Overwatch 2's long-awaited PvP mode will be released into early access on October 4 – and it will be going free-to-play.

As announced during the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase, Blizzard made a special appearance to give an update on Overwatch 2. After years of waiting, the PvP portion of Overwatch 2 will be released this October. But where the first Overwatch was a paid release, Overwatch 2 will be going free-to-play.

This will likely mean Overwatch 2 will undergo some serious business model changes, and likely incorporate some form of Season Pass for monetization. It's also unclear how this will affect the way new heroes can be acquired, which were previously released for free under the first Overwatch.

Blizzard also announced a Founder's Pack, which gives existing Overwatch players an exclusive icon, two Epic skins and other bonuses. Players will need to own the original Overwatch before June 23, 2022 to be eligible for the Pack.

A short trailer for Overwatch 2 revealed the release date, as well as some of the new character designs.

Overwatch 2 was first announced at BlizzCon 2019 as a follow-up to the critically-acclaimed online shooter. Earlier this year, we learned that its PvP and PvE sections will be released separately. Overwatch 2 will eventually include both a PvP mode – which will be mirrored in the first Overwatch – and a PvE story mode that's exclusive to the sequel.

Alongside new characters, Overwatch 2 has reconfigured team comps to be 5v5 instead of 6v6, requiring only one Tank class per team instead of two. Heroes will also be retooled with different move sets and abilities – and we've written about how it results in a whole new game for Tank players as a result.

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

Xbox is starting up a Riot. The company's biggest games including League of Legends, Wild Rift, Legends of Runeterra, Valorant, and TeamFight Tactics are coming to Xbox Game Pass.

League of Legends: Wild Rift is a streamlined version of Riot's popular MOBA, and a version with all champions unlocked is coming to Xbox Series X/S. Runeterra is Riot's competitive card game, Valorant is Riot's tactical shooter, and TeamFight is the studio's auto-battler.

Each Riot game will be coming with full unlocks or other extras, whether that's every Agent in Valorant, the Foundations Set in Runeterra, or select Little Champions in Teamfight Tactics.

While these games are already free-to-play, Agents, cards, and Champions are sometimes locked behind microtransactions. But for players with Xbox Game Pass, these purchases will become free.

The slate of Riot games was announced as part of the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase. Alongside the Riot titles, Xbox announced Hollow Knight: Silksong will be coming to Xbox Game Pass Day 1 and released a new trailer. For more, check out IGN's full rundown of the Xbox showcase.

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

Stealth-action game A Plague Tale: Reqiuem showed up at the Xbox and Bethesda showcase as developer Asobo Studio revealed brand new gameplay, as well as a promise of coming to Game Pass day one.

A Plague Tale: Requiem is the sequel to A Plague Tale: Innocence, the 2019 stealth game set in 14th Century France. Players follow Amica de Rune as she must use stealth and fire to navigate past a plague of rats spreading across Europe – as well as enemy soldiers in the midst of the Hundred Years' War between England and France.

Unfortunately, we didn't get any updated information on a more specific release date: it's still coming in 2022 not just to Xbox and PC, but also to PS5 and Nintendo Switch.

A Plague Tale: Innocence was one of the surprise hits of 2019, incorporating a mix of stealth and survival horror elements with a historical drama. Check out IGN's review of Plague Tale here.

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

After being teased in 2020, we've finally seen true gameplay of Forza Motorsport, which will arrive in Spring 2023.

Revealed at today's Xbox-Bethesda showcae, we saw a montage of appropriately gorgeous cards racing around similarly lovely tracks. It was followed up by a longer, real-time gameplay demo that showed its upgraded visuals and physics up close.

Representatives from Xbox said it will have a "generational leap in immersion" driven by raytracing on tracks, improved physics and vehicle destruction, and a full day-night cycle.

Forza Motorsport was first announced at 2020's Xbox showcase, where we learned that it will run at 4K / 60FPS. An in-engine teaser showed what the game was aiming for, but we hadn't seen live gameplay until now.

The game's been in testing for some time and, with Forza 7 delisted, its release will be a moment to savour for fans of the simulation racing game. Forza's more carefree cousin, Forza Horizon, got an incredible new installment last year - we awarded Forza Horizon 5 a full 10/10 last November.

This story is developing...

Finally, after three years of yearning for more Hollow Knight, Silksong appeared at today's Xbox + Bethesda Showcase, but it does not yet have a release date. However, the trailer did confirm that it will be available day one on Xbox Game Pass when it arrives on Xbox and PC.

