Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Just Keeps Growing In Size, And Players Aren’t Happy

Since launch, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has been steadily growing in size thanks to its frequent, large updates. Following this week’s latest patch and additional content DLC owners of the game, Modern Warfare no occupies close to 200GB on any given platform.

Modern Warfare on PC currently takes about just over 180GB of hard-drive space, while ringing in at just over 185GB on PS4 and Xbox One. This follows two patches that went live on April 28. On PC these were combined into a single 32GB download, while it was split into a 12GB title update and additional 18GB DLC download on consoles. Warzone players on console could skip the latter of the two, reducing their overall download requirement and file size.

Downloading big updates has become normal for Modern Warfare players, so much so that developer Infinity Ward addressed it specifically in February. During the lead up to Season 2, Infinity Ward stressed that the large update size at the time (in excess of 50GB) would help reduce update sizes in the future, while also improving the game’s overall footprint on your hard drive. While 32GB is smaller, the game’s growing size is concerning, especially as it inches closer towards 50% of the total internal capacity of both the PS4 and Xbox One S.

Prior to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare launching, Infinity Ward shared the PC requirements for the shooter, which included a recommended hard drive partition of 175GB. At the time Infinity Ward explained that this was to ensure future content updates had space to exist, but that estimate has already been exceeded following this week’s patch.

It’s leading to a lot of frustration from players, especially when Infinity Ward isn’t being clear as to why the game requires more and more space on consoles and PC alike. But if you plan on continuing you play online, there’s no other option. We’ve reached out to Activision for comment on Modern Warfare’s on-going update situation.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons Rendered Inaccurate By Dino Discovery

Animal Crossing: New Horizons isn’t an “edutainment” game, but your submissions to Blathers’ museum do carry a lot of real educational value. Both in the owl curator’s explanation and the museum placards, you can learn a lot of interesting details on the donated fish, bugs, and dinosaur fossils. But science can be tricky, and a new dinosaur discovery has rendered one of the Animal Crossing fossils outdated.

As reported by Science News, archeologists recently found the most complete tail bone of a spinosaurus ever recovered. And it shows that the spinosaurus tail was actually much wider than previously believed, making the dinosaur an excellent swimmer comparable to a crocodile.

Amused Animal Crossing fans quickly noticed this doesn’t match up with the spinosaurus fossil found in the game, with its distinctly un-paddle-like tail.

A Spinosaurus fossil in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
A Spinosaurus fossil in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

It’s hard to blame Nintendo. After all, science is a moving target, especially when it comes to piecing together pieces of the historical record through fossils. Our perceptions of plenty of dinosaurs have changed over the years, perhaps most famously when we learned that the brontosaurus didn’t even exist. Still, it’s surprising for one of the depictions to become inaccurate after only a month.

Aside from the fossils, bugs, and fish, the museum recently added a new wing in its latest update: fine art. That wing opens up after you donate your first piece of artwork procured from Jolly Redd, a shady fox who visits your town in his rickety old boat. A big part of finding art is telling the real masterpieces from the forgeries. Like other artifacts you can give to Blathers’ museum, donating legit pieces will treat you to some interesting facts about the piece.

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The Last Of Us Part 2’s Ellie Edition Is Suddenly Back In Stock

[Update: The Ellie Edition is once again sold out. You can check out our The Last of Us Part 2 pre-order guide for more info on its other editions or just pre-order the standard edition, which still includes the game’s pre-order bonuses.]

The Last of Us Part 2 has several special editions for PS4, but none of them have been as coveted as the $230 Ellie Edition, the most prestigious version. The Ellie Edition has been sold out since it was first announced, with one restock back in February that quickly ran out again. If you’ve been wanting to get your hands on the edition, you have another chance, as GameStop just opened pre-orders for the Ellie Edition again. We expect they’ll sell out again quickly, so take advantage of this restock while it’s available.

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The Ellie Edition comes with a slew of physical and digital goodies along with a copy of the base game, including a full-sized recreation of Ellie’s backpack, a 7-inch vinyl record, a 12-inch Ellie statue, a replica of her bracelet, a collectible steelbook, and more. You’ll also get the in-game pre-order bonuses: an ammo capacity upgrade and crafting training manual.

