Month: July 2021

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has outlined a new strategy for hiring and maintaining actors in the MCU.

During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Feige explained that Marvel is moving away from the massive, multi-movie deals it once offered to its stars. Instead, he hinted that the talent will stay on board and return for additional projects if they’re enthusiastic about the universe they’ve become a part of, without needing an expansive contract.

“It varies, project to project, cast to cast,” Feige explained, reflecting on the sweeping talent deals previously inked by the likes of Chris Evans and Samuel L. Jackson. “Really, what we want are people that come in, are excited to be in the universe, are excited at the opportunity to do more things, as opposed to being locked into contractual obligations.”

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Scarlett Johansson has returned to the MCU to headline her own movie, starring as Natasha Romanoff in Marvel Phase 4’s Black Widow, set to simultaneously debut in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access July 9. She’s joined by a host of MCU newcomers, including Florence Pugh as Yelena, David Harbour as Alexei/Red Guardian, and Rachel Weisz as Melina.

Pugh is playing Natasha’s sister, Yelena Belova, in her much-awaited superhero debut. The actress previously spoke about her prospective future in the MCU and whether she could step forward to headline a potential Black Widow sequel, given that her character will be retroactively set up as the new Black Widow when the movie premieres.

“If you get asked to be in a Marvel film, and it was so thrilling and fun and exciting to be in, then of course, your head goes: ‘Oh my God. If this is what it’s like, then what else is next?'” she said. “If that happens and I am lucky enough that people appreciate my character, that’s an exciting road to go on. I would be silly to not be excited by it.”

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Taking place between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, when Natasha was a wanted fugitive, Black Widow will give the Avenger her posthumous due, with a story that deals with Natasha’s history as a spy and assassin, and the broken relationships left in her wake before she became one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Feige has already hinted that more prequel movies like Black Widow could be “in the cards” for other MCU characters. He explained that “the notion of exploring the past, present, and future of the MCU” is a possibility for other characters, though he also recognized that Black Widow’s “particular story of this particular cast is very personal, very specific to Natasha.”

Black Widow is the very first MCU movie in Phase 4. It will be followed by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in September, Eternals in November, and Spider-Man: No Way Home in December. After that, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be the next movie to appear on the MCU Phase 4 slate, serving as the first Marvel flick of 2022.

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Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Sega has released a new spotlight trailer for Sonic Colors: Ultimate, a remastered version of the 2010 game. The new trailer highlights all the upgrades made to the game in the years since it first launched on the Nintendo Wii and DS.

Now arriving on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC (via the Epic Games Store) on September 7, the most obvious tweak will be the inclusion of several HD updates that add re-vamped lighting and improved graphics, with the game now running at 4K resolution and 60fps.

Other additions include a new mode called “Rival Rush” that lets you go head-to-head with Metal Sonic to unlock rewards, customizable controls, park tokens that unlock multiple customization options for Sonic, and a remixed soundtrack.

As for gameplay enhancements, players can now make use of a Tails Save that takes them back to safety if needed and a Jade Ghost transformation that lets Sonic fly through solid objects to reach hidden areas. Lastly, a 100 Count Ring provides temporary invincibility and a score boost after each level.

Sonic Colors: Ultimate is just one of several projects that’ll be celebrating the blue blur’s 30th anniversary this year, as Sega is rolling out themed merchandise and the Sonic the Hedgehog Encyclo-speed-ia that’s available to preorder now.

Next year will also see a sequel film released for 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog, which will include the live-action appearances of Tails, Knuckles, and the Chaos Emeralds. All that, and a side-gig into the world of VTubers for Sonic.

The recently revealed Space Punks from developer Flying Wild Hog is a new free-to-play action RPG that blends top-down shooting action with co-op gameplay, and it’s launching as an early access title on July 15 exclusively on the Epic Games Store. Along with other games from Flying Wild Hog, which includes Shadow Warrior 3 and Trek To Yomi, Space Punks is another title in the developer’s tradition of fast-paced action titles that have some clever gimmicks to offer rewarding combat. Described as a “living game” by its developers and publisher Jagex–known for the Runescape series–Space Punks will see new content and evolve over the course of its development.

