Assassin's Creed Shadows players won't have access to all of the game's day-one missions due to Ubisoft locking one behind the Season Pass and another behind a preorder bonus.

As is standard for the publisher, Shadows will launch in a handful of different versions — the Standard Edition at $69.99, the Gold Edition at $109.99, the Ultimate Edition at $129.99, and the Collector's Edition at $279.99 — but only those who preorder the Gold Edition or higher get access to both additional missions on launch day.

Preordering the game doesn't come at any extra cost (just the commitment to buy), meaning one of these missions is on the easier side to get, but the Season Pass is currently only available in the more expensive versions of the game, which cost an additional $40 at the absolute minimum. Ubisoft will likely sell the Season Pass separately later, and likely for $40, but it has so far not confirmed this.

Ubisoft has yet to share meaningful details on the two missions either, but announced that the preorder bonus is called Thrown to the Dogs, and released artwork featuring dual-protagonist Naoe with a dog at her side. As for the Season Pass mission, Ubisoft has only said players must "infiltrate a secret society from the inside."

The decision to lock day-one content behind additional requirements is perhaps unsurprising to some who experienced the same when Ubisoft announced the different editions of Star Wars Outlaws, its sci-fi open world adventure launching August 27.

Fans shared their frustration online when a Jabba the Hutt mission was similarly locked behind the Season Pass despite being ready day-one, but Ubisoft insisted this was an "optional, additional" mission that won't impact the overall experience much. The publisher seemingly didn't take fan upset to heart as it's done the same again with Shadows.

The upcoming Assassin's Creed game was fully revealed on May 15, 2024 as a Japanese-set entry where players take control of two protagonists: the stealthy shinobi Naoe and the action-orientated Yasuke, who's a real figure from Japanese history.

IGN had a wealth of exclusive content on the reveal, and you can read about all the gameplay changes, story beats, and open-world assassinating coming with Shadows in our extensive interview with the development team.

If that's not enough, check our analysis and explanation of where and when Shadows is set and 40 key details we've learned about the game. You can also watch our full breakdown of the cinematic trailer to discover all its hidden details, Easter eggs, and more.

Shadows launches November 12, 2024 for those buying the Gold, Ultimate, or Deluxe Editions, while the Standard Edition is available on November 15, 2024.

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

The Japan-set Assassin's Creed Shadows requires an internet connection to install but not to play after, Ubisoft has confirmed.

In a post on X/Twitter, the publisher confirmed Shadows will follow a recent trend for bigger games where even the disc version requires an internet connection before play is possible. Shadows doesn't require an always-online connection, but does require the internet to essentially download part of the game upon install.

"We wanted to share some early information on the upcoming launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows, following some questions we've noticed in the community," Ubisoft said, addressing concerns raised after the PlayStation Store listed Shadows as an "online play required" game.

"Assassin's Creed Shadows will not require a mandatory connection at all times. An online connection will be needed to install the game, but will you be able to play the entire journey offline, and explore Japan without any online connection." The PlayStation Store listing has been changed to say "online play optional" despite the install requirement.

Larger triple-A video games are slowly but surely transitioning to this method of distribution as physical media becomes a smaller and smaller part of how people buy games. With actual discs becoming less of a priority, what would once be included as a second disc (with an install disc and a play disc) is now essentially added as downloadable content.

This means that even single-player games like Assassin's Creed Shadows cannot exist without an internet connection. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was one of the first major single-player games to adopt this model, but the trend has continued elsewhere and will likely continue to become more common.

Shadows was fully revealed on May 15, 2024 as a Japanese-set entry in the long-running franchise where players take control of two protagonists: the stealthy shinobi Naoe and the action-orientated Yasuke, who's a real figure from Japanese history.

IGN had a wealth of exclusive content on the reveal, and you can read about all the gameplay changes, story beats, and open-world assassinating coming with Shadows in our extensive interview with the development team.

If that's not enough, check our analysis and explanation of where and when Shadows is set and 40 key details we've learned about the game. You can also watch our full breakdown of the cinematic trailer to discover all its hidden details, Easter eggs, and more.

Shadows launches November 12, 2024 for those buying the Gold, Ultimate, or Deluxe Editions at $109.99, $129.99, and $279.99 respectively. The standard $69.99 version is available on November 15, 2024.

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

Leaked photos from the set of The Witcher Season 4 have revealed a first look at the Geralt of Rivia played by Liam Hemsworth, who replaces Henry Cavill in the role after three seasons.

As reported by Metro, which hosts the photos, a handful of leaked images show Hemsworth in the full Witcher gear, white wig and all. Interestingly, the photos show the recreation of a Season 3 scene in which, spoilers, Geralt fights Vilgefortz on a beach.

This is likely for flashback purposes, as it would perhaps be odd if Netflix flashed back to scenes of Cavill's Geralt while Hemsworth is in the role. It's therefore possible Netflix will need to reshoot older scenes too, from across the entire three seasons of The Witcher.

Netflix announced in November 2022 that The Witcher would continue without its leading man as Cavill walked away after three seasons. The actor hasn't given an explicit reason for leaving, though said in November 2021 he was absolutely committed to a seven season run of The Witcher "as long as we can keep telling great stories which honor Sapkowski's work."

Co-star Freya Allan, who plays Geralt's adopted daughter Ciri in the show, has said she feels sorry for Hemsworth as he deals with what's "not an ideal situation", but hopes fans give him a chance.

Critical reception of The Witcher is mixed so far, with IGN awarding Season 1 a 6/10, Season 2 a 7/10, and Season 3 a 7/10 and 5/10 over its split season in our reviews. "The Witcher closes out its most compromised season yet by once again losing Henry Cavill in the clunky, plot-heavy shuffle," we said of the most recent episodes.

Showrunner Lauren Hissrich said the show could've ended or moved on without Geralt after Cavill's departure, but Netflix wasn't willing to because "there's just too many stories left to tell."

