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This is a guest column from Juha Vainio, an Executive Producer at Remedy Entertainment, the development team behind our 2019 Game of the Year, Control. [poilib element=”accentDivider”]

I’ve never been one to chase achievements or trophies in games. I usually play the main storyline, some side quests, and that’s it. Prior to launching Control, I had zero Platinum trophies on PS4. But, Control being my game, I decided well in advance that Control will be the first game I platinum – to collect all the trophies.

So I got to it and played the game diligently, finished the main storyline, all the side quests and started hunting all the trophies. Control is not the hardest game to platinum so the progress was decent. I believe it was October 2019 when I got all the trophies but one, the “Master Parautilitarian”, awarded for unlocking all of Jesse’s abilities.

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I had still a few powers missing, so I went on getting them and was pretty excited when I was enabling my final ability, supposedly triggering the trophy. But… the trophy didn’t trigger – meaning neither did the Platinum.

Clearly a bug, I asked our QA if they had bumped into anything similar. They hadn’t. I then went to our community management and asked if they had noticed anyone complaining about something similar – they hadn’t, either. So it must have been quite a rare bug.

Finally, I approached our programmers and asked how this could happen. At first, they denied it could even happen at all. Then, with minor pushing, they checked the code and confirmed there’s no chance that could happen. When I presented them with visual evidence, they said, in that voice that only programmers can do, “Interesting”.

After a few days, the programmers came up with a possible cause: they had made some fundamental changes to how abilities were counted just before launch. Apparently, I had played the pre-release build and some of my abilities were counted using the old system, the rest with the new. So the system thought I didn’t have enough abilities for the trophy, even though I did. I asked the team how long would it take to fix this so that I could get my trophy but without anybody else getting screwed. “Too long,” they said.

Of course, as the Executive Producer of Control, I’m responsible for the bug priorities, so this naturally went straight to the top of the to-do pile! That is, until the team asked, “do you want us fixing this, or do you want us working on The Foundation expansion?”. As much as it pained me, The Foundation was more important, so the bug was left unfixed.

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That didn’t mean I gave up, though. As a trusted Sony developer, I had access to the developer support portal. I went and explained the situation to Sony’s support team and subtly asked if they could just flip the switch on the back-end and unlock the trophy for me. “No”, they said. “All the trophies need to be unlocked from within gameplay”. Which makes lots of sense, but didn’t make me any happier.

I continued harassing our programmers every once in a while, but they didn’t budge. But suddenly, as an inadvertent answer to my prayers, one of our designers came up with the idea of being able to reset all the ability points. Unaware of my particular predicament – he was trying to solve another issue with it – the idea got my full support. The programmers and I weren’t actually sure if that would fix my problem or not, but it was our best shot, so I took it.

For weeks and weeks, I held my breath and waited, in pain, to see if it would work or not. The feature was part of the March 25 Control  Update, and on that day I anxiously sat beside my PS4 while the update loaded. I launched the game. I went to a Control Point to access my ability tree. … and noticed I needed to farm 30.000 Source to be able to reset the Ability Tree!

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After about 30 minutes I had collected enough Source to be able to reset the tree. So, once again, I again located a Control Point, accessed the ability tree, and reset everything. Then I proceeded, with shaky hands, to enable the abilities one by one. I almost couldn’t finish, I was so afraid that it wouldn’t work. I was almost sure it wouldn’t.

But it did! I got my “Master Parautilitarian”, followed closely by my First Platinum Trophy ever!

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Valve is making a few changes to how Steam games update in an effort to manage bandwidth loads during the coronavirus.

With a lot of COVID-19 policies encouraging people to stay home and self-distance, platforms like Steam are breaching record numbers surpassing 20 million people. Valve is trying to balance that load by encouraging self-throttling and a tweak to auto-updating, as more people are home downloading games.

“We know a lot of you (like us here at Valve) are stuck at home right now trying to work or attend school remotely,” Valve said in a blog post. “Or maybe you’re just playing a bunch of great games on Steam. Whatever the case may be, we know that with so many people at home trying to get things done at the same time, it can put a stress on your home’s internet bandwidth.”

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People familiar with Steam know that games automatically download updates when they become available. However, a new change makes it so games that haven’t been played within the last three days don’t update immediately. Instead, Steam will schedule these updates for off-peak times during your local time.

This change doesn’t prevent people from manually updating their games using Steam’s download manager and/or launching a game to force an immediate update.

Valve is also suggesting other options to lessen the recent bandwidth strain such as self-throttling, scheduling updates, disabling auto-updates, and more. Further information on how to take advantage of these features is available here.

