Earlier this week, some Baldur's Gate 3 players mistakenly received early access to Patch 8--the final major update for the game--before its scheduled stress test. Now, Larian Studios has announced that the Patch 8 stress test is live, and it's introducing several new features including cross-play.

To familiarize players with the way cross-play will function, Larian has also released the following video that walks through the necessary steps to join up with friends who are playing on separate consoles or PC.

Prior to launching Baldur's Gate 3 on Xbox Series X, Larian was forced to drop the split-screen feature from Xbox Series S. After Patch 8, Series S users will finally get the split-screen option that Series X players have enjoyed since 2023.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Star Trek: Section 31 Limited Edition Steelbook (4K Blu-ray)

$38 | Releases April 29

Preorder at Amazon Preorder at Walmart

Star Trek: Section 31 Standard Edition (4K Blu-ray)

$34 | Releases April 29

Preorder at Amazon Preorder at Walmart

There's a seedier side to the Star Trek universe that most people don't know about, and if you're curious, then you might want to grab Star Trek: Section 31 when it warps onto 4K Blu-ray on April 29. Starring Michelle Yeoh, the long-in-development made-for-TV film centered around the sinister group premiered on Paramount+ on January 24. If you aren't a subscriber or simply prefer physical media, Section 31's 4K Limited Edition Steelbook and standard edition 4K Blu-ray release are up for preorder at Amazon and Walmart.

Star Trek: Section 31 Limited Edition Steelbook (4K Blu-ray) $38 | Releases April 29

Star Trek: Section 31's Limited Edition Steelbook only costs four bucks more than the standard 4K Blu-ray release. At the time of writing on January 28, the steelbook case itself hasn't been revealed. The image above is a promotional poster that could wind up being the standard edition case. The steelbook, however, figures to have a different art design.

With preorder price guarantees at Amazon and Walmart, you will pay the lowest price offered from the time you order until release. Additionally, neither retailer will charge you until your order ships in April, and you can cancel at any time.

We'll update this preorder guide once we learn more about Star Trek: Section 31's 4K Blu-ray release. According to Walmart, it comes with 4K and standard 1080p Blu-ray discs.

Preorder at Amazon Preorder at Walmart Star Trek: Section 31 Standard Edition (4K Blu-ray) $34 | Releases April 29

If you don't care for steelbook cases, both retailers have Section 31's standard 4K release for $34. Once again, you're eligible for a preorder price guarantee, and the artwork above is a promotional image. We will update this story with the official case and cover art design once it's revealed.

This edition also includes 4K and standard Blu-ray discs. The only difference is the discs are stored in a plastic case rather than a steelbook.

Section 31 is also releasing on DVD for $26.

Preorder at Amazon Preorder at Walmart

Section 31 is a bit of a weird film to explain, as it's essentially a feature film-length episode of Star Trek Discovery. Yeoh reprises her character of Philippa Georgiou, specifically the Mirror Universe version who was Empress, had a taste for alien flesh, and found herself working as a Section 31 operative in the regular Star Trek universe. The film sees Georgiou with protecting the United Federation of Planets and facing the sins of her past as she assembles a motley crew of renegades to help her face off against a powerful threat.

Reviews have not been kind to Section 31, as it currently holds a 37 Metascore and 1.5/10 user score on Metacritic (GameSpot's sister site). But if you're the kind of Star Trek fan who wants a complete collection of Trekkie entertainment, then it might be worth picking up the Blu-ray. Special features haven't been revealed for it yet, but at least the cover is quite nice.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Destiny is getting crossover content with one of the biggest sci-fi franchises on the planet, as Bungie has announced a partnership with Lucasfilm to bring Star Wars content to Destiny 2.

Launching on February 4 with the Destiny 2: Heresy update, the Star Wars content includes new armor ornaments, accessories, emotes, and finishers that are "inspired by Star Wars." More specifically, the armor ornaments include one per Guardian class, and they are inspired by soldiers of the Galactic Empire. You can get a glimpse at the new armor in the image below.

