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Netflix Casts McKenna Grace as Daphne in Live-Action Scooby-Doo Series

18 février 2026 à 17:12

The live-action wave continues in Hollywood. The next animated property on the list is none other than Scooby-Doo — and it looks like the powers that be have found their first Mystery Gang member: Daphne.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife's McKenna Grace will star as the iconic redheaded character in a prequel version of the classic cartoon series that will reveal how the gang got together in the first place. The series, which was greenlit at Netflix for eight episodes so far, has an official synopsis, according to Variety, which reads:

“During their final summer at camp, old friends Shaggy and Daphne (Grace) get embroiled in a haunting mystery surrounding a lonely lost Great Dane puppy that may have been a witness to a supernatural murder. Together with the pragmatic and scientific townie, Velma, and the strange, but ever so handsome new kid, Freddy, they set out to solve the case that is pulling each of them into a creepy nightmare that threatens to expose all of their secrets.”

According to the outlet, the show will be a “modern reimagining” of the 60s and 70s style original series, which first started airing in 1969.

Interestingly enough, this won’t be the first time Grace has taken on the role of Daphne. She lent her voice to the young version of the character in the 2020 animated movie Scoob!, and was even set to play the role again in the sequel film Scoob! Holiday Haunt before it was cancelled by Warner Bros. Discovery.

This also is not the first time a live-action Scooby-Doo reimagining made it to the big or small screen. Matthew Lillard starred in the 2002 film Scooby-Doo alongside Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Geller, and Linda Cardellini. It was such a hit that the movie got a sequel film two years later — so it’ll be interesting to see if this series has similar success.

Josh Appelbaum and Scott Rosenberg will write and showrun the series, while also serving as executive producers. However, there’s no release date for the reimagining just yet.

Image credit: Olivia Wong/FilmMagic

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

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Commercial Featuring Nikki Glazer Receives UK Ban for Trivializing Sexual Violence

18 février 2026 à 17:00

A Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 commercial starring comedian Nikki Glazer has been banned in the UK, following viewer complaints that it trivialized sexual violence.

The country's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld criticism of the ad, which features a man being ordered to take off his clothes during an airport security screening. It's then implied that Glazer wishes to perform an unnecessary search of his anal cavity.

As reported by BBC News, Activision defended the ad as an implausible situation (the joke here being that Glazer and Call of Duty actor Peter Stormare are replacement security agents, as the airport's usual employees are too busy playing Call of Duty instead).

Activision said the ad's humor was meant to imply discomfort rather than sexual activity, that the footage contained no explicit content, and that it had been aired on linear TV at timeslots aimed at adults.

Regardless, the ASA has ruled that the commercial's humor was "generated by the humiliation and implied threat of painful, non-consensual penetration of the man," and was therefore irresponsible and offensive.

"You've been randomly selected to be manhandled," Stormare tells the man within the ad, getting him to bite down on a baton. "I'm going to need you to remove your clothes. Everything but the shoes."

"Time for the puppet show," says Glazer as she snaps a rubber glove.

"Bite down on this," Stormare concludes. "She's going in dry."

Ultimately, the ASA decided that the ad can no longer be aired within the UK in its current form — although it's unclear if Activision still had any plans to do so. Internationally, the commercial is still available online. And, at the time of writing, IGN can confirm it is still available to view from within the UK via YouTube.

Still, the advert is likely the least of Activision's concerns around Black Ops 7, which has underperformed sales-wise amid strong competition from fellow shooters such as Battlefield 6 and ARC Raiders, as reflected in European sales figures and Activision's own admissions. Following the release of Black Ops 7, Activision announced significant changes to the Call of Duty franchise, including promising never to release back to back games in the same sub-brand (Modern Warfare, Black Ops) again.

Image credit: Activision

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

People of Note Turns Music Genres Into RPG Mechanics, and It's Got Me Tuned In

18 février 2026 à 17:00

As someone who grew up playing music and turn-based RPGs, People of Note seems like a game made in a lab and specifically targeted at me. It's a rhythm-based RPG where genres of music dictate its societies and timing inputs determine the effectiveness of your abilities. And the way it blends its soundtrack throughout the world and battle is one of its most interesting aspects, and for how it sets the tone for its atmosphere and combat mechanics. These are fantastic ideas I caught glimpses of in a hands-on preview build that featured an early section of the campaign, but the thing I'm still hung up on is how much it's caught up in this cheesy twee attitude that's a bit tough to buy into. As is the case with several RPGs, however, a short snippet isn't going to paint the whole picture.

The demo I played (which is available now) drops you into Durandis, a mountainous region that's home to several genres of rock music. You have the metalheads living separately from the punk rockers who despise grunge kids in a way that's very reminiscent of how we formed cliques in middle school based on music and the fashion that came with it. It's corny for sure, but that's the idea it's going for. As the pop singer and lead protagonist Cadence, she still has a lot to learn about the world of music, and so she familiarizes herself with these genres along the way. Shortly after you arrive, Durandis is attacked by a faction of old-timey Western musicians called The Homestead – for what reason, I'm not entirely sure, but it explains how divisive music tribalism harms its world known as Note.

Although the music itself didn't strike a chord with me, I appreciate how it mixes genres throughout. Going into the grunge part of town plays a riff on Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" while the punk section picks up the tempo while using melodic octave chord progressions. When fighting the wild west-coded invaders, an uptempo folk tune plays as the battle theme, but a pop mix blends pretty seamlessly into the same underlying song when the turn order goes into a pop phase and the same goes for a classic rock phase – there's a mechanical reason for this, too.

When it switches to a certain music genre during a turn, the song will shift accordingly and this powers up party members who represent that specific style. Cadence's attacks will hit harder during a pop phase while the washed-up guitarist Fret gets a boost in his abilities in a rock phase. It's neat how this works, but adds a strategic layer to who you tee up for big hits as you line it up for the best turn possible. People of Note includes mechanics like timing-based inputs to maximize effectiveness of attacks and abilities, which many more are now familiar with thanks to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and I'm happy to see this trend continue because I enjoy the active element it brings to turn-based battles.

I need that story and its characters to grip me at some point, because that's what great RPGs are often remembered for.

One thing I wish People of Note was better about in this regard was syncing up those inputs to the backing track, or making the battle themes punchier to accentuate on-beat cues for those button prompts. At least in this early hour-plus, the visual indicators aren't quite as clear and the audible feedback wasn't really felt; not to keep invoking Clair Obscur's name, but for a non-rhythm game, it was very good about creating "beats" when executing attacks or dodging/parrying enemies through visuals and sound cues. Perhaps more time with People of Note and getting deeper into the mechanics will let these kinds of features shine more, so it's something I'm paying attention to when the time comes to play the final version.

I only played with two characters (Cadence and Fret) in my party, yet I still got a good feel for how party composition and builds are important to winning tougher battles. You collect Songstones to modify their perks and can customize characters' movesets, and I had Cadence as my heavy hitter while Fret was more of a support role with healing and feeding BP (beat points, the resource needed to use abilities). Still, with the genre phases throughout a battle, I needed them to remain versatile. That's also because you can do some interesting things with turn order – the time signature at the bottom of screen telegraphs how the turn can play out, and who you use and in those specific open measures is up to you. For example, against the last demo boss Freq, I had three open measures and I would use Fret to boost Cadence's BP to then use her powerful Instant Hit attack, and then use the third turn to either heal or defend depending on the situation. Enemies can also permanently modify specific measures in the fight, like how Freq put a half-damage debuff on all attacks used in first measures. This is where I think People of Note can really differentiate itself from other combat systems and go from a novel music-based RPG to a uniquely tactical one.

A nice feature that makes dungeon crawling smooth is that you recover HP after each fight, and since BP is built within battles themselves, you don't have to manage some sort of magic resource like MP or mana. Each combat encounter is a turn-based puzzle to figure out on its own. It's more appreciated considering that dungeons in People of Note have actual puzzles to solve, which break up the pace; in the playable demo, there's a series of rooms with light beams you need to align and reflect off mirrors to unlock doors. It's not exactly noteworthy as we've seen these kinds of challenges many-a-time, so it's also appreciated that there aren't random encounters and all battles thus far clearly delineated in the overworld.

By no means does People of Note seem like a high-budget project, but it's hard to overlook the ways in which its production values sometimes undercut what it's trying to portray. Dialogue scenarios are nearly all still portraits with overlaid text boxes, which would be fine if its writing was sharp enough to make said dialogue intriguing. As a frequenter of visual novels, it's par for the course. However, it's hard to get a sense of the goings-on for this style of game. Some of the enemy attack animations are quite odd, too, but some of the abilities you have, like the limit-break style Mash Up attack where party members attack simultaneously, add some much-needed spectacle in the rare moments you get to use them. Even if I think the scene itself has that cheesy twee tone I'm not too fond of, there's a fully animated scene in the demo when Cadence recruits Fret that does showcase its visual chops with a musical number to flex the team's musicality.