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

The Batman 2 writer Mattson Tomlin has confirmed he's working on a Game of Thrones spin-off show focused on Aegon the Conqueror, saying he's currently collaborating with original author George R.R. Martin to create a historical epic.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Tomlin made clear the show is still in the early stages of development but said he and Martin are working to create an in-depth profile of the legendary Game of Thrones figure akin to a piece of work on Napoleon or Alexander the Great.

"In speaking to George, it became really clear: 'This is history, treat this like it is what happened,'" Tomlin said. "Unlike the original series, I don't have thousands of pages to go off to adapt. I've got a couple hundred that I'm really focused on, and in those pages of Fire and Blood, there are a lot of clues.

"It kind of turns into doing Napoleon or doing Alexander the Great or doing some great historical figure where we know a lot about the guy. We know where he was, we know who he conquered, we know who lived, and we know who died. That all becomes the plot, and then it becomes my job to go, but what did it mean thematically? How did it feel? What were the emotions when this person died and this person lived? We don't have the context. We don't know what anybody said."

Aegon the Conqueror — officially Aegon I Targaryen — is perhaps the most influential Targaryen who laid the foundation for the world in which Game of Thrones takes place. He conquered six of seven kingdoms and was the first to sit on the Iron Throne and rule Westeros.

The Targaryens, introduced to fans through Emilia Clarke's Daenerys, have been a major focus of HBO's Game of Thrones shows. The first spin-off House of the Dragon focuses on the entire family's history, and the upcoming A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms tells the tale of Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire Egg, before he became King Aegon V Targaryen.

Tomlin's Aegon the Conqueror show has floated in and out of obscurity at HBO for some time but this is the first confirmation from someone involved that it's actually being worked on. The show first emerged in April 2023 but soon went quiet, until a report in March 2024 suggested it was back on.

HBO has otherwise found success with House of the Dragon, which kicks off its second season on June 16, 2024. In our 9/10 review of Season 1, IGN said: "After 10 episodes, House Of The Dragon has officially emerged as a worthy successor to Game Of Thrones."

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

The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies director Peter Jackson has teased what he, Andy Serkis, and Warner Bros. are looking to achieve with Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, saying they want to explore aspects of the character's past they "didn't have time to cover" in the previous six films.

Speaking to Deadline, Jackson suggested the writers don't really know exactly what the film is about yet, as "it's too soon to know who will cross [Gollum's] path", but said both sides of his personality will feature as this is how he connects with fans.

"The Gollum/Sméagol character has always fascinated me because Gollum reflects the worst of human nature, whilst his Sméagol side is, arguably, quite sympathetic," Jackson said. "I think he connects with readers and film audiences alike, because there’s a little bit of both of them in all of us.

"We really want to explore his backstory and delve into those parts of his journey we didn’t have time to cover in the earlier films. It’s too soon to know who will cross his path, but suffice to say we will take our lead from [original author J.R.R. Tolkien."

Little is known about the film, seemingly on the creators' side too, as it was only announced on May 9, 2024, but Serkis is returning to direct and star as Gollum once again. The Hunt for Gollum will be the first of two new Lord of the Rings films from Jackson as Warner Bros. is "hard at work fixing" the "largely underused franchise."

The Lord of the Rings were once a standalone trilogy but the canonical film universe is slowly but surely expanding, first through The Hobbit Trilogy but now through several other films and TV shows.

Amazon has continued The Lord of the Rings with its The Rings of Power TV show, Season 1 of which released in 2022 on Prime Video. The streamer announced it would renew the show for a second season before Season 1 even came out, with Season 2 set to premiere on August 29, 2024.

In February, showrunners Patrick McKay and JD Payne extended their partnership with Amazon, signing a new three-year deal with the company and kicking off early work on Season 3.

Elsewhere in Tolkien's world sits The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, which is an animated film set to tell the story behind the fortress of Helm's Deep and the mighty King of Rohan Helm Hammerhand when it premieres on December 13, 2024.

Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

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

Sony has revealed the full line-up of PlayStation Plus Games Catalog additions for May 2024, which includes Red Dead Redemption 2, Cat Quest, Watch Dogs, and more.

Announced on the PlayStation Blog, a total of 13 games are joining the library: 10 in the Games Catalog available to Extra and Premium members and three in the Classic Games Catalog only available to Premium members.

While perhaps a thinner line-up compared to recent months, the addition of Red Dead Redemption 2 will carry May's line-up a long way. It's worth noting this is actually a return to the service for Rockstar's open-world cowboy adventure, however, as it was one of the first games announced for the Games Catalog two years prior. All games hit the service on May 21.

PlayStation Plus Games Catalog Additions for April 2024

• Red Dead Redemption 2 | PS4
• Deceive Inc | PS5
• The Sims 4: City Living | PS4
• Crime Boss: Rockay City | PS5
• The Settlers: New Allies | PS4
• Stranded: Alien Dawn | PS4 + PS5
• Cat Quest | PS4
• Cat Quest 2 | PS4
• The LEGO Movie 2 Video Game | PS4
• Watch Dogs | PS4

PlayStation Plus Classics Games Catalog Additions for April 2024

• 2Xtreme | PS4 + PS5
• G-Police | PS4 + PS5
• Worms Pinball | PS4 + PS5

Red Dead Redemption 2 is Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar Games' take on the wild west as players take on the role of Arthur Morgan as he looks tries to survive in America's unforgiving heartland. IGN deemed it a masterpiece in our review. "Red Dead Redemption 2 is a game of rare quality; a meticulously polished open world ode to the outlaw era," we said.

Deceive Inc. deploys you into the world of high stakes subterfuge, working for a private corporation with complete monopoly over the international espionage market. Rival spies are after the same objective as the player, however, and each one of them is as equally skilled, cunning, and well-equipped.

