Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Title Update 1.1.2 will be released tomorrow, February 16, and will add a new River Raids game mode alongside a ton of game improvements. As detailed on Ubisoft.com, Title Update 1.1.2 will be released on all platforms at 4am PT/7am ET/12pm GMT and will range from 10.23 GB on PS4 to 19.53 GB on Xbox Series X/S. The River Raids game mode is part of Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Yule Season and is a replayable mode that will take you to unexplored regions of England and will allow you and your Jomsviking crew to raid to your heart's content. This new mode is just one part of this free update, and it will offer new loot, rewards, and challenges for those who can conquer it. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/11/09/assassins-creed-valhalla-review"] There will also be new abilities and skills that Eivor can acquire, and they are as follows;

• Ability: Berserker Trap - This attaches a trap to your arrow, spreading hallucinatory powder. Any nearby movement causes the trap to trigger. Surprise clueless passersby!
• Ability: Battle Cry - In a fit of rage, Eivor lets out a blood curdling scream, gaining strength and causing nearby enemies to stumble backwards in fear, interrupting their attacks.
• Ability: Shoulder Bash - Eivor performs a shoulder bash that pushes back enemies and destroys objects.
• Skill: Assassin Carry - Automatically carry a body after a successful assassination.
• Skill: Assassin Slide - Slide into enemies and knock them off balance while sprinting.
• Skill: Power Stroke - Trigger a speed boost on the long ship at the cost of stamina.
• Skill: Arrow Looter - Eivor has a greater chance of looting arrows from archers.
• Skill: Fight Ready - Always start a fight with an adrenaline-filled slot.
• Skill: Long Ship Brace - When you are in command of the long ship, the crew will raise their shield with you.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/11/16/is-assassins-creed-valhalla-the-best-in-the-franchise-the-review-crew-ep-1"] Alongside all these other additions, Ubisoft has made a ton of game improvements to make you adventure in Assassin's Creed Valhalla a bit smoother. The full list of improvements is listed below.

Game Improvements

Miscellaneous

• Runes and used resources to upgrade Berserker gear will be returned to the player inventory when an item is lost.
• Improved vibration feedback during fishing. Fishing goes BRRRR.
• Addressed an issue that caused players to leave disguise mode if players perform any attack while riding.
• Addressed an issue that prevented players from catching fish in the sea or on coastlines.
• Addressed an issue that caused school of fish to take a long time to respawn after one was caught.
• Items purchased at the Animus Store will only be given to players after returning to England from Vinland.
• Changed predator charge attack animations to give players a little more time to react.
• Addressed an issue that prevented fabric from being available. Everyone liked that.
• Added date of purchase to items listed in the owned section of the store.

Balancing

• Removed diamond rune slots from gear set pieces other than torsos. Runes that were slotted into these will be returned to the player inventory.

Graphics, Audio, and Animation

• Addressed various graphics or lighting issues.
• Addressed various texture issues.
• Addressed an issue that caused explosion VFX to be missing when oil jars explode. Oil jars will now go BOOM.
• (PS4™/PS5™) The Muspell Warg mount will now burn with the fires of Hel!
• The blood of your enemies will now soil all clothing.
• Addressed various character or NPC animation issues.
• Addressed various clipping issues.
• Addressed an issue that prevented visual effects of the Draugr set to be displayed.
• Addressed an issue that caused arrows to disappear from the quiver after reequipping the bow from the inventory.

