20 Years of Awesome
Mature, Active, Engaged and Organized gaming with friends.
The last guild you will ever need.
-
Recent SG News
Gaming News Feed
With past mainline versions of Unreal Engine, Epic would usually kick things off with a flashy tech demo that pushes photorealism to a new level. That didn't happen with Unreal Engine 6. Because while the company showed off the same Rocket League UE6 teaser that it did a couple weeks ago, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney spent way more time focusing on his vision of an open games ecosystem.
The idea, on the surface, is to get rid of the barriers between different games, letting you use skins and other cosmetics that you buy in other Unreal Engine 6 games in Fortnite, and vice-versa. It's a cool idea. After all, I barely play Fortnite, only ever peeking in when there's a cool Festival season going on (I miss Guitar Hero), but even I have a library full of cosmetic items that I'd love to import into other games. Unreal Engine 6, in theory, will let that happen.
In the past, this would have been incredibly difficult to actually implement. You'd have to independently model and animate a cosmetic across every game you'd want to actually use it in. But with Unreal 6, because the systems are going to be the same across any game using the engine, it sounds like you'll just be able to drop items from one game into another and it'll just work. Of course, only time will tell whether or not that'll actually work out.
More Than Just Fortnite SkinsThe most immediate version of Epic's vision for Unreal Engine 6 will probably come in the form of Fortnite skins, but it really is just the surface. During his presentation, Tim Sweeney talked about how he has a vision for gaming something akin to the open web, where gamers can move from game to game, taking all of their digital belongings wherever they go.
Again, that sounds cool, but it's almost like I've heard this exact song and dance before, when Meta spent a few years hyping the Metaverse. The idea there was incredibly similar – a persistent online marketplace and ecosystem made up of a bunch of different companies, where digital possessions would follow users. And, well, the Metaverse kind of fizzled out without ever really amounting to anything.
I'm sure that Tim Sweeney took Meta's failure in mind, but it seems like he at least has a more realistic vision of what it could look like, and it helps that the Unreal Engine is already so central to game development. In short, Sweeney described a world where every game company is working together to create a centralized gaming ecosystem, with Epic, presumably, at the center.
All of this would be really good for Epic's bottom line, but Sweeney insisted that the company wouldn't be an 'overlord', saying "We want a system with no overlords, we’ve been spending some time fighting against overlords in the industry with some amount of success. And we don’t want to be the next one, rather we want to be a partner for all companies in the industry."
The 'overlords' he's talking about are clearly a reference to Epic's feuds against other digital store owners like Apple and Valve, and it's hard to not draw comparisons between those companies and what Unreal Engine 6 is trying to do. After all, Epic does collect fees on any game that uses Unreal, as long as it clears a certain revenue threshold.
But unlike a digital storefront that just collects a percentage of any game sold, Epic is hoping that this new interconnected gaming platform will provide game developers some added value – especially as it gets harder to make a profit in gaming.
"The Arithmetic Doesn't Lie"At the end of the showcase, Tim Sweeney described the gaming industry as in a state of "both crisis and opportunity," because while more people are playing games than ever before, big-budget AAA games are having a harder time making a profit. It's a tale we hear over and over again, but the Epic CEO spelled it out yet again: "we're often seeing hundreds of millions in dev costs, followed by tens of millions in revenue, and dev costs are continuing to grow."
And, again, like we've heard in the past, the answer is apparently in microtransactions. According to Sweeney, "the economy is shifting from buying games to buying things in games" and "whether you're a fan of this or not, the arithmetic of it is undeniable." In his eye, this is a boon for huge games with established communities, but it's just another bar to clear for new games hoping to stay alive for more than a few months.
Really, you just have to look at how many smaller multiplayer games have gone live within the last year or two, only to fizzle out and die with little to no fanfare. Just look at something like Exoprimal or Concord for an example. Sweeney's explanation of this does make some sense. After all, it's hard to get motivated to buy a bunch of cosmetic junk in a game that you don't know if it will live for more than a few months, but the math looks a lot different for a game that you've played for years and you know isn't going anywhere.
