Though The Last of Us Part 2 Remastereds PC launch is imminent, Naughty Dog, Nixxes, and Iron Galaxy Studios have some new content that will also be available for PS5 players. Two new characters are coming to No Return Bill and Marlene from The Last of Us Part 1.Each has a unique playstyle. Bill is a Smuggler who cant dodge but is tougher against melee strikes and gets double rewards from drops. He can also pick up a custom pump shotgun from dead drops. Marlene is a Risk Taker armed with a Custom Assault Rifle, capable of choosing a different route once and All or Nothing Gambits.But thats not all, as four new maps have been added to the mode, including Overlook, School, Nest, and Streets. These will be familiar to campaign fans and mix up the tension of No Return. All this content (and some new Trophies) will be available on April 3rd alongside the PC version as part of patch 2.0.0.As previously announced, those who optionally link their PSN account on PC will also receive a new skin for Ellie based on Jordans jacket from Intergalactic. Stay tuned for detailed patch notes, and head here to check out the PC requirements.

Remedy Entertainmentunveiled a new gameplay trailer forFBC: Firebreak, a three-player co-op FPS where the Federal Bureau of Controls first-response unit must contain an escalating paranatural threat. When the Oldest House, the Bureaus shifting headquarters, falls under siege by a relentless paranatural force, only Firebreak its most adaptablRead More

Indie gameConsume Me, developed by Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P and Ken "coda" Snyder, won the Seumas McNally Grand Prize and the Nuovo Award at the 2025 Independent Games Festival on Wednesday.Consume Meisa darkly humorous personal game about creator Jenny Jiao Hsia's relationship with food, drawing from her past experiences with dieting and disordered eating. In addition to theSeumas McNallyGrand Prize and the Nuovo Award, the title took home this year's Wings Award, which "ighlights outstanding games where women and other gender-marginalized developers hold key positions.Consume Mewas also nominated in several categories, including Excellence in Design, Excellence in Narrative and Excellence in Visual Arts.The full slate of 2025 IGF Award winners, as well as the nominees in each category, represents a diverse range of talented independent game developers across the global industryOther IGF Awards honorees include Excellence in Visual Art winner Hauntii by Moonloop Games, an action-adventure about a ghost's journey through the afterlife.The Excellence in Audio winner, Despelote by Julin Cordero and Sebastin Valbuena is a slice-of-life adventure about childhood and the magical grip soccer held over the people of Quito, Ecuador, in 2001. Slot Waste by Vinny Roca was named Best Student Game. It's an experimental video game installation that articulates a lengthy, absurdist Rube Goldberg-like production process.Related:The Excellence in Design winner, Tactical Breach Wizards by Suspicious Developments, is a turn-based tactics game where players must control a team of wizards who fight against a theocracy. Caves of Qud by Freehold Games and Kitfox Games, a science fantasy roguelike epic steeped in retrofuturism, deep simulation and swathes of sentient plants, won the Excellence in Narrative Award. The WereCleaner by The WereCleaner Teamwon the community-driven Audience Award, which is chosen by fans through a public voting process.Lastly, ChromaCorp by The ChromaCorp Team won the alt.ctrl.gdc Award, which honors the most engaging, intriguing, and well-executed game using unconventional, accessible or alternative physical controls. Like the IGF Awards nominees, the alt.ctrl.gdc titles are showcased in playable form at the GDC Expo.The winners of the IGF Awards, along with the award amounts they've received, are:Excellence in Visual Art ($2,000)Hauntii (Moonloop Games / Firestoke)Excellence in Audio ($2,000)Despelote (Julin Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)Excellence in Design ($2,000)Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments)Excellence in Narrative ($2,000)Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games)Nuovo Award ($2,000)Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder)Best Student Game ($2,000)Slot Waste (Vinny Roca)Audience Award ($2,000)The WereCleaner (The WereCleaner Team / USC Games)alt.ctrl.gdc Award ($2,000)ChromaCorp (The ChromaCorp Team)Seumas McNally Grand Prize ($10,000)Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder)Related:The 2025 IGF Awards, which took place at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, is part of the longest-running festival, summit, and showcase celebrating independent games and their creators.The Independent Games Festival has served as a springboard for breakthrough independent titles. Previous IGF prize winners includeVenba, Neon White, Inscryption, Return of the Obra Dinn, Her Storyand many more critical and cultural hits.All IGF titles, including both finalists and winners, are playable for any GDC pass holder at the IGF Pavilion, located on the GDC Expo Floor in San Francisco's Moscone Center, through Friday, March 21.GDC and GameDeveloper.com are sibling organizations under Informa.Related:

