Pokémon Go looks set to add another battle currency to the ever-popular mobile game, this time focused around raids for Mega Pokémon.

As Pokémon Go prepares to roll-out the first of Pokémon Legends Z-A's new wave of Mega Evolutions next month as part of its upcoming Go Tour Kalos event, the game also appears to have a major rework of its Mega Raid system in the offing.

Datamined information published by The Pokémod Group have spilled details of Link Charges, a new in-game resource that the game's files refer to as "enhanced currency." An in-game description states that Link Charges "can be used to enter Mega Raid in place of Raid passes" and will now be "required to enter Mega Raids remotely."

The addition of a new type PVE battle resource for Mega raids comes as something of a surprise, as Mega battles have existed in the game for years, accessible simply via regular raid passes.

While details remain unconfirmed and subject to change, Link Charges sound like something of a cross between existing raid passes and the Max Energy system introduced more recently specifically for use in Dynamax/Gigantamax battles. The introduction of Link Charges would certainly also delineate Mega raids from regular raid battles — similar to how the use of Max Energy sets Max battles apart.

Unreleased in-game text states that players will be able to "earn Link Charges from activities such as Weekly Challenges, Campfire Check-Ins, and opening Gifts," all of which are free. That said, images showing the Link Charges themselves (which look like futuristic USB sticks) in various bundles suggest the resource will, of course, also be sold via the game's in-game shop.

A new item called "enhanced currency" has been added, along with some variations featuring "RRP" (remote raid pass? idk).
It looks like something that could be sold in the shop, but we're not sure what it does yet.

Seeing this item alongside a remote pass is a bit scary.… pic.twitter.com/gIROUW4DlT

— The Pokemod Group (@thepokemodgroup) January 22, 2026

As ever, Pokémon Go's highly-engaged community have been reacting to the datamined details with their usual mix of excitement and healthy scepticism.

"Are we cooked?" wrote Kind_Cheesecake_8297 on top Pokémon Go reddit The Silph Road. "Asked the frog in the pot," replied EquivalentReality988. "This is just another temperature increase, we've been boiling for years."

But while the introduction of another PVE battle resource has naturally prompted questions over how plentiful it will be (and how much it will cost via the in-game shop), many others have agreed that the game's Mega raids do need some form of shakeup.

Following their most recent rework years ago, Mega raids typically provide enough in-game resource to Mega Evolve a specific Pokémon within a few battles. After that, Mega Pokémon can be set as a Buddy Pokémon to generate Mega Energy for free. Beyond hunting for a Shiny or better stat version of a particular creature, there's little need to then continue raiding — and as an active player, I have to say I don't consider Mega creatures when deciding what to spend my daily raid pass on.

While this is fine for players who have all Mega Pokémon unlocked already, this leaves newer players without others to battle Mega raids alongside (and most Megas require multiple people to take down). Providing an additional resource to battle Mega raids means players can choose to take on the battles in addition to regular raids — just as the Max Particle system works for Dynamax and Gigantamax battles now.

The Silent Hill franchise has stood the test of time for many reasons, not least of which being the haunting, ethereal soundscapes of these survival horror games. And when it came to adapting Silent Hill to film, perhaps the smartest thing director Cristophe Gans did was make sure that series composer Akira Yamaoka was still involved.

Now Silent Hill is back in theaters with the third film in the series, Return to Silent Hill, and Yamaoka is along for the ride again. IGN was recently able to speak with Yamaoka about his work, how composing a Silent Hill movie is very different from the games, and which game he’d like to see adapted next. Read on to see what he had to say. [Note - this interview was performed with the aid of a translator.]

Return to Silent Hill is effectively an adaptation of the Silent Hill 2 game. What makes Yamaoka’s involvement interesting is that this is effectively the third time he’s worked on this particular soundtrack. He scored the original Silent Hill 2 back in 2002, and he rebuilt his work from the ground up for the 2024 remake. Now he’s tackling that soundtrack from a whole new angle for the film version.

Yamaoka explains to IGN that there’s a fundamental difference between scoring for games and scoring for film. One is an interactive medium where the other is linear, and that makes a profound difference.

“One of the major differences between video games and film is, as you know, film is a linear format as opposed to video games, [which are] an interactive format where people have choices,” Yamaoka tells IGN. “People with a controller can decide how they experience the story. We have to create the music and all the elements to be interactive so that it can follow how the player plays the games.”

Yamaoka continues, “But the film is, of course, different; it's a linear format. So what that means is everybody would watch the music at certain scenes, and so it's very much predictable, or it's more pre-decided, because that's what the film experience is. That gives me the opportunity to create a much deeper emotional experience, something that we can have even deeper and sharper creative intent for each moment. That to me is a very different opportunity that I was given compared to video games.”

We asked Yamaoka if there were any particular themes or motifs from Silent Hill 2 he was eager to explore and rearrange for Return to Silent Hill, to which he pointed to a pair of classic songs.

“There are many songs that came from the games, such as ‘Theme of Laura’ and ‘Promise.’ And again, as we discussed earlier, linear format film is different from video games, so that allows us to have music for certain emotional effects that the director would like to share with the audience. To create the experience, we were able to change the tempo and spot, really just specifically have the music in a certain way at the tempo and the tone and tension and temperature so that it would support the specific scene. That is a really just wonderful opportunity that we have for the film. It's much more than the length of the scenes, or maybe just the format of the scenes, but it's just the opportunity that we have to be much more, have a micro-control, specific control to have an emotional delivery. So naturally, I enjoy the process of rearranging the themes, and again, including ‘Theme of Laura’ and ‘Promise’ and other music that came from the games to be very film-specific so that we could deliver the emotional message and vision that Christophe Gans had.”

Yamaoka makes it clear that Gans had a very specific vision for how he wanted his sequel to sound. That included selecting certain themes and songs from other games in the Silent Hill series. It was all about furthering the director’s vision for the film.

“It was a creative vision that the director had, because, of course, he focuses on the emotion and he focuses on how to deliver it” Yamaoka says. “There are certain songs from other Silent Hills that had a very good fit for what he was trying to achieve. And of course, it was not one-directional. It was a communication process where the director and myself had to come to the conclusion that there are maybe certain scenes where we could use different music.”

One of the elements that separates Return to Silent Hill from the source material is that the film includes a series of flashbacks exploring the romance between James Sunderland (Jeremy Irvine) and Mary (Hannah Emily Anderson). We were curious how Yamaoka wanted to take advantage of that new material and explore a relatively happier period for these characters.

“That's one of the very unique elements of the film, and we had a great creative opportunity to discuss this with the director,” Yamaoka says. “When I saw it, I first tried to approach it in a melancholic way, reading towards romantic music and realized that this is an impossible approach. I had a chance to share this with Christophe Gans and run it by him. He gave me really wonderful feedback, and he suggested that maybe we can shift the direction to a different way, so then I tried that direction.”

Yamaoka continues, “So it was very much a communicative, very creative process and a communication process that we had that, after the impression that I received, I ran the idea by him sometimes by presenting the music to the scenes already. We just had many of our creative thoughts, so we exchanged our ideas a lot. So it was very much a collaborative process, and I really enjoyed it.”

Finally, there’s the question of what the future might hold for the Silent Hill movie series. To date, the films have mostly adapted material from the original three games. Assuming a fourth is greenlit at some point, what game would Yamaoka like to see adapted next?

“Of course, I'd really love to see other Silent Hills become filmed, but if I were to pick one, maybe I would say Silent Hill 4: The Room, because it's the unique Silent Hill in that it was a first-person game experience. And also, the setting is very different from the previous Silent Hills from Silent Hill 1 to 3, which has been transported to a different town, but Silent Hill 4 is different. So naturally, the nature of Silent Hill is different, but still the creative essence - the experience itself - stays the same. So I think it has a wonderful opportunity to become a film and provide the core elements and experience within Silent Hill. And I certainly hope that it'll be directed by Christophe Gans. He's just really wonderful, and I really hope that we have a chance to collaborate on that too, if we have the opportunity.”

Return to Silent Hill hits theaters on January 23. Check out IGN’s Return to Silent Hill review for more on the new film.

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

Ever since the Steam Deck came out, the humble handheld gaming PC has been going through a renaissance of sorts. Because while these fun-shaped PCs have been around for a while, being made by the likes of Ayaneo and GPD, they’ve now hit the mainstream. I’ve reviewed a lot of these new “mainstream” gaming handhelds, and while they’re all varying levels of good, they’re still not all the same – especially when it comes to opening them up and upgrading the storage.

Pretty much every handheld gaming PC will let you slot in a microSD card to expand your storage, but if you want to upgrade to a faster, more capacious SSD, you’re going to have to pop the handheld open and swap out the drive. I wouldn’t recommend this to everyone, especially if you get queasy at the prospect of tinkering with your electronics, but many of these handhelds make it pretty easy to upgrade.

So I did what any sane person would in this situation, I took all the handhelds in my lab and opened them up, so I could see how easy (or difficult) they would be to upgrade. And while all of these devices do let you swap out your storage, some of them make it quite a bit more difficult than it needs to be.

A Word of Warning

This isn’t meant to be a step-by-step guide on how to upgrade the storage on every handheld. That would make this article extremely long, and I’d urge you to look up teardown guides if you need any guidance on any of these specific handhelds. Just keep in mind that there’s no shame in not being comfy with tinkering with your devices.

If you’re going to do any of this yourself, there are a couple of ground rules of sorts you need to keep in mind. The first of which is to try and work in a static-free environment. If you live in a more arid area, it won’t hurt to wear an antistatic wrist band. I luckily live in New York, so this isn’t something I typically need to worry about, but I’d definitely urge you to lean on the side of caution.

You should also aim to disconnect the battery from the motherboard whenever you’re doing any kind of work on a handheld gaming PC – this also goes for any electronic, to be fair. You don’t want to risk shocking yourself because you did something wrong.

Finally, keep your space organized. There’s nothing worse than going to reassemble a device, only to forget which screw goes where. These handhelds are relatively simple when it comes to the different screws that you have to deal with, but they can absolutely get lost if you don’t keep track of them.

MSI Claw 8 AI+

I haven’t got a chance to actually sit down and review the MSI Claw 8 AI+ yet, despite it coming out more than six months ago. But I have spent a lot of time with it, and it is a great little device, even if the software is incredibly bad. However, there’s one thing it does better than any other handheld I’ve used: its serviceability.

All you need to do to get into the MSI Claw 8 is take out the screws on the back of the device, pry off the back and the SSD is immediately accessible. You don’t have to move any cables out of the way or take out any screws. Just unscrew the M.2 retention screw, pull out the drive and replace it.

Like a lot of handhelds, though, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ uses an M.2 2230 drive. These are tiny little drives that fit in smaller spaces. They’re potentially a little slower than their bigger 2280 counterparts, but not enough that it matters for most people.

Asus ROG Ally X and Xbox Ally X

I’m a huge fan of both the original Asus ROG Ally X and its successor, the Xbox Ally X. Despite their smaller screens, they’re just so comfy to actually use. But while these two consoles look pretty distinct from each other on the outside – largely owing to the Xbox Ally X’s weird controller protrusions – they have a lot in common.

For the Ally X, you just have to remove six screws along the back of the device, three of which are captive, which means they won’t come all the way out. Then, you just pry the back open to get inside. The Xbox Ally X is largely similar, with five screws on the back, and three more along the bottom of the device. Once those are removed you can remove the back of the handheld.

On both of these consoles, though, there is a tiny ribbon cable that runs from the motherboard to the back panel, presumably to power the rear paddle buttons. Be careful you don’t just yank the back of the console off, because it’s very possible you’ll rip one of these cables – I for sure almost did.

Once the back is removed, though, you’ll be able to see the full-sized 2280 SSD right in front of the battery. Just be careful here, the battery cable runs pretty tight above the SSD, and the actual battery connector on the motherboard is very fragile. You’re going to want to take care not to snap anything when you’re disconnecting it.

Luckily, once the battery is disconnected, it’s super easy to remove the M.2 retention screw, pull out the SSD and replace it. And, because it’s a 2280 drive, pretty much anything you find on Amazon will do the job.

Lenovo Legion Go

Handheld gaming PCs would probably still be niche if not for the Steam Deck, so credit where it’s due, but Valve’s handheld is one of the hardest ones to crack open and replace the drive. Valve even went out of its way to try and warn people that opening it would make the Steam Deck more fragile, in a teardown it did with The Verge. But I did it anyway.

Getting the Steam Deck itself open isn’t hard – just take out the screws around the exterior and remove the back panel. But once that’s out of the way, it’s not immediately clear where the SSD is. Turns out, it’s hiding underneath this silver metal bracket right next to the battery and fan. After removing it via three small screws, one of which is hidden underneath silver tape for some reason, I was able to remove this little shield.

Once that’s out of the way, the little 2230 drive is right there, and just like the original Legion Go, the drive is wrapped in mylar tape, but this time it seems like it’s to stop it from shorting against the metal plate that’s placed over it. I’m not entirely sure that’s necessary, but I’d keep it wrapped up around any new SSD you toss in your Steam Deck either way – it can’t hurt.

Lenovo Legion Go S

The Lenovo Legion Go S is probably my favorite handheld, particularly the one that comes with SteamOS installed. It just has such a beautiful design, and it feels so good in the hand. Unfortunately it’s a pain in the ass to actually open it up.

I stared at the Legion Go S for a good few minutes, noting that it only has three screws immediately visible on the chassis, and decided to look up a guide. Luckily, this teardown video from WinDeck Tech was extremely helpful.

After removing the three screws on the bottom of the device, I had to pry off the little strip of plastic that runs along the buttons on the top. Then, there are three more screws under that. But that’s not all, because after those screws are gone, you have to pry the left and right bumper out of their slot to access two more screws under those. Just keep in mind that those are captive screws, and won’t come out.

Once those last two screws are loosened, I started prying it apart, but just like WinDeck Tech explained in his video, the captive screws around the triggers did get stuck a couple times, so I had to gingerly work my way around them, until I eventually got the thing apart.

Luckily, once I worked my way into the system, the SSD is sitting right in the open, right beneath the CPU fan. You just have to remove the power cable, which is also very easy, and you’re good to replace the 2245 SSD the handheld comes with. Luckily, like the Legion Go 2, this handheld is compatible with a full-sized 2280 drive. So at least it has that going for it.

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

Developer Eldelic Games has just announced Inky Blinky Bob, an upcoming surreal horror-comedy action game in development for PC that has you battling on the ground an in the air in your hot air baloon against all sorts of oddities – most notably the giant floating octopus from which the game takes its name.

“With Inky Blinky Bob, we wanted to create something that feels like Monty Python crash-landed into a Lovecraftian fever dream,” said Eldelic Games CEO Miroslav Ilić. “It’s eerie, explosive, and deliberately absurd, blending unsettling imagery with moments of unexpected humour.” Check out the first trailer above.

While navigating this strange archipelago world, you'll take quests from weird NPCs, accumulate resources, and prepare as best you can to battle against Bob itself by upgrading your weapons and your hot air balloon.

Inky Blinky Bob will be available for PC via Steam on March 20. Wishlist it if you're interested.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our semi-retired 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.

Starting today, Secretlab is offering three different Pokémon-themed Titan Evo gaming chairs. That's great news, at least for fans of Pikachu, Gengar, or Eevee, as those are the super-powered pocket monsters featured on each of the new chairs.

Titan Evo chairs are bolstered, racing-style gaming chairs with wings, tall headrests, and a fair amount of adjustability. Out of the box, they come with comfort features like four-way lumbar support and a cold-cure foam seat the company says is designed to provide uniform pressure for long sessions at your desk. Such comfort claims have held up, at least in IGN's past reviews, like of last year's Titan Evo Nanogen and a 2022 edition Titan Evo. Secretlab also offers a number of add-ons, like armrest upgrades and footrests, for its many chairs.

Like the many other licensed chairs Secretlab offers, these are not at all shy about the intellectual properties they represent. Each chair's colorway is heavily themed after its respective Pokémon and features velour detailing and line drawings of the li'l guys in various poses – as well as 8 Eevolutions of Eevee – on the front and back of the wings. The colors, except maybe on the Eevee one, are very much in your face, so you'll want to be sure you're down with that, considering the hundreds of dollars Secretlab charges for its chairs.

The new Pokémon Secretlab Titan Evo chairs are available in regular and XL sizes (but not small), with prices starting at $684. Orders will start shipping in March 2026.

As I removed the Roccat Burst Core from its box, one of its feet fell off.

Budget gaming mice can, and often will, break eventually – but not normally this quickly. I stuck the foot back on, pressed it into place for 30 seconds, and hoped for the best while expecting the worst from this $20/£15 mouse.

After a few weeks of heavy use, is it as bad as my first impression suggested?

Design and Shape

Foot fiasco aside the Roccat Burst Core has, I'm pleased to say, remained in one piece.

It's actually gone beyond that: it's impressively solid and feels more expensive than it is. The shell feels reassuringly sturdy in my hand and doesn't bend or creak when I squeeze it. I tugged, flicked and pushed at every crevice, and forced the main mouse buttons upwards – everything always returned to its rightful place. It's also worth saying that mice feet are to some extent designed to come off so that you can swap them (although, clearly, they should never fall off!).

But it can't completely hide its cheapness. If I tap the bottom of the mouse, or certain spots on its sides, I hear an echoey rattle, presumably from the scroll wheel. Compared to the best gaming mice, the left and right clicks require more force to depress, making them feel stiff – and when you do click them, they lack the crispness I'm used to.

The two side buttons feel mushy and hollow, the central DPI button is wobbly, and the stiff rubber cable is permanently kinked. No matter how much I twisted and adjusted it, it defaulted to an abrupt left turn out of the top of the mouse, resting on the mouse mat.

It also looks cheap: it's the gaping indents at the bottom of the main mouse buttons and the dark, chunky middle section, varnished in a faux brushed metal.

But I can't knock it too hard for any of these faults. Almost everything is imperfect, but it's all good enough, especially at this price. Those left and right clicks, while not luxurious, are the same low-latency optical switches used in the more expensive Roccat Burst Pro, and should last a long time – meanwhile, the scroll wheel is smoother and tighter than some I've used on mid-range mice, and it even has RGB lighting.

What really stands out is its weight and shape. At 68g it's far lighter than the best budget mouse, the Steelseries Rival 3 Gen 2, and it's particularly nimble for a sub-$50 mouse: it glides quickly around my mousepad with very little force, although the stock feet are a little scratchier than other mice I've tested.

I enjoy the simple, symmetrical shape. Its wider base won't suit very small hands, but everyone else should be fine. My hands are ever-so-slightly larger than average, and I enjoyed using it in fingertip and claw grips as well as palm grip, where the hump filled my hand. It's wide enough to give my index and pinky fingers somewhere to sit at all times, and I used it for long sessions of four hours and more without ever feeling uncomfortable. While it's not pleasant to click, it is pleasant to hold.

Performance and Gaming

The Roccat Burst Core's PixArt PMW3331 sensor is a downgrade from the Roccat Burst Pro and has a meagre maximum DPI of 8,500 DPI. But that number doesn't really mean much: what matters is how it feels while you're gaming. I tested it in Arc Raiders, Fortnite, Hades 2, Norco, and Dishonored 2 – I wanted to see how it dealt with both hectic firefights and casual pointing and clicking.

It performed admirably. I felt like it was tracking my movements precisely, with no noticeable hitching, delays, or overshooting. Cursor movement felt smooth and snappy, and my flick shots landed where I wanted them to. I enjoyed using it no matter what game I was playing and, whenever I died in Arc Raiders – often, sadly – it never felt like the mouse was the reason.

Its maximum polling rate of 1,000Hz – the number of times per second the mouse reports its position to your PC – is far lower than the 8,000Hz allowed by many high-end mice. But as you climb past 1,000Hz, you get diminishing returns in smoothness and responsiveness and unless you're used to high polling rates, this will be absolutely fine. Remember: some FPS pros still play at 1,000Hz.

Its low-latency left and right mouse clicks also never failed, and I could spam them consistently when I was firing semi-automatic weapons.

The 2.4mm lift-off distance – the height above a surface where the mouse stops registering movement – is relatively high and you can't adjust it in the Roccat Swarm software. If you're used to lower LODs then it'll take an adjustment but again, it's fine for most people. I play at low sensitivities so I'm constantly picking up my mouse at the edge of my mousepad and moving it back to the middle, and I had no problems.

The Roccat Burst Core confirms what we already know: the price of a mouse isn't proportionate to its performance. If you spend five times this amount you will, technically, get a more precise sensor that can track faster movements. But it won't feel five times as good. Paying $20 for something this solid makes a lot of sense if you're on a budget.

Software

Roccat's newest software, Swarm II, isn't compatible with the five-years-old Burst Core, and the original Swarm software is so old-school that you can't even download it from Roccat's website. Or not easily, anyway: Roccat's download page is broken so I went to a third-party site to nab it.

It looks amusingly retro, the text size is far too small, and its options are spread across too many tabs – but it handles the basics well. Adjusting sensitivity and polling rate is simple, as is changing the scroll wheel speed and double-click timing.

The scroll-wheel RGB is governed by an "intelligent lighting system" that I found unfathomable. A link that promises to explain the system is broken and when I tried to switch to one of the simpler options – a blinking light, a breathing one, a heartbeat – nothing happened. It's nice that RGB lighting is there for people who want it, but don't expect it to actually work properly.

Samuel is a freelance reporter and editor specializing in longform journalism and hardware reviews. You can read his work at his website.

The debut trailer for Masters of the Universe is now online, and it reveals a first look at Jared Leto as Skeletor as he battles He-Man.

The special effects-heavy trailer sets up the story, with Nicholas Galitzine as Prince Adam Glenn stuck in a HR job on Earth knowing he's destined for so much more. He eventually finds his sword and ends up on a sci-fi adventure alongside Camila Mendes as Teela and Idris Elba as Duncan / Man-At-Arms, with other friends fans of the franchise will find familiar.

Towards the end of the trailer we see Jared Leto as Skeletor, although we don’t hear him speak. Prince Adam finally becomes He-Man and goes toe-to-toe with Skeletor in a fight.

Here’s the story setup:

In Masters of the Universe, director Travis Knight brings the legendary franchise back to the big screen in this epic live-action adventure. After being separated for 15 years, the Sword of Power leads Prince Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) back to Eternia where he discovers his home shattered under the fiendish rule of Skeletor (Jared Leto). To save his family and his world, Adam must join forces with his closest allies, Teela (Camila Mendes) and Duncan/Man-At-Arms (Idris Elba), and embrace his true destiny as He-Man — the most powerful man in the universe.

And here’s the official blurb:

Masters of the Universe is a new, live-action adventure movie based on the classic 80’s toy brand. The thrill-ride of a film delivers breathtaking visuals, heart-pounding action, and exhilarating fun. It has a universally appealing story focusing on heroic transformation, it is about finding the power within. The epic action and visual effects have to be seen on the big screen.

He-Man has existed across cartoons, toys, comics, and films, making it a shared reference point for multi-generational fans. This is a film that all generations of audiences can enjoy. This movie will deliver the nostalgia that fans remember.

Masters of the Universe is based on a well-known Mattel franchise with a long legacy heritage that has been captivating fans for over forty years. Following the astounding global success of Barbie, Masters of the Universe marks Mattel Studios’ next feature film in its growing slate of brand-led entertainment. Even moviegoers who didn’t grow up with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe will love the film for its action, spectacle, and epic visual effects.

The live-action Masters of the Universe movie, from Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel Studios, hits theaters in the U.S. on June 5, 2026.

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

Nintendo has just confirmed a release date for Super Mario Bros. Wonder's expanded Switch 2 Edition, which will include a suite of new minigames and the ability to play as Rosalina, ahead of her big screen debut in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup In Bellabel Park, to give its full name, will arrive on March 26. As that extremely lengthy title suggests, the upgraded version of Nintendo's 2023 platformer includes the additional Bellabel Park area to explore, which comes stuffed with extra activities.

The Switch 2 Edition will be available to purchase separately, or existing Switch owners of the game can alternatively purchase an upgrade pack.

#SuperMarioBrosWonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park arrives March 26!

Look forward to new boss courses with all 7 Koopalings, two new playable characters, Rosalina, and Co-Star Luma, and more!

Pre-order today: https://t.co/jflxAzIJGB pic.twitter.com/8AKPoiJRMc

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) January 22, 2026

Bellabel Park's Local Multiplayer Plaza features 17 new co-op or versus minigames, with support for up to four local players (and yes, your pals can join even if they don't have the game, via GameShare). Game Room Plaza, meanwhile, features six minigames for either local or online play — with the latter option supporting up to 12 players.

A third area, Camp Central, features the adorable Captain Toad and his Toad Brigade, who set challenges based on existing courses. Complete them all and you'll become an elite Toad Brigade explorer yourself. Lastly, the Koopalings are also back — having stolen treasure from Bellabel Park, you'll need to search through the game's levels and defeat them.

Helpful additions to the game include Co-Star Luma, who offers a way for a second player to join in as an assist character, while Assist Mode lets you explore the game without fear of damage or falling down a pit. Handy!

Shrinking is back for another funny, sweet, and emotional season – one that also very much feels like a final season, whether it ends up actually being that way or not.

The characters remain as likeable and engaging as ever, with creators Bill Lawrence, Jason Segel, and Brett Goldstein all understanding that the key to a show of this sort is making sure that the people seen hanging out together feel like people you’d want to hang out with too. The first two seasons understandably put a lot of the show’s emotional focus on Segel’s Jimmy, as he tried to move forward with his life in the wake of his wife’s death in a car accident. On a show that centers the importance of taking care of your mental health, it’s made clear that Jimmy’s issues are not all magically solved forever now, but his storylines are a bit less centered and dramatic this time out. The stakes are still important on a personal level – can he finally begin having a healthy dating life again, like say, with Cobie Smulders’ Sofi? – but not as intense as trying to make peace with the remorseful man who caused your wife’s death.

Other characters are dealing with a ticking clock, however, in ways that will most certainly affect Jim, beginning with his daughter Alice (Lukita Maxwell) nearing her high school graduation and potentially moving across the country. Then there’s Paul (Harrison Ford), whose Parkinson’s disease is worsening, leading him to have to finally face the question of how much longer he’s able to continue to work as a therapist in a way he’s tried to put off until now.

Ford has been absolutely fantastic in Shrinking, with one of our most beloved old-school movie stars getting to tap into aspects of his talent he rarely had to before as the classically curmudgeonly yet deeply thoughtful and empathetic Paul. In Season 3, Paul makes friends with a fellow Parkinson’s patient, Gerry, played by none other than Michael J. Fox. Fox isn’t in as much of the season as one might hope, but it’s still obviously a huge deal that he’s in it at all, given this is his first live-action acting role in several years. His scenes with Ford are very impactful for a couple of reasons. First off, it’s freaking Harrison Ford and Michael J. Fox sharing the screen together! These two men have wildly different on-screen personas, but are both incredibly iconic parts of cinematic history, cemented forever as the faces of beloved franchises.

Then there’s the fact that, yes, Fox is now notably physically impaired by the real-life Parkinson’s he was diagnosed with decades ago, and there’s a strange mixture of sympathy and selfishness in wishing he didn’t have to go through that, and could still move and speak in the way we remember as fans of the man and his work. Yet, as he’s proved over and over in interviews and appearances, and again does here in his performance as Gerry, Fox remains as filled with intelligence and wit as ever, still able to deliver a comedy punchline like he was born to do so. Gerry’s and Paul’s mantra, one clearly shared by everyone else working on Shrinking – including Spin City co-creator Lawrence, reuniting with Fox – is one that is easy to embrace as well: “Fuck Parkinson’s.” Ford and Fox have a terrific, warm on-screen rapport, and the scenes they share with Neil Flynn as Paul’s buddy, Ray, make it easy to imagine a spin-off about this trio.

There are some moments early on in Shrinking Season 3 that feel like the show is in danger of repeating itself. Yes, it makes sense that Gaby (Jessica Williams) would have her own anger towards Louis (played by co-creator Goldstein) for being the drunk driver who caused the death of Jimmy’s wife, Tia. But on a TV show level, we already went through storylines about both Alice’s and Jimmy’s anger towards Louis, so it can’t help but feel redundant. Thankfully, as the season progresses, plotlines develop about Gaby’s dynamic with a new patient (Sherry Cola), along with her thoughts on where she wants her career to go, that feel more unique.

Even by sitcom standards (and this is far more of a comedy-drama hybrid), Shrinking pushes credibility as far as the specific dynamics of its central friend group and their found family dynamics to the point that there are occasional meta jokes about it. Jimmy is the connective tissue for everyone, but yes, it is weird if you take a step back and think about your college best friend hanging out with your next door neighbors and your therapy-patient-turned-pseudo-roomate without you. But the show’s writing and cast make it all work, and it’s easy to be invested in storylines like Sean (Luke Tennie) trying to navigate his relationship with his dad and his own career aspirations, or Brian (Michael Urie) preparing for both the reality of being a dad and what the long-term dynamic is supposed to be with the woman whose baby he and his husband (Devin Kawaoka) are adopting. The show can lean a bit too casually saccharine at times, but then it has a dramatic scene involving someone really tapping into their inner pain or their inner joy, and it is undeniably impactful and heartfelt…and yes, dang it, it can make you cry, or at least it sure has made me cry.

Neighbors Liz (Christa Miller) and Derek (Ted McGinley) get some strong material as well, as Derek’s accidental ingestion of some drugs – a comedic highlight of the season – leads to new revelations. And after youngest son Connor (Gavin Lewis) got the focus in earlier seasons, Season 3 shifts to Liz and Derek’s oldest son, Matthew (Markus Silbiger), showing up with problems of his own to navigate. Alongside the series regulars, recurring cast on Shrinking like Lewis and Silbiger continue to shine, with the likes of Rachel Stubington, Wendie Malick, Lily Rabe, and Damon Wayans Jr. all fitting in seamlessly whenever they appear, joined this season by more heavy hitters via appearances by Jeff Daniels and Candice Bergen. Daniels is very good as Jimmy’s dad, a guy who’s able to perform the role of Fun Grandpa way more than he’s capable of being emotionally available for his family in the way they’ve needed due to their loss.

As Season 3 continues, it begins to feel more and more like a final season, as not only Alice’s and Paul’s storylines, but multiple others, begin to coalesce into the idea of great change on the horizon. This feeling of impending finality is so notable, I did what I suspect other viewers will do, and searched online to see if I’d missed an announcement that Season 3 was intended to end the series. Instead, I found an interview Lawrence did at the end of Season 2 where he did state he had a specific three-season story planned, with the idea of then moving into a different three-season story (like two trilogies in TV form?).

As it happens, Shrinking Season 3 does work perfectly well as a conclusion to the entire series, perhaps intentionally so, to protect themselves should the show actually end up here. In fact, it works well enough that it makes me a bit hesitant if I’d even want more seasons, given that it feels like a very satisfying story in this form.

Riftbound, the new trading card game (TCG) from Riot Games, released on October 31, 2025, in the West, and has since seen incredible growth, both in terms of overall interest and card listings at online storefronts.

According to new data provided by TCGplayer.com, daily searches for the game have increased by over 300% since launch, compared to the preorder period (about 2 weeks prior to launch). Globally, the term "Riftbound" was searched over 6,300 times per hour, and that's just by TCGplayer users.

TCGplayer CEO Rob Bigler also provided comment to IGN on the new TCG's immense success so far: "Riftbound’s early success is a huge positive for the hobby and reinforces that fans are excited to engage with the worlds and characters they love in new ways. Trading card games are a compelling and social way to extend fan affinity when developed authentically and thoughtfully – and we see this via the demand on our marketplace."

With a property as popular as League of Legends, supplementary media such as Netflix's Arcane and the upcoming fighting game 2XKO have garnered significant mass appeal, with many fans staying true to their favorite characters from all mediums.

Per TCGplayer, the most popular Riftbound card searches between October 17 and December 7 included some of the most iconic League characters. Jinx, the star of Arcane, had over 65,000 searches, while other fan-favorite character Ahri had more than 54,900. Other popular searches included other League of Legends characters like Sett, Teemo, and Darious, each with over 43,000 searches on the site.

TCGplayer is the biggest online storefront for all things TCGs in the world, and the launch of Riftbound exploded exponentially with related card and sealed product listings.

It's no secret that getting your hands on sealed Riftbound product was (and still is) a bit tough, but the marketplace saw a 750% increase in listings a month after launch; October 30 saw more than 68,600 listings, while October 31 saw that number almost double, with over 118,100 listings. As of November 30, the number of listings was sitting at more than 585,000.

Riftbound's second set, titled Spiritforged, is scheduled to launch in the West on February 13 after launching in China on December 12. Preorders are now open for Spiritforged products.

Myles Obenza is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Bluesky @mylesobenza.bsky.social.

Spoilers follow for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Episode 3, “Vitus Reflux,” which is available on Paramount Plus now.

In our second week of Starfleet Academy (but third episode), we are once again grounded in San Francisco as our young and beautiful go-getters find themselves up against one of the greatest foes imaginable – the jerks from their opposing school.

Or putting it another way, it’s a real Springfield vs. Shelbyville situation, as the Starfleet Academy kids and the War College gang become locked in a game of escalating one-upmanship that can only lead to one thing – some life lessons being learned!

“Vitus Reflux” uses this standard battle-of-the-classes plot – which has a touch of Revenge of the Nerds to it as well – to shine the spotlight on George Hawkins’ Darem Reymi and Bella Shepard’s Genesis Lythe, both of whom piqued my interest last week but didn’t get quite as much to do as Sandro Rosta’s Caleb Mir. And while this episode has plenty of enjoyable moments that also serve to reinforce the different vibe that this show is going for in the Trek pantheon, it’s also an overly long affair that doesn’t quite come together as cleanly as it could have.

Things start off with Darem intensely engaging in his exercise routine while everyone else is asleep in the wee hours of the morning. Well, everyone but Genesis, who is as driven and obsessed with being the best of the best as he is. This of course leads to a competition between the two to see who will become captain of the Academy’s elite training squad, but the competition is also coming from without when a trio of War College jerks decide to start pranking our heroes.

That one of those War College kids is a Vulcan, and more specifically a Vulcan creep, is well in keeping with how members of the classic Star Trek race have been used in the past as antagonists if not actual threats – Sisko’s baseball nemesis, Archer’s back and forths with basically all the Vulcans on Earth, etc. And even though those three main War College kids are nasty, I kinda like them all the same as they represent yet another level of the deep bench of supporting and recurring cast members this show looks to be utilizing.

However, the pranks that they play on Caleb and the rest – and likewise – aren’t as inventive or funny as they could be. Yeah, the impromptu beaming from the locker room is cute, but that’s kind of the high point of the hijinks, while the climactic “giant plants in the dorm rooms” gimmick falls short. Additionally, Holly Hunter’s Chancellor Ake being mixed up in the battle with the War College, but not really being mixed up in the battle with the War College, doesn’t really work. Maybe it’s because I had such a hard time following what she was saying? I don’t know if it was a problem with the sound on the advance screeners Paramount sent out or if it’s just me, but I really was trying (and failing) to parse what Ake was talking about half the time here. (Subtitles don’t work on the screeners either.)

Tig Notaro’s Jett Reno and Gina Yashere’s Lura Thok are a hoot as the instructors who are most hands-on with the kids this week (though I’d like to see Lura actually put to the test in a more serious situation at some point where she can she really show off her roots as a Klingon/Jem’Hadar). And putting Zoë Steiner’s Tarima Sadal in the War College instead of the Starfleet Academy side of things is already bearing fruit; while she and Caleb’s story isn’t center stage here, it still gets some decent pruning and watering. (Great, now I’m using plant metaphors too!)

One question I’ve had about setting some of these episodes in the safety of San Francisco rather than out in space is how the show’s writers will bring in those age-old Star Trek themes that we love so much. But “Vitus Reflux” reminded me that those ideas about self-discovery and humanism and learning to be a better person have nothing to do with strange new worlds or new life and new civilizations, but rather are always about what’s going on inside our characters’ hearts. Remember “Family,” that all-time great Next Generation episode where the Enterprise didn’t even leave Earth’s orbit?

And so it goes that Darem and Genesis make their peace eventually, but most notably, Darem faces up to what assholes his parents apparently are. (“You’re either the center of the universe, or you’re nothing.”) And the thing is, he’s learning now, through his connection with these people he’s living among who were strangers only three weeks ago, that there’s more to life than being the best of the best. Good for him.

Questions and Notes from the Q Continuum:

• Folks have been wondering if this show has ignored the nature of the Betazoids’ powers (are they telepathic or empathic or both?), but this episode seems to add credence to the theory that Tarima’s power regulator might actually be the key to answering what’s going on there.
• Who the heck uses a jump rope while their roommates are sleeping?
• “That was disappointing/underwhelming”... sounds like one of my college instructors.
• Ake screening the Starfleet ad is fun. “Is the voiceover too stupid?”
• I’m really enjoying Jay-Den Kraag (Karim Diané) as the atypical Klingon. He’s funny!
• “I took a bath for the first time!”

Magic: The Gathering’s first set of 2026 is here with Lorwyn Eclipsed, but don’t rule out 2025’s just yet.

Not only are Universes Beyond sets like Final Fantasy and The Last Airbender still Standard Legal, but Edge of Eternities might be one of the most tragically underrated sets of the last few years - and its booster box is discounted.

Amazon has a Play Booster Box for $139.99, a discount of 15% off the list price, netting you an instant collection of cards to build decks around.

Magic’s Edge of Eternities Set Was Underrated

Beyond Good & Evil 2 fans are celebrating a small piece of good news to come from Ubisoft's major cull of projects, studios and people yesterday — that after almost two decades, the game that holds the Guinness World Record for the longest development still isn't dead.

While yesterday saw the end of Ubisoft's plans to release a Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake (a project that the company had been working on for at least six years) and five other unnamed games, no mention was made of Beyond Good & Evil 2, whose record-breaking development now spans almost 20 years, off and on.

Indeed, Beyond Good & Evil was named by Ubisoft as an ongoing franchise that would now be overseen by its reorganized "Creative House 4" division, dedicated to narrative driven and fantasy games. Separately, Insider Gaming has reported that the project is indeed still alive today, as the dust settles.

On reddit, Beyond Good & Evil's long-suffering fans have reacted to the sequel's survival by calling it "miraculous", "insane" and simply "too big to fail."

"It's insane this game is still in production and survived," dan_in_his_own_way wrote. "Don't get me wrong, I want to play it but the cancelation of the Price of Persia remake hit really hard. A project that would arguably cost them less and require less resources than Beyond Good & Evil."

"Beyond Good and Evil 2 will survive World War 3," quipped Travguard. "But it still won't be out by the armistice," added meathappening.

One fan, 33Sharpies, pointed to the likely financial implications of Beyond Good & Evil 2 ever being canceled, at which point Ubisoft would have to write down the cost of its gargantuan development. While the project is still alive, however, it can still be listed as an ongoing asset. (Insider Gaming has reported that the project has been valued internally as having now cost over $500 million, though that figure is unverified.)

Beyond Good & Evil 2 is believed to have originally begun early development in 2007, with series creator and Rayman mastermind Michel Ancel and his Ubisoft Montpellier team on board. Over the coming decade, development was mostly paused while Montpellier worked on other projects, but Ubisoft re-announced the game with fanfare in 2017 and showed off an in-engine concept featuring space flight and designs to feature multiple solar systems and planets.

Again, however, development struggled — and the project was further impacted by Ancel's departure from Ubisoft and the sad death of its subsequent creative lead Emil Morel. But the last couple of years have seen work coalesce once more, with the sequel's characters given intriguing cameos in the new Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition, while a new creative director — former DICE and King veteran Fawzi Mesmar — has come on board to steady the ship.

Beyond Good & Evil 2 still lacks any word of a release date — and may well have been one of the titles Ubisoft delayed to receive further polish yesterday. As of now, however, it remains alive — however improbable that may seem.

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

The 2026 Oscar nominations are now live, confirming Sinners' domination with a record-breaking 16 nominations.

Sinners star Michael B. Jordan is nominated for best actor, with director Ryan Coogler nominated in the directing category. Delroy Lindo is nominated for best supporting actor, and Wunmi Mosaku received a nomination in the best supporting actress category.

Leonardo DiCaprio's thriller One Battle After Another isn't far behind Sinners with 13 nominations. Hamnet, Marty Supreme, Frankenstein, Sentimental Value, Bugonia, and The Secret Agent all did well. Netflix phenomenon KPop Demon Hunters looks nailed on for best animated movie with its nomination.

Comedian Conan O'Brien returns to host the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, March 15. Our live blog revealing the nominations is below:

Photo by Richard Harbaugh/The Academy via Getty Images.

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

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has just dropped details of its latest patch, Into the Unjust: 5.0.2., which introduces a new mission type: Commando, the Redacted Regiment Warbond, and "important updates" to suppressed weapons.

"Democracy doesn’t always need to shout," the team teased on Steam. "This patch is deploying some important updates to suppressed weapons, allowing Helldivers to eliminate threats with reduced detection and tighter tactical control. Expect quieter kills, cleaner engagements, and new opportunities for coordinated strikes before the enemy knows you’re there. Remember: stealth is a tool, not a substitute for overwhelming firepower. Use it wisely, Helldivers!"

Arrowhead suggests Commando missions — which send you "deep behind enemy lines where the normal reliance on air superiority is no longer an option" — are a good place to start with these new tools, teasing "reinforcements have to be deployed in advance and destroyer support is a risky business with limited time." Expect them to go live very soon (2pm CET / 8am ET / 5am PT).

The team closed by promising "much more to come in February and beyond."

Here's the rest of the brief patch notes:

Helldivers 2 Into the Unjust 5.0.2 Patch Notes:

Balancing

General changes overview

Suppressors are now more effective

• Intent is to make suppressors more valuable in stealth gameplay and attract less attention from enemies
• Noise radius of firing suppressed weapons roughly reduced by 50%
• Enemies detection radius when being fired at, but not being hit, is reduced in some units

General

• Detection range of danger (basically being shot at but not getting hit) reduced for enemies like Devastators, Berserkers, Spewers, Chargers, Impaler, Observer

Gameplay

Optimizations

• Adjusted M-1000 Maxigun muzzle flash to reduce photosensitivity issues

Meanwhile, Arrowhead is working on a roguelite mode, although there's no guarantee it will actually come out. Last month, Arrowhead CCO and Helldivers 2 creative director, Johan Pilestedt, responded to a fan on social media to say “we have a prototype of a roguelite mode — it changes the game fundamentally!” That casual reveal set fans of the explosive co-op action shooter into overdrive imagining how a roguelite mode would work in the game, which revolves around open and shut missions restricted by time limits.

In December, Helldivers 2 received its big 5.0.0 patch as well as its jungle-themed Python Commandos Warbond, which added a number of fan-requested weapons, including a minigun. In September, the studio’s CEO confirmed Helldivers 3 is not in any plan developer Arrowhead has right now, saying that instead it wants Helldivers 2 to keep going for years and years, like veteran MMO RuneScape. And then there’s the Helldivers 2 movie, which is picking up steam.

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

A writer is now working on The Brave and the Bold, but DC Studios is reportedly in no rush to put out yet another Batman movie into the marketplace.

The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Christina Hodson is writing The Brave and the Bold, which will be the first Batman movie in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s rebooted DC Universe. Hodson is best known for writing 2018’s Transformers spinoff Bumblebee, 2020 DCEU movie Birds of Prey, and 2023’s ill-fated The Flash.

She may be set to reunite with The Flash director Andy Muschietti, who THR said remains on board The Brave and the Bold but whose involvement is not set in stone given his commitments to Welcome to Derry Season 2. Either way, it sounds like The Brave and the Bold is some way away. THR said “it would be some time before a definitive draft comes in as the studio is taking a measured approach to its development.”

Gunn must also navigate next year’s release of The Batman 2 and potentially The Batman 3. The Batman 2, starring Robert Pattinson in the title role, is set to launch five-and-a-half years after The Batman, on October 1, 2027. Writer-director Matt Reeves has said he set out to make a trilogy of Batman films as part of his Batman Epic Crime Saga, and as of 2024 that plan was still on. The Batman films exist in a universe separate to the ongoing DCU, and given Gunn has ruled out Pattinson’s Batman crossing over, we’re set for a new actor to play the Caped Crusader for The Brave and the Bold.

This week Gunn suggested fans won’t get an update on The Brave and the Bold until after The Batman 2 comes out, so we’re probably looking at 2028 at the earliest for news. “I'm dependent on when there's an actionable script ready so there is no way of me guessing this,” he said. “Also, frankly, we're well into Batman 2, and I wouldn't want to cloud the Batsphere until after that.”

Gunn then committed to never releasing two Batman movies in the same year. “I think both Batman and WW [Wonder Woman] are incredibly important,” he said in response to another fan. “But I'm also not going to have two Batman movies come out in the same year.”

Reinforcing that sentiment, THR said DC is “giving Reeves’ project ample space to breathe and is in no rush to put forth another Batman feature into the marketplace. It wants to make sure that Brave and the Bold is distinct enough in tone and look to stand apart, regardless of when it gets made.”

While promoting the rebooted DCU kickstarter Superman last year, Gunn admitted: "Batman's my biggest issue in all of DC right now." While fans wait for The Brave and the Bold to see Gunn's Batman in all his glory, Episode 6 of DCU canon kickstarter Creature Commandos showed Batman standing on a rooftop looking down at crime boss Doctor Phosphorus. The image below revealed a mega-stacked Caped Crusader in his iconic costume, but there was little else that could be discerned about Gunn’s take on the superhero.

Ubisoft has said that completing its now-canceled Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake would have "required more time and investment than we could responsibly commit," after more than half a decade of development.

Yesterday, Ubisoft shocked fans by announcing it had scrapped the long-awaited remake completely as part of a major business reshuffle, nearly six years after the project was first announced, and five years to the day after it was initially set to launch — on January 21, 2021.

Ubisoft has never fully explained why the remake has had such a tortured development — first at the company's Mumbai and Pune studios, then at Ubisoft Montreal since the project was rebooted in 2022. What has been happening behind the scenes since then, and why has the game been scrapped now, after so long trying to get it right?

A statement that's now been shared via the official Prince of Persia social media account holds few answers. Here it is in full:

"To the Prince of Persia community, we wanted to share this with you directly," reads a statement attributed to Ubisoft's Prince of Persia team.

"We've made the difficult decision to stop development on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake. We know this is deeply disappointing. The game carries enormous meaning for fans and for the teams who worked on it.

"While the project had real potential, we weren't able to reach the level of quality you deserve, and continuing would have required more time and investment than we could responsibly commit. And, we didn't want to release something that fell short of what The Sands of Time represents.

"Prince of Persia as a universe and a legacy continues to matter deeply to us, and this decision does not mean we're stepping away from the franchise.

"Thank you for your passion, patience and love for Prince of Persia."

Exactly what the future has in store for Prince of Persia now is uncertain. Lackluster sales of 2024's Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown meant a planned sequel to that game was also scrapped, and staff reorganized elsewhere within the company. The franchise's most recent launch was 2025's The Rogue Prince of Persia — made externally by Dead Cells co-developer Evil Empire.

While many of the details around Ubisoft's business reshuffle remain to be seen, the company did at least name the Prince of Persia franchise as part of its new fourth "Creative House" division yesterday, suggesting it was indeed still an ongoing concern.

For the fans waiting half a decade to play the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake, however, this is likely of little comfort.

"Pretty sad we'll never get this," wrote Ubisoft fan SynthPotato, "people were convinced its on the edge of releasing." "Saw this coming a mile away unfortunately," added another fan, 8biteric. "Please tell me you’re going to reverse time and take back this post and make an announcement that the game is done and will release later this year," suggested TheChrisLambert, hopefully.

Five other games were canceled yesterday as part of Ubisoft's reshuffle, while a further seven titles have been delayed — including the company's similarly long-awaited Assassin's Creed: Black Flag remake.

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

A "world-class" Pokémon attraction is coming to Universal Studios' chain of theme parks, offering an interactive experience hopes to "stimulate all five senses."

While it's unclear if this will be part of Super Nintendo World or be a section of the park in its own right, the "global development project" will first launch in Osaka, Japan, and then be delivered "across the company's global footprint" and "bring the Pokémon world to life in an unprecedented interactive and rich way."

"Since announcing our medium- to long-term alliance in 2021, we have collaborated with Universal Studios Japan's outstanding creative vision and world-class technical capabilities to produce a variety of 'real-life Pokémon experiences,' including the NO LIMIT! Parade and Halloween show," The Pokémon Company president Tsunekazu Ishihara said (thanks, Nintendo Life).

"This year marks the 30th anniversary of Pokémon, and we are extremely pleased to be able to fully launch this new project with you all at this major milestone. Our mission is to enrich both the real and virtual worlds through the existence of Pokémon, and we produce Pokémon every day. With this project, too, we hope to create new entertainment that is unique to theme parks, as a rich experience in the real world, and continue to provide surprises to people all over the world."

It follows previous expansions across Japan's Universal Studios' parks, such as Donkey Kong Country in 2024, based on one of Nintendo’s oldest mascots and boasting a rail-jumping rollercoaster, themed food, and exclusive merch. Part of Super Nintendo World, it starts as a brick tunnel but devolves into crooked rocks as you emerge into the jungle.

We thought Super Nintendo World was Amazing, awarding it 9/10 when we visited in 2022, writing: "Super Nintendo World brilliantly reinvents and gamifies the theme park experience, while offering an unprecedented level of immersion and – most importantly – fun. It’s a fitting tribute to Super Mario on the series’ 35th anniversary that will fill your heart with joy."

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

Amazon has offered some insight into the performance of Prime video show Fallout Season 2, while keeping viewership stats firmly locked in a vault for now.

According to Deadline, Season 2 of the video game adaptation starring Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, and Walton Goggins, is tracking as one of its top four returning series ever, behind only action thriller Reacher and big budget fantasy Lord of the Rings spinoff The Rings of Power. That’s with just two episodes to go for the season.

Overall, Fallout Season 2 is the “top-performing” season Prime Video since February 2025’s Reacher Season 3, and the sixth TV season of all time on the streaming service. In this list, it is behind only Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Seasons 1 and 2, Reacher Seasons 2 and 3, and Fallout Season 1.

It’s worth noting that Amazon distributed Season 2 of Fallout in a different way than Season 1, which launched with all eight episodes available to watch in April 2024. For Season 2, Amazon went for a weekly rollout, which makes viewership comparisons tricky.

Peter Friedlander, Head of Global TV at Amazon MGM Studios, issued Deadline the following statement:

“We are thrilled with the Fallout S2 reception from audiences and critics globally. After its first four weeks, Fallout S2 already ranks as the sixth most watched season ever on Prime Video and is even higher rated on Rotten Tomatoes than S1.

“More than half of the season’s audience to-date has come from outside the U.S., and we’re excited for even more viewers to discover the show as we continue to release new episodes over the weeks ahead.”

As Deadline points out, Amazon has yet to release actual viewership data for Season 2, which kicked off nearly two years after Season 1. Apparently it’s waiting until all the Season 2 episodes are out to do so. Season 1 had a huge 65 million viewers within 16 days of release. The Fallout Season 2 finale is set for February 6.

Season 3 was confirmed before Season 2 came out, so clearly Amazon had confidence in the show. Deadline reports that executives have heard the pitch for Season 3 and things are “charging forward.” There’s no release date yet, but it will be interesting to see if Season 3 takes as long to come out as Season 2 did, or whether Amazon will shift back to a simultaneous launch for all episodes.

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

Nintendo has released an update for Pokémon Legends: Z-A, with some handy item adjustments and a list of bug fixes for the game's Mega Dimension DLC.

The Switch and Switch 2 Pokémon adventure has today been patch to Version 2.0.1, which makes both berries and Mega Shards easier to buy and hold onto. With the update installed, you will now be able to purchase multiple berries at once from food vendors. Mega Dimension owners, meanwhile, will gain the ability to buy berries at Nouveau Café's Truck.

Speaking of Mega Dimension, players with the DLC purchased will see a range of bugs fixed — including Shiny Pokémon not registering in your Pokédex, a side mission progression blocker, and an issue where the game's weather was stuck being sunny (if only this was true in real life).

Launched last month, Mega Dimension adds a fresh story campaign to Pokémon Legends: Z-A, starring a donut chef and the Mythical Pokémon Hoopa. It's set within an alternative Hyperspace version of Lumiose City, where the franchise's typical level 100 cap can be surpassed. Most excitingly, it adds a swathe of all-new Mega Evolutions — though none as freaky as the fan-favorite Mega Starmie.

Looking ahead, the Pokémon series celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2026, and fans are eagerly awaiting news on the next generation of mainline games. Many expect these to be announced on the franchise's anniversary during its annual Pokémon Presents livestream, due on February 27. There's also the promising-looking life simulation spin-off Pokémon Pokopia to look forward to.

For now, Pokémon Legends Z-A's latest full patch notes lie below:

Pokémon Legends: Z-A: Ver. 2.0.1 (Released January 21, 2026)

Adjustments Applied for Obtaining Items:

• When purchasing Berries from a food stall, you can now purchase multiple Berries at once.
• After beginning the story of the Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension DLC, you will be able purchase Berries from the clerk at Nouveau Café’s Truck No. 3.
• The maximum number of Mega Shards you can carry has been increased from 999 to 9,999.

Fixes Applied for the Following Confirmed Issues Related to Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension Content:

• When using moves in certain pockets of hyperspace, Pokémon may sometimes have faced a different direction from the intended target.
• There were cases in which the weather remained sunny and did not change.
• Shiny Pokémon obtained prior to the release of Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension may not have been registered to the Mega Evolution Pokédex, even if their Mega Stones were obtained after becoming available in the DLC.
• During missions, images from unrelated scenes may occasionally have been displayed.
• Players may not have been able to complete side mission 188 “Start Special Scanning!” even after earning the maximum number of survey points. (Players who are already experiencing this issue should be able to progress after entering and exiting hyperspace.)

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

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 will soon get the Techmarine, its seventh playable class, and with it comes a unique ability that sounds very exciting indeed.

In a post on Xbox Wire, Space Marine 2 game director Dmitry Grigorenko revealed that the Techmarine is designed to be a crowd control and area defense specialist, leaning on tech to get the job done, as they do in the Warhammer 40,000 lore and tabletop wargame upon which Space Marine 2 is based.

In melee the Techmarine uses the Omnissian Axe for wide swipes. This is an upcoming weapon only the Techmarine will have access to upon launch. He also has mechanical arms and an automatic turret bolted directly onto his Power Pack.

This means that while you’re actively fighting, you can use the Techmarine’s Combat Skill (Space Marine 2’s version of an ‘ultimate’ ability) to trigger the mounted Servo-Gun, which will lay down heavy fire without the player needing to aim it. “Just watch as Tyranids and Thousand Sons get vaporized before your very eyes,” Grigorenko teased.

But here’s the super interesting part: the automatic Servo-Gun frees you up by executing Gun Strikes for you. This is a big deal indeed.

For the uninitiated, in Space Marine 2, a Gun Strike is a powerful, quick pistol shot you perform after a perfect dodge or parry (or a heavy attack that stuns smaller foes) when a red reticle appears on an enemy, dealing significant damage and allowing for powerful follow-ups without needing to aim or use ammo.

