Epic Files New Complaint Against Google In Antitrust Lawsuit

Epic has failed a new complaint against Google in its antitrust lawsuit against the Tech company. As reported by The Verge, Epic has filed an addendum adding additional details to the lawsuit, including a number of details about Google’s monopolistic behavior revealed during recent government probes.

Epic’s complaint contains mostly sealed information; however, the few bits that are available to the public show that it contains more information about Google’s behavior. Some of the information included details Google’s relationship with Apple, like how Google pays Apple somewhere between $8 billion and $12 billion to be the dominant search engine on Apple products. The complaint also includes information about Google’s relationship with phone makers and other app stores.

Now Playing: Epic Vs Apple Explained

In the redacted complaint, Epic allegedly describes its attempt to launch Fortnite on the Samsung Galaxy store, which Google took exception to. According to the complaint, Google offered Epic a deal to get Fortnite on the Google Play Store instead, but Epic rejected the deal. The complaint alleges that Google took some anti-competitive practices following that, though the details are redacted.

Google denied some of the information in a statement to The Verge. “The open Android ecosystem lets developers distribute apps through multiple app stores. For game developers who choose to use the Play Store, we have consistent policies that are fair to developers and keep the store safe for users. While Fortnite remains available on Android, we can no longer make it available on Play because it violates our policies. We will continue to defend ourselves against these meritless claims,” said spokesperson José Castañeda.

Unlike the Epic v. Apple trial, the Epic v. Google trial has not made it to the courtroom just yet. A proposed schedule gives Google until August 20 to file a motion to dismiss and sets a start date of October 14. Unlike on Apple phones, Fortnite can still be downloaded on Android phones via Epic’s website.

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Dead Space Remake Won’t Have Any Microtransactions, Says EA Motive

EA has announced that Dead Space is getting a remake, with Star Wars: Squadrons developer EA Motive reimagining the 2008 original from Visceral Games. Although the teaser trailer was light on any specific details regarding the game, an interview with Motive has confirmed that the remake will not feature any microtransactions.

Speaking to IGN, EA Motive senior producer Philippe Ducharme explained that there are no plans to include microtransactions in this Dead Space remake; not at release or any time in the future. Ducharme noted that the team is learning from past mistakes in this respect.

Now Playing: Dead Space Remake Teaser Trailer | EA Play Live 2021

“We’re looking at what can be taken and reinjected into the first game from a future standpoint,” Ducharme explained. “We’re also learning from mistakes such as microtransactions, which we will not have, for instance, in our game.”

Ducharme is mostly likely referencing Dead Space 3, which was the most egregious in the series when it comes to microtransactions. The third game in the series was heavily criticized for its inclusion at launch, which was to be the last entry developed by Visceral Games and the last Dead Space before today’s remake announcement.

The Dead Space remake was just one of several announcements at EA Play Live, including reveals for Grid Legends, Battlefield Portal, and more. You can catch up on all the reveals in our EA Play Live round-up.

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Play Marvel’s Avengers Free On PC, PlayStation, And Stadia July 29 Weekend

You can sample Marvel’s Avengers for free later this month on PC, Stadia, and PlayStation, Square Enix has announced. The game will have a free play weekend from July 29 through August 1 to coincide with the permanent launch of the multiple-hero feature that lets you assemble a squad full of Hulks or whatever. Developer Crystal Dynamics has also teased that the weekend will have perks for returning players too, like quadruple XP.

During the all access period you’ll be able to download it from the digital store. If you decide to buy it permanently, you’ll keep any progress and purchases on the same platform you sampled. You’ll have access to the entire Avengers campaign, as well as the Kate Bishop and Hawkeye operations. Square Enix noted that a similar weekend is coming for Xbox platforms “in the coming months.”

Now Playing: Marvel’s Avengers – Official War For Wakanda Expansion Reveal Teaser

Marvel’s Avengers All Access Weekend

  • PlayStation: July 29 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT – August 1 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT
  • Steam: July 29 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT – August 1 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT
  • Stadia: July 29 11 AM ET / 8 AM PT – August 1 11 AM ET / 8 AM PT

A post on the Avengers blog notes that current and returning players will get 4X XP and more, so that will be a good time to grind up any heroes you haven’t maxed out or to catch up with the dual Hawkeyes storyline if you missed it before. This is all coming just ahead of the release of War for Wakanda, which will add new story content and Black Panther as a playable hero in August.

“There’s never been a better time to assemble in Marvel’s Avengers. We’re nearing our one-year anniversary, and players who jump in will get eight heroes, tons of single- and multi-player content, ongoing events, and more,” said Crystal Dynamics studio co-head Scot Amos, in the announcement. “In addition, we have the War for Wakanda expansion coming in August, so now is a great opportunity to get started so you’re ready to play as Black Panther and take on Klaw with the rest of the Avengers.”

Avengers is currently discounted down to $24 in the PlayStation Summer Sale, down to $24. That sale lasts through August 4.

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Man Of Steel Writer Recalls One Of The Worst Studio Notes He’s Ever Received

Hollywood screenwriter David Goyer has shared a story about one of the worst notes he received from a studio executive for one of his movies. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Goyer said he received a bewildering note from the studio for the Superman movie Man of Steel.

The studio told Goyer he needed to change the ending to Man of Steel and make it so the pod that Superman uses to help save the day doesn’t get destroyed. The studio executives said this had to change because, if the pod was destroyed, how would Superman return to Krypton? The only thing is… Krypton was already destroyed.

“One note I got was on Man of Steel, where the ending involves Superman utilizing the pod that he arrived in as a child in order to bring down General Zod’s ship,” Goyer said. “The note we got from the studio said, ‘You have to change that.’ We asked why. They said, ‘Because if Superman uses that pod and it’s destroyed while saving the city, how is he ever going to get back home to Krypton?’ There was just this long pause and we said, ‘Krypton blew up. You saw 30 minutes of it!'”

On the other side of the coin, Goyer said one of the best notes he’s received from a higher-up at a studio came from Apple TV+ development boss Matt Cherniss for his new sci-fi show Foundation. Goyer and his team were struggling to wrap their heads around the show’s complicated time jumps and other story elements that depart from what might considered traditional. Cherniss’ note was simple. He said, “F**k it, just lean into it,” Goyer recalls.

“So we broke with traditional story structures in various ways. The structure changes from episode to episode. Most of the time, studio executives say, ‘How do you make it more normal? How do you make it fall in line with what the audience would expect?’ He encouraged me to not do that, which was unusual,” Goyer said.

Goyer is also known for his story work on The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. More recently, he produced the Chris Pratt movie The Tomorrow War, while he also worked on the story for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.

How Disney+’s Behind The Attraction Picked Which Rides To Showcase–Including One Bizarre Choice

The newest arrival to the Disney+ streaming service, Behind the Attraction, looks at the complicated and long history of creating Disney’s most iconic rides and experiences at its theme parks around the world. From creator Brian Volk-Weiss (The Toys That Made Us), the series strikes a familiarly snarky tone as it tackles some of the most beloved rides Disney has ever come up with. Still, there are some episodes that may have you scratching your head–and there’s a reason for that.

While the first batch of episodes from Season 1 of Behind the Attraction dig into the past of rides like Jungle Cruise, the Haunted Mansion, and Star Tours, there are some curious choices made along the way, including the Disneyland hotel and–perhaps most puzzling of all–an episode titled “Trains, Trams, and Monorails,” which is all about the history of transportation around Disney’s parks.

Speaking to GameSpot, Volk-Weiss admitted that particular episode was his personal passion project on the series. “There were three pots,” he explained. “The first pot was there’s got to be attractions that are like, ‘Why wouldn’t that be in Season 1? How could they do this without a Space Mountain episode?’ Then there was another group that was things that you may not [have expected]. I think a lot of people wouldn’t have done Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in Season 1… And then the third one, which was only one episode, is what a British guy called my joker [card]. And that is basically me saying, ‘Please let me make this episode. Please let me make this episode.’ And that was ‘Trains, Trams and Monorails.'”

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Given how important trans, trains, and even monorails are to navigating Disney’s parks around the world–and even Walt Disney’s own fascination with trains–dedicating an episode to the systems of transportation seems like a worthwhile endeavor and, when that episode debuts, it should be interesting to see what he uncovers. After all, if it’s anything like the Darth Vader Ballet covered in Behind the Attraction’s Star Tours episode, there’s probably some pretty hilarious history to be revealed.

While gaining permission to include the footage of the Star Wars-themed dance performance was, according to Volk-Weiss, “definitely a longer conversation” with Disney. There’s something else he’s a bit more surprised about that made the final cuts of the episode: his unending adoration of Disney’s failed attempt at a Star Wars movie of its own, 1979’s The Black Hole.

“I love The Black Hole. It’s the first movie I watched when I got Disney+,” he said. “I know there are a couple things that might not allow it to be considered the best movie ever made. There [were] a lot of jokes in the [Star Tours] episode about The Black Hole. And basically, that was also the first episode we ever turned in. What it really worked down to was in the first cut, there was like nine jokes about The Black Hole, we got it down to two jokes about The Black Hole. But the thing that’s funny is the two Black Hole jokes that are still in there. A lot of Disney people that did not work on the show were shocked we were allowed to keep those in.”

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So when you watch the Star Tours episode, know that while there were originally many more jokes about The Black Hole, the fact that it includes any at all is surprising.

The first five episodes of Behind the Attraction are streaming on Disney+ now. The next five, which will tackle experiences like It’s a Small World, castles in the parks, the Hall of Presidents, and the tribute to trains, trams, and monorails, will debut on a later date.

Scientists Find And Name New Underwater Volcanoes After Lord Of The Rings Symbols

As is the case with most villains, Sauron is probably not dead–and scientists have discovered a new underwater volcano resembling the omnipresent Eye of Sauron, indicating he’s always watching and his power is always around.

In a report for The Conversation, Museums Victoria’s senior curator of marine invertebrates Tim O’Hara said the underwater volcano was “revealed by multibean sonar 3,100 meters below” the RV Investigator research vessel. The oval formation, known as a caldera, is approximately 4mi by 3mi across. It has a rim that’s a little over a tenth of a mile high, as well as a tenth of a mile high cone-shaped peak at the center where the actual “pupil” is housed.

