IGN Expo 2022: How to Watch the Exclusive Summer of Gaming Showcase
We are delighted to announce that IGN Expo - our exclusive showcase that will feature new announcements, never-before-seen gameplay, and world premieres - will be returning in 2022 as part of IGN's Summer of Gaming.
IGN will of course be carrying the IGN Expo stream and, as usual, this watch guide will provide you with everything you need to know to watch the show, including when it starts, a list of places you can watch it with us, and what you can expect to see.
IGN Expo 2022 Start Time
IGN Expo 2022 will take place on June 10, 2022, at 9am PT/12pm ET/5pm BST. If you live in Australia, that translates to June 11 at 2am AEST.
Where to Watch the IGN Expo 2022
If you’re interested in watching the IGN Expo, we’ll be hosting the stream here and across our many channels on platforms like YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, and more. Here’s the full list of places you can watch the IGN Expo for 2022:
- IGN.com (homepage)
- IGN's Facebook Channel
- IGN’s Twitter
- IGN's Twitch Channel
- IGN’s Youtube Channel
- IGN's TikTok
- IGN's iOS App
- IGN's Android App
- IGN's PlayStation 4 App
- IGN's Xbox One App
- Roku
- IGN App for Android TV
- IGN for Amazon Fire TV
- Apple TV
- IGN 1 on Samsung TV Plus
- Pluto TV
- Plex Live TV
- IGN on Steam
What to Expect at the Upcoming IGN Expo 2022
As previously mentioned, IGN Expo 2022 will feature new announcements, never-before-seen gameplay, and exclusive gaming reveals from some of the best developers around the globe. While we aren't ready to unveil exactly what surprises are in store for this year's show, we encourage you to look at our recap of 2021's IGN Expo to get an idea of what to expect.
In 2021, some of the biggest stories out of IGN Expo included Doki Doki Literature Club Plus, World War Z Aftermath, and the reveal of a new studio from the Call of Duty Zombies creator in partnership with PlayStation.
IGN Expo is only one of the many events that are part of IGN's Summer of Gaming in 2022. Be sure to check out our schedule to ensure you don't miss any of the biggest gaming and entertainment events of the year, including Netflix Geeked Week, Summer Game Fest Kickoff, the Xbox & Bethesda Showcase, and much more.
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
Monster Hunter Devs Explain Why Lagiacrus Won’t Be in Sunbreak
Monster Hunter producer Ryozo Tsujimoto has explained why fan-favorite monster Lagiacrus won’t be making a return in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak.
Tsujimoto and Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak director Yoshitake Suzuki spoke to IGN about the upcoming expansion, and detailed why Lagiacrus was passed over, even though “the desire is definitely there.”
“Unfortunately Lagiacrus is just a very technological…difficult monster to implement. It's very snake-like, its parts are all kind of touching the ground at different moments,” Tsujimoto explained. “So it's very like a writhing sort of ground-based monster.”
Tsujimoto continued to explain that the variety of terrain – and its many inclines and drops – in recent Monster Hunter games makes it especially difficult to implement monsters like Lagiacrus.
“We'd like to look back on it sometime, but just the technological difficulties, they are kind of daunting,” lamented Tsujimoto.
Lagiacrus was introduced as one of the first Leviathan monsters in Monster Hunter Tri as a flagship monster. Though there are other Leviathans in Rise, like Monster Hunter Generations’ Mizutsune and newcomer Almudron, Lagiacrus has a few additional design difficulties that the other Leviathans don’t seem to share.
One, neither Mizutsune nor Almudron drag their bodies on the ground quite like Lagiacrus does. Some of Mizutsune’s chest may touch the floor, and both possess special movements, but neither have as many contact points to the ground like Lagiacrus does during normal modes of movement.
Two, both of Rise’s Leviathans were created to battle it out with hunters on land. Lagiacrus on the other hand was originally designed to fight fully submerged underwater a majority of the time, to take full advantage of Tri’s unique underwater combat mechanics. It’s clearly not an easy transition to make into new games.
Lagiacrus almost made it into Monster Hunter World’s roster and even appeared in the Monster Hunter World prototype shown at a GDC 2018 panel, but was ultimately abandoned in World for similar reasons.