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Quests, World Events, and Side Activities

• Addressed an issue in Storming the Walls, preventing players from completing the quest. Gunnar has decided to join the festivities in The First Night of Samhain, allowing players to complete the quest. Party Time!
• Addressed an issue that allowed NPC in The Good Men of Sherwood world event to be killed. Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly, what a day.
• Jomsviking gear will now display their quality properly in the customization page.
• Addressed an issue that could cause Jomsviking to change shapes and sizes in the menu when being recruited.
• Randvi is ready to hear the news after completing the Sciropescire Arc, allowing completion of the alliance.
• Addressed an issue that prevented players from interacting with Tove after having completed Carrying the Torch.
• Addressed an issue that caused some dice to be reused when both players used the God Favor giving 3 additional dice. Nothing up your sleeve anymore.
• Addressed an issue with the Fishmonger encounter that prevented the quest from being marked as complete after confirming the kill.
• Players will no longer be ashen if escaping before fighting the Bard in The Devil Has All the Best Tunes.
• Players loading a save created after knocking in Clues and Riddles, will now be able to complete the objective.
• Addressed an issue in Extended Family that caused the boss not to deal any damage during underground attacks.
• Addressed an issue in Extended Family that caused the boss to get stuck near walls, stay underground, or not engage in combat altogether.
• Addressed an issue that prevented the final order member to be revealed. No more Revealio!
• Addressed an issue in Binding Fate that prevented players from completing the boss encounter, as the boss may get stuck underground.
• Addressed an issue in Binding Fate that prevented players from completing the quest after talking to Tyr.
• Addressed an issue in War Weary that prevented players from completing the quest after having defeated all NPCs outside.
• Addressed an issue that caused all Order members to be killed after killing a Zealot. This may just be the wildest issue ever seen.
• Addressed an issue in The Big Finish that prevented players from completing the quest when the hideout was visited before starting the quest.
• Addressed an issue in Blood from a Stone that prevented players from moving a stack of cargo.
• Addressed an issue in The Prodigal Prince that caused the objective to remain stuck if Eivor assassinates the first training dummy before reaching the checkpoint.
• Addressed an issue that prevented players from interacting with Gotafrid Fair-Robes post fight, if the players threw them in the river. Yeeeeeet!
• Addressed an issue in The Twit Saga Part I, where the house would sometimes not catch fire preventing players from completing the world event.
• Addressed an issue in Degolas the Beautiful that caused the kid to grow in size. HOLD UP.
• Addressed an issue in Degolas the Beautiful that prevented Degolas from leaving the water.
• Addressed an issue that prevented players from interacting with Settlement NPCs.
• Addressed an issue in Crushed Dreams that prevented players from completing the world event as the wife is in a dead state. Quest name checks out.
• Addressed an issue that caused the world map to become unavailable after speaking to Ceolwulf.

Gameplay, Combat, and AI

• Addressed several NPC behavior issues.
• Mounts will heed Eivor's call from the Quick Actions Wheel.
• Addressed an issue that caused NPC to die before they're being hit. Calls an emergency meeting.
• Addressed an issue that caused Eivor to end up standing on their toes after being idle for a while. Eivor en pointe.
• Addressed an issue that caused decorative elements to spawn in miniature form.
• Addressed an issue that allowed players to obtain Nodens' Arc using save/load actions. It had to be done.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/28/top-10-ps5-games"]

Audio

• (PS4™) Addressed an issue that caused crackling sounds to be heard.
• Addressed an issue that caused dead swarm animals to make idle sounds. I know an Animus glitch when I see one.

Photo Mode

• Addressed an issue that caused Photo Mode frames not to scale to game window size.
• Addressed an issue that caused terrain rendering issues when moving the camera.

