The whole Early Access release model has a lot of pros and cons to consider, and some argue that the system is prone to abuse by developers and publishers for all sorts of reasons, but at least for Valheim developer Iron Gate, it was essential.

Talking to GamesIndustry, Iron Gate CEO Richard Svensson says Valheim wouldn't have been nearly as successful as it has been without Steam Early Access. "Even if we had an enormous budget and worked on the game in secret for five years up until the launch, we never would have been able to reach the amount of people that we have." says Svensson.

"Having the game out there and being able to work with the live community is really the only way that Valheim would have ever reached the success it has."

While Svensson sees Valheim's Early Access launch as crucial to the game's success, it was only ever released as an Early Access game because Svensson "couldn't afford to keep working on it" and Early Access appeared to be "the only reasonable solution at the time." Obviously, that gamble paid off massively as Valheim is now an undeniable juggernaut of the survival genre with 17 million copies sold as of its 1.0 launch in September 2026.

Still, Valheim was in Early Access for more than five years, which is quite a bit longer than the average 21 months most games take before their 1.0 updates (according to GameDiscoverCo data cited by GI). Svensson says that's because the scope of the project continues to increase every time a new update is released.

"We have also always tried to keep the team relatively small, but even so, the production scale now is gigantic compared to what it was at the time of the Early Access release," he says. "Back then, when we made a new biome, it was basically the same thing with a new coat of paint, but today it's just so much more.

"It's not just about content anymore, and that's what made the development time longer than we first expected."

For my money, Iron Gate and Valheim are perfect examples of Early Access done right. Right from the start, the game was extremely polished and felt representative of the core gameplay loop that still compels me to play to this day – there's just a lot more of it, and with an even higher level of polish. I never felt like I was being duped and communication has always been on point, which can't be said for a lot of other Early Access games that needn't be mentioned here.

Tiny Swedish town flexes its survival game royalty by enshrining Valheim, Raft, and V Rising into its roads

Palworld developer Pocketpair may be in the midst of a legal battle with Nintendo and The Pokemon Company, but that's apparently not putting it off from the idea of bringing its hit survival game to Switch 2.

Pokemon and Nintendo filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair over two years ago now, but even last year, prior to the Switch 2's launch, Pocketpair communications lead and publishing manager John "Bucky" Buckley said that porting Palworld to the platform was "100% worth considering" as long as the console was "beefy enough" to handle it.

And now, speaking in a new interview with VGC, Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe says "of course" he still sees this idea as a real possibility. "First of all, I should say that we think the Switch 2 is a really amazing platform, not just for games globally, but especially here in Japan and for the Japanese games industry," he begins.

"It's been an incredible platform. If there's ever a future where we have the opportunity to discuss or consider bringing Palworld to the Switch platform in some way, then we'd love to have those conversations."

He's clearly not just saying that, either. After all, Pocketpair launched another of its games, the roguelike tower defense and card game title Overdungeon, on Switch at the start of last year, so the lawsuit isn't making it avoid Nintendo's platforms entirely.

Of course, the situation may be a tad more complicated when it comes to the idea of porting the very game at the center of the ongoing lawsuit, but Pocketpair and its boss at the very least aren't personally opposed, despite the circumstances. Perhaps when the lawsuit has been resolved – one way or another – we could finally see Palworld on the platform. After all, it's certainly "beefy" enough to support the likes of Cyberpunk 2077, the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, and Elden Ring.

Palworld Side By Side is update 1.1 in a fancy hat, Pocketpair dev clarifies, not a new game or a "massive update."

It's no secret that Final Fantasy 14 is scrapping its infamous two-minute meta and adopting an entirely new job system, Evolved, come Evercold this winter – but just how different will that system play, and how much more damage will it allow for?

As a hardcore raider myself, one thing about Evercold has been heavy on my mind since the expansion's reveal at Fan Fest this summer: the introduction of the Reborn and Evolved job systems, with the latter being entirely new to the MMO.

The reason it's been heavy on my mind is simple – Square Enix implied that the Evolved system, which rearranges our class skills into a simpler, neater format, hotbar-wise, will let us deal more damage.

Michael-Christopher Koji Fox, localization lead, lays out the differences between the Reborn system – which is essentially what we're playing with now – and Evolved in a new interview with content creators Sarah Jane, Kwisty, and Pezz on YouTube, though, and I'm slightly less concerned now... I think.

He describes a bit of what we already know (e.g. the fact that Evercold's debut jobs, the Bastion and mystery DPS, won't have a Reborn mode) first, assuring fans, "If you don't want to change, you don't have to."

The thing is, though, those of us who engage in Ultimates and other "hard" content might feel the need to if the Reborn mode – the original system – is capable of less damage… right?

Well, according to Fox, not exactly: "I don't think it's like, 'Okay, this Evolved mode is going to do 50% more damage.' I think it's going to be very negligible."
That's a relief – right? And, it all boils down to how different the Reborn and Evolved systems are.

"I think it's just because the modes are so different and some of the skill rotations are going to be so different that damage will be dealt in different ways," as Fox states. "That might end up affecting" damage throughout a fight, but it shouldn't matter in terms of ability to clear and all that.

"It's not going to be something that's going to be a deal breaker," as Square Enix wants "to keep it as small as possible." But it was "unavoidable" altogether, as the modes can't play the same way – unavoidable, but again, negligible.

I doubt that Fox's words are enough to satisfy most raiders, however, sadly, knowing how highly regarded parses are (and likely always will be). Should the Evolved version of one's abilities allow for even the slightest, ittiest-bittiest boost in damage, they'll probably opt to abandon the trusty ol' Reborn mode – ask me how I know.

I'm not sure what I'll choose myself just yet, as an Astrologian. I'll have to wait and see what the promised healer changes will look like before I do – keeping tanks alive, damage dealers buffed, and DOTs up is tricky enough as it is.

Final Fantasy 14 players get 1 free day of game time after Square Enix lifts the MMO's PHP lockdown

Weapon manuals in MW4 DMZ are some of the most important loot items you can find, as these are blueprints that effectively allow you to craft and buy new weapons from the gunsmith back in your base. Effectively, finding manuals for your guns means that you'll have an increasingly large pool of weapons to build and craft while at your base, but finding manuals isn't easy to do. If you want help, then here are the best Weapon Manual locations to farm.

Where to find Weapon Manuals in Modern Warfare 4 DMZ

While nowhere in MW4 DMZ is guaranteed to have a Weapon Manual (you're playing against the odds in a constant game of randomization) there are certain locations and containers that have a higher chance of dropping weapon manuals. For the best chance, you should examine the following when in DMZ:

• Military Containers. These include military style crates and lockers, basically anything associated with the army. As you might expect, you can find these more frequently in compound and military areas.
• Safes. These appear in all kinds of areas, though infrequently. Unlike other types of containers, they take longer to open, as your Operator has to hack them. Check the image above for an example of what safes in MW4 look like.
• Weapons lockers and armories. These rooms reliably require keys to open and are found all around the map. Keys are found randomly or as mission rewards. Read their description to find the locked room they open.
• Police Stations. Many have reported having good luck finding manuals in the MW4 DMZ Police Stations, of which there are 5 around the map. Check out our guide on where those are.
• Red and Yellow Zones. Though higher danger, these map areas also tend to have better loot as a result, especially if you can brave the nuclear reactor in the Northeast of the map.

Keep in mind that weapon manuals can be found anywhere, you just have a better chance of finding them in the locations marked above. I discovered one inside a discarded jacket on the train that circles the map!

Once you have a manual, you need to safely extract with it in your inventory. Once you're back in your base, it will automatically be converted to a weapon recipe (it only works for the player that's holding it, not everybody in your squad).

Once converted, you'll be able to buy that weapon from the Gunsmith permanently, though it will cost you money nonetheless, with that cost increasing depending on how many attachments and additional elements you choose to craft it with.

If you're on a crafting kick, make sure you know where to find the MW4 DMZ comms modules and MW4 DMZ power regulators!

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Around this time each year, I'm approached by friends and family to help give advice as to what gifts they should be grabbing for the Nintendo fans in their lives.

You'd think I'd be bored of it by now, but it's honestly nice to use my years of being a hardware reviewer and my lifetime as a Nintendo nerd to recommend gadgets I know would bring a smile to any Ninty-fans face, and this year the Turtle Beach Animal Crossing Switch 2 accessories are going to be the first thing I bring up.

Starting from $24.99 (via Amazon), the range consists of two cases and two matching controllers, and so naturally, you need to make sure your giftee has a Switch 2 and loves Animal Crossing first and foremost. If they do, they're bound to be as obsessed with these goodies as I am, and I'm here to give you the lowdown as to what makes these cute (and affordable) accessories worth spending your hard-earned bells on and popping under the tree this holiday.

KK Slider & Timmy and Tommy PlayTrek Switch 2 cases

There are two cases available in this range: a KK Slider design and a Timmy and Tommy design.

If your loved one prefers the cute and cozy look, the KK Slider PlayTrek Case is definitely my go-to pick. It actually happens to be my favorite piece from this entire set, and it's not only draped in a cute blue and purple design that blends in well with my pink gaming room (and will with any other cute-decorated setups), but the design glows in the dark.

Yeah, you heard me right: the little stars and moons sprinkled across the hard-shell case glow. I love a good gimmick, and while it may have been more apt to place star-gazer Celeste on the case rather than KK Slider, the effect is as magical as it is adorable in person. The design is also complemented by neat little details, including a matching purple carrying handle, purple and blue zipper, and purple interiors to tie everything together.

If your loved one is more into Animal Crossing merch of the nature variety, the Timmy and Tommy design is going to be more their thing. It swaps the cool-toned hues for a pastel green background and little illustrations of two tanuki wearing their little New Horizons shirts. The design is then paired with a brown carrying handle and a beige zipper, which give off the perfect earth-toned vibes I've long associated with the Animal Crossing game series.

These cases don't just look the part, but they're pretty robust too. The inside contains space for the handheld, up to 12 physical games, and there's a zip-up fabric mesh pouch for smaller goodies, like a few pairs of thumb grips and some Joy-Con controller straps, or at least that's what I store in them. There's also plenty of room to place a Nintendo eShop gift card inside one of the cases, should you want to go the extra mile this holiday season. You can always provide the exact amount needed for a Nintendo Switch Online subscription so your loved one can get access to the New Horizons DLC if they don't already have it. Just a thought.

KK Slider & Timmy and Tommy Rematch Switch 2 controllers

I have yet to add Nintendo's Switch 2 Pro controller to my setup, as I instead rely on Turtle Beach's more affordable Rematch controllers. With a $64.99 MSRP, they are far more accessible than the $89 required for the first-party Switch 2 controller, and these new KK Slider and Timmy and Tommy designs are just the latest in this line of fabulous Pro pad alternatives.

While I'm sure anyone would love to get the Pro pad under the tree, neither its default nor its Resident Evil or Zelda designs feel quite as dazzling as these Animal Crossing versions. For one, each contains a hidden RGB feature, which is sure to go down well if your loved one loves that gamified look. If you opt for the KK Slider version, the sky of stars, the crescent moon, and even the two music notes near KK on the right grip light up with color, and it's a gorgeous sight to behold. The Timmy and Tommy Rematch gamepad is even more of a spectacle. At a glance, the controller opts for a green faceplate that matches perfectly with the same shade as the case. However, the touch of any button reveals a sea of Animal Crossing-themed icons, showing leaf, house, and tree designs shining under a rainbow glow. It's a stunning and illuminating feast for the eyes.

In the controller's case, it's actually my favorite, as the effect is hidden in plain sight, which makes the payoff all the more memorable. Better yet, the face and shoulder buttons are draped in a beige colorway that carries on that earth-toned theme. They almost look wooden, and that feels perfectly Animal Crossing to me. Yet while these pads are flashy, they are missing some of the best features of the Pro alternative.

For one, there's no NFC reading tech here. If your loved one has amassed the entirety of the Animal Crossing amiibo as I have, they'll have to use a third-party accessory or switch to the Joy-Cons to tap any figure in-game. That being said, these officially licensed pads still provide the same 40-hour battery life, the same spread of buttons (including two sets of shoulder buttons and back paddles), and they're just as easy to pair as Nintendo's pricier pad.

The best part is that they've also taken a bit of a discount in the weeks since their initial release. While each retails for $64.99 / £54.99, you can find them for just $49.99 / £42.57 at Amazon, which is more than reasonable for the features on offer. With Black Friday on the horizon, there's every chance their prices for the controllers (and the cases above) will drop even further, but I'd recommend you pick them up now while stock lasts, as cute Nintendo accessories tend to be the first go-to when the holidays are near.

• View all Turtle Beach PlayTrek cases at Amazon
• View all Turtle Beach Rematch controllers at Amazon

Want more Switch 2 accessories? Check out our guides to the best Nintendo Switch headsets, the best Nintendo Switch 2 controllers, and the best Nintendo Switch 2 microSD Express Cards.

The Welcome to Paradise quest in Cyberpunk 2077 has players follow a guided tour around the city in order to track down a revolutionary called Haze, all at the request of her concerned sister Aera. This takes you through a variety of locations with a recording of Night City founder Richard Night explaining a skewed history of the metropolis, and Haze providing her own contrary take against him. If you want to find out how to start the quest and what rewards there might be, here's what you need to know.

Want some more help with the 2.5 update? Find out how to dual wield in Cyberpunk 2077, or all the best Cyberpunk 2077 mods you can now get on console!

How to start the Welcome to Paradise quest in Cyberpunk 2077

To get the Welcome to Paradise quest, all you need to do is complete the Heist mission and reach 15 Street Cred. On having done this, after some time you'll get a message from a new character called Aera who will ask you to find her sister Haze, who's stolen some sort of chip from somebody and hasn't been seen since. If you accept this minor job, you'll be able to play it through whenever you're ready.

Full walkthrough for Welcome to Paradise in Cyberpunk 2077

Much of the Welcome to Paradise quest is very straightforward - going to marked locations and interacting with terminals - but there's a few points where it can get tricky. We'll take you through the whole thing below and mark out the areas that involve more challenge, so you're ready for everything.

1. After getting the call, head to the marked location in Kabuki. Scan for the metal sheet to the East that covers the sewer pipe (shown above) and pull it away to reveal a Shard called "NC Revitalization Project - Identity Cache". Slot it to start the guided tour program.
2. Head to the Night Corporation Tower and listen to the first step of the guided tour, including the drone tour, then do the same thing at the Memorial Park, Arasaka Memorial, and City Hall.