As reported by Gaijin Hunter, Monster Hunter World executive director Kaname Fujioka described why they didn’t use Lagiacrus for Monster Hunter World in an episode of Capcom’s Monster Hunter Radio podcast. Essentially, the problem is that much of its body is laying on the ground, echoing the explanation from Tsujimoto. Fujioka said a team even took a second shot at getting Lagiacrus to work for Monster Hunter World’s expansion, Iceborne, but were unable to make it happen. The explanation doesn’t bode well for another “snake-like” monster in the series, Najarala, whose body also has many contact points with the ground.
Contrarily, Lagiacrus did make an appearance exclusively on land in Monster Hunter Generations (and Generations Ultimate). It probably didn’t hurt that both games were built with the same engine, plus, Monster Hunter Generations was meant to be a celebration of 10 years of Monster Hunter, so the absence of a flagship cover monster would have been pretty glaring, even if the alternative was to include it with an impaired, land-only kit on mostly familiar maps.
The Flooded Forest, introduced in Tri and remade for Rise, is one such map familiar to Lagiacrus, and one of the reasons fans may have hoped for its triumphant return. In Tri, Flooded Forest featured fully underwater environments. But, by Lagiacrus’ confirmed absence, we can assume underwater combat is out for now, too.
When deciding which monsters to include, the developers said the "design goal is to ensure every monster has an impact," and for returning monsters, "for them to mesh well with the unique gameplay elements of the new title."
Though Sunbreak isn’t getting Lagiacrus, it is seeing the return of Monster Hunter 4’s flagship monster, Seregios, plus brand new Monster Hunter monsters, like Lunagaron. You can watch brand new gameplay of Lunagaron in the video above.
Sunbreak is described as a massive expansion for Monster Hunter Rise, similar to Monster Hunter World’s Iceborne. It includes new Master Rank quests, a new flagship Elder Dragon, Malzeno, quality of life improvements, and more. Sunbreak will be released simultaneously for both PC and Switch on June 30, 2022.
Valve Delays the Steam Deck’s Docking Station
If you were hoping to buy an official docking station for the Steam Deck, you will need to wait a little bit longer, as Valve announced today that it has delayed the release of the accessory.
In a new blog post, Valve confirmed that it has delayed the release of the docking station due to a shortage of parts as well as COVID-related closures at its manufacturing facilities. Valve originally said it planned to release the official docking station sometime this spring.
The official Steam Deck docking station features three USB 3.1 ports, one HDMI 2.0 port, a DisplayPort 1.4, and a Gigabit Ethernet jack. Valve has yet to share exactly how much the docking station will retail for and a new release window.
While the docking station's release has been pushed back again due to shortages and COVID-related issues, the company assured those that reserved a Steam Deck that the delay of the accessory has not impacted the production schedule and reservation windows of the Steam Deck.
The Steam Deck was released back in February, and Valve regularly updated the device. This includes introducing features such as Window Switching, the inclusion of a refresh rate slider and lock screen, and the option to buy replacement parts, to name a few examples.
For more on Steam Deck, check out our official review, some of the best games to buy and play on the device, and our article, where we point out all the good and bad things we've discovered in Valve's portable gaming PC.
Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
Valve Delays the Steam Deck’s Docking Station
If you were hoping to buy an official docking station for the Steam Deck, you will need to wait a little bit longer, as Valve announced today that it has delayed the release of the accessory.
In a new blog post, Valve confirmed that it has delayed the release of the docking station due to a shortage of parts as well as COVID-related closures at its manufacturing facilities. Valve originally said it planned to release the official docking station sometime this spring.
The official Steam Deck docking station features three USB 3.1 ports, one HDMI 2.0 port, a DisplayPort 1.4, and a Gigabit Ethernet jack. Valve has yet to share exactly how much the docking station will retail for and a new release window.
While the docking station's release has been pushed back again due to shortages and COVID-related issues, the company assured those that reserved a Steam Deck that the delay of the accessory has not impacted the production schedule and reservation windows of the Steam Deck.
The Steam Deck was released back in February, and Valve regularly updated the device. This includes introducing features such as Window Switching, the inclusion of a refresh rate slider and lock screen, and the option to buy replacement parts, to name a few examples.
For more on Steam Deck, check out our official review, some of the best games to buy and play on the device, and our article, where we point out all the good and bad things we've discovered in Valve's portable gaming PC.
Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
Report: Here’s How Netflix Is Testing Their Password Crackdowns So Far
Netflix has been promising to become more strict on password sharing and has begun testing possible methods in different countries, to varying levels of success.
