On this week's episode of IGN's PlayStation show, Podcast Beyond!, host Jonathon Dornbush is joined by Mark Medina and Jada Griffin to discuss Uncharted's PS5 debut with the Uncharted Legacy of Thieves Collection, and a host of news in the world of PlayStation.

First, we break down the PlayStation Plus lineup for February, which brings three games to players who subscribe to PS Plus: UFC 4, Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep, and Planet Coaster: Console Edition. We dig into our thoughts on PS Plus, how Sony's alleged upcoming Game Pass-like subscription service might affect it, and more. Then, we follow up on the discussion around Call of Duty's future on PlayStation, with a new report from Bloomberg about how PlayStation fans can expect COD for a couple years more, and then things start to get murky. Then, we dig into the excitement over a PSN glitch that many assumed to be a leak for PlayStation backward compatibility, how likely it means something is on the way, and more. We also discuss the news that Respawn is working on three new Star Wars games, why Mark should play Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and more.

We also dig into what we're playing, including the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves collection for PS5. Jonathon and Mark discuss what it's like to revisit Uncharted 4 and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, what the new graphical modes, including Performance+'s 120 FPS, are like, and the scope of the collection for those curious on how it stacks up to other PS4-PS5 ports. We dig a little into its DualSense functionality, how it compares to the PS4 versions, and whether it's more akin to Spider-Man Remastered, the Director's Cuts of Ghost of Tsushima and Death's Stranding, or basic patches like Horizon Zero Dawn, and whether it's worth the upgrade. Jada also breaks down some of her time with NEO: The World Ends With You and Horizon Zero Dawn on NG+.

Timestamps
00:00:00 Intro
00:06:15 PS Plus for February
00:12:50 Activision/Call of Duty Followup
00:21:07 Everyone thinks PlayStation Leaked Backward Compatibility
00:27:45 Star Wars: More Games in the Works at Respawn
00:38:30 What We’re Playing
00:54:10 Conclusion

And if you're looking for more places to enjoy this PlayStation podcast show, check out Podcast Beyond! on all available platforms: https://linktr.ee/podcastbeyond.

Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior Features Editor, PlayStation Lead, and host of Podcast Beyond! He's the proud dog father of a BOY named Loki. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

Warning: this article contains major spoilers for The Mandalorian: Season 2 and The Book of Boba Fett: Episode 5!

The Mandalorian Season 1 introduced a weapon with a major legacy in the Star Wars universe. The Darksaber returned in the hands of Moff Gideon in the Season 1 finale, with Season 2 subsequently introducing one of the Darksaber's previous owners in the form of Katee Sackhoff's Bo-Katan Kryze. And with the Darksaber now in the hands of Mando himself following the Mandalorian Season 2 finale, it's safe to say this blade will continue to play a big part in the series and spinoffs like The Book of Boba Fett.

If you're confused as to why everyone seems so fixated on a black lightsaber, fear not. Here's everything you need to know about the Darksaber and how it ties the series back to the events of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

What is the Darksaber in The Mandalorian?

The Darksaber is unique among all the lightsabers in the Star Wars universe. It has a flat, katana-like blade rather than the traditional saber shape. It emits a peculiar, low hum. Even its color is unlike any other - deep black with a bright white halo.

The Darksaber is one of the most important artifacts in Mandalorian culture. It was created by an ancient warrior named Tarre Vizsla, the first (and as far as we currently know, only) Mandalorian to be inducted into the Jedi Order. That event happened at least 1000 years before the time of the movies, with Vizsla's existence forgotten by all but the most devout Mandalorian warriors and historians.

The Jedi kept Vizsla's signature blade on display as a museum relic, at least until the Mandalorians stole it back. Since then, the Darksaber has come to serve as a symbol of power for Mandalorians. Whoever wields the blade is viewed by Mandalorian traditionalists as the rightful ruler of Mandalore, as Moff Gideon explained in the Season 2 finale. Defeating the blade's owner in ritualistic combat is the true path to power - which could present a problem between Mando and Bo-Katan.

Learn even more about the history of the Darksaber in our Star Wars wiki guide!

How Did Moff Gideon Get the Darksaber in The Mandalorian?

Unfortunately, the Darksaber has a habit of trading hands again and again. During the Clone Wars, Tarre Vizsla's descendant Pre Vizsla (voiced by The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau) used the blade to rally his Death Watch recruits against Mandalore's political leader, Duchess Satine Kryze. Pre Vizsla made the mistake of forging an alliance with ex-Sith Lord Darth Maul, who killed him in ritualistic combat and became the new leader of Death Watch.

At some point during the waning days of the Clone Wars, the Darksaber fell into the possession of the Nightsisters of Dathomir. It was then claimed by Sabine Wren, a Mandalorian expatriate and member of the Rebel Alliance. Sabine used the blade to rally her people against Viceroy Gar Saxon, the Imperial-appointed ruler of Mandalore. Sabine then bestowed the Darksaber to Bo-Katan Kryze, sister of the late Duchess Satine.

That act seemed to open a brighter future for Mandalore and its people. Unfortunately, The Mandalorian has repeatedly hinted at a dark fate for this planet, with several characters alluding to the Empire's purge of Mandalore and the survivors being forced into hiding. The Book of Boba Fett's fifth episode even includes a flashback to that purge, showing a fleet of TIE Bombers and a platoon of Assassin Droids laying waste to Mandalore.

In The Mandalorian Season 2 finale, Moff Gideon implies that he himself may be responsible for overthrowing Bo-Katan and robbing Mandalore of its rightful ruler, which would explain the animosity between the two of them hinted at in Bo-Katan's first Mandalorian appearance in episode 203. We're certain to learn more about the Darksaber's history and the previous encounters between Gideon and Bo-Katan in The Mandalorian Season 3.

Is The Darksaber Cursed?

Din Djarin returns wielding the Darksaber in The Book of Boba Fett Episode 5, an episode that practically serves as a backdoor Season 3 premiere for The Mandalorian. It's here fans get more insight into why Bo-Katan was so adamantly opposed to accepting the Darksaber from Din.

In this episode, Emily Swallow's character The Armorer speaks of the legends surrounding the Darksaber. According to her, when the owner of the Darksaber claims the blade through honorable combat, they become worthy of leading Mandalore into a brighter future. But if they're merely given the blade without proving their warrior prowess, the Darksaber becomes a curse that dooms all of Mandalore.

This doesn't necessarily mean the Darksaber is literally cursed (though this is Star Wars and the Jedi and Sith are capable of some pretty weird things). The Armorer and her faction of Mandalorians are very fanatical and obsessed with ancient customs. But this legend does speak to why Bo-Katan's reign ended so badly. She didn't win the blade in combat during the events of Star Wars Rebels, and that likely damaged her standing among her fellow Mandalorians. She's clearly aware of her failure and determined not to make the same mistake twice. Whether or not the Darksaber is truly cursed, she's not going to wield it again unless she can take it by force.

