Author: Trafficblast

The spread of COVID-19 has forced numerous physical gaming events like E3 and PAX, as well as esports tournaments like Overwatch League, to go entirely virtual. While larger companies adapted quickly, smaller games businesses don’t necessarily have the resources to pivot as rapidly. However, this hasn’t stopped the movement of hosting gaming events in virtual spaces and making the content available for everyone.

Still, many have made the effort to offer their virtual spaces to as many as possible, including The Game Gym – a community esports team and training center. The Game Gym’s Josh Hafkin and Evan Shubin spoke to IGN about how they’ve reacted to the pandemic and adjusted their locally owned and operated business to fit the current times.

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The Game Gym is located in Rockville, Maryland. Josh Hafkin, the founder and CEO, grew up playing both games and sports equally. He had the idea to form The Game Gym to fuse his love of sports and gaming when esports started to take off. Hafkin wanted to help create a place that serves as a community center to connect parents and their kids through an understanding of what gaming is, as well as a dojo that educates kids on cyberbullying, health and nutrition, and video game development.

The Game Gym offers memberships for kids that teaches them to make healthy lifestyle choices by balancing gaming with other activities, provide insight on game design, and much more. Hafkin realized how few local opportunities there were at the community level for kids to get involved in esports and esports training in general and he wanted to bridge that gap. His sports experience gave him confidence in serving as a knowledgable coach to kids who were interested in learning more about gaming opportunities and how to improve their own skills.

Since The Game Gym operates as a local club where kids and their families can come by in person and participate in numerous activities, including in-house tournaments, gaming in their private training rooms, and sitting in on presentations from guest gaming industry professionals – the impact of COVID-19 has caused some major changes to its community.

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Usually the memberships offered at The Game Gym included unlimited Gym access during open hours and access to classes and gaming tournaments that could be hosted in-house. Now, the staff has created a new system of online camp classes to supplement what would’ve been the summer camp program. Even with the unexpected hurdle of adjusting to stay-at-home life, The Game Gym has planned an entire special weekend of content to celebrate esports and the gaming community.

This event, The DMV’s End of Summer Bash, goes live on August 21 and will run until August 23. The event will have educational and entertainment panels throughout the weekend and host different gaming tournaments. The goal is to raise $25,000 for Extra Life, which supports the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

Evan Shubin, the chief operating officer of The Game Gym, told IGN he’d first been a part of The Game Gym as a customer when his two sons introduced him to the world of gaming. About four years ago, Shubin believed gaming was a “waste of time” and got in the way of his children’s schoolwork. But when his son, Samuel, advocated for the game League of Legends and explained how its strategy-based gameplay actually taught him skills, Shubin realized there was a lot of technique and leadership involved – which was first step for him to realize gaming could offer much more than he thought.

Shubin saw how big gaming could be for his son’s future when Ohio State introduced an esports program and its own arena, so he jumped on board with Hafkin to help operate The Game Gym’s vision. When asked about his experience educating parents on the topic of gaming and the possibilities of gaming extending beyond just a hobby and becoming a career, Hafkin said he acts as a translator between the kid and their parents. He helps bridge the gap between the two to help understand the different worlds.

“A part of the issue that we’ve discovered is that the reason why we have so many issues is that no one is guiding our kids through their gaming process,” Hafkin said. “There are no coaches. Like, imagine if we taught football the way we teach gaming, which is essentially like watch a YouTube video then go do it.”

Hafkin wants to foster coaching and help kids to game better and smarter while also helping parents understand the importance of being there to guide the process and encourage them. The End of Summer Game Bash is a free event that anyone can watch on The Game Gym’s Twitch channel, and it will include interview panels, presentations from esports players and team managers, and entertainment panels from content creators. Anyone is able to enter the tournaments – they are not closed off to non-Game Gym members. Donations can be made during the livestream to directly fund Extra Life, and the fees required to enter the tournaments will all go toward the charity fundraising goal.

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Stella Chung is a video producer at IGN.

Author’s note: Stella Chung will be involved in a panel for The Game Gym’s End of Summer Bash, live on the show on Saturday August 22 at 11:15 am ET/8:15 am PT. The event runs from August 21-23 and will have tournaments running for various games each evening that those interested can sign up for at the official website.

