The idea of game developers unionizing has been a hot topic in recent years, particularly as concerns around crunch, or developers working extreme amounts of overtime on a game, became widespread. However, Evan Wells and Neil Druckmann, the co-presidents of Naughty Dog, have pushed back against the idea of developers unionizing to solve crunch, saying that workers banding together to demand better treatment from their employers might not the issue.
Wells and Druckmann expressed their skepticism that unions would solve crunch during a recent interview with Game Informer, in which Wells said, “I don’t know if that [unionization] would be a solution to crunch.” Wells went on to say that employees being told they couldn’t work more than 40 hours a week, “would frustrate people to no end. There are people who really want to put in that extra polish on their own volition, and they would feel handcuffed.”
The idea behind crunch, though, is that it’s not always mandated by an executive. Instead, it’s a culture of pressure that weighs down on developers, where a deadline is set and one worker can’t take a day off because someone else would have to pick up their slack. In the same way Wells says people would feel handcuffed to stop working, crunch forces them to work extensively long weeks.
Druckmann, who also co-wrote The Last of Us 2, said during the interview that unionization wouldn’t be a cure-all for crunch. “When you try to have a silver bullet, like one solution, you’re always leaving someone behind,” said Druckmann. “That’s why we feel like we need multiple solutions. We have to approach this from multiple angles.” Druckmann gave the example of someone who would have to work during the weekend to compensate for a lost day during the workweek of someone that has been left behind.
While Naughty Dog’s most recent title, The Last of Us 2, has set multiple records for its high number of nominations and awards, the game’s development cycle was also fraught with crunch. On the topic of developers at Naughty Dog crunching, Druckmann said in a June 2020 interview with GQ, “They’re gonna work very hard. We need to put some guardrails [in] so they don’t injure themselves, but I don’t think we could prevent them from working hard and still make the kind of games we make.”
One of the solutions that Druckmann may have been talking about could simply be hiring more developers. Naughty Dog recently put out a sweeping list of job postings for its first standalone multiplayer title.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda has ruffled some feathers because it means that at least some of the studio’s games are now becoming Xbox properties, leaving PlayStation behind. Bethesda’s Pete Hines and Xbox’s Aaron Greenberg discussed this as part of Gamescom recently, and Hines started off by saying he doesn’t actually have a good answer for PlayStation fans who are upset by the news.
“I have no idea how to state this in a way when … I don’t know. I don’t know the answer. It doesn’t exist. It’s not like I know it and I just don’t want to tell you. I don’t know,” Hines said.
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Hines went on to point out that Bethesda fans on PlayStation consoles might not be shut out entirely from playing future titles from the studio, though it seems clear Xbox is getting preferential treatment as would be expected in this type of situation.
“There are Xbox brands that exist on other platforms, first and foremost. I think that’s important to note. Minecraft didn’t just stop existing on anything once Mojang got bought by Xbox,” Hines said. “It’s a massively played game on all of these other platforms. It’s not a, ‘Sorry, you’re never going to get to play anything by Bethesda again.’ Certainly, there are going to be things that you’re not going to be able to play [on PlayStation].”
Hines mentioned how Starfield was announced as an Xbox exclusive, but he also suggested that the door might not be shut entirely on Bethesda games coming to PlayStation in some capacity.
“Starfield, it was announced as a thing that’s an Xbox exclusive,” he said. “I don’t know if I would go so far as to say you’re done ever playing stuff on PlayStation. But again, I don’t know the answer to that right now.”
Bethesda’s next big game, Deathloop, remains exclusive to PS5 on console (it’s also coming to PC), but that’s because the publishing deal for the game was in place before Microsoft acquired Bethesda.
As for Greenberg, he said he’s wary to even talk about the issue because of how mixed-up things can get with his quotes. “I want to be careful. I know it’s a question people care a lot about. It’s also a tricky one for us to answer because, frankly, it can get sensationalized on the internet,” he said.
That being said, Greenberg mentioned that Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda was driven by a desire to beef up the company’s first-party portfolio with an eye toward giving Xbox players the best experience. That said, Greenberg acknowledged that he is mindful and thoughtful about the way in which Microsoft’s deal with Bethesda affects players on all platforms.
To that end, Greenberg reminded people that Microsoft’s first-party games will also release on PC and through the cloud, so PlayStation users could play that way. “We’re not saying you have to buy an Xbox to play those games,” Greenberg said.
Hines went on to say in the interview that people should pay attention to what Xbox is doing in the cloud and streaming departments. Once streaming becomes more common, it won’t matter which box you own, whether that’s a TV, phone, or “maybe some other device,” he said.
“If you can start to conceptualize down the road where cloud can go, it starts to not care about what platform. It just says, ‘I’m an Xbox Game Pass cloud thing and you can stream me on a thing if you’ve got a controller,'” he said.
That said, Hines said he is a big believer in Xbox boss Phil Spencer’s forward-looking vision that goes beyond the console alone.
“The whole idea of it’s either an Xbox thing or it’s a PlayStation thing, I’m not saying that’s gone away, but that’s a little bit too 1990s, 2000. It’s a new era of gaming [today] being everywhere,” he said.
In the future, the model that Fortnite takes might become more common, Hines said. He mentioned that Epic’s battle royale game doesn’t think of itself as a game made for one specific device but rather as a platform that’s accessible anywhere.
“That’s why I’m so excited about Xbox, is because it’s moved away from this, ‘We’re trying to sell a box and that’s all we care about.’ We do care about that, but I think the vision there and the goals there are much bigger and more exciting, quite honestly,” Hines said.
Fortnite dances are just one part of Epic’s quest to have the game become the all-encompassing hub of pop culture and social gathering space of the future. Today the game is, in many cases, already treated as the new social media for younger players who would rather socialize in Fortnite than post to Facebook and Twitter.
The Fortnite Icon Series isn’t just home to some of the most popular character skins, it’s also the rarity type for dozens of licensed songs and dances that players can use in-game. With music ranging from Rick Astley’s retro hit “Never Gonna Give You Up” to modern reggaeton hits like J Balvin’s “In Da Ghetto,” today the Fortnite Icon Series skins are joined by a growing list of dances made famous in music videos and TikTok.
There was a time when Epic skirted the line of including these dances the right way, like when popular dances such as The Carlton and The Floss were put in the game. This led to some legal trouble for Epic, which was sued by Alfonso Ribeiro and Backpack Kid respectively, among others, with dancers claiming ownership of the moves. Most cases were eventually withdrawn when either the US Copyright Office denied copyrights or, in at least one case, Epic even won the lawsuit.
Icon Series emotes are among the most expensive, but also the most sought after in Fortnite.
Today, Epic may be more able to include these dances without the threat of legal action after setting a precedent with its past victory, but it seems the company has changed how it goes about its business anyway, just to keep things out of the courts. When a viral dance appears in Fortnite, it now tends to include attribution, citing its creator in the emote’s details, which suggests a deal has been worked out with the original dancer or singer.
Some other emotes are tied to artists even as they are wholly invented for Fortnite, like the Lil’ Floaticorn emote, where players ride a llamacorn (llama unicorn). That one is part of the Ariana Grande set and is still considered part of the Icon Series as a result even as, last we checked, Ariana Grande has not been seen riding a fantasy creature.
It was only in 2021 when the TikTok dance emotes were all retroactively moved into the Icon Series, expanding the series enormously. These days, you’ll find licensed music, popular dances, and more in the ever-expanding Fortnite Icon Series emotes library. Here’s every Icon Series emote so far.
Fortnite Dances: All TikTok And Icon Series Emotes
The Legend of Zelda is one of Nintendo’s most beloved series, and for good reason. The adventures starring a young hero battling against evil have grown up alongside the gaming industry itself, constantly reinventing itself and having an influence on the direction of video games as a whole in the process. For that reason the Zelda series is easily among the most revered in Nintendo’s library, though some are more memorable than others.
We rounded up all of the major Legend of Zelda releases, putting aside spin-offs like Hyrule Warriors. Then the GameSpot staff came together and agreed on a consensus ranking. Here, from least to most legendary, are the best Zelda games.
If you’d like to play these games, some of them are available on the Nintendo Switch, and the classic NES and SNES entries are available to play through the Switch Online service.
Before there even was a Zelda mold, Nintendo thoroughly broke it. Zelda 2 gets some credit for completely rethinking what a Zelda game could be, swapping its top-down perspective for a more action-oriented side-scrolling combat system, and placing much more emphasis on RPG elements like exploring and talking to townsfolk. It bore a passing resemblance to its contemporaries like Castlevania 2: Simon’s Quest. But for all of its daring experimentation, it was also often frustrating and obtuse. There’s a reason Nintendo chose to make subsequent Zelda games more based on the original than this oddball sequel. Nowadays it’s mostly known for its final battle, which had Link fighting against his own shadow.
14. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
The Nintendo DS got two of its own Zelda games, but to make use of the dual-screen system you controlled Link entirely using the touch screen. The result was a little awkward and halting, but it worked well enough once you got the hang of it. While Spirit Tracks sported some clever dungeon design, the touchscreen functionality wasn’t as novel the second time around, and the limitations of navigating the world via train just didn’t feel as adventurous as riding the wind on a boat.
Phantom Hourglass is the predecessor to Spirit Tracks, and it did just about everything better. It got a lot of mileage out of the Wind Waker art style, and sailing around the world was exhilarating. At the end of the day, though, touchscreen Zelda was an experiment. They pulled it off well enough but even subsequent Zelda games on the 3DS didn’t follow in those footsteps, and for good reason.
Skyward Sword certainly isn’t a bad Zelda game, but it is the point at which the path charted by several previous 3D Zeldas started to show its age. The pattern of exploring a dungeon to find a new powerup felt a little more rote this time around, and worse yet, the pace was criticized as achingly slow. It took hours just to get out of the opening tutorial island, the game constantly dropped reminders about basic information, and your in-game companion was endlessly chatty. Some of this was addressed in the recent HD remaster for Nintendo Switch, which helps sand off some of the rough edges. The controls were originally designed for the Wii remote, and the remaster makes mostly successful revisions to those. And to its credit, it is canonically the very first Zelda game, making it a must-play for lore lovers.
11. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages & Oracle of Seasons
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages & Oracle of Seasons
The Oracle duology is technically two separate games (and originally three games!), each with their own dungeons and puzzle mechanics. But they’re clearly part of a matched set, having followed the Pokemon formula and released simultaneously, with players intended to use cross-game functionality. You can play either game individually and get a full Zelda game, but providing a linked password to either one treats the other like a sequel and provides the “true” ending. But effectively doubling the playtime (and cost) with two similarly-playing games was an awkward fit compared to simply trading pocket monsters, even if the gameplay was a solid throwback to the Game Boy classic Link’s Awakening.
While many Legend of Zelda games take place in their own unique time and place with only loose connections to others–taking advantage of the squishy nature of “legends”–Nintendo has started to more frequently make direct sequels. And just as Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks were sequels to Wind Waker, the 3DS’s A Link Between Worlds was a direct successor to A Link to the Past. The setting was largely similar to LTTP’s Hyrule, with the dark “Lorule” as the dark counterpart like LTTP’s Dark World. That familiar framework served as the backdrop for Nintendo producer Eiji Aonuma to break out of the Zelda mold. Rather than the staid loop of finding equipment in dungeons and taking them on in order, this one let you play the dungeons in any order after purchasing the necessary equipment from a shady shopkeeper. This was overtly an attempt to shake things up after fans and critics alike criticized Skyward Sword for being formulaic, and it arguably helped pave the way for the much more radical change that was to come in Breath of the Wild.
The sole original Game Boy Advance Zelda game wasn’t particularly revolutionary, but it was a very polished version of what a Zelda can be. The hook for this entry was a magical cap that could shrink Link down to the size of the Minish–a tiny sprite-like race who live in the cracks and crevices of Hyrule. That mechanic makes the setting the star, as you see environments in regular size often before transferring to Minish-size to see everything around you grow gigantic by comparison. The cap also happens to be your mouthy companion this time, and the wise-cracking cap sported more personality than previous earnest companions like Navi.
Nintendo’s first attempt at a portable Zelda game is still widely regarded as one of its best. The Game Boy release takes Link far from Hyrule to the mysterious Koholint Island. A wise old owl tells him that the monsters have been acting more aggressive since he arrived, because they know he’s there to wake the Windfish, who has been imprisoned by a legion of evil Nightmares. The resulting adventure is unlike any other Zelda game, with notable cameos from Mario enemies, wacky characters like a talking crocodile, and a standalone story that tugs on the heartstrings. It later received a Game Boy Color rerelease called Link’s Awakening DX, which added a color-based dungeon. More recently, a Switch version revised everything from the ground up with an entirely new visual style and new quality-of-life features.
After venturing into a very animated art style for Wind Waker, Nintendo went back to a more realistic take on Hyrule in Twilight Princess. This darker entry in the Zelda series features a shadow world teeming with inky blackness. The eponymous Twilight Princess is Midna, the princess of the shadowy realm, and if that weren’t dark enough, it features segments in which Link turns into a skulking wolf. While it was a somewhat awkward transition between the GameCube and Wii eras for Nintendo, it still has some of the best 3D dungeon design and a world marked with inventive power-ups and areas to explore. It later received an HD re-release on Wii U.
The original Legend of Zelda lacks the polish of its successors, but we have to give credit to the one that started it all. The foundation laid here, from unique equipment spread out across eight dungeons to loads of obscure and well-hidden secrets to uncover, would go on to define Zelda from that point on. And while it’s undeniably minimalist, that only makes it stand out that much more. It was meant to evoke the feeling of going on a grand adventure through the wilderness, and the lack of hand-holding that would come to define later Zelda games makes the world feel that much more expansive and mysterious.
5. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
A divisive GameCube game at launch has grown into one of the most revered in hindsight. Wind Waker attempted a new cel-shaded art and more cartoonish characters and environments. More radical than the visual style may have been the world, which was far from the Hyrule we all remember. Instead it took place in a flooded kingdom with sparse islands separating them, and you spent much of your time traversing between them on a small talking boat. The colorful presentation belied ingenious dungeon design and some neat power-ups, including a glider-like leaf that was the precursor to one of Breath of the Wild’s most significant traversal tools. It received an HD remaster on Wii U in 2013.
Zelda spin-offs have shown mixed success, but this spin-off from the Ocarina of Time is still revered as one of the best in the series. Young Link goes on a journey outside of Hyrule, discovering the strange Clock Town which is doomed to suffer an apocalyptic event in just three days. To stop the impending doom from a creepy, grinning moon, Link has to employ the use of masks that grant him new abilities or even change his race into fantastical creatures like the Zora or Deku. The masks provided an interesting change from the standard Zelda equipment. In contrast to Ocarina’s broad, sprawling Hyrule, Majora’s Mask was a very focused experience–taking place in a time loop within a town where getting to know the habits and routines of the townsfolk was vital to your success in saving them. Like Ocarina of Time, it received a 3DS port that included some quality-of-life changes.
A Link to the Past was only the third Zelda game in existence, but third time’s the charm. This was widely seen as an instant classic and still stands as the pinnacle of the 2D Zelda games. The dungeons and bosses were fine-tuned to near perfection, the overworld was bursting with secrets to uncover and explore, and the new Dark World element let you flip between two very different versions of the same space. In both the light world and dark world, Link to the Past put the focus on the inhabitants of the world, like the Flute Boy, who had their own stories told with minimalistic grace. An impressive achievement for its time and a game that absolutely holds up in modern times, Link to the Past is among the best.
2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The most recent major Zelda release is also undoubtedly one of the very best. While Nintendo is often a playful and experimental company, it can sometimes take a lot for the company to make major, seismic changes to its core franchises. After the criticism lobbed at Skyward Sword, the company listened. Producer Eiji Aonuma started talking openly about his desire to break with the Zelda formula and try new things, first letting you purchase equipment and mix up the dungeon order in A Link Between Worlds. That was just a taste of things to come, however, because Breath of the Wild was the real radical shift. Nintendo reassessed just about everything, from the structure of dungeons to equipment to how you interact with the world. The result was an incredible open-world experience where players could push themselves to go just about anywhere–including straight to the final boss, if they’d like. It was unlike any Zelda before, and inspired countless imitators already, and marked a new era of The Legend of Zelda.
The Legend of Zelda is such a storied game series that you could mount a good case for multiple games to rank at the top spot, but at the end of the day, we had to give it to Ocarina of Time. The first 3D Zelda set the template for the direction of the series to follow for years, and even Breath of the Wild’s incredible series shake-up was defined by how it riffed on the formula while still being recognizable to longtime fans. But it wasn’t just influential within the context of the Zelda series itself. As a trailblazer in video game design, Nintendo helped to invent and innovate many of the ways that 3D video games would work for years to come. Even today, every time you lock onto an enemy in combat you’re tipping a hat to Ocarina of Time.
For Zelda fans, Ocarina also established some of the most vital and central parts of the legendary lore, including the origins of Ganon, the history of the three Golden Goddesses, the first appearance of races like the Goron and Deku, and a deeply expanded cast of surrounding characters and cultures. It also established an important part of the Zelda mythos–that the primary characters, Link, Zelda, and Ganon represent aspects of the Triforce itself, which is why their fates are tied together through the generations.
As one of the most revered Zelda games, it’s also gotten multiple ports and remasters. It was released as a special GameCube disc along with the Master Quest, an ultra-hard version with reworked dungeons. It also received a 3DS port that included quality-of-life changes, including some revisions to the infamous Water Dungeon.
IGN has your exclusive first look at Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, which Screen Gems bills not as a reboot or remake of their feature film franchise but rather as the origin story of the original Capcom games. Check out the three exclusive images below to see the new big-screen versions of Claire and Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Leon S. Kennedy, Albert Wesker and more characters gamers will recognize.
The upcoming film — written and directed by Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down, The Strangers: Prey at Night) — is based on the first two Resident Evil games. The movie chronicles how Raccoon City went from being a city of industry to a dying Midwestern town that’s become ground zero for the t-Virus outbreak.
In a new exclusive interview with IGN, Roberts elaborated on the differences between his Resident Evil movie, the prior films starring Milla Jovovich, and how his filmmaking approach here draws not only from the Capcom games but also old school genre filmmaking:
“This movie really had nothing to do with the previous franchise. This was all about returning to the games and creating a movie that was much more a horror movie than the sort of sci-fi action of the previous films. I was hugely influenced in particular by the remake of the second game and I really wanted to capture the atmosphere-drenched tone that it had. It was so cinematic. The previous movies were very bright and shiny whereas this movie was dark and grimy, entirely shot at night. It’s constantly raining and the town is shrouded in mist. … I was hugely influenced by movies like The Exorcist (and Exorcist 3!), Don’t Look Now, and The Shining. You can really feel the texture in this movie. Nothing in this town feels hi-tech. It feels dilapidated. I wanted Raccoon City to feel a bit like the town in Deer Hunter; a ghost town forgotten by the rest of the world. And the whole structure of the film was definitely very influenced by Assault on Precinct 13.”
Our first exclusive image from the film reveals the first look at Kaya Scodelario as Claire Redfield and Avan Jogia as Leon S. Kennedy. You’ll notice Leon is wearing his police uniform, in keeping with what his job was at the time of the Raccoon City Destruction Incident.
In Resident Evil 2, Leon and Claire Redfield, sister of S.T.A.R.S. officer Chris Redfield (played in this film by the Arrowverse’s Robbie Amell), were among the few people who ventured into Raccoon City following the outbreak. They eventually crossed paths with Raccoon City Police Chief Brian Irons, played in this film by Gotham’s Donal Logue.
“The difference with this film as opposed to the previous movies is that it is an ensemble where each of the main characters carries huge importance to the narrative. They are not just cosplay characters who have the exact hair and costume of the characters,” Roberts said. “It was hugely important with the whole casting process to find people who embodied the spirit and energy of the characters I wanted to portray. I think often in game adaptations one of the big flaws can be just casting someone to look visually like the characters – giving them the identical haircut and clothes but not really trying to give the audience the thing that a movie does better than a game – which is to create a three dimensional character that you can really connect with and believe in.”
Roberts recalled the particularly difficult search for the right actor to play Leon S. Kennedy: “We must have seen so many people – it was really quite a tricky role because of the balance of humor and weariness. Then Avan read and I was like he’s the one! He gets it.”
IGN’s second exclusive image from Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City features, from left-to-right, Albert Wesker (Tom Hopper), Richard Aiken (Chad Rook), Jill Valentine (Hannah John-Kamen), and Chris Redfield (Robbie Amell) on the prowl in the Spencer Mansion, which Roberts previously described to us as being “creepy as f*ck” in his film.
“I wanted to go back to the horror of it all. I wanted scares and atmosphere rather than full-on action,” Roberts told IGN when comparing what differentiates Welcome to Raccoon City from the earlier Resident Evil films. “I think fans of the game felt the same. They wanted to see the iconic characters and locations and feel that the movie was more in line with the Resident Evil game world so that’s really why we chose to go in that direction. We worked hand in hand with Capcom on this movie to the point that we actually got blueprints from them on the designs of the Spencer Mansion and Raccoon police station in order to recreate them as perfectly as we could. We even have the exact artwork up on the mansion walls. Capcom saw it for the first time the other day and was so happy and excited.”
The final image we can exclusively reveal from Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City depicts Lisa Trevor, played in the film by Marina Mazepa. In the games, Lisa is the teenage daughter of the architect of the Spencer Mansion in Raccoon Forest who went missing while on a walk. Umbrella scientists working out of the Arklay Laboratory near the Spencer Mansion experimented on Lisa for years, including exposing her to multiple viruses.
These gruesome experiments on Lisa led Umbrella to discover the Nemesis Tyrant and the G-Virus, but they also transformed her into a deranged monstrosity. One of the scientists who experimented on her is Dr. William Birkin, played in Welcome to Raccoon City by Neal McDonough.
“Lisa Trevor is actually quite a pivotal role in the movie. I was always fascinated by her when playing the remake of the first game. I found her character both disturbing and at the same time strangely haunting,” Roberts told IGN. “When we were discussing how to bring this story to life it was one of the elements that I really wanted to feature strongly as she has never been in any of the filmed versions of Resident Evil. I wanted her to be a three-dimensional character, not just some creepy specter. We cast Marina Mazepa, who had just done Malignant for James Wan and really worked hard in bringing this character to life in a way I think the fans are going to love so much. She’s terrifying but also tragic. In the movie, we really connect her to Claire Redfield’s story, starting with the orphanage where Claire grew up.”
Fans of the games should know that Capcom was involved in the film’s development and designs. “We worked very closely with Capcom. Every character and creature is from the game and as such, I wanted to be as faithful as possible. I wanted to create a truly immersive feeling for the fans,” Roberts explained. “But that also became the trickiest part of adapting a piece of IP like this because I didn’t just want to put the game on screen – it had to be its own thing with living breathing characters and creatures (and, of course, zombies!) that felt true to the world.”
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City opens only in theaters on November 24, 2021, in the US, December 3 in the UK, and November 25 in Australia.
(Editor’s note: Our original post incorrectly included Brad Vickers instead of Richard Aiken. We regret the error.)
The upcoming movie Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City tells the origin story of the Capcom games. Written and directed by Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down, The Strangers: Prey at Night), this film is based on the first two Resident Evil games and chronicles how Raccoon City went from being a city of industry to a dying Midwestern town that’s now ground zero for the t-Virus outbreak.
In an exclusive e-mail interview with IGN, Roberts elaborated on the differences between his Resident Evil movie and the prior Screen Gems film series starring Milla Jovovich and produced by Paul W.S. Anderson, as well as how his vision for the movie draws not only from the Capcom games but also John Carpenter-era genre filmmaking.
IGN: Resident Evil is one of the most commercially successful video game movie franchises ever. Why reboot it instead of continuing it?
Johannes Roberts: I actually love the first movie so much. I think it’s great. And Milla just created such an iconic character. But it was its own thing. It wasn’t really Resident Evil as I knew it – the previous movies never captured the game and the feelings I got when playing the game (that’s not a criticism I think it just went in a different direction). I wanted to go back to the horror of it all. I wanted scares and atmosphere rather than full-on action. I think fans of the game felt the same – they wanted to see the iconic characters and locations and feel that the movie was more in line with the Resident Evil game world so that’s really why we chose to go in that direction. We worked hand-in-hand with Capcom on this movie… to the point that we actually got blueprints from them on the designs of the Spencer Mansion and Raccoon police station in order to recreate them as perfectly as we could. We even have the exact artwork up on the mansion walls. Capcom saw it for the first time the other day and was so happy and excited. And that – as a nerd – made me so happy and excited!
How do these incarnations of characters such as Jill Valentine and Leon S. Kennedy differ from their versions in the past films?
Johannes Roberts: The difference with this film as opposed to the previous movies is that it is an ensemble where each of the main characters carries huge importance to the narrative. They are not just cosplay characters who have the exact hair and costume of the characters. I think previously everything had been all about the Alice character – which was never in the games – and the game characters that did appear like Jill, Leon, Claire, and Chris did so as kind of supporting cameos. Jill and Leon in this movie are equal leads along with Claire and Chris and Wesker.
Jill was such a fun character to play around with – a sort of live-wire, small-town girl – she’s kick-ass but not in a superhuman way. You really feel scared for her when shit goes down. Hannah John-Kamen really brought her to life! Leon Kennedy was interesting because in many ways he was my way into the movie as a writer – I sort of saw the story through his eyes. I wanted to move away from the buff action hero that Leon has become in the later games and return to the Leon Kennedy of his very first ‘rookie’ incarnation in the Resident Evil 2 game. In this movie he is not at all an action hero – he’s slightly out of his depth, very hungover, and cannot believe the s**t that is going down on his first day. The events of the film help create the ‘hero’ Leon they know from the games.
There is definitely a Carpenter vibe to his character. When I was writing him I had sort of a cross between Jack Burton and MacReady in my mind! It was probably the trickiest role to cast to find someone who could carry that off! Avan Jogia really nailed it. He’s so wonderfully disheveled and out of his depth in the movie.
IGN: Can you define what your visual aesthetic was for this film in terms of differentiating what audiences have seen in past Resident Evil movies?
Johannes Roberts:This movie really had nothing to do with the previous franchise. This was all about returning to the games and creating a movie that was much more a horror movie than the sort of sci-fi action of the previous films. I was hugely influenced in particular by the remake of the second game and I really wanted to capture the atmosphere-drenched tone that it had. It was so cinematic. The previous movies were very bright and shiny whereas this movie was dark and grimy, entirely shot at night. It’s constantly raining and the town is shrouded in mist.
I was very influenced by seventies filmmaking techniques – we shot using zooms a lot! And there are no drone shots in the movie or crazy CGI camera shots that are physically impossible. The movie has a very old-school retro feel to it. I was hugely influenced by movies like The Exorcist (and Exorcist 3!), Don’t Look Now, and The Shining. You can really feel the texture in this movie. Nothing in this town feels hi-tech. It feels dilapidated. I wanted Raccoon City to feel a bit like the town in Deer Hunter; a ghost town forgotten by the rest of the world. And the whole structure of the film was definitely very influenced by Assault on Precinct 13.
IGN: How do the creature and character designs in your film differ from what fans of the games and the preexisting movies know?
Johannes Roberts: We always returned to the game whenever we were looking at the characters and creatures and locations. It was our guiding star. As I said before we worked very closely with Capcom. Every character and creature is from the game and as such, I wanted to be as faithful as possible. I wanted to create a truly immersive feeling for the fans. But that also became the trickiest part of adapting a piece of IP like this because I didn’t just want to put the game on screen – it had to be its own thing with living breathing characters and creatures (and of course zombies!) that felt true to the world. There is some cool s**t in there. I mean some of the creature stuff looks f***ing incredible. It was a mixture of prosthetics, CGI, and creature performers. There’s some wonderfully freaky stuff in there. You’ll immediately recognize the creatures from the game but hopefully, we’ve gone beyond the game in terms of making these terrifying creations feel like they really could exist in real life.
IGN: Can you talk about the casting of the roles of Leo and Jill and what you wanted to achieve with that?
Johannes Roberts: It was hugely important with the whole casting process to find people who embodied the spirit and energy of the characters I wanted to portray. I think often in game adaptations one of the big flaws can be just casting someone to look visually like the characters – giving them the identical haircut and clothes but not really trying to give the audience the thing that a movie does better than a game – which is to create a three-dimensional character that you can really connect with and believe in. I think as I said before one of the traps of falling into game adaptations is to make it feel like a giant cosplay version of the game.
Our cast is obviously much more diverse than the original games but I wanted to resist the trap of just casting because someone just happened to look like their character identically. We actually had a lot of actors who came in and recreated themselves perfectly visually as the character they were reading – it was uncanny at times ha! – but it was not what I felt this story needed. With Jill, I knew Hannah from Ready Player One and this show she was in at the time called The Stranger and I just knew she’d be perfect. Leon was much harder. We must have seen so many people – it was really quite a tricky role because of the balance of humor and weariness. Then Avan read and I was like he’s the one! He gets it.
IGN: What was your overall design philosophy on differentiating this film’s creature designs from both the existing films and games?
Johannes Roberts: There is actually quite a lot that has never been in any previous movie to be honest which is exciting. And even the stuff we have seen before – I won’t give it away but there are some iconic creatures fans will be so happy to see – we have really gone all out in making them feel like characters – we really focus in on each individual creature whether it be zombie, or crow, or Doberman or… (I won’t spoil the rest) – but it’s never huge wide shots of faceless hordes – it’s about detail. It’s about really connecting with that individual creature at that time. Making it feel like a living breathing thing. Feeling our characters’ disbelief at what is unfolding.
John Carpenter is the master of this. Watch The Thing — each creature moment is treated as an artwork — you get to marvel at its entire glory. It’s never just hundreds of things thrown at you. There is real personality and life in each creature set piece. And the character reactions then just feel so honest and real. And the fear is then very real. I very much had this in mind when shooting Resident Evil – especially when recreating moments like the turnaround zombie from the game – as well as when things go REALLY crazy toward the end – I really invite the audience to revel in the creations we have put on screen. I can’t wait for people to see all of them in their full glory!
IGN: How much does the story of Lisa Trevor come into play in this film? And what is the importance of including her here? In this film?
Johannes Roberts: Lisa Trevor is actually quite a pivotal role in the movie. I was always fascinated by her when playing the remake of the first game. I found her character both disturbing and at the same time strangely haunting. When we were discussing how to bring this story to life it was one of the elements that I really wanted to feature strongly as she has never been in any of the filmed versions of Resident Evil. I wanted her to be a three-dimensional character, not just some creepy specter. We cast Marina Mazepa, who had just done Malignant for James Wan and really worked hard in bringing this character to life in a way I think the fans are going to love so much. She’s terrifying but also tragic. In the movie, we really connect her to Claire Redfield’s story, starting with the orphanage where Claire grew up.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City opens only in theaters on November 24, 2021, in the US, December 3 in the UK, and November 25 in Australia.
Microsoft has reached a deal to become the official gaming partner of England’s national football teams. The multi-year deal, the terms of which were not disclosed, makes Xbox the official partner for England’s men’s and women’s teams, along with the eLions eSports team, and Wembley Stadium itself.
Additionally, Microsoft said in a news release that it is working with The Football Association on a “grassroots gaming campaign” to help create “exciting experiences for football and gaming fans across the nation.”
The first stage of Microsoft’s partnership with the FA kicks off with a new branded message, “When Everybody Plays, We All Win.” Microsoft and the FA said they have a “shared vision of inclusivity in play” in both digital worlds and in real life. This message is especially noteworthy following England’s loss in the Euros final when several members of the club received horrific and disturbing messages of hate.
“At Xbox we strive to remove barriers and to empower people to experience the joy of play: millions of people around the world find common ground and connect through playing games, as they do with football,” Global Xbox partnerships boss Marcos Waltenberg said. “In The FA we see a tremendous organization which has the same drive and ambition to empower people as we do at Xbox. Through our partnership we aim to bring further value to the England Football Teams and power the dreams of players and fans everywhere.”
FA marketing director Kathryn Swarbrick said, “Gaming is loved and embraced by fans across the world, and we see this partnership as an opportunity to take that relationship to the next level for all of those connected with English football. ‘When Everyone Plays, We All Win’ is a message that rings true of what we strive to achieve at The FA and we hope that our inspirational national teams can bring great value to Xbox.”
This is not the first time that Microsoft has sponsored a football/soccer club, as the Xbox company previously had a deal with the Seattle Sounders of the MLS to be it jersey sponsor. However, this deal ended in 2019.
In other Xbox news, the company has urged its fans to get vaccinated as COVID-19 cases continue to surge in the US and globally. Microsoft is heading into the holiday season with Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite leading the way for its first-party lineup.
Xbox has used its platform to dispel myths about the COVID-19 vaccine and encourage people to get the jab. Writing on Twitter, the official Xbox account–which has 16.5 million followers–put out a call for fans of gaming to become heroes in the real world by getting vaccinated as Delta cases surge across the US and around the world.
“The power of play makes us heroes in new worlds every day. You can be a hero in real life too by getting vaccinated against COVID-19, protecting yourself and the people around you.”
The power of play makes us heroes in new worlds every day. You can be a hero in real life too by getting vaccinated against COVID-19, protecting yourself & the people around you. Learn more during our Q&A with the @CDCgov & @CDCFound: https://t.co/8qu2Hqtxtz
Xbox held a Q&A with Dr. Jay Butler and Dr. Judy Monroe, two of the highest ranking doctors at the CDC, and if you missed the livestream, you can check out some key takeaways below, which included debunking conspiracy theories that the vaccine alters your DNA or comes with a microchip. Just recently, the FDA officially approved the Pfizer vaccine following its rollout under Emergency Use Authorization.
The COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the U.S. are highly effective at preventing severe disease and death, including against the Delta variant. As it stands, unvaccinated people are most at risk to contract and spread the virus. https://t.co/bz9zhZvZKs
COVID-19 vaccines are free for those who are eligible—people 12 and older in the U.S. https://t.co/3qE18C1UKc is an online resource to find vaccination sites near you, including in-home options for some.
To dispel some common COVID-19 vaccine myths: the vaccines don’t contain microchips or magnets, they don’t alter your DNA, they don’t give you COVID-19, and there is no evidence they have any impact on pregnancy or fertility. https://t.co/Kh2rg1tt5t
COVID-19 cases are on the rise again in the US and around the world as the Delta variant spreads. As for Xbox, the company is headed into the holiday season with Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite leading the way for its first-party lineup.
Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima isn’t just a fan of video game photo modes, he’s a big believer in using them to improve your own skills in the real world.
“If you keep taking pictures, even in-game, your sensitivity and skills will naturally improve. Composition, layout, focus,” Kojima tweeted. “Most importantly, you will know what you want to photograph. After that, the in-game experience will surely come in handy when you shoot with a real camera or smartphone.”
A number of games, especially those of the open-world genre variety, come equipped with a built-in photo mode that allows users to take a perfect snapshot of the moment that they’re in. These modes have gotten more advanced over the years, and these days it’s commonplace to see that function augmented by advanced photographic features such as setting your aperture, tightening your focal distance, or applying a few filters.
1/2 There are still some people who make fun of the fact that you are taking virtual pictures in the game. If you keep taking pictures, even in-game, your sensitivity and skills will naturally improve. Composition, layout, focus, etc.
2/2 Most importantly, you will know what you want to photograph. After that, the in-game experience will surely come in handy when you shoot with a real camera or smartphone.
Sony’s first-party games in particular have made great strides forward in this area, as everything from Marvel’s Spider-Man to Ratchet Clank: Into the Rift features a photography suite that allows for an incredible amount of customization. Death Stranding is no stranger to these shutterbug systems, as players could document their journey through various snapshots.
Naughty Dog is currently making its first-ever standalone multiplayer game, but what other projects might the studio make in the future? We don’t know for sure just yet, but Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells said fans can look forward to the studio making new IP and also working on established franchises.
“I think the easy answer is: both. I think there’s excitement to develop new IP, but there is still a ton of love for Uncharted and The Last of Us, and I think you’ll see both kinds of projects from us in the future,” Wells said in an interview with Game Informer.
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Naughty Dog is known for its big, cinematic single-player story-focused games, and you can expect this to continue in the future.
“Single-player experiences are near and dear to us. It’s what has attracted a lot of people to Naughty Dog, and that’s what inspires them, so I think we’re going to keep at it as long as we can,” Wells said.
Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann is also quoted in the interview, saying Naughty Dog studio owner Sony has never come to the team with a mandate to make a certain type of game.
“There has never been a mandate like, ‘Oh, this is where we see the winds shifting. Can you start making these kind of games instead?’ We know just as they know that when you work on something you’re excited by, something you’re passionate by, you’re going to do great work,” he said.
One of Naughty Dog’s first successful games was Jak and Daxter, and Wells said if the studio had “endless resources and time,” it would be fun to return to making “lighter fare” games like that. “You look at what Insomniac is doing with Ratchet and Clank and it’s exciting. It’s great to see that stuff. We’re just limited with time, you know, I’m 48 years-old and how many more games do you get to make, so you got to pick and choose,” Wells said.
As for Druckmann, he said when Naughty Dog finishes a particular project, the team will spend “quite a bit of time” deciding what to do next and if it should make a new IP or dig back into its catalog for a sequel.
“We really take our time with it, and if you were to see our folders of concept art you’d see unused concepts that are all over the gamut,” Druckmann said. “Then we look at everything and we ask ourselves what are we excited by? What’s something that’s going to challenge us and push us, and push the medium as far as games that can be? Because that inspiration is so important to carry through years of production.”
