Over a year after Intel announced it would begin making graphics cards and delays, the CPU maker has officially announced that it will enter the desktop GPU market next month with its Arc A770 graphics card.

The Intel Arc A770 Limited Edition graphics card goes on sale Oct 12. #IntelOn Learn more: https://t.co/fGp9tB467k pic.twitter.com/PKKuXT3Eiv

— Intel News (@intelnews) September 27, 2022

Intel's Arc A770 features 16GB of GDDR6 memory, 32 Xe cores, a 21000MHz clock, and uses Intel's Xe graphical architecture. The A770 will also support XeSS, Intel's supersampling technology that will compete with AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) and Nvidia's DLSS. Several games confirmed to support XeSS include Ghostwire: Tokyo, Death Stranding: Director's Cut, and Gotham Knights.

The Intel Arc A770 will be available beginning October 12 — the same day that Nvidia's new flagship GPU, the RTX 4090, will be available to consumers. Though the Arc A770 is not a GPU that Intel is touting will trade blows with Nvidia's forthcoming top-of-the-line GPU, it will serve as competition to Nvidia's more affordable GPUs, the RTX 3060 and RTX 3070.

"We've been seeing that for a long time the price of GPUs is right in this $200–$300 range, but what's happened in the last few years is that they've gotten super expensive," Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said. "You should be frustrated because you are losing out as the gaming community, and today we're fixing that."

Ahead of the Arc A770's release, Intel uploaded a video that offered a deep dive into the Arc A-Series and shared some benchmark results of the Arc A770 and RTX 3060. The benchmarks, as seen in the image below, show the Arc 770 outperforming the RTX 3060 in several games running at 1080p with ray tracing enabled. Of course, these benchmarks should be taken with a grain of salt until independent reviews of the Arc A770 are available.

Intel still has more GPUs in the Arc Alchemist line, such as the Arc A750, but the company has yet to share pricing or release dates for the rest of its first-generation Arc desktop graphics cards.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

With the 25th anniversary of Age of Empires fast approaching, Xbox Game Studios and Relic Entertainment have announced a special anniversary stream timed to roughly coincide with the big day.

Set for October 25 at 10am PT, the anniversary broadcast will feature announcements, interviews, and "some surprises." It will be hosted on Twitch along with the main Age of Empires and Xbox YouTube channels.

In addition, Xbox has announced a special Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition for Steam and the Microsoft Store. The new release will feature all of the previous updates along with the new Anniversary Update, which will include the Ottoman and Malian civilizations.

First released last year, Age of Empires IV is a major revival for the venerable RTS series. While it "plays it safe a bit too often" according to our review, it "really excels when it wanders outside of its very traditional comfort zone." The original series, meanwhile, got its start way back in 1997.

The stream will celebrate all of Age of Empire's long history while potentially including a few announcements. As for Age of Empires IV Anniversary Edition, it will also release on October 25 on Steam, Windows, and PC Game Pass.

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

EA and Koei Tecmo have revealed that Wild Hearts, the Monster Hunter-like action game from the Dynasty Warriors developer, will arrive on February 17, 2023.

In a new trailer, we got our first real glimpse at the game coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC (with an extended gameplay reveal set for October 5). Set in Azuma – effectively a fantasy feudal Japan – teams of up to three players will take on "giant nature-infused beasts called Kemono", using a mixture of action combat and crafting to create outlandish contraptions.

We learned much more about those contraptions, the Monster Hunter comparisons, and why Koei teamed up with EA for Wild Hearts in our exclusive interview with Koei Tecmo directors Kotaro Hirata and Takuto Edagawa.

Wild Hearts can be played solo or in co-op, with crossplay across all platforms. Your player-character will be almost taken down by a winter wolf called Death Stalker, before being given access to "a life-sustaining technology and... compelled to restore balance across the region."

While the game will look immediately familiar to Monster Hunter fans (or fans of Omega Force's previous Monster Hunter-like series, Toukiden), its core innovation appears to be in the form of Karakuri, magically constructed structures that can aid your hunt.

The trailer shows the player constructuing Karakuri that act as platforms to leap on monsters from, building a giant hammer and bombs, and even spawning a handheld helicopter to glide. Multiple players can use Karakuri too, with one shot revealing players constructuing harpoons that hook a monster in place.

