Games are often at their funniest when they’re not trying to be. It’s the Skyrim NPC who’s determined to deliver their stock line, apparently totally unperturbed by the dragon attack happening just behind him. It’s watching your custom character enter a sombre cutscene, standing eight feet tall and wearing a banana outfit. There’s something about the way games stoically keep up the pretense that this is all real, no matter how broken things have become in the moment, that’s sheer comedy gold.

What about the games who dare to be funny on purpose, though? That’s a rarer collective. If comedy’s all about timing, and games are all about giving you the agency to go and do what you like, when you like – well, you can see the problem. But some brave pieces of software still manage to pull it off in the face of that adversity, and we’ve corralled ten of the best ever to do so, from vintage point-and-clicks to more recent hits, from indies to blockbusters.

Trying to to decide a ranked list or order of funniness seemed like too serious a task for the subject matter – comedy is, of course, completely subjective, so your mileage may vary – but with that in mind, here are IGN’s picks for the ten funniest games of all time. Settle in, and be ready to wishlist a few titles to counteract that Last Of Us Part 2 playthrough.

Promise Mascot Agency

You could be forgiven for thinking at first glance that Promise Mascot Agency was yet another run-of-the-mill open-world mascot management simulator. It is not. Made by Paradise Killer developer Kaizen Game Works, what we have here is a town full of oddities, a van full of gas, and a story so convoluted and absurd that to describe it is to stare into the eye of madness.

There are kittens in railway administration roles. There are weeping mascots doing their level best to cheer up the patrons of a bookstore. There’s the constant threat of organized crime, looming in the background while you hit a dirt ramp in your van, which then sprouts wings to catch some sick air.

In simple terms, you’re a former Yakuza trying to lay low by operating a mascot business in the suburbs, managing the constant time and financial pressures that such a business must withstand. It’s narrative-led, but also totally freewheeling and nonsensical, and that gives Promise Mascot Agency the feeling that you’re playing one big elaborate, open-world improv. Yes, and... play it.

Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery

A small sloth is experiencing a haunting. A welcome sign for an invisible wizard has been vandalized, and corruption runs rife in Cowboy County. Grave, deeply serious matters, all of them, which, as a frog with a magnifying glass, you must address.

And yet here Frog Detective is on this list of funny games. Granted, you don’t often see detectives holding their sides and trying to contain their laughter on the job, but there’s just something about peering at a crime suspect through a giant magnifying glass and seeing only a sheep in a short-sleeved shirt giving you a benign and unwavering smile. It’s irrepressibly funny.

The mysteries are brief affairs, and exceptionally easy to solve. Instead of challenges for the grey matter, Grace Bruxner and Thomas Bowker’s trio of Frog Detective mysteries are just setups for wholesome farces, soundtracked by surprisingly catching low-fi jazz, and set in a universe of unwavering positivity and can-do attitudes. You might only be the second-best detective around, but you’re having the best time.

South Park: The Stick Of Truth

To say South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker like pushing the boundaries of taste and decency is a bit like saying Nathan Drake’s got decent grip strength, or that Blizzard’s quite fond of a loot box here and there. As such, there are entire sequences in the wondrous South Park: The Stick of Truth that we couldn’t possibly describe – nor remain straight faced at.

Stone and Parker were deeply involved as collaborators with the role-playing masters at developer Obsidian for this razor-sharp 2014 RPG. A story about a new kid trying to befriend his peers during an elaborate game of fantasy LARPing, the duo’s involvement lends it the same quality of observational humour about gaming that made Make Love, Not Warcraft an all-timer of an episode

Why does it work? Well, let’s take farting as an example. If you’re older than seven, you’re probably not in a fit of hysterics when you first learn that farts can be used as an attack in combat. But The Stick of Truth commits to the bit and makes passing gas more than a passing gag, turning it into a shockingly detailed and nuanced mechanic, to the point that you’re learning new fart moves from NPCs like unlocking new dragon shouts in Skyrim. Considering all that, it’s hard not to submit to South Park’s confrontationally juvenile gag.

Octodad: Dadliest Catch

“Nobody suspects a thing.” That’s what the wonderful soundtrack for Octodad: Dadliest Catch keeps telling you as you do your best to maintain the facade that you’re just a normal, everyday human husband and father and not – and I’m not sure why you’d ever even think this – an octopus wearing a suit.

As core premises go, they don’t get much better than that. There’s a whole subgenre of physics-based slapstick to address when you’re talking about funny games, and the likes of Baby Steps, Goat Simulator and Surgeon Simulator deserve their dues. But nobody’s married the physical comedy of an obtuse control set to an genuinely emotional premise quite as well as Young Horses did in 2017. As you lollop around quaint suburban locations like grocery stores, offices and your own beautifully decorated home, trying to avoid suspicion by moving in as human a manner possible and knocking the bare minimum of objects over with your flailing tentacles, the real hook is that you actually care about keeping Octodad’s secret.

The Stanley Parable

If it wasn’t handled so precisely, The Stanley Parable would be too meta, too confusing, and too pleased with itself to enjoy. But somehow it avoids such a fate, instead making walking along the same corridor over and over again feel like a delight, and hearing a new line of Kevan Brighting’s silky voiceover akin to finding a super-secret armor set in Dark Souls.

Precisely what the eponymous parable is depends on your particular playthrough. Stanley’s experiencing a kind of Groundhog Day in which the only constants are that he wakes up at his desk in an office, and that all his coworkers have disappeared.

You’ll live for centuries in some playthroughs, depending on what seem at the time like arbitrary choices like going through one door or another. In other playthroughs, it’ll all be over in a few minutes and you’ll barely have left your desk before you reach an ending. The writing is playfully self-aware throughout as it deconstructs this whole interactive media thing, but the biggest joke of all is the silliness of its premise. Quite simply, how much game can one make about a character walking through an empty world devoid of characters, and whose only interactions come down to choosing between forks in the road? Enough to warrant an expanded Ultra Deluxe Edition almost a decade later, clearly.

West of Loathing

There probably wasn’t much worth laughing about for those living in the wild West, what with all the spoiled meat and dysentery (cards on the table, much of our historical knowledge comes from The Oregon Trail). But it’s certainly been a rich vein of comedy for everyone from Blazing Saddles, The Three Amiigos and City Slickers, all the way to West of Loathing, a black and white, 2D side-scrolling adventure RPG with an incredible gag rate.

Every book title, every item description, every NPC interaction, they’re all just jam-packed with warm, clever jokes. So much so that as you play, you find yourself turning into one of those completionist maniacs that read every book in Skyrim or piece together Dark Souls lore, just to ensure you soak up every last drop of the good stuff. The game’s smart about training you to play that way, too: in your home during the opening, if you look at enough books on the shelf you’ll eventually find one that grants you the ‘perk’ of having a silly walk. From that point on you know you’ve got to get your nose into every monochrome corner of this old West caper.

Portal 2

Feel free to swap in the first game here, if you’re particularly into the cake and the musical finale. Portal certainly set a high bar for humour in and around the Aperture Science test chambers and established an unforgettably menacing foil in GLaDOS. The only way to top it? Portal 2: the sequel featuring Stephen Merchant, a potato, and a double-cross that nobody saw coming.

Wheatley is comedy gold throughout the, er – ambitious AI’s character arc. At first it’s his simple ineptitude that tugs at the corners of your mouth. Then it’s hearing that friendly British regional accent spit absolute malice at you. Finally, the absolute absurdity of a final showdown between one sadistic rogue AI trapped in a potato and another who’s rapidly discovering their hunger for power is not matched by their problem-solving skills. Oh, and there’s another song.

Imagine how punishing all those puzzles would be if they weren’t punctuated by such immaculately delivered comedic beats. Would you have tried so hard to figure out exactly where to place all that colored goo? No, exactly. Nobody would.

Time Gentlemen, Please!

Ben and Dan have a humble ambition: they want to watch a Magnum PI marathon on TV. Quite how this turns into a cataclysmic event that accidentally enslaves all of humanity is not easy to piece together, but it is enjoyable.

It’s also the kind of setup that an early ‘90s point-and-click would have been proud of, and developer Zombie Cow Studios is ready to give a reverential nod to many of those classic titles. There are posters for Sam & Max and Full Throttle dotted around on walls in the background. There’s an undead kid called Gilbert, along with quoted lines from Ron Gilbert’s Monkey Island series. But rather than retread that old ground for nostalgia’s sake, Time Gentlemen, Please! Has its fun by poking fun at the old genre conventions, pointing out the inherent absurdity of carrying around massive inventories of random items in the hope they’ll be useful later. Not that making a TV aerial out of a coat hanger and accidentally time-travelling is any less absurd, of course.

The Secret of Monkey Island

LucasArts ruled the ‘90s when it came to point-and-clicks, but it’s 1990’s Secret of Monkey Island where the most precious comedy gold is buried. Guybrush Threepwood might walk around telling everyone he’s a mighty pirate, but his immutable golden retriever energy makes it difficult to believe that he’s the one who’ll pass the Three Trials required for full pirate status, take on the Dread Pirate LeChuck and win Governor Elaine’s heart. Not to mention his proclivity for stuffing random objects into his pants. Not your typical swashbuckler, this guy(brush).