I, for one, rarely spend any money at all in newer games, but I don't really think twice before buying a new mount or something in World of Warcraft. And that's where Unreal Engine 6 comes in. By creating this interconnected web of games through a common engine, you can buy skins and such in a new, smaller game, and know that those items will go with you when you inevitably move on to a different game. That means the devs of the smaller game get some extra cash, and it probably also means that Epic gets to enjoy a bunch of cosmetic skins they didn't have to actually make come to Fortnite, and still get a cut from their revenue.
Only time will tell whether or not this vision of Unreal Engine 6 is going to save gaming or whatever lofty visions Tim Sweeney has for it. But, we won't have to wait long to see it in action. Beyond the bones of this concept already existing in UEFN, or Unreal Editor for Fortnite, Unreal Engine 6 will enter early access in late 2027.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
This is an IGN opinion piece from writer Logan Plant. The Legend of Zelda is his favorite video game series, and he plays Ocarina of Time to completion at least once a year.
How many Zelda reveals do I have left in my life? I think about this more than I probably should. There are few better feelings than the precise instant I’m exposed to a new interpretation of an old friend: the shock of Link trading in his green tunic for a blue one as he fires a high-tech arrow into the eye of a spider-like robot. The roar of the crowd as a dark, grittier version of Hyrule is revealed and Shigeru Miyamoto rushes onto the stage. And now, the gasp I let out as a gorgeous tapestry telling the familiar tale of a boy without a fairy seamlessly transitions to our first look at an unfamiliar hero. I don’t know him yet, just as I used to not know of Guardians or the Twilight, but I will soon enough.
My initial response to the brief teaser for Switch 2’s remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time aligned with much of the internet’s: “That’s it??” But while wrapping up our live Nintendo Direct reaction show and flying home from a busy week in Los Angeles, I couldn’t get that tiny glimpse into Link’s treehouse out of my head. We have just one piece of an enormous puzzle, and my mind started racing to fill in the rest of the picture. By showing restraint, Nintendo surprisingly managed to create countless questions surrounding a 28-year-old game I’ve played endlessly. We only get to light our imaginations on fire like this a couple of times each decade, and I’m so glad we don’t have all the answers to these questions just yet.
“That’s what Link looks like?”All I needed to see was a new art direction. One of the main reasons Zelda is my favorite fictional world is because of its constant willingness to reinvent itself. I love the painterly aesthetic of Breath of the Wild, but after two 100+ hour games and multiple spinoffs following its guidelines, I’ve been desperately hoping for the next chapter in Zelda’s visual identity.
Ocarina of Time is answering the call. Link is leaning more realistic than ever before – although I’d still argue his look is firmly fantastical – his woven outfit has seen a complete overhaul, and he’s snoozing without his iconic cap. The jarring departure has predictably caused a lot of backlash, but to me, Zelda will always be a bedtime fairytale told in different ways over the years, and I’m already fully on board to see this bold take through. He still feels very new, but that’s how it should be at this point. Basically every version of Link has looked just a little bit wrong at first blush, and I have no doubt that this iteration will one day fit perfectly into the rich history of heroes that have come before as just another amiibo on my shelf. But right now, he sticks out a little bit, and I’m enjoying the fleeting moments of novelty.
Link’s new design also injects a lot of mystery into the surrounding world. What will a Goron look like in this new realization of Hyrule? Will Ocarina’s horror elements like ReDeads and Wallmasters be too frightening for young kids to handle? Will Nintendo tone down the exaggerated nature of the Great Fairies, or lean into it? Attempting to extrapolate Link’s appearance onto the people, enemies, and villains of Hyrule is a fun thought exercise, and one we can only carry out in this brief window of time.
