Creative Assembly has finally confirmed one of the worst-kept secrets in video games: Total War: Warhammer 40,000.

Confirmation comes from The Game Awards 2025, where Stranger Things star and self-confessed Warhammer fan David Harbour said said he was set to star in the strategy game.

The trailer includes a flashy cinematic showing Space Marine poster boys the Ultramarines killing orks - lots of orks. We then get a brief look at gameplay, showing the sheer scale of the action. It looks like we'll be able to campaign across multiple planets, shifting from war-torn battlefields to the galactic war. Based on the trailer, Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is set for release across PC and consoles.

Here's all the official information we have from Creative Assembly:

Total War’s award-winning fusion of turn-based strategy and colossal real-time battles descends into the grim, science-fantasy universe of Warhammer 40,000.

In the Era Indomitus, the galaxy is aflame with endless war, and every soul’s survival hangs by a thread. Take command of iconic factions, customise your war machine, and engage in devastating battles as you carve a bloody warpath across the stars.

Lead campaigns across the void with four radically distinct factions, each forged with their own unique array of lore-inspired gameplay features, devastating weaponry, apocalyptic war machines, and methods of warfare.

● Space Marines: Genetically enhanced weapons of war, these warriors are few in number but near unmatched in power. Clad in sacred armour and wielding the Imperium’s most deadly weaponry, each strikes with devastating and unyielding precision.

● Orks: Brutish hordes of destruction, they are unrelenting, countless and live for war. Storming the battlefield in endless mobs, they brandish unpredictable weapons and clanking war machines - all driven by the primal power of the WAAAGH!

● Aeldari: An ancient and waning xenos race, who once ruled the stars, but now rail against their certain fate. Swift and elusive, they strike with psychic precision and elegant weaponry, exploiting weakness before vanishing into shadow.

● Astra Militarum: The massed ranks of humanity’s largest fighting force are a bulwark of flesh and steel. Their legions of soldiers' march beneath the roar of battle-tanks and the thunder of artillery, grinding enemies into ruin with disciplined fury and sheer determination.

Step into battle with renowned sub-factions and warlords from the Warhammer 40,000 universe - or forge your own custom army with unparalleled set of customisation options that bring tabletop freedom to life.

● Personalise Your Army: Name your warband, choose its sacred colours, and emblazon its regiments with an array of iconography that strikes fear into the hearts of enemies.

● Modify Your Warriors: Tailor your faction’s combat philosophy for both campaign and battle, arming them with your own unique fusion of devastating tactical abilities, signature traits, and arcane wargear.

Wage war across a galactic sandbox where there is no peace, only war. Expand your empire turn by turn; capturing planets, upgrading fleets, and managing your war economy as you carve a path through the stars to dominance.

Fight to determine the fate of entire worlds. Conquer and develop strongholds, bombard enemies from orbit, and deploy your armies to the ground to engage in breathtaking real-time battles over planetary installations and regions.

And when the threat becomes too great, consider unleashing apocalyptic weaponry to erase entire planets from existence.

Command vast armies of battle-hardened warriors in brutal, tactical engagements across war-torn worlds featuring distinct biomes, battlefield types, and dynamic destruction.

Recruit from a deadly arsenal of faction-specific units, including powerful veterans, elite combat squads, towering walkers, and immense war machines. When the going gets tough, call in reinforcements to reignite your war effort.

Strategically deploy powerful abilities to dominate the flow of battle, from haphazard artillery bombardments to aerial strafing runs and laser-powered strikes. Every impact reshapes the terrain, creating new cover and fresh tactical opportunities.

Be sure to check out everything announced at The Game Awards 2025 for more, as well as the winners list in full.

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.

The developer of well-received top-down action game The Ascent has revealed its next game and a shift in perspective to first-person.

Neon Giant announced No Law at The Game Awards 2025 with a trailer that showed the move to first-person and a distinct Cyberpunk style. Indeed, at first glance, No Law looks a bit like CD Projekt’s own Cyberpunk 2077, although there are key differences.

No Law is an open world first-person shooter role-playing game with immersive sim elements, due out on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S published by PUBG company Krafton. A release window has yet to be announced.

It’s set in a cyber-noire called Port Desire, and sees the player assume the role of Grey Harker, an ex-military veteran who left his war-torn life behind for a much more peaceful existence tending his plants. Unfortunately for him, trouble comes knocking, and he must lean on his black ops instincts to survive.

