Pokemon Go‘s Valentine’s Day event kicks off on February 14, developer Niantic has announced. As part of this year’s event, the Gen 5 Pokemon Munna and its evolved form, Musharna, will be available for the first time in Pokemon Go, and there will be various other Pokemon spawns and in-game bonuses.
Throughout the event, the following Pokemon will appear in the wild more frequently than usual:
Nidoran (F)
Nidoran (M)
Plusle
Minun
Volbeat
Illumise
Luvdisc
Feebas
Munna
On top of that, the following Pokemon will be hatching from 5 km eggs:
Eevee
Cleffa
Igglybuff
Togepi
Luvdisc
Munna
Woobat
Cottonee
In addition, the Legendary Eon Pokemon Latios and Latias will both be available in five-star Raids again, and any Kirlia that you evolve into Gardevoir or Gallade during the event will know the previously Community Day-exclusive move Synchronoise. There will also be event-exclusive Field Research tasks that will lead to encounters with Ralts, Volbeat, Illumise, Alomomola, and Spinda with a heart pattern, as well as a Valentine’s Day Collection Challenge that will reward you with five Silver Pinap Berries, a Lucky Egg, and other items.
Finally, you’ll have an increased chance to become Lucky Friends with another player during the Valentine’s Day event, and Pokemon you receive in trades will have an increased chance of being Lucky. Niantic is also temporarily increasing trading distance to 40 km, and you’ll be more likely to get berries in gifts you receive from other players.
The Valentine’s Day event runs until 8 PM local time on February 18. You can read more details on the official Pokemon Go blog.
In the meantime, new Field Research tasks and rewards are now live in Pokemon Go, and the game’s Lunar New Year event kicks off on February 9. As part of that event, red-colored Pokemon like Krabby, Tepig, and Magmar will be appearing more frequently in the wild, and Mega Gyarados will make its debut in the game. Niantic is also hosting a big Pokemon Go Tour: Kanto event on February 20 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original Pokemon Red and Green versions.
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Grand Theft Auto V continues to be a huge success for Rockstar and Take Two. During its latest financial earnings call, Take Two revealed that GTA V has now sold more than 140 million copies–a number that will likely only continue to grow when the game comes to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X later this year.
Despite being more than seven years old at this point, 2020 was GTA V’s single best year since launch. Take Two said “more copies of Grand Theft Auto V” were sold last year than any other year since 2013, when the title first launched on PS3 and Xbox 360. Recurrent consumer spending–Take Two’s terminology for in-game purchases–for Grand Theft Auto Online grew 28% year-over-year, outperforming the company’s third-quarter forecast.
Grand Theft Auto V continues to receive a regular stream of updates to its GTA Online mode. Back in December, Rockstar rolled out the big Cayo Perico Heist update, which introduced the titular heist as well as a new island location, a new nightclub, new vehicles and weapons, and more.
GTA Online is undoubtedly a big reason for GTAV’s continued success. According to Take Two, the online mode “had more players in every month and for the entirety of calendar 2020 than in any other year since its launch.” Take Two said last year “also marked Grand Theft Auto Online’s highest participation rate ever by both new players and reactivated players.” Rockstar will be releasing a standalone version of Grand Theft Auto Online later this year on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Grand Theft Auto V wasn’t Rockstar’s only big seller. During the same call, Take Two also revealed that Red Dead Redemption 2 has now sold more than 36 million units, and its online component, Red Dead Online, had “more players, including more new players, in the month of December than in any other month since its beta launch in 2018.” Take Two says Rockstar will continue to support both GTA Online and Red Dead Online with updates in 2021 and beyond.
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2020 was yet another record-setting year for Grand Theft Auto 5 and GTA Online, according to publisher Take-Two Interactive’s quarterly financial results.
GTA Online is also doing well years after launch, with Take-Two saying the game had more players each month in 2020 than any other month since launch, as well as for the full year of 2020 than in any other year since its launch. It also saw the game’s highest participation rate from both new and returning players, and its revenue was up 28% year-over-year for the quarter.
