Sports clothing and footwear brand Puma has announced a new collaboration with Nintendo, which will see the company release its very own Animal Crossing New Horizons-inspired sneakers.

As revealed in a first look on Sneaker Freaker, the wild world of footwear is about to reach new horizons with Puma announcing its new Animal Crossing-themed Wild Rider footwear collection. No release date or price has been revealed.

Pairing Animal Crossing's natural color palette with a range of charming character icons from New Horizons, the sneakers are up there with some of the best Animal Crossing collaborations to come from Nintendo. In addition to nods to the game's tone and characters, the sneakers' suede paneling gives them a more robust feel whilst Puma's trademark side stripe completes the look.

With muted Animal Crossing branding implemented across the design of the shoe, without garishly overdoing it, the upcoming shoes look to be a welcome addition to the world of video game-inspired fashion. Other clothing wil also be part of the Animal Crossing x Puma reveal, with a hoodie also shown off. According to Sneaker Freaker, clothing from the collab will feature styles for both adults and children when it's released.

This isn't the first clothing collab to come out of Nintendo in recent years. In October, we saw the worlds of Animal Crossing and Mario feature in a collection from Australian-based brand BlackMilk Clothing. Meanwhile, last March, Nintendo and Levi announced a Mario-inspired denim collection that included overalls, pants, jackets, and more.

With the latest collaboration between Puma and Animal Crossing set to be a stylish one, perhaps someone ought to notify Tom Nook that the housing market might not be his most lucrative business venture after all.

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

Even before release, Halo Infinite's seen a lot of praise for its approach to Battle Passes, which will never expire, and can be paid for at any time after they're released, meaning no player should have a fear of missing what's on offer within. However, a new clarification about how players will progress through those Battle Passes hasn't been received as warmly.

In the latest Inside Infinite news post from developer 343, head of design Jerry Hook addressed how the recent technical preview handled its Battle Pass, where players progressed by completing in-game daily challenges. While doing so, Hook said, "Using challenges, our goal is that you will always be earning progress in your Battle Pass through playing and winning matches."

Most other games' Battle Passes use an XP-based system to progress, with everything from wins in Fortnite to sailing nautical miles in Sea of Thieves tied to numerical points, which allow you to level up a Pass. Halo Infinite, it seems, will tie all of its progression to completing challenges instead and, following the post, fans on Twitter sought some clarity.

Community manager John Junyszek confirmed that point: "Playing and winning matches will be challenges, which will help players progress through the Battle Pass. Even though this means no per-match XP at launch, you're still always progressing through challenges and therefore the BP."

That choice has some fans worried, as tying progressing to specific actions, rather than general play, could cause multiplayer matches to become unbalanced, with players seeking to complete their specific challenges rather than playing normally. It's a concern expressed elegantly by kami102 on Reddit:

"I'm not trying to be negative but one thing I noticed a lot in the flight was that a lot of challenges were like [Get 15 kills with the Needler]. On it's own [sic], it's not bad, when it's just an optional bonus where after time you unlock it after getting 15 Needler kills through normal gameplay.

"But when you make it so that [Get 15 kills with the Needler] is on your challenge list and it's the ONLY way to get XP to level up your BattlePass then it completely breaks the flow of your gameplay and the weapon sandbox.

"You are then essentially ignoring the weapon sandbox, and instead joining the game with the sole focus of getting kills with the Needler to complete the challenge. You're camping the Needler spawn point every time, you're ignoring all other weapons on the map now because the only objective is to get kills with the Needler. And that's just you. What if 3 of your teammates also have a Needler challenge? Now the 3 of you are fighting over control for a Needler because all 3 of you need the challenge.

"That's breaking the flow of gameplay, and breaking the weapon sandbox. That's why this decision is terrible."

Kami102's point has been echoed across social media, with many players expressing their concern about the decision. While the challenge progression approach seems to be set in stone for launch, Jerry Hook did join the conversation to say that the system could be changed in future, and 343 is listening to the feedback: "We're always looking at ways to expand progression across the board. We'll have more to share about the outcomes from key Tech Preview feedback, including this, in an upcoming blog on Waypoint."

Junyszek did take the time to counter another worry from the community – that daily challenges could feasibly be so limited that progression felt time-gated, forcing you to come back every day to make sure your Battle Pass moved along. While there won't be an endless number of challenges per day, there will seemingly be a lot to get through, and more than enough for most players.