Destiny x Star Wars launches in February.

Destiny 2 has welcomed a number of licensed crossovers before, including franchises like The Witcher, Mass Effect, and Assassin's Creed, but Star Wars is the biggest yet in terms of prominence.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

If you're playing a cozy game, you can all but guarantee you'll be doing a bit of cooking. That goes for Hello Kitty Island Adventure, which features a variety of cooking stations and recipes that can be used to make yummy food. Here's what you need to know about making grub in Hello Kitty Island Adventure, as well as every cooking recipe currently in the game.

All cooking recipes in Hello Kitty Island Adventure

Unlike most games, you can't do all your cooking in one place in Hello Kitty Island Adventure. Instead, you'll need to find and use unique cooking stations throughout the world. Additionally, each of these cooking stations have a base ingredient that is used in every dish made there, so don't forget to add it. Below, we'll specify where to find each cooking station and its base ingredient before listing out all the recipes that can be made there.

Oven

The Oven is found at the Seaside Resort.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Call of Duty's big new Season 2 update for Black Ops 6 and Warzone is out now, but the rollout didn't go entirely smoothly. The Season 2 launch today, January 28, included a few issues across both games.

Here is a quick rundown of some of the known issues with the Season 2 update, as shared by Activision via the Call of Duty Updates account:

• The previously announced changes to buy station locations in Warzone on Urzikstan did not go live with the update--Activision is fixing this "in the coming days."
• Players are reporting slower speeds than intended when using ziplines; Activision is investigating.
• The game would crash if players edited a loadout while queuing for a match--this has been fixed already.
• In Zombies, Activision is investigating an issue that causes the game to crash when players use a Shock Charge during the Wonder Weapon Quest in the new map, The Tomb.
• Also in Zombies, Activision is looking into a spike in crash reports for players with AMD GPUs.

For more, be sure to look at Activision's public Trello board that runs through all of the major known issues. A major new update for Call of Duty launching with some issues is pretty standard stuff.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Throne and Liberty, the free-to-play MMORPG from Korean developer NCSOFT and publisher Amazon, is set to receive its first major content update on March 6 when its Wilds of Talandre expansion arrives. The update will overhaul some of the game's existing systems while additionally adding all new ones like Artifacts.

As the name of the expansion implies and as detailed in a blog post, the update will add the new zone of Talandre. There the game's story will continue as players progress their characters to the new level cap of 55, all the while participating in new world events and field dungeons.

There are big changes coming to Throne and Liberty's endgame too, with the update set to introduce a new activity in the form of Solo Dungeons. These are intended as a way to ease players into more difficult endgame group content. Those looking for a true endgame challenge will be able to tackle new 3-Star difficulty dungeons.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Assassin's Creed Limited Edition (Amazon Exclusive)

$70 | Releases March 20

Preorder at Amazon

Preorder Assassin's Creed Shadows Gold Edition

$100 | Releases March 20

Preorder at Amazon

Assassin's Creed Shadows Special Edition (Walmart Exclusive)

$70 | Releases March 20

Preorder for PS5 Preorder for Xbox Series X

Preorder Assassin's Creed Shadows Standard Edition

$70 | Releases March 20

Preorder at Best Buy Preorder at Target Preorder at GameStop

Preorder Assassin's Creed Ultimate Edition

$130 | Releases March 20

Preorder at Ubisoft Store

We're less than two months away from the release of the next Assassin's Creed game. Following a second delay, Assassin's Creed Shadows is slated to launch on March 20 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Assassin's Creed fans have a lot to choose from when it comes to editions, all of which include bonus in-game content and access to the post-launch expansion. Multiple retailers are also offering exclusive bonuses, too. Let's take a look at all of the preorder options for Assassin's Creed Shadows as well as supplementary merch launching alongside the game.

