Magic: The Gathering feels like it’s more popular than ever, and with no fewer than seven sets on the roadmap, here’s hoping there’s something for everyone.

The first set of the year is Lorwyn Eclipsed, and it’s pretty darn great, actually. It’s also causing some big changes to card value as players rush to upgrade its precons, particularly the Blight Curse one. Thanks to our friends at TCGplayer, we’ve got a rundown of the movers and shakers kicking off the latest set.

Climbers

Warning: This review contains full spoilers for The Pitt Season 2, Episode 4!

The ending to last week’s episode of The Pitt suggested the good times are just about over and everything is about to turn very bleak again for the men and women of the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. That said, Episode 4 doesn’t end up delivering quite the tonal upheaval I was expecting. The tension is mounting, to be sure, but it’s clear the series is still operating under a slow-burn approach. And so far, that approach is working just fine.

There’s definitely an increased sense of urgency in Episode 4 as more patients start rolling in, including a pretty gnarly case of parkour gone awry. But again, the writers clearly aren’t turning the dial up to 11. There’s still ample time for the situation to really spiral out of control. Instead, we get a sense that the day is starting to heat up even as this episode manages to cling to the humor and heart that have defined Season 2 so far.

Ernest Harden Jr.’s Louie is probably the best example of that balance in action. We get some nice, heartfelt scenes between Louie and his caretakers, including further bonding with Dr. Langdon (Patrick Ball). But as charming as Louie is, underneath it all, there’s a nagging and growing sense that something is about to go wrong. Is Louie’s luck about to run out? Is there some unforeseen complication that’s about to rear its head? I fear the answers to both questions are a definite yes. That, along with a handful of other cases like the ongoing mystery of Jackson Davis (Zack Morris), provides this episode with all the drama it needs.

If it seemed that Episode 3 wasn’t giving enough focus to the doctors, that’s not an issue this time around. This installment manages to keep a great many plates spinning and gives us valuable time with most of the big players. In particular, we get some solid scenes involving the newbies, Ogilvie (Lucas Iverson), Kwon (Irene Choi), and Nurse Nolan (Laëtitia Hollard). Ogilvie has quickly become the guy we all love to hate, so it’s nice to see him knocked down a peg when his overeagerness endangers a patient’s life. Meanwhile, Kwon’s minor injury and Nolan’s bungled attempt to draw blood remind us that this series really does have a sly sense of humor when it wants.

And if it feels like Langdon still isn’t receiving quite as much focus as he deserves, at least Episode 4 makes it clear that this is by design. Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) is purposely (and perhaps foolishly) keeping him at arm’s length, pushing off that inevitable reconciliation scene we all know is coming. Gotta clear the air before the big sabbatical.

Some other, more lighthearted moments really stood out this week. It’s fun seeing Dr. McKay (Fiona Dourif) catch a break after some of the drama she endured in Season 1, fending off one flirtatious charmer of a patient and forming a connection with another. It’s also hilarious to learn that Javadi (Shabana Azeez) has been moonlighting as a YouTube advisor named “Dr. J.” Hopefully, we get to see a clip or two of her show before the season is up. Finally, it’s interesting to watch the shift in the tenor of the relationship between Drs. Whitaker (Gerran Howell) and Santos (Isa Briones), now that the former’s stock is on the rise and the latter can’t seem to catch a break. Is Santos next up for an on-the-job emotional breakdown?

Sony Pictures has unveiled the first look at director Sam Mendes’ The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event through postcard drops at various Beatles landmarks and music enthusiast locations in Liverpool (the Beatles’ hometown), New York City, Tokyo, and Hamburg.

These postcard images revealed each member of the Fab Four – Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr – and were first documented in an Instagram post by the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.

“We’ve been given exclusive postcards promoting the new Beatles movies!,” LIPA posted. “We’ve hidden them around LIPA, and we want students to find them.”

First peek at the cast for the 4 ‘BEATLES’ biopics

• Harris Dickinson as John Lennon
• Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney
• Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr
• Joseph Quinn as George Harrison

(Source: lipaliverpool/IG) pic.twitter.com/4y4dco34nl

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) January 29, 2026

In addition to LIPA, fans can postcards at John Lennon’s childhood home in Liverpool. IGN has learned that limited edition numbered postcards (some autographed by the cast) have also been distributed in New York, Tokyo, and Hamburg. Beatles fans will know each of these cities have an importance to the Beatles as a band and to them individually.

The Hamburg locations include The Beatles Monument as well as the Cavern Club, the Kaiserkeller, and The Star-Club, all clubs the Beatles played at before making it big internationally.

In New York City, postcards can be found at Strawberry Field in Central Park, New York University, Columbia University, and, we’re told, at various record stores, vintage clothing shops, cafes and bars.

Tokyo locations include Abbey Road Live, Tower Records in Shibuya, Broadway Diner in Yoyogi, Tsutaya, and The Capital Hotel Tokyo.

All four Beatles films will be released on April 7, 2028.

You might want to jump on a PC upgrade sooner than later. Prices of prebuilts are expected to go up this year because of the inflated demand for DDR5 RAM and production cuts on Nvidia's graphics cards.

For this week only, Best Buy just dropped the price on the HP OMEN 35L gaming PC, equipped with a GeForce RTX 5080 16GB graphics card, to just $2,219.99 shipped after a $480 off instant discount. This is currently one of the least expensive RTX 5080 prebuilts available.

HP OMEN 35L RTX 5080 Gaming PC for $2,220

I've spent more time than is healthy staring at storefronts, convincing myself restraint is a virtue. It is not. This week’s spread is the rare kind that justifies the lapse, stacked with games that respect your time, your intelligence, and your wallet in roughly that order.

A good sale is not about volume. It is about confidence. These are games I have played, finished, or at least bounced off hard enough to know exactly who they are for. If something is here, it earned the slot.

Contents

• Retro
• Nintendo
• Xbox
• PlayStation
• PC
• LEGO

This Day in Gaming 🎂

In retro news, I've baked a large America-shaped birthday cake for Cruis'n USA, an early N64 arcade racer that's turned 28. This was uncomplicated wannabe 3D Outrun stuff. Just select one of seven muscle cars and then race against time through the checkpoints of 14 different courses. Simple. Fun.

