Nintendo will broadcast a Partner Direct later this week, showing off more games coming to Switch and Switch 2.

The Nintendo Partner Direct will air tomorrow — Thursday, February 5 — at 6am Pacific / 9am Eastern / 2pm UK and last around 30 minutes.

As with all Partner Direct shows, this will be focused on games developed by companies other than Nintendo — so there's no suggestion that we'll see the next big Mario platformer here.

Another game you shouldn't expect to see more of anytime soon is Borderlands 4, development of which has now been placed on indefinite "pause." Take-Two, the franchise's publisher, has said this has been necessary to focus resources on the game's other platforms — but that it is also keen to launch other games on Switch 2 in the future. Could Nintendo finally get a new GTA?

What could we see? With Resident Evil Requiem now just weeks from launch (and tomorrow's Partner Direct seemingly rated 18+) a look at Capcom's highly-anticipated new survival horror seems a safe bet. It is set to launch on February 27, the same day as its arrival on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Fans will also hoping to see more of The Duskbloods, the upcoming Switch 2 exclusive developed by Elden Ring studio FromSoftware. Nintendo announced the game with fanfare back in April 2025, though little has been seen of it since.

There's some expectation too of a bigger push from Microsoft, which has so far brought a couple of its games to Switch platforms, while others seeming remain waiting in the wings. Could a Nintendo console finally get Sea of Thieves, following its successful launch on PlayStation 5? And what else from Xbox's back catalogue might Nintendo fans get to enjoy?

Upcoming third-party Switch 2 games with firm release dates include Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties (February 12), Reanimal (February 13), Resident Evil Requiem (February 27), Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly Remake (March 12), Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection (March 13), Pragmata (April 24) and 007 First Light (May 27).

Join us tomorrow for all the announcements as they happen.

Image credit: Nintendo.

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 has discussed the fact that Switch 2 hardware sales were lower than expected outside Japan towards the end of 2025.

Speaking to shareholders this week, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa acknowledged that "overseas sales were slightly weaker than our expectations," something that had previously been reported and discussed with IGN by analysts, though not stated out loud by the company itself.

Still, in an investor meeting following the release of this week's latest financial earnings, Nintendo shareholders repeatedly questioned the company on its western sales shortfall, even as the Switch 2 overperforms within its homeland of Japan.

"While our forecasted global hardware and software sales volume remains unchanged, the breakdown by region and product is based on different assumptions from the revised forecast announced at the time of our second-quarter financial results announcement," Furukawa said, via machine translation.

"Furthermore, as you understand, domestic hardware sales volume exceeded our expectations, while overseas sales were slightly weaker than our expectations," he continued.

Sales figures collated by The Game Business last month showed that U.S. Switch 2 sales over the holiday period were down around 35% versus the Switch 1's first holiday sales performance back in 2017. In the UK, a similar comparison saw Switch 2 lagging Switch 1 by 16%. Even in Nintendo's homeland of Japan, Switch 2 holiday sales couldn't match Switch 1, and were down by 5.5% over the year's final nine weeks.

In France, 2025's final tally of Switch 2 sales was down by "over 30%" versus the amount Switch 1 notched up back in 2017, meanwhile.

While these numbers may take some of the shine off of a successful first year for Switch 2 overall, it's not all doom and gloom. Switch 2's lifetime sales in Japan are still above what Switch 1 managed in its first year, with less time on sale. And in the UK, Switch 1 continued to sell well enough that it made up Switch 2's holiday sales deficit.

Asked for more detail on why hardware sales in Japan were doing better than expected, Furukawa has now highlighted the release of two games in particular that had resonated with the country's audience: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and the Switch 2 exclusive Kirby Air Riders.

"We believe that the reason for the stronger-than-expected hardware sales in Japan is that, amid the continued momentum of the initial launch of the Switch 2 hardware, new titles such as Pokémon Legends: Z-A Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and Kirby Air Riders, released during the holiday shopping season, [leading] to a relatively high trend of existing Switch owners switching to the Switch 2 compared to overseas."