In a press release, Koei Tecmo executive vice president Yosuke Hayashi explained, "With Wild Hearts, not only did we want to showcase the evolution, infusion and real threat caused by Kemono, but we also wanted to create a game where crafting was at the core of the experience, redefining what can be possible in a beast hunting game. We have placed great care in designing our Karakuri to fit within the combat, and we’re excited for players to use these powerful mechanisms to fight giant beasts and traverse the world.”

Wild Hearts marks the latest entry in EA's Originals catalogue, which has typically been used to bring indie games to a wider audience. Other EA Originals include It Takes Two, Lost in Random, Unravel, and more.

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.

Wild Hearts is EA and Koei Tecmo's answer to Monster Hunter, a familiar mixture of fantasy combat and gigantic boss beasts – with some less familiar magical building and trap-setting thrown in.

Out as soon as February 17, it's been a bit of a surprise for fans of both Omega Force and Monster Hunter-like games, and there's a lot still to learn, even after we got a look at the first trailer. Thankfully, we got an exclusive interview with two of Koei Tecmo's directors, Kotaro Hirata and Takuto Edagawa.

We asked why the Dynasty Warriors developer is making a new monster hunting game (again), whether it's an open world, if that building system is meant to resemble Fortnite, and much more.

IGN: Omega Force is best known for its Musou/Warriors games, but this looks like a big departure from that approach. What was the spark of an idea for Wild Hearts?

Kotaro Hirata: This project began as an attempt to create a Japanese-style hunting game that a new generation of players around the world could have fun with. It was informed by our experience developing hunting games, specifically the Toukiden series.

Our goal of creating a Japanese-style hunting game for a new generation remained consistent from start to finish, but making this core idea a reality was not something that happened overnight. One challenge we faced was creating something unique with universal appeal that would be accepted by players around the world. To achieve this, we went through several prototypes and trial and error over a very long period of time.

The ideas that formed the core of the project were Kemono, a fusion of nature and animals; and Karakuri, a craft element that was added specifically to suit the hunting elements of this game. We believe that Wild Hearts, born from these core ideas, is a hunting game that offers a new and innovative experience.

IGN: As you mention, this shares similarity with your previous work on the Toukiden series. Why did this feel like it needed to be a new IP, rather than a Toukiden sequel?

Takuto Edagawa: We wanted Wild Hearts to appeal to a more global audience than the Toukiden series. Certainly, as a Japanese-style hunting game, Wild Hearts has some things in common with Toukiden. However, the original aspects of Wild Hearts, such as what you are hunting, the battle system, the world setting, and the visual presentation, are different from Toukiden.

IGN: Can you explain the building system we're shown in the trailer? Are you solely creating hunting tools, or can you build structures as in the likes of Fortnite?

KH: Players hunt using a type of crafting called Karakuri, an ancient technology that allows for the creation of extremely flexible and creative hunting grounds to take on powerful beasts. Karakuri can range from types that can be built instantly during battle, to some that can be combined to create new Karakuri, and also types that are used to build hunting grounds by utilizing many different materials.

Karakuri expand the freedom and possibilities of hunting combat and exploration in this game, so it differs from the direction of crafting in Fortnite which allows for the creation of huge structures.

IGN: One thing that's less clear from the trailer is the combat system. Will this have the looser, more free-flowing combat of Musou games, or is this closer to the heaviness and necessary precision of Monster Hunter?

KH: Wild Hearts features a combat system that combines a variety of highly flexible actions with deep combat against Kemono.

Players can not only perform dashing, jumping, grappling, sliding, and other actions required in today's action games, but they can further enhance the performance of their actions by making full use of the Karakuri system. On the other hand, Kemono, which are a fusion of nature and animals, can hunt players down with a wide variety of attacks that real animals can't perform.

In Wild Hearts, players will experience a new kind of combat that is different from that of the Warriors series or hunting titles we've seen before.

IGN: Is this an open world game, or is the world divided into zones?

TE: Wild Hearts uses a zone-based system, which we believe has significant advantages in a hunting game in which the player repeatedly hunts. Each separated zone is a large area and players can reach almost any point in a zone using Karakuri, so it is possible to enjoy it like an open world game in which you actively explore the world.

