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George R. R. Martin has promised that he will not write scripts for Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon, until he finishes writing his next book, The Winds of Winter.

The legendary author shared a blog post titled “The Dragons Take Wing” to address the recent announcement that HBO has picked up House of the Dragon as a straight-to-series order. In the post, he outlined several details regarding the new series, which will be based on his novel Fire & Blood, while also offering an update on the sixth instalment of the Song of Ice and Fire saga.

Game Of Thrones: Emilia Clarke Reveals Who Was Really Responsible For The Coffee Cup

One of the big dramas in the Game of Thrones final season was something unrelated to the plot–a coffee cup was spotted on set. The cup has been digitally erased, but the question still remains: how did it happen and who was responsible?

Emilia Clarke, who plays Daenerys Targaryen, has now revealed that it was none other than Varys actor Conleth Hill who left the cup on the table.

Clarke told Jimmy Fallon that a lot of people blamed her for the gaffe, in part because she was sitting in front of the cup during the scene. But Hill told her that he did it.

“Here’s the truth: We had a party before the Emmys recently, and Conleth [Hill], who plays Varys, who is sitting next to me in that scene, he pulls me aside, and he’s like, ‘Emilia, I have to tell you something … the coffee cup was mine!’ It was his! It was Conleth’s coffee cup. He said so,” Clarke said.

The actress acknowledged that Hill might have been sauced when he told her this, but she still thinks it was Hill who left the cup on the table. “I think that’s who did it. He might have been drunk. But he said it,” Clarke said.

Well, there you have it. Now, what about that water bottle?

In other Game of Thrones news, HBO recently canceled one prequel series but announced a new one, House of the Dragon, which is coming to HBO Max.

The Star Wars MMO, The Old Republic, Has Now Made Almost $1 Billion In Revenue

The Star Wars MMO, The Old Republic, launched in 2011 behind much anticipation. The game couldn’t sustain its paying player population, however, and EA dropped the mandatory subscription in favor of a free-to-play model just 11 months after release. Developer BioWare continues to support the game years after release with its new hybrid business model spread between subscriptions and a microtransaction-supported free-to-play option, and it seems that’s working out.

Publisher Elctronic Arts announced on an earnings call that The Old Republic is now closing in on $1 billion in lifetime revenue. “Believe it or not, we are close to $1 billion on Star Wars: The Old Republic revenue from the start of its history,” EA CFO Blake Jorgensen said. “So it’s a business that just keeps on going. We like those types of businesses.”

$1 billion is a lot of money, but the game itself was a massive, expensive production. According to a 2012 report, EA spent $200 million to produce the game. The report claims 800 staffers on four continents worked for six years to bring game to market.

For further context, Blizzard’s genre-defining MMO, World of Warcraft, reportedly brought in $1 billion per year during its heyday. Unlike many other MMOs, World of Warcraft continues to be a subscription-based MMO with no true free-to-play option.

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The Old Republic’s latest expansion, Onslaught, arrived on October 22. It is the game’s seventh expansion, following Rise of the Hutt Cartel (2013), Galactic Starfighter (2014), Galactic Strongholds (2014), Shadow Revan (2014), Knights of the Fallen Empire (2015), and Knights of the Eternal Throne (2016).

The next Star Wars game is Jedi Fallen Order, which was developed by Apex Legends studio Respawn. As for BioWare, the studio is working on Dragon Age 4 and other unannounced projects.

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Improve Your PC Gaming With the Right G-sync Monitor

From budget monitors to ultra-wide displays, we’ve picked out the best G-Sync monitors that’ll crush screen tearing.

Doctor Sleep: How Do You Make a Sequel to The Shining?

It’s one of Hollywood’s most famous splits in opinion: Stanley Kubrick turns Stephen King’s The Shining into a horror masterpiece, but King himself hates it. As you’d expect, King’s sequel reflects none of the film’s changes – which is what makes the film version of Doctor Sleep so fascinating.

Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Gerald’s Game) has released a film that serves, somehow, as a follow-up to both the book and movie versions of The Shining. Even more impressive, he got Stephen King’s permission to do so. I sat down with Flanagan and his longtime producer Trevor Macy to get the story of how this unlikely adaptation was made.