Neon Giant said to expect a rich story drenched in neon, colorful characters, and big choices to make. If you play through multiple times you’ll find alternate paths and new outcomes. You can mix things up with gameplay, too, focusing on stealth or going in guns blazing.

No Law is a single-player only game, with no multiplayer, and it has nothing to do with The Ascent, Neon Giant insisted. This is a new fictional world, and from the trailer you can see it’s a more grounded cyberpunk aesthetic, compared to the more sci-fi, alien-packed world of The Ascent.

Be sure to check out everything announced at The Game Awards 2025 for more, as well as the winners list in full.

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.

Fresh from its reveal at The Game Awards 2025, first-person open world shooter RPG No Law is already raising eyebrows for looking a fair bit like CD Projekt’s Cyberpunk 2077. It turns out developer Neon Giant expected those comparisons, but are keen to point out important differences.

No Law is the next game from the developer of The Ascent, the well-received cyberpunk-themed twin-stick shooter that launched in 2021. No Law sees Neon Giant shift perspective not just in terms of the camera but tone, to a more grounded cyberpunk aesthetic that revolves around a single city. And based on the debut trailer, No Law is giving off big Cyberpunk 2077 vibes.

In an interview with IGN ahead of the announcement, co-founders and co-creative directors Tor Frick and Arcade Berg explained why Neon Giant went with a brand new game rather than, say, The Ascent 2, or even going for a first-person The Ascent follow-up. We talk about everything from the feel of the city to the combat, the impact of dialogue choices to the fun-looking kick attack.

IGN: How did you settle on this as a project, as well as a shift into first-person?

Tor Frick: Actually both me and Arcade, but also a big part of the team, we actually come from a first-person games background. And for us it was The Ascent that was the new and uncharted territory where we had never made a twin-stick shooter, anything like that before. So with this game we actually feel like we are going back to our roots and the things that we are more comfortable with as developers. So that's a huge part of it. We wanted to make something that the team is very passionate about and something that fits the individuals in the team. We have worked on a lot of first-person franchises through the years, a big chunk of the big ones, and for us, this is something that we just felt comfortable in trying to take on something more ambitious. We are familiar with making pretty high fidelity ambitious first-person games, especially single-player games. So for us it was a natural step. What do we want to do as a team? It was to take a first-person, single-player game and push that further.

I think also with the first-person perspective, a big reason for that as well is that, in The Ascent we focused a lot on the world-building and the lore and the mood, and we really like building games where you can immerse yourself in the world. That was something we really wanted to go a lot deeper with this game. Because in first-person you can actually appreciate all the little storytelling, and there's just a lot more stories to tell. And that's something that we missed with The Ascent a little bit, to be a little bit more intimate with everything. So that's a big reason as well.

IGN: I wonder if you were inspired by the incredible modding work that went on with The Ascent. I remember seeing footage of the game in first-person, and it looked incredible, almost like it was born to be that sort of thing. And I wonder if seeing that maybe played a part?

Arcade Berg: I don't think that changed it, but we were very happy when that happened. There was a lot of good buzz surrounding The Ascent for it. And the good thing is that when someone on the internet makes something, we don't have to be held responsible. But it was so much fun for us, that and photo mode are just two amazing things for the game and for us the studio, just seeing how much people care and how it got longevity thanks to that. Because The Ascent has a beginning, middle and end, it's not an ongoing live service product. So it's a lot of fun to see that people are still to this day posting stuff.

IGN: The Ascent was incredibly detailed. Based on the trailer for No Law, you’re doing the same thing here.

Tor Frick: Yeah, for sure. I think that's something we definitely wanted to push a lot in this game. We want the fidelity to be extremely high and the density to be extremely high. For us it's more important to have density than to have size. And that goes for everything, not just art assets but the game itself. We want to make something that feels intimate, both the small spaces you're in but also… it isn't a sprawling thing. It's a very intimate detail and high density world and game.

