The developer of Palworld has given its staff the day off to play Monster Hunter Wilds.

As reported by Automaton, yesterday Japanese studio Pocketpair said on social media that it had received a number of “mysterious” notices from employees who claimed they will “probably be feeling unwell tomorrow” and unable to work.

And so, today, February 28, Monster Hunter Wilds’ official release date, is a sort of holiday for Pocketpair staff. It’s a clear nice gesture, but still Pocketpair felt the need to clarify that updates on its games would not be affected.

Monster Hunter Wilds has got off to an incredible start, with 1 million concurrent players on Steam alone. That’s enough to break into Steam’s top 10 most-played games of all-time list, ahead of best-sellers Baldur’s Gate 3, Hogwarts Legacy, and Elden Ring.

However, Monster Hunter Wilds has a ‘mixed’ user review rating on Steam, which has led to Capcom publishing official guidance for PC performance issues. Meanwhile, Capcom has announced early details for Monster Hunter Wilds Title Update 1, which is set to add an endgame social hub for players.

The impact of Monster Hunter Wilds’ launch is truly global, but it seems particularly pronounced in its home market of Japan. Automaton reported on one Japanese indie developer who took to social media to jokingly say it hadn’t sold a single game on Steam since Monster Hunter Wilds game out.

And Pocketpair has form when it comes to giving its staff days off to play games — it did the same thing back in 2022 when FromSoftware’s Elden Ring came out.

To help get your Monster Hunter Wilds adventure started, take a look at what Monster Hunter Wilds doesn’t tell you, and a guide to all 14 weapon types in the game. We’ve also got a detailed Monster Hunter Wilds walkthrough in progress, a Monster Hunter Wilds multiplayer guide to explain how to play with friends, and if you’ve played one of the open betas, here’s how to transfer your Monster Hunter Wilds Beta character over.

IGN’s Monster Hunter Wilds review returned an 8/10. We said: “Monster Hunter Wilds continues to smooth off the rougher corners of the series in smart ways, making for some extremely fun fights but also lacking any real challenge.”

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Capcom has announced early details of Monster Hunter Wilds’ first major patch, which is due early April.

Amid the huge launch of Monster Hunter Wilds itself, Capcom detailed Title Update 1 in a post on Steam. The company said the patch’s early April release date, set to arrive a little over a month after the game itself, "will give hunters enough time to prepare for the new content, and challenges, that await them.”

To that end, Title Update 1 adds a new level of challenge: “Prepare your gear, and resolve, hunters!” Capcom said. “TU1 will bring with it a monster of formidable strength at a level above Tempered!” Meanwhile, a new challenging monster will be added with Title Update 1.

Interestingly, Title Update 1 also adds an endgame place to gather. “A new place to meet, communicate, have meals together and more with other hunters will be added to Monster Hunter Wilds in TU1!” Capcom said.

“This area will be available to hunters who have completed the main story, so get hunting and be ready!”

Early reaction to the news that Title Update 1 will add a place for endgame players to gather has been mixed, with some welcoming the addition, others wondering why it’s not in the game at launch. It sounds very much like a Gathering Hub from previous Monster Hunter games, but as some have pointed out, it’s interesting that Capcom has chosen not to call it that here. While other players can turn up in your camp, Monster Hunter Wilds lacks a true social hub, so hopefully whatever this is will fill the void.

Capcom released a few images showcasing this new place to gather:

Meanwhile, Capcom issued a Monster Hunter Wilds troubleshooting guide amid ‘mixed’ Steam user reviews.

To help get your Monster Hunter Wilds adventure started, take a look at what Monster Hunter Wilds doesn’t tell you, and a guide to all 14 weapon types in the game. We’ve also got a detailed Monster Hunter Wilds walkthrough in progress, a Monster Hunter Wilds multiplayer guide to explain how to play with friends, and if you’ve played one of the open betas, here’s how to transfer your Monster Hunter Wilds Beta character over.

IGN’s Monster Hunter Wilds review returned an 8/10. We said: “Monster Hunter Wilds continues to smooth off the rougher corners of the series in smart ways, making for some extremely fun fights but also lacking any real challenge.”

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Capcom has issued official advice for PC via Steam players of Monster Hunter Wilds after the game launched to a ‘mixed’ user review rating due to performance issues.

The Japanese games company said Steam users should try updating their graphics driver, turning off compatibility mode, and then readjust their settings if they’re experiencing any initial issues.

“Thank you all for your patience and support!” Capcom said in a tweet.

One of the ‘Not Recommended’ Steam reviews flagged as ‘most helpful’ says Monster Hunter Wilds “has the worst optimisation I've ever seen.”

“I understand that new games are becoming more demanding and people are expected to upgrade, but this is absurd,” they said. “I'm aware this isn't the first instance of new games having poor performance on launch, because the same thing happened with World, but it feels inexcusable at this point.

“I am by no means saying the game is bad, but in its current state, you should probably consider waiting for a more stable release.”

Another negative review also focused on the game’s optimization, saying: “Absolutely atrocious performance for how the game looks. Runs even worse than the beta.”

In a bid to help Steam users improve matters, Capcom published a ‘Troubleshooting & Known Issues’ guide with potential solutions. Capcom asked PC players to follow the steps below “to rule out problems with your PC, Steam, or the game’s files.”

Monster Hunter Wilds troubleshooting and known issues guide

Troubleshooting

When the game does not run properly, please try the steps below.

1. Make sure you meet the minimum system requirements for the game.
2. Update your Video/Graphics Drivers.
3. Check for Windows Updates and ensure all of the latest programs are installed to your OS.
4. If you still experience issues, try performing a clean installation of the video driver set.
5. Update DirectX to the latest version.
   For details on how to update DirectX, please visit the Microsoft support page or Microsoft Download Center.
6. Add the game’s folder and files to your anti-virus program’s exception / exclusion list.
   Default Paths:
   C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\MonsterHunterWilds
   C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\MonsterHunterWilds\MonsterHunterWilds.exe
7. Add folder and files for Steam.exe to your anti-virus program’s exception / exclusion list.
   *Default Paths:
   C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam
   C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam.exe
8. Give administrator privileges to Steam.
   To run Steam.exe in administrator mode, right-click on the .exe file and select “Run as administrator.”
9. If you still experience issues, try logging into your PC in administrator mode and then run the game’s execution file (MonsterHunterWilds.exe).
10. Verify the game’s files on Steam.
    To verify your game’s files, follow these steps:
    (1) Restart your computer and launch Steam.
    (2) From the “Library” section, right-click on the game, and select “Properties” from the menu.
    (3) Select the “Installed Files” tab and click the “Verify integrity of game files” button.
    (4) Steam will verify the game’s files – this process may take several minutes.
    Important: One or more files may fail to verify. The files that fail to verify are local configuration files that should not be replaced as part of this process. You can safely ignore this message. If problematic files were detected during this process, Steam will automatically download and / or replace those files.
11. Disable Compatibility Mode for “MonsterHunterWilds.exe” if enabled.
    (1) Right click on “MonsterHunterWilds.exe” located in the following folder:
    　　C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\MonsterHunterWilds
    　　 *The above is the default location.
    (2) Go to Properties
    (3) Open Compatibility tab
    (4) Untick “Run this program in compatibility mode for:”
    If the above does not resolve the issue, please disable the Compatibility Mode for “Steam.exe” located in the folder below.
    C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam
12. If you still experience issues, please also try the troubleshooting steps on the Official Monster Hunter Wilds Troubleshooting & Issue Reporting Thread posted on the Steam community page as they contain more detailed and additional steps that may help resolve your issue.

Despite these performance problems, Monster Hunter Wilds is off to an incredible start, with nearly 1 million concurrent players on Steam alone. That’s enough to crack Steam’s top 10 most-played games of all-time list, and it’s only going to get bigger as we head into the weekend.

To help get your Monster Hunter Wilds adventure started, take a look at what Monster Hunter Wilds doesn’t tell you, and a guide to all 14 weapon types in the game. We’ve also got a detailed Monster Hunter Wilds walkthrough in progress, a Monster Hunter Wilds multiplayer guide to explain how to play with friends, and if you’ve played one of the open betas, here’s how to transfer your Monster Hunter Wilds Beta character over.

IGN’s Monster Hunter Wilds review returned an 8/10. We said: “Monster Hunter Wilds continues to smooth off the rougher corners of the series in smart ways, making for some extremely fun fights but also lacking any real challenge.”

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Niantic’s augmented reality video game phenomenon, Pokémon Go, may soon find itself under new ownership — and some fans are already working to keep it from reaching this next stage in its evolution.

Long-time players of The Pokémon Company’s trend-setting mobile experience were sent into a frenzy last week when a Bloomberg report suggested that Niantic was in talks to sell its video game efforts to Saudi-owned company Scopely for around $3.5 billion. It’s a deal that could involve the trade of titles such as Monster Hunter Now, Pikmin Bloom, and, yes, Pokémon Go, with an announcement reportedly expected to arrive soon. There’s been no word on how significantly a leadership change could impact in-game mechanics and microtransactions... yet.

With Scopely in the picture, this is what we’re looking at. There goes my desire to play pogo. 😬🤬 pic.twitter.com/UKYLFV7VKX

— AmyWiedy (@Amy_Wiedy) February 20, 2025

Scopely oversees a fleet of notable mobile experiences that range from board game offshoots like Scrabble Go and Monopoly Go! to games like Stumble Guys and Marvel Strike Force. The one element scaring Pokémon Go players more than anything else is the microtransaction practices these titles are notorious for. With the real-life-adventure spinoff continuing to play a crucial part in players’ lives nine years after its release, thousands of fans are concerned that things could take a turn for the worse.

“They will still probably release Mewtwo X and Y, except you have to pay $100 just for a chance to get them,” one Reddit user theorized. “If everyone here knew what they did to Marvel Strike Force, we'd all panic. They will absolutely drive this game into the ground.”

Looking for an Everstone

Fear of Scopely ownership stems more from the aggression behind these monetization tactics rather than the tactics themselves, and it’s this same fear that drove Reddit user and long-time Pokémon Go fan Tetrylene to take action. As rumors of Niantic’s interest in a sale gained momentum, he published a post in hopes of organizing a campaign for other Pokémon Go-ers to respectfully let The Pokémon Company know that, regardless of ownership, there are certain changes they won’t stand for.

“But here’s the thing: we must try and exert some leverage,” Tetrylene’s post says. “By reaching out to (The Pokémon Company) we can express our concerns and emphasize the importance of maintaining some semblance of [the] game’s current ethos. They’ve invested heavily in the Pokémon brand and are likely to be receptive to feedback that could impact its reputation.”

That post, now more than one week old, generated 1.4K upvotes with hundreds of comments from like-minded fans. Tetrylene tells us his initiative began with a desire to bring the community’s concerns front and center. There’s no telling if the message will actually reach The Pokémon Company in a meaningful way, but he says the discussion his post has brought to the table was well worth the effort.

“In the same vein that loot boxes have all but been turned into a toxic monetisation option for the industry, I hope that our pushback sends a signal that there is absolutely a limit to how much a player base will put up with,” Tetrylene explained. “This is all very defensive, but part of me hopes that there's a chance that the new owners want to capitalise on the incredible potential of the game rather than bleed it dry. The door is wide open to both possibilities; I hope we can try and guide them towards the former rather than the latter.”

Like any one of the other millions of Pokémon fans, Tetrylene holds a few Pokémon close to his heart — his favorite is a tie between Groudon and Metagross. When he says “Gen 3 for life,” he means it. He tells us Pokémon Go has been his go-to hobby for two-and-a-half years, adding that the mobile game has also served as an excuse to meet up with friends at least once a week.

It’s blossomed into an activity that sees Tetrylene co-leading an active group of nearly 70 players. It’s led to trips to new cities — and new friends. While much of the world moved on from Pokémon Go when the honeymoon phase eventually wore off, a dedicated group of trainers continues to routinely connect with others, show off their Pokémon collection, and battle.

Type Advantage

No two players enjoy Pokémon Go in the same way, though. For every casual Pokémon Go fan there is one who has spent thousands of dollars on it.

Reddit user and a self-proclaimed Pokémon Go big-spender known as a “whale,” NextLevelEvolution, penned an open letter to Scopely amid rumors of Niantic’s potential sale. It stops short of being a call-to-action but does come with the warning that a more aggressive monetization strategy would likely “break trust with the user base” and “alter the game enough that it would no longer be considered a true Pokémon-franchise experience” by fans.

“For me, Pokémon is extremely nostalgic. And I believe Pokémon Go is in a pretty good place right now and on a generally upward trajectory for the first time in several years,” NextLevelEvolution told IGN. “At their best, Pokémon games are about adventure and discovery. When Pokémon Go first came out, the idea that I could be a Pokémon trainer in the real world was enough to get me and millions of others hooked. I hope the spirit of this game is not lost to make another quick buck.”

They say they’re aware of other whales who have spent “many thousands of dollars” per year, and “none of them are excited about the possibility of Scopely purchasing Pokémon Go.” For now, NextLevelEvolution isn’t optimistic that a community-driven movement to bar aggressive monetization tactics will gain enough momentum to make a difference, but they’re at least willing to vote with their wallet if worse comes to worst.

“I’m not particularly hopeful that this will have any effect,” they explained. “But I can tell you that if I have to pay to get rid of ads in the game, then they will lose me as a customer entirely and many other whales I know as well.”

Stay Aware of Your Surroundings

There’s debate surrounding the current state of Pokémon Go and if existence under the Scopely banner would actually result in a worse experience. Regardless of how the game has been or will be monetized, Niantic has spent nine years molding it into something that is both beloved and messy. Tetrylene has a laundry list of tweaks he’d like to see implemented that includes the ability to skip certain animations, an NPC to trade with, new points of interest, fleshed-out in-game communication options, and more thoughtful placement for raids.

The general consensus is that Pokémon Go needs some upkeep, but its most devoted fans still see the experience as a once-in-a-lifetime hobby that is as exciting as it is fragile. For them, it’s hard to look at how Scopely has monetized other titles and not see it as a threat to a fun pastime and the tool millions use to stay connected.

I’ve got mixed feelings with the news that pokémon go is being sold to scopely for $3.5 billion

it could revive the game, or we could see ourselves watching 10 second ads after spinning a pokéstop

I shit on niantic as much as the next guy but lowkey kinda worried pic.twitter.com/MOgMx3tdpk

— PoGOCentral (@pogo_central) February 19, 2025

Tetrylene hopes the momentum continues but has at least been “pleasantly surprised” by how the community has responded to their call to action. He says pulling players together in this way has resulted in some already reaching out to The Pokémon Company to make a difference. Without confirmation that Niantic is actually looking to sell, Pokémon Go remains as something Tetrylene calls “the ultimate social hobby.” What it might look like in the coming years remains a mystery.

“There will never be another game like Pokémon Go,” the community organizer told us in one final message to The Pokémon Company. “There is no other game that can truly claim to be social in the way that this one is. There may never be another game — of any genre — that fosters a global community on this scale, even after nearly a decade. There still is no other mobile game that lets you stumble through an unfamiliar place and quickly find new friends for life.”

He continued: “The prospect of losing all of this to a cold investment firm that doesn't care for any of that truly saddens me. Does the journey really end here? It doesn’t have to. Pokémon GO still has so much left to give. Let it soar.”

IGN has contacted The Pokémon Company and Niantic for comment.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

Monster Hunter Wilds has enjoyed a huge launch, with nearly 1 million concurrent players on Steam.

Capcom’s action adventure game launched on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, and quickly became the eighth most-played game on Steam of all-time with an incredible 987,482 concurrent users.

To put it into context, that’s ahead of the all-time peaks of best-sellers Elden Ring, Hogwarts Legacy, and Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s already outstripped its predecessor on Steam, where 2018's Monster Hunter World enjoyed a peak concurrent figure of 334,684.

And it’s worth noting that Monster Hunter Wilds’ actual peak concurrent figure will be much higher, given neither Sony nor Microsoft report player numbers.

The question now is how high can that Steam concurrent figure go as Monster Hunter Wilds heads into its first weekend on sale and beyond. It seems likely it will crack the 1 million concurrents mark later today, overtaking Cyberpunk 2077 in the process. Could 2 million be possible?

While Capcom is yet to announce a sales figure for Monster Hunter Wilds, all signs point to a hugely successful release. (Monster Hunter World topped 25 million sales in six years to cement its position as Capcom's best-selling title ever.) However, the game has a ‘mixed’ user review rating on Steam, with some reporting performance problems.

IGN’s Monster Hunter Wilds review returned an 8/10. We said: “Monster Hunter Wilds continues to smooth off the rougher corners of the series in smart ways, making for some extremely fun fights but also lacking any real challenge.”

To help get your Monster Hunter Wilds adventure started, take a look at what Monster Hunter Wilds doesn’t tell you, and a guide to all 14 weapon types in the game. We’ve also got a detailed Monster Hunter Wilds walkthrough in progress, a Monster Hunter Wilds multiplayer guide to explain how to play with friends, and if you’ve played one of the open betas, here’s how to transfer your Monster Hunter Wilds Beta character over.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Amazon just discounted our favorite budget gaming chair. Right now, you can pick up a Corsair TC100 Relaxed gaming chair in Black Leatherette upholstery for only $199.99 shipped after you clip a $20 off coupon on the product page. Even at its retail price of $250, we thought that this chair offered a lot of value for its price.