The Sims 4: City Living is an expansion for the beloved simulation game, and while the base version of Sims 4 is required to play, this is also permanently free. City Living lets players take their Sims to the city and explore everything it has to offer, from bustling action right outside the front door to unique situations that come only with apartment living.

Crime Boss: Rockay City is a stealth action first person shooter where players look to become the leaders of a criminal underworld in 1990s Florida. IGN didn't rate it very highly, however, giving it a 4/10 in our review. "Crime Boss: Rockay City's hokey charm is nowhere near strong enough to offset its bugs and repetitive design, and it totally squanders its kitsch cast," we said.

The latest instalment in the long running strategy game series, The Settlers: New Allies lets players discover new worlds and build sprawling cities as they take control of a band of settlers who have fled cataclysmic events in their homeland to seek new lands to settle, explore, and conquer.

On a somewhat similar note, albeit with a sprinkle of sci-fi, Stranded: Alien Dawn is a planet survival sim placing the fate of a small marooned group in the player's hands. Promising compelling and immersive strategic gameplay, players must make vital decisions to protect their survivors.

Cat Quest and its sequel, the aptly titled Cat Quest 2, will both be available through the PlayStation Plus Games Catalog. Both 2D, open world role-playing games set in a world full of cats, players must embark on a quest to save their catnapped sister in the first game while the second sees them fight to save the world of cats from advancing dog armies.

Classic LEGO goodness arrives through The LEGO Movie 2 Video Game, which lets players bash and build their way through the events of the film. Alien monster invaders have left Bricksburg in ruins and taken Emmet's friends, and it's now up to him and his team of heroic characters to go beyond their world and save their friends from the strange inhabitants of the Systar System.

Watch Dogs is the first open-world action game set in the fan-favorite franchise, kicking things off with solemn protagonist Aiden Pearce hacking (with, like, a smartphone) his way through Chicago. "Watch Dogs is an excellent open world action game with some unique hacking magic that makes it a memorable experience," IGN said in our 8/10 review.

On the classic games front, 2Xtreme was promised to be a high flying sports game where players could snowboard in Japan, in-line skate in Last Vegas, mountain bike in Africa, skateboard in Los Angeles, and more. Unfortunately, however, it couldn't stick the landing, as when the PlayStation classic was re-released for the PlayStation Portable, IGN gave it a rare 2/10 in our review.

Another PlayStation classic, and one that received a better rating from IGN, comes in G-Police. This 1997 title saw Jeff Slater join a voluntary police force after an unspeakable corporate cover-up caused his sister's death. As a helicopter pilot, players must fly through 35 grueling levels to take their revenge. "With a flair for the dramatic and an attention to detail that should impress even the toughest of critics, G-Police is a rock-solid example of great gameplay," we said in our 8/10 review.

Finally, Worms Pinball rounds out May 2024's PlayStation Plus Classic Games Catalog additions, and does exactly what it says on the tin. This 2000 title is a mix of pinball and the wacky Worms characters, offering a table sporting 3D LED displayed sub-games and parallel objectives, transparent ramps, user-controllable moving gadgets, bounce and flip passes, bang backs, death saves, and more.

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

Ubisoft has fully revealed Assassin's Creed Shadows, the Japanese-set entry in the action role-playing game franchise, including its cinematic trailer, release date, dual protagonists, and more.

The near-four minute trailer, below, introduces players to Ubisoft's take on 1579 Japan alongside Shadows' two protagonists: the stealthy shinobi Naoe and the action-orientated Yasuke, who's a real figure from Japanese history. Shadows is solely single-player, but players can switch between the two characters at will.

Players can explore both of these characters and the ambitious open world of Japan when Shadows launches on November 15, 2024 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, PC, and Amazon Luna.

Shadows looks to evolve the open-world RPG genre in myriad ways, such as through a season cycle. This means that, just as days naturally change to nights in video games, the world of Shadows moves from spring to summer, to fall, and to winter.

Each season brings with it new gameplay elements, like underwater entrances being frozen over and inaccessible during the winter, luscious crops providing cover for stealth conquests in the spring, and more.

Light and darkness is another focus of Shadows, as the name suggests, and Ubisoft's new global illumination system provides dynamic gameplay options and affects how enemies perceive Naoe or Yasuke depending on what light or shadow is available.

As for the size of the world, creative director Jonathan Dumont told IGN that Shadows would be roughly the same size as Assassin's Creed Origins, the Egypt-set entry from 2017. It promises myriad evolutions of Ubisoft's past RPG entries though (which also include Odyssey and Valhalla), with players able to go prone, use a grappling hook, accurately cut through practically every prop in the game, and more. You can read about all this in our extensive interview with the development team.

And if that's not enough, check out our analysis and explanation of where and when Shadows is set and 40 key details we've learned about the game. You can also watch our full breakdown of the cinematic trailer to discover all its hidden details, Easter eggs, and more.

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

Assassin's Creed Shadows, the 2024 franchise entry set in Japan, is around the same size as 2017's Assassin's Creed Origins, Ubisoft has said.

Speaking to IGN in an exclusive interview, creative director Jonathan Dumont said Shadows is on a similar scale to the Egypt-set game but Ubisoft emphasises "real life scale" so the environment feels authentic. Fans got a first look at this open world Japan in Shadows' cinematic trailer.

"It's in-line with the latest Assassin's Creeds that we've done," Dumont said, referring to the larger scale, role-playing game entries that also include Odyssey and Valhalla. "On a scale level, maybe we can compare it a little bit more to the size of Assassin's Creed Origins."

This suggests the size of Shadows' map is smaller than Odyssey and Valhalla, but much bigger than the classic Assassin's Creed map sizes from the original trilogy, Brotherhood, Unity, and so on (with the exception of Black Flag's colossal Caribbean ocean map).

Dumont said the map is entirely authentic, however, as Ubisoft looked to make its myriad elements as lifelike as possible.

"We did want to have a much closer to real life scale ratio. So because castles took a lot of space, and we really wanted the mountains to feel like mountains, [we've made] the environments feel wider in the game," Dumont contined. "But I would say around the same size as Origins."