Firaxis had huge expectations to live up to with Civilization VII, as previous entries were beloved by fans of the 4X genre, and the team felt that focusing on establishing narrative events throughout every playthrough would help engage players to both their booming civilization and the real history that inspired the game.That system was detailed during a Game Developers Conference talk by three narrative designers and one historian who worked on Firaxis's most recent 4X strategy game. The talk, like the game, included a massive amount of content that explored unique stories in the game and how they were implemented.Narrative director Cat Manning opened the talk by breaking down how Civilization VII's overall narrative systemconsisting of design elements like storylets and narrative tagslet writers tell stories across ages in any given playthrough. The system was so powerful and large that, once launched, Civilization VII included 1,262 narrative events.A powerful narrative system"We wanted enough events so that players would get a pretty good number," Manning said. "We also wanted those events to be relevant to the player's game state."Those narrative events relied on how well Civilization VII would track player actions, remembering the choices they made, the natural disasters their civilizations went through, the units that passed away, and many other elements that this narrative system considered important. Every writer on the Firaxis team could add narrative tags to certain events, those tags could then trigger events that would lead to other events and so on.Related:That system allowed Firaxis storytellers to engage players with fascinating stories that came from throughout history, including fascinating chapters like the The Great Republic of Rough and Ready, a California city that voted to secede from the United States during the gold rush and a fictitious character in Roman history that Firaxis called "the first wife guy."The first wife guy is a narrative event in Civilization VII that involved a man erecting a commemorative stone in honor of his wife, who managed the man's affairs while he was in exile. The monument was "a flashpoint in the discussion on civic virtue," as read in the description found in-game. The player could then choose to "repossess the exile's property, move the stone to an honored place, or even teach the inscription found on the stone as rhetoric" to their people.Civilization's VII's narrative system allowed this story to live on much longer, if the player chose to engage with it. Changes to the series archaeology system often led to players digging up artifacts that were sourced from events that took place earlier in their playthrough.Related:Digging up the pastPlayers who interact with "the first wife guy" narrative event may use the game's archaeology system to dig up a great slab of rock, described as a "funerary monument to a long-dead woman." It's the same monument that was established many years before by the wife guy."Archaeology is storytelling, not a cold [retelling] but a perspective on a sequence of carefully chosen events," said narrative designer Nell Raban. "When we use the narrative system to procreate a story with the player in Civ 7, we're building that history layer by layer. With archaeology, we're able to excavate that history."Civilization has always had a humorous relationship with historyas players often shared screenshots of Mahatma Gandhi threatening the player's Civilization with war. Narrative designers and historians working on Civilization VII wanted more from the game's relationship with world history this time around. It obviously would never be anything close to accurate the majority of the time, but could provide an alternative history that still had bits of truth in it.Related:"When we say fiction, the word comes from a meaning of being fabricated," said senior historian Andrew Johnson. "Here I want to think about fiction as not necessarily something that's not true, but as stories that fill in the gaps between images and snapshots and data points. They are what we in our everyday lives use to give meaning to the way that the world works."Stopping to rememberGameplay in Civilization doesn't seek to replicate the progression of history, instead it wants to reference it as a possibility, according to Johnson. Players are often given the power to explore histories that could never exist, like Abraham Lincoln fighting against the Roman Empire in previous games. It also pushes players to fill in the gaps of their civilization's history through the small narrative events they experience.But as Civilization games span the entirety of human history, it's important to stop and remember the stories of individual towns, relationships, and people. That's why Firaxis worked so hard to create narrative moments like that of the first wife guy."Clearly, this guy's love for his wife endures, and so does history if we care enough to preserve it," Raban said. "When you span all of human history, you need those moments when you stop to remember."