This was the game that gave us insult sword-fighting, a verbal disagreement turned into a tense combat system that only Ron Gilbert’s LucasArts team could pull off. It’s also a game that manages to make (very) early nineties pop culture references sit flush with age-old pirate fantasy. Thus, we have a tropical island where a fast-talking used boat salesman in a bad tweed blazer is waiting to accost you, and where vending machines line the streets. The puzzle logic might be up for debate, but its ear for funny can’t be called into question, even three decades on.

Disco Elysium

Your first clue that this isometric RPG might not be entirely straight-faced comes in Disco Elysium’s very opening scene, in which your hungover protagonist can over-exert himself reaching for his necktie and simply die. Game over, try again. That’s a heck of a way to set a tone.

There are also frequent moments of real pathos, horror, and tragedy in ZA/UM’s 2019 RPG masterclass, and they’re so well written that it never feels dissonant that five minutes later when you’re smashing a lorry window, one of the options is to “smash it, apologetically.”

Pleasingly, the funniest character in the game is you, the player, in control of an alcoholic cop who can’t remember where he parked his car (it's in the ocean) and who, after asking his partner to borrow their gun, puts it straight in their mouth in front of the armed wing of a dockworker’s union. No matter how unseriously you take your role, Disco Elysium has a way of simply rolling with it without ever undermining the darker narrative beats when they arrive.

And that concludes today’s listing of IGN’s pick of the funniest games of all time. We hope you agree with our choices, or at the very least are not angry at us for telling you about them in an effort to inform you about something that might make you laugh. What are your favorite comedy video games? Let us know in the comments below.

Phil Iwaniuk is a veteran hardware smasher and game botherer who has written for the likes of PC Format, Official PlayStation Magazine, PCGamesN, The Guardian, Eurogamer, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, and IGN. He won an award once, but he doesn't like to go on about it.

Fans of Stardew Valley are eager to get married... again. To whom? They don't know. But they're hoping their bride/groom will be a couple of individuals in particular.

To understand why, take a look back at our own interview with ConcernedApe, where he exclusively revealed to us that the next update, 1.7, would include two new marriageable characters. He wouldn't say who they were, and we don't even know if these will be brand new characters or existing characters that suddenly become available. While ConcernedApe will let us know later this month on the game's 10th anniversary, that hasn't stopped people from wildly speculating who it'll be, and there are a few theories reigning supreme right now.

Logically, we can put together that we will likely get both a man and a woman, as all the other candidates have opposite-gender pairings for events like the Flower Dance. To find out who the most popular people in the game for romance were, Reddit user JeffTheKillerFa put together a poll for fans to see who came out on top. They've since posted the results, showing Sandy coming out waaay ahead of the other single women (Marnie was in second place), and the Wizard winning the vote for single men.

But interestingly, fans have latched onto another possibility that we could see in 1.7: breaking up an existing couple. The poll also asked fans who of the currently married individuals in the valley they wanted to steal. Robin was the clear winner, with players clearly not losing any sleep over breaking her up with Demetrius. That's even something ConcernedApe has discussed as a possibility before! But Caroline (currently married to general store owner Pierre) was also a favorite.

As a bit of a gag, the poll also included a section for "non-giftable" characters, or individuals who you can't currently form even a friendship with due to a lack of ability to give gifts and limited dialogue options. Marlon of the Adventurer's Guild was a pretty obvious winner here, followed by Gunther from the museum. And in a final poll, it seems like people don't necessarily want to marry the Dwarf, but like Krobus, they wish she would move in as a roommate.

These poll results do seem to line up roughly with comments posted all over the community since our interview about who people want to see. However, there's one character that got some attention on socials who wasn't in the poll at all:

One Piece fans, it’s your time. The latest trailer for season 2 of Netflix's live-action adaptation TV show is here, and it’s full of fan-favorite moments.

Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates are still on their search for the One Piece treasure in this new sneak peek, which sees the characters leave East Blue and start their first adventure in the Grand Line — which is fitting for the season's full title, One Piece: Into the Grand Line.

During this portion of their journey toward the treasure, they stop in Loguetown and also meet the Baroque Works, a criminal syndicate who appear to have sinister intentions for Luffy and his gang.

All aboard for the ONE PIECE: INTO THE GRAND LINE trailer! 🏴‍☠️ The crew returns March 10. pic.twitter.com/or6GBSc6Fk

— Netflix (@netflix) February 10, 2026

The new trailer also gives fans a glimpse of some really cool recognizable elements in the series that will get the TV treatment this season, like Zoro’s fight with members of the Baroque Works from the Whiskey Peak story arc, the Straw Hat Pirates getting eaten by a whale named Laboon, and Luffy’s group finding dinosaurs among the Baroque Works members they stumble upon on the Little Garden island.

The visual also highlights some new characters and actors being added in season 2, namely David Dastmalchian as Mr. 3, Charithra Chandran as Miss Wednesday, and Lera Abova as Miss All Sunday. Mikaela Hoover will also voice Chopper, a talking reindeer who serves as a doctor in the Straw Hat Pirates.

The show is an adaptation of the 1997 manga series by Eiichiro Oda and stars Iñaki Godoy as Luffy. Season 2 of the series is set to premiere on March 10 — and Netflix has already greenlit a third season, so we’re excited to jump back into the quest.

Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.

Developer Embark Studios has published Arc Raiders update 1.15.0, adding a new PvE-focused event and new rewards while (finally) squashing an infamous duplication glitch.

Patch notes posted to its official website detail what is a surprisingly hefty update ahead of February’s Shrouded Sky content drop. While fans continue to wait for a new Arc threat and Raider Deck, today’s changes bring back a fan-favorite event while delivering a new mode with its own set of cosmetics to unlock.

You watch my back, I'll watch yours - that’s how Speranza keeps ticking 🫶
Join your fellow Raiders in celebrating the Shared Watch; team up with strangers, turn your barrels on the machines, and earn rewards in the process.

The Shared Watch Event begins tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/ssYtkLxZ4r

— ARC Raiders (@ARCRaidersGame) February 9, 2026

Arc Raiders players who drop into Speranza will find Shared Watch as update 1.15.0’s most notable addition. The limited-time event, which ends February 24, asks Raiders to team up with friends and strangers against Arc to earn merits. Merits unlock rewards that range from tools like a Vita Spray or acoustic guitar to permanent unlocks like the Slugger set or even a little rooster-sized helmet for Scrappy. Killing Arc is the best way to progress, making the Shared Watch Event more of a PvE mode as Embark warns that no Merits can be earned from PvP encounters.

“The Shared Watch is an annual holiday that reminds us of the true enemy, by celebrating those that look out for their fellow Raiders,” the studio said in its patch notes. “Tolerate, team-up, or take out some ARC - it’s all in the spirit of the Shared Watch.”

The Arc Raiders team has also brought back the winter Cold Snap event back as a map condition after its removal last month. Players will also notice the Trailblazer has been hit with a nerf that lowers its damage to large Arc like Leapers and Bastions, while removing its ability to do damage through walls.

These things, along with a list of bug fixes, are the headlines for update 1.15.0, but one of the most important changes actually arrived in a surprise hotfix just moments after the patch went live. In a post on X/Twitter, Embark announced the hotfix should do away with the item dupe glitch that recently wormed its way back into the game. As the studio continues to tackle reports of cheaters, the post also says players who “duplicated excessive amounts of items will be subject to further review and possible penalties.”

“Nothing beats earning your loot the hard way, now get back out there and stack those coins honestly!”

Arc Raiders players had been using the latest version of the dupe glitch to illegitimately hoard items and even make lots of quick cash. It resulted in some awkward situations, as Raiders found themselves coming across mountains of valuable little ducks.

Embark is continuing through its Escalation roadmap, which will see new map conditions, new Arc threats, a new map, a new large Arc, and more added by the end of April. Its next Expedition launches February 25, bringing along a few changes for players unhappy with the rank reset feature the first time around.

We recently sat down with Embark CEO Patrick Söderlund for an interview to learn more about the post-launch roadmap, punishments for cheaters, hotels in Italy, and how the team plans to encourage PvE players. We also learned about how the success of Arc Raiders has changed the studio for the better.

You can see the full patch notes for the new update below.

Arc Raiders Update 1.15.0 Patch Notes

Raiders,

What happens topside, stays topside - Raiders have to leave their grudges at the tubes.

But Speranza also has a conscience. While Raider violence can’t be totally controlled, Celeste is keen to remind us why we took refuge under the dust of the Rust Belt; and that just because we live in the dirt, we don’t always have to act like it.

The Shared Watch is an annual holiday that reminds us of the true enemy, by celebrating those that look out for their fellow Raiders. Tolerate, team-up, or take out some ARC - it’s all in the spirit of the Shared Watch.

What’s New?

