Here’s What Horizon Forbidden West Looks Like on PS4 Pro

As Horizon Forbidden West goes gold, developer Guerrilla Games has revealed short clips of the game running on PS4 Pro. While it's hard to judge performance from such a small sample size, the signs are encouraging.

On the PS Blog, Guerrilla's Angie Smets acknowledged that all previous footage had been from the PS5 version of the game, and revealed 3 clips of the game running on last-gen hardware. You can one of those clips in the tweet below:

The clips show three separate parts of the game: Aloy walking through the Utaru tribe's Plainsong settlement, a fight against Clamberjaws in a woodland, and a separate fight against Bristlebacks featuring Aloy using multiple pieces of equipment.

Even amid Twitter and gif compression, the game appears to scale down impressively for PS4 Pro. However, Sony hasn't gone into detail on what the missing or downgraded graphical elements will be, and hasn't shown the game on a base model PS, so it remains to be seen exactly how impressive the cross-generation efforts have been.

Having gone gold, we'll be seeing the game arrive on February 18. We recently played four hours, saying that it's "shaping up to be a fulfillment of all the promises made by its predecessor."

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.

Uncharted Devs Seem to Want to Make Another Sequel: ‘It’s a World We Want to See More Of’

Uncharted creative director Shaun Escayg has hinted that developers at Naughty Dog would like to make another sequel in the blockbuster series, saying that it's a "world we want to see more of."

As part of an interview with GamesRadar, Escayg offered fans a slight hope that perhaps there could be more to come from the Uncharted franchise when speaking about his thoughts on the topic.

"I think we can say for certain that we can never say never. Yeah. Uncharted is a franchise we love – that the studio loves. I love, and [Uncharted: The Lost Legacy director Kurt Margenau] loves. It's a world we want to see more of. So I can certainly say that," explained Escayg.

While the creative director didn't share any studio secrets, and certainly didn't confirm that a new Uncharted game is on its way, his comments will have left Uncharted fans hoping that there's a chance the series could make a return beyond remasters.

Recent reports indicated that Days Gone studio Sony Bend had at one point been working on a new Uncharted project, and rumours had circulated for some time before that about a new entry in the series. Whether those rumoured projects have continued remains unknown.

Past Uncharted games continue to arrive in new forms, however – Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, which includes remasters of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, is due out for release on PS5 tomorrow, January 2, with a PC version to follow.

The game includes a variety of graphical updates including a Fidelity mode, which allows fans to play the game on a 4k display at a 30 FPS target, a heightened framerate patch that allows PS4 versions of the game to target 60FPS, and a Performance+ mode, which targets 120 FPS at a 108p resolution. To see how the game performs against those targets, make sure to check out our recently released performance review for the game.

While Legacy of Thieves may be the next Uncharted remaster to release it isn't the only Nathan Drake-themed content in the pipeline. Next month will see the theatrical release of Sony's Uncharted: The Movie, starring Tom Holland (Nathan Drake) and Mark Wahlberg (Victor Sullivan).

For more from Uncharted, make sure to check out this article revealing the secrets behind the series' best chase sequence.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Astronomers Puzzle Over ‘Spooky’ Space Object Beaming Out Radio Signals

Scientists have spotted a "spooky" celestial object blasting out radio signals, three times an hour, about 4,000 light-years away from Earth.

CNN reported on a new study, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, that examines the discovery and analyzes archival data surrounding the mysterious object. The object – which is around 4,000 light-years (almost 24 quadrillion miles) away from Earth – was found to be releasing giant bursts of energy, causing it to brighten for roughly 30 to 60 seconds, once every 18 minutes.

Despite it sounding like it's a great distance away, astronomers actually consider this to be relatively close in galactic terms, and have been speculating over what the source of the radio waves could be, given that it's unlike anything ever seen before in space. Some have suggested that the object might be a neutron star or a white dwarf star with a very powerful magnetic field.

"This object was appearing and disappearing over a few hours during our observations," said lead study author Natasha Hurley-Walker, an astrophysicist from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research in Western Australia. "That was completely unexpected. It was kind of spooky for an astronomer because there's nothing known in the sky that does that. And it's really quite close to us -- about 4,000 light-years away. It's in our galactic backyard."