There's plenty of corny media I've enjoyed, some of which just needed time to establish itself before shining. So this isn't to say I'm dismissive of People of Note, but it's for hoping that it comes around and embraces that attitude in an endearing way. The drama between Fret and former bandmate Freq in the demo's story bits is quite charming for its play on familiar music industry tropes, and the larger idea of finding unity in blending musical genres (possibly realizing that we're not all the different) could be an enticing theme to bring it all together. I just hope it can transcend the incessant need to be quirky and at least be clever in ways that elevate its world and story instead of going for simple references for the sake of it.

For my part, I was immediately drawn to the concept for People of Note, as a lifelong musician (of sorts) and lover of rhythm games; Hatsune Miku: Project Diva, Dance Dance Revolution, and the like. And as an RPG sicko, I've seen a lot of innovation in the genre coming out of smaller-scale games and indie spaces in recent years. People of Note does remind me of last year's Fretless and 2023's Thirsty Suitors in its approach as well, so I hope it can hit those similar highs in its own ways.

People of Note, so far, clearly seems like something that can speak to both the musically inclined and turn-based enjoyers, so it has promise for sure. It's also got a great cast of voice actors we've heard in other RPGs and animation projects and a neat combat system to potentially set itself apart from its contemporaries. But I need that story and its characters to grip me at some point, because that's what great RPGs are often remembered for. I'll find out for sure when People of Note launches on April 7 on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch 2, and PC – and you can try it for yourself with the demo that's out now.

'The Technology Is Just Better': Why Counter-Strike Pros Are Loving a New Mouse That Reduces the Time It Takes to Fire Their First Shot by Up to 30ms

Par : Will Judd
18 février 2026 à 16:53

Logitech's new X2 Superstrike mouse is said to be "taking over" the PGL Cluj Napoca Counter-Strike 2 tournament, with multiple players on five top teams trading their previous picks for the faster-clicking mouse released this month. In all, 13 players out of the 50 still remaining in tournament contention are wielding the Superstrike, including players on Navi, The Mongolz, Falcons, Furia and G2. That's a surprisingly high number for a mouse that has only been officially available for a few days, especially with how conservative pro players tend to be when it comes to changing to new equipment for fear of a performance drop-off as they adapt.

Users in the /r/mousereview subreddit first clocked the trend in the PGL tournament, which is the first significant Counter-Strike 2 event since the X2 Superstrike was released on February 10th. Prototype versions of the mouse have already been used to win CS2 tournaments, most notably by Furia player Kscerato, but Cluj Napoca 2026 seems to confirm that the mouse has become a popular - if not yet universal - choice for players already used to playing with Logitech mice, whether they're officially sponsored by Logitech or not.

The Superstrike is an upgraded version of another popular choice for Counter-Strike pros, the Superlight 2, which trades that mouse's optical microswitches for a new tech called HITS (haptic inductive trigger system). The idea is that by eliminating the physical movement needed before each traditional mouse click, players can reduce the time it takes to fire their first shot by up to 30ms. Pro players see less of an impact than amateurs, but the speed-up is still an order of magnitude faster than the switch from a 1000Hz to 8000Hz polling rate for example, another recent trend for gaming mice and keyboards that's also about reducing latency.

The Superstrike also allows for rapid trigger, another technology first seen in keyboards. Here, mouse click and release signals are sent as soon as a change in direction is detected, rather than by reaching a set point, again allowing for faster click cadence. Critically, the rest of the mouse is unchanged, with the same shape, weight, sensor and wireless as the Superlight 2, which should minimize the time it takes to adapt.

The Mongolz, Falcons and Furia all have three players on the team using the Superstrike, including aim stars m0NESY, Techno and Kscerato, while Navi and G2 have two players each on-board. The Mongolz and Navi are all-Logitech when it comes to mice, while the remainder use a mixture of brands. Counter-Strike pros tend to have free choice when it comes to their peripherals, so important are they for performance.

The mouse enthusiast community has been fiercely debating Logitech's speed-up claims since the mouse was first revealed, with anecdotal accounts in both directions, but relatively little objective testing outside of Human Benchmark reaction time tests. That makes the Superstrike's adoption amongst esports teams a vital metric in the fight for the best gaming mouse title.

Logitech originally told us that it accelerated the development of the HITS technology due to its strongly positive reactions from early pro play-tests, so it will be interesting to see whether the Superstrike mouse becomes a true de facto standard amongst Counter-Strike teams, and indeed whether other esports-focused brands like Razer, Zowie and SteelSeries can adopt similar inductive mouse switches in the future. We've already seen black-buttoned Superstrike lookalikes pop up on AliExpress, but it could be years before other brands are able to claim a similar reduction in click latency.

Of course, there's also the open question of whether such technology could be banned by tournament organisers, given the level of advantage it theoretically provides. So far, Counter-Strike developers Valve and tournament organisers have yet to announce any restrictions, though Valve did ban the 'SOCD' feature built into some magnetic switch keyboards back in 2024. That was largely on grounds of automation, rather than a simple speed increase, but expect the legality discussion for Superstrike to continue.

If you're interested in reading more about the new mouse and how it works, our X2 Superstrike review covers just that.

Image credit: PGLesports.com

Will is deputy tech editor for IGN, specialising in PC hardware, sim racing and display tech. He has been publishing about games and technology since 2001 (age 12). Will was formerly Deputy Editor at Digital Foundry. He is currently playing BattleTech Advanced Universe.

Ahead of the Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Pick Up Both Switch Ports At A Discount

18 février 2026 à 16:33

When you think of the best Switch and Switch 2 games, there’s a good chance you might not immediately think of platforming royalty like Super Mario Galaxy and Galaxy 2 being playable on Nintendo’s most recent generations of hardware, but they’re here and still just as good as ever.

If you’ve somehow missed out on them, then good news - Amazon has discounted the physical version of the double pack by around $10, but it’s not immediately obvious.

Save $10 on the Super Mario Galaxy Double Pack on Switch and Switch 2

Essentially, the pricing can’t be seen on the Amazon listing until it’s added to your cart, so there’s not much of an indication that it’s discounted to $59.

Once you add it to your checkout items, though, you’ll see that you’re getting two of the best platformers in the history of the medium for $30 each. Whether you’ve played them before or want to jump in ahead of the movie release, that’s a great deal.

Back in 2007, we awarded a 9.7 out of 10 for the first game, calling it “The pinnacle of three-dimensional run-and-jump gameplay.”

Fast-forward three years, and IGN awarded the sequel, Super Mario Galaxy 2, a 10 out of 10, going even further and saying “Mario Galaxy 2 is the pinnacle of Mario games: everything that makes them so incredibly fun is represented here.”

That’s some praise, if we do say so ourselves, and it’s likely the best way to play the games without breaking out the Wii.

For more on Switch, check out our rundown of every Final Fantasy game on Nintendo’s hybrid systems, as well as all confirmed new games for Switch 2.

Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He's a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife's dismay.

The Best Disney+ Deals and Bundles for February 2026

18 février 2026 à 16:22

Considering what it offers, Disney+ is one of the best streaming services on the block. From classic Disney animated films to the latest from the MCU (currently Wonder Man), Star Wars, and so much more, Disney+ puts an incredible range of high-quality viewing options at your fingertips. There's tons to watch, but after another round of price hikes, you might want to revisit your streaming subscriptions. We're here to help.

At the moment, one of the best Disney Plus bundle deals available is the massive Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max streaming bundle. This starts at $19.99/month to get you all three streaming services with ads. Bundles are definitely worth considering, especially following the news of Hulu eventually fully integrating into the Disney+ app.

How to Get a Disney+ Free Trial

Starting from the top, if you haven't gotten a Disney+ subscription yet, you might be interested in any free trials. While Disney+ doesn't offer it's own free trial directly, it is technically included in a Hulu + Live TV subscription (alongside Hulu and ESPN Unlimited), which does happen to offer a three-day free trial. Just remember that plan will auto-renew at the full live TV cost of $89.99 after the trial period.

How to Get the Disney Plus, Hulu, and HBO Max Streaming Bundle

Want a way to save on your Disney+ membership sooner rather than later? Bundles are a great, affordable way to go. Our top recommendation is the Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max streaming bundle can be purchased through any of the three streaming services and starts at $19.99/month for the ad-supported tier or $32.99/month for ad-free access across the three platforms. If you currently own all three and want to cut down on costs, this is a great way to bundle them together and save big on what you'd pay for them separately per month – 42% on the ad-supported plan and 43% on the ad-free plan.