• Shared Watch
  • This is an opportunity to team up in the fight against the machines.
  • The Shared Watch Event starts today and ends on February 24. Players will earn merits from destroying, assisting and damaging ARC and earn rewards. No merits will be earned from PvP encounters. Bring a friend or bring a stranger, but above all, bring enough ammo to make sure the machines notice you first.
• Cold Snap Map Condition
  • Winter is not quite done with the Rust Belt - We are bringing back Cold Snap!
  • The map condition is back in rotation on outdoor maps with the same mix of risk and reward. Frostbite damage will make your trip topside a short one if you don’t seek shelter, but for those who do brave the tundra - there’s increased loot value at stake!
  • You can still collect Candleberries, but they are no longer tied to any event. You can also collect, and throw, snowballs! Use them wisely, or don't.
• Cosmetics
  • The Vulpine set
  • The Slugger set

Content and Bug Fixes

Some of you have noticed changes in past updates that didn’t make it into the patch notes, thank you for flagging those and keeping us on our toes!

We’ve been building ARC Raiders for years, but we’ve only been live for a short while, and we’re still growing into the rhythm (and discipline) of live operations. Making patch notes that are complete, accurate, and easy to follow is a muscle we’re actively training.

We’re improving our internal process so fewer things slip through, and when something does, your reports help us catch it quickly and update the notes. Please keep letting us know when you spot something missing, it genuinely helps.

Miscellaneous

• Improved instances where players sometimes could not reconnect after disconnecting from a game.
• Fixed an issue where the match start tunnel scene sometimes wasn’t being shown.
• Fixed an issue where trials’ objective rewards could fail to grant at the end of a round due to a timeout, ensuring partial rewards are awarded when earned.
• Fixed an issue where the end of round screen would sometimes show incorrect merits, XP, and Live Event points.
• Fixed an issue where players’ platform icons would sometimes show incorrectly.
• Fixed an issue where crafting would sometimes get cancelled.

Utility

• Trailblazer Grenade
  • The explosions no longer deal damage through walls.
  • Deals more damage to small enemies but less damage to bigger enemies such as the Leaper and Bastion.

Weapons

• Fixed inconsistent weapon cycling when bound to keys other than the mouse wheel; keybinds now swap weapons reliably.

Known Issues

• One of the Marco set helmet variants may appear incorrectly in preview and in the menu but will appear correctly in game.
• Players may occasionally not receive a skill point as indicated in the result screen. A reboot/playing another round fixes the issue.
• ‘Purchase Raider Tokens’ page may appear in front of the inbox and profile page when switching between them.
• Player animations may appear broken when interrupting a search of the Baron Husk.
• Certain containers may be unavailable to be interacted with.
• Ziplines placed onto destroyed ARC parts will not appear correctly.
• Scrappy “Batting Helmet” and the “Slugger” outfit might not appear correctly in the event preview.
• The “Blindsided” achievement may not trigger as intended on the first attempt.

See you Topside,
//Ossen
And the ARC Raiders Team

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).

February's line-up of games for the PlayStation Plus catalog have leaked online, and include a major PS5 blockbuster.

According to the ever-reliable dealabs leaker billbil-kun, Sony is set to confirm Marvel's Spider-Man 2 as this month's headline game for PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers.

Insomniac's well-received web-slinging sequel will be joined by PS5 online racer Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown, plus arty indie Neva for both PS4 and PS5, all available to claim from February 17.

Originally released in October 2023, Spider-Man 2 is Insomniac Games' third major Marvel blockbuster, following its original Spider-Man game and follow-up Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Both Spidey men appear in the sequel, as the pair work together to defeat Kraven the Hunter and tackle the Venom symbiote.

The appearance of Spider-Man 2 in Sony's catalog comes at an interesting time. Just over a year on from the game's January 2025 launch for PC, Insomniac's adventure also arrives as hype mounts for its next game, Marvel's Wolverine, which we may well see more of later this week in PlayStation's big State of Play broadcast. Indeed, we may even see these games announced officially during the show.

"Marvel's Spider-Man 2 delivers Insomniac's best tale yet, and despite its open world falling short, is a reliably fun superhero power trip," IGN wrote in our Spider-Man 2 review, awarding it 8/10.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown launched in 2024 to mixed reviews. "Forced online requirements, inconsistent AI difficulty, a stale car list, and chore-like progression all undermine Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown's otherwise robust driving and eye-catching open world," IGN's 5/10 review noted.

Neva arrived in October 2024 to a positive response for its arty side-scrolling puzzle-platforming, meanwhile — catch gameplay of it just above.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Enjoy this exclusive new boss battle gameplay from Mouse: P.I. for Hire, the upcoming rubber hose-animated first-person shooter starring Troy Baker as Detective Jack Pepper. In this video you'll see Jack taking on the Third Wife in the Spooky Village.

In the four-minute gameplay video (which you can watch below), you'll see Jack's flashlight coming in handy as he attempts to take down the Third Wife. You also get a look at multiple weapons in action – all animated as if they came straight out of a 1930's Steamboat Willie cartoon.

Check out the original reveal trailer and our first preview if you haven't seen them already. Even more recently than those, though, don't miss our exclusive early-campaign gameplay and our overview of Mouse's wild arsenal.

Mouse: P.I. for Hire will be released on March 19 for PC, PlayStation platforms, Xbox platforms, and Nintendo Switch platforms. Wishlist it on Steam if you're interested.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

Mamoru Oshii, the director of legendary anime movie Ghost in the Shell, has said that he's played Fallout 4 for 10,000 hours while avoiding its main quest.

In a Japanese video interview to mark the 30th anniversary of Ghost in the Shell, Oshii chatted about his love of games — and specifically Fallout 4.

"Looking at Steam, my playtime (in Fallout 4) is around 8,000 hours but before that I played it on PlayStation, so I think altogether I've put in about 10,000 hours," explained Oshii, the director behind anime cyberpunk movie Ghost in the Shell and its sequel Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, in remarks translated by IGN. "I'm still playing now," he added.

Amazon's sale on select PS5 games has been filled with great offers. If you're a Sonic fan, we've spotted some especially nice discounts for PlayStation 5 that are worth taking advantage of while they're still available.

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, Sonic X Shadow Generations, Sonic Superstars, and Sonic Frontiers have all dropped to excellent low prices at the retailer, offering up to 67% off in savings. If you've had your eye on one of them (or all of them), now's a great time to pick them up.

We found a lot to enjoy in all of the above games. Both Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and Sonic x Shadow Generations earned 9s in their respective reviews from IGN's Jada Griffin. So what makes CrossWorlds stand out? It "fires on all cylinders with a fantastic roster, excellent courses, and lengthy list of customization options." And as for Sonic X Shadow Generations, it "takes an already excellent game and spring jumps it to new heights with a creative Shadow campaign and an appreciable graphical upgrade."

On the other hand, Sonic Superstars and Sonic Frontiers each earned a 7 in their respective reviews. Griffin found that Sonic Superstars "has a mix of both interesting and ill-advised new ideas, making it an enjoyable Sonic game but not exactly a Super one." Sonic Frontiers was reviewed by writer Travis Northup, who said it's "an ambitious open-world adventure that mostly succeeds at mixing up the Sonic formula, even when some of its ideas fall flat."

No matter what kind of Sonic adventure you're looking to drop into, these offers seem well worth taking advantage of before they're gone. Amazon has plenty more worth checking out in its sale on select PS5 games right now as well, including discounts on Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Silent Hill f, and more.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.

Magic: The Gathering is going crossover mad for its 2026 main sets, and while Marvel Super Heroes, The Hobbit, and Star Trek are yet to come, we’re just weeks away from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set.

Whereas we didn’t get any Universes Beyond Commander Precon decks for Magic’s most popular format in the Spider-Man and Avatar: The Last Airbender sets, however, we’re getting just one in the TMNT set - and Amazon has knocked $10 off the price already.

Are you ready for the whole bloody affair? If you’re a Quentin Tarantino fan, you should be, because the ultimate version of his fourth film, Kill Bill, now officially has a VOD release date for the complete version, Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair.

According to Apple, the Tarantino opus will be available to rent beginning on February 17 with a $19.99 price tag. It is currently available to pre-order on their platform. As for Amazon, it does not have the new version listed for rent yet at the time of this writing, so keep your eyes peeled if that’s your preferred platform.

As the story goes, Kill Bill was originally conceived as one film by Tarantino himself, before he was forced to split the four-and-a-bit hours of film down the middle. In doing this, the movie was forced to be released in two parts, though Tarantino avoided the cuts that would have been necessary to trim everything down to just one part — a small price to pay. However, Tarantino has specified that The Whole Bloody Affair represents the true way to watch the film.

That said, it’ll be great for fans who didn’t get a chance to catch the film during the limited theatrical run to finally get to see it at home. The release was announced back in October 2025 and a trailer dropped the following month in November. The nationwide theatrical run began on December 5, and on top of seeing the two films as one, the new version included never-before-seen scenes and a Fortnite tie-in short film at the end.

In late January, it was also confirmed that a 4K physical release of the film will be coming as well, but there's no word yet on exactly when to expect the set. Until then, you’ve got the digital version coming your way very soon, so sharpen your Hatori Hanzo sword.

Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.

It Takes Two and Split Fiction director Josef Fares has posted the first photo from the set of developer Hazelight Studios' next project.

The image shows Fares, dressed in a cosy-looking sweater, in front of three actors in performance capture suits. Clearly, work has now begun on Fares' next game — and intriguingly, he seems to be doing his best to disguise who the actors are.

