes in a Half Shell, their friends, and their foes, then I've got some great news.
Amazon is once again discounting booster boxes, which are now down to their lowest-ever price. This is $124.99, which we saw briefly just a few weeks back, before Amazon hiked it back up to $143.84 for some time. With a return to that low price so soon before release, this is the best time to preorder and secure 30 booster packs at the best price possible.
This is a certified $84.71 in savings compared to its original $209.70 list price. That's also just over $4 for each booster ($4.17, to be precise), which is more than a couple of bucks off what you’d usually pay when buying them individually.
Also, just a heads up, Amazon has a preorder price guarantee, so if it drops even further or somehow goes back up in price between now and release day, you can be absolutely certain that you're paying the lowest price possible.
TMNT has been going through something of a price crash over the past week, with big discounts already available on highly sought after products in the line up, like the Turtle Power Commander Deck dropping to just under $55, and $15 off its MSRP.
That's alongside the Draft Night restock that promptly got an even bigger discount, and is now available to preorder for just $86.99, a massive deal compared to its $119.99 list price.
There's also been a massive restock, followed by discounts on Collector Boosters this week, which should be of interest to anyone wanting to chase the rarest cards going from the new set.
We saw similar drops for Spider-Man, which would be a little worrisome if Avatar hadn’t got the same treatment - and that set was great.
For more on Magic: The Gathering, check out the wild ride that is the game’s 2026 set lineup, as well as our guide to buying the first set of the year, Lorwyn Eclipsed, which launched earlier this year, and already has some mighty impressive cards that are racking up a tidy price on resale.
Robert Anderson is Senior Commerce Editor, and IGN's resident deals expert on games, collectibles, trading card games, and more. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Bluesky.
This article also contains contributions from Lloyd Coombes. Lloyd 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.
Crimson Desert is almost upon us, and we’re now getting a sense of what it is all about and how, exactly, this ambitious open world action adventure works. IGN’s recent Crimson Desert preview, for example, is packed with fresh details, and we even have a big interview with one of the developers. But one talking point that has emerged over the last day is Crimson Desert’s ‘fast forward’ button, which lets you speed through dialogue — and it turns out there are plenty of people who have a lot to say about it.
X / Twitter user Jake Lucky posted footage of fast forward in action, showing how it speeds up dialogue in cutscenes in a tweet viewed over 1.1 million times. “One of the features I really liked in Crimson Desert is you can fast forward through dialogue while still being able to understand the context, it's not a jump skip, but a time save,” Lucky said.
One of the features I really liked in Crimson Desert is you can fast forward through dialogue while still being able to understand the context, it's not a jump skip, but a time save pic.twitter.com/g3KiQVUxEE
Some reacted negatively to the feature. “You're... playing an RPG, but you're happy you can skip dialogue?” said one person. “I'd like to play an FPS, but can we have a button that lets me skip the shooting?”
“Hey when you only got five hours to play it sure is nice, plus not every dialogue was something I needed the full story on (like rescuing a cat off a roof),” Lucky responded. “To each their own.”
Negative comments kept on coming, however. “Skipping dialogue in an RPG is kinda crazy, imo,” said another. “Unless it's a second playthrough.”
“If you need to ‘time save’ it means you're not really liking what you're playing....” another said.
However, there are some who are praising the feature, and highlighting other games have had similar features.
“People keep making fun of this. But I’ve played the game,” Swany Plays Games said. “When you die to a boss or need to reload a save, or want to do a second playthough. It’s nice to be able to skip dialogue…
“It isn’t ‘TikTok’ brain. When you have a game this big, you see a ton of repetitive cutscenes. You don’t need to watch the dialogue for a cutscene you’ve already seen seven times (for example turning in a bounty). I actually wish they had a skip button and not just fast forward. Having the option to skip or fast forward isn’t a bad thing.”
Crimson Desert is an open-world action-adventure game set in the beautiful yet brutal continent of Pywel. Embark on a journey as the Greymane Kliff and restore what has been lost. Explore uncharted lands, fight against threats that stand in your way, and discover the wonders the world has in store.