3. The next tour step is the Biotechnica Flats, though some people will be obstructing the way to the terminal (you can move them non-violently with a 17 Body Dialogue Check).
4. Head to the NCART station for another tour. Afterwards, go into your inventory and decrypt the shard for new information (see below).

5. The next stop at the Dam is blocked off by 6th Street Enemies who you'll need to clear out (they're easy to ambush from above if you fast travel to the nearest location).
6. Head to the Medical Center back in the city. This time Haze will tell you that she's being trailed by a car. Open the Shard you decrypted in stage 4 again to find out more about the car and figure out who's following her.

7. Head to Kabuki for the final leg of the tour and the last of Richard Night. Haze will drop a clue that mentions a bridge nearby.
8. Head to the marked location, and look at the beach below you and to the right to see several Militech soldiers (see below).
9. Defeat the soldiers and you'll discover Haze's body, along with a Shard containing evidence of her killer. At this point you need to meet with Aera again to conclude the quest and tell her what you've discovered.

Should you give Aera the Shard?

There's no difference in reward depending on whether you give Aera the Shard or not, as you'll get 1,050 EDs, and the same XP and Street Cred bonuses either way. All it changes is your final interaction with her:

• If you give Aera the Shard: She's grateful for your help, but obviously angered at Haze's death and clearly plotting some sort of revenge, or at least to carry on her sister's crusade in some way.
• If you don't give Aera the Shard: She's angry at you for not giving her the ammunition she needs to hurt Haze's murderers, but the implication is that it keeps her safer not to have such explosive information on her.

There doesn't appear to be any follow-up to this quest later on, such as a moment where we discover that Aera successfully struck a blow against Night Corp or was killed in her quest for vengeance.

To unlock Witcher themed gear and even a fantasy sword, check out how to complete the Cyberpunk 2077 Ariadne side quest, or get loot linked to the Edgerunners show in the Cyberpunk 2077 Clampdown quest!

© GamesRadar+. not to be reproduced without permission.

A new Nintendo Indie World showcase will air on Wednesday, October 28, the company announced today.

First revealed in the Nintendo Today app (and still unmentioned on Nintendo socials), the latest Indie World showcase is currently thin on details. The lineup for these indie events is always a mystery, but it's also set to be a fairly short show, running for around 15 minutes. We also know that the show will start at 10am ET / 2pm GMT (due to the current time change gap).

Compared to traditional Nintendo Direct shows, Indie World showcases are obviously light on Nintendo IP, though the likes of Cadence of Hyrule, a rare collaboration with indie hit Crypt of the NecroDancer, means we can never truly rule out some kind of crossover.

But, as ever, the focus is on third-party games from smaller developers. I suspect many people will also be focusing on the DLC for Hollow Knight: Silksong, Sea of Sorrow, as Silksong itself had a major Nintendo showcase presence in the past and, even post-release, Silksong fans can't resist a desperate theory.

Of course, it's not been that long since the last 'full' Nintendo Direct, either. Last month's showcase revealed Metroid Ravenous for the first time along with Kirby and the World Beyond, the former being set to arrive in January, and the latter (Kirby's first open world game) scheduled for Spring 2027. The day before it, we were also treated to a totally separate Zelda Direct, showcasing footage from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake which is set to arrive on Switch 2 next week.

Be sure to keep up with our roundup of new games coming this year and beyond to see what releases are on the horizon.

The best Nintendo Switch 2 controllers typically have one thing in common, but it rarely makes its way into our handheld adventures. Back buttons have been keeping thumbs on sticks for years now, and while the Switch 2 Pro Controller, 8BitDo Ultimate 2, GameSir Super Nova, and countless other gamepads keep those clackers to hand in docked mode, handheld players are often left in the dust. With the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake launching next week, I'm going to need some paddles on the go.

Thankfully, there's an all-in-one out there. We've been road-testing the CRKD Nitro Deck 2 all month, finally scoring it 4/5 stars in our review. The Joy-Con replacement system packs four back buttons into its chassis (alongside a host of additional features) and, despite only just hitting the market, it's already discounted.

We don't yet fully know how The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake's controls are going to pan out. U/DefiantCharacter has a pretty substantial shakedown of everything we've been shown via gameplay demos so far, though, and that gives us plenty to work with.

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A lot of it is conjecture, of course, but there are some quick moments that would make sense to map across a set of rear clackers. Switching weapons, jumping while climbing, and swapping between items all (so far) look like face button or d-pad operations. While Ocarina of Time isn't exactly an esports speedster, keeping those controls within easy reach has its benefits.

I'm not a competitive player, I'm not climbing ranked, and I certainly can't stand against younger battle royale-ers. But I still love me a set of back buttons. Whether it's keeping my dodge nimble in Control: Resonant (or relieving some of that button mashing pressure) or simply speeding up my walk without having to hold 'B' in Pokemon Pokopia or Dragon Quest 2 HD 2D Remake, I'm living proof that you don't need to be a speedster to enjoy an extra set of buttons.

The main draw is that you get to keep your thumbs firmly on those main sticks. That means easier camera and movement controls while your other fingers take care of your quick-select items, dodges, attacks, and jumps. Less scrambling up and down the face of the controller makes for a far more relaxing experience, and a lot less pressure on these aging joints.

That's all fine and dandy in docked mode. Having to swap my whole control scheme when I'm playing on the go can halt proceedings. Plus, Ocarina of Time is begging to be played in handheld mode, curled up on a stormy Fall evening.

So what are your options?

The CRKD Nitro Deck 2 is the only Joy-Con replacement with back buttons we've fully tested and verified so far. It's a little more expensive than the previous generation (though today's discount is helping in that arena) but brings a chunkier, more ergonomic shape to your handheld adventures while offering thumbstick tightening, additional shoulder buttons, and adjustable deadzones. While that tightening process feels a little cheaper than it should at this price, the large Steam Deck-esque shape makes storage and transportation tricky, and that rumble is pretty OP, the Nitro Deck 2 also doubles as a docked pro controller. That's two cuccos with one Death Mountain boulder.

Alternatively, for $99.99 (usually $124.99), you can opt for the Mobapad M12S. This drops your back controls from four buttons to two, though it improves on the Nitro Deck 2's capacitor-based thumbsticks with full TMR tech. There's also the far-more-expensive Nyxi Hyperion 3 Ultra - a full-fat Switch 2 Joy-Con replacement system that keeps the OG's mouse functionality and its own TMR thumbsticks. You'll be dropping $149.99 (down from $199.99 at Amazon) on this set, though, and still halving CRKD's back button count.

Ultimately, we'll stick with the Nitro Deck 2 for Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake. Those additional back paddles and the lower price make for a compelling setup upgrade ahead of release.

Our top Nintendo Switch 2 controllers:

• Switch 2 Pro Controller | $89 at Amazon
• GameSir Super Nova | $49.99 $29.99 at Best Buy
• 8BitDo Ultimate 2 | $69.99 $56.99 at Amazon

We're also rounding up the best Nintendo Switch 2 accessories you can stock up on ahead of Ocarina of Time, as well as the best Nintendo Switch headsets and best Nintendo Switch 2 cases.

Of course, we've also got Black Friday Nintendo Switch deals looming over the horizon as well.

The end is nigh for Pokemon's free-to-play MOBA title Pokemon Unite, which is set to shut down for good almost six years after its launch in March 2027.

In a blog post shared today, the Pokemon Unite devs confirm that service for both the Switch and mobile versions of the game come to an end on March 23, 2027, at midnight UTC. "We offer our sincerest gratitude to the many Trainers who have played since service started for the Nintendo Switch version on July 21, 2021," a statement reads.

From now on, new purchases of Aeos gems (premium microtransactions) have been stopped, though anyone with a remaining stash will still be able to use what they'd already got until the game is shut down. Similarly, the paid monthly membership service, Unite Club, can no longer be purchased by new subscribers – existing members will continue to receive their paid benefits until their current membership period ends, with automatic renewals also now switched off.

As a last hurrah for the game, on November 12, Pokemon Unite will be getting an update that adds a couple of key things – a special event that'll run to the end of service, which will let you earn Unite coins from logging in and completing missions. These can be exchanged for things like Unite licenses for different playable Pokemon, Holowear to dress them up in, and trainer fashion items.

The other new feature to be added is a big one for longtime players who want something to remember the game by even after its shutdown – if you complete a required download before the end of service, you'll be able to access a library feature "to view certain records and in-game content."

The devs explain: "This will allow Trainers to visit the Practice Area as well as view items and achievements they obtained in-game – such as Holowear, Unite licenses, Trainer fashion items, emblems, tournament results, and more – even after service ends. We are also working on a way to look back at special memories you created with your Pokemon."

It's sad news – Unite may not have been the most popular Pokemon spin-off, but it's great fun and has also been a major part of tournaments like the Pokemon Europe International Championships and Worlds, where it's drawn extremely enthusiastic crowds. Being sat in the crowd for the EUIC finals a few years ago was genuinely one of my highlights of the event, even though I didn't play Unite at the time, just because the excitement was so contagious.

"Again, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to everyone involved with Pokemon UNITE up to this point," the devs conclude. "We hope you continue to enjoy Pokemon UNITE until service ends."

Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald Switch ports feel all but confirmed, fans believe as new Pokemon Home update suggests more GBA games could be on the way.

Razer launched the Barracuda V2 Pro on October 15, noting on its official blog that the newest addition to the lineup is designed with "versatility in mind" and, as it turns out, the marketing spiel has plenty of truth to it.

From its foldable form factor, dual-mic design, great sound, and understated look that doesn't scream "gaming headset", the Barracuda V2 Pro has managed to take priority in my backpack no matter if gaming or music-listening is on the agenda.

There was nothing stopping me from digging out any other Razer headset to use for both gaming and in lieu of a pair of headphones, but not all the brand's past pairs are suited for the outdoors. As much as I adore the Kraken Kitty lineup, I don't feel comfortable donning the RGB-powered cat ears to listen to the latest Troye Sivan album while running to the Big Tescos for the food shop, no matter how cute I find it. However, I've done just that with the Barraduda V2 Pro, and its versatility is entirely to thank.

Key specs

Design

Much like the black Barracuda X (2022), the V2 Pro is a closed black over-ear headset with oval-shaped cups. RGB haters (couldn't be me) will be happy to learn that the Chroma-powered logos of the Barracuda X Chroma haven't stuck around, and instead the three-headed snake branding is nothing but subtle, glossy, 3-dimensional-to-the-touch images on the exterior of each cup and nothing more.

The design differences of this new pair are so minor that you'd barely be able to spot the difference unless you're someone who spends far too much time in the land of headsets - which is undoubtedly me. What's new is that the foam padding on the underside of the headband now travels from the left yoke to the right yoke. The padding of the 2022 X release just sat in a small section in the center, but it's been extended to provide more optimal comfort. Comfort must have been on Razer's mind, as the fabric-coated ear cups are now made of a leather-like material too.

Features

The Barracuda V2 Pro is an over-ear, closed-back 285 g headset with 40mm Triforce Bio-cellulose audio drivers and THX Spatial Audio+ support. Unlike the existing pairs in the Barracuda lineup, the V2 Pro is holding a very neat (and handy) secret - its left earcup can be opened to reveal its HyperSpeed 2.4GHz wireless dongle.

This may not seem like a big deal, but for someone who constantly misplaces wireless dongles, it's been a bit of a lifesaver. Unfortunately, this lucrative hidden storage doesn't provide enough space to also store the adapter that's packaged with the pair, but I'll take any storage ingenuity over none at all.

Besides the storage, this headset is rocking some serious premium upgrades over its predecessors. The V2 Pro is equipped with simultaneous Bluetooth and 2.4GHz wireless, so you can answer phone calls between gaming sessions, and it sports ANC - both of which can be selected through the pair's manual onboard controls. The ANC includes an ambient mode, so you can be more aware of your surroundings, and makes the V2 Pro handy for more than just gaming.

Using gaming headsets for day-to-day music listening can be awkward, particularly if there's a large microphone in the way. The V2 Pro has a solution as the HyperClear Full Band Mic is not only detachable, but the "dual-mode mic system" allows you to switch to using a dual hidden beamforming mics for chatting when you're out and about.

Performance

Testing Razer's Barracuda upgrade happened to coincide with my favorite time of year, Halloween. The smell of freshly carved pumpkins and dusty old spider decorations had fully enveloped my house by the time the headset arrived at my door, and so it felt entirely fitting to first test out Disney Dreamlight Valley with the pair on PC while its spooky-themed events were in full swing.

While I usually prefer to run around my Disney-themed valley on the OLED Steam Deck so I can multitask with a Netflix binge, being able to focus on the game's audio for once was a treat with THX Spatial Audio+. I occasionally find myself overwhelmed with the life sim, as there's always a myriad of Disney characters roaming around, and finding who you want can be a challenge even when you have fast travel to rely on. Thanks to the combination of the crystal-clear audio from the can's bio-cellulose audio drivers and spatial audio, I could easily pinpoint any approaching pal - whether it was Scar with a new sarcastic quip, or the Fairy Godmother about to check in. It was neat, as this game is already my happy place for when life gets a bit too much, so the extra level of immersion was a welcome experience, and one that's got me playing more on the PC than my Valve pixel-pusher ever since.

Of course, you don't need to be able to hear Goofy's cheeky laugh in a 3D soundscape in order to be a good Dreamlight Valley player, so I stuck on Counter-Strike 2 to put the "ultimate immersion" properly to the test. With the ANC and THX Spatial Audio+ working together, I was more than able to get absorbed into the game, so much so that I missed deliveries at my door on multiple occasions despite people both knocking and ringing my door. That may not sound like a good thing, but being able to entirely drown out the real world for a moment definitely proved Razer's "ultimate" marketing spiel.

While I'm not a fan of beamforming tech, I do love the V2 Pro's dual-mic setup. In this day and age where a cost of living crisis still affects so many of us and determines how we enjoy our hobbies today, I'd hope that a piece of tech that costs $200 would be able to be helpful for not just gaming, but everyday use too, and this is.

You didn't have to stroll uptown feeling a bit silly with a microphone dangling next to my face or wearing a gadget that looks and feels designed purely for gaming in mind. Instead, I was able to easily detach the HyperClear full-band mic and leave it at home, while being able to depend on the beamforming mics for incoming calls. I'd not recommend using the latter for streaming or podcasts, but they are decent enough where a quick call with your mum is entirely doable, and she won't be exclaiming "what" or "huh" every two seconds.

The main microphone was also great for playing Repo with friends and was enough to record my screams without sounding like a muffled, peaking mess. But what pleased me the most about the V2 Pro was that versatility, as it was just as formidable for music as it was for gaming. Its 285g weight was light enough to make long journeys across the city of Glasgow less of a strain on my ears, and its foldable design took up less space than my go-to JLab JBuds Lux ANC cans.

While switching from one pair to another left me feeling a bit glum (I really adore my JLab cans), it was nice to only have to worry about charging one device at a time. Although its 70 hours were enough to cope with a weekend of blasting out Wolf Alice and Florence Road, while keeping the pair on my head for weekdays, divulging in fun Repo madness with friends without having to pick up a USB-C charging cable once.

Should you buy the Razer Barracuda V2 Pro headset?

This is the most premium Barracuda headset the line has seen so far, but nabbing all of those juicy high-end upgrades and its versatile ways comes at a $199.99 / £199.99 cost that not everyone is going to afford. Especially at a time when the hobby has already become an expensive minefield.

The thing is, that price point is pretty much what you can expect when it comes to gaming headsets of all shapes and sizes that incorporate both simultaneous wireless audio and ANC into the mix. The Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 3 also launched for $199.99 / £179.99 and had a similar simultaneous wireless and ANC combo. Whenever those features are key, you can expect to be paying upwards of $150 / £150, but you don't have to stick with it if you don't want to.

If you're just a fan of the V2 Pro's design and feel, the Barracuda X still remains a great multi-platform headset, and it's regularly found under $99.99 / £99.99. You'll have to forgo the dual wireless and noise-canceling, but it sports the same look and still sounds fantastic for its age. There's also the Barracuda X Chroma available for $129.99 / £129.99 if you love your RGB lighting.

If it's more of the premium trifecta of the dual wireless, ANC, and an impressive battery you're after, that's when the Barracuda V2 Pro feels hard to beat. Sure, alternatives like the aforementioned Stealth 700 exist with even an additional 10-hour battery life, but it's missing ANC. Meanwhile, my other go-to option, the Sony Inzone H9 II (which has dropped to a similar $200 price in recent sales) has the wireless and ANC covered but not the battery chops.

How I tested the Razer Barracuda V2 Pro headset

The Razer Barracuda V2 Pro became my one and only headset for two weeks, in order to see how it matched up against all other pairs I've tested to date. In that time, I used the wireless pair to play Counter-Strike 2, Marvel Rivals, and Disney Dreamlight Valley on the PC, while switching over to play Marvel Rivals, Doom Eternal, and Silent Hill Townfall on the PS5.

When I was in a gaming-on-the-go mode, I stuck the USB-C dongle into the Switch 2 and played everything from Marvel Kart World, Pokemon Pokopia, Donkey Kong Bananza, and Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave while taking breaks to watch Party Down on Netflix and catch up with some Halloween movie offerings, including Hocus Pocus on Disney+. The headset was also perched on my head as I listened to Wolf Alice, Florence Road and Troye Sivan via Spotify.

For more information on how we test gaming headsets, check out the full GamesRadar+ Hardware Policy.

Not a fan of the Barracuda V2 Pro? Check out our guides to the best PC headset for gaming, the best PS5 headset, and the best Xbox Series X headset for more options from Razer and our personally picked brands.

Ariadne in Cyberpunk 2077 will call you out of nowhere with the offer to become a brand ambassador for some clothing she's sent you, but it's not clear exactly what she wants and what she's hoping to get from out, nor how to progress with this secret quest. In fact, what you need to do is incredibly easy, and if you can do it, you'll get some money and some Witcher themed gear to wear around Cyberpunk 2077 as a reward!

Want some more help with the 2.5 update? Find out how to dual wield in Cyberpunk 2077, or all the best Cyberpunk 2077 mods you can now get on console!

What to do for Ariadne in Cyberpunk 2077

After Ariadne messages you in Cyberpunk 2077 to become a brand ambassador, all you need to do to complete her request is the following:

1. Head back to V's original apartment in Megabuilding H10.
2. By the front door, as you go in, you should see a new crate on the left (see above).
3. Inside are three pieces of clothing and two weapons. Equip all three pieces of clothing, including the sunglasses!
4. Once all the clothing is equipped, open your message chain with Ariadne again, and there should now be an option to "Take Picture".
5. This will open photo mode, though you don't actually have to take a picture, it will act like you did.
6. Ariadne will thank you for the picture.
7. Later on, Ariadne will contact you again telling you that your sponsorship deal is over. However, she will also send you 4300 EDs, and tell you that you can keep the clothes.

This marks the end of this unlabelled quest, but what's more important is that the clothing and weapons inside the chest are all easter eggs and references to The Witcher series, the other major gaming franchise by CD Projekt Red.

The full list of items Ariadne gives you is as follows:

• Ursine Jacket (Outer Torso): This coat shares some aesthetic similarities to the Ursine armor from the Witcher series, which was associated with the School of the Bear.
• Ursine Pants (Legs): Same as above.
• The Professor's Spectacles (Face): In The Witcher 3 DLC "Hearts of Stone", Geralt could acquire an identical set of sunglasses with the same name, which themselves were an easter egg referencing the movie "Leon The Professional".
• Sihil (Sword): A blade that does extra damage to drones, mechs and robots, as well as enemies affected by quickhacks. This is a fantasy-style sword that references a blade with an identical name in the Witcher novels.
• Boar Carver (Knife): A fantasy-style dagger. In The Witcher games, Geralt uses a similar blade to carve trophies from his kills.

© GamesRadar+. not to be reproduced without permission.

Shigeru Miyamoto says the most interesting thing about the original Super Mario Bros. is the fact that Mario doesn't actually fight Bowser in the 1985 platformer.

Last week, Miyamoto – who created the likes of The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, and Pikmin – received the Japanese Order of Culture from the Japanese government and is the first-ever game developer to win the award, which typically has been awarded to actors, musicians, and Nobel Prize laureates. Miyamoto is perhaps best known for his unique ideas in game design, with stories of his unorthodox methods during playtesting at Nintendo widely reported, so it's no surprise he has some unique opinions about his own titles.

Speaking at a press conference following his award, attended by Denfaminicogamer, Miyamoto details what he believes is the most intriguing aspect of the 1985 platformer that single-handedly changed the industry as we know it. But rather than its innovation in platforming through its scrolling screens and secrets, Miyamoto singles out the game's boss fights; namely, the fact that they really aren't fights at all.

Miyamoto notes that the developers were struggling with how to create a climactic battle, but eventually had the thought that since the game is about running to the right, why not make the bosses that way? So from there, Bowser's 'fights' – which consisted of jumping over him and a number of projectiles he shot to destroy the bridge from beneath him – were born.

And from there on out, Mario's fights with Bowser became more like actual fights, such as throwing his explosives at the clown car in Super Mario World or grabbing his tail and launching him into explosives in Super Mario 64. Although Miyamoto does neglect to mention that you can fight Bowser in Super Mario Bros., given that throwing enough fireballs at him will also kill him.

Nintendo mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto says AI "provides an opportunity to reflect on what's really important" in game dev, "which I think is a positive thing"

Stop us if you've heard this before, but No Man's Sky and Hello Games lead Sean Murrary is yet again posting cryptic emojis online with zero context or explanation – cryptic emojis that have notably always led to updates in the past.

Remember the cocktail emojis that had folks buzzing about the Cosmos update a few months back? Or, how about how Murray teased the Remnant patch, which launched with a Garry's Mod-style gravity gun in February, with hi-vis vest emojis?

And you can't forget the stadium emojis, which were teasing the big Xeno Arena additions, or the The Swarm update, which was hinted at via bee emojis and nothing else. It's a pattern, to say the least. Now, Murray is back with more, having just left a post with naught more than a decaying rose emoji – you know the one – over on Twitter.

The Hello Games boss has put the same emoji up on Facebook and other social media platforms, meaning that this probably isn't a drill and is, much like past vague emoji-posting, some sort of mysterious teaser about… well, something. There's no telling just what it could be pointing toward, however.

Comments see folks speculating about seasons on planets, spooky expeditions, and, perhaps most amusingly, the death of No Man's Sky to finally make way for Light No Fire (probably not happening, y'all, sorry).

As one fan jests, "Hey Sean… So when can I get some Light No Fire news?" Others are simply mindblown at the prospect of yet another No Man's Sky update, considering how many we've witnessed this year alone.

There's also the fact that we just got the mobile launch of the space game, which was a bit mind-blowing in itself, seeing as Hello Games had to somehow manage to compress No Man's Sky into less than 5GB.

It's clear to me that these developers are always hard at work on one thing or another (even if the one thing we want most, ahem, Light No Fire, is being kept tightly under wraps for the time being, sadly).

I'd wager we'll see a few – or more – decaying rose emojis from Murray and Hello Games later today before we finally learn what they're supposed to be teasing, so I'd advise keeping a close eye on their official social media channels.

"If people weren't playing No Man's Sky, I don't think we would want to do updates," says Sean Murray, but he'd probably try to sneak in more content years later anyway.

Cyberpunk 2077 is soaring the charts on Steam once again after a good three years thanks to a healthy mix of update 2.5, the second season of Edgerunners, and a whopping 70% off sale to boot – and CD Projekt Red has noticed.

With Cyberpunk 2 still underway, it's nice to see the original RPG continue to get love from fans and developers alike.

The recent 2.5 update introduced everything from a new quest as a prequel for Edgerunners 2 to support for, erm, adult mods on consoles, for example, proving that the game is very much active in both players' minds and CD Projekt Red's own.

The big patch (and second season of the Netflix series) has brought folks back to Night City, too.

A quick look over at SteamDB shows that, over the weekend, Cyberpunk 2077 hit a peak player count of 187,215 – its highest since October 2023, when it reached 274,526 after the release of its massive Phantom Liberty DLC and 2.0 update.

It's not all that surprising, then, to witness a similar spike following 2.5 now and all of its additions, and, of course, the Netflix series' new season, which dropped last week.

This isn't the first time the animated television show has helped boost the RPG's players, either – heck, way back in 2022, the same happened with the first season of Edgerunners. It probably also helps that the game's got a nice 70% discount on Steam currently.

What is especially notable, however, is CD Projekt Red's response. Over on X, Cyberpunk 2 associate director Paweł Sasko highlights the new rise in players.

"It's been hell of a weekend," he writes. "Peak of 187k concurrent players on Steam alone, a lot of hilarious threads and meme clips, it all fills my heart with joy."

He then looks to what more CD Projekt Red could do to make Cyberpunk 2077 even better after all these years: "Chooms, give us feedback, what we can improve, where we have missed the mark with 2.5? Your perception is everything." Talk about dedication.

Comments see fans commending the devs for their hard work (and, unsurprisingly, asking for more expansions and other additions) – but I'm honestly personally just looking forward to hearing more about Cyberpunk 2… whenever that may come.

CD Projekt Red has "hired so many modders" that Cyberpunk 2 co-lead says "I think half of the quest team is all former modders"

Final Fantasy Resonance has gotten off to an excellent start on Steam, with Square Enix's first HD-2D game in the series now also the franchise's most popular single-player game based on its concurrent player peak on the platform.

Shortly after its launch, Final Fantasy Resonance reached a Steam peak just short of 28,000 concurrent players – a number that made it Square Enix's second-largest launch for a turn-based RPG on the platform behind Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake. However, that peak has now grown even more – yesterday, according to SteamDB, Final Fantasy Resonance hit 42,885 concurrent Steam players, which is a huge deal for a Final Fantasy game.

That's because it just barely beat Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth for the largest concurrent Steam player peak among the series' single-player games. The second installment in the FF7 remake trilogy hit a peak of 40,564 back when it launched.

Of course, the big difference there is that Rebirth arrived on PC almost a year after its PS5 launch, so many of the most hyped players would likely have already played it by the time it broke free of its console exclusivity. Resonance, on the other hand, launched simultaneously across PC and consoles, so it could take full advantage of that initial wave of hype on Steam.

You probably won't be surprised to hear that it's not the single most-played Final Fantasy game on Steam either, thanks to a certain critically acclaimed MMORPG. Final Fantasy 14 more than doubled Resonance's Steam peak almost five years ago when it hit 95,150 concurrent players around the Endwalker expansion's release, but obviously, it'd never be fair to compare an MMO and single-player game's player counts in the first place, so this is still a notable achievement for Resonance.

Despite its success, though, I suspect this won't be a record Resonance is going to hang onto forever. Next April will see the release of the third and final part of the FF7 remake trilogy in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, which will also be releasing simultaneously across PC and consoles. Considering the hype that's built up for that, I'd be surprised if it wasn't able to snatch Resonance's crown.

"Too good to become unplayable": Final Fantasy Resonance exists because a JRPG veteran was "frustrated" players ignored their game the first time.

Vorp! With a simple sci-fi sound effect, BioWare tore apart the gleaming hull of the Normandy SR-1, scattered a great deal of what came before to the void, and split its burgeoning action-RPG series clean in two. Save files from 2007's Mass Effect might have brought with them an XP bonus or credit dump as well as the player's established continuity, but rarely before or since has the reset button been pressed so swiftly, or so heart-wrenchingly.

It was exactly what the series needed. One-time Xbox 360 exclusive Mass Effect had been a bright spot of promise for the console, buffed to a lens-flare-spilling sheen by being billed as a franchise that would move beyond binary morality and deliver a meaningful, ongoing space opera – one that wasn't Star Wars for a change. (Many studios now promise episodic gaming, but BioWare was crafting series-spanning narrative arcs long before that buzz-phrase was coined.) The opening part of the trilogy was certainly grandiose and epic in scope, yet somehow austere, a feeling compounded by a glut of anodyne shootouts and awkward driving filling the time away from its much-admired conversation wheel. It wasn't Star Wars, but nor had it found an identity among all its copious lore. As a concept piece, a pilot, it was tantalising enough, but more of the same would not do, especially when the world was then drowning in third-person cover shooters thanks to 2006's punchy, hyperviolent Gears of War.

Oh the horrors

And so millions watched the SR-1's malady in horror, took brief control of malleable returning protagonist Commander Shepard for a spot of eye-searingly beautiful Dead Space homage heroism, and then shaped a 4-billion-credit rebirth. This wasn't just a sequel, it was a reinvention, and BioWare made sure everyone knew it.

Even if the point hadn't been hammered home, returning players would have noticed from Shepard's first woozy steps across a Cerberus lab. The Commander, once stately and tank-like under the sticks, now moved with a fluidity uncommon in the recently deceased, sliding into cover across Teflon floors on Vaseline-smothered boots. Even your starting pistol could dominate early combat spaces with a snap, crackle, and mechhead pop that flash-vaporised expectations of another 20-plus hours of drab, feedbacklight gunplay.

But the real revelation would come when you fired up the power wheel for the first time and unleashed one of the new biotic or tech abilities. Mass Effect's array of buffs, debuffs, and crowd-control powers had hewed close to BioWare's RPG roots, though yoinking enemies out of cover and into the path of a sniper rifle was quite the trick in 2007. The sight of Shepard dashing across no man's land in a haze of roiling blue fire to explode into the enemy and shove a shotgun up their nostrils, however, promised a very different kind of combat interstitial between conversations. If Mass Effect games were Luc Besson movies, the original had been Lucy, all big ideas but little convincing peril, and 2 was The Fifth Element: an intergalactic excuse for daft, glorious carnage.

Daft, not stupid. Players didn't even have to wait for the introduction of creepy new Reaper lackeys, the Collectors, before they started having to manage enemy damage, with a separate bar each for tracking shields, barriers, armour and health. Of all the combat system's renovations, this was perhaps the most crucial, a gentle subversion of the RPG's long-in-the-tooth type-based attacks that meant the series could jettison the notion of a tough fight as one where health bars are hidden behind multiple blocks of blue shield and bullet-sponge powers. Mass Effect 2 wouldn't ask you to face ice monsters that were weak to fire, but shields did melt away under the sustained pressure of an SMG, while biotic power Reave stopped health regenerating so you could put down tough organics such as the Krogan or nightmare-imp newcomers, the Vorcha. And you'd have to control space as well as damage output, since enemies were as aggressive as you, flanking, setting up kill boxes, invading your personal space or flushing you out with flamethrowers.

BioWare could afford to bury the needle north of hectic, because any Shepard, regardless of gender or class, had a secret superpower: the ability to freeze time. While others have made entire games out of frozen moments, here they elegantly and invisibly support tactical play, as you let the stale air in your lungs seep from your lips, read the situation, and adapt. Yes, Shepard may have been able to make enemies hilariously pinwheel in slow motion through the air, then biotically dash them to oblivion – kudos to whoever worked out how to really get some use out of Unreal Engine 3's physics simulations – but on the higher difficulties, Mass Effect 2 became as much the thinking man's cover shooter as a heady power fantasy.

Whizz bang pop

The shooting brought the game in line with the best of its peers, but the series' newfound sense of personal drama is what makes it unforgettable today. BioWare's genius was to add a generous extra glug of soap opera to its po-faced space opera mix, producing something all its own as a result. Where else in games can you assemble a team that consists of a dying part-monk, part-hitman seeking absolution in your noble suicide mission, a none-too-stable tatted-up psychopath who looks like Natalie Portman circa V for Vendetta, and an unflappable sentient machine construct housing 1,183 digital minds, much less bicker with or seduce half that crew? You may have to put the old band back together, but damn if you haven't pulled in an orchestra's worth of exotic new instruments along the way.

Indeed, the reason Mass Effect 2 still stands as the high point of the series is that it is fundamentally a game about people, not concepts. Every Shepard is different, and so will their interactions be, but those are simply the filling between layers of rich character drama. Every principal cast member has something to say. Miranda has to deal with the pressures of being engineered for perfection, putting up an all-too-human wall of ice after years of dealing with a pushy father. Garrus and damp squib Jacob are takes on feeling ineffective in their work, though the former gets a chewy revenge subplot, too. The list is too long to recount here, and loyalty missions double down on the character development – success in the final act, where the entire galaxy is threatened, is dependent on solving personal crises, changing inner universes.

Forget fetch quests, strip mining and moon caches – helping Jack get some closure after her time as Subject Zero at the hands of Cerberus felt like it mattered. It is these stories, these little moments of pathos and reconciliation, where BioWare finally grounds its big questions about life. Gradually, you begin to feel as if it might be a tragedy to lose this universe, this diversity of damaged characters trying to find their way in the uncaring vacuum, to the Reapers. In providing robust inner lives for its alien-packed cast, BioWare finally found the window on humanity it had been seeking.

Shepard's uneasy alliance with Cerberus is the smouldering fuse that regularly threatens to detonate all of these volatile personalities, but it is also an excuse to let the player deviate from the virtuous Paragon path if they so wish. Anecdotal evidence suggests that when given the choice, many will opt for video game good over video game evil. But so often in games, the evil path is simply the stupid one where you act like a dick to others for no good reason. Human civilisation is founded on social imperatives, so it's little surprise many struggle to shrug off their conditioning without incentive. By casting Shepard not as the white knight of humanity trying to earn our place in the stars but as an agent of a pro-human terrorist group that cares more about results than ramifications, the Renegade options finally made a little more narrative sense.

Which isn't to say Mass Effect 2 delivered nuanced morality – that takes more tallying up good and bad actions on separate scales – but it did at least make roleplaying meatier. Would you taser an engineer to sabotage the gunship of a telegraphed later boss to make the fight easier? Or are you the sort of person who leaps in to defend a Quarian from racial harassment at the hands of a pompous Volus and a bent cop? You might feasibly be both, assuming you're not gaming the system to max out one type of conversation-wheel option. Getting the player involved in everyday strife as well as world-ending crises lent the series an intimacy it had lacked. Anyone can be a hero when the only criterion is that all the bad men are dead at the end, but how you played Mass Effect 2 had the power to say something about you as a person.

It's easy to forget, in the wake of Mass Effect 3's reductionistic endings, how much Mass Effect 2 felt like a realisation of the series' promise to respect your choices. Entire missions winked into existence or out of it based on your Mass Effect playthrough, old faces appeared in unexpected places, and you could alter the texture of the galaxy, even if the artifice involved meant the core structure had to be much the same. To replay Mass Effect 2 now is not just a chance to pursue new combat options and morality; it is a reminder of what the most ambitious ongoing saga in video games set out to achieve, and how choice-centred the universe it provided was, even when it fell short.

Perhaps most importantly, it is proof that just because something's a sequel, that doesn't mean it can't be a total reinvention, at least given a studio at the height of its powers and a silly sound effect.

This Mass Effect 2 article was first published in issue 273 of Edge Magazine. To get more like this delivered straight to your doorstep (or digital device) consider subscribing to Edge.

Cult classic indie game Katana Zero has pulled a Hollow Knight Silksong, sort of - the long, long awaited Katana Zero DLC is now sequel-sized, according to the game's lead developer Justin Stander.

Katana Zero first became a huge success more than seven years ago, thanks to its gorgeous pixel art and lightning speed action that felt like a mix between Hotline Miami's heart-thumping brutality and Sekiro's sword slashing parries. A cryptic story and banger soundtrack didn't hurt, either.

After several years, the promised Katana Zero DLC is still nowhere to be seen, but fret not. Justin Stander recently took to social media to tell folks he's "still working hard" on the project. It's just taking longer than expected because the DLC keeps ballooning in size… I wonder where I've heard that one before?

"We made it bigger. It's the size of a full sequel, plus a soundtrack of over 30+ new songs," Stander tweets. "More updates to come. Thanks for your continued support!"

One small but notable difference between this and Hollow Knight Silksong (which also started out as a modest expansion before expanding wildly) is that, for now, the Katana Zero DLC is still DLC, not a standalone sequel. This is far from the first time the project's multiplied in scope, however.

In 2020, the indie dev said the Katana Zero DLC had grown to three times its original size. As of last year, it was "nearly" as big as the base game. Now? It sounds like it could be even bigger.

Still no release date yet for Katana Zero's continuation, but we did receive a short and gorgeous trailer last year.

Be sure to check out the upcoming indie games for 2026 and beyond

A24 and Alex Garland's Elden Ring movie is supposedly the studio's most expensive production of all time with a reported budget of $200 million. FromSoftware's RPG adaptation ain't cheap.

The figure comes courtesy of a recent Wall Street Journal report that states A24 is spending "nearly $200 million" to adapt the landmark dark fantasy game, not including marketing costs, according to sources in the know. Earlier in the year, the reported figure was closer to $100 million - still A24's biggest movie at the time.

A $200 million budget would make Elden Ring far and away the studio's priciest feature yet. To put things into perspective, the arthouse company reportedly spent around $70 million on last year's Marty Supreme, starring Timothee Chalamet, which was previously its most expensive big screen flick. Before that, Alex Garland's Civil War carried a $50 million price tag.

A24 is essentially dropping blockbuster cash on one of its first major blockbuster bets - at $200 million, the cost of adapting Elden Ring is closer to the budget the Marvel Cinematic Universe normally plays around with.

But it's not necessarily a hugely risky bet. Elden Ring is one of the generation's most popular and defining games - analyst Rhys Elliott recently reported the game of the year winner had sold over 36 million copies, bringing in more than $2 billion in revenue. There's no guarantee that the Elden Ring movie can repeat the game's success - it still needs to be good first - but the name awareness could definitely help it become a box office hit.

The Elden Ring movie hits theatres on March 3, 2028. Kit Connor (Heartstopper) and Cailee Spaeny (Beef, Alien: Romulus) are starring in the fantasy picture, which wrapped filming earlier this summer. George R.R. Martin is on board as a producer after helping FromSoftware create the game's lore.

"The biggest L From Soft has taken in a long time": Emergency Elden Ring patch stops players from getting the new $5 DLC items for free

A new research paper co-authored by a Game Freak developer dives deep into next-gen water simulation tech, raising hopes for Pokemon Winds and Waves' summery vistas and underwater areas.

Game Freak programmer Fumiya Narita and University of Tokyo professor Takashi Kanai recently co-published a new paper that aims to help render water and moving liquids more efficiently, without sacrificing any of the visual detail that really makes the ocean splash in animation. (Good spot, Automaton.)

Their joint research paper was presented during the international Pacific Graphics 2026 conference held in Singapore, and there's quite a bit of technical knowhow involved, of course. Essentially, the research explains that detailed liquid physics presents a heavy computational load on many games, so the new tech looks to simplify the under-the-hood calculations and concentrate on the most impressive details - the splashes, ripples, maybe even the waves…

It's worth noting that the research didn't show off the tech using any in-game demonstration, and Game Freak hasn't confirmed whether the research will affect next year's Pokemon Winds and Waves, either.

Regardless, it's not hard to see how this research could hypothetically impact the next mainline Pokemon RPG. The game's debut trailer showed off massive oceans with tons of simulated movement, as well as an underwater biome that suggests we might be able to dive below the surface this time around.

We'll need to wait for Pokemon Winds and Waves to come out sometime in 2027 - exclusively on Switch 2 - to find out more.

Pokemon Winds and Waves might not have turn-based battles as Game Freak veteran hints the combat system "could change" thanks to Pokemon Champions

The developers behind Peak have finally launched their viral co-op climbing game on consoles, but the long-awaited port also had the side effect of tripling the game's file size on Steam. Why? Well, Team Peak explains that it's because there's now 208 maps in rotation, rather than the usual 30.

More than a year after the game's swift ascent on PC, Peak has now - ahem - peaked on PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox PC. The new ports also introduced cross-play across all platforms, as well as a new 10GB update that brought the game's total size to about 15GB.

"Why is it so big? So, the way daily map rotations work is we upload about 30-ish new maps in a Steam patch, which means every few weeks we've had to keep patching just to swap out the game with new maps that we have to manually generate on our side every god damn time," Team Peak explains in a recent video.

"So, since we're wrapping up development on Peak, we wanted to make sure there was still re-playability for players. Instead of the same 30 daily maps rotating forever, you get 208 maps rotating forever. That's why the update was so big," the dev added.

As huge new updates begin to slowly wind down, it's understandable that joint developers Aggro Crab (Another's Crab's Treasure) and Landfall (TABS, Haste) wanted to somewhat future proof their 'friendslop' mainstay. Still, the devs are hard at work to clean up any remaining bugs.

"Steam specific users might also encounter a bug with joining lobbies where the lobby created is in a different region to you… We actually fixed this bug, so it's actually live right now… You don't even have to worry about it," the video continued. A Switch 2 bug that causes layers to clip through the floor when jumping too high is also being fixed, as are some reported framerate drops on Xbox.

Team Peak also warned that PlayStation players in different regions, such as Brazil, might be affected by unusually high regional pricing: "We're fixing that, so feel free to wait a few days before purchasing."

Peak co-dev says games like its iconic friendslop hit "wouldn't exist" if the studio tried to turn everything it makes "into the next Fortnite" with endless content updates

After weeks of outcry, Blizzard has seemingly caved to pressure from the ever-vocal Diablo 4 community and increased stacking on Prime Evil Splinters from 1, which means no stacking, all the way up to 99, a 9900% increase. That's not just a compromise, that's a full-blown reversal seemingly based on feedback from the players.

"WE GOT A SPLINTER STACK SIZE INCREASE," reads an excited Reddit post featuring a screenshot from the latest Diablo 4 patch notes, which confirm, "The stack size for Prime Evil Splinters increased from 1 to 99" starting October 28. Unfortunately, the reaction at least on the Diablo 4 subreddit hasn't been as positive as Blizzard is probably hoping. In fact, the vast majority of comments, including those with the most upvotes, are from players who feel the change is too late, if not too little.

"Nice. Wait until the bulk of the playerbase has given up in disgust," reads the top comment on the post. I very much doubt "the bulk of the playerbase" has really given up on Diablo 4 because of this, and in fact I'd argue the majority of players don't give a damn about stackable Splinters, but it seems the subreddit is in agreement that it simply took Blizzard too long to make this change.

Season 15 has been out for a few weeks now, and this whole time the seasonal Prime Evil Splinters you use to grant yourself Prime Evil powers have been locked to one per inventory, meaning you could only have one of each type on you at any given time. Diablo 4's endgame grinders hated that so much that they came up with an incredibly fussy and demanding workaround, but now Blizzard has made that technique obsolete by letting you stack up to 99 of the suckers, which seems excessive to me.

Regardless, Diablo 4 players aren't letting Blizzard off the hook for this one.

"Too fuckin late," says another disgruntled denizen of Sanctuary.

"I’m good. Too little too late!" says another, and so on...

Although unstackable Splinters have been seen as a season 15 bug by many, I'm convinced Blizzard was being very intentional when it limited players to just one per type. The wording in the new patch notes to me suggests a reversal rather than a bug fix, which makes this yet another example of Blizzard's willingness to make significant design changes in response to feedback from players.

Diablo 4 PTR 3.3.0 confirms Season 16 is "carrying forward" some features by popular demand, and Blizzard is taking Druids back to school to address broken tags

Factorio effectively created a genre with its lovable blend of base building, management, and survival, and it's been a Steam icon ever since it first hit early access way back in 2016. Even after a 1.0 release, a 2.0 update, and a major DLC expansion the devs have made good on their promise to never put the game on sale, and now we're here at yet another milestone with Factorio 2.1.

After months in testing, the 2.1 update has now been officially released, offering "a big collection of quality of life, small features, polish, and the things we wanted to do for 2.0 but didn't have time for," according to the announcement on Steam.

The full patch notes are stuffed with catnip for hardcore fans – "rockets can now carry multiple different items in one launch," "elevated rails can now be built over cargo bays," and "land mines can be used as tripwires and enemy detectors," for example – but arguably the most notable part is that this is likely to be the game's final milestone. The devs at Wube Software previously described it as the "last major update" they plan to create.

It's possible a few more minor patches for Factorio may land to clean up bugs and the like, but this update marks the end of an era. Factorio has been a staple on Steam, one that's earned over 234,000 positive Steam reviews, resulting in a 98% overwhelmingly positive rating. According to Steam250, that makes it the 35th best game on Valve's platform, just one step behind Elden Ring.

The game's sterling reputation and masses of players come despite the fact that, unlike pretty much every other game on Valve's platform, the devs resolutely refuse to put Factorio on sale. In fact, they actually raised the game's price in 2023 "to account for inflation."

"It isn't about visibility or sales," the devs said of their zero sale stance back in 2016, "it's about respecting the players who have already purchased the game. We don't want to reward the people who hold off on buying the game, the game is a price we find reasonable, and this is the deal. If you think it is priced too high, then it is your choice to not purchase, and we hope that with enough time, and extra development, we will be able to convince you of its value."

Clearly, a whole lot of people have been convinced of that value over the years, including a new console audience thanks to the game's releases on Switch and Switch 2. Back in 2025, the devs said they were already "laying some groundwork for what our next project could look like," and if it's anything like Factorio, it could be the stuff of indie gaming legends.

These are the best PC games you can play today.

I'm more of a Midna stan, but there's no denying Navi from Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the series' most iconic ethereal companion, with her lovably nagging pleas to "hey, listen" still ringing through the Zelda pantheon after all these years. The original vision for the li'l fairy, however, was very different from the glowing orb with wings we know and love today, and it's only because of the technical limitations of the Nintendo 64 that she looks the way she does.

Nintendo veteran and Ocarina of Time designer Yoshiaki Koizumi revealed as much in an Iwata Asks Q&A from 2011, but with the upcoming remake renewing interest in the original game, the Kit & Krysta YouTube channel dug it up and it caught our attention here. I mean, can you imagine an Ocarina of Time where Link's companion is anything but a faceless glowing ball? According to Koizumi, Navi was originally supposed to be a human-like figure.

"Usually, if you were to make a fairy, you would make a cute girl, but that wasn't possible with the Nintendo 64 system, so I just made a ball of light with wings," Koizumi says.

This initial direction makes sense, since the previous, 2D games had shown fairies as girlish creatures in the style of Tinkerbell. I'm 100% guessing here, but it sounds like a human-like model would've been too much detail to cram into such a tiny character and still have animations and AI look half-decent.

Koizumi was a key architect behind Ocarina of Time's Z-targeting system, which uses Navi as a cursor instead of a traditional on-screen marker. In the same interview, he says Navi was born simply because he didn't want to use a generic marker.

"I was a designer, so I didn't want to use such a simple marker. I wanted to make something else, so I came up with a fairy. After all, it was The Legend of Zelda," he says.

It's both funny and disturbing to imagine Nintendo conjuring a more realistic female-presenting Navi for the Ocarina of Time remake, but thankfully pre-release footage has confirmed she's the same iridescent sphere as before but with fewer edges. Still, it's wild to think that almost certainly wouldn't be the case if the N64 had a few extra bits in its processor.

Zelda: Ocarina of Time on N64 actually had a jump button early in development, 29 years before Nintendo's remake added one

Final Fantasy Resonance – the first game in the series to be made in Square Enix's HD-2D style – is already the second-biggest Steam launch for any turn-based RPG title from the developer.

Square Enix has finally relented to years of suggestions and released a Final Fantasy game in the HD-2D style, with the latest spinoff in the series, Final Fantasy Resonance, dropping this week. Like last year's Octopath Traveler Zero, this HD-2D RPG adapts one of Square's previous mobile games – Final Fantasy Brave Exvius – into a full-blown console RPG.

Per SteamDB, the RPG has hit a peak of 27,933 players over the course of its first day available, which places it at the higher end of Square Enix's roster of turn-based RPGs on the platform. In fact, this number sees it narrowly overtake this year's Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined, which peaked at 27,390. However, Dragon Quest isn't out just yet, as the peak of Square's turn-based player count goes to Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, which sits at an impressive 45,357 from its launch back in 2024.

Of course, this is only day one for Final Fantasy Resonance, and given that the majority of Steam games tend to peak on the first weekend after their release, there's still a chance for Resonance to steal the top spot. But at the very least, it's looking like a pretty successful launch for Square Enix, who will hopefully make a wholly original HD-2D Final Fantasy game in the future, rather than an adaptation of a mobile game.

Final Fantasy 14 players get 1 free day of game time after Square Enix lifts the MMO's PHP lockdown

The MW4 DMZ Police Stations are spread across the map, but if you can find their locations you can complete the Orders connected to them, as well as simply loot them for high value items. Police Stations have quickly become an easy point of reference in Modern Warfare 4 to get good loot, especially related to weapons and guns. If you want to know how to find them and loot them effectively, here's where to look, as well as how to get into the Police Armories.

For more help with the latest Call of Duty, check out all the MW4 DMZ best traits for your operators, or find out all the best weapons and guns in Modern Warfare 4!

Where to find all DMZ Police Stations in MW4

There are five Police Stations across the MW4 DMZ map, all shown above. They're easy enough to find, as they aren't hidden, and they are marked on the map by default with a sheriff Star symbol.

There's no major difference between the layout or contents of each of the DMZ police stations, though keep in mind that if you have an Armory key (see below) it will be specific to one station or another, described by its relation to major landmarks (such as "North of Wolves Stadium").

How to loot Police Stations and open the Armory

Police Stations are several floors (including a basement) with various randomized containers, similar to other buildings. However, what's of note is that there's an armory/evidence room in the basement of each building that holds high-level loot and requires a key to open. This room should be down the stairs on the right when you enter through the main doors.

Some have reported finding Armory keys within the Police Stations themselves (I have checked and have yet to be so lucky), but you can find them around the DMZ as random rare rewards, or through mission completion.

Still learning the particulars of MW4? if you've already got DMZ in front of you, find out how to uncover the Modern Warfare 4 Counting Room Vault location for an early source of great loot, or how to uncover the Modern Warfare 4 Dynamic Op Phone and complete the early challenges!

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Modern Warfare 4 has received a much-needed update to stop people from UAV-hogging during DMZ matches.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is finally out today after what can – in the nicest way – be described as a unique launch rollout. Last week, players were able to access the game's campaign mode, and earlier this week, the DMZ mode became available to drop into. DMZ is Activision's take on the extraction shooter genre, letting 20 squads drop onto a massive map and play a dangerous version of Supermarket Sweep without the quizzing.

However, from what seemed like the moment DMZ launched, players found one element of it particularly frustrating. Namely, UAV towers are able to be taken over by players and expanded throughout a game, meaning that there are huge no-go zones unless you fancy being spotted the moment you walk in. This would cause a rush to UAV towers to get this benefit for yourself, with some going as far as to say this choice was a "mistake, and so oppressive you can't do anything."

This week Infinity Ward announced some new changes in a minor update for the game, with the magic words included "In DMZ, players can now steal back UAV Towers from enemy control." This change has naturally excited DMZ fans, with Call of Duty news account ModernWarzone saying the change was "so badly needed" and "Awesome to see that get fixed so quickly."

However, this was somewhat undercut about the other part of this update, which allows parties of four players to queue up into free-for-all bouts. Which, in theory, will allow squads to team up against everyone else in the all-for-one battlefields, with the replies to the update mostly consisting of players calling this change out.

Check out our Modern Warfare 4 review here!

Many will be trying to work out where to buy the Legend of Zelda Nintendo Switch 2 this week, as the special edition 40th Anniversary handheld launches to the world. While Zelda Switch 2 stock is still difficult to find in the US, though, the UK has seen a last-minute surge in stock.

Kicking off before the weekend and still holding out today, Amazon is the place to be right now. The site has £499 Zelda special edition pre-orders ready to go, though you'll be waiting a little while to receive them. The store is shipping for a November 5 release instead of this week's October 29 launch date.

We're in the window when pre-order payments are starting to be taken from those lucky enough to snag the Zelda 40th Anniversary Edition Switch 2 last month. With launch set for October 29, many retailers will be starting their shipping process about now. When payments inevitably bounce or early birds get cold feet, their previously accounted-for handhelds return to the shelves.

While Thursday might give us our biggest splash of new Legend of Zelda Nintendo Switch 2 stock (Nintendo itself has reassured us that restocks are on their way) it's well worth keeping a close eye on the retailers below over the weekend. Stores in both the US and UK have been spotted sliding these handhelds over the counter in recent days.

Quick stock check

UK

• ✅ Amazon in stock
• Check Argos
• Check Smyths Toys
• Check Very

US

• Check Walmart
• Check Best Buy
• Check Amazon
• Check Target

Where to buy the Legend of Zelda Nintendo Switch 2 in the US

Where to buy Legend of Zelda Nintendo Switch 2 in the UK

Legend of Zelda Switch 2 stock hunting tips

After years of high demand for major hardware releases, we've picked up a thing or two about how retailers operate and how best to approach new restock opportunities. The key here is to make sure you can sail through checkout as quickly as possible when the heat is on.

That means the first thing you should do now is make sure you have an account with each store you're checking. Being able to save your payment and delivery details with each retailer can save you valuable seconds at checkout. Remember, that handheld's not yours until you get the final confirmation - the slower you are during the final stages the higher the chance your Switch 2 will be sniped from your cart. Not only that but some retailers, like Best Buy, require that account to even order at all.

Having the account and saving your payment and delivery information is one thing, be sure to also check the box to stay signed in when you leave. This will ensure you're ready to go no matter when Legend of Zelda Switch 2 restocks drop.

Next you're going to want to check the clock. While it can be more sporadic than some stock hunters will tell you, retailers tend to restock at around the same time every day. In general, focus your hunts around mornings, in particular around 8am to 11am (though Target has a habit of dropping new stock between 5am and 8am as well).

Keep an eye on those stores across multiple devices. When a surge in demand causes websites to crash, mobile connections seem to cut through a little easier. I've seen many a success from those pushing through on their phones while desktop users are stuck at spinning wheels.

Finally, never give into resellers. Once stock has left the shelves you'll spot handhelds appearing at sites like StockX and eBay at much higher prices. It's not worth the extra cash, and you're only fueling the reason high-demand gadgets are so difficult to buy anyway.

We're also rounding up all the best Nintendo Switch 2 gifts as well as the top Legend of Zelda merch on the market.

If there's one thing the GamesRadar+ RPG Club has taught me, it's that you've never seen it all. Just when you think you know an RPG inside out, it goes ahead and surprises you 10 years later. See, I thought I'd experienced every original side quest and monster contract in The Witcher 3 – given my many, many playthroughs – but the remastered re-release turned out to prove me wrong. On the shores of Skellige, after completing a particular contract at a particular time, a series of rather unfortunate events landed me in a pokey prison. Having no recollection of getting caught up in this mess before, I had no idea how I was going to get the White Wolf out of this one.

But the very fact that I couldn't wait to find out, and felt fresh excitement in an adventure I've spent hundreds upon hundreds of hours with, speaks to the magic of CD Projekt Red's sweeping fantasy adventure. It's not only teeming with things to see, do, and discover, but it directly reacts to the order in which you do things, and a decision to complete a contract at a certain time made me stumble my way into a missable quest that now refuses to leave my mind.

Quest Log

Wraiths and fog

It all begins with the haunting of a lighthouse out on one of the far islets of Skellige. The contract, The Phantom of Eldberg, is pretty standard for an experienced Witcher like me: investigate the area and find out why wraiths are attached to the location. It's all going well, having found the person responsible for tying the ghostly apparitions to the lighthouse. With a trophy in hand, I return back to a quaint little tavern to get my payment from a local called Jorund.

Only, the tavern is housing some hostile patrons who are none too happy at my being there, and with civil tensions at their peak with the passing of the king, things take a drastic turn. Before I know it, I'm in a bout of fistcuffs that quickly evolves into a clashing of blades. Poor Jorund pays the ultimate price, and as a stranger in a strange land, I'm quickly hoisted into a prison in the compound of Madman Lugos. What a day for poor Geralt.

I'd done this contract before, but it'd never ended like this. On previous runs, I handed in my wraith trophy and Jorund sat happily in the tavern, living to see another day. But, as I discovered, it's all about when you do this contract. Completing it before you do the King's Gambit kicks off a missable quest chain that I had apparently always managed to skip… probably due to my affinity for the Possession quest, or because I'd simply never picked up the contract early enough.

Regardless of the reason, I love the fact that The Witcher 3 constantly takes stock of what I choose you to do, and when I choose to do it. It puts real tangible weight behind my decisions in this world – something I live for in RPGs. And on this occasion, the game rewards me with a wild quest called The Cave of Dreams. If you've experienced this before, you know what I'm in for, but by all of the howling winds does it feel extra magical to witness it through the lens of the remastered edition's enhanced graphics.

Naturally there will be spoilers ahead for the Cave of Dreams.

Face your fears

Indebted to Lugos for letting me out of my pokey prison, I'm tasked with helping out his son, Blueboy Lugos, who's ventured to a cave with some companions to overcome a challenge of legend. Tales tell that anyone who enters the cave will face their fears, which are brought on by taking a mixture of hallucinogenic herbs before you delve into its depths. I'm already drawn to the concept, eager to see what the often implacable monster slayer Geralt's innermost fears will conjure.

At once, things start to get surreal. The cave comes alive with a giant, glittering razorback whale swimming through the air above the heads of the White Wolf, Blueboy, and his crew. It's a sight to behold, as are the school of fish that decorate the cave roof further in. Damn. It sure does look incredibly pretty. Pure camera mode fodder.

The events that actually unfold during the quest are what make it so memorable, though. Through every section of the cave, a character's fear comes to life. For warrior Uve Jabberjaw, it's the deceased king. Having previously insulted the monarch, Uve drastically cut out his own tongue as penance, and the past event clearly still haunts him. Then, in a more chilling turn, Blueboy faces his own father, whose anger and disappointment sets him literally aflame.

When I finally reach the scene of Geralt's fear, I stop to take it in: I'm looking at Kaer Morhen covered in a blanket of white snow. The nightmares that have plagued the witcher throughout the story make manifest here, with the imposing figure of Eredin, King of the Wild Hunt, materializing. It hits hard, not because Geralt is afraid of Eredin, but because he fears for the person the king continues to threaten: Ciri. The short confrontation gets to the heart of what makes The Witcher 3's story so memorable. It's about found family, protecting those you love, and never giving up the fight to keep them safe, and it once again reiterates how deeply Geralt cares for his ward.

If I ever needed further proof as to why The Witcher 3 continues to endure as one of the best RPGs going, well, this quest and the way I finally stumbled upon it is further proof. Now, excuse me while I go and see what else awaits me in the Remaster.

Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Donkey Kong, says he has several projects in the works.

It's hard to name anyone in the games industry who is more influential than Miyamoto. Mario being the face of the industry would have given him that honor, but he also created Zelda, Pikmin, Donkey Kong, Nintendogs… the list goes on. This has culminated in Miyamoto receiving the Japanese Order of Culture, awarded by the Japanese government. This makes him the first-ever game developer to receive the award, with previous winners including Physics Nobel Prize laureates, actors, musicians, and mathematicians.

Speaking to Denfaminicogamer (via machine translation), Miyamoto was asked if this award could be seen as a culmination of his 49-year career and a chance for him to ride off into the sunset. Miyamoto notes that he doesn't know how long he'll be able to keep working for, but is determined to enjoy it while it lasts and pursue what he wants to do in the meantime.

On top of that, Miyamoto assured that he's still working on several projects. And while he's worked on a ton over the last 49 years, I don't really think this means games. Yes, Miyamoto is one of the most iconic game designers of all time, but if you look at his role within Nintendo over the last several years, he's been involved in multimedia roles far more prominently.

Miyamoto has been at the forefront of the Super Nintendo World theme park expansions at Universal Studios, as well as being a producer on both Super Mario Bros. movies and the upcoming The Legend of Zelda movie. And given there are rumors about Donkey Kong, Luigi's Mansion, and Star Fox films in the works, I'd say these are far more likely to be what he is busy with for now… that and spreading the good word of Pikmin.

Nintendo mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto says AI "provides an opportunity to reflect on what's really important" in game dev, "which I think is a positive thing"

The best traits in MW4 DMZ mode are all about making sure that your operator has the best skill possible. As you play you'll level up and earn new trait points, capping out at 18, which isn't nearly enough to fill all three skill trees. With that in mind, you need to be certain that you're picking the best traits possible and ensuring that you're ready for a variety of circumstances. With that in mind, I'll lay out the optimum build for traits in Modern Warfare 4 below, so you know exactly what to choose when the time comes.

What are the best traits in DMZ for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4?

Here are the best traits in each skill tree in MW4 DMZ mode. If you're building up in each tree, make sure that you pick the traits mentioned below when given the option to do so.

• Warfighter
  • Equipment Professional: Slowly recharges equipped lethals and tacticals after use. Refills up to the max capacity of the slot.
  • Adrenaline Burst: Killing an enemy resets tactical sprint.
  • Possum: Allows a Self Revive into Last Stand from death, restoring health to maximum, once per match.
• Scout
  • Investor: Slightly increases cash amount extracted.
  • Auto Fill: Lethals and tacticals automatically replenish from Backpack.
  • UAV Upgrade: Increases the range and duration of UAVs. Also upgrades them to Advanced UAVs.
• Survivalist
  • Quick Knife: Replaces weapon bash melee attacks with knife attacks.
  • Metabolism: Slowly regenerate health lost via tourniquet.
  • Die Hard: Approaching an exfil while in Last Stand calls the exfil automatically. Also grants infinite bleed out time while in Last Stand.

These traits are largely based around universality and broad applicability in combat, as well as emphasizing those skills that are better in PvP than PvE (which tends to be tougher as a rule). I've also de-emphasized traits that increase reward yields and item stacking – not that there's anything wrong with those, but I think it's more important to survive missions than to risk your life on some small reward bonuses. After all, it doesn't matter if you have more loot than normal if you never make it home safely!

Operator Traits in Modern Warfare 4 DMZ explained

Traits in MW4 DMZ are skills that are unlocked when your Operator levels up. You'll get a trait point that can be invested in any of the three skill trees, granting that specific operator and character that skill, but only them! These don't apply to any other operators that you have unlocked.

Traits are picked from one of two or three options each time, and these choices are exclusive. For example, early in the Warfighter tree, you'll be able to pick between "Plate Pouch", "Bounty Hunter" and "Resupply". Whichever one you pick, it'll lock that Operator out of ever getting the other two, so pick carefully!

Operators can earn a total of 18 Traits before they max out, which is enough to completely work through two of the skill trees to the end. That restriction means that you have to think carefully about what you want to get, as you won't be able to get all of them.

If that operator is lost on a mission, you'll lose all progress you made with them. However, you can pay cash to rescue them. The amount of money it costs scales to their level – the more Traits they have, the more expensive it will be to bring them back.

Still learning the particulars of MW4? if you've already got DMZ in front of you, find out how to uncover the Modern Warfare 4 Counting Room Vault location for an early source of great loot, or how to uncover the Modern Warfare 4 Dynamic Op Phone and complete the early challenges!

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Shigeru Miyamoto, the Nintendo representative director and executive fellow behind titles like Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda, sees AI – as controversial as it may be – as a natural progression of technology.

The Nintendo mastermind says as much during a press conference reported by GameWatch (later translated from Japanese by VGC), first recalling past technological advancements.

"Our generation lived through a period of rapid computer development – a time when tools were constantly evolving, moving from typewriters to word processors," he explains, using design – or more specifically, lettering – as an example.

"In the past, for instance, designers were taught in school how to create beautiful lettering for posters; possessing that skill alone was enough to be called a 'designer.' Alternatively, one could simply take a design that was trending abroad, give it a 'Japanese-style' twist, and be labeled a designer."

Then, "computers and technology advanced," as Miyamoto says, and "a designer's true individual capabilities… finally came to the fore."

That's when he mentions AI: "I believe generative AI represents a similar shift." Miyamoto then draws a line between "creating" and the "labor" that's involved while creating.

"When you set out to create, you first establish a broad structure, then begin the hands-on work: the tasks that follow, such as filling in gaps or refining the details. The tricky part is that this labor can actually be quite enjoyable."

Miyamoto doesn't think hard or lengthy labor means a good product, however – and there could be danger in folks wrongly believing it does. "While the act of creation is inherently satisfying, there's a danger: one might find satisfaction in the labor itself and mistakenly believe that a high-quality piece of work has been created."

In that regard, the Nintendo legend views AI as a potential asset rather than a liability. "In that sense, the more AI replaces these tasks, the more it provides an opportunity to reflect on what's really important, which I think is a positive thing," he says.

Rather than looking at the tech – which is, admittedly, quite controversial – Miyamoto sees benefits in using AI. He doesn't see it as a replacement for creatives or developers, either, as it works with and for people rather than instead of, in his mind.

"Looking back at past designs, there are some that were created merely by copying and pasting. Yet, such work rarely stands the test of time; it lacks the individual's particular design intention." AI doesn't, "because the process relies on an individual's intent, with the computer serving as an assistant for the labor."

And, again, Miyamoto doesn't believe that'll push actual human beings out of the picture, and that's precisely why.

"I believe that even as technology continues to evolve, and even if AI were to eventually handle everything, there will always be a role left for us to play," he concludes – and, while I'm not sure I completely agree myself, I suppose I can understand where he's coming from.

I don't see AI being able to pull off the likes of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake or any other new games that have caught my eye, though… and I doubt I ever will.

Zelda and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto becomes first-ever dev to receive Japan's greatest cultural award, but he's crediting all of Nintendo: "These achievements were not the work of one person"

Shigeru Miyamoto, mastermind of Nintendo and the creator of Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Donkey Kong, will receive one of Japan's most highly regarded cultural honors – and he's the first video game developer to do so, too.

The Order of Culture, established in 1937, is an award presented to men and women who have made substantial contributions to Japan's art, literature, science, and technology.

Notable recipients include everything from fashion designers to manga artists and biologists… and, yes, it's now going to Miyamoto. A new report from GameWatch (as translated by Automaton) confirms as much.

Miyamoto, who reportedly appeared "modest" during the announcement regarding the award, is "honored" to be receiving it, paying tribute to other devs he's worked alongside throughout his career at Nintendo – his 49-year career: "I am truly honored to receive such a prestigious award. As I have often said, these achievements were not the work of one person, but the result of collaboration with many others. I accept this honor on their behalf."

The Nintendo representative director and executive fellow will officially receive the award on Japan's Culture Day, November 3. He is one of eight recipients chosen by the Japanese government and, again, the first-ever game dev to be nominated for the Order of Culture.

It serves as a testament to the mark he and his franchises have made, from arcade machines in the 1980s to portable home consoles like the Switch 2 today.

Heck, it's ongoing. We've got The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake set to release on November 5 – a remake of the beloved 1998 gem that Miyamoto acted as both producer and supervisor on. There are countless projects he's influenced in one way or another that are still managing to pull millions of players worldwide.

This is one award I'd argue is very much deserved, and it's exciting to see it finally reach the games industry.

Shigeru Miyamoto dreams of Nintendo consoles becoming a rite of passage for everyone coming of age: "Which Nintendo would make you the happiest?"

The upcoming Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake sent shockwaves through the world when its trailer revealed the addition of a technological advancement straight from the arcade generation: a dedicated jump button. That's right, instead of just walking up to a ledge and trusting the honor system to prompt Link to automatically jump over to the appropriate platform, the Ocarina of Time remake will allow you to hit a specific button to jump. Technical achievement aside, it turns out this was actually a feature in the original N64 Ocarina of Time when it was early in development, but it was removed before release for whatever reason.

This was first revealed in an old Iwata Asks article from 2011 featuring a conversation between Nintendo veteran and Ocarina of Time designer Yoshiaki Koizumi and late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. Resurfaced by the Kit & Krysta YouTube channel, the back-and-forth touches on how Mario and Zelda games back then used to be "made as a pair," and it's here that Koizumi reveals this little-known fact about Ocarina of Time's early development.

"I do think they are often made in pairs," Koizumi says. "They both fell into the category of '3D open-world action games.' I didn't really see the difference between them."

Iwata responds: "If you were to state the difference, it would be how The Legend of Zelda is the one you don't press a button to jump in."

Koizumi counters. "Even when it comes to that, you had to press a button to jump when we first started making The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time," he says.

Finally, Iwata confirms, "at first, it didn't have autojump."

The exact reason for the switch to an auto-jump mechanic is never made explicitly clear, but Koizumi says the dev team was thinking about Ocarina of Time "the whole time" it was making Super Mario 64, which made them start "talking about decreasing the action element in The Legend of Zelda and increasing the puzzle elements."

My read on that is, during Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time's development, Nintendo felt like jumping better suited action gameplay and they wanted to tilt the balance a little more toward puzzle-solving, so they switched Link over to an auto-jump system to emphasize that side of things more. Clearly they've changed their minds in the intervening years, as, thank goodness, come November 5 you'll be able to jump to your heart's content in the remake.

Zelda Ocarina of Time remake has new sidequests, harder minigames, and subtle dungeon tweaks that suddenly have me a lot more interested.

Despite a price increase, customer spending on the Nintendo Switch 2 has increased by only 2% compared to last year.

During September 2026, average console spending was naturally higher across the board due to price increases driven by ongoing global RAM shortages (thanks to AI slop farms!). Xbox prices went up by £130 for the 512GB Series S and £170 for 1TB models of the Series X|S; Sony increased prices by $100 for the PS5 and $150 for the PS5 Pro; and the Switch 2 got a $50 price bump.

Per Circana's Mat Piscatella on Bluesky, the average price paid for a PS5 was up 17% from $551 to $646; Xbox was up even more significantly, by 33%, from $497 to $663, while Nintendo was up… 2%? Yes, despite the price increase, Nintendo spending only increased from $486 to $498.

During September 2026, the average price paid per hardware unit sold, and the change from September 2025 (Source: Circana Retail Tracking Service):PS5 - $646, +17% vs YA ($551)XBS - $663, +33% vs YA ($497SW2 - $498, +2% vs YA ($486)But wait, didn't Nintendo implement a price increase? Yep, but

— @matpiscatella.bsky.social (@matpiscatella.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-10-22T16:27:21.304Z

So how does that happen? Piscatella explains that Nintendo "transitioned away from the Mario Kart World bundle" to a standalone Switch 2 console this year. So "while the buyer gets less value in the box than they used to," the average price paid has managed to remain pretty firm. He adds, "Pretty smart cookies over there at Nintendo."

Nintendo Switch 2 is going into its second holiday season this year, and with the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake introducing a new Zelda 40th anniversary Switch 2 console that is $20 more expensive than the base console, which means that percentage will probably increase next month… if anyone can get one that is.

Nintendo Switch 2 jailbroken for the first time thanks to AI, but taking part involves a $25 eShop purchase I don't see sticking around

The main mission added in Cyberpunk 2077 2.5 update is called Clampdown, designed to tie into the second season of Edgerunners. It's available to play for free for anybody who's downloaded the 2.5 patch for Cyberpunk 2077, but you'll need to walk through a few hoops to unlock it. If you want to play Clampdown, here's how to do just that and what you need to get given this quest.

How to play the new Clampdown mission in Cyberpunk 2077

To unlock the Edgerunners Clampdown mission and get to play it in Cyberpunk's 2.5 patch, you need to complete the following milestones within the game:

1. Complete "The Heist" story mission, as well as the following quests: "Love Like Fire" and "Playing for Time". This will give you full access to the open world of Cyberpunk 2077.
2. Complete any two gigs for the fixer Wakako Okada (found in Westbrook's Japantown).

At this point you should (eventually) get a message from Wakako called "A Request from King". Have a quick text conversation with her, and you'll be given the Clampdown quest and be free to pursue it when ready. Pursuing the mission to its end will grant you various rewards related to Edgerunners Season 2, including both new outfits and weaponry themed around the characters in that show.

Enjoying a return to Night City? For more info on the 2.5 update, make sure you check out how to dual wield in Cyberpunk 2077, how to complete the new Cyberpunk 2077 Welcome to Paradise quest that sends you around town, or how to get Witcher themed gear from Ariadne in Cyberpunk 2077!

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Grand Theft Auto is not a roleplaying game. Even with its sprawling open world and all the painstaking technical details that have gone into protagonists Lucia and Jason's story, GTA 6 will never be among those we call the best RPGs. Some systems in the latest entry might hew close, but the way Jason and Lucia evolve are closer to being a sim than an RPG proper. More than that, there's a fundamental difference between how Rockstar and developers like CD Projekt Red view their respective games.

After adding full mod support to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered, the Polish developer surprised Cyberpunk 2077 fans by announcing a similar built-in client to the Night City adventure. Patch 2.5 comes with all the bells and whistles that speak to a truly flexible, personalized RPG experience – and it's the furthest thing away from what Rockstar has said about GTA 6 so far.

Yours, mine, ours

Patch 2.5, in its broadest strokes, is an RPG replayer's ultimate fantasy. Delivered in co-development with Virtuos Studios, the update brings new clothing items as well as long-awaited cyberware customization (courtesy of new NPC vendors called Glamdocs), and the opportunity to finally dual-wield any pistol or revolver combination.

There's also some "cozy" new missions to engage with as V learns more about the founding of Night City, and of course, plenty of connective tissue between the video game and Netflix's new season of spin-off anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Top it off with full mod support, and I can fully understand why CDPR skipped straight past a patch 2.4 update; This really is a two-in-one deal.

Speaking on the latest Redstreams, associate game director Pawel Sasko sounded incredibly enthusiastic about what this patch means for replayability. The team is fully supportive of fans getting creative to make their next playthrough more unique than ever. CDPR even welcomes story mods among the plethora of ways you can reshape the experience to suit your needs, something Rockstar has reiterated its vocal opposition to in its recent fair use reminder.

It's an outlier in that regard. A healthy modding community and a robust customization system are the hallmarks of almost every successful game or franchise of the last two decades. Cyberpunk 2077 (and The Witcher 3, by extension) is following the example set out by Skyrim, Baldur's Gate 3, Mass Effect, The Sims 4 (until recently), and countless others. It's a surefire way to keep players engaged and interested in a title long past its release year, offering countless ways to experience the same story through brand new eyes. But it seems that Rockstar thinks the Grand Theft Auto name is more than enough to justify bucking this particular trend.

Forgive the ice-cold take, but fostering a strong sense of community should be paramount to every game developer. When I see RPG developers like CDPR and Larian Studios going out of their way to not only engage with their communities but deliver long-awaited quality-of-life additions, it makes me look more critically at those who refuse to. Respect should go both ways. If Rockstar wants to keep its legions of loyal followers, why not adapt to their needs instead of give them a hiding before the game is even out?

Lone wolves

Then again, Rockstar is no stranger to doing things differently. Where some devs embrace the changing tides that dictate our ever-shortening attention spans, Rockstar can just buy the ocean from under Poseidon. After all, it ended up acquiring GTA Online mod developer FiveM, a team it once threatened with legal action, in order to at least profit off of its roleplaying servers.

This is a team that plays by very different rules, so if you're hoping that Rockstar might slacken its leash on modding once GTA 6 has been out for some time, I wouldn't hold my breath.

GTA 6 isn't an RPG, as any genre purist will rush to tell you. Neither in its format nor in the attitude with which it was created. Rockstar is selling a product, not a community – and that's fine by me. But, I wonder how many will agree when it's time for the next iteration of GTA Online to get the GTA 6 treatment.

While GTA 5's mode has always been an outlier, online communities in 2026 than they were in 2013. In the meantime, I'll take hot pink mantis blades, dual-wielding Jackie's golden pistols, and having cats in all of V's Night City apartments before Rockstar's precious new baby. Call me when Jason gets a gorilla arms mod (and don't tell Mommy on me).

Check out these games like GTA if you just can't wait for GTA 6!

Dual-wielding in Cyberpunk 2077 is now possible with the 2.5 update with a skill that allows V to shoot two guns at the same time, akimbo/gunslinger style. It's a hell of an update that allows pistol users not to sacrifice damage output, but it's not something you'll be able to do off-the-bat without a bit of perk investment. If you want to dual-wield guns, I'll explain how to do that in Cyberpunk 2077 below.

How to dual wield in Cyberpunk 2077

To dual-wield guns in Cyberpunk 2077, players need to get the "Double Trouble" perk from the "Cool" Skill Tree, which unlocks when your Cool reaches level 9.

Once you've invested a Perk Point into Double Trouble, you'll be able to equip two pistols, but they both have to be Power Pistols or Power Revolvers. You can't dual-wield smart pistols, tech pistols, SMGs, shotguns, or anything else.

Once equipped, players can fire both guns simultaneously, though the weapons each have a 37.5% reduction in damage. If you invest two points into Double Trouble, you can unlock a special move called Heywood Hurricane, in which you rapidly fire both guns for one second and quickly refill ammo spent on successful shots.

There are also four perks tied to Double Trouble that further enhance it, which each improving Dual Wielding in some way - either reducing stamina costs, increasing accuracy, or buffing the Heywood Hurricane move.

If you're interested in guns, make sure you check out all the Cyberpunk 2077 best weapons! Or if you're getting back into the game with the 2.5 update, make sure you refresh your knowledge of all the most important Cyberpunk 2077 tips.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Final Fantasy 14 players have endured a chaotic 21 hours or so – nearly an entire day – as PHP troubles sparked security lockdowns on new logins from Square Enix… but we're so back, baby.

That's right, Final Fantasy 14 has finally reopened its pearly gates to the public after all the PHP anxieties, with Square Enix announcing the "resumption" of new logins earlier today.

The announcement came almost an entire day after the developers first closed the doors on folks chomping at the bit to enter the MMO, citing the need for some fresh "security enhancements" as the reason for temporarily halting new logins.

The devs also stated yesterday that "Following the suspension of new logins, the housing auto-demolition timer has been paused on all Worlds," and promised to "monitor developments and assess the situation before announcing when the timer will resume."

And, well, now that logins are picking back up, we've received word on when housing auto-demolition should return, too – and, sadly, the controversial feature is making its return next week.

"Security enhancement work related to the PHP programming language has been completed," an update on the housing situation from Square Enix reads. "The automatic housing demolition timer, which is currently suspended, will therefore resume on" – drumroll, please – October 26. Sigh.

"We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused." It do just be like that sometimes, I suppose. Use it or lose it and all that.

As for the PHP debacle itself, in case you're out of the loop, there was a major worldwide internet security scare yesterday, basically. It involved PHP, the tech and scripting language that powers a plethora of websites and more.

There were two serious security weaknesses, leading to a lot of shutdowns – heck, even the Steam store went down amid all the issues. It was a lot, but thankfully it seems things are slowly picking back up.

Final Fantasy 14 devs ask for the impossible, beg players to "take time to read" up on the MMO's options before Evercold is out

Mass Effect 5 is no more following the closure of BioWare after the EA buyout – but former developers believe it would've been an incredible RPG, had it come to fruition.

Tony de Waal, who acted as cinematic supervisor at BioWare and boasted some 29 years of experience at the studio, implies as much in a new LinkedIn post, explaining that he worked on everything from Mass Effect 2 to Dragon Age: The Veilguard – a game he says "was a herculean effort that tested the limits of even my workaholic mindset" – before Mass Effect 5.

"I believe we were making something special," he describes. "A level of autonomy and choice that no other game has been able to match."

The dev then references Baldur's Gate 3 team Larian Studios and CD Projekt Red, masterminds behind The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, recalling how BioWare looked to them: "We saw what Larian and CD Projekt were bringing to the table with their latest offerings, and started down a path to bring Mass Effect to the next level while remaining true to the Trilogy."

The cinematic mastermind closes by admitting "I'm sad you won't ever get to see what we were cooking" and paying tribute to his fellow devs, "some of the most talented people I've had the pleasure of working with throughout my career."

Interestingly, though, de Waal isn't the only BioWare veteran to reference Mass Effect 5 and how good it might've played had it been given the chance it deserved from EA to actually come to life.

Over on X, Derek Künsken, who introduces himself as both "a contract writer, and as a senior writer on staff" from BioWare, echoes this sentiment.

He isn't able to share too much aside from the fact that he was working on the new Mass Effect title and "what we were cooking was really cool," but that's got me wondering what could've been just as much as de Waal's own words do. I'm sure "really cool" is no understatement, after all.

It's disappointing to know that we won't get to experience what the devs had in store with Mass Effect 5 – and doubly so after hearing how amazing it may have been.

EA killing BioWare could lead to Mass Effect and Dragon Age rights being sold, former lead says, but they could just as easily "bury them in the vault"

In the early phases of Modern Warfare 4 DMZ you'll be told to collect a Dynamic Op Phone as part of the Payment Due orders, as well as earning $11,500 in cash from completing Dynamic Ops. Unfortunately, MW4 isn't particularly good at explaining what that means and what a Dynamic Op Phone is, but fortunately, I've found out the answer and can explain it to you below, as well as how to make the money you need.

How to collect a Dynamic Op Phone in Modern Warfare 4 DMZ mode

To collect a Dynamic Op phone in MW4 DMZ, you need to look on the map for the green radio-shaped icons, such as the one shown above. The actual symbol on each one will vary, but all of them count.

Follow the icon to its source to find a small radio/phone, which is the Dynamic Op phone. Interacting with it will trigger a small optional side mission that varies depending on the phone you've interacted with. You might have to hunt another player, kill an NPC target, or plant explosives somewhere. Either way, there'll be an icon to lead you to where you need to be.

To make the money, simply complete the quest. The amount of money earned will vary depending on the mission itself, but this goal to make $11,500 is one that will be done over multiple excursions and extractions, building up your earnings over time. Simply be patient.

For more info about the game, check out all the Modern Warfare 4 Mastery Camos, or find out the best weapons and guns in MW4! Or if you've already got DMZ in front of you, discover how to uncover the Modern Warfare 4 Counting Room Vault location for an early source of great loot!

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Following in the footsteps of the PlayStation 5, the Switch 2 has officially been jailbroken by persistent users (and a hefty dose of AI, perhaps unsurprisingly).

An anonymous – understandably – online user who goes by the name of "pepsipu" reveals as much over on X, explaining that they "jailbroke" the Nintendo Switch 2. And, of course, the first thing they did was mod in the likes of Sanrio's Cinnamoroll, Family Guy's Peter Griffin, and the ever-iconic Hatsune Miku into Mario Kart World.

While we won't fully get into how they managed to do it, put simply, it involved getting help from OpenAI and using SmileBASIC 4 – a $25 program on the eShop that serves as a game-building tool.

It's likely that Nintendo will act fast and take the software down as the jailbreak continues to make rounds online. It's also important to note that the jailbreak itself is tethered, which means it's lost every shutdown.

As interesting as it all is, it's also upset a portion of the Switch 2 user base.

One person comments, "Thanks for destroying the livelihoods of creative artists" – a valid concern, especially when considering indie games, I suppose.

There are also various replies expressing concerns about the use of AI and whether it will lead to leaks before releases, as it did on the original Nintendo Switch.

Honestly, there's no telling what will happen. It's not super accessible for casual jailbreakers just yet, anyway, seeing as it's tethered and reliant on software I doubt Nintendo will keep up for long, but it's also opened the door to hacking the console, which is a big deal in itself.

It's happening right as all of the PS5 jailbreaking hits its high, too, with hacking seemingly at the forefront of many gamers' minds as companies move to digital copies presses on.

For now, I think I'll personally steer clear of AI-powered hacks and the like – a lot could go wrong, and I wouldn't fork out $25 for the possibility.

Searching for some new games to play? Browse through our roundup of the best upcoming Switch 2 games to wishlist right now.

EA has closed BioWare, canceled the next Mass Effect, and, most importantly, upended the lives of even more game developers in a tumultuous time for the industry. In response, developers are paying tribute to the legendary RPG studio online, with many calling its games pivotal to their own creative paths.

17-year BioWare veteran and longtime director Michael Gamble shared the studio's news post. "Your support has meant everything to me over the past 17 years at BioWare," he writes.

New Bungie head Josh Deane replied to Gamble's post, saying, "Thank you and to everyone at Bioware who has built worlds that have been such an important part of our lives." In a separate post, Deane adds, "This studio is magical and an existential part of my favorite gaming memories, I refuse to believe this..."

CD Projekt Red veteran Paweł Sasko, a face of the studio to many fans of Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher, says "Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 shaped my imagination and the desire to create games. I would have never been here without BioWare igniting the fire in my heart. It inspired me, formed me, enriched my imagination, and for that I will be forever grateful. I will always remember you."

CDPR co-CEO Michał Nowakowski adds, "Bioware has been a massive part of CDPR history. We befriended them when localizing and selling Baldur's Gate games in Poland, Czech, and Slovakia. And later they were [a] great help when lending us their engine for Witcher 1, sharing their wisdom and even giving us a spot at their booth at E3.

"I had [the] pleasure to visit them a few times in Edmonton and also host them in our Warsaw office. Very sad for the people affected, but also sad to see a legendary brand go down. Not a great day in the games industry."

Gamble responded to Nowakowski's post, saying, "Thanks Michal. We've always been fans of you guys. Always will be."

InXile Entertainment head Brian Fargo also commented on the original Baldur's Gate games. "We saw the promise in what they could do," he says of BioWare's days on Shattered Steel, "and they went on to create Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 and become legendary. A sad day indeed. My thoughts are with everyone there today."

Mortal Kombat's Ed Boon is of a similar mind. "Very sorry to hear. They made some amazing games," he says of BioWare's shutdown statement.

Comms director Thomas Puha of Control and Alan Waker studio Remedy sums up the thoughts of many: "RIP BioWare. This was coming but so sad to read. The growing problem for large publishers is that smaller AAA games won’t bring enough money so can’t take the risk on them, but not doing original games? We need those, need new franchises."

"Really sad outcome for a studio that helped define an entire genre," reckons Del Walker, an artist known for his work on The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Walker suggests the studio's closure is "the result of about 15 years of problems piling up," including consecutive commercial failures, mismanagement, and increased scrutiny from an EA team staring down billions in debt post-buyout.

Veteran games writer Emma Kidwell calls the shutdown "a massive fucking failure on EA's part."

"What a waste of skill and institutional knowledge. Mass Effect means so much to me personally, I wouldn't be a dev if I never played the trilogy. my heart goes out to everyone, we deserve better," she says.

"End of an era," says Caves of Qud's Brian Bucklew.

"Truly this is a terrible time," Xbox founder Seamus Blackley writes.

Original Mass Effect composer Sam Hulick was among the first to speak out. "Absolutely heartbroken over the end of an era," he says. "I hope all the talented and wonderful folks at BioWare land on their feet and keep working on incredible games. I loved every minute of working with you on the Mass Effect trilogy."

Many other former BioWare devs have also weighed in. Several of them are now at North Mist Studios, writing on Bluesky, "Very heavy news as our former studio, BioWare, closes its doors today. It was a formative place for many. However, many former BioWare devs are scattered around the industry. Find them, support them. Like, follow, comment and help us prove there is still support for the types of games we make!"

One current EA contractor, narrative designer Jarrett Poole of the Skate team, touched on the broader cuts at EA: "My contract will run its course, so I'm still employed. But seeing many of my amazing coworkers and friends shown the door today has been devastating. Each one deserves better than this. Every dev deserves better than this."

Standing on BioWare's grave, EA says "we should be proud" to be "the number one publisher in Western HD gaming."

The Splinters of Evil are some of Diablo 4 season 15's rarest drops, but once you get your hands on a specific type – Hatred, Terror, or Destruction – that's all you can hold of that type at once. Blizzard seems to have intentionally designed this specific seasonal drop to not stack, meaning you can only have one splinter of each type in your inventory at once. That might seem like a pretty niche problem applicable only to endgame players in the highest Torment tiers, and it is, but for those players it's a major issue precisely because splinters are so rare. Imagine having to walk away from one of the game's rarest drops simply because you already have one in your inventory, and then you can understand why endgame grinders have rallied for a homebrew solution, and found one.

As detailed in a new video from prolific Diablo creator Rob2628, there's a fairly simple – but tedious – workaround you can do if you really want duplicate splinters in your inventory. As Rob2628 points out, you'll need at least one friend who's leveled enough in Diablo 4 to access Torment tier 10 where you can farm Splinters of Evil from Diablo, Mephisto, and Baal.

Once you've successfully bribed your buddy with delivery pizza – ideally the good stuff from your local Italian joint and not just some fast-food slop – you'll need to invite them to your party once you've got your duplicate splinter to drop. Next, have them hang out near the splinter while you switch to another character that doesn't already have that same splinter in its inventory, and then have your friend invite your alt to the server with the dupe so that you can pick it up.

In Rob2628's words, your friend is essentially "holding the instance" so that the duplicate item doesn't despawn when you log out as your primary character, which makes it very important that they decline the prompt to return to their own world.

I haven't tested this trick out myself yet, and frankly I wouldn't be able to because I only have one character that can get into Torment 10, but I see no reason it wouldn't work. It's just bound by so many limitations and requirements tied to other players that I'd be much more likely to just close the game and play something else. Rob2628 adds in his video, "many of you don't have friends" anyway.

One of Diablo 2's most coveted items surprise-drops in Diablo 4, and it's just as overpowered as it was 25 years ago

Now-closed RPG legend BioWare is a mere footnote in a new message from EA's top brass communicating the company's next chapter following a buyout deal led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. COO David Tinson and CSO Cam Weber maintain that "we should be proud" of what EA has become.

"Today, we're the number one publisher in Western HD gaming," the executives' joint statement, first shared with EA employees, reads. "That's an extraordinary position to lead from, and one we should be proud of. Yet our industry is changing quickly. Players have more choices than ever for their time and attention, competition is intensifying, and some of our biggest opportunities for growth are beyond the markets, platforms, and business models where EA has traditionally been the strongest."

It's unclear by what metrics EA is measuring the curiously specific market of "Western HD gaming," though there's no disputing the company's massive reach and sales. Equally, there's no disputing its collection of shuttered studios.

The end of BioWare, a load-bearing pillar of RPGs since 1995, gets one short paragraph in this statement.

"As we focus on these larger opportunities, we've had a small team at BioWare working on early-development for Mass Effect," it reads. "We've made the decision not to move forward with this development, which means we’re closing the studio and our Edmonton workspace. BioWare is a legendary studio that helped define the role-playing genre, and we do not take this decision lightly."

EA spends much more time explaining its plans to double down on EA Sports, shooters to be overseen by "our Respawn and DICE studios" in collaboration, and action-adventure games like upcoming releases Marvel's Iron Man and "the next Star Wars Jedi game."

The Sims and Skate are also mentioned, but with little or bad news. The Sims' mystery release "Project Lotus" is "pausing development," and Skate's development studio is "making changes" to create "a more focused, smaller team," which sounds like yet more layoffs.

EA describes this plan as the result of taking "a hard look at our business, how we operate, and what it will take to lead in this next era of interactive entertainment." Its goals are summed up in three strategic pillars: "Deepen Our Core, Expand Our Reach, Transform Our Business."

In so many words, EA wants to refocus on its biggest series, make headway in new markets and business models ("regions as dynamic as Asia," for example), and create "entirely new ways for fans to engage with the teams, athletes and sports they love."

"Saying no to some things we're passionate about allows us to focus our teams and resources so we give our biggest opportunities everything they need to succeed," EA leaders insist. I wonder if EA employees would agree.

EA tells employees worried about layoffs after $55 billion buyout that there will be "no immediate changes" to your jobs, and I think "immediate" is the key word here.

Resident Evil Requiem reportedly made more money from physical sales on PlayStation than it did on Xbox overall, making Sony's decision to kill discs look even more questionable.

Resident Evil Requiem is probably the biggest game of 2026 – at least until something comes out in a month's time – and Capcom's game has naturally become quite the hit, having sold 8 million copies the last time Capcom checked in, and was the fastest-selling game in the series to date.

Sony is planning to stop manufacturing new PlayStation discs starting in 2028, but Capcom doesn't seem too worried about it, though reports on the sales breakdown of Requiem may tell a different story.

As reported by Alinea Analytics' Rhys Elliott, Resident Evil Requiem sold 1.3 million copies on PS5 through Physical copies, making up about 15% of the game's revenue, as well as 30.2% of the game's revenue on PlayStation overall. However, the 1.3 million physical copies sold on PlayStation also made Capcom 1.8 times the revenue than the entirety of copies on Xbox across physical, digital, and Xbox PC sales.

PlayStation selling more than Xbox obviously isn't surprising, given there are seemingly far more PS5 consoles in homes than Xbox Series X|S consoles, and, on top of that, Resident Evil is a series that has been strongly associated with PlayStation throughout its life.

But this does make Sony's decision to kill off physical disks a bit more questionable, as one of the tentpole releases of 2026 is clearly still bringing in the numbers from physical game purchases. And while they are selling more physically now, being 100% digital doesn't necessarily mean those physical buyers would move over.

You can check out our Resident Evil Requiem review if you're yet to play the horror game yourself, or our guide to Resident Evil Requiem's safe codes to help you through it.

CD Projekt Red has detailed some of the new features coming to Cyberpunk 2077 for its 2.5 update, including a new quest that serves as a prequel to Cyberpunk Edgerunners 2.

In a new episode of REDStreams, the developers at CD Projekt Red teased what's coming in this week's new update. The highlight – which the team didn't shed much light on to avoid spoiling it – is a new quest that will be a prequel to what you're watching in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Season 2, created alongside members of the show's team. Notably, it follows the last job of Weak Kingsley's team and will feature voice actors from the show – which presumably means Mr. Krabs himself, Clancy Brown, will be in Cyberpunk 2077.

On top of that, a new radio station for Edgerunner fans is being added, featuring 16 songs from both seasons of the Netflix series. There's also a Night City Tours activity, with Richard Night narrating a tour of the city, and the devs teasing some mysterious happenings throughout.

Aside from the new quest, the biggest news in this patch is Mod support coming to consoles – namely PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2 – in the vein of The Witcher 3 Remastered. This will be done through Mod.io with Paweł Sasko noting that yes, the new mod menu will be "including the adult mods."

And as teased earlier this week, dual-wielding is being added to the game. These are featured as new skills in the "Cool" skill tree and allow you to use pistols and revolvers together; however, they're locked to these two weapon types, so you cannot dual-wield shotguns or sniper rifles. The devs note that any bonuses attached to the weapons that work on their own will carry over to dual-wield mode, but there will be some form of downside that wasn't elaborated on.

Extra player customization is also being added with the ability to alter your Cyberware, with the developers saying there will be 40 new looks for the tech. Plus, five new characters have been introduced into the world as "Glamdocs," with "new mocap, new voice over" and different styles attached to them.

There are also a number of technical and bug fixes, with the addition of a FOV slider on consoles arguably the most significant on the technical front. CD Projekt Red will undoubtedly post the full list when the update releases tomorrow on October 22.

Check out our Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 review here!

Is DMZ free to play? The return of the multiplayer mode in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 has been drawing a lot of attention, as part of the current trend of Extraction shooter gameplay, with many looking forward to this particular return to extraction combat. Call of Duty has also previously released certain modes for free, separately from the larger games that they're released with (such as Warzone) so there was always a chance that DMZ was going to be free to download and play. But is it?

Can you play Modern Warfare 4 DMZ for free?

No, you cannot play MW4 DMZ mode for free, you have to buy the full game of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4, in which the multiplayer DMZ mode is part of the larger package.

The only thing that is marginally comparable is that players can download the individual files for DMZ mode without having to download the whole of MW4, but you still do have to buy it, sorry to say.

There's also been no indication from the development team or publishers that they plan to make DMZ free to play in the future, so don't get your hopes up thinking you can just wait out the clock until it's given to you. I'm not saying it can't happen, but right now there's no evidence to suggest it will, especially with the MW4 being largely well-received by critics and audiences so far.

For more info about the game, check out all the Modern Warfare 4 Mastery Camos, or find out the best weapons and guns in MW4! Or if you've already got DMZ in front of you, find out how to uncover the Modern Warfare 4 Counting Room Vault location for an early source of great loot!

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

The Casino Counting Room Vault in the Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 DMZ is something that players are told about after completing the Silent Ledger story mission, which rewards them with a Counting Room Vault Key that they can use… Only it's not clear exactly where to look to find it. Fortunately I've found the Casino Counting Room, and can show you exactly where you need to look to use this key and get the rewards.

Counting Room Vault location in Modern Warfare 4 DMZ

The Counting Room Vault is found on the ground floor of the Heavenly Luck Casino, the building where the "Silent Ledger" mission takes place. It's marked on the map above, but to find it yourself, do the following:

1. Enter the Casino by the main doors at the front.
2. Take an immediate right turn into the corridor with the cages inside.
3. Take the door going left before you enter the main slots area to enter a computer-filled security room.
4. At the end of this room is the Counting Room Vault (shown below), which will require the key to open (there is no other known method at time of writing).

The inside room will be full of loot, but be careful: with this being an area tied to one of the earliest missions in the game, and a well-known vault location, you're highly likely to have other players swarming the area, either to secure the same vault, to pick off those who are going for it, or simply doing the Silent Ledger mission itself.

For more info about the game, check out all the Modern Warfare 4 Mastery Camos, or find out the best weapons and guns in MW4!

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

It's not even fully out yet and we have Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 patches. Of course, early access necessitates such things, especially when you're one of the biggest franchises in the industry, and on this occasion, the devs are looking at DMZ, Call of Duty's spin on an extraction shooter.

Those who pre-ordered Modern Warfare 4 have been playing the mode for a few days, and things need to be tightened up. Enemy AI is altered in a couple of cases where it's overreaching, in one instance where they could bowl players over while infilling, and in another where they can get into places they shouldn't while you're downed.

Both are quite annoying in motion, I'm sure. Some foibles around progression are ironed out as well. One problem involves players being told they earned a whopping zero experience after their first match - a slightly disappointing impression, to be sure. Now rectified, it seems.

Another issue is more specific, where only the person who actually killed a Commander gets the relevant experience for the 'King Slayer' calling card even if you're in a squad. That's just rude!

There are numerous smaller problems addressed, like visual issues and little mechanical wrinkles and such. Remember, this game isn't actually publicly out yet, so expect more of this in the coming days to make sure everyone's getting what Activision and Infinity Ward want out of the sequel.

A single campaign fix rounds out the patch notes. Progression was apparently being stifled during Counter Attack, specifically in the hotel part. All sorted now, it seems. I'm not sure I'd have noticed, to be honest, but that probably says more about me than anything else. This patch is available now, while the full game is out October 23.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 campaign launches to 94% positive Steam reviews, way ahead of Black Ops 7 and Modern Warfare 3

"Shrek 2 Remastered." The words keep echoing in my head like a half-forgotten memory of a sick dream, but somehow they're real. The 2004 movie tie-in game is getting a full remaster courtesy of Aspyr later this year, and folks, now that the rumors have proven true, I think it's time for us all to admit that gaming nostalgia has finally gone too far.

Shrek 2 Remastered will launch for $30 on November 10 across PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Switch, and PC. This new version promises improved graphics, a photo mode, cheats, and 4-player co-op both online and locally, all of which sound like reasonable upgrades over the original.

But come on, man. It's Shrek 2. We all have our nostalgia for various middling licensed games – I still like the Super NES Jurassic Park game, personally – but Aspyr's use of the word "classic" in the remaster's Steam page makes me feel like I'm losing touch with reality in a way that I haven't since Destroy All Humans got remade a few years ago.

Look, I love digging into the lower tiers of the PS2 library, but this is the kind of thing bargain hunting at your local retro shop or deep dives into emulators were made for. Do we really need remaster studios putting their resources into run-of-the-mill licensed games with Metacritic scores in the low 70s?

I say all this, but moments ago our senior entertainment writer Lauren saw me use the words "Shrek PS2 game" and simply started repeating "OMG" over and over again, so maybe I'm just not the target audience here. Maybe I'll head over to eBay and grab the original game on Xbox in a bit…

At the very least, Aspyr has generally done good work in its previous remasters, which have included the likes of Tomb Raider and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – both genuine pillars of video game history. The studio was, at one point, set to lead the KOTOR remake, though those plans have long since changed. I guess the studio is at least getting work, even if that work's occasionally unglamorous.

These are the best PS2 games of all time.