Every Other Disney+ Bundle Option

Beyond HBO Max, you can also choose to bundle Disney+ with just Hulu or the all-new ESPN Unlimited service. Here's the breakdown of all your bundle options:

  • Disney+, Hulu Bundle is $12.99/month and comes with subscriptions to Disney+ and Hulu. This plan lets you stream on multiple devices at once and comes with ad-supported versions of both services.
  • Disney+, Hulu Bundle Premium is $19.99/month and comes with Hulu and Disney+ with no ads. It also includes Disney+ Premium features like the ability to download shows to watch on the go.
  • Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Select Bundle adds ESPN Select (With Ads) to the mix alongside Disney+ (With Ads) and Hulu (With Ads), bumping up the price to $19.99/month. You can also download and watch select content on ESPN Select at this level.
  • Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Select Bundle Premium is $29.99/month and comes with ESPN Select (With Ads) and ad-free versions of Disney+ and Hulu. You can also download select content across all three streaming services.
  • Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Unlimited Bundle is $35.99/month and includes the new ESPN Unlimited service with live ESPN coverage as well as Hulu and Disney+ (With Ads).
  • Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Unlimited Bundle Premium is $44.99/month. The big difference here is you get the ad-free versions of Hulu and Disney+.

What About Standalone Disney+ Subscriptions?

Disney+ is available in a couple of different tiers. You can get the least expensive option (simply called Disney+) for $11.99/month, which gives you access to everything except the ability to download select shows to watch on the go. This tier is ad supported. If you want to get rid of ads and be able to download certain shows, you can spring for the $18.99/month or $189.99/year Disney+ Premium package.

What Is the Paid Sharing Plan on Disney Plus?

In an effort to crack down on password sharing, Disney has added a paid sharing plan for individuals outside of your household. Basically, anyone using your account that's not within your household will have to be added as an "Extra Member" to your account. This costs an additional $6.99/month for the ad-supported subscription and $9.99/month for the Premium ad-free plan, and only one Extra Member slot is available per account. You can learn more from Disney's paid sharing explainer here.

Disney+ Gift Cards

If you want to help someone out and give them a gift that will keep on giving, gifting a one-year Disney+ card is a great option. It provides all the great things Disney+ offers and it costs a fraction of what it would take to buy even a small sampling of those movies physically.

What Can You Watch on Disney+?

There is a bonkers array of shows and movies you can watch on Disney+. Highlights coming to Disney+ in February include the return of The Muppet Show, a new season of The Artful Dodger, and a 24/7 Hannah Montana stream. For new and potential subscribers, here's a deeper dive into what's available on the service:

Disney

On the Disney front, you have awesome classic movies like The Sword In The Stone, Robin Hood, 101 Dalmations, Hercules, and Sleeping Beauty, modern classics like The Princess & The Frog, Tangled, and Frozen, and a wide range of animated shows, including Phineas & Ferb.

You also gain access to a ton of vintage content like Escape to Witch Mountain, The Apple Dumpling Gang, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, The Love Bug, and a whole lot more. The Disney Junior section is home to absolutely top tier animated shows like Bluey (which, for my money, is worth the price of admission on its own).

There's way more on offer, too, including a ton of Muppet movies, new live-action films and adaptions (including the new Snow White), nature programs, documentaries, Pirates of the Caribbean, and musical programs featuring Taylor Swift (like her wildly popular The Eras Tour), Elton John, Ed Sheeran, and more.

Pixar

When it comes to computer generated films, Pixar stands alone. Kicking off the revolution with Toy Story, Pixar has consistently put out fantastic films, and they are all here. From the Toy Story series to Finding Nemo, Cars, and more recent hits like Inside Out 2, there is a ton to love.

Beyond even that, there are incredible shorts like Bao and Party Central, as well as a wide range of originals and series based on major films, such as Dory's Reef Cam, Forky Asks A Question, Cars On The Road, and more.

Marvel

The MCU has become a true juggernaut, and there are many viewers who subscribe to Disney+ purely for access to nearly the entire MCU lineup of films and shows.

Whether you are a fan of the blockbuster action films, you are an appreciator of the classic 90s runs of "Saturday morning" cartoons like X-Men, or you are currently vibing to the funky theme of the 1981 Spider-Man series, there is a ton of Marvel to enjoy on Disney+. And with new movies and shows being added to the MCU all the time, including most recently the series Wonder Man, there is always more coming.

Star Wars

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there was a film that changed everything. The original Star Wars is a seminal sci-fi fantasy work that inspired generations of creators, but there is still nothing quite like that far away galaxy. Disney+ grants access to all things Star Wars, including the remastered versions of the original trilogy (hopefully some day they'll add the theatrical cuts, too), as well as the prequels and sequels.

You can also stay up-to-date on all the latest shows, including The Mandalorian and the critically-lauded Andor, which recently wrapped up its second and final season. There are also fantastic short series like Star Wars Visions, and longer-form series like The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch, Young Jedi Adventures, and a whole lot more.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.
Original story from Brian Barnett.

Destination Kill Offers a Bleakly Funny Sci-Fi Series In the Vein of Tank Girl and Judge Dredd

18 février 2026 à 16:00

IGN can exclusively reveal the latest new series from Oni Press, and it's one that will appeal to anyone who prefers their dystopian sci-fi with a dash of humor. That series is Destination Kill, and it's worth keeping an eye on.

Check out the slideshow gallery below to see cover art and interior pages from Destination Kill #1:

Destination Kill is a four-issue limited series that serves as the solo debut for cartoonist Joe Palmer (Time Before Time). The first issue features cover art by Palmer, Riley Rossmo, Ronald Wimberly, Tango, and Liana Kangas.

Here's Oni's official description of the series:

The year is 2125, and the all-powerful corporation Overcon uses its robot workers to pour our drinks and dispense our meds, all while rebuilding London’s Central City into a hyper-modern megalopolis bolted together in its own image. But as Overcon prepares to celebrate the first year of its Paradise Loop—a superfast transatlantic train that connects the Central City to New York in under 60 minutes—an unwieldy army of displaced human workers floods the streets with weapons, plotting an attack at the anniversary gala. Enter: Gina Serene, a stressed-out, pill-popping police detective in desperate need of a vacation and her ex-partner turned P.I., Lance Wingman—who are now the only thing standing between Overcon’s skyscraper-sized fist and the worker uprising that threatens to bring Britain's capital crashing down around them.

“DESTINATION KILL started life as an image in my mind of a lone, masked builder armed with a pistol, standing on the snow-covered rooftop of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London,” said Palmer in a statement. “That image really stuck with me, and over time it evolved into this fantastical story of a transatlantic train and a citywide builder-led revolution that I knew I had to make someday. This book is me taking the (long overdue!) step of being in total creative control of my work, which turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I wasn’t consciously thinking about it at the time, but at least part of the reason for doing this was to put something out in the world that represents me and my personality, and I feel like I’ve done that.”

Destination KIll #1 will be released on May 13, 2026. You can preorder a copy at your local comic shop.

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.

Replaced Release Date Delayed Again, Less Than a Month From Launch

18 février 2026 à 15:36

Replaced developer Sad Cat Studios has announced a delay to its 2.5D cyberpunk game, just three weeks shy of its planned launch.

Instead of arriving on March 12, the retro-futuristic platformer will now debut on April 14 — a move that Sad Cat said was decided upon following the response to its Steam demo.

"As a small team working on our very first title, we've poured everything we have into this project," the studio wrote in a statement shared on X/Twitter. "While the game is technically finished, reaching this final stretch has shown us that we need just a few more weeks to ensure the experience is exactly what you deserve. We want the version of Replaced you play on day one to be polished, stable, and true to the vision we've shared with you.

"The response to our Steam demo has been the ultimate fuel for us," Sad Cat continued. "To be honest, putting it out there was nerve-wracking, but seeing your gameplay, reading your reviews and hearing your excitement has been overwhelming in the best way possible. We are constantly reading your comments, and that feedback is helping us make the final tweaks that will make the full game shine."

Replaced was originally announced back in 2021, when it had a 2022 launch window. Further delays have followed, as the team behind the title has repeatedly pushed its release back while saying it was unwilling to compromise on its quality.

On the upside, IGN went hands-on with the game earlier this month for one final look — and found it was shaping up very nicely indeed. Oh, and if you've not tried it yet, Replaced's Steam demo is still available.

"No matter what you’re tasked with doing, it seems as if Replaced never loses sight of its slick style and rich tone grounded in a love for all things Blade Runner, all while letting that reverence permeate into every aspect of its design in interesting ways," we wrote in our Replaced final preview. "I started my playthrough thinking I knew exactly what I was in for. I was wrong, but thankfully still ended it excited, knowing there’s still plenty left to discover."

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

Amazon Officially Drops Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Booster Boxes to Just $125.99 to Preorder, Just Weeks Before Release

18 février 2026 à 15:35

Magic: The Gathering is getting its new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set next month (with prerelease even sooner), but Amazon isn’t waiting to drop the price of booster boxes.

After some price fluctuations, the retailer has finally confirmed that the TMNT Play Booster Box will be sold for $125.99, which is only a dollar more than its all-time lowest price of $124.99 that we saw a few weeks ago as a sale item.

The New Price For TMNT Play Boosters Is Almost Their Lowest Ever

With 30 packs per box of Play Boosters, you’re getting each one for $4.19, a discount that adds up and should give you a sizeable collection of TMNT cards right from the jump.

