Reanimal: Release date, pre-orders, gameplay, story details and trailer
Although Halloween has long come and gone, there are still plenty of horror games afoot, and we’ve got everything you need to know about the Reanimal release date, pre-orders situation and gameplay and story so you can get your best fright on. If you’re after even more scares, then be sure to check out all the upcoming games in 2026 and beyond, as there are some seriously spooky titles on the horizon. But as for Reanimal, it marks the return of Tarsier Studios, the team behind Little Nightmares 1 and 2, but they may as well call this one Big Nightmares, as it looks even more terrifying than those two titles. But, as for when you actually play Reanimal and get scared silly, read on! When is the Reanimal release date? The Reanimal release date is Friday 13th February 2026. A befittingly spooky date to launch a horror game. You only get so many spooky dates beyond Halloween, so developers have got to make them count! Coming out on the 13th gives players two weeks to play through Reanimal before Resident Evil Requiem comes out later in the month, which is sure to attract all horror fans far and wide. Can I pre-order Reanimal? Yes, you can preorder Reanimal. There is the standard version of the game and the Deluxe Edition, both of which are available digitally or as a physical copy, and the Collector’s Edition. Both the physical Deluxe and Digital Deluxe come with the following: Season Pass Foxhead and Muttonhead masks DLC The Renanimal Collector’s Edition contains the above and: Pig Statue Bucket Mini Statue Keychain Map Poster Artbook Stickers Exclusive Box And as for where you can pre-order them, you can use the links below: Where to pre-order Reanimal for Nintendo Switch 2? Pre-order Reanimal for Nintendo Switch 2 from Amazon Pre-order Reanimal Deluxe Edition for Nintendo Switch 2 from Amazon Pre-order Reanimal Collector’s Edition for Nintendo Switch 2 from Amazon Where to pre-order Reanimal for PC? Pre-order Reanimal for PC (Steam) from Loaded Pre-order Reanimal Digital Deluxe for PC (Steam) from Loaded Pre-order Reanimal Collector’s Edition for PC from Amazon Where to pre-order Reanimal for PS5? Pre-order Reanimal for PS5 from Amazon Pre-order Reanimal Deluxe Edition for PS5 from Amazon Pre-order Reanimal Collector’s Edition for PS5 from Amazon Where to pre-order Reanimal for Xbox Series X/S? Pre-order Reanimal for Xbox Series X/S from Amazon Pre-order Reanimal Deluxe Edition for Xbox Series X/S from Amazon Pre-order Reanimal Collector’s Edition for Xbox Series X/S from Amazon View Green Video on the source website Which consoles and platforms can play Reanimal? Reanimal is coming to PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, PC and Xbox Series X/S. If you have a console or PC, then you’ll probably be able to play Reanimal without a problem. The Reanimal demo has been shown to run well on the Steam Deck, which is fairly low-powered, so any halfway decent computer from the last good while should run it ok. If you are still on the previous console generation, then perhaps we can help you out with a bargain for the Switch 2, one of the flavours of PlayStation 5 or an Xbox Series X/S. Reanimal gameplay and story details Reanimal is a co-op horror adventure game that sees a brother and sister navigate a twisted world on a journey to save their friends. The developers, Tarsier Studios, are the same team behind Little Nightmares 1 and 2, so if you have played either of these games, you should feel right at home. You can play Reanimal in single-player if you haven’t a friend brave enough to play it through with you. Is there a Reanimal trailer? View oEmbed on the source website Yes, there are a number of Reanimal trailers. We’ve included Trailer #2 above for your viewing pleasure, which shows the troubled siblings getting caught up in some rather unpleasant situations as they navigate a broken world on foot and by boat. If you’re hoping to go in blind, the trailer does show off a good number of monsters, though, they’ll no doubt be just as scary, spoilers or otherwise. Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Animal Crossing 3.0 update today (15th January): What changes in the patch notes?
The day has finally come, as we can now access the Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0 update today (15th January), as well as the Animal Crossing Switch 2 Edition, so let’s see what changes in the patch notes! We’ve already got you covered if you’re after what to expect in the new Animal Crossing update, as well as how to get the new Animal Crossing update and DLC. Of course, you won’t be able to access some of the new additions if you are still playing on the original Switch, but you could pick up a bargain with our round-up of the best Switch 2 deals! The difference between the two consoles is quite staggering, and fans seem to love the new unit if the sales figures are anything to go by. But, as for that Animal Crossing 3.0 update and all of its juicy patch notes, read on! View Affiliate Playlist on the source website Animal Crossing 3.0 update today (15th January): What changes in the patch notes? Below, courtesy of big Nintendo itself, are the full patch notes for the Animal Crossing 3.0 update that went live on 15th January 2026: The previously announced new content and features have been added. It’s now possible to craft up to 10 items at once if you have enough materials. Items stored in your home storage can now be used as DIY materials. The DIY Recipes app now includes a page where you can check hotel DIY requests and items requested by Tom Nook as you progress through the game. Items obtained by linking with Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp can now always be ordered from Nook Shopping. Super Mario Bros items can now be ordered from Nook Shopping without linking to a Nintendo Account. While outdoors on an island, holding down the L Button allows you to move while facing the same direction. When changing the island tune at Resident Services, Isabelle will now suggest recommended melodies, including the original island tune. When changing the island flag at Resident Services, you can now revert it to the original design from when the island was created. You can now purchase up to 50 Customization Kits at once from Nook’s Cranny. Several items, including Snowflakes, can now be sold at the drop-off box at Nook’s Cranny. You will receive a Pearl every time you give a scallop to Pascal. You can now ask Leif to remove weeds when there are 30 or more weeds on your island, either on Harv’s Island or during his visits The fee for asking Leif to remove weeds has been reduced. New tips have been added to the Island Life 101 app. Additional Nook Miles tasks have been added alongside the new features. The order of some collaboration items has been updated in the catalogs used for photo studios and hotel decorating. Other adjustments and corrections were made to improve the gameplay experience. Nintendo Switch 2 Specific Updates Fixed an issue where the startup sound for Nook Shopping on the smartphone would not play correctly. NookLink (Nintendo Switch App) Updates Added new articles to the Island Newspaper. The Catalog now supports new items added in Ver. 3.0.0. View Green Video on the source website Read more on the Nintendo Switch 2: Nintendo Switch 2 release date - key details Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders - where to buy Nintendo Switch 2 vs original Switch - what are the differences? Do Switch 1 controllers work with Switch 2? Do Switch 2 games work on Switch 1? Switch 2 backwards compatibility explained - can you play OG Switch games on Switch 2? Switch 2 games - confirmed and predicted games Mario Kart World - everything we know! Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
How to update Animal Crossing: New Horizons and get the new DLC
How to manually update Animal Crossing 3.0 and unlock the Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade.
Rejoice, Animal Crossing fans! The Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade is here, and so is update patch v3.0! These two colliding upgrades will give your game a huge shot in the arm, and keep you enjoying your island even longer. If you're wondering what's available in the latest version of the game, and how to upgrade, you can read on for everything you need to know. How to update Animal Crossing: New Horizons How do I manually update Animal Crossing: New Horizons? If you've been asking yourself that question, you'll need to follow these steps to update Animal Crossing on your Nintendo Switch or Switch 2: Make sure your Nintendo Switch is connected to the internet (press the 'System Settings' cog on the console home page, head to 'Internet Settings' and connect the console to your Wifi) Ensure that your copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons is closed (hover over the game on your console home page and press the X button to close the software) Try to open the game, and you should be prompted to download the Animal Crossing update! If, for some reason, the update doesn't seem to be coming, try this back-up plan: Hover over the game on your console home page and press the + button In the menu that appears, head to 'Software Update' and select the option titled 'Via the Internet' The console will then search for updates - if you have one to download, it will prompt you to do so. What version is the new Animal Crossing update? Thanks to this update, the new Animal Crossing version number is Ver. 3.0 - this has added a huge amount of new content. First is the addition of the new hotel, with Kapp'n's family turning the island into a vacation hotspot. Players will be able to design hotel rooms for guests, fitting certain themes to match their vibes. You'll also be able to interact with guests on the island during their stay. You'll now also be able to craft specialty goods using DIY, exchanging them for hotel tickets. These hotel tickets can be spent in the souvenir shop to buy exclusive items, as well as hotel-themed items. Slumber Island is another new addition. With a Nintendo Switch Online membership, you and your friends can visit the island together to decorate as a team. Alternatively, if you're after a restart, Resetti's Reset Service lets you reset particular areas of your island, instantly cleaning up any items, decorations, plants and more that you've placed, letting you start completely anew. Of course, there are a bunch of new items to use as well, including new LEGO, Legend of Zelda and Splatoon crossovers. How to get the Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade DLC in Animal Crossing: New Horizons Of course, if you want the Switch 2 upgrade, you'll first have to actually have a Switch 2. Once that's sorted, all you need to do is head to the Nintendo eShop. From there, you'll be able to purchase the Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition for £54.99. Alternatively, if you already own the base game, the upgrade will only cost you £4.19! After this, download any updates that come you're way, and you're good to go! Read more on Animal Crossing: Animal Crossing Gyroids guide - where to find them How to get Brewster in Animal Crossing Animal Crossing ordinances guide - what do they do? How to get the best turnip price every week in Animal Crossing Animal Crossing's best and most popular villagers The best Animal Crossing dream islands to explore Animal Crossing shooting stars guide How to restart your game in Animal Crossing: New Horizons Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
2026 video game release dates: PS5, PS4, Xbox, PC and Switch
Every game you need to know for this month and beyond.
New year, new games! 2026 has arrived, and it promises another year of incredible games to look forward to no matter what platform you're on. Last year will be tough to beat, with the likes of Hades 2, Death Stranding 2, Silent Hill f, Donkey Kong Bananza and of course, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 all blowing us away. But this year is no slouch either – could 2026 finally be the year Rockstar does what we've been waiting 13 years for? Only time will tell. So, until then, here are all the video game release dates you can look forward to in 2026, kicking off, of course, with January. January 2026 video game release dates Hytale Early Access (PC) – 13th January Streetdog BMX (PC) – 14th January The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon (PC, PS5, PS4, Switch 2, Switch) – 15th January Brokenlore: Unfollow (PC, PS5) – 16th January MIO: Memories In Orbit (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Switch 2, Switch) – 20th January Arknights: Endfield (PC, PS5, Mobile) – 22nd January Final Fantasy VII: Remake Intergrade (Switch 2) - 22nd January Dynasty Warriors: Origins (Switch 2) - 22nd January Hermit and Pig (PC) – 23rd January Banquet For Fools (PC) – 23rd January Escape from Ever After (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Switch 2, Switch) – 23rd January Highguard (PC, PS5) – 26th January The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5) – 28th January Cairn (PC, PS5) – 29th January I Hate This Place (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5) – 29th January Code Vein 2 (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5) – 30th January February 2026 video game release dates Unemployment Simulator 2018 (PC) – 3rd February Dragon Quest VII Reimagined (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Switch 2, Switch) – 5th February Ghost Gunners (PC) – 6th February My Hero Academia: All's Justice (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5) – 6th February Nioh 3 (PS5) – 6th February Mewgenics (PC) – 10th February Romeo is a Dead Man (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5) – 11th February Mario Tennis Fever (Switch 2) – 12th February Ride 6 (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5) – 12th February High on Life 2 (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5) – 13th February Reanimal (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Switch 2) – 13th February Demon Tides (PC) – 19th February Styx: Blades of Greed (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5) – 19th February Ys X: Proud Nordics (PC, PS5, Switch 2) – 20th February Tides of Tomorrow (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5) – 24th February Tales of Berseria Remastered (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Switch 2, Switch) – 26th February Resident Evil Requiem (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Switch 2) – 27th February March 2026 video game release dates Pokémon Pokopia (Switch 2) – 5th March Marathon (PC, Ps5 and Xbox Series X/S) — 5th March Never Grace: The Witch and the Curse (PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Switch 2, Switch) – 5th March Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Switch 2) – 12th March Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Switch 2) – 13th March Crimson Desert (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5) – 19th March Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Switch 2, Switch) – 19th March Ghost Master: Resurrection (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5) – 20th March Copa City (PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5) – 26th March Screamer (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5) – 26th March April 2026 video game release dates ShantyTown (PC) – 16th April Masters of Albion (PC) – 22nd April Pragmata (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5) – 24th April Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred (PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4) – 28th April Invincible VS (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5) – 30th April Saros (PS5) – 30th April May 2026 video game release dates 007 First Light (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Switch 2) – 27th May Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Switch 2) – 29th May June 2026 video game release dates Nocturne (PC) – 30th June July 2026 video game release dates Peace Island (PC) – 1st July August 2026 video game release dates Titan Quest II Early Access (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) – 1st August September 2026 video game release dates Phantom Blade Zero (PC, PS5) – 9th September November 2026 video game release dates Grand Theft Auto 6 (Xbox Series X/S, PS5) – 19th November December 2026 video game release dates Beautiful Light (PC) – TBC 2026 video game release dates TBC Directive 8020 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC) Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave (Switch 2) Danganronpa 2x2 (Switch 2, Switch) Yoshi and the Mysterious Book (Switch 2) - Spring 2026 Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream (Switch 2) - Spring 2026 Super Mario Wonder: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park (Switch 2) - Spring 2026 The Duskbloods (Switch 2) IKUMA - The Frozen Compass (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) Onimusha: Way of the Sword (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) Star Wars: Zero Company (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) Rhythm Heaven Groove (Switch 2) Sea of Remnants (PC, PS5) Enter the Gungeon 2 (PC, Switch 2) Game of Thrones: War for Westeros (PC) Frostrail (PC) Forza Horizon 6 (PC, Xbox Series X/S) Fable (PC, Xbox Series X/S) Lords of the Fallen 2 (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra (TBA) Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls (PC, PS5) Marvel's Wolverine (PS5) Slay the Spire 2 (PC) Super Meat Boy 3D (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) The Blood of Dawnwalker (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) Valor Mortis (PC,PS5, Xbox Series X/S) Witchbrook (PC, Xbox, Switch) Zero Parades (PC, PS5) Skate 4 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Microsoft Windows) While we wait for more dates to be confirmed, check out our top picks on various platforms: The very best PS4 & PS5 games The best Xbox One and Series X/S games The best PC games The best Nintendo Switch games ever Best Switch Lite games - take these on the go! Best Switch games for kids The best VR games to play in 2022 Best mobile games Best Pokémon games on Switch Best horror games on Xbox Game Pass Best Assassin's Creed games Free PS Plus games this month Free Xbox Game Pass games this month TBC video game release dates The following games are confirmed to be in development but do not have official release dates as of yet: DECAPOLICE (Switch, PS5, PS5, PC) - 2026 Thick as Thieves (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - 2026 Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet (PS5) Okami 2 (platforms TBC) Tides of Annihilation (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC) Project Robot (platforms TBC) Game of Thrones: Kingsroad (iOS, Android) Stranger than Heaven (platforms TBC) Virtua Fighter 6 (platforms TBC) Turok Origins (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) Stage Fright (PC) Catly (Switch, PC, Apple Watch) Assassin's Creed Jade (iOS, Android) Beyond Good and Evil 2 (platforms TBC) Big Walk (platforms TBC) - 2025 Cyberpunk 2 (platforms TBC) Dangerous Driving 2 (PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch) Den of Wolves (PC) The Elder Scrolls 6 (platforms TBC) Everwild (PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S) Exoborne: Master the Apocalypse (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC) Exodus (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC) Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 (platforms TBC) Gears of War: E-Day (Xbox Series X/S, PC) Human Fall Flat 2 (platforms TBC) Jurassic Park: Survival (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC) Kemuri (platforms TBC) Last Sentinel (platforms TBC) Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior (PC) John Carpenter's Toxic Commando (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) Judas (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) Light No Fire (platforms TBC) Little Devil Inside (PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S) Mass Effect sequel (platforms TBC) Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume 2 (platforms TBC) OD (Xbox Series X/S) Off the Grid (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) Perfect Dark (PC, Xbox Series X/S) Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake (PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S) - 2026 Physint (platforms TBC) Shadows of the Damned Remastered (platforms TBC) Star Wars Eclipse (platforms TBC) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake (PC, PS5) Silent Hill: Townfall (platforms TBC) Terminator Survival Project (platforms TBC) Throne and Liberty (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) Tom Clancy's The Division: Resurgence (iOS, Android) Transformers: Reactivate (PC and consoles TBC) The Witcher 4 (platforms TBC) The Witcher Canis Majoris (platforms TBC) The Witcher Sirius (platforms TBC) Recently released games While waiting for those upcoming games to drop, you might wonder if you've missed some big games in recent months. With that in mind, these are the video game release dates that may have passed you by over the last few months. December 2025 video game release dates MARVEL Cosmic Invasion (PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch) - 1st December Destiny 2: Renegades (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - 2nd December Assassin's Creed Shadows (Nintendo Switch 2) - 2nd December Blood: Refreshed Supply (PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch) - 4th December Football Manager 2026 Touch (Switch 2, Switch) - 4th December Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (Switch 2, Switch) - 4th December Octopath Traveler 0 (Switch 2, Switch) - 4th December Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 (PS5) - 8th December Skate Story (PC, PS5, Nintendo Switch 2) - 8th December November 2025 video game release dates Europa Universalis 5 (PC) - 4th November Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori (PC) - 4th November Football Manager 26 (PC, Mac, Xbox, PS4, PS5, mobile) - 4th November Cairn (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - 5th November Dinkum (PC, Switch) - 5th November Unbeatable (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - 6th November Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment (Switch 2) - 6th November Syberia - Remastered (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - 6th November Goodnight Universe (Switch 2, Switch) - 11th November Anno 117: Pax Romana (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - 13th November Yakuza Kiwami (Switch 2) - 13th November Yakuza Kiwami 2 (Switch 2) - 13th November Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One) - 14th November Where Winds Meet (PC, PS5) - 14th November Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero (Switch 2, Switch) - 14th November Deadpool VR (PC) - 18th November Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault (PC) - 19th November Kirby Air Riders (Switch 2) - 20th November October 2025 video game release dates Ghost of Yotei (PS5) - 2nd October Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Switch 2) - 2nd October Neon Inferno (PC) - 2nd October Borderlands 4 (Switch 2) - 3rd October Digimon Story: Time Stranger (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - 3rd October Little Nightmares 3 (PC) - 9th October Little Nightmares 3 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - 10th October Battlefield 6 (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - 10th October Just Dance 2026 Edition (Switch 2, Switch) - 14th October Pokémon Legends: Z-A (Switch) - 16th October Keeper (PC, Xbox Series X/S) - 17th October Escape Simulator 2 (PC) - 17th October Ninja Gaiden 4 (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - 21st October Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - 21st October Jursassic World Evolution 3 (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - 21st October Double Dragon Revive (PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S) - 23rd October Persona 3 Reload (Switch 2) - 23rd October Once Upon a KATAMARI (Switch 2, Switch) - 24th October The Outer Worlds 2 (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - 29th October ARC Raiders (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - 30th October Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch) - 30th October Mina the Hollower (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Switch) - 31st October September 2025 video game release dates Hirogami (PC, PS5) - 3rd September Hell is Us (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC) - 4th September Star Wars Outlaws (Switch 2) - 4th September Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: The Order of Giants DLC (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - 4th September Hollow Knight: Silksong (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Switch) - 4th September Cronos: The New Dawn (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2) - 5th September Daemon x Machina: Titanic Scion (PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Switch 2) - 5th September Everybody's Golf Hot Shots (PC, PS5, Switch) - 5th September Garfield Kart 2: All You Can Drift (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - 10th September Borderlands 4 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC) - 12th September Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush DLC (Switch 2) - 12th September LEGO Voyagers (PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Switch) - 15th September Assassin's Creed Shadows Claws of Awaji DLC (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - 16th September skate. (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - 16th September (Early Access) Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor (PC) - 17th September Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter (PC, PS5, Switch) - 19th September Towa and the Guardians of the Sacret Tree (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2) - 19th September Baby Steps (PC, PS5) - 23rd September Hades 2 (PC, Switch 2, Switch) - 25th September Silent Hill f (PC, PS5) - 25th September Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds (PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch) - 25th September NBA Bounce (PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One) - 26th September EA Sports FC 26 (PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch) - 26th September Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac (Switch 2, Switch) - 26th September Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection (PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch 2, Switch) - 29th/30th September Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles (PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Switch) - 30th September And that's your lot. We'll be sure to update this page as more video game release dates are confirmed for 2025 and beyond. We certainly won't be short of things to play in the coming months! Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Fallout 4 perks system explained: Best perks to pick and why
Don't fall out of the wasteland's favour.
To best survive the wasteland, you'll want to pick the best perks in Fallout 4 and understand how the perk system works. There is a dizzying array of perks to choose from, and it can be difficult to choose on a first playthrough, if you've been inspired to try the games out after the Fallout series, which is now in its second season. Choosing the best Fallout 4 perks will work towards creating the best build, but if you do muck things up a little, you can always respec to right any wrongs, though, seeing as there is no level cap in Fallout 4, you can just keep going until you've unlocked everything. And the perk of reading a Fallout 4 perk guide is that you can skip this intro entirely and scroll on down for all that crucial information! How does the perks system work in Fallout 4? The perks and skills system for Fallout 4 is quite different to previous entries in the series, and is more akin to how it works in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Each skill has a number of levels, and these unlock perks – which in turn can be levelled up in rank. In Fallout 4 (and the rest of the Fallout games), there are seven skills, which are: S – Strength P – Perception E – Endurance C – Charisma I – Intelligence A – Agility L – Luck When you create a character, you have 21 points to dish out to each of these skills. When you level up in the game, you can increase one of these seven skills or spend it on a perk pertaining to that skill. You can also increase skills by finding and reading magazines or coming across bobbleheads. View Green Video on the source website What are the best Fallout 4 perks? Ultimately, it depends on what sort of build you want to go for in Fallout 4, but there are some that are useful no matter what path you go down. The ones we would recommend are: Fortune Finder (Luck) – Find more caps in the wasteland Scrounger (Luck) – Find more ammunition in the wasteland Something that is eternally useful is being able to pick locks and unlock terminals, as these can make your job of navigating locations far simpler. For this, go with the following: Locksmith (Perception) – Each rank unlocks the ability to pick more difficult locks Hacker (Intelligence) – Gain the ability to hack increasingly difficult terminals and never get locked out You can also find a lot of traction in perks that increase your health and resistance to damage and radiation: Toughness (Endurance) – Each rank unlocks additional damage resistance Rad Resistant (Endurance) – Each rank unlocks additional radiation resistance Ghoulish (Endurance) – Health regenerates in the presence of radiation Quite often, too, you may need to buy something in a pinch rather than crafting it, so perks that improve trading can make your caps go further: Cap Collector (Charisma) – Get better deals with vendors Full list of Fallout 4 perks Below you can find all of the perks and what they do found in Fallout 4 for each SPECIAL category: Strength perks in Fallout 4 Level 01: Iron Fist – Each rank unlocks additional punching damage and abilities Level 02: Big Leagues – Each rank unlocks additional melee damage and abilities Level 03: Armorer – Gains access to Rank 1-4 armour mods depending on player level Level 04: Blacksmith – Unlocks Rank 1-3 melee weapon mods depending on player level Level 05: Heavy Gunner – Each rank unlocks additional Heavy Guns damage and abilities Level 06: Strong Back – Gain additional carrying capacity Level 07: Steady Aim – Improved hip-fire accuracy and fast travel when overencumbered Level 08: Basher – Bashing enemies with your gun does more damage Level 09: Rooted – Increased resistance to damage when standing still Level 10: Pain Train – Gain the ability to cause damage when running and landing in power armour Perception perks in Fallout 4 Level 01: Pickpocket – Pickpocketing becomes easier and you can steal equipped items Level 02: Rifleman – Each rank unlocks additional damage and abilities for non-automatic rifles Level 03: Awareness – VATS will display an enemy’s weakness Level 04: Locksmith – Each rank unlocks the ability to pick more difficult locks Level 05: Demolition Expert – Each rank unlocks additional explosives damage and abilities Level 06: Night Person – Your intelligence and perception is better at night Level 07: Refractor – Each rank nets you better Energy Resistance Level 08: Sniper – Improved accuracy and ability to hold breath longer when aiming down scopes Level 09: Penetrator – Enables you to target enemies behind cover in VATS Level 10: Concentrated Fire – When targeting the same body in part in VATS, accuracy and damage is increased Endurance perks in Fallout 4 Level 01: Toughness – Each rank unlocks additional damage resistance Level 02: Lead Belly – Incur less and less radiation poisoning from eating and drinking Level 03: Life Giver – Unlock additional HP and regenerative health Level 04: Chem Resistant – Become more immune to addiction to the point of inconsequential chem usage! Level 05: Aquagirl/boy – Take no radiation damage in water, breathe underwater and become undetectable underwater Level 06: Rad Resistant – Each rank unlocks additional radiation resistance Level 07: Adamantium Skeleton – Limbs damage is reduced each rank until you take none Level 08: Cannibal – Consuming human flesh and then ghoul and super mutant flesh restores your health Level 09: Ghoulish – Health regenerates in the presence of radiation Level 10: Solar Powered – During the day, you are stronger and more resilient Charisma perks in Fallout 4 Level 01: Cap Collector – Get better deals with vendors Level 02: Black Widow/Lady Killer – Cause more damage to and have better skill check percentages with men or women Level 03: Lone Wanderer – Take less damage, gain carrying capacity and action points as you rank up when not travelling with a companion Level 04: Attack Dog – In VATS, your dog will hold an enemy still Level 05: Animal Friend – Gain the potential to pacify animals and command them when you aim your gun at them Level 06: Local Leader – Create supply lines between settlement workshops Level 07: Party Boy/Girl – Become immune to alcohol addiction, increase their effect and luck when under the influence Level 08: Inspirational – Any companion will take less damage, be immune to your attacks and can carry more weight Level 09: Wasteland Whisperer – Gain the potential to pacify creatures and command them when you aim your gun at them Level 10: Intimidation – Gain the potential to pacify humans and command them when you aim your gun at them View Affiliate Playlist on the source website Intelligence perks in Fallout 4 Level 01: VANS – Path to closest quest target is displayed in VATS Level 02: Medic – Stimpacks and RadAway become much more effective as you rank up Level 03: Gun Nut – Unlock base level and Rank 1 gun mods in the crafting menu Level 04: Hacker – Gain the ability to hack increasingly more difficult terminals and never get locked out Level 05: Scrapper – Gain the ability to salvage increasingly uncommon parts and components Level 06: Science – Unlock base level and Rank 1 high-tech mods in the crafting menu Level 07: Chemist – Chems’ effects become increasingly longer with each rank Level 08: Robotics Expert – Allows you to hack robots to disable or control them Level 09: Nuclear Physicist – Inflict increasingly more damage with radiation weapons, have longer lasting Fusion Cores and eject Fusion Cores like grenades Level 10: Nerd Rage! – When you go under 20 per cent health, time slows and you inflict more damage and are resistant to incoming attacks Agility perks in Fallout 4 Level 01: Gunslinger – Each rank unlocks additional damage and abilities for non-automatic pistols Level 02: Commando – Deliver more damage and have increased accuracy with automatic weapons Level 03: Sneak – Become stealthier with each rank and gain the ability to bypass traps as well as run silently Level 04: Mister Sandman – Suppressed weapons deliver more damage with each rank Level 05: Action Girl/Boy – Your Action Points regenerate faster with each rank Level 06: Moving Target – Take less damage and increase Energy Resistance with each rank Level 07: Ninja – Attacks when sneaking or with melee weapons cause more damage with each rank Level 08: Quick Hands – Reloading becomes faster and uses no Action Points in VATS Level 09: Blitz – Melee distance in VATS becomes increased with each rank Level 10: Gun Fu – Do increasingly more damage to each subsequent target in VATS Luck perks in Fallout 4 Level 01: Fortune Finder – Come across more caps in containers and even have enemies explode into a shower of them Level 02: Scrounger – Find more ammunition in containers and even at the end of your weapon’s magazine at times Level 03: Bloody Mess – Deal more damage with each rank and enemies may explode upon death Level 04: Mysterious Stranger – Have the Mysterious Stranger appear more often in VATS Level 05: Idiot Savant – Gain up to 5x more XP randomly for actions. A lower Intelligence increases your chances Level 06: Better Criticals – Critical hits will do more damage with each rank Level 07: Critical Banker – Critical hits can be to be used in VATS Level 08: Grim Reaper’s Sprint – Kills in VATS can restore Action Points Level 09: Four Leaf Clover – Hits in VATS can restore your critical hit meter Level 10: Ricochet – Ranged attacks from opponents can loop around and kill them instead Read more on Fallout: Fallout games in order - best place to start Best Fallout 4 mods - and how to use them Fallout 4 cheats - the full list When is Fallout 4 set? Timeline explained Is Fallout 76 cross-platform? How to get Fallout 76 free - Prime Gaming deal Fallout: New Vegas cheats Fallout: New Vegas explained - how will TV address it? Fallout London release date - latest news Will there be a Fallout 3 Remastered? What we know Fallout 3 cheats Fallout 5 release date speculation Fallout season 2 - will the TV show continue? Fallout 4 power armour - where to get it Fallout 4 trophies and achievements guide Fallout 4 registration form - top tips and best builds Fallout 4 canon ending - did TV confirm it? How to scrap junk in Fallout 4 How to wait in Fallout 4 Hack your game of choice with Fallout 4 mods, Fallout 76 mods or Fallout: New Vegas mods Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
When is the Dispatch Nintendo Switch release date?
When is Dispatch dispatching on the Switch?