Corsair TC100 Relaxed Gaming Chair for $199.99

George R.R. Martin shared a book update from his blog earlier this week, but it wasn't about The Winds of Winter. He instead revealed the cover for the next illustrated edition from the Song of Ice and Fire: A Feast for Crows. This is the fourth book in the series to get a special illustrated edition, and it will feature artwork from Jeffrey R. McDonald.

A Feast for Crows: The Illustrated edition is set to release on November 4, 2025. You can preorder the new special edition book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, and pretty much any of the best places to buy books online.

A Feast for Crows: The Illustrated Edition Preorder

Thank your own personal deity—possibly Mr G.—it's Friday! Whether you're in the mood for turn-based tactics, open-world adventures, or all-out brawls, my deals list has something for everyone. From legendary RPGs to quirky indies, the discounts are deep, and your choices are as overwhelming as they are underpriced...

This Day in Gaming 🎂

In retro news, I'm celebrating the 22nd birthday of Resident Evil Zero, arguably the most why-haven't-they-remade-this entries in the franchise. “S.T.A.R.S.-ing” Bravo Team member Rebecca Chambers and convict Billy Coen, an unlikely duo riding the rails to one of Umbrella's worst B&Bs, Zero was all about unique protagonist abilities and a hot-swap mechanic. I have fond memories of belting out the Leech Hunter mini-game in the original, not to mention the Wesker Mode injected into the 2016 HD Remaster. I'd kill to see this on the RE Engine.

Aussie bdays for notable games

- Pac-Man World (PS) 2000. Redux

- Top Gear Rally 2 (N64) 2000. eBay

- Resident Evil Zero (GC) 2003. Redux

- Impossible Creatures (PC) 2003. Get

- Racing Evoluzione (XB) 2003. eBay

- Hearts of Iron (PC) 2003. Sequel

- Praetorians (PC) 2003. eBay

- Real Racing 3 (iOS) 2013. Get

- Night in the Woods (PC,PS4) 2017. Get

Contents

• Nintendo
• PC
• Xbox
• PlayStation
• LEGO

Nice Savings for Nintendo Switch

Starting the deals strong on the Nintendo Switch, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a ridiculous mashup that almost didn’t happen (Miyamoto himself had to approve Ubisoft’s out-there-as-hell idea of strapping Mario with blasters). Also, The Outer Worlds delivers witty space-faring adventure from the folks who gave us Fallout: New Vegas, complete with a satirical take on corporate-controlled planets that I simply adored.

• The Outer Worlds (-51%) - A$22
• Rayman Legends Def. Ed. (-80%) - A$12
• God Eater 3 (-35%) - A$55
• Café Enchanté (-38%) - A$47
• Them's Fightin' Herds: Del. Ed. (-61%) - A$23

Expiring Recent Deals

• Bravely Default II (-34%) - A$52.89
• Shin Megami Tensei V (-24%) - A$60.59
• Crash Team Racing Nitro (-35%) - A$45.54
• Darksiders Warmastered (-17%) - A$41.52
• Gris (-80%) - A$3.59
• Transistor (-80%) - A$5.79

Or gift a Nintendo eShop Card.

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Purchase Cheap for PC

Meanwhile on PC, it’s freebie paradise (if you make a Prime Gaming account). The cult classic Deus Ex: Human Revolution is yours for nothing, featuring cyberpunk conspiracies and one of gaming’s best “punch through walls” mechanics. Meanwhile, Mages of Mystralia—also free!—boasts a magic system so flexible, even its developers had to ban certain spell combos for being too OP.

• Mages of Mystralia (-100%) - FREE w/Prime
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution (-100%) - FREE w/Prime
• Sine Mora Ex (-100%) - FREE w/Prime
• Yes, Your Grace (-100%) - FREE w/Prime
• Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (-67%) - A$33
• Prince of Persia The Lost Crown (-50%) - A$30

Expiring Recent Deals

• Stray (-40%) - A$26.97
• Sonic Frontiers (-70%) - A$28.48
• Lies of P (-40%) - A$53.97
• Fight'N Rage (-95%) - A$1.47
• Loop Hero (-75%) - A$5.48

Or just get a Steam Wallet Card

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Exciting Bargains for Xbox

You Xbox Series X faithful can dive into the timeless masterpiece The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and experience the game that made Henry Cavill geek out enough to land a Netflix role. If you prefer (admittedly imperfect) over-the-top chaos, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League lets you unleash mayhem in Metropolis with a surprising Batman: Arkham universe connection.

• Suicide Squad Del. Ed. (-58%) - A$69
• Tekken 8 (-46%) - A$64
• Overcooked! All You Can Eat (-47%) - A$30
• Diablo IV (-45%) - A$41

Xbox One

• Yoku's Island Express (-80%) - A$5
• Tomb Raider I-III Remastered (-50%) - A$22
• System Shock (-60%) - A$22
• Metro 2033 Redux (-85%) - A$4

Expiring Recent Deals

• Metaphor: ReFantazio (-17%) - A$95.04
• Destroy All Humans! 2 (-53%) - A$25.57
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (-19%) - A$89.00
• SpellForce III Reforced (-44%) - A$35.57
• FF XII: The Zodiac Age (-37%) - A$50.01
• Hot Wheels Unleashed (-29%) - A$39.10
• Persona 3 Reload (-50%) - A$53.98
• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (-50%) - A$57.47

Or just invest in an Xbox Card.

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Pure Scores for PlayStation

Finally, for PlayStation 5, God of War Ragnarök packs an emotional punch—Christopher Judge’s powerful performance as Kratos even won him the longest Game Awards speech in history. And if swinging through New York is more your speed, Spidey: Miles Morales offers wintertime web-slinging and a jazz-infused soundtrack that’s as stylish as its hero.

• Spider-Man: Miles Morales (-20%) - A$76
• Tales of Arise (-67%) - A$33
• TopSpin 2K25 (-77%) - A$23
• Planet Zoo Console Ed. (-21%) - A$60

PS4

• Digimon World: Next Order (-54%) - A$39
• Zombie Army 4: Dead War (-46%) - A$38
• DayZ (-53%) - A$37
• Super Monkey Ball: BB HD (-56%) - A$18

Expiring Recent Deals

• Space Marine 2 (-31%) - A$75.00
• Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii (-11%) - A$89.00
• Crisis Core FFVII Reunion (-21%) - A$66.95
• Lego Horizon Adventures (-14%) - A$95.04
• Battlefield 4 (-95%) - A$1.24
• Battlefield V (-95%) - A$2.99
• Battlefield Hardline Ultimate Edition (-90%) - A$5.99

PS+ Monthly Freebies
Yours to keep from Mar 4 with this subscription

• Dragon Age: Veilguard (PS5)
• Sonic Colours: Ultimate (PS4)
• TMNT: Cowabunga Col. (PS5/PS4)

Or purchase a PS Store Card.

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Legit LEGO Deals

• Minecraft: Armadillo Mine (-34%) - A$33
• City: Space Mech (-33%) - A$10
• Harry Potter: Motorcycle Ride (-30%) - A$56

Expiring Recent Deals

• 3in1 Wild Safari Animal (-30%) - A$69.95
• Star Wars C-3PO (-27%) - A$169
• Harry Potter: Charms Class (-27%) - A$22

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The death of screen legend Gene Hackman, whose remains were discovered along with those of his wife and their dog at their New Mexico home, has stunned the film industry and the iconic actor’s fans around the world. He was 95.

Hackman retired from acting over 20 years ago – his final film credit being 2004’s Welcome to Mooseport – and spent his remaining years co-authoring novels and living reclusively in Santa Fe.

A former US Marine who stood 6’2”, the burly Hackman excelled at playing complicated men, often authority figures, of dubious morality. His performances were always richly textured and emotionally authentic, whether it was in quiet, intimate moments or blistering blowouts opposite some of cinema’s biggest stars.

Over his five decade-long career, Gene Hackman always told the truth on screen. Here are his 20 most memorable films in order of release:

Bonnie & Clyde (1967)

Director: Arthur Penn

This true crime classic was Gene Hackman’s breakthrough role as a film actor and earned him his first Academy Award nomination for his role as Clyde Barrow’s (Warren Beatty) older brother, Buck. While much of the film’s legacy is about its romanticization of criminals and its groundbreaking depiction of brutal violence – that gory as hell ending! – Hackman lends the film much needed humor and humanity in his portrayal of Buck, who is as gregarious and jokey as he is tough and ruthless when needed.

I Never Sang for My Father (1970)

Director: Gilbert Cates

Based on the play of the same name, this drama follows the complicated relationship between college professor Gene Garrison (Gene Hackman) and his aging father Tom (Melvyn Douglas) whose hold over his son’s life comes to a head when Gene plans to move to California. Gene craves his father’s love and approval but grapples with the conclusion that he may never get it. I Never Sang for My Father landed Hackman his second Oscar nomination and reteamed him with actress Estelle Parsons, who played his sister here and his wife in Bonnie & Clyde.

The French Connection (1971)

Director: William Friedkin

It's been over fifty years since this seminal police procedural was released but its influence on cop movies and shows remains strong. This fact-based tale follows NYPD narcs "Popeye" Doyle (Hackman, in his first Oscar-winning role) and Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider) as they methodically hunt down a French crimelord (Fernando Rey) and his stateside Mafia accomplices (including movie mobster-for-life Tony Lo Bianco). This Best Picture winner boasts compelling characters, an engrossing story, and still-exciting action sequences (including that legendary car chase). This film remains a tribute to the hard-living street cops and their often lonely war against crime.

The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

Director: Ronald Neame

The granddaddy of modern disaster epics, this classic created the formula that would be used by subsequent disaster flicks: an all-star cast, high concept reason for the disaster, and a societal cross-section of characters’ desperate race to survive. The titular luxury ocean liner is on its final voyage when a tsunami overturns it on New Year’s Day. Revered Frank Scott (Gene Hackman), an unorthodox minister, becomes the de facto leader of the survivors. His final scene screaming to God is among the most memorable and human moments in the film. Hackman’s co-stars here included Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters (who scored an Oscar nom), Leslie Nielsen, and Roddy McDowall.

Prime Cut (1972)

Director: Michael Ritchie

The indomitable Lee Marvin plays Nick, an enforcer for the Irish mob in Chicago who arrives in the boonies of Kansas to investigate the disappearance of one of his associates. This gangster had been sent to Kansas City to deal with a mobbed-up farmer named Mary Ann (Gene Hackman). Mary Ann runs a slaughterhouse and, well, that missing associate ended up being ground into sausage! Mary Ann and his equally nasty brother also run a sex slave/prostitution ring out of this slaughterhouse, pimping out drugged-up runaways like Sissy Spacek (in her film debut). Naturally, Nick ends up in a violent conflict with Mary Ann and his rednecks, and tries to save Spacek's character along the way.

Scarecrow (1973)

Director: Jerry Schatzberg

This road dramedy brought together Al Pacino and Gene Hackman just as their stars began to shine brightest. It follows two ne’er-do-wells – ex-con Max (Hackman) and the simple “Lion” (Pacino) – who meet in California and eventually decide to open a car wash business together when they reach Pittsburgh. Along the way, both men undergo profound changes, with the gruff Max finding his kinder, gentler side even as Lion’s fate grows more tragic.

The Conversation (1974)

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

This haunting thriller features what is arguably Gene Hackman's finest screen performance. He brilliantly underplays his role as withdrawn, paranoid surveillance expert Harry Caul who is hired to tape a conversation between a seemingly benign couple (Cindy Williams and Frederic Forrest) that soon sounds like a murder plot. Fearing that his enigmatic corporate benefactor, "The Director" (Robert Duvall), will kill this young couple, Caul becomes conflicted and refuses to hand over his tapes to the Director. The truth, however, is not quite what it seems.

Young Frankenstein (1974)

Director: Mel Brooks

Gene Hackman is only in one scene but it’s a classic. He plays Harold, a blind old man who does his best to show hospitality to Peter Boyle’s creature only for it to all go hilariously awry. In a comedy full of iconic lines and gags brought to life by stellar performers like Gene Wilder, Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, and Madeline Kahn, Hackman made a meal – a nice bowl of soup! – out of every brief moment he got on screen here.

Night Moves (1975)

Director: Arthur Penn

Hackman plays Harry Moseby, a private eye who accepts the task of locating an aging Hollywood starlet's (Janet Ward) spoiled daughter (Melanie Griffith) who has run away. Harry takes this seemingly easy gig to escape marital strife (wife Susan Clark is two-timing him). Harry's investigation leads him to the Florida Keys and to the realization that there's far more going on here than some little rich girl who flew the coop. Harry soon finds himself ensnared in a web of murder and corruption. One of the most unappreciated films of the 1970s, Night Moves helped re-define the detective genre of the era along with Chinatown and The Long Goodbye.

Superman (1978)

Director: Richard Donner

Along with Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman was the other "big name" in Warner Brothers' first big-screen take on the Man of Steel (Christopher Reeve). As Superman's diabolical yet droll nemesis, evil genius Lex Luthor, Hackman sneered, smirked and schemed his way through what would eventually be three Superman films. Purists may still be peeved that Hackman's Luthor wasn't quite like his comic book counterpart but for a generation of filmgoers Hackman IS Lex Luthor.

Hoosiers (1986)

Director: David Anspaugh

This fact-based drama about a small-town Indiana basketball team in the 1950s stars Gene Hackman as Norman Dale, who gets another shot when he's hired to coach a high school team. In the face of resistance from both his team and the town, Dale inspires his players and leads them to the state championship. While most of the press around the film was framed as a comeback for Dennis Hopper – who snagged an Oscar nom for his supporting role as the recovering alcoholic assistant coach – Hackman’s sincerity and commanding performance is key to making this feel-good but familiar story work so well.

No Way Out (1987)

Director: Roger Donaldson

Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, and Sean Young star in this loose remake of the Film Noir classic, The Big Clock. Costner, a Navy hero assigned to the Pentagon, is having a fling with an amorous D.C. socialite (Young). When she's killed by her other lover, who happens to be the Secretary of Defense (Hackman), Costner realizes he'll become the prime suspect in her murder if their affair is uncovered. Hackman and his insanely devoted aide (Will Patton) concoct an alibi that blames Young's murder on a near mythic Soviet mole allegedly operating within the Pentagon. What they set in motion, however, proves that this Soviet mole indeed exists and is much closer to them than they realize.

Mississippi Burning (1988)

Director: Alan Parker

This still-controversial Oscar-nominated film stars Gene Hackman as Anderson, a no-nonsense Southern career FBI agent, and Willem Dafoe as his by-the-book partner Ward. They're investigating the disappearance (and murder) of three Civil Rights activists in a brutally racist Mississippi town. It leads them to the KKK and to the town sheriff's wife (Frances McDormand) who knows more than she can reveal. Critics slammed Mississippi Burning for altering history and for making white FBI agents the heroes of the Civil Rights story, while admirers of the film credit the performances – Hackman earned a Best Actor nom – and its visceral depiction of the Deep South.

Unforgiven (1992)

Director: Clint Eastwood

This Best Picture-winning Western ponders the consequences of violence and serves as a somber reflection on its director-star’s bloodsoaked cinematic legacy. William Munny (Eastwood) was a murderous outlaw until his late wife cured him "of drink and wickedness." Now an unsuccessful farmer caring for two children, Will reluctantly agrees to pick up his guns again to collect a bounty on a pair of cowpokes who disfigured a prostitute in the town of Big Whiskey. In the end, Will returns to his ultra-violent ways after the nasty sheriff of Big Whiskey, Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman), kills Will’s old saddlepal Ned (Morgan Freeman). William Munny proceeds to show Big Whiskey why he was such a feared man when he finally confronts Little Bill and his goons. Unforgiven won Hackman – who initially turned down the film because of its violence – his second and final Oscar.

The Firm (1993)

Director: Sydney Pollack

Tom Cruise stars in this hit adaptation of the John Grishman bestseller as Mitch McDeere, a Harvard Law hotshot recruited into a Memphis firm he discovers is mobbed up. Gene Hackman plays Avery Tolar, Mitch’s mentor whose personal corruption epitomizes the moral rot eating away at the Firm. Hackman could find humanity even in the murkiest of characters. Case in point: his final scene with Abby, Mitch’s wife, where gets a chance to maybe do at least one good thing.

Crimson Tide (1995)

Director: Tony Scott

Essentially Mutiny on the Bounty set aboard a nuclear sub, Denzel Washington plays Lt. Commander Hunter, the stalwart first officer of the USS Alabama, which the stern Captain Ramsey (Gene Hackman) commands. Their relationship deteriorates to the point where Hunter is forced to try and take over the vessel from Ramsey after it appears that Russian rebels are preparing to nuke the U.S. (Look for young Viggo Mortensen and James Gandolfini in supporting roles.) Quentin Tarantino did a rewrite of the script, which explains why there’s a Silver Surfer speech in an otherwise straightforward Cold War thriller.