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A number of companies such as YouTube, Amazon, and Netflix have also made changes due to bandwidth stress brought on by COVID-19. Disney has stated they will follow similar policies in streaming lower quality options by default for Disney+ in Europe.

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Jeffrey Lerman is a Freelance News Writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @Snakester95.

Warning! Full spoilers ahead for Netflix’s Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness. Be sure to check out our spoiler-free review of Tiger King.

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Netflix’s latest docuseries is truly stranger than fiction, as it recounts the wild life of one Joseph Maldonado-Passage (aka the Tiger King, aka Joe Exotic), a mullet-sporting, trash-talking big cat owner from Oklahoma, and former owner of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park. By the time the credits roll on the final episode, Maldonado-Passage finds himself behind bars after being sentenced to 22 years in prison, while the audience is left with plenty of questions about the other colorful characters in the documentary, like Doc Antle, Carole Baskin, and Jeff Lowe. But where are they now, and do the filmmakers have plans for a Season 2 of Tiger King? Read on to find out.

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What Happened to Joe Exotic?

Joe Exotic has filed a lawsuit for $78 million against the U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. Federal Wildlife Service “for placing the ‘generic tiger’ on the endangered species list,’ according to a report from TMZ. Exotic claims that the government did this in order to hurt big cat owners financially.  He’s also suing for an additional $15 million regarding various criminal charges against him, including a former (unnamed) colleague “for allegedly lying to the feds and planting evidence against him.”

The former G.W. Zoo owner is currently serving 22-years in federal prison for two counts of murder-for-hire in an attempt to kill animal rights activist Carole Baskin, and over twelve wildlife violations, including the killing of five tigers, according to a report from The Washington Post. Maldonado-Passage’s prison sentence has not silenced the eccentric big cat owner, who recently took to Facebook to share his thoughts on the Netflix series:

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“At 12:01 am Friday Morning 132 countries that get Netflix most will be trapped in their own homes with nothing to do but watch the TV series ‘Tiger King’ and the entire world will know what these people did to put me here,” Maldonado-Passage said. In a more recent post on the same Facebook page, he goes on to profess his innocence, claiming that “U.S. Attorney’s office and Agents involved will have to answer to the fact that they participated in Perjury to obtain this conviction.”

IGN spoke to Goode and Chaiklin to find out what makes big cat owners like Joe Exotic so charismatic. “All of these characters check out of mainstream life,” Goode said. “They have created their own individual universes – little ‘utopias’ – along with their own set of rules, which ultimately was Joe’s greatest downfall…. much like David Koresh, Charlie Manson, Jim Jones…they all drank the Kool-Aid.”

What Happened to Doc Antle After the Raid?

As noted in the intertitle card at the end of the finale, Bhagavan “Doc” Antle’s Myrtle Beach Safari was indeed raided back in December 2019, but to this day, Antle has not been brought up on criminal charges, and his park remains open. According to a report from ABC15 News out of Myrtle Beach, Antle claims that the authorities were there due to a multi-state investigation involving three of his tigers.

“We have the three lions, they’re fabulous little babies that are here with us,” Antle told ABC15 News. “Many of our guests this summer all hugged them and met them and those lions are permanent residents here at the preserve. The lions are part of an ongoing investigation the state is working on and they wanted us to try and help them look at the trail of where the lions had come from and any ideas or evidence we had about what the lion’s lives had been before they moved here to Myrtle Beach Safari.”

Iconic wrestling star The Undertaker (aka Mark William Calaway) and his wife (Michelle McCool) posted a photo on March 14, 2020, at Antle’s facility via McCool’s Instagram account.

Jeff Lowe and the G.W. Zoo

Jeff Lowe is still running the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, which has been rebranded as The Oklahoma Zoo. According to their website, Lowe hopes to have the new facility in Thackerville, Oklahoma up and running sometime in summer 2020. Lowe’s company Facebook page has some harsh words for Maldonado-Passage, referring to him in one post as a “horrible abuser who rots in Federal prison.” The park promises that its animal care standards have been raised since Lowe took over from Maldonado-Passage.

“Since we took over, the zoo has spent thousands upon thousands getting every animal the medical treatment and proper diets that greed robbed them of. We defy anyone to find a mistreated or neglected animal here. We are one of the few zoo owners in America with a spotless USDA history.” Below is a photo of Jeff Lowe and his wife, Lauren Lowe from the zoo’s Instagram page.

Carole Baskin and The Big Cat Safety Act

Carole Baskin still operates her Big Cat Rescue out of Tampa, Florida and continues to post personal videos about her past on YouTube. In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Baskin said that Joe Exotic was “just one of about a dozen of these bad guys” she was attempting to expose.