While the Pokémon franchise is hugely popular globally, it enjoys a particular level of devotion within Japan. Kirby games also sell especially well in the country, with mixed success historically overseas. Essentially, then, Furukawa is suggesting that the Switch 2's level of success in Japan has been fuelled by two titles that have resonated particularly well with Japanese audiences.

It's a statement that gels well with what a recent, unnamed western Nintendo source reportedly said of the company's softer Switch 2 sales overseas, which were blamed on the lack of a key first-party game for the holidays. The remark raised eyebrows at the time due to the fact it appeared to overlook Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (as Metroid Prime has traditionally been seen as a sub-franchise with a stronger western following than in Japan). However, as we learned this week, Metroid Prime 4 has indeed gotten off to a slow start sales-wise, something Nintendo appeared to have anticipated to some degree.

There was next to no mention of Metroid Prime 4 in Nintendo's financial results this week, and no sign of its Switch or Switch 2 versions on the company's lists of million copy-selling games. Switch 2 exclusive Kirby Air Riders was recorded as having sold 1.76 million units since its arrival on November 20, but there was no mention of how well Metroid Prime 4 had fared following its arrival on December 4.

Following the launch of Metroid Prime 4, Nintendo admitted that it knew the game's open-world concept risked feeling outdated. Last month, Metroid Prime producer and Nintendo veteran Kensuke Tanabe abruptly announced that the game would be his last project for the company after four decades of service. When contacted for more detail by IGN, Nintendo did not comment.

Overall, Switch 2 remains Nintendo's fastest-selling console at launch ever, with an explosive arrival propelled by the recent success of the original Switch (something it, in turn, didn't have as it followed Wii U). But all eyes will be on Nintendo now to shore up its line-up of Switch 2 games for the rest of 2026 — when fans hope they'll finally get a new 3D Mario platformer in time for Christmas.

Upcoming first-party Switch 2 games include Mario Tennis Fever (February 12), Pokémon Pokopia (March 5), Super Mario Bros. Wonder Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park (March 26), Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream (April 16), and Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, which has a vague "spring" launch window. Simply listed for 2026 are Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, Rhythm Heaven Groove and Pokémon Champions, while Splatoon Raiders has a "TBA" launch date.

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

What’s going on with Steam Machine? Valve has been relatively quiet on the upcoming hardware since announcing it last year, and it remains without a release date or a price. But AMD, which powers Steam Machine itself so you’d like to think it’s in the know, has said Valve is “on track” to begin shipping early this year.

That’s according to comments made by CEO Lisa Su in AMD's latest earnings call (the same one that mentioned the next-gen Xbox was set for launch in 2027). To be exact, here’s the quote:

In gaming, revenue increased 50% year-over-year to $843 million. Semi-custom sales increased year-over-year and declined sequentially as expected. For 2026, we expect semi-custom SoC annual revenue to decline by a significant double-digit percentage as we enter the seventh year of what has been a very strong console cycle. From a product standpoint, Valve is on track to begin shipping its AMD-powered Steam Machine early this year.

That sounds pretty clear cut (early this year suggests by the end of March, if we consider early to be the first quarter), but Valve has yet to rubber stamp the launch window, and has remained quiet on potential price points, likely due to the rising cost of PC components. So, what’s the latest?

The Steam Machine is a mid-level gaming-focused PC designed to be more accessible than a standard desktop PC, with a sleek, cube-like design and SteamOS on-board. We here at IGN have offered our thoughts on how much the Steam Machine will cost, suggesting it’ll probably be higher than people think. Chatter about pricing ramped up last year after Linus Sebastian of Linus Tech Tips suggested it wouldn’t follow a “console pricing model” of $500, after mentioning the figure in a meeting with Valve staff.