Arcade Berg: It's also fun because whilst there's a lot of stuff that is very reminiscent of The Ascent and there are things you'll recognize because we like them and it's the same guys making it, so you'll see a lot of that same DNA if you will, it's still a very fun challenge. Because while The Ascent is pure sci-fi, everything is designed to be in this arcology, right? This game is much more grounded. It's still cyberpunk, it's still high tech, it's still very cool. It's very important for us that everything you do in our games is still grounded within the fiction of that world. It always makes sense in that world. But in this city you are on the ground, there is vegetation, there is life, it's a different type of cyberpunk world. So there's again, creatively, things we now have to have different solutions for than what we chose to do in The Ascent.

So it's not that we are rehashing The Ascent’s world but now in first-person. It's a completely new setting. I think it's a very exciting setting. Hopefully players will agree when the game is out! But it's a lot of fun to just explore and immerse yourself in. So we've really gone to town with that one. So for example, we do the things you'd expect, we do have day night cycles, weather, living world, all of that. So you really can immerse yourself in the city and walk around and be amazed with the distinct difference of it being on a park street at night or maybe in a more lush, calmer area in the daytime, except that they're two different worlds but everything's hosted in this city.

IGN: Were you tempted to put the camera in first-person and make The Ascent 2 as a first-person game? Was it ever a debate internally?

Tor Frick: Not really. I think we settled on that we want to make something new pretty quickly, and that's because we are very keen that the world we create should fit the type of game we make, and the type of game we want to make did not a hundred percent align with the world of The ascent. So instead of trying to push The Ascent’s world into something it wasn't before, we prefer to make something new where we can do things, for example, that are more grounded in some cases, and mechanics that just wouldn't work. It needs to all work together. So we didn't want to change The Ascent into something else, so that's why.

Arcade Berg: Having said that, of course we loved The Ascent, and we did have a very, very brief discussion which basically was, if our goal is just to run a financially successful business, we should just start working on The Ascent 2 now. That's guaranteed success, money in the bank, that's what we should do. But again, that's not why we started the studio, right? It's like, no, we're here because we're creative people and right now we were probably a bit creatively spent on The Ascent. That's not the next thing we want to do. So we started with something completely different, which again is a risk. I think it's going to be a smash hit. I think people are going to love the game. I'm very proud of the game, but there's never any certainty. But what I think is also the best honestly for the fans and for even the non fans players out there is that we try and deliver a fun, creative and inspired game. One of the things that I really appreciated with the feedback that we got for The Ascent, which I haven't really seen in the same kind of vein with all the games we worked on previously in our career, was how people really read into there being some personality in the game, in the product. And that makes me very warm inside. I really hope we manage to do that now with this game as well, that people can say, I can feel this was created by people who cared. That's very, very important. And I think that sometimes can disappear, right?

IGN: It’s a cyberpunk game, but I’m sure people will compare it to Cyberpunk 2077. You must be bracing yourselves for that. That's a tough comparison. CD Projekt is hundreds of people spending years and years and years making a massive game. So how is it different not just in terms of mechanics and gameplay, but in terms of scope and tone?

Tor Frick: I think obviously every day we have to do that internally as well. Because we know what Cyberpunk is and we know people will compare us. But the game is very different and the world is very different. A lot of it is, it's just the mood and the tone. Cyberpunk is a big, sprawling experience. It's a mega city. And our game is a lot more intimate both when it comes to the gameplay mechanics but also the world. I think as people see more of the game that will be more apparent. It's hard to do in a short trailer like that. I think you need to see and feel the game more. It is more of an intimate experience, like the world is deep but not so grand. And the same thing with mechanics and the same thing with the story. It is very, very personal and very, very reactive around you as a player, rather than being set in this grand backdrop.

Arcade Berg: And I think also, we have been very conscious about what references we're using from fiction, whether that be books, comic books, movies, shows. We very seldom reference games because those games already exist. Of course we're aware of what's out in the market, we keep an eye on it. But creatively we are looking a lot at eighties, nineties action movies, or a certain mood there. We're looking at Hong Kong action scenes. We're looking at inspiring comic books, it could be American, it could be manga. Of course we have anime in there. But we're just looking at a lot of different pieces of fiction as far as inspiration goes and we're just trying to put all of that in here.

Something you saw in The Ascent as well, there is a slight tongue in cheek, right? We as creatives, we can't write grim dark angsty. That's not what we want. We want violence as a spectacle. We want you to have fun when you're playing a game. That's a very important feeling for us, to just have fun. There's a mood, there's a vibe, there's a certain feeling that hopefully fans of The Ascent will recognize even though the gameplay is completely different.

