Microsoft has announced the Xbox Game Pass March 2026 lineup, confirming the addition of CD Projekt’s Cyberpunk 2077.
It’s the headline game for Wave 1 of this month, which also includes Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf as a day one release, and Hollow Knight: Silksong on Game Pass Premium, according to Xbox Wire.
Out today, March 3 (and already announced), are Final Fantasy III (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC), both on Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, and PC Game Pass.
Tomorrow, March 4, sees the addition of to a T (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC), now with Game Pass Premium, and EA Sports F1 25 (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) via Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
March 5 sees the day one launch of Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Moving on to March 10, and subscribers have Construction Simulator (Cloud, Console, and PC) via Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, and PC Game Pass, and the aforementioned Cyberpunk 2077 (Cloud and Console) via Game Pass Ultimate and Game Pass Premium. PC Game Pass was not mentioned for Cyberpunk.
Then, on March 12, Hollow Knight: Silksong (Cloud, Console, Handheld, and PC) joins Game Pass Premium (it's already on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass). rounding out Wave 1 of March's lineup is DreamWorks Gabby’s Dollhouse: Ready to Party (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) on March 17, via Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, and PC Game Pass.
As always, a number of games are set to leave Game Pass. You can save up to 20% off your purchase to keep playing.
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.
Arachnophobia sufferers are having a tough time with Resident Evil Requiem, but there is help at hand from fellow players — as well as in the shape of a certain cheery choo choo train.
Warning: Spoilers for Resident Evil Requiem follow
Requiem features a giant spider as a major boss fight in Raccoon City, and the knowledge that this sequence is in the game has spawned many, many, many different threads on reddit from Resident Evil fans who experience arachnophobia. In most cases, fans are requesting more information on how horrible the game's spider section is (it's quite horrible), while others who made it through the battle are reporting in with their experiences.
Some fans are stuck in a dilemma — they want to play the big new Resident Evil game, but are also dreading reaching a section with a very realistic giant spider boss that's creepy enough even for those without an actual phobia.
"Trying to be as vague as possible in the title, how is that f***ing giant spider mid-game?" reads one such message, from reddit user saekhama. "Does it come in a jumpscare or you can predict the moment it's gonna make its first appearance/attack? For reference, I'd say the Skyrim and Witcher 3 spiders are some of the worst, as they're hairy, realistic and move fast. I don't think I'm gonna not buy the game because of it, but I might ask a friend to come and play this part for me."
"It's horrible," answered another fan, Tasty_James, in reply. "As someone who can't get through the Aragog/Shelob scenes in their respective [Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings] films, this has been a f***ing nightmare. It's huge, hairy, detailed, and f***ing fast... Genuinely the most terrifying experience I’ve ever had during any videogame (and I could probably expand that to all media as well, tbh).
In other discussion threads, players have been offering tips on how to kill the spider boss fast, in order to get it off their screens as quickly as possible.
"I got to the spider boss section! I wasn't expecting that until the last minute I was like 'Wait a damn minute... these are webs!' took me a while to realize it then BOOM, big spooder: Hello There >:)" wrote TheSkateDude6. "How many shots or melee attacks does it take to finish it off? I'll be playing without my glasses since it will help slightly in a way. If it's too much for me, I'll wait for an arachnophobia mode."
Common tips for this section are to make use of the areas explosive barrels, and of course your Requiem gun. (IGN's walkthrough also has plenty of advice — and you can find the spider boss fight section here.) Some fans with arachnophobia have reported using less conventional tactics, meanwhile, such as playing without wearing their glasses, or even moving to a smaller TV screen.
"My strategy so far has been to take off my glasses (I'm severely near-sighted)," Tasty_James said, "and sort of look vaguely away from the screen so as to keep it blurry and in my peripheral vision at all times. I haven't beaten its boss fight yet, obviously, and I have no idea if I'm going to be able to."