As a part of its earnings, Take-Two reaffirmed its commitment to release GTA 5 on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in the second half of 2021, as well as continue to update the game with new content this year.
GTA was not the only Take-Two franchise that saw continued surges of interest in 2020. Red Dead Redemption 2 has now sold over 36 million units worldwide, and Red Dead Online reached more players in December of 2020 than it ever has since its beta launch in 2018. NBA 2K21 has now sold over 8 million units and Borderlands 3 has sold over 12 million units.
Take-Two attributes much of GTA Online’s ongoing success this year to its ongoing slate of new content releases, including the recently-released Cayo Perico Heist — the first-ever heist that GTA Online players can play entirely by themselves if they choose.
Players have also taken GTA Online’s sandbox to create their own storylines and entertainment. The Green versus Purple Alien gang war in GTA Online was something players devised on their own within Rockstar’s online universe and speaks to GTA Online’s enduring popularity.
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Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
Silent Hill fans were overjoyed when longtime series composer Akira Yamaoka seemed to tease a new entry in the series in a recent video interview. However, the clip was later taken down by the original publisher AI Hub, who simply said that they “were asked to remove the clip” by an unspecified party.
Statement: We thank you for your support which contributed to the spread of the interview that we published yesterday with Akira Yamaoka around the world. We were asked to remove the clip, and it has been removed. We apologize and stay tuned for the next interviews https://t.co/sMuGmf6NIT
In the clip, Yamaoka stated that he was working on a new project that would be announced this summer, and specifically said, “I think it’s the one you’re hoping to hear about.” This would seem to indicate the Silent Hill series, since Yamaoka is closely associated with that franchise. News of the clip’s removal prompted some to point at Konami as the party who asked AI Hub to take it down, given that the company has quashed similar rumors before.
However, Konami told multiple sources (including PushSquare) that they didn’t communicate with AI Hub, suggesting that perhaps Yamaoka himself asked them to take it down. Silent Hill rumors have swirled for years at this point, with Konami outright stating last year that rumors of a Silent Hills reboot were not accurate. Recently, an unknown fan bought SilentHill.com as a response to the popularity of a certain Resident Evil Village character.
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The fate of Anthem hangs in the balance depending on how an internal review of the reboot goes. That’s according to a new report which says there is a chance EA expands the Anthem Next team or shelves the game altogether.
In a new report from Bloomberg, EA executives will review the latest version of Anthem Next later this week. Depending on how the project is progressing, EA will continue to back and grow the Anthem Next team or “abandon the project.”
Anthem Next was set to be a re-do of sorts for Anthem, BioWare’s live-service action RPG which quickly lost traction with players. BioWare handed Anthem to BioWare Austin which specifically works on live projects like Star Wars: The Old Republic.
BioWare Austin executive producer Christian Dailey became the face of Anthem Next, writing three blog posts about Anthem Next’s development throughout 2020. But according to the report, Dailey left the Anthem team in December as part of a management shake-up. BioWare’s Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah also the company in December.
Dailey’s departure put more questions around the future of the project.
In its development blog, BioWare Austin detailed some changes that the team considered for Anthem Next, including updates to loot drops, weapons, the Javelins — the robot armor players pilot and customize — and skill tree changes. Basically, a top-down overhaul and Bloomberg says other major changes have been made to Anthem’s “core systems and user interface[.]”
This isn’t to say Anthem Next has been officially canceled. That remains to be seen following EA’s internal review, and if the project is shaping up to satisfaction the dev team will be expanded to pursue the project further.
IGN reviewed Anthem and gave it a 6.5 saying its energetic combat can’t save the lack of content and tedious grind. But second chances have become increasingly common in video games thanks to success stories like Final Fantasy 14 and No Man’s Sky.
Microsoft and Mojang have announced that Minecraft Dungeons is getting new DLC and a free update later this month, and both are going to add some interesting stuff to the game. The paid DLC is called Flames of the Nether, and it will take players to that lava-filled core, where they will take on the toughest challenges in the game yet.
