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Baseus Blade 20,000mAh 100W Slim Power Bank for $39.99

The Commodore 64 Ultimate is the most astonishing retro product I have ever reviewed. I was expecting it to be a straightforward, modern take on the all-time best-selling personal computer. I imagined it would be a newer version of the C64 Mini or C64 "Maxi," with a selection of games and software built in and accessible through a bespoke menu system. Seriously, I would have been totally fine with a modern C64 that hooks to modern 4K displays and televisions and let me experience the C64 ecosystem on the big screen. And it does that, extremely well.

But it also does so much more, more than I could have ever imagined it would. Better still, it does all those things amazingly well. From the spot-on design of the packaging down to the perfection of the keyboard in every way, the Commodore 64 Ultimate is the kind of modern take on retro hardware that all future endeavors in the space should aspire to. They won't. But they should.

What's In the Box

The Commodore 64 Ultimate packaging looks the part of its predecessor, although dimensionally they differ. The original C64 box is a little taller and a little less wide, but otherwise the modern take evokes the exact same feeling as the original right from the packaging. It's an excellent combination of both old and new, listing the modern capabilities of the device while using old-school images of people using the original on CRT displays.

Right on the copy printed on the box, the Commodore 64 Ultimate positions itself as an antidote to the modern computing experience, which I'm completely into. As someone who's been using the Internet since before Netscape was even a thing, I often think back wistfully to how much simpler it was when a computer was a tool you used to create things, not a device that serves you ads. The tagline on the back says "Classic Form. Ultimate Function. Distraction Free."

For those of you who weren’t born before 1980, the original Commodore 64 was not only the most successful 8-bit computer of the 1980s, it's the best-selling personal computer of all time. So many Gen-Xers grew up with a Commodore 64 as their first home computer, and if they didn't have one (like me), they knew someone who did. It debuted at $595 in 1982, but within a year, competition had cut the price in half. In the 1984 Sears Holiday Wishbook catalog it's listed at $229.99, while the Coleco Adam just a few pages later is $700.

The C64 was affordable, well supported, handled business and productivity applications while also having a huge library of games. You could load software from 5.25" floppies, cassette tapes, or cartridges. It was versatile, compact, extremely affordable and available everywhere. It also had a custom sound chip that let the C64 sing, literally, giving it a huge edge. The C64 produced an iconic sound modern chiptune artists like 8-bit Weapon still use.

Inside the box is the Commodore 64 Ultimate itself, which is actually available in three different versions. There's the classic beige, a fully transparent and LED-lit model, and a special edition gold translucent version only available for those who backed the device early on. I'm going to get into the design later, but as soon as I opened the box I was struck by just how perfect this is in terms of replicating the look of the original.

There's also not one, but two, small, double-sided sheets of Commodore-branded vinyl stickers. The stickers are great. They're high-quality, not garbage paper ones like I would have expected, and it's just another delightful part of the experience. There are a few for the logo, one for the classic "READY" prompt, a tiny tape drive and floppy drive sticker, and more. It's great. I'm going to stick these things everywhere (except for the C64 Ultimate itself, of course).

There's a transparent plastic AC adapter with different interchangeable plug styles for your region, and a generous 2.5 meter HDMI cable in a Commodore branded bag. The cable itself is not branded, however, which is maybe the only thing I can point to with the C64 Ultimate and say "I wish this were different." The cable itself supports Ethernet over HDMI, for reasons I don't understand, as well as 4K resolution.

Underneath it all, nestled in a protective cocoon of bubble wrap, is probably my favorite addition to the C64 Ultimate box: an honest-to-goodness spiral-bound instruction manual just like the original. And it's an ACTUAL instruction manual, too. It's not just a 4-page quick start guide translated into 16 different languages to pad it out. This is an almost 250-page tome of goodness we just don't see anymore. It's more than just a passing resemblance between the new and the old. Yes, there's a quick start guide, but beyond that, the manual teaches you how to use the Commodore 64 Ultimate in the same way the original manual taught you to use the C64. There's a section on BASIC, the computer programming language so many oldheads like me first learned, as well as Advanced BASIC.

This is probably my favorite thing about the C64 Ultimate: the fact it's a modern version of the old hardware on which I love writing BASIC programs. If you're not familiar with the language, its primary purpose was to make computer programming easier for beginners. In fact, the name BASIC is an acronym for "Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code." No one uses it anymore, not for anything serious. Ask anyone now and they'll tell you to start with Python.

Well I'm here to say those people are wrong, and BASIC is the perfect place to start. One of the greatest things about having a hardware-indentical version of the original Commodore 64 is all those old magazines and books with page upon page of BASIC code will still work exactly as they were intended. You've probably seen engagement-farming social media accounts talking about how "back in the day" people would copy programs from magazines, by hand, into their computers line by line. Can confirm, we really did. And with the C64 Ultimate we can use those same programs, or just copy and paste them and load them in via USB. I think that's cheating but I'm also not above it.

I haven't delved deeply into the world of programming the C64 Ultimate, at least not yet, so I can't speak authoritatively on whether or not there's some string of code somewhere that won't work on the Ultimate. Knowing what little I know about FPGA, I don't think that will ever be a problem I'll come across. The beauty of FPGA versus software emulation is the hardware works exactly like the original. Sure, someone out there writing in assembly might find some peculiarity with the system that wasn't present in the original, but for me? Hell nah, let's get some BASIC code going baby!

The fact you're taught BASIC in the manual, and then taught advanced BASIC, as well as sprite and sound manipulation, makes the manual even more of a valuable resource. This is exactly the kind of thing I love, and exactly the way computers used to be. You didn't just buy a computer to passively entertain yourself, you bought one to do rudimentary spreadsheets, play some games, and create your own experiences. I love it. The best thing about learning any computer language is the fundamentals are all pretty much the same. Once you understand if-then statements, or "for" loops in BASIC, you'll understand them in JavaScript, or C#, or pretty much any other language.

Peripherals, Modern and Classic

What was maybe the most surprising revelation to me about the Commodore 64 Ultimate was its support for the original Commodore peripherals. Things like the cassette deck and iconic 1501 floppy disc drive will work with the C64. I don't have the cassette deck, unfortunately, and while I have the floppy drive I don't actually have any floppies with which to test it. The big batch of floppies I picked up earlier this year were all unreadable, so sadly I can't speak to that, at least until I luck my way into another cache, one that hopefully works.

What I can say is the C64 Ultimate will work with a classic CRT monitor, and that just makes me all kinds of delighted. Is it more convenient to use it on a modern display? Yes, a thousand percent. Is it more fun? Not even close. Thankfully I have several CRT monitors compatible with the Commodore, including an original Commodore CM-141 monitor I drove two hours into the wilderness of Maine's coast to acquire. Weirdly, the default settings were in PAL and so I had to go in to change them, but once I did, I was absolutely delighted by the CRT-goodness. I don't have the correct cable to use the CM-141, but I do have one that let me hook it to an old Magnavox monitor that has a setting to output in a faux phosphor-green. Can't complain about that!

I wish more retro-revival hardware had the option for analog video. I'm sure the people who want such a thing make up a very tiny percentage of the population, but for something as specialized as the Commodore 64 Ultimate, it is a perfect fit. The modern Commodore company sells the proper cables on its website, so I'm probably going to buy some just so I can plink away at my next BASIC program in front of the warm glow of a humming, 13" color CRT TV.

Another odd peripheral I have is a Commodore 1670 modem, though the Commodore 64 Ultimate lacks the User Port from the original where it hooks up. Instead, the Ultimate has modern connectivity like Wi-Fi and an Ethernet jack. It’s probably for the best anyway – I've messed around with slow, retro modems on old hardware before and it's fun, but 1200 baud makes even BBSes slow to use. And besides, if I do want that old-school experience, there's modem emulation built into the system anyway.

While having Wi-Fi rules, at first I couldn't get the Wi-Fi to work. I entered in my Wi-Fi password and waited for a while, tried it again, rebooted and tried one more time and it never showed the "Link Up" message on the Wi-Fi configuration page. It wasn't until after I hooked it to a wired connection that it decided to come to life, after which I was able to disconnect from the Ethernet cable and have it maintain its wireless connection. Not sure if that was just a coincidence or a weird bug, but it gave me a brief jolt of disappointment.

I'm also sadly lacking in C64 game cartridges, which is a bummer since the Commodore 64 Ultimate can play those, natively, through the expansion port in the back of the computer. But since it can run those carts, it can easily run ROM files, ones that you of course own legally or are provided from reputable, legal sources.

Spot-On Design

The Commodore 64 Ultimate is indistinguishable from the original at first glance. Everything about it looks and feels exactly the same as the original. The beige case and brown keyboard is fantastically reproduced from the original, for better or for worse. It's not until you take a closer look do you start to notice the differences, with the modern ports, a transparent window on the side and a much smaller port for the AC adapter.

The Commodore 64 logo badge on the top? Perfect. The red LED power light? Flawless. The keyboard? OK, like I said before, absolute perfection – for better or for worse. Let me explain myself.

Typing on the Commodore 64 Ultimate gives you the exact same tactile feel of the original. The key travel is perfect, the "clunk" of the switches, even the subtle texture of the plastic feels exactly like the original. It's just fantastic. I think my love of modern mechanical keyboards can be directly traced back to this era of computing, and the feel is wonderful.

Keeping with the original in every possible way, however, is going to require you to unlearn some of the modern keyboard placements you've been using since things settled down to a standard layout. This isn't a fault with the design, it's unfortunately a byproduct of keeping things so perfectly retro. I find myself struggling with some of the key placement, like where the double-quotes are (they're over the 2-key, by the way).

If the C64 is the computer you grew up on, your muscle memory might come back to you easily. But otherwise, there's a little more hunting-and-pecking here than I've done in years. It's not a fault of the design at all, and it can't be avoided, but it's just something that you'll definitely experience when you shift from the modern keyboard layout burned into your brain. And I wouldn't want it any other way.

One major, positive design change is the power supply. The original C64 power supply was a brick almost literally, and pretty much every original C64 power supply is waiting to someday blast the original hardware with an overvoltage that will run it. The new one is cased in transparent plastic and doesn't take up half your desk like the original monster.

It plugs in right next to the multifunction button, a rocker-style switch that turns the Commodore 64 Ultimate on and off and lets you switch to the special configuration menu. It took a little more effort than I was expecting, and it's just a touch too small for my large hands. Turning off the Commodore 64 Ultimate requires you to push down and hold for 4 seconds, and I don't like that. More than once, I thought I'd activated the button, but was instead standing there like an idiot with the button 90% pressed for 10 seconds. Given the change of configuration of slots and peripherals, I would have liked a two-position switch for power and a momentary switch to go between C64 and configuration modes.

Software

In keeping with the retro-modernity of the Commodore 64 Ultimate, there's a USB stick in the shape of a cassette tape, complete with cassette case, included in each box. You plug it into a very modern USB port in the back and then access it via the configuration menu in a very old school, hierarchical file system type of way.

The software on the drive is generous, to say the least. There is so much here, it's overwhelming. Rather than go through every single included piece of software (which I wouldn't mind doing, honestly), I'm going to touch on some of the more notable programs.

But before I do that, I'm going to shout out a feature they didn't need to include, but they did anyway: when you start up a program from the file browser, the Commodore 64 Ultimate starts whirring and clicking, with the occasional buzz for good measure. It's making the sounds you would expect from a program loading from a floppy disc and it's absolutely wonderful. When I was a kid using computers, I loved the feedback of those mechanical drives. I always felt like I was listening to the computer "think." This little feature adds so much to the experience, in a way I didn't expect at all.

Back to the software, there are dozens of demos on the USB drive, and not the ones we're all used to. The demo scene, while still around, is a pale reflection of its former self. Basically, programmers and hackers would flex their skills by creating demonstrations of their programming prowess. They would push machines to do things that didn't seem possible with custom animations and music, and you can see some of them here. One of the most notable and well-known demos is Bad Apple, presented here as Bad Apple 64. The Commodore 64 Christmas Demo is also on the USB, which is delightful. I'm nothing if not full of holiday cheer.

There's also a huge selection of games on the USB, but maybe my favorite addition here is GEOS, a graphical user interface designed specifically for the Commodore 64. While I don't see myself switching from macOS to GEOS any time soon, it's so cool to see this rudimentary GUI running on original hardware. Unfortunately I can't locate my compatible Commodore 64 mouse, but there are still dedicated hobbyists out there making them in our modern times, and Commodore sells compatible devices on its own site.

I'm a little surprised you can't use a modern USB mouse, which would have been much easier for the end-user. I don't think it would have taken anything away from the experience, either. In fact I'd argue it would enhance it, given most people own at least one USB mouse but very few people own compatible Commodore mice. I dug through the various menus and didn't find any options, but if there's a way, please let me know.

I'm mildly obsessed with different GUIs, and will take any opportunity to try them out, so I'll probably scour eBay for a mouse, especially because it also has a whole suite of GEOS software. If I really wanted to (and I do), I have the option to hook up a Commodore printer and print off my own beautiful GEOSPaint creations, or I can use the Virtual Printer and save generated files to the USB as .pngs. From there I can just open it on a modern computer and print it from there. And friends, best believe I'm going to be doing that once I get a compatible mouse.

Terminator: Survivors will no longer include multiplayer co-op, with developer Nacon announcing an indefinite delay that will now see its video game spinoff ditching early access for an eventual full launch.

Nacon Studio Milan creative director Marco Ponte updated fans on the release date for the open-world offshoot with a post on its Steam page. It comes with the news that Terminator: Survivors, as many may have guessed, will no longer make its previously announced plan to launch before 2026, but the delay isn’t the only bad news for fans.

Multiplayer co-op, which was said to allow players to survive a post-Judgment Day Earth with up to three friends, has been completely cut from the experience. Ponte stops short of explaining exactly why co-op will no longer be included but says the decision follows “months” of testing.

“After months of internal testing, discussions with players and fans of the license, we came to the conclusion that to give you an authentic ‘Terminator’ experience with the best possible shooting and exploration gameplay, we would have to put aside the cooperative multiplayer,” Ponte says. “We know this may come as a disappointment, but we believe it is the right creative direction for an uncompromising vision of the world after Judgment Day.”

Nacon announced Terminator: Survivors in July 2022 as a survival experience set in the classic sci-fi universe, eventually going on to reveal a release date of October 24, 2024. Of course, that plan never came to fruition, with a delay in August 2024 pushing launch to an unspecified date in 2025.

Now, with not so much as a launch window on the calendar, Nacon says it’s shifting its focus away from early access, too. Ponte says Nacon wants players to step into a “complete and polished experience” when the release date eventually arrives. The studio directs players to sign up for closed playtests while development continues.

“We know expectations are high, and we can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on,” Ponte adds. “For now, I can only thank you for sticking with us as we do our absolute best to create a game worthy of the Terminator legacy. We’ll be back with more news as soon as we can.”

Terminator: Survivors is currently set to launch for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S. In other Terminator video game news, Reef Entertainment and Bitmap Bureau launched their side-scroller Judgment Day reimagining, Terminator 2D: No Fate, just last week. For more, you can read up on our collection of all of the best, worst, and weirdest Terminator games.

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

The Nintendo Switch 2 is here! If you grabbed one, ended up being one of the lucky early holdouts who managed to catch a Switch 2 at its first-ever discount, or are the recipient of one from a very kind gift-giver, keep in mind that it only has 256GB of storage built-in. If you want to load up on games without having to deal with uninstalling and reinstalling over and over, you’re going to want to expand that storage. Unlike the original Nintendo Switch, the new console requires a MicroSD Express card – which are faster, but more expensive than other UHS-based SD cards.

The Best MicroSD Express Cards for Switch 2 Right Now

MicroSD Express cards have been around for a while, but there are only a few on the market as creative professionals haven’t really found much of a use for them. However, with the Switch 2 launch, there's been a deluge of Express cards to fill that gap.

My colleagues and I are in the process of testing these cards – including that super cheap Walmart-brand one, which is fine – but if we were to recommend any based on experience, these are the MicroSD Express cards (an essential Switch 2 accessory!) we'd say to buy right now. These come from reputable manufacturers that have a track record of making excellent storage expansion cards. We'll be updating this as we play around with the Switch 2 and SD cards.

Why MicroSD Express?

Unlike many devices, the Nintendo Switch 2 is mandating a MicroSD Express card for storage expansion. Nintendo hasn’t really explained its reasoning behind the decision, but it’s not hard to see why it might want to require faster storage.

For one, the flash storage built into the system is the same kind of UFS flash that powers most smartphones. This storage is much faster than the eMMC drive in the original Switch, and it’s likely Nintendo wanted its developers to be able to count on that kind of storage speed, no matter if the game is being stored internally or on an expansion card.

The only thing you can use a regular old MicroSD card for is loading screenshots and videos you took on your first-gen Switch. That means unlike something like the PS5, which allows you to store last-generation games on slower external drives, Nintendo isn’t allowing for any wiggle room here. If you want to expand the Nintendo Switch 2 storage, you’re going to need a MicroSD Express card.

1. Lexar Play Pro

The Best MicroSD Express Card

2. Samsung P9 MicroSD Express

Best Budget MicroSD Express Card

3. SanDisk MicroSD Express

Best 256GB MicroSD Express Card

4. Samsung MicroSD Express for Switch 2

The Best (and Only) Official MicroSD Express Card

5. Onn MicroSD Express Card

Best Cheap MicroSD Express Card

Black Friday is back! Well, not officially, but the best deals on Meta Quest headphones are. By using code “HOLIDAYRUSH” on the relevant eBay listings, you can get another chance to snap up these mad deals. Sony's best-in-class headphones are part of this discount code offer too, knocking down a new set of WH-1000XM6 down to $318.40 from $449.99. Bargain!

Deals for Today

There’s plenty of deals knocking around for the full-fat Meta Quest 3 experience and the budget-focused Meta Quest 3S, too. Want to get more reading done than gaming this holiday? Well, Amazon is currently running a buy one, get one sale on some cracking books from this year and beyond. Or if you just want a monitor upgrade, Alienware has got a full 34 inches of OLED glory with the brand tax knocked off. Let’s get into it:

eBay "Holiday Rush" Sale

The best Black Friday deal on Sony's newest flagship wireless noise cancelling headphones has returned. eBay (via either Buydig or Electronic Express) is offering a brand new pair of Sony WH-1000XM6 Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones for just $318.40 after you apply off coupon code "HOLIDAYRUSH". That's a 30% discount off the $450 list price and matches the best deal I saw during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. eBay estimates free delivery before Christmas. Both retailers are authorized Sony resellers, so you get the full manufacturer's warranty.