With the first episodes going live in October 2025, Dispatch fast proved itself to be one of the best games of last year; however, it was only limited to PC and PlayStation 5, and so we’ll be looking at when the Dispatch Nintendo Switch release date is. With a brilliant cast featuring the likes of Aaron Paul and a great story, we reckoned Dispatch was the perfect game to play over the Christmas break, owing to it being more like a TV series presented in bite-sized chunks. With how good the game is, it perhaps shouldn’t have come as any sort of surprise that the game exceeded three million units sold. With such success, though, the question remains if there will be a Dispatch Season 2, and if Dispatch will come to Xbox. But you don’t need to worry about any of that just now, as you have the whole first game to look forward to! Read on to find out the Dispatch Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 release date! When is the Dispatch Nintendo Switch release date? The Dispatch Nintendo Switch release date is 28th January 2026. This is for both the original Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch 2. Unlike the launch on PC and PS5, the full game will be available at launch, rather than coming out in an episodic format. Currently, it appears that there is no physical release for Dispatch, with the Nintendo eShop being the only place to buy the Switch or Switch 2 Edition. There is a 10% discount for pre-orders, so you might want to act fast if you are keen on picking it up! Dispatch on Switch versus Switch 2: Platform differences explained The Nintendo Switch 2 edition features a higher resolution and framerate. This means that your experience playing it should be a bit smoother. That being said, the action of the game means you don’t need to be running it at 120 FPS, so OG Switch owners really shouldn’t miss out on too much! View oEmbed on the source website If you buy it for the original Switch and then pick up a Switch 2 at a later date, upgrading it to the Switch 2 version is free, as confirmed by developers AdHoc Studio on X (formerly Twitter). While you wait for the Nintendo Switch release date, you can also check out our big interview with the Dispatch cast over on the Radio Times Gaming YouTube channel! View oEmbed on the source website Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
007 First Light release date: Latest news on new James Bond game
It's been nearly three decades since GoldenEye 007 took the world by storm, and perhaps the most famous spy in fiction is making a return to gaming in the upcoming 007 First Light. A wholly original James Bond story, telling the tale of his first big mission, the game is the latest from Danish studio IO Interactive – the same team behind the iconic Hitman series. With a recent delay to the 007 First Light release date, here's what you need to know about when Bond returns to our consoles. When is the 007 First Light release date? 007 First Light is currently scheduled to release on 27th May 2026. Initially dubbed 'Project 007' upon its reveal in November 2020, the game was officially confirmed in its current form early in 2025. The official release date was later announced at the start of September during a 30-minute gameplay showcase showing off a brief section of the game. This was later delayed to a May release date in December 2025, with IOI confirming that a few more months were needed to ensure the game was sufficiently polished on release. Can I pre-order 007 First Light? Yes! You can currently pre-order 007 First Light for every platform except Nintendo Switch 2. PC players can get themselves a copy from either Steam or the Epic Games Store. Meanwhile, console players can purchase the game from either the PlayStation Store or Xbox Store. Which consoles and platforms can play 007 First Light? 007 First Light will release on PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2. It will mark one of the first major cross-platform titles to launch on the Nintendo Switch 2, showing off the new console's added power. Unfortunately, it seems like we've officially hit the point of no return for last-gen consoles, as a version of the game for Xbox One, PS4 and Switch 1 is nowhere to be seen. 007 First Light gameplay and story details 007 First Light features a wholly original James Bond story, though it does take plenty of inspiration from the original Ian Fleming novels. The game will tell James Bond's origin story, following Bond as a 26-year old with only a few missions under his belt, and already garnering a reputation as a bit of a loose cannon. First Light will see him entrusted with a major mission that, once completed, will see him earn his 00 status for the first time. As well as Bond, the game will feature a variety of classic Bond characters, including the likes of M, Q and Moneypenny. As for gameplay, we've only seen a few clips, but it appears to mix the stealth of the Hitman games with gunplay, melee combat and plenty of gadgets to use during your playthrough. There also appear to be a couple of vehicle sections, with Bond driving a classic Aston Martin and even, seemingly, a motorboat. The game has an air of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle about it, too, so it's one to keep an eye on if you enjoyed Indy's last adventure. If you're after as much info about the game as possible, we recently interviewed 007 First Light franchise director Jonathan Lacaille, during which he shared plenty of intel about the upcoming title. You can read the interview here, or watch the full interview via the video below: View Green Video on the source website Is there a 007 First Light trailer? Yes, there is! There's a three-minute trailer explaining the premise of the game and showing off a bit of gameplay too, and you can watch it below! View oEmbed on the source website Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Minecraft update today (9th December): What changes in the Mounts of Mayhem patch notes?
Riding in the desert on a camel husk with no name...
Soon you’ll be able to mount the new Minecraft update to your hard drive, so we’ve got everything you need to know about Mounts of Mayhem, including its release date, launch time and what to expect. Included is a huge improvement to horses that players have been begging Mojang to include since they were added to the game way back in 2013. But players won’t be the only ones to benefit from riding horseback (or other creatures-back, as we’ll get into), as certain mobs can get on the saddle to wreak high-speed carnage like never before, with a new weapon to boot. Will it result in something as iconic as the immortal and timeless Chicken Jockey? We’ll see, but we won’t know until the Minecraft Mounts of Mayhem update, and on that note, read on! When is the Minecraft Mounts of Mayhem release date? The Minecraft Mounts of Mayhem release date is Tuesday 9th December. With the holiday season upon us, we’ll hopefully have plenty of time to dive deep into the update. Perhaps an epic quest across the Overworld on our newly upgraded horses? More on that below! When is the Minecraft Mounts of Mayhem launch time? Minecraft updates typically launch around 4pm GMT, but this has varied in recent times. With this in mind, we would recommend a couple hours' window before and after this time to err on the side of caution. Hopefully, it should be out in time for you coming home from work or school! For other time zones, you might expect to see the Mounts of Mayhem update go live at the following times, give or take a few hours US West Coast (PST) – 8am US Mountain (MST) – 9am US Central (CST) – 10am US East Coast (EST) – 11am Brazil (BRT) – 1pm Central Europe (CET) – 5pm South Africa (SAST) – 6pm UAE (GST) – 8pm Singapore (SGT) – 12am 10th December Japan (JST) – 1am 10th December Australia East Coast (AEDT) – 3am 10th December New Zealand (NZDT) – 5am View Riddle on the source website What to expect from Minecraft’s Mounts of Mayhem update 1.21.11 As you would expect from its name, the latest Minecraft update is all about mounts, but there are also some other goodies in there, too! Below are all the additions... Camel husks The desert husks are now even more mobile by way of camel husks. These now camel riding, sun-immune baddies wield the new spear, with camel husks able to have one or two riders. Parched A skeleton that can also be found on the back of camels. These desert skeletons are also impervious to the sun, making the desert an even more treacherous place! Spear The spear is a new weapon with two new attacks: jabbing and charging, with the latter doing damage in relation to your movement speed. Minecraft jousting tournaments, anyone? Spear Lunge enchantment The Lunge enchantment adds an element of speed to the jabbing attack, meaning you don’t need to be on a mount to do high levels of damage. Nautilus The Nautilus is a new neutral mob that players can ride underwater. When ridden, you won’t lose any more air. You can use pufferfish to tame them. View Green Video on the source website Zombie nautilus Much like the Camel husks, the zombie nautilus can often be found with drowned riding them, equipped with deadly tridents. You’ll have to knock the rider off and again tame it with pufferfish if you want to tame one. Zombie horse Appearing at night with zombies riding them, bristling with spears, these undead horses allow zombies to be far more deadly, but are easily tamed when the zombies are dispatched with. Mount improvements Horses can now swim in cool bodies of water in the Overworld, making them a far more useful mode of transport. No longer will you have to ride around bodies of water, or abandon them for a boat! Netherite horse armour Oblivion horse armour has got nothing on this! Take diamond horse armour, a Netherite upgrade smithing template and Netherite ingot to craft this swanky set of armour. Read more on Minecraft: How to tame a fox in Minecraft | How to make a saddle in Minecraft | Is Minecraft free? | Minecraft cheat codes and commands | Best Minecraft servers | Minecraft Realms | Best Minecraft seeds | Best Minecraft Mods | Best Minecraft shaders | Best Minecraft skins | Best Minecraft texture packs | Minecraft Enchantments | Minecraft house Blueprints | Minecraft How to Train Your Dragon DLC | How to build a house in Minecraft | How to install Minecraft Forge | How to make a Minecraft map | Minecraft Villager jobs explained | Minecraft Eye of Ender | Minecraft Live 2021 | Minecraft versions explained | Minecraft skin editor | Minecraft toys | Minecraft advent calendars | How to teleport in Minecraft| Minecraft LEGO | Minecraft Legends Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Fortnite update today (4th December): What changes in the patch notes?
We hardly go a fortnight without a Fortnite update.
With the introduction of Chapter 7 Season 1, there’s plenty of new content to try out, but even more is coming thick and fast, as can be seen in the Fortnite Update today on 4th December 2025. We’ve got the full patch notes and what changes have been made, including those from the last update. Just around the corner, we’ve got Fortnite Winterfest 2025 to look forward to, which is rumoured to feature a Harry Potter skin and Hatsune Miku skin. And if you somehow missed it, there’s a lost Kill Bill chapter that was added to the game. Though you might feel inclined to boycott it if you’re a Paul Dano fan… But as for what’s new in Fortnite, read on! What changes in the Fortnite update today (4th December)? Quite a lot of new content is coming to Fortnite on 4th December 2025, with the Fortnite X (formerly Twitter) account giving us a quick overview. View oEmbed on the source website For Fortnite Realod, players can expect the following: Quality of life improvements New POIs: Sus Studios, Sweaty Shores and Divey Dam. Wingsuit New Reload Map Rank Reset Mastery Quest and rewards In Fortnite Blitz, we’re also getting a good deal of new content: New Kickstart quests (Battle Pass only) New loot pool with Self Revive, Wingsuit, Iron Pump Shotgun, Twin Hammer Shotguns, Arc Lightning Gun and Grenade New POIs: Holloway House, Ritzy Redux and Boutique Bay Even more was announced in the patch notes from 29th November, which you can check out further down this page. Full patch notes for Fortnite v39.00 Though today (4th December) is just a hot-fix, below are the full Fortnite V39.00 patch notes, courtesy of the official Fortnite site, as it pertains to much of what is becoming available today: New Battle Royale Map - Golden Coast On the Island, explore a sun-soaked paradise on foot, by car, or through the air in new hot air balloons. These locations are your next backdrop: Battlewood Boulevard Sandy Strip Wonkeeland Humble Hills Bumpy Bay Classified Canyon And more to explore! New Battle Pass Purchase the Battle Pass and seek revenge as The Bride, rep the future as Marty McFly, and unlock Fortnite originals like Miles Cross and Cat Holloway...plus a new version of Dark Voyager! In addition to their other unlockable Styles, the Battle Pass includes special Styles for three of the Outfits: Cat Holloway, Carter Wu, and Dark Voyager (Reality Redacted). You can only unlock these additional Styles by completing Quests in Blitz Royale, Reload, and Battle Royale respectively. New Loot Pool Weapons & Mobility New weapons are more responsive with layered recoil and smoother ADS transitions. Reload progress is now saved when your magazine is empty. Start a reload, and if you swap weapons or get interrupted, pick up right where you left off! Iron Pump Shotgun: A new heavy-hitting Pump to usher in a new Chapter. Twin Hammer Shotguns: Dual-wielded Pump Shotguns that can tear through the competition at close range. Deadeye Assault Rifle: Scoped, automatic, and built for those who hit headshots at middle-to-long ranges. Holo Rush SMG: Scoped, fast, and dangerous in tight quarters with a fancy new reload animation. Vengeful Sniper Rifle: Reaps opponents with bolt-action precision. Arc-Lightning Gun: Zap players, vehicles, and builds with electricity. Forsaken Vow Blade: Dash in (or out) faster than with the Kinetic Blade, and unleash a flurry of lightning-fast strikes. Wingsuits are a featured mobility item this Season. Grab one, launch up, and glide wherever the action takes you. No lessons required! View Green Video on the source website Unvaults (Everyone Loves a Classic!) The All Terrain Kart returns, along with your usual sports cars and SUVs. The Enforcer AR, Tactical Pistol, and Dual Micro SMGs are back in the pool. Bounce in or blast out with Shockwave Grenades and Clinger Grenades. Heal yourself with: Chug Jugs Shield Kegs Med Kits Bandages Shield Potions Mini Shield Potions Zero Build only: Shield Bubble Jrs and Port-a-Bunkers. Stay in the Game We've added several new features for those totally uncommon moments when you're downed: Joyride in a Reboot Van Commandeer a Reboot Van like it’s a chase scene! Drivable Reboot Vans have rolled onto the Island, letting you transport your next potential reboot wherever it’s needed. New Self-Revive Device If a Self-Revive Device is in your inventory, you can revive yourself while Down But Not Out (DBNO). Knocked? Don’t Stop New DBNO movement options have been added across Fortnite Battle Royale: Roll & Tumble: Roll to dodge fire or throw yourself down a slope to tumble away from danger. DBNO Sprint: Move faster while downed by using Energy. Stay on the Move: While DBNO, you can now use ziplines and ascenders, and even hop into a car’s passenger seat! Reboot Revive: Crawl, or be thrown, into the back of a Reboot Van to be revived while knocked down New Gameplay Defeat the Boss, Be the Boss Defeat Human Bill, Hush, or Beach Brutus to claim their loot and powers, and to transform into them! Becoming a boss grants full Health and Shield, bonus max Health and Shield, infinite Energy, and a powerful ability. However, your position remains visible to nearby opponents at all times. Detecting Anomaly… Things May Not Be Quite As They Seem This Season, each phase of the Storm has a chance to flip the script in real-time. Rift anomalies may summon loot, grant powerful effects to everyone in the match, and more. Expect more rift anomalies to be added and shake things up throughout the Season. Gold Bar Overhaul To make sure everyone's on equal footing at the start of a match, Bars will no longer carry over from one match to the next. So, spend them before your match ends to reboot your teammates, hire Characters, or grab powerful gear from Vending Machines with a new item stock. Additionally, you will now be able to drop Bars for your teammates to share resources and help your squad succeed. New Setting: Simple Build New to building? We’ve got you covered (literally). Similar to Simple Edit, Simple Build is an option in the settings (Game > Building) that makes learning how to build simpler. Turn on the setting, look in the direction you want to build, and just… build! View Riddle on the source website Quality of Life Improvements More Expressive Hitmarkers: Redesigned hitmarkers now provide clearer combat feedback and improved visibility. Ammo Status Indicators: Weapons in your inventory now clearly display that they're out of ammo. Jump Shot Capability: Aiming down sights while jumping has been added for more dynamic combat movement options. Chiller Characters: Characters won’t turn hostile as quickly after accidentally shooting them. Improved Spectator Mode: When you’re eliminated, you'll now automatically spectate your nearest teammate for better squad coordination. Emote Wheel Overhaul: The Emote Wheel has been upgraded with a fresh look, expanded capacity (6 → 8 slots), a new Collections view for browsing your full Emote and Jam Track library, and improved sorting and filtering for faster access to your favorites. Once the Battle Bus is back in commission on December 4, Reload will come back online with the new Surf City map, Blitz Royale will light back up with the new Starfall Island, and Ranked will return. Fortnite OG will return on December 11 with Season 7 and Delulu will return on December 12! ⁠Keep the party going with new developer made islands and updates, inspired by Pacific Break and brought to you for Chapter Seven in partnership with Epic. Find them in the Inspired by Chapter Seven row in Discover. Discover more with Fortnite creative map codes: Fortnite horror maps | Fortnite action-adventure maps | Fortnite hide and seek maps | Fortnite Zone Wars maps | Fortnite fighting maps | Fortnite parkour maps | best Fortnite creative maps | Fortnite Squid Game map codes | Fortnite Monopoly code | Fortnite I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here code | Fortnite Doctor Who map code Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond release date, gameplay and latest news
