Players may see crossplay options on the same day as the expansion, but it won’t be active. On November 10th, Stage 1 will begin and apply to PC players, who will only play with each other. Console players will be migrated in, and once everything is seemingly stable, crossplay should be available as intended.

Clans should migrate seamlessly, and new leaderboards will be available. If you’re partial to any existing records, better record them now while there’s still time.

As for Echoes of Central Park, the next paid expansion for the looter shooter, it’s looking to be quite a sizable experience and not just because it’s twice the size of Battle for Brooklyn. A new campaign will be available alongside the addition of Upper West Side and Central Park, the latter serving as the site for the new endgame experience.

And while you’ll have new gear, weapons and the Ratel Exotic to look forward to, perhaps the biggest addition is the three new companions. Each has different abilities, though how their stories play out remains to be seen.

While you’ll be dealing with the Cleaners and the returning Black Tusk, three new companions – Brayleigh Callahan, Elwood Franklin and Morse Feeney – accompany you through this darker tale, each with “powerful” abilities. You’ll also discover six new skill variants, a new Exotic weapon (the Ratel) and gear, and a “replayable endgame experience” in Central Park.

It essentially involves entering the location without guidance and collecting gear while being hunted throughout. Equip yourself well enough and eventually, you can mount an offensive. An intriguing set-up that definitely encourages different ways to play. If that wasn’t enough, it also includes additional stash space and a level 40 boost.

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, Xbox One, and PS4. It’s currently in the middle of Season 3: Red Horizon, which introduces the new Blackout Dark Zone. Head here for more details.

As much as we’d like to ignore the downside to such a noble sentiment, it looks like the game’s going to need a PC with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 if you’re looking to run it in 4K at 60 fps and Ultra settings (with the upscaler set to Quality), which isn’t a bad idea at all if you’ve got a display for it. That’s a rather hefty requirement on the GPU front for a title you wouldn’t expect it from, especially when you notice that you can get away with a Core i5-9400 or Ryzen 5 3600 for a CPU.

The good news is that you have a few options to render the game at lower resolutions and upscale them, according to the infographic below. However you choose to play it, this one’s looking like it’s going to be so darn fun you might even forget to stop and gawk at the sights when it launches on December 3rd for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2.

“Odd sort of non-announcement but for the past few months I’ve been working on Beyond Good & Evil 2 in a support/consultant role. I am allowed to say this, I checked.”

Godwin has worked on a number of titles during his time at Ubisoft, including Assassin’s Creed Shadows and the Last Rites DLC for open-world squad shooter Ghost Recon Wildlands. Outside of the company, he has also worked on Harmony: The Fall of Reverie, Battlestar Galactica Scattered Hopes, and Atlas Fallen, among other projects.

For its part, Ubisoft has been largely quiet about Beyond Good and Evil 2, with the project’s last mention coming all the way back in January when creative director Fawzi Mesmar confirmed that it had not been affected by the company’s restructuring efforts.

“Thank you for everyone who has reached out to me over the past few days in regards to recent news at Ubisoft,” wrote Mesmar on LinkedIn at the time. “Myself, my team and our project Beyond Good and Evil 2 are unaffected by the recent changes.”

“Needless to say, I am saddened by the cancellations that has affected my colleagues in other parts of Ubisoft and the industry. I urge everyone – myself included – to offer support whenever and however they can during these times.“

It is worth noting that Ubisoft first announced Beyond Good and Evil 2 all the way back in 2008. Since then, the project seems to have gone through a number of iterations, and if it manages to avoid cancelation at any point, will end up being the game with the longest development period in gaming history. While there were plenty of concerns about the project considering its rumored development budget of over $500 million at this point, Ubisoft has said that it remains a major priority.

“Beyond Good and Evil will be part of Creative House 4, dedicated to immersive fantasy worlds and narrative-driven universes. Beyond Good and Evil 2 remains a priority for us in the context of our strategy centered around Open World Adventures.”

The closest thing to a development update by Ubisoft came back in June 2024 when the company took to social media to reassure fans that it is “still in development”. This statement came shortly before the release of Beyond Good and Evil 20th Anniversary Edition for PC, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.

For more details about the original title’s remastered release, take a look at our review, where we gave it a score of 8 out of 10 thanks to how well it preserved the vibrant setting, engaging story, and the solid cast of characters. We noted, however, that issues like unengaging combat and frustrating stealth sections still plague the release.