Ubisoft is otherwise looking to up the authenticity by letting players take on the role of a real historical figure, and by adding a dynamic light system and even a season cycle that sees the open-world shift from spring to summer, to fall, and to winter. You can read about all this and more in our extensive interview with the development team.

And if that's not enough, check out our analysis and explanation of where and when Shadows is set and 40 key details we've learned about the game. You can also watch our full breakdown of the cinematic trailer to discover all its hidden details, Easter eggs, and more.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon has received its official Season 2 trailer ahead of its June 16 premiere on HBO's Max.

The chunky two minutes and 27 seconds trailer, below, contains myriad scenes not shown off in previous promotions as Westeros prepares for a bloody war.

Raise your banners. The official trailer is here.

June 16 on @StreamOnMax. #HOTDS2 pic.twitter.com/Dy1w73yerF

— House of the Dragon (@HouseofDragon) May 14, 2024

All of its major players are shown off too, such as Emma D'Arcy's Rhaenyra Targaryen and Matt Smith's Daemon Targaryen, alongside a ton of dragons.

House of the Dragon Season 2 otherwise includes the return of Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno, Rhys Ifans, and more, alongside new cast members Abubakar Salim, Gayle Rankin, Freddie Fox, Simon Russell Beale, Clinton Liberty, Jamie Kenna, Kieran Bew, Tom Bennett, Tom Taylor, and Vincent Regan.

Season 2 will continue the adaptation of original author George R.R. Martin's Fire and Blood, a book outlining the history of House Targaryen (featured in HBO's Game of Thrones series). Martin has already seen the first two episodes and described them as "powerful, emotional, gut-wrenching, heart rending", and "very dark".

In our 9/10 review of Season 1, IGN said: "After 10 episodes, House Of The Dragon has officially emerged as a worthy successor to Game Of Throne

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

Shin Megami Tensei 5 will be removed from the Nintendo eShop on June 13, 2024 ahead of the release of expanded edition Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance.

Publisher Atlus confirmed the takedown in an X/Twitter post, making clear that all digital editions of the game, including the Standard and Deluxe, as well as all downloadable content will be unavailable ahead of Vengeance, which launches June 21, 2024.

Players who already own either the physical or digital versions of Shin Megami Tensei 5 will be able to continue playing after the takedown date, or redownload it if necessary.

Vengeance is a revamped version of the original available across all platforms, meaning PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series, PC via Steam, and Nintendo Switch, with various improvements and even additional content being added.

"Forge your path through a post-apocalyptic world in this definitive version of Shin Megami Tensei 5," the official synopsis reads. "Two complete story paths await, including a brand new storyline with new locations and demons, and where your choices will determine the fate of all existence."

Changes include improved gameplay systems and quality of life features, more than 40 new demons being available, and significantly different story beats in one of the two story modes playable in Vengeance. Atlus estimated each route takes around 80 hours each, meaning Vengeance offers around 160 hours of gameplay for those looking to explore both.

In our 8/10 review of the base game, IGN said: "Shin Megami Tensei 5's excellent JRPG combat and deeply rewarding customization shine bright, even when it sometimes feels like Persona without the heart."

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

Ubisoft has hidden a cryptic puzzle across the marketing for Assassin's Creed Shadows, previously codenamed Red, the Japan-set entry due for a full reveal tomorrow, May 15, 2024.

The Hourglass Puzzle was teased in Ubisoft's press release regarding the reveal, which was also announced publicly through a post on X/Twitter which showed a giant hourglass in Osaka, Japan. Fans were quick to spot a strange code on the bottom of this hourglass, S89N-029S, thus starting the community's problem-solving effort.

This wasn't too complex to work out, as its numbers were simply positions in the English alphabet, meaning it was quickly deciphered as 'Shinobis.' But the strange codes didn't stop there, as scattered throughout Ubisoft websites, email, and social media lay other random assortments of letters and numbers.

Spotted by Busy-Jicama-3474 on Reddit, a background image on the Assassin's Creed Shadows page on Ubisoft's website contains a hidden code with 24 two-digit numbers. Another code found in an email advertisement had 11, 21, and 33 repeated over and over across several lines, all being 16 numbers long. And fans are going wild trying to figure them out.

Assassin's Creed Codename Red becomes Assassin's Creed Shadows.
Tune-in for the Official Cinematic World Premiere Trailer on May 15, 9 AM PT.#AssassinsCreedShadows pic.twitter.com/xc1Q10N4Vh

— Assassin's Creed (@assassinscreed) May 13, 2024

"If we pair the first and second numbers, along with the third and forth, and so on, we get four lines of eight pairs of numbers," wrote Squidpsyco in response to the original post. "The only pairs that exist here are 33 and 11, and 11 and 21. This creates eight pairs with exactly two possibilities for each pair, which looks a lot like binary.

"If we treat the 33 11 pair as zero and the 11 21 pair as 1, we get four binary characters, which translate to the American Standard Code for Information Interchange numbers one, five, seven, and nine. This can’t be a coincidence because the four binary strands all give a numeral, and only a range of 10 characters of the 255 possible are numbers. So the chance that this is a coincidence is (10/255)4 or 16 in six million odds."

The internet sleuth then connected that 1579 number to an Assassin's Creed Shadows rumor that suggests a historical figure called Yasuke will be involved in the game. "1579 just so happens to be the year Yasuke arrived in Japan," they said. "This probably doesn’t help with the main cipher on the website, but it is likely confirmation of the date of the game and Yasuke’s involvement."

The Office star Steve Carell won't appear in the upcoming spin-off set at a midwestern daily newspaper.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Carell said he'll be watching the new show but won't appear in it because there would be no reason for his character Michael Scott to appear.

"I will be watching but I will not be showing up," Carell said. "It’s just a new thing and there’s really no reason for my character to show up in something like that. But I’m excited about it. It sounds like a great concept."