"I played this without my glasses, it's a blessing in disguise somehow," wrote Typical-Mixture4376 in another thread. "The smaller ones are freaking me out more than the large one lol," EqualAd-1348 wrote, in yet another conversation. "Thankfully, I think I will at least be able to manage by playing that segment on my other TV (32")."
As well as an enormous spider that Leon has to fight, a swarm of mini baby spiders is also featured as part of the same area. On the upside, though, once outside of the one spider section, the game does not feature the enemies ever again.
"It was genuinely the worst experience I've ever had with my arachnophobia in a video game," concluded TheUberMensch123. "It fucking sucks, and in a way is a complement, that the thing moves and looks so goddamn real. I almost had to shut the game off. Hopefully an arachnophobia mod comes out soon."
While there isn't an arachnophobia mode add-on yet, NexusMods does host the customary Thomas the Tank Engine mod. While unavailable on consoles, PC players can at least choo choo choose to see Thomas' giant smiling face bearing down upon Leon rather than that of an enormous arachnid. We'll leave it up to you to decide which is worse.
Choo choo! https://t.co/Ax5AFzhVEk pic.twitter.com/dsZFt2SIBN
— 🏳️🌈 ΛLISTΞR 🏳️🌈 (@xZombieAlix) March 2, 2026
Whether you're battling spiders or zombies, IGN's Resident Evil: Requiem guide will help you every step of the way through RE9. Take note of these key tips and tricks before you get started, and focus on finding these important items early. Plus, our comprehensive walkthrough will make sure you don't miss a single Bobblehead or file as you try to survive from the Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center all the way to Raccoon City.
Image credit: xZombieAlix.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Nintendo is about to present its latest Indie World Showcase, which promises to reveal roughly 15 minutes of news and updates on indie games coming to Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch. The fun begins at 6am PT / 9am ET / 2pm UK time today, and we'll be gathering all the reveals right here to ensure you don't miss a thing.
We'll also be updating this article live as the show happens, so be sure to keep checking back! Oh, and let us know what you are most excited for below!
Denshattack!, the game lovingly referred to as Tony Hawk with Japanese trains, kicked off the Nintendo Indie World showcase by revealing new gameplay, sharing its June 17 release date, and announcing that a demo is available today!
Run a shop and go explore dungeons in Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault. The further you delve, the greater the reward, but it won't be easy. You'll have to master both parts of your life when Moonlight 2: The Endless Vault launches later in 2026.
My Little Puppy is headed to Switch on May 29, 2026, and it looks to tell a heartwarming tale of our best friends after they cross the rainbow bridge. It's a tale about meeting, parting, and reuniting, and the team hopes it will be remembered in the hearts of everyone who loves their puppies.
Follow the story of Foxy the Fox and the Ben the Frog while you get cozy and build 3D dioramas that have already stolen our hearts. Woodo will be available in summer 2026.
Developing...
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
Pokémon Pokopia has become the highest-rated Pokémon game of all time on Metacritic.
The building and town simulator is sitting on a Metascore of 88 on Metacritic. That not only makes it one of the highest-reviewed games of the year so far — it's currently sitting alongside Mewgenics, RPG Estoreic Ebb, and Resident Evil Requiem — but that also makes it the highest-rated Pokémon game ever.
While Pokémon Y also has an 88 Metascore, Pokémon X has an 87, slightly lowering the average across both 2013 3DS games. That means Pokopia also pips Pokémon Moon, Pokémon HeartGold, Pokémon Black, Pokémon White, Pokémon SoulSilver, and Pokémon Sun, all of which boast a very respectable Metacritic score of 87.
Pokémon Pokopia sees you play as a Ditto that has transformed to look like a human and must shape an empty land into a beautiful space for a variety of Pokémon. You'll learn new moves from Pokémon you meet to expand and create a paradise, collecting berries, rocks, and wood, as well as building furniture, growing vegetables in fields you’ve tilled, creating homes for Pokémon you meet, and more.
IGN's Pokémon Pokopia review returned a 9. We said: "Pokémon Pokopia is an enjoyable, personality-packed building simulator set in a surprisingly deep world that is stuffed with fun things for its delightful Ditto protagonist to do and create." It's out on March 5 exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2.