Odd sort of non-announcement but for the past few months I've been working on Beyond Good & Evil 2 in a support/consultant role.I am allowed to say this, I checked.

— Rik Godwin (@rikgodwin.bsky.social) 2026-09-22T15:52:54.827Z

TechRadar’s conversation with Loïc Gounon, the game’s brand producer, is emphatic that Rayman could make a grand comeback, with this remake potentially marking the start of a new chapter for the character. “The plan was that we want to restart the franchise,” he said, leading to the creation of a new engine and a new team approaching the project to give it a fresh spin.

That’s looking like a successful effort if that glimpse we got of the game last week is a showcase of what the full release is putting on the table when we dive in, and we’re rooting for this one thanks to Rayman being a part of all our childhoods.

Of course, we’re going to dive in to find out if this one’s a potential franchise restarter when it releases on December 3rd, after the team puts some additional polish on it to make it as appealing as it can be. Given the new stakes that this remake carries, we’re more than happy to let them cook if it contributes to the start of a new beginning for the limbless wonder.

Based on the acclaimed 2013 platformer, Retold offers more fully 3D gameplay, including Dragon Rides, where players travel from one location to another via dragon flight, avoiding obstacles along the way. The other new addition is the Land of the Livid Dead, a new realm where the big bad seemingly awaits. By harnessing the new Fairy Radiance ability, players can comfortably navigate its obstacles, including punching thorns to clear a path.

Other new content includes dozens of new outfits, improvements and new arenas for Kung Foot Evo, and the Cave of Trials, which offers daily, weekly and monthly challenges. You can also partake in Old Deep Nightmare Trials to truly test your platforming skills or compete on the leaderboards to earn special anniversary rewards.

Rayman Legends Retold is out on December 3rd for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2. Despite recently going gold, the development team opted to postpone the launch for additional polish.

To help with the wait, a new game overview trailer will be released on September 22nd. It coincides with new hands-on impressions from content creators and media outlets for an updated look. Based on the first round of previews from last June and the latest trailer from Gamescom Opening Night Live, it should be interesting to see if Ubisoft has more surprises in store.

Rayman Legends Retold will be available for Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC at $39.99. While it’s a remake, players can expect brand-new content including new musical levels (“Can’t Touch This” by M.C. Hammer and “Macarena” by Los Del Rio are two such delights) and a new realm. And while the UbiArt visuals remain stellar, the remake’s visuals feel just as vibrant.

Those who purchase the Deluxe Edition will receive Rayman Origins: Enhanced Edition for free. The latter was also slated to launch on October 1st, but it may have also been delayed as a result.

“Starting with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, we are testing a new Ubisoft Connect Services Steam tool that keeps Ubisoft game features such as cross-progression, cross-play, player safety, challenges and rewards, among others, without requiring the Ubisoft Connect PC launcher to be installed or launched,” explained the company in a recent update.

The company has noted that, since it is just testing its new Ubisoft Connect Services tool for now, more and more features are slated to be implemented that would ultimately lead to PC players not needing to keep Ubisoft Connect installed at all. The company has also confirmed that it will be doing the same for more of its games in the future.

“This first version is an initial step towards a smoother and more streamlined launch experience on Steam. We will continue to iterate and improve Ubisoft Connect Services over time, with the goal of delivering the features and services players use and expect while making the Steam experience as seamless as possible. Ubisoft Connect Services will progressively evolve and roll out to more Ubisoft games on Steam in the future.”

It is worth noting that the version of Ubisoft Connect that launches whenever you start one of the company’s games can often be finicky, requiring constant updates and sometimes even forgetting your account details, forcing you to log in repeatedly. While most PC players will likely see this as a minor annoyance at the best of times, true beneficiaries of this move will likely be handheld gaming PC users who like to spend time on their Steam Deck or ROG Xbox Ally.

The smaller displays along with the lack of a physical keyboard can often make dealing with third-party launchers more complicated on these devices, and Ubisoft’s decision to step away from forcing a Ubisoft Connect launch for its titles bodes well for handheld players. The company has been quite proud of how many of its more recent releases are Steam Deck Verified at launch, for example, and this move likely helps it in that regard as well.

The fact that Ubisoft is testing this with a single-player game indicates that we might see similar updates made to other single-player releases before the company decides to move on to bringing it to multiplayer titles as well.