As reports of vandalism and even a supposed doxing website targeting Tesla locations and vehicles continue to appear, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a new warning about old crimes. In a Department of Justice press release, she announced charges against three individuals responsible for the violent destruction of Tesla properties. It didnt mention that all of the arrests and charges listed had already been reported days or weeks ago.The charges Bondi touted as evidence that The days of committing crimes without consequence have ended include three alleged attackers using Molotov cocktails. Lucy Nelson is facing malicious destruction of property and firearms charges filed on March 5th in Colorado. Adam Lansky was charged on March 5th in Oregon with illegally possessing an unregistered destructive device. Daniel Clarke-Pounder was arrested and charged on March 14th in relation to an arson a week earlier at a Tesla charging station in South Carolina.If Bondi has any new news or information about the investigations into those operating behind the scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes, that she referenced after fires in Las Vegas and Kansas City, she hasnt released it, choosing instead to rely on the previously announced arrests to drum up new headlines. The newest information about the crimes that we found is a report by 404 Media that looked into the indictments, showing how law enforcement used license plate readers and social media posts to help identify suspects.

Google is taking down 10,000 fake business listings from Google Maps and suing a network of scammers who set them up, CBS News reports. The companys lawsuit alleges that a man connected to a broader scam network created fake business profiles on Google Maps and sold them for profit. Google was tipped off by a Texas-based locksmith who said someone was impersonating them on Google Maps, which led to the Wednesday lawsuit.Scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, Googles general counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado said Wednesday on CBS Mornings Plus. Once were alerted to the actual fraud, we take extreme efforts to identify similar fraudulent listings.Scammers can use Google Maps to fool people in a number of ways. Victims may stumble upon a fake listing that looks real and call the number. Sometimes, the scammer provides the service when the victim shows up, but will upcharge them. Other times, the victim could be routed to a call center, where scammers can try to convince them to pay for something ahead of time but not actually provide the service. Scammers can use software to pad fake listings with positive reviews; they can also boost the likes on a fake Q&A with illegitimate contacts on a real listing to get the Q&A to the top of a search, a Reddit user has found.Google shared with CBS News that it removed or blocked 12 million fake business profiles in 2023. It also said it has seen one million more fake listings year over year. Google has also been cracking down on businesses that use fake engagement tactics and artificial reviews to boost their ratings. And in the UK, Google implemented restrictions on offending businesses that engage in deceptive review activity after mounting pressure from regulators to take action.