The next Call of Duty game is officially titled Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War. As previously reported, the setting for the next Call of Duty will take place during the 20th century, geopolitical conflict between the United States and the USSR.

Call of Duty posted an unlisted trailer that’s short of gameplay but shows real video footage from the Cold War era of history. All the while using a voiceover from KGB defector Yuri Bezmenov as he explains the tools of fighting a cold war. You can watch the trailer below.

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The trailer ends with the title reveal for Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War.

Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War is being developed by both Treyarch and Raven. It was previously reported that this year’s Call of Duty game would be set during the Cold War.

Activision has only recently started teasing a new Call of Duty game despite repeatedly assuring the community that a new shooter was going to be released in 2020. In August, Activision began sending out mysterious slideshow projectors that led the community on an alternate reality game that eventually uncovered a mysterious website that played news clips from the 1960s.

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The time period of the news clips seemingly confirmed the Cold War setting, and today’s trailer officially confirmed the months-long rumors.

Activision also embedded teasers for Black Ops Cold War into Call of Duty: Warzone. The company confirmed that Cold War will include the popular free-to-play Warzone mode as well.

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Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Activision has finally confirmed the name and setting of 2020’s new Call of Duty game, confirming rumors that it will be called Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. The teaser video, which uses the same “Know Your History” language as previous in-game teasers, promises a worldwide reveal on August 26 within Verdansk–the setting of Call of Duty: Warzone.

The majority of the trailer focuses on real-life KGB defector Yuri Bezmenov, who delivered a famous warning about tactics that are used to undermine governments. Most of the video is his actual recorded statement, set against various historical and Cold War footage. The video comes from Pawn Takes Pawn, a site fans uncovered by participating in the promotional ARG.

The end of the video flashes a title card (again listing Treyarch and Raven as its developers) and teases the full reveal to come next week. Rumors have suggested that Activision would use Warzone to make its next Call of Duty announcement, which was seemingly supported by recent comments from company president Rob Kostich. Kostich said Warzone caused the company to “rethink how, when, and even where we reveal our upcoming title.”

Black Ops Cold War wasn’t exactly a well-kept secret, though. The name leaked months ago in June, and Activision has been slowly dropping teasers since then. Most recently Activision has been dropping mystery boxes as part of an ARG surrounding the game. Warzone players have also found a nuke, causing some to speculate that it could level some or all of the familiar map in favor of a new one that reflects the Cold War campaign. In any event, it was believed that Warzone would be used to reveal the next game in the series, and that will indeed be the case. Warzone itself will continue to operate, and while we don’t know how Black Ops Cold War will connect to it yet, we do know the battle royale game will eventually feature content from new CoD games.

Although the name of the game doesn’t come as a surprise, its official announcement has led to some jokes about the game’s title, which tacks an additional subtitle onto a sub-series that already has one. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

After competing for hours, popular streamer TimTheTatman finally won a round of Fall Guys on Twitch. His inability to win since the game’s launch had become something of an ongoing joke, with the official Fall Guys Twitter account even poking fun at the situation. In the process of securing a win, Tim amassed over 300,000 views on Twitch, and the phrase “I was here” began trending on Twitter thanks to those who tuned in to watch it happen live.

Multiple brands expressed their support for Tim following his win, including Twitch itself, ESPN Sports, and many more. Tim’s stream accounted for more than half of Twitch’s overall Fall Guys viewership during his stream.

Tim has been competing with various other streamers like Nadeshot. Many other streamers have gotten wins and secured the hallowed Fall Guys crown except Tim–though that finally changed with this victory.

The entire situation initially started as a joke, with Tim consistently losing throughout his time streaming the game on Twitch. The official Fall Guys Twitter account shared memes of a potato-looking Tim eyeballing a Fall Guys crown. Additionally, the official Twitch Twitter account stated that it was “rooting” for Tim to finally win.

In other Fall Guys news, the game’s popularity continues to surge as more people flock to it. Developer Mediatonic has leaned into the fun by pretending to delete the yellow team, the one everyone apparently hates. Elsewhere, an unassociated mobile version is floating around and Mediatonic is warning players about it.

While The Batman is one of many Hollywood productions forced into hiatus by the COVID-19 pandemic, it won’t be long before the cameras start rolling again. Variety reports the DC movie is expected to resume production in London in September.

This good news comes a little more than a month after The Batman, Mission: Impossible 7 and several other Hollywood projects were cleared to resume shooting by the UK government.