As of the time of writing, the Big Cat Public Safety Act has not passed. Per congress.gov, the proposed “bill revises requirements governing the trade of big cats (i.e., species of lion, tiger, leopard, cheetah, jaguar, or cougar or any hybrid of such species). Specifically, it revises restrictions on the possession and exhibition of big cats, including to restrict direct contact between the public and big cats.”

Baskin went on to tell Vanity Fair that at the end of each tour, she encourages her guests to call their respective members of Congress and cosponsor the bill. The bill currently has 227 cosponsors.

Did Joe Exotic Actually Sing Those Country Songs?

Throughout the docuseries, we’re shown some of Joe Exotic’s interesting music videos for songs he’s performed about his love for tigers. One of the more controversial tracks, titled “Here Kitty Kitty,” insinuates that rival Carole Baskin killed and fed her late husband, Don Lewis, to her tigers. To this day, Carole refutes that claim and no charges have ever been brought against her regarding those allegations. In a fascinating twist, Baskin alleges that Exotic’s songs are not sung by him, and according to a report from Metro, he didn’t even write the lyrics.

“The documentary never does reveal that Joe Exotic only lip-synced to songs written and recorded by Vince Johnson and Danny Clinton,” Baskin reportedly said, going on to allege that Exotic paid Johnson to write and record these songs for $7000, and that she has the emails to prove it.

Will There Be a Tiger King Season 2?

With 5,000 to 10,000 captive tigers currently in the United States, the story about big cat owners is far from over, but do the creators of Tiger King have anything left to say? Co-directors Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin were still filming as late as January 2020, so they do have a “surplus of footage,” per a recent interview with Vanity Fair. Goode and Chaiklin told the outlet that there’s probably room for one final episode, however, they aren’t confident that the documentary’s participants will want to be interviewed after watching the series. While there are times when the series looks like it’s poking fun at the industry, Chaiklin admits that the story isn’t black and white.

“These are people who work incredibly hard,” Chaiklin told Vanity Fair. “They’re up at the crack of dawn. They’re working all day to care for these animals even if the animals are suffering. Nothing is black and white in life. You spend time with people, and you see the good side and the bad side, so it’s complicated.”

What do you think? Would you like to see more Tiger King on Netflix? Let us know in the comments.

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David Griffin still watches DuckTales in his pajamas with a cereal bowl in hand. He’s also the TV Editor for IGN. Say hi on Twitter.

Fast and Furious fans will soon be able to build a new LEGO set of Dominic Toretto’s iconic 1970 Dodge Charger. The newly revealed LEGO kit contains just over 1000 pieces, and shipments will begin in late April.

The completed kit will measure 15″ long, 6″ wide, and 4″ high. Additionally, the set includes multiple interactive elements, such as real moving pistons and suspension, a steering system, and an air blower. You can also display the car mid-wheelie thanks to a built-in stand.

The set mostly uses smooth, black LEGO pieces to recreate Dom’s iconic ride. Check out some pictures of the set below:

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Fast and Furious fans will have to wait a bit longer for the next entry in the franchise. Originally supposed to release this May, Fast 9 will now open in theaters in April 2021 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Until then, you can watch the reveal of a major character’s return in Fast 9’s debut trailer. Also, the franchise is already looking past Fast 9, and you can read if Fast 10 could be split into two separate movies.

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For more on LEGO, check out the recently-revealed LEGO Super Mario collaboration, which is showcasing a new type of LEGO play style.

Story originally reported by The Verge.

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Logan Plant is a news writer for IGN, and the Production Assistant for Nintendo Voice Chat, IGN’s weekly Nintendo show. You can find him on Twitter at @LoganJPlant.

In turbulent times like these, some people turn to soothing entertainment, like the low-stakes family-friendly fun of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Others, by contrast, find a certain comfort in stoking the fires and diving headfirst into horror. For the latter group, you’ll be pleased to hear you can turn the standard 7-day free trial into a gloriously extended 30-day free trial just by entering promo code SHUTIN at signup. Neat.

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Even after the free trial runs out, this streaming service only costs $5.99/month when billed monthly, or $4.75/month when billed annually, which isn’t likely to break the bank for horror hounds.

If you don’t want to keep your subscription going, you can cancel it at any time, including before you receive the first bill. You literally have nothing to lose.

