Bungie is finally adding the ability to change your Destiny 2 characters' faces and body types with an update ahead of its next expansion, The Final Shape.

The update was announced in Bungie's weekly This Week In Destiny blog post with some details about how the new character customization options will work. Players will be able to alter their characters' physical appearances, including their body types, genders, facial characteristics, hair, and markings like scars or tattoos. Basically, it sounds like Bungie is just unlocking the character creation options available when you create a new character in the game.

Notably, you'll be free to make these adjustments at any time after the update goes live, and there are no currencies associated with making character changes--you're free to change your characters as much as you want, whenever you want. The one thing you can't change about your characters, however, is their underlying race. Destiny 2 characters can be either Human, Exo (essentially robot people), or Awoken (blue-skinned folks created by a fateful collision of Destiny 2's Light and Darkness powers). So while you can change everything else about your characters, you can't change a Human into an Exo, for example.

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The Elder Scrolls Online's latest chapter, Gold Road, is coming in June, ZeniMax Online Studios has announced, and with it a major new addition to the Elder Scrolls universe: a never-before-seen Daedric Prince.

Ithelia is the prince's name, and the story of Gold Road, which launches on June 3, 2024 for PC and June 18 on consoles, will revolve around her unexpected awakening. ESO creative director Rich Lambert shared details about the upcoming chapter during a media briefing ahead of its official reveal, and described the story of the chapter as a race to figure out who freed Ithelia and to find her before others with a more nefarious purpose do. She has no memory of who she is, but strange things follow in her wake as she slowly regains her powers. Lambert described Ithelia's introduction as a "huge addition to the lore" of The Elder Scrolls, and said she is on the polar opposite side of the Daedric Prince spectrum compared to the squid-like prince Hermaeus Mora, who played a large role in last year's Necrom chapter.

"She's not horror, she's crystal and color," Lambert said. "That's kind of her jam."

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Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, which finally has a release date courtesy of Xbox's 2024 Developer Direct, will be a digital-only release, Microsoft has confirmed. It will retail for $50, and will be available on Xbox Series X|S consoles, Xbox Game Pass, and on PC via Windows and Steam.

In an Xbox Wire blog post, Ninja Theory studio head Dom Matthews stated when Hellblade 2 launches on May 21, it will be sold as a digital-only title, one that is similar in length to the first game in the series with a "focus on narrative." According to How Long To Beat, which tracks game lengths as reported by users, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice clocked in at around 7.5 hours for an average, main story playthrough, with a few additional hours for a completionist playthrough.

Ninja Theory doubled down on Hellblade 2 in terms of its brutal combat, which has been reinvented for the sequel and will see Senua battling against Vikings and supernatural threats. All the while, Senua will be dealing with psychosis, something that heavily informs how the game's story unfolds and is told.

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The Xbox Indiana Jones game, which we now know is titled Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, finally got its first gameplay reveal during the Xbox Developer Direct. In it, we saw hints of the story's villain, the new adventure Indy finds himself on, lots of gameplay that blends first- and third-person--and, oh yeah, it does feature Harrison Ford's likeness, ending a long debate over whether the game would involve the actor who has starred as the hero in movies dating back over 40 years. However, the voice acting is actually performed by Troy Baker, of Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us fame.

In a lengthy developer diary, MachineGames talked about the importance of tricky puzzles, stealth options, and Indy's iconic whip. The story will see Indy globetrotting to Thailand, Egypt, India, and beyond in a brand-new adventure that's set between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, a period in which Temple of Doom also took place.

The full Indiana Jones presentation went over 10 minutes, which starts in the above video at the 1:03:13 timestamp. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle comes to Xbox and PC, including Game Pass, later in 2024.

Square Enix took some time during the Xbox Developer Direct to detail its upcoming action-RPG Visions of Mana, which was announced at The Game Awards. The sneak peek gave us a better look at the world, your adorable animal companion mount, and the general art style. Series creator Koichi Ishii walked through some of the design decisions, especially when it came to modernizing his classic creatures.

For your rideable mount, Ishii wanted to make a mascot and designed a dog-like creature, combining elements of a yorkshire terrior, pangolin, and the mythological Anubis. The result is an extremely cute black dog-like creature that seems destined for merch. We also got an extended look at combat, with an emphasis on air juggles. We only saw one playable protagonist during the footage, but no story details were shared.

The art looks characteristically cute and colorful for the Mana series, with many enemy designs translated straight from early games like Secret of Mana. The presentation served as a mini history lesson on the Mana series as well, covering its origins as Final Fantasy Adventure.

