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It’s been four long years since Square Enix announced it was going to remake Final Fantasy 7. Since that E3 2015 reveal, we’ve only been privy to brief glimpses of gameplay, the most substantial of which is the recent trailer (seen above) revealed during Sony’s May 9 State of Play stream. At the end of that trailer, the words “more to come in June” appeared onscreen. Is Final Fantasy 7 confirmed to be at E3? Not yet, but the insinuation that it will make an appearance during Square Enix’s E3 broadcast is hard to ignore.

Assuming that Final Fantasy 7 will be featured during that livestream and that it might also be on the show floor, we’ve put our heads together and come up with a list of topics and details we hope to learn more about. But before diving into that, let’s revisit what we already know about the highly anticipated remake.

What We Know So Far

Broadly speaking, we know that the remake will be a complete overhaul of the 1997 game. It’s being recreated from the ground up to tell roughly the same story, featuring the same locations and characters, but it will be presented in a modern fashion, as a third-person game with a free roaming camera and real-time combat, similar to Final Fantasy 15.

The trailers released thus far primarily focused on Midgar, the city run by the nefarious power company, Shinra Corporation. With the recent trailer taken into account, we’ve now seen familiar sights like the slums, the subway system, and the inside of the reactors that line the edge of the city.

Needless to say, the modern look of the Final Fantasy 7 remake looks a lot different than the 1997 original. Every environment and character has been recreated to modern standards, which in the years prior to the remake’s announcement was cited by developers as a task too hard to accomplish given the scale of the game. This is likely the reason why the remake in progress will come in multiple episodes–the number of which is still a closely guarded secret–rather than as one big release.

Lastly, we know many of the lead creatives behind the remake, and their names will look familiar to fans of the original, and Final Fantasy at large. Yoshinori Kitase, the director and co-writer of the original Final Fantasy 7, will sit in the producer’s chair this time around, leaving the directorial duties split between series veterans Naoki Hamaguchi and Tetsuya Nomura. Nomura will also lead the art and design teams. Kitase’s former writing partner Kazushige Nojima is back to pen the story once more, and last but not least, Final Fantasy’s legendary maestro Nobuo Uematsu is reprising his role as the composer for the remake’s new soundtrack.

What’s Confirmed For E3?

Nothing! All we can say for certain is that Final Fantasy 7 fans can try to attend a concert before the convention in LA on Sunday, June 9. We also know that something will be said during the month of June and that Square Enix will have a broadcast filled with announcements during the show, but there’s been no confirmation that the June tease and the E3 presentation are connected. If they aren’t, we’ll be as shocked as you.

What We Hope To See At E3

Given that Midgar has been the focal point of every trailer shown so far, it would be great to see a bit more of the world beyond the city. Final Fantasy 7’s massive world map is (or at least was) home to a wide variety of natural environments and locales like towns and villages, all of which were important pieces of the overall experience and identity of the world, and which yet remain a mystery so far as the remake is concerned.

There are also numerous characters that have yet to make an appearance, so fingers crossed that we get to see the likes of Cait Sith and Vincent, and maybe even the ghastly remains of Jenova. More than just see what they look like, it would also be nice to get a sense of what they will sound like, especially given the divided opinions on Barrett’s voice after the most recent trailer.

Square Enix would also do well to dive into combat a bit more, to explain how the skill-giving Materia will work and how their behaviors may have changed following the shift from turn-based to real-time combat. You also can’t talk about Final Fantasy 7’s combat without mentioning summons, the show-stopping and combat-halting spells that call forth punishing mythical beasts and spirits to pummel your enemies. Perhaps we can look to Final Fantasy 15 to imagine how these might work, but it would be better if Square Enix could just show us during E3 to dispel rumors and speculation altogether.

While there are a ton of questions to be answered when it comes to gameplay and the translation of old mechanics into modern systems, most people just want to know one thing: when will Final Fantasy 7 Remake be released? Second to that: how many episodes are Square Enix planning to make?