Sons Of Anarchy Creator Discusses Why He Was Fired

Sons of Anarchy and Mayans creator Kurt Sutter has spoken up to offer his thoughts on why he thinks Disney fired him. In a statement to cast and crew regarding his firing, Sutter referred to himself as an “abrasive dick,” and now he’s shared more insight, including details on an off-color joke he made about Walt Disney.

Speaking to Deadline, Sutter said he thinks he was seen as a “loose cannon” who did not fit in well with Disney’s family friendly approach.

“I believe that decision to un-tether myself from corporate process is what led to my dismissal,” he said. “In their eyes I was a loose cannon, who could ultimately besmirch the family friendly brand. And they were right. It was best for all parties to part ways.”

Sutter created Sons of Anarchy, Mayans, and The Bastard Executioner for Fox. Disney acquired Fox and these franchises earlier this year, and as part of this, he became a Disney employee.

Sutter is in a tricky place now, as he is on contract with Disney “for another year.” Ideally, he would like Disney to pay him out of his contract and let him loose “so that we all can heal and move on.”

Sutter also spoke about he was becoming “burned out” after working so frantically on Sons of Anarchy, The Bastard Executioner, Mayans, and other projects over the years. As a result, he said he was become more and more frustrated. He said he was losing patience and he was no longer feeling very inspired to collaborate.

The timing, with Disney acquiring Fox as Sutter was feeling this way, led to a bad situation, Sutter said.

“In this transitional phase, from one regime to the next, stability is key. You want to try and make it as smooth as possible,” Sutter said. “You have brands combining here, and so everybody is upside down and worried anyway. So you really need a lot of stability.”

He added: “Then you plug my personality into those two circumstances? That’s what didn’t hold together. Had this gone down two or three years from now, when the transition was over and people were more settled, there may have been a different response to it.”

Also in the interview, Sutter spoke about how his relationship with Disney began to crumble after he wrote a joke–“not a very good one,” in his eyes–for Mayans that executives were unhappy with. Go to Deadline to read more about what Sutter had to say about this dark humour joke and what happened behind the scenes as a result of it.

There is no word yet on what Sutter will do next.

Red Dead Redemption 2 On PC: Get $4 To $50 Back On Your Pre-Order (NA)

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Red Dead Redemption 2 is finally coming to PC. In fact, it won’t be too long until you’re able to jump in and live the wild west life of Arthur Morgan, as it releases next week. There are plenty of ways you can pre-order Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC, but the most interesting option for those in the US and Canada might just come from digital games retailer Green Man Gaming.

When you pre-order Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC at Green Man Gaming, you get a bonus code for a spin of the site’s Wheel of Credit. The Wheel of Credit will net you at least $4 of credit, but if you’re lucky like me, you could hit the largest amount of $50. Yep, I can’t believe I actually got that much either.

See Red Dead Redemption 2 (PC) at Green Man Gaming

After spinning, you’ll get a voucher code that can be redeemed for a gift card. You just need to add a gift card of the same amount to your cart and then put your code into the designated spot–once you do that, you’ll get the gift card for free. On its FAQ page, Green Man Gaming notes the code will eventually expire. We’ve reached out to clarify what the expiration date is and will update this story with that information.

The FAQ also lists your chances of getting each prize.

$4 – 93%
$5 – 3%
$10 – 2%
$20 – 1%
$50 – 1%

In GameSpot’s Red Dead Redemption 2 review, the game earned an impressive 9/10.

“While Red Dead Redemption was mostly focused on John Marston’s story, Red Dead 2 is about the entire Van der Linde gang–as a community, as an idea, and as the death rattle of the Wild West,” wrote critic Kallie Plagge. “It is about Arthur, too, but as the lens through which you view the gang, his very personal, very messy story supports a larger tale. Some frustrating systems and a predictable mission structure end up serving that story well, though it does take patience to get through them and understand why. Red Dead Redemption 2 is an excellent prequel, but it’s also an emotional, thought-provoking story in its own right, and it’s a world that is hard to leave when it’s done.”