After first being announced in 2017, the Metroid Prime 4: Beyond release date is nigh upon us, and we've got everything you need to know, including the Metroid Prime 4 launch time, pre-orders, gameplay and story details, trailers and more! We certainly liked what we played in the Metroid Prime 4 preview, and reviews point to the game being well worth the wait. If you're new to the series or can't quite remember what happened in previous games, then be sure to check out the Metroid timeline and chronological story, which also goes over the best order to play the games in. To get the best Metroid Prime 4 experience, you'll definitely want to pick it up for the Switch 2, and if you haven't got one yet, we've got the best places to buy one. But there's very little time until Metroid prime 4 comes out, so read on! View oEmbed on the source website When is the Metroid Prime 4: Beyond release date? Metroid Prime 4: Beyond releases on 4th December 2025 for the Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch. For a long time, all we had to go on was a vague 2025 release window, and at one point, banners spotted on the London Underground advertised the game as "Out Now". View oEmbed on the source website This bizarre mix-up was quickly corrected, however, with new posters going up a few days later with the same old 2025 release date we already knew about. Thankfully, all that speculation is now dead and buried, with Nintendo confirming the official release date in their September 2025 Nintendo Direct. When is the Metroid Prime 4 launch time? Metroid Prime 4 will launch at local time midnight 12:00AM Thursday 4th December. This is the same across the world, except for countries that observe multiple time zones, such as the United States, where Nintendo uses Eastern Standard Time (EST) to time releases, meaning players living in time zones west of EST can start playing on the evening of 3rd December, such as folks in Pacific Standard Time (PST) who can start playing Metroid Prime 4 at 9PM PST, the lucky dogs... Can I pre-order Metroid Prime 4? Yes! Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is now available to pre-order. Nintendo Switch 2 owners can purchase the game digitally from the Nintendo eShop for £58.99 / $69.99 / €69.99. Alternatively, you can get it for slightly cheaper on the Nintendo Switch 1, again from the eShop, for £49.99 / $59.99 / €59.99. Later on, you can pay £7.99 to upgrade to the superior Switch 2 version if you choose to. As for physical copies, it doesn't look like they're available to pre-order just yet, but we'll keep an eye out for them, so be sure to check back! Which consoles and platforms can play Metroid Prime 4? Metroid Prime 4: Beyond has been confirmed for Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch. Despite the Nintendo Switch 2 having already been announced, the game strangely wasn't confirmed for the console for a while, though that has now been resolved. That being said, it is interesting that the game is receiving a cross-platform release, with other first-party Nintendo titles like Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza releasing as Switch 2 exclusives. View Green Video on the source website Metroid Prime 4 gameplay and story details Thanks to its official reveal trailer, we now know a little bit about the gameplay in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Surprise, surprise, it's first-person again. The famous scanner is back, as is the Morph Ball, which looks like it shares the physics and controls of the earlier Prime games. We also know that the Missile Launcher and Standard Blaster are back – as you'd expect. It's developed by Metroid Prime studio Retro Studios, and if you've played any of the previous three games you should know what to look forward to. For the story, details are also thin. We know that it's set in the Cosmic Year 20X9 and Sylux is involved as an antagonist, leading an attack on a Galactic Federation Research Facility along with Space Pirates and, of course, Metroids. We did get a bit more information in March's Nintendo Direct, which confirmed that the game takes place on the planet Viewros where Samus is stranded and has to find a way home. Strangely, she also now has some psychic abilities which look like they'll largely be used for solving puzzles dotted around the game. View Affiliate Playlist on the source website Is there a Metroid Prime 4 trailer? Yes! There is a Metroid Prime 4: Beyond trailer, which reveals the game's new logo and name, shows off some gameplay, teases the story and gives us a good look at the game's gorgeous visuals. Check it out below: View oEmbed on the source website Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Is Pokopia on Switch 1? Nintendo’s weird loophole explained
For those who love Pokémon and Animal Crossing, Pokopia seems like a dream come true. Alas, for those still on the Switch 1, it might be something of a nightmare, as playing it isn’t exactly straightforward. So, is Pokopia actually on Switch 1? It’s complicated. There is a weird Nintendo loophole, but beware, there are some hoops you need to jump through (more on that below). Still, with more exclusive games coming out, such as Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Kirby Air Riders, the Switch 2 is becoming more worth it with each passing day. If you’re yet to pick one up, be sure to check out all the best Switch 2 Black Friday deals and where to buy the Switch 2. If you do pick up a Nintendo Switch 2, then you’ll be able to play Pokopia with up to three friends in four-player co-op, as well as a host of other Switch 2 titles. If you don't and still want to try Pokopia on Switch 1, read on and all shall be revealed! Is Pokopia on Switch 1? Pokopia is not on Switch 1, but you can play it via Switch 2 GameShare. GameShare streams a version of the game to another Nintendo Switch 2, or a Switch 1. Think of it like split-screen of yore, but separated across two devices, where the main Switch 2 console will be doing all the heavy lifting, and outputting that to another device, which can use its own controls to interact with. Something to note is that you can only use GameShare with a Switch 2 and Switch 1 via a local wireless connection, and you cannot do it online. This means if you want to use GameShare with someone on a Switch 1, they have to be with you in person. Fellow Switch 2 owners can make use of GameChat to use GameShare online. View Green Video on the source website Read more on Pokémon: Pokémon Go Raids schedule - upcoming battles Best Pokémon gifts - the greatest merch Best Pokémon games on Switch - our ranking Best shiny Pokémon - the coolest creatures Best Dragon-type Pokémon - who's your fave? All cat Pokémon - the felines to catch Pokémon natures guide - all you need to know Pokémon type chart - strengths and weaknesses explained Legendary Pokémon - the full list Pokémon Scarlet and Violet cheats - handy hacks Pokémon Emerald cheats - what you need to know Pokémon Fire Red cheats - all codes Pokémon Go friend codes - and how to find them Pokémon games in order - where to start Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Kirby Air Riders review: Friendship ended with Mario Kart, now Kirby is my best friend
The best way I can describe Kirby Air Riders is that it is, at its core, an intensely GameCube-coded game. For some, that might be a turn-off; why would you want to play a game reminiscent of a gimmicky console from 2001? For others – myself included – a game like Air Riders harks back to an era that may have been a bit quirky and off-kilter, but was nothing if not fun. Air Riders is a sequel to 2003's Kirby Air Ride, and unsurprisingly, it plays very similarly. The controls are simple, and while it can be a touch difficult to get used to the way you turn and drift if you're used to games like Mario Kart, within a few races you'll be absolutely flying. One of the core mechanics is the classic Kirby concept of absorbing enemies to steal their powers. By absorbing enemies during a race, not only will you get a nifty speed boost, but you'll also get their corresponding ability, letting you blast enemies with balls of fire or slash them with vast sword swipes. Races are fast, chaotic, and surprisingly tough once you turn the AI difficulty up a few notches. Before each race, you'll have the chance to choose one of 20 iconic characters, as well as a vehicle, each of which has its own spread of stats and its own unique quirks. Depending on how you want to play, the combination of rider and vehicle you choose can have some major impacts on your approach to the race. Meta Knight on the Winged Star may not exactly speed through the more grounded tracks like Floria Fields, but stick him on Airtopia Ruins where his penchant for flying can truly shine and you're golden. The fact that your approach to the game is so heavily influenced by the vehicles you use means that there's a surprising amount of skill expression, and plenty of flexibility. Two players can race with entirely opposing strategies and still perform well, as opposed to a game like Mario Kart, in which (at least for the average player) how well you perform is determined by how well you can drift and how lucky you get with item pickups. There are a few different modes to choose from, each with a slightly different offering. Air Ride is simply a one-off race; choose your rider and vehicle, choose your track and off you go. Top Ride is essentially the same, but from a top-down perspective instead. A brand-new mode for Air Riders is Road Trip. One could say that it's Air Riders's closest thing to a story mode, but that would be a bit of a stretch. Instead, it feels much more like a spin on the Classic Mode from Super Smash Bros., in which you take on a series of challenges, increasing in difficulty as you go, collecting upgrades along the way as you journey to where your vehicle apparently longs to go. As far as story-adjacent modes go, it's good fun, although after playing it through around one-and-a-half times, I can't say I have much interest in playing through it much more. Undoubtedly, though, Air Riders's best mode by far is City Trial, a racing-slash-party game collectathon. Players are given a set amount of time to wheel around the floating island of Skyah, flitting between city, pirate ship, volcano and more, collecting upgrades, exchanging vehicles and smashing up other riders and even a world boss now and again. At the end of this madcap rush for upgrades, players are then chucked headlong into a minigame, almost reminiscent of a vehicular Mario Party, with each minigame tailored to a particular build. Again, depending on your choice of rider and vehicle, you will be stellar at some minigames and hopelessly outmatched in others, adding a bit of strategy when it comes to voting for the minigame you want to play – in multiplayer the game does thankfully recommend which option your build is best suited for. And that brings me onto where Kirby Air Riders truly shines. This is an absolute blast to play in multiplayer. Single player is great fun as well, don't get me wrong, but when you're thrown into the frenzied melee of City Tour along with 15 other players freewheeling around, smacking each other all over the map, it's hard not to sit there grinning like a child. Unfortunately, since this is just the review period, my multiplayer experience has been limited to playing online, but I am already excited to head home for Christmas and bust this game out with some friends and just go nuts. Air Riders is an interesting game. Thinking about it, I'm not convinced that there's a huge amount of replay value on offer here. Once you've run the gauntlet of modes in single player a few times, I can't say I have much desire to play any more of them on my lonesome. But Air Riders isn't really a traditional racing game – as I've alluded to a few times already, it's much more fitting to think of it as a party game. When you do that, what you'll find is that Kirby Air Riders is riotously fun, and manages to modernise the GameCube original without losing any of its zany, eccentric charm. When I sit down solo with my Switch 2 over the next few weeks, this is probably not a game I'm going to boot up. But when I'm dossing about with friends and looking to just kick back for some ridiculous, rip-roaring multiplayer fun, Kirby Air Riders is going to be very high on my list. Kirby Air Riders releases on 20th November 2025 for Nintendo Switch 2. Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond preview – worth the wait?
After eight years of development, Prime is back with a bang.
It's been eight years since Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was first announced. Eighteen years since Metroid Prime 3. Over such lengthy waits, you could forgive fans for losing hope in the game – that it was doomed to development hell, that it may not even arrive, or simply losing interest in it. But for the most part, Metroid fans are as excited for Metroid Prime 4 than they ever have been (if not more so), and following a hands-on preview, I can say that they are certainly right to be. Metroid Prime 4 opens up with a short, tutorial-like level that explains the basics of the game to you. After taking down a rather simple boss at the end, a mysterious explosion of energy ripples across the planet, and Samus awakes moments later in the jungle of an unknown world. Viewros is, or rather was, home to the Lamorn, a once-highly advanced but long since dead civilisation. Samus, lucky her, is the chosen one, selected by the last of the Lamorn to take their knowledge off-planet to spread their story with the universe. Unfortunately, she'll first have to find three keys to get the teleport working – thus begins our story proper. For anyone that has played previous Metroid Prime titles, Metroid Prime 4 doesn't massively shake things up, but polishes them to a mirror sheen. Gunplay is fantastic, and as someone that typically only plays shooters on PC and therefore cannot aim with a controller to save his life, I am exceedingly thankful for the Switch 2's new mouse functionality. At first, your weaponry is very bare bones, limited to just your most basic blaster shots. As you proceed, Samus will begin to restore her suit's capabilities, adding missiles and the like back into her arsenal. The jungles of Lamorn look fantastic, and are a joy to explore. As you proceed through, you're encouraged to make heavy use of Samus's visor to scan anything and everything you see. Beyond interesting factoids about the flora and fauna, this does deliver some very helpful information about how best to dispatch the various hostile creatures you come across. The world is also full of puzzles, none of which are particularly hard to solve, but are satisfying nonetheless. Between the jungle setting, puzzle-heavy gameplay and the concept of the Lamorn and their lost civilisation, I couldn't help but feel like Metroid Prime 4 has an air of The Legend of Zelda about it – a big plus, in my book. Central to Samus's abilities in Metroid Prime 4 are the psychic powers afforded her by the Lamorn. These abilities allow Samus to telekinetically interact with various doors, orbs, switches and more, shifting everything into the right place to solve some harder puzzles. They also have some combat applications, allowing Samus to guide missiles in slow-motion towards their target, something that comes in very handy upon fighting the next boss. View Green Video on the source website Going into this preview, the one thing I was most excited for was the prospect of the new motorcycle that has been so heavily teased, but alas, the motorcycle comes in a later section of the game. I had around 75 minutes to play Metroid Prime 4, and while that feels like enough to see the basics of what the game has to offer, I was certainly disappointed not to have longer. Not because I didn't think that 75 minutes was enough to see what Metroid Prime 4 has to offer, but the very opposite. The best thing you can say after one of these preview events is, "I wish I could have played more." It's safe to say that this was all I was thinking as I left the jungle for the next Lamornian vista to explore. When a game takes so long to come out as Metroid Prime 4, a certain mythos forms around it, with expectations growing higher and higher as the years pass. I can't say for sure whether Metroid Prime 4 will live up to those lofty expectations for some fans. What I can say, however, is that Metroid Prime 4 is shaping up to be everything I wanted from it, and certainly the follow-up to 3 that we've been waiting for. I just hope the rest of the game continues what this preview has started. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond releases on 4th December 2025 for Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch. Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Nintendo Switch 2 sales numbers: How many units have been sold?