“You choose the type of character you want to play as in terms of your progression within the systems in the game,” Powers explained. “And then through head canon you’re having this very different experience than other players because of the scope and scale of the game. You’ll be distracted by something, you’ll go on this quest line, you’ll have an experience that’ll be radically different than someone else, even though they’re playing the same game and the same canonical storyline that you both are going through.”
And after the debate over whether Crimson Desert is an RPG or not went big online, Powers himself explained why Pearl Abyss doesn’t want to call it an RPG, even though it’s perfectly happy for fans to do so.
“Open world questing and action sandbox for sure,” Powers tweeted. Then, in response to someone who said it should be made clear that Crimson Desert is not an RPG to avoid mismanaged expectations, Powers said: “honestly.... it's not my place to dictate someone else's experience. If because of good amount of RPG elements in the game, they want to call it an RPG... Sure. I'm just explaining why WE don't call it one.”
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.
If 2025 felt busy, 2026 is already shaping up to be a big year for the Pokémon TCG with the expansions it’s got coming up.
The Pokémon Trading Card Game is charging into its 30th anniversary year with the rest of the Pocket Monsters franchise, with a renewed focus on Mega Evolution, anniversary celebrations, and tightly curated sets designed to keep both collectors and competitive players fully locked in.
While the full year’s roadmap hasn’t been revealed yet, three major products are already confirmed, and they give us a very clear idea of what kind of year we’re in for.
Here’s everything we know so far about the confirmed Pokémon TCG releases for 2026, including when they launch, what makes them special, and where you can actually buy them right now.
Deal Alert: Perfect Order Booster Bundles Discount at Amazon
I will be talking about Perfect Order just below as well, but it's worth calling out how good this deal is immediately beforehand. Preorders for Perfect Order booster bundles are now live at Amazon (see here), and they're listed for way under the current market price.
You can secure your preorder at just $43.13 right now, which is over $26 under the market price at the trusted resale marketplace TCGplayer ($69.60). Snap one or two of these ASAP, as I don't expect the deal to last until release day on March 27.
Mega Evolution: Perfect Order – March 27, 2026
If Ascended Heroes has set setting the foundation of what the Mega Evolution's expansions are going to look like, Perfect Order is certianly kicking things up a notch.
Arriving on March 27, 2026, the next expansion is going to be honing in on many of the Pokémon featured in the Legends: Z-A game.
Among the cards announced from the 120-card set so far, we know we’re going to be seeing many of the game’s starring Mega Pokémon; Mega Zygarde ex, Mega Starmie ex, and Mega Clefable ex; but also some surprising extra additions like Meowth ex.
While the Booster Bundle deal I mentioned eariler is not quite as good a value as picking up the Booster Box at TCGplayer right now, including 36 packs for $228.80 market price (working out at $6.35 per pack), it's still a great deal for anyone who hasn't got a spare $200 to throw around, but still wants to get involved with the new set.
Funnily enough, while ETBs continue to drop in price, the booster box is actually on the rise, jumping from around $200 just last week to almost $230 now.
First Partner Illustration Collection (Series 1) – March 20, 2026
The journey to Pokémon’s 30th Anniversary has officially begun with these gorgeous illustration rare-style promo cards that commemorate the bonds between a Trainer and their loyal first partner.
Whether you’re a Kanto veteran or new to the world of Pokémon, this new collection encourages you to look back on your favourite adventures from the last 30 years.
The International version is designed as a celebration of the bonds between Trainers and their First Partner. Each collection includes 1 Promo Booster Pack, where you can pull three of nine illustration rare-style promo cards.
Each of these cards feature stunning illustrations of beloved first partner Pokémon. You’ve got your classic Kanto friends - Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charmander. Then, we jump forward a few generations to Sinnoh, with Turtwig, Pipulp and Chimchar. Last, but certainly not least, we find ourselves in Alola with Rowlet, Popplio and Litten.