In March, Netflix announced they were going to begin testing features to try and stop password sharing with people outside your household. If sharing occurred, subscribers would be asked to pay extra to add the users to their service package.
While nothing is finalized just yet, Netflix is rolling out tests to see if there could be a possible solution. According to Rest of the World, Netflix has begun testing solutions in Peru, Chile, and Costa Rica by offering add-on prices for people using a subscription, but not living in the same household. Meaning if you're sharing an account, you may be asked to pay a little more.
Subscribers can also call Netflix Customer Service to say that someone is simply using their account in another location, which lets Customer Service hand out a verification code to the user, who can then confirm the code and bypass paying a fee.
According to Rest of World, “Central and South America represent Netflix’s lowest revenue per user, making them particularly vulnerable to changes in pricing.”
Testing these features in countries with fewer subscribers helps Netflix determine what steps to take going forward. So far, consumers have not seen a uniform message from Netflix regarding the testing and account changes, possibly because these are tests and not official policy changes.
Some subscribers have outright canceled their subscription due to the additional fees, while others continue to share their accounts with those outside their households. For some of those still sharing their account, there has been no enforcement. There is also the issue of what “household” means. Some subscribers take it as anyone in your immediate family, but Netflix has always defined it as people who physically live in the same building as you.
These plans will likely be ironed out as testing continues, but for now nothing is official just yet. Netflix increased its prices for a sixth time earlier this year, and that paired with the new charges for account sharing may have led to the streaming giant’s loss of 200k subscribers in April of this year.
Regardless, Netflix remains the home of hit shows like Stranger Things, Squid Game, and Bridgerton.
Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.
Report: Here’s How Netflix Is Testing Their Password Crackdowns So Far
Netflix has been promising to become more strict on password sharing and has begun testing possible methods in different countries, to varying levels of success.
In March, Netflix announced they were going to begin testing features to try and stop password sharing with people outside your household. If sharing occurred, subscribers would be asked to pay extra to add the users to their service package.
While nothing is finalized just yet, Netflix is rolling out tests to see if there could be a possible solution. According to Rest of the World, Netflix has begun testing solutions in Peru, Chile, and Costa Rica by offering add-on prices for people using a subscription, but not living in the same household. Meaning if you're sharing an account, you may be asked to pay a little more.
Subscribers can also call Netflix Customer Service to say that someone is simply using their account in another location, which lets Customer Service hand out a verification code to the user, who can then confirm the code and bypass paying a fee.
According to Rest of World, “Central and South America represent Netflix’s lowest revenue per user, making them particularly vulnerable to changes in pricing.”
Testing these features in countries with fewer subscribers helps Netflix determine what steps to take going forward. So far, consumers have not seen a uniform message from Netflix regarding the testing and account changes, possibly because these are tests and not official policy changes.
Some subscribers have outright canceled their subscription due to the additional fees, while others continue to share their accounts with those outside their households. For some of those still sharing their account, there has been no enforcement. There is also the issue of what “household” means. Some subscribers take it as anyone in your immediate family, but Netflix has always defined it as people who physically live in the same building as you.
These plans will likely be ironed out as testing continues, but for now nothing is official just yet. Netflix increased its prices for a sixth time earlier this year, and that paired with the new charges for account sharing may have led to the streaming giant’s loss of 200k subscribers in April of this year.
Regardless, Netflix remains the home of hit shows like Stranger Things, Squid Game, and Bridgerton.
Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.
Elden Ring Randomizer Mod Unleashes Chaos Across the Lands Between
A new randomizer mod for Elden Ring gives PC players the ability to completely change the way the game plays by changing the location of enemies, bosses, and even key items needed to complete the main quest.
Modder Matt Gruen announced the Item and Enemy Randomizer back in April, but in a tweet posted Monday, he confirmed that the mod is now "feature complete." Gruen promises a host of fixes and expanded features for the future, but for now, at least, it appears to be ready for everyone to dive into.
Item and Enemy Randomizer allows players to completely alter the game's overall layout by randomizing the placement of various elements like items and enemies.
Gruen shows this off with a short clip of one of the game's most challenging endgame bosses, Malenia, waltzing around the open fields of Limgrave – Elden Ring's first biome.
