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Netflix Reveals Legendary Batman Voice Actor Kevin Conroy's Posthumous Role in Devil May Cry Anime With New Trailer

Let the demon hunting begin. Netflix is giving Devil May Cry the anime treatment — and we finally have a taste of what it has in store with a brand new trailer the streamer just dropped. But what might be even more exciting is that the legendary late voice actor Kevin Conroy will posthumously star in the new game adaptation.

Conroy, who is best known and celebrated as the longtime voice of Bruce Wayne and Batman in the many animated films and TV shows that have focused on the character over the years, stars in the series as VP Baines, a new character that can be heard in voiceover at the beginning of the sneak peek.

Back in July 2024, Conroy was praised for his posthumous voice performance in Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part 3, so it’s awesome that fans will have another chance to experience his artistry after his untimely passing in November 2022 at the age of 66. Rounding out the cast alongside the late actor is Scout Taylor-Compton as Mary, Hoon Lee as White Rabbit, Chris Coppola as Enzo, and Johnny Yong Bosch as Dante himself.

According to the official synopsis provided by Netflix, “Sinister forces are at play to open the portal between the human and demon realms. In the middle of it all is Dante, an orphaned demon-hunter-for-hire, unaware that the fate of both worlds hangs around his neck.”

Producer Adi Shankar will serve as showrunner for the series. He is known for his work as executive producer on the 2012 Judge Dredd reboot film Dredd, as well as the Brad Pitt star vehicle Killing Them Softly from the same year, and 2014’s Ryan Reynolds vehicle The Voices. He is also slated to executive produce an adaptation of Assassin’s Creed, but considering it was announced in 2017 and still has yet to see the light of day, who knows if that series will ever actually get made? Fingers crossed, though.

Studio Mir, a well-established South Korean studio known for their work on popular projects like The Legend of Korra and X-Men ‘97, will serve as the chief production studio on this new series. Devil May Cry will be released on Netflix on April 3, 2025.

Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.

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Dark Regards Is a Comic With a Truly Ludicrous Back-Story

Dark Regards is easily the most intriguing new indie comics to come along in quite some time. It's a book whose back-story is as wild and crazy as the comic itself. But you can be the judge in our exclusive preview of Dark Regards #1.

Check out the slideshow gallery below for an exclusive look inside the new series, but beware of some NSFW language ahead!

Dark Regards is the brainchild of comedian/writer/musician Dave Hill and artist Artyom Topilin (Cruel Universe, I Hate This Place). The four-issue series is inspired by Hill's own experiences forming a fictional Satanic metal band called Witch Taint and the unexpected spiral of chaos that ensued.

Here's Oni Press' official description of the series:

Two decades ago, Dave Hill and his first band set out to rock their high school auditorium in a fury of heavy metal hellfire. They failed miserably. Years later, Dave has made a new life for himself as a rising star in the New York comedy scene – a career where getting laughed at on stage is the entire point and not just a tragic consequence. But when Dave's metal ambitions are re-awakened by the über self-serious, “Satanic” genre of Norwegian black metal, Dave creates a ridiculously hyperbolic alter ego and a band to match that, together, reignite the spark of his forgotten rock 'n roll fantasy. But when Dave's internet-fueled rumors of Witch Taint – a metal band “so extreme that you must remove all sharp objects from the immediate area” when their music is played – spreads all the way to Europe, his story will spiral dangerously out of control as Norway's most extreme black metal butchers come to reap their revenge . . . and put everything and everyone Dave holds dear in the crosshairs (of their axes, which, truth be told, don't actually have crosshairs, but, hey, it's a metaphor).

“A few years back, I sat down in my underwear late one night and decided to let my obsession with Norwegian black metal run wild by emailing a Norwegian black metal record label, telling them all the bands on their label sucked despite the fact that I had never listened to any of them, and suggesting they sign my extremely extreme black metal band Witch Taint, which had yet to record any music and didn't even exist beyond the band name I'd just made up on the spot,” said Hill in a statement. “This first email led to months of correspondence with the record label that I never intended for anyone to see. But the Internet being the Internet, eventually a lot of people saw it and things got nuts. Now, beyond my wildest dreams, this story has become my first comic book series Dark Regards, written by me and illustrated by the amazing Artyom Topilin. If you don't devour every single issue, you are basically insane.”

Dark Regards #1 is priced at $4.99 and will be released on May 13, 2025.

For more exclusive comic book previews, check out a look at the final issue of TMNT: The Last Ronin II and The Dark Knight Returns-inspired Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.

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Fracture Point, a New Roguelike FPS With Looter Shooter Elements, Announced for PC

Independent game developer Kyrylo Burlaka has revealed Fracture Point, his new fast-paced roguelike first-person shooter that promises procedurally generated levels with looter shooter elements "in a realistic dystopian metropolis engulfed in a war between a powerful corporation and the resistance."

Making your way up the corporation's skyscraper, you'll scavenge for gear and loot to upgrade your character as you go floor-by-floor fighting mercenaries, going toe-to-toe with security forces, and facing off against bosses. Watch the announcement trailer above and take a look at the first screenshots in the gallery below.

Fracture Point reminds me a lot of Criterion's classic PS2-era first-person shooter Black, and perhaps you'll agree when you watch the trailer. When I mentioned this to Burlaka, he said, "Criterion's games were a big part of my gaming experience growing up," so perhaps the comparison is warranted.

If you're interested in following Fracture Point's development progress and playing it as soon as it's ready, you can wishlist it on Steam.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

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Zenless Zone Zero Voice Actors Say They Found Out They Were Replaced When the Patch Notes Went Live

Two Zenless Zone Zero voice actors discovered they had been replaced when the game's patch notes went live, they have claimed, in the latest casualty of the battle for generative AI protections.

The Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists' (SAG-AFTRA) ongoing dispute with the video game industry revolves around the use of generative AI to replicate voice actor performances.

ZZZ, developed by Genshin Impact company HoYoverse, is not subject to the strike because it was in development before July 25, 2024, when the strike began. However, voice actors may choose not to sign new contracts in solidarity with striking union members, or in the absence of a SAG Interim Agreement.

Emeri Chase — who portrays Soldier 11 — said they were "replaced as Soldier 11 because I am unwilling to perform work not covered by a SAG Interim Agreement during a strike for AI protection, the outcome of which will determine the future of our industry." Nicholas Thurkettle, who played Lycaon, has been similarly replaced, although Thurkettle is not a union member.

"I'd like to clarify that there's a difference between being 'struck' and not being on an Interim Agreement," Chase explained in a thread on Bluesky (thanks, Eurogamer). "Union projects that began work prior to the strike and non-union projects are not 'struck.' But they also do not offer the Union-enforced AI rights we are fighting for.

"Many actors are choosing to voluntarily withhold work on these categories of projects because we feel it is the best way to support the union's fight for the protections that are critical to our continued ability to create the art we love."

Chase added that they knew "that by withholding work it was possible" they'd be replaced, but had "hoped [developer HoYoVerse] would choose to leave her silent until I was able to return."

"I found out the role was recast today alongside all of you," Chase said, while Thurkettle stated: "I'm learning about this as you are, and I share your shock. Neither HoYoverse nor Sound Cadence has communicated with me since October. I've been fully available and recorded multiple voice jobs in that time.

"I'm not SAG but what game companies want to do with AI is an existential threat. I took a personal stand to ask for protection, and had to be willing to give up the best thing that's ever happened in my professional life. I stand by my choice."

IGN has asked HoYoVerse for comment.

In a similar case from December, Activision confirmed it had recast some members of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 cast after fans noticed much-loved Zombies characters with new voices in-game.

The company issued a statement to Game Developer admitting characters in Black Ops 6’s Zombies mode were recast amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.

Zombies characters William Peck (Zeke Alton) and Samantha Maxis (Julie Nathanson) are currently voiced by new, unknown actors. Alton told Game Developer that he took no issue with Activision’s actions with Peck, but expressed concern “for my brand as a performer.”

“Fans of the game have reached out to me because the lack of crediting [of the replacement actor] implies that it may still be me which unfairly represents my abilities as a performer," Alton said at the time.

For more on how the strike has, and will continue to, affect the games you play, check out our feature from last year, What the SAG-AFTRA Video Game Actors Strike Means for Gamers.

Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

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Every Xbox Series X|S Controller Color You Can Buy Right Now

If there's any console manufacturer that truly embraces customization and color variety in its controllers—it's Xbox. For more than a decade, Xbox has released a steady stream of unique colors, patterns, and limited edition controllers across its Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles. And, if the official offerings aren't enough for you, Xbox Design Lab allows you to go wild creating your own controller design from scratch.

Aside from some minor tweaks to the design when the Xbox Series X|S launched in 2020, the Xbox Wireless Controller has largely gone unchanged since the Xbox One era. Even better, you can use your Xbox One controllers on Xbox Series X|S and vice-versa. But, if you're curious just how many official controllers Xbox has released since the beginning of the Series X|S generation, we've got you covered. Check out the full rundown below of every Xbox controller color by release date including standard, special edition, and limited edition controllers.

If you're looking for a good alternative, you can also check out our guide to more of the best Xbox controllers.

All Xbox Controller Colors by Release Date

Carbon Black Xbox Controller

Release Date: November 10, 2020

Released alongside the Xbox Series X in 2020, the slightly redesigned Xbox Wireless Controller featured the new Share button, hybrid D-pad, and textured grips and triggers.

Robot White Xbox Controller

Release Date: November 10, 2020

The Robot White controller released alongside the Xbox Series S in 2020 and is indentical in functionality to its Series X counterpart aside from its stark white color.

Shock Blue Xbox Controller

Release Date: November 10, 2020

Rounding out the trio of original controller colors debuting alongside the Xbox Series X|S, the Shock Blue controller was the only actual color available for the new generation for its first few months.

Pulse Red Xbox Controller

Release Date: February 9, 2021

The Pulse Red Xbox released just before Valentine's Day 2021, and what better way to show your love than to buy your partner this bright red controller?

Electric Volt Xbox Controller

Release Date: April 27, 2021

Xbox's next controller was the shocking Electric Volt color that falls somewhere between Mountain Dew and a highlighter. It's definitely a head-turner.

Deep Pink Xbox Controller

Release Date: May 17, 2022

The only standard controller option released in 2022 was the Deep Pink Xbox controller, featuring a vibrant pink color with matching buttons.

Velocity Green Xbox Controller

Release Date: March 7, 2023

Announced and released on the same day in 2023, the Velocity Green controller is surprisingly the first plain all-green controller released by Xbox since the transparent Xbox Controller S nearly 20 years ago.

Astral Purple Xbox Controller

Release Date: October 3, 2023

The most recent standard edition controller released nearly two years ago and features a rich, purple color that's as close in color that you're going to get to the console-exclusive Fortnite Xbox One controller, but without the gradient effect.

Every Special Edition Color

In addition to the standard colors above, Xbox has released a slew of "special edition" colors and patterns over the years. While some of these can be recreated today in Xbox Design Lab, if you're looking to pick up a retail version, your options may be limited to third-party resellers or refurbished models.

Daystrike Camo Special Edition Xbox Controller

Release Date: May 4, 2021

The first camo controller option for the Xbox Series X|S generation released in 2021 and featured a red camo pattern with deep red matching buttons.

Aqua Shift Special Edition Xbox Controller

Release Date: August 31, 2021

As the debut option for the three "Shift series" special edition controllers, the Aqua Shift controller features a shimmering blue color and is the first special edition controller to have dual-color swirls on the textured grips.

Mineral Camo Special Edition Xbox Controller

Release Date: September 28, 2022

Mineral Camo, the fourth camo-themed Xbox controller (second during the Xbox Series X|S generation) released featured a unique color scheme that included blues, purples, and teals.

Lunar Shift Special Edition Xbox Controller

Release Date: October 11, 2022

The Lunar Shift controller released in 2022 and was inspired by the "awe-inspiring aura of the moon" as its unique color shifts from gold to silver.

Stellar Shift Special Edition Xbox Controller

Release Date: February 7, 2023

The final member of the Shift series, Stellar Shift, featured a mesmerizing blue-purple color that exuded "deep space vibes" and came with a special dynamic background for your Xbox console when paired.

Arctic Camo Special Edition Xbox Controller

Release Date: May 2023

Interestingly enough, the Arctic Camo controller was actually a re-release of an earlier Xbox One version, but with the updated features of the modern Xbox Series X|S-era controllers. It was quietly released in the US in 2023 and made its way to the rest of the world in 2024.

Stormcloud Vapor Special Edition Xbox Controller

Release Date: August 8, 2023

The first of three "Vapor series" special edition controllers, Stormcloud Vapor featured a blue-and-black swirled design, matching grips, and a dynamic background for your console.

Gold Shadow Special Edition Xbox Controller

Release Date: October 17, 2023

The Gold Shadow special edition controller was the first new entry in the "Shadow series" since 2017 and featured a gradient gold to black design with a matching gold D-pad.

Dream Vapor Special Edition Xbox Controller

Release Date: February 6, 2024

The Dream Vapor controller is the second in the "Vapor series" and features a dreamy pink-and-purple swirl with matching grips plus a dynamic background unlocked on your Xbox when paired. Around the same time, Xbox also added the Vapor series to Xbox Design Lab for even more customization.

Nocturnal Vapor Special Edition Xbox Controller

Release Date: April 9, 2024

The final entry in the "Vapor series," Nocturnal Vapor, released in 2024 and featured swirling, earthy tones, but didn't include a matching dynamic background for some reason.

Sky Cipher Special Edition Xbox Controller

Release Date: August 13, 2024

Ah, yes. We've finally made it back to the fan-favorite transparent controllers reminiscent of the 90s and early 2000s. Sky Cipher released in late 2024 and featured a stunning see-through blue design with matching grips.

Ghost Cipher Special Edition Xbox Controller

Release Date: October 8, 2024

The second transparent color in the "Cipher series" is the Ghost Cipher special edition controller, which featured a clear see-through design and striking gold D-pad. Alongside its announcement, Xbox also revealed that transparent shells were also available for Elite controllers in Xbox Design Lab.

Pulse Cipher Special Edition Xbox Controller

Release Date: February 4, 2025

The final Cipher color, and most recently released special edition Xbox controller as of this writing, is the Pulse Cipher controller that features a deep red transparent hue as well as matching buttons and grips.

Every Elite Controller Color

Black Xbox Elite Controller (Series 2)

Release Date: November 4, 2019

Released about a year before the Xbox Series X|S, the second edition of the Xbox Elite controller featured a number of upgrades including better grips, more customization, and a redesigned D-pad that would go on to inspire the future Xbox Wireless Controller update.

White Xbox Elite Core Controller

Release Date: September 21, 2022

Released in 2022 as a lower-cost alternative to the standard Elite Series 2 controller, the Elite Core controller features the same design but only includes the thumbstick adjustment tool. If you're interested in picking up the rest of the customizable parts, you can purchase a Complete Component Pack from Microsoft for $60.

Red Xbox Elite Core Controller

Release Date: March 28, 2023

Released in 2023, this version of the Elite Core controller features a red faceplate, red buttons, and black grips.

Blue Xbox Elite Core Controller

Release Date: March 28, 2023

When there's a red version, there's almost always a blue version to accompany it. Released alongside its Red-hued counterpart, the Blue Elite Core controller features—you guessed it—a blue faceplate, matching buttons, and black grip.

Limited Edition Xbox Controllers

If standard and special edition controllers don't tickle your fancy, Xbox is no stranger to limited edition controllers either. Since the launch of the Xbox Series X|S, there have been a number of limited edition controllers for Xbox games such as Forza Horizon 5, Starfield, a Halo Infinite-themed Elite Controller, and most recently, a special edition controller for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

There have also been some...odd choices to say the least. In 2022, Xbox held a sweepstakes to win furry Sonic-themed controllers to promote Sonic 2, as well as some cheeky designs featuring Deadpool & Wolverine's literal asses on the back of the controller.

Some other newsworthy controllers include an environmentally-conscious controller made from recycled plastics and ground-up Xbox One controller parts, a transparent black controller to celebrate Xbox's 20th anniversary, and another entry in the "Vapor series" that caused Xbox to come under fire for it's poorly-timed tagline.

Arguably the biggest controller announcement during the Series X|S generation, though, is the return of Xbox Design Lab in 2021. Not only can you customize your perfect controller, but you can also create exclusive designs featuring popular franchises like Fallout and Call of Duty.

Matthew Adler is a Commerce, Features, Guides, News, Previews, and Reviews writer for IGN. You can follow him on the site formerly known as Twitter @MatthewAdler and watch him stream on Twitch

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All the Improvements and Features Revealed by the Battlefield 6 Gameplay Leaks

Battlefield's playtest is giving us plenty of sneaky peeks at what's to come in EA's shooter, and developer DICE has "loads of feedback from the very active testers selected." Unlike Battlefield 2042's lukewarm reception, fans seem pretty pleased with what they've seen so far, and the leaks have been so impressive, EA's not even trying to take them down yet.

While the Battlefield team has teased there's still more tests to come to give more players a chance to get involved, we've pulled together all the improvements and new features we've spotted so far.

Battlefield 6 has a drag mechanic

Perhaps most notable is the ability to drag wounded allies away to safety. At the time of writing, a video clip on the Battlefield subreddit showing off the new feature has had almost 8,000 upvotes.

In a post on X, Battlefield lead producer, David Sirland, confirmed he was "not okay with leaks," hinting that "[leakers] are [being] dealt with accordingly." Despite this, however, Sirland acknowledged that the new drag and revive feature is a key part of the "revive loop," adding: "I am expecting to see some interesting use in the next test on labs."

"With this feature, there's more of that fun interaction with more pieces to the puzzle," he teased. "There's some really fun combinations that can happen (it's cancellable at any time with hold version). I can't wait for you guys to start finding out what they are."

Battlefield 6 lets you cling on to vehicles

It also looks as though players can cling to vehicles, too, either to get around the map quicker or lie in wait for a perfect sneaky ambush. While some players still aren't sure if the images are merely enter/exit animations, this feature was rumored some time ago, and it appears the playtest now confirms it.

Battlefield 6 has improved in-game movement

There's also been a lot of positive chatter about in-game movement, too, with improved and/or reintroduced movement features such as crouch sprint, combat dive, and landing roll, as well as new visual indicators "to make it easier to understand when movements such as vaulting or leaning are possible."

Battlefield 6 reportedly has 3D maps

3D maps are back as well. According to sources who've played the pre-alpha playtest, it looks as though both the mini-map and the spawn screen maps are 3D. This makes it easier to see the elevation of tall buildings and landscapes, helping you choose the perfect spawn point. The last time we saw 3D maps in Battlefield was in 2018's Battlefield 5.

Battlefield 6 has improved destruction

Environmental destruction — a key part of Battlefield's appeal that can be used to give players a tactical advantage — is similarly beefed up, as this brief clip, with over 9000 upvotes and 600 comments, shows.

As for what's next? Lead producer Sirland revealed DICE now has "loads of feedback from the very active testers selected [...] in good amounts and in the right areas for us to be able to use it."

"There is a rationale to the approach we are taking, and it's working well so far. There will be more tests and we'll open up to more over time," he added.

Have we missed your favorite feature or mechanic? Let us know in the comments below.

EA has been playing its cards pretty close to its chest about the new Battlefield, and we still don't know when, exactly, it will launch. But EA's last financial report suggested it'll come sometime between April 2025 and March 2026.

Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

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Steelcase Karman High Back Review

Steelcase has been one of the biggest names in luxury office seating for decades, and the company recently released an update to its popular mesh Karman model that has gamers in its sights. This new model features a high-back design with some truly eye-catching mesh weaves. It's well-made and premium-priced, starting at $1,030, but if you’re looking for tons of adjustments like the Gesture, Leap, or Think, you might be left wanting more.

Steelcase Karman High Back – Design and Features

The Steelcase Karman High Back is a striking mesh computer chair. The Karman in general was already an eye-catcher, with its intricately woven fabrics, unique color combinations, and prominent contours, and the High Back takes those features and builds on them. It’s one of the most interesting and, in my opinion, best-looking mesh chairs you can buy right now.

While the original was a standard mid-back office chair, the High Back adds a sculpted backrest and integrated headrest. When I was initially approached about doing this review, the representative explained that the company had gamers in mind with this release. In a way, it's easy to see why. It's certainly a chair that you can lean back in with a controller and game comfortably. On the other hand, there are enough color options and the design is minimalist enough that it could easily fit into an office setting. It's a good-looking design that can work well in a variety of environments.

