If you ever need to make like Sam Porter and hike through tricky terrain while lugging hefty cargo, Kojima Productions literally has your back, or in this case your knees. Hideo Kojima's studio is partnering with exoskeleton maker Dnsys to release an official Death Stranding 2 On The Beach limited edition exoskeleton to provide knee support. The surprise collaboration was revealed on Kojima Productions’ official X accounts in both Japanese and English.

Back on November 8, Kojima Productions’ Japanese and English X accounts teased the collaboration under the cryptic tagline: "A new experience that bridges the game and the real world is coming soon." This prompted puzzled users to guess everything from a headset to some kind of gaming chair, with some clocking that the zoomed-in pictures bore some resemblance to Sam’s supportive exoskeleton.

DNSYS ✖️ DEATH STRANDING 2 co-branded exoskeleton is here 👍

📦 Dnsys Z1 Exoskeleton Pro – DEATH STRANDING 2 ON THE BEACH Limited Edition
It enhances lower-body strength and stability, allowing humans to keep moving through complex terrain and extreme environments. 🦵🦿… pic.twitter.com/Yi1E6RnKNC

— KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS (Eng) (@KojiPro2015_EN) November 10, 2025

As revealed in Kojima Productions’ more recent X post, the mystery product turned out to be an actual exoskeleton, made in collaboration with exoskeleton maker Dnsys, which worked with Kojima Productions' art director Yoji Shinkawa to make it look true to the game.

"We designed this exoskeleton with the same passion and precision as if it were built for the world of Death Stranding,” said Shinkawa. “Every detail was refined to bring the game’s futuristic vision into reality, creating something Sam himself might wear." The exoskeleton is battery-powered, and even features lights that show how much juice it has left, just like in Death Stranding. No Bridge Baby included, but that's probably just as well.

Although handy for Sam Porter cosplays, it is also a functional and serious piece of equipment. According to the Dnsys website, the Death Stranding 2 exoskeleton enhances lower body strength and protects the knee joints by offloading the user's body weight, sort of mimicking the game's load-balancing system in real life. In addition to helping you hike miles further, the product description even boasts that you will “instantly feel up to 44 pounds lighter,” which might be useful when in denial about how much you ate post-Christmas.

The Death Stranding 2: On The Beach Limited Edition Exoskeleton will be available globally from December 2. No word on the price yet, but Dnsys is giving away three of them through a creative competition, details of which can be found at the bottom of the product page.

Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.

The Pokémon Company announced today that it will open a Pokémon theme park in Tokyo next year. PokéPark KANTO will be the monster-catching series’ first permanent outdoor attraction, and located inside Yomiuriland, Tokyo’s largest theme park.

As shown in the concept video shared by the Pokémon Company’s official X account, below, PokéPark brings the games to life by having customers take on the role of trainers.

『ポケパーク カントー』が、2026年2月5日（木） に開業決定！
オープンに先駆けて、『ポケパーク カントー』の楽しさをギュッとまとめたオフィシャルトレーラーをお届けするよ！
くわしくは公式サイトをチェックしてね。https://t.co/ahldUwjQv1 #ポケパークカントー pic.twitter.com/CNrcjznT2V

— ポケモン公式 (@Pokemon_cojp) November 11, 2025

Naturally, the entrance plaza will feature the three Kanto starter Pokémon Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle (here’s how to get them in Pokemon Legends Z-A, in case you were wondering). The park is split into two areas, a Pokémon Forest and Sedge Town. The Pokémon Forest will be a wooded trail with varied terrains in which visitors can spot different Pokémon statues. Sedge Town will offer rides like the Vee Vee Voyage carousel, a Pokémon Center for merch, a Trainer’s Mart offering park-exclusive refreshments, and the Sedge Gym, where you will be able to watch a stage show (complete with dancing Pikachus). There will also be Pokémon meet and greets, plus a Pokémon parade. Overall, the park promises to feature over 600 Pokémon.

PokéPark previously existed in Nagoya (Japan) and Taiwan back in 2005 and 2006, respectively. However, these were temporary, short-lived attractions. PokePark Kanto is bringing back the format with a permanent theme park.