IGN: It’s described as first-person and RPG. So what makes it an RPG?

Arcade Berg: You're playing a written character. It's about a character named Grey Harker, but you invest your XP in the skills, you unlock the abilities, you kit out the character’s gear. You have some visual customization, but still it's of that character. We're not giving a blank sheet. So it's a lot about saying, well my guy, my version, I did this. And one of our development mantras we have is that if a hundred players play the game, they should have a hundred different user stories. When you and your colleagues meet and you talk about the game you were playing yesterday, it's like, oh, you did it that way? Oh, because for me this happened because I've done this other thing before. And it will all tie back into how you've been playing the game, what choices you've been making, both in pure gameplay and also in dialogue choices. And it ties back to, well I invested a lot in lock picking, that kind of thing, so I just went in. It's like, oh shit, yeah, no, I blew up the door. Both very valid. The player can never play the game wrong. That's something we're always saying. So it's that kind of development.

IGN: Can you shape the story through dialogue choice or is the story linear and you just have choices within it that affects certain things?

Tor Frick: The scope is a bit hard to describe, but yeah, it's a game that has a beginning and an end. It's not an ongoing thing, right? It's a narrative game. It has a beginning and an end. What happens in between there? The player can't play the game wrong. So a lot of what unfolds and how it unfolds is up to the player.

IGN: How impactful are those decisions you make in dialogue? How different can the experience be through something like that?

Arcade Berg: Extremely. So dialogue is not where we're putting all the gunpowder. I don't want to put out false pretenses. It's not dialogues the game. The dialogues are there to help build character, to help set up scenes to help you make certain decisions and choices and consequences or reactions. But that's not where our strengths lie. But they can carry a lot of weight, and there are things I want to tell you, but I'm not going to spoil it for anyone, right? There's going to be a lot of talk about certain things in this game, which I'm very excited for. So the consequences can go from minute to very, very large.

IGN: In the trailer we’re able to kick someone off a building, which looks like a lot of fun. How will the combat work?

Tor Frick: We really want to focus on the player having a lot of interesting tools to use at their disposal. So even though we have guns, you shoot them, they sound great, they feel great, we want there to be a lot more to it. We like that heavy type of action, same as in The Ascent where things should go boom in a very satisfying and loud way. But at the same time we want there to be a lot of tools and a lot of fun things for the players to experiment with. We want it to be very much a toolbox where players can… it's up to the player how to approach things. Some people will just go guns blazing with a revolver and SMG through the front door. Some people will do a very elaborate plan including all kinds of tools and gadgets, but it still ends up in explosions. Some people will play it and it'll be quiet as a mouse. So it is very much up to the player.

Arcade Berg: When you continue to play the game, the characters in the world will comment on the ways things played out. So if you are the ghost, right, if you are that tactical guy, people will say, clean work, man, well done! Or they're like, what the F just happened? We heard it from over here. We basically measure the impact you're having, the playstyle that you're choosing, how that is affecting everything. So we're not saying that one is better or worse or more right or preferred, but we're always trying to respond to the kind of character you're playing. So that is not always the same, well done soldier no matter what you did, because sometimes it wasn't that well done and sometimes you were very loud sometimes like, oh I didn't even realize you were done… perfect, because I'm stealth. So we really want to listen to that through the game to react to the way you've been playing. We think that's more fun than just the dialogue option.

IGN: Is kicking enemies a particularly important part of the combat?

Arcade Berg: It's one of many features you can choose to use, but what usually happens when we let people play a build when we have playtests, as soon as they find that button and they're in a city quickly, well everyone just goes like, boop! No, you can't play the game wrong, but you're kicking a lot of people right now!

No Law is in development for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S.

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.

Blizzard has fully unveiled Diablo 4 expansion Lord of Hatred, confirming that it includes not one but two new classes, including the Paladin.

At The Game Awards 2025, Blizzard announced an April 28, 2026 release date for Lord of Hatred, which will see the Age of Hatred Saga, as Blizzard calls it, reach its climax. Campaign wise, players go up against eternal evil, Mephisto, but there’s a surprise return for Diablo 4 antagonist Lilith, who is back from the dead — shock horror! — after the events of the Diablo 4 campaign. Lord of Hatred adds the new region of Skovos, and there are significant gameplay changes, too.

