Author: Trafficblast

EA has published the schedule for EA Play Live and its pre-event Showcase series, and Mass Effect and Dragon Age did not show up anywhere. BioWare subsequently made it official, telling fans there won’t be any news on Mass Effect or Dragon Age at the event this month.

“We’re hard at work creating the next Dragon Age and Mass Effect games and have some exciting stuff coming to Star Wars: The Old Republic,” BioWare said before acknowledging that it won’t show “anything” at EA Play Live.

BioWare’s ongoing MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and the studio will announce something new for the game at 12 PM PT / 3 PM ET today, July 1.

That Dragon Age 4 and Mass Effect 4 won’t show up at EA Play Live is no big surprise, as EA said fans should expect news about games more on the immediate horizon. Those two games are seemingly in the earlier stages of their development.

EA Play Live will be a 40-minute broadcast with news and reveals for EA games, while the main event will be preceded by a series of deep-dive showcases on titles like Apex Legends and Battlefield 2042, among others.

EA Motive is working on a brand-new Dead Space game, with VentureBeat reporting that the project is being planned as a remake of the original. Earlier today the Dead Space YouTube account was updated for the first time since 2013. The game will reportedly be revealed at EA Play on July 22.

The report states that EA Motive is taking inspiration from Capcom’s work with both Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 Remakes, which drastically changed the gameplay from the original PlayStation releases. This might not be the case for Motive’s remake. The remake is expected to stick closely to the original, but introduce new gameplay elements from its sequels, as well as a modern pass on its visuals.

Visceral Games launched the original Dead Space in 2008, with Michael Condrey and Glen Schofield directing. Schofield has since started Striking Distance, a new studio as part of PUBG Crop. That studio is working on The Callisto Protocol, which seems to take inspiration from his work on Dead Space.

Two sequels, Dead Space 2 and Dead Space 3, launched in 2011 and 2013 respectively, with the franchise remaining dormant since. Visceral Games was closed by EA in 2017, after the publisher scrapped its work on a new Star Wars title codenamed Ragtag.

EA Play takes place on July 22, with numerous panels set to air before the showcase. These will include new looks at Battlefield 2042, Apex Legends, Madden 22, and more. The entire Dead Space trilogy is available on Xbox Games Pass currently if you missed out on it originally.

Atlanta is placing a major bet that people are hungry and ready for communal in-person entertainment, with the grand opening of the Illuminarium–described in a release as “VR, without the glasses.” The attraction will transport users to exotic destinations with the aid of immersive video, touch feedback, and more.

Visitors enter a 7,500-square-foot space surrounded by screens as high as 22 feet, where they’ll be surrounded by video and sound recorded on real locations. Think, basically, an IMAX you can walk around inside, but that’s moving way, way slower. The Illuminarium’s debut experience is Wild: A Safari Experience, which was filmed across South Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania and “showcas[es] the majestic animals in their native habitats.” Admittedly, the technology is arguably easier to understand by watching in a video than reading about–check out the proof of concept video below (and pay particular close attention to creepy uncanny valley NPCs milling about).

Tickets for Illuminarium currently run from $35 to $50, with higher fees netting visitors flexible entry time and vouchers for the onsite cafe and gift shop. There are plans to open Illuminariums in Las Vegas in January 2022 and in Miami in fall 2020. Other locations are also currently being considered for New York City, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Los Angeles, and Austin. International locations are also being preliminarily discussed.

Noticeably, the ability to smell the featured locations is emphasized repeatedly in a release announcing this attraction. This should also be particularly interesting since it’s already been announced that Spacewalk, “a mind-blowing journey through our Solar System where audiences will experience what it’s like to walk on the surface of the Moon and Mars.” Will our species finally be able to smell Mars?

July 2021’s Netflix additions include the much-anticipated Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness anime series, which follows Leon and Claire as they “find themselves consumed by a dark conspiracy when a viral attack ravages the White House.” Speaking of video game adaptations, fans of Dynasty Warriors are in for a treat as a live-action tale based on the franchise and the “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” will arrive on July 1.

Check out our review of the first season of Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness below:

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Guillermo del Toro’s animated saga will come to an end in July with the release of Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans on July 21. This film looks to unite heroes from Trollhunters, 3Below, and Wizards to fight a shadowy enemy who is threatening to take over their worlds and reset Earth itself.