For me, Cruisn' was only really memorable for its rockin' soundtrack, some decent 2P split racing, and a bunch of censorship decisions enforced by Nintendo. Seems they weren't fans of the ability to roadkill wildlife, including a bikini-clad pornstar handing over trophies (a shirt was Photoshopped in), and they also ditched this weird secret ending with Bill and Hillary Clinton partying in a hot tub. Different time, folks.

Aussie birthdays for notable games.

- Cruis'n USA (N64) 1998. eBay

- Arc: Twilight of the Spirits (PS2) 2004. eBay

- Octodad: Dadliest Catch (PC) 2014. Get

- Life is Strange (PC,PS3/4,X360) 2015. Redux

Nice Savings for Nintendo Switch

This review is based on a screening from the Sundance Film Festival.

Padraic McKinley’s first feature, a Depression-era heist western led by Ethan Hawke, is an absolute delight. At turns nerve-wracking and gradually riveting, The Weight is incredibly self-assured in its straightforward plot, following a group of prisoners tasked with stealing gold in exchange for their freedom. It boasts an entertaining ensemble – among them, a scenery-chewing Russell Crowe – each of whom play fully fleshed-out people as much as they portray unexpected symbols of American history, resulting in the kind of slick, sophisticated dramatic thriller that comes about once every so often.

The year is 1933. It’s been four years since the Great Depression thrust single Oregonian father Samuel Murphy (Hawke) and his young daughter Penny (Avy Berry) into poverty, but he keeps her amused by speeding their rickety Ford through open fields, pretending to be an outlaw of the Old West. “I ain’t never been caught!” he playfully boasts, drawing innocent laughter. The film’s introduction is intentionally saccharine and, it turns out, quite ironic, since Murphy is indeed locked up soon after a violent misunderstanding. Sentenced to labor in a prison camp under the watchful eye of the stringent, hard-nosed Warden Clancy (Crowe), Murphy uses his skills as a handyman and mechanic to expedite his roadway building in the hopes of having days or weeks knocked off his six-month sentence. He’s up against a ticking clock: Within 30 days, Penny will be made a ward of the state and put up for adoption.

Impressed with Murphy’s workmanship and sympathetic to his predicament, Clancy presents him with an opportunity. If he and three prisoners of his choosing can help one of Clancy’s associates out of a bind, he’ll sign their release papers early, reuniting Murphy with his child. The catch? As prisoners, they’re considered disposable. Their task is to make a dangerous trek at gunpoint, transporting gold stolen by its own mining overseer before it’s reclaimed by the Franklin D. Roosevelt government – a real executive order forbidding the hoarding of bullion in an effort to inject money back into the US economy. These are the beginnings of not only the movie’s larger plot but the streamlined political backdrop against which the characters wrestle. Some are content to live under the bootheels of capitalism, transporting other people’s gold for a pittance; others, especially those dealing with racial animus, are less enthused, leading to a mood of fomenting rebellion.

Risking life and limb over treacherous terrain, and under fire from bandits, Murphy’s quest takes the form of breathtaking set-pieces interspersed with quiet character moments, which help flesh out the story just as much as the interpersonal banter. The men he chooses to accompany him are his sharp-tongued bunkmates, who, despite their wildly different backgrounds and dispositions, at least get along while playing poker. There’s Rankin (Austin Amelio), a boorish WASP loudmouth; Olson (Lucas Lynggaad Tonnesen), a kindly, trusting Swede; and Singh (Avi Nash), a restless Indian-American socialist lumped in with the trio instead of in the “colored” bunks, since Indians were legally considered “Caucasian” at the time. A pair of armed security guards – the terse Amis (Sam Hazeldine) and the burly Letender (George Burgess) – guides them on their journey, keeping their eyes and crosshairs trained on the prisoners. Along the way, the ragtag bunch also picks up a Native American straggler – the dexterous, headstrong Anna (Julia Jones), who bargains her way into the group and matches Murphy’s penchant for MacGyver-ing his way out of sticky situations.

The film veers deftly between reflective silence and cheer-worthy pandemonium, yielding numerous heart-in-mouth moments. The rotten planks of a steadily-collapsing bridge snap off with the thundering echoes of gunshots – the movie’s sound design is impeccable, enhancing the motion of people and objects – while logs floating down a treacherous river practically assault the motley fellowship like a swarm of sharks. It’s maddeningly intense, and often just as funny.

All the while, Hawke – as usual – puts on a clinic of performance that feels like the polar opposite of his meek, shallow, wordy (and recently Oscar-nominated) Blue Moon character. His conception of Murphy is gruff but never caricatured. He serves the plot precisely, calculating each decision and motive with lucid clarity, and yet he embodies each scene in completely organic ways that create worlds of wordless backstory. Despite keeping largely to himself and to his mission, you know exactly who Murphy is, as though he were Jesse James or some other American outlaw who had risen to the ranks of folklore; perhaps the movie’s opening wasn’t so ironic after all. Would you believe Murphy’s skills behind the wheel turn out to be relevant too?

Cinematographer Matteo Cocco makes tremendous use of space and light, framing forest thickets as labyrinths and hiding sinister intentions behind bonfires and deep shadows. A particularly inventive scene uses the alternating flashes and pitch-blackness of a lightning storm to ratchet up the tension, while the movie’s violence is filthy and raw. Some viewers might miss the expanse of action scenes depicted in their entirety, but McKinley places a rewarding amount of trust in his audience, creating momentum through implication and, on occasion, propelling the film forward by interweaving several moments from adjacent scenes, as though each new sequence were being imagined by the last, and the movie were persistently creating itself anew. If the filmmakers couldn’t shoot enough footage for a traditional presentation, they’ve certainly made the most of it.

The Weight moves with furious focus and rollicking intensity. It never wavers from its characters or their political and historical purviews, and makes its unlikely heroes look phenomenally cool.

Audible's first sale of 2026 ends today, January 29. New and returning Audible subscribers can sign up for three months of Audible Premium Plus for just $0.99 per month, or £0.99 in the UK. This time around it doesn't look like you need to be an Amazon Prime member either. After the three months is up, your subscription will convert to the standard $14.95/mo, so make sure to cancel beforehand if you don't want to continue with the service. You also get a free audiobook of your choice for each of those three months that you get to keep indefinitely.

Note that if you recently signed up for an Audible Premium Plus promotion, you may not be eligible even if your subscription has ended. There's usually a wait period (about 3-6 months) before you are re-eligible.

3 Free Months of Audible Premium Plus

Spoilers follow for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Episode 4, “Vox in Excelso,” which is available on Paramount Plus now.