Get Shorty (1995)

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

Based on Elmore Leonard’s novel, John Travolta stars as Chili Palmer, a mobster and film buff who comes to L.A. to collect a debt from schlock movie director Harry Zimm (Gene Hackman) only to end up becoming a natural born Hollywood producer. Hackman usually played the toughest guy in the room so part of the humor and charm here is seeing his character be roughed up and vulnerable. The hit comedy – which also starred Rene Russo, Danny DeVito, Delroy Lindo, Denis Farina, and James Gandolfini – later spawned a sequel and TV series.

The Birdcage (1996)

Director: Mike Nichols

A retelling of the French comedy La Cage aux Folles, Robin Williams and Nathan Lane star here as Armand and Albert Goldman, a gay couple who feign being heterosexual when meeting their son’s conservative future in-laws, Senator Keeley (Hackman) and Louise (Diane Wiest). The moralizing Keeley is perplexed when he learns the truth that these two men are gay and married – although he hopes it doesn’t affect their votes. In the end, the Goldmans are able to save Keeley from the hounding media by dressing him in drag and escorting him through their club, the titular Birdcage. If you ever wanted to see Robin Williams and Gene Hackman dance to “We Are Family” then The Birdcage has got you covered.

Enemy of the State (1998)

Director: Tony Scott

Gene Hackman reunited with Crimson Tide’s Tony Scott for this thriller, with Hackman essentially reprising his paranoid surveillance expert role from Coppola's The Conversation. Will Smith stars as labor attorney Robert Clayton Dean who teams with "Brill" (Hackman) after being framed by a crooked government agent (Jon Voight) and his goons (including Barry Pepper, Scott Caan, and Jack Black). Dean and Brill must outwit the shady Feds as they piece together the truth.

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Director: Wes Anderson

A family of geniuses, the Tenenbaums, reunite to deal with the return of their patriarch, the obnoxious (disbarred) attorney Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman). Having long been shunned by his family for his callous and patronizing manner, Royal returns home with tragic news: he's been diagnosed with stomach cancer and has only six weeks to live. With his time running out, Royal tries atoning for his past failings as a husband and father and hopes to forge new friendships with his family. But will the other Tenenbaums bury the hatchet? And is there more to Royal's return than just illness? The cast includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Anjelica Huston, Danny Glover, Luke and Owen Wilson, and Bill Murray.

Share your thoughts on the life and films of Gene Hackman in the comments.

We have our first look at DC Studios’ newest Green Laneterns. Plural.

HBO shared the first look at the upcoming Lanterns TV show that is set to star Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as John Stewart. While neither of them are shown wearing the emerald green suit, look a little closely and you can see a Power Ring on Chandler’s hand.

Kyle Chandler is Hal Jordan. Aaron Pierre is John Stewart. #Lanterns, the new HBO Original Series from DC Studios, is now in production. pic.twitter.com/1Tz30Xm8f0

— Max (@StreamOnMax) February 27, 2025

Lanterns is an upcoming DC TV show that’s described as a detective drama inspired by shows like True Detective and Slow Horses. It features Chandler’s Hal Jordan partnering up with Pierre’s John Stewart to solve a murder that will devolve into an even darker mystery. It is confirmed as part of James Gunn’s broader DC universe that includes Creature Commando as well as the upcoming Superman and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow movies.

The show was developed by Damon Lindelof of Lost fame as well as Chris Mundy and Tom King. The show will have a darker tone which Gunn says is “very grounded, very believable, very real. The kind of things that you would never think that would be the truth about a Green Lanterns television series.”

Chandler is best known for the drama Friday Night Lights and plays an older version of Hal Jordan, while Aaron Pierre hit the scene in the movie Rebel Ridge. The series is targeting a 2026 premiere, the same year as the Supergirl movie.

Matt Kim is IGN's Senior Features Editor.

Credit: Max, Warner Bros.

If you're an anime fan, Crunchyroll is the best streaming platform out there. With just one subscription, you can instantly gain access to over 1,000 different anime series. In a time when anime has never been more popular, Crunchyroll allows you to catch new and popular shows like Solo Leveling while also keeping up with the biggest anime in the world like One Piece. Check out our full rundown of Crunchyroll as of March 2025, in addition to a free trial that allows you to try out the service for one week.

Does Crunchyroll Have a Free Trial?

What Crunchyroll Premium Tiers Are There?

Once again, Crunchyroll has three different pricing options for Premium members: Fan, Mega Fan, and Ultimate Fan. All anime is available across each of the tiers, so you won't need to worry about missing out on certain series if you do not subscribe to the highest tier.

Fan Subscription - $7.99 per month

To break down the tiers, Fan is the standard Crunchyroll Premium membership, offering the entire Crunchyroll anime library ad-free. You can actively stream on one device at a time, and you'll also recieve a 5% discount off select products at the Crunchyroll Store.

Mega Fan - $11.99 per month

Mega Fan is the most popular tier, with support for up to four different streams concurrently. This tier also unlocks offline viewing, so you can download episodes of any anime and watch them even if you do not have access to the internet. Mega Fan also gives you the Crunchyroll Game Vault, a selection of free games you can download to your mobile device. You'll also recieve a 10% discount at the Crunchyroll Store, up from the Fan tier's 5% discount, with free shipping on orders over $50.

Ultimate Fan - $15.99 per month

Finally, Ultimate Fan is the last tier Crunchyroll offers. All perks from the Mega Fan plan carry over, except you can now stream on up to six different devices at a time. Additionally, your Crunchyroll Store discount is moved to 15%, with early access to deals and free US shipping on orders. Lastly, active subscribers will receive an exclusive swag bag after 12 consecutive months of subscription.

How to Watch Crunchyroll - Available Platforms

Crunchyroll is available on almost every platform out there. You can watch anime on the official website, or on your mobile device with official apps for iOS, Android, Amazon Fire, and Samsung Galaxy. Additionally, the streaming service is available on gaming consoles like Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. You can also use any media player like Apple TV, Google TV, Roku TV, and more to access the service.

For more streaming platform guides, check out 2025 Hulu Subscriptions, Netflix Plans, ESPN+ Plans, and Disney+ Plans.

Steam Next Fest is the all-digital event where you can play literally hundreds of demos on Steam for free, so you can find your next favorite game. But with so many demos to play and the event lasting only a week – it ends 3 March at 10am PT – it can be daunting to know where to start.

IGN's team has been downloading and trying out the best and most interesting demos, which we've compiled below. It's not a comprehensive list of everything to check out, more a starter list of demos you should definitely go to first and, if you want more, well, there’s hundreds of others to choose from.

Monster Train 2

I still play the Monster Train daily challenges on my phone to this day, and I’d just finished one when the announcement of Monster Train 2 and the demo popped up. So I was pre-grabbed on the roguelike, deck-building fantasy game series. But so far I like what I’m seeing of the sequel. It’s not a radical reinvention of the idea, but it’s layering on some new stuff like equipment and room cards where you have to upgrade on the fly moore, and building resources like Dragon’s Hoard and Valor are different enough from the original that it’s refreshing - Dan Stapleton

Dark Deity 2

If you like Fire Emblem, you’ll like Dark Deity 2. As somebody who enjoyed the first game despite its rough edges, the second game is shaping up to be a significant improvement with even more room for player creativity. The standout feature is build flexibility, as each unit has four mid-tier classes and an additional four high-level classes. My personal favorite unit is the hunter who is given the choice of an orangutan, toad, lion, or hyena to fight with them. The story has you playing as the children of the first game's protagonist. I really enjoyed the sibling dynamic, along with Alden, a returning character acting as the chill uncle. The demo also showed off some early choices with branching paths which is promising for a more memorable and replayable adventure. - Eric Zalewski

Out of Sight

In Out of Sight you play as Sophie, a blind girl who’s trapped in a mansion and trying to escape. You see through the eyes of her teddy bear and you have to guide her through environmental puzzles to help her escape the building, while avoiding the adults who want to keep her there. Sophie carries the teddy (you) much of the time, giving you a first-person perspective as you play. But in order to climb or manipulate items in the environment, she has to set you down, shifting the perspective to third-person. It’s a clever trick that adds to the off-kilter vibes of this creepy puzzle game that reminds me of parts of Resident Evil 7, but with enough new ideas to make it worth a look. - Chris Reed

Monaco 2

You can never rely on your friends, but sometimes that’s what makes hanging out with them so fun and funny. That’s a big reason why Monaco 2 is so much fun. It’s a co-op stealth experience where you’ll have to rely on your teammates to not get caught, and react accordingly when they inevitably do. Monaco 2 isn’t the next live service phenomenon, but when you’re itching for a new game to get deep into with your friends, it’ll be there for you. It’s got fun and often hilarious stealth mechanics, tons of ways to strategize, and an aesthetic that brings everything together. It’s definitely not one you’ll be able to enjoy on your own though, but who’d want to do a heist on their own anyway? - Tyler Robertson

Note: Humble Games is the publisher of Monaco 2 and shares a parent company with IGN.

Everhood 2

Everhood, released in 2021, was an incredible indie mashup of Undertale, Yume Nikki, and Guitar Hero that asked players to meditate on life, death, and existence in a trippy, mushroom-filled world. I loved it, and it had absolutely no business getting a sequel. Yet here we are, and I'm already hooked by whatever the heck is going on in Everhood 2. The dance battles are better than ever, its wacky cast has me constantly on my toes, and I have no idea where this wild story about soul weapons and mind dragons is going but I am absolutely buckled up for the ride. - Rebekah Valentine

Haste: Broken Worlds

If you’re looking for the speed of a 3D Sonic game with stylings that seem to have come out of a Dreamcast launch title, Haste: Broken Worlds might just be it. The main gameplay mechanic revolves around landing perfectly on the back edge of slopes in order to fill a meter that lets you give yourself more hangtime. From the short amount of time I’ve spent with it, it seems to nail the “just barely hanging on” nature of the good “Fast Games.” The soundtrack is also a bop. - Aaron Barrier

Skin Deep

Skin Deep is the perfect marriage of immersive problem solving and slapstick humor that has you protecting a spaceship crew of cats from strange pirates who also want you very dead. Much of Skin Deep's charm comes from just rolling with the absurdity of it all: Don't think too hard about why you're the lone unarmed human insurance agent on a ship of tiny felines, or why the pirates' heads slowly float back to respawn points when killed. How you defeat the armed pirates while sneaking through the sandbox-like spaceships is entirely up to you, but what really makes Skin Deep stand out is how all of your tools can also be hazards. Pepper can stun foes, but also gives away your position if you sneeze. Windows into space can be broken to create new entry points, but leave glass shards to slice up your feet. The dynamic of what helps you can also hurt you sets the stage for some truly hilarious bouts of unintended consequences that I cannot get enough of. - Brendan Graeber

Teenage Mutant Ninja Tturtles: Tactical Takedown

As someone who LOVES the Turtles, but has never fully fallen in love with a turn-based tactics game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown has the sauce. Fast, fluid actions taking place right as you hit the button make it feel less turn-based than other tactical games, and the potential of its story makes it one of my most anticipated games of the moment. Some fonts and UI elements need some work, but that’s why it’s a demo! That’s what Next Fest is for. - Tyler Robertson

Promise Mascot Agency

Described as an “open-world narrative adventure mascot management simulator, “Promise Mascot Agency feels like a Yakuza side-quest, partly because it kind of is. Playing as an exiled Yakuza member named Michi, your new job is to help a cutesy mascot agency find financial success by hiring different mascots and sending them out to events where they can be as cute as they can be, bring in more fans, and unlock more jobs. It’s a very madcap kind of game combining the numbers go up stonks feeling of a management sim, but with the sense of humor and style of cult-Japanese games like Yakuza and No More Heroes. - Matt Kim

Labyrinth of the Demon King

I’m a sucker for old-school, first-person dungeon crawlers and Labyrinth of the Demon King certainly scratches that itch. Developed by a lone developer, Labyrinth of the Demon King is a throwback to games like King’s Field, but with splashes of J-Horror like Siren thrown in for good measure. As a lowly footsoldier to your lord, you decide to enter the nightmarish realm of the demon king to try and avenge your master. But the hellish monsters and a nightmarish version of feudal Japan might not be worth your honor. Great visuals, classic vibes, and a lot of style makes this one demo to keep an eye on. - Matt Kim

And those are just some of the demos we’re playing at this Steam Next Fest. Check out the games on our list and, again, there are hundreds of game demos currently available to play on Steam Next Fest until March 3. So let us know in the comments which demos you're playing.

Since its inception in 1915, the purpose of Black History Month has been to chronicle Black people’s path out of enslavement, the continued struggle for equity and civil rights, and to highlight the Black community’s civic and cultural contributions to society. Now each February and beyond, the biggest streamers - Netflix, Disney+, Max, Prime Video, Peacock, Paramount+, Apple TV+, and Hulu - use the national holiday to showcase the titles in their libraries by Black creatives and featuring Black talent.

It's a great time to expand what you know about Black activists, icons, and trailblazers or add context to (and/or correct) what you may have learned in US history by watching documentaries. Maybe you’re looking to expand your “watched list” by adding content featuring Black creatives in front of or behind the camera. Perhaps you’re just interested in (re)watching some of the movies and shows that shaped the culture then and continue to now.

Jump to the streaming platform picks:

• What to Watch on Apple TV+
• What to Watch on Disney+
• What to Watch on Hulu
• What to Watch on Max
• What to Watch on Netflix
• What to Watch on Peacock
• What to Watch on Paramount+
• What to Watch on Prime Video

There are many ways to learn about and celebrate Black creativity; the easiest is checking out a few movies and shows with Black casts or centering the perspective of Black people. You never know how you’ll connect or relate. Here are some of the best and most popular titles in the streamers’ libraries to help you curate that watchlist and continue to reflect and celebrate Black history.

What to Watch on Apple TV+

Louis Armstrong’s Black and Blues

"Fucking Idiots." In December of 2024, that is what Barbara Broccoli, the second generation steward of the most bankable MI6 agent there is, called her opposite numbers at Amazon who referred to the titular spy as “content” and didn’t think “Bond was a hero.”

"Fucking Idiots" is a quote I get to use without any editorializing on my part thanks to a producer who looked after James Bond for decades, single-handedly fending off Amazon because of at least some degree of perceived fucking idiocy.

Just two short months later, Amazon and Broccoli, along with co-producer Michael G. Wilson, reached a deal to cede creative control of Bond, James Bond, to a company owned by one of the richest men on the planet, one of the few alive with the potential to be an actual Bond villain in real life.

For now though, Jeff Bezos and his "fucking idiots" at Amazon will just be the villains of the storied franchise’s next chapter. Their weapon will not be a satellite riddled with lasers or an army of algorithm-infused nanobots or biological weapons developed at a Swiss allergy institute catering exclusively to hot young women from around the world. It won’t be anything cool at all.

Amazon is set to deploy the cruelest weapon of them all. One that’s been crumbling entertainment franchises for years now… IP slop.

Firstly, I want to make something clear. This is not Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson’s “fault.” The deal is reportedly worth a billion dollars and if anybody has a problem with somebody making a billion dollars for made up stories about a super spy, they should just stop.

While I was very much high-fiving from afar at the thought of Barbara Broccoli holding the 007 franchise hostage in the face of Amazon’s team of "fucking idiots," I also don’t blame her at all. Broccoli’s name has been on every Bond movie since 1979’s Moonraker, for which she was an additional assistant director. She took over the title of producer on 1995’s Goldeneye, a title she held until the recent Amazon deal. That’s just as long a stretch as her dad Albert Broccoli’s, who, along with Harry Saltzman, held the reins from Dr. No through License to Kill.

The point is, Bond has always been a family business, and the entire point of any family business is to one day sell it. It’s called a harvest strategy and anybody in their 60s who’s spent their entire adult life and professional career growing the family business ought to have one. So honestly, good for her.

For us Bond fans out here in the real world, who are not suddenly a billion dollars heavier, the outlook is much bleaker.

History Is Not on Bond’s Side

IP Slop is designed to make money via the path of least resistance, no matter how it might degrade the source material. Rights holders know there’s a large audience out there for their IP who are eager and willing to consume it, regardless of its quality. And that’s the key.

These “slop-mongers” are just throwing shit at the wall, and not in a way that’s looking for something that sticks. Instead it just seems to be an insistence on putting everything out there. The least insidious version of it sounds something like “here are all the names of characters you’re familiar with because we, the parent company, finally wrangled 60 years worth of them into one corporate structure. This is what you want, right?” The more villainous flavor says, “Actually, scratch that. This is what you want. No question mark.”

The same report that surfaced the "fucking idiots" quotes highlighted some of the ideas being tossed around the fulfillment center. They included spinoff series for Moneypenny or other Double-O agents and even referred to entries in a would-be Bond shared universe as “content.” But for a company for which this “content” will not be its primary source of revenue, that “content” effectively becomes something else. It begins to be in service of the primary source of revenue.