All other classes must manually do a Gun Strike for themselves. But Techmarine players, as Grigorenko put it, “will be free to continue aiming at other targets while their turrets stagger or kill their most pressing assailants.”

Already fans are getting excited about this new ability, even though it’s limited to your Combat Skill (at least, that’s how the Xbox Wire blog post makes it sound). “Jesus Christ, I was already excited for this class, it just keeps on getting better,” said one fan. “I hope there’s a Techmarine perk or weapon perk that’ll help give more Gun Strikes to really take advantage of that.” Said another person who clearly knows their Warhammer 40,000 lore: “Get your blessing brothers, awake the machine spirit, refined the holy oil and praise the Motive Force, this new class looks dope.”

There’s even more to the Techmarine. It also has the unique ability to locate and service Tarantula Sentry turrets during missions. “Though they can’t be carried or placed freely, these can provide much welcome support to your Combat Squad by attacking your enemies automatically until they either run out of ammunition or get destroyed,” Grigorenko explained.

The Techmarine hits Space Marine 2 as part of Patch 12, due out in a few weeks. The new class will be available across all modes apart from the narrative campaign, as it centers around the story of Ultramarines Lieutenant Demetrian Titus.

Also coming with Patch 12 is a 12th mission to the Operations and Stratagems modes, a new mission pick-up type, three new Hero weapon variants, and new customization options for Space Marine helmetless heads. If you own the Season Pass 2 you also get a brand-new Assault Champion Raven Guard skin and a unique cosmetic pack for the Carcharodons.

As announced this week, Space Marine 2 releases on Xbox Game Pass, with Xbox Play Anywhere support, on January 29, so expect an influx of new players.

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.

There's a fresh update waiting for Nintendo Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World, with a couple of tweaks and a list of bug fixes.

Today's patch, which brings Mario Kart World to version 1.5.0, now allows you to race as a team in Knockout Tour when playing with friends in a multiplayer room either via online or wireless play. Polish language support has also been added.

Perhaps most notable is what appears to be a typo in the patch notes' list of bug fixes, which references an issue that has been fixed when playing as Kamek on Choco Mountain. Kamek is not a playable character (yet) in Mario Kart World, but this is likely just a reference to the Kamek item.

So far, nothing else interesting has been discovered in the patch — which is far less meaty than Nintendo's 1.4.0 update for Mario Kart World that launched at the end of last year. That addition reworked the layouts of several areas to spice up the game's open world, and led fans to believe more changes would likely follow.

As of yet, Nintendo has simply been tinkering with its Switch 2 racer, without adding any extra DLC (free or otherwise). Time will tell how Mario Kart World might expand further as the Switch 2's lifecycle matures.

For now, here are the full patch notes for today's Mario Kart World update, version 1.5.0:

Mario Kart World: Version 1.5.0 (Released January 21, 2026)

General

• Added team races to Knockout Tour when playing in a room during “Online Play” and “Wireless Play”.
• The game now supports the Polish language.
  • Note: You can change your selected language using the “Language” setting in the “System” menu of “System Settings.”

Fixed Issues

• Fixed an issue where the game would sometimes end if a player plays as Kamek on Choco Mountain.
• Fixed an issue where the displayed rating would sometimes be incorrect when joining “Everyone” in “Online Play” while in a room.
• Several other issues have been addressed to improve the gameplay experience.

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

Anthem, the failed attempt at a live-service game by Mass Effect and Dragon Age developer BioWare, may be officially offline for good, but some people are keeping the dream alive.

Anthem publisher EA announced last year that it would stop running the game's servers on January 12, 2026, and confirmed that users would no longer be able play at all after this point. Premium in-game currency was withdrawn from sale last summer, and the game was delisted at the same time from EA Play. As an online-only game, this meant the game was essentially dead, with no way to access any content offline.

Now, however, developer And799 has showcased their efforts in a video, and while they are keen to stress that what you see is merely a proof of concept and does "NOT represent the current progress of the private server/revival project that is currently in progress," it certainly looks as though they've managed to get multiplayer running, albeit with some missing features such as online profiles. Crucially, they did manage to get two players into the same lobby.

"So, with the game being dead, I think it's the perfect time to take a look at it," And799 said. "Seems like the majority of the player data are handled through BioWare's server instead of blaze and it is required for the game to be able to load offline."

Interestingly, the comments of the video are full of people offering their expertise to help with the project, with one such commenter writing: "It hasn't been a week [since Anthem was taken offline], this is outstanding."

Upon its 2019 release, shared-world action-RPG Anthem failed to meet EA's internal targets set after a long and troubled development. Despite some efforts to further update and improve the game, BioWare ceased active development on Anthem back in February 2021, citing a need to prioritize Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Mass Effect 5. The plug was pulled on January 12.

While these fan efforts are encouraging, it remains to be seen whether they go anywhere meaningful. Redditor Next-Atmosphere9202, who is a part of the private server/revival project mentioned above, commented on And799's work to say "this is still a really hacky thing so I want to ask people to manage their expectations just a bit. A lot of stuff clearly doesn't work as 'intended,' and definitely needs at minimum, more polish."

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

Nintendo veteran Kensuke Tanabe has reportedly said that the long-awaited Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is his final game at the company, where he has served for four decades.

Tanabe joined Nintendo in the late 1980s as one of its first game designers, and worked on classics such as Super Mario Bros. 2 and 3 for the NES, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for SNES and Link's Awakening for Game Boy.

Over the latter half of his career, Tanabe has served as a producer on more than 60 titles, with a particular focus on the Paper Mario and Luigi's Mansion series. But it's for his work with Retro Studios on the Metroid Prime series for which he's best known.

Now, in an interview with Nintendo Dream magazine, Tanabe has said that Metroid Prime 4 was his final game for Nintendo — meaning that he has left the series' story unfinished, and the fate of his villain Sylux uncertain.

Sylux has been built up as the next Big Bad of the Metroid Prime series, following his introduction in Metroid Prime: Hunters, and the end of the original Metroid Prime trilogy that pitted Samus against Dark Samus. During the interview, Tanabe said he saw Sylux as a way to "further expand the 'Metroid Prime Universe'" and create further games beyond the initial trilogy. Because of this, he implored developers to foreshadow Sylux's presence via cameos in Metroid Prime 3 and Metroid Prime: Federation Force, while keeping his full story under-wraps.

"A long time passed before I finally had the opportunity to make this game," Tanabe said of Metroid Prime 4 (via machine translation). "Considering my age, I felt that making this Metroid Prime series might be my last chance. Therefore, I conceived and planned this project as the 'first installment of the Sylux Saga.'

"I portrayed Sylux as a villain with a dark personality, deep resentment, and despicable methods; and from this game onward, Samus will realize that a direct confrontation with him is inevitable, and he must be completely defeated. Therefore, the final battle between Sylux and Samus is not yet over. However, it took longer than I had imagined to complete this game.

"Furthermore, I have confirmed that I will no longer be able to participate in the production of the series," Tanabe concluded. "Whether a sequel will be made is still uncertain, but I sincerely hope that one day, [assistant producer Risa] Tabata and Retro Studios will be able to tell this story completely and bring it to a close."

Nintendo is yet to comment on the report, or announce Tanabe's departure. IGN has asked the company for more detail today.

After a lengthy delay, Metroid Prime 4 finally launched for Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 last month, albeit to a more muted critical response than the franchise's beloved original trilogy. Nintendo has so far made no official announcement on how well the game has sold. However, earlier this month, an unnamed Nintendo source blamed the recent slowdown in Switch 2 sales over the holiday period on a "complicated" economic climate and the "absence of a major Western game" — despite the launch of Metroid Prime 4.

"It's been 40 years since I joined Nintendo," Tanabe reflected. "Metroid Prime 4 will be the last game I work on at Nintendo. However, we didn't deliberately do anything 'special.' Instead, like all previous Nintendo titles, we worked together with Retro Studios to create it, hoping to bring a fun and unique experience to players of all ages and types.

"If it becomes a game that leaves a lasting impression on players who have played it, I will be very gratified. And for those who haven't played it yet, I hope you will experience the unknown planet Viewros through Samus' eyes."

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