In an interview with Skill Up from last year, Valve's Lawrence Yang and Pierre-Loup Griffais discussed the price of Steam Machine without actually confirming what it would be. The conversation began with software engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais confirming that Steam Machine is more powerful than 70% of gaming PCs that Valve registers on its hardware survey, in terms of general GPU level, saying: “We have looked at that number as part of speccing the machine, so it’s possible it’s evolved a little bit over time, but I think ballpark, it’s about there.”

He then said that fans should expect the Steam Machine price to be around the same as if you were to build a PC from parts to get “basically the same level of performance.”

“I think that if you build a PC from parts and get to basically the same level of performance, that's the general price window that we aim to be at,” he said. “Ideally we'd be pretty competitive with that and have a pretty good deal, but we're working on refining that as we speak. Right now is just a hard time to have a really good idea of what the price is going to be because there's a lot of different things… a lot of external things.”

In that context, Valve’s Steam Machine will likely cost above $750. We’ve suggested Steam Machine will cost $700-$800. To put that into perspective, the base PS5 with a disc drive currently costs $549.99, while the PS5 Digital Edition costs $499.99. The PS5 Pro, meanwhile, costs $749.99.

Skill Up then asked Valve to rule out the Steam Machine being subsidized hardware, saying, “like Valve is not going into this thinking we're going to eat a big loss on this so that we can grow market share or category or anything like that, correct?"

Pierre-Loup Griffais’ answer here was unequivocal: “No. It's more in-line with what you might expect from the current PC market. Obviously, our goal is for it to be a good deal at that level of performance.”

He then went on to make the case for Steam Machine at that sort of price, pointing to the value you get from the various features it includes that simply wouldn’t be easy to replicate if you were to build your own PC from similar parts.

“And then you have features that are actually really hard to build if you're making your own gaming PC from parts, right?” he continued. “Like things like, obviously the small form factor and I think the noise level that we achieved — or lack thereof — is really impressive, and we're excited that the people are going to find out how quiet this thing is. But also some integration features like HDMI CEC, right? Like being able to turn on your TV, turn off your TV, control it with your TV remote, change the volume, all that kind of stuff.

“Like the Bluetooth and wireless work that we've done, the four antennas, the very deliberate design to make sure that you can have a great experience with four Bluetooth controllers from any manufacturer, plus our Steam Controller receiver integrated as well — that’s all hard to do. But more importantly, you can turn on the machine from your controller, which is not something that is actually straightforward depending on the type of PC you have or the main chipset and all that.

“So being able to sit down on your couch, press one button on your controller, and the whole thing lights up like you'd expect for a thing that's in your living room, I think that's really valuable. And there's not really a price point to that because it's not really something that exists in the PC market right now.

“There's people that are going to be perfectly happy building their PC at whatever level of spec, and that's going to be a great experience for them. We're building Steam OS so that if they want to use it for that they can and they can have essentially the same experience. And if they're happy with that, that's perfectly good with us. But we expect the machine is a nice baseline offering that lets you have some features that are really hard to get to otherwise.”

Valve designer Lawrence Yang then chimed in with his own thought: "for me one of the benefits of Steam Machine is, I'm someone who used to build my PC in college and I am too old and tired to do that now!”

Some have questioned Valve’s refusal to subsidize the Steam Machine and thus theoretically at least miss out on having a greater number of people buying games through Steam. Larian publishing director Michael Douse, who is in charge of business development regarding the likes of Steam megahit Baldur’s Gate 3, took to social media to suggest Valve will lose “far more” than the approx. $200 difference by not having more users on the Steam storefront, “which is essentially a money printing machine.”

“That said it isn't stupid to not sell things at a loss, just peculiar in this case,” Douse continued.

We’ve got plenty more on all Valve’s recent hardware announcements, and have a handy roundup. We went hands-on with Steam Machine and Steam Controller, and if you’re wondering about Steam Deck 2, we asked Valve about that as well.

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.