There are numerous editions of Assassin's Creed Shadows up for grabs, including a GameStop-exclusive Collector's Edition that looks pretty awesome. If you preorder from Best Buy, you'll receive a free lithograph set as a bonus. Target is offering an exclusive steelbook case with all physical edition preorders. Meanwhile, Amazon and Walmart each have an exclusive edition with bonus content for the game's two playable characters.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

One of World of Warcraft's most famous pieces of cut content, the Karazhan Crypts, is finally playable today as dungeon. The new piece of endgame content is part of WoW's more experimental Season of Discovery servers.

WoW is filled with unused areas or places that were never fully fleshed out, and vanilla WoW's Karazhan Crypts are one of them. It's a dark, moody area below the tower of Karazhan (which itself wouldn't actually become a raid until the game's first expansion) in the original version of WoW that has long captured the imagination of players. Now, as part of a new content phase for WoW Classic's current seasonal servers, the Karazhan Crypts have been transformed into a five-man dungeon for players to explore.

As detailed by WoW Youtuber WillIE (in partnership with Blizzard), the dungeon itself is unlike others players may be used to. Inspired by classic dungeon-crawling RPGs, the Karazhan Crypts are shrouded in a darkness that can only be dispelled with a magical torch. There's no mini-map to rely on, so players will need to stick together as they explore the dark reaches of the crypt and encounter new horrors. In keeping with the "discovery" aspect of the season, players will want to keep an eye out for secrets inside the dungeon that may aid their adventuring party.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Most of the early research into video games seemed to be designed to find a link between in-game violence and its effects on players in the real world. More recently, there have been studies about the adverse affects of gaming addiction. However, there's now research that suggests playing games may actually be beneficial for players, depending upon the type of the game.

According to Reuters, the majority of the research into the benefits of gaming focuses on cozy video games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons. These casual games are designed to be soothing to play and almost impossible to lose. That genre also avoids putting players into overly stressful situations.

Hiroyuki Egami, an assistant professor at Nihon University, published a study conducted in Japan between 2020-2022 which found that participants experienced greatly reduced stress and an increase in mental health if they spent one extra hour playing games each day. A separate study by McMaster University assistant professor Michael Wong compared the benefits of casual gaming to meditation.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Nearly two decades after its original release, the Quirky indie RPG is getting updated editions for Switch and PC later this year, giving players a chance to relive the cult-classic game that inspired other memorable RPGs like Undertale. The new version will include an updated battle system, new areas and bosses designed by creator Mortis Ghost, a new soundtrack featuring Morusque and Toby Fox, and a new hint system to guide you through its most challenging sections. No specific release date has been confirmed yet, but preorders for the physical edition are open at multiple online retailers, and there's even a special Off: Bad Human Edition that includes bonus content that collectors will want to check out.

Off Preorder Bonuses

There are currently no preorder bonuses for Off, though this could change once a firm release date is revealed. We’ll update this section if any preorder bonuses are announced.

Off $35

This version of Off is making a few changes to the game, including both quality-of-life updates and entirely new content to explore. You'll find an updated battle system, new areas and bosses designed by creator Mortis Ghost, a new soundtrack featuring Morusque and Toby Fox, and a new hint system to guide you through its most challenging sections. Physical Switch copies are available at Best Buy and Target, while digital copies are available on Steam. The Switch eShop should have the game listed shortly.