How The Mandalorian Connects to The Clone Wars and the Siege of Mandalore

The Mandalorian's Season 1 finale revealed the real name and origin story of Pedro Pascal's titular character. We saw a young Din Djarin narrowly survive a Clone Wars battle that claimed the lives of his parents. Though Din isn't a Mandalorian by birth, as a "foundling" he was recruited into their culture and raised to become an honorable warrior and hunter. Although, as Bo-Katan revealed in "The Heiress," Mando is considered a "Child of the Watch," a cult of religious zealots who are likely an offshoot of Death Watch, who want to go back to Mandalore's tribal past and insist that adherents to their creed never take off their helmets in the presence of another living being.

Din's origin helps tie the series more firmly to the events of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. As that series unfolds, Mandalore and its surrounding worlds become a hotly contested battleground in the conflict between the Republic and Separatists. That culminates in one of the last and most destructive battles in the Clone Wars - the Siege of Mandalore.

Star Wars fans finally got to see the Siege of Mandalore play out thanks to The Clone Wars: Season 7. The Siege of Mandalore is the last of three major story arcs in that final season. While the final episodes don't show Din Djarin or other characters from The Mandalorian Season 1, it does reveal how Ahsoka Tano's good intentions in leading a Republic strike force to capture Darth Maul wound up opening Mandalore to Imperial occupation. With Ahsoka herself appearing in Season 2 (played by Rosario Dawson) and an Ahsoka Tano spinoff series announced, the franchise may explore Ahsoka's lingering guilt over her role in Mandalore's sad fate.

A Knights of the Old Republic Connection

Even as The Mandalorian forges new links to projects like The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, it also makes an unexpected connection to a much more distant part of the Star Wars timeline. Emily Swallow's character, The Armorer, recalls the ancient battles between the Mandalorians and the Jedi, a conflict which directly set the stage for the 2003 video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

This is actually the second time since the release of Episode IX that a Star Wars project has alluded to the events of KOTOR. The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary reveals that one of Emperor Palpatine's Sith Trooper legions is named after ancient Jedi Master-turned-Sith Lord Darth Revan.

The timing of these twin KOTOR cameos isn't coincidental. After years of ambiguity over whether KOTOR and other Old Republic-era stories are still included in Disney's official Star Wars continuity, this beloved game is officially becoming canonized. In 2021, Aspyr finally confirmed rumors of a KOTOR remake, which will be exclusive to the Playstation 5 at launch and feature at least some of the original voice cast.

For more on The Mandalorian, see all the clues about Sabine Wren potentially joining the series, read up on the timeline of Ahsoka Tano before she debuted on The Mandalorian, and see what to expect from Star Wars in 2022.

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

More than a decade after its original release, Minecraft continues to be massive — so massive that it apparently has the power to take down an entire country's internet.

Last weekend, a major Minecraft tournament endured a cyberattack significant enough to disrupt the internet in Andorra, a small country in Europe bordered by France and Spain. The population only numbers around 77,000, roughly the capacity of an NFL football stadium.

NetBlocks, an internet outage tracker, says the disruption was caused by a cyberattack targeting the Minecraft competition, which led directly to the elimination of Team Andorra. The competition featured 150 contestants competing in events from Squid Game, including well-known streamers.

ℹ️ Confirmed: Internet disruption registered on #Andorra Telecom (AS6752) on Saturday evening; the incident is attributed by the state telco to a DDoS attack targeting the high-stakes #SquidCraftGames Minecraft Twitch competition, resulting in the elimination of Team Andorra 📉📈 pic.twitter.com/RCsJu2DYpH

— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 23, 2022

As you can see in the spike, connection briefly dropped from 100% down to below 50% at the time of the outage. A DDoS attack, or distributed denial-of-service attack, is an attempt to overwhelm an internet service with an overflow of traffic, causing mass network issues and disconnections.

While the attackers are unknown, Andorra Telecom tweeted that the attackers were trying to harm YouTubers, so apparently this was a targeted attack to take Team Andorra out of the Minecraft Squid Game sweepstakes. Much like the show itself, it seems competitors and viewers used any means necessary to take people out of the game.

For more on Minecraft, check out the recreation of Doom within Minecraft. And, if Squid Game's your thing, read the latest on season 2 of the popular survival TV series.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Nathan Drake is back once again with his first PlayStation 5 adventure, bringing Chloe and friends along for an updated and upgraded dual package of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and the spinoff Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Offering enhancements and some huge performance leaps over the globetrotting thief’s PS4 & PS4 Pro release. But is a treasure worth fighting for?

This new remaster offers a few paths to play, with existing disc or digital owners of the PS4 version of either included game being able to upgrade for $10s, euros, or great British pounds to this new pack. Or you can make a full purchase if you’re new to the Uncharted fold, and even PC players will get a release later this year. As we have seen in previous remasters from Death Stranding and Ghost of Tsushima, you can easily import your PS4 save using the main menu’s in-built conversation tool. Allowing you to pick up where you left off – just sharper and faster than before. Simply download or USB copy your save over to your ps5 drive, then fire it up and convert it to a PS5 format. Note that you can copy multiple saves; you simply need to do them one at a time from the main menu.

Indiana Modes

The biggest upgrades are resolution and performance, with Legacy of Thieves offering three modes of play. Sadly, there is no multiplayer included in this version, which is a shame as one mode would’ve really helped that style of gameplay. The first of the trio of modes is Fidelity, which runs at a sharp and crisp 3840x2160 (aka 4K) resolution at the same 30fps as the PS4 & Pro version, which run at 1920x1080 and 2560x1440, respectively. This helps all related buffers within the image, such as alpha textures, shadows, screen space reflections, and more.

Next – and likely the most popular – is Performance mode, which offers the same 2560x1440 resolution of the PS4 Pro by doubling framerates to 60fps by halving frame-times to 16.67ms. The loss in pixel clarity from 4K is a minor but noticeable sacrifice, but the gain in temporal pixel counts and extra fluidity is a welcome one, specifically considering the controller input latency which I will get to later.

Finally, we have the Perf+ mode, which again doubles framerates over the Performance mode to 120fps – so long as you have a TV to support that. The cost is, again, resolution, which now drops by 50% to 1080p, matching the base PS4 but running at four times the framerate. This mode is clearly the one that looks the softest on a 4K screen, but the latency improvements are again noticeable even over the 60fps Performance mode. No Dynamic resolution scaling appears to be in use but the engine’s temporal anti-aliasing (TAA) helps minimize noisy segments and the MB shutter speed has been increased to compensate for the faster framerates, which helps improve clarity in motion on objects, textures, and more over the PS4 and PS4 Pro. All three modes are available in Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy and can easily be swapped in the menus with no delay, meaning you can pick your poison between pixel clarity or pixel frequency, and swap between them based on what you’re doing at the time.