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Variety notes director Matt Reeves completed seven weeks of filming before the shutdown, leaving roughly three months of shooting left to go. Bearing that in mind, it’s little surprise Warner Bros. opted to delay The Batman’s release date from June 25, 2021 to October 1, 2021. Even if things remain on schedule from here on out, principal photography on The Batman won’t wrap until late 2020.

While the September timeline could still shift depending on the state of the health crisis in the UK and current safety guidelines, crew members have reportedly already begun building sets in London. Variety also points out filming has already resumed on The Matrix 4 in Berlin, which looks to be a positive sign for The Batman.

Apart from The Batman and the Mission: Impossible sequels, other major film productions that were originally halted in the UK include the third Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them installment, Disney’s live-action retelling of The Little Mermaid, and Universal’s Jurassic World: Dominion, which resumed filming at Pinewood Studios in July after an almost four-month hiatus.

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Despite teasingly claiming he was “just barely doing anything” for his physical training, The Batman star Robert Pattinson recently revealed his intensive workout and diet regimen.

Bat-fans should expect to see the first footage from The Batman quite soon. Warner Bros. revealed the July 31 release of Tenet will include previews for upcoming Warners films, which could very well include The Batman since Pattinson stars in both films. Warners also announced their Comic-Con-style virtual event DC FanDome, which takes place August 22, will includes panels and footage from a number of upcoming DC movies, including The Batman.

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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Disney+ in September includes the much-anticipated release of Mulan on September 4. Mulan will forego its theatrical release in favor of debuting on Disney+ for a premium fee of $29.99. And as long as you have a Disney+ subscription, you’ll be able to watch Mulan as many times as you want after you pay the purchase price. This exciting news was revealed in a recent investor call, which also revealed that the streamer has surpassed 60.5 million subscribers.

On the TV front, all sevens seasons of ABC’s Once Upon a Time will make its way to Disney+ on September 18. Also premiering on September 18 is a new series from executive producer and NBA star LeBron James, titled Becoming. According to Disney+, Becoming “chronicles the inspirational life stories of world-class entertainers, musicians, and athletes. Each episode follows a different celebrity back to their hometown as they revisit memorable locations that were central to their upbringing.”

Read on to see the full list of shows and movies coming to Disney+ in September:

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Friday, September 4

• Ancient China from Above (Season 1)
• D2: The Mighty Ducks
• D3: The Mighty Ducks
• Never Been Kissed
• Strange Magic
• Trick or Treat
• The Wolverine
• Mulan
• Earth to Ned
• One Day At Disney: Episode 140 – “Alice Taylor: Studiolab”
• Muppets Now: Episode 106 – “Socialized”
• Pixar In Real Life: Episode 111 – “Coco: Abuelita Says No Music”
• Weird But True: Episode 304 – “Germs”

Friday, September 11

• Christopher Robin
• One Day At Disney: Episode 141 – “Amanda Lauder: Chef Chocolatier”
• Weird But True: Episode 305 – “Photography”

Friday, September 18

• Bend it Like Beckham
• Coop & Cami Ask the World (Season 2)
• Europe from Above (Season 1)
• Ever After: A Cinderella Story
• Kingdom of the Mummies (Season 1)
• Marvel Super Hero Adventures (Season 4)
• Notre Dame: Race Against the Inferno
• Once Upon a Time (Seasons 1-7)
• Soy Luna (Seasons 2-3)
• Violetta (Season 3)
• Wicked Tuna (Season 9)
• Becoming: All Episodes Available
• One Day At Disney: Episode 142 – “Dr. Natalie Mylniczenko: Veterinarian”
• Weird But True: Episode 306 – “Trains”

Friday, September 25

• Fancy Nancy: Fancy it Yourself (Season 2)
• The Giant Robber Crab
• Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted (Season 2)
• Muppet Babies (Season 2)
• Oceans
• Port Protection: Alaska (Season 3)
• Sydney to the Max (Season 2)
• Wild Central America (Season 1)
• X-Ray Earth (Season 1)
• Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom
• Secret Society of Second-Born Royals
• One Day At Disney: Episode 143 – “Ashley Girdich: R&D Imagineer Manager”
• Weird But True: Episode 307 – “Venomous Animals”

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David Griffin still watches DuckTales in his pajamas with a cereal bowl in hand. He’s also the TV Editor for IGN. Say hi on Twitter.