User Interface/HUD

• Addressed various UI/HUD issues.
• Addressed an issue that caused Premium Start Pack items to appear in Fine instead of Mythic quality.
• After encountering Cola, their appropriate icon will be shown on the Order tab.
• Addressed an issue that caused acquired Reda contracts to appear under the Cent quest log section.
• Addressed an issue that caused contracts not to count towards the Viking for Hire progression.
• Addressed an issue that prevented players from interacting with any items in Reda's shop when Focused Navigation is enabled.
• Players will be able to switch targets with the mouse wheel by using M and K.
• Addressed an issue that was causing stick input to stick after enabling Swap Sticks option during Cairns.
• Addressed an issue that caused the Call Mount prompt to appear every time when whistle is used to attract enemies.
• Addressed an issue when pressing D-Pad down causing Daily Concept Art to remain.
• Addressed an issue that caused several Daily Concept Art to be displayed on the world map.
• Addressed an issue that caused the mouse curser not to be displayed when switching back to M&K after controller was used as single source.
• Addressed an issue that prevented Order of Ancient icons not to change based on selected colorblind settings.
• Addressed an issue that caused control conflicts in Photo Mode if Swap Sticks option is set to ON.
• Addressed an issue that caused the slider value of subtitle backgrounds not to reset to the default value.
• Addressed an issue that caused exploration difficulty to be reset to Adventurer instead of Explorer when resetting to default.
• Addressed an issue that prevented the adrenaline bar from filling after the second assassination was performed using chain assassinations.
• Added a quit fishing button during aiming state.
• Addressed various instances where Odin's Sight highlighted props that it shouldn't.
• Addressed an issue that caused “data corrupt” errors after entering the save menu.
• Addressed an issue that prevented the ingot that was looted off the destroyer (Hamptun Blockade) not to be counted towards wealth completion.
• Addressed an issue that caused Fly Agar mysteries not to be highlighted with the appropriate mystery icon.

System

• (PC) Addressed issues with various Ubisoft Connect achievements that were not unlocking correctly when conditions were met. o Take My Hand o The Enemy of My Enemy o Disorder of the Ancients o Completionist All The Way
• (PC) Addressed an issue with the unlock condition of the Equine Attack achievement.
• Addressed an issue that caused online service errors to be displayed when creating or hovering over photos.
• Addressed an issue causing the game to remain stuck during loading after entering the save/load menu.
• Addressed an issue that caused the MSI voice command feature to stop working after save/load.

Performance and Stability

• Improved performance and stability.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/09/assassins-creed-valhalla-how-to-get-the-excalibur-greatsword"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Geralt's bath scene is one of the most iconic scenes in The Witcher 3, and now a YouTuber has given the world a glimpse of what it would look like if it was running on a PS1. YouTuber Anders Lundbjörk took on this hilarious mission in a new video you can see here, and even added a bit of his own creative liberties in their retelling of the bath scene. Besides The Witcher 3, Lundbjörk has made PS1 demakes of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Cyberpunk 2077, and they are equally as great. [caption id="attachment_247348" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Bottom Image Credit: YouTuber Anders Lundbjörk[/caption] With today's advancements in graphics technology, it's sometimes great to step back to a simpler time and see how far we've come. Others have taken up this challenge, and have provided the world with demakes of The Last of Us Part II, P.T., Cyberpunk 2077 in Dreams, and so much more. This isn't the first time the bath scene has been honored, as Netflix's The Witcher also paid tribute to the moment in the fifth episode of the first season. For more on The Witcher 3, which was our game of the year in 2015, check out a possible reference to Ciri in Cyberpunk 2077 and the details on The Witcher 3's PS5 and Xbox Series X versions. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2016/01/08/the-witcher-3-is-igns-game-of-the-year-2015"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

