Hollywood stars Cillian Murphy, Domhnall Gleeson, Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith and singer Lewis Capaldi all star in Taylor Swift's new music video for a truly unusual reason.

The line-up were all guests alongside Swift when the global pop superstar appeared on the BBC's Graham Norton chat show late last year, promoting her latest album The Life of a Showgirl.

During the show, Gleeson's dance moves in The Office spinoff series The Paper were mentioned, and Gleeson himself joked that he'd love to appear one day in a Taylor Swift music video. And it was at this moment that Swift formed the idea for Gleeson to indeed star in the video for her next single, Opalite — and be joined by everyone else on the chat show that night, including Graham Norton himself.

Four months later, Opalite's music video has released today via Spotify and Apple Music, showing Swift and Gleeson becoming a couple (who do dance!) after spraying themselves with the magical Opalite love chemical.

Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy narrates an introductory commercial on the Opalite product, while Tron: Ares actresses Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith cameo as a singer and fitness instructor that Swift watches on TV. Capaldi plays a photographer taking a picture of the couple who then joins them in the photos. Finally, Graham Norton plays a Opalite rep giving out free samples, who risks wrecking Gleeson and Swift's budding romance.

Post-song, the video concludes with an explanation of what's going on, with clips from the BBC's Graham Norton show of the cast, acting as a credits reel. We even see the moment Swift gets the idea for the video itself, following Gleeson's quip about his dancing.

"I remember thinking I got ridiculously lucky with the group I was paired with," Swift wrote on Instagram today, where she shared a series of behind the scenes photos. A week after the show aired, Swift says that Domhnall received an emailed script for the music video where he was playing the starring role.

"I had this thought that it would be wild if all of our fellow guests on the Graham Norton show that night, including Graham himself, could be a part of it too. Like a school group project but for adults and it isn’t mandatory. To my delight, everyone from the show made the effort to time travel back to the 90’s with us and help with this video."

Swifties will likely spot several of her Eras Tour dancers also making cameo appearances.

After launching both The Life of a Showgirl and her Eras Tour documentary series on Disney+ at the end of last year, 2026 had been expected to be a quieter year for the singer. Not quite yet though, it seems.

Image source: Taylor Swift.

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

Lorwyn Eclipsed marks the first Magic: The Gathering set of the long-running card game’s 2026 release schedule, and while the set as a whole is great, its pair of Commander Decks is worth a mention, too.

We've got a deep dive into each, how they play, and what they include, but now Amazon has slashed the price on the Dance of the Elements precon. Better yet, a bundle of two of each deck is reduced, too, which makes each deck around $30, a sizeable saving off the list price of at least one deck.

There aren't a ton of games that I've happily put more than 100 hours into as quickly as I have with Mewgenics. This feline-flavored, turn-based, roguelike tactical RPG takes place on a 10x10 grid, with mostly traditional classes like Fighter, Mage, Hunter, Tank, and Necromancer, among others. What sets it apart, aside from the cutesy macabre art style that slathers its creative zones with blood and poop, is that so many of the skills and attributes that your team will end up with are randomized and for the most part out of your control. That all but ensures no two runs will play out the same way, forcing you to improvise and play the hand you're dealt. Combined with the absolute mountain of content here – so much that I'm still seeing entirely new enemies, skills, mutations, and loot pop up after more than 150 hours – it's been able to draw me back in time and time again by dangling the possibility of an absolutely wild team coming together and bulldozing through the boss who turned my last party into kibble. I still haven't seen the final ending after all that time (this game has several) but I can't imagine I'll be tired of it before I do.

Mewgenics is a game about cats, but it's not necessarily going to appeal to people who passionately love them because it's a dark comedy that treats them as meat to be put through a grinder. The name itself is a play on eugenics, a morally appalling practice of selective breeding that has historically led to things like forced sterilization to remove undesirable traits from the gene pool, so you know going in that it's going to be a little spicy. If you've played any of Edmund McMillen's previous work (here he's collaborating once again with Tyler Glaiel), such as the infamously difficult Super Meat Boy or the infinitely replayable Binding of Isaac, you'll have a sense of the type of humor to expect. It's delightfully gross and endlessly weird at every turn.

Even knowing that, as a long-time cat owner myself, I was perhaps a bit too conservative with just how unsympathetic and detached you're expected to be. I probably took longer than I should've to unlock crucial upgrades for my house because doing so requires shipping dozens of cats off to live with a set of goofy weirdo NPCs, never to be seen again. One of the most important and flamboyant, Tink, will only take newborn kittens, and in exchange he'll give you tools that provide more information on how to breed more kittens – and he needs a lot, so you have to get accustomed to parting with them right away. Other characters want older cats, mutated cats, injured cats, or cats who've been on runs to specific places in order to improve stores or add new rooms to your house, among other things. Traditionally an RPG like this is about nurturing your characters and developing them until they become more powerful, but Mewgenics requires a different way of thinking: cats with low or unremarkable stats are lost causes who will weigh your squad down, so you're best off spending them like currency and keeping only the picks of various litters.

Selectively breeding your cats takes place in the fairly simple house screen, a 2D side view where your cats chaotically mill around while you arrange furniture pieces that you find as loot or buy from a shop, inventory Tetris-style. The goal here is to improve stats like Stimulation and Comfort in order to get your cats in the mood to produce high-quality offspring and improve the chances they'll come out with favorable mutations. Those can be things like a messed-up tail that makes their basic attacks inflict burning, or fur that gives them more health regen when they're wet, or leech eyes, among tons and tons of others that are all represented visually on your increasingly weird-looking cats.

(You also have to clean up cat poop daily to keep your Health stat up by simply clicking on piles of various shapes and sizes. It's a bit of a chore after a while, especially when it gets crowded and you have to move cats out of the way to get to it – somehow, of all the furniture items I've gathered, I've never seen a single litter box.)

When everything's arranged to your liking, you hit the End Day button and your cats will choose their own mates based on who's in a room with them, as well as their own genders, orientations (yup, there are gay and bisexual cats), and libedos. Then, out come the kittens after some bizarre cat humping and gooey birth animations that take obvious pleasure in being unsettling. (You can tone that down if you need it to be safe for work.) Optimizing this to produce the most powerful cats possible while also avoiding too much inbreeding (which, as Tink will tell you, isn't cool even though it has the word "breeding" in it because it causes birth defects) is tricky – but you can't really fail at this part because, even if you lose all your cats, you can just start again from scratch using the randomized strays who show up every day.

The real challenge is in finding the traits you want and ensuring they're passed down to new generations without too many side effects, and that definitely takes some planning. Mewgenics doesn't make it super easy, since there's no way to view all your cats in a list or spreadsheet – you just have to tediously cycle through them one at a time. You do unlock some tools to label them (and view their gnarly family trees), but when you have 40 cats roaming around it can be a pain to find one with the stats and abilities you're looking for when you go to put together a four-cat party (or fewer, if you want to live dangerously and level them up faster) for an adventure.

Building your team is another area where Mewgenics is unconventional and unpredictable because when you're picking cats and assigning their classes you can't see what all of their starting abilities will be. You'll get their base stats, mutations, and basic attacks, and sometimes they'll come with a spell or passive ability from one of their parents' classes, but it's not until you lock in their class that you'll learn what you're really working with and if they'll synergize well. Considering that each of the 12 classes has 75 abilities that might pop up (even after all this time I'm still seeing new ones), I get the same thrill from this reveal that I do from picking up my hand in poker or seeing the modifiers on a daily run in Slay the Spire or Monster Train 2: sometimes it's good news and I'm excited to see where it takes me, sometimes it's not and I brace myself for a thrashing and hope for a surprise turnaround if I can survive long enough to level them up and unlock some better skills.

What's inconvenient at this stage is that while you can see what items you have available in your house inventory before you set out on an adventure, and after you lock in your classes you're taken to the equipping screen to deck your cats out with up to five pieces of potentially build-defining gear apiece, you cannot see those items when you're actually picking your classes and your starting abilities are first revealed. That might be fine if you have a fantastic memory, but for the rest of us it's frustrating to not be able to check if I have a good piece of gear to boost the stats of my summoned familiars at the exact moment I'm deciding if I should go with an animal-friend Druid or a robot-building Tinkerer, or if I should go with a Fighter or a Tank instead.

It's tricky to keep track of what you have on hand because gear in Mewgenics doesn't last forever. You can expect to get three, maybe four runs out of something before it breaks, and that's assuming you don't wipe and lose everything you took with you and picked up along the way (except for your choice of one item from several that a helpful weirdo saves for you after a failed attempt). If weapons breaking in recent Zeldas rubbed you the wrong way, you probably won't enjoy that aspect of Mewgenics, but I actually do like the way it prevents me from relying too heavily on any one strategy. You can get something incredibly powerful and play with it more than once, without letting that item define every run you'll do from that point on.

Taking gear on only two or three runs may not sound like much, but that's more than the actual cats get. Another reason you can't count on the tricks you used in the previous run working just as well on the next, even if you use the same classes and gear, is that each cat only gets one adventure in which to level up and develop their skills. (You'll be able to use them in combat one or even two more times during special battles where major monsters attack your house.) That was tough to get my head around at first, because I'm accustomed to my RPG party members sticking around, at least until I get them killed.

Maybe this is why you're not allowed to name your own cats, and instead they come pre-named from a pool of (I estimate) a billion different silly possibilities: Mewgenics doesn't want us to get too attached. After a while I stopped paying much attention to their names except to chuckle at them, preferring to think of my squad members as their classes rather than individuals. Only the ones I ended up using as my primary breeding stock really stuck with me. (Man, talking about this game makes you say some weird stuff.)

When you head out to one of the three acts' adventure maps, which are all drawn in a jerkily animated, charmingly childlike style, you start with a single path that then branches off into two, each of which has two completely different stages packed with their own unique sets of enemies – so many you definitely won't see them all even after several runs. You'll definitely want to mouse over them and read their descriptions before diving into battle, because some of them have some extremely nasty tricks up their sleeves – including a few that can instantly and permanently kill a cat or infect it with a parasite that takes up a gear slot. The stakes are already pretty high given your cats are permanently injured every time they get downed, and can be outright killed if their body is destroyed by attacks or eaten by zombies, so you don't want to get surprised if you can help it.

Each zone is also stocked with multiple bosses that range from powered-up versions of your own classes to huge, nasty monsters with their own creative game-changing mechanics, and one that's basically just an evil Kirby. Yes, a few of them are annoying (I avoid going to Act 1's Boneyard unless a quest demands it because that boss is a total jerk), but on balance they're excellent battles that often make me think differently about how to manage my team's turn order and abilities.

One thing that stands out to me about the structure of Mewgenics' runs – aside from how they can take as long as two hours once you've unlocked all the zones (and some secret ones) – is that unlike most roguelikes, you rarely get to make decisions about the path you take between battles. You mainly get to choose between the default path and a harder one with better loot and one more battle to level up a cat in, and then very occasionally between two types of rewards (usually an equipable item or a piece of furniture for your house). That makes the between-battle encounters feel a little less interesting than in a lot of similar games, especially when the random encounters turn out to be basically a coin flip where you're picking between a red pill or a blue pill, or pushing a button vs pulling a lever without any indication of which will give you a bonus and which will give you a debuff.

