EA and Sims developer Maxis have announced that they will not be releasing the upcoming The Sims 4 expansion pack, My Wedding Stories, in Russia.

In a blog post today from The Sims Team, Maxis said that releasing the pack in Russia would have meant "compromising the values we live by," saying that federal laws would have forced them to make changes to the pack's development and marketing.

My Wedding Stories is a wedding-focused pack that allows players to plan and hold elaborate weddings in a new location, Tartosa. It expands on existing wedding features including proposals and the ceremony itself, adding detailed planning, decor, outfits, cakes, events, and much more.

Though any adult Sims can marry one another currently in The Sims 4 and will be able to do so in My Wedding Stories, the pack's marketing and storytelling explicitly feature two women: Dominique and Camille, as they plan their wedding.

Russian federal law introduced in 2013 prohibits content marketed toward children (anyone under the age of 18) that presents homosexuality as a societal norm, labeling it as "propaganda." The introduction of the law has coincided with an uptick in violence against LGBTQ individuals in Russia and has been condemned by numerous human rights groups including Human Rights Watch and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The Sims 4 received a mature (18+) rating in Russia at its 2014 launch explicitly due to its inclusion of same-sex relationships. At the time, EA said it had no interest in altering the game's content to get the rating adjusted — a view the publisher appears to be sticking to with My Wedding Stories.

"Imagining the stories our players will tell with our packs is at the heart of everything we create. For 'My Wedding Stories,' we were excited to introduce you to Dom and Cam," The Sims Team wrote. "Their love story reflects the lived experiences of so many members of our community and team.

"As we moved through our development and brand storytelling process, we became aware that the way we wanted to tell Cam and Dom’s story would not be something we could freely share around the world.

"The ability to tell stories - any story - is at the core of what we do at The Sims. Holding back Cam and Dom’s story meant compromising the values we live by. We are committed to the freedom to be who you are, to love who you love and tell the stories you want to tell."

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

The most anticipated of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster releases will finally be releasing later this month after previously being pushed into 2022.

To celebrate, Square Enix released the news alongside a remastered arrangement of Terra's Theme, still regarded as one of the most beautiful tracks in gaming history.

This isn't just another wild goose chase, it's time to move out.

The Final Fantasy VI pixel remaster launches on Steam and Mobile on February 23rd PST/GMT. In the meantime, enjoy the rearrangement of Terra's Theme in all its majesty.

Pre-order: https://t.co/MOlhSpxdED pic.twitter.com/Z4N9TD0bNE

— FINAL FANTASY (@FinalFantasy) February 9, 2022

First announced in 2021, Final Fantasy 6 Pixel Remaster was subsequently pushed out of 2021 in order to apply additional polish. The first five games in the series are already available.

The delay appears to be drawing lessons from the previous Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters, which were generally well-received but nevertheless required several patches to deal with various bugs. This is on top of ongoing complications from the COVID-19 pandemic.

To make up for the delay, Square Enix is adding additional items for those who pre-purchase Final Fantasy 6. They include the following (bolded tracks are new):

Special Soundtracks

・Locke's Theme (Timelapse Remix)

・The Decisive Battle (Timelapse Remix)

・Terra's Theme (Timelapse Remix)

・Searching for Friends (Timelapse Remix)

・Aria di Mezzo Carattere (Instrumental)

Special Wallpapers

・FF6: 2 types of wallpapers

・FF1-6: 2 types of Pixel Remaster series wallpapers

The Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series is a special collection of HD remasters featuring updated art, music, and quality-of-life improvements. The first five entries are currently available on PC, iOS, and Android. Final Fantasy 6 will launch in February 23.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was already a huge Mario Kart game, featuring new and retro courses for a total of 48 tracks. But now, Nintendo is doubling that number with today's announcement that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is getting 48 additional retro courses as paid DLC.

With a total of 96 courses, this iteration of Nintendo's kart racer will have over half of every Mario Kart track in history when it's all said and done.