As a reminder, the set’s rarest alternative treatments will more likely be found in Collector Boosters (more on those in a moment), but Amazon setting this price means it should be relatively easy to get up to speed and build something playable for your next Magic night.

The price confirmation follows the arrival of Collector Boosters on the store, which are (somehow) still available at the time of writing, as well as discounts on a variety of TMNT Magic: The Gathering products, including the bundle, the newest Commander Deck ‘Turtle Power’, and even the new Draft Night set.

For more on Magic’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle crossover, check out a card that pairs nicely with Warhammer 40K Necrons, and our early thoughts on the Commander precon.

You can also read my colleague Scott's deep-dive on the set in his full preview, including the unique 'Turtle Team Up' co-op boxed game that's part of the lineup above.

Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He's a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife's dismay.

Pokémon Card Store That Made Headlines After Customers Held at Gunpoint Now Hit by Nintendo Request to Rebrand

18 février 2026 à 14:09

Last month, New York Pokémon card store The Poké Court was the focus of media attention following a frightening armed burglary that involved its staff and customers being held at gunpoint.

The incident prompted widespread shock and sympathy for the fledgling outlet, which lost $100,000 worth of stock in minutes. But now, the business has said the famously-litigious Nintendo has been in touch — not to offer aid, however, but to share "concerns" over its name and logo.

The Poké Court is now being forced to rebrand, with its storefront, social accounts and online site all being rebranded to "The Trainer Court" over the coming days. The previous design featured a stylized Pokéball logo that is now being replaced by a simple "C" colored in green.

In a statement posted to Instagram, the newly-retitled Trainer Court thanked fans for support "amidst the robbery and beyond" but said it was now having to change its name and logo due to a complaint from Nintendo.

"The short story is Nintendo reached out to us with concerns about our name and logo," The Trainer Court wrote. "This means we're evolving! Same team, same ridiculous hit rate, and soon, even greater things coming your way."

The post has already gained plenty of further support for the outlet, with more than 2000 likes at the time of writing and a comment praising the business from Sarah Natochenny, the voice actress who previously provided the voice of Ash Ketchum in Pokémon's animated TV series.

Numerous stores selling Pokémon cards have been hit by robberies over the past year, including locations in Boston, Los Angeles and Seattle. In December, $100,000 worth of stock was swiped from a store in Burbank — an incident that Californian cops suspected was linked to "half a dozen" similar thefts within the southern half of the state. Separately, IGN has reported on numerous other examples that have also occured nationwide over the past 12 months.

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

People Are Arguing Over Whether Crimson Desert Is an RPG and It's Not Even Out Yet

18 février 2026 à 13:45

Is Crimson Desert an RPG? Does it even matter? What is an RPG anyway? Those are questions sparked by the hotly anticipated “open-world action-adventure” game as it nears release, and it’s fair to say there is a variety of opinion.

Let’s start with developer Pearl Abyss’ official description of its own game:

Crimson Desert is an open-world action-adventure game set in the beautiful yet brutal continent of Pywel. Embark on a journey as the Greymane Kliff and restore what has been lost. Explore uncharted lands, fight against threats that stand in your way, and discover the wonders the world has in store.

Pearl Abyss does not call Crimson Desert an RPG here. Nor does it call the game a ‘soulslike,’ which I’ve seen some wonder about. It’s an “open-world action-adventure” game, and it’s as simple as that. But why are people wondering if it’s an RPG in the first place?

X / Twitter user Synth Potato kicked things off by posting about how progression works in Crimson Desert, declaring the game not to be an RPG. That’s because it doesn’t have levels or experience points, which we associate with role-playing games. Rather, new abilities are gained by finding artifacts out in the world, and you can buy or craft better gear. This places Crimson Desert firmly in the action-adventure category, according to this analysis, and not in the RPG category.

But does this mean Crimson Desert cannot also be considered an RPG? Some say that playing as a character in an open world who can progress, even in this form, makes Crimson Desert a role-playing game. Levels and XP are not needed for it to be so, they say. But, following that, does that mean all open-world games are RPGs? Is GTA? Is Red Dead Redemption 2? What about The Legend of Zelda? Link doesn’t level up with experience points, but lots of people call The Legend of Zelda an RPG series.

It’s worth noting that, like in The Legend of Zelda games, in Crimson Desert you play a set protagonist (the wonderfully named Kliff) and experience a set story. You’re not making big decisions here that change the course of events, or determine which ending you’ll get. It’s a more fixed experience, although there is freedom of exploration within it.

“I think everyone is aware it’s not marketed as [an RPG],” a fan said. “It’s still got a ton of RPG systems. Gear score, skill points to progress skill trees and stats to increase for builds.” “It absolutely does have RPG elements,” added another. “What makes an RPG has become a very unclear line as well with how many action adventure games are RPGs.” "It’s more akin to Just Cause or Shadow of Mordor, which is just what I wanted," commented one fan.

I think this is one of the reasons why they’re being really careful to not call it a RPG. That term has expectations from the player that crimson desert doesn’t have. CD definitely strikes me as an open world action adventure with an incredibly fun combat sandbox https://t.co/7guY0AsEE2

— Ms5000Watts (@Ms5000Watts) February 17, 2026

Perhaps the last word should go to Pearl Abyss itself. Will Powers, director of marketing at Pearl Abyss America, recently told fans not to expect RPG elements in terms of decision-making and choice and consequence as it relates to your character in Crimson Desert. The sheer amount of things to do in the world will facilitate the role-playing part of the game instead, which players will form through “head canon.”

“You choose the type of character you want to play as in terms of your progression within the systems in the game,” Powers explained. “And then through head canon you’re having this very different experience than other players because of the scope and scale of the game. You’ll be distracted by something, you’ll go on this quest line, you’ll have an experience that’ll be radically different than someone else, even though they’re playing the same game and the same canonical storyline that you both are going through.”

And after the debate over whether Crimson Desert is an RPG or not went big online, Powers himself explained why Pearl Abyss doesn’t want to call it an RPG, even though it’s perfectly happy for fans to do so.

“Open world questing and action sandbox for sure,” Powers tweeted. Then, in response to someone who said it should be made clear that Crimson Desert is not an RPG to avoid mismanaged expectations, Powers said: “honestly.... it's not my place to dictate someone else's experience. If because of good amount of RPG elements in the game, they want to call it an RPG... Sure. I'm just explaining why WE don't call it one.”

Crimson Desert is due out March 19 priced $69.99. Pearl Abyss recently confirmed it does not contain a cosmetic cash shop nor microtransactions of any kind.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Bethesda Deploys Patch to Address The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Nintendo Switch 2 Performance Woes 

18 février 2026 à 13:44

Bethesda has issued a new patch to address issues plaguing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's Nintendo Switch 2 port.

Bethesda shadowdropped the The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Anniversary Edition for Switch 2 last December. However, just a day after Bethesda announced and launched The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on Nintendo Switch 2, fans reported that the game had arrived with notable performance issues. There were widespread complaints about input lag and the locked 30 frames per second visuals. And there has been criticism, too, of the fact the game hogs 53GB of space on the Switch 2's relatively limited internal memory, compared to just 25GB on PC.

Update 1.2 addresses many of the complaints players have raised over the last couple of months, including adding a new 60 Hz mode, improved FPS performance, fixed "visual issues," and more. Here's the full list.

Skyrim Switch 2 Update 1.2 patch notes:

Features:

  • Added a 60 Hz mode under Display settings that allows players to toggle between “Prioritize Visuals” or “Prioritize Performance”.
  • In addition, frame rate has been locked at 30 Hz in “Prioritize Visuals” mode for smoother gameplay.

Crashes and Performance Fixes:

  • Fixed a crash that occurred when reading “The Crimson Dirks Vol. 4” book for the “Tilted Scales” quest in German.
  • Fixed an audio-related crash.
  • Fixed a crash, infinite load, and game freeze that sometimes occurred when rapidly selecting “Load” multiple times in the pause menu.
  • Fixed a crash that occurred when the “Transmute Ore” spell was repeatedly cast outside of the Haltered Stream Camp.

Improved FPS performance drops that occurred in the following locations:

  • during the Hide and Seek quest in Kynesgrove
  • during combat at Secunda’s Kiss
  • when discovering the “Drelas’ Cottage” location
  • when engaged in combat with a giant at the Talking Stone Camp.

Visuals Issues Fixes:

  • Viewing water planes from a distance or within menus caused them to shift up and down.
  • Distant aspen trees appeared with a blue tint.
  • Transitioning out of caves caused an outline of the entrance to linger during the fade-to-back loading screen.