There are, of course, some more in-depth, multi-stage encounters where you're picking between a set of options in a choose-your-own-adventure story where your chances of success for each one are determined by a cat's stats. However, since the cat whose stats you're working with is chosen randomly, there are two layers of luck involved before you get a shot at a good outcome. It often feels completely random, but that's alright because so much of Mewgenics is doing the best you can with circumstances beyond your control.

During combat, there are so many different things in play that the interactions between cat mutations, passives, spells, gear, environmental modifiers, and enemies can get crazy complex, and figuring out exactly what happened – or predicting what will happen – can be like investigating a crime scene (often with just as much blood splatter). Why did that enemy pingpong between two trash bags, with each bounce doing one point of damage, until it died? How did one of my cats just straight-up eat a boss without me even telling it to move? Or, why did that giant Daddy Shark get to take another move and insta-kill my Cleric when I'd carefully placed him just outside what should've been his projected attack range? (That one stung.) All of those answers are in there somewhere if you know where to look and study the rules carefully. In one of those cases, it was related to – you guessed it – poop. The map does get chaotic when there are a lot of enemies and fire or plants or ice on the screen, but thankfully there's a tactical view that usually clears things up… mostly.

Most of the time, if you think something might work, it will. Water and ice spells and spells will put out fire, water will conduct electricity and zap everything standing in it, that sort of thing. However, sometimes its rules aren't super logical: a couple I've noticed is that robots are susceptible to bleeding, poison, and parasite infestations, and the Butcher class's innate meat hook weapon can't actually hook meat unless you luck into the right upgrade for it. But again, most of the time it works like you'd expect it to.

I do love when a powerful team dynamic emerges as you earn new skills (your choice from a random selection of three) or raise one cat's stats after every battle. Recently I had a squad with a Monk who could toss out meat pickups that typically just heal the team, but when combined with a Butcher who can turn all of those meats into minion fly familiars and a Druid who can boost those flys' stats and turn them into killing machines, it became a way to raise an army in a single turn. On another run I had a Cleric whose health regeneration applied to the whole team and an item that let me continually boost that regen multiple times per turn, allowing my Necromancer to run wild with a high-damage attack that also drained half of his own health. There are countless examples like this, and while you won't win the lottery with a great combo every run, they happen more than often enough to make me excited about what might be next.

What's a little frustrating when I'm planning out my moves in a tough fight where every action matters is that there's no way to access a cat's full character sheet while you're in a battle, so you can't see their list of mutations or all of their equipment's full effects when you need that information the most. It's almost all represented visually on your cats, at least, but you have to remember, for example, what a cat having a second head growing on its butt means. When the rules are changing so dramatically from run to run, I would love to be able to reference all of them at any time.

As if all of those variables weren't enough, Mewgenics throws yet another curveball at you when it sends you on one of its story or side quests. Those all revolve around a unique and powerful item that changes the rules in a big way and telling you to take it to a specific zone. One of the most memorable gives you a five-second time limit for every action – and if you don't make a move, the AI will take over and move for you. (I was glad I wasn't playing that one on my Steam Deck because the controls there are serviceable, but not nearly as quick as with a mouse and keyboard.) Another shook things up by giving my cats random selections of abilities from every class when they leveled up, creating powerful hybrids that are usually rare. There are tons of these available, though it's kind of a bummer that if you fail a side quest you don't get a second attempt at that unless it randomly comes up again once you've paid enough cats. The story itself is pretty silly and light – don't expect any Hades-style epics here – but good for a few yuks as you do the bidding of an incompetent mad scientist.

Another area where Mewgenics is truly exceptional is in its sound and music, which are fantastic in both big and subtle ways. It comes with a collection of original and hilarious songs that accompany each level and culminate in major boss battles that are designed to loop for as long as a battle takes, and there are multiple variations on each that include instrumental versions – your cats will even meow along to them sometimes. (My favorite is probably "Where's That Smell Coming From?") And those meows come from a vast selection of different randomly selected voices, including some celebrity cameos.

One of the best touches, though, is the crowd sounds. Mainly you'll hear this after beating a battle: there's cheering and clapping with varying enthusiasm based on how quickly you pulled off your win. That's fine, but the best part is the shocked gasps when one of your cats is killed in action. That gets me every time – and trust me, I've heard it a lot.

Lastly, Mewgenics has a fun and surprising approach to the practice of "save-scumming," where you quit out of a battle you've messed up and restart it with knowledge of what not to do. I won't spoil what happens, but there are consequences if you abuse it. Thankfully, you do get some flexibility in case of a power outage or spouse demanding you stop playing that game you've been playing for 150 hours and do the dishes, and it's kind of implicit that you have permission to save-scum once per run – and yes, I use it regularly.

The latest trailer for Resident Evil Requiem shows experienced agent Leon S. Kennedy whiffing every one of his shots — and fans think Nintendo is to blame.

Yesterday's Nintendo Partner Direct featured a fresh look at the highly-anticipated survival horror title, which features newbie agent Grace Ashcroft alongside veteran zombie fighter Leon S. Kennedy. But watch yesterday's trailer and you'd think Leon was fresh out of the academy, as he is unable to land a single bullet.

The Nintendo showcase included new footage of Leon kicking zombies to the ground, but then firing over their shoulder. At one point he picks up a rifle, then fires at a tree. Leon's even able to miss with a chainsaw, spinning at a zombie only to graze some furniture.

Nintendo making Leon miss every shot and attack to keep the show PG is so funny pic.twitter.com/fknXycULvQ

— Nin10doland (@nin10doland) February 5, 2026

Online, Leon's sudden lack of fighting prowess has not gone unnoticed, with Nintendo itself believed as being to blame.

"Nintendo making Leon miss every shot and attack to keep the show PG is so funny," wrote nin10doland in a long thread on social media. "I can feel the frustration from the guy who was recording this game footage," replied NikTek. "How many years of service does Leon have exactly?" added HuhShalien.

The Partner Direct broadcast was rated as being for an 18+/Mature audience, though some fans have suggested the footage used here was likely the same seen in the stream's separate Japanese version. In Japan, Resident Evil games are frequently censored, and Nintendo may feel a particular need to keep gore and violence unseen.

Others, meanwhile, noted that this was nothing new for a Nintendo Direct.

"They did the same thing with The Great Circle during the boat action shot, where they were shooting the water in front of the enemy boat instead of the actual boat," wrote Donnyboi.

"Reminds me of the Hitman trailer when they'd cut right before he'd kill anyone," added RileyEatsGood.

"This is also why the initial reveal for The Duskbloods from FromSoftware looked super underwhelming," concluded VBandit47. "They couldn't show literally ANYTHING that is core to the Soulsborne experience cause they couldn't show any blood. Watch it back, you'll see what I mean lmao."

Surprise! Highguard has another "heaping pile of fresh, free content" for you, including a new warden, map, a ranked mode, mount, and a variety of QoL tweaks, too.

The new free-to-play PvP raid shooter hailing from some of the creators of Respawn's Apex Legends and Titanfall only released a couple of weeks ago, but that hasn't stopped developer Wildlight from dropping a second "major update" in as many weeks, this time introducing Episode 2.

New warden Ekon is described as a legendary monster-slayer who shapeshifts into a powerful direwolf to track and hunt his prey. The last of a long line of ancient magic wielders known as the Wildwalkers, once thought extinct, Ekon jumps into action when his mentor, and closest thing to family, goes missing in the lost land of Highguard.

His passive ability, Dread, reveals the heartbeat of wounded enemies, and their heartbeats will continue to be visible until they are dead or regen their health. His tactical, Wolf Spirit, lets you hunt the nearest enemy and apply Dread — even across long distances and through walls and rocks — and ultimate ability Wolf Form sees him turn into a powerful direwolf that can track and hunt mounted enemies.

As for the new map Skydrift? Coming to the 3v3 and now permanent 5v5 rotation, wardens can navigate through hollowed-out caverns once home to great winged-beasts, spar off against one another in an ancient ring of stone, and ride across huge chain bridges and through "remarkable Sky Jumpers to reach Skydrifts highest point — a palace above the clouds." The full notes are included below.

Highguard Episode 2 Patch Notes — Out February 6

A NEW WARDEN ARRIVES — EKON

A legendary monster-slayer who shapeshifts into a powerful direwolf to track and hunt his prey. Ekon is the last of a long line of ancient magic wielders known as the Wildwalkers, once thought extinct. When his mentor, and closest thing to family, goes missing in the lost land of Highguard, there is no monster or warden this great predator will allow to stand in his way.

Dread (Passive)

Reveal the heartbeat of wounded enemies. Once an enemy Warden is low health, they are highlighted in pulsing beats until they are dead, or their health regenerates.

Wolf Spirit (Tactical)

Unleash a spirit wolf to hunt the nearest enemy and apply Dread. This Wolf Spirit travels long distances, moving straight through rocks and structures to find its prey. If seen in time, it can be shot down. This ability can be cast in human form, or in Wolf form.

Fearsome Howl (Ultimate)

Apply Dread to all enemies across the map and increase your movement speed. This ability can be cast in human form, or in Wolf form.

Wolf Form

Ekon doesn’t ride an animal into battle, he becomes one — transforming into a powerful direwolf that tracks, hunts, and runs down mounted enemies. While in this form, Ekon’s speed is unmatched by other mounts. Through a full third-person point of view, the direwolf can see around cover. When moving in for an attack, weapons are laid down in favor of Ekon’s deadly bite attack, which will dash forward and bite a prey before immediately transforming back to human form to finish off the job. Attacking without a target will allow Ekon to perform a small air dash to traverse maps more athletically. In addition, while in Wolf Form, Ekon can track an enemy’s scent that they leave in their path. Ekon can use all of his other powers while in Wolf Form.

A NEW LOCATION IS DISCOVERED — SKYDRIFT

Far west of Headwall, beyond the vast, uncharted lands of Highguard where the maps go blank and expeditions go missing lies the fabled lost city of Skydrift recently awakened.

Wardens can navigate through hollowed out caverns once home to great winged-beasts, spar off against one another in an ancient ring of stone, and ride across colossal chain bridges and through remarkable Sky Jumpers to reach Skydrifts highest point - a palace above the clouds.

Skydrift is added to the map rotation in 3v3 and 5v5.

THE STAKES HAVE NEVER BEEN HIGHER — RANKED MODE

Gain Ranked Points (RP), earn point modifiers and climb the ranks to claim your rewards. Go from Bronze (Hare) to Grandmaster (Leviathan) if you’ve got what it takes! Visit the Headwall menu in game to see more information.