Ask Disney how it’s worked out for them. Marvel has been, with the exception of a few thrilling moments here and there, creatively bankrupt since Avengers: Endgame. It was a fabulous final act that’s become synonymous with sticking the landing and plainly impossible to replicate. Endgame was made because of careful groundwork laid in the MCU’s early days. Long gone, however, are the days of risky propositions like Robert Downey Jr. and headlines confounded by the casting of unknowns. Those days have been replaced with studio mergers, fan cast cameos and any name they want to lead their next project because they can afford it.

You could also ask Kathleen Kennedy about it. On top of being a producer with a resume decades long and full of movies that made a generation fall in love with movies, myself included, she’s reportedly nearing the end of her own tenure in the Disney IP mines with a baby Yoda and an imbalance of announced-but-unmade projects as part of her legacy. But Disney had cartoons to remake in live action and theme park tickets to sell and a streaming service to populate, so it would be naive to think there’s a sole culprit for Star Wars' recent rise in output and drop in relative quality.

Creatively speaking, there are few who will argue we’re in the midst of the glory days of either Marvel or Star Wars, but damn if Disneyland and their Avengers Campus and Galaxy’s Edge isn’t bursting at the seams with merch. This is the direct result of IP Slop, the late stages of a steady flow of middling, but well-populated movies.

Star Trek suffered a similar fate over on Paramount+. I would argue, though, that franchise has "slopped" more thoughtfully than they might have because Lower Decks was clearly not made by "fucking idiots." But with major franchises fueled by corporations wanting to cash in on every square inch of intellectual property they can get their bottom-line loving hands on, maybe George Lucas was a bit of a case study in “getting out at the right time” for Broccoli and Wilson? Lucas was famously ahead of the curve on securing merchandising rights, so he’s undoubtedly savvy enough to have seen the direction the corporate winds were blowing.

This is all of course “just business.” It’s nothing new for "fucking idiots" to aim for as big a return on their investments as possible. Marvel was notorious for licensing their IP to anybody willing to pay for decades before hitting it truly big as their own film studio. But few industries combine art and consumerism the way that Hollywood does, and just as few feature such devoted fan bases. Where IP Slop really begins shaping a franchise’s creative output is when the fans are considered something else… customers.

“Temporary People”

A spectacular quote Barbara Broccoli reportedly bandied about in her conversations about the "fucking idiots" at Amazon came from her father. “Don’t have temporary people make permanent decisions.”

The first thing Jeff Bezos did after the deal was announced was poll his customers on their preference for the next James Bond actor. Where businesses are concerned, more than executives, more than rank and file employees, the most temporary of all people in their equation are their customers.

The casting of Bond has always, to be fair, been the subject of much public scrutiny. You can place bets on it, actors often have odds assigned to the likelihood of their casting and countless listicles with headlines like “The Most Likely Actor to Be the Next Bond Is Not Who You Think It Is” get updated on the regular to keep the algorithm busy. But the truth is, Bond’s casting decisions have always lived with permanent people.

They’ve also been a pendulum of sorts, rocking back and forth between actors that make the role and actors who take it over. Sean Connery was a nobody; even Ian Fleming wanted somebody else. Two or three somebody elses depending on the story you believe. But Connery came to define the role and, more than that, define an archetype for an action star that’s a casting shorthand still used to this day.

After a quick stop to find another unknown in George Lazenby (one that actually worked out great where the character was concerned but ended after only one film for behind the scenes reasons) and another outing from a clearly disinterested, but well compensated, Connery, Roger Moore picked up the Walther PPK coming off of a well known and well liked stint on The Saint, stepping from one spy role immediately into another.

Moore was followed by Timothy Dalton, who wasn’t terribly famous at the time and definitely wasn’t when he’d originally been the choice to take over instead of Roger Moore, but he passed because he felt that he was too young for the role. The bit of intrigue with The Living Daylights though is that Pierce Brosnan was offered the tux but the popular series Remington Steele wouldn’t let him out of his contract to make the film. By the time 1995 and Goldeneye came around, he was everybody’s no-brainer choice to join MI6.

In 2006 Daniel Craig kept the pendulum swinging, by veering back into the category of “casting the unknown.” The uproar about him simply being blonde aside, Craig defines the end of the Bond actor spectrum that makes the role their own.

Barbara Broccoli explains it best. She’s talked about when she first realized Craig was the choice. It wasn’t Matthew Vaughan’s Layer Cake like many assumed, it was 1998’s Elizabeth. She said: “I remember thinking, ‘Oh my God, he’s the guy,’ when he was in Elizabeth, walking down the corridor. I know that sounds crazy, but that was the moment I felt it in my gut. When your whole life is James Bond, some part of you is always looking for, who could play the role?”

That gut instinct is the first thing to go when IP slop takes over. Barbara Broccoli, who’s made Bond her life, sees something in an actor and just knows. But with Amazon, a room full of marketing people will weigh in, whole buildings full of people will have to sign off, even if it’s just rubber stamping the results of the online poll. It’s Bond by committee, and there’s not a single person on that committee who’ll be risking anything. They’re anonymously part of the process and not accountable for the results.

So now, with Bezos (my God, there’s a Z right in the middle of his name -- it looks and sounds like he’s got a cat in his lap at all times) looking to his most temporary people for guidance, the pendulum is once again going to swing back toward a known quantity and what I fear will be the most boring Bond has been to date.

But before we write off Bezos’ poll as just a cheeky bit of fun, we need to realize that fan input is all part of the IP slop formula. The evidence is in the course-correcting that’s happened over the years from Star Wars (The Last Jedi into The Rise of Skywalker), the nods to fan casting from Marvel (John Krasinski’s green screen cameo in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) and DC (The Snyder Cut being a thing in the first place). Fan backlash and fan expectations are 100% taken into account at all times in a corporate environment. Fans are, after all, customers.

On the other hand, there’s something that Daniel Craig’s successful run proved. Fans don’t always know what they want until they see it. The most dangerous thing about IP Slop is the idea that we never would’ve gotten Daniel Craig if we crowd-sourced every Bond. The fact that recent history is pointing toward this exact thing happening is actually something 007 is used to.

“No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Play Along…”

Oddly enough, this Amazon deal is fitting for Bond historically. As a franchise, 007 has always been very reactive. In 1977, The Spy Who Loved Me ended with “James Bond will return in For Your Eyes Only,” but after Star Wars took over the business, they audibled and made Moonraker next instead. Blacksploitation is a market we can make money in? Great, let’s make Live and Let Die, gritty reboots are a thing? Awesome, Casino Royale can do that. He became monogamous in the '80s during the AIDS epidemic, his chauvinism was brought to account during the '90s. Bond has always found his place in the current industry climate. The question has always been, what does Bond have to offer this particular moment?

And so now, in the age of IP Slop, Bond is subject to the whims of one of the world’s largest and most influential companies. It’s par for his course to go with the prevailing winds of the business. The Bond-verse is coming whether any of us like it or not. Thanks to a bunch of "fucking idiots."

Titan Comics is releasing their popular Doctor Who: The Fifteenth Doctor comic in a trade paperback this March. At IGN Fan Fest 2025 we chatted with writer Dan Watters (Loki, Home Sick Pilots) and artist Kelsey Ramsay (Dark Spaces: Good Deeds, Joan Jett and the Black Hearts), who revealed new exclusives and talked about crafting the story for The Fifteenth Doctor in comic form.

Below, fans can also check out exclusive behind-the-scenes art from Doctor Who: The Fifteenth Doctor comic.

Doctor Who: The Fifteenth Doctor follows the TV series' incarnations of The Doctor and his companion, (Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson, respectively), as they explore a bizarre shopping mall during some of the final days on Earth. A terrifying new villain, the Scream Sommelier, comes in and classically ruins the day.

When it came to creating the Scream Sommelier, Watters said he had the idea in his head for a while, and was waiting for the right story to bring him to life.

"The idea (was) a godlike figure who was obsessed with bottling and savouring screams," Watters said. "When it was suggested we tie into the Pantheon, the godlike beings who’d been making the Doctor’s recent adventures even more difficult, he seemed like he’d be a good fit there. I was happy to exorcise him."

The ever-popular enemies from Doctor Who, Cybermen, who made their first appearance in the Doctor Who TV series in 1966, resurfaced in this comic, no doubt exciting fans. Watters said it was a natural decision to include them as enemies.

"They’re a great and tragic monster - driven by a very human impulse to survive, pushing themselves beyond the Uncanny Valley to something utterly inhuman. They’re more relevant today than
they were when they were first created," Watters said.

In terms of dream monsters the creators say they would like to bring to life in comic-form, Ramsay would like to illustrate the infamous Weeping Angels, while Watters would enjoy writing a Carrionite story. "Witches who perform linguistic magic from before the dawn of time? Sign me up," Watters said.

When it comes to their dream Doctor, Ramsay shared ever-popular choice, saying, "I think David Tennant feels like a classic to me, I watched more of his series than any other Doctor and sort of grew up with those Christmas specials."

Regarding the creation process, Watters said he likes every stage of it. "I enjoy dreaming up ideas. I enjoy the craft of communicating a scene on the page and collaborating with other creators. Every stage of taking an idea out of my head and working with others to turn it into words and images on a page with
other creators should never be taken for granted. What a thing to get to do."

Ramsay's design process is different, and her favorite part is creating the visual story step-by-step. "With drawing it would start with my favorite part, creating thumbnails visualising the story from the script – the most collaborative part. Then pencil/layout on larger paper and inking as the final stage – also my favorite as it usually requires the least amount of brain power for me. (It's) the most relaxing part."

Ramsay gave advice for aspiring comic artists, saying they should focus on their weakest subjects to create a vast design library throughout various generes, to not limit themselves, and to balance their work with what they love.

For writing, Watters said you simply have to make things. "Don’t worry about other people’s stories, beyond what you can learn from them. Don’t worry about what opportunities others are getting, or your dream jobs or aspirations. Make your thing. Become an artist, either with words or pictures. Absorb a lot more than just comics," he conitnued, "Read books, both fiction and nonfiction. Read novellas and short stories and poetry. Watch movies and focus on the cinematography. Stare at paintings and figure out how narrative is conveyed in a single image. There’s always narrative. Absorb as much of the world around you as you can. Solve et coagula."

The Doctor Who: The Fifteenth Doctor trade paperback comes out on March 18, 2025, and you can scoop it up at your favorite comic shop.

HP has finally opened up preorders for its 2025 Omen Max 16 gaming laptop. It will be equipped with the latest and greatest hardware, including the upcoming Intel Core Ultra 9 HX-series processor and GeForce RTX 5080 mobile GPU. Orders are estimated to start shipping out on March 13. This will likely be HP's new flagship gaming laptop and will coexist alongside the standard Omen and the slim Omen Transcend gaming laptops.

Preorder the HP Omen Max 16" RTX 5080 Gaming Laptop

This morning, we got our first lengthy look at Pokemon Legends: Z-A, Game Freak's futuristic new Pokémon game set in the familiar Pokémon X/Y locale of Lumiose City. But even though we saw a number of features such as running on rooftops, changes to battling, and Mega Evolution, we still have loads of questions about exactly when Pokémon Legends Z-A takes place relative to the other Pokémon games, and which returning characters we might see in Lumiose City.

That's where the community comes in.

For context, while most Pokémon games tend to be standalone affairs, the first Pokémon Legends game dealt with time travel. It also heavily featured familiar locations from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl set hundreds of years in the past, numerous characters who were clearly ancestors of characters in other Pokémon games...or, in one case, just a Pokémon Black and White character plopped down in the past by Pokémon God themself. With that in mind, fans are eager to know when Pokémon Legends: Z-A is set, if there are any time traveling shenanigans, and if we'll see any familiar faces in Lumiose City whenever this game takes place.

In the last few hours since the trailer debuted, fans have been combing it for connections to other Pokémon games...and they've found a surprising amount. The most obvious connection is the presence of AZ, which is called out directly in the trailer. AZ is a character who was granted immortality 3000 years before the events of Pokémon X and Y, so it makes sense that regardless of when Z-A takes place, he'd be around. In Z-A, he seems to run a hotel in Lumiose City, and he looks a lot happier now that he's been reunited with his beloved Floette.

But there are far more subtle ties. One of my favorites that fans have discovered is the potential presence of the Looker Bureau in Z-A. Looker is a fan-favorite detective character who first appeared in Pokémon Black and White, but has since made appearances in several other games. Several eagle-eyed fans have noticed that one office shown in the trailer looks nearly identical to the Looker Bureau in past games, which they believe confirms the presence of either Looker or his protege Emma in Z-A's Lumiose City.

Another really bonkers theory floating around is the connection between the two main protagonists and some other familiar faces. Now that we've got full character art for the protagonists of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, fans have pointed out that the two characters look suspiciously similar to Ethan and Lyra, the two player characters from Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. This has led to speculation that Legends: Z-A may feature a time traveling scenario where Ethan and Lyra are pulled out of their version of Johto and sent to a futuristic Lumiose.

But another interesting, protagonist-related theory suggests a different origin story. Fans are also pointing out that the pair look somewhat similar to Kalos Pokémon scientist Professor Sycamore and the mother of the protagonist in Pokémon X and Y, named Grace. This one, especially the bit involving Grace, is a bit more of a stretch, but still a super interesting theory in light of past plays on ancestry in the Legends series:

What's most curious about all those theories is that some version of them could all be true at the same time. As multiple fans have pointed out, we have absolutely no idea where Pokémon Legends Z-A takes place in the timeline. Pokémon games over the years have had a very loosely sequential timeline that also occasionally involves alternate realities (don't worry about it, it's fine) and, again as in the case of Legends: Arceus, time travel back to the past. If AZ is running a hotel, fans are pointing out that this game must take place after the events of Pokémon X and Y.

But it's possible that could mean hundreds of years after, given AZ's immortality. The greatest evidence of this is Lumiose City itself, which is ginormous and futuristic in Legends Z-A in a way that would have taken decades to build. If that's true and this takes place that far into the future, that would mean the two protagonists, as well as whoever is running the Looker Bureau, are descedents several generations down the line of the characters they resemble.

There is one more character that fans are obsessing over, and that's this creepy woman from the key art:

This woman looks like a Hex Maniac, which was a trainer type that appeared in Pokémon X and Y. While a number of returning trainer types have been spotted in today's news, this girl is particularly interesting due to an ongoing Pokémon mystery: the Ghost Girl.

In Pokémon X and Y, there's a scene you can view by entering a building in Lumiose City and heading up to the second floor. When you arrive, the lights will flash, the music will stop, and a Hex Maniac will appear behind you, glide toward the front of the screen, and say, "No, you're not the one," before disappearing. It's a weird, creepy scene that to this day has absolutely no explanation. This girl is never seen again, does not unlock anything, and just appears to be a strange easter egg. So because that Hex Maniac has remained a mystery for years, the sight of one creepily wandering around Lumiose in Legends Z-A has a lot of fans hopeful this thread might finally lead somewhere. After all, if she's a ghost, she could have continued to haunt that building for hundreds of years...

In the coming days, there will almost certainly be more new discoveries, easter eggs, and connections found throughout all the footage, art, and news we received today about Pokémon Legends: Z-A. We have a bit of a wait for the game's release, as it's currently planned for "late 2025." But in the meantime at least we have lots of new information to obsess over. You can catch up on everything announced at today's Pokémon Presents, including Legends Z-A news, mobile gaming news, Pokemon Champions, and more, right here.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

From Chicken Jockeys to the Water Bucket Clutch, the newest trailer for Warner Bros., Legendary, and Mojang’s A Minecraft Movie is packed with Easter Eggs that should give fans a better idea as to how the revolutionary sandbox game has been adapted for the big screen.

The two-and-a-half-minute trailer, released today, doesn’t waste a second, bombarding viewers with references to the classic video game it’s based on from the very first frame. It comes with more story details, too, including a trip to the Nether and a first look at Jennifer Coolidge’s long-awaited first contact with a Villager.

Pandas spawn a baby panda after finding some bamboo, Jack Black’s Steve saves the day with a last-minute water bucket, Emma Myers’ Natalie crafts a lore-accurate Diamond Sword – it truly has it all. We can even see how the ragtag team leading A Minecraft Movie will adapt to its world of Piglins and Pillagers by utilizing tools like Redstone switches and an army of Iron Golems. It’s more than a simple treasure chest of Easter Eggs, though, as the trailer teases a film that director Jared Hess has crafted to be action-packed.

As Ghasts hurl fireballs at unsuspecting Villagers, this latest A Minecraft Movie trailer finally takes the time to properly introduce its main villain: a Piglin ruler known as Malgosha. It’s not quite the Herobrine reveal many were hoping for, but Malgosha does at least bring more star power to the Overworld thanks to voicework from Moana and Marvel veteran Rachel House.

A Minecraft Movie spawns into theaters April 4, 2025. It will no doubt attract audiences regardless of if they’re fans of Minecraft in general, but Mojang has revealed a special bonus for fans of the game who catch the film during its theatrical run. For a limited time, players who purchase tickets through Fandango will be granted access to an exclusive in-game jetpack for Minecraft: Bedrock Edition. You can see an image of the add-on below.