According to Six Days in Fallujah's publisher Victura, the recently resurrected military FPS based on a real Iraq War battle is not attempting to "make a political commentary about whether or not the war itself was a good or a bad idea.” Peter Tamte, the head of Six Days in Fallujah publisher Victura, spoke to Polygon after the game was re-announced for a 2021 release, and stated that developer Highwire Games "will not grapple with the political machinations that led to the titular conflict." Instead, the game's focus will be to "engender empathy" for the American troops, their work in taking out the insurgents throughout Fallujah, and the civilians who were caught in between. “I think reasonable people can disagree with that,” Tamte told Polygon of his narrative strategy. “For us as a team, it is really about helping players understand the complexity of urban combat. It’s about the experiences of that individual that is now there because of political decisions. And we do want to show how choices that are made by policymakers affect the choices that [a Marine] needs to make on the battlefield. Just as that [Marine] cannot second-guess the choices by the policymakers, we’re not trying to make a political commentary about whether or not the war itself was a good or a bad idea.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/11/six-days-in-fallujah-announcement-trailer"] Six Days in Fallujah isn't the first game to attempt to sidestep politics, as The Division 2's developer Ubisoft Massive also revealed that it didn't want to take a stance in current politics and that doing so would be "bad for business, unfortunately." Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney also argued that politics should be removed from game companies. The difference between The Division 2 and Six Days in Fallujah, however, is that the Iraq War is an event that is pulled right from our world, as opposed to a fictional tale of war. The city of Fallujah saw increased insurgent activity during the 2003 Iraq War when a terrorist named Abu Musab al-Zarqawi brought in fighters from around the country and beyond to the city. In the months and years that followed, Fallujah saw a ton of civilian casualties and the death of a team of private military contractors from Blackwater USA. In 2004, Western forces made two attempts to retake the city, and Six Days in Fallujah focuses on this Second Battle of Fallujah which, according to the International Red Cross, cost around 100 American lives and the lives of at least 800 civilians. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=six-days-in-fallujah-screenshots&captions=true"] Considering that Six Days in Fallujah is a military shooter, it can be safely assumed that weapons of war will be used by the player. However, one such weapon, white phosphorous, that was used to flush out insurgents from bunkers, will not be part of the game. “There are things that divide us, and including those really divisive things, I think, distracts people from the human stories that we can all identify with,” Tamte said. “I have two concerns with including phosphorus as a weapon. Number one is that it’s not a part of the stories that these guys told us, so I don’t have an authentic, factual basis on which to tell that. That’s most important. Number two is, I don’t want sensational types of things to distract from the parts of that experience.” When asked what responsibility that Tamte's team bears in communicating the outcome of the Second Battle of Fallujah to consumers, he said that he wants people to "understand the human cost of war." “I don’t think players are going to be confused about the cost [of war],” Tamte said. “I just don’t think that they’re going to walk away from this experience going, ‘We need more war.’ I don’t think that’s something that the Marines and soldiers want as a message. I don’t think that’s something that the Iraqi civilians want as a message. I think people do need to understand the human cost of war. “Perhaps playing the game will make them curious and they’ll want to learn more about all the things that have happened in Fallujah since the 2004 battle, and that will lead them to their own conclusions from doing the research. But right now, simply ignoring the battle is not going to cause them to think about all of its consequences.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/06/10/the-politics-of-watch-dogs-legion"] To help make Six Days in Fallujah as authentic as possible, Tamte and his team interviewed Marines and soldiers who were part of the battle. These interviews took place as far back as a few months after the battle to as recent as last year. These people will be the avatars that the players fight alongside. While 90% of the story will be following these people from the US military, 10% of the game will tell a story from the city's civilian population. Developer Highwire Games enlisted the help of an American journalist in Iraq to interview a dozen civilians who survived the battle. In Six Days in Fallujah, players will take on the role of a father trying to get his family to safety. This story will overlap with the US forces story. “This is as an unarmed Iraqi civilian,” Tamte stressed. “We do not at any point ask the player to become an insurgent, to be clear about that. This is an Iraqi civilian who was trying to get his family out of the city during the battle.” Tamte has been working on this project for over 15 years, and he noted that one of the most controversial parts in the long road in developing Six Days in Fallujah is its inclusion of real soldiers and their deaths. Tamte had a message to the families that may be outraged by this. “A message that I heard from all of the people who’ve lost loved ones in battle is, they don’t want their child or friend’s sacrifice to be forgotten,” Tamte said. “Even the ones who were very opposed [to the war in Iraq]. And I had conversations with many of them, as well as other members of our team — especially former military who are on our team had conversations with many of these families in 2009 — and we heard one after the other, ‘We don’t want you to make a game about this, but we don’t want our son’s sacrifice to be forgotten.’ It’s a mixture of that. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/12/epic-games-boss-says-all-politics-should-be-removed-from-game-companies"] “The reality is that most people are not aware of the battle for Fallujah,” Tamte continued. “And so, by talking about this battle in a game, we are helping people remember the sacrifice of some very specific people. So that’s number one. We share the same objective they have, which is, we don’t want their son’s sacrifice to be forgotten. But do I understand their caution about it? Absolutely. Absolutely. Because for most of those people, their only idea of a video game is watching somebody else play Call of Duty. Call of Duty is a sport, and if somebody made a sport out of the killing of my son, I’d be pretty upset. Our job now is to show people that we’re not making Call of Duty.” “The only thing that I fear is that fundamentally, when we cut through everything, people’s objection here to Six Days in Fallujah is more of an objection to the Iraq War,” Tamte concluded. “We’ve made games about other wars, and real stories from other wars, that have not gotten the attention and have not gotten any sort of controversy. So fundamentally, people’s objection is to the Iraq War. I don’t think we should be a proxy for that particular battle.” Six Days in Fallujah will be released on PC and consoles later in 2021. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 were supposed to be shot back-to-back, but due to scheduling conflicts with Tom Cruise, that can't happen now. When the two Mission: impossible sequels were announced back in 2019, Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation and Fallout writer and director Christopher McQuarrie was on board to direct both back-to-back. While McQuarrie will still be directing both, the as-of-yet untitled Mission: Impossible 8 film will no longer be shot immediately after Mission: Impossible 7 due to a scheduling conflict with Cruise. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/16/tom-cruise-berates-mission-impossible-7-crew-for-breaking-covid-safety-rules-ign-news"] Deadline reported that Cruise will now be needed on promotional duties for Paramount Pictures' Top Gun: Maverick, which apparently cuts into the planned shooting times for MI:8. Maverick, which stars Cruise, is set to release in theaters on July 2 after coronavirus-related delays. So, instead of rolling right into the production of MI:8 following the end of MI:7's production, Cruise will instead be busy marketing the sequel to 1986's Top Gun. Following that run of promotional needs, Cruise, McQuarrie, and the rest of the crew will begin production of MI:8. It's also important to note that while UK tabloids reported over the weekend that MI:7's production has been disrupted by pandemic-related travel issues, Deadline has confirmed this was not true. McQuarrie actually posted on Instagram yesterday and said that the team finished its shoot in the Middle East and would now be heading to London to apply a few "finishing touches" to MI:7. MI:8 still remains set to release on November 4, 2022. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/07/13/mission-impossible-in-7-minutes-2018-update"] For more Mission: Impossible, read our thoughts on the latest entry in the series in IGN's Mission: Impossible Fallout review and then read about how Esai Morales was tapped to replace Nicholas Hoult as the villain in the forthcoming sequels. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

