Category: Gaming

After a tease yesterday from Hideo Kojima, we finally have a new Death Stranding 2 trailer featuring a host of story details. We also have a subtitle, On the Beach, and a release window: 2025.

As part of the first State of Play of 2024, Kojima Productions debuted a brand-new trailer for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. Norman Reedus appears in the trailer, where we get a glimpse at this armory as he gets a tour of a ship.

His character, Sam Bridges, is working for a civilian outfit called Drawbridge who has a “generous patron.” Sam is once again setting out to unite the world and bringing new areas into the network, and he’s carrying a strange little puppet who hangs at his side (and seems to move at a lower frame-rate than the rest of the game.

The trailer features numerous environments, suggesting that it will be considerably more ambitious than the previous game.

“You helped bring America together, helped it become the UCA, but I’m afraid the Death Stranding is far from over. Humanity is still on danger, still on the brink of extinction,” the narrator says.

As part of the gameplay, we also get a glimpse of Higgs as a robo-samurai character who looks like Sting and wields an arc welder-like electric guitar. Yep, it’s a Hideo Kojima game. We also get a hint of BB-28’s fate, and numerous other characters make a return as well.

Here’s the official description.

Embark on an inspiring mission of human connection beyond the UCA. Sam—with companions by his side—sets out on a new journey to save humanity from extinction. Join them as they traverse a world beset by otherworldly enemies, obstacles and a haunting question: should we have connected? Step by step, legendary game creator Hideo Kojima changes the world once again.

Before today’s trailer, with little information on Death Stranding 2, we only knew when the game was announced at the 2022 Game Awards. Kojima would later reveal that he had to rewrite the script for Death Stranding 2 because he “didn’t want to predict any more future.”

This week has been exciting for Death Stranding fans. Aside from today’s news about Death Stranding 2, yesterday, Kojima Productions released Death Stranding: Director’s Cut on Apple devices, including the iPhone 15 Pro. The developer also collaborated with Backbone to release a limited-edition Backbone One controller to coincide with the port’s release date.

Yet Death Stranding is expanding beyond just gaming. In December 2022, it was revealed that a film based on the first Death Stranding game was in the works. Last December, it was revealed that A24, in collaboration with Kojima Productions, is working to adapt the game for the big screens.

In addition to Death Stranding 2, Hideo Kojima and his studio are working on a new project known as OD. The announcement was made at the 2023 Game Awards and is a project in collaboration with Xbox Game Studios. The first trailer revealed that Jordan Peele and actress Hunter Schafer are involved in the project. He also announced a brand-new action espionage game that will begin development after Death Stranding 2.

Death Stranding 2 was part of PlayStation’s State of Play stream, which also included looks at Rise of the Ronin, Stellar Blade, and more. For more, check out our roundup of everything announced during today’s stream.

Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Out of nowhere, Inner Sloth released the first image from the highly anticipated Among Us animated Series, offering fans a familiar glimpse of the show.

The first image, as seen in the post on the official Among Us X/Twitter account, shows the cafeteria from Among Us’ original map, the Skeld. Pizza and plates spread across the tables, along with some balloons and a blood-covered banner that visibly shows the words “We’re Dead.”

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patient Crewmates are rewarded with a pizza party (totally safe) (not a trap) #AmongUsAnimated

work on the show is progressing!!! 💪 pic.twitter.com/1aF3qfr0mH

— Among Us (@AmongUsGame) January 31, 2024

The Among Us animated series was first announced last June, and it was reported that the developer was involved in the project, with Regular Show writer and storyboard artist Owen Dennis spearheading the project. Titmouse, the studio behind animated series such as Big Mouth and Star Trek: Lower Decks, is tasked with animating the series.

While we have yet to learn much about the show’s premise, if it’s anything like the games, it will be a suspenseful series with social deception and comedy playing big roles in the story.

Among Us was first released in 2018 but blew up in popularity in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the unexpected rise in its favor, Inner Sloth canceled the sequel and focused on post-launch support for the original game. Following the sequel’s cancellation, Inner Sloth released new features, such as Hide ‘n Seek mode, and new maps, including the Airship. Among Us has also been ported into VR headsets, including the Meta Quest.