The Nintendo Switch 2 was always going to sell well, but even Nintendo probably wasn't expecting the record-breaking sales the console has seen thus far. After eight years of the Switch 1, in which it became the second highest-selling console of all time, players were desperate to get their hands on its souped-up successor. The Switch 2 is performing so well already, in fact, that after only six months, it's already creeping up on the lifetime sales of the Wii U. But how many total units has the Nintendo Switch 2 sold? You can read on for the full details. Nintendo Switch 2 sales numbers: How many units have been sold? At the time of writing, Nintendo has confirmed that the Nintendo Switch 2 has sold more than 10.36 million units according to Nintendo's November financial results, making it the biggest console launch in history. Nintendo clocked up more than 3.5 million units sold in only four days, making it the fastest-selling Nintendo console ever. This was followed up on 1st July 2025, with Nintendo sharing on its official website that the console had sold 1.8m units in the Americas, 1.47m in Japan, 1.18m in Europe and 0.55m units in the rest of the world. Nintendo has since removed this information from its website. The most recent update came at the beginning of August, when Nintendo published its financial results for the quarter ending 30th June, confirming that the console had passed the 6m sales mark, keeping them on track to meet their projected sales of 15m by March 2026. Beyond this, it was also confirmed that Mario Kart World is, unsurprisingly, the platform's top seller, with 96.7 per cent of Switch 2 owners also purchasing the game. This equates to around 5.63 million units, out of a total of 8.67 million games sold, making it the second biggest launch in the series after Mario Kart Wii. View Affiliate Playlist on the source website In comparison to these console sales, the Nintendo Switch 1 only managed to sell 4.7 million units in its first six months, according to IGN, while the Switch 2 is now only 3.2 million units away from beating the Wii U's lifetime sales of 13.5 million units. But more impressively than that, the Nintendo Switch 2 is officially also the fastest-selling home video game console of all time, as confirmed by Daniel Ahmad, director of research and insights at Niko Partners. View oEmbed on the source website "For reference, it took the PS4 two weeks to sell 2.1m units and six weeks to sell 4.2m units. It took the PS5 seven weeks to sell through 4.4m units," he wrote on Twitter, now X, although he clarifies that the PS5's sales figures were likely dampened by supply constraints at launch and the fact it initially only launched in select markets. Nevertheless, the Switch 2's launch marks a remarkable start to the console's lifetime. The Switch 1 is currently the second highest-selling home console of all time, sitting on 152m units sold, and following this strong start, Nintendo will be hoping that its successor can replicate those numbers in the long run. View Green Video on the source website Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment release date, UK launch time and is it canon?
The third instalment in Zelda's take on the iconic Dynasty Warriors series, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, is nearly upon us. Following up on Age of Calamity, a prequel of sorts to Breath of the Wild, Age of Imprisonment tells the story of the Imprisoning War, glimpses of which we see in Tears of the Kingdom. If you're excited to jump in, here's when the Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment release date is, what time it launches, and details on the canon. When is the Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment release date and launch time? Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment releases on 6th November 2025 at 12am GMT. For clarification, that means the game releases the minute the clock ticks over to midnight from 11:59pm on 5th November. In fact, Age of Imprisonment is receiving a midnight release in all countries, meaning lucky players in New Zealand and Australia will be able to play it long before those of us in the Western Hemisphere. It should also be noted that if you're in a country with more than one time zone, the game will launch at midnight in the easternmost time zone. That means that for US players, the game will launch at midnight EST, so west coast players will be able to play from 9pm on 5th November. Is Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment canon? Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is canon. While its predecessor, Age of Calamity, is regarded to be non-canon, taking place in an alternate universe in which the Calamity is stopped, the events of Age of Imprisonment take place in the same timeline as the main Zelda games. In a Nintendo Switch 2 press release from April 2025, Nintendo provides a brief description of Age of Imprisonment, describing it as a "canonical tale." View Green Video on the source website Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A trade codes – Full list and how to use them
Ever since Generation 1, one of the most annoying things about Pokémon has been trade evolutions. But thanks to Pokémon Legends: Z-A trade codes, that's not an issue we'll have to deal with anymore! These handy codes will let you and another player trade the same Pokémon to easily evolve it and get that particular Pokédex entry sorted for good. We've also got a list of Mystery Gift Codes if you need to stock up on some extra supplies! But for the full list of trade codes in Pokémon Legends: Z-A as well as how to use them, read on! Full list of Pokémon Legends: Z-A trade codes Before we get into the list, we'd like to credit YouTuber Austin John Plays who set these codes up for the community to use! Here is the full list of trade codes and evolutions for Pokémon Legends: Z-A, including any held items you need: Haunter / Gengar: 0066 0066 Machoke / Machamp: 0126 0126 Kadabra / Alakazam: 0063 0063 Scyther / Scizor: 0176 0176 (Must be holding Metal Coat) Onix / Steelix: 0197 0197 (Must be holding Metal Coat) Slowpoke / Slowking: 0137 0137 (Must be holding King's Rock) Pumpkaboo / Gourgeist: 0204 0204 Phantump / Trevenant: 0182 0182 Spritzee / Aromatisse: 0096 0096 Swirlix / Slurpuff: 0098 0098 How to use trade codes in Pokémon Legends: Z-A To use trade codes in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, you need to first use Link Trade. You can do this by opening up the menu by pressing 'X', and then select the following options: Link Play Link Trade Faraway Players Once you've connected to Link Trade, you'll be given a prompt to enter a code – enter the code corresponding to the Pokémon listed above that you want to trade. Wait for the trade to connect, and you should see that you're matched up with a player who wants to trade the same Pokémon. Make sure to check that you're both trading the same Pokémon, and that both Pokémon are holding the necessary held item if required, and then accept the trade. Once the trade goes through, the Pokémon you received will evolve, completing that page in your Pokédex if you hadn't already! View Green Video on the source website Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Pokémon Winds and Waves rumours: Gen 10 leaks explained
It's been a shockingly long time since Pokémon's Generation 9 launched, suggesting that Game Freak has been hard at work on something big. And if recent leaks are to be believed, then that something big is Generation 10, and it could be set to completely revolutionise the series. So, if you're curious about all the rumours of what's reportedly set to be called Pokémon Winds and Waves, here's what you need to know about the recent Gen 10 leaks. Pokémon Winds and Waves rumours: Gen 10 leaks explained The rumours about Pokémon Winds and Waves are circulating following a 'teraleak' in which a huge amount of information about alleged upcoming Game Freak projects was leaked online. The leaks come from Centro Leaks, one of the most reputable sources of Pokémon leaks around, so while it is certainly worth taking all of this information with a several grains of salt, there is plenty to suggest that the leaks are real. Development of the games will allegedly be led by Shigeru Ohmori, the primary director of the main series games since 2014's Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, and the leaks and reportedly are sourced from Ohmori's own internal documents. Pokémon Winds and Waves will apparently take place in a new region based on southeast Asia, and more specifically, Indonesia, with the nature and island setting of southeast Asia playing a major role. This reportedly further applies to the box legendaries, the 'Storm' and 'Wave' Pokémon, which control – surprise, surprise – the wind and waves. Weather is also said to play a role in battles, with references made to "Tenko-Waza" (天候技) which roughly translates to "weather moves". The games will supposedly feature an evil team that destroys nature for profit, contrasting with your rival, a local child who has grown up in and around the nature of the islands. According to the leaks, you'll progress through the game via a combination of Gyms and defeating Titan Pokémon, similar to in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, with many of the game's challenges relating to sustainability and nature. Excitingly, it would be the first game in the series to be developed on a new internal engine – Pokémon Engine X – which would promise a huge upgrade on the graphics seen in previous entries in the series. Lastly, it appears that the game is slated for a 2026 release date with further DLC to come in 2027, although no exact release month has been specified thus far. View Green Video on the source website Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Hades II review: Improving on perfection
Hades II launched into early access exactly one day before I was due to go on holiday. Although this meant I missed out on the initial fervour surrounding its launch, I decided that instead of playing a tiny fragment of it there and then, I would wait patiently for the game's full launch before experiencing one second of it. 16 months later, I am delighted that it has been more than worth the wait. Hades II doesn't just live up to the lofty bar established by its predecessor but manages to reach entirely new heights altogether. Hades II takes place some time after the first game. The house of Hades, replete with Zagreus and the rest of its misfits, has been conquered by Chronos, the Titan of Time. Before this happens, however, Hades's newborn daughter Melinoë was smuggled out of Asphodel, taken in by the Witch of the Crossroads, Hecate. Under Hecate's charge, Melinoë is raised to be a fighting force, trained in combat and witchcraft to one day take down Chronos and restore her family's rightful rule over the underworld – our story begins with her first foray into the darkness of Erebus. Like its predecessor, Hades II's opening hours unfurl at pace, barraging you with a literal pantheon of gods and mortals, myths and legends. Ever-present aides of Asphodel such as Nyx and Achilles are replaced by the likes of Nemesis and Odysseus and more. Names equally as legendary and characters equally as charming. On the surface, Hades II should be a rather boring experience for anyone who played the first game. Sure, the enemies and bosses are different, but in terms of combat and story progression, things are effectively the same, save for a few tweaks or new additions. It is therefore a testament to the sheer talent of Supergiant's developers that Hades II is so well-written, those tweaks small yet so impactful, that I have not found myself bored for even a second, despite in many regards playing the same game I played several years ago. Melinoë, it goes without saying, is fantastically written. On balance, I certainly prefer Zagreus's wittier and more abrasive personality, but Melinoë's more straightforward personality often helps other characters to shine more prominently. This is especially true when she plays the straight woman to some of the game's more outlandishly silly characters, such as Narcissus who balks at the idea that Melinoë may not actually be attracted to him. Combat, while again, largely the same, does come with some tweaks that improve it significantly. The pantheon of Gods has been revamped. Some old favourites such as Zeus, Podeidon and Aphrodite remain, though with entirely new sets of Boons, while new faces Apollo, Hephaestus, Hestia and more join the fray. Unlike Hades, in which I felt more than one God bestowed rather poor Boons that I would look to avoid at all costs, each God in Hades II is far more balanced, though I of course still have my favourites. Melinoë's weapons lean somewhat more towards ranged combat than Zagreus, whose sword, spear and fists often encouraged close-quarters brawls. Your Cast, too, has been replaced with a magic circle that inflicts various ailments on the enemies within depending on which Boons you've picked up on your journey. Perhaps it is because I am already familiar with the combat on a fundamental level, but I have found that many of Hades II's regular enemies pose far less of a threat than they did the first time around. The same cannot be said for its bosses, however, many of which are not only a tremendous challenge – Chronos is a far tougher fight than Hades ever was – but come with perhaps even more pomp and circumstance than their predecessors. Scylla, in particular, is a nightmare to fight, even as many hours into the game as I am, but her presentation is so blood-pumping and fun, playing her own stellar boss theme as you fight, that I simply can't help but look forward to our encounters every time. With regard to story progression, much of it is linked intrinsically to a cauldron boiling away at the feet of Hecate in the Crossroads, your hub world. As you repeatedly fall on the path to Chronos, you repeatedly unlock various Incantations, requiring you to spend the resources you gather to cast spells that cause anything from summoning the Fates to building a hot spring. The need for materials, many of which can only be obtained in the furthest reaches of Melinoë's trek, means that it can take hours and multiple runs all the way to Chronos to unlock some of them. It adds that same tangible sense of progression as the Mirror of Night in Hades I, for example, but has the added bonus of having real effects on the story as it plays out. A few hours in the Olympians call for you to put your quest on hold, begging you instead to travel to Mount Olympus to aid them in pushing back Chronos. Through various Incantations, you unlock a new path, not down to Asphodel, but up to Olympus. But Melinoë, born of the underworld cannot survive on the surface, requiring further Incantations to allow her to progress. This addition entirely switches up the way in which you approach the game – this is no longer a single-minded beeline to the finish, but a calculated weighing up of your options. Naturally, as was the case with the first game, Hades II does not truly begin until after you first defeat its final boss. It is at this point that the game's story truly comes into its own. The various players, from Olympian to lowly shade, experience the most growth in these moments, as you increase your relationships with them bit-by-bit. In a game that is so full of polish, from the fluid combat mechanics to the lush art style and music, I really cannot emphasise enough how much of a triumph it is on Supergiant's part that its developers have managed, not only to reimagine the world of Hades, but to create a whole new story and raft of characters that are just as compelling as the first bunch. Much of your time will no doubt be spent with your loyal troupe at the Crossroads, learning the tragic backstories that led to their being in the afterlife, swapping tales over hard-won bottles of Nectar and Ambrosia. It is these moments with characters I have grown to love that are the most compelling, and in my mind, the greatest strength of Hades II. It is therefore a tragedy, that it is these same moments that I cannot talk about, lest I spoil it for everyone else. This is the same magic that made the first game so enthralling – an almost infinite gameplay loop complimented by dialogue that evolves alongside you. It is clear to see that Supergiant is a developer at the peak of its powers, somehow managing to improve with each and every game they create. Upon playing Hades, I was confident in saying that Supergiant had brought the roguelite formula as close to perfection as it could come. To this day, no other studio has managed to use the genre as a storytelling tool so thoughtfully and effectively. Hades II has achieved the impossible, managing in every regard to improve upon one of the greatest indie games of all time, at no point feeling derivative of what came before, but iterating so thoroughly as to create something as novel as it is familiar. In the grand scheme of things, my time with Hades II has only just begun, and I expect that it will continue pulling me back into its world again and again in the heady pursuit of that one perfect run. Hades II releases on 25th September for PC and Nintendo Switch consoles. We reviewed on PC. View Green Video on the source website Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
FC 26 best camera settings for Ultimate Team and Career Mode
Like in last year's game, there are a ton of different FC 26 camera settings to choose from, and which ones you use can make a surprising amount of difference. Each option has its pros and cons, but there are a few camera settings that the pros use that you'll want to emulate if you want to improve your FC 26 game. Of course, the best camera settings are always what you feel comfortable with, so if you have a set-up that works for you, there's no reason to change it! But, if you're after a change and want to know what the best camera settings for FC 26 are, here's everything you need to know. What camera settings are there in FC 26? There are 12 camera settings available in FC 26. To change between them from the Main Menu, choose Customise, then Settings, then Game Settings and finally select Camera. From here, you can adjust the camera on a per-game mode basis. You can also adjust the settings from the Kick-Off pre-match setup screen, during Career Mode before matches and Pro Clubs in match lobby settings. This can be accessed anytime during the pause menu, save for if you are playing UT Competitive, in which case you will have to use the UT Competitive Camera. The full list of cameras can be found below: Broadcast Classic Co-op Dynamic EA Sports GameCam End to End Legacy Pro Tactical Tactical Focus Tele Tele Broadcast What is the best camera setting in FC 26? For most people, the best camera setting in FC 26 is the Co-Op camera. This is because it provides you with the largest overall view of the pitch, and therefore the most information at any one time. That means on the attack, you'll be able to see where your forwards are to thread through balls, while on the defence, you can see where your back line is to see where you need to cover. You can also change some specific camera settings to make it even more useful, so here are the full best camera settings in FC 26: UT Competitive Camera: Off Camera: Co-Op Power Shot Zoom: Off Height: 20 Zoom: 0 Pro Camera Zoom: 10 Pro Camera Speed: 10 Pro Camera Swing: 10 View Green Video on the source website Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
FC 26 wingers: Best RW, LW, RM and LM in Career Mode and Ultimate Team
You don't want to just wing it with your wingers.
If you’re looking to improve your standing in Career Mode or make your way up through Ultimate Team Division Rivals, you’ll want to clue yourself up on the best FC 26 wingers. Wingers form an essential part of your squad, ensuring that both sides of the pitch are covered to deliver as much pain into the opposition’s defence as possible. A brilliant cross to one of your midfielders or strikers could prove the difference between relegation and promotion, so you definitely want to have some good players on the pitch. As such, we’ll be going over the full rankings of the best wingers in FC 26, including right-wing, left-wing, right-midfield and left-midfield and have ranked them in order of their overall rating (OVR). You’ll want more than just wingers, though. Be sure to check out the best players in FC 26, how to get the most out of players by using the best FC 26 formations and tactics and how to unlock a spring chickens performance with the most promising FC 26 wonderkids. Best RW in FC 26 The best right-winger in FC 26 is Caroline Graham Hansen of Barcelona. The Norwegian footballer netted Barcelona FC eleven goals and ten assists last season, with the team raising the coveted trophy. Caroline Graham Hansen | 90 | RW, RM | FC Barcelona Bukayo Saka | 88 | RW, RM | Arsenal Kadidiatou Diani | 88 | RW, RM, ST | OL Lyonnes Lionel Messi | 86 | RW, ST, CAM, RM | Inter Miami Désiré Doué | 85 | RW, LW, CM, RM | Paris Saint-Germain Rodrygo | 85 | RW, ST, RM | Real Madrid Bryan Mbeumo | 85 | RW, RM, ST | Manchester United Phil Foden | 85 | RW, CM, LW, RM | Manchester City Christian Pulisic | 84 | RW, RM, CAM | Milano FC (AC Milan) Athenea | 83 | RW, RM, LM | Real Madrid Best LW in FC 26 The best left-winger in FC 26 is Vini Jr of Real Madrid. Though Real Madrid didn’t take the top spot in La Liga last year, Vini Jr. scored eleven goals and made ten assists, making him an extremely valuable player to have on the pitch. Vinícius José de Oliveira Júnior (Vini Jr.) | 89 | LW, ST, LM | Real Madrid Lauren Hemp | 87 | LW, LM | Manchester City Kvicha Kvaratskhelia | 87 | LW, RW, LM | Paris Saint-Germain Temwa Chawinga | 86 | LW, LM, RM | Kansas City Current Claudia Pina | 86 | LW, ST, LM | FC Barcelona Tabitha Chawinga | 85 | LW, ST, LM | OL Lyonnes Linda Caicedo | 85 | LW, LM, CAM | Real Madrid Heung-min Son | 85 | LW, ST, LM | LA FC Salma Paralluelo | 84 | LW, ST, RW, LM | FC Barcelona Bradley Barcola | 84 | LW, RW, LM | Paris Saint-Germain Best RM in FC 26 The best right-midfielder in FC 26 is Mohamed Salah of Liverpool. This is hardly a surprise, as with 29 goals and 18 assists, he helped propel Liverpool to the top of the Premier League last season. Mohamed Salah | 91 | RM, RW | Liverpool Lamine Yamal Nasraoui Ebana | 89 | RM, RW | FC Barcelona Chloe Kelly | 87 | RM, RW | Arsenal Beth Mead | 87 | RM, RW | Arsenal Michael Olise | 86 | RM, RW | Bayern Munich Trinity Rodman | 85 | RM, ST, RW | Washington Spirit Lauren James | 85 | RM, ST, RW | Chelsea Delphine Cascarino | 85 | RM, RW | San Diego Wave FC Moussa Diaby | 84 | RM, RW | Al-Ittihad Riyad Mahrez | 84 | RM, RW | Al-Ahli Best LM in FC 26 The best left-midfielder in FC 26 is Raphinha of Barcelona. With eighteen goals and nine assists, Raphinha was a massive boon to Barcelona FC last season in La Liga, and would serve you well in your own Ultimate Team. Raphael Dias Belloli (Raphinha) | 89 | LM, LW | FC Barcelona Guro Reiten | 88 | LM, LW, CAM | Chelsea Mallory Swanson | 87 | LM, ST, LW | Chicago Stars FC Nico Williams | 86 | LM, RM, LW | Athletic Club de Bilbao Klara Bühl | 86 | LM, LW | Bayern Munich Sandy Baltimore | 85 | LM, LB, LW | Chelsea Luis Díaz | 85 | LM, LW, ST | Liverpool Caitlin Foord | 85 | LM, LW | Arsenal Álex Baena | 84 | LM, ST, LW | Atlético de Madrid Cody Gakpo | 84 | LM, LW | Liverpool View Green Video on the source website Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
FC 26 fastest players: Highest pace stat for Ultimate Team and Career Mode
The beautiful game is a quick one, and you’ll want the fastest players in FC 26 with the highest pace stats if you want to stand a chance of progressing through Ultimate Team and Career Mode. With EA Sports releasing the FC 26 player database, we can see just who is the fastest on the pitch, as well as the best FC 26 players in general. And as for those all-time greats who are hanging up their boots, you can check out the new FC 26 Icons. The FC 26 Web and Companion apps are a great way to keep track of all these sorts of stats, too, so be sure to check that out to clue yourself up for the game’s launch. And if you’re curious what songs you’ll be scoring goals to, or can’t remember one that’s become an earworm, the FC 26 soundtrack has got you covered. But, you’re here for the fastest players in FC 26, and below are the top ten for each position! Who is the fastest player in FC 26? The fastest player in FC 26 is Kylian Mbappé. Mbappé still holds this title from FC 24 and FC 25. With a pace state of 97, there are few who can keep up with him. But we’ve got the top ten fastest players in FC 26 ranked by Pace to see who else might stand a chance: Kylian Mbappé (97) | ST Karim Adeyemi (96) | LM Gabriel Silva (96) | LW Sirlord Conteh (95) ST Vinicius Jr (95) | LW Moussa Diaby (95) | RM Loïs Openda (95) | ST Nuno Mendes (95) | LB Jean-Mattéo Bahoya (94) | LM Tabitha Chawinga (94) | LW Fastest strikers in FC 26 The fastest striker in FC 26 is Kylian Mbappé. If you want a lightning-fast player at the other end of the pitch, Mbappé is just the man. But there are other players hot on his heels! Check out the top ten fastest strikers in FC 26 below: Kylian Mbappé (97) | ST Sirlord Conteh (95) ST Loïs Openda (95) | ST Oliver Burke (93) | ST Melchie Dumornay (93) | ST Ricky-Jade Jones (93) | ST Zine (93) | ST Barbra Banda (92) | ST Sheraldo Becker (92) | ST Joel Grodowski (92) | ST Fastest wingers in FC 26 The fastest winger in FC 26 is Karim Adeyemi. A fast winger is essential for your team, and whilst Adeyemi can run at the quickest clip, he plays on the left, meaning you’ve got three other vacant positions. Below are the top 10 fastest wingers in FC 26 (LW, RW, LM, RM): Karim Adeyemi (96) | LM Gabriel Silva (96) | LW Vinicius Jr (95) | LW Moussa Diaby (95) | RM Jean-Mattéo Bahoya (94) | LM Tabitha Chawinga (94) | LW Daniel James (94) | RM Rosemonde Kouassi (94) | LM Yankuba Minteh (94) | RM Ernest Poku (94) | RM View Green Video on the source website Fastest midfielders in FC 26 The fastest midfielder in FC 26 is Ismaïla Sarr. The Senegalese Crystal Palace centre attacking midfielder has clinched the top spot from Rafa, who held it in FC 25. The top ten fastest midfielders in FC 26 (CM, CDM, CAM) are as follows: Ismaïla Sarr (91) | CAM César Falletti (90) | CAM Marcelino Moreno (90) | CAM Rafa (89) | CAM Grace Geyoro (89) | CM Sakina Karchaoui (89) | CM Malcolm (89) | CAM Mattéo Tramoni (89) | CAM Matías Zaracho (89) | CM Yunus Musah (88) | CM Fastest full-backs in FC 26 The fastest full-back in FC 26 is Nuno Mendes. The Portuguese left-back has seen a huge increase in his Pace stat from FC 25, jumping from 89 to 95, making Mendes one of the fastest players in the game. But who else could you have to help move your team forward up the pitch? The top ten fastest full-backs in FC 26 (LB, RB) are: Nuno Mendes (95) | LB Alphonso Davies (94) | LB Jeremie Frimpong (94) | RB Milan van Ewijk (94) | RB Muteb Al Harbi (93) LB Alex Bangyra (93) | LB Bright-Osayl-Samuel (93) | RB Tayo Adaramola (92) | LB Luis Advíncula (92) | RB Cohen Bramall (92) | LB Fastest centre-backs in FC 26 The fastest full-back in FC 26 is Moïse Bombito. The Canadian centre-back for OGC Nice has had two points added to his pace rating, with last year's fastest centre-back, Jeremiah St Juste, dropping one. The top ten fastest centre-backs in FC 26 are: Moïse Bombito (93) | CB Jeremiah St Juste (92) | CB Tristan Blackman (90) | CB Andriano Lebib (90) | CB Yohan Roche (90) | CB Micky van de Ven (90) | CB Maxence Lacroix (88) | CB Ibañez (87) | CB Takumi Ominami (87) | CB Nnamdi Collins (86) | CB Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Fortnite update today (10th September): What changes in the patch notes?
Though the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers came to Fortnite to do battle with a whole host of bugs, Epic Games has been dealing with its own set of bugs, and as such, we’ll be taking a look at the new Fortnite update from today to see what changes are in the patch notes. We’ve still got a while yet until Chapter 6 Season 5, so it’s interesting to see just what Epic is adding to Fortnite in the meantime. The last patch introduced the Gorillaz to the game. Sadly, no such big names are gracing Fortnite this week. Still, there is plenty to look forward to for the remainder of the season, with the Dino Megazord outfit coming out soon, which will hopefully coincide with an event akin to the Godzilla one. But, without further ado, let’s get to them Fortnite patch notes! Fortnite update today (7th August): What changes in the patch notes? Fortnite’s v37.20 update brings plenty of new content and improvements for players. The highlight is the Roly Poly Spawner, adding a bouncing bug companion to merrily bounce along with. There is also the Hive Stash Chest and fresh O.X.R. Base and Hive-themed prefabs for creative maps if you like to make custom content. Proximity Chat has been upgraded with faster player name updates and more responsive voice indicators, making finding who is cussing you out and saying all sorts of things about your mum a little easier. On top of that, Epic has introduced smoother movement, better physics and a range of bug fixes to make matches feel nicer to play, and give you less excuses for your woeful performance... That’s just a quick rundown, but if you’re after the full patch notes, have at them: 37.20 Fortnite Ecosystem Updates and Release Notes Fortnite v37.20 introduces the Roly Poly Spawner device, the Hive Stash Chest, and new prefabs and galleries from the O.X.R. Base and The Hive. This update also adds three new Debug Command menu options, new tutorials, and the ability to subscribe to input action events and mapping contexts directly through Verse. New Experimental Character Inputs! You can now subscribe to input action events and mapping contexts directly through Verse. The following character input actions are supported: Jump Crouch Shoot (Weapon Primary) Target (Weapon Secondary) Sprint The inputs are currently Experimental, but over time, more functionality will be added to this list of input actions. We want to provide a clean and clear way to use the various controls available in UEFN. My First Island Feature Example! Get started in My First Island with this new feature example! See how the carnival shooting gallery was set up, including the custom Verse device code to earn points for shooting the good targets, and detracting points for shooting the bad targets — –who wants to hit a cute bear? This template showcases the full gameplay example set up in the Build Your First Island documentation tutorial series, and even adds a little more, using a HUD Message device to show the player score. Discover more with Fortnite creative map codes: Fortnite horror maps | Fortnite action-adventure maps | Fortnite hide and seek maps | Fortnite Zone Wars maps | Fortnite fighting maps | Fortnite parkour maps | best Fortnite creative maps | Fortnite Squid Game map codes | Fortnite Monopoly code | Fortnite I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here code | Fortnite Doctor Who map code Deprecation of Creative Custom Input Keybinds After some consideration, we have decided to deprecate custom Creative keybindings. While the names for these keybinds referenced associated Fortnite actions (like Shoot or Aim), they were referencing the default keybinds for those actions. So if a player changed their "fire" keybind to something that wasn't the default, the Creative keybind would not change, which was by design. This has created problems for developers because they don't have a way to "guarantee" an action is lined up to the expectation. This has also created a problem for players, as a creator might say "use your shoot button to do x" but because the player changed their shoot keybind, and the creator is using creative input 1 (shoot), the player is expecting their new shoot keybind, and will be confused about why it doesn't work. Going forward, we are removing the Creative Custom inputs from the Settings menu, but not from the Input Trigger device. For creators, there should functionally be no difference. For players, there could potentially be a difference if they had rebound any of the Creative Custom Input keybinds. This change will currently only affect: Fire Target Crouch Jump Sprint Advanced Learning: New Coordinate Battle Island and Tutorial! Deep dive into mathematics to level up your gameplay and get deeper insights into modern game design practices! With the Coordinate Battle tutorial, you can learn how some of the ways coordinates in two- and three-dimensional spaces affect gameplay, and learn how to build a two-person battle based on guessing coordinates as you go! Get Started with Verse: New Combo System Tutorial! This beginner Verse tutorial uses the Your First Island template to show off how Verse can really level up your island! In this tutorial you will: Build a point combo system for the shooting gallery. Add timer and bonus timer systems. Level up your weapons as you progress. Learn about refactoring code, an integral part of iterative programming and design. To start the tutorial, you can open the My First Island project and jump right into the Your First Island: Level Up with Verse! New Debug Commands We are committed to improving your efficiency in debugging using the Beta Debug Command menu with frequent releases of new debug commands. This release we are adding: Pause Round Timer - Pause or resume the island round timer. End Round - Force the current round to end. End Game - Force the current game to end. View Green Video on the source website New Roly Poly Spawner Device The Roly Poly is a bug that wraps around the player for creative gameplay where both player and bug bounce and roll around the map. Use the device to spawn a customizable Roly Poly in your Creative games. Learn more about using the Roly Poly device on your island with the Roly Poly Device page. New Hive Stash Chest The Hive Stash is a strange organic structure that may have something — or someone — inside . Find it in the Chest & Ammo device gallery. New Prefabs & Galleries O.X.R. Destroyed Base O.X.R. Comms Building O.X.R. Base O.X.R. Wall Gallery O.X.R. Roof Gallery O.X.R. Floor and Stairs Gallery O.X.R. Prop Gallery The Hive Nature Gallery The Hive Gallery Community Bug Fixes The following fixes are from issues that you submitted to us on the forums. Thank you for your patience and for reporting these issues! Fixed an issue where Always Show Nameplate when set to Always Show To All was not working correctly and was limited to 150m for enemy users. Fixed an issue where entering the Changing Booth during matchmaking hid the UI and trapped the user, requiring a client restart. Fixed an issue with missing collision on FNEC Chainlink Wall C and FNEC Chainlink Fence C props from the Seaport City gallery. Fixed an issue where the Overlord Spire Elimination Animation got stuck in a loop. Fixed an issue with the Carryable Object Device disregarding settings and exploding. Fortnite Ecosystem Updates and Fixes New: Chest and Ammo Gallery New Hive Stash device added to the gallery. Proximity Chat Minor performance enhancements when Proximity Chat is enabled. When using Proximity Chat, player names now appear in the Speaking Player list while they are talking. When using Proximity Chat, the names of other players that are speaking appear more quickly. The voice indicators of other speaking players are more responsive to changes in the talking state. For example, they appear more quickly when other players start talking and disappear more quickly when they stop talking. Island Settings Enabling HUD Info Type and selecting the information type provides a way to display the goal and current team score values when Show Top Center Scoreboard HUD is also enabled. Fixes: Island Settings Fixed a bug where matchmaking is not disabled for a second round when setting the Island Setting for Mode > Matchmaking Privacy to Public and using the Round Settings device to control matchmaking at the end of a round. See Device Updates and Fixes below for more information. Items Fixed an issue where the Slap effect (such as from a Slap Cannon) would not override high energy costs from Island Settings. Fixed issue where Launch Pad material would revert back to Legacy Launch Pad material. Fixed issue where Launch Pad Trap sound effects did not match the Launch Pad Throw version. Weapons Fixed an issue where the Myst Gauntlets, Ascended Myst, Rocket Drill, and Ballistic Shield did not respect the Weapon Destruction island settings. Fixed an issue that prevented the Precision Air Strike from firing when the consumables Infinite setting was set to On. Fixed wraps for the Wrecker Revolver. Fixed an issue with Precision Air Strike destroying structures when Environment Damage is OFF. Props and Galleries Fixed a material issue causing bad shadows on cornfield wall props. Player Input Known Issue: Input consumption is broken if you are using: Custom 1 (Fire) Custom 2 (Target) Custom 3 (Crouch) Custom 4 (Jump) Custom 5 (Sprint) Workaround: Use and consume standard input equivalents. In an upcoming release these inputs will map to standard input keybinds. View Riddle on the source website Device Updates and Fixes New: Damage Amplifier Powerup New option for Affects Damage Cap causes the damage multiplier to also affect the shotgun damage cap. Teleporter Improved the physical interaction between the Teleporter device and physical props. Fixes: Trigger Fixed an issue that disabled the Trigger device when the Delayed Instigator setting was set to Queue and the Delay to 0. Fixed Point Camera Fixed an issue with the Fixed Point Camera device where moving the device via cinematic or script wasn't updating the camera view. Round Settings Fixed a bug where setting the Disable Matchmaking on Round End option to On and triggering the device to end the round on an event does not result in disabling matchmaking for the second round when the Island Setting for Mode > Matchmaking Privacy is set to Public. Changing Booth & Matchmaking Portal Fixed an issue where the Changing Booth trapped players inside when the Changing Booth UI would disappear because the Matchmaking Portal device was attempting to matchmake. Carryable Spawner Device Fixed an issue where on certain islands, the carryable would self-explode shortly after spawn. Fixed an issue where the carryable would occasionally not do damage when thrown at a target at close range. Disguise Device Fixed an issue with the Disguise device where disguises would not apply if no inventory room was available. Voting Device Fixed an issue with the voting device where trying to vote for the same option twice wouldn't generate a vote failed event. Bank Vault Fixed an issue with weak points taking damage from behind. Brand Island Updates and Fixes Fixes: Squid Game LOD fixes for Matrix_Pillar_Corner_A_A and Matrix_VentHorizontal_A. UEFN Updates and Fixes Fixes: Editor Fixed an issue that prevented a StaticMeshActor from saving after it was placed with the Phone Tool during an edit session. Fixed a spawning issue where the spawn location would be in the wrong spot. Fixed an issue that caused a crash when using DX12 performance mode on some GPUs. Prevented the editor from selecting ES31 feature level, which is not supported. Fixed a crash state that could occur in UpdateWorldEstimation for the LevelPackageDiskSize spatial profiler metric. Environments and Landscapes Fixed an issue to prevent a crash state when redoing an undo of a Water Zone actor deletion. Fixed an issue where an invalid collision box actor automatically generated when a waterbody's Wave Source property was changed from the Blueprint Editor. Fixed an issue that prevented landscapes from being put in the list of files to save when there were conflicts with proxy actors. Fixed an issue that caused a crash state when trying to save a map with an erroneous landscape materials General The Launch Pad device now launches players in the direction of the device's rotation. Events are now sent and queued when activating the trigger device event signals when setting Delayed Instigator to Queue. Multiple Prop Movers can be assigned to the same Prop when using Prop Reference. The Volume device now properly triggers when the radius is set at a non-default value. Volume size matches the visuals even when not pushing changes after client modification. Corrected Spire Verse properties to display the actual value when retrieved instead of the original value. Currencies now appear correctly in the HUD. Scene Graph New: Introduced Outliner and Prefab editor viewport drag & drop for entities. Added an experimental project setting for entity prefab in-place editor mode. Fixes: Fixed an issue where duplicating an array’s property value entry in the UI prevented instances of a Verse class and prefab from working properly. Unreal Revision Control (URC) Fixes: Fixed an intermittent crash of the URC library that was caused by an API call. General Physics Experimental New: Players can now nosedive when spawning in the sky or moving around in a Skydive Volume. You can now enable multiple Prop Movers to be assigned to the same prop when using the Prop Reference option. Gravity limits are now between -10,000 and -10. Added new sound options for Leather, Rubber Hard, and Rubber Soft impacts. Terminal velocity in physics-enabled islands has been increased from its previous max of 40m/s. New max is 500m/s (in line with certain launch/bouncer devices). Fixes: Device Latency is now fixed for Air Vent, Crash Pad, D -Launcher, Env Trap Bouncer, Launch Pad, and Teleporter devices. Players can now collide normally while gliding inside a Skydive Volume. The player pawn no longer has issues moving up a staircase. The transition between crouching and sprinting is now smooth, without any jitters. Props can be pushed around by the user's pawn. Regarding physics characters, Fortnite’s gravity is now the default when using Experimental Physics. The camera now syncs with the pawn movement as intended. The selected Sound / VFX Preset is now correctly applied to the associated prop. The First-Person Camera is now set to players on game start on a Newton island. The player pawn now correctly repositions to the Player Spawner device after starting a game with no initial damage taken. Moving physics props with a sound preset set to None correctly remains silent. Props do not have any desync when Start awake is set to Disabled. Players can now reach the top of Skydive Volumes. The Physics Tree and Boulder are now properly affected by gravity. The player is now knocked back in the correct direction by the pinball bumpers. The movement animation will no longer play when the player is crouched and stationary on a moving prop. Players now float in the Water Volume device. The pawn no longer climbs the prop and instead collides with it properly. Physics Experimental Known Issues Player sprinting is accelerating slowly. This causes foot sliding as the character does not accelerate as it should. This will be addressed in a near future release. The Bouncer Forward Launch values do not apply to Physics Props. We are looking into a solution for this to give the device more options. Skydive Volume: Push Forces above 0 will not push the player to the top of the volume. Skydive Volume: The Launch Velocity option does not work properly. We are aware of the issue and will address it in a subsequent release. Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. 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Hollow Knight: Silksong release time – What time does Silksong come out, pre-orders and more
Hollow Knight: Silksong is releasing today after a mammoth eight years in development! No, I can't quite believe it either. Perhaps only outshone in hype by the likes of GTA 6 and Half-Life 3, it's hard to overstate how massive an achievement this is for an indie studio comprising three blokes from Australia. If you're doing your last minute Silksong prep, you may want to make sure you know whether you need to play Hollow Knight before Silksong, and if Silksong is a sequel or prequel. But beyond that, you can read on for the full details on what time Hollow Knight: Silksong releases in the UK and around the world. Hollow Knight: Silksong UK release time – What time does Silksong come out? Following years of delays, Hollow Knight: Silksong will release at 3pm BST on 4th September 2025. (That's today!) If you're in another time zone, here's what that might look like for you: US West Coast (PDT) – 7am US East Coast (EDT) – 10am Central Europe (CEST) – 4pm Japan (JST) – 11pm Australia East Coast (AEST) – 1am, 5th September New Zealand (NZST) – 3am, 5th September Since its initial reveal, Silksong had been pushed back enough times that it became somewhat of a joke online to make reference to the lack of news about it. Now, not so! The game received several launch windows, with each and every one of them being pushed back, until now, resulting in some rather embarrassing moments, such as when the Xbox Twitter account confidently claimed that the game would be out by mid-2023. View oEmbed on the source website Ah, how quaint. We can all now look back and laugh while we wait for Hollow Knight: Silksong to come out on 4th September. Can you pre-order Hollow Knight: Silksong? Hollow Knight: Silksong is currently not available to pre-order on any platform. If you want to get your hands on the game, you'll need to be ready on your preferred platform at the release time detailed above. Previously, before the game's now many delays, the game had been available to pre-order in the UK via GAME. Unfortunately, this was later retracted with buyers receiving refunds. Currently, the most surefire way to play it on day one is on Xbox Game Pass. How much will Hollow Knight: Silksong cost? Silksong price confirmed Hollow Knight: Silksong will cost $19.99 / €19.99 / ¥2300. This was recently confirmed by Team Cherry in a post to the studio's social media channels. Annoyingly, it hasn't been confirmed what the price will be for UK players. At the time of writing, $19.99 roughly comes out to around £14.90, so a £14.99 price for the UK would make sense. That being said, we're seeing more and more games launch with the same price in both US Dollars and Pounds Sterling, so it could very well just be £19.99 – either way, Team Cherry could probably charge double that and it would still be a bargain. For now, you can wishlist Hollow Knight: Silksong on Steam, the Nintendo eShop, the PlayStation Store, the Microsoft Store and GoG (PC). Which consoles and platforms can play Hollow Knight: Silksong? Hollow Knight: Silksong will be available on PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5 and PS4 – a healthy line-up. For Xbox players, it will be available on Xbox Game Pass on day one. Whether it comes to PlayStation Plus at some point as well remains to be seen, but for the moment, PlayStation players will have to purchase the game if they want to play it on release. Hollow Knight: Silksong gameplay and story details The sequel puts players in control of Hornet, a popular needle-wielding character from the first game. Naturally, she employs a host of new skills as she traverses Hollow Knight’s crumbling insectoid world. We're promised a visit to a whole new kingdom where you can explore coral forests, mossy grottos, gilded cities and misted moors as you ascend to the shining citadel at the top of the world. There are over "40 Legendary bosses" to defeat, according to the trailer, which can be viewed below. The game takes place in a huge open world, with the trailer giving us a glimpse at the labyrinthine world You'll be able to employ new moves and craft new tools to help you battle buggy baddies. Quests will allow you to hunt down rare beasts and unearth ancient mysteries, battling a slew of new opponents, all with their own abilities. And if you conquer the whole thing, Team Cherry is adding an all-new mode that spins the game into a unique, challenging experience. Is there a Hollow Knight: Silksong trailer? View oEmbed on the source website Of course! For the release date announcement, we got our best look at the game yet, which features a dizzying array of enemies for Hornet to do battle with. We can also see just how much faster the game is than the original Hollow Knight. It's sure to be a welcome increase in difficulty for seasoned players. Newcomers will most likely be better off starting with the original. Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
PlayStation 6 could borrow a big feature from the Nintendo Switch
We may be several years away from the release of Sony's next flagship console, but recent leaks have claimed the PS6 will be aping one of Nintendo Switch's best features. While Xbox is intent on turning anything and everything into an Xbox, including its upcoming handheld, Sony is reportedly hard at work on the PlayStation 6. Although official details on the next Sony console are almost non-existent, a recent leak suggests the PS6 will be unlike anything Sony has ever released. In fact, it will allegedly be more like a Switch. YouTube channel Moore's Law is Dead, a channel that has accurately leaked technical info about previous PlayStation hardware, recently uploaded a video sharing apparent technical specifications for a 'PS6 handheld'. This handheld, which will release alongside a more traditional PS6 home console, will supposedly be dockable, similar to Nintendo Switch consoles, allowing players to use it both on a TV and on the go. Reportedly making use of an AMD APU with four Zen 6c Cores, two further cores, and a 16 x RDNA 5 CUs GPU coming in at 1.2GHz in handheld mode and 1.65GHz while docked, the PS6 handheld will supposedly be more powerful than the PS5 when docked. Beyond this, the video claims that the handheld PS6 will cost around $500, and could launch as soon as late 2027. View Green Video on the source website It would represent Sony's first foray into the handheld gaming market since 2011's PS Vita launch, a console which, despite accruing a certain cult popularity, never saw much commercial success. While the PS5 has certainly sold well, hitting the 80 million units mark in August 2025, it remains several million short of the PS3, and nearly 40 million short of the PS4. With the Nintendo Switch flying high on 153 million units sold, the Switch 2 already breaking sales records, and Xbox getting in on the action, it appears Sony wants a piece of the handheld pie once more – it's just a question of whether they can make something great or just a poor imitation. Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Hollow Knight: Silksong release date is finally confirmed, with lots of new footage
Hollow Knight: Silksong is coming, and sooner than you think!