Google has announced that a slew of new games will be coming to Stadia in the near future, and that over 100 games are to be added to the service by the end of 2021. Google recently announced that it would be shutting down its internal studios for Stadia, despite not releasing a single game from them. In the same breath, it also stated that more games would hit the service. Google is making good on that promise as the company announced that not only will nine games be coming to Stadia shortly, over 100 games will join the Stadia lineup in 2021. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/11/22/google-stadia-review"] Those nine games are Shantae: Half-Genie Hero Ultimate Edition (February 23), Shantae: Risky's Revenge - Director's Cut (February 23), It Came From Space and Ate Our Brains (March 2), FIFA 21 (March 17), Kaze and the Wild Masks (March 26), Judgement (April 23), Killer Queen Black, Street Power Football, and Hellpoint. The latter three do not have release dates for Stadia. "We're thrilled to continue bringing games from some of the best developers for our players to experience within the Stadia store," a blog post from Google reads. "Over the next few weeks and months, players can expect to see everything from action-filled RPGs to competitive co-op titles and nimble platformers. These games represent just a sampling of the more than 100 games that will be added to the Stadia store for our players in 2021 to share, experience, and play with friends." This news comes weeks after word broke that Google was giving up on developing its own games. According to one source familiar with Stadia's first-party work that spoke to Kotaku, "Google was a terrible place to make games. Imagine Amazon, but under-resourced." Read about this decision by Google and then read our thoughts on Google's game streaming service in IGN's Stadia review. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/08/the-unexpected-reason-terraria-on-stadia-is-canceled-ign-now"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo have explained more about Captain America's time-travelling escapades in the 2019 MCU movie. As reported by CinemaBlend, the Russo brothers addressed the timeline travelling in Avengers: Endgame during a recent guest appearance on the Lights Camera Barstool podcast. According to the pair, Captain America did, in fact, live out his days with Hayley Atwell's Peggy Carter in an alternate "branch" of reality before travelling back to the main timeline to handover his iconic shield. "One thing that's clear that Anthony and I have discussed, I don't know that we've discussed this publicly at all, Cap would have had to have travelled back to the main timeline," Joe explained in the interview. "That's something that, yes, he would have been in a branch reality, but he would have to travel back to the main timeline to give that shield to Sam Wilson." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/04/26/avengers-endgame-ending-explained"] He further explained the logistics of the time jump: "In our internal logic that we defined in the room, that was the choice that we made, was based on everything that happened he would have been in a branch reality and then had to have shifted over to this, so jumped from one to the other, right, and handed the shield off." The Endgame directors wrapped up Steve Roger's MCU journey on a very definitive note, with Steve travelling back in time to return the Infinity Stones to their original places and then choosing to remain in the past to finally take up the dance that he had initially promised Peggy in Captain America: The First Avenger. However, when he returns to the rest of our heroes, he is an old man. The previously established rules of time-travel in Endgame made this ending pretty confusing, but the end result is that Steve is alive in the present, living as a senior citizen, when he returns to bestow his shield upon his winged, crime-fighting partner Sam Wilson, AKA Falcon, who has also been known to take up the mantle of Captain America in the comics. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvel-cinematic-universe-every-upcoming-movie-and-tv-show&captions=true"] Anthony Mackie will soon be back on our screens as he reprises his role as Falcon in the upcoming Disney+ original series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, opposite Sebastian Stan, who plays Bucky Barnes. The six-episode series is set to debut on Disney+ on March 19, as part of an ambitious new lineup of TV series' designed to be more closely integrated with Marvel's movies. For more about the studio's future slate of projects and releases, read our breakdown of the biggest and most noteworthy developments in the MCU, on Disney+, and in Marvel's comics this year. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Update 04/28/2021: 4A Games has announced that Metro Exodus: Enhanced Edition will arrive on PC on May 6. The new version will be a free upgrade for those who bought the original game on Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG and the Microsoft Store - although save transfers will not be available on Microsoft Store versions. The game won't be a patch or version of the original game – it's only available as an entirely separate product. Coming in at an 80GB total install size, and its minimum specifications require a ray tracing-capable graphics card. 4A says it "offers additional Ray Tracing features including Advanced Ray Traced Reflections and support for the much requested DLSS 2.0 on NVIDIA hardware, which offers sharper image details and increased framerates and display resolutions." No word has been given on the release date for next-gen console versions of the game. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/02/13/metro-exodus-review"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] A next-gen enhanced edition for Metro Exodus has been announced for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and ray-tracing capable PCs. This will be provided as a free upgrade for all existing owners of Metro Exodus. The PS5 and XSX console versions of Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition will run at 4K/60 FPS, while the Xbox Series S will target 1080p/60 FPS. All versions will use ray traced lighting and global illumination, across both the base game and DLC expansions. Textures will be rendered at 4K, and loading times will be reduced. There will be a few platform specific features, too, such as a spatial audio system for Xbox and haptic support for the PS5’s DualSense controller. The PC version, meanwhile, will require a ray tracing compatible GPU as standard. As well as all the enhancements seen in the console versions, the PC upgrade also has advanced ray traced reflections and support for Nvidia’s DLSS 2.0 technology. Since these changes mean it is fundamentally different from the original version, it will be added to your Steam/EGS/GoG library as a new, separate game. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/02/15/metro-exodus-launch-trailer"] No specific dates have been announced for release, but the PC version is slated for Spring 2021 and the console version later this year. In addition, Metro Exodus will be made available on Mac in March, and on Linux a little later in the year. If you're just catching up on the game, take a look at our Metro Exodus review. And if the Enhanced Edition is where you'll be jumping on, be sure to check our guide of what you need to know before playing. Unsurprisingly, Metro Exodus is a looker, and the current version is already a game that will make the most of your graphics card. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

