Bandai Namco has officially commemorated the efforts of Elden Ring's most legendary player, Let Me Solo Her, by sending him an actual sword and other goodies from the game.

Shared on his Twitter (below), Let Me Solo Her - AKA Klein Tsuboi - shared pictures of a congratulations message and gift package he received from Bandai Namco.

Alongside a custom drawing of his character - who appears outside Malenia, Blade of Miquella's boss arena and defeats her with ease by himself - he was also given a wooden lithograph, what appears to be a coat, and the full-length sword.

Thank you @BandaiNamcoUS and @ELDENRING for giving me this gift and congratulating me for being #LetMeSoloHer . I can still remember my first experience with the soulsborne series and almost quitting because of Iudex Gundyr in Dark souls 3. I'm glad I persisted and (1/3) pic.twitter.com/w2FF77HRnO

— KleinTsuboi (@TsuboiKlein) July 6, 2022

"Thank you Bandai Namco and Elden Ring for giving me this gift and congratulating me for being Let Me Solo Her," he said in the post. "I can still remember my first experience with the Soulsborne series and almost quitting because of Iudex Gundyr in Dark Souls 3.

"I'm glad I persisted and went on to enjoy the game, because this community is one of the most passionate and dedicated I've ever seen in a game, and I'm proud to be a part of it."

Let Me Solo Her first emerged in April to balance the universe as Malenia emerged as Elden Ring's toughest boss, and in the end defeated her 1,000 times. Developer FromSoftware didn't help the situation by removing a popular way to defeat her and a glitch made her ridiculously overpowered, but Let Me Solo Her never slowed down.

In our 10/10 review of the game, IGN said: "Elden Ring is a massive iteration on what FromSoftware began with the Souls series, bringing its relentlessly challenging combat to an incredible open world that gives us the freedom to choose our own path."

To make those choices with the best available information, check out our guide that features everything you could ever hope to know about Elden Ring, including collectible locations, boss strategies, and more.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

343 Industries is recreating the iconic E3 2003 Halo 2 demo in the Master Chief Collection as part of a larger modding project to revive cut content.

The Earthcity demo never made it to the final version of Halo 2 but was universally considered a spectacle at the time, with IGN saying "there's little in the eight-minute demo that isn't worthy of awe" in our original preview.

As outlined in a Halo blog post, it's being made playable for the first time as part of the Digsite project, which will also bring back pre-release content from the original Halo: Combat Evolved. This will include a ton of different assets including previously unseen models, vehicles, NPCs, weapons, and even levels.

Earthcity headlines the package though, finally letting fans have a shot of the famous demo after nearly two decades. While 343 is definitely hoping to bring it to each version of the Master Chief Collection, it said it "can't make promises" about brining it to console.

This is because it's a particularly difficulty underatking. "This was not a trivial process, and we should probably layer on a whole page of caveats that come with taking a demo map for an engine that no longer exists and getting it to not blow up the current lightmapper," the blog post said.

The Master Chief Collection was released in 2014 but has received a pretty significant amount of post-launch support. In our 9/10 review, IGN said: "Despite multiplayer troubles, Halo: The Master Chief Collection's classic campaigns are amazing examples of FPS done right."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

The villain from Black Adam has been revealed for the first time... but in action figure form.

The folks over at @hodceu have found new promotional images from the upcoming Black Adam action figure line, which features the demonic Sabbac in fully-poseable form. This toy reveal makes it looks as though Sabbac will be the villain in the upcoming Black Adam movie.

First look at Sabbac in #BlackAdam pic.twitter.com/bUl1xHMxVC

— Home of DCEU (@hodceu) July 1, 2022

Alongside the images of the action figure is also a small piece of art showing what appears to be Sabbac as he appears in the movie.

Of course, this is not the first time we’ve heard this name. Back in October 2020, The Illuminerdi reported rumors that Black Adam producers were eyeing Marwan Kenzari for the role of Sabbac in Dwayne Johnson’s upcoming DC antihero film. Then, back last year, Kenzari officially joined the cast in an undisclosed role.

Now, it looks as though Black Adam’s villain is one of Hollywood’s worst-kept secrets, with new toy images seemingly confirming his role in the film.

Some more looks of Sabbac in #BlackAdam pic.twitter.com/wHnE0yMzXF

— Home of DCEU (@hodceu) July 1, 2022

Sabbac is essentially the polar opposite of Shazam! – calling out the name “Sabbac” imbues him with the powers of Satan, Aym, Belial, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, and Crateis. S-A-B-B-A-C. Sabbac. Get it?

Sure, it’s not one of DC’s most original villainous origins, but it provides a neat parallel between the villain and Shazam! – the nemesis of Black Adam who will surely, at some point, tussle with Dwayne Johnson’s version of the classic DC character.

At the very least, it ties Black Adam more firmly into Shazam’s story. In the comic books, Sabbac made his first appearance in Captain Marvel, Jr. #4 back in 1943. His link to Captain Marvel/Shazam is no coincidence – he was originally known as Timothy Karnes, a hidden Nazi conspirator who acquired the demonic powers of Sabbac. But in the New 52 his ties to Shazam! are even stronger – Karnes, it turns out, is the former foster brother of none other than Freddy Freeman, aka Captain Marvel Jr.

Whether a hint of these backstories makes it into the Black Adam movie remains to be seen. For now, we’ve got our first good look at the demonic villain. And with demonic horns and a pentagram scratched into his chest, there’s no mistaking which side of good or evil this guy is on.

Find out more about Black Adam with our extensive look at the film’s superhero cast, as well as our look at the complicated history of Shazam!

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

Microsoft has confirmed that it will be in attendance at Gamescom 2022, where it will offer updates on previously announced Xbox games.

Announced in a press release, Microsoft said “We’re excited to confirm that Xbox will be back on the show floor at gamescom 2022 in Cologne, Germany. Fans in Europe and around the world can expect updates on some announced games coming to Xbox in the next 12 months.”

Xbox fans saw a selection of game updates and announcements at the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase in June, where updates were provided for games such as Redfall, Hollow Knight Silksong, Forza Motorsport, and Starfield. There were also announcements for new games, including High on Life, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. It’s unclear right now which of the games shown in June will receive further news at Gamescom, but we won’t have to wait much longer, as the European gaming event takes place August 23-28.

For more from Xbox, be sure to check out Podcast Unlocked, our weekly show about all things Xbox.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Features Editor.

Kazuki Takahashi, the Japanese artist who created the beloved manga series Yu-Gi-Oh! has died, aged 60.

According to reports from Japan public broadcaster NHK, Takahashi was discovered floating in shallow waters off the coast of Nago City, Okinawa Island by the Japan Coast Guard on Wednesday morning, June 6. He was wearing snorkeling equipment when found. Police and the Coast Guard are currently investigating the circumstances around Takahashi’s death.

Originally from Tokyo, Takahashi became a star among manga artists thanks to Yu-Gi-Oh!, his first serialized work. The series was first published in 1996 and ran until 2004. Following the story’s success in print, Yu-Gi-Oh! became a multimedia franchise, with a hit anime series, numerous video games, a card game, and more. Takahashi remained a key part of the series throughout his life, having most recently written the original story for the Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions anime film, released in 2017. He predominantly acted as supervisor over many other projects in the franchise.

While Takahasi has worked on several other projects, Yu-Gi-Oh! will be his lasting legacy. The physical card game even has a Guinness World Record for the “trading card game with the highest number of sales in the world”.

IGN’s thoughts are with Takahashi’s family and friends.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Features Editor.

One week removed from the internet dunking on EA's social media accounts, some of the developer's employees are reportedly unhappy with the post that implied single-player games aren't worthwhile.

Last Thursday, EA's official Twitter account posted what instantly turned into a controversial tweet, saying, "They're a 10 but they only like playing single-player games". The post is a play on the "they're a 10 but..." trend that's dominating social media right now.