The big news here is a pre-purchase of Lord of Hatred grants immediate access to the Paladin class, which is a fan-favorite from Diablo 2 and one of the most-requested classes for Diablo 4. Blizzard didn’t say what the mystery second class is.

Here’s the story setup:

In the aftermath of Vessel of Hatred, this next chapter drives players toward their final stand against Mephisto, whose deception and spreading influence threaten to twist Sanctuary into a world consumed by malice. As Hell’s legions surge and the ancient Pools of Creation draw Mephisto ever closer, the fate of humanity hangs by a thread. To stop him, the Wanderer must embrace an old foe long believed to be dead. Lilith returns, her prophetic last words echoing true, forcing a perilous alliance bound by necessity rather than trust. With time and allies running out, the Wanderer is in a desperate race to stop Mephisto before hatred reshapes the world forever.

The Paladin, as you’d expect, revolves around hammer and shield gameplay, and smites enemies with Holy Light power. The mystery second class “looms on the dark horizon,” Blizzard said, adding: “its power undeniable, its arrival poised to reshape the battlefield when Lord of Hatred launches in April.”

Skovos is the ancestral birthplace of the first civilization and the former home of Lilith and Inarius. It stands as Sanctuary’s oldest and most storied region. Now ruled by The Oracle and the Amazon Queen, this never-before-seen in-game land blends volcanic coasts, storm-lashed forests, and waterlogged ruins steeped in forgotten lore.

The expansion also reworks the Skill Trees to introduce new class-specific variants and expanded level caps, offering fresh buildcraft and strategic depth across all eight classes. There’s a new Loot Filter system to help you target desired gear more efficiently. Crafting is enhanced, with the return of the Horadric Cube. The new Talisman unlocks powerful set bonuses, expanding late-game customization.

Veteran players will be keen to know about the overhauled endgame, which you can tap into once you’ve finished the campaign. War Plans let players craft their own endgame progression path, selecting favored activities and layering strategic modifiers as they push toward high-value rewards. The Echoing Hatred stands as the Age of Hatred’s ultimate test: a relentless gauntlet of demonic hordes designed to challenge even the strongest builds. Meanwhile, for something completely different, the expansion adds Fishing!

Lord of Hatred includes the full Vessel of Hatred expansion, which players can access instantly via pre-purchase. Players who pre-purchase gain early access to the Paladin class, one extra Stash Tab, two more Character Slots, and three World of Warcraft décor items.

Be sure to check out everything announced at The Game Awards 2025 for more, as well as the winners list in full.

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.

Invincible VS has a character never before seen in Robert Kirkman’s superhero universe: Ella Mental.

Revealed at The Game Awards 2025 with gameplay footage, Ella Mental — voiced by Tierra Whack — joins established characters such as Omni-Man and Invincible to flesh out the roster of playable characters in the 3v3 tag fighter.

Ahead of her reveal, we got a chance to chat with not only Invincible series creator Robert Kirkman, but also several members of the development team at Quarter Up to find out some extra details about Ella Mental’s design, her playstyle, and some of the lessons that Quarter Up took away from their recent closed beta.

And be sure to check out everything announced at The Game Awards 2025 for more, as well as the winners list in full.

IGN: So to start, Robert, what can you tell us about this new character?

Robert Kirkman: Ella Mental is a completely original character to the game. We're coming in with a new corner of the Invincible Universe. The team reached out to Cory Walker and myself, wanting to see if it would be okay to add somebody new to the game to shake things up. And Cory and I took it as an opportunity to put the old creation hat back on and come up with something new for the Universe. And it's been pretty great. This team is really devoted to Invincible and is really committed to making sure that this game is an authentic experience on par with the television show and the comic book and any other kind of Invincible you would experience. And so to have a new character running around and being added to and fleshed out by them is really awesome and gratifying. And I think it just makes this game that much cooler.

IGN: So obviously this is going to be a character that's a part of this new story mode that you're making for Invincible VS. Can you tell us a little bit about what their role is going to be in that story mode?

Mike Rogers, narrative director: Yeah, we're not talking specific details in story mode just yet, but she will be appearing in the mode for sure. And you've seen a clip of how some of those characters interact with the principal Robot and Ella. And you'll have to wait and see exactly what the context, the wider context of all that is. But she's going to be a pretty pivotal part of the story and a pivotal part of the rest of the game too, because we've put a lot of love and effort into designing her kit and how she fights and what her personality's like and everything in between.

IGN: We can see in the trailer that she is voiced by Tierra Whack. Can you tell us a little bit about what it was like working with her? What was the casting process like?

Rogers: Working with Tierra was awesome. When we were trying to figure out how we were going to bring Ella to life and who would be the right person for her, Tierra was someone we thought of pretty early on. And we knew that Tierra was a big fan of the Invincible franchise. And I feel really lucky that she came aboard. She responded to the material really strongly. I think she identified with some of the stuff that we've written there and really, really brought a passion and a drive to the character. And I think that really helped heighten what we wrote and really bring this character that was so nascent to life.

And I'm really excited about all of her VO and how well it fits with what we envision for the character from the attacks to just like the conversations that they have. She's positive, she's energetic, but she's got this slight sardonic edge to her. And I think Tierra really brings that side of it to the character. So I couldn't be happier, and I think the whole team feels that way.

The next-gen, Unreal Engine 5-built Tomb Raider that developer Crystal Dynamics announced three years ago now has an official name and release window. Lara Croft’s new adventure for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S is titled Tomb Raider: Catalyst, and it will be released in 2027 and published by Amazon Game Studios.

The first trailer was showcased at the 2025 Game Awards. In it, we see the legendary adventurer (voiced by Alex Wilton Regan, who has appeared in Cyberpunk 2077, Mass Effect 3, and Dragon Age: Inquisition) wield her signature dual pistols as well as a new gadget: a wrist-mounted grappling hook of sorts that looks like it’ll be used in both traversal and combat.

Crystal Dynamics also gave us our first description of Catalyst’s story, saying it’s “set in the wake of a mythical cataclysm that has unleashed ancient secrets and awakened the mysterious forces that guard them. When the most notorious treasure hunters from around the world descend on the region, Lara races to uncover the truth buried beneath the fractured landscape and stop those who would use its power for their own gain. As the ancient world collides with the present, Lara must decide who to trust among rivals and allies to prevent a catastrophe and protect a secret that could reshape the future.”

But Catalyst wasn’t the only Tomb Raider-related announcement at this year’s Game Awards. Catalyst’s first trailer was immediately followed by a surprise announcement of Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, a “reimagining” of the original 1996 classic. It is due out for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S sometime in 2026, as that’s when the franchise celebrates its 30th anniversary.

Crystal Dynamics and Amazon shied away from calling it a remake, seemingly to allow for story and gameplay changes. The reimagining is also being built in Unreal Engine 5, and it’s being led by developer Flying Wild Hog (Shadow Warrior) in partnership with Crystal Dynamics and Amazon. The trailer shows off more platforming than Catalyst’s trailer did, perhaps suggesting a more platforming-heavy focus for the reimagining and maybe a larger emphasis on action for the new game. We’ll need to see more of each game to know for sure. But one thing is definitely certain: the T-rex will look a heck of a lot better this time around, as you can already see in the trailer.

"This innovative new chapter with Tomb Raider: Catalyst, and the thoughtful reinvention of the series' roots with Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, perfectly exemplifies our commitment to supporting developers with bold creative visions," said Christoph Hartmann, VP of Amazon Game Studios. "We're focused on delivering rich, story-driven experiences that resonate with both longtime fans and newcomers, strengthening our dedication to high-quality gaming experiences."

Be sure to check out everything announced at The Game Awards 2025 for more, as well as the winners list in full.

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.

The Game Awards 2025 had a big Hollywood surprise: the debut trailer for the Street Fighter movie.

The trailer, below, shows off the film's many characters and their special moves, lifted straight out of Capcom's famous fighting game franchise. I spotted Guile (Cody Rhodes) perform his iconic flash kick, Zangief (Olivier Richters) taking his hapless opponent for a spin, and Ryu's back throw.

The cast of the movie - the entire cast! - took to the stage at The Game Awards to hype up the crowd and excitement of the film, due out in theaters on October 16, 2026. There was even room for a fun joke at rival fighting game franchise Mortal Kombat's expense.

