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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

— 2åse (@novembernatten) November 5, 2025

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Nintendo has issued a fresh system software update for the Switch and Switch 2, bringing both consoles' firmware up to Version 21.0.0.

The latest patch adds a range of features for both consoles, including a number of useful changes for managing digital games, and upgrades for the Switch 2's built-in Game Chat.

On both consoles, you can now see a symbol above software icons on the Home Menu that will show whether the game is a cartridge-based or not. You can also set virtual game card data downloading even if you have chosen to disable the "Use Online License" setting.

On Switch 2, you can now receieve a prompt to download any software bundled alongside the console (like Mario Kart World!) which sounds like it'll save you from inputting any pesky codes.

Switch 2 Game Chat also gets some upgrades, with the game you're playing no longer automatically going to sleep if you're still chatting. You'll keep chatting, too, if your console is docked and you switch over to a wired connection (or vice versa).

And in a minor but amusing tweak, Nintendo has renamed the battery saving "stop charging around 90%" option to now more accurately reflect how it operates. It's now named "stop charging around 80-90%", so you can stop worrying if it's working correctly.

As ever, a few extra tweaks appear to be in the update that haven't made it into Nintendo's official patch notes. On ResetEra, fans report that you can now disable auto-playing videos in the eShop — which is a truly welcome addition. Nintendo dataminer OatmealDome, meanwhile, stats that there's also a new menu to view your peak brightness value when adjusting HDR settings in TV mode.

Here are Nintendo's full patch notes:

Nintendo Switch Ver. 21.0.0 (Released November 10, 2025):

• Added symbols above software icons displayed on the HOME Menu to indicate whether the software is a physical or a digital version.
• Added the ability to download data for a virtual game card even if the "Use Online License" setting is turned off.
  • This option is available in the Options of a virtual game card when accessed via Virtual Game Cards from the HOME Menu.
• The information regarding Save Data Cloud Backup that appears when launching certain software has been updated.
• The option "Platinum Point Notification Settings" was renamed to "Nintendo Switch Online Notification Settings" in the Notifications menu in System Settings.
• Added the ability to disable the following options when performing a system transfer from a Nintendo Switch system to a Nintendo Switch 2 system using System Transfer to Nintendo Switch 2 in System Settings.
  • Redownload Software on Nintendo Switch 2
  • Transfer Album Data
• Added the ability to adjust the volume from the Quick Settings menu while in VR mode.
• General system stability improvements to enhance the user's experience.

Nintendo Switch 2 Ver. 21.0.0 (Released November 10, 2025)

• Added symbols above software icons displayed on the HOME Menu to indicate whether the software is a physical or a digital version.
• When multiple software downloads are in progress, there is now an option to cancel all.
• If a console bundle includes a software download, there will now be an icon to "Receive Software." It will display if the system is connected to the internet.
  • The icon will launch Nintendo eShop and you can proceed to the downloadable software.
  • You can still receive the software by navigating to Nintendo eShop from the HOME Menu directly.
• When finding users to send a friend request to, the Search for Users You've Played With option under Add Friend now includes people you've interacted with in your friends' GameChat rooms.
• Added the ability to download data for a virtual game card even if the "Use Online License" setting is turned off.
  • This option is available in the Options of a virtual game card when accessed via Virtual Game Cards from the HOME Menu.
• The following updates have been made for GameChat:
  • The game will not automatically go to sleep while chatting.
  • The option to turn off "Chat Audio Panning" has been added.
  • Chat can continue if the console goes from TV mode (docked) to Handheld or Table mode where this scenario changes the internet from a wired connection to a wireless connection.
• The following updates have been made in Accessibility in System Settings:
  • When Use Text to Speech is turned on, the description of the predictive conversion character on the Japanese keyboard is now read out loud.
  • The upper limit of Text-to-Speech Speed was increased from 300% to 400%
• The following updates have been made in Audio in System Settings:
  • The ability to change the audio mode for a wirelessly connected Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller was added. "Stable" or "Low Latency" can be selected.
  • "Low Latency" will reduce audio latency when compared to "Stable" but may be more subject to interference in some wireless environments.
• The following updates have been made in Display in System Settings:
  • "HDR Output" was renamed to "System Screen's HDR Output."
  • Improved the screen display when using Adjust Screen Size to make it easier to adjust.
• The following updates have been made in Notifications in System Settings:
  • The option "Platinum Point Notification" was renamed to "Nintendo Switch Online Notification."
• The following updates have been made in System in System Settings:
  • "Stop Charging Around 90%" was renamed and updated to "Stop Charging Around 80-90%"
  • Thai and Polish were added to the list of options under Language.
    • Thai and Polish will only be available in software when it supports the respective language.
• General system stability improvements to enhance the user's experience.

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

Ghost of Yotei has sold 3.3 million copies in its first month on sale, Sony has confirmed.

As part of its latest financial results, Sony said Sucker Punch’s PlayStation 5-exclusive action adventure sold 3.3 million units in the 32 days since going on sale on October 2 — so sales up to and including November 2.

Sony announced the figure without any commentary, so it’s hard to know whether the company is happy with the result. However, there is a great deal of context we can add that helps us paint a picture of Ghost of Yotei’s commercial success.