For the uninitiated, Space Punks is a sci-fi co-op dungeon crawler starring a crew of space-exploring misfits who take on different jobs to gain glory and score some sweet loot. In a similar vein to Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, this ragtag crew is often at odds with one another, but when things go south when facing off against rogue targets, their unorthodox and weird approach to action make them quite a team. Each of the four playable characters at launch has their skills and arsenal of weapons to upgrade and advance, which opens up different possibilities to use special combo attacks with other players during online missions, such as pairing one hero’s alien tentacle attacks with another squadmate’s tech-focused gadgets.

Though Space Punks is planned to be a free-to-play game, it will debut in paid early access, which you will have to buy into with the different founders packs at launch. This does put a clear barrier for entry for those looking to check out the game early, but the developers are looking to incentive those who are down to make the jump at the game’s debut. During the early access launch on July 14, players will be able to dive into the game’s missions with its slate of characters. Eventually, the game will enter open beta during Winter 2021, which will see the beginning of the game’s free-to-play model for all players. Later in 2022, Space Punks–and all of its new content released thus far–will launch on consoles. If you don’t want to spend money on the game’s packs to dive into the game’s early access launch, you can also sign up to register for the chance to get a free key on the game’s website.

Just before the reveal of the planned roadmap for Space Punks, we got to spend some time checking out a deeper look at the game and spoke with the developers about its inception. This new action game channels a similar sense of hectic bombast from first-person games like Shadow Warrior or Hard Reset. Yet, the action RPG reincorporates that pace and tone into a game that feels like an ode to the retro action games from the arcades, with a more modern twist thanks to its live-service leanings. With the making of Space Punks, the team at Flying Wild Hog wanted to focus on a game that was easy to pick up for quick games and deep enough for players to invest time into their favorite characters.

In our chat with Flying Wild Hog lead game designer Bartłomiej Schweiger, he spoke about their plans for the game’s approach to building an online, co-op action experience.

“What we wanted to focus on, above all, was to create a new living game–a game that will be played by the community and be shaped by the community, and will be active for years,” he said. “We figured that the free-to-play model would be best for that. We actually looked at other games on the market, such as Warframe and Path of Exile, that succeed very well with this model and thrive. Those games were our role models when it came to how to monetize this game and how to see it grow in the years ahead, along with taking on advice from our partners at Jagex.”

Flying Wild Hog plans to add new content and active events for its evolving game, one of which will be a story campaign for its cast of playable characters. This story mode won’t come until the month after launch, however. Players can purchase the different tiered founders packs on the Epic Games Store now (ranging from $30 to $50), which includes opens access to all four characters, added cosmetics, and the full Season 1 battle pass. Below, you can find a complete list of what you get with the game’s premium founders pack–priced at $50 on the Epic Games Store.

Splendor Pack Content:

• Early Access to Space Punks
• All 4 Space Punks characters unlocked
• The full Season 1 Premium Battle Pass
• Exclusive Swag and Splendor Avatar Backgrounds
• Exclusive Epic Cape
• Exclusive Epic Dash VFX
• Exclusive Epic 4x Emote Pack
• 4 Exclusive Epic Character Skins
• Exclusive Epic Player Entrance

The developers stated that microtransactions for the game would only focus on cosmetic items and content for the game’s battle pass, which unlocks additional characters. This approach ensured that there wasn’t a gap in progression between players who choose not to engage with the monetization. As stated during our interview, the early access period will allow players to get a feel for the game and offer feedback during its opening months.

From our early look at the game, Space Punks is shaping up to be a fun and accessible take on the action RPG set up, with a noticeably fun, pulpy vibe that echoes the space-faring adventures of classic sci-fi comics and television shows. Though the early access period may be a bit of a squeeze, Flying Wild Hog’s Space Punks could be a nice change of pace for those looking for a co-op focused action to sink your teeth into.

It’s a fight for your life this week in Grand Theft Auto Online, with Rockstar adding seven new survival maps to the game. That risk comes with some extra rewards though, including higher payouts and a substantial bonus for completing any of the new survival maps. Rockstar is also finally hinting at its upcoming summer update for GTA Online, which will add a Los Santos Car Meet.

This week’s updates for GTA Online can be found on the Rockstar Newswire or down below.

Bonuses For Surviving

Today’s Rockstar Newswire post doesn’t list the new survival maps heading to GTA Online. It does, however, reveal that players will be getting more for completing any game of survival. For the next week, the game mode will be paying out twice the usual cash and XP. But, if you take on one of the new maps and come out alive, you’ll get an extra reward of $100,000, no strings attached.