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Remedy Entertainment has released update 1.15 for Alan Wake 2 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC, adding a highly requested option to turn down the game’s spookiness.

Revealed in a blog post, the patch notes also point to myriad bug fixes alongside the addition of a chapter select option in the main menu, letting players hoover up those final collectibles with more ease.

Remedy is quick to point out “the update also includes the much-requested option to tune down the horror flashes”, with players able to choose between Low and Normal horror flash visual and audio intensity.

As for chapter select, players can choose to replay any mission in the game, loading into a pre-made save regardless of their own progress.

“This will also make life a bit easier (and we know we’ve made it a bit complicated with some collectibles having to be picked up in a single run) for Trophy and Achievement hunters to get those missing items or collectibles,” Remedy said. The full patch notes are available below.

In our 9/10 review of the game, IGN said: “Alan Wake 2 is a superb survival horror sequel that makes the cult-classic original seem like little more than a rough first draft by comparison.”

Alan Wake 2 Update 1.15 Patch Notes

New Feature: Chapter Select

• You can now choose to play any mission in the game that you have previously unlocked.
• Using this feature loads a pre-made save game regardless of your own progression.
• This means that item progression and inventory will be pre-determined depending on the mission.
• You will keep your previous manual saves.
• Remember to keep at least one manual save with your previous progression if you wish to retain it.

New features

• Added Chapter Select menu.
• Added option to choose between Low and Normal horror flash visual and audio intensity.

Gameplay and missions

• Fixed an issue in The Final Chapter (New Game Plus) where if the player already had Saga’s crossbow in their inventory, they could not complete/open all required Cult Stashes and thus couldn’t get the Lighthouse Key from the final Cult Stash.
• Fixed an issue where the player could get stuck if they opened the notification about having finished watching the final Koskela brothers’ advert:
  • During RE09 Deerfest when you go to the Oh Deer Diner, the last Koskela commercial is shown and you are given a prompt that you can see it in the Mind Place, but if you press the touchpad as instructed to view it in the Mind Place, nothing happens, and your controls are frozen. The issue remains until you reload the last save.
• Fixed an issue where the player was not able to collect all the clues around Nightingale’s body.
• The objects required for the Overlap ritual in RE03 Local Girl can now only be picked up after the player finds their respective clues.
• The 10th Echo Scene after meeting Casey in the alley now unlocks properly.
• Players now receive the Coffee World Mug Charm in the The Final Chapter (New Game+) instead of a duplicate Hammer Charm.
• Fixed the camera perspective on opened Cult stashes, so the note on the lid is now legible.
• Additional fix for the Cynthia profiling not being available if the player exits the diorama too quickly in the Nursing Home.
• Resolved an issue in RE05 Old Gods where players could pick up the fuse in the basement from a locked container without solving the attached combination lock puzzle.
• Propane tanks will no longer reappear after reloading the game in Watery. Less explosions, less fun, but a smoother game.
• Gave Saga a chance to gain more resources in the RE10 Come Home mission in the subway station.
• Added missing descriptions for some case files in the Case Cabinet in Saga’s Mind Place.
• Fixed a multitude of issues with Meta Case clues.
• Added descriptions for cases that are in progress to the Case Cabinet files.
• Igniting a flare while hiding in Safe Haven will now be seen as a hostile player action and collapse the Safe Haven if enemies are nearby.
• Fixed an issue with the player camera occasionally “micro jittering” when rotating the camera in Prologue.
• Removing the fun. It’s the beginning of the year. Explosions will no longer deal damage through doors.
• Prevent players from accidentally boosting the flashlight and wasting batteries when picking it up.
• FBI Service pistol and Revolver now deal enough damage to make cultists’ masks fly off with one, carefully aimed shot. F*ck yeah!
• Curtain Call. Not the best album. Fixed curtains being incorrectly closed in the Theater Hall in some instances.
• Fixed an issue where the crossbow with double-barrel upgrade was not being holstered properly.
• Saga’s phone conversations can’t be interrupted by switching the Flashlight on and off anymore.
• The item pickup indicator has been re-tuned, so the indicator should be more easily visible now.
• The player can no longer run off the ledge behind the Monitoring Station in Cauldron Lake.
• Fixed an issue where Fadeouts in the Poet’s Cinema Theater would sit in the air or inside of the theater seats. That was too spooky.
• Fixed a, well, uh, issue with a rogue boot moving along the Cynthia boss fight arena.
• Fixed an issue in IN05 Room 665 where items from a Tim Breaker’s stash could be picked up through the wall in Room 101.
• Fixed an issue where the wolves would get killed instantly by approaching the cliff at the Radio Tower in Watery.
• Fixed an issue where the player could get stuck in Norman’s room in the Bright Falls Nursing Home.
• Fixed an issue where the doors at the Bright Falls Wellness Center kept opening at the wrong time. It’s not spooky season yet.