"The Tech Preview had an issue that caused people to run out of challenges", the community manager explained. "Our current plans for launch, while not 'infinite,' mean it's extremely difficult to run out daily challenges. I won't say 'impossible,' cause [sic] there are some grinders out there, but I'd be impressed."

With just a few months before release, it feels unlikely that 343 will make sweeping changes to its plans for multiplayer at launch, but we've seen the company make major changes to games after launch before (see: the entirety of The Master Chief Collection), so it's not outside the realms of possibility that we'd see a shift to this idea one day.

If you're counting down the days until Halo Infinite's release (or just a new technical preview you might get into), why not check out whether your PC can run the game, or our thoughts on the first hands-on. Just don't go dreaming about Forge mode or campaign co-op, as they aren't going to be in the game at launch.

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

The Skate franchise is officially coming to PC. The next game in the Electronic Arts franchise will launch on PC in addition to consoles.

Electronic Arts and Full Circle developers shared a video on Twitter to accompany the announcement, posting footage of a skateboarder performing a kickflip over a computer monitor. The display turns on to reveal the Skate logo.

PC_confirmation.exe pic.twitter.com/ubLRKoCw9P

— skate. (@skateEA) August 26, 2021

The Skate franchise had been a console-exclusive series until this point. The first three games launched on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The series has been dormant since Skate 3's launch in 2010, though developers shared a behind-the-scenes teaser last month to assure fans that the fourth Skate game is still in development.

Details about the upcoming Skate game are still sparse. An official title hasn't been revealed yet. However, EA's trailer from last month teases an open-world design akin to the seamless downhill map of Skate 2.

The new Skate game was announced back at EA Play in June 2020. EA later shared that Full Circle, the new studio behind the game, was launched for the express purpose of continuing the Skate series. For about the next Skate game, read our article explaining how the upcoming sequel could feature an emphasis on user-generated content.

J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer.

The Skate franchise is officially coming to PC. The next game in the Electronic Arts franchise will launch on PC in addition to consoles.

Electronic Arts and Full Circle developers shared a video on Twitter to accompany the announcement, posting footage of a skateboarder performing a kickflip over a computer monitor. The display turns on to reveal the Skate logo.

PC_confirmation.exe pic.twitter.com/ubLRKoCw9P

— skate. (@skateEA) August 26, 2021

The Skate franchise had been a console-exclusive series until this point. The first three games launched on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The series has been dormant since Skate 3's launch in 2010, though developers shared a behind-the-scenes teaser last month to assure fans that the fourth Skate game is still in development.

Details about the upcoming Skate game are still sparse. An official title hasn't been revealed yet. However, EA's trailer from last month teases an open-world design akin to the seamless downhill map of Skate 2.

The new Skate game was announced back at EA Play in June 2020. EA later shared that Full Circle, the new studio behind the game, was launched for the express purpose of continuing the Skate series. For about the next Skate game, read our article explaining how the upcoming sequel could feature an emphasis on user-generated content.

J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer.

Starfield fans discovered three unlisted videos from Bethesda that reveal the lore behind some of the locations players might visit in the upcoming space RPG.

Earlier today, social media users began sharing three unlisted videos by Bethesda that offer a brief insight into locations in the game including cities called New Atlantis, Neon, and Akila.

While these videos are unlisted, Bethesda confirmed to IGN that these videos were actually shared with members of Constellation, a community club that people can sign up for on the Starfield website. Constellation members will get some new info, like these videos, first.

#Starfield - Insight into some of its locations:

The "pleasure city" of Neon, the United Colonies capital city of New Atlantis, and capital of the Freestar Collective, Akila.

Neon: https://t.co/Q7LFMTm8gO

New Atlantis: https://t.co/aSQMqTLN0A

Akila: https://t.co/sAQV8Q2xZO pic.twitter.com/fAXPFFqEdm

— Shinobi602 (@shinobi602) August 26, 2021

While these videos are now floating around online, they’re all quite brief — less than 50 seconds per video.

They offer a nice summary of three locations players will encounter in Starfield. This includes the metropolitan New Atlantis, the capital city of the United Colonies who are the most powerful and established military and political faction in the game.

There’s also Akila City the capital of the Free Star Collective, a loose confederation of three star systems and a bastion for personal freedom in space. And finally, there’s Neon, a pleasure city that began as a fishery before the ZenoFresh Corporation discovered one of the native fish species has psychotropic properties, transforming this outpost into a vice city.

Bethesda officially unveiled Starfield earlier this year as an Xbox exclusive and so far it's sounding very much like “Skyrim in Space.” Check out everything we know about Starfield so far in the video above, and keep an eye out for more potential news drops from Bethesda.

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

Starfield fans discovered three unlisted videos from Bethesda that reveal the lore behind some of the locations players might visit in the upcoming space RPG.

Earlier today, social media users began sharing three unlisted videos by Bethesda that offer a brief insight into locations in the game including cities called New Atlantis, Neon, and Akila.

While these videos are unlisted, Bethesda confirmed to IGN that these videos were actually shared with members of Constellation, a community club that people can sign up for on the Starfield website. Constellation members will get some new info, like these videos, first.

#Starfield - Insight into some of its locations:

The "pleasure city" of Neon, the United Colonies capital city of New Atlantis, and capital of the Freestar Collective, Akila.

Neon: https://t.co/Q7LFMTm8gO

New Atlantis: https://t.co/aSQMqTLN0A

Akila: https://t.co/sAQV8Q2xZO pic.twitter.com/fAXPFFqEdm

— Shinobi602 (@shinobi602) August 26, 2021

While these videos are now floating around online, they’re all quite brief — less than 50 seconds per video.

They offer a nice summary of three locations players will encounter in Starfield. This includes the metropolitan New Atlantis, the capital city of the United Colonies who are the most powerful and established military and political faction in the game.

There’s also Akila City the capital of the Free Star Collective, a loose confederation of three star systems and a bastion for personal freedom in space. And finally, there’s Neon, a pleasure city that began as a fishery before the ZenoFresh Corporation discovered one of the native fish species has psychotropic properties, transforming this outpost into a vice city.

Bethesda officially unveiled Starfield earlier this year as an Xbox exclusive and so far it's sounding very much like “Skyrim in Space.” Check out everything we know about Starfield so far in the video above, and keep an eye out for more potential news drops from Bethesda.

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

Turn-based JRPG fans, rejoice. Bravely Default 2, previously confined only to the Nintendo Switch since its release earlier this year, is coming to PC via Steam very, very soon. It's coming on September 2, 2021.

This makes Bravely Default 2 the first main Bravely game to venture outside of Nintendo consoles, with both Bravely Default and Bravely Second staying on the Nintendo 3DS.

There have been a few spin-offs, such as a browser-based sequel to the first game called Praying Brage and mobile game Bravely Archive, as well as an upcoming new mobile game called Bravely Default: Brilliant Lights. None of the spin-offs have made it West so far, however.

Bravely Default 2, despite its numeration, is not a direct sequel to either Bravely Default or Bravely Second. It's a standalone story following four new "Warriors of Light" who must recover four elemental crystals that were stolen from their homeland and restore balance to the world. It's a turn-based JRPG in every classical sense but adds on the "Brave" and "Default" systems allowing players to bank turns while defending from attacks, then use those saved turns at strategic moments for high-damage turns.

We had a great time with Bravely Default 2 when it came out back in February with our review praising its customizable combat and jobs systems, beautiful environments, and ease of picking up and playing despite its length. Perhaps its PC release means we'll also see it eventually make it onto other consoles as well, similar to its distant cousin Octopath Traveler.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Turn-based JRPG fans, rejoice. Bravely Default 2, previously confined only to the Nintendo Switch since its release earlier this year, is coming to PC via Steam very, very soon. It's coming on September 2, 2021.

This makes Bravely Default 2 the first main Bravely game to venture outside of Nintendo consoles, with both Bravely Default and Bravely Second staying on the Nintendo 3DS.

There have been a few spin-offs, such as a browser-based sequel to the first game called Praying Brage and mobile game Bravely Archive, as well as an upcoming new mobile game called Bravely Default: Brilliant Lights. None of the spin-offs have made it West so far, however.

Bravely Default 2, despite its numeration, is not a direct sequel to either Bravely Default or Bravely Second. It's a standalone story following four new "Warriors of Light" who must recover four elemental crystals that were stolen from their homeland and restore balance to the world. It's a turn-based JRPG in every classical sense but adds on the "Brave" and "Default" systems allowing players to bank turns while defending from attacks, then use those saved turns at strategic moments for high-damage turns.

We had a great time with Bravely Default 2 when it came out back in February with our review praising its customizable combat and jobs systems, beautiful environments, and ease of picking up and playing despite its length. Perhaps its PC release means we'll also see it eventually make it onto other consoles as well, similar to its distant cousin Octopath Traveler.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.