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Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has reiterated that Xbox Series X isn’t currently looking at any kind of launch delay, saying it’s “in line with where we thought we would be”, but has said that production of games themselves is the “bigger unknown” amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Alley, Spencer made clear that Xbox hardware development was continuing at a somewhat expected pace: “The teams are doing a really good job on keeping our hardware on track. On the hardware side we feel good about our plans. There’s obviously some impact to schedules but, overall, I think we’re in line with where we thought we would be.”

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However, Spencer made clear that games production is less predictable because of its less centralised creation: “I’d say the bigger unknown is probably the game production, just being honest. Game production is a large-scale entertainment activity now; you have hundreds of people coming together, building assets, working through creative.”

It’s worth noting that Spencer isn’t saying that game delays are coming, just that they’re harder to predict. “We’re learning every day,” he continued, “I still feel good about it, but I also need to make sure that the security and safety of the teams is the more important thing and not unduly push when things just aren’t ready.”

Spencer’s spoken to IGN previously about this issue, and made clear that a game delay – even to a flagship launch title like Halo: Infinite – would be extremely unlikely to delay the launch of the Series X itself. Analysts have speculated to IGN that, while consoles may not see a delay, they could see launch shortages – recent reports suggested that would indeed be the case for PS5, which could see ‘limited’ availability in its first year.

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We’ve seen some major games delayed due to the current crisis – most notably The Last of Us Part 2, which was initially postponed indefinitely, before being announced for a new June 19 release.

We should be seeing some of the initial Series X games for the first time at next week’s May 7 Inside Xbox broadcast, which will focus on third-party games.

Xbox Series X is scheduled to be released during Holiday 2020. Right now we know the Xbox Series X specs, we have an educated guess on its price based on those specs, and a full comparison with PS5. What we know far less about is Xbox Series X games, but we have a list of confirmed and rumoured titles for the next-gen console.

Here’s how you can help and stay safe during the COVID-19 outbreak.

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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter.

 

Update: This deal ends today, May 1, so grab it before it’s gone.

Now that concerts are canceled for the foreseeable future, having a music streaming subscription is all but mandatory for music fans. And while deals in this space are hard to come by, we’ve stumbled on a great one. Right now, for a limited time, you can get a four-month subscription to Tidal for just $4. That’s unlimited music for an entire third of the year for the price of, yes, a latte.

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Tidal has over 60 million tracks you can stream or download for offline listening. It also offers 250,000 videos. But really, all of the big music services have roughly the same library these days. To stand out from the competition, Tidal offers concert livestreams, exclusive events, behind-the-scenes access to musicians, artist-curated playlists, and more.

Another thing Tidal focuses on to stand out is on high-fidelity music. The HiFi plan offers lossless audio that’s aimed at consumers with high-end listening equipment.

But even if you don’t have a stereo worth more than a house, you can still take advantage of this deal and get four months of music streaming for pocket change.

When your four months are up, you can always cancel your membership and not pay another penny. If you like the service and want to keep going, it’s the same price as the other services: $9.99 per month for a single membership, $14.99 for family, and $4.99 for students. Double it for the HiFi membership.

That’s about all there is to it. If you’re looking for other digital deals and freebies, check out our complete list of free games, streaming trials, and online courses.

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Chris Reed is IGN’s shopping and commerce editor. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.

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Assassin’s Creed Valhalla has been announced, featuring a new story revolving around Vikings. The series is known for its accurate depictions of historical time periods, and an interview with historian Thierry Noel sheds more light on how the time period and Norse people will be depicted.

To start, Noel is careful to define the word “Vikings” outside its usual pop-cultural imagery of brutal plunderers. He said that Vikings actually refers to the elite Norse class, which includes traders, explorers, and seafarers as well as invaders. Some of the history of Vikings was written by monks or victims of Viking invaders, which helped shape a more brutal and negative perception. That said, he points out that this is taking place in the Dark Ages, a period where relatively little is known compared to the surrounding Roman Empire era and medieval era. What we do know about the Vikings was that the society was surprisingly forward-thinking.

“The gap between the reality of Norse society and the image we have of the reckless Viking was really interesting to me,” Noel told Ubisoft. “They were a fascinating society in terms of culture and pretty fair in the way they treated women, who had important rights at the time. It was certainly contradictory to the common image we have of Vikings.”

In Valhalla, your character Eivor (pronounced “Ay-vor”) can be a man or a woman. Noel said that there is no clear answer for whether women were warriors in Norse culture, but their mythology was full of formidable women and so they incorporated that into the story. Eivor starts by leaving their homeland to discover a new settlement, and in the actual historical record, the Vikings carved through a divided England.

“At that time, England was a multiethnic society. It was dominated by the Anglo-Saxons, but there were also Britons, descendants of Ancient Rome, and many others,” he said. “It was a wealthy land, but it was a divided land, especially between rival Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. This was all very appealing for the Vikings, who took advantage of the situation of a divided England.”

The one that didn’t fall, Noel said, was Wessex, ruled by Aelfred. Noel says he’s a “very important character.”

The first gameplay trailer for Valhalla is coming on May 7 as part of an Inside Xbox presentation centered on Xbox Series X games. It will also support Microsoft’s Smart Delivery feature, letting you buy the game on one platform and upgrade at no additional cost. While you wait to see the first footage of Valhalla in action, check out the first stunning screenshots and read our Assassin’s Creed Valhalla pre-order guide.

This week, Rockstar is placing massive discounts on futuristic weapons to celebrate Laser Tech in GTA Online. Select events across the map are also holding massive reward multipliers for the week.

A number of in-game events rewards have been increased, with all Business Battles earning triple rewards for a limited time. Southern San Andreas Super Sport Series’ prize purses are also currently being doubled through to Wednesday. Special Cargo Sell Missions will be worth twice the rewards until May 6.

There’s a new podium vehicle at the Diamond Casino to be won on the Lucky Wheel. Use your daily free spin for a chance at the Pegassi Reaper, or a chance to win cash, RP, clothing, and accessories. This limited hyper car will only be available until May 6.

Nightclubs are currently 40% off, so make sure to take this chance to invest in some San Andreas local business and start raking in the cash. The laser tech weaponry is also on sale this week, with the Up-N-Atomizer, Unholy Hellbringer, and Widowmaker all at 40% off.

Starting May 1, GTA players will earn $500,000 in-game currency just for playing. The GTA$ will be automatically sent to your Maze Bank Account within seven days of logging in.

Twitch Prime members will get a rebate on the Pixel Pete’s Arcade base property in Paleto Bay. They can also purchase the Pfister 811 hyper-car for 80% off and the Declasses Drift Yosemite pick-up truck for 60% off this week.

A portion of all online purchases this month will be going towards COVID-19 relief thanks to Rockstar and Take-Two. This includes purchases made in Red Dead Online and GTA Online.

Ubisoft has rolled out an unscheduled patch for Rainbow Six Siege on PC following the feedback in regards to Ying’s overpowered Candelas. The patch also fixes a MMR rollback bug and places a restriction on XP gains in Training Grounds.

Back in April, Ubisoft brought about major reforms to several Operators, including Ying. Before this update, Ying was in desperate need of buffing. Unfortunately, it seems that Ubisoft gave Ying too much of a buff and has decided to reel back her Candelas from four to three. Currently, Ying players are experiencing a reign of terror online, but that’s all about to end with this update.

The Candela charge gave the character a big edge in wiping out a defending teams’ anti-grenade gadgets, with enough explosive power left over to finish off everyone on the site as well.

A restriction has been placed on the daily amount that can be gained from the Training Grounds, preventing players from grinding as a prevention tactic to make Ranked requirements less accessible for illegitimate accounts. This should hopefully prevent players from grinding smurf accounts quickly and re-entering the ranked scene.

The MMR bug, which was a popup that would notify players of an MMR rollback after a cheater had been banned, was displaying the wrong values. This has been fixed in the patch.

The update will be rolling out on the PC edition at 9AM EDT/1PM UTC today. The servers will be down for 20 minutes during this time.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla‘s main character, Eivor, can be a man or a woman, which requires Ubisoft to hire two different performers to record their voice lines and more. Following the game’s announcement, the actors who play the title role have now been confirmed.

The male version of Eivor is performed by Danish actor Magnus Bruun, who played Cnut on the medieval Netflix show The Last Kingdom. Bruun describes himself as a viking in his Instagram bio, and a quick look at this page shows that he seems to be a great fit for the role of Eivor.

The female Eivor is portrayed by Danish actress Cecilie Stenspil, who is known for her theatre, TV, and movie work.

2018’s Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey allowed you to choose to play as siblings Kassandra or Alexios, and their stories wove together in a very interesting way. According to Ubisoft, Kassandra was the canon character in the wider fiction, but not necessarily in the game.

For Valhalla, narrative director Darby McDevitt said on Twitter that both choices are canon, and he teased that the studio pulled off a trick to allow this to make sense. “We’re not going to spoil how we managed that trick until you play the game,” he said.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is set to release in Holiday 2020 for Xbox Series X, PS5, Xbox One, PS4, Stadia, and on PC exclusively through the Epic Games Store. It will also be available as part of the UPlay+ subscription service.

For more on the game, read our in-depth interview with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s lead writer.