With his arm outstretched and thumb raised, Fares is successfully blocking most of all three actors' faces — and this appears to be by design. "Next game in the making," Fares captioned the post, with a thumbs up emoji. "We're back in the kitchen, cookin' up something really delicious," the official Hazelight Studios social media account responded, adding: "Now with Strategic Arm Placement Tech."

✌️We’re back in the kitchen, cookin’ up something really delicious! 🥘

Now with Strategic Arm Placement Tech®️

— Hazelight Studios (@HazelightGames) February 10, 2026

Fans of Fares' games have commented on the post to say they are suitably uncertain who the actors involved might be — though many more have noted the fact that Fares is using this first sneak peek to showcase three actors being visible. Could this signify a three-player game, after the studio's recent focus on titles featuring a pair of prominent characters?

"Three-player Hazelight Game?" wondered one fan, Spenny99. "It Takes Three?????" questioned Jcbartlett25. "It Takes Three lookin great Mr. Fares," added hotpicklepizza.

Co-op adventure Split Fiction launched last year to rave reviews, and went on to sell more than 4 million copies. Its story focuses on a pair of writers, Zoe and Mio, who become trapped in their interweaving sci-fi and fantasy narratives.

"An expertly crafted co-op adventure that pinballs from one genre extreme to another, Split Fiction is a rollercoaster of constantly refreshed gameplay ideas and styles – and one that’s very hard to walk away from," IGN wrote in our Split Fiction review, awarding the game 9/10.

Fares' previous game It Takes Two also proved popular, with its story focused on a husband and wife who plan to get a divorce. We called it "a beautiful, breakneck-paced, co-op adventure that’s bubbling over with creativity," in IGN's It Takes Two review, which also returned a 9/10.

Before that, Fares previously released prison escape adventure A Way Out, starring two convicts, and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, starring... two sons. Should Fares actually be making a three-player game, it would indeed be a break from the norm.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Joining next month's lineup of LEGO releases is another very cute set: the LEGO Ideas Floating Sea Otters. If you're dying to add this delightful build to your collection, preorders are already live so you don't have to wait. Both Amazon and the LEGO Store have it up for preorder right now for $119.99, so you can secure the set for yourself ahead of its March 1 release date.

Preorder LEGO Ideas Floating Sea Otters

This adorable set certainly seems like a sweet display to have as well. Coming with 1,234 pieces, it sees you creating a mother otter relaxing in water, but it also comes with a removable brick-built otter pup that she can be posed snuggling with. Seriously, it's too cute.

The mother otter's head, mouth, arms, and flippers can be moved around and posed in different ways as well, so you can choose how you want to show her off once you've finished building. There's even a buildable clam that can be added into the environment. Have a look at this sweet set in closer detail below.

The Floating Sea Otters set is just one of many great new LEGO sets dropping in March, though. If you're curious to see what else is expected to arrive next month, LEGO Winnie the Pooh and Piglet sets will be joining the party, along with the set of Sauron’s Helmet and the LEGO Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Final Battle set.

And while these are looking ahead to next month, it doesn't mean February has been without its own exciting releases. This month's release lineup is filled with great new sets, including the brand new Pokémon LEGO sets which are going to be released toward the end of the month on February 27.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.

Supermassive Games has finally nailed down when we'll get to play Directive 8020, its next slice of narrative horror.

The sci-fi survival game will launch on May 12 for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. On consoles, pre-orders are available now, and physical editions will also be offered. Pre-orders unlock a free Deluxe Edition upgrade containing an outfit pack and collectables themed around the studio's past Dark Pictures games, a cinematic filter pack, plus a digital soundtrack and artbook.

Starring Bond actress Lashana Lynch, Directive 8020 sees Until Dawn, The Quarry and Little Nightmares 3 maker Supermassive Games tackle sci-fi, in a story set on the crashed colony spaceship Cassiopeia.

Directive 8020 features various familiar hallmarks from past Supermassive games: multiple protagonists, choice-based gameplay, and the ability for main characters to die mid-story if you're not careful. But there are notable upgrades here too — which is part of the reason why the game has taken so long to launch.

In development since at least 2022, Directive 8020 marks a shift away from the studio's annual release pattern seen in previous The Dark Pictures Anthology titles. The game was previously announced for launch in October 2025, though was pushed back due to the impact of a fresh wave of redundancies.

Alongside improved visuals, controls and stealth mechanics, another new feature is the ability to rewind and revisit key "Turning Points" in the story to explore alternate storylines and potentially save character deaths. (For series veterans, an option to play without this will also be featured — ensuring your decisions stay final.)

Single-player and up to 5-player couch co-op will be available from launch on May 12, though online multiplayer will arrive in a free post-launch update.

Directive 8020 will arrive three and half years after the launch of the last main The Dark Pictures Anthology title, The Devil in Me. This time around, however, Supermassive has said Directive 8020 is planned to be even more standalone (so don't expect to see much of the franchise's recurring Curator).

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

While the X-Men made their name in comic form, the X-Men movie adaptations have become beloved in their own right, with such fan favorites as Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. These films are also pretty notorious for their messy timelines, with origin stories, retconning, and time travel to really spice things up. There are plenty of different ways to watch these films, and the choice of how you watch them will determine how certain reveals and moments will pay off.

While it can be easy to just watch them as they were released, we’ve organized the 14 films into how they roughly fit into one big timeline. This will allow you to experience the X-Men story from the beginning and follow each character’s journey from its earliest point.

With the original X-Men cast returning in Avengers: Doomsday llater this year, we thought the best way to get ready for the future was to honor the past. Without further ado, here is our mostly spoiler-free look at how you can watch the X-Men movies in timeline order!

Jump to:

• How to watch by release order
• How to watch in chronological order

X-Men Movies in Release Order

Just looking for a quick list of the X-Men movies in the order they originally came out? Here you go:

Which X-Men Movie Should You Watch First?

If you're new to the X-Men movie franchise, you can choose to start with First Class and make your way through the timeline chronologically. However, if you want to experience the films how they were originally released to audiences, you'll want to start with X-Men (2000) where the series officially began.

X-Men Movies in Chronological Order

1. X-Men: First Class (2011)

X-Men: First Class is the start of a new X-Men chapter that rewinds the clock to the earliest point on the film franchise’s timeline. The film begins in 1944 at the Auschwitz concentration camp before jumping ahead to 1962. The story follows a young Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto and the origins of both the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants.

Read our review of X-Men: First Class.

2. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

X-Men: Days of Future Past is a bit hard to place on the timeline as it features the X-Men from both the original films and the newer ones. Much of the story takes place in 1973, but plenty of time is spent in an alternate version of 2023 as well. Certain story elements we won’t spoil here make us comfortable placing it here on the timeline, but having an affection for the original crew definitely does help make it a more special moviegoing experience. This means it can also fit right near the end of this list if you so choose.

Read our review of X-Men: Days of Future Past.

3. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

The first X-Men spinoff movie starts back in 1845, but the bulk of the story is set in 1979 and explores the… well, origin of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. Not only do we get to see how he got his iconic adamantium claws, but we also get our first introduction to Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson/Deadpool. It's an essential part of the Wolverine timeline.

Read our review of X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

4. X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Take one look at Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, the upcoming RPG from ZA/UM, and you can immediately see the similarities between it and the studio’s previous game, Disco Elysium. It’s an isometric game with a striking art style, featuring dialogue-heavy gameplay where conversations are displayed vertically on the right-hand side of the screen.

Take a closer look and there are even more similarities. There’s a “Conditioning” system that replicates many of the functions of Disco Elysium’s unique Thought Cabinet. Its story aims to be deeply political and introspective. And then there’s the skills system, which manifests as a sentient inner monologue, commenting on your choices and the world around you.

For some Disco Elysium fans, this overlap may feel uneasy. In 2022, game director Robert Kurvitz and art director Aleksander Rostov – creatives key to the look, feel, and vision of the celebrated RPG – were among a number of staff who left the studio in an "involuntary" manner. ZA/UM claimed they were fired for misconduct, while Kurvitz and Rostov accused the company’s majority shareholders of fraud. Many fans believe those fired to be victims of corporate conspiracy. Those same fans may now be concerned to see the studio building a Disco Elysium successor based on such similar design foundations without the involvement of those original creatives.

In a recent interview, IGN discussed these concerns with Jim Ashilevi, writer and VO director at ZA/UM, and asked why the studio didn’t consider finding a new direction for Zero Parades.

“I think it would have made sense for us to go in a completely different direction if the entire team was comprised of new talent,” Ashilevi said. “But since such a large number of the key players that built Disco Elysium are here to build Zero Parades, it just didn't make sense for us to just disregard that part of our experience as amateur game makers and start learning new ways of telling stories.”

ZA/UM’s head of studio, Allen Murray, estimates that around 35% of the studio’s current staff roster is made up of people who worked on either the original version of Disco Elysium or the expanded “Final Cut” release. The studio’s total staff numbers around 90.

“We're still the same people,” Ashilevi continued. “We still have the same interests. The stuff that interests us in the world of video games, but also in other media – in film and literature and theater – that hasn't changed. Hopefully it has evolved, but I think we're still basically the same people.

“We're just going by our gut, basically, and we're following our own obsessions,” he said. “And a lot of that was present in Disco Elysium. It will be present in Zero Parades as well, largely due to the fact that those are the same people who were there to build that cool world.”