We are yet to know much more on the next expansion, but it's expected to be a western version of the Ninja Spinner set that will debut in Japan in March.
Celebration Collection: 30th Anniversary Set - TBC 2026
13 cards were shown off during the teaser video, including Pikachu, Charizard, Palkia, and several others, so it may be fair to assume that these will all be getting reprints, similar to the 25th anniversary Celebrations set.
We know little else about the upcoming set, but we'll be sure to update this page when we know the release date, and with any preorder information.
Ring in 30 years of the Pokémon TCG! 🎉
To celebrate, an exciting line of products is set for simultaneous global launch in participating markets in 2026. Stay tuned for more details! #Pokemon30pic.twitter.com/DdCpcpP7DV
Mega Evolution: Ascended Heroes – Released Jan. 30, 2026
The 2026 TCG year officially kicked off with Ascended Heroes, the second English Mega Evolution expansion of the new era since the base set launched in September last year.
Ascended Heroes leans heavily into classic Mega Pokémon, new Tera cards, Team Rocket Pokémon, and even a Stadium card, with 290 cards coming to the set altogether.
The new set is already getting a fairly staggered release, with the majority of products now releasing between February 20 and April 24. That includes some of the most popular items from a new Pokémon card set, such as the Elite Trainer Box, Booster Bundles, and more.
Mega Evolution’s Ascended Heroes expansion has also quickly become yet another collector-driven Pokémon TCG release, with demand greatly outweighing the supply and maxing out the value of certain cards.
It's already been hard to come by Ascended Heroes preorders, and undoubtedly this delay won't make it any easier for fans after release day. Ascended Heroes ETBs, for example, are currently averaging around $115-120 on resale markets - around a 135% markup from its MSRP of $49.99.
With Mega Evolutions returning in force and Special Illustration Rares pushing presentation to extravagant new heights, the set has created another sharp divide between playable staples and true luxury chase cards as well.
While not every premium pull is destined for competitive dominance, each of the top ten most expensive cards so far has earned a lofty market price with jaw-dropping artwork, gameplay relevance, pure scarcity, or a combination of the three.
Pokémon Day Collection – Released Jan. 30, 2026
Pokémon’s 30th anniversary celebrations were on February 27, but you’ll be able to celebrate all year long with the the commemorative Pokémon Day 2026 Collection that dropped on January 30, alongside Ascended Heroes.
Announced back in December 2025, this is a very small release with one confirmed card: a unique stamped foil promo card of Pikachu looking cute as standard, along with a logo’d metallic coin, and a trio of TCG booster packs from different sets.
Available imagery seems to show the packs being a mixture of one Phantasmal Flames and two Mega Evolution, but we like to warn that the contents may always differ from unit to unit.
The Pokémon Day 2026 Collection can be bought now at Amazon for around $39, or from around $25-30 on TCGplayer at current market rates.
Pokémon TCG: 2025 Release Calendar – A Look Back
Despite the Pokemon TCG's ongoing supply issues driving prices up, 2025 was one of the most packed years for the trading card game, both in expansions releases and just how expensive some products and chase cards have been worth.
Still, even for casual collectors, the hundreds of new cards released have had plenty that are still worth grabbing in 2026, if you can find a price you're happy with. Most notably, 2025 included the launch of the new Mega Evolution series, with the aptly named Mega Evolution set, and the final release of the year, Phantasmal Flames.
Featuring six booster bundles, there's still every chance that you'll pull a Mega Charizard X ex double rare, alt rare, or even Secret Art Rare or Gold Rare. I've pulled three normal 'Zard ex's so far, so no need to worry about deck building with Phantasmal Flames.
They also had the Phantasmal Flames Elite Trainer Box live, which is actually available for $74.99 right now, though it's been going in and out of stock as the months have gone by. With that, I'd suggest keeping an eye on that too.
What made this set even more exciting is its size, with about 90 cards before secret rares, which makes it the smallest English set in nearly a decade. For collectors like me, that usually means a much more manageable chase, while still packing in plenty of heavy hitters for players.
