Apex Legends Launches Season 9 and Its 3v3 Arena Mode, Servers Promptly Crash

Apex Legends has launched both Season 9 and a new permanent 3v3 mode called Arena, and its popularity has caused server issues that are keeping players from experiencing the new content.

Apex Legends developer Respawn has already said that it is working on a fix, and its most recent update at 11:35pm PT on May 4 has confirmed that it is “seeing some progress but we aren’t out of the weeds yet. Will keep you updated!”

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In addition to Arena, Season 9 also brings with it a new legend named Valkyrie, who is also known as Kairi Imahara. She is the daughter of Viper, a Titan Pilot from Titanfall 2 who was also a member of Blisk’s Apex Predators mercenary group.

There will also be a new Bocek Bow medium-range weapon, changes to Apex Legends’ map Olympus, and various changes to existing Legends.

Titanfall fans will also be happy to know that this current season will feature “a ton of Titanfall coming back into the game, one way or another.”

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For more on Apex Legends, check out where it ranks on our list of the Top 10 Battle Royales, why Titanfall fans are so excited about this new Legend, and our updated review from March 2021.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Andrew Garfield Calls Spider-Man: No Way Home Casting Rumors “Hilarious”

As Spider-Man: No Way Home inches closer to its December 17 release, rumors have continued to circulate that the upcoming sequel will unite Tom Holland’s Peter Parker alongside Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s versions of the character. Now, months after it was reported that the two actors would return to the property, Garfield has offered his thoughts on the casting rumors on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.

“It’s so crazy… Dude, it’s f—ing hilarious,” Garfield said. “I do have this Twitter account and I see how often Spider-Man is trending and it’s people freaking out about a thing… I wish I could be able to speak to everyone and just say, ‘I recommend that you chill.”

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Garfield compared the public’s reaction to social deduction games like Mafia and Werewolf, in which players must identify those among them with hidden roles.

“You’re convincing everyone you’re not in the mafia. I feel like I’m in a f—ing game,” Garfield said. “I promise you I am not the werewolf. And everyone is like, ‘You’re the werewolf! You’re the f—ing werewolf!'”

Podcast host Josh Horowitz then asked Garfield for a simple “yes or no” on his involvement in the movie. The actor offered a somewhat tentative response.

“I did not get a call. Listen, I would’ve gotten a call by now,” Garfield said. “I don’t want to rule anything out. Maybe they want to call me. Maybe they’re going to call me and say, ‘Hey, people want this.'”

Though Garfield did not offer a straight answer, another actor has been notably candid about his attachment to Spider-Man: No Way Home. Last month, Spider-Man 2’s Alfred Molina described his experience reprising the role of Dr. Otto Octavius, or Doctor Octopus, for the film.

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Additionally, Jamie Foxx’s Electro will also be making a return in No Way Home. The character did battle with Garfield’s Peter Parker in 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Foxx’s and Molina’s returns, as well as the reported involvement of Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange, tease a potential multiverse crossover across Spider-Man iterations.

Despite the return of their adversaries, both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield have not been confirmed for the cast of No Way Home. Tom Holland strongly dismissed rumors of both actors’ involvement in the project in February.

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J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer.

Mother’s Day Gifts to Grab Before It’s Too Late

Sunday, May 9 — it’s here and it’s happening. Mother’s Day is going to show up in no time, but don’t flip out if you haven’t gotten your mom a little something. If you’re anything like me, gift-giving isn’t your strong suit. In fact, I feel like my mom already has all the things and I’m running out of gift ideas. Don’t sweat it — to make life easier, we’ve rounded up a list of things your mom is going to love. From bath bombs to cookbooks, you’re bound to find a gift to show mom you care.

Air Fryers, Instant Pots & Keurigs (Oh My)

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Mom Wants Wine, Trust Me

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Self Care & All the Cozy Things

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Cookbooks for Master Chef Mom

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Christi is IGN’s Social Commerce Editor tracking sales for @igndeals and writing about all things shopping. You can find her on Twitter @caliatownsend.