With the Fallout Season 2 finale out now on Prime video, we know which location Season 3 is headed towards. But don’t pack for snow just yet, because co-showrunner Geneva Robertson-Dworet and even Todd Howard himself are suggesting it may take some time to get there.

Warning! Spoilers for Fallout Season 2 finale follow:

As we now know, the ending of Fallout Season 2 sets up Colorado as the location for Season 3, with The Ghoul, played by Walton Goggins, already on his way. So, should we expect Season 3 to kick off in Colorado? Or will there be more to the journey?

In a new interview with IGN, co-showrunner Geneva Robertson-Dworet explained why the decision was made to head to a brand new location in the first place. It turns out it was inspired by the Fallout video games themselves, which are typically each set in a different location. Fallout 3, for example, is set in the Capital Wasteland, a post-apocalyptic version of the city of Washington and the surrounding areas. Fallout: New Vegas is set in the Mojave Wasteland, which includes post-apocalyptic Las Vegas. Fallout 4 is set in the Commonwealth, which takes in the surrounding area of Boston, Massachusetts. And Fallout 76 is set in Appalachia, although updates have expanded its borders.

Indeed, one of the thrills of playing a new Fallout game is discovering and exploring a post-apocalyptic take on a brand new location, and getting to see how it's doing hundreds of years after the bombs fell. This, Robertson-Dworet said, influenced the showrunnners' thinking.

“Well, it came out of many conversations about how the games are of course regional. One of the delights of finding out there's going to be a new Fallout game is immediately the question of like, well, where is it going to be set? And of course, our first season being LA, second season being New Vegas, we were excited to go to fresh snow.”

Now onto the tease. Robertson-Dworet made a point of teasing that we will see The Ghoul’s journey to Colorado, and that there will be plenty of twists and turns along the way. In doing so, she referenced one of The Ghoul’s most famous lines from Season 1, when he tells Lucy the Wasteland’s 'golden rule': “Thou shalt get side tracked by bullshit every goddamn time.”

“We want to remind viewers that just because The Ghoul is heading to Colorado, of course this is the Wasteland where you always get sidetracked by bullshit every goddamn time,” Robertson-Dworet quipped. “So how long will it take him to get there, or will he get there in the first episode of the next season? We will have to wait to find out. It may not be as linear a journey as one would hope.”

Bethesda development chief Todd Howard echoed Robertson-Dworet’s comment, adding: “Yeah, look, there's a lot of surprises coming. We talk about it a lot. And so what I'd say is geography plays such a part into the world of Fallout, and seeing what's there. And there's a lot of land out there, there's a lot of places to explore yet. It's exciting for us to do that in games. And it's really exciting to do it in a TV show where we can jump locations. I wouldn't presume too much yet, I know we're hinting at stuff, but there's a lot of surprises to come.”

So, it sounds like The Ghoul and friends are set for some meaty sidequests as they trade in the sand-filled Mojave Wasteland for the snowy peaks of post-apocalyptic Colorado. This is an area that has yet to be explored by the mainline Fallout video games, so everything will feel brand new to an army of Fallout fans, and we can expect a significant expansion of the Fallout canon.

While we wait to find out more, in the same interview with IGN, Howard touched on the ongoing debate about Fallout canon and the TV series avoiding picking an ending of New Vegas. This has been a hot topic ever since Fallout came out, really, but it was fueled by Mr. House’s appearance in Season 2 and the state of not just the Strip itself but the various factions operating in the area.

Todd Howard and the showrunners have been clear throughout that no ending was made canon, despite the events of the show. And Robertson-Dworet and Howard reiterated the point speaking to IGN ahead of the Season 2 finale.