The product lineup altogether for Phantasmal Flames was pretty stacked, too. We got the usual booster packs and booster box (36 packs), a 9-pack Elite Trainer Box featuring a shiny new Charcadet promo, and an Ultra-Premium Collection built around Mega Charizard X ex.
On top of that, two theme decks for Mega Gengar ex and Mega Diancie ex arrived a few weeks early on October 24, which was a fun way to get a taste of the set before launch. If you’re like me and love cracking packs, the booster box was the way to go, but the UPC already looked like the big collector piece this time around.
What tied it all together was the Japanese set Inferno X, which hit shelves there in late September. That set had only 80 cards, and once you added in the Mega Gengar and Mega Diancie decks, you basically got the full Phantasmal Flames lineup.
We'd already seen some killer reveals, including the Mega Charizard X ex secret rare previewed at Worlds, so I fully expected that to be the chase card when this launches. Between the smaller set size, Charizard hype, and some solid gameplay cards, I'm not surprised this one flew off the shelves and I’m definitely glad I locked in my preorder.
Announced at Japan's Championship tournament, the two new sets featuring Mega Lucario ex and Mega Gardevoir ex marked the popular trading card game stepping away from its Scarlet and Violet era.
Finding sealed products like these at a fair price became a challenge very quickly. Some stores were holding MSRP, others were and still are inflating prices, and secondary marketplaces have had their own dynamics to keep in mind, too.
But the gist is: collectors who must have the ETB, Best Buy and Walmart were worth constant refreshing. If reliability matters more, TCGplayer has been the most straightforward (though slighty more costly) option.
While we can expect products from this set to be hopefully keep joining Pokémon TCG deals further down the line, huge initial demand will definitely see certain cards become price juggernauts among upcoming crashers and climbers.
2025 was shaped up to be a huge year at that point, sobut here’s everything else from the rest of the Pokémon TCG big releases last year. As always, IGN will keep tracking the buy links, both here and on socials at @IGNDeals.
Pokémon TCG 2025 Holiday Calendar - Released Aug. 22, 2025
The Pokémon Company started releasing annual holiday calendars back in 2022, inspired by the Pokémon Countdown Calendar from 2008.
These products are surprisingly good value in the current TCG market, as well as for casual fans of the series in other forms. You can see the listing here at Amazon or scroll on for more details.
The 2025 Pokémon Holiday Calendar released on August 22 and initially retailed for $49.99 at Target before quicklly selling out. It's now available at Walmart for a pricier $64.99 or at Amazon for $69.
Black Bolt and White Flare - Released Jul. 18, 2025
If you haven't secured any boosters for Black Bolt and White Flare sealed products, you can still try your luck at local brick and mortar or online, or even online retailers like Amazon right now.
Alternatively, TCGplayer pricing for sealed product has occassionally been crashing, so I reckon we've well been seeing the usual price crash post-launch — as it what happens with some expansions.
What do I think of the set? I think it's great and possibly the best opportunity to pull Illustration Rares in the Scarlet and Violet era, it's ending on a high note.
Personally I'm not a fan of stuffing the set with Pokéball and Masterball rares, but in terms of quality and presentation, they look cool. It would be grand to see Mega Evolution additionally double down on the dual format and loads of Illustration Rares going forward, but this is an encouraging sneek peek into what's next for Pokémon TCG.
Black Bolt and White Flare focus on the 156 Pokémon originally discovered in the Unova region. Each Unova Pokémon appear as either an illustration rare or a special illustration rare card, with different versions available in Black Bolt and White Flare products.
July 18, 2025: Scarlet & Violet Black Bolt/White Flare ETBs (9 boosters, promo, accessories); Binder Collection (5 boosters, Zekrom/Reshiram album); Unova Poster Collection (6 boosters, Snivy/Tepig/Oshawott promos, poster); Unova Mini Tin (2 boosters, art/sticker card).