So we finally know what’s been going on with the Klingons in the era of The Burn.

The status of Star Trek’s classic villains/frenemies has been a big question mark ever since Michael Burnham and the crew of the USS Discovery jumped 900 years into the future of the 32nd century back in Discovery Season 3’s premiere. That future would prove to be filled with a lot of familiar alien races, and a bunch of characters who were of mixed race as well – like Laira Rillak, the president of the Federation who was of human, Bajoran and Cardassian descent. It made sense that, almost a thousand years after the era of Captain Kirk, many of the people of the Federation would have diverse racial heritages.

And yet, one question that remained unanswered was what happened to the Klingons in the nine centuries since that era. Disco seemed to purposely avoid the issue altogether, after leaning heavily on the warrior aliens in its first two seasons. But Starfleet Academy is diving into the matter bumpy-head first with the introduction of main cast member Karim Diané, who plays the Klingon cadet Jay-Den Kraag, and now with the reveal that the Klingons have become galactic refugees as a result of the cataclysmic Burn.

That’s a long way around to saying that “Vox in Excelso” finally gives us our 32nd century Klingon episode, and it’s a good one where we get not just an update on where the Klingons have been (and where they’re going), but also a focus on Jay-Den and the events that led him to the Academy. And it’s all interwoven into another “school activity” plot involving… debate club!

The Klingons have always run the risk of being one-note, which is why Michael Dorn’s performance as Worf has stood the test of time. Worf was never simply a warrior or a bad-ass, but a complicated character with layers and textures who loved, feared, and learned with the best of them. And Jay-Den now looks to be continuing in that tradition, as he is a Klingon who not only doesn’t want to be a warrior, but who is haunted by his choice to pursue a different life.

So when he has his first shot at debating Caleb (Sandro Rosta) in The Doctor’s (Robert Picardo) class, the fact that he basically has a panic attack is quite telling. “Arguing, standing up for what I believe, makes sweat flood down my face,” he says. (I hear you, Jay-Den.) As “Vox in Excelso” proceeds, we see in flashbacks how Jay-Den’s father constantly pressured him to join the warrior’s way. It’s difficult for him to even say out loud to his family that he does not want to be a warrior, and that pressure and fear of letting them down – and of speaking his mind and talking about his true feelings – takes a toll.

The situation is further complicated when his family is revealed to have been onboard a ship that has recently crashed; whether or not they’ve survived is currently unknown. Meanwhile, the Federation has found a planet that would make a perfect new home for the displaced Klingons, but the Klingons themselves have spent the past century refusing hand-outs. As this news becomes a hot topic of discussion – the crash, the new homeworld potential – it bleeds onto the debate stage where Jay-Den has to work out some issues.

The episode’s flashing back and forth from present to the past is handled in an interesting way by regular Trek director Doug Aarniokoski, as we get bits of introspective voiceover from Jay-Den accompanying flashes of memory and a melancholy score. It actually reminds me a bit of how Battlestar Galactica handled such moments at times (particularly Kara Thrace’s remembrances in the all-time great episode “Scar”). Also notable is Jay-Den’s anger at Caleb, who after all is just trying to be a good friend. But it’s those memories, particularly of his fallen brother, that makes Jay-Den react so strongly to Caleb. The performances across the board are excellent here, particularly with these two.

Holly Hunter also gets a B-story, and fortunately I was able to understand her words much better than I could in last week’s episode, as Chancellor Ake reunites with her old Klingon flame General Obel Wochak (David Keeley). The plan is to get Obel to grease the wheels of a Federation/Klingon agreement to give the Klingons the newly discovered world, Faan Alpha. Hunter and Keeley have fun in their scenes together, and the relationship is also used to explore the long history that Ake has as a 400-year-old Lanthanite.

Unfortunately, while the emotional culmination of Jay-Den’s story is effective as he makes the case in the debate for the Klingon way of life to be respected, even if most members of the Federation can’t understand it, the plan to get the Klingons to accept the gift they cannot accept – Faan Alpha – rings false. A bloodless battle where some ships shoot at each other for a few minutes and then everyone says “Yay, the Klingons won”? Nope, doesn't work.

Seeking chart-topping performance from a prebuilt desktop? The Alienware Area-51 with RTX 5090 GPU should definitely be on your radar. Currently, you can pick up an Alienware Area-51 RTX 5090 gaming PC starting at $5,049.99 after a $600 discount. Starting today, Dell is also throwing in a free AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D CPU upgrade. This new CPU was released on January 29 and is a 400MHz increase in boost clock over the 9800X3D.

$600 Off Alienware Area-51 9850X3D RTX 5090 Gaming PC

The Alienware Area-51 is Dell's flagship gaming PC. Unveiled during last year's CES, the Area-51 is a super-sized upgrade to the mainstream Aurora R16 system. The significantly larger chassis features more premium build quality and a redesigned cooling system with greater net airflow. In fact, this is the only model that Dell feels comfortable enough to equip with the hot and power hungry GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card. The first wave of Area-51 systems featured Intel CPUs exclusively, with AMD X3D options only available since late November.

This particular configuration is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D CPU, GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card, 32GB or DDR5-6400MHz RAM, and a 1TB SSD. Additional system details include a 360mm all-in-one liquid cooling system for the CPU and a massive 1,500W 80Plus Platinum power supply that allows plenty of headroom for future upgrades.

AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is the best gaming CPU for most people

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is considered to be one of the best gaming processors currently on the market and outperforms any Intel or AMD non-X3D chip in games thanks to AMD's 3D-V-Cache technology. The 9850X3D replaces the 9800X3D as the best value for most gamers. Both chips are mostly identical but the 9850X3D has a 400Mhz faster boost clock (up to 5.6GHz), making it about 1%-5% faster in games. Dell is throwing this in for free, so why not?

Although the 9850X3D is an absolute speed demon for gaming, it only has eight cores. If you regularly use your PC for non-gaming applications that benefit from as many cores as possible, then you can upgrade to an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D 16-core processor, which doubles the core count while offering similar gaming performance, for an additional $200.

The RTX 5090 is the most powerful graphics card ever

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 has emerged as the most powerful consumer GPU on the market. Although with this generation Nvidia has prioritized software updates, AI features, and DLSS 4 technology to improve gameplay performance, the 5090 still boasts an impressive 25%-30% uplift over the RTX 4090 in hardware-based raster performance. If you want the absolute best performance for your gaming PC, there is literally no other option from any other brand.