IGN: Why did you opt for 3-player co-op as a maximum?

TE: Originally, we considered having four players for cooperative play. However, during development, we realized that due to the power of the Karakuri, three player combat provides the best balance for maintaining a sense of tension and cooperative combat. We also took into consideration the fact that it's easier to gather together three players.

IGN: Is this Omega Force's first game that felt impossible to make on last-gen consoles? What has it taught you about creating games for new-gen that you'll take into future projects?

KH: We believe that the fantastic and unique worldview inspired by feudal Japan is one of the key aspects of Wild Hearts. In order to make the world more compelling, we felt it was necessary to maximize the performance of the current platforms.

Specifically, we have improved the atmosphere by incorporating more accurate indirect light and increased density by placing higher resolution fields, Kemono, and objects in the game.

With Wild Hearts, we embraced the challenge of using new technology. We hope that players will use Karakuri to freely move around in the colorful and expansive world that we have created.

IGN: Koei Tecmo self-publishes most of its studios' work. Why did EA become involved in this project?

KH: We wanted to create a hunting game that would be enjoyed by players around the world. EA is not only very strong in international publishing, but they have contributed a great deal to Wild Hearts with their wealth of experience, and they are truly committed to ensuring that our game reaches a global audience.

IGN: Wild Hearts was only announced this month, yet is out in February. How long has the team been working on Wild Hearts, and why was it kept secret for so long?

KH: If we start counting from the conception and planning stages, we have been working on Wild Hearts for four years. We have wanted to tell players about this game for a long time, but we thought that the shorter the time was between announcement and release, the less time players would have to wait and the more interested they would be in playing the game.

IGN: Is this a conscious attempt to appeal to a more mainstream western audience?

TE: We are very conscious of the fact that we want more people in the West to play our games, and we have received a lot of feedback from EA from a Western perspective on many details, which helps us know where to adjust the game.

However, in terms of basic design, we are not overly conscious of focusing just on a Western audience, and as a Japanese developer, we try to create something we think is fun. EA is of the same opinion and really respects our creativity.

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.

Dead Island 2 will feature breakable weapons, so you might want to stock up.

During an interview with VG247, developer Adam Duckett defended the game’s durability system.

“Ranged weapons have ammo, so melee weapons have degradation,” he stated. “We’re generous with it; we want players to explore the full arsenal of weapons – so we have so many great mods, and so many perks, and so many other things in this game that we want players to cycle through. It also helps that players can keep a wide variety of tools in their arsenal, so they’re never going to be without something they can use.”

Dead Island 2 is set to debut on February 3, 2023, and follows the highly successful Dead Island, this time seeing players fighting off a zombie apocalypse in the middle of Los Angeles. Whether you like it or not, durability is going to be a big factor.

“I think [weapon durability] helps fit with our tone a little bit, too,” added art director Adam Olson. “Because this is a game that just keeps going, this is a game that’s over-the-top – but we want to be grounded in reality. Having one foot in reality – and having weapons that break – helps us push other parts of the game into that over-the-top mentality.”

It’s often argued that controversial weapon durability systems add a level of realism to games. You can find these systems in the likes of Breath of the Wild, Yakuza, Far Cry, and even Minecraft. But many players are simply irritated by the constant need to attend to their weapons.

Dead Island 2's developers say that a weapon falling apart in your hands is part of the experience, and made clear that it's a very visual change too. The team says you can turn off the HUD and see how degraded the weapon is, in multiple stages.

Seeing the degradation of a weapon happen in front of you is a nice addition, and considering the survival-horror genre, it’s very fitting. In fact, it sounds as though it was a key consideration when designing the game.

“We want to make every hit feel like it connects with a zombie – so that you can see it on the zombie, and on your weapon,” said Duckett. “Weapon degradation and durability makes sense, from that point of view.”

Want to read more about Dead Island 2? Check out what you’ll get in each Dead Island 2 edition and get a glimpse of the game with our hands-on preview.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are having more fun after the announcement that Wolverine will appear in Deadpool 3, this time teasing a very violent fight, and making clear 2017's Logan is a "totally separate thing".

Appearing in a video on Ryan Reynolds' Twitter feed (below), the pair promise "quick explainer video". It does indeed start by answering how Wolverine can appear after his death in Logan: "Logan takes place in 2029," says Reynolds "Totally separate thing. Logan died in Logan, not touching that."