The first comparison we should make is to its predecessor, Ghost of Tsushima. It sold 2.4 million copies in its first three days after going on sale exclusively on PlayStation 4 on July 17, 2020, then hit 5 million after 118 days (just shy of four months). It’s now up to 13 million copies sold, including sales of the PC and PS5 Director’s Cut.

So it’s worth remembering that while we don’t have a figure for a comparable period of sales, it looks like Ghost of Yotei is selling about as well as Ghost of Tsushima before it, a suggestion backed up by sales data from the U.S. and across Europe.

But is that good enough? We need to consider that Ghost of Tsushima came out on the PS4, which in the summer of 2020 had a much bigger install base than the PS5 does today, and amid the stay-at-home gaming boom fueled by lockdowns. Ghost of Yotei also sold for $70, which means its dollar sales are greater compared to the cheaper Ghost of Tsushima, whose standard edition launched at $60.

The timing of each release differs also in that Ghost of Tsushima came out in the summer, and Ghost of Yotei came out in the fall. Yotei has the crucial holiday season coming soon, and it will surely be a popular pick for those buying a PS5 for the first time or upgrading to the PS5 Pro.

And finally, multiplayer add-on Ghost of Yotei: Legends comes out at some point in 2026, which will undoubtedly give Ghost of Yotei a shot in the arm next year. And we all know that Ghost of Yotei, like Ghost of Tsushima before it, will eventually launch on PC in Director’s Cut form. Perhaps there will even be a PS6 version, whenever that console rolls around.

So, Ghost of Yotei has some way to go before it matches the total sales figure of its predecessor, but is has plenty of opportunity to catch up. And, as Circana’s Mat Piscatella said last month, its launch sales were “perfectly fine... Not amazing, not bad.”

As for what’s next from developer Sucker Punch, in an interview with VGC, co-founder and studio head, Brian Fleming, said the studio will decide its next project once Ghost of Yotei: Legends comes out. But, he suggested, don’t expect a flurry of games from the relatively lean developer — it’s one project at a time.

While we wait to find out, check out IGN’s Ghost of Yotei review. We’ve also got a cool story about Atsu's sword-drawing technique, which Japanese martial arts experts have said is kind of doable in real life.

Ready to master Ghost of Yotei? Check out our comprehensive guides, which cover everything from things to do first, best skills to unlock, advanced combat tips, getting the best early-game armor set, and uncovering every Altar of Reflection location. Our Walkthrough also provides essential tips and strategies for defeating every boss, and our secrets and easter eggs guide ensures you never miss another hidden reference again.

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.

Incredibly, almost unfathomably, the humble original PlayStation, our little grey slab of joy, is turning 30. It's got grey hairs, now old enough to have a couple of kids, a few different careers, a car in the garage. You could say it's accomplished all those things in different ways.

Aussies: Win a PlayStation®5 Pro Console – 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Bundle!

In the before-times, many previous and current IGN AU staff cut their teeth at the Official PlayStation 2 Magazine (Narayan Pattison, Tristan Ogilvie, Luke Reilly, Patch Kolan, and Adam Mathew among them), so it's an understatement to say that the brand, hardware, games and experiences were formative for us and extremely close to our hearts.

The Little Grey Box That Could

When the original PlayStation launched in Australia, stock was extremely limited and the thing cost $AUD699 (or about $1300 in today's money) if you could manage to get your hands on it. If you did, you could play nearly a nearly perfect port of Namco's superb Ridge Racer, try some 3D fighting (a novelty!) in Battle Arena Toshinden, a bit of 3D platforming (woah!) in Jumping Flash!, and 2D sidescrolling platforming in Rayman. The games were perhaps a tad "safe" at the time, but it hinted at big things coming – and within a year, the PlayStation had cemented itself in the Australian gaming landscape.

I picked up my PS1 from a Cash Converters in 1999, then immediately bought Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy VII. From there, I delived into a catalogue of JRPGs, racing simulators (yeah, that series), scrolling shooters and impenetrable dating games as my N64 quietly looked on, judging me from the shelf. I'm fairly certain I did not see daylight for about two years – and I knew I wanted to do this stuff as a career.

Woot (which is owned by Amazon) just dropped some great OLED TV deals ahead of Black Friday. You can pick up a 65" Samsung S90D 4K OLED Smart TV for just $1,079.99. An even better deal is the 77" model for $1,497.99. Both TVs cost only $5 to ship, although Amazon Prime members can get free delivery. These are brand new TVs presumably in retail packaging with a 1 year Samsung warranty. The S90D is one of Samsung's more premium OLED TVs featuring a quantum dot OLED panel for brighter, richer colors. It's comparable to LG's C-series OLED TVs.

Samsung S90D 4K OLED TV Sale

A lot is changing for DC's lineup of movies and shows in the years ahead. James Gunn and Peter Safran, co-CEOs of DC Studios, have a strategy for a more cohesive and interconnected lineup of content moving forward. It all starts with Chapter 1, dubbed "Gods and Monsters."

It can be very difficult to keep track of all the big changes at DC these days. And Gunn is always dropping updates and news it seems, including the surprise reveal of his Superman follow-up Man of Tomorrow! That's why we've put together this comprehensive list of everything currently in the works, as well as the major projects that have either been officially canceled or gone dormant.

Come join us in the reborn DC Universe. Click on through the slideshow below for a glimpse or read on for even more details...

