UFL Is a New Soccer Game Looking to Take on FIFA’s Dominance

UFL is a new soccer game aiming to take on the genre’s core games, FIFA and eFootball. It will be available for free on all major gaming consoles.

Announced during Gamescom‘s Opening Night Live, UFL is a football simulation set up as a global online football league in which “players will be able to create their own football clubs made up of more than 5000 licensed footballers and compete with other gamers worldwide to prove their skills and climb to the very top of the league.”

It comes from a new studio, Strikerz Inc., which has been developing the game for five years already. The game was introduced as “Fair to play”, with an emphasis on player skill, and no pay-to-win elements. It is being developed in Unreal Engine, and a release date will be announced “soon”.

“We are football fans and passionate gamers — we have been playing football video games for years and we know exactly what people want to see in a football simulator,” said CEO Eugene Nashilov in a press release. “We want to reinvent football video gaming from the ground up, offering players around the world a revolutionary, exciting and fair to play experience. We can’t wait to share more about the game.”

Players will be rated in-game based on partnerships with sports performance analysis company InStat, and player union FIFPRO is providing player likenesses and licenses.

Riders Republic Public Beta Now Open to Everyone

Ubisoft’s Riders Republic just wrapped up a public beta that was limited to a selection of registered players, but during Gamescom’s Opening Night Live stream, it was revealed that the beta is now open to everyone from now until August 28 on PC and console.

This comes ahead of its release later this year, which was delayed from September to October 28. It was last seen at Ubisoft Forward during E3 2021, where we had a glimpse at trick battles, free-for-all multiplayer, and its sprawling, activity-filled map.

Bo Moore is IGN’s Executive Tech Editor. You can find him on Twitter @Usebomswisely.

Splitgate Season 0 Update Live Now, Adds Battle Pass and New Mode

A trailer revealed during Gamescom’s Opening Night Live showcase announced that Splitgate’s Season 0 update has gone live today, bringing new content and a new mode to its first official competitive season.

The update adds a new map called Karman Station, a 100 level Battle Pass full of items and currency to earn, new cosmetics, and a brand new mode called Contamination. It also brings season-long challenges to complete, some of which will be available for free and others that will be exclusive to Battle Pass owners

Contamination is a mode that will be familiar to arena shooter fans, and it’s Splitgate’s first asymmetrical mode. Two teams face off, with one being a smaller “contaminated” team that can only use melee weapons. When the contaminated side gets a kill, the dead player will respawn as a member of that team, growing the imbalance toward the other direction.

The Season 0 update comes after Splitgate’s unexpectedly explosive success on console, which came years after a less stellar PC launch. It also follows last week’s news that the console version would stay in open beta indefinitely after a last minute delay of its full release late last month.

April ONeil is a Playable Character in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

April O’Neil is a playable character in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, it was announced tonight at Gamescom’s Opening Night Live.

The microphone-wielding journalist will kick ass alongside the turtles in the retro throwback TMNT game for PC and Nintendo Switch. Alongside her martial arts moves, she can also revive the turtles through the ‘power of pizza’.

Like the arcade game of yore, Shredder’s Revenge is a 4-player co-op side-scrolling brawler. Developer Tribute Games is bringing back a pixelated look for Shredder’s Revenge and you can expect to fight your way through faithful New York locations while taking on the villainous Foot Clan.

This is just one of the many Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle projects in the works including a new show and movie. Check out IGN’s rundown of every TMNT project currently in development.

Persona 5’s Morgana Rolls Into Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania – Gamescom 2021

What do Sonic the Hedgehog, Beat from Jet Set Radio, Kazuma Kiryu, and now Morgana from Persona 5 have in common, aside from being Sega characters? They’ve all been shrunk down and packed into little balls, with Morgana announced today as joining the crew of Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania.

At Gamescom Opening Night Live, we got a look at the (not a cat) character Morgana bouncing around Monkey Ball stages, collecting treasure chests (not bananas) and finishing levels. A second trailer showed off the full cast and its twelve party games, including Monkey Target and Monkey Soccer.

Though Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is out on October 5, Morgana will not be in the game at launch. Instead, he will be a part of a post-launch DLC coming to all platforms on November 2 for $4.99. More character additions are planned to be announced in the coming weeks.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is just one of a number of games to get new trailers and announcements at Gamescom Opening Night Live today. You can follow this and IGN’s other Gamescom coverage over the rest of the week right here.

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

Lord Of The Rings: Rise To War Release Date Is September 23

The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War, a new mobile game set in Middle-earth, will launch on September 23, publisher NetEase has announced. This release date applies to Europe, America, Oceania, and Southeast Asia.

September 23 is very close to a memorable date in Middle-earth history, as one day prior–September 22–is the shared birthday of the legendary hobbits Bilbo and Frodo. You can pre-register for Rise to War right now for iOS and Android. The registration page also lets you align with a particular faction like Gondor, Rohan, or Mordor, among others.

As announced previously, Rise to War is mobile strategy game that is set in the Third Age of Middle-earth. The game aims to be “visually stunning and completely faithful,” NetEase said in a press release. It features “iconic characters and locations” from The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. It’s set in the Third Age, which is a 3000-year period that culminated with the defeat of Sauron at the end of the War for the Ring.

The key art for Rise to War shows the city of Minas Tirith under siege by Sauron's forces.
The key art for Rise to War shows the city of Minas Tirith under siege by Sauron’s forces.