See at Best Buy See at Target Off: Bad Human Edition $79

The Off: Bad Human Edition is exclusive to Fangamer and comes bundled with a few collectible goodies. This includes:

• Batter bobblehead statue
• Six Zodiac cards
• 16-page prequel comic by Mortis Ghost
• Instruction manual
• Reversible cover art
• Souvenir art card

See at Fangamer

Off is a quirky RPG that follows a humanoid creature known as the Batter, who has been sent on a mission to purify the world of the many ghastly creatures haunting its streets. You’ll venture through multiple zones where you'll tackle challenging enemies in a battle system that doesn’t rely on turn-based input--instead, you activate your abilities when their cooldown timer has reset. Off's memorable characters and retro-inspired visual style were a major influence on game designer Toby Fox, the creator of Undertale and Deltarune, and this new edition brings the inspiration full circle with Fox contributing new tracks to Off's soundtrack.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

The Call of Duty series is an annual franchise, so it's expected that Microsoft's Activision division will launch a new Call of Duty this year, like it has every year since 2005. In fact, 2025 will mark 20 years in a row of Activision releasing a new Call of Duty game (the series debuted in 2003 but had no release in 2004).

It's still early days, and to be clear, Activision has not announced the new Call of Duty game that's expected to release in 2025. But there have been a handful of leaks and rumors about Call of Duty 2025, including a rumor that it's a sequel to Black Ops 2 set in the 2030s.

In this post, we're rounding up everything we know, and what's been rumored, about the next Call of Duty.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

WWE 2K25 is now available to preorder ahead of its March 14 release, with Roman Reigns serving as the cover star. The latest entry in the annual wrestling sim series will feature a slew of quality-of-life updates as well as brand-new game modes. Most notably, 2K is introducing The Island, an online world where you can interact and compete with other players. WWE 2K25 sounds like it could be one of the most expansive wrestling sims to date. If you're interested in stepping into the ring on launch day, you can get a handful of cool bonuses by preordering your copy early.

From the basic standard edition to the premium Bloodlines Edition that grants one-week early access, here’s a look at what’s included with every version of WWE 2K25

WWE 2K25 Preorder Bonuses

Regardless of which version of WWE 2K25 you preorder, you’ll get the Wyatt Sicks DLC pack, which comes with five playable Superstars for the card-collecting MyFaction mode. Here are the five Persona Cards you'll get with your preorder:

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Donkey Kong could be headed for an overall redesign. Fans got a quick glimpse of the great ape in the Switch 2 demo reel with (what appears to be) Mario Kart 9, but it seems the new look for DK isn't just for the game, but in merchandise as well.

It's not the first time Donkey Kong has been given a facelift since his original design in 1981, which was more like King Kong, and then completely overhauled with Rare's Donkey Kong Country franchise. His solo series gave him a necktie, a subtle hair wave, smaller nostrils, and a furrowed brow that always made him look slightly perturbed.

The new design leans more into his appearance in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which eagle-eyed fans have noticed on Nintendo's Japanese merchandise. The brow was scaled back, giving him a sort of kinder, rounder look. DK's superfans on Reddit weighed in on the design with some not sure, while others were in favor of the new look.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Sony Santa Monica has announced that MLB The Show 25 will launch on March 18 for PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X|S. Unlike the previous three entries, MLB The Show 25 will not be on Xbox Game Pass at launch.

MLB The Show 25 is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and is featuring three cover athletes instead of just one this year: Pittsburgh Pirates' Paul Skenes, Cincinnati Reds' Elly De La Cruz, and Baltimore Orioles' Gunnar Henderson.

MLB The Show 25's cover athletes

Sony Santa Monica also clarified that MLB The Show 25 "will not be on platform subscription services in 2025." This rules out the game being added to PlayStation Plus or Xbox Game Pass this year, but it's still possible that it could be added to gaming subscriptions in 2026 and beyond. This is a big departure given that when the series went multiplatform starting with MLB The Show 21, it and each subsequent entry also released for Xbox Game Pass on launch day.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

While Frodo and friends wrapped up their journey through Middle-earth decades ago, a recently released card game gives you a unique new way to experience the thrilling adventure. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Trick-Taking Game just launched on January 17, and it looks like a fun way for up to four players to relive the iconic tale. It’s relatively affordable at $25--and since matches only last for 20 minutes, it’s easy to squeeze a round into even the busiest of game nights. We’ve already seen the game go out of stock once, so if you’re interested, be sure to check it out soon.

LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring Trick-Taking Card Game $25

The Trick-Taking Card Game is a cooperative adventure for players ages 10 and up. You’ll work as a team to overcome various obstacles, reliving chapters from the hit novel that are brought to life with vivid, stained-glass-style artwork on all 144 cards. The bundle also includes various tokens and a rulebook to teach you how to play. Multiple game modes are available if you decide you want a change of pace, and there’s even a Solo Mode if you prefer to only cooperate with yourself.

See at Amazon

While this might be the newest LOTR tabletop adventure, it’s far from the first. A bunch of other Lord of the Rings card and board games are up for grabs, including the popular LOTR: Card Game Revised Core Set for $55 (was $60). This supports up to four players and can run for up to two hours. It’s highly strategic, as the cooperative game as you assemble a band of adventurers as you try to complete a variety of quests through Middle-earth. Featuring hundreds of cards and plenty of replayability, it’s an excellent companion to the fast-paced Trick-Taking Card Game.

Another fun choice is The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth, as it features app-supported play to guide you through every corner of Middle-earth as you play solo or with a couple of friends. It’s currently discounted to $88 (was $110).

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Cult-classic anime film Summer Wars is getting a pair of new physical editions on April 1, including an Amazon-exclusive Limited Edition Steelbook that brings the movie to 4K UHD resolution for the first time. Preorders for Summer Wars Limited Edition Steelbook are available now for $37. Alternatively, you can save $10 by opting for the standard 1080p Blu-ray edition.

Summer Wars Limited Edition Steelbook (4K Blu-ray, Amazon Exclusive) $37 | Releases April 1

First released in Japanese Theaters all the way back in 2009, Summer Wars was a massive critical and commercial hit at the time. The film tells the story of Kenji--a moderator for a virtual reality world that has become entwined with everyday life--who gets roped into a scheme to pose as a fake boyfriend to his friend Natsuki.

Things go haywire for Kenji after a rogue AI program steals his online identity and he's accused for hacks that lead to real-world catastrophes, and he has to unite Natsuki's family to help him stop an imminent cyber-apocalypse.

Preorder at Amazon Summer Wars (Standard Blu-ray) $27 | Releases April 1

While this will be the first time Summer Wars has released on 4K, it's not the first standard 1080p Blu-ray release. Funimation published the first Blu-ray edition back in 2011, and it has been reissued in the years since. That said, Summer Wars has been out of print for a while now. The standard Blu-ray edition releases alongside the Limited Edition Steelbook on April 1 and is up for preorder for $27.

Preorder at Amazon Summer Wars: Complete Edition (Manga) $20.54 (was $25)

Summer Wars director Mamoru Hosoda adapted the story into a serialized manga that began around the same time the film hit theaters. Fans of Summer Wars should check it out if they want to spend more time in its world. There's a cheap and convenient way to get the full run, too. The 589-page Summer Wars: Complete Edition paperback omnibus is available for only $20.54 (was $25) at Amazon.

See at Amazon

Summer Wars earned rave reviews for its vibrant animation and story that examined life in a digital age. The new editions don't have much in terms of extras, but if you like interviews, there are several with the film's original cast of voice actors as well as with Hosoda.

Summer Wars Bonus Features

• Interviews with voice actors
• Interview with director Mamoru Hosoda
• Teaser trailers and TV spots

Summer Wars was Hosoda's second feature-length anime following the 2006 cult hit The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Hosoda also directed two Digimon short films, including Digimon Adventure, which debuted right before the Digimon Adventure series kicked off.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

With an increasing numbers of Xbox console-exclusive games starting to appear on Sony's PlayStation 5, some players are openly wondering why they should purchase one of Microsoft's consoles. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has fueled some of that talk by pushing for more Xbox titles on other consoles and PC. In a new interview, Spencer also acknowledges that the hardware differences between Xbox Series X and PS5 have drastically diminished.