In a previous interview with members of ZA/UM, which took place just prior to Gamescom 2025, IGN asked Ashilevi and lead technical artist Nicolas Pirot how they felt about fans who may be feeling cautious about a new ZA/UM RPG following the departures of Kurvitz, Rostov, and others.

“I understand why some people might have reservations,” said Pirot. “It's not up to me to tell them what to think or what to experience. I think what we are trying to do is tell an incredible story. And I think all we can do is hope that, when Zero Parades is ready, that people like it enough to participate and to see who we are as a group.”

“We are here to write more stories,” Ashilevi added. “That's all we're here for. And if that upsets people or makes them feel cautious, fair. But there is a new game coming out soon and I hope you check it out. And if you don't like it, that's fine. That's completely fine.”

ZA/UM intends to launch Zero Parades this year. An espionage RPG themed around power struggles and failure, the team hopes it will stand distinct from Disco Elysium without “fully re-inventing the wheel.”

Matt Purslow is IGN's Executive Editor of Features.

As part of Black History Month, Oni Press is releasing a new biographical graphic novel called First Freedom: The Story of Opal Lee and Juneteenth. This book dramatizes the life and work of Dr. Opal Lee and reveals how the national holiday Juneteenth got its start.

IGN can exclusively debut a new preview of First Freedom. Check it out in the slideshow gallery below:

First Freedom: The Story of Opal Lee and Juneteenth is written by Angélique Roché, with art by Alvin Epps (I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005: A Graphic Novel), Bex Glendining (On Starlit Shores), and Millicent Monroe, colors by Damali Beatty, and letters by Alexis Bennett with Andworld Design.

“I believe it is important to note that while this book gives ample space to the conversation of Juneteenth, Ms. Opal’s impact has been and continues to reach further than just the fight for a national holiday," Roché writes in the book's preface. "Even before Ms. Opal chaired a Juneteenth committee or set her sights on walking to D.C., she had time and time again made herself a ‘committee of one.’ As a daughter, sister, mother, friend, educator, advocate, and activist, she has set out to accomplish tasks big and small. Guided by family legacy and faith, she continues to challenge the limitations others would place on us from the ordinary to the extraordinary. That is the story I set out to tell, with the sincere hope that in these words, pictures, timelines, and references, I’ve been able to capture even a modicum of her spirit and an iota of the vastness of personal power her life and legacy represent.”

“First Freedom: The Story of Opal Lee and Juneteenth is a testament to the truly inspirational courage of Dr. Opal Lee,” said Oni Press Editor-in-Chief Sierra Hahn. “The book is an essential read not only for librarians, teachers, historians, and activists, but anyone interested in American history, the power of activism, and the expression of personal freedom.”

First Freedom: The Story of Opal Lee and Juneteenth is available in hardcover and softcover formats now. You can order the book on Amazon.

In other comic book news, find out which series was selected as IGN's best comic book of 2025, and see which comics we're most excited for in 2026.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.

Mario Tennis Fever has the soul of a GameCube game. Its wacky, over-the-top take on tennis is at its best when you have four friends together on the couch. And for the first time since the GameCube era, series developer Camelot has delivered an entry that feels feature complete on day one, with the most unique characters, solo and multiplayer modes, and silly gimmicks we’ve ever seen crammed into a Mario Tennis game. Sadly, that doesn’t mean it’s all good content, as the single-player adventure once again comes up woefully short in terms of both its length and quality. But when playing locally or online, Fever’s tight, responsive controls and crazy abilities result in a chaotic party game that’s a lot of fun in short bursts.

The headline twist this time around are the mighty Fever Rackets, which dominate the action. There are 30 to choose from, and each comes with a unique special ability that can swing the game in your favor. Those powers are activated by pulling off a Fever Shot once your gauge is full, and they range from offensive, like planting a rotating Fire Bar straight from Super Mario Bros. on your opponent’s side of the court, to defensive, like creating a shadow double of yourself to cover more ground. They can also block your screen with ink, litter piles of banana peels on both sides of the court, or grant time-limited buffs, like making your shots curvier for the next 20 seconds.

The Fever Rackets are a blast to experiment with, and their inclusion adds a different flavor to each match. At their best, they force you to think about all the special quirks in play. If I place a slippery sheet of ice on one quadrant of my rival’s turf, we both know I’m probably going to try and hit my next shot right at it to force them onto the uncomfortable terrain. Or… will I? Shot placement in tennis is full of mindgames, and the Fever Racket’s transformative effects enhance that dynamic.

There are also checks and balances to each that are fun to uncover. The Bullet Bill Racket transforms the ball into a wicked fast line drive that appears overpowered at first glance, until you learn it can be easily neutralized by playing up close at the net. And when both players use this racket, it can result in a hilarious, rapid Bullet Bill rally that usually ends with a demoralizing body shot. Mixing and matching racket types to see what happens is great, which is why it really bothers me that there’s no way to randomly select your Fever Racket for either human players or CPU opponents, as it would be fun to try to make the most of the cards you’re dealt. You can randomly select characters and courts, just not rackets, so that feels like a prime candidate to be added in a post-launch update.

Some Fever Rackets are definitely stronger than others, but Mario Tennis Fever adds a smart mechanic to somewhat balance them out. When a player initiates a Fever Shot, most offensive effects don’t take place until the ball hits the ground, leading to a tense back-and-forth volley where both players desperately try to hit the ball before it bounces. You have to be confident in choosing which one to bring into the match and when to unleash it, because the wrong decision can see your opponent sending your big shot right back at you.

On the flipside, Fever Rackets can also make things feel more luck-based at times, especially in doubles. Four separate powers in play can lead to courts that are completely covered in mud, fire, and unregulated chaos, similar to playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with all items cranked to the max. When your health hits zero – which forces you to sit on the sidelines in doubles or move at a slower speed in singles – it often doesn’t feel like your fault because of how unavoidable taking damage becomes. Even your doubles partner’s Fever Shot can hurt you. This isn’t necessarily bad; Fever just leans harder into the party game side of things than its predecessor, Mario Tennis Aces, which almost resembled a competitive fighting game with high-level mechanics like bar management and perfect blocks.

Rally Time

To account for all the mayhem that Fever Rackets entail, the actual tennis is a bit simpler. The overall speed is slightly slower and floatier, last-second dives for the ball make mistakes less punishing, and the court is a little smaller, meaning it’s easier to reach cross-court shots and keep a point going. I understand this choice: Aces’ intense pace combined with Fever’s increased madness would probably be too much to keep up with. On one hand, I miss the more hardcore version of tennis Aces provided. I played that game online for years because of its high skill ceiling and rewarding mechanics – it was a truly inspired take on the sport. On the other hand, Fever is way more fun to invite friends over to play for a casual game night since it’s easier for newcomers to pick up. It’s worse as a competitive tennis game, but better as a party tennis game. Plus, most modes let you use a high-speed ball that leads to a more upbeat rhythm, even if it doesn’t entirely resolve my disappointment that Aces’ thrilling trick shots, racket health, and time-bending abilities have been replaced.

That said, it still feels really good to anticipate where the ball is going, get in position, and release a fully-charged topspin shot, complete with great, punchy sound effects. Camelot has been refining the same control scheme of drop shots, lobs, and angled smashes for decades, and it’s still fun to return to, especially with CPUs that actually put up a fight at higher difficulties and the largest roster the series has ever seen. There are 38 characters to choose from, each with their own stats and unique traits. Newcomer Baby Waluigi has been a breakout star online, but I’ve actually gravitated towards the overlooked Baby Wario, whose powered-up topspin shot helps me control the pace of each point. I’m also happy to see the Donkey Kong Bananza redesigns of DK and Diddy Kong show up.

The character models are probably the best-looking part of Fever, with detailed clothes and facial animations, like the texture on Luigi’s shirt or even more bristles in Mario’s mustache than before. However, it doesn’t blow me away visually as a Switch 2 exclusive. Its cartoony art style looks good, as Mario games generally do, but it doesn’t feel like a significant leap forward. It targets 60 fps and usually hits that, but I noticed a few times in splitscreen doubles matches where it dipped before the ball was served. At least it’s always consistent when it matters most during the point, even with all the wild Fever effects on screen.

Keeping in line with Fever’s GameCube spirit, you have to unlock a bunch of characters, rackets, courts, and special costumes by clearing specific challenges, playing a certain number of matches, and progressing through the Adventure mode. Recent Mario sport games have tied progression and unlockables to online play, so it was a welcome sight to boot up Fever for the first time and see I had plenty to chase that wasn’t tied to my internet connection. That is, until I booted up the Adventure mode and discovered what I was in for.

Baby Fever

If you’re primarily looking forward to Mario Tennis Fever because of its single-player Adventure mode, I’m sad to share that it’s easily the most underwhelming part of this package. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Wario, and Waluigi get transformed into babies, and Mario must regain his tennis skills to save everyone, for some reason. It starts out promising, with a few gorgeous early cutscenes that throw Mario and friends into unexpected situations. Camelot upholds its reputation for surprisingly great cinematics like this, but the Adventure mode only goes downhill from there.