Truth be told, if all we got was a release date, I feel like most people would be satisfied. After all, Final Fantasy 7 may be the most requested video game remake of all time, and to reveal too many of its distinguishing features could ruin some of the surprises that await fans returning to the game more than 20 years after its release.

Join GameSpot as we celebrate gaming history and give recognition to the most influential games of the 21st century. These aren’t the best games, and they aren’t necessarily games that you need to rush out and play today, but there’s no question that they left an indelible impact on game developers, players, and in some cases, society at large.

League of Legends exploded onto the scene in 2009 as the start-up brainchild of Marc Merrill and Brandon Beck, poised to disrupt an esports market that would end up being helmed by two heavyweights–Dota 2 and StarCraft. The idea that a bunch of enthusiastic DOTA fans were responsible for what is now the game’s biggest competition may come as a surprise to the uninitiated, but the humble beginnings of League of Legends can be traced all the way through to two college roommates essentially wanting to turn a Warcraft III mod into a standalone title.

Now, League of Legends is synonymous with esports and the MOBA genre. While companies like Valve and Blizzard were forces to be reckoned with in the pre-2010 era, there’s now no question that Riot Games and its lone video game are essentially household names. Whether it’s a new champion, a new in-game event, or Mid-Season Invitational which drew 19.8 million concurrent viewers last year, everyone who has even a passing interest in the game stops and stares.

The 2019 Mid-Season Invitational

Starcraft is often credited with the birth of esports but Riot Games were instrumental in ensuring that there was an appeal to translate to a mainstream audience. We’re talking merchandising, booking out stadium shows, international gauntlets and tournaments pitting fan-favorite players against each other. We’re talking sponsorships outside of the tech sphere, ranging from underwear to energy drinks. By drawing on the cult of personality that the League of Legends esports scene has built around some of its top players, Riot Games and the teams fielding these players have brought a whole new audience to the MOBA genre that other competitors have been unable to capitalize on.

Riot Games stepped onto the competitive esports scene around the time that Starcraft II was gaining momentum. However, where Starcraft II had to deal with a tiered release date in terms of the content like its various campaigns and the gradual integration of multiplayer accessibility, League of Legends exited a relatively short beta period with all guns blazing. And, unlike the model that was being relied on by Valve and Blizzard at the time, where second-party tournaments were the name of the game, League of Legends had its competitive esports nature in-built when it came to everything from matchmaking to the evolving meta that was governing the title.

League of Legends had its competitive esports nature in-built when it came to everything from matchmaking to the evolving meta that was governing the title.

Upon release, the title was praised by critics for its game design ethos and characters, which are now features of League that have taken on a life of their own in the form of ore codexes of a density that rivals established MMOs, cosmetic lines with accompanying music videos and original songs, and engaging in-game events created both for home enjoyment and for the spectator stage.

Outside of gaming, the fact that a MOBA has garnered Emmy nominations is impressive in itself. League of Legends has been nominated for mainstream accolades not necessarily for triumphs of design that are part of the gameplay mechanics, but for the wealth of creative material built by Riot Games around its existing product. From anime-inspired trailers to K-pop crossovers, League of Legends has consistently had its finger on the pulse of what’s hot (and selling like hotcakes), and it’s managed to execute on concepts like through said Emmy-nominated multimedia projects which have served to expand the title’s reach beyond the gaming sphere.

The League of Legends K-pop group, K/DA

In general, League of Legends has spawned a wave of competitors since it cemented itself on the MOBA scene. Arena of Valor is one such title that comes to mind, which ironically was fronted at the time by Tencent, who is now the majority shareholder in Riot Games. Mobile MOBAs featuring bad rip-offs of League characters were a dime a dozen on any online store, some more shameless than others. However, all these imitations really served to do was cement League’s status as the superior product. There was absolutely no way for these other titles to execute on player-centric initiatives the way that Riot’s product had: technical limitations aside, League of Legends was already more than just a video game at that point. It was an entire brand, from international tournaments to in-jokes to larger-than-life media personalities whose own identities were intrinsically associated with the game as a product.