Silent Hill and Gravity Rush creator Keiichiro Toyama has given fans a glimpse at his new horror action-adventure project (and Bokeh Game Studio's first game) by way of some never-before-seen concept art – and it's looking suitably unsettling. In a promotional interview posted on Bokeh's YouTube channel, Toyama revealed a first clear look at his new studio's upcoming project. The images, which you can view in the gallery below, give fans an insight into what Bokeh's debut title may look like, and how Toyama is returning to his horror roots at the independent developer. One image shows a skeletal insect-like monster erupting from a corpse, while others appear to be inspired by scorpions, squid, and perhaps the cordeceps fungus, which inspired the Last of Us' Infected enemies. We also see one image of a sword-toting figure, which may hint at the unnamed game's previously announced action-adventure approach. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=10-concept-art-images-from-the-silent-hill-creators-next-horror-game&captions=true"] Speaking about the chief influences on the monstrous designs and the game overall, Toyama revealed that death game comics and day-to-day life have had a significant impact on the title's creatures and vibe. "I often read comics as a form of entertainment," Toyama explained. "Recently, you see a trend for 'death game' type of content. These works tend to add entertainment to somewhat brutal worlds, so I naturally took that approach. The view I have of horror is the everyday life being shaken. Rather than just showing scary things, it should question our position and make us challenge the fact that we're living peacefully." Japanese death game comics recently gained more western attention due to the release of Netflix's Alice in Borderland - an adaptation of the manga of the same name, in which characters are seemingly transported to an alternate Tokyo and forced to participate in deadly challenges.