UI

• [PC] Added preview images for most tweakable settings in the graphics menu.
• Add per-chapter counts for found Manuscripts in the Mind Place.
• Fixed UI layout issues with localized content in the Case Board, computers, and inspectable items.
• Fixed month names so they display correctly on save game UI.
• Fixed the Options menu scroll position not to resetting when quitting the Options menu with the start button on controller.

Audio and haptics

• Re-tuned haptics on the “key events” such as weapon firing and reloading, using the Light Shift mechanic, burning off Source Points and using the flashlight.
• Added audio to the ancient computers in the Bright Falls Sheriff Station.
• Added audio for impacts when the Espresso Express hits the player. Don’t try it please. Coffee World is in enough trouble as it is.
• Cassette eject sound added to Mr. Drippy.
• Added TV static audio to the Nursing Home TV Safe Haven location.
• Fixed an issue where the TV tape selection in the Writer’s Room was not triggering any sound effects.
• Fixed an issue in RE08 Summoning where a Tank enemy weapon played the wrong weapon audio.
• Multiple fixes for the Nursery Rhymes audio.
• Improved the audio quality for crouching footsteps.
• Improved the audio performance during the RE08 Summoning mission across all platforms.

Visuals

• General visual polish.
• Fixed an issue where an enemy became partially invisible when seriously wounded.
• Fixed the vegetation not always reacting to explosions in a cool way.
• The wind has picked up in Coffee World.
• Made the basement of the Valhalla Nursing Home more atmospheric, with a lot of added dust.
• Turned off Safe Haven indicator during the Scratch fight in the parking lot.
• Improved waterproofing of the Elderwood Lodge. It should not rain indoors anymore.
• Fixed the Hunting Knife being scaled up when Alan picked it up.
• Fixed missing lighting on some narrative items.
• Improved the quality of shadows in various off the beaten path locations in the forest.
• Fixed lighting pop-in in some locations.
• Fixed some abrupt color grading changes in Watery.
• Reduced shimmering around windows inside Suomi Hall in Watery.
• Reduced shimmering inside the Elderwood Lodge in Bright Falls.
• Lighting improvements in off the beaten path areas in Watery.
• Fixed Alan’s wild shirt glitching in some cinematic sequences where Alan is sitting down.
• Improved animations for Saga’s scare reactions while running.
• Fixed some animations restarting when toggling the flashlight.
• Fixed the player character so they use arms as expected while running just after picking up items.

General

• The SDR brightness setting now affects UI and 2D videos correctly.
• Fixed maximum display luminance being outdated in Brightness calibration menu.
• [PC] You can now tweak the FOV (Field of view) in the UI.
• [PC] Improved DLSS Frame Generation stability for Alt-Tab.
• [PC] Resolution is clamped correctly to the maximum supported resolution.
• [PC] Made the warning message about there not being enough physical memory and allow the game still to start a lot more serious.
• [PC] Mouse button icons now correctly reflect the Windows primary button setting in the UI [PC].
• [Xbox Series] Fixed a threading issue that could lead to rare crashes.
• Subtitle fixes.

Performance (aka the Northlight flex section)

• [PlayStation 5] Fixed the random stuttering during perfect dodge slow-motion moves.
• [PC] Changing the graphics settings is now… snappier.
• [PC] Optimized shadow map rendering saving up to 0.3ms in the Dark Place.
• [Xbox Series] Optimized point and spotlight culling, shaving off 0.3ms in locations where lights are aplenty.
• [PlayStation 5] Optimized UI rendering when there are a lot of UI elements on screen, such as when the Inventory is visible, resulting in smoother performance.
• Optimized character controller code for improved CPU performance, saving up to 1ms – 2ms in locations with dense geometry.
• Lighting optimizations inside the Overlap in RE01 Invitation saving 1ms – 1.2ms for smoother performance.
• Lighting optimizations around the Valhalla Nursing Home during RE05 Old Gods saving 0.3ms – 0.4ms.
• The good kind of lighting and fog optimizations around Watery that didn’t result in downgrading the visuals.
• Slightly optimized texture memory usage. Slightly.

For years, skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) has been the hottest of topics within the Call of Duty community, with some proclaiming it ruins the experience, others saying quite the opposite. High-skilled Call of Duty players often bemoan SBMM for chucking them into what they call “sweaty” lobbies full of similarly high-skilled players. All the while, Activision has remained silent on how exactly Call of Duty’s SBMM actually works — until now.

In a blog post, which is “starting the conversation about matchmaking in Call of Duty”, Activision pulled back the curtain on SBMM for the first time, and gave players plenty to chew on.

According to Activision, Call of Duty does consider skill (or more specifically player performance) as a component of matchmaking, but skill is not the “dominant” variable. Top of the tree, Activision said, is connection. “Ping is King”, the blog post reads. “Connection is the most critical and heavily weighted factor in the matchmaking process.”

Second is time to match (“we all want to spend time playing the game rather than waiting for matches to start”), and joint third are playlist diversity, recent maps and modes, skill/performance, input device, platform, and whether you have voice chat on or off.

“These factors have resulted in a process that we believe provides the best player experience and creates a stronger community for Call of Duty worldwide,” Activision said.

There are some fascinating insights in here for veteran Call of Duty players. Activision says that for Modern Warfare 3’s Rustment playlist (maps Rust and Shipment in rotation), players often leave lobbies and/or matches early on, hoping to requeue into Shipment instead. This creates a vacant spot on a team during an early stage of the match, Activision explained. “As the matchmaking process may prioritize backfilling that spot, this could result in players perceiving that Rust is disproportionately selected over Shipment. TL;DR – trying to cherry-pick maps may have an unexpected result.

“Our goal is to ensure that players spend more time playing matches rather than waiting for them.”

Now, onto the detail everyone wanted. Skill is determined based on a player’s overall performance, Activision said. This includes kills, deaths, wins, losses, and more, as well as mode selection, and recent matches as an overall metric across all Multiplayer experiences. “This is a fluid measurement that’s consistently updating and reacting to your gameplay,” Activision explained. “Skill is not only a factor in matchmaking players against appropriate enemies, but also when finding teammates.”

Activision goes on to say skill in matchmaking means all players (regardless of skill level) are more likely to experience wins and losses more proportionately. “We use player performance to ensure that the disparity between the most skilled player in the lobby and the least skilled player in the lobby isn’t so vast that players feel their match is a waste of time.”

“Our data shows that when lower skill players are consistently on the losing end, they are likely to quit matches in progress or stop playing altogether,” Activision continued. “This has an effect on the player pool. A smaller player pool means wait times for matches increase and connections may not be as strong as they should be. This can compound over time to create a spiral effect. Eventually, when only high-skilled players remain because lower skilled players have quit out of frustration, the result is an ecosystem that is worse overall for everyone.

“Game data indicates that having some limitations on the disparity of skill across the players in a match makes for a healthier ecosystem. We also understand that many high skill players want more variety of experience, but often feel like they only get the ‘sweatiest’ of lobbies. We have heard this feedback clearly and will continue to test and actively explore ways to mitigate this concern.”

Activision then answered some community questions, busting the odd myth along the way. Time played is not a factor in matchmaking, for example. Matchmaking does not impact gameplay, such as hit registration, player visibility, aim assist, or damage. Money spent on microtransactions such as bundles and battle passes “does not in any way, shape or form, factor into matchmaking”. Partners and content creators don’t get special consideration in general matchmaking, either.

Activision then ruled out adding an opt-in/opt-out system for the matchmaking algorithm, saying its data suggests splitting the player base in that way would make for potentially longer wait times based on the type of matchmaking selected and matches with poor connections.

And then the big one: have you ever tested removing skill as a consideration from matchmaking?

“We have run tests over the years to determine if removing skill as a consideration from matchmaking makes sense,” Activision said. “We will continue to launch these tests periodically. To date, the data remains consistent with what we detailed above – players tend to quit matches or stop playing if they’re getting blown out, resulting in a negative overall experience for all players in the lobby and the general player population. We purposefully do not disclose when these tests occur because it may impact feedback or the data we see during these tests.”

But will Activision consider removing skill from matchmaking in specific general multiplayer game modes?

“We have considered this in the past and we will continue to examine if this idea makes sense as part of an experimental playlist or in specific modes. We have nothing to announce on that front today.”

So, that’s that, you’d imagine. Clearly, Activision will not ditch SBMM for Call of Duty, no matter what the community thinks. But at least players now have an understanding of Activision’s thinking, whether they agree with it or not.

There’s more to come, too. Activision said its technology team is developing a Ping and Matchmaking white paper for those inclined to get into the more granular information about Call of Duty matchmaking.

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

Warner Bros. has gifted Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Deluxe Edition owners $20 of in-game currency as a make-good for server issues that rendered the always-online game unplayable for periods during launch.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League arrived on January 30, 2024 for those who paid $100 for the Deluxe Edition, granting customers a three days’ head start over everyone else.

But the early launch had issues, including a bizarre bug that automatically completed Suicide Squad for some and forced the game offline for more than six hours. Additional downtime prevented players from logging on before the servers stabilized, but not before disgruntled customers complained about not getting their money’s worth.

Now, Warner Bros. has sent affected customers an in-game message about the gift. “Thank you for being one of our first console players during early access of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League,” the message reads, per a post from X/Twitter user @JayShockblast. “We recognize that you’ve been patient with us during our initial launch server updates and we’d like to show our appreciation for your patience with a special gift of 2000 LuthorCoins. Thank you again!”

2000 LutherCoins cost $20, and will get you a couple of standard in-game skins or a single deluxe or legendary skin.

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Check your mailboxes in Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League. WB/Rocksteady just sent out 2000 vbucks for the server issues on launch day. About $20 value give or take. pic.twitter.com/JvmBLkvwAl

— JayShockblast 🔜PAX East (@JayShockblast) January 30, 2024

The furore over Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s launch issues have renewed calls for the promised offline mode to be added to the game as soon as possible. With Suicide Squad launching for standard edition owners on February 2, all eyes on are on the servers to see if they hold firm, or render the game unplayable once again.

This week, IGN reported that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League isn’t the late Kevin Conroy’s final Batman performance, as previously suspected. Conroy, of course, is beloved for his performance as Batman both in The Animated Series and Rocksteady’s Arkham series of video games. With that in mind, controversy arose in regards to one of his scenes in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. We won’t spoil the specific details (you can learn more here), but one scene had many fans feeling that it was an unceremonious goodbye to Conroy’s time as Batman.

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

Warning: The below story contains a potential spoiler for Persona 3 and Persona 3: Reload.

The Persona series has long had issues with gay and trans panic, but Persona 3: Reload at least removes the transphobia from one scene in particular.

The Persona 3 scene in question had the party trying to hit on women at the beach, with Akihiko, Junpei, and the protagonist approaching a character referred to as “Beautiful Lady.” After some back-and-forth, Akihiko points out a bit of facial hair on her chin, to which Beautiful Lady responds, “I-I missed a spot?!” Junpei then exclaims “she’s a he?!”

The dialogue is very slightly changed in Persona 3 Portable (the character is named “Pretty Lady” instead of “Beautiful Lady”), but still includes the same trans panic.

As first reported by Kotaku and verified by IGN, however, Persona 3: Reload changes the dialogue quite a bit. The end result is the same – the party running away from the woman – but instead of it being due to her being trans, it’s because she’s actually a conspiracy theorist trying to sell them sunscreen.

In the new scene, the conversation starts to go awry after “Pretty Lady” tells them, “You know that sun in the sky isn’t real, right? That’s an artificial sun that got sent into space back into the 1980s.”

Her character name then changes to “Delusional Lady” as she tells them that “normal sunscreen doesn’t” work” against that fake sun, and tries to sell them “special” sunscreen for 300,000 yen. The gang figures out this character is a little off, and scurry. The scene’s still a little odd, but the transphobic aspect, at least, is gone in this new version.

This isn’t the first time Altus has made a change based on homophobic or transphobic content in the Persona series. In 2020, Altus changed certain scenes in Persona 5 that were considered offensive and homophobic by fans for the Western release of Persona 5 Royal.

For more on Persona 3: Reload, check out our review, where Michael Higham gave the remake a 9/10. With a stellar visual overhaul and countless small but impactful changes, Persona 3 Reload tells a timeless story of tragedy and hope with sharp emotional sincerity,” Higham wrote.

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Destiny 2 director Joe Blackburn is stepping down following the release of The Final Shape, the upcoming expansion slated to release in June. Blackburn, who among other things has served as Destiny’s Lead Raid Designer, says the time has come to “pass the torch” as he heads “on a new adventure outside the walls of Bungie.”

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As we hit End-to-End next month, Tyson Green will take the reins as D2 Game Director. If you’ve followed Bungie for any length of time, you’ve heard his name. From Halo PvP to the creation of Exotic weapons in D1, Tyson has been a critical part of Bungie’s legacy since Myth II.

— Joe Blackburn (@joegoroth) January 31, 2024

“As a deeply invested Guardian before starting here at Bungie, getting to be a part of the Destiny 2 team has been the privilege of a lifetime,” Blackburn said. “I am and will forever remain a lifelong Bungie fan and believer in what the teams within its walls are capable of.”

Blackburn will be replaced by Tyson Green, a Halo player-versus-player veteran who helped create Exotic weapons in the original Destiny and has been a “critical part of Bungie’s legacy since Myth II.”

Blackburn’s departure comes at a difficult moment for both Bungie and Destiny. Back in October, Bungie was hit hard by a major round of layoffs, leading to an atmosphere that employees described as “soul crushing.” Destiny 2 has similarly struggled with a declining playerbase and various community controversies. The Final Shape, which was supposed to release on February 27, was delayed to the summer.

Despite all that, Blackburn seemed to enjoy a generally positive reputation among fans. He has been game director since at least 2021, having taken on the role after returning to Bungie following a brief stint with Riot Games. The announcement of his departure was greeted with heartfelt goodbyes on platforms like Twitter as fans thanked him for his hard work on the series.

Blackburn, meanwhile, didn’t reveal his next destination, but did say that he plans to take a “big break” from social media. “I’ve still got some time before I pass the torch, but as I look forward to taking a big break from social media, I know I’ll see yall around the Tower. It is going to be great to play Destiny alongside all of you.”

As for The Final Shape, it’ll be out June 4.

Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Though wild speculation around metaverses has calmed somewhat in the last year, the idea is far from dead, with a number of companies still hard at work trying to find ways to integrate all their properties into one massive, interconnected space. The latest to discuss these ideas is Electronic Arts, with CEO Andrew Wilson responding to a question during today’s earnings call about a potential EA Sports metaverse with what sounds a heck of a lot like a concrete plan to make one in the near future.

During the Q&A portion, Wilson was asked if he had ever thought about “taking all of your siloed sport communities and thinking about a way to bring them all together” to “just sort of create, for lack of a better word, a metaverse?”

To this, Wilson gave a lengthy response outlining a whole lot of reasons why a publisher like EA might consider doing exactly that. He began by reiterating the enormity of the EA player community: over 700 million players, about half of which interact with the sports catalog in some way. EA Sports itself is, per Wilson, “one of the most recognizable and recognized sports brands.” And the upcoming generations Z and Alpha, he continued, often use EA Sports as an entry point to a love of sports in general.

“What we know to be true right now is our players spend on average about 90 minutes a session inside one of our games. They then leave that game experience where they’ve been deeply connected with their core friend unit, then they go and talk about that experience on another platform, then they go and create content about that experience on yet another platform, then finally they go and watch that content on another platform. We do believe we have a meaningful opportunity over the coming years to harness the power of that community both inside and outside of our games, which is really the third pillar of our core strategy, and will be led by our EA Sports brand.”

Wilson then reiterated that while he had nothing to announce today, EA sees “an incredible opportunity” in all these interconnected relationships between EA Sports’ popularity, how players behave within it and outside of it, and how it can interact with other experiences. “So best I can say is: watch this space,” he concluded.

While speculation on the metaverse has cooled in the last year, Wilson’s strategy seems far more tactical and focused than some of the more grandiose metaverse propostions floated by companies like Epic and Meta in the past. And his remarks are unshocking in light of the company’s continued EA Sports success. In today’s earnings report, EA reported net bookings of $2.37 billion and net revenue of $1.945 billion for the quarter ending on December 31, 2023, largely driven by EA Sports FC outperforming expectations with 7% year-over-year growth. Madden also remains a moneymaker, bringing in 5% year-over-year net bookings growth. And that doesn’t even get into its other properties: NHL, UFC, F1, PGA Tour, WRC, and the long-awaited EA Sports College Football. With its live services now consisting of 73% of EA’s business, it’s no surprise that EA would want to find ways to capitalize on that power, especially now that it’s proven it doesn’t need the FIFA name attached to succeed.

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

Yesterday, IGN reported that Spec Ops: The Line had been delisted from Steam. Today, we updated that story with reporting that the game had also disappeared from other digital storefronts, including Fanatical, Gamesplanet, and Nuuvem. And now, we have confirmation from 2K themselves: one of the most important video games of the Xbox 360 and PS3 generation is disappearing from online storefronts for good.

2K Games sent IGN the following statement confirming The Line’s delisting:

Spec Ops: The Line will no longer be available on online storefronts, as several partnership licenses related to the game are expiring.
Players who have purchased the game can still download and play the game uninterrupted. 2K would like to thank our community of players who have supported the game, and we look forward to bringing you more offerings from our label throughout this year and beyond.

While 2K hasn’t provided specifics as to what partnerships are expiring, Spec Ops: The Line contains several pieces of licensed music, including Jimmy Hendrix’s iconic rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. Expiring music licenses have been the reason for many delistings in the past, and that would seem to be a probable reason here.

The rare military shooter that critiqued the genre

The delisting is not only a huge blow to games preservation, which already faces enormous challenges, but a loss for the medium in general. Spec Ops: The Line was one of the most important and acclaimed games of the seventh console generation and one of the rare military shooters that dared to critique the genre it operated in.

In our review, we wrote, “Spec Ops is a daring experiment worth celebrating. For the first time, a
game with guns doesn’t want you to be the hero – it wants you to feel terrible about trying to be one.”

The Line helped to usher in a new, more critical era of video games based on modern conflict and produced several groundbreaking works of games criticism, including Brendan Keogh’s Killing is Harmless, one of the first book-length analyses of a single video game. There’s a reason people still talk about the white phosphorus scene. It’s a shame that soon, people will no longer be able to access it on digital storefronts.

As of the time of this writing, Spec Ops: The Line is still available on Good Old Games and Xbox, where it is backwards compatible. Anyone interested in purchasing it should probably do so before it disappears into the heart of an immense darkness… for good.

Will Borger is an IGN freelancer. You can find him on Twitter @bywillborger

Fulll spoilers for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League to follow!

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is now available for those with Early Access and there is one scene in particular with Batman that is making a lot of fans very upset.

This is your last spoiler warning!

The scene in question takes place after the first two Justice League members are taken down and our favorite band of villains have captured Batman. The Dark Knight, who is being mind controlled by Brainiac, starts attempting to break down each character before Harley steps in and tells him to, “get some new material, jerk off.”

After a back and forth between the two, Batman asks Harley if she is done with her “bad stand up routine.” In response, Harley says that you always “got to end on your best joke” before she shoots Batman in the head. I mean, this game is called Kill the Justice League, right?

Still, it’s a bit of an unceremonious end for the Arkham Batman, especially given that it’s likely the last one that features the voice of the late Kevin Conroy.

“I won’t share the footage or spoilers or anything, but having seen the final scene of Batman in Suicide Squad, that being the final performance that Kevin Conroy will ever give as Batman just makes me sad. Not angry or outraged or anything. Just sad,” ManyATrueNerd wrote.

“It blows my mind thinking how we could have got a Batman Beyond game for Kevin Conroy’s final performance from Rocksteady instead of Suicide Squad,” @BitCloudGaming wrote. “I’m not gonna jump on here and add to the fire but make no mistake this game is an unsatisfying ending to the iconic Arkham Series.”

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It Blows my mind thinking how we could have got a Batman Beyond game for Kevin Conroy’s final performance from Rocksteady instead of Suicide Squad I’m not gonna jump on here and add to the fire but make no mistake this game is an unsatisfying ending to the iconic Arkham Series pic.twitter.com/qtsDRo0U5h

— Bit Cloud Gaming (@BitCloudGaming) January 30, 2024

On the other side, @RGXSuperSonic notes that “Kevin Conroy’s passing was unexpected and happened mid-development” and that “we don’t know what may transpire in post-game content as the story will continue beyond base-game.” So, this very well may not be the end. As we’ve seen many times, an apparent death in comics is hardly the end of a character.

@Sensorite_kin also points out that this is, after all, the Suicide Squad. What did we expect would happen?

“I think ppl need to remember that the suicide squad are villains,” @Sensorite_kin wrote. “‘Batman’s death was mean spirited.’ yeah cuz Harley and deadshot have wanted Batman dead for f***** years. They’re villains. Wtf like come the f*** on.”

@SynthPotato didn’t so much mind that they killed Batman, but more how they did it. Oh, and they claim Gotham Knights did it much better.

“Gotham Knights did Batman’s death a hundred times better than Suicide Squad, Batman is not a character you just have his weakest villain shoot in the face and expect fans to be okay with it,” @SynthPotato wrote. “The issue isn’t ‘It’s called ‘Kill the Justice league’ ofc they kill him!’ It’s how they did it, This is ARKHAM Batman, the fact this random universe Batman that we had never seen before from Gotham Knights got this legendary scene and Arkham Batman didn’t is a travesty, Rocksteady despises their legacy.”

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Gotham Knights did Batman’s death a hundred times better than Suicide Squad, Batman is not a character you just have his weakest villain shoot in the face and expect fans to be okay with it.

The issue isn’t “It’s called “Kill the Justice league” ofc they kill him!” It’s how they… pic.twitter.com/HdFigoKTl2

— Synth Potato🥔 (@SynthPotato) January 30, 2024

While fans may be mad at Batman’s fate, @Romo5K does note that “he was treated with more respect than The Flash. He got pissed on.”

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I know Batman fans are mad at how he died in Suicide Squad :KTJL but at he was treated with more respect than The Flash he got pissed on 😭 pic.twitter.com/zoTZBZycLL

— RM (@Romo5k) January 30, 2024

IGN’s Destin Legarie also had thoughts on this choice, and he wonders why we have to kill Batman instead of play as him.

“Why the hell are we killing Batman in all these superhero games?” Legarie wrote. “Like seriously… what the f***? We want to play as Batman. I don’t care if it’s Gotham Knights or Suicide Squad, it’s dumb. Why are there these hero games where we play as the B team and piss on the heroes?”

With all this being said, @VaughnFry has some sage advice for those who can’t handle the death of The Dark Knight.

“It’s simple,” @VaughnFry wrote. “If you don’t play Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Arkham Batman lives.”

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It’s simple. If you don’t play Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Arkham Batman lives. pic.twitter.com/kNdcVoAtbj

— Vaughn Fry (@VaughnFry) January 29, 2024

For more, check out where our Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League review is and how the Batman Arkham series sets up this new game.

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.