Fans of the Twilight Saga will be happy to know that all the films in the series will be ready to stream on July 16, and those who love Austin Powers will be able to enjoy all three of Mike Meyer’s spy action comedy films.

Check out the slideshow gallery below for highlights of Netflix’s July offerings followed by the full list (U.S. Netflix only):

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July 1

• Audible — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY
• Dynasty Warriors — NETFLIX FILM
• Generation 56k — NETFLIX SERIES
• Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway — NETFLIX ANIME FILM
• Young Royals — NETFLIX SERIES
• Air Force One
• Austin Powers in Goldmember
• Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
• Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
• The Best of Enemies
• Boogie Nights
• Born to Play
• Bureau of Magical Things: Season 1
• Charlie’s Angels
• Congo
• Dennis the Menace
• The Game
• Hampstead
• The Karate Kid
• The Karate Kid Part II
• The Karate Kid Part III
• Kung Fu Panda
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Life as We Know It
• Love Actually
• Mary Magdalene
• Memoirs of a Geisha
• Midnight Run
• Mortal Kombat (1995)
• No Strings Attached
• Not Another Teen Movie
• Ophelia
• Sailor Moon Crystal: Seasons 1-3
• She’s Out of My League
• Spanglish
• Star Trek
• The Strangers
• Stuart Little
• Supermarket Sweep: Season 1
• Sword of Trust
• Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day
• Underworld
• Underworld: Awakening
• Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
• What Dreams May Come
• Why Do Fools Fall in Love
• ZATHURA: A SPACE ADVENTURE

July 2

• The 8th Night — NETFLIX FILM
• Big Timber — NETFLIX SERIES
• Fear Street Part 1: 1994 — NETFLIX FILM
• Haseen Dillruba — NETFLIX FILM
• Mortel: Season 2 — NETFLIX SERIES
• Snowpiercer

July 3

• Grey’s Anatomy: Season 17

July 4

• We The People — NETFLIX FAMILY

July 5

• You Are My Spring — NETFLIX SERIES

July 6

• I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson: Season 2 — NETFLIX COMEDY SPECIAL

July 7

• Brick Mansions
• Cat People — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY
• Dogs: Season 2 — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY
• The Mire: ’97 — NETFLIX SERIES
• The War Next-door — NETFLIX SERIES
• Major Grom: Plague Doctor — NETFLIX FILM
• This Little Love of Mine

July 8

• Elize Matsunaga: Once Upon a Crime — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY
• Home Again
• Midnight Sun
• RESIDENT EVIL: Infinite Darkness — NETFLIX ANIME

July 9

• Atypical: Season 4 — NETFLIX SERIES
• Biohackers: Season 2 — NETFLIX SERIES
• The Cook of Castamar — NETFLIX SERIES
• Fear Street Part 2: 1978 — NETFLIX FILM
• How I Became a Superhero — NETFLIX FILM
• Last Summer — NETFLIX FILM
• Lee Su-geun: The Sense Coach — NETFLIX COMEDY SPECIAL
• Virgin River: Season 3 — NETFLIX SERIES

July 10

• American Ultra

July 13

• Ridley Jones — NETFLIX FAMILY

July 14

• A Classic Horror Story — NETFLIX FILM
• The Guide to the Perfect Family — NETFLIX FILM
• Gunpowder Milkshake — NETFLIX FILM
• Heist — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY
• My Unorthodox Life — NETFLIX SERIES
• Private Network: Who Killed Manuel Buendía? — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

July 15

• A Perfect Fit — NETFLIX FILM
• BEASTARS: Season 2 — NETFLIX ANIME
• Emicida: AmarElo – Live in São Paulo — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY
• My Amanda — NETFLIX FILM
• Never Have I Ever: Season 2 — NETFLIX SERIES

July 16

• The Beguiled
• Deep — NETFLIX FILM
• Explained: Season 3 — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY (NEW EPISODES WEEKLY)
• Fear Street Part 3: 1666 — NETFLIX FILM
• Johnny Test — NETFLIX FAMILY
• Twilight
• The Twilight Saga: New Moon
• The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
• The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1
• The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2

July 17

• Cosmic Sin

July 20

• milkwater

July 21

• Chernobyl 1986 — NETFLIX FILM
• The Movies That Made Us: Season 2 — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY
• One on One with Kirk Cameron: Season 1
• Sexy Beasts — NETFLIX SERIES
• Too Hot to Handle: Brazil — NETFLIX SERIES
• Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans — NETFLIX FAMILY