User Interface Fixes:

  • Switching between mouse and controller mode while in dialogue or the Help menu, caused different options to be highlighted.
  • Switching between mouse and controller mode while in help menus or user hints, did not dynamically update callout prompts.
  • The “Ready/Sheathe” option was missing from the Joy-Con 2 Mouse Controls menu.
  • The “Delete” prompt remained grayed-out within the Load menu when swapping between mouse and controller mode.
  • Deleting a save in the Save/Load menus reset the highlighted selection to the top of the menu list.
  • While in mouse mode, the cursor remained stuck within a smaller section of the screen when changing between docked/undocked modes or interfacing with GameChat.

Controls Fixes:

  • The “Eagle Eye” Archery perk remained active after switching between mouse and controller mode.
  • Holding down the Right Joystick while reassigning a button caused that button to disappear from the Controls list.
  • The Joy-Con 2 controllers provided haptic feedback while in mouse mode.
  • Buttons became unresponsive when controls were remapped while moving the Joy-Con 2 controllers in mouse mode.
  • Rotating the map in mouse mode was slower and less smooth than in controller mode.

Audio Issue Fix:

  • Scrolling SFX continued to play while holding up or down on the Left Joystick or buttons at the top or bottom of the Save/Load menus.

Localization Fixes:

  • “Amiibo” appeared as plural in Spanish.

Miscellaneous:

  • Added new translations for the features listed above and UI updates.
  • Updates were made to the game credits.

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.

The Big Bang Theory Star Kunal Nayyar Reveals He Likes to Visit GoFundMe at Night and 'Just Pay Random Families' Medical Bills'

18 février 2026 à 13:35

Kunal Nayyar has said he's spending some of millions he made playing Raj Koothrappali in The Big Bang Theory to anonymously pay random people's medical bills.

The actor played Raj in all 12 seasons of the former CBS comedy, and reportedly earned $1 million an episode during the show's peak. Now worth an estimated $45 million, the actor has said that he's spending some of his fortune secretly paying people's medical bills while browsing the internet in the dead of night.

"Money has given me greater freedom and the greatest gift is the ability to give back, to change people's lives," Nayyar said in an interview with The i Paper published in December that has now gone viral online.

"We also support animal charities because we love dogs," he continued. "But what I really love to do is go on GoFundMe at night and just pay random families' medical bills. That's my masked vigilante thing! So, no, money doesn't feel like a burden. It feels like a grace from the universe."

Nayyar's charitable giving has gained interest online now in the wake of the GoFundMe campaign set up to support the family of James Van Der Beek, the Dawson's Creek star who died earlier this month aged just 48. That campaign ended up raising $2.6 million.

The Big Bang Theory ended in 2019 after 279 episodes, but not before it spawned the successful prequel series Young Sheldon — which in turn now has its own spinoff, Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage. A fourth show, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, has begun filming and stars Stuart the comic book store owner.

Image credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic.

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

Weapons Director Zach Cregger Given 'Carte Blanche to Do Whatever' With Resident Evil, Creating a Movie Not Expected to Feature Any Familiar Story or Characters

18 février 2026 à 13:12

Zach Cregger, director of Weapons and Barbarian, was given complete "carte blanche to do whatever he wanted" with the Resident Evil franchise.

Cregger's upcoming Resident Evil movie adaptation is not expected to feature any familiar characters, or adapt any specific Resident Evil game — a departure from the series' previous big screen adaptations that have featured famous faces such as Leon S. Kennedy and Chris Redfield, and repeatedly retold the various games' plots.

Most fans will be familiar with the six films directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and starring Milla Jovovich. These adapted bits and pieces of Capcom's Resident Evil games, culminating in the 2016 movie Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. The series was then rebooted in 2021's Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City with a younger cast, though this movie flopped and its intended sequel plans were scrapped.

Now, Resident Evil is being rebooted again, with Cregger on board and given the green light to go in a very different direction.

"With Resident Evil, we have had an incredible journey with one of the most successful international IPs of more than a billion dollars in box office for many years," Oliver Berben of production company Constantin Film told Deadline. "Now we are creating something new, not just a new story idea, but to allow a new generation to take the IP into their own hands and form something different."

Discussing the project's current editing process in more detail, Berben said the movie was notable for being "far away from everything that is connected to Resident Evil, only because Zach Cregger has his own style."

Speaking about the project last year, Cregger himself said his movie would be "obedient to the lore of the games," but also a different story from anything shown in Capcom's franchise previously. "I'm not going to tell Leon's story, because Leon's story is told in the games," he said. "[Fans] already have that."

Cregger is writing and directing the movie, which is currently set to launch on September 18, 2026, with Euphoria and Wolfs actor Austin Abrams and Fantastic Four: The First Steps' Paul Walter Hauser lined up to star.

Back in the world of Resident Evil video games, we're just a week away from the launch of the highly-anticipated Resident Evil Requiem — and yes, spoilers are already out there after early copies leaked.

Image credit: Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images.

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

'Nobody Is Safe' — The Boys Star Karl Urban Teases Big Character Deaths Right From the Start of Season 5

18 février 2026 à 13:08

The Boys Season 5 is set to bring the hugely popular Prime Video series to an end and fans are wondering which characters will die and which will survive. According to Karl Urban, who plays Billy Butcher, character deaths will come thick and fast — and "nobody is safe."

Speaking to Variety, Urban told fans they should look forward to The Boys “coming to a big crescendo” when the fifth and final season hits Prime Video on April 8 with a two-episode launch. He wouldn’t point to any specific moment as jaw-dropping, no doubt to avoid spoilers, but did say there are plenty of shocking moments to come.

“Every season, but particularly this season, from episode one, you’re like, oh wow,” he said. “Nobody is safe. Fatalities right from the get-go. Let’s go! Last season! It’s all on!”

(I did enjoy Urban saying "fatalities" here, given he plays Johnny Cage in the upcoming Mortal Kombat 2 movie!)

Shocking moments are The Boys’ trademark, so we can expect plenty of over-the-top, gore-filled scenes. But who might die? The main character fans are wondering about here is Homelander, who starts Season 5 ruling over the United States with an iron fist.

The Season 5 trailer, below, revolves around Butcher rallying the troops as The Boys mount a fightback against Homelander, played by Antony Starr. Everyone seems up for it, although it very much looks like not everyone will make it out of the end of Season 5 alive. Keep an eye out for Jensen Ackles' Soldier Boy, who is back on ice and watched over by Homelander. Speaking of Homelander, we see him beat someone, or something, to a bloody pulp. A glimpse at a big name character death, perhaps?

Here’s the official blurb on The Boys Season 5:

In the fifth and final season, it’s Homelander’s world, completely subject to his erratic, egomaniacal whims. Hughie, Mother’s Milk, and Frenchie are imprisoned in a “Freedom Camp.” Annie struggles to mount a resistance against the overwhelming Supe force. Kimiko is nowhere to be found. But when Butcher reappears, ready and willing to use a virus that will wipe all Supes off the map, he sets in motion a chain of events that will forever change the world and everyone in it. It’s the climax, people. Big stuff’s gonna happen.

Season 5 not only follows on from the end of Season 4, but Season 2 of spinoff Gen V. Fans were left wondering how the incredibly powerful Marie from Gen V might fare in a showdown with overpowered The Boys supervillain Homelander. Showrunner and executive producer Eric Kripke has said in the past, however, that fans shouldn’t expect Marie to appear in The Boys Season 5 as a Captain Marvel-style deus ex machina who kicks Homelander’s ass. That’s because Marie still hasn’t mastered her powers, or as Kripke has put it in a number of Gen V Season 2 finale spoiler interviews, she’s not Neo at the end of The Matrix.

For a much deeper dive on all this, check out IGN’s Gen V Season 2 Ending Explained: How It Sets Up the Final Season of The Boys article, but to summarize, Marie can control blood, which potentially makes her more powerful even than Homelander. Homelander, for the uninitiated, is a sort of evil Superman, a character so overpowered that few rivals dare question his word. But Marie Moreau, played by Jaz Sinclair, has the potential to kill him due to her ability to command and weaponize blood.

The big question, of course, is whether Homelander actually dies in The Boys Season 5. Kripke told THR last year that Butcher is “front of that line” when it comes to characters wanting to take Homelander out. But then there’s the likes of Stan Edgar, the aforementioned Marie, Annie, and Huey who would no doubt all like a piece of the action.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

'I'd Like to Not Be Weird Spectral Phantoms in These Children's Lives' — Daniel Radcliffe Says Don't Ask the New Harry Potter TV Show Kids About Him

18 février 2026 à 12:47

Harry Potter movie star Daniel Radcliffe has said that the franchise's new TV actors should be allowed to "get on with it" — without people asking about himself, Rupert Grint, or Emma Watson.

Speaking to ScreenRant, Radcliffe said that the TV series' young stars shouldn't be asked — or compared to — their predecessors, as he didn't want to be "weird spectral phantoms" in their lives.

It's a sentiment that Radcliffe has expressed before, when revealing he had penned a note to the new Harry Potter actor, 11-year-old Dominic McLaughlin. In a separate interview, Rupert Grint said that he had done similar for the new actor playing Ron Weasley. Now, though, Radcliffe has said that the TV series' actors would be best served by letting them focus on their own adaptation, which will be "new" and "different."