This review contains spoilers for Invincible Season 3, Episode 6 Review – “All I Can Say Is I’m Sorry”

It’s been a while since large-scale devastation mattered on Invincible. To date, season 3 has shrugged off any and all bloodshed, but with its flashback to the highly-effective season 1 finale – in which Nolan/Omni-Man uses Mark/Invincible as a battering ram to kill thousands of civilians – “All I Can Say Is I’m Sorry” sets the stage for an emotionally rigorous reversal of that trend. The destruction of Chicago is seen through the eyes of GDA employee Scott, whose sister and niece are revealed to be two of the minor characters Mark brutally and inadvertently killed. This sets Scott down a path where he first seeks justice – it turns out Earth’s laws remain too inadequate to deal with the intricacies of superheroics – and then, failing that, cold-blooded vengeance, even if it means putting his wife and son in harm’s way.

The events in Chicago, while horrific, were never really rooted in any specific, individual loss before. Now, they’re jumping-off point for a difficult reckoning. As the anniversary of the event approaches, Oliver questions why people aren’t ready to forgive his father – who he only knew as a benevolent leader on Thraxa – forcing Mark to verbalize a difficult answer. People are still holding on to a pain that he buried long ago(if only so he could better function as a superhero), but Scott ­– now the villain Powerplex – doesn’t have that luxury. Holding Mark responsible for his family’s deaths, he shows up to Chicago repeatedly in a suit that turns physical blows into electricity, quite literally channeling his pain into power. (It’s a dark echo of the character Speedball/Penance in Marvel’s Civil War comics; in addition to its myriad parodies and pastiches, Invincible continues to draw immense power from its sincere, grounded reinterpretions and remixes of other superhero comics. See also: The traces of Watchmen and Miracleman in “All I Can Say Is I’m Sorry.”) Scott keeps demanding Invincible’s presence, and it takes a particularly dangerous scheme for them to finally come face to face during the episode’s climax. In the meantime, the arriving Shapesmith – who finally comes into his own as the show’s version of DC’s uber-annoying Plastic Man – only makes Powerplex more irritated, and thus, more dangerous.

The show builds its other subplots with more skill and balance than it has in recent weeks. Despite only factoring into one scene each, the Robot-Monster Girl and Rex-Rae pairings are allowed enough time and breathing room to make significant dramatic headway. Robot’s Hail Mary play to stop Monster Girl from aging in reverse finally pays off thanks to a tech-savvy belt – a moment of much relief for Monster Girl – though this emotional upswing dovetails into relationship tension elsewhere. After their first proper date last week, Rae confesses to Rex that she’s ready to leave the Guardians; being the hot-headed jerk he is, he can’t help but take the timing personally.

Some of the episode’s more charming and heartwarming (not to mention its funniest) moments come from Paul, Debbie’s boyfriend and the new awkward addition to the Grayson household. As the only “normie” in the group – Mark, Oliver, and Eve have powers, while Debbie has long been the mother and (ex-)wife to superheroes – Paul is hilariously out of his depth, especially when they “take the car” from the suburbs to Chicago for the memorial (i.e. Paul and Debbie sit inside the car while Mark carries it through the air, with Eve and Oliver flying alongside him). Of course, this tongue-in-cheek transition leads to a much more somber occasion, involving the inauguration of a memorial with all 2,300-plus names of the people who died that day, forcing Mark to really sit with what happened.

So there’s an immense emotional heft added by having Powerplex re-appear during this moment of reflection. His eventual plot to lure Invincible out of the shadows – pretending to kidnap his wife and kid, which leads to them being violently killed in the climactic fight – similarly forces Mark to confront how an already dangerous situation can become more so just because Invincible is there. This also helps re-frame his recent crisis of morality: His belief that criminals all deserve to be locked up (end of discussion) is a way to avoid feeling like he has a hand in the things they get locked up for. Any emotional pieces that felt out of place this season have now firmly clicked, even though it’s taken even more brutality towards innocent bystanders for Mark to recognize other people’s pain.

“All I Can Say Is I’m Sorry” doesn’t acknowledge it directly, but making Mark and Oliver to face the direct fallout of Nolan’s actions also makes the reformed patriarch’s impending return all the more complicated. But since he’s still lightyears from Earth’s orbit, that’s a story for another day. A more immediate concern, as revealed in the mid-credits scene, is the fact that lurking supervillain Angstrom Levy appears to have gathered various different Invincibles from alternate universes, and seems all but ready to unleash them. One can only imagine what coming face-to-face with the worst possible versions of himself will do to Mark at this stage.

After an announcement last month that Forza Horizon 5 would be coming to PS5 this fall, we now have confirmation of an exact release date: April 25 for those who purchase the Premium Edition for $99.99, and April 29 for everyone else.

This comes from an announcement today on the official website, which also included news of an update arriving to the game on all platforms on April 25. The update, Horizon Realms, will include four new cars, a new racetrack layout at the Horizon Stadium, and a mixture of returning environments selected from past community favorites.

We learned last month that Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 will include all the same content as the Xbox and PC versions, including Car Packs, the Hot Wheels expansion, and the Rally Adventure expansion, will all be included too.

Forza Horizon 5 is just one of several previously Xbox-exclusive games that's headed to PlayStation, with Sea of Thieves and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle preceding it. While Xbox is the first of the three major platform holders to really push for cross-platform first-party releases like this, there's been increasing discussion in the industry as to whether or not exclusives really make sense for most major releases given how expensive games have become to make, and how exclusives can limit sales.

We gave Forza Horizon a coveted IGN 10/10 on its Xbox/PC launch, so needless to say we recommend PlayStation owners dig in. At the time, our reviewer said it's "the result of a racing studio at the peak of its craft and the best open-world racing game I’ve ever played."

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

There are a lot of really good smartphones on the market right now boasting gaming features. And while a lot of the newer phones are perfectly capable of playing games, they aren't necessarily built for gaming. That's where RedMagic phones thrive, and the company has been making some of the overall best gaming phones for years now.

The latest generation RadMagic 10 Pro is currently IGN's top pick for the best smartphone for gaming, and Amazon is offering it at its lowest-ever price right now. With a great display and consistent gaming performance, this deal is worth considering if you play a lot of games on your phone.

The Best RedMagic 10 Pro Deal at Amazon Today

Here are the best deals for Thursday, February 27. Highlights include 16% off the just-released Monster Hunter Wilds game for PC, 15% off Pokemon Go gift card in celebration of Pokemon Day, Xbox controllers for only $39 each, an Alienware RTX 5080 prebuilt gaming PC that's less expensive than any other brand, HDMI cables, and much more below.

Check out "the best deals under $30" for any impulse buys on items that you never knew you needed until you visited this page. Read on lower for some great deals that cost over $30 and may require a bit more involved decision-making.

16% Off Monster Hunter Wilds for PC

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is currently gearing up to start filming its third season this spring. When it does, it will add two new cast members to Middle-earth: Jamie Campbell Bower and Eddie Marsan.

Starting 28 February, Doritos is hosting a scavenger hunt across Great Britain, and you can win up to £10,000!

To celebrate its partnership with A MINECRAFT MOVIE, which will be in cinemas 4 April, Doritos is introducing square chips for a limited time. Between 28 February and 6 March, a total of 100 limited edition Chilli Heatwave Doritos 180g packs containing these rare square chips will be distributed to mystery stores. Finding those is your goal.

First, you’ll need to solve a riddle to determine the location of the store that has the special packs. Visit the store in person to buy a promotional pack of Chilli Heatwave Doritos for your chance to find the square Doritos.

The first store on 28 February will have 20 winning packs, with one cash prize of £10,000 available and 19 £250 cash prizes. The following week, new mystery stores will be selected and the process will repeat. Across the promotion, a total of five lucky people will win £10,000. If you’re not able to solve the riddle or find the square Doritos on the first day, you’ll have more opportunities to win next week.

Without further ado, here is the riddle you need to solve to find the first mystery store:

Our quest begins in Hertsmere, many films have been shot here.

Three parts, the first sounds like a male swine. The second – serve with eggs or brine.

The last, a place filled with trees. Now name this “EXTRA” store, please?

Think you’ve figured it out? Then go to that store on 28 February for your chance to find a winning pack — but hurry, because once they’re gone, they’re gone! There will be more opportunities to win next week, with new clues released each day between 3 March and 6 March. Head to Doritos' UK Instagram page to find more clues.

If you miss out on finding these rare square Doritos, don’t worry. You’ll still have a chance to take home some money with a digital on-pack promotion between now and 13 April. Just buy A MINECRAFT MOVIE promotional packs of Cool Original, Tangy Cheese, or Chilli Heatwave flavours of Doritos, scan the QR code on the bag, and follow the entry instructions. If you find a digital square Dorito, you’ll get a chance to win a cash prize up to £10,000. Other possible prizes include A MINECRAFT MOVIE cinema tickets and exclusive merch.

Visit this site starting 28 February to see the full rules and information about the scavenger hunt. For more information about all Doritos’ flavours on offer, visit their official website.

Nearly three years after the project was first announced, IGN Fan Fest can exclusively reveal the lead voice stars for the all-new scripted audio series Star Trek: Khan, which will stream on all major podcast platforms later in 2025.

Lost’s Naveen Andrews voices the iconic Khan Noonien Singh while For All Mankind’s Wrenn Schmidt voices his wife, Marla McGivers. Recording has now wrapped (see an exclusive photo of Andrews in the recording booth in the slideshow below).

Additional cast will be announced at a later date.

Star Trek: Khan is based on a story by Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan writer and director Nicholas Meyer. Kirsten Beyer and David Mack serve as writers on the series.

The official plot synopsis says the audio series “will explore the dramatic untold events that unfolded in the desolate world of Ceti Alpha V after Captain Kirk left Khan and his followers stranded there, paving the way for the iconic clash in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.”

“History remembers Khan Noonien Singh as a villain, the product of a failed attempt to perfect humanity through genetic engineering whose quest to avenge himself on Admiral James T. Kirk led to unimaginable tragedy and loss. But the truth has been buried for too long beneath the sands of Ceti Alpha V. How did Khan go from a beneficent tyrant and superhuman visionary with a new world at his fingertips to the monster we think we know so well? Recently unearthed, the rest of Khan’s story will finally be told in Star Trek: Khan.”

As depicted in the classic original series episode titled Space Seed, Khan and his genetically engineered disciples were awakened from cryogenic sleep after two centuries only to then try to commandeer the USS Enterprise.

Lt. Marla McGivers was a Starfleet historian who fell in love with Khan and aided him in his attempted takeover. In the end, she opted to follow Khan into exile on Ceti Alpha V rather than face court martial. Those who have seen The Wrath of Khan know McGivers met a grim fate while marooned on Ceti Alpha V.

Star Trek: Khan is produced by CBS’ Eye Podcast Productions Inc. CBS Studio’s podcasting arm; Secret Hideout; and Roddenberry Entertainment. Executive producers include Alex Kurtzman, Aaron Baiers, Kirsten Beyer, Molly Barton, Fred Greenhalgh, Trevor Roth and Rod Roddenberry. Supervising producer is Robyn Johnson and the podcast was directed by Fred Greenhalgh. Realm serves as the production studio for the series.

For more coverage about where no one has gone before, find out how to watch Star Trek in chronological order, read our Star Trek: Section 31 review, and dive into our ranking of the best Star Trek series of the modern era.

Meanwhile, get all the latest reveals and news from IGN Fan Fest here.

It's a brand new year and it's already kicked off with some excellent PS5 deals. If you've been on the hunt for some discounts, you've come to the right place. Here we've gathered up some of the best PlayStation deals available at the moment, including a great discount on Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered at Best Buy. You can see that deal and so many more below. Here are IGN's top picks for the best PlayStation deals today.

Best PS5 Video Game Deals

If you've been looking to pick up some new PS5 games, now's a great time to do it with some excellent discounts available. From Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered to the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1, there are plenty of deals worth checking out right now across Amazon and Best Buy.

Best PlayStation VR 2 Deals

Best PS5 SSD Deals

Where to Buy: PS5 Pro

Where to Buy: PlayStation Portal

How to Trade in Your Old PlayStation Consoles

If you're looking to trade in your old PlayStation consoles, you can do so at select retailers in-store and online. Often, the most widely available retailers are GameStop and Best Buy. However, you can also trade your used devices online at retailers such as Amazon and Microsoft.

Some retailers will offer you cash for your used goods, while others may provide you with a gift card that can be used in-store and online. This is a great way to offload your old gaming gear and get some money that you can put towards a newer console and games.

While trading devices in at retailers will often net you the lowest amount for your used consoles, there are also online marketplaces such as eBay, Craigslist, and OfferUp that may fetch higher prices, but you'll often be responsible for packing and shipping costs, or be required to meet someone in person for the transaction. The latter of which poses its own risks.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

Starting today, Dell is offering an Alienware Aurora R16 gaming PC equipped with the new GeForce RTX 5080 GPU for just $2,399.99 shipped. This is one of the best prices you can get right now for an RTX 5080 equipped prebuilt, especially since most other brands seem to be jacking up prices steadily since the RTX 50 series launch in January. The only other prebuilt you can get at Dell with an RTX 5080 GPU costs over $4,000. Good luck trying to find a standalone GPU to build out your own DIY PC; you'll probably spend as much for the GPU as you would this entire system.

Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5080 Gaming PC for $2,400

The Exploration Age in Civilization 7 is all about expanding your reach across the map while contending with rivals and allies at home and abroad. Building on the foundation you laid in the Antiquity age, this is your chance to get ahead and start looking at opportunities to set yourself up for eventual victory in the Modern age.

Of course, your choice of Exploration age civ is going to be extremely impactful. There are eleven Exploration age civs in the game, all with different traits and strengths. You may not have access to all of them every game, as they each have specific unlock requirements, but no matter how many options you're dealing with, our Civ 7 Exploration civs tier list can help you make that crucial decision.

Civ 7 Exploration Civs Tier List

S-tier - Mongolia, Shawnee, Norman

A-tier - Chola, Ming

B-tier - Abbassid, Hawai’i, Inca, Songhai

C-tier - Majapahit, Spain

S-Tier Exploration Civs

These are the best of the best Civilization 7 has to offer. Whether it's their particularly strong military units, or their very powerful resource access, you can largely dominate maps with these choices.

S-Tier: Mongolia

• Bokh - When you capture an opposing Settlement gain the strongest Cavalry Unit you can train, but -50% Production towards training Settlers. Gain 1 Point towards training Settlers. Gain 1 Point towards the Non Sufficit Orbis Legacy Path for controlled. Settlements in the Distant Lands and conquered Settlements in the Homelands. +30% Production towards constructing Erdene Zuu.
• Keshig - Mongolian Unique Ranged Unit. Has +1 Movement and heals 15 HP after defeating an enemy Unit. Counts as a Cavalry Unit and ignores Zone of Control.
• Noyan - Mongolian Unique Army Commander. +50% Flanking to Cavalry Units in the Command Radius.
• Örtöö- +5 Gold. Restores movement to any Mongol Unit at its location. Mongolian Unique Improvement. Ageless. Does not remove Warehouse Bonuses on a tile. Cannot be placed on Rough, River, or a tile with a Feature.

Mongolia is the perfect continuation of the Persia civilization’s ideals from the Antiquity Age - namely, bash your head against other civilizations aggressively to take their land. There’s nothing here that’s flashy, but as a show of brute strength, you will become the bully of a map when taking control of Mongolia.

One interesting thing about Mongolia is that it directly feeds into the Military Legacy Path by providing boosts for the Non Sufficit Orbis path. The more you take as well, the stronger your army grows with Cavalry, so you can snowball maps pretty hard, especially with the Keshig and Noyan adding extra firepower. If you are planning to go for a Military victory, Mongolia is a direct path to get there.

S-Tier: Shawnee

• Nepekifaki - Settlements built adjacent to Navigable Rivers gain +2 Food on River Terrain, but Cities not built adjacent to a Navigable River receive -10% Food. +30% Production towards constructing Serpent Mound.
• Kispoko Nena’to - Shawnee Unique Infantry Unit. +1 Combat Strength for every unique Empire Resource.
• Hoceepkileni - Shawnee Unique Missionary. +1 Movement and Rivers do not end movement.

The Shawnee unique trait of Nepekifaki is easy to keep active, as most Settlements will likely end up being built around rivers. By doing so, you will get a nice boost of Food, helping your population grow, and allowing you to grab even more land. You have to avoid having cities not on Navigable Rivers, but even in cases where you have a Town not on one, you can just leave it as a Town.

Elsewhere, the Kispoko Nena’to could become one of the strongest Infantry in the game under the right circumstances. If you get your hands on multiple Unique Resources, they will become very, very strong. This makes Shawnee a military force to be reckoned with, but also one that will be expanding its borders through population growth too.

S-Tier: Norman

• Normannitas - Land Units receive +1 Movement when Embarked and Land Units adjacent to Coast receive +5 Combat Strength. +30% Production towards constructing the White Tower.
• Chevaler - Norman Unique Cavalry Unit. +3 Combat Strength against slower Units. Ignores Zone of Control
• Sokeman - Norman Unique Settler. Civilian Unit capable of founding new Towns. Receive Medieval Walls in the City Center when a new Town is created.
• Donjon - Norman Unique Quarter. Created by constructing the Bailey and Motte in the same District. Receive a free Chevaler Unit when completed.
• Bailey - +4 Culture. +1 Culture Adjacency for Medieval Walls and Wonders. Norman Unique Culture Building and Fortification. Ageless. All Fortified Districts must be conquered to capture a Settlement.
• Motte - +4 Happiness. +4 Happiness if placed on Rough Terrain. Happiness adjacency for Wonders. Norman Unique Happiness Building and Fortification. Ageless. All Fortified Districts must be conquered to capture a Settlement.