A student at Curtin University, named Tyrone O'Doherty, first discovered the object while using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) telescope in outback Western Australia. The original data was collected between January and March 2018, though it has been observed in several studies since as astronomers continue to be puzzled by the flaring space object.

Objects in space that pulse on and off are often referred to as "transients," however, ICRAR astrophysicist and co-author Dr. Gemma Anderson explained that finding something that turns on for about a minute is what differentiates this discovery from others. Some researchers suspect it may be a magnetar (a neutron star with a very strong magnetic field).

"It's a type of slowly spinning neutron star that has been predicted to exist theoretically but nobody expected to directly detect one like this because we didn't expect them to be so bright. Somehow it's converting magnetic energy to radio waves much more effectively than anything we've seen before," added Hurley-Walker. "More detections will tell astronomers whether this was a rare one-off event or a vast new population we'd never noticed before."

Astronomers will continue to monitor the object while undoubtedly making new discoveries along the way. Last year, scientists found what they believed to be the first signs of a planet beyond our galaxy in addition to the 139 new "minor planets" that were discovered in the far reaches of our own solar system, which may be amongst the weirdest planets in our universe.

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

Thumbnail image credit: Dr Natasha Hurley-Walker/ICRAR/Curtin and the GLEAM Team

Xbox Changing How It Handles Renewals for Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold in the UK

Xbox is changing how it handles automatic renewals for both Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold subscriptions in the UK, after the government got involved. It's not clear if those changes will be made in other regions.

The changes by Microsoft were revealed as part of a report (spotted by Eurogamer) following an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into the video game sector that highlighted a number of concerns about Microsoft's online gaming services.

According to the CMA, the concerns related to Microsoft were particularly focused on the company's auto-renewal processes and revolved around several key factors - whether or not the company was clear upfront that its subscription contracts would renew, how easy it was to cancel or turn off automatic renewal, and whether people may not have realised that they were still paying for the service long after they'd stopped using it.

As per the report, the CMA has stated that Microsoft has undertaken a number of voluntary arrangements to improve its Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold auto-renewal services, which include the following changes:

  • Better upfront information: Microsoft will provide more transparent, upfront information to help customers understand their Xbox membership – making clear, for example, that the subscription will auto-renew unless the customer turns off auto-renewal; when the subscription will auto-renew; how much it will cost; and how the customer can receive a refund after an accidental renewal
  • Refunds: Microsoft will contact existing customers on recurring 12-month contracts and give them the option to end their contract and claim a pro-rata refund
  • Inactive memberships: Microsoft will also contact existing customers who haven’t used their memberships for a long time but are still paying. These customers will be reminded how to stop payments, and if they continue not to use their memberships, Microsoft will ultimately stop taking further payments
  • Better information about price increases: Microsoft will give clearer notifications of any future price rises, and will ensure people know how to turn off auto-renewal if they don’t want to pay the higher price

Following the action from Microsoft, Executive Director of Enforcement at the CMA Michael Grenfell issued a statement detailing the need for companies to act in a similar fashion. "Gamers need to be given clear and timely information to make informed choices when signing up for auto-renewing memberships and subscriptions," explained Grenfell.

"We are therefore pleased that Microsoft has given the CMA these formal undertakings to improve the fairness of their practices and protect consumers, and will be offering refunds to certain customers. Other companies offering memberships and subscriptions that auto-renew should take note, and review their practices to ensure they comply with consumer protection law."

It's not clear if Microsoft will bring those changes to other markets, or if this will remain an approach specifically for the UK. We've contacted the company for comment.

For more recent news surrounding Xbox Game Pass, make sure to check out this piece detailing everything that's being made available on the service across this month.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Amy Schneider’s Historic Jeopardy! Run Ends After 40 Games and $1.3 Million in Winnings

After earning $1,382,800 and securing the second-longest consecutive winning streak in Jeopardy! history, Amy Schneider's historic 40-game run has finally come to an end.

As reported by NBC News, Schneider, who is an engineering manager from Oakland, California, was defeated by a Chicago librarian named Rhone Talsma. While Schneider was able to win $19,600, it wasn't enough to best Talsma's $29,600.

