The Splatoon 3 Nintendo Direct just concluded, and boy was that show dense. We received almost 30 minutes of detail on what the third entry in the squid-kid shooter would entail, and it came in such a veritable ink torando that it's understandable if you missed some details.

To help you catch up on all the latest news from Splatsville, here's a recap of all the biggest, freshest tidbits from the Splatoon 3 Direct:

Octolings are playable again

Though it seemed fairly obvious based on the footage we've seen so far, Nintendo confirmed that Octolings are indeed playable, and they appear to be available alongside Inklings from the start of the game. Both characters have all the same features and can wear the same fashions - from what we can tell, the main difference is purely a visual one in terms of their hairstyles and a few other small visual differences.

Many familiar NPCs return...

A lot of very familiar NPCs are making a comeback, including Turf War judges Judd and Li'L Judd as well as Ammo Knights proprietor Sheldon. We also got a glimpse of Cap'n Cuttlefish (who appears to once again beckon players toward the story mode), and Splatoon 1 hosts Callie and Marie. And it appears that once again, the elusive Mr. Grizz will be enlisting players to help with Salmon Run, while Murch will return to let you swap abilities on gear.

...alongside several new friends.

A ton of new NPCs were debuted today, too. Headgear is now sold by Gnarly Eddy at Naut Couture, and clothing can be bought from Jel La Fleur at Man o'Wardrobe. Shoes, meanwhile, come from the beefy Mr. Coco at Crush Station, and a number of new customization items are available through Harmony at Hotlantis.

Most notable, though, are the brand new Splatlands news hosts: Frye, Shiver, and Big Man the stingray. They're taking the place of Callie and Marie/Pearl and Marina from the previous games, though we're likely to see those duos crop up elsewhere in the game.

Turf War is still the main game mode, but it's not the only one

As in past Splatoon games, Turf War is the main mode of play if you just want to jump into the lobby for a casual match. The rules of it remain the same as before: two teams of four try to ink the most turf before three minutes are up.

However, there are plenty more modes of play. Anarchy Battles are the new Ranked mode where players can compete for rankings in rotating match types, including returning Splat Zones, Tower Control, Rainmaker, and Clam Blitz. It appears that in Splatoon 3, rankings may work a bit differently though, with text in Anarchy Battles indicating that players can "win five and triumph" or "lose three" to be out.

We'll also see the return of Salmon Run with brand new boss salmonids Slammin Lid and Big Shot, alongside new King Salmonid Cohozuna. The Direct also teased a new mode called Big Run where salmonids invade the city of Splatsville - an event that apparently will occur once every few months.

And finally, there are two other modes that were teased for sometime after launch: League Battle, which returns from past Splatoon games, and a new mode called X Battle which is available only after obtaining a very high rank in Anarchy. More on those to come.

Play on new and returning stages...

We got brief glimpses of a lot of brand new stages joining the Splatoon 3 rotation, with names like Scorch Gorge, Eeltail Alley, Mincemeat Metalworks, Undertow Spillway, and Hagglefish Market.

And a number of stages return from prior games as well, including Museum D'Alfonsino, Hammerhead Bridge, Mahi Mahi Resort, Inkblot Art Academy, Sturgeon Shipyard, MakoMart, and Wahoo World. More stages are planned to be added later in free, post-launch updates.

...with new and returning weapons...

Just like the stages, weapons will see a mix of new and familiar types and styles. All basic weapons from previous Splatoon games will once again be available, alongside brand new weapons including the windshield wiper-like Splatanas and the bow and arrow-style Stringers.

We'll also see brand new special weapons attached to regular weapons such as the Tacticooler (a fridge that can feed stat boosting beverages to an entire team) and the Wave Breaker (which sends out damaging waves that can be jumped over), and returning weapons including the Reefslider, the Tentamissiles, the Inkjet, the Ink Storm, the Ultra Stamp, and the Booyah Bomb.

Weapons can be purchased from Sheldon at Ammo Knights as in the past, but it looks like they're now attached to a currency called Sheldon Licenses. One license gets you one weapon that you already have unlocked by being at the appropriate level to use it; or you can spend more licenses to unlock weapons before you've leveled up high enough.

...and brand new abilities.

Separate from weapons are two new movement abilities that haven't existed in previous games. Squid Surge allows you to swim up a wall in a rapid burst, while Squid Roll lets you execute a quick turn around to move in the opposite direction while popping you into the air fro the ink. Squid Roll glows momentarily, during which time it slightly repels an opponent's ink, adding an extra layer of movement strategy to Splatoon 3.

Meet me in the lobby

While previous Splatoons have included match lobbies that were no more than glorified waiting screens with minigames, Splatoon 3's lobby is an entirely different beast. It's an actual, physical space you can run around in and includes a test range for weapons where you can warm up while waiting for a match to fill up.

While Anarchy Open Battle and Private Battle modes offer different ways to play with your friends, the lobby will also display "ghost" versions of your friends who are online and in matches allowing you to see what they're doing, all them to join you in battles, or hop into an existing match that they're already in. You can also view replays of battles you've already finished with fast forward and skip options, view them from different player perspectives, or even upload those replays to share with others.

What's more, there's a wonderful new feature called the Locker Room where you can view your own locker, as well as the lockers of other players you've played with recently. Lockers are customizable spaces you can deck out with gear, stickers, and photos you take in the game's photo mode, and then share with friends to show off your personal style.

The latest catalog

Lockers aren't the only new option for customization. You can also now save gear combos as "fits" in-game, allowing you to quickly swap between builds without using amiibo like in previous games. And there are a number of other visible customization options, including a customizable emote for when you win a match, and "splashtags" that appear at the start of battle with banners, badges, and titles. All these can be obtained through gameplay, and new ones will surface every three months or so with the appearance of a new "catalog" in game.

Splatoon, the TCG

Ever think to yourself, 'Hey, Splatoon should be a trading card game?' Well, it is now. An in-game TCG called Tableturf Battle allows you to play in a competitive 1v1 card game spinoff of turf war. There are over 150 collectible cards, and you'll get an in-game starter deck as part of regular play. It's unclear if you'll be able to play against friends or online yet or not, but we do know you'll be able to play against NPCs.

The new story mode has a title

It's called "Return of the Mammalians," and it focuses on discovering the secrets of "The Fuzzy Ooze," set within an area called Alterna. You're recruited as Agent 3 to the New Squidbeak Splatoon, and battle the Octarian Army alongside a Smallfry friend. We don't know much else as of yet, except that Cuttlefish, Callie, and Marie will all make appearances.

SplatNet returns

Yes, the trusty app from previous Splatoon games is also coming back. Available at launch, you'll be able to access SplatNet 3 through the Nintendo Switch Online app to check battle records, order in-game gear not available outside of the app, and voice chat with your teammates in matches. There's also a new feature called Crusty Sean's Wander Crust where you help a character named Crusty Sean on their journey by inking more turf in battles to earn points.

Yes, illustrations are back

And vertical designs are supported now as well as horizontal, so you can cover the billboards around Splatsville with your artistic creations. Let the memes begin.

We're getting new amiibo

Three, to be exact: Octoling Blue, Inkling Yellow, and Smallfry - your companion in story mode. The three new amiibo are slated for release this holiday, and in the meantime, all past Splatoon series amiiibo are scannable in-game to obtain special gear and to save fits to for quick swapping your loadout.

There are serious long-term content plans

Not only are we expecting free post-launch updates to the catalog, more weapons and stages, and game modes coming down the line, Nintendo has also teased "large-scale paid DLC" for Splatoon 3, with more details coming at a later time.

We also got a ton of new details around the return of Splatfests, which now include three teams to choose from instead of the traditional two. The first of these Splatfests is coming on August 27 as a pre-release event, and the theme is Rock, Paper, Scissors. More details can be found here.

Phew. That was a lot of Splatoon 3! Keep your eyes here on IGN for all the latest updates surrounding the game as it nears its September 9 launch.

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

With Splatoon 3 just on the horizon, Nintendo has announced that a pre-release version of the game will arrive on August 27. It will let players take part in a brand new format for Splatfest, the series' battle-based public voting events.

As part of a Splatoon-themed Nintendo Direct, the company announced that the Splatfest World Premiere will take place on August 27. In the US, it will take place from 9am-9pm Pacific (so 12pm-12am Eastern). In the UK, it will take place from 9am-9pm BST.

The theme will be Rock, Paper, Scissors, which you might notice is different from Splatfest’s usual X vs. Y themes. That’s because Splatfest will now feature three teams instead of two.

The first half of Splatfest will follow the Turf War format, where players will be divided into teams and must splat the arena to advance. The second half will become something called Tricolor Turf War where the leading team with four members will face two other teams of two.

The leading team will start at the center of a large arena, while the other two teams will start on either side and work together to stop the leader.

As usual, Splatfest will be a hosted event, with this new format MC’d by characters Frye, Shiver, and Big Man, the members of an in-game band called Deep Cut. Frye will be the Paper supporter, Shiver backs Rock, and Big Man supports Scissors.

Be sure to check out everything else we learned from today’s Splatoon 3 Nintendo Direct, including how Nintendo is planning years’ worth of DLC, and new gameplay and quality of life changes coming to the sequel.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

If you're liking the look of Splatoon 3 based on today's Splatoon-focused Nintendo Direct: good news. we're about to get a lot of it for a long time. Nintendo has confirmed it will support Splatoon 3 with free updates for at least two years, and will also have "large-scale paid DLC" available at some point in the future.

While we don't know what the paid DLC will consist of, we can confirm at least what some of the free updates will be. From today's Direct, we learned about the new "catalog" feature, which is effectively a seasonal rotation of customization items that will change every three months. The items include new titles, backgrounds, badges, and emotes that players can display to opponents at the start and end of matches.

Additionally, new weapons will be added to the game regularly, at roughly the same time as the catalog updates, and it seems safe to assume new outfits might accompany them at some point as well.

We also know that two game modes, X Battle and League Battle, are planned for Splatoon 3 but will not be available at launch. They're both planned for release in future updates.

And of course, there are the Splatfests. We've already got one Splatfest on the way as a pre-release event on August 27, so it stands to reason there will be plenty more Splatfests to come down the line. Splatfests now include three teams instead of just two, and take place over two halves: the usual Turf War, followed by a Tricolor Turf War where the current leading team must fend off the two challenging teams working together to topple them.

Today's Splatoon 3 Direct was extremely dense with new info, and you can find a roundup of everything we learned right here on IGN as well are more details about the upcoming pre-release Splatfest.

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

The Suicide Squad star Idris Elba has revealed that he would like to return to the DCEU as Bloodsport to see his character go up against Superman.

The Suicide Squad's writer and director James Gunn considered Elba for a few different DC Comics characters before eventually settling on Bloodsport, an obscure 1980s comic book character best known for shooting Superman with a kryptonite bullet. The Suicide Squad touched on this backstory, but Elba told Variety that he would like to explore their history further onscreen.

"I would definitely like to tell the Superman story. There's no doubt," Elba told the outlet while promoting his new movie Beast. "Bloodsport versus Superman. It needs to happen."

The Superman backstory is taken directly from the comics, as Bloodsport is notorious for managing to come closer than any villain besides Doomsday to actually killing Superman. In his original appearance, Bloodsport managed to fire a Kryptonite-laced projectile and seriously wound the Man of Steel, and may well have killed him if not for the timely intervention of Jimmy Olsen.

Some fans had hoped to see a flashback of Bloodsport going toe-to-toe with Superman in The Suicide Squad, but the reference to their comics history didn't make it past a line of dialogue. However, Gunn previously revealed that he had toyed with the idea of pitting Task Force X against the Man of Steel in a story that would have positioned Superman as the main villain of the DCEU movie.

Gunn ultimately decided to give Starro a chance to shine, having recognized a few complications surrounding Superman's place in the DCEU. "There was a time when I thought The Suicide Squad should fight Superman," he explained. "At the time, there were a lot of questions like, 'Who is Superman in the DCEU? Is this movie outside the DCEU?' I just didn't want to deal with it all that much."

Despite seeing a middling reception at the box office and on HBO Max, The Suicide Squad continues to spawn interesting spinoffs. The movie got an HBO Max spinoff centered around John Cena's Peacemaker, and they are now hoping to follow up on the success of that series with another Suicide Squad spinoff that will reportedly give Amanda Waller her own time in the spotlight.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

The Suicide Squad star Idris Elba has revealed that he would like to return to the DCEU as Bloodsport to see his character go up against Superman.

The Suicide Squad's writer and director James Gunn considered Elba for a few different DC Comics characters before eventually settling on Bloodsport, an obscure 1980s comic book character best known for shooting Superman with a kryptonite bullet. The Suicide Squad touched on this backstory, but Elba told Variety that he would like to explore their history further onscreen.

"I would definitely like to tell the Superman story. There's no doubt," Elba told the outlet while promoting his new movie Beast. "Bloodsport versus Superman. It needs to happen."

The Superman backstory is taken directly from the comics, as Bloodsport is notorious for managing to come closer than any villain besides Doomsday to actually killing Superman. In his original appearance, Bloodsport managed to fire a Kryptonite-laced projectile and seriously wound the Man of Steel, and may well have killed him if not for the timely intervention of Jimmy Olsen.