Like every Steelcase chair I’ve reviewed so far, it offers impeccable build quality and a fine attention to detail. Across the board, the Karman High Back feels well made and designed to last. It uses a metal frame with a flawless finish (color-matched to the color scheme of the chair) and high-quality open-weave Intermix fabric mesh. The material is simultaneously soft, flexible, and clearly robust. It feels soft to the touch, like traditional fabric chairs, and not plasticky like many mesh ergo seats. Time will have to tell, but upon close inspection, it doesn't seem like it would be prone to fraying like a more traditional thread might be with such an open weave.

I have to admit that the new high back design initially had me worried. Its prominent contours left me wondering if it would actually match my back or if I would find myself huddled in the middle without actually being supported. Thankfully, the backrest is designed to allow the mesh to flex and match the exact contours of your back. That said, I would still recommend picking up the optional adjustable lumbar accessory. While the mesh is able to flex, the lumbar support provided that little bit of extra support my lower back needed for long hours at my desk.

This new model comes with an integrated neckrest. Note that it isn’t a headrest and doesn’t work as one. It's small and thin, only moves up and down, and positioning it under the head forces you forward uncomfortably. Shifting it beneath the neck, however, allows the contoured high back to support the head much more naturally. That also means that the actual headrest is completely non-adjustable. I'm happy to see a neck support, but if a headrest is a make or break feature for you, I would highly recommend testing the chair before picking one up for yourself.

While I personally found the chair comfortable, I was surprised by the lack of adjustments it offers in comparison to other leading options in Steelcase's line. You can adjust the backrest across four levels, but two of these options are locks (upright and limited tilt). The other two offer more or less tension when you recline. It’s the same LiveBack system I remarked on in my review of the Think (2025).

The other adjustments are limited and basic. You can move the neckrest up and down, the armrests up, down, in, out, or tilt them to different angles, and adjust the chair's height. If you pick up the optional adjustable lumbar accessory, you can adjust that up and down too. There are no knobs to adjust the lumbar pressure or other fine adjustments. It's just two tabs that move a plastic-backed cushion up and down behind the mesh. Seat depth is also locked.

Steelcase does offer other benefits, however. There's a dedicated cushion beneath the seat rest, bringing the best of both worlds between traditional and mesh chairs. The edges of the chair are also soft, so you won’t need to worry about it digging into your skin. Steelcase also nails the cushions on the armrests. They’re firm enough to feel made-to-last but soft enough that you can actually lean on them without giving yourself a sore elbow. The contouring of the chair is also well done too, with a waterfall edge on the seat, and curves to guide you into a proper seating posture.

The Karman may also take the cake as Steelcase's best-looking chair. Unlike most mesh options on the market, you have the option of getting translucent or opaque fabric. The latter does a good job of masking the fact that it's even a mesh chair at all until you look closely. There are plenty of options to choose from too so you can find a color scheme that matches your personality. All told, there are a dozen different schemes to choose from, as well as two Intermix Shift options.

Intermix Shift is where things really get interesting for the aesthetics of the chair. It's named such because it weaves together two different hues of mesh to create a gradient that shifts depending on how you’re looking at it. As of this writing, there are two options: red-blue, and green-gold. I was sent the red and blue version, and the shifting, reactive gradient is downright beautiful.

Other customization options are more limited, though. Unlike the Think and Amia, you can't customize the color of the base or frame of the chair. Instead, that's dictated by your fabric color. You can choose between 4D armrests, height adjustable armrests, or no armrests at all, which, coincidentally, is where that base price of $1,030 comes in. You can also choose between wheels for carpet or hardwood floors with or without wheel hubs.

The cheapest version with armrests (height only) and the adjustable lumbar will set you back $1,269. The most expensive version, which includes opaque fabric, 4D armrests, the lumbar support add-on, and hubless wheels for hardwood floors tops out at $1,584. With its comparatively limited adjustments, this draws into question the value of the chair. While there's no mistaking its quality, if you really want your chair to be 100% tailored to you, it simply may not be the best option (even if it is the best looking one).

Steelcase Karman High Back – Performance

Over my years of testing chairs, I've come to recognize that I generally prefer fabric. I've sat in many mesh chairs and found them to be very comfortable, but between the two, I prefer the feel of soft fabric and supportive cushioning versus the breathable web of mesh seating. This is entirely subjective, of course, but I wanted to share that fact because some of my conclusions are going to be based on that personal preference, so keep your own tastes in mind.

The Intermix Shift fabric is excellent, and since it's a weave of different colors, it stands to reason that the other variations of Intermix would be equally soft and comfortable. There is nothing plasticky about this mesh. It feels very nice to touch and has a softness that I don't typically associate with this style of chair. At the same time, it maintains the benefits of being flexible and breathable, something that the seat cushion, surprisingly, doesn’t really hinder.

The design of the seat allows it to be significantly more comfortable than other mesh chairs I've tested. One of its defining qualities is that it has a very lightweight cushion directly under the seat, allowing you to have a cushioned seating experience while most others simply feel taut under your backside. It doesn't take up the entire surface of the seat, so it doesn't quite emulate a more traditional foam seating experience, even from Steelcase itself, but compared to typical mesh designs, it's a big improvement.

The backrest takes some getting used to, but I did eventually come around on it. The first couple of days were a learning experience as I adapted to its contours. The upper back is far more curved than any other chair I've tried. Once I was used to it, however, I came to enjoy it. You have to relax and settle in and get that neckrest positioned correctly for everything to come together.

Head support is fine thanks to the adjustable neckrest, but I wish there was some adjustability in its support. The neckrest does well positioning your head so that the contoured back can fill the role of a headrest too, but it falls short of a truly adjustable headrest like the one found on the Gesture.

The armrests are surprisingly less adjustable than on the Think and Amia – there seems to be less width adjustment, and they don't seem to move quite as smoothly either. They get the job done, and practically speaking, the differences in range aren’t that large. The soft but durable padding on the armrests is a much more important quality, and Steelcase nails it. Even so, it's hard not to feel like they are a step down from those other models. It was able to accommodate gaming with a keyboard and mouse or a controller easily, however, and could be positioned to support my arms over extended typing sessions too.

The lack of adjustments is disappointing. I would have much preferred to see a recline tensioner instead of the LiveBack system included here. LiveBack is based on body weight, according to the company, but in practice, it really just provides you with low or high resistance when leaning back. I personally found the higher resistance setting to be too great and the lower resistance setting to be too loose. I eventually settled on the low resistance option so the chair didn't feel like it was fighting me. But I wasn't able to dial in an exact setting for my weight and sitting habits.

The adjustable lumbar support also seems woefully overpriced for what it is. You'll have to pay upwards of $50 to have it added to your chair. And while it does work, it really seems like a cushioned fabric strip with plastic structural support. My perception here is probably influenced by the chair's limited adjustments overall since it’s functional and doesn’t seem particularly weak or prone to breakage. But this is an expensive chair and it’s strange to see it so good in some areas and limited in others.

The overall impression is that while the Karman High Back is comfortable, well-made, and features several unique design elements, the biggest selling point of this chair is that it looks incredible. You are making some clear trades in form over functionality, and if that's what you value in a luxury seat, more power to you. Given what's available elsewhere in Steelcase's line-up and the wider market, I wish there was more here to really make it your own.

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Pokémon Go Dev Moves to Reassure Players After $3.5 Billion Sale to Monopoly Go! Company Is Confirmed

Niantic Inc. has confirmed the sale of Pokémon Go, Pikmin Bloom, Monster Hunter Now, and their development teams to the Saudi-owned maker of Monopoly Go! for $3.5 billion.

An additional $350 million of cash from Niantic is being distributed as part of the deal, yielding a total value of approximately $3.85 billion for Niantic equity holders.

In a note to press, Scopely, which is owned by Saudi investment company Savvy Games, said the Niantic games business has over 30 million monthly active players (MAUs), over 20 million weekly active players, and saw more than $1 billion in revenue in 2024. Pokémon Go is the jewel in the crown, ranking as a top 10 mobile game every year since its launch nearly a decade ago, with over 100 million unique players in 2024.

Niantic said its game team has “exciting long-term roadmaps that they will continue to build upon as part of Scopely.”

“This partnership ensures that our games have the long term support needed to be ‘forever games’ that will endure for future generations,” Niantic said in a blog post.

“Players can expect that the games, apps, services, and events they know and love will continue to receive Scopely’s ongoing investment, driven by the same teams that have always created these experiences.”

In a separate blog post, Pokémon Go chief Ed Wu moved to reassure players who had already expressed concern about the fate of the game if a sale were to go through.

“As it’s always important to me, and our entire game team, that our community understands and is excited by the long-term vision for this game, I want to share why I believe a partnership with Scopely will be a positive step for all of you and the game’s future,” Wu, who was the original engineer on the Pokémon Go codebase and was there for its massive 2016 launch, said.

“Scopely expressed a deep admiration for this community and our team. I have every belief Pokémon Go will further flourish as part of Scopely, not only into its second decade, but for many more years to come, under the mission of discovering Pokémon in the real world and inspiring people to explore together,” Wu continued.

“Our new partnership, along with our decade long partnership with The Pokémon Company, means we can maintain this long-term focus. Scopely fully believes in our mission and ongoing goal to create the best Pokémon Go experience possible. Their focus will be to support our team, providing resources to continue delivering the gameplay you all know and love.

“The entire Pokémon Go team is staying together through this partnership. The same people who have been guiding and building the game for years will continue doing what we love. We’re always continually adding to the game - Raid Battles, friends, Go Battle League, Routes, Dynamax/Gigantamax, and, of course, Pokémon Go Fest and our live events - which I look forward to continuing to do for many years to come. Scopely empowers their game teams as autonomous groups to go after the roadmaps that they’re inspired to pursue, and what each team believes is best for the player experience. This approach is extremely appealing to us at Niantic games. I have spoken to a number of game leaders at Scopely who have given me great confidence in how the company enables each game to independently develop and creatively thrive.

“We will be joining a broader organization dedicated to games. I believe that Pokémon Go can continue to thrive with Scopely’s exclusive and long-term focus on game-making. Scopely’s status as a private company also means we can prioritize what’s best for you, our Trainers, for the long term. We believe that prioritizing short-term gains at the expense of our long-term mission would be counterproductive and self-defeating. Every interaction I’ve had with Scopely leaders has reinforced that we are in total agreement that the scale, longevity and most of all, real world community, of Pokémon Go make it truly special. We are united in protecting that.

“With Scopely’s full commitment, experience and resources, we’re going to make Pokémon Go the very best it can be – with incredible battles for thousands of Trainers at a time at our live events and new ways to connect to your friends and community, all while remaining focused on the excitement and experience of discovering Pokémon in the real world. We have invested to empower thousands of Community Leaders and Ambassadors who lead millions of Trainers to play together in the real world, and Scopely is in full agreement that this highly-admired program will be a priority to invest in together. The real-world community that loves Pokémon Go will remain our guiding light in all we do.

“Our partners at The Pokémon Company have always been central to how we build this game together, starting with the physics of the first Poké Ball throw that we hand-tuned together. I am incredibly grateful for their daily wisdom, guidance, and careful stewardship of our shared vision for discovering Pokémon in the real world, and I’m very excited that our partnership with The Pokémon Company will continue as it has for the last decade.

“I won’t say that Pokémon Go will remain the same, because it has always been a work in progress. But how we create and evolve it will remain unchanged, and I hope that we can make the experience even better for all of you.

“I have so much gratitude for the incredible joy of serving hundreds of millions of Trainers in our real-world community for the past nine years, and I truly believe the best is yet to come.”

Elsewhere, Niantic said it’s spinning off its controversial geospatial AI business into a new company, Niantic Spatial Inc., “enabling it to accelerate and scale even more rapidly.” Scopely is a $50 million investor in this new venture, which also has $200 million from Niantic itself.

Niantic Spatial will continue to own and operate its other real-world AR games, Ingress Prime and Peridot.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

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Ingenious Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Players Are Using Deadly Bouncing Blades to Kill Hapless Campers From Outside the Map

In the world of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 competitive multiplayer, there are thousands upon thousands of final kills captured and published online by players delighted with their online exploits. But few are better than this.

Ricochet Blades are unique ammo for the D1.3 Sector secondary weapon, introduced with the controversial Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles event last month. It wasn’t long after the ammo made its way in-game that the Ricochet Blades became a talking point for their unpredictable trajectory as they bounce off multiple surfaces.

Player kev99gh captured and published the final kill in a round of hardcore Search and Destroy on the Lowtown map in which they bounced a Ricochet Blade, affectionately known as a “pizza” by the community, out of the map then back inside for a one-hit kill on an enemy player who dared to peek out a window.

kev99gh’s astonishing clip may well be the longest Ricochet Blade kill yet, given it bounces outside the map itself. In the video we see kev99gh line up the shot from behind cover, then let fly, aiming out into the unknown. kev99gh then switches to the overhead map view to track the blade, which moves alongside the edge of the map before bouncing back towards the window for the kill.

Elaborate, seemingly improbable blade bounce trick shots like this aren’t just down to luck. Redditor SpawnTubing, who posted kev99gh’s clip to the platform, said the Black Ops 6 crew “look for and practice for common spots people camp.” And, as commenters have pointed out, the way the unsuspecting enemy player peeked just as the “pizza” flew in the window is "peak" Black Ops 6 timing. We’ve all been there.

Indeed, it seems Black Ops 6’s Ricochet Blades have sparked something of a bounce kill meta, with a number of not quite as impressive kills across the game’s various Multiplayer maps making their way online. Some of these kills, like the one below, involve multiple bounces before they make their way to their target.

Some players aren’t so impressed and have said the bouncing blades are frustrating and annoying to play against. These critics won't be happy that developer Treyarch recently buffed the Ricochet Blades’ physics and bouncing speeds via an update, ensuring they one-hit kill on contact. There's the relevant patch note:

D1.3 Sector

Our initial design for the D1.3 Sector Ricochet Blades revolved around quickly launching many high-speed blades, meant to perform best blind firing into enclosed spaces. We have been following your feedback and agree that, in practice, the use cases for this ammo type are too low. The Ricochet Blades will now do 100 damage to enable one-hit kills, and to compensate we are lowering the fire rate and projectile speed. We think the popularity of this ammo type will see some new interest with these changes and look forward to seeing more of your cross-map killcams in MP.

  • Ricochet Blades
    • Increased damage from 75 to 100.
    • Decreased rate of fire.
    • Decreased projectile velocity.
    • Improved bouncing speeds and physics.

It seems the tyranny of the Ricochet Blades is set to intensify, then, with Season 3 and the much-anticipated return of Verdansk to Warzone waiting in the wings.

Image credit: kev99gh / YouTube.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

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Capcom Was on Its Knees After Resident Evil 6, Now Monster Hunter Wilds Cements Its Golden Era — Here's How It Did It

With Monster Hunter Wilds breaking Steam records and Resident Evil more popular than ever thanks to Village and a handful of stellar remakes, it’s almost as if Capcom is incapable of failure. But that wasn’t always the case. Less than a decade ago, after a string of critical and commercial flops, Capcom was on its knees. It had lost its way and its audience.

Capcom was suffering from an identity crisis. Resident Evil, which established the survival horror genre, had lost its bite after Resident Evil 4. Another big hitter, Street Fighter, was on the ropes after the poorly-received Street Fighter 5. It could easily have been the critical end of Capcom and its much-loved games.

But in the darkness, there was light. A change in the way Capcom made its games, supported by a powerful new game engine, gave these much-loved series a new lease of life, and kickstarted years of critical and financial success that catapulted Capcom back into the big league.

Resident Evil Lost Its Way

2016 was a bad year for Capcom.

The big Resident Evil game released that year was Umbrella Corps, an online co-op shooter that was pummeled by reviewers and fans alike. Meanwhile, Street Fighter 5 was met by a collective eyebrow raise from longtime fans who could hardly believe this lackluster fighting game was the sequel to the brilliant Street Fighter 4. And Dead Rising 4, which featured the long-awaited return of beloved photojournalist Frank West, would end up being the series’ final new entry.

This was the low ebb of a string of forgettable years Capcom had endured since 2010. The mainline Resident Evil games were met with diminishing critical reception despite strong sales. Street Fighter was on the ropes thanks to a poorly received new entry, and Capcom mainstays like Devil May Cry were nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, the company’s most popular and successful franchise at the time, Monster Hunter, was huge in Japan but struggled breaking into international markets.

"Many of us started feeling that what the fans and players wanted from the series was getting a little bit separate from what we were making.”

All of this is a far cry from the Capcom we know today. Since 2017, Capcom has been one of the few major development studios that has rarely missed a beat. The Osaka-based company has released a stream of hit games from its most famous franchises, racking up both sales and accolades. We’re talking about a run of releases that includes Monster Hunter World, Devil May Cry 5, Street Fighter 6, and a trio of industry-leading remakes plus an acclaimed soft reboot of the Resident Evil series. In short: lately, Capcom seems incapable of failure. .

Achieving this success took more than simply learning from mistakes. Capcom had to re-think its entire strategy, from the type of players it targeted to the technology it used, to make such a turnaround possible. To learn more about this seismic shift, IGN sat down with four of Capcom’s leading creatives to find out how one of gaming’s most successful gaming companies tripped, fell, and picked itself up better than ever.

Capcom was founded in 1979 as a maker of electronic game machines, or “capsule computers”. It rose to ascendency during the 80s and 90s thanks to 2D games like Street Fighter and Mega Man, and then made the all-important jump to 3D with games like Resident Evil. Between 2000 and 2010 Capcom successfully transitioned many of its big, golden-era franchises into the modern age, a process that gave birth to one of the greatest games of all time: Resident Evil 4.

2005’s Resident Evil 4 is considered by many to be a generational high point thanks to its ingenious mix of horror and action. But that mix altered the course of the Resident Evil franchise dramatically. At its core, Resident Evil 4 is a horror game, inspired by the likes of Friday the 13th, H.P. Lovecraft, and the works of John Carpenter. But sprinkled between the strands of its horror DNA are tremendously effective moments of Hollywood action cinema.

Unfortunately, this ideal balance between horror and action was lost in subsequent games. In 2009’s Resident Evil 5, hero Chris Redfield punches a car-sized boulder with his bare fists, and infected enemies are gunned down in a car-chase sequence that’s more Fast and Furious than frightening. The series was losing its identity and this was clear to both players and the developers like Resident Evil 4 remake director Yasuhiro Ampo who’s been working on Resident Evil games since 1996.

“Overall throughout the Resident Evil series, we set up different goals, challenges, and things we want to try with each game… But this time, many of us started feeling that what the fans and players wanted from the series was getting a little bit separate from what we were making,” Ampo says.

This directional confusion would result in games like 2012’s Resident Evil 6, a game that tried to have its cake and eat it too. In order to please both action and horror fans, Resident Evil 6 split the game between six playable characters and three unique storylines. Each section catered to either horror or action fans, and so never achieved that all-important balance of both genres, which ultimately left nobody truly satisfied. Disgruntled fans shared their disappointment in these new, action-packed Resident Evil games online, while the developers continued experimenting with spinoffs that ventured into new territory like online co-op.

This downward trend was not exclusive to Capcom’s survival horror series, though. Not so long after the release of Resident Evil 4, the company’s Street Fighter team was also flying high. Street Fighter 4 was an instant hit thanks to its unique art-style and great cast of new and returning characters. It became an immediate hit at fighting game tournaments and in college dorms alike.But, like with Resident Evil, Capcom failed to match those highs with a sequel. Compared to its imaginative and full-fledged predecessor, 2016’s Street Fighter 5 was criticized for releasing barebones with hardly any single player content, as well as its abysmal online functionality. Fans cite a clear lack of polish and a confusing philosophy towards balance that made the overall experience just plain frustrating.

But it wasn’t just Street Fighter and Resident Evil that were struggling. Almost every key franchise struggled to make a mark. Devil May Cry, the studio’s popular, heavy-metal action game was seeing diminishing returns to the point where Capcom outsourced the next game in the series, 2013’s DmC: Devil May Cry, to UK-based studio Ninja Theory. While it’s gone on to become something of a cult title, DmC’s fresh take on the series’ mythology, redesigned protagonist, and sluggish 30fps frame rate was met with vitriol from online fans. Perhaps unsurprisingly, after such a muted reception the series was shelved until further notice.