The Normans are a great option for almost anyone in the Exploration Age as they provide buffs that feed into most of the age's Legacy objectives. Land Units receiving +1 movement when embarked is going to be super useful when trying to get a foothold in Distant Lands. Not only will you be able to get Settlers over faster, but you can move your Military Units quicker so you won’t be defenseless after you arrive. This makes them very nimble during this Age, which is surprisingly valuable.

They are also supported by a very good Cavalry Unit in the Chevaler, which will be strong against armies that rely heavily on Infantry units. By just creating the Unique District, the Donjon, you’ll get free one of those units, making the Normans a military force to be feared. On top of this, the Sokeman Army Commander gives new Towns automatic City walls, which feed into both the power of the Bailey and Motte.

A-Tier Exploration Civs

A-Tier: Chola

• Samayam - +1 Trade Route from the Improve Trade Relations Action. +30 % Production towards constructing the Brihadeeswarar Temple.
• Kalam - Chola Unique Naval Unit. +1 additional attack per turn if movement allows.
• Ottru - Chola Unique Naval Commander. Has +1 Movement and greater sight. Opposing Military Units in the Command Radius receive -3 Combat Strength.
• Five Hundred Lords - Chola Unique Quarter. Created by constructing the Anjuvannam and Manigramam in the same District. +5 Land Trade Route range and +15 Naval Trade Route range.
• Manigramam - +4 Happiness. +1 Gold Adjacency for Coastal Terrain, Navigable Rivers, and Wonders. +50% Production towards Naval Units. Chola Unique Gold and Military Building. Ageless. Must be placed adjacent to Coast.
• Anjuvannam - +5 Gold. +1 Gold Adjacency for Coastal Terrain, Navigable Rivers, and Wonders. +50% Production towards Naval Units. Chola Unique Gold and Military Building. Ageless. Must be placed adjacent to Coast.

The Exploration Age is where a strong Navy can dominate, and the Chola have access to some serious firepower in this regard. Kalam can attack twice in many instances, while the Ottru debuffs enemy units too. When used in tandem, there’s not many who will be able to withstand a sea-based assault like this.

The Chola also get access to a lot of Trade buffs, increasing the number of Trade Routes they can establish, and also their radius. You should be able to build quite a treasury and maintain decent relations with other civilizations with this. That said, the Chola will struggle to keep up with Science, so pacts will be important to stay relevant. On top of that, they are also not a civilization to pick if you ended up building a very landlocked empire in the Antiquity Age, as access to coasts is fairly essential.

A-Tier: Ming

• Great Canon of Yongle - +50% Science in the Capital. -15 Science per turn for each Social Policy, but not Tradition, slotted. +30% Production towards constructing the Forbidden City.
• Xunleich - Ming Unique Infantry Unit. +4 Combat Strength in Featureless tiles. Has a Ranged attack.
• Mandarin - Ming Unique Merchant. Civilian who can establish a Trade Route to import Resources from a foreign Settlement. +100 Gold when using the Create a Road Action.
• Ming Great Wall - +5 Culture. +1 Gold Adjacency for Fortification Buildings and Improvements. Ming Unique Improvement. Ageless. Counts as Fortification, +6 Combat Strength when defending. Does not remove Warehouse bonuses on a tile. Can only be built in a line. Cannot branch or fork.

The Ming civilization has enormous upsides. With some careful management, they can absolutely run away with technological advances in the Exploration Era, as they get a straight 50% buff to all Science in your Capital. However, you can end up hurting yourself. You get -15 Science for every Social Policy, so you will want to lean on Tradition wherever possible. If you manage this, though, the benefits are enormous.

The Ming Great Wall is a versatile building offering great fortification defense, as well as Culture and Gold. The Mandarin is also a great unit for a quick burst of Gold when building Roads, and while not the strongest military unit in the Age, the Xunleichong is a good option if you can station them on featureless terrain.

B-Tier Exploration Civs

In this tier, you'll find good civilizations with a decent amount of benefits. They're generally strong, and may be situationally extremely powerful, but tend to be more specialized.

B-Tier: Abbassid

• Madina - Receive 30 Gold for each Rural Population of the City when you create a Specialist. (Scales by Game Speed).+30% Production towards constructing the House of Wisdom.
• Mamluk - Abbasid Unique Cavalry Unit. When stationed in your territory, receive +1 Combat Strength for each Urban Population in that Settlement. Ignores Zone of Control. Has lower combat strength than other Cavalry units.
• ‘Alim - A Great Person with one charge. Can only be trained in Cities with an Ulema, and the specific ‘Alim receives is random. Each ‘Alim can only be received once. Cost increases per ‘Alim trained.
• Ulema - Abbasid Unique Quarter. Created by constructing the Madrasa and Mosque in the same District. +1 Science to all Specialists in this City.
• Madrasa - +5 Science. +1 Science Adjacency for Quarters, Science Buildings, and Wonders. Abbasid Unique Science Building. Ageless.
• Mosque - +4 Happiness. +1 Culture Adjacency for Happiness Adjacency for Cultural Buildings and Wonders. Unlocks the ability to found a Religion. Abbasid Unique Happiness Buiding. Ageless.

The Abbassid civilization can be excellent, and when used correctly, it offers a variety of benefits. But to get these benefits, you’re going to need to manage your Settlements and properly set them up. You get 30 Gold for each Rural Population of a city whenever you create a specialist. You can also boost Science quite a lot by completing the Ulema District, providing +1 Science for all Specialists in the city. The Mamluk are also decent and can become quite powerful defensively. The Cavalry gains +1 Combat Strength for every Urban population in a Settlement while stationed there.

This civilization is an excellent option if you’re confident in producing and placing Specialists while managing districts. However, if you’re less confident in how these mechanics work, many other, plug-in-and-play civilizations require less finessing.

B-Tier: Hawai’i

• Moananuiakea - Gain 25 Culture each time a Settlement expands to Marine Terrain.+1 Happiness on Fishing Boats. +30% Production towards constructing Hale o Keawe.
• Leiomano - Hawaiian Unique Infantry Unit. +3 Combat Strength against Infantry and Cavalry Units. Receives Culture from defeating enemy Units.
• Kahuna - Hawaiian Unique Missionary. Has an action to heal adjacent Units. Receive 25 Gold when you convert a Settlement.
• Lo’i Kalo - +3 Food and +2 Production. Adjacent Farms receive +1 Culture. Hawaiian Unique Improvement. Ageless. Does not remove Warehouse bonuses on a tile. Must be placed on Grassland or Tropical.

The Hawai’i civilization is a great choice for those who find themselves by the ocean. Considering the Exploration Age is all about getting in your boats and finding Distant Lands, this can synergise nicely. The Moananuiakea trait means you gain 25 Culture each time a Settlement expands in Marine Terrain. You’ll also get +1 Happiness on Fishing Boats. Neither is an enormous buff, but if you can incorporate a lot of sea into your borders, this will undoubtedly add up.

Elsewhere, the Leiomano is a very solid Infantry unit, getting a +3 combat buff against Infantry and Cavalry Units. Considering that’s the majority of land units they will be going up against, it’s just a nice edge that doesn’t require a complex initiation. The Lo’i Kalo is also just a solid producer of Food, Production, and Culture in most cases, making it a versatile building. There’s nothing particularly flashy or hard to use about Hawai’i past just being on a coast, but the civilization has a nice slew of solid benefits that are easy to get consistent value out of.

B-Tier: Inca

• Apus - Can work Mountain Terrain. +2 Food and +1 Production on Mountain Terrain. +30% Production towards constructing Machu Pikchu.
• Warak’q - Incan Unique Ranged Unit . Has +1 Movement and ignores movement penalties from Rough Terrain. +5 Combat Strength when attacking from Rough Terrain.
• Chasqui - Incan Unique Scout with +1 Movement. Has increased sight that ignores Mountains and Rough Terrain.
• Terrace Farm - +6 Food. Incan Unique Improvement. Ageless. Does not remove Warehouse bonuses on a tile. Must be placed on Rough Terrain adjacent to a Mountain.

The Inca civilization is best utilized with a bit of forethought, but if you build correctly, you can do a lot of really good things with them. Choosing this civilization is best if you’ve built your borders with them in mind in the Antiquity Age. This is because their power comes from utilizing mountain tiles. If you built your cities around big ranges though, you will get a lot from the Incas.

This civilization lets you work Mountain terrain, and get extra food and production when doing so. On top of that, the Terrace Farm improvement is just a significant +6 to Food, meaning you will be able to expand your borders even faster. The Chasqui scout is also great for exploring Distant Lands, getting extra movement, and ignoring mountains and rough terrain, allowing you to chart new continents really fast. That all said, if you don’t have a lot of mountains within your lands, you’re going to be missing out on a lot of value, making them quite situational.

B-Tier: Songhai

• Tarikh al-Sudan - +2 Resource Capacity in Cities on Navigable Rivers and your Trade Ships cannot be Plundered on Navigable Rivers. +30% Production towards constructing the Tomb of Askia.
• Gold Bangles Infantry - Songhai Unique Infantry Unit. +5 Combat Strength on Resource tiles. +100% Gold from pillaging Trade Routes.
• Tajio - Songhai Unique Merchant. Civilian who can establish a Trade Route to import Resources from a foreign Settlement. When you create a Trade Route receive 100 Gold if this is a Trade Route with at least 1 Navigable River.
• Caravanserai - +5 Gold. +1 Resource Adjacency for Navigable Rivers and Resources. Songhai Unique Improvement. Ageless. Does not remove Warehouse bonuses on a tile. Must be built on Desert or Plains.

The Songhai are all about making money. If you’re looking to make Gold, this Civilization will do it for you - that said, it’s relatively one-dimensional. The Tarikh al-Sudan trait that gives them +2 Resource Capacity in Cities on Navigable Rivers is nice as those slots do come at a premium. Also, the Caravanserai improvement as well as the Tajiro merchant are very good Gold generators.

That being said, there is no real variety here. Other yields like Influence, Happiness, Culture, and Science might struggle. Of course, you can buy these buildings in towns with all your Gold, but expect some difficulty keeping up with everyone else. Also, the Gold Bangles Infantry, which gets +5 combat on Resource tiles, is a decent defensive option if you set up like that specifically, but considering you’re at the whims of the map, and not your Settlement placement, it can be a little awkward to utilise fully.

C-Tier Exploration Civs

While not bad civilizations, these are often more situational civilizations or civilizations that require a unique playstyle that might be best for more experienced players.

C-Tier: Majapahit

• Negara - All Cities except the Capital receive +1 Specialist Limit. After the Exploration Age the Specialists become inactive until you increase the Limit. +30% Production towards constructing Borobudur.
• Cetbang - Majapahit Unique Naval Unit. +5 Combat Strength against Naval Units. Can pillage within 2 tiles for 1 Movement.
• Pedana - Mahapahit Unique Scout with +1 Movement. Has increased sight that ignores Mountains and Rough Terrain.
• Pura - Majapahit Unique Quarter. Created by constructing the Candi Bentar and Meru in the same District. Receive 1 Relic when completed.
• Meru - +5 Happiness. +1 Happiness Adjecency for Mountains and Wonders. +2 Happiness on Natural Wonders. Majapahit Unique Happiness Building. Ageless.
• Candi Bentar - +5 Culture. +1 Culture Adjacency for Coastal Terrain, Navigable Rivers, and Wonders. Majapahit Unique Culture Building. Ageless.

The Majapahit are a decent choice if you live in a relatively varied landscape. The Meru provides Happiness on Mountains, Wonders, and even more on Natural Wonders. The Candi Bentar is a great producer of Culture on Coasts, Rivers and Wonders. That said, it can be hard to really incorporate all of that, and even if you build the Pura district by combining both, receiving 1 relic isn’t often going to tip the scales for you. On top of that, the Negara does let you have an extra Specialist, but again, this likely isn’t going to be a massive deciding factor for you.

The Majapahit is not without merit. Altogether, it can be a decent producer of Culture if the circumstances are right, and if you get more Puras it can be a decent source of Relics. The Cetband Navel unit is excellent too, getting +5 combat strength against enemy Naval Units is strong in an Age when a lot of sailing is happening. That said, the Majaphat lack a little cohesiveness, and can be a touch situational, making it tougher to get full value out of them at all times.

C-Tier: Spain

• Siglo de Oro - +15% Gold towards converting a Town to a City, or +30% in Distant Lands. +30% Production towards constructing El Escorial.
• Tercio - Spanish Unique Infantry Unit. Has a higher Combat Strength. Adjacent Units receive +3 Combat Strength against Cavalry Units (bonus is only applied once.)
• Conquistador - A Great Person with one charge. Can only be trained in Cities with a Wharf, and the specific Conquistador received is random. Each Conquistador can only be received once and can only be activated in Distant Lands. Cost increases per Conquistador trained. Can always Embark in Ocean.
• Plaza - Spanish Unique Quarter. Created by constructing the Casa Consistorial and Casa de Contratacion in the same District. +2 Gold in this Settlement for every Settlement in Distant Lands.
• Casa Consistorial - +5 Culture. +1 Culture Adjacency for Quarters and Wonders. Spanish Unique Culture Building. Ageless. Must be built in the Homelands adjacent to the Coast.
• Casa de Contatacion - +5 Gold. +1 Gold Adjacency for Navigable Rivers, Resources, and Wonders. Spanish Unique Gold Building. Ageless. Must be built in the Homelands.

Spain is not a bad civilization by any means. They provide a lot of avenues for Gold, with the Plaza Quarters being a big source of it if you make a lot of Settlements in Distant Lands. However, outside of that, and considering a couple of other Civilizations have access to powerful Gold-generating facets, there’s not much that really sets Spain apart.

The cost reduction on turning Towns into Cities from the Siglo de Oro is nice to have but probably isn’t going to have a massive impact on how your Age goes. The Tercio is also a good unit against militaries that have gone a little too hard on Cavalry but are outpaced by many other strong military units of other civilizations in this Age.

Patrick is a freelance journalist with over 13 years of experience who loves going deep on games and getting into their systems. His four-figure hours into both Overwatch 2 and Destiny 2 are a testament to that.

Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, his wife and classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, and their dog were found dead in their Santa Fe, New Mexico home yesterday, February 27, 2025.

Details on the passing of Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 63, come from local authorities, who say that no foul play is suspected (via AP). They were discovered during a welfare check that took place at 1:45 p.m., according to Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Avila. No cause of death has been revealed at the time of publication.

Update 9:27 a.m. PT: A follow up report from Variety reveals that the deaths of Hackman and Arakawa have been ruled "suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation" according to a search warrant affadavit. The warrant goes on to list a number of details leading to that ruling, including multiple healthy dogs on the property in addition to the deceased dog, the front door being unlocked and open, the heater being moved, pills scattered on the floor next to Arakawa, and no obvious signs of a gas leak.

When The Legend of Ochi hits theaters April 25, it will mark something of a departure for A24. Up until now, the studio best known for movies like Midsommar, Hereditary, Uncut Gems, and Civil War has released a distinctly grown-up slate of features.

Now, A24 aims to be everything, everywhere, all at once is trying something new. Enter: The Legend of Ochi, the studio’s first-ever (with all due respect to Marcel the Shell With Shoes On) movie geared toward families. The film tells the story of a teenage farm girl named Yuri (Helena Zengel) who encounters a juvenile ochi – a mythical and feared creature – and embarks on a quest to return it home.

Zengel, along with the film’s director Isaiah Saxon and co-star Finn Wolfhard, stopped by IGN Fan Fest 2025 to debut a new poster for the movie and tell us about stepping into the rich and imaginative world of Carpathia.

Shrek 5, coming to theatres this December, will feature a returning cast of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, as well as a new character with a new voice: Zendaya, playing Shrek and Fiona's daughter.

This news was announced in a clip from Universal Pictures today, which also gave us our first look at Zendaya's character, who appears to be a teenage ogre like her parents with Fiona's red hair and Shrek's eyes.

It's a new year and that means plenty of new deals for Xbox fans. At the moment there are quite a few deals that are worth checking out, including discounts on games like the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol.1 and Sonic X Shadow Generations, controllers, and so much more. These just scratch the surface of what's out there, though. Here are the best Xbox deals available at the moment.

Best Xbox Controller Deals

Best Xbox Game Deals

What's Coming Soon to Xbox Game Pass

Game Pass has a nice rotation of new titles to play every month. If you're curious about what's in store for the end of February, we've got you covered. The Xbox Game Pass February Wave 2 lineup is:

• EA Sports F1 24 (Cloud, Console, and PC) EA Play – February 20
  Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
• Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – February 20
  Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard
• Watch Dogs: Legion (Cloud, Console, and PC) – February 25
  Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard

New Xbox Consoles Available Now

A couple new variants of Xbox consoles are available to purchase. If you're interested in picking one of these up, the 1TB All-Digital Robot White Xbox Series X can be bought for $449.99 and the 1TB Robot White Xbox Series S goes for $349.99.