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Humble is kicking off the year with its giant Winter Wonderland sale, featuring hundreds of PC games on sale for as much as 90% off from now through February 4.

Some of the biggest games from 2023 are discounted in the sale, including the Resident Evil 4 remake for $30 (normally $60), Street Fighter VI for $40 (down from $60), Starfield for $49 (normally $70), and Remnant II for $30 (was $50). The sale is also the perfect chance to grab Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion so you can catch up on the story before Final Fantasy VII Rebirth drops next month.

The Winter Wonderland Sale Store page is broken down into specific categories so you can find exactly what you're looking for--whether that's indies like Cult of the Lamb and Inscryption, acclaimed shooters like Doom Eternal and Deathloop, or high-speed action games with dope soundtracks like Hi-Fi Rush and Bomb Rush Cyberfunk. There's even a "handheld-friendly" section full of discounted Steam Deck-verified titles like Darkest Dungeon, Loop Hero, and Marvel's Midnight Suns.

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After resurfacing for the first time in three years during the 2023 Xbox Games Showcase, Avowed--the latest RPG from Obsidian Entertainment--was again featured during today's Xbox Developer Direct. Not only did we see new gameplay for the upcoming adventure, but we also learned its release window: Fall 2024.

The gameplay video gave a proper introduction to what players can expect in Avowed, which included the different areas of The Living Lands--Avowed is not a full "open-world" game like Skyrim or Fallout--instead, the game will incorporate multiple smaller zones a la Obsidian's recent release, The Outer Worlds. The video also showed off the multiple combat methods available to each character, which include melee weapons, magic, and even a gun.

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The Minecraft movie continues to add to its already impressive cast. Deadline reports that Kate McKinnon and Jemaine Clement are boarding the movie, joining Jason Momoa, Jack Black, and Jennifer Coolidge.

McKinnon, a veteran of Saturday Night Live, recently starred in the blockbuster smash Barbie. Clement is known for his roles on Flight of the Conchords and What We Do in the Shadows.

The movie is filming now in New Zealand, and it also stars Emma Myers, Danielle Brooks, and Sebastian Eugene Hansen. Jared Hess (Nacho Libre, Napoleon Dynamite) is directing.

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Strategy fans received a new in-depth look at Ara: History Untold, an upcoming 4X turn-based strategy game from developer Oxide Games that is published by Xbox Game Studios. New details about the ambitious civilization-builder Ara: History Untold were revealed as part Xbox's 2024 Developer Direct, where it was also confirmed that it is coming to PC via Steam and PC Game Pass in Fall 2024.

One of the main differences between Ara: History Untold and other grand strategy games is the Living World. It is a procedurally generated map that reflects the upgrades and changes being made by players, showing progress through visual changes and not just numbers. Ara: History Untold also features a crafting system, which requires players to gather resources and create necessary items. For example, building certain military units requires crafting the correct weapons first.

While Ara: History Untold is still a turn-based strategy game, instead of players each taking their turn one at a time, everyone will take their turns at the same time. This allows players to not only focus more on their own strategy, but also allows them to be more reactive to what other players are doing.

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For a limited time, you can grab Microsoft Visio 2021 Professional and Microsoft Project 2021 Professional for just $30 each from Stackcommerce. Microsoft sells Project Professional for a whopping $1,130 (or $680 for the standard edition), while Visio Professional goes for $580 (or $310 for the standard edition).

• Buy Microsoft Visio 2021 Professional -- $30
• Buy Microsoft Project 2021 Professional -- $30

Microsoft Visio is a brainstorming and diagramming software used to create charts, graphs, and other data visualizations like architectural layouts. It comes with dozens of templates for flowcharts, org charts, floor plans, and more, and it can import data from other Microsoft programs like Excel, Exchange, and Entra ID to automatically create charts and diagrams.

Microsoft Project is a project management app similar to tools like Asana or Trello. It includes pre-built sample projects, tools for visualizing schedule timelines, and even a built-in timesheet submission form, among many other features.

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Sea of Thieves' biggest update yet is scheduled to go live on January 23rd. As fans eagerly wait for the update Rare shared some insight on why the dev team decided to make such big changes to the game.

Thanks to a series of posts on X/Twitter by Joe Neate, the executive producer of Sea of Thieves, we have more information on the thought process behind season 11. He explained that everything being changed has "been considered to the tiniest detail by the team."