Wondering which Pokémon you'll be able to live alongside? Check out our list of all the Pokémon in Pokopia, and stay tuned to the IGN Pokopia Wiki for more guides when Pokopia arrives on March 5.
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.
There are hundreds of LEGO sets out there, but any LEGO fan – even a dedicated one – will build a miniscule fraction of them. Display space is one reason. Price is another. And for the amount of money you spend, the final build had better reflect the expense and effort that went into it.
We went through all the current LEGO builds available, and we put together a "greatest hits" list. The LEGO designers set a high goal and over delivered in each of these instances.
Here are the Best LEGO Sets in 2026 – the models that look phenomenal and are equally fun to build.
One of the best LEGO sets of the past five years, this classic Mississippi steamboat is an expert set for an expert builder. Every brick – every rod and pin – has a purpose, and when you push the River Steamboat along, the paddle wheel turns along with it. We built and reviewed this set for its launch and were continually impressed by its fastidious attention to detail.
Appropriately sprawling for the role playing game that inspired it, this set comes with its own Dungeons & Dragons storyline, allowing you and several friends to play it while building it. All of a sudden, the little details that LEGO specializes in – the key hidden under the rock, or the scroll lying on the table – have narrative purpose and meaning. Red Dragon's Tale is diverse in color and architecture, and it comes with a freestanding, fire-breathing dragon that's impressive in its own right.
Ambitious to the extreme, as we can attest having built it, this scaled-down replica of the famed, doomed RMS Titanic is nearly 4-and-a-half feet long. You build in three parts – the fore, middle, and aft of the ship. And if you examine its interior, you can see the piston steam engine that attaches to the propeller, the famed grand staircase, and the ornate lounges that made Titanic the "ship of dreams."
This set is shaped like an arcade cabinet, and it comes with a tactile joystick and coin slot that glows red. But the best part about this build is its screen. Turn a crank, and a tiny Pac-Man and four ghosts run around a tiny map maze.
Big, colorful, and bold, this Optimus Prime set can actually transform from an Autobot into a more inconspicuous semi-truck. Both versions of the build look equally good, and the transformation process does not 'cheat'; you bend and contort the model like an '80s era toy, rather than taking it apart and reassembling it from scratch. It's an impressive feature.
The LEGO designers has been building towards a set of this size, scope, and ambition for some time. And now that they're finally here, it's something to behold – a homage to a Van Gogh painting that does its inspiration justice.
The designers worked alongside the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which is evident from their meticulous attention to detail. From its errant leaves and stems to its yellow-on-yellow-on-yellow color palette, this set is a piece of pop art that will look beautiful on any wall. We reviewed this set and can attest to its three-dimensional beauty.
This massive build of the Elves' ancestral home comes in three parts: an Elven tower that contains Bilbo's quarters, the bridge over the River Brunein, and the House of Elrond, including the council area where Frodo presented the one true ring. Everything, owing to its delicate structure, looks light and slightly unreal.
This LEGO Lord of the Rings set contains 15 Minifigures, including everyone in the Fellowship and every major character in Rivendell: Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn, Boromir, Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gloin, Arwen, Elrond, Bilbo, and two elves. Check out our LEGO Rivendell review, as well as our interview with the designer.
This set is better than its Jurassic World corporate branding might indicate. This is not some fanciful, Hollywood depiction of history's most famous dinosaur; the designers took pains to make it as accurate as it is imposing. Its barrel-like body, which hangs low to the ground, reflects our modern understanding of the T-rex, which we once believed to walk more upright. It's approximately 3.5 feet long – a 1:12 scale model of the real thing.
This massive set of Jabba's sail barge, made famous by Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, is the best of what LEGO can dream up and design. It nails the exterior presentation, but its interior is even more impressive. Its top deck detaches and its sides flip up to reveal a cockpit, a prison, a kitchen, and a main throne room. It comes with 11 minifigures, including a massive Jabba figuirine, Salacious Crumb, Max Rebo, and Leia in her slave regalia.