The DLC will add six new missions, as well as two skins and a Baby Ghast pet. On the free side of things, the upcoming update will add Ancient Hunts to the game, a new feature that introduces procedurally-generated endgame missions that take place both in and out of the Nether. It sounds like this is the only way that players can get the best gear in the game–the so-called Gilded tier–so die-hards will definitely want to check that out. You’ll also receive a new currency called Gold, which can be traded with a merchant in your camp.
Both the free update and the Flames of the Nether DLC will come to Minecraft Dungeons on February 24. No price has been announced for the DLC, but it’ll probably be $6 like the previous packs. Minecraft Dungeons got cross-play and fresh DLC late last year, so you can play it with your friends on other consoles. If you’re still wondering what a Creeper tastes like, there’s a Minecraft cereal out in the wild these days.
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Fans of Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile have an exciting month ahead of them with the game’s latest 1.2 patch. Players can experience a new quick-play game mode and a special Valentine’s Day theme to feel the love this month.
If you like power armor, you’re in luck. The new EvoGround gameplay mode is Power Armor Mode, and as the name implies, it’s bringing power armor to Livik with extra abilities. Players will be able to forge their own suit of power armor by bringing an Armor Blueprint and Nano Crystals to the Matrix base.
There are three pieces of power armor players can create: Power Armor Chest, Power Armor Arms, and Power Armor Legs. Their names are pretty self-explanatory, but each provides a different bonus. The Power Armor Chest reduces chest damage and increases your backpack capacity, the Power Armor Arms reduce arm damage and increases melee damage, and the Power Armor Legs reduce leg damage, decrease fall damage, and grant the ability to sprint. If you assemble the full set, you’ll unlock its ultimate weapon: The Dragon’s Breath grenade.
Other changes are coming with the update as well. Players will now have two respawn chances, giving them the ability to either respawn with basic equipment, or have a teammate respawn at one of the research stations. There’s also a new Matrix event that offers improved regional supply output, multiple airdrops, and Life Detectors in research stations.
To celebrate Valentine’s Day, a new theme will also be hitting the game. It’s called the Dream Team Theme and will be available from February 9-March 7. When the theme is available, a pier leading to Cheer Park Island–home of a giant heart-bearing bunny doll–will appear. Players will be able to trigger Confession Balloons here, balloons that will float into the air and display the name of your beloved for all to see.
Even if you’re not a fan of American football or The Weeknd, the Super Bowl was worth watching for the new trailer for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The second live-action Marvel series on Disney+ is drawing closer to its March 19 debut, and we’re starting to get a better picture of the conflict awaiting Sam Wilson and his reluctant partner Bucky Barnes. Spoiler alert – they still don’t get along very well.
Even as the plot begins to coalesce, fans still have plenty of questions surrounding the new MCU show. Why has Baron Zemo returned? Who exactly is the masked woman fighting the Winter Soldier to a standstill? Is that the Madripoor skyline we see? Let’s take a deep dive into this new footage and explore what we know about the next big MCU epic.
Sam and Bucky will be battling a familiar face in this new series, with Daniel Brühl reprising his role as Baron Helmut Zemo from 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. Since that movie is nearly five years old now, it’s probably worth recapping who Zemo is and why he hates superheroes so much.
As we learned in Civil War, Zemo was the leader of a Sokovian commando squad until that Eastern European country was devastated in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Zemo lost his wife and children in the disaster, sparking an intense hatred of the Avengers. Zemo spent the months after the events of Age of Ultron preparing for his ultimate goal of fracturing the Avengers and shaking the public’s confidence in costumed heroes. He found the key to his plan after uncovering the existence of the Winter Soldier and using the brainwashed Bucky as the wedge to divide Cap and Iron Man. Though Black Panther prevented Zemo from committing suicide, the villain was ultimately successful in his goal. When we last saw him at the end of Civil War, he was imprisoned by the U.N. and gloating in his victory.
Zemo’s mission is still only half-finished.