Best Xbox Accessory Deals

Outside of games, there are plenty of Xbox accessory deals that are worth your time and money as well. At the moment, some of our favorites are on the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 3 gaming headset, which has dropped 15% at Amazon, and if you're looking for more storage, the WD Black C50 1TB Expansion Card has gotten a very nice 30% discount.

What is Xbox's Recent Controversy?

The recent discomfored surrounding Xbox can be isolated to a recent round of brutal layoffs. Microsoft is closing a number of Bethesda studios, including Redfall maker Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush and The Evil Within developer Tango Gameworks, and more in devastating cuts at Bethesda. Alpha Dog Games, maker of mobile game Mighty Doom, will also close. Roundhouse Studios will be absorbed by The Elder Scrolls Online developer ZeniMax Online Studios. Microsoft, currently valued at over $3 trillion, did not say how many staff will lose their jobs, but significant layoffs are inevitable.

Microsoft's announcement of the cuts at Bethesda come over three months after the company announced plans to cut 1,900 staff from its video game workforce, and amid a boom time for Bethesda's Fallout series following the breakout hit Prime Video TV show.

When Should I Buy an Xbox?

In general, it is advisable to keep an eye out for sales and restocks throughout the year, as availability has improved since the initial launch of the console. Unlike the Nintendo Switch, there is no specific recommendation to wait for a sale regardless of the time of year. Instead, it's a good idea to monitor various retailers and online platforms for restock announcements and promotional offers.

However, certain events like Black Friday or other holiday seasons may bring about unique bundles, discounts, or promotional deals specifically for the Xbox Series X. These bundles may include additional games, accessories, or exclusive limited editions. While quantities for such promotions might be limited, they can provide an opportunity to get more value for your purchase. See our guide to Xbox Series X prices for more info.

Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S?

Choosing between the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S ultimately depends on your gaming preferences, budget, and specific requirements. Let's compare the two consoles to help you make an informed decision:

1. Performance: The Xbox Series X is the more powerful option, offering native 4K gaming, higher graphical fidelity, and faster loading times. It has more advanced hardware, including a larger storage capacity. On the other hand, the Xbox Series S targets a lower price point and offers a less powerful performance, targeting 1440p resolution gaming and upscaling to 4K.

2. Price: The Xbox Series S is more affordable compared to the Xbox Series X. If budget is a significant factor for you, the Xbox Series S provides a cost-effective option while still delivering a next-generation gaming experience. For example, the Series S can play Starfield at 1440p 30fps (vs 4K 30fps on Series X).

3. Storage: The Xbox Series X comes with a larger internal storage capacity, allowing you to store more games directly on the console. The Xbox Series S, however, has a smaller storage capacity, which means you may need to manage your game library more actively or rely on external storage solutions.

4. Disc Drive: The Xbox Series X includes a disc drive, enabling you to play physical game discs and enjoy a wider range of media options, including Blu-ray and DVD playback. The Xbox Series S, in contrast, is a digital-only console, meaning you can only play games downloaded from the digital store.

5. Graphics and Performance: While both consoles support ray tracing, the Xbox Series X provides a more immersive and visually impressive experience due to its superior hardware capabilities. If you prioritize cutting-edge graphics and want the best performance available, the Xbox Series X is the preferable choice.

Consider your gaming preferences, budget, and whether you prioritize top-of-the-line performance or cost-effectiveness. If you have a 4K TV, want the most powerful console, and are willing to invest more, the Xbox Series X is the recommended option. If you have a lower budget, a 1080p or 1440p TV, and don't mind sacrificing some performance, the Xbox Series S offers excellent value for money.

With how expensive gaming is getting in 2025, we're trying to save you as much money as possible on the games and other tech you actually want to buy. We've got great deal roundups available for all major platforms such as Switch and Xbox, and keep these updated daily with brand new offers. If you're trying to keep costs down while maintaining your favorite hobby, stay tuned for more incredible discounts.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

Often cited as one of the world's most valuable media franchises, Pokémon is a household name that's been a Nintendo staple since the Game Boy. The beloved series is home to hundreds of amazing creatures you can catch in-game or collect as trading cards, with each new generation bringing loads more to discover. Every console released by Nintendo has had plenty of Pokémon games released for it, and the Nintendo Switch is no exception.

With Nintendo's official Switch 2 announcement confirming the console's backward compatibility, you can feel confident picking up any existing Pokemon games on the Switch, knowing they'll carry over to the new system. Below, we've compiled every Pokémon game that has been released on Nintendo Switch and the information we have on upcoming Pokémon games releasing on the Switch 2.

How Many Pokémon Games Are There on Nintendo Switch?

In total, 12 Pokémon games have been released for the Nintendo Switch. This includes the mainline games for the 8th and 9th Pokémon generations as well as plenty of spinoffs. For the sake of this list, we've counted mainline entries with two versions as a single release. We also don't include the Pokémon games offered through Nintendo Switch Online, but you can check out that list below.

What Pokemon Game Should You Get in 2025?

If you're wondering which game is worth picking up on the Switch in 2025, my recommendation is Pokémon Legends: Arceus. It's not going to give you that OG Pokémon game feeling, but that's what the older generation games are for. Instead, Legends: Arceus introduces more action and RPG elements to the Pokémon series, offering the freshness of open areas to explore, more control over encounters, and plenty of polish for the handheld. If you're looking to pick up new Switch games on sale, it's worth checking out Presidents' Day game deals this weekend.

All Pokémon Games on the Nintendo Switch (in Release Order)

Pokkén Tournament DX (2017)

Pokkén Tournament was originally released for the Wii U in 2016. A year later, Nintendo and Bandai Namco prepared a deluxe version of the game for Nintendo Switch, adding new characters and updated visuals to take advantage of better hardware. This three-on-three battle system is a blast to play with friends both in person and online.

Pokémon Quest (2018)

Pokémon Quest turns all your favorite Pokémon into miniature cube form. This free-to-play Switch game features a fun and simple combat system where you send Pokémon on expeditions. Equip different abilities to your Pokémon to handle all types of encounters.

Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! & Let's Go, Eevee! (2018)

Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! & Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! are remakes of the beloved 1998 Pokémon Yellow. These titles were the first mainline Pokémon games ever to release on a home console, since none made it to the Wii U. Set in the Kanto region, all 151 original Pokémon appear with varying forms from previous mainline installments. With heavy accessibility features, these remakes were a great first step for the series on Nintendo Switch for newcomers and veterans of the series.

Pokémon Sword & Shield (2019)

Pokémon Sword & Shield marked the first installment in the series to feature aspects of an open world. Dubbed the Wild Areas, these regions allowed for free traversal and battles with wild Pokémon. Gyms also made a return for the first time since X & Y. Additionally, Sword & Shield introduced the eigth generation of Pokémon, which included Dynamax and Gigantamax forms of previous Pokémon.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX (2020)

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is a remake of the 2005 titles Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team & Blue Rescue Team. Surprisingly, this is the first Pokémon spinoff remake ever, with development handled by Spike Chunsoft. The gameplay consists of completing jobs in different dungeons and unlocking new Pokémon along the way.

Pokémon Café ReMix (2020)

The other Pokémon release of 2020 was Pokémon Café ReMix featuring similar gameplay to other puzzle games like Disney Tsum Tsum, which requires you to connect Pokémon together to solve puzzles. In Pokémon Café ReMix, you and Eevee own a café and must serve the Pokémon who come for food or a little drink. This charming service game is free-to-play via the Nintendo eShop.

New Pokémon Snap (2021)

After more than 20 years, the Nintendo Switch is the console that finally received a sequel to Pokémon Snap. Developed by Bandai Namco, you traverse around different biomes and areas with an on-rails camera to capture pictures Pokémon in the wild. You can unlock new courses by taking good pictures in New Pokémon Snap, leaving for a sizeable amount of content to unlock and discover. You never know what you might find during each session!

Pokémon Unite (2021)

This free-to-play game marked Pokémon's first entry into the MOBA genre. You command and control a team of five Pokémon in head-to-head battles against other players online. There's a solid amount of Pokémon to choose from, so you can adjust your team to best fit your needs. Pokémon Unite went on to be featured in different esports tournaments, with multiple championships held for the game.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl (2021)

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Pokémon Shining Pearl are remakes of Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, which originally released in 2006 for the Nintendo DS. As the fourth generation of Pokémon, Diamond & Pearl feature a wide variety of Pokémon to battle against and discover. The remakes feature a new chibi art style that was created to stay faithful to the original titles while still remaining fresh.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus (2022)

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is often praised as one of the best Pokémon games available on the Switch. This original title takes place far in the past, somewhere in the Hisui region. With a focus on exploration, you can freely walk all around the map to capture Pokémon, explore different environments, and so much more. Pokémon can be spotted wandering around all over the map, which requires you to be strategic if you're looking to avoid battle.

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet (2022)

The latest mainline Pokémon games officially kicked off Generation 9, bringing along an entire new approach to gameplay and world design. In Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, an open world awaits with freedom to explore wherever your heart takes you. The DLC pass, titled The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, is now wrapped up, making it a perfect time to check out Scarlet & Violet.

Detective Pikachu Returns (2023)

One game and one movie later, the sequel to Detective Pikachu is finally available on Nintendo Switch. Tim's father is missing, and it's up to Detective Pikachu to solve the case! This sequel features new puzzles and investigations, where you can investigate scenes and use your notebook to get to the bottom of the mystery. If you're a fan of both Pokémon and mystery games, this is a great game to consider.

Available Pokémon Games With Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack

The Nintendo Switch Online subscription service has additional Pokémon titles if you're looking for more after completing the Nintendo Switch library. Here are the five Pokémon games you can play with a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership:

• Pokémon Trading Card Game
• Pokémon Snap
• Pokémon Puzzle League
• Pokémon Stadium
• Pokémon Stadium 2

Upcoming Pokémon Games on Nintendo Switch

Pokémon Day 2025 brought some solid announcements about new Pokémon games. Pokémon Legends: Z-A was initially announced last year, though a new gameplay trailer revealed the game's setting in Lumiose City within the Kalos regions. Tepig, Totodile, and Chikorita are familiar starting Pokémon, from Gen 2 and 5, but will be getting new final evolutions. "Rooftop parkour" and new battle mechanics also indicate an increased focused on real-time action. As far as a release date, "Fall 2025" is all we know for now.

Game Freak and The Pokémon Company also announced Pokémon Champions, a new battle game in the spirit of Pokemon Showdown. Coming to mobile devices and Switch, you'll be able to battle with Pokémon you've trained in other games through the Pokémon Home app.

A Nintendo Direct is scheduled for April 2, likely bringing more information about the Switch 2 and potential release dates for new games. For now, see the full list of upcoming Switch games for everything we've confirmed is coming to the Nintendo handheld and our predictions for what games will release on the Switch 2.

Noah Hunter is a freelance writer and reviewer with a passion for games and technology. He co-founded Final Weapon, an outlet focused on nonsense-free Japanese gaming (in 2019) and has contributed to various publishers writing about the medium.

Anyone in the market for a new game to spice up board game night can grab a fine deal on Camel Up (second edition) right now. It normally goes for $40, but it’s currently on sale at Amazon for $25.60 in a limited-time deal. It’s a betting game that’s fun for adults, but easy enough to learn that it makes a fine family board game as well. It also landed on our list of the best 6-player board games (though you can play it with fewer or more people, depending on who’s around).

Camel Up Is 36% Off

If you've got a record collection, it's only right that you have a solid turntable to play everything on. If you're on the hunt for something new, Woot's offering an excellent deal right now on the Victrola Stream Onyx Turntable. It's currently listed for $249.99, a whopping 58% off its list price of $599.99. That's a fantastic deal, and one that won't stick around for long, as Woot notes that it's only available for a couple more days or until it's all sold out. If you've been hoping to get a new turntable, you don't want to miss out on this discount.

Victrola Stream Onyx Turntable for $249.99

The mainline Pokemon games make up one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time. From Pokemon Red and Blue to the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, these games have amassed a huge audience that just keeps coming back for more.

If you haven't played all of the Pokemon video games in the series, however, you may find yourself in a bit of a dilemma trying to figure out where to start in 2025. Most of the major titles in the series are excellent standalone games to dive into, but if you want to start from the beginning, there are two different ways to play in order: Chronologically or by release date.

Jump to:

• How to Play in Chronological Order
• How to Play by Release Order

Which Pokemon Games Should You Actually Play First?

Choosing where to start boils down to what Nintendo console you currently have, though the recent Delta emulator may change that for you. If you only have a Nintendo Switch, you can start with Let's Go Pikachu or Let's Go Eevee, which are kind of like remakes of the original Yellow version from 1998. You can also play Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl for another remake experience. Pokemon Legends: Arceus is also an option, but it is very different from the other mainline games.

If you're wanting to dive right into Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, it's worth noting that you likely won't be missing out on any overly pertinent information from the previous games. The only games in the main series you might not want to jump right into is Black 2 and White 2 as those are sequels.

How to Play the Pokemon Games in Chronological Order

The Pokemon timelne may seem pretty linear at first glance, but without enough obvious details to go off of, it can be pretty confusing to try to follow the chronology from title to title. Luckily, a now deleted tweet from Toshinobu Matsumiya has given us a starting point for some of the games. For the rest, we can only make educated guesses based on a few key details witin the games.

1. Pokemon Legends: Arceus

The first game in the chronology is very clearly Pokemon Legends: Arceus seeing as it's set in a time when the relationship between humans and Pokemon was only just starting to form. You spend a large portion of your time running around a vast open wilderness catching and battling wild Pokemon, and the people you interact with are clearly just beginning to understand the world of Pokemon. This game features crafting and research tasks, which greatly differentiates it from the usual gym battle formula we are used to.

Though we don't know just how long ago Pokemon Legends: Arceus takes place compared to the other games in the series, we do atleast know that it seems to feature the ancestors of Diamond and Pearl characters.

2. Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow

As the original games in the series, Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow are up next in the timeline. Bringing the first-generation Pokedex and introducing us to the classic Pokemon game formula, these best-selling games are what started it all.

Although we can't know for sure that these Game Boy games are up next in the timeline, the deleted Tweet from Game Scenario writer Toshinobu Matsumiya confirmed that the series starts with these. The technology featured in the game is also fairly limited compared to some of the newer games -- though still advanced enough to bring fossils back to life!

Bonus: Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen are remakes of the original Red and Blue games and thus are at the same exact point in the timeline. Much of the plot is the same as the originals with some key differences -- including visiting the Sevii Islands after becoming champion of the Elite Four.

3. Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald

Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald brought all new Pokemon and throws you into the Hoenn region -- which is some distance from both the Kanto and Johto regions. Considering this game features the third generation of Pokemon and some new technology, it seems most likely that it would take place after both Red and Blue and Gold and Silver. However, according to that same deleted tweet from Matsumiya, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire take place at the same point in time as FireRed and LeafGreen.

This also means that Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are at the same point in the timeline here seeing as they are remakes.

4. Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal

As the second game in the series (in terms of release date) Pokemon Gold and Silver take place three years after the events of Red and Blue. With some exciting new Gen 2 Pokemon and some of the best post-game content in the series, Gold, Silver, and Crystal were an excellent follow up to the original games. By traveling to the Kanto region after becoming the champion of Johto, you get a firsthand look at the passage of time. You even get to battle the protagonist from the first games, Red, who is quite strong.

This placement in the chronology also applies to the remakes: HeartGold and SoulSilver. Although the remakes offer some additional content, they are essentially just updated versions of the originals.

5. Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum

In terms of series release order, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl came a few years after Ruby and Sapphire. However, we now know from that deleted tweet from Matsumiya that Diamond and Pearl actually takes place at the same time as HeartGold and SoulSilver. This may seem a little bit confusing considering the advancements in technology we see in Diamond and Pearl, but we can likely just chalk it up to the actual date the games were created rather than the chronology within the Pokemon universe.

This would also mean that the remakes, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are set in the same point of the timeline. Though the timeline gets a bit wonky with the inclusion of Fairy-type Pokemon considering those weren't introduced until X and Y.

6. Pokemon Black and White

Featuring the fifth-generation of new Pokemon, Black and White was the second mainline game to come out on the Nintendo DS. Although we don't know exactly when the story takes place in the Pokemon universe, we do that it takes place after Diamond and Pearl thanks to Matsumiya's tweet. Since there aren't any obvious links to the previous games, we can only assume that Black and White takes place more than 3 years after Red and Blue.

7. Pokemon Black 2 and White 2

As a true sequel to Black and White, Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 offer a fairly obvious transition through the chronological timeline. We see changes where gym leaders pass on their duties to the next generation, Team Plasma has advanced their plot, and there is a new Champion. Between all of these things, we know that roughly two years have passed since Black and White, progressing the timeline forward in an uncharacteristically linear fashion.