What is there to watch on Shudder, anyway? Plenty, ranging from new releases and original content to horror classics. You’ve got seminal horror fare like Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Child’s Play, Hellraiser, and Night of the Living Dead. You can find more recent cult movies like Mandy, Train to Busan, and the tense black comedy Cheap Thrills. Dig a little deeper, and it gets a whole lot weirder from there. Be sure to check out our list of more suggestions for what to watch on Shudder.

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Shudder Compatible Devices

You’ll find the Shudder app on a number of devices, some of which you probably have already. Here’s the list:

• Xbox One
• iPhone and iPad
• Android Phones and Tablets
• Apple TV
• Roku
• Chromecast
• Google Play
• Amazon FireTV

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

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In an email sent to employees this week, Disney announced that top company executives will take pay cuts during the COVID-19 crisis, with exec chairman Bob Iger foregoing his salary entirely.

Confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter, the pay cuts come only a few days after Disney announced that it would be closing its theme parks indefinitely, but would continue to pay cast members through April 18.

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Among executives taking pay cuts is newly named CEO Bob Chapek, who will be taking a 50% pay cut. Further, “effective April 5, all VPs will have their salaries reduced by 20 percent, SVPs by 25 percent and EVPs and above by 30 percent,” according to the email obtained by THR.

“Your dedication and resilience during this difficult time are truly inspiring and it gives me renewed confidence that we will come through this crisis even stronger than before, we have so many times in our company’s history,” said Chapek’s email to employees.

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It’s currently unclear how much pay Iger and Chapek will be giving up, as both executives have complicated contracts. In 2019, Iger made just over $47 million in his role as chairman and CEO. THR reports that Chapek has a base salary of $2.5 million, with $7.5 and $15 million incentives in the coming months and years.

While the powerful conglomerate may have shut down many of its operations for the time being, it is still looking out for its fans. A few weeks ago Disney announced that Frozen 2 would be coming to Disney+ three months early. Additionally, Onward will be released on Disney+ on April 3, a little bit ahead of schedule.

In the meantime, be sure to check out everything coming to Disney+ in the month of April.

Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord is finally available on PC via Steam Early Access. But players hoping to check out TaleWorlds Entertainment’s siege-action strategy RPG on consoles will have to wait.

“Sorry, but we have been saying in dev blogs and interviews for years that [console versions] will come further down the road, as PCs are our primary platform,” developer TaleWorlds Entertainment explained in a Tweet response to one user who asked whether a console version of the Mount and Blade 2 early access was coming.

Sorry, but we have been saying in dev blogs and interviews for years that consoles will come further down the road, as PCs are our primary platform.

— Mount & Blade (@Mount_and_Blade) March 30, 2020

Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord is a prequel to 2010’s Mount and Blade: Warband. Set in the waning days of the Calradic Empire, Players control warriors from European-inspired tribes as they engage in siege warfare with rival factions.

Players can utilize strategy elements and control large armies and siege weapons, but can also engage in 1-on-1 combat, which puts players in the heart of the action during warfare.

Mount and Blade 2 has been in development since 2012, but TaleWorlds delivered weekly developer blog updates since 2017 and rarely mentioned anything about a console version of Bannerlord. It should also be noted that it took six years for Mount and Blade: Warband to be ported from PC to the PS4 and Xbox One.

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IGN will continue to cover Mount and Blade 2, so check back for more updates on Bannerlord soon.

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Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

The BFG is easily one of the most recognizable video game weapons of all time. The iconic firearm was born to eviscerate monsters and demons in id Software’s seminal first-person shooter, Doom. The gun was there for the formative years of the genre itself and has remained a mainstay, whether in follow-up Doom games, other id Software titles, or games in the genre as a whole.

But the Big F**king Gun actually has a rather unexpected history, having been based on a toy that was purchased from Toys’R’Us.

How did a kid’s toy blaster become one of the most devastating virtual weapons of all time? The latest episode of Loadout delves into just that question. Join Dave as he recounts the history of the BFG and explores its cultural impact in games, movies, and beyond.

If you haven’t already, make sure to watch the other episodes of Loadout available on GameSpot’s YouTube channel. There are videos dedicated to the silencer, nuclear bomb, revolver, and more.

Of course, the BFG makes its return in the latest entry in the Doom series. In GameSpot’s Doom Eternal review, Phil Hornshaw said, “Though it can take a bit to get the hang of it, the intricacies of Doom Eternal’s combat, combined with its enhanced mobility and option-heavy level design, create a ton of white-knuckle moments that elevate everything that made Doom 2016 work so well.

“Its combat is just as quick and chaotic, but requires you to constantly analyze everything that’s happening in order to come out victorious. Once you get the hang of the rhythm of Doom Eternal, it’ll make you feel like a demon-slaying savant.”