Carell also said Star Wars: Episode 9 - The Rise of Skywalker actor Domhnall Gleeson, who will reportedly appear in the spin-off, was a great addition to the cast.

"I love the idea," he continued. "I guess it’s set in a failing newspaper company, and I worked with Domhnall Gleeson, who is one of the leads; I did The Patient with him and he’s an excellent actor and a super nice guy. So I think it’ll be great."

Carell starred in the U.S. version of The Office for seven seasons before leaving the show ahead of its final two, when his character moved to Boulder, Colorado. It's unclear exactly where in the Midwest spin-off will be set but it is in the same universe, perhaps leaving some room for classic characters to show up.

Darryl Philbin actor Craig Robinson has already expressed interest in returning for some sort of reboot or continuation, and Pam Beesly actress Jenna Fischer said she'd be on board if The Office co-creator Greg Daniels was involved.

Daniels is, working as co-creator of the spin-off alongside Michael Koman, but the new show appears to be a completely fresh take with no connections to the original cast or company. The Office UK star Ricky Gervais did show up as David Brent in the U.S. series through a brief cameo, however, so perhaps anything is possible.

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

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask now has a native PC version thanks to a modding tool which allows Nintendo 64 games to be ported with ease, albeit unofficially.

As reported by DSOGaming, Mr-Wiseguy on developer platform Github has uploaded a new tool called N64Recomp, which allows N64 games to be statically recompiled into native executables, meaning they can then be converted into whatever form users require, which in most cases will mean games.

While users who download the tool will therefore be able to port any game, Mr-Wiseguy has released their first port in Majora's Mask, available separately in a launcher called Zelda64Recomp. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will be added to the same launcher "soon."

Being a native PC port, Majora's Mask is available with some extra features too. Mr-Wiseguy has added higher framerate functionality, which doesn't break the game as an emulator would, widescreen and ultrawide options, and DualShock 4, DualSense, and Switch Pro Controller support, complete with gyro functionality if players wish.

Wiseguy has created a tool to make PC ports of N64 games without full decompilations, which means we should see many more PC ports. The first of these is Zelda Majora's Mask and uses @dariosamo RT64 renderer for widescreen and high framerate support and plays beautifully pic.twitter.com/SVWqJ3o1Hs

— Carl (@AVGN82) May 11, 2024

Building upon features already in the original, the port also improves some graphics by using framebuffer effects, has improved shadows, and has autosave functionality too. Ray tracing support will be added at a later date. All of these features, as well as a comparison between the game running traditionally and running through the native port, can be seen in a trailer released by Mr-Wiseguy.

My friend Wiseguy's been working in secret for a year on a tool to make PC ports of N64 games without complete decompilations. The result doesn't include assets and only requires a ROM to play.

He's managed to run games like Banjo-Kazooie, Rocket Robot and even Superman 64. pic.twitter.com/sKGuViEsJZ

— Darío (@dariosamo) May 10, 2024

Creating unofficial ports of Nintendo games comes with certain risks, of course, including legal action from the gaming giant. Nintendo issued a takedown request to Github for more than 8,500 copies of code of Switch emulator Yuzu earlier in May 2024, for example.

This came after Nintendo sued the creator of Yuzu, who had to pay $2.4 million in damages, and follows a string of similar cases.

Game file sharing website RomUniverse was ordered to pay $2.1 million in damages to Nintendo in 2021, while another instance in 2018 saw it receive more than $12 million in damages. It also blocked GameCube and Wii emulator Dolphin from releasing on PC game platform Steam.

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

U.S. video game retail chain GameStop will reportedly begin buying and selling single Pokémon and other trading cards this week as it looks to capitalize on the flourishing collectibles market.

According to PokéBeach, select stores will begin buying graded cards to be sold on the GameStop website, though plans are in place to bring the trade in process to all locations. Just as customers can already trade in video games for cash or store credit, the same system will be available to those trading in Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Magic: The Gathering, and other trading card game cards.

The key word here is "graded", of course, meaning lapsed players or collectors can't just bring in a box of their old cards to be cashed in. Grading is a process which determines the exact condition of the card and essentially verifies it as being genuine (and valuable).

It's unclear how GameStop will value the cards being traded in. and it will only accept those graded by the Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), at least at the beginning of the program. It also won't accept cards valued at more than $500.

"GameStop’s leaders believe this is the obvious next step for the company," said one store manager who's tested this program for GameStop. "Physical media is waning, especially for video games. It was time for the company to branch out to trading cards. They are the future."

Pokémon will seemingly be the chain's focus, as single holographic and reverse holographic cards from the Pokémon TCG will be sold in store too at $1 each.

The card collecting market is growing more and more popular, helped in part due to high profile cases of cards being sold for millions of dollars. The perpetually popular Pokémon sits at the top of the list in terms of value (its most expensive card is valued at $5.275 million) but a special Lord of the Rings Magic: The Gathering card was bought by rapper Post Malone for $2 million in 2023, and that record was soon broken as another card sold for $3 million just months later.

The popularity of Pokémon cards is otherwise evidenced by the number of people trying to steal them. Tokyo police reported an unprecedented number of trading card thefts in the latter half of 2022, while an independent gaming store in Minnesota reportedly had around $250,000 worth of Pokémon merchandise stolen in February of that year. One month later, again in Tokyo, a man was arrested for allegedly launching a literal heist in order to steal the treasured cards.

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

Marvel Studios has filed a subpoena with Instagram to learn the identity of the CanWeGetSomeToast account, which has repeatedly leaked private information about films and TV shows including the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World.

As reported by Torrent Freak, Marvel's subpoena follows an Instagram Story post from CanWeGetSomeToast which allegedly contained leaked footage of the upcoming film. The subpoena was filed with the Northern District of California court after the leak was discovered by a senior Disney paralegal.

It seeks as much information as possible surrounding the CanWeGetSomeToast account, including the names, physical addresses, IP addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and payment account information of anyone associated with the it.

