Author: Trafficblast

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, social distancing has become a necessity to keep people from spreading the virus. It can be difficult to understand best practices for social distancing, however, and a free Minecraft map is offering training and an explanation on its importance.

Blockdown Simulator, available in Minecraft’s Java Edition, was created by the design and innovation company AKQA and sees a village overrun with infectious zombies. You can play as either an observer or a nurse, and there is a tower located in the middle of the village that can spawn more villagers or zombies, raise and lower houses, and unlock and lock doors. A hospital underneath the village can cure villagers of the infection, but there is limited space and other villagers must stay uninfected in order to avoid overcrowding.

Though its creators say it isn’t designed to simulate our real-world pandemic, Blockdown Simulator’s aim is to show the important of social distancing and how failure to do so can leave healthcare workers unable to care for the sick.

“We felt compelled to use our skills to make social distancing models accessible to everyone, especially younger audiences who might be confused about the new reality we are living in,” said co-creator Joseph Davies.

Because Blockdown Simulator uses the Java version of Minecraft, it is not available on newer platforms that use the Bedrock Edition. This includes PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. However, those who do play it are encouraged to mod and built on the formula in order to build something even “more compelling.” For more free games to keep you entertained in quarantine, check out our roundup.

Even though Venom’s sequel title has been revealed as “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” we have a hunch that it’s hinting at something far worse than just Cletus Kasady.

After all, “Let There Be Carnage” isn’t the name of any pre-existing Marvel comic, so why did Sony choose it? Sony could have easily gone with Maximum Carnage to cash in on that sweet 90s nostalgia, or the no-brainer title Venom vs. Carnage. Simple. Clear. Sentient goo versus sentient goo. What’s not to like?

But seeing as they went with this religiously-tinged subtitle, even though Carnage isn’t a religious fanatic, might mean Sony has something more in store than merely everyone’s favorite frizzy-wigged symbiote.

So here’s our theory about how Venom 2’s title might be teasing a secret bonus villain. A villain that would give Venom the nemesis he deserves, even without Spider-Man around. He can also help reveal the Venom symbiote’s deep and far-reaching connections to the MCU, and offer a super-cool chance for Venom to finally get his signature white chest emblem.

We’re talking about the god of the symbiotes himself, Knull.

For our video breakdown of this theory, hit play below!

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Who Is Knull?

Created by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman in 2018, Knull is a relatively new addition to the Marvel Universe as of Venom #3. He’s a primordial deity billions of years old, who loathes light and life, and wants to snuff it out with his darkness. That’s why he created the symbiotes, evil mind-warping jellies that merge with the nervous systems of other creatures. Knull was eventually imprisoned in the far reaches of space, but being a dark god and all, he can reach out and control the various symbiotes throughout the universe anyway, Venom included. Plus, he’s got this big dragon symbiote monster that he summons to try and destroy the world sometimes.

So, yes, that would be a completely bonkers new origin story for the symbiote. No one is denying that. The symbiote’s original comic origin painted it as more of an amoral and insidious thing from outer space, but Marvel went from Alien to Prometheus with it, and now it has grand ties to a cosmic being! That’s something we could definitely roll with, because the first Venom movie kickstarted the character without something he desperately needs: an iconic nemesis.

Side note: yes, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man may one day cross paths with Tom Hardy’s Venom in a movie — it feels inevitable — but until then, we’re going to focus on what a “spider-less” Venom franchise would look like.

And since Knull has nothing to do with Spider-Man, introducing his mythology would allow Venom to continue to stand on his own two, sticky feet.

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Bringing the Carnage

Here’s where Carnage comes in. The story of Knull eventually leads to a comic event called Absolute Carnage. In it, Cletus Kasady starts the “Cult of Carnage,” communes with Knull, and reinvents himself as Knull’s divine instrument of death and destruction.

Remember, Kasady has never had much of a strong motive for being a deranged serial killer. He’s usually portrayed as a grim nihilist, thinking he’s doing people a favor by murdering them in order to relieve them of the burden of life. So adding Knull to the mix would make the movie version of Carnage a lot more interesting and purpose-driven.

Imagine this: when Woody Harrelson’s Cletus Kasady bonds with the red symbiote to become Carnage, he starts to hear the voice of god in his head. Disturbing as it sounds, many real-life serial killers have said their murders were done in service of god, so if Carnage started saying that in the movie, most people wouldn’t think much of it. But, what if the big reveal in the third act is that Carnage actually was hearing the voice of a god — but it was Knull, god of the symbiotes? Cut to a post-credits stinger that shows Knull finally breaking free from his space prison, and now we have a next-level villain perfectly teed up for Venom 3.

That’s the pitch. If Knull does get introduced to Sony’s superhero world, then he would bring with him many ties to the greater Marvel Universe, and we’d love to see it happen.

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Knull’s MCU Connections

Remember in Guardians of the Galaxy, Knowhere is that space station inside the head of a dead Celestial? Well, it was Knull who chopped that Celestial’s head off with his symbiote sword, known as the All-Black Necrosword. It makes Cloud’s Buster sword look like a toothpick.

And you know how the going rumor is that Christian Bale is going to play Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder? Well, Knull’s All-Black Necrosword winds up in Gorr’s hands, and that’s what he uses to go on a Karatos-esque god-killing spree. It’s been said that this iconic Marvel sword was the inspiration for Hela’s black magic weaponry in Thor: Ragnarok, so really, the seed for it has already been planted in the MCU!