Spencer recently appeared on The Destin Channel, and he shared his belief that the the current console generation is too similar. That's why he wants to see the next iteration of Xbox offer innovations that will make it an easier choice for players.

"I want us to innovate and make the hardware the differentiator," explained Spencer. "We've got into this space where the differentiation on the hardware has gone down and it's really been locked games that you've tried to make the identity of the hardware. I love when I see handhelds, when I see kind of unique things that hardware manufacturers do. And I want our hardware to compete... so let's have our platform continue to innovate with services and the hardware work that we're doing... I think that's our identity going forward and it's working for us now."

Continue Reading at GameSpot

The first demo of Dark and Darker debuted almost two years ago, just a few months before the mobile version of the game was announced. Now, Dark and Darker Mobile's North American soft launch is just a few days away, and the global launch is expected to arrive in the first half of this year.

PUBG Mobile publisher Krafton and Bluehole Studio have revealed that Dark and Darker Mobile will be available for American and Canadian players on February 4. The soft launch was originally going to be only for Canada before the decision was made to expand the early access.

"We are thrilled to expand our soft launch beyond Canada and bring Dark and Darker Mobile to even more players across North America," said Bluehole Studio's Joonseok Ahn in a statement. "The strong enthusiasm from the community encouraged us to accelerate our plans, and we look forward to gathering more feedback as we prepare for the global release."

Continue Reading at GameSpot

First a hello, then sent to hell. That's the scenario the actor behind Grand Theft Auto V's Trevor would like to see for the character in Grand Theft Auto VI. While Steve Ogg hasn't reportedly done any work on the next entry in the franchise, he'd love to see Trevor "pass the torch" to new leads in a way that sees his brains turning into pink goo.

Speaking with ScreenRant, Ogg explained that his wish for GTA VI is "if Trevor appeared in it just to be killed at the beginning." This would be a full-circle moment for Trevor if Rockstar followed along with Ogg's suggestion. That's because Trevor kills GTA IV: The Lost and the Damned protagonist Johnny Klebitz in GTA V. "Pass the torch, stomp Trevor's head in, and sort of put an end to that and allow a new generation to take over," Ogg said.

Last year, Ogg was reflecting on the past with Trevor instead of looking into the future. For instance, the actor revealed he recorded lines for a James Bond-like story DLC for GTA V that would have seen Trevor going undercover. However, that add-on obviously never happened, and it was reportedly scrapped because of the success of GTA Online.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Kentucky Route Zero is celebrating its five-year anniversary today, January 28, 2025. Below, we look back at its inspirations and excitement for experimentation.

It is in the details that Kentucky Route Zero stakes its claim beyond video games. Its typewriter typography. The terse descriptions of characters between bursts of dialogue. The adventure game actions written like stage directions. Lights that illuminate the new parts of a stage or set. It is the details that matter. In practice, KRZ doesn't play differently from any other adventure game, but it feels different than many of them. This is because it takes from a wide array of influences, many beyond the usual preview of video games. Its interest in theater, film, visual art, and radio is what still makes it a vivid game five years later.

It is no secret that video games can be a little self-obsessed. While one could meaningfully label a painting, a movie, or a book as "science-fiction" or "romantic," video game genre designations like "roguelike" or "platformer" can only really describe video games (though if any one wants write an essay about what novels could be described as "strategy" or "simulation," I would be very eager to read it). Many--even most--big-budget games borrow from a ready-made list of influences, such as Star Wars, Alien, Indiana Jones, or Lord of the Rings. This narrow set of sources can make video games feel sometimes hyper-generic: unable to node themselves into a meaningful network, but instead digging deeper into an ever-drying well. When a big game attempts a big homage to genuine artistic legacy, it can feel absurd. Who could possibly take Ghost of Tsushima's "Kurosawa mode" seriously?

Continue Reading at GameSpot