We can scant believe it, but the Hollow Knight: Silksong release date is finally confirmed – and what’s more, we’ve got lots of new gameplay footage to fawn over too! After being in development for so many years, the Hollow Knight fandom was reaching unprecedented levels of hype, delusion and just-about-coping, but salvation is at hand. Somebody check on the Half-Life 3 holdouts to make sure they’re doing OK… The announcement came during the Hollow Knight: Silksong reveal event, which had thousands of people waiting in the comments section talking to each other over the last few days, before the premiere even started. As the most wishlisted game on Steam, it comes as no surprise. It’s only fair that after the press and fans got to go hands-on with Silksong at Gamescom 2025, the wider public should be thrown a bone! To even think that people have been playing Silksong feels wild, as we’ve been waiting for Team Cherry’s follow-up for seven years, which the aforementioned Half-Life fans are probably chuckling at. If you haven’t caught up with any of the Hollow Knight: Silksong previews, Hornet is feeling a lot snappier than The Knight, with exploration and backtracking going by at a faster clip. Combat, too, is precise and definitely requires a bit of time to get down, but for those coming from the original, it should all feel pretty familiar. Yet, as for that release date, Hollow Knight: Silksong will release on 4th September. No doubt, Daily Silksong News will be going crazy, but after almost 1,500 daily updates, who could blame them? If you want to check out the trailer, you can see it just below! View oEmbed on the source website And if you’re as doggedly obsessed to play Silksong as they are, you’ll be glad to know you can play Hollow Knight: Silksong on Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and even Linux and macOS! It's also a day one release with Xbox Game Pass. So, essentially, just about every platform ever (sorry, OpenBSD). Pre-orders aren't quite live yet, with no word on pricing if you want to be there day one. We will update you as soon as we can when we know more! But, there it is. The Hollow Knight: Silksong release date. Next stop: Grand Theft Auto 6. Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A preview – Mega Evolution is so back
Almost three years since the launch of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, and even longer since the surprisingly fun and inventive Legends: Arceus, the upcoming Pokémon Legends: Z-A has a lot of excitement built around it as the next dedicated RPG adventure title in the classic series. It’s not only expanding on innovations brought on Legends: Arceus, but also mixing in mechanics from Pokémon games past with the returned focus on X and Y’s Mega Evolution (it even adds some new Mega Evolutions, including the much hyped Mega Dragonite). In a twist of events, whilst in Anaheim, California, ahead of Pokémon Worlds 2025, Radio Times Gaming got the chance to sit down and be amongst the first to play Pokémon Legends: Z-A ahead of its October release. And, while this initial dive in was super quick, it’s been enough to get us extra keen for the whole package. The hands-on demo for media and content creators behind closed doors was split into two halves of around 10 minutes each. The first was set in Legends: Z-A’s new big area for Luminose City, the Battle Zone, where, at night, Trainers battle it out to climb the ranks of the game’s Z-A Royale. In order to earn enough points for a Challenger Ticket key item, we had to take on a handful of Trainers, which worked as a tutorial for the new real-time battle system. While this at first may seem familiar to Legends: Areceus’ boss battles against frenzied Pokémon — which merely came down to dodging and throwing specific items — Legends: Z-A is the Pokémon series’ first full commitment to the concept of battles happening in real time. Although it’s complete chaos at first, if turn-based Pokémon is all you’re used to, it soon becomes a lot more manageable — as both you and your Pokémon can move around, dodge and, of course, launch attacks of your choosing. What's more, you can’t just spam whatever moves you like in rapid succession, as each has to recharge after use. The time of each recharge is seemingly dependent on the power and use of each move. For instance, my demo partner Pokémon, Chikorita, needed what felt like around 10 seconds to recharge its Leafage attack, whilst it could use Growl in a much shorter time. That alone opens up a plethora of strategic avenues, from getting used to running around, sorting teams and moves based on speed as well as power, and practicing the ideal time to switch out Pokémon in battle for a better type match-up. Needing to keep track of an opponent Pokémon’s moves for dodging, my HP deciding whether to use Potions, and which attacks are ready to use, did feel hectic when getting used to the controls, but more or less became second nature by the end of the 10-minute section. It turns out that this was essentially a warm-up to the second half of the demo. After chasing Zygarde through the city outskirts for a short while, we got our first exposure to the game’s plot about rogue Mega Evolution. For some mysterious reason, an Absol we ran into quickly Mega Evolved and started running amok — needing us to use our own Mega Lucario to stop it in its tracks. The 'mon vs 'mon battles incorporate the same mechanics as the Trainer battles, but these rogue bosses were tougher to overcome overall. Dodging was imperative, and a rogue Mega Pokémon could only be beaten by another Mega Evolution. You damage these bosses with attacks to get Mega-like orbs that can charge up your Mega Evolution meter. It was simple enough to beat, since we had enough Potions in our party for survivability, but raw-dogging a fight like this without any healing items would’ve been especially challenging. That’s along with getting used to the boss fight-specific mechanics, like its larger-scale AoE (area-of-effect) attacks. Additionally, as anarchic as this boss battle felt, whilst the new controls still felt generally fresh, the thrill of a battle like this felt like a triumph. Towards the end of the demo, everything seemed to kick into place. Mastering the dodging of this angry Absol’s moves, pummelling it with the array of Mega Lucario’s Fighting and Steel-type moves — whilst getting enthralled with the pretty visuals and energising soundtrack — it truly immersed me for a moment into what those big real-time Pokémon battles in the classic anime must have felt like. While on that train of thought, it got me even giddier as to what other cinematic battles might be ahead of me in the full game. Still, it painted a fascinating picture of what the overall plot of Z-A is going to look like — giving it a ‘solve the mystery’ vibe from the Detective Pikachu movie, but with many more Pokémon battles. As a bonus, Pokémon Legends: Z-A looked and sounded great on the Switch 2 as well — showing off a nice glossy aesthetic with all the Mega Evolution effects popping off screen. It’s easy to think that Luminose City would’ve looked even better if the game didn’t have to be technologically compromised to run on the Switch 1 (the version of which we didn’t get to see). Even playing as we were on Switch 2, the larger aesthetics, like the building assets around the city, still seemed a bit too plain, too flat, and too ‘copy and paste every window 1,000 times’. Be that as it may, if you’re playing on the shiny new current-gen system, you’ll still be more than pleased with the overall gloss and the decent performance on the Switch 2 edition. It's pretty, its packs a snappy integration into full real-time combat, and it looks to have an intriguing plot. Pokémon players both keen and unsure about Legends: Z-A should now be more than excited, as far as first impressions go. Granted, the opening slice we’ve seen was incredibly small, but it’s at least shown enough of the core experience to get our hooks in, and we're very eager to see more. Pokémon Legends Z-A launches 16th October for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. You can order your copy now. Fancy yourself a Pokémon master? Try out quiz below! View Riddle on the source website Read more on Pokémon: 23 weird rumours that plagued the Pokémon fandom – 5 of which are still unresolved Best Pokémon gifts - the greatest merch Best Pokémon games on Switch - our ranking Best shiny Pokémon - the coolest creatures Best Dragon-type Pokémon - who's your fave? All cat Pokémon - the felines to catch Pokémon natures guide - all you need to know Pokémon type chart - strengths and weaknesses explained Legendary Pokémon - the full list Pokémon Scarlet and Violet cheats - handy hacks Pokémon Emerald cheats - what you need to know Pokémon Fire Red cheats - all codes Pokémon Go friend codes - and how to find them Pokémon games in order - where to start Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. 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Geoff Keighley promises "announcements for pretty much all the major platforms" at Gamescom Opening Night Live
Games industry front man Geoff Keighley has spoken to press, including Radio Times Gaming, to tease what's going to happen at Gamescom Opening Night Live on Tuesday 19th August 2025. Opening Night Live is the showcase that kicks off the Gamescom 2025 conference, which Keighley has been hosting for the last few years. On a briefing call for international media, Keighley enthused about what to expect from this year's show (which will also be broadcast online, from 7pm UK time for anyone that hasn't travelled to Cologne, Germany, for the conference). Keighley was keen to point out that Gamescom Opening Night Live is "platform agnostic", with the event being open to any game that is present at the conference, regardless of which console or platform it's on. Whether you're rocking a PS5, an Xbox Series X, a PC, a mobile device and/or a Nintendo Switch 2, you should enjoy the show. View oEmbed on the source website Keighley said on the Zoom call: "It all comes together really well. I mean, you got [Hollow Knight:] Silksong, apparently, playable at Gamescom. So that was the headline everyone got hyped about." The affable host added: "There's so few consumer events left at scale that people can get [to] and go and play games. So yeah, we'll have some games that will showcase, even announce, at ONL, that I think will then be playable at Gamescom. "So it's nice, that sort of connection between all the different publishers and events there. And yes, we definitely have some smaller independent titles that will be featured in the show. "We also have some German-developed games that we're excited to have in the show as well, which I think is important as well to recognise. To recognise, you know, that sort of global nature of development. "So, yeah, that's something we think about, right, is, 'How do we sort of balance all this out?' And really, you know, our shows are always cross-platform. They're platform agnostic. So no matter which platform games are coming for, we'll have, I think, news and announcements for pretty much all the major platforms inside of the show. "So no matter where you play your games, tune in, and hopefully we will surprise you with something." Felix Falk, the organiser of Gamescom, said of this year's conference: "This year, Gamescom is all about growth. For the first time in history, we'll welcome more than 1,500 exhibitors from 72 countries all over the world, here in Cologne. "And that growth, in both numbers, really underlines how important Gamescom has become to the global gaming industry. We have, for example, once again, big names like Bandai Namco, Capcom, Ubisoft, Xbox, to name only a few, and we are excited to see first-timers like Atari and Roblox with their own booth at Gamescom for the first time. "And also, some longtime partners are returning this year after a short break. Take Asus, take Calypso, Marvelous Europe, or Nintendo. "So there is both a high amount and a high quality of partners and exhibitors at Gamescom, and so we also grow in space. And there's also a new record, because for the first time, Gamescom will cover 233,000 square metres of exhibition space. That is more than 30 football fields." View Green Video on the source website As Keighley noted, the presence of the hotly anticipated Hollow Knight: Silksong at the Xbox Gamescom booth has gotten a lot of attention for this year's conference — not least in our own Gamescom preview! Tim Enders, another of the key execs behind Gamescom, said of the news: "Regarding Silksong, Microsoft also announced it, and that's, of course, great when Xbox is showing such a game at Gamescom. It draws global attention. It boosts audience excitement and engagement. So this is, of course, important. "And that's also why it is big to see more than 1,500 exhibitors on the show floor, because of the stuff which they bring to the show floor. But Gamescom is more than this. It's hybrid. It's also about our shows, and it's also about community activation in different areas and fields. "So Gamescom, this year, is going to be more diverse than ever before. But of course, it's important to have such games at Gamescom." Gamescom takes place in Cologne, Germany, from Tuesday 19th August to Sunday 24th August. You can learn more on its official website. Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Tales of the Shire questions answered: Review scores, release time and more
Most Lord of the Rings games are all about the combat side of things. Tales of the Shire flips the script and lets you live out your Hobbit dreams instead. With the game's release now upon us, you may be wondering if it's worth trying out for yourself. To help you make that decision, we've put together all the info you need, like review scores, Game Pass info, gameplay details and more. When is the Tales of the Shire release date? Tales of the Shire launches on 29th July 2025. The game was officially announced back in 2023, and was slated for a 2024 release. This was later pushed back to a 2025 release, with the current release date confirmed at a later date. What is the UK launch time for Tales of the Shire? Tales of the Shire will officially launch at 5pm BST on 29th July, as has been confirmed by the game's official Twitter account. For comparison, here's how that release time translates into other time zones: West Coast US (PDT) – 9am East Coast US (EDT) – 12pm Central Europe (CEST) – 6pm East Coast Australia (AEST) – 2am 30th July New Zealand (NZST) – 4am 30th July Which platforms can play Tales of the Shire? Tales of the Shire launches on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. Interestingly, although the game is launching more than a month after the Nintendo Switch 2's release, the game is launching with a Switch 1 version only. This means that, while the game is fully compatible with the Switch 2, the Switch version of the game has been developed with the Switch 1's weaker capabilities in mind. How good are the Tales of the Shire review scores? Not great, to put it bluntly. At the time of writing, Tales of the Shire has a Metacritic score of 60 from 15 critic reviews. It's similarly poor reading on OpenCritic, where the game has a top critic average of 64 from 24 critic reviews, with only 29 per cent of critics recommending the game. The reasons for these low reviews vary, but while many reviews credit the game's commitment to the lore of the LotR world, many also criticise shallow gameplay, a lack of content and poor performance. Is Tales of the Shire on Xbox Game Pass? Unfortunately, Tales of the Shire is not launching on Xbox Game Pass. While the game is coming to both Xbox consoles and PC, it has not been confirmed whether or not the game will be coming to Xbox's flagship subscription service. That being said, it certainly seems like the kind of game that would benefit from being on Game Pass, so we wouldn't be surprised to see it added to the service at some point in the future. View Green Video on the source website Tales of the Shire gameplay and story details Tales of the Shire is a life sim in which you live your life as a Hobbit in the quaint village of Bywater. Gameplay involves you managing your daily life, performing tasks such as gardening, fishing and collecting resources, as well as decorating your home. While there isn’t much story, players are able to explore the village and its surrounding areas, talking to NPCs and developing friendships, similar to games like Stardew Valley. Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Borderlands 4 confirms Nintendo Switch 2 release date, and it's sooner than you might think
Another Randy Pitchford social media masterclass.
While Borderlands 4 has long been confirmed for a Nintendo Switch 2 release, we haven't had much info on the actual release date. That was, until now. Follow an initial 23rd September release date for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, this was later moved forward thanks to how smoothly development was progressing. And it appears that quick development has impacted the Switch 2 version of the game too, with the port releasing only three weeks after the initial launch. In a recent video posted to social media, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford confirmed that Borderlands 4 will release on the Switch 2 on 3rd October 2025. View oEmbed on the source website Before this, all we knew about the port was that it was slated to release by the end of 2025, with most fans expecting a late November or early December release in time for Christmas. Clearly, this was something that Gearbox was aware of, with Pitchford referencing it directly in the announcement. "It's not next year, it's not even the holiday, it's so much before Christmas, it's so much before Thanksgiving," he teased. Despite some brief controversy surrounding the game's potential price, excitement for the game is high, with the title set to course correct from Borderlands 3 and Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, both of which drew criticism from players. In an interview last month, lead writer Taylor Clark confirmed that "we listen to the fans" when it comes to the game's development, something which appears to be paying off. In our own hands-on preview of Borderlands 4, we were mightily impressed with some of the new gameplay changes. Whether or not the hype around the game translates into sales and acclaim when it releases in September remains to be seen, but if it does, you can bet that plenty of Switch 2 owners will be lining up for their copies when October rolls around. View Green Video on the source website Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Pokémon Champions release date year confirmed as new trailer arrives online
While we didn't get any news on Generation 10, today's Pokémon Presents did have some new info about the highly anticipated Pokémon Champions. As well as showing off a bit more of Pokémon Legends: Z-A and even shadow dropping a brand-new Pokémon game, we also got a new trailer for Pokémon Champions. Inspired by the Nintendo 64-era Pokémon Stadium series, Champions was first announced for Switch consoles and mobile in a Pokémon Presents earlier this year. Until now, though, we had no idea when it was set to come out, but thanks to this new trailer, it has now been confirmed that Pokémon Champions is scheduled to release in 2026. View oEmbed on the source website As well as the release date, the new trailer shared some new information about the gameplay itself. Players will be able to battle with Pokémon obtained within Champions itself, or with Pokémon transferred over from other titles via Pokémon Home. Players will be able to take on Ranked Battles against friends or against online opponents in both Single and Double Battle formats. It also makes developing your Pokémon incredibly convenient, seemingly allowing players to spend in-game currency to alter a Pokémon's IVs, EVs and nature alongside their moves and ability. It's not entirely clear yet exactly how this will work, nor how the in-game currency is earned, however. As for battle mechanics, the game has already been confirmed to feature Terastallization, tying in with Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, but has also been confirmed to feature Mega Evolution, likely as a means of tying in with the upcoming Legends: Z-A. Many players have already lauded the game as the future definitive way to play Pokémon competitively, with many claiming that the game is set to supersede the main series games at events such as the Pokémon World Championships. Whether that will come to pass is sadly beyond the scope of our predictive powers. What we do know, however, is that Pokémon Champions looks to be a game for fans to get excited for. View Green Video on the source website Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.