“Is it a full reimagining?”There’s lots of chatter over website descriptions using words like “timeless gameplay” and the debate of reborn vs. remaster vs. remake vs. reimagining, but I don’t think digging into the semantics is as valuable as just evaluating the trailer itself. Nintendo didn’t treat this reveal like any Zelda remaster it's shown off in the past.
Typically when Nintendo reissues a 3D Zelda, it sticks to a similar art style as the original and is very transparent up front about what we should expect: the same game design with updated graphics, controls, and a few improvements to clean up some outdated bits. They’ve followed this playbook for all five 3D Zelda remasters to this point, from Ocarina of Time 3D all the way to Skyward Sword HD. But Ocarina of Time on Switch 2 is breaking the trend. This reveal falls firmly in line with how Nintendo likes to reveal a new 3D Zelda – see the comparisons to Breath of the Wild and Twilight Princess’ initial reveals I discussed at the top – and I have a hard time believing Nintendo would give us such a hard tease for simply a faithful remake with a revamped art style.
I think it would be a failure in expectation management for Nintendo to drop a 90-second look that gets us asking dozens of questions, only to reveal two months later that it’s the same Ocarina of Time we’ve always known. Of course, I’d still personally be excited to play a modern version of one of my all-time favorite games in 4K with proper right stick camera control – something Ocarina of Time has never had in any of its iterations – but right now, I’m more excited thinking about what this could be: a full reimagining that brings the essence of the original into the modern day. I’m imagining a seamless world with no loading screens between areas; larger, more populated towns with unique Zoras and Gorons that don’t all look exactly the same as each other; a richer Hyrule Field that evokes the same feelings of scope and depth that the original did in 1998. The original will always exist, and there will always be ways to play it, so in my mind anything should be on the table to change in this new telling. But a lot of that will come down to who is actually handling development.
“Who is making it?”Nintendo has been frustratingly secretive the last few years over which team is developing upcoming games, and we have no indication of who is working on Ocarina of Time. If Nintendo is partnering with an external studio, as it’s doing with the upcoming Star Fox remake, then I highly doubt this is going to be much more than a 1:1 recreation from a gameplay perspective. Ocarina of Time is one of Nintendo’s most sacred creations, and I don’t think they’d fully trust a development partner to redefine it for the next generation.
My hope is that Nintendo is handling this one internally, and I have a theory about why Nintendo is choosing to revisit Ocarina at this exact time. Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma is 63 years old, and legendary Nintendo composer Koji Kondo is 65. Nintendo has a retirement age of sorts at 65 years old, at which point you pass your core development roles to the next in line. We’re seeing this with Takashi Tezuka’s recent retirement announcement, and although Shigeru Miyamoto is in his 70s, he hasn’t been hands-on in game development for several years.
Aonuma and Kondo both have deep ties to the original Ocarina of Time. For Aonuma, it was the first Zelda game he worked on, and he designed the dungeons that stand to this day as some of the best in the series. For Kondo, Ocarina of Time’s unforgettable soundtrack was his final solo composition. Since then, he’s always had at least one collaborator on each one of his credits. Is it possible that these two Nintendo legends are returning to Ocarina of Time as a victory lap of sorts before moving on from core development? Are they revisiting their most iconic work, and recreating it for the modern day? I sincerely hope so, and I can’t think of a more meaningful project to send off a pair of Nintendo greats.
There’s also a strong possibility that Monolith Soft is working on the remake. Monolith actually has three teams: the first works on the Xenoblade series like the upcoming Xenoblade Genesis, and the third is a smaller support team that helps with asset creation on Nintendo games like Mario Kart World and the Splatoon series. It’s the second team that’s the most interesting in this discussion. They’ve been assisting in the development of the Zelda series since Skyward Sword in 2011, and they’ve only grown in size as new games have become larger and more complex with Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. In recent interviews, Nintendo has gone on record saying it’d like to see Monolith start making more elements of the Zelda series from scratch, on their own.