 

The Top 10 Best-Selling Star Wars Games in the US Have Been Revealed

The NPD Group has revealed the top 10 best-selling Star Wars games in the US from January 1995 through March 2021, and 2015’s Star Wars Battlefront has earned the #1 spot.

In celebration of Star Wars Day, The NPD Group’s Mat Piscatella shared this top 10 list, which is based on dollar sales and includes physical and full game digital sales from the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation, Steam, and Xbox platforms.

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While the exact amount earned wasn’t revealed for the games, it was confirmed that Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and 2017’s Star Wars Battlefront 2 took the #2 and #3 spot, respectively.

The full list of the top 10 best-selling Star Wars games is as follows;

  1. Star Wars: Battlefront (2015)
  2. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
  3. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (2017)
  4. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
  5. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
  6. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (2005)
  7. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
  8. LEGO Star Wars
  9. Star Wars: Battlefront (2004)
  10. Star Wars: Shadow of the Empire

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Despite its everlasting popularity, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is notably missing from this list, as are LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens and LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, despite how well the other LEGO Star Wars games have done.

Piscatella notes that this list included 106 titles, including “a handful of bundles and oddities.”

Considering the top three best-selling Star Wars games have been released in the last six years, the future is bright for games that take place in that galaxy far, far away.

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We already know we will soon be getting LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, and Lucasfilm Games has revealed that Ubisoft has an open world Star Wars game currently in development.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Lord Of The Rings Podcast Coming From Dominic Monaghan And Billy Boyd

A Lord of the Rings podcast is on the way, and it will be hosted by Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd, who played the Hobbits Merry and Pippin, respectively.

The podcast is called The Friendship Onion, and the first episode will debut on May 18. “They will bring banter, stories, and comedy to the podcasting space, each week digging into the latest in pop culture, put fans’ Lord of the Rings knowledge to the test, reveal exclusive stories from filming and maybe even welcome surprise drop-ins from famous faces,” reads a line from the show’s description, relayed from Deadline.

Episodes will debut weekly on Spotify and everywhere else you get podcasts; it will also be available on video on YouTube.

“We couldn’t be more excited to bring the comedic genius of this duo to podcasting. Fans were introduced to the quick wit and fun banter of this pairing through The Lord of the Rings films, but this podcast will demonstrate how far beyond that origins story their boundless energy and interest stretches. We can’t wait to start peeling back the layers of this friendship onion,” Colin Thomson, the CEO of producer Kast Media said in a statement.

The Friendship Onion is just the latest podcast to spring out of a popular TV show or movie hosted by some of its actors. Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey host Office Ladies, a rewatch podcast for The Office, while Zach Braff and Donald Faison also have their own podcast dedicated to the show Scrubs called Fake Doctors Real Friends.

Monaghan and Boyd had a great on-screen rapport for The Lord of the Rings and they frequently hang out in real life, as you well know if you follow them on social media. The new podcast will have lots of ground to cover, too, as there are surely many behind-the-scenes stories from The Lord of the Rings that have yet to be told. They might also comment on the recent developments in The Lord of the Rings space, such as Amazon’s big-budget TV show.

Save on Apple MacBook and Mac Mini, Mother’s Day Gift Ideas, Free Food, and More

There’s a good amount of variety in today’s deals. Score new price drops on the latest Apple MacBooks and Mac Minis with the new M1 chip. For those of you looking for gifts that will still arrive in time for Mother’s Day, there are some good options here like a new iPad Air or Kindle or gift cards. We’ve also thrown in some food freebies as well. These deals and more below.

If you’re looking for May the 4th Star Wars deals, we’ve written up an article just for that.

Apple MacBook Laptops and Mac Minis with M1 Chip

Amazon is offering the best prices right now on the late-2020 Apple MacBook Air and Pro laptops and Mac Mini desktops with the new Apple M1 chip. If you haven’t been catching up with the latest and greatest, Apple put in their very own CPU/GPU combo in their latest batch of Mac Minis and 13″ MacBook laptops. Reviews show that this new chip is a speed demon offers better performance while  generating less heat and consuming less power than the Intel chips that Apple has used in previous models. The best thing about this whole thing? There’s no ridiculous price markup!