What Are the Next DC Movies Coming Out? 2025 Release Dates

For those keeping track, here's the full lineup of upcoming DC movies and TV shows:

• Supergirl (June 26, 2026)
• Clayface (September 11, 2026)
• Man of Tomorrow (July 9, 2027)
• The Batman Part II (October 1, 2027)
• Dynamic Duo (Animated Robin Origin Movie) (June 30, 2028)
• Lanterns TV Series (Early 2026)
• Mister Miracle Animated Series (In Production)
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold (In Development)
• Creature Commandos Season 2 (In Development)
• The Authority (In Development)
• Swamp Thing (In Development)
• Teen Titans Movie (In Development)
• Bane/Deathstroke Movie (In Development)
• Wonder Woman Movie (In Development)
• Waller TV Series (In Development)
• Booster Gold TV Series (In Development)
• Paradise Lost TV Series (In Development)
• Blue Beetle Animated Series (In Development)
• Harley Quinn and Other Animated Titles (In Development)
• Sgt. Rock (In Development)
• V for Vendetta TV Series (In Development)
• DC Crime TV Series (In Development)
• Constantine 2 (Status Unknown)

Here are some of the most notable projects that are currently in the works:

Supergirl (June 26, 2026)

The new DCU will also have a new Supergirl. Supergirl (previously titled Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow) is a movie based on Tom King and Bilquis Evely's comic. This Supergirl is one who spent much of her early life living on a fragment of Krypton that was dislodged in the planet's destruction, what Gunn describes as a "horrible situation where she watched everybody around her die." House of the Dragon's Milly Alcock plays Supergirl, and Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, Cruella) directs the film.

Clayface (September 11, 2026)

A Clayface movie scripted by Mike Flanagan is moving fast at DC. Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep, etc.) previously voiced a desire to make a Clayface movie as a "horror/thriller/tragedy." However, due to his various TV commitments, he won't direct the film, with Speak No Evil's James Watkins expected to direct for a Fall, 2026, release. Tom Rhys Harries stars as the titular villain. Safran and Gunn promise a body horror picture that is R-rated as well.

Given Deadline's previous report that Clayface is one of the major villains debuting in The Batman Part II, and the fact that the Clayface movie is being produced by Matt Reeves and Lynn Harris' 6th & Idaho Productions, it had been assumed that this movie would be set in The Batman universe rather than the DCU. But Gunn has since said that it is in fact unrelated to The Batman Epic Crime Saga and is definitely part of the DCU. Presumably, those earlier reports of the character being in The Batman Part II will wind up not panning out at this point.

Man of Tomorrow (July 9, 2027)

We've known for a while that James Gunn is working on his first post-Superman movie in the DCU, but it seems like he won't be venturing too far from the beaten path. Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav revealed on an investor call, "We're thrilled to share that James Gunn is already writing and preparing to direct the next installment within the 'Super-Family.'" Previously, Gunn told EW that his next project isn't exactly Superman 2, saying, "Is it a straight-up Superman sequel? I would not say necessarily."

Gunn surprised DC fans by tweeting out the title and release date of the film. Man of Tomorrow will hit theaters on July 9, 2027, almost exactly two years after Superman's release. The accompanying Jim Lee artwork suggests the film will focus on an alliance between David Corenswet's Man of Steel and Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor, as the two confront a common enemy (Brainiac? General Zod? Doomsday?). We wouldn't be at all surprised if the film also stars Milly Alcock's Supergirl, along with potentially other members of the Superman extended family (Steel? Superboy? Mon-El?).

The Batman Part II (October 1, 2027)

Of course The Batman Part II is in the works with Matt Reeves returning to write and direct and Robert Pattinson putting on the cape, cowl, and eyeliner (!) again as the Dark Knight Detective. The film is confirmed to have survived the recent turmoil at Warner Bros. Discovery, and Reeves has even signed a multi-year first-look deal with the studio. There's no word yet on what it will be about, so begin your Joker speculation now. The release date of the film has been pushed a couple of times now, first from October 2025 to October 2026, and then to October 2027. Filming is expected to begin in Spring 2026.

James Gunn has also confirmed that Pattinson will not be the DCU's version of Batman.

Dynamic Duo (Animated Robin Origin Movie) (June 30, 2028)

According to James Gunn, Dynamic Duo will tell the origin story of not one but two Robins -- Dick Grayson and Jason Todd. The film will be directed by Arthur Mintz, who's making the picture with his new animation studio Swaybox using a mix of animation, puppetry, CGI, and live-action performance. Huh.

Lanterns TV Series (Early 2026)

We're finally getting that oft-promised Green Lantern show. Lanterns is a high-concept detective drama in the vein of True Detective that revolves around Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) has been cast as Hal and Aaron Pierre (The Underground Railroad) has been cast as John.

Mister Miracle Animated Series (In Production)

Mister Miracle is the second animated series to be produced under the DC Studios banner, following 2024's Creature Commandos. The series will be helmed by showrunner and producer Tom King, who previously penned 2017's Mister Miracle comic. The animated series looks to be directly based on that comic, which deals with Scott Free's attempts to make sense of his reality during a destructive war between Apokolips and New Genesis.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold (In Development)

DC has confirmed that we'll have two cinematic versions of Batman going forward, as the DCU will get its own Dark Knight alongside the standalone movies of Matt Reeves' The Batman series. The Brave and the Bold looks to deal with the full Bat-family, centering specifically on Bruce Wayne's 10-year-old son Damian. The movie will draw heavily from Grant Morrison's Batman comics. It is unclear how the film will connect to the events of The Flash movie, if at all (probably not?), but that film's director, Andy Muschietti, was at one point confirmed to be directing The Brave and the Bold.