If a mobile strategy game doesn’t sound like your kind of thing, there are multiple other new Lord of the Rings video games in the works, including a new title focused on Gollum set for 2022. The longrunning MMO The Lord of the Rings Online is reportedly coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S with a number of next-gen enhancements. Amazon’s Lord of the Rings MMO, however, is not moving forward.

Jason Momoa Confirms His Buddy Cop Movie With Dave Bautista Is Happening

Dave Bautista recently pitched a Lethal Weapon-style buddy cop movie with himself and Jason Momoa in the lead roles. This took off on social media, but many were wondering if it was just a pie in the sky idea or if it might actually happen. Well, Momoa has now said plans may actually be in place to make this movie. Speaking to James Corden, Momoa said it’s “off to the races” for the untitled new film.

Momoa is not on Twitter, but Bautista texted him with his idea–and it didn’t take long, apparently, to get the ball rolling.

“He literally texted me about four days ago going, ‘We need to do a buddy cop film.’ We love each other; we met on See. We’re on Dune together. I said, ‘Absolutely.’ He’s like, ‘Let’s do it in Hawaii.’ And I’m like, ‘Let’s do it, I’m like, I’ve got an idea.’ So it’s off to the races now. We’re doing it.”

The movie pitch sells itself, Momoa said. “It sells itself. Dave loves wearing Speedos, I love wearing board shorts, both of us with our shirts off. Buddy cop film. He’ll be grumpy and I’ll be charming. Boom–it sells itself,” he said. “I’ve got the hair, he doesn’t have hair. We’ve covered all the demographics.”

In his tweet, Bautista said he would want Davie Leitch to direct the buddy cop film, but whether or not that happens remains to be seen. Leitch directed Deeadpool 2 and Hobbs & Shaw, and he has multiple projects in the works right now such as the star-studded Bullet Train and Fast and Loose starring Will Smith.

NHL 22 Gameplay Reveal Coming Thursday

EA Sports will reveal the first gameplay footage for NHL 22 this Thursday, August 26, the developer has announced. Ahead of that, you can check out the teaser below that shows off some of the professional hockey game’s improved graphics and animations. In particular, the ice seems to shine brighter and look crisper for this year’s game, while the animations look quite smooth.

NHL 22 is the first game in the series to run on the Frostbite engine, and this applies to both the PS5/Xbox Series X|S edition and the last-gen version.

NHL 22 was recently announced by EA Sports. It features Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews on the cover again after he last appeared on NHL 20’s cover. Outside of the upgrade to Frostbite, NHL 22 also adds X-Factor abilities for the league’s best players, borrowing an idea from Madden.

NHL 22 launches worldwide on October 15. There is the standard edition and the X-Factor Edition, which comes with dual entitlement to the game across generations of consoles. The premium edition also unlocks three days early (October 12) and comes with HUT packs.

For lots, lots more on NHL 22, check out GameSpot’s in-depth NHL 22 preview.

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Bungie’s 30th Anniversary Store Looks Amazing

Bungie is celebrating its 30th anniversary right now with a range of commemorative merchandise, but it’s the store page’s retro splash artwork that really caught our attention. The faux-webpage takes fans back not quite 30 years, but to the earliest days of Bungie’s web presence, with a 1997-era Bungie Store.

The webpage directs customers to place their orders through fax, phone, mail or email, with listings for compact discs, hats, posters, t-shirts, and Bungie’s iconic 90s-era game bundle, the Mac Action Sack (selling for a bargain of $777,777.77). Wrapped in classic 90s web design, the splash page is full of lovely little easter eggs for retro gamers–sadly none of the links are actually functional though, clicking on any of the links will take you straight to the actual store page.

The actual sale sadly isn’t offering the Mac Action Pack, but you can grab yourself a range of commemorative clothing, a poster, water bottle, mug, or a selection of pins.

Destiny 2 players will be receiving a 30th anniversary gift from Bungie free of charge, when the 30th anniversary pack drops. The pack includes a new pirate-themed dungeon, a Thorn-inspired armor set, and more items and cosmetics themed after Bungie and its various titles.

The Matrix: Resurrections Title Confirmed, Trailer Details Revealed

The next Matrix movie is titled The Matrix: Resurrections. The title was announced alongside the first trailer for the upcoming film at CinemaCon, the annual convention for the National Association of Theatre Owners in Las Vegas.

The Matrix: Resurrections is the fourth movie in the sci-fi series, and it hits theaters and HBO Max on December 22. While this is the first official confirmation of the movie’s title, it had been rumored for several months. Back in February, a Reddit user leaked a video allegedly posted by a makeup artist on the movie that revealed that the title was The Matrix: Resurrections.

As for the trailer, although it hasn’t been released to the public yet, reports have filtered back about what it contains from those lucky enough to have seen it at CinemaCon.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the trailer opens with Thomas Anderson/Neo (Keanu Reeves) living back in the “real” world, with no knowledge that the simulation of the Matrix exists. He discusses experiencing strange dreams with a therapist played by Neil Patrick Harris, and encounters Trinity (Carrie Anne Moss) in a coffee shop–but neither have any memory of the other. Anderson meets a man, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who gives Anderson a red pill. From there the trailer delivers various spectacular-sounding action scenes, including Neo stopping missiles with his mind and he and Trinity jumping between skyscrapers.

The Matrix: Resurrections also stars Jessica Henwick (Iron Fist, Underwater), Ellen Hollman (Spartacus), Jonathan Groff (Mindhunter), Priyanka Chopra (We Can Be Heroes), and Daniel Bernhardt (Birds of Prey). It’s directed by Lana Wachowski, who co-directed the previous three movies with her sister Lilly.