A huge undertaking, the Venusaur, Charizard and Blastoise set is three separate builds – one of each Pokémon in its respective biome – which you can merge together to create a beautiful, massive centerpiece. We built this set for its launch, and we were impressed by both its design and its engaging build process.
There are some LEGO sets that are magnificent looking, but have a tedious build process. There are other LEGO sets that have a fun, engaging build process, but are merely presentable without being exceptional.
And then there are the preferable LEGO sets, like these, which manage to be both – engaging and fun with little instructional redundancy, and an end result that looks every bit the effort and care placed into it.
If you found this list helpful, check out our other buying guides. We rounded up the Best LEGO Space Sets, the Best Adult LEGO Sets the Best LEGO Sets for Kids, and the Best LEGO Marvel Sets as well.
Kevin Wong is a contributing freelancer for IGN, specializing in LEGO. He's also been published in Complex, Engadget, Gamespot, Kotaku, and more. Follow him on Twitter at @kevinjameswong.
Battlefield 6 has unveiled what's changing with update 1.2.1.5, which rolls out today (March 3).
Focusing on quality-of-life improvements and stability fixes, the new patch expects to resolve "several issues across gameplay," including its UI, Battle Pass, and Battle Royale.
This update also restores missing store content and addresses "critical revive and gadget interactions."
Here's what's rolling on to consoles and PCs later today.
PLAYER
WEAPONS
MAPS & MODES
UI & HUD
PORTAL
PLAYER
UI & HUD
AUDIO
Battlefield 6 got off to a strong start in 2025 but has faced backlash from its community in recent months, bringing its Steam user score down to 'Mixed.' As some players review-bombed its battle royale REDSEC offshoot and others pleaded for larger maps, many began to question if two maps per season were enough to keep players engaged. Confusion then reached new levels in January, when EA and BF Studios announced Season 2 was delayed to February 17.
While we wait to see how the team plans to continue building on Battlefield 6, you can read about some of the ways BF Studios is adjusting its controversial cosmetics.
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.
Marathon’s user interface has become one of the game’s chief talking points, with some calling it confusing, unintuitive, and cluttered. One of the criticisms has to do with the sheer number of different fonts on-screen at any one time. Bungie’s Marathon is certainly striking, visually, but some think it has too much going on for its own good, accusing it of being “fontslop.”
Marathon gotta be the first ever fontslop game
— Kelski (@kelskiYT) February 27, 2026
There's like 20 different combinations of fonts, boldness levels, sizes, spacing, all caps vs regular caps, all on one menu page
Just an absolute eye sore
They REALLY need to pull back on the whole "abstract" thing for the UI pic.twitter.com/Ra89yB8dhp
While Bungie has indicated it’s receptive to feedback on Marathon’s UI and will tweak it post-launch, Elliott Gray, who works on user interface design on Marathon, took to social media to double down on the ‘fontslop’ claims, jokingly describing himself as the “fontslop merchant” and using the hashtag #fontsloptakeover.
Gray also said that while Bungie will respond to player feedback, “don't think for a second that we're gonna remove the SAUCE from the UI.”
all jokes aside there's plenty of work we can and will do as a team to respond to player feedback about inventory management, navigation, density of info, etc...
— elliott (@elliottgray) March 2, 2026
...but don't think for a second that we're gonna remove the SAUCE from the UI. #fontsloptakeover https://t.co/HOUlzT9Uwv
To me, that suggests Bungie will stick to its guns on Marathon’s UI, at least when it comes to its fundamental visual design. Sure, we can expect some improvements (I hope Bungie makes items a lot clearer in your inventory!), but those fonts sound immovable.
There’s a lot of talk, generally, about Marathon’s design and whether or not Bungie will tweak it as the game hurtles towards its March 5 release date. For example, Bungie has acknowledged the debate around TTK (time to kill), which is ultra fast in Marathon. During the Server Slam, players found that they could be killed extremely quickly, with their shields and health bar gone in the blink of an eye. Enemy players are of course extremely dangerous in the extraction shooter, but the AI enemies are just as brutal. Turn around the wrong corner and you can find yourself eliminated before you can react, the run over and all your gear lost forever.