For now, it’s remained a mystery as to whether Sony’s Marvel movies (aside from Spider-Man) will become a part of the MCU or not. Venom seemed to say: absolutely not. But the first Morbius trailer begged to differ. So it’s tough to say if Sony will decide to capitalize on these elements of Knull’s history. We’re just saying, if they wanted to, they totally could, and it’d be sweet.

Knull Means New

Okay, last word on this…when you think about it, Knull is a great fit for what Sony is doing with Venom. The first movie went way over the top with its tone and action, so what better way to keep that momentum going than by adding in a villain who wears symbiote armor, wields a gnarly symbiote sword, and commands a gargantuan symbiote dragon? As Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 1 helped prove in 2014, mainstream audiences are more than ready for the real nerd shit. The weird stuff. The deep lore. Let’s get into it.

Plus, Knull will make for a different kind of climactic battle. We’ve seen “symbiote humanoid versus symbiote humanoid” once already with Venom vs. Riot, and we’re bound to get more of it when Venom clashes with Carnage, so pitting Venom against Knull will give audiences something fresh.

Ryan Stegman went all out when he showed Venom battling Knull’s symbiote kaiju, and he draws Venom with these wicked dragon wings, so seeing all of that play out on the big screen would kick the sci-fi action into the next gear while showing off some Venom abilities that most people have never seen before.

Oh, and the best part? You’ve probably noticed Knull has a symbol of a dragon on his chest. Knull can possess other symbiotes, causing his red markings to appear on them. Not only would that be cool new look for Venom in the third movie of his trilogy, but after he beats Knull, he could cleanse the red corruption from his body, but keep the symbol, and we’d finally get the fully complete Venom with the white chest emblem that fans have been dying to see on the big screen.

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Joshua is Senior Features Editor at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has evolved considerably over the last few years, as have its players. On PS4 and Xbox One, their collective skill level has increased to the point that the development team is implementing bots in order to make it easier for new players to get competitive.

Implemented as part of the game’s update 7.1, bots aren’t being added to PUBG as a one-size-fits-all solution. Experienced players who perform better in battle royale matches will have a lower chance of seeing them than those who are struggling. Newer or less-skilled players are more likely to see them, and it will give them a chance to make it further in a match and practice late-game strategies such as defending a small area or placing traps.

The development team created “navigation meshes” to cover every corner of the game’s maps in order to guide the bots and prevent them from accidentally dying via environmental hazards. They’ll still be able to navigate dangerous areas like normal players can. Bots will also consider bullet drop and trajectory when aiming at targets to make hit probability closer to a real player. They’ll even target specific items as loot during each phase of the match, ensuring players will get worthwhile items after killing them.

PUBG Corp. is continuing to update the game throughout 2020, including examining recoil changes for weapons on console. It’s also working to close the release gap between updates on PC and console, with there currently being about a two-week delay.

While doing press for his new film Endings, Beginnings, star Sebastian Stan discussed the very “Winter Soldier” tone of Marvel’s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier while also digging into the ending of Avengers: Endgame a bit more.

In particular, Stan spoke about Steve Rogers’ choice to pass the Captain America mantle onto Sam Wilson and the farewell between Steve and Bucky that felt slight in the wake of all they’d been through in Winter Soldier and Civil War.

Tonally, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier — which had its production shut down amidst the COVID-19 crisis, just a few weeks out from wrapping — lines up with Stan’s favorite MCU film. “It was very much in the same world that Captain America: The Winter Soldier was, which was one of my favorite experiences that I’ve ever had, period,” Stan told THR. “So, in a sense, it was grounded and very much in the world as we know it. But, it’s also really jam-packed with a lot of massive, massive action scenes mixed with deep focus on character. These characters are getting so much more mileage for all of us to explore them. We can put them in situations that we’ve never been able to put them in before because you now have six hours as opposed to two.”

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The Falcon and The Winter Solider follows Bucky and Sam in the wake of Endgame, in a world with no Avengers, as Sam attempts to deal with the figurative weight of carrying Cap’s shield (while facing the return of Civil War’s Helmut Zemo). “Sam, to me, was always the clear man to take on that mantle for numerous reasons, which also comes with so much more baggage that’s going to be explored in the show,” Stan explained. “At the end of Endgame, for either Steve or Bucky, it’s really not about the shield.”

Stan stated that Steve would have wanted Bucky to start over, to try to have the life he’d missed out on. “Steve is saying to Bucky, ‘You’re going to go and do that, too. I’m not going to put this thing on you. We’re both going to live our lives — the lives that were taken from us back in the ‘40s when we enlisted.'”

One thing MCU fans noticed, however, was that Steve and Bucky’s final farewell felt a too brief when you consider that two movies had been about their “ride or die” friendship. “I sort of became aware that people really felt like we needed to have more between the two of them or something,” Stan noted. “But, it hadn’t occurred to me because at the same time, that scene was saying so much with subtext.”

“That being said, how do you put it all together in a three-hour movie? To merge all those different stories together, you could’ve had another movie of everybody saying goodbye to each other. So, I love how much people care about those two characters and that they wanted more from them, but I just took it as ‘This is as much screen time as we’ve got left before the movie ends.'”

“Look, I love a good scene with dialogue,” Stan added, “but sometimes, I find it really interesting when there’s not a lot said. And funnily enough, it’s sort of been the trademark of Bucky. Then, you’re watching behavior, you’re watching the eyes and you’re wondering what they’re thinking. You’re more involved and tuned in. So, it’s always fun for me to try to do as much as I can without dialogue.”

The MCU’s Phase 4 has had to reshuffle their movie release dates once again, moving Thor: Love and Thunder and Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.

Likewise, Sony has set new premiere dates for the Spider-Man sequels.

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Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.