Month: August 2021

Xbox Game Pass in August is already looking incredibly exciting. For starters. IGN’s Game of the Year for 2020, Hades, is coming out on August 13 for Xbox, PS4, and PS5, and will hit Xbox Game Pass for consoles and PC on the same day.

Not only that, but we’ve also got Twelve Minutes on August 19, and Psychonauts 2 on August 25, which has been receiving some tremendous feedback after the recent previews. There’s also Skate, Curse of the Dead Gods, Starmancer (Game Preview), and whole a lot more coming to Game Pass in August so far. Check below for every single title hitting the game service this month, alongside the very best Game Pass deals (get 3-Months of Game Pass Ultimate for $37.11 at Newegg).

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New to Xbox Game Pass in August

• Curse of the Dead Gods (Dead Cells Update) (Cloud, Console, and PC) – August 5
• Dodgeball Academia (Cloud, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox – August 5
• Katamari Damacy Reroll (Cloud, Console, and PC) – August 5
• Lumines Remastered (Cloud, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox – August 5
• Skate (Console) EA Play – August 5
• Skate 3 (Cloud) EA Play – August 5
• Starmancer (Game Preview) (PC) ID@Xbox – August 5
• Art of Rally (Cloud, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox – August 12
• Hades (Consoles, PC, Cloud) – August 13
• Microsoft Solitaire Collection: Premium Edition (PC) – August 17

• Twelve Minutes (Consoles, PC, Cloud) – August 19
• Psychonauts 2 (Consoles, PC, Cloud) – August 25

Best Xbox Game Pass Deals

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• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate 3-Months – $37.11 with code 93XRP76 (was $44.99)

Leaving Xbox Game Pass This Month

Leaving August 8

• Grand Theft Auto V (Cloud and Console)

Leaving August 15

• Ape Out (PC)
• Crossing Souls (PC)
• Darksiders Genesis (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Don’t Starve (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Final Fantasy VII (Console and PC)
• Train Sim World 2020 (Cloud, Console, and PC)

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Everything Else Coming to Xbox Game Pass in 2021

Microsoft’s E3 2021 presentation included some incredible upcoming additions to Game Pass in 2021, including the likes of Back 4 Blood, Age of Empires 4, Psychonauts 2, Forza Horizon 5, Halo Infinite and so much more. Here are a few more exciting games you can expect for Game Pass in 2021.

• Aragami 2 – September 17
• Sable – September 23
• Back 4 Blood – October 12
• Age of Empires 4 – October 28
• Forza Horizon 5 – November 9
• Shredders – December
• Halo Infinite – Fall 2021

Among Us, Hello Neighbor 2, and The Gunk are also listed as 2021 Game Pass titles, but of course, we’ve also got some 2022 (and beyond) games to look forward to as well. Starfield, Redfall, Contraband, Party Animals, Atomic Heart, Somerville, Slime Rancher 2, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, and Replaced are all coming to Game Pass on day one.

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Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. Send him awesome gaming screenshots @robertliam21 on Twitter.

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M. Night Shyamalan once met with Steven Spielberg to discuss ideas for Indiana Jones 4.

In an interview with Collider, Shyamalan said he shared his vision for Indiana Jones many years ago. He apparently had “a darker idea” for the fourth franchise entry, which sounds like it would have been quite different from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, though it never progressed any further beyond those early discussions.

“Obviously, Raiders of the Lost Ark is my favorite movie of all time, and so this was a dream, to be asked as a kid to go see a movie in a movie theater and then later to be asked by that person to write one of those in the future. I could faint at that moment. It was amazing,” Shyamalan said, speaking about the prospect of working with Spielberg.

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“I do have my notebooks; I still have those with all my ideas for that movie,” he continued. “I did have a take. I talked to everybody involved and it was so nascent at that time, that movie. Everyone hadn’t gotten into a room yet. They were bouncing ideas off of me. So everyone had different ideas of what to do… and I had this idea. It was a darker idea.”

Shyamalan didn’t end up working with Spielberg on Indiana Jones 4, instead, prolific Hollywood screenwriter David Koepp penned Kingdom of the Crystal Skull with contributions from George Lucas and Jeff Nathanson. The movie was largely met with a negative reception from fans, though others expressed sympathy for the odd-ball entry in the franchise.

The next installment in the film series is expected to conclude Indiana Jones’ journey, 12 years after the events of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. A recent photo from the set of Indiana Jones 5 showed a cast member caught up in what appeared to be a chase scene with Harrison Ford’s globe-trotting archaeologist at the 1969 Apollo 11 ticker-tape parade.

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Indiana Jones 5 began filming in June across the UK, and the movie is planned for release on July 29, 2022. Harrison Ford is reprising his role as the bull-whip wielding adventurer alongside several franchise newcomers, including Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, and Thomas Kretschmann. Check out the entire cast of Indiana Jones 5 (so far).