Meta Quest 3 / 3S Deals

Deals aside, should you get a Meta Quest 3 or Meta Quest 3S? Here's a specifications comparison table so you can make up your own mind:

34" Alienware AW3423DWF 3440x1440 165Hz QD OLED Gaming Monitor

Amazon Buy 1 Get 1 50% off Book Sale

So the quarter-bound The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion Tolkien Illustrated Editions are must-buys in this sale for me, and they are 44% and 46% off, respectively, before the buy one, get one deal comes into play. So that's a total of $191.29 down from $243.63. Bear in mind, at MSRP, both of these books come to $445. That's an insane deal on its own. Other highlights for me are The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia and A Game of Thrones hardback box set.

Sonos Refurb Sale

When it comes to big-brand gear, I'd always go for a solid refurbished or open-box deal over brand-new products. If it's a brand or retailer worth its salt, these products are pretty much new anyway but can't be sold as such, as they're a customer return or something similar.

With Sonos refurbs, you're getting the same one-year warranty you would with a brand-new alternative, plus they get delivered as new with all the leads and gubbins you'd usually get. It's literally a no-brainer when you're getting over 55% off a Sonos Arc soundbar, for example.

Pokémon TCG Single Card Price Crash

Pokémon TCG stock levels are getting better and better across the board, which means there's more chance of buying off store shelves and a much bigger chance of scalpers losing out. It's a win-win, especially for Pokémon card collectors, as single cards are finding a new floor when it comes to market values.

It's the best time this year to snap up some of those grails you've been eyeing up, so I've found the top 5 chase cards in every Pokémon TCG expansion and base set from the previous Scarlet and Violet era, as well as Mega Evolution, the current era of Pokémon cards. There's some serious bargains to be had here, and I reckon we'll see prices tick back up when Ascended Heroes launches early next year, so don't wait around.

Best Pokémon TCG Sealed Deals

The best deal here for me is the Mega Charizard X ex Ultra Premium Collection that's currently at market value on Amazon and close to MSRP.

• 4 x Phantasmal Flames
• 4 x Mega Evolution
• 4 x Destined Rivals
• 4 x Journey Together
• 2 x Surging Sparks

The main pull of this UPC is the Mega Charizard X ex Mega Attack Rare and Oricorio ex SIR promo cards, which, frankly, are the best couple of promo cards we've had in a big box collection for a while. It also contains Mega Charizard X-themed card sleeves, deck box, damage counter dice, playmat, and a metal coin.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A and More Deals

Need to get Pokémon Legends: Z-A sorted for Christmas? Here's the cheapest way: the Nintendo Switch 1 version of Pokémon Legends: Z-A for $44.99 on Woot, then upgrade it to the Switch 2 version for $9.99 via the Amazon digital code service. You're saving $15 compared to buying the usual Switch 2 copy of Legends: Z-A.

Woot also has more discounts on top Pokémon Switch games, such as Legends: Arceus alongside Scarlet and Violet. It's a great time to build up your library if you've got a few Pokémon-sized gaps on your shelf.

Pokémon Squishmallow Deals

Nothing beats cuddling a Squishmallow, and I'll admit that to anyone. Well, getting a $69.99 massive 20-inch Sprigatito Squishmallow for $37.99 definitely beats that feeling, but there's some great deals on the best Pokémon plushies right now (in my opinion, which is correct).

Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of "Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior". Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.

Sucker Punch co-founder Brian Fleming is stepping down n the new year after three decades at the studio behind Ghost of Tsushima, Sly Cooper, and Infamous.

According to a post from Sony, on January 1, Jason Connell and Adrian Bentley will step into Fleming's former role as co-studio heads, with Nate Fox continuing his role as co-creative director alongside Connell and Adrian also serving as technical director.

Our deepest thanks and gratitude to Sucker Punch Productions Co-Founder Brian Fleming, who is handing over the leadership reins as the studio begins a new chapter. Starting Jan 1, longtime creative and technical leaders Jason Connell and Adrian Bentley will step into new roles… pic.twitter.com/RvPzJfWHGl

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) December 16, 2025

Fleming first founded the studio in 1997 alongside Bruce Oberg, Darrell Plank, Tom and Cathy Saxton, and Chris Zimmerman following a stint at Microsoft. The group went on to start the Sly Cooper franchise, which Sony published. The two companies continued their publishing relationship into the Infamous series in 2009, and after the sequel Infamous 2 in 2011, Sony acquired Sucker Punch. Under Sony, the studio created Ghost of Tsushima in 2020, and most recently followed up with a sequel, Ghost of Yōtei, this past October. With Fleming's departure, only Oberg and Zimmerman of the co-founders remain with the studio.

Connell and Bentley are long-time Sucker Punch veterans. Connell joined the studio in 2010 as a lighting artist and worked his way up to lighting director and eventually creative and art director, and recently co-creative director on the Ghost franchise. Bentley came to Sucker Punch as a programmer in 2004 fresh out of DigiPen Institute of Technology, and has worked there his entire career, moving up to become an engine programmer and later technical director.

Fleming hands off Sucker Punch in what seems from the outside to be a pretty positive state. The studio's had multiple successful games both critically and commercially, with Ghost of Yōtei recently reviewing well (including our own 8/10 score) and selling 3.3 million copies as of November 2. An added New Game Plus mode just released a few weeks ago. It's unclear what Sucker Punch will work on next under Connell and Bentley, or if the Ghost franchise will continue or something new is on the horizon for the studio.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Bethesda developers including chief Todd Howard have issued an update on The Elder Scrolls 6 — but stopped short of confirming a release date.

When the six-year anniversary of The Elder Scrolls 6 announcement arrived in June last year, even Howard himself paused to say, "oh wow, that has been a while." The Elder Scrolls 6 is at least in production, with Bethesda confirming it had entered "early development" in August 2023 and "early builds" were available in March 2024.

Last month, amid increasing pressure from fans for some information on the game, Howard said The Elder Scrolls 6 wouldn’t be out for some time yet. In an interview with GQ magazine to celebrate the release of Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition, Howard said The Elder Scrolls 6 is “still a long way off,” adding: “I’m preaching patience. I don’t want fans to feel anxious.”

Now, speaking to Game Informer, Howard — who is The Elder Scrolls 6 director and executive producer — and other Bethesda developers issued a more detailed update. Let’s start with Howard, who said of The Elder Scrolls 6:

“It’s progressing really well. The majority of the studio’s on 6, but I’ll say this: we always overlap. So, we’re very used to overlapping development. And we have long pre-productions on things so that we feel good about them. And it’s a process. We all wish it went a little bit faster — or a lot faster — but it’s a process that we want to get right.”

Taking the time to get The Elder Scrolls 6 right is a sentiment shared by studio design director Emil Pagliarulo, who pointed to GTA 6’s high-profile delays as the “smartest thing they could do.”

“What do fans really want?” he asked. “Do they want a game that comes out before it should and doesn’t meet their expectations? Or do they want the turkey that is in the oven for long enough to be delicious when it finally comes out of the oven, you know? That’s what I think people are going to want. So, we’re going to take our time and as long as it needs to be great.”

And finally, studio director Angela Browder hyped up the technological advances that make The Elder Scrolls 6 “this endless set of possibilities that is really, really exciting as a developer, but really, really exciting as someone who really likes to think about how far everything has come in our industry. It’s gonna be dope. It’s dope! [laughs]”

Alas, there remains no release window, which is what fans are waiting to hear right now. And fans are getting increasingly desperate for news. Earlier this month, some thought Bethesda teased The Elder Scrolls 6’s release year in a live-action Skyrim trailer because one of Santa’s elves raised their speech level to 27.

You can understand why patience might be difficult for some though. In January this year, The Elder Scrolls 6 announcement became as old as predecessor Skyrim was when The Elder Scrolls 6 was announced. Skyrim was released on November 11, 2011, and The Elder Scrolls 6 was revealed on June 10, 2018 — 2,403 days afterwards. It is now seven-and-a-half years since the announcement, and we’re no closer, it seems, to the release of the game.

In the GQ article, Howard once again admitted that it had taken too long to get The Elder Scrolls 6 out the door, but did tease a The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered-style shadowdrop — without confirming anything.

“I do like to have a break between them, where it isn’t like a ‘plus one’ sequel,” Howard said of making The Elder Scrolls games again. “I think it’s also good for an audience to have a break — The Elder Scrolls has been too long, let’s be clear. But we wanted to do something new with Starfield. We needed a creative reset.” Bethesda is currently playtesting The Elder Scrolls 6, Howard revealed.

“I like to just announce stuff and release it,” Howard continued. “My perfect version — and I’m not saying this is going to happen — is that it's going to be a while and then, one day, the game will just appear.” The Oblivion Remastered shadowdrop was “a test run,” Howard teased. “It worked out well.”

Earlier this year it was confirmed that The Elder Scrolls 6 will include a character designed in memory of a much-missed fan after a remarkable charity campaign that raised more than $85,000 for Make-A-Wish.

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

The 1960 film The Magnificent Seven is one of the best known remakes, reimagining Akira Kurosawa’s beloved 1954 classic Seven Samurai as an American western. Now, that Yul Brenner and Steve McQueen remake is getting a whole new remake itself.

Amazon-owned streaming service MGM+ just announced it has greenlit an eight-episode drama series based on the iconic movie. Tim Kring, known for creating the iconic series Heroes in 2006, will write and executive produce the series. Donald De Line, Lawrence Mirisch, and Bruce Kaufman will executive produce alongside Kring, but no other cast or crew announcements have been made just yet.

The series is set to go into production in about six months, in June 2026. MGM+ has also released an official synopsis for the film, which is “set in the tumultuous 1880s American frontier.”