Despite Schneider not being able to best Ken Jennings' record streak of 74 wins, she has become the first transgender contestant to make it into the Tournament of Champions and is the highest-earning female competitor in Jeopardy! history.

Her winnings place her at #4 on the list of the highest-earners in regular season play, and put her behind only Matt Amodio's $1.5 million, James Holzhauer's $2.4 million, and Jennings' $2.5 million.

The match was close heading into Final Jeopardy, but Schneider could not come up with the answer to which country ends its English spelling with an "h" and is also one of the Earth's 10 most populated nations. The answer, for those curious, was Bangladesh.

“It’s really been an honor,” Schneider said. “To know that I’m one of the most successful people at a game I’ve loved since I was a kid and to know that I’m a part of its history now, I just don’t know how to process it.

“I had thought that Rhone was going to be tough going into it,” she said in a statement released by the show. I loved hanging out with him, we had great conversation before the taping, but I could tell that he was here to play and that he was going to be good. I still came very close to winning, but I did feel like maybe I was slipping a little bit. And once it was clear that he was fast on the buzzer, I knew it was going to be a battle all the way.”

Talsma also shared a few words of his victory, saying it's still hard to believe what he accomplished.

"I’m still in shock,” Talsma said. “This is my favorite show. ... I was so excited to be here, and I just wanted to do my best. I did not expect to be facing a 40-day champion, and I was excited to maybe see someone else slay the giant. I just really didn’t think it was going to be me, so I’m thrilled.”

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.

Spider-Man: No Way Home Production Included ‘Spider-Man Therapy Session’ For Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, And Tobey Maguire

Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts revealed that he, Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire, Zendaya, and Jacob Batalon had something of a "Spider-Man therapy session" before filming the movie's first scene together.

Speaking to Variety, Watts shared that the so-called therapy session was the first time he had everyone together to talk about the story and how much Spider-Man means to each one of them.

"We sat on folding chairs in a circle and went through the script together," Watts said. "I had talked to everyone separately, but to have everyone together to talk about the story, how the pieces fit together and what Spider-Man meant to them — that was exciting for me. We had the only three actors to ever play Spider-Man in a film, and each had been through so much, on and off screen. It was like a Spider-Man therapy session.”

This session, and all the work done prior to filming No Way Home's first scene, allowed Watts to "take a step back" and realize that he and the crew were "capturing something more than a scene from a movie." To them, it was simply "watching a once-in-a-lifetime event."

Watts also discussed how his three Spider-Man films - Homecoming, Far From Home, and No Way Home - actually mirrored his greatest fears as he made these very personal feelings central to the "thematics of the films."

"I’ve always taken my greatest fear and made that central to the thematics of the films,” Watts says. “‘Homecoming’ is about a kid who gets a huge opportunity and is so afraid he’ll miss his chance, that he creates a disaster. That was my fear: ‘What if I screw the whole thing up?’ ‘Far From Home’ is about being afraid to make a second movie and screwing things up. Peter Parker is given a mission and he doesn’t want to take a risk. ‘No Way Home’ is about trying to finish this origin story and the responsibility that comes with this. Peter Parker and Spider-Man mean so much to people and I felt that responsibility.”

For more, check out the full script for Spider-Man: No Way Home, concept art that reveals Mysterio was almost part of the story, and Sam Raimi's thoughts on the film.

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.

An Old Rocket Is About to Collide (Harmlessly) With the Moon

Space observers say part of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that has been floating around space for nearly seven years is on track to collide with the moon.

The Falcon 9 rocket launched in February 2015 carrying NOAA’s Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), which monitors solar wind and other space weather. After delivering DSCOVR, the rocket’s upper stage didn’t have enough energy to return to Earth’s atmosphere or to escape the Earth-Moon system, according to Eric Berger at Ars Technica. It’s had a “chaotic orbit” since then, affected by the gravity of the Earth, moon, and sun.

Bill Gray, the developer of Project Pluto, a suite of software for tracking near-Earth objects, asteroids, and comets, has been keeping an eye on the rocket stage. Collecting data from professional and amateur astronomers, he calculates that it should hit the moon at around 5,600 miles per hour on March 4th. The impact is likely to happen on the far side of the moon and go unobserved, but it’s possible that there could be something to learn about lunar geology based on the crater it leaves.