A dedicated Baldur's Gate 3 fan has recreated the Mysterious Artefact in real life, and it doubles as an Xbox controller to play the game with.

Twitch streamer Rudeism shared a video on X/Twitter, below, of the artefact's creation and use, showing off its complete functionality as a working Xbox controller that can fully control Baldur's Gate 3 (or Forza Motorsport, Starfield, or any other Xbox game).

Each side of the Mysterious Artefact is a separate Xbox button like A, B, Right Trigger, and so on, while the thumbsticks are simulated using motion controls from inside the controller, meaning Rudeism has to turn the device itself to move their character around.

The project took nearly five months to complete, as Rudeism had to design the body to fit 20 key switches, 3D print all the parts, design and wire the circuitry, program it, and then paint it before it was ready to play games with.

I turned the Artifact from @baldursgate3 into a controller!

It's a fully functional wireless Xbox controller - 20 buttons & a motion sensor for simulating thumbsticks

Starting my first run with it on Twitch TOMORROW - https://t.co/H1RBWnJAHx pic.twitter.com/UgKbs7kgML

— Rudeism (@rudeism) May 10, 2024

"It was a long time but it was well worth the wait," they said in their video. "It's not the most ergonomic controller I've ever made but I definitely think it's one of the most unique. That's what I aim for with my builds."

Rudeism also streamed Baldur's Gate 3 on Twitch using the Mysterious Artefact controller for those eager to see it in use proper.

The Mysterious Artefact is, well, a mysterious artefact players must contend with during the events of Baldur's Gate 3, the Dungeon & Dragons based role-playing game from Larian Studios. It proved a smash hit upon its release in 2023, earning myriad game of the year awards alongside a 10/10 review from IGN.

"With crunchy, tactical RPG combat, a memorable story with complex characters, highly polished cinematic presentation, and a world that always rewards exploration and creativity, Baldur's Gate 3 is the new high-water mark for CRPGs," we said.

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

Star Wars actor Ahmed Best, who first played Jar Jar Binks in the Prequel Trilogy but more recently portrayed Jedi Master Kelleran Beq in The Mandalorian, wants to make a film that's essentially "Jedi John Wick".

Speaking to ComicBook, Best said his brief appearance in The Mandalorian, where his character helped young Grogu escape from the Order 66 attack on the Coruscant Jedi Temple, was just a tiny fraction of what he wants to make.

"I want to do a Jedi John Wick as Kelleran Beq, and I don't even need to say any words," Best said, referencing the minimal dialogue in the John Wick films.

"I just want to do two hours of lightsabers and people in the way. I really want to do something like that because the fight that I did for The Mandalorian is one tenth of 1% of what I could do. And there's so much more."

The first major patch for hit city builder Manor Lords, version 0.7.960, has been revealed by developer Slavic Magic and released for public testing.

While this means the patch isn't officially out yet, those looking to enjoy its wealth of bug fixes and other improvements can now do so at the risk of some elements, like balance changes, being a tad off. Players happy to wait can do so knowing the full patch shouldn't be too far away.

Revealed in a Steam post, Slavic Magic made these potential imperfections clear and recommended players back up their save files before switching to the test version. "The new strings are not localized yet and stability hasn't yet been thoroughly tested," it added. "Some balancing changes are still experimental."

Players looking to test the update can do so by right-clicking Manor Lords in their Steam libraries, selecting properties, then moving to the betas tab, entering the password veryNiceBasket, and choosing "pre_release" from the Beta Participation drop down list.

Slavic Magic said they began by addressing "all the most common reported issues" such as clogged Trading Posts, weak archers, overly high ale consumption, disappearing crops, and more. A new major feature called King's Tax has also been added, which ultimately rewards good workers and punishes poor ones. The full patch notes are available below.

Manor Lords arrived in Early Access form on April 26, 2024 and proved an immediate Steam hit, selling more than one million copies in a day and hitting the highest ever concurrent player count for a city builder.

Manor Lords Version 0.7.960 Patch Notes

Major Changes:
-The King's Tax is now enabled (or Annual Royal Tax, can't decide on the name)
a) This tax is collected annually from all players (main player and AI) and goes to your liege. It's counted per population and therefore should become a counterbalance for players who hoard huge wealth despite having non-optimized economies.
b) [WIP] For now the player can go in debt without consequence, but in the future the player will lose king's favor and eventually the king's army will show up as enemies for players who refuse to pay