August 22, 2025: Booster Bundle (6 Black Bolt/White Flare boosters).
Destined Rivals - Released May. 30, 2025
Things really kicked off on May 30with Destined Rivals. This set brought back Trainer’s Pokémon, reintroduces Team Rocket for another round of villainous fun, and includes some of the best card art we’ve seen in ages.
Destined Rivals top chase card prices are also finally stabilizing, making it a great time to snap some up. Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex SIR has been going for anything over $450 since release, but is starting to settle on a more respectable $310.
A while back, the Destined Rivals singles market was bouncing all over the place. Some cards were doubling in price overnight and it was tough to tell what was hype and what would hold. Now, prices feel a lot more stable by comparison.
Some have dipped. Some Destined Rivals bangers are just cruising right at market. It feels like we’re finally seeing what these cards are actually worth.
Above are the ten of the most expensive cards you can find in the set right now. A couple of them are legit strong in decks. A few are pure collector bait. Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex was the hottest card in the set for a while and it’s still holding close to market. The artwork is what does it for me, personally.
Mewtwo looks like it's about to explode, floating in this dim lab setting with everything glowing around it. The ability makes it tough to use unless you’re running a full Rocket build, but once it's active, Erasure Ball gives you some serious power. Definitely still a top-tier pull even with the market calming down.
Journey Together - Released Mar. 28 2025
It’s about time we got a set like this. Bringing back nostalgic Trainer’s Pokémon cards from the Gym Heroes era. N’s Zoroark ex and Lillie’s Clefairy ex end the chaos of endless secret arts for a more curated, collectible experience.
With just 16 Pokémon ex, 11 illustration rares, and three hyper rare gold cards, it’s been easier to track what’s worth pulling without feeling like you need a PhD in pack odds.
Fancy snagging the Enhanced Booster Display Box with its bonus N’s Reshiram illustration rare or pull Iono’s Bellibolt ex? This set screams nostalgia with a new coat of paint.
Rare Cards and Collector’s Highlights
If you’re into collecting, this set hits the sweet spot. It’s got 16 Pokémon ex, six unique illustrations rares, and just three hyper rare gold cards, which means you won’t have to mortgage your house chasing every rarity. As for the artwork. illustrating rares like N’s Zoroark ex will look incredible in your binder.
Pokémon Center’s Enhanced Booster Display Box is the one to grab for preorder exclusives. It comes with a bonus N’s Reshiram illustration rare card — a little extra flex for your collection.
Prismatic Evolutions - Released Jan. 17 2025
Prismatic Evolutions, kicked off 2025, and it’s all about Eevee and its many evolutions. This set is doing things differently, which is probably why stock sells out as soon as it comes in.
This is another 151 situation, but there were plenty of stock refeshes coming throughout 2025, with hopefully more coming eventually in 2026. You won’t find these cards in the usual booster packs.
Instead, they’ve be released in boxed sets throughout last year, each packed full of exclusive cards celebrating Eevee and friends. With over 175 cards, including unique designs and new game mechanics, Prismatic Evolutions is shaping to be a hit with collectors and competitive players alike.
Rare Cards and Collector’s Highlights
For collectors, Prismatic Evolutions isn’t short on treasures. Each Eevee evolution has its special illustration and hyper-rare gold Pokémon ex card, making them must-haves for anyone building a showcase-worthy collection.
The set includes 32 illustration rares featuring detailed artwork for Pokémon ex and Supporter cards, so plenty of eye candy is here. With so many unique finishes and designs, it’s bound to make a few waves among fans.
Between the fresh artwork, inventive mechanics, and the undeniable charm of Eevee and friends, Prismatic Evolutions is set to be one of 2025's standout sets. Collectors and players alike will still find something to love here, from stunning illustration rares to powerful new game cards that can make a real difference in play.
Ben Williams – IGN freelance contributor with over 10 years of experience covering gaming, tech, film, TV, and anime. Follow him on Twitter/X @BenLevelTen.