Be sure to check out everything announced at The Game Awards 2025 for more, as well as the winners list in full.

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.

Remedy Entertainment has announced Control: Resonant, the follow-up to IGN’s 2019 Game of the Year, Control at the 2025 Game Awards. It’s due out in 2026 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S, and it aims to be anything but a straightforward sequel.

For starters, you’re not playing as Jesse Faden anymore. Instead, it’s seven years later and you’ll take control of her younger brother, Dylan. He was taken by the Federal Bureau of Control at age 10, ending up in a coma after being inflicted by The Hiss. And speaking of The Hiss, it’s escaped The Oldest House where the first Control was set, spilling out onto the streets of Manhattan and turning it into a very bizarre place (as you can see in the trailer), overrun and literally twisted and folded by supernatural forces.

But the protagonist and setting aren’t the only significant departures for Control: Resonant. The style of combat differs as well. You won’t be wielding Jesse’s transforming Service Weapon. Instead, Dylan gets up close and personal with a crude, transforming melee weapon called the Aberrant, which will be augmented by Dylan’s supernatural special abilities. At first glance, it reminds me a bit of the lightsaber/Force powers combo in Respawns Jedi Fallen Order and Jedi Survivor games. I asked Remedy about the combat feel of Control: Resonant, and creative director Mikael Kasurinen told me: “Our combat is quite unique, and it has that Control DNA. It's push-forward, fast, and proactive. You master the combination of weapon blows and supernatural abilities, and chase enemies down. Dylan is nimble and light on his feet; movement is integral to our combat loop.

“Preparation is also crucial, creating a build that clicks with you; and a huge part of the experience is tactical thinking: How to combine shape-shifting melee attacks with supernatural abilities while in motion.

“There are intricacies to how you shape your character, and a lot of different progression systems that allow you to become more versatile, and stronger.”

So yes, you’ll be able to customize your builds. You’ll also encounter side quests and other factions to contend with. Meanwhile, enemies will have paranatural attacks, and they can traverse the environment as quickly as you can.

Remedy says that you don’t have to have played the first Control to understand the story here, and that the two games are, well… siblings.

"This is not a safe sequel," Kasurinen promises.

Be sure to check out everything announced at The Game Awards 2025 for more, as well as the winners list in full.

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.

The Dungeons & Dragons franchise has been steadily making more attempts to expand into video games, and we're seeing that next effort with Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons, a new open-world single-player action-adventure that's all about wielding dark magic to battle foes.

Just revealed at The Game Awards 2025, Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons is the next project from developer Invoke Studios, the creators of Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance. Set in the D&D universe, Warlock focuses on the adventures of the warrior Kaatri, who embraces newfound dark powers to unleash some otherworldly magic in her fight against the forces invading the land.

"Warlock is a third-person action-adventure game built around immersive, expressive magic where you use spellcraft to solve challenges and take down monsters — and you do it all in your own creative way across all facets of the game," said Jeff Hattem, creative lead at Invoke Studios.

​Prior to the reveal, we got an early look at Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons and learned from the developers about the game's approach to "immersive, expressive magic" in its third-person combat and exploration across a connected open world. In the CG trailer, we get to see a variety of foes, such as undead warriors and even a Beholder monster that has been the bane of many D&D veterans.

​According to the developers, the new action-adventure is all about stepping into the "warlock fantasy," and the main narrative will be leaning into the lore of the D&D universe to focus on the story of Kaati — played by Tricia Helfer of Battlestar Galactica fame — as she goes down the path of the warlock. As it goes with D&D, warlocks form bonds with otherworldly beings known as Patrons, and the relationship between Kaatri and her patron will be one of the campaign's core stories.

​The developers stated that the gameplay would lean into player agency, with players using Kaatri's abilities and magic to overcome challenges. Though the team would not say outright whether it has immersive-sim qualities, they pointed to their previous work on games like Watch Dogs, Deus Ex, and Far Cry for the type of experiences Warlock aims to channel.

That freeform nature is a critical part of the traditional tabletop experience. However, the devs were clear that this new action-adventure is not really a traditional RPG. They also believe that its player-agency-driven experience will serve as a solid entry point for newcomers to the D&D universe.