More recently, it seems that Gunn and Safran have put some distance between the project and Muschietti, with Gunn taking point on it. “Everybody knows I love Batman and it’s important to me so I’m working very closely with the writer on Brave and the Bold,” he told a group of reporters in February, 2025. Once the script is completed (it is not currently known who the writer is), Gunn and Safran said they will take it to Muschietti "and see if it's a fit for him."

Creature Commandos Season 2 (In Development)

James Gunn's latest band of misfit superheroes, the Creature Commandos, kicked off the new DCU with the first season of their animated series on Max, and a Season 2 is already in the planning stages. What the new version of the team will look like remains to be seen, though the Creature Commandos Season 1 finale did give us some hints...

The Authority (In Development)

DC's anti-Justice League were a big part of the initial announcement line-up that Gunn and Safran made back in 2023, but it seems like the project has been a tougher script to crack than they expected. The Authority is a group of powerful heroes who take a far more proactive approach to meting out justice, but Gunn said in February, 2025, that it's been “the one that's been the hardest, both because of the shifting overall story and because of getting it right in a world with The Boys and a world with all the things that The Authority influenced that came out after it.” The project is now on the “back burner,” he says.

Swamp Thing (In Development)

Swamp Thing may not have found much success on the short-lived DC Universe app, but DC was betting big on this lumbering monster for their new cinematic universe when they announced their plans for the new movie slate in 2023. The Swamp Thing movie was to explore the dark origins of Alec Holland's monstrous alter ego, with Logan and Indiana Jones 5 director James Mangold writing the script for the film.

However, more recently Gunn and Safran have said that Swamp Thing hasn't had much movement as Mangold was working on his Bob Dylan movie, A Complete Unknown. "We hope that he'll come back to Swamp Thing when he's ready, because again, that was one of those ones that we love him as a filmmaker, so we're happy to wait for him," said Safran. Gunn added that the main reason they pursued the project was because "James came to us with it, frankly."

Teen Titans Movie (In Development)

The Teen Titans are returning to live-action following the conclusion of Max's Titans series. As reported by THR, a new Teen Titans movie is in the works, with the screenplay being penned by Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow writer Ana Nogueira. It's unknown whether the movie is meant to be part of the DCU or a standalone project.

Bane/Deathstroke Movie (In Development)

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that DC Studios is developing a villain-centric team-up movie featuring Bane and Deathstroke. The film is being written by Matthew Orton (Captain America: Brave New World). It's unclear whether the project is set in James Gunn's DCU, the world of Matt Reeves' The Batman, or an entirely standalone universe a la Joker.

Wonder Woman Movie (In Development)

Gunn recently confirmed to EW that a new Wonder Woman movie is in the works as part of the DCU, saying, "Wonder Woman's being written right now." The movie is a separate project from the previously announced Paradise Lost series. Presumably, Wonder Woman will reboot the franchise with a new lead actress rather than bring back Gal Gadot's Diana.

Waller TV Series (In Development)

This Peacemaker spin-off is intended to feature Viola Davis reprising the Amanda Waller role, with several other Peacemaker alums also returning. However, the series “has had a couple of setbacks" according to Gunn. Safran added that "Waller has been a bumpy road," so it remains unclear where the series stands at the moment.

Booster Gold TV Series (In Development)

The lovably goofy Booster Gold is getting his own series as part of the new DCU. Booster Gold will explore the character's impostor syndrome as he travels back in time and uses the technology of the future to make himself a present-day superhero.

Paradise Lost TV Series (In Development)

While a new Wonder Woman movie isn't on the immediate horizon, DC is moving forward with a TV series set on the island of Themyscira. Paradise Lost will explore the origins and political intrigue of Diana's home. The series is billed as the DC equivalent of Game of Thrones.

Blue Beetle Animated Series (In Development)

A Blue Beetle animated TV show is reportedly in development. Xolo Maridueña, who played the title hero in the live-action movie, says he'll be back to voice Jaime Reyes for the series.

Harley Quinn and Other Animated Titles (In Development)

Warner Bros. has a variety of animated properties in various stages of development as streaming series (in addition to their never-ending DTV animated movie releases). That includes a fifth season of Harley Quinn which debuted in January, 2025, on Max, a possible ninth season of Teen Titans Go!, a third season of Adult Swim/Max's My Adventures With Superman, Season 2 of Amazon Prime's Batman: Caped Crusader (from Bruce Timm, J. J. Abrams, and Matt Reeves), and upcoming series such as Blue Beetle, My Adventures With Green Lantern (featuring the Jessica Cruz Lantern), DC Super Powers, Starfire, and Mister Miracle.

Sgt. Rock (In Development)

After decades in development hell through various studio regimes and stars attached to it, it seemed like Sgt. Rock was finally coming to the big screen. DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran acknowledged the project was in development with Luca Guadagnino directing. Guadagnino (Queer, Call Me By Your Name, Suspiria, Challengers) isn't exactly the first name you'd expect to hear for a Sgt. Rock movie so it made it an even more exciting prospect.

