While E3 2021 doesn’t begin until June 12, Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest gets things started on June 10 with a big Kick Off Live event that promises some big news.

Keighley has now posted a hype reel for the “summer spectacular” event. The video may or may not contain some clues about what to expect on Thursday, so have a look for yourself and let us know if you spot anything.

The June 10 event starts at 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET. Hosted by Keighley himself, the event promises a dozen world premieres and reveals. Keighley says more than 30 games will show up. After the showcase will be the Day of the Devs event with iam8bit and Double Fine.

Keighley also shared a personal update on his Twitter page to speak about the emotions he’s feeling this week. It’s the first time in 25 years that he’s not actively involved in E3.

“Change is difficult. It’s never easy to start something new. But I will never waver in my commitment to deliver fan-first events that represent our art form the biggest and most powerful entertainment medium in the world,” he said.

“Ultimately I hope these next weeks bring you joy, excitement and reverence for the power of games to connect us all. I’m hoping everyone walks away happy. Let’s unite to celebrate what games mean to us,” he added.

For more on Summer Game Fest, have a look at GameSpot’s Summer Game Fest roundup that covers the showtimes, what to expect, and more.

GameSpot will livestream Summer Game Fest, E3 2021, and all the major games events and showcases as part of Play for All 2021 during June, raising money for AbleGamers, which focuses on helping people with disabilities play games and improving accessibility in games.

The latest cultural collaboration for massive gaming platform Roblox is In The Heights, the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical-turned-movie. To mark the release of the In The Heights film in theaters and on HBO Max, Roblox is hosting its own massive block party.

The event is already running, and will conclude on June 20. Roblox players are able to explore an in-game version of the movie’s Latinx community of Washington Heights, visiting notable locations from the film as well as interacting with its characters. Vendors are also set up through the event space offering In The Heights-specific items and free emotes.

As well as the general experience, two timed events will be happening in the block party area. On June 10 at 10 AM PDT, players can check in for a Q&A and exclusive clip from In The Heights. On June 11, the day the film is set to release in cinemas and on HBO Max, players can join in at 10 AM again for a flash mob dance event. Both events will also be repeating on the hour throughout the day.

Roblox is no stranger to these kinds of cultural events, with the popular gaming hub playing host to events such as a Lil Nas X concert and single debut, and a coronavirus relief concert featuring the likes of Billie Eilish and Lizzo.

Given the 2003 film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World was based off a series comprising of 20 separate novels, it’s surprising that it took this long for the Oscar-winning film to get a sequel. Deadline reports that 20th Century is developing a Master and Commander prequel, with A Monster Calls writer Patrick Ness handling the script.

The original film starred Russell Crowe as Captain Jack Aubrey, a British naval captain who takes on a dangerous mission in the middle of the Napoleonic Wars. Paul Bettany played Stephen Maturin, a ship’s surgeon and the other main character in the Master and Commander series.

Sources quoted by Deadline say the new movie is set to be a prequel, based off the first book in the series, which follows a young Aubrey and the beginning of his friendship with Maturin. 2003’s Master and Commander film was only loosely based off the source material, drawing from five different books in the series.

The original film was a success, taking in more than $200 million worldwide and receiving 10 Oscar nominations–taking home the titles of Best Cinematography and Best Sound Editing, while the rest were lost to the awards behemoth that was The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King.

So far only the writer Patrick Ness is attached to the project, with no cast or director announced. While it’s possible Bettany and Crowe may return to reprise their roles, a prequel would more likely see 20th Century recast the iconic roles.

As one of the “meme stocks” made popular by Reddit’s army of dedicated retail traders, AMC has once again sold off a bunch of its hyped-up stock to raise funds. After raising $230 million last week from the sale of 8.5 million shares, AMC has now sold another 11.55 million shares, netting them another $587.4 million.

Following a terrible year for its business, AMC’s stock was languishing around $2 a share at the start of this year, before attracting the attention of the community of retail traders behind GameStop’s meteoric rise. Since then AMC stock has stayed around $50 a share, though AMC’s announcement that it would sell off a large number of shares caused fluctuations between $37.66 and $68.80, Deadline reports. Shares eventually closed at $51.31, down 18%.

AMC has embraced its enthusiastic retail traders, who now make up about 80% of its shareholders. Just last week it announced a suite of benefits for its individual shareholders, including free popcorn and exclusive screenings.

In its filing, AMC said it would use the proceeds from its latest share sale for “general corporate purposes, which may include the repayment, refinancing, redemption or repurchase of existing indebtedness, acquisition of theatre assets, working capital or capital expenditures and other investments.”

The theater chain’s main business is looking up as vaccination numbers rise across the US. In its latest update, AMC said that vaccinated patrons would no longer be required to wear masks at its theaters, unless required by state law.