This slate of misfortunes defines the Capcom of the early to mid-2010s. Key franchises struggled to replicate the successes of the past, while other titles were put in cold storage. New games attempting to capture the western market, like Lost Planet and Asura’s Wrath, also failed to land with audiences. There was the odd bright spot, like Dragon’s Dogma, the new dark fantasy RPG from Devil May Cry director Hideaki Itsuno, but for the most part Capcom’s focus was all over the place.

It was clear something needed to change.

Street Fighter 5, The Lost Cause

By the mid-2010s Capcom had begun to enact a number of strategy-shifting changes that would totally transform the company’s fate. Such changes had to begin small, and so the first matter of business was putting out the existing fires. Street Fighter 5 needed to be fixed. And so Capcom enlisted director Takayuki Nakayama and producer Shuhei Matsumoto to help steer the troubled game towards stability.

While neither were there from the ground floor of Street Fighter 5’s development, and therefore can’t detail why Street Fighter 5 was released in the state it was, the duo inherited a game that greatly needed some substantial fixes in order to regain the trust of fans.

“There definitely were some challenges within the production of the game, and that was part of the reason why I was brought into the team,” Nakayama admits. “And because we were in a point in development where we couldn’t really make any major pivots or shifts, we had to proceed and move forward in the direction we were currently in, which created constraints on what we could and couldn’t do.”

Those constraints severely limited the scope of what the pair could achieve. And so rather than transform Street Fighter 5 into a S-tier game, much of the work Nakayama did was fixing the game’s most pressing problems and biding his time until work could begin on Street Fighter 6.

"We just didn’t really have enough time to address some of the problems and challenges we faced in Street Fighter V," Nakayama says. "And so, with our hands tied behind our backs, we basically had to wait for those ideas to be brought back for the initial conceptual phases for Street Fighter 6, so we could tackle and do things properly for the next title."

All this considered, why did Capcom not just end Street Fighter 5’s development and begin working right away on a sequel? If it was such a weight around the necks of the developers, couldn’t they just start from scratch? According to Matsumoto, abandoning Street Fighter 5 just wasn’t in the cards. There wasn’t any sort of sense of like, ‘Okay let’s just end Street Fighter 5 and focus on Street Fighter 6.’ It was more like, while we were working on Street Fighter V, we were trying to figure out what we really wanted to do in Street Fighter 6 content-wise,” he says.

“Basically, we tried different things during the development of Street Fighter 5 to see if it worked and then we took the things that did work and applied that to Street Fighter 6. It was like the development of Street Fighter V was an ongoing process that helped us figure out, ‘Okay, what is it that we want to do for the next level?”

"We were in a point in development where we couldn’t really make any major pivots or shifts, we had to proceed and move forward in the direction we were currently in, which created constraints on what we could and couldn’t do.”

The team treated Street Fighter 5 as a lab where they could learn from their design mistakes and figure out what to do differently for the sequel. The years-long process required careful consideration of the game’s every core aspect, which informed several important changes . There were numerous updates, starting with the fundamentals like steady improvements to the netcode and character re-balances, and progressing all the way up to new characters, V-Triggers, and even entire new mechanics like V-Shift, a new defensive move that provided a brief window of invincibility that the devs were considering introducing in Street Fighter 6 but decided to test in Street Fighter 5.

There was a much larger goal for all these improvements beyond just elevating the game to an acceptable level, though. Capcom was on a mission to rediscover the fun. At the end of the day, fighting games should be enjoyable to play, but Street Fighter 5 had become a somewhat frustrating discipline to master.

“We both realized that fighting games are fun, and when you get used to them, it becomes more enjoyable and something you can essentially play forever as long as you have an opponent to play against,” Matsumoto says. “However, one of the challenges that we faced with Street Fighter V is that we felt that there wasn’t a clear pathway that helped guide players to get to that level where they finally feel like they’re having fun and will want to continue playing.”

Street Fighter had previously tried to be more approachable by lowering the difficulty, but this only served to turn off longtime fans. Instead, Street Fighter 6’s approach was to expand the tools available to new players while giving experienced fans everything they already loved about the series.

While they could have cut their losses on Street Fighter 5 and immediately tried to win fans back with a sequel, Nakayama and Masuhiro knew that this would be a shortcut that didn’t grow Street Fighter in any meaningful way. But by sticking with Street Fighter 5 and using it as a testbed for new ideas, 2023’s Street Fighter 6 was able to launch as one of the most critically-acclaimed games in the entire franchise.

While Matsumoto and Nakayama were able to take the work put into Street Fighter 5 Arcade Edition and apply the lessons they learned to Street Fighter 6, it was important that Capcom did not repeat these kinds of situations and be forced into having to overhaul games again. A significant shift in strategy was needed that would prevent such a disaster ever happening. And that’s where a couple of vital behind-the-scenes changes came into play.

Monster Hunter Took Over The World

Around the time of Street Fighter 5’s launch in 2016, Capcom underwent an internal reorganization in order to prepare for a new generation of games. These games would run on the company’s brand new RE Engine, a replacement for Capcom’s ageing MT Framework. But this change was about more than just tools. Alongside the engine upgrade came a new mandate to ensure Capcom’s games were being made not just for existing, territory-specific fans, but for a global audience.

“It was a few factors that came together,” says Hideaki Itsuno, a former game director at Capcom best known for his work on Devil May Cry. “The change of the engine and also all teams were given a very clear goal at that point to make games that reach the global market. [Games] that are fun for everyone.”

If you look at almost all of Capcom’s games released during the PS3 and Xbox 360 era, you get the feeling that the company was going all-in on trying to capture an imagined version of the “Western games market.” The action-heavy Resident Evil 4 was a big hit, true. But the more gun-focused spinoffs like Umbrella Corps, as well as the sci-fi shooter series Lost Planet, were all clearly chasing late-2000s Western gaming trends to no avail. After several years, Capcom realized it needed to create games that could appeal to everyone, not just fans of traditional Western genres.

“I think that we had that clear goal of just focusing and not holding anything back,” Itsuno says. “Towards making good games that would reach people from all over the world.”

Itsuno notes that the time leading up to 2017 was pivotal. “The changes in organization and the changes in the engine, all these elements came together around that time,” he says. When Resident Evil 7 launched that year, it kickstarted a Capcom renaissance.

“I think that we had that clear goal of just focusing and not holding anything back towards making good games that would reach people from all over the world.” 

No other series embodies this new company goal for global success better than Monster Hunter. While it had its diehard fans in the West, for decades Monster Hunter was much, much bigger in Japan than the rest of the world. The series was never conceived to be something that was only big in Japan, but there were real-world factors as to why this happened.

Firstly, Monster Hunter found tremendous success moving from PlayStation 2 to the PSP with Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. The handheld gaming market has always been much stronger in Japan than in the West, as seen with the success of not just the PSP but also Nintendo’s DS and, more recently, the Switch.The popularity of handhelds in Japan is rooted in a number of factors, but the thing that really worked for Monster Hunter, according to the series’ executive producer Ryozo Tsujimoto, was that Japanese gamers were able to reliably play with friends thanks to the widespread adoption of mobile consoles.

“20 years ago in Japan, having a network connection wasn't as easy, and there weren’t a huge amount of people playing Monster Hunter online. However, handheld consoles made multiplayer gameplay easy without internet access, and I regard it as a great success that we had players experience the game in this way, which was one of the ways we really wished for them to play and enjoy it, even in that era when online gameplay wasn't easy.”

Monster Hunter, which is built on a core pillar of cooperative play, recognized that this aspect would best be served when friends could quickly jump into hunts together. There was no better avenue for that at the time than handheld consoles. Thanks to Japan’s mobile games market, it meant Monster Hunter was being developed for a local market first, even if that wasn’t an intentional approach.

This created a loop of sorts. Monster Hunter games would become best-sellers primarily in Japan, and to keep pace with the audience, Capcom would release Japan-only content and host Japan-only special events, further reinforcing Monster Hunter as a “Japan-only” brand.

But the reality was that Monster Hunter did have fans in the west, and they were enviously looking from the outside in as Japanese players received exclusive tie-ins and quests. But as the Western world improved its internet infrastructure and online play became practically mandatory for most console gamers, Tsujimoto and the team saw an opportunity to launch their most advanced and most globally-accessible Monster Hunter game to date.

Released in 2018 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, Monster Hunter: World was a gigantic change for the franchise. Rather than being scoped for small, less-capable handheld consoles, it delivered large-scale, AAA console quality action with souped up graphics, bigger areas, and, of course, bigger monsters.

“Our approach to the globalization of the series and Monster Hunter in general really ties into not only the themes that we had going into designing the game, but also in the name of the game,” Tsujimoto reveals. “The fact that we called it Monster Hunter: World is really kind of a nod to the fact that we wanted to appeal to this worldwide audience that we wanted to really dig into and experience Monster Hunter for the first time.”

It was also vital that Monster Hunter: World not do anything that gave off the impression that Capcom was prioritizing one market over the other. Monster Hunter: World would be released simultaneously worldwide, and there wouldn’t be exclusive content locked to Japan, something Tsujimoto says “comes with realigning ourselves to hit those global standards that people come to expect of titles around the world.”

It wasn’t just a matter of making sure other regions got Monster Hunter: World at the same time as Japan (though it certainly helped). Tsujimoto and co. drilled deep to see what other ways Monster Hunter’s formula could be tweaked to broaden its appeal with players from all around the world.

“For World, we conducted focus tests across the world, and some of the feedback and opinions that we got during that process really affected how we designed our game systems and impacted how much success we had globally,” Tsujimoto says.

One important change that resulted from these playtests was simply showing damage numbers when players hit the monsters. Little tweaks here and there to an already successful formula drove Monster Hunter to the greatest heights it had ever reached. Previous Monster Hunter games had typically sold around 1.3 to 5 million copies, not including re-releases and special editions. Monster Hunter: World and its 2022 follow-up, Monster Hunter Rise, both recorded sales greater than 20 million copies.

“The fact that we called it Monster Hunter: World is really kind of a nod to the fact that we wanted to appeal to this worldwide audience that we wanted to really dig into and experience Monster Hunter for the first time.”

This explosion of player growth didn’t happen by accident. Instead of changing the spirit of Monster Hunter to suit Western tastes, Tsujimoto and the team found ways to open up the series’ unique (and, admittedly, obtuse) nature to a wider audience without making sacrifices. This approach continues with the series’ latest game, Monster Hunter Wilds.

“At its heart, Monster Hunter really is an action game, and that sense of accomplishment you get from really mastering that action is an important aspect of Monster Hunter,” Tsujimoto explains. “But for newer players, it's really about getting to that point. The steps involved in getting to that sense of accomplishment is what we're trying to strategize for, in terms of designing for new players. So with World and Rise, for example, we were taking great care to analyze where players got stuck, what was hard to understand, what they were having trouble with, getting player feedback, and also doing our own kind of research into that. And all of that kind of knowledge has impacted how we've implemented new systems into Wilds.”

Resident Evil 7 Began Turning Things Around

Monster Hunter had a winning formula.The challenge Capcom faced was finding ways to convince global audiences to give it a shot. But it was not such a straightforward task for every series in the company’s portfolio. When it came to Resident Evil, the development team had to decide which of the series’ intertwined formulas was a winner; gory action or survival horror. Ultimately it was Resident Evil executive producer Jun Takeuchi who made the call.

“It was around the time I was working on Resident Evil Revelations 1 and 2. I was trying to test different things, try different approaches,” recalls Resident Evil 2 and 4 Remake director Yasuhiro Ampo recalls. “And around this time is when the R&D teams were divided into R&D division one and two. The executive producer of the Resident Evil series, Jun Takeuchi, took command of R&D division one, and he set the core direction that the Resident Evil series needed to go back to its origins, to its roots.”

Takeuchi ruled that Resident Evil must focus on survival horror as its guiding light. This proved to be the right decision. Resident Evil 7 was announced at PlayStation’s E3 2016 conference with a moody trailer shot in first-person, showing the insides of a dilapidated house. I was there in attendance when the Roman numeral for seven appeared, followed by the title Resident Evil. The convention hall roared in excitement.

“We cannot underestimate how critical it is for the series for it to be scary."

There were, of course, questions about how Resident Evil could make the jump to first-person. By that point, third-person, over-the-shoulder gunplay had become synonymous with the series. It turns out, however, that in exchange for moving to a first-person perspective, Resident Evil regained something it had lost: It became scary again.

“With Resident Evil 7, the executive producer, Jun Takeuchi, made it clear that we cannot underestimate how critical it is for the series for it to be scary and about survival. So he made it clear that Resident Evil 7 would go back to its origins, it would be very cautious with its survival elements. And with that as a basis, then we would try new and different things,” Ampo says.

The game was a hit. While maybe not quite operating on the same level as Resident Evil 4, this significant shift in direction allowed for a welcome return to survival horror. Thanks to its unsettling and claustrophobic southern gothic setting, Resident Evil 7 ranks as one of the scariest games in the entire series.

But Capcom wasn’t going to abandon the third-person perspective that was so key to the series’ DNA. While new mainline titles like Resident Evil 7 and 8 would stay in first-person, Capcom planned to release third-person games through a series of brand-new remakes, starting with Resident Evil 2. Capcom realized there was a demand for remakes thanks to the appearance of several fan projects at the time.

“It was like, ‘all right people really want this to happen.’ So producer [Yoshiaki] Hirabayashi came up with the slogan: ‘Well, we’ll do it,’” Ampo reveals.

The result is one of the best games in the entire series. The Resident Evil 2 remake is a perfect blend of horror, combining all the action and puzzles fans have come to expect from the series with a new menacing Tyrant system that allows the hulking Mr. X to continuously stalk you throughout the Raccoon City police station. Under Ampo’s direction, Resident Evil 2 Remake became the second best-selling Resident Evil game in the franchise’s history.

"Resident Evil 4 is a game that is so beloved. If we get anything wrong with the remake, people might be quite vocal about their discomfort.”

Naturally, Capcom would follow up its incredible success with a remake of Resident Evil 3, another PlayStation 1 game that could clearly benefit from a modern reinvention. But, following that, surely Capcom wouldn’t remake Resident Evil 4 – a game that still felt refreshingly modern despite being almost 20 years old. Why touch something many considered to be almost perfect?

Ampo reveals that there was some hesitation to tackle Resident Evil 4 for sure. “As you mentioned, [Resident Evil 4] was still a title that enjoyed some popularity. So there was a lot of internal discussion on how maybe it’s not a good idea. Maybe we don’t need a remake for Resident Evil 4, especially because Resident Evil 4 is a game that is so beloved. If we get anything wrong with the remake, people might be quite vocal about their discomfort.”

But despite any initial hesitation, the team pushed through with a remake and the results speak for themselves. Resident Evil 4 Remake was another bonafide hit. Much of its success comes down to the biggest changes, which were focused on fine-tuning the action-horror ratio to achieve Takeuchi’s goal of keeping the series true to its survival horror roots. And so gone were some of the original game’s campier elements, replaced by a moodier, darker tone that still kept the heart-pounding action hero moments.

Around the same time as Resident Evil’s rediscovery of its horror core, longtime Devil May Cry director, Hideaki Itsuno, had a similar epiphany. After a brief sojourn into the RPG world with Dragon’s Dogma, Itsuno watched as the action genre began to soften in order to appeal to a more casual audience. And so when the chance to direct Devil May Cry 5 arrived, Itsuno saw an opportunity to challenge the audience of a genre he felt was in need of a good kick in the ass. He would do so in spectacular fashion, achieved by leveraging the company’s most powerful game engine to date.

The Reason Behind The Change

“I felt like the main trend with action games was to make action games that were very kind,” Itsuno admits. “Maybe, for me, a little bit too kind to the players, lending a hand to the player too much to my liking.”

Itsuno took over director duties on Devil May Cry starting with the second game in the series, and has since helmed every new iteration, save for Ninja Theory’s DmC. Following the release of Devil May Cry 4 in 2008, it would be almost 11 years before Itsuno directed another Devil May Cry game. But when he did finally return, he would oversee one of the most critically and financially successful games in the entire franchise.

The 10 years away from the franchise gave Itsuno time to figure out where he wanted to take the series. And more importantly he would return with a new arsenal of tech. "Technology-wise, there were not just little improvements that you would have when you work on a series consecutively," Itsuno says. "When there’s a wide timeframe, [the technology] changes significantly.”

This vision coincided with the launch of Capcom’s new RE Engine. It’s the engine that most of Capcom’s games run on today. Replacing the old MT Framework that had powered everything from Dead Rising to Monster Hunter World, the major upshot of the RE Engine was its handling of photorealistic assets. This gave Capcom’s development teams access to higher levels of visual fidelity than ever before. It was also much nimbler than its predecessor, making it easier to implement changes if something wasn’t working as it should.

"Ever since I took over the series from Devil May Cry 3, I put everything that I, as a person, I considered throughout my life to be cool."

Ampo tells me the origins of the RE Engine thus, "So the original concept for the RE Engine was to allow for a development environment that was less stressful and could help us to make things quicker. Because it’s an internally developed engine, when we needed any additional tools, well, we could ask for them internally. They could be fixed somewhat quickly, internally, and also iterated on.”

This meant Capcom’s developers could also trial-and-error development choices on the fly. This proved vital for Itsuno, whose goal was to make the “coolest” action game of all time. That meant a lot of trial-and-error to make sure everything from the way the game looked to the way it played was as slick and stylish as possible. The RE Engine’s combination of rapid development tools and photorealistic capabilities meant Itsuno was able to increase the pure style of Devil May Cry by magnitudes.

“Devil May Cry is a franchise that stands on being cool,” Itsuno says. “That’s what the franchise is, it’s about being cool. Ever since I took over the series from Devil May Cry 3, I put everything that I, as a person, I considered throughout my life to be cool. Anything I’ve seen on TV, in movies, and comics I’ve read, any sport experiences I’ve had, I try to distill everything that I think is cool into what the game is.”

A New Capcom Golden Age

Since 2017, Capcom has released a game of the year contender on a nearly annual basis. In a time when major studios are struggling to find consistency, Capcom’s winning streak of 10 critically acclaimed games in less than a decade is a major outlier. That trend only looks to continue with Monster Hunter Wilds.

Focusing on a central goal of creating globally appealing games, all built with a technologically advanced engine capable of powering a multitude of different genres, proved to be a formula for unprecedented success. The Capcom of today is able to elegantly switch from laser-focused fighting games to tight survival horror to sprawling open-world action RPGs without missing a beat.

"Capcom is going through a golden era, and, well, now we have to do everything we can so that this lasts one more year, one more year, and every year, one more year."

But what’s more impressive is that Capcom’s mission of making global, mainstream games did not dilute its games in the slightest. Instead, Capcom appears to have found the ultimate balance of keeping its games true to themselves — whether that’s the pure survival horror of Resident Evil, competitive spirit of Street Fighter, or the unique battle systems of Monster Hunter — all while expanding the audience for these games by millions.

Many of Capcom’s contemporaries are now finding themselves where Capcom was just a decade ago — fruitlessly chasing trends and losing sight of their identities. But for Capcom, the changes it made over the past decade has resulted in a new golden age that shows no sign of slowing down. Capcom may have fallen, but it has risen up better than ever.

When asked if they believe this is a new Capcom Golden Age, the directors largely agreed. Street Fighter’s Nakayama tells me, “It’s a very exciting time to be at Capcom right now. A lot of us are able to get excited about what we’re working on and are able to focus on things that we think are fun. So, yes, I guess a golden age may be one interpretation of that.”

Monster Hunter’s Tsujimoto put it more plainly: “Capcom is going through a golden era, and, well, now we have to do everything we can so that this lasts one more year, one more year, and every year, one more year. Hopefully we can extend it as long as we can.”

Matt Kim is IGN's Senior Features Editor.

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Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 5 Enhanced Now the Worst User-Reviewed GTA on Steam

Rockstar’s new and improved version of Grand Theft Auto 5 isn’t going down well on Steam following its launch earlier in March.

Grand Theft Auto 5 Enhanced, which released on March 4, has a ‘mixed’ user review rating on Steam, with 54% of the 19,772 user reviews flagged as positive.

To put that into context, the original GTA 5 on Steam, now unlisted at the request of Rockstar Games and as a result unable to appear in search on Valve's platform, has a ‘very positive’ user review rating on Steam.

