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Warner Bros. is selling its Playdemic Mobile Games studio to EA Games in an all-cash deal valued at $1.4 billion, the company announced today, but owner AT&T doesn’t have any plans to offload the rest. Questions about the future of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s future had arisen in light of recent news that WarnerMedia is merging with Discovery to create a new entertainment company. 

Playdemic Mobile Games, which is best known for its Golf Clash series, is one of several games studios that AT&T and WarnerMedia own, including Rocksteady Studios, NetherRealm Studios, Monolith Productions, WB Games Boston, Avalanche Software, and WB Games Montréal among others. Unlike those studios, however, Playdemic Mobile Games doesn’t work on properties tied to some of WarnerMedia’s most popular franchises, including DC, Harry Potter, or Game of Thrones. 

Some had speculated that Playdemic’s sale was just the start of a wider sell-off of Warner Bros. gaming companies – particularly after AT&T had mooted selling the gaming division as recently as last year. However, it seems that won’t be the case:

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“The remaining Warner Bros. Games portfolio is included in the recently announced WarnerMedia-Discovery transaction and will become part of the combined media and entertainment company after the expected close of that transaction,” a press release states. 

For EA, which already owns a substantial amount of mobile game studios and is trying to navigate its way in the space, having access to a game like Golf Clash is complementary to its business. The game boasts more than 80 million downloads, with EA noting in the press release announcing the news that “Playdemic’s expertise in building mobile games beloved by players around the world, combined with EA’s industry-leading IP, presents opportunities to expand the clash mechanic to other franchises and for future growth in mobile experiences.”

What the future of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s future looks like under the new Warner Bros. Discovery unit that’s being created is still unknown. But it’s apparent that they will have a continued place within the Warner Bros. family, as core franchises are built out across any and all mediums, from movies to gaming consoles. 

The Pokémon Go community is currently expressing anger at developer Niantic, in response to announced plans to roll back changes implemented into the game due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes, which increased the real-world distance across which players could interact with in-game elements to aid with social distancing, were well received by the community and they don’t want to see them removed.

Niantic announced the changes coming to Pokémon Go on June 21, which include the reduction of PokéStop and Gym interaction distances. These will be reset to the distances they were pre-pandemic. Additionally, during the pandemic Incense effectiveness was also increased, which allowed Pokémon to be attracted to your location and thus allow catching from home. The upcoming changes will reset this to the original standard effectiveness, but also provide a bonus for those moving.

The announcement of these changes have upset the Pokémon Go community, as the pandemic-response alterations to the game made it more accessible to its players.

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“I’ve known people who have been very grateful for the increased interaction range,” wrote Gabirele Russo, who has started a petition on Change.org. “People with physical disabilities were able to interact with PokéStops and Gyms that they were unable to before. The increase in the spawn rate of Incense also made it ten times better. Now people who had played more because of the special bonuses will no longer be able to play/won’t be as inclined to play. Less players = less money for Niantic, meaning that it would be a morally and financially bad decision to take away these bonuses.”

Russo’s petition is the smallest of three petitions on Change.org aimed at Niantic. Collectively, they have over 72,000 signatures.

One of those petitions was created by a member of the Pokémon Go subreddit community, and currently has the lion’s share of signatures at over 53,000. “Sign it to let Niantic know that they are breaking our trust by removing what they once said would be a permanent addition,” said user Amazon_UK. 

There are several more reddit threads dedicated to the same topics, with theories as to why Niantic would do this and general complaints about the situation. It’s clear the community is not happy, and wants Niantic to listen to their concerns. If Niantic will respond remains to be seen.  

In other Pokémon news, Pokémon Go Fest 2021 dates have been announced, there’s a brand new Pikachu-themed jet plane, and the final Eevee evolution has arrived in Pokémon Go.

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Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer.

AMD’s new FidelityFX Super Resolution trailer has gone live, and inside of the showreel for the company’s answer to Nvidia’s DLSS performance-enhancing graphics technology is new gameplay footage of Forspoken. You can see some new and extended footage in the trailer below at around the 14-second mark.