Elden Ring Enemy Randomizer is feature-complete for its first release, though it has many more fixes and features to go. You can customize it to create many different kinds of fun runs. Or you could choose to do... this. (late game boss spoilers)Mod page: https://t.co/OVHRntXS7y pic.twitter.com/RNAXJY9nZx
— Matt Gruen (@thefifthmatt) May 30, 2022
By randomizing the locations of so many things, there's an unfathomable amount of replay value to be had and no shortage of overwhelming challenges awaiting anyone brave enough to push the features to the max.
There is even a mode that can require you to collect every Great Rune before allowing you to fight the final boss, though the base game only asks you to secure two runes prior to accessing that climactic showdown.
A 4-player co-op mod is also in development and entered beta last week. In addition to allowing players to invite one extra person into their game, it also allows them to bypass some of the limitations imposed by the original summoning mechanics.
Billy Givens is a freelance writer at IGN.
Elden Ring Randomizer Mod Unleashes Chaos Across the Lands Between
A new randomizer mod for Elden Ring gives PC players the ability to completely change the way the game plays by changing the location of enemies, bosses, and even key items needed to complete the main quest.
Modder Matt Gruen announced the Item and Enemy Randomizer back in April, but in a tweet posted Monday, he confirmed that the mod is now "feature complete." Gruen promises a host of fixes and expanded features for the future, but for now, at least, it appears to be ready for everyone to dive into.
Item and Enemy Randomizer allows players to completely alter the game's overall layout by randomizing the placement of various elements like items and enemies.
Gruen shows this off with a short clip of one of the game's most challenging endgame bosses, Malenia, waltzing around the open fields of Limgrave – Elden Ring's first biome.
Elden Ring Enemy Randomizer is feature-complete for its first release, though it has many more fixes and features to go. You can customize it to create many different kinds of fun runs. Or you could choose to do... this. (late game boss spoilers)Mod page: https://t.co/OVHRntXS7y pic.twitter.com/RNAXJY9nZx
— Matt Gruen (@thefifthmatt) May 30, 2022
By randomizing the locations of so many things, there's an unfathomable amount of replay value to be had and no shortage of overwhelming challenges awaiting anyone brave enough to push the features to the max.
There is even a mode that can require you to collect every Great Rune before allowing you to fight the final boss, though the base game only asks you to secure two runes prior to accessing that climactic showdown.
A 4-player co-op mod is also in development and entered beta last week. In addition to allowing players to invite one extra person into their game, it also allows them to bypass some of the limitations imposed by the original summoning mechanics.
Billy Givens is a freelance writer at IGN.
You Can Watch All of IGN’s Summer of Gaming on Steam
IGN Summer of Gaming is back starting today and through the month of June. While you can watch all the new announcements right here on IGN, you can also check out our show directly from Steam on our new Summer of Gaming page.
Simply make your way to the Steam IGN Summer of Gaming page and it will host that day’s show, as well as any links to games that appear on the showcase. It’s yet another way to catch all the game announcements and reveals from home.
IGN Summer of Gaming features events like Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest and the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase as well as our own IGN Expo with exclusive game reveals, developer interviews, and more.
A full schedule is available on the IGN's Summer of Gaming Steam page, as well as in our full schedule hub here. You can already check out games revealed in the Warhammer Skulls Showcase 2022.
Alongside Steam, you can watch IGN’s Summer of Gaming on the following channels, whether that’s directly on the site, YouTube, Twitch, and more. Check below for more places to check out IGN’s Summer of Gaming Below.
How to Watch Summer of Gaming 2022
Here’s a list of places you can watch IGN’s Summer of Gaming event:
You Can Watch All of IGN’s Summer of Gaming on Steam
IGN Summer of Gaming is back starting today and through the month of June. While you can watch all the new announcements right here on IGN, you can also check out our show directly from Steam on our new Summer of Gaming page.
Simply make your way to the Steam IGN Summer of Gaming page and it will host that day’s show, as well as any links to games that appear on the showcase. It’s yet another way to catch all the game announcements and reveals from home.
IGN Summer of Gaming features events like Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest and the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase as well as our own IGN Expo with exclusive game reveals, developer interviews, and more.
A full schedule is available on the IGN's Summer of Gaming Steam page, as well as in our full schedule hub here. You can already check out games revealed in the Warhammer Skulls Showcase 2022.
Alongside Steam, you can watch IGN’s Summer of Gaming on the following channels, whether that’s directly on the site, YouTube, Twitch, and more. Check below for more places to check out IGN’s Summer of Gaming Below.
How to Watch Summer of Gaming 2022
Here’s a list of places you can watch IGN’s Summer of Gaming event: