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Call of Duty: Vanguard‘s final beta weekend is still live and extended until September 22 across all platforms, but players are already facing off against hackers. This is Call of Duty: Vanguard’s second multiplayer beta weekend, and it added cross-play across PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. Unfortunately, it also brought the nefarious hackers, who are ruining matches with the usual mix of cheats, such as aimbot and wallhacks to see and shoot opponents through walls. Some players are also posting clips of hackers ending the matches early, which are abruptly concluded with the message that the host ended the game.

Activision continuously works to ban cheaters in Call of Duty, with over 100,000 accounts already banned, and it seems players who have already been hardware banned for Warzone are finding they are also banned in the Vanguard beta. While this does help to reduce the number of cheaters, players are still encountering plenty of hackers in Call of Duty.

Hacking in the Vanguard beta is very concerning, but hopefully the cheaters will be better kept at bay once Call of Duty’s new anti-cheat system arrives later this year with integration of the new Warzone Pacific map.

The first beta weekend already provided developers feedback for working to improve Vanguard’s audio and visual issues, and a few changes were implemented to help visibility for this second beta weekend. Players were able to try a range of maps and modes, which includes Vanguard’s new Gunfight-style Champion Hill mode.

Call of Duty: Vanguard will arrive on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, and PC on November 5. The fall release remains on schedule as Activision Blizzard faces a lawsuit from the state of California over alleged harassment and discrimination against women.

Sea of Thieves’ latest season is on the horizon, and this time it will take players into the dark depths of the sea to battle against the game’s Siren enemies.

As a new trailer details, Season 4 will add multiple new activities for players to engage with, each taking place underneath the waves. New Siren shrines have been added to the map for players to explore. Each shrine is a unique experience, and treasure awaits players who can overcome the challenges within.

For players looking for a more combat-focused experience, Siren Treasuries will task players with overcoming waves of Siren enemies in order to secure the coveted loot inside. Carrying so much treasure from the bottom of the ocean to the surface certainly sounds time consuming, so players can actually store treasure found under the ocean at nearby Merfolk statues. Once players return to the surface, the treasure can then be claimed from a helpful Merfolk and placed onto a player’s ship.

A new voyage, which can be found in a message-in-a-bottle, will see players diving into the depths once more to retrieve a mysterious item known as the Breath of the Sea. It’s unclear what this ancient relic is, but it certainly fetches a high price from the game’s various trading companies.

And, of course, a new season means a new plunder pass, with numerous free and paid rewards for players to unlock. Numerous new cosmetics and emotes will be coming to the game as part of the plunder pass as well as to the Pirate Emporium, the game’s premium cosmetic store. Sea of Thieves Season 4 arrives September 23 as a free update.

The game’s new Siren-themed season and activities comes after the introduction of the new enemy faction in Sea of Thieves’ previous season, which coincided with the Pirates of the Caribbean-themed expansion A Pirate’s Life. Sea of Thieves continues to ride the waves of success more than three years after its release. In June, Sea of Thieves had its biggest month ever, with more than 4.8 million active players sailing the seas.

Fortnite and Balenciaga–the fashion label that dressed Rihanna at the Met Gala–are teaming up to release in-game digital apparel and a corresponding real-life collection as well. The Fortnite x Balenciaga collaboration arrives in-game on September 20 at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET.

The digital looks are inspired by “authentic archival looks” from Balenciaga and consist of four outfits. Other accessories like pickaxes in sneaker shapes, gliders, wraps, emotes, and free sprays will also be available.

In Fortnite, there will also be a Strange Times Featured Hub created by community members that hosts a virtual Balenciaga store modeled after real ones. The hub will be live from September 21 to September 28. You can pick up collab items from this “storefront,” or the usual in-game store for–as of this time–an unknown amount. Prices have not been revealed yet.

In the collab’s real-life counterpart, you can get the merch at the Balenciaga online store right now. Purchasing the real-life merch will automatically get you the in-game equivalent, but be prepared to spend $725 for a Fortnite branded white hoodie and $2,050 for a “gamer shirt.”

Over at the Unreal Engine blog, Epic Games revealed the process behind creating the collab items. The Fortnite teams had access to 3D scans of Balenciaga’s clothing and used Triple S Sneakers’ CAD info to recreate the in-game equivalent. According to Balenciaga’s creative director Demna Gvasali, the fashion brand’s collaboration with Epic Games started with Balenciaga’s own game built on Unreal Engine called Afterworld, made for the Fall 2021 collection.

It’s not the first luxury fashion crossover with a video game. Louis Vuitton dressed Final Fantasy’s Lightning in 2016. Gucci also held a virtual showcase in Roblox and partnered with Roblox to create in-game collaboration items.

FFXIV’s seven-hour long Letter from the Producer revealed more information about Endwalker’s two new jobs–Reaper and Sage. You can check out the Reaper and Sage segments in the Job Action video attached below to get a sense of what the rotations and designs feel like. Other jobs’ Endwalker upgrades and tweaks are also included in the same video, if you’d like to check out how your main has changed or stayed the same.

Reaper

Reaper falls under the melee DPS category. Maining a scythe weapon, Reaper players are also accompanied by a shadowy grim reaper-looking avatar. By becoming the vessel for this avatar, reapers can unleash attacks that cause more damage.

Reaper has two gauges, one of them being the Soul Gauge. Charging up the Soul Gauge allows reapers to deploy different attacks, including some of the ones available when “possessed” by the avatar. The second gauge, the Shroud Gauge, starts filling up when the reaper uses both their attacks and their avatar’s attacks. This gauge will allow you to be possessed by the avatar and utilize special combos.

Reaper also has a unique movement ability. In the Job Action video, the Reaper opened portal-looking holes and was able to teleport to and from the placement of these said portals.

This job leans towards pure melee DPS, much like Samurai, though “not as extreme,” according to director and producer Naoki Yoshida. Reaper can buff the party–as demonstrated by the Reaper “taking” something out of the Bard in the Job Action video.

All melee DPS will get a change to Feint–the effect will reduce both physical and magical damage dealt now, with a larger reduction for physical damage.

Sage

Sage–aka healer with guns–joins Scholar as a barrier healer. Its calling card is the unique ability to attack enemies and heal a targeted party member at the same time.

Sage has a resource that builds up over time and allows Sage players to execute instant barrier heals. The job also has a gap closer called Icarus that allows you to zoom around, aided by the Nouliths (the gun-like weapons). The overall design and feeling of the Sage job gives a more sci-fi feeling–many fans say it reminds them of Gundam–as opposed to the more fantasy vibes of Astrologian, White Mage, and Scholar.

In general, all healer jobs will get the following adjustments: addition of single-target buffs, shortened cast time for offensive spells, and a 50m limit break expansion.

Endwalker releases on November 19 for PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, and Playstation 5. This expansion will conclude FFXIV’s 10-year story arc surrounding Hydaelyn and Zodiark, but will not mark the end for FFXIV as a whole. You can check out a short interview we did with Yoshida for more information.

Neil Druckmann, the writer and creative director behind The Last of Us, will seemingly direct at least a portion of the upcoming HBO TV series based on the game.

An updated production list on the Directors Guild of Canada lists Druckmann as one of five directors for the show’s first season.

Listed alongside Druckmann as directors for the series are co-writer and showrunner Craig Mazin, as well as Jasmila Zbanic, and Peter Hoar. They are joined by Kantemir Balagov, who recently wrapped up directorial duties on the show’s pilot episode.

While it was already known that the Naughty Dog co-president would feature as an executive producer and writer on the show, it is currently unclear whether Druckmann’s role as a director will span a single episode or more.

Since its initial announcement last year, HBO’s The Last of Us has since confirmed a number of casting choices for the post-apocalyptic series. The Mandalorian and Narcos’ Pedro Pascal was previously confirmed to be undertaking the role of series protagonist Joel while Bella Ramsey (of Game of Thrones fame) is set to play Ellie.

Since then, the show’s most recent addition to its cast comes in the form of Fringe’s Anna Torv, who will take on the recurring role as Joel’s smuggling companion, Tess.

While many of the details surrounding the show have been kept closely under wraps, back in July it was said that the TV adaptation of The Last of Us would have a budget that “exceeded the eight-figure per episode mark” likely making it “the largest project shooting in Canada”.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Sony Pictures has released four new character posters for Venom: Let There Be Carnage, including one for Michelle Williams’ Anne Weying that teases the return of She-Venom.

The official @VenomMovie Twitter shared a new batch of posters, highlighting the duality of the characters in Andy Serkis’ upcoming Venom sequel. The images spotlight the characters’ symbiote-fuelled transformations, with portraits of Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock/Venom, Woody Harrelson’s Cletus Kasady/Carnage, and Naomie Harris’ Frances Barrison/Shriek.

Michelle Williams’ Anne Weying also gets her own poster, featuring a silhouette that teases the return of She-Venom. The tagline in the tweet accompanying the poster also points to Williams officially suiting up as She-Venom in the sequel. “She’s back in black,” the tagline revealed. Take a closer look at her poster along with all of the others in our gallery below:

Williams previously spoke of her desire to have more screen time as She-Venom in Let There Be Carnage, having briefly spawned into her symbiotic counterpart in the 2018 movie. The actress said she hoped that she would be able to assume her alternate identity for “equal time” in the sequel to the blockbuster anti-hero superhero film.

Fortunately, we don’t have too long to wait to find out. Venom: Let There Be Carnage was recently moved up on Sony’s release calendar, with the PG-13 rated sequel now expected to hit theaters on October 1. Some fans are speculating that Venom might make another appearance this year too, in Spider-Man: No Way Home when it’s released in December.

Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

As production continues on 2023’s The Flash, director Andy Muschietti has posted an intriguing new teaser image on Instagram.

The teaser in question shows a familiar Batman costume defaced with the Flash’s colors and logo:

The Batsuit looks to be the same design Michael Keaton wore in 1992’s Batman Returns, which featured a slightly different Bat emblem and torso armor shape compared to the original costume from 1989’s Batman Returns. We already know Keaton and Ben Affleck are both reprising their respective Batman roles, though Keaton has admitted to having a hard time grasping the concept of the DC multiverse.

Interestingly, this image brings to mind the defaced Robin costume glimpsed in Batman v Superman, which hinted at a dark confrontation between the Boy Wonder and the Joker at some point in the DCEU’s past. Director Zack Snyder later revealed this Robin was meant to be Dick Grayson, not Jason Todd. Should we take this as a clue that Keaton’s version of Bruce Wayne may have a bone to pick with Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen? Or is this image simply teasing the idea that Barry will help coax an aging Bruce out of retirement? Or maybe Barry loses his own costume and has to repurpose one of Batman’s old suits?

At this point, we can only speculate as to the true meaning behind this teaser. We’re hoping to learn more about the plot of The Flash and Keaton’s exact role at DC FanDome in October.

DC fans can also look forward to a new trailer for The Batman as well as updates on movies like Black Adam and Aquaman 2, shows like Superman & Lois, The Flash and Sweet Tooth and games like Batman: Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

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