July 22

• 9 to 5: The Story of a Movement
• Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop — NETFLIX ANIME

July 23

• A Second Chance: Rivals! — NETFLIX FAMILY
• Bankrolled — NETFLIX FILM
• Blood Red Sky — NETFLIX FILM
• Kingdom: Ashin of the North — NETFLIX FILM
• The Last Letter From Your Lover — NETFLIX FILM
• Masters of the Universe: Revelation — NETFLIX SERIES
• Sky Rojo: Season 2 — NETFLIX SERIES

July 24

• Charmed: Season 3
• Django Unchained

July 26

• The Walking Dead: Season 10
• Wynonna Earp: Season 4

July 27

• All American: Season 3
• Mighty Express: Season 4 — NETFLIX FAMILY
• The Operative

July 28

• Bartkowiak — NETFLIX FILM
• Fantastic Fungi
• The Flash: Season 7
• The Snitch Cartel: Origins — NETFLIX SERIES
• Tattoo Redo — NETFLIX SERIES
• Too Hot to Handle: Brazil — NETFLIX SERIES (NEW EPISODES)

July 29

• Resort to Love — NETFLIX FILM
• Transformers: War for Cybertron: Kingdom — NETFLIX ANIME

July 30

• Centaurworld — NETFLIX FAMILY
• Glow Up: Season 3 — NETFLIX SERIES
• The Last Mercenary — NETFLIX FILM
• Myth & Mogul: John DeLorean — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY
• Outer Banks: Season 2 — NETFLIX SERIES

July 31

• The Vault

Dates TBD

• Cheech & Chong’s Still Smokin
• Feels Like Ishq — NETFLIX SERIES
• How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast): Season 3 — NETFLIX SERIES

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

The Purge movie series has rapidly grown into one of the most popular and profitable horror franchises in Hollywood, with the fifth film, The Forever Purge, now hitting theaters. This series proves you don’t need intricate special effects or supernatural monsters to make good horror, just a few colorfully dressed people doing their best to murder one another.

But where does The Forever Purge fit into the increasingly complex mythology of The Purge movies? Here’s everything you need to know about the story driving The Purge franchise, the continuity of these movies, and more!

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/06/30/the-purge-universe-timeline-in-chronological-order”]

Get the full story of The Purge timeline in chronological order above.

The Purge Movies Universe Explained: The Basics

The Purge takes place in a near-future world where an organization called the New Founding Fathers of America have taken control of the United States. In response to rising crime rates, unemployment and social unrest, the New Founding Fathers created an annual holiday called The Purge. For one night every year, American citizens are given 12 hours of complete freedom to commit whatever crimes they please. Short of unleashing weapons of mass destruction or targeting top-level government officials, pretty much any crime is legal during those 12 hours. The idea is that The Purge allows them to release their pent-up aggression and become better, harder-working citizens the other 364 days of the year.

On the surface, The Purge seems to have done its job. The economy has recovered and crime is way down. But many believe The Purge is nothing more than a form of violent population control, with the poor and homeless suffering the brunt of the carnage every year. Where many Americans have embraced The Purge, others will stop at nothing to bring this bloody holiday to an end and overthrow the New Founding Fathers.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2013/04/29/the-purge-trailer-1″]

Watch the trailer for the original Purge movie above.

The Purge Universe Movies

There are currently fives films in The Purge franchise plus a two-season TV series.

The Purge (2013) – The original Purge unfolds in the near future landscape of 2022. At this point, The Purge has been an annual event for several years, and some enterprising individuals like security salesman James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) have found ways of profiting from the event. The film follows Sandin and his family as they discover their lavish home isn’t quite as Purge-proof as they thought. This film also introduces the one character who’s appeared in each of the first three films, Dante Bishop (Edwin Hodge).

[ignvideo url=”http://www.ign.com/videos/2014/02/13/the-purge-anarchy-trailer-1″]

Watch the trailer for The Purge: Anarchy above.

The Purge: Anarchy (2014) – This sequel takes place in 2023 during the seventh annual Purge. Anarchy introduces an LAPD officer named Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo), who plans on using The Purge as an opportunity to murder the drunk driver who killed his son. Instead, he finds himself protecting a mother and daughter trapped in the chaos of the night. This movie also fleshes out the background of Dante Bishop, revealing him to be a member of a growing resistance movement opposing the New Founding Fathers.