The first 90 minutes of this disappointingly short three-and-a-half hour campaign take place at a tennis academy, where Baby Mario undergoes painfully drawn-out, simplistic tutorials about the basics. You complete fairly one-note minigames to increase your stats, mash through text that reiterates each shot type, and partake in ridiculously easy qualification matches to move up the ranks. Throughout, you are also quizzed on your tennis knowledge, like one stumper where I was asked which character type was known for its speed: all-around, defensive, or speedy. Take a guess. This is clearly meant for young kids playing their first Mario Tennis game, and “Tutorial” would’ve been a more appropriate name than “Adventure”. It would be more enjoyable if the writing was funny or clever, but the characters all say very vanilla things that essentially only exist to teach you how to play. This is a far cry from Golf Story, which remains the gold standard for how to do a proper campaign in an arcadey sports game that combines strong writing, interesting challenges, and off-the-wall diversions, all of which are missing here.

You eventually leave the academy to progress through a comically small world map. This part of Adventure strongly resembles Aces’ campaign, where you use your tennis skills to fight a handful of bosses and solve very light puzzles. There are a few challengers to find, but there’s a surprising lack of tennis matches in this tennis campaign – and just when I felt like things were ramping up, it was over, so I shrugged and moved onto the other single-player offerings.

Tournament mode is a staple of Mario Tennis, and this is unfortunately one of its worst forms. Playing through three separate brackets to win trophies is fine as always, but Fever introduces an announcer in the form of a Talking Flower from Super Mario Bros. Wonder who never stops commentating. He reacts to every single shot, and I felt like I’d heard all of his voice lines multiple times before even wrapping up my second tournament. It gets grating very quickly, and I can’t imagine even kids would enjoy the nonstop commentary. The Talking Flower is turned on for all modes by default, but thankfully you can disable it everywhere… except in Tournament and Adventure.

The runaway best single-player mode is Trial Towers, a new addition that reminds me of Super Smash Bros. Melee’s Events. Each trial throws a specific setup at you, like a match where your Fever Gauge is always full or a battle of three babies against a giant Bowser, and it’s up to you to figure out how to exploit the setup and win a brief five-point match. There are even optional, difficult achievements for completionists, like winning without taking damage, or never losing a point. It’s a lot of fun working your way through each challenge, and incorporating this concept into an Adventure mode with unique characters and an interesting story should be the way forward for this series.

As always, Mario Tennis Fever shines in multiplayer, and there’s plenty of flexibility in that department. You can compete online in ranked matches split, between singles and doubles, either with Fever Rackets or without them. Winning boosts your point total as you work to improve your letter grade, with rankings scheduled to reset at the start of each month. I was only able to play online for a couple hours before launch, but my experience was smooth. In addition to playing with up to four people locally, you can bring two people from one console into a private online lobby and set up any type of casual match you’d like.

When you want something besides the standard tennis, you and your friends can pick a special match like the motion-control-focused Swing Mode, the traditional Ring Shot mode where you compete to score the most points by hitting the ball through rings floating above the net, a pinball court that uses bumpers and paddles, or a court that introduces Mario Wonder’s Wonder Effects like floating hippos. These range from decent distractions, like carefully aiming your Fever Shots at Piranha Plants to grow the size of your opponent’s court, to completely uninteresting, like repeatedly lobbing and dropshotting the ball just out of reach of a mindless CPU opponent upwards of 30 times in a row.

It doesn’t take long for even the best special modes to get repetitive, and I found myself quickly going back to the standard tennis matches. Thankfully, that specific mode has more than enough to shake things up thanks to the large roster of characters and rackets, but it ends up feeling like too much of a good thing. Fever is still a lot of fun in briefer sessions, but when I think of the breadth of worthwhile content found in Nintendo’s other recent multiplayer options like Kirby Air Riders or Super Mario Party Jamboree, Fever comes up a bit short. After 20 hours, I already feel like I’ve had my fill, and I see it as more of a fun distraction to play for a few minutes here and there while my group warms up for something else rather than one that’s going to get a serious amount of playtime.

Time, the old saying goes, is a flat circle. We go round and round, repeating forever. The same events, the same choices, the same conclusions. All of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again. Romeo is a Dead Man, the latest from developer Grasshopper Manufacture and director Suda51, posits a different question: what if time was a sphere? The events might change, but all roads still lead to Rome. It’s a fascinating idea, but also one you shouldn’t rack your brain trying to figure out. This is a time travel story: spend too long trying to piece things together, and you’ll be making diagrams out of straws. In a convenient example of form as function, Romeo is a Dead Man is as fractured as a game as the universe Romeo navigates within it. To tell you the truth, I’m still trying to figure out if I liked it several days after beating it. But I can’t stop thinking about it, and how its form mirrors its narrative. And that’s not nothing.

Our tale follows the titular Romeo Stargazer, a sheriff’s deputy in the small town of Deadford (you’re going to notice a pattern with the naming conventions pretty fast, if you haven’t already) in Pennsylvania (okay, not that one).There’s not much to Deadford: it’s known for a potential alien landing site and its “dead” tomatoes. One day, Romeo discovers an amnesiatic woman named Juliet lying in the road. She begs him to kill her, but Romeo’s a good lad (and kind of a doofus), and he falls in love with her instead, despite the super questionable confluence of their names. “No good will come from falling in love with a woman you found in the middle of the road,” his grandfather, genius inventor Benjamin Stargazer, warns. And you know what? He’s right! You wanna be star-crossed lovers, kid? Because this is how you become star-crossed lovers.

Anyway, they fall in love, agree to elope, and then Romeo gets attacked by a weird creature and dies, but his grandfather saves his life with a super cool helmet, then also dies. Romeo becomes Deadman, space time is shattered by a mysterious incident, and Juliet disappears. The latter two might be connected. Now sustained (and powered-up) by his grandfather’s tech, Romeo is recruited by the FBI’s Space-Time Police and tasked with bringing space-time criminals to justice, tracking down Juliet, and figuring out what, if anything, she has to do with all this. He also gets a bitchin’ jacket that his dead-but-also-not-dead grandfather has somehow transported himself onto. Ol’ Ben also technically invents time travel in the future, making him a literal grandfather paradox. Wild.

That’s a lot, huh? Listen, this is a Suda51 joint. Weirdness is the name of the game. If I tried to explain all of it to you, I’d probably look like a dude with crazy eyes and a wall of notecards and newspaper clippings connected by red string. The truth is that, even after finishing Romeo is a Dead Man’s 15-hour story, I’m not sure I understand all of it – and hey, neither does Romeo. Talk about feeling like the main character. But for whatever reason, it’s stuck with me. That all of this is conveyed through a combination of cutscenes, comic book pages, and other weird but cool methods as you get deeper in probably didn’t hurt.

Like the Fragmented Universe Romeo finds himself in, Romeo is a Dead Man is a game made up of a lot of very disparate ideas. Missions start on the Space-Time Police’s ship, The Last Night, which is a 2D, sprite-based world where you can hang out with the crew – they’re a weird group that includes Romeo’s mom and sister, as well as FBI Space-Time agents with names like BlueMountain, TheBlack, and RedBrown; one tells you that Deadman is a lame name. From there, you scan the universe for anomalies, pilot The Last Night to them (you mostly pick a destination and hit the gas), blast away at the dimensional monstrosity blocking wherever you need to go with a weapon called Eternal Sleep, and then ride Romeo’s motorcycle across a bridge of light to to your destination. I can’t emphasize enough how ridiculous all of this is, especially when your ship says “FBI” on the side in big bold letters.

Once you’re where you need to be – which could be Deadford City Hall, a cult enclave in the ‘70s where you run around with a delightful zombie named Jenny, or a haunted asylum, among others – you’re playing a 3D action game where your job is to track down a space-time fugitive and bring them to space-time justice, which usually means fighting a lot of zombies and other monsters who are also here for… reasons. Romeo has access to four melee weapons and four ranged weapons. You’ll have to unlock every one but your starting chainsaw-sword and pistol, but the process is pretty quick. I had them all after the opening mission. Once you do, that’s it. There are no more worlds to conquer, weapon-wise.

Melee combat is your standard combination of light attack, heavy attack, and dodge that seems to have taken over every modern action game, and I'm kinda wondering why game designers hate blocking so much (unless it’s a parry). The cool thing about Romeo's melee combat is that you can chain light and heavy attacks together in any order. It’s not particularly deep – weapons don’t have move lists, and there's nary an Izuna Drop (or anything similar) in sight – but it does feel good, especially against the smaller Rotters. I enjoyed every weapon in Romeo's arsenal, whether it was his standard sword, the combining-and-separating Arcadia or the gauntlet-based Juggernaut, which allows Romeo to pretend he's a boxer… or Dante from Devil May Cry. Even the big, slow sword is cool.

Against the bigger, badder enemies, you'll want to sheathe your blades and get your hands on some superior firepower, mostly because those enemies come with flower-shaped weak points. There are no bad ranged weapons here: pistol, machine gun, shotgun, they all work great and pack a punch, though I was particularly fond of the rocket-launching Yggdrasil. When something absolutely, positively has to die, accept no substitutes. You may have to reload after every shot, but Romeo's wearing Solid Snake's bandana no matter what smoke wagon you're making guys dead with. “Don’t worry, infinite ammo” baby.