All six episodes of High Score premiere Weds, August 19 on Netflix.

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Netflix’s new six-part docuseries, High Score, offers a broad-but-captivating look at the 1970s origins of video games along with the various booms and technological milestones of the ’80s and ’90s. For A.P. gamers, there might not be enough surgical precision to entice and ensnare, but High Score’s presentation and genuine love for the product and its history makes for a blissful and beaming look at an emerging medium and its growth into an interactive art form.

Though one could criticize High Score for sometimes feeling a bit all over the place, each episode still tackles a specific era and/or theme. It kicks things off with Space Invaders, arcades, and the Atari 2600. We then swiftly move into the dominance of the NES, the “cool factor” of Sega Genesis, the controversy surrounding Mortal Kombat (and Night Trap), and the innovation of Doom. Along the way, there’s a pit stop for the RPG, which moved from tabletop to text-only adventures to the early graphics of Mystery House.

Narrated by Mario himself, Charles Martinet, High Score tells the story of dreamers, dropouts, developers, designers, CEOs, and even early eSports champions in its mission to provide an all-encompassing look at the industry. It never gets overly fixated on one aspect or corner of the gaming/gamer story, using interviews and (sometimes animated) reenactments to bounce between stories of Atari’s Nolan Bushnell, Nintendo sound designer Hirokazu Tanaka, Nintendo Power’s Gail Tilden, EA’s Trip Hawkins (and his endeavor to create John Madden Football), John Romero and the formation of id Software, and countless other fascinating bibs and bobs from video game history.

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One of the most rewarding elements of High Score is its occasional look at fans from marginalized communities who found solace and safe spaces within games that allowed them to participate in worlds that were otherwise denied them, or came with limited access. Game designer Rebecca Heineman is the first to be profiled as her love of Space Invaders was born from her ability to use the game, as a child, to play as a female in her mind during a time when she was AMAB. This ultimate affection led to her becoming the first-ever national video game tournament champion.

Also included in the mix is gaming exec Gordon Bellamy, a black and queer man, who fell in love with the Madden games (seeing them as a way to play sports in a welcoming environment) and eventually helped the franchise include black players on the cover and in-game. There’s also the tale of Ryan Best’s LGBTQ RPG, GayBlade, which Best, years ago, lost all copies of (including the source code) due to a shipping mishap.

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It’s these stories, blended in with yarns like Ultima’s Richard Garriott having to incorporate morality into Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar because players were such s***heels, the artwork of Yoshitaka Amano that helped create the world of Final Fantasy, and Akira Nishitani’s global trek to create Street Fighter II, that make High Score a great watch.

At some points, High Score feels like it’s addressing viewers who might be overly unfamiliar with the gaming world, but all in all, that’s a very small part of the proceedings. Just because a few seconds might be devoted to explaining what a role-playing game is doesn’t take away from the excellent stories that come with that genre’s legacy. This love letter-style docu-binge is a cool and entertaining watch for all walks.

It goes without saying that optics are an important part of winning a match in Rainbow Six Siege: after all, you have to see your target to shoot them. The upcoming Y5S3 of Siege will totally change every aspect of how optics work in the game, and Ubisoft has published a new blog post that reveals the details, which are somewhat overwhelming in scope. (No pun intended.)

For one, Y5S3 will introduce four new sights and scopes to Siege, including a Red Dot option, a Holographic option, and 1.5x and 2.0x scopes. Players will be able to select the type of sight as well as its casing (NATO, Russian, etc.) The new season will also completely redistribute what optics are available to each of the game’s many operators, meaning that players will have more options than ever before, which will bring even more depth to the game’s gunplay. The number of new options and permutations of gear is quite large, but if you’re interested, you can download diagrams that explain the new meta in the blog post.

Y5S3 will also introduce a robust set of new accessibility features to the game, including customizable reticle colors and opacity. The studio has also added more sensitivity options so that aiming down sights with different weapons will feel more consistent across the board, though it may require some fiddling.

These changes aren’t the only coming to Siege. Splinter Cell protagonist Sam Fisher was recently announced as a new inclusion to the game in its Shadow Legacy update, and the bomber operator Thatcher will soon receive a nerf to his dreaded EMP grenade.