In the meantime, Reddit users have been thrilled about this announcement. “Finally. Now add this for all previous titles, and I will buy Ubisoft games again,” wrote one user. Another noted that Ubisoft’s Connect launcher must have been quite unpopular for the company to have made this decision. “Imagine how much they had to lose to admit this was needed,” they wrote.

Neither of the companies has made any statement regarding their participation in the disc-to-digital program on Xbox. However, since the program is still in its testing phase, it is also possible that both companies might join in once it is fully released to the general public, and have simply opted out during the testing phase to see how it plays out.

Microsoft had kicked off Insider testing for the disc-to-digital program for Alpha Skip, Alpha, and Beta channels earlier this month, and noted in its FAQs that users might be required to keep access to the physical copies of their games to provide evidence that they still qualify for the digital license.

“A disc-to-digital license is associated with the qualifying game disc. To maintain access to certain disc-to-digital licensing benefits, you may be required to demonstrate continued possession of the qualifying disc. For example, if you lose, sell, give away, or otherwise no longer possess a qualifying disc, access to associated disc-to-digital licenses may be limited or revoked.”

To help players keep track of which games are available through the disc-to-digital program, community-based efforts have been kicked off, with the stat-tracking website Xbox Collection Tracker having an entire page dedicated to keeping track of which games are supported.

Microsoft has also noted that discs will continue to work just fine even after they are used to get a digital license through the program. This means that players can potentially share physical copies of their Xbox One and Xbox Series X games with their friends and continue playing through their own digital license.

It is also worth noting that, at least for now, the disc-to-digital program doesn’t support Xbox and Xbox 360 games. However, considering the company’s emphasis on backwards compatibility over the last few years, support for older console games is likely just a matter of time.

There have been quite a few conversations happening in recent times on the subject of physical versus digital, especially thanks to Sony’s announcement that it would be ending production of new PlayStation discs in 2028. While Microsoft hasn’t made any such announcement itself, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma had spoken about wanting to offer a choice to its users.

“I know players love physical media, and I know there are a lot of benefits in digital media, and I want to make sure people have a choice. There are stacks of games on everybody’s shelves. We’re announcing the ability for players for 1,000 titles with physical discs to be able to have a digital entitlement. We’ve long pioneered backwards compatibility, and so you’ll continue to see that as we go forward in the generations.”

“Bringing Agents together across platforms has required significant work behind the scenes, including partially rebuilding the game’s online architecture. With crossplay, your platform will no longer stand between you and other Agents, opening up matchmaking and allowing more of the community to play together.”

When the update hits, all The Division 2 players will be migrated to the new crossplay environment, and the feature will be enabled by default. Players will, however, have the option to disable crossplay in the character selection screen. When it’s enabled, players will be able to run into Agents from all supported platforms, as long as they haven’t disabled it.

Clans will also be migrated to crossplay, and players from across various platforms will be able to join the same clan. Along with this, capacity for clans has been raised from 50 to 100 members. When the migration happens, leaderboards will be completely reset, and new leaderboards will be shown with the player’s crossplay status also being reflected.

Another major announcement is the next expansion for The Division 2. Dubbed Echoes of Central Park, the expansion will once more take players to New York City. In the days immediately following the outbreak, Central Park started being used as a mass burial ground. Since then, however, few have dared to go back to the park, and its current status remains unknown.

The story will kick off with players getting a distress call from somewhere inside the park. Along the way, players will also hear rumors from across the Upper West Side about the dangers inside the park.

The developers have said that Echoes of Central Park will lean into a darker atmosphere than The Division 2 typically has, and the new zone will be a place “where fear can be just as dangerous as any enemy.”

More details about Echoes of Central Park will be revealed at a special showcase slated for September 24th. The developers will also showcase some of the gameplay from the expansion, and will likely provide an in-depth look at the new zones being added to the game.

The most recent update for The Division 2 was dubbed Into the Dark, and as its name implies, content largely revolved around the game’s PvPvE areas, dubbed Dark Zones. The update introduced quite a few changes to these areas, like an invulnerability window for Agents who just enter, and better rewards in Landmarks.

Along with this, a new Toxic Dark Zone area was added to the game, allowing for up to 12 players to team up together. This new zone has no PvP or Rogue Agents, and revolves around co-operating to survive increasing amounts of toxicity in the hunt for better loot.