The Purge: Election Year (2016) – The second sequel jumps ahead almost two decades to the year 2040. This film introduces Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell), a presidential candidate campaigning on a pledge to end The Purge. Faced with a significant political threat, the New Founding Fathers modify The Purge rules to remove all protections for high-level government officials. Roan is forced to rely on the help of Barnes (now retired from the LAPD and working as her head of security) and Bishop’s resistance cell to survive another Purge. If she can survive and win the presidential election, Roan can offer new hope for this darker United States.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2016/02/10/the-purge-election-year-official-trailer-1″]

Watch the trailer for The Purge: Election Year above.

The First Purge (2018) – This film is a prequel offering a look at how The Purge began. It explores the societal breakdown that led to the US accepting the idea of the annual Purge. The film stars Y’Lan Noel, Lex Scott Davis, Joivan Wade, Luna Lauren Velez and Marisa Tomei. Creator James DeMonaco again wrote this screenplay, but The First Purge is instead directed by Fruitvale Station producer Gerard McMurray.

The Purge TV series (2018-2019) – The franchise made the jump to television in 2018. Where the movies up to that point had all taken place during a single night while The Purge unfolds, the series took a wider look at how the existence of The Purge influences life in America over time.

The Forever Purge (2021) – The latest film, which was directed by Everardo Gout, moves from the series’ typical urban and suburban settings to a Texas border town. Ana de la Reguera (Army of the Dead) and Tenoch Huerta (the upcoming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) star as a Mexican couple fleeing Cartel violence only to wind up in the middle of some nasty Purge antics.

The Purge: Origin and Background

The Purge movies are one of several major success stories from Blumhouse Productions, the production company responsible for other horror franchises like Paranormal Activity and Insidious. Blumhouse’s approach is to offer directors modest budgets paired with high creative freedom, resulting in horror and indie films that tend to resonate strongly with audiences. For instance, the first Purge had a budget of roughly $3 million and grossed over $64 million domestically.

The first three Purge movies were written and directed by James DeMonaco, who previously wrote films like 1996’s Jack and 2005’s Assault on Precinct 13. DeMonaco once revealed the origins of the original movie to Fandango, saying, “My wife and I were in a road-rage incident in Brooklyn where we were cut off by this drunk guy who almost killed us. The cops showed up; it was crazy. She said in anger—and this is a doctor who helps people—’I wish we could all have one free [murder] one a year.’ I was like, ‘Whoa, honey!’ It stayed with me.”

That incident, along with other political events like the fallout of Hurricane Katrina, wound up inspiring an entire franchise about ordinary Americans being given carte blanche to kill and wreak havoc for one night a year. While reviews for the first movie were mixed, critics and audiences noted its emphasis on social and political satire.

The series has only upped the satire factor with time. The sequels have expanded in scope and focused more on fleshing out the world of The Purge and the conflict between those who embrace the holiday and those who wish to see it end. In particular, The Purge: Election Year flaunted its similarities to the 2016 presidential election, including featuring a main character seemingly inspired by Hillary Clinton. The First Purge continued that trend with marketing that lampooned Donald Trump’s “Make American Great Again” campaign.

That emphasis on satire seems to have helped the franchise maintain its appeal with moviegoers. Both sequels fared significantly better with critics, and The Purge: Election Year clocked in at a series best gross of $79 million.

The Forever Purge was originally billed as being the last film in the series, but DeMonaco has since said that he has an idea of how the franchise might yet continue… So stay tuned.

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Actor Billy Boyd, who played Pippin in The Lord of the Rings, has revealed that the series nearly had a nude scene involving Pippin, Merry, and Treebeard. Boyd said in an appearance on Stephen Colbert’s late night show that writer Philippa Boyens wrote a gag sequence for Merry and Pippin where they climb on Treebeard the Ent and, upon falling out of his branches, land on the ground naked.

The scene was meant to demonstrate the pair’s penchant for hijinks, but it was ultimately cut for reasons that Boyd didn’t explain.

“There was almost nudity in the movies. Philippa Boyens…she did a gag. She wrote a scene, because we’d been doing some kind of gags and winding people, having a bit of fun. And she wrote a scene,” Boyd said (via Collider). “She said, ‘Oh, it’s a new scene we’re filming next week, with the Ents, with Treebeard, so when Merry and Pippin are up Treebeard, he gets a fright and shakes his branches, which makes you guys fall–and this has all been printed on this script–it makes you guys fall, and as you hit all the branches on the way down, by the time you hit the ground, you’re naked. And Merry turns to Pippin and says, ‘It’s cold, isn’t it?’ And Pippin says, ‘Hold me, Merry.'”