After rumors of Daniel Craig playing the title role in the WWII movie were shot down by Gunn, it was reported that Colin Farrell was cast instead. The project was to shoot in Summer 2025 for a Fall 2026 release but as soon as Sgt. Rock finally came together, the project fell apart. Still, Gunn has said that the film is still in development, though it remains to be seen who would star or direct if it happens.

V for Vendetta TV Series (In Development)

In November of 2025, Variety reported that Pete Jackson (not the Lord of the Rings luminary) is attached to write a TV series adaptation for HBO of Alan Moore and David Lloyd's acclaimed comic about a dystopic near-future where the anarchist known only as V battles the oppresive government. James Gunn and Peter Safran will executive produce the series, among others, if it moves forward beyond the writing stage.

DC Crime TV Series (In Development)

Another potential HBO show that is in early development is this fictional true-crime series which would feature Superman's Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) "hosting." The DC supervillain Gorilla Grodd would be the focus of the first season (yes, the super-smart, talking gorilla). American Vandal mockumentary experts Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault would write, produce, and serve as showrunners if the prospective show gets the greenlight.

Constantine 2 (Status Unknown)

Keanu Reeves was reportedly going to reprise his iconic DC role at one point. A sequel to 2005's Constantine was in the news in 2022, with Reeves set to star and Francis Lawrence returning as director. The screenplay was being written by Akiva Goldsman, and Goldsman was also producing the film alongside Bad Robot’s J.J. Abrams and Hannah Minghella. Lawrence gave IGN an update on the project when we spoke to him in May 2025 for The Long Walk:

"Constantine 2 is a real thing. It is something that we have been working on and trying to crack and figure things out over the years. And with all the various regime changes and things at Warner Brothers and who has rights to DC characters/Vertigo characters and DC Dark and all that, the character of Constantine has kind of changed hands over the years, which became roadblocks for us. We now are past those roadblocks, and so Keanu and Akiva ... who I did Constantine and I Am Legend with, have an idea, and Akiva is actually writing a script. And I'm really excited about the idea, and Keanu is really excited about the idea, but we've all collaborated on it and he is off writing, and so fingers crossed we can really get that going. I think we're all super excited and this is definitely the closest we've been in the 20 years since the movie came out."

DC Movies and TV Shows That Were Released in 2024

• The Penguin (September 19, 2024)
• Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (September 21, 2024)
• Superman & Lois, Season 4 (October 7, 2024)
• Creature Commandos (December 5, 2024)

Note: This story was updated on 11/10/2025 with the latest DC movie news. It was originally posted on 7/29/2021.

DC Studios and HBO Max is developing a Superman spin-off series titled DC Crime, which will star Skyler Gisondo as The Daily Planet’s Jimmy Olsen. American Vandal’s Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault are onboard as the series’ writers, executive producers, and showrunners.

Variety reports that DC Crime “would be presented as a true crime docuseries that would be hosted by Jimmy Olsen … The first season would focus on Gorilla Grodd, a DC villain best known for his battles with The Flash.”

DC Studios co-chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran will executive produce “with DC Studios’ Galen Vaisman overseeing production. Warner Bros. Television is the studio,” per Variety.

Walmart is offering an outstanding early Black Friday deal on a powerful gaming laptop. For a limited time, you can pick up the MSI Vector HX 16" Gaming Laptop with GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPU for just $1,299.00 with free shipping after a hefty $700 off instant discount. This laptop features an AMD Ryzen 9 HX series CPU and a full-powered RTX 5070 Ti GPU with 140W TGP rating for maximum gaming performance.

MSI Vector HX 16" RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Laptop for $1,299.99

The Amazon Black Friday Sale is one of the most anticipated online sales of the year. I ran a poll a few years back and found that over 50% of IGN's audience planned on doing most of their shopping at Amazon for Black Friday. So it's not a stretch to say that whatever deals Amazon chooses to offer for Black Friday will have a ripple effect across multiple retailers. Now that Amazon has officially announced the dates of its sale (and a sneak peek of some discounts), we can finally start speculating about what to expect during the 2025 Amazon Black Friday sale.

Amazon Black Friday Start Date

What Deals to Expect – Amazon Sneak Peek

Amazon released a sneak peek of what deals to expect during the Black Friday period. The press release doesn't go into much detail about any specific products, but we can make our own guesses about what to expect based on the information we do have.

Amazon Devices

Amazon's sneak peek mentions up to 50% off select Amazon devices. The actual list of items expected to be a part of that sale are: Echo Dot Max, Fire TV Stick Select, Fire TV 4-Series, Blink Mini camera, Blink outdoor camera, Echo Show 11, Fire HD Tablets, and Kindle e-readers. No prices are mentioned, but we can make some assumptions based on this available information.

Most notably, Amazon is suggesting a discount on its new budget Fire TV stick without mentioning discounts on any of the other models. That could mean that the full Fire TV lineup will actually be at a higher price than we saw during October Prime Day this year. The sneak peak also mentions discounts on its reading tablets, but leaves out models like the Colorsoft that got heavily discounted earlier this year. If I had to guess, I'd say this suggests the better Kindle deals will likely be a part of a bundle package rather than discounts on individual devices.