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

Blizzard president J. Allen Brack has stepped down, shortly after the wider Activision Blizzard was served with a lawsuit alleging widespread discrimination and harassment at the company.

Announced on the Blizzard website, Brack will be replaced by ‘co-leaders’ Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra. Oneal joined Blizzard in January, having previously headed Vicarious Visions. Ybarra joined Blizzard from Xbox in 2019. As relatively recent additions to Blizzard leadership, it may be that both Oneal and Ybarra are seen as more detached from the reports of long-standing issues in the company’s working practices.

Brack’s departure comes amid a hugely turbulent two weeks for Activision Blizzard, after a lawsuit led to open letters, an employee walkout, and public outcry over the company’s culture. An Activision investor press release said that Brack is “leaving the company to pursue new opportunities.”

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Brack wrote: “I am confident that Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra will provide the leadership Blizzard needs to realize its full potential and will accelerate the pace of change. I anticipate they will do so with passion and enthusiasm and that they can be trusted to lead with the highest levels of integrity and commitment to the components of our culture that make Blizzard so special.”

Brack had previously emailed employees at the company, calling the reported behaviour included in the lawsuit “completely unacceptable”, and pledging to discuss how to move forward with Blizzard employees. “I feel angry, sad, and a host of other emotions,” he wrote at the time, “but I also feel grateful to work alongside a set of leaders and thousands of employees who join me in their commitment to continuous improvement. Thank you Blizzard.”

Brack himself was mentioned in the lawsuit, having reportedly only given “a slap on the wrist” to ex-creative director Alex Afrasiabi, despite having received complaints about consistent sexual misconduct at the company. The ex-president had also seen renewed criticism for a video from BlizzCon 2010 that showed Brack and Afrasiabi laughing at a fan’s question as to whether new female characters in World of Warcraft might be less sexualised.

On a wider level, this marks yet another high-profile departure from Blizzard, after a talent drain that has left the company at a crossroads. Brack was appointed president of Blizzard in 2018, after leading the World of Warcraft team.

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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].

According to star Giancarlo Esposito, The Mandalorian Season 3 will head into production soon, with filming for the Book of Boba Fett now complete.

The actor – known for his role on the show as Imperial Remnant Commander Moff Gideon – confirmed the show would soon be filming again in an interview with WRAL at GalaxyCon Raleigh. He said, “They just finished shooting Boba Fett and soon they will start on Season 3 of The Mandalorian.”

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When asked if filming for the show had to wait for Esposito’s busy co-star Pascal Pedro to return from filming the TV adaptation of The Last of Us in Canada, he said “I don’t know what Pedro’s doing but, no, we never have to wait on Pedro.” As well as playing the lead role as Din Djarin (Mando) in The Mandolorian, Pascal will star in HBO’s The Last of Us, portraying everyone’s favourite post-apocalyptic father figure, Joel.

It’s understood that a body double will stand in for Pascal for some of The Mandalorian’s production, with Pascal providing voiceover separately, which presumably allows the star to juggle multiple projects. It is unclear whether or not the show will take a similar approach to Season 3 if Pascal’s busy schedule were to add complications in filming. That being said, Esposito did say, “I’m sure that he has worked out some way to do his other show and come back to do us.”

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Elsewhere in the interview, when asked whether or not it was likely that season three of the show would see more “off the helmet” scenes, Esposito said, “I can’t speak to that. I know he’d love to be more off the helmet but his job is to be in the helmet. I mean, that’s the deal.”

In other news, Esposito, who is known for his time playing villains on a number of works including AMC’s Breaking Bad, will return to the medium of games this year in Far Cry 6. IGN spoke with Esposito about his role as Anton Castillo in the game, where he discussed Anton’s motives, his layered characterization, and a bit more about the fictional island nation at the heart of Far Cry 6.

If you’ve just caught up with the latest season of The Mandalorian, then why not check out our review of Season 2 where we said the show “pulls off an ambitious and epic sophomore season that has plenty of heart and nostalgia.” Alternatively, for more news in the world of Star Wars, you can read this article about how Lucasfilm hired the YouTuber known for his viral Luke Skywalker Deepfake.

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Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Belgian gymnast Nina Derwael made history on the weekend after winning gold on the women’s uneven bars, the country’s first medal of any color in the sport. However gamers were quick to notice that Derwael’s coach Marjorie Heuls showed a surprising good luck charm to the cameras after the win–an Ocarina of Time Link Amiibo.

A tweet by @Nintendeal pointed out where the figure appeared in the Olympics coverage, along with a close-up of the Amiibo.