Microsoft has become one of the companies supporting the government’s National Month of Action, after announcing that it would be donating new Xbox consoles to Boys and Girls Clubs in some of some of the country’s hardest-hit communities.

The details on the donation are scarce, including what consoles will be donated and in what communities, but it’s an extension of Microsoft’s long partnership with Boys and Girls Clubs of America. A page on the Boys and Girls Clubs website describes Microsoft as a sponsor that has helped improve youths’ access to digital skills and computer science education.

The Xbox donation is a part of the National Month of Action, a White House initiative that aims to see at least one Covid-19 shot given to 70% of adults in the US by July 4. Other efforts towards this goal have included extended pharmacy hours, free child care for vaccination recipients, and even free beer for vaccinated adults.

Xbox hopes the donation will “help drive vaccine education in the US,” and shared its announcement with a mock 1000G achievement that just reads “vaccinated.” While the Xbox consoles probably won’t be used for education themselves, Microsoft’s donation will help the clubs “run promotions and educational seminars about the importance of vaccinations in hard-hit and hard-to-reach communities.”

This isn’t the first time Microsoft has donated consoles as part of community outreach–late last year the company paired up with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to gift 20 unique Xbox Series X consoles to children’s hospitals across the USA.

No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle will officially be released on PC via Steam on June 9, 2021.

Revealed on XSEED Games’ Twitter, these two games arrive on Steam with a 10% launch discount and mark the first time No More Heroes 1 & 2 will be available on a platform besides the Wii, Switch, and Amazon Luna.

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The first two No More Heroes arriving on PC is happening just a couple months before No More Heroes 3 is released on Nintendo Switch on August 27.

In our review of No More Heroes, we said, “In the end, No More Heroes is a grab bag of highs and lows, and the end result is going to be different based on your expectations. No More Heroes has one of the most unique, stylistic designs we’ve seen in years (maybe since Killer 7, in fact), as the presentation is made up of pixel art, a retro-themed audio production, and some of the best characters out there.”

In our review of No More Heroes 2, we said that “Desperate Struggle blows [the original] out of the water with a more streamlined experience, far more charm and style throughout, and some downright amazing boss battles. You still run across the occasional weak boss fight, horrible camera situation or framerate crawl, but with as much pure fun as there is packed into the game, you forgive the downsides almost instantly.”

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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 Addams Family and Cinema Toast’s Christina Ricci has quietly joined the cast of The Matrix 4.

As reported by Collider, this casting news was discovered in an updated The Matrix 4 press kit released by Warner Bros. Unfortunately, no further details were given regarding her character.

Ricci joins returning The Matrix cast members Keanu Reeves, Carrier Ann-Moss, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Daniel Bernhardt, and Lambert Wilson. Newcomers to the franchise include Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra, and Jonathan Groff.

The Matrix 4 will also be the second time Ricci and director Lana Wachowski have worked together following their time on Speed Racer.

We still don’t know much about The Matrix 4, which is set to be released in theaters and on HBO Max on December 22, 2021, but the film’s potential title – The Matrix Resurrections – may have leaked earlier this year.

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For more on The Matrix 4, check out the news that Laurence Fishburne (Morpheus) and Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith) won’t be reprising their roles and everything else we know about the first Matrix film since 2003.

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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.

It’s the beginning of a new week, one full of gaming news, releases and of course, deals. Are you part of the Playstation ecosystem? Then you’d better check out this great deal on a year of PS Plus, which will save you $15. Shop at Amazon and use Prime? You can earn yourself free credit right now. We’ve also got several great Dell products on offer and some pre-orders lined up for you to check out before they launch this week.

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Late last year, an ESRB rating was the first hint that Wii cult hit No More Heroes and its sequel would be coming to the PC–now, the two ports have been confirmed. The two Suda51 games will be coming to the PC via Steam on June 9th.

The original No More Heroes was released for the Wii in 2007, with the sequel No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle following in 2010. The two games were later ported for the Nintendo Switch in 2020, but the PC port marks their first time being playable on a non-Nintendo platform.

The games follow protagonist Travis Touchdown’s journey as an assassin in the United Assassins Association, after he acquired a beam katana in an online auction. The stylised beat-em-ups gained a cult following thanks to Suda51’s signature offbeat sense of humor, which doesn’t shy away from violence, sex, and plenty of swearing.

A spin-off game called Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes was released for the Switch in 2019, while the next main game in the series, No More Heroes III, was announced at E3 in 2019. The direct sequel is due out for the Nintendo Switch on August 27, 2021.

In the meantime, you can check out No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2 on Steam from June 9.

Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart is shaping up to be the Lombax’s pajamas, and we can hook you up for cheap. Don’t have a PS5? Not a worry! You can score discounts on Dying Light 2, Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 and Far Cry 6 instead. Something for everybody today, and it’s all waiting below…

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