In fact, GTA 5 Enhanced is currently the worst user-reviewed GTA on Steam, with its closest competitor for the unwanted crown, Grand Theft Auto III – The Definitive Edition, on 66% positive reviews.

GTA 5 Enhanced is a free upgrade for GTA 5 on PC that includes sought-after features previously only available in the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S versions of GTA Online — including all the latest vehicles and performance upgrades available at Hao’s Special Works, animal encounters, and access to purchase a GTA+ Membership — along with improved graphics options and faster loading times. All players who currently own GTA 5 on PC can upgrade to this new version for free, with the ability to migrate your Story Mode and Online progress.

You’d think that would be a relatively straightforward process, but it appears the account migration isn’t working as intended for many players. Indeed, account migration problems are at the heart of most of the negative reviews flagged as ‘most helpful.’

“ ‘The GTA Online profile associated with this Rockstar Games account is not eligible for migration at this time,’ ” reported one disgruntled player. “If you think I'm throwing away nearly 700 hours of gameplay on one character so that you can make a few more bucks off me, then you can lick my anal orifice clean.

“This is an objective downgrade from the ‘old’ version. Gonna pretend this was never released and continue to enjoy Legacy version until the new game comes out when I'm 60.”

“I'm leaving a negative review mainly due to Rockstar deciding that some accounts should arbitrarily not be able to migrate, and if you ask for help from support, they just say they can't do anything about it,” reads another.

"I can't migrate either of my two accounts," another negative review reads. "R* support is completely useless and can't help. With the game being over 10 ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ years old I am sure as hell not going to completely restart all my progress in Online just to get marginally better graphics (if that) and HSW and whatever other minuscule ♥♥♥♥ they added."

Despite these issues, GTA 5 Enhanced remains one of the most-played games on Steam, with a 187,059 peak concurrent player count since launch. But it has sparked concern over the inevitable PC release of Grand Theft Auto 6, with some PC gamers worrying that Rockstar's struggles with GTA 5 Enhanced could signal launch trouble down the line.

GTA 6 is planned for launch during the fall of 2025 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S only, leaving PC gamers out in the cold. In December 2023, a former developer at Rockstar attempted to explain why GTA 6 is coming to PC after it hits console, and called on PC gamers to give the studio the “benefit of the doubt” over its controversial launch plans.

We’ve got plenty more on GTA 6, including Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick’s response to concern about the fate of GTA Online once GTA 6 comes out. Meanwhile, Take-Two has sued online marketplace PlayerAuctions, alleging it contains "thousands of listings for unauthorized, infringing GTA 5 content – including heavily modified player accounts, in-game assets, and virtual currency – all gained by using hacking software, cheats, and technical exploits."

And in other news, Rockstar recently acquired Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition developer Video Games Deluxe and renamed it Rockstar Australia.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

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Ubisoft Shareholder Plots Protest Outside Paris HQ, Accuses Company of Failing to Reveal 'Discussions' With Microsoft, EA, and Others Allegedly Interested in Acquiring IPs

A minority shareholder in Ubisoft is attempting to organize a protest outside the company's Paris headquarters, accusing it of failing to disclose alleged discussions with Microsoft, EA, and others publishers reportedly interested in acquiring its franchises.

In a statement seen by IGN, Juraj Krúpa, CEO of AJ Investments, claimed Ubisoft is "horribly mismanaged by current management," and wants a "clear roadmap for recovery" from the senior team to address "declining shareholder value, lackluster operational execution, and failure to adapt effectively to market trends."

Krúpa alleged that Ubisoft has not been transparent about its decision-making, accusing the firm of "hiding information," including an Assassin Creed Mirage DLC partnership with the Saudi investment firm Savvy Group.

The shareholder also pointed to a restricted article published by business investment platform MergerMarket that alleged "discussions between Microsoft, EA, and others that are interested in acquiring IPs from Ubisoft." "Management did not inform public about these steps either," Krúpa claimed.

Ubisoft issued the following statement to IGN:

"As we mentioned during our Q3 sales, the review of various transformational strategic and capitalistic options is ongoing. The Board has established an ad-hoc independent Committee to oversee this formal and competitive process, so as to extract the best value from Ubisoft’s assets and franchises for all stakeholders. Ubisoft will inform the market in accordance with applicable regulations if and once a transaction materialises.”

Back in October, Bloomberg reported that Ubisoft's founding Guillemot family and shareholder Tencent were in discussions to take the company private following a number of high-profile flops, game cancellations, and the collapse of the company's share price. At the time, the talks were merely exploratory, and Ubisoft told IGN it would "inform the market if and when appropriate."

For several years now, Ubisoft has seemed to be in a strange, slow downward spiral, with a number of high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, game cancellations, and delay after delay after delay.

Meanwhile, rumors continue to spin about what exact proposals the board is considering, with some media outlets floating the idea that Tencent is increasingly reluctant to embrace Ubisoft due to the Guillemot family's insistance on retaining a significant amount of control. Sans Tencent, there are few other companies big enough and rich enough to spend the cash needed to save the albatross Ubisoft has grown into.

"Management postponed its current game (which should save the company and its financials) Assassin’s Creed first time on 18th of July 2024," Krúpa's statement said. "On that date, Ubisoft confirmed full-year guidance for the year and release of AC Shadows on November 15. 2024. Just [a] couple months later, in September 2024, Ubisoft delayed the game again and revised its guidance, which in our view, was [a] move that could have [been] predicted by Ubisoft management.

"After [the] third delay, the game will finally be published on March 20, 2025. These delays and revised guidances caused severe stock declines, which harmed mostly retail investors that have limited resources to manage their positions accordingly. This action benefited mainly corporate and institutional investors who were on the buy side for distressed prices such as Credit Agricole, Goldman Sachs clients, Morgan Stanley, and others."

Believing management did not communicate with shareholders "appropriately," AJ Investments is calling on all investors "who are frustrated with the prolonged stagnation in Ubisoft's stock performance and the lack of decisive action from the management team" to join its protest in May.

“We are aware that Ubisoft’s management and CEO have initiated a financial review of potential strategic options, advised by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. We expect this review to yield results in the coming months,” said Juraj Krúpa, founder of AJ Investments.

“That is why we are organizing this demonstration in May — to ensure they have time to reach a conclusion that genuinely increases shareholder value. If their conclusion effectively enhances shareholder value, we will call off the demonstration.

“All shareholders/investors of Ubisoft deserve a company that maximizes value and operates with transparency and accountability,” Krúpa added. “Ubisoft has continued to underperform compared to its industry peers, and it is time for the company to listen to its shareholders. This demonstration will be a powerful statement from investors who believe in the company's potential but demand urgent change.”

AJ Investors said that it is prepared to "sue the company for misleading investors."

This isn't the first time this investor has called for the company to go private amid a shares slump following the disappointing release of Star Wars Outlaws.

Back in September, AJ Investments issued a strongly worded open letter to Ubisoft’s board of directors, including its CEO Yves Guillemot, as well as fellow investor Tencent, to express their dissatisfaction with the performance of the company and its current share price and urging the firm to change its leadership and consider a sale. It followed weeks of turmoil at Ubisoft, where the megacorp's share price plunged following the launch of Massive Entertainment’s Star Wars Outlaws, which Ubisoft subsequently confirmed had performed below expectations.

Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

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EA's Skate Gets Microtransactions Before Its Release Date

EA has added microtransactions to Skate during its latest alpha test, and ahead of a release date announcement.

As reported by Insider Gaming, developer Full Circle added microtransactions to the ongoing closed alpha test of EA's free-to-play Skate revival.

You can spend real-world money on a virtual currency called San Van Bucks, which in turn is used to buy cosmetic items. It sounds like Full Circle wants to test Skate’s microtransaction purchase system, as it states it wants players to have a “positive experience when purchasing items from the Skate store.”

“Your feedback will be greatly appreciated in providing a great experience at Early Access launch,” the message continues.

According to Insider Gaming, Full Circle has warned testers that progress will be fully reset before Skate launches into early access, and any purchases you make will be converted back into San Van Bucks and made available again at the start of early access.

Skate’s early access launch is set for 2025. It was announced during EA Play way back in 2020, but at the time was stated as "very early" in development. Since then, Full Circle has kept the community up to date with closed community playtests of early builds and updates on where the game is at via its "The Board Room" video series.

The developer officially revealed the name of the game would be ‘skate.’ back in 2022, alongside confirmation it would release as a free-to-play title on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

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The New Avatar: The Last Airbender Omnibus Boxed Set Just Came Out And It's Already Discounted

Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the greatest cartoons of all time. The story of Aang and friends has been adapted into a movie, a live-action series, and multiple video games. But the end of that story isn't actually the end of the story. There have since been a series of graphic novels that continue Aang's journey after the fall of Firelord Ozai and before the start of The Legend of Korra.

There have been five Avatar: The Last Airbender graphic novels released since the end of the animated series, and a new box set was just released that features all of them. Not only that, Amazon has already discounted the set to a new low price.

Avatar: The Last Airbender Omnibus Boxed Set Sale

The ATLA graphic novels were written by award winning cartoonist Gene Luen Yang and feature artwork from Gurihiru. The stories were created in collaboration with the original creators of the beloved Nickelodeon series and act as a bridge between the end of The Last Airbender and the start of The Legend of Korra. The newly released Omnibus features the complete stories of the following:

  • Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Search
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Rift
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender - Smoke and Shadow
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender - North and South

With the current sale on Amazon, this new release is the most affordable way to purchase the entire series. This set had already gone on sale several times during its preorder period, but this new discount that just arrived with its release is the first time we've seen it dip under $100. If you love the ATLA series and haven't already read the continuation of the story, this price cut makes it a great time to do so.

Are There Any Other Upcoming ATLA Stories?

Fans will be happy to know that new episodes from the Avatar universe are definitely on their way. Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko recently announced a new series called Avatar: Seven Havens, which will be a 26-episode, 2D animated series following a young Earthbender who is the next Avatar following Korra.

In a press release, Nickelodeon says Seven Havens will be set in a world “shattered by a devastating cataclysm. A young Earthbender discovers she’s the new Avatar after Korra - but in this dangerous era, that title marks her as humanity’s destroyer, not its savior. Hunted by both human and spirit enemies, she and her long-lost twin must uncover their mysterious origins and save the Seven Havens before civilization’s last strongholds collapse.”

Avatar Studios is also producing a new full-length movie based on Aang that will release in 2026.

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Daredevil: Born Again - Was That Really The Punisher in Episode 3?

Warning: this article contains full spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again Episode 3! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out IGN’s review of Episode 3.

Daredevil: Born Again is sure delivering some riveting superhero television, even if Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock seems absolutely determined not to put the red armor back on. Episode 3 serves as a tense, high-stakes legal drama, as Matt defends his client Hector Ayala (Kamar de los Reyes) in court against charges of murdering an NYPD officer. That story takes a tragic turn in the end, as Hector is exonerated and freed only to be gunned down by a vigilante wearing the Punisher skull.

That twist ending raises a hugely important question. Was that actually Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle who killed Hector? What does it mean if The Punisher has suddenly started targeting costumed vigilantes? And where does the White Tiger storyline go from here? Let’s explore the big questions lingering after Episode 3’s dramatic cliffhanger.

Did The Punisher Kill White Tiger?

In Episode 3, Hector Ayala is put on trial for supposedly murdering an undercover police officer. While the truth is that Hector was simply trying to be a good samaritan in a situation gone horribly awry, Matt Murdock faces a steep uphill battle in convincing a jury of Hector’s innocence. Only by taking “a big swing” and outing Hector’s role as White Tiger does Matt manage to turn the tide in Hector’s favor.

Unfortunately, that act proves to be Hector’s undoing. Hector makes it clear he has no intention of giving up his nightly vigilante activities, despite the large target the trial has painted on his back. No sooner does Hector resume patrolling the streets than he’s gunned down, executioner-style, by a rogue figure wearing a bulletproof vest adorned with the iconic Punisher skull.

Again, the question here is whether that was actually Frank Castle who pulled the trigger. To date, Frank has mostly shied away from the superhuman side of the MCU, preferring to target ordinary criminals and corrupt officials. Targeting costumed vigilantes would definitely serve as a major shift in Frank’s methods and motivations.

That’s not to say that Punisher has never directed his wrath at costumed villains in the comics. Matt Fraction’s Punisher: War Journal is one notable example of a series where Frank grows fed up with the damage caused by the supervillains of the Marvel Universe and directs his wrath at men like Hate-Monger and Kraven the Hunter. But this explanation would require that Frank views White Tiger as a villain who evaded justice. Does The Punisher see White Tiger as a cop killer? Did Hector cross an unforgivable line in Frank’s eyes?

Historically, Marvel has never been that consistent when it comes to depicting Frank Castle’s opinion of the police. When it comes to military service members, it’s a different story. Frank holds a clear, fierce respect for those who risk their lives to serve their country like he did. Captain America - the ultimate soldier - is the one superhero Frank reveres.

But as for the police, things vary from one interpretation of the character to another. In the classic Marvel Universe, Frank normally goes out of his way to avoid targeting cops, even crooked cops. But in the Ultimate Universe, Punisher is an ex-cop himself who specifically targets corrupt officers.

Based on Frank’s previous appearances in Daredevil: Season 2 and The Punisher spinoff series, it doesn’t seem as though Bernthal’s Frank Castle holds any special affection or respect for the police. Certainly, it’s hard to imagine him switching up his methods to specifically target a vigilante acquitted of killing a cop. Frank’s beef with men like Daredevil and White Tiger has always been that they don’t go far enough in their methods. So it seems hard to believe that Frank is the one who shot Hector in Episode 3. Instead, there’s another, much more likely possibility.

Is This Punisher a Copycat Killer?

Frankly (no pun intended), there’s a reason we don’t see the killer’s face at the end of Episode 3. The series wants us to question whether Frank Castle would stoop to killing White Tiger, but the truth is that this most likely isn’t Frank. It’s probably a copycat killer.

The series has already established that The Punisher has developed a bit of a fan following among members of the NYPD. We’ve seen multiple cops sporting tattoos of the Punisher skull, including Brian D. Cohen’s Detective Flynn. These cops seem to idolize Frank and the way he takes the law into his own hands, meting out a very lethal form of justice to criminals in New York. Clearly, they’d like nothing more than to follow in his footsteps. And based on how Episode 3 ends, it would seem one of these cops has done just that.

It’s clear the series is diving headlong into addressing real-world controversies surrounding the Punisher character. The Punisher skull has indeed been appropriated by some police officers and military members who fetishize Frank Castle’s ruthless brand of vigilante justice. The connection was arguably cemented by the late Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, who was known for adorning his equipment with the Punisher emblem and even nicknaming his unit "The Punishers." In recent years, the Punisher emblem has also been adopted by the Blue Lives Matter movement.

Marvel Comics has addressed this phenomenon in the past. 2019’s The Punisher #13 features a scene where an injured Frank Castle is approached by two NYPD officers who reveal themselves to be rabid fans. To their surprise, Frank reacts with disgust, telling them, "We're not the same. You took an oath to uphold the law. I gave all that up a long time ago. You don't do what I do. Nobody does."

With Born Again, Marvel seems to be addressing the Punisher skull controversy on a wider, more visible scale. We know Bernthal will be reprising his role in the series, and there’s no reason to believe the character’s reaction to the idea of NYPD officers co-opting his image and mission will be any different than the comic book version. It’s entirely possible that Frank pushing back against this fanatical obsession with The Punisher will form the basis of the recently announced Punisher Disney+ special.

“There is a Frank Castle storyline that is, I think, deep and rich and has been begging to be told,” showrunner Dario Scardapane told IGN in a recent roundtable interview. “It was in one of the comics, but Frank's appearance is not random. It comes back to [the] question of who is a vigilante, who's good, who's bad, and Frank is one of those incredibly galvanizing characters. And Frank comes into our world with a purpose. That purpose is executed. Does it have something to do with these men that we see in [Nicky Torres’] apartment? Yes.”

It’s always possible that Episode 4 will reveal Frank did indeed kill Hector, fueling a renewed conflict between Frank and Matt. But at this stage, it seems much more likely that New York City has a growing Punisher problem. Certain members of the police idolize The Punisher, and that’s something Frank is going to have to confront.

Will White Tiger’s Story Continue in the MCU?

But what of White Tiger and the Ayala family? Is this the end of a relatively new addition to the MCU’s lineup of New York-based heroes? Probably not.

With the White Tiger storyline, Born Again is drawing a fair bit of inspiration from Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev’s Daredevil comics. Similar to the show, the comics depict Hector as a vigilante wrongfully accused of murder. In this case, Hector is shot dead by the police while trying to flee, only for evidence to surface proving his innocence.

Following Hector’s death, his Jade Tiger amulets are passed down to his niece, FBI agent Angela Del Toro. She reluctantly becomes the new White Tiger and is trained by Daredevil himself. Later, the amulets and mantle pass on to Hector’s teenage sister, Ava.

While the series’ focus in Episode 3 is on Hector and his beleaguered wife, Soledad (Ashley Marie Ortiz), we learn the couple was staying with Hector’s sister and her daughter, Angela. It’s easy to picture a scenario where Angela inherits her uncle’s amulet and continues his mission of protecting the innocent civilians of the Bronx. Angela may be a mash-up of the Angela Del Toro and Ava Ayala characters from the comics.

If that happens, we imagine Matt Murdock will have a vested interest in protecting and mentoring the new White Tiger. He failed to protect Hector. His decision to out Hector’s White Tiger identity may have contributed in some way to the vigilante’s death. Matt Murdock is nothing if not a man driven by guilt, and we suspect he’s not done atoning for his failure with Hector.

What about you? Do you think Frank Castle killed the White Tiger, or is this the work of a copycat killer? Vote in our poll and let us know what you think in the comments below.

For more on Daredevil: Born Again, see the cast and crew break down Episode 1’s tragic twist and brush up on every Marvel movie and series in development.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.

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Daredevil: Born Again Episode 3 Review

Warning: this review contains full spoilers for Episode 3 of Daredevil: Born Again!

The third episode of Daredevil: Born Again comes after a riveting two-part opener, so it’s understandable that things are now cooling down a bit this week. There’s a focus on Hector Ayala’s trial that leads to all manner of legal twists and turns, but even the twistiest lawyer drama isn’t exactly the most thrilling thing to watch. Matt Murdock arguing the case for a vigilante certainly makes for a lot of interesting material on a thematic level, and all of the performances remain top-notch, but there’s a disappointing lack of superhero intrigue because Daredevil doesn’t make an appearance. Still, this episode creates a complex and dangerous dynamic between Murdock and the police force, and the shocking ending stayed with me long after the credits rolled.

Even though I came into this episode knowing the tragedy that befalls White Tiger in the comics, I was still shocked to see him abruptly assassinated at the end of the episode. By someone wearing a Punisher logo, no less. Above all else, the show genuinely makes you feel the immense loss of Hector Ayala as not only a superhero but as a human being. Actor Kamar de los Reyes’ opening monologue had me getting emotional over singing frogs, which made hearing them over the end credits even more heartbreaking.

This is a bit of a dicey episode for our main character. It’s clear to see that talking to Ayala makes him reflect on his own vigilantism as Daredevil, though Murdock seems to be in a place where he’s content only helping people as an attorney and not as a superhero. Will Hector’s unjust, violent end be enough to make him put on the mask again? The way he keeps fidgeting with that broken horn certainly makes me think so.

But how Murdock handles the trial didn’t work for me. It’s far too reckless and theatrical, even for him. I didn’t buy his reasoning explaining away his cavalier actions. Outing Ayala as the White Tiger ends up winning him the case, but he of all people should know how dangerous it is to reveal another hero’s secret identity. (Case in point: a gunman was able to wait outside Ayala’s home and murder him when he stepped out onto the street.) Murdock’s tactics are especially shortsighted when you consider how Mayor Fisk ran a whole campaign demonizing vigilantes. Even the judge calls out Murdock for being a huge hypocrite and he brushes it off. Also, having Nicky Torres flake out on the witness stand is an odd twist because it’s never explained what they had on him or how they even got in contact with him while he was in witness protection. I appreciate the writers trying to liven up the courtroom drama, but it comes at the expense of Murdock’s credibility as a lawyer.

This is a quieter episode for Wilson Fisk, as his relationship with Vanessa continues to languish and his allies from his Kingpin days refuse to let him escape his old life. Looks like the police chief was right when he told Fisk, “Once a thug, always a thug” in episode 2. Becoming mayor has truly changed the character. He went from feeling like his status as the Kingpin of crime made him the most powerful man in the world to now calling crime lords petty, squabbling vermin. This, of course, mirrors Murdock’s state of mind, where he believes he’s moved on to something better, when in reality he’ll never be able to escape his true self.