With a game such as Uncharted, the increased controller refresh fluidity is beneficial, if not game changing. What is a humongous improvement, though, is the cartridge-like loading times – or rather the near lack thereof. Even on an SSD-powered PS4 Pro the load from a save unpacking into RAM can take over 36 seconds; on PS5, Legacy of Thieves is over 10 times faster, with loads now taking approximately three seconds and effectively removed. Menus simply fade out and the action fades in. This shift to a native PS5 app enabled Naughty Dog to leverage the SSD speed most integral to the memory subsystem configuration, all within the new SDK and relevant API calls. In addition, the Legacy of Thieves version has a smaller in footprint on your drive due to the Oodle texture compression tech and dedicated compression hardware built into the PS5’s system on a chip (SoC). With both games installed, it occupies 40% less drive space as a whole.

Performance

What of that performance then? Let’s start at the top: with Uncharted 4 and the PS4/Pro version, both targeted 30fps and in the majority of action, and they held close enough to that to never be an issue. One of the biggest and most frantic sections was the Raiders of the Lost Ark homage truck-and-jeep chase that was first revealed in the famous E3 2015 gameplay trailer. It saw dips on base PS4 and Pro to almost identical levels, mostly only into the next refresh cycle of 16ms, but this could see low 20fps moments crop up in brief segments of action, largely fill-rate and bandwidth-limited, but occasionally you could also get longer stutters with context switching. These cause 80 to 100ms spikes and hangs when they occur, pointing to CPU, memory, or other cache-related delays. These happen with the switch over to driving as the world simulation is warped back into line. As a 30fps game running on original PS4 hardware, though, it was solid.

It should come as no surprise to see that on PS5 it does not drop a stitch within the same stressful segments when running in the native 4K/30fps mode. It keeps the frame-time meter flatter than a bad guy’s ECG after a run-in with Nate the serial killer. This is true of the Fidelity mode both in Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy.

Moving to the 60fps Performance mode, we do now start to see some drops in these same heavier sections of Uncharted 4 and some of the battles in Lost Legacy as well. They’ve been always minor and never that frequent in my run of play, but when it happens it skips into the next refresh cycle and they never add more than short-lived, mid-50fps segments. Most action scenes, cinematics, and exploration are at a steady 60fps, which is a solid boost from the previous 30fps ceiling. The same scenarios and sections play out in both games and really secure Performance as the preferred mode in my playthrough of the PS5 port.

The final Performance+ 120fps mode is the most demanding on CPU time, and any bottlenecks that may crop up when trying to target such a high refresh rate of 8ms. As such, we can see more frequent dips from this target in both games across action, and they are the biggest when driving across the wide, linear levels in the jeep. Uncharted 4 does come out on top, maintaining frame rates above 100fps in my tested segments. Again, due to 8ms frame time being half that of 60fps the drops here are almost imperceptible when they crop up. The Lost Legacy, on the other hand, can be a little heavier on the GPU and fill-rate with all the foliage amongst the battles, which see us drop close to that 100fps line more often and into the 90s when we look at long terrain views while driving. These are again, brief, and infrequent enough to not be of a great concern, but they’re the only drops I really noticed without the frame-rate tool picking them up.

Also, with this being a PS5 port of the Pro version now running at four times the framerate, we do see some physics glitches and sped-up animation crop up at times. They’re noticeable when they do, but are rarely game-breaking. The extra fluidity offered by the 120fps mode from the movement and the controller input times are excellent, though. Alongside the DualSense improvements of Haptic Feedback and adaptive triggers, we can see huge reductions in input times, which is a key area of the Naughty Dog engine. They stagger work over three frames in addition to any core engine polling latency, meaning that each frame is treated to CPU-GPU-render stages. Based on the PS4 Pro, we see approximately 144ms of input time as the median, i.e., the most likely input times from a collection of tested actions. This is slightly slower by 4 to 8ms on the PS5 in the 30fps Fidelity mode, but we see big and noticeable reductions on this as we move through 60 and then 120fps modes, with 120fps being sub-100ms and approximately 60ms at the absolute best point.

Summary

Uncharted 4 is The Last Crusade for Nate in more ways than one. Here it is refined, smoother, faster, and sharper, but not to a level I am sure many hoped. Unlike God of War on PC, which we covered a couple of weeks ago, we get no further bells and whistles over PS4 Pro. Improved textures and resolution are the only minor visual boosts, with level of detail, ambient occlusion, and others all remaining the same. These would still not transform Uncharted 4 or The Lost Legacy, but might have enticed more returning fans to double dip on the Legacy of Thieves Collection. It remains to be seen what the PC version scheduled for later this year will offer over this one; support for a 21:9 aspect ratio would be great to add. Overall, Legacy of Thieves on PS5 is a great update to those than prefer faster and cleaner images but more aimed at those diving into either of these for the first time, or the cheaper $10 option for the hardcore who want to double dip. It’s a refined and improved version for sure, which highlights just how far Naughty Dog was ahead of the pack even in 2016. But for anything over sheer performance and controller improvements, you may be left wanting a little more treasure.

Those who've managed to get hold of a PS5 or Xbox Series X over the past year will be very pleased to hear this next piece of news. LG's C1 OLED 4K TVs are on sale right now (see here), and you can get an extra 10% off with promo code LG10.

These TVs are absolutely perfect for PS5 and Xbox users, and they come packed with HDMI 2.1 ports, a requirement for using your console at 4K 120Hz. If you want to play games like Call of Duty at the highest frame-rate possible, and get the most out of your console, this is the TV for you.

The Perfect PS5 Ready LG 4K TV is On Sale

We ranked the LG C1 OLED TV as our best TV for gaming, and that still holds up right now. This is absolutely the best time to invest in a new TV for your gaming setup, especially with these prices dropping below the recent Black Friday discounts.

The 48" has dropped to just £900, an incredible new low price for the top of the line TV. But, if you're looking to go a little bigger both the 55" and 65" have also seen significant discounts. Just enter LG10 at checkout, and you'll bring the TVs down to the lowest price they've ever been online.

This is the deal of a lifetime for avid gamers in the UK. This kind of TV can elevate your gaming experience to another level, with HDR10, Dolby Atmos, and the OLED panel working to provide the perfect screen for your new PS5 or Xbox Series X.

But, if you're not looking at the C1 right now, and fancy a different TV from LG, then we've also got you covered. The LG10 promo code will work on all TVs in the sale at LG right now, giving you an extra 10% off the price.

The sale at LG is on for just one week, and will expire after February 1, 2022. This is a very limited time frame, so make sure you get your order in as soon as possible.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

After four hours of hands-on with Horizon Forbidden West, we feel like we’ve only scratched the surface, but still found an incredible amount of detail in Guerrilla Games’ sequel. Aloy’s world is brought to life in much more vivid detail, with improved animation, new machines, an evolved combat system, and so much more. While we await its full release on Feb. 18 for PS4 and PS5, let’s dig into all the amazing details we discovered about Horizon Forbidden West, and why they should have you just as excited as we are.

Some of these are confirmation of things the developers have said before now that we've actually gotten to play, some are more specific explanations of new ideas for the sequel, and others are brand new details that have us quite excited by Guerrilla's refinement of its open world.