"When these kids got cast, there was a huge thing on the internet around the world, people being like 'we've got to look after these kids.' And I was like, if you mean that, one of the things you can do for me is not ask about us — me, Emma, Rupert — the whole time," Radcliffe said.

"I would like not to be weird spectral phantoms in these children's lives and just to let them get on with it. Because it is going to be a new thing and it's going to be a different thing, and they're going to be — I mean, I'm sure Dominic is going to be better than me and better than I was."

HBO's new Harry Potter TV series is expected to debut in early 2027 with an eight-episode first season. Filming began last summer, with various glimpses spotted by fans including work on fresh scenes not from the prior movies or books. Indeed, just this month we learned that we'll be seeing more of Draco Malfoy's home life, as the show won't be told from "over Harry's shoulder" like the books or movies.

As for other big changes, the show plans feature John Lithgow's Dumbledore meeting Nicolas Flamel, reintroduce History of Magic lessons with Richard Durden as Professor Binns, while Lucius Malfoy, Draco’s father played by Johnny Flynn, is expected to join the story in the first season of the show, before his introduction in the books and movies.

"I learned as I went, y'know, whatever," Radcliffe said of his performances as the boy wizard, honed over eight movies and over a decade of production. "I look back on what I did now with a lot more kindness and I find it less embarrassing now that I'm older, but I was very much learning how to do it for a long time on Potter. And [to McLaughlin] I'd just say, 'I hope you have the best time'."

Last year, Sophie Turner, who began playing Sansa Stark on HBO's Game of Thrones aged just 13, offered some words of warning for McLaughlin — as well as Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton, who will play Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, respectively — after saying that growing up in the spotlight "almost destroyed" her.

Image credit: Bruce Glikas/WireImage.

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

Konami Quietly Removes Original Versions of Metal Gear Solid 4 and Peace Walker From Sale After Collection Vol. 2 Announcement

18 février 2026 à 12:39

Konami has removed two Metal Gear games, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, from digital storefronts.

The Japanese company finally revealed Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 at last week's State of Play showcase, promising to re-release Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for PC and consoles this August. While it's exciting that two classic tactical espionage action titles are getting touch-ups, more importantly, it means MGS4 will finally be playable on something other than PS3 when the collection launches August 27, 2026.

Shortly after that announcement, however, players noticed that the two games included in the collection had been pulled from the PlayStation and Xbox stores.

It could be that Konami has removed the older games to avoid confusion when pre-ordering the new collection. A less charitable interpretation is that the publisher has removed the original versions to funnel sales towards the new one. Even though the games were only available on very old systems like PSP, PS3, and Xbox 360, Metal Gear Solid 4 had previously been streamable on PlayStation.

IGN has asked Konami for comment.

Konami released Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 in October 2023. Mixed in with the troubled launch of the first bundle was a leak, as confirmed by IGN, suggesting more MGS re-releases were on the way, but it wasn’t until August 2024 that the publisher would finally tell fans to “stay tuned.”

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 is coming to PC via Steam, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X/S. While we wait to see if Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 will have a more stable launch than its predecessor, you can read about what Konami is doing to reassure players.

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.

'We've Got Some Ideas' — Chris Hemsworth Confirms Thor Future Following Avengers: Doomsday

18 février 2026 à 11:42

Marvel star Chris Hemsworth has confirmed there are plans for him to still play Thor "a couple of times" after this year's Avengers: Doomsday.

Speaking on the SmartLess podcast with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett, Hemsworth suggested audiences would see him portray the fan-favorite Norse god for some time yet.

It's a surprising revelation, not least because Avengers: Doomsday is expected to be an apocalyptic affair, where the fates of many Marvel characters will likely hang in the balance. But it also serves to reverse the narrative on Hemsworth being ready to hang up his hammer — a narrative Hemsworth initially sparked himself by saying he was "ready to close the book" on the character, before more recently walking that sentiment back.

"It's been so much fun," Hemsworth said, via The Playlist, after confirming there were plans for him to return post-Doomsday more than once. "Unlike a lot of what the other characters that the [actors] were given, they have had to be pretty consistent — whereas working with Taika Waititi on his films versus Kenneth Branagh with those films and then with the Russos, all [the films] had quite a different sort of tonal opinion."

"I was talking to Kevin Feige about it, and he said it's cool because the audience now expects dramatic turns with the character," he continued. "And whatever we do next — we've got some ideas to do something pretty unique again and hopefully be [different]."

The recent Thor-focused Avengers: Doomsday trailer (that's not a trailer but actually a piece of narrative information, apparently) featured a somber take on the character, far removed from the wackier version seen in the widely-panned Thor: Love and Thunder. Hemsworth has discussed the failings of that movie before, but doubled down on them again here, acknowledging that it had taken the silliness too far.

"You do need to be careful," Hemsworth said. "When we made Ragnarök, it was quite a twist, with Taika's [film]. And it was so fun. There was a huge appreciation for the shift. And then Love And Thunder, it was kind of like a Monty Python sketch, and we took the piss probably a little much, and then there was some backlash. There was this real kind of, 'Why is he a goofball and why is it like this?' And, [audiences] violently offended and we were like, 'Oh, we're just having fun or trying to try something different.'"

Of course, Thor is expected (but not yet confirmed) to return after Avengers: Doomsday in its forthcoming sequel Avengers: Secret Wars. Marvel has said very little of its plans for films after that, though we know that it is rebooting X-Men and plans to make Black Panther 3. It's hard to imagine Thor appearing in either of those. Does this mean we're getting a more grounded Thor 5, then? And what will its story be?

Already, fans are wondering whether this means Hemsworth's character definitely survives the events of Doomsday and Secret Wars — or not. One storyline could see him fall in battle and end up in Valhalla, which would also reunite him with Jane and Heimdall. There's also the dangling plot thread of Hercules to resolve — perhaps he ends up in Valhalla also? But these are ideas which we'll need to wait several years still to see. As a reminder, Avengers: Doomsday lands in theaters on December 18 this year, before Avengers: Secret Wars opens on December 17, 2027.

Image credit: Lisa O'Connor/AFP via Getty Images.

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

Here's What's New in Monster Hunter Wilds Patch 1.041

18 février 2026 à 11:08

Monster Hunter Wilds patch 1.041 is now live, and it's a big one.

Marking the game's anniversary, from now until March 18, there'll be a login bonus plus rotations of past Festivals of Accord. And, as we learned last week, we're also getting the 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."

We also learned last week that 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.

Monster Hunter Wilds has had something of a bumpy ride. 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, outlined plans to address the myriad issues impacting the PC version.

Note that you won't be able to access DLC or play online multiplayer until this update has been installed. Steam users are also advised to update to driver versions to NVIDIA GeForce 581.57 (or newer) or AMD Radeon: 25.9.1. (or newer). "Some issues have been identified with AMD Radeon drivers versions 25.10.2 and higher on certain PCs using AMD Radeon graphics cards such as the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT/7800 XT," the team warned.

Full patch notes for Monster Hunter Wilds Ver.1.041.00.00 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S

Release Date

  • Wednesday February 18, 2026 2:30 a.m. UTC (Tuesday February 17, 2026 6:30 p.m. PT)
  • Note: Release date and time are subject to change without prior notice.

Required Space (Current Update Only)

  • PlayStation5: Approx. 13.0 GB
  • Xbox Series X|S: Approx. 16.0 GB
  • Steam: Approx. 15.0 GB (With High Resolution Texture Pack: Approx. 18.0 GB total)
  • Note: Make sure to have enough additional storage to allow for slight differences in final size.