8. Pokemon X and Y

As the first game in the series to allow payers to explore and battle in 3D, Pokemon X and Y was a fresh take on the classic Pokemon formula. While this is largely due to it being the first title in the series to be a Nintendo 3DS game, it definitely helped set up future games. While we don't know exactly when the game fits in the chronology, thanks to Matsumiya we atleast know that X and Y take place at the same time as Black 2 and White 2. However, it's possible that it is set in a different universe due to Mega Evolution being a thing.

9. Pokemon Sun and Moon

Happening a few years after X and Y, Pokemon Sun and Moon takes us to the Alola region. While we don't have any information from Matsumiya about where this game fits in the timeline, it features a few characters from X and Y that indicate that time has passed between games. An adult Red and Blue also make an appearance, though their exact age isn't revealed, so we still don't know exactly how much time has progressed since Red, Blue, and Yellow.

This also means that Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon take place at the same point in time as they are essentially remakes of Sun and Moon with some additional content.

10. Pokemon Sword and Shield

With the arrival of the Nintendo Switch came the first Switch-exclusive mainline Pokemon game: Sword and Shield. Featuring a brand-new region, new Pokemon, and the introduction of Gigantamax, Sword and Shield is essentially a soft reboot of the series. So that being said, we have no idea where it fits on the chronological timeline. There aren't really any hard references to the previous games, so there is no way of accurately fitting it into the known Pokemon universe.

One of the only clues we have about the timeline comes in the form of new technology. The addition of the Rotom Phone seemingly places us further in the chronology than Red and Blue at the very least, but that's all we can really gather. It's possible that Pokemon Sword and Shield simply takes place in an entirely different universe than any of the other games.

11. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

As the latest entry in the series, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet brings all-new Gen 9 Pokemon and the open-world Paldea region to the Nintendo Switch. There haven't been any obvious clues revealed about where it lands on the timeline, so we unfortunately don't have enough information to try to accurately place it. That being said, if it follows the chronological structure of previous mainline games, it's possible that it takes place at the same time as the events of Pokemon Sword and Shield.

How to Play the Pokemon Games by Release Date

I you want to play the games in the order they were released rather than try to attempting to go through the convoluted chronological timeline, here are all of the mainline Pokemon games by release date:

1. Pokemon Red and Blue - February 27, 1996 - Game Boy
2. Pokemon Yellow - Game Boy - September 12, 1998 - Game Boy
3. Pokemon Gold and Silver - November 21, 1999 - Game Boy Color
4. Pokemon Crystal - December 14, 2000 - Game Boy Color
5. Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire - November 21, 2002 - Game Boy Advance
6. Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen - January 28, 2004 - Game Boy Advance
7. Pokemon Emerald - Sepember 16, 2004 - Game Boy Advance
8. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl - September 28, 2006 - Nintendo DS
9. Pokemon Platinum - September 13, 2008 - Nintendo DS
10. Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver - September 12, 2009 - Nintendo DS
11. Pokemon Black and White - September 18, 2010 - Nintendo DS
12. Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 - June 23, 2012 - Nintendo DS
13. Pokemon X and Y - October 13, 2013 - Nintendo 3DS
14. Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire - November 21, 2014 - Nintendo 3DS
15. Pokemon Sun and Moon - November 18, 2016 - Nintendo 3DS
16. Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon - November 17, 2017 - Nintendo 3DS
17. Pokemon Sword and Shield - November 15, 2019 - Nintendo Switch
18. Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl - November 19, 2021 - Nintendo Switch
19. Pokemon Scarlet and Vilolet - November 18, 2022 - Nintendo Switch
20. Pokemon Legends Z-A - TBA Late 2025

Upcoming Pokemon Games

While a new Pokemon Legends game was technically announced last year, we finally got an official gameplay reveal during this year's Pokemon Day. Titled Pokemon Legends: Z-A, the upcoming game is set in Lumiose City, within the same Kalos region as Pokemon X and Y. The city itself is in the midst of a technological evolution to support trainers and Pokemon thriving together.

As a Legends game, Z-A's starter Pokemon are a throwback: Chikorita and Totodile from Gen 2 alongside Tepig from Gen 5. Like in Legends: Arceus, these familiar starters will be getting new final evolutions. The gameplay trailer also showed off new battle mechanics, like positioning, dodging, and aiming your Pokemon's attacks. Unfortunately, the one thing the trailer didn't confirm is a release date: the game is still set for a tentative "late 2025" release, most likely on Switch and Switch 2 consoles.

That wasn't the only game reveal from the 2025 Pokemon Day announcements. Game Freak and The Pokemon Company also announced Pokemon Champions, a new battle game for both Switch and mobile devices. This is most likely the "multiplayer Pokemon game" that was alluded to in earlier leaks. More like Pokemon Showdown than other Pokemon releases, Pokemon Champions will allow trainers to battle with Pokemon they've caught and trained in other games through the Pokemon Home app. No release date information has been revealed.

Looking for additional Pokemon content? Check out our guide to the best Pokemon movies and Pokemon Video Games for more. You can also shop for the coolest Pokemon merchandise at the IGN Store for some of our favorite Pokemon toys.

I’m confident that even the most locked in gamer hasn’t played something quite like Neighbors: Suburban Warfare. You can see some influences and similarities to other games - it has the arcadey shooter feel of Team Fortress, the light tactical base building of a survival game, the slapstick physical humor of a Goat Simulator or Just Die Already - all in one anarchic post-WW2 package. I had a couple of hands-on sessions with it, navigating its team-based homewrecking action, and though its untraditional format will make for some rough first minutes, it was hard not to walk away from the over the top bedlam with a smile.

There’s maybe no more antithetical setting for Neighbors: Suburban Warfare’s team-versus-team base-building combat romp than the idyllic, prosperity-pilled 1950’s American suburbs. But developer Invisible Walls wanted to make a game that was bright and colorful and would be striking at first glance and approachable to a broad audience. “We also had this idea of the neighborhood feud element from day one,” art director Andreas Bech explained. “And for most of the team, the post-war optimism of the ‘50s and ‘60s resonates with that.”

The irony of the collective drive towards the presentation of perfectionism leading to individual households going so mad with power that they would sabotage their peers because they look like they might be doing too well was the bedrock for every iteration of Suburban Warfare. What started off as a game where players would decorate their houses and vandalize their opponents to win top prize at a sort of house pageant turned into a more raucous skirmisher “after it became apparent that [that version of the PvP and PvE] didn't mix,” Invisible Walls CEO David Heldager revealed. “Everyone just wanted to destroy the other’s house.”

And so their game morphed into the squad-based hybrid shooter and base-builder that I got my hands on for around an hour with the dev team. Our goal was pretty clear: we must infiltrate the enemy abode and destroy its “essential items” like the stove, toilet, and master bed. This is much easier said than done, of course, as there are so many layers of variables and tactics that come into play during each match that chaos is unavoidable.

It all starts with character selection. Each of the eight available neighbors has their own signature starting items and special abilities, like the Rosie the Riveter-inspired Kim and her throwable pipe wrench that can build a special autonomous oil-spitting turret to defend her home when she’s out pillaging. There were two available neighborhoods (maps) to choose from, each dictating where neutral objectives will be, and each team can choose a specific house layout to use, each floorplan having its own different entrances and essential item locations. This felt like a lot to try to understand up front, but even though there is a county fair's worth of variability in each match, the pursuit of “the perfect competitive combination” is a bit of a fool’s errand.

“We wanted to be different in that this is the game you play when you’re not playing [something more competitive like] Marvel Rivals,” David said when I asked the team if and how Suburban Warfare could appeal to the types of gamers that prefer a more sweaty PvP experience. “The tone is lighthearted and we designed it for lightheartedness, but we do find people start getting very competitive after like three or four games,” Andreas added. The design consensus among them was to focus on making cool things first, and balancing them second. “We were not experts on PvP and balancing when we started this game,” game director Sebastian Bevensee said, explaining that unfamiliar traps and weapons that will inevitably knock new players out will feel overpowered until they realize that just about everything is that strong on purpose. The goal is to make everything feel impactful so long as you hit with them, and encourage everyone to be a consequential playmaker when the opportunity presents itself.

After choosing your avatar to commit minor crimes with and agreeing to what kind of house you’re going to defend with your teammates (and where you’ll be defending it from your opponents), it's time to get to the dirty business of targeted vandalization. Your team of up to four must build all manner of tools, traps, and defenses in order to turn away your annoying nosey neighbors while also empowering your team to be even more annoying and nosier. Buying tools or basic fortifications costs money that you earn slowly over time but in lump sums by knocking out enemies. More valuable options become available when you upgrade your workbench with spare resources found at the construction site, located in a neutral point on every map. After buying starter tools - usually the crowbar since it helps destroy objects faster - every round of Suburban Warfare I played started with a full team sprint towards these wayward crates.

My team was pretty good at making it out of the ensuing brawls with a couple of resources without taking too many casualties, but the early moments where no one has special gear is where I felt the character selection and team compositions the most. Big bruisers like Chad can hold the front line and distract the enemy long enough for someone else to snatch resources right out from under you. Or sneaky little bastards like this Dennis the Menace x Kevin McCallister hybrid who can avoid the melee completely and instead start attempting to break into your home while you're gone. Neighbor’s individual special abilities remain impactful throughout the match, but ones with definite strengths above and beyond those never feel stronger than those first few minutes.

After taking the resources back we focused on locking down our house, lining the vulnerable parts of our fence with bear traps, repairing damaged doors and windows, and even setting up a small oil rig to turn our passive trickle of money into more of a sprinkler. All the while, both sides were taking turns poking at one another, sneaking to back doors and windows while causing a ruckus on the front lawns by either running up personally and trying to catch a poor homemaker slipping, or ordering more bombastic offensives on the enemy in the form of delivery trucks that speed through the cul de sac and lob boxes full of fireworks at your foes. And then, after around four minutes of game time, night fell on our pitched battle. Besides making the battlefield darker, it also signals that the nocturnal guard dog of each house is up and prowling, and it is devastatingly good at hunting down any enemy that steps onto your property and eliminating them with extreme prejudice, until the sun rises and the chaos ensues again.

Exchanges between squads, be they in the streets or each other’s living rooms, were always tense because the more dangerous weaponry, like a sledgehammer or a pressurized cannon that shoots oranges, can do players in quickly. And yet the hammer is slow and the cannon, one of the few ranged options in the game, is hard to aim and slow to fire and reload. This was all by design. “We are always encouraging people to be more up front and close,” Sebastian explained, pointing out that their focus on keeping the most effective and easy to use offense as close-ranged options forces players to engage with one another instead of trying to take sniper positions or control the field from afar.

That doesn’t constrain their weapon options from walking more on the wild side, though. Many of the options operate as you assume they would, but then there are some tricky takes on household items, like the aforementioned vacuum that can suck enemies into bashing range. You can build a chicken coup and toss their eggs at foes to blind them. With enough investment into your workbench you can get access to my favorite option so far: a seagull that you can fly to bomb enemies like a Call of Duty kill streak reward. The cartoony madness is lots of fun, moment to moment.

During the course of these cycles across the rounds I played, the biggest issue I found was feeling like I wasn’t doing the right thing at the right time. I wasn’t searching for the most efficient ways to spend money and resources so much as feeling like I was actively contributing to the overall goal of compromising the enemy's home to a permanent end. Picking up the basics is easy, but learning how to know when to go all out on the enemy or when to pull back to defend was something that I couldn’t intuit in my brief time with Neighbors. David agreed. “Our main struggle is, ‘How do you explain the meta in a game like this?’” They’ve seen playtesters grow into sharp and knowledgeable players over half a dozen games or so, so it's not impossible to let go of worry and embrace the madness.

So is Neighbors: Suburban Warfare the next big party shooter? I’m not sure how it will stand up against genre juggernauts, but it will certainly stand out. Two geezers shaped like Mr Magoo and Evel Knievel exchanging plunger crossbow fire in the street only to get hit by a delivery truck tossing bombs into the front yard is a scenario you aren’t going to find in your current favorite team shooter. And Invisible Walls likes it that way. They don’t want to replace your favorite game, they just want to be the Mad Men-coded funhouse you spend your off time in.

I’m confident that even the most locked in gamer hasn’t played something quite like Neighbors: Suburban Warfare. You can see some influences and similarities to other games - it has the arcadey shooter feel of Team Fortress, the light tactical base building of a survival game, the slapstick physical humor of a Goat Simulator or Just Die Already - all in one anarchic post-WW2 package. I had a couple of hands-on sessions with it, navigating its team-based homewrecking action, and though its untraditional format will make for some rough first minutes, it was hard not to walk away from the over the top bedlam with a smile.

We've finally gotten a good, long (ish) look at Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the second entry in the Pokemon Legends series and Game Freak's major Pokemon release for the year (after surprisingly skipping 2024). In a brand new trailer, we got a first look at what it will be like to freely run along the rooftops of Lumiose City, which Pokémon will join us when we do it, and some of the changes to Mega Evolutions and battle mechanics.

This time around, players can choose between Totodile, Tepig, and Chikorita to be their starter monster as they explore Lumiose City with upgraded visuals and a few major gameplay tweaks. Specifically, new mechanics will allow players to hop to the city's rooftops and see life in the Pokémon world from a new perspective. Gameplay for the Latest Legends title also reveals that we'll be going back to the more traditional visual style the series has established over the last few years, too.

Today's Pokémon Day 2025 Pokémon Presents showcase gave fans a gameplay trailer to watch over and over again while we wait for that ever-elusive release date, but it also came with a more specific gameplay breakdown, too. Just like the Pokémon Legends: Arceus title that it follows, Pokémon Legends: Z-A shakes up the combat formula with a more-involved take on battles. Combat footage shows that players will be free to weaken monsters and catch them in Wild Zones littered throughout the town.

It wouldn't be a first-look at Pokémon Legends: Z-A without a sneak peek at some of the Mega Evolutions and how they've been brought over to that refreshing Legends gameplay. Specifically, today's breakdown video shows gameplay for creatures like Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Absol, and Mega Charizard X as well as the "new level of power" each brings to the table.

Although the Pokémon Legends: Z-A gameplay breakdown doesn't exactly tell us how rooftop running works in the late 2025 Nintendo Switch title, it does introduce us to some of the faces we'll meet on our journey. New friends include the option to meet either Urbain or Taunie, a potential rival, and players can also expect to get to know Quasartico CEO Jett and her secretary, Vinnie. We also got to see the return of Lumiose City's tallest friendly face, AZ, and his Pokémon partner, Floette, who run the hotel players will be staying at.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A was first announced at last year's Pokemon Presents, and it's been quiet on the news front ever since. At the time, all we saw was a cinematic trailer revealing it would be set entirely in Lumiose City from Pokémon X and Y, and that it would be coming to Nintendo Switch in 2025. We also saw a tease of a few Pokémon, a futuristic setting, and the Mega Evolution symbol.

Other than that, for the last year, fans have been piecing together guesses on what the game might entail based on that trailer and Pokémon Legends: Arceus, which introduced new Pokémon capturing mechanics to the franchise and an open zone format that resonated well with players, even if certain elements of the game felt drab and incomplete, especially in the back half. With no Pokémon game released last year, it seems like Game Freak may have gotten an extra year to really give Legends Z-A the polish that Arceus and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet simply didn't receive. Let's hope it pays off.

For everything else revealed today, you can see our Pokémon Presents February 2025 highlight roundup here.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

After half a year of rumors and leaks, we've finally gotten our first look at Pokémon Champions, a brand new multiplayer battle-focused Pokémon game being developed in a collaboration between Game Freak and The Pokémon Works, which itself is a recent joint venture between The Pokémon Company and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl developer ILCA.

Pokémon Champions is a game focused on Pokémon battles, which features the series "core-style battles" and allows players to battle online with one another. From the trailer, we've seen it will definitely include both Mega Evolution and Terastalization, and the reveal suggested it will canvas all different types and eras of Pokémon battles.

Additionally, Pokémon Champions will connect with Pokémon Home, allowing players to transfer Pokémon from all other games to battle in it and finally giving fans something to do with the hundreds of Pokémon just sitting in their boxes from past generations.

Pokémon Champions is "now in development" for both Nintendo Switch and mobile, but did not get a release date. It will be playable in Latin American Spanish at launch in addition to other languages previously available in Pokémon games.

Pokémon Concierge Season 2 is officially coming to Netflix this September.

The Pokémon Company revealed plans to debut another batch of four episodes in its adorable stop-motion spinoff during today during its special Pokémon Day 2025 Pokémon Presents showcase. This is the first reveal of the day, and it’s an especially surprising one.

The full second season is expected to drop on Netflix come this September, but you can at least head to the Pokémon YouTube channel right now to see the first four episodes of Season 1 while you wait. These will disappear March 9, though they'll still be available on Netflix for subscribers.

POKÉMON CONCIERGE RETURNS THIS SEPTEMBER 💛

Reunite with Haru and Psyduck for four new episodes in the magical stop-motion world of the Pokémon Resort. pic.twitter.com/rmRgiG6GYR

— Netflix (@netflix) February 27, 2025

Also included in today’s footage was a first look at some of the new stop-motion critters coming to Pokémon Concierge Season 2, including a very fluffy Arcanine, Corphish, and Shinx.

For everything else included in today's Pokemon Presents, you can see our news roundup here.