If you're in the market for a new PlayStation or Xbox console and bottom-line pricing is your utmost priority, check out these deals from AliExpress. You can get a brand new imported Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 consoles for much lower than you can find a new model elsewhere. These are unopened, retail boxed, genuine gaming consoles that have been imported from another country (usually Japan, Hong Kong, Canada, or Mexico). Region locking is determined by your account, not by console, so all of these systems will play in the US without any problems. You'll also be able to select English as your default language just like any console you buy here. AliExpress offers a return window but the length varies depending on the item. These consoles all ship locally from the United States and usually arrive within one week.Imported PlayStation and Xbox Consoles Are on SaleImportXbox Series X Digital Edition 1TB ConsoleImportXbox Series X 1TB ConsoleImportSony PlayStation 5 Disc Edition ConsoleIs It Safe to Buy From AliExpress?AliExpress as a whole is a legitimate website, but since it is a marketplace comprised of individual sellers, you have to make sure that the vendor you're buying from is reputable. In many cases, the easiest way to do so is to look at the seller's rating and history. In terms of the products we've listed in this article, while it's true that some of the sellers may not have many reviews, AliExpress has reached out to us and personally vetted these vendors, which is why we feel comfortable promoting them. AliExpress also offers a 15 to 90 day free return policy depending on the product.Other Related DealsXbox Elite Series 2 Core Wireless Gaming ControllerAliExpress has dropped the price of the professional-grade Xbox Series X Elite Series 2 Core Wireless Controller to only $74.42 shipped after you apply coupon code "IFP3TXY" in cart. That's a huge price drop from its normal $140 list price and nearly the same cost as a standard Xbox controller. Note that this is a Hong Kong or Japanese import model in new retail packaging, but you won't find it cheaper anywhere else. Aside from the different color scheme, the Core controller is identical to the Xbox Elite Series 2 non-Core controller. The Core controller, however, does not include the component pack. AliExpress offers a 90-day return policy.Xbox Elite Series 2 Wireless Gaming ControllerAliExpress also just dropped the price on a new retail boxed (imported) Xbox Series X Elite Series 2 wireless gaming controller component pack included to $100 shipped. This controller retails for $180 and the lowest price we've ever seen for this controller stateside is about $130-$140.Sterling SilverSony PS5 DualSense ControllerVolcanic RedSony PS5 DualSense ControllerCobalt BlueSony PS5 DualSense ControllerLenovo has dropped the price of the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller to slightly lower than what we saw on Black Friday. Right now you can choose Sterling Silver, Volcanic Red, or Cobalt Blue for only $54 plus free shipping after you apply coupon code "PLAY5" in cart. Lenovo might not be the first site you'd think of for great deals on PlayStation controllers, but surprisingly, no one can match their pricing. This might be your last chance to get a DualSense controller at this price for quite a while, at least until Sony's PlayStation Days of Play Sale that will probably happen sometime in late May.SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Gaming Headset Dragon EditionPS5, PCSteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Wireless Gaming Headset Dragon EditionSteelSeries is currently offering the Arctis Nova 7 Dragon Edition gaming headset for only $119.99 after an $80 off instant discount. The Dragon Edition is identical to the Nova Arctis 7 in build quality and performance, but with the addition of a deep red colorway with decorative gold dragon accents in celebration of 2024's Year of the Dragon motif. Even though 2024 has passed, this is still one of SteelSeries' classier designs that doesn't feel outdated or out of place.PS5, PCSteelSeries Arctis Nova 7P Wireless Gaming Headset Destiny 2: The Final Shape EditionXbox, PCSteelSeries Arctis Nova 7X Wireless Gaming Headset Destiny 2: The Final Shape EditionSteelSeries is also taking 35% off both PS5 and Xbox editions of its SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Destiny 2: The Final Shape Edition wireless gaming headsets. The Destiny Edition comes with a Booster Pack that includes Destiny themed speaker plates and headband, as well as exclusive Destiny 2 in-game items.Why Should You Trust IGN's Deals Team?IGN's deals team has a combined 30+ years of experience finding the best discounts in gaming, tech, and just about every other category. We don't try to trick our readers into buying things they don't need at prices that aren't worth buying something at. Our ultimate goal is to surface the best possible deals from brands we trust and our editorial team has personal experience with. You can check out our deals standards here for more information on our process, or keep up with the latest deals we find on IGN's Deals account on Twitter.Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

It's a post-apocalyptic, action adventure platformer, and now ReSetna has made 14 updates in just one month after responding to fan feedback. Indie developer Todays Games calls it a "game reworked by players" and is dedicated to continuing working with its community. The latest update, the Ruby Armor Upgrade, includes an overhaul of the combat system, better player controls, and a strong focus on the way battles will feel. Players facing the final boss will get a new cut scene, the game's environments have had a renovation, and the UI has been tweaked to provide clarity for players. Oh, and there's that gorgeous red armor set too.Combat improvementsAll weapons are improved, more responsive and enjoyable: animations and combos have been re-made and optimized for player's experienceAxe combo now has fast responsive chain of attacks, Sabre's attacks are now much more enjoyable and responsive with its parry-counterattack and in-air attacks,Naginata has also been reworked to feel more impactful and heavierLesser projectiles from most basic enemies are now reflectable - the player is now able to avoid annoying ranged attacks, reflect them and still do a strong parry-counterattack while doing thaReSetna launched on January 30 on Steam and Nintendo Switch, and its titular robotic hero, ReSetna, has been woken from dormancy by Apex AI to track down the origin of a mysterious signal that is driving robots insane. Luckily there's back up from a drone companion called IXA who can help out by hacking enemies and providing medical aid. Rachel Weber is IGN's Managing Editor.