Arguably, a lot of League of Legends’ success came from them having the distance to observe their competitors before essentially pivoting away from what they were doing. Riot Games’ original ethos with its title, which has persevered to this day, is a focus on player and community feedback. League was both competitive and casual play rolled into one, with Riot heading up every aspect of the commercial and competitive sides of the game as a unified product. Instead of waiting weeks for a patch in Dota 2 or Starcraft at the time, League players could expect patches as soon as the community saw a problem. The game quickly evolved and iterated, and even though it’s gone through some huge design changes since release, these have always been done in consultation with the community, with the team at Riot happy to roll back anything that might not be working.

This rapport with the community would serve Riot Games well over the years to come, and the community itself would reap those rewards; many community initiatives born from the passion of fans turned into features that Riot would then implement into the League of Legends product. Things like detailed match statistics were first provided by OP.GG, which has now become LCS Stats. The original League of Legends wikia provided the framework by which Riot now deals with its interlocking lore and displays it. The League community was, and still is, full of people who managed and ran third-party infrastructure that eventually became critical to the influence of the game. The title inspired fans to not only consume it but also to contribute to it, including the now-famous example of Chinese region superfans doing their own illegal broadcasts before Riot officially taking them on board.

That being said, while Riot Games has grown in profile alongside its sizeable community, the company itself has also grown in notoriety. Current and ex-Rioters have spoken out against the company’s toxic corporate culture in the past year or so, which has led to victims coming forward about sexism, harassment, and toxic workplace attitudes. While the company has tried to make strides towards addressing concerns after immense public pressure. It’s not as simple as wanting to implement a diversity initiative at the company; just a few weeks after employees filed lawsuits stating that Riot is in violation of the California Equal Pay Act, there has now also been walkout in protest of the forced arbitration clauses in Riot employment agreements. Riot’s internal issues have started to bleed over into a lot of how League of Legends is covered in mainstream media and how it’s talked about, and this has definitely affected the perception of the esport in a way that it’s still currently recovering from.

While it’s near impossible to set aside the recent reports when discussing Riot, League of Legends’ legacy is a different story. It’s obvious that the game helped put esports on the map for a lot of mainstream audiences before the explosion of titles like Fortnite and PUBG. From record viewership numbers on Twitch to hosting one of the biggest esports events ever at Madison Square Garden in 2016, Riot Games’ prodigal son has gone from strength to strength since its launch in 2009. In doing so, it’s changed the way that people experience and access esports, taking fans from the days of bootleg broadcasts of regional streams to an international gauntlet of iconic stadiums at every year’s World Championships. Blizzard and Valve, the top dogs when Riot Games entered the scene, are now playing catch-up to the well-oiled Ferrari that is the League of Legends production model, and it shows.

For a look at the rest of our features in this series, head over to our Most Influential Games Of The 21st Century hub.

Valve has released a new mobile Steam Chat app, letting you keep in touch with your friends and game invites without the desktop client. The free app is now available on the App Store and Google Play.

The announcement boasts that the mobile app lets you use several of the desktop client features, including a fully featured friends list, and rich chat with videos, tweets, GIFs, and emoticons. You can also manage your list with invite links, get notifications and game invites, and manage your group chats.

Valve invited feedback but says it’s already working on updates and new features for the app, including voice chat. The company also notes that since Steam Chat is moving to its own dedicated app, the overall Steam Mobile app will focus its next updates on account security with more options for Steam Guard.

Recently Steam has had its PC storefront dominance challenged by the emergence of the Epic Games Store, which has been securing exclusivity periods for some high-profile PC game launches like Ghost Recon Breakpoint. Meanwhile, Valve is preparing to launch its annual Steam Summer Sale.

In Full Control

After the commercial disappointment of 2015’s Terminator Genisys, there was some suggestion that it might be a long time before we saw another movie in the long-running sci-fi franchise. But that’s not to be the case, and the sixth film in the series, Terminator: Dark Fate, arrives in November. The movie’s trailer will be revealed tomorrow, May 23, but ahead of that we have the first poster.

The poster is a striking and simple one. It shows Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, the iconic main character of the first two Terminator movies, walking down a desert road carrying a gun with a blazing sun behind her. Dark Fate will be a direct sequel to 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, ignoring the three movies in-between, and the poster’s somewhat awkward tagline hammers this home: “Welcome to the day after Judgment Day.” Check it out below:

Hamilton isn’t the only original cast member set to feature in Dark Fate– Arnold Schwarzenegger is back as the T-800. The new stars includes Mackenzie Davis (Blade Runner 2049), Gabriel Luna (Agents of SHIELD), Diego Boneta (Pretty Little Liars), and Colombian star Natalia Reyes in her first Hollywood movie. The movie is directed by Deadpool’s Tim Miller and produced by James Cameron, who created the franchise and helmed the first two movies. It releases on November 1. For more, check out this recent batch of images from the film.

In a recent interview with Yahoo Movies, Cameron spoke about working alongside Miller and what fans could expect from this latest Terminator movie. “Tim’s a very willful and opinionated director, and he’s got his own ideas for the film,” he said. “I’m kind of like the Pips–he’s Gladys. I said, ‘I can’t be involved in this film at all if Arnold [Schwarzenegger] is not in it.’ Fans are going to want to see [Linda Hamilton] again, and they’re going to want to see the real Sarah Connor and what time and dealing with these tragic futures has done to her.”

“It’s hardened her even more, but in a way that made her much stronger,” Cameron explained. “Maybe less likable, but stronger. And ultimately, she becomes a really important character in passing the baton to the new characters that come in. It’s a very female-centric film, which I’m glad Tim embraced those themes.”

Following up on its previous May offerings, Microsoft has announced another set of eight games coming to Xbox Game Pass subscription service throughout the rest of the month and early June. The games coming to Xbox One over the next few weeks include some indie classics, big franchises, and even a couple of day-one launches.

First on May 23, the service will add Metal Gear Survive and The Banner Saga. The first is an alternate take on the Metal Gear universe with light horror elements, while the latter is a strategy game set against a backdrop of viking legend.

Then on May 29, the shooter Void Bastards will launch and become immediately available on Game Pass same-day. May 30 will bring another launch day game, the exploration game Outer Wilds. That day will also add the multiplayer horror game Dead by Daylight.

Then moving into June, three more games have been announced. Full Metal Furies, The Banner Saga 2, and Superhot will all hit the Game Pass service on June 6.

Those all join other recent May offerings that include Wolfenstein 2, Wargroove, Tacoma, and more. Microsoft tends to announce Game Pass offerings about three weeks at a time, so we’re likely to see the rest of the June lineup later. That could mean reveals to come at Microsoft’s E3 press conference.

Game Pass offers an all-you-can-eat subscription to a library of more than 100 games for $10 per month. All first-party Xbox One games, like Sea of Thieves and Forza Horizon 4, are included on launch day. If you’d like to give the service a try, you can sample the first month for just one buck. There’s still a little more time to get the extended offer, which includes three months for $1.

Xbox Game Pass May – Early June

• Metal Gear Survive (May 23)
• The Banner Saga (May 23)
• Void Bastards (May 29)
• Outer Wilds (May 30)
• Dead by Daylight (May 30)
• Full Metal Furies (June 6)
• The Banner Saga 2 (June 6)
• Superhot (June 6)

Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker is the final part in the trilogy that kicked off with 2015’s The Force Awakens, and it releases in December. The first trailer arrived in April and gave fans a taste of what to expect from the movie, which is directed by JJ Abrams. Now a new batch of images has been released.

The images come via Vanity Fair, which has published an extensive feature about The Rise of Skywalker. They reveal some of the movie’s new characters, alongside familiar faces. In terms of new villains, there’s the amazing-looking “masked scoundrel” Zorri Bliss (Keri Russell) on the planet Kijimi, and First Order leader Allegiant General Pryde (Richard E. Grant) pictured alongside General Hux.

The good guys are represented by Jannah (Naomi Ackie), seen riding a creature called an Orbak alongside Finn, plus a group of Aki-Aki, who are natives of the planet Pasaana. Over at Vanity Fair’s site you can also see new pictures of Rey, Kylo, Lando, Chewie, R2-D2, and Luke. Check out the images of the new characters below.

Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters on December 19. Abrams returned to direct after helming 2015’s The Force Awakens, although he wasn’t the first choice of director. Jurassic World’s Colin Trevorrow was initially hired, but he left the movie in September 2017.

The film stars Daisy Ridley as Rey, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, John Boyega as Finn, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico, Lupita Nyong’o as Maz Kanata, Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux, Mark Hamill as Luke, and Billy Dee Williams as Lando. It will also include an appearance from Carrie Fisher. Although Fisher died before production began, she will appear in footage originally shot for 2017’s The Last Jedi. For more, check out everything we know about Star Wars Episode IX.

Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker isn’t the only new Star Wars release that fans have to look forward to this year. It has also been confirmed that the live-action TV show The Mandalorian will be available on the streaming service Disney+ when it launches on November 12.

Brightburn has an extremely strong, if simple, elevator pitch: What if Superman was evil? Even the “dark and gritty” superhero movies these days have some hopeful notes; what if Brightburn played out more like a slasher movie? What if there’s no hero to rise up and defeat the omnipotent villain in the end?

Unfortunately, Brightburn never takes the concept any deeper than that macabre skeleton of an idea. It succeeds in corrupting the fabric of superhero narratives, but it replaces it with an empty void of over-the-top gore and desperate cynicism. It may succeed at scaring you with its dark vision of an all-powerful pre-pubescent monster, but without anything to actually say, Brightburn is just 91 minutes of miserable murder porn.

Elizabeth Banks and David Denman play Tori and Kyle Breyer, a couple living in the small town of Brightburn, Kansas. Their wish for a child is granted when a mysterious craft lands in the woods nearby their rustic farmhouse home, but their lives take a dark turn around the time their son Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn) hits puberty. The boy begins to feel the call of destiny and discovers his powers–flight, speed, invulnerability, incredible strength, laser eyes, you name it. Multiply that discovery by the raging hormones that come with the territory, and you have a recipe for one angsty supervillain.

But Brightburn doesn’t stop there. Brandon isn’t simply frustrated by girls, schoolwork, and the other troubles that beset many boys of that age–he transforms overnight from a bright, caring kid into an absolute psychopath with little explanation.

The resulting movie is a little bit like the 2011 drama We Need To Talk About Kevin, but with one crucial difference. That movie follows a mother’s everyday life in the wake of her son’s killing spree, posing poignant questions with no easy answers. It’s a tough watch, but worth it. Brightburn, on the other hand, is like if the movie followed the murderous Kevin from beginning to end, never stopping to challenge viewers or consider the ramifications or larger forces at play. Brightburn might as well follow a school shooter from beginning to end–it’s hard to watch, but it’s made irredeemable by the way it uncritically revels in its evil protagonist’s actions.

The gore in Brightburn is out of control. Some viewers will no doubt find sadistic enjoyment in seeing characters painstakingly tug shards of glass from their eyeballs amid spurts of viscous blood or try to reattach their jaw to the rest of their face, tongue lolling sloppily from a gaping throat. The movie’s intent is clearly to shock, and at that, it succeeds. Brightburn is undeniably terrifying, although besides the general existential dread of a person this powerful being so evil, it relies too heavily on jump scares and loud noises to get reactions.

Banks is sympathetic as a mother who wants to stand by her child as he grows more and more monstrous, but the movie leaves her straddling a wishy-washy middle ground without a strong characterization one way or the other. Denman does a good job with what he’s given and becomes the most relatable character somewhere around the middle, when he begins to see Brandon for what he’s become. Besides that, there are a handful of side characters, but they exist only to be victims of Brandon’s cruel violence.

There’s a kernel of an idea for an interesting film in here about the challenges some boys face around a certain age, when hormones run wild and their instincts are all generally terrible. When Brandon’s dad tells him that it’s OK to give in to his urges sometimes–i.e. to masturbate–and Brandon takes that as permission to begin overtly menacing his crush in her bedroom at night, Brightburn almost gets there. But that kernel ultimately gets lost in the unapologetic, masochistic joy the movie takes in Brandon’s carnage. In failing to give Brandon–who’s positioned as the film’s protagonist–any mitigating virtues or the possibility of redemption, Brightburn also fails to give viewers any reason to watch it.