The trailer makes it clear Zemo has escaped imprisonment. We wouldn’t be at all surprised if “The Blip” in Avengers: Infinity War has something to do with it. Either Zemo survived the Blip and his jailers didn’t, or else he was blipped and returned five years later after his cell was long since removed. Of course, with roughly seven years having passed in the MCU since the events of Civil War, it’s also possible Zemo was simply released from prison.
Either way, he’s on the lam and resuming his one, true mission. Zemo’s narration in the trailer makes that clear, as we hear him say, “Superheroes should not be allowed to exist. I have no intention of leaving my work unfinished.”
We assume Zemo is miffed that the Avengers rallied to save the day in Endgame and is determined to prove that even having restored billions of lost souls to life, the Avengers are not to be trusted. And maybe he’s not entirely wrong, considering it was their failure that led to the Blip in the first place. Though by that logic, Zemo is himself to blame because he ensured the Avengers weren’t able to make a united front against Thanos. Somehow, we doubt he’s capable of that level of self-reflection.
The most obvious change to Zemo this time around is the fact that he’s finally wearing his iconic purple mask from the comics. There may be practical reasons for donning a costume this time. For example, in the comics the mask is shown to give Zemo resistance to psychic attacks, similar to how Magneto’s helmet safeguards against Professor X’s powers.
But the real significance of the purple mask lies in its family history. In the comics, Helmut is actually the second character to use the Baron Zemo title, after his father Heinrich Zemo. That Baron Zemo was one of Cap’s biggest WWII-era nemeses alongside the Red Skull, and he also wore the purple mask. In fact, the mask became permanently attached to his face after Heinrich had a bad run-in with a super-glue called Adhesive X. The comic book version of Helmut Zemo has his own Adhesive X-induced facial scars, and he also sometimes uses it as a weapon against the Avengers.
The MCU has never given any indication Cap fought the elder Zemo, but it’s possible The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will fill in some of that back-story and explore how Helmut is following in the footsteps of an ancestor. The series probably won’t get into any of that Adhesive X business, but you never know…
The idea of the past resurfacing to haunt the present will likely be a big theme in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Supergirl actor Carl Lumbly has been cast in an undisclosed role, with many fans speculating he’s playing Isaiah Bradley, one of the main protagonists of 2003’s Truth: Red, White & Black. Bradley is one of the few survivors of a top secret program where African American soldiers were used as test subjects in an attempt to recreate Dr. Erskine’s lost Super-Soldier Serum formula. Few lived through the inhumane experiments, and only Bradley survived the end of the war. That’s the dark truth behind America’s bright and shining hero, and we could easily see Zemo wanting to expose that truth to the world.
The question is how Sam and Bucky will react to the truth about Captain America and whether that will impact Sam’s commitment to follow Steve’s path.
Who Is the Masked Woman?
The first two trailers have shown Sam and Bucky going up against a group of masked terrorists. The ringleader of this cell is a woman who appears to have super-strength, at least enough that she’s able to easily hold her own against the former Winter Soldier.
Thanks to some leaked merchandise, we know that anarchist terrorist group to be the Flag-Smashers, with the ringleader (whom we assume is also called Flag-Smasher) played by Solo: A Star Wars Story’s Erin Kellyman. In the comics, Flag-Smasher is a deeply anti-patriotic villain who despises Captain America and the government he represents. Flag-Smasher eventually forms a terrorist group called ULTIMATUM, so the Flag-Smashers could be the precursor to that organization in the MCU.
Based on her fighting abilities, we wouldn’t be surprised to learn Flag-Smasher has some version of the Super-Soldier Serum running through her veins. She and Zemo may be united in their desire to expose the dark truth of Captain America and turn the world against its heroes.
One of the last scenes in Avengers: Endgame shows an elderly Steve Rogers passing the shield and mantle of Captain America to Sam Wilson. Unfortunately, that doesn’t automatically make Sam the new Cap in the eyes of the US government or the world at large. Presumably, one of the major plot points in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will involve the uphill battle Sam faces in winning the right to be Cap. Again, assuming he even decides that’s what he wants in the end.