Warning: contains spoilers for Gangs of London series one and two.The opening scene of Gangs of London series three doesnt come with a caption, but the presence of Emmett Scanlans Jack whom we saw murdered back in series one tells us that were in flashback territory. The scene takes place a couple of years before the show begins, and depicts an event previously thought unconnected to the violent, gangland world of the Wallaces and the Dumanis: the death of Elliot Carters wife and son.In series one, Elliot told his new girlfriend Shannon Dumani about having lost his wife Naomi and young son Samuel in a car accident. Now, we now know that it was no accident. Naomi and Samuels car were pursued first by Jack, who worked for the Wallaces, and then by a mysterious assailant who rammed their stationary vehicle and flipped it before taking a file from it and leaving them both to die as it was engulfed by flames.Its not just the names Naomi (seen on the womans ID card in the footwell of her car. Surname Keegan) and Samuel (which she calls her little boy in the scene) that show us these characters are Elliots wife and son, but also the fact that the woman wears a gold knotted necklace pendant which is later seen in the present day, being handled by Elliot as a keepsake. Additionally, when Elliot visits Sean Wallace in prison in the series three opener, Sean confirms that Naomis death had been ordered but refuses to say more. He says he hadnt realised the connection between Elliot and the car victims until now.Naomi and Samuels deaths set up several mysteries for Gangs of London series three: who ordered their deaths? Who was the assassin that crashed into them? And most intriguing of all, what was contained in the manila folder with the V/N logo that the assassin took from the car? Was it information from the company where she worked, and was Naomi a whistleblower planning to expose criminal activity? In series two, Elliot told Sean that hed chosen to go undercover with the Wallace family because of the sheer extent of criminal activities Finn Wallace was involved in drug dealing, arms trafficking, money laundering, countless murders and brutal criminal violence Having lost his wife and child, the former soldier chose the riskiest, most dangerous target he possibly could, perhaps driven by a death wish. Elliot, however, proved difficult to kill, and his new relationship with Shannon and her young son Danny gave him a reason to try to survive. Now, it turns out that the very loss that drove Elliot towards the Wallaces in the first place, was, unbeknownst to him, tied up with their criminal activity. After he sent Sean Wallace to prison to avenge the murder of his dad in series two, Elliot now has another revenge mission: to find out who killed Naomi and Samuel, and why.Gangs of London series three is streaming now on Sky Go and NOW in the UK.