Brightburn wants to be a rebuttal to the drippy sentimentality of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But it fails to understand one key reason why the superhero genre is beloved by millions. The heroic capacity to do good on a large scale is inherently fantastical; many people go through life feeling helpless to affect positive change in the world, despite good intentions. In contrast, doing evil on a large scale is all too easy. There’s nothing enjoyable about watching someone with great power do what actual mass murderers have done countless times in real life: unapologetically kill a lot of people. It’s just sadistic–a power fantasy for psychopaths.

What would happen if Superman was evil? I can see how the question seemed like a good jumping off point, but now I wish I didn’t know.

The Just Cause movie has been in the works for nearly a decade, and now it’s crossed another significant milestone. It’s been confirmed that John Wick creator and writer of the film series, Derek Kolstad, has joined the movie as its screenwriter.

According to Deadline, which first reported the news, the Just Cause movie will basically follow the foundation of the Square Enix action game series. “Rico Rodriguez is on a race-against-time mission to stop The Black Hand, a lethal mercenary group,” the site reported.

The producers are looking to secure a director and lead actor soon, with filming expected to begin in 2020.

The Just Cause film is coming from the film company Constantin, which also made the popular Resident Evil series starring Milla Jovovich. Constantin is also behind the upcoming Monster Hunter movie that also stars Milla Jovovich.

It was previously announced that Game of Thrones and Aquaman star Jason Momoa would play Rico Rodriguez, with Rampage director Brad Peyton set to direct. However, with Constantin now developing the film, it appears a new star and director and being sought. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World writer John Collee was attached to write, but he appears to have been replaced by Kolstad.

2018’s Just Cause 4 is the latest instalment in the video game series that began in 2006.

As for the John Wick series, John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum recently opened to a huge box office number that took down Avengers: Endgame. John Wick 4 is coming in 2021.

Game of Thrones showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff’s controversial HBO TV show, Confederate, is no longer a priority for the network, it seems. Programming boss Casey Bloys told Deadline the show is “not on the front burner” right now for HBO. That’s all Bloys had to say on the subject.

Confederate was announced in 2017. The show takes place in an alternate version of the United States where the Confederates won the American Civil War, thereby allowing slavery to continue. Benioff and Weiss were announced as the program’s showrunners, which is the same role they had for Game of Thrones.

The show’s announcement was met with swift criticism over its subject matter. HBO stood behind the show, saying it had faith in its creators to “approach the subject with care and sensitivity.” Benioff, meanwhile, said the outrage was “a little premature” because the show was so early in production.

“We haven’t written any scripts yet,” he said. “We don’t have an outline yet. We don’t even have character names,” he said. “So everything is brand new and nothing’s been written. I guess that’s what was a little bit surprising about some of the outrage. It’s just a little premature. You know, we might f**k it up. But we haven’t yet.”

Production was scheduled to begin after Game of Thrones ended, which it now has, but the program was delayed after Weiss and Benioff took jobs with Disney to work on a new trilogy of Star Wars films.

In February this year, Bloys told TV Line that the delay of Confederate comes down to Weiss and Benioff taking the Star Wars job, not because of the controversy.

“Dan and David are finishing up the final season [of Game of Thrones] and then they are going to go into the Star Wars universe,” Bloys said. “When they come out of that, I assume they will come back to us.”

The first of the new Star Wars films from Weiss and Benioff is scheduled to hit theatres in 2022, so it could be a very long time before Confederate is released.

Weiss and Benioff are now visiting studios in an attempt to secure a new “overall” deal. WarnerMedia, which owns HBO, is among those speaking with the pair about a new deal, though it remains to be seen which company Weiss and Benioff may sign with.

For more on Game of Thrones, you can check out GameSpot’s recap of the series finale, “The Iron Throne,” in the video embed above.