The rocket stage won’t be the first man-made object to hit the moon. In 2009, NASA intentionally sent spacecraft into the moon to check for water at its poles. It might be the first chunk of spacecraft to unintentionally strike the moon, but a lot of various space junk isn’t closely tracked.

“This is the first time that something not explicitly targeted at the Moon has been noticed to accidentally hit it, but that's mainly because we weren't paying attention until recently,” said Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, on his website.

“There are about 30 to 50 lost deep space objects like this that have been missing for years - 50 years in some cases - that haven't been picked up by asteroid searches, and probably some of them hit the moon.”

For other space news, check out our articles about an asteroid that just passed Earth and a moon of Saturn that might be hiding an ocean.

Kait Sanchez is a freelance writer for IGN. Find them on Twitter @crisp_red.

Main image credit: NASA

PSA: Discord Is Down

The world's favorite gaming community messaging app, Discord, is down. Currently, users are unable to communicate with each other through the service and will have to wait until the company fixes the issue.

You can check out the status of Discord on IGN's sister site Down Detector. The site shows that issues started appearing about an hour earlier until almost all of its users experienced them.

According to Discord and its status page, it is investigating a widespread API outage that started around 11:49 AM PT today. About 15 minutes later at 12:30 PM PT, Discord identified the underlying issue with the API outage, though service remains spotty.

Discord has since instituted a rate limit on logins in order to manage the traffic load. Users who are already logged in are able to successfully use Discord now. The company will slowly raise the limits here to allow more users at a steady pace.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey

PlayStation Reveals February PS Plus Games

Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep leads the way for February's PlayStation Plus lineup. Announced on the PlayStation Blog, February's free games for PS Plus subscribers include Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep and EA Sports UFC 4 for PS4 players, and Planet Coaster Console Edition for PS5 owners.

Fans looking forward to Tiny Tina's Wonderlands in March will want to check out Assault on Dragon Keep. While the upcoming game is a full-fledged adventure taking place in Borderlands' Dungeons & Dragons-inspired counterpart, players first got their taste of the Wonderlands back in 2013, with a Borderlands 2 DLC starring Tiny Tina. Now, that DLC has been rereleased as a standalone package so players can get a taste of battling skeletons, dragons, and more ahead of the new game this spring.

Planet Coaster is a modern-day Roller Coaster Tycoon, letting players build and manage amusement parks. The game includes over 700 objects, including track parts, facilities, and more. And, you can download coasters made by other players in the community.

And finally, EA Sports UFC 4 is the latest ultimate fighting game from EA, featuring a career mode and online battles. We called the game great in our review, saying, "EA Sports UFC 4 is a largely iterative sequel that tightens up some looser parts, makes a few smart tweaks here and there, and doesn’t rock the boat all that much."

All three games will be available for download starting on February 1. You still have time to download January's PlayStation Plus games, which include Persona 5 Strikers, Dirt 5, and Deep Rock Galactic.

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

Steam Deck Gets an Official Release Date, First Units to Ship in February

Steam Deck will go on sale starting on February 25, with the first batch of handhelds set to ship on February 28.

In a blog post, Steam says customers will begin getting invites “shortly after 10 am PT” on February 25 and will have 3 days, or 72 hours, from the receipt of their order email to make their purchase. If a person doesn't make an order at this time, the person next in the queue will get the chance to place an order.

Valve says it is hoping to send emails for orders out in batches weekly.

Order emails will be sent out in the same order as the reservations, and Valve will only let you order the Steam Deck model that you originally reserved. The initial reservation deposit will also be applied to the final price of the Steam Deck at checkout.

The Steam Deck was originally slated to start shipping at the end of 2021, but Valve announced that despite its best efforts, the global chip shortage hit them as well and the window was delayed to Q1 2022.

The Steam Deck is Valve’s take on a handheld PC gaming device and should be able to run your Steam library on the go. Some games will be better optimized for the Steam Deck and a new version of Steam OS will be used for the handheld.

There are three different models available for order, a 64GB eMMC model, 256GB NVMe SSD model, and a 512GB NVMe SSD model.

IGN was the first outlet to go hands-on with the Steam Deck and you can read our full preview here, along with an interview with Valve founder Gabe Newell on why Valve decided to enter the handheld market.

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