Remedy comes back to a key point about FBC: Firebreak repeatedly this game isnt a second job. You wont need to check in every day. You wont need to frettingly finish a battle pass before a deadline. None of your friends are going to be locked out if they dont buy an expansion. Theres so much to be excited about here Remedys first full online multiplayer game, its wild addition to the Control mythos, and its gratifyingly bizarre touches but just the idea of being able to play an evolving, online game like this at my own pace is upping my anticipation all by itself.To bring you up to speed, FBC: Firebreak is a first-person, co-op PvE shooter that pulls us six years beyond the ending of Control. That game left us with The Oldest House the shifting, eldritch home of the Federal Bureau of Control under lockdown after a hostile force known as The Hiss attacked. This spin-off (very much a widening of that games story, rather than a sequel to it) sees the House still under lockdown, and those stuck inside stuck in increasingly desperate circumstances. Youll play as members of the titular Firebreak, a ragtag group of first responders drafted in to clean up strange threats, using cobbled-together technology to do so.In theory, its a familiar set-up three-player parties head out into missions that gradually escalate over time, throwing objectives and enemies at you with abandon. In practice, this is anything but familiar. For a start, those objectives are unusual. In the mission Im shown during a hands-off presentation, the team are sent out to complete a mission called Paper Chase, in which they not only need to deal with Hiss-afflicted enemies (many of which youll remember if you played Control) but to clean up an infestation of sticky notes.Yes, those little yellow squares of paper seem to have gained some measure of sentience, and are covering entire sections of The Oldest House. As you fight, youll need to clean them up not just because theyre causing issues for the dcor, but because they have a habit of spontaneously attacking you (literally covering your field of view with little bits of paper), and even coalescing to create elite enemies youll need to take down. At the end of this mission, we see a boss affectionately known as Sticky Ricky made up of literally millions of sticky notes (I know this, because an onscreen objective is counting down each note, one by one). It sounds like a comedy, but its presented with the deadpan sense of dread that defined Control its weird, even unsettling, and a perfect match for this kind of game.Firebreak is doing a lot beyond getting weird with its missions, however. Team composition appears to be everything to your success youll tool up your character not only with weapons and perks (of which there appear to be dozens), but a Crisis Kit, which provides some of the stranger tools youll have at your disposal. I see the Splash Kit (which fires pressurized water), the Jump Kit (offering electrical powers), and the Fix Kit (which, well, fixes things). Each of these provides both offensive and utilitarian abilities a Fix Kit user can repair broken systems in the House, but also has access to enhanced melee using their wrench, for example. Your teams mix of Crisis Kits will alter how you approach a level (and each other, given there are doubtless ways to combine these powers), with strategies sure to emerge from those who really dive deep into the systems.And your strategy around these levels will be paramount your in-game currency needs to be collected during the missions themselves, and youll only earn it by safely extracting from a level. But the longer you stick around, the more Hiss arrive, adding a constant risk-reward tug-of-war. On top of this, your potential rewards are affected by two separate choices youll make before you begin your mission the Threat Level (a basic choice of difficulty), and the Clearance Level. The latter is a truly interesting piece of design each mission is split into distinct zones, escalating in complexity, and your chosen Clearance Level designates how many of those Zones youll need to get through. In effect, youre gambling against your own teams skill.This ability to tailor how hard or long a mission will be all feeds into that point I made at the beginning Remedy isnt just trying to make a compelling online shooter, but a welcoming one. Only got time for a quick burst? Jump into a low Threat, low Clearance mission for a bit of instant gratification. Settling down for the long haul? Grab your friends and start upping that Clearance level.This kind of thinking is all over the game. As I mentioned previously, Firebreak is being made purposely without daily or limited-time events, to ensure you never feel like youre being forced to play. But alongside that, Remedy has worked to make it as fast as possible to boot the game and get into a mission; theyre thinking deeply about making co-operation truly meaningful, but without punishing your for being matched with a player of lower skill, or who might be trolling their team; and all post-launch content (and theres a lot planned) will be free, meaning youll never have to split up a party.Its a game aiming to balance uniqueness and replayability with a healthy dose of respect for its players, and their time. Honestly, that might be just as revolutionary as having a boss made of sticky notes.FBC: Firebreakwill arrive this Summer for Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC and you can play it day one with Game Pass.FBC: FirebreakRemedy EntertainmentGet it nowFBC: Firebreak is a cooperative first-person shooter set within a mysterious federal agency under assault by otherworldly forces. As a years-long siege on the agencys headquarters reaches its boiling point, only Firebreakthe Bureaus most versatile unithas the gear and the guts to plunge into the buildings strangest crises, restore order, and blast their way back from the brink.