The Punisher’s presence continues to grow as we see another cop with a skull tattoo (on his neck) and Ayala’s murderer, as previously mentioned, wearing the symbol. I have to imagine that these men have appropriated the Punisher logo and the actual Punisher, Frank Castle, has nothing to do with them. I hope this means he’ll be making his big entrance next episode, and I imagine he won’t be happy with what others have done in his name.

Other Thoughts

  • One of the cops that Murdock brutalized at the end of Episode 2 plays a part in this episode, but he only has a bruised face. Did you hear the cracking sound his neck made when Murdock hammered him to the floor? It’s a miracle he isn’t dead!
  • Did anyone else find it funny how Murdock mentions White Tiger’s magic amulet to the jury and they all accept what he said at face value? I suppose the everyday people of the MCU have seen enough crazy stuff by now that a mystical pendant doesn’t even make them blink an eye.
  • During the trial there is a passing mention of “Officer Morales.” Is that a reference to Jefferson Morales, father of Spider-Man Miles Morales? That would make it the second Spidey reference the show has made thus far. Now I’m starting to expect a Tom Holland cameo. But that would never happen. Unless…

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AU Deals: First Party Switch Games Drop, 10/10 JRPG Chops, a Sega Super Sale, and More!

This ain’t no idle Wednesday, fellow bargain hunter. I’ve dug up a treasure trove of discounted games just waiting to be snagged, and I’ve picked some of the best deals across Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox Series X, and PS5 to make your decision easier. But hey—less talking, more saving. Get amongst the list.

This Day in Gaming 🎂

In retro news, I'm celebrating the 32nd birthday of Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, the best of the Mario/Wario platformers on Game Boy. SML2 is remembered for ditching the original’s Superball Flower in favour of the more familiar and satisfying Fire Flower, plus it introduced Bunny Mario. He could jump higher, glide through the air, and procreate faster (fan theory unconfirmed). I sacrificed many a AA battery to this one at launch. It still plays great on a Switch nowadays.

Aussie bdays for notable games

- Super Mario Land 2 (GB) 1993. Get

- Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith (PC) 1998. Get

- Resident Evil 5 (PS3,X360) 2009. Get

- Persona 4 (PS2) 2009. Get

- Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS) 2009. eBay

Contents

Nice Savings for Nintendo Switch

First up on Switch, Luigi’s Mansion 3 is a spooky good steal at 33% off. Meanwhile, Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble (44% off) revives the classic franchise, and I love that in early prototypes, Sega even tested a banana-shaped controller for it.

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Or gift a Nintendo eShop Card.

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Purchase Cheap for PC

On PC, Max Payne 3 is a ridiculous 74% off—this game’s gritty realism was enhanced by Rockstar hiring real-life Brazilian ex-cops as consultants. If you’re more into RPGs, Persona 5 Royal (64% off) brings its stylish turn-based combat to PC at a huge discount.

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Or just get a Steam Wallet Card

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Exciting Bargains for Xbox

Over on Xbox Series X, Sifu (70% off) is a must-play for martial arts fans, blending brutal combat with a unique aging mechanic. Meanwhile, Persona 5 Tactica (60% off) brings turn-based strategy with a rebellious flair, featuring chibi-styled characters that were originally sketched as a joke.

Xbox One

Expiring Recent Deals

Or just invest in an Xbox Card.

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Pure Scores for PlayStation

Finally, PS5 owners can grab Unicorn Overlord at half price, an epic strategy RPG from the makers of Odin Sphere, packed with gorgeous hand-drawn art. Or, for some couch co-op chaos, Overcooked! All You Can Eat (35% off) delivers frantic multiplayer fun with level design inspired by real-world kitchen disasters.

PS4

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PS+ Monthly Freebies
Yours to keep from Mar 4 with this subscription

  • Dragon Age: Veilguard (PS5)
  • Sonic Colours: Ultimate (PS4)
  • TMNT: Cowabunga Col. (PS5/PS4)

Or purchase a PS Store Card.

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Legit LEGO Deals

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Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He plays practically everything, often on YouTube.

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The HP Omen RTX 4070 Ti Super Gaming PC Drops to the Lowest Price Ever

As part of a general HP Days Sale Event, you can score an excellent deal on a 4K-capable gaming PC. Right now, the HP Omen 25L GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super Gaming PC has dropped to $1,399.99 shipped after you apply $50 off coupon code "HPDAYSPC50". This is quite easily the lowest price we've seen for a prebuilt RTX 4070 Ti Super gaming desktop.

HP Omen 25L RTX 4070 Ti Super Gaming PC for $1399.99

The HP Omen 25L is equipped with an Intel Core i5-14400F CPU, GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super GPU, 16GB of DDR5-5200MHz RAM, and a 512GB M.2 SSD. The Intel Core i5-14400F processor has a turbo frequency of 4.7GHz with 10 cores and 16 threads. If you're focus is on gaming, you won't see much of an improvement upgrading to an Intel Core i7 CPU, especially at higher resolutions where gaming performance is almost always GPU bound. The CPU is cooled by a tower heatsink fan and the system is powered by a 600W 80PLUS Gold power supply.

The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super is a great card for gaming at any resolution, from 1080p all the way to 4K. At 1080p and 1440p you'll be able to achieve 144fps or beyond in most games, so it pairs best with FHD or QHD monitors with high refresh rates. 4K is a much more demanding resolution, but you should still be able to run most games at a consistent 60fps. Compared to the new Blackwell careds, the RTX 4070 Ti Super is significantly more powerful than the RTX 5070 and only about 10%-15% less powerful than the RTX 5070 Ti. The RTX 4070 Ti Super also has the same amount of VRAM as the RTX 5070 Ti and 5080, although it does use older generation GDDR6 instead of GDDR7.

This costs hundreds less than an RTX 5070 Ti gaming PC

Although the new RTX 5070 Ti GPU might be a bit faster, a prebuilt RTX 5070 Ti gaming PC will run you hundreds more than this deal. Right now, the least expensive gaming PC equipped with an RTX 5070 Ti GPU on Amazon runs for over $2,000, which means you're going to have to pay an extra $600+ for 10% improved performance.

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.

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AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Review

Just a few months after the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D graced us with its presence, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D brings its 3D V-Cache technology to a 16-core, 32-thread gaming processor that’s absolutely overkill for most people, but will have no problem keeping up with powerful graphics cards like the Nvidia RTX 5090 or whatever comes next.

However, all of those cores come with a high $699 asking price and a 170W power budget, making this processor hard to recommend to anyone who isn’t already building an incredibly powerful (and expensive) gaming PC. For anyone else, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D just makes more sense.

Specs and Features

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D essentially takes the same Zen 5 cores behind the regular 9950X and pairs them with the new 2nd-generation 3D V-Cache found in the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. That means you still get excellent multi-core performance, but paired with better gaming performance thanks to a more capacious cache.

Unlike the Ryzen 9 7950X3D that preceded it, though, the 3D V-Cache is now physically located below the actual CPU cores, rather than above them. This seems like a minor change, to be sure, but it ends up making a major difference in thermal performance. Because the CCD, or Core Complex Die, is what produces most of the CPU’s heat, having it closer to the Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS), means it’s able to dissipate heat more easily. And with AMD’s performance algorithm taking thermal headroom into account, those lower temperatures mean the Ryzen 9 9950X3D is able to run faster, longer.

The physical location of the cache is about more than just temperatures, though. Because it’s directly under the CPU cores, there is less distance for the data to travel, which cuts down on latency. Plus, because the cache gets more space, AMD was able to shove in a ton of it, with the 9950X3D having 144MB of combined L2 and L3 cache. That’s the same amount as in the last-generation Ryzen 9 7950X3D, but it’s still much more than you’re going to find in any non-X3D processor.

Both the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X and 9950X3D have the same 170W TDP, though the original 9950X has a higher potential PPT. Though, in my testing, I found that both processors ended up peaking at 200W. Though, the 9950X3D did have a lower peak temperature, only reaching 79°C during the test suite – though it was tested on a different cooler than the original 9950X.

Luckily, because the 9950X3D isn’t using a new chipset, it's compatible with any AM5 AMD motherboard. AMD has come out and said it would support this socket until at least 2027, so you won’t have to worry about getting locked into a dead platform.

Performance

Before I dive into performance results, I have to note that all CPUs were tested on the same hardware, with one exception: the Ryzen 9 9950X. That was tested on an Asus ROG Crosshair X670E Hero motherboard with a Corsair H170i 360mm AIO cooler. This difference in hardware will have an impact on performance, but it’s not likely to be a major difference, especially since everything is tested at stock settings.

This happened largely because one of the mounting screws for the Asus ROG Ryujin III 360mm cooler I was using snapped when swapping to the 9950X. I will retest the processors in the coming weeks, and if anything is significantly different I’ll be sure to update this section.

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a 16-core, 32-thread gaming processor with an absolutely ridiculous 144MB of cache, so it shouldn’t be too surprising that it’s incredibly powerful. Even in creative benchmarks, where the 9800X3D fell behind, the 9950X3D has no problem keeping up with the most powerful chips on the market.

What’s surprising is how well the 9950X3D holds up against 9800X3D in single-core workloads. For example, in Cinebench 1T, the 9950X3D gets 2,254 points, compared to 2,033 points, making for a 10% improvement. Then, in the 3DMark CPU Profile test, the 9950X3D scores 1,280 points, which comes in striking distance to the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K’s 1,351 points.

Of course, in multi-threaded workloads, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D is really able to stretch its legs, scoring 40,747 points in Cinebench’s multi-core test. Just like the 9800X3D, the 9950X3D does lose some top-end performance in multi-threaded applications, falling short of the 41,123 points from the 9950X and 42,245 points from the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, but it's worth it for the boost in gaming performance.

In Total War: Warhammer 3 at 1080p with Ultra settings, the 9950X3D is able to get 274 fps when paired with the RTX 4090. Compared to 254 fps from the 9800X3D and 255 from the Core Ultra 9 285K, the 9950X3D easily takes the crown here. However, in Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p with the Ultra preset and ray tracing disabled, the 9950X3D delivers 229 fps, down from 240 fps from the 9800X3D. That’s a disappointing result, but it’s still way faster than the 165 fps from the competing Intel processor.

Overkill?

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D might be the most powerful gaming processor on the market right now, but that doesn’t mean it has a de facto lead on every other chip on the market. Most people will have no problem getting by with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which just so happens to be much much more affordable at $479.

Instead, the 9950X3D is geared towards gamers that both play games and use creative apps like Photoshop and Premiere, the latter of which sees a 15% performance improvement over the 9800X3D. For a pure gaming PC build, though, you’re probably better off saving that extra $220 for a better graphics card.

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

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Save 40% Off the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Destiny Edition Wireless Gaming Headset

As part of its Spring Sale, SteelSeries is taking 40% off both PS5 and Xbox editions of its SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Destiny 2: The Final Shape Edition wireless gaming headsets. The Destiny Edition comes with a Booster Pack that includes Destiny themed speaker plates and headband, as well as exclusive Desinty 2 in-game items.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7P Gaming Headset Destiny Edition

The SteelSeries Nova 7 is the latest successor to the highly rated Arctis 7 series of headsets. It's every bit as good as its predecessor but with some welcome upgrades like a USB Type-C charging port, a longer battery life (38 hours vs. 30 hours), simultaneous wireless and Bluetooth connectivity, and multi-platform compatibility. PC gamers also have access to the SteelSeries GG app, which opens up a whole suite of customization for your audio. If that's too much for you, there are presets for specific games that are actually tailormade by the game developers. For PS5 gamers, the Nova 7 is also compatible with the PlayStation 5's Tempest 3D Audio.

The Arctis Nova 7 is one of the best headsets you can get for PS5 and PC. In his Nova 7 review, Matthew Adler wrote that "SteelSeries continues to push the boundaries of what a headset is capable of. With the addition of simultaneous Bluetooth audio, you can enjoy music, podcasts, or just chat with your friends without losing your game audio – all with a single pair of headphones. The Arctis Nova 7’s new design is sleek, lightweight, and still remains one of the most comfortable headsets I’ve ever used." I own a pair of these myself and highly recommend it.

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.

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This $21 Power Bank Can Fast Charge Your Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, or Asus ROG Ally Multiple Times

If you're looking for an affordable power bank that will fast charge your Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, or Asus ROG Ally gaming handheld, then check out today's deal. Amazon has the INIU 20,000mAh Power Bank with up to 65W of Power Delivery over USB Type-C for only $21.59 after you clip the 40% off coupon on the product page (if you don't see it, try applying promo code "WN9GQJRA"). INIU power banks have solid reviews and are less expensive than equivalent Anker models. This particular model has 2,600 reviews on Amazon with a 4.5 star average and a Fakespot "B" rating.

Iniu 20,000mAh 65W USB Power Bank for $21.59

This Iniu power bank boasts a generous 20,000mAh, or 74Whr battery capacity. If you factor in 80% power efficiency, here are the approximate number of times you can fully recharge each gaming handheld:

  • Nintendo Switch (16Whr) about 3.7 times
  • Steam Deck (40Whr) about 1.9 times
  • Asus ROG Ally (40Whr) about 1.9 times
  • Asus ROG Ally X (80Whr) about 1 time
  • Lenovo Legion Go (50Whr) about 1.5 times

The Iniu power bank has three output ports: one 65W USB Type-C port, one 36W USB-Type-C port, and one USB Type-A port with up to 18W of power. The 65W USB port is enough to charge most gaming handhelds at their fastest rate. For the ones that can accept an even greater charging rate (ROG Ally X and Lenovo Legion Go), it matches the charging rate of the offical power brick that they come with. Normally power banks in this price range only support up to 20-30W of Power Delivery, which is why this is a better than average deal.

On a related note, this power bank is also a solid choice for charging your Apple iPhone 16, since ChargerLAB has shown that the maximum charging rate caps at about 30W, even for the Pro Max model.

Need something even cheaper?

You can grab this 10,000mAh power bank for only $8.99 after you clip the 10% off and 40% off clippable coupons on the product page. We very rarely see 10,000mAh power banks listed for under $10 so grab this one while you can. This will charge a Nintendo Switch from 0% to 100% about 1.9 times.

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.

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Amazon Has the Least Expensive GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Prebuilt Gaming PCs Right Now

The GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics card was released in late February for $749.99, but good luck finding one at that price. As with the rest of the Blackwell lineup, everyone from personal sellers to the manufacturers themselves have joined in on the price markup bonanza. You'd be hard pressed to find a 5070 Ti for anything lower than $1,000.

Fortunately there's a way to get around these shenanigans, and that is by purchasing a prebuilt gaming PC instead. Amazon is currently offering CyberpowerPC RTX 5070 Ti gaming desktops starting at $2,069.99. That's a reasonable price considering the fact that the RTX 5070 Ti has proven to be nearly identical in performance (within 5%) to the RTX 4080 Super, without even factoring in DLSS 4. The best deal currently on an RTX 4080 Super gaming PC is one I've found at HP for $2,299.99, and unless you have a brand preference, getting one of these PCs is probably a better option.

CyberPowerPC RTX 5070 Ti Prebuilt Gaming PCs on Amazon

My preferred config is the CyberPowerPC Gamer Supreme gaming PC equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU, RTX 5070 Ti GPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 2TB SSD. In our AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D review, Jackie Thomas wrote that "the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is extremely powerful in games, which makes it easier to recommend than other recent processors like the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K or Ryzen 9 9900X. Especially if you’re building a rig with a powerful graphics card, the 9800X3D is going to be the best way to get the most performance."

Of all the Blackwell cards released thus far, the RTX 5070 Ti offers the best bang for your buck, especially when pitted against the previous generation GPUs. It performs neck-and-neck with the RTX 4080 Super and already marginalizes the RTX 5080, which is only about 10%-15% faster but costs 33% more. This GPU is capable of high framerates in nearly all games, even at 4K resolution with ray tracing enabled. Heck, even if you plan on using this card for AI, the RTX 5070 Ti might be the better value than the RTX 50870 since both are equipped with the same 16GB of GDDR7 VRAM.

Alternative: Lenovo Legion RTX 4080 Super PC for $2,260.99

Lenovo has dropped the price of its powerful Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 RTX 4080 Super gaming PC to only $2,260.99 after coupon code: "EXTRAFIVE" . In our recent Legion Tower 7 review (the sample we received wasn't as powerful as this one), Jacqueline Thomas wrote that "The Legion Tower 7i is an incredibly powerful gaming PC, especially for the money you’re likely going to be paying for it. If all you want is a powerful, upgradeable machine without having to go through the trouble of building it yourself, it’s hard to find many gaming PCs better than this one."

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.

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Arkham Horror: The Card Game Buying Guide

Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a series of deck-building card games that you can build and curate to your dark heart’s delight. It's a cooperative game, so you and your fellow players are working together to take on the horrors that await.

It's also part of the extensive world in the Arkham Horror Files family of board games, card games, and the newest, the nicely accessible Arkham Horror: The Role-Playing Game (see on Amazon) and subsequent newly released matching expansive rulebook.

The card deck-builder Arkham Horror card game has been around since 2016. It has seen multiple expansions and revisions since its original printing. Buying the game is also not entirely straightforward outside of the base deck and campaign, as there are multiple ways to build, curate, and personalize your experience.

Featured in this article

Here's a swipe-able, all-in-one carousel of everything discussed in the article, for those who feel confident enough about their Arkham Horror: The Card Game knowleged to skip the blurbs. For everyone else, keep on reading.

The Base Game

The core set contains all you need to get started. It contains five pre-built investigator decks that let you dive into the first scenario: the Night of the Zealot campaign. This will give you a great, replayable taste of the Arkham Horror Card Game world. And if you like it, you have a huge selection of expansions to consider.

Arkham Horror Card Game Expansions

Arkham Horror’s card game expansions are a bit different than the board game version. For the board games, expansion boxes include the full stories and scenarios as well as the new investigators to join in on the fun. The card game operates a bit differently. You can buy campaign expansions to add new stories to your game, and/or you can buy investigator expansions to add new characters. In other words, the new stories and new characters are sold separately. This might not be ideal for everyone, but it allows you to choose how much of an experience you want to invest in at a certain time, since you can play an expansion scenario without the newer investigators if you want to.

The Dunwich Legacy

The Dunwich Legacy was the first expansion released. It’s meant to be a gentle step up from the base game, with a user-friendly set of scenarios. In it you search for lost investigators, which coincidentally seems to tie into how the entire card game franchise builds upon itself by adding new investigator sets in each expansion release.

The Path to Carcosa

A theatre production comes to Arkham in this expansion. The added rules in this one are fairly user-friendly for new playersm but the expansion isn’t easy enough for vets to dismiss. If you have the older first edition of this expansion, you may still find the differences in this second edition engaging enough to warrant a purchase.

The Forgotten Age

This expansion has you explore the ruins of an Aztec city, with a mystery that threatens to unravel the fabric of time iteslf. This is a very difficult campaign, so it's not recommended to newcomers until they've played through some of the others first. It’s also on its second edition version now.

The Circle Undone

This expansion has affectionately been called “the witches pack.” The new investigators introduced in this expansion have some powerful bonuses that are a delight to use. That's a relief, because the campaign is one of the tougher ones of all the expansions as well. If you plan to get this campaign, you should absolutely consider getting the investigators.

The Edge of the Earth

The antarctic tundra is a classic location for Lovecraftian horrors to reside. So that's exactly where this expansion brings you and your fellow players: to the deep freezing cold. Peril lurks around every corner, so choose your steps wisely, with or without the coordinating investigators.

The Scarlet Keys

This campaign expansion has you traversing the world as you delve into an international conspiracy involving the collection of keys and a race against the Red Coterie. With or without the investigators, this expansion is less linear to explore than most of the others.

The Dream Eaters

This campaign includes two four-part storylines: Dream Quest and the Web of Dreams stories. You can play these separately if you're tight on time, or you can combine them together into a longer eight-part story.

The Innsmouth Conspiracy

This expansion puts you and your fellow players in an ever-changing world that morphs based on water levels that can flood various locations. This adds a dynamic layer to the strategic decision-making you'll need to employ as you play through it.

The Feast of the Hemlock Vale

The Feast of the Hemlock Vale is a newer expansion that brings players to Hemlock Vale, where residents are preparing for a festival while somehow remaining blissfully unaware of dangers like mutated wildlife and a sinister presence lurking around them. You have three days to investigate the strange happenings, with different dynamics depending on whether it's day or night.

The Drowned City

The newest expansions for Arkham Horror is The Drowned City. In this one, the big squiddy lord from Lovecraftian lore has awakened, and it's up to you and your team to save the day.

Other ways to expand your deck-building adventures in Arkham

Starter Decks

Interested in adding another character to your roster but aren’t sure if you’re ready to jump into a full expansion? You can buy a few starter investigator decks. These decks are less expensive and will give you more investigators to help you through your game.

That said, these characters may not be as great as the investigators that you’ll find in the larger boxes that are connected to campaigns (see above). There are five to choose from: Harvey Waters, Nathanial Cho, Jacqueline Fine, Winnifred Habbamock, and Stella Clark. All of them are $16.99 but can be found cheaper and on sale from time to time.

Scenario Packs

There are also several standalone scenario packs available to purchase. These offer a smaller dose of action than the full expansions above. They cost $21.99 each. Murder at the Excelsior Hotel has been regarded as one of their more entry-level scenarios, so if you’re looking for something smaller before committing to something bigger, like an expansion, you might want to check that one out.

Other scenario packs include Fortune and Folly, Machinations Through Time, War of the Outer Gods, Labyrinths of Lunacy, and The Blob That Ate Everything.

Return to Boxes

Return to boxes are revamps and additions to select campaigns. They require the base campaign set to play them, and while they are a bonus, they are best suited for folks who are serious about Arkham Horror: The Card Game. They are considered to be luxury items, essentially. And some of them are not the easiest to get a hold of. In fact, when going to create this list, I found that some were discontinued or not easily found through sites like Amazon or even Asmodee itself.

Five return-to-boxes are currently available: Night of the Zealot (the campaign in the original starter box), Dunwich Legacy, Circle of Carcosa, Circle Undone, and Forgotten Age. Some enthusiasts say that Forgotten Age fixes some of the complexities in the original expansion. As you can see, when you click the name of Night of the Zealot, these are out of print, so collectors may find them difficult to come by.

Parallel Investigator Packs

Parallel investigators are alternate versions of investigators that have abilities different from those of their original counterparts, including enhanced abilities and stats. Like Return to Boxes, these are not as easily found at big retailers. Collectors will have to look around for them to get them.

The Bottom Line

If you are a fan of Lovecraft mythos-themed games, Arkham Horror is a universe you’ll absolutely want to explore. One awesome thing about Arkham Horror: The Card Game is that you can play it as a solo game, as well as with friends. The universes and iterations of games make for lots of capacities for adventure, with seemingly endless replayability for several of them.

That said, like the board games, the card games absolutely veer on the more difficult side. They have quite a bit of chance, which can drastically increase replayability as well as frustration. Setup and learning time can also take a few minutes. You’ll find that the card games are easier to set up than the board games, even without expansions, which makes the journey through less painful.

Jennifer Stavros is a contributing freelancer for IGN, covering everything from comics, games, technology, and nerd culture. She has over 15 years of experience in the gaming industry, including testing and writing for Wired, Inverse, and more. Follow her on Twitter or watch her on Twitch under the handle @scandalous.

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Drop Review

Drop opens in theaters Friday, April 11. This review is based on a screening at the 2025 SXSW Film and TV Festival.

Usually, the most harrowing thing that might happen if you fail to modify your AirDrop settings is a bunch of teenagers sending you random dick pics – a scenario that’s tweaked in the new Christopher Landon-directed techno-thriller Drop. Landon, who also made Happy Death Day and Freaky, loves a gimmick. And “What if phone, but scary?” sure seems like one. Fortunately, Drop is more interested in thrilling the audience than winking at us, and is a more entertaining film as a result.

Drop makes harassment-by-Bluetooth scary by pivoting away from the prankster angle early on. At first, Violet (Meghann Fahy) is annoyed when someone starts sending her random memes as she waits for her date to arrive at a swanky restaurant on the 38th floor of a Chicago skyscraper. Then the messages start getting more personalized, and Violet realizes that whoever is targeting her – she’s not sure who, but it has to be someone within 50 feet, given their weapon of choice – is watching her, setting a locked-room mystery plot into motion.

The obvious question here is, “Why doesn't she just switch off her phone and leave?” And that’s where the kid in peril comes in. Violet is a single mother, widowed in an incident that’s teased in the movie’s cold open but whose traumatizing details aren’t revealed until the very end. Violet has spent most of the five years since holed up at home with her son, Toby (Jacob Robinson), who was a baby when his dad died and is now a precocious kid with glasses and intense separation anxiety. When she pushes back, Violet’s mystery contact starts threatening Toby, and Drop is just mean enough that we can’t be certain that the little guy will make it out of this alive.

Violet isn’t handling her first time away from Toby since his infancy very well either, compounding her jitters about meeting Henry (Brandon Sklenar), the handsome photographer she’s been messaging on a dating app for the past three months. Henry is patient and understanding, and genuinely interested in building a relationship; without revealing too much, it’s very unlikely that he’s the one provoking Violet. And in a movie landscape choked with well-meaning but hacky takedowns of monstrous men hiding behind friendly façades, it’s kind of refreshing to have a movie where the nice guy is actually, well, nice.

Drop’s tight structure and compounding twists are reminiscent of M. Night Shyamalan, with the major difference being that Shyamalan would never get as snarky as Landon does in the first act. Search Party’s Jeffery Self carries much of the comedic burden as an oversharing, eager-to-please waiter, who loses patience with Violet’s increasingly bizarre requests but has to keep smiling and accommodating her. (This is a very expensive restaurant.) There are some sick giggles to be had later on, one of them an R-rated Spielberg bit involving Toby, a loaded handgun, and a remote controlled car. But for the most part, Drop abandons the wisecracks once the stakes reach life-or-death heights.

Not every part of this more earnest approach works: Even when it’s not a-joke-a-minute, a Christopher Landon movie is probably not the place to be exploring themes of domestic abuse. But the fundamentals of action, tension, and escalating suspense are strong, and Landon makes great use of the claustrophobic central location and its vertigo-inducing heights. This unpretentious thrill ride is a fun diversion, and a surprisingly good date movie – providing your date isn’t too triggered by a lounge-piano rendition of “Baby Shark.” Parenthood is difficult, y’all.

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Captain America: Brave New World’s Real Budget? You’ll Never Know… and This Is Why

It’s no secret that the latest Marvel film, Captain America: Brave New World, didn’t exactly light the world on fire in terms of critical response, fan response, or box office. In fact, on the latter front some folks have been doom-watching as Brave New World limps along, making money each weekend since its release, but not really making MCU money.

The thing about Hollywood movie budgets is it’s always difficult to track how much money actually went into a film. Yes, budgets will be cited by “studio insiders” and the like, but there’s no real way to know how accurate those figures are unless you’re a number-cruncher on the inside - in this case at Disney or Marvel. And sometimes damage control and image perception will impact the budgets that are reported. Damage control and image perception? In Hollywood? Who knew!

Captain America: Brave New World Box Office Numbers

In the case of Captain America: Brave New World, which as of this writing has been out for four weekends and earned $371 million worldwide (according to Box Office Mojo), there was definitely damage control to do. Amid increasing doom-and-gloom reports surrounding the MCU overall, there’s also the apparently troubled production history of the film to consider, which was said to include difficult test screenings, expensive reshoots, and even the addition of a new villain character (Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder) to the plot.

The Brave New World budget that has been reported by trade outlets like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter is $180 million, but that seems low considering the reported (at least) 22 days of reshoots, and indeed, some well-sourced industry observers indicate that the final budget was significantly higher. According to The Hot Mic, the budget was in the range of $300 million, while Joanna Robinson and Dave Gonzalez, who wrote the book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, have said their sources peg the movie as costing closer to $380 million. Bear in mind there’s also the matter of P&A (prints and advertising) costs, which would be in the tens of millions at the very least if not higher for an MCU blockbuster (Variety pegs P&A for Brave New World at $100 million). And then there’s the revenue split that the studio has to share with theater owners!

When Marvel Movie Budgets Stop Mattering

So take the $300 million figure as an example. If that was the total cost for Marvel, then the common wisdom in Hollywood bookkeeping is that the film would need to make $600 million before the studio has even broken even. That clearly will not happen in theaters as the film is slowing down substantially and nearing the end of its theatrical run.

Now all this said, things get much hazier when it comes to the value of having, say, Captain America: Brave New World always available as one of the titles on your streaming service. Or when you can keep selling merchandise based on these characters. Or when you’re setting them up for their next big Avengers movie, which is likely to make way more money than Brave New World has.

This is Hollywood magic, folks, only not the good kind. As underwhelming as the bulk of the post-Endgame MCU has been, there’s a safety net component to being part of a shared universe. It’s also why budgets vs. box office comparisons are both unknowable and not the real issue. While an MCU movie can tank, it still serves the purpose of keeping the series moving and hence is easier to excuse in the grand scheme of things. A standalone movie with no franchise ties, however, has to stand on its own two feet. This is why things are that much harder for the Mickey 17s of the world these days.

Is releasing a stinker like Brave New World the cost of doing business for a shared universe mega-franchise these days?

Is releasing a stinker like Brave New World the cost of doing business for a shared universe mega-franchise these days? You gotta keep the factory line running, as Lucille Ball learned all those years ago. And if that means every now and then stuffing your face full of chocolate that you don’t really even want, at least you know it comes out in the wash in the end.

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O'Dessa Review

O’Dessa streams on Hulu beginning Thursday, March 20. This review is based on a screening at the 2025 SXSW Film and Television Festival.

What happens when you mix Streets of Fire and O Brother, Where Art Thou? with the look and vibes of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon? You get a bold, vibrant, catchy, romantic cyberpunk rock opera with memorable performances and rocking musical numbers seemingly destined for infinite fan edits once it drops on Hulu. One of the best scenes in all of Stranger Things involves Sadie Sink and a great song, but that doesn’t prepare you for just how great her singing voice is in O'Dessa. Director Geremy Jasper tasks Sink with carrying his follow-up to 2017’s Patti Cake$ – and fortunately, she (and the considerable shoulder pads of her retro-cool wardrobe) are more than up for it.

Sink plays O’Dessa’s title character with a stoicism that hides raw vulnerability: She’s a girl who acts tough, moves and dresses like Elvis, and sings like Hank Williams. In her mother’s words, she’s a "dirt farmer," and the last in a long line of "ramblers" – troubadours who once traveled around a now-ravaged landscape lifting spirits and providing hope through song. All O'Dessa wants is to fulfill her dreams of going to the dystopian metropolis of Satylite City to experience all its chaos and grandeur, accompanied only by Willa, a legendary guitar made from a tree that was struck by lightning.

It’s a story that’s powered by an alluring grab bag of mythology: What initially appears to be a grimy Americana take on Homer’s Odyssey – with its long shots of countryside, train-hopping, and colorful side characters – quickly gives way to a cyberpunk retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice once O'Dessa reaches Satylite City and meets the beautiful dancer Euri Dervish (an electrifying Kelvin Harrison Jr.). Sink and Harrison have ample chemistry, and they truly sell this doomed romance drenched in neon and set in opposition to the dictatorial rule of a TV host named Plutonovich (Murray Bartlett).

Read what you will into Jasper creating a villain who’s a media-savvy tyrant running a high-stakes televised talent show, but any commentary in his script is less overt than this implied Trump analogy. The filmmaker prefers to make O’Dessa’s most powerful statements with its dazzling visuals and loaded costume choices. The central romance is one big middle finger to gender norms, with Sink playing humanity’s prophesied savior as an androgynous pop star with slicked-back hair and white tuxedo, opposite Harrison as her tender, graceful, gown-wearing lover.

There’s gusto in the songs, too, a soundtrack of 16 original numbers by Jasper and co-writer Jason Binnick that map O'Dessa's journey onto the evolution of American popular music. Bluesy ballads with personal lyrics eventually give way to rockabilly and even acid-rock psychedelia. Sink finally gets to show off her Broadway-honed pipes on screen; it’s a shame it took this long for her to find this kind of role, because her vocals are simply enchanting. At a time when studios are still making musicals but appear hesitant to sell them as such (who puts together a trailer for Wicked with barely any footage of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande singing?), here’s one that boldly proclaims what it is, with little time to rest in between music numbers. It joyfully goes from one song to the next, with the music keeping the story aloft.

Accompanying the catchy tunes is a strong visual aesthetic that makes O'Dessa stand out in a sea of indistinguishable cyberpunk stories. A sense of naturalism in the early scenes mingles with the look of a lost video-store favorite from the 1980s in Satylite City. There’s an environmental message in there, too, via the constant sight of oil pipelines in the countryside and the iridescent look of the oil that powers Plutonovich's empire.

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Split Fiction Sells One Million Copies in 48 Hours

Hazelight's latest co-op adventure, Split Fiction, has officially surpassed one million copies sold in the first 48 hours, setting a new record for the studio.

This news was announced on BlueSky, with the official account saying, "The love you all show for our game is overwhelming! 😍 Everyone here at Hazelight are beyond happy - and we can’t stop enjoying your amazing reactions! 🤩"

Notably this is one million copies sold, which means it's possible that far more than that are playing Split Fiction. Every copy of the game comes with a Friend's Pass that lets a friend play the entire game in co-op with the purchaser for free. While not everyone will take advantage of that option (some will play local co-op, some may play with someone who already owns the game, etc), that's still a whole lot of people playing Split Fiction.

This is a huge sales jump from Hazelight's last game, It Takes Two, which didn't reach the one million milestone until a month after launch. But that in and of itself was deemed an impressive milestone, with studio head Josef Fares saying at the time that it proved players want co-op games.

We really dug Split Fiction, calling it "a rollercoaster of constantly refreshed gameplay ideas and styles – and one that’s very hard to walk away from" in our 9/10 review.

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.

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Score a Metallic PS5 DualSense Controller for the Lowest Price Ever

Lenovo has just dropped the price of the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller to slightly lower than what we saw on Black Friday. Right now you can choose Sterling Silver, Volcanic Red, or Cobalt Blue for only $54 plus free shipping after you apply coupon code "PLAY5" in cart. This is probably going to be your last chance to get a DualSense controller at this price for quite a while, especially one that's decked out in a eye-catching metallic colorway.

Sony PS5 DualSense Controller for $54

The original PS5 DualSense controller is decked out in the same white color scheme as the console itself and retails for $69.99. Since then, Sony has consistently released more and more colors, some of them more striking than others. In late 2023, Sony launched the Deep Earth collection, "a new metallic colorway for PS5 accessories" with aptly sounding names like Sterling Silver, Volcanic Red, and Cobalt Blue. These controllers retailed for $79.99 and were (and still are) one of the more striking color schemes. We rarely see these on sale compared to the other colors.

Color aside, the Dualsense is oft regarded as the best PS5 controller under $100. It also makes for an excellent controller for your PC. The DualSense is modeled after the tried and true design and layout of previous PlayStation controllers, but it also packs in modern features such as haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, a built-in microphone and speaker, integrated touchpad, internal gyroscope and accelerometer for motion sensing, and USB Type-C charging.

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.

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The Last of Us Season 2: Three Reasons Spores Need to Return

Warning: This piece contains spoilers for The Last of Us Part II game.

The second season of The Last of Us is premiering on April 13, 2025, and we just got another look at the series in a new trailer over the weekend. But amidst all the excitement for the acclaimed game adaptation’s next entry, something stood out to us in the latest trailer: the confirmation that spores will be included. This might seem like a small detail to the uninitiated, but it was actually one of the show’s biggest deviations from the source material. Instead of spores, the first season primarily used tendrils emerging from infected individuals as the way the cordyceps infection spreads. When asked by Variety (during Season 1’s run) about the shift to tendrils, series creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann said they wanted to try new things with the show’s version of events. So why the change of heart?

Well, there are several important scenes in The Last of Us Part II game that hinge on the spores, and perhaps the writing team didn’t anticipate how much they’d need that story element eventually before making the change for the first season. Let’s take a look at why the spores are so important to Part II and how this speaks to the care creators need to take when making sweeping changes in adaptations.

What Are Spores in The Last of Us?

If you’ve only seen the show and not played the games, a quick refresher: the cordyceps infection in the games is primarily transmitted through bites or scratches from infected, but can also be transmitted via fungal spores, typically in underground areas where the fungus can fester unabated. Many sections of the games feature the characters moving through such areas while wearing gas masks to prevent breathing in the deadly spores. This was purely for story and not gameplay (you can’t lose your gas mask and die, for example), but the spores were an important atmospheric element, serving as a visual metaphor for how the fungus was changing and taking over the world right from the root, if you’ll pardon the pun.

Getting rid of the spores felt like an arbitrary choice, especially since it raises multiple questions about the world-building in Season 2.

In The Last of Us Season 1, the spores were omitted, with the creators recycling the tendril idea from concept art for the first game. Not that there’s anything wrong with making changes in adaptations (we’ve previously made the case for that about The Last of Us here at IGN), but such changes should be purposeful. Getting rid of the spores felt like an arbitrary choice, especially since it raises multiple questions about the world-building now that they’re being included in Season 2. To be fair, Mazin said in the Variety interview that “to say that our world is devoid of them would not be accurate. We don’t quite know yet.” But that doesn’t change that the world as presented in Season 1 doesn’t have them, so Season 2 including them feels odd.

So much of daily life as a survivor in the world of the Last of Us games revolves around doing everything possible to avoid infection, including being aware of how to detect and avoid spores, that their never coming up in the last season is a bit jarring. The case could be made that the show’s fungus recently evolved the spores, but that’s hard to justify when we’re dealing with such a short period of time (a small handful of years at most) passing between seasons. Regarding the inclusion of spores in Season 2, Druckmann claimed at SXSW that there is a “dramatic reason” why the spores are returning. We won’t know exactly what he means until we see the new season, but looking at the second game, there are multiple big scenes where not having the spores would be a serious obstacle to try to write around.

The Biggest Spore Scenes That Could Appear in The Last of Us Season 2

With Season 2 jumping right into adapting The Last of Us Part II, it’s worth examining the ways the spores are likely to be used in telling that game’s story. We already know Part II will take multiple seasons to adapt, so we might not see all of these scenes in the upcoming season, but they’re good to keep in mind either way.

Ellie and Dina’s Subway System Attack

The earliest is when Dina, Ellie’s companion and love interest in Part II who will be played by Isabela Merced in the show, learns that Ellie is immune to infection. While being attacked by infected in the remains of the spore-filled Seattle subway system, Ellie’s mask is damaged, leading her to take it off in front of a shocked Dina. Once they’re out of danger, Ellie tells Dina that she is immune, which is a massive turn in their relationship. This would not be easy to replace with a bite or tendril scene because a huge part of it is Dina saying she can share her mask with Ellie (proving how much she cares for Ellie), which is what prompts Ellie to take her own mask off and save Dina’s life.

Ellie’s mask is damaged... and Ellie tells Dina that she is immune, which is a massive turn in their relationship.

Nora’s Infection and Ellie’s Quest for Vengeance for Joel

Later on, Ellie confronts Nora, one of Abby’s friends and a target on Ellie’s hit list. While holding Nora at gunpoint in a confrontation with Washington Liberation Front soldiers, Ellie purposefully tosses herself and Nora into the spore-filled basement, knowing that it will make it difficult for the WLF to chase her. With Nora infected by spores, Ellie corners her in the basement and demands to know Abby’s location. When Nora asks why she should give Abby up when she’s effectively already dead, Ellie says she can make Nora’s death quick or make her final moments as tortuous as possible. Again, the spores are what makes the scene function on an in-universe level, but this is also a crucial moment dramatically because it cements how hardened Ellie has become from Joel’s death and how dark she’s willing to go in her quest to avenge him.

Abby, Lev, and the WLF vs. the Seraphites

There’s also a spore-related scene that’s critical to Abby’s arc. While traveling with new character Lev on a search for surgical supplies, Abby (who will be played by Kaitlyn Dever in Season 2) has to find an extra mask for Lev so they can travel through a spore-filled section of a hotel. The fact that Lev doesn’t have a mask is a peek into the mentality of the island-dwelling Seraphite nation he comes from, where they have no need to worry about infection from “demons” (as they refer to the infected), but it’s also a moment where Abby takes significant risk to help both Lev with the mask and Lev’s sister Yara with the medical supplies. Abby softening towards Lev and Yara despite them coming from an enemy faction (Abby is a member of the WLF, which is at war with the Seraphites) gives her new dimension after the game initially establishes her as Joel’s cold-blooded killer.