The internet did not react kindly to this post, pointing out things like EA's disastrous rollout of microtransactions in Star Wars Battlefront 2 and other instances of its shaky history with single-player games. Just hours after the post, EA tweeted again, saying, "Roast well deserved. We’ll take this L cause playing single player games actually makes them an 11."

Roast well deserved. We’ll take this L cause playing single player games actually makes them an 11. https://t.co/PNg4FKOgfB

— Electronic Arts (@EA) July 1, 2022

In a report from USA Today's FTW, a plan was apparently put in place to try and turn a negative into a positive, where EA's studios would publicly ridicule the tweet to gain favor with the audience. However, multiple social media managers reportedly declined, with some EA employees saying that roasting the company would only magnify EA's poor reputation among gamers.

According to the report, there was such a dislike for the tweet among EA employees in part because EA's main social media account is reportedly not managed by the company's social or communication teams. Rather, the Twitter account is said to be managed by people outside of the game industry.

“They’re all new and most of them, to my knowledge, aren’t really game industry people," one of USA Today's sources said. "The person who posted that tweet didn’t know and wasn’t supported properly to ensure something like this didn’t happen.”

Now, EA is apparently hosting roundtable discussions with executives who are angry about the post, since some of EA's studios working on single-player games viewed the tweet as an insult.

For more on EA, you can check out every EA game in development that we know of. Or read up on the upcoming Dead Space remake and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, two upcoming single-player games from EA.

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

IGN received an unexpected supply drop today from Wizards of the Coast in the form of two upcoming Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair drops, both of which feature Fortnite crossover cards. While this crossover was previously announced, getting this box in the mail is the first we've seen of the specific cards in the drops, which you can take a look at in the gallery below:

The two drops are titled "Secret Lair x Fornite" and "Secret Lair x Fortnite: Landmarks and Locations," the latter of which is a set of five full-art basic lands (one of each type). The main drop features the following seven cards reskinned with Fortnite art and names:

• Shrinking Storm (Wrath of God)
• Dance Battle (Dance of Many)
• Supply Llama (Etherium Sculptor)
• Crack the Vault (Grim Tutor)
• Battle Royale (Triumph of the Hordes)
• Battle Bus (Smuggler's Copter)
• The Cube (Planar Bridge)

Both sets also have a secret card that WOTC has asked us not to spoil quite yet. (Who doesn't love a surprise?) We don't have the rest of the details on these drops just yet, but will update this article once we hear back about things like price and release date – though one thing I can assume is that the fancy box they arrived in is not standard.

This isn't the first video game crossover Magic has had, and it likely won't be the last. I intereviewed the minds behind Magic last year alongside dozens of community members to hear about how the game is changing amidst record success, as well as the slightly contentious practice of licensed crossovers like these Fortnite drops.

The Matrix Awakens, an impressive display of Unreal Engine 5's capabilities, was a demo released in December for PlayStation and Xbox consoles. However, the demo is leaving stores on July 9th so grab it while it's still available. Once you have the demo, you will be able to redownload it at your leisure.

The original release of the demo roughly coincided with the release of The Matrix Resurrections. Both Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Trinity (Carrie Anne Moss) appear in the demo and show off just how photorealistic Unreal Engine 5 can be. Though astute gamers will probably notice the difference between real and fake, in true Matrix fashion it was intended to blur the line between reality and gaming.

The demo itself is a technical marvel, showing off detailed models, heavy crowd density, and ray tracing. It includes cinematics and an on-rails section where you can shoot it out with agents during a thrilling car chase (naturally). You're also able to explore the open world sandbox and tinker around.

Speaking of tinkering around, many intrepid people have modified the game to add popular superheroes to the game. Most notably, Spider-Man and a Superman were added by modders to allow players to experience what it's like to move around the city as those characters. The Superman clone in particular makes one pine for another Superman game done right.

Epic Games has since released a playable shooter called Lyra alongside Unreal Engine 5. This was yet another demonstration of the power of Unreal Engine 5, allowing developers to get a feel for creating a shooter using Epic's latest game engine.