Pokemon Pokopia is out now, and I loved it. I gave it a 9/10 for IGN, and one of the things I praised most highly about it was its story and the ways in which it leverages nostalgia for emotional impact. In the review, I didn't talk much about the specifics of that story, because I didn't want to spoil it for anyone.
But Pokopia has been released, and I have been unleashed. I need to tell someone about this story, because it's kind of unhinged! Pokopia, despite having a cute and wobbly exterior, is hiding (not very subtly) an extremely grim story, one of the darkest in the Pokemon universe so far. So if you're prepared to delve deep, deep into spoiler territory with me, get ready. We're gonna discuss Pokopia's full plot and ending and why it has massive implications for the franchise.
WARNING! I AM HOLDING NOTHING BACK. This article delves into full spoilers for the entirety of Pokemon Pokopia's story! Do not read unless you either do not care about spoilers, or have already finished the game! I'm SERIOUS!!!
By the time you roll credits on Pokemon Pokopia, you've likely sorted out the basic thrust of the storyline: humanity is gone. Entirely. As documented in the Hacker's Confessions, the Team R Grunt's journal, Someone's journal, and the Professor's diary entries, the Pokemon world is an empty ruin in Pokopia because of a massive climate disaster that seemingly affected everything: every region, every continent, everywhere. A group of scientists saw that disaster coming, and began making preparations to evacuate humanity...to space. And it sounds like they were successful. So yeah, every human who lived in the Pokemon world was sent to space sometime before the events of Pokopia, or else they likely perished in the flooding, drought, volcanos, and other mass devastation.
Meanwhile, most Pokemon were placed inside a computer system to effectively hibernate until the humans could come back and salvage the planet. And the intention was for humanity to come back. Except...there is a lot of evidence to suggest that it's actually been hundreds of years since they left. Hacker's Confessions #6 suggests that "even a slight deviation" from the plan could leave humans stranded in space for hundreds of years, saying that they built a failsafe so that if that happens, the system storing the Pokemon on the planet would "release the Pokemon most suited to those environments." Which seems to be exactly what's happening in Pokopia, as Professor Tangrowth explains up front that he hasn't seen a single human or Pokemon for ages, but all of a sudden they're appearing everywhere. Of course, Ditto is the first one to show up - as a Ditto, it's the best suited to every environment.
The "hundreds of years" theory is further supported by Someone's Journal #4, which documents the steady, unexplained rising of the ground in Saffron City into the air. It says that some scientists believe that "in a matter of centuries this area will be as high as a mountain, in terms of elevation." By the time we make it there as Ditto, those cities are the Sparkling Skylands, even higher than the mountains. Again suggesting multiple centuries have passed since humans left. That doesn't even get into how deep down the Pewter City museum is buried, or how long it would take for nature to overgrow Fuchsia City the way it has by the time we show up.
Assuming that's true, then something has gone wrong with humanity's evacuation plan, leaving them unable to easily return to the planet in a timely manner. At the end of the credit roll, we see the rocket manage to reach one human out in space, alone, and the Ditto plush in the window suggests it might be the player character Ditto's trainer. But that's impossible if hundreds of years have gone by. And it's unclear if this person is alone, has any ability to get back to the planet at all, or even understands the implications of the rocket reaching them. Multiple notes we pick up imply that any number of things could go wrong and leave humans stranded in space, never to return, and given that they didn't make it back in the appointed time, it's fair to assume something happened to prevent them.
What's even sadder is that Ditto, Professor Tangrowth, and their pals know none of this. They can't read. The notes we find are for the benefit of the players, but the Pokemon planet-side will just go on believing that humanity can come back one day if they just make the world nice enough. And, if you needed another reminder, this disaster has apparently impacted the entire world. Not just Kanto, but every region. So that leaves a world full of Pokemon, awkwardly mimicking the lives of humans as best as they can remember them, hoping for a reunion that may never happen.