The trailers certainly hint the government has its own candidate picked out to be the new Cap. Overlord’s Wyatt Russell is playing John Walker, a character better known to comic book readers as U.S. Agent. Walker briefly filled the role of Cap in the comics after Steve cut ties with the government, before eventually adopting his own superhero identity. But it’s worth noting that Marvel Studios has only ever referred to the character as John Walker in its promotional material. The character seems to be kept under an intentional veil of secrecy, to the point where we’ve only gotten a good, official look at Russell’s John Walker thanks to a Topps trading card.
Most likely, the US government will be attempting to establish Walker as the new Captain America in the eyes of the public. Given Walker’s physical resemblance to Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers, the government may be trying to maintain the illusion this is the same Cap Americans have always known. As it is, we don’t know how much the general public knows about the events of Endgame and Steve’s sudden disappearance from public life. While the MCU Steve has never really tried to maintain a secret identity, we can probably assume that most of what the public knows about his origins and personal life is heavily controlled and sanitized by the government. Both trailers have shown us similar shots of a costumed Walker gallivanting before an audience at a football game. That suggests his role is more performative than one rooted in actual missions and military operations. In other words, much like Cap’s original job as a propaganda tool in the early days of WWII. The idea and symbol of Cap is what the government wants to maintain, and that may be exactly what Zemo and the Flag-Smashers are trying to destroy.
Is Madripoor Making Its MCU Debut?
Based on the two trailers released so far, it would seem The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has a much bigger scope than WandaVision. Rather than taking place mostly inside one New Jersey suburb, the series will apparently feature epic train battles, a major action sequence set inside the Grand Canyon and various other international locales. One landmark that keeps cropping up in this footage is of a mysterious, neon-soaked city skyline. That city appears to be located in China or somewhere else in Asia. That’s already led many fans to speculate – could the series introduce Madripoor to the MCU?
If you’re not familiar with Madripoor, it’s basically the Mos Eisley of the Marvel Universe – a wretched hive of scum and villainy where few heroes dare to tread. Madripoor is like Singapore in that it’s a small island nation comprised of one city. Founded by pirates and filled with corruption at every level of the government, Madripoor is a safe haven for every criminal and supervillain who doesn’t want to worry about international extradition. It also happens to be the frequent stomping ground of Wolverine.
That in itself raises some interesting questions. Assuming this is Madripoor we’re seeing in the trailers, could Wolverine also make his MCU debut in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier? We know Marvel Studios is still years away from releasing a dedicated X-Men movie, with only the Ryan Reynolds-starring Deadpool 3 confirmed to be in the works so far. But that doesn’t mean we might not see these characters and concepts begin to crop up in other projects. It’s not a huge stretch to imagine this series using the Madripoor setting to at least tease Wolverine’s debut, if not outright feature the iconic X-Man.
Just an ordinary day in Madripoor.
As it is, Wolverine, Captain America and Bucky have a long, shared history together. Logan fought alongside Cap in WWII and encountered the Winter Soldier during the Cold War. The animated series X-Men: Evolution even introduced the idea that Wolverine and Cap were among the soldiers who rescued a young Magneto from a Nazi concentration camp. That would certainly make for an interesting MCU flashback – one of many ways the series could feasibly work Wolverine into Sam and Bucky’s world.
Wolverine and Cap are also products of the same scientific program. Weapon X and Project Rebirth are both offshoots of an organization called Weapon Plus. In fact, writer Grant Morrison’s New X-Men comic revealed that Wolverine’s Weapon X codename actually stands for “Weapon Ten,” and Cap himself was the original Weapon One. If The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is digging into the dark truth behind Captain America, it only makes sense to reference this shared history. Even if we don’t actually see Wolverine in the flesh, perhaps we’ll see blueprints or X-rays of a mysterious, six-clawed test subject called Weapon X. It’s a start, bub.
What Is the Song in the Trailer?