1/3 This is honestly one of the biggest changes we've ever made to SOT, but everything has been considered to the tinest detail by the team. We'll share the Deep Dive next week, which goes another layer into the detail, but the team have thought of everything. https://t.co/7KKXUN7FZH

— Joe Neate (@JoeNeate1) January 18, 2024

In a follow-up post, Neate shared his thoughts on how the Season 11 update was great overall because it was "one of the biggest improvements" the studio could have made while staying true to what makes Sea of Thieves special.

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It looks like Turnip Boy is officially a career criminal, as committing tax evasion wasn't enough for the mischievous vegetable. His new adventure sees him robbing a bank--and it looks every bit as wild as the first game. Plus, Turnip Boy has traded in his shovel for guns. By our count, this means he's the first turnip to fire a gun. If you're interested in checking out the quirky sequel, you'll be glad to know that Turnip Boy Robs a Bank is discounted on both PC and Switch, with the PC version getting a rather massive discount at Green Man Gaming. For Xbox players, you'll find it in the Game Pass library.

Buy at GMG (Steam key)

Buy at Switch eShop

The best deal for Turnip Boy Robs a Bank is at Green Man Gaming, where you can snag the title for just $10.79 (down from $15). Purchasing from GMG gets you a Steam key, so you don't have to worry about installing a second launcher before robbing the bank.

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Rockstar Games announced today that Rockstar Editor will no longer be available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles starting on February 20, and all user-uploaded clips will be deleted on that date.

First introduced in 2015, Rockstar Editor allows players to edit gameplay clips from Grand Theft Auto 5 & Grand Theft Auto Online and upload them to YouTube and the Rockstar Social Club, where they can be seen by other players. The developer says the program's removal from PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles is necessary in order to "support ongoing updates to these games on both platforms."

Support for Rockstar Editor and saved Clips or Projects on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One is ending on Feb. 20, 2024. More info here: https://t.co/6ISWG2NtbC

— Rockstar Support (@RockstarSupport) January 18, 2024

A short FAQ was uploaded to the Rockstar website to explain the program's removal in more detail and help players preserve their gameplay clips. Players on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S will remain unaffected, but those on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will likely want to download any clips they've uploaded via the video editing program before they're deleted on February 20.

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It's been almost two years since the Jon Snow spin-off show was announced, and there's still no guarantee it will ever be made. House of the Dragon, the Targaryen spin-off series will be returning this year with Season 2, and the A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight will begin filming in Spring 2024.

During their press tour for Netflix's 3 Body Problem, the original Game of Thrones show creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss mentioned that they wanted to "leave Westeros behind" but mentioned what it would take for them to return to the franchise.

"Nothing would make us happier than to work with our people from that show," Weiss told The Hollywood Reporter. "But there are a lot of other ways to make that happen that are fresh and exciting for everyone involved. Also, unless [Kit Harington] has been doing a lot of working out, that's a really heavy cloak for a guy in his 40s to carry around--it's almost 60 pounds!"

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After several years of development, an official release date for Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 has been confirmed at Microsoft's new Developer Direct livestream. Ninja Theory's sequel will officially be released on PC and Xbox Series X|S consoles on May 21.

Similar to the original 2017 action-adventure game, Hellblade 2 is a gritty and gory experience set in an ancient Nordic world. For the sequel, Senua has made peace with her past, and finds herself in Iceland seeking the Vikings that enslaved her people. Along the way Senua will face Viking raiders, giants, and zombie-like monsters on her quest, engaging them in brutal fights. Ninja Theory worked on creating "all-new combat" for the sequel, increasing the complexity of the actions that Senua can perform against a wider variety of opponents and creating a more dynamic flow for combat, all the while trying to tell a story with each encounter.

As part of the Developer Direct presentation, Ninja Theory studio head Dom Matthews said Hellblade 2 focuses on delivering a "shorter, narrative-led experience that focuses on the things we really care about." One of the things the team really cares about and which carries over from the first entry in the series is Hellblade 2's examination of Senua's mental state, where she "faces a battle of overcoming the darkness within and without" as part of a "brutal journey of survival through the myth and torment of Viking Iceland," according to the game's synopsis. Senua battles with psychosis, seeing and hearing things that aren't there. It's something Ninja Theory put a lot of effort into portraying accurately, with special attention to the game's audio and the voices players will hear as they embody Senua over the course of her journey.

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Saw is one of the most iconic horror franchises in recent history, spanning 10 films across two decades. Saw 11 is expected to arrive later this year--but if you want to relive the action before then, the Saw 10-Film 20th Anniversary Collection is releasing in March, giving you an easy way to view every entry in the gory series.