This morning, the news broke that Larian Studios, developer of Baldur's Gate 3 and the upcoming, just-announced Divinity, is apparently using generative AI behind the scenes for things like concept art and placeholder text. The backlash has been swift and loud from the gaming community, and now Larian founder and game director Swen Vincke is responding to clarify his remarks, affirming that Larian is "neither releasing a game with any AI components, nor are we looking at trimming down teams to replace them with AI," and that AI is "something we are constantly discussing internally through the lens of making everyone's working day better, not worse."

The original news comes from a Bloomberg interview with Vincke. In it, Vincke admits that Larian is "pushing hard" [Bloomberg's phrasing] on generative AI, even though it hasn't led to big gains in efficiency. Specifically, the studio is using the technology to "explore ideas, flesh out PowerPoint presentations, develop concept art and write placeholder text." [Bloomberg's phrasing].

Vincke reassures that there won't be any AI-generated content in the final version of Divinity. "Everything is human actors; we're writing everything ourselves." But it sounds like this approach isn't going over smoothly with everyone. Bloomberg's piece acknowledges that some internally at Larian have pushed back, though Vincke says, "I think at this point everyone at the company is more or less OK with the way we're using it."

This news hasn't gone over super well with the community, though. On Bluesky, Larian is being lambasted by a number of individuals across the game development community, including some former Larian employees. "consider my feedback: i loved working at @larianstudios.com until AI," writes Selena Tobin, an environment artist and former Larian employees. "reconsider and change your direction, like, yesterday. show your employees some respect. they are world-class & do not need AI assistance to come up with amazing ideas."

The Divinity and Baldur's Gate 3 communities have a somewhat more divided reaction, with some defending its use for concepting, though there's still a significant amount of backlash. A few commenters have pointed out that games such as The Alters suffered from significant fan anger over discovered generative AI use, but are willing to forgive Larian for the same offense.

In response to this backlash, Vincke has issued IGN a lengthy follow-up response, which we've published here in full:

We’ve been continuously increasing our pool of concept artists , writers and story-tellers, are actively putting together writer rooms, casting and recording performances from actors and hiring translators.

Since concept art is being called out explicitly - we have 23 concept artists and have job openings for more. These artists are creating concept art day in day out for ideation and production use.

Everything we do is incremental and aimed at having people spend more time creating.

Any ML tool used well is additive to a creative team or individual’s workflow, not a replacement for their skill or craft.

We are researching and understanding the cutting edge of ML as a toolset for creatives to use and see how it can make their day-to-day lives easier, which will let us make better games.

We are neither releasing a game with any AI components, nor are we looking at trimming down teams to replace them with AI.

While I understand it's a subject that invokes a lot of emotion, it's something we are constantly discussing internally through the lens of making everyone's working day better, not worse.

Vincke then followed up further with a post on Twitter/X:

Holy fuck guys we’re not "pushing hard" for or replacing concept artists with AI.

We have a team of 72 artists of which 23 are concept artists and we are hiring more. The art they create is original and I’m very proud of what they do.

I was asked explicitly about concept art…

— Swen Vincke @where? (@LarAtLarian) December 16, 2025

The post reads:

Holy fuck guys we’re not "pushing hard" for or replacing concept artists with AI.

We have a team of 72 artists of which 23 are concept artists and we are hiring more. The art they create is original and I’m very proud of what they do.

I was asked explicitly about concept art and our use of Gen AI. I answered that we use it to explore things. I didn’t say we use it to develop concept art. The artists do that. And they are indeed world class artists.

We use AI tools to explore references, just like we use google and art books. At the very early ideation stages we use it as a rough outline for composition which we replace with original concept art. There is no comparison.

I talked about how we use ML here if you would like to know more: https://gamespot.com/articles/baldurs-gate-3-dev-embraces-machine-learning-for-tasks-that-nobody-wants-to-do/1100-6531123/

We've hired creatives for their talent, not for their ability to do what a machine suggests, but they can experiment with these tools to make their lives easier.

This discussion comes amid a slate of interviews with Vincke following the announcement of Larian's next game, Divinity, at The Game Awards last week. We had our own interview with Vincke, which you can read in full here, and elsewhere Vincke has confirmed Divinity will in fact be a turn-based RPG. We've been slowly compiling everything we know about Divinity so far right here.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Mega K pop band Stray Kids is headed to Roblox. Its SKZOO animal avatars will be performing songs from its new hit album, Do It On the Block Stage between Friday, December 19, and Monday, December 22. All you'll need to access it is a Roblox login, and to navigate your way to the Block, and you'll be in for a Divine experience.

Bookmark The Block now and sign up for notifications at the stage's official site.

How to sign up for a Roblox account to watch Stray Kids

If this'll be your first time navigating Roblox you need to set up a free Roblox account first.

1. Head to the sign up page and enter your date of birth, a username and a password
2. Add your gender if you want, this step is optional
3. You're in - add an email address or phone number for added security measures if you wish
4. You can customize your avatar by heading to the menu on the left hand side of the Roblox main page - if you head to the marketplace there are already hundreds of ways to get your avatar ready for the event, from Chk Chk Boom emotes to Wolf Chan back packs

When to watch Stray Kids SKZOO in Roblox

The event will run from Friday, December 19, and Monday, December 22, 2025. It's scheduled to start at midnight EST, or 9pm PST. That's 5am on December 20 in the UK. The STray Kids takeover will officially start on December 15, so keep an eye out for special Stray Kids treats.

What to expect from the Stray Kids SKZOO concert in Roblox

Stray Kids SKZOO avatars - animal versions of the band - will perform tracks from the new mixtape album Do It, which was released on November 21, 2025. It's made up of four new tracks, Do It, Divine, Holiday and Photobook. Do It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 earlier this month.

So far not much else has been revealed beyond the timing of the event itself, but we know there'll be at least two different special Badges available. One for taking part in a SKZavenger Hunt to earn a limited edition SKZOO backpack, and another special souvenir for anyone who attends the concert.

If you want to make sure you're ready to celebrate the event in style, check out our Roblox guides and a list of all the latest working Roblox codes. If you're ready to kill some time before the event, check out IGN's dedicated game guides for some of the most popular Roblox experiences. Check out our guides for Grow a Garden, Dress to Impress, Dead Rails, Fisch, and more!

Rachel Weber is the Senior Editorial Director of Games at IGN and an elder millennial. She's been a professional nerd since 2006 when she got her start on Official PlayStation Magazine in the UK, and has since worked for GamesIndustry.Biz, Rolling Stone and GamesRadar. She loves horror, horror movies, horror games, and French Bulldogs. Those extra wrinkles on her face are thanks to going time blind and staying up too late finishing every sidequest in RPGs like Fallout and Witcher 3.

Bethesda has released a December patch for Fallout 4 just in time for the holidays.

In a post on Steam, Bethesda thanked players of its 10-year-old role-playing game for their feedback, which “helped us sort through a few key pain points.”

However, storage expansion on console will have to wait until 2026. “It was a goal of ours to launch storage expansion on console this year, knowing it's been one of the top requests from players,” Bethesda said. “While the team has made progress, we need a little more time to roll this out for console players and will need to wait until the new year.”

The patch comes after last month’s release of Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition and a backlash from players over technical problems and pricing. It also arrives just in time for the start of Fallout Season 2 on Prime Video, which kicks off today, December 16 and will surely spark a surge in players of all things Fallout, as Season 1 did.

Fallout 4 December 2025 patch notes:

Save/Load and Content Handling

• Fixed issues with the missing Creations Bundle add-on for Steam
• Game now recognizes Creation Club content upon loading a save file from an older build.
• Correct warning dialogue is shown when Creations are disabled but not deleted.

General UI/UX Improvements

• Improved visibility and interaction in the Category List, fixed overlapping boxes, and ensured button prompts display correctly on all platforms (including ROG Ally and Steam Deck).
• Fixed issues with missing or broken UI elements, such as missing button layouts, gallery image enlargement, and empty titles in “My Library”.
• Improved sort menu transparency and restored the 'Best Results' sort option.
• Addressed keyboard input loss and cursor visibility issues in the Creations menu.
• Fixed prompt and navigation issues when rapidly re-entering the Creations Store or using the PS Store overlay.
• Creations removed from the storefront can now be individually deleted from the Load Order.
• Banner carousel/category rows no longer endlessly scroll when opening the Purchase Credits menu.

Crash & Stability Fixes

• Addressed crashes related to downloading all Creations, data reloads, idling in menus, profile sign-out, and leaving the Creations menu (especially on PS4/PS5).
• Fixed rare crashes after store purchases, during scrolling/viewing in the Creations menu, and when starting a new game with Creations enabled.
• Improved error handling for rapid menu actions and ensured the game no longer hangs on quit.

Ultrawide, Steam Deck, and Platform-Specific Fixes

• Workshop menus and reset screens are now optimized for ultrawide and super ultrawide monitors.
• Fixed performance hitches and UI alignment issues on ultrawide
• Addressed platform-specific issues such as button prompts, misplaced UI

Text, Localization, and Miscellaneous

• Apostrophes and other special characters now display correctly in the in-game Creations menu.
• Prompt for Anniversary Upgrade now fits correctly in German, French, and Spanish localizations.

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

High on Life 2 is our IGN First “cover story” game for December, which means we’ve got exclusive coverage all month long. We’ve already posted plenty of new gameplay, and today we’re thrilled to announce one of High on Life 2’s brand-new weapons: Say hello to the Flint Turtles, flame-spitting reptiles who can be wielded like flamethrowers or tossed like fire-belching sentries.