Traversal

1. Climbing is much more free and open in Forbidden West than it was in Zero Dawn. Not every single inch of every surface is climbable, but a much larger amount of is, making traversal so much smoother in the sequel.
2. You can use your Focus to temporarily highlight climbable portions of the environment. Some of the points the Focus will find are what you’ll use the Pullcaster for. This new bit of Aloy’s equipment loadout can pull her from much further away to grasp onto a ledge. It’s used like a double jump would - hit “X” again in the air to employ it.
3. You can Pullcast out of a glide using the new Shieldwing. So if you happen to be gliding by a cliff and realize there’s a spot a little above you, you can easily get to it.
4. We won’t spoil how, but Aloy will acquire the Shieldwing early in the game during a story quest, so don’t worry about missing out on your sky-soaring dreams. But all of these tools are important because they are in service to how Forbidden West’s world is built.

As Horizon Forbidden West narrative director Ben McCaw said, "One of the things [in HFW} is there's just a lot more verticality to this world, from the tallest mountain or skyscraper all the way down to the ground. But also now with these new underwater sections in the game, there was a new form of exploration, new things to explore and just a whole new kind of like geometry there."

Weapons, Combat, and Machines

1. Speaking of equipment, Aloy will gain some new and returning weapons and items through the main quest, such as the trusty tripcaster, like the one in Zero Dawn, early in her adventure. Others will be obtained through sidequests. A cool new explosive weapon, the javelin thrower, is one of the first you’ll come across, while a later one, the Shredder Gauntlet, offers another new twist on combat.
2. Two new elemental options for attacks include Acid and Plasma.
3. Players can now invest in six different skill trees with the points they earn. These include Warrior, Trapper, Hunter, Survivor, Infiltrator, Machine Master. Valor Surges will be unlocked by choosing specific abilities surrounding a Surge on any given skill tree.
4. Aloy can now upgrade equipment at workbenches in the environment, and still use “Create Job” functions to track down specific parts for needed upgrades.
5. Outfits can also be upgraded, and can provide stat boosts to specific skills in Aloy’s skill trees.
6. Potions and other consumables return, and Aloy will be able to purchase from various sellers - Cooks for skill-boosting food, Herbalists for potions, Hunters for weapons, and Stitchers for outfits
7. A new type called the Burrower is a Watcher-level threat, but with a few new moves, including the ability to, well, burrow, as well as send reverberating blasts that disrupt Aloy (and the player’s) view for a brief moment.
8. Bristlebacks are a new machine type, akin to Chargers, that have acid canisters on their backs. Spiking those with an acid arrow is the key to victory.
9. The Slitherfang, which we did not fight in the wild and only in the new Arena, has a variety of attacks, including the ability to jump below the ground and leap back up somewhere else, as well as shoot lightning from its tail (and even electrify parts of the environment).
10. Melee is also improved - players can use the Resonator Blast ability to charge up Aloy’s weapon, strike an enemy and imbue them with energy, and then cause a massive amount of damage with an arrow aimed at that specific point.
11. Players will be able to test their melee skills in melee pits that will be located throughout the Forbidden West. You’ll come to your first in Chainscrape.
12. The Arena is a large, optional side attraction for players to engage in. Complete challenges against various different machines, and do under a time limit to earn medals to unlock great equipment. You can also compete with friends in online leaderboards for the best times.

“We wanted to make sure that there's a certain path through this game, where if players want to experience the main quest and kind of get to the end of the story as quickly as possible, that they could do that, and also there's definitely a progression through this game that's really focused on combat," McCaw explained. "If you want to just fight the biggest and bad machines, we're going to let that happen. The arena is like a great example of that, where you can actually do it repeatedly."

Story

1. Aloy’s journey picks up roughly six months after the end of Horizon Zero Dawn.
2. Her main quest is to stop the Red Blight that is seemingly infecting the world, as she hopes to prevent another mass extinction of humanity.
3. After an intro we haven’t seen, Aloy believes she can find answers in the Forbidden West, land beyond the Nora, Oseram, and Carja territory we know. But the border is guarded by Carja leadership on her side, and a group of members from the Tenakth tribe on the other.
4. The Tenakth are actually made up of three different civilizations, each with their own customs and ways of life. They are one of two big new tribes, the other being the Utaru.
5. For Aloy to pass beyond the border, she needs a planned Embassy meeting between the Carja and Tenakth to go well. Without spoiling it, it does not go well.
6. Aloy will meet the new antagonist Regalla early on in her journey. And without spoiling it in detail, she has quite the memorable, frightening introduction.
7. Settlements are going to be a much larger part of your time in Horizon Forbidden West, with new and returning sidequest types, more lively NPCs and interactions, and much more variety in animation. Chainscrape is a new one that we saw during our preview.

"With the Tenakth, you see a lot of drilling, a lot of practice fighting, a lot of games that kind of feel like one-upmanship between the tribal members; whereas the Utaru are much more focused on a kind of agrarian lifestyle, on music, on crafting, sort of more in the like weaving zone," McCaw explained of Forbidden West's new tribes.

Miscellaneous Details

1. Aloy could craft health potions and other boosts, but one of the easiest ways to refill health was to pick up life-granting fauna in the world. Until your stash was limited, of course. Luckily, if you reach our capacity for health berries - which was 10 of them during the early portion I played - you can collect more. They just are sent back to your general stash. And if you hold down up on the D-Pad, you can refill your on-hand collection so that you never run out.
2. Aloy will be able to access this stash from various settlements throughout Forbidden West.
3. The Focus is key to observing machines before you fight. But in Zero Dawn, you’d have to carefully move the right stick around a machine to highlight each part. Worry no longer - hitting left or right on the D-Pad lets you cycle through each specific part of a machine, and it’s much less fiddly.
4. You can even track specific body parts if you’re trying to collect specific canisters or horns, which will keep just those elements highlighted in the Focus’ outline while in combat.

Sidequests

1. Sidequests across the board are meant to be more valuable and engaging for Forbidden West players than Zero Dawn’s. For example, an early mission in the Chainscrape settlement rewards players a brand new type of weapon, the explosive Javelin Thrower. It sacrifices finesse for power, heavily damaging enemies but also potentially damaging what parts you can scrape up after their death. It also introduced two new NPCs, Delah and Boomer, and it won’t be the last players see of this delightful new pair.
2. A new sidequest includes a series of Melee Pits. The first is in Chainscrape, but you’ll find more in the Forbidden West. They’ll help train you on new combat techniques and test your skills, with the ultimate goal of defeating a member of the Tenakth tribes known as The Enduring.
3. Another sidequest known as Vista Points will see Aloy gain some data from mysterious metal posts - essentially radio towers from our world. Players will then see part of an image corresponding to a location from the “old world” that they’ll have to line up with a spot in Aloy’s timeline. Similar to Vantage Points from Zero Dawn, but a bit more active.
4. Horizon’s denizens have their own board game called Machine Strike. As we’ve seen it, it operates as a 1v1 game, in which players move pieces around a board representing machines to knock out their opponent’s machines. Boards, which are laid out in a grid, can be covered by spaces marking different terrain, and those unique terrains can affect power. And the way you move machines can lead to advantages and disadvantages based on where their armor is located (machines will have both armor and weak spots, and depending on the way they're facing an opponent, that can make all the different). There's even more strategy involved, like the ability to hit multiple enemies due to placement on the board, using an Overcharge ability to attack at the cost of HP, and much more. Aloy will only start out with a few pieces, but can gain more around the world.
5. In the Forbidden West, you’ll run into a quest line known as Salvage Contracts, in which Aloy must hunt down specific parts to provide to outfitters who are ultimately aiming to make an incredible suit of armor for the Savior of Meridian.