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Daily Deals for May 4

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More Video Game Deals

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Eric Song is IGN’s deal curator and spends roughly 1/4 of his income on stuff he posts. Check out his latest Daily Deals Article and subscribe to his IGN Deals Newsletter.

Official Creative Mayhem In Fortnite Trailer

Fortnite

First Released Dec 31, 2015

released

  • Android
  • iOS (iPhone/iPad)
  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • PlayStation 4
  • PlayStation 5
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X

In Fortnite, players and their friends lead a group of Heroes to reclaim and rebuild a homeland that has been left empty by a mysterious darkness only known as “the Storm.”

Huge Star Wars 4K Blu-Ray Sale Live Now For May The 4th

May 4 is Star Wars Day, and the global holiday that celebrates the most-popular sci-fi franchise of all time also means there are some great deals floating around the internet. Over at Amazon and Best Buy, there are plenty of Star Wars movies on both 4K and Blu-ray that have deep discounts.

Every single movie in the Star Wars franchise is discounted today, from 1977’s A New Hope–originally just titled Star Wars–to the most recently release, 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. Star Wars 4K Blu-rays typically go for $23 each, so you’re saving $7 on each one. We’ve only listed the 4K Blu-rays here, because they are actually cheaper than the standard Blu-ray editions. All of the 4K editions come with standard Blu-ray and digital copies, too. Most of the listings below are for Amazon, but Best Buy also has the same deals. Amazon has already sold out of several of the movies, so you may want to act fast.

Best Star Wars movie deals:

Outside of the movies, there are a ton of cool collectibles and more to pick up on Star Wars day. These include Nerf blasters, watches for fancy people, and a cool R2-D2 projector. And the same goes for video games–during the May the 4th holiday, there are some big discounts on games for PC, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and more.

In additional Star Wars news, the latest animated series The Bad Batch is out today on Disney+. Disney has also created a working lightsaber, which you can check out in a new video. And soon, you’ll be able stay in a brand-new Star Wars hotel. If you’re interested in the origins of May the 4th, check out the history of Star Wars Day.

New Resident Evil Merch From Fangamer Will Let You Show Your Love For Lady Dimitrescu

Tattoos are expensive, so if you’re looking for a cheaper way to show your love for Resident Evil Village’s Lady Dimitrescu on your bod, try the incoming merch from Fangamer instead. It’s launching this summer but isn’t available for preorder just yet.

Anyone trying to rep Lady D has two upcoming pieces of merch to look forward to. The first is a simple grey T-shirt with a stylized Lady Dimitrescu standing tall on the front. She’s backlit by a large moon that’s been slashed by her monstrous claws. When it launches, this shirt will cost customers $28. Customers will also get a bonus sticker of the vampiress with this shirt.

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The second new piece of merch coming to Fangamer is for the folks who don’t really care for how tall Lady Dimitrescu is. For $14, customers can get a set of two chibi pins featuring Resident Evil Village’s vampires. One is a simple version of Lady Dimitrescu raising her massive clawed hand, while the other depicts her daughters surrounded by small, cartoon flies.

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Fangamer is also releasing a third piece of merch, a long-sleeved shirt. Instead of Lady Dimitrescu, you’ll find an intricate, somewhat off-putting design based on the game. The long-sleeved shirt depicts a wreath of dried sticks surrounding what seems to be a calcified fetus with four black wings sprouting out of it at different angles. It’s an extremely Resident Evil shirt, and can eventually be purchased for $39.

Resident Evil Village is set to launch on May 7 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Stadia. It’s also not too late to get your Resident Evil Village preorder in. If you’re looking for a deal on the game, Green Man Gaming is currently offering preorders of Resident Evil Village on PC for $51.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.