Monthly Archives: September 2021

Halo Infinite’s Next Multiplayer Preview Start Date Announced

343 Industries has announced today that the next multiplayer preview for Halo Infinite will arrive on September 24.

In a tweet shared on the official Halo account, 343 Industries detailed that players interested in participating in the next preview must have a fully registered Halo Insider profile completed no later than September 13 to be eligible. 343 Industries did not specify when the upcoming multiplayer preview will conclude as of yet.

This is the second preview 343 Industries has done for its highly anticipated first-person shooter, following a technical preview held from July 29 through August 1. While the developer did not specify how many Halo Infinite previews it will hold ahead of launch, we know that 343 Industries plans to hold more before the game is released.

Halo Infinite will launch on December 8, over a year after it was originally supposed to be released alongside the Xbox Series X/S. The game will also launch with no support for campaign co-op or a Forge mode, with both features slated to arrive in the game sometime next year.

While Halo Infinite will launch nearly a month after the series' 20th anniversary, Microsoft is releasing a Halo-themed Xbox Series X and Xbox Wireless Elite Series 2 controller to commemorate the milestone with both limited edition products arriving on November 15.

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

Gran Turismo 7 Release Date Revealed

Gran Turismo 7 will launch on both PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 on March 4, 2022.

Announced on the PlayStation Blog, the developers say the goal is to, "convey everything from the last 150 years of car and racing culture, whether you are a lifelong fan or discovering cars for the first time." The devs also say legendary tracks from the series, including Trial Mountain and High-Speed Ring, will return in higher detail to match the PS5's power.

There was also a new trailer at today's PlayStation Showcase event, showing off dozens of gorgeous cars that will be featured in the game. We also got a brief look at the Livery Editor, customization, tracks, and more.

The game was previously pushed into 2022 due to pandemic-related production issues. It was originally announced with a trailer, but this is our first look at gameplay as you'll see it while playing. A beta will seemingly arrive in the lead-up to launch.

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

God of War Ragnarok Finally Gets a Gameplay Trailer

God of War: Ragnarok, the sequel to 2018's God of War, finally got a gameplay trailer today, showing Kratos and Atreus bickering as ever, and of course slashing their way through enemy hordes.

Revealed at today's PlayStation Showcase event, it looks like a much more beautiful continuation of where the last game left off. It also gave us a look at both Thor and Freya, the game's main antagonists. Mjölnir made an appearance, as well as enemies teleporting in via the Bifröst.

As discussed in the PlayStation after show, this version of Thor is much different from the one most people have grown used to from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is a much more burly, hedonistic version of the hero, closer to the original Norse legend in mythology than Chris Hemsworth's hunky Australian.

Ragnarok is set a few years after the first game and will deal with following the mystery of Atreus' heritage, along with the challenges of Fimbulwinter – the "great winter" – leading up to Ragnarok coming to Midgard.

Santa Monica Studios revealed they gave us a glimpse of new attack abilities, and Atreus' new Runic Summon in the trailer. Players will also be able to visit all nine realms in Ragnarok, opposed to only six in God of War. Specifically, Vanaheim, Svartalfheim, and of course, Asgard.

God of War: Ragnarok had previously only been revealed with a teaser logo. It was subsequently delayed into 2022, and will be coming to PS5 and PS4 with a $10 upgrade path.

IGN's 2018 God of War review declared the game a masterpiece, calling it "the most stirring and memorable game in the series." It would go on to win IGN's Game of the Year 2018 award, at which time the game's director Cory Barlog sat down with IGN to reflect on God of War's successes, development, and more.

Radiohead and Epic Games Tease Mysterious Collaboration, Kid A Mnesia Exhibition

Kid A Mnesia Exhibition, a mysterious new collaboration between Radiohead and Epic Games, was revealed at today's PlayStation Showcase.

Very little was shown during the brief teaser, other than a few brief, dark glimpses of writings on walls. The game -- or, really, whatever this is -- is set to hit the PS5 in November.

According to Sony, Kid A Mnesia Exhibition is "an upside-down digital/analogue universe created from original artwork and recordings to commemorate 21 years of Radiohead’s Kid A and Amnesiac." Aside from that tiny bit of info, though, Radiohead fans will be left wondering about this new apparent interactive experience.

The news comes as Radiohead prepares to celebrate the 20th/21st anniversary of two acclaimed albums, 2000's Kid A and 2001's Amnesia, with an upcoming reissue, Kid A Mnesia, which will release on Nov. 5. The new reissue will feature both original LPs, in addition to outtakes and previously unreleased music on a third disc, according to Rolling Stone.

On Sept. 7, Radiohead wrote on Twitter that Kid A Mnesia is "a coming of age for Kid A & Amnesiac and it's joined by a new album, Kid Amnesiae, a memory palace of half-remembered, half-forgotten sessions & unreleased material."

Kid A Mnesia Exhibition was one of the most off-beat selections in the latest PlayStation Showcase, to say the least. Among the other reveals were the official announcement of Spider-Man 2 by Insomniac Games, the cinematic trailer for The Knight of the Old Republic remake, and a new gameplay trailer for Grand Theft Auto 5.

Spider-Man 2 Announced By Insomniac Games

In a surprise reveal, Insomniac has announced Spider-Man 2, continuing the story of Peter Parker and Miles Morales in its video game Spider-verse, coming exclusively to PlayStation 5 in 2023.

Revealed at today's PlayStation Showcase event, Venom was teased as at least one of the big bads you'll face in a trailer also showing Peter and Miles taking down criminals together.