In essence, a caldera is a collapsed volcano. The molten magma travels upwards and, because of the empty chambers this creates, the volcano’s dome surface caves in on itself. This causes a large crater where a small peaks often tends to form while the volcano continues to spew hot magma.

O’Hara said the team, which was on day 12 of exploring Australia’s Indian Ocean Territories (southeast of Christmas Island), discovered two other underwater volcanic structures further south from the newly named Eye of Sauron. These have been nicknamed Barad-dûr (the “Dark Fortress,” Sauron’s primary stronghold in Mordor) and Ered Lithui (“Ash Mountains”).

The Karma cluster. (Courtesy of Tim O'Hara, The Conversation.)
The Karma cluster. (Courtesy of Tim O’Hara, The Conversation.)

All three are part of the Karma cluster of seamounts (or submarine mountain ranges) that geologists estimated to be over 100 million years old. But according to O’Hara, the caldera looks “surprisingly fresh” for a structure that old. The team predicts that underwater volcanoes could remain active, sprouting new calderas long after the original foundation took its shape.

Meanwhile, Ered Lithui is now overrun with seafloor animals like batfish, brittle-stars, barnacles, crabs, cusk-eels. worms, sea-stars, and sponges. Perhaps Sauron has been invaded by SpongeBob SquarePants and his pals.

The Last Of Us TV Show Adds Mindhunter’s Anna Torv As Tess

Australian actress Anna Torv, who starred on Netflix’s Mindhunter, has been cast as Tess in HBO’s upcoming The Last of Us TV show, according to Variety.

Torv is no stranger to the world of video games, as she voiced the main character in 2007’s Heavenly Sword video game, reprising the role in the 2014 animated movie. In The Last of Us the video game, Tess was voiced and performed by Annie Wersching.

Torv joins a cast that includes Pedro Pascal (Joel), Bella Ramsey (Ellie), Gabriel Luna (Tommy), Merle Dandridge (Marlene), and Nico Parker (Sarah).

Kantemir Balagov (Beanpole) is directing the season premiere of HBO’s The Last of Us, while celebrated directors Jasmila Zbanic and Ali Abbasi have been tapped to direct episodes.

Neil Druckmann, the writer and director of the original video game, is developing The Last of Us TV show alongside Craig Mazin (Chernobyl). As for Mazin, he’s also writing the star-studded Borderlands movie and a new Pirates of the Caribbean film.

As for the game series, Naughty Dog might make The Last of Us 3, or potentially a new IP, as its next game. On the more immediate horizon, Naughty Dog is developing a standalone Last of Us multiplayer game. In other news, a recent report said Naughty Dog is also working on a Last of Us remake for PS5.

Potential Loki Scenes Included Visits to Different Time Periods, Lots of Sex

Marvel’s Loki writers scrapped a montage that would have seen Tom Hiddleston’s God of Mischief travelling to different time periods, collecting infinity stones, and having lots of sex.

Assembled: The Making of Loki, the latest episode in Marvel Studios’ series of docu-specials, premiered on Disney+ on July 21, and offered fans a behind-the-scenes look at the six-episode series centering on the MCU’s principal mischief-maker. The special explored the development process for the series, including one montage that didn’t make it into the show.

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Taking a glimpse behind the curtain of Loki’s latest adventure, the hour-long special included a shot of a whiteboard that contained lots of scribblings of plans and ideas the writers had toyed with during pre-production. SlashFilm paused the frame and outlined a sequence in which the show’s titular character would have been seen getting up to some “crazy mischief.”

The eight-point breakdown detailing Loki’s antics reads as follows:

  1. Loki visiting different time periods.
  2. Doing crazy mischief, aka sex.
  3. Pivots to taking power.
  4. Collecting Infinity Stones.
  5. Has the Gauntlet, holds power, more sex, bi, alien, etc.
  6. Alone in the throne room. He’s taken power but is infected with thoughts that it isn’t “real” because of TVA’s control over free will.
  7. Returns to the TVA, gauntlet’s power down, Mobius is waiting for him.
  8. Loki gives honest answers to Mobius. Mobius shows the sheer power of TVA.

The writers ultimately decided against including this in the final cut, but director Kate Herron acknowledged that Loki’s sexuality was one of her top priorities upon joining the project, taking precedence over other story threads. In episode three, Loki was confirmed to be canonically bisexual in the MCU during a pivotal conversation with Sylvie.

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Loki’s sexuality could be explored further in the show’s second season, which has already been confirmed after a mid-credits scene in the Season 1 finale announced the renewal of the MCU Disney+ series. However, Herron won’t be returning for Loki’s sophomore season as she had always planned to helm a single run of episodes.

It’s the first of Marvel’s Disney+ series to officially announce a second season, with WandaVision unlikely to return, and The Falcon & the Winter Soldier currently billed as an ongoing series. While we don’t know when Loki Season 2 might be released, we should perhaps expect a lot of other Marvel shows to come first.

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Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.