Take a look at some footage of the Flint Turtle in action in the video below, and for more exclusive High on Life 2 coverage – don't miss our first weapon reveal of Travis.

High on Life 2 will be released on February 13, 2026 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S – including launching on day one into Xbox Game Pass.

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.

As usual, there were a bunch of horror movies to check out in 2025. The genre never has a lack of new contributions, thanks in part to its relatively low bar of entry for up-and-coming filmmakers, as well as to audiences’ never-ending appetite for stuff that will thrill them. Some of these new horror flicks of 2025 were great, some were good, some were just OK, and plenty were, shall we say, not great at all.

There were sequels like The Conjuring: Last Rites, Final Destination: Bloodlines and Five Nights at Freddy's 2. There were fresh new concepts like Weapons and Sinners (more on those two below). And there were dog POV ghost stories too! (Actually, even Steven Soderbergh got into the ghost point-of-view party with Presence this year.)

Oh, and let’s not forget Stephen King adaptations. The author’s legacy was present on the big screen throughout the year (and the small screen as well with Welcome to Derry), from Osgood Perkins' fun adaptation of The Monkey to Francis Lawrence’s intense The Long Walk and, most recently, Edgar Wright’s non-horror spin on The Running Man.

But what was the best horror of the year? Read on…

Runner-Up: 28 Years Later

It hadn’t actually been 28 years since the last movie in the series (just 22), but the return of director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland, who gave us the original tale of the Rage Virus back in 2003, was certainly a cause for celebration. However, rather than return to Cillian Murphy’s Jim for this sequel, we were instead introduced to a new batch of (wildly different) characters in the strange new world that has evolved since folks started gettin’ angry and spittin’ up blood at each other. As IGN’s Tom Jorgensen said in his review, “28 Years Later is as potent and timely an exploration of cultural strife as the original, and Danny Boyle and Alex Garland tug at the heartstrings with bloody, deadly skill.”

Runner-Up: Bring Her Back

The Philippou brothers, Danny and Michael, may have started as YouTubers, but their 2023 debut feature Talk to Me left an eerie mark on the horror genre. And so their follow-up film was always going to be a “do they really have what it takes” test. And you know what? It turns out they do. The supernaturally tinged Bring Her Back is anchored by Sally Hawkins’ performance as a foster mother who takes in the teenage Andy (Billy Barratt) and his sister Piper (Sora Wong) after their father dies. Not surprisingly, Hawkins’ Laura is not quite what she seems, and the resulting scares, blood, and chills prove that the Philippous are here to stay.

Runner-Up: Sinners

Frequent collaborators Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan reteamed (again) for Sinners, taking a step into the horror genre along the way with a tale of vampires, generational sin, and Black history. The Fruitvale Station/Creed/Black Panther team gave us a picture filled with blood and pointy fangs, yes, but also one packed with emotion and sexiness and, by the way, amazing performances across the board – and in particular by Jordan in a dual role as twin brothers Smoke and Stack Moore. Said Eric Goldman in his review for IGN, “Other frequent Coogler collaborators like cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw and costume designer Ruth E. Carter do remarkable work bringing the brothers’ world to life. Sinners also puts music to beautiful use, as we’re reminded that vampirism is but one way to achieve immortality.”

Runner-Up: Together

Writer-director Michael Shanks made his feature-length debut with this body horror flick about a young couple who, well, learn that being together sometimes means changing… Real-life couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco star as the girlfriend/boyfriend duo who perhaps should actually not be together anymore, but old habits die hard… and sometimes in increasingly horrific, hilarious ways, as Together shows us. Siddhant Adlakha sums it up in his IGN review: “What if you literally couldn’t be separate from your partner? Together answers that question with an obvious metaphor that Alison Brie and Dave Franco turn into a hilarious action-body-horror blast.”

Winner: Weapons

Writer-director Zach Cregger followed up his 2022 hit Barbarian with this creepfest about a town where 17 school children inexplicably all disappeared from their homes at the same moment one night. Told through different “chapters” which relay the various characters’ points of view, Weapons cleverly keeps the audience guessing as to what’s really going on even as our loyalties and feelings about certain characters are subverted: For example, Josh Brolin’s angry dad, who shows up briefly in Julia Garner’s school teacher’s “chapter” to blame her for the kids’ disappearance, comes across as hostile and in the wrong… until we join him in his own chapter and are suddenly on his side.

As with Barbarian, Cregger is willing to delve into the truly weird and surreal. But it works better in Weapons in so far as – without giving too much away if you somehow haven’t yet heard what the film’s twists are – the more supernatural aspects of the story are believable in this world. And they’re also horrifying at times, which is why Weapons is IGN’s Best Horror Movie of 2025!

Read our Weapons review.

What do you think? Was Weapons the best horror movie of the year? Should it have gone to Sinners or another of these titles? Let’s talk in the comments, and don’t forget to vote in the poll above. And don’t forget to check out all our IGN Awards for 2025 across film, TV, gaming, anime, and comics!

With the Switch 2 having launched in June, 2025 marked the beginning of a whole new console generation for Nintendo. The more powerful hybrid console has seen an extremely busy first six months, filled with excellent first-party games, surprising third-party ports, and highly-anticipated indies. And even deep into its ninth year, the original Switch provided its players with plenty to do, too, with the long-overdue arrivals of Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Xenoblade Chronicles X, and a few cross-generation Nintendo games that made it to both Switches.

Nintendo itself published a whopping 16 games in 2025 – spread across new Switch 1 and 2 games and enhanced Switch 2 editions of older games – and along with the higher volume of third-party support brought on by a new console, it’s a crowded field to choose the best of the best from this year. But ranking things is what we do at IGN, so here are the Nintendo Switch games we went bananas for in 2025, starting with the honorable mentions…

Honorable Mentions

Our staff voted for a wide variety of games, but not all of them can make our shortlist of the top five Nintendo Switch games of the year. They still deserve a nod, though, and we start with Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, a Switch 2 launch game for the cozy gamers that combines chill action RPG systems with life sim mechanics. The Pokemon series wasted no time debuting on Switch 2 with Pokemon Legends: Z-A, a cross-generation release in the more experimental Legends subseries. It shook up the formula by introducing a more action-focused battle system in an adventure set entirely within Lumiose City. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment was another strong entry in the Zelda spinoff series, with flashy action that remixed Tears of the Kingdom’s abilities in clever ways. And while it arrived too late into the year to have been included in our ballot, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is finally here, eight years after it was first teased at E3 2017. I reviewed it, and it turned out great, with highs that rival the best moments in the whole series. Now, let’s move on to our four runner-ups…

Runner-Up - Mario Kart World

Mario Kart World had a lot of expectations placed on it. Its predecessor, Mario Kart 8, established itself as the definitive kart racer over the course of the Wii U and Switch years, and it was tough to see how Nintendo would improve upon it in a sequel. On top of that, World was also the flagship launch game for Switch 2, meaning it had the responsibility of leaving a strong first impression of the generation to come. While it feels like Mario Kart World is still living in 8 Deluxe’s shadow, at least for now, it’s still a fantastic game in its own right. It’s a gorgeous showcase for Nintendo’s new console with its vibrant, exaggerated art style, and its tight controls are the most polished of any entry in the series. Plus, its frankly enormous soundtrack is an absolute treat for longtime Mario fans, with catchy remixes of tunes drawn from across the entire franchise, from old Mario Kart games, to platformers like Yoshi’s Island.

The implementation of its open world is uneven overall, but its miles and miles of interconnected roads allow for World’s standout new mode: Knockout Tour. This tense cross-country race eliminates the bottom four drivers at designated cutoff points, leading to moments where you lean forward in your seat and press the A button even harder in an attempt to will your kart across the finish line. It’s a brilliant evolution of Mario Kart that will no doubt be a staple on family game nights for years to come. And we can’t end this without shouting out Cow, the new playable character who stole our hearts.

Runner-Up - Kirby Air Riders

Switch 2’s first-party lineup featured a couple of fascinating risks in its first six months: instead of a 3D Mario, we got a 3D Donkey Kong. And instead of starting work on a new Smash Bros., Masahiro Sakurai instead directed Kirby Air Riders; a surprise sequel to a niche GameCube racer that no one saw coming. Air Riders turned out to be fantastic – Sakurai truly gave the Smash Ultimate treatment to Air Ride – and it’s hard to imagine a better realization of this formula. It’s overflowing with wildly different modes, meaningful unlockables and achievements to chase, and a borderline absurd amount of customization. There’s an extreme level of polish and attention to detail throughout every pocket of Air Riders that makes the whole thing shine brightly. Its unique – and admittedly somewhat limited – one or two-button control scheme isn’t going to be for everyone. But if you meet Air Riders on its own terms and click with it, you’ll find a cult classic in the making that’s unlike many other triple-A games out there.

Runner-Up - Hollow Knight: Silksong

This year, both generations of Nintendo Switch got two long-awaited metroidvania sequels that were, in hindsight, probably announced far too early: Metroid Prime 4, and our next runner-up, Hollow Knight: Silksong. While Prime 4 has some visible scars from its troubled development, Silksong somehow managed to arrive sparkling like a masterpiece whose artists just didn’t want to stop adding more to it. As IGN’s reviewer Tom Marks put it, “The whole world may have been waiting for Hollow Knight: Silksong’s cocoon to finally crack open, but it sure doesn’t seem to have been burdened by that pressure. This excellent sequel to an all-time great has more than managed to live up to the high expectations I had set for it, standing as both a smart continuation of the original Hollow Knight and a fantastic game of its own.” Silksong may not be developed by Nintendo, but it feels right at home on Switch 2, because of both its obvious debt of inspiration to the Metroid franchise, and the fact that the first Hollow Knight really took off after it was ported to the original Switch in 2018.

Runner-Up - Hades 2

The first Hades was a runaway success – it even won IGN’s Game of the Year award in 2020 – so it’s remarkable that Supergiant Games managed to outdo itself with a sequel. Hades 2 is an incredible refinement of the innovative story-driven roguelite blueprint laid out by its predecessor. As IGN’s reviewer Leana Hafer said, “There is no one out there doing what Supergiant does as well as it does, and this exceptional action roguelite is some of this team’s best work on nearly every level (which is an astonishingly high bar to clear)... The art is breathtaking, the characters are captivating, the combat is fast, fun, endlessly varied, and tactical, and the music is spectacular.” Just like the first, Hades 2 launched in 1.0 as a Nintendo console exclusive (alongside its PC release), giving Switch 1 and 2 players one of the year’s very best. Hades 2 is also one of only two games this year to score our highest rating on IGN: a 10 out of 10 masterpiece. But the other game that scored a 10 also happens to be a Nintendo game…

Winner - Donkey Kong Bananza

The safe option would have been to release a new 3D Mario game in the Switch 2’s launch window. But Nintendo made a bold move instead, choosing to bring one of its original mascots back in-house for the first time in 20 years. The result is Donkey Kong Bananza: an ambitious, masterful 3D platformer that brilliantly redefines one of gaming’s oldest characters while simultaneously paying loving tribute to every era of the great ape. DK and Pauline’s journey to the planet core was the Switch 2’s first essential adventure, and our staff’s pick for the best Nintendo game of 2025.

Few games feel as satisfying to play as Bananza. DK’s moveset is fast, expressive, and powerful, and the way the meticulously designed breakable world is structured around his destructive toolkit is incredibly impressive. Just ripping a chunk out of the ground leads to so many dynamic options: you can throw it, swing it, double jump, or even surf. Romping around each detailed sublevel and hunting for hundreds of well-hidden collectibles as the world crumbles before you is a blast. It’s always exciting to see what new twist the next layer’s terrain will bring, and Bananza’s focus on platforming by way of destruction is a completely fresh idea that pushes this genre in groundbreaking new directions.

Bananza also takes clear inspiration from Nintendo greats like Breath of the Wild in the way it approaches player freedom. Not only can you tear every level down to the studs, Bananza is ready for almost any sequence break you throw at it. Did you skip a layer’s challenge entirely by cleverly platforming around it? Pauline will comment on it when you’re diving to the next area. Nintendo doesn’t stop you from playing how you want, always allowing for a rewarding amount of flexibility, but it’s bold enough to also let you know the development team thought of all these tricks first.

Donkey Kong has gone through so many phases and stewards: from Shigeru Miyamoto’s legendary arcade original, to Rare’s classic Donkey Kong Country trilogy, to Retro’s fantastic revivals. But with Bananza, Nintendo finally brought Donkey Kong home again and kicked off a brand new era that’s hopefully just getting started. Donkey Kong is Nintendo’s king of 2025.

What was your favorite Nintendo game this year? Let us know in the comments! For more IGN awards, check out our pick for the best Xbox game of the year. And for a deeper dive on Nintendo’s 2025, check out our pair of year-in-review episodes of the Nintendo Voice Chat podcast over on the IGN Games YouTube channel or your favorite podcast app.

The past few years have felt like an embarrassment of riches when it comes to RPGs, and so expectations were high going into 2025. Thankfully, the last 12 months certainly lived up to such a bar. While that's good for gamers, it made things more than a little tough when whittling down our list of the best role-playing games of the year, especially because we had a wide variety of RPG styles that satisfied different tastes.

Avowed gave us some of that Obsidian magic in a fantasy world that was tighter and more focused than many of its contemporaries, resulting in a game that didn’t feel as overwhelming as typical open-world RPGs. Deltarune’s new chapters elevated the ongoing Undertale-adjacent saga to new heights with increasingly clever gameplay twists and sharper narrative chops. And if you had 100-plus hours to spare, Octopath Traveler 0 offered a stunning conclusion for an unforgettable journey to cap off the year.

The definition of RPG is fairly free-flowing these days, so you’ll see games with elements of the genre in our other award categories. But we made careful considerations for games with RPG mechanics at the forefront of their gameplay, along with deep stories, for this particular list. However, there can only be five games and one winner, so the IGN team voted and deliberated on which games would make up this year’s list. We believe the genre is in good hands with the games we picked, and the game we've chosen as the Best RPGs of 2025 is something very special.

Runner-Up – Trails in the Sky: 1st Chapter

The Trails series, part of the larger Legend of Heroes franchise, has been gaining more and more traction over recent years. But it’s tricky to recommend as it now numbers 13 entries, all of which are part of a continuous timeline. Remake Trails in the Sky: 1st Chapter helps rememdy that problem, as it went right back to the beginning to create one of strongest and sharpest games in the series – and now, it’s the easiest one to recommend.

Trails revolves around a deeply developed world with captivating geopolitical drama at its heart. 1st Chapter does such a good job of painting that broad picture, which is seen in detail through the eyes of its two leads, Estelle and Joshua. As budding Bracers (a peacekeeping guild) whose father is a legend in the guild, they're perfect conduits to provide a pretty intimate understanding of the world's various regions and how they feed into the larger story. The turn-based battles feature a fantastic blend of action combat and the series’ unique positioning system, which creates a gameplay flow that ushers you through this expanded version of this classic RPG. The true magic of Trails lies in the multifaceted stories from multiple perspectives, but it all starts here in Trails in the Sky, and this remake is a terrific representation of that.

Runner-Up – Dragon Quest 1&2 HD-2D Remake

Square Enix has done excellent work in revitalizing the Dragon Quest games of yore, and Dragon Quest 1&2 HD-2D Remake is the best example yet. The high-definition pixel art makeover is more than just a sensible way to pretty-up these classics, it also lets them stay true to the spirit of their original look without the weird pixel smoothing effect of past remasters. These Remakes also retain the turn-based combat system and characters without sacrificing the distinct spirit of the original games from all those years ago (frustrating difficulty spikes and all), but even then, quality of life improvements make sure they’re still enjoyable in a modern sense. Combined with the DQ3 HD-2D remake, these games complete the "Erdrick trilogy" of Dragon Quest games, and you can see how the series pioneered the genre, especially with the second entry’s emphasis on characters and storytelling. This package is one of the best examples of modernized nostalgia – faithful to the originals and approachable in today’s gaming landscape. And it’s some of the best role-playing we experienced this year.

Runner-Up – The Outer Worlds 2

When it comes to RPGs and letting players dictate how they interact with the world, Obsidian is one of the best studios to do it. The Outer Worlds 2 improves on the first game in almost every way, from punchier gunplay to much deeper role-playing systems. The options you have to build your character and make pivotal choices have a larger impact on what you can do in combat, but also create specific avenues for how quests play out. We keep pointing to the Flaws system, which was present in the original, but has been expanded in unpredictable, creative ways by giving you some serious pros/cons to consider based on your playing habits. However, the much more expansive areas, smarter level design, and dynamic combat encounters make sure the actual gameplay experience is a significant leap over the first game. And you can’t have an RPG of this style without choice and consequence at the heart of the story, and Obsidian reminds us with The Outer Worlds 2 that it still has the chops, even in a post-Fallout: New Vegas era.

Runner-Up – Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is an investment that pays back multiple times over in its 120-hour runtime. It’s a commitment - a slow-burn game you have to want to live in. But it’s also an action-packed cinematic adventure that proves to have an emotional range that the original didn’t. You might be just "some guy" as Henry, yet that role often lets you see the world for what it is, whether you’re doing seemingly mundane activities or the pivotal story quests where your choices matter. What this game does better than most, though, is first-person melee combat, a tough thing that even the mighty Elder Scrolls franchise has struggled with for so long. It is intricate, skill-based, and stays engaging even as you get deeper into the furthest corners the campaign. Although developer Warhorse Studios arguably tries to bite off more than it can chew at times, you’ll find the quality writing and great combat leads you to a satisfying conclusion. This sequel might pick off where the first ended, but jumping into Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 regardless of your experience will open you up to a rare RPG that deserves its flowers, 2025 or otherwise.

Winner – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Suprise, surprise – the Best RPG of 2025 is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and for good reason. The folks at development team Sandfall Interactive drew direct inspiration from Japanese RPGs like Final Fantasy 10 and Persona 5 (their words, not ours), and made the kind of game they wanted to play. We know there’s still a huge appetite for good turn-based RPGs, and Clair Obscur is further proof of that, but it’s the mechanics built into the combat system that makes it stand out. The active timing inputs keep you engaged in each fight, and recognizing attack patterns so that you may parry and inflict damage on an enemy turn is some of the most satisfying stuff we’ve experienced in a turn-based system. Each party member plays uniquely and has their own unique gameplay gimmick, as to represent a Job or Class, but there's then the Picto/Lumina system that lets you stack on perks and wild buffs – at some point it feels like you’re breaking the game. However, the toughest challenges ensure the game pushes back on you to really test your mastery and understanding of its more intricate mechanics. It’s one of the best combat systems we’ve seen in a good long while, and it keeps that momentum throughout its story and optional content.

But Expedition 33 wouldn’t be a true homage to JRPGs without a melodramatic and heartwrenching story. While it immediately hits you with the theme of time wiping away swathes of people – friends and loved ones disintegrating before your eyes – it grows into a meditation on grief and how it changes people, seen through the eyes of fully formed characters who change alongside each other. Whether or not you want intricate systems, fun combat, or deep stories from your RPGs, Clair Obscur delivered all of that in a way that won the hearts of us here at IGN.

For more of our end-of-the-year celebrations, be sure to check out our list of awards and nominees, which is being updated daily in the lead-up to our official Best Game of 2025 announcement.

Michael is the tech reviews editor at IGN, but regularly contributes to games coverage with reviews, features, and news.

Capcom's Resident Evil Requiem trailer that revealed Leon S. Kennedy also featured yet another familiar face from the series' past, fans believe.

Blink and you'll miss it, but the trailer also includes a blonde female character speaking to Leon over comms, who fans believe is none other than Sherry Birkin — and, listening to the voice performance, they may well have a point.

Sherry first popped up in Resident Evil 2 (where she met Leon for the first time) but more recently featured in Resident Evil 6. Compare Sherry's voice actress from Resi 6 to the dialogue heard in Capcom's new Requiem trailer, and the two sound remarkably similar, if not identical. Take a listen via the fan comparison embedded below.

The character speaking to Leon is most likely Sherry Birkin, the voice is the same as hers in Resident Evil 6, the hair color is exactly the same, and she also works in the same organization as Leon, DSO.#REBHFun pic.twitter.com/mYXTGAfYYa

— Waleed (@Waleedx2007) December 15, 2025

Capcom has remained coy about confirming Sherry, perhaps to give Leon his moment in the spotlight, but there seems no reason it couldn't be her. After all, Resident Evil 6 showed her working for the Division of Security Operations, the FBI-like government agency that also employs Leon. And with Leon involved, it seems straightforward enough that Sherry is also along for the ride.

Despite Leon's recent confirmation, and Capcom's subsequent explanation that the floppy-haired fan favorite will feature in around half of the game, Requiem is said to still hold plenty of mysteries.

This week, as Resident Evil fans peer closer at Leon's reveal trailer and celebrate the Resident Evil 4 star entering his "hot uncle" era, there has also been concern over a nasty-looking mark glimpsed on the hero's neck. Is it a zombie bite, or new infection? Could Capcom really bring Leon back just to kill him off, rather than let him retire in peace? Whatever's going on, Capcom has said Leon holds "a big secret" — hopefully Sherry can help him out.

Last week also brought word of yet another returning Resident Evil character who will apparently also make an appearance, Rosemary Winters. A product listing for Requiem's Deluxe Edition that was leaked by GameStop mentioned the inclusion of extra costumes for the character, who Capcom has so far not mentioned at all.

There's still a couple of months to go until Resident Evil Requiem releases on February 26, 2026, and until then, Capcom has certainly given fans plenty to discuss. Is there anyone else from the series' past that you'd like to see pop up?

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

For LEGO fans, the holiday period is a nice time to focus on building new sets. If you're on the hunt for something new to work on, Woot is here to help. The Amazon-owned online retailer is offering a $30 discount at the moment on the incredible LEGO Icons The Lord of The Rings: Rivendell set, dropping it to its lowest price yet at $469.99.

Save $30 on The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell LEGO Set

This is one of our favorite Lord of the Rings LEGO sets and one of our favorite LEGO sets overall, so whether you're looking to grab it for yourself or to give as a gift over the holidays this year, now is a great time to make a move on it. Keep in mind that this deal at Woot is only live for six more days or until it's sold out, so you'll want to be quick.

The LEGO Rivendell set is no small undertaking, either. It comes with a whopping 6,167 pieces that form a detailed recreation of Rivendell. It's packed with 15 minifigures as well, including nine of the Fellowship: Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn, Boromir, Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin. The other six minifigures are of Gloin, Arwen, Elrond, Bilbo, and two elves. Given its huge size and amount of detail, it's a set that's recommended for adults as well.

If you're curious what it's like to take on this massive set, have a look at our Rivendell We Build. Writer Kevin Wong said that it's "a beautiful but fragile set" highlighting that, because of how delicate it is, it's definitely meant for adults. He continues on to say that "the designers sacrificed sturdiness for incredible aesthetics. But for most adult LEGO fans, that's a worthy trade."

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.

2000’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas celebrates its 25th anniversary this year — and with that, the cast has been reminiscing about shooting the project, particularly highlighting an on-set incident where star Jim Carrey shut down a scene in which his young costar Taylor Momsen was moments away from being hurt.

“I remember when we were shooting the scene coming down the mountain on the sled. It was this real sled that was up on a giant spring that was being controlled and moving from side to side, very aggressively,” Momsen revealed to Vulture in its oral history of the making of the film.

She continued: “Jim is leaning over and being extravagant Jim. There was a moment where I almost fell out of the sled, and he freaked out. He called cut and started checking in on me. I was having a great time. I was laughing; I wasn’t thinking about the fact that I just almost fell very high off the ground."

Steven Spielberg’s next sci-fi thriller, Disclosure Day, has a debut trailer and a release date: June 12, 2026.

The mysterious new movie is created and directed by Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg, and stars Oppenheimer and A Quiet Place’s Emily Blunt as well as Josh O’Connor (Challengers, The Crown), Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, Kingsman franchise), Eve Hewson (Bad Sisters, The Perfect Couple), and Colman Domingo (Sing Sing, Rustin).

The trailer revolves around a shocking global secret that looks set to be revealed to the world's public all at once. We see Emily Blunt struggle to deliver the weather report live on air, her voice slowly transforming into a creepy clicking noise. It sounds like this could be about aliens, but we don’t see any in the trailer.

What we do see are a lot of very concerned people doing strange things while hooked up to machines. Eyes change, and we see people perform actions using these machines that are then mirrored by others. Is this a movie about mind control? Meanwhile, we see a crop circle emerge in real time, and in one shot, a woman miraculously turns into Emily Blunt’s character.

It looks like Disclosure Day will deal with some big, existential questions normally reserved for philosophy debates. And there's a clear religious theme here. The trailer asks: “Why would He make such a vast universe, yet save it only for us?” Well, perhaps in Disclosure Day, He didn’t.

The tagline is:

If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? This summer, the truth belongs to seven billion people.

We are coming close to … Disclosure Day.

David Koepp, whose previous work with Spielberg includes the scripts for Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, wrote the screenplay based on a story by Spielberg.

Image credit: Universal Studios.

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

Home Alone director Chris Columbus is part of a truly solid crop of American directors who excelled in the comedy space in the 80s and 90s — but he isn’t quite as fond of the comedic efforts that came after his work in the Home Alone franchise. In fact, he recently went as far as to call the other installments “really bad.”

"It's been revisited with really bad sequels," Columbus said while speaking at a screening at the Academy Museum recently. "Sorry to insult anybody, but they've completely f***ed it up. It started with Home Alone 3 and then it just went downhill from there; Home Alone 3 is sort of the best of the bunch of the bad movies."

He didn’t name drop any of the other titles specifically, but after Home Alone 3, there were three more sequels featuring different protagonists: 2002’s Home Alone 4, 2012’s Home Alone: The Holiday Heist, and 2021’s Home Sweet Home Alone. For Columbus, a big part of the problem was in the wirework, which gives a “false sense of the stunt" and makes the franchise’s classic stunts look unnatural.

That said, we could have a really great Home Alone sequel — if 20th Century Studios would just listen to original star Macaulay Culkin, who recently had an excellent idea for a legacy sequel film that he shared during a show on the A Nostalgic Night with Macaulay Culkin tour.

In his concept, his original character, Kevin McAllister, is an adult father. "I'm working really hard and I'm not really paying enough attention and the kid is kind of getting miffed at me and then I get locked out,” Culkin explained. “He won't let me in… and he's the one setting traps for me.”

Honestly, we think he might be onto something, so 20th Century, you should listen up. The original Home Alone is available to stream now on Disney+.

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

Nintendo recorded more than 30 minutes of extra conversations featuring Metroid Prime 4: Beyond's chatty companion characters that don't currently appear in the game.

The voice lines have now been datamined and uploaded to YouTube (thanks, VGC) where fans can listen in to long stretches of cut Metroid Prime 4 banter, recorded for the Galactic Federation troops Samus encounters.

Specifically, these conversations would have played out at Base Camp, between much-maligned mechanic Miles MacKenzie, and later NPCs such as the robot VUE-995, Private Armstrong, Sergeant Duke and Corporal Tokabi.

Listening in to the conversations, these are all non-essential chats that add to each character's backstory and personality. Most are designed to be humorous, such as the chats between hulking mech VUE-995 and Private Armstrong talking about working out, getting a tattoo-like custom paint scheme, and Armstrong's love of dogs. Armstrong even discusses her pet pooch back home, named Bowser.

Speaking with Sergeant Duke, VUE-995 is told he needs greasing up, as the other troops are complaining that he's squeaking. As a group, the team also discusses eating jerky. (There are no voice lines featuring Samus, for obvious reasons.)

It remains to be seen whether this dialogue is ever used for anything, or made available in-game via a future update. (Perhaps it's being saved for the launch of a New Game Plus mode?) Alternatively, the fact the dialogue has been cut could be a sign that Nintendo knew its cheery marines might come across as an odd fit in Metroid Prime — a series known for its themes of isolation, with a famously silent protagonist and little to no other dialogue.

Notably, Nintendo held back all mention of these characters' presence until a pre-release preview just a month from the game's launch date. Their inclusion then became a focal point of discussion among fans, and part of the game's critical consensus upon release.