-Global/Local trade switch for trading posts
a) The player can now switch trade to "local only" in the trading post for each type of good if they want to use the trading post to exchange goods between their own regions but ignore the free merchants.
b) For now 2 trading posts (both regions) are still required to make it work.
c) Employed traders will prioritize to travel to the place with best prices to commence trade, and yes potentially including regions owned by other Lords. This can have interesting consequences in the future. For now I reduced the transport distance from the calculation in order to make it more predictable for the player where the traders will go (to the place with the best price).
d) Regional wealth is still required for exchanging goods between regions with a trading post since I want to keep the regions as independent economic units which in my view a more realistic simulation of economy.
Gameplay and Balance:
-[Experimental] When consuming food, people will now pick a random food resource instead of eating food in a specific order
-[Experimental] Fertility is no longer drained after crop growth reaches 100% so that always micromanaging early harvest is no longer a preferred strategy. Yield may still increase over 100% growth if max yield is not reached.
-[Experimental] When harvesting, the crops are directly added to the field inventory instead of the villager inventory. This was done to ensure that harvesting walk times aren't the main bottleneck for farming, especially for large fields. [Side note: moving harvest season to August is also possible in a future patch if needed]
-[Experimental] Prioritized Oxen plowing over transporting resources back to the granary & warehouse to reduce the ox walking back and forth from the plowed field every time a new batch of resources is available for transport
-Plowing shed now adds 2 livestock worker slots
-Lowered the rate of the Baron claiming regions and adjusted it to better reflect the game settings
-Removed the worker camp upgrade - it was meant for colony regions and will be readded when they are properly implemented
-Food producing residential plots no longer stock up on their produce before they share with the marketplace
-Increased sawpit log storage space to 5
-[Experimental] When establishing a trade route, the merchants will no longer all spawn in the nearest tradepoint. Instead, the game will distribute the merchants to circle between various tradepoints in order to make building trading posts right on the edge of the region less optimal.
-Increased warbows ranged attack from 4 to 12
-[Experimental] "Trade logistics" development branch now lowers the cost of new trade routes by 50% instead of clamping it at 25
-[Experimental] Cost of opening new trade routes now scales exponentially with every opened trade route
-[Experimental] Base cost of opening a trade route was increased from 12 to 20 (that is before the good value multiplier)
-[Experimental] When market is oversupplied, the player can still export stuff, although for much lower price
-[Experimental] The price multiplier for oversupplied goods is now 0.75x for oversupplied and 0.5x for critically oversupplied
-[Experimental] How fast market is oversupplied no longer depends on the value of goods because it punished having high value trade routes. Now the oversupply rates are equal for all good types.
-[Experimental] Better deals development branch reduces the foreign import tariff by 50% instead of removing it completely
-[Experimental] Reduced ale consumption by 75% (around 1/3 per family per month)
-[Experimental] Made the building placement steepness limits harsher cause the trading posts and churches often looked super janky on very sharp slopes
-Soldiers no longer trigger "unburied bodies" approval factor when corpses are in their proximity
-[Experimental] Hitching post is free again, to reduce chances of players getting stuck with no ox, no hitching post and no ability to order an ox
Minor Changes:
-Applied the "mindfulness" system that was initially designed for the oxen to the free merchants. This system is used to reduce clumps and traffic jams.
-Moved the location of trades further off map to make sure there is some space for all the trade wagons even if the players place the trading post right on the edge of the map
-If a trading post is clogged, traders are allowed to make transactions without entering the shed, as long as they are within the general building bounds
-[Experimental] Changed default AA under DX11 to TAA
-Added a spatialization update call when recruits are sneakily teleported home when rallied to ensure collisions are properly calculated after teleportation
-Added a check for idle villagers to avoid hanging around the graveyard for random conversation since it looked weird
-Made "is close to camera" value update on setting follow mode to make sure the game doesn't optimize animations or sound effects thinking the character is still far from the camera
-Disabled fire damage for people who have water buckets and are actively firefighting + reduced the fire damage amount
-When all resource visualization slots are "filled", villagers will transport to a random one instead of the first one found. This ensures less traffic jams for instance at the churchyard if all graves are "full" already.
-Firefighting villagers will now ignore anti-clogging behavior (waiting their turn at narrow pathfinding points)
-Added a "mourning period left" UI element in the residential panel to display how many days of mourning are left until the burgage plot can bring in more family members again
-Added mourning icon to the building floater
-Made sure mourning period is properly added to save data
-After continuing the game after a victory the camera should go back to the player's main region instead of levitating over the map edge
-[Experimental] Disabled the ability to quicksave during the game over / victory cinematic
-Disabled the ability to manual save the game after being defeated & added a tooltip explaining why saves are disabled
-Disabled quick save and autosave if game was lost
-When ox gathers a log, it will prioritize immediately bringing it to the sawpit before bringing it to the logging camp unless construction reserve forbids it
-Improved marketplace logistics efficiency and optimization
-Tuned the AI retreat distances in an attempt to reduce how often its archers get into the loop of attack-retreat
-Added the missing trading post building thumbnail
-Minor unit in-town pathfinding updates
-Swapped the old UE4 destructible system for a new, UE5 friendly, chaos based debris system. For now it's just used for chopped firewood cutter logs.
-Further tweaks to properly choose the right default AA/upscaler during the first time launch correctly for specific GPUs (eg. RTX properly defaulting to DLSS)
-Added kings tax rate multiplier to the game setup settings
-Due to mismatch in global market supply stock values, old saves (from builds 0.7.954-0.7.956) will have their market supply reset on loading
-[Experimental] Due to changes in how food is consumed, a popup "Food consumed" may no longer appear if a building is selected while a food is being consumed from inventory
-[Experimental] Made the sheep flock a bit more closely together to look more like a herd
-Steepness limits no longer apply when placing rally points
-Players can now rally their militia on fields and pastures
-Trading posts will now display a price range for imports in case they can buy it both from other regions AND from foreign trade sources
-Increased the sheep & lamb collision radius
-Capped the number of workers who supply a single market stall at the same time to 2 to reduce markets getting completely clogged with the new upped market supply frequency
-Further optimized the market supply functions to make late game towns run smoother
-Optimized the function that searches for a friend to do idle tasks with (like conversations)
-Optimized the door opening animations
-Increased the precision when checking whether a character is inside a building on fire and should take damage
-Unified the currency icon in the mercenary company panel to make it clearer that you're paying with treasury and not regional wealth
-Added accommodation call after fire is started and turns people homeless so that they can be reaccommodated to other available burgage plots immediately
-Since almost all families have more than 1 family member, I made the "workplace/reassign" buttons aligned vertically instead of horizontally in the family list
-Fixed old fonts being used in the family entry widgets
Crash Fixes:
-Fixed a crash when doing a sequence of livestock import, export and import, because "home" wasn't cleared properly during export and the same animal was reimported
-Fixed a rare crash if a handcart fails to spawn, probably if the trading post was build so that part of it crosses the map edge
-Fix crash on startup if OpenXr sdk is installed
Bug Fixes:
-Fixed victory status not resetting after starting a new game, leading to a game over screen not appearing if the player lost/won multiple games without turning the game off
-Fixed crop transports not accounting for the farm work area
-Fixed crops dying in the winter instead of actually increasing yield by absorbing nutrients from the snow as it was intended for winter crops
-Fixed oxen sometimes "ghost plowing" a field when they are waiting on their guide
-Fixed plow and ox sometimes misaligning on 12x game speed
-Fixed farm workers not accounting for oxen plowing the farms in some situation, leading to a lot of unnecessary collisions on the field
-Fixed crop rotation unplowing the fields
-Fixed disbanded mercenary group becoming immediately available again after save/load cycle
-Fixed the trading post export transactions not moving regional wealth between the regions correctly if owned by the same lord
-Fixed paused taverns fulfilling the entertainment requirement
-Fix attempt for never ending fires if a fire was triggered after the building was already on fire
-Fixed problem banners not erasing after an entity gets erased (for instance an animal runs away and leaves a "not enough pasture space" banner)
-Fixed "update task" sometimes triggering before a character gets assigned their region
-Fixed livestock sometimes being unaccommodated after order even though there is stable or pasture space due to being transferred to the region twice (once when buying and once when livestock merchant brings it to the building)
-Fixed livestock traders trading between on-map regions possibly sometimes paying twice because the ownership changing function was called both on pickup of livestock and on dropoff
-Fixed the game getting stuck on the game summary screen infinitely after winning or losing the game
-Fixed "none" people populating the town after a raid sometimes who just stand around waiting forever and possibly crash the game while reloading
-Fixed the blurry desktop icon
-Fixed the save/load menu header not translating after changing the language
-Fixed dead animals triggering the mourning period in burgage plots, halting growth
-Fixed mourning period halting homeless accomodation
-Fixed migration/growth of family members ignoring the 30 day mourning period sometimes
-Fixed the game getting stuck after you click "continue in sandbox" until any main tab is pressed
-Fixed the front lighting not being visible in the retinue editor if bounced light approximation is turned to low or off
-Fixed floating feedback text spawning during the cinematic mode
-Fixed autosave triggering during the cinematic mode
-Fixed "storage full" triggering for wrong buildings sometimes (for example sawpit having 1/1 logs)
-Fix attempt for oxen bringing too many logs to the sawpit and crossing the storage limit
-Fixed free merchants sometimes getting stuck if a trading post was build so close to the edge that a portion of it was outside of any region bounds
-Fixed horse wagon rotations getting a bit too wonky on slopes
-Fixed a bug where a unit could no longer move due to being forever stuck in "waiting for pathfinding to finish" if another unit with a lower squadID got completely destroyed
-Fixed the wrong yarn basket carrying animation
-Fixed traders not importing from on-map regions even though the price is better than buying from tradepoints
-Fixed farm workers & farm oxen stealing planks from fields which are getting "fenced up"
-Fixed "homeless" problem banner not disappearing after upgrading homeless camp to a worker camp
-Fixed animals not getting removed from stable space / pasture space after death
-Fixed animal corpses not disappearing over time
-Added a dirty fix for families moving into homes but not registering correctly and not displaying in the UI, leading to a "secret" family living in one of the burgage plots. The reason is still unknown and being investigated.
Cosmetics:
-Added a new patron saint banner graphics: St Maurice
-Added a carried dead body visualization
-Made debris piles align to ground slope
-Fixed the throw torch animation ending abruptly
-New upgraded retinue helmet variation: Pointy bascinet
-Fixed the armor clipping through the leg of the upgraded retinue puffy sleeve jupon body variation
-New upgraded retinue body variation: Coat of plates
-New upgraded retinue helmet variation: Hounskull bascinet with a gilded cover
-Increased location precision for animals standing in the stables
-Fixed the praying animation
-Fixed the wrong door orientation for LV2 cottage variation B (with a planked gable)
-Adjusted the two handed weapon default idle pose to have a more natural stance
-New militia helmet variation - banded bascinet with a mail aventail
-Fixed some mail armor variants clipping with helmets on T3 militia units (militia mail will get their own unique variations soon)
-Reworked lv2 granary model with proper animated doors