Maybe, as Nintendo ramps up production on the followup to Tears of the Kingdom, Monolith is tackling this remake before they need to go all hands on deck for the next open world entry. And perhaps, recognizing that the dungeons have been one of the weakest elements of Zelda’s open air era, they’re using this opportunity to revisit some of the franchise’s all-time great puzzle boxes and consider how their design could be implemented in a more open format.
This is all conjecture, of course, but that’s kind of the whole point! I love that everything is a possibility right now, and I’m genuinely eager to see which of these guesses age well and which age terribly.
Ocarina of Time has been on my mind almost constantly since the remake’s reveal, and I suspect it will stay that way for much of the rest of 2026. I’ve been texting family and friends about it nearly nonstop, discussing theories and hopes, and sharing in the joy that one of the best games ever made is coming back in a new way. Nintendo is speedrunning a Zelda hype cycle over the next six months, and I’m so happy this is the way Ocarina of Time was revealed to us. I’m savoring sitting in the angst and excitement of the unknown as my brain churns nonstop to generate another angle while I watch the reveal trailer again and again. There’s no need to rush through the rare sensation of a Zelda reveal. We only get to do this so many times.
Logan Plant is the host of Nintendo Voice Chat and IGN's Database Manager & Playlist Editor. The Legend of Zelda is his favorite video game franchise of all time, and he is patiently awaiting the day Nintendo announces a brand new F-Zero. You can find new episodes of NVC every Friday on the IGN Games YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
Fall is already looking stacked with some exciting game releases. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is among the many games launching in that pre-GTA 6 period, dropping on October 23. If you can't wait to get your hands on it and see what Infinity Ward has been cooking up, preorders are now live for it at various retailers.
Here, we've broken down what editions are available to preorder, how much they cost, and what they come with. Pick up your preferred copy and be ready to roll on release day.
Preorder Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 – Standard EditionPS5 (Physical)
See at Amazon - $69See at Walmart - $69See at GameStop - $69.99See at Target - $69.99Xbox Series X (Physical)
See at Amazon - $69.99See at Walmart - $69See at GameStop - $69.99See at Target - $69.99Digital
See at PlayStation Store - $69.99See at Xbox - $69.99PC
See at Amazon - $69.99See at Steam - $69.99The Standard Edition of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is available to preorder for $69.99 across physical and digital formats. It also comes with a preorder bonus, which you can learn more about below, but some retailers are actually offering their own extras if you buy through them.
Amazon, for instance, is offering a preorder bonus of 5 hours of Double XP. GameStop is another offering its own exclusive preorder bonus in the form of a Steel Trading Card. If these have caught your interest, it's worth keeping in mind while you're shopping around.
For those curious about a Switch 2 version of this year's COD, a post from Activision details that, "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is also launching on Nintendo Switch 2, with preorders coming later this year." This marks the series' debut on a Switch system. Unfortunately, Modern Warfare 4 will not be coming to previous-gen consoles and will not be available on Game Pass at launch.
Preorder Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 – Steelbook EditionPS5 (Physical)
See at Best Buy - $69.99Xbox Series X (Physical)
See at Best Buy - $69.99Best Buy is really going all-out for the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. The retailer is offering a steelbook edition of the game that's priced $69.99, the same as the standard edition. This version also comes with a preorder bonus, which you can learn more about below.
Preorder Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 – Vault EditionDigital
See at PlayStation Store - $99.99See at Xbox - $99.99PC
See at Amazon - $99.99See at Steam - $99.99Vault Edition Upgrade
See at Xbox - $30See at Steam - $30The Vault Edition of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is a digital purchase that's priced at $99.99. It's full of bonuses alongside the base game, including:
Early access to the Open BetaHunter Killer Operator SkinHostile Alliance Operator PackSpecial Forces Operator PackSignature Weapon CollectionBlackCell (One Season)DMZ Deployment BonusGet 10% off a Preorder of the Vault EditionYou can also score a 10% discount when preordering the Vault Edition (not the upgrade) if you "digitally or physically owned and played a premium Call of Duty title dating back to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), or have played one of these titles via Game Pass and have an active Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, or PC subscription," according to Call of Duty's website.
The website continues on to say that the discount is, "only available at checkout if you pre-order or pre-purchase Modern Warfare 4 on the same gaming platform and with the same platform account used for the previous qualifying title." Here are the games that can qualify you for this discount:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered (2020)Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold WarCall of Duty: VanguardCall of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022)Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023)Call of Duty: Black Ops 6Call of Duty: Black Ops 7Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Preorder Bonus
No matter which version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 you preorder, you'll get early access to the Open Beta. For those who decide to get a physical copy, you will "receive a Beta registration code from their retailer when preordering. Beta registration codes can be redeemed at callofduty.com/redeem", per Activision's website. Those who opt for a digital copy will be automatically registered for the Open Beta.
Those who preorder a digital edition of the game will also get early access to the campaign, starting on October 16. That's not all, either. Digital shoppers also get the Hunter Killer Operator Skin, which you can see below, to use "in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and Call of Duty: Warzone" according to Activision. It will also be available in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 when it launches.
What Is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4?Developed by Infinity Ward, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is the next entry in the Call of Duty franchise. As for what the campaign has in store, Call of Duty's website says: "War erupts on the Korean Peninsula as North Korea launches a full-scale invasion that threatens to destabilize the world. A young squad of South Korean soldiers fight to survive on the collapsing front lines, while half a world away a vengeful Captain Price wages a personal war from the shadows as he stays one step ahead of those hunting him."
If you're curious about multiplayer, IGN's Mark Medina tested it out in his first impressions preview and said, "the impression that sticks isn’t just that MW4 is bigger or flashier, it’s that it finally feels like Infinity Ward had the space to build the version of Call of Duty multiplayer they’ve been edging toward for years, without constantly trimming it down on account of last-gen console limitations."
Other Preorder GuidesHannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.
GTA Online is getting its next big update in just a few weeks.
The new update, known as The Kortz Center Heist, will let players ransack Los Santos' most prestigious art gallery. The building has been in GTA 5 since launch, but has largely been unused for any significant content outside of a standoff between various law enforcement agencies in the story mode. It's never had an accessible interior, and there's not much reason to go visit it, but that will all change in July.
If it's anything like other GTA Online updates, this will likely be quite expansive and feature new vehicles, weapons, clothing, and potentially, gameplay mechanics. Previous heists are also highly replayable thanks to different approaches, which allow you to take on these high-risk jobs in a wide variety of ways. Details are still scarce on what exactly the update will feature beyond this heist, but Rockstar will likely give fans a rundown a few days before it launches.
Fans may also want to start preparing, as you'll need a fair bit of money and assets to partake in this heist. Players will need to own one of the mansions that were added in the last major GTA Online update, as the mansion's art studio will be renovated into a heist planning room. If you don't have a mansion yet or you're broke, Rockstar will be offering ways to earn bonus GTA$ in the coming weeks. Additionally, GTA+ members will be able to get a $2 million discount on the mansions very soon.
Finally, if you're still playing the Xbox One or PS4 versions of GTA Online, Rockstar is giving you a free upgrade to the current-gen versions of the game. All in all, it seems like a perfect time to jump back into GTA Online if you've played it before, especially as anticipation builds for GTA 6's release this November.
Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN's news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
Ubisoft has detailed the full list of achievements available in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, and stated that all will be available offline after the game's installation is complete.
This is perhaps not too surprising as Black Flag Resynced will be an entirely single-player experience (the original game's multiplayer offering has not made the leap to this remake), but notable perhaps due to Ubisoft's previous form of sunsetting games like The Crew.
The same lengthy list of in-game awards will be available to unlock across platforms, so will be offered as Steam achievements, Xbox achievements and PlayStation trophies, Ubisoft said in a blog post via Steam.
No achievement can be missed during your explorations of the Caribbean, Ubisoft has said, with awards instead geared towards marking fun or unique activities in the open world. All achievements are also available at any in-game difficulty setting.
Personal favorites on the list here include "Edward Catway," which seems to reward feline lack of care for property by breaking 50 potted plants, and "Friend to All," which will pop when you interact with all seven types of friendly animal. (Yes, you can pet the cow.)
Here's the full list of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced achievements for you to begin hunting down when the game arrives on July 9:
Visible AchievementsKing of the Castle - Capture all fortsThe Memory of My Enemy - Display all character portraits in the Great Inagua mansionDilettante - Fill all Art Collection and Equipment slots in the Great Inagua manorGovernor - Restore all buildings in the Great Inagua villageZero Waste - Restore a map from map piecesGrandmaster - Win at each of the different tavern gamesArticles Of Agreement - Ensure the survival of all pirates in a street fightAmong Thieves - Unlock a smuggler's chestHelp A Brother Out - Complete a Templar Hunt sequenceSeven Deadly Seas - Find all treasure chests in underwater shipwrecksSilence, Fool! - Kill a guard ringing a bellMatador - Dodge three charge attacks from a Wild PigPerfect Predator - Get a perfect harpoon shot on a Great White SharkDouble Tap - Parry 2 Ocelots in rapid successionOwned - Complete every activity in a single locationThe Hangman - Kill 10 enemies by hanging them with the rope dartCaught 'Em All - Catch at least 5 enemies within a single smoke bombGun-kata - Use pistols to kill 4 enemies in a row within five secondsBacks To The Wall - Kill an enemy with a wall takedownLet Me Explain - After a perfect parry, perform a total of 4 takedownsOverdesign IV - Kick a berserk enemy caught in smoke off a shipLively Havana - Get a tour of Havana (complete Sequence 2, Memory 1)All Hands On Deck - Recruit all OfficersCollective Madness - Add one of each ship class to Kenway's fleetStrike The Colors - Board a Lead Convoy shipUnsinkable - Survive a rogue wave taken from the sideYo Ho… - Learn a new shantyReturn The Favor - Dash ram a ramming BrigHunter Hunted - Defeat a Pirate Hunter when at max Wanted levelDevil Of The Caribbean - Defeat all legendary shipsOld Ironsides - Perform 3 perfect bracesNot So Little Friend - Unlock the secondary firing mode on a Jackdaw weaponDressing Overall - Equip new cosmetics in each of the Jackdaw's vanity slotsSmooth Operator - Craft an ItemBusiness And Pleasure - Earn 50,000 RealesShip This - Fully upgrade the JackdawGlutton for Nourishment - Consume 20 food itemsFriend To All - Interact with all 7 friendly animalsDavy Jones's Locker - Swim to the lowest point in the mapCartographer - Visit every location in the gameEdward Catway - Break 50 potted plantsEd the Diver - Swim a total of 1000m undrwater, excluding underwater shipwrecksHidden AchievementsLast To LeaveA Poxy BirdWalls That Hold Back The WindIn A World Without GoldEver A SplinterHungoverBlow the Man DownTom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Primary Portal Games
World of Warcraft
Sturmgrenadier is more organised, more active, and more structured than most guilds you would come across in WoW. We believe this gives us a distinct advantage in being the best guild we can be for our members, because everyone knows where they stand, and are treated equally. Players with negative attitudes will not be tolerated. That means that there is no epeen measuring, no belittling of other players, and no trolling.
EVE
EVE Online is Sturmgrenadier’s longest-played game, with over 16 years of continuous influence throughout New Eden. Traditional hallmarks of our gaming syndicate; organization and leadership, have propelled our in-game history to include participation in many of the defining moments of EvE gameplay.
New World
New World is an upcoming massively multiplayer online role-playing video game by Amazon Game Studios set to release in May 2020. Set in the mid-1600s, players colonize a fictional land modeled after British America in the Atlantic Ocean. Players scavenge resources, craft items, and fight other players.
Coming Soon!
Game is in early Alpha/Beta.
Join us and get involved early!
Other Games we PLay