“It's probably the trickiest thing, right?” Howard said. “You want to go to Vegas, such an iconic location, and you really want to honor the game and honor the players' journeys that they have there while pushing things forward. And look, it's really, really tough. So I think the general approach was, leave things open for interpretation. So I know people want to say like, ‘Hey, what was the ending?’ Or, ‘What's canon and what's not canon before?’ And some of that's intentionally open to interpretation. If you take a character like Robert House, who's as smart and ingenious as he is, well logic says he would find a way to live on. And so that's just one element or things like that. And I think Geneva and Graham [Wagner], the writers, have done a great job of pulling the threads from the world of Fallout, letting you see some of it while also moving it forward. And ultimately it's really about the journey of our main characters.”

We’ve got plenty more on Fallout, including our Fallout Season 2 finale review, and an explainer on how the post-credits scene at the end of Fallout Season 2 teases something huge from the games. Oh, and here’s what that Amazon Fallout countdown turned out to be.

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.

Borderlands 4 publisher Take-Two has said that development on the game's Switch 2 version is officially now on "pause" following its last-minute delay.

A Switch 2 port for the Gearbox looter shooter was initially announced during Nintendo's big April 2025 Direct and then pegged to arrive on October 3, 2025, before its release was scrubbed just a week prior to launch. Pre-orders were cancelled, though Gearbox framed the move as a delay, not a full scrapping of the project.

Indeed, the developer said it hoped to "align" its Switch 2 release with the addition of cross saves to the game — something which now seems to no longer be on the cards.

Speaking to Variety this week, a Take-Two spokesperson has said that work on Borderlands 4's Switch 2 edition was no longer ongoing, as Gearbox prioritized continued "improvements" to the game on its existing platforms.

It's a curious situation, not least because the game's Switch 2 version got so close to release, and had been played publicly in demo form at various events last year, such as at Gamescom 2025 in Cologne. Opinion on the game's Switch 2 demo was mixed, though Borderlands 4 has also suffered from technical issues even on the more powerful PlayStation 5 Pro and Xbox Series X. The game's Steam review rating has also suffered from negative comments regarding its PC performance, too.

"We made the difficult decision to pause development on that SKU," Take-Two spokesperson Alan Lewis told Variety this week. "Our focus continues to be delivering quality post-launch content for players on the ongoing improvements to optimize the game.

"We're continuing to collaborate closely with our friends at Nintendo. We have PGA Tour 2K25 coming out and WWE 2K26 [for Switch 2], and we're incredibly excited about bringing more of our titles to that platform in the future."

That last sentence is intriguing, too — the suggestion that Take-Two may now be focusing its Switch 2 plans elsewhere. Could Nintendo's console become home to GTA 6, which looks increasingly likely to make its late 2026 launch date? Time will tell. Last night, we also learned that GTA 6 will not skip a physical edition at launch, despite rumors to the contrary.

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

After last week's big news that Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere universe would be coming to Apple TV, the author has already offered up some progress on the upcoming Mistborn movie. More specifically, Sanderson has revealed a progress bar on his website for the project that indicates he is already 2% done with the script.

Sanderson took to his Youtube channel to discuss some of the details of his new Apple TV partnership, saying he's been looking for a partner to adapt his books for quite a while and started doing this latest round of pitches in Hollywood back in May 2025.

"I've been looking for a partner, not somebody just to sell things off to," he explained about his decision to strike a deal with Apple TV. "This one feels different."

He went a bit further into his reasons for choosing Apple over everyone else; "I really liked the vibe, but I like the vibe with a lot of these meetings. There weren't any bad meetings in the group. Part of it was the amount of control that Apple was willing to offer me. But it's less about control and more about the partnership."

Sanderson confirmed that they are still planning Mistborn as a feature film and Stormlight Archive as a series, but that nothing is necessarily set in stone. Although this is currently the trajectory, he said "that could change as we work and develop these things."

He also confirmed his involvement in the Stormlight Archive series, commenting: "I will be the co-showrunner with someone. So, we're going to be hunting down that person." Sanderson will reportedly have approvals on every project in this partnership, which will require him to be "deeply involved" in the development of each one.

Sanderson also addressed the elephant in the room regarding his upcoming books, confirming that these projects will indeed impact his writing schedule, but "not to the point that I think you need to worry."