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

Lords of the Fallen and Sniper: Ghost Warrior publisher CI games has laid off 30 more members of staff less than four months after it cut 10% of its workforce.

Speaking to GI.biz, CI Games said this would be the "final targeted round of redundancies" on its way to reaching "maximum efficiency in delivery strategic priorities going forward." Employees were notified of these additional cuts today, May 10, 2024, and will be "supported throughout the process over the coming weeks."

Lords of the Fallen developer Hexworks is unaffected by this round of layoffs, CI Games said. It recently turned its attention to future installments in the franchise after releasing the final update for 2023's Lords of the Fallen.

Upcoming 2D roguelite The Rogue Prince of Persia has been delayed from its May 14, 2024 release date to avoid competition with Hades 2, which was released into Steam Early Access on May 6.

Developer Evil Empire announced the delay on X/Twitter but assured it wouldn't push the game too far. Though it won't reveal an exact release date until May 13, Evil Empire said it would still be in May 2024.

"Seeing as everyone and their mum is playing [Hades 2] (including out entire team and their mums), we have decided to let people have their fun with it before we release The Rogue Prince of Persia," the developer said.

"While we have every confidence in The Rogue Prince of Persia, it's not every day that a game in the same genre as you, which is one of the most anticipated upcoming games of 2024, will release into Early Access a week before you plan to do the same.

"We are not prideful enough to ignore the implications of that, and we truly believe that this short delay is the best decision for us and our Early Access journey."

Evil Empire said it would keep polishing the game in the meantime by adding "more cool things" and removing bugs, but said it understands the delay is still frustrating. "We can only hold our hands up, apologise, and hope you understand," the developer said. "It will be worth the wait."

Hades 2 is certainly proving popular on Steam despite only being in Early Access, having doubled the original game's concurrent player count in a single day. As a sequel to the critically acclaimed Greek mythology themed roguelite, Hades 2 returns players to that world as they meet legendary figures like Odysseus, Nemesis, and Dora through a blend of storytelling, action gameplay, and dungeon crawling.

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