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After years of development, Josef Fares’ Hazelight Studios has completed its work on its next co-op game, It Takes Two. Fares made the announcement on Twitter, saying, “We finally did it! It Takes Two has gone gold.”

Publisher Electronic Arts responded to Fares’ tweet with a humorous animated gif of Michael Scott from The Office looking surprised and delighted about the news.

Reaching “gold” status means that a studio has finished the work necessary to release the game. With more than a month to go before It Takes Two’s release on March 26, the team might spend the remaining time polishing and fine-tuning the game before launch.

It Takes Two casts players as Cody and May, a couple going through a divorce who are transformed into dolls. They must then find their way through a fantastical world to return to their human forms and try to salvage their relationship in real life.

Like Hazelight’s A Way Out, It Takes Two can only be played in co-op, either by local split-screen or via online. Thankfully, the game comes with a free “friend’s pass” that allows you to play with someone even if they haven’t bought the game.

Hazelight’s last game, A Way Out, was a big success with 3.5 million copies sold. Fares told IGN that even publisher EA didn’t believe the game–which was made by a relatively small team of around 35 people–would sell that well.

As for what Fares might make next, he told Polygon that he wants to “f**k sh*t up creatively.” He is considering ideas for an open-world game and an RPG, but the most likely bet is that he’ll return with another co-op game next. “I love it too much,” he said.

It Takes Two launches on March 26 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

If you’ve ever wanted to prove yourself to be a better skateboarder than Tony Hawk and not have to worry about risking your spine on the half-pipe, then now is your chance to beat the Hawkman at his own game. Literally.

Tony Hawk has partnered with Pacifico Beer to create Pacifico’s Tony Hawk Pro Skater Challenge, which will be livestreamed on IGN’s YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch on February 18 at 5 PM PT / 8 PM EST.

Hawk will play Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 for 30 minutes during the stream, share his favorite Easter eggs, demonstrate real-life tricks on a half-pipe, and set a high score during a two-minute run in the game.

Once the stream has concluded, players will have two weeks to submit their own scores into the competition, where they stand a chance to win gaming gear valued at up to $5,000. Prizes up for grabs include a player’s choice of a PlayStation 5 or an Xbox Series X console, a 55-inch 4K smart TV, a signed copy of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2 by Hawk himself, and more.

Since this is an alcohol-sponsored event though, participants will need to be 21 and older to enter. Players can share their high scores with Pacifico through its social media channels, and you won’t even need to beat Hawk’s score to be eligible for entry.

Still, it’d be nice to at least earn some bragging rights in this rare opportunity and win a few prizes for your efforts.

Persona 5 Strikers is set to release for PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC on February 23. Naturally, anyone lucky enough to have a PS5 can play the PS4 version via backwards compatibility, but it won’t feature any next-gen upgrades. You don’t have to wait to lock in a copy for yourself, because the game is available for preorder at a number of retailers (see it at Amazon).

It’s available in two editions: a standard one and a digital deluxe edition that comes with downloadable extras. Depending on where you get it, you may also get a preorder bonus (see below). And if you’re wondering whether the game is worth playing, be sure to check out IGN’s glowing Persona 5 Strikers review to find out why we called it “essential for fans of the original.”

Preorder Persona 5 Strikers

PS4

• Get it at Amazon – $59.99
• Get it at Best Buy – $59.99
• Get it at GameStop – $59.99
• Get it at PlayStation Store (digital) – $59.99

Nintendo Switch

• Get it at Amazon – $59.99
• Get it at Amazon (digital) – $59.99
• Get it at Best Buy – $59.99
• Get it at GameStop – $59.99
• Get it at Nintendo eShop (digital) – $59.99

PC

• Get it on Steam – $59.99

The standard edition of Persona 5 Strikers comes with the following digital items:

• Soundtrack with over 40 songs
• Digital art book
• Behind-the-scenes video

Persona 5 Strikers Digital Deluxe Edition

• Get it for PS4 – $69.99
• Get it for Nintendo Switch – $69.99
• Get it for PC – $69.99

The digital deluxe edition of Persona 5 Strikers comes with the digital items from the standard edition, as well as four days’ early access (starting February 19), plus the following:

Persona Legacy Background Music

• Music from Persona 1 and Persona 1 PSP remake
• Music from Persona 2 Innocent Sin and Persona 2 Eternal Punishment
• Music from Persona 3 and Persona 3 Portable
• Music from Persona 4 and Persona 4 Golden

All-out Attack Pack

• Boost Skills Pack
• Basic Affinity Skills Pack
• Ally Buff Skills Pack
• Armor Pack
• Persona Points
• Enemy Debuff Skills Pack

Persona 5 Strikers Preorder Bonuses

In addition to the digital bonuses that come with all versions of the game (see above), some retailers are offering exclusive bonuses for placing your preorder with them.

• Best Buy – Steelbook case (Switch version only)
• GameStop – Joker pin

What Is Persona 5 Strikers?

Persona 5 Strikers catches up with the Phantom Thieves as they head out on a summer vacation following the events of Persona 5. As you can imagine, things don’t go quite as expected and they get roped into investigating mysterious cases in cities across Japan.

The combat this time around is Musou-style, which means you take on hordes of enemies in real time. But the turn-based combat of the game’s predecessor isn’t completely gone, as you can pause the action to plot out your next moves. You also get a chance to play as each of the Phantom Thieves as you take on waves of enemies.

Other Preorder Guides

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Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert at IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.

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No Man’s Sky has received another update, titled Companions, which lets players adopt and breed alien companions.

The Companions update launches today and will let players “tame, breed, train and even speak to the creatures they encounter.” No Man’s Sky has long been known for the inimitable alien creatures that inhabit the game’s procedural planets, but this update will let players interact with them on a deeper level.

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Explorers can adopt creatures as sidekicks for their interstellar adventures, and the tamed beasts can be trained “to scan for resources, mark out hazards, provide light, hunt dangerous fauna, find settlements, excavate buried treasure or even mine for materials with their own shoulder-mounted mining lasers.” Once a companion is nurtured they will also lay eggs which can be incubated by the player. A new system called the Egg Sequencer will also let players genetically modify their alien eggs to create variant and rare species, which can be sold to other travellers.

“A wide range of customisable accessories and decals” will also be made available so players can create a stylish companion. Hello Games notes that “no two creatures are alike,” and that the personality of the new companions will be defined “by their species and ecosystem.” This will colour their emotional interactions with other players, who may also have a companion. You can also connect your companion to an Exosuit via a neural harness, and their alien thoughts will be “translated and sent directly to your internal communication channels,” allowing players to communicate with their new alien friends.

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Beyond the addition of companions, the update will also “bring significant improvements to load and warp times for PlayStation 4 players.” You can check out full patch notes on the Hello Games website.

Hello Games says that this is the start of the game’s 5th anniversary festivities, but they “have a lot planned” for the rest of 2021. In other Hello Games news, Sean Murray has said that the studio won’t be talking about its new game for a while, but that it’s going to be big.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Marvel’s Eternals star Kumail Nanjiani has revealed how director Chloe Zhao carefully selected the cast for the upcoming cosmic superhero movie.

Nanjiani was interviewed by Vulture as part of a profile piece on The Rider and Nomadland director, and the ex-Silicon Valley actor explained that Zhao made her choices based on how each star’s personality fitted into their Eternals counterpart. Nanjiani, who will portray Kingo in the superhero flick, described why he was surprised by a particular answer that Zhao gave him during a meeting about his character, and how that extended to the movie’s whole cast.

“I was like ‘Okay, so how do you want to see Kingo?'” Nanjiani said. “She was like ‘He’s you. I picked you because I wanted him to be you.’ That’s how she picked the entire cast. She wanted everybody to put pieces of themselves into each character.”

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The Eternals’ ensemble is the most diverse cast seen in a Marvel movie to date, and Nanjiani puts that down to the commitment shown by Zhao – who is also the first Asian woman to direct an MCU movie – to represent different ethnicities and cultures in a superhero flick. Recalling a shot of the cast, Nanjiani admitted that he got emotional over the image. He said: “You never see a movie with a cast that looks like the world this much, let alone big superheroes in a Marvel movie.”

Nanjiani is the latest member of the Eternals team to heap praise on Zhao over her vision of the film. Fellow Eternals star Salma Hayek recently described the film as possessing “a completely different DNA” to previous MCU movies due to the way it was shot, while Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige revealed that Zhao’s Eternals pitch was the “best he’d ever heard“.

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In other Marvel news, Falcon and the Winter Soldier actress Emily VanCamp revealed how the upcoming Disney+ show compares to WandaVision’s trippiness, while Assembled – a new Disney+ documentary series – will provide a behind-the-scenes look at Marvel’s 2021 TV series.

Thumbnail photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images

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Tom Power is a UK-based freelance writer who cannot wait for Marvel’s Eternals. Follow him on Twitter.

The landmark Microsoft-Bethesda acquisition was reportedly a factor in Google’s decision to close its Stadia game development studios.

A report from Kotaku says that Google Stadia General Manager Phil Harrison brought it up as a factor during a Q&A with staff following Google’s decision to shut down its two internal game studios in Los Angeles and Montreal in early February.

According to Kotaku’s sources, Harrison “pointed specifically to Microsoft’s buying spree and planned acquisition of Bethesda Software later this year as one of the factors that had made Google decide to close the book on original game development.” Microsoft announced its plans to acquire Zenimax Media and Bethesda Softworks in September 2020, bringing blockbuster franchises such as The Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Doom under its wing. It’s not entirely clear what the connection between the acquisition and Stadia’s decision is, although it could be seen as an inability to compete in the market.

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Harrison reportedly mentioned the COVID-19 pandemic and “the rising costs of game development” as other factors in the decision. Kotaku’s report notes that the studio’s game developers were shocked by the decision to close the studios, as just weeks before they had been praised by Harrison via email for the “great progress” made by the teams. Kotaku’s sources say this was “emblematic” of the reported mismanagement at Stadia’s studios prior to their closure.

Despite the first-party studio closures, Google recently announced that more than 100 third-party games would be added to its streaming service by the end of 2021.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.