PokéPark KANTO opens on February 5, 2026. Starting on November 21 this year, tickets for the park will be sold by lottery. The Ace Trainer’s Pass lets you freely enter the Pokémon Forest and Sedge Town areas, plus perks like priority lane access for attractions, reserved seats for the Sedge Gym show, meet and greets, and original merch. The Trainer’s Pass gives unlimited access to Sedge Town but gives you a timeslot for the Pokémon Forest. There are also plans to offer a Sedge Town-only pass in the future. More info can be found on the official website.

Elsewhere, video game inspired theme parks have been opening in recent years. Universal Studios Japan in Osaka has Super Nintendo World, which added a new Donkey Kong Country area last year. Stateside, there is a Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Epic Universe, with another larger one due to open in the Universal Orlando Resort. Minecraft theme parks are also set to open in the U.S. and the UK sometime between 2026 and 2027.

Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.

Former Bungie developer Chris Sides has called out the term "extraction shooter," saying it's a "terrible" genre name because it doesn't tell the player what to expect from the game.

Talking on the Shooter Monthly podcast, the former director of product on Bungie's upcoming Marathon didn't hold back, stressing that with so many distinct games potentially falling under the umbrella of "extraction shooter," players will find it hard to know "what you're going to get."

"The problem is Helldivers 2 can be called an extraction shooter, but it's not. The genre name is so bad," Sides said (thanks, TheGamePost). "I hate the genre name of 'extraction shooter.' When I was working on Marathon, I was working with marketing, dying to be like, 'Can we please create a different genre name, because extraction shooter is so dumb.' It's the only genre where its name is a mechanic.

"Extraction is the mechanic to get out. Helldivers 2, is that an extraction shooter because you extract? No. It's not like Tarkov at all. So the terminology of the genre is already terrible. It makes it really hard to compare these games. It's why Arena Breakout and Tarkov, you can kind of look at it because they're both extraction shooters and they kind of fit the same mold. Comparing Arc Raiders to Tarkov just doesn't really fit. Comparing Arc Raiders to maybe like a Rust could fit, and then Rust... is that an extraction because it's survivor? It's a problem. I cannot stand the name of it.

"So I think that when you say the extraction genre, it should hit your spot, I think it's really the fact that the genre doesn't even know what it is. So you as a player, how do you know what what you're going to get? And I think that's one of the real issues with the genre itself."

It's well worth listening to the podcast, where Sides is joined by other shooter developers in an interesting discussion about the extraction shooter genre generally, as well as the problem with how it's named. They discuss everything from Marathon to Arc Raiders and Helldivers 2 to Escape from Tarkov.

While the term 'extraction shooter' may be problematic, according to Sides, it hasn't held back the performance of Arc Raiders, which developer Embark Studios describes as a "multiplayer extraction adventure," as opposed to an extraction shooter. It sold 4 million copies in less than two weeks, with a peak concurrent player count of 700,000.

As for Marathon, it was recently delayed out of 2025 and into 2026 as Bungie works to respond to feedback from playtests. Bungie describes Marathon as a "team-based extraction shooter."

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.

Squid Game actor O Yeong-su has had his sexual misconduct conviction overturned, after previously being given an eight-month suspended prison sentence.

The 81-year-old actor won a Golden Globe for best performance by an actor in a supporting role as Player 001 in the Netflix hit's first season. His character is introduced as an elderly ally to Seong Gi-hun's heroic Player 456, before his true knowledge of the games is revealed.

It’s a tough time for Bungie and Destiny 2, with parent company Sony saying the studio has failed to meet its sales and user engagement expectations.

In its latest financial report, Sony said it had recorded a 31.5 billion yen (approx. $204.2 million) impairment charge as a result of Destiny 2’s underperformance. That was significant enough to drag down profits at Sony’s Game & Network Services Segment, which includes Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Sony chief financial officer (CFO) Lin Tao, expanded on the issues with Bungie in an investor related financial call:

“Regarding Destiny 2, partially due to the changes in the competitive environment, the level of sales and user engagement have not reached the expectations we had at the time of the acquisition of Bungie. While we will continue to make improvements, we downwardly revised the business projection for the time being, and recorded an impairment loss against a portion of the assets at Bungie.”

It’s certainly been a tough time for Destiny 2 and Bungie, which is working on the delayed extraction shooter Marathon for a release in 2026.

In August, Bungie CEO Pete Parsons left the company after 23 years and nearly 10 as CEO. He was succeeded by Justin Truman, previously chief development officer and fellow Bungie veteran. Parsons oversaw Bungie during many turbulent years, first taking over as CEO in 2016 from Harold Ryan and overseeing its break from Activision in 2019. He was at the helm throughout many of the events catalogued in our 2021 expose of Bungie's internal work culture. Just months after our report, Bungie was acquired by Sony for $3.7 billion, ending the studio's flirtation with independence.