Pokemon Pokopia is indeed about a Pokemon Utopia - an idealistic world where only Pokemon exist and are allowed to thrive. There's plenty here to meditate on, such as whether or not the climate disaster in Pokopia was caused by humans, or if the Pokemon will ultimately be better off without them. Some certainly seem to be happy they're gone (Mewtwo), some are fairly indifferent (Kyogre), while others, like Garbordor, actually thrive off of having humans around. And of course you have folks like Ditto who miss their human partners, and do not realize those human partners are almost certainly deceased by now. Pokopia is grim, guys. I cannot believe they let developer Omega Force get away with this!
This, of course, leads to plenty of questions about what this means for the larger Pokemon universe. Is Pokopia even canon? When does it take place? Is it in some kind of alternate universe, like the ones posited in games like OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire? Is the Kanto region of Red, Blue, and Yellow inevitably headed for future destruction? Because look, if Pokopia is canon... humans are extinct. There is a version of the Pokemon universe where humanity took off and left Pokemon behind to take over. What does that mean for the world? Are there other universes where this didn't happen? Did...did humans take some of the Pokemon with them and colonize other planets?
The current CEO of Build A Rocket Boy, Mark Gerhard, has announced further layoffs at the struggling UK development studio following the disastrous release of MindsEye, while doubling down on “organised espionage and corporate sabotage” claims.
In July last year, IGN reported that Edinburgh-based BARB had issued at-risk of redundancy emails to its around 300-strong UK workforce after MindsEye flopped at release. Soon after MindsEye came out, BARB said it was “heartbroken” over the issues players had faced with the game, and promised to release a series of patches to fix the significant performance problems, glitches, and AI behavior bugs.
Story-driven action adventure game MindsEye was initially designed to be a part of Everywhere, the ‘Roblox for adults’ creation platform led by former Grand Theft Auto design chief Leslie Benzies. BARB eventually switched to focus on MindsEye, but it has so-far failed to do the business for the company.
Back in July, Benzies told staff that the studio would bounce back and relaunch MindsEye, blaming its struggles on internal and external saboteurs, among other things. Now, in announcing even more layoffs are on the way, CEO Mark Gerhard said the studio had been investigating what he called “criminal activity” that took place around the launch of the game. Apparently that has resulted in “overwhelming evidence” of “organized espionage and corporate sabotage” affecting MindsEye. Gerhard did not share details because, as he put it, “this matter is moving toward prosecution.”
The layoffs announcement was made on Build A Rocket Boy’s LinkedIn page, and the comments from various people in the development community are critical of Gerhard’s statement, with one person calling it “incredibly rude,” and another “delusional.”
In January, Gerhard accused YouTuber Cyber Boi of “media manipulation, espionage, [and] sabotage,” and of “interference targeting” Build a Rocket Boy, as part of a cease and desist demand posted to the MindsEye Discord.
"It is profoundly disappointing to learn that certain BARB employees continue to leak confidential information to you, thereby betraying their colleagues, our studio, and the broader community we serve," Gerhard said.
"This letter serves as a formal cease and desist demand: You must immediately stop all activities related to receiving, disseminating, or otherwise utilizing any confidential information from BARB, as well as any further involvement in media manipulation, espionage, sabotage, or interference targeting our organization. Failure to comply will result in escalated legal action.
"Rest assured, you and your associates involved in this media manipulation cabal will be served with legal papers imminently, as BARB proceeds with complaints alleging criminal espionage, sabotage, and interference.
Earlier this year, BARB said Benzies was on “well-earned temporary leave." A company spokesman told The Times: “He is simply taking a short, planned break following an intense period of work and will return shortly."
Gerhard, who had been BARB's co-chief executive, told staff at the time that Benzies was on “well-earned temporary leave to recharge after more than a year of working round the clock."
“He has our deepest gratitude and, with the leadership team and your support, I will guide us forward,” he added. Gerhard signed the email as “CEO.”
As for MindsEye itself, it’s still struggling for players despite a number of updates. At the time of this article’s publication, just 11 were playing the game on Steam, with a 24-hour peak concurrent player count of just 39.
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.
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