Now, we don’t know for sure if the creative team on the series looked at Part II and thought “what have we done?” for not including spores. But the fact that they’re walking back a not-insignificant creative choice from the first season indicates that they realized the spores are a critical part of the game’s lore and narrative. Again, there’s nothing inherently wrong with making changes in adaptation; different mediums have different priorities. But it’s also important to consider the long-term ramifications of making big changes to in-universe lore in case they become roadblocks down the line. At least for now, it looks like The Last of Us has folded on the spore front, but hopefully its creators and those of other adaptations think twice before throwing away such important world-building elements of the source material.

Carlos Morales writes novels, articles and Mass Effect essays. You can follow his fixations on Bluesky.

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The Angry Miao Infinity is a Top-Notch Gaming Mouse with Swappable Batteries

Angry Miao is best known for its bespoke, and very expensive, mechanical keyboards. They’re great and usually packed with innovative features, but they’re so pricey that they’re out of reach for most people, which is what makes the Infinity gaming mouse so refreshing. Taking inspiration from the Logitech G Pro Wireless and the Razer Viper Mini, it’s lightweight and designed for competition with its high-performance sensor and 8,000Hz polling rate. Unlike those other mice, however, it’s able to ostensibly run forever without needing to be plugged in thanks to its swappable battery design, helping it stand out even among the best gaming mice today. It’s not perfect, but it's the exact kind of product that makes you wonder why no one thought of it sooner.

Angry Miao Infinity Mouse – Design and Features

Angry Miao isn't a household name, but if you have paid attention to the custom mechanical keyboard scene over the last several years, you may very well have seen some of its products. It made its name delivering premium boutique custom mechanical keyboards that blended art with functional peripherals. In fact, it refers to its community as a “future art” community, and it only takes a glance at the Infinity Mouse to see its design inspirations made manifest.

There's clearly Angry Miao DNA throughout, but its size and shape borrow equally from the Razer Viper Mini and Logitech G Pro Wireless – the company hasn't been shy about sharing which competitors it’s targeting either. And that makes a lot of sense because even though it looks very different, the feel and performance are very similar and the mouse has the added benefits of a lightweight, but exceptionally sturdy frame and practically unlimited battery life.

It's the exact kind of product that makes you wonder why no one thought of it sooner.

Like the Razer Viper Mini SE, it uses a frame made of skeletonized magnesium-aluminum alloy. There’s a surprising amount that has been removed for weight reduction, including the very bottom of the palm rest. This is a mouse that hides nothing. Unlike the Viper’s design language, however, the Infinity Mouse leans into contours more than aggressive angles, citing the Lotus Evanora Concept car as an inspiration.

Despite having so much removed, it's quite comfortable to use. It honestly surprised me because when I saw that the bottom of the palm rest was completely absent, I thought for sure that it would be distracting but it really wasn’t. The company has shared that it studied grip styles in the development of this mouse and that most people with average or large hands don’t contact this area very much, which is where I land. If you have very small hands, however, the company has suggested this cutout may become noticeable and that you might be better suited looking at other mice.

The use of magnesium aluminum alloy is smart. Angry Miao isn't the only company to have done that and neither is Razer. But this particular combination is naturally very light as well as being very strong. At first glance, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Infinity Mouse is going to feel cheap and likely to break. Nothing could be further from the truth. The cutouts can be a little unnerving for dust and spills, but the structural integrity is very strong, and there is no flex whatsoever. It’s as sturdy as gaming mice come – it's also very lightweight. My sample was an early prototype and weighed in at 49 grams. On the company's Kickstarter page, it shares that it's looking for ways to reduce this weight further and isn't prepared to share the final weight at this point. but even at 49 grams it's one of the lightest weight gaming mice available without paying significantly more and shrinking down in size. The Razer Viper Mini SE weighs the same so even shaving off a gram or two will allow Angry Miao to claim the advantage.

The company has outfitted it with a top-tier sensor and specs for competitive gaming. It uses a modern sensor in the PixArt 3950 which features a maximum DPI of 30,000, a top speed of 750 IPS, and 50G of acceleration. The tracking is also fantastic – it was reliably pixel-perfect accurate throughout my testing, which really comes as no surprise given PixArt’s track record.

Angry Miao has gone for TTC V2 micro switches, which are also great. They have a satisfying, just sharp enough click that competes well with Razer and Logitech. They are optical switches, so there are no mechanical contacts to cause the dreaded double-click issue over time and allows them to avoid debounce delay for faster performance. They’re rated for 100 million clicks each, so long-term durability shouldn’t be a concern.

The Infinity Mouse comes with tri-mode wireless connectivity. You can connect over Bluetooth, 2.4GHz, or use the included USB Type-C cable, though there’s usually no reason to. While Bluetooth is traditionally limited to its 125Hz polling rate, 2.4GHz can be set to 8K polling in perpetuity.

Which brings us to the Infinity Mouse's main party trick: hot-swappable batteries. The mouse comes with a polling dock that doubles as a battery charger. Every mouse will come with two 350mAh batteries, so when one runs low, you can pop it out and swap it with the other in just a few seconds. Both the dock and the mouse use strong magnets that draw the batteries into place. Because of the hole in the palm rest and another in the dock, ejecting each battery can be done with a finger and exchanged with the other in less time than it takes to respawn in a match of Call of Duty.

This system completely sidesteps the usual limitation on 8K wireless mice, where setting such a high polling rate usually chews through the battery much faster than 1K, 2K, or even 4K polling. While you might get upwards of a week with a 1kHz polling rate, 8K might limit you to a single day depending on how much you play. Here, you can swap batteries on the fly, and even though the mouse turns off while this happens, it turns on and reconnects immediately after the new battery is inserted. That makes this the only gaming mouse that you can leave on 8K 24/7 without worrying about plugging it in. Unless you're taking it on the go and don't have the extra battery with you, it's just not necessary.

Each battery lasts for around 15 hours in my experience and is rated for 17 hours. Even with this system, I didn't have to swap more than a couple times a week with my usual gaming schedule. The hot-swap battery feature does require that you have the charger out on your desk at all times. It's not that different from other 8K polling dongles, but it is a bit bigger to accommodate the charging slot. It lights up with an RGB glow, which looks good, but if your goal is to avoid extra things on your desk, it’s still not going to be the best fit.

Looking to upgrade your audio game?

Be sure to check out our roundup of the best gaming headsets!

The final thing to consider is software. This is an area where I unfortunately couldn't do much testing. The mouse does support software and I was able to take a tour of its settings — DPI and polling rate settings, RGB controls for the light, and other simple but necessary features — but on my early sample, settings wouldn’t save yet. It is still being actively developed, however, and a representative for the company assured me that it will be ready by the time people receive their units. Given where it’s at in development now, that seems reasonable, but again, it isn’t something I was able to test myself.

Angry Miao Infinity Mouse – Performance

The Angry Miao Infinity Mouse is more comfortable than it has any right to be. All of the cutouts in its frame make it look like it would be distracting and even a bit uncomfortable to use, but that's just not the case. In fact, when you're actually using it, those cutouts aren't noticeable at all. It's quite comfortable, in fact, despite looking like something out of a sci-fi movie.

I can see the inspiration from the Razer Viper Mini here, and the fact that it's more gently curved definitely harkens back to the Logitech G Pro Wireless. The blend of those two design styles as well as Angry Miao's unique chassis design make it at once familiar while also feeling fresh. I like it and how it allows you to see every component that makes it tick. You’d better believe I keep liquids far away from it, though – one spill and there’s no going back.

It’s an impressive peripheral on multiple levels.

That trade-off is worth it for its light weight, however. It's so light that without a magnesium shell, it would almost certainly feel cheap. As it is, you can almost forget it's there, allowing it to become an extension of your arm. Its PTFE glide feet allow it to move effortlessly across soft or hard surfaces, but I especially liked it on my hard Razer Firefly mouse pad. It feels downright rapid with how fast it is, which is a perfect fit for an ultralight design such as this.

As I alluded to earlier, tracking was stellar with a sensor such as the PixArt 3950 driving the experience; a high-performance sensor if ever there was one. I wasn't able to get it to spin out or feel less than pixel-perfect, even as I scaled DPI and sensitivity settings, integrating these configurations sensibly. Even side by side with my different generations of Razer Viper, the Infinity lacked absolutely nothing.

The battery system is easily the best thing to come to gaming mice since the Logitech PowerPlay charging mousepad. The batteries are so lightweight that they don't detract from the experience at all, and swapping them out is so quick that you essentially never have to worry about plugging in again. You could be in the middle of a match – in the middle of a firefight, even – and if the low battery indicator came on, you could be swapped and back to full battery before running from cover.

For competitive gaming, this is excellent. With the Infinity Mouse, you don't need to choose between battery life and the mouse at its full responsiveness (that 8,000Hz polling rate), allowing you to focus on the game consistently. And if you're paying this much for a mouse, no longer needing to consider that trade-off is a pretty big perk.

Frankly, there's just not a lot to criticize about this mouse. You can tell that a lot of attention and iteration went into its design, and that Angry Miao understands the target audience. You'll either love or hate the skeletonized spaceship-like design, and it may not be suited for those with smaller hands, but it’s an impressive peripheral on multiple levels.

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The Best Deals Today: Cheap iPad, PS5 DualSense Controllers, Samsung SSDs, Power Banks, and More

Here are the best deals for Tuesday, March 11. HIghlights include rare discounts on PS5 Dualsense controllers from Lenovo, an Asus Chromebook for just over $100 from Best Buy, the coveted AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D back in stock on Amazon at a non marked-up price, big savings on speedy Samsung SSDs, power banks for your handheld gaming PCs, and more.

Sony PS5 DualSense Controller for $54

Lenovo has just dropped the price of the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller to slightly lower than what we saw on Black Friday. Right now you can choose Sterling Silver, Volcanic Red, or Cobalt Blue for only $54 plus free shipping after you apply coupon code "PLAY5" in cart. This is probably going to be your last chance to get a DualSense controller at this price for quite a while, especially one that's decked out in a eye-catching metallic colorway.

2021 9th Gen Apple iPad 10.2" 64GB for $179

Last year the 9th generation iPad was the least expensive iPad you could get brand new and with warranty. It was regularly priced at $179, but it went out of stock pretty much everywhere starting from Black Friday. Fortunately, it's back for one final harrah; right now, Walmart has it available for delivery for only $179 shipped. Seriously though, this deal probably won't last much longer so don't hesitate.

Iniu 20,000mAh 65W USB Power Bank for $21.59

Amazon is offering this Iniu 20,000mAh 65W USB Power Bank for only $21.59 after you clip the 40% off coupon on the product page (if you don't see it, try applying promo code "WN9GQJRA"). This is a great price for a high-capacity power bank that can deliver more power than other power banks at the same price point. The 65W of power delivery is enough to charge the Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, and iPhone 16 at their fastest rates.

Samsung 990 Evo Plus 2TB PS5 SSD for $129.99

4TB for $259.99

Samsung's newest SSD - the Samsung 990 Evo Plus PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe solid state drive - is on sale today. Pick up the 2TB model for $129.99 or, if you can swing it, the 4TB model is an even better deal at $249.99. It's currently $40-$70 cheaper than the Samsung 990 Pro and most (if not all) gamers won't notice the difference in performance.

Back in Stock: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Desktop Processor

If you're in the process of building out a new gaming PC and you're looking for the best gaming processor, this is it. Right now, the recently released AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D AM5 desktop processor is back in stock on Amazon and Best Buy at its retail price of $479 shipped. This is the official launch price with zero markup, and it's not bundled with anything you don't want or need. The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the best gaming processor currently on the market (across both AMD and Intel) and a better choice for gamers than the more expensive Intel Core Ultra 9 285K.

AMD Radeon RX 9070 / 9070 XT Gaming PCs on Amazon

AMD's new Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT graphics cards have been released , but just like their Nvidia counterparts, they're mostly out of stock and impossible to find at retail pricing. Don't fret, however, because you can still get these GPUs equipped in a prebuilt gaming PC for a reasonable price. The Radeon RX 9070 GPUs are the new mid-range champions of this generation. Both cards offer phenomenal performance while undercutting their Nvidia competition.

Apple AirPods Pro for $169.99

Apple's best earbuds are on sale today. Amazon is offering the second generation Apple AirPods Pro wireless noise-canceling earbuds for only $169.99 shipped, a savings of 32% and the best AirPods deal so far this year. That's about $20 more than the Apple AirPods 4 with ANC, down from its usual $70 price premium. Between the two, the AirPods Pro is still the superior earbuds because it offers better sound quality and noise cancelation.

Best Buy Deal of the Day: Asus 14" Chromebook for $119

Chromebooks aren't exactly gaming-minded PCs, but they're compact, lightweight, great for productivity on the go, and in this case, a bargain. As part of Best Buy's Deal of the Day, you can pick up this Asus 14" Chromebook for just $119 shipped after a $180 off instant discount, although I'd say the MSRP is a tad inflated. Even so, that's still a fantastic deal for a chromebook that features a relatively recent 8-core MediaTek processor which pairs well with Google Chrome OS.

INIU 10,000mAh Power Bank for $9

You can grab this 10,000mAh power bank for only $8.99 after you clip the 10% off and 40% off clippable coupons on the product page. We very rarely see 10,000mAh power banks listed for under $10 so grab this one while you can. This will charge a Nintendo Switch from 0% to 100% about 1.9 times.

4 Months of Hulu and Disney+ for $2.99/mo

For a limited time, Hulu is offering four months of Disney+ and Hulu Basic (Ad-Supported) Bundle for just $2.99 per month. The normal cost of this subscription is $10.99 per month. This deal only comes around a handful of times per year and worth it for just the Disney+ subscription alone.

5-Pack of Lisen USB Type-C Cables for $8

Pick up a five pack of USB Type-C cables for a grand total of just $7.96 after you apply promo code "UNWEXMFD". That averages out to about $1.59 per cable. Lengths include two 3.3ft, two 6.6ft, and an extra long 10ft cable. They're all rated for up to 60W of USB Power Delivery and are encased in a durable braided nylon sheath.

New March Humble Choice Bundle Starts Now

If you're searching for your next new game to play, Humble Choice March is now live, and this is the perfect bundle to discover something new! This month, Homeworld 3 headlines the bundle, with other PC games like Wild Hearts, Pacific Drive, Zau, and Gravity Circuit also included. Instead of paying hundreds of dollars to grab these games individually, you can get all eight games for just $11.99 at Humble Bundle for this month only.

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.

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Best Buy's Deal of the Day Is an Asus 14" Chromebook for Only $118 with Free Shipping

Chromebooks aren't exactly gaming-minded PCs, but they're compact, lightweight, great for productivity on the go, and in this case, a bargain. As part of Best Buy's Deal of the Day, you can pick up this Asus 14" Chromebook for just $118 shipped after a $180 off instant discount, although I'd say the MSRP is a tad inflated. Even so, that's still a fantastic deal for a chromebook that features a relatively recent 8-core MediaTek processor which pairs well with Google Chrome OS.

Best Buy Deal of the Day: Asus 14" Chromebook for $118

The Asus CM1402 Chromebook is equipped with a 14" 1080p display, MediaTek Kompanio 520 processor, 4GB of memory, 64GB built-in eMMC storage, and runs off the Google Chrome operating system. If you're not familiar with the Mediatek Kompanio 520, rest assured you are getting a god CPU for this price point. Most chromebooks under $200 are equipped with the aging Intel Celeron N4500, N4020, or lower-end chip. The Mediatek Kompanio 520 is a newer (2023) chip that has more cores (8 cores vs 2 cores) and consumes less power than the Intel Celeron 4500. The Google Chrome OS is optimized to make sure of multiple cores, so the CPU and OS complement each other well. It's not quite as powerful as the newer Intel N100 CPU, but that would run you at least $200 or more.

If this wasn't already obvious, keep in mind that this $118 chromebook is not designed to play the latest and greatest games. This is purely a productivity laptop that's great for web browsing, streaming 720p or 1080p videos, word processing, other mundane tasks, and maybe some light browser-based gaming.

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.

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MCU Star Scarlett Johansson Casts Doubt on Black Widow Return: 'She's Dead'

Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) veteran Scarlett Johansson says Black Widow is "dead" and doesn’t seem interested in returning to the character anytime soon.

The star touched on the Avenger's future in the MCU during an interview with InStyle. While she looks ahead at leaving her mark on another big-budget franchise with this summer’s Jurassic World Rebirth, Marvel fans have speculated about what it might take to see her revisit Natasha Romanoff. Black Widow no doubt played an important role in Johansson’s career, but it doesn’t seem like she has much interest in returning to the character anytime soon.

“Natasha is dead. She is dead. She's dead. Okay?” Johansson said in response to fans calling for her return.

We’re going to have to let it go. She saved the world. Let her have her hero moment.

Although Johansson last portrayed the character in 2021’s Black Widow standalone film, the assassin actually met her in-universe demise in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame when sacrificing herself to save Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton a.k.a. Hawkeye. It was about as unambiguous a death as Marvel could possibly cook up, but that hasn’t stopped fans from theorizing about how she — and others — may return.

“They just don't want to believe it," Johansson added. "They’re like, ‘But she could come back!’ Look, I think the balance of the entire universe is held in her hand. We’re going to have to let it go. She saved the world. Let her have her hero moment.”

MCU fans have mused about bringing back dead fictional characters long before Black Widow made her sacrifice for the Soul Stone. Event movies like the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars have been propped up not only as the next chapter for the MCU but as potentially cameo-filled blockbusters, too.

We already know Robert Downey Jr. will hang up his Iron Man suit to play the first new live-action Doctor Doom in more than a decade, but there are also rumors that other recognizable faces will appear. In December, The Wrap reported that Chris Evans would return as Captain America. It's a claim he later denied, but it’s also sent Marvel fans spinning as they wonder how he may play a part in a future MCU film.

Meanwhile, Hayley Atwell’s Agent Carter has died in MCU movies not once but twice and is still rumored to show up in next year’s Doomsday project. With so many names in the running to reappear, it’s hard to blame fans for speculating about potential inclusions even with Johansson outright denying that Black Widow has another shot at life. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until May 1, 2026 for Avengers: Doomsday and May 7, 2027 for Avengers: Secret Wars to see who, living or dead, makes the cut.

For more on the MCU, you can check out our list of every upcoming movie and show Marvel has in the works. You can also catch up with the comic book company’s most recent project, Daredevil: Born Again, which will premiere its third episode tonight.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor 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).

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FragPunk Review in Progress

With all the trailers, showcases, and dev diaries that often lead up to a game’s launch nowadays, it’s harder than ever for one to be a real surprise – and that’s especially true of a multiplayer first-person shooter when, like me, you are a Certified Old Gamer™ who’s been playing them since the genre began. Yet FragPunk has done just that. What I worried might end up being a Valorant clone with a card gimmick and a big list of other buzzword features has instead impressed me with how fresh it all feels. It's still early, and I'm far from ready to say if this is a definite winner, but so far, I’m having a hard time putting FragPunk down.

In many ways, FragPunk reminds me of a reverse Ship of Theseus. If every component of a game came from somewhere else, does it eventually become something original? It’s hard to say, but the result is at least a lot of fun. Like Overwatch, it has very distinct characters with big personalities and unique tools to match them. Like Valorant or Counter-Strike, the primary game mode, called Shard Clash, revolves around teams of five competing to plant or defuse a Converter (aka bomb) or eliminate one another across multiple rounds. And like Fortnite, it has a deep bag of cosmetic items like costumes, weapon skins, stickers, and emotes to entice you to spend some money on this otherwise free-to-play shooter.

FragPunk’s playable characters are called Lancers, and so far this is a fun group to choose from. Some are relatively typical archetypes, like a sniper named Hollowpoint with her abilities that help reveal enemies. Others are way out there, like the punk rocker Axon, who shoots lightning from his guitar. Unlike Valorant, where abilities can give you an edge but are rarely what win a fight outright, Fragpunk places a much bigger emphasis on using them to dominate the map, which I like. When abilities like Broker’s rocket launcher can instantly erase enemies, it feels good to use it yourself or devise a counter on the fly as you see it coming, like throwing down a wall of Fungi as Pathojen to provide cover and then returning fire from a remote controlled combat drone.