AMD’s new FSR technology is designed to enhance gameplay graphics without needing to tax the hardware too much, which Luminous Productions studio head Takeshi Aramaki says was implemented into Forspoken in just a single day.

“Implementing cutting-edge AMD technology in the development of Forspoken is an embodiment of that philosophy,” Aramaki explained in the video. “With Forspoken, we are aiming to achieve the highest quality visuals ever seen in an open-world game.”

Forspoken has received a “significant performance boost” when running the game at 4K and 60 frames per second according to Aramaki, with the developer adding that the game is meant to be experienced at that high resolution. AMD FSR launched this week, although it will still take a while for more developers to support the technology.

Forspoken–previously known as Square Enix’s Project Athia–got an extended trailer earlier this year. In case you missed it, the two-minute-long video showcases more gameplay and traversal mechanics with the protagonist Frey Holland. As for when the game will be out, Sony did mention back at CES 2021 that Forspoken would launch in January 2022, a month that would put it in direct competition with Elden Ring if it sticks to that release window.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite, the upcoming co-op shooter set 23 years after the original Alien trilogy, will support cross-gen play, but not cross-platform play, developer Cold Iron Studios told GameSpot. So, for example, if you play the game on PS4, you can play with your friends on PS5 but not those on Xbox or PC.

When asked, Cold Iron Studios CEO Craig Zinkievich added that “there is currently no plan for cross-play at this time.” So maybe it’s added down the line, but it’s looking like that’s not going to happen anytime soon.

Hopefully a cross-play feature is added one day though, as Fireteam Elite is designed to be played with your friends, repeatedly. Replaying missions allows you to track down the intel that pieces together Fireteam Elite’s story and additional lore for the Alien universe.

To encourage folks to keep coming back to the game with their friends after they’ve already beaten it, Cold Iron Studios has implemented several features.

“Each mission features alternate paths, random objectives, or varied enemy encounters to keep the missions fresh,” Zinkievich said. “There’s a series of technology and heuristics that modify the population of the mission as players play through.”

On top of this, Zinkievich added that players have access to a number of options for customizing the experience of playing Fireteam Elite. You can choose one of five different class kits (each possessing different perks and abilities) and outfit your loadout from a collection of 30 different weapons. There are also five different difficulties and options to change your HUD elements for additional challenge.

“And then there’s the ‘Challenge Card’ system: dozens of different ‘mission mutators’ that players can play at the beginning of a mission to really change up how the mission plays,” Zinkievich said. “Some are cosmetic in nature, but many greatly change up the gameplay by adding additional challenges or added difficulty. Complete a mission with a Challenge Card enabled and you’ll earn additional rewards.”

If you don’t have friends to play with, don’t worry. Zinkievich said that there is a public matchmaking system so that players can find others to play with online. And if someone in your party leaves (either on accident or on purpose), you won’t be penalized.

“There are no built-in penalties for leaving,” Zinkievich said. “If a player drops out or is disconnected, their place is taken by an AI teammate until the end of the mission.”

Aliens: Fireteam Elite is scheduled to launch for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC on August 24. Preordering the game nets you a pack of free cosmetic items.

Developer Cold Iron Studios has revealed that Aliens: Fireteam Elite will launch on August 24. The game is now available for preorder as well. The upcoming co-op shooter was originally revealed as Aliens: Fireteam. The “Elite” has been tacked on to the game’s title, revealed alongside the official release date. Why the name change? Don’t know, but GameSpot has reached out to ask if there’s a reason.

Alongside a standard edition ($40 USD), Aliens: Fireteam Elite will have a Deluxe Edition ($70) as well. The Deluxe Edition includes the Endeavor Pass (four cosmetic DLC bundles that will release alongside gameplay updates) and the Endeavor Veteran Pack (20 exclusive cosmetic items available at launch). Both the Endeavor Pass and Endeavor Veteran Pack can be purchased separately.

Preordering either edition of Aliens: Fireteam Elite will net you the Hardened Marine Pack for free. The pack contains several cosmetic items, such as the “Chestburster” emote, bandanna item, and digital red camo weapon skin.

Taking place 23 years after the events of the original Alien trilogy, Aliens: Fireteam Elite sees you play as a colonial marine aboard the USS Endeavor, which unfortunately finds itself invaded by a swarm of alien xenomorphs after responding to a distress call in the outer colonies.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite will launch for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, Xbox One, PS4, and PC. The game will feature cross-gen play, but no cross-play (so PS5 can play with PS4 but not Xbox or PC, for example).

Aliens: Fireteam Elite – the upcoming co-op shooter from Cold Iron Studios – will be released on August 24 for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC (via Steam).

The game, which has had a slight name change since the last time we saw it (adding an ‘Elite’ to the original title), has also opened pre-orders, and shown off some new screenshots:

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The three-player, PvE Aliens shooter is set 23 years after the original Alien trilogy, and casts you as new soldiers onboard the USS Endeavour, responding to a distress call. Over the course of a Left 4 Dead-like multi-mission campaign you’ll fight off over 20 enemy types, from 11 Xenomorph variants to renegade Synthetics.

Our world’s first hands-on said an early version of the game “seems to have nailed the sights, the sounds, and perhaps most importantly the mood of Ridley Scott’s Alien-verse to such a degree that it feels surprising that this exact flavor of Aliens game wasn’t made years ago.”

You can check out a brand new trailer below:

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Space Jam: A New Legacy brings back the iconic NBA and Looney Tunes crossover to theaters and HBO Max very soon, and it’ll be joined by a retro-style game that will hopefully be a whole lot better than Shaq Fu. Aptly titled Space Jam: A New Legacy — The Game, it’s coming exclusively to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on July 1 before releasing as a free-to-play game two weeks later.

Seeing as the film itself is a sequel to a ’90s-era cartoon-filled fever dream, it seems fitting that Space Jam: A New Legacy — The Game is a beat-’em-up that was actually created via input from fans around the world. Two of them–Narayan in India and Ricky from the United States–had their ideas combined to create a zany game starring Bugs Bunny, Lola Bunny, and LeBron James. With special moves and their fists, the heroes must fight through villain Al G. Rhythm’s goons in order to escape Warner Bros.’ computer server.

The game was developed by Digital Eclipse, a long-running studio primarily responsible for ports and collections like the Mega Man Legacy Collection and The Disney Afternoon Collection in recent years.

After its Game Pass Ultimate exclusivity ends on July 15, Space Jam: A New Legacy — The Game will be playable for free by anyone with an Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, or iOS or Android device. To celebrate the game, there are also three special Xbox controllers that will go on sale on July 8. Rather than emulate one character, they are themed after the “Tune Squad,” the evil “Goon Squad,” and the computer-based “Serververse” setting.

Space Jam: A New Legacy releases July 16. Alongside LeBron James, it also stars Don Cheadle, Khris Davis, and Zendaya, and according to Don Cheadle, Michael Jordan will also make an appearance.

Newly filed court documents for Nintendo’s case against two fans–who leaked details on Pokemon Sword and Shield in 2019–have revealed in a $300,000 settlement being reached in favor of the Japanese company. The pair was originally accused of stealing trade secrets from Nintendo by taking photos of an unreleased strategy guide for the Pokemon games.

The documents also revealed that one of the defendants had been employed at LSC Communications–the company responsible for printing the Pokemon Sword and Shield guide–while the other defendant had received the photos from a group chat and then posted them onto Discord. Each of the defendants will have to pay out $150,000 to The Pokémon Company for damages, legal fees, and other costs.

This wasn’t the only leak before the launch of Pokemon Sword and Shield, as a 4chan info-dump provided accurate details on the games six months before they launched, while early gameplay footage went online ahead of the official review embargo, resulting in that publication being permanently blacklisted by Nintendo.

This isn’t the first time that Nintendo has used legal methods to protect its intellectual properties, as the company has a history of aggressively pursuing people who have infringed on the company’s copyright. Nintendo recently won a lawsuit against RomUniverse, with the owner of that ROM-hosting site being ordered to pay $2.1 million in damages to Nintendo after the case originally began in 2019.

Nintendo’s upcoming Pokemon games have remained leak-free for now. November will see the launch of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remakes, while Pokemon Legends: Arceus will arrive not too long afterward in January 2022.

Space Jam: A New Legacy is getting a video game tie-in with the movie for Xbox, thanks to some fan-submitted ideas and development studio Digital Eclipse.

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Today, Xbox and Digital Eclipse announced the aptly-named Space Jam: A New Legacy – The Game, coming exclusively as an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perk beginning on July 1, before releasing on the Microsoft Store as a free-to-play title on the 15th. To go along with the game, Xbox is also releasing a set of three special Space Jam-themed controllers.

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A New Legacy – The Game is an arcade-style beat-em-up featuring the cast of the film, the result of a call from Xbox last December for fans to submit their ideas for a Space Jam game and picking two winning concepts from Ricky in the US and Narayan in India.

Digital Eclipse has been making games since the 90s, and most recently has been responsible for a number of arcade-style revivals like The Disney Afternoon Collection, Blizzard Arcade Collection, and Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection.

Space Jam: A New Legacy is a sequel to the original Space Jam, and is set to release on HBO Max on July 16. We got our first look at the film earlier this year, and have since seen new details about characters like Lola Bunny and the appearance of Michael Jordan.

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Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Warning: This article contains light spoilers for the third episode of Marvel’s Loki on Disney Plus.

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Tom Hiddleston’s Loki has been confirmed to be canonically bisexual in the MCU, following the Disney+ show’s latest episode.

The character’s bisexuality was officially revealed during a scene between the God of Mischief and Lady Loki, now known as Sylvie, in the middle of the third episode when the two sat down and discussed their dating history and desires over drinks. Sylvie asked Loki whether he’s ever been interested in “would-be princesses, or perhaps another prince?” To which he replied, “A bit of both. I suspect the same as you.”

From the moment I joined @LokiOfficial it was very important to me, and my goal, to acknowledge Loki was bisexual. It is a part of who he is and who I am too. I know this is a small step but I’m happy, and heart is so full, to say that this is now Canon in #mcu #Loki 💗💜💙 pic.twitter.com/lz3KJbewx8

— Kate Herron (@iamkateherron) June 23, 2021

After the episode had launched on Disney+, Loki director Kate Herron spoke about the importance of the exchange between the two characters on Twitter. “From the moment I joined Loki it was very important to me, and my goal, to acknowledge Loki was bisexual,” she tweeted. “It is a part of who he is and who I am too. I know this is a small step but I’m happy, and heart is so full, to say that this is now canon in [the] MCU.”

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Loki is the first major LGBTQIA2+ character to appear on-screen in the MCU, following promises from Marvel producer Victoria Alonso about a new “diverse” direction for the franchise in Phase 4 and beyond. It was previously revealed that Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie will be looking for a queen to rule alongside her in Thor: Love and Thunder, while Marvel’s Eternals will feature an openly gay character

Marvel also previously confirmed that Loki is gender fluid, bringing Hiddleston’s version of the character ever closer to comic book iterations of the Norse god. “I know how many people identifiy with Loki in particular and are eager for that representation, especially with this character,” Loki head writer, Michael Waldron, told Inverse in a recent interview. “We worked really hard.”

The Disney+ Loki series is said to tie into the events of Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, which is scheduled for release on March 25, 2022. Ahead of that, Black Widow is set to premiere as the first MCU movie of Phase 4. It will be followed by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in September, Eternals in November, and Spider-Man: No Way Home in December.
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Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.