Boyd said he was being serious and that this scene was actually planned for the movie at a certain point. Dominic Monaghan, who plays Merry, joked in the interview that he was enthusiastic about the idea because he’s happy and comfortable showing off his body.

“I was kind of into it because I have a really fantastic ass and I thought now is the time to get it out,” he said with a laugh.

Nudity in The Lord of the Rings came up in the interview after Colbert asked for the actors to respond to the online petitions for Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV show to not feature nudity in the way that Game of Thrones did over the course of the series. Officially, we don’t know if Amazon’s show will have nudity–barely any details on the show are available.

For his part, Middle-earth super-fan Colbert mentioned that The Hobbit book has nudity and that naked scenes could have a place in Amazon’s show.

“I don’t want to hear it from any of the prudes who don’t think there should be any nudity in The Lord of the Rings,” he said.

Amazon’s series is currently filming in New Zealand. Actor Benjamin Walker recently discussed the show’s gigantic budget and explained why he believes all the secrecy around the project is a good thing.

The fate of the entire universe once again hangs in the balance as warriors come together for one final clash in Warner Bros. Animation’s new feature-length film Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms – and we’ve got your exclusive first look at the trailer!

Arriving on Digital, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack on August 31, Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms picks up shortly after the explosive finale of Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge — the 2020 blockbuster hit that initiated these animated films — as our team of heroes is besieged by the enemy forces of Shao Kahn, forcing Raiden and his warriors into a final Mortal Kombat that will determine the fate of the realms.

Check out the trailer for Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms here…

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Joel McHale (Community, Stargirl) and Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight) return to their lead roles as Hollywood star-turned-fighter Johnny Cage and all-business warrior Sonya Blade as the heroes must travel to Outworld in order to defend Earthrealm and, simultaneously, Scorpion must find the ancient Kamidogu before it’s used to resurrect the One Being – which would mean certain destruction of all things in the universe.

Also returning for the sequel are Jordan Rodrigues (Lady Bird, The Fosters) as Liu Kang; Patrick Seitz (Mortal Kombat X, Aggretsuko, Naruto: Shippuden) as Scorpion & Hanzo Hasashi; Artt Butler (Her, Star Wars: The Clone Wars) as Shang Tsung & Cyrax; Robin Atkin Downes (The Strain, Batman: The Killing Joke) as Shinnok & Reiko; Dave B. Mitchell (Mortal Kombat 11, Call of Duty franchise) as Raiden, Kintaro & Sektor; Ikè Amadi (Mass Effect 3, Mortal Kombat 11) as Jax Briggs & One Being; Grey Griffin (The Loud House, Young Justice, Scooby-Doo franchise) as Kitana, Satoshi Hasashi & Mileena; and Fred Tatasciore (Robot Chicken, Family Guy) as Shao Kahn.

Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms is directed by Ethan Spaulding (Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge, Batman: Assault on Arkham) from a script by Jeremy Adams (Supernatural, Justice Society: World War II) and based on the video game created by Ed Boon and John Tobias.

Special features include:

• The God and the Dragon: Battling for Earthrealm (Featurette) – Go behind the scenes and inside the creative process of bringing Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms to action-packed life on screen.

• Voices of Kombat (Featurette) – Join Joel McHale, Jennifer Carpenter, and the cast as they detail the process of creating unique and compelling voices for the larger-than-life characters in the film.
• Kombat Gags: Gag Reel (Featurette) – Step inside the VO booth with the cast of the film for all of the flubbed lines and outrageously improvised lines from the cutting room floor.
• Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms Audio Commentary (Audio Only) – Producer Rick Morales and Screenwriter Jeremy Adams take the audience inside the art of writing and animating the film in this feature-length audio commentary.

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Disney Television Studios has unveiled its official schedule for Comic-Con@Home 2021, which will take place July 23-25.

The studio’s line-up features panel discussions with cast and producers from eight fan-favorite series, including animated comedies American Dad, Bob’s Burgers, Duncanville, Family Guy, and The Simpsons, along with Comic-Con newcomers Central Park and The Great North. The new Disney+ series The Mysterious Benedict Society is also in the mix this year.

See below for the official details of the panels coming from Disney Television Studios, which is comprised of 20th Television, ABC Signature and 20th Television Animation.