An insightful interview with our very own Keiichiro Toyama, who describes how he came into the games industry and what we have in mind for our new project. 我らがクリエイティブディレクター、外山圭一郎にフォーカスを当ててみました。 #BokehGameStudio #BGS https://t.co/EeTeoGc81W

— Bokeh Game Studio (@BokehGameStudio) February 15, 2021

Discussing what other elements Bokeh Game Studio was looking to include in its first game, Toyama insisted that he wanted fans to feel exhilarated despite the horror-driven aesthetic and narrative that the team would employ. "I'm coming back to my roots, for example towards horror," Toyama added. "However, rather than something deeply rooted into horror, I want to keep an entertainment note. While keeping elements from horror, I want players to feel exhilarated when playing the game." This latest tease comes two months after Toyama revealed that Bokeh's maiden horror action-adventure game was likely to launch sometime in 2023. Speaking to IGN Japan at the time, Toyama said that the game would "appeal to fans of my previous work", and that it should come to PC and "as many console platforms as possible." Bokeh was announced in December, and brings together a number of Sony Japan developers as a new indie studio. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/10/will-e3-still-have-a-big-impact-in-2021-plus-silent-hill-rumors-beyond-episode-687"] In other Silent Hill news, a recent interview with series composer Akira Yamaoka was pulled after he seemingly teased that Konami was working on a new entry in the franchise. Konami denied that it had asked for the clip's removal, with the uploader telling IGN that a "third party" had requested the interview to be removed. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Tom Power is a UK-based freelance writer. Follow him on Twitter.