Here’s everything the Ellie Edition comes with:

  • Base game and any applicable pre-order bonuses
  • Full-sized recreation of Ellie’s backpack
  • Embroidered patch
  • 7″ vinyl record with original music
  • 12″ Ellie statue
  • Life-sized replica of Ellie’s bracelet
  • Collectible steelbook
  • 48-page mini art book from Dark Horse
  • Set of six enamel pins
  • Lithograph art print
  • Set of five stickers
  • PSN Dynamic Theme
  • Six PSN avatars
  • Digital soundtrack
  • Digital version of the mini art book

The Last of Us Part 2 will now release on June 19 for PS4, PlayStation announced this week. This comes after an announcement in early April that the game was delayed indefinitely due to logistical issues stemming from COVID-19. The new June release date is possible due to “an ease in the global distribution environment,” according to a PlayStation blog post.

See our The Last of Us Part 2 pre-order guide for more information on the game’s other special editions and pre-order bonuses.

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Rocket League Brings Back Limited-Time Modes For The Month Of May

Developer Psyonix has announced that some of Rocket League‘s more-recent limited-time modes, such as Beach Ball and Heatseeker, will return in a month-long event on all platforms starting this May.

The car soccer game will hold a Modes of May event, a special month-long showcase that kicks off on Friday, May 1 with Dropshot Rumble. The LTE, which runs from May 1-4, combines “the action of Dropshot enhanced by the zany power-ups from Rumble.” Modes of May will swap the modes each weekend in the month.

Beach Ball, an LTE where two teams of two contend with a ball that curves and floats around the field, comes back on May 7. May 14 will see Boomer Ball return, though Psyonix said “more [information] on that [mode]” will be revealed as we get closer to the date. Finally, wrapping up Modes of May is Heatseeker on May 21, a fast-paced 3v3 mode where the ball functions as a homing missile and gains speed after every touch.

Each LTE begins at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 4 PM GMT on their respective start dates and concludes at the same time on their end date. Check below for Modes of May’s full schedule.

Rocket League’s Modes of May Schedule

  • May 1-4: Dropshot Rumble
  • May 7-11: Beach Ball
  • May 14-18: Boomer Ball
  • May 21-26: Heatseeker

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New Assassin’s Creed Setting Being Revealed On A Stream

Ubisoft has kicked off a stream that will reveal the setting of the next Assassin’s Creed game. Interestingly, the setting will be revealed via a unique piece of artwork produced by BossLogic, an acclaimed artist known for his awesome Street Fighter pieces and, more recently, his collaborations with Marvel and DC.

BossLogic will be streaming his progress and, by the end of the showcase, we’ll know where the new Assassin’s Creed will take place. Those who watch the official stream on Twitch have a chance to earn a drop for a future Assassin’s Creed skin. However, the event can also be seen on Mixer, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.

We’re currently a few hours into the stream and the setting hasn’t been fully revealed, but the artwork shows a few notable points. On one side of a silhouetted figure is an icy sea and some ships, while on the other is a land-based battle scene with a castle in the background. This may be indicating the rumored Viking setting, but we’ll have to wait for the stream to finish to know for sure.

The Assassin’s Creed franchise underwent a drastic evolution with Assassin’s Creed Origins. The game, which was set in ancient Egypt, took on more role-playing design elements. Most notably, it introduced a large number of quests that players could choose to undertake. Its follow up, 2018’s Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, built on this with more intricate systems, a vast open-world, and multiple protagonists, among many other additions. Ubisoft then skipped releasing a new mainline entry in 2019.

Given Ubisoft’s investment in the technology powering this new iteration of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, it’s likely this new game will bear some similarities to Origins and Odyssey, with some fresh twists of its own. It’s unclear the extent of this reveal, and if we’ll get a glimpse at gameplay or some sort of story tease, but we’ll keep you updated with more information as it becomes available.

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Next Assassin’s Creed Setting Being Revealed Today

The setting for the next Assassin’s Creed game – rumoured to be set in the Viking era – will be revealed in a stream today.

Ubisoft has kicked off a stream hosted by digital artist Bosslogic, who’ll create a “unique art piece” that will reveal the setting. We’ll be updating this post as the day goes on, noting anything we learn from the art below.