Belgian news site HLN posted an interview with the coach about the figure. She explains that it was given to her by her son, who played Zelda games as a child, and that she keeps it attached to a bracelet that her daughter made for her. The importance of the Amiibo for Heuls appears to be the connection to her son, rather than any knowledge of the games–she even refers to the Link figure as “Zelda” in the interview. Heuls says the figure hasn’t left her bag in four years, and in the wake of Derwael’s gold medal win, said it was clearly also a good luck charm for her.

While some Zelda fans were happy to see the character represented in some way on the Olympic stage, others who replied to Nintendeal’s tweet were more concerned to see that the limited edition Ocarina of Time Amiibo had been ripped from its base.

Link’s appearance at the Olympics isn’t the first time Japanese video games have been worked into the event so far, with a number of iconic video game soundtracks being used in the Opening Ceremony as athletes walked into the stadium.

As part of Take-Two’s earnings report on Monday, the publisher’s CEO responded to the situation surrounding Activision Blizzard and the lawsuit regarding sexual harassment and discrimination against women at the Call of Duty and World of Warcraft company.

Strauss Zelnick put it simply: “We will not tolerate harassment or discrimination or bad behavior of any kind. We never have.”

He added that new hires at Take-Two learn about the company’s harassment and discrimination policies when they’re brought on, and every new employee must sign documents regarding their understanding of those policies and practices. What’s more, new hires are required to take anti-harassment training, and then bi-annually after that.

“And we make it clear through the training and through our policies that if anyone does experience any inappropriate contact there are multiple avenues to report that, and they’ll never be retaliated against for doing so,” he said. “Those options include the management chain, anyone in HR, an anonymous complaint by phone or online, through a third-party hotline, and website reporting. Take-Two has a director of diversity and inclusion, and that remit includes developing, executing, and leading the global [diversity and inclusion] strategy and that supports our business objectives.”

“We also have multiple employee resource groups inside the company and we have more growing all the time, which gives us all a thrill. So, that’s what we’re up to very specifically,” he added.

Overall, Zelnick said he is happy with how Take-Two as a company operates with respect to these policies, but he acknowledged that the company can do better.

“Is there more we can do? I’m certain there is. Do we feel like we’re in a pretty good place? We’re grateful that we do feel that way right now,” he said.

In an interview with GI.biz, Zelnick reiterated these points. “We think we as an industry and we as a company can of course do more,” Zelnick said. “We have an exceedingly diverse board at our company, and have had for a very long time. We’re proud of our record, and at the same time we don’t rest on that. We know there’s always more to be done.”

California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing has launched a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard over claims of equal pay violations, sex discrimination, and sexual harassment, among other things. The suit also mentions that some male employees “engage in sexual banter and joke openly about rape, among other things.”

Activision Blizzard employees walked out last week in protest of the company’s response to the case, while hundreds of Ubisoft employees wrote an open letter in support of their colleagues at Activision Blizzard.

Once again, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has responded to the financial situation surrounding subscription services like Game Pass. His views are unchanged–subscription services make sense of catalog games but not new ones. This is a point he has been stressing for years already. He also questions if it’s possible for everyone in the chain–developers, publishers, and consumers alike–to come out ahead.

“Our views remain unchanged. We think a subscription model can make sense for deep catalog titles. But it doesn’t really make sense for frontline titles. For any business model to make sense in the entertainment business, it has to work for the creators of the entertainment as well as the consumers of the entertainment. I think catalog can make sense for the publishers, it can make sense for the consumers who are avid, who really want access to a lot of product. But if you’re getting into frontline product, then the economics are much more difficult to make sense of,” he said during Take-Two’s earnings call.

Zelnick observed that “consumption patterns” for a streaming service like Netflix–which offers linear entertainment (for now at least)–are different from interactive entertainment.

“Consumers who are involved with interactive entertainment have different consumption patterns than those involved with linear entertainment. Linear entertainment consumers consume something like 150 hours of programming a month. That’s probably well over 100 different titles. In the case of interactive entertainment, consumers are consuming something like 45 hours a month, and that may be one, two, three, four titles. But it’s certainly not 100 titles. So from a consumer point of view, it’s not clear that a subscription model really makes sense, for the bulk of consumers,” he said.

Overall, though, Zelnick said he’s not married to any one idea.

“That remains to be seen. We’re open minded. We have made catalog titles available for subscription services. Very occasionally we’ve made frontline titles available as well. But we do see this more as a catalog offering than a frontline offering,” he said.

One high-profile example of a Rockstar Games-developed title that went into a subscription service is Grand Theft Auto V. It was added and then removed from Xbox Game Pass originally, and the same is happening again. It’s slated to be removed again from the service sometime soon.

For more from Take-Two’s earnings report today, check out the stories below.