Major Additions and Changes

Monsters
  • – Arch-tempered Arkveld has been added as a permanent Event Quest.
  • – New 10★ difficulty quests have been added as permanent event quests for the following monsters: Arch-tempered Rey Dau, Arch-tempered Uth Duna, Arch-tempered Nu Udra, and Arch-tempered Jin Dahaad.
Player
  • – New equipment and pendants have been added.
Story Progression
  • – Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection Special Collaboration side mission "A Royal Request" has been added. This side mission will become available after reaching HR 9+.
  • – New side mission "Love for a Hero" has been added. This side mission will become available after completing the extra mission "Ghosts Pay No Heed to Tomorrow" and then talking to Nadia and Mina.
Bases and Facilities
  • – Added a new feature to the Melding Pot that allows you to meld Gogma materials.
  • – Added a new feature that allows you to earn random ingredients at the Ingredient Center after reaching HR 9.
  • – New Appraisal Items called "Timeworn Charms" have been added to quest rewards. (No changes have been made to the attributes of Talismans earned. Chances of receiving Talismans with high rarity are increased when using Timeworn Charms.)
  • – Increased the maximum number of Pop-Up Camps for the Windward Plains, the Scarlet Forest, and the Oilwell Basin. (This will be unlocked by talking to the Pop-up Camp Meowster or the Support Desk after completing the assignment "Germination".)
  • – Added an option to the Barrel Bowling results screen that allows you to retry immediately. An option has also been added that allows you to use 10 Barrel Bowling Vouchers and receive all rewards at once.
  • – Adjusted the parameters of the Blossom Barrel Bombs used in Barrel Bowling to behave differently from the Large Barrel Bombs used out in the field. In accordance with this adjustment, new placement patterns have also been added.
  • – Reduced the waiting time between throws in Barrel Bowling, so that players can throw the second barrel while the results of the first throw are still being displayed.
System
  • – Reduced CPU/GPU processing and made adjustments to lower the load on the game.
    – Added internal Levels of Detail (LOD) for 3D models, adjusting them to display optimal quality based on the situation to reduce GPU load.
    – Optimized monster and endemic life spawn-time processing to reduce CPU load.
    – Added effect caching to decrease CPU load when generating duplicate effects.
    – Optimized rendering processes to reduce CPU/GPU load.
    – Performed other minor adjustments to lower the overall load.
  • – The following 9★ event quests have been made permanently available:
    – The White Wonder
    – Ultimate Berserker
    – The Monkey King
    – Sovereign Brute
    – There Goes the Neighborhood
  • – Added a new special environment quest. (This quest will become available after completing the existing three special environment quests as well as the 10★ Arch-tempered Arkveld event quest.)
  • – When quick-accessing "Quest Last Played" on the top screen at the Quest Counter, the default departure point will now be set to the last departure point used. (If the last departure point used is not available, the player will start from the base camp as usual.)
  • – Adjusted the display for event quests to make it clearer that the player is offline on the screens for accepting or joining a quest.
  • – Added a Refresh button to the search results list for SOS Flare Quests.
  • – Added Thai as a text language. Text language can be changed in the title menu options.
  • – Added Latin American Spanish as a voice language. Voice language can be changed in the title menu options.
  • – Added a "Favorited Items Safeguard" feature to the Start Menu options. This will lock the confirm button for specific facilities so that the player cannot use items that are registered as favorites. (Note: This setting can be changed back to "Require Confirmation" on the same options screen.)
  • – Added a shortcut button for checking the details before registering an equipment loadout for shared loadouts on the Invitation List screen.
  • – Added a shortcut button for going back and forth between the "Upgrade from Box" screen and "Transcending" screen at the Smithy.
  • – Adjusted the UI for when the player approaches a Hunting Assistant (Werner or Gemma) in the field, making it easier to distinguish between the positions of Werner or Gemma and their hunting tools.
  • – All nine permanent event quests that were only playable online have been made available for offline play as well. (Please refer to the Event Quest schedule for more details.)
    – Heart of Judecca (Arch-tempered Jin Dahaad)
    – Specter of Their Sins (Gogmazios), etc.
  • - All 29 event quests that yield equipment materials and that were only available for a limited time have been made permanent and playable offline. (Please refer to the event quest schedule for more details.)
Miscellaneous
  • – Made adjustments that should prevent the Handler from pushing the hunter while out in the field during hunts or exploration. An option to hide them completely during a hunt was also added.

Bug Fixes and Balance Adjustments

Bases and Facilities
  • – Fixed an issue preventing some pins from being displayed and the score from being tallied correctly if the player throws a barrel right before starting Barrel Bowling.
Monsters
  • – Fixed an issue where the outcome of a turf war between Lagiacrus and Rathalos would differ between players.
  • – Fixed an issue where a weak point appeared at the incorrect timing during a Rompopolo's toxic gas attack.
  • – Fixed an issue where Compact Anti-Wyvern Guns that fall to the ground sometimes wouldn't appear under specific conditions during the Gogmazios quest.
  • – Fixed an issue in Jin Dahaad, Tempered Jin Dahaad, and Arch-tempered Jin Dahaad quests where, under certain conditions, only the monster would move to the final area, preventing quest progression.
Player
  • General
    • – Fixed an issue preventing the correct system messages from being displayed when a skill effect ends due to the player switching weapons.
    • – Fixed an issue where Fabius could get hit by the player's slinger during Gogmazios's special attack.
  • Sword & Shield
    • – Fixed an issue causing some items to disappear temporarily from the Radial Menu when using items like traps and such while the sword & shield are unsheathed.
  • Dual Blades
    • – Fixed an issue where landing a Focus Strike with the Dual Blades on Gogmazios while airborne caused the player to move erratically.
  • Bowguns
    • – Fixed an issue causing unintended elemental effects to be displayed on Artian weapons.
  • Skills
    • – Fixed an issue that caused an elemental resistance increase icon to appear when the "Protective Veil I" skill was active, despite the skill not having that effect.
  • Support Hunters
    • – Fixed an issue where Support Hunters may fire Compact Anti-Wyvern Guns away from Gogmazios while riding Seikret.
    • – Fixed an issue where Support Hunters may stop to carve Gogmazios's severed tail during the quest.
    • – Fixed an issue where Fabius would stop guarding if the quest leader changed during Gogmazios's special attack.
    • – Fixed an issue where the direction of Fabius's guard would deviate from the intended direction during Gogmazios's special attack.
    • – Fixed an issue where Support Hunters would not take cover during Jin Dahaad's large area-of-effect attack.
    • – Fixed an issue where Support Hunters would attack Omega Planetes instead of the Nerscylla while it was charging the Delta Attack.
    • – Fixed an issue where Support Hunters inside a shield could still take damage during Omega Planetes’s Delta Attack.
    • – Fixed an issue that caused Support Hunters to be unable to get in or out of the underwater combat area during the Lagiacrus hunt.
Miscellaneous
  • System
    • – During a Field Survey, if the player deals extensive damage to a large monster that isn't the current quest target, the health value conditions that would prevent that monster from becoming a target in a subsequent Field Survey have been relaxed.
    • – Fixed an issue where unnecessary chat logs (indicating monsters leaving the locale) could display during a Special Environment Quest in which the environment contains a monster of the same species as large monsters that are already designed to appear in that quest.
    • – Fixed an issue where the Cosmetic DLC Pass text was not displaying correctly under Add-ons in the Support Desk menu.
    • – Fixed an issue where the pattern thickness for the "Whitewing Caparison" decoration could not be adjusted in Seikret Customization.
    • – Added a fix to correct weapon performance when unintended bonus combinations are applied during reinforcement of Artian Weapons or Gogma Artian Weapons.
    • – We have implemented a solution to reduce the load time experienced at startup when the user has a large number of add-ons.
  • Locales
    • – Fixed an issue that sometimes caused Pitfall Traps or Shock Traps to disappear after being placed in certain areas in the Windward Plains.
    • – Fixed an issue that would sometimes cause two Convergent Elderbreaker cannons to appear under specific conditions during the Gogmazios quest.
  • Other
    • – Fixed an issue where some voice lines would not trigger properly.
    • – Fixed various text issues.
    • – Fixed other miscellaneous issues.

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

This TMNT Magic Card Is a Dream for Artifact Creature Decks - Like Warhammer 40K's Necron Dynasties

18 février 2026 à 00:00

Magic: The Gathering has become “crossover central” in recent years, and while some fans have conflicting thoughts on the game’s 2026 roadmap, it does lead to some absolutely bizarre combinations.

A few months ago, we pointed out a ridiculous combo between Sonic the Hedgehog and Warhammer 40K’s Winged Hive Tyrant, but we might just have something that matches it in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set, launching next month.

Krang And The Necrons Is A Hell Of A Band Name

Artifact Creatures in Magic: The Gathering are essentially just that - a blend of two card types. That means cards that affect Artifacts, and those that buff Creatures, will help power them up nicely.

We mention this because Krang, Utrom Warlord, could be quite ridiculous when paired with a deck focused on Artifact Creatures, like Necron Dynasties from the Warhammer 40K Universes Beyond Commander deck lineup.

Krang, Utrom Warlord is a nine-cost (expensive, yes), but has the keywords Flying, Trample, Indestructible, and Haste. Oh, and it’s a 9/9.

That’s a pain to deal with on its own, but the card also gives other Artifact Creatures you control Flying, Trample, Indestructible and Haste.

For context, almost every single creature in the Necron Dynasties deck is an Artifact Creature, so dropping Kang onto the battlefield alongside them could be a potential game-ender.

It feels like it’ll find a spot in a lot of decks based around that creature type, given it’s colorless, too, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see it climb in value somewhat.

As for Necron Dynasties, you’ll need to find it on the secondary market these days, but the mono-black deck was already plenty powerful already.

We’ll find out soon, though - the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set launches on March 6, with preorders available already.

Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He's a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife's dismay.

Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano Sets May Date for Live Netflix MMA Event

17 février 2026 à 23:57

Netflix has announced that its first live MMA event will see Ronda Rousey enter the ring against Gina Carano.

The live event was announced today and is scheduled to stream from the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles May 16, 2026. A face-to-face press conference promoting the event is scheduled to take place at the same location March 5, with tickets set to go on sale that day at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET.

Two MMA legends are coming to Netflix.