I admit that I'm kind of mixed on Romeo is a Dead Man's rogues’ gallery. There are a decent number of them, yeah, and the varying nature of their weak points is nice, but Grasshopper shows you all of its cards pretty early on, and by the end you'll have seen these cats a lot. That said, I do really like things like the Jellies, which force you to disperse their oozing exterior with a melee weapon before you can do real damage to the body beneath.

Either way, killing enemies builds blood, which can be spent on Bloody Summer, a very strong attack that also regenerates some of Romeo’s health. Each weapon has its own version of this move, and you can also use it while dodging or jumping for some variety. It’s a good way to dish out the hurt and manage Romeo’s health without dipping into his limited healing items.

Bafflingly but perhaps unsurprisingly, Romeo is a Dead Man borrows elements from the Soulslike genre. (If you were ever looking for a sentence with a 100% success rate in the “typing this made Will sad” category, there’s a winner.) Space-Time Pharmacies serve as save and fast travel points and restore your health and healing items, but also respawn any enemies you’ve killed. There’s no penalty for dying; you don’t drop the currency you’ve earned from killing enemies. Instead, you actually roll a roulette wheel that provides buffs to things like attack, defense, blood gain, and so on, courtesy of Romeo’s mom. Without other consequences, respawning enemies can make death and saving annoying in what is a fairly linear action game. I guess you could argue that it might fit thematically with each death or use of the Space-Time Pharmacy creating a parallel universe or something, but mostly it just feels weird and makes certain segments repetitive.

Even the bosses aren't immune to repetition, and you'll see the same mini-bosses multiple times. The space-time criminals that cap off each stage are one of one, but even these fights aren't total home runs. There’s a couple of really good ones, like the hard-charging Death Changeling, but you have seen these archetypes before and some are… less good. Sorry, Fused Reanimated, but instant kill attacks are never fun. The reality is fighting bigger enemies (and bosses) often means exploiting their weak points with your guns, leaving melee weapons in a kind of weird limbo. Romeo is a Dead Man's combat isn’t bad, per se, but I do wish there was more to it.

Thankfully, Romeo isn’t alone, or at least doesn’t have to be. You can find seeds scattered throughout spacetime that allow you to grow Bastards (yes, this is what they’re actually called) aboard The Last Night. Bastards are friendly zombies that can be summoned in combat and do things like serve as sentry cannons, heal you, shoot chain lightning, fire weakness flowers at baddies, and even run at enemies and explode. They’re cool to have around and incredibly useful – though Romeo is a Dead Man does a poor job of emphasizing that; I had to fuse a bunch together late game to get some strong enough to help me out because I’d largely ignored them until then (and growing them is its own process I will get into later).

The places you’ll do all this fighting are pretty grand. They’re largely not remarkable spaces in and of themselves, but what’s cool is subspace. Romeo, being a space-time cop, can access subspace, which is another dimension parallel to the one he’s in. But he can't do it whenever he wants. He has to find TVs showing a dude eating steak and saying weird and sometimes cryptic things to him, and he can enter subspace from there. Subspace is generally made out of neon rectangles that form paths and structures beneath your feet, but because subspace is parallel to real space, it kind of sits on top of the normal environments. The long and short of it is that paths blocked in real space might not be in subspace and vice versa, and you’ll often have to find your way to another TV to get around roadblocks in whatever dimension you’re in.

Solving puzzles in subspace will open up new paths (and new TVs to reemerge into the real world from), and finding keys in subspace will open blocked paths in the real world. I enjoyed seeing how these dimensions fit together, and subspace is usually combat free, so it’s a nice change of pace. The only downside is that subspace looks very samey, so it can be easy to get lost if you need to backtrack or forget what TV you came out of. Thankfully, Romeo is a Dead Man clues you in by having the guy inside the TV say something new once you find a new TV. Thanks, chief.

If you need a break or want to upgrade Romeo, you can head back to The Last Night from any Space-Time Pharmacy. In addition to the cool sprite art and crew, The Last Night is also home to a shop where you can buy food, materials, and equipable pins that up your numbers. You can also tend to your Bastard garden (you gotta plant those seeds, you know?), cook stat-boosting curry with Romeo’s mom, and refine space debris into weapon upgrade materials.

The best part of The Last Night is how tactile it is. You want a new Bastard? You gotta manually go to the garden, have Luna (Romeo’s sister) appraise your seeds, plant them, and then come back and pull them out of the ground when they’re done. If you want to upgrade them, you have to fuse two together manually. Wanna fight a boss you’ve taken down again? You have to talk to a specific guy. You want curry? You have to play the minigame to make it every time. My favorite example is the little arcade game that you play to level Romeo up, spending the currency you collect to travel what is essentially a ghostless Pac-Man maze. How you do it is up to you, but you have to do it. There’s no “oh, just level me up” option. Even something as simple as taking on optional challenges for rewards (decent stand-alone dungeons where you fight through to the end and so on) requires traveling to them physically. Romeo is a Dead Man forces you to live in its world.

Some folks will consider this repetition for the sake of it, but a lot of Romeo is a Dead Man happens over and over again. Each night, he has a nightmare and spills the drink on his nightstand when he wakes up. Each time you find a new fugitive, you perform the same series of actions to defeat the Dimensional Seer blocking your path forward and get to where they are. Each time you take a space-time criminal down, the credits roll. This is a time travel multiverse story; the point is that the same events are going to happen a lot. They’ll change, but the destination is the same. Remember the sphere? In the end, you always end up in the same place. By forcing you to engage with the repetitive nature of its world, Romeo is a Dead Man tells its story through its gameplay. It’s rad. Does it always work? No. I never found much use for the curry (and many of the other supplemental items). But I'm kind of eager to dive into New Game+ and see if it changes anything, because… well, multiverse time travel story, right? If time really is a sphere, it might not matter, which might make Romeo's use of New Game+ even cooler.

Blizzard has said that its Warcraft-themed collectible card game Hearthstone is still not available on consoles because the team needs "a level of investment... to make that happen."

That's according to executive producer Nathan Lyons-Smith, who recently revealed that because of the 12-year-old game's aging code — estimated to be 16 years old — any port to console must be done "right" and only when the team finds "the right time to do it."

"There's a level of investment that we need to make that happen, primarily in terms of UI and UX, and making sure that it's very natural to go and play a card game on those platforms," Lyons-Smith said, as reported by Eurogamer. "I know it's possible — Duels of the Planeswalkers for Magic [The Gathering], many years ago now, was absolutely delightful with the controller — so I know we can do it.

"I asked an engineer who'd been on the project a long time, and he estimates the code is 16 years old," Lyons-Smith continued, "and the team was 15 people 16 years ago. And so there's more of an effort to go: 'I want to make sure when we go that it's awesome.' That it doesn't just feel like, yeah, they ported it here, and you can play...

"I want to make sure that when we go, we're going to go, and it's going to feel awesome for players that love that form factor, whether they're leaning back on the couch or sitting on the couch with their handheld."

Hearthstone originally launched in 2014 on PC, with a mobile and tablet version following very shortly after. Over the years there have been numerous calls for the game to launch on consoles — and particularly Nintendo Switch, for handheld play. But Blizzard has never gotten around to it.

Game director Tyler Bielman added: "If we're going to bring it specifically to that living room big screen platform, we would want to make sure that the full experience is optimized for that mode that you're in."

Now, of course, with Blizzard owned by Xbox and parent company Microsoft, there could be more pressure than ever to bring the hugely-successful card game to console players. However, with Xbox's high-level goal of enabling gamers to play "anywhere," the Hearthstone team acknowledged an expectation to go "as wide as we could" to reach as many players as possible, regardless of platform.

"In the future, as we explore console and handheld, we'd probably go as wide as we could," Lyons-Smith added. "Certainly, we have a different owner now than we did three years ago, and they're more invested in Xbox and 'anything's an Xbox'. Their high-level goal [being] games playable anywhere."

Hearthstone's Cataclysm-themed expansion is set to launch on March 17, marking the return of Colossal cards and introducing a brand new story.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Monster Hunter Wilds will welcome a "large-scale" expansion later this year.

Addressing fans in a video celebrating the open-world adventure game's first anniversary, series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto teased that this expansion will be similar to Monster Hunter World's Iceborne add-on, but was otherwise coy about the details. He did, however, stress that this will be the "final update" for the monster hunting game.

"We are currently at work on a large-scale expansion similar to Monster Hunter World: Iceborne and Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak for Monster Hunter: Wilds," Tsujimoto said. "We plan to share more information with you this summer."

We also learned a little more about the update dropping on February 18, too, including details of Arch-Tempered Arkveld, 10-star Arc-Tempered monsters, a special collaboration with Monster Hunter Stories 3 — a spin-off series that releases next month — plus an anniversary event where all previous awards and quests will be "re-available."

Players who log in during the anniversary event will receive a free item pack, and each previous seasonal event will return for a weekly rotation. "Almost all" previously released event quests will be made permanent from February 18.

"We have been implementing improvements to game stability and performance since Title Update 4," Tsujimoto added, "and this update will introduce even further improvements." Again, we're told to expect more details closer to the time, so Capcom suggests you monitor its social media accounts for updates.