However, after saying, "What actually happens in our film is these two f**king guys...", the audio fades out, 'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go' begins playing, and we see the actors effectively mime plot points, including what seems to be a fight that sees Deadpool and Wolverine stabbing each other repeatedly.

Expect lip reading experts to have a field day with this one (but probably don't take too seriously what they're saying under the music).

Quick explainer video that tackles…
1) Timeline questions
2) Logan canon
3) MCU FAQ
4) Whether we can do this all day or not pic.twitter.com/50lBsfYS5p

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) September 28, 2022

The video ends with Jackman and Reynolds thanking the MCU, and Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige, before showing us a set of pictures of the two together across the years, ending with a picture of them alongside director Shaun Levy.

Given that we knew Deadpool 3 will be R-rated, it's no huge surprise that we may be getting a violent fight between the two characters, but it's nice to know some of their classic comic book moments might be recreated.

Even with the Logan element cleared up, we still have several burning questions about Deadpool and Wolverine entering the MCU in the same movie, from whether this means the X-Men movie universe will be merged into the multiverse, where in the Phases this falls, and more. We'll find out when Deadpool 3 arrives in 2024.

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.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will balance that footstep audio before its official launch.

According to a post-beta statement from developer Infinity Ward, the upcoming Modern Warfare sequel will be getting a few tweaks before it launches.

“While sentiment around footstep audio was more positive in Beta Weekend Two, we have seen your continued feedback on the volume of footsteps and will continue to balance enemy/friendly footstep audio ahead of launch,” it confirmed.

Additionally, it looks as though enemy visibility will be balanced, too.

“Enemy visibility is something that came up throughout both weekends of our Beta,” said Infinity Ward. “While many of you remarked on the improvement in Weekend Two, we’ll look to tweak increased enemy visibility to allow for better visual tracking of opponents that is not solely the traditional nameplate.”

Quite what this means for the final game remains to be seen. But footstep audio and enemy visibility aren’t the only issues being addressed before the game debuts on October 28, 2022.

“Disbanding lobbies are another topic we addressed during Beta,” it said. “We feel this is an important feature and are actively looking for potential solutions for launch.”

Infinity Ward also stated that it's “very happy” with the results of weapon tuning during the first open beta weekend, but further changes are still coming.

It’s likely that we’ll get to see some of these balance changes in action before the game launches, as part of Modern Warfare 2’s additional upcoming beta weekends. But we’ll have to wait and see.

Alongside Modern Warfare 2 there are plenty of changes coming to Warzone, too. In fact, it’s said to be putting a twist on the formula, with a new map and PvE faction.

Want to read more about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2? Check out our Modern Ware 2 Beta Review in Progress as well as Modern Warfare 2’s launch details explained.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

New Overwatch 2 players won’t be able to use classic Overwatch heroes straight away.

A new blog post over at the Overwatch website has revealed that new players will need to grind out around 100 matches to unlock the complete roster of original Overwatch 1 characters.

“New players begin with access to a limited set of game modes, heroes, and some other restrictions to onboard them more gradually,” they revealed. “The first phase of our new [First Time User Experience] rapidly unlocks all the game modes and the ability to chat in-game, and the second phase unlocks all the original Overwatch heroes over the course of approximately 100 matches.”

The idea behind the move is to prevent overwhelming new players with too much to learn. Considering each hero has a unique set of abilities and counters, this is certainly an understandable and structured way to get into the game.

“This focused experience eases new players into the world of Overwatch by teaching them about different modes, rules, and other high-level aspects of the game in an approachable way.,” they said.

Importantly, these restrictions won’t be in place if you’re in a group, so new players can still team up with their friends and try out heroes (and game modes) they don’t have yet. “Competitive is the exception to this rule because new players must complete a specific challenge to access this game mode.”

While this move could be seen as controversial, it looks as though the Overwatch community is pretty pleased with the change.

“100 games for 32 heroes, that's roughly a new hero to try out every 3 matches,” said one Overwatch Reddit user. “That sounds like a good way to keep players in that 'just one more game' mindset.”