Finally, we might as well touch on one of the bigger questions surrounding the new trailer. For those wondering, the song “Is You Ready?” by Migos serves as the background music for this new footage. There’s not much to be gleaned from that needle drop, but the song is appropriate given how often it repeats the line “Is you ready? Whole squad ready.” It’s clearly celebrating the fact that the Falcon and the Winter Soldier are back in action, and with Don Cheadle’s War Machine for good measure. Or is the song teasing an alliance of villains, including Baron Zemo, the Flag-Smashers and whatever other villains might be lurking in the shadows?
How do you think Zemo and the Flag-Smashers will factor into the plot? Will The Falcon and the Winter Soldier introduce Madripoor and Wolverine to the MCU? Let us know in the comments below.
Obsidian is preparing the second DLC expansion for The Outer Worlds, Murder on Eridanos, and it’s closer than you might expect. As part of Take-Two’s earnings report, the company noted that it expects the DLC to launch in this fiscal year, which ends March 31.
The company didn’t give further details on when to expect the DLC, or any more gameplay details. But with less than two months remaining before release, we should expect to hear more about it sometime soon. The same financial statement also notes that we’ll see the Switch version of the DLC coming sometime this calendar year.
Murder on Eridanos is the second half of the two-part expansion pass that also includes the already-released Peril on Gorgon. Given the name, it sounds as if you’ll be a gumshoe investigating a murder, which would be fitting for Outer Worlds’ classic pulp style.
Peril on Gorgon raised the level cap to 33 and added new perks, flaws, science weapons, and armor sets. It also added a new environment, the Gorgon asteroid. You needed to have finished Radio Free Monarch to even begin the new quest, but Obsidian recommended you start with your character around level 25. Murder on Eridanos may raise the level cap even further.
Peril on Gorgon cost $15 as a standalone purchase or $25 with the expansion pass, so we can probably expect the same price for Murder on Eridanos. The Outer Worlds is included with an Xbox Game Pass subscription, but the DLC is sold separately. Game Pass subscribers get a small discount on DLC, bringing standalone DLC down to $13.50 and the expansion pass to $22.50.
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Actor Viggo Mortensen revealed that he turned down the role of the X-Men’s Wolverine thanks in part to his son Henry.
On an episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast (via MovieWeb), Mortensen detailed how an early meeting with 20th Century Fox and director Bryan Singer colored his thoughts on potentially being locked into a superhero role for years to come. Besides his own personal misgivings, Mortensen’s young son Henry, a fan of the X-Men, noted how different Singer’s incarnation of the superhero group looked.
“The thing that bothered me at the time was just the commitment of endless movies of that same character over and over,” Mortensen said. “I was nervous about that. And also there were some things… I mean they straightened most of them out, but I did take Henry to the meeting I had with the director as my sort of good luck charm and guide. In the back of my mind, I was thinking he could learn something, too, because I did let Henry read the script and he goes ‘This is wrong, that’s not how it is.'”
Singer eventually asked Henry if he was familiar with Wolverine, Mortensen said.
“And he goes ‘yeah, but he doesn’t look like this,’ And all of a sudden the director is falling all over himself and then the rest of the meeting was him explaining in detail to Henry why he was taking certain liberties,” Mortensen said. “We walked out of there, and Henry asks if he will change the things he told him about, and I say I don’t think so. I’m not going to do it anyway, because I’m not sure I want to be doing this for years, and then a couple of years later I’m doing three Lord Of The Rings [films] so who knows.”
While three Lord of the Rings movies is quite the project, it ended up being far less of an ask than what Wolverine actor Hugh Jackman got over the course of seven (technically eight) X-Men movies, most of which focused on Wolverine as the central lead. It’s well-known that Jackman wasn’t the first choice to play Wolverine, but call it a happy accident, considering Jackman is easily the most lauded and popular part of the X-Men film franchise.
Mortensen even turned down a role in the Hobbit trilogy prior to that franchise’s filming way back in 2008. The actor is definitely the type to be careful with his role selection, typically appearing in only one to two movies per year. His most recent major appearance in 2019’s Green Book (alongside Mahershala Ali) earned him an Oscar Award nomination for best actor. He most recently made his directorial debut for 2020’s Falling, starring Mortensen as a gay man caring for his dementia-ridden homophobic father.