You can watch the stream on Twitter, Mixer, YouTube and Facebook and Twitch.

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Update 1 – 6am PT: The image is now clearly in two halves, showing a frozen-looking shore on the left, and a more vibrant countryside on the right. That could signify the Vikings’ raiding journeys from Scandinavia to warmer countries in the south.

The first major addition to the image is a large stone castle, which would seem to lend some credence to the idea of an Assassin’s Creed game set in the Middle Ages – although stone castles first emerged in Europe towards the very end of the Viking Age, around 1,000 CE.

assassins creed castle

Update 2 – 7.50 PT: The left side of the image now features a couple of boats that look very much like Viking longships, while the right side features a battle between two differently armoured sides. A Viking game feels more and more likely.

assassin's creed longships

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The next Assassin’s Creed game is widely rumoured to centre around Vikings, so we could potentially see a Middle Ages setting emerge over the course of the stream – the Viking Age is a time period lasting from 800 CE to 1066 CE. Rumours have suggested that the game is subtitled (or code named) Kingdom or Ragnarok.

The Division 2 may have already teased that setting, given it included Assassin’s Creed’s Apple of Eden artifact placed suspiciously close to the word ‘Valhalla’.

If that does turn out to be the case we’d be in favour of that move, as we think a Viking-based game could bring the franchise full circle.

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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News, and he wants to go to Jorvik Viking Centre as research. Follow him on Twitter.

Fortnite Datamine Suggests Non-Combat Event Is on the Way

A new Fortnite datamine has unearthed a new map and what appears to be a Limited Time Mode in which players simply hang out and don’t fight each other.

Prolific Fortnite leaker Twitter account ShiinbaBR has posted several Tweets, one of which includes a look at a new map called Papaya, as well as a series of 9 communication emotes that are reportedly designed for the new map. Those emotes include the likes of nodding and shaking your head, waving, sitting, cheering, and waving a phone – all very much non-combat gestures.

ShiinbaBR also posted descriptions of two new Limited Time Modes. Party Royale allows players to “hang out with friends, play games, perfect your skydive and more” and asks you to leave your “weapons and mats behind”. Operation Payload is an escort mode with push/stop mechanics, where players can switch roles and choose “tech” each round.

The Papaya map image features a variety of location icons that all suggest non-violent activities, such as races, skydiving, soccer, and boating, which may mean these are the things available to do in Party Royale mode. It’s unclear if Operation Payload is a non-violent mode or not, but the description suggests it could favour tech over weapons.

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Fortnite’s update 12.50 goes live today, April 29, and so it should not be long before we see these elements materialise (provided ShiinbaBR remains as accurate as they have been).

For more from Fortnite, check out its latest event which featured a Travis Scott concert attended by 12.3 million players, and when you can expect Fortnite Chapter 2 – Season 3 to begin.

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Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter

Trials of Mana PC Demo Pulled After Players Accessed Full Game

The PC demo for Trials of Mana has been pulled from Steam after an exploit was found that let players access the full game from within.

The news was revealed in an announcement post on the Trials of Mana Steam Community page, where the developers didn’t address the specifics of the exploit, citing “unforeseen circumstances” as the reason behind taking the demo down. In the comments below, many users are pointing out that hackers were able to bypass the restrictions of the demo to play the full game. There is no mention of a revised release date for the demo, but the developers made note that they “hope to have it back up again very soon.”

Player progression within the now-pulled demo will be carried over into the new revision, so you can get back to where you left off once Square Enix fixes the exploit. If you own a PS4 or Nintendo Switch, you could play the demo on those platforms instead for the time being.

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It’s important to note that the game is already available on PC, PS4 and Nintendo Switch – it launched on April 24th, last week, and this exploit was caught after the game’s release.

It’s not clear at time of writing how players were using the demo version to play the full game, but many comments make mention of Denuvo anti-tamper, a DRM (digital rights management) solution.

This isn’t the first instance of a demo being taken down due to an exploit leading players to the full game – back in 2018, Sega was forced to spike the demo for Yakuza 6: The Song of Life from the US PlayStation Store after users were exploiting it to access the full game. For more on Trials of Mana, check out our review, which we called “a great remake of a 16-bit classic.”

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.