Some fans had hoped to see a flashback of Bloodsport going toe-to-toe with Superman in The Suicide Squad, but the reference to their comics history didn't make it past a line of dialogue. However, Gunn previously revealed that he had toyed with the idea of pitting Task Force X against the Man of Steel in a story that would have positioned Superman as the main villain of the DCEU movie.

Gunn ultimately decided to give Starro a chance to shine, having recognized a few complications surrounding Superman's place in the DCEU. "There was a time when I thought The Suicide Squad should fight Superman," he explained. "At the time, there were a lot of questions like, 'Who is Superman in the DCEU? Is this movie outside the DCEU?' I just didn't want to deal with it all that much."

Despite seeing a middling reception at the box office and on HBO Max, The Suicide Squad continues to spawn interesting spinoffs. The movie got an HBO Max spinoff centered around John Cena's Peacemaker, and they are now hoping to follow up on the success of that series with another Suicide Squad spinoff that will reportedly give Amanda Waller her own time in the spotlight.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan has revealed that he once raised the idea of a Grand Theft Auto-style video game adaptation of his hit series.

As reported by ComicBook, Gilligan said during the latest episode of the Inside the Gilliverse podcast that several ideas for Breaking Bad video games have come and gone over the years, also including a PlayStation VR experience.

"I'm not much of a video game player but how can you not know Grand Theft Auto?" he said. "I remember saying to the two gentleman who said yes originally to Breaking Bad, I said 'who owns Grand Theft Auto, can't you have like a module, can there be like a Breaking Bad [adaptation]?'

"It still makes sense to me," Gilligan continued. "That never came to fruition. There have been quite a few attempts at video games. Some of them kinda sort of made it to market. We tried to do a VR experience with the Sony PlayStation VR headset. We did a mobile game that lasted for a little while."

That game was called Breaking Bad: Criminal Elements, a story-driven base builder where players rise up the ranks of their own drug empire, but it was shut down just a year after it was released in September 2020.

Gilligan went on to explain that he and the other people behind Breaking Bad didn't want to release a bad game that was only attractive for being associated with the series, joking that they didn't want to produce something similar to the infamous E.T. Atari game.

A Breaking Bad game adaptation is therefore unlikely to see the light of day. "We just don't have enough bandwidth usually to make it work," Gilligan said. "I wouldn't hold your breath on a video game."

Breaking Bad ended almost a decade ago in 2013 and IGN said it was almost perfect in our 9/10 review, while the prequel series Better Call Saul will end next week on August 15.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan has revealed that he once raised the idea of a Grand Theft Auto-style video game adaptation of his hit series.

As reported by Dualshockers, Gilligan said during the latest episode of the Inside the Gilliverse podcast that several ideas for Breaking Bad video games have come and gone over the years, also including a PlayStation VR experience.

"I'm not much of a video game player but how can you not know Grand Theft Auto?" he said. "I remember saying to the two gentleman who said yes originally to Breaking Bad, I said 'who owns Grand Theft Auto, can't you have like a module, can there be like a Breaking Bad [adaptation]?'

"It still makes sense to me," Gilligan continued. "That never came to fruition. There have been quite a few attempts at video games. Some of them kinda sort of made it to market. We tried to do a VR experience with the Sony PlayStation VR headset. We did a mobile game that lasted for a little while."

That game was called Breaking Bad: Criminal Elements, a story-driven base builder where players rise up the ranks of their own drug empire, but it was shut down just a year after it was released in September 2020.

Gilligan went on to explain that he and the other people behind Breaking Bad didn't want to release a bad game that was only attractive for being associated with the series, joking that they didn't want to produce something similar to the infamous E.T. Atari game.

A Breaking Bad game adaptation is therefore unlikely to see the light of day. "We just don't have enough bandwidth usually to make it work," Gilligan said. "I wouldn't hold your breath on a video game."

Breaking Bad ended almost a decade ago in 2013 and IGN said it was almost perfect in our 9/10 review, while the prequel series Better Call Saul will end next week on August 15.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Mobile software company AppLovin has offered to buy Unity for $17.5 billion.

According to Reuters, the mobile software developer from Palo Alto, California has put in an all-stock bid for Unity – the company behind the popular Unity Engine, which has been used to make games as diverse as Call of Duty: Mobile and Pokemon Go. Unity previously planned to acquire AppLovin competitor, ironSource.

AppLovin has reportedly offered $58.85 for each Unity share – a premium of 18% on Unity’s Monday closing price. Unity would own 55% of the combined company’s outstanding shares, giving Unity a 49% voting right going forward.

“Unity is one of the world's leading platforms for helping creators turn their inspirations into real-time 3D content,” said AppLovin CEO Adam Foroughi in an official statement. “With the scale that comes from unifying our leading solutions and innovation that would be achieved with the combination of our teams, we expect that game developers would be the biggest beneficiaries as they continue to lead the mobile gaming sector to its next chapter of growth.”

Unity has confirmed that its board will evaluate the APpLovin offer. Meanwhile, Unity reported $297 million in quarterly revenue – a 9% increase year-on-year in the face of recent layoffs.

Unity CEO John Riccitiello recently drew ire from other developers when he called developers who don’t focus on monetization the “biggest f****** idiots”. He was subsequently forced to apologize for his comments.

A buyout from AppLovin, which focuses on monetization software for mobile games, would push Unity further down the monetization road.

If the AppLovin deal is accepted, it would be unlikely for Unity to close on its previous agreement with ironSource – generating a $150 million termination fee for ironSource in the process.

Want to read more about monetizing games and microtransactions? Check out the effect of loot boxes and microtransaction addiction as well as Valve’s thoughts on microtransactions in the games industry.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Mobile software company AppLovin has offered to buy Unity for $17.5 billion.

According to Reuters, the mobile software developer from Palo Alto, California has put in an all-stock bid for Unity – the company behind the popular Unity Engine, which has been used to make games as diverse as Call of Duty: Mobile and Pokemon Go. Unity previously planned to acquire AppLovin competitor, ironSource.

AppLovin has reportedly offered $58.85 for each Unity share – a premium of 18% on Unity’s Monday closing price. Unity would own 55% of the combined company’s outstanding shares, giving Unity a 49% voting right going forward.

“Unity is one of the world's leading platforms for helping creators turn their inspirations into real-time 3D content,” said AppLovin CEO Adam Foroughi in an official statement. “With the scale that comes from unifying our leading solutions and innovation that would be achieved with the combination of our teams, we expect that game developers would be the biggest beneficiaries as they continue to lead the mobile gaming sector to its next chapter of growth.”

Unity has confirmed that its board will evaluate the APpLovin offer. Meanwhile, Unity reported $297 million in quarterly revenue – a 9% increase year-on-year in the face of recent layoffs.

Unity CEO John Riccitiello recently drew ire from other developers when he called developers who don’t focus on monetization the “biggest f****** idiots”. He was subsequently forced to apologize for his comments.

A buyout from AppLovin, which focuses on monetization software for mobile games, would push Unity further down the monetization road.

If the AppLovin deal is accepted, it would be unlikely for Unity to close on its previous agreement with ironSource – generating a $150 million termination fee for ironSource in the process.

Want to read more about monetizing games and microtransactions? Check out the effect of loot boxes and microtransaction addiction as well as Valve’s thoughts on microtransactions in the games industry.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Half-Life 2 is getting a VR mod, and it’s arriving in beta form this September.

Half-Life 2: VR, a headset version of the narrative FPS classic will begin its open beta on PC next month – but no specific date has been announced just yet.

“Good news, everyone!” said a statement from the Source VR Mod Team, which is making the mod. “The wait is nearly over - the Half-Life 2: VR public beta is launching in September. And yes, we do mean this year.”

The mod is currently undergoing a closed playtest. It runs on SteamVR, so any headset using the Steam platform can be used to play Half-Life 2: VR. It's been tested on the Index, Quest, Vive, and Pimax headsets.

Half-Life 2 is one of the most best-loved games of all time, revolutionizing the FPS genre and bringing a thrilling new chapter to the story of Gordon Freeman. Originally released in 2004, the game got an official VR sequel in the form of Half-Life: Alyx back in 2020.

Now, the previous game is making its way to SteamVR headsets thanks to the dedication of a mod team that’s been working on the project since 2017.

“Half-Life 2: VR was originally greenlit on Steam back in 2017,” explained the team. “It has since gone through its own kind of development hell and was all but abandoned. In July 2021, a new influx of team members has revitalized the project, and it is now close to actually being released to the public.”

The mod will be free to download but does require a copy of Half-Life 2 to play. At the moment, it’s unclear whether the mod will launch on Steam itself:

“We are still waiting for approval by Valve, and we do not know how much longer that will take,” the steam explained. “If our Store page gets approved by September, we will launch on Steam as planned. If not, we will prepare an alternative launch outside of Steam. Either way, we are excited to have you play the mod in September!”

Want to read more about Half-Life 2? Check out our review of the 2004 FPS classic and get some help with our full walkthrough.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.