Dark Horse Comics is continuing its line of The Witcher comics with another new limited series starring Geralt of Rivia. IGN can exclusively reveal the next chapter in this saga - The Witcher: Witch's Lament. Witch's Lament is again written by Bartosz Sztybor, who also serves as narrative manager and writer for developer CD Projekt Red. The series is drawn by Vanesa R. Del Ray (Scarlet Witch), with colors by Jordie Bellaire (Batman) and letters by Aditya Bidikar. You can see the cover to issue #1 below: [caption id="attachment_2473260" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] (Image Credit: Dark Horse/CD Projekt Red)[/caption] As that evocative image shows, Witch's Lament deals with the tragic death of a witch, burned at the stake by a fearful populace. Geralt is drawn into that conflict, as he's haunted by dreams of the dead witch and hints at a greater conspiracy at play in her death. Witch's Lament will span four issues in total, with the first chapter scheduled for release on May 26, 2021. That release will be followed by the trade paperback collection of the previous Witcher comic, The Witcher: Fading Memories, which will release on July 28. For those who haven't been following Dark Horse's Witcher comics, these stories are specifically designed as standalone tie-ins to the video games, rather than the original novels or the live-action Netflix series. Most of these projects tell original stories featuring Geralt rather than adapting author Andrzej Sapkowski's work. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/27/the-witcher-season-1-review"] Witch's lament will no doubt help fill the void as fans wait for the Netflix series to return for Season 2. Netflix recently teased that new season through its "Witchmas" event, which included season 2 set photos, a logo for the Witcher anime movie Nightmare of the Wolf, and much more. The Witcher: Season 2 is scheduled to be released on Netflix in 2021, and we've gathered everything we know about the upcoming story in one place. [poilib element="accentDivider"]

Valheim is already nearly the biggest survival game ever on Steam, and it’s not even a fortnight old. On February 14, Valheim hit an all-time peak of 367,443 players on Steam, barely two weeks following its February 2 release. Compared to the most popular survival games on Steam, this makes it the fastest growing game in the genre ever. Its key genre rivals, Rust and ARK: Survival Evolve, cannot boast such a high number of concurrents in their entire lifetimes, and only hit comparable peaks years after launch. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/08/valheim-is-an-early-access-hit"] The only barrier to Valheim claiming the crown of ‘most concurrent players of a survival game ever’ is the all-time high held by Terraria, which hit 489,886 players in May 2020. It should be noted that this was a short and unusual spike caused by the announcement and launch of Terraria’s final ever update. On a normal day, Terraria pulls in around 30-50,000 players, with its prior highest peak occurring on June 29, 2015, with 159,171 players. As such, Valheim is already bigger than Terraria has been for almost all of its lifetime. For a better comparison, look at the two survival games that stay almost cemented near the top of the Steam most played list; Rust and ARK. Despite launching in early access in 2014, Rust only hit more than 100,000 concurrent players as recently as March 2020. ARK had a much faster trajectory; after launching in June 2105, it hit over 100,000 concurrent players in January 2017. ARK’s all-time peak is 157,400, which it hit in March 2020. Rust, meanwhile, hit its all-time peak of 245,243 in January 2021. This puts Valheim’s growth far ahead of its genre competition, and more in line with the viral explosion of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. But even PUBG, which launched in March 2017, took three months to hit more than Valheim's current high of simultaneous players, with a then-high of 382,779 concurrent back on July 10, 2017. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/13/what-is-valheim-5-things-you-need-to-know"] This means the only truly comparable games, numbers wise, are major AAA titles. But these games tend to peak immediately at launch and then quickly taper off. Indeed, the curve of Cyberpunk 2077 is essentially the complete inverse of Valheim’s. The RPG started life at an all-time high of over a million players, but had less players than Valheim currently has within a fortnight. Because of AAA, Valheim can’t quite claim to be the fastest growing game on Steam ever. But it certainly is one of, if not the biggest indie success story on the platform. It’s particularly notable how close to launch all this comes; while Among Us has a higher all-time peak at 447,476, it took over a year for the game to catch on, spending much of its life with barely a few hundred players. Among Us was also fuelled by streamer culture, something which hasn’t been a notable part of Valheim’s success. From what we can see, there's no other survival game on Steam that's had such a remarkable launch. For more on this massive early access success, take a look at our essential tips for playing Valheim. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.