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

OLED TVs are considered the best TVs for gaming. They're usually quite expensive, but B&H Photo is hosting a limited time deal that bucks the trend. For today only, you can get a 55" Sansui S55VOUG 4K OLED Smart TV for just $499.99 with free delivery. I don't think I've seen a less expensive OLED TV, ever. Sansui may not be the biggest name in the industry, but this TV does use an LG OLED panel, so you know it's going to be pretty good.

55" Sansui S55VOUG 4K Smart TV for $499.99

January 29 only

It's no secret that AliExpress consistently has the lowest prices on popular and well-reviewed 3D printers. Some of the most popular 3D printer brands, including Creality, Anycubic, and Flashforge, have official storefronts on AliExpress, and the prices there are usually much lower than on Amazon. Because they're sold by the manufacturers themselves, you get a genuine product with the full warranty, as well as AliExpress' own protections including a 90 day free! return policy.

The AliExpress marketplace itself has recently evolved as well. Most of these brands now stock their printers in warehouses based in the United States. That means they ship locally, with most printers being delivered within a week. They aren't affected by tariffs, import fees, or egregiously long shipping times.

3D Printer Deals at AliExpress

Flashforge Adventurer 5M CoreXY 3D Printer

LEGO first released its line of book nook sets back in June of 2025 and they've been very well received. There are currently only three book nook builds available (from Lord of the Rings, Sherlock Holmes, and Harry Potter) and there have been little to no discounts on them until recently. The Lord of the Rings book nook was the first to drop in price earlier this month and now the Harry Potter edition has followed suit.

While the price cut isn't particularly steep, it's still the best price we've ever seen on this set. The Hogwarts Express book nook was already the most affordable of the three builds. If you're looking for a good Valentine's Day gift for the Potter fan in your life, it's definitely worth considering at this price.

The Hogwarts Express Book Nook Drops in Price on Amazon

In an age where digital platforms can pull culturally beloved content from their sites and kick films and TV series between each other seemingly at random, there’s never been a better time to commit to physical media. Not only does owning your content ensure you’ll have access no matter what the business papers say that day, but it also means you can tune out and enjoy a viewing without worrying about buffering, system outages, or connectivity issues. So, with a Blu-ray comeback on the menu, and every online retailer vying for your previous dollars, we’ve rounded up a list of the best places to buy Blu-rays online.

The Criterion Collection

Extend the battery life on your Nintendo Switch 2, Steam Deck, or Apple iPhone 17 for a rock bottom price. Amazon is currently offering the Joyroom 10,000mAh 22.5W Power Bank for just $10.49 after you apply coupon code "ZWCBR9JW". This is the great price for a 10,000mAh power bank, especially since it's equipped with some quality of life features like a big digital display and retractable cable. This particular item doesn't have very many user reviews, but Joyroom the brand is quite popular, even amongst the IGN audience.

Joyroom 10,000mAh 22.5W Power Bank for $10.49

Casting for the live-action God of War show is in full swing, as just moments after announcing the actor for Thor, Amazon and Sony have confirmed that Mandy Patinkin will play his father, Odin.

It’s another major addition to the cast of the next Prime Video video game adaptation, confirming that many of the series’ biggest roles have now been filled. Patinkin joins Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor, as well as Ryan Hurst as Kratos.

Video game adaptation company Story Kitchen is cooking up a movie based on the popular Roblox experience, Steal a Brainrot.

As reported by Deadline, the movie studio has announced that it is officially in early development on a feature-length film based on the meme-collecting experience that launched just last May. It’s not exactly Sonic the Hedgehog, Tomb Raider, or any of the other games the studio is known for getting involved in, but it’s still something it’s (mostly) serious about.

“We’re thrilled to bring STEAL A BRAINROT to the big screen,” Story Kitchen co-founders Dmitri M. Johnson and Michael Lawrence Goldberg said in a statement. “Noobini Pizzanini 6-7.”

Deadline says the Steal a Brainrot movie will blend all of the “chaos, comedy, and competitive mischief” that has attracted the 56.6 billion visits the Roblox experience has achieved. Fans have turned up every day since May to buy "Brainrots," which are essentially meme versions of collectible monsters not unlike Pokémon. Some Brainrots are rarer than others, with players able to generate money, sell Brainrots, and, of course, steal them from other players.

Around 400,000 users are active in Steal a Brainrot as of this piece’s publication, with the all-time peak it reached in October being a whopping 25.8 million concurrent players. Even if you’ve never played Roblox, there’s a decent chance you’ve heard about this particular experience, as multi-instrumentalist and Uptown Funk mastermind Bruno Mars helped put together an exclusive concert for Steal a Brainrot earlier this month.

Story Kitchen is bringing Steal a Brainrot to moviegoers at an unspecified point in the future. The project is in development alongside Do Big Studios and Spyder Games, and it’s led by Johnson, Goldberg, Timothy I. Stevenson, and Elena Sandoval. Think Influence, which represents the creators of the experience, is also involved in the production.

The company has shown interest in the Roblox community before, announcing in November 2025 that it had started putting the pieces together for a movie based on Grow a Garden. Other projects in the works at Story Kitchen include the live-action Tomb Raider show, a Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 movie, a Life is Strange show, an It Takes Two movie, and more.

While we wait for updates on how Steal a Brainrot will bring memes to the movies, you can read about why experiences like Grow a Garden are bringing in millions of players. You can also see where Roblox ranked on the list of the most-played console games of 2025 (and 2024).

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

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is 22 years old, which as you can imagine means that people have cracked that game wide open with weird glitches, skips, and tricks. Over the years, speedrunners have found ways to break San Andreas that got an any% speedrun of it down to a little under three hours, but recently an absolutely buckwild bug was found that cut that time down even further, to under an hour. Buckle up, folks, because this is one heck of a wacky speedrun.

First, some context. San Andreas has been broken and rebroken many times over the years across its multiple versions, and there's one specific "trick" that's upended the speedrunning landscape multiple times. It actually originated in GTA: Vice City, where a trick known as Script Stack Underflow (SSU) was found that chopped an any% run down to around eight minutes. Way back in 2019, San Andreas runners found something similar that they called "Arbitrary Jump in Script", or AJS, specifically in the Window Store remaster of the game. This overly-complex trick essentially let speedrunners jump straight to the end of the game by doing a long series of very specific things such as killing a drug dealer, parking a bike in a very specific place, answering the phone at very specific times, and diligently avoiding vending machines at all costs.