Ranked Structure

• The format for Ranked is 3v3
• We believe 3v3 is the more tactical structure of the game and fits best for comp. We will monitor feedback as we get it.
• Each episode will have 2 Ranked Splits. Splits will change the map and base list, and introduce some balance changes.
• All players start Ranked for the first time in Bronze 3.
• Each Rank has 3 Divisions.
• There are 7 Ranks
• Bronze (Hare)
• Silver (Goat)
• Gold (Ape)
• Platinum (Dire Wolf)
• Diamond (Gryphon)
• Master (Manticore)
• Grandmaster (Leviathan)
• At the end of each Episode, you will be rewarded based on the Rank you achieved at the end of the Episode.
• De-Ranking: You can only de-rank inside a Division during a Split. For example, by losing matches you can de-rank from Gold 2 into Gold 3, but you cannot de-rank from Gold 3 into Silver 1.
• At the start of every Split, you will not de-rank at all. At the start of every Episode, you will move backwards 6 Divisions (2 full Ranks)

Fairness

• Play with teammates up to 2 tiers difference
• A two person party must be within +/- 1 tier of each other
• A full party of 3 can mix any ranks and be able to play. You will queue into the Rank of the top Ranked player.
• Solo Bonus: If you’re playing without a party, you’ll earn the Solo modifier (details below). You’ll gain more points and lose less per match.
• Loss Protection: You accrue loss protection for playing matches all the way through. It will get automatically spent to stop you from losing RP.
• Early Leaver Penalty is more severe in Ranked. Leaving early counts as 2 strikes and resets your Loss Protection.

Scoring System

We think if you win big, you should score big.

Victory has 3 versions, before the modifiers are applied.

• Overwhelming Victory: 25 RP
• This is winning with 100% base health remaining
• Victory: 20 RP
• This is standard victory where each team was more evenly matched
• Close Victory: 15 RP
• This is winning where your base had 35% base health or less remaining

For defeat:

• Defeat: -25 RP
• If you lost without doing damage to the enemy team.
• Strong Defense: -20 RP
• If you lost, but had done some damage to the enemy team.
• Close Defeat: -15 RP
• If you lost, but had done at least 65% damage to the enemy team.

Other modifiers:

• Winning Streak Bonus: adds 3 RP for each win in a row, up to 6 extra points per game.
• Kill Bonus: Earn extra RP for kills, up to a cap of 5 points per game.
• Solo Bonus: Always earn an extra 4 points if queuing up solo.

Imbalance Protection

• If a game is deemed imbalance by player ranks:
• The favored team will have less points to win and more points to lose
• The weaker team will have increased points to win, and less points to lose

Requirements

• In order to unlock Ranked Mode, you must Win 10 matches of 3v3 Raid Mode.
• This is retroactive. If you’ve already won 10 matches in Episode 1, Ranked Mode will be unlocked immediately.

Maps

• The Ranked Mode playlist will have a subset of maps and bases per Split.
• We will change the list every split to keep the rotation interesting, but allow time to build consistent strategies.
• The first Split will have maps Kingdom, Summit and Rivermark, and bases Hellmouth, Smuggler’s Den, King’s Lair, Soul Well, Frosthold and Wellspring.
• As more bases get added to the game, we think having a total of 6 bases in Ranked allows players to master certain bases and build competitive strategies over a Split, but still need to master more than 1 base because your first pick won’t always be available.

Rewards

• Episodic Reward: Ranked players will earn a brand new cosmetic item called Banner Frames.
• You will be awarded the Frame that matches the Rank you achieved in the Episode.
• Frames grow in prestige at higher Ranks!
• Every Episode will earn a new themed Banner Frame. This Episode’s theme is Ekon and the Wolf and will be awarded at the start of Episode 3.

A NEW BEAST HAS BEEN TAMED — WOLF MOUNT

WOLF

Loyal pack hunter of the wild. The new wolf mount is free to all players.

• Try Ranked Challenge: Play 10 matches of Ranked to earn the Shadow Wolf skin.

GEAR UP PHASE UPDATES

One consistent point of feedback we’ve heard is that the Gear Phase needs improvements.

We’re tackling that in 4 ways for the launch of Episode 2, and we’ll continue to work on that phase in the future.

Better POI Loot

Red Weapon Chests in POIs now contain Masterwork weapons.Masterwork weapons have improved stats within their rarity. Blue Masterworks are better than Blues, but still less quality than Purple. Players can still loot upgraded weapons outside of POIs, but the Masterwork versions of weapons each round are only found in POIs.

Ultimate Chargers

These items are found in white barrels in POIs, but we’ve seen that players are having a hard time identifying that. In order to make that clear, white barrels that contain Ultimate Chargers now have an obvious gold glow.

Waypoint Markers

When you leave your base in the gear phase, waypoint icons will guide players towards the Points of Interest. They’re also pingable so players can communicate intent without voice comms.

The map will also communicate that POIs contain Masterwork Weapons and Ultimate Chargers.

Speed Gates

Speed Gates are always on when a player is near them, instead of only when a Shieldbreaker is present. This should allow players to get back to fights after respawning,

QUALITY OF LIFE & NEW FEATURES

As we continue to improve the game through feedback, bug fixing and small features, we will document them here. When necessary, we’ll use “dev notes” to give context on why we made a specific change.

Stats 1.0

Players want stats! For Episode 2 we have added a Stats menu to Headwall.

The stats tracked here are mostly retroactive from Episode 1.

Raid Attack and Defense success stats are new for Episode 2, as we are just now starting to track these stats.

We will continue to expand this feature in future episodes.

New Orange Weapon Mods:

We will continue to mix up orange weapon mods. For Episode 2, we are adding variety and not removing anything.

• Saber Rifle - Impact Rounds
• Increased critical damage (headshots) with a slower rate of fire. Fires a two shot burst instead of three. Faster projectile speed.
• Vanguard - Drum Magazine
• Much larger magazine, with a slower reload.
• Corsair - Doubleshot
• Fire a 12 round burst on each trigger pull

Technical Updates

• From the last patch, performance optimizations were applied to player replication, movement netcode, and siege tower rendering.
• Users can now enable NVIDIA Reflex on supported systems.
• Several optimizations were added to reduce bandwidth utilization.

Gameplay Updates:

• The Defensive Phase at the start of the game has been reduced to 30 seconds from 60.
• Anchor Stones fuse timers have been increased to 80 seconds from 60.
• Dev note: The goal here is to make Anchor Stones a bit harder to win on
• We’ve added your Kills and Assists to the HUD above the minimap.
• Many zipline usability improvements, including smoother attaching and riding, and making it harder to accidentally attach
• Players can now have a maximum of 4 ziplines. When casting the 5th, their first one will automatically destroy
• Improvements to mantle feel
• You will be prompted to drop the BigRig when it gets to low or zero ammo
• Upon being revived, you now get a hint to tap the emote button to say "Thank You". As a byproduct your character will no longer automatically say thank you.
• Pinged orange weapons will now show the perk when you hover on them
• You can now ping ziplines
• You can now ping Mara darkspawn when it’s highlighted through walls (at the end of a raid)
• You can now ping Kai’s ice wall
• Pinging a Shieldbreaker or Domesplitter plant point now has more specific ping VO based on the scenario.
• The end game podium will now highlight people who had the highest stats on their team
• Smugglers Den minimap has been updated to be more accurate
• Adjusted the final Shieldbreaker plant animation to take exactly as long as a normal one
• The Trader menu will darken and update if his stock changes while you have the menu open
• Dev note: This is to reduce accidentally purchasing something right as the stock is upgrading.
• Dead players no longer show up on the minimap
• Dev note: This seemed confusing and redundant with being able to see a player's orb through walls.
• Adjusted Mara’s Soul Armor power description to include that it also works on enemy players (so be careful where you throw it)
• Added key bindings on PC for Map Screen, Character Info and Loadout
• AFK timer in a match has been reduced from 5 minutes to 4
• Firing Range targets have been replaced with new versions that stay open so you can test sustained fire
• Firing Range can now accommodate parties of up to 5 players

Lobby/Menu Updates:

• Added an option to leave the party by clicking on party member’s social card
• You now get a message confirming that you sent a Friend Request
• Slider bars in the settings menu can now be adjusted by typing in numbers
• Changing your controller profile will now highlight what buttons are changing
• You can now unblock players in your Social tab

Weapon Updates:

Vanguard

• Slightly slowing rate of fire and raising damage. TTK is nearly equivalent. This just reduces the number of bullets required to kill
• Increased headshot multiplier

Longhorn

• Repeater - Less vertical kick, faster raise time, faster sprint raise time, less spread (hipfire), slower spread bloom (hipfire)

Viper - Impact Rounds

• Smaller mag size
• More kick

Item Updates:

• Amulet: Bomb Kit
• Bomb plant time nerfed (2.5s -> 3s). Defuse time is still 2.5s.
• Amulet: Harvester no longer drops bonus Ultimate Chargers from White Supply Barrels.
• Slightly lowered the top speed of orange Saddles.

Character Updates:

Slade

• Fixed a bug where the impact damage from his Ultimate was not dealing damage on uneven terrain.
• Adding friend/foe identification to Slade’s VFXs. Enemy fire will now take on a darker red appearance.

Redmane

• Redmane can now break floors he’s standing on with his tactical
• Redmane’s tactical now hits players more reliably.
• Leaping into solid geo with Redmane will drop him to the ground faster, instead of bouncing off and floating down.

Mara

• Mara will now dismount automatically when casting Immortal Coil while mounted, instead of getting an error message.

Una

• Improved Una minion target acquisition speed (they should shoot at players faster)
• Fixed Una minions having larger hitboxes than intended.

Atticus

• Adjusted Atticus’s Ultimate audio to not be occluded by geo. This means you can hear him better in his active Ultimate state even if he’s in another room.

Quest:

The Quest is designed to be a set of difficult challenges to complete over the course of an Episode for some free rewards and bragging rights. Because Episode 1 was only 2 weeks long, we decided to keep the Episode 1 Quest active through Episode 2. We’ll be back in Episode 3 with more challenges and more rewards.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed a bug where characters with movement speed bonuses could double-dip on slide boosts
• Fixed instances where you would sometimes get bumped off the zipline when respawning
• Fixed some issues where the Play button would be unresponsive
• Fixed an issue where loot in chests would show highlights for different rarities
• Fixed a bug where the Care Package was dropping too low of level loot in the 3rd gear up phase and beyond.
• Fixed an issue where Emote anti-peek wasn’t hiding enemy mounts
• Fixed an issue where you could respawn with your initial loadout when dying to environmental hazards like lava
• Fixed collision issues on Dustline
• Fixed multiple ways to break Training by leaping and climbing over walls
• Fixed some incorrect key bindings in the UI
• Improved the reliability of voice chat icons
• Fixed an issue where the Shieldbreaker would sometimes drop in inaccessible places if you tried to enter your own base
• Removed the ability to drop the Shieldbreaker on top of the enemy dome (how cheeky)
• Fixed rare cases where “Position Revealed” would stay on your screen long after a raid was over
• Fixed an issue where pressing Esc to leave the Social menu would cancel matchmaking
• Fixed an issue where Slade’s arms would not reset after losing his Hot Streak
• Fixed ability to repair large gates in bases
• Fixed Condor running in place when she uses her Ultimate Power while running
• Reduced the amount of screen the Longhorn Repeater covers while jumping and firing
• Fixed some invisible collision blocking bullets above banners on Wellspring base
• Fixed some cases of your player having a third arm
• Multi-Lock Rocket Launcher will no longer target trees
• Fixed mounts not playing proper water audio and fx when running through it
• Fixed ability for players to ping when riding a zipline
• Removed the ability to place Mara’s Immortal Coil on open doors
• Fixed the zipline gun colliding with air in some areas of Summit
• Fixed Blast Hammers from doing splash damage behind you when used
• Players are no longer detected by Condor’s tactical when standing still on their mount
• Fixed Una summoning a Tree Walker in mid air by riding a zipline
• Fixed some locations in Wellspring base where you would get kicked off your mount
• Fixed an issue where you would hit yourself with a rocket if fired while running full speed on a mount
• Improved game performance when mounting or dismounting
• Improved some translations for different languages, both in text and VO
• Added localized translations for different languages in the Advanced Training video
• Fixed the Crossplay setting not saving when changed to off on consoles
• Fixed rare cases where your controls would be unresponsive after using a mount emote
• Fixed a bug that would cause ambient audio to drop out
• Fixed a bug where mouse and controller sensitivity settings weren't being applied correctly while transitioning between hipfire and ADS
• Resolved a bug where DLSS presets did not immediately appear or disappear in the Settings menu after modifying the antialiasing mode.