"We're not trying to simulate the tabletop RPG experience, so there is no dice-rolling in the game — we're trying to really deliver a video-game experience first," said Dominic Guay, studio lead at Invoke Studios. "If you are not familiar with Dungeons and Dragons, you are not going to feel friction, like in that you're missing details of the world. But if you are a fan of the universe, you are going to be really excited about what we are doing with the lore of the series for Warlock."

After we only got a look at the CG trailer, the developers stated that a larger gameplay reveal is set for later in summer 2026. For more on reveals from The Game Awards 2025, check out our roundup of all the announcements from the show.

Be sure to check out everything announced at The Game Awards 2025 for more, as well as the winners list in full.

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.

Even after two years since its reveal at The Game Awards 2023, Archetype Entertainment's sci-fi action-RPG Exodus is still something of a mystery. Set in an original sci-fi universe from Wizards of the Coast – of Dungeons & Dragons fame – Exodus focuses on the accelerated evolution of human and alien civilizations, with players deciding the fate of different factions and humanity within the warring galaxy. Also, Matthew McConaughey will play a pivotal character who will guide players on that journey.

Prior to the reveal of the newest trailer at The Game Awards 2025, we got an early look and learned from the devs how the time dilation system will influence the player's story, in what they refer to as an adventure that feels like "Indiana Jones meets Interstellar."

"We try to give players a lot of agency in everything they do. Our goal is to almost make them feel like co-authors in the story, and not just along for the ride," said Chris King, game director on Exodus. "When it comes to Jun's story, you basically make a ton of moral choices, and then you see them play out across multiple generations due to time dilation."

With sci-fi author Peter F. Hamilton working with Wizards of the Coast to build the history and lore of Exodus, along with developer Archetype Entertainment having many former-Bioware devs on board, it's certainly tapping into the same tone and scale of the much-loved Mass Effect series. But in Exodus, the developers aim to present player consequences in a different way, with time as a constant force.

Set in the Centauri Cluster in the far future, Exodus follows humanity as it struggles to survive in its new home, Lidon, after the collapse of Earth. With their new home world also collapsing, lone human scavenger Jun discovers they have the ability to control mysterious artifacts from a powerful alien force known as Celestials, which allows him to help give humanity a chance at survival. But over the course of their journey, Jun will first see the results of their choices, shaped by interstellar time dilation, forcing them to directly confront the positive and negative consequences in the ever-changing galaxy.

The latest trailer offers a clearer glimpse of the stakes driving Exodus' main story, which sees protagonist Jun explore the galaxy with their allies and encounter factions shaped by their choices – including some human factions that have evolved into alien-like races over generations. Much like the Mass Effect series from BioWare, Exodus leans into player choice, and this also includes options for players to customize Jun's appearance and gender to fit their type of story.

During the developer interviews, the creative team explained that, in addition to narrative choices, the core combat and traversal will also offer options, such as going all out with Jun's arsenal of weapons and celestial powers, or using more stealthy tactics to overcome rival factions and complete complex tasks.

According to Drew Karpyshyn, narrative director on Exodus and former BioWare writer on both the Mass Effect series and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the main story will show Jun's growth as an interstellar explorer and wielder of ancient alien technology tied to his lineage as a "Traveler."

"You begin the game as a lonely scavenger, but [Jun] has a connection to a powerful 'traveler' dynasty, and they also have access to some powerful alien tech, which only they can use," said Karpyshyn. "Over the course of the game, Jun reclaims their traveler heritage and becomes a champion, leader, and hero of the people, and ultimately, Jun is the only character able to stop the destruction of the human homeworld. I think people are really going to see the story of Jun when they get a chance to play it."

Exodus will also feature a variety of companion characters that can help in battle and help flesh out the story, and can even form some romances with. One particularly interesting companion from the trailer is an alien octopus who rides in a mech suit. Though this particular character is not romanceable, other allies will have opportunities to form deeper bonds in the story.

But one key character that is still something of an enigma is the ally played by Matthew McConaughey. Known as C.C. Orlev, he was once a legendary human explorer who went missing. Jun will eventually interact with Orlev, but only when they're needed the most. The trailer showed off a bit more of McConaughey's role in the game, and while it is a familiar wise elder type of archetype, it is still intriguing to see the actor make his video game debut with such an ambitious role.

Be sure to check out everything announced at The Game Awards 2025 for more, as well as the winners list in full.

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.