If you take a look at the eight main console Mario Kart games and the mobile Mario Kart Tour, there are 170 original tracks across the entire franchise. This is not counting the Mario Kart Arcade series of games, or retro courses that have reappeared multiple times throughout the series.

Here's the breakdown of original courses featured in each Mario Kart game:

• Super Mario Kart: 20
• Mario Kart 64: 16
• Mario Kart: Super Circuit: 20
• Mario Kart: Double Dash: 16
• Mario Kart DS: 16
• Mario Kart Wii: 16
• Mario Kart 7: 16
• Mario Kart 8 (With DLC): 25
• Mario Kart Tour: 25
• Total: 170

Now, with its original and retro tracks combined, Mario Kart 8 will carry 96 total tracks, making up just over 56% of the franchise's total. This is by far the most courses we've ever seen in a Mario Kart game. The next closest is Mario Kart Tour, which featured 72 total tracks. On console, Mario Kart: Super Circuit on GBA had 40 total courses, with 20 original tracks and 20 returning courses from the original Mario Kart on SNES.

Of course, it will take some time before Mario Kart 8 Deluxe hits this mark, as the Booster Course DLC is set to release in six waves over the course of 2022 and 2023. Right now, we know the first wave is coming on March 18, bringing eight courses along with it. The Golden Dash Cup and Lucky Cat Cup will feature three tracks from Tour, and one track each from the N64, GBA, DS, 3DS, and Wii Mario Kart games.

For more, check out everything announced during today's Nintendo Direct.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Eight new courses are releasing in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe today, part of the paid DLC called the Booster Course Pass that was announced during last month's Nintendo Direct.

The Booster Course Pass costs $24.99 as a standalone purchase, but Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack subscribers will get it as part of their premium membership. The 48 courses aren't all coming out at once, though. Instead, Nintendo is dropping them in six waves.

The first eight courses comprising Wave 1 have been revealed on Nintendo's official website. They include the following

• Paris Promenade (Mario Kart Tour)
• Toad Circuit (Mario Kart 3DS)
• Choco Mountain (Mario Kart 64)
• Coconut Mall (Mario Kart Wii)
• Tokyo Blur (Mario Kart Tour)
• Shroom Ridge (Mario Kart DS)
• Sky Garden (Mario Kart Advance)
• Ninja Hideaway (Mario Kart Tour)

Eight courses are planned to be released in each wave, all of which will be delivered to Booster Course Pass owners by the end of 2023. The first wave, available today at around 7pm ET in North America, includes courses like Wii's Coconut Mall, N64's Choco Mountain, and Tour's Tokyo Blur.

Mario Kart 8 was named the best-selling racing game in US history in April 2021. The combined sales of the original Wii U Mario Kart 8 and Nintendo Switch's Mario Kart 8 Deluxe pushed the game past the previous record holder, Mario Kart Wii. Recent reports suggest Mario Kart 9 is in "active development," though for now it seems Nintendo is still focused on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Miranda Sanchez is the executive editor of guides at IGN and a member of Podcast Unlocked. She's a big fan of stationery and fountain pens. You can sometimes find her on Twitter.

In the wake of a successful remaster of the original game, developer MonolithSoft is once again venturing into the world of Xenoblade Chronicles this September.

During today's Nintendo Direct, Nintendo announced Xenoblade Chronicles 3, saying it will be set in a new world with connections to both the first and second game. Its reveal trailer showed off new characters and locales, teasing lots of story threads without sharing too many exact details on its plot or mechanics.

A press release after the Direct had a little more info, saying "Players will step into the roles of protagonists Noah and Mio amid turmoil between the hostile nations of Keves and Agnus. Six characters hailing from those nations will take part in a grand tale with 'life' as its central theme."

Xenoblade Chronicles was first released in 2010 on Nintendo Wii, where it gained prominence as part of a fan campaign to get it localized in North America. Following a spinoff on the Wii U and a sequel on the Switch, Xenoblade Chronicles was remastered in HD in 2020, with its protagonist, Shulk, also appearing in Super Smash Bros.