Be Spontaneous

The free mode events and challenges are more than a petty annoyance thanks to some bonus rewards. Until July 19, anyone participating in one of these challenges will net themselves triple the usual rewards.

Freebies And Discounts

As always, GTA Online’s weekly update also comes with a slew of discounts to take advantage of and some free items to grab. This week, completing any export request for Simon Yetarian will earn you a pair of Sunset Tint Oversize Shades, perfect for cruising around the streets of Los Santos in. The same can be said for this week’s podium car at the Diamond Casino, the Vapid Retinue MK II.

This week’s discounts are perfect for your inner Top Gun fan, with a majority of them applying to different planes, jets, and helicopters. Here’s the full list of discounted vehicles:

• P-45 Notkota – 30% discount
• V-65 Molotok – 30% discount
• R-10 Bombushka – 30% discount
• HVY Vetir – 30% discount
• Ubermacht Revolter – 30% discount
• Western Cargobob – 40% discount
• Kraken Submersible – 40% discount
• Lampadati Toro – 40% discount
• Vapid Slamtruck – 40% discount

This week’s GTA Online Newswire post also makes a brief mention of the game’s upcoming summer update, saying it would add a Los Santos Car Meet, “the breathing heart of car culture in Southern San Andreas.” More details on the update are coming soon, but if the update is anything like the recently-announced Blood Money update for Red Dead Online, players can expect a heap of new content to be added to GTA Online.

Today’s Rockstar Newswire post also stated that some jobs will soon be taken down and replaced with others. “Starting with his event,” reads the post, “we will begin removing individual Jobs to make room for further updates. These Jobs will be cycled in and out over time as we continue to add to the game in the future.” This sounds a lot like the “vaulting” system in Fortnite, except instead of guns being put away, specific jobs are being temporarily retired.

Speculation recently spread saying that the concept and plot for a Silent Hill game made by Bloober Team had potentially made its way onto the internet via an EU funding website. However, Bloober Team tells IGN that the projects fans had pointed to have in fact been shelved in favour of other new games.

Fans have been looking for clues to a new Silent Hill game since franchise owner Konami announced a partnership with Polish developer Bloober Team (The Medium, Blair Witch). Some thought they’d found them after discovering filings from Bloober on the EU’s Creative Europe website, which shows descriptions of (among other things) video game projects that have applied for EU funding.

Three Bloober Team projects were discovered under codenames – H2O (which became Layers of Fear 2), Black (a first-person project set in a medieval Europe beset by alien attacks), and Dum Spiro (a horror game set in a World War 2 Jewish-Polish ghetto). Speculation immediately began to form around the idea that Black or Dum Spiro could be the rumoured Silent Hill game.

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However, in a statement to IGN, Bloober Team CMO Tomasz Gawlikowski made clear that neither of the games described in the Creative Europe files are being actively developed:

“Online speculations based on outdated or incomplete information can often lead to strange theories among gamers, so we appreciate you asking us directly,” Gawlikowski wrote, going on to explain that Creative Europe funding has allowed Bloober to make riskier projects, and confirming that H2O did become 2019’s Layers of Fear 2.

“We have also applied for two other projects, codenamed respectively Dum Spiro and Black,” Gawlikowski continued. “After numerous iterations of Dum Spiro, we’ve concluded we can’t at the moment deliver it in a form that is appropriately sensitive to the topic and commercially viable at the same time. In short, Dum Spiro is no longer in active development at the moment.

“Similarly, the initial idea for Black has also been shelved, and while we’re still developing a game under this codename, it’s now a much different project than what you could read on the web in the past few days.”

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Gawlikowski understandably didn’t go into any detail about whether the studio was working on a Silent Hill game, or what its work with Konami entails, but he confirmed that multiple large projects are in the works.

“At Bloober Team we have two active internal projects, one in the production phase and one in the pre-production phase. Both are going to be bigger in scope than The Medium, however, neither of them is based on themes or premises that have been circulating online in the last days.”

While we’re unable to confirm any further details, it feels likely that the game in production is the new version of the game codenamed Black, while the game in pre-production is the Konami partnership project. Gawlikowski added that the studio is working on porting its existing games alongside new game development, including bringing The Medium to PS5.

Rumours around Bloober working on a Silent Hill game have persisted for some time now, with reports also suggesting that a Japanese developer was also working on a game in the series. Konami has also made clear that it is still making games internally, although the status of Silent Hill within the company remains unknown.

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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

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