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July 23

3:00pm (PT): Duncanville

“Join the Harris family and friends for a hilarious conversation about the spectacularly average life of 15-year-old Duncan Harris on FOX’s hit animated series Duncanville. Executive producers Mike Scully and Julie Thacker-Scully, executive producer and star Amy Poehler, and stars Ty Burrell, Riki Lindhome, Joy Osmanski, Yassir Lester and Betsy Sodaro tease the rest of this season and next, and give fans a special look at an upcoming episode featuring a musical number with everyone’s favorite teacher, Mr. Mitch (voiced by Wiz Khalifa).”

July 24

11:00am (PT): The Simpsons

“Simpsons Season 33 and beyond! Join Matt Selman, Al Jean, David Silverman, Carolyn Omine, Mike B. Anderson, Debbie Mahan and moderator Yeardley Smith as they give you an exclusive sneak preview of Season 33. A panel of animators, writers and special surprise guests will answer your questions, tell behind-the-scenes stories, and reveal the secrets of the Springfield Cinematic Universe.”

3:00pm (PT): Central Park

“Join co-creator and executive producer Loren Bouchard; co-creator, executive producer and voice of Birdie, Josh Gad; the voice of Owen Tillerman Leslie Odom Jr.; the voice of Cole Tillerman Titus Burgess; and producers Kelvin Yu and Steven Davis, from Apple’s musical animated series Central Park for the show’s ‘Con debut. The panelists discuss how they brought this harmonious series to life by merging comedy with the very brightest talent of Broadway and some of the best songwriters in the world.”

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/02/01/family-guys-10-best-episodes”]

4:00pm (PT): Family Guy

“Join cast Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Mila Kunis, Seth Green, Arif Zahir and executive producers Rich Appel and Alec Sulkin from Fox’s hit animated comedy Family Guy as we celebrate 20 seasons of the series with a virtual trivia night. Watch our cast and producers compete against each other and see who knows the most about this iconic series. After, you’ll see a special sneak peek at the hilarity and hi-jinx coming up in our 20th season premiering this fall on Fox.”

5:00pm (PT): American Dad!

“Ever wondered how your favorite American Dad! episodes get made? Join Matt Weitzman as he walks you through the creation of an upcoming episode of the current season airing on TBS. You’ll see a table read, featuring stars Rachael MacFarlane, Wendy Schaal, Scott Grimes and Dee Bradley Baker, followed by parts of the episode in the animatic and early stages of color.”

July 25

11:00am (PT): The Mysterious Benedict Society

“Based on [the] New York Times bestseller which Time Magazine called “one of the best young adult books of all time,” – The Mysterious Benedict Society has finally come to life on screens across the world this summer on Disney+. Placed undercover at a boarding school known as The Institute, a group of orphans must foil a nefarious plot with global ramifications while creating a new sort of family along the way. Join our series stars, Tony Hale, Kristen Schaal, MaameYaa Baofo, Ryan Hurst and Gia Sandhu along with executive producers and writers, Phil Hay (creator), Matt Manfredi (creator), Darren Swimmer (showrunner) and Todd Slavkin (showrunner), as they talk about all the adventures from the first season, tease what’s to come in the final two episodes and the future of the series, moderated by TV Guide Magazine’s Damian Holbrook.”

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/04/06/the-25-best-adult-cartoon-tv-series”]

12:00pm (PT): The Great North

“Join us as we take a look at one of Fox’s newest animated series, already picked up for a third season, The Great North. Join creators and executive producers Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux, executive producer Loren Bouchard and the all-star cast including Nick Offerman, Jenny Slate, Dulcé Sloan, Will Forte, Paul Rust and Alanis Morissette for a truly wild and hilarious Q&A including exclusive clips and breaking news on the outrageous Alaskan adventures in store for the Tobin family in the upcoming season.”

3:00pm (PT): Bob’s Burgers

“The cast and producers of the Emmy Award-winning animated Fox series Bob’s Burgers are back for another virtual ‘Con breaking news about the upcoming season, showing never-before-seen footage and answering questions from a few lucky fans who get to join the zoom to ask their burning questions directly to the panellists. Join creator and executive producer Loren Bouchard, executive producer Nora Smith and the hilarious cast including H. Jon Benjamin, John Roberts, Kristen Schaal, Eugene Mirman, Dan Mintz and Larry Murphy for a panel you won’t want to miss.”