There's also Lumen, a dynamic global illumination system that allows developers to create realistic lighting scenes, as well as Nanite, which allows developers to import high fidelity visual assets into a game without dropping frame rates.

With developers looking to use Unreal Engine 5 in future games, the technology included will have a huge impact in the games industry. Feel free to check out what actual game developers had to say about the launch of Unreal Engine 5.

David Matthews is a freelance writer specializing in consumer tech and gaming. He also strongly believes that sugar does not go in grits. Follow him on Twitter @packetstealer

David Harbour recently reflected on the poor critical and commercial reception of his first major on-screen role, Hellboy — Neil Marshall's reboot of the 2004 hit film.

Best known for playing chief of police Jim Hopper in Netflix's science-fiction horror drama Stranger Things, Harbour sat down with GQ to talk about the show's season 4 finale as well as his turn as Hellboy's demonic detective, but as a reboot of Guillermo del Toro's adaptations — hugely popular in their own right — it had a lot to live up to.

Ultimately, it just couldn't stick the landing, tanking at the box office while being panned by critics. IGN's review called it a "thin, clumsy, and charmless attempt at rebooting a beloved franchise."

Looking back on the experience, Harbour said he realized that he had been naive about fan expectations for the character.

"It was a very difficult experience because I wanted a lot out of it. I really like [Mike Mignola, Hellboy creator], I like that character," he said. "And then immediately when it began, even when it was announced, I realized that people did not want that character reinvented. I was very naive and optimistic about what we were going to do."

Funnily enough, he added that once he figured the film was going to bomb, he actually called Ryan Reynolds to ask for advice on how to survive superhero flops. Having starred in the infamous Green Lantern film, Harbour saw Reynolds as the one most apt to help console him as the negative reviews poured in.

"I know him a little bit. I called him and I was like, 'Hey man, I just need to know something. You know Green Lantern? Huge flop for you. What the f*ck is that like, because I think I’m going to hit that right now. Am I gonna be okay? Am I gonna survive this?' Reynolds, for his part, was sweet about it."

Since then, both have enjoyed individual renaissance periods. Reynolds is the star of fan-favorite Deadpool series films and Harbour has seen his fair share of success from starring in Stranger Things, which recently became Netflix's second show to have crossed 1 billion hours viewed.

As for whether Hellboy will get another shot at box office glory, we'll just have to see.

Diego Ramos Bechara is a Freelance Writer for IGN, and he's a fan of all things Star Wars, Rockstar, Naughty Dog and Batman. You can follow him on Twitter @DRamosBechara.

Since its release in June, Diablo Immortal has been the subject of criticism over its prevalent microtransactions, which players say can cost thousands of dollars without ever seeing the legendary gems they want from loot boxes. However, Blizzard CEO Mike Ybarra is still in favor of the game's monetization.

In a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, Ybarra stood by the game's microtransactions, which he claimed were implemented to make the game more accessible. “When we think about monetization, at the very highest level it was, ‘How do we give a free ‘Diablo’ experience to hundreds of millions of people, where they can literally do 99.5% of everything in the game?’” Ybarra told the LA Times.

He also defended the way the microtransactions are implemented, as they largely only come into play in the game's later stages. “The monetization comes in at the end game,” Ybarra continued. “The philosophy was always to lead with great gameplay and make sure that hundreds of millions of people can go through the whole campaign without any costs. From that standpoint, I feel really good about it as an introduction to Diablo.”

Blizzard also said that most players aren't spending money on the game, though it wouldn't provide specific statistics. Recently, however, Diablo Immortal's microtransactions netted the company $24 million in just two weeks.

As many countries move to consider loot boxes as exploitative, the title was recently pulled in Belgium and the Netherlands for its heavy reliance on loot boxes.

We gave Diablo Immortal a 6/10 in our review, praising some aspects of its gameplay but saying it needs significant "overhauls to the monetisation and the many restrictions."

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.