Saw 10-Film 20th Anniversary Collection (Blu-ray) $80

Releasing on March 5, the Saw 10-Film 20th Anniversary Collection is now available for preorder on Amazon. It includes Blu-ray, DVD, and digital formats for every film in the franchise (including Saw X, which just launched last year).

Preorder at Amazon

Details about special features and bonus content are not yet available, but expect it to include all the extra content found on previously released Blu-rays. We also wouldn't be surprised to see additional goodies to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Along with all 10 movies, the collection features an exclusive slipcase to store all your discs.

If you don't want to wait until March for your preorder to arrive, you can pick up the Saw: 9-Film Collection for $20 or the Saw: 8-Film Collection for $11 (down from $25). Neither of those includes Saw X (and they lack the collectible slipcover), but they're a good alternative if you're shopping on a budget.

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The late Carrie Fisher famously played Princess Leia in the Star Wars films, but the part was originally offered to Jodie Foster. The Oscar-winning actress confirmed this rumor on an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, mentioning how Lucasfilm was originally eyeing someone younger for the part, which made her a fit. It didn't work out, though, because Foster had other acting commitments at the time.

"They were going for a younger Princess Leia but I had a conflict. I was doing a Disney movie and I just didn't want to pull out of the Disney movie because I was already under contract," she said (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Foster would have been only 13 and 14 when the original Star Wars was filmed before she turned 15 when the movie came out in 1977. Fisher, however, was 19 years old during the filming of the movie.

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Microsoft is expanding its game development plans, as in a new interview, CEO Satya Nadella explained that the company aims to become a "good publisher" across all platforms. These comments come in the wake of Microsoft finally closing the deal on Activision Blizzard acquisition, a process that took more than a year to be completed and faced numerous legal challenges along the way.

"We've been at gaming, we love gaming. In fact, Flight Simulator was created before even Windows. But, we were number three, number four. And with Activision, I think we have a chance of being a good publisher--quite frankly--on Sony and Nintendo and PCs and Xbox," Nadella said to Bloomberg. "We are very excited about that acquisition closing and very glad we've got it through."

This isn't the first time that Nadella has spoken about Microsoft's plans to release games across more platforms--including competing ones--and there have been reports that Microsoft exclusives such as Sea of Thieves or Hi-Fi Rush could make the jump to Nintendo and Sony consoles soon.

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Deluxe Pokemon Funko Pop Moment

$52-$70

See at Amazon See at GameStop See at Entertainment Earth

The new Deluxe Pokemon Funko Pop Moment set featuring Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle is now available--if you can find it. Like many Funko Pops, the release date differs depending on where you buy it. Amazon lists March 4 as its release, whereas GameStop will have it available to ship on February 16. Meanwhile, Entertainment Earth appears to be sending orders within a few days of ordering.

Deluxe Pokemon Funko Pop Moment $52-$70

The Deluxe Pokemon Funko Pop Moment features three unique figures--in this case the Gen 1 Pokemon starters Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle--in a diorama scene of Professor Oak's Poke-lab from the original Pokemon Red and Blue on Gameboy. Unlike other Funko Pop figures, the Deluxe Pokemon Funko Pop Moment is encased in a special window display case that cannot be opened, and the figures are not removable. The full display measures 13.25 inches tall, 18 inches wide, and 4.75 inches deep.

This Pop scene is priced differently depending on where you buy it (for now). You can preorder it for $52 at Amazon or $70 at Entertainment Earth or GameStop. It keeps going in and out of stock at Amazon, so we'd recommend ordering soon.

See at Amazon See at GameStop See at Entertainment Earth

It's worth noting that the set is listed as Deluxe Pokemon Funko Pop Moment Number 01, implying this is the first release in a new series of similar diorama displays from Funko Pop. We don't know what other sets could be part of the Moments line, but we'll be sure to let you know if and when they're available.

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Microsoft is kicking off 2024 with a new Developer Direct livestream, giving fans a preview of its biggest upcoming games. If you're interested in seeing what's coming to Xbox consoles and PC in the near-future, here's a look at when you can tune in and what you can expect to see.

When to watch

The January 2024 Developer Direct livestream will kick off at the following times on January 18:

• 12 PM PT
• 3 PM ET
• 8 PM GMT
• 9 PM CET
• 6 AM AEST (January 19)

How to watch

You'll have several options to choose from, as the Developer Direct will be livestreamed across the official Xbox and Bethesda YouTube channels, Twitch, and Facebook. For the hearing-impaired, there'll be a Twitch stream with ASL as well.

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