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.

Embark Studios CEO Patrick Söderlund says the success of Arc Raiders has given the team “stability [and] long-term security” as it continues to support its new extraction shooter through 2026.

The studio head opened up about how the developer has changed for the better as part of a recent interview with IGN. During our chat, we learned more about how the surprise hit video game, which has sold over 12 million copies since going on sale in October, has impacted its team and how it will continue to affect them in the months ahead.

Söderlund acknowledged the “unfortunate” reality that mass layoffs have rocked the video game industry for the last two years. It’s marked a period of uncertainty for developers of every shape and size, but for Embark, Arc Raiders’ popularity among gamers across PC and consoles means safety – and even room for growth – for at least a while.

“We can live for a long time on the money that Arc Raiders has been generating, and that does give financial security and employment stability for the people that work there,” he said. “We're growing our studio, we're hiring people, we want to build more of Arc Raiders, we want to build more of The Finals.”

Arc Raiders launched for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S priced $40 on October 30, 2025, and follows the team’s 2023 multiplayer shooter, The Finals. At 12.4 million copies sold as of January 13 and an all-time concurrent player peak of 481,996 on Steam (via SteamDB), the success of Arc Raiders should also help Embark as it continues work on two new, unannounced games. What those look like or when they will release remains unclear for now, but Söderlund and the rest of the team show no signs of slowing down.

“For us, it's a sigh of relief, obviously for any developer, and we're incredibly happy for that and thankful for everyone that's been supporting us by buying the game,” he added. “It feels great. Obviously, hopefully, we can have competitive salaries, good bonuses for the people that have done all this hard work and deserve to be taken care of adequately.”

Arc Raiders, an extraction shooter and the second game from developer Embark Studios, has taken the world by storm.

This sci-fi, third-person PvPvE experiment launched with little more than a $40 price tag and an enticing premise back in October and almost immediately established itself as one of the biggest games of 2025 – and maybe even 2026. Now, with a post-launch roadmap paving the way with the promise of new map updates and new apocalyptic AI enemies, all eyes are on Embark to see if it can keep the momentum up for months – or maybe even years – to come.

We caught up with CEO Patrick Söderlund to learn more about the surprise success of Arc Raiders, its huge impact on the studio, the battle with cheaters, content updates, hotels in Italy, weird pants, and more as Embark heads into its first full year with a mega hit on its hands.

IGN: I'd like to start with PvE. Like so many others, I'm fascinated by how players have chosen to communicate and interact with one another in the game. What is Embark doing to encourage that behavior and capitalize on the special sauce that makes this element unique?

Patrick Söderlund: I think you said it well. I think it's, maybe, not just capitalizing on the aspects of PvE, but it's capitalizing on the unique sauce that we managed to cook that makes this game special. I think PvE and PvP are both ingredients in that sauce. I could sit there and pretend like, 'Yes, everything that happens in the game and everything that people do in the game, of course, was intended.' That's not the case, of course. When you build a game, and you structure it to a large extent with elements of a sandbox, the stuff that happens in Arc Raiders is just the output, which is incredible and very rewarding for us to see as developers.

What we do is we look at, 'OK, what do we think we should double down on?' I, personally, am touched by all the social elements to this game and the things that make me and, I think, everyone else, believe in humanity again. There's something very kind about that, in many aspects. Just as sometimes PvP can be exciting, frustrating, and thrilling, as well. Those are the aspects that we have to look into. I think we look at it from a holistic perspective and try to understand what more we can do to foster and to nurture both those sides.

One of the discussions that I think is, to some extent, public is 'What's Speranza?' I think Speranza is heavily underutilized, personally. I think that's something that we want to, probably, improve and make into something else. Are there elements of the game where there could be meeting points? Again, these are personal ideas, right now, that I'm basically brainstorming with you, but the Speranza idea is obviously something that I think people have told us about, something that I think could be cool.

Could you meet up with people there? Could that be a social hub to some extent? What more can we do with that? It also deepens what I think is something that players maybe want more of, which is the lore of Arc Raiders. So, we look at it from multiple angles and multiple perspectives, and then, as we build content as quickly and fast as we can, we try and push updates and changes into the game that does more of what we believe is great about this game.

IGN: A quick offshoot: are there any plans for more instruments?

Patrick Söderlund: You're going to laugh. If you ask the team, 'Who has been the biggest advocate for instruments?' They will send you a picture of me. I was so upset that we only had one at launch, and I kept [saying], 'Where are my instruments?' There are so many of them that have been designed and built, and I happen to be in a position of decision-making authority [laughs]. So, the answer is yes, there will be more instruments. For sure. I love them, and they create such cool moments. What the team basically wanted to make sure was that, not only can they be played separately, but they can be played in unison, and that makes sense. That makes it a little bit more complicated for us to add them. Then, they want, obviously, appropriate animations, but all the instruments and everything that you play has been recorded by the people that work at Embark, which is pretty cool.

Frankly, what you say there is something that I believe we need to lean into and do more of. Those types of things. I don't know what another instrument can be, but the joy... When someone told me that we're going to do fireworks, I'm like, 'Why would we do that?' Then I see these crazy things people do with them. I said, 'We need more of this stuff.' I think the things that are maybe not centered around going out there, shooting Arc, looting, or other things, they're just there because they're fun. They're just there to bring joy. That's been, frankly, our biggest surprise with this game. I've read a bunch of articles saying the Arc Raiders is almost like a social experiment, and it kind of is, and I love that.

I genuinely love the fact that that's what it is. I actually had a conversation at dinner three days ago with a very prominent professor in neurology that had gotten to know about the game, and said, 'Listen, you have no idea what you've built. Forget about the game itself.' From just the whole idea of psychological experimentation and social experimentation, and what this game can be. She, a good friend of mine, basically said, 'You should go and do a collab or work with people from the medical field to study what behaviors are triggered in Arc Raiders.'

We may not go that far. That would not be anything to do with the game itself, but it points to something that I believe is so fundamental with this game, and I believe is a big component to why the game has been successful. We knew that we had elements of that, but we could never anticipate that it would take the route it took.

IGN: When I play, I sometimes hear players outright comment on being in 'friendly' or 'unfriendly' lobbies. I'm not sure if this is something you know off the top of your head, but is Embark aware of how much of its playerbase is intentionally taking advantage of the aggression-based matchmaking to place themselves in PvE or PvP-centered lobbies?

Patrick Söderlund: I don't know the answer to that. It's obviously something that we are and need to continue to monitor. That's not the intent of the game's design or our ambition to segment the game in that aspect and make it so that people can sneak in. That's not, of course, what we want. We want you, as a player, to have the experience that you're looking for and makes you happy. We have to deal with the factor of the human beings and real players, which we can't curate that 100%. It's impossible because humans make decisions. I can be the friendliest guy and then, all of a sudden, I can decide to start shooting people – or the opposite. It is just the nature of a multiplayer game, but we understand that is a concern. We understand that could be the case, and sometimes is the case.

We are obviously pushing our systems and thinking about other means of trying to just give players the experience they're looking for without going into any deep details around this, because it is pretty complex, to be honest. You are, frankly, like me for the most part.

I'm PvE to a large extent, but I'm also PvP sometimes because I think it's fun. You have other players that just want to PvP, and for them, it's completely fair. I think the game should cater to all types of players, but what we don't want to have happen is for you to feel like you're in a situation that you don't want or that you didn't wish for. That's kind of the important aspect of this.

IGN: So the aggression-based matchmaking is still something you guys are tweaking every day, then?

Patrick Söderlund: All systems, when it relates to matchmaking, will undergo changes continuously. That's a part of running a live service. We have to, and it's not just that element of our matchmaking. Matchmaking, it's not as simple as, 'Are you someone that shoots a lot of people or not?' It is far more sophisticated than that. The PvP, PvE aspect of it is a small portion of it. There are other aspects, and then we need to take into consideration, how do you play the game? How good are you? You obviously shoot a lot of Arc enemies, we will determine your abilities to shoot in general and your ability to shoot against AI and shoot against other players.

Matchmaking is a complex system as a whole, and as a developer, pretty hard to get right. I've been working with matchmaking systems for the majority of my video game career. All the way from Battlefield to a bunch of different games. Frankly, some of the first multiplayer games, no one even knew what matchmaking was. It was like, 'Play the game. Have fun.' Then, as games and multiplayer games evolved over time, it obviously became a necessity. It's a formula of many, many, many things, where PvE and PvP is one aspect of them, and all of it gets continuously tweaked, of course. There are probably other systems that we are working on, or that we probably should be working on, that will be added as well.

IGN: Embark said it was going to start cracking down on cheaters in January. Could you give me an update on the anti-cheat process and how that's gone so far? If you, again, would happen to have a rough estimate on how many cheaters have been banned?

Patrick Söderlund: I'm not going to give you a specific number, but I can give you ballpark. We have been pretty aggressive on this. The game wasn't prone to so many cheaters in the beginning, but as with all multiplayer games that get successful, this becomes a component, unfortunately. For us as developers, just like a DDoS [Distributed Denial-of-Service] attack, it's one of these things that you just have to try and be a step ahead. To be very honest with you, it's not always easy because the minute you do something, the minute you come up with something, they've come up with something else to do. The banning process is obviously delicate because we need to make sure that we ban people that deserve to be banned, if that makes any sense. If you take general figures, anywhere between 0.1% to 1% of any multiplayer crowd in a large-scale multiplayer game is cheating, and therefore, to some extent, should get a temporary or a longer, or permanent ban.

It could be a minor thing that you're trying. An aim bot that may get you a 24-hour suspension, to doing something that, frankly, means you shouldn't be playing the game anymore. So, we've put together a system. We've started banning players, and why do I know that? Because I see an influx of people trying to get to the studio, and to me. 'Oh, I didn't do anything.' We're seeing a pretty substantial change in that, but I know that we have banned probably tens of thousands of players so far, that I know. Again, we need to make sure that we get it right. That we are fair, and that, in the case where it's clear that we didn't get it right, that we can quickly remedy the situation so that player isn't affected in an unfair fashion or way.

That's why the approach should probably be a little bit more cautious than what I think some people want for that specific reason. Regardless of how cautious you are and what systems are in place, there are always people that are going to feel like they're treated unfairly that, 'I didn't do anything,' and then there are absolutely people that will get caught or that are unfairly banned that we need to deal with. We try and look at it from that perspective, but we will continue to go after people that are doing things in the game that they shouldn't do.

IGN: It sounds like there's a lot planned for the next four months, though I have seen some players dissatisfied with the roadmap. What do you say to the people who saw that four-month plan and feel like it's not enough to keep them coming back?

Patrick Söderlund: First and foremost, what I say is, I hear you. I understand what you're saying, and I would maybe even feel the same if I were you to some extent, because they don't have the details. We opted for a pretty generalized plan for now because, to be very honest, we're developing things as we go. It's a live service, and we know what we're going to do, but we don't actually know whether something that we're working on may or may not make it on time for that particular release. As we get closer to releasing something, you'll see – and I think you've seen it in our latest patch notes – they're pretty detailed. We're not trying to hide anything. We're just trying to be as transparent as we can be at this point in time, but if we get into the studio development schedule and make that public, we're probably going to be in a world of hurt.

People may or may not be as forgiving of some of the things that we are not able to deliver, but our goal is to make sure that this game gets continuous updates, that we build things that people love, and that we do it as much as we possibly can. I feel that if I paid $40 for this game, I would've felt like I'd gotten probably a decent value out of the game. We're not resting.

We did take some time off for Christmas. The team had been working day and night, so they needed, frankly, a rest. I realize that if you're a player, you probably don't care about that, but as the CEO of the studio, I have to care about those types of things and make sure that people can rest and that we are fair to the people that work there. But from the beginning of January, whenever everyone was back, we're working around the clock to deliver as much content as we can to players.

It was recently revealed that a live-action adaptation of Larian’s award-winning RPG, Baldur’s Gate 3, is on the way from prestige TV makers HBO. It somewhat makes sense at first glance — you can see the Game of Thrones of it all weaving into Baldur’s Gate’s DNA, which itself isn’t shy of a fair helping of shedding both blood and clothes. But look a little closer, and the worries begin. Not necessarily when considering Craig Mazin’s involvement (we’ll get to that later) but when noticing that, apparently, Larian will play no significant role in the show’s development. A decision I can’t help but feel would be a big mistake.

Before we get into why Larian is so essential to a show that dares to continue the story of Baldur’s Gate 3, it’s important to establish that the Belgian video game studio does not own the rights to the game’s universe, characters, or storylines. Baldur’s Gate 3 is set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons, and so is the intellectual property of Wizards of the Coast, the Hasbro-owned tabletop RPG company. Larian’s partnership with Hasbro is over, and so Wizards can do whatever it wants with the likes of Shadowheart, Astarion, Gale, and company – whether that’s another game or, in this case, a TV show. Larian has no legal right to be involved. But that’s not to say its involvement doesn’t make sense, both in terms of simple respect for the studio’s work, and making the most of its unrivalled, extensive knowledge of Baldur’s Gate 3.

Following the show’s announcement, Larian’s director of publishing, Michael Douse, posted his thoughts on X. “I've spent the last 8 to 10 years of my life with the writers & creators of Baldur's Gate 3, and they're the most incredible storytellers & creators in the space,” he said. “Only hope is that they get both the credit deserved & the characters are represented at the same level as the game”.

As you’d expect, fans immediately took to social media to question members of Larian about the project. When asked if any of the game’s writers would be involved in the show, Baldur’s Gate 3’s director and CEO of Larian Studios, Swen Vincke, confirmed that they’re not.

Not to my knowledge. But Craig did reach out to ask if he could come over to the studio to speak with us. From the conversation we had, I think he truely is a big fan which gives me hope.

— Swen Vincke @where? (@LarAtLarian) February 6, 2026

“Not to my knowledge,” he said. “But Craig [Mazin] did reach out to ask if he could come over to the studio to speak with us. From the conversation we had, I think he truely [sic] is a big fan which gives me hope”.

While it seems no one from Larian, at least at this stage, will be involved in the production process, it is encouraging to see that Mazin will consult with the studio. But is this really enough? This is a studio that reignited a world, turned a cult-classic CRPG series into one of gaming’s great phenomena, and I can’t help but feel that a little more than a handful of studio visits may be required for the show to make anywhere near as big a footprint on our culture. We do know that, according to the original report on the show’s announcement by Deadline, Mazin wants to reach out to the game’s beloved cast to sound out how best to approach their roles in the TV show, and if they'd want to be involved. This is another smart step towards recapturing the magic of the game, but it will be interesting to see how those actors react to being asked to speak someone else’s words – and their feelings on the very real potential of their starring roles being given to more prolific TV and film actors.

“I genuinely don't think anyone can trump our writers”, Douse goes on to add. It’s a sentiment I agree with; no one knows those characters or that particular corner of Wizards of the Coast’s world quite like the narrative team at Larian. But, I also don’t think the game’s writers absolutely have to be part of the show’s writers room — crafting stories for video games and television are completely different arts, after all. I do, however, think that the show could do with a steady hand with first-hand experience of the tales Larian told to help steer the ship.

This isn’t to say I have no faith in Craig Mazin. Chernobyl is one of the finest pieces of television this century, and his contribution to HBO’s interpretation of The Last of Us was certainly successful in its first season, even if the jury is definitely still out on its much more divisive season two and whatever becomes of its next chapter. But the adaptation of Naughty Dog’s post-apocalyptic tale crucially had a strong connection to the games at the top of its call sheet: Neil Druckmann. Though the co-creator has since left the show to focus on future games, there’s no denying that his presence on HBO’s The Last of Us helped keep it tied to the vision and philosophy of the games.

A similar point can be made regarding the highly successful Fallout TV series on Prime Video. Again, a name synonymous with the games was there to root the show in the very detailed canon of such a unique apocalyptic world: Todd Howard. Indeed, Fallout may be a much more appropriate comparison to what HBO is trying to achieve with its Baldur’s Gate show, as Mazin’s project is not attempting to recreate a story one-to-one, but further building out a universe that players already love, while throwing in familiar faces and places along the way. Fallout successfully manages to tell its own story, but also gleefully expands on and references existing lore to great effect. That is, presumably, what the Baldur’s Gate show hopes to achieve, too.

I don’t think there’s much doubt that both The Last of Us and Fallout have been two of the most successful attempts at translating a video game world to the small screen, so it just makes sense to me to follow that established blueprint and consult Larian on what makes its world so special. I have no doubt that Mazin is a huge fan, and he can certainly write top-tier television, but in order to make sure that this continuation of Baldur’s Gate 3’s story holds the same magic as the genre-defining RPG does, it would be foolish to not involve the Belgian studio in some way. Don’t let the magic those teams concocted over the past decade disappear into the air – there’s simply no need to create it all from scratch once again.

Don't abandon hope, but do expect the world. That's the job.

— Very AFK (@Cromwelp) February 6, 2026

“Don’t abandon hope, but do expect the world. That’s the job”, are Douse’s final words, at least for now, on the announcement. And they ring true. Larian has set the bar incredibly high when it comes to telling stories in this world, and it would certainly be a risky dice roll from HBO to proceed without the modifier of the studio being there to help guide the process.

Time will only tell, though, on how much Larian ends up being involved in the Baldur’s Gate show. But with Mazin still gearing up to start shooting the third, and now likely final, season of The Last of Us, it certainly seems we’re a few years away from knowing how successfully it will follow in the footsteps of the game. For now, I live in hope. But then again, I’m somewhat of a doomed optimist.

Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.

Nioh 3 has only been out a few hours, but it's already the biggest Nioh game on Steam ever.

While its two predecessors — called Nioh and Nioh 2, predictably enough — did eventually make it to Steam, the PC releases came several months after the PlayStation debuts.

Now, however, arriving on Steam on release day in parity with its PlayStation version, Nioh 3 is already the biggest Nioh game in the franchise's history, with over 54,400 concurrent players at the time of writing (and rising the entire time I'm writing this). By comparison, according to SteamDB, the first game only reached a peak of around 10,649 concurrents, and the sequel reached 41,325.

"Nioh 3 delivers best-in-class combat that revitalizes the established formula with a fantastic split between Samurai and Ninja styles, as well as a triumphant move to an open-world structure," we wrote in IGN's Nioh 3 review, which returned an 'Amazing' 9/10.

"Even in a genre that’s become as saturated as the soulslike, there’s still nothing that hits quite like the Nioh series, and Nioh 3 stands out as the best of the trilogy. The move to an open world structure isn’t perfect, but the rewarding exploration, gorgeous landscapes, and thrilling optional boss battles mostly cover any minor issues.

"Strap on top of that best-in-class combat, hugely customizable build crafting, a lengthy campaign with a deep New Game+ mode where the loot system actually shines, and a godsend of an auto-equip feature before you get there, and you’ve got yet another Team Ninja banger that sits at the top of the soulslike genre," we said.

Nioh 3 is out today (February 6) on PC via Steam and PS5, but the game's latest trailer suggests Xbox and possibly Nintendo Switch 2 owners may not have to wait long for a version of their own. Don't forget that you can try before you buy with a demo and yes, your progress carries over to the full game.

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 news yesterday that HBO is not only making a Baldur’s Gate 3 TV show but that it will continue the story on from the video game itself has sent shockwaves through the internet.

The adaptation will reportedly take place after the events of Larian's much-loved RPG and feature characters from the game. Craig Mazin, who created HBO shows Chernobyl and The Last of Us, is in place as showrunner (it sounds like The Last of Us will end with Season 3, which now makes a lot of sense). Chris Perkins, the former longtime Head of Story at Hasbro subsidiary Wizards of the Coast, which owns the Dungeons & Dragons universe in which Baldur’s Gate 3 is set, will serve as consultant.

It’s fair to say the internet has reacted strongly to the news, and from what I can see much of that reaction is a mix of disbelief and concern. Most can’t fathom why anyone would want to continue on from the events of Baldur’s Gate 3 itself, given its many different endings, variances in world state, and, most importantly, the vastly different outcomes for characters such as Astarion, Karlach, and Shadowheart.

There is also significant concern at the fact that Larian, the developer of Baldur’s Gate 3, is not consulting on the show. This was confirmed in a tweet from Larian boss Swen Vincke, who went on to say that Mazin has asked to visit the developer for a chat. “From the conversation we had, I think he truly is a big fan which gives me hope,” Vincke said, perhaps diplomatically.

Vincke went on to offer his thoughts on the show:

“Crazy that a story that started out in a small hotel conference room eventually evolved into a narrative inspiring enough for it to become a HBO series,” he said. “We worked incredibly hard on making Baldur's Gate 3 worthy of its legacy. Its characters and narratives are the result of many teams working together and I think I can speak for them all in saying that they'll think this is cool and hope that what comes next will enjoy the same level of passion.

“The endings of BG3 were created so they could serve as narrative soil for new adventures. There's plenty of directions they could go. I'm eager to find out which ones Craig and his team will pick. He's reached out for a chat so we'll have the opportunity to tell him our thoughts.

“Crossing fingers that the story we're cooking up for Divinity will eventually grow to the same heights. Certainly putting in the hours :)”

Larian publishing director Michael Douse, however, was initially less diplomatic as he "crashed out" on social media, retweeting a number of memes and responding to others. But he then offered a more level-headed view:

“I've spent the last 8-10 years of my life with the writers and creators of Baldur's Gate 3 and they're the most incredible storytellers and creators in the space,” Douse said. “Only hope is that they get both the credit deserved and the characters are represented at the same level as the game.

“I genuinely don't think anyone can trump our writers. Our stories are built by fierce camaraderie and resolve. I have watched them write and write and write and through respect for audience and material come up with some of the finest shit i have ever played. I hope TV allows for the same thoroughness.

“Don't abandon hope, but do expect the world. That's the job.”

Hope ur ok now

— Very AFK (@Cromwelp) February 6, 2026

pic.twitter.com/COuTyq44Nc

— Very AFK (@Cromwelp) February 6, 2026

Pissed in ur corn

— Very AFK (@Cromwelp) February 6, 2026

HBO and Wizards of the Coast’s approach with Baldur’s Gate 3 is in stark contrast to that of Amazon and Bethesda’s for Fallout. With Todd Howard leading the charge, Bethesda is heavily involved in the creation of the smash hit Fallout TV series, which has been praised by fans for nailing the Fallout universe, tone, and aesthetic. The Fallout TV series also avoids the pitfalls of retelling the story of an existing game, nor does it feature main characters from any of the games. Instead, it’s set after the events of all the Fallout games, bringing in new characters and telling new stories, while returning to fan-favorite locations (New Vegas etc).

There will be intense scrutiny on the casting choices for Baldur’s Gate 3. The video game’s characters have become part of the culture, instantly recognizable online, and their actors as high-profile as those in the space get. The idea of an Astarion played by someone other than Neil Newbon, for example, seems almost ridiculous.

HBO at least knows what an online backlash to a video game adaptation looks like. While Season 1 of The Last of Us was a huge hit and, generally speaking, went down very well with fans, Season 2 has been a mixed bag. Mazin himself has spoken openly about this backlash. Ellie actor Bella Ramsey told those who hate The Last of Us that they can play the video game instead. Meanwhile, Naughty Dog chief Neil Druckmann left The Last of Us ahead of Season 3 to focus on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.

It seems early days for Baldur’s Gate 3, so we probably won’t know anything concrete about it for some time. Until then… Timothée Chalamet for Astarion?

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.

Borderland 4's first premium DLC, Bounty Pack 2: Legend of the Stone Demon, will drop February 26, 2026.

Described by Gearbox as an "all-new bite-sized yet flavorful narrative content," the DLC includes a new mission and Legendary loot to collect, as well as a themed Vault Card featuring 24 cosmetics and four "rerollable pieces of gear unlocked through gameplay."

While the team held back on the story details, promising that we'll find out more about Legend of the Stone Demon "closer to the launch," we do get more info about the "major" update that will be released alongside Bounty Pack 2: Pearlescent gear. A new rarity tier "with power levels superior to even Legendary gear," this new rarity will be available to all players regardless of what edition of Borderlands 4 they own, although some pieces of Pearlescent gear will be exclusive to Bounty Pack 2.

We were also treated to a little update on what's still to come, too. The first Story Pack for Borderlands 4, entitled Mad Ellie and the Vault of the Damned, will arrive next month and introduces multiple main and side missions set in a new zone of Kairos, as well as new gear and cosmetics, of course.

The story will center on the "return of the indomitable fan-favorite Ellie," and "focuses on a cosmic horror theme with a bloodier, darker tone." It'll also include the first new playable Vault Hunter, C4SH, a former casino dealer bot.

"Borderlands 4 gives the series the massive kick in the pants it has needed, with a fantastic open world and greatly improved combat, even if bugs and invisible walls can sometimes throw off that groove," we said in IGN's Borderlands 4 review, which returned a 8/10.

Earlier this week, we reported that Borderlands 4 publisher Take-Two announced the game's Switch 2 version is 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.

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.

A machine learning animation technology from the same creator whose work was infamously shot down by Studio Ghibli’s Hayao Miyazaki in a viral video almost 10 years ago, will be used in a new evolution/god-sim game coming out next week.

As spotted by Video Games Chronicle, Anlife: Motion-Learning Life Evolution will release on Steam on February 12. Describing itself as a “relaxing evolution simulation,” Anlife features a lush green world inhabited by monocolored creatures made up of blocks. These AI-driven creatures use machine learning to work out how to navigate and move around their environment. As a God-like overseer, the player can choose to merely watch or lend a hand to these struggling creatures as they learn how to move. Alternatively, you can rain down destruction with meteor showers.

The company behind Anlife is Japanese start-up Attructure. The CEO of Attructure, Masayoshi Nakamura, first started developing the technology behind the game back when he was a graduate student in 2009. According to Attructure’s Anlife website, a related simulator that Nakamura was working on was picked up by Japanese telecom company Dwango (operator of Niconico Douga, Japan’s YouTube), and was redeveloped into a different concept. This is what ended up being presented to Hayao Miyazaki by Dwango’s CEO Nobuo Kawakami on Japanese TV in 2016, in what would become a viral video.

"I strongly feel that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an insult to life itself."

--- Hayao Miyazaki pic.twitter.com/QzxPpfVDst

— DepressedBergman (@DannyDrinksWine) July 17, 2024

The example presented to Miyazaki showed deformed, humanoid models moving awkwardly around. Dwango’s CEO explained how the creatures used machine learning to work out how to navigate the environment instead of having an animator animate them, suggesting such technology could work well for a zombie game. Far from being impressed by the demo, the Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro director considered the animations insulting to his disabled friend. “Thinking of him, I can’t watch this and find it interesting,” he explained, going on to say that, “I would never think to incorporate this technology into my work,” concluding that it was “an insult to life itself.”

“Miyazaki’s words were very impactful.” Anlife creator Masayoshi Nakamura explained in a 2018 video interview. “In truth, I wanted to create life being lived within a simulation. But as a by-product of this, there was a version which used zombies. There are many people who found the zombies’ movements disgusting. Even when I showed it to various people, there were some who found the zombies’ movements disgusting or found their appearance scary. However, the majority of people would not associate that with ‘life’. I was really surprised that (Miyazaki) perceived the zombies in the video as (an insult to) life.”

The upcoming game Anlife has opted for colorful, blocky creatures instead of humanoid characters. “Life on Earth has evolved through mechanisms like genetics and natural selection. Our challenge is to recreate this profound process in digital space and give birth to new forms of life,” Anlife’s homepage explains.

Reactions to Anlife on Japanese social media have been mostly positive, with users curious about the new game and the possibilities of the technology. Others expressed relief that the developer was able to keep going despite the criticism the related simulator got from Hayao Miyazaki. “I think if it had had cute creatures like this from the start, Hayao Miyazaki wouldn’t have got angry,” opined one user.

Over on X, Anlife creator Masayoshi Nakamura mentions that at the moment, the creatures in the game are only capable of learning movements with the goal of reaching food. The creatures that succeed will survive to reproduce and pass on their traits, meaning that their bodies will gradually change shape over generations. Nakamura adds that he was inspired by Peter Molyneux’s games (like Populous, and Black and White).

“The main point of Anlife was having the AI learn on its own, something that at present is technically quite difficult to achieve.” Nakamura explains, but he has high hopes that AI-driven machine learning will be capable of creating even more complex unique experiences in future games. Although Anlife (in its current state) features fairly basic evolution, Nakamura hopes that cutting-edge machine learning technology may eventually enable such in-game creatures to autonomously evolve themselves all the way from learning how to move to eventually “creating something like a civilization.”

Photo by KATSUMI KASAHARA/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images.

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.

Riftbound landed late in 2025, and the general vibe around Riot’s League of Legends card game has been that it’s fun to play - it’s just not always easy to get hold of.

With an Origins restock dropping this week, the Riot storefront once again crashed out, leaving players frustrated in their attempts to get starter sets, decks, packs, and more.

While it remains to be seen if Riot can fix those teething issues from its first set, the good news is that there are four planned for 2026. Here’s everything coming to Riftbound this year, updated in February 2026 thanks to Riot's new roadmap.

February 13, 2026 - Spiritforged

Spiritforged will be the first post-launch set for Riftbound, and will likely give us a good idea of what to expect from sets going forward.

New this time around are mechanics like Equipment which can be attached to Units, Gold that can be spent, and new keywords like Quick-Draw, Repeat, and Weaponmaster.

As for new Legends, you’ll be able to grab cardboard versions of Azir, Draven, Ezreal, Fiora, Jax, Rumble, Rek’Sai, Ornn, Sivir, Lucian, Rneata Glasc, and Irelia.

May 8, 2026 - Unleashed

While other TCGs (ahem, Magic: The Gathering) will overlap previews with releases, Riot is squarely focused on Spiritforged for now - so details about Unleashed are pretty scarce at the time of writing.

Expect it to introduce new mechanics as with its predecessor, but we’re also expecting to see the arrival of fan-favorite Vi as a Legend, alongside Master Yi, Rengar, and LeBlanc.

We’ll update this page as more information becomes available, but for now we know it'll launch on May 8 (or April 10 in China). Expect Pre-Rift events on May 1 - 3.

31 July, 2026 - Vendetta

Again, information for another upcoming set is thin on the ground for Riftbound’s Vendetta. We know it’ll come at the end of July, and that Mel, Akali, and Ambessa are likely to arrive.

Riot has also suggested that Vendetta will see it merge the Chinese and North American release schedules into one. Here’s hoping the supply issues are sorted by then…

Pre-Rift will be 24 - 26 July.

23 October, 2026 - Radiance

While we have the set name for Radiance, we have no further information. What Legends will it include? What mechanics? ANYTHING!?

Until Riot is ready to talk, it remains a mystery, but as always we’ll have this page updated as we hear more. Pre-Rift is pencilled in for 16 to 18 October.

What about Origins?

Origins is still Riftbound’s current set, and while it’s tough to get hold of, that should get easier in the coming months (otherwise, Riot will be in big trouble).

The launch set’s tutorial set, dubbed Proving Grounds, is still going for inflated prices on the secondary market, making it tricky to, you know, learn how to play the game.

The same can be said of the preconstructed decks for Jinx, Lee Sin, and Victor, but anecdotally, I’ve at least seen some stock of those on local game stores, even if they’re not always readily available online.

Boosters are a mixed bag - sometimes you’ll find some, but you’re unlikely to find a box right now.

As we said at launch: “Sadly, as the first set of Riot’s first card game hits shelves, it’s being snapped up by scalpers and put on the secondary market.

“It’s a standard practice in TCGs, but Riot is reportedly printing more. If you can hold out, there will be more product.”

That still rings true today - stay strong, and wait it out.

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

The Mega Evolution set’s Ascended Heroes expansion has quickly become yet another collector-driven Pokémon TCG release, with demand greatly outweighing the supply and maxing out the value of certain cards.

With Mega Evolutions returning in force and Special Illustration Rares pushing presentation to extravagant new heights, the set has created another sharp divide between playable staples and true luxury chase cards.

While not every premium pull is destined for competitive dominance, each of the top ten most expensive cards so far has earned a lofty market price with jaw-dropping artwork, gameplay relevance, pure scarcity, or a combination of the three.

Using the dedicated trading card marketplace TCGplayer, we’ve ranked the 10 most valuable Pokémon cards from Ascended Heroes by their current market price at the time of writing, how their artwork stands out, and why their gameplay impact has kept collectors and competitive players chasing them alike.

10. Mega Diancie ex (282/217)

Riot has released its first State of the Game update on Riftbound, a biannual blog-style post designed to keep the community informed. In it, we got a more detailed look at upcoming organized play events, teases for upcoming expansions and cards, solidified dates for sets beyond Spiritforged, and interviews with Game Director Dave Guskin and Executive Producer Changran Chai, which offer insight into what the team has learned since the game launched in October of last year.

Riot previously announced the first half of the organized play roadmap for 2026 during PAX Unplugged, but we now have the full picture. After the Las Vegas Regional Qualifier on February 27, fans can expect more Regional Qualifiers all around the US and Europe, culminating in the final Regional Qualifier in Riot's hometown of Los Angeles in September. See the full, finalized tournament schedule below.

Earlier this week, acting legend Ian McKellen appeared to drop an enormous Avengers: Doomsday spoiler. Now, the actor has repeated the same claim — and even re-enacted the moment on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

McKellen, who reprises his classic X-Men role as Magneto in the film, declared earlier this week that he "destroys New Jersey" in Avengers: Doomsday — a statement that surprised fans and no doubt trained all of Marvel's anti-spoiler snipers upon him.

Well, the actor has now gone further — seemingly performing the moment he does so, and providing some behind-the-scenes context that he joked could get him banned from returning to the U.S.

Ian McKellen reenacts a moment from the set of ‘AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY’ with the Russo Brothers.

(via https://t.co/D1jqq5kKih) pic.twitter.com/W475EWcOyo

— Cosmic Marvel (@cosmic_marvel) February 5, 2026

"I don't think I'm spoiling anything by saying Magneto destroys New Jersey," McKellen said on last night's Late Show with Stephen Colbert. I'm sorry about that, New Jersey. My fault.

"So I'm standing up, pretending to do that [now standing, McKellen stretches his arms out in a classic Magneto pose], and the wind is blowing in my hair, and I'm putting on a fierce look and trying to be magnetic.

"The director over loudspeakers says 'Ian, looking more furious' [McKellen does so, gnashing his teeth]. He then said 'shout something!' I said, 'What do I shout?'

"He says, 'Shout the worst thing you could possibly think of!' so I said 'Mar-lar-go!' Will I be allowed back in the country?"

As part of the same interview, McKellen confirms he'll be shooting The Lord of the Rings prequel movie Hunt for Gollum in New Zealand next summer, likely July. The actor previously strongly suggested he was reprising his role as Gandalf by announcing personally that his character was in it, though there is now no doubt.

The interview is full of fun anecdotes, including McKellen's first meeting with the late, great Christopher Lee, who played Saruman. The two men met at a dinner before shooting began, and during the soup course, Lee told Gandalf that not only did he read Lord of the Rings every year, but that he'd always thought he should play Gandalf. McKellen wasn't sure if Lee was joking.

"He was a very nice man indeed and I think that was a joke," McKellen said. "But maybe not."

Image credit: Richard A. Brooks/AFP via Getty Images.

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

This review contains full spoilers for this week’s episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

“Are there no true knights among you?!,” Dunk bellows at the assembled nobles late in this week’s episode, titled “Seven”. With the last-minute arrival of Prince Baelor Targaryen, who will fight on Dunk’s side against his own kin, Dunk would seem to have his answer. And, boy, does he sure need the help.

“Seven” is the gloomiest, literally and figuratively, episode so far, with the colorful palette of the previous episodes replaced by a muddy, grim aesthetic. And with the exception of one brief exchange between Dunk and Raymun Fossoway, there’s none of the playful banter or humor that’s been a highlight of the previous episodes.

That’s because “Seven” is what would be considered Plot Point 2 in a movie script, the part of the story close to the end where the hero is at his lowest point and with seemingly no way out of the jam he’s in. (This is the second-to-last episode of the season.)

Dunk must confront his fate after coming to Tanselle’s rescue in Episode 3 and beating up Aerion. The reasonable Baelor understands why Dunk did what he did, but he still assaulted a Targaryen prince so he must face some punishment (Baelor has already prevented Dunk from simply being executed).

Baelor reads Dunk his rights, if you will, and the latter faces Aerion, Maekar, and their lords to demand a trial by combat. But, of course, Aerion finds a way to weasel around it by calling for a trial of seven, an ancient custom where each side enlists seven knights to fight each other and the gods will decide who wins. (Even Maekar thinks his son is just trying to wuss out of fighting Dunk one-on-one by employing this tactic.)

Unfortunately, Dunk doesn’t know enough knights let alone six good ones willing to help him. Eventually, thanks to Egg, he assembles six knights – we should’ve known it was too good to be true that Ser Steffon Fossoway would keep his word! – and it’s not until Baelor’s arrival that a trial of seven can commence. Bertie Carvel instills in Baelor a kind but firm authority and a compassion and honor missing from many other Targaryens.

Another big highlight of “Seven” is seeing Egg in his full Prince Aegon regalia. The opening scene where Egg apologizes to Dunk for deceiving him is moving, especially when Egg tears up as Dunk scolds him. He was just a kid who wanted to go to the tourney so badly that he hatched a half-assed scheme to be anyone’s squire after his drunken brother Daeron decided to sit it out.

Speaking of Daeron, the one gift he does seem to possess beyond his capacity for alcohol consumption is prophetic dreams. He’s dreamt of Ser Duncan the Tall with a slain dragon, which adds an additional layer of morbid curiosity to the fortune teller’s grim prophecy about Egg’s future in Episode 3.

Other observations:

• Egg’s horrifying story about Aerion threatening to castrate him so then he’d have a sister he could marry. Those freakin’ Targaryens, man.
• Dunk’s vision of Ser Arlan shrugging was hilarious.
• Tanselle – who did a fine job repainting the sigil on Dunk’s shield – has fled, so there goes Dunk’s one romantic hope.
• Animal lover Dunk petting the mouse in his cell window and later talking to his horses.
• Aerion demeaning a nobleman by making him climb under the table to fetch his walnut.
• It was nice to see armorer Steely Pate have another good scene with Dunk.
• Ser Lyonel knighting Raymun Fossoway. Congrats on your promotion, Raymun!
• That big jerk who humiliated Dunk before the nobles by farting.
• Daeron knows he’s a coward who will end up in a hell without wine for lying to Maekar that Dunk kidnapped Egg.
• The Game of Thrones theme kicking in at the very end. Let’s gooooo!

Prime Video has announced that The Grand Tour will be returning to screens in 2026, albeit with one very major change: a new trio of hosts.

The new presenters of The Grand Tour will be Thomas Holland and James Engelsman, from YouTube channel Throttle House, as well as trainspotting social media personality Francis Bourgeois.

A six-episode series, set to return to Prime Video “later this year”, will see the new trio in a variety of locations, from the Angolan desert, to Malaysia, and on to California.

“I’ve worked with Thomas for almost a decade making car films,” said Engelsman in a statement published alongside the announcement. “Who knew that all this time, the one ingredient that was missing was a Francis Bourgeois? Let the car adventures commence.”

“When I first heard they were rebooting The Grand Tour and replacing Clarkson, Hammond, and May, I said, ‘Only a moron would take that job,’” added Holland.

The Winter Olympics have returned for 2026. Hosted in Milan Cortina, this year’s event technically already started with some qualifying curling events earlier this week. However, we’ve still got an Opening Ceremony to really kick things off.

Like previous Olympics, this year’s events will be broadcast by NBC and will stream exclusively on Peacock. If you’re already subscribed to Peacock or a cable provider, you’re covered! If not, there happens to be a free trial of the service available through Walmart+ that can get you streaming access.

When Is the 2026 Opening Ceremony?

This year’s opening ceremony will kick off at 2pm ET, which is 8pm local time in Italy, on February 6, 2026. The ceremony will likely run for a total of three hours, and will be broadcast again during primetime at 8pm ET.

The ceremony will include the Parade of Nations as well as performances from artists like Mariah Carey. This will be the first Opening Ceremony to feature the lighting of two separate cauldrons: one in Milan, and one in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony Streaming Options

Let’s get to the heart of the matter. In general, the Winter Olympics, including the Opening Ceremony, are being streamed exclusively on Peacock. If you don't already have a Peacock Premium subcription, maybe this is the motivating factor to pick one up. If so, it's worth noting that the service now has a pretty reasonably priced bundle with Apple TV.

Free Trial Available

Warning: This review contains full spoilers for The Pitt Season 2, Episode 5!

We’re now five episodes and a third of the way into The Pitt Season 2. Most other shows these days would have rounded the halfway mark by now, but that’s the joy of watching something that hearkens back to the pre-streaming era of television. There’s still plenty of room left on this runway. Even so, the tone of the series is definitely intensifying as the situation at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center grows more dire, resulting in what is easily the strongest chapter of Season 2 to date.

Episode 5 is great about addressing some of the niggling problems with previous installments, most notably when it comes to the relative lack of focus on Patrick Ball’s Dr. Langdon. As I’ve said before, if this season were to have a main focal character, it should be Langdon, but he’s been purposely relegated to the sidelines by his old mentor. But now Langdon is back in the thick of things, and we start to see the simmering tension between him and Noah Wyle’s Dr. Robby start to boil over.

It’s great watching that mostly silent feud play out in Episode 5, as Robby does everything within his power not to talk to Langdon or be in the same room with him. You can easily sympathize with both men. Robby’s angry dismissal of Langdon was one of the standout scenes of Season 1, and it’s easy to recall the sheer pain and disbelief he felt in that moment. But at the same time, Langdon has paid his dues, and you can understand his frustration at being flatly rejected by a thoroughly unsympathetic Robby.

That all comes to a head in the final moments of Episode 5, as Louie (Ernest Harden Jr.) fittingly becomes the catalyst that forces both men to work together. There’s been the sense all along that the affable Louie’s long string of luck is about to run out, and that finally happens here. Not a bad cliffhanger on which to end the week.

Elsewhere in the ER, Dr. Santos (Isa Briones) is really the star of the show in Episode 5, as the series takes a slightly more humorous approach to her particular plight. The running gag of Santos getting one or two sentences deeper into her dictation, only to be interrupted again by Whitaker (Gerran Howell) or Ogilvie (James Howell), never gets old. But it’s also nice seeing her on the backfoot so much this season, after Season 1 really played up her crusading, righteous doctor side. Paperwork is the bane of us all.

By the same token, it’s fun to watch the insufferable know-it-all Ogilvie continue to get his just desserts. Last week it was almost killing a patient with a reckless extraction; this week, it’s being forced to clean out an elderly woman’s impacted colon.

Ogilvie’s fellow student Joy (Irene Choi) also gets a nice little bit of added attention in this episode. Up until now, Joy has been a fairly one-note character. She’s the scowling, disaffected med student who (understandably) can barely tolerate being paired with Ogilvie. But we get a chance to see a different side of the character when she swoops in to offer a solution to the family shuddering under the burden of crushing medical debt. It’s a happy ending to a depressing subplot, and one that tells us a lot more about who Joy is and why she’s seemingly so detached from it all.

Finally, this episode makes some inroads with Dr. Al-Hashimi (Sepideh Moafi), a character who so far has been played a little more antagonistically than I’d like. She’s the newcomer disrupting the carefully oiled machine that is the ER, and we’ve been left to sympathize with Robby on that front. But the two characters share a strong scene together where Al-Hashimi rightfully berates Robby for treating her like an underling rather than a colleague. It’s subtle, but it helps turn the character in a more favorable direction. Hopefully, that trend continues in the coming episodes.

Competitive PC and console gamers know that your mental state is just as vital as your skills and equipment when it comes to victory over your opponents. If you’re not focused, a mispress or panic input could lead to your demise, especially in esports, where mere milliseconds matter most. Sure, sleep and breaks can help, but sometimes you just need a boost during those extended gaming sessions and pivotal game moments. Enter ONNIT Alpha BRAIN — a nootropic designed to help you get past cognitive fatigue by supporting focus, memory, and clarity.

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I have played enough of these to be picky, which is exactly why this list exists. Not everything cheap is worth your time, and not everything premium deserves your wallet. This week quietly delivers both value and personality across four platforms, with a few curveballs that reward curiosity. Jump right to the deals with this link.

What's on My Radar Today?

Anyone who reads my stuff on the reg knows I'm an absolute sucker for the gaming axiom that is "friends who slay together, stay together." Horizon Hunters Gathering already looks like my jam as a (PC or PS5) co-op action spin-off set in the Horizon universe. Three like-minded players must team up to cull droves of Dinobots in hunts that lean hard into coordination, roles, and replayability. Think: tactical encounters, rotating mission types like machine incursions and cauldron dives, and a progression system that encourages experimentation rather than rote grinding.

Apparently, there is also a fully canon story campaign and a shared hub where squads prep, customise and plan their next machine (read: monster) hunt. Cross-play and cross-progression are mercifully a thing. If the idea of Terminator taxidermy with mates sounds even remotely appealing, there's an upcoming beta you can sign up for right now. Do it. I'll see you in the mix.

Larian Studios’ multi-award-winning fantasy RPG, Baldur’s Gate 3, is set for its own TV series on HBO, and will be helmed by The Last of Us co-creator Craig Mazin.

As reported by Deadline, a television adaptation of the acclaimed game set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe is in development at the network, and interestingly, will be a continuation of the story from the Baldur's Gate 3 game. The television show will reportedly take place after the events of Larian's RPG and follow the characters players grew to love over time as they grapple with the aftermath of its world-changing ending.

The series will be helmed by Craig Mazin, no stranger to adapting video games to live action, following his work co-creating HBO's The Last of Us with Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann. A huge fan of Baldur's Gate 3, Mazin told Deadline that "After putting nearly 1000 hours into the incredible world of Baldur’s Gate 3, it is a dream come true to be able to continue the story that Larian and Wizards of The Coast created".

"I am a devoted fan of D&D and the brilliant way that Swen Vincke and his gifted team adapted it", he continued. "I can’t wait to help bring Baldur’s Gate and all of its incredible characters to life with as much respect and love as we can, and I’m deeply grateful to Gabe Marano and his team at Hasbro for entrusting me with this incredibly important property."

By taking on this project that has no ties to any other Baldur's Gate game in the pipeline, Mazin will have free rein over what story he wishes to tell, but we do know that it will include both existing and brand new members of the BG3 cast. Shadowheart? Karlach? Astarion? Who are you most looking forward to seeing on your television screen? Mazin reportedly plans to reach out to the cast of the games to sound out how best to approach their roles in the TV show, and if they'd want to be involved, something The Last of Us did with Merle Dandridge reprising her role as Marlene, for example.

Of course, the ending of Larian's multiple game of the year award-winning RPG can vary massively depending on how you chose to play the game, so it will be highly intriguing to see how Mazin and co. go about choosing which ending is canon for them.

It may well be a while yet before we see Baldur's Gate arrive on the small screen, with Mazin still attached to complete production on The Last of Us, which is gearing up for its third, and maybe final, season.

Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.

Whether you’ve been playing PC games for years or you’re building your first gaming PC, picking the right graphics card is probably one of the most consequential choices. It doesn’t help that now there’s three companies making graphics cards, which means there are more options out there than ever before.

But there are a lot of reasons to pick an Nvidia graphics card over one made by AMD or Intel. For one, whether you love it or hate it, Nvidia has plenty of software and features that are exclusive to its graphics cards, whereas things like FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) from AMD will work no matter what GPU is in your system. Features like DLSS, or Deep Learning Super Sampling, make an Nvidia graphics card an attractive choice.

Nvidia also has the most powerful graphics cards on the market right now, especially at the high-end. There simply is not another graphics card that can match the RTX 5090 in pure performance. But even when it comes to more affordable graphics cards like the RTX 4060 Ti, the AI upscaling offered by DLSS can really help stretch the performance, and can even push into higher resolutions than you would otherwise be able to.

It's still important to figure out what resolution you want to play games at, because that’s going to change what type of graphics card you want to go for. If you want to play all the newest PC games at 4K with all the settings maxed, you’re going to need a much more powerful card than someone that just wants to play World of Warcraft at 1080p.

TL;DR: These Are Best GPUs

Graphics Cards Basics

While graphics cards are extremely complicated devices, shopping for one doesn’t need to be that much of a hassle. As long as you keep an eye out for some simple specs, you should have a pretty good idea of what you’re getting into.

The most obvious thing to look for is whether or not your graphics card is actually part of the current generation. You don’t want to miss out on performance or features, especially if you’re spending hundreds of dollars on just one part of your computer. With Nvidia graphics cards, this is actually extremely easy, just look at the two numbers following the ‘RTX’ or ‘GTX’ in the graphics card’s name. Nvidia just launched its newest generation of graphics cards, which are labeled with '50.' If it’s ‘40,’ that’s the previous generation from 2022; ‘30’ and ‘20’ are the two generations before that.

Don’t get me wrong, getting a 30-series or 20-series card will still provide an excellent gaming experience, with the RTX 3080 still able to power most games at 4K without breaking a sweat.

But what about the second two numbers? Well, take a look at the RTX 5090, the top-end graphics card on the market. Then, take a look at the RTX 4050, which is only a laptop GPU, but is way weaker. The scale typically goes from 50-90, with the higher number meaning a more powerful graphics card. Nvidia does sometimes add extra letters or words at the end of its graphics cards, with ‘Ti’ and ‘Super’ being common variants. This typically means a slightly more powerful card. For instance, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is going to be slightly more powerful than the RTX 5070. The basic rule of thumb is that, after the number, any extra letters or words typically indicate a faster graphics card.

When it comes to specs, graphics cards have a lot of numbers and lingo to swallow, which can definitely be overwhelming. But if you just want to slot a GPU in your rig and forget about it, you don’t need to pay attention to every little detail.

The amount of VRAM you need is going to largely depend on what resolution you want to play your games at. If you want to play games at 4K, you’re going to want as much video memory as you can afford. There are games that will eat up upwards of 20GB of VRAM at that resolution if you let them, so the sky really is the limit. For lower resolutions like 1080p, however, you can get by with 8GB of RAM, though I would recommend going with a 12GB or 16GB card if it’s in your budget. An 8GB card will get you through most games, but there is a growing number of AAA PC games that need more memory.

There are some other specs you can look at if you really want to, like clock speed, CUDA core count and Streaming Multiprocessors – what Nvidia calls its compute units – but those largely just get better as you get a more high-end graphics card either way. Compute Units are essentially the same as CPU cores on a processor, and each one contains 128 CUDA cores. So, the RTX 5080 with its 84 Compute Units, contains a total of 10,752 CUDA cores. Just keep in mind that directly comparing two graphics cards of different generations by the core counts alone won’t tell you how much of a performance jump it’ll be.

Once you’ve picked the graphics card you want, you need to make sure you have a power supply that can handle it. You can usually check the box your graphics card comes in to get an idea of how much power the card requires, and if not, Nvidia has it listed out on its website. My advice would be to check the required power for your graphics cards and then get a power supply that can provide just a bit more wattage. For instance, if your graphics card recommends a 450W power supply, I’d get a 550 or a 650W unit just to be on the safe side.

1. If You Just Want the Best: RTX 5090

2. Best for 4K (for Most People): RTX 5080

3. Best for 1440p: RTX 4070 Super

4. Best for 1080p: RTX 4060 Ti

5. Best on a Budget: GeForce GTX 1660 Super

Upcoming Nvidia Graphics Cards

The first wave of Nvidia Blackwell graphics cards are all here, and it seems like that's all we're going to get for now. Usually, Team Green would follow up its first wave of graphics cards with refreshed "Super" variants. However, nothing in the world of PC gaming hardware is normal right now, and it looks like the Super lineup has been canceled in the face of high RAM prices and AI datacenter demand. Right now, it looks like we'll be waiting for the RTX 6090 whenever that comes out – likely sometime in the second half of 2027.

What Is DLSS?

Deep Learning Super Sampling, or DLSS is an AI upscaling method that uses Nvidia’s Tensor Cores to improve image quality. The Tensor Core will take visual data from the frame being rendered, along with motion vector data, in order to accurately upscale the image to a higher resolution. This process results in an image that looks pretty close to the native resolution, but with a much higher frame rate.

In its early days, DLSS needed to train the AI model on each game it would support, with developers needing to upload data to Nvidia. However, DLSS has gone through several iterations, and now it does not need to be trained on individual games. Instead, if a developer wants to include DLSS in their game, they can just inject Nvidia’s API into the game. This means more games can support the technology, without having to wait for Nvidia’s training on each game.

With DLSS 3.0, Nvidia added Frame Generation to the equation. This technology takes the visual data from two frames, along with motion vector data from the game engine and motion information from its own hardware, and creates an entirely new frame that’s sandwiched between the two original frames. This would introduce a lot of latency, but Nvidia requires its Reflex technology to be enabled before Frame Generation can happen. Reflex essentially syncs the graphics card and the processor, eliminating the need for the CPU to queue up frames for the GPU to render later.

Nvidia updated to DLSS 4.0, then later 4.5, which introduced multi-frame generation and a new upscaling model. The new frame generation lets RTX 5000 graphics cards use AI to generate up to three frames per rendered frame, greatly improving framerates. The new DLSS also moves the upscaling algorithm to a transformer model, which allows for much better image quality, though with a slight hit to performance. But, hey – that's what frame generation is for, I guess.

Together, Frame Generation and Reflex greatly improve your frame rate, but there’s a catch. Because so much of it relies on motion data, you already need to have a decent frame rate for Frame Generation to work smoothly. So, this technology is best used for folks that can already get 60fps or more and just want to push to a higher frame rate.

What Is Ray Tracing?

Ray tracing is just a way to render light realistically. It does this by taking a light source, then simulating each ray of light as it bounces around the scene. It’s a simple concept to be sure, but it ends up requiring a ton of compute power to pull off. Any light being cast potentially has thousands of rays of light, each of which will bounce around hundreds of times, multiply that by needing a new frame 60 times a second, and you can imagine how much power you need to pull it off.

That’s why ray tracing in video games needs specialized hardware to pull this lighting method off without grinding your framerate to a standstill. Luckily, Nvidia has been working this hardware into its graphics cards since the RTX 2080 in 2018.

Fast forward to today, and even with that dedicated ray tracing hardware being built into every mainstream graphics card – not just from Nvidia – we still need to limit ray tracing in order to maximize performance. There are only a few games that support full ray tracing, or ‘path tracing,’ with most other games limiting the ray tracing elements to a certain part of the scene, like shadows or reflections, and also limiting the amount of bounces calculated for each ray of light.

It’s an expensive way to generate lighting, but it looks incredible, especially in games that rely on lighting for atmosphere. In Metro Exodus, for instance, the accurate lighting often leads to darker environments, amplifying the intense atmosphere the game already has.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra