PS5 And PS4’s Most-Downloaded Games Of April 2021 Include MLB The Show 21, Returnal, And Outriders

It’s time, once again, to look at which games cracked the top 20 list of most-downloaded titles on PlayStation Network across PS4 and PS5–and for April 2021, an older game does not hold the top spot on either list. The US and Canada PS4 and PS5 charts are both topped by new releases, with MLB The Show 21 grabbing the number one spot.

For the last few months, both PS5 and PS4 charts in the US and Canada have been dominated by GTA V or Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, but that’s changed in April 2021. On the PS5 list, MLB The Show 21 takes the top spot despite it being free with Game Pass on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S; Outriders and the PS5-exclusive Returnal come in at 2 and 3. In Europe, FIFA 21 continues to reign, with Outriders at second and It Takes Two at third.

On PS4, MLB The Show also dethroned GTA V and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, although those two titles still achieved second and third place, respectively. Nier Replicant snuck in at 15, making it the only other April release to crack the top 20. Other notable titles include Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker at ninth place, PGA Tour 2K21 at 12th place, and Gang Beasts at 20th place.

Not much has changed on the PlayStation VR charts, as Beat Saber and Superhot VR continue to dominate. The Free-to-Play PS4 and PS5 chart is also not particularly surprising, as Call of Duty: Warzone, Fortnite, Rocket League, and Apex Legends top the list.

You can see the top ten most-downloaded PS5 and PS4 games below, while the complete download charts can be seen here on the PlayStation Blog.

Top 10 PS5 Downloads of April 2021

US/Canada Europe
MLB The Show 21 FIFA 21
Outriders Outriders
Returnal It Takes Two
Mortal Kombat 11 Returnal
It Takes Two Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
FIFA 21 Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Spider-Man: Miles Morales Mortal Kombat 11
NBA 2K21 Marvel’s Avengers
Madden NFL 21 Disco Elysium – The Final Cut

Top 10 PS4 Downloads of April 2021

US/Canada Europe
MLB The Show 21 Grand Theft Auto V
Grand Theft Auto V FIFA 21
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War F1 2020
Outriders Minecraft
Mortal Kombat 11 ARK: Survival Evolved
Minecraft The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Game of the Year Edition
NBA 2K21 Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Ark: Survival Evolved Gran Turismo Sport
Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker eFootball PES 2021 Season Update
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Ghost of Tsushima

Now Playing: Returnal Video Review

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Jason Statham’s Wrath Of Man Leads US Weekend Box Office

With movie theaters slowly open across the United States–and more people are getting vaccinated–Americans are headed to the movies again. Between May 7-9, Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham’s movie Wrath of Man took the number one spot.

Taking in $8.1 million for its opening weekend, Wrath of Man opened in more than 2,800 theaters domestically, according to Box Office Mojo. The film stars Statham as H, a man who works at a cash truck company in Los Angeles that moves millions of dollars around the city. Of course, H is a very mysterious man, one who is seeking revenge for a murder in his past.

Coming in at the second spot is the anime movie Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, which has now been in theaters for three weeks. Over the weekend, the movie made $3 million. In total, Demon Slay has made $21 million domestically, and $432 million worldwide. The film broke records in Japan when it first released in October, making over $21 million–the best weekend opening for a film in the country.

The fourth and fifth spots go to two movies that were both released simultaneously on HBO Max: Mortal Kombat ($2.3 million) and Godzilla vs. Kong ($1.9 million). Considering the circumstances, both moves have had a good run in theaters so far. Mortal Kombat made $37 million while Godzilla vs. Kong is setting pandemic records, making $92 million domestically. Worldwide, Godzilla vs. Kong is at $422 million.

Check out the top 10 from the past weekend in the American box office below.

Weekend US box office for May 7-9

  1. Wrath of Man $8,100,000
  2. Demon Slayer: Mugen Train $3,053,500
  3. Mortal Kombat $2,375,000
  4. Godzilla vs. Kong $1,930,000
  5. Raya and the Last Dragon $1,865,000
  6. Separation $1,075,000
  7. Here Today $900,000
  8. Nobody $760,000
  9. The Unholy $730,000
  10. Tom and Jerry $426,000

And there’s still more to look forward to in the near future, as vaccines roll out and movie theaters reopen across the country. We just saw a new trailer for Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which contains a lot of Eddie Brock arguing with Venom and Carnage creating, well, carnage.

PS Remote Play iOS App Adds DualSense Controller Support, Turning Your Phone Into A Pseudo-PS5

While you can’t fit the actual PlayStation 5 in your pocket–the hefty console barely fits on an entertainment center as it is–the PlayStation Remote Play app on iOS devices has let you play PS5 games on your phone. Sony has released the app’s 4.0.0 update, adding support for the PS5’s DualSense controller. With that now in place, the PS5 will never leave your side again.

The addition comes after the recent iOS 14.5 update added the DualSense to the list of controllers compatible with iOS, meaning the controller will only work with iOS devices that have installed the update. The DualSense joins the DualShock 4 and the app’s built-in touch controls as the only ways to control Remote Play, with third-party controllers still not compatible.

PS Remote Play allows PlayStation 4 and 5 owners to connect to their consoles remotely online, letting them play the consoles and stream games directly to their mobile devices. Unlike Xbox’s Cloud Gaming or Google Stadia, PS Remote Play requires a console in order to function as opposed to the cloud server-based format of its competition.

The Remote Play app debuted on iOS devices in March 2019 after the PlayStation 4 updated to console firmware 6.50, with the 7.0 update adding Android functionality later that year. PS5 compatibility with the app debuted with the console’s launch in November 2020. Sony has not added DualSense compatibility to the Android version of the PS Remote Play app as of this writing.

Now Playing: PS5 DualSense Controller Hands-on

Director Says Venom 2 Takes Place in Its ‘Own World’

With the first trailer for Venom: Let There Be Carnage now out, the old question of “where’s Spider-Man” inevitably will crop up. Venom, a.k.a. Eddie Brock, a.k.a. a very bemused and amusing Tom Hardy in the new trailer, of course got his start in the pages of the Spider-Man comics. And indeed, Peter Parker originally wore the Venom suit/symbiote before rejecting it, at which point it bonded with Brock. But you know this already because you’ve seen Spider-Man 3!

Still, as we know from the first Venom film from 2018, the Tom Hardy version of the character has so far existed without any wallcrawler needed. And yet, the trailer for Venom 2 does give us a couple of Spidey hints, as did the trailer last year for another Sony/Marvel film that’s currently in the works, the Jared Leto-starring Morbius.

All that said, Let There Be Carnage director Andy Serkis tells IGN that his film is meant to exist apart from Spider-Man and his universe. For now, anyway.

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“Obviously, there are links between Venom and Spider-Man and the Marvel Universe and the Spider-Man story,” says Serkis. “We’re treating this very much as it’s his own world. The Venom story is his own world. There are nods and little moments [like the shot of the newspaper the Daily Bugle], of course, but on the whole he’s unaware. They are unaware, at this point, of other characters like Spider-Man. So, that’s the way we’ve chosen to play this particular episode of the movie, but, well, we’ll wait and see. We’ll see what little things you can pick out of it.”

Even if there is no hard connection between the two worlds, there have been hints. Let’s dig in a little more on how the Venom 2 and Morbius trailers have tied back to Spider-Man so far.

The Daily Bugle

venom2-daily-bugleSpidey’s very own hometown newspaper — and place of employment — the Daily Bugle is glimpsed in the Let There Be Carnage trailer (and it appears this version of the Bugle has the same title treatment and stylings as the version from the Sam Raimi Spidey movies). This is perhaps the closest the Venom movies have gotten yet to acknowledging the existence of Peter Parker’s world, though of course just because there’s a Daily Bugle in the Sony/Marvel-verse, it doesn’t mean that there’s a Spider-Man in the Sony/Marvel-verse.

Indeed, Eddie Brock is a reporter, so he may very well be working for the Bugle in Venom: Let There Be Carnage (no, you don’t have to live in the same city as the outlet you work for!). Sure, this could just be a fun Easter egg for comics fans, but it could also be seen as a small step into a larger, MCU-ish world (where, don’t forget, the Bugle also exists — though so far we’ve only seen it as a sort of talk show/hype train for J. Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man: Far From Home).

Avengers... lose... to... Nightmare...?
Avengers… Lose… to… Nightmare…?

You can also spot what might just be a reference to the Avengers in the paper. Within the pages of J. Jonah’s beloved rag, it looks like a headline reads something like “Avengers Lose to Nightmare.” Nightmare, of course, is a Marvel villain (who has been rumored as a possible player in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which come to think of it is also being directed by Sam Raimi).

Smash That Spider!

This is a small moment in the trailer — literally, in that a spider can be spotted before its untimely demise. Was it radioactive?! We’ll never know, for the poor thing is taken before its time when it’s squished by someone (apparently Carnage himself).

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This is almost certainly nothing more than a wink to the spider-ness of the Sony/Marvel universe, but it’s another acknowledgment for fans that, yes, the studio is aware that you want your Spider-Man and your Venom to meet up someday.

(Or maybe that was the radioactive/genetically-altered arachnid that would’ve given the Venom reality’s version of Peter Parker his powers! And now puny Parker will never get bitten and just keep getting beaten up in high school instead…)

Meanwhile, in the Morbius-verse

We don’t know if Morbius, which stars Jared Leto and will be released on January 28, 2022, is part of the Venom world of Sony/Marvel movies or not. But why wouldn’t the studio at least leave the door open to the two characters sharing the same universe? After all, Morbius — a.k.a. the Living Vampire in some circles — also debuted in the pages of Spider-Man way back when. And like Venom, he also walks the line between hero and anti-hero, what with the whole vampire thing.

Spider-Man ("murderer"?!) as seen in the Morbius trailer.
Spider-Man (“murderer”?!) as seen in the Morbius trailer.

The Morbius movie was delayed from its original July 2020 release along with much of the rest of Hollywood’s offerings because of the pandemic, but we actually got a trailer for it way back in January of 2020. And in that trailer, the image of Spider-Man could actually be glimpsed very briefly when Michael Morbius (Leto) walks down a New York City street and passes artwork of Spidey on a wall that, get this, has “murderer” graffitied across it.

The murderer accusation would seem to mean that Morbius takes place after Spider-Man: Far From Home, which ended with Peter Parker being set-up by Mysterio to appear to be a killer. That’s also where the wallcrawler’s identity was outed by a taped message form Mysterio… which aired on J. Jonah Jameson’s Daily Bugle video blog/show. So all in all, this feels like a pretty strong tie to the current Spider-Man movies. Unless it’s just another fun Easter egg. And speaking of Morbius…

Michael Keaton’s Vulture, Flying Across the Multiverse?

At the very end of the Morbius trailer from last year we saw Michael Keaton, who of course played Adrian Toomes/the Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming. It hasn’t been confirmed by the studio that Keaton is playing the Vulture in Morbius, but it would seem to be too cute by half to cast him in any other role in a Spider-Man-adjacent movie.

Michael Keaton in the Morbius trailer.
Michael Keaton in the Morbius trailer.

You can see police lights behind him in the Morbius trailer, and it seems like Keaton is wearing the same white uniform top he had on in prison at the end of Homecoming. What does this all mean? Is Morbius teaming up with the Vulture? Could this be the start of a Sony/Marvel take on the Sinister Six? Hard to say right now.

But if Morbius is in fact meeting the Vulture, then why wouldn’t Venom meet up with these two as well at some point? Probably not in Let There Be Carnage, but maybe eventually? And after that, why wouldn’t they all meet up with Spider-Man?

What do you think is going on with the Sony/Marvel-verse of characters? How could it connect to the MCU? Let’s discuss in the comments!

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Asus ROG Swift PG329Q Review

1080p resolution remains the most popular in Steam’s hardware survey, but higher resolutions have steadily grown to 15 percent of the pie. Large monitors are frequently out of stock as demand from gamers continues to outpace supply.

Asus’ ROG Swift PG329Q represents the cutting edge of 32-inch gaming monitors. It touts 1440p resolution, a refresh rate that can overclock to 175Hz, Nvidia G-Sync support, and HDR 600 certification, all for $699. That’s not cheap, yet finding the PG329Q in stock at MSRP is a struggle.

Does this 32-inch monitor deserve to be at the top of your list?

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Asus ROG Swift PG329Q – Design

The Asus ROG Swift PG329Q is part of the Republic of Gamers sub-brand and unsurprisingly embraces its design language. That means a large, bold stand with a dramatic twist and asymmetric legs. The monitor has bright RGB backlighting that supports Asus’ Aura Sync for synchronization with other compatible peripherals.

Asus’ ROG monitors tend to remind me of Michael Bay’s Transformer movies, and I don’t mean that as a compliment. They seem desperate to make a dramatic statement with busy design and odd angles that never look quite right. I prefer the sleek Space Odyssey vibes of Alienware’s monitors, like the AW2721D.

Functionally, however, there’s not much to complain about. The monitor’s divisive design is easy to ignore because the large screen, which is surrounded by thin bezels, hides the stand. Adjustment options include 100 millimeters of height, 25 degrees of swivel and 25 degrees of tilt. There’s no option to pivot the display into a vertical orientation because the stand isn’t tall enough to allow it.

Asus ROG Strix PG329Q Review

Asus ROG Swift PG329Q – Features

Asus tends to go overboard with features, and the ROG Swift PG329Q is no exception. It has a long list of gaming-focused options including a built-in crosshair and time, an FPS counter, a sniper mode (which zooms a small portion of the display), gobs of genre-specific image quality presets, a black equalizer (called Shadow Boost), and Aura RGB backlighting.

I think competitive shooter fans will be happy with what’s offered. The combination of a crosshair, zoom, timer, and black equalizer makes for a sweet setup if you want to maximize visibility and situational awareness.

Connectivity is excellent. The monitor packs two HDMI 2.0 ports, one DisplayPort 1.2, a USB 3.0 upstream that powers two USB 3.0 downstream ports for connecting peripherals, and 3.5mm audio jack. While some gamers will be disappointed by the lack of HDMI 2.1, especially given this monitor’s size, it’s only really necessary if you plan on hooking up a PS5 or Xbox Series X.

Asus_ROG_Strix_PG329Q_4

The PG329Q provides a handful of detailed image quality settings. These include three specific gamma presets, three vague color temperature presets, and the option to tweak RGB color and overall color saturation. This is fine for a gaming monitor but not ideal for content creators craving a monitor for both gaming and work.

A joystick is used to control the monitor’s on-screen menu. It’s paired with four physical buttons that are hidden along the right flank. The buttons aren’t labeled aside from the on-screen menu, but they’re large, so I rarely hit the wrong one. Asus’ menus are easy to navigate, though the sheer number of options is sure to overwhelm some gamers. The default settings are great for most games, so owners don’t need to spend much time in the menus.

There is one feature completely absent: built-in speakers. This is surprising given the PG329Q’s size and price. Plan to use external computer speakers or a gaming headset.

Asus ROG Strix PG329Q Review

Asus ROG Swift PG329Q – Performance

The Asus ROG Swift PG329Q packs surprisingly excellent color performance. It’s a wide color gamut display that, in my testing, can display 100% of the sRGB and AdobeRGB gamuts, as well as 95% of DCI-P3. Its color accuracy can rival the very best professional monitors, and it even supports true 10-bit color. The PG329Q notably defeats the Alienware AW2721D, which also advertises a wide color gamut, and trades blows with the BenQ EX2780Q.

It’s interesting, refreshing, and a bit confusing to see this level of color performance from the PG329Q. On the plus side, the monitor can serve content creators who want accurate color despite its slim image quality customization. However, I’m not sure everyone will be happy with 2,560 x 1440 resolution on a 32-inch display.

The monitor’s pixel density works out to about 91 pixels per inch, which is identical to a 24-inch 1080p monitor. This is fine for day-to-day productivity and web browsing. Distracting aliasing is noticeable on fonts and interface elements, but I didn’t find it uncomfortable or annoying. It’s less impressive when editing photos and images, as the lack of sharpness and resolution means you’ll have to zoom in more frequently to see fine detail in large images.

Many streaming platforms, especially those focused on movies and television, don’t stream at native 1440p. This underscores the lack of alignment between the monitor’s color accuracy and its resolution. Blockbuster movies benefit from realistic color but can also look soft compared to a smaller 1080p display or modern 4K TV.

Asus ROG Strix PG329Q Review

Asus ROG Swift PG329Q – Gaming Performance

Asus’ ROG Swift PG329Q looks good straight out of the box. It delivers a vibrant image that relies heavily on the strength of its wide color gamut and precise color accuracy. You’ll enjoy the monitor in games that lean heavily on bold color and flashy presentation, like Final Fantasy XIV or Overwatch.

The monitor’s 2,560 x 1,440 resolution is a good fit for PC gaming. It of course lacks the ultra-sharp look for a 4K gaming monitor, but you may find the difference hard to appreciate in modern titles, especially if the monitor is placed more than three feet away from you or the game has a quality anti-aliasing feature.

On the downside, 1440p isn’t great for console gaming. The PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch lack native 1440p support, so games and menus will look softer than you’d expect.

Dark scene performance is a problem. IPS monitors always struggle in this area, but the PG329Q looks especially hazy and bright when displaying scenes that should look dark and foreboding. This hurts games that lean towards a realistic look. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, I noticed that forest scenes lacked a sense of depth because shadows were foggy instead of deep. Objective tests returned a contrast ratio of 590:1, which is very low for a modern gaming monitor.

Asus ROG Strix PG329Q Review

The PG329Q is VESA DisplayHDR 600 certified, and I was pleased by the monitor’s overall HDR performance. Image quality is sharp and colorful with the feature turned on in Windows. I recorded a maximum sustained luminance of 529 cdm/2, which is incredibly bright for a display. You’ll likely need to turn down HDR brightness in Windows for comfortable use.

Brightness becomes key to the PG329Q’s overall presentation. Because of its poor black levels, the PG329Q relies on brightness to provide a sense of contrast and depth. It looks great in brilliant outdoor scenes, like those found in many open-world games, but falls short after dusk or in tight, dimly lit corridors.

Local backlight dimming is provided by 16 edge-lit zones. My review monitor, like most modern edge-lit monitors, had several hazy spots that were obvious with local dimming off. Local dimming improved on them by turning off the backlight entirely in areas where it didn’t need to be on.

The ROG Swift PG329Q left me with mixed feelings. It looks outstanding in bright and colorful games, especially those that support HDR, but games that aim for a gritty look are muddled and muted.

Asus ROG Strix PG329Q Review

Asus ROG Swift PG329Q – Motion Performance

Refresh rate is the Asus ROG Swift PG329Q’s headline feature. It defaults to 144Hz out of the box and can overclock up to 175Hz with the flick of a few settings. This is excellent for a 32-inch display.

Gameplay looked smooth at 144Hz, as expected. Ramping the monitor’s overclocking feature up to 175Hz didn’t make gameplay more fluid but also didn’t introduce distracting halos or trails behind moving objects.

Asus offers six levels of Variable OverDrive that decrease response times. It’s set to “Level 3” by default, and I’d recommend sticking to that, as I noticed bright streaks behind some moving objects at higher settings. I saw no improvement with less aggressive settings.

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The monitor offers Asus’ ELMB Sync, a backlight strobing feature that is compatible with G-Sync. It reduces motion blur by pulsing the display on and off at a frequency higher than your eye can see.

The clarity of ELMB Sync will help you track fast-moving objects and fine details, like the motion of an enemy in a distant window. ELMB Sync shows a distracting “double image” effect that is common to all backlight strobing features. With that said, the “double image” effect is more subdued than on competing monitors, and you may prefer playing with ELMB Sync on.

Backlight strobing features like ELMB Sync reduce perceived brightness, which can be a problem in bright rooms. This isn’t an issue with the PG329Q. ELMB Sync darkens the display, but it remains bright enough to use even in a sunlit room.

Asus ROG Strix PG329Q Review

The PG329Q is officially certified for G-Sync. FreeSync support isn’t advertised, and I wasn’t able to test the monitor with an AMD video card. However, other reviewers and owners have noted the PG329Q works with AMD FreeSync.

The monitor’s variable refresh range is from 50Hz to 175Hz. This is better on the low end than competing 32-inch monitors from LG and Samsung. You’ll appreciate this if you own an older graphics card that can struggle to deliver high framerates in demanding games.

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Purchasing Guide

The Asus ROG Swift PG329Q should retail for $699 at Amazon and Newegg.

Seth Rogen Says He’ll No Longer Work With James Franco After Allegations

Seth Rogen has said he doesn’t plan on working with James Franco again following accusations of sexually inappropriate behavior.

According to Variety, Rogen made the comments during a recent interview with The Sunday Times, in which he addressed the allegations made against Franco in 2014 and again in 2018. In particular, he spoke about how the accusations of sexual misconduct against his former collaborator had affected their professional relationship, having previously worked together on multiple projects.

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Rogen said in 2018 he would continue working with Franco, but that stance appears to have changed now that some time has passed by. “What I can say is that I despise abuse and harassment,” he said. “I would never cover or conceal the actions of someone doing it, or knowingly put someone in a situation where they were around someone like that.”

“I also look back to that interview in 2018 where I comment that I would keep working with James, and the truth is that I have not and I do not plan to right now,” he added, noting that the end of his professional relationship with Franco was “not a coincidence” as “many things” had changed in regards to their personal dynamic with one another.

Franco dealt with allegations of inappropriate behavior in 2014 when he was accused of propositioning a 17-year-old girl on Instagram. Franco, then 35, addressed the situation on Live! With Kelly and Michael, claiming it was a case of “bad judgment.” He faced further accusations of sexual misconduct in 2018 when five women publicly accused him of inappropriate or sexually exploitative behavior.

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Variety reports that the allegations — which Franco repeatedly denied — eventually “turned into a lawsuit, which was settled in February.” Franco has appeared in a few roles since the accusations were made against him, but none with Rogen. The duo previously worked together on Pineapple Express, The Green Hornet, The Interview, and many more.

Rogen and Franco last starred together in 2017’s The Disaster Artist, which was directed by Franco. The movie’s screenplay was adapted by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber from a 2013 book of the same name written by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell. IGN called the story “a hilarious and heart-wrenching ode to outsider art” that “would be impossible to believe if it weren’t apparently true.”

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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Ubisoft Adopts Netflix-Style “Ubisoft Original” Branding, Starting With The Division Heartland

The key art for the newly announced The Division: Heartland game mentioned that the free-to-play shooter is “a Ubisoft Original” game. That’s the first time we’ve seen that branding from the French publisher, and it’s something we’ll see a lot more of going forward.

A spokesperson for the company told Eurogamer that, moving forward, the “Ubisoft Original” branding will be attached to “all of Ubisoft’s games created in-house by our talented developers.”

No Caption Provided

Ubisoft does not currently publish third-party games, so seemingly the “Ubisoft Original” branding will be attached to every game going forward. Whether or not this new designation is a signal that Ubisoft might start publishing other studios’ games remains to be seen.

The branding bears a resemblance to the line of “EA Originals” from Electronic Arts. These are games from independent studios that EA publishes, however, including It Takes Two, Unravel, and the upcoming Knockout City.

In adopting the new branding, Ubisoft is seemingly taking a page out of Netflix’s book. The streaming giant labels its original content as “Netflix Originals.”

As for Heartland, it’s a new free-to-play game set in The Division’s universe. It’s being developed by Ubisoft Red Storm, the North Carolina-based studio that has worked on games in the Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, Far Cry, and Rocksmith franchises.

Very little is known about Heartland in the way of specifics. The original Division was set in New York and the sequel went to Washington D.C. Given its name, Heartland sounds like it could be set more in the middle of the US. Heading outside of a major city could shake things up in an interesting way for the series, but we’ll have to see how it plays out.

Heartland is just one of Ubisoft’s upcoming extensions of The Division series. The publisher is also planning the franchise’s first mobile game, while a new novel is coming as well. On top of those projects, Ubisoft is planning more content for The Division 2 in 2021, while it’s also making a Division movie starring Jessica Chastain and Jake Gyllenhaal for Netflix.

Ubisoft might have more details to share on its future direction as part of its upcoming earnings report, which is scheduled for Monday, May 10. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.

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Venom 2: What Are Carnage’s New Powers?

Woody Harrelson’s Venom character Cletus Kasady promised plenty of carnage in the sequel, and it looks like the new movie will deliver. The first trailer for Venom: Let There Be Carnage features our first look at the iconic Spider-Man villain.

The trailer makes it clear Carnage can use his symbiote in ways Venom can’t, but what exactly are his powers? Let’s take a look at how Carnage’s powers are portrayed in the comics and why the movie is veering in its own direction, according to director Andy Serkis.

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How Venom 2 Changes Carnage

In terms of his look, Harrelson’s Carnage is very close to the source material. However, his powers seem to work a little differently in this universe. In speaking with IGN, director Andy Serkis suggests the movie is downplaying the idea of Carnage necessarily being stronger than Venom. In this dynamic, Venom is the physical powerhouse while Carnage is the more agile, unpredictable fighter.

“Venom is… pretty straightforward in a way,” Serkis says. “He’s like a quarterback. He’s very grounded, very physically sort of heavy, and like a quarterback where brute force is very much his thing, but whereas Carnage is in the same way that Cletus is manipulative psychologically and physically, he can take your energy and completely shift it for you. So we wanted the whole movement style to be very idiosyncratic and off-kilter and strange, and you just can’t pin him down. It would be like trying to have a fight with an octopus basically.”

Carnage in Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
Carnage in Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

Serkis also revealed Carnage will have at least one completely new power in the movie. He’ll be able to transform into mist, presumably allowing him to travel through tight spaces and evade detection like a vampire. That, coupled with the traditional shape-shifting tendril powers, should make Carnage a very deadly foe indeed.

“He can turn to mist. He can turn to all manner of tendrils. He can take different forms. He can weaponize, he can do all of these different things,” Serkis says. “With all symbiotes, they reflect the person who is their host. So the darkness of Carnage, the playfulness, the wit, the strangeness because Cletus… has a real intelligence and in the way that he uses violence as a bizarre, twisted, crazy wit about what he does and he has a real sense of humor, and we wanted to reflect that in the symbiote that is linked to him.”

Based on Serkis’ comments, the movies seem to be leaning more into the idea that the symbiote’s powers reflect its host, rather than it growing progressively stronger with each host. That makes sense given that it never bonded with Spider-Man in this universe (as far as we know). We’ll have to see just how much the sequel delves into the symbiote’s origins and true nature.

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Carnage’s Symbiote Powers

The Venom symbiote only grows more dangerous and powerful with time. In the comics, the symbiote grows physically stronger each time it finds a new host. That’s why Venom is physically stronger than Spider-Man, even though Eddie Brock doesn’t have innate superhuman powers like Peter Parker does. The symbiote learned from its time bonded with Peter, and it replicates many of his genetic gifts once it bonds with Eddie. That’s also why Venom is immune to Peter’s Spider-Sense.

As you might expect, that makes Carnage stronger than both Spider-Man and Venom. The portion of the Venom symbiote that split off and bonds with Cletus brings all its experience and physical development along for the ride. Carnage has even greater strength than Venom, and he too is immune to Spider-Sense.

However, Cletus’ deranged mind also unlocks a whole new host of abilities. While Peter and Eddie can use the symbiote to change their appearance or mimic ordinary clothing, Cletus takes the symbiote’s shape-shifting powers to a new level. He can transform his limbs into various blade shapes and even form new limbs and tendrils. To make a Terminator comparison, he’s like the T-1000 to Venom’s T-800.

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Even Carnage’s appearance reflects this instability. His red and black “skin” is constantly morphing and spouting off tendrils. He’s chaos in motion, and that aspect of him certainly looks to still be the case in Venom 2.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage will hit theaters on September 24 in the US, September 15 in the UK and September 16 in Australia.

Sony Now Expecting PS5 Shortages to Continue Into Next Year

It sounds as though PS5 supplies will continue to be limited into 2022.

It was never going to be easy launching a new console in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, and Bloomberg now reports that Sony has spoken to a “group of analysts” about the supply constraint issues affecting PlayStation 5 supplies, reportedly warning that shortages will continue into 2022.

“I don’t think demand is calming down this year and even if we secure a lot more devices and produce many more units of the PlayStation 5 next year, our supply wouldn’t be able to catch up with demand,” Hiroki Totoki reportedly told the analysts.

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Global shortages of semiconductors, which are used in almost all computing devices, has made it increasingly difficult for the continuing demand for PS5 consoles to be met. Semiconductors are a crucial part of the PS5 architecture, and the shortages have let to delays in the console’s production cycle.

Ever since the PS5 launched in November 2020 it has been difficult for both retail stores, and consumers, to get their hands on one. Both the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the trade war started by the Trump administration against China have affected the ability for electronics manufacturers to get hold of these parts. It was previously reported that AMD (which produces chips for PS5) expected shortages to to continue into 2021, but that looks set to be extended into 2022 as well.

Sony has previously been vocal in suggesting it wants to surpass the second-year sales of the PS4, which totalled 14.8 million units – however issues with the particular chips needed might get in the way of achieving that target. Ideally, Sony would want to keep up with, or even exceed the early sales of the Playstation 4, but that is looking increasingly challenging at this point.

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In April, Playstation CEO Jim Ryan said that the company were looking to increase PS5 supply, and that he was in discussions with chip supplier AMD, but it’s clear from this latest news that those conversations have not yet borne fruit.

It’s disappointing news for those looking to get their hands on a PS5, as it looks like demand will continue to outstrip supply for the foreseeable future. Despite those struggles, PS5 has still become the fastest-selling console in US history, for both dollar and unit sales.

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Liam Wiseman is a Freelance News Writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @liamthewiseman

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