Sony, clearly, saw something in Bungie and its upcoming slate. But as the acquisition settled in, concerns began to arise about the studio's future. Destiny 2 was struggling, and Marathon was still years away. Then the layoffs came. In 2023, Bungie laid off roughly 100 individuals and delayed Destiny 2's The Final Shape DLC, with Parsons taking responsibility for the cuts. Developers told IGN at the time that the atmosphere at Bungie was "soul-crushing" as fears grew of a total Sony takeover of the company. In 2024, this was followed up with even more layoffs, impacting 220 people despite The Final Shape's success. 155 people were also integrated from Bungie into Sony at this time. In the wake of those layoffs, former workers claimed Bungie misrepresented its finances and had significantly overextended itself when Sony acquired the studio. It was apparently bad enough that at least one source described as a "well-connected former worker" went so far as to claim that Bungie faced dire consequences if the acquisition hadn't happened, saying that the "alternate history is insolvency."

Troubles continued to rock the studio through the rest of 2024 and into 2025, with Marathon seeing a delay out of September of this year to an unknown future date. Most recently, Sony confirmed Bungie would be integrated into PlayStation Studios so the company could have more control over the developer.

Destiny 2 has seen its player count plummet as updates have failed to hit the mark. The action shooter hit a new low on Steam this month, with a peak concurrent player count of 13,497 in the past 24 hours. In June last year it hit 314,000. Recent user reviews for Destiny 2 on Steam are ‘mostly negative,’ although overall reviews are ‘mostly positive.’ Steam does not paint the entire picture when it comes to Destiny 2’s popularity, with it widely available across multiple platforms, but clearly Sony isn’t happy with how the studio has performed in the three years since it brought it into the fold.

Back in June, Sony said it remained committed to live service video games despite high-profile failures such as Concord, and insisted Marathon would be out before April 2026 despite the mixed alpha feedback and damaging accusations of plagiarism against Bungie.

Sony will be keen to avoid another catastrophic launch like Concord, which was pulled offline just two weeks after launch, with one estimate suggesting it sold just 25,000 copies. It has proved a costly failure for Sony, with hundreds of millions of dollars wasted amid the closure of its developer, Firewalk Studios. Bungie now faces concern over its own future, with the pressure on Marathon to deliver.

Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images.

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.

A statement posted on Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin's blog has addressed claims that AI-generated art was used within the new anniversary edition of A Feast For Crows.

The statement comes amid growing fury that the new version of Martin's fourth A Song of Ice and Fire tomb has been illustrated with AI artwork. Fan discussion on social media and reddit has been alight with accusations that the images look AI-generated, are of poor quality, and appear similar to previous fan designs.

Now, the manager in charge of artwork for the book has spoken out to deny any AI usage on behalf of the artist, Jeffrey R. McDonald. Unusually, the statement has been posted directly on Martin's own blog — where the author has previously railed against AI himself.

"My name is Raya Golden and I manage the art direction and licensing development here at Fevre River working closely with GRRM as his schedule will allow," the statement reads. "But I alone am responsible for approving all the licensed art that accompanies our SOI&F book driven materials.

"Recently there have been accusations floating around that the Penguin Random House’s illustrated edition of A Feast For Crows was produced using AI generative art. To our knowledge and as presented by the artist who completed the work in question there was no such programing used.

"While he is a digital multimedia artist and relies on digital programing to complete his work, he has expressed unequivocally that no AI was used, and we believe him," the statement concludes. "SO The official word from our office is, of course, that we do not willingly work with AI generative artists in any way shape or form."

so just to let yall know the new affc illustrated edition is like almost definitely ai lol and id argue has taken pretty hard ’inspiration’ from existing fanart
(1st piece by zippo514) pic.twitter.com/GuLdFima0U

— 2åse (@novembernatten) November 5, 2025

But even with the AI suggestion addressed, fans on reddit have collated a long list of errors and oddities found within the images, such as the inclusion of a Christian cross, and a bald character having hair. Another example, above, shows the similarity between a piece of fan art for Lady Stoneheart, and the new official illustration.