“We've learned a lot from you, watched from the shadows as you've hit snags or found moments of glory, and taken notes the whole time,” Bungie said in its Server Slam weekend feedback recap. “Your input during this time has given us a lot of items to sort through and we'll be doing just that in the coming days, so thank you.”
Another point of feedback Bungie acknowledged was on the med and ammo economy. Players have found both sets of items scarce, to the point where it’s easy to run out of ammo, especially, making Marathon an even tougher experience than it already is. When you factor in the in-game cost associated with replenishing med and ammo items for each run, you can see why both are precious commodities.
“We hear you that meds are soaking a lot of your early loadout budget and that back-to-back fights can chew through your med and ammo reserves pretty quickly,” Bungie said. “We've seen some folks for and against the Depleted items as well — along with how rewarding drops off of AI are. If you ran dry mid-fight or at a critical spot in your Run, tell us all about it!”
The Marathon Server Slam hit a peak Steam concurrent player count of 143,621 when it launched last week, but somewhat surprisingly, that number declined as we worked through the weekend. Marathon hit a peak of 64,128 concurrents on Sunday, just a few days before Marathon goes on sale priced $39.99 on March 5. Of course, Steam concurrents do not paint the entire picture, and neither Sony nor Microsoft makes player numbers public. It will be interesting to see how Marathon does at launch.
Speaking of which, Bungie said the Server Slam “was only a slice of Marathon’s gameplay and progression.”
Launch will bring the full faction and contract progression, all six launch Runner shells (including Thief), and three zones (including Outpost), Bungie confirmed. The end-game zone, Cryo Archive, on the UESC Marathon ship and Ranked mode are also coming during Season 1, along with “other surprises.”
Check out IGN's Marathon review so far to find out what we think.
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.
Capcom has removed a controversial new form of DRM from Resident Evil 4 Remake, following complaints that its recent addition was impacting performance.
An update to the game's Steam database listing shows that the Enigma DRM was removed earlier today, March 3, after an earlier listing showing its addition at the beginning of February.
Capcom has not commented publicly on the changes, though fans were quick to spot the publisher replacing the game's previous Denuvo anti-piracy protection with Enigma, and the hit to performance that followed.
It's a subject recently covered by Digital Foundry, whose tests showed a 40 percent deficit in performance within the game's intro cutscenes, though more modest differences during gameplay. In a video published last month, DF's Alex Battaglia noted that Denuvo was believed to operate as a subscription service, and that at some point publishers typically remove the software when its cost outweighs any perceived losses from piracy.
It's at this point that fans believe Capcom switched to Enigma instead — a decision it has now seemingly U-turned on.
"Updating years old software with new DRM is just stupid," Battaglia said. "Like, stop, don't do that in the first place. Regardless of any possible performance degradations, what it'll do to your game is just piss off your audience. It'll make your modding scene really upset."
Now, word that Enigma DRM is gone from Resident Evil 4 is being celebrated by fans on reddit, even as the decision to add it in the first place is being criticized.
"This was the most mid level executive that's detached from gaming move I've seen," wrote Resident Evil fan CoDog. "Like who would've thought it was a good idea to put in DRM on a two year old game that's been regularly on sale that tanks low to mid level pc hardware's performance? Seriously mind boggling move from Capcom."
It sounds like a good time to revisit Resident Evil 4 Remake, though not before you're done with the brilliant Resident Evil Requiem first. If you're still exploring Leon S. Kennedy's latest adventure then IGN's Resident Evil: Requiem guide will help you every step of the way through RE9. Take note of these key tips and tricks before you get started, and focus on finding these important items early. Plus, our comprehensive walkthrough will make sure you don't miss a single Bobblehead or file as you try to survive from the Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center all the way to Raccoon City.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
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