RONDA ROUSEY vs. GINA CARANO
Saturday May 16
LIVE only on Netflix#RouseyCarano pic.twitter.com/zqdSC7l4in

— Netflix (@netflix) February 17, 2026

Netflix’s livestreamed featherweight event comes as a result of its collaboration with Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) and will see the two controversial combat sports stars go head-to-head under the Unified Rules of the MMA through five 5-minute rounds. It’s an unexpected announcement for more reasons than one, especially as it’s been nearly 17 years since Carano’s last MMA fight and a little less than a decade since Rousey’s.

“Ronda came to me and said there is only one person she would make a comeback for and it has been her dream to make this fight happen between us,” Carano said in a statement. “She thanked me for opening up doors for her in her career and was respectful in asking for this fight to happen. This is an honor. I believe I will walk out of this fight with the win and I anticipate it will not come easy, which I welcome. This is as much for Ronda and me as it is for the fans and mixed martial arts community. What a time to be alive.”

Both competitors first caught the attention of the public eye due to their abilities as professional fighters. They’ve also each spent the 2010s and 2020s as familiar names outside of the ring – even if it’s not always been for positive reasons.

A LEGACY SHOWDOWN 🔥 #RouseyCarano

RONDA ROUSEY vs. GINA CARANO
Saturday May 16
LIVE only on Netflix pic.twitter.com/cybtQHNyPT

— Netflix Sports (@netflixsports) February 17, 2026

Rousey has orbited the world of sports regardless of her direct involvement in competition, lending her voice to the WWE for both live and video game-related projects in recent years. She’s also spent time as the voice of Sonya Blade in recent Mortal Kombat entries and even made a cameo appearance in Furious 7. This all comes after a 2013 controversy that saw her post and then delete a message perpetuating claims that families of Sandy Hook victims were paid actors. Outside of one tweet posted shortly after, Rousey largely avoided the topic until posting a lengthy apology in 2024, 11 years later.

Carano, meanwhile, has done her best to stick to the world of movies and TV. Her appearances in live-action film began after her departure from professional sports in 2009, with notable projects like Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Heist (2015), and Deadpool (2016) all under her belt.

Carano would then secure her biggest role yet when she played the part of Cara Dune for two seasons of Disney’s The Mandalorian. Her time in Star Wars was short-lived, though, as Lucasfilm was quick to fire her after a now-deleted post, where she compared the persecution of Jewish people in Nazi Germany to being a Republican in 2021, which saw fans launch a #FireGinaCarano campaign. She then went on to work with conservative media company The Daily Wire on its 2022 project Terror on the Prairie before launching a discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuit against Disney with funding from Elon Musk in 2024. The dispute was settled in August 2025.

For one reason or another, both names are sure to attract a lot of attention for Netflix when Rousey vs. Carano takes place this May. The event, which will be the streaming giant’s first live MMA broadcast, follows a 2024 show that put content creator Jake Paul against boxing legend Mike Tyson and resulted in the most-streamed sporting event of all-time.

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).

World of Warcraft Now Has a Zillow for Player Housing

17 février 2026 à 23:39

Blizzard has partnered with real estate website Zillow to create Zillow for Warcraft, a goofy Zillow-like website intended to promote the game's new player housing feature with humor, information, and a free in-game item.

The website, accessible at zillowforwarcraft.com or zillow.com/warcraft, is, to be clear, a goof. At the moment, it doesn't seem to be showing off actual houses built by real players. It instead has a curated selection of both Horde and Alliance homes that seem to be intended more to offer inspiration to players working on their own homes than anything. Besides, it's not like you can actually buy someone else's fully built and decorated house in the game, anyway.

The website is cute, though. It's got a handful of different housing options on different plots in both the Horde and Alliance neighborhoods to skim through, with humorous descriptions of decor decisions and, frankly, some pretty good ideas that I hadn't really thought of for my own rustic shack. You're guided through the website by Bek'tar Donhammar and Hazyl Fizzlehorn, two fictional Azerothian real estate agents who each have their own profiles with "reviews" from satisfied customers, all rife with in-jokes.

The main reason you might care to visit the website, though, is to get the free item. If you link your battle.net account, you can get a free "Naturally Elegant Doormat" which will show up in the in-game mail after the fact and become available for use in decorating your house. It's not a bad doormat! Worth the, like, four clicks it takes to get it. Once you have one, you can also buy more copies of it from Tuuran and Gabbi near the Trading Posts in Stormwind and Orgrimmar, in case you want a house just full of mats.

Perhaps even more delightful than just clicking around on the website though are some of the player reactions to the feature. In a Reddit thread about the announcement, a number of individuals have popped in to offer pleasant snark about the crossover, generally mixed in with commentary about how expensive real-life houses are nowadays.

"last sold in ‘88 for 49,000, now going for 449,000, cool cool cool," reads the top comment by u/Helios420A

"Hasn’t had work done since Blackhand was Warchief," writes u/Thesleek

"Does this mean blackrock will somehow get involved next?" asked u/notmyworkaccount5, making a very well-placed pun on BlackRock Inc, the investment company, and Blackrock, the World of Warcraft orc clan.

Now that I have my doormat, I will proceed to log in and rearrange my living room for the umpteenth time, wasting several hours before finally admitting I will never make anything as magical as the Ban'ethil Bohemian, and go back to adding spikes to my roof.

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

The Full Cut of Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair Is Now Available to Watch at Home

17 février 2026 à 22:56

It’s no secret that Quentin Tarantino originally conceived of Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 as a single movie, which has long contributed to his claim that he’s only directed nine movies total. While this full version of Kill Bill was deemed a little too much for the average theater-goer back in the early 2000’s, two decades of acclaim finally led to the full release of the original edit last year.

If you weren’t quite willing to hack out the almost five-hour-long marathon in theaters (Tarantino would be disappointed), you can now buy Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair on digital to watch at home.

Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair Lands on Digital

Clocking in at four hours and 41 minutes, Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair officially released in theaters for the first time this past November. Tarantino initially wanted the film to only be available in theaters, making a digital release slightly surprising. While a physical release of the full duology has seemingly been confirmed, I wouldn’t anticipate a streaming release on any particular service.

The Whole Bloody Affair is not in fact just Kill Bill: Volume 1 and 2 smushed together, and instead features the ‘original’ editing with some scenes around. This includes an extended version of the O-Ren Ishii anime sequence as well as full color during the House of the Blue Leaves fight. All in all, our 9/10 review claims the over-four-hour-long saga “retains all the exuberant action highlights that made the duology an instant classic while allowing the saga’s emotional pieces to fall more neatly into place.”

Tarantino also collaborated with Epic Games and visualization studio The Third Floor on Yuki’s Revenge, a short film that premiered in Fortnite just before The Whole Bloody Affair landed in theaters. Developed from what was originally a deleted scene, the short film follows Yuki Yubari hunting down The Bride to avenge her sister, Gogo. That's now available to watch for free.

More recently, Tarantino made headlines for talking smack about a spread of actors, most notably Paul Dano, who was readily defended by most of the industry. Otherwise, there’s still no word on the auteur’s tenth and 'final' movie since the The Movie Critic was scrapped. At the very least, the full release of Kill Bill means that number makes a little more sense.

Blythe (she/her) is an Audience Development Coordinator at IGN who, when she isn't following streaming news, spends way too much time in character customization screens and tracking down collectibles.

Tencent Was Quietly Backing Highguard Studio, According to Report

17 février 2026 à 22:42

Highguard, the free-to-play PvP "raid shooter" announced at The Game Awards last year and released to preemptive criticism and mockery only for most of its developers to be laid off just weeks after launch, was apparently financially backed by Tencent, according to a report.

This comes from Game File, which reports that the Chinese gaming mogul was the primary financial backer behind developer Wildlight Entertainment, an arrangement that was not publicly shared by either company.

Prior to this report, it was unclear who was funding Wildlight, despite Highguard seemingly being in development for a number of years prior to its announcement at The Game Awards in December. Its official LinkedIn page has long included the line that Wildlight is "a new, fully-funded entertainment studio."

That grand announcement, its time and place instigated by The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley rather than the studio, sparked weeks of mockery online, with a number of content creators declaring the game dead before it had even released. Upon launch, Highguard netted nearly 100k Steam concurrents, but critic reviews (including ours) were just so-so and user scores were low. Just a few weeks later, developers from Wildlight revealed that most of them had been laid off. Since then, one developer who worked on the game has reflected that Highguard was "turned into a joke from minute one" due to false assumptions made from the TGA trailer, and a number of other high-profile developers have come to its defense.

It remains unclear how heavily reliant Wildlight was on Tencent, or whether a decision to pull funding was made at some point that led to the mass layoffs. Wildlight's future as a studio also remains unclear, with a studio statement saying that it would retain a "core group of developers" to keep Highguard going. However, the game's website went offline earlier today and has yet to be restored, leading some to speculate that the game or even the studio is about to fully shut down.

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

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