While involved, it demonstrably worked, with the end result being the game executing a "JUMP" command to the start of End of the Line Part 3, the final mission. Ever since then the speedrunning community has had to split the category into any% and any% no AJS, because watching a run with AJS is fun exactly once and then you really just want to watch a proper, action-packed, multi-hour San Andreas speedrun. For a long time, this skip was limited to the Windows Store version of the game, though it was later found in the Definitive Edition remaster with some significant setup differences.

Well now, speedrunners have figured out how to do AJS in the original PC version of San Andreas. It is also completely different in how it's set up, and is somehow even wackier than any of the versions that have come before. u/Vitosi4ek on Reddit has a really nice breakdown of all the steps involved (though some runners have already found ways to smooth out certain bits of it). These include: winning $10,000 on horse betting, making a clone of yourself, doing stunt jumps on a superbike, betting in the casino with negative money, changing your clothes, doing a dance minigame, running two Mission at the exact same time, and a lot more. All of this will hopefully, if the game doesn't crash, send you to the start of End of the Line Part 3, and let you finish the game right there.

This glitch was literally just discovered, and in that time the world record run for an any% of GTA: San Andreas has dropped down to 53 minutes and 46 seconds by creezyful. It's very likely that this time will get even more shaved off in the coming days and weeks as speedrunners continue to optimize. This has also resulted in the community splitting any% off from any% no AJS, so audiences can still enjoy a roughly three-hour run of San Andreas and all the hyjinks involved in that.

It's wildly impressive to me that people are still managing to crack games this old open even more than they've already been, and make their guts do ridiculous things. Just this past AGDQ, I watched someone run arbitrary code execution in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, something I'm pretty sure they didn't know how to do the last time the game was at the show. Video games, man!

Unfortunately, that does mean it'll probably be a long time before we get a run of GTA 6 that goes that fast. And that's if we can even make it to launch day this November.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

There are plenty of excellent deals you’ll want to grab today. If you need an idea for Valentine’s Day, grab this bundle of LEGO flower bouquets that’s hard not to love. Anyone with a Switch or Switch 2 will want to hop on these game savings, as we're all well aware that it's rare to get such deep discounts on Nintendo’s offerings. MTG also has tons of deals and preorders worth checking out, from TMNT and Avatar to Marvel Super Heroes. Speaking of Marvel, the DC Vs. Marvel Omnibus collection of comics is down to a new low on Amazon. Check out all the awesome deals I’ve found for today below:

DC Vs. Marvel Omnibus Comic Collection Hardcover Hits New Low Price

Save Big on Bundle of LEGO Botanicals Flower Bouquet + Bouquet of Roses Building Sets

Pokémon Legends: Z-A for Switch 2 is $14 Off at Best Buy

Big Savings On A Bunch of Other Switch and Switch 2 Games

You can also grab a nice discount on the Switch version of Pokémon Legends: Z-A from Woot if you don’t care about the performance boost. In fact, Woot has tons of solid deals on both Switch and Switch 2 games that are worth checking out. You can even get the Switch version of Super Mario Bros. Wonder on sale if you don’t feel like waiting for the Switch 2 update of Super Mario Bros. Wonder. And Best Buy also dropped the cost of the Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 by $14.

MTG x Avatar: The Last Airbender Beginner Box Hits New Low Price

MTG x TMNT Preorder Deals

If you’ve been waiting for the prices to drop on the MTG x TMNT preorder, now is the time to jump. The Booster Box is down to $124.99 on Amazon. In the box are 30 packs, which means each one comes out to about $4.17, which is a great deal. There’s a Bundle Box that includes 9 Play Boosters, 30 Lands, a foil alt-art promo Card, and exclusive accessories that’s on sale for just $60. Or, grab the Turtle Power! Commander Deck and Turtle Team Up Box, as they both have received solid discounts.

While these might be the lowest prices we see for the MTG x TMNT preorder, Amazon even has a nice preorder price guarantee. Whether the price goes up or down, you’re paying the lowest amount. This is the first “Universe Beyond” release of the year, and it’s set to drop on March 6th.

MTG x Marvel Super Heroes Preorder Just Dropped

Jumping further into the future, Amazon just dropped the preorder for the MTG x Marvel Super Heroes set that’s coming out on June 26th. Some things have already sold out, but you can still grab the 30-pack Booster Box for $209.70, the Commander Deck Bundle for $299.96, and more. Be sure to secure your preorder now, as this is already proving to be a popular “Universe Beyond” collab.

After you’ve secured the MTG X Marvel Super Heroes preorder, be sure to check out the MTG: Secrets of Strixhaven preorder, which also just became available on Amazon. It’s set to come out on April 24 and is selling fast.

Grab This Tiny Portable Power Bank for Cheap

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Enjoy Nearly Half Off The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings Illustrated by Alan Lee Box Set

Borderlands 4 is getting a major update today, including, among other things, the addition of the long-awaited Photo Mode that was announced prior to the game's launch, but was allegedly held due to the need to prioritize polishing other elements.

The update was announced via the official Borderlands 4 website, and it isn't just a Photo Mode being added. Harlowe's Zero-Point Action skill is getting a rework, and Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode levels will now increase dedicated loot drop levels.

But Photo Mode is the crown jewel here, and it's available now by restarting your game and downloading the update. Once the update is installed, you can find Photo Mode in the Pause menu while you're playing. It'll let you adjust the camera and apply a variety of visual effects including Field of View and Depth of Field adjustments, filters, changing the time of day, and even toggling visibility of elements such as characters or even damage numbers. Entering Photo Mode will also pause the game entirely in single-player mode (sorry multiplayer folks, just doesn't work that way). There's a full guide to how to use the Photo Mode and all its settings right here.

Photo Mode was promised for Borderlands 4 way back in June of 2025, with creative director Graeme Timmins saying on social media that while it was planned, the team was prioritizing polishing other core elements, and Photo Mode thus wouldn't be around at launch.

I had us prioritize polishing some other elements, more core to the moment-to-moment experience. We've always planned for it, and had it tasked up, we just needed to spend a bit more time on things that would directly impact QoL of playing the game.