Xenoblade Chronicles can trace its roots back to Xenogears, a trippy PlayStation RPG that won acclaim for its mindbending story and fantastic soundtrack. Xenogears was directed by Tetsuya Takahashi, who served as the scenario writer on both Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 2.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is set to release in September 2022.

A sequel to Wii Sports was announced during today's Nintendo Direct in a surprising twist.

Nintendo Switch Sports will arrive on the Switch on April 29. The company confirmed that the following modes will be available: Tennis, Bowling, Chambara, Soccer, Badminton, and Volleyball. Nintendo also confirmed that it will add Golf into the game via a free update this fall.

Unlike previous installments in the series, including the HD remake, Wii Sports Club, the upcoming title will not include Miis in the game.

Ahead of the game's late April release, Nintendo announced that it will be hosting an online playtest for Nintendo Switch Sports beginning February 18 and will conclude on February 20. However, only players with an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription will access the playtest.

The announcement of Nintendo Switch Sports has been long-awaited for fans of Wii Sports, which was released as a launch title for the console back in 2006.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Live A Live is headed to North America for the first version. Not only that, it will be available in the HD-2D format made famous by Octopath Traveler.

First released on Super Nintendo back in 1994, Live a Live was an import-only RPG that garnered a passionate fanbase due to its unique gameplay and narrative mechanics. It was released during Square's heyday alongside classics like Final Fantasy 6 and Chrono Trigger.

In addition to a new translation, Live A Live is getting a big graphical upgrade in line with Octopath Traveler, which was praised for its unique visual style.

Live A Live is out on Nintendo Switch on July 22.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN

Both the first Portal and its sequel, Portal 2, will be headed to the Nintendo Switch later this year as part of Portal: Companion Collection, announced during today's Nintendo Direct presentation.

Portal was first released by Valve in 2007 for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 in 2007, with Portal 2 coming in 2011.

Valve noted in a tweet during the presentation that the Companion Collection was developed in collaboration with NVIDIA Lightspeed Studios, and will include both games' full single-player campaigns as well as Portal 2's co-op game mode, which is available via spilt-screen, local, and online multiplayer.

Both Portal games have received critical acclaim, with IGN giving the first an 8.2 and giving it awards for best puzzle game and most innovative design of 2007. Portal 2 scored even higher with a 9.5, winning IGN's game of the year for 2011.

"Portal 2 makes the original look like the prototype it was," Charles Onyett wrote in his review for IGN. "It's filled with a larger cast of characters vividly brought to life through brilliant writing and some of the best voice acting in video games. Its puzzles are challenging without being unreasonable, and, once you're finished with the single-player mode, one of the best co-operative experiences on the market awaits."

Portal: Companion Collection was just one of several announcements made during today's presentation of games headed to the Switch, with others including No Man's Sky, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and Earthbound and Earthbound Beginning. See everything that was announced during the February 2022 Nintendo Direct right here.

Announced during today's Nintendo Direct, a collection with two Klonoa games is coming to Nintendo Switch on July 8.

Called Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series, it includes classic platformers Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil, seemingly with remade or at least improved graphics.

The first Klonoa was originally released on PlayStation in 1997, then remade in 2008 for the Nintendo Wii. Klonoa 2 was a direct sequel that came out on PlayStation 2 in 2001.

It's unclear at this time how much work has been done to revamp or remake either game for the switch, but the gameplay shown in its reveal trailer looked much crisper than any of the previous systems these games were on could allow.

While everyone waits for Mario Kart 9, Disney is getting its own combat racer for characters including Mickey Mouse, Sully, and Mulan.

Titled Disney Speedstorm, the new racer will be be free-to-play and will support cross-platform play. New characters will be released in a seasonal format. Tracks and Karts will be based on popular Disney franchises.

Racers will have a mix of special abilities and ultimate skills. In addition to online multiplayer, Disney Speedstorm will feature splitscreen.

Disney Speedstorm releases this summer on Nintendo Switch.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editorat IGN