"It doesn't take psychic powers to see the ideal vision Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was aiming for," IGN wrote in our Metroid Prime 4: Beyond review. "It tries to mix the excellent Prime formula with a character-focused story and a large hub world to explore. It doesn't quite reach that ambitious goal, with an outdated open desert area that mostly feels like padding and a cast of characters that provide both a handful of memorable moments and too much chatter at times."

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

Larian has confirmed that its upcoming role-playing game, Divinity, is indeed turn-based following speculation from the developer's fans.

Following the announcement of Divinity at The Game Awards, fans had wondered if it would follow 2023’s Baldur’s Gate 3 and prior games in the Divinity series by offering turn-based combat, or mark a significant shift for Larian and move to more action game-oriented combat. Confirmation that it is sticking with turn-based comes from a Bloomberg interview with Larian boss Swen Vincke.

“This is going to be us unleashed, I think,” Vincke said. “It’s a turn-based RPG featuring everything you’ve seen from us in the past, but it’s brought to the next level.”

Vincke took part in a round of interviews with the media following the announcement, and spoke to IGN in an interview of our own on what to expect from Divinity. Key points he made in our interview include:

• Divinity is a single-player game with cooperative multiplayer, as with Baldur’s Gate 3
• Larian has been working on Divinity for two years already, and it is now in full production.
• Larian owns Divinity, so it is free from the Dungeons & Dragons shackles it built Baldur’s Gate 3 with.
• Divinity is “bigger” than Baldur’s Gate 3.
• Divinity will “most likely” use early access prior to full launch, as Baldur’s Gate 3 did, but Larian is undecided.

Check out IGN’s Divinity interview with Swen Vincke for the complete lowdown. We've also got comments from Larian on Divinity's gruesome
reveal trailer, which was not designed to shock the audience. And be sure to check out everything announced at The Game Awards 2025 for more, as well as the winners list in full. And if you’re wondering what all this Divinity business is about, check out our handy explainer here.

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

Ahead of the hotly-anticipated launch of Fallout Season 2 on Prime Video, a Samsung executive has discussed the optimal TV picture settings for watching the show — and even got Bethesda development chief Todd Howard asking questions of his own.

Optimal settings became part of the discourse around Stranger Things Season 5 after co-creator Ross Duffer called on fans of the Netflix series to turn off what he described as “garbage” TV settings because they “destroy the color” and present an image that is “not the filmmakers’ intent.”

So in a recent interview with Kevin Beatty, Head of Product for Samsung Gaming, Interactive Experiences, and Emerging Tech (Bethesda and Xbox recently announced a partnership with Amazon and Samsung to stream Season 1 for free on Samsung TV Plus), we asked him for his optimal picture settings recommendation for watching Fallout.

Bethesda chief Todd Howard was in the same interview, and he got pretty excited about the question. “I look this stuff up,” he said. “I want to know as well. This is the best question!”

Replying, Beatty pointed to HDR10+, the High Dynamic Range (HDR) format that uses dynamic metadata for scene-by-scene or frame-by-frame adjustments to color, contrast, and brightness. It's supported by major brands and streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, where Fallout Season 2 kicks off today, December 16.

“... HDR10+ and with AI processors now we are upscaling these things,” Beatty said. “And so, these are actual capabilities that exist in every single line that you're buying off the shelf, that is going to improve the experience when you're watching it on Amazon Prime.”

Determined to find out more, Howard asked a question of his own:

“No, but legit, backlight 20 or 11? I sit there and mess with it.”

Beatty responded: “Oh, well, I think it depends on the lighting of your room.”

At this point in the interview we’re told HDR10+ does this automatically. “Yeah, but sometimes it clicks it on and off,” Howard countered. “It's not the fault on your TV, I'm just saying.”

Beatty added: “I think it also depends on your room though, right? If you're in a room that is well lit versus completely dark…”

At this point Howard made one thing very clear: “Not dynamic mode though, you turn that off. That's for stores.”

In Ross Duffer’s TV settings post, he expressed particular disdain for what he called the “worst offender of all: TruMotion, aka smooth motion, “or the dreaded soap opera effect.”

Then, Duffer added: “whatever you do, do not switch on anything called ‘vivid’ — because it’s going to turn on all the worst offenders, it’s going to destroy the color, and is not the filmmaker’s intent.”

We put Duffer’s comments to Beatty, and while he didn’t want to respond to them directly, he did say he understood where Duffer was coming from as a creative.

“I was mentioning to Todd, I came from Disney prior to Samsung, and so worked really closely with a lot of the creators, and so there is absolutely a bias on, this content has to look this good, and it has to have this type of color variation and sensitivity,” he began. “I think it really depends. I can't comment on necessarily Stranger Things 5, of what works best, but I would say though that HDR10+ generally speaking will improve it the most.”

And on Duffer’s comment on TruMotion specifically, Beatty replied: “Yeah. I could see where he's probably coming from, where he thinks that it's adding creative flexibility on top of what he's trying to come up with. And these are settings that people can turn off, if they want.”

Fallout Season 2 starts tonight, December 16, on Prime Video after Amazon brought the release date forward by a day. Check out IGN's Fallout Season 2 Episodes 1-6 review to find out what we think of it.

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

For the Animal Crossing fans looking for new dialogue or major overhauls to what exists in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you may not want to hold your breath for the 3.0 Update or the Nintendo Switch 2 version. The announcement for anything new for the five-year-old game was already a delightful surprise (especially after Nintendo previously said they were done with major updates years ago), but there don't seem to be many secrets or surprises beyond what was shown in the reveal trailer. IGN was invited by Nintendo to get a hands-off look at what's coming to ACNH on January 15, 2026, and the roughly 25-minute demo confirmed certain ACNH fan factions' excitement and disappointment: namely, this one is for the decorators. That being said, as someone who does love decorating in Animal Crossing, this update is an exciting reason for me to play more regularly again.

The Switch 2 version's three main features aren't all that interesting, though the speed and graphical updates are pleasing. In the demo, I saw and had it confirmed that the Switch 2 exclusive Megaphone tool is limited to calling residents who can actually hear. So, it won't impact anyone inside a building, which makes it less useful for tracking down a particular character. Then, the final major benefit to playing on Switch 2 is being able to play with up to 12 people total in multiplayer, though that hinges on everyone in the session playing on a Switch 2. I feel lucky I know even three people still playing, leaving this update as the least impactful.

The hotel is by far the biggest change out of everything. It was explained that, like other facilities in ACNH, the hotel is something you'll unlock. Since it's tied to the pier, it cannot be moved and getting it is not optional. I didn't see what's involved in building the hotel, but once it's there, it'll receive season-appropriate decor like other facilities. Inside is the welcoming site of Kapp'n's family. The main activity you'll do in the hotel is decorating rooms similar to the Happy Home Paradise DLC, with the key difference being that you have a list of room themes to choose from (such as Ranch Room, Skyscraper Room, and plenty more) and are free to do what you will with it… or skip using a theme entirely and freestyle the design.

If you use a theme, you're provided a selection of items that match. Though unlike HHP, you're not required to use any specific items even if you do opt to use a theme. Then, when you're done, you'll receive a reward of the new hotel currency, tickets, once per day. You can keep decorating the eight guest rooms, but you won't receive any extra currency. Tickets can then be spent at the hotel gift shop that has hotel-related items along with new furniture, most of which I did not get to see. The other way to earn tickets is by crafting requested items for Kapp'n. The new bulk crafting feature wasn't shown in my demo either.

Tourists who stay in the hotel can roam your island in the customizable outfits displayed in the hotel, which helps to clearly identify them. Unfortunately, there wasn't much interaction with tourists in my demo. The one conversation with a tourist didn't make it clear whether or not they can be invited to stay on the island, though it was mentioned in the demo that if the visitor is convinced, they could potentially become a resident.

The four new characters coming to ACNH with 3.0 (two from Splatoon, two from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom) weren't present in the demo, though the items that get added to ACNH after scanning one of their respective series amiibo were. It was clarified that to get one of the new Splatoon or Legends of Zelda characters and the associated special items, all you need to do is scan any one amiibo from their respective franchise, rather than any specific amiibo. The items looked great peppered around the item, and it seems most of the items are interactive.

For those looking for even more decorating, Slumber Islands await. We unfortunately again didn't see much of the special Slumber Island space beyond what was shown in the reveal trailer. This feature requires a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. With that, you'll get access to three island save spots and can create a small, medium, or large island, with the large size being close to being the size of the normal island. The Animal Crossing community has come up with some amazing island designs over the years, and the Slumber Islands feature is primed to encourage even more of that. Whatever you've collected will be available on the Slumber Islands, and anything you do or use in the dreams won't impact your main island. It was confirmed during the demo that there won't be any new additional custom design save slots, though, so players will need to get creative with what's already available if custom designs are a key part of their island design process.

Our demo didn't show Resetti's new suite of cleanup services, all the new items coming with the hotel, or how much it costs to upgrade storage. There wasn't a chance to ask the developers questions either, so it's still unclear whether we should expect any other ACNH updates beyond this. I'm eager to see the patch notes whenever Nintendo releases them to see if there are any secret small quality of life updates or item updates for holidays (will we get a 2026 balloon arch for the New Year's event?), but, as I mentioned earlier, I'm skeptical we'll see any major changes other than what's been announced. Even still, I'm enjoying having a reason to return to my island and get it cleaned up for future tourists.

Miranda Sanchez is the executive editor of guides at IGN and a member of Unlocked. She's a big fan of stationery, reading, and bouncing between forever games. You can sometimes find her on Bluesky.