— Graeme Timmins (@ProdigyXL) June 24, 2025

Below we've pasted the full patch notes, including all the other updates to Harlowe and Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode:

Progression and Rewards

Contract Missions:

• Patrol: Order troops: Now progresses when killing enemies
• Trace: Scrap Core: The scrap core object is able to be interacted with consistently and the contract from Dominion can now be completed
• Convinced the Intrusive Thoughts Vile Ripper, Deep State Phalanx, and Breaux Chambeaux Phalanx bounties to show up when a player has taken their contracts

Vault Card Challenges:

• “Loot or Purchase 10/15 legendaries” Vault Card weekly challenge will no longer reset with a save/load
• “Loot or Purchase Ordnance” will now increase when conditions are met
• “Kill enemies with Torgue guns and gear” will now progress when using Torgue legendary grenade Firepot
• “Kill X enemies with Maliwan guns and gears” and the Maliwan Challenge “Last Wan Standing” will now progress as intended

Challenges:

• Legendary Forsaken Chaos and Legendary Midnight Defiance have been removed from the Collect All Phosphene Challenge
• Updated Maliwan status effects to better identify what triggered the status effects, leading to better tracking on challenges

Progression and rewards

• Addressed a reported issue that was causing travel to Dominion to be locked by a player leaving a transition area in multiplayer
• “Potty Mouth” Mission: Objectives are no longer blocked when exiting to the main menu
• Addressed an issue causing unlocked DLC content to be unavailable while offline
• True Mode is now able to be consistently enabled for newly created level 30 UVHM characters
• Added a tutorial for True Mode when the campaign is completed
• Players creating a new character in multiplayer will now receive all intended rewards
• Addressed a reported issue causing all equipment to be lost when quitting to the main menu during a countdown in multiplayer when switching to solo play
• Addressed issues with the “Gourd Your Loins” cosmetic reward not being awarded with SHiFT code
  • If you were impacted by this issue the first time around, or you missed these gourd-geous heads during the Horrors of Kairos event, this SHiFT code will redeem your missing cosmetic! This code will not reward anything to those that successfully received their cosmetic rewards the first time.
  • Redeem the SHiFT code below (check out our SHiFT User Guide if you don't already know how) to get the "Gourd Your Loins" Vault Hunter Head and the "Hex Appeal" Weapon Skin!*
  • THFB3-R9XKK-CFBJW-T33BB-9R3CC
  • *Requires a copy of Borderlands 4, SHiFT Account, and Internet connection. Must redeem by December 31, 2030. One redemption per SHiFT Account. Terms apply.

Vault Hunters

• Addressed reported issues where critical hit damage sometimes wasn't being applied to critical hits

Specializations

• Daredevil: Action Skill Cooldown rate has been adjusted to .5% and a multiplicative Action Skill Damage bonus has been added
• Runner: Melee Damage bonus is now a multiplicative instead of additive

Harlowe the Gravitar Skill Rework

Dev Note: We’re making several changes to Zero-Point as another step towards making this skill tree feel more satisfying and better balanced relative to Harlowe’s other trees. Because we're changing the fundamental behavior of Zero-Point to include the old Inertia Augment behavior in the base skill, we want to see how these changes balance out before doing more work in the rest of the tree.

We have our eye on a few other passives that may be candidates for some buffs, but between the recent passive buffs that were implemented several weeks ago, combined with today’s changes, we’ll revisit those in the future once we’ve gathered adequate feedback on the current changes.

Long term, we want to ensure that each Vault Hunter has plenty of build diversity, with each Action Skill having its own pros and cons. If and when we see one falling behind, we’ll continue to explore changes like today’s.

• Zero-Point (Base Skill): Now includes the benefits of the previous "Inertia" Augment. Killing an enemy in Stasis now resets the duration, searches for a new target, and makes the duration decrease faster
• Inertia Augment (Changed): Updated to increase Harlowe’s Slam Damage. Whenever she slams an enemy, create Mini Unstable Energy Pocket projectiles that randomly deal Cryo or Radiation damage. Additionally, she also gains increased Status Effect Damage and Status Effect Chance. This effect stacks.

Amon the Forgeknight

• Amon now consistently deals bonus Cryo Damage when equipping Cryonic Thrum Augment in multiplayer
• Prevented unintended increases in the number of segments in the Vault Hunter bar when Amon activates his Action Skill
• Dragon’s Breath now applies properly to Ripper Heavy Weapons with beams
• Firewall Forgeskill will now block Moon-Maddened Callis projectile attacks

Vex the Siren

• Addressed the cooldown for Prismatic Ichors sometimes resetting when applying a status effect
• Phase Pocket Passive no longer resets the Taser underbarrel magazine when using a Vladof Enhancement
• Healing numbers now present correctly when Specters are using Ripper Legendary Sniper Rifle Tankbuster
• Addressed Incarnate Action Skill behavior so that it continues to work while using the Vibe Check Capstone with the Legendary Class Mod Technomancer

General Gameplay:

Bloomreaper Boss Fight:

• Falling into the fog will now consistently kill players instead of having them fall out of the map
• The purple rift will now only appear after the boss is defeated
• Addressed an instance of Bloomreaper keeping the Invincible health bar in the second phase
• Addressed an exploit that would allow UVHM time trial rewards to be obtained while not in UVHM
• Addressed an issue that would cause the chest for Platinum rewards to be empty after fulfilling the requirements
• Disc-shooting heavy weapons will now damage Bloomreaper’s crystals
• Vile Creeps should no longer get stuck in the air

World Events and Bosses:

• Increased the spawn rate of world bosses in the Punitive Manufactorium area
• Rewards will now reliably spawn when completing the Airship or The Goredello world events
• Minister Screw is no longer able to be frozen
• Toy Pinheads are now affected by singularity grenades
• Idolator Sol now takes damage from Elemental Hazards created by skills while Bio Armor is broken
• Vile Lictor’s limbs will now continue to respawn after freezing them
• Gennifer will now remain inside the refugee even if the player is dying near the area
• Lowered the amount of Badass enemies spawning in one spot by Electi Safe Collectable
• Ensured that boss fights consistently reset when all players have died
• Restored the ability to interact with Fortresses if travel was canceled by leaving a transition area in multiplayer

Loot and Stations:

• UVH levels now increase dedicated loot drop levels. The higher the level, the higher the chance of dedicated loot dropping!
• Changed the Respawn Station outside of Umbral Foundry to a Fast Travel station to allow for easier travel to the entrance
• Prevented loot items from dropping into unintended areas after defeating The Oppressor or killing all enemies in Ripper Drill Site Saw’s Clench
• Red Chest in Coastal Bonescape will only unlock when all enemies are killed

Mission, Enemy and ECHO Location Updates:

• Guns Blazing: Arjay will now consistently engage in combat against enemies
• The Power Ballad of Rodd Vomit: Addressed enemy pathing to reach the player
• Missions will no longer progress unexpectedly in multiplayer when switching from splitscreen to solo play
• Radioactive Rail Liner will now attack if players are close to it
• ECHO Location guidance improvements
• Rift Champion icon removed from the Compass, with cleaned-up functionality for those icons in the Map

Guns & Gear

Enhancement:

• Adjusted the Underdog enhancement to only apply to Vladof underbarrel weapons as intended. This will remove an unintended damage bonus that was happening when some guns switched their ammo or element types. We also updated Wombo Combo rockets so they now correctly count as underbarrel damage and receive this boost

Tediore:

• Tediore Legendary Assault Rifle Chuck now throws properly when the player has over 120% gun reload speed
• Addressed a behavior that prevented homing on the third gun spawned by Tediore reloads when specific conditions were met
• Removed extra gun from Tediore shotguns with Ripper magazines

Maliwan:

• Maliwan Legendary SMG Ohm I Got will no longer consume Energy Shield when Overshield is active
• Only active element Status Effects will spread when killing an enemy with a Maliwan-licensed part with Maliwan Enhancement and Transfuser Core
• Singularities now spawn correctly on Maliwan Sniper Rifles with Singularity Grenade Launcher underbarrels

Jakobs:

• Addressed Jakobs ricochet damage to apply the intended amount of damage on Jakobs weapons

Torgue:

• Torgue Legendary Pistol Hardpoint will fire as intended with Tediore licensed-part “Shooting”
• Torgue Legendary Shield Compleation now properly triggers Segment Break armor shield augments

Order:

• Order Legendary Sniper Rifle Rooker needle projectiles will consistently home in on enemies at a distance with the Callous augment. It will also no longer spawn unintended underbarrel projectiles with Jakobs licensed parts and a Jakob enhancement with Leaper and Bounce Pass

Ripper:

• Ripper Legendary Shield Watts 4 Dinner will now consistently give the overshield in multiplayer from Overshield drops

CoV:

• Weapons with CoV magazines now continue to fire when using Bullets to Spare firmware level 3 with the Ventilator enhancement

Daedalus:

• Daedalus SMGs with the Overcharge attachment and a Ripper Magazine will now inherit the Ripper magazine charge-up time

Atlas:

• Atlas Sure Shot perk is no longer triggered by Rafa Peacebreaker Cannons Action Skill while equipping a weapon with Atlas licensed parts and the Sure Shot enhancement
• Updated Tracker Antenna and Trauma Bond to no longer incorrectly apply to gear without Atlas-licensed parts

Ordnance

• Heavy Weapons now cause damage to BoomBoom Drones during the Callis boss fight

Firmware:

• Skillcraft will now receive the proper amount of stacks when dealing skill damage to enemies
• Deadeye 2-piece now functions as intended with intended projectiles
• High Caliber 3-piece now functions as intended with Atlas Tracker Grenade
• Get Throwin’ now properly increases Heavy Weapon Ordnance damage

Visual, Audio, and Animation updates to Guns and Gear:

• Restored prefixes to Tediore Legendary Grenade UAV
• Order Legendary Pistol Bully with Hyperion Shield enhancement now display with all parts on the item card
• Repkit will no longer disappear when trying to heal after climbing
• Corrected animations for Daedalus SMGs with Atlas Underbarrel attachments when switching
• Corrected audio on the Daedalus Legendary Shotgun Missilaser
• Maliwan Legendary Shotgun Mantra now shows the Amara Phase Fist when fired
• Adjusted effects on Maliwan Legendary SMG Ohm I Got and Daedalus Legendary Shotgun Missilaser to be consistent throughout gameplay
• Adjusted animation on Tediore Shotguns to prevent shell cases from appearing when using secondary fire
• Tediore weapons no longer explode when thrown if they overlap with water
• Tediore Assault Rifles and Pistols have consistent laser sights on gear
• Effects for Vladof Legendary Assault Rifle Whiskey Foxtrot will now expire as intended
• Adjusted reload animation for Ripper Shotguns with CoV magazines
• Adjusted Ripper effects when shooting Ripper guns with Maliwan-licensed underbarrel parts
• Ripper Grenade Transmitter effects have been restored when they are despawning
• Adjusted missing effects of needles when using the Order Legendary Sniper Rifle Rooker

Audio & Visuals

• Vault Hunter voices now return to normal after unequipping the Kittycopter head customization
• Marcus now talks at the proper time
• The second round of the Goredello will now announce the enemy type
• Updated various sound effects to play while fighting Bloomreaper
• Updates to various incorrect or missing VO lines
• Damage numbers have been removed when continuing to shoot Arjay when the fight has ended
• Corrected ECHO-4 appearance when using the ECHO-IVIV frame and Nurple paintjob customization
• Ensured Vex the Siren's tattoos glow as intended with all skins
• Melee animations for Rafa the Exo-Soldier will now play correctly in multiplayer
• Characters can now climb after double jumping at the Abandoned Post Safehouse in the Coastal Bonescape
• Resolved climbing animations not syncing in multiplayer
• Using the grapple point by the propaganda speaker in The Howl will now take the player to the roof of the house
• Adjusted Idolator Sol animations when buying Boss replay in multiplayer
• Reduced the brightness of Seeker Witness’ laser effects
• Ripsaw’s rotating blade effect will now disappear after death
• Minister Screw's triangle effects now disappear after death
• Ensured Bruce’s head consistently disappeared in multiplayer during Angry Mob mission
• Addressed reported instances of NPCs performing their animations early or in the wrong locations
• Adjusted effects on power cores during the “Powerdrop” Mission
• Carried items will no longer become attached to a weapon after firing and reloading quickly
• Adjusted fading distance in the intro
• Addressed hitching with Vault Hunter saves in the main menu
• Reduced the number of unused materials throughout the game
• Prevented Shield Boosters from blocking the screen
• Trees inside buildings no longer blow in the wind
• Missing animations when destroying the grate near the Vault Fragment in Tonnage Peel have been restored
• Unintended transition effects will no longer appear on players outside of Vile Lictor boss arena
• Fire no longer starts popping when getting closer to Dominion
• Prevented flickering after opening an Electi Safe
• Haybales in The Howl no longer show glass VFX when hit
• House now displays properly during Breeding Daisies
• The lights on the Candlelight Catastrophe skin now flash consistently
• Ensured the launch pad in Cuspid Climb is consistent with other launch pad areas
• The Black Market Vending Machine will no longer have an obstructed view if spawned in Tonnage Peel
• Lowered several floating items
• Addressed multiple cases of lootables not being able to be opened
• Updated various cinematics for consistency
• Addressed clipping, missing collision, out-of-bounds access, stuck spots, and visual errors in various areas of the game