"There are side quests in this game that are of similar scope to those in Zero Dawn, but we always wanted to make sure they felt a little bit more satisfying, a little bit more emotional and definitely a little bit more tied into the companions and other NPCs. So generally speaking, if you do a side quest in Forbidden West, that's not the last you'll see of that NPC," McCaw teased.

Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior Features Editor, PlayStation Lead, and host of Podcast Beyond! He's the proud dog father of a BOY named Loki. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep leads the way for February's PlayStation Plus lineup. Announced on the PlayStation Blog, February's free games for PS Plus subscribers include Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep and EA Sports UFC 4 for PS4 players, and Planet Coaster Console Edition for PS5 owners.

Fans looking forward to Tiny Tina's Wonderlands in March will want to check out Assault on Dragon Keep. While the upcoming game is a full-fledged adventure taking place in Borderlands' Dungeons & Dragons-inspired counterpart, players first got their taste of the Wonderlands back in 2013, with a Borderlands 2 DLC starring Tiny Tina. Now, that DLC has been rereleased as a standalone package so players can get a taste of battling skeletons, dragons, and more ahead of the new game this spring.

Planet Coaster is a modern-day Roller Coaster Tycoon, letting players build and manage amusement parks. The game includes over 700 objects, including track parts, facilities, and more. And, you can download coasters made by other players in the community.

And finally, EA Sports UFC 4 is the latest ultimate fighting game from EA, featuring a career mode and online battles. We called the game great in our review, saying, "EA Sports UFC 4 is a largely iterative sequel that tightens up some looser parts, makes a few smart tweaks here and there, and doesn’t rock the boat all that much."

All three games will be available for download starting on February 1. You still have time to download January's PlayStation Plus games, which include Persona 5 Strikers, Dirt 5, and Deep Rock Galactic.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

No Man's Sky studio Hello Games has announced that it's surprise-released remasters of its debut Joe Danger games on Apple devices.

Before it gained notoriety for making No Man's Sky, Hello Games cut its teeth with Joe Danger - a sidescrolling mobile series. Now, ahead of the character's tenth birthday, Hello Games has revealed that both Joe Danger and Joe Danger Infinity have been remastered for iOS15 and are available as of today from the App Store.

The remasters see a number of enhancements over their predecessors. Improved graphics, a new engine, and upped framerates are present in both titles, while Joe Danger Infinity will also gain the added benefit of gamepad and ProMotion support for those who are interested. To cap off the good news, Hello Games has also revealed that any fans who already own either game will receive an update today for free.

Studio head Sean Murray added that, at a later date, both games will be "fully playable for free online".

Having originally sold over a million copies, Joe Danger unfortunately became a casualty of the Apple App store, as iOS looked to cull older games that were no longer supported by the latest Apple devices. While Hello Games founder Sean Murray admits that the success of No Man's Sky left Joe Danger slightly unloved, he says that the team has been working for the past two years to bring the character back to life, piece by piece through eight years of Unity updates.

"Hello Games is best known for No Man’s Sky, but for us though it really doesn’t feel that long ago that we were pouring everything we had into a game called Joe Danger," stated Murray in a press release. "Joe holds a special place in our hearts. It was our first game when we were still four guys in a shed, trying to get noticed."

"We published it ourselves (no publishers were interested!), houses were even re-mortgaged to bring it to completion! Joe helped our studio get a foothold and establish ourselves as a company, but it’s also where we learned to make games."

For more from Joe Danger, make sure to check out our original review for the game where we awarded it a 9.5/10.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Video game delays have become commonplace during the pandemic — we tallied 60 delays in 2021 alone — as studios largely continue to work within the confines of remote or hybrid development. This dramatic shift in the way games are made may remain the norm throughout 2022, and as such, we're once again expecting to see a significant number of games delayed.

To keep track of these ever-shifting release dates and to keep you up on when to expect your most-anticipated games, we've created a running list of every such announcement: full games, notable DLC, and every piece of gaming hardware officially delayed this year.

Click through the gallery below or continue scrolling for the full list of every game delay announced in 2022 (so far).

STALKER 2 : Hearts of Chernobyl

• Delayed from April 28 to December 8, 2022

STALKER 2 was the first game officially delayed in 2022. "These additional seven months of development are needed to fulfill our vision and achieve the desired state of the game,” said developer GSC Game World. “STALKER 2 is the biggest project in the history of GSC, and it requires thorough testing and polishing. We are convinced that development should take as long as necessary, especially in the case of such a project."

While it was unfortunate news for the sequel, series fans are well practiced with patience; STALKER 2 comes more than a dozen years after the franchise’s last release, Call of Pripyat.

Ghostrunner: Project_Hel DLC

• Delayed from January 27 to March 3, 2022

Project_Hel, a major new DLC for Ghostrunner, was delayed from late January to early March. The extra development time will be used “to make even more worthwhile improvements while ensuring the health & safety of our team and global partners,” reads a statement from the game’s official Twitter account.

In Project_Hel you play as Hel, one of the original game’s bosses. The DLC includes six story missions, new enemies, bosses, and six new tracks from electronic musician Daniel Deluxe.

Dying Light 2 for Nintendo Switch

• Delayed from February 4 to an unannounced later date

Two weeks before its previously expected release date, the cloud version of Dying Light 2 for Nintendo Switch was delayed. Developer Techland says it should be out “within six months” of the original date, putting the Switch version's tentative release window between February and August.

The sequel will still hit PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC on February 4.

Call of Duty: Warzone Pacific and Vanguard Season 2

• Delayed from February 2 to February 14

The second seasons of Call of Duty: Warzone Pacific and Call of Duty: Vanguard were both delayed by two weeks. Activision said it would use the additional time to “deliver updates, including optimizations to gameplay, game balancing (including weapon and equipment balancing), to fix game stability and bugs, and to ensure an overall level of polish to improve the experience.”

Life Is Strange: Remastered Collection for Nintendo Switch

• Delayed from February 1 to “later this year”

The Nintendo Switch version of Life Is Strange: Remastered Collection — a bundle of Life Is Strange and the follow-up prequel Life Is Strange: Before the Storm — was delayed less than two weeks before its initial release date. The developer said it experienced a setback with the Switch version and plans to have it ready “later this year.”

The remastered games feature updated visuals, improved animations, and lighting upgrades. The collection is still expected to hit other platforms — PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia — on February 1.

eBay has announced that it will be expanding its Authenticity Guarantee service to include trading cards in a bid to combat the number of costly fakes that have grown in circulation.