"While pushing the capabilities of the [PS5] will be very exciting, we’re equally pumped to craft all-new stories for Peter and Miles in this sequel," Insomniac's Ryan Schneider said in a post on the PlayStation blog. "Just as in our previous Spider-Man games, we not only want to tell a great Super Hero story, but also deliver a compelling human story, one full of heart and humor that dives deep into the people behind the mask."

Schneider goes on to say that much of the original development team is returning for the sequel, including Creative Director Bryan Intihar and Game Director Ryan Smith. He also confirmed that Yuri Lowenthal and Nadji Jeter will reprise their roles as Peter and Miles, respectively, and that Tony Todd will voice Venom.

After introducing the series with Marvel's Spider-Man, Insomniac kicked off the PS5's life with the superb expand-alone game, Spider-Man: Miles Morales. That spin-off set things up for a sequel that could feature Peter Parker and Miles, and it seems Insomniac has been working on just that.

It was also revealed during the showcase that Insomniac is making a Wolverine game with Marvel as well.

Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy Being Remastered for PC and PS5

Uncharted 4 and Uncharted: Lost Legacy are being remastered, with a PS5 version in the works from Naughty Dog and a PC version coming "shortly after" from Iron Galaxy.

Revealed at today's PlayStation Showcase event, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection will feature enhanced versions of both of the Naughty Dog adventures release for PS4. You can see some of the screenshots from the next-gen remaster just below.

Uncharted 4 was first released back in 2016, which we awarded a 9/10 in our review. Uncharted: Lost Legacy, a side-story of sorts, was released the following year.

Sony has been investing more heavily in porting its exclusives to PC in the last year, and even bought Dutch studio Nixxes to assist with that move. Apparently, Epic previously offered $200 million to make that happen, but Sony seems to have gone in a different direction.

The Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection will release in early 2022.

Insomniac Is Making Marvel’s Wolverine

In a surprise reveal at today's PlayStation Showcase, Spider-Man and Ratchet & Clank developer Insomniac Games revealed that it has a Wolverine game in development for PS5, seemingly titled simple Marvel's Wolverine.

The reveal was done via a very brief teaser trailer, in which we see Wolverine in a cowboy hat sitting at a bar as a large man advances on him from behind. As the man gets closer, Wolverine extends his claws, revealing his identity.

Aside from that, the PlayStation blog stated that Marvel's Wolverine is a "standalone game" and is being directed by Brian Horton and Cameron Christian, the latter of whom was a creative lead on Miles Morales. It's still "very early" in development, but one hint to its story offered by the blog compared it to Spider-Man, in that "Both heroes feel deeply compelled to defend people who are less able to do so."

That's it for now. Insomniac's been a busy place lately though, with the recent release of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, which we found to be a "stunner" and a "fantastic experience." We similarly loved Marvel's Spider-Man and Miles Morales, effectively solidifying Insomniac's superb track record with these kinds of games. It also just announced today that it's working on Marvel's Spider-Man 2, exclusive to PS5. Though we don't know what genre Wolverine will fall into, Insomniac has built some serious goodwill with Marvel titles already, so we'll be looking forward to seeing more of this as it gets closer to release.

Unfortunately, there's no release date or window forthcoming for Wolverine, and so far it seems like it might be a PlayStation exclusive, or even a PS5 exclusive, as the final title card stated it's "In Development for PlayStation 5."

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

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt Coming to PS5 This Year

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt is coming to PlayStation 5 later this year. Announced at today's PlayStation Showcase event, the free-to-play battle royale is coming before the end of 2021, but we don't have an exact date yet.

More details were announced on the PlayStation Blog, including that the game will aim to hit 60 fps, and it will, "make full use of the DualSense controller."

Bloodhunt is set in the World of Darkness universe. In Bloodhunt, players control vampires fighting off hunters by using supernatural powers. The game is out now in early access on Steam. Bloodhunt is the debut game from UK and Sweden-based developer Sharkmob. It was originally revealed in late 2020.

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

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Gets Another Sassy New Trailer Ahead of Launch

If you somehow haven't gotten enough of a taste of what Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy will have to offer when it launches next month, today's PlayStation Showcase delivered with yet another look at some of the humorous, snappy story moments coming up in the Guardians' adventure.

The new trailer opens with the Grand Unifier, who we've seen in previous trailers, giving a dark, ominous speech before Star-Lord feigns a heart attack to, one can only presume, distract or throw him off balance, while Gamora shakes her head in exasperation. And it all goes silly from there.

We also get a look at Cosmo, a dog with superpowers, intelligence, and the ability to telepathically communicate, who has a prior relationship with the Guardians. There are more looks at combat (both on foot and in space!) and hints at some big dramatic moments.

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is still geared up for release on October 26 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch via cloud, following its announcement earlier this year. We've already seen tons of the game so far, including a cinematic trailer centered around Grand Unifier Raker, and deep dives into changes to Star-Lord's backstory.

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

New Ghostwire: Tokyo Trailer Looks Trippy, But Still No Release Date

After going quiet for some time, Shinji Mikami's Ghostwire: Tokyo reappeared today, showing off new visuals from the upcoming supernatural thriller but otherwise offering little in the way of new info.

Shown at today's PlayStation Showcase event, you can see some of the images from the trailer below.

The Oni mask bleeding black blood is perfectly scary, at least.

Despite being made by a Bethesda studio, Ghostwire: Tokyo is one of the few games that will remain PS5 console exclusives despite an acquisition by Microsoft. Mikami's previously told us that it technically isn't a horror game, and it was delayed to early 2022 to protect the health of staff working on it.

Ghostwire: Tokyo is still expected to be released early next year.