UI, Text, Localization

• Sorting in the Customization Menu now defaults to show Unlocked Customizations first
• Corrected an issue causing the Backpack to appear empty after filtering
• Repkits now appear as intended in Inventory
• Addressed a reported issue causing Vault Cards to not update or progress in multiplayer
• Addressed a reported issue causing Vault Card progress to reset or disappear after a disconnect
• Vault Cards will no longer carry over progress if the same challenge reappears after the daily reset
• Updates to Vault Card UI
• Various optimization updates to UI
• Addressed various reported issues with scroll bar, sorting, and menu UI
• Updated localization, various text descriptions, subtitle timings, icon visibility, and alignment across the game
• Material thumbnails in the Customization menu now appear correctly
• Updated Credits

Splitscreen

• “Flip Card” functionality has been restored after level transitions
• Corrected various scrolling issues in the Vault Cards Menu during splitscreen
• Corrected a case of a persistent “Logging in” message when a secondary player joins splitscreen
• The Golden Chest will no longer get stuck with the “Transaction in Progress” message when the secondary player leaves after opening
• Both splitscreen players will now see all mission items during “Breeding Daisies” mission
• Resolved an issue with Recent Friends not functioning as intended when a player is added to splitscreen during gameplay
• Adjusted Vault Card UI to prevent overlapping or not displaying the entire Item Card
• Vehicle FOV will now change for both players
• Adjusted nameplate text sizes to scale correctly in splitscreen
• Updated various UI elements for correct placement and to prevent overlapping

Player Experience

• [Console Only] Several instances of incorrect gear meshes have been corrected on consoles
• [PC Only] Adjusted default mouse sensitivity and added a setting option to disable mouse smoothing
• Blended facial animations for better optimization
• Visual optimizations for Jakobs Legendary Shotgun Rainbow Vomit
• Optimizations to Mission Menu
• Various improvements to stability and optimization

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Severance star Ólafur Darri Ólafsson will play Thor in the live-action God of War show for Prime Video.

Amazon and Sony announced the cast update today, revealing who will play the Norse God of Thunder in its upcoming series adaptation of the beloved PlayStation franchise. It’s one of the biggest updates to the show yet, with Ólafsson now set to wield Mjolnir against Ryan Hurst and his portrayal of Kratos.

Check out this big price drop on a lightweight gaming mouse with no lack of flair. Starting today, Amazon has dropped the price of the SteelSeries Counter-Strike 2 Dragon Lore Limited Edition wireless gaming mouse to just $56.76 after a massive 62% off discount. Historically speaking, the price of this mouse was fixed at $150 since it first released last July... until today. The Dragon Lore Edition gets points for its gorgeous design, but it also happens to be an excellent performer for any gamer looking for a lightweight mouse with top-of-the-line accuracy and precision.

SteelSeries CS2 Dragon Lore Edition Mouse for $56.76

Magic: The Gathering has a frankly ridiculous schedule for 2026, but while the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Hobbit, Marvel heroes, and Star Trek are on their way, we’re starting the year with Lorwyn Eclipsed.

An in-universe set that’s seeing positive buzz already, thanks to being a return to a fan-favorite plane and the fact that there’s no City Pigeon or Hot Dog Cart in sight, it launched on January 23 but is getting a discount already.

Amazon is offering a Play Booster Box of 30 packs for $129.98, a 21% drop from the list price of $164.70.

Update: These systems are now sold out.

Dell Outlet just restocked its inventory of refurbished Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5070 Ti gaming PCs. Currently you can get one for just $1,650 with free delivery. Dell Outlet systems have the same 1 year warranty as buying brand new. They're often only available in very small quantities, so it won't be surprising if this configuration sells out quickly. With the recent RTX 5070 Ti shortage scare, prices on both GPUs and prebuilt gaming PCs have skyrocketed. This is a rare opportunity to get a complete system with warranty at a very reasonable price.

Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5070 Ti Gaming PC for $1,650

Like New: Refurbished model with 1 year Dell warranty

Rainbow Six Siege is getting a Metal Gear Solid crossover, as Ubisoft is teasing that Solid Snake will appear as a new Operator in Year 11.

A 15-second clip for the tactical action game’s next roadmap lays it on thick, showing not just a faceless body wearing a familiar sneaking suit but a Metal Gear Solid 1-style Codec Call from none other than Splinter Cell star Sam Fisher. It’s the kind of crossover fans have dreamed about for decades, brought to life as Ubisoft teases a full reveal for the Year 11 roadmap that’s scheduled to take place next month, February 15, at 8 a.m. PT / 11 a.m. ET on the Rainbow Six Siege Twitch page.

It’s unclear if today’s tease is just for the Solid Snake Operator or if fans should instead expect a selection of skins from Konami as well, but judging by the fanfare surrounding the reveal, it looks like Ubisoft went all out for this latest collaboration. Either way, the Solid Snake teaser marks what is likely the most exciting Operator in the last 10 years.

There were some early signs that Rainbow Six Siege could soon meet the world of Metal Gear Solid. Reputable dataminer @Shiiny77 suggested a collaboration was in the cards for Year 11 Season 1 just last week, teasing that “it is not just a skin collaboration” like fans have seen in the past. Insider Gaming later said it was able to independently verify the leak as well.

“There is so much out of this collab and the season itself, its so packed,” @Shiiny77 added at the time.

Metal Gear Solid may be one of the wildest crossovers for Rainbow Six Siege so far, but it’s far from the first. Other recent collaborations have brought the Attack on Titan and The Boys universes into the fold with various cosmetics for existing Operators. Splinter Cell didn’t launch with the game when it first launched back in 2015, but Sam Fisher did go on to get his own Operator in the form of Specialist Zero in 2020.

We’ll learn more about what this official meeting between Solid Snake has in store February 15. In the meantime, Rainbow Six Siege recently received a massive 10-year update to become Rainbow Six Siege X. You can check out why we think it’s now an 8/10 in our review.

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