The 50% discounts will most likely be on Blink cameras and Fire HD tablets. Both of those devices have consistently had prices halved during sales this year and I'd expect the same thing during Black Friday. Ring doorbell cameras will also probably see similar price cuts, even though they aren't mentioned here.

Electronics

The sneak peek lumps all electronics into a single category, and the actual savings are as vague as it gets. The biggest discount mentioned is up to 50% off JBL and Canon, which could mean a lot of different things.

The discounts from JBL will most likely be on headphones and Bluetooth speakers. As an audio brand, it's already quite a bit cheaper than competitors like Sony and Bose, so the discounts will be significant but not that impressive. Bose audio products are also mentioned in this press release with up to 45% discounts, which likely refers to headphones and soundbars. As for Canon, Amazon is probably referring to printers and ink cartridges rather than cameras. Still, a 50% discount can be significant if you're looking for either of those.

For bigger ticket items, Amazon has noted up to 45% discounts on Acer and Asus PC hardware and 40% discounts from LG, TCL, and Hisense. Based on what we've seen discounted in the past, these discounts are most likely on gaming monitors, TVs, and soundbars. Amazon usually has at least one really good gaming PC deal, but it's the discounts on screens that are usually most worth checking out during its Black Friday sale. This also applies to Samsung TVs and monitors, which will be up to 35% off during this sale.

Toys

Black Friday is usually the best time to make toy purchases every year, but the sneak peek doesn't really reveal much about Amazon's plans for 2025. The first major offer featured here is up to 40% off Magna-Tiles, Melissa & Doug, Little Tykes, Play-Do, and Nerf. This could apply to a wide range of different puzzles and building toys within that for both toddlers and younger kids. The press release also mentioned 30% off Hasbro Gaming, which likely means that Black Friday will be a good time to buy board games as well as various toys Hasbro makes.

The main category that Amazon didn't mention here is LEGO. Black Friday is going to be the best time to buy LEGO sets all year and we expect Amazon to have some of the best deals available on various sets. While we don't know what LEGO sets will be going on sale this year, we can use Target's recent early LEGO sale and make an educated guess that we'll likely see up to 40% off both new and old sets from Star Wars, Harry Potter, and many of the other popular themes available.

Books

Amazon is still an online bookstore at heart and Black Friday remains one of the best times to buy books all year. According to the press release, Amazon is planning on offering up to 80% off Kindle books and up to 65% off print books during its Black Friday sale.

As for what books will actually get discounted, we can only look at past sales to make a guess. Amazon will likely have major discounts on some of the biggest bestsellers of 2025, like Onyx Storm and Sunrise on the Reaping, as well as popular classics. You can also likely expect big price cuts on Lord of the Rings books sets as well as the illustrated editions. Amazon has been known to include a lot of these discounts in some sort of "Buy 2, Get 1 Free" sale, so you'll want to keep an eye out for that type of promotion as well.

In terms of Amazon services, the Black Friday Kindle Unlimited deal will also be returning this year. This promotion only applies to new subscribers, but you'll get three months of Kindle Unlimited for only $0.99 before having to pay the full monthly price. I myself have this service and found it's great for reading LitRPG and popular romantasy without having to buy individual books.

More Upcoming Deals

Outside of the categories I've mentioned above, here are a few more sneak peek deals worth calling out from Amazon's press release:

• Up to 50% off beauty products
• Up to 50% off fashion
• Up to 50% off kitchen appliances
• Up to 35% off vacuums and furniture
• Up to 25% off fitness equipment
• Up to 50% off hotels and homes on Expedia
• 35% off voyage fare for Disney Cruise Lines

Do You Need an Amazon Prime Subscription for Black Friday?

Just ahead of the Black Friday and holiday season, Samsung has released its own line of MicroSD Express cards. The new Samsung P9 MicroSD Express cards come in both 256GB and 512GB capacities and are compatible with the Nintendo Switch 2. Amazon has already discounted the 512GB model with a $5 off coupon that drops the price from $99.99 to $94.99. This is one of the lesser expensive 512GB cards at the moment. Walmart does sell its house brand Onn 512GB MicroSD Express Card for a lower price of $84.77, but it has noticeably slower speeds according to our review.

The 256GB model retails for $54.99 which is $5 cheaper than the official Switch 2 memory card (which, curiously, is also made by Samsung). However, if you are planning to get this capacity, you should wait. Nintendo has already announced that the official Switch 2 256GB memory card will drop to $39.99 on Cyber Monday.

Samsung P9 512GB MicroSD Express Card for $94.99

Nintendo Switch 2 compatible

As the sun rises on the cobbled market street that ascends from bustling docks on the vibrant Mediterranean waters to the new forum high on the hill above, Anno 117: Pax Romana fills me with delight and civic pride. It took a long time, but I feel like I finally clicked with this series that I've had a little bit of a rocky relationship with, having come in a bit late and at an awkward time with 2205. Its complex economics can still seem to wobble spectacularly off their axis and leave you in a dire failure spiral, but resplendent mechanics for trade, naval warfare, and the blending of cultures offer chances to right the ship.

The basic routine in Anno 117 is familiar and effective if you've played other games in the series. You start out building modest residences to house hardworking liberti, or freed people – somewhat conspicuously sidestepping the institution of Roman slavery. When their needs are met, they can promote up the social ladder all the way to snobby patricians who demand all kinds of exotic delicacies from around the world.

Part of what influences these promotions is simply access to goods, which is a city-wide thing. But another component is living near high prestige buildings like theaters and shrines… and far away from unpleasant or polluting ones like a charcoal burner. I love the way this naturally creates clusters of higher-class housing on important market streets, tapering off into working class neighborhoods in more industrial areas. It adds to the feel of a real, living city. And since paved roads extend the range of those buildings, that's an upgrade that lets you immediately see its positive effects.

It's genuinely delightful to zoom in and watch my little toga-clad citizens going about their business. Every building from a stately villa to an idyllic lavender farm is studded with detail and character. Even the untouched green fields and peaceful blue waters full of marine life create a strong sense of place. The character models for leaders and advisors may be the one thing that didn't wow me. They're full of character, but especially in some of the campaign cutscenes, there were some significant lip sync issues that made it look like a much older game or a badly-dubbed movie.

The summery paradise of Latium isn't the only locale to explore and exploit. Eventually you unlock the ability to sail to foggy, rocky Albion – that is, Britain – with its own resources, aesthetic, and population. I was a bit worried Anno would lean too hard into othering stereotypes about "mystical Celts" here based on some of the marketing, but it's actually a pretty grounded and sensible depiction. The really interesting choice you have mechanically in this region is whether to stay true to Celtic traditions or fully Romanize your new subjects. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, and you can eventually mix and match for some powerful synergies.

Anno 117 really comes alive with its detailed trade system, though. To truly meet the needs of demanding nobles in the two regions, you'll have to set up production chains for luxury goods that might pull resources from two or three different islands, then ship them across the world map from one region to another. Each delivery requires individual ships assigned to the trade routes, so I can see exactly where my next delivery of cheese is and even reroute it somewhere else.

This is all fairly easy to set up and tweak thanks to the well-organized interface, and naturally creates incentives to build smaller villages that do one specific thing as well as warehouses and waystations to speed things up. My cheese island is quite far away, so I noticed my trade ships spent half their time sailing across Albion. But if I set up a colony close to it that's basically just a cheese warehouse and some subsistence fisheries, I can constantly be moving cheese there with intra-region trade ships to be picked up at the edge of the map all at once. I adore this kind of logistics stuff.

Anno 117 is a pretty good RTS, too. I'm especially a fan of its naval combat, which I had to master quickly to protect my trade routes from increasingly vicious pirates. Maneuvering ships feels weighty and realistic, with differences in maneuverability based on whether they rely on sails, oars, or both, and I eventually got pretty good at maneuvers like trapping a sneaky little pirate ship in a cove where there would be no escape.

Ground combat is just fine. It does its job, with a small selection of melee, ranged, and siege units that can fulfill a handful of different roles. It's possible to succeed without ever getting into a land battle if you have a good navy, but in the few cases where I did, I found some interesting tactics to dig into. It feels like a real RTS at least, as opposed to a half-baked minigame, which I really appreciate.

Diplomacy is pretty basic stuff, with a single interesting wrinkle in that the Emperor works a bit differently. You can't really make treaties with him, but he will make demands of you, and succeeding, failing, or refusing affects your reputation with Rome. When he likes you, you get bonuses. When he doesn't, you get penalties. But both ends of the scale culminate in some very powerful rewards. Either you play nice and get appointed Consul, or you defy his authority so effectively that you grant yourself Proconsular authority, Caesar-style.

There is a decent story campaign, but it's really more of an extended tutorial. It took me less than 10 hours to finish and only really scratches the surface of the mechanics you can play with in endless mode. You can play as either Marcus or Marcia, with the latter being a sort of madcap "Weekend at Bernicus’" scenario where you are taking on the governor duties of your totally-not-dead husband. It's hardly Shakespeare, but there's some interesting intrigue going on and a cast of memorable characters. The Canaanite Ben-Baalion was a particularly endearing companion who presented me with an emotionally satisfying choice at the end.

While you can continue from the ending of the campaign as long as you want, most of my playtime was spent in the endless mode, which lets you start in either Albion or Latium and offers a wide range of difficulty options. You can even pick from a set of rival governors with different personalities and playstyles. I don't think they necessarily play by the same rules that you do as a player, however. Looking at some late game cities they built… I honestly don't know what's going on. But they can be compelling adversaries or valuable trade partners nonetheless.

There are still some classic Anno issues kicking around, like the fact that very large economies can become unwieldy and are prone to death spirals. If food is disrupted, population drops, which causes food buildings to become underemployed, leading to even less food and even more population drop. At one point I had to restart because I accidentally changed a large city's patron god, which made it instantly insolvent and nearly irrecoverable due to lost agricultural bonuses. But trade is kind of the hero here once again, since setting up buy orders for whatever you're out of can bail you out of a lot of tricky spots as long as you have cash. It's a little fiddly setting up a lot of different trades at a lot of different harbors the first time, but the interface is easy to work with, and once things were set, I didn't find I had to mess with them very often.

Nintendo has announced the first The Super Mario Galaxy Movie trailer will arrive as part of a new Nintendo Direct later this week.

News of the next update on The Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel arrived via the Nintendo Today! app, with Nintendo also confirming the news in a social media post on X/Twitter. The company confirmed no gaming content will be shown during the presentation, instead telling eager viewers to expect the premiere of the first The Super Mario Galaxy Movie trailer when the Nintendo Direct premieres this Wednesday, November 12, at 6 a.m. PT / 9 a.m. ET.

Join us on Wednesday, Nov 12, at 6am PT for the Nintendo Direct featuring the world premiere of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie official trailer. Please note that no game information will be included in this presentation.

Watch here: https://t.co/KNSvfYk64l pic.twitter.com/PfTUJTyMQ3

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) November 10, 2025

It’s unclear how long the Direct will be or how much of its runtime will be taken up by the trailer. You’ll be able to see The Super Mario Galaxy Movie trailer as it premieres via Nintendo Today! or YouTube.

This week’s surprise Direct will give Mario movie fans a closer look at how Nintendo and Illumination are bringing events and characters featured in Super Mario Galaxy to the big screen. The trailer follows a teaser video from a September Direct, which mostly served to debut new footage of Mario napping before a sweeping shot of the Mushroom Kingdom takes viewers up to the stars for a title reveal.

We know little about which Mario characters will show up for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, but leaks and various theories have fans expecting a jam-packed sequel. One recent Pillsbury leak features a first look at Yoshi, who was teased in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, as well as teasers for other characters, such as Bowser Jr. and Rosalina. Fans are also hoping The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will offer more information about Peach and Rosalina’s origins.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Direct premieres later this week. The movie itself has a release date of April 3, 2026. While we wait for updates, you can read about Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto and his life away from the iconic video game plumber.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

V for Vendetta is reportedly getting an HBO series.

Variety reports today that Pete Jackson (who wrote the British series Somewhere Boy and is not the Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, despite the similar name!) will write an adaptation of the comic series, with DC's James Gunn and Peter Safran, Poison Pen's Ben Stephenson, and Wall to Wall Media's Leanne Klein all executive producing. No other details are currently available on who is attached or how much of the comic the series would cover.

V for Vendetta is a graphic novel series by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd published in the 80s initially as part of the British comics anthology Warrior. The series follows V, a revolutionary hidden behind a Guy Fawkes mask, as he undertakes an ongoing mission to bring down a fascist state that has taken root in the series' dystopian British setting. He joins forces with Evey Hammond, a young woman he rescues from the secret police and who comes over time to adopt V's philosophies and, eventually, his goals.

The series has become even better known in recent years thanks to a 2005 film written and co-produced by Lana and Lilly Wachowski. The film featured a truncated version of the graphic novels' story and starred Hugo Weaving as V and Natalie Portman as Evey. Just days ago, it was announced that the film would return to theatres in 2026 in celebration of its 20th anniversary.

A V for Vendetta TV series has previously been suggested as a sequel to the series Pennyworth about Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred in 1960s London. The series was unfortunately canceled after its third season and never made a connection with V for Vendetta. It's a shame - we really liked the show.

Note: An earlier version of this story identified the writer of the prospective series as Peter Jackson rather than Pete Jackson. We regret the error.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Sometimes it’s impossible to beat those sugar cravings. The problem is, most sweets aren’t good for you — loaded with sugar, artificial flavors, and unnecessary ingredients. Beyond temporary joy, there are virtually no benefits from these treats, and the cycle continues, leading to more cravings and overeating.

Maybe you opt to go for that “healthy candy?” But the fake, alternative sugar almost always leaves an awful aftertaste and just can’t compete with the real McCoy. Enter Tandy Protein Nom Noms. These new bite-sized chocolate candies will satisfy your sweet tooth while using ingredients you know and adding a boost of protein for more health benefits.

AMD's best graphics card of 2025 has dropped to the lowest price of the year ahead of Black Friday. Walmart (via Newegg) currently has the ASRock Steel Legend Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB Graphics Card for just $619.99 shipped. The 9070 XT offers the best value for gamers looking to upgrade to a 4K monitor. It performs on par with Nvidia's popular GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and yet costs $100 less at retail price.

ASRock Steel Legend Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB GPU for $620

Every car absolutely needs a tire inflator as part of an emergency kit to be readily available at any time. If the only reason stopping you is the cost, then this deal should give you no more excuse. Ahead of Black Friday, Amazon is offering Prime members the Aneson cordless tire inflator and air compressor for just $14.99 after you apply $15 off coupon code "QVWFJ6XS" during checkout. Any brand of tire inflator you find on Amazon at around this price point was probably made from the one of few overseas factories. They might not have as many fancy features as other more expensive models, but they get the job done and that's what matters.

Aneson Cordless Tire Inflator and Air Compressor for $15

Ahead of Black Friday, the official LG Store just dropped the price on a current generation LG OLED TV. Right now you can order a massive 77" LG Evo C5 4K OLED Smart TV for $1,999.99 with free delivery, which also includes your choice of free stand setup or free wall mounting. LG is also offering a free LG S40T 2.1ch soundbar and TV wall mount when you add them to the same order. If you can't wait until Black Friday, this is a great deal on a 2025 OLED TV.

Purchase this TV (77" LG Evo C5) between November 6 and December 7, and you can receive an extra $200 virtual gift card (prepaid Mastercard) simply for writing a review. Details here.

77" LG Evo C5 4K OLED Smart TV for $1,999.99

Free LG S40T 2.1ch soundbar and wall mount (must add to the same order)

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.