As detailed in a press release, the company has stated that it will be expanding its Authenticity Guarantee starting with single ungraded cards.

While free, the service at launch will include any collectible card games, sports and non-sports that are sold as single ungraded cards for a fee of $750+ in the U.S. Looking ahead, however, the company says that it also has plans to include graded, auto and patch cards sold for $25+ - though this won't be available until mid-2022 at the earliest.

Ask and you shall receive! Authenticity Guarantee for Trading Cards is here and even more cards will be eligible soon. https://t.co/kSIuExaEBf

— eBay (@eBay) January 25, 2022

The move represents eBay's latest bid to reassure customers when purchasing higher-value items through the online marketplace and follows in the authentication footsteps of other products such as handbags ($500+), sneakers ($100+), and watches ($2000+) that are already covered by the guarantee.

eBay's decision to offer customers more assurance when purchasing and selling high-value cards through the marketplace is to little surprise. The company noted in its press release that its trading card category is growing "significantly faster" than the total marketplace. According to eBay, trading card sales in the first half of 2021 reached a peak of $2 billion in transactions - a figure equal to the total value of transactions made across the entirety of 2020.

To date, the company says that over 4 million cards purchased on and off the marketplace have been added to its customer collections tool, which allows collectors to upload their cards to a portfolio and monitor the real-time market valuation of any cards that they own.

For anyone looking to get into the trading game, the company also revealed the categories of trading cards that saw the most growth during the first half of 2021, which included tennis (growing by 1,797%), soccer (at 852%), Pokémon (536%), Marvel (437%) and golf (436%).

For more from the world of trading cards, make sure to check out this article detailing how Logan Paul recently denied faking his reaction to the $3.5 million Pokémon scam that he found himself at the heart of. And, if you finish that then try this article explaining how you might be able to tell if your (real) cards are worth any money.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Elden Ring is set to release for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC on February 25, 2022 (see it at Amazon). Anyone who buys the PS4 or Xbox One version will get a free next-gen upgrade as well, which is always nice to see. Elden Ring is the next game from the makers of tough-but-satisfying action RPGs like Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. You can check out our Elden Ring hands-on preview for full details about the gameplay.

The game comes in a standard edition as well as a cool-looking collector's edition, and it's available for preorder now. Read on to see what comes in each edition and where you can lock in your Elden Ring preorder.

Preorder Elden Ring

PS5

• Get it at Amazon - $59.99
• Get it at Best Buy - $59.99
• Get it at GameStop - $59.99
• Get it at Walmart - $59.99

PS4 (includes free PS5 upgrade)

• See it at Amazon - $59.99
• See it at Best Buy - $59.99
• See it at GameStop - $59.99
• See it at Walmart - $59.99
• See it at Amazon UK - £49.99

Xbox One / Series X

• See it at Amazon - $59.99
• See it at Best Buy - $59.99
• See it at GameStop - $59.99
• See it at Walmart - $59.99
• See it at Amazon UK - £49.99

Here's where you can preorder the standard edition of Elden Ring.

Preorder Elden Ring in the UK

Elden Ring Digital Deluxe Edition

• Get it for Xbox - $79.99
• Get it for PlayStation - $79.99

The digital deluxe edition of Elden Ring comes with a digital artbook and digital soundtrack.

Elden Ring Collector's Edition - SOLD OUT

PS5

• Get it at Amazon - $189.99
• Get it at Best Buy - $189.99
• Get it at GameStop - $189.99
• Get it at Target - $189.99
• Get it at Amazon UK - £179.99

PS4

• Get it at Amazon - $189.99
• Get it at Best Buy - $189.99
• Get it at GameStop - $189.99
• Get it at Target - $189.99
• Get it at Amazon UK - £179.99

Xbox Series X|S / Xbox One

• Get it at Amazon - $189.99
• Get it at Best Buy - $189.99
• Get it at GameStop - $189.99
• Get it at Target - $189.99
• Get it at Amazon UK - £179.99

Preorder the collector's edition of Elden Ring, and you'll receive the game itself along with the following items:

• Statue of Malenia - Blade of Miquella (9 inches)
• Exclusive steelbook
• 40-page hardcover artbook
• Digital soundtrack

Elden Ring Preorder Bonus

Preorder Elden Ring, and you'll receive a digital adventure guide, as well as a "bonus gesture." Additionally, Best Buy offers the following preorder bonus.

• Best Buy preorder bonus - Free steelbook case
• GameStop preorder bonus - Free steed whistle replica

Elden Ring Has a Free Next-Gen Upgrade

Anyone who buys Elden Ring for PS4 will be able to upgrade to the PS5 version for free. The same goes for Xbox: buy it for Xbox One, and you'll get a free upgrade to the Xbox Series X or Series S version. That's something of a relief, as many games don't offer a free upgrade path, and many PS5/Series X|S games cost $69.99 instead of $59.99.

What is Elden Ring?

Elden Ring is an action-RPG that represents a confluence of fandoms. On one hand, you have From Software's Hidetaka Miyazaki, the creator of the exceptional, brooding games mentioned above. On the other, you have George R.R. Martin, the mind that brought you Game of Thrones, helping build out the story.

As for the game itself, it's an action RPG that doesn't look like it will stray far from the gameplay popularized in the Dark Souls franchise. You can expect super-precise combat controls and towering bosses to take down. These games are certainly challenging, but if you keep trying, you'll likely learn the enemies' moves and improve your skills enough to succeed.

As for the story? From Software's games have never been very forthcoming with their stories, even within the games themselves. Bandai Namco released an Elden Ring plot summary, but it doesn't help all that much, either. As far as I can tell, a bunch of demigods each have a piece of the powerful Elden Ring. Your job is to relieve them of these pieces in order to put the ring back together.

Other Preorder Guides

Chris Reed is IGN's shopping and commerce editor. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.

Kao the Kangaroo, the mascot platformer first seen two decades ago on the Sega Dreamcast and Game Boy Advance, is returning for a reboot on all major platforms (PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X) this summer. Watch the announcement trailer above and click through a half-dozen new screenshots in the gallery below.

Punchy kangaroo Kao will again navigate colorful worlds clad in boxing gloves that can be imbued with various abilities. Coin-collecting is a must, of course, and the developers at Tate Multimedia also promise challenging combat along with "unique boss battles." Naturally, it's a family-friendly game that Tate says will have an engaging story.

Check out IGN's review of the Sega Dreamcast version of Kao the Kangaroo from 2001, and our review of the GBA version from 2002.

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.

The PlayStation 5 will finally allow players to have their latest screenshots and video automatically uploaded straight to mobile.

As spotted by the Twitter account Gaming Interactive Photos (and reported by VGC), fans will now be able to have their captures automatically uploaded straight to their PlasyStation mobile app. As can be seen in the tweet below, video clips sent to devices will be limited to three minutes or less while captures more generally will have an expiration period of fourteen days.