Martin — who is currently waging war against OpenAI in a wide-ranging legal battle alongside other authors — previously dubbed AI as "the world's most expensive and energy-intensive plagiarism machine."

Last month, the writer gave his latest update on the long-awaited The Winds of Winter, which fans have been waiting 15 years for. Speaking at New York Comic Con, Martin said he always felt frustrated when failing to turn work in on time.

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

Arc Raiders has now sold over 4 million copies worldwide less than two weeks since its release date, cementing its commercial success.

Publisher Nexon confirmed the milestone in a glowing press release, which also revealed that the extraction shooter had reached a huge concurrent count of 700,000 players across all platforms.

Within a day of its release, Embark Studio's shooter hit a Steam concurrent peak player count of 264,673, making it one of the biggest extraction shooters ever on Valve's platform. That record was smashed again over the weekend when Arc Raiders hit a concurrent peak of 462,488 players according to Valve's official figures. and now we know that, combined with users on consoles, the true figure is closing in on three-quarters of a million players.

Nexon added that Arc Raiders has "maintained its number one spot on Steam's global sales rankings" ever since it released on October 30, and congratulated developer Embark, writing: "We are deeply impressed by the enthusiasm shown by our player community and look forward to building on that excitement with our content plans, including new maps, ARC vehicles, weapons, and quests, which will be available starting this month."

"I thought I was only going to play five or six hours of Arc Raiders on launch day before sitting down to write this initial review in progress, but after just a handful of matches, I suddenly couldn’t pull myself away – and before I realized it, I’d been playing for 10 hours," we wrote in IGN's Arc Raiders review-in-progress.

"This is without question the most hooked I’ve found myself on an extraction shooter (and I’ve played a lot of them), with clean and tense gunplay, a progression system that’s been incredibly satisfying so far, and a loot game that has me sweating over what to put in my backpack and what to leave behind."

Jumping into Arc Raiders? Check out our guide to the best settings, find out what skills we recommend unlocking first, and see how to earn loot by delivering field depot crates.

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

The PlayStation 5 is now up to 84.2 million copies sold after shifting an additional 3.9 million units during the three-month period ending September 30, Sony has announced.

That’s a slight increase on the 3.8 million PS5 units Sony sold during the same quarter last year, but it's an impressive result given the price of the console has actually gone up over the course of this generation, rather than come down.

Interestingly, the new sales figure puts PS5 ahead of every Xbox console ever released, overtaking the official figure for the Xbox 360. But official sales figures here are somewhat misleading. Microsoft last reported Xbox 360 sales figures over a decade ago, in June 2014, when it said the console had sold more than 84 million consoles into retail worldwide.

It seems likely that those 84 million consoles sold into retailers were eventually sold through to customers, and that it probably sold an additional 1 million or so in the 10 years after that announcement (Microsoft discontinued the Xbox 360 in April 2016). So the true Xbox 360 sales figure is probably a little higher than the PS5’s current tally, but until Microsoft issues an official sales update for the Xbox 360, the PS5 is officially ahead of it and all other Xbox consoles. And in any case, the PS5 will go on to sell tens of millions more units over the course of its lifetime.

As an aside, unlike Sony, Microsoft does not make Xbox Series X and S sales figures public, but analysts have suggested the combined Xbox Series effort is being outsold by the PS5 by at least a factor of 2:1.

The more appropriate comparison for the PS5 then, is with its predecessor, the PlayStation 4. Five years into the current console generation, the PS5 is slightly behind the PS4 (the PS4 sold-in to retailers more than 86.1 million units after five years on sale).

But Sony has said this console generation is its most financially successful ever, with sales surpassing those made during the reign of all previous Sony consoles. In a graph recently published by Sony, its Game & Network Services (G&NS) division, which includes Sony Interactive Entertainment, was shown to have brought in more money with each console generation since the PS1. Of course, PS5 increased in price this year to $550, while PS4 retailed for $300 at this stage, and the video games themselves have got more expensive.

Nishino-san says PlayStation 5 is the most successful generation in PlayStation history. pic.twitter.com/E5feupYHGr

— The Game Awards (@geoffkeighley) September 25, 2025

Sony has already started talking about PlayStation 6 in vague terms, but it has a number of PS5 exclusives yet to come, including Insomniac’s Marvel’s Wolverine, which is due out next year. There are also reports that Sony plans to release a PlayStation handheld console, although the company has yet to comment.

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.