Naturally, Fragpunk isn’t all lightning guitars and rockets. Your standard assortment of shotguns, SMGs, assault rifles, and more forms the backbone of combat. I don’t mind that the guns really aren’t the star of the show here, but I do wish there was more variety to choose from. There are two options in each category you can select as your primary weapon, and they all shoot pretty much exactly how you’d expect. Most of the maps seem to favor medium-range engagements, so I’ve been gravitating toward the SMGs. The gunplay is smooth and responsive, and the fast time-to-kill does a good job of emphasizing the importance of positioning over raw gun skill.

The star of the show is the Shard Card system.

The other aspect of shooting that stands out is how little movement affects your aim. Unlike Valorant, where stopping and popping is often essential if you want to be accurate, Fragpunk fully embraces running and gunning. I found myself repeatedly lagging behind my squad in kill count until a teammate pointed out that I’m better off treating gunfights like Call of Duty with powers, advice that put me right at the top of the next match’s leaderboard. That style of shooting isn’t necessarily better than the more deliberate action of other games, but it does stick out as atypical for an objective-based tactical shooter in a way that seems like a perfect fit with the general FragPunk vibe.

The star of the show, however, is the Shard Card system. Before every round, each team has three random cards pulled that players can then put Shard Points into, effectively voting on which ones will be active. The costs of effects vary, and you earn more Shard Points by either getting kills or picking them up off the ground mid-round. Some Shard Cards are simple, like one that increases your movement speed, while others are extremely powerful, like another that forces the next round to play out as a melee battle – or one called Big Heads, which (as advertised) gives the entire enemy team overgrown, easy-to-hit craniums. A few are even downright weird, like Egg King, which causes you to lay an egg after crouching for ten seconds, which you can then eat to regain health. It’s hilarious, utterly bizarre, and unlike anything I’ve ever seen in a shooter before.

I’m surprised by how much I enjoy the card-collecting aspect of FragPunk. You start with less than a third of the 169 total Shard Cards in your inventory and can earn more after completing matches. Getting more matters, as the cards that are randomly selected before each round are based on what each team member has unlocked. It’s pretty exciting getting a new card and reading what weirdness it’s going to introduce. I also appreciate that you can easily see your collection, read the effect, and, in some cases, watch a quick video showing you exactly what it does.

Rounds of Shard Clash go by fast – possibly too fast. In theory, one team is trying to plant the Converter on one of two objective points, which the other team would then need to defuse… but in practice, the overwhelming majority of rounds end when one team wipes out the other, often in just a few minutes. That means that matches rarely have the same sort of strategic back and forth that makes hard-fought games of Valorant so engaging. It also means that Lancers with abilities that have more of a nuanced, tactical focus have seemed less viable overall so far. I’d love to hunker down with Nito’s turrets and drone to hold a point, but that’s just a recipe to have all the action happen elsewhere. Hopefully some balance tweaks will arrive to make the objectives a more relevant part of the action.

Matches end when one team wins four total rounds, but if both teams reach three wins before that happens, it activates one of my favorite twists: Duels. This has each team face off in a series of 1v1 fights in a small arena, and whoever survives sticks around to face the other team’s next champion until every member of one has been eliminated. Health and abilities don’t regenerate round to round, which makes it tough for one great player to run the table. The action is as exciting as it is tense, and spectating while you root on your teammate and wait for your own turn is thrilling, especially when you get the win that clinches the Duel and, by extension, the entire match for your team.

So far, I am really enjoying FragPunk, though there are still some unanswered questions before I can render a final verdict. I’m still a few levels short of being able to compete in ranked competition, which is an important mode for this sort of game. Likewise, as much as I’m enjoying both the action and the hilariously mad Shard Cards, I wonder if that novelty could wear off sooner rather than later. There are still more matches to be fought, Lancers to unlock, cards to collect, and quite a few in-game currencies to figure out. For now, I can say that FragPunk is very fun, and while it is pulling a lot from games that came before, it goes against the grain and mixes in twists in a way that feels original, which has me looking forward to playing more.

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The Best Max Deals for March 2025

Max is home to some incredibly high-quality films and shows, including House of the Dragon, Succession, The Penguin, The White Lotus, and The Last of Us, which has season 2 coming this year on Sunday, April 13. If you've been hoping to start up an account to dig into that library, we're here to help. We're keeping track of the best price right now for Max subscriptions, along with any deals as they appear.

This includes bundle deals like the Max, Hulu, and Disney+ bundle, which is one you absolutely don't want to miss out on. This mega bundle starts at just $16.99/month, which is an astonishing price to have three very popular streaming services right in the palm of your hand. You can learn more about that bundle deal and Max's subscription plans below.

How to Get the Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max Streaming Bundle

The Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max streaming bundle can be purchased on any of the three streaming services and starts at $16.99/month for the ad-supported tier or $29.99/month for ad-free access across all three platforms. If you're looking to cut down on streaming costs and currently own all three of these, this is an excellent bundle to invest in. It'll save you quite a bit compared to what you'd pay for the three of them separately – 43% on the ad-supported plan and 42% on the ad-free plan.

To learn more about how to get started with this bundle as a new or existing subscriber, head to our guide on how to get (or switch over to) the Disney+/Hulu/Max streaming bundle. It's worth signing up for this right now as well, given Hulu and Disney Plus have increased their prices, so you'll ultimately be saving money with this bundle.

Students Get 50% off Max Basic With Ads

If you're a student, you can score the Max Basic With Ads plan for just $4.99/month. That's 50% off the usual price, which is a very nice deal to take advantage of. In order to get the discount, you'll need to verify your student status with UNiDAYS, then you'll get a unique code that you can use to redeem the discounted plan.

Subscribe to Max

If you're just looking to sign up for a Max subscription, you have four different options to choose from:

  • $9.99/month Basic With Ads
  • $99.99/year Basic With Ads
  • $16.99/month Standard (ad-free)
  • $169.99/year Standard (ad-free)

The Standard tier also allows users to download shows and movies to watch on the go. Both of the tiers allow up to two concurrent streams.

Max also has an additional Premium tier. The details are as follows:

  • $20.99/month, ad-free with four concurrent streams
  • $209.99/year, ad-free with four concurrent streams

There is currently no Max free trial available as of March 2025.

Max: Bundle to Best

Alongside the big Max/Hulu/Disney+ bundle deal, Hulu also offers its own bundle deal with Max if you just want to have those two services. Simply pick out your Hulu base plan, which starts at $9.99/month, and then add Max to your account for an additional $9.99/month with the ad-supported plan or $16.99/month for the ad-free plan. If you'd like to learn more about Hulu's bundles, visit our page on Hulu's best bundles and deals right now.

What Is Streaming on Max?

Max brings together content from the old HBO Max service and Discovery+ under one roof. From Discovery, this includes programming from brands like HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Magnolia Network, and more. Some of the shows include Property Brothers, House Hunters, Fixer Upper, among others.

The service also maintains much of the content from HBO Max, including its slate of HBO Originals like The Last of Us, Euphoria, Succession, Barry, Curb Your Enthusiasm, White Lotus, House of the Dragon, and more. It also includes DC's slate of movies like Black Adam and The Batman, as well as other popular films like Dune: Part Two and Barbie. Plus, Max continues to house popular streaming series like Friends, Full House, and the Harry Potter movie collection.

In our updated 2024 review of Max, we gave it an 8/10, stating that, "For all its problems and an app that still runs a little too heavy, the extensive selection of well-curated choices make Max a worthwhile investment for cinema and TV lovers."

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.

Original article from Logan Plant.

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Rockstar Owner Take-Two Sues PlayerAuctions for Allegedly Selling Hacked GTA Online Accounts and Currency

Rockstar owner Take-Two Interactive is suing online marketplace PlayerAuctions, alleging it contains "thousands of listings for unauthorized, infringing GTA V content – including heavily modified player accounts, in-game assets, and virtual currency – all gained by using hacking software, cheats, and technical exploits."

The lawsuit was filed last week in the U.S. Central District Court of California against the Chinese company that owns the website, Paiao Network Technology. It accuses PlayerAuctions of operating "with full knowledge that its sellers are engaged in rampant infringement and other unauthorized conduct," while it "reaps millions in revenue by taking a cut of every transaction on its marketplace."

Specifically, Take-Two alleges that PlayerAuctions hosts listings of modded accounts that have been manipulated to give high game levels and in-game currency, or to unlock content normally unlocked through playing or purchases. Take-Two also claims PlayerAuctions sells money drop services that work using hacking software to give purchasing players large amounts of in-game money, and account boosting services where sellers use hacking software or glitches to inflate a purchasing player's in-game level or currency total.

Take-Two further argues that PlayerAuctions goes out of its way to "lull its users into buying illegitimate GTA V content from its sellers" by offering refunds if the hacked accounts purchased are caught and banned post-purchase. According to the complaint, Take-Two has "repeatedly confronted PlayerAuctions with evidence of infringement" and has issued a cease and desist, but PlayerAuction has refused to shut down these listings.

The GTA publisher is claiming relief for multiple different types and levels of copyright infringement, as well as intentional interference with contract. Take-Two is seeking a permanent enjoinment on PlayerAuctions from continuing to directly or indirectly sell accounts, currency, or items in any Take-Two game, or participating in or assisting hacking efforts, or infringing the GTA trademarks. It's also seeing damages for trademark infringement, costs and attorney fees, damages, and restitution.

Take-Two isn't the only company going after PlayerAuctions. Early last month, Roblox filed a similar suit in the Northern District of California Court covering roughly the same accusations, attempts at a cease and desist, claims, and prayer for relief. Notably, PlayerAuctions offers similar sales and services across many other games, including World of Warcraft, Genshin Impact, Valorant, Path of Exile, Final Fantasy 14, Call of Duty, and Fortnite. In total, PlayerAuctions claims to sell various boosts, items, and benefits for over 200 games.

While the Take-Two suit is still early in the process, the Roblox case has its first hearing set for March 20 in Oakland, California, where Roblox is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop PlayerAuctions from selling Roblox-related products and services while the case proceeds.

The lawsuit comes ahead of the fall 2025 launch of GTA 6, which Take-Two recently reaffirmed. The hope is of course that any new version of GTA Online that launches alongside GTA 6 will be as free from cheaters as is possible, and the lawsuit may go some way to helping.

We’ve got plenty more on GTA 6, including Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick’s response to concern about the fate of GTA Online once GTA 6 comes out.

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.

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The Samsung 990 Evo Plus 2TB and 4TB SSDs Are On Sale Today: Great for PS5 and Gaming PCs

Samsung's newest SSD - the Samsung 990 Evo Plus PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe solid state drive - is on sale today. Pick up the 2TB model for $129.99 or, if you can swing it, the 4TB model is an even better deal at $249.99. It's currently $40-$70 cheaper than the Samsung 990 Pro and most (if not all) gamers won't notice the difference in performance.

Samsung 990 Evo Plus 2TB PS5 SSD for $129.99

4TB for $259.99

The Samsung 990 Evo Plus is an excellent drive for both your gaming PC and your PlayStation 5 console. It exceeds Sony's minimim speed recommendation for the PS5, boasting sequential speeds of up to 7,250 read and 6,300MB/s write. This is a much faster drive than the 990 Evo non-Pro but not quite as fast as the 990 Pro. The main difference between this drive and the more expensive 990 Pro is that this is a DRAM-less drive. For PS5 performance, it makes no difference. For gaming PCs, the 990 Evo Plus supports HMB (host memory buffer), which makes up for the lack of DRAM by using an inconsequential amount of RAM from your system memory. Gamers will not notice any difference between the two.

The Samsung 990 Evo Plus does not have a preinstalled heatsink. However, the 990 Evo Plus SSD is a newer single-sided SSD design that is power efficient and doesn't generate as much heat as SSDs from before. That means you probably don't need to use a heatsink and it should still work perfectly fine in a PS5 console without any thermal throttling. That said, you certainly could for peace of mind and I wouldn't see any disadvantage to that aside from spending an extra $7.

More SSDs for PS5

Looking for more options? Check out our favorite PS5 SSDs for the PS5 console.

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.

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Get a Brand New Apple iPad for Only $179 at Walmart

Last year the 9th generation iPad was the least expensive iPad you could get brand new and with warranty. It was regularly priced at $179, but it went out of stock pretty much everywhere starting from Black Friday. Fortunately, it's back for one final harrah; right now, Walmart has it available for delivery for only $179 shipped. Seriously though, this deal probably won't last much longer so don't hesitate.

2021 9th Gen Apple iPad 10.2" 64GB for $179

For most people, the iPad (not the Air, Mini, or Pro) is the best model to get. Despite its very low price tag, the 9th gen Apple iPad is a fully featured and capable tablet. The 10.2" Retina display is bright and crisp, and the Apple A13 Bionic chip offers good CPU and GPU performance. The iPad is also equipped with both a front-facing camera for voice chat and rear camera for taking photos and videos. This is a great option for school, work, or simply relaxing with your favorite movie.

Check out our other iPad resources:

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.

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New Fallout Season 2 Set Leaks Offer a Look at New Vegas and the Lucky 38

Fallout Season 2 is set to head to New Vegas, and some new set videos are teasing what it might look like, potentially across different eras.

Warning! Potential spoilers for the Fallout TV show follow.

Videos shared by TikTok user onzo1313 (thanks, Eurogamer) give us a tantalizing look at the Fallout show's adaptation of New Vegas. One video shows part of New Vegas, including the iconic Lucky 38 resort and casino, all bright and lit up. It's certainly far from the rusty place you might expect, but there's likely a good reason.

@onzo1313 #fallout #falloutseriestv #lucky38 #filming #falloutnewvegas #fypシ #fypシ゚viral #casino ♬ Original Sound - Unknown

In a separate video, we can see a welcome sign for the strip and another for The Tops, among other locales, that are a bit more worn, weathered, and cobbled together. The easy conclusion to draw is that we'll see the strip both pre- and post-war.

@onzo1313 Backstage #fallout #fallouttvshow #fypシ゚viral #backstage #dalloutnewvegas #falloutseriestv #fyp #falloutseriesedit #fypシ゚ ♬ Welcome to Las Vegas - Freccero

It's an exciting prospect, especially for Fallout: New Vegas fans and those eager to see the glitz and glamour of the strip before the bombs dropped in the Fallout universe.

The show is confirmed to be heading to New Vegas for Season 2, and it's not just about the location itself. Mr. House is set to be a part of the new season, though how involved he'll be is still unclear. We've already seen the tease of some familiar sights thanks to previous set leaks, and all that indicates the Amazon series is going to journey to quite a few notable spots in the Mojave.

In February, Walton Goggins — who plays The Ghoul in the series — said Fallout Season 2 will blow Season 1 "out of the water." A lit-up New Vegas strip certainly doesn't dissuage his claims. We'll see more as information rolls out on the next season of Amazon's adaptation.

To help tide you over until Season 2 premieres, be sure to check out our interview with Todd Howard and Jonathan Nolan covering all our burning questions after the end of Season 1.

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.

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The Best Gaming PC Deals Today: Enjoy Discounts at Dell, HP, and Lenovo

For most PC gamers, buying a prebuilt gaming rig is far more attractive than it used to be. Years ago it was inarguably cheaper to build your own gaming PC than to buy a boutique gaming rig. That's not the case anymore. It's not uncommon for major brands like Alienware, HP, and Lenovo to offer quality pre-built PCs for cheaper than the cost of building your own PC with the exact same specs.

We've compiled a list of the best current gaming PC deals, both from the manufacturers themselves like Dell (Alienware), HP, and Lenovo, as well as from reliable 3rd party retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. This includes an incredible deal on a Dell Tower Plus RTX 4090 Gaming PC for $2849.99. These PCs are significantly discounted from their normal retail price and are going to be less expensive than comparable models from other brands.

Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5080 Gaming PC for $2,400

Alienware Area-51 RTX 5080 Up for Preorder

New Price Drop

Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 RTX 4080 Super Gaming PC for $2,260.99

More Dell and Alienware Gaming PC Deals

If you're in the market for a prebuilt gaming PC, Dell is one of the brands we'd recommend. Alienware gaming desktops offer a staggering array of options, all built into a custom chassis that's both easy on the eyes and easy on the wallet. Consistent build quality, available inventory, frequent sales, and solid customer service are the main reasons why Dell is at the top of our buying list.

Dell Tower Plus RTX 4090 Gaming PC for $2849.99

More HP Gaming PC Deals

Of the big three OEM PC manufacturers, HP usually offers the lowest price on equivalently configured items. HP carries several different models of gaming PCs depending on how much power you need. At the upper end of the scale, the HP OMEN 45L offers a massive tower chassis with space for up to a 360mm all-in-one liquid cooler as well as a total of four additional 120mm case fans for ventilation. This is also the only model that can be configured with the latest RTX 40 series GPUs. On the other end of the scale, the HP Victus, Envy, and OMEN 25L gaming PCs feature understated aesthetics and a bargain price point. These PCs can still be configured into formidable gaming rigs.

HP Omen 45L RTX 4080 SUPER Gaming PC for $2,499.99

HP OMEN 35L AMD Radeon RX 7600 Gaming PC for $999.99

HP Victus 15L RTX 4060 Gaming Desktop for $899.99

More Lenovo Gaming PC Deals

Lenovo Legion gaming PCs may be the priciest of the big three OEM manufacturers, but they are also generally the highest praised among gamers and reviewers alike. The Legion gaming PCs are highly rated for their build quality. People like the fact that Lenovo does not use proprietary components in their rigs, so they're much easier to upgrade with easily obtainable, off-the-shelf components compared to some other popular prebuilt PC brands. Lenovo gaming rigs generally also utilize solid cooling, especially for the CPU, even if you opt for the base models.

Legion Tower 5i Gen 8 (Intel) with RTX 4070 Ti Super for $1,799

Legion Tower 5 Gen 8 (AMD) with RX 7600 for $999.99

Things to Consider When Buying a Gaming PC

Which video card is enough for me?

As a general rule of thumb, you want to size your gaming rig based on (1) the resolution, not size, of your monitor and (2) the games you play. A 4K monitor has 2.25 times more pixels than a QHD (2560x1440) monitor and 4 times more pixels than a 1080p (1920x1080) monitor. Simply put, the more pixels on your monitor, the more power your GPU needs. Some games are also more performance intensive than other games, but that's often scalable by tweaking your settings. This is a rough recommendation:

  • 1080p - RTX 3060 to RTX 3060 Ti (RX 6600 XT to RX 6700 XT)
  • QHD - RTX 3060 Ti to RTX 3080 (RX 6700 XT to RX 6900 XT)
  • 4K - RTX 3080 to RTX 4090 (RX 6900 XT)

If you have a gaming PC already and want to simply upgrade the GPU yourself, check out our picks for the best graphics cards in 2025.

Console vs Gaming PC?

Consoles may have come a long way in terms of graphical improvements, but gaming PCs still remain uncontested when it comes to absolute technical performance. A PS5 or Xbox Series X might be the most powerful consoles ever created, but they seem antiquated compared to the likes of a PC equipped with GeForce RTX 4080 or 4090 video card. Unlike consoles, gaming PCs are also infinitely backwards compatible, and the thousands upon thousands of games available at your disposal via Steam, Xbox Live, Origin, Battle.net, and more puts any console library to shame. Even better, most games that are released for the current gen consoles are often also available for the PC as well, often with even more extensive customization and graphics options.

Gaming PC vs Gaming Laptop?

Gaming laptops have become more and more popular in recent years, but they certainly don't make gaming PCs obsolete. First and foremost, a gaming laptop simply isn't as powerful as an equivalently priced gaming PC. Gaming laptops require more delicate (and thus more expensive) engineering; because the laptop is such a compact form factor, and gaming components generally draw a lot of power and heat, compromises need to be made. The most powerful gaming laptops are about as powerful as a mid-range gaming PC. The highest end gaming PCs use video cards that are larger and heavier than your average laptop and can draw up to 600W of power all by itself. If you're on the fence between getting one or the other, you will have to weigh your priorities. If you want to know more, check out our in-depth article on the gaming laptop vs gaming desktop dilemma. If price isn't a factor and you're only concerned about getting the best PC for your needs, check out our picks for best gaming PCs of 2025. If you've picked up a new gaming PC, check out the best PC games to play in 2025.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.

Original article from Eric Song.

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