“It's about as close to a practical ‘Tutorial Mode’ I think devs can get in an FPS,” said another. “I’m certainly not complaining. If this includes matching new players in separate server instances with other new players, all the better. It will definitely keep new players from getting immediately ROASTED by better players and by match chat which will probably create a higher retention rate of new players which is what Blizz is going to be wanting to bolster with it being a F2P model.”

As well as easing new players into the game in an organic way, fans are also pleased that the change will potentially reduce the number of smurfs and hackers.

Want to read more about Overwatch 2? Check out Overwatch 2’s new Portugal map and find out how to merge your Overwatch account ready for cross-progression.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

FIFA 23 lets you turn off commentary criticizing your play, so you don’t have to hear how you're letting the side down.

According to Eurogamer, this new feature is live right now after FIFA 23 early access launched a day early on EA Play.

Just hop into the settings and check the box marked “Disable Critical Commentary” to make sure you only get the nicest pep talks from the likes of Derek Rae, Stewart Robson, and Alex Scott. Get in!

Checking this box means you won’t get any commentary that’s critical of how you play, so no more comments about your shoddy defense, for starters. However, you will still get the regular comments they say throughout a match.

It’s likely that this feature made it into the game simply to make for a more positive experience for some players. But it’s also pretty useful if your children play the game, too. After all, it can be a bit daunting when you pick up the pad for the first time, and that could be made even worse if Stewart Robson is giving you a grilling over your sub-par performance.

But the feature may still need some work… During tests, Eurogamer found that disabling critical commentary during a FIFA Ultimate Team Division Rivals match did absolutely nothing. “Robson still tore into my finishing and had some choice words for poor Mason Mount,” said Eurogamer.

Still, it sounds like a useful edition for the more sensitive players when it works.

FIFA 23 will officially launch on September 30, but EA Play players and those who pre-ordered with early access can jump on and give it a whirl right now.

Want to read more about FIFA 23? Check out Ted Lasso’s addition to FIFA 23 and find out how the game leaked a month early for some players.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Marvel’s upcoming Blade reboot has just lost its director, Bassam Tariq.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 35-year-old filmmaker has exited the upcoming Blade reboot – a report which was confirmed by Marvel itself.

“Due to continued shifts in our production schedule, Bassam is no longer moving forward as director of Blade but will remain an executive producer on the film,” Marvel said in a statement to THR. “We appreciate Bassam’s talent and all the work he’s done getting Blade to where it is.”

Blade was already in production with Tariq at the helm and was due to begin shooting in November.

The upcoming Marvel film stars Mahershala Ali as everyone’s favorite daywalker, Blade, alongside Delroy Lindo as well as Krypton star, Aaron Pierre.

News of Tariq’s exit comes just months after news broke that the director had boarded the project. It’s unclear how Tariq’s exit will impact the production of the upcoming Marvel vampire movie, but it’s likely to see production pushed back for a while as Marvel hunts for a new director.

“It’s been an honor working with the wonderful folks at Marvel,” said Tariq in a separate statement to THR. “We were able to put together a killer cast and crew. Eager to see where the next director takes the film.”

As it stands, Blade has already seen its production shift around several times, with THR sources confirming that the project has undergone several rounds of rewrites. Moon Knight writer Beau de Mayo is the project’s current writer.

However, sources also confirm that Marvel is already searching for its new director.

Blade is easily one of Marvel’s most anticipated upcoming projects, stepping into a darker corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe alongside the likes of Werewolf by Night as well as the recent Doctor Strange sequel and WandaVision TV show.

The film also has many fans eagerly waiting – including John Wick director, Chad Stahelski, who has previously expressed interest in helming the project.

“After John Wick 3, [Kevin Feige] was nice enough to carve out a big chunk of time and have a nice talk,” he revealed. “And he actually asked me, 'What could we ever do?' I was like, 'Look, I'm not going to lie to you. I don't know if I fit that kind of studio mold, but Blade would be the one interesting thing I'd like to do.’”

Whoever takes over Blade at this point will need to hit the ground running. After all, the film is expected to debut on November 3, 2023. But if you ask me, it’s likely we’ll see that date moved back to accommodate the new director. After all, Tariq had been working on the project since the summer of 2021.

Want to read more about Blade? Check out the 15 best R-rated comic book movies as well as the Eternals post-credit scene explained.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.