"While this marks the end of major content updates, the team is currently hard at work on a large-scale expansion to Monster Hunter Wilds," the team added. "We look forward to sharing the first reveal of the expansion this summer."

Monster Hunter Wilds has had something of a bumpy ride of late. Title Update 4 arrived at the end of last year and ushered in a long list of gameplay and balance changes, as well as CPU/GPU improvements, load reduction, and the optimization of "PC-specific processes and addition of options and presets to reduce processing load."

A development roadmap, detailed in December, mentioned plans to address the myriad issues impacting the PC version. However, just last month, one player believed they had discovered that PC performance was dictated by the number of DLCs a user has. Capcom looked into it and concluded they were right, calling it "an unintended bug" that would be resolved with Patch 1.040.03.01.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Here's almost seven minutes of Black Myth: Wukong follow-up Black Myth: Zhong Kui. Well, kind of.

While developer Game Science has dropped the new in-engine trailer and labelled it as pertaining to the highly-anticipated sequel, it also features a "non-canon" disclaimer which suggests everything you see here could have no bearing whatsoever on the final game or its story, and has only been released by the team to celebrate Chinese New Year and welcome in the Year of the Horse.

But while you won't see any gameplay or combat per se, the "non-canon, for entertainment purposes only" trailer nonetheless shows in-engine footage and gives us our best look yet at what to expect from the sequel, particularly in terms of how it looks and sounds. Let me take you through it.

It starts out normally enough as a young woman moves around an al fresco kitchen preparing a meal. Look a little closer, though, and you'll realize that the figure that passes her near the beginning isn't quite human, and the guy who opens the gigantic oyster-stroke-mussell shell reveals not a mollusc but, well, a little grey-faced man, uh, thing. She then prepares a slab of meat with blinking eyeballs embedded in it.

There's more — much more — but it's such a delight, I'd recommend watching it yourself. Just remember that it's more of a tech demo and is unlikely to impact the eventual storyline of Black Myth: Zhong Kui, much like the spin-off story Game Science similarly released at Chinese New Year last year.

Black Myth: Wukong developer Game Science revealed sequel Black Myth: Zhong Kui at Opening Night Live 2025 last August. "Set against the backdrop of the classic Chinese folktale 'Zhong Kui Banishing Evil,' Black Myth: Zhong Kui is a single-player action role-playing game rooted in ancient Chinese fantasy," GameScience said.

"The game will deliver distinctive experiences and gameplay features that push our limits, while also bringing fresh ideas and necessary changes to address past flaws and regrets." As yet, there's no release window, let alone a firm date.

Predecessor Black Myth: Wukong is the record-breaking action game that launched across PC and PlayStation 5 in 2024, selling 10 million copies in just three days. The Xbox Series X and S versions launched in August 2025. It returned a Great 8/10 in IGN's Black Myth: Wukong review, in which we wrote: "Despite some frustrating technical issues, Black Myth: Wukong is a great action game with fantastic combat, exciting bosses, tantalizing secrets, and a beautiful world."

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Details on the upcoming, PlayStation-published Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls have appeared online, just days ahead of this week's big State of Play broadcast.

The highly-anticipated Marvel fighting game will feature 20 characters at launch, and also include a single-player "Episode Mode." That's according to a Steam page description of the game briefly seen before it was pulled (but not before the leak was spotted and shared on social media).

Marvel Tokon's roster is described as "expanding" — so it sounds like we should expect further heroes from the Marvel universe to turn up in future.

Online, there's mention of 64-player online lobbies, including standard VS modes. PC players will require a PlayStation account, meanwhile.

Developed by Guilty Gear Strive maker Arc System Works, the game has currently been announced for PlayStation 5 and PC with a vague "2026" launch window. But the timing of this week's leak, just days ahead of Sony's hour-long State of Play showcase, suggests we may hear more on all of that pretty soon.

Currently, only eight characters have been officially confirmed for the game: Captain America (Steve Rogers), Doctor Doom, Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes), Iron Man, Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Star-Lord and Storm. We'd bet this number will grow in the next few days...

"Assemble your team of legendary Marvel characters in the ultimate 4v4 tag team fighter from PlayStation Studios, Arc System Works and Marvel Games," the game's leaked description read. "It's time to build your dream team and break some spirits in blistering 4v4 fighting action. Choose from an expanding roster of 20 iconic Marvel characters at launch, each rendered in a bold new anime-inspired art style and members of their own unique teams of equally impressive heroes and villains.

"Experiment with team compositions to discover new combos, synergies, and strategies. Blast your way through dynamic stages based on iconic Marvel Universe locales, some featuring interactive stage transitions. Fighting is both immersive and intuitive, with a range of unique move sets, combos, and strategies to master. Adjustable controls, both traditional and quick inputs, plus easy chain combos make diving right in a breeze.

"Face off against a friend locally or join the fray with up to 64 players in the online* lobby, including standard VS modes. Plus, dive deep on each team with the single player Episode Mode to learn more about team dynamics and lore. Internet connection and account for PlayStation required."

Sony is set to hold its State of Play this Thursday, February 12 at 2pm Pacific / 5pm Eastern / 10pm UK time — and as ever, IGN will be reporting live.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Less than a month after the launch of its free-to-play 2v2 tag-team fighting game, 2XKO, Riot Games is scaling back its development team.

Admitting the news was "difficult to share," producer Tom Cannon said that despite securing a "passionate core audience," the new game "hasn't reached the level needed to support a team of this size long term."

"With a smaller, focused team, we’re going to dig in and make key improvements to the game, including some of the things we’ve already heard you asking for. We’ll share some of our plans soon," Cannon added. "Our plans for the 2026 Competitive Series are unchanged. We remain committed to partnering with tournament organizers and local communities. Our focus will continue to be on supporting the events and organizers that already power the [fighting game community]."

Cannon stressed that the team that built 2XKO "poured years of creativity, care, and belief into this game. Taking creative risks like this is hard, and the work they did is real and meaningful."

"We’re committed to supporting impacted Rioters through this transition — including helping them explore opportunities within Riot where possible, and providing a minimum of 6 months of notice pay and severance where it’s not," he explained.

Cannon closed on promising more information would come in time, and thanked players for playing 2XKO and "caring enough to ask hard questions."

Riot has also confirmed to IGN that the cuts will affect approximately 80 roles globally, representing less than half of the total team. Figures are not final, however, as some staff may find roles elsewhere within the company.

IGN thought 2XKO was 'Great.' It returned an 8/10 in our review in which we wrote: "2XKO has found a way to distill what's fun about tag fighters while mitigating a lot of the pain points that typically come with the territory." It was announced back in The Game Awards 2025.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Overwatch's game director has responded to calls for the appearance of new hero Anran to be changed, following fan criticism and a public declaration of support by the character's English-language voice actress.

Over the weekend, Anran voice actress Fareeha took to social media to address "the elephant in the room" surrounding her character's in-game appearance — which she and many other fans have called out as being a victim of the so-called "Same Face Syndrome", and different to her earlier appearances in a comic and cinematic. Those appearances set a "precedent" for Anran, Fareeha said, leaving her to now "mourn" the final in-game design made available to play in early access at the weekend.

"There was an unspoken promise that said 'we're going to challenge the beauty standards that are plaguing and ransacking media these days'," Fareeha stated. "The Ozempic chic, the 'contour your nose,' 'you have no nose,' 'the tiniest nose.' And I think because of that precedent, people feel understandably let down."

Now, Overwatch game director Aaron Keller has released his own statement, and said that Blizzard hoped to make changes to Anran's in-game design to make her "look and feel more like the fierce older sister" she was originally shown to be.

Without showing a new look for the character or providing any further specifics, Keller suggested Blizzard was working actively on the change, which would be seen by players later in the game's new Season 1.

"Thank you all for the incredible reception to last week's Spotlight event," Keller said in a video posted to game's official social media account. "We're sorting through all the questions, comments, excitement and feedback that you guys shared, and I wanted to take a moment to address one thing in particular.

"The team is currently discussing what it will take to make Anran look and feel more like the fierce older sister that we all envision her to be. We're so proud of the work that our team has put into Anran and the rest of the five heroes launching in Season 1, and we agree that she can be even better if we get this aspect of her right in-game.

Overwatch Spotlight reception and an Anran update from Game Director Aaron Keller pic.twitter.com/mxh0C0IpIj

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) February 10, 2026

"We discussed sharing this with all of you last week but wanted to wait until we had confirmation of exactly what we can do. We're hoping to make this update in Season 1 but I don't have specifics to share just yet. Our hero models are incredibly complicated and we really need to test out what we can do.

"We're always striving to make Overwatch better and I think Season 1 is a great example of the dedication and tireless work that our team puts into this game, its universe and ultimately, our players. We're so excited to share it with all of you when Season 1 launches tomorrow. Thanks for the feedback and support, we couldn't do it without all of you. Please keep it coming."

Thousands of players flocked back to Overwatch over the weekend following the announcement that the game was dropping its "2" and adding 10 new heroes in future. This year will see Overwatch enter a "new, story-driven era" with a year-long narrative and a major overhaul — beginning with the launch of Season 1 later today, February 10.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social