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Comic-Con International: San Diego cancelled its 2021 convention back in March due to precautions around staging an in-person event during the pandemic. As with last year’s SDCC, the physical convention is being replaced with a virtual Comic-Con@Home, featuring a variety of panels covering fan-favorite topics, from TV and movies to comics, publishing, toys, and so much more. Stay tuned to IGN for all of the latest details as they come in.

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

In an age of cryptocurrencies and digital banking, gift cards are an oddity in that landscape due to their inflexible nature and many of them having expiration dates. One cunning thief, however, funded a lavish lifestyle with Xbox gift cards using a loophole in Microsoft’s online store, as a Bloomberg report detailed how engineer Volodymyr Kvashuk managed to steal over $10 million from Microsoft before he was eventually busted.

It was the perfect crime: As an employee of Microsoft who was tasked with simulating purchases on the company’s digital store, Kvashuk discovered that whenever he tested purchases of gift cards he would receive real codes. Kvashuk started small, generating Xbox cards in increments from $10 to $100 while working his day job of preventing the online store from shipping fake purchases of physical goods. Recruiting a few co-workers to help him in his scheme and using multiple profiles while routing his internet traffic through servers in Japan and Russia, Kvashuk would generate thousands of dollars’ worth of gift cards and then sell them online for up to 55% off their regular price.

Kvashuk even went so far as to build a computer program to increase the speed at which he bought gift cards, selling them in bulk on the marketplace Paxful, which allowed gift cards to be traded for cryptocurrency. One trader is reported to have paid Kvashuk 1.98 Bitcoins, then worth $17,240, for 300 Xbox cards. With all that Bitcoin and some crypto-investing, Kvashuk was able to purchase his dream lakefront home, but Microsoft’s Fraud Investigation Strike Team–FIST–was onto him.

In 2018, FIST noticed a spike in online purchases using gift card codes and corporate investigators traced the irregular activity to two internal test accounts belonging to employees of the Microsoft store team, and these accounts were soon blacklisted after it was discovered that $8 million had been stolen. When a third account was activated and stole another $1.6 million in Xbox gift cards, the jig was essentially up.

Microsoft called in a veteran detective of Scotland Yard’s computer crime unit, Andrew Cookson, to help assist FIST, and after reading through CSV data, Kvashuk’s name turned up as one of the official test accounts that had bought some Xbox gift cards illegitimately in 2017. Kvashuk had already been connected to stolen codes that had been used at Microsoft’s web store to buy three Nvidia GeForce graphics cards, which had been shipped to “Grigor Shikor” at unit 309 of the Norman Arms in Seattle. There was no Shikor living at the Norman Arms in that unit, but Kvashuk was living in unit 101. Busted.

A month later Kvashuk would be fired and in February 2020 he was charged with a number of crimes such as money laundering, identity theft, and wire fraud by federal prosecutors. In November of 2020, a judge sentenced him to nine years in prison. It’s a wild story, with the Bloomberg report containing even more fascinating details, such as Kvashuk being the sole person responsible for global fluctuations in the price of Xbox gift cards on reseller markets at one point.

Summer Games Done Quick–or SGDQ, as it’s more commonly known–is returning this weekend for more game speedrunning and charity fundraising. As always, the event will feature a whole bunch of the world’s best players trying to complete games and special challenges as quickly as possible, all while raising money for Doctors Without Borders.

SGDQ 2021 will be entirely online as we continue efforts to eliminate COVID-19. More than 100 speedruns will take place over the week, which kicks off on July 4 and runs through July 11. They include a run of the new game Ghosts ‘N Goblins Resurrection by TheMexicanRunner as well as a blindfolded Super Mario 64 run from Bubzia. The camera doesn’t really let you see much in that game sometimes, so perhaps it will be easier than we think?

How To Watch SGDQ 2021

SGDQ 2021 will be streamed on the organization’s official Twitch channel beginning July 4 at 8:30 AM PT / 11:30 AM ET, and we’ve embedded the stream directly above. The stream will run for around 12 hours each day, and it includes some newer games like Bowser’s Fury for Nintendo Switch and Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The Souls series almost always gets represented at the event, and Dark Souls 3 is confirmed, with Demon’s Souls available as a bonus game. If you’ve been itching for a Nintendogs run, this is the event for you, as well.

The full schedule is available on the official website. 100% of donations will go to the charity, and the event always has incentive rewards including entry into raffles for prizes or getting to pick character names in a game being streamed.