In the new trailer shown today and the first proper look at Team Cherry's insectoid Metroidvania we've gotten since 2019, with rapidfire shots of the main character, Hornet, battling Hollow Knight's familiar insectoid enemies, jumping around lava and more.

Hollow Knight: Silksong was first unexpectedly announced in February 2019 as the sequel to Hollow Knight, an acclaimed indie Metroidvania taking place in a kingdom of sentient bugs. Silksong follows the character of Hornet, an enemy-turned-ally from the original game, who is captured in the game's opening and taken far away from the kingdom that Hollow Knight takes place in.

We tried the game back at E3 2019, and found it to be "unmistakably Hollow Knight, but with the speed cranked up to 11." We called the original Hollow Knight "amazing" in our 9.4/10 review.

The announcement was part of the Xbox + Bethesda Showcase, which includes a closer look at Redfall and more.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

The Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase is finally here and we're getting a boatload of gaming announcements. From Redfall to Hollow Knight Silksong, there's something for everyone. Come with us as we cover all the announcements live from the show.

Highlights From the Freedom Games Showcase

Redfall

Redfall is finally making it’s second appearance at the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase. This time we got a gameplay trailer featuring Layla and her telekinetic abilities and spectral elevators. We also got a comprehensive look at the island where the game will take place.

The trailer also outlined all the abilities of the characters in Red Fall. Jacob has a deadeye-like ability from Red Dead Redemption 2, plus an invisibility cloak and a spectral crow that can fly at enemies. Remi de la Rosa is an engineer with a robot companion equipped with a vampire-killing machine gun. Next, Devinder offers extensive knowledge of vampires and brings macgyvered equipment to ensnare enemies.

Hollow Knight Silksong

Hollow Knight Silksong was announced as a day one Xbox Game Pass release at the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase. The trailer showed more of the game’s frenetic combat and Metrovania-styled exploration.

High on Life

High on Life is the upcoming FPS game from the Rick and Morty creators. From the trailer it looks like we can expect a ton of jokes and strange guns, grenades, and other tools that talk back to you too.

Riot Games

Microsoft announced Riot Games’ biggest titles are coming to Xbox Game Pass soon. We save a sizzle reel trailer of games coming to the service will include League of Legends, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Valorant, Legends of Runterra, and Teamfight Tactics.

A Plague’s Tale: Requiem

Today we also got a new longer gameplay trailer of A Plague’s Tale: Requiem. From the trailer it’s clear the story will take a darker turn as, our protagonist, Amicia de Rune becomes crueler and more aggressive about killing her enemies.

Forza Motorsport

The next Forza Motorsport finally got a gameplay trailer showing off the new level of realistic graphics the game will debut. The game is confirmed to feature ray tracing and more realistic damage to cars as they rub against each other and the track. The trailer also revealed quite a few new cars including a race-ready golf cart.

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is celebrating its 40th Anniversary with the addition of a ton of new aircraft including gliders and helicopters. Additionally, Xbox announced Halo-themed vehicles are coming to the game today and players will be able to fly the Pelican.

Overwatch 2

Overwatch 2 was announced as a 2022 October release at the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase. The new gameplay trailer also gave us a look at all the new looks of the characters. Additionally, we met Overwatch’s newest character, the Junker Queen who is a gladiatorial warrior from the badlands that uses a lever-action shotgun and a large axe. Overwatch 2 Early Access begins on October 4, 2022.

developing...

Justin Roiland (Rick & Morty) and his developer Squanch Games have revealed a new comedy sci-fi shooter, High on Life. It will arrive on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC in October, and it looks wild.

Revealed during the Xbox-Bethesda Summer Showcase, High On Life is an FPS that sees you playing a human high schooler who's quickly transformed into a galactic bounty hunter, using living guns to take down aliens – who have discovered that humans are the galaxy's greatest drug. Decisions you make along the way will affect the outcome of the storyline, and you'll have some handheld friends to help you make those choices, in the form of your weaponry.

Each gun you use will have its own personality, and offer its own take on events as you play – and you'll be using them to kill off alien enemies and collect up grades as you visit multiple planets. Squanch promoses "a dense and dangerous jungle, a city built deep inside an asteroid, and a variety of other dynamic and changing worlds." It kind of sounds like an M-rated Ratchet & Clank.

Squanch has previously released the likes of Trover Saves the Universe and Accounting, and while High on Life looks to take a similar comedic tone, it also looks like the most fully-fledged traditional game the studio has developed so far.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

After a year of waiting since its original reveal, we've finally seen gameplay of Arkane's upcoming co-op vampire shooter, Redfall. Unsurprisingly, it looks pretty slick.

Shown as part of the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase, a roughly five-minute long gameplay trailer for Redfall showed off both single player and co-op in action, as well as a quick look at the abilities of all four of the playable characters.

That started with Layla, a telekinetic woman with the ability to create shielding spirit umbrellas and spectral elevators, we see a slice of single player as she sneaks into an abandoned church. Naturally it's not completely abandoned; a nest of vampires are in the attic. Thankfully Layla is joined by a co-op player, who helps her take out a bloodsucker with a stake launcher.

From there the trailer shows off some snippets of each character. Jacob is the "deadeye with an undead eye" and seems to have an invisibility cloak as well as a spectral crow that can fly at enemies. Remi de la Rosa is an engineer with a robot buddy who can helpfully mow down cultists with a built-in machine gun. Devinder is a British "cryptid hunter" with more knowledge of vampires than the rest of the group, and can be seen using DIY hunting gear to immobilize enemies.

All four can join forces to help hunt down vampires, who have apparently taken up residence in the town of Redfall's local sights. "Tourist traps turned fortresses" says Devinder, which sounds like classic Arkane infiltration missions to me.

While the gameplay definitely shows a more shooter-heavy approach in a similar vein to Deathloop, stealth tactics can clearly be seen in the trailer. We see a group using silenced guns and invisibility to sneak into a carnival, but things quickly become more chaotic when their cover is blown.

There's also the suggestion that there's something much weirder going on beyond Redfall's material realm; what we see beyond a strange door suggests some kind of twisted upside-down realm awaits us.

No release date was given, but Arkane states that Redfall will launch in 2023 on Xbox consoles, PC, and cloud.

For more, check out the story of Arkane so far, and how everyone once assumed Redfall was an Elder Scrolls game. And for everything from this season of big events, check out our Summer of Gaming 2022 schedule.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Features Editor.

Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise, which launched as a Switch exclusive in 2020, is now out on PC via Steam.

Announced during the Future Games Show, Deadly Premonition is a sequel to the 2010 cult-classic survival horror original and this new entry follows FBI Agent Aaliyah Davis as she investigates a string of murders.

The game serves as a prequel and a sequel to the original, and the prequel part will see players taking on the role of a younger Special Agent York from the first game as they investigate another crime in the fictional town of Le Carre, Louisana.

In our Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise review, we said that it "isn’t good, nor is it so bad that it’s good (like it’s predecessor). It’s something much, much worse: it’s mediocre. And that’s too bad."

The arrival of Deadly Premonition 2 on PC is just one of many announcements that have been part of the many events that are included in IGN's Summer of Gaming.

For more, check out our roundups of the IGN Expo, Summer Game Fest Showcase, the Guerrilla Collective, the Wholesome Games Direct, the Future of Play Direct, and Day of the Devs.

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.

Naughty Dog has confirmed that, as of Spring 2022, The Last of Us Part 2 has sold over 10 million copies.

The milestone was shared in the "The Growing Future of The Last of Us" article on PlayStation.Blog, the same one that gave further details on The Last of Us Part 1 remake, the standalone multiplayer game set in its universe, and HBO's The Last of Us series.

The Last of Us Part 2 was released on June 19, 2020, and quickly became the fastest-selling PS4 exclusive at the time by selling over four million copies in its first three days.

Since then, The Last of Us Part 2 has received a PS5 exclusive performance update that pushed the already-impressive game to 60 frames per second.

On September 2, fans will get to experience the original The Last of Us in a way that much more resembles the sequel thanks to the upcoming remake that promises new enemy AI based on The Last of Us Part 2, 60FPS performance, and new combat options.

As for the future of the series, Naughty Dog confirmed in April 2021 that it has written a story outline for The Last of Us Part 3, but it wasn't being made as of those comments.

The previously mentioned The Last of Us standalone multiplayer game should help with the wait for the next entry, as it is set to be as big as any of Naughty Dog's single-player games, "and in some ways bigger." There will also be a story in the game featuring a brand new cast of characters that looks to, at least partially, take place in San Francisco.

Fans will also have HBO's The Last of Us series to look forward to soon, and the Summer Game Fest showcase gave us our first real look at Pedro Pascal's Joel and Bella Ramsey's Ellie. For those wishing that Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson would have reprised their roles as Joel and Ellie, respectively, it was also announced that they would be part of the cast as more than a cameo.

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.