With George R.R. Martin's final Game of Thrones book seemingly on indefinite hold after years of the author working on TV shows, this is a sigh of relief for fans worried the same thing will happen to Mistborn or The Stormlight Archive. You can currently see the progress of all of Sanderson's writing projects on his website alongside the Mistborn script. The next book, which kicks off the third Mistborn Era, is still currently slated for a 2028 release.

With the deal still fresh, it's likely going to be a long time before we see any of these Apple TV projects come to fruition. In the meantine, you can check out which books to read before the on-screen adaptions. You can also read IGN's full timeline of The Cosmere books for a deeper dive into Sanderson's sprawling literary universe.

The Amazon Fallout TV countdown that some had hoped would announce a Fallout 3 or Fallout: New Vegas remaster turned out to be nothing more than another behind-the-scenes look at the show.

Earlier this month, a countdown appeared on the official Amazon website designed to look like a Fallout map. On it are locations in the Fallout map style which, when accessed, lead you to behind-the-scenes information on the show. For example, The Vault 33 outer door, from which Lucy first steps foot into the wasteland, is on the south of the map. The Caswennan, the airship that serves as a soaring fortress for the Brotherhood of Steel, is to the east. And, ahead of the debut of the Fallout Season 2 finale, in the top right was a locked point of interest alongside a timer pointing to February 4.

Looking for a big boost of Ichor to bolster your squad of Toons in Dandy’s World? We’ve got some redeemable codes that will load your wallet up with a ton of free cash. Below, you’ll find a list of all the currently active Dancy's World codes so you can get your hands on more Ichor and start buying some brand-new toons.

Working Dandy's World Codes (February 2026)

Below, you'll find a list of the active and working Dandy's World codes as of today:

• ICHOR - 50 Ichor

Expired Dandy's World Codes

The following Dandy's World codes are expired and no longer work, but we'll keep them here.

• HAPPYHALLOWEEN
• SPOOKYSEASON
• EASTER2025
• APRIL1
• FESTIVEGIFT
• 300K
• 1BILLION
• SKINTICKET
• 2HUNDREDMILLION

How to Redeem Dandy's World Codes

To redeem Dandy's World codes, boot up the game and, once you’re in, follow the steps below:

1. Look at the tabs on the left-hand side of the screen. You’ll see icons for five tabs.
2. Click on the tab that reads "Use Code" to access the codes bar.
3. Input your code in this bar, being careful to make sure it’s in the right case and spelt correctly.
4. Click the use button and you should see the resources you unlock appear at the bottom of the screen.

Why Isn’t My Dandy's World Code Working?

If your Dandy's World code isn’t working, it’s likely due to one of two scenarios. The first is that the code was inputted incorrectly. Make sure you have the code inputted exactly as it is in the Active Codes section above. You can even copy and paste codes directly from this article over to Roblox if you want to make sure you’re inputting them correctly.

The other possibility is the code has expired or you’ve already used it. If you’ve used it, you’ll get a message below the bar reminding you the inputted code has already been redeemed. If you’ve inputted it and it doesn’t recognise the code at all, it likely means it's no longer available to use and is expired.

How to Get More Dandy's World Codes

If you’re looking to scout out some Dandy's World codes yourself, the easiest way is through the game’s official Discord. After joining, you’ll be able to hop into the Announcements channel to find all the latest codes as they drop.

What is Dandy's World in Roblox?

Dandy's World is a mascot horror survival game in the same vein of spooky hits like Five Nights at Freddy's or Poppy Playtime. The major difference is Dandy's World is multiplayer, meaning you and up to seven other friends can jump in, pick a toon with unique abilities and perks to play as, and attempt to survive as long as possible while evading the game's endless supply of terrifying monsters. The longer you survive, the more Ichor you gather, allowing you to buy new toons to help you push further into the nightmare and get the drop on your foes.