This a thing now omg! #PS5Share #ps5 #Playstation #PsShare pic.twitter.com/QOX1J7bLhE

— Gaming-Interactive-Photos (@GamingIntPhoto1) January 25, 2022

Regardless of the limitations, this still marks a step forward for Sony fans. Up until this point, players hoping to view their latest clips on mobile would either need to invest in additional equipment or upload them to social media from their consoles and then download them from there.

As per VGC, in order to check whether or not your console has already gained the feature, you'll need to head over to the Media Gallery on your console, where you should see the above pop-up appear if it's available. The feature has been in beta testing in some regions already, but appears to be rolling out worldwide now.

From the Media Gallery options, you can choose whether or not you would like the console to automatically upload your most recent screen captures to mobile, or whether you'd prefer to keep them solely on your PlayStation 5 system.

In other recent PlayStation 5 news, Sony recently launched the consoles Wrap-Up tool for 2021, which allows fans to look back at their past year with PlayStation. Similar to other Wrap-Up services, the experience allows players to look back at their own personalised data from across the last twelve months, including insights into their most played games and latest trophies as well as data on how the PlayStation community as a whole got on.

For more about the PlayStation 5's latest updates, make sure to check out this article from September detailing more about the console's latest major firmware update.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Crysis 4 is on its way, with developer Crytek putting out a teaser trailer following a leak on Chinese social media.

Announced under the simple headline of 'A Crytek Announcement', the teaser shows a number of images, from an unstable sun to a collapsing building, before ending with a large number 4 and the tagline "Join the journey. become the hero."

No official title, release date, platforms, or game details have been announced at time of writing.

It's time to join the journey and be the hero.

A Crytek Announcement. pic.twitter.com/Ohbux0w0s5

— Crytek (@Crytek) January 26, 2022

A leak from earlier today confirms that the 4 refers to a fourth Crysis game. As reported by Eurogamer, Crytek's BiliBili account posted a message that translates to "The 'Crysis 4' project is confirmed, opening a new nano battlefield!"

Crysis is a first-person shooter series that's as synonymous with high-tech visuals as it is beloved gameplay. Pitting players against alien invasions, deadly ciruses and mercenary forces, the games offered first-person combat with added nanosuit powers.

It's been 9 years since Crysis 3, but we've recently seen the entire trilogy remastered, leading many to speculate that a sequel could be on the way.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

A new Knights of the Old Republic patch for Nintendo Switch has fixed the game's giant and rather obnoxious text boxes.

Per a press release, the game's latest Nintendo Switch update will fix a number of issues - including its oversized combat message boxes that have frustrated fans since the game's launch last year.

For those unaware of the issue, it would present problems for fans during turn-based combat sequences in the classic action-RPG. When in fights, players would see almost a quarter of their screen filled with a massive text box, which was mostly blank space.

KOTOR developer Aspyr noted on Twitter last month that it was set to fix the issue during an upcoming patch.

While that might be the most notable change from the game's most recent patch, Aspyr has also made a number of other tweaks to the game, including fixing issues with absent NPC voice lines, an error causing incorrect button icons to appear during tutorial prompts, and a bug causing the colours for the game's full alignment icons to be swapped.

In addition to fixing a number of problems with KOTOR, fans playing on the Nintendo Switch should also note that a number of cheats have now been added to the game. In order to access the cheats you'll need to click the left stick three times, at which point, you'll have access to a range of power-ups such as turbo speed, the ability to create items, and give your character additional experience.

In other recent Star Wars news, EA recently announced that it is in the process of making three new Star Wars games, all of which are being overseen in one form or another by developer Respawn Entertainment. Across the three games, fans should expect to see a sequel to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, a brand new Star Wars first-person shooter, and a strategy game.

To read more about Knights of the Old Republic, make sure to check out our dedicated IGN page for the game, which is filled with the latest news, trailers, and features from the title.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

This is one of the best deals of the year so far. LG C1 OLED TVs are on sale right now (see here), and you can get an extra 10% off with code LG10 during the sale. This is the perfect TV for PS5 and Xbox Series X, working at 4K 120Hz, with an HDMI 2.1 port available to use. I recommend the C1 55", now down to just £1079.98, a massive reduction from the £1299 list price, and an even better discount compared to the Black Friday sales.

Just enter LG10 at checkout, and you'll bring the TVs down to the lowest price they've ever been online. The sale at LG is on for just one week, and will expire after February 1, 2022. This is a very limited time frame, so make sure you get your order in as soon as possible.

TL;DR - Our Favourite Deals Right Now

AD: The Perfect PS5 Ready LG 4K TV is On Sale

We ranked the LG C1 OLED TV as our best TV for gaming, and that still holds up right now. The 48" has dropped to just £900, an incredible new low price for the top of the line TV. But, if you're looking to go a little bigger both the 55" and 65" have also seen significant discounts.

Get £20 Off Horizon Forbidden West PS5 Preorders

Preorder Horizon Forbidden West for PS4 at Currys using code ALOY15, and get it for just £51. You will be able to upgrade the game to PS5 for free on release day.

Switch Deals and Pokemon Legends Limited Edition Arceus Preorders

Absolute Best PS5 SSDs on Sale in the UK

Additional Heatsinks

50% Off ExpressVPN Right Now

Get an Xbox Series S for £234 with MYJL15 (was £249)

MyJohnLewis members can currently get an Xbox Series S for just £234 with code MYJL15 online. This brings the console down by £15, and is basically available to everyone considering MYJL is free to sign up to.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

Much anticipated action-RPG Black Myth: Wukong has released a 13-minute new trailer – but don't expect much in the way of new information, as it's a short comedy film featuring some silly gameplay and a lot of cats in a motion capture studio.

Released to celebrate Chinese New Year, and the start of the Year of the Tiger, developer Game Science has released 'An Alternate Reality of Game Science', in which we see developers discussing the difficulties of using cats for motion capture, and then revealing an extremely broken boss battle based on that work. Eventually, we see the Game Science office shut down and then reopened as a restaurant.

The joke seems to be that Game Science actually did try using motion capture for cats at one point. In real-life, they moved onto other ideas but in this alternate reality, this is what would have happened if they'd stuck with the idea to the bitter end.

Given that last year's Chinese New Year video showed off legitimate new footage, some may be disappointed by this more lighthearted approach, but the video ends with a short poem to appease fans:

"You came in hoping to see the game. We are working hard on the same.

Alas, a bit more patience, if you will. Well worth the wait, is the thrill."

The second half of the trailer (from around 7:25) does include footage that could well be from the game's Unreal Engine 5 upgrade, but the section features a tiger boss character that repeatedly teleports around the map, wields an unnaturally floating katana, and whose animations glitch out. The cutscene before that sequence looks a lot more legitimate, so we may well be seeing a tease of something from the final game, but Game Science definitely isn't saying so for sure.

Thankfully, the real Black Myth: Wukong is looking a lot more impressive – we've seen lots of gameplay, broken down new details, and spoken to the debut developer making this incredibly popular breakout project.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

We can't stop thinking about last week's landmark Xbox acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, so on this week's podcast, we're talking about A) Who Microsoft might strategically target for acquisition next, and B) our dream Xbox-Bethesda-Activision-Blizzard project collaborations and IP revivals. Plus: Respawn announces THREE new Star Wars games, and more!

Subscribe on any of your favorite podcast feeds, to our new YouTube channel, or grab an MP3 download of this week's episode. For more awesome content, check out our latest IGN Unfiltered interview, where Joseph Staten – one of Halo's original creators and now the head of creative on Halo Infinite – discusses his fascinating career:

Oh, and you can be featured on Unlocked by tweeting us a video Loot Box question! Tweet your question and tag Ryan at @DMC_Ryan!

For more next-gen coverage, make sure to check out our Xbox Series X review, our Xbox Series S review, and our PS5 review.

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.

Final Fantasy 14’s Patch 6.08 is now live. Along with a bevy of balance updates for a lot of classes, the Oceania data servers are finally up-and-running.

The 6.08 patch tackles two big points among the community, class balances and server congestion. The latter is tackled by the opening of a brand new Data Center in Oceania that will first help players of the region, and redistribute the players to servers closer to home.

Oceania Data Center - Materia

Initially, Final Fantasy 14 had three Data Centers, one in Japan, North America, and Europe. This meant that players in Australia, New Zealand, and other regions across the Pacific, were forced to play on a far-off data center which can impact latency.

For a long time, players in this region played on the closer Japanese servers, but with the launch of a new Oceania Data Center, they can now play on local servers which should eliminate lag.

Players who transfer to the Oceania Data Center will be rewarded with exp boosts and currency bonuses, though players in Oceania looking for a better playing experience are no doubt making plans to move as we speak.

This should also redistribute players from other servers and have some improvement on server traffic, which has been hit by waiting queues since the launch of Endwalker.

Class Buffs Across the Board

With the congestion issue handled by the launch of a new server, Patch 6.08 also tackles in-game content, primarily class balances.

Rather than nerfing a particular class, this patch has buffed most classes, some more than others. Paladins in particular will see several attack improvements throughout their kit.

Here are the class changes below.

Paladin

• Spirits Within: Potency has been increased from 250 to 270
• Expiacion: Potency has been increased from 300 to 340
• Blade of Faith: Potency has been increased from 350 to 420
• Blade of Truth: Potency has been increased from 350 to 500
• Blade of Valor: Potency has been increased from 420 to 580

Marauder/Warrior

• Tomahawk: Potency has been increased from 100 to 150

Monk

• Phantom Rush: Potency has been increased from 1,000 to 1,150

Dragoon

• Dragon Sight: Range has been extended from 12y to 30y. Target party member is no longer required to remain within 12y in order to receive the effects of the left eye. The channeling animation between the dragoon and their target has been removed.
• Raiden Thrust: Potency has been increased from 260 to 280
• Stardiver: Potency has been increased from 500 to 620
• Heavens’ Thrust: Combo potency has been increased from 430 to 480
• Chaotic Spring: Combo potency has been increased from 240 to 260. Rear combo potency has been increased from 280 to 300

Rogue/Ninja

• Spinning Edge: Potency has been increased from 200 to 210
• Gust Slash: Potency has been increased from 140 to 160. Combo potency has been increased from 300 to 320
• Aeolian Edge: Potency has been increased from 120 to 140. Rear attack potency has been increased from 180 to 200. Combo potency has been increased from 340 to 360. Rear combo potency has been increased from 400 to 420
• Armor Crush: Potency has been increased from 120 to 140. Flank attack potency has been increased from 180 to 200. Combo potency has been increased from 320 to 340. Flank combo potency has been increased from 380 to 400
• Hyosho Ranryu: Potency has been increased from 1,200 to 1,300

Samurai

• Hakaze: Potency has been increased from 150 to 180
• Jinpu: Combo potency has been increased from 250 to 280
• Shifu: Combo potency has been increased from 250 to 280
• Ogi Namikiri: Potency has been increased from 800 to 900
• Kaeshi: Namikri: Potency has been increased from 1200 to 1350

Machinist

• Drill: Potency has been increased from 550 to 570
• Air Anchor: Potency has been increased from 550 to 570
• Chain Saw: Potency has been increased from 550 to 570

Dancer

• Cascade: Potency has been increased from 180 to 220
• Fountain: Combo potency has been increased from 240 to 280
• Reverse Cascade: Potency has been increased from 240 to 280
• Fountainfall: Potency has been increased from 300 to 340
• Technical Finish: 4 Steps potency has been increased from 1,080 to 1,200

Thaumaturge/Black Mage

• Fire III: Potency has been increased from 240 to 260
• Blizzard III: Potency has been increased from 240 to 260
• Blizzard IV: Potency has been increased from 300 to 310
• Fire IV: Potency has been increased from 300 to 310
• Xenoglossy: Potency has been increased from 660 to 760

Summoner

• Astral Impulse: Potency has been increased from 430 to 440
• Ruby Rite: Potency has been increased from 430 to 450
• Fountain of Fire: Potency has been increased from 520 to 540

Read the full patch notes here.

Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker is the newest expansion in the decades-long MMO and concludes a major story arc that’s been in the works since the launch of A Realm Reborn. IGN reviewed Endwalker and praised it as one of the best Final Fantasy stories ever told.

With Final Fantasy 14’s popularity only growing after 10 years, Square Enix’s MMO was flooded with players by the time Endwalker was released, creating massive server congestion. It got to the point where the company had to pause sales of Final Fantasy 14 to help existing players. Digital sales have since resumed.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

Although Activision Blizzard is soon set to become an Xbox company, the future of Call of Duty isn’t exclusive just yet. According to a new report, the next few annual Call of Duty releases are still set to be released on PlayStation.

Bloomberg says that before Xbox announced its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the Call of Duty company had already committed to making the next few Call of Duty games available across all platforms, including PlayStation.

According to Jason Schreier, this includes Call of Duty 2022, Call of Duty 2023, and Warzone 2 also planned for 2023.

After these, however, the future of Call of Duty outside of Xbox and Windows platforms is less clear. Xbox boss Phil Spencer tweeted last week that in a call with Sony executives he intends to “honor all existing agreements” between Activision and Sony.

When Xbox acquired ZeniMax Media, the company also reaffirmed its commitments to existing agreements and released Arkane’s Deathloop and Tango Gameworks’ upcoming Ghostwire: Tokyo as PlayStation 5 exclusives. But Bethesda’s Starfield will be an Xbox console exclusive.

Sources familiar with Activision’s deal say that, for the next two years at least, Xbox will honor its commitments to release annual Call of Duty games on PlayStation. But after that Microsoft will examine the future of the franchise.

This includes determining whether or not to maintain the annual release schedule Call of Duty has kept over the years. Activision leads have reportedly discussed spacing out new releases.

The effects of the Activision Xbox deal will ripple for the years to come, but based on how Microsoft handled acquiring Bethesda the signs point towards Xbox exclusivity, though experts are